Netflix’s business model Essay

Analysis part Question 1 In its competition with Netflix, where did Blockbuster go wrong? How was the use of customer data a key differentiator? How might Blockbuster have better positioned itself against Netflix? Answer 3 things that Blockbuster goes wrong are: 1. Slow & Inadequate Response â€Å"No Late Fees† program was misleading â€Å"Total Access† program was not well integrated – customers had to maintain separate accounts for the Web-based system and the store. 2. Structural Issues Stores were franchise-based and Web site was maintained by corporate Capex requirements for starting a separate Web-based logistics system to deliver DVDs by mail 3. Lack of Information Systems Lack of knowledge about its customers’ preferences and behaviors Lack of an appropriate CRM system Question 2 What are the core competencies of Netflix’s current business model (primary DVD-by-mail with an online component)? Assess the value of Netflix’s business as described in the case Answer Core competencies of Netflix’s current business model 1. Flexibility †¢ Subscription model – no late fees! †¢ Customers could rent and watch movies on their own schedules 2. Selection and Logistics †¢ No physical stores †¢ Allowed deep selection in a wide variety of genres 3. Convenience †¢ Mail delivery obviated the need to drive to bricks-and-mortar stores †¢ Queuing system on Web site allowed customers to have a constant flow of movies 4. Customer Insight †¢ Cinematch collaborative filtering algorithms aided the discovery process – better customer experience †¢ Recommendation system and analytics allowed deeper understanding of customer trends, which let Netflix adapt better and more quickly Question 3 What effects will the rise of the VOD market likely have on Netflix’s business model? How does VOD threaten Netflix’s business? What opportunities does it present? For opportunities, Netflix has ability to license its platform, be the benchmark in movie streaming and higher impact of Netflix’s existing CRM system. Therefore, Netflix has to shift organizational focus from logistic efficiency to technology excellence and need to invest in owning a platform to provide the service In terms of threats, the current physical distribution channel will become a liability and competitors like Apple, which has the know-how to sell online and holds a huge customer database and brand equity, will become a threat. Then, Netflix need to shift investment from logistics to technology, continue to build the Netflix brand as an instant provider of movies from studios to customers’ homes and to invest in customer loyalty and CRM solutions Question 4 Which of Netflix’s current competencies can it best leverage as a competitive advantage in VOD? Which might be liabilities (refer to the comparing value drivers in the Video Rental Market) Netflix has three core competencies to succeed in VOD market which are wide selection, brand equity and customer relationships and recommendation tool and customer knowledge. However, there are weaknesses for Netflix in moving toward VOD market, the warehouse and facilities and employee overhead will threaten Netflix in term of cost since Netflix will rely heavily on technology. Question 5 What kind of partnerships should Netflix prioritize: partnerships with content providers or with hardware/device manufacturers? Partnership Prioritization: Parallel Tracking  Netflix should not limit itself; goal is to be a service provider, not a content producer or a hardware manufacturer. Don’t compete in areas where Netflix is at point of parity; compete where Netflix has advantages. Roll up Roku effort under umbrella of device partnerships; devote resources across all initiatives evenly. Becoming the service provider and content recommender on all cable platforms is a top priority. Assume that movie studios and other content producers will want to distribute via Netflix; it is in their best interest. 1) Competition between Netflix and Blockbuster  (where Blockbuster goes wrong): The case revealed that in general without doubt Netflix was much more stronger than Blockbuster. Netflix could carry a much larger quantity and diversity across genders and at the same time Blockbuster was constrained by physical limitations imposed by its bricks-and-mortar stores, generally limited its selection to mainstream titles. Furthermore, Blockbuster made very big inconvenience for the customers who wanted to keep the movies longer time (because it limited rentals from one to five days). Moreover, customers had to pay additional amount of money (a fee) if they returned a video late. Blockbuster’s pricing model meant the customers had to pay each time they rented a video, while Netflix charged a flat subscription and were allowed to rent one to five DVDs at one time with no limit on how many could be rented in a month or no due date. Therefore, Netflix’s pricing schemes gave customers a greater flexibility comparing with Blockbuster’s pricing which was not so attractive for current customers. Also, Blockbuster could not offer for its customers one of the main things in business world – the flexibility , because it was constrained by inventory at its stores, but Netflix was strong enough to provide flexibility for customers. The problem was that main focus of a business model was based not on inventory warehouses what had negative effects for customers limiting them on keeping movies as long as they wanted to have them. However, †no late fee† program , the one Blockbuster was using, later, was also not so successful for the company as it was expected. And finally, the latest one,†¦

Mattel and Toy Safty Essay

In 2007, the Mattel toy company recalled around 20 million of its toy products do to contamination of lead in the paint and safety issues dealing with parts of its products (magnets) that was manufactured in China. The Mattel Company is considered the â€Å"global leader’ in toy manufacturing with over 30,000 people employed in over 40 countries and operates in more than 150 countries. The Mattel Company faces the dilemma a lot of companies face when using overseas manufacturing. If not closely monitored, they can and will cut corners which could put the company at risk. Who is responsible for the safety of children’s toy and who should be held accountable? An Analysis of the Mattel case study should reveal who is and who isn’t. 1. Do you believe that Mattel acted in a socially responsible and ethical manner with regards to the safety of its toys? Why or why not? What should or could Mattel have done differently? The study case of the Mattel Toy Company’s toy recall is a difficult one to call. The company went over and beyond to make sure that its products where safe for the public. The case study states that in 1997, the Mattel Company developed a â€Å"code of conduct† which included a wide range of ethical issue such as child safety laws, safety and health regulations. Mattel went as for to hire Professor S. Prakash Sethi, who is the head of a non-profit organization by the name of the International Center for Corporate Accountability which conducted audits on Mattel facilities. Mattel was also recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of the most trustworthy U.S. companies and was also recognized by CRO Magazine as one of the best corporate citizens out of 100, so they had built a reputation for being a solid socially responsible and ethical company. Ethics can be defined as moral principles that guides the way a person or a business behaves. Social responsibility is an ethical theory, that a person  or a business has an obligation to benefit society as a whole. Basically the products or actions of a person or a business should be a benefit to society and The Mattel Company took pride in being just that. Even though Mattel had to recall a lot of its products, I do believe they acted socially responsible and ethically. Mattel tested its products in their own testing facilities and in other special test labs to ensure the safety and quality of its products, and had specifically targeted lead based paint. Once Mattel found out that some of its products contained harmful lead based paint and the magnets in some of its products could be a safety concern, the company had an immediate recall of the products contaminated. Mattel used several outlets such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission, regulating agencies from all over the world and newspapers to address the issue of the lead based paint in its products and the magnet problem. Mattel also made it possible for consumers of their products to have access to outlets in which they can return the contaminated products for a refund or a safer replacement product. Mattel did do a lot to ensure the safety and quality of their products, but, they could have taken even further steps to avoid this situation. For one, Mattel should has done research on the on the Chinese firms outside contractors. Even though some of these contractors had been audited, they replaced the approved paint for the lead based paint. So Mattel should have kept a closer eye on these subcontractors in order to maintain their good image with society. Mattel cannot be solely at fought for this recall; the Mattel Company was also a victim in this situation. 2. Who or what do you believe was responsible for the fact that children where exposed to potentially dangerous toys? Why do you think so? This is a hard question because there are several entities that can be blamed for this recall. Number one is those that are responsible for consumer product safety. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is an independent federal regulating agency who assumes the responsibility of protecting the public from dangerous products. This agency was created in 1972 with the Consumer Product Safety Act. This Act gives the CPSC the authority to develop standards and bans on products. It is the job of this regulating agency to make sure that products are safe for public use, but it seems the dropped the ball on the Mattel toy recall. The case study states that the CPSC was severely underfunded and understaffed. The case study also states  that in 2007 the CPSC only had about 400 employees in which only 15 of them were investigators with the job of investigating products that come through the ports. Needless to say with the amount of product that come through the ports and the number of ports used in the U.S. to import and export product is too much for only 15 people to handle, also the CPSC only had 100 employees monitoring products on store shelves and only had a budget of 62 million. Another player that has responsibility in exposing children to potentially harmful products (toys) is the Chinese government. The enforcement of lead standards in China was not enforced, so the companies did as they wanted when it came to lead based paint. The magnet situation of more of a product design malfunction, according to the case study, so that can be easily taken care of, however, the lead base paint issue is one of enforcement. If the Chinese government had adequate enforcement of lead paint regulations, which is better than that of the U.S. at one point, this would have never been a problem for the Mattel toy company. The most responsible for this recall is the Mattel Company. Regardless of regulation inspectors and audits, they owe it to the stakeholders of the company to ensure that the products that they are manufacturing are safe. That is what social responsibility and ethics are based upon. 3. What is the best way to ensure the safety of children’s toys? There is no way to fully ensure the safety of children’s toys, but the best way is to enforce federal legislation on toy manufactures. This is a challenge because the majority toys in this country are manufactured in other countries such as China and Asia . Federal regulation can ensure that there are uniform standards for toy manufacturing. As of June 12, 2012, all manufactures and importers of children’s toy must comply with federal regulation. These toys must be tested for compliance of regulation and the testing must be done by the CPSC. It is also in the best interest of other countries to enforce regulation on toy manufactures. Since toys are a big export for other countries such as China and Asia, they would want to be in good standing with the U.S. by setting some standards on toy manufacturing. Consumer’s advocates groups need to stay involved in toy safety issues and provide input that can help set guidelines for federal legislation. The consumer advocates can influence regulation and keep the public informed on issues of child toy safety. In 2008, consumer groups such as the Consumers  Union, Consumer Federation of America, and Kids in Danger attended House and Senate conferences to push for a well-funded Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). As a response to the demand of the consumer advocate groups, Congress acted by banning lead based products in children’s toys. This act of the consumer advocate groups is a perfect example of the interactive social system between corporations and society, the fact that they are so interdependent on one another that if action is taken by one it will affect the other (Lawrence & Webber, 2011, p.21). These stakeholders can have a profound effect on regulation of a company. The toy industry can also play a large role to ensure the safety of children’s toys. They can listen to input form stakeholders on issues that could make their products safer. They also can follow the requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Commission closely or even go a step beyond the CPSC regulations to ensure that their toys are safe for kids. The toy industry could also be shown as a leader in toy safety by collaborating with foreign manufactures to push their toy safety regulation to coincide with that of the U.S. standard. They could hold international regulation meetings and have input on the regulation of toy safety that can have influence on policy. These kinds of actions from the toy industry could give them a good standing with stakeholders and regulators both if they are viewed as being actively involved in the safety of the children’s toys that they are making. After all these are their customers and in business you are trying to acquire more customers not lose them, so these type of actions by the toy industry would only benefit them and the customers that helps make them the business’s that they are today. Since the increase of imported toys, the rate of injury to kids playing with toys has increased. Accountability of the toy industry is a must to bring toy safety to a minimum. Corporate negligence of the sub-contractors of toy manufactures need to be recognized and investigated thoroughly to insure toy safety. An article be the American Association for Justice (Playing with Safety: Dangerous toys and the Role of Americas Civil Justice System) states that â€Å"A Public Citizens analysis of consumer recalls found that companies waited an average of 993 days to inform the CPSC of defects, and the agency (CPSC) waited another 209 days before informing the public (American Association for Justice) of the dangerous toys. This is a little more than 3 years before the public is  informed of a toy health hazard by the toy industry and CPSC. The CPSC and the toy industry should be held responsible and held accountable for those that are put in danger by these toys. If both the CPSC and the toy industry are held accountable for the time laps of getting the information to the public it would improve toy safety. 4. What do you think is to best way for society to pr otect children from harmful toys? Specifically, what are the appropriate roles various stakeholders in this process? The best way to protect children from harmful toys has to be a collective effort between stakeholders, the toy industry, and government regulators. This collective effort can be beneficial to all. First, the federal government must fund the CPSC properly in order for it to function at a level in which it can handle the bulk of toys coming through our ports. I can see how the CPSC was overwhelmed with the task of making sure all toy products are safe before and after they hit the shelves. The CPSC was too understaffed and underfunded to be affective. At the time of the recalls, the CPSC’s power was limited to ensure the safety of children’s toys. According to an article written by Jo Hartely of the National News (Protecting Our Children from Toxic Toys), â€Å"The CPSC cannot legally test children’s products before sale and do not have the funds or capacity to do so if desired† (Hartley, 2008). This at the time really made it hard to ensure toy safety. Also, according to the article, another way to ensure toy safety is to revise the U.S chemical regulatory system. The article states that around 80,000 chemicals are cleared for use in everyday products and 2,500 are introduced every year. Most of these chemical have not been tested for potential health impacts on children or fetuses (Hartley, 2008). This is another flaw in the regulatory system that needs to be addressed to ensure toy safety and it will take a collaborative effort to make this happen. The appropriate role for the non-market stakeholder in this toy safety issue is to use the non-market stakeholder’s power to use resources to influence regulatory policy on toy safety. Stakeholder power is founded in the power that they have to vote for those that support regulations that they want to see enacted on toy safety. The can also utilize economic power in order to get there point across to the toy industry on toy safety. They also have the power to use civil suits against negligent toy manufactures that are selling harmful toys. Consumer advocate groups are also categorized as  non-market stakeholders. These groups can pull resources and get the word out about the negligence of a toy manufacture which could also persuade government entities to act. Groups such as the Consumer Federation of America, kids in danger and the Consumer Union have already influenced stricter regulation of the toy industry with success. The categorization of the federal government as a non-market stakeholder is still up in the air for most, but, the impact and role that the government has in the issue of toy safety is huge. The government can and has the power to regulate the toy industry to ensure toy safety. Regulating toy safety is not an easy task for the government and will not ensure that all toys will be safe, but, they can minimize the problem. One way they government can minimize harmful toys that may get in the possession of children is by funding the CPSC properly so that they can enforce the regulatory laws on toys safety. Between 2008 and 2011 the federal government passed regulations that give the CPSC more power to hold the toy industry accountable for toy safety. In 2008, the Consumer product Safety Act was amended in 2011 which gave the CPSC new found power to enforce regulation laws on the toy industry which included civil and criminal penalties for those that broke the laws of toy safety. It also included third party testing of toy products so that testing of the products was not left solely to the toy industry which could be manipulated as so the case of Mattel toys. The federal government also passed the Child Protection Safety Act, which protects children from choking hazards. This legislation requires warning labels on products that may present a choking hazard for kids and also mandates that manufactures, importers, distributors, and retailers to report certain choking incidents. Even though the Mattel toy company and CPSC regulatory agency made adjustments necessary to minimize children’s toy hazards. It was their duty and obligation toy insure that the products that they sold were safe for children to play with in the beginning. All though Mattel had an outstanding ethical and social responsible reputation, the ball was dropped on this issue in 2007. One reason was the expansion of manufacturing and production of their products to foreign countries that they could no keep a close eye on. All in all it is up to us all to ensure the safety of our children when purchasing toys for our kids to play with. We cannot solely leave it up to r egulatory  systems and toy manufacture; we also have to play our role in this issue. Reference American Association for Justice (2010). Playing with Safety: Dangerous Toys and the Role of America’s Civil System. http://www.justice.org/cps/rde/xbcr/justice/PlayingWithSafety.pdf Lawrence, A. T., & Weber, J. (2011). Business and Society: Stakeholder, ethics, public policy (13 Ed). New York. McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Hartley, J. (2008). Natural News, Protecting Our Children from Toxic Toys. http://www.naturalnews.com/022991_toys_children_chemicals.html# U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. https://www.cpsc.gov/en/Regulations-Laws–Standards/Statutes/

The Contingency Theory Of Management

Starbucks has evolved one of the fastest flourishing companies in the United States. Get downing from 1992, the company ‘s net gross improved at a compounded growing rate of 20 % , to $ 3.3 billion in financial 2002. Gross net incomes have grown at an one-year compounded growing rate of 30 % to $ 218 million in financial 2002, which is the highest figure in net earning of company ‘s history ( See Exhib it 1 ) . As Business Week tells it: On Wall Street, Starbucks comes last biggest growing narrative. Its stock, including four splits, has raised more than 2,200 % over the old decennary, exceling Wal-Mart, General Electric, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and IBM in aggregative return. Now at $ 21 [ September 2002 ] , it is vibrating near its all-time high of $ 23 in July [ 2002 ] , before the overall pronounced bead. 1 To go on this rapid gait of growing, the house ‘s senior executives are looking to spread out internationally. Specifically, they are interested in farther enlargement in Europe ( including the Middle East ) , Asia Pacific ( including Australia and New Zealand ) and Latin America. Expanding in these three continents represents both a challenge and an chance to Starbucks. While the chance of increased grosss from farther enlargement is readily evident to the company ‘s top direction, what is non clear is how to cover with turning â€Å" anti-globalization † sentiment around the universe. This instance looks at issues that are originating as Starbucks starts to rule java markets around the universe and explores the alterations which might be required in scheme. The 25-year end of the company is to be an enduring, and great company with the uttermost respected and recognized trade name in the universe, known for inspiring and fostering the human sprit. The mission statement of the company is to joint several steering rules to estimate the rightness of house ‘s determination. In depicting Starbucks ‘ echt attack towards competition, Fortune notes: The scheme is straightforward: Blanket an country wholly, even if the shops cannibalize each other ‘s concern. A new shop will frequently pull off to capture about 30 % of the gross revenues of a nearby Starbucks, but the company takes this as a good thing: The everywhere attack of the Starbucks cuts down the costs direction and bringing, it decreases the client lines at single shops, and increases pes traffic for all the shops in an country. Last hebdomad 20 million people purchased a cup of java at a Starbucks. No American retail merchant has a highest figure of client visit. A typical client Michigans by 18 times a month ; since the company went public, It has climbed an norm of 20 % a twelvemonth. Even in down economic system, Starbucks traffics have risen between 6 to 8 per centum a twelvemonth. Possibly even most noticeable fact that Starbucks has managed to bring forth those sorts of the Numberss with virtually no selling by giving merely one per centum of one-year income on advertisement. For several old ages, Perceivers have found that US coffee-bar market may be nearing towards impregnation. They point to tag consolidation, as bigger participants of java saloon snap up some of the smaller java saloon rivals. More, they take a note that Starbucks ‘ shop base is excessively maturing, and making to lag in the growing of unit volume and house net income. In the response of that, some point, Starbucks has changed its way towards foreign markets for the continued growing. For illustration Business Week notes: To counterbalance the hesitating returns of its first decennary, Starbucks has no pick but to export its construct smartly. Indeed some perceivers give Starbucks merely 2 old ages maximal before it saturates the U.S. market. The concatenation now [ in August 2002 ] operates 1200 international mercantile establishments, from Beijing to Bristol. This gives immense room for grow. Infact, about 400 or its planned 1200 new shops in this twelvemonth would be constructed overseas, which will stand for a 35 % rise in its foreign base. Starbucks hopes to duplicate the measure of its shops globally, to about 10,000 in 3 twelvemonth period. Our attitude towards international enlargement is to set focus foremost on the partnership, and state 2nd. We believe in local connexion to get everything up and working. Finding the right local spouses is the key to negociate local ordinances and others jobs. We search for spouses who are common in our values, civilization, and motivations about community development. We are fundamentally interested in spouses who could steer us in the procedure of induction in foreign location. We are seeking the houses with: ( 1 ) common doctrine to ours in footings of shared values, corporate citizenship, and committedness to be in the concern for long draw, ( 2 ) experience with multi-unit eating house, ( 3 ) For the bar of impersonators, holding resources to spread out the Starbucks construct rapidly. , ( 4 ) To pick premier existent estate locations, holding strong real-estate experience along with cognition, ( 5 ) Must be holding cognition of retail market, and ( 6 ) committedness of the peop le should be available to our undertaking. In an international joint venture, it is the spouse that chooses shop sites, does all the preparatory and choice work, which are so submitted for blessing to Starbucks. Cydnie Horwat, VP for International Assets Development Systems and Infrastructure, elaborates how a Starbucks market entry program initiates with trade name edifice, which afterwards facilitates further rapid enlargement in a state: When come ining a market foremost, we look for different things in the initial 1 to 3 old ages than subsequently on. During these early old ages we are developing our trade name. Our shops are the largest beginning of advertisement, as they do n't make a batch of separate advertisement. Therefore we possess higher investing in shops in the first 3 old ages. Approximately 60 to seventy per centum of shops which are opened in these initial 3 old ages are our biggest brand-builders. Before 10 old ages, we had 125 shops and 2000 employees. Today we have 62,000 employees working in 30 different states outside of North America, who are functioning about 22 million clients in a hebdomad. Our nucleus client comes about 18 times a month. With the bulk of grownups throughout ball imbibing 2 cups of java a twenty-four hours and with Starbucks holding less than seven percent portion of aggregative java ingestion in the U.S. and less than one per centum globally, these are the initial yearss for the growing and advancement of company. We have got a theoretical account that is rather good tested from market to market. Starbucks is good on its way to go a planetary trade name. Harmonizing to Business Week: [ T ] he Starbucks name and image is associated with 1000000s of people around the universe who consume its merchandises. In Business Week study of the top hindered international trade names published in August 5 [ 2002 ] It came one of the quickly turning trade names. At a clip when one corporate star after another has collapsed to earth, brought down by disclosures of net incomes misstatements, executive greed, or worse, Starbucks has non faultered. But being a international company is non risk free. As Business Week points out, Global enlargement carries a large hazard for Starbucks. For one thing, it makes decreased money one every overseas shop as most of them are operated with local spouses. While this makes easier to get down on foreign sod, it decreases company ‘s portion of the net incomes to merely 20 to 50 per centum.

Nosocomial infections Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Nosocomial infections - Assignment Example This report will look at various issues related to HAIs. Nosocomial infections have been a problem for many countries of the world. The challenge occurs as majority of countries are unable to put mechanisms to monitor HAIs. However, a number of countries have systems that could help in surveillance of these infections, but they lack a standard way of establishing infections. These challenges make it difficult to quantify information on these types of infections. However, various studies carried out have been able to establish that there are millions of patients that are affected HAIs in different parts of the world (World Health Organization (WHO) 1). There are worrying statistics concerning these infections in different parts of the world. As noted in the World Health Organization report, HAIs varies between 3.5 and 12 percent in those countries that are perceived as developed (WHO 2). In Europe, the average rate of infections is noted as 7.1 percents. In the region, over four million cases are reported in a very year. On the other hand, the infections have been a serious problem in United States. As it is, about four percent of admitted patients are said to have an infection linked to the hospital care (ODPHP 1). The infections lead to huge spending in the healthcare sector and also cause death. The infection or have huge consequences to individuals involved. In addition, the effects have been found more common in countries with limited resources as compared to those with more resources (WHO 2). There are common types of these infections that occur in the care environment. The most common are listed as urinary tract infections, surgical site infections, and bloodstream infections (ODPHP 1). However, these infections have been reducing in the recent past due to various initiatives that have been taking place in the healthcare sector. On the other hand, there are various factors that put the patients at risk of acquiring HAI.

The Impact of On-line Learning And Its Potential to Improve Standards Essay

The Impact of On-line Learning And Its Potential to Improve Standards In Secondary Education - Essay Example This essay stresses that online learning does not provide the spontaneous situations for learning through peer interaction. Traditional interaction between students, between teacher and student, between student and other employees like the librarian or bus driver will enter a new dynamic or become passà ©. Anecdotally, school yard tyrants won’t be able to teach the harsh realities of the outside society. How does is peer social interaction affected? Will there be any impact on social and emotional development, and the acquisition of the stereotypical sex roles. The proposed research project is likely to face difficulties regarding detailed feedback on assignments; telephonic contact with the university whereby students can engage with tutors and administrative staff in order to solve academic or other difficulties, and assistance in the formation of study groups. Other factors that may make the study difficult include Geographical isolation or lack of a study partner, family problems, noisy neighbours and a lack of understanding of assignment questions. The technological aspect may also pose problems like difficulties with navigation and with the ease of doing some of the interactive exercises. One of the major hurdles is in the form of the lack of opportunity to plan experimental work with single variables and controls. Moral considerations prevent the notion of providing one kind of service to one cohort of students, and another, perhaps less expensive, service to another group for the purpose of research - and yet this is done in the med ical profession.

Evaluating the Effects of Regulatory Agencies on the LIMS ( Laboratory Essay

Evaluating the Effects of Regulatory Agencies on the LIMS ( Laboratory Information Management System ) - Essay Example tion, meets the standards set, notably CMS Regulations Part 493 Sub-part K, Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA), and OSE Manual of Policies and Procedures (MAPP) 6700.2. In terms of information security, both agencies will be expecting to be satisfied that the requirements of CMS Regulations Part 170, regarding Information Security, have been met. In practice, Part 170 simply reflects ICT industry standard practice, so providing that the laboratory meets these industry standards, both agencies will be satisfied. In areas specifically involving pathology, a given LIMS implementation will also need to be approved by the College of American Pathologists (CAP). CAP regulators will expect that the LIMS implementation will meet their approval in four key areas: discipline, equipment manufacturer, specimen type and method of analysis. CAP inspections must be regarded as additional to the CMS and OSE inspections and compliance defined below. When examining the exchange of electronic health data, the Federal Regulators will be looking for the use of logical observation identifiers names and codes (LOINC) naming conventions. In order to facilitate the exchange of electronic clinical data between the LIMS being examined and other LIMS implementations, the Regulators will be checking for the use of systematized nomenclature of medicine clinical terms (SNOMED), as defined for specific U.S. applications by the CMS, FDA and, where relevant, CAP. All LIMS Implementations must meet the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Regulations Part 493 Subpart K - Quality System for Nonwaived Testing. This means each LIMS implementation must include as a minimum the following. Establishing and following policies and procedures for monitoring, assessing, and, when indicated, correcting problems identified in the general laboratory systems requirements specified in CMS Regulations Part 493 Subpart K that apply to the laboratory in

Car Advertising Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Car Advertising - Assignment Example Considering the car market in UK, till 1980, the general opinion of Audi was that it was a car built in Europe and customers were not certain of even the nation of building, the technical capacities and the car had no specific image. The car was not clearly positioned according to the Louis Harris Car Image Study. The position of the car changed to some extent and by 1987, the car slowly moved towards the group of prestige cars. This was due to the "Vorsprung durch Technik" Campaign of the 1980s. Though the car was of the same size as Ford and Vauxhall, it was positioned as a car above them in terms of image. Further improvement was achieved in 1995 when Audi took advantage of the marketing opportunities that were available to it and to an extent this was due to the new models that were introduced. These were called Audi A8 and the Audi A4 and both these cars were far better that the previous models that this brand had. (Members only - how advertising helped Audi join the prestige ca r club) The models were liked by the press and the potential customers, and the particular brands have won a number of awards. This range of models was an improvement on the previous models that it had and those were called Audi 80 and Audi 100. Yet the brand had strong opponents in terms of brand names and prices. There were also new launches coming up from the competitors and the brand had not many advantages in terms of product itself. Thus, it was essential to establish the brand on certain parameters. The advantage of the brand getting into the prestige segment was that it would permit the brand to retain value after a few years of usage and this would encourage the users to buy the car. This can be seen in the case of Mercedes C class, Saab 900i, and Ford Mondeo 2.0 Si, where Mercedes retained 87.5 percent of the value, Saab retained 76 percent and Ford retained only 61 percent. Naturally, the car with the highest prestige would provide unseen advantages for its buyer and thus would f ind it easier to sell. (Members only - how advertising helped Audi join the prestige car club) The general positioning in Britain seems to be with Porsche and Ferrari as members of the Super Prestige group, BMW, Mercedes and Jaguar being members of the prestige group; Volvo and Saab being members of the quality cars group; Ford, Vauxhall, Rover and Renault being members of the mainstream cars group and Kia and Proton being members of the budget cars group. The cars in the prestige and super prestige group are able to charge a higher price, while the sales are the highest for the mainstream cars. In terms of positioning, it was always the objective of Audi to be a member of the prestige cars group. (Members only - how advertising helped Audi join the prestige car club) The logic for this is based on volume of production, desired profits and other matters. The consumers also view cars within different groups in a manner that keeps their image in line. The purchasing decision is then based on the cost of the cars and what the user can afford to pay. So far as prestige and super p restige cars are concerned, they charge a premium price and this has to be supported by their image. The positioning of a brand is

Computer Science Term Paper (Follow up) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Computer Science Term Paper (Follow up) - Essay Example We live in a digital age. This means that information is stored in digital form on computers often hooked up to the internet. However, with the widespread evolution of information technology, information privacy has also been one of the most controversial issues society faces today. The implementation of protections for information can be viewed from the perspective of the computer scientist or of the user. One can see innovations in software and hardware coming everyday. This can give certain advantages and tools to hackers, spammers and other people. With the use of this, they become more dangerous to information privacy. Information privacy (security) is protected through encryptions, passwords, security update, and by other means. On the other hand, consumers and internet users accept end user license agreements (EULA) as an assurance. Therefore, any personal information protected from inappropriate use or any acts of deception. With the boom of commercial, personal (known as blogs), educational and service provider web sites, through the efforts of licensed and open source programs, various questions have been raised on the ethical implications of these innovations on information privacy. The prevalence of internet crimes related to information privacy has been increasing day by day. Moreover, because technology has been rapidly changing year by year, a long-term approach to internet privacy is still being developed. Nonetheless, an attempt to tackle such issue would not, in any way, resolve the problem. Instead, this paper will provide useful insight on the issue of information privacy, and hopefully as a starting point of future research. The concept of information privacy has been one of the most critical issues. It takes into serious consideration. Imagine a world without information privacy. Credit cardholders would have difficulty purchasing and exchanging vital

Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 14

Research Paper - Essay Example The invaders moved forward taking a North wise course and captured several other towns such as Beirut. The eminent collapse of German superiority and the failure of the European western front led to the collapse of the war in the Middle East. (Oschsenwald 375) Consequently, there was the formation of treaties such as the Paris Peace Conference, which happened in a time span of not more than two weeks after the end of the war in the Middle East. For this case, Germany entered the armistice with forces of the Entente Allies and officially ended the war. The Paris Peace Conference developed peace in the Middle East. However, there was a challenge in the course of development of the peace movements because Germany dominated the agenda with more problems than any other did. The Middle East conflict was also a concern among the London Pact that happened in 1915, the Sykes-Picot Agreement, Balfour Declaration, and others (Oschsenwald 380). Another problem during the Paris Peace Conference was the fact that British and French powers, that were the strongest powers of the time, pursued their interests rather than that of other nations. For instance, the advisers to the then British Prime Minister, David Lloyd told him to consider the Middle East as a prize. On the other hand, the French powers led by Georges Clemenceau considered a control over the straits of Syria and Southern Anatolia. They also hoped to have a French advisor for the Ottoman Sultan. Oilmen, bankers, merchants, missionaries, humanitarians, and bondholders also converged for the Paris meeting to push for their interests concerning the Middle East (Woodward 34). Zionists succeeded in incorporating a version of Balfour Declaration and benefited from approval by the League of Nations. There were other movements and treaties such as the San Remo agreements and the Treaty of Sevres. The former was because of the failure of the Paris peace meeting to yield mu ch fruit for the

The Odyssey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Odyssey - Essay Example The second stage is "a road of trials". For Odyssey, his journey consists of: love of Calypso and building of a ship to escape; trials with the Cyclops and the Phaeacian princess, love with Circe and journey into Hades, and battle with Scylla. The third stage is "achieving the goal or "boon". It means new world perception and views created during the journey. Odyssey understands that faith is the foundation of morality which cannot be removed by new impressions and temptation. He feels that, as morality is created by God, those who reject faith are in turn rejecting individualistic way of life. The forth stage is "a return to the ordinary world". From the very beginning Odyssey fails this trial, because nobody recognized him but his old nurse, Eurycleia. Penelope suspects that it could be her husband and organized a competition won by Odyssey. She promises to marry a winner, when Odyssey won this contest they reunite. The fifth stage includes "application of the boon". At the end, Od yssey visits his father and stops vendetta. His father kills Antinous's father and peace is maintained. In sum, The Odyssey displays the many qualities that archetypal heroes had in common.

Has the death penalty in the United States run its course Research Paper

Has the death penalty in the United States run its course - Research Paper Example History of Death Penalty Death penalty law was first established way back in eighteenth century B.C. in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon. In Britain, hanging became the most common method of executing death sentence in the tenth century A.D. However, in the following century, William the conqueror banned all method of capital punishment for any crime. Again, in the sixteenth century some 72,000 people were executed for capital offences like conducting wedding with a Jew, not admitting to a crime, and treason. Since death penalty is a severe form of punishment, the juries did not convict many defendants if the offense was not grave and this called for reforms in the death penalty in Britain. America was influenced mostly by Britain in the methods of death penalty. When the Europeans settled in the newly found land of America, they continued with their practice of capital punishment. In America, the first ever execution that took place was of Captain George Kendall in the Jamesto wn colony of Virginia in 1608. His crime was that he was a spy for Spain. All colonies did not have the same laws of death penalty. The first implementation held in Massachusetts Bay Colony was in 1630 although Capital Laws of New England were not established until years later. Duke’s Laws of 1665 were put into effect in the New York colony and under these laws capital crimes included striking one’s parents or atheism. Attempts to reform the death penalty occurred for the first time in America when Thomas Jefferson initiated a bill to review Virginia's death penalty laws. According to this law crimes that were to be punishable by death penalty were murder and treason. This law was defeated by one vote. In the nineteenth century many states of America brought down the incidence of their capital crimes. Many states like Rhode Island and Wisconsin abolished the death penalty, although most states continued with their practice of capital punishment. Some states increased t he number of offences to be liable to be punished by death penalty, mainly those committed by the slaves. During the civil war, anti slavery movement began more prominent and as such opposition to the death penalty declined. "Progressive Period" of reform began in the twentieth century in America. During the period 1907-17, death penalty was completely withdrawn in six states. Three states kept treason and first-degree murder of a law enforcement official as the only capital crimes. However, this reform did not last for long due to the chaotic atmosphere in America in the wake of the Russian revolution. In addition to that, America participated in World War I and during this period there were severe class conflicts and the socialists became a threat to capitalism. Due to this reason five of the six states which abolished death penalty again established the law of death penalty. In the 1950s, the number of death penalties made a steep drop as many allied nations either abolished or l imited the death penalty. (â€Å"History of the Death Penalty†) Cost of Execution From economic standpoint it is debatable whether death penalty is sufficiently effective for prevention of criminal activities. There are methods that have been proved to be effective for prevention of crime, but resources that are used for the implementation of death penalty are not available for establishing those methods. Costs involved in death penalty cases are much higher

Factors Affecting Essay Example for Free

Factors Affecting Essay This paper examines the factors affecting students career choice of accounting in Nigerian university. The study was conducted using the survey with a sampling population of 300 undergraduates from three universities. It has been discovered that the factors affecting students career choice of accounting are numerous but they can be group into personal, reference and job factors. The findings indicate that personal and job factors such as students interest and motivation in the subject, job prospects and high pay, performance in secondary school are the most influencing factors of students choice of accounting. In particular, male students were found to be more influenced by the reference factors than their female counterparts in the choice of accounting. The paper recommends the need for enlightenment  and counseling of the students and their wards about career choice in accounting.. Keywords: Accounting, personal factors, job-related factors, choice 1. Introduction In recent years, the declining of accounting students has become a major concern to the accounting profession (Hunt, Falgiani Intrieri, 2004). For instance, in the US the decline has been attributed to many factors such as: change in the business environment, decrease in salary level, alternative careers perceived as more attractive to students, misunderstanding and lack of information related to the accounting career (Albrecht Sack,2000). In Nigeria, the choice of accounting tends to rank among other professional courses like law, medicine, engineering ,economics etc. Although many researchers have considered the factors affecting students career choice in accounting, there is dearth of researches in relation to accounting in Nigeria. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the factors which influence students choice of accounting in Nigerian universities and determine whether there are significant differences between male and female accounting students in the choice of accounting. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section two reviews the relevant literature on the factors.Section three is the methodology adopted. The data analysis and research findings are documented in Section four and the overall conclusions regarding these results are presented in Section five. 2. Literature review There have been many researches carried out in both developing and developing countries to identify factors influencing students choice of accounting. Some of the factors considered were subjective factors such are social, cultural, sociological, psychological and personal factors. Others are the objective factors or both categories (Zhang, 2006). Factors frequently cited as determinants of students career choice are intrinsic values, financial rewards, job market and the cost-benefit. Some of these factors are long term salary possibilities, prestige of the profession, job security and starting salary. It has been found that students consider stereotype about the different careers when making their decisions .Yayla   Cengiz (2005) find respondents own choice, family, environment, interesting profession, earnings  expectations and job opportunities play a significant role in choosing an accounting career. These factors are grouped into personal, reference or and job related factors and considered in subsequent sections. 2.1 Personal Factors Many researchers have identified that the choice of accounting is influenced by the stud ents interest. For instance, Zhang (2006) finds students interest in the subject and ability very important in making choice to study accounting. Other factors like quantitative skills and intellectually challenging also influence students choices (Mladenovic,2000, Zhang, 2006).When students see accounting as interesting and enjoyable, they are more likely to choose it (Saemann Calero, 1999., Adam et al 1994., Mauldin et al, 2000).This finding was supported by results of Jackling Calero (2006) where intrinsic rewards such as enjoyment of the topics in accounting influence career in accounting. Kaur Leen (2006) establish that students choices of major is influenced by factors such as gender, race, quantitative skills, interest in the subject, expected marketability, performance in major classes, the approachability and teaching reputation of faculty member. Cohen Hanno (1993) conduct a survey of 287 students who had either declared or intended to declare themselves as accounting majors and those who had either declared or intended to declare themselves as major in a field other than accounting. The results indicated that non-accounting majors may choose accounting because they believe accounting to be too number-oriented and boring. 2.2 Reference Group Previous studies confirmed that referent group such as: parents, parents occupation, instructors in high school and friends could influence students  choice of major (Pimpa, 2007, Kim et al, 2002, Paolilo Estes 1982, Geiger Ogibly 2000, Mauldin et al, 2000, Kim et al,2002). Family plays a critical role in a childs career development (Guerra Braungart-Rieker, 1999). High school teachers and college instructors play a significant role in students final choice of business major. However, Hardin et al (2000) find high school educators to have a relatively low opinion of accounting as a career option for high school students.Similarly, parents and instructors had a strong influence on students choice of majors (Inman et al, 1989, Mauldin et al, 2000., Tan Laswad, 2006). Mauldin et al (2000) investigate the choices of accounting major and find the largest percentage of students who chose accounting as their major during the first accounting course in college (41%) followed by selection during high school (34%).They also find twelve factors that influence the students decisions to include: career opportunities, interest in the subject, instructors, money, parents, enjoyments, previous experience, life style opportunity because of the career, challenge, prestige, usefulness in rating a business and other students. Among referents, the instructor was found to be the most influential factor. 2.3 Job Related Factors Job attributes are the most important factors that influence the choice of career among undergraduates. The job related include: the job itself, compensation or security and the company or work environment (Moy Lee, 2002, Teo Poon (1994). The influencing factors are job satisfaction (Paolilo Estes,1982), higher earnings, prestige and career advancement (Kim,et al, 2002). Lowe Simons (1997) study the relative importance of 13 factors influencing the choice of business major. They find that the most important criteria influencing the choice of major business students are: future earnings, career options, initial earnings and ability/aptitude. Moreover, they find distinguishable differences among majors. For example, accounting students were influenced by external factors such as: long term earnings, initial earnings and career options whereas marketing majors highlighted interesting subject matter and management majors rated self employment opportunities highly. These findings support the results that students choice of business major are influenced by earnings, prestige and career advancement (Tan Laswad, 2006, Maudlin et al 2000, Felton et al, 1994). Noland et al (2003)  find the factors influencing major selection by accounting and information systems majors are long- term salary possibilities, prestige of the profession, job security, and starting salary; the influence of a professor, family members and difficulty of the subject matter are rated much lower. Kim et al (2002) conducted a study on business majors (accounting, finance, general business, management, marketing, management information system and double major). They discovered that the top five reasons for choosing a major were: interest in a career, good job opportunities, good fit with respondents abilities, a desire to run a business some day and projected earnings in the related career. The least selected reasons for choosing a major were the  reputation of the major at the university, the perceived quality of instruction, the parents influence, the amount and type of promotional information and the influence of friends. 2.4 Perception of Accounting Accounting education has been the subject of considerable debates since 1980s. Prior researches document that introductory accounting students have negative perception of accounting. Accounting is attractive to the students in terms of profession but the negative views regarding the nature and role of accounting persist (Fisher Murphy, 1995:58). Societys perception of the legitimacy of the accounting profession and its members is grounded in the verbal and visual images of accountants that are projected not only by accountants themselves but also by the media. How accountants are portrayed in media have a significant impact on the accounting profession. Typically, accountants have been referred to as number crunchers, focusing on numerical accuracy, routine recording and calculation methods. Abrecht Sack (2000), Cory (1992), Garner Dombrowski (1997) attribute the negative perception to misinformation or lack of information about accounting and the duties performed by accountants. To date, efforts by professional accounting bodies and firms to change the negative and inaccurate perception of accountancy and accountants have yielded limited success (Jackling Calero, 2006). Byrne Willis (2005) maintain that the public view of accountants is generally negative and that this perception might discourage potential students from studying the subject. Similarly, Cohen Hanno (1993) find that the perception of accounting as boring and excessively number- oriented might lead student to choose other majors than accounting. Furthermore, the traditional view of accounting as involving precision and order has been found to drive creative people away from the profession. In addition, many bright young people are seeking careers in professional fields other than accounting as a result of the poor image of the accounting profession (Saemann Crooker 1999, Cohen Hanno,1993).The personal image of accountants and how they market themselves are more important than the price, product and Smart.Anyone whose success depends upon or requires the cooperation of another individual or group needs a positive personal image. Unfortunately, high-quality students hardly ever perceive accountants as they perceive themselves. People regard accountants as boring, middle- aged men sitting in a back office with a calculator and a stack of flies. As a consequence, the accounting profession does not always attract high quality students. Whether a person chooses to pursue an accounting career may be determined by the image of accountants in the media. Byrne Willis (2005) find that perceptions of accounting are influenced by factual media. Mathus Fowler (2009) find that the portrayal of accountants in the media could be recalled by the sampling group. Tan Laswad (2009) in an extension of their 2006 study survey university students at the beginning and end of their degree. The comparisons between accounting and non accounting students reveal that those who intended to major in accounting generally hold positive attitudes towards the accounting profession. Tan Laswad (2009) found that a higher proportion of accounting students decide on their major  prior to university study. Therefore they recommended that the accounting profession should promote the positive aspects of accounting career not only to pre-university students but also to the public as this strategy would enhance the public profile of members of the profession. 2.5 Status of accounting compared with other professions Students are more likely to aspire to a career that is held in high esteem by society. In the Byrne Willis (2005) study, accounting students ranked accounting ranked 5th and non-accounting students ranked it 7th among ten professional courses. Irish high schools ranked accountants behind doctors, lawyers, dentists and architects as professionals. In the United States, the Gallun organization (1991) reported that both high school and university students rated the accounting profession last among six professions of law, medicine, teaching, engineering, financial planning and accounting. In a New Zealand study, the accounting profession was ranked lower in social status compared to the profession of law, medicine and engineering by high school teachers. This was also the view of high school teachers in the United States (Hardin et al, 2000) and Japan (Sagahara et al, 2006) 3. Methodology The population of interest comprised all accounting students in three (3) universities: University of Benin (UNIBEN), Igbinedion University Okada (IUO) and Ambrose Alli University (AAU). The sample size was made up of three hundred (300) full and part-time accounting students from these universities. The total number include: two hundred (200)  accounting students from UNIBEN, fifty (50) from IUO and fifty (50) students from AAU. The data for this study was mainly from the administration of questionnaire. A total of 300 questionnaires were administered and retrieved from the respondents representing a response rate of 100%.The likert scale  type close ended questions was used .The data was analysis using percentage analysis, independent t-test and regression analysis.The t-test was used to find out if there was significant difference between male and female accounting students in the choice of accounting. The descriptive statistics of the respondents is shown in table 1 below.

Study Of Attacks On E Commerce Systems Computer Science Essay

Study Of Attacks On E Commerce Systems Computer Science Essay Electronic commerce (e-commerce) services nowadays have become a core element and more popular on Internet and Web environment. Electronic commerce, Internet and Web environment have enabled businesses to reduce costs and offer many benefits both to the consumer and to the business. According to Forrester Research the online retail sales in the United stated for 2003 exceeded $100 billion. As the Information Technology and the using of internet are increasing every day, the demand for secure information and electronic services is growing. Every online transaction in the internet can be monitored and stored in many different locations, since the Internet is a public network it makes very important for businesses to understand possible security threats and vulnerabilities to their business. The key factor that affects the success of e-commerce is to exchange security on network. In this paper we will describe some of the security threats and vulnerabilities concerning the e-commerce se curity. Keywords: e-Commerce security, threats, vulnerability, attacks 1. Introduction The improvements that Internet has made during the past few years have changed the way people see and use the Internet itself. The more their use grows, the more attacks aim these systems and the amount of security risks increases. Security has become one of most important issues and significant concern for e-commerce that must be resolved [1]. Every private and public organization is taking computer and e-commerce security seriously more than before because any possible attack directly has an effect in E-commerce business [5]. The Internet and Web environment can provide as many security threats and vulnerabilities as opportunities for a company. The low cost and high availability of the world wide Internet for businesses and customers has made a revolution in e-commerce [1]. This revolution in e-commerce in turn increases the requirement for security, as well as the number of on-line cheats and fraud as it is shown in the Figure 1. Although there has been investments and spent a very large amount of time and money to provide secures networks, still there is always the possibility of a breach of security [5]. According to IC3 2007 annual report, the total dollar loss from all referred complaints of fraud was $239.09 million [3]. The majority of these frauds and cheats were committed over the Internet or similar online services. Security is still a significant concern for e-commerce and a challenge for every company. Mitigate security threats and vulnerability is still a battle for every company [5]. Good security infrastructure means good productivity for the company. Figure 1: Incidents of Internet fraud [15] In this paper in the first section we will give a brief describe of e-commerce and the types of e-commerce, and then in second section we will describe the security issues and some of the threats and vulnerabilities- attacks in e-commerce. Last section discuss various defence mechanism uses to protect e-commerce security which is still high concerns of business. 2. E-commerce Background Information and communication technology has become more and more essential and integral part of businesses. This highly uses of information technology have changed the traditional way of doing business. This new way of doing business is known as Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce) or Electronic Business (E-Business) [12]. Electronic commerce or e-commerce means buying and selling of products or services over the part of internet called World Wide Web. According to Verisign [2004] electronic commerce is a strategic imperative for most competitive organisations today as it is a key to finding new sources of revenue, expanding into new markets, reducing costs, and creating breakaway business strategies. E-commerce includes electronic trading, trading of stocks, banking, hotel booking, purchases of airline tickets etc [2]. There are different types of e-commerce, but we will encompass the e-commerce on there types of business transaction: B2B ( business to business); B2C ( business to consumer); C2C (consumer to consumer) [4]. Business to Business (B2B) e-commerce- is simply defined as commerce transactions among and between businesses, such as interaction between two companies, between e manufacturer and wholesaler, between a wholesaler and a retailer [16]. There are four basic roles in B2B e-commerce suppliers, buyers, market-makers and web service providers. Every company or business plays at least one of them, and many companies or businesses play multiple roles [9]. According to the Queensland governments department of state development and innovation [2001] B2B ecommerce made up 94% of all e-commerce transactions [8]. The good examples and models of B2B are the companies such IBM, Hewlett Packard (HP), Cisco and Dell. Business-to-Consumer (B2C) e-commerce- is the commerce between companies and consumer, businesses sell directly to consumers physical goods (i.e., such as books, DVDs or consumer products), or information goods (goods of electronic material digitized content, such as software, music, movies or e-books) [10]. In B2C the web is usually used as a medium to order physical goods or information goods [8]. An example of B2C transaction would be when a person will buy a book from Amazon.com. According to eMarketer the revenue of B2C e-commerce form US$59.7 billion in 2000 will increase to US$428.1 billion by 2004 [10]. Consumer to Consumer (C2C) e-commerce- this is the type of e-commerce which involves business transactions among private individuals or consumers using the Internet and World Wide Web. Using C2C, costumers can advertise goods or products and selling them directly to other consumers. A good example of C2C is eBay.com, which is an online auction where costumers by using this web site are able to sell a wide variety of goods and products to each other [6]. There is less information on the size of global C2C e-commerce [10]. Figure 2 illustrates some of the e-commerce business describe above. Figure 2: Common e-Commerce business model [14] 3. Security threats to e-commerce Security has three basic concepts: confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Confidentiality ensures that only the authorized persons have access to the information, not access for the unauthorized persons, Integrity ensures the data stored on any devices or during a communication process are not altered by any malicious user, Availability ensures that the information must be available when it is needed [16]. Security plays an important role in e-commerce. The number of online transaction last years has a tremendous increase; this has been accompanied by an equal rise in the number of threats and type of attacks against e-commerce security [13]. A threat can be defined as the potential to exploit a weakness that may result in unauthorised access or use, disclosure of information or consumption, theft or destruction of a resource, disruption or modification [8]. E-commerce environment has different members involved E-commerce network: Shoppers who order and buy products or services Merchant who offer products or services to the shoppers The Software (Web Site) installed on the merchants server and the server The attackers who are the dangerous part of E-commerce network Looking on the above parties involved in the e-commerce network, it is easy to see that malicious hackers threaten the whole network and are the most dangerous part of network. These threats on e-commerce can abuse, misuse and cause high financial loss to business. Figure 3 briefly displays the methods the hackers use in an E-commerce network [11]. Figure 3: Target points of the attacker [11] The assets that must be protected to ensure secure electronic commerce in an E-commerce network include client (shopper) computers or client-side, transaction that travel on the communication channel, the Web site on the server and the merchants server- including any hardware attached to the server or server-side. Communication channel is one of the major assets that need to protect, but it is not the only concern in e-commerce security. Client- side security form the users point of view is the major security; server-side security is a major concern form the service providers point of view. For example, if the communication channel were made secure but no security measure for either client-side or server-side, then no secure transmission of information would exist at all [1, 2]. According to Figure 3 above there are some different security attack methods that an attacker or hacker can use to attack an E-commerce network. In the next section we will describes potential security attack methods. 4. Possible Attacks This section overviews and describes various attacks that can occur in the sense of an e-commerce application. Moreover, ethical aspects are taken into consideration. From an attackers point of view, there are multiple actions that the attacker can perform, whereas the shopper does not have any clue what is going on. The attackers purpose is to gain access to each and every information in the network flow from the when the buyer has pressed the buy button until the web site server has responded back. Furthermore, the attacker tries to attach the application system in a most discrete and ethical way. An onview of various attacks on ecommerce are given: Tricking the Shopper: One very profitable and simple way of capturing the shoppers behaviour and information to use against the attacker is by tricking the shopper, which in other words is known as the social engineering technique. This can be done in various ways. Some of them are: An attacker can call the shopper, representing to be an employee from a shopping site to extract information about the shopper. Thereafter, the attacker can call the shopping site and then pretend to be the shopper and ask them for the user information, and further ask for a password to reset the user account. This is a very usual scenario. Another example would be to reset the password by giving information about a shoppers personal information, such as the date of birth, mothers maiden name, favourite movie, etc. If it is the case the shopping websites gives away these information out, then retrieving the password is not a big challenge anymore. A last way of retrieving personal information, which by the way is used a lot during the world wide web today, is by using the phishing schemes. It is very difficult to distinguish for example, www.microsoft.com/shop with www.micorsoft.com/shop . The difference between these two is a switching between the letters r and o. But by entering into the wrong false shop to pretend to be an original shop with login forms with password fields, will provide the attacker all confidential information. And this is performed if the shopper mistypes this URL link. The mistyped URL might be sent through email and pretend to be an original shop without any notice from the buyer [11, 15]. Password Guessing: Attackers are also aware of that is possible to guess a shoppers password. But this requires information about the shopper. The attacker might need to know the birthday, the age, the last name, etc. of the shopper, to try of different combinations. It is very common that the personal information is used into the password by many users through the internet, since they are easy to be remembered. But still, it needs a lot of effort from the attackers view, to make a software that guesses the shoppers password. One very famous attack might be to look up words from the dictionary and use these as passwords, this is also known as the dictionary attack. Or the attacker might look at statistics over which passwords are most commonly used in the entire world [15]. Workstation Attack: A third approach is to trying to attack the workstation, where the website is located. This requires that the attacker knows the weaknesses of the workstation, since such weak points are always presented in work stations and that there exist no perfect system without any vulnerabilities. Therefore, the attacker might have a possibility of accessing the workstations root by via the vulnerabilities. The attacker first tries to see which ports are open to the existing work station by using either own or already developed applications. And ones the attacker has gained access to the system, it will therefore be possible to scan the workstations information about shoppers to retrieve their ID and passwords or other confidential information. Network Sniffing: When a shopper is visiting a shopping website, and there is a transaction ongoing, then the attacker has a fourth possibility. The possibility is called sniffing. That an attacker is sniffing means that all data which is exchanged between the client and server are being sniffed (traced) by using several applications. Network communication is furthermore not like human communication as well. In a human communication, there might be a third person somewhere, listening to the conversation. In the network communication technology, the data which is sent via the two parties are first divided in something called data packages before the actual sending from one part to another. The other part of the network will therefore gather these packages back into the one data which was sent to be read. Usually, the attacker seeks to be as close as possible to the either the shoppers site or near the shopper to sniff information. If the attacker places himself in the halfway between the shopper and website, the attacker might therefore retrieve every information (data packages). Given an example in this, then assuming a Norwegian local shopper wants to buy an item from a webshop located in the United States of America. The first thing which will happen is that the personal information data which is being sent from the shopper will be divided into small pieces of data to the server located in the USA. Since the data flow over the network is not controlled by the human, the packages might be send to different locations before reaching the destination. For instance, some information might go via France, Holland and Spain before actually reaching the USA. In such a case, the sniffer/attacker was located in France, Holland or Spain, will mean that the attacker might not retrieve every and single information. And given that data, the attacker might not analyze and retrieve enough information. This is exactly the reason why attackers are as close as possible to either the source or the destination point (client side or server side). Known Bug Attack: The known bug attack can be used on both the shoppers site and on the webpage site. By using already developed tools, the attacker can apply these tools to find out which software to the target the server is having and using. From that point, the attacker further need to find patches of the software and analyze which bugs have not been corrected by the administrators. And when knowing the bugs which are not fixed, the attacker will thus have the possibility of exploiting the system [11]. There are still many various of attacks one can do more than these described above. More attacks that be used against ecommerce application could by doing Denial of Service (DOS) attacks where the attacker impact the servers and by using several methods, the attacker can retrieve necessary information. Another known attack is the buffer overflow attack. If an attacker has gained access to the root, the attacker might further get personal information by making his own buffer, where all overflow (information) is transferred to the attackers buffer. Some attackers also use the possibility looking into the html code. The attacker might retrieve sensitive information from that code, if the html is not well structured or optimized. Java, Javascript or Active X export are being used in html as applets, and the attacker might also distort these and set a worm into the computer to retrieve confidential information. 5. Defence For each new attack presented in the real world, a new defence mechanism needs further to be presented as well to protect the society from unsuspicious issues. This section introduce some defence issues how to protect the attacks described in the section before. However, the main purpose from an sellers point of view in an ecommerce application is to protect all information. Protecting a system can be performed in several ways. Education: In order to decrease the tricking attacks, one might educate all shoppers. This issue requires a lot of effort in time and not simple, since many customers still will be tricked by common social engineering work. Merchants therefore have to keep and remind customers to use a secure password since this person is used as the identity. Therefore it is important to have different passwords for different websites as well and probably save these passwords in a secure way. Furthermore, it is very important not to give out information via a telephone conversation, email or online programs. Setting a safe Password: It is very important that customers do not use passwords which are related to themselves, such as their birthdays, childrens name, etc. Therefore it is important to use a strong password. A strong password has many definitions. For example, the length of passwords is an important factor with various special characters. If a shopper cannot find a strong password, then there are many net sites proving such strong passwords. Managing Cookies: When a shopper registers into a website with personal information, a cookie is being stored into the computer, so no information is needed to be entered again at next logon. This information is very useful for an attacker, therefore it is recommended to stop using cookies, which is an very easy step to do in the browser [11]. Personal Firewall: An approach of protecting the shoppers computer is by using a personal firewall. The purpose of the firewall is to control all incoming traffic to the computer from the outside. And further it will also control all out coming traffic. In addition, a firewall has also an intrusion detection system installed, which ensures that unwanted attempts at accessing, modification of disabling of the computer will not be possible. Therefore, it is recommended that a firewall is installed into the pc of a shopper. And since bugs can occur in a firewall, it is therefore further important to update the firewall [11]. Encryption and decryption: All traffic between two parties can be encrypted from it is being send from the client and decrypted when it has been received until the server, vice versa. Encrypting information will make it much more difficult for an attacker to retrieve confidential information. This can be performed by either using symmetric-key algorithms or asymmetric key algorithms [11]. Digital Signatures: Like the hand signatures which are performed by the human hand, there is also something known as the digital signature. This signature verifies two important things. First, it checks whether the data comes from the original client and secondly, it verifies if the message has been modified from it has been sent until it was received. This is a great advantage for ecommerce systems [11]. Digital Certificates: Digital signature cannot handle the problem of attackers spoofing shoppers with a false web site (man-in-the-middle-attack) to information about the shopper. Therefore, using digital certificates will solve this problem. The shopper can with very high probability accept that the website is legal, since it is trusted by a third party and more legal party. In addition, a digital certificate is not a permanent unlimited time trusted. Therefore one is responsible to see if the certificate is still valid or not [11]. Server Firewall: Unlike personal firewall, there is also something known as the server firewall. The server firewall is an more advanced program which is setup by using a demilitarized zone technique (DMZ) [11]. In addition, it is also possible to use a honey pot server [11]. These preventions were some out of many in the real world. It is very important to make users aware and administrators update patches to all used application to further protect their systems against attacks. One could also analyze and monitor security logs which are one big defence strategy, to see which traffic has occurred. Therefore it is important that administrators read their logs frequently and understand which parts have been hit, so administrators can update their system. 6. Conclusion In this paper firstly we gave a brief overview of e-commerce and its application, but our main attention and the aim of this paper was to present e-commerce security issues and various attacks that can occur in e-commerce, also we describe some of the defence mechanism to protect e-commerce against these attacks. E-commerce has proven its great benefit for the shopper and merchants by reducing the costs, but e-commerce security is still a challenge and a significant concern for everyone who is involved in e-commerce. E-commerce security dose not belong only technical administrators, but everyone who participate in e-commerce- merchants, shopper, service provider etc. Even there are various technologies and mechanisms to protect the E-commerce such as user IDs and passwords, firewall, SSL, Digital certificates etc, still we need to be aware and prepared for any possible attack that can occur in e-commerce.

Cellular and Mobile Communications Technology

Cellular and Mobile Communications Technology LUCAS A. EPPARD HISTORY OF GSM At the 1982 Conference of European Post and Telecommunications (CEPT), the standardization body, Groupe Speciale Mobile, was created to start work on a single European standard. The name of this standard was later changed to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). GSM is a wide area wireless communications system that uses digital radio transmission to provide voice, data, and multimedia communication services.[1] A GSM system manages the communication between mobile telephones, radio towers, and interconnecting switching systems. The development of the GSM specification began later that year, with the first commercial GSM system later being deployed in 1991. By 2004, there were over a billion GSM subscribers in more than 205 countries and territories across the globe.[2] Before the GSM system was implemented, most countries used cellular systems that were often in conflict with each other. Most mobile telephones could only function on their specific cellular network, and as a result many customers could not travel to neighboring countries and still expect service. With various types of systems only serving exclusive groups of people, the large-scale production necessary to manufacture low-cost subscriber equipment was not practical. This resulted in high equipment costs and systems were not very successful in the open market. In 1990, the first phase of GSM specifications was finalized. This included basic voice and data services.[3] Around the same time, the initial efforts were made to modify the GSM specification to offer service at the 1800 MHz frequency range. DCS 1800, which the standard is now known as, is used for the Personal Communications Network (PCN).[4] Since that time, Phase 2 of the GSM and DCS 1800 specifications has been completed. In this phase, enhanced data transfer capabilities and advanced short messages services were added. [5] GSM RADIO â€Å"GSM radio is a wireless communication system that divides geographic areas into small radio areas (cells) that are interconnected with each other.†[6] Each of the coverage areas has one or more transmitters and receivers that converse with cellular handsets in its designated area. GSM radio systems function in a particular frequency band or bands that have been assigned to the system. Depending on the frequency plan, system administrators may choose to recycle specific radio channels at different cell sites. Through a combination of either TDMA or FDMA, subscribers share each radio channel. A GSM radio channel is 200 kHz wide and is further divided into frames that are made up of eight time slots. Each cell site may contain several channels which are shared by as many as 8 to 16 voice users per radio channel. TDMA Time division multiple access (TDMA) is a method of sharing one radio channel through the division of time slots which are then subsequently allocated among multiple users of that radio channel.[7] A mobile radio is assigned a particular time and position on a channel when it communicates with a TDMA system. Through this process, it is possible for a TDMA system to allow multiple users to operate on a single radio channel through the use of separate time slots. TDMA systems therefore amplify their capacity to serve several users with a limited number of radio channels. GSM employs time division multiplexing (TDM) to distribute one modulated carrier frequency radio waveform between 16 half rate or 8 full rate phone calls.[8] Because of this, a clear distinction is often made between a communication channel and a radio carrier in many publications pertaining to GSM. DUPLEX CHANNELS Duplex communication is the transmission of voice and/or data signals that allows simultaneous 2-way communication.[9] In order for duplex communication to occur on analog systems, a separate voice path must be assigned to both a transmitter and frequency. This method of using two frequencies for duplex communication is called frequency division duplex (FDD).[10] Time division duplex (TDD) is another technique that can be used for duplex communication. Time sharing allows two devices to achieve two way communications through TDD. Similar to how a walkie-talkie works; one device transmits while another receives. Once the original transmission is complete, the second device becomes the transmitter while the first becomes the receiver. This process then constantly repeats itself so that the data seems to flow in both directions instantaneously. The GSM system utilizes both FDD and TDD communication. One frequency is used while the handset communicates with the cell tower, while the reverse communication from the tower to the handset uses the other frequency.[11] However, TDD is also used in the GSM system while the transmitter and receiver talk at different times. This time offset between the transmission and reception also helps to streamline the design of the handset. The radio frequency separation between the forward (downlink) and reverse (uplink) frequencies differs between the frequency bands. As a general rule, the separation must be greater between the forward and reverse channels at the higher frequencies. For instance, the frequency separation in the GSM 900MHz system is 45 MHz while the separation is 95 MHz for PCN. Finally, the GSM PCS 1900 MHz system has a frequency separation of 80 MHz.[12] VOICE SERVICES Voice service is a form of communication service in which multiple users can transmit information over the voice frequency band via a communication network.[13] Voice service consists of the initiation of sessions between at least two users which allows for the real time, or near real time, transmission of voice signals between those users. A GSM network delivers numerous types of digital voice services. A number of factors can affect the quality of voice service on a GSM system. However, through the use of several distinct forms of speech compression a GSM system can dynamically adjust the voice quality.[14] Each service provider has the ability to choose and manage which speed compression process (voice coding) their network utilizes. Service providers can increase the amount of users that they provide service to through the use of voice coders that possess higher speech compression rates. However, this comes at the cost of delivering a more degraded signal to each user. Besides ba sic voice services, the GSM system can also provide both group and broadcast voice services. DATA SERVICES A data service is a communication service that transmits information between two or more devices. By means of a communication network, data services can be delivered either inside or outside of the audio frequency band. Data service consists of the creation of physical and logical communication sessions between two or more users. This allows for the non-real time or near-real time transfer of data type signals between users.[15] However, a data modem has to be used in the event that a signal is broadcast on a non-digital channel. The data modem is needed to translate the signal into tones that can be sent in the audio frequency band. GSM voice traffic channels cannot send or receive analog modem data because the speech coder utilized by the system is only capable of compressing voice signals.[16] Medium speed packet data and low-speed circuit switched data are the two services provided in a GSM system. Circuit switched data is a communication process that maintains a committed communications path between two devices.[17] This can be accomplished no matter the amount of data being sent between the devices. This provides sole use of the circuit to the communications equipment employing it regardless of whether or not the circuit is idle. In order to create a circuit-switched data connection, the address must be sent before a connection path is established. Once this occurs, data is continually transmitted usin g this path until it is disconnected by request from either the sender or receiver.[18] Packet switched data service is the other utilized by a GSM system. Through the division of data into small packets, information can be transferred between two points. In order to reconstruct the original data, the packets are routed through the network and recombined at the receiving end. This can be achieved because the destination address is contained within each individual packet. So no matter which route the packets take through the network they will end up at the same destination. The GSM system uses general packet radio service (GPRS) to provide its packet data service. In using the GPRS system, new gateways and packet control channels are added to a GSM system. It is important to note that GPRS is a type of packet-switched data service that is known as â€Å"always-on.† This means that when a device is turned on it acquires an IP address that it needs in order to communicate with the network.[19] CDMA Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is a digital cellular radio system currently in use in more than 35 countries around the world.[20] It is a form of spread spectrum communications in which a radio signal is transmitted over a dedicated channel as a much wider signal than is traditionally necessary. By using a signal with a wider than normal bandwidth, interference from other users on the same section of bandwidth is minimized. This permits several users to share the radio channel at the same time. Come in two basic forms: frequency hopping and code division.[21] Frequency hopping multiple access (FHMA) is an access technology in which mobile radios or cellular handsets share radio channels by breaking their transmissions down into short bursts over a number of frequencies. A device transmits for a short period of time on one frequency, and then hops to another radio frequency to continue its transmission. CDMA allows a number of users to share a single radio channel frequency simultaneously by designating a unique code sequence to each mobile radio. By assigning a particular hop pattern to each mobile device collisions can be minimized. Even if collisions do occur randomly only a small amount of data may be lost. Furthermore, error detection and correction methods can be implemented in order to fix the data that was lost.[22] Compared to previous narrowband wireless systems, CDMA technology is a wideband spread spectrum system. It is important to note that the features, services and requirements for CDMA were developed by standards organizations using many pre-existing technologies. For this reason, CDMA is considered a second generation (2G) cellular system. HISTORY OF CDMA The growth of CDMA technology began in the United States in 1989 as a result of the CTIA next cellular generation technology requirements.[23] In September of the previous year the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) presented the User Performance Requirements (UPR) for the next generation of wireless service. In 1989 the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) designated TDMA as the radio interface standard. Later that year QUALCOMM was able to build a CDMA system that met the CTIA requirements. This was achieved largely through the support of mobile telephone manufacturers and carriers, as well as new infrastructure equipment.[24] QUALCOMM and its associates presented the results of their field trials at the end of 1991. This pushed the CTIA Board of Directors to implement a resolution which requested TIA to structurally organize new developments from wideband systems. By mid-1993 TIA had voted on and accepted IS-95 as the CDMA air interface standard radio specifications. The systems which were based on the IS-95 standard became known as cdmaOne systems.[25] In 1995 the first commercial CDMA network was implemented in Hong Kong. CDMA RADIO CDMA is the fasted growing technology in wireless communications. A CDMA network consists of the same basic components as other wireless systems. This includes a mobile station, base station, a controller, and finally a switching network. In CDMA, a carrier frequency is separated into 64 individual channels through the use of codes. Each channel transmits the data associated with a separate and unique conversation in digitally coded form.[26] In some cases an independently coded channel transmits signals related to the start of a connection. In spread spectrum systems like CDMA, one carrier holds multiple channels. This can sometimes lead to confusion when discussing CDMA with someone who is familiar with the older analog frequency division multiplex (FDM) systems. With older FDM systems a channel is synonymous with a carrier. Therefore each pair of carrier frequencies was able to carry only one conversation.[27] All CDMA networks use a specific radio frequency band for signals from the base transmitter to the mobile receiver and a second distinct radio frequency band for the signals from the mobile transmitter to the base receiver.[28] CDMA technology can be used in either the existing 800 MHz cellular frequency band or the 1900 MHz personal communications service (PCS) band. CDMA has the ability to function in the same radio spectrum allocation as older cellular systems when it is being used on those networks. The mobile station transmit frequency band is between 824-849 MHz, while the base station transmit frequency ranges from 869-894 MHz.[29] When in use in the 800 MHz band, CDMA maintains a 45 MHz separation between the forward and reverse channels. Some radio carrier frequencies are defined for CDMA use in its cellular network. However, not all of these frequencies are used for CDMA transmission. This is because the FCC requires that analog radio transmission (AMPS) continue to operate . CDMA operation is also compliant with the frequency structure of the PCS band. The separation of the forward and reverse channels is 80 MHz while operating on this band. The mobile station transmit frequency band is between 1850-1909 MHz; while the base station transmit frequency band ranges from 1930-1989 MHz.[30] Some CDMA systems operate in the Personal Communications System (PCS) frequency bands. PCS is mostly found in North America on the 1900 MHz frequency band, where it is known as PCS-1900. Due to the commonality of the base band signals, some manufacturers make dual band CDMA handsets that are capable of operating on both the 800 MHz and 1900 MHz bands.[31] If a subscriber’s handset is manufactured to allow dual frequency band operation it is possible to obtain service on either or both systems. However, this can only be achieved if the CDMA networks in the region are properly linked. As CDMA moved further towards a third generation technology, the CDMA2000 arose as t he next level of the IS-95 standard. 3G TECHNOLOGIES The term first generation system (1G) is most commonly used in regards to older analog cellular systems. These analog systems eventually gave way to the newer digital second generation systems (2G) that are popular today. 2G systems in use today include the GSM and cdmaOne systems previously mentioned in this paper as well as the US-TDMA and PDC systems.[32] These systems allowed voice communications to go wireless in most of the industrialized world and have drastically increased mobile handset functions. Subscribers have come to expect their cellular networks to provide them with text messaging and data access capabilities. In the United States it is almost unheard of now for a network provider to not offer data services in excess of 500 MB if not at least 1GB per month. The abundance of 2G technologies spurred the demand for even greater services. At the 1992 World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC) of the ITU (International Telecommunications Union), member nation delegates began to investigate the frequencies that would be available for future expansion of 3G systems.[33] The International Mobile Telecommunications System 2000 (IMT-2000) was created as a result of this meeting. It is important to note that IMT-2000 is often used interchangeably with Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). UMTS defined a wireless communication system that operates in the 2GHz frequency band.[34] The primary objective of IMT-2000 standard was the development of a single universal air interface that was built upon pre-existing infrastructure. This would help to keep start-up costs low and potentially allow international roaming. The Third Generation Partnership Program (3GPP) was created to coordinate this process. It became evident early on that a single air interface would be nearly impossible to attain so a second committee was formed to oversee the process of bringing other air interfaces up to the IMT-2000 standard. A second partnership program was established to ensure this would occur and the 3GPP2 was born. The two partnership programs are essentially drawn along the fault lines of GSM and CDMA. UMTS, which is often used synonymously with Wideband CDMA or WCDMA, has become the standard for GSM 3G technologies and falls under the umbrella of 3GPP1. The 3GPP2 on the other hand focuses on the CDMA2000 standard.[35] BIBLIOGRAPHY Arokiamary, V. J. (2009). Cellular and Mobile Communications. Pune, India: Technical Publications Pune. Balston. D.M. and Macario, R.V. (1993). Cellular Radio Systems. Norwood, Massachusetts: Artech House. Gibson, J. (ed) (1999). The Mobile Communications Handbook, 2nd ed. Dallas, Texas: CRC Press LLC. Haddon, L. and Green N. (2009). Mobile Communications: An Introduction to New Media. New York: Berg. Harte, L. et.al. (1999). CDMA IS-95 for Cellular and PCS : Technology, Economics and Services. New York: McRaw-Hill. Holma, Harri, and Antti Toskala (eds). (2002) WCDMA for UMTS: Radio Access for Third Generation Mobile Communications, 2nd ed. John Wiley Sons. Holtzman, J. M. and Zorzi, M. (2002). Advances in Wireless Communications. New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Lee, W. C. Y. (2006) Wireless and Cellular Telecommunications, 3rd ed. New York: McGraw Hill Professional. Mouly, M. and Pautet, M. (1992). The GSM System for Mobile Communications. Palaiseau, France: Telecom Publishing . Poole, I. (2006). Cellular Communications Explained: From Basics to 3G. Oxford: Elsevier Ltd. Shing-Fong Su. (2007). The UMTS Air-Interface in RF Engineering: Design and Operation of UMTS Networks. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional.