A Worn Path Essay

â€Å"A Worn Path† The setting in the Eudora Welty’s â€Å"A Worn Path† plays a very important role in the make-up of this story. The story is based in the old south several years ago during the cold month of December. The main character is a very old, weak, poor, and tired African American woman. It is unclear in the beginning for what the lady is on such a difficult mission, but the last part of the story makes it clear. She faces many obstacles while on her journey, almost as though even nature is fighting against her, but with her strong determination, she carries on and does not lose spirit. She proves that, though she is old and seems unable, she accomplished her goal with the great mindset and determination she has. The journey Phoenix faces would have been difficult for a person of any age, and it is unimaginable that a woman as old and frail as she would be physically capable of making such a long journey. All of the obstacles she faces in the story, such as the creatures, critters, even plants, serve as symbols of things that can interfere throughout life, but one must continue the struggle and fight for the goals they are trying to accomplish. There are many times that you expect her to give up and go home, but she never does. She keeps pushing until she has reached her goal of making it to town to get the medicine she is after. Phoenix is from the country and must walk a very long distance to make it to the nearest town. Had the story been set somewhere else, there would not have been such a struggle with Phoenix going to the doctor’s office to receive the medicine she needs for her grandson. The main part of the story is when she is fighting so hard to make it through the long, winding journey through the woods. This is where most of her struggle takes place. The reader really gets an opportunity to see how hard Phoenix’s mission is and to what extent she will go to get to the doctor. It is very clear that Phoenix is poor, uneducated, and very unfortunate. She wears old and worn out clothing, must beg for the ten cents that she needs to purchase a paper windmill for her grandson, has old shoes that she does not know how to tie, and uses an old umbrella as a walking cane. Her grandson is not any more fortunate than she. She most likely comes from a poor and uneducated family and has never seemed to have anything nice or unnecessary. This makes it obvious to the reader that every little thing Phoenix has must have such a great value to her. She must appreciate everything in her life. It does not sound as though Phoenix will be able to make the trip many more times, if even one more time. Her body and mind are both exhausted. When Phoenix reaches the doctor’s office, the nurse is speaking to her and she forgets what she has come to town for. Phoenix’s body is very frail and tired. There were times she fell during her walk through the woods, and her mind continued to go downhill quickly. This is a sure sign that she will not be capable of such things in the future. Phoenix is stubborn, yet a strong woman who will not let anyone or anything stand in her way. Many people could read this story and think less of her for begging and her lack of education and money, but many who read it will feel her pain because it is clear she is hurting terribly both physically and mentally with the challenges she faces. She shows, strength, bravery, and love for her grandson.

Factors of communication Essay

Own working practice can affect children and young people’s development in many ways. Children learn trough impersonation, so it is important to always keep in mind that they need to have good role models. When I am working with children, I always remember to be encouraging and trust worthy. When working with children I’m always evaluating and noticing them so that I will be able to suggest for any child and their requirements by adapting the activities for them. It is very essential for me to observe the children that I’m working with competently, so I will know what activity I can plan for them, because sometimes some children might find the activity uncomplicated and get bored. Carers are the children’s role models and they should give them examples to pursue and affect their development in a good way. Shouting can influence a child’s development so when I’m with them I should always remember not to yell. If I am always shouting, children might not ask me any questions as they panic that they would be shouted at or even worse they might start copying me and develop a shouting habit. I have to shield the children from difficult situations when working with them and to always be aware, that is why when there is a problem I share it with my colleagues so we can deal with it and any other difficulties that may arise. While operating with the children I always provide important aspects of care, have good relationship with my colleagues, mind my language, possess suitable material and equipment, and have an appropriate behaviour. Read more: Explain how children and young people’s development is influenced by a range of external factors essay When my teammate and I are doing an activity and crafts in the nursery some of the children might find it harder than other children to use scissors to cut out paper, this might lead the child to be disappointed, get bored and sometimes they end up not wanting to take part in the activity, so to improve those children out we give them proper scissors for those who have more difficulties gripping normal ones. This way our children can proceed together as a group with the activity that has been stated. There are other materials that assist a child’s development and help them take part in the activities, like pencil grips, triangle shaped colours and many more. That  is why it’s very important to have quality equipment, know what they’re for and how to apply them. I must always keep in mind that not all children develop the same way, some may require more time whilst others may need less, that’s why it’s important to be tolerant and regard the child’s personal needs. So I should always remember to use appropriate equipment, be skilled and accomplished in my job to make it easier in children’s development. Reference: Tassoni, P., Beith, K., Bulman, K., Griffin, S. (2010). Pearson Education Ltd. Children & Young People’s Workforce. Essex: Heinemann pg. 81-95 Explain how institutions, agencies and services can affect children and young people’s development: Institutions, agencies and services can affect children development in many ways. If there are good components that meet with the children needs this off course will help a lot in there development. Some of the children might have some sort of disability so it is important for the institution to have appropriate equipment and skilled carers. Institutions must always meet the needs of the children either if they are socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually. This might include people like teaching assistants or advisors to provide support and train staff. Youth justice this is based on children with behavioural problems these people will work with them and also social workers to help them. Social workers are there to help vulnerable children and young people and their families this might include children on the child protection register or disabled difficulties. They provide teachers and practitioners with aimed support programmes for that child once they have identified the child’s needs. Some institutions also provide specialist nurses who support for the family and child especially if that child suffers from medical conditions that need specialist care and also health visitors come under this title for measuring and assessing a child’s development. As well as a psychiatrist, a doctor who is trained in mental health problems. This person works alongside other professionals to help diagnose or support children and young people with mental health problems. They have also a Physiotherapist, this professional help the children with their movement especially those who have little or no movement. They are trained to get the maximum movement and skill level. In a well equipped environment children can develop important factors such as emotional development, social and interactive development, self development and much more. Though it is always important to have the right components and safe equipment, it is also very important that the children are always supervised by a responsible and skilled carer. Carers in an institution or agency should always be professional and responsible. They should always keep in mind that they need to create a safe and nonthreatening environment, should always monitor closely the reaction of children, keep records and be careful and follow good practice when using any type of equipment. Like this they are helping in the children development while keeping them safe. Reference: Tassoni, P., Beith, K., Bulman, K., Griffin, S. (2010). Pearson Education Ltd. Children & Young People’s Workforce. Essex: Heinemann pg. 80 – 87

Analysis of Chapters 8 and 9 in Paradise of the Blind Essay

Write an analysis of how Chapters 8 and 9 explore the connection between culture, food and community The interdependent connection between culture, food and community is pivotal in the demonstration of the importance Vietnamese tradition in Paradise of the Blind. Chapters eight and nine focus on the importance of culture through family particularly evident in the way food acts as an expression of this culture. Food is also used to establish a sense of community, which is an important aspect in the Vietnamese culture. Food is presented as a direct reflection of a person’s wealth in Vietnamese culture. Limited in other forms of power, women like Aunt Tam can rely on materialistic objects, such as food, in order to display their wealth and earn respect. This is evident as one of the guests at the feast exclaims, â€Å"What a pleasure this evening has been. A sumptuous meal followed by such spellbinding stories. This is a blessing from heaven.† The use of words with strongly positive connotations, such as â€Å"sumptuous† and â€Å"spellbinding† displays the great degree of appreciation and thus importance that food has on Vietnamese culture. This idea is further emphasised with the reference to the Gods and ancestral beings through the use of the word â€Å"heaven†. Another example of food reflecting the idea of wealth is when another guest says, â€Å"A sticky rice flavoured with rose-apple juice! Why, it’s exquisite.† Aunt Tam responds to the compliment, â€Å"Oh please, will you stop it?† The use of the word â€Å"exquisite† again highlights the importance of food and its inherent effectiveness in delivering praise. The way in which Aunt Tam replies, almost rehearsed and clichà ©d, suggests that there was an unspoken expectation of praise and therefore respect in the original intention of the feast. The undeniable connection between food and wealth reflects the material-focused culture of Vietnam. Another idea that connects food to culture is the idea of the sacrifice, particularly in relation to food. Selflessness is a major part of Vietnamese culture and a certain amount of gratification can be achieved through sacrifice, which is shown in these chapters as sacrifice of food. Hang observes that Aunt Tam â€Å"ate almost nothing as if watching me gave her greater pleasure.† Aunt Tam’s sacrifice of her own wellbeing reflects the cultural idea that the strongest link between people is in family. Aunt Tam is willing, even happy to sacrifice her own well-being in order to cater for Hang. This idea of sacrifice can also be linked to the cultural idea of worship and fate, whereby it is believed those who perform good deeds in the present will be rewarded in the future. This idea of selflessness has evidently also affected Hang as she says â€Å"I played the part of the successful niece†¦ I smile dutifully at everyone. My lips stiffened into a permanent smile.† Although Hang is obviously uncomfortable, which can be seen through the use of words such as â€Å"dutifully† and â€Å"stiffened†, she continues to put on a faà §ade of happiness to please her Aunt. This reinforces the cultural idea of the strength of familial ties as well as the importance of sacrifice in solidifying these relationships. The practice of food preparation establishes a sense of community in the chapter. Food preparation appears to have a rehearsed, methodical quality which is evident in the line â€Å"The scene was lively but well-ordered as if all the feverish activity was directed by the iron hand of some invisible conductor.† The simile of the conductor draws a comparison of food preparation to an orchestra, thereby highlighting the importance of group collaboration. Furthermore, the juxtaposition of the â€Å"feverish activity† and its â€Å"well-ordered† nature suggests the idea of controlled chaos. Thus the great amount of activity that is required in the practice of food preparation can only be completed with the cooperation of each individual party. Finally, the unchanging nature of culture is shown to cause conflict within Hang’s character as she is caught in her desire to become a modern woman and her family’s strong links to cultural traditions. Hang describes the countryside as â€Å"Everywhere, an indescribable backwardness hung in the air, immaterial yet terrifyingly present: It would be like this for eternity.† This line suggests not only in restrictive nature of culture but also shows how difficult it is to shake culture. The use of the phrase â€Å"terrifyingly present† highlights the inescapable nature of tradition and the strong bond to which each individual in the book is tied to their traditions. The ideas of food, culture and community are explore in chapters eight and nine, particularly through the ideas of family relationships and its strong links to traditional Vietnamese culture.

Segmentation and Targeting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Segmentation and Targeting - Essay Example Specific marketing cases Ford Escort is a car brand that was revitalized in 1982, adding Ford’s blue oval insignia for the first time in history alongside a newer frame. The brand was aimed at the sports car market, with a two-seater hatch for lower rooflines (University of southern California, 2010). These body features proved unsuccessful in the sports market and once again, the Ford escort was remodeled for the youth market. The escort brand introduced in the early nineties was a much lower-slung and casual car than either the sedan or wagon. The brand reinstated the Escort GT, as the company was more focused on providing an affordable product for the youths. The Lexus target market ranges for people around the age of forty, with a strong household salary. The luxury market back in 1989 had Lexus brands sell around 25,000 cars in hope of achieving a target of 65,000 cars. With the main rivals of Lexus being brands such as Mercedes Benz, the target market of majority of its brands is well-off customers (Anurit, Newman, And Chansarkar, 2006, p. 15). The choice of target market made by Ford while manufacturing the escort brand revolves around the model of product life sequence. This choice has an impact on its advertising and pricing strategies through marketing mix (University of southern California, 2010). Since Ford Escort is a commodity model of this specific industry, its price and mode of promotion is defined by the targeted market, breaking down the promotion procedures into stages. These stages have been used by Ford to realize the standard income made the youthful market and be able to set prices for the escort model. The choice of target market affected the pricing and advertising strategies of the Lexus vehicle brands through product positioning. Unlike Ford, Lexus fixed its models right before customers who could find them affordable, instead of directly looking the customers. Lexus believed their brand would sell in terms of benefits that ca n be offered to customers through new ways. This way, Lexus could always be affiliated with luxury living, creating a standard means of living able to be felt and understood by its customers. The effects of imposition of a new target market by Ford Escort would have multi-dimensional scaling (Anurit, Newman, And Chansarkar, 2006, p. 16). Market researchers working with ford have analyzed the relationship between introduction of new market targets and consumer perception. Mature Ford escort customers will be inclined to react pessimistically to the bringing in of a new market targets since the dimension the brand has been pursuing for the past twenty years will be altered. Customers will be looking forward to luxurious models of Ford Escort for new buyers (University of southern California, 2010). Therefore, Old buyers will flee the market in search of other affordable brands. The perspective of Lexus buyers will not make a big or significant change with the introduction of a new mar ket target. The brands made by Lexus already hold a luxurious perspective amongst all car buyers worldwide. Therefore, Lexus buyers already find the cars affordable and any significant changes that may occur might be due to the quality or features of new Lexus brands. The image of Ford has been tarnished after the economic downturn began in the European market. As a result, its market

Shift Work Stress and Safety Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Shift Work Stress and Safety - Term Paper Example s for nigh perfection that comes from anyone’s bosses, almost always require one to either work long, crazy hours, or overnight where stress on the body is higher with the ever so quietness of the night. Shifts are usually relegated to one of three eight hour shift starting times: 0600, 1400, and 2200. Shiftwork is usually considered to be either overnight work or a schedule where no two days have the same shift. Some people enjoy shift work, most just tolerate it, while others cannot handle it. This type of stress like any other can be harmful to the body. The amount of stress one can take varies from person to person. Some people handle stress better than others. Furthermore, some industries have a higher level of risk and stress placed upon its business and the employees of those businesses. Thus, OSHA has set up specific guidelines and suggestions to help ensure the safety of those employed in the various industries. These industries have guidelines ensure the safety of the employees that are more rigid that various other industries. However, not only do the riskiest industries have stress that can cause injuries, but even working in an office can cause undo harm an injury to an employee of a company. Stress does not have any friends or particular industries that it hits harder than others. Overall, stress can come from various places and in various forms such as Temperature, discomfort, long hours, minimal breaks, weather conditions (if working outdoors), etc. Even with all the possible injuries that can be brought about by stress, OSHA guidelines can only help so far. OSHA works as diligently as it can to ensure everyone’s safety and health. Their priority and main goal is just that: ensure the health and safety of all employees in a workplace. Stress from shift work can be harmful to a person’s body. Shiftwork does not allow, in most cases, for people to get the proper amount of rest needed to have a healthy life. Thus, the onset of fatigue

Essay about the play Our town Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

About the play Our town - Essay Example Again the play deals with another theme that since life is transient, traditions and values of life also undergo changes. In Act I, the stage that represents Gibbs and Webb families is largely inactive and lifeless because of the absence of daily activities. After the manager’s short description, daily activities begin on the stage. Throughout the whole play the milkman, the paperboy, Gibb’s family pantomime their typical activities and household chores. At the end of this Act, the audience comes to learn about the romantic affair between Emily and George. Act II mainly deals with George and Emily’s ceremony and also their retrospective details of their relationship in the past. The manager narrates how things change along the passage of time. He describes how George and Emily go to schools together. In the past years affection grew between the two through different events such as being elected class president, treasurer, baseball leader, etc. Now they are going to be tied with marital bond. George’s future father-in-law informs him about the change in the traditional view about a bride. He says to George that his father advises him to use his wife as property in order to be happy in conjugal life. But he did not follow his advice; he is happy in his conjugal life. It essentially reveals that traditional views change along the passage of time. Act III deals with the funeral of Emily who died in childbirth. It is the most heart-touching part of the play. It crucially contributes to the development of the theme that life is valuable and should live his or her life to the fullest. Emily’s spirit does not want to join with the dead. She wants to revive the most pleasing parts of her life. Only now, the audiences are aware of the value and pleasures of life. The primary themes of the play have been worked out by the use of different imagery and symbols such as â€Å"morning†, â€Å"natural

Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 196

Essay Example t there is a functional structure that groups people with similar abilities and competences taking up defined roles and functions within the organization. It would be noted that as part of focus strategy, the institution will be seeking to offer customized services that meet the unique needs of customers (Sprigings and Allen, 2007). Such customized and focused services can however not come if round pegs are put in square holes. By rightly placing the human resource therefore, it will be possible to improve the institution’s overall efficiency. What is more, the use of focus generic strategy is expected to bring about and offer financial sustainability as it is to double as a means by which the hospital becomes competitive by gaining the needed competitive advantage to compete with competitor. As the focus strategy comes on board, the organization will no longer be concerned just about customers who come to the institution to do business with it. Rather, it will be expected that the right customers, marketing niche and product lines are found that come directly under the focus of the institution. As a tool for gaining competitive advantage and for that matter financial growth, the focus strategy ensures that most places within the market where competitors have abandoned are areas that are focused on for market expansion (Berkowitz, 2010). By doing this, financial stability can be said to be guaranteed given the fact that those newly identified markets will become a nursery financial outflow for the institution where it can fall on for its future growth. With all the above said, an important realization is that by bringing on board the focus business strategy, the company will be opening itself up to addressing the needs of stakeholders more directly. This is because as stated earlier, the emphasis of the focused strategy will be to serve customized services. Meanwhile, the hospital has never functioned in isolation but with the joint efforts and collaboration of

Survey online travel agencies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Survey online travel agencies - Essay Example The second type is the 'blind' sites which are similar to open sites but they allow a customer to bid a price, a location or a time to get his/her ticket reservation but a user may not know the airline, departure time or specific hotel until the actual ticket is bought. These websites also have the normal search functionality where a customer can view the travel fares without bidding. The third type of online travel sites are merely search engines popularly known as 'meta search engines' (Rand, 2006). The term means that they search other sites which provide air travel. The search engine goes through all available online travel agencies websites (open sites) and finds the best results for the user. (CR, 2008) As mentioned above, there are three types of online travel agencies. These agencies fight within themselves to get the highest market share (Rand, 2006). For the analysis sake, the business strategy is compared according to these types. Popular open sites include agencies like Orbitz, Expedia, and Travelocity amongst others. Orbitz (www.orbitz.com) strategy is to market itself in the eco-tourism and beats the other two companies in terms of thoroughness and provides car rentals and hotel reservations at guaranteed prices. Expedia (www.expedia.com) is a highly rated site which offers extra benefits to the customers like rewards for frequent flyers, going to less-common foreign routes and awards programs. Travelocity's (www.Travelocity.com) website is easily customizable to find what the user wants. Best fares, time frame and different combinations of airline, hotels, car rentals etc. can be entered as search parameters and found easily. (CR, 2008) Blind Sites Two popular blind sites are there in the category, Priceline and Hotwire. Priceline's (www.priceline.com) strategy is to let travelers bid a price on where and when they want to fly. The website then searches for all available seats on any airline matching the cost, time and the destination. The bid can be rejected if the bid is too low, where a traveler can increase the bid and try again in 24 hours. Due to the inconvenience of not knowing the exact time of departure and airline, Priceline is best option only for people who are flexible and need a low cost travelling solution. On the other hand, Hotwire (www.hotwire.com) is successful on its own strategy. Travelers can select a tourism package complete with hotel and car reservation without knowing the airline or the hotel. However by specifying the location radius, the website can choose the best priced hotel within that radius. The site also offers consultancy with the help of historical trends which makes Hotwire more interesting and better in terms of customer perception. (CR, 2008) Search Engines Travel search engines like Kayak and Yahoo! FareChase are two of the most popular Meta search engines. Kayak (www.kayak.com) plays on its extra features like finding the lowest fares from a traveler's closest airport. Their deals with hotels and airlines return a very good price for the customers. Its most helpful feature includes the fare comparison tool that lets a customer check the lowest fares that other passengers paid for similar routes and to compare search results against those found on other open or blind sites. Yahoo!

New technolgy work and the economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

New technolgy work and the economy - Essay Example It complements other organizational management indicatives in providing a focus on the sustenance of competitive advantage. Every company has its own unique knowledge management strategy. To understand how knowledge management affects work and the economy, it is important to understand what it is in all aspects (Christensen, 2003). There is no universal definition of knowledge management, but a few experts have tried to put to words what this kind of management entails. Knowledge management is the term used to refer to the â€Å"collection of processes that govern the creation, dissemination, and utilization of knowledge† (Newman, 2002). It can also be said to be the systematic process by which information is found, selected, organized, distilled and presented. This systematic process is carried out in a way that serves to improve the employees’ understanding of a particular area of interest. In other words knowledge management is a process that should be used to enhance the objectives and goals of the organization (Nonaka, 2002). Knowledge management allows an organization to achieve its goals and objectives. This means that knowledge management is an important factor that contributes to the organization’s long term success without putting too much strain on the existing resources. All the different definitions are similar in that they emphasize the importance of the organization as a whole in the process of knowledge management. Most of the definitions point out that knowledge emanates from individuals and that not a single one of them knows everything. It is therefore important to manage all this knowledge so that everyone on the organization can gain something from one another (Christensen, 2003). The aim of any organization is to ensure that it is as profitable as possible. Mnprofitability can be achieved through many ways, including proper knowledge management. Effective knowledge management makes it possible for a company to serve customers to

Racism And Discrimination Today Essay Example for Free

Racism And Discrimination Today Essay How would you like to be treated certainly because of your cultural, beliefs, tradition or even color? Well this is happening everywhere every day. This is called racial discrimination. So what is racial discrimination? It is not knowing anything about someone when you look at them, but disliking them anyway and treating them differently, not because of who they are, but what they are. In addition Racism started from the past and is still active today. Racism in the past was simply violent especially in the early 20th Century. When slavery was ended in America in 1865 racial tension occurred. As the free slaves, where allowed to move freely around the land a majority of the white population still saw them as slaves and did not want to interact and socialize with them. One example of racism is that Research has shown that teachers expect black children to fail Not only are black children played in lower sets; they themselves believe that they are certain to fail. This is proof that racism is every where and occurs from any age group. Racism has always been around. It is one of the world’s MAJOR concerns TODAY. A number of people are naà ¯ve of how much racism undertakes in our society today. Racism can be seen in incidents of racist abuse, harassment and discrimination. Racism is the discrimination of a person because of the race that they have inherited. Racism can be said to anyone. It is certainly severe that these things change, but these past few years, many people in all countries have been saying malicious and discourteous things about one another’s tradition. I can’t stress to say that racism is harassment, it is Mistreatment. People think it’s amusing to torment a person because of their color, their accent, culture and sometimes even how they are not good in something, this is all racism. There are numerous diverse types of racism, for example racism because of skin color, birth place, religion etc but they all got a couple of things in common. All kinds of racism are dreadful and create a negative and sometimes dangerous emotional response. Racism not only leads to social problems but in severe cases it causes mental illness and violence for example self harm, depression and the harming of others. In most cases it causes the target to feel deserted, depressed and livid as most of you people previously know from experience but what you people didn’t is that in the most severe cases racism leads to suicidal thoughts and the miserable thing is that in the worst cases these thoughts are carried out and its usually by a young teenager. That’s a young person with their whole life ahead of them claiming their life because a few people can’t accept them because they are a little different. Many riots have been caused all around the world due to racism. As John F. Kennedy had said This nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds, on the principle that all men were created equal.† A statement which directly states the importance everyone has in this world and the equality everyone shares regardless where you are from or what color you are. Racism is always going to occur but their will always be a chance to reduce it. Truth speaking there are no different races, but only one race. The human race. Thank you for listening!

University of hertfordshire objectives

University of hertfordshire objectives Abstract In this assignment project me discuss and construct a Management Strategy that considers the University of Hertfordshire financial and non financial behaviour. A major part of the project is to develop a strategy that could identify the complications at the management level. This model is for the University of Hertfordshire to review and discuss its vision and mission while keeping the objectives of the University in mind. The project will identify the key attributes and criteria fo reviewing the strategy. Moreover the project develops the mission, vision and measures to be notified and followed by the University by considering the organizations ethical, cultural, enviromnental, social and business background. It will help to proactively make good management and therefore reduce loss of revenue and market share. This ultimately will lead to improved communications locally as well as globally as well as greater returns. The Techniques will utilize the latest research techniques and co nsider Universitys corporate objectives and business rules. The process discussed in this assignment is called â€Å"Strategic Planning and Implementation†. Keywords- Strategy Management, Planning, Vision, Business Behavior and Research Techniques 1) Introduction In todays highly competetive environment (business), planning that is budget oriented or forecast based are not that efficient. The University must engage in Strategy Management Planning that clearly defines and assesses the objectives of the university and evaluates the progress of the university. Strategic management is a level of managerial activity under setting goals and over Tactics. Strategic management is closely related to the field of Organization Studies and provides overall direction to the enterprise. According to Arieu (2007), â€Å"there is strategic consistency when the actions of an organization are consistent with the expectations of management, and these in turn are with the market and the context.† â€Å"Strategic management is an ongoing process that evaluates and controls the business and the industries in which the company is involved; assesses its competitors and sets goals and strategies to meet all existing and potential competitors; and then reassesses each strategy annually or quarterly [i.e. regularly] to determine how it has been implemented and whether it has succeeded or needs replacement by a new strategy to meet changed circumstances, new technology, new competitors, a new economic environment., or a new social, financial, or political environment.† (Lamb, 1984:ix) The following definitions, when combined, characterize a comprehensive strategic planning process. Strategic planning is: a rational analysis of the opportunities offered by an environment and of strengths and weaknesses of the firm, and selection of a match (strategic) between the two which best satisfied the objective of the firm (Ansoff, 1976). the process of determining what an organization does, what it will do in the future, and how it will manage to do it. (Bryson, 1988). disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide an organization, what it does and why it does it (Bryson, 1988). the continuous process of making present entrepreneurial (risk-taking) decisions systematically and with the greatest knowledge of their futurity; organizing systematically the efforts needed to carry out these decisions; and measuring the results of these decisions against the expectations through organized, systematic feedback (Drucker, 1974). 1.1) Structure of the process- Management Strategy: Strategic Formulation would be the process of the following steps: Mission and Objectives What we want to become and what we aim to achieve. Principles The objectives and the commitments of the University that guide us. Environmental Scanning Factors like global, national and state contexts, education sector, various social and business trends, outcomes and gaps. Strategy Formulation- Strenghts to the opportunities identified and competetive advantage Strategy Implementation- Implementing: budget allocation, procedure. Evaluation and Control- Monitoring and Adjustments required. Developing the strategy would help the University to be acclaimed as International University recognised for innovative and original ideas and exploring and enriching those ideas to enrich individuals, their commitments and the environment. 1.2) Criteria for Reviewing Potential Options: In the delivery of the Universitys Vision, Mission and Aims, choices must be made on where to invest resources (including people, effort, money and infrastructure) to achieve strategic objectives and the associated benefits, and to minimise risk (Sue Hybart, 11 April 2006). The Universitys strategic planning cycle illustrates the process leading from setting strategic objective through option review to making choices upon which specific implementation plans are built. Establishing criterias for strategic investment looking across all areas of the University: Analysis of the System education and its implications Sustain national and international recognition for excellence and enterprise Promote ethical practice in education and research as an integral part of the University culture Maintain a leading research performance through outstanding scholarship,ground-breaking discovery, collaborative networks and commercialised outcomes. Strengthen and sustain a reputation for excellence in learning and teaching through innovation and quality student outcomes. Advance the Innovation Campus as a successful space for developing new ideas and applications through University-business partnerships Strengthen connections to the community through improved channels for interaction and mutually beneficial projects. According to Chan (1993), higher education institutions utilizing strategic planning have five characteristics: a shared and inspiring vision that defines an institutions identity and desired position in the marketplace; a well-done strategic framework that directs institutional energies and activities; an institutional commitment to enrich external environments throug manifesting its values; a widespread strategic thinking capability that prevails over a rigid, formal an centralized planning process; a supportive value system and climate that emphasizes participatory governance and empowers participants within the institution. Moreover there are certain key areas which need to be considered:- Assess the ease of realisation (closure of gap) based on: Distance between current position and aspiration, Investment (funding, time, and other resources) required to close gap on sustainable basis, consideration of market attractiveness and consideration of opportunity cost and risk assessment. Details of administrative support and link to the University. Modifications and support from the staff members. Working in collobatation for the university would act like as an useful tool and it would generate more help and a systemetic way of approach leading to better understanding of the management and their results and analysis. Moreover one of the important factor would be the involvement of the students in learning and their life at University. Moreover to achieve excellent, internationally recognised outcomes, the University should continue to focus more on promoting the ability, creativity, and commitment of the staff at the University. These criteria help in business and enterprise international outlook, and would help in learning and teaching research along with the practical experience and knowledge gained to students and the staff members. According to Mockler (1995) though strategy formulation is very central to understanding strategic management, it does not sufficiently provide a concrete direction for action. This can only be provided by strategy implementation. This view suggests that strategy implementation poses even more difficulties than strategy formulation. However, a basic framework can be derived to serve as a road map to strategy formulation (Mezias, Gringer and Gruth 2001; Hills and Jones 1995; Mockler 1995). 2) Vision, Mission, Objectives and Measures 2.1) PEST Analysis An environment in which the University operates can be expressed in terms of the following factors: Political: It would include various government regulations and legal issues and define various norms and rules under which University operates. It includes tax policies, employment benefits and laws, trade restrictions and tariffs, political coherence among the staff and the students and environmental regulations. Economic Factors: It would and affect the universitys cost allocation. Some key examples are economic growth, interest rates etc. Social Factors: Social factors includes the cultural and demographic aspects. These factors affect customer needs and the size of potential markets. Some factors include health consiousness, career attituded of the students, age distribution and class strength. Business and Technology factors- They can be very important as they may run the other factors. They can lower the barrier to entry, reduce minimum efficcient production levels, including: R and D activity, rate of technology change atc. 2.1.1 SWOT Analysis: Swot analysis helps in matching the resources and the capabilities to the external world in this competetive era. As dicussed on (http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/swot/), a firms strenght are its resources and capabilities that can be used as a basis for developing a competetive advantage.Examples include, strong names, cost advantage, and exclusive access to high grade natural resources. It can be determoined by SWOT matrix which is a very good indicator of the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats (Bradford and Robert W. Duncan). 2.2 Vision and Mission: Starategy Management Plays into role if the Vision and the mission are defined within the constraints of the guidelines by the University and the Faculty. Vision- To become an international University that is recognised and known for originality, enterprise and its ethics in focussing, exploring, transfering and applying knowledge to enrich its students and the individuals, their communities and the environment. Mission- Our mission is to excel through Research and teaching of world-class innovative standard and impact,learning environment that supports, informs and inspires our diverse student community,Staff initiative, enthusiasm and commitment to the Universitys goals, Collaboration and enterprise that provide innovative and timely ideas and solutions for the University and its community partners (Mockler (1995)). University share a commitment to promoting and celebrating excellence through initiative, enterprise and achievements that take society forward in an intellectual way and the freedom for opinion. It is very important to maintain the integrity, mutual respect and collegiality among the University. Moreover Students from all over the world having different cultures, ideas should stand together for the development of the University. It is very important for the University to foresight the quality and accountability as an institution by mutual development and community partnership. Moreover equal monitoring plays a vital role where students from all over the world are studying. The University is commited to developing graduates who are informed, independent learners, problem solvers, effective communicators, and responsible towards the society and to themselves. 2.3) Objectives and Measures for evaluation: The university can and have set the goals and objectives as parameters for a progress towards the vision: 1. Excellence and innovation in learning and teaching Graduates equipped to contribute to society and the workplace An active, collaborative and flexible learning experience for students Quality programs relevant to the evolving needs of students and the community An international focus in learning and teaching High quality teaching 2. Excellence and innovation in research Research of high quality and impact at an international level Enhanced capacity to attract external grant funding Quality research student scholarship and training Strong partnerships with external organisations to achieve mutually beneficial research outcomes Enhanced capacity for commercial research and commercialisation of research outcomes 3. Dynamic engagement with our communities A University that is accessible, outward reaching and responsive to its communities Strong reciprocal relationships that enrich our communities Integration of community engagement in our academic activities Enhanced educational aspirations and higher education participation in our regions 4. Students engaged with learning and University life Students engaged as members of the University community Efficient and professional management of each phase of the student experience A social and physical environment where all students can participate in University life Effective communication between students and the University 5. A university of international outlook and achievement A community with a diverse and rewarding global perspective and culture A university of choice for international students International recognition for quality, standards and outcomes 6. Versatile, skilled and committed staff An adaptable workforce with skills aligned to strategic directions A supportive, rewarding and equitable work environment 7. Business capacity to advance the achievement of our Vision Decision-making based on sound planning, governance and quality processes Strategic deployment of resources and information A sustainable and reliable infrastructure Plan for the Implementation of the strategy In this section I would be decribing about all the 7 objectives mentioned in the last heading. Moreover I would be explaining the strategic priorities, key indicators of the performance and the plan which could help in the betterment of the University and its members. 3.1) Development and Creation of the strategy Goal 1 The University is committed to providing its diverse body of students with an engaging internationally oriented atmosphere and learning experience. The priority is to promote ethical education as a part of culture, maintaining the reputation of the University and ensuring that graduates and undergraduates are committed to their employers for their knowledge and skills attained at the University. Strategy Goal 1- University must integrate the development of Graduate into the curriculum at any level and standard. University should develop, focuss and implement institutional approaches for analysing the attainment of Graduate Qualities so that University can know what skills are their students gaining. University should continue to give priority to developing the capacity of students and embed the outcomes of the Academic Integrity Project. University must provide opportunities that equip students for employment in a global labour market. University should optimise the mix of delivery methods to enhance the learning experience of students across all teaching locations and facilities to provide a physical environment that is engaging, collaborative and flexible. An international focus would help them to develop their knowledge and skills lobally and would help them to compete in a larger scale. Key Indicators- Learning and Teaching Performance Student Perception Employer Perception International Recognition

Airline Reservation System Ars Software Requirements Specifications Computer Science Essay

Airline Reservation System Ars Software Requirements Specifications Computer Science Essay Airline reservations system (ARS) is a online software application used to reserve and retrieve information and perform transactions related to air travel. Originally designed and performed by airlines, ARSes were later developed for the use of travel agencies. Major ARS operations that book and sell tickets for multiple airlines are known as Global distribution systems (GDS). Airlines have divested most of their direct holdings to dedicated GDS companies, who make their systems accessible to consumers through Internet gateways. Modern GDSes are providing the services like booking hotel rooms and rental cars as well as airline tickets. They also provide access to railway reservations in some markets although these are not always integrated with the main system. REQUIREMENTS DOCUMENT First we are developing a Software Requirements Specification (SRS) document that specifies what an airline reservation system should and should not do. The SRS document is divided into five sections namely System Objectives Mainly we discuss the goals and objectives of the system categorized based on the viewpoint of the airline company and the customer. They help in a top-down development of the SRS. System Context This section clearly depicts the environment and boundaries of the ARS and the entities with which it interacts. It helps us see how the system fits into the existing scheme of things. What the system will do by itself and what it expects other entities to do is clearly delineated. Functional Requirements These requirements states the functions of the system what it should do and what it should not. This will includes the most common requirements of the customer in addition to some additional features. like reserving tickets, rescheduling tickets etc. Freedom from ambiguity and navigability were kept in mind while documentation. A consistent terminology has been followed throughout and the terms are explained in the appendix. The subsections follow a logical sequence that reflects the real world. For example, a customer cannot reschedule a ticket unless he has bought one earlier and cannot buy one unless he has checked its availability. Non-functional Requirements These are quality requirements that stipulate the performance levels required of the system for various kinds of activities. Numerical lower and upper limits set conditions on the response times, access times etc of the system. Sometimes, tradeoffs are necessary among various non-functional requirements. Future Requirements As technology improving day to day,users needs are also increasing.so we have to update our applications time to time in order to satisfy the customers.These are the specifications which are not provided for now in the current version of ARS but which could be incorporated into future versions. Some of these need advanced technologies and interfaces with other systems. The ARS could be designed in future to enhance the existing capabilities or add entirely new ones. The assumptions and limitations of the ARS have been interspersed in the SRS to present the same in their proper context. REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS DOCUMENT 1. System Objectives 1.1 The Airline Reservation System (ARS) is a software application to assist an airline with transactions related to making ticket reservations, which includes blocking, reserving, canceling and rescheduling tickets. 1.2 From the viewpoint of the airline 1.2.1 Minimize repetitive work done by the system administrator and reservation clerks. 1.2.2 Maintain consistency among different access modes, e.g. by phone, by web, at the information desk and across different physical locations. The users should be basically taken through the same steps by the system as they go through in conventional desk-reservation systems. 1.2.3 Maintain customer information in case of emergency, e.g. flight cancellation due to inclement weather. The profile can also be used by the airline company to track user preferences and travel patterns to serve them better, plan routes, for better marketing and efficient scheduling of flights. 1.2.4 Maximize the revenue of the airline company by various means: 1.2.4.1 Increase awareness among frequent travelers about various special offers and discounts. 1.2.4.2 Minimize the number of vacant seats on a flight and maximize flight capacity utilization. 1.2.4.3 Maintain the capability to adopt a flexible pricing policy. The price of the tickets should be dynamically determined based on how early, before the date of departure, the customer buys the ticket. 1.3 A survey conducted by airline companies shows that users of an existing reservation system would respond favorably to an ARS that satisfied or helped them satisfy the following objectives: 1.3.1 Reduce effort and frustration for travelers in scheduling a trip, especially by reducing the search effort for the flight they need to take. 1.3.2 Show all possible combinations and itineraries available for a pair of origin-destination cities. 1.3.3 Reduce redundancy in the information required from the customers in order for them to buy tickets, create user accounts etc. 1.3.4 Check the validity of input data and give a feedback to the user in case of errors or inconsistency. 1.3.5 Provide flexible access modes to users internet, telephone, PDA. 1.3.6 Protect customers privacy concerns. 1.3.7 Make it easy for travelers to check the ticket status or make changes to their trip. 2. System Context 2.1 The ARS will provide the following types of easy-to-use, interactive, and intuitive graphical and telephonic interfaces. 2.1.1 The ARS will provide an easy-to-use, intuitive Graphical User Interface (GUI) as part of the Clerk/Administrators working desktop environment. 2.1.2 The ARS will also provide an interactive GUI, on the World Wide Web for the general customers. The above two ARS interfaces shall help provide the following functionalities to the users access to the ARS to check the flight schedule, availability of seats, ticket price and to block, reserve, cancel, and reschedule tickets. The ARS will also provide an easy-to-use, simple telephonic user interface, which can be accessed by the customers through telephone or cell phone from anywhere. This interface shall provide access, only to the following functionalities, namely, check flight schedule and check ticket status including any change in the flight timings. The functionality available through this telephonic interface is limited because of security constraints. 2.2 The system and its environment and the interactions between them are depicted in the diagram below. DB-Reservations Flight Schedule Database Customer Via Web DB-User DB-Schedule I N T E R F A C E CW DB-Geography ARS software INTERFACE Cp Customer Via Phone INTERFACE A Administrator The closed boundary above clearly delineates the system and the environment. The diagram shows the interactions between the ARS software and the databases inside the system. There are three databases internal to the system and which the system maintains. DB-user is the database containing all the personal information of the registered users of the ARS. This can be updated by the user by logging in to the system. Information from this database is used during transactions like charging the credit card etc. DB-schedule is a copy of the flight schedule database. The latter exists independently and is updated by a flight scheduler system which is out of scope of the ARS. DB-schedule is updated with the latest status of the flight schedule database whenever there is any change in the latter. For example, if a flight has been added to the schedule between two cities on Tuesdays, DB-schedule gets updated with this change through a process with which we are not concerned. It is external to th e system and is out of the scope of this SRS. DB-schedule also contains the base prices of tickets for various flight numbers. DB-reservations are a database containing information regarding the number of seats available on each class on different flights. It has provision for marking how many of the reserved seats have been blocked but not yet bought. DB-reservations should update itself using DB-schedule, for example, if a new flight is added. DB-geography is a database, which contains information about the cities and towns serviced by the airline. The distance between all cities and towns is contained in a matrix form. There are three interfaces, one for the administrator, one for the customer via web and another for the customer via phone. The administrator can update DB-schedule with any changes in the base prices of flight tickets. The system uses a pricing algorithm and dynamically determines the actual price from this base price depending on the date of reservation vis-Ã  - vis date of departure. The customer interfaces (web and phone) enable multiple functions which are described in the following section section 3. 3. Functional Requirements User Accounts Registration and creation of user profile Checking Availability Making Reservations/Blocking/Confirmation Confirm Ticket Reschedule Ticket Cancellation Update Profile View Ticket Status Query Flight Details Telephone access User Accounts The passenger, who will henceforth be called the user, will be presented with 3 choices by the reservation system, as the first step in the interaction between them. A user can choose one of these and his choice would be governed by whether he is a guest or a registered user and whether he wants to check the availability of tickets or also block/buy them. The terms registered user and guest are described below. A user who has traveled by the airline earlier would have been given a user id and a password. He would have his personal information stored in the database referred earlier as DB-user. This personal information would be henceforth referred to as profile. Such a user with a profile in DB-user shall be called a registered user. A registered user will be able to check the availability of tickets as well as block/buy a ticket by logging into the system. A new user, on the other hand, would either have to register himself with the system by providing personal information or log into the system as a guest. In case of a, the new user becomes a registered user. In case of b, the new user would remain a guest. A guest can only check the availability of tickets and cannot block or buy tickets. But a registered user can also act as a guest if he only wants to check the availability of tickets. Availability of tickets always refers to viewing the flight schedule for given days, the price of tickets and any discount offers. The system shall present the user with an option to exit from the system at any time during the following processes. Registration and creation of user profile The system shall require a user to register, in order to carry out any transactions with it except for checking the availability of tickets. It will ask the user for the following information at the least a user id, a password, first name, last name, address, phone number, email address, sex, age, preferred credit card number. The system will automatically create a sky miles field and initialize it to zero in the users profile. Checking Availability After logging in a user (either a registered user or a guest), the system shall request him to enter the following details origin city and destination city. City is a generic term and refers to a city or town as the case may be. The origin and destination cities would be entered as text. The system shall now refer to the flight schedule database, referred to as DB-geography earlier, and check if there is any ambiguity with the names of the cities. In case there are more than two cities with same name as entered by the user, the system shall list all of them (with more qualifications) and ask the user to select one of them. In case, either the origin or destination cities are not listed in DB-geography as being directly serviced by the airline, the system shall suggest the nearest city to which service is available, including the distance of the destination city from this nearest city. After the origin and destination cities are ascertained, the system shall now access the flight schedule database, referred to as DB-schedule , and checks if there is a direct operational service between the two cities. If not, the system shall suggest possible routes and transfer points using a route selection algorithm. The user shall now be presented with a choice of either selecting one of the routes. In case he selects a route, the system shall fill in the intermediate stop over points and create a multiple trip itinerary for the user. The system shall now ask the user to enter the following details class, one-way or round trip, departure date and the number of adult passengers, children and senior citizens. Class refers to business class/first class/club class/smoking/non smoking. This choice shall be made by the user through a drop down menu indicating all the possible combinations of choices. One-way/round trip shall be either a drop down menu or a check box selection. Departure date refers to either a single date or a range of dates, entered through a calendar-like menu. This menu shall not show dates in the past or those dates that are too ahead in the future(as determined by the airline policy). In case, the trip is a round trip, the system shall also ask the user to enter the departure date on the return trip. Having taken all the above input from the user, the system checks for any false entries like the departure date on the return trip being earlier than the departure date on the onward trip. In case of incompatibility, the system shall display a suitable error message and prompt the user to enter the information correctly. Having taken all of the information ,the system shall now access the flight schedule database DB-schedule and queries it using the input provided by the user. The system queries the reservation database DB-reservations to check which of the flights on the schedule have seats available. The system displays the results in a suitable form (a tabular form) with the following information depicted for each flight number the flight number, departure time in origin city, arrival time in destination city, the duration of the flight (taking into account the possibility of a change of time zone) and the number of seats available on that flight. There can be several flights between two cities and all of them will be listed for the particular date that the user wants to depart from the Origin City. In case, the user has entered a range of dates, the system shall display all the flights for all those dates in the range. If the user has requested a round trip, the system shall display two tables one for the onward trip and one for the return trip. There will be a check box in front of each line in the table representing a flight with available seats. The user is now asked to check one of the boxes reflecting a choice of a flight number and time. In case of a round trip, the user is asked to check one box each in the two tables. The system shall now display the price of the ticket for the trip. This will be the sum of the prices for all the members of the travel party being represented by the user. The system shall also list any rules regarding the cancellation of tickets what percentage of the price will be refunded within what date ranges. This will be displayed as a table. Making Reservations/Blocking/Confirmation After having taken the user through the, Checking Availability, The system will now ask the user if he wishes to block/buy the ticket. If yes, and if the user has been a guest, he will have to first register and become a registered user and then log onto the system. If the user is already a registered user, and if he has logged on already, he can block/buy the ticket, but if he has been acting as a guest, he will have to log on. Having ensured that the user is logged on validly according the system compares the departure date with the system date. If the departure date falls within 2 weeks of the system date, the system informs the user that he has no option to block the ticket and asks him if he would like to buy it. If the difference between the departure date and system date is more than 2 weeks, the system asks the user if he would like to block or buy the ticket. The system informs the user that he can block the ticket at no cost now. It also informs him that if he chooses to block the ticket, he should make a final decision before 2 weeks of the departure date. The system shall send an email to the user, 3 weeks before the departure date as a reminder, in case he decides to block the ticket now. Having taken the input from the user, the system shall now proceed to update the reservation database DB-reservation. It will decrement the number of available seats on the particular flight for the particular class by the number of travelers being represented by the user. In case of a blocking, the system makes a note of it in the database to be used if the user doesnt turn up before 2 weeks of the departure date. It generates a blocking number and displays it for the user to note down. In case the user buys the ticket, the system accesses his profile and charges the price of the ticket to his credit card number. It simultaneously generates a confirmation number and displays it to the user for him to note down. The ticket has been reserved. It adds the mileage of the trip (accounting for the number of travelers) to the skymiles in his profile. Confirm Ticket A user who has earlier blocked a ticket after going through the previous steps required to either confirm the ticket before two weeks of the departure date or the ticket stands cancelled. To let the user confirm a ticket, the system shall first log him on and ask for his blocking number. Then it accesses DB-reservation and removes the check mark, which so far represented a blocked seat. The seat is now confirmed and reserved for the user. The system accesses DB-user and charges the price of the ticket to the credit card number of the user. It simultaneously generates a confirmation number and displays it for the user to note down. The ticket has been reserved. It adds the mileage of the trip (accounting for the number of travelers) to the skymiles in his profile. Reschedule Ticket The system shall present the user with an option to re-schedule his travel partys trip. In order to do this, the system first logs on the user and requests his confirmation number. It will not allow a user to reschedule a blocked ticket but only a confirmed ticket. Using this, it queries DB-reservation and presents the details of the trip to the user, including but not limited to origin city, destination city, date of departure and date of arrival (in case the trip is a round trip). The system shall now ask the user to select new dates from the calendar-menu. In case, there are no available tickets for the dates entered, it displays a suitable message informing him that rescheduling to that date is not possible. In case there are tickets available, the system asks the user to select the flight number for the trip (another for the return trip if the trip is a round trip) and proceeds to update the database. The system accesses DB-reservation and decrements the number of available seats on the flight(s) by the number of members in the users travel party. It then increments the entry for the previous flight by the same number to reflect an increase in the available seats on it as a result of the rescheduling. The system now checks if there is any difference in the prices of the tickets. If so, it accesses DB-user and charges or credits the credit card as the case may be. The system generates a new confirmation number and displays it to the user. Cancellation The system shall also give the user an option to cancel a confirmed ticket or a blocked ticket. The latter case is simpler and will be dealt with first the system shall first log on the user and request the blocking number. Then it accesses DB-reservation and updates it by incrementing the number of available seats by the number of people in the users travel party. In the former case, i.e., for a confirmed ticket, it asks for the confirmation number and accesses DB-reservation and presents the details of the trip. It then lists the applicable rules for cancellation of tickets and depending on the system date and the departure date, it displays the % of the amount that would be refunded if the user cancels the ticket. After the user cancels the ticket, the system generates a cancellation number and displays it for the user to note down. It accesses DB-reservation and updates it by incrementing the number of available seats on that flight by the number of travelers in the users party. It accesses DB-user and credits the refund amount to his credit card number. The system then deducts the mileage of the trip (taking into account the number of travelers in his party) from the sky miles in his profile. Update Profile The system shall enable the user to update his profile at any time. Changes can be made in fields including but not limited to address, phone number and preferred credit card number. View Ticket Status The system shall allow a user to view all information about his trip. After logging him on, it asks for his blocking number or his confirmation number. It accesses DB-reservation and retrieves the details of the trip and presents them to the user in a convenient format, including any last minute changes to the flight timings etc. Such changes will be highlighted. Query Flight Details The system shall allow any user (registered or non registered) to access the details about the arrival and departure times of a flight by requesting the user to input the flight number and date. The system accesses DB-schedule and presents the time of arrival and departure. Telephone access The system shall be accessible through a touch-tone telephone. The telephonic interface shall, at the least, provide the customer with the facility to check availability of tickets and query flight details. The system shall walk the customer exactly through steps 3.3 and 3.9 respectively but through a telephonic interface. Non-functional Requirements Performance Response time of the Airline Reservation System should be less than 2 second most of the time. Response time refers to the waiting time while the system accesses, queries and retrieves the information from the databases (DB-user, DB-schedule etc) (A local copy of flight schedule database is maintained as DB-schedule to reduce this access time) ARS shall be able to handle at least 1000 transactions/inquiries per second. ARS shall show no visible deterioration in response time as the number of users or flight schedule data increases Reliability ARS shall be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week ARS shall always provide real time information about flight availability information. ARS shall be robust enough to have a high degree of fault tolerance. For example, if the user enters a negative number of passengers or a value too large, the system should not crash and shall identify the invalid input and produce a suitable error message. ARS shall be able to recover from hardware failures, power failures and other natural catastrophes and rollback the databases to their most recent valid state. Usability ARS shall provide a easy-to-use graphical interface similar to other existing reservation system so that the users do not have to learn a new style of interaction. The web interface should be intuitive and easily navigable Users should be able to understand the menu and options provided by ARS. Any notification or error messages generated by ARS shall be clear, succinct, polite and free of jargon. Integrity Only system administer has the right to change system parameters, such as pricing policy etc. The system should be secure and must use encryption to protect the databases. Users need to be authenticated before having access to any personal data. Interoperability ARS shall minimize the effort required to couple it to another system, such as flight schedule database system. Future Requirements Support for waiting list functionality ARS shall be made more flexible in ticket reservation handling, and shall accept waiting list for reservation.The waiting list handling capability of ARS shall be made more advanced, by enabling it to send requests to the Flight Scheduler to schedule extra flights, depending on the demand in a particular corridor, and providing the wait listed passengers with a new flight. The telephonic interface of the ARS shall be improved to support more functionality like allowing the customers to cancel a ticket etc., by incorporating security measures. ARS shall be made more dynamic and helpful to the users by enabling it to send instant messages to the passengers, of a cancelled or rescheduled flight, through email, phone, Fax etc., informing them about the change, and providing them with other feasible alternatives. Information about the kind of meals served in a flight and the type of entertainment offered on a flight should be incorporated into the system.Provide service integration with auto rental agencies and hotel chains. Interface for the travel agents shall be provided in the future versions with additional features like informing them of any availability of seats on a flight which was earlier booked to capacity. Choices like aisle or window seats shall be provided to the users. The ARS shall be able to handle the situation where flight services are available to multiple airports in a single city.

Julius Caesar :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The title of this play is â€Å"Julius Caesar.† This play was written by William Shakespeare in the past. The play involves many different characters, events, and emotional feelings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mark Antony is a skillful orator because he has experience, knows how to sway the mob, and knows how to keep them on his side and how to persuade them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Antony is a very skillful orator. Throughout the speeches that were given by Antony, he proved this statement. He used multiple methods to achieve the feelings of the crowd. For example, he would say a line or two and then cry and stop talking. Dur g this time, he would listen to the crowd’s emotions and go from there. Antony would rile up the crowd, making them furious, holding them back, then making them even more furious once again. He would continue this until he thought they were angry enou to do what he pleases.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Antony points out in his speech dictating that he is loyal to Caesar as dictator and as a friend. Following the killing of Caesar, Antony quickly grasps that he must deal with Brutus, and he has the shrewdness to take advantage of Brutus’s naivetà ©. H repeats many lines over and over again being sarcastic.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Antony also uses half-truths and outright falsehoods to sway the mob to do what he wants. Antony repeats the line â€Å"but they were honorable men† multiple times referring to all of the conspirators. This, of course, was Antony’s sarcastic side.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another special technique Antony uses to sway the mob is by holding Caesar’s will. He would say that he’s not sure if he should read it, which then stirred up the mob making them anxious, while Antony was getting the mob onto his side. Eventually, th will was read and the mob was emotionally riled up.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Also, Antony had Caesar’s body brought out and sat down. He told the mob to gather in a circle around him and Caesar’s body.

Driving Ability Essay -- essays research papers

What things affect your driving ability? There are many things that affect your driving ability. Your emotional, vision and physical condition are just a few. Responsibility, maturity, and self-control are factors that affect your driving. It’s not just skill that matters. It’s your ability to think clearly and make sound, responsible decisions. Everybody experiences strong feelings that are both positive and negative. When you experience a strong negative emotion, you may feel as if you have to display forcefulness. This can lead to driving aggressively. This is called road rage. Violence is sometimes associated with road rage. Strong emotions can have an effect on your driving. They can interfere with your ability to manage the risk involved.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Inattention and lack of concentration may affect your driving. Both of them take your mind off of the road. It could be you being preoccupied or thinking about an exciting basketball play. It may be that you are thinking about a test that you need to study for, your boyfriend or girlfriend. The lack of concentration may cause you to speed or break other driving rules without you realizing it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Safe driving is a full-time job for your mind and your body. Drivers must be in a state of mind that allows them to see, hear, acknowledge signals of the roadway and behave accordingly. If the occasion ever occurs when you’re not in the right state of mind, allow someone else to drive fo...