SRM a Strategic Service Vision for Air Asia Bhd Essay Sample free essay sample

The major intent of a strategic service vision is to function as the vision of a topographic point and intent of the company every bit good as to associate the entrepreneur’s thought and the unmet needs which will finally let the company to accomplish its ends. ( Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons 2010 ) Service vision includes chief classs: mark market. service construct. runing scheme. and service bringing system. Target Market Segment Air Asia creates values through vision and mission. First of all. vision of Air Asia is to be the largest low cost air hose and functioning the 3 billion people who are presently underserved with hapless connectivity and low menus. It is clear that. the Air Asia is selling the air hose service company. Hence. feature of the Air Asia’s mark audience is the all people who wages are fall in the center or lower net incomes in Malaysia. That is the ground why the Air Asia ever use the low monetary value strategic to put it is ever cheaper than their rivals. We will write a custom essay sample on SRM a Strategic Service Vision for Air Asia Bhd Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Second. it besides target to the age group who are immature grownup and supra because this sort of age group have the ability to disbursement and may be ever necessitate a flight to other far finish in shorter clip. So. they will easy pull and act upon by the publicity making by the Air Asia which merely RM0. 99 for a flight. This sort of mark market will easy switch to other rivals who besides offer the lowest monetary value or making a gross revenues publicity. In footings of service construct. Air Asia is the 1 of the largest air hoses in Asia. Thus. Air Asia has short flights with frequent goings. and uses inner-city or low traffic airdromes to avoid congestion. plus carry-on baggage. In fact. Air Asia’s major mark subdivision is originally geared towards low-middle gross earners. budget travellers and regular short-haul circulars such as abroad workers. contractors. and pupils. ( Onwutalobi 2008 ) Service Delivery System Well. how Air Asia delivers service? It is clear that. Air Asia has fostered a depency on Internet engineering for its operational and strategic direction. and provides an online ticket engagement services to traveler online. Furthermore. Air Asia hire cabin crew based on attitude and utilize a huge sum of aircrafts to command care and operational cost. In add-on. the cardinal aim of low cost bearers is to increase their range and supply the services to a big section. Hence. in the footings of service bringing. Air Asia largely uses engineering and it allows them to supply barriers to entry by rivals and distinguish the service from rivals. At all. E-ticketing seemed to be a ‘win’ solution for Air Asia. It offered the company a opportunity to do considerable nest eggs in both trade footings every bit good as in invoicing and internal accounting processs. Second. it was really attractive to clients. who may profit from a service offer both technologically advanced and of high intrinsic value. Air Asia produces of import cost nest eggs by directing information utilizing Internet. instead than by station or facsimile. To sum up. Air Asia largely uses modern engineering to run and present service. Air Asia put into pattern thin allotment by trusting on cyberspace as a chief method of distribution while cut downing the dependance on travel agents and gross revenues offices. as opposed to full service air hoses which normally used all distribution channels. ( Air Asia 2011 ) . Operating Scheme Following point is runing scheme of Air Asia. Selling and operations are important elements of runing scheme of Air Asia. So. most attempt concentrated on publicities and wagess. By making this. Air Asia provides sensible and inexpensive publicities. For case. Air Asia flies to Thailand by 450 RM. MAS ( Malaysia Airlines ) besides flies to Thailand. but cost of the ticket is about 800 RM. However. repasts. pre-book luggage. place assignment and excess services are non included in ticket of Air Asia. it is sensible. at all. Furthermore. Air Asia offers a simple â€Å"no frills† service at menus that are on norm notably lower than those offered by traditional full-service air hoses. Modeled on winning low menu air hoses such as the U. S. -based Southwest Airlines and Dublin-based Ryan air. Air Asia was established to bring forth a new air power merchandise in Malaysia. 1 that would develop air travel. and better the local air power market by supplying really low menus so more pe ople can wing. The company Bankss on the cost of running ‘bricks and mortar’ mercantile establishments and could make national markets without holding to widen a physical distribution web. Most indispensable was the company could salvage on client service costs by enabling clients to function themselves. Furthermore. Air Asia efficaciously adopted focal point schemes by holding developed a really well-organized and to the full computerized system for its clients to book the air tickets through its web site. Air Asia besides have a high frequence of flights to most short draw and regional finishs in order to function a wider market section every bit good as to cut down the turnaround clip in the land between flights. which is 25 proceedingss compared to an hr for full service air hoses. ( Air Asia 2011 ) To sum up. Air Asia focused on selling and publicities are major component of the organisation scheme. Service Concept Air Asia followed the overall cost leading service scheme. which is categorized by seeking out low-priced clients. less customization options. cut downing the individualized services for clients and decreased web costs. ( Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons 2010 ) Furthermore. familiar property of low-priced bearers that is used by Air Asia is the peak point of aircraft use. point-to-point web and deficiency of assigned seating. ( Air Asia 2011 ) To stress. the deficiency of assigned seating allowed Air Asia to maximise the rider capacity on the aircraft every bit good as advancing on-time public presentation and honoring promptness for clients. ( Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons 2010 ) Therefore. Air Asia has assigned seats to riders and besides offered options for riders to acquire much better seats. such as express embarkation and â€Å"Pick-a-Seat† that is available at an extra cost. ( Air Asia 2011 ) Wining Customers in Marketplace. Service Qualifiers At first. depending on the competition and personal demands. clients select a service supplier utilizing standards. Hence. before a service house can be taken earnestly as a rival in the market. it must achieve a certain degree for each service-competitive dimension. as defined by the other market participants. For case. in air hose services. safety is defined by the air-worthiness of the aircraft and by the evaluation of the pilots. as an obvious qualifier. In add-on. in a mature market such as fast nutrients. established rivals may specify a degree of quality. such as cleanliness. that new entrants must at least lucifer to be feasible rivals. To exemplify. for fast nutrient. a dimension that one time was a service victor. such as a drive-in window. over clip could go a qualifier because some clients will non halt otherwise. Thus. Air Asia is well-known as low-fare air hose and in the instance of service qualifier I can arguably observe that. Air Asia is service qualifier. hence a huge sum of people are choice Air Asia. Another good illustration is Volvo. which is well-known for safety. To stress. people know that Volvo autos can supply safety. To sum up. service qualifiers is one of the ways to win competition. In instance of Air Asia. Air Asia maintained a high criterion on safety by non compromising safety regulations. guaranting the security of staff members and invitees. and to follow with every ordinance while keeping the highest criterions. ( Air Asia 2011 ) Service Winners Service victors are dimensions such as monetary value. convenience. or repute that are used by a client to do a pick among rivals. Depending on the demands of the client at the clip of purchase. the service victor may change. For illustration. Air Asia is a service victor ; therefore Air Asia is the largest low-priced and award-wining air hose in the Asia. Well. if one wants fly to Thailand in a budget category. decidedly will take Air Asia. it means people select Air Asia as service victor. For case. BMW is celebrated for good engine and service victor. Well. Air Asia arguably can be considered as a service victor among air hoses in Asia and Malaysia. every bit good. Although. as legion rivals try to maintain up with Air Asia. many of the alone elements that form the competitory advantage for Air Asia will frequently be duplicated by its rivals in order to prolong in the competitory market and those will finally turn into a service qualifier when it became excessively commonplace. ( Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons 2010 ) Service Loser Service also-ran is the organisation or service supplier. which failure delivers at or above the expected degree for a competitory dimension can ensue in an unsated client. who is lost everlastingly. For assorted grounds. the dimensions of dependableness. personalization. and velocity are peculiarly vulnerable to going service also-rans. Some illustrations might be failure of an car trader to mend a mechanical job harmonizing to dependableness. rude intervention by a physician. which is due to miss of personalization. or failure of bringing service a bundle on clip because of slow velocity. Furthermore. Air Asia besides failed in footings of promptness and dependableness ; hence it may take to lose clients. To exemplify. sometimes when there is adequate ailment about an on-line service across many societal Medias. the concerns involved will seek their best to non merely address the job but engage with the populace to demo that they really care about the service they are supplying. In this instance it seems that Air Asia merely don’t want to listen. At all. the booking system of Air Asia is down frequently and there are legion mistakes. ( Air Asia 2011 ) Cost leading in the budget hotel industry and Air Asia Bhd. At first. an overall cost leading scheme requires efficient-sale installations. tight cost and over-head control and frequently advanced engineering. every bit good. Having a low-priced place provides a defence against competition. because less efficient rivals will endure foremost from competitory force per unit areas. Implementing a low-priced scheme normally requires high capital investing in state-of-the art equipment. aggressive pricing. and start-up losingss to construct market portion. A cost leading scheme sometimes can revolutionise an industry. as illustrated by the success of Tune Hotels. Walmart. and Federal Express. To exemplify. the scheme of Holiday Inn Express is likely best described as low-priced leading because of its wide entreaty to the mass market and accent on limited service. cleanliness. eternity. and cost efficiency- to guarantee optimum usage of infinite. easiness of care. and a higher return on in vesting for proprietors. This is non to state that Holiday Inn Express is a low-quality housing trade name. In contrast. Holiday Inn Express offers full-service comfort and value to a wide market. Hence. a huge sum of houses are prosecuting cost-leadership set out to go the lowest-cost suppliers of a good service. Furthermore. wide range of cost leaders means that they attempt to function a big per centum of the entire market. Therefore. legion hotelkeepers would abound at the idea that they are prosecuting a low-priced leading scheme. Rather. they envision their houses as prosecuting some kind of balance between low-costs and distinction. While clean room and linens and some degree of comfort ( i. e. telephone and telecasting ) is expected at every lodging belongings. attempts to distinguish may ensue in increased cost but non added value. doing a house more stuck-in-the center than competitory. Hence. I choose Tune Hotels in order to depict about cost-leadership in hotel industry. Well. Tune Hotels. com is a â€Å"limited service† hotel concatenation operated by Tune Hotels Regional Services Sdn Bhd that provides â€Å"5-star kiping experience at a 1-star price† high quality adjustments. Tune Hotels is portion of the Tune Group. the private investing group of Tan Sri Tony Fernandes. laminitis and Group CEO of low-priced air hose Air Asia. Tune Hotels is taking for 100 hotels in its planetary portfolio by 2015. The limited service theoretical account used by Tune Hotels is similar to the no-frills concern theoretical account practiced by low-priced bearers such as Air Asia and has been adapted to the cordial reception industry. As with low-priced bearers extinguishing many traditional rider services to maintain costs low and monetary values low-cost. Tune Hotels limited service and pay-as-you-use of additions concept omits many traditional cordial reception services to maintain costs and rates every bit low as possible. Alternatively. services and supernumeraries are offered on a pay-as-you-go footing. including toilet articless. 12 or 24 hours air-conditioning. Television and internet entree and besides individual or dual tenancy. The cardinal construct of Tune Hotels is supplying high-quality rudimentss such as 5-star beds. powerful hot shower. cardinal A ; convenient locations. clean environment. and 24-hour security at the best value for money. Tune Hotels targets the savvy traveller who wants the best value for money. Using a self-service online engagement system. invitees can book suites at monetary values get downing from USD3. 00 or even lower? Personal service is non an property you should anticipate to have. If you make a error in your engagement. anticipate to eat the monetary value of your engagement and do a new engagement for whatever monetary value is available at the clip. Hotel infinite is besides available for rent to advertizers ( indoors. out-of-doorss every bit good as whole floors ) on room walls. room keys. hallways and in the anteroom. Mentions Books:Bull. A ( 1995 ) . The economic sciences of Travel and Tourism. Second Edition. Longman. Melbourne. Bossevain. J ( edited ) . ( 1996 ) . Coping with Tourists. European Reactions to Mass Tourism. Berghann. Oxford. Cohen. E ( 1972 ) Contemporary Tourism. Elsevier. Oxford. Cooper. C. Fletcher. J. . Gilbert. D. . Shepherd. R. and Wanvill. S. ( 1998 ) Tourism: rules and pattern. Second Edition. Longman. Harlow. . Heskett. James. L. ; W. Earl Sasser. Jr ; and Leonard A. Schlesinger ( 1997 ) â€Å" The service net income chainâ€Å" . Free Press. . New York Hill. Terry. ( 2000 ) Manufacturing Strategy. 3rd erectile dysfunction. Irwin Mehraw. New York. Holloway. J. C. and Robinson. C. ( 1995 ) Selling for Tourism. Longman. Harlow. Lea. J. ( 1998 ) Tourism and Development in the Third World. Routledge. London. Law. C. M ( 1996 ) . Tourism in Major metropoliss. International Thomson Business Publishing. London Mathieson. A. and Wall. G. ( 1982 ) Tourism. Economic. Social and Physical I mpacts. Longman. Harlow. Oppermann. M. and Chen. K. ( 1997 ) Tourism in Developing states. International Thomson Business Press. London. Prokech. Steven. ( 1995 ) â€Å" Competing on Customer Serviceâ€Å"Harvard Business Review. November-December. 1995. pp. 101-112. Shaw G. and Williams. A. M ( 2004 ) Tourism and touristry infinites. Sage. London Vanhove. N. ( 2004 ) Economicss of Tourist Destinations. Butterworth-Heinemann. Oxford. Web sites: Air Asia Corporate Website. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. airasia. com viewed on 4 July 2011Navitaire Open Skies by Navitaire Reservation and Distribution System. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. navitaire. com/res_and_dist/openskies. asp viewed on 29 June 2011 Air Asia – How to book on-line tutorial.hypertext transfer protocol: //www. airasia. com/site/en/page. jsp? name=HOW % 20TO % 20BOOK % 20ONLINE A ; id=4d99d08ac0a8c85d-177e6b40-4dab9d31 viewed on 29 June 2011

Free Essays on Liberal Intergovernmentalism

PAPER ON â€Å"LIBERAL INTERGOVERNMENTALISM† CAN WE APPLY THE LIBERAL INTERGOVERNMENTALIST THEORY TO THE BARGAINS OF THE EUROPEAN AGREEMENTS WITH THE VISEGRAD COUNTRIES (1990-1991) ? The historical events of 1989 with the collapse of the Iron Curtain created a unique historical situation in Europe: a new reintegration period between two political parties of the continent. The European Agreements were the first attempt of this reintegration period. When we look at the European Agreements made between the European Union and the Visegrad Countries (Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary) in 1990-1991, we see that they were signed after long bargaining period between both parties. In order to answer the topic question, we have to look at the basic aspects of the theory and the practices of the bargains of the European Agreements. Basically liberal intergovernmentalism includes a preference analysis (demand) and an intergovernmental bargain (supply) analysis. The former should be reflected by the interests of the European Union and the Visegrad Countries as the two parties, but there was the problem of diversified trade interests between the South and North countries within the European Union. The latter was purely existing in this bargaining process and showed the strength of the European Union in the trade regime. The Visagrad Countries were the regime takers, and suffered for their weak bargaining position. Another point was, that the European Agreemants had to be ratified in each member country just as constitutional changes have to, which illustrates the strong role of the state in the decision making structure, and this is also a main point in liberal intergovernmentalism. Shortly, the answer of the topic question is positive and the bargaining process of the European Agreements between the European Union and the Visegrad Countries can be explained with the liberal intergovernmentalist theory. Although there was some... Free Essays on Liberal Intergovernmentalism Free Essays on Liberal Intergovernmentalism PAPER ON â€Å"LIBERAL INTERGOVERNMENTALISM† CAN WE APPLY THE LIBERAL INTERGOVERNMENTALIST THEORY TO THE BARGAINS OF THE EUROPEAN AGREEMENTS WITH THE VISEGRAD COUNTRIES (1990-1991) ? The historical events of 1989 with the collapse of the Iron Curtain created a unique historical situation in Europe: a new reintegration period between two political parties of the continent. The European Agreements were the first attempt of this reintegration period. When we look at the European Agreements made between the European Union and the Visegrad Countries (Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary) in 1990-1991, we see that they were signed after long bargaining period between both parties. In order to answer the topic question, we have to look at the basic aspects of the theory and the practices of the bargains of the European Agreements. Basically liberal intergovernmentalism includes a preference analysis (demand) and an intergovernmental bargain (supply) analysis. The former should be reflected by the interests of the European Union and the Visegrad Countries as the two parties, but there was the problem of diversified trade interests between the South and North countries within the European Union. The latter was purely existing in this bargaining process and showed the strength of the European Union in the trade regime. The Visagrad Countries were the regime takers, and suffered for their weak bargaining position. Another point was, that the European Agreemants had to be ratified in each member country just as constitutional changes have to, which illustrates the strong role of the state in the decision making structure, and this is also a main point in liberal intergovernmentalism. Shortly, the answer of the topic question is positive and the bargaining process of the European Agreements between the European Union and the Visegrad Countries can be explained with the liberal intergovernmentalist theory. Although there was some...

The Silk Road Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Silk Road - Essay Example And it was during 200 BC that Han rulers took control of Tarim region. The Silk Road was subsequently opened under China's control and the route to the Western part of the world started working. Chinese traders used Silk Road for the trade, which resulted in establishing of the Silk Road. Subsequently other countries also started using the road for carrying out their trade related activities thus strengthening the mutual relationship. In fact the 'silk road' is not a road as such, but a long stretch of trade route taken by the trading community. The trail spread mainly across Central Asia, resulted in prosperity not only along the route but in nearby regions as well, as branches from the main route emerged out of the Silk Road towards newer destinations in the interiors of the region. During those early days, the Roman, Parthian, Kushan, and Chinese worked towards providing stability to the Silk Road. Different countries had on offer different types of merchandise for China while Chinese started off with silk and then added more items on the trade. For example India traded with China in gems & jewelry, semiprecious stones, and glass which are the forte of India for many centuries. Buddhism also spread to from India to China through the silk route. The famous Chinese philosopher Fa-hsien, was one of first known Chinese travelers who took Silk Road for traveling towards India around 300 AD. Marco Polo, the famous traveler took 24 years while traveling through Asia. He also chose the Silk Road for his adventurous journey. His travels ignited the urge for industrialization in the Asian subcontinent. Today we can very well boast of the ICT era led technological boom in the industrial world, but historians credit Marco Polo's travelogue for bringing about the technological changes. In fact silk route led industrialization in this part of the world proved to be a turning point for the technological advancements. Marco Polo with his entourage did lot of purchasing from one region and sold it in another region along the silk route, which strengthened the trade practices along the Silk Road. The products sold by him were appreciated by the people, because till then people did not have much idea about the products being made by neighboring countries and regions. Though Osterhammel and Petersson identify the period from 1750 to 1880 as an era which gave rise to the phenomenon of free trade development and as an important step towards globalisation but Marco Polo's trade along the silk route, during the first half of 14th century could very well be termed as the beginning of globalisatio n. Trade along the Silk Road prospered during the times when China was ruled by a succession of non-Chinese dynasties belonging to different ethnic groups, as these groups depended to a great extent on outsiders for trade. Trade activities along the Silk Road suffered a decline owing to change in political equations in China and neighboring India. When power passed on to the Song dynasty, it proved to be weak in retaining control over strategically important central and northern part of China, which resulted in loss of control over Central Asian trade, thus diminishing the role of Silk Road. Subsequently Chinese rulers started paying more attention towards the sea route for carrying out trade. Subsequently when Mongols came to power during the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century, the Silk Road was once again revived for trade.

Global Marketing-Strategy and Practice ( Chili's ) Essay

Global Marketing-Strategy and Practice ( Chili's ) - Essay Example Now the restaurant chain is located in 49 states in USA and 30 other international locations. The restaurant mainly serves Tex-Mex food, which means Mexican and Texan food. Other than this they also offer other menu such as burgers, and vegetarian and non-vegetarian menu. In this report the aim is to plan out Chili’s launch in UK. The process of doing so begins with a complete analysis of the strategic factors (Brinker International, 2013). Chili’s Grill & Bar is also located in Australia, Costa Rica, and Venezuela, other than USA and Canada. Now it is planning to expand in London, UK. Every country is different and so its business environment. There are certain strategic factors which influence the decision-making of the companies during expansion or internationalization. Chili’s Grill & Bar has to consider strategic factors like international competitiveness, international growth, trade blocks, macro business environmental factors on which supply chain, logisti cs, and marketing would depend (Grant, 1991). Market Entry Modes This section will evaluates the market entry modes of Chili’s Grill & Bar in details, but before that decision on the international trade framework in UK is necessary. According to the American Marketing Association, international marketing is a multinational process which involves planning and implementation of concepts of promotion, pricing, and distribution strategies which will assist in providing satisfaction to the customers, and meet the objectives of the organisation (Doole, and Lowe, 2008). Chili’s Grill & Bar has to analyse the trade framework, trade barriers if any, taste and preference of the customers, players in the market, and most importantly the appropriate market entry mode, for expanding to London, UK (Barney, 1991, 1997). There various feasible entry modes available, but adaptation of entry modes depends on the trade policies of the country. Moreover, when it comes to food habits, ever y country is different, and people usually do not keep changing or adapting them like their fashion for clothes (Barney, 2001). UK is specifically depended on foreign trade for economic development. This is the reason why government of the company support unrestricted and free trade, and this initiative has also assisted UK in achieving recognition from European Union and World Trade Organisation. They have very free trade barriers or restrictions on foreign trade, and this proved by the fact that among 600 organisations in UK, around 60 are organisations from America. For attracting the foreign investors, the British government has adopted various programs like establishing enterprise zones, where the companies would be exempted from property, and the compensation for cost that is incurred by the companies for new factory construction. Incentives would be provided for companies located in the economically depressed areas (Advameg Inc., 2013). This are called Assisted Areas. Apart f rom this seven free trade zones are also offer. The extent of competitiveness in the international market is an important strategic factor which is considered because there are existing market leaders and players (Bengtsson, 1998). In London there are innumerable numbers of restaurants serving different cuisines, and also Mexican cuisines.

F-1 status Essay Example for Free

F-1 status Essay I would like to appeal the case for reinstatement of my F-1 status with your office. My F-1 status expired on December 23, 2006. I require an extension on my F-1 visa because I have a research program pending completion at my university and this project must be done on site and allow me to have physical contact with my professors and advisers on this project. It is with a hopeful heart that I request you to consider the humanitarian reason behind my request. My father fell ill last year and this caused major interruptions to my research work. He eventually succumbed to his illness last September 2006 and this caused even greater damage to my research project because I had to take time off to join my family in caring and eventually mourning for my father. I was aware of the December 23, 2006 deadline but due to the reasons I have stated, I became preoccupied and eventually lost track of time. I did not realize that my visa had expired until it was too late. I realize that I am asking for a tremendous concession on your part. All I ask is to be given the chance to complete my project using some borrowed time. I assure you that I will honor any agreement that we may enter into in order to assure you of my honesty regarding this matter. Thank you for taking the time to seriously consider my request. Sincerely,

Meditation and the Brain Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Meditation and the Brain When discussing the relationship of brain and behavior, the materialist view of human experience runs into conflict with the historically dominant religious accounts. Recent studies, however, suggests that there may be a "middle view" between the two world-views. Religions, especially Buddhism, stress the role of meditation in one's spiritual growth. Meditation has tangible psychological and physiological benefits, though, which can be explained strictly in neurobiological terms. Understanding of how meditation affects the brain, and, by extension, human behavior, also gives insight into consciousness, the role of feedback loops, and the nature of the I-function. The goal of Buddhist meditation is to detach oneself from desires and objects which are the cause of suffering. Other forms of meditation, while differing in terms of their metaphysical grounding (1), effectively separate the individual from the transitory nature of the world. In prayer, the effort is largely mental, but Transcendental Meditation (TM) and Zen meditation also involve the body. Body positioning is important to the meditation, and in Zen, the object is to have as little tension as possible in the body. "The body has a way of communicating outwardly to the world and inwardly to oneself. How you position your body has a lot to do with what happens with your mind and your breath . . . Although [Zen meditation] looks very disciplined, the muscles should be soft. There should be no tension in the body" (2). The correlation of physical states with mental states in meditation reinforces the correspondence between neural functions and behavior. Zen practice also has a revealing theory about the nature of the self, namely that it ... ...n." http://www.zen-mtn.org/zmm/zazen.shtml 3)"Buddhist Meditation and Personal Construct Psychology" by Phouttasone Thirakoul. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/Pilou.html 4)"Physiological Functioning." http://info.miu.edu/tm_research/tm_charts/1Phys.html 5)"Addiction and Zen." http://viacorp.com/addiction.html 6)"Psychotherapy, Meditation, & Spirituality." http://www.buddhanet.net/psyspir3.htm 7)"Grief and the Mindfulness Approach." http://www.buddhanet.net/psygrief.htm 8)" Wallis, Claudia. "Faith & Healing." Time. June 24, 1998. Vol. 147, no.26." http://www.hope.edu/academic/religion/bandstra/REL100/TIME960624.HTM 9)"God on the Brain," by Jeremy Creedon. http://www.utne.com/lens98/spirit/god.html 10) "Zen and the Brain (Review)," by Kimford O. Meadov." http://www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/journals/archive/jama/vol_281/no_4/review_2.htm

How ICT requirements are met in an organisation Essay

Report B: How ICT requirements are met in an organisation Before Haden was introduced ICT, everything was done by hand. This took longer and was not a reliable method of processing information. Haden has many departments and altogether they have many computers. I am going to only analyse one of those departments because doing the whole building with the number of computers will be ridiculous. The department I will be analysing is the Fraud department. This department deals with all the people committing benefit fraud. They work with the police to get those people in court. The Fraud department found it hard to cope without computers. When the computers were introduced everything was easy. Everything needed ICT. In the Fraud department there are 45 computers. Here are the specifications of the hardware. Hardware – Input devices Keyboard- There is 40 standard QWERTY keyboards and 5 ergonomic keyboards. Ergonomic keyboards are QWERTY but the layout is different. The keyboards connect by PS/2 port. Mice- There is 45 standard mice. These come as default on all the computers. The mice connect also connect through PS/2 port. Digital Cameras- These cameras are devices that can take photos or moving images (films) and transfer them on to a PC. The images are JPEG, GIF, UGA, UFO or PSO. There are a total of 4 cameras in the department. The digital cameras connect to the via USB port. Scanners- There is 2 scanners in the department and they also transfer images to the computer. They work like photocopier but can transfer the images to a PC. This device also connects through USB port. Web Cams- The web cams are used to project moving images on to the internet. Only 7 computers have these and they are only used for handling confidential documents. The web cams connect to the computers by the USB port. The web cams are used for personal use. Well, that’s what I think! An input device is something that transfers raw data into a computer for it to be processed. These can include images and evidence from fraud suspects. Output devices Monitors- There is 45 monitors. 5 flat screen monitors, also know as LCD (liquid crystal display) screens and the rest are standard default monitors which are CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors. The monitors connect through the serial port. Colour printer- The colour printers are used to print documents with Haden’s header on them. The colour makes it more professional. The printers connect through the LPT or parallel port. These are the main output devices. They take raw information/data and give it back to us processed. Every computer has many different specifications inside and outside. The computers are all the same so it will be easy to describe them. Below are the specifications. Compaq Deskpro 40 GB Hard drive CD/CD-RW Drive Floppy Drive Zip Drive 512 mb DDR RAM 64 mb DDR Geforce 4 graphics card Creative soundcard Ethernet Card Modem port 4 USB 2. 0 ports 2 serial ports 2 LPT/parallel ports 2 Fire wire ports 2 PS/2 ports 1 game pad port 1 Network port The hard drives are big so that a lot of data can be stored. But there is a downfall to that. It is easier for files to get lost and the file security is not great. The RAM is a ridiculously large. It seems like the computers are made to play games and not do work. This also applies for the graphics card. It also has a large card memory. Most of it is wasted because it is not being used. The department can save a lot of money they had computers which are a bit lower on the specifications. (RAM, Graphics card etc) As all the computers are same, it is easy for me to describe only one of the computers specifications because they have the same specifications like the other computers in the department. There is a large server for the department. The server is very fast and quick. Below are the server specifications. Intel Pentium 4 M 3. 0 GHz processor memory 1024 mb DDR RAM 120 GB Hard drive Tape drive CD/CD-RW Drive Floppy Drive All the computers are Compaq brand. They are reliable and safe to use. Software The computers have different software installed on their hard drives. The computers are new. They have Microsoft Office 2002 installed on their hard drive. They also have other programs like anti-virus. Microsoft Word- This is the default word processing application. It is easy to use and it has many features like recording macros and inserting pictures. Microsoft Excel- This application is installed on the system but it is not used often. It may be used to do calculations for wages and salaries. I am not very sure what it is used for in this department. Microsoft Access- This application is not used. Database- Haden have there own database. It is very complicated to use their database. It comes up as a black screen with white writing. Almost like MS-DOS on old computers. The database holds information of people that have benefits and that commit fraud. You have to be trained to use the database because it is so complicated. This is what I think are in the databases: Name, address, post code, county, age, gender, contact details, national insurance number etc. Outlook Express- Easy to use and is fast for sending and receiving information. The e-mail is not for personal use. The companies boss can other employees can read the personal e-mails. Information is not confidential so it is a great and fast method of transferring data. Internet Explorer is used to surf the web for web related fraud. The internet has a special tracking device that seeks out people using other people’s insurance numbers and other details to get money. Intranet- All the computers are linked to an intranet. The intranet is a small network that only the company personnel can enter. No one from the outside, like me, can enter the intranet. Some of the files are password protected and only those who have the password can enter. Others are common files that everyone linked to the intranet can access. All personnel have their own password. They also have a card key that is used to enter the PC otherwise they do not have access. Norton System works is an antivirus application. All the computers have this software to protect against viruses. There is however a disadvantage. There is no internet firewall. Although one will be installed soon, the security is at risk and therefore hackers can enter easily. Evidence Eliminator is an application that is used to destroy unwanted fraud evidence from the Fraud departments’ computers. The evidence will no longer be available for hackers. Evaluation Haden’s use of ICT is excellent. They are faster now than before computers were introduced. The department of Fraud has found that using ICT is a must for them. Most of it is writing up databases. They have improved in using their own database that has outstanding security due to it being hard to use. There are several advantages and disadvantages. The main one is that the computers can get out of date and will require fixing all the time. Another disadvantage is in the Fraud computers the security is not that good. Hackers can attack it easily. The evidence eliminator application will have to be used several times because there is no firewall and hacker can attack any time. The Fraud department has to step up its security to insure that it is safe to transfer files through the networks. Overall, the organisation has improved in keeping things up to date. The security has to improve for the internet, other than that; the company is sophisticated and well improved.