Biometrics are increasingly used to control access, critically Essay

Biometrics are increasingly used to control access, critically evaluate the benefits of two biometric technologies for a given s - Essay Example On the side of the policy, laws of environment that are new, targets, and regulations have been set at all governmental levels. Nanotechnology is one such significant technology that has gained popularity following the many advantages associated with its use. This paper seeks to outline the advantages, as well as disadvantages of nanotechnology with a focus on the overriding benefits of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology as used scientifically refers to the engineering of the functional systems at a level of molecular scale (Berube, 2006). Fundamentally, it entails the manipulation of matter at molecular and atomic level. It covers the current concepts, as well as works that are somewhat more advanced. Accordingly to Wade and Baughman (2005) the term nanotechnology was originally used to refer to a projected ability of constructing items from nothing using tools and techniques that are commonly used to come up with complete and high performance products (Murray, 2000). A somewhat more ge neralized definition of the term nanotechnology was put forward by the National nanotechnology Initiative that defines it as the process of manipulating matter whose dimensional size ranges from 1 to 100 nanometers (Kahn, 2006). As widely cited, nanotechnology is the key for today and the future. It is certainly pivotal in not only in the field of medicine but in various other fields (Kahn, 2006). Nanotechnology is quite diverse and ranges from extensions of certain conventional devices physics to new approaches basing on molecular self assembly, from developing of new materials with dimensions on a nano-scale to direct control of matter on an atomic scale. As widely cited, nanotechnology deals with application in the fields of science at a level of surface science, molecular biology, organic chemistry, micro fabrication, and semiconductor (Prasad, 2008). Nanotechnology just like any other technology, may be used to create new devices and materials with a range of applications such as electronics, energy production, medicine and biomaterials (Prasad, 2008). On a general perspective, nanotechnology has numerous advantages. First, nanotechnology can be useful in revolutionalizing many electronic procedures, products, and applications (Binnig & Rohrer, 1999). There are fields that have benefits from the use of nanotechnology. Among these areas that have benefited from the continued nanotechnology in terms of the electronic products include the nani-diodes, nano-transistors, plasma displays, OLED, and quantum computers among others (Binnig & Rohrer, 1999). Secondly, nanotechnology has contributed heavily towards the development of the sector of energy. The establishment of increased energy absorbing, energy producing, as well as the storage of energy in efficient and smaller devices is possible with the application of this technology (Wade & Baughman, 2005).

How Managers Support the Company's Goals Assignment

How Managers Support the Company's Goals - Assignment Example Caleta CO’s biggest strength lies in the innovation of products which has expanded its market share and made them global leaders in the business. The company has managed to hire the best talent pool in the country by providing them with the best compensation in the industry and above industry standard benefits. John believes in recruiting the best, paying them the best, and keeping them satisfied with other benefits in the best way possible. He was not wrong, as this talent pool has led to the success of the company through their innovation. However, John is now faced with the challenge of a reduction in employee costs and ensure better working conditions in Mexico and Vietnam.   John sits down to list the following:- To make a list of all managers who have spearheaded teams to break into new markets and expand the range of RFID products which has increased the turnover of the company. John will present this to the board to convince that he has hired the right talent and the right talent requires monetary motivation to innovate.- Aware that the innovation of products has led to the growth of the company John has decided to pool the innovative team together and the compensation and benefits program for this team will remain unchanged.- On the other hand, reductions will be made in the current size of the HR department. Tracking their performances through feedback forms from the employees. The 17 specialists who test and recruit managers will be tracked against the performance of the recruits to ensure the right candidate is receiving the right compensation.- Most importantly to rework the current organizational structure to see excesses to the right size.- HR associates to be given additional responsibility to expose managers to the new HRIS system with timelines to complete and convince the managers to use them. This will lead to a reduction in HR resources and lower cost.- The best compensation in the industry comes with the best performance standards . Weed out the non-performing 10% in the company.- To recruit HR associates in Mexico and Vietnam to ensure a personal touch which also saves cost, as traveling from the US and the cost of hiring an HR associate in the US is 10 times higher. Ensure that the HR associate in that country is in charge of maintaining safety and health standards prevalent in that country. OR to explore HR outsourcing companies to take care of the HR management in Vietnam and Mexico if feasible and turn out to be a huge cost saving for the Corporation.

Essay assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Assignment - Essay Example In order to overcome these disputes certain information is remained confidential to the shareholders. This paper briefs about the agency problems and discusses effects of conflicts on the shareholders. It further provides information about the shareholder management to minimize these conflicts. An â€Å"agency problem† may occur when the principle (shareholders) hires an agent (management) to perform business activities. This is because of the reason that the conflicts between the interests among between the management and shareholder (Clark and Marois). The main objective of the company’s management and stakeholders is to maximize its profits. Disputes among the managers and shareholders are created on the bases of their interests. Shareholders may object the amount of incentives that is being paid to managers (Clark and Marois). If the information regarding the incentives and pays to the management is disclosed to its shareholders, it may decrease the net profit margi n of the company. In certain cases it is ethical for the management to hide the internal information from its shareholders, mostly decision making, investment decisions (Clark and Marois). This is because of the reason that the shareholders are not aware of the internal issues of the management; this may involve the moral hazards, employment issues, suppliers matter etc. In case of agency problem certain information regarding the incentives may remain confidential with the shareholders in order to eliminate the possibilities of disputes. It is essential for the organization to maintain the interest its management and shareholders to pursue its objectives (Clark and Marois). Therefore, the management and shareholder shall work together to maximize its profits. The conflicts among the relationship between the management and shareholders may create obstacles to attain the objective and goals of the organization. Management is aware of the internal issues of the company, such as supplie rs’ choices, employment regulation, incentives, investment decisions etc. whereas the entire shareholders are not aware of these internal concerns of the management (Clark and Marois). If any of them is in conflict it may create an obstacle for the organization to pursue its objectives. Secondly, the conflicts may arise the problems in the attitudes of the management and shareholders to have different attitude towards their work (El-Shamy). Management plays the major significant role to attain objective of the organization therefore, conflict among them may result in different attitude in the work (El-Shamy). It is essential for the organization to work with the mutual consent of management and shareholder therefore the management shall carefully identify the issues and resolve in order to keep both of them satisfied. Shareholder’s hire management to pursue its goals, In order to render their services (management) the principle has to bear certain costs also known as a gency cost. Agency cost is paid by the shareholders pay to hire manager in order to act on its behalf (Clark and Marois). This is because of the reason that both have different interest, as the management has more information. These costs are inevitable within an organization, the cost may be spend to provide material incentives (increments, bonuses and stock options) and moral incentives for the management to execute their duties in interests of shareholders. Based on the

How Managers Support the Company's Goals Assignment

How Managers Support the Company's Goals - Assignment Example Caleta CO’s biggest strength lies in the innovation of products which has expanded its market share and made them global leaders in the business. The company has managed to hire the best talent pool in the country by providing them with the best compensation in the industry and above industry standard benefits. John believes in recruiting the best, paying them the best, and keeping them satisfied with other benefits in the best way possible. He was not wrong, as this talent pool has led to the success of the company through their innovation. However, John is now faced with the challenge of a reduction in employee costs and ensure better working conditions in Mexico and Vietnam.   John sits down to list the following:- To make a list of all managers who have spearheaded teams to break into new markets and expand the range of RFID products which has increased the turnover of the company. John will present this to the board to convince that he has hired the right talent and the right talent requires monetary motivation to innovate.- Aware that the innovation of products has led to the growth of the company John has decided to pool the innovative team together and the compensation and benefits program for this team will remain unchanged.- On the other hand, reductions will be made in the current size of the HR department. Tracking their performances through feedback forms from the employees. The 17 specialists who test and recruit managers will be tracked against the performance of the recruits to ensure the right candidate is receiving the right compensation.- Most importantly to rework the current organizational structure to see excesses to the right size.- HR associates to be given additional responsibility to expose managers to the new HRIS system with timelines to complete and convince the managers to use them. This will lead to a reduction in HR resources and lower cost.- The best compensation in the industry comes with the best performance standards . Weed out the non-performing 10% in the company.- To recruit HR associates in Mexico and Vietnam to ensure a personal touch which also saves cost, as traveling from the US and the cost of hiring an HR associate in the US is 10 times higher. Ensure that the HR associate in that country is in charge of maintaining safety and health standards prevalent in that country. OR to explore HR outsourcing companies to take care of the HR management in Vietnam and Mexico if feasible and turn out to be a huge cost saving for the Corporation.

Audience Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Audience Analysis - Essay Example This in turn puts most of them in a comparable social-economic status. Majority are students and either unemployed or doing part-time jobs. In terms of interests, there is the aspect of politics and religion. My audience is comprised of young people who have opinions on virtually everything. They do appreciate politics, maybe not in a similar way though. As for religion, it is all diverse; they belong to varied religious groups from Christians, to Muslims to atheists. I would say that personally, I am quite similar to my audience in all aspects; the ultimate reason for the connection. Altogether, I expect that my audience will be appreciative of my document and me. This is because I voice the concerns of many of them. They are merely youth who seek to be heard by the authorities. They do have needs and expectations; desire for better education, better jobs, and better lifestyles. Perhaps there is a chance that they might dispute my opinion of exercising patience with the authorities as they are all out of it. I do hope though that they will find hope and motivation in the fact that I am willing to speak for them. My readers are well aware of details concerning my topic as it affects them directly. Therefore, they won’t have a problem with comprehension. We all do speak the same language as we belong to a similar affiliation. I will try and use simple enough language for everyone’s comfort. I realize that they may have issues about how I will exercise practicality with my document. I plan to work on this before writing

Importance of Feasibility Study System Analysis and Design

Importance of Feasibility Study System Analysis and Design This report analyses the importance of Feasibility Analysis to businesses when they are deciding on the viability of a proposed business venture involving the implementation or improvement of an information system. This report is split into three parts the initial part defines a feasibility analysis, the second part explains how an IT feasibility analysis should be conducted using the template of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and the last section in this report examines a completed feasibility study by Powerco, a utilities distribution Company in New Zealand. What is a feasibility analysis? As the words feasibility analysis suggests a feasibility analysis is carried out to decide on the viability of a proposed venture; basically it answers the essential question of is it a viable option and should the project be implemented. All stages of the analysis are carried out in order to answer this question. When researching it is clear that the majority of all large successful businesses conduct a feasibility study to ensure they embark on a viable project, for example Microsoft have a large research department situated in many different cities throughout the globe, this department collaborates with many institutions producing many feasibility analyses a year. When examining successful businesses such as Microsoft, I discovered they will not commit to a new project without first thoroughly assessing all of the variables and reviewing the probability of success through a feasibility study. The feasibility analysis process As a feasibility analysis is often time consuming and expensive (many companies pay consultants to perform the analysis), a preliminary study is undertaken to determine if it would be worthwhile to proceed to the feasibility analysis, within this preliminary study the evaluation of alternatives is made along with brief cost and benefit analysis. A feasibility study is usually conducted after the project managers have discussed all project ideas and every possible scenario, only if the results are positive the feasibility study begins. The content of feasibility Analysis Within a feasibility study it is necessary to discuss a number of areas including; details of the present system; what are the functions and objectives, who are the Stakeholders and the reasons to improve or replace the current system for example inconsistencies / inadequacies in functionality or performance, is there any possible solution alternatives and the advantages and disadvantages of the alternatives. Feasibility analysis can be split into four types; Operational factors; Operational feasibility is used to assess how well the information systems will work if implemented in the given environment. Define the urgency of the project If the project is implemented, will it be a success? Does management support the project? How do end users feel about the new system? People tend to resist change can this problem be overcome? Can management and end users adapt to the change? Has the proposed venture conflicted with organisational or government regulations? Schedule factors; It often takes time to build and implement an information system solution; will the project still be necessary on completion? The technology may exist, but are there the skills available to not only complete the project but complete it on schedule? Is the project deadline reasonable? Is the deadline desirable or mandatory? What are the results of failing to meet the project deadline? Technical; Technical feasibility is the measure of the practicality of specific technical information system solutions and the availability of technical resources. Often new technologies are solutions looking for a problem to solve: Is the technology for the information system solution practical? Does the necessary technology exist? Is the technology proven? Is the technology practical and reliable? Are the necessary skills available to design and implement the system? Is there the infrastructure to cope with ongoing maintenance (problems, upgrades) Economic; This is regularly the most important analysis made, it asks important questions; Is the project justified (i.e. will benefits outweigh costs)? Can the project be done, within given cost constraints? What is the minimal cost to attain a certain system? Which alternative offers the best return on investment? How much will it cost to maintain? The 12 Stages of an ITIL Feasibility Analysis ITIL is a global guidance document that provides worlds best practices for IT service management companies. ITIL guidelines are often used in feasibility studies and are broken down into twelve stages. These twelve stages are described in this next section and if necessary a brief example has been given; Introduction It is important that an introduction to the feasibility analysis is made; this introduction includes the content, the intent, the intended audience, the purpose, and organizational details of the feasibility analysis. Management Summary This stage summarises, what the other stages within the template will explain in more detail; this section provides a quick overview of the feasibility analysis and would include the following, an Introduction, Management Summary, Background of the Project, Objectives, Situation, Benefits, Problems and Risks, Technical Requirements, Options, Cost/Benefit Analysis, Financial/Budget Implications and Recommendations Background to the Project A project is proposed for a specific scenario and this step describes the reason the proposal exists. For example; current sales are at a low due to increased competition, the proposal is for a new company website, where customers are able to buy directly. Objectives The high level business purposes of the proposal, including the long-range management goals. For example, the proposed project is to increase sales by an estimated 15% per annum over the next ten years. Situation This step describes the present condition, without the service in place, including market conditions, it is necessary to highlight the need for the proposed system, and the consequences of the proposal not being authorized. Benefits In the benefits section, it is necessary to focus on the short term benefits of the proposal; this is different to the objective stage which focuses on the long term gains and the cost-benefit step which focuses primarily on the financial benefits. An example of this could be the increased customer satisfaction of the proposed website. Problems and Risks It is important to identify and assess possible problems and risks of the proposed project associated with it within the development, design, and deployment stages. This is done by doing a risk assessment on the proposed system; this will be used to identify problems in many different areas, including technologies, lack of user support, or resources. Technical Requirements Has the business the technological infrastructure for the proposed system? These requirements include knowledge of the hardware and software required, for example, does the business possess the database architecture, network structures, and hardware to sustain the website, will it be necessary to outsource? Options It is recommended in the ITIL framework that a feasibility analysis includes any alternatives to the proposal, including advantages and disadvantages and costs. An example of this could be advertising to increase sales and would show the estimated cost of this. Cost/Benefit In this step, the total cost of the project is calculated; this includes development, design, deployment, and maintenance of the new service. Costs include facilities, hardware, labor, and software. The project cost is compared to the financial benefits provided by the proposed system. What are benefits? These are examples of benefits, more accurate / timely information. Improved operation, increased flexibility of operation, increased output, error reductions, cost reductions; benefits can be placed into three different categories; Monetary; when money values can be calculated, Tangible; when benefits can be quantified, but monetary values cannot be calculated. Intangible; when neither of the others apply, this applies there is a benefit, but it cannot be quantified. There are different types of costs; Project related; development, purchasing, Installation, training costs, Operational costs; these costs are often ongoing costs and include; Maintenance on the hardware; maintenance, lease, materials Software; maintenance fees and contracts Personnel; operation, maintenance There are a number of tools used, which helps in the economic section of the feasibility analysis these are; Cost-benefit analysis (CBA); which estimates and totals up the equivalent money value of the benefits and costs of proposed projects to establish whether they are worthwhile. Payback Analysis; which is used to calculate how long it will take to pay the costs of the project Return on Investment Analysis; which compares the lifetime profitability of alternative solutions, Net Present Value Analysis: using current monetary values, profitability is determined of the proposed project, Return On Investment (ROI) compares the lifetime profitability of alternative solutions, (Lifetime benefits Lifetime costs) Lifetime costs and finally you can compare alternatives with the feasibility analysis matrix. Financial/Budget Implications Once the overall costs have been established, it is necessary to verify if the necessary funds are available, if so how? This may result in changes to the budget or priorities and reducing expenditure to accommodate the costs. Recommendations In this final step recommendations regarding the proposal are made including scheduling and budgeting Summary In summary these twelve steps that make up the ITIL is among the first activities a manager will undertake in preparation for a proposal for a new IT service, though it is important to remember these steps make a general guide and different information systems may require amendments. Examples of feasibility analysis Though the majority of businesses keep their own feasibility analysis private, research identified an interesting feasibility analysis conducted by Powerco. In this section I will briefly review this feasibility analysis in a case study due to the word restrictions on this essay and the extensiveness of the ITIL framework. Powerco has an estimated 410,000 consumers which makes it one of New Zealands largest utilities Companies. These customers expect a reliable service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Powerco applications are split between two platforms; Oracle RAC and Microsoft SQL Server, which has meant that the business had additional expenses of licensing, supporting, operating, and maintaining two systems. Additionally it was awkward for staff to alternate between the systems when working. As the Oracle platform of Powercos warranty cycle was approaching expiration, and the financial system was scheduled an important upgrade, it was clear to the company that it was time to reassess its options and whether it should consolidate to a single server platform or replace existing hardware. Powerco acknowledged that to consolidate the database platforms would create a more simple IT environment and would reduce the total cost of the database system significantly. The case for consolidation was simple why maintain two systems if you dont need to? explains Mr. Griffiths, Infrastructure Manager, Powerco. Powerco undertook preliminary study of the solutions and assessed the pros and c ons of Oracle versus SQL Server. This analysis pointed towards some significant advantages in choosing SQL Server over Oracle. These included reduced licensing and maintenance costs, ease of management and fewer requirements for a specialised skill set to manage and service the system. A feasibility study of migrating to SQL Server was then completed by consultants on Powercos behalf including a cost/benefit analysis, a risk assessment, analysis of the alternatives and the four factors discussed earlier in this report, this confirmed Powercos applications could be supported on SQL Server, with the remaining end of life applications being replaced with SQL Server compatible ones, the feasibility study showed that unlike other options Microsoft SQL Server, serving could be done in-house. Microsofts SQL Server was the cheapest option to license, maintain, and support, particularly because of the specialised nature of Oracle. The business would be more streamline and efficient with just the single platform. Increases security. Further Tangible and Non-tangible benefits. Due to the results of the feasibility study, Powerco changed from the two platforms to solely Microsoft SQL Server, the result of this consolidation has meant Powerco has been able to reduce costs significantly, also ensuring it was easier to maintain and manage in-house and eliminating the need for external consultants. The migration to SQL Server has cut the overall cost of ownership by $390,000 a year, also helping to streamline Powercos IT systems and have given a number of other Tangible and Non-tangible benefits. Conclusion In conclusion this report has explained what a feasibility study is and when it should be used, I have then reviewed the various stages which are recommended by the IT industry experts at the ITIL and have given an example of a successful feasibility study undertaken by Powerco. I believe to be objective this report should have explored examples of a unsuccessful feasibility study, however this was not possible due to my research not providing any suitable cases, but still the findings of this report are clear, it is advisable to do a feasibility analysis, as it is tried and tested and the vast majority of large and established companies use this method to check the viability of a proposed venture and are taking a substantial risk if a feasibility study is not carried out before embarking on new project.

Alcohol Producing Yeast :: Environment, Fossil Fuel, Crude Oil

Food and energy security have always been essential needs in various ways. This is due to their limited resources and their increasing demand by a growing human population [1, 2, 3]. At the same time demands of ethanol has been increasing since it is considered to be an alternative transportation energy source other than food consumption [4, 5]. Considerable attention has been given to ethanol production from various available sugar substrates such as molasses, sugar cane juice [6]; starchy materials like rice, millet, corn, sorghum, wheat, potato, cassava [3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10]; as first generation ethanol and cellulosic materials as second generation ethanol [11]. Pearl millet, broken rice and sorghum are the major starchy materials used by Indian distilleries not only for the production of potable alcohol [12] but also for the fuel purpose (http://www.icrisat.org/text/research/grep/homepage/sgmm/chapter12.pdf). Moreover, Indian distilleries use these raw materials based on their avai lability and cost since these are seasonal grains [12, 13]. The increasing price of crude oil and other fossil fuels have increased the interest in alternative fuel sources around the world [14, 15]. Fuel alcohol production from starch materials needs constant process improvement for meeting the economic payback by lowering the high price energy consumption and improvement in fermentation efficiency in order to be considered as a viable alternative to fossil fuel. At present, production costs for ethanol is INR 20 to 23 per liter from molasses based ethanol plant (1.0 INR = 0.0225683 USD), which is slightly higher than the Brazil using molasses (INR 14 to 16 per liter) [16]. The Indian distilleries seek technological alternatives that would lower cost and provide higher margins in order to compete with gasoline and other fossil fuels. For the molasses based industry with 100KL per day capacity will require 450KWH power, 1620 to 1800 KL water per day for molasses dilution; and cooling water requirement will be 1080 KL per day. For a plant of s uch capacity, 2.0 to 2.3 MT of steam for 1.0 KL of ethanol production is required. In India, due to limited availability of molasses, molasses alone is not sufficient to meet the growing ethanol needs of the country, especially for use as a biofuel. Furthermore, the government of India is aggressively promoting the concept of blending petrol (gasoline) with ethanol to reduce dependence on petrol, and about 500 million liters of ethanol would be required every year, even if 10% ethanol is blended with gasoline (http://www.