Short Critical Reflection Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Short Critical Reflection Paper - Essay Example If I was allowed to guess the structure of the Web 3.0, I would embed nearly all the five senses that the human beings have within their folds. This would give me a better understanding of things that are related with the Internet and which bring success to their domains. There would hence be more participation by the members of the Internet and hence Web 3.0 would bring in more value for the sake of the users without any doubt (Green, 2011). Email seems to be a thing of the past as far as the teenagers are concerned. This is because they do not believe that emailing to their friends and family members is anywhere close to being their own selves, and they would rather send text messages on the phone or even call up the other party instead of emailing which has never been a hit with the teenagers (Lundby, 2011). Therefore it is a fact that emailing within teenagers is dead and would not come back until a new technology is

Software Reuse Essay Example for Free

Software Reuse Essay Abstract Effective reuse of software products is reportedly increasing productivity, saving time, and reducing cost of software development. Historically, software reuse focused on repackaging and reapplying of code modules, data structures or entire applications in the new software projects (Prieto-Diaz 1994). Recently, however, it has been acknowledgedas beneficial to redeploy software components across the entire development life-cycle, starting with domain modelling and requirements specification, through software design, coding and testing, to maintenance and operation. There were also attempts to reuse aspects of project organisation and methodology, development processes, and communication structures. However, as the concept of reusing software components is very clear at the code level (whether in source or binary form), the very same concept becomes more fuzzy and difficult to grasp when discussed in the context of reusing specifications and designs (whether in textual or diagrammatical form), or quite incomprehensible when applied to software informal requirements, domain knowledge or human skills and expertise (expressed in natural language, knowledge representation formalism, or existing only in humans). This problem of dealing with reusable software artefacts resulting from the earliest stages of software development, in particular requirements specifications, attracted our particular interest in the reusability technology. Our work is motivated primarily by the possibility of improving the process of requirements elicitation by methodical reuse of software specifications and their components with the aid of information extracted from user informal requirements documents. The problems and issues that we aim to investigate in this research are best illustrated by the following statement outlining current needs and the goals for the future research in requirements reuse: †¢ More research is needed on the advantages and the necessary methods for requirements reuse. For example, what are requirements components’, what makes them reusable, how can we store and retrieve them, and how do we write a requirements specification that gives us the highest probability of creating or reusing existing requirements components? (Hsia, Davis et al. 1993). Definitions To address the issues advanced by Hsia, Davis and Kung, and to avoid any confusion farther in this paper, we need to clearly define some major concepts of software reuse, reusability, reusable artefacts, their possible forms, reusability methods, their major motivators and inhibitors, etc. Hence, we adopt our definitions from Prieto-Diaz (Prieto-Diaz 1989) as follows :-†¢ reuse is the use of previously acquired concepts or objects in a new situation, it involves encoding development information at different levels of abstraction, storing this representation for future reference, matching of new and old situations, duplication of already developed objects and actions, and their adaptation to suit new requirements; †¢ reuse is the use of previously acquired concepts or objects in a new situation, it involves encoding development information at different levels of abstraction, storing his representation for future reference, matching of new and old situations, duplication of already developed objects and actions, and their adaptation to suit new requirements; †¢ reusability is a measure of the ease with which one can use those previous concepts or objects in the new situations. Reuse Artefacts The object of reusability, reusable artefact , can be any information which a developer may need in the process of creating software (Freeman 1983), this includes any of the following software components :- †¢ code fragments, which come in a form of source code, PDL, or various charts; †¢ logical program structures , such as modules, interfaces, or data structures; †¢ functional structures , e.g. specifications of functions and their collections; †¢ domain knowledge , i.e. scientific laws, models of knowledge domains; †¢ knowledge of development process , in a form of life-cycle models; †¢ environment-level information, e.g. experiential data or users feedback; †¢ artefact transformation during development process (Basili 1990); etc. A controlled collection of reuse artefacts constitutes a reuse library. Such libraries must contain not only reusable components but are also expected to provide certain types of services to their users (Wegner 1989), e.g. storage, searching, inspecting and retrieval of artefacts from different application domains, and of varying granularity and abstraction, loading, linking and invoking of stored artefacts, specifying artefact relationships, etc. The major problems in the utilisation of such reuse libraries are in determining appropriate artefact classification schemes and in the selection of methods to effectively and efficiently search the library. To bypass the problems with reuse libraries, the use of specialised domain-specific languages was proposed as an alternative. Such languages use strict syntax and semantics defined in terms of an application domain and its reusable artefacts. While enforcing notational conformance with a predetermined syntax and semantics, the domain-specific languages restrict the number of possible classification and search mechanisms used in the process of composing a problem solution, e.g. as in DRACO (Neighbors 1989) or GIST (Feather 1989). Artefact Characteristics Certain classes of software artefacts have been identified as eminently suitable to become part of a reuse library and be, subsequently, utilised as reusable software resources. Such artefacts usually share a number of characteristics, deemed to actively promote reusability (Biggerstaff and Richter 1989; Matsumoto 1989; McClure 1989), those artefact are perceived to be :-†¢ expressive, i.e. they are of general utility and of adequate level of abstraction, so that they could be used in many different contexts, and be applicable to variety of problem areas; †¢ definite, i.e. they are constructed and documented with a clarity of purpose, their capabilities and limitations are easily identifiable, interfaces, required resources, external dependencies and operational environments are specified, and all other requirements are explicit and well defined; †¢ transferable , i.e. it is possible to easily transfer an artefact to a different environment or problem domain, this usually means that it is self-contained, with few dependencies on implementation-related concepts, it is abstract and well parametrised; †¢ additive, i.e. it should be possible to seamlessly compose existing artefacts into new products or other reusable components, without the need for massive software modifications or causing adverse side effects; †¢ formal , reusable artefacts should, at least at some level of abstraction, be described using a formal or semi-formal notation, such an approach provides means to formally verify an artefact correctness, it enables to predict violation of integrity constraints during artefact composition, or to assess the level of completeness for a product constructed of reusable parts; †¢ machine representable, those of the artefacts which can be described in terms of computationally determined attribute values, which can easily be decomposed into machine representable parts, which can be accessed, analysed, manipulated and possibly modified by computer-based processes, have a clear potential for becoming part of a flexible reuse library; those artefacts can be easily searched for, retrieved, interpreted, altered and finally integrated into larger system; †¢ self-contained , reusable artefacts which embody a single idea are easier to understand, they have less dependencies on external factors, whether environmental or implementational, they have interfaces which are simple to use, they are easier to extend, adapt and maintain; †¢ language independent, no implementation language details should be embedded in reusable artefacts, this also means that most useable artefacts are those which are described in terms of a specification or design formalism, or those low level solutions which could be used from variety of programming languages on a given implementation platform, either by appropriate macro processors or link editors; †¢ able to represent data and procedures , i.e. reusable artefacts should be able to encapsulate both their data structures and logic, down to a fine grain of detail, such an approach increases artefact cohesion and reduces the possibility of artefact coupling by common data passed via arguments or global variables; †¢ verifiable , as any other software components, reusable artefacts should be easy to test by their maintainers, and, what is even of a greater importance, by their users who embed reusable components into their own systems, and who must have the capability to monitor the components computational context and their interfaces; †¢ simple , minimum and explicit artefact interfaces will encourage developers to use artefacts, simple and easy to understand artefacts can also be easily modified by developers to suit new applications; and †¢ easily changeable, certain type of problems will require artefacts to be adopted to the new specifications, such changes should be localised to the artefact and require minimum of side effects. Reuse in Software Life-Cycle Computer software can be systematically reused across the entire development life-cycle, i.e. domain analysis, requirements specification, design and implementation, it has its place even in the post-delivery stages of development, e.g. its continuing quality assessment or software maintenance. Implementation. Early experience with software reuse was limited to reuse of program code in source and binary form. A great emphasis was put on development of programming languages which could support various methods of clustering, packaging, modularisation, parametrisation and sharing of data and code via data types and code blocks (ALGOL), named common blocks (FORTRAN), parametric functions and macros (FORTRAN and LISP), copy libraries (COBOL), information hiding (PASCAL), modules (SIMULA and MODULA), generic packages (ADA), objects and classes (SMALLTALK and C++), etc. The idea of code sharing was further supported by various operating system utilities which allowed independent program compilation, creation of relocatable libraries or link editing (Reed 1983). In those early days, no serious effort on a commercial scale was undertaken to reuse the early life-cycle artefacts, i.e. designs, specifications, requirements or enterprise models. This situation was caused by :- †¢ the lack of awareness of potential benefits that could be gained from reusing more abstract software artefacts; †¢ unavailability of commercial methodologies embracing software reuse at their centre-point; †¢ informal nature of early specification and design documents; and †¢ shortage of tools capable to represent specifications and designs in a computer-processable form. At the same time, †¢ the construction of libraries was known to improve software development productivity, and was practiced in nearly every commercial organisation; †¢ program code was written according to a formal grammar and it adhered to established semantic rules; and †¢ the construction of code libraries was supported by editors, compilers, loaders and linkers, which could be freely customised to accommodate various reuse tasks. Design. Today’s development approaches, such as object-oriented methods (Graham 1994) or rapid application development (Martin 1991), vigorously advocate reusing software artefacts at the earliest possible stage of the software life-cycle. Program design methods are now capable of utilising well-defined diagrammatic notations, which allow production of documents which are simpler and more legible than code, which clearly exhibit their conceptual contents, which are well structured and modular, and which allow dealing with problem complexity at various levels of abstraction and granularity. With the advent of CASE tools (McClure 1989) the contemporary design techniques are also supported by specialised software environments capable of capturing design ideas in a form leaning towards further processing by computer-based reuse tools. Today, it is also commonly perceived that reuse of software designs, as opposed to code reuse, is more economic, and cognitively a much more intuiti ve process. Requirements Specification. While application of reuse techniques to software design has visible advantages over code reuse, some researchers (Matsumoto 1989) claim further increases in the scope of software reusability when given opportunity to reuse modules at higher levels of abstraction, i.e. software specifications and requirements. Others support this claim, voicing the need to reuse large-scale artefacts going beyond design components and including entire design frameworks and domain resources (Li 1993). Bubenko et. al. (Bubenko, Rolland et al. 1994) further propose to combine design and reuse libraries to accommodate development processes capable of reusing conceptual schemas to support the process of requirements engineering. Such an approach provides users with the library of reusable components that could match their requirements, improves the quality of requirements specifications by making available well-defined conceptual components as early as requirements specification, and improves the productivity of the requirements engineering process by shortening the requirements formalisation effort (Castano and De Antonellis 1994). In the REBOOT system, Morel and Faget (Morel and Faget 1993) aim at extending this approach to the entire software life-cycle. Such advances in requirements and specification reuse were in part facilitated by :- †¢ Development of the new types of programming languages, such as PROLOG or EIFFEL, which combine elements of program specification and design (via logic and class specification) at the level of code, such an approach promotes interpretation and reuse of abstract program descriptions throughout the life-cycle; †¢ dissemination of prototyping tools and visual programming environments capable of graphic representation of user requirements and the subsequent generation of code or code skeletons (Vonk 1989; Ambler and Burnett 1990), facilitating effective composition of programs of domain-specific, visual, reuse components; †¢ introduction of formal requirements and specification languages, such as RML (Greenspan, Mylopoulos et al. 1994), Z (Spivey 1989), VDM (Woodman and Heal 1993) or LARCH (Guttag and Horning 1993), permitting representation, structuring, verification, and reuse of specification components; †¢ object-oriented technologies integrating various diagrammatic techniques into a single methodology, e.g. Information Engineering (Martin 1993), or unifying elements of conceptual modelling, program specification and design into one consistent notation, e.g. Object-Oriented Conceptual Modelling (Dillon and Tan 1993), such object-oriented development methods allow creation of abstract conceptual schemata which can be readily adapted by instantiation and inheritance to new problem solutions; †¢ development of full-text databases utilising efficient information retrieval methods (Salton 1989), being introduced as a repository for storing, classification and subsequent retrieval of design and specification texts (Frakes and Nejmeh 1988; Maarek, Berry et al. 1991; Fugini and Faustle 1993); and finally †¢ application of knowledge-based techniques and intelligent software development assistants in requirements acquisition and specification (Lowry and Duran 1989); Domain Analysis. The final frontier for software reuse in the development life-cycle is a thorough analysis of a given problem domain. This approach is grounded on the belief that in a real-life situation reusability is not a universal property of program code or processed information but it rather depends on a context of the problem and its solution, which themselves are relatively cohesive and stable (Arango and Prieto-Diaz 1991). The main aim of domain analysis is the construction of a domain model of which components could be reused in solving variety of problems. Such a model will customarily include definition of concepts used in the specification of problems and software systems, definition of typical design decisions, alternatives, trade-offs and justifications, and software implementation plans. Such a model may take variety of different forms, to include (cf. Figure 1) :- †¢ definitional model, which provides knowledge taxonomies and actonomies describing domain concepts, their structure, semantics, and relationships between them; †¢ knowledge representation model, giving domain semantics and explanation facilities; †¢ domain-specific languages , which when expressed as formal grammars and supported by parsers may provide direct translation of specifications into executable code; †¢ instructional models , indicating the methods of constructing working systems in a given domain, such methods may be described by standards, guidelines, templates, or interface definitions; †¢ functional models, describing how systems work, using representations such as data flow diagrams or program description languages; †¢ structural models, provide means to define architecture of domain systems; etc. In the process of constructing a domain model, the common knowledge from related systems is generalised, objects and operations common to all systems in a given domain are identified, and a model is defined to describe their inter-relationships. The main problem with this process is that knowledge sources for domain modelling (as found in technical literature, existing implementations, customer surveys, expert advice or current and future requirements) are frequently verbose and informal. Thus, special techniques and tools are needed to deal with it, e.g. knowledge acquisition tools, entity-relationship modelling tools, object-oriented methods, semantic clustering tools, CASE and parsing tools (Agresti and McGarry 1988). Reuse Process. In this work, we will view the process of software reuse as comprising three stages of artefact processing (cf. Figure 2), i.e. their analysis, organisation and synthesis. †¢ Artefact analysis starts with identification of artefacts in existing software products (Ning, Engberts et al. 1994) or in a currently analysed domain (Arango and Prieto-Diaz 1991), this is followed by their understanding and representation in a suitable formalism to reflect their function and semantics, with possible generalisation to widen the scope of their future applications. †¢ Artefact organisation includes classification and storage of artefacts in an appropriate software repository, the subsequent repository search and artefacts retrieval whenever they are needed in the reuse process. †¢ Artefact synthesis consists of artefact selection from a number of retrieved candidate artefacts, their adaptation to suit the new application, and their integration into a completely new software product. The tasks undertaken in the three stages of artefact processing are also frequently discussed from the perspective of development-for-reuse and development-by-reuse (Bubenko, Rolland et al. 1994). †¢ Development-for-reuse is emphasising the construction of the reuse library, involving the identification, understanding , generalisation , and the subsequent classification and storage of artefacts for later reuse. †¢ Development-by-reuse is concerned with the effective utilisation of the reuse library to support new software development, it involves searching, retrieval , selection , adaptation, and integration of artefacts into the software system under construction. As reuse is quite independent of any particular development process model, it, thus, could be embedded into a variety of methodologies, to include waterfall model (Hall and Boldyreff 1991), rapid prototyping (Martin 1991), object-oriented design (Meyer 1987),etc. While the inclusion of reuse into a development cycle is of a significant benefit to the entire process, at the same time it may complicate the development process (e.g. see Figure 3). Also, reuse tasks may significantly overlap with those performed in other development phases, e.g. software integration or maintenance. The separation of concerns lead some researchers (Hall and Boldyreff 1991) into pointing out that reuse must occur across different projects or problem areas, as opposed to those tasks which aim at the change, improvement or refinement of software undertaken within a single project which should not be regarded as reuse, e.g. †¢ software porting , which only aims at adopting existing software product to different hardware or operating system environments; †¢ software maintenance , which strives to correct software erroneous behaviour or to alter the existing program to suit changing requirements; and †¢ software reconfiguration, which provides a method of customising software to be used with different hardware components or making only a subset of its facilities available to the user. Assessing the Reuse Process and its Goals The value of software reuse cannot be gauged in simple, unambiguous, congruous and canonical fashion. One of the reasons for this difficulty lies in the fact that there is a variety of reusable artefact types and the methods and techniques for their creation, manipulation and maintenance. Another reason can be set in inadequacy of measuring tools to assess the reuse benefit or its hindrance, as it can be measured using variety of incompatible metrics, some of which are based on economic, some on technical, then again others on social or cognitive principles. Finally, it is the numerous software stakeholders who are not likely to agree on the common goals of the reuse process itself, as they will all have distinct and opposing development goals. The contention on thee success or failure of reuse approaches is best reflected in the myths, biases and preconceptions of software developers and management, this section will, thus, summarise such opinions as they are reported in the software engineering literature. Reuse benefits. Adopting reuse-based software development process attracts a number of well recognised economic and psychological benefits to both the end-users and developers (Tracz 1988b; Hemmann 1992). These include the following. †¢ Savings in costs and time. As a developer uses already pre-defined components, hence, the activities associated with components specification, design and implementation are now replaced with finding components, their adaptation to suit new requirements, and their integration. Experience shows (also from other fields, like electronic engineering) that the latter set of activities takes less times and therefore costs less. It should be noted, though, that development of components for reuse will certainly attract additional effort, time and cost. This costs, however, can be offset by savings in a number of different software projects. †¢ Increase in productivity. A set of reusable artefacts can frequently be viewed as a high-level language of concepts drawn from a given problem domain. Hence, a developer is given an opportunity to work with more abstract notions related directly to the problem at hand and to ignore low-level, implementation details. It has been shown that working at a higher level of abstraction leads to an increase in development productivity. †¢ Increase in reliability. Reuse library can be viewed as a software product itself, therefore, its development follows a normal cycle of requirements specification, design, implementation, testing, documentation and maintenance. By the very assumption, the user base and a life-span of reuse artefacts is much greater than that of any individual product, thus, the reliability of such artefact is also increased. This also leads to an improved reliability of systems built of reusable components rather than of those built entirely from scratch. †¢ Increase in ease of maintenance. Systems constructed of reusable parts are usually simpler, smaller, and more abstract. Their design is closer to the problem domain and their reliability is greater. This of course has an very positive impact on the quality of such systems maintenance. †¢ Improvement in documentation and testing. Reusable components are normally accompanied by high quality documentation and by previously developed tests plans and cases. Whenever a new system is created by simple selection and altering of such components, then, their documentation and tests will have to be much easier to develop as well. †¢ High speed and low cost replacement of aging systems. As the reuse-based systems share a very large collection of program logic via the reuse library, thus, they are significantly less complex and much smaller in size than those developed from scratch. Such systems will therefore need less effort during porting or adaptation to new hardware and software environments. It should also be noted that it would normally be the reusable components of the system that is technology intensive, and thus, very expensive to develop, e.g. graphical user interfaces, databases, communications, device control, etc. Sharing that cost across several systems would certainly reduce it when a global replacement of computing resources is called for. Reuse drawbacks. At the same time, in practice, radical gains in productivity and quality cannot be achieved due to some preconceptions held by developers and their management (Tracz 1988b; Hemmann 1992). The claims commonly put forward by programmers include :- †¢ reusing code, as compared with development of entirely new systems, is boring; †¢ locally developed code is better than that developed elsewhere (NIH factor); †¢ it is easier to rewrite complex programs from scratch rather than to maintain it; †¢ there are no tools to assist programmers in finding reusable artefacts; †¢ in majority of cases, developed programs are too specialised for reuse; †¢ adopted software development methodology does not support software reuse; †¢ reuse is often ad-hoc and is unplanned; †¢ there is no formal training in reusing code and designs effectively; †¢ useful reusable artefacts are not supported on the preferred development platform; †¢ the reuse process is too slow; †¢ interfaces of reusable artefacts are too awkward to use; †¢ code with reusable components is often too big or too inefficient; †¢ programs built of reusable components are not readily transportable; †¢ reusable components do not conform to adopted standards; †¢ reuse techniques do not scale up to large software projects; †¢ there are no incentives to reuse software. Meanwhile, management also raises objections based on the following arguments :- †¢ it takes too much effort and time to introduce reuse in workplace; †¢ perceived productivity gains will result in cuts to the project man-power; †¢ customers may expect reusable artefacts to be delivered with their product; †¢ it may be difficult to prevent plagiarism of reusable artefacts; †¢ reuse of code may lead to legal responsibility in case of software failure; †¢ the cost of maintaining reusable libraries is prohibitive; †¢ management is not trained in software development methods with reuse; †¢ there is no coordination between software project partners to introduce reuse. Such problems of perception often result from irrational, nevertheless, deeply rooted myths about reusability and the reuse process. A selection of such myths (cf. Table 1) were reported and subsequently demistified by Tracz (1988a). Reuse motivators. While the common prejudice, miconceptions and outright myths among developers and management prevent companies to effectively introduce reuse into their mainstream development, Frakes and Fox (1995) show in their survey that only few factors listed above have any real impact on the success or failure of software reuse, i.e. †¢ the type of application domain althought the reasons for this phenomenon are not known, it seems that certain types of industries show significantly higher levels of reuse (e.g. telecommunication companies) in certain areas of the life-cycle than others (e.g. aerospace industries); †¢ perceived economic feasibility in those organisations where management convinced its software developers that reuse is desirable and economically viable had a much higher success in the introduction of reuse into those organisations; †¢ high quality and functional relevance of reuse assets increases the likelihood of the assets to be reused; †¢ common software process although developers themselves do not regard a common software process as promoting reuse, there is a strong correlation between the gains in the process maturity and the gains in the level of software reuse; and finally, †¢ reuse education education about reuse, both in school and at work, improves reuse and is a necessary part of a reuse program, however, since the issues of software reuse are rarely discussed in the academic curriculum, it is necessary for management to bear the responsibility to provide reuse-specific training to its employees. The same study also showed that other factors, widely perceived as reuse motivators or inhibitors, have only a minimal effect on the reuse process, e.g. †¢ use of specific programming languages and paradigms it is often perceived that structured, modular, object-oriented, or high-level languages improve the prospects of successful software reuse, the collected statistics, however, show no such correlation; †¢ utilisation of software support environments and CASE although development tools are frequently marketted as greatly enhancing software reusability, some studies show that the current employed CASE tools are not particularly effective in promoting reuse of life-cycle objects across projects in an organisation; †¢ employment of staff experienced in software engineering it seems to be evident that experienced software development practitioners are potentially better reusers than those who have no formal training in software engineering, however contrary to this belief, it can be shown that experience and knowledge of software development principles is not a substitute for training in methods and techniques specific to reuse activities; †¢ provision of recognition rewards as an incentive to promote reuse practices in the organisation it is likely that only monetary rewards are a more effective motivator for implementing reuse practices; †¢ existence of perceived legal impediments to the utilisation of reusable software as majority of reuse efforts concentrates on the in-house development of reusable artefacts, thus, the legal issues are of less concern; †¢ existence of reuse repositories many organisations consider such repositories as central to their reuse efforts, practice, however, shows that those organisations which do not use sophisticated computer-aided tools assisting the classification and retrieval of software artefacts achieve similar levels of reuse as those who are active proponents and users of such automated repositories; †¢ the size of an organisation conducting a software development project the project or development team size is often used as an argument against the introduction of a formal reuse process, small companies believe the narrow scope of their application domain will limit the potential benefit of reuse, while the big companies fear the necessary investment of resources and money to properly implement systematic reuse, the apprehension in both of these cases in unwarranted and the likelyhood of a success or failure of reuse efforts is independent of the company or project size; †¢ considerations of software and process quality majority of surveyed developers had generally positive experience in reusing various software assets developed outside their home companies, overall, the quality concerns had little impact on the level of software reuse, the situation would probably be very different if the quality of reused assets were to deteriorate; †¢ reuse measurements in majority of companies measurement of reuse levels, software quality, and software productivity are not done, however, those organisation which measure software reusability are not getting any significant higher reuse levels than those which fail to monitor their successes or failures in reusing software artefacts, thus in practice, measuring software reuse has very little effect on the whole of the reuse process. Finally, Krueger (1989) provides four tenets of the successful software reuse, the tenets based on the technical and cognitive factors which he believes will ultimately translate into variety of development goals to achieve an effective policy on software reusability, i.e. †¢ reuse must reduce the cognitive effort of software development; †¢ constructing systems of reusable components must be easier than to building them from scratch; †¢ finding reusable artefacts must be more efficient than building them; †¢ understanding artefacts is fundamental to their effective selection. Summary This paper defined the concepts of software reuse, reusability, reuse artefact and reuse library. It listed those attributes of software artefacts which increase a chance of them being reused, e.g. they have to be expressive, definite, transferable, additive, formal, machine representable, self-contained, language independent, able to represent data and procedures, verifiable, simple, and easily changeable. Then the paper gave an overview of major reuse efforts in the life-cycle, starting with coding and design, and then going through specification and requirements capture, and finally covering domain analysis and modelling. Two forms of reuse-based development were discussed, i.e. development-for-reuse, aiming at the construction of reuse library, and consisting of artefact identification, generalisation, classification and storage; and the second, development-by-reuse, aiming at the construction of a new software product with the use of reuse library, and including the tasks of searching for reusable artefacts, their understanding, adaptation to new requirements, and their integration into a new system. The stages of artefacts processing include their analysis, organisation and synthesis. Finally the paper analyses the benefits and the perceived disadvantages of software reusability, focusing in particular on the myths and misconceptions held by developers and their managers. Four preconditions for reusability success were given as reduction in cognitive complexity, ease of implementation, ability to understanding of artefact structure and function, and finally, economy of reuse. 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The Second Amendment of the Constitution Essay -- 2nd Amendment Constit

The Second Amendment   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This timeless phrase, the Second Amendment of the United States’ Constitution, is an enduring example of the principles and ideals that our country was founded on. With this statement, the founders of this country explicitly and perpetually guaranteed the American individual the right to keep and bear arms. An incomparably crucial element of this country‘s origins, the Second Amendment and the rights it guarantees have proved vital to the growth and success of our nation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Second Amendment has often been the subject of debate, and over the years varying speculations and interpretations of its intended meaning have forced this significant phrase into a controversial spotlight. Many Americans question the importance and legitimacy of the Second Amendment, claiming that it is outdated and invalid. An increasing number of people feel that the Second Amendment should be fully eradicated from the Constitution, and new restrictions outlining firearm ownership should be implemented. Furthermore, in addition to questioning the validity of the phrase, many people question the literal meaning of the Second Amendment. Through critical analysis of the text itself, including tedious speculation of grammar and punctuation, many ...

Leadership and Management Essay

Initially I plan on reviewing the prevailing leadership styles in my organisation and then assessing the impact of these on the organisation’s values and performance. In order to assess the leadership styles I have produced a questionnaire (see appendix 1). The questionnaire was designed to find out how directive, participative and permissive each manager in our organisation is and then study the most prevailing style. It was evident from the information collated that the prevailing leadership style in our organisation is participative and directive rather than permissive. On assessing this information it became apparent that our manager’s leadership styles reflect a Contingency theory and they rather be present and take part in services in order to ensure controlled success. Contingency theory is a class of behavioral theories that claim there is no best way to lead a company, or to make decisions. Instead, the best action is contingent (dependent) upon the situation. Several contingency approaches were developed in the1960s. They suggested that previous theories such as Weber’s bureaucracy and Taylor’s Scientific Management had failed because they neglected that management style and organisational structure were influenced by various aspects of the environment: known as contingency factors. There could not be â€Å"one best way† for leadership or organisation. Historically, contingency theory has attempted to formulate broad views about formal structures that are typically associated with or best fit the use of different organisations. This perspective originated with the work of Joan Woodward (1958), who argued that skills directly determine differences in such organisational attributes as a span of control, centralisation of authority, and the formalisation of rules and procedures. My Organisation Values and Performance The organisation that I work for delivers a range of high quality services and projects, these services follow the principles of empowering communities, developing lives, furthering equality, diversity and inclusion and strengthening local voluntary sector delivery. These principles dictate the values in which we function. We are very much a voluntary sector, charitable organisation ensuring that at the heart of our services are the people that access them. Performance is measured through a set of service delivery indicators which form the base of our promises to funding bodies, staff, volunteers and customers in everything we do. These indicators are measured via our service development plan. Each year we publish an Annual Report based on our Service Delivery Indicators, which measure our progress and informs the public of our work over the previous year in delivering against our priorities. (See Appendix 2 for our organisations SDI’s) Our organisation values and performance clearly highlight a need for the leadership to be open and receptive. This allows us to except feedback and input from our service users. A directive and participatory leadership style is imposed by managers in our organisation for staff; however when dealing with service users we have to adopt a more directive style to ensure commination is clear and there is no room for bought. We have found in the past when we have given service users who are vulnerable and have mental health difficulties an opportunity to contribute to services they feel empowered, however they need time and guidance in order to make informed decisions. Effectiveness of my Own Leadership Style On assessing my own leadership style I appeared to be more directive, in the middle when it came to participation, however I did not seem to be very permissive. The results did not surprise me and seemed to be consistent with my approach. I tend to direct staff by the use of many models including action plans which are produced in team meeting and each member of staff is allocated actions, timescales, budget and directions. I am participatory when tasks are being carried out I ensure I understand the delivery method and observe when necessary. For example if we are promoting a new group I will ensure all promotion literature is checked by me prior to going out and visit the new group to view session delivery. I do not hide away form front line delivery and ensure I gage with staff, clients and volunteers therefore I understand the reason why on my leadership assessment I did not score highly on being permissive. Therefore I feel my management style suits the organisation. However with the changing nature of our organisation leading towards a more business-like approach I may find I have to review my management style. I may need to become more permissive, less participatory and even more directive. This will ensure I can work more strategically to order to retain services and staff. Changing my approach may be difficult for my staff to accept, however explaining that their jobs may be at risks if I do not manage differently may put it all into perspective. By applying a Contingency theory mentioned earlier I should be able to manage this effectively. I asked my staff to assess my leadership style using the questionnaire I produced and gave to fellow managers (Appendix 1). The results mirrored my self assessment, demonstrating that I understand my own leadership style well and that the staff have the same opinion. Apply Own Leadership Style in Range of Situations Over the last two weeks I have begun to assess my own leadership style in a variety of situations. These have mainly taken the form of meetings. I have chaired a client/volunteer meeting and a full staff meeting. My leadership style tended to change in these situations. I became less formal with the client and volunteer meeting in order to project at their level of understanding. Less detail was presented and less decision making was required. The meeting was more informative and decisions had been made by the staff team prior to the meeting. Feedback and participation was welcomed however it was in a manner in which it could be controlled so as a staff team we could make informed decisions.

Legal, Ethical and Operational Issues

P5 Explain the legal and ethical issues in relation to the use of business information Definition: Ethics concern an individual's moral judgments about right and wrong. Explanation: Business information belongs to the business owner and any kind of use of the business related information should be used as per the company policy. There are legal consequences in breaking the rules (code of conduct ; code of practice). Staff member needs to use his/her ethical judgement to decide what is right or wrong.Scenario – Update of Staff Handbook on ethical and legal issues in relation to the use of business information. Illegal, inappropriate or unacceptable use of school equipment or communication systems may result in disciplinary action and in serious cases could lead to an employee's dismissal. This list is not exhaustive and includes; ? creating, sending or forwarding any message that would reasonably be considered inappropriate or unacceptable. (E. g. anything non related to school ) ? Committing or implying commitment to any contractual arrangements ?Accessing, publication or circulation of illegal, offensive, unacceptable, inappropriate or non-work related material ? Any illegal activities ? posting confidential information about the school and/or other employees, children or parents ? gambling or gaming ? unauthorised use of school facilities (or employee's personal IT equipment), for personal use during employee's working time Employees receiving inappropriate communication or material or who are unsure about whether something he/she proposes to do might breach this policy should seek advice from their Head teacher.The school has the right to monitor e-mails, phone-calls, internet activity or document production, principally in order to avoid offensive or nuisance material and to protect systems from viruses, but also to ensure proper and effective use of systems. Communication systems may be accessed when the school suspects that the employee has been mis using systems or facilities, or for the investigation of suspected fraud or other irregularity. CODE OF CONDUCT FOR SCHOOL EMPLOYEES 12. Social networking websites. School employees must not access social networking websites for personal use (e. . Facebook) during work time. Access to some journals, blogs and social networking sites is permitted during work time for the purposes of undertaking job related duties only. School employees must act in the best interests of the school and not disclose personal data or information about any individual including staff, young people or children. This includes images. Access may be withdrawn and disciplinary action taken if there is a breach of confidentiality or defamatory remarks are made about the school, staff, young people or children. The school respects an employee's private life.However, it must also ensure that confidentiality and its reputation are protected. Employees using social networking websites in their private life; 1. Must refrain from identifying themselves as working for the school, in a way which has, or may have, the effect of bringing the school into disrepute. 2. Must not identify other school employees, children or young people without their consent. 3. Must not make any defamatory remarks about the school, it's employees, children or young people, or conduct themselves in a way that is detrimental to the school. . Disclose personal data or information about the school, employees, children or young people, that could breach the Data Protection Act 1998, for example, posting photographs or images of children or young people. 5. Must not allow pupils to access their personal social networking accounts and where they are contacted by a pupil they should bring it to the Head teacher’s attention. CODE OF CONDUCT FOR SCHOOL EMPLOYEES 13. Personal Websites and BlogsEmployees who wish to set up personal web forums, weblogs or ‘blogs' must do so outside of work, not school equipment and adh ere to the points detailed in the paragraph above. 14. Confidentiality All employees at the school and the Governing Body come into contact with a significant volume of data and information in relation to pupils, staff, school activities and many other matters. There is an obligation to read and to observe the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998. 14. 1 Required reading:  · Data Protection Guide – available on intranet. 14. 2 Managing dataUnder the Data Protection Act, staff are required to collect, maintain and dispose of sensitive or personal data in a responsible manner. 14. 3 Disclosing data Staff should not disclose sensitive information about the school, its employees or the local authority to other parties, for example, parents or colleagues. There are particular exceptions to this; for example disclosure of suspected or alleged abuse of a pupil to Child Protection officers; discussion with a person accompanying or representing an employee in a formal meeting or disclosure under the Whistleblowing Procedure.All communication with the media must be directed through the Head teacher or their nominee. There are circumstances in which staff are obliged to release pupil data, for example, parents seeking information about pupil progress or other colleagues in the school. CODE OF CONDUCT FOR SCHOOL EMPLOYEES 14. 4 Access to data Everyone has the right to request access to data that is held about them and such requests should be made to the Head teacher who will address the request in conjunction with the Local Authority’s Data Protection Officer. 15.Copyright Copyright legislation should be displayed next to photocopier machines and employees are required to adhere to the guidance provided about use of educational resources. P6 Operational Issues in relation to the use of Business information. Operational issues are how to keep your business information safe and secure. It involves legal support to protect the rights of the business to keep its information safe and prevent misuse. Below are the different types of laws that protect the use of Business information. Data Protection Act –Computer Misuse Act Freedom of Information Act Copyright Act The need for the Data Protection Act This was introduced to regulate personal data. Databases are easily accessed, searched and edited. It’s also far easier to cross reference information stored in two or more databases than if the records were paper-based. The computers on which databases resided were often networked. This allowed for organization-wide access to databases and offered an easy way to share information with other organizations. Computer Misuse ActData stored electronically is easier to misuse; that software should not be copied without permission; the consequences of software piracy; that hacking can lead to corruption of data, either accidentally or on purpose. Types of computer misuse Misuse of computers and communications systems comes in sev eral forms: Hacking Hacking is where an unauthorised person uses a network, Internet or modem connection to gain access past security passwords or other security to see data stored on another computer. Hackers sometimes use software hacking tools and often target, for example, particular sites on the Internet.Data misuse and unauthorised transfer or copying Copying and illegal transfer of data is very quick and easy using online computers and large storage devices such as hard disks, memory sticks and DVDs. Personal data, company research and written work, such as novels and textbooks, cannot be copied without the copyright holder's permission. Copying and distributing copyrighted software, music and film This includes copying music and movies with computer equipment and distributing it on the Internet without the copyright holder's permission.This is a widespread misuse of both computers and the Internet that breaks copyright regulations. Identity and financial abuses This topic in cludes misuse of stolen or fictional credit card numbers to obtain goods or services on the Internet, and use of computers in financial frauds. These can range from complex well thought out deceptions to simple uses such as printing counterfeit money with colour printers. Viruses Viruses are relatively simple programs written by people and designed to cause nuisance or damage to computers or their files. The Computer Misuse Act (1990)This was passed by Parliament and made three new offences: Accessing computer material without permission, eg looking at someone else's files Accessing computer material without permission with intent to commit further criminal offences, eg hacking into the bank's computer and wanting to increase the amount in your account Altering computer data without permission, eg writing a virus to destroy someone else's data, or actually changing the money in an account Copyright law This provides protection to the owners of the copyright and covers the copying of written, musical, or film works using computers.FAST is the industry body which is against software theft. There have been cases where laws such as Copyright have been used to crack down on file sharing websites or individuals who store and illegally distribute copyrighted material, e. g. music. There is a massive problem with many people around the world obtaining copyrighted material illegally. M2 Analyze the legal, ethical and operational issues in relation to the use of business information, using appropriate examples. Ethical, Legal and Operational issues in relation to the use of business information Advantages of Ethical, Legal and Operational issuesEthical, Legal and Operational issues in relation to the use of business information in the market place and workplace are becoming increasingly important as organizations move into a period of intense competition for public and consumer support. Therefore, there is a requirement to protect the business information which comes un der operational issues. The business information is protected with the legal laws Organizations are under pressure to develop and maintain policies on business ethics and social responsibility to ensure that they have the support of employees and other stakeholders. Legal Ethical ; Operational) Code of Conduct The how that determines our actions Deutsche Post DHL has devised a code of conduct that has applied to all regions and divisions since the middle of 2006. This code of conduct serves as an â€Å"ethical compass†, providing guidelines for use by about 470,000 employees in their business lives every day. The key pillars of this code of conduct are respect, tolerance, honesty and candor as well as willingness to assume social responsibility.The guidelines apply to all employees, irrespective of their place in the Group's hierarchy, and to divisions. The code of conduct is based on international agreements and guidelines, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , the conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Global Compact of the United Nations. Fundamental principles are observance of human rights, equal opportunity, transparency, and clear stands in the battle against discrimination, bribery and corruption. What is Correct Conduct?Deutsche Post DHL deals with a variety of people and organizations who are our stakeholders. Our image as a company depends on how employees conduct themselves in the business world. There is no substitute for personal integrity and sound judgment. When faced with a difficult situation, our employees should consider these questions: 1. Is my action or decision legal? 2. Does it comply with our values and our policies? 3. Is it right and free of any personal conflicts of interest? 4. Could my action or decision withstand public review? What would it look like in a newspaper? 5.Will my action or decision protect the Group's reputation as a company with high ethical standards? If the answe r to each question is â€Å"yes†, the action or decision based on the following principles of conduct is most likely the correct one. Our Ethical Commitment Quality Focus Our commitment to quality is core to our business. In order to achieve the highest quality standards, we will work constantly to improve our structures and processes for the benefit of our customers. This applies to our products, services and management, but also to our behavior. Customer SatisfactionWe place the highest priority on making our customers successful, knowing that customer success guarantees our own success. Our activities are governed by our knowledge of the global and local requirements of our customers and markets. We include and prioritize the customer focus in all our business processes, projects and dealings. We know that we will be measured by our ethical, social and environmental performance as much as by the quality of our service. We therefore strive for best practice in all these are as to secure customer trust. Laws and Ethical StandardsGuided by our Corporate Values, we strive for sustainable development of our business founded on the three pillars: economic performance, environmental stewardship and social responsibility. We will honor the diverse interests of our customers, employees and business partners with integrity, fairness and honesty. We strive for excellence in both our business performance and our ethical behavior. Deutsche Post DHL complies with laws applicable to its business in all regions and countries. We recognize that laws vary with respect to ethical standards within and across the countries in which we work.This may pose particular challenges and dilemmas, which we strive to overcome by adherence to our Corporate Values. Deutsche Post DHL will be guided by the principles of the United Nations' Global Compact. We respect human rights within our sphere of influence and conduct our business in a manner that makes us an employer of choice. We respect the principles of the 1998 International Labor Organization's â€Å"Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work† in accordance with national law and practice. Transparency We are committed to openness in our dealings with our stakeholders.Transparency and honesty shall be the guiding principles in all our communication activities, internally and externally. The public will have access to information concerning our company, in line with what is required or recommended by internationally recognized standards of corporate governance. Accounting and Reporting Standards Deutsche Post DHL relies on the authenticity and accuracy of information recorded in its accounting records for proper decision making. It is of the utmost importance that records dealing with security and personnel, as well as booking and financial data are protected.All business transactions must be reflected accurately in our accounts in accordance with established procedures and auditing st andards. Accounting records will reflect and describe the nature of the underlying transactions. Money Laundering Deutsche Post DHL complies strictly with laws and regulations designed to combat money laundering activity. This includes those rules and regulations requiring reporting of currency transactions with blocked persons. Our Standard of Working Together Individual Responsibility and Involvement The skills and the commitment of our people are our greatest asset.We expect our employees to conduct their business in an entrepreneurial way and accept their individual responsibility. We strive to involve our colleagues in our projects and decision-making processes in order to achieve our common goals with reliability and commitment. Mutual Respect and Openness All relations between directors, managers and employees of all levels, units and regions shall be guided by mutual respect, openness, honesty and the spirit of trust and cooperation. We give and look for feedback and we comm unicate actively and openly with each other. We are committed to a fair and open debate and seek varying opinions.We motivate our colleagues to speak up promptly and to express their ideas and concerns. Team spirit is triggered by open-mindedness. We therefore support an open door policy and initiatives to share and exchange knowledge. Diversity and Discrimination We see employee diversity as a guiding principle in our employment policy. This means promoting the diversity and heterogeneity of the individuals in the company in order to attain the highest possible productivity, creativity and efficiency. Skills, performance and ethical conduct shall be our only indicators for employee qualification.We will not discriminate or tolerate discrimination with respect to gender, race, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, national origin or any other characteristic protected under law. Each employee is required to contribute to an environment of respect that precludes any kind of h arassment, including workplace bullying, unwelcome sexual advances, unwanted physical contact, propositions or a working environment poisoned with harassing jokes, words and demeaning comments. Health Management Our employees deserve to work in a safe and healthy environment.We are therefore committed to the workplace health and safety regulations expressed in our health and safety policies. We strive to foster the physical and psychological â€Å"well being† of our employees. Our goals are both fewer illnesses and a lower accident rate. We promote health care as a key element of our sustained productivity and the quality of our services. Our health and safety policies, active in all locations throughout the world, include a ban of illegal drugs in the workplace. We prohibit any kind of violence and assault at the workplace, including threatening and intimidating behavior. Company PropertyThe use of company property, including labor, supplies, equipment, buildings or other as sets for personal benefit is prohibited where not explicitly allowed by agreement. Each employee has a responsibility to safeguard and make proper use of Deutsche Post DHL property. Intellectual property is a valuable asset and must be protected from unauthorized use or disclosure. Such property includes trade secrets, confidential information, copyrights, trademarks, logos, but also customer lists, business opportunities and product specifications, whether owned by Deutsche Post DHL-affiliated companies or business partners.Legal Proceedings Employees must avoid activities that could involve or lead to involvement of Deutsche Post DHL or its personnel in any unlawful practice, including the employment of our personnel or use of company assets for illegal gain. Lawsuits, legal proceedings and investigations concerning Deutsche Post DHL must be handled quickly and properly in order to protect and defend the company. Employees who are threatened by a lawsuit or other legal proceedings or investigation in a business-related matter are required to contact their Deutsche Post DHL Legal Department immediately.Insider Information Any person with inside information is prohibited by law to buy or sell Deutsche Post DHL stock by using this information. Employees are at risk of civil and criminal penalties should they disclose nonpublic information that an investor could use to buy or sell securities. Trading with such information is illegal whether employees trade for their own benefit or others trade for them. Our Business Integrity Shareholders' Trust We recognize the necessity of sound and transparent corporate management to maintain the trust of our shareholders and investors. We are committed to ncreasing shareholder value. Business Partner Dialogue We are committed to dialogue and partnership with our business partners in many communities throughout the world. We share principles of ethical behavior, social engagement and respect for the environment with our suppl iers, subcontractors, agents and consultants. We will communicate our principles to our business partners and motivate them to adhere to the same standards we do. Conflicts of Interest We require all directors, officers and employees to maintain high ethical standards in handling conflicts of interest.They should disclose any relationship with persons or firms with whom we do business (‘Business Partners'), which might give rise to a conflict of interest, to a supervisor. Such relations include in particular a relationship by blood or marriage, partnership, participation or an investment in Business Partners. Fair Competition We are committed to free enterprise and fair competition. Company business must be conducted solely on the basis of merit and open competition. We will hire suppliers, agents or their intermediaries only by fair assessment.We are legally bound to make business decisions in the best interests of the company, independent of any understanding or greement wit h a competitor. As a result, the company and its employees will avoid any conduct that violates or might appear to violate antitrust laws. Bribery and Corruption We trust that the excellence of our services is the key to our business success. Therefore we will deal with all our customers, suppliers and government agencies in a straightforward manner and in compliance with international anti-bribery standards as stated in the Global Compact and local anti-corruption and bribery laws.This includes any transaction that might appear to be arranged for granting concessions or benefits. Gifts and Benefits Employees should not solicit services, gifts, or benefits from customers or suppliers that influence or appear to influence the employee's conduct in representing the company. Gifts and entertainment may be exchanged at a level that does not exceed customary local courtesies extended in accordance with ethical business practices and applicable law.In case of doubt, employees should consu lt with their supervisor or the HR department. Business Secrecy, Data Protection/Privacy Our employees shall not disclose information that is not known to the general public for personal gain or the benefit of anyone other than the company. Such information includes technical data, financial data, operating data, customer information, memoranda and other information regarding the company's business and operational activities and future plans.Employees will adhere to relevant laws and company regulations with respect to personal data, such as data protection guidelines and policies, e. g. DPDHL Privacy Policy for international data transfers. Processing of personal data of natural or where applicable legal persons must be based on legitimate grounds in line with the applicable laws. Our Social Responsibility Communities We are committed to supporting the communities in which we work and recognize the need to contribute to their well-being with our know-how and professional skills.Res pect for and understanding of the different cultures and a sensitive manner of dealing with their key issues is of highest importance to us as it builds trust and credibility within our international environment. We have and will continue to support community development as a sponsor in partnerships with non-government organizations and charities in accordance with our community investment policy. We recognize that we are measured by our actions outside the workplace and therefore call on our employees to respect the local culture and understand the issues of communities where they work.Environment We acknowledge the impact of our business activities on the environment and are committed to improving our environmental track record through precautionary measures and the use of environment-friendly technology. We regularly assess and monitor our impact on the environment. By systematically identifying and leveraging potential ecological initiatives, we strive to support constant improv ement of our environmental performance and the increase of efficiency in our resources. This includes environmental audits and risk management.We want to measure our processes and services against the highest quality standards. National and international environmental standards – such as the ISO 14000 standard series – shall be our guiding principles. As a corporate group, we advocate and support the dissemination of environmentally and socially exacting standards throughout the world. We consider our employees' commitment and active involvement to be an important platform for our efforts and a significant source of innovation.Related Policies and Regulations, Local Codes The Code of Conduct sets the principles for all policies and regulations of Deutsche Post DHL. Local or business-related policies will provide more specific guidance. Divisions, business units, regional entities and companies of Deutsche Post DHL may adopt their own local codes, incorporating the subs tance of the Deutsche Post DHL Code of Conduct but modified to reflect requirements of local laws and regulations or the social customs and characteristics of their business operations.Such local codes may include additional, specific standards. However, in no event will any term contradict or be more lenient than this Deutsche Post DHL Code of Conduct. All local codes shall be reviewed and approved by the Global Compliance Office. Please note the latest versions of the following regulations that complement the Code of Conduct: the anti-corruption and business ethics policy and the competition compliance policy.

Credit risks in financial markets The WritePass Journal

Credit risks in financial markets Credit risks in financial markets Signs of trouble started to multiply early in 2007.On February 22; HSBC fired the head of its U.S mortgage lending business, recognizing losses reaching $10.8 billion. On March 9, DR Horton, the biggest homebuilder, warned of losses from subprime mortgages. On March 12, New Century Financial, one of the biggest subprime lenders, had its shares suspended from trading amid fears that the company was headed for bankruptcy. On March 13, it was reported that late payments on mortgages and home foreclosures rose to new highs. On March 16, Accredited Home Lenders Holding put up $2.7 billion of its subprime loan book for sale at a heavy discount to generate cash for business operations. On April 2, New Century Financial filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after it was forced to repurchase billions of dollars worth of bad loans. On June 15, 2007, Bear Stearns announced that two large mortgage hedge funds were having trouble meeting margin calls. Bear grudgingly created a $3.2 billion credit line to bail out one fund and let the other collapse. Investors` equity of $1.5 billion was mostly wiped out. As late as July 2007, Bernanke still estimated subprime losses at only about $100 billion. When Merrill Lynch and Citigroup took big write-down on in-house collateralized debt obligations, the markets actually staged a relief rally. The SP 500 hit a new high in mid-July. It was only at the beginning of August that financial markets really took fright. It came as a shock when Bear Stearns filed for bankruptcy protection for two hedge funds exposed to subprime loans and stopped clients from withdrawing cash from a third fund. As mentioned, Bear Stearns had tried to save these entities by providing $3.2 billion of additional funding. Liquidity risks in financial markets Once the crisis erupted, financial markets unraveled with remarkable rapidity. Everything that could go wrong did. Investment banks carried large positions of CDOs off balance sheet in so-called structured investment vehicles (SIVs). The SIVs financed their positions by issuing asset backed commercial paper. As the value of CDOs came into question, the asset-backed commercial paper market dried up, and the investment banks were forced to bail out their SIVs. Most investment banks took the SIVs into their balance sheet and were forced to recognize large losses in the process. Investment banks were also sitting on large loan commitments to finance leveraged buyouts. In the normal course of events, they would package these loans as collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) and sell them off, but the CLO market came to a standstill together with the CDO market, and the banks were left holding a bag worth about $250 billion. Some banks allowed their SIVs to go bust, and some reneged on their leveraged buyout obligations. This, together with the size of the losses incurred by the banks, served to unnerve the stock market, and price movements became chaotic. So-called market-neutral hedge funds, which exploit small discrepancies in market prices by using very high leverage, ceased to be market neutral and incurred unusual losses. A few highly leveraged ones were wiped out, damaging the reputation of their sponsors and unleashing lawsuits. All this put tremendous pressure on the banking system. Banks had to put additional items on their balance sheets at a time when their capital base was impaired by unexpected losses. Banks had difficulty assessing their exposure and even greater difficulties estimating the exposure of their counterparts. Consequently, they were reluctant to lend to each other and eager to hoard their liquidity. At first, central banks found it difficult to inject enough liquidity because commercial banks avoided using any of the facilities which had an onus attached to them, and they were also reluctant to deal with each other, but eventually these obstacles were overcome .After all, if there is one thing central banks know how to do, that is to provide liquidity. Only the Bank of England suffered a major debacle when it attempted to rescue Northern Rock, an overextended mortgage lender. Its rescue effort resulted in a run on the bank. Eventually Northern Rock was nationalized and its obligations add ed to the national debt, pushing the United Kingdom beyond the limits imposed by the Maastricht Treaty. Extreme uncertainty and volatility in financial markets Although liquidity had been provided, the crisis refused to abate. Credit spreads continued to widen. Almost all the major banksCitigroup, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Bank of America, Wachovia, UBS, Credit Suisseannounced major write-downs in the fourth quarter, and most have signaled continued write-downs in the fourth quarter, and most have signaled continued write-downs in 2008. Both AIG and Credit Suisse made preliminary fourth-quarter write-down announcements that they repeatedly revised, conveying the doubtless accurate impression that they had lost control of their balance sheets. A $7.2 billion trading fiasco at Societe Generale announced in January 2008, coincided with a selling climax in the stock market and an extraordinary 75 basis point cut in the federal funds rate eight days before the regularly scheduled meeting, when the rate was cut a further 50 basis points. This was unprecedented. Distress spread from residential real estate to credit card debt, auto debt, and commercial real estate. Trouble at the monocline insurance companies, which traditionally specialized in municipal bonds but ventured into insuring structured and synthetic products, caused the municipal bond market to be disrupted. An even larger unresolved problem is looming in the credit default swaps market.

Free Essays on The Tormentors And Their Influences

â€Å"The Tormentors and Their Influences† Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Bread Givers are novels which unfold the struggles that two young girls have to face under the strict laws of their tormenters. Reb Smolinsky and Doctor Flint are the burdens of the girls lives, and they know they must escape them. Reb Smolinsky is the father to Sara in Bread Givers and he plays the role of an unemployed and strictly religious man who collects his daughter’s wages and commands her and the rest of the family about under the ruling of the Holy Torah. In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Dr. Flint is a slaveholder and owns Linda who is a black slave on his plantation. Dr. Flint is the tormenter and burden in Linda’s life for all of her early years. Linda and Sara live under the ruling of these men until neither can take it any longer. Both girls eventually escape, through many struggles, to start their own life and leave their past behind. Reb Smolinsky and Dr. Flint closely relate when it comes to the topic of work and attitude. Both put their underlings to work while they do what they want with their sufficient free time. Reb Smolinsky does not work but instead lives his life studying the Torah and memorizing every aspect of it while his daughters work full time and bring home all of their wages to him, keeping nothing for themselves. His wife waits on him hand and foot while he gets the first choice for every meal set on the table. At one point in the story when they came into some money, Sarah mentions, â€Å"Now all of us had meat for the Sabbath- not only father. And sometimes Mother had a half chicken for Father† (Yezierska 29). This shows that the father almost always had either a larger portion of meat or the only portion, never feeling bad for the rest of the family. When they moved to America, Reb made his wife and children carry his Holy books â€Å"instead of taking along feather beds, and t he samovar... Free Essays on The Tormentors And Their Influences Free Essays on The Tormentors And Their Influences â€Å"The Tormentors and Their Influences† Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Bread Givers are novels which unfold the struggles that two young girls have to face under the strict laws of their tormenters. Reb Smolinsky and Doctor Flint are the burdens of the girls lives, and they know they must escape them. Reb Smolinsky is the father to Sara in Bread Givers and he plays the role of an unemployed and strictly religious man who collects his daughter’s wages and commands her and the rest of the family about under the ruling of the Holy Torah. In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Dr. Flint is a slaveholder and owns Linda who is a black slave on his plantation. Dr. Flint is the tormenter and burden in Linda’s life for all of her early years. Linda and Sara live under the ruling of these men until neither can take it any longer. Both girls eventually escape, through many struggles, to start their own life and leave their past behind. Reb Smolinsky and Dr. Flint closely relate when it comes to the topic of work and attitude. Both put their underlings to work while they do what they want with their sufficient free time. Reb Smolinsky does not work but instead lives his life studying the Torah and memorizing every aspect of it while his daughters work full time and bring home all of their wages to him, keeping nothing for themselves. His wife waits on him hand and foot while he gets the first choice for every meal set on the table. At one point in the story when they came into some money, Sarah mentions, â€Å"Now all of us had meat for the Sabbath- not only father. And sometimes Mother had a half chicken for Father† (Yezierska 29). This shows that the father almost always had either a larger portion of meat or the only portion, never feeling bad for the rest of the family. When they moved to America, Reb made his wife and children carry his Holy books â€Å"instead of taking along feather beds, and t he samovar...

Using Verbs and Adjectives to Brighten up News Stories

Using Verbs and Adjectives to Brighten up News Stories Journalism students just getting started in the craft of news writing tend to clog up their prose with too many adjectives and lots of boring, cliched verbs, when in fact, they should be doing the opposite. A key to good writing is to use adjectives sparingly while choosing interesting, unusual verbs that readers dont expect. The following breakdown illustrates the effective use of adjectives. Adjectives Theres an old rule in the writing business - show, dont tell. The problem with adjectives is that they dont show us anything. In other words, they rarely if ever evoke visual images in readers minds, and are just a lazy substitute for writing good, effective description. Look at the following two examples: The man was fat. The mans belly hung over his belt buckle and there was sweat on his forehead as he climbed the stairs. See the difference? The first sentence is vague and lifeless. It doesnt really create a picture in your mind. The second sentence, on the other hand, evokes images through just a few descriptive phrases - the belly hanging over the belt, the sweaty forehead. Notice that the word fat isnt used. It isnt needed. We get the picture. Here are two more examples. The sad woman cried at the funeral. The womans shoulders shook and she dabbed at her moist eyes with a handkerchief as she stood over the casket. Again, the difference is clear. The first sentence uses a tired adjective - sad - and does little to describe what is happening. The second sentence paints a picture of a scene that we can readily imagine, using specific details - the shaking shoulders, the dabbing of the wet eyes. Hard-news stories often dont have the space for long passages of description, but even just a few keywords can convey to readers a sense of a place or a person. But feature stories are perfect for descriptive passages like these. The other problem with adjectives is that they can unwittingly transmit a reporters bias or feelings. Look at the following sentence: The plucky demonstrators protested the heavy-handed government policies. See how just two adjectives - plucky and heavy-handed - have effectively conveyed how the reporter feels about the story. Thats fine for an opinion column, but not for an objective news story. Its easy to betray your feelings about a story if you make the mistake of using adjectives this way. Verbs Editors like the use of verbs because they convey action and give a story a sense of movement and momentum. But too often writers use tired, overused verbs like these: He hit the ball. She ate the candy. They walked up the hill. Hit, ate and walked - booooring! How about this: He swatted the ball. She gobbled the candy. They trudged up the hill. See the difference? The use of unusual, off-the-beaten-path verbs will surprise readers and add freshness to your sentences. And anytime you give a reader something they dont expect, theyre bound to read your story more closely, and more likely to finish it. So get out your thesaurus and hunt down some bright, fresh verbs that will make your next story sparkle. The larger point is this,  as journalists, we are writing to be read. You can cover the most important topic known to man, but if you write about it in dull, lifeless prose, readers will pass your story by. And no self-respecting journalist wants that to happen - ever.

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS AND CRITICAL INTERPRETATION Essay

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS AND CRITICAL INTERPRETATION - Essay Example This is a symbolic statement where the tongue that does not settle could be used to symbolize the people who kept hiding from the reality of their native language and as result they would use other languages to communicate even amongst themselves just because they were ashamed of their language and native culture. â€Å"but I could get a whiff of the stench when I gasped† this is a phrase that remind the culture escapists that they would still have the remains of the same culture that they disregarded. After all they would still have their Mexican accent even if they used English. Deep inside they knew they were Chicanos. Another case of symbolism is in the second page of the text where she writes â€Å"our tongues have become dry, the wilderness has dried our tongues and we have forgotten speech† here the wilderness represents the diverse linguistic jungle that the world is and trying to fit it drains you of your language. The writer uses multiple stories to pass the message about how Chicanos are disregarded and also to emphasis on her pride in her true identity. For instance she states that when caught speaking in Mexican while in school she get punished ,†gets three licks on the knuckles with a sharp ruler† and sent to sit at a corner for speaking back at a teacher. Her mother is also not confide about her daughters fluency n communication and keeps reminding her the â€Å"I want you to speak English’ since she had the Mexican accent even when she spoke

Effects of abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Effects of abortion - Essay Example (Allied Action Inc. 1996, 1). Other major effect of abortion is rather a physical one- miscarriage as a result of previous abortion(s). Based on recent studies, there has been a discovery of real danger to the future reproductive systems of women. The "West Jerusalem Study" presented careful research studying 11057 women, 752 of which had previously had an abortion. The findings of that report reveal serious repercussions on the mother, and any future children. There is relatively a 3 to 4 fold increase in the chance on miscarriage among women who have had an abortion, as those who have not had an abortion. Also, there was reported a disturbing amount of malformations in the births that followed induced abortions. On the other hand, many women who try to get pregnant after having an abortion face with infertility. It has been discovered that terminating a pregnancy stimulates developing breast cancer later in life. When cutting short a pregnancy, women's breast tissue is left in a da ngerously stimulated but undifferentiated state, increasing the risk of later cancerous development. According to studies done by Dr. Janet Daling there is reported fifty percent increase of breast cancer among women under forty five who had induced abortions. These results were published in the august Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Social Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Social Media - Essay Example These websites are designed for sharing messages, pictures, events, updates and such other activities. Social Media sometimes feeds in innovating and discovering new contents like news, stories and other activities. There are hundred thousand of people, who daily perform searches on social media websites to search social media contents (Thomas, 2012). At managerial ability of permissible astuteness, it has four important components: The Attitudinal Component Officially astute teams hold the instruction of commandment and identify the ethical features of planned choice. The astute TMTs take duty for handling the permissible features of corporate and would not delegate those conclusions to people such as counsel, who could not comprehend the wider business points. It is identified that it is a duty of the general manager to take decision that which provision of possessions and rewards creates the sensible business. Counsel does not advise that a certain course of act is legal or not, i t depends upon the administration team to take decision whether a certain risk is valuable or not. A prominent data administration software and hardware manufacturer will have to decide whether to obtain the entire standard of VMware, the designer of leading-edge Virtual software that allowed customers to run unlike computer operating classifications like Unix, Linux and Windows instantaneously on a single server (Mandiberg, 2012). The Proactive Component Officially astute administration teams claim lawful guidance that is professional business oriented, and they assume their solicitors to support them in addressing corporate opportunities and pressures in conducts that are lawfully permissible, actual, and competent. Rather than observing the rule purely as a restraint, somewhat to respond to and fulfill with, officially astute administration teams contain lawful restraints and opportunities at each phase of plan preparation and implementation. They take a preemptive method to rule , both to elude extra difficult government rule and to take benefit of the renewal opportunities parameter and de rule suggestion. Such as Regina Company decreased its product accountability disclosure and shaped an improved product in the method when it fortified its home-grown spa applications with an engagement recognition circuit interrupter that sheltered customers from electrical tremor if they unintentionally let fall the appliance in water. The Judgment Component Officially astute administrators with proper legal training do not have reason to guide themselves on permissible issues of significance. They appreciate the significance of choosing a right counselor at rule, who syndicates information of the black-note rule with decision and knowledge. Convinced developments of achievement might be lawful but not astute. Part of the highest administration team’s work is assimilating all method of viewpoints, from economic specialists, HR specialists, and marketing administr ators to solicitors. General Executives must take decision, how much to devote for gaining extra information, whether it is in the marketplace research or based upon lawful opinion. The Knowledge Component Although the knowledgeable administrator may realize the role that rule plays in setting the directions of the good game, it is frequently less clear, how commandment distresses the risk ratio for any

Company Analysis - Ipremier Case Study Term Paper

Company Analysis - Ipremier Case Study - Term Paper Example Turley is in a hotel room during the attack, it takes him time to coordinate a team to handle the crisis. The worst is that the team or the employees of the institution do not have proper knowledge of the technical operations of the system or the website hence they have to move all the way to the provider who cannot be reached over the phone at the time. The customers are at stake since their credit cards are in the verge of being stolen at any moment then. Taking into account the short period presented to Bob to handle the crisis as the CIO, we have to commend him for the enormous tasks he had to perform. It is also important to note that one of the obstacles is that the scenario was complicated. The case shows vividly that all the communication line got broken down during the attack prompting stress and panic among all the junior employees (Pendlebury & Groves, 2004). There is no clear division of duties to enhance the operations of the firm effectively and efficiently. Duties and responsibilities have to be assigned during the attack and this is further fueled by the existence of the outdated emergency procedures. We are informed from the case that, Bob during his tenure was to install or renew the system which they had no done up to this far and therefore had to move with speed most so after the occurrence of such vices. Another major problem was with Qdata the computer service provider. The firewall and the infrastructure of the services provided by them were not satisfactory and did not help in blocking or mitigating the attack. Qdata employees did not show enough expertise and experience in dealing with similar situations. The firewall was not able to prevent the attack given the low level of technology that Qdata was still embracing (Axelrod, 2004). Above all, Qdata employees were not willing to help iPremier’s representatives to access the NOC. In addition, this predicted the miscommunication between Ipremier and Qdata was clear in the case give n that an employee had to run all the way to the service provider (Fink, 2006). If I were Turley, amidst the crisis I would have engaged several risk management strategies rushing to protect the data systems using my It knowledge before remaining helpless. Secondly, I would have brought in an expert who was readily accessible to help in blocking any form of transactions from the site at least until normalcy returned before I informed the CEO of the technicalities just for a point of information. An urgent meeting of all the employees would then be called immediately to ponder on the way forward from the integration of the views of all the parties (Austine, Leibrock, & Murray, 2007). 2. The Ipremier Company CEO, Jack Samuelson, had already expressed to Bob Turley his concern that the company might eventually suffer from a "deficit in operating procedures." Were the company's operating procedures deficient in responding to this attack? What additional procedures might have been in pla ce to better handle the attack? As earlier pointed out by the CEO of Ipremier, Jack Samuelson of the existence of the operation procedures, actually, there exist several of the deficiencies in terms of the response given to this attack. The deficiencies are in form of the risk response and recovery systems concerning the business that the business is engaged and how they are running the business. First, the firewall of the system does not have a backup system given the low

Tution Fee at American Unversty of Sharjah Essay

Tution Fee at American Unversty of Sharjah - Essay Example We wanted to understand the change in demand if there is an increase in the fee: how many students will still have a demand for it and how many students will not join. We also measured the elasticity of demand. We also wanted to find how the trends were among females and males, were they different or were they pretty much the same or they both were indifferent towards such changes. For this we have done an analytical research for which a questionnaire has been prepared consisting of 6 questions which are as follows: 1. Gender 2. Marital status 3. Living with family or away 4. Current tuition fees paid 5. Maximum fee they are willing to pay 6. Do they have scholarship, if yes then how much With this questionnaire we will assess the number of students who will join the college even if the fees increase. With this questionnaire we will be able to identify the demand among males and females and also amongst scholarship students. In the research we have hypothised that a small increase in the tuition fees of the students is not going to affect the students. This will help the people from the college authorities to understand the behavior of the students to the increase in the tuition fees. One of the main problems we might face is that there might be some errors which we might not be able to restrict. The interviewer might target some of the people whom he knows and not others whom he doesn’t know. On the part of the respondent they are affected by factors such as that when they know that they are being interviewed they might give a wrong answer. These things might affect our research but here such factors are assumed to be minimal and the information provided can be relied upon. THEORY AND IMPLICATIONS Demand and Supply analysis The demand and supply analysis is a powerful tool the can be applied to a wide variety of interesting problems. Such as: To understand how changing world economic conditions can affect market price and production or evaluating the im pact of government price controls, minimum wages, price control, price support etc. Here we will be using the demand and supply analysis to determine demand and supply changes in case the tuition fees changes. Elasticity Of demand It may be defined as the percentage change in quantity demanded to the percentage change in price. EP =% change in quantity / Percentage change in price Consumer Surplus Consumer surplus is defined as the difference between the maximum price a consumer is willing to pay for a product and the price the consumer actually pays for the product. It is denoted by the area enclosed by the demand curve and the actual pay line. Here, consumer surplus can be seen as the number of students who would like to join the college after a hike in the tuition fee. Producer surplus Producer surplus is defined as the difference between the price at which the producer actually sells the product and the minimum price at which the producer is willing to sell the product. It is de noted by the area enclosed by the supply curve and the actual pay line. The graph showing the number of students okay with fees increase and students who wants a decrease shows the region under consumer surplus and producer surplus. Income effect Income Effect is the change observed in the consumption of quantity among two products (or group of products) with a change in the income of the consumer. The change is