Costco Wholesale Essay Example for Free

Costco Wholesale Essay 1. Executive Summary Costco Wholesale Corporation founded in 1983 by Jim Sinegal in Seatle Washington with a vision mission â€Å"to continually provide members with quality of goods and services at the lowest possible price control inventory.† Part of their strategy include direct buying relationship that ensures an efficient strong SC management, high standard staffing plans, high quality products at lower prices and assessable to members who are considered more loyal. Efforts are made to develop strategic options in line with these strategies while focusing on the supply chain parameters that span from order placement to receipt of goods at the warehouse and made available to customers in the warehouse shop floor using the most cost effective processes in order to ensure they support the mission of the company. By assessing Costco’s external opportunities and threats as well as the internal strengths and weaknesses (using SWOT Porter’s Five Forces analysis), one can infer they are doing well within their industry. More options were generated to increase sales and awareness of the retail warehouses. The report concludes with recommendations for Costco to sustain it’s market edge and advance by expanding into the European Asian markets more as their presence is still very weak in these regions as well as add other services goods to their already existing list. 2. Introduction Costco Wholesale Corporation founded in 1983 within the retail industry is the largest warehouse club in the world based on sales volume. A major wholesale business offering three levels of membership and the largest wholesale club operator in the US with membership/warehouse locations spread across Asia, Europe, North South America with headquarters based in Washington, US. Their main competitors operating membership warehouses include Sam’s Club BJ’s wholesale club. Jim Sinegal, the founder defines the company vision as â€Å"giving the best to the customer at the best value possible†. Here best value (in quality of goods services offered) at low prices are the driving force. Costco backs up it’s products with a return policy within a time frame of average 90 days, a highly endearing attraction to it’s members. The business model focuses on low prices volume purchase in order to achieve profit at low margin with stores offering discounts on an average of 4,000 products out of which roughly a thousand are ‘treasure hunt’ referring to goods that are scarcely available for purchase always. Volume purchase from few vendors yielding further reduction in price and lowers cost in marketing. With low prices, quality goods in limited selection based on forecast lead to quick turnover in inventory. The high volume purchase and efficient network distribution yield efficiency in operations for Costco. With a stipulated membership fee, Costco warehouses are designed to help small to medium size businesses reduce purchasing costs as well as serving large families with the goods packaged in bulk ranging from alcoholic beverages, electronics, fresh food/produce, household office supplies, pharmaceuticals tires. Also available are special memberships with services like car home insurance, m ortgage and real estate services, and packages for travels. 3.Purpose and Main Areas Of the Research (Concepts Techniques) Analyzing the supply chain operations at Costco wholesales, in line with the business focus while limiting to it’s supply chain operations strategy for maintaining a competitive edge as it relates to SC operations (from sourcing to arrival on pallets and or display at their various warehouses racks), their challenges and options for improvement will be the focus of this report. The following issues will form questions that will give a frame for this report: †¢ What are the key issues facing Costco in line with (efficient) Supply Chain Operations? †¢ What would be options to compete with these issues?  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Which options best suits the business focus and would yield better growth financially? The sections thereafter will consider trying to answer the questions above by applying SWOT analysis (see appendix 1) and Porter’s five forces framework (see appendix 2). Areas needing improvement will be obvious from such, options that would generate better performance after localizing issues peculiar to Costco. These would ultimately lead to clear recommendations for Costco’s improvement. Due to inaccessibility of authentic and current data for successive years on sales, further analysis could not be carried out to compare Costco for accurate sales assessment in the last three years or compare with the other two leading club wholesalers (Sam’s BJs). Identifying, analyzing key parameters with Supply chain operations processes at Costco and suggest areas of possible improvement. Inventory Management: Since good are moved straight to the selling floor and inventory is not held by Costco but managed by vendors, inventory labor cost of handling is avoided. In their meat grocery section for instance, they focus on low-price high volume strategies hence, Costco carry very limited amounts of grocery perishables whereas Wal-Mart is known to have weakness in the area of perishables (Petrak, 2006) Partnership/Collaboration with suppliers: Costco has buying relationships with many producers of national brands and are supplied directly from suppliers routing to the warehouses of docking points that serve as distribution points. Partnership market is an attribute of Costco, for instance by partnering with American Express to create a Costco-AMEX credit card, discounts cash cards as offered to customers while Costco markets Amex cards, thereby helping them to acquire more customers. Distribution Strategies/Transportation: The redesign of product packages to fit into pallets and thereby maximize space has led to reduction of trucks used to transport goods. Cross-docking of goods by delivering directly to Costco stores while some are kept in the distribution centers saves a lot of time cost along the SC. Utilization of buzzers for truck drives at delivery points to indicate when trucks have been unloaded can save time as against the truck driver’s physical movement within the warehouse is a time saver. Their warehouses are not situated on prime locations hence cost is saved from unnecessary high property cost; again, they own over 80% of the warehouses. Green Logistics: Costco Kirkland signature has launched eco friendly cleaning products. It maximizes the use of solar power in it’s warehouses, it’s delivery trucks are better packaged to allow maximization of space so as to reduce fleets of transportation and hence environmental pollution. Energy is better conserved with timed lighting and construction of warehouses that can maximize skylight during the day. Food products are packaged in recyclable and more environmentally friendly materials. Customers are paid to recycle their old electronics at the green sight. Information Technology: This retailer prides itself in it’s connection of all warehouses to the headquarters in Washington. By using the EFIM which provides real time information, manages control systems and inventory management system. The ECR is used to achieve profitability, improvement in efficiency, logistics, procurement and overall cost control. Kumar (2008) records that approximately $6 billion in a year is lost in the USA by supermarkets due to out of stock products among 25 top retailers as a result of inefficiency in their logistics. Vertical Integration: Costco practices a partial vertical integration with it’s cross-dock distribution. By gaining control of either its inputs or its outputs or both in sourcing directly from suppliers they have more control over innovation delivery of those services. Cost is also reduced which is ultimately transferred to customers. Further optimization of operational performance through SC operations options that can sustain a competitive edge and improve customer satisfaction through service improvement and cost reduction. 4. Description Of The Separate Areas 4.1Description of The SC Operations Performance Improvement. The measurement of SC performance can be based on profit, customer service or sales maximization (Chow, 1994). While the traditional method majorly measured product costs, identification of costs related to customer service is key. Elimination of various extraneous costs like plastic shopping bags, fewer shop floor staff, limited product variety brands on shelf and also slowing down on capital expenditure like expansion, Costco has been able to focus on improving buying power for achieving greater output. Since inventory rates are quickly turned over, payments to suppliers is fast tracked hence they are able to benefit from discounted early payments. Cost is involved in sourcing products from suppliers, shipment to depots warehouses, distribution to warehouses storage in inventory. By considering the concept of avoidable cost (possibly considering packaging storage), efforts can be made to improve on SC performance by implementing better SC integration program. Partnering with more suppliers and or service providers for better flow of operations as well as building keener competition can enhance better efficiency leading to more profit in the long run. More side business services can be added at Costco like money order and cash transfers to attract more customers and make Costco a one stop store. Aside from email messages being sent to existing members on promotions, greater awareness can create a more organized means to lure more customers on the expanding array of products services such that new more revenue streams are attained. 4.2 Issues Affecting Supply Chain and Possible Solutions Analysis of SC at Costco using SWOT analysis (appendix 1) reveals Costco is doing really well. Growth opportunities exist for business by entering the European Asian markets as these have not been exploited. From present methods of operations, the high staff salary and low margins maintenance amongst other issues need to be looked into for future prospects. The aging and close exit of the CEO along with growing competition and other threats in intended foreign markets such as political and religious wars, foreign exchange bank issues are threats to consider. In dealing with these issues, it will be important to assess briefly lead time management, product handling, transportation, quality, inventory as well as possible process solutions. Where possible, promotions should be done to enhance more sales though with the low prices and already highlighted low margin high employee, this may eat into the profitability but if well planned can create more publicity for the company which can yield quick inventory turnover. Since low overhead tight operation is the practice, better savings can be passed on to customers in form of promotion or otherwise. Exploration of overseas market is still a strong force and will yield greater profit considering the existing reputation Costco has and understudying how business is executed in such regions. Development of more private labels on wider product range and increased focus on customer loyalty programs are worth considering as well. It is advisable the board of management put in place a business plan before the exit/retirement of the CEO. Porters Five Forces analysis (see appendix 2) could identify an overall attractive industry, with the following power and threat situation: The buyer power was determined to have a positive potential impact on Costco business as it portray that buyers have the requisite level of expendable incomes to provide effective demand for goods services. In a similar manner, low threat of new entrants and substitute products portray an attractive industry whereas moderate internal rivalry and supplier power have a positive impact on Costco operations as it kept the company alert and devoid of complacency. 4.3 Analyzing The Contribution Of SCOM to Competitive Business Performance To further highlight the role of SCOM in enhancing business performance and maintaining a competitive edge, a few activities like volume purchasing, efficient packaging distribution, supplier integration customer integration have contributed to give a close picture of Costco capabilities and business level performance with each activity having unique benefits and detriments. Again, constant review of SCM practices may further help management in Costco to further match demand with SC requirements like efficient, lean SC (Cook et al , 2011). Their Network design, JIT resource planning distribution, optimization of transport replenishment policies have impacted positively and should be subject to constant review for sustaining a competitive edge. 5. Conclusion Finally, it is believed that some useful contributions are being developed to improve supply chain and it’s operation in line with the objective of Costco in delivering quality at lowest cost to customers on time with the aim of sustaining a more competitive advantage. Some useful SC options have been suggested above which support these objectives. While the ultimate goal remains to sustainably increase market share by achieving more qualitative growth and at the same time expand on the earning base through exploitation of the European market and already existing markets, Mascarehas et al (2004) adds that â€Å"competitive advantage must be won again and again† in other words, giving the current ever changing business world we live in, customer tastes and priorities are changing hence the need for Costco to be better positioned in order to respond always to it’s members needs while expanding on new fronts.

Enhancement Of Computer Literacy In Primary Students Education Essay

Enhancement Of Computer Literacy In Primary Students Education Essay INTRODUCTION 1. Commencement of use of Information and Communication Technology have been re-engineering almost all the fields of human life from basic needs like communicating with friend living abroad to fundamental needs like education, health and governance. That is not only a technological evolution but also a social revolution that enforces the primary students, to discover new habits, innovative morals and production of new life systems, so that to adapt with global change in human culture and life style. Our education system also to be formulate to meet this concept and to be aligned with this new technology. Hence, the innovative distribution of Information Communication Technology (ICT) for education of primary students is becoming compulsive need since the professionalism is the backbone that could change the culture and the society in time to time towards create outstanding living condition expected by the people. 2. Today, it is extremely important that a primary student should be competent with coherence in the area of computers and technology. It is impossible to be successful in todays job market and high tech lifestyle, if our primary students are failed for timely educate as early as possible to suit the existing requirement to this subject. 3. The computer literacy is now an essential tool that all students must be familiar with in order to complete their routine studies and focusing for future job demand. Whatever our job; Teacher, Planner, Lawyer, Accountant or Salesperson; computer literacy are mandatory them to succeed. Primary students are also need to gain certain level of computer literacy in order to complete basic every day skills to face our future society. In Central Colleges in Sri Lanka most of the primary students are aware with computer studies but they have to use it in a way to achieve mandatory results need for join the future world and join the future community. 4. The use of the internet facility is highly required skill for students and they are to thoroughly master it definitely. Computer literacy and Internet are almost one; in the same thing usually one isnt mentioned without the other tagging along. Without the Internet, there would be no way to instantly find the name of a famous book your favorite writer was in five years ago. Primary students will need to be familiar with the Internet in all types of educational methods whether it is research on any topic or surfing for information. For this purpose primary students need to know what a search engine is and how it works, what a keyword is and how it works, how to open a browser and how to use a link, etc. The Internet is a huge wealth of information that every students should take advantage for gather information skills. There are web sites that will help primary students to find educational tours by posting their resume online. Online skills allow primary students to learn and share social, cultural, environmental facts of other countries, people and religions. Many secondary level students today are now getting their degree online in the comfort of their own homes on their own schedule. Its amazing how today with a couple of clicks, every student can go anywhere in the world in two, three seconds without leaving their computer. 5. Promotion of computer literacy is one of the most essential areas in education. The important role which it plays is intellectual, social, emotional and spiritual development of children. The students normally use sensory perceptions to know his immediate surroundings. It is automatically widens his vision. The computer literacy skills of students are not a one time experience. It is a continuous lifetime experience. It is accepted that a proper skills of Computer Literacy has to be inculcated and nurtured in the early years of age. 6. It must be distinguished as the ability to work with understanding and appreciation. In Sri Lanka computer is mostly a Information Communication Technological skill which is brought about by brute repetition of a given stimulus together with the appropriate response. It is a matter of some doubt whether all children have acquired the ability to learn in the genuine sense, by the time they have reached school leaving age. It needs at least four years to attain the computer skill and is it reasonable to expect these children who drop out after primary level to sustain that skill afterwards? Computer literacy is a not a severe complex process. It is an average simple skill which once learned, can be increased with referral to the Information Technological contented publications. CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY AIM 1. This paper will emphasis and analyze why the children are not skilled in Computer Literacy and for examine the factors which determine computer literacy in children and what steps have to be taken for the enhancement of computer literacy and information technological skills in primary school children in Central Colleges in Sri Lanka. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 2. It is required to study of Primary level students of Central Colleges computer literacy and the present environment to enhance their capabilities in computer literacy. In this research need to focus on their Computer educational system and clarify the difficulties and the to the mechanism that they required to strengthen the computer literacy, information technology aspects, as considering the future job opportunities that can be gained by primary students in Central Colleges Sri Lanka. 3. The question is at present scenario is ,the primary school students in Central Colleges in Sri Lanka have not been able to acquire the required standard of Computer literacy, and information technology to enhance their minimum skills required in Computer field. 4. This paper will identify and analyze why the Computer Literacy in primary students is dwindling, the factors which determine literacy and suggest recommendation for the promotion of mechanism that needs to enhance skills, knowledge in primary level students. RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS 5. Mechanism will be strengthening to face the future job demand. In this aspect is to be achieved in a way of researching experimental computer study of guidance in formulation with Government educational policies on Information Technology for enhancement of Computer Literacy of primary students in Central Colleges SCOPE OF STUDY The scope of this research focused on the primary students in Grade 1 to Grade 5, their teachers and principals are to extract their ideas by questionnaire and interviews. Also the research will analyze educational specialists personal views on what should be the background surrounding the primary school children to promote their Computer literacy. The anonymity of the researcher was maintained by asking questions from certain group heads and teachers under the name of a consented individual. The purpose was to eliminate biased answers which may be given as a result of the fact that the questions are presented by a known IT instructor. This is also to investigate any differences in response for the same questions based on computer literacy. This method is adopted as the topic is of sensitive nature and based entirely on individual attitudes. METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION 7. Data collection methods are as follows. a. Primary source. (1) Primary source of information were collected by interviewing IT educationists and heads of schools. (2) Further data collection done by a questionnaire prepared for the primary school students and their teachers. b. Secondary sources. Books, paper articles and websites used as the secondary sources of information. CHAPTER ORGANIZATION The thesis is structured as follows : a. CHAPTER I Introduction b. CHAPTER II Methodology CHAPTER III Computer Literacy of Primary Students in Central Colleges (1) Computer literacy introduction of primary students (2) Present literacy skills and IT environment of primary students CHAPTER IV Weather educational support and the required guidance and assistance will provide to enhance the computer literacy How teachers adopt educational method to improve computer literacy of students through policies of educational department. How the other aspects on infrastructure facilities given to improve on computer literacy of primary students (3) Enhancement of Computer literacy and IT Skills of Students i Learning interests of students ii Students interests in internet iii College IT Environment iv Teachers opinion about Computer literacy CHAPTER V Impact of Computer Literacy for primary students at Central Colleges and future Job demand at society (1). How the computer literacy help to increase job demand for future society (2). Increase job demands and the computer literacy as main educational aspects of needs in primary students. CHAPTER VI Reasons behind the inefficiency of present practices on computer studies of students. Why the basic computer needs cannot preserve the computer education at Central Colleges Present skills of students and personal interest on computer literacy of primary students. Education level of primary students in line with present technology changes behind computer educational systems. Awareness studies and competency of teachers on newly introduced software systems and theories on computer studies. Other aspects that can be used to increase the computer studies. The malfunction exist in routine and system stability on computer studies of students Advantages and disadvantages of utilizing adequate study hours for increase computer literacy. CHAPTER VI CHAPTER VII j. CHAPTER VIII CHAPTER III LANGUAGE APTITUDE OF PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN 1. Language is a process that helps people to express themselves and to make effective social relationship among people all over the world. It is through language that people could acquire information to improve their basic needs such as health habits, consciousness, scientific changes and different types of skills to earn a living. Piaget, the renowned physiologist believed that the real key to human intellectual development, conceptual development, is language. Language is the most effective mode of communication. The lack of language ability often hinders ones progress.  [1]  The language aptitude and literacy performance of the primary level indicates the standards of childrens reading habits and information skills. LANGUAGE LEARNING OUTCOME IN SRI LANKA 2. Sri Lanka has attained the first generation education objective of providing widespread access to primary education (grades 1-5). However one major challenge that the country has to overcome is the moderate level of learning achievement in language proficiency among primary school children.  [2]   3. According to recent studies carried out by NIE and NEREC, University of Colombo only between 35 to 38 per cent of primary school students have achieved standard level of their mother tongue (Annex B). This is a serious constraint to further learning, as all subsequent studies will draw on the childs mother tongue capability. 4. There is a considerable difference in the achievement of mastery level in their first language between urban and rural schools. According to the above studies more than 40 per cent of urban children achieve mastery level in their mother language contrast to below 34 per cent in rural areas. Also more than 1/3 of pupils have failed to achieve standard level for their mother language. This shows the dwindling of reading habits and information skills among primary school children. 5. The regional disparity in achieving mastery level in first language is clearly shown in Table III.I. 41.24 per cent of Western province Grade 5 students achieve mastery level in contrast to 42.40 percent in Uva province students have failed to achieve the required standard level. This shows how the availability of physical and human resources affects performance. Mastery = 80% 100% Non Mastery = 0 59% Table III.I Achieving mastery levels in literacy in Grade 5 by provincial levels Source Performance of Grade 5 students in literacy and numeracy NIE LITERACY SKILLS OF CHILDREN 5. According to the research project on development of language skills among primary school children carried out by NLDC (Annex C), the overall performance of Grade 2 pupils is satisfactory. There is hardly any disparity between districts or among school types. 6. The Grade 4 assessment revealed disparity in performance among the districts and between school types. AAVG level schools show highest performance while SS level schools show poor performance. These variations in performance pin-point the inequalities in distribution of learning and teaching facilities for the school subjects, particularly in language skills. 7. More than half of the number of pupils in the sample have not been able to attain the expected achievement level for the vocabulary synonyms/ antonyms, spelling and grammatical writing ability and creative wring skills for the Grade, after four years of schooling. This suggests that they are suffering from lack of reading habits.  [3]   CHAPTER IV READING INTERESTS AND INFORMATION SKILLS OF CHILDREN READING INTERESTS OF CHILDREN 1. There is no particular age at which a child should actually begin the process of learning to read. It should appeal to real activity, to spontaneous work based upon personal need and interest.  [4]  Children have an innate desire to know about their surroundings. As the child develops learning through sensory perception, he becomes more and more curious to understand his environment; what has happened and what is happening are his interests. 2. Children may come to understand an important part of their world through the experience of reading. They start to learn about reading in a natural and incidental way.  [5]  If a book satisfies childs needs, he will start reading it for pleasure. A child begins acquaintance with a book by looking at pictures. If the book catches his interest, he returns to the book again. Also he is being exposed to the printed word in the environment such as bus boards, various posters on the highway, road signs, labels of goods in the market, advertisements on television and newspapers. The child sees lots of words in his environment and tries to grasp them meaningfully. Therefore, most children have a form of awareness of the printed word.  [6]   3. According to the study it has clearly shown that children are interested in books, magazines, childrens papers and they have a thirst for information, knowledge and communication. This inbuilt desire and interest found in children has to be harnessed to improve their reading habits and information skills. As such it is the duty and responsibility of the parent, the teacher and the authorities to take the full use of it.  [7]   Table IV.I would like to spend my Table IV.II would like to spend my leisure time à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.- Grade 2 leisure time à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.- Grade 4 CHILDRENS INTERESTS IN MEDIA 4. The child gets motivated to read when he hears stories or when an adult reads aloud a story to him. Today the child could get this type of satisfaction through the mass media. When children watch television or listen to the radio, those programmes which are meant for children create awareness and need for reading and they could be made use of to develop reading habits and information skills. 5. As per the study it is revealed that Both Grade 2 and 4 childrens best television programme is cartoon stories. Most of children like to listen to songs and stories by radio. These interests could be made use of in varied ways to develop reading habits and information skills in the classroom and home. Table IV.V Interest on Television Table IV.VI Interest on Television Grade 2 Grade 4 Table IV.V Interest on Radio Table IV.VI Interest on Radio Grade 2 Grade 4 Table IV.I Grade 2 Table IV.II Grade 4 Childrens interests on childrens paper 6. Above two tables indicate that a very high percentage of children in all three districts read childrens papers. It was found that this is a habit developed by the good teachers of those schools by exchanging papers within the class, when those parents who could afford to buy papers for their children bring them to school. This high percentage suggests that if reading materials are made available to children, and then reading habits and information skills of primary school children could be definitely improved. CHAPTER V READING AND CHILDHOOD ENVIRONMENT 1. As a foundation for the development of reading habits and information skills, the four language skills listening, speaking, writing and reading has to be developed in the classroom and the home. The child should be able to read with ease and facility in order to develop reading as a habit. The first requisite for this is to gain ability to identify letters and words. Then the child has to read words and sentences to infer meaning and gain knowledge, information etc. This is a complex process.  [8]   2. Reading skills could develop only if reading materials are available. Non availability of suitable reading materials create serious limitations in developing reading habits. Hence the laying of foundation on a sound footing is the responsibility of the parent, the teacher and the school. SCHOOL BACKGROUND 3. A teaching-learning situation is significantly affected by the availability of building with sufficient number of classrooms, seating accommodation and furniture. Primary sections of some popular urban schools have more than 50 pupils in one classroom, which could accommodate only 40. This situation has resulted adversely. Neither the teacher nor the pupil could move about freely to give and receive individual attention.  [9]   4. The situation is worse in some schools where the classes are conducted in unpartitioned open halls. In such schools both teaching and learning has become drudgery and some teachers are force to conduct classes under the trees in the garden.  [10]   5. The teacher is the key factor in improving reading skills and habits in pupils when resources are sub standard. In those schools the teacher is the only source of learning. Out of the 25 teachers who supplied information through the questionnaire, 21 are primary education trained and 3 are trained graduates. However the response of head of the schools revealed that there are quite number of teachers who are not trained. The standard of education undoubtedly recedes when teachers are not trained for the profession. 6. Out of 15 schools exclusively primary education is given in only 5 schools. In those schools primary education is entirely managed by a Deputy Head. Of other 8 school primary heads three are trained five are graduates with post diploma. Academic professional status of the head of the school, his attitude toward improving the mother tongue, commitment to his profession, his support in providing reading materials and promoting reading habits is of significance in this context. 7. Out of 15 schools of the sample five schools do not posses libraries catering to the reading needs of primary school children. Out of the 10 school libraries three of them have 100 500 books. Three school libraries have less than 1000 books and two National schools in Colombo district and one National school in each other two districts have a wealth of 3000 or more books. The two schools in the sample which have a few books received as a donation complained that there are no storage facilities available for them even to keep them safely. Out of the 15 schools 7 schools do not buy even a single newspaper. In the mean time out of rest 8 schools only 5 schools buy childrens paper for the primary school children.  [11]   8. Except for the national schools librarians trained for the job are not available in the rest of the schools. In most of these schools a teacher from the staff helps in the library. In three schools a girl is employed for the work in the library paying a nominal fee. 9. This clearly displays the disparity between schools with sub standard resources and schools with above average standard resources. This fact substantiates the view presented earlier that the socio economic level at home and school affect achievement level of children. TEACHERS OPINION ABOUT READING 10. The response presented by the 25 teachers of the schools of the sample revealed that children are really interested in reading and teachers do their best to promote reading by managing classroom libraries under difficult situations. Each child in the classroom brings a story book at the beginning of the year. Sometimes teachers give the names of the list of story books. Also those who can afford to buy childrens paper bring them to the class. These books and papers are exchanged among the pupils. There by teachers help children to develop reading habits. Instead in some schools teachers get a few books, about thirty from the secondary school library and distribute them among children once a month or so. 11. Some teachers are of the opinion that the primary syllabuses contain far too much material for the year that they cannot complete and it is difficult for them to concentrate on developing the reading habits individually. There should be verity in the content of the curriculum to cater individual needs. Also they pointed out that Grade 2 and Grade 4 even Grade 5 text books do not motivate children to read as the stories do not awaken their feeling and curiosity. Stories do not create opportunities for children to think. Therefore the teachers say that children mechanically read by heart, even if they cannot identify letters, words or meaning of what they pretend to read. Therefore the authorities concerned have to be more cautious in the selection and grading curriculum and text book content. 12. Teachers also revealed that in addition to the scarcity of reading material, children of sub standard and average type schools suffer from other deficiencies such as socio economic conditions at home, large families, parents not been educated, their inability to realize the importance of reading. 13. Method of teaching plays an important role in learning situation. What was observed was teachers are more concerned with covering the syllabus, merely using general methods of teaching without thinking of special and innovative techniques and individual differences of learners. There is hardly any system of evaluating reading. Teachers do not seem to undertake feedback programmes and maintain record of it. Lack of teaching aids was observed in most of the schools and teachers depend only on Talk and Chalk. HOME BACKGROUND 14. Research done in western countries has revealed that success in reading had been achieved by children who were provided with plenty of opportunities for reading and access to books. Avid readers had stories read or told to them regularly by parents or grand parents.  [12]   15. Children read anything and everything they get hold of as they are interested in reading. If is therefore the duty of the adults to select suitable books for children, as they cannot discriminate between suitable books and books not suitable for them and evaluate them. 16. It is assumed that when family size is large, children do not get equal need satisfaction enjoyed by children of small families of the same income level. In the questionnaire the family size of pupils was divided in to two categories. a. Category 1 Number of family members four or less b. Category 2 Number of family members five or more Table V.I Indicating family size 17. According to the table V.I in Colombo district smaller sized families percentage is higher than other two districts. This factor seemed to have affected the achievement performance of children, as it is apparent from the highest ML percentage in Colombo district. 18. Parental support in supplying reading materials such as books, papers and magazines undoubtedly helped development of childrens reading habits and information skills. This in turn is conditioned by the socio economic status of parents. Table V.II Table V.III indicate the number of books Grade 2 and Grade 4 children posses is quite eloquent of this factor. Table V.II No. of books children posses for supplementary reading Grade 2 Table V.III No. of books children posses for supplementary reading Grade 4 19. The table V.II shows 10 per cent of Grade 2 pupils in Colombo district have more than 10 books for extra reading while other two districts children have below 10 books. Also the table V.III indicates 54 per cent of Grade 4 pupils in Colombo district have more than 10 books for extra reading while other two districts it is below by 36 per cent. This factor also seemed to have affected the achievement performance of children, as it is apparent from the highest ML percentage in Colombo district. 20. The names of books read by pupils indicate that they read whatever those come in their way, they have no choice. They read anything and everything they get hold of as they are interested in reading. It is therefore, the duty of the adults to select suitable books for children as they cannot discriminate between suitable books and books not suitable for them and evaluate them. Daily % Sundays % Sometimes % Never % Kandy 12.9 40.5 35.3 11.2 Kalutara 19.5 34.5 32.7 13.3 Colombo 22.4 41.3 28.4 7.8 Total % 18.2 38.8 32.2 10.7 Table V.IV Houses that buy newspapers Grade 4 21. 10.7 per cent of the overall sample of childrens parents do not buy a newspaper. However 38.8 per cent of the sample buy Sunday newspapers. This may be due to the fact that other form of mass media like the television and radio are being sought after for enjoyment and getting information. Thereby a good opportunity that the parents could offer in motivating the child to develop his habit of reading is neglected. It is only a very poor percentage of parents buy newspapers daily. Even in Colombo district 22.4 per cent of the sample only buy newspapers daily. It may have been caused by two factors. It may be due to lack of money or of time to read papers. Whatever it is, if the parents could afford to buy newspapers daily it would be a motivation for the child to read and improve their information skills. CHAPTER VI SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 1. More than 1/3 of primary school pupils have failed to achieve standard level for their mother language. 2. Most of Grade 2 pupils have acquired the language skills satisfactorily. 3. a. More than 50 per cent of pupils have not acquired the language skills expected for the grade, at the end of the year. b. Performance of Grade 4 pupils in vocabulary synonyms/ antonyms, spelling and grammatical writing ability and creative wring skills are very poor. 4. There is a marked disparity in achievement of language skills among districts and between school types. 5. There is no equitable provision of physical and human resources available in schools as yet for the promotion of reading habits and information skills. 6. Most of the primary schools of the sample do not posses libraries. Lack of suitable reading materials, librarians, varied kinds of books, a large quantity of books of quality to cater to varied needs and interests of primary children are found to be obstacles which stand in the way of development of reading habits and information skills. 7. The curriculum, text books and methods of teaching do not seem to suit the changed society of the modern day and it will not provide any encouragement to children for the improvement of reading habits. 8. The parental support and encouragement at home is not enough for the children to develop reading habits and information skills. 9. Family size the and the socio economic status of parents affect to the development of reading habits and information skills of children. 10. Children are interested in books, magazines, childrens papers and they have a thirst for information, knowledge and communication. CHAPTER VII CONCLUSION 1. Reading is one of the most important components of language. It is a basic tool subject especially in primary school. Reading helps to learn all the other areas of the school curriculum and provides vital means of learning. Reading is believed as a process of acquiring information, receiving a massage from a print in a meaningful way. 2. Reading is of greatest significance to the educationist because it is their responsibility to guide the child to develop his total personality for the welfare of the individual child and for the welfare of the entire society and also because it is the right of the child to be literate. It is important for children to read good books and develop their reading habits and information skills, in order to grow physically and mentally. Good reading habits are necessary for a healthy intellectual growth. 3. It is a matter of some doubt whether all children have acquired the ability to read in the genuine sense, by the time they have reached school leaving age. Teacher influence, home background and book provision hold the key to an improvement in reading. The main objective of carrying out this study was to find out the reason for deficiency in readi

Blade Runner as a Classic Film Noir and a Science Fiction Film Essay

Blade Runner as a Classic Film Noir and a Science Fiction Film Blade Runner, a well known 80’s science-fiction film, begins in 2019, set in the industrial city of L.A., the scene lit only by the many neon lights and molten guisers. We draw in from a panoramic long shot to Deckard, ‘ex-cop, ex-killer, ex-blade-runner’, who is at the heart of this film. Blade Runner is, definitively, a science fiction film, but the traits of Film Noir are the bread and butter, bringing it the dark, desperate atmosphere that is the very beauty of the film. Ridley Scott plants shrapnels of Film Noir throughout, from the subtle (cigars), to the downright blatant (the washed-up cop of main man). The genre itself developed in the post-war era, thriving upon the depression that had settled upon the world, and the new technology. The latter meant that scenes could be filmed outside of a studio, and new effects could be created with lighting. However, though the new technology was there, the after-math of the war meant that this equipment was often quite rare, leading to the lower budget films opting for stark, shadowy sets rather than miss out on the technology. But this type of setting fitted perfectly into the style of Film Noir anyway, as the feeling of the genre was reflecting the current mood, which was far from happy. The war had left some blind, and everyone else with brand new eyes, people could no longer see everything at face value, or to put it bluntly, the value of face had slumped. The world after war was no place for the frilly and meaningless, and Hollywood, as the capital of frill, had to come up with something new, and refreshingly... ...th Deckard ‘why am I called back? Why am I doing this?’ and the replicants can ask, ‘why am I a replicant, why am I like this?’ The answer of course, the bitter sentiment of Film Noir, ‘for no reason at all.’ The viewer watches Blade Runner’s characters like fish in a tank, with pity because they are trapped, and with resignation, because they’ll never, really, get out. The fusion of Sci-Fi and Film Noir works perfectly in Blade Runner, using the past to paint a (dismal) picture of the future. The combination was one of the first of it’s kind, pulling two genres together to work in perfect unison. And this combination of Sci-Fi and Film Noir will continue to work because the future is unseen, and therefore to us, quite scary, and, as in typical Film Noir fashion, there’s always ‘something BAD out there†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢

Directing Television Programs :: Media Entertainment Essays

Directing Television Programs Directing Television programs requires hardwork and dedication and this involves taking some risks about your life too because as a television director you have to work with different people of different characters and when people are on stage performing they have to work according to your directions. People become tense on stage and they sometimes become frustrated easily by being asked to repeat the same thing so many times and some end up losing temper and they can sometime injure the director both emotionally and physically. There is never free time for television directors, instead of paying more attention to the family needs they devote so much time to their work because of the artistic ideology they posses, wherever they are they should be thinking about how they will direct in the next project and what new things to add on that particular program to put a new look hence giving inadequate attention to their partners/family. â€Å"Rafkin recounts how his directing of temperame ntal actors, as he confronted their frustrations and dodged their blows, made life on TV set a world unto itself. Indeed, having a good sense of humor helped him survive three divorces and as many open-heart surgeries ( Alan Rafkin, Tales from TV's Most Prolific Sitcom Director). † Directors hardly find time to rest since some of them work from morning until sunset and they can have problems with their health. According to Joe Michael from early morning news and talk shows, â€Å" Directors of network morning news programs have one of the toughest jobs. They are responsible for directing ten hours of live programming per week, fifty-two weeks a year. It is a formidable challenge, not only because of the sheer quantity of material, but also because of its variety. The 7-9 a.m. morning programs are a grab bag of formats, combining news, interviews, cooking and lifestyle segments, live remotes, and musical performance (Brian Rose 1). In an interview between Larry Auerbach and David Pressman from the Daytime Dramas, they said. â€Å"Directors of soap operas are hard working directors in the entertainment industry. Unlike their counterparts in film and theatre, their activities are not limited to one or two projects a year, with lots of long planning and down time in between. Even the directors of prime time television, who they most closely resemble, still lead a life of comparative ease, with a schedule measured by, at most, a little more than a dozen hours of actual on-air production per season, mixed with repeats and months off a summer vacation. Directing Television Programs :: Media Entertainment Essays Directing Television Programs Directing Television programs requires hardwork and dedication and this involves taking some risks about your life too because as a television director you have to work with different people of different characters and when people are on stage performing they have to work according to your directions. People become tense on stage and they sometimes become frustrated easily by being asked to repeat the same thing so many times and some end up losing temper and they can sometime injure the director both emotionally and physically. There is never free time for television directors, instead of paying more attention to the family needs they devote so much time to their work because of the artistic ideology they posses, wherever they are they should be thinking about how they will direct in the next project and what new things to add on that particular program to put a new look hence giving inadequate attention to their partners/family. â€Å"Rafkin recounts how his directing of temperame ntal actors, as he confronted their frustrations and dodged their blows, made life on TV set a world unto itself. Indeed, having a good sense of humor helped him survive three divorces and as many open-heart surgeries ( Alan Rafkin, Tales from TV's Most Prolific Sitcom Director). † Directors hardly find time to rest since some of them work from morning until sunset and they can have problems with their health. According to Joe Michael from early morning news and talk shows, â€Å" Directors of network morning news programs have one of the toughest jobs. They are responsible for directing ten hours of live programming per week, fifty-two weeks a year. It is a formidable challenge, not only because of the sheer quantity of material, but also because of its variety. The 7-9 a.m. morning programs are a grab bag of formats, combining news, interviews, cooking and lifestyle segments, live remotes, and musical performance (Brian Rose 1). In an interview between Larry Auerbach and David Pressman from the Daytime Dramas, they said. â€Å"Directors of soap operas are hard working directors in the entertainment industry. Unlike their counterparts in film and theatre, their activities are not limited to one or two projects a year, with lots of long planning and down time in between. Even the directors of prime time television, who they most closely resemble, still lead a life of comparative ease, with a schedule measured by, at most, a little more than a dozen hours of actual on-air production per season, mixed with repeats and months off a summer vacation.

Information Technology’s Effect on Society

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Information Technology’s Effect on Society * Tanya Cavaleri * English Compostion II * EN 130. 1. 1 Sitting at the park on a nice beautiful day, you’re reading your friends post on Facebook from your IPhone. At home getting ready to type up a research paper and you realize you still need one last piece of information where do you go? Google and conduct a search. Your teenager just came to you crying because she was accused of sending pictures via text to her boyfriend and now it’s all over Twitter and Facebook that she is a slut.Information technology’s effect on society comes with good and bad effects on people everywhere every day. We have come so far since internet has gone public in early 1990’s (Howe, 2012), but at what cost to our society? According to Merriam-Webster dictionary (2011) information technology is the technology involving the development, maintenance, and use of computer systems, software, and network s for the processing and distribution of data. The use of computers and other devices have allowed us to use social medias like Facebook to find and stay in contact with our family and friends.The World Wide Web has all the information we may need at our finger tips. No more waiting on snail mail to deliver mail when we can send an email and have it delivered instantly to the recipient. Information technology is even enabled us to be able to work from home more efficiently. With the click of our mouse or the swipe of our finger we’re able to send off packages and track the delivers without ever changing out of our pajamas. Paying bills and managing budgets having never been easier.But at what cost is all this information technology bringing? Our society is so desensitized that we don’t seem to care what all this â€Å"awesome† technology is doing to our world. For example our teenagers are faced with both bullying at school and online. Having to face their peers daily and fear the rumors that could spread over one remark or wrong picture on Facebook, Twitter or text message is difficult for many of them. So is social media a good thing? Maybe, but it needs to be monitored more.Google (â€Å"Google,† 2012) the word Hacker and there is about 246,000,000 results. Like â€Å"how to become a hacker† or â€Å"how hackers work†. Information technology can open society up to be very vulnerable. Like leaving the back door unlocked for anyone to walk through if we’re not careful. Siciliano (2012) writes according to the Javelin Strategy & Research, in 2011 identity fraud increased by 13 percent. More than 11. 6 million adults became a victim of identity fraud in the United States.Online banking, bill pay, shopping online are all conveniences we have grown accustomed to over the last 18 years but we need to protect our private information. Sometime information technology can fall in the wrong hands and cause havoc for thou sands of people. Just one of many examples is in 2006 the U. S. government warned that a database containing sensitive information about veterans and their families had been stolen, after an employee violated policy and brought the data home (Lemos, 2006).So yes information technology is a much needed asset in today society. Providing helpful guided searches, helping to connect with family that are thousands of miles away, paying bills quickly and sending messages lighting fast. But in the wrong hands in can be more destructive then a hurricane, leaving heartache and pain with every stroke of the finger. Davidson, J. (n. d. ). Ezinearticles. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles. com/? Online-Banking—History-Still-in-the-Making? &a

Different Types of Soils in India Essay

1. Black soils The principal region of black soils is the Deccan plateau and its periphery extending from 8 °45’to 26o north latitude and 68o to 83o45†² east longitude. They are formed from Deccan basalt trap rocks and occur in areas under the monsoon climate, mostly of semi-arid and sub-humid types. The overall climate of black soil region may be described as hot and dry summer, 40-100 cm rainfall per annum, mild to moderate winters and annual temperature ranges from 24-30o centigrade, mean maximum temperature during April-May ranges from 36~42 °C arid mean minimum temperature during winter ranges from 15-24 ° centigrade. Semi-arid to sub-humid, tropical to sub-tropical monsoon type climate with alternate dry and wet periods and calcification (formation of calcium carbonate) are favourable to the formation of black soils. The soils are characterised by dark grey to black colour with 35-60% clay, neutral to slightly alkaline reaction, high swelling and shrinkage, plasticity, deep cracks during summer and poor status of organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus. Impeded drainage and low permeability are the major problems. Black soils. are divided into shallow black soil of a depth of 30-50 cms, medium black soils of 50-120 cm and deep black soils of more than 120 centimeters. The natural vegetation comprises dry deciduous species, viz palas (Butes frondoss), sisam (Dalbergia sisu), neem (Azadirachta indica) and teak (Tectona grandis). Cotton, sugarcane, groundnut, millets, maize, pulses, safflower are the common crops grown on these soils. Because of their inherent drainage problem, they are prone to salinity and sodicity under irrigated conditions unless proper drainage is ensured. Because of its high water retaining capacity, rainfed crops like minor millets, pulses like horse gram are vegetables of different types and citrus fruits can also be grown. These soils are also known as regurs, nullah regadi (a telugu word meaning black clay) and black cotton soils as cotton was the major crop grown in these soils. 2. Red soils These soils are derived from granite, gneiss and other metamorphic rocks. These soils are formed under well drained condition. The climate is semi-arid tropical with mean annual temperature of 25 °C and mean annual rainfall from 75-100 cm. The soils are higher textured, friable structure and contains low soluble salts. They are slightly acidic to slightly alkaline, well drained with moderate permeability. They are generally poor in nitrogen, phosphorus, lime, humus etc. In this soil, lime concretions and free carbonates are absent. The red colour is due to the higher degree of hydration of the fericoxide in the soils. On uplands, they are gravelly sandy or stony and porous and light coloured on which food crops like bajra can be grown. On the lower plains and valleys, they are dark, coloured fertile loams, irrigated crops like maize, wheat, pulses, potatoes, fruits, millets etc can be grown. These soils have also been found under forest vegetation. Sometimes they found along with black soils (side by side) and also yellow soils (red and yellow soils). Excessive gravelliness, surface crust formation and susceptibility to erosion due to high slopes are some of the problems in these soils which can be overcome by adopting suitable measures. Morphologically the red soils can be divided into red loams which have a cloddy structure and argillaceous soil and red earths with loose friable top soil rich in sesquioxide type of minerals. 3. Laterites and lateritic soils Laterite is a geological term and means literally a rock. The laterites and lateritic soils have been loosely used in the same sense. The lateritic soils are enriched with oxides of iron and aluminium, under the conditions of high rainfall with alternate dry and wet periods. During rainfall silica is leached downwards and iron and aluminium oxides remains in the top layers. Laterites are usually shallow and gravelly at higher lands, but are very deep loam to clay soils in the valleys where good paddy crops are produced. Higher landy soils are poor in nutrient status where as lower level soils are dark and richer in nutrients and organic matter. All lateritic soils are poor in calcium, magnesium, nitrogen, phosphorus and potash. They are generally well drained and porous. The soil reaction is more on the acidic side. On laterites, as already mentioned, rice is grown at lower elevations and at higher elevations, tea, coffee, cinchona, rubber and cashewnut can be grown under good soil management conditions. On the whole, laterites are poor in fertility and readily respond to manuring and good cultivation. Based on the climate lateritic soils are grouped into high rainfall areas with strongly and weakly expressed dry season and humid zones with pronounced dry & wet periods. 4. Alluvial soils Alluvial soils, cover the largest area in India (approximately 7 lakh km2) and these are the most important soils from agricultural point of view. The main features of alluvial soils have been derived as silt deposition laid down by the Indian river systems like the Indus, the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the rivers like Narmada, Tapti: Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery. These rivers carry the products of weathering of rocks constituting the mountains and deposit them along their path as they flow down the plain land towards the sea. Geologically, the alluvium is divided into recent alluvium which is known as Khadar and old alluvium, as bhangar. The newer alluvium is sandy and light coloured whereas older alluvium is more clayey, dark coloured and contains lime concretions. The soils have a wide range in soil characteristics viz. acid to alkaline sandy to clay, normal to saline, sodic and calcareous, shallow to very deep. The climate ranges from arid to humid s ub-tropical. The following groupings of alluvial soils may be recognised: alluvial soils (Khadar, bhangar and highly calcareous), deltaic alluvium, coastal alluvium, coastal sands, calcareous sierocomic and grey-brown soils. a. Alluvial soils The alluvial soils occuring in the Indo-Gangetic plains and the Brahmaputra valley cover a large area. The soils are transported and deposited by the rivers from the parent material. The rivers are the Ganga, Jamuna, Brahmaputra and their tributaries. The soils are deep and hard pans in the subsoil are calcareous (made of calcium carbonate) and acidic. These are deficient in nitrogen, phosphorous and humus, but not in potash and lime. These soils are fertile amongst all the soils of India. They produce a wide variety of crops like rice, wheat, sugarcane, jute and potato. They are distributed mainly in the northern, north-western and north-eastern parts of our country. b. Deltaic alluvial soils They are formed from sediments carried by rivers and deposited in the mouths of rivers joining the sea. The deltas of the Ganga, Brahmaputra, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery are the most important ones. In Gujarat, the deltaic alluvial soils which are sandy loam to clay loam are locally called Goradu soils. The Godavari and Krishna rivers pass through basaltic region having black soils and these soils are dark and fine textured. The Cauvery delta soils are significantly clayey and Ganga delta soils show high accumulation of organic matter, as in the Sunderbans of West Bengal, due to swampy vegetation. These soils are fertile and grow a wide variety of crops suited to climatic conditions. c. Coastal alluvium Soils developed on coastal alluvium are found along, the sea coasts. Soils are dark coloured, coarse textured and poor in fertility. Some soils are saline due to the inundation of sea water. Such soils in the Konkan coast of Maharashtra are called Khar soils. d. Coastal sands Sandy soils occur prominently in the coastal area of Tanjavur district of Tamil Nadu, along the Kerala coast, Bapatla in Guntur distrjct of Andhra Pradesh and Puri district in Orissa. If sandy soils are not saline, plantation crops like coconut, cashew and casuarina can be taken up for cultivation. Other soils under alluvium are calcareous sierozomes and grey brown soils. Calcareous sierozomes can be seen in the desertic region of Haryana and Punjab. The word ‘sierozem† denotes a group of soils having a brownish-grey surface horizon with a sub-layer of carbonates which is developed under mixed shrub vegetation in a-temperate to cool, arid climate. Grey-brown soils as the name itself indicates its nature, can be found in, desert soils of Rajasthan. 5. Desert soils In the north-western part of India, desert soils occur over an area of 0.29 million hecta,res, which includes a major part of Rajasthan, south of Haryana and Punjab and northern part of Gujarat. Rainfall ranges from less than 10 cms to 50 cms, mostly contributed during monsoon season. The region consists of sand dunes and undulating sandy plains. The temperature regime is very high throughout the year and a maximum of 50-60 °C is recorded during summer. Due to high temperature organic-matter built up is very low. The soils in the plains are mostly derived from alluvium and are pale brown to brown to yellow brown and fine sandy to loamy fine sand and are structureless. The clay contents low and presence of alkaline earth carbonates is an important feature. The nitrate nitrogen and phosphorus makes the desert soils fertile and productive under proper moisture supply. By increasing the water holding capacity, the productivity of the soils can be increased which involve s addition of organic matter and clay. 6. Tarai soils The word â€Å"tarai† is a hindi word, which means moist. Thus, i is a wet regime having high water table. Tarai soils are foot hii soils and extend in strips of varying widths at the foot of Himalayas in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar-Pradesh, Bihar and West-Bengal. Soils under the natural conditions are thickly vegetated and swampy. Several types of grasses and trees from the native vegetation on removal of which the soils become highly productive. The soils are formed from the materials that are washed down by the erosion of mountains. They are alluvial origin. High soil moisture content all through the year results in luxuriant vegetation dominated by tall grasses. They are neutral to slightly alkaline with significant amounts of organic matter. The texture varies from sandy loam to silty loam. Generally, these soils are fertile and by providing proper drainage, the productivity can be increased.

Computer Software Essay

Q1.What are the main types of software? What are the advantages of open-source software? Describe the decision making process of acquiring application software. Q2.â€Å"In the end, information system is recognized only as a foundation for human judgment, insight and inventiveness†. Discuss. What are different types of controls and audits required for an information system? Q3.What is computerized maintenance management? Explain the conceptual model through which the maintenance function can achieve its objectives on a sustained basis. Q4.â€Å"Excel is a versatile spreadsheet package. It can do wonder for accountants†. Explain. Q5. What do you understand by Artificial Intelligence? What are the factors that highlighted the need of developing AI? What are the goals of AI. Q1.What are the main types of software? What are the advantages of open-source software? Describe the decision making process of acquiring application software. Main Types of Software Programming Software: This is one of the most commonly known and popularly used types of computer software. These software come in the form of tools that assist a programmer in writing computer programs. Computer programs are sets of logical instructions that make a computer system perform certain tasks. The tools that help programmers in instructing a computer system include text editors, compilers and interpreters. Compilers translate source code written in a programming language into the language which a computer understands (mostly the binary form). System Software: It helps in running computer hardware and the computer system. System software refers to the operating systems; device drivers, servers, windowing systems and utilities. System software helps an application programmer in abstracting away from hardware, memory and other internal complexities of a computer. An operating system provides users with a platform to execute high-level programs. Firmware and BIOS provide the means to operate hardware. Application Software: It enables the end users to accomplish certain specific tasks. Business software, databases and educational software are some forms of application software. Different word processors, which are dedicated to specialized tasks to be performed by the user, are other examples of application software. Malware: Malware refers to any malicious software and is a broader category of software that are a threat to computer security. Adware, spyware, computer viruses, worms, trojan horses and scareware are malware. Computer viruses are malicious programs which replicate themselves and spread from one computer to another over the network or the Internet.. Adware: Adware is software with the means of which advertisements are played and downloaded to a computer. Programmers design adware as their tool to generate revenue. They do extract user information like the websites he visits frequently and the pages he likes. Advertisements that appear as pop-ups on your screen are the result of adware programs tracking you. But adware is not harmful to computer security or user privacy. The data it collects is only for the purpose of inviting user clicks on advertisements. Inventory Management Software: This type of software helps an organization in tracking its goods and materials on the basis of quality as well as quantity. Warehouse inventory management functions encompass the internal warehouse movements and storage. Inventory software helps a company in organizing inventory and optimizing the flow of goods in the organization, thus leading to improved customer service. Utility Software: Also known as service routine, utility software helps in the management of computer hardware and application software. It performs a small range of tasks. Disk defragmenters, systems utilities and virus scanners are some of the typical examples of utility software. Data Backup and Recovery Software: An ideal data backup and recovery software provides functionalities beyond simple copying of data files. This software often supports user needs of specifying what is to be backed up and when. Backup and recovery software preserve the original organization of files and allow an easy retrieval of the backed up data. Advantages of open source software Usually, the first perceived advantage of open source models is the fact that open source software is made available gratis or at a low cost. But this characteristic is not exclusive to open source software, and several proprietary software products are made available in similar ways (a prominent case could be Microsoft’s Internet Explorer). What really distinguishes open source software from software available without fee is the combination of effects due to the characteristics discussed in section 3.1. All of them combined produce a synergistic impact which is the cause of the real advantages of the open source model. Let us provide some more detail on how do these characteristics turn into advantages The right to redistribute modifications and improvements to the code, and to reuse other open source code, permits all the advantages due to the modifiability of the software to be shared by large communities. This is usually the point that differentiates open source software licences from â€Å"nearly free† ones. In substance, the fact that redistribution rights cannot be revoked, and that they are universal, is what attracts a substantial crowd of developers to work around open source software projects. The right to use the software in any way. This, combined with redistribution rights, ensures (if the software is useful enough), a large population of users, which helps in turn to build up a market for support and customization of the software, which can only attract more and more developers to work in the project. This in turn helps to improve the quality of the product, and to improve its functionality. Which, once more, will cause more and more users to give the product a try, and probably to use it regularly. The decision making process of acquiring Application Software Applications are made available in line with business requirements. This process covers the design of the applications, the proper inclusion of application controls and security requirements, and the development and configuration in line with standards. This allows organisations to properly support business operations with the correct automated applications. Control over the IT process of Acquire and maintain application software that satisfies the business requirement for IT of aligning available applications with business requirements, and doing so in a timely manner and at a reasonable cost by focusing on ensuring that there is a timely and cost-effective development process is achieved by: †¢ Translating business requirements into design specifications †¢ Adhering to development standards for all modifications †¢ Separating development, testing and operational activities and is measured by †¢ Number of production problems per application causing visible downtime †¢ Percent of users satisfied with the functionality delivered   | Q2.â€Å"In the end, information system is recognized only as a foundation for human judgment, insight and inventiveness†. Discuss. What are different types of controls and audits required for an information system? Information system, an integrated set of components for collecting, storing, processing, and communicating information. Business firms, other organizations, and individuals in contemporary society rely on information systems to manage their operations, compete in the marketplace, supply services, and augment personal lives. For instance, modern corporations rely on computerized information systems to process financial accounts and manage human resources; municipal governments rely on information systems to provide basic services to its citizens; and individuals use information systems to study, shop, bank, and invest. Information systems controls To ensure secure and efficient operation of information systems, an organization institutes a set of procedures and technological measures called controls. Information systems are safeguarded through a combination of general and application controls. General controls apply to information system activities throughout an organization. The most important general controls are the measures that control access to computer systems and the information stored there or transmitted over telecommunications networks. General controls include administrative measures that restrict employee access to only those processes directly relevant to their duties. As a result, these controls limit the damage that any individual employee or employee impersonator can do. Fault-tolerant computer systems installed in critical environments, such as in hospital information systems or securities marketplaces, are designed to control and isolate problems so that the system can continue to function. Application controls are specific to a given application and include such measures as validating input data, regularly archiving copies of various databases, and ensuring that information is disseminated only to authorized users. The effectiveness of an information system’s controls is evaluated through an information systems audit. It is a part of a more general financial audit that verifies an organization’s accounting records and financial statements. Information systems are designed so that every financial transaction can be traced. In other words, an audit trail must exist that can establish where each transaction originated and how it was processed. Aside from financial audits, operational audits are used to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of information systems operations. Q3.What is computerized maintenance management? Explain the conceptual model through which the maintenance function can achieve its objectives on a sustained basis. Computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) is also known as enterprise asset management and computerized maintenance management information system (CMMIS). A CMMS software package maintains a computer database of information about an organization’s maintenance operations, i.e. CMMIS – computerized maintenance management information system. This information is intended to help maintenance workers do their jobs more effectively (for example, determining which machines require maintenance and which storerooms contain the spare parts they need) and to help management make informed decisions (for example, calculating the cost of machine breakdown repair versus preventive maintenance for each machine, possibly leading to better allocation of resources). CMMS data may also be used to verify regulatory compliance. CMMS packages may be used by any organization that must perform maintenance on equipment, assets and property. Some CMMS products focus on particular industry sectors (e.g. the maintenance of vehicle fleets or health care facilities). Other products aim to be more general. CMMS packages can produce status reports and documents giving details or summaries of maintenance activities. The more sophisticated the package, the more analysis facilities are available. Many CMMS packages can be either web-based, meaning they are hosted by the company selling the product on an outside server, or LAN based, meaning that the company buying the software hosts the product on their own server. The conceptual model through which the maintenance function can achieve its objectives on a sustained basis are used to manage simple or complex facilities, from a single building to a complete campus. They can also be used to manage the maintenance program for a grouping of equipment such as a fleet of vehicles. The systems are very versatile since most are in modular form for the various maintenance functions and can be customized to fit the particular application. Whatever system or set of modules are selected for use, careful consideration needs to be given to Functional Requirements and a sound deployment plan. The CMMS must meet the needs, constraints, and opportunities of the business and be implemented in a way that users will welcome the technology and have a vision for the benefits it brings. Proper configuration, testing, and training cannot be over emphasized when bringing a new CMMS or upgrading an existing system to an organization. Q4.â€Å"Excel is a versatile spreadsheet package. It can do wonder for accountants†. Explain. Excel spreadsheets are the most common and indispensable tool used by accountants, enabling them to analyse, report and share financial information. Much of this can be accomplished using only a fraction of the wealth of functions and options within the Excel program. Basic arithmetic, the SUM() function and some cell border formatting will let you produce useful models and perform some quite complex calculations. By expanding your knowledge with just a few other functions, Excel can become a much more versatile tool. Very occasionally Excel does not contain a function that you may expect, and it is necessary to combine other functions to perform tasks such as calculating weighted averages. Accountants have a professional responsibility to present accurate data. The IF() and TEXT() functions are essential for incorporating error checking messages to demonstrate that the spreadsheet models have been reconciled and are performing properly. A spreadsheet presentation gives reports a degree of unearned credibility. This is frequently ill-deserved and research shows that a high proportion of large models contain critical errors. Your spreadsheets must be well designed and thoroughly checked If you wish to be selective with your data and only perform calculations on items that meet certain criteria, both Database and Array functions are useful, but SUMPRODUCT() is the most versatile and wonderful alternative. It is able to extract all sorts of values from a table of data and can be used as an alternative to a great many functions. Graphs are a great way to present information, but keep them simple. Don’t get carried away with 3D formats which can make it difficult to read important axis values. If you update a chart on a regular basis, you are very likely to occasionally forget to manually alter any titles which contain period information. It is best to link chart titles to cell contents which can be automatically updated. A popular, modern Financial Management technique is that of balanced scorecards which often incorporate traffic light indicators. Conditional formatting for cell ranges is not only useful for highlighting exceptional or incorrect values but can be used to automatically colour cells to show good or bad performance. In order to report on tables of data with separate columns or rows for each accounting period, the OFFSET() function lets you select data for any single or cumulative period. There are numerous financial functions for performing interest and investment calculations. These can greatly simplify the long formulae previously required for things such as loan repayments – but always beware. The built in functions may perform differently to your own (textbook) formulas. They may invert the sign and show negative results where you expect positive; they may use a base period of p0 where you assume it is p1. Once you have tested the financial functions using a variety of situations and confirmed the results, they make tasks such as calculating the Net Present Value much easier. Finally, it is always helpful to make your models friendly to other users. Protecting or restricting the values that can be placed in cells will prevent unforeseen errors. Drop down boxes are a splendid way of getting values from users and hyperlinks can guide them around your models. By incorporating dates and filenames in default headers and footers, anyone can trace the source of your masterpiece. Q5. What do you understand by Artificial Intelligence? What are the factors that highlighted the need of developing AI? What are the goals of AI. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. While there are many different definitions, AI textbooks define the field as â€Å"the study and design of intelligent agents. where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chances of success. John McCarthy, who coined the term in 1956 defines it as â€Å"the science and engineering of making intelligent machines. The field was founded on the claim that a central property of humans, intelligence—the sapience of Homo sapiens—can be so precisely described that it can be simulated by a machine. This raises philosophical issues about the nature of the mind and the ethics of creating artificial beings, issues which have been addressed by myth, fiction and philosophy since antiquity. Artificial intelligence has been the subject of optimism,[8] but has also suffered setbacks and, today, has become an essential part of the technology industry, providing the heavy lifting for many of the most difficult problems in computer science. AI research is highly technical and specialized, deeply divided into subfields that often fail in the task of communicating with each other Subfields have grown up around particular institutions, the work of individual researchers, and the solution of specific problems, resulting in longstanding differences of opinion about how AI should be done and the application of widely differing tools. The central problems of AI include such traits as reasoning, knowledge, planning, learning, communication, perception and the ability to move and manipulate objects. General intelligence (or â€Å"strong AI†) is still among the field’s long term goals. Goals of AI: The long-term goals of AI include finding out what the world is like, understanding it, and changing it, or, in other words, a.empirical study and modelling of existing intelligent systems (mainly human beings); b.theoretical analysis and exploration of possible intelligent systems and possible mechanisms and representations usable by such systems; and c.solving practical problems in the light of (a) and (b), namely: c.1.attempting to deal with problems of existing intelligent systems (e.g., problems of human learning or emotional difficulties) and c.2.designing useful new intelligent or semi intelligent machines. Some people restrict the term `artificial intelligence’ to a subset of this wide-ranging discipline. For example, those who think of it as essentially a branch of engineering restrict it to (c.2). This does not do justice to the full range of work done in the name of AI. In any case, it is folly to try to produce engineering solutions without either studying general underlying principles or investigating the existing intelligent systems on which the new machines are to be modelled or with which they will have to interact. Trying to build intelligent systems without trying to understand general principles would be like trying to build an aeroplane without understanding principles of mechanics or aerodynamics. Trying to build them without studying how people or other animals work would be like trying to build machines without ever studying the properties of any naturally occurring object. The need to study general principles of thought, and the ways in which human beings perceive, think, understand language, etc., means that AI work has to be done in close collaboration with work in psychology, linguistics, and even philosophy, the discipline that examines some of the most general presuppositions of our thought and language. The term `cognitive science’ can also be used to cover the full range of goals specified above, though it too is ambiguous, and some of its more narrow-minded practitioners tend to restrict it to (a) and (c.1).