An Analysis of Delivering Benefits Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

An Analysis of Delivering Benefits - Essay Example Along these lines FedEx so as to reduce its social insurance costs offered wide range of medicinal services plans; beforehand the organization was encouraging representatives human services needs by offering human services benefits through oversaw care programs like HMO (wellbeing support association) and PPO (favored supplier association) however later organization understood that there is further need of enhancements in such manner. Accordingly organization offered different diverse social insurance designs; the principle rationale behind this demonstration was to connect an ever increasing number of representatives in the medicinal services benefits designs by giving them different choices to browse, so they can be best served and organization then again can set aside attractive measure of cash. For accomplishing this objective FedEx compactly offered its workers the choice to browse the current medicinal services suppliers, in any case in the event that one intends to see a speci alist that isn't under the board of FedEx then extraordinary volume of reasoning will be done from representatives compensations. By instructing and illuminating workers about the administrations and pathway identified with profit these administrations brought about controlling the medicinal services financial plan up to extraordinary degree. As representatives at time regularly go to see a specialist for minor issues in view of the human services stipends that their organizations are advertising. Besides there are a few different choices that workers can use so as to cheat in such manner. These miss utilizations of social insurance offices brought about paying organizations more; in addition to additionally intensify this circumstance expansion identified with medicinal services administrations are developing quickly. Therefore organizations have no alternatives however to gag these costs similar to the case with FedEx. FedEx convenient and determined activity as far as upgrading i ts strategies with respect to social insurance administrations demonstrated to of essential significance as workers were not scrutinizing the additional derivations in light of the fact that everything was disclosed to them earlier and they were enabled to browse the various contributions. At last outcomes in controlling and gagging the medicinal services costs genie. Answer 2: It is accept that organizations while scanning or recruiting for workers search for a genuinely fit and enthusiastic representatives so they can increase most extreme preferred position from them. As Human Resource director are continually hoping to recruit a person that will end up being a benefit for the organization not an obligation. Anyway individuals on occasion are delicate and have propensities to be influenced from the earth and get a few illnesses. There are some that are brought into the world with certain maladies. Along these lines organizations while enlisting search for physical fit workers as a rule particularly organizations that require increasingly physical wellness like coordinations industry. FedEx falls under the classification of dispatch and coordinations specialist organization, subsequently their chase for fit representatives is self-evident, moreover in the wake of employing the organization guarantees that these fit volunteers ought to stay fit for the more drawn out run so they can best fill the company’s need. In an ongoing past FedEx so as to best serve its workers not just made changes in the social insurance benefits programs yet additionally made an office that gives clinical help by giving advices in regards to how to stay fit. Moreover workers can even ask or share their wellness related issues from them particularly the individuals who are having incessant sicknesses like asthma, sugar and joint inflammation. The primary rationale

Role of Line Managers in Human Resource Management

Question: Examine about a Report on the Role of Line Managers in Human Resource Management? Answer: Presentation HR the executives in an association impacts distinctive authoritative exercises extending from vital arranging procedure to the way toward improving brand picture in advertise. As expressed by Wright McMahan, (2011) HR the board in an association improves main concern utilizing the information on significance of workforce on execution of the organization. The present report manages investigation on the HR the board procedure in Tesco. The report likewise contains conversation on the procedures of enlistment and choice, suspension of business and other HR exercises. Effects of laws and guidelines on HR the executives procedure of Tesco are likewise talked about in the report (Mondy and Mondy, 2014). The report examination is bolstered with inside and out references to interface the substance of the setting with the source full data deduction. Contrast between staff the board and HR the executives: Faculty the board HR the board Staff the board gives significance on government assistance of representatives, support of work relations and faculty organization HR the board is liable for the exercises, for example, procurement of Human assets, improvement of incorporated workforce, persuading and holding staffs inside an association (Hoch and Dulebohn, 2013). Work force supervisors configuration occupations on work division The HR chiefs configuration work on premise of cooperation Under staff the executives, the representatives get less open door for preparing and advancement (Azmi and Mushtaq, 2014, p. 617). Under HR the executives the workers get adequate possibility for vocation development All the choices are created by top administration just as indicated by rules and guidelines of the association Workers can participate in dynamic procedure Work force the executives can be considered as a standard capacity HR the executives can be considered as key capacity (Byars, 2015, p. 281). Evaluating capacity of HRM: In Tesco, the HR the executives is liable for Building up a community oriented and comprehensive human culture-Tesco builds up a collective culture that diminishes odds of contention between the representatives working in the association helping the administration to work easily. Also, the coordination among the workers will bring about keeping up a quiet situation in the association (Hoch and Dulebohn, 2013, p. 115). The human culture will improve the profitability of the representatives working in TESCO that helps in expanding the proficiency and efficiency of the representatives. Guaranteeing that capacities of the staffs are used appropriately Tesco guarantees that the capacities of staff are used in a profitable way. It builds profitability of the workforce and nature of the work performed by the representatives. What's more, the earth of Tesco will likewise be improved with the effective working of the representatives in the association (Keating and Heslin, 2015). The capacities will be formed and used successfully concerning the exhibition of the representatives in the association. Guaranteeing that representatives are following right procedures for executing their errands Tesco guarantees that workers are adhering to rules and guidelines of the association. It additionally decreases odds of mishaps. For this situation the workers of the associations are all around prepared before letting them play out the errand in the association (Lawler and Boudreau, 2015). Furthermore, the working propensities for the representatives are additionally improved by making the representatives following the correct method to execute the undertaking appointed to them. To guarantee adaptability in authoritative procedure Tesco guarantees that staffs can keep up balance among individual and expert life (Ma and Ye, 2015). In this manner, the representatives must be conceded with specific adaptabilities concerning the work propensities and timing of the workplace so as to cause the worker to feel great while playing out the undertaking viably. Moreover, the procedure of the association must be caused simple so the worker don't to feel the chaotic about the undertaking doled out to them (Ma and Ye, 2015, p. 73). Moreover the representatives must be allowed with specific offices in regards to the work environment and the way toward executing the undertaking. Empowering individuals to grow new abilities It likewise improves the profitability of the association and will bring about the advancement of new aptitudes while working the association. What's more, the new aptitudes will empower the representatives to work with specific abilities and the efficiency of the work will increment because of improvement of the representatives expertise in the association (Martocchio, 2015). Moreover, the improvement of the new abilities is additionally empowered by the association by giving preparing to the current representatives of the association. Assessing jobs and duties of line administrator: A few jobs and responsiblities of line chiefs were accounted when I visioted the place of work at Tesco. As an essential research proof, a meeting with HR was taken. The accompanying jobs and obligations of line supervisors were talked about- Connecting with workers in authoritative exercises for accomplishing the objectives and targets of the of the association Guaranteeing that representatives are keeping up discipline in the working environment Leading execution examinations to empower the representatives towards the work alloted to them Deciding compensation structure of a worker based on execution according to the ability and position of the representatives As an optional research, the accompanying proof was acquired: Making a progressively social association by turning an informal community more than 500,000 representatives around the world. Structuring and conveying preparing of workers that makes a hotter and frienlier condition. Association with senior pioneers who are answerable for hierarchical change. Conveyance of yearly People Plan. Acknowledgment of Personnel . Effect of lawful and administrative system of UK on HRM: Sex Discrimination Act 1995/97-The law renders to unpredictable quality among people. There must be fairness among people at a working environment. The necessities and conditions for the two people must be similarly engaged. They should be dealt with in like manner as required by the situation . Races Relations Act 1976-This demonstration makes an arrangement regarding individuals of various racial gatherings. They should not be placed into any impediment and practices must be applied qually to every single ethnic gathering . Wellbeing and Safety at Work and so forth Act 1974-This demonstration guarantees that staffs are being furnished with sufficient security measures. The government assistance of individuals must be ensured against dangers to wellbeing. The unlawful acquisitions, utilization of unsafe substances and a control in the emanations into the air must be represented (Gov.uk, 2015). Equity Act 2010-This demonstration separates into different classifications for financial inequalitie, balance as far as sex, maternity and pregnancy correspondence and exposure of pay. There must not be contrasts in crafted by individuals under a similar division. The demonstration additionally guarantees that the maternity and pregnancy leave are offered similarly to all ladies and remaining burden put on them must be simply in nature (Gov.uk, 2015). Significance of HR arranging in Tesco: Advancement of coordinated workforce for the accomplishment of objectives and destinations of the association Organizing preparing programs with the goal that aptitudes of the staffs can be utilized adequately for expanding the profitability of the items or administrations made or rendered Advancement of remuneration and other advantage plans to inspire representatives and to urge them to an appropriate work propensities with better quality of working Overseeing hierarchical changes will empower the administration to adjust the propelled working propensity for the earth . The improvement of Human asset is critical to adapt to the change associated with the outside environmental components. It assesses the current HR through HRsupplyand becomes acclimated it to evolving specialized, socio-social, political, and money related powers Estimating need of staffs and executing enrollment and choice procedure with the goal that hierarchical exercises can be directed uninterruptedly. Likewise, the working offices gave by the organization will empower the representatives to work through different deterrents that lead to changes in future enrollment and choice procedure (Tesco-careers.com, 2015). Sketching out stage engaged with HR prerequisites arranging: Evaluation of HR assets Forecasting need of HR request It is exceptionally important to correct the specific need of the HR arranging in the association (Stone, 2014). It expresses the future necessity of the HR for satisfying the interest of the association concerning the remaining task at hand and techniques for work in the association. Guaging accessibility of HR Forecasting the prerequisite of the HR may worry about the work and exercises of the association that prompts effective accomplishment of the objectives and destinations of the association (Psychogios and Wood, 2010). In this way, the HR are estimated according to the condition and the idea of business did in the association. Executing the exercises related with enlistment, choice and preparing It is the significant capacity of the HR branch of any association concerning the enrollment and determination strategy of the correct individual for the correct assignment to be performed (Balkin, Roussel and Werner, 2015). Looking at enlistment and determination procedure of Tesco and ASDA: Similitudes: Both the associations give significance on workforce arranging as opposed to giving significance in the exercises and the activity that is expected to cause the representatives to play out the assignment in the association Administrations offer a few compensations to staffs for propelling them and empowering them towards efficiency . There

Nature Books Published This Summer

Best Science/Nature Books Published This Summer Forget the amorphous, ridiculous concept of a beach read summer is the time for great science! Here are some of my favorite books about science and nature published in the summer of 2016. On the science side: I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Yong  (8/9 from Ecco) It isnt just any writer who could take the subject of microbes and make it fascinating, engrossing, and even funny. Microbes are mind-bogglingly ubiquitous and necessary to life as we know it. This book  covers topics like the history of microbial research,  the place of microbes in the human body, the co-evolution of microbes and animals, and the potential future of microbial engineering. Yong approaches a complex topic with enthusiasm, making it a compelling, enjoyable read. Seven Skeletons: The Evolution of the Worlds Most Famous Human Fossils by Lydia Pyne  (8/16 from Viking) This is the story of our search for our human ancestors as told by our seven most famous fossils, such as the Neanderthal of La Chapelle, the Piltdown hoax, the Peking man, the Tuang Child, and Lucy. Each chapter of the book gives the reader the biography of a different famous skeleton, exploring  the discovery of the fossils, the impact of each fossil on our understanding of human evolution, the cultural significance of each find, the ways that the fossils are understood by and displayed to the public. The Unknown Universe: A New Exploration of Time, Space, and Modern Cosmology by Stuart Clark  (7/5 from Pegasus Books) Cosmology is a complicated, mind-bending problem. When I read about theories of space and time I admit that usually my eyes  glaze over and my brain quickly hits a sticking point. Clarks book, however, does a superb job making cutting edge new discoveries about the universe understandable to the lay reader. This book takes the issues on the forefront of the field, puts them in historical context for the reader, and explains their importance. It is extremely readable and entertaining, which is no small feat considering the subject matter. Patient H.M.: A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets by Luke Dittrich  (8/9 from Random House) This is the story of the most famous patient in the history of psychology and neuroscience, Patient H.M., or Henry Molaison. In 1953, suffering from chronic epilepsy, Molaison was one of many patients to receive a radical lobotomy in an attempt to stop his seizures. Instead, Molaison wound up unable to create new memories. This is the story of Patient H.M. but also the story of the  lobotomy as a neurosurgical technique, the use of human research subjects, and the history treatment of those suffering from mental illnesses and disease. The authors personal connection to the content adds a compelling twist: Dittrichs own grandfather was the surgeon who performed the botched operation on Patient H.M. Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach (6/7 from W.W. Norton and Company) The science of war gets the full Mary Roach treatment: how does the military design uniforms that can withstand the heat of battle? How do medics prepare to handle the chaos and gore of treating wounds during combat? How do soldiers handle their ahem bodily functions in the field? Can bad smells be used as a weapon? The answer to this, and loads more questions you never thought to ask, can be found here. Also check out Book Riots own Kim Ukuras interview with Mary Roach about the book. The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee (5/17 from Scribner) Okay *technically* this book came out in May, not in the summer, but I am going to give it a pass because it is just that good. Ill be brief, but if you are interested in  books about science, this one cannot be missed. Mukherjee takes a deep dive into the history of our understanding of genetics, bringing us all the way up to present day in this epic, incredible  book. On the nature side: On Trails: An Exploration by Robert Moor (7/12 from Simon and Schuster) While hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2009, Moor got to thinking about the nature of trails themselves. How are they made? How do they survive and endure? What makes us follow them? Moor combines science, history, technology, and philosophy on his thoughtful journey to understand the trails. It is profound and interesting, it dwells on big questions and brings together an engaging collections of facts and stories. Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North by Blair Braverman (7/5 from Ecco) Braverman  tells her story of leaving  California at age 19 to follow the call of the North, a brutal landscape not usually thought of as the realm of a young woman. This is a story of independence, of growing up and coming into ones own, of being a woman in a mans world,  all set against the unforgiving arctic. It is full of dogsleds, glaciers, and freezing cold waters. It is entertaining and wild and deeply personal. Raising Wild: Dispatches from a Home in the Wilderness by Michael Branch (8/23 from Roost Books) This book is a refreshing departure from the nature writing trope of man goes out to wilderness, lives alone in solitude. Here Branch reflects on living in the wilderness with a family and raising daughters. As Branch puts it, In perpetuating an understanding of wildness that depends upon the far-flung exploits of men heroically working alone (or with other men), we overlook the wildness that is inherent both to parenting and to children. Set against the rough beauty of Nevadas Great Basin Desert, Branch winds together family and landscape. The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of Americas National Parks by Terry Tempest Williams (5/31 from Sarah Crichton Books) Im cheating again, but again I dont care because this book is so so good. A reflection on our National Parks as told by a series of personal essays that are diverse, eloquent, and extremely thoughtful. It is absolutely stunning. It will have you planning vacations to National Parks, if you can even see the guidebooks through your tears of joy. Sign up for True Story to receive nonfiction news, new releases, and must-read forthcoming titles. Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox.

Loneliness Will Stay Over Our Roofs With Brooding Wings

â€Å"Loneliness will sit over our roofs with brooding wings.† - Bram Stoker. This quote is saying that loneliness will continue to change our lives, whether it is being antisocial or not being able to talk to anyone. Loneliness will change our lives, whether we realize it or not. In the Book Of Mice and Men, loneliness portrays a key role in the theme of the story. Affecting many workers on the ranch that Of Mice and Men is set in. In the the book Of Mice and Men, the theme of loneliness is expressed and affects people throughout the story through Crooks, making him shy, unwilling to protect himself, and isolated, Curley s Wife, by flirting with people and pushing to make friends, and by Candy, by wishing he was part of a plan and had people to talk to and hang out with. To start off, Crooks is affected by loneliness by staying isolated, demanding privacy, and not standing up for himself. Crooks stays isolated by making people stay out of his room at the barn. â€Å"You got no right to come in my room† (Steinbeck 68). This quote was said when Lennie was wandering into Crooks room in the barn, after Lennie was petting his puppy. Lennie had wandered into his room unnoticeably, and Crooks immediately grew private and protective. This proves that Crooks is affected by loneliness because he has been alone for so long and has no one to talk to, he has forgotten how to be social and welcoming. Without knowing how to be social and welcoming, Crooks has become very private and veryShow MoreRelatedVampire Diaries61771 Words   |  248 Pagesthe time difference between France and here. But that doesnt explain why I feel so scared. So lost. The day before yesterday, while Aunt Judith and Margaret and I were driving back from the airport, I had such a st range feeling. When we turned onto our street I suddenly thought, Mom and Dad are waiting for us at home. I bet theyll be on the front porch or in the living room looking out the window. They must have missed me so much. I know. That sounds totally crazy. But even when I saw the houseRead MoreThe Ballad of the Sad Cafe46714 Words   |  187 Pagesparts of the world of Carson McCullers -- a world of the lost, the injured, the eternal strangers at life s feast. Here are brilliant revelations of love and longing, bitter heartbreak and occasional happiness -- tales that probe the very heart of our lives. CARSON McCULLERS (1917-1967) When she was only twenty-three, Carson McCullers first novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, became a literary sensation. Since that time, her reputation has grown with every successive work. Such novels

Grapes of Wrath Analytical Essay - 887 Words

One Can Help Several Defeat Despair When the devastation of Dustbowl hit the families in Okalahoma, chaos erupted. In the book The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck prevails a story of tragedy and struggle, but also the conquering of triumph. Each character in this novel individually matures, however Ma Joad’s development is the most significant. She is the threshold of the family’s well being. Through all the obstacles the Joad family faced, Ma grew in strength and drive as well as maintaining the family’s faith and hope for future success. Ma is a hardheaded and stubborn woman. When she had an idea, she put it into action and was determined to succeed. As Tom described Ma, An’ Ma ain’t nobody you can push aroun’ neither. I seen her†¦show more content†¦Ma was trying to soothe her and explain that, yes, there will be ups and downs in life but it doesn’t matter what they are, it matters how one overcomes these struggles and what one takes from each interference. Further along the Joad’s journey to California, Ma ran into a dilemma—Granma’s health. Instead of sharing with the family the news of granma’s death and mourning over their loss, she kept this devastation to herself and grieved alone for the sake of the family’s arrival to their destination (252). If all else failed, Ma’s strength never fell short of shining through. She was the main provider of the family’s anticipation for potential victory, and she executed this task exceptionally well. There are many events in this book that display the obvious transformation in Ma’s character. From private internal suffering to the unconditional love she shares with each family member, there is no doubt that Ma had the vastest change of personal development throughout this entireShow MoreRelatedLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pagesduring the course, you will improve the following skills: ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · RECOGNITION of arguments EVALUATION of arguments CREATION of arguments â€Å"Critical thinking is skeptical without being cynical. It is openminded without being wishywashy. It is analytical without being nitpicky. Critical thinking can be decisive without being stubborn, evaluative without being judgmental, and forceful without being opinionated.† --Peter Facione Glossary argument An argument is a conclusion backed up byRead MoreRastafarian79520 Words   |  319 Pagesprimary data on the movement but to analyze and re-analyze the growing body of scholarly and popular literature on the movement, including sociological and anthropological studies, biographies, monographs, dissertations, published and unpublished essays, and periodical articles. Archival sources, such as newspaper reports, policy statements, pamphlets, and organization manuals have also provided useful information. Chapter 1 reviews and reï ¬ nes Webers theory of charisma and routinization, using

Legal Age to Drink †Should It Be Changed Free Essays

Legal Age to Drink: Should it be Changed? In this day and age with more sophisticated teens and young people abusing alcohol, the issue concerning whether or not teenagers should be able to drink at a younger age is an important topic. In the article â€Å"Perils of Prohibition† Elizabeth M. Whelan argues that alcohol should be legalized at the age of eighteen instead of twenty-one. We will write a custom essay sample on Legal Age to Drink – Should It Be Changed? or any similar topic only for you Order Now She hopes to persuade readers, parents, and educators to support her proposal for the change by successful alcohol education. Although Whelan provides valuable examples to prove that proper alcohol education is an effective solution in reducing the problems faced with alcohol abuse among American teenagers, she does not provide enough substantial evidence to justify changing the legal drinking age to eighteen years old. In the beginning paragraphs, Whelan compares alcohol consumption with American teens and their European peers. She says, â€Å"American teens, unlike their European peers, don’t learn how to drink gradually, cautiously, and in moderation† (2). This is a great example because it makes the readers think about the different cultural views of alcohol consumption among youthful drinkers globally. Though the consumption of alcohol in France, Spain, and Portugal is higher than the United States per person, the rate of alcoholism and alcohol abuse is lower (4). Whelan hopes to prove that if moderate alcohol consumption and proper awareness of the use of it is instilled in children eighteen years old and up then drinking alcohol should be okay. She compares three countries to the United States in her example. We live in a pretty big world, is it the same in other â€Å"drinking† countries? The example is fairly effective but comparing drinking habits in only three countries to the United States is not enough to persuade readers. In order to gain support for successful alcohol education being a key factor in helping the problems faced with alcohol abuse, Whelan mentions an example involving her daughter. She explained to her daughter the differences in alcohol contents and the importance of not drinking on an empty stomach (8). The strength of this example is effective because it is coming from personal experience. It’s detailed and provided by a woman whose education and occupation qualifies her to make this kind of study. This type of person often makes you want to believe him or her. However, this piece of evidence uses the hasty generalization fallacy. A single personal experience or even many is not enough to convince readers. People’s personal experiences differ greatly. And how do the readers even know if alcohol education was successful with her daughter? Her daughter may not have gotten herself into trouble recently but she’s still under the legal age of drinking and who knows what would happen once she goes off to college? Because of her daughter’s age and the fallacy used, creates a weak example for supporting alcohol education. Whelan continues with examples to prove that proper education is the key instead of prohibiting teenagers the right to drink until the age of twenty-one. She mentions tragic accidents that occurred at the Ivy League school her daughter Christine will be attending in the fall. A student who was nearly electrocuted when, in a drunken state, climbed on a moving train. The student survived but lost three of his limbs (10). A second incident where an intoxicated student ended up in a chimney and was found three days later dead (10). She hopes to convince readers that students do not make good choices when they drink, if they’re not educated properly. The tragedies with the sick, injured students are fair because they’re emotionally appealing to the reader but weak because she fails to provide statistical evidence as to how often injuries of this kind occur. The examples are extreme and rare ones that are unlikely to happen on a regular basis. Whelan continues supporting her claim by mentioning a study that was done at the Harvard School of Public Health by her colleagues. What they found in their survey of college students was that they drink â€Å"early and . . . often,† frequently to the point of getting ill (1). She defends her claim by appealing to authority as evidence. And readers would not be happy knowing that students are becoming sick from irresponsible drinking – the human factor. This study is included to let people know that college students are drinking irresponsibly and becoming sick from it as a result. Not surprisingly, she failed to provide statistical evidence again. That is, evidence of how many students is involved in the survey and the diversity of people in the study. These are important factors needed to be included in the survey to make it believable and convincing to the readers. Finally, two analogies are given by Whelan in hopes of her readers to accept her case. This author creates a weak analogy when comparing sex education to alcohol education. In an attempt to change the legal age of drinking to twenty-one, she says â€Å"we choose to teach our children about safe sex, including the benefits of teen abstinence, why not about safe drinking†? (13) The only similarity is that drinking and sex can cause unsafe or unwanted events, therefore it makes sense to be educated on both subjects. However, the similarity is not relevant enough to be considered a good analogy. Safe sex education has been taught for many years to children but it has not stopped them from having sex or preventing unwanted pregnancies. If this is the case, how would safe drinking education be convincing to the readers to change the legal age to eighteen? The second analogy which is fairly significant in dealing with the unfairness of the legal age to drink, is comparing the ability for teens to be able to drive cars, fly planes, marry, vote, pay taxes, take out loans, and risks their lives in the U. S armed forces to drinking. She says, â€Å"At eighteen they’re considered adults but when they want to enjoy a drink like other adults, they are â€Å"disenfranchised†Ã¢â‚¬  (5). Whelan hopes this evidence will convince readers that if eighteen year olds are given â€Å"adult† responsibilities then they shall be treated as adults in all aspects of life, including drinking alcohol in moderation. She makes a great point with the comparison but when comparing voting, paying taxes, taking out a loan, and marrying to drinking, the responsibilities don’t impair your brain in a way that drinking alcohol would. Whelan presents herself as a kind-hearted woman who is a bit upset and frustrated with the current laws regarding the legal age to drink. The example she uses explaining how she educated her daughter with regards to alcohol content shows her taking a subtle approach with allowing her daughter to drink rather than making it appear to be a bad thing if you are under the legal age. (8) She shows compassion and concern. Whelan’s tone throughout the essay is fairly tolerable, but she does show some depreciation towards the government when she compares teenagers being able to â€Å"drive cars, fly planes, marry, vote, pay taxes, take out loans, and risk their lives as members of the U. S. rmed forces but laws in all fifty say that no alcoholic beverages may be sold to anyone until that magic twenty-first birthday. † (3) When she mentions â€Å"we should make access to alcohol legal at eighteen and at the same time, we should come down much harder on alcohol abusers and drunk drivers of all ages† (12) she is genuinely concerned of the welfare of all people with regards to alcohol and safety. She eagerly w ants to make a difference. And as public-health scientist with a daughter heading to college, she has professional and personal concerns in regards to the dangers of alcohol. While it is obvious that Whelan’s heart is in the right place and that alcohol abuse among teenagers is a problem, her argument suffers from lack of evidence to support changing the legal age of drinking to eighteen years old. Proper alcohol education can be helpful in terms of improving the problem but that’s it. Whelan’s article indicates a need for further study on the abuse of teenage drinking. It would be helpful to see statistical results in studies done among colleges across the nation and in all areas from rich to poor. The more valid studies the better chance finding the proper solutions to the problem. How to cite Legal Age to Drink – Should It Be Changed?, Essay examples

ERP and its Implementation-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the ERP and its Implementation. Answer: Introduction Enterprise resource planning is a management system that covers different areas of an enterprise from human resource department to logistics. It is basically a process through which a company manages and integrates core activities of its business. In this report, a detailed discussion is done about the reason for adopting ERP and types of industry making increasing use of it. Some of the reasons are that with help of this software, entities will be able to standardize their business practices, improves their performance in down economy, help in solving IT issues and many more (Rajan and Baral, 2015). It also explains the implications of Sarbanes-Oxley Act on MySAP ERP software followed by the success and failure stories in the implementation of ERP system along with the reasons for the same. SOX is a law passed by U.S congress in 2002 with an objective of protecting the investors from the fraudulent accounting operations done by corporation. The companies which have implemented or go ing to implement ERP software in their business is required to comply with the requirements of this act. During this course of action, ERP implementation faces many challenges which are discussed in this report later. Many companies successfully implemented it whereas many failed doing so. The report ends with the conclusion summarising the results of discussion. Reasons for adopting ERP software In todays era, almost all large organizations have adopted this system and the medium and small sized companies are increasingly following the trend. The reasons for this growing adoption are classified into following two categories: Technical reasons The need of new information technology stimulated the acquisition of ERP software in the companies. This new technology mainly focuses on supporting the current way of doing the business. Some of the reasons are: The need to replace the old IT technology with the more advanced and modern one was one of the reasons for its adoption. Cutting down the IT cost and standardization of technology was one of the reasons. By reducing the cost of IT, enterprises are able to lower the maintenance and support cost, resulting in increased efficiency and capacity. ERP system was the solution for euro conversion problems and year 2000 problems. An increasing desire to connect all groups companies into same network, arises the need of adopting this software (Hallikainen, Laukkanen and Sarpola, 2004). Business reasons The desire to bring changes in the working of business by bringing new technology raises the need for adopting ERP system. Due to this new IT is needed not only to reduce the cost but also to modify the working of business in order to achieve strategic goals. Some of them are: The most reported reason was integration and data visibility which aid to managerial decision making process. Globalization of business and standardization of IT systems triggered the ERP initiative in most of the companies. Re-engineering the business process and wish to adopt best practice business models for future development. Desire of electronic commerce, networking and collaboration was one of the reason for agreeing to new ERP system (Hallikainen, Laukkanen and Sarpola, 2004). Increasing use of ERP by industries Enterprise Resource Planning is that software which is applied and used by almost each and every industry. Among the countless, the type of industries most benefited from it are retail, manufacturing, agriculture and real estate. Retail The essentials of retail industry are sales and payment. To facilitate them, it is very important to have a control over the inventory management functions along with the tracking, shipping and marketing of products. Through installing new ERP software, all the data related to orders can be coordinated across various retail stores. Orders which are placed and dispatched can be tracked based stock and non-stock items and real time updates on inventory. Sales management can also be done through advanced pricing (Cloud Tech News, 2014). Manufacturing The companies operating in this industry uses ERP the most. Because of their size and complex organisational structure, it is very necessary for them to integrate and standardized all their business activities, in order to maintain its competency. Once the system is established and data is integrated, it will become easier to track the financial part of the industry through product costing and manufacturing accounts. Also, the connectivity of information across multiple departments through ERP, results in increased productivity and decreased data errors and manipulations (Singh, Singh and Kaur, 2017). Agriculture It is the only sector which highly depends upon the weather. Further, this industry has acres of land on which numerous type of crops can be grown. ERP provide solutions for tracking and planning of the information related to harvesting, crop maturation and type of lands (Verdouw, Robbemond and Wolfert, 2015). Real estate The construction and management of industrial and commercial real estate is efficiently streamlined through ERP solutions for Real Estate Management. The use of ERP solutions in this industry will stimulate efficient property and entity management as well as accurate tracking and budgeting of existing property data and revenue forecasts (Cloud Tech News, 2014) Sarbanes-Oxley Act Reasons and Implications SOX Act 2002 is passed by U.S. congress to protect investors from accounting fraud. It requires the corporate executives to check and certify the accuracy of financial statements personally (Soxlaw.com, 2018). The reasons for passing this act were accounting scandals at WorldCom, Enron, Global Crossing and Arthur Anderson. These corporate outrages resulted in billon dollars losses of corporates and investors which negatively impacted financial markets and overall U.S economy. The key implications of the act are: Section 302- Corporate responsibility for financial reports: As per this section, CEO and CFO are obliged to be accountable and responsible for the accuracy in financial reports. The section requires both the officers to be responsible for deploying internal controls that provides timely reporting of the changes in reports along with the transparency and accuracy (Fraser, Simkins and Narvaez, 2014). Section 401- Disclosure in reports: It requires the companies to fully disclose all the information in the periodic reports (Sarbanes-oxley-101.com, 2018). Section 404- Management Assessment of Internal Controls: It defines the measures of internal control and also enables the companies to conduct an audit for checking the effectiveness of the internal controls used by the company (Stein, 2012). Section 409- Real time disclosure: The companies are obliged to do real time disclosures of the changes occurring in financial situation due to the material changes in the business (Sarbanes-oxley-101.com, 2018). Section 802- Criminal Penalties for modifying documents: Defines penalties for the enterprises involved in alteration of financial reports and audit results. Section 806- Whistle-blower protection: Give powers to the employees to report about any fraudulent activity practiced in the organization (Sarbanes-oxley-101.com, 2018). MySAP ERP meeting the implications MySAP ERP is designed on the basis of industry best practices that meet and support companys needs. ERP SAP software enables the companies to comply with SOXthrough automation tooling and industry standard process. It contains an internal control management sub module which helps the enterprises to identify improvements in their control process and also the documentation of internal control. It provides a dashboard and management reports which assists corporate executives in checking the condition of internal and accounting controls used. This ultimately helps in establishing SOX compliance for section 302 and 404 (Sens, 2010). MySAP has a fully configurable accounting and financials module that help the companies to bring flexibility in their organization and reporting structure. The general ledger made in MySAP ERP provides full transparency and disclosure and is available in such a manner that, multiple reports can be generated through one source of information. It also help the companies to report periodically, accurately, timely and have transparency in them which ultimately complies with the section 302, 401 and 402 of SOX act (Okungbowa, 2015). The software also contains a sub module for taking into account the whistle-blower complaints. It empowers the employees to notify about the irregularities in accounting practices, directly to the audit committee through an electronic form. This ensure that the policy of whistle blower is been followed with ease resulting in compliance with SOX section 806. Further, in order to comply with section 802 of criminal penalties, SAP organizes stronger internal controls and segregates the duties that restrict the users to one specific roles in the system. This prevented the data from being misused and reduced the conflicts (Ferran and Salim, 2008). Success and Failure of implementation MySAP ERP ERP implementation success- Cadbury A British multinational confectionery, Cadbury has its headquarters situated in London and the company operates in more than 50 countries across the world. It chose to bring ERP in the business for keeping the pace with the faster growing economy. The company was on vertical growth and wanted to match with the fast-pace growth of economy (Cadbury.co.uk, 2018). Implementation Plan The process started from scratch and management tried to indulge best practices of the company and strengthen the previous systems in new ERP system. The initiative was taken to integrate all the major business processes which include finance, human resources and other departments. It chose to implement SAP ERP 6.0 software. (Erpfocus.com, 2017). Cadbury adopted a big bang approach and make the implementation company wise. The company partners with IBM and Siemens in order to align with different vendors. It chose the function based on big bang approach and then the whole module was implemented across the company within a period of 1 year. The process was completely driven by top management and it tried to synchronize all the phases into one phase and implemented big bang method (Erpfocus.com, 2017). Phase 1: preparation of project which includes hiring of members, project orientation, select system integrator and many more. Phase 2: design and requirements in detail. Identification of risk associated, measures for business improvement, finalizing the road map and so on. Phase 3: activities related to configuration and testing of the systems. Phase 4: end-user training, final training program and cutover plan, informing external partners and DIL tests. Phase 5: executing and monitoring all the system and processes. The motive of choosing big bang approach was to cut off the integration cost at time of execution. Outcomes of the Project Installation of ERP software added efficiency and help Cadbury to achieve fast paced growth. It provided a new way of managing warehouse system and a more organized structure at branch offices. The company got a huge benefit of saving cost and strengthening past systems during implementation phase. It was a whole internal process restructuring which led to the increase in the efficiency. Reasons for success The main reason for success was, the company gave sufficient time for implementation and also applied all the phases required. It properly tested all the systems implemented and then adopted a big bang approach to save the integration cost. Unlike Hersheys, Cadburys strategy for conducting implementation of ERP was much better which resulted in many benefits to the company ERP implementation failure- Hersheys The Hershey Food Corporation, commonly known as Hersheys is the leading manufacture of chocolate in North America having its headquarters in Hershey, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest chocolate companies operating in United States. The need for implementing ERP arises when it decides to price its products low and to achieve a billion sales target. To fulfil this desire, an efficient logistics and supply chain management system is required duly supported by IT. Earlier, like many other companies, Hershey was also using several legacy systems used for performing its various functions (Hersheys.com, 2018). Implementation plan An approval for the project named Enterprise21 was received by the management of Hershey during late 1996. The main aim of the project was to improve and standardize the hardware and shift to client/server environment. For this, the company chose SAP AGs R/3 ERP, a product in MySAP product suite as well as the companion software from Manugistics and Siebel. The SAP software consists of modules for materials management, purchasing, ordering, finance, billing and warehousing. Shifting to ERP system, provided company with a client-server version and it uses IBM Global Services in order to integrate the software offered by three various vendors. The time recommended for implementing the project was 4 years, but the company wanted to get it completed within 2.5 years. Some of the modules of SAP were implemented by the end of January 1999 and some were behind the due date. These modules were added on only in July, three months behind the schedule. This was the time when Hershey was not able to extend its implementation program because of the increasing Y2K problem. Retailers started pouring the orders for Halloween during the period. Management then decided to choose Big Bang approach instead of phased approach for ERP implementation. This means that the software will be implemented directly rather the installing and testing modules one by one. This was done in order to meet its Halloween orders (Madu and Kuei, 2005). Outcome Expected VS Actual Expected outcome Actual outcome Better coordination in the product delivery, enabling the retailers to maintain low inventory, decreasing the cost of holding inventory and offering better customer services. Problems related to the timely delivery of orders started arising, various consignments were shipped behind the due date and many of the deliveries were incomplete. The purpose of this project is to enhance the competitiveness and customer service. Hersheys distributers were finding it difficult to supply products to the retailers within the deadline and as result; they lost their credibility in the market. It was expected that the new software will help the management to reorganize their business process. Instead of reorganizing the process, it turned out to be a great failure. The company started losing its customers, its sales were getting affected and inventory started piled up in the warehouses. Adjusted deliveries to the suppliers, upgraded process, efficient customer services and reduced inventory cost. The company was not able to fulfil many of its orders and the issues in business process created operational paralysis leading to a decline in the profits. Reasons for the failure For the sake of convenience, the company avoid testing the systems, as a result of which data and system integration issues remains unchecked. In Hersheys case, many people criticized the approach used by company and the reason of the failure was, not undertaking system testing, data migration and training. This is point where Hershey lack in its whole implementation process (Pemeco.com, 2013). Another mistake was over squeezing of scheduling time. Hershey tries to finish the whole implementation project in an unreasonable span of time. Moreover, its cutover activities and Go-Live session was scheduled during its busy season. The employees were not trained enough to operate and deal with the new system and processes (Pemeco.com, 2013). Other reasons cited for the failure were lack of experience to Hershey in implementing system software at large scale and inefficiency of top management. An analyst had citied that the company had used ERP as a justification for low earnings (Kapp, Latham and Ford-Latham, 2016). Conclusion From the above report it can be concluded that Enterprise Resource Planning is very essential in todays scenario. Every company should properly strategize for implementing ERP software in its business so as to stimulate the overall development of the organization. Through ERP products, businesses can standardize their activities and also boost up their efficiency, in order to meet their technical and business desires. Although there has been many case studies, out of which two are explained in the above report, regarding the failure and success of ERP but if the implementation process is carried out properly and company has appropriately strategized, then it can avail the benefits from the new system. References Cadbury.co.uk. 2018.Cadbury Chocolate. [online] Available at: https://www.cadbury.co.uk/ [Accessed 8 Feb. 2018]. Cloud Tech News. 2014.The 4 big industry applications of ERP software. [online] Available at: https://www.cloudcomputing-news.net/news/2014/jun/02/4-industry-applications-of-erp-software/ [Accessed 8 Feb. 2018]. Erpfocus.com. 2017.Four ERP implementation case studies you can learn from. [online] Available at: https://www.erpfocus.com/erp-implementation-case-studies.html [Accessed 8 Feb. 2018]. Ferran, C. and Salim, R. 2008.Enterprise resource planning for global economies. Hershey, Pa.: IGI Global. FRASER, J.R., SIMKINS, B.J. and NARVAEZ, K., 2014. Enterprise Risk Management Case Studies.Implementing Enterprise Risk Management: Case Studies and Best Practices, p.519. Hallikainen, P., Laukkanen, S. and Sarpola, S., 2004. Reasons for ERP Acquisition. InICEIS (1)(pp. 518-521). Hersheys.com. 2018.HERSHEY'S Candy Recipes - Introducing HERSHEY'S GOLD. [online] Available at: https://www.hersheys.com/en_us/home.html [Accessed 8 Feb. 2018]. Kapp, K.M., Latham, W.F. and Ford-Latham, H., 2016.Integrated learning for ERP success: A learning requirements planning approach. CRC press. Madu, C.N. and Kuei, C.H., 2005.ERP and supply chain management. Chi Publishers Inc. Okungbowa, A., 2015.SAP ERP Financial Accounting and Controlling: Configuration and Use Management. Apress. Pemeco.com. 2013.A case study on Hershey's ERP Implementation Failure. [online] Available at: https://www.pemeco.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Hershey_ERP_Case_Study.pdf [Accessed 8 Feb. 2018]. Rajan, C.A. and Baral, R., 2015. Adoption of ERP system: An empirical study of factors influencing the usage of ERP and its impact on end user.IIMB Management Review,27(2), pp.105-117. Sarbanes-oxley-101.com. 2018.Sarbanes-Oxley Act Summary of Major Sections. [online] Available at: https://www.sarbanes-oxley-101.com/sarbanes-oxley-compliance.htm [Accessed 8 Feb. 2018]. Sens, M.C., 2010.Upgrading SAP. Laxmi Publications, Ltd. Singh, C.D., Singh, R. and Kaur, H., 2017.Critical appraisal for implementation of ERP in manufacturing industry. LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing. Soxlaw.com. 2018.The Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002. [online] Available at: https://www.soxlaw.com/ [Accessed 8 Feb. 2018]. Stein, D., 2012. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act-Accounting and Conservatism. Verdouw, C.N., Robbemond, R.M. and Wolfert, J., 2015. ERP in agriculture: Lessons learned from the Dutch horticulture.Computers and Electronics in Agriculture,114, pp.125-133.

Narrative Response Essay Essays - Homeschooling, Teacher, Education

Narrative Response Essay One way that I can relate to Emmerson's teaching of individualism is dealing with standardized teaching in K-12 schools, and how it affected myself as well as my fellow students and how we were treated like numbers instead of people as well as just another problem that the teache r s had to deal with 5 times a week , 6 hours a day. Because of this, students were not taught in detail and the number of graduates decreased and the number of students increased from the lack of course knowledge. Standardized testing is said to be the best way for students to learn and develop, but the people in which it effects say otherwise. In my experiences, there were two groups of students in the school, the first that was placed in AP classes and the second which were put in "regular" classes, the kids who were placed in the AP program got good grades and were taught how someone expects students should be taught in high school courses. Then there was my group , the average student where the teachers didn't care about the students and simply gave us busy work and said good luck! This style of "teaching" caused many students grades to go down including mine. So, from there I decided that it would be on me to find a way to be able to be successful in my classes with some outside help that wasn't from the school district. When my parents saw that my grades had gone down during the course of only a few weeks they started to ask questions and I told them in ful l what was going on . Together we developed a plan on how to combat this problem s tarting with going to the teachers and asking about their syllabus and how they run the class . My parents asked the teachers about their syllabus but it seemed that only two of my teachers even knew of the concept of a syllabus and those were the classes in which I had been doing good in. we then proceeded to make appointments and talk with the rest of my teachers where we kept running into the same problem over and over again , T he lack of a syllabus. The teachers plan was simply to put out the required information that they needed to cover in the semester and nothing more but they didn't exactly know how they were going to do it but were confident that they could do it. After my parents and I went through about seven different parent teacher conferences which had the same outcome we decided to go on e step higher and request to talk with the principle of the school who in the end never agreed to have a conference with us which frustrated my parents even more. This is when we decided that it would be in my best intentions to just start doing things on my own and stop trying to follow the teachers and proceed to find my own way of learning which had ended up being as simple as going page by page in the text books from the class , instead of trying to learn from listening to the class lectures si nce they were confusing to begin with. This lead to me getting to know the course better since I was studying material that should be essential to the course but was not required to be taught. Having to read and teach myself how to do the work was a big hassle and took up a huge amount of my free time, but was well worth it in the end allowing for me to raise my grades to pass all my classes as well as help with understanding how to complete various assignments in which the other stu dents found themselves lost in . This process continued for many months until I said enough! And recommended to my par ents that I switch to homeschool instead because I was teaching myself anyways and homeschool would allow for me to be in a better learning environment and I didn't have many friends to begin with at the

Sit vs. Set

Sit vs. Set Sit vs. Set Sit vs. Set By Maeve Maddox Like many of our shortest English words, sit and set have lengthy entries in the Oxford English Dictionary. Some of the definitions overlap. Some are interchangeable. The most common uses of sit and set are similar to those of lay and lie. â€Å"To sit† is to be seated. â€Å"To set† is to place something somewhere. In these contexts, sit is intransitive and set takes an object. Mixing up sit and set is not as common as mixing up lay and lie because the principal parts of sit and set are completely different: sit, sat, (have) sat, sitting set, set, (have) set, setting However, because sit and set have so many additional uses, efforts to state a hard and fast rule as to when to use one and when the other are futile. That fact doesn’t stop people from trying. I read a comment asserting that â€Å"animate objects sit, whereas inanimate objects set, and that’s that!† If â€Å"that were that,† the following statements would represent standard usage, but they don’t. The flowers were setting on the table and the men’s tuxes were draped over chairs. We were surprised by the beautiful gift-wrapped package setting on our bed. Both â€Å"flowers† and â€Å"package† are inanimate objects, but sitting is the verb called for in both statements. The meanings of sit listed in the OED include this one:   a. Of things: To have place or location; to be situated. Ex. There were a dozen eggs still sitting on the front porch and the dustbin sat at the back of the house where the binmen had left it. The flowers were sitting on the table and the package was sitting on the bed. The expressions â€Å"to sit well† and â€Å"to set well† have differing meanings. A certain plan may not sit well with voters. Here, â€Å"to sit well† means something like â€Å"to please† or â€Å"be agreeable to.† A jacket may be said to set well on the shoulders. The OED definition for this sense of to set is, To have a certain set or hang; to sit (well or ill, tightly or loosely, etc.). In texts written about clothing, you will also see â€Å"to sit well† used in the same sense: Just because you can squeeze yourself into a garment doesn’t mean it sits well. Trousers with a wider waistband sit well. When speaking of clothing, â€Å"to set well† and â€Å"to sit well† seem to be interchangeable. In the matter of liking or not liking legislation, â€Å"to sit well† or â€Å"not to sit well† is the way to go. In speaking of an object that has been placed somewhere, the choice is â€Å"sitting.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:70 "Home" Idioms and Expressions50 Idioms About Fruits and Vegetables13 Theatrical Terms in Popular Usage

Emotional Letdown Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Emotional Letdown - Essay Example Dunn (n.d) points out that, there is a middle space that acts like an equilibrium in such a way that, when the emotions are high, then there will be a time they will be pulled down to settle into this space. In other words, the feeling of emotional letdown results from the process of trying to settle to the original situation. In some situations, the problem arises from lack of an alternative goal to pursue or lack of proper fall back plan leading to a worrying kind of situation. For instance, several days after celebrating the attainment of the degree, the graduate starts to feel the challenge of adjusting to the new environment and may start worrying about how to secure employment. The emotional letdown may sometimes result to serious problems like depression if not checked and corrected within a reasonable time. Some symptoms of emotional letdown are a feeling of anxiety or frequent feeling of fear or panic, sometimes for no apparent reason. In some cases, a person may feel hopeless, withdrawn and uninterested in anything, or may even have sleeplessness and lack of appetite; these lead to depression. Moreover, a person may experience frequent flashbacks on events that happened during high times leading to stress and sometimes, the person may engage in alcohol and drugs abuse. When these symptoms persist, then professional attention becomes the only way out. The first step towards moving out of emotional letdown is accepting the situation, and then engaging in a different activity like exercising/fitness even if it seems a tall order, in order to eliminate the negative emotions from the mind (Dunn n.d). Doing a new thing like reading motivational books, enrolling in community activities, joining a college, starting an intellectual project at home, and sporting are important in transforming the negative emotion. In some situations, one should establish a new goal and focus his/her efforts on

Discuss whether there is such a phenomenon as global culture Essay

Discuss whether there is such a phenomenon as global culture - Essay Example The establishment and development of the virtual world has, in return, aided in the process of creating a world of knowledge that is freely available on the internet. This has resulted in a free and smooth distribution of information to masses all over the world. The availability of knowledge and information to people located in various parts of the world has led to the process of evolution of consumer demand. People and masses located in the emerging economies and developing countries are expressing the desire to acquire the same brands of products and services, that are being enjoyed by the people and masses located in the more advanced countries that have developed economies. As a result of the spill over of consumer demand from the developed economies to various undeveloped markets, new markets and new economies are being created. The corporations around the world, in an attempt to attain a significant amount of growth, are focusing on the process of developing the markets, that are located in the emerging economies, by fulfilling the new kind of consumer demand that is starting to evolve in that particular area. Talking with regard to the formation of value chain that is getting developed around the globe on a regular basis, it can be said that in most of the economically emerging regions and countries, the consumers are trying to move up the value chain. It can be said that, in an attempt to create a symbiotic relationship with the consumer demand that is getting formed, the corporations and global companies, that are trying to enter the new markets, are focusing on the process of development of brands that can move down the value chain. By doing so, the global and international companies are trying to form a symbiotic relationship with the customers, wherein the customers’ growing demands are being fulfilled by the companies. Global Culture Overview It can be said that in today’s high-end modern age environment, where the connectivity of th e internet, powered by various high level sophisticated devices like Smart phones, and I-pads, is making significant impact in the lives of the masses around the world, the effect of spill over of information, knowledge and cultural trends cannot be ignored. Talking with regard to spill over of trends, it can be said that the development of a global marketplace, where goods and services are created and delivered to the consumers using various platforms like business to business, business to consumers or even consumers to consumers, has helped in the process of formation of a culture, that is familiar to many consumers irrespective of their presence and distribution in various geographical locations. In brief, it can be rightly stated that the global marketplace is contributing to the formation of a similarity in trends of consumption as well as behavioural patterns of masses all over the world. These similar kinds of behavioural patterns are helping in the process of development and growth of global citizens It can be said that global culture, in very simple terms, represents a variety of more or less similar trends, practices and behaviours which are expressed and displayed by the global citizens. It is necessary to state here that global culture represents a diverse mix of various trends, consumption patterns and styles of living which currently exist in various countries around the world. These diverse trends and consumption patte

Analysis of Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS)

Analysis of Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) Introduction Intrusion detection systems (IDS) were developed in 1990’s, when the network hackers and worms appeared, initially for the identification and reporting of such attacks. The intrusion detection systems didn’t have the ability to stop such attacks rather than detecting and reporting to the network personnel. The Intrusion Prevention Systems got both characteristics i.e. threat detection and prevention. The detection process analyzes the events for any possible threats while the intrusion prevention stops the detected possible threats and reports the network administrator. Purpose Scope The main purpose of the project is to evaluate the security capabilities of different types of IDPS technologies in maintaining the network security. It provides detail information about the different classes components of IDPS technologies, for example, detection methods, security capabilities, prevention capabilities internals of IDPS. It is mainly focused on different detection techniques responses by these technologies. 1.2 Audience The information can be useful for computer network administrators, network security personnel, who have little knowledge about these IDPS technologies. 1.3 Project Structure The project is organized into the following major structure: Section 2 provides a general introduction of IDPS. Section 3 provides detail information about of IDPS technologies, components architecture, detection methodologies, security capabilities prevention capabilities. Section 4 provides the internals of IDPS incident response. Section 2: Introduction of IDPS This Chapter Explains the Intrusion Detection Prevention Process, Uses, Functions and Different Types of IDPS The modern computer networks provide fast, reliable and critical information not only to small group of people but also to ever expanding group of users. This need led the development of redundant links, note book computers, wireless networks and many others. On one side, the development of these new technologies increased the importance and value of these access services and on other side they provide more paths to attacks. During the past, In the presence of firewalls and anti-virus software, organizations suffered huge losses in minutes to their businesses in terms of their confidentiality and availability to the legitimate clients. These modern threats highlighted the need for more advance protection systems. Intrusion detection prevention systems are designed to protect the systems and networks from any unauthorized access and damage. An intrusion is an active sequence of related events that deliberately try to cause harm, such as rendering system unusable, accessing unauthorized information or manipulating such information. In computer terminology, Intrusion detection is the process of monitoring the events in a computer network or a host resource and analyzing them for signs of possible incidents, deliberately or incidentally. The primary functions of IDPS are the identification of incident, logging information about them, stopping them preventing them from causing any damage. The security capabilities of IDPS can be divided into three main categories: Detection : Identification of malicious attacks on network host systems Prevention: stopping of attack from executing Reaction: Immunization of the system from future attacks. On the basis of location and type of events they monitor, there are two types IDPS technologies, host-based network based. The network-based IDPS monitors traffic for particular network segment and analyze the network application protocol activity for suspicious events. It is commonly deployed at the borders between networks. While on the other hand, host-based IDPS monitors the activity of a single host and events occurring within that host for suspicious activity. There are two complementary approaches in detecting intrusions, knowledge-based approach and behavior based approach. In knowledge-based approach an IDPS looks for specific traffic patterns called Signatures, which indicates the malicious or suspicious content while in the behavior-based approach an intrusion can be detected by observing a deviation from normal or unexpected behavior of the user or the system. What is an IDS? The Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) can be defined as: tools, methods resources to identify, assess report unauthorized or unapproved network activity. It is the ability to detect attacks against a network or host and sending logs to management console providing the information about malicious attacks on the network and host resources. IDSs fall into two main categories: Host-Based Intrusion Detection System (HIDS): A HIDS system require some software that resides on the system and can scan all host resources for activity. It will log any activities it discovers to a secure database and check to see whether the events match any malicious event record listed in the knowledge base. Network-Based Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDS): A NIDS system is usually inline on the network and it analyzes network packets looking for attacks. A NIDS receives all packets on a particular network segment via one of several methods, such as taps or port mirroring. It carefully reconstructs the streams of traffic to analyze them for patterns of malicious behavior. The basic process for IDS is that it passively collects data and preprocesses and classifies them. Statistical analysis can be done to determine whether the information falls outside normal activity, and if so, it is then matched against a knowledge base. If a match is found, an alert is sent. Figure 1-1 outlines this activity. Response Manager GUI Host System Pre-processing Statistical Analysis Alert Manager Knowledge Base Long-Term Storage Signature Matching Fig 1.1 Standard IDS System What is an IPS? IPS technology has all capabilities of an intrusion detection system and can also attempt to stop possible incidents. IPS technologies can be differentiated from the IDS by one characteristic, the prevention capability. Once a threat is detected, it prevents the threat from succeeding. IPS can be a host-based (HIPS), which work best at protecting applications, or a network-based IPS (NIPS) which sits inline, stops and prevents the attack. A typical IPS performs the following actions upon the detection of an attack: IPS terminates the network connection or user session. It blocks access to target .i.e. IP address, user account or sever. It reconfigures the devices i.e. firewall, switch or router. It replace the malicious portion of an attack to make it benign An IPS typically consists of four main components: Traffic Normalizer: Interpret the network traffic and do packet analysis and packet reassembly traffic is fed into the detection engine service scanner. Service Scanner: Builds a reference table that classifies the information helps the traffic shaper manage the flow of the information. Detection Engine: Detection engine does pattern matching against the reference table. Figure 1.2 outlines this process: Response Manager GUI Traffic Normalizer System Scanner Detection Engine Alert Manager Reference Table Long-Term Storage Signature Matching FIG 1-2 Standard IPS Uses of IDPS Technologies The identification of possible incidents is the main focus of an IDPS, for example, if an intruder has successfully compromised a system by exploiting the vulnerability in the system, the IDPS could report this to the security personnel. Logging of information is another important function of IDPS. This information is vital for security people for further investigation of attack. IDPS has also the ability to identify the violation of security policy of an organization which could be intentionally or unintentionally, for example, an unauthorized access to a host or application. Identification of reconnaissance activity is one of the major capabilities of IDPS, which is the indication of an imminent attack, for example, scanning of hosts and ports for launching further attacks. In this case, an IDPS can either block the reconnaissance activity or it can alter the configurations of other network devices Functions of IDPS Technologies The main difference between different types of IDPS technologies is the type of events they can recognize. Following are some main functions; Recording of information regarding observed events, this information could be stored locally or could be sent to the logging server. Sending of alerts is one of the vital functions of IDPS. Alerts are sent through different methods i.e. email, SNMP traps, syslog messages etc. In case of detection of a new threat, some IDPS do have the ability to change their security profile, for example, when a new threat is detected, it might be able to collect more detail information about the threat. IDPS not only performs detection but it also performs prevention by stopping the threat to succeed. Following are some prevention capabilities: It can stop the attack by terminating either network connection or user session, by blocking access to a target host. It could change the configuration of other network devices (firewalls, routers switches) to block the attack or disrupt it. Some IDPS could change the contents of a malicious IP packet, for example, it can replace the header of an IP packet with a new one. Types of IDPS Technologies IDPS technologies can be divided into following two major categories: Network-Based IDPS Host-Based IDPS Network-Based IDPS Network-based IDPS monitors network traffic for a particular network segment. They analyze the network and application protocol activity to identify any suspicious activity. A network based IDPS is usually sits inline on the network and it analyzes network packets looking for attacks. It receives all packets on a particular network segment, including switched networks. It carefully reconstructs the streams of traffic to analyze them for patterns of malicious behavior. They are equipped with facilities to log their activities and report or alarm on questionable events. Main strengths of network-based IDPS are: Packet Analysis: Network-based IDPSs perform packet analysis. They examine headers of all IP packets for malicious contents. This helps in detection of the common denial of service (DOS) attack. For example, LAND attack, in which both the source destination addresses and source destination ports are same as of the target machine. This cause the target machine to open connection with itself, causing the target machine either performs slowly or crash. It can also investigate the payload of an IP packet for specific commands. Real Time Detection Response: Network-based IDPS detects attacks in real time as they are occurring in the real time and provides faster response. For example, if a hacker initiated a TCP based DoS attack, IDPS can drop the connection by sending a TCP reset. Malicious Content Detection: Network-based IDPS remove replaces suspicious portion of the attack. For example, if an email has infected attachment, an IDPS removes the infected file and permits the clean email. Evidence for Prosecution: Network-based IDPS monitors real time traffic and if an attack is detected and captured the hacker cannot remove the evidence. Because the captured attack has data in it but also the information about his or her identification which helps in the prosecution. Host-Based IDPS A Host-Based system monitors the characteristics of a single host and the events occurring within that host for suspicious activity. It require some software that resides on the system and monitors the network traffic, syslog, processes, file access modification and configuration or system changes. It logs any activities it discovers to a secure database and check to see whether the events match any malicious event record listed in the knowledge base. Some of the major strengths of Host-Based IDPS are as under: Verification of Attack: Host-based IDPS uses logs which contains events that have actually occurred. It has the advantage of knowing if the attack is successful or not. This type of detection is more accurate and generates fewer false alarms. Monitoring of Important Components: Host-Based IDPS monitors key components for example, executables files, specific DDLs and NT registry. All of these can cause damage to the host or network. System Specific Activity: Host-based IDPS monitors user and file access activity. It monitors the logoff or login procedure and monitors it on the basis of current policy. It also monitors the file access for example, opening of a non shared file. Switched Encrypted Environments: Host-Based IDPSs provide greater visibility into purely switched environment by residing on as many critical hosts as needed. Encryption is a challenging problem for network-based IDPS but not a major problem for host-based IDPS. If the host in question has log-based analysis the encryption will have no impact on what goes in to the log files. Near Real Time Detection: A host-based IDPS relies on the log analysis which is not a true real time analysis. But it can detect respond as soon as the log is written to and compared to the active attack signatures. Real Time Detection Response: Stack-based IDPS monitors the packets as they transverse the TCP/IP stack. It examines inbound outbound packets and examines in real time if an attack is being executed. If it detects an attack in real the time then it can responds to that attack in the real time. Section 2: IDPS Analysis Schemes IDPSs Perform Analysis: This Chapter is about the Analysis Process- What Analysis does and Different Phases of Analysis. 2.2 Analysis In the context of intrusion detection prevention, analysis is the organization of the constituent parts of data and their relationships to identify any anomalous activity of interest. Real time analysis is analysis done on the fly as the data travels the path to the network or host. The fundamental goal of intrusion-detection prevention analysis is to improve an information system’s security. This goal can be further broken down: Create records of relevant activity for follow-up. Determine flaws in the network by detecting specific activities. Record unauthorized activity for use in forensics or criminal prosecution of intrusion attacks. Act as a deterrent to malicious activity. Increase accountability by linking activities of one individual across system. 2.3 Anatomy of Intrusion Analysis There are many possible analysis schemes but in order to understand them, the intrusion process can be broken down into following four phases: Preprocessing Analysis Response Refinement 1. Pre-Processing Preprocessing is the key function once the data is collected from IDPS sensor. The data is organized in some fashion for classification. The preprocessing helps in determining the format the data are put into, which is usually some canonical format or could be a structured database. Once the data are formatted, they are broken down further into classifications. These classifications can depend on the analysis schemes being used. For example, if rule-based detection is being used, the classification will involve rules and patterns descriptors. If anomaly detection is used, then statistical profile based on different algorithms in which the user behavior is baseline over the time and any behavior that falls outside of that classification is flagged as an anomaly. Upon completion of the classification process, the data is concatenated and put into a defined version or detection template of some object by replacing variables with values. These detection templates populate the knowledgebase which are stored in the core analysis engine. 2. Analysis Once the processing is completed, the analysis stage begins. The data record is compared to the knowledge base, and the data record will either be logged as an intrusion event or it will be dropped. Then the next data record is analyzed. The next phase is response. 3. Response Once information is logged as an intrusion, a response is initiated. The inline sensor can provide real time prevention through an automated response. Response is specific to the nature of the intrusion or the different analysis schemes used. The response can be set to be automatically performed or it can be done manually after someone has manually analyzed the situation. 4. Refinement The final phase is the refinement stage. This is where the fine tuning of the system is done, based on the previous usage and detected intrusions. This gives the opportunity to reduce false-positive levels and to have a more accurate security tool. Analysis Process By Different Detection Methods The intrusion analysis process is solely depends on the detection method being used. Following is the information regarding the four phases of intrusion analysis by different detection methods: Analysis Process By Rule-Based Detection Rule-based detection, also known as signature detection, pattern matching and misuse detection. Rule-based detection uses pattern matching to detect known attack patterns. The four phases of intrusion analysis process applied in rule-based detection system are as under: Preprocessing: The data is collected about the intrusions, vulnerabilities and attacks and then it is putted down into classification scheme or pattern descriptors. From the classification scheme a behavior model is built and then into a common format; Signature Name: The given name of the signature Signature ID: The unique ID for the signature Signature Description: The description of the signature what it does Possible False Positive Description: An explanation of any â€Å"false positives† that may appear to be an exploit but are actually normal network activity. Related Vulnerability Information: This field has any related vulnerability information The pattern descriptors are typically either content-based signatures, which examine the payload and header of packet, or context-based signatures that evaluate only the packet headers to identify an alert. The pattern descriptors can be atomic (single) or composite (multiple) descriptors. Atomic descriptor requires only one packet to be inspected to identify an alert, while composite descriptor requires multiple packets to be inspected to identify an alert. The pattern descriptors are then put into a knowledge base that contains the criteria for analysis. Analysis: The event data are formatted and compared against the knowledge base by using pattern-matching analysis engine. The analysis engine looks for defined patterns that are known as attacks. Response: If the event matches the pattern of an attack, the analysis engine sends an alert. If the event is partial match, the next event is examined. Partial matches can only be analyzed with a stateful detector, which has the ability to maintain state, as many IDS systems do. Different responses can be returned depending on the specific event records. Refinement: Refinement of pattern-matching analysis comes down to updating signatures, because an IDS is only as good as its signature update. Analysis Process By Profile-Based Detection (Anomaly Detection) An anomaly is something that is different from the norm or that cannot be easily classified. Anomaly detection, also referred to as Profile-based detection, creates a profile system that flags any events that strays from a normal pattern and passes this information on to output routines. The analysis process by profile-based detection is as following: Preprocessing: The first step in the analysis process is collecting the data in which behavior considered normal on the network is baselined over a period of time. The data are put into a numeric form and then formatted. Then the information is classified into a statistical profile that is based on different algorithms is the knowledge base. Analysis: The event data are typically reduced to a profile vector, which is then compared to the knowledge base. The contents of the profile vector are compared to a historical record for that particular user, and any data that fall outside of the baseline of normal activity is labeled as deviation. Response: At this point, a response can be triggered either automatically or manually. Refinement: The profile vector history is typically deleted after a specific time. In addition, different weighting systems can be used to add more weight to recent behavior than past behaviors. Section 3: IDPS Technologies This section provides an overview of different technologies. It covers the major components, architecture, detection methodologies security capabilities of IDPS. Components Following are the major components and architecture of IDPS; Sensor Agents: Sensors Agents monitors and analyze the network traffic for malicious traffic. Sensor:The technologies that use sensors are network based intrusion detection prevention systems, wireless based intrusion detection prevention systems and network behavior analysis systems. Agents: The term â€Å"Agent† is used for Host-Based Intrusion detection prevention technologies. Database Server: The information recorded by the sensors and agents are kept safely in a database server. Console: A console is software that provides an interface for the IDPS users. Console software is installed on the administrator’s PC. Consoles are used for configuring, monitoring, updating and analyzing the sensors or agents. Management Server: It is a centralized device, receives information from sensors agents and manages that information. Some management server can also perform analysis on the information provided by sensor agents, for example correlation of events. Management server can be both appliance based or software based. 3.1 Network architecture IDPS components are usually connected with each other through organization’s network or through Management network. If they are connected through management network, each agent or sensor has additional interface known as management Interface that connects it to the management network. IDPS cannot pass any traffic between management interface and its network interface for security reasons. The components of an IDPS i.e. consoles and database servers are attached only with the Management network. The main advantage of this type of architecture is to hide its existence from hackers intruders and ensure it has enough bandwidth to function under DoS attacks Another way to conceal the information communication is to create a separate VLAN for its communication with the management. This type of architecture doesn’t provide a much protection as the management network does. 3.2 Security capabilities IDPS provide different security capabilities. Common security capabilities are information gathering, logging, detection and prevention. 3.2.1 Information gathering Some IDPS gather general characteristics of a network, for example, information of hosts and network. They identify the hosts, operating system and application they use, from observed activity. 3.2.2 Logging capabilities When a malicious activity is detected by the IDPS, it performs logging. Logs contain date time, event type, rating and prevention action if performed. This data is helpful in investigating the incident. Some network-based IDPS captures packet while host-based IDPS records user ID. IDPS technologies allow log to be store locally and send copies of centralized logging server i.e. syslog. 3.2.3 Detection capabilities The main responsibility of an IDPS is to detect malicious activity. Most IDPS uses combination of detection techniques. The accuracy and types of events they detect greatly depends on the type of IDPS. IDPS gives great results once they are properly tuned. Tuning gives more accuracy, detection and prevention. Following are some the tuning capabilities: Thresholds: It is a value that sets the limit for normal and abnormal behavior. For example, the number of maximum login attempts. If the attempts exceed the limit then it is considered to be anomalous. Blacklists Whitelists: A blacklist is list which contains TCP or UDP port numbers, users, applications, files extensions etc that is associated with malicious activity. A whitelist is a list of discrete entities that are known to be benign. Mainly used to reduce false positive. Alert Setting: It enables IDPS to suppress alerts if an attacker generates too much alerts in a short time and blocking all future traffic from that host. Suppressing of alerts provide IDPS from being overwhelmed. 3.2.4 Prevention Capabilities IDPS offers multiple prevention capabilities. The prevention capability can be configured for each type of alert. Depending on the type of IDPS, some IDPS sensors are more intelligent. They have learning simulation mode which enables them to know when an action should be performed-reducing the risk of blocking benign activity. 3.2.5 Types of Alarms When IDPS detects an intrusion it generates some types of alarms but no IDPS generates 100% true alarm. An IDPS can generate alarm for legitimate activity and can be failed to alarm when an actual attack occurs. These alarms can be categorized as: False Alarms: When an IDPS fails to accurately indicate what is actually happening in the network, it generates false alarms. False alarm fall into two main categories: False Positives: These are the most common type of alarms. False positive occurs when an IDPS generates alarm based on normal network activity. False Negatives: When an IDPS fails to generate an alarm for intrusion, it is called false negative. It happens when IDPS is programmed to detect ck but the attack went undetected. 2. True Alarms: When an IDPS accurately indicates what is actually happening in the network, it generates true alarms. True alarms fall into two main categories: True Positives: When an IDPS detects an intrusion and sends alarm correctly in response to actually detecting the attack in the traffic. True positive is opposite of false negative. True Negative: It represents a situation in which an IDPS signature does not send alarm when it is examining normal user traffic. This is the correct behavior. ARCHITECTURE DESIGHN Architecture design is of vital importance for the proper implementation of an IDPS. The considerations include the following: The location of sensors or agents. The reliability of the solutions the measurements to achieve that reliability. For example using of multiple sensors, for monitoring the same activity, as a backup. The number location of other components of IDPS for usability, redundancy and load balancing. The systems with which IDPS needs interfacing, including: System to which it provides the data i.e. log servers, management softwares. System to which it initiates the prevention responses i.e. routers, firewalls or switches. The systems used to manage the IDPS components i.e. network management software. The protection of IDPS communications on the standard network. 3.3 Maintenance Operation Mostly IDPS are operated maintained by user graphic interface called Console. It allows administrator to configure and update the sensors and servers as well as monitor their status. Console also allows users to monitor and analyze IDPS data and generate reports. Separate accounts could be setup for administrators and users. Command Line Interface (CLI) is also used by some IDPS products. CLI is used for local administration but it can be used for remote access through encrypted tunnel. 3.3.1 Common Use of Consoles Many consoles offer drill down facilities for example, if an IDPS generates an alert, it gives more detail information in layers. It also give extensive information to the user i.e. packet captures and related alerts. Reporting is an important function of console. User can configured the console to send reports at set time. Reports can be transferred or emailed to appropriate user or host. Users can obtain and customized reports according to their needs. 3.3.2 Acquiring applying updates There are two types of updates –software updates and signature updates. Software updates for enhancing the performance or functionality and fixing the bugs in IDPS while the signature updates for adding detection capabilities or refining existing capabilities. Software updates are not limited for any special component but it could include all or one of them i.e. sensor, console, server and agents. Mostly updates are available from the vendor’s web site. New Chapter Detection Methodologies Most IDPS uses multiple detection methodologies for broad accurate detection of threats but following are primary detection methodologies: Signature Based Detection Anomaly Based Detection Stateful Protocol Analysis 3.3.1 Signature Based Detection The term Signature refers to the pattern that corresponds to a known threat. In signature based detection, the predefined signatures, stored in a database, are compared with the network traffic for series of bytes or packet sequence known to be malicious, for example, an email with the subject of free screen savers and an attachment of screensavers.exe, which are characteristics of known form of malware Or a telnet

Compare Shopping Online with Traditional Shopping Essay

Traditional shopping is going directly to the physical stores and purchasing the items whereas online shopping is purchasing the items from merchants who sell on the Internet. Since the emergence of the World Wide Web, merchants have sought to sell their products to people who surf the Internet. Online Shopping is widely perceived as a cheaper and easier way of finding lower prices and bargains in most sectors. However, both online and traditional shopping media are synergy to one another and yet still have several similarities and differences. Shopping online gives the user the opportunity to search for the product they want through endless avenues. Shopping online could be a great option because it can be time effective especially for those who have a busy life style or are just too lazy to get up to go to the store. The world of online shopping can make it easier to price shop. Instead of having to drive from store to store looking at prices only to find that, the best price was at the first store, you could simply switch from window to window on your computer. Also with online shopping, you can have items delivered right to your door. In addition, there is always the possibility of having to pay shipping costs when shopping online. Many online stores that will ship within a certain area free but many times if you are located outside of the city or area you will need to pay immense shipping prices. Companies have been trying to improve this negative aspect of online shopping by making deals like â€Å"spend over $200.00 and get free shipping†, but not all sites offer these deals. Security is another concern when it comes to online shopping. With online shopping, there is no way for you to know if someone is stealing your data. You do not even know if you will actually get the items, you purchase. This renders online shopping a bit more unsecure. By shopping in a traditional store, you can avoid shipping costs because you can simply take your items home with you after you purchase them. Customers can purchase the products directly by making selections by watching, touching, smelling, tasting, etc. They are near and easily available to the customers. Therefore, they can get the items immediately. Customers can get numerous options to purchase anything at lower prices at any time. There is less confusion, because the customer shops directly from physical stores. Customers can save money by getting the products at lower prices and by getting discounts from local storeowners. Generally, storeowners give excellent discounts for regular customers. Shoppers can also compare prices in different stores so that he or she can purchase an item at a lower cost and with good quality. Shoppers can also visit many stores, so he or she has several choices to store in different stores. If the shopper is not satisfied with products in one store then he can move to another store and purchase. Traditional shopping can be a recreational activity and it can be exercise for shoppers. It is easy to return the product, if the customer gets the incorrect product or a damaged product. There is no worry about security, such as fraud and lack of privacy in online shopping. Online shopping has grown to new heights over the last decade and shows no signs of regressing. The internet has brought practically every store in the world to the fingertips of anyone with internet access. Online shopping has grown so large that many companies are not investing in buildings and mall space, but rather in online websites and web advertising. Traditional shopping does have its positives, in terms of reliability and safety. Though online shopping is a global phenomenon, traditional shopping will not evaporate any time soon. In concluding, it is important, as an individual, to research whether online shopping or traditional shopping is effective for you, as both have its own hindrances. Source: Amy, Nutt (2009). Traditional Vs Online Shopping. Retrieved November 28, 2012 from http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Amy_Nutt Darrell, Rigby (2011). The Future of Shopping. Retrieved November 28,2012 from hbr.org/2011/12/the-future-of-shopping