Theories of development are important Essay Example for Free

Theories of development are important Essay A theorist is a person who develops or believes an idea in which to explain something, including what, how and why. Theories are development through observations, analysing and experiments. Theories of development are important because they help us to understand children’s behaviour, to help us understand the sequence that children and young people develop. Theorists- influencing current practice. Cognitive development. A Swiss biologist and psychologist jean piaget (1896-1980) is renowned for constructing a highly influential model of child development and learning. He suggested that children develop cognitive skills through mental â€Å"maps†, schemes and network concepts for understanding and responding to physical experiences within his or hers environment. Piagets theory identifies four developments stages these four stages are, sensorimotor stage 0-2 years, preoperational stage 2-7 years, concrete operations 7-11 years, formal operations 11-15 years. Educators must plan activities that are developmentally appropriate according to the curriculum which expands the student’s logical and conceptual growth. Another theorist that supports cognitive development is Vygotsky. He believes that children learn and understand through others around them, such as friends and family. He believed that children need challenges and teaching experiences set for them to help them develop in all areas and to help them to reach their full potential. Psychoanalytical development. Sigmund freud (1856-1939) another theorist believed that there are 3 parts to each child and young person’s personality. He believed that there are; the ID, the ego and the super ego. He believed that these 3 parts aren’t always there from when the child is born but develop with the child as they grow. He said that they are different through certain factors and behaviour between each different child, Humanist. Abraham maslow (1908-1970) looked at peoples motivation in the 1940’s. He believed that people needed to meet their fundamental needs before they could meet their potential or self-actualisation. He believed that if they were not met then they would become a deficiency in the person. This links to practice because we need to meet the needs of the children for, warmth, care, hunger and environment that they are providing and what they do to meet the children’s needs. Social learning. Social learning theorists believe that we learn through observing others. Albert bandura born 1925 believes that we learn through ‘imitation’. Eric Erikson (1902-1994) believed that a child and a young person’s personality will change throughout their life, due to social development and experiences. This links to practice as nursery practitioners are told to be good role models to the children. This is because they observe us and ‘copy’ or ‘imitate’ actions that we may make. Operant conditioning. The theory of operant conditioning is based on learning from the consequences or reinforcement due to a type of behaviour. B.F skinner (1904-1990) is recognised as a key figure for developing the behaviourist approach to learning and developing the theory for operant conditioning. He believed that we learn through our experiences in the environment and the consequences to our behaviour. Skinner separated the sequence of actions into three groups; 1; positive reinforces 2; negative reinforces 3; punishers. The positive reinforcers are what make us repeat actions or behaviour when we get something we desire. Skinner suggested that the positive reinforcement was the most effective way of encouraging new learning, such as getting attention from adults, receiving praise and receiving rewards. The negative reinforcers is a behaviour that also makes us repeat actions or behaviour, but not in a bad way but in a way to stop something bad happening from something good. For example children may learn to hold onto the stair rail when walking down the stairs to steady them self rather than feeling the need to sit on their bottom and bump down them. The ‘punisher’ is what is going to stop people from repeating behaviour, such as checking the temperature of the bath water before getting in it, after burning yourself because you didn’t check. Skinner also researched unexpected positive reinforcers. This is when children show negative behaviour to receive attention from adults. He proved that showing more frequent positive reinforcement was the most thriving way to help children learn about acceptable behaviour. This links to practice because we reward and praise children for showing positive behaviour. Nursery practitioners often say ‘well done’ to children as a way of praising them for showing positive behaviour than their negative behaviour. We also try to focus more on children’s positive behaviour rather than their negative behaviour, this is because they eventually learn that their good behaviour is more noticed and praised than their bad behaviour. This proves skinners theory. Behaviourist. The behaviourist theories suggest that learning is influenced by rewards, punishments and environmental factors. ‘conditioning’ is often used by behaviourists because we learn in a certain way due to past experiences that teach us not to do something or to do something. Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) was a physiologist who was studying dogs. Whilst doing this he recognised that the dogs started to salivate before their food had been put down for them. He came to the conclusion that they were doing this because they learnt to associate the arrival of the food with other things such as, the sound of footsteps and the bowls or buckets. He did and experiment to look at this more closely. He used a bell because dogs do not salivate when hearing a bell. The dogs eventually begun to associate the bell with been fed. He then rang the bell constantly and eventually the dogs begin to stop salivating and finally did not react to the sound of the bell. Behaviourists use the term extinction when this happens. John b.watson (1878-1958 Took up pavlovs work and demonstrated that children and adults can be classically conditioned. In an experiment he created a phobia of rats in a little boy known as little Albert. In our practice we do not experiment or use classical conditioning, although we may recognise it among the children for example, children may become excited when they see bowls or a tray been brought into the room, they may associate this with food being given to them after this happens. Another example would be that at the end of the day all the children put their coats on they then may anticipate home time because they associate putting their coats on with their parents arriving to take them home. It is also useful to remember that classical conditioning can relate to children’s phobias. Social pedagogy. Social pedagogy is the holistic and thoughtful way of working. The aim of this is to improve the life chances and social outcomes of babies and children, therefore we must work with each other as well as the children to find the best possible way of improving these outcomes. The theories of development that have been shown help childcare workers put together framework and education for the children. It also helps us to understand why babies, children and young people do things the way they do. Conclusion. This shows that theorists have helped us come to conclusions for why we do things the way we do as well as how we learn through our experiences. It also helps to understand these theories so that we can provide better care and knowledge in the childcare setting. Task c. introduction pack for a new staff member. At the mother goose pre-school we monitor each child’s development we do this by using the learning journey. In the children’s learning journey we have â€Å"early learning goals† for each specific age group, to give us guidelines or the â€Å"norm† development for each stage of their time at the setting. We also carry out observations on the children to show which stage they are at, at the time on the early learning goals. Before any observations take place on the children, permission must be given from the parent/carer, this is also helpful as we can share findings with the child’s parent/carer and they can share findings with ourselves. If we were to do observations on a child without consent from their parent/carer then they may feel angry and upset as they may not understand that this is normal practice and help us to help the children. Assessment methods. Here are two examples of assessment methods we use to monitor a child’s development; checklist/tick chart and a free description with a snap shot picture. A checklist and tick chart observation is a chart with particular activities written on and the child is observed to see if they can reach the milestones set according to the child’s age. These observations are usually taken place when structured activities are set up for the children to do and are based over a longer period of time, but are taken place less frequently to show the progress in the children’s development. The advantage of using this observation is that you can observe more than one child at a time and they are quick and easy to use. The disadvantage of this is that observing at different times may produce different results and that it only shows what the child can and cannot do, not how confident and happy they are to attempt tasks and join in. A free description with a snap shot picture is to show skills that children show or are seen doing. A description of what you see is written into a small observation sheet and put the child’s learning journey next to the picture of them doing so. These observations are used frequently to show what milestones the child is at for their age group. The observation has the advantage of been able to use it frequently and no preparation is needed. Although the advantage is that different observers pick up on different things that children do and it can be hard sometimes to find the right words to use to describe what you are seeing. Examples of why sometimes child/young persons development does not follow the expected pattern. Children develop at different stages for example, a baby of 12 months may be walking with support but a baby of 10 months may be walking unaided. Some children just happen to develop quicker or slower than others, but for some babies and children there are reasons why their development does not follow the expected patterns. Premature birth can have an effect on development, such as sitting up unaided, crawling, standing and walking. Learning difficulties can also have an impact on development, some children may pick up writing and reading easier than with a learning difficulty, but help is available such as special support and multi-agency approaches. Another reason why development may be delayed could be disability for example, a baby that has a disability with their legs may not be able to walk until they are 2 or 3 where as the expected age is roughly 1 years old. Impact by disability. Disability can impact and effect development as it can prevent children and young people from completing tasks. Although most activities can be adapted to suit children and young people’s needs. Intervention. Intervention can be done to promote positive outcomes for the child or young person where development is not following the expected pattern. Specialist support can be used in the preschool to support children with learning difficulties or disabilities. They can arrange meetings to come and see the child to observe them and give the child’s key worker activities and goals for the child to meet. Multi agency approaches can also take place to help babies, children and young people to meet the expected pattern of development. Another intervention could be supported play by adapting the activities to support the child or young person to reach the milestones for their age group. Task d . Early identification. Early identification of speech, language or communication delay is important for a childs well-being because it can affect their development. The sooner it is picked up on the sooner it can be amended therefore the child will not miss out on educational activities and lessons which would otherwise potentially hold them further back. Potential risks. Any delays in a child’s speech, language and communication could result in a lack of development in the future. They may not be able to develop their skills further for example, if a child cannot speak then communication will also become a problem. This is why it is important to identify these delays early. If a child cannot speak then their development will slow down as they cannot further their skills through others around them. This can therefore cause the problem to become greater if it is left to long. Importance of early identification and potential risks of late recognition. It is very important that early identification to speech, language and communication as it can affect children and young people’s further development and expanding skills. If it is picked up on early enough then help can be given to the child to either overcome the issue or to give extra support to them to help them develop further. If it isn’t picked up on early enough then the child could fall behind in development and education. When a child falls behind it can sometimes be difficult for them to catch up although there are organisations to give extra support to the child. Multi-agency team. There are many organisations that can help support a child or young person’s speech, language and communication. The child’s GP (general practitioner) can refer the child to a speech therapist which will help their speech and communication. The child’s health visitor can also help with the child’s speech, language and communication. How when and why. A multi-agency team would be brought in to support a child when a speech, language or communication delay takes place. The manager would have a meeting with the child’s parent/carer to discuss the issue and then they would discuss the best possible option for the child. If they decide that a multi-agency team is to be contacted then a meeting would be arranged with the team to examine how the child can be helped. They then will arrange with the team to examine how the child can be helped. They then will arrange the times and dates that they can come and visit the child either at the childcare setting or at home. Play opportunities. There are many types of play opportunities that can be put into place to help support a child’s speech, language and communication. Role play is one of the most important parts of play for children, it covers physical activity as well as allowing the child to communicate, be creative, be independent and build self-confidence. Another play opportunity could be music and movement activities which include singing, dancing and nursery rhymes. The children can be independent and make their own choices to join in. this allows children to communicate with each other and to sing along to the songs and rhymes. Reading stories are vital in a child’s development. By reading and listening, children pick up new words and meanings which allow their knowledge to expand. If a child has a difficulty in communicating or in their speech then books can be very useful for developing their speech and communication. Show and tell is another way of supporting a child’s speech, language and communication. It allows the children to listen to others and to communicate if they wish to by asking questions about the show and tell that is shown, which can expand their word dictionary by using new words. All of this concludes that noticing a delay in a speech, language or communication development is important to prevent further delay in other areas of development.

Competition Between The Three Major Supermarkets Economics Essay

Competition Between The Three Major Supermarkets Economics Essay For my Extended Essay, I decided to investigate the competition between the three major supermarkets in my local area, and whether they collude or not, prompting my research question: To what extent do the larger supermarkets in my local area collude with each other? By analysing data collected on pricing from the three supermarkets, it was found that two of the three supermarkets at hand colluded tacitly with each other, under and oligopoly market structure. The prices of fifteen identical prices were recorded across a time span of three weeks. The analyses of these prices lead to two conclusions. Firstly, it was found that two supermarkets colluded with each other, but still had non-price competition between them. This was mainly due to the advantage of the two stores acting as a monopoly by charging the same price. This allowed the two supermarkets to make abnormal profit, which in turn they used to create a stronger brand loyalty, and thus, a more inelastic demand curve. Secondly , it was found one of the supermarkets was undercutting the other two supermarkets prices. The main reason for this was that the supermarket could gain greater revenue at the time by undercutting rivals, due to having more customers. These findings show that there was collusion between larger supermarkets in my area, but not between all supermarkets. Finally, the essay could be improved if I included more products in my data collection, as well as collecting the data over a longer time period. 1. INTRODUCTION Tesco, Asda and Sainsburys are the three main supermarkets that constitute weekly shopping for the public in my local area, west Charlton. These three supermarkets are recognised for their vast range in goods and at affordable prices. It is no surprise then that in terms of market share, they each comprise the top three places for having the most market share in the U.K.1 During the last couple of years, though, I have noticed that many of the smaller supermarkets in the same area have begun to close down. Since enrolling in the IB Higher Economics course and studying market structures in particular, Ive developed an interest into how supermarkets compete with each other, or even, how they collude together. Maybe, given their large hold of the market share, the benefits from collusion would be unmatchable compared to other smaller supermarkets, in terms of increased sales revenue. Also, formal collusion, one of two forms of collusion, is illegal as it goes against the Competition Act 1998 (the Act) Chapter 12. Therefore, the research question I have formulated is To what extent do the larger supermarkets in my local area collude with each other? To be able to explore this research question, I will first present a summary of the supermarkets, where the characteristics of them will be described. This will lead on to my next section where I will discuss relevant theoretical market structures and relate economic theories to them. After I have presented these theories, I will hypothesise which market structure is adequate for the supermarkets present, thus creating a sufficient research design where the prices of similar products will be compared. Finally, I will analyse the collected data and prove or disprove my research question, leading to a conclusion of my essay and exploring possible limitations. 2. MARKET SUMMARY In the area I am studying there are three main supermarkets; Asda, Tesco and Sainsburys, situated in West Charlton (appendix 1.1). Each supermarket is similar in size, satisfying the vast needs of the inhabitants in the area. It is worth mentioning that due to the supermarkets being of a substantial size structurally, there must have been large start up costs. Each of the three engages in non-price competition. This includes things such as advertising on T.V, having parking areas and the use of brand names. The offerings of these services are in the attempt to attract more customers. Take for example, Asda, which has parking as well as various sectors to its stores such as electrical and clothing sections as well as groceries. The aim of this is that customers can visit only this store by satisfying all their needs from the vast offers of goods. Furthermore, each supermarket advertises their brand names to gain more customers due to the brand loyalty it has established. This could ma ke their demand curve more inelastic, meaning that an increase in the price of a good would result in the increased revenue exceeding the reduction of quantity sold (appendix 1.2). These three supermarkets also dictate the majority of market share, as I have mentioned. Lastly, it is worth mentioning that Sainsbury ¿Ã‚ ½s and Asda are open for 24 hours from Tuesday to Friday, otherwise it is from 7 in the morning to 11 in the evening. Tesco are open from 7 to 11 everyday, apart from Sunday when they open an hour later and close an hour earlier. I don ¿Ã‚ ½t think that the slightly lesser hours that Tesco is opened during the week will affect my research much, or at all. This is due to the fact that I don ¿Ã‚ ½t believe Tesco make much of their sales between midnight and 7 in the morning. 3. MARKET STRUCTURE THEORIES I will now present the four types of market structure theories and their assumptions. I will not going into great detail on the structure of a monopoly as this is not a possible market structure for the supermarkets, given the fact that there is evidently more than one firm in the area. This is the same for perfect competition, as the goods produced by supermarkets are not identical. Firstly, I will present the market structure of a monopolistic competition. The assumptions of this market structure are3: * The industry is made up by a large number of firms * The firms each act independently of each other, due to each firm being small, relative to the size of the industry * The firms produce differentiated products; consumers can tell one product from another * Firms are free to enter and exit the industry, due to lack of barriers to entry and exit * Firms are able to make abnormal profits in the short run, however due to lack of barriers to entry; this attracts other firms into the industry. This means that in the long run, only normal profits are able to be made Due to the fact that the supermarkets in question are of a substantial size, I believe that the start up cost in itself will be of a great barrier to entry. Also, I don ¿Ã‚ ½t believe the industry I am examining is made up of a large number of firms, as there are only three supermarkets of their type in the local area. Another market structure that the supermarkets could come under is an oligopoly. These are the basic assumption of an Oligopoly:4 * A few firms dominate the industry * There are barriers to entry and/or exit for the industry * The firms are price makers as they have a downward sloping demand curve * The firms are interdependent; the action of one firm can have an effect on another * Abnormal profits can be made both in the short run and long run In addition to these assumptions, firms in an Oligopoly can be either collusive or non-collusive. Non collusive oligopolies face price stability due to the kinked demand curve. This is shown in figure 1. Figure 15 Due to the kinked demand curve, price will be stabilized at price  ¿Ã‚ ½P ¿Ã‚ ½. This happens as the Price elasticity of Demand (PED: The responsiveness of the quantity demanded of a good or service to a change in its price)6 above price  ¿Ã‚ ½P ¿Ã‚ ½ is greater than 1. This means that an increase in price above point  ¿Ã‚ ½P ¿Ã‚ ½ will result in a loss of revenue. Likewise, the PED below price  ¿Ã‚ ½P ¿Ã‚ ½ is less than one, meaning a reduction in price to this level will result in a loss of revenue again. Due to these factors, it is logical that firms do not favour either move, so they are said to be stable at point P. This also results in the output being stable at point  ¿Ã‚ ½Q ¿Ã‚ ½ as a change in marginal cost from MC1 to MC2 would still mean output would stay at  ¿Ã‚ ½Q ¿Ã‚ ½. This is due to firms in this market structure producing at the profit maximising point, where MC=MR.7 Firms in this market structure may also be collusive. This exists when the firms collude to charge the same prices for their products, in effect acting as a monopoly. There are two types of collusion, formal and tacit. Formal collusion exits when firms openly agree on the prices they will charge. In the case of supermarkets in the U.K, it is illegal for this to occur as it is deemed to be going against the interest of the consumer due to it resulting in less output and higher prices. Tacit collusion, however, exists when firms charge the same prices without any formal collusion. The three supermarkets in question may have decided to charge the same prices and not compete with each other, in order to increase revenue. This is represented in figure 2. Figure 28 As shown in figure 2, firms can make abnormal profits between their price and cost, due to the price exceeding the cost to the firm. This form of collusion is very possible as each supermarket is very similar to each other and all produce similar type goods. Firms in an Oligopoly can experience economies of scale. Economies of scale are any decreases in the long-run average costs that occur when a firm changes all of its factors of production, in order to increase its scale of output. There are a number of different economies of scale that can benefit a firm as it increases its scale of output. These can be: 9 * Specialisation- Firms can be more efficient when they specialize in different areas of expertise * Division of labour- This is the breaking down of a longer production process into many smaller activities, making production more efficient by reducing unit costs * Bulk buying- As firms increase in scale they are often able to negotiate discounts with their suppliers, as they are buying more altogether. This reduces the firm ¿Ã‚ ½s cost of input, and thus their unit costs of production * Financial economies- Larger firms are able to get loans at lower interest rates, as they are seen as a lesser risk to lend money to than smaller firms, by the bank The assumptions of a monopoly are as followed:10 * Only one firm producing the product at hand, so the firm is the industry * High barriers to entry and/or exit * Abnormal profits can be made in the long run, due to barriers to entry This market structure is unlikely to be present in my research area as there are clearly more than firm in the same industry. Finally, the basic assumptions of perfect competition are: * The industry is made up by many firms, so total output cannot be affected by one firm * The firms all produce homogeneous (exactly identical) products * No barriers to entry and/or exit * Producers and consumers all have perfect knowledge of the market Again, this market structure is unlikely to feature in my study, mainly due to the fact that there is product differentiation, as well as evident start up costs. 4. HYPOTHESIS After reviewing and comparing the discussed market summary and theories, I have hypothesised that the market structure the supermarkets are in are oligopoly. I have reached this hypothesis for the main reasons that: * There are evident barriers to entry such as strong branding of products and start up costs * There are only three supermarkets in the local area, between them sharing almost 64% of the market share.11 In addition to these points, I believe tacit collusion between the three supermarkets would greatly benefit their competition with other smaller supermarkets in the area. It would also avoid unnecessary competition between each other, and perhaps result in gaining more customers. After hypothesising that the three supermarkets are in an oligopoly, and thus capable of collusion, I will now be able to test my research question  ¿Ã‚ ½To what extent do the larger supermarkets in my local area collude with each other? ¿Ã‚ ½ 5. RESEARCH DESIGN For me to test my formulated research question, I will create a methodology. I will compare the prices of 15 different products across the three supermarkets. I will check the prices once every week for three weeks, so I can get a mean price at the end, making the result more reliable. I will make sure the prices of the same products are taken in the same time period, and where possible, use products produced in the U.K. This would avoid export costs affected and invalidating results. If not enough U.K based products can be found, I will make sure that any exported product used will have been exported from all supermarkets. This will maintain a degree of validity in the research. I will also avoid products produced by the supermarkets themselves. This would be because the cost of production may be very different from one supermarket compared to another, thus having a large impact on the final pricing. I will compare independent brands that feature across all three stores. Each superm arket in the area of West Charlton is located within one mile of each other.12 In terms of the data collection, I will go to each supermarket and compare similar, or when possible, identical products and their prices. I will note down their current price at which they sell at. Also, I will go to each supermarket close to their opening times on Saturday, as on this day the stores all open at the same time. The reason for not going later on in the day is because of price reduction on non-durable goods that are set to expire. If I include goods which prices have just been reduced temporarily to get rid of lasting stock, it would not represent the overall pricing of the good in regular situations. Lastly, I will compare the prices using adequate means of analysis; thus deducing whether or not there is enough similar pricing evident to suggest collusion of some sort. 6. DATA COLLECTION ANALYSIS Firstly, I will present my data collected for the prices of 15 products from all three supermarkets, across a span of three weeks, once a week. Table 1 shows my findings of the prices. Table 1 Source: Prices collected by me for all supermarkets To analyse the spread of the data, I will work out the standard deviation for each product, which will indicate the spread of the data. A lower standard deviation would indicate a set of closer, similar prices, likewise a higher standard deviation would imply less chance of collusion evident.13 The standard deviation for each product is represented in Table 2, along with the mean prices for each product over the three weeks. From the standard deviation, we can see they are all overall quite small, indicating the prices are all close to the mean price. This seems to indicate some form of collusion occurring between the supermarkets. However, there are some exceptions. For some goods the standard deviation is relatively high to the other products. Also, in most of these goods, such as soft drinks, crisp packs, pizza, ice cream and cooked chicken, it is Asda who feature the lowest price out of the three, while Tesco and Sainsbury ¿Ã‚ ½s have similar prices to each other. This seems to show that there is possible collusion between Tesco and Sainsbury ¿Ã‚ ½s, while Asda undercuts their prices. The similar pricing between Sainsbury ¿Ã‚ ½s and Tesco suggests a form of collusion, tacit or formal. I inquired to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) about my findings. The OFT are a government based organisation that ensure businesses are  ¿Ã‚ ½fair and competitive. ¿Ã‚ ½14 In a reply they stated:  ¿Ã‚ ½Although similar prices might seem to suggest that companies are getting together to agree them, this is not necessarily the case. For example, one company might have independently decided to price at a level similar to another or both may have independently decided to behave in the same way ¿Ã‚ ½.15 As similar pricing does not necessarily mean formal collusion is taking place, I will assume that the two supermarkets are tacitly colluding, although this area may be needed to be researched into further for a definite result. As well as colluding, I have also noticed that there is evidence of non-price competition between Tesco and Sainsbury ¿Ã‚ ½s. This included things such as the use of advertising, free delivery and other services situated in the store themselves. This has lead to each supermarket gaining brand loyalty, and as a result, creating a more inelastic demand curve for their products. This is possibly another explanation of why these two supermarkets in particular where of a higher price overall, compared to the other supermarket, Asda. For the case of Asda, they have engaged in price war tactics, rather than forming a collusion. In this case, undercutting rivals may be beneficial to them by increasing their sales revenue. This can be represented by  ¿Ã‚ ½game theory ¿Ã‚ ½. Supermarket The table shows that if both supermarkets lower price, they will make less revenue than if they had colluded. However, it is still tempting to undercut the other store as then that would lead to greater revenue. The highlighted box shows the possible situation at the moment, with Asda undercutting the other supermarkets thus increasing revenue. This choice making situation is known as  ¿Ã‚ ½the prisoner ¿Ã‚ ½s dilemma ¿Ã‚ ½. 16 Another explanation for the lower price offered by Asda for goods could be down to lower unit costs caused by a greater storage capacity. The supermarket ¿Ã‚ ½s cost of storage mainly depends on the material used to build them, which is the surface area of the building. The level of output for the supermarket will depend on its storage capacity, so its volume area. As the size of a supermarket increases, the volume to surface area ratio increases. Therefore, the cost per unit overall will be much less than a smaller supermarket, such as Sainsbury ¿Ã‚ ½s and Tesco. Lastly, from analysing my collected data, I have reached the conclusions: * Tesco and Sainsbury ¿Ã‚ ½s collude by charging very similar prices, but still have non-price competition between them. * Asda competes with a price-war tactic, by undercutting the other two supermarkets. 7. CONCLUSION The aim of my research was to investigate the type of competition, if any, between the three major supermarkets in my area, West Charlton. The question  ¿Ã‚ ½To what extent do the larger supermarkets in my local area collude with each other? ¿Ã‚ ½ prompted me to gather the pricing of 15 identical products across the three stores. The prices were taken every Saturday morning one a week for three weeks. I found that two of the three supermarkets had signs of collusion, while the third supermarket engaged in a price-war by undercutting the other two supermarkets. Firstly, Tesco and Sainsbury ¿Ã‚ ½s have similar prices to each other, while having higher prices than Asda. This was mainly due to the two stores acting as a monopoly by colluding and charging similar prices. This meant that each firm could make abnormal profit, which they used to create greater brand loyalty, thus making the demand for their products more inelastic. Lastly, the final supermarket, Asda, engaged in price-war tactics. The main reason for this was due to the idea of gaining more revenue as indicated by  ¿Ã‚ ½the prisoner ¿Ã‚ ½s dilemma ¿Ã‚ ½. In addition to this, Asda had a greater storage capacity, meaning an overall lower cost per unit. Therefore, after collecting data and analysing them, it is found that there was evidence of collusion, but only between two of the supermarkets, not all three studied. There are, though, apparent limitations in my study. Firstly, my area of research was only in one town. If there is found to be some form of collusion between supermarkets here, it doesn ¿Ã‚ ½t necessarily mean it is occurring all over the country with those same supermarkets. Also, the time span of my investigation was three weeks. This may not have been enough time to gather an appropriate amount of results to come to a reliable decision. This could be said the same for the amount of products used in my investigation; 15 products may not have been enough to come to an appropriate result. As well as this, I could not make a judgment whether the collusion between Tesco and Sainsbury ¿Ã‚ ½s was either tacit or collusion. This would have to be investigated further. All of these limitations overlook the aim of my study and thus should be inspected further. 8. BIBLIOGRAPHY/ACKNOWLEDGMENT Anderton, A. (2006). Economics: Fourth Edition. In A. Anderton, Economics: Fourth Edition (pp. 63-64). Causeway Press. Dorton, I. (2007). Economics. In I. Dorton, Economics (pp. 119-123). Oxford University Press. Dorton, I. (2007). Economics. In I. Dorton, Economics (pp. 114-118). Oxford University Press. Dorton, I. (2007). Economics. In I. Dorton, Economics (p. 115). Oxford University Press. Dorton, I. (2007). Economics. In I. Dorton, Economics (pp. 81-82). Oxford University Press. Dorton, I. (2007). Economics. In I. Dorton, Economics (pp. 105-111). Oxford University Press. Garner, E. (2010, June 1). TNS Global. Retrieved June 1, 2010, from TNS Global Website: http://www.tnsglobal.com/news/news-56F59E8A99C8428989E9BE66187D5792.aspx Measure of Spreads. (2007). Retrieved June 3, 2010, from Stats4students: http://www.stats4students.com/Essentials/Measures-Of-Spread/Overview_3.php Office of Fair Trading. (n.d.). Office of Fair Trading. Retrieved June 3, 2010, from http://www.oft.gov.uk/: http://www.oft.gov.uk/ Office of Fair Trading. (2010, May 25). Office of Fair Trading Reply Letter. London, U.K. Prisoners Dilemma. (1997, September 4). Retrieved June 3, 2010, from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/prisoner-dilemma/

Procedures for Safety in Childcare

Procedures for Safety in Childcare Charlene Lawrence 1. Childcare records that all child care proved should have in place are Children record form forms that including the child name, date of birth, allergies, address of where the child lives, telephone number, parents name and address, emergency contacts at least two , child doctor name and address, any medical and religion. Another document is crb (Criminal records bureau check) this should be the first thing that employer should do for staff they employe and for them self to check that each person hasn’t got a criminal record. Children agreement form All children should have a care agreement form which is a contract signed by parents which is agreement between both provided and parents stating the hours, child’s contract details, the days the child days they be attending, the fee and final the date they intending to starting. Also parents should sign a consent form to allow the setting to take the children outside the building and also allowed to sign to take pictures of the children and put on website and on the walls within the setting. Injuries (existing) forms,  existing injuries form is in place to record any existing injuries a child has when they arrive in your care. There should also be in place an incident form this form is in place to record any incident happened in setting with a child or staff for example a child was running and fell over a bit his/her lip would be an incident or a staff member was bit by a child that will also be recorded an incident form. Another form should be places an accident form to record any accidents that happen in the building to a child of staff that these injury i.e. broken bones or swelled muscle or a swelled thumb. Fire records Fire records should be in place to test and record the following smoke detectors, emergency lights, breakpoints, fire exguisters fire blankets and also there should be a record of fire drills which should be done every six months. Medication book or folder This should be in place to administer any medication that children need. This book or folder should have the Childs name, date of birth, the time given, the date given, dozed given and the staff signature and parent signature. This also gives evidence of medication given to a child in the setting and that you have administered medication given by parents, all medication that you administer in for a child must be prescribed by a GP and labelled with their name address and date it with the medication was done. Policies and procedures There should be policies and procedures placed in the setting when looking after a child. These are in place to allow parents to know how we run or care setting for example food policy this will let parents and carers know how we operate food in the setting and what we allow and what we dont allow in the setting what standards we are governed by. Complaint forms A complaint form should be in place when a parent or carer wont to complain about member staff or the setting they should also be followed up by investigation meeting and conclusion meeting. Child journal and home book This journal should be in place is to show any work that you a child has done or any development that a child has done, each child should have a home book which letting parents know what their child is done for the day it ie drank or eaten if they have been to the toilet, how many nappy change and what time you went to sleep this should always be should be recorded in the home book and hand to parent every day when the child goes home. 2. There are different ranges of actives to do for ages 0- 5 Physical (0-12months) at baby age , babies are crawling, pulling them self up or taking their first steps Intellectual (0-12months) Babies at this age is at like to look at sensory books, books with mirrors and textures which is good for there development and also they like music and noisy book which proved stimulus for young baby intellectual development. Social Development (0-12months) Babies social development is doing thinks like copying your actions, and delighting in your positive responses to their actions. Babies of this age will also enjoy listening to music and looking in the mirror Physical (1-5 years) At this age children will be hopstcating, ride bikes, running around Intellectual (1-5 years) For Toddlers and up word they like interactive games, flash cars and puzzles. Social Development (1-5 years) For toddler and upward a great social development is role play children love to role play by dressing up or playing house this is a big social development that will show what children know and develop. 3. I provide a safe environment for children in the city the registered person is the person who takes responsibility in the health and safety of the building where your child will be staying in your setting. our police cover the following: Fire safety In our kitchen you will find a fire blanket and a fire extinguisher and in the rest of the building you will find versus fire extinguishers. In each room there is a smoke alarm which is test every year my fire professions and test weekly by us. At each fire exit you will find a break glass and each member of staff will know the escape route. Security We have public liability insurance for this setting. Indoor and outdoor door and outdoor play area secured and children are supervised at all times. Parent who pick up children must provide a password to those who are coming to collect their child. Animals We will have animals in our setting but will check allergy and do risk assessment before providing. Kitchen and house Our kitchen has safety equipment in place insuring safety and no hazards to children. All around the house is safety equipment in place to protect your child in our care form hazards ie radiator cover , plug sockets. Food handing All staff are full trained in food hyegiene, and we make sure food is serviced , prepared and cooked at the right tempter and hygiene is 100 percent clean. Medicine We will only administer medication when parents want us to and also we only administer medication which is prescribed by GP. Medication is stored in the original containers , clearly labeled with the child full name. All Medication that we administer have to be recorded and staff and parent to sign . Hygiene We teach children about personal hygiene, washing there hands before and after meal times and after using to toilet, also each child will have their own bed sheets with their name on it and will not share the same sheet when sleeping in the cot or bed. We Provided good hygiene to prevent infection and our setting is clean every day and throughout the day. sick children Children who are vomiting or diarrhoea will not be able to attend until 48hours later any infectious will be discussed with parents. Outting and Transport We provide our own transport with insurance valid driver, mot and service, we also proved safety rod to support children to walk safely while out. In our registration pack you will find parental permission request to allow us to take the children out and on day trips. First Aid We have at least two first aid boxes/cupboards , which are checked weekly, when doing check we will also check stock expiry date as well a stock Qty. We have records in place to Record incidents, accidents for staff and children We also requested parental permission to deal with their child in emergency which is located in our registration pack. Smoking Our policy state no smoking in and out of premies, if you need to smoke then you should smoke away from the setting premies. 4. When planning a trip out of children that is planning to do before taking the children out at the premises Ie cost, risk assessment permissions etc The first thing to do is to plan where you are going to take the children then you should find out is it cost affected will parents be able to afford this trip you also need to know how many children will be going on the trip roughly how many staff you would need to support the children ratio while out on a day trip. Then you need to sort out transport, like if youre going by car is the car insured do you have built other enough seats to take the children is their car seat and boosters available, if youre travelling by bus whats the cast how many buses were you need to take how long would it take to get there And if youre taking A coach how much would it cost is there enough seats and is there children seatbelt car seats and boosters Available. Once you have done all these before you notify parent of the trip in a newsletter of verbal by mouth you should do the following two  a risk assessment and permission by parents, You need to assess what is the risk is, there any risk and how you can going to control the risk, is it safe to go on this trip with the children. And then you inform the parents of the trip and get parents permission and payment to go.

A Critique of Thank You for Smoking? :: Critical Essays

A Critique of â€Å"Thank You for Smoking†¦?† Intro: The essay â€Å"Thank You for Smoking,† written by Peter Brimelow, is far from an influential essay on why people should smoke. Through this essay, Brimelow makes an effort to convince the audience smoking is actually beneficial to your health. I find it hard for people to write about what they think are the benefits of smoking when there are so many obvious reasons why you should not smoke. The main audience being targeted in this article is those who already smoke and those who are thinking about smoking. One thing mentioned in the article is the fact that smokers are usually lighter in weight. In my personal opinion, I would rather eat a balanced diet and walk daily rather than walk around with a cigarette in my mouth and risk lung cancer. Inductive or Deductive: When trying to find if an essay is logically stated, you first must find if it is inductive or deductive. This is an example of an inductive essay. What inductive means is that the author goes from using specific samples to generalizations that are drawn from those examples (McFadden). Major Claim: The major claim is usually the topic sentence or main idea in the article (McFadden). Through the major claim, Peter points out that smoking has beneficial factors. He states those who smoke are less likely to get many diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, endometrial cancer, prostate cancer, osteoarthritis, and colon cancer (Brimelow 142). Another example used in this essay is the author’s comparison of driving automobiles to smoking cigarettes. Brimelow states, â€Å"But so is driving automobiles dangerous to your health (over 40,000 deaths a year)† (141). This to me just seems like a completely ridiculous comparison to include in this article, especially when in the prior paragraph he states that there are approximately 400,000 deaths annually, which are smoking-related (Brimelow). Minor Claim: One minor claim pointed out through this essay is how smoking helps to relax people, which is one form of a stress reliever (Brimelow). In addition, smoking is said to stimulate alertness, dexterity, and cognitive capacity (Brimelow). It is true these are all things in which people can benefit from; however, these are far from being favorable enough for people to decide to go light up. Grounds: Grounds include all evidence, facts, and logic used in supporting claims (McFadden).

Physics of Downhill Ski Racing Essay -- physics sport sports skiing

Gliding is the art of maintaining the flattest ski in order to achieve the lowest possible friction. The forces associated with gliding are fairly straightforward: gravity, friction, and air resistance. Air resistance has several inputs that add to the total resistive force. Friction is caused by the lack of a perfectly smooth surface between the skis and snow on a microscopic level. Think of it as the Rocky Mountain range trying to slide over the Himalayas. On a microscopic level this is what friction is. Two factors contribute to the resistive frictional force; a normal force and the friction coefficient. The normal force is the force holding the person up keeping them from falling towards the center of the earth. On level ground the normal force acts straight up against the acceleration of gravity. On a slope, the normal force is equal to the force of gravity proportional to the cosine of the angle of the slope to horizontal. This portion of gravity attempts to accelerate the person toward the center of the earth, the normal force resists this acceleration. The remaining component of gravity accelerates the body down the hill parallel to the slope, a linear acceleration. It is the coefficient of friction that speed skiers and racers try to reduce to a minimum. The normal force is a constant since it is related to their body weight, which does not change during the course of the race. The coefficient of friction is already reduced from everyday levels because of the snow, but it is the goal of racers to reduce this to an absolute minimum to maximize speed. The coefficient of friction is a unit less ratio of the force of friction to the normal force. The real value for the coefficient is often determined experimentally.... ...and the force normal to the shear plane. These two forces again result in the same resultant force but are rotated into the shear plane. The angle of rotation into the shear plane is phi in above second diagram. Phi is the edge angle minus the angle in the triangle of the normal force(N) and the friction force(F) on the ski divided by 2. This can be seen in the first diagram. The centripetal force can be found using the above equations in the second diagram: Fc=Fs*cos(phi)+Fn*sin(phi) Fn=Fs/tan(O-b-F) The Fc is the failing point at which the racer begins to slide the ski and lose speed. When a racer does balance the speed, radius, and other factors to maximize the centripetal force and acceleration, up to 2.5 Gs of acceleration can be achieved. Downhill ski racing is a ballet and balancing act of the laws of physics to be the fastest person down the hill.

Srs for Bpo Management System

CALL CENTRE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Vision Version ABSTRACT: A Call center is an area where several customer service representative (CSR) agents are located to man a bank of telephones and computer terminals. These agents are specially trained on telephone etiquette, the type of customer queries, that may arise and on how to respond to these queries in a quick and efficient manner.A Call center can also equipped with an automatic call handling system like an Interactive Voice Response system (IVR) so that all routine, repetitive queries   Call center has tremendous impact on business. Call centers for selling goods and services, as well as call centers for providing customer care, is going to become a familiar part of the business of virtually every person. Call centers also pioneered the developed of self-service via the telephone, using interactive voice response technology.It is providing a richer and friendlier environment for self-service transactions than the tone telephone can be answered by the system without the customer having to speak to a CSR agent Revision History |Date |Version |Description |Author | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Table of Contents 1. Introduction1 . 1. Purpose and Intended Audience1 1. 2. Scope of Product1 1. 3. Definitions, Acronyms, and Abbreviations2 1. 3. 1. Definitions2 1. 3. 2. Acronyms3 1. 3. 3. Abbreviations4 1. 4. Overview4 1. 5. References4 2. General Description6 2. 1. Product Perspective6 2. 2. Product Features6 2. 2. 1. Data Management6 2. 3. User Characteristics7 2. 3. 1. Use-Case Diagram7 2. 3. 2. Actors7 2. 3. 3. Use-Case Descriptions7 2. 3. 4. Scenarios8 2. 3. 5. Usermanual 8 2. 4.General Constraints12 2. 5. StakeholderProfile 12 2. 6. UserEnvironment 12 3. Product Overview6 4. Specific Requirements13 4. 1. External Interface Requirements13 4. 1. 1. User Interfaces13 4. 2. System Requirements18 4. 2. 1. Hardware requirements18 4. 2. 2. Software requiements18 4. 2. 3. Software interface22 4. 3. Non-behav ioral Requirements28 4. 3. 1.Performance Requirements28 4. 3. 2. Qualitative Requirements28 4. 3. 3. Design and Implementation Constraints28 4. 3. 4. Benifits29 Vision Introduction 1 Purpose and Intended Audience Call Center Management System is an Intranet and Internet Application which deals with Automation of a call center, Recruitment, performance of call center executives, payroll management and also deals with Customer Queries. 2 Scope of Product This system shall give a solution to ensure that the Customer can use the proposed new channels to access information as well as submit applications and first appeals.System shall comprise of the Call Centre and the Web Portal. We would like to maintain a common application to submit applications/first appeals received through the proposed new channels i. e. Call Centre and Portal. This common application shall be the Web Portal. Customers can be Citizens as well as Government officials. Broadly, the scope of work will comprise the fo llowing: 1. Setup, Operate and Maintain Call Centre 2. Develop, Implement and Maintain Portal 3. Provisioning of Data Centre– Disaster Recovery services for hosting of Portal 4.Training to Government Personnel 3 Definitions, Acronyms, and Abbreviations 1 Definitions The definitions in this section are given in the context of the product being developed. This intention is to assist the user in their understanding of the requirements for the system. |TERM |DEFINITION | |A-K |Program outcomes defined by BPO management system.Please refer to [1] for a complete list. | |Archive |To maintain data in a designated repository; in BPOMS, data will be maintained in the central| | |database. | |Assessment |The systematic and periodic evaluation of whether call centre executives are suitable to | | |answer all the customer queries. |Call center Number |A center request number | |Central database |An MS-Access database maintained by the BPO company to store queries related to call center . | |Product Request Number |Unique, five-digit identifier assigned by the system to identify each category in the call | | |center. |Download |Transferring data files from a main source to a secondary source. | |Encrypt |The alteration of data so that it is meaningful only to the intended receiver. | |Mapping |The linkages of two objects, e. g. , a customer query to a solutions in the database. | |System outcomes |This will include the sections comes under call center in which customer can ask their | | |queries. |Property list |A list of properties or attributes associated with an object; in BPOMS this is a list of | | |login names of the customer who can access call center and the list is associated with a call| | |center section. | |category number |A 3-digit field that corresponds to a category in the call center. | |Server |The main computer in a network.A central computer that connects and services those computers| | |(clients) attached to it. | |Customer |A person who wants to clarify his/her query related to the system. | |User profile |User characteristics maintained by the system | |Weight |A factor used to adjust a value. | 3 Acronyms ACRONYM |MEANING | |BPOMS |BPO Management System | |CSR |Customer Service Representative | |PRN |Product Request Number | |DBMS |Database Management System | |DFD |Data Flow Diagram | |GUI |Graphical Use Interface | |OMT |Object Modeling Technique | |SRS |Software Requirements Specification | |TBD |To Be Determined | |IVRS |Interactive Voice Response system | 5 Abbreviations |ABBREVIATION |MEANING | |e. g. For example | |Id |Identification | |i. e. |Such as | |info. |Information | 5 Overview The SRS is divided into three major sections: Introduction (Section 1), General Description (Section 2), and Specific Requirements (Section 3). This overview describes Section 2 and Section 3 of the SRS. Section 2 includes five subsections. Section 2. 1 provides a description of the product, its overall structure, and its functionality. Section 2. 2 summarizes the main features of the software from a high-level point of view. Section 2. identifies the different users of the system. This is accomplished through use-cases. A summary of the actors, use-cases, and scenarios is given. Section 2. 4 states existing constraints. Section 2. 5 gives the assumptions and dependencies of BPOMS. Section 3 includes four major subsections. External Interface Requirements (Section 3. 1) gives the requirements for user, hardware, software and communications interfaces. Behavioral Requirements (Section 3. 2) organizes the requirements in the following categories: same class of user, related real-world objects, stimulus, related features and functional requirements. Non-behavioral Requirements (Section 3. ) consists of performance and qualitative requirements, as well as design and implementation constraints. Section 3. 4 outlines database, operations and site adaptation requirements. 6 References ? www. google. com ? www. wikipedia. com ? IEEE SRS format General Description 1 Product Perspective BPOMS is designed to provide call center with a tool that facilitates in clarifying the queries of the customer. A more complete description of BPOMS’s functionality can be found in Section 2. 2. There are various existing products that have similar functionality to BPOMS. Although the some software products provide many of BPOMS’s features, the ability to manage and map outcomes to assessment items is not supported. 2 Product FeaturesThe main purpose of this system is to increase a company’s flexibility. However, several sources have different ways in which they perceive organizational flexibility. Therefore business process outsourcing (BPO) enhances the flexibility of an organization in different ways. 1 Data Management When managing customer query-related data, the system will allow the supporter to perform operations such as entering possible queries, entering solutions to th e queries. Data management includes the entry, storage, and manipulation of different methods of assessment. BPOMS will also provide executive with a tool with which they will check for the validation for every query he/she arise.This includes exceptional solution features such as displaying queries and their solutions in two levels: by category, and by product request number. 3 User Characteristics The main user of BPOMS is the customer. She/he is the person who is primarily in charge of a particular query for which call center is being performed. Because the system will have a GUI with a standard format, the customer will not need to have a high level of technical expertise. The following subsections present the Use-Case model for BPOMS. After presenting the use-case diagram, the section describes the actors, use cases, and scenarios. See Appendix A for the high-level use-case diagram. 1 Use-Case Diagram See Appendix B for a high-level, use-case diagram 2 ActorsBPOMS classifies th e actors of the system into three groups: Customer: The customer can login into the system by enter his/her details, ask queries and get the solutions. Central Database: The central database is responsible for storing data related to customer queries and its solution. Call center executive: Responds to calls by asking the customers query and provide solutions to the customer. Supporter: Perform searching operation to give solutions to the customer from the database. Admin: Maintains the data stored in the database and update the queries and its solutions in the database. 3 Use-Case Descriptions †¢ Customer Registration: This module deals with Customer Registration to the web site before querying to the call center Executive. Customer Queries:  This module deals with queries put forth by the customer through mail. †¢ Recruitment Module : This module deals with Recruitment process of a call center executive †¢ Payroll Module:  This deals with payment calculation of a call center employee based on the policies of the company. †¢ Employee Module: This deals with managing the call center employees and customers. The use cases that are associated with an include relationship are as follows: †¢ Access the system: the customer can access the system through a unique login name and password. †¢ Open section: the customer can select a category from the list of category that comes under call center.The use cases that are associated with an extend relationship are as follows: †¢ Set password – The customer can set the password for accessing and entering information on the system. †¢ Set property list – The customer can set the property list that gives the login names for the customer who can access a center. 4 Scenarios Use Case: Customer Registration Actor: Customer and database Scenario: 1. The customer enters values for the following attributes: a. name b. contact number c. date of birth d. password e. email-id 2 . The customer saves the information to the database. Alternatives: 1. The customer does not enter all required information. 2. The customer modifies a value in an existing attribute. 3.The customer enters a new value to an existing attribute. 4. The customer enters an incorrect value for product number. 5. The customer enters an incorrect value for PRN. Use Case: Customer Query Actor: Customer, database, and call center executive Scenario: 1. The customer enters values for the following attributes: a. customer name (first, last, middle initial) b. password c. query category 2. The customer asks for the solution with the call centre executive. Alternatives: 1. The customer does not enter all required information. 2. The customer modifies a value in an existing attribute. 3. The customer enters a new value to an existing attribute. 4.The customer enters an incorrect value for username and password Use Case: Customer login Actor: Customer, database Scenario: 1. The customer enters a l ogin name. 2. The customer enters a password. 3. The local database confirms the password through the local database. Alternatives: 1. The customer enters an incorrect login name. 2. The customer enters an incorrect password. Use Case: Open category Actor: Customer, database Scenario: 1. The customer selects a category in which he/she can ask queries from a list of categories in the system. 2. The general information about the system is displayed. Alternatives: None Use Case: Set password Actor: Customer, database Scenario: 1.The customer selects the option to change password. 2. The system prompts the customer for a password. 3. The customer enters a password. 4. The system prompts the customer to renter the password. 5. The system accepts the new password Alternatives: 1. The password that the customer enters the second time does not match the previously entered password. Use Case: Recruitment Module Actor: Executive, database Scenario: 1. This module deals with Recruitment proces s of a call center executive. 2. The system will store the details of the executive in the database. Alternatives: 1. An executive name is invalid. Use Case: Payroll Module Actor: Executive, database Scenario: 1.This module deals with payment calculation of a call center employee based on the policies of the company. 2. The system will store the salary details of the employee in the database. Alternatives: A payment calculation is incorrect. Use Case: Employee Module Actor: Executive, database Scenario: 1. This module deals with managing the call center employee and customer. 2. The system will store the details of the employee and customer in the database. Alternatives: An executive name is invalid. 2. 3. 5 USER MANUAL ? Customer: a person who has mediated interface at Call Centre via telephone or direct interface at the portal. ? Appellate Authority: a person who receives and responds to the customer calls. Call Centre Executive: Responds to calls for mail and Submit application a nd first appeal on behalf of customer in system. ? User: A person who provides the data for a computer system, updates the data, and uses reports from the system in his or her daily work. ? Server: The main computer in a network. A central computer that connects and services those computers (clients) attached to it. 2. 4 General Constraints The general constraints on the development of the system are as follows: †¢ The system will not be accessible to unauthorized customers. †¢ All data transmitted to the central database will be encrypted. †¢ The customer should ask a valid query with the call center employee. 2. 5 Stakeholder Profile |S.NO |STAKEHOLDER |ROLES |INTERFACE | |1 |Customer |Mediated interface at Call Centre via telephone |Direct interface at the system | | | |Direct interface at the portal | | |2 |Appellate Authority |Receives first appeal |Direct Interface at system | | | |Responds to appeal | | |3 |Call center executive |Responds to calls for mail | Indirect Interface at system | | | |information, application and appeals | | | | |Submit application on behalf of customer in system| | | | | | | | | |Submit first appeal on behalf of customer in system| | | | | | |4 |Supporter |Search for the solution from the database |Direct interface with the system | | | |Gives information to the customer | | |5 |Admin |Maintain the database details. |Direct interface with the database. | | | |Update the solutions for the queries in the | | | | |database. | | 6 User environment 1. To complete this task a single developer is involved. 2. Amount of time spend in completing this task is three months. 3. Any unique environmental constraints: mobile, outdoors, in-flight, etc.? 4. This system uses windows platform. Product OverviewThe project gets the queries from the various customers and stores them in a centralized data store. When there are number of queries the queries are stored up in a queue and then the queries are processed one by on e. There are separate blocks called data recognizer for recognizing the data, i. e. queries, and data interpreter for interpreting those queries. The input query from the customer is first recognized by the data recognizer by comparing with the entries in the data base store. In the database the solution for each and every query is stored and maintained. Then it is interpreted as what type of query it is and how it should respond to the query.The input query is compared with the queries in the database store. The solution for the input query is founded. The information service switch switches the application between different types of distributed services. The final result, the reply to the customer’s query is obtained at the end. Specific Requirements 1 External Interface Requirements The following section discusses the requirements related to the interfaces used to communicate with external entities. These entities include human customers and other hardware and software int erfaces that permit the system to carry out its tasks. 1 User Interfaces The requirements presented in this section describe the interfaces for BPOMS.The requirements do not assume a particular interface; however, the requirements are grouped according to the main features (as defined by the use cases) provided by the system. Note that the requirements that follow a subheading support the activities associated with the feature named by the subheading. 2 Applicable Standards The standards of this system include the following platform compliance standards and software: PLATFORM USED: ? Windows SOFTWARE USED: ? VB ? MS-ACCESS 2 System Requirements System Requirements: ? Hardware Requirements: PROCESSOR: 32 BIT, Intel core (i3) RAM: 256 MB HARD DISK: 40 GB MONITOR: SVGA Monitor (800*600 RESOLUTIONS) CLOCK SPEED: 266 MHz KEYBOARD: 101 KEYS MOUSE: Logitech FLOPPY DRIVE: 1. 44 MB ? Software Requirements: OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows FRONT END: VB BACK END: MS-ACCESSMIDDLEWARE: J2EE SERVER: To mcat4. 1 ? Software interface: †¢ Client on Internet: Web Browser, Operating System (Windows). †¢ Client on intranet: Client Software, Web Browser, Operating System (Windows). †¢ Web Server: WAMP Server, Operating System (Windows) †¢ Data Base server: MS-ACCESS, Operating System (Windows). 3 Non-behavioral Requirements 1 Performance Requirements With client and server running on the same machine, response time will be a maximum of two seconds. 2 Qualitative Requirements 1 Security This section is not complete. Additional requirements will follow. Each time there is a security violation, the log file will be updated with he login, date, and time. 2 Maintainability The system will be designed to allow the following changes: ? Database queries. ? Administration of Ms-Access. ? Archive files to database. 3 Portability The system will run on multiple platforms, in particular Windows, UNIX, and Macintosh. 3 Design and Implementation Constraints The system will be desig ned for the following future extensions: ? Archive call center-section data ? Use of existing category information as template for creation of a new category section ? Administration of database ? Customer access 4. 3. 4 Benefits 4. 3. 4. 1 Benefits to the Citizen: †¢ Power of information is just a phone call away Removes the hassles of physical presence at Central Public Authority for filing application †¢ Money saved by way of travel time / wage loss as well as for making Drafts/ Postal Order from Bank and Post Offices †¢ Government bears the cost of transmitting the application to the Central Public Authority †¢ Citizen’s handicap arising out of literacy level variations could be overcome by the Call Centre executives, who would understand, screen and do the necessary handholding in filing RTI applications. 4. 3. 4. 2 Benefits to the Government: †¢ Systematic management and real time monitoring of RTI applications and first appeals. †¢ Further improvement in transparency in government functioning. †¢ Empowerment of Common man through easy information dissemination. †¢ Man-hours spent by individual departments in collecting RTI applications can be saved by centralizing the process on the Portal. †¢ Support data analysis indicating area of improvement as well as sectors demanding intervention.

Riding a Bike vs Driving a Car

Brian Morris Dr. Bunnell 11/25/2012 Revised Draft Compare/Contrast Essay Young children always hit that age where all they want to do is learn how to ride a bike; well for the most part young children. They pray for a new bicycle for Christmas and the day hits them like homework on a school night, that they most likely forgot about. Many have the audacity to try to learn without training wheels, but usually fail. Over time they start to realize there are bigger and better things in life such as learning how to drive a car. They constantly beg their parents to let them practice driving or to get their hands on a pair of new car keys.Both learning how to drive a car and learning how to ride a bicycle surprisingly have many differences as well as similarities. Learning how to ride a bike starting off to some may seem easy, but is generally difficult to most. Learning this is one of the most popular as well as important tasks to growing up. One's body is simply not used to the gravitatio nal pull and balance when their feet begin liftoff, ending at the landing zone of the foot pedals. Most require the assistance of training wheels to begin practice of riding a bike. With these, there is a total of four wheels, making little to no individual balancing skill.Training wheels also help people learn to control their pedaling speed, movement, and turning. Once training wheels are taken off, the true test to be passed is about to begin. These next few steps to riding a bike with perfection are much different than learning how to drive a car. Stumbling and falling over is a constant problem when starting to ride a bike. On the other hand, a person cant fall over when driving in a car! With practice, learning to ride in a straight line eventually is a â€Å"piece of cake†. Next is learning how to turn while pedaling forward. The trick is not to lean one's entire body while turning.This will simply makes people lose their balance and therefore, fall. Again, practice is key to be able to turn correctly with a stabilized balance. Finally, braking is the final thing to learn. This is the simplest, and can be done with little practice. Brakes are located by the handlebars on a bicycle, while the brakes are located by the feet when driving. Some people say learning to sync one's feet to use the brakes in a car is like learning how to write with another hand. When one can fully ride a bicycle, there are huge advantages and differences over driving a car.First, people can get fit from riding a bicycle around! Sitting in a car seat instead of pedaling with legs is not going to help someone lose weight. Yet another difference between the two is cars release pollutants into the atmosphere, while bicycles release 100% clean energy. Teenagers go crazy the day they hear, â€Å"Congratulations, you passed your drivers exam†. To be able to hear those magic words, it takes true time and dedication. The day a teenager obtains their learners permit, their w orld changes. They start obsessing about learning how to drive but there are abilities that need to be learned.First, they must learn how to properly use the gas and brake pedals. This may be one of the easiest to some, but the hardest to others. A common error is confusing the brake between the gas which can be extremely drastic. Next, they must learn how to turn, and to be able to understand their surroundings. Drivers need to know much more about their surroundings, than bicyclists in general. There are literally hundreds of street signs that must be interpreted to get a drivers license. On the contrary, there are little to no street signs used for bicyclists, except in some areas.Finally, practicing to drive in a variety of weather conditions are the final skill that must be achieved to be a good driver. Snow and rain are the major weather types that make driving, as well as bicycling difficult. Driving a car legally is a privilege and truly has distinct differences. One major d ifference between riding a bike and driving a car, is that when driving, there is a lot more practice involved. There are also no licenses or permits for riding a bicycle. Using a bicycle as a form of transportation is much cheaper, being that the average bicycle is $40-$1000, while the average car generally ranges from $750-$25,000.Another difference is that in driving, there are many more aspects to take into consideration that require attention. On the other hand, there are multiple similarities between driving a car and riding a bike. The main one is that with time and dedication, both of these abilities can be achieved. Also, major coordination as well as focus is necessary to be able to do either tasks. Finally, there needs to be a form of assisting, such as parents or a friend to teach someone how or to practice driving/riding a bike. How can these two topics relate to an adults life?Both of these also are a great form of transportation that have been used for years and many more to come. Drivers need to be wary about bicyclists, and vice versa. Cars as well as bicycles also need to be properly checked often on their tire pressure, and even brake lines. Driving on a flat tire or having worn out brake lines can be quite the unexpected occurrence. In conclusion, learning how to ride a bike and learning how to drive a car both have similarities while being two completely different skills. Riding a bike and driving a car are two forms of transportation although one is faster than the other.They both require a large amount of hand-eye coordination although bicycling requires more balance. Learning how to ride a bike is a milestone in a young child's life, while learning how to drive a car is a milestone in a teenager's life. A big part of learning how to ride a bike and learning how to drive a car is putting in the time and effort and getting enough practice. Without practice and determination, the skills needed for both activities would not be adequate enou gh for safe travel. Whether similar or different, learning how to ride a bike and learning how to drive a car are both essential lessons in one's life.