Understanding Management Essay Example for Free

Understanding Management Essay 1. How can you prepare yourself to become an effective manager in an increasingly uncertain and global business environment? 2. Would the task environment for a cellular phone company contain the same elements as that for a government welfare agency? Discuss. 3. What do you think are the most important forces in the external environment creating uncertainty for organizations today? Do the forces you identified typically arise in the task environment or the general environment? 4. Contemporary best-selling management books often argue that customers are the most important element in the external environment. Do you agree? In what company situations might this statement be untrue? 5. Why do you think many managers are surprised by environmental changes and hence are less able to help their organizations adapt? 6. Why are interorganizational partnerships so important for today’s companies? What elements in the current environment might contribute to either an increase or decrease in interorganizational collaboration? Discuss. 7. Many companies are â€Å"going green† or adopting environmentally friendly business strategies. Clorox, for example, now offers an eco-friendly household cleaner called Green Works. How do companies benefit from going green? 8. Cultural symbols are usually noticed through sight, sound, touch, and smell. For example, Abercrombie retail stores use music, attractive models, and fragrance to communicate elements of its retail store culture. Why are symbols important to a corporate culture? 9. Both China and India are rising economic powers. How might your approach to doing business with Communist China be different from your approach to doing business with India, the world’s most populous democracy? In which country would you expect to encounter the most rules? The most bureaucracy? 10. General Electric is famous for firing the lowest-performing 10 percent of its managers each year. With its strict no-layoff policy, Valero Energy believes people need to feel secure in their jobs to perform their best. Yet both are high-performing companies. How do you account for the success of such opposite philosophies?

The History Of Revenge English Literature Essay

The History Of Revenge English Literature Essay William Shakespeares masterpiece, Hamlet, is the story about the Prince of Denmarks struggle for revenge against his murderous uncle, who is now the new King of Denmark. Hamlet is completely blind with revenge and has even been considered mad. Hamlets fall into insanity is a result of many different, tragic reasons. Throughout the entire play Hamlet seems to keep to himself, with a lack of any true companionship. Almost everyone seems to be against him throughout the play. They distrust Hamlet, and he doesnt fully trust anyone; which will ultimately lead to his downfall. Hamlet has a tragic flaw that may lead him to disaster. Hamlet has a tendency to over think everything he does. With every thought and process he goes through he must have a reason of doing it the way he does. If not done to his liking, he will not attempt the task. Hamlet is portrayed as intelligent. This is shown through Hamlets use of his obviously superior mind and knowledge to deceive most everyone in the kingdo m. He is clearly more intelligent than any other character in the play and to us; but his intelligence does get him into a great deal of trouble though. He is always out to prove himself. He cannot take anyones word for granted. Hamlet is meant to seem more psychotic and delusional the further into the play we get. Shakespeare meant for this. Without seeming crazy, Hamlet wouldnt have the opportunity of revenging his fathers death. Hamlets madness is the very means for his revenge. Hamlet seems to be an outsider throughout the play. The first time that this is seen is through Hamlets uncertainty and even disgust of his uncle and mothers wedding. In Shakespeares time it was considered acceptable, even though they were not blood relatives. Hamlet shows his dislike by saying A little more than kin, and less than kind (I, ii). This shows that he has an early dislike to his uncle, which will later help Hamlet with achieving his revenge. The next time that this distance from others is seen in Hamlet is when Ophelia is talking with Laertes and later Polonius. They both tell her that Hamlet and her cannot and will not be together, it is not possible because of the difference in class. This is confirmed when Laertes tells her, Perhaps he loves you nowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ but you must fear, His greatness weighted, his will is not his ownà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (I, iii). He tells her not to trust Hamlets false love, for he is a subject of the kingdom, and must marry royalty and do wha t the state requests of him. Polonius furthers this claim by adding Ay, springes to catch woodcocksà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ You must not take for fire, (I, iii). In this he basically tells her that she is senseless, and should not believe Hamlets words or his vows. By the end of the speech he even tells her to stay away from Hamlet, basically so she will not look unwise, therefore he will not look like the fool. Hamlets trust further decreases when he encounters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, whom were sent to him by the King. He knows that these friends are acting under the kings will, and gets them to spill the beans. The conversation that starts Beggar that I am, I am even poor in thank, and ends My lord we were sent for, (II, ii, 283 306) shows the suspicion building even more. Hamlet now knows that he cannot trust these men anymore both because they lied to him, and were sent by the man Hamlet despises, as spies. The same event happened to Ophelia as well. She was sent by Polonius, the King and the Queen so that they could prove Hamlets madness is for the love of Ophelia. Hamlet senses this, and loses all trust in Ophelia as he has done with many others. Throughout the conversation that goes Ha, ha. Are you honest? Are you fair? (III, i) Hamlet discovers the kings plot and acts as if he were crazy, and not in love with Ophelia. He is acting in this scene because later in act five he admits to caring for Ophelia. I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum, (V, i). There are only two people that trust Hamlet; they would be the Queen and Horatio. Horatio is Hamlets only true companion. He knows of the betrayal the king committed against Hamlets father, and has not caused any trouble for Hamlet. Gertrude is the only other person whom trusts Hamlet; however her trust is questionable. Hamlet kills Polonius, and then gets into an argument with his mother. From here he asks her to tell Claudius that he is in fact cr azy. I am essentially not in madness, but mad in craft (III, iv,). Hamlet is telling her that he is in fact not insane, but doing what he is doing for a purpose. All of these examples are proof that it is a false madness that Hamlet has fallen into. He is using this madness to get closer to what he wants, his revenge. Hamlet has yet another problem throughout the play that both prevents and helps Hamlet in obtain his goal; which is, he over thinks everything. Hamlets obsession with perfecting everything to what he wants is a good and a bad thing for him. The first example of Hamlets over thinking would be after he talks with the ghost of his father. Hamlets father tells him that Claudius is not only the cause of his death, but the one who murdered him. The passage that starts Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beastà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (I, v, 42 91) that Claudius kills him. Hamlet, however, has to prove this for himself before he can takes any action. He over thinks the death of his father, even though he already believes it to be true. This is also proof that the ghost is real because others have seen it, so Hamlet is not crazy. Hamlet is again seen over thinking his situation when he goes to Claudiuss closet to get his revenge. Hamlet says O, this is hire and salary, not revenge, (III, iii) when he finds Claudius is praying. Hamlet over thinks it because he does not believe that killing Claudius is revenge enough, he must do it after Clau dius has committed a sin, so that his soul cannot find its way into heaven. Another instance of Hamlet over thinking occurs during a soliloquy O, what a rogue and pleasant slave am I (II, ii). In this soliloquy he questions himself over and over again. Am I a coward? (II, ii, 606) Hamlet is basically putting himself down, saying that he disliking his weakness, and even calls himself a whore to words, for he cannot act. The whole soliloquy is Hamlet doubting that he can actually get revenge. Over thinking and never doing could be a cause for Hamlet to look insane, he is all talk with no action. Hamlet is so obsessed with his revenge; it may look like a crazed madness. However, the madness is part of the plot that he has developed for revenge. This is probably the most intelligent way to go about plotting revenge, for no one takes a crazy man seriously. Hamlet is the most intelligent individual in the play, and uses this to his advantage as much as possible. Hamlet is witty, and this is first seen when Claudius asks why he is in mourning still, in which Hamlet replies I am too much in the sun, (I, ii). It is seen later in the play when he hides the body of Polonius and is asked where the body is buried in which Hamlet replies At supper, not where he eats, but where he is eaten, (IV, iii). This shows that he is witty and likes to mess with other people in the play. Hamlet also shows his superior intelligence in other ways. When he is speaking with Polonius Hamlet insults him you are a fishmonger, (II, ii). Later in this exchange of words, words, words, (II, ii) Hamlet continually insults the old man but Polonius takes these insults as a sign of insanity. Hamlet uses his intelligence to catch and make fun of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern for their ignorance. You were sent for; and there is a kind of confession in your looks which your modesties have not craft enough to color. I know the good king and queen have sent for you (II, ii). With this quote he is outright telling them that they are idiots, and that he knows why they are with him. The insult however just flies over their heads. One event that supports Hamlets intelligence would be the idea Hamlet has of getting the players to reenact his fathers death. This not only will prove to Hamlet that Claudius killed his father, but it will also get back at his mother and uncle. The play makes his uncle scared because he knows the Hamlet knows the trust and his mother very upset. At the end of the play when all the others leave Hamlet goes on to plan even more. He believes that his mother knows of Claudiuss betrayal and will try to force it out of her. I will speak daggers to her, but use noneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ how my words soever she be shent, to give them seals never, my soul, consent! (III, ii). He says he will cause her pain, but only with words, so that she may t ell what she knows. Hamlet uses his intelligence to mask his plans, and everything he is meaning to do. He has to be smart, or else he would have already been caught, and taken away. Hamlets intelligence is the key to his plan. It is the whole idea of looking mad, but actually being of a sound mind that gets Hamlet to where he needs to be. If Hamlet was not the smartest person in the play, or of any less intelligent than he was, he probably would have been killed many times before. He caught the tricks of the king, knew of the spying and overcame all of these obstacles to get what he wanted. Hamlet is the most human like character Shakespeare created, and he has very human like characteristics such as the use of intelligence. This is seen in everyday life. For example, people lie, and people catch those lies, such as a child lying to his mother so he will not get into trouble. This is essentially what Hamlet is doing; he catches the lies of Ophelia, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and the King. Hamlets consciousness of the world in his time and the over thinking of just about everything was both a plus and a minus to Hamlet. If it werent for the over thinking he may ha ve had his revenge much sooner, but in a way he did not see fit for his murderous uncle. This over thinking does get his deed done in the fashion Hamlet wants, but it does cause other fatalities, including him own. People over think things every day and over thinking usually lead to problems. One example of this would be like skydiving. You want to do it, but once you get to the door of the plane, you go through all the bad and scary situations of jumping that may cause you to coward out. This usually makes it much harder to force yourself to jump. Hamlet does a bit of this, even called himself a coward, but this mockery to himself is what drives him to want revenge even more. Distrust is common theme in the play, and it plays a major role throughout Hamlet. It seems that no one really trusts each other. Hamlet has little trust in anyone, which could make it easier to follow through with his revenge. He doesnt really trust anyone, and no one really trusts him, so there is nothing to lose. This is seen in life with friends. If you know or trust someone, you try harder not to hurt their feelings. If you dont know them then hurting their feelings is not quite as important since you do not have a strong bond with that person. Hamlet uses these advantages he has to create a mad persona of himself, which is believable, to gain his revenge.

Sony Playstation Vs Nintendo 64 :: essays research papers

In the last two years of 1995 and 1996, the video game world was taken into another gaming dimension. The releases of the Sony Playstation in September of 1995 and the Nintendo 64 in September of 1996 has given the gaming public an enormous boost of technological advances in the home entertainment system for the common man. Sony and Nintendo soon became heated rivals as each company tries to out sell each other in the gaming marketplace. Eventhough the Sony Playstation and Nintendo 64 are two different systems. They both have some similar qualities and some very notable differences. First of all the most notable difference between the Sony Playstation and Nintendo 64 is the processing power. Most noteworthy is the fact that the Nintendo 64 is a 64-bit machine, while the Sony Playstation is only a 32-bit system. This means the Nintendo 64 can produce better graphics in a game, while the Sony Playstation's graphics aren't as good. The colors in the Nintendo 64's games are more vibrant, while the Playstation's colors seem to be more dull. Another difference is in the price of each of the systems. The Nintendo 64 is a bit more pricey at $199.99 than the Sony Playstation at $149.99. The games for each of the system also plays at vital role in the gaming marketplace. Both of these systems has some advantages when it comes to games. The Sony Playstation is the favorite in this category, with over 170 games with many 3rd party developers in its extensive library of games. Obviously the Nintendo 64 has less games in its library, due to the fact that the Nintendo was released a year later. The Playstation specializes in the sports genre with many different sporting titles. Sports games such as Madden football '98, NHL'98, NBA Live '98, and PGA Tour Golf '98. The Nintendo 64 specializes in the action/adventure genre with various different titles. With action/adventure games such as Turok: the dinosaur hunter, Super Mario 64, Goldeneye, and Super Mario Cart 64. The prices of the games for the Nintendo system are very expensive compared to the Sony. A Nintendo game can range in price from $59.99 to $69.99 and a Sony game can cost between $39.99 and $49.99. Another difference between the Nintendo 64 and the Sony Playstation is the media in which the games are stored. The Nintendo uses cartridges to store its games while Sony's machine is CD-ROM based.

Farming Safety and Production :: Food Safety

Over a hundred years ago the idea of farming and food consumption was very different then it is today. Regulation, education about health, research and technology, food processing, marketing, and wholesale has changed the food industry and the agriculture itself. Before going to the market or grocery store meant going to your back yard where you knew where everything was being grown and how it was being taken care of. Nowadays the majority of people do not raise their own animals or grow their own vegetables they go to a big chain or even a smaller local store to buy their food. When it comes to food safely and food production large farms and small farms are being negatively affected in many different areas. The current issues dealing with food safely and food production are, because there are a few big plants running are production of food its causing nation wide food poisoning and contamination, the public wants more regulation and centralized on farms which is then putting financ ial pressure on local farms, feedlots for animals, and our food is subject to terrorist attacks because only more then half our nations food is produced in the same place. I believe the way to fix our problem is to be informed and get involved. One of the main issues facing farming safety and production today is the fact that a few big plants are producing the mass majority of our food. Because our food is being produced, cleaned and handled in one place its causing nation wide poisoning and contamination of our meats and vegetables. For example, four companies produce eighty percent of Americans beef and one company produces thirty percent of our milk. (p.388) This means when an outbreak occurs it’s harder to re-call all of the produced because most stores all over the nation are selling the food. It also means that more people are going to be affected and become ill. If a local store were to sell bad spinach to five costumers in a small town its easier to control, manage, trace and inform those customers instead of have a large amount of people getting ill. Two hundred Americans in 26 states were sickened by spinach that had E. Coli. (p.388) The Center Disease Control for and Prevention approximation that our food supplies sickens 76 million, putting more than 300, 000 in the hospital and killing 5,000 Americans every year.

Protecting your Privacy from the Government Essay -- Politics Persuasi

Protecting your Privacy from the Government Privacy and the Government, for century’s people have debated the conspiracy theory that the government is always watching you.With integration of information System, this fear is fast becoming reality.Since September 11, the Government has developed a completely new understanding of information the individuals that live in the United States.They are now focusing on the any and all potential threats to national security.The Government’s big imitative, which is part of Homeland Security, is Total Information Awareness (TIA) also known as Terrorism Information Awareness.This campaign is the closest thing to ‘Big Brother’ that the United States has ever seen.It is a focus on pulling as much information together on as many people as possible into a single database, making the information available to government officials to weed out and find potential people involved in terrorism.On the surface this would seem to be a good thing, but if you look at the situati on closer, you will find that they are gathering information on anyone and everyone.This means that they are gathering information on people for future purposes.They are gathering information on the pretense that they may use it in the future in the name of Homeland Security.The TIA is not the only mode of extraction of information from our privacy; the airlines in conjunction with the government have developed a similar system for airline passengers.The government is also purchasing information from other companies on its customer to gain more data on potential wrong doers.We will discuss basic points on all three later on this site.In essence many believe that they are violating our privacy. The Total Information Awareness ... ...ng the awareness of privacy within its agencies.They have begun to create positions called Private Contact Officers (PCO), which have the responsibility of maintaining the integrity of the implied privacy agreement with its citizens.Of the government agencies polled over 74% respondents thought that privacy was extremely important to their agencies.Some of the main focuses of the agencies are on Internet security and personal information security and integrity.Most of the agencies polled expressed that privacy was a priority; it did not rank as one the top priorities.The issue of privacy and the government is getting better but at an extremely slow pace.Once people understand that when you lose your privacy you can never get it back, they will guard themselves and there personal information better.The only one that can help prevent invasion of privacy is ourselves.

Tddc17 – Lab 2 Search

TDDC17 - ­? Lab 3 Part 2 Q5 P (Meltdown) = 0,02578 P(Meltdown | Ica weather) = 0. 03472 b)   Suppose that both warning sensors indicate failure. What is the risk of a meltdown in that case? Compare this result with the risk of a melt- ­? down when there is an actual pump failure and water leak. What is the difference? The answers must be expressed as conditional probabilities of the observed variables, P(Meltdown|†¦ ). P(Meltdown | PumpFailureWarning, WaterLeakWarning) = 0,14535 P (Meltdown | PumpFailure, WaterLeak) = 0,2 c)   The conditional robabilities for the stochastic variables are often estimated by repeated experiments or observations. Why is it sometimes very difficult to get accurate numbers for these? What conditional probabilites in the model of the plant do you think are difficult or impossible to estimate? a) What is the risk of melt- ­? down in the power plant during a day if no observations have been made? What if there is icy weather? It is hard to ful ly understand all possible factors that can effect or trigger an event and how they interact with each other.Observations are always a description of the past and is not always accurate in forecasting the future. E. g. Icy weather is not a thing you can measure and span over a wide range of weather conditions including combinations of precipitation, wind and temperature. d)   Assume that the â€Å"IcyWeather† variable is changed to a more accurate â€Å"Temperature† variable instead (don't change your model). What are the different alternatives for the domain of this variable? What will happen with the robability distribution of P(WaterLeak | Temperature) in each alternative? The domain decreases in size of possible states as for example precipitation and wind is no longer a part of the estimations. The temperature will be represented as an absolute number or intervals, instead of just true or false. Resulting in a lot more defining of the probabilities of the child nodes with aspect to each value/interval of temperature. Q6 a) What does a probability table in a Bayesian network represent?The probability table shows the probability for all states of the node given the states of the parent nodes. b)   What is a joint probability distribution? Using the chain rule on the structure of the Bayesian network to rewrite the joint distribution as a product of P(child|parent) expressions, calculate manually the particular entry in the joint distribution of P(Meltdown=F, PumpFailureWarning=F, PumpFailure=F, WaterLeakWaring=F, WaterLeak=F, IcyWeather=F). Is this a common state for the nuclear plant to be in? Kedjeregeln ger foljanade:P(alla ar falska) = P(ICYWEATHER) * P(PUMPFAILURE) * P(PW | PUMPFAILURE) * P(MELTDOWN| PUMPFAILURE, WL) * P(WL | ICYWEATHER) * P(WATERLEAKW | WL) = 0,95 * 0,9 * 0,95 * 1 * 0,9 * 0,95 = 0,69 Ja, detta ar ett vanligt tillstand. c)   What is the probability of a meltdown if you know that there is both a water leak and a pump failure? Would knowing the state of any other variable matter? Explain your reasoning! P(Meltdown | PumpFailure, WaterLeak ) = 0,8. No other variables matter. When all the parents values are observed they alone determine the child value. ) Calculate manually the probability of a meltdown when you happen to know that PumpFailureWarning=F, WaterLeak=F, WaterLeakWarning=F and IcyWeather=F but you are not really sure about a pump failure. P(Meltdown = T | PUMPFAILURE osaker, resten falska )= P(ICYWEATHER) * P(WL | ICYWEATHER) * P(WATERLEAKW | WATERLEAK)* [P(PUMPFAILURE=T) * P(PW | PUMPFAILURE=T) * P(MELTDOWN=T | PUMPFAILURE=T,WL) + P(PUMPFAILURE=F) * P(PW | PUMPFAILURE=F) * P(MELTDOWN=T | PUMPFAILURE=F,WL)] = 0,95 * 0,9 * 0,95 * (0,1 * 0,1 * 0,16 + 0,9 * 0,95 * 0,01) = 0,008 (1)P(MELTDOWN=F | PUMPFAILURE osaker, resten falska)=P(ICYWEATHER) * P(WL | ICYWEATHER) * P(WATERLEAKW | WL)* [P(PUMPFAILURE=T) * P(PW | PUMPFAILURE=T) * P(MELTDOWN=F | PUMPFAILURE=T,WL) @+ P(PUMPFAILURE=F) * P(PW | PUMPFAILURE=F) * P(MELTDOWN=F | PUMPFAILURE=F,WL)] = 0,95 * 0,9 * 0,95 * (0,1 * 0,1 * 0,84 + 0,9 * 0,95 * 0,99) =0,694 (2) (1) och (2) =; alfa = 1 / (0,008 + 0,69) = 1,42 0,008 * 1,42 = 0,012 0,694 * 1,42 = 0,988 Part 3 During the lunch break, the owner tries to show off for his employees by demonstrating the many features of his car stereo. To everyone's disappointment, it doesn't work. How did the owner's chances of urviving the day change after this observation? Without knowing whether the radio is working or not, the probability of him surviving is 0,99001. If the radio is not working the probability is 0,98116. How   does the bicycle change the owner's chances of survival? With the bicycle the probability of surviving is 0. 99505. Small increase. It   is possible to model any function in propositional logic with Bayesian Networks. What does this fact say about the complexity of exact inference in Bayesian Networks? What alternatives are there to exact inference? Yes but i t might be complex and you might sometimes have to add new nodes.For example if you want to model an OR-relationship you have to add a new node with truthtable probabilities that match. An alternative to exat inference is probabilistic indifference. Things might not always be true or false with a predefined probability. With probabilistic inference yuou can reuse a full joint distribution as the â€Å"knowledge base† Part 4 Changes in graph Mr. H-S sleeping ( T = 0. 3, F = 0. 7) Mr HS reacts in a competent way: WaterleakWarn. Pumpfailurewarning Mr HS sleeping T T T T F F F F T T F F T T F F T F T F T F T F T 0. 0 0. 8 0. 0 0. 7 0. 0 0. 7 0. 0 0. 0 P(Survives | Meltdown, Mr HS reacts) incresing 9% (0. 9) The   owner had an idea that instead of employing a safety person, to replace the pump with a better one. Is it possible, in your model, to compensate for the lack of Mr H. S. ‘s expertise with a better pump? Yes, by increasing the probability of the pump not failing w ith 0. 05. The chance of survival increases to 0. 99713 Mr   H. S. fell asleep on one of the plant's couches. When he wakes up he hears someone scream: â€Å"There is one or more warning signals beeping in your control room! â€Å". Mr H. S. realizes that he does not have time to fix the error before it is to late (we can assume that he wasn't in the control room at ll). What is the chance of survival for Mr H. S. if he has a car with the same properties as the owner? (notice that this question involves a disjunction which can not be answered by querying the network as is) Clarification:Maybe something could be added to or modified in the network. By adding a new node called warning, which represents the OR-relationship of WaterLeakWarning and PumpFailureWarning, i. e. Warning is true if WaterLeakWarning is true or if PumpFailureWarning is true or if They are both true and is false if they are both false. P(survives) = 0. 98897 if Warning is observed true. What   unrealistic a ssumptions o you make when creating a Bayesian Network model of a person? That a persons actions are predictable and that he never gains more experience as time passes, which would effect the probabilities of his actions. Describe how you would model a more dynamic world where for example the â€Å"IcyWeather† is more likely to be true the next day if it was true the day before. You only have to consider a limited sequence of days. By adding nodes representing the weather of the previous days. E. g. one node representing the day before, one bubble representing the day before that and so on†¦ Tommy Oldeback, tomol475 Emma Ljungberg, emmlj959

Pizza palace’s restaurant Essay

   Backing storage comes in various forms for example compact disks and floppy disks. Backing storage is a portable and convenient way of saving information. To reduce the risk of data loss it is wise to save information on the computers hard drive and make a copy onto a disk or another type of backing storage for insurance purposes. Types of backing storage:   Floppy disks: The most common storage device available, these provide extremely cheap storage and have a capacity of 1. 5 Mb.   Compact Disk (CD-ROM): These have been used for some years as storage devices for computer software. It only accesses information which is already stored on it and is able to store 650 Mb of information.   Zip Drives: A storage device that has become popular over the last few years because it offers the convenience and portability of a floppy disk, combined with a 100 Mb capacity.   CD-R and CD-RW:The difference being that CD-R disks can only have data saved to them once, While CD-RW can be used in the same manner as other storage devices having data saved to them on a re-usable basis.   DVD (digital versatile disc) using the same basic principles as the CD, DVD packs the data more densely and can store 4. 7Gb compared with the CD’s 650Mg, can hold 133 minutes of video, with Dolby surround sound. Data pens: A new storage device that plugs into the computers USP drive. These are small and compact and have a capacity of 80Mb.   Magnetic Tape: Convenient and cheap medium for backing up hard disks onto computers. Mostly used for mainframe computers for storing information for a long duration. Magnetic tapes will not be suitable for a small company like Craven Plc. Data Protection: Craven Plc must comply with the data protection act in order to hold personal information of customers. The data protection act works in two ways. It gives you certain rights. It also says those who record and use personal information must be open about how the information is used and must follow the eight principles for good handling. The eight principles were put in place to make sure that your information is handled properly. They say that data must be: 1. Fairly and lawfully processed. 2. Processed for limited purposes. 3. Adequate, relevant and not excessive. 4. Accurate. 5. Not kept for longer than is necessary. 6. Processed in line with your rights. 7. Secure, and 8. Not transferred to countries without adequate protection. Micro computers: Micro computers include personal computers and laptop computers, they are usually equipped with hard disk, floppy disk drive, between 1 and 32 megabytes of memory, a keyboard and a VDU unit. Microcomputers will be suitable to fulfil the needs of Craven Plc. Mainframe Computers: These are large systems that can hold vast amounts of data. Mainframe computers occupy a whole floor of a fair sized building. These powerful mainframe computers are present in very large companies storing huge amounts of data on to disk. Mainframe computers cost tens of thousands of pounds, therefore they are not suitable for a small business like Craven Plc. File Server: This is a specially configured microcomputer to control the exchange of files between network users. A file server also has more memory and disk storage than normal microcomputers. These classifications of computers are usually based on physical size, speed, processing capabilities, memory size, disc storage, capacities and cost. Direct and Sequential Access: Direct access devices can go directly to the file or record. For example a CD can go directly to track number 10. Sequential access devices have to run through the file sequentially, for instance, if we want track 10 on a cassette, The cassette moves from the beginning from track 1 to 9 until it comes to track 10. 4) Proposed purchases and prices of equipment 2x Sony Intel 2. 6GHZ DVD CDRW Laptop   256Mb RAM, 40Gb Hard Drive DVD/CDRW Drive   15 inch TPT screen i 899 each = i 1798 4x Packard Bell 6111 Intel Pentium 42. 8GHZ processor and 15† TFT monitor   Intel P4 2. 8 GHz processor * 512 Mb RAM   160 GHb Hard Drive i 1199 each =i 4796 4x PacKard Bell 5050 and Xp2600+ PC and 17† CRT monitor   Athlon Xp 2600 & processor   256Mb RAM. 60 Gb hard Drive i 549 each =i 2196 4x Hewlet Packard DJ 9300 A3 Desktop printer i 279 each =i 1116 3x Hewlet Packard scanner i 99 each =i 396 Network- Windows 2000 professional i 3449 Web Designer Approx 3000to4000 Training costs i 2000 Specialist soft ware – Sage Accounts i 2000 Web Train Video Conferencing i 1000 Total cost i 22751 5) Proposed method of change over from manual to the new computerised systems Before the change over can take place an extensive training programme needs to take place. This may take several months to train the current workforce in the correct operating procedures of the new system. To ensure information will not be lost in transition the old manual method needs to be in place for the first 2 months along side the new computerised system. In the unlikely case of system collapse information and data will still be on hand. This change over will inevitably endure a small cost of training and staff development. 6) Procedure to transfer the payroll from the old to the new system Payroll is something Craven Plc cannot afford to get wrong. Therefore manual systems need to be in place for 3-4 months along side the new computerised sage accounts system. This will again ensure against loss of data.