How to Be a Good Manager in the 21th Century

How to be a good manager in the 21th century Nowadays, the role of a good and responsible manager gains a much greater importance than it did in previous years. These days it’s not only about meeting a financial goal. A good manager should also be a socially-minded and caring person. Interpersonal skills should be viewed as essential as the decision-making-ability. This is significant due to the fact that the employees are the key to a successful business. A company runs as good as its team and therefore it’s necessary to show respect for the employees and encourage and challenge them.A manager should also show his team his appreciation and give every individual the impression that he understands that he is doing something important for the company. Thus, the employee’s confidence can be built. The secret of running a successful business is to make sure that the manager is a socially responsible person who has the ability to energize, excite and control and to ad apt oneself to the company’s value and culture. Jack Welch, former CEO and chairman of GE, is universally recognized as the greatest CEO of his era.According to him, transparency within a company is an important criterion which opens the doors for bigger success. Openness can have a positive impact on business process. Welch describes it in three aspects. First of all, employees can be involved in meetings and conferences where they can give their opinions without timidity. Someone with a voice can bring new ideas forward which are absolutely an advantage for the company. Secondly, it can advance the managers’ decisions. If new thoughts and ideas are getting said, they can be put into practice much faster.Nowadays, many companies have to cope with high pressure due to business competition. Thus it’s essential to improve oneself constantly. For this reason new opinions and ideas can have a beneficial effect. Besides the fact that openness can be very time-saving, it also reduces costs. Thirdly, it therefore can be said that transparency adds to a company’s benefit. At the same time, managers should be honest with employees so that they know exactly where they’re standing and whether they meet conditions. In other words, employees have to be informed about their roles within a company.This is extremely important for the clarity and openness in the corporate life and can be guaranteed through regular appraisal interviews in which the employee receives a feedback about his performance, strengths and weaknesses. A performance review enables the staff member to get a review of his work by which he can improve himself gradually for the coming months. Thus, it provides the opportunity to set expectations for the future both of the behaviors required of the individual as well as the results needed to be achieved.Since the appraisal interview is not a one-sided method of being assessed, the manager should be rated by his staff as well. One the one hand, it ensures equality within the firm because both are evaluated. On the other hand, the manager obtains an overview of the employees concerns and needs. Considering these facts it can be said that appraisal interviews should play an important role and be a formal element of an on-going and active performance management process in a company that strives for transparency.In this context Jack Welch illustrates his 20-70-10 rule his point of view of differentiation, where the staff gets ranked in three categories. The percentage represents the top, middling and failing employees of a company who should be treated according to Welch in different ways. The first 20%, which represents the best performers, deserve the best treatment for their efforts and achievements. Welch’s approach is to reward the best 20% with bonuses, commendations and advanced training. The 70% represents the average employees.These ones are valuable for the company because they have the pote ntial to become one of the best. So a manager’s duty is to promote and challenge expertise and strengthen personalities of the average 70%. The main goal is to watch the employees, identify the ones with the potential of career advancement and to support them. During this process, it’s important to motivate the people and let them know that they’re part of the company. The last 10% are the poor performers, who have to be dismissed.Although the main principle of this rule seems to be very radical, it is according to Welch the managers’ duty to assign a role to the staff. A manager should show his employees how they can develop within the company and not confuse them by keeping this information secret. Nevertheless it’s alright to fail sometimes. Making mistakes shows that one is actively doing something. After all, people are learning from experience and sometimes it’s necessary to fail in order to see reason. But occasionally the job demands a great deal of someone. Jack Welch is onvinced that there’s no risk of getting burned out in an exciting job. Exhaustion can only be caused by a routine. Nevertheless, one must differentiate between important and less important things. A responsible manager should therefore primarily concentrate on major tasks with top priority while minor duties should be done at the very end. In this matter, Welch says it’s important to define clear goals if you want to be a good manager. It’s essential to know where you’re standing right now, where you want to get and how you want to reach the goal.Particularly regarding competitors, it is necessary to have a clear target. That’s why a manager should be aware that other companies are striving for improvement as well. So resting on one’s laurels should be avoided. If a company is very successful and belongs to the top ones, it doesn’t mean that the other enterprises are not aiming at success. Ther e are always others who are doing things better. In today’s world it is therefore of great importance for a manager to create a clear vision and set ambitious business objectives in order to make progress.In addition, it’s necessary to make sure that everyone working in the company shares that vision and strives for the same goals. Both aspects are very much interconnected and should always be viewed in direct relation. So it becomes obvious that the combination of a good manager and the right team leads to successful business. In his 4E-model, also called 4E of leadership, Jack Welch explains how to build the right team. The E’s describe four characteristics that a manager should embody in order to achieve that. The first â€Å"E† stands for positive energy. â€Å"Welch says that individuals with energy love to â€Å"go, go, go†.These are people that are very optimistic, sociable and full of â€Å"joie de vivre†. A manager who is full of e nergy loves to work and never complain. The second â€Å"E† represents the ability to energize people and spark them to perform. The third â€Å"E† represents edge, meaning that those who have edge can come to terms with hard decisions and stay competitive. These characteristics are essential for a manager, but yet not sufficient. A capable manager must know how to transform energy and edge into action and results. That’s what the last â€Å"E† stands for; a good manager knows how to execute.If a manger fulfills all these conditions, he finally should have the passion to perform. People, who have joy in their job, are automatically better in their profession. They love their job and want the employees to love it, too. This passion proves that they’ve chosen the right job and accomplish the role of a manager in a perfect way. Having taken all these factors into account, I come to the conclusion that someone who wants to be a good manager need to thi nk outside the box. These days it’s more than just about having the ability to control the progress of work.Beyond that it’s more important to have social skills in order to motivate people to work and being able to cope with conflicting situations. There is no doubt that experience is in this context the best teacher. One can learn from the boss but as well from the employees. Thus, a manager should be open-minded for any kind of criticism and consider the employees more as a team rather than only as manpower. Finally it can be said that  bringing enthusiasm to the job, building the right team and staying realistic are of central importance for being a successful manager in the 21th century. ——————————————- [ 1 ]. Slater, Robert. Jack Welch and the G. E. Way: Management Insights and Leadership Secrets of the Legendary CEO. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998. [ 2 ]. Welch, Jack and Suzy. Winning: Das ist Management. New York/Frankfurt: Campus Verlag, 2005. [ 3 ]. A new conversation with Jack Welch. 26 April 2011 . [ 4 ]. A new conversation with Jack Welch. 26 April 2011 . [ 5 ]. Krames, Jeffrey. Jack Welch and the 4E’s of Leadership: How to Put GE’s Leadership Formula to Work in Your Organization. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2005.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Essay Essay

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a narrative novel written by John Boyne. This book was first published in 2006. This novel explores the adventures of Bruno, the son of a Nazi commandant, who meets a young Jewish boy called Shmuel at the concentration near his new house at Out-With. Nothing can stop the two becoming best friends, not even a barbed wire fence. The story is set in Germany during the Second World War. This essay explores how the themes (the effect of war on children and families, innocence of children and the cruelty and unfairness of discrimination) are conveyed through narrative techniques (setting, character and plot). The innocence of children is a theme that is frequently used throughout the novel. Character is a narrative technique utilised to convey this particular theme. Bruno and Shmuel are characters in the novel who convey the theme, the innocence of children. Bruno conveys this theme by not knowing the other side of the fence was a concentration camp, †Å"An opportunity to see what was really on the other side of the fence before he went back to Berlin.† Bruno also believes venturing to the other side of the fence is a sensible plan and a good way to finish of his stay at Out-With, â€Å"All in all, it seemed like a very sensible plan and a great way to say goodbye.† Shmuel also conveys this theme because he doesn’t realise his father has been killed by one of the Nazi’s, â€Å"Shmuel saw a chance to get someone to help him in the search for his papa.† Another example of this theme is when Bruno presumes there was a cafà © and a shop at the concentration camp, â€Å"He had thought there would be a shop in the centre, and maybe a small cafà ©.† Bruno also thought the girls and boys living in the concentration camp played tennis, football, skipping and hopscotch, â€Å"He thought that all the boys and girls who lived here would be in different groups, playing tennis or football, skipping and drawing out squares for hopscotch on the ground.† Cruelty and unfairness of discrimination is a theme broadly used throughout the novel. The various settings in the book convey this theme. When Bruno looks around the concentration camp he saw two different types of people: unhappy, crying Jews in their striped pyjamas and ha ppy, laughing, shouting soldiers in their uniforms, â€Å"In fact everywhere he look, all he could see was two different types of people: either happy, laughing, shouting soldiers in their uniforms or unhappy, crying people in their striped pyjamas.† When  Bruno and Gretel look out of Bruno’s window they saw a group of Jewish children emerge from a hut. These children were being order around and shouted at, â€Å"Emerging from a hut in the distance, a group of children huddled together and were being shouted at by a group of soldiers. The more they were shouted, the closer they huddled together.† The children were also unfairly mocked and jeered by the soldiers at the concentration camp, â€Å"One of the soldiers lunged towards them and they separated and seemed to do what he wanted them to do all along, which was to stand in a single line. When they did, the soldiers all started to laugh and applaud them.† The setting of Bruno’s house in Out-With conveys this theme. When Bruno wanted a tyre to build his swing he asks Lieutenant Kotler for one. Lieutenant Kotler impolitely orders Pavel (a Jewish waiter) to help Bruno find a tyre, â€Å"‘Hey, you!’ he shouted, then adding a word that Bru no did not understand. ‘Come over here, you-’ He said the word again, and something about the harsh sound of it made Bruno look away and feel ashamed to be part of this it all. Pavel came towards them and Kotler spoke to him insolently.† The effect of war on children and families is a theme often used throughout the story. The plot and the key events of the novel help convey the multiple themes in the novel. The effect of war has rendered Bruno’s mother to discard her health and take more medicinal sherries. Also it makes Bruno’s mother to have more afternoon naps and to be quieter during the day, â€Å"Mother kept very quiet during the day and was having an awful lot more of her afternoon naps, some of them not even in the afternoon but before lunch, and Bruno was worried for her health because he’d never known anyone need quite so many medicinal sherries.† Gretel had been effected by the war and decided not to play with dolls. She instead had put up maps of Europe where she put little pins into them and moved them every day after consulting the newspaper, â€Å" Gretel had decided that she didn’t like dolls anymor e and had put them all into four large bags and thrown them away. In their place she had hung up maps of Europe that father had given her, and every day she put little pins into them and moved the pins around constantly after consulting the daily newspaper.† In conclusion, the themes of the novel (the effect of war on children and families, the innocence of children and the cruelty and unfairness of discrimination) are conveyed through narrative techniques (character, plot and setting). The effect of war on children and families is  conveyed through the plot, while the innocence of children is conveyed through the characters of the novel. Finally, the cruelty and unfairness of discrimination is conveyed through the various settings of the novel.

Taming the shrew

In a Rom-Com characters and staging can be very important as an audience will usually expect a main and sub plot. In act 5 scene 2 this is shown by the fact that the two main characters Petruichio and Katrina, the two main sub-characters Bianca and Lucientio and two of the sub characters Hortensio and the Widow-who is a new character- and all main characters from both plots are in one room,-which shows the importance of this scene. -talking and celebrating. The women then leave which shows that the men are now the most important characters of the moment. The limelight then shifts to each man in turn. – Petruichio, Hortensio, Lucientio, and Baptista, before moving on to the servants. When the women return, the limelight brings Katrina's character to centre stage, whilst also bringing Bianca's and the Widow's shame to light. The way Shakespeare has structured the play is so that that the focus of the audience is never on one person or persons for any sustained amount of time. This allows the audience t experience the play from multiple characters point of view. This is done to illustrate how different males and female are as social groups; Shakespeare then uses Katrina as a pivotal character to bring the male and female groups together. There are various themes throughout the play; there was however two main themes, being marriage and appearance versus reality, both of which are split into several sub-themes. The sub-themes for marriage include Language-being the frequent use of sexual innuendos such as the common use of the words â€Å"head, horn† and â€Å"butt†-and consummation. shown when Petruichio asks Katrina to bed. The sub-theme for appearance versus reality disguise and deception, the main plot of this theme is disguise of language and appearance- Petruichio disguises his language to tame Katrina, and Lucientio and Tranio use physical disguises so that Lucientio can woo Bianca. The end of the play is quite interesting as Shakespeare sexual innuendos and puns to lighten the mood and to create a merry atmosphere. Read this – Puns in the Importance There is also the mentioning of hunting â€Å"O sir, Lucientio slipped me like his greyhound, Which runs himself and catches for his master† which is used as an analogy for wooing the women as well as the wager, â€Å"Let's each one send onto his wife, and he whose wife is most obedient to come at first when he doth send for her shall win the wager which we will propose† that ends in the most unexpected outcome; When the wager is resolved Katrina begins her monologue which includes similes twinned with alliteration. â€Å"It blots thy beauty as frosts do bite the meads†-which means frowning can spoil a woman's beauty but also uses alliteration to make the similes effect more profound-as well as lists, repetition, â€Å"Thy husband is thy lord, thy life thy keeper, thy head thy sovereign, one that cares for us† commands, † Come, come, you froward and unable worms â€Å"and rhetorical questions. â€Å"What is she but a foul contending rebel and graceless traitor to her loving lord? † The language of the speech dampens the mood, which is then lifted by light jesting at the end. In conclusion I would say that Taming the Shrew fits with most Rom-Coms but does however differ in many ways; the main discrepancies are the problem of not knowing whether the main couple is happy or not, as well as the introduction of a new character in the final scene and the fact that the final speech which is usually given by a male and is normally inviting and merry not witty, cynical, sarcas tic and critical.

10 things you learned about American history Essay

10 things you learned about American history - Essay Example The document had the traits of democratic principles the country would be based on. Signing of the Declaration marked the end of the war and signaled the desire of the former colony to build its own state. The declaration was a new phenomenon for its times and marked the end of the era of empires. 3. I learned different groups within the same society can have different views on the rights. In this view the history of Mexican-American War is significant because resulted in the acquisition of new territories and marked the nation’s potential for expansion. However, the war was very divisive both in Congress and the society. The war brought the problem of sectionalism to the surface. What is more, the debates in the Congress bore the seeds of growing tensions between northern and southern states concerning their different views on slavery. 4. I learned that from the start the concept of equality was important for the USA. The Civil War became the major conflict caused, among other factors, by the different views on the principles underlying the structure of the society, namely the belief that all men were born equal. The Civil War was the largest military conflict in the history of the country at the time. It was the first occasion when hostilities started because the nation itself was divided and not as a result of the aggression from the outside. For me the Civil War is significant because it led to the abolishment of slavery and the establishment of the society we know today. 5. I learned that in the modern world, there is no such thing as local war. In this view, World War II demonstrated that countries could no longer be isolated. Even though military aggression of Germany and Japan did not pose immediate threat to the US territory, the bombing of Pearl Harbor proved that Nazism endangered all the humanity and concerned every nation. The decision of the US to join the war marked the

Literary analysis on A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Flannery O'Conner Research Paper

Literary analysis on A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Flannery O'Conner - Research Paper Example But a modicum of insight into the interests and craftsmanship of Flannery O’Connor makes her writing commendable on both literary and religious grounds. â€Å"Cathartic bitterness, a belief in grace as something devastating to the recipient, a gelid concept of salvation, and violence as a force for good† (Galloway) characterize her work. She was well aware of her dual role as a Catholic writer and a fiction writer. She only tried to homogenize both. Thus where the religious dimension was never far away from her writing she was also influenced by Martin Heidegger’s concept of dasein: the moment of death makes a man’s existence replete with meaning. She blends characterization with the setting and works out the meaning of the story. In the following analysis let us look at the dynamics of characterization, theme, and setting in Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man Is Hard to Find. Good characters inspire strong feelings. Characterization should not begin and end midway but should be continued till the end as the characters evolve. Extraneous characters should be avoided and all the characters should contribute in varying degrees to the progress of the plot and depth of the story. A Good Man Is Hard to Find is a reasonable example for good characterization. The action in the story unfolds through the grandmother. She is the volatile person in the story with a glib tongue. The old lady is however a Christian only by appearances. Her moral platitude is her reality. When that is stripped by her confrontation with the killer there is no future for the character of the grandmother. "Why youre one of my babies. Youre one of my own children!" (O’Connor 132). These words are definitely not to influence the killer against shooting her but it is her saving moment of grace where she realizes the hollowness of her hitherto existence and recognizes the Misfit as the medium of the grace. O’Connor was compassionate to her

New Strategy Related to Cost-cutting Assignment

New Strategy Related to Cost-cutting - Assignment Example This paper analyses as well as provide recommendations for reducing the quality standard issue of management and for improving the performance of the Brisbane branch along with the justification of the analysis. In the Brisbane branch, the managerial issue is one of the major management issues that have an adverse impact on the performance of the organization. The branch is identified to be facing the managerial issue in relation to the creativity of subordinates and lack of technical knowledge to enhance the quality of products as well as services. The management should support the subordinates, so that they can perform their work effectively and can improve the quality in terms of products and services, as in the present day context, customers focus on the quality of products and/or services. The management implementing the cost-cutting strategy relating to the replacement of personnel with technology has been identified to face complexities relating to resistance, skepticism and outright hostility from the end of the employees. If the management implements new strategy related to cost-cutting to improve the quality of products, then the management is able to meet the satisfaction level of the customers and accordingly may mitigate the quality problem. In this regard, the branch facing resistance and skepticism have an adverse effect on sale figure and performance of the organization as a whole. The quality of products and/or services depends on consistency as well as durability of products and/or services.

Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 6

Operations Management - Essay Example Operations management is defined by Metters and Maruacheck (2007, p. 210) as the conversion of inputs into outputs, using physical resources in order to provide the desired utility of place, form, state or possession or a combination to the customer while still fulfilling the other organizational goals of efficiency, effectiveness and adaptability. Pilkington, and Meredith (2009, p. 190) further explain that operations management is basically concerned with conversion of inputs using physical resources. Nigel, Chambers and Johnston (2010, p. 3) defined operations management as a process of planning, organizing, controlling and directing the activities of the production function. Pilkington, and Meredith (2009, p. 190) argued that operations management is different from other functions of management such as personnel and marketing. He argued that there are several situations that marketing, personnel or other functions can be classified as operations. He holds that when other managers are involved in the physical distribution of products and services to customers, collection of marketing information or are involved in actual recruitment process qualifies them to be classified under operations management. The exclusion of marketing, human resource and other organization functions from the being classified as operations management is disputed by (Introduction to Operations Management) who offers a definition of operations.

Corrections policy paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Corrections policy - Research Paper Example The policy sought to effect the probation on the nonviolent crime offenders by holding them accountable and thus provision of effective supervision. The policy has indeed seen a sharp decline in the crime rate in the whole state and more so in Houston town that was notorious for worst crime rate among the state tourneys. The policy involved the appropriation of a sizable budget into prison detention alternatives. This included provision of drug courts, intermediate sanctions, treatment of mental cases rather than imprison them and smarter incarceration (Roberts, 2009). This correction policy was effected back then in 2007 that had the state use intensive resource directly paid by the citizens of the state. The upgrading package came due to the growing concerns with the court system as well as the civil society for need to have adequate facilities in the correction system. The budget was then approved by the legislature, which they projected would be sufficient for the coming years Th e need for other alternatives in the correctional system that bore the adult correction reform, was as a response to the many alternatives and waiting lists in the corrections system. The statements by the judges and data from correction officials were vital to the implementation of this policy. The effects of the policy are without doubt beneficial to Houston residents and the state of Texas at large. Identification and evaluation The correction policy identified is the â€Å"Adult Corrections Reform: Lower Crime, Lower Costs †. The policy was established with the purpose of giving smarter alternatives to the incarnation that would lower the costs used but still hold the offenders accountable for their crimes. The policy has over the last years resulted in the expansion of alternative capacity in the corrections system in our town. The nonviolent offenders have in the process been put on probation with strict and effective supervision by the correction officials. This is con trary to the previous policies that required them to be detained in the prisons thus congesting it. At the same time this had led to increases in prison capacity that meant more costs. The policy has seen a significant reduction of crime rate in Texas and in particular our Houston town. Texas had been ranked among the states with a higher crime rate in the late 70s coming 4th in the survey done by the FBI. The policy has helped the state to record the lowest ever crime rate at 12.8% decrease between 2005 1nd 2010. The incarceration rate among the adults in the same period of time has been reduced by a significant 9%. This has marked a great milestone in the correction policy implementation. The strategies have a low crime rate enabled the state to reduce crime significantly and hence avoid building of new more prison facilities. The expense was to involve the addition of more than 17,000 new beds in the prisons across the state. The policy used $55million in probation departments ai med at reducing the revocation rate among adult offenders and increasing supervision on the sanctions applied. The policy implementation led to a decrease in the rate of revocation in the prison departments thus saving the taxpayers a massive $119 million (Legislative Budget Board, 2011). Earlier on, parole and

Ch 5 - ismg3000 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ch 5 - ismg3000 - Essay Example The effective CIO should be able to steer the organization into designing strategies that match the organizations’ resources and create their competitive advantage over the rest of their competitors; and leave other responsibilities like focusing on functions, as well as portfolio and infrastructure management to duly competent IT personnel. It is so difficult to assign a quantitative value to the return on an IT investment because, as explained by Ruben, computing for the value should take into consideration varied factors that influence and affect IT within an organization. The rationale for this is that gauging the performance of IT would take evaluating the role that IT plays within a continuum. IT is never static; therefore, computing for a quantitative value captures a pre-defined time frame, which is challenging in itself. This is compounded by the fact that the elements to be incorporated in value computation differ. As disclosed, the investments in IT are already clear demonstrations of value. However, there is also a need to incorporate competitors’ reaction to a particular investment to determine the rate of return that that particular investment generated in the long run. From the researches provided with the assistance of Maggie, the â€Å"IT Doesn’t Matter† contention was actually refuted since all crucial information indicated that IT’s role in the organization is significant given the distinct value it provides. As supported from the experience of Zara, a clothing retailer, the benefits and values that IT has created in terms of immediately identifying customers’ demands and preferences in clothing styles paved the way for the organization to perfectly match these needs with the current resources. Likewise, the same experience was also disclosed from Wal-Mart in terms if using IT to create their competitive edge over their

Coca Cola Company and its Product Modifying Method Essay

Coca Cola Company and its Product Modifying Method - Essay Example Currently, Coca Cola is undergoing a series of transformations specifically in the production of its products with the aim of ensuring it meets the set standards provided by the FDA. The company is now looking into the details of most of its recipes in order to ensure that it produces beverages that are in line with the recommendations and regulations of FDA. Given that research findings opine caffeine as well as tannin mixtures with cancer related causes, people are taking a step forward towards doing away with products said to have such ingredients in their contents (59). Change of such consumer market has seen most companies head towards the verge of losing a large market base. However, in order to ensure continued profitability, Coca Cola which happens to be one of the world’s largest producer and distributor of beverage products resolve to come into terms with the FDA standards which require companies to observe health regulations and recommendations.On March 7, 2012, Coc a Cola Company asserted that its use of caramel coloring in preparing its drinks has always resolved to put into consideration the necessary requirements and thus is safe. Douglas Karas, FDA spokesperson stated that FDA is working round the clock and ensuring that companies like Coca Cola and Pepsi provide their consumers with quality beverages that pose no challenge to the users. According to Beverage Digest, one of the most active industry trackers, PepsiCo and Coca Cola hold the largest percentage.

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 5

Marketing - Essay Example New product development process Idea Generation Idea generates from different sources. It may be by the influence of the competitor or from the customer. Ideas can be either generated from the internal source like through research and development or from the outside sources like competitors or market research agencies. For example with technological development new types of DVD players are in idea generation process which will play high capacity Forward Versatile Disc or FVD of around 6 gigabyte capacity (Grewal, 2008, p. 308). Idea Screening Sometimes too many ideas are generated which needs to be evaluated and then screened which are not very promising one for the company. The Idea screening process of the foremost U.S motorcycle manufacturer, Harley-Davidson is known as â€Å"The Wall of Fire† who screens different ideas to choose the best out of the development opportunities called â€Å"The Swirl† (Karol, Nelson, 2007, p. 118). Concept Development and Testing The i deas which are screened in the idea screening process are forwarded for the concept development and testing of the screened idea. Ideas can be very beneficial for the company in many cases for which proper testing of the concept is required for its feasibility study. In automobile industry Tata Motors conducted a market research in order to find the gap in the market for its fall in the market share of truck during the year 1998 to 2000. It showed that consumers want a to have a car like vehicle but it can perform like a truck which can carry heavy weights for different purposes (Kumar, 2007, p.29). Marketing strategy development After concept testing the marketing strategies like the description of the target market, distribution channels, pricing policy, advertising, marketing mix strategies and profit in long run are evaluated and managed. For example Unisys identified the need of the customers then developed the project management process after analyzing the feasibility, develop ment qualification etc (Lambert, 2008, p. 151). Business Analysis In the business analysis process the proposal for the development of the product is made along with the cost of development, marketing, manpower resources, technical needs, replacement cycle and the estimated sales forecast. Harley-Davidson eliminated the suppliers who only provide them with prototypes and improved their sales with the direct design technique after analyzing the business process (Lambert, 2008, p. 156). Product Development With the acceptance of the business analysis the next stage is the actual product development which translates the idea into real world entity from drawing. Prototypes are often made for different products in order to understand the feasibility through thorough testing process. Like in case of Ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s they alpha tests their new flavors range amongst the employees of the firm for their feedback (Grewal, 2008, p. 311). Market Testing With successful testin g process and feedback from the prototype the actual final product are made and research is done from the review of the customers. The disadvantage of market testing is that, the competitors came to know about the new product and they can act accordingly. As for example Coca-cola conducted a market testing by launching small eight ounce cans of soda for Coke, Sprite and various other products in Chicago regions. (Grewal, 2008, p. 313) Commercialization / Product launch Market testing process is very essential to decide whether to move for the product launch or commercialization. If any things need to be altered in the product it is done in this stage to suite the market demand (Boone & Kurtz,

Islam a Religion of Peace Essay Example for Free

Islam a Religion of Peace Essay And then there is the question of characterizing Islam as â€Å"peaceful† and doing so under duress. That is, when you are being pursued and hounded by people who brand you as totally irrational and uncontrollably violent. So, you have a knee-jerk reaction, purely defensive and purely self-protective and blurt out that you are a â€Å"peaceful religion. † And you are absolutely and one hundred percent right in saying that. For, Islam is all about peace and truth and justice and kindness and compassion. But that is not what your accusers and tormenters are saying. They are pointing to all the violence that is going on in different parts of the Muslim world, violence in which Muslims are involved in one way or another, and saying that it is all Islam’s fault. But what some of these people conveniently forget is that there are all kinds of background factors and conditions that lead to violence in individuals, groups, nations and societies. They forget that peace is one state of human life and reality. Another is strife and conflict. A third reality of human life is force. Peace is the ideal state to which we all aspire and toward which we all work. Strife is the sad and gloomy reality in which human life is all too often mired. Legitimate, lawful and societally sanctioned force is the instrument that human beings have devised for minimizing and controlling strife and for maximizing peace. The foundation of true and lasting peace on earth and in any society is justice, love, compassion, integrity, truth, reasonableness and sound morality. Where this foundation is absent or weak, and where people’s most basic needs and legitimate rights and aspirations are not met, and are persistently and blatantly denied, chances of stable and lasting peace are minimized or jeopardized. All too often, then, those who have been systematically denied their basic and legitimate rights, and who are not allowed by nations, societies and governments any rightful recourse to the redress of their lawful grievances, begin to resort to force and violence as an instrument of resistance to their domination, subjugation and exploitation by others and for the amelioration of their situation. There are all kinds of university books, full of all kinds of theories, that explain why and how people develop violent tendencies and behavior.

A Diagram For Railway Management Systems

A Diagram For Railway Management Systems Summary: I have prepared use case diagram for the given scenario. Along with the use case diagram, I have prepared specification for individual use cases. Besides, I have prepared an activity diagram. (a) Class Diagram -Staff ID Staff +Create new staff -Staff Name +Delete existing staff +Update staff Clerical Assistant -Clerical Assistant ID -Clerical Assistant Name Clerical Assistant Contacts -Join Date + Print address label +Record customer details +Print ticket and sale ticket Station Master -Station Master ID -Station Master Name -Station Master Contacts -Join Date + Provide hand to hand ticket +Record ticket type details Rail way manager -Manager ID -Manager Name -Manager Contacts -Join Date + Record time details +Record engine details Ticket Booking -Customer ID -Booking date -Booking rate + Create Booking + Delete Booking Customers -Customer ID -Customer Name -Customers contacts + Give Tickets + Give requirements + Get booking Booking via mail -Customer ID -Booking date -Booking rate + Create Booking + Delete Booking Booking over telephone -Customer ID -Booking date -Booking rate + Create Booking + Delete Booking Booking In person -Customer ID -Booking date -Booking rate + Create Booking + Delete Booking Figure 2.1: Class Diagram (b) Attributes and methods: Class Name: Staff. Attributes: Staff ID Staff Name Method: Create new staff() Delete Existing Staff() Update existing Staff() Class Name: Railway manager Attribute: Manager ID Manager Name Manager Contacts Join date Operations: Record time details() Record engine details() Class name: Station Master Attribute: Station master ID Station master Name Station master contacts. Join date Operations: Provide hand to hand tickets() Record ticket type details() Class name: Clerical Assistant Attribute: Clerical Assistant ID Clerical Assistant Name Clerical Assistant contacts. Join date Operations: Print address labels() Record customer details() Print and sales ticket () Class name: Customer Attribute: Customer ID Customer Name Customer contacts. Operations: Give tickets() Give requirements() Get booking() Class name: Ticket Booking Attribute: Customer ID Booking date Booking rate Operations: Create Booking () Delete Booking() Class name: Booking in person Attribute: Customer ID Booking date Booking rate Operations: Create Booking () Delete Booking() Class name: Booking over telephone Attribute: Customer ID Booking date Booking rate Operations: Create Booking () Delete Booking() Class name: Booking via mail. Attribute: Customer ID Booking date Booking rate Operations: Create Booking () Delete Booking() Summary: I have prepared a class diagram and described the attributes and methods for each of the classes. Task 3 Introduction: In this task, I have to prepare three different diagrams based on analyzing the system. These three diagrams will be behavioral models using object oriented method. Sequence diagram: A sequence diagram is a model showing sequences of events and interactions that happen within several layers and persons within the system. In need of behavioral modeling, sequence diagram helps to understand relevant behavior of the potential system. Following diagram shows the sequential diagram for the suggested system. Sequence Diagram Customers Staffs Ticket Booking Request for ticket booking Check Booking Info Check customer info Request customer details Give customer detail Choose ticket Confirm ticket booking Figure 3.1: Sequence diagram State Machine: State machine is close to activity diagram. Whereas in activity diagram, interactions are displayed, here the state of the different layers of the system is displayed. Following diagrams demonstrates state machine diagrams for ticket processing and providing it to customers hand to hand, to address or via mail. Requesting ticket booking Checking ticket availability Ticket not available Cancel Provide ticket information Make choice of ticket Ticket not chosen Confirm ticket booking Cancel Print ticket Provide ticket to customer Figure 3.2: State Machine Diagram Communication Diagrams: 2. Select customers () 2.1. Show customers () 3. Select Ticket Availability () 3.1. Show ticket availability () 4. Choose ticket () 4.1. Show ticket () 1. Start UI {} : Ticket booking : Ticket booking 3.2 Get ticket information ()Staff 4.2 confirm ticket booking 2.2 Get customers details () : Ticket booking : Customers Figure 3.3: Communication Diagram Summary: I have prepared three different diagrams representing behavioral modeling of the proposed system. Task 4 Introduction: In this task, I have to demonstrate the data protection laws available in the locality. Besides, I have to describe how they can be implemented. This discussion has to be practical enough in contrast with the real scenario. Some words on data protection laws: Data protection laws deal with the intellectual property of any organization. In a general sense, this talks about how the intellectual property should be protected and what will be happened if the data is damaged. And if it is deliberate, then what procedure will be used to prevent any further approach. Data protection laws in a sense is a vital approach that establishes promise to protect any companys intellectual property. (a) Our countries scenario with data protection laws: Unfortunately, in our country there are no governmental data protection laws available. Since protecting intellectual property is the major thing for any organization, organizations use their own protocol for protecting data. Big IT dependent companies across the country have their individual data protection laws. Following sections cover data protection management available in our country- Accessibility Restriction: Accessibility within a particular system area is determined by administrators, which prevent wrong persons to be in a wrong place. Any person with no prior knowledge on any advance part of a system can cause damage to it even though unintentionally. Within the area of confidential data sources, not everyone should be allowed to access. User Authentication: After ensuring minimal user restriction, establishing user authentication allows the system to be protected from unauthorized activity. A system is bound within limit; users are bound with limits of usage or activities, which lead into the necessity of user authentication. Distribution of level: This is another major approach by which it is ensured that there are multiple levels of the system within which multiple levels of users are allowed to do activity. System Security: System must be protected both physically and logically. Tickets room must be preserved from free access. Data stored should be encrypted. Disk partitions usage should be restricted to bare minimal. (b) Implementation of protection laws against the railways system: The computer system being developed can be secured by implementing one of the above-mentioned ways. Following points cover some of the ways that would be sufficient for the railway: The most usable way is user authentication method. To access the system, user has to enter the username and password. The password should match length and complexity requirements. This authentication procedure can protect the system from any unauthorized access of the system. Different level of authentication can be implied. While somebody is trying to breach the system, he may find one of the passwords, but not likely will get all to breach all the data. Level of accessibility is another approach highly effective for the new system. Administrator will have the full access when other will have limited access within their usage limitation. (c) Ensuring data protection in the current system: Testing: Testing all the security procedure potentially available and planned for the current system. Validation: Validation procedures would be set for the system. When users will try to enter the system with passwords and usernames, system will check for validity and permission limitation. Encryption: System will have the capability to encrypt potential sensitive data. This will protect data from being unveiled to a wrong hand. Summary: I have gathered information on security and protection laws and application of the laws with the current system. Possible details of methods that can be implemented for the current system are also given. Task 5 Introduction: In this task, I have to demonstrate the systems capability of preparing tickets. Along with preparing tickets, I also have to describe that how the system will be able to prepare tickets that cannot be copied easily and will be easy to print with cost effective printing medium. Besides, I also need to describe the hardware related with printing by researching available options. New system will mainly deal with the tickets. Preparing tickets is one of the major jobs with protection features from being copied. Following section demonstrates some methods by which tickets cant be copied- Copy prevention methods: In each ticket, ticket creator will give a 12 digit number as a barcode. Each time tickets barcode will be checked by checker software or barcode scanner. Ticket must not be printed on any typical paper. Each ticket will be printed on specialized printing paper that is not likely to be copied or available. Each ticket will carry individual customers identification along with the seat number. Every detail must be unique within all the tickets. Practically watermarks are given with conventional software. So, specialized watermark should be printed on the ticket. Specialized hologram is another way to protect ticket from being copied. Allowing customers to select multiple tickets of different types: There are several procedures here to allow customers to make choice from different types of ticket. In person: When station master will deal with the booking of a ticket, he will deal with a person face to face. Customer can practically look through available tickets and make choice that suits them the most. Via telephone: When a client will get connected through a telephone, then clerical assistant will provide with enough information. When customers will ask clerical assistant for ticket booking, assistant will provide available options after knowing the destination of the customers. Via email: When customers will request for a ticket via email, clerical assistant will record the email. Then he will send a feed back by giving all detailed options that are available. Then after processing all data, selected ticket will be confirmed. Printing hardware and media details: For printing the tickets, several system components will be necessary. Printers, printing servers, computers will be necessary. Among the conventional products for these purposes, there are so many which can be used here to establish the printing service for the labels and tickets. Details of suggested conventional product for printing Device Vendor Price ($) Computer HP 500 Ticket Printer HP 150 Computer maintenance 250 Application software Atlas developer ltd. 250 Power Supply 200 Printing Server 1000 Figure 5.1: Hardware details Brief details of some components: Application Software: Application software for preparing tickets and printing them on a media is customized software developed by a conventional developer. Rather than buying mass market software, its better to have one specifically made for specific purpose. This will also be a better option for security issue Ticket printers: Rather than installing general purpose printers, ticket printers are suggested to be used. Ticket printers are specially made for printing tickets. Following image shows a typical ticket printer- Figure 5.2: Ticket Printer Printing Server: Printing server is a typical server installed for printing purposes. This server is established by computers. Summary: I have demonstrated several issues on printing and printing media for ticket serving purposes. I have also discussed about the hardware that could be set to establish system for printing those tickets. Task 6 Introduction: In this task, I have to prepare several normalized table with relevant information within different levels. After completing normalization tables, I have to prepare data dictionary entries for all items included in the database design. Task 6 (a) Ticket booking normalization: Normalization refers to dividing a database into several tables to determine their relationship among each other. Data Aggregation: Serial No. Booking Type Customer ID Customer Name Customer Address Date Staff Type Staff ID Staff Name Seat No. Total. 2. Choosing key: Serial No. 3. Converting to 1NF (Removing repeating data): Serial No (PK) Booking name Booking type Customer Id Customer name Customer address Date Staff type Staff Id Staff name 4. Converting to 2NF (Removing Partial Key Dependency): Serial No (PK) Booking name Booking type Customer Id Customer name Customer address Date Staff type Staff Id Staff name 5. Converting to 3NF (Removing non-key dependency): Ticket Booking Serial No (PK) Booking name Booking type Customers: Customer Id Customer name Customer address Date Staff Staff type Staff Id Staff name Task 6 (b) Data Dictionary for Customer: Data dictionary Railway System: S5D Type: structure Name: customer Alias : Client Definition: Customer= customer Id+ customer name+ Customer contacts+ Occurrence: Picture: Author: Rajan Khan Date 10.2.2011 Figure: Data dictionary for customers. 2. Data dictionary for staff Data dictionary Railway System: S5C Type: structure Name: Staff Alias : employee Definition: Staff: Staff Id+ Staff name+ Staff Contacts Occurrence: Picture: Author: Rajan Khan Date 10.2.2011 Figure: Data Dictionary for Staff 3. Data dictionary for ticket booking. Data dictionary Academic theater System: S8c Type: structure Name: Ticket Booking Alias Ticket Booking Definition: Ticket booking : Ticket serial No+ Ticket Booking date+ Ticket Booking rate+ Occurrence: Picture: Author Rajan Khan Date 10.2.2011 Figure: Data Dictionary for ticket booking Summary: I have completed normalized data tables and dictionary entries for all the items that will be included in the database. Task 7 Introduction: In this task, I have to remark the objected oriented methodology for designing system or developing system. Besides, I have to relate my remarks with the system design that I have done for the previous tasks. Then, along with describing object oriented methods, I also have to remark structured methods. Differentiation between both methods: For Task 1: Object Oriented: For designing diagrams in task 1, use case diagram and activity diagram are used. For analyzing every detail use case diagram include detailed specification. Structured: As per the requirements stated in structured diagram, DFD (Data Flow Diagram) could solve the problems of task 1. For task 2: Object Oriented: Since object oriented methods are practically dependent on object-class architecture, here class diagram is used. Structured: In structured methodology, ERD (Entity Relationship Diagram) is used. For task 3: Object Oriented: Here the sequence and communication diagram are used. Structured: Here the ELH (Entity Life History) would be used. Object Oriented Methods: Advantage: System can be very large. In object oriented method, modularization divides whole system into several manageable smaller parts or objects. In that way, when parts are developed, they can be synchronized to make the whole system working. Object oriented applications are more scalable than the structured tools. With looking at the modules of the system, it is possible to make an overview on how the system is going to be. Disadvantage: Legacy Systems are built in structured programming languages. So when it is necessary to convert those systems, it becomes a tough job. Object Oriented Database Management Systems are not available. Since there are many choices with object oriented methodology, sometimes unexpected confusion can rise. Structured Methods: Advantage: In structured programming, system requirements are defined much before programming starts. With proceed of development, amount of necessary changes starts to decrease. Disadvantages: Every detail should be planned and structured. Without any direct link, its impossible to go in a random manner, unlike the object oriented. Overview of a system before it is developed is not likely to be available. Summary: I have remarked advantages and disadvantages of both the structured and object oriented methodology. Besides, I have remarked the application of both the methodology with task 1 to task 3. Task 8 Introduction: In this task, I have to produce a comprehensive report with detailing all the tasks that I have completed. Then I will have to make an appendix reviewing my works. Executive Summary Preparing functional modeling: This includes two diagram and one specification details for one of the diagrams. Use case diagram (With Specification) Activity Diagram. Structural Modeling: Class Diagrams. Detailed attribute and operations. Behavioral Modeling: Sequence diagram State machines Communication Diagrams. Data Protection issues: Available data protection laws. Implementation of the issues with the system. Safe ticket management: How to create safe tickets. How the customers will be able to select multiple choices. What hardware will be used to print the tickets? Relational database designing: Creating normalized tables. Creating data dictionary. Evaluating object oriented method: Advantage and disadvantages of object oriented methods. Contrasting with structured method. Report Within all the phases of the tasks, several designing and evaluating have been done. In this report, all of them will be included for a better demonstration. Following section covers comprehensive details of task 1-7 respectively. Task 1: Functional Modeling Use case diagram for railway management system: Use case diagrams are useful to understand the system from the viewpoint of user. In this part there are three objects. There are customers, clerical assistant and ticket booking. Customers request for the ticket booking then clerical assistant check ticket information and clerical assistant get booking information. Clerical assistant request to customer their information then customer give details information and customer choose ticket set. At a last customer confirm ticket booking to clerical assistants. Several use case diagrams could be set into the scenario. But one compact use case diagram is used to cover potential features of the system rather than creating multiple diagrams. This has saved a lot of time. Activity Diagram for Railway Management System: Railway managements potential activities are shown in this diagram. Railway manager will record the time information and hauling engine information, station master will sale ticket hand to hand and clerical assistant will serve through mail or telephone- everything is covered in this activity diagram. Task 2: Structural Modeling Class Diagrams: Several classes can be found from the proposed system. Class diagrams are drawn based upon those classes found from the railway management systems scenario. These classes include attribute and operations details within each of the class. Task 3: Behavioral Model Sequence Diagram: This diagram outlines the sequential presentation of occurrence within the system. By the help of this diagram, expected behavior of the system can be understood. Comprehensive presentation of all the persons interacting with the system in a flow based order; this really helps to understand the system State machine diagram: This diagram demonstrates the states of the processes. From recording time details to processing ticket booking, every state is defined in this diagram. This clearly shows the end of activity. Communication Diagram: In this top order diagram, only the main operation and interacting persons are displayed in a comprehensive and technical way. Task 4: Data Protection Issues Our countries scenario: Big IT dependent companies across the country have their individual data protection laws. Accessibility Restriction: Accessibility within a particular system area is determined by administrators, which prevent wrong persons to be in a wrong place. Any person with no prior knowledge on any advance part of a system can cause damage to it even though unintentionally. Within the area of confidential data sources, not everyone should be allowed to access. User Authentication: After ensuring minimal user restriction, establishing user authentication allows the system to be protected from unauthorized activity. A system is bound within limit; users are bound with limits of usage or activities, which lead into the necessity of user authentication. Distribution of level: This is another major approach by which it is ensured that there are multiple levels of the system within which multiple levels of users are allowed to do activity. System Security: System must be protected both physically and logically. Tickets room must be preserved from free access. Data stored should be encrypted. Disk partitions usage should be restricted to bare minimal. (b) Implementation of protection laws against the railways system: The computer system being developed can be secured by implementing one of the above-mentioned ways. Following points cover some of the ways that would be sufficient for the railway: The most usable way is user authentication method. To access the system, user has to enter the username and password. The password should match length and complexity requirements. This authentication procedure can protect the system from any unauthorized access of the system. Different level of authentication can be implied. While somebody is trying to breach the system, he may find one of the passwords, but not likely will get all to breach all the data. (c) Ensuring data protection in the current system: Testing: Testing all the security procedure potentially available and planned for the current system. Validation: Validation procedures would be set for the system. When users will try to enter the system with passwords and usernames, system will check for validity and permission limitation. Encryption: System will have the capability to encrypt potential sensitive data. This will protect data from being unveiled to a wrong hand. Task 5: Evaluating ticket processing procedure Copy prevention methods: In each ticket, ticket creator will give a 12 digit number as a barcode. Each time tickets barcode will be checked by checker software or barcode scanner. Ticket must not be printed on any typical paper. Each ticket will be printed on specialized printing paper that is not likely to be copied or available. Each ticket will carry individual customers identification along with the seat number. Every detail must be unique within all the tickets. Practically watermarks are given with conventional software. So, specialized watermark should be printed on the ticket. Specialized hologram is another way to protect ticket from being copied. Allowing customers to select multiple tickets of different types: There are several procedures here to allow customers to make choice from different types of ticket. When station master will deal with the booking of a ticket, he will deal with a person face to face. Customer can practically look through available tickets and make choice that suits them the most. When a client will get connected through a telephone, then clerical assistant will provide with enough information. When customers will ask clerical assistant for ticket booking, assistant will provide available options after knowing the destination of the customers. When customers will request for a ticket via email, clerical assistant will record the email. Then he will send a feed back by giving all detailed options that are available. Then after processing all data, selected ticket will be confirmed. Printing hardware and media details: For printing the tickets, several system components will be necessary. Printers, printing servers, computers will be necessary. Among the conventional products for these purposes, there are so many which can be used here to establish the printing service for the labels and tickets. Device Vendor Price ($) Computer HP 500 Ticket Printer HP 150 Computer maintenance 250 Application software Atlas developer ltd. 250 Power Supply 200 Printing Server 1000 Brief details of some components: Application software for preparing tickets and printing them on a media is customized software developed by a conventional developer. Rather than buying mass market software, its better to have one specifically made for specific purpose. This will also be a better option for security issue Rather than installing general purpose printers, ticket printers are suggested to be used. Ticket printers are specially made for printing tickets. Task 6: Normalization and data dictionary Normalization: Here database is scattered into several tables to determine relationships within each of them. Data Dictionary: Data dictionary is build with entries from all the items that will be included in the database. Task 7: Evaluating Object Oriented Methodology Differentiation between both methods: For Task 1: For designing diagrams in task 1, use case diagram and activity diagram are used. For analyzing every detail use case diagram include detailed specification. As per the requirements stated in structured diagram, DFD (Data Flow Diagram) could solve the problems of task 1. For task 2: Since object oriented methods are practically dependent on object-class architecture, here class diagram is used. Structured: In structured methodology, ERD (Entity Relationship Diagram) is used. For task 3: Here the sequence and communication diagram are used. Here the ELH (Entity Life History) would be used. Object Oriented Methods: Advantage: System can be very large. In object oriented method, modularization divides whole

The Electron Transport Chain

The Electron Transport Chain In the electron transport chain, electrons flow downward in energy from coenzyme NADH and flavoprotein FADH2 to the terminal electron acceptor, molecular oxygen, O2. Electrons move spontaneously from carriers of lower reduction potential (Eo) to carriers of higher reduction potential. Molecules involved in the ETC have reduction potentials between the values for NAD+/NADH couples and oxygen/H2O couples. Energy extracted from the transfer of electrons is most efficiently conserved when it is released in a step wise fashion, and is accomplished with four distinct protein complexes in the mitochondrial membrane: Complex I = NADH-coenzyme Q reductase (NADH dedhydrogenase) Complex II = succinate-conenzyme Q reductase (succinate dehydrogenase) Complex III = coenzyme Q-cytochrome c reductase Complex IV = cytochrome c oxidase Complex I oxidizes NADH and reduces coenzyme Q (UQ), transferring a pair of electrons from NADH to UQ. The oxidation of one NADH and reduction of UQ results in a net transport of protons from the matrix side to the intermembrane space. Complex II oxidizes succinate and reduces UQ, yielding a net reduction potential of +0.029 V, which does not contribute to the transport of protons across the inner mitochondrial membrane. Complex III facilitates the transfer of electrons from UQ to cytochrome c (cyto c) via the Q cycle, which oxidizes UQH2 and reduces cyto c, releasing four protons into the intermembrane space for every two electrons that pass through the Q cycle. Complex IV accepts electrons from cyto c and reduces oxygen to form H2O, driving proton transport across the inner mitochondrial membrane into the intermembrance space. For every four electrons used to reduce oxygen, four protons are released into the intermembrance space. Components of the ETC are arranged in line with the flow of electrons from donors with lower affinity for electrons toward acceptors with higher affinity for electrons. Affinity for electrons is measured by the reduction potential. The transfer of electrons does not occur in a simple linear sequence. Electrons can enter the ETC at different entry points, either through Complex I or Complex II, and then the pathways converge at Complex III. As Fig. 1 shows, electrons move from more negative to more positive reduction potentials on the energy scale. Table 13-7 presents the following reduction potentials for reactions that occur in the ETC: NAD+ + 2H+ 2e- Æ’Â   NADH + H+ ΔEo = -0.320 V FAD + 2H+ +2e- Æ’Â   FADH2 ΔEo = -0.219 V Fumarate + 2H+ + 2e- Æ’Â   Succinate ΔEo = +0.031 V Q + 2H+ + 2e- Æ’Â   QH2 ΔEo = +0.045 V cyt c1(Fe3+) + e- Æ’Â   cyt c1(Fe2+) ΔEo = +0.220 V cyt c(Fe3+) + e- Æ’Â   cyt c(Fe2+) ΔEo = +0.254 V Â ½ O2 + 2H+ + 2e- Æ’Â   H2O ΔEo = +0.816 V As mentioned, molecules involved in the ETC have reduction potentials between the values for NAD+/NADH couples and oxygen/H2O couples. Electrons move from more negative to more positive reductions potentials in the following order: NADH Æ’Â   Q Æ’Â   cytochrome c1 Æ’Â   cytochrome c Æ’Â   O2 Reactions that have positive reduction potentials have negative free energy and are energetically favorable. Complex III has a more positive reduction potential than Complex I and II, and Complex IV has a more positive reduction potential than Complex III. The reduction potential for each complex can be estimated with the half reactions and reduction potentials provided in Table 13-7. Below are the net equations for each complex: Complex I NADH + 5H+N + Q ↔ NAD+ + QH2 + 4H+P Complex II Succinate + Q ↔ fumarate + QH2 Complex III QH2 + 2 cyt c1 + 2H+N ↔ Q + 2 cyt c1 + 4 H+P Complex IV 4 cyt c + 8 H+N + O2 ↔ 4 cyt c + 4 H+P + 2 H2O For example: Complex I NADH + 5H+N + Q ↔ NAD+ + QH2 + 4H+P NAD+ + 2H+ 2e- Æ’Â   NADH + H+ ΔEo = -0.320 V Q + 2H+ + 2e- Æ’Â   QH2 ΔEo = +0.045 V ΔEo = Eoacceptor Eodonor ΔEo = 0.045 (-0.320) = +0.365 V Complex III QH2 + 2 cyt c1 + 2H+N ↔ Q + 2 cyt c1 + 4 H+P Q + 2H+ + 2e- Æ’Â   QH2 ΔEo = +0.045 V cyt c1(Fe3+) + e- Æ’Â   cyt c1(Fe2+) ΔEo = +0.220 V ΔEo = [2 x 0.220] 0.045 = +0.395 V The reduction potential for Complex III is greater than that of Complex I, correlating to flow of electrons in the ETC. Electrons move from more negative to more positive reductions potentials. In addition, both overall reactions for NADH/FADH2 to O2 are positive values, another indication that electrons moving from Complex I/II to Complex IV is energetically favorable. The calculations are provided below. This is the overall reaction for electrons that travel from NADH to O2 NADH + H+ + Â ½ O2 Æ’Â   NAD+ + H2O NAD+ + 2H+ 2e- Æ’Â   NADH + H+ ΔEo = -0.320 V Â ½ O2 + 2H+ + 2e- Æ’Â   H2O ΔEo = + 0.816 V ΔEo = 0.816 (-0.320) = +1.136 V This is the overall reaction for electrons that travel from FADH2 to O2 FADH2 + Â ½ O2 Æ’Â   FAD + H2O FAD + 2H+ +2e- Æ’Â   FADH2 ΔEo = 0.219 V Â ½ O2 + 2H+ + 2e- Æ’Â   H2O ΔEo = + 0.816 V ΔEo = 0.816 (-0.219) = +1.035 V As a result of the ETC, the net reaction for the transfer of two electrons from NADH through the respiratory chain to molecular oxygen is highly exergonic (positive reduction potentials and negative free energy). For each pair of electrons transferred to O2, four protons are pumped out of the matrix into the intermembrane space by Complex I, four by Complex III and two by Complex IV, producing a proton gradient that drives ATP synthesis (Fig.2).

Essay --

a) Physical characteristics of your virus 1. What is the shape of the viral capsid? Shape of the viral capsid is icosahedral. 2. Is the virus naked or enveloped? Varicella zoster is enveloped. 3. Which type of genome (ssDNA, dsDNA, ssRNA, or dsRNA) is found in the virus? Type of genome where VZV is found is double stranded DNA. b) Viral Infection 1. What is the host range (species and types of cells infected) of the virus? Humans are the only natural host. 2. What are the signs and symptoms of your viral infection? The first symptoms to appear are fever and rash. After fever the most prominent symptom of VZV are itchy skin lesions that become raised and filled with clear fluid (vesicles). After several days the blisters pop and start to crust over. c) Pathogenesis 1. How does your virus cause the signs and symptoms of the viral infection? The lesions are caused by the virus destroying the boundaries of the cells in the skin, this causes multiple cells to merge into one large cell. 2. Which types of cytopathic effects are caused by your virus? The formation of syncytia. This is where a virus turns several host cells into one giant cell with that has several nuclei. Another cytopathic effect of VZV is inclusion bodies. This is a very high concentration of the virus inside the nucleus and cytoplasm of a cell. d) Culture and diagnosis 1. How is your viral infection diagnosed? Although diagnosis for VZV is generally based on visual appearance there are few diagnostic tests that can be used to determine it. A. Virus culture- Takes a specimen of the fluid inside one of the vesicles. B. Polymerase chain reaction- Where a small amount of DNA from the virus becomes amplified. The virus is replicated until it reaches a quant... ...doses? For Varivax 1st dose between 12-15 months and the 2nd dose between 4-6 years. The second dose may be given earlier as long as at least 90 days has lapsed since the 1st dose. People over the age of 13 who have never been vaccinated should have 2 doses administered at least 28 days apart. For Zostavax people over the age of 50 should have the vaccination once. Both Varivax and Zostavax contain weakened strains of the live virus. g) Fun facts: Include any additional information that you find interesting, strange, or alarming about your virus. One thing I found alarming about Varicella zoster virus is that it can lead to the development of Reye’s Syndrome if child with an active infection takes a product that contains salicylates. Reye’s syndrome effects the central nervous system and can be the cause of amnesia, seizures, or coma to note a few symptoms. Essay -- a) Physical characteristics of your virus 1. What is the shape of the viral capsid? Shape of the viral capsid is icosahedral. 2. Is the virus naked or enveloped? Varicella zoster is enveloped. 3. Which type of genome (ssDNA, dsDNA, ssRNA, or dsRNA) is found in the virus? Type of genome where VZV is found is double stranded DNA. b) Viral Infection 1. What is the host range (species and types of cells infected) of the virus? Humans are the only natural host. 2. What are the signs and symptoms of your viral infection? The first symptoms to appear are fever and rash. After fever the most prominent symptom of VZV are itchy skin lesions that become raised and filled with clear fluid (vesicles). After several days the blisters pop and start to crust over. c) Pathogenesis 1. How does your virus cause the signs and symptoms of the viral infection? The lesions are caused by the virus destroying the boundaries of the cells in the skin, this causes multiple cells to merge into one large cell. 2. Which types of cytopathic effects are caused by your virus? The formation of syncytia. This is where a virus turns several host cells into one giant cell with that has several nuclei. Another cytopathic effect of VZV is inclusion bodies. This is a very high concentration of the virus inside the nucleus and cytoplasm of a cell. d) Culture and diagnosis 1. How is your viral infection diagnosed? Although diagnosis for VZV is generally based on visual appearance there are few diagnostic tests that can be used to determine it. A. Virus culture- Takes a specimen of the fluid inside one of the vesicles. B. Polymerase chain reaction- Where a small amount of DNA from the virus becomes amplified. The virus is replicated until it reaches a quant... ...doses? For Varivax 1st dose between 12-15 months and the 2nd dose between 4-6 years. The second dose may be given earlier as long as at least 90 days has lapsed since the 1st dose. People over the age of 13 who have never been vaccinated should have 2 doses administered at least 28 days apart. For Zostavax people over the age of 50 should have the vaccination once. Both Varivax and Zostavax contain weakened strains of the live virus. g) Fun facts: Include any additional information that you find interesting, strange, or alarming about your virus. One thing I found alarming about Varicella zoster virus is that it can lead to the development of Reye’s Syndrome if child with an active infection takes a product that contains salicylates. Reye’s syndrome effects the central nervous system and can be the cause of amnesia, seizures, or coma to note a few symptoms.

Organic Foods Essay -- Food Organic Health Eating Essays

Organic Foods â€Å"You are what you eat†, or so they say. In today’s supermarkets, organic foods are everywhere. Not only are there organic fruits and vegetables, but there are also organic dairy products, organic meats, organic convenience foods, organic wine, beer, coffee, tea and even clothes made with organic cotton. All of these choices have made organic foods the â€Å"fastest-growing segment of the grocery industry.† The Organic Trade Association (OTA), in its â€Å"Business Facts† fact sheet available at www.ota.com, cites Natural Foods Merchandiser, a trade magazine, as measuring organic industry growth at 20 percent or greater for the past nine years. Approximately two percent of the U.S. food supply is grown using organic methods. In 2001, retail sales of organic food were projected to be $9.3 billion (Organic Trade Association [OTA], 2001). That is nearly triple the $3.5 billion in sales in 1998 (Biocycle; Nov. 2004, Vol. 45 Issue 11, p27). Organic foods ca n be found at natural food stores such as Whole Foods Inc., Wild Oats Inc., major supermarkets, farmers markets as well as through â€Å"grower direct marketing† such as CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) or Co-Ops. Many restaurant chefs and culinary related professionals across the country are starting to use organic produce because they desire its superior quality and taste. Organic food, also gaining international acceptance, has become widespread in nations like Japan and Germany where the development of organic food markets has seen substantial growth (OTA, 2004) People choose to â€Å"go organic† for different reasons but, the single most important reason to choose certified organic foods is because organic agriculture in its very essence preserves, protects and restores our environment in significant ways (United States Department of Agriculture. [USDA], 2002). Also, organic farming embraces the principle that agriculture must meet the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations, not to mention that organic foods are often the safest, freshest, most flavorful and most nutritious foods in the marketplace (European Journal of Nutrition 40: 289-292 (2001)). The USDA has tried to emphasize that organic food is no healthier, and adds no real benefits to a healthy lifestyle than regular foods. However, with the contamination present in plants treated with pesticides, pre ... ...pect. It matters to our communities. But most of all, it matters to our appreciation of life. References Journals Cuddleford, V. (2003). When Organics Go Mainstream. Alternatives Journal, 29(4), 15-20. Baxter, G., Graham, A., Lawrence, J., Wiles, D., Paterson, J., et al. (2001). Salicylic acid In soups prepared from organically and non-organically grown vegetables. European Journal of Nutrition, 40, 289-292. Retrieved on 3-3-05 from Ebscohost. Composting at the World’s Largest Natural Foods Supermarket Chain. (2004). Biocycle. 45(11). p27. Retrieved on 3-3-05 from Ebscohost. Federal or Government Sources Organic Foods 101: Basic Information about organic foods, national labeling standards and online organic foodsellers. (2002). Retrieved on 3-3-05 from http://www.nrdc.org. The National Organic Program .(USDA). (2002). Retrieved on 3-3-05 from http://ams.usda.gov. Trade Publications Organic Food Facts. (2003). Organic Trade Association. Retrieved on 3-3-05 from http://www.ota.com/organic/mt/food.html Industry Statistics and Projected Growth. (2003). Organic Trade Association. Retrieved on 3-3-05 from http://www.ota.com/organic/mt/business.html

Business: International Trade and Comparative Advantage

HOMEWORK 11 (Last HW – Due 4/28) Read the Logitech case and answer the following questions. 1: In a world without trade, what would happen to the costs that American consumers would have to pay for Logitech’s products? 2: Explain how trade lowers the costs of making computer peripherals such as mice and keyboards. 3: Use the theory of comparative advantage to explain the way in which Logitech has configured its global operations. Why does the company manufacture in China and Taiwan, undertake basic R&D in California and Switzerland, design products in Ireland, and coordinate marketing and operations from California? : Who creates more value for Logitech – the 650 people it employs in California and Switzerland, or the 4,000 employees at its Chinese factory? What are the implications of this observation for the argument that free trade is beneficial? 5: Why do you think the company decided to shift its corporate headquarters from Switzerland to Fremont? 6: To what extent can Porter’s diamond help explain the choice of Taiwan as a major manufacturing site for Logitech? 7: Why do you think China is now a favored location for so much high-technology manufacturing activity?How will China’s increasing involvement in global trade help that country? How will it help the world’s developed economies? What potential problems are associated with moving work to China? In a world without trade, what would happen to the costs that American consumers would have to pay for Logitech’s products? In a world without trade, the costs that American consumers would have to pay would be very high. The product that the case study gives for an example, Wanda, retails for $40, of which only $3 is the production cost from China.This $3 cost would rise immensely if production was in the United States because the American economy demands high wages. Explain how trade lowers the costs of making computer peripherals such as mice and keyboards. I t is amazing to think that trade helps to lower the costs of a product. As we saw in the previous question, if the United States were to build a product entirely domestically, the retail price would not be feasible to most consumers. With trading in place it allows for economies of scale.The technology can be developed in one country, the ergonomics in another country, the production in another country, and the assembly in yet another country. The shipping costs are much less than it would be to perform these tasks in one country. This is called absolute advantage, where someone is great at one thing. With this in mind you will get a product that has the best resources available at the lowest cost, which is comparative advantage. Finally, specialization is where everyone is doing what they do best and pulling their resources together to make one incredible product.Use the theory of comparative advantage to explain the way in which Logitech has configured its global operations. Why d oes the company manufacture in China and Taiwan, undertake basic R&D in California and Switzerland, design products in Ireland, and coordinate marketing and operations from California? Logitech is very brilliant when it comes to comparative advantage. It does basic R&D work in Switzerland with 200 employees, its headquarters are in Fremont, California with 450 employees as well as some R&D, the ergonomic designs are developed in Ireland, and the products are manufactured in Taiwan and China.The comparative advantage is that it is the most cost effective to break up the business in many different countries that specialize in a certain job. Who creates more value for Logitech, the 650 people it employs in Fremont and Switzerland, or the 4,000 employees at its Chinese factory? What are the implications of this observation for the argument that free trade is beneficial? The 650 employees in Fremont, California and Switzerland create more value for Logitech. It is where all of the R&D an d designs are developed.The 4,000 employees of China add $3 to the Wanda product, which is almost nothing in comparison to the remaining $37. Free trade is beneficial because labor costs can be brought way down. Why do you think the company decided to shift its corporate headquarters from Switzerland to Fremont? America specializes in R&D. The headquarters were moved because of the company’s global marketing, finance, and logistics operations. That is what Americans do best. To what extent can Porter’s diamond help explain the choice of Taiwan as a major manufacturing site for Logitech?There are four parts to Porter’s diamond: (1) factor of endowments, which is a nation’s position in factors of production such as skilled labor or the infrastructure necessary to compete in a given industry; (2) demand conditions, which is the nature of home demand for the industry’s product or service; (3) relating and supporting industries, which is the presence or absence of supplier industries and related industries that are internationally competitive; (4) firm strategy, structure, and rivalry, which are the conditions governing how companies are created, organized, and managed and the nature of domestic rivalry.Taiwan’s factor of endowments was that it had a science-based Industrial Park in Hsinchu. The demand conditions were that the Taiwanese were already trained to deal with technology. The relating and supporting industries were that Taiwan was the best as building technology as the lowest cost. The firm strategy, structure, and rivalry were that Taiwan had no domestic rivalry; they provided the lowest cost. Why do you think China is now a favored location for so much high technology manufacturing activity? How will China’s increasing involvement in global trade help that country?How will it help the world’s developed economies? What potential problems are associated with moving work to China? Chinese laborers are some of the cheapest in the world. Even though the workers are not treated very well, they are starting to rise up and demand more wages. The increase in foreign trade for China has helped to increase their economy. The world’s developed economies will benefit because of the globalization of production. The potential problems are that Americans are losing jobs to foreign markets. E

Internet and Children Essay

Nowadays, in the world in which we live, violence is reported everywhere. It makes parents became worried. So, they try to protect their children from the adverse impacts in society. But although society has taught us that violence is not accepted, in the essay â€Å"Violent Media is Good for Kids,† Gerard Jones tries to convince people, especially the kids’ parents, that violent media is good or furthermore, it is essential for the development of children. He uses his own childhood as an example of how media or The Hulk helped him switch to â€Å"more sophisticated heroes† (Jones 195), and â€Å"finally found my own lead along a twisting path to a career and an identity† (Jones 196). Afterwards, his son was afraid to climb a tree, so Jones read the stories of Tarzan to his son. Then later, his son was climbing trees. He also gives other examples of how violent media helped children to overcome their stressful and hurtful lives. A healthy child must grow b oth physically and mentally. Especially, mental illness in children can be hard for parents to identify. Gerard Jones admitted that he grew up too passive because he was sheltered from the media. In recent years, there has been dispute about whether or not children should view, or listen to violent media. In â€Å"Violent Media is Good for Kids† Gerard Jones says that we should. He noticed that â€Å"people pulling themselves out of emotional traps by immersing themselves in violent stories. People integrating the scariest, most fervently denied fragments of their psyches into fuller senses of selfhood through fantasies of superhuman combat and destruction.† (Jones 196) .Each person’s childhood is often associated with something, for example, Donald Duck, Superman, or Barbie doll, Batman, etc†¦ Those characters sometimes play an important role in the formation of their life. After finding his favorite character, The Hulk, Jones â€Å"finally found my own lead along a twisting path to a career and an identity† (Jones 196). Jones’s son, perhaps, admires Tarzan, who was told by his father to support him to climb a tree. To Jones, a super hero model can give kids strength and make them brave. Children need a way to express their natural rage and by allowing them to read these stories or play battle just for fun with their friends helps them develop into kids that will interact with each other. All kids feel rage, so if they let it out in a safe way, they can use it to combat challenges in life. Thus, violent media helps them develop into people who are not afraid to stand up and take charge. Jones tries to prove that violent media can help kids if it is used in the right way. He writes a quote from Melanie Moore, Ph.D., a psychologist who works with urban teens, t o support his argument. He does however include examples as to why he believes that violent media is good for children. But he does not include statistics to back-up his arguments and this is a weakness of Jones’s essay. His examples might not be credible because he presents himself as one of the evidences and each child develops differently. We can see every child takes a different way to explore the world. Many children will grow up like Jones. They will find themselves in the real world and know who they are if they were allowed access to the media. He states â€Å"When we try to protect our children from their own feelings and fantasies, we shelter them not against violence but against power and selfhood.† (Jones 197) .Parents cannot ban their kids playing video games or watching violent cartoons but as adults, they must know which one is good, which one is bad for our kids. When parents try to protect their children from the influence of violence, they need to rem ember that although comics and video games are full of violence and fighting, they also have messages and some good lessons. Parents always loves their children, so Jones uses the phrase â€Å"when we tries to protect our children† to let the parents know that he sympathized with their concerns. But then he says: â€Å"we shelter them not against violence but against power and selfhood.† The word â€Å"shelter† means to protect from something harmful. He emphasizes that the harmful thing is not violence but it is harmful to children losing their power and selfhood. However, some children might take the message of the stories the wrong way, putting themselves too deep into a story. They may hurt themselves or the others because they thought that they were strong like their favorite hero. As increasing violence in the media would be certainly dangerous for society and corrupt a child’s thoughts and imagination through blood, knives and guns, those were called â€Å"a tool to master their rage† (Jones 196). â€Å"I’m not going to argue that violent entertainment is harmless. I think it has helped inspire some people to real-life violence. I am going to argue that it’s helped hundreds of people for everyone it’s hurt, and that it can help far more if we learn to use it well.† (Jones 197) .Jones admits that violent media is n’t harmless and that it does drag some children to doing real life violence, but he does not say specifically what should be done about this issue. He goes on to say that it has helped more than it has harmed. There is much research on whether children should or should not access to violent media. By giving some evidence as well as using quote authority to support his thesis, Gerard Jones made a good essay to persuade that violent media is one of the factors that children need to develop. The title â€Å"Violent Media is Good for Kids† is also impressive. It makes the readers curious because â€Å"violent† and â€Å"good† may sound contradictory. However, his essay is interesting but not enough to convince. A good way to protect the children is to give them the right tools in life, and teach them how to make it a responsible choice and how to protect themselves from bad temptations. â€Å"All violence is the result of people tricking themselves into believing that their pain derives from other people and that consequently those people deserve to be punished.† (Rosenberg) Works Cited Jones, Gerard. â€Å"Violent Media Is Good for Kids.† Critical Thinking, Reading and Writing. Ed. Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 195-197. Print. Rosenberg, Marshall B. Nonviolent Communication: A language of life. California: PuddleDancer Press, 2003. Print.

Commercially Available Testing Tools

Once an application has been developed, the developers must demonstrate that it performs the tasks for which it was designed accurately, reliably and with adequate performance. For this to be fulfilled extensive testing must be carried out and tools have been built to assist with this process. Developers have built different types of tool for addressing different aspects of the same general problem. The importance of proper testing to detect as many errors as feasibly possible has been driven by the increase of malicious or criminal intent on the part of developers that produce applications with functions that facilitate fraud or other criminal activity (an especial risk to the financial industry). This problem has been addressed by European Community Legislation, increasing the onus on software developers to show that they took all reasonable steps to ensure an application was free of defects and suitable for the purpose for which it was developed. Failure to do so could leave the developer liable to be sued by anyone have has incurred a loss in any business as a result of software collapse. The main types of tool that have resulted as a partial result of this are described below. There are a large number of testing tools that are available, but they all work in very different ways. The main types of testing categories are described below. Tools that analyse source code without executing test cases, but in deriving test cases for the software to be tested. There are three different types used in industry that are described below: Code based testing tools accept source code as input and perform a number of analyses that result in the generation of test cases. This type of automated tool can broken down in to four further categories. The first are Code analysers that evaluate test modules automatically for proper syntax; statements are then highlighted where the syntax is wrong, if construction is error prone or if an item is undefined. The second category is Structure checkers where modules are submitted as input and a graph generated, depicting the hierarchy of modules and tools check for structural flaws, for example, determining the location of loops and branches and how they are used within the system. The third type are Data analysers which review data structures, data declarations and module interfaces, and notes improper linkage between modules, conflicting data definitions and illegal data usage. The final type are Sequence checkers where sequences of events are checked and marked if coded in wrong sequence. Specialised testing languages enable a software engineer to write detailed test specifications that describe each test case and the logistics for its execution. An example of one of these languages is Prolog, that is specifically used for test case generation. Requirements based testing tools isolate specific user requirements and suggest test cases (or classes of tests) that will exercise the requirements. Tools that analyse source code during execution of test cases by interacting with a program as it is executing and checking the path coverage, test assertions about the value of specific variables and otherwise instrumenting the execution flow of the program. They can be either intrusive or non-intrusive. An intrusive tool changes the software to be tested by inserting extra instructions or ‘probes† that perform the activities mentioned above. A non-intrusive tool uses a separate hardware processor that runs in parallel with the processor containing the program that is being tested. Systems can be difficult to test because several parallel operations are being carried out concurrently, which is especially true for real-time systems. Therefore it is difficult to anticipate the conditions and generate representative test conditions. However, dynamic test tools can capture a state of events during the execution of a program and so are often called program monitors, because they watch and report the behaviour of the program. The functions of the monitor are to list the number of times a submodule is called or a line of code is executed. These statistics tell testers if the test cases have statement coverage. Another function is to report on whether a decision point has branched in all directions, providing information about branch coverage. System performance information is also provided, including statistics about particular variables e. g. their first value, last value, minimum and maximum values. Breakpoints can be defined for the system, so when a variable attains or exceeds a specific value, the test tool reports the occurrence. Some tools will stop when breakpoints are reached so that the tester can examine the contents of memory or specific data items, as it is possible to change values as the test progresses. Any information captured during the test can be used to provide information about control flow. Another automated tool, analysers, are similar to monitors, except that they can also evaluate captured data to prescribed criteria. A test coverage analyser records the number of each statement executed during a test step and notifies us if certain routines or statements are not executed. A timing analyser works with predefined areas or memory or code and tracks the amount of time spent in each area as system functions are performed. This type of tracking can be useful during performance testing when timing requirements are checked. Tools that simulate functions of hardware or other externals by presenting to a system all characteristics of a system or device without actually having the system/device available. This is particularly useful if another company is developing part of a system; this part can be simulated to allow you to test your own part. The simulator can sometimes be more useful than the device itself as all data regarding the devices' state throughout the test can be stored, aiding in error location. Simulators also help with stress and volume testing, since it can be programmed to load the system with substantial amounts of data, requests or users. Generally, simulators give control over the test conditions, allowing you to perform tests that may otherwise be dangerous or impossible. Test management tools are used to control and co-ordinate testing for each of the major testing steps. Tools in this category manage and co-ordinate regression testing, perform comparisons that ascertain differences between actual and expected output and conduct batch testing of programs with interactive human-computer interfaces. In addition to the functions noted above, many test management tools also serve as generic test drivers. A test driver reads one or more test cases from a testing file, formats the test data to conform to the needs of the software under test, and then invokes the software to be tested. The C/S environment demands specialised testing tools that exercise the graphical user interface and the network communications requirements for client and server. This category can be sub-divided into the following functions: Reverse engineering to specification tools which take source code as input and generate graphical structured analysis and design models, ‘where-used' lists and other design information. Code restructuring and analysis tools that analyse program syntax, generate a control flow graph and automatically generate a structured program. On-line system reengineering tools which are used to modify on-line database systems. Many of the above tools are limited to specific programming languages, although most major languages are addressed and require some degree of interaction with the software engineer. Next generation reverse and forward engineering tools will make much stronger use of artificial intelligence techniques, applying a knowledge base that is application domain specific, i. e. a set of decomposition rules that would apply to all programs in a particular application area. The AI component will assist in system decomposition and reconstruction, but will still require interaction with a software engineer throughout the reengineering cycle. Several testing aids can be combined into one automated tool; a test harness is a monitoring system that tracks test input data, passes it to the program or system being tested and records the resulting output. A test harness can also compare actual with expected output and report any discrepancies. Most test harness tools are environment specific by the nature of the process. Test data set generators can generate test data sets derived from the requirements modelling process. Used in conjunction with test harnesses they will provide a formal documented test environment. In most cases a combination of the above tools will improve chances that a delivered application performs the tasks expected correctly and reliably. All testing tools generate large amounts of information about an applications structure. This information must be interpreted and used to detect and rectify subtle logic and structure error. There is a large amount of interest in producing automated support for this interpretation process; to pinpoint possible problem areas and suggest further lines of investigation. With the exception of Interpreters, that are still in development, the above categories of testing tools are available commercially. There are a large number of products available produced by many different companies, so two case studies have been selected to give an impression of the testing tools commercially available. Where possible, the category of testing tools as described above that each product fits into has been added in brackets after the product name. The current products available from this French company are aimed at user interface testing and there are three product lines. The first, UniTest, is designed to perform unit testing of embedded systems. It can develop test scripts that can run on native, simulator, emulator or target platforms. ATTOL's second product, SystemTest, automates the production and exploitation of integration and validation tests for systems. Both of these two products can be integrated with ATTOL's final product, Coverage (test coverage analyser), which is a code coverage tool that is designed to obtain the level of code coverage during the unit or integration testing. TestStudio is one of four products that make up the software development product, Rational Suite. The TestStudio product is itself made up of other Rational Products. Rational Robot provides thorough testing of an entire application, Rational TestFactory automatically detects run-time errors without user assistance and generates optimal scripts for regression testing. Rational Purify locates hard-to-find run-time errors that cause program crashes. Rational Quantify pinpoints performance ‘bottlenecks' in applications and Rational PureCoverage (test coverage analyser) identifies untested code and provides code-coverage analysis. The nature of many products available is that they perform testing to meet user requirements. To do this they are often a combination of several types of testing tool, which makes it difficult to identify specific categories of testing. However, many of the products available did require the system or application being tested to actually be run, whether on a simulator or real-time, suggesting dynamic testing is used more than static testing. There are however, a huge range of testing tools commercially available, combining many different testing methods.