Fantasy Voyage from Femoral Vein to Right Lobe of the Lung

HS 130 Unit 4 Assignment Fantasy Voyage and Battle of the Lung Hello everyone and welcome aboard! I am S Y. with Voyage Health. Today, we will embark together in my mini-sub and we shall travel through the body of this young lady named Lola. In this journey we will enter her body through the femoral vein and travel all the way to her lung. Alert! Alert! An alert just came and we are in for a surprise. Bacteria have invaded Lola’s lower lobe of her right lung and we shall report the invasion and document all we see. Let’s proceed.We are being injected into the femoral vein close to the groin area. The femoral vein runs parallel with the femoral artery through the upper thigh and pelvic region of the body. (Yahoo Health, 2013) Being one of the larger veins in the body, the femoral vein returns blood into the leg to the heart through the iliac vein. Before we get to the iliac vein, we pass through the inguinal ligament that forms a band going from anterior superior iliac s pine to the pubis ligament. The role of the inguinal ligament is to protect the tissue movement between the trunk and the lower extremities. Yahoo Health, 2013) From the inguinal ligament, going north, we see the external iliac vein which is a continuation of the femoral vein just above the inguinal ligament. Starting at the groin area, the external iliac vein goes along the pelvic area. When it intersects with the internal iliac vein , we will navigate East into the common iliac vein that functions to drain the perineal regions. The iliac veins are joined together to form inferior vena cava. The inferior vena cava, also know as posterior vena cava, is a vein that carries deoxygenated blood from the lower body to the heart. (Yahoo Health, 2013).It runs behind the abdominal cavity and alongside the right vertebrae column of the spine and it carries blood from the lower body to the heart. (Yahoo Health, 2013) From here we can already see the heart. Isn’t it fantastic? We are so close to the pump that keeps the human body alive. Once we enter it, we will experience first hand the intricate operation of this marvelous mechanism. Next stop. Right atrium. One of the four chambers of the heart, the right atrium lets deoxygenated blood to pass through the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle and from there to the lung to oxygenate.The tricuspid valve, also known as right atrioventricular valve is located between the two chambers and it looks like flaps that blocks blood flowing back into the atrium. (Yahoo Health, 2013) The right ventricle of the heart has the mission to pump the blood into the pulmonary artery via the pulmonary valve and pulmonary trunk right into the lungs. Ready to go through the pulmonary valve into the pulmonary artery? Here we go! Weeeee†¦.. We are steps away from the most magnificent oxygen factory you have ever seen. Short and wide, the pulmonary artery begins at the base of the right ventricle and with a considerable size of 1 . inches in diameter and 2. 0 inches in length. Interesting fact: the pulmonary artery is one of the only arteries that carry deoxygenated blood. The other artery is the umbilical artery in the fetus. This is just something I remembered from an Anatomy class I used to take in college. The main pulmonary artery extends from the right ventricle of the heart and branches into left and right pulmonary arteries. The left and right pulmonary arteries extend to the left lung and right lungs. (Bailey, Regina 2013) Now just relax and sit back. Enjoy the ride to the lung!Going through the Finally, as promised, welcome the most amazing oxygen factory of the human body! The lung. Divided in two, the lung has 5 chambers, 3 on the right side and 2 on the left side. In the right side of the lung, we see the right superior lobe or the apex located right under the collarbone. The right middle lobe right below and what would be the name of the 3rd chamber? Right, the right inferior or lower lobe, als o called the base can anyone guesses why? Because it is broad and it rest on the diaphragm right around the 7th rib. Thibodeau, GA & Patton, KT, 2008) Our earlier alert lets us know that nasty bacteria have affected the right lower lobe of the lung. We need to watch carefully what is happening and record everything. The body gives an alarm each time something foreign enters it and tries to fight it. Alarm system? Yes. The immune system is our alarm system. The 2 types of immunity are specific and non-specific. The non-specific immunity, also called innate immunity confers general protection from any irritant or abnormal substance that threatens the internal environment. Thibodeau, GA & Patton, KT, 2008) For example, the skin and the mucus membrane are non-specific barriers to prevent bacterium from entering the body. A non-specific response is inflammatory response and it is most common immune response. Specific immunity, as the name says, provides specific protection against certai n types of invading bacteria or toxic materials. (Thibodeau, GA & Patton, KT, 2008) Also called adaptive immunity, specific immunity may be classified as â€Å"natural† or â€Å"artificial†. Natural immunity is non-deliberate exposure to disease agents and it can be active or passive.An example of passive natural immunity is the immunity given to the fetus by the mother. Artificial immunity is deliberate exposure to disease agents and one example is vaccine for polio. Afterwards, the person who has received the vaccine will have active artificial immunity. In Lola’s case, her non-specific immunity kicked in when the bacteria invaded the lung. The white blood cells, monocytes and macrophages are in action These are natural killer cells that fight inflammation. Most likely, Lola will develop fever and the neutrophils are first to come in during inflammatory process.After the body starts to recover and the fever subdues, the lymphocytes will activate and create ant ibodies. That means that Lola will have specific immunity once this event is registered into the memory cells. Seems that Lola will be on her way to recovery soon and we documented the Battle of the Lung. Shall we continue our journey? The pathway out is through the nose and even though it might seem gross, we will see some very interesting things on the way out. Let’s proceed! Seat belts on, please! We are passing through the alveolar membrane into the alveoli. Can you see the structure?They look like grapes and they are as many as 10 times larger than the entire surface area of the body. Together, the alveoli can cover 100 square meters. (Thibodeau, GA & Patton, KT, 2008) Leaving the grape shaped alveoli behind we move to the bronchioles and then into the bronchi straight into the trachea. The trachea is like the trunk of a tree upside down holding on each side the lungs and it is formed of 15-20 C-shaped rings of cartilage that protect the windpipe. It extends from the bro nchi all the way up to the larynx in the neck over a length of approx. 4. 5 inches.From there, we move to the nasopharinx passing right behind the vocal cords, palatine tonsil, and lingual tonsil. Watch out! The uvula! Phew, that was a close one†¦.. We are in the nasopharinx now and we can already see the light at the end of the tunnel. I mean, at the end of the nose. We can see the frontal, maxillary, sphenoidal and ethmoidal sinuses that help draining of the nose. Floating through the nasal septum into the external nostrils, we are at our final destination. Let’s stop for a moment and take a deep breath. We got to admit the human body is quit fantastic.I hope you have enjoyed this journey as much as I did. And hopefully, Lola will recover from that bacterium soon. Thank you for your spirit of adventure. This is S Y. with Voyage Health. References Yahoo Health, Femoral Vein (2013). Retrieved from http://health. yahoo. net/human-body-maps/femoral-vein Yahoo Health, Ingui nal Ligament (2013). Retrieved from http://health. yahoo. net/human-body-maps/inguinal-ligament Yahoo Health, Inferior Vena Cava (2013), Retrieved from http://health. yahoo. net/human-body-maps/inferior-vena-cava Yahoo Health, Triscupid Valve(2013), Retrieved from ttp://health. yahoo. net/human-body-maps/tricuspid-valve Bailey Regina (2013), Pulmonary Artery, about. com guide. Article retrieved from http://biology. about. com/od/anatomy/ss/pulmonary_artery. htm Thibodeau, G. A. & Patton, K. T. (2008)Structure and Function of the Body, Chapter 14, The Respiratory System, 13th Edition, St. Louis, MO;Mosby Elsevier, Thibodeau, G. A. & Patton, K. T. (2008)Structure and Function of the Body, Chapter 13, The Immune System, 13th Edition, St. Louis, MO;Mosby Elsevier.

Strategic Planning Case Study- Dunkin Donuts

Strategic Hospitality Management A case analysis of Dunkin’ Donuts with a focus on tools available for strategic planning. April 2013 Abstract The following essay is based on the Quick Service Restaurants brand (QSR)- Dunkin’ Donuts. The company has been studied and a case study regarding the growth of the company from 1950 till today has been studied. Growth strategies of the company have been used to understand how they reached the position of America’s largest QSR.The Legal, Moral and Ethical Issues of the company have also been studied and the solutions to those issues and the implementation has been studied Contents Abstracti Introduction1 Strategic Planning1 The Process1 Dunkin’ Donuts3 Mission Statement3 Vision Statement3 Case Study3 Growth Strategy4 Growth Strategies used by Dunkin’ Donuts4 SWOT ANALYSIS9 Legal, Moral and Ethical Issues10 Conclusion and Recommendation11 Bibliography12 Part ‘A’ Introduction Strategic Planning Str ategic planning is a process that brings to life the mission and vision of he enterprise. A strategic plan, well crafted and of value, is driven from the top down; considers the internal and external environment around the business; is the work of the managers of the business, and is communicated to all the business stakeholders, both inside and outside of the company. As a company grows and as the business environment becomes more complex the need for strategic planning becomes greater. There is a need for all people in the corporation to understand the direction and mission of the business.Companies consistently applying a disciplined approach to strategic planning are better prepared to evolve as the market changes and as different market segments require different needs for the products or services of the company. The Process There is no one formula or process for strategic planning. There are however, principles and required steps that optimize the value of strategic planning. The steps in the process described in this series of articles on strategic planning are presented below: * Current Situation Analysis Segmentation Analysis * Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threat Analysis * Core Competencies Analysis * Key Success Factors * Business Unit Strategy / Business Plan * Balanced Score Card * Evaluation The choice, of the planning process that works best, should be driven by the culture of the organization, and by the comfort level of the participants. The strategic planning process must mirror the cultural values and goals of the company. There are a number of important steps to remember in the process of strategic planning.They include collecting a meaningful and broad data base, resourcefully thinking about separation, defining gaps, assessing core competencies, and understanding the identifying critical resources and skills. An important distinction in the process is to recognize the difference between strategic planning and the work being done , and strategic thinking, or the creative, intuitive input. The planning element involves the data collection, goal setting, expectation definition and statement of direction.Strategic thinking includes the intuitive and creative elements. This thinking process takes into account and helps to leverage the values of the internal culture of the business and external characteristics of the market. Strategic planning can be a challenging process, particularly the first time it is undertaken in a company. With patience and perseverance as well as a strong team effort the strategic plan can be the beginning of improved and predictable results for a company.At times when the business gets off track a strategic plan can help direct the recovery process. When strategic planning is treated as an ongoing process it becomes a competitive advantage and an offensive assurance of improved day to day execution of the business practices. (Mathews & Lee) Use of an outside, independent facilitator can help in the process and in the development of a strategic plan. An outside resource can provide objectivity and serve as a â€Å"devil’s advocate† as well as a sounding board for the management charged with plan development.In the final analysis the plan must have the authorship and ownership of the owner and the managers who must execute and follow the strategic plan. It must be their plan. The strategic plan, to be of real long-term value, must be treated as an ongoing business process. It must be reflective of the owners’ mission and vision. It must evolve and change to reflect changing market and economic conditions. It must be proactive to competitive, market and economic conditions. If those steps are followed, the strategic plan will institutionalize a culture of continuous improvement and disciplined change.Strategic planning, when treated as a work in progress, rather than as a binder on a shelf, or a file in a computer, provides business with a real a nd lasting competitive advantage. It will help determine and direct the quality of relationships with suppliers, employees, unions, customers, and bankers. To get your business to where you desire it to be, start with determination and drive to develop a useful and living strategic planning process. Give it strong support and leadership from the top down. Develop and evolve it with participation and buy-in from the bottom up.Strategic planning is your company’s road map to your vision. (Wheelin, 2005) Dunkin’ Donuts Dunkin’ Donuts is a business in food retail. They are the world’s largest coffee and baked goods chain. Dunkin’ Donuts have been in business since 1950 and have been franchising since 1995. This franchise serves more than 2 million customers a day. Dunkin’ Donuts is owned by Dunkin’ Brands. Dunkin’ Brands has two companies in its portfolio which are Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robins. It works under a 100% fran chise model and reduces store costs and can then concentrate more on menu and product innovation.Mission Statement Make and serve the freshest, most delicious coffee and donuts quickly and courteously in modern, well- Merchandized stores. Vision Statement America run on Dunkin’ Case Study From the beginning from a single restaurant in Quincy Massachusetts, Dunkin’ Donuts is now a Global brand with more than 10,000 locations in 32 countries. The growth is testimony to the fact that people everywhere appreciate what Dunkin’ Donuts offers: High Quality food and beverages served all day in a friendly, fast environment at a great value.In the United States, Dunkin’ Donuts has maintained steady, strategic and disciplined growth, opening new restaurants in the core markets in the north – east and in cities all throughout Mid Atlantic, Southern and Midwest states. (Donuts, 2011)They now have more than 7,000 restaurants in 36 states and the District of Colu mbia, Dunkin’ Donuts is an important part of life for millions of Americans. While Dunkin’ Donuts has nationwide brand recognition, they have a significant opportunity to expand the number of restaurants in the United States as well as all around the world.The company believes that they can double the footprint in the U. S to 15,000 Dunkin’ Donut Restaurants over the next 20 years. The company has a strong presence internationally as well with more than 3000 Dunkin’ Donut Restaurants over 31 international countries across 4 continents. The company maintains stable global expansion, opening new restaurants in Europe, Asia, Middle East and Latin and South American countries. Dunkin’ Donuts has already opened more than 88 locations in Greater China and has nearly opened 900 shops in South Korea.In 2010, the brand Re-entered Russia with new restaurants in Moscow, and in 2012, the first set of Dunkin’ Donut Restaurants were opened in India and Gu atemala. (Donuts, 2011) To achieve this high rate of growth across most of the world, and a vision to continue to achieve and steadily grow at a high rate Dunkin’ Donuts under the company Dunkin’ Brands has a strongly formulated Growth Strategy. Growth Strategy Growing a business requires ongoing work in an environment of continually emerging global challenges.One of the most fundamental aspects of the growth process is the formation and distribution of competences within and among organizations. To a large extent, the challenges for businesses are innovation and internationalization to grow businesses. The goal of any business growth is to increase revenue and profitability with a reduced business cycle time that is more productive, innovative and export-led, delivers high-value products/services for customers and markets around the world. The following are major areas where businesses have to take initiatives to support growth strategy: * Market Growth Financial Tran sformational Initiatives * Supply Chain Management * Outsourcing Concept (Kumar, 2010) Growth Strategies used by Dunkin’ Donuts 1. Increase comparable store sales and profitability in Dunkin’ Donuts U. S. The company’s largest operating segment, Dunkin’ Donuts U. S. experienced positive comparable store sales growth in eight of the last ten fiscal years. The fiscal year 2011 with comparable store sales growth of 5. 1%, was the highest annual comparable store sales growth since 2005, and 7. 4% for the fourth quarter of 2011, which was the highest quarterly performance in the past seven years.There is a strong intention to continue building on comparable store sales growth momentum and improving profitability through the following initiatives: * Further increase coffee and beverage sales. Since the late 1980s, the company has been transformed into a coffee-focused brand and have developed a significantly enhanced menu of beverage products. Approximately 60% of Dunkin’ Donuts U. S. franchisee-reported sales for fiscal 2011 were generated from coffee and other beverages, which is believe to generate increased customer visits to the stores and higher unit volumes, and which produce higher margins than their other products.They plan to increase the coffee and beverage revenue through continued new product innovations and related marketing, including advertising campaigns such as ’America Runs on Dunkin’ in 2011 Dunkin’ Donuts created a product called the K- Cups, which is a 12$ box with 14 K-Cups. This product had been an idea from the customers themselves, as it is an easier and more convenient method. It is used in the Keurig brewing system. The company that makes them, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. , first announced its partnership with Dunkin' Donuts in February.Dunkin's decision to sell the K-Cups only in its outlets will help drive customers there and perhaps lead them to make additional purchases. It could also keep the brand from becoming too omnipresent, which is widely believed to be a mistake made by Krispy Krem`e Doughnuts Inc. when it started selling its products in gas stations and grocery stores. * Continue to develop enhancements in restaurant operations. The company will continue to maintain a highly operations-focused culture to help the franchisees maximize the quality and consistency of their customers’ in-store experience, as well as to increase franchisee profitability.In support of this, there has been an initial enhancement and ongoing restaurant manager and crew training programs and developed new in-store planning and tracking technology tools to assist the franchisees. As a result, over 164,000 respondents, representing approximately 93% of all respondents, to the company’s Guest Satisfaction Survey program in December 2011 rated their overall experience as â€Å"Satisfied† or â€Å"Highly Satisfied. † 2. Continue Dunkin’ Donuts U. S. Immediate store expansion The company believes there is a significant opportunity to grow the points of distribution for Dunkin’ Donuts in the U. S. iven the strong potential outside of the Northeast region to increase the per-capita penetration to levels closer to those in their core markets. The company’s development strategy resulted in 243 net new U. S. store openings in fiscal 2011. In 2012, it is expected that their franchisees will open an additional 260 to 280 net new points of distribution in the U. S. , principally in existing developed markets. They believe that strategy of focusing on contiguous growth has the potential to, over approximately the next 20 years, more than double our current U. S. footprint and reach a total of 15,000 points of distribution in the U.S. The following table details the per-capita penetration levels in the U. S. regions. Region| Population(ml)| Stores| Penetration| Core 36. 0 3| 768 1:9| 560| Core 36. 0 3| Eastern Established. 53. 8 2| 227 1:24| 160| Eastern Established. 53. 8 2| Eastern Emerging 88. 7 891 1:99| 600| 891| Eastern Emerging 88. 7 891 1:99| West 130. 0 129 1:1| 008| 100| West 130. 0 129 1:1| Table 1: As per December, 2011 * Increase penetration in existing markets. In the traditional core markets of New England and New York, there now is a Dunkin’ Donuts store for every 9,560 people.In the near term, there is an intention to focus the core development on other markets east of the Mississippi River, where currently there is only approximately one Dunkin’ Donuts store for every 99,600 people. In certain established Eastern U. S. markets outside of their core markets, such as Philadelphia, Chicago and South Florida, they have already achieved per-capita penetration of greater than one Dunkin’ Donuts store for every 24,160 people. * Expand into new markets using a disciplined approach. The Company believes that the Western part of the U. S. epresents a significa nt growth opportunity for Dunkin’ Donuts. However, a disciplined approach to development is the best one for the brand and franchisees. Specifically, in the near term, they intend to focus on development in markets that are adjacent to the existing base, and generally move westward in an immediate fashion to less penetrated markets, providing for marketing and supply chain efficiencies within each new market. * Focus on store-level economics. In recent years, they have undertaken significant initiatives to further enhance store-level economics for their ranchisees, * Reducing the cash investment for new stores. * Increasing beverage sales. * Lowering supply chain costs and implementing more efficient store management systems. The Company believes these initiatives have further increased franchisee profitability. Dunkin’ Donuts recently entered into an agreement with the franchisee-owned supply chain cooperative that provides for a three-year phase in of flat invoice pr icing across the franchise system, which, coupled with the cost reductions noted above, should lead to cost savings across the entire franchise system.It is believed that this will be one of the drivers of the immediate development strategy, by improving store-level economics in all markets, but particularly in newer markets where their growth is targeted. Store-level economics have also continued to benefit from increased national marketing and from the introduction of Dunkin’ K-Cups into their restaurants. 3. Drive Accelerated International Growth. They believe there is a significant opportunity to grow points of distribution Dunkin’ Donuts in international markets.Their international expansion strategy has resulted in more than 3,500 net new openings in the last ten years. The key Elements of the future Growth Strategies are: * Grow in Their existing core markets. The Company’s international development strategy for Dunkin’ Donuts includes growth in th eir existing core markets. Dunkin’ Donuts intends to focus on growth in South Korea and the Middle East, where they currently have 857 and 229 points of distribution, respectively. During fiscal 2012, the company is expected to open approximately 350- 450 new points of distribution internationally, principally in their existing markets.However, there can be no assurance that their franchisees will be successful in opening this number of, or any, additional points of distribution. * Capitalize on other markets with significant growth potential. Dunkin’ Donuts intends on expanding in certain international focus markets where the brand does not have a significant store presence, but where they believe there is consumer demand for the products as well as strong franchisee partners. In 2011, it was announced that an agreement with an experienced QSR franchisee to enter the Indian market with Dunkin’ Donuts brand.The agreement calls for the development of at least 500 Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants throughout India, the first of which is expected to open by the second quarter of 2012. By teaming with local operators, it is believed they are better able to adapt the brands to local business practices and consumer preferences. * Further develop the franchisee support infrastructure. Dunkin’ Donuts plan to increase the focus on providing international franchisees with operational tools and services that can help them to efficiently operate in their markets and become more profitable.Dunkin’ Donuts plans to focus on improving on native-language restaurant training programs and updating existing restaurants for the new international retail restaurant designs. To accomplish this, we are dedicating additional resources to our restaurant operations support teams in key geographies in order to assist international franchisees in improving their store-level operations. (Brands, 2012) Segment| Q2 2012 Comparable Store Sales Growth| Q1 2012 Comparable Store sales Growth| Q2 2012System wideSales Growth| Q1 2012 System wideSales Growth| Dunkin’ Donuts U. S| 4. 0%| 7. 2%| 7. %| 11. 5%| Dunkin’ Donuts International| 3. 5%| 2. 3%| 1. 5%| 4. 8%| The long-term prospects of Dunkin' Brands seem very impressive. Dunkin' Brands is compensated as a percent of franchisee top-line and it bears basically no store operating costs itself. With only 36 company- owned points of distribution out of a total of 17,016 as of June 30, 2012, the company is less affected by store level costs and profitability and fluctuations in commodity costs than many other QSR operators. (Saibus, 2012) SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths * High operating Profit Margin * Lower Costs than Industry High Brand Recognition * Becoming Socially Responsible Weaknesses * High Debt * Low Return on Equity Ratio * High Interest Rate * Need to better manage Fixed assets Opportunity * Pay off some debt * Open more stores in the West * Capitalize on high customer Loyal ty Threats * Low entry Barriers into Industry * Health Conscious society and Starbucks focusing on Health and Wellness * Krispy Kreme expands into the Global Market Part ‘B’ Legal, Moral and Ethical Issues * Recently in news articles, it was reported that there were approximately 350 lawsuits between Dunkin’ and its franchisees.The company has been accused of aggressively targeting shop owners in an effort to terminate franchise agreements and in the process collect hefty fees and penalties for alleged contract violations. Michelle King is Dunkin’s Director of Public Relations and he states that strongly encouraged Dunkin’ Brands to take a step back and reconsider its policy of litigation and instead embrace its process of mediation to settle disputes with franchise owners. He said, â€Å"It is the right thing to do to grow the brand in an increasingly challenging and competitive environment.DDIFO is ready, willing and able to help see this process of mediation come to fruition. † (Leiber, 2009) * Due to the sudden increase in the consciousness of health and wellness, Dunkin’ Donuts has come across a moral dilemma as most of their Products go against the code of healthy food. Their competitor Starbucks has taken a turn and concentrated more of healthy eating which has created a drop in the business of Dunkin’ Donuts, to overcome this the company has also started concentrating on health food and beverages. Dunkin’ Brands leaders have an added obligation to ensure that policies are communicated to employees and that business practices are designed to prevent improper conduct. They have a responsibility to build and maintain a culture of compliance by ensuring employees know that our integrity should never be compromised in order to achieve business results. The Code of Conduct provides employees and directors with guidance on doing the right thing. However, it is not an all inclusive list of doâ€℠¢s and don’ts.The Overview sections outline the intended behavior and the Expectations and Examples of What to Watch Out For sections provide some examples of what employees and directors should and should not do. (Dunkin', 2012) Conclusion and Recommendation Strategic planning and management is what makes or breaks a company or Brand. Dunkin’ Donuts, The Company I have done my study on is a brand which I think has put a lot of thought into the planning of business. Their techniques and business sense is what has brought them to be America’s most popular quick service restaurant chain.In this essay I have studied the growth strategies of the company and how from a single outlet in 1950, today it has a presence in most countries in the world. This is possible because of a proper vision that the company had and a set of strong Growth Strategies. The company has strongly believed in spreading and making their brand what people live by. I believe that Dunkin Donuts should aggressively target India, as it is expected to Grow over half a billion in Breakfast Food sales by 2016.The Asia pacific Region is growing rapidly and should be Targeted within the next five years. The company should capitalize more on college campuses as what they serve is directly related to the average diet of a teenager. They should target this market in both America and abroad. Bibliography Brands, D. (2012). Annual Report 2012. massechusetts: Edgar Online. Donuts, D. (2011). Global Presence. Retrieved April 12, 2013, from Dunkindonuts: http://www. dunkindonuts. com/content/dunkindonuts/en/company/global. tml Dunkin'. (2012). Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. Canton. Kumar, D. (2010). Enterprise Growth Strategy: Vision, Planning and Execution. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing Group. Leiber, N. (2009, October 8). Attorneys Criticize Dunkin' Donuts' Litigious Behavior. Business Weekly . Mathews, J. F. , & Lee, H. Business Devlopment Index. Columbus: Ohio State University. Sa ibus. (2012). Dunkin' Brands Is Brewing Up Strong Perfomance. Seeking Alpha. Wheelin, T. (2005). Concepts in Strategic Mangement.

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Working In A Group Psychology Essay

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Working In A Group Psychology Essay According to Ian Brooks, â€Å"Organisation behaviour (OB) is the study of human behaviour in organisational contexts with a focus on individuals and group processes and actions†. â€Å"Hence it involves an exploration of organisation and managerial processes in the dynamic context of the organisation and is primarily concerned with the human implication of such activity† (Brooks, 2009). Overview Groups Group has always been a characteristic of human behaviour According to Aronson’s (2007) people is ‘Social Animal’, and often need interaction with others to function effectively as individuals. Definition of Group ‘Two or more people who are perceived by themselves or other as a social entity.’ (Arnold et al, 2005) The Advantages and Disadvantages of Working in a Group for the Individual When people are working in group have to be anticipated each other opinion and individual working alone cannot perform the more efficiently than what gr oup do. So there is some reward as well as weakness for individual working in group. A number of time questions have been raised whether group problem solving is superior, inferior to individual problem solving. (Hoffman, 1965 and Kelley Maier, 1930). Many problems will face by individual in order to achieving a goal. Thus he become handicapped in his approach and also fails to discover a further approach that may work out problem but in group is opposite to this. For examples the group member do not have the same approach that individual thinks but they will contribute by knocking their ruts in thinking in order to solve the problem. Participation in Problem Solving Increases Acceptance Group problem solving authorize participation and influence, it follows that more individuals acknowledge solutions when a group solves the problem than when one person solves it. When one individual solves a problem he still has the task of convincing others. Therefore, when groups solve such prob lems, a greater number of persons accept and feel responsible for making the solution work. Better Comprehension of the Decision Decision made in group is directly utilized by the group member were as when individual make a decision he has to consult with decision maker to the decision-executors. Disadvantages Social Pressure Social pressure is a major force making for agreement good member will accept tends to silence disagreement and favours consensus. Minority opinions in leaderless groups have little influence on the solution reached, even when these opinions are the correct ones (Maier & Solem, 1952). Reaching agreement in a group often is confused with finding the right answer, and it is for this reason that the dimensions of a decision’s acceptance and its objective quality must be distinguished (Maier, 1963).

Distribution and Retail Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Distribution and Retail - Essay Example The current UK markets in the clothing retail segments have been compelled to re-evaluate the consumer positioning significantly as because of the low demand along with the real price declining. It has been notably observed by the UK shoppers that the discount stores supply of merchandises with the quality and uniqueness compared to that of the departmental stores (Research and Markets, 2000). It is worth mentioning that observing the market demands and consumer perception, before splitting the departments by male or female clothing or style of the retail operations, is a crucial factor while targeting a market in the retail sector of clothing and garment industry in UK. With regards to the current market scenario in UK, clothing market can be identified as increasingly competitive with more than 20 UK based retailers and brands including department stores, discount stores, super markets, mid-market chains, lower-mid markets, and mail order agencies (Research and Markets, 2000). In t his context, the opportunity for the Indian-American apparel distribution can be intended towards attaining a large number of consumer responses with the virtues of quality products which shall be distributed through high street fashion merchandises in UK. The recent growth has been taken place in the women sector which is one of the largest sectors in terms of high selling of merchandises which can also be identified as an advantageous target market segment (Research and Markets, 2000). To be precise, the targeted market for the retail stores in this case can be identified as the young populace of UK irrespective of their income, but subject to their tastes and lifestyle choices. Location of the Retail Stores Defining the store location is one of the most crucial decisions for retail entrepreneurs, as a significant location of retail store can prove to be quite important for generating sustainable customer preferences. The store location of standard and high street fashionable clot hing apparels as has been intended to serve by the retail stores can mainly be located in those areas where the young traffic can be easily identified. The demographic variances of the specific location involve citizen’s information, such as age, family as well as the income levels of the population which are the basic factors to be examined before locating any site for retail business, especially in the clothing sector (The Business Link, 2009). The location for the retail site is an essential and fundamental part of the retail strategy as it communicates about the corporate image of the brand. The store location also manipulates the product mix and design of the store. The store location for the high quality apparels on a high street fashion should provide due consideration towards the determined target market segment, i.e. the young population. Thus, the locations where high traffic of young people is observed can be identified as the prospective store location f

Economic Conditions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Economic Conditions - Essay Example U.S. gross debt increased in terms of percent of GDP 7. Nominal value of the U.S. dollar against all major currencies   In looking at actual data, there was a huge economic downturn during 2008. Despite this, retailers’ sales revenue increased when compared to 2006 and 2007. There was little effect on revenue growth in 2008 compared to 2007, but there was still considerably high revenue growth. The actual revenue growth of 2008 was also higher than the forecasted revenue for 2008.    According to the analysis, the economic downturn did not affect any area of the organization. All regions showed revenue growth during 2007 and 2008 (see Table1.4). This growth indicates that the economy had the same impact on all areas and had no effect on the revenue growth of its products.   By analyzing each area’s revenue, we can look and see if each area has special customer behavior that may affect its revenue. For example, the Web region shows the least amount of revenue (see Graph1). This means that customers prefer an in-store experience over an online one. Customers purchasing behavior depends on geography, gender, age, and the factors of the market. There are other factors that affect customers’ buying behavior. ... ior, and other factors, which the company should take into account either as a risk or an opportunity.   Competitive Marketplace   There is huge competition in the retail industry in the United States. The following are characteristics the marketplace for retailers:   1. Use of Information Technology:   The retail industry is now offering its products through the Web. This benefits customers who like to buy products while sitting at home. Customers can place an order on a company’s website by paying through a secure payment system and then receiving the product at their home. The Internet, particularly e-commerce, has changed how retailers run their businesses.   2. Increase in Discount Stores:   Discount stores are one of the factors behind the retail industry’s success. Nowadays, retail stores offer a money back guarantee, reduced prices, and buy-one get-one free offers.   3. Increase in Store Sizes:   Retail stores are now required to be as big as pos sible sp that they can have all the products that customers demand at one place.   4. Direct Marketing:   Retail stores now use direct marketing strategies to increase their sales by sending emails, messages, catalogs to their customers, and also by selling products on their websites.   5. Mergers and Acquisitions   Retailers are merging and acquiring other stores to achieve a dominant position in market; this may not be possible without a merger or acquisition. By increasing their size, a retailer creates a high barrier of new entrants, and reduces the bargaining power of customers and suppliers. The major reason for a merger or acquisition is to reduce competition in the market.   There are many competitors in the retail industry in the United States. These retailers mostly sell electronics, support products,

Project Evaluation Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Project Evaluation Report - Essay Example The research carried out at the beginning of the project was quite useful; the development programs were just right and the methodology worked out perfectly for this project. A waterfall methodology was used in the development of the website. All the stages of the methodology proved to be very necessary for the completion of the project to be a success. The website was developed successfully and project finished at the planned time. This report will evaluate whether the development of an online football ticketing and reservation website was successful. The basic purpose of this project was to develop a website that would allow football fans to buy their tickets online as well as make reservations on the games they want to watch beforehand. The purpose was to produce a website using a combination of SQL and CSS development languages and also the use of MS Excel and MS word. Several objectives were defined at the commencement of the project. They included; conducting research to determine the technologies to use in the project as well as specifying the tasks to be carried out in the development of the online booking system and also to determine their deadlines. The basic goal of this project as to create a website where football fans will purchase their tickets as well get to learn of upcoming games whilst booking online from the comfort of their locations. The website was to be developed in such a way as to allow fans to view and log into the website even on their IPhones and other portable internet enabled gadgets. At the end of the project period, several things had to be achieved. A working online ticketing system that will have achieved the objectives and solved the problem statement was the main aim, as well as the submission of the project as a requirement for graduation. The main objectives of this project were to develop an online ticketing system that would also serve to give information to the fans on the upcoming events and also on any

The British and Global Economy. Industrial revolution in Britain Essay

The British and Global Economy. Industrial revolution in Britain - Essay Example This means that the industrial revolution developed after a long process of technological innovation and interaction across the land mass (Allen, 2011: 366). However, many experts argue that neither Britain nor Europe had economic advantages more that the Indian regions until the occurrence of the industrial revolution. These countries were commercialized and productive since they benefited from advanced technologies. One of the vital aspects that encouraged industrial revolution was the environmental availability of cheap and available coal in Britain. Coal was employed to produce fuel in heat industries, for example, furnaces. Eventually, it was used to produce steam power for the developing factories (Hobsbawm, 1968: 31). Britain was distinct since it had easy access to large reserves of coal, since it was an efficient source of power than wood and charcoal. The use of coal in the production of iron was efficient in the revolution means. The coalmines from early 17 the centuries were very significant, the Black Country developed in England, and it transformed the textiles centers of the world. The factories and industrial towns also developed with canals and roads (Crafts, 1987: 2). The development of railroad and steam ships widened the market of manufactured goods. Industrial revolution changed the way things were made as new machines that were invented during the 17th and 18th century. This meant that it was possible to mass production of goods in the factories. It developed from Britain and it spread through North America and Europe, resulting to an improvement on social and economic conditions. The geographical position of Britain geopolitical position, since it was an island situated off the coast of the European continent. This favored the development of British naval power and protection from the continental warfare. Naval power was necessary since it allowed Britain to conquer the trade routes and colonies that improved industrial revolution and it provides raw materials (Allen, 2011: 374). Britain was able to extract diverse amounts of wealth from the New World through the slave trade and plantations. Capitalist merchants controlled Britain and this made it efficient for it to extract wealth. It also indicated that wealth could be used to fund the development of industrial capitalism. During the 18th century, the British ships transported more than a million Afr ican slaves to the British Caribbean to offer labor. Britain built extensive utility of mercantilist trade strategies that protected the developing industries against imports that had high tariffs imposed on them (Hobsbawm, 1968: 29). According to Marxists, several factors contributed to the industrial revolution in Britain. The development of capitalism could not be defined as the primary reason of entrepreneurial spirit of the British. The British revolution was a long period of economic and political changes marked by violent upheavals such as English Revolution during the 17th century. However, during the beginning of the 18th century, Britain was identified as the European country where the social relationships were embedded firmly. There were two significant features of capitalism that are important in the industrial revolution in Britain, the first was the prior capitalist class that developed over the previous centuries asserting its dominance in the British society (Crafts, 1987: 4). The

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

Jury - Research Paper Example Justification of the reforms to a state legislature There have been various reforms initiated with the objective of promoting racial diversity in the composition of juries, so that effective decisions and proper, unbiased judgments can be made in the courtroom. However, the construction of the jurisdiction is also not without the criticism of racial diversity. In the American society, the minority class people are often allegedly ascertained to be treated in a bias manner, which further restrict justice on the basis of their rights and privileges as a US citizen. In this respect, the alleged discrimination amid minority and majority people has raised various ethical issues which include assaults and movements against the State (Minow, 1992). There are instances where the representatives of the juries have been witnessed to evolve their judgment with elusive goals. This raises significant concern with regard to the rationality of the judgment offered in the courtroom, where jurors bel onging to the same race as that of the defendant have been alleged to act with sympathy; while on the other hand, jurors belonging to other races tend to implement harsh treatments for punishing the convicts. Hence, it can be argued that the failures of appropriate jurisdiction processes are caused mainly due to lack of diversity in the configuration of jurors. Thus, maintaining a higher degree of racial diversity amid juries is most likely to contribute towards making effective and racially unbiased judgment in the courtroom. Subsequently, with the involvement of minorities and women as jurors, the judgment process may also obtain an enhanced efficiency in dealing with equality of rights and mitigating biasness to a substantial extent (SAGE Publications, 2013). An opponent’s response to the reform There is need for racial diversity in the jury system so that effective decisions can be made with equality and in an unbiased manner. However, from an opponent’s point of v iew, with majorities and minorities, as representatives of the jury, the defendants must not to be offered with the opportunity of selecting as well as composing juries in accordance with their races and communal backgrounds. As in the case of Swain v. Alabama - 380 U.S. 202 (1965) (Justia, 1965) and Batson v. Kentucky (No. 84-6263) (LII, 1985), the judiciary composed in the trials of these cases included majority of jurors belonging from the petitioners respective racial backgrounds and communities, which led to biasness in the process decision making. The defendants, with this facility of composing juries on the basis of their choices, will certainly lead to inappropriate legal decisions and procedures. In this concern, the provisions stipulated by the Supreme Court of the US should firmly prohibit defendants from allocating rights of selecting jury members for the execution of judgment with equality and appropriateness. Furthermore, it stresses that the juries should be selected on the basis of merit system amid majority and minority group of individuals, so that the decisions or judgment are

RADIUS Implementation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

RADIUS Implementation - Essay Example By using RADIUS, every access and authentication to a company’s network applications are controlled by the RADIUS server, which serves as a functioning host (Harrington, 2005). As a systems administrator, one of my major duties is ensuring that the company’s network system is running smoothly and that any technical glitches are fixed immediately to prevent further delays in the execeution of tasks that may cause the company to lose money. Therefore the vast logging capabilities of RADIUS will be very beneficial in ensuring that I am able to ensure that the optimal conditions of the network system are maintained, courtesy of RADIUS’ capacity to map out an audit trail of the network system. This will enable me to analyze logging files for billing and security purposes. There is growing need for improved security measures in order to restrict intrusion and restricted entry to a company’s network environment. This has led to the development of new viruses and other malicious programs and software aimed at disrupting company functions, thus requiring a system that can adapt to these changes. RADIUS offers a long lasting solution to the evolving network environment by adopting a server that utilizes modifiable stubs. Simply, the RADIUS server adapts itself to an individual network and can expand to provide other security services. According to Cache et al., the Network Policy Server found in Windows Server 2012 possesses some features that are compatible with RADIUS, especially in relation to the company’s network environment. One of the characteristics includes its ability to ensure the migration of NPS configuration settings for RADIUS servers and clients. The configuration settings capacity also extends to shared secrets which can be migrated the Network Policy Server (Cache, 2007). Morimoto argues that the basic reasons for implementing RADIUS is in order for supporting

Dd-aa Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Dd-aa - Assignment Example The reverse movement in the above variables will result in a leftward shift. The AA curve illustrates the relationship between changes in the exogenous variable which is the Gross National Product as well as one of the endogenous variables known as the exchange rate located in the asset market model. The curve operates effectively as long as all the other exogenous variables are fixed. Factors that cause an upward shift in the AA curve include an increase in money supply, foreign interest rates and expected exchange rate. It may also be due to decline in the domestic price. Reverse changes in the above factors will lead to a downward shift in the AA curve (Friedman, 102-134). The DD-curve indicates a set of equilibrium in the Goods and Service market by describing the level of GNP at the prevailing exchange rate while the AA-curve shows a set of equilibrium in the asset market. A combination of the DD and AA curve will result in an equilibrium point at which the role played by both firms as well as households will influence a movement in the exchange rate and Gross Domestic Product level provided that other exogenous variables are fixed. Fiscal policy refer to the impact of government spending and taxation on macroeconomic conditions while monetary policy refers to the actions of the central bank that influences the supply of money in the

Liverpool one shopping development Essay Example for Free

Liverpool one shopping development Essay Liverpool’s CBD needed regeneration for a variety of reasons. During WW2, it was bombed heavily, due to it being a major port for resources from the USA. During the 1960s, it was rebuilt too quickly and then fell into disrepair before 2000, when the design and infrastructure was outdated. Many parts of the city, especially the CBD suffered from urban decline, with its population dropping by 50% and 45% of its industry also leaving. In addition, Liverpool faced competition for shopping by nearby Manchester and Chester, as well as out-of-town shopping centres like the Trafford Centre. Therefore, Liverpool’s CBD needed regeneration to be more attractive to consumers, and regain its spot in the top 5 shopping destinations in the UK. Liverpool One, the project to rejuvenate Liverpool’s CBD was completed in 2008. It was opened in phases on 29 May and 1 October 2008, with the final residential lots opening in early 2009. In the same year, Liverpool was named as the European Capital of Culture. Its total cost is approximately ? 1billion, with 42 acres of Liverpool city centre being redeveloped. It includes 3000 parking spaces, 169 stores or services, as well as a 5 acre park, and 500 new apartments. It also contains a 14-screen cinema and a 36-hole adventure golf centre. Shops present include Debenhams, John Lewis, Ted Baker, Waterstones, Starbucks, Topshop and Caffe Nero. These are all mainly comparison, high-order goods which are chain stores. The area is indoor, yet also mainly open-air. It is of a modern design, and is two storeys tall. There are many cafes and food areas, with many benches. There are also electronic maps and information panels across the centre. The pedestrian areas are wide and escalators are available to proceed to the higher floors. There have also been other improvements in the CBD, such as the rejuvenation of the Docks and the introduction of the Merseytram tram line in the CBD. As well as this, many roads and smaller streets in Liverpool have been rejuvenated and rebuilt as part of the redevelopments. Areas such as Princes Dock and the Kings Waterfront have seen heavy redevelopments. These have been to attract more tourists and shoppers to the CBD. The project has overall been successful as of yet, with 83% of consumers thinking that the city centre has improved. 91% of people said they were likely to return to Liverpool, and enjoyed the experience. And now, 40% of the shops in Liverpool One are new to the city, showing the popularity of the area. The previously redeveloped Albert Dock has been receiving an extra 100000 visitors per week, with Liverpool One itself receiving over 120000 visitors in the first day, and 13 million in the first year. It is safe the say the rejuvenation of Liverpool’s CBD has been a success, and that Liverpool One has played a big part in reversing the effect of urban decline.

Touch Interfaces Essay Example for Free

Touch Interfaces Essay Introduction Pointing at an object is the most basic human interaction, which is very important in human-machine interfaces. Similarly, creating gestures such as using ones hand and arm can provide information. For instance, pointing to a chair indicates asking for permission to sit down or pointing to indicate directions. The main goal of all the research done on touch interface and gesture recognition is to develop a system that can identify specific human gestures using human touch and use them to interact with Software application. Humans habitually use gesture to interact with other humans. Gestures can be used for everything such as pointing at an object for attention to conveying information about space and temporal characteristics [1]. Biologists define gesture, as the notion of gesture is to embrace all kinds of instances where an individual engages in movements whose communicative intent is paramount, manifest, and openly acknowledged [2]. Gestures that are related with speech are called gesticulation and gestures that are independent from speech are called autonomous gesture. Autonomous gestures have its own communicative language such as American Sign Language (ASL) as well as motion commands. There are many other types of gestures such as Semiotic – communicating meaning, Ergotic – manipulating objects and Epistemic – groping. There are six types of semiotic gestures and they are Symbolic (arbitrary), Deictic (pointing), Iconic (descriptive), Pantomimic (use of invisible objects), Beat (indicating flow of speech) and Cohesive (marker indicating related topics) [3]. Symbolic or Arbitrary gestures are gestures that can be learned but are not common in a culture setting and can be very useful because they can be specifically created for use of device control. An example is the set of gestures used for airport plane control. Deictic gestures are used to point at important objects and these gestures can be specific that refers to one object, in general that refers to class of object, or functions that symbolize intentions. An example is a simple hand gestures such as pointing to ones mouth when he or she is hungry. Related Technologies Today, there exist many image-based or device-based hardware techniques, which can be used as touch interface. For example, an image-based technique can detect gesture by capturing pictures of users hand motions gesture via camera. The captured image is then sent to Computer-vision software, which tracks the image and identifies the gesture. For instance, television sets that can be controlled by hand gesture instead of a remote control have been developed [4] [5] [6]. Basically, to turn the TV on, the user raises his open hand and the computer recognizes the gesture, which in return turns the TV on. Device-based techniques such as instrumented gloves, stylus and other position trackers have been developed, which recognize the movements and send the signals so that the system can understand the gesture. For example, Dexterous Handmaster [7] developed in 1987, initially used to control robot hand, which was very accurate but was not suitable for rapid movement. Power Glove [7] developed in 1989 by Mattel, which was resistive ink sensors for finger position, plus ultrasonic tracking and the Space Glove [7] developed in 1991, which was a plastic rings around fingers. Other gloves such as 5DT Data GloveTM [7], SuperGlove [7], Pinch Gloves [7] and CyberGlove [7]. However, the latest in computer technology is the G-Speak Gestural Technology System [8], a glove which is faster and easier to use compared to mouse and keyboard and using it one can move anything anywhere on the screen. At present, there exist many products, which are closely related with the hypothesis of this thesis. For example, the GyroPoint is a product of Gyration, Inc. in Saratoga, CA [9] [10]. The device can operate in two different modes. First, it can operate as a regular mouse and second, it can operate in the air (3D). Another example, the Bluewand, [11] which is a small pen-like device used to control Bluetooth enabled devices by hand-movements. Basically, a 6-axis accelerometer and gyroscope system detects devices full direction and movement in space. Bluewand can be used with verity of applications such as remote control for TV-set, cell-phone, MP3-player, etc. Overview of the Technology (Touch Interfaces) The ability to touch a computer screen and manipulate objects or control is a advance way of communication between human and computers and due to this advancement many types of touch system is developed such as point-of-sale systems, to information kiosks, to electronic whiteboards, iPod, iPhone etc. However, these systems have different ways of implementation in different applications. For example, using a desktop display for touch input as well as pen input, recognizing finger for touch on the screen. Other ways of implementation are such as Gesture recognition is a process through which a computer can recognize human gesture. Such interaction can make interface with computer more accessible and expressive for both the physically impaired and for young children who might find this type of interaction more natural. Gestures can be used in applications such as word processing, hand sign language, games, entertainment and educational approaches. There are other forms of gesture recognition than hand gestures. For example, finger pointing a way to select or move objects around, face tracking, eye motion and lip reading, etc. Technology that implements gestures has the ability to change the way humans interact with computers by eliminating input devices such as joysticks, mice and keyboards. Lots of conventional whole-hand input devices creates interface using non-contact methods or through some physical medium and such interfaces often needs contact of the hands and fingers with a hard, firm surface. As displays get larger, multi-user interaction is important as well as the ability to recognize two or more simultaneous inputs. As a result, wall-size touch displays became important for users as it enables to work with computer application and in the future human-body sized interfaces will become a natural way of interaction with the multiple users. Other related system is â€Å"A Camera-Based Touch Interface for Pervasive Displays† [13] developed by Gerald D. Morrison. Basically, the system contains smart camera in the corners of a 17-foot-wide wall display to determine the location of an object in front of, or in contact with, the display. The main object the user’s finger and the collected image are processed in such a way that it can recognize various attributes of the object’s, such as location relative to the display in three dimensional space. The information sent back to computer which generates the display, enabling touch control. Advantages of such system Many companies have established research centers all over the world to conduct research in developing new technologies. They emphasizes on managing its process in order to deliver product that are cheap and fast maintaining a good Information Management strategy. Manipulation of information using different applications and technologies became a potential information overload for many similar companies. Hence taking advantage of the new advance technologies to manage and maintain the information overload. Other advantages are such as having to interact with software application more closely compared t traditional ways of interactions. The term software was used in the early days of the software engineering field. It was used to describe how the rapid increase in computational power and the complexity of problems which now could be tackled. It refers to the difficulty of writing correct, understandable and variable computer programs. Having touch interface will help developer to interact with developing tools to developed advance software application. Today in the 21st century software is every where imaginable, when you check out at the grocery store, using a credit card, driving your car or listening to music in your new MP3 player just to name a few. Software development has undergone a change from its early days, the awareness of the software crisis has forced engineers to address the problems by various processes and methodologies and the industry are realizing that changing to more efficient ways of communicate with computers lead to better products with higher quality and reduced costs. However, there is always a problem that the tools and techniques invented today will need time to mature, to be introduced into industry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The security implications of the system will be strong in order to assure safety for both the user and the system using finer print recognition. The main security issue such as data access must be implemented in such a way that the privilege given to the user is controlled and manipulated. Controlling the web-browsing habit such as browsing illegal or unwanted web sites need also to be controlled, hence providing user access to email, web sites using password and encryptions is essential. Keeping off the malicious users from accessing valuable company information and other external information that can be used against the company stuff and the company authorities needs to be taken under consideration. Sending emails and other attachments must be allowed according to hierarchy of access permissions. Other issues that need to be taken under consideration are such as the network password and security tokens needs to be changed constantly and most off all securing the connection to local devices that are connected to the network such as print servers and touch screen connected printers. Routers and switches should be organize and installed as securely as possible and web based configuration should be disabled as well as network access to the devices should be limited to the Grenada networks. To have a perfectly feasible operation and conduct the most proper ethical business functions is the first priority for most companies and businesses. The most critical issue related with IT is IT security where the objective is to take effective measures to decrease the threats exist today in IT related business such as e-commerce. Today, most companies prefer electronic information over traditional ways of storing and manipulation of information. Data are stored in huge database and process using different front-end software’s form anywhere in the world. IT security is made up of three main categories and they are Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability. Confidentiality is when company or an organization has sensitive information and does not want to disclose such information to anyone outside the company. Integrity is when companies want to update the system to adapt to future needs. As for availability, it is when a business implements a system it needs to make sure the system is up and running when needed. Threats such as customer’s information can be disclosed which can affect the credibility of any company; company’s information can be hacked by illegally, etc. There are many ways to improve the correct securities such as protecting data and information using different sophisticated firewall software, understanding threats and its impact in order to be protected forms it, calculating risk and deciding how to eradicate such risk. There are two basic ways to improve security and they are Bottom Up and Top Down. Bottom Up approach is not that precise but in order to implement such approach it is advisable to properly understand company policies, network topology and companies operating procedure. Top Down approach is methodical and more precise compared to Bottom Up approach but is slow and expensive. The main advantages of the touch interface are that it is centralized where it can access its information from using human touch. Therefore, if there are any security issues it can be dealt with using by tracking the finger-print. It is also flexible and scalable enough for new technologies to integrate with the system. Many flexible system and architecture can be designed so that it can be interoperable making all components work together in a synchronized fashion. This system can be used to backup critical information which is vital for both the system and the end-user. Conclusion As the information age advanced the need for computers became a daily part of human life. Computers have emerged from early abacus, papyrus and ENIAC to today’s main frame computer and super computers that can manipulate huge amount of information across the globe. The use of Touch screen was discovered by military in order to share information and after the first dial up connection; the use of touch screen became popular amongst local public. Today, computers are the most essential part of human life starting from basic calculators to storing and manipulating of terabits of information. Use of Touch screen is mostly possible if one uses computers or other devices such as mobiles. Need for speedy information has become an important issue in today’s business. Using such devices Touch screen caused a revolution in our society. Peoples shopping style is also changing because of Touch screen. Selling products over the touch screen is cheap, fast and easy for both the company and the customer. Hence issues such as privacy and ethics are most important and needs to be concentrated on by the governments and education institute. Many of the ethical issues involve privacy. For example, privacy concerning e-mail uses by the employees, head office of a company and individuals. System such as malleable surface interface [12] can be used in applications that require physically touching the screen and its objects performed by the human hands or finger, such as sculpting and massage. Even though, many touch technology systems are suitable for small displays such as iPod, iPhone, the system can be also used in big screen such TV, or directly interacting with the pc monitor. This way of communication is very attractive because they are more versatile than other input devices as well as can be made inexpensively. While touch sensing is very common but having multi user interaction has become more essential. Having to interact with a system with more than one finger at a time useful for larger interaction scenarios such as interactive walls and tabletops. Many researchers experimenting with a wide variety of application scenarios and communication modalities that utilize multi-touch input. It is a rich area for research, and has potential for advances in efficiency, usability, and intuitiveness of the future UI designed. Today there exist mobiles with touch screen and stroke interfaces as compared to those with button, thumbwheel, trackballs, and stylus etc interfaces. The traditional ways of interaction for example using buttons, and cognitively arbitrated by the need to roll a wheel to scroll the cursor focus kept us distance with the technology invented. Hence, to touch something would be to minimize the distance between human and the computer. Using gesture similar to Nintendo Wii, is a breakthrough in advancement of GUI. Other devices such as LG Prada, HTC phone and Apple iPhone help us to use our fingers to feel the system rather just using the system. The touch system is already been used in wireless devices successfully. Wireless communications offer organizations and users many benefits such as portability, flexibility and lower installation costs. Wireless technologies cover a broad range of capabilities toward different uses and needs. Wireless local area network (WLAN) devices, for instance, allow users to move their laptops from place to place within their offices and homes without the need for wires and without losing network connectivity. However, risks are natural in any wireless technology. The most significant source of risks in wireless networks is that the technology’s underlying communications medium such as the airwave, is open to intruders. Having touch screen developers and interact and develop application using advance GUI’s. Today, touch screen technology is used everywhere to cut down cost as well as speed up the development process by keeping the quality of the application insured. Touch screen based development helps to build software applications by connecting multiple components together which are produced independently. In order for this communication to take place we must have an interface between the components in such a way that is helps to develop the overall application as well as implementing it in the future applications. However, it is the compatibility between connected component interfaces that determines the success of the implementation of the components. To be precise, an interface is made of number of operations which can be manipulated by the user. The operations play a vast role in implementing the interface and use of the interface by the client or the user. Today, Internet is a good way of doing business and use of internet is constantly increasing. Improving the GUI and converting to touch screen will become very important in the future for the use of World Wide Web because it helps to communicate globally and deliver products to customers who can not purchase the products. It also helps to increases advertising and by providing one to one marketing. E-commerce is a very easy way of gathering information form its customers or potential customers. One of the biggest advantages of using the internet is its efficient ways of reducing warehousing and inventory. A Company needs a network that provides fast and efficient way to manipulate its information. Compared to its traditional manual filing system accessing, touch screen will provide information with speed, accuracy, and accessibility. A sophisticated design of the system will allow access from anywhere in the world which helps to manipulate and send information through the world. Hence, the touch screen is reliable in assuring speed, data reliability, cheap and strong security. However, it is extremely reliable and main important thing is that no extra input device is needed. Touch screen gives fast and superior performance which is sufficient for file sharing, gaming, and high-speed access. As for security, touch screen will have software application that recognizes finger print. Traditional GUI and access can be three or four times expensive compared to touch screen. A both traditional ways and touch screen can be a good option for any company depending on the difficulty of accessing the information the company. However, touch screen is easier to install, more reliable and mobility is excellent where as traditional is more difficult to install with limited mobility. Reference [1].  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A Brief Overview of Gesture Recognition by Charles Cohen. http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/rbf/CVonline/LOCAL_COPIES/COHEN/gesture_overview.html ; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [2]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jean-Luc Nespoulous, Paul Perron, and Andre Roch Lecours. The Biological Foundations of Gestures: Motor and Semiotic Aspects. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, MJ, 1986. http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/rbf/CVonline/LOCAL_COPIES/COHEN/gesture_overview.html; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [3].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   GESTURE BASED INTERACTION; Steven Damer; http://www-users.itlabs.umn.edu/classes/Fall-2004/csci8980-1/slides/gesture.pdf; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [4]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Computer Vision for Computer Interaction SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics magazine, November 1999 W. T. Freeman, P. A. Beardsley, H. Kage, K. Tanaka, K. Kyuma, C. D. Weissman. Also available as MERL-TR99-36. [5]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Computer Vision for Interactive Computer Graphics; IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, Vol. 18, No. 3, May-June 1998; W. T. Freeman, D. B. Anderson, P. A. Beardsley, C. N. Dodge, M. Roth, C. D. Weissman, W. S. Yerazunis, H. Kage, K. Kyuma, Y. Miyake, and K. Tanaka. Also available as MERL-TR99-02. [6]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Computer Vision for Computer Games In 2nd International Conference on Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition, Killington, VT, USA. IEEE. W. T. Freeman, K. Tanaka, J. Ohta, K. Kyuma . Also available as MERL-TR96-35. [7]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gesture Based Interaction; Steven Damer; http://www-users.itlabs.umn.edu/classes/Fall-2004/csci8980-1/slides/gesture.pdf; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [8]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gesture Glove Not Science Fiction;   LOS ANGLEES, Aug. 23, 2005; http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/23/eveningnews/main792311.shtml; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [9]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An Evaluation of Two Input Devices for Remote Pointing; Scott MacKenzie and Shaidah Jusoh; http://www.yorku.ca/mack/ehci2001.pdf ; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [10]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gyration, Inc., Saratoga, California. http://www.gyration.com/ ; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [11]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bluewand. A versatile remote control and pointing device; Thomas Fuhrmann , Markus Klein, and Manuel Odendahl; http://i30www.ira.uka.de/research/documents/p2p/2003/fuhrmann03bluewand-KiVS.pdf ; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [12]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Florian Vogt, Timothy Chen, Reynald Hoskinson, Sidney Fels; A Malleable Surface Touch Interface; Human Communication Technologies Laboratory; The University of British Columbia; http://hct.ece.ubc.ca/publications/pdf/vogt-chen-hoskinsin-fels-SIGGRAPH2004.pdf; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [13]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gerald D. Morrison; A Camera-Based Touch Interface for Pervasive Displays; SMART Technologies Inc., 1207 – 11 Ave. SW, Suite 300, Calgary, AB, Canada T3C 0M5; http://ubicomp.algoritmi.uminho.pt/perdisplay/docs/Morrison-Camera%20Touch_SV_Rev1.pdf; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007;

Importance Of Time In Distributed Systems

Importance Of Time In Distributed Systems Time is an important and interesting issue in Distributed Systems for several reasons. First, time is a quantity we always want to measure accurately. In order to know at what time of day a particular event occurred at a particular computer, it is necessary to synchronize its clock with an authoritative, external source of time. Second, algorithms that depend upon clock synchronization have been developed for several problems in distribution; these include maintaining the consistency of distributed data, checking the authenticity of a request sent to a server and eliminating the processing of duplicate updates [1] In Centralized systems, there is no need for clock synchronization because, generally, there is only a single clock. A process gets the time by simply issuing a system call to the kernel. When another process after that tries to get the time, it will get a higher time value. Thus, in such systems, there is a clear ordering of events and there is no ambiguity about the times at which these events occur. [4] In Distributed systems, there is no global clock or common memory. Each processor has its own internal clock and its own notion of time. In practice, these clocks can easily drift apart by several seconds per day, accumulating significant errors over time. Also, because different clocks tick at different rates, they may not remain always synchronized although they might be synchronized when they start. This clearly poses serious problems to applications that depend on a synchronized notion of time. Distributed systems are subject to timing uncertainties as certain processes may lack a common notion of real time. Due to an uncertainty in message delay time, absolute process synchronization is known to be impossible for such systems The literature presents issues of timing in distributed systems, physical clocks and their synchronization problems, algorithms for synchronizing physical clocks are presented with their limitations, and also techniques for implementing logical clocks which are used to monitor the order of events without measuring the physical time at which the events occurred The concept of time Let us begin by asking this simple question; does anybody really know what time it is [3] As Lamport notes, the concept of time is fundamental to our way of thinking [7] In fact, real time helps to master many problems of our decentralized real world. Time is also a useful concept when considering possible causality. Consider a person suspected of a crime, if that person has an alibi because he or she was far enough away from the site of the crime at some instant close enough to the time of the crime, then he or she cannot be the culprit. Timing problems Accurate time is important to determining the order in which events occur; [3] this is a basic standard of transactional integrity, system and networkà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ wide logging, auditing, troubleshooting and forensics. Having an accurate time source plays a critical role in tracing and debugging problems that occur on different platforms across a network. Events must be correlated with each other regardless of where they were generated. Furthermore, the notion of time (or time ranges) is used in many forms of access control, authentication, and encryption. In some cases, these controls can be bypassed or rendered inoperative if the time source could be manipulated. For example, a payroll function could be tricked into providing access over a weekend when normally it would be restricted to normal business hours. [3] Physical clocks Most computers today keep track of the passage of time with a battery-backed up Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) clock circuit, driven by a quartz resonator. This allows the timekeeping to take place even if the machine is powered off. When on, an operating system will generally program a timer circuit (a Programmable Interval Timer, or PIT, in older Intel architectures and Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller, or APIC, in newer systems.) to generate an interrupt periodically (common times are 60 or 100 times per second). The interrupt service procedure simply adds one to a counter in memory. While the best quartz resonators can achieve an accuracy of one second in 10 years, they are sensitive to changes in temperature and acceleration and their resonating frequency can change as they age. Standard resonators are accurate to 6 parts per million at 31 °C, which corresponds to  ±Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½ second per day. The problem with maintaining a concept of time is when multiple entities expect each other to have the same idea of what the time is. Two watches hardly ever agree. Computers have the same problem: a quartz crystal on one computer will oscillate at a slightly different frequency than on another computer, causing the clocks to tick at different rates. The phenomenon of clocks ticking at different rates, creating an ever widening gap in perceived time is known as clock drift. The difference between two clocks at any point in time is called clock skew and is due to both clock drift and the possibility that the clocks may have been set differently on different machines. The Figure below illustrates this phenomenon with two clocks, A and B, where clock B runs slightly faster than clock A by approximately two seconds per hour. This is the clock drift of B relative to A. At one point in time (five seconds past five oclock according to As clock), the difference in time between the two clocks is approximately four seconds. This is the clock skew at that particular time. Compensating for drift We can envision clock drift graphically by considering true Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) flowing on the x-axis and the corresponding computers clock reading on the y-axis. A perfectly accurate clock will exhibit a slope of one. A faster clock will create a slope greater than unity while a slower clock will create a slope less than unity. Suppose that we have a means of obtaining the true time. One easy (and frequently adopted) solution is to simply update the system time to the true time. To complicate matters, one constraint that well impose is that its not a good idea to set the clock back. The illusion of time moving backwards can confuse message ordering and software development environments. If a clock is fast, it simply has to be made to run slower until it synchronizes. If a clock is slow, the same method can be applied and the clock can be made to run faster until it synchronizes. The operating system can do this by changing the rate at which it requests interrupts. For example, suppose the system requests an interrupt every 17 milliseconds (pseudo-milliseconds, really the computers idea of what a millisecond is) and the clock runs a bit too slowly. The system can request interrupts at a faster rate, say every 16 or 15 milliseconds, until the clock catches up. This adjustment changes the slope of the system time and is known as a linear compensating Function. After the synchronization period is reached, one can choose to resynchronize periodically and/or keep track of these adjustments and apply them continually to get a better running clock. This is analogous to noticing that your watch loses a minute every two months and making a mental note to adjust the clock by that amount every two months (except the system does it continually). Synchronizing physical clocks With physical clocks, our interest is not in advancing them just to ensure proper message ordering, but to have the system clock keep good time. We looked at methods for adjusting the clock to compensate for skew and drift, but it is essential that we get the time first so that we would know what to adjust. One possibility is to attach a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver to each computer. A GPS receiver will provide time within  ± 1 msec. of UTC time but Unfortunately, they rarely work indoors. Alternatively, if the machine is in the U.S., one can attach a WWV radio receiver to obtain time broadcasts from Texas, Colorado or Washington, DC, giving accuracies of  ± 3-10 msec. depending on the distance from the source. Another option is to obtain a GOES (Geostationary Operational Environment Satellites) receiver, which will provide time within  ± 0.1 msec. of UTC time. For reasons of economy, convenience, and reception, these are not practical solutions for every machine. Most machines will set their time by asking another machine for the time (preferably one with one of the aforementioned time sources). A machine that provides this information is called a time server. Several algorithms have been proposed for synchronizing clocks and they all have the same underlying model of the system Cristians algorithm The simplest algorithm for setting the time would be to simply issue a remote procedure call to a time server and obtain the time. That does not account for the network and processing delay. We can attempt to compensate for this by measuring the time (in local system time) at which the request is sent (T0) and the time at which the response is received (T1). Our best guess at the network delay in each direction is to assume that the delays to and from are symmetric (we have no reason to believe otherwise). The estimated overhead due to the network delay is then (T1- T0)/2. The new time can be set to the time returned by the server plus the time that elapsed since the server generated the timestamp: Suppose that we know the smallest time interval that it could take for a message to be sent between a client and server (either direction). Lets call this time Tmin. This is the time when the network and CPUs are completely unloaded. Knowing this value allows us to place bounds on the accuracy of the result obtained from the server. If we sent a request to the server at time T0, then the earliest time stamp that the server could generate the timestamp is T0 + Tmin. The latest time that the server could generate the timestamp is T1 Tmin, where we assume it took only the minimum time, Tmin, to get the response. The range of these times is: T1 T0 2Tmin, so the accuracy of the result is: Errors are cumulative. If machine A synchronizes from a server B and gets an accuracy of  ±5 msec but server B in turn got its time from server C with an accuracy of  ±7 msec, the net accuracy at machine A is  ±(5+7), or  ±12 msec. Several time requests may be issued consecutively in the hope that one of the requests may be delivered faster than the others (e.g., it may be submitted during a time window when network activity is minimal). This can achieve improved accuracy. Cristians algorithm suffers from the problem that afflicts all single-server algorithms: the server might fail and clock synchronization will be unavailable. It is also subject to malicious interference. Berkeley algorithm The Berkeley algorithm, developed by Gusella and Zatti in 1989 [8], is form of an internal synchronization that does not assume that any machine has an accurate time source with which to synchronize. Instead, it opts for obtaining an average time from the participating computers and synchronizing all machines to that average. The machines involved in the synchronization each run a time dà ¦mon process that is responsible for implementing the protocol. One of these machines is elected (or designated) to be the master. The others are slaves. The server polls each machine periodically, asking it for the time. The time at each machine may be estimated by using Cristians method to account for network delays. When all the results are in, the master computes the average time (including its own time in the calculation). The hope is that the average cancels out the individual clocks tendencies to run fast or slow. Instead of sending the updated time back to the slaves, which would introduce further uncertainty due to network delays, it sends each machine the offset by which its clock needs adjustment. The operation of this algorithm is illustrated in the Figure below. Three machines have times of 3:00, 3:25, and 2:50. The machine with the time of 3:00 is the server (master). It sends out a synchronization query to the other machines in the group. Each of these machines sends a timestamp as a response to the query. The server now averages the three timestamps: the two it received and its own, computing (3:00+3:25+2:50)/3 = 3:05. Now it sends an offset to each machine so that the machines time will be synchronized to the average once the offset is applied. The machine with a time of 3:25 gets sent an offset of -0:20 and the machine with a time of 2:50 gets an offset of +0:15. The server has to adjust its own time by +0:05. The algorithm also has provisions to ignore readings from clocks whose skew is too great. The master may compute a fault-tolerant average averaging values from machines whose clocks have not drifted by more than a certain amount. If the master machine fails, any other slave could be elected to take over Logical clocks Lets again consider cases that involve assigning sequence numbers (timestamps) to events upon which all cooperating processes can agree. What matters in these cases is not the time of day at which the event occurred but that all processes can agree on the order in which related events occur. Our interest is in getting event sequence numbers that make sense system-wide. If we can do this across all events in the system, we have something called total ordering: every event is assigned a unique timestamp (number), every such timestamp is unique. However, we dont always need total ordering. If processes do not interact then we dont care when their events occur. If we only care about assigning timestamps to related (causal) events then we have something known as partial ordering. Leslie Lamport [7] developed a happened before notation to express the relationship between events: aà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢b means that a happened before b. If a represents the timestamp of a message sent and b is the timestamp of that message being received, then aà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢b must be true; a message cannot be received before it is sent. This relationship is transitive. If aà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢b and bà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢c then aà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢c. If a and b are events that take place in the same process the aà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢b is true if a occurs before b. The importance of measuring logical time is in assigning a time value to each event such that everyone will agree on the final order of events. That is, if aà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢b then clock (a) < clock (b) since the clock (our timestamp generator) must never run backwards. If a and b occur on different Processes that do not exchange messages (even through third parties) then aà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢b is not true, these events are said to be concurrent: there is no way that a could have influenced b. Each event is assigned a timestamp by its respective process. The process simply maintains a global counter that is incremented before each event gets a timestamp. If we examine the timestamps from our global perspective, we can observe a number of peculiarities. Event g, the event representing the receipt of the message sent by event a, has the exact same timestamp as event a when it clearly had to take place after event a. Event e has an earlier time stamp (1) than the event that sent the message (b, with a timestamp of 2). Lamports algorithm Lamport [7] proposed an algorithm that forces the resequencing of timestamps to ensure that the happened before relationship is properly depicted for events related to sending and receiving messages. It works as follows: Each process has a clock, which can be a simple counter that is incremented for each event. The sending of a message is an event and each message carries with it a timestamp obtained from the current value of the clock at that process (sequence number). The arrival of a message at a process is also an event will also receive a timestamp by the receiving process, of course. The process clock is incremented prior to time stamping the event, as it would be for any other event. If the clock value is less than the timestamp in the received message, the systems clock is adjusted to the (messages timestamp + 1). Otherwise nothing is done. The event is now time stamped. If we apply this algorithm to the same sequence of messages, we can see that proper message ordering among causally related events is now preserved. Note that between every two events, the clock must tick at least once. [4] Lamports algorithm [7] allows us to maintain proper time ordering among causally- related events. In summary, Lamports algorithm requires a monotonically increasing software counter for a clock that has to be incremented at least when events that need to be time stamped take place. These events will have the clock value, or Lamport timestamp, associated with them. For any two events, where aà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢b, L (a) < L (b) where L(x) represents the Lamport timestamp for event x. Lamport timestamps [7] assure us that if there is a causal relationship between two events, then the earlier event will have a smaller time stamp than the later event. Causality is achieved by successive events on one process or by the sending and receipt of messages on different processes. As defined by the happened-before relationship, causality is transitive. For instance, events a and f are causally related in the figure above (through the sequence a, b, e, f). Implementing Logical clocks To implement logical clocks, [11] each process p, maintains data structures that give it the following two capabilities: A logical clock, denoted by C, that helps P, measure its own progress; and A global logical clock denoted by gC, that represents Ps local view of the global logical time. A protocol is presented to update the data structures; the protocol ensures that a processs logical clock and its view of the global time are consistent. The protocol consists of the following two rules: R1. maintains how a process updates the local logical clock when it executes an Event, whether send or receive R2. maintains how a process updates its global logical clock to update its view of the Global time. It dictates what information about the logical time a process Piggybacks in a message and how the receiving process uses this information to Update its view of the global time A distributed system consisting of logical clocks differ in their representation of logical time and in the protocol for updating logical clocks. However, all systems consisting of logical clocks implements some form of R1 and R2 and thereby achieving the fundamental monotonicity property associated with events and casualty Total ordering of events Note that it is very possible for multiple non-causal (concurrent) events to share identical Lamport timestamps (e.g., c, e, and h in the Figure above). This may cause confusion if multiple processes need to make a decision based on the timestamps of two events. The selection of a specific event may not matter if the events are concurrent but we want all the processes to be able to make the same decision. This is difficult if the timestamps are identical. Fortunately, theres an easy remedy. We can create a total order on events by further qualifying them with identities of processes. We define a global logical timestamp (Ti,i) where Ti represents the local Lamport timestamp and i represents the process ID (in some globally unique way: for example, a concatenation of host address and process ID). We are then able to globally compare these timestamps and conclude that There is no physical significance to the order since process identifiers can be arbitrary and do not relate to event ordering but the ability to ensure that no two Lamport timestamps are the same globally is helpful in algorithms that need to compare these timestamps. In real life, depending on the application, one may use a combination of thread ID, process ID, and IP address as a qualifier to the timestamp. Vector clocks If two events are causally related and event e happened before event e then we know that L (e) < L (e). However, the converse is not necessarily true. With Lamports algorithm, if L (e) < L (e) we cannot conclude that eà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢e. Hence, if we look at Lamport timestamps, we cannot conclude which pairs of events are causally related and which are not. One solution that has been proposed to deal with this problem is the concept of vector clocks (proposed by Mattern in 1989 and Fidge in 1991) [9, 10]. A vector clock in a system of N processes is a vector of N integers. Each process maintains its own vector clock (Vi for a process Pi) to timestamp local events. Like Lamport timestamps, vector timestamps (the vector of N integers) are sent with each message. The rules for using vector clocks are: The vector is initialized to 0 at all processes: Vi[j] = 0 for i,j = 1, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, N Before a process Pi timestamps an event, it increments its element of the vector in its local vector: Vi[i] = Vi[i]+1 A message is sent from process Pi with Vi attached to the message. When a process Pj receives a vector timestamp t, it compares the two vectors element by element, setting its local vector clock to the higher of the two values: Vj[i] = max(Vj[i], t[i]) for i=1, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, N We compare two vector timestamps by defining: V = V iff V[j] = V'[j] for i=1, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, N V à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ V iff V[j] à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ V'[j] for i=1, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, N For any two events e, e, if eà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢e then V(e) < V(e). This is the same as we get from Lamports algorithm. With vector clocks, we now have the additional knowledge that if V(e)