Free Essays on Alan Paton

Alan Paton teacher, author, and politician was one of South Africa's most remarkable people. Repelled by the racism he saw all around him in his homeland, he wrote Cry, the Beloved Country, the book that had the most profound effect in the worldwide struggle against apartheid. It is in this book, that he portrayed his life through so many characters and scenes to give the best explanation possible for his fight for justice and equality. This book remains one of South Africa’s greatest novels. It is a true-life portrait of its author, Alan Paton. Alan Paton was born in 1903 in Pietermaritzburg, Natal. He was the oldest of four children and the son of Eunice and James Paton. He was taught to read and write before he started school and as a result he was rapidly advanced all throughout his school years. At the age of fifteen he was starting his college education for a science degree in teaching. After receiving his degree, he was sent to a small farming town of Ixopo, as a housemaster at the high school there. Ixopo would later become increasing familiar in his book, Cry, the Beloved Country. While in Ixopo, Paton took long walks in the hills, which he described in his book. There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond and singing of it. The road climbs seven miles into them, to Carisbrooke; and from there, if there is no mist, you look down on one of the fairest valleys of Africa. About you there is grass and bracken and you may hear the forlorn crying of the titihoya, one of the birds of the veld. Below you is the valley of the umzimkulu, on its journey form the Drakensberg to the sea; and beyond and behind the river, great hill after great hill; and beyond and behind them, the mountains of Ingeli and East Griqualand (Paton 33). This would become the famous start to the first two parts of the novel, Cry, the Beloved Country... Free Essays on Alan Paton Free Essays on Alan Paton Alan Paton teacher, author, and politician was one of South Africa's most remarkable people. Repelled by the racism he saw all around him in his homeland, he wrote Cry, the Beloved Country, the book that had the most profound effect in the worldwide struggle against apartheid. It is in this book, that he portrayed his life through so many characters and scenes to give the best explanation possible for his fight for justice and equality. This book remains one of South Africa’s greatest novels. It is a true-life portrait of its author, Alan Paton. Alan Paton was born in 1903 in Pietermaritzburg, Natal. He was the oldest of four children and the son of Eunice and James Paton. He was taught to read and write before he started school and as a result he was rapidly advanced all throughout his school years. At the age of fifteen he was starting his college education for a science degree in teaching. After receiving his degree, he was sent to a small farming town of Ixopo, as a housemaster at the high school there. Ixopo would later become increasing familiar in his book, Cry, the Beloved Country. While in Ixopo, Paton took long walks in the hills, which he described in his book. There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond and singing of it. The road climbs seven miles into them, to Carisbrooke; and from there, if there is no mist, you look down on one of the fairest valleys of Africa. About you there is grass and bracken and you may hear the forlorn crying of the titihoya, one of the birds of the veld. Below you is the valley of the umzimkulu, on its journey form the Drakensberg to the sea; and beyond and behind the river, great hill after great hill; and beyond and behind them, the mountains of Ingeli and East Griqualand (Paton 33). This would become the famous start to the first two parts of the novel, Cry, the Beloved Country...

U.S. Constitution - Article I, Section 10

U.S. Constitution - Article I, Section 10 Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution plays a key role in the American system of federalism by limiting the powers of the states. Under the Article, the states are forbidden from entering into treaties with foreign nations; instead reserving that power to the President of the United States, with the approval of two-thirds of the U.S. Senate. In addition, the states are forbidden from printing or coining their own money and from granting titles of nobility. Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution limits the powers of the states by prohibiting them from entering into treaties with foreign nations (a power reserved to the president with the consent of the Senate), printing their own money, or granting titles of nobility.Like Congress, the states may not pass â€Å"bills of attainder,† laws declaring any person or group guilty of a crime without due process of law, â€Å"ex post facto laws,† laws that make an act illegal retroactively or laws that interfere with legal contracts.In addition, no state, without the approval of both houses of Congress, may collect taxes on imports or exports, raise an army or harbor warships in times of peace, nor otherwise declare or engage in war unless invaded or in imminent danger. Article I itself lays out the design, function, and powers of the Congress – the legislative branch of U.S. government – and established many elements the vital separation of powers (checks and balances) between the three branches of government. In addition, Article I describes how and when U.S. Senators and Representatives are to be elected, and the process by which Congress enacts laws. Specifically, the three clauses of Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution do the following: Clause 1: the Obligations of Contracts Clause â€Å"No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.† The Obligations of Contracts Clause, typically called simply the Contracts Clause, prohibits the states from interfering with private contracts. While the clause might be applied to many types of common business dealings today, the framers of the Constitution intended it mainly to protect contracts providing for the payments of debts. Under the weaker Articles of Confederation, the states were allowed to enact preferential laws forgiving the debts of particular individuals. The Contracts Clause also prohibits the states from issuing their own paper money or coins and requires the states to use only valid U.S. money – â€Å"gold and silver Coin† – to pay their debts. In addition, the clause prohibits the states from creating bills of attainder or ex-post facto laws declaring a person or group of persons guilty of a crime and prescribing their punishment without the benefit of a trial or judicial hearing. Article I, Section 9, clause 3, of the Constitution similarly prohibits the federal government from enacting such laws. Today, the Contract Clause applies to most contracts such as leases or vendor contracts between private citizens or business entities. In general, the states may not obstruct or alter the terms of a contract once that contract has been agreed to. However, the clause applies only to the state legislatures and does not apply to court decisions. Clause 2: the Import-Export Clause â€Å"No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its [sic] inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul [sic] of the Congress.† Further limiting the powers of the states, the Export-Imports Clause prohibits the states, without the approval of the U.S. Congress, from imposing tariffs or other taxes on imported and exported goods in excess of the costs necessary for their inspection as required by state laws. In addition, the revenue raised from all import or export tariffs or taxes must be paid to the federal government, rather than the states. In 1869, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Import-Export Clause applies only to imports and exports with foreign nations and not to imports and exports between states. Clause 3: the Compact Clause â€Å"No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.† The Compact Clause prevents the states, without the consent of Congress, from maintaining armies or navies during a time of peace. Additionally, the states may not enter into alliances with foreign nations, nor engage in war unless invaded. The clause, however, does not apply to the National Guard. The framers of the Constitution were keenly aware that allowing military alliances between the states or between the states and foreign powers would seriously endanger the union. While the Articles of Confederation contained similar prohibitions, the framers felt that stronger and more precise language was needed to ensure the supremacy of the federal government in foreign affairs. Considering its need for it so obvious, the delegates of the Constitutional Convention approved the Compact Clause with little debate.

(Institutional Affiliation) FORMAL REPORT COMPARING THE USE OF THE Essay

(Institutional Affiliation) FORMAL REPORT COMPARING THE USE OF THE IDEF METHODOLOGY TO UML - Essay Example 1). On the other hand, UML is a modeling language that is most suited to the generation of computer-executable platforms/frameworks that encode important elements of software engineering projects. This paper will seek to compare the use of IDEF to UML by focusing on their applications, nature, and techniques employed in their development. This comparison will be done on the basis of credible and reliable literatures, written and published by authorities on modeling languages and techniques. Key Words IDEF; UML; graphical modeling methods; enterprise engineering projects; modeling language The Approach/Rationale of both Methodologies a) IDEF According to Bernus, Mertins, & Schmidt (1998, pg. 17), the rationale for IDEF is to support modeling activities that are fundamental to system analysis, design, improvement or integration. b) UML The approach/rationale for UML is to act as the dominant, publicly accepted, and uniform objected oriented visual modeling language, and as a foundation object description language for the offshoot unified enterprise modeling language (UEML) that has been put forward by IFAC/IFIP (Bernus, Mertins, & Schmidt 1998, pg. 17). The Stages of the Systems Development Life Cycle that each Addresses IDEF methodology addresses documentation, design, integration, analysis, understanding, planning, and improvement (Fowler & Scott 2000, pg. 46). Based on the Waterfall model of the system development life cycle (SDLC), these functions fit into four stages of the SDLC: preliminary analysis, system analysis and requirements definition, systems design, integration and testing, and maintenance. On the other hand UML methodology is limited to the systems design phase. During the systems analysis phase, object-oriented analysis (OOA) is performed; its output is a conceptual model that is comprised of one (sometimes more) UML class diagram, a user-interface mock-up, a group of use cases, and a couple of interaction diagrams. This conceptual model is sub sequently used as an input in objected-oriented design during the systems design phase (Lankhorst 2005, pg. 63). The Techniques used for modeling the Processes/Functions of the System (including the similarities and differences between the techniques and their strengths and weaknesses) a) IDEF Techniques IDEF is based on three modeling constructs/viewpoints/techniques which define its approach/rationale. These are: i) IDEF0 Function Modeling Method This method was created so as to represent processes or activities (consisting of partially sequenced groups of activities) that are usually executed in a systematic and uniform manner. IDEF0 defines a function as a group of activities that takes specific inputs and, using some mechanism, and based on certain controls, converts the inputs into outputs (Noran 2008, pg. 41). These ICOMs (inputs, controls, outputs and mechanisms) can be employed in the modeling of relationships between a wide range of activities (Kim 2003, pg. 3). IDEF0 mode ling generally begins by defining a context diagram (Kim 2003, pg. 3). This is representative of the system’s overall purpose and its interactions with external environments (Kim 2003, pg. 3). Usually, IDEF0 models consist of a hierarchy of connected diagrams that are decomposed systematically hence encoding semantic data at lower modeling levels. The systematical breakdown brings not only detailed but also wide-scope representations of system or environmental activities (Bernus, Mertins, & Schmidt 1998, pg. 29). ii) IDEF1x Data Modeling Method This method was created to define data models that symbolize both the semantics and structure of data that is found in a target system

Evaluation Of Effectiveness Of Combating Music Piracy Thesis

Evaluation Of Effectiveness Of Combating Music Piracy - Thesis Example Reduced music sales impact not just the industry but the country economy as well. It has also resulted in lower wages and job losses while impacting each of the numerous stakeholders in the industry. Several institutions and organizations have been formed and policies devised to combat music piracy. Many studies have been conducted to evaluate consumer behavior which promotes online piracy. However, no study has exclusively been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies adopted to combat music piracy. Combating piracy has become critical to the survival of the industry and hence this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies. With this aim, three objectives were stated in the first chapter. After extensive literature review the research strategy was explained. All three objectives have been achieved. The study finds that consumers find the prices of legal CDs and downloads high. If the music products are reasonably priced it could enable the common c onsumer to pay for it because high prices encourage them to engage in piracy. Legalizing file-sharing, educating the consumers, and collaborating with ISPs are strategies that have been found to be effective to some extent in combating music piracy. ... of the study 3 1.6 Limitations to the study 4 Chapter II Literature Review 2.1 Introduction 5 2.2 Piracy 5 2.3 Effectiveness 6 2.4 Piracy in music industry 6 2.5 Consumer behavior and piracy 9 Chapter III Methodology 3.1 Research Philosophy 12 3.2 Purpose of the research and phenomenon 12 3.3 Epistemology 12 3.4 Research strategy 13 3.5 Data collection 13 3.6 Justification for secondary data 13 3.7 Data analysis 14 Chapter IV Findings & Discussions 4.1 Findings 16 4.2 Piracy and music piracy 16 4.3 Consumer behavior 16 4.3 Effectiveness of policies and strategies 17 4.4 Recommendations for the industry 23 Chapter V Conclusion and Recommendations 5.1 Conclusion 26 5.2 Recommendations 28 References 29 Charts Chart 2.1 Staggered sales 9 Chart 4.1 Legalization has an impact 20 Chapter I Introduction 1.1 Background The digital age has many advantages but brings with it some disadvantages too. While digital music has become popular it is has also encouraged music piracy. Music is an art an d has been a part of human life from before the time of Jesus Christ (Bonner & Higgins, 2010). Music is basically a collection of sounds that generate rhythm. Over time the method has evolved and it is now possible to create music electronically. Music is creatively assembled by individuals or a group of individuals for the sole purpose of invoking rhythm. However, the music industry has changed drastically with the proliferation of the Internet. In fact the internet has destroyed the standard business model that has been in practice for decades. While earlier people used to purchase music from their local or favored store now it is possible to download music at the click of a button. Illegal downloading of music has become a business issue for management of music companies. Advanced

Reaction Paper About UNICEF Cities Failing Children Essay Example for Free

Reaction Paper About UNICEF Cities Failing Children Essay As a Filipino and youth of this country, I’ve appreciated UNICEF’s efforts in regards with the children who are in need. It is not easy to aggregate data of the country’s status just to check how are the citizens especially the children are treated and supported by the countries, particularly of their local governments or cities where they are settling. However, the report and data were compiled and reported by State of the World’s Children of UNICEF though it was an article, reported few years ago (March 7, 2012), still it makes me feel uncomfortable and burdened, knowing that many children are deprived of most basic services and necessities that actually they should have. In addition, UNICEF cited Philippines as an example of their article entitled, Cities Failing Children. The report states that children (Filipinos) who live in poor urban even other class of urban communities experience deprivations such as lack of decent housing and limited access to clean water and they are more exposed to disaster risks and are also more prone to neglect, abuse, and exploitation. It proves that our government is not doing the part that they should be performing, like what we have learned from our previous lesson, Power of the State – the three inherent power of state specifically the police power, which states that it is the sovereign power to promote and protect the general welfare; it is the most pervasive and the least limitable of the three powers of the state, the most essential, consistent and illimitable which enables the State to prohibit all hurtful things to the comfort, safety and welfare of the society, these just become meaningless at all for in reality, this power is not being fully exercised and practiced by our government. In my opinion, our government should at least exert extra sympathy or attention with this kind of problems rather than to their own agendas and non-sense conflicts of their parties. I think it is not impossible for the Philippines to cure and solve this kind of problem if we just unite and our government stop their not-so-needed plans because I strongly believe that the true wealth of the nation is the children and next generation, but if this problem continues and will not be given attention, I assume that next coming years will be more hard to live for. Nevertheless, it’s not late to do something for this kind of problem it is just a matter of love, passion and honesty of our government and even of  us that are more blessed than them. Further, I never lose hope that one day Philippine government and possibly with the help of UNICEF, will use the power of the state to build and create a better future for our generation especially for those children deprived of their basic needs or even their basic rights and solve a lot of problem within these children. Therefore, as a Filipino informed of this matter, we should take responsibility to do something for our beloved country. I have learned that I should have not take for granted things that I have because almost half of our population are deprived of the basic needs that I already have. I don’t want to promise anything but I will try to do the best I can to serve and help our nation. Hoping that after few years, UNICEF’s report about Philippines even their report about the world will be better and be full of hope and great future for the people and most of all, for the children.

tundra :: essays research papers

The tundra artic plains completely covering most of the earth’s lands north of the coniferous forest belt. The tundra’s ecosystem is very sensitive. It doesn’t have a good ability to restore itself. Controlled by sedge, heath, willow, moss, and lichen. Plains that are pretty much alike, called alpine tundra, occur above the timberline in the high mountains of the world. Even the Antarctic area has a couple of its own arctic regions itself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The climate of the tundra is characterized by harsh winters. The average temperature in the tundra area is about –27 degrees. But what is even worse are the long night. At nights the lowest temperture recorded was –67.36 degrees. There are even times in the year when the sun doesn’t come up for days. In the tundra we have little snow and even less rainfall. The rainfall is about a quarter inch in a yearly rainfall. Even though the tundra’s winters are long a harsh there summers are the shortest season of all. Do to the terrible weather and climate in the tundra their animals and plant life is very limited. This artic tundra is mainly formed by permafrost, â€Å"a layer of permanently frozen subsoil in the ground. Putting frozen ground and flat landscape stops the drainage of water. As the water is being held up on the surface it makes ponds and bogs that give moisture for the plants, or countering the low precipitation. â€Å"The periodic freezing and thawing of the soil forms cracks in the ground in regularly patterned polygons†. Some areas are not drained very well causing irregular landforms. Some of these landforms like the following hummocks, or knolls, frost boils, and earth stripes. Another common area to the alpine tundra is a â€Å"bare rock covered ground† also known as fell fields, in which not alone support but helps the growth of lichens. The many â€Å"microhabitats† given by these landforms provide a variety to the tundra’s landscape. As you already know the amount of different plant species in the tundra is very few. Also their growth level is low, â€Å"with most of the biomass concentrated in the roots. To add to the many difficulties the growing season isn’t very long its self. The plants are better off â€Å"to reproduce vegetative by division and budding than sexually by flower pollination†. The main plant life in that area is cotton grass, sedge, and dwarf heath also including mosses and lichens. tundra :: essays research papers The tundra artic plains completely covering most of the earth’s lands north of the coniferous forest belt. The tundra’s ecosystem is very sensitive. It doesn’t have a good ability to restore itself. Controlled by sedge, heath, willow, moss, and lichen. Plains that are pretty much alike, called alpine tundra, occur above the timberline in the high mountains of the world. Even the Antarctic area has a couple of its own arctic regions itself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The climate of the tundra is characterized by harsh winters. The average temperature in the tundra area is about –27 degrees. But what is even worse are the long night. At nights the lowest temperture recorded was –67.36 degrees. There are even times in the year when the sun doesn’t come up for days. In the tundra we have little snow and even less rainfall. The rainfall is about a quarter inch in a yearly rainfall. Even though the tundra’s winters are long a harsh there summers are the shortest season of all. Do to the terrible weather and climate in the tundra their animals and plant life is very limited. This artic tundra is mainly formed by permafrost, â€Å"a layer of permanently frozen subsoil in the ground. Putting frozen ground and flat landscape stops the drainage of water. As the water is being held up on the surface it makes ponds and bogs that give moisture for the plants, or countering the low precipitation. â€Å"The periodic freezing and thawing of the soil forms cracks in the ground in regularly patterned polygons†. Some areas are not drained very well causing irregular landforms. Some of these landforms like the following hummocks, or knolls, frost boils, and earth stripes. Another common area to the alpine tundra is a â€Å"bare rock covered ground† also known as fell fields, in which not alone support but helps the growth of lichens. The many â€Å"microhabitats† given by these landforms provide a variety to the tundra’s landscape. As you already know the amount of different plant species in the tundra is very few. Also their growth level is low, â€Å"with most of the biomass concentrated in the roots. To add to the many difficulties the growing season isn’t very long its self. The plants are better off â€Å"to reproduce vegetative by division and budding than sexually by flower pollination†. The main plant life in that area is cotton grass, sedge, and dwarf heath also including mosses and lichens.

Logical and Physical Network Design

Introduction This paper presents a brief overview of what goes into a Service Level Agreement (SLA) contract. It also presents an example of one. Contents This publication contains the following topics: Topic Why Have Service Level Agreements? Contract Areas to Consider Contract Components Example Of A Service Level Agreement Contract See Page 2 3 6 8 -1- Why Have Service Level Agreements? Rationale SLAs are critical towards formalizing expectations around services with end users and customers. Without these, customer expectations will assume that everything will be delivered and available at a 100% level all the time.Very little can be done about poor service when there is no definition what good service is. Objectives should be set that describe items such as response times, availability, turnaround and accuracy. Customers and IT should commit to a mutually acceptable means of verifying compliance with service objectives and agree on actions that must take place when exceptions occ ur. Key Goals Key goals of undertaking formalized service arrangements are as follows: †¢ Allow for IT to understand customer service requirements.†¢ Control customer expectations for levels of service to be delivered. Allow for clear understanding of priorities when handling service problems. -2- Contract Areas to Consider Overview The following section presents a number of key areas to consider when building SLA Contract documents. Level of Formalization Service levels may range from a formalized contract that is signed off by representative customer departments to informal â€Å"known† levels internal to IT functions. IT should be aware which level of formalization is appropriate. Ability to Meet Service Targets IT should ensure that documented levels of service can indeed be met.Targets should allow for a latitude contingency to cover occasional problems or slowdowns to occur without jeopardizing targets. Within ITIL, Availability Management should review planne d targets and provide guidance as to what levels may be appropriate given current IT capabilities. Requirements for new capabilities should be highlighted to management to determine whether to invest in them or not. Control of Customer Expectations Targets should be communicated to customers in terms that make them clearly understood from their perspective. This promotes a good level of understanding and cooperation when service problems do occur.Handling SLA Contract Changes Processes should be in place to handle changes in service requirements. Customers may wish to negotiate better service levels, add new functions that require new levels of service or periodically renew current levels. These should be negotiated through a Service Level Manager and processed via Change Management. Number of SLA Contracts Less is better, more greatly increases management overhead to report and manage. It may be determined to have a single contract for all departments versus multiple service contra cts for different departments.Another structure may be to have a base agreement that covers everyone as a default with a limited set of overriding contracts for unique needs. Continued on next page -3- Contract Areas to Consider, Continued Types of Service Targets to Be Included The types of service targets to be provided should be identified in the service level contract. Examples of types of service targets include items such as: †¢ Response Times †¢ Availability Windows †¢ Equipment Service And Repair Times †¢ Technical Support Response and Level †¢ Report Or Other Media Delivery †¢ Security Access †¢ Data Retention and Backup RequirementsDetermining Customer Services It will be necessary to identify what critical customer workloads are. From this a specific service level can be derived. Workloads can be defined as one or more customer functions that require service from IT. Examples of these might include items such as: †¢ Processing patie nt accounts in a hospital. †¢ Entering orders from customers on a phone. †¢ Accessing E-Mail. †¢ Retrieving and creating memos. Each of the above have an associated level of service that allows that function to be accomplished successfully.This level might include availability of service to that function. (i. ; E-Mail will be available from 8AM to 9PM on weekdays). It might also include a level of response. (i. e; Order Entry transactions on a terminal must provide a response time less than 5 seconds 85% of the time). Most organizations have found it helpful to implement an ITIL Service Catalog to better define what these services are. With this, the SLA contract would only need to reference those service descriptions. The Catalog can also serve to centralize all of these definitions in one place. Multiple Targets For Services It may desired to provide or negotiate multiple service levels for a single customer service.An example of this might be negotiating a lower re sponse time for peak hours of the day and a higher response time at other hours. Another example might be provision of high availability all the time but specific functions or files may be unavailable at certain times of the day. Continued on next page -4- Contract Areas to Consider, Continued Resolution of Service Disputes It may be desired to put a process in place that fairly identifies resolutions to problems or misunderstandings in service expectations. This may be a committee of representative Customer and IT personnel without a direct interest in the problems under discussion.Operational Level Agreements and Underpinning Contracts In an environment where the service to be delivered is provided by multiple departments, organizations or outside vendors, service boundaries must be clearly defined. This identifies where responsibilities lie and what kinds of services have to be delivered by each service delivery entity. An example of this might include a client/server architected application where end user response time service consists of both mainframe processing and server/front-end processing. If these two components are managed by ifferent organizations, then each organization should set up an operational level agreement.As an example of the above, mainframe response time targets will be under 5 seconds 85% of the time, server processing will be under 3 seconds 80% of the time. This would result in the actual service level to the customer of a response time less than 8 seconds 80% of the time. Service Targets Must Be Reportable Any service level that is set must be able to be adequately reported on. It would be useless to establish a service level for which monitoring data cannot be collected.The operational efforts and costs involved with monitoring and reporting on any given service level should be taken into account when that level is set. -5- Contract Components Overview A Service Level Contract is a key component of a formalized service level agre ement process. Key components of this document are described in this section. Contract Dates Starting and ending dates that the contract is to be in force. If ending dates are specified, new service level agreements may have to be created for projects or departments that function beyond the end dates. Contract NumbersThese may be necessary if negotiating multiple contracts. They simply identify specific contracts. Customer Identification Identifying information that describes the group of users who are included within the scope of the contract. Demand Periods It is helpful to identify periods of time in which types of use are likely to make the greatest service demands on processing resources. Some targets may differ depending on demand periods. For example, an E-Mail service may have a lesser target for response time during the start of work when most employees retrieve their messages.There may be a higher target for slower periods later in the day. Project or Departmental Descript ion A brief description of the department or project to be serviced. This may include its main purpose or business function and how processing supports the goals of that entity. Expected Service Requirements A description in clear concise terms of the service level targets to be delivered by IT to support the department(s) or project(s) covered by the service contract. These should be in business terms and from the customer perspective as much as possible. Continued on next page -6-Contract Components, Continued Service Assumptions If needed, this section can be included to describe any service assumptions used to support the service levels being delivered. Examples might include: †¢ A set number of customer users not to be exceeded †¢ Specific IT capacities that might incur additional costs if exceeded †¢ Allowances for special times of the day, week, month or year Target Calculations Methodologies or calculations used to determine service expectations should be docu mented. The purpose is to clearly state how service levels may be calculated, measured and reported on.IT Charging Costs Any assumptions or expected costs of delivering the service should also be documented. Determination of costs is aided by the Capacity Planning and Financial Management processes. In some cases, it may be necessary to include a sample charging bill. Contract Maintenance This section should describe the conditions under which the contract should be changed. It should identify who is responsible for reporting on the quality of service delivered and how service disputes may be resolved. Contract ResponsibilitiesThis section should identify organizations or personnel responsible for support activities related to Contract Maintenance, Service Level Reporting, Service Level Dispute Resolution and Renegotiation of Service Levels. Signature Block This section provides space for Customer and IT sign-off to the terms in the contract. -7- Example Of A Service Level Agreement Contract Introduction The following pages present one example of a comprehensive Service Level Agreement contract. This example is probably much more formalized than necessary but illustrates some of the concepts discussed in this paper. Continued on next page 8- Example Of A Service Level Agreement Contract, Continued SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTContract Date: Agreement Number: Division: Location: Project: Peak Times: Expiration Date: This document with attachments specifies the agreement between the above named business unit and the Data Processing Center (DPC) for shared computing services. This agreement consists of the following sections: Section I: Section II: Section III: Section IV: Section V: Section VI: Services To Be Provided Expected Service Requirements Service Assumptions Costs Contract Maintenance DPC Responsibilities Section VI: Section VII:Customer Responsibilities Service Change Control Procedure Section VIII: Signatures -9- Continued on next page – 10 – Example Of A Service Level Agreement Contract, Continued SECTION I: SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED Business Unit Description, Business Unit Scope And Desired Services to be provided. May provide references to ITIL Service Catalog here†¦. SECTION II: EXPECTED SERVICE REQUIREMENTS Examples (May list for each service to be provided or reference ITIL Service Catalog): Response Time Requirements: Availability Requirements: Report/Media Delivery Requirements Data Retention and Back-Up Requirements:Technical Support Requirements: Job/Report Turnaround Requirements: Security Requirements: Continued on next page – 11 – Example Of A Service Level Agreement Contract, Continued SECTION III: SERVICE ASSUMPTIONS The services and costs within this agreement are based on the assumptions below. Any assumption found invalid could have an effect on ability to meet service targets and/or costs charged for services. Changes to assumptions will be handled in accordance with the Service Change Control Procedure described in this agreement. The service assumptions included with this agreement are: SECTION IV: COSTSCOST FACTOR RULE AND CHARGES APPLIED ——————————- Anticipated Costs Per Period —————————-Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4 Continued on next page – 12 – Example Of A Service Level Agreement Contract, Continued SECTION V: CONTRACT MAINTENANCE Terms for Renegotiation Penalties/Rewards Service Level Reporting Responsibilities Service Problem Resolution Responsibilities Continued on next page – 13 – Example Of A Service Level Agreement Contract, Continued SECTION VI: DPC RESPONSIBILITIES DPC will provide IT Service Management to control the services described in this agreement.DPC will appoint a Service Manager who will have responsibility for: Coordinating DPC activities and responsibilities to address any service issues that may arise. Interfacing with the customer Service Contact for service issues and requests for service changes. With the customer Service Contact, administer the Service Change Control Procedure described in this agreement. Delivering service reports to the customer Service Contact. Maintain service communications and reviewing any service improvement actions and progress with the customer Service Contact during execution of this agreement on a regular basis.Continued on next page – 14 – Example Of A Service Level Agreement Contract, Continued SECTION VI: CUSTOMER RESPONSIBILITIES This section identifies the customer responsibilities associated with this agreement. DPC’s performance is predicated upon the responsibilities identified below. Prior to the start of this agreement, customer will designate a person, called the Service Contact to whom all DPC communications will be addressed and who has the authority to act for customer in all aspect s of this agreement.The responsibilities of the Customer Contact include: Serve as the interface between DPC and all customer departments participating included in the scope of this contract. With the DPC Service Manager, administer the Service Change Control Procedure as described in Section VII of this agreement. Attend service status meetings. Obtain and provide information, data, decisions and approvals, within 3 working days of DPC's request unless DPC and the customer agree to an extended response time. Resolve deviations from service assumptions which may be caused by customer.Help resolve service issues and escalate issues within customer’s organization, as necessary. The following responsibilities by appropriate customer personnel involved in this project are as follows: Continued on next page – 15 – Example Of A Service Level Agreement Contract, Continued SECTION VII: SERVICE CHANGE CONTROL PROCEDURE The following provides a detailed process to follow if a change to this agreement is required: A Request For Change (RFC) will be the vehicle for communicating change.The RFC must describe the change, the rationale for the change and the effect the change will have on the services. The designated contact of the requesting party will review the proposed change and determine whether to submit the request to the other party. The receiving contact will review the proposed change and approve it for further investigation or reject it within three (3) working days. The investigation will determine the effect that the implementation of the RFC will have on service targets, service charges and service assumptions related to this agreement.

Living in a multicultural society takes time Essay

‘Living in a multicultural society takes time.’ To what extend is this illustrated by the challenge of multicultural societies in the UK? (40) A multicultural society is the status of several different ethnic, racial, religious or cultural groups coexisting in harmony in the same society. From the early 19th century people have immigrated to England, developing its diversity. During World War 2 polish and Jewish people immigrated to the UK to escape fascism. Also as the UK is part of the European Union, free and fair movement between the 28 member states means that there are no limits on immigration between these countries. This has seen it compulsory for the UK to adapt and change in order to accommodate for these individuals. For different ethnic minorities to coexist in harmony time is imperative, groups of different people will never coexist harmoniously over night. This is evidenced by holiday and school timetables being altered for ethnic minority groups, opportuni ties for people to learn English for free and websites being available in other languages. The vast majority of immigrants to the UK have settled in the industrial cities and towns as there is a demand for workers. Consequently, councils then have to work to help integrate these ethnic minorities into the communities, limiting tensions that may occur as a result of groups of people lacking understanding of each other. For example, Birmingham city council has created a festival to promote and express culture within Birmingham. Using twitter and other social media they have emphasised ‘your postracial is a myth #itooambirmingham’ this is the idea that no matter what ethnic group you originate from are equal and almost labelling Birmingham as an ethnic group with no specific image. This integrates ethnic minorities in to society and creates a sense of community by almost blurring the lines between people differences. The process of integration takes time, therefore supporting the statement. However, some council’s are better than others at creating a sense of community and educating their population about different cultures; moreover councils are not literally able to force peo ple to be accepting of change. This issue can create racial tensions. In 2005 Riots started in Birmingham initially due to the alleged rape of a Jamaican girl. Violence erupted between gangs of Black and Asians; Isiah Young-Sam was stabbed and later died as a result. Even though Birmingham council have worked to create a sense of community between ethnic minorities, it did not stop gangs fighting for revenge. This  may suggest that council’s efforts are rendered ineffective and ethnic groups in society will never coexist harmoniously, because these groups still see themselves as different and don’t completely understand each other which consequently cause tensions. This racial violence can then cause other ethnic groups to resent the groups that were involved because they are seen as unpleasant trouble makers causing more of a divide. Furthermore, political parties like UKIP and the BNP feed off this negative image created and demonstrate intolerance towards others. In times of crisis people may lo ok to more extreme parties and favour them as they believe government is ineffective. Another issue that the UK faces due to the development of multicultural societies is in education. Holiday patterns, school meals and school timetable may need to be altered for ethnic minorities groups. Religious holidays may demand time off school, the English school holiday is based on the Christian calendar, but people of different religions such as Islam celebrate at different times. For example schools in Tower Hamlet are now allowed two days off to celebrate Eid. School meals have to be altered for Muslims as they can only eat Halah meat and no pork so an alternative needs to be given. Furthermore, prayers occur on Friday afternoons, in Oxford Spire Academy in Oxfordshire pupils are allowed to travel to the mosque on Cowley road during lunch to attend prayers, if they are too young to travel alone there is a prayer room located onsite. The school adapting to changes in requirements shows they are accepting of a multicultural society, it has taken time to cater for these differing ethnic minorities. On the other hand, faith schools have developed in some areas to teach children according to a particular religion. Faith schools make up around a third of the education system. This limits choice for parents who do not want a religious education for their children, or do not share the faith of their local school. For example, in hackney Lubavitch Senior Girls’ School is a strictly orthodox, small secondary school for girls only. Liberal secularists argue that faith schools have no place in a growing diverse population as they promote segregation. Children should be educated around others from all religions and cultures as it is a truer representation of society. Moreover, enclaves of ethnic minorities are likely to locate near a school of their own faith this demotes integration and interaction within the community, resulting in a lack of understanding of others which consequently can cause racial tensions. Conservative people would argue that parents should have the right to bring a child according to religion and they should be able to continue to practise the religion at school. Faith schools demote integration with others who do not share the same beliefs; this is evidence to show that as long as there is faith schools in the UK ethnic minorities will never coexist in harmony. In the 1970’s and 80’s ethnic minorities were subject to racial discrimination in the workplace. Racial discrimination is still present today but it is declining slowly, Of the Civil Service employees in March 2014 who declared their ethnicity, 10.1% were from an ethnic minority, an increase of 0.5 percentage points on March 2013. 7.5% of these people are of senior civil service. This suggests that the UK has changed and become more accepting of other ethnic minorities, giving them access to promotions and roles with more power. Some people would argue work places reflect society and there is still more work to do to protect ethnic minorities’ from discrimination and enable them to progress in their jobs. This slow change in decreasing racial discrimination has taken time and will continue to need help to completely abolish racial discrimination. Although, there are still incidents of worker exploitation and discrimination in the UK. A poultry farmer had to pay over  £5,000 in compensation to a Polish worker who also won a case of racial discrimination. The worker, who had not been paid the same as his British co-workers, was unreasonably criticised over his work and was not allowed to attend English classes. The Polish Embassy stated that number of Polish workers in Britain was between 500,000-600,000. The amount of polish migrants who have settled in the UK increased after Poland joined the European Union, as the minimum wage in Poland is half of the UK meaning workers are prepared to work for less and longer than a native British worker. This is appealing to an employer’s as low skilled jobs become cheap labour as the migrants are prepared to work for less, some companies then take advantage of this and there have been examples were breaks are not given or employees are being paid less than the minimum wage. This suggests that immigrants can be vulnerable and some don’t even realise that how they are being treated is wrong. It could be argued that ethnic groups will never live harmoniously as there will always be a way to exploit immigrants. On the other hand, if all immigrants were educated of their rights it would  make it a lot harder for employer’s to take advantage of them as the person would know right from wrong. Some UK-born people may completely disagree with the statement. This is because some unemployed may feel that the immigrants are ‘taking their jobs’ as they are prepared to work for less than them and an employer favours this and not investing in our country as they may be sending money back to their families. However others may argue that they are just benefit tourists and they have only come to live off the state as the welfare system in their country is not as generous. In times of crisis (housing, economic) anti-immigration parties feed of the negative image painted for immigrants and the people which have these crisis’s hit them the hardest may decide to support them. Parties like UKIP and the English Defence league promote intolerance towards others this can influence people to stop trying to accept other ethnic minorities. In conclusion, I think there are many challenges of multicultural societies in the UK and some are easier to overcome than others. I strongly believe that living in a multicultural society harmoniously does and will still take time. People need time to accept change and some people will never accept it but as time goes on generations are taught to be tolerant of others. Councils holding events to educate everyone about the different religions, cultures and ethnicity can bring a sense of community and help ethnic groups understand each other. However, I feel as if there will always be obstacles such as faith schools and scapegoating different groups of people but it is the attitudes of society towards these obstacles that will allow for everyone to coexist harmoniously.

Open Architechture a white paper

Open Architechture a white paper Free Online Research Papers Abstract: The purpose of this white paper is to provide a better understanding of how the United States Navy is implementing open architecture. This paper will introduce Naval Open Architecture (OA) and explain open architecture principles. The Problem: â€Å"In the past the Navy has acquired systems that, although they performed their functions and tasks exceedingly well, were unique in their designs and engineering; required unique parts, equipment, and services to support them; were supported by a limited number of suppliers; and became unaffordable to maintain. There are numerous instances, moreover, in which a system or platform was scrapped rather than upgraded or modernized because the cost to do so became prohibitive. Thus, the challenge for weapons systems designers and engineers is to take advantage of OA systems when it makes good warfighting and business sense to do so. When all is said and done, if an OA solution does not enhance our ability to meet mission needs at reduced costs, then it is probably not the solution we desire.† Source: Open Architecture in Naval Combat System Computing of the 21st Century, Network-Centric Applications by Captain Thomas J. Strei, USN, Deputy, Open Architecture Program Executive Office, Integrated Warfare System This paper will serve as a training paper and an introduction to Open Architecture What is Naval Open Architecture? Naval Open Architecture is defined as: A multi-faceted strategy providing a framework for developing joint, interoperable systems that adapt and exploit open system design principles and architectures. Enterprise Open Architecture (OA) is a pattern of nonfunctional requirements that can create and maintain more open and flexible complex systems. Organizations with large, complex systems are looking to OA to help manage complexity, increase flexibility, and reduce their costs. Satisfying the OA nonfunctional requirements (open standards, modularity, interoperability, extensibility, reusability, composability, and maintainability) in system design and implementation is essential to OA at the enterprise level. The Naval OA is a framework which includes a set of principles, processes, and best practices that: Provide more opportunities for competition Optimize total system performance Are easily developed and upgraded Minimize total ownership costs Rapidly field affordable, interoperable systems Employ non-proprietary standards for internal interfaces Enable component reuse The Internet is an excellent example of an open system. Anyone can develop applications that will run on the Internet because the publicly available standard interfaces, protocols, and defined functions are the gateway for participation. Multiple vendors provide the software and hardware for Internet use. The customer base drives the vendors success and market share, while creating defacto interoperability, upgradability, and portability of applications. Source: Open Architecture in Naval Combat System Computing of the 21st Century, Network-Centric Applications by Captain Thomas J. Strei, USN, Deputy, Open Architecture Program Executive Office, Integrated Warfare System Software development and complex system development have tried to achieve the simplicity and flexibility of plug and play for a long time. The economic effects of open architecture’s, such as the original IBM PC and the World Wide Web, show the value of an OA as an enabler of rapid technological adoption and improvement. OA is often cited for providing several valuable business results: Rapid adoption of technology Greater flexibility in business processes and technical infrastructure Easier test and integration Rapid improvement in technology capability and performance Reduced system lifecycle cost through: Increased competition Easier maintenance and upgrades More skilled practitioners Greater component reuse Why is the Navy looking to implement Open Architecture? The world in which the Navy operates today is a significant departure from the environment dominated by Cold War tactics and the operational strategy of the last quarter of the 20th Century. Power is no longer measured just in terms of hard assets and strike capability. New threats are emerging everyday and adversaries are leveraging the commercial market to rapidly develop new and unconventional weapons. At the same time, Navy missions are expanding. The Navy is more engaged in global maritime security, humanitarian missions, warfighter operations, coalition operations and protecting our homeland. Existing business issues that are causing the Navy to require open architecture In an era of strenuous competition for dollars, the Navy is continuously challenged with a host of budget decisions. Previously the legacy approach to systems acquisition locked the Navy into inflexible acquisition strategies with single systems and vendors that limit the services options for competition and innovation. The Navy has learned that limited competition impedes innovation; OA provides options for greater competition and inclusion of innovators. Procured systems are not affordable throughout the life cycle due to the expense not only in development, but also in maintenance. Without OA there is little to no asset reuse takes place across the enterprise. Technical issues that are causing the Navy to look to OA Procurement of monolithic systems using legacy processes produces incompatible systems that are not interoperable. Naval software is closely coupled (integral) to the computing hardware platforms. Special-use code and modules that cannot be reused across the Navy are considered artifacts of the legacy approach to systems acquisition. Increases (and resulting life cycle cost growth) of hardware and software baselines have resulted in upgrade processes to closed systems. Where does the Navy hope to go with OA? Implementing OA across the enterprise will enable warfighting functions. By utilizing OA, standards-based solutions will enable common, interoperable capabilities to be fielded more rapidly, more affordably and enable more effective technology insertion. Naval enterprise-wide business plans are based on a cost/capability analysis of programs that address capability, affordability, and stabilization. There is a requirement for more flexible acquisition strategies and contracts. This will enable the Navy to reuse software, easily upgrade systems, and share data throughout the enterprise. It is time for a streamlined approach for investments in similar capabilities. Along with a streamlined approach, the Navy expects to see increased competition that will foster innovation and leverage technology upgrades across the enterprise. The technical implementation of OA across the enterprise yields some technical challenges. The Navy seeks layered and modular open architectures that will address portability, maintainability, interoperability, upgradeability and long-term supportability. The OA approach brings modular, open designs consisting of components that are self-contained elements with well-defined interfaces. Maximum use of commercial standards and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products will assure systems that continuously conform to Information Assurance (IA) requirements. How does Open Architecture benefit the Fleet and Other Organizations? Performance Continuous competition yields best of breed applications and allows for a focus on warfighting priorities. Schedule System integration of OA compliant software happens quickly and allows for more rapid updates driven by operational cycles. Cost Avoidance Mechanisms Where software is concerned, develop once, use often, upgrade as required. Where hardware is concerned, use high volume COTS products at an optimum price. Training systems should use same tactical applications and COTS hardware. Design for Maintenance Free Operating Periods Install adequate processing power to support minimal maintenance. Replacements should be pulled from improved COTS versus maintaining old hardware. Reduce maintenance training that has been required in the past. Consolidate development and operational testing for reused applications. Risk Reduction Deploy less (but better than existing) performance or wait until the next update. Compliance Issues Directives that apply to Open Architecture The DoDD 5000.1 directs: A modular, open systems approach shall be employed, where feasible. In a memo, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (USD ATL) amplified DoDD 5000.1s direction, stating that: It is the DoD’s intent to use open architectures to rapidly field affordable systems that are interoperable in the joint battle space All programs subject to milestone review must brief their Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) implementation to their Milestone Decision Authority The Open Systems Joint Task Force (OSJTF) is the designated lead for the MOSA effort What is Assistant Secretary of the Navy (ASN) (Research, Development Acquisition (RDA) Policy Guidance? ASNs Memo set out OA policy, established an OA Enterprise Team (OAET), and assigned its roles and responsibilities: Lead the Navy Enterprise to OA implementation Provide OA Systems Engineering leadership to Program Executive Offices (PEOs), industry partners, Joint Organizations, Navy Warfare Centers and other participating organizations Provide the forum and process by which cross domain OA proposals and solutions are reviewed and approved Oversee OA implementation efforts ensuring standardized and disciplined processes are utilized across domains Identify cross-domain components and opportunities for cost reduction and reuse Leverage technical, business, and organizational solutions from all participating communities OA precepts require naval warfare systems be independent from underlying Commercial Off-the-Shelf computing plants and that modular systems design shall be followed What are Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV)’s OA Principles? OPNAV has cited five principles of OA that must be followed in order to garner its advantages: Modular design and disclosure Reusable application software Interoperable joint warfighting applications and secure information exchange Life cycle affordability Encouraging competition and collaboration through development of alternative solutions and sources These five principles relate to and implement a Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) within the Naval Enterprise National Security Systems. What is Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA)? Modular design is a design where functionality is partitioned into discrete, cohesive, and self-contained units with well-defined interfaces that enable substitution of such units with similar components or products from alternate sources with minimum impact on existing units. Design Disclosure is the process by which information is made available to all qualified parties to enable them to participate in the competitive process. It is important to emphasize that to be effective, design disclosure must take place early in the design process and provide for frequent refreshment over time (early and often disclosure). Design disclosure enables the implementation of collaboration and competition throughout the life cycle of the system. MOSA Compliance DoD: A modular open systems approach is required by DoD Directive 5000.1 and the USD (ATL) Memo* Navy: The ASN (RDA) OA Policy Memo requires that all future warfare systems must follow a modular open systems design Navy: Modular design is one of OPNAVs OA principles The Vision MOSA is an integral part of acquisition strategies in order to achieve affordable, evolutionary, and joint combat capability. The MOSA approach is both a business and technical strategy for developing a new system or modernizing an existing one. Modular design and design disclosure permits evolutionary design, technology insertion, competitive innovation, and alternative competitive approaches from multiple qualified sources. Furthermore, modular design is a fundamental principle that enables other activities. Design disclosure is a crucial tenet of the OA business process. Design disclosure makes data related to the design of a component, sub-system or system available to qualified recipients. This data is sufficient to allow the third party to develop and produce a competitive alternative. This is an integral part of the toolset that will help DoD to achieve its goal of providing the joint combat capabilities required for 21st century warfare, including supporting and evolving these capabilities over their total life cycle. Asset Reuse Reuse is the practice of leveraging components from one system or environment for use in other systems or environments, with no change or minimal change to the component. OA enables reuse through business practices such as contractual strategies that encourage integrators/innovators to seek and provide reusable components. Innovators should seek out technical practices that enable the development of reusable components, including development of data models, use of open standards and common run-time infrastructures. Asset reuse is facilitated by: Peer review processes that consider best of breed from various vendors and other systems Repository capabilities that enable market research for discovery of existing products that have similar mission requirements Community of interest and product line approaches that build on existing products to provide for similar capabilities where needed For the purpose of Naval OA, reuse means both importing and exporting components across domains or programs. Reuse of components by a single vendor in multiple products does not fulfill the intent of OA reuse. Reusable assets include not only software, but other items, such as models, designs, algorithms, and even contract language or acquisition documentation. Software reuse can be applied at a variety of levels: Application Algorithm Architecture Design Reuse concepts can be extended to other reusable items Contract language Acquisition documentation Training materials Interoperable Joint Warfighting Applications and Secure Information Exchange Interoperable joint warfighting applications and secure information exchange must be created using common services (e.g., common time reference) common warfighting applications and information assurance as intrinsic design elements. Interoperability is defined as the ability of two or more systems or components to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged. [IEEE 90] Open architecture enables interoperability through common data models and the use of open standards. Secure Information Exchange According to the Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction [CJCSI 3170.01E], Information Assurance is defined as: Information operations that protect and defend information and information systems by ensuring their availability, integrity, authentication, confidentiality and non-repudiation, this includes providing for restoration of information systems by incorporating protection, detection and reaction capabilities. To assist in assuring the protection of information a program called net-ready key performance parameter (NR-KPP) has been implemented. NR-KPP assesses information needs, information timeliness, information assurance and net-ready attributes required for both the technical exchange of information and the end-to-end operational effectiveness of that exchange. Protecting information is vital to implementing open architecture. Life cycle affordability Life cycle affordability plays an important part in program decisions throughout the Life cycle. Even before a program is formally approved for initiation, affordability plays a key role in the identification of capability needs. Life cycle affordability is achieved by application of OA practices in system design, development, delivery, and support. In choosing systems it is important to remember that a system that meets performance requirements, but if the system is not reliable, maintainable, and supportable then it becomes a liability to the warfighter. Affordability also is achieved by exploiting the Rapid Capability Insertion Process/Advanced Processor Build (RCIP/APB) methodology to mitigate COTS obsolescence. When considering life cycle cost you must consider the total cost of acquisition and ownership of a system over its useful life. This includes the cost of development, acquisition, support, and disposal. OA promotes reduction in life cycle costs through a variety of ways. One of the primary ways is through the ability to leverage the commodity nature of COTS computing to achieve greater processing power at less cost. Another way is by decoupling system components to enable addressing capability addition or maintenance at the module level, versus the system level. Leveraging reuse of components and applications to reduce maintenance and development costs where similar mission needs exist is a third way to reduce life cycle costs. A fourth way to reduce life cycle costs is by increasing the vendor pool thus increasing the potential for competition at most levels of the work breakdown structure. This increases competition and drives down cost and promotes innovation. The development of alternative solutions and sources encourages competition and collaboration. Since competition leads to innovation, in order to better differentiate themselves from others and thus win contracts, companies must continue to develop better and better technology. Collaboration leads to better systems as each company contributes its strength or niche component to the overall deliverable. The contractors are rewarded when the whole system performs to expectations, not just their component. Rapid Capability Acquisition An open modular approach, in concert with OA business methods, enables a rapid acquisition cycle. Early and often design disclosure and a peer review process facilitate ongoing competition and innovation. Software reuse and leveraging of common applications shortens cycle time and reduces life cycle cost. Modular design facilitates COTS refreshment and obsolescence mitigation. Rapid capability insertion gets new capability to the warfighter more quickly. When are OA principles going to be applied? OA principles are to be applied to all new programs and to in-service programs, as appropriate New programs born open In-service (existing) programs may apply OA principles, as appropriate to their System requirements Remaining service life Potential for change either due to maintenance or new requirements The selection of OA attributes and component reuse approaches is determined by the Program Manager in cooperation with the sponsor Determine as-is and to-be state of OA attributes Conduct business case analysis to document the choice of appropriate courses of action Five Principles Applied in Concert to Achieve OA When modular design, interoperable applications, reusable application software, competition and collaboration, secure information exchange, and life cycle affordability are used together they become open architecture. They are all important on their own, but when combined they lock together to support each other and form a matrix that enhances the core strength of the Navy and Marine Corps. Remember the five principles, not as individual stand-alone components but as a system that has five integral parts that center around Open Architecture. Together they make the Navy and Marine Corps a more effective military force. Summary Naval Open Architecture is the confluence of business and technical practices yielding modular, interoperable systems that adhere to open standards with published interfaces. This approach significantly increases opportunities for innovation and competition while enabling reuse of components, facilitating rapid technology insertion and reducing maintenance constraints. OA delivers increased warfighting capabilities in a shorter time at reduced cost. This initiative is a key enabler and pillar of DoD focus on joint architectures and evolutionary acquisition. By adopting OA principles throughout the Naval enterprise today, the Navy can build modular, affordable, future national security systems designed to meet the future needs of warfighters. These systems will also be able to readily incorporate insertion of new technologies from a broad range of industry partners. However, as the CNO states, â€Å"The Navy will remain powerful †¦ by exploiting cutting edge technology.† The Navy must identify our path forward. This strategy lays out the Navy’s vision, goals, and objectives to implement OA across the enterprise. This document presents three overarching high level Naval OA goals and supporting objectives. Underlying activities and work products are detailed in the implementation plan. Research Papers on Open Architechture a white paperBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfThe Project Managment Office SystemRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalDefinition of Export QuotasUnreasonable Searches and SeizuresNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married Males

Different from, Different to, Different than

Different from, Different to, Different than Different from, Different to, Different than Different from, Different to, Different than By Maeve Maddox We all have our pet grammar peeves, usages that, when we hear them, affect us like the sound of a fingernail against a chalkboard. Ill bet Im not the only one who shudders to hear sentences like these: A boxer is different than a Doberman. This car is different to that one. Yet, are these usages really incorrect? According to the entry for different from, different to, different than at Bartleby.com, These three have been usage items for many years. All are Standard and have long been so (different to is limited to British English, however), but only different from seems never to meet objections. Elements of Style weighs in against different than: Here logic supports established usage: one thing differs from another, hence, different from. Or, other than, unlike. From H.W. Fowler comes this pronouncement: That different can only be followed by from and not by to is a superstition. He points out that writers of all ages have used different to. He does not mention the use of different than. It would seem, then, that any of the three is acceptable. Nevertheless, the concluding advice at Bartleby.com agrees with my own: for Formal and Oratorical levels: stick with different from. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Creative Writing 10150 Synonyms for â€Å"Idea†25 Idioms About Bread and Dessert

Managing Employee Relations in Contemporary Organisations Essay - 1

Managing Employee Relations in Contemporary Organisations - Essay Example To gain political millage the unions were supported and integrated into legislation in the 1900s. Workers union were the largest change to impact employee relations, in the political excerpt, causing indulgence of employee employer relations into acts of governance to protect every party. Unions impacted on politics based on the collective power member had and the power therein in swinging the vote. The workers in the British society, as it is with other societies, have always influenced political ambitions. In politics, the aim involved is getting the majority vote and this can only be obtained by having favour with different groups. Different workers and their categories can easily influence the vote of a given region by aligning with a particular context that favours them. This is the case with governance in the UK with trade unions having been initially illegal, legalized and then instituted in the constitution such that workers favoured the governance that provided rights and be tter working terms and conditions. Economic context In the economic sense, managing employee relations experienced changes through the growth of the Human Resource Management programs. The unions were vessels in which the employees made their demands. At first, the unions were destructive and mostly were expensive to the economic sector, with destruction and looting of property. Legalizing the unions saw members initialize a standard under which employee relations were approached in groups as opposed to individuals. Adoption of different employee relation strategies in the twentieth century, abandoning of unions, allowed the employers to make bargains with individual employees based on their capacities and responsibilities (Hardy and Leiba-O’Sullivan, 1998, p. 455). Economically, agreements with individuals are less costly compared to having to strike deals with unions. The working class is a fundamental group economically in the UK. The input by the workers in most cases det ermines the output or productivity of a region. The employee relations thus affect various economic concepts such as the GDP, GNP, Exports as well as Imports. Initially, before the industrial revolution, productivity was based on human resources and overworking was a common occurrence, but its increase came to be in the industrial revolution. During the era, the merchants and producers realized that by incorporating machine, productivity increased twofold and that meant more working hours for the employees. Employers introduced shifts and targets for every worker straining the relations as it was affected by the degree of comfort with the jobs. In the revolution, economic increases were recorded but it was soon followed by an outcry by the working forces, which led to unions to fight against oppression. Adopting new employee relation strategies after unions privatized the matters of employment as modern terms of work are negotiated based on personal responsibilities and performance. Social context Socially changes in employee relations have seen an increase in productivity. Changes from unionisation to HRM have seen employees take on more responsibilities within organisations. Socially allocation of responsibilities to workers has improved relations between employer and employee. Unions’ responsibilities included taking on blames by actions purported to have been by their members. Individual members in unions had little sense of

Managing Preformance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Managing Preformance - Essay Example The important aspect in managing performance is the leadership skills that can be enhanced alongside attitudes, interpersonal skills and behaviours.(Abbey,2007). It helps to retain and maintain people who embody the basic human capital of the organizations as they are the one responsible for the execution of the strategic plans of the business. (Abbey,2007). This essay includes the analysis of the issues in managing performance by citing cases in an organization that involves performance management. The views and opinions of several organizations about the affectivity of the management are cited. The disadvantage and advantages of the performance management are enumerated to further support the importance of such management. Based on the studies that will be presented in this essay effective performance management will result in an increase in sales and greater profitability. Managing performance involves the evaluation of the employee and an appropriate compensation for the job. Companies and managers have conflicting ideas about this. In the study done by Harris (2001), it involves two phases. It is about the argument that the importance of managerial values and assumptions about rewarding individual performance has been an overlooked and underestimated dimension in the design and application of individual performance-related pay processes (IPRP). ... ' perspective on the effectiveness of performance-related pay processes in terms of encouraging the types of behaviours employers stated they were seeking from their employees. The study done by Harris (2001) wants to prove that a well compensated employee will result in a well done job and thus increases the output and the profitability of the company. It is the responsibility of the managers to fill in the gap between the missing links of aspirations and results, by motivating their employees, through management of their performance.(Abbey,2007). The organizations are aware that the success of the strategy is dependent on the effort and capabilities of their employees to implement the strategy that makes all the difference to their flourishing business.(Abbey,2007). In the study done by Harris (2001), 78 percent of respondents identified a non publicized objective which is to increase employee commitment and improve individual motivation through a fairer reward system more focused on business objectives. This was referred to by the study as an official agenda. Another objective identified as an hidden agenda was concerned with the control aspects of performance management system, which changing the culture, making managers manage, dealing with issues of under-performance, reducing staffing levels and costs while increasing workloads. Another important objective is to increase the potential of an organization, in order to achieve its strategy; it is important that organization develops and creates the capabilities of its employees. Effective people management is the only key to improve the businesses performance. The most important purpose of Performance Management is to increase the effectiveness of the employees. This should be done, in order to improve the