Significance of the study Essay Example for Free

Significance of the study Essay Using a help desk management software leads to the increase in efficiency in operation as it allows for the solution of some of the redundant issues over call. This has the effect of reducing traveling costs and man-hour billing to field engineers as they go to customer sites. Research Question The purpose of this research is to determine whether purchasing COTS or building a service desk tracking application is best for the automation and tracking of the GovComm, Inc. Engineering Support Services’ Helpdesk. To answer this question, this research must explore: ? The entities of GovComm, Inc. Engineering Support Services’ Helpdesk ? Based on advantages and disadvantages, which qualities of each configuration best adhere to Engineering Support Services automation and asset tracking; ? If these applications fulfill stakeholders requirements Design and Methodology This research is qualitative, drawing mostly from a review of the literature on the subject of Helpdesk/support desk tracking applications and the battle of building versus buying to determine which application structure provides efficient asset tracking, failure notification, and metrics collection. GovComm, Inc.’s Engineering Support Services will be reviewed to discover details that might affect the factors that will contribute to the decision of choosing build or buy. From the review of the internal workings of GovComm, Inc. ’s Engineering Support Services a decision will be made upon comparison with the inherent nature of the two systems of implementation. Chapter 2 Literature Review Automated office systems support (AOSS) is a model made up of teams of technicians in computer who are charged with the responsibility of providing a variety of support activities in a desktop computer environment and area networks for any organization. To ensure the provision of high quality services and products, each of these teams must follow the processes, standard and procedures. A process referred to as quality assurances is used in monitoring and evaluation of the level of adherence to the procedures processes and standard in a bid to determine the potential quality that the product will attain. Therefore, QA involves review and audit of the services and activities as a means of verification of their compliance with the relevant procedures and standards so as to assure the appropriate results are seen. The question of whether to buy or build an AOSS is one of the very complex decisions that an organization has to deal with in its daily activities. It is in deed a perpetual dilemma for the organizations that are contemplating on automating their office activities. Buying implies purchasing an off-shelf Automated office systems support that are produced in mass by some software company, more often multinationals (Leopoldo, 1999). The products typically contain contents that are not unique to a particular organizations or user population needs. Moreover, it is the general trend in the software industry to create new softwares that do no conflict with the existing and thus the technology can be implemented without conflict with the existing systems. Build imply the creation of Automated office systems support from scratch (Leopoldo, 1999). Therefore, the process of building requires the determination of the organizational needs, the data and information nature and needs of the organization, design of the system an the actual implementation of the system. The process of building may and often include testing the end product to ensure that its functionality are as per the objectives that acted as the basis for its formulation (Leopoldo, 1999). A decision to buy or build a Automated office systems support may seem to be complex but in reality it can be reduced to three considerations: Resources, Needs and uniqueness. The organization must clearly determine its needs and wants before a decision is made, this may involve identification of features which are critical in meeting the organizations needs. In determination of the organizational needs they must consider the following:? Organizational objectives ? Skills ? Information needs ? Culture ? Corporate direction. Meeting all the needs is an impossible event and therefore setting priorities is inevitable. Resources Resource as a factor is one that many organizations and individual would quickly jump at an opportunity to ignore. However, examination of resources is a very important aspect to the development agenda. Moreover, many organizations make the mistake of viewing resource in the monetary dimension only. Although money as a resource is quite critical, two other pieces; time and personnel, need to be considered to complete the puzzle (Shrapre, 1999). Time When taken in the context of either building or buying a Automated office systems support, time takes the following into account: ? The time that will taken in decision making. ? The developmental time of the Automated office systems support including the time taken in testing. ? The time taken in rolling out the Automated office systems support or implement it within the organization. Analysis of organizations against the three time variables helps in the determination of the importance of time in deciding whether to buy or build.

Projectery :: essays research papers

Projectery Diagram Method The A3 sheet of white paper was attached to the board, with drawing pins, and the board was placed underneath a book, to put it on a slight incline. Using a protractor, lines were drawn on as a guide for where to line up the marble. The lines were drawn at 30 O, all the way to 70 O, at 5O intervals. A runner was needed to drop the marble down to the inclined board. A piece of card was used, that was bent in half to create a runway. Wherever the marble went off the board, was marked. The result was confirmed by measuring from the point the marble was thrown to the point it fell of the board. We produced the test a couple of times to find the best results. Results Angle  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Range (cm) 30 O  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  24.3 35 O  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  25.9 40 O  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  26.6 45 O  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  27.0 50 O  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  27.8 55 O  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  26.8 60 O  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  24.6 65 O  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  20.6 70 O  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  18.2 Conclusion Prediction: At 45 degrees the marble will travel the longest. At 45 O the vertical velocity and the horizontal velocity are the same. Example: In the vertical direction the object decelerates at 10ms-2(approx). It will take exactly 1 second for it to reach its maximum height. This is because of the following. 10ms-2 means every second velocity decreases by 10ms-1. It will take half a second to decrease by 5ms-1. Therefore, 5/10 = 0.5, Decrease in velocity / deceleration. 2 x 0.5 = 1second. During this one second, the object will travel a horizontal distance. Range = horizontal velocity x time = 5 x 1 = 5m The experiment that has been undertaken here has gone slightly off course simply because of the prediction being 45 O. This experiment has shown that it reached its height at 60 O, which could have been interrupted by several things. The things that could have altered the final results are the following: The runway may not have been perfectly on level with the lines of angle. The board wasn’t at same height. The speed of movement at the beginning from the marble. The runway wasn’t steady. The runway may have been at different heights. To produce a fairer test, an average could have been taken, or a more suitable runway. I believe that a bigger board and easier lines to follow would have made it much easier and more accurate. How applied to sport? Projectery is used in almost every sport, e.g. Javelin: When throwing the javelin. Shot put: When throwing the shot put. Football: When kicking the ball. Projectery is used in sport as many use this to judge the best way to be able to get the distance that they want.

Callaway Golf Canada

| Callaway Golf Canada: The Mobile Performance Team| Case Study| | | | Jamie Merrimen 100117777 October 12, 2012 Business 1703 D1 Dr. Conor Vibert | Problem Statement Wayne Mallette is the director of performance management for Callaway Golf Canada, the world`s largest golf club manufacturer. In 2004, Mallette launched the Mobile Performance Team (MPT), a team of 20 consultants who demonstrate the Callaway equipment line as well as measuring customers for custom equipment at private golf courses during the golf season.Mallette has been asked by Callaway Canada`s managing director to design a plan for the approaching 2008 golf season to make sure that Callaway Canada will stay ahead of its competitors. Mallette is faced with multiple choices for possible improvement, or the option to continue with the current operations. Important Facts * The golf manufacturing market is highly competitive. It is important for Callaway Golf Canada to stay ahead of the competition in order for them to keep their reputation and status, as well as increasing their sales. After the success of Callaway Golf`s Mobile Performance Team, other golf manufacturers are likely to follow lead and provide more service to their customers. * Callaway Golf philosophy states that the company intends to give more golfers more opportunities, by designing, creating, building, and selling the best golf clubs. Callaway Golf also believes that by making golf more enjoyable for the average golfer, the game of golf will grow. * In early 2008, Callaway Golf was the largest golf club manufacturer in the world. Golf equipment products have a life cycle of about two years, resulting in pressure on companies to release successful new products every year. Failure to release successful new products will result in poor sales in the current year, as well as future sales by hurting the company’s reputation. * Companies in the industry used two strategies: focusing resources on research and development to dev elop new, innovative products; or focusing resources on securing endorsements from professional golfers on tours, which led to an increase in sales from exposure.Callaway preferred to maintain a small amount of endorsements with high-profile players, while investing and focusing more on research and development. * From 2005 to 2007, nearly 65% of Callaway’s sales occurred during the first half of the year. * Callaway’s customers are players from every ability level and a wide range of socioeconomic groups. * Small golf specialty stores were the Callaway’s biggest customer. Other customers included sporting goods retailers, mass merchants, golf retailers, and pro shops. * The United States Golf Association began to institute policies limiting manufacturer innovation.This leaves manufacturers struggling to find different ways to compete. Other firms had cut prices as a way of competing, which resulted in a loss of margins across the industry. Firms were also focus ing more on securing endorsements with tour professionals. * The goal of the MPT is to maximize the performance of each individual golfer, not to maximize Callaway’s sales, even if it means recommending a competitor’s product. * The MPT program costs about $500,000 annually. * Callaway has a sales conversion of about 75% from custom fitting sessions. Alternative Solutions 1) Mallette has many different ideas on how to improve Callaway’s sales.His first option is to leave the MPT program unchanged; as it has been so successful he does not want to jinx it by changing something that could potentially decrease profit for Callaway’s Golf. 2) Callaway Golf does not currently require their mobile performance consultants (MPCs) to be professionally certified. If the MPCs were to be professionally certified, they would not only be able to give a hybrid service of custom fitting, but they would also be authorized to provide official lessons. This would add greater value to the private fitting and consultations if there were to be a private lesson included.Having a professional on site would increase the credibility and effectiveness of the consultations. An inconvenience in this plan is that `to become certified in Canada, an individual must work a minimum of 35 hours per week under a head professional and pass a playing ability test (Jackman, Brett (2008) Callaway Golf Canada. Ivey Cases page 9). 3) Mallette also is considering pairing the MPCs up with professional staff at the club the MPC is working at. This would have the same benefit of having professionally certified MPCs, but there wouldn`t be the one-on-one aspect that many club members enjoy and value.On the contrary, club members may be comforted by having a member of their club`s professional staff present, it may lead the club member to trust Callaway Golf and the MPC more. It would also be beneficial as the club member could consult the club`s staff member if they had any more qu estions after the MPC had left. The inconvenience in this scenario is that Callaway would have to pay the club staff member as well as the MPC. 4) Another option would be to update the equipment that Callaway Golf MPC`s use during their consultations.They currently are using Accusport Vector machines that are in fine working condition, but the newest model has just been launched, the Vector Pro monitor which would be useful for the golf professionals during lessons as it incorporates video swing analysis into the fitting process. This may also add value to the consultations. The downside to this solution is that each monitor would cost $3,500, as well as bringing all 20 MPCs to the head office for a training day at the expense of Callaway Golf. 5) There is currently only one MPC per territory in Canada.There is an average of 30 different accounts in each territory, and Mallette believes that hiring more MPCs would be beneficial in by being able to give more attention to each account . Mallette says that by doubling the amount of MPCs, the amount of service provided would be doubled. This means that the cost of the MPT program would be doubled as well, considering training and wage expenses. Most fitting days are scheduled for four hours; typically, each golf club currently has one fitting day per month, as there is insufficient demand to require more (Jackman, Brett (2008) Callaway Golf Canada.Ivey Cases page 8). This leads to the fact that there is insufficient demand for Callaway Golf to hire more MPCs. 6) Callaway Golf is focused on working with their current accounts, which are mainly private clubs. If they were to work more closely with public clubs across the country by bringing them MPT program, more sales could potentially be made. This option would only be realistic if more MPCs were hired, as there are many public clubs across the country and the MPT wouldn’t be as successful if they started neglecting their current accounts.Decision Criteria P rofitability: Choosing to leave the MTP program the same would result in Callaway Golf`s net income for 2008 to slightly decline or slightly increase. There wouldn`t be much change seeing as there was no change to the MTP program. The cause of decrease would come from the possibility of Callaway`s competitors launching a program similar to the MTP, causing Callaway`s to experience fewer sales. The increase could happen if the competitors programs weren`t a success.Changing the hiring requirements for MTCs would result in a loss of time and money in order to train current employees, or hire professionally certified employees and train them to be MTPs. Since having professionally certified employees would add value to the consultations, Callaway could increase their prices. It isn`t clear if this would generate more income in the end result. This solution would benefit only members of private clubs where the consultations are held, and public club members may start opting for cheaper products if Callaway’s increases its prices, which would lead to lower sales.Pairing MTCs with club staff would cost Callaway more in wages expense. It may result in more sales since customers would feel more comfortable with a club staff member, therefore more willing to trust Callaway Golf and buy their product, resulting in more sales. This solution would benefit only members of private clubs where the consultations are held, and public club members may start opting for cheaper products if Callaway’s increases its prices, which would lead to lower sales. Updating equipment would cost both the equipment price, and the price of training all current MTCs.This would also add more value to the consultations, which would lead to an increase in price of Callaway’s products, which may or may not lead to an increase in long term income. This solution would benefit only members of private clubs where the consultations are held, and public club members may start opting for cheaper products if Callaway’s increases its prices, which would lead to lower sales. Hiring 20 more MPCs would not be beneficial for Callaway Golf, seeing as there is not enough demand. This would lead to a loss in profit since the extra profit would not be sufficient to cover the extra wage expense.Hiring more MPCs to do consultations at public clubs would lead to an increase in sales for Callaway Golf. Looking at how much the net income increased after launching the MTP program in private clubs, it seems it would be beneficial to launch the program in public clubs as well. There are many more public clubs across Canada, so the sales made at all of these clubs would be greater than the wages expense for the new employees. Customer Satisfaction: Leaving the MTP program unchanged would result in the customer satisfaction rate leveling off and eventually declining s competitors improved their programs.Changing hiring requirements to include only professionally certified em ployees would increase customer satisfaction since there would be more value added to consultations, although this would lead to a price increase which could decrease the customer satisfaction rate if the price increase were too high. Pairing MTCs with club staff would have the same result as hiring only professionally certified staff, although customer satisfaction would likely increase since customers would be more comfortable with a member of the club’s staff.Updating equipment would also increase customer satisfaction because it would be adding value to the consultations. The product price increase may decrease the satisfaction rate. Hiring 20 more MPCs would only lead to customer satisfaction if they were introduced into public clubs. The public club members would likely be very happy to have a private consultation, which leads to a higher rate of customer satisfaction. If 20 more MPCs were hired only to work in private clubs, the unique value of consultations would go d own, causing fewer sales and more employees with nothing to do. RecommendationBased on the decision criteria, the best choice for Wayne Mallette to ensure that Callaway Golf Canada stays one step ahead of their competition is to hire more MTCs to work in public clubs. This is the best choice because both profitability and customer satisfaction would increase. It would also assure customers that Callaway Golf is not only a company for intense golf players, but for average players just like the Callaway Golf philosophy states. Starting consultations in public clubs would build Callaway’s reputation even more, increase sales and profit, and customer satisfaction. This is the best case scenario for Mallette to choose.

Analysis Of Octavia Butler s Dawn The Idea Of Gender

In Octavia Butler’s Dawn the idea of gender is deconstructed and reformed from the typical human’s definition. Often people do not consider the role of gender in society today. Usually the first thing one notices when meeting someone new is their gender or their presumed gender. However, there becomes a problem when the person whose gender we perceived identifies as a different gender. Butler forces the reader to examine how they judge and perceive gender. While the ooloi are actually â€Å"its† their personalities seem to imply a certain gender. The transgender community often brings up this issue because these assumptions of gender based on our judgments of what defines a male and what defines a female can skew how a transgender person is treated and addressed. In Chapter One of Gender Through the Prism of Difference by Anne Fausto-Sterling, the idea of expanding the number of genders based on one’s biological differences is examined through the five sex es theory. By now the concept of gender being defined solely by one’s biology has mostly been left in the past but the question remains of how do we truly define gender? How does being outside of the social norms that Michael Warner talks about cause us to feel shame when discussing our gender and our perceptions of gender? In this essay, I will argue that preconceived notions of gender create shame when a person’s own perception of their gender does not fit the social norms. This stigma around the limited and strict definitionsShow MoreRelatedLiterary Criticism : The Free Encyclopedia 7351 Words   |  30 Pagesnovel is sometimes used interchangeably with Bildungsroman, but its use is usually wider and less technical. The birth of the Bildungsroman is normally dated to the publication of Wilhelm Meister s Apprenticeship by Johann Wolfgang Goethe in 1795–96,[8] or, sometimes, to Christoph Martin Wieland s Geschichte des Agathon of 1767.[9] Although the Bildungsroman arose in Germany, it has had extensive influence first in Europe and later throughout the world. Thomas Carlyle translated Goethe’s novel