Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Business Models and Technological Innovation

The current assignment deals with identifying the comparisons between the business models of Target and Wal-Mart. In addition, the significance of ratio analysis along with the important categories of ratios is evaluated from the perspective of the retail organisations. The impact of the business models on the financial performance of the above-mentioned organisations is critically reflected to develop an insight about their financial positions. Moreover, the study also analyses the cause behind changing rate of return in terms of equity, price-earnings and leverage ratios. The latter segment of the assignment sheds light on Ackman’s views for modifying the financial and overall strategies of Target.   Ã‚   The Dayton Company has established Target in the year 1962 and Wal-Mart has been set up in the same year. These two organisations are the major competitors in the US retail industry in the 21 st century. The major points of distinction between the business models of Target and Wal-Mart are summed up as follows: Target has been popular in the US retail industry for its â€Å"fun, fast and friendly services† to its clients. Wal-Mart, on the contrary, has been popular for its strategy of low cost services. In this context, Baden-Fuller and Haefliger (2013) stated that the small retailers often tend to follow the business models of large retailers for improving their themes of store layout to cater the needs of the customers. Wal-Mart is known for its cheaper prices of products and the stores contain large boxes with racks of products and general merchandise to meet the needs of the customers. The racks and furniture are of basic designs with the aisle space minimised to portray the sensation of low prices. In the words of Landry et al. (2013), such sensation converts the perceptions of the customers to purchase quality products at lower prices compared to the other stores in the market. Target, on the other hand, has designed its theme at the most appropriate costs, as it mainly aims to target the higher-class customers. Additionally, the fixtures and layouts of Targets are highly elaborate having broader aisles and quality concepts of lighting. In this regard, Schaltegger, Là ¼deke-Freund and Hansen (2012) stated that such high quality layout and visual display improves the customers’ shopping experience. However, it is worth mentioning that Wal-Mart has now undertaken initiatives in most of its US stores by incorporating better quality of fixtures and broader aisles to attract the high-level customers. As commented by Baden-Fuller and Haefliger (2013), the soft lines are the soft products involved in retail organisations like linens and clothing. Target has developed a set of designers to create brand new soft lines for its stores. Therefore, the organisation aims to improve the shopping experience of the customers by depicting the reflection of selling better quality soft goods at reasonable prices. Conversely, Wal-Mart has focused on the traditional marketing approach of providing quality soft goods at cheaper prices compared to the competitors. The financial ratio analysis is an important method to evaluate the financial performance of an organisation and its significance is briefly summed up as follows: Evaluation of financial statements: With the help of ratio analysis, the associated stakeholders of an organisation could determine the profitability and liquidity positions of the same (Healy and Palepu 2012). For instance, the profitability ratios like gross margin, operating margin and net margin could help the organisation to know about its profit margin and accordingly, measures could be taken to improve the same further. Judging the organisational efficiency: As commented by Delen, Kuzey and Uyar (2013), the efficiency ratios and the liquidity ratios like inventory turnover, debtors’ collection, creditors’ payment, current and quick ratios help in knowing about the operational efficiency of the management. Accordingly, Target would be able to make effective use of its assets to earn higher income. In addition, the turnover ratios would also help the organisation to know about the market demand. The other two efficiency ratios would indicate the effectiveness of the organisation in collecting and paying amounts to the debtors and creditors respectively. With the help of accounting ratios like return on investment and dividend payout, the external investors associated with Targets could make sound decisions based on the annual or monthly returns. Based on these ratios, the investors make decisions whether to make investments or withdraw the fund invested in the business (Brigham and Houston 2012). Comparison of financial performance: In the words of Brigham and Ehrhardt (2013), it is of prime necessity for an organisation to compare the financial position of its rivals. Hence, based on the financial ratios, Target could be able to distinguish its performance from Wal-Mart and take remedial actions, if necessary, to increase its revenue margin. Evaluation of the stability of a firm: The accounting ratio like capital gearing ratio help in evaluating the financial stability of a firm by indicating its leverage (Frank and Pamela 2016). In case, the preference share capital and other fixed interest bearing loans are higher in contrast to the equity share capital and reserves, the investors might not be willing to invest in Target and vice-versa. Figure 1: Importance of financial ratio analysis Identification and importance of the key ratio categories for the retail companies: With the help of gross margin, Target would be able to review its pricing strategy and evaluate the risk of overpricing or under pricing based on the cash flows. In case, the profit is low, the management of Target could reduce its cost of sales, increase the sales value and minimise damages. In the words of Vernimmen et al. (2014), the retail organisations mainly aim to achieve 50% gross margin at the end of each accounting year. The management of Target needs to consider this ratio, since it helps in knowing the selling and replenishment of stocks. In this context, Weil, Schipper and Francis (2013) cited that higher rate of turnover reflects the introduction of new merchandise, while a lower turnover indicated the capital congested in stocks. In the latter case, Target needs to release its inventory at lower cost to avoid any potential loss. With the help of liquidity ratios, Target could gauge the ability of its stores to write off the short-term debts and obligations. According to Edwards (2013), the benchmark for current ratio is 2 and that of the quick ratio is 1 for the retail industry. However, Richard and David (2016) argued that the retailers often consider the quick ratio as the best measure, since it subtracts inventories from current assets to indicate the firm’s ability of raising cash for meeting debt obligations. The return on assets is considered as another important ratio, which portrays the growth rate of the retail operations (Horngren et al. 2012). The retailers like Target always prefer to have higher ratio to maximise the amount of revenues. The creditors consider the gearing ratio to compare the investments with the funded business portion. Thus, Target needs to maintain a lower gearing ratio to ensure increase in funds from the creditors. According to the financial report of Target, the sales of the organisation have increased at almost a fixed rate from $26,296 in 1999 to $62,884 in 2008. This depicts that the organisation has managed to increase its customer base through improving its store layouts and the nature of services. However, Wal-Mart has also experienced wide increase in its revenues from S153,345 in 1999 to $401,244 in 2008. In this case, Wal-Mart has been enjoying competitive advantage over Target due to its low cost products to attract all categories of customers. According to the gross margin value, Wal-Mart has been enjoying competitive advantage over Target. This is because of high quality products at cheaper prices to attract all types of customers. However, both the organisations have performed quite above the industrial benchmark of 50%. The degree of financial leverage for Target has been 0.96 in 2008 compared to 0.61 of Wal-Mart. This depicts that Target has relied highly on debt financing, which has increased the debt payments of the organisation. In addition, the inventory turnover of Wal-Mart has been greater, which is due to the selling of goods at low prices to the mass market. However, the liquidity position of Target has been quite higher in contrast to Wal-Mart. The possible reason is the increased amount of retained earnings and less investment on capital projects. This implies that the company has been efficient in discharging its existing liabilities with the cash generated. This has been further supported by the dividend payout, which is high for Wal-Mart over the years 2006-2008. The debt-to-equity ratio has been significantly high for Target, which reveals that the company is inefficient to acquire funds through issuance of equity shares. The credit policy of Wal-Mart has been stringent, as the company is not extending the amount to be received from the debtors for accumulating higher working capital. This is because Wal-Mart has been making payments to its creditors within short span of time in comparisons to that of Target. Thus, these above-mentioned ratios are the key metrics, which have helped in ascertaining the financial performance of Target and Wal-Mart. The rate of return on equity is largely dependent two components, which include net margin and the asset turnover. For instance, if the sales of an organisation increase, the return on equity also increases, since each sale generates higher money for the organisation (Hotchkiss, Strà ¶mberg and Smith 2014). In addition, if any retailer generates greater sales from the assets owned, it increases the return on equity. Thus, the product sales and turnover from assets are the major determinants, which lead to differential rate of return on equity for the retailers. Some retailers deliberately increase the financial leverage to acquire funds through debt financing in relation to the equity shares. Thus, higher amount of debt in the capital structure of the organisation might result in higher price/earnings ratio and equity returns (Pà ¤tà ¤ri, Karell and Luukka 2016). According to the provide case, Ackman has hold a substantial portion of the shares of Target and initially, the person was highly satisfied with the financial performance of the organisation. However, the person has demanded to be appointed as a board member of Target. The management of the organisation has declined the negotiation immediately. Hence, this shows that the person has self-interest in the organisation to accomplish his personable goals and objectives. It is quite justified on the part of Ackman to change the board of directors of Target, as no direct possesses the relevant CEO experience. However, it is to be borne in mind that Ackman has been quite satisfied with the management before putting forward the proposal of becoming a board member. Thus, this demand for change might not be aligned to suit the needs of the associated stakeholders. Ackman has also suggested to increase the business reach outside USA to match with the revenues of its major competitor, Wal-Mart. In addition, the proposed nominees of the person do not have any sort of relationship with Ackman, which challenges the personal conflict issue. Furthermore, one of the former board members of Target has extended support to the proposed changes, as they will result in creation of long-term values fore the shareholders.    However, most of the external analysts have supported the management of Target by stating that the investors are highly satisfied with the organisational performance. This is because the earnings from each share of the organisation have increased from 1999 to 2007; however, it has fallen marginally in the year 2008. In addition, the management of Target has been effective to maintain its liquidity position despite the lower turnover from inventory and delayed payments from debtors. Despite positive effects of Ackman’s changes, the demand for changes has aroused because Ackman has been denied to be appointed as a director within the organisation. Hence, despite the increase in financial leverage and fall in the annual sales growth, it has yielded adequate returns to the investors. Thus, Ackman’s demand for changes is not justified to match the organisational strategies and financial record of accomplishment. In compliance with the brave discussion, it is feasible for the investors to stay with the current board of Target. This is because Target has provided the opportunity to Ackman to express his views to the shareholders possessing the voting rights and most of the shareholders have turned up for the organisation. In addition, the changes proposed on the part of Ackman would barely result in long-term benefits to the shareholders. In addition, Target has increased its dividend payout to the shareholders over the years, which also signifies the management efficiency in running biasness operations. Hence, from the perspective of an investor, it is better to select the existing Target board instead of choosing the proposed slate of Packman. In order to avoid such conflict, the Target Board could have increased the remuneration of Ackman, as the maximum amount of investment is drawn from the person itself. However, Callen (2015) argued that increasing the remuneration of a specific shareholder might result in discontentment amongst the other stockholders. In addition, Target could issue bonus shares to Ackman through which greater benefits could be realised. With the help of such strategies, Target might have been able to avoid such conflicting interest and maintain effective relationship with the largest shareholder of the organisation. According to the provided scenario, a substantial portion of the derivative securities of Perishing Square is with Target, which would perish within two years. Hence, this type of investment would help in boosting the stock performance of Target in the short-run; however, the value is nominal in relation to long-term shareholder value. As a result, the return on equity might be reduced largely along with fall in the dividend payout ratio. In addition, the company might suffer from poor liquidity position, as the creditors might not be willing to extend its payment period due to the possible fall in share prices. According to the above discussion, the business model of Target is to attract the high-income individuals by selling products at affordable prices. On the other hand, Wal-Mart has been providing high quality products at lower cost to attract all types of customers. In addition, it has been found that ratio analysis is an important financial tool to evaluate the financial performance of an organisation and help the investors to make sound decision-making. After comparing the financial performance of Wal-Mart and Target, the former has been enjoying competitive advantage due to its expansion in the global markets. Furthermore, from the given case, it has been found that Ackman’s proposed changes are not effective in improving the financial performance of Target from the ethical perspective. In order to avoid such conflict, the organisation might have increased the remuneration ad issued bonus shares to Ackman. Lastly, it has been evaluated if such the changes were implemented, it might result in loss of shareholder value of Target. Baden-Fuller, C. and Haefliger, S., 2013. Business models and technological innovation.  Long range planning,  46(6), pp.419-426. Landry, R., Amara, N., Cloutier, J.S. and Halilem, N., 2013. Technology transfer organizations: Services and business models.  Technovation,  33(12), pp.431-449. Schaltegger, S., Là ¼deke-Freund, F. and Hansen, E.G., 2012. Business cases for sustainability: the role of business model innovation for corporate sustainability.  International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development,  6(2), pp.95-119. Healy, P.M. and Palepu, K.G., 2012.  Business Analysis Valuation: Using Financial Statements. Cengage Learning. Delen, D., Kuzey, C. and Uyar, A., 2013. Measuring firm performance using financial ratios: A decision tree approach.  Expert Systems with Applications,40(10), pp.3970-3983. Brigham, E.F. and Houston, J.F., 2012.  Fundamentals of financial management. Cengage Learning. Brigham, E.F. and Ehrhardt, M.C., 2013.  Financial management: Theory & practice. Cengage Learning. Brigham, E.F. and Houston, J.F., 2012.  Fundamentals of financial management. Cengage Learning. Frank, J.F. and Pamela, P.P., 2016. Financial Management and Analysis. Hotchkiss, E.S., Strà ¶mberg, P. and Smith, D.C., 2014, March. Private equity and the resolution of financial distress. In  AFA 2012 Chicago Meetings Paper. Pà ¤tà ¤ri, E.J., Karell, V. and Luukka, P., 2016. Can size-, industry-, and leverage-adjustment of valuation ratios benefit the value investor?.International Journal of Business Innovation and Research,  11(1), pp.76-109. Vernimmen, P., Quiry, P., Dallocchio, M., Le Fur, Y. and Salvi, A., 2014. Corporate finance: theory and practice. John Wiley & Sons. Weil, R.L., Schipper, K. and Francis, J., 2013.  Financial accounting: an introduction to concepts, methods and uses. Cengage Learning. Edwards, J.R., 2013.  A History of Financial Accounting (RLE Accounting)(Vol. 29). Routledge. Horngren, C., Harrison, W., Oliver, S., Best, P., Fraser, D. and Tan, R., 2012. Financial Accounting. Pearson Higher Education AU. Richard, L. and David, P., 2016. Advanced financial accounting. Callen, J.L., 2015. A selective critical review of financial accounting research.  Critical Perspectives on Accounting,  26, pp.157-167. Warren, C.S., Reeve, J.M. and Duchac, J., 2013.  Corporate financial accounting. Cengage Learning. O’Neill, P., Sohal, A. and Teng, C.W., 2016. Quality management approaches and their impact on firmsÃâ€" ³ financial performance–An Australian study.  International Journal of Production Economics,  171, pp.381-393. Parker, L.D., 2012. Qualitative management accounting research: Assessing deliverables and relevance.  Critical Perspectives on Accounting,  23(1), pp.54-70. With a decade's experience in providing essay help, Business Models and Technological Innovation Business model is defined as the abstract presentation of a company’s way of working. The model is a comprehensive layout about how the company operates in the market, sells its products, generates revenue and maximises its capital. Business models are primarily related to entrepreneurial firms like Google and show how these firm captures market opportunities and create value. Today business models include technology and show how companies use it to create economic value (Chesbrough, 2013). Innovation is a very important aspect of business models and has evolved has the stimulus which stimulates the organisations to continuously manage their models to adjust to the market conditions. Business models are designed to embrace the entire business system of an organisation. The companies earlier conceived business models as â€Å"pipes† which showed how they produced goods and sold them to consumers (Aithal & Jeevan, 2016). This model worked just like pipe carrying water but did not include other important aspects like innovation, organisational culture or future strategies. The platform model as used in present international companies like Apple is based on a technology driven platform which acts like a market. The digital platform help the buyers meet the seller and also stores the information about the transactions for future use (Van, Parker & Choudary, 2016). Today business models have evolved into dynamic systems which allow the companies using them to explore new markets, bring about innovations and restructure their models according to the market situations. The companies conceptualise their business models based on several factors within themselves and from the external environment. The structures of the companies have a profound effect on the business models. The multinational companies like Apple and Vodafone keep on introducing new products and expanding their business into new markets. These companies look upon disruptive innovation, restructuring and sustainability as the essence of their business models. These companies follow business models like franschise, manufacturer, retail outlet or distributorship to operate in their markets. The working cultures of the companies decide their power to adjust to new situations and take advantage of them. Companies grapple to change their existing business models and adopt new business models. Management, communication and coordination among the various segments are important for smooth adoption of new business models. The leadership in the companies and the employee relationship have profound effect on the business models and its dynamism. For example the companies like Nestle with expertise in fields of technology, innovation, marketing mix and financing have leadership in the market (Vahlne & Johanson, 2014). The global locations of these companies operate in an integrated way which enables the management to lead them through the changes. The small companies with limited resources often find it difficult to change their models and often face employee resistance (Kastalli & Van Looy, 2013). The dynamic business models used by the multinational companies can be used to deal with market challenges in a more strategic way. The static business model is only based on value creation between the consumers and the company. The dynamic model looks upon businesses as blocks but does not integrate them. However, the market challenges and intense competition require a total reformation of the companies and their ways of operating. This requires restructuring of the whole company as a system to adapt to the changes. Companies which fail to adapt to the changes often threat from substitute or threat of new emerging companies. Google has a unique business model which allows the internet giant to lead the market. In fact, it can also be opined that the business model of Google has helped the company to reach a position of having almost no competitor. The business model of Google, first allows the firms and people to promote their products in return of payment. The company also provides free blogging services to bloggers without opening accounts. The search engine allows these two groups of consumers to promote their blogs and earn money. Google has emerged as the world’s largest paid online advertisement platform and encourage growth of start-ups, entrepreneurial ventures and small business. It allows these groups to advertise their products to a vast consumer base which allows them to create their own profitable market. Google provides free services to the net surfers and allows a variety of services like email communication, socialising and video sharing. The free customers provide Google with invaluable information while using the internet which it uses to develop its future business.   This business model of Google provides services to the segments like bloggers and advertisers and which generates huge revenue for it. The services provided by Google are parts of the business system while the way of charging the advertisers and bloggers form the profi t model (Itami & Nishino, 2010). Companies use and develop innovative business models to expand their territories and partner with other firms.   The business model of Google is not restricted to providing mail and blogging services. The company has a dynamic business model which allows it to partner with companies and expand its product line. Google joined the Alliance for Affordable Internet which allowed the company to enter into partnership with Facebook, Intel and Microsoft. The business policies. The business model of Google has inspired it to enter into joint ventures and partnerships with organisations from diverse fields. The company entered into partnership with NASA to construct office of 1 lakh square feet which would used for research on nanotechnology, distributed computing and entrepreneurial space industry. Google set up two wind farms to generate renewable forms of energy. The company have entered into acquiring companies like Youtube and Android (Osiyevskyy & Dewald, 2015). Thus, the dynamic busi ness model of Google helps it to acquire new companies and operate in a sustainable way. Business models are developed by companies and advertise their innovative power. Business models are designed to adapt to new market situations and expand new markets. A well planned business model helps a company to acquire companies to expand its product portfolio. For example, Google owns the video sharing software Youtube, the internet search engine Google Chrome and the satellite map, Google Maps. This innovative product line consisting of various softwares catering to diverse needs under one owner, Google has helped the company to be the undisputable leader in the internet services market. Thus, the business model of Google allows it to bring about innovations (Baden-Fuller & Haefliger, 2013). Business models help the companies to explore and exploit their resources to bring about innovation and sustainability. The companies today lay stress on sustainable supply chain management to reduce their emission of poisonous gases and waste water. The companies invest in setting up renewable sources of energy like windmills. These policies of them benefit the society, consumers and the other stakeholders (Girotra & Netessine, 2013). Thus, business models encourage the company to acquire and use resources in a sustainable ways which encourage innovation. The aim of developing a business model is to operate ina way to provide maximum consumer satisfaction and high profits. Companies also price their products according to their business models and price their products to cater to huge consumer base (Dudin et al., 2015). The firms offer innovative products in various shapes and sizes at apt prices to cater the diverse consumer needs. It can be concluded that the business models are the very essence of the companies and expressions of their business strategies. The companies make dynamic and innovative business models to take advantage of the market situations and expand their operations. Their business models also help them to create innovation in areas of marketing mix, supply chain management and sustainable operations. Aithal, P. S., & Jeevan, P. (2016). How Service Industries can Transform themselves into Green Business Industries. Baden-Fuller, C., & Haefliger, S. (2013). Business models and technological innovation.  Long range planning,  46(6), 419-426. Chesbrough, H. (2013).  Open business models: How to thrive in the new innovation landscape. Harvard Business Press. Dudin, M. N., Kucuri, G. N., Fedorova, I. J. E., Dzusova, S. S., & Namitulina, A. Z. (2015). The innovative business model canvas in the system of effective budgeting. Girotra, K., & Netessine, S. (2013). OM forum—business model innovation for sustainability.  Manufacturing & Service Operations Management,  15(4), 537-544. Itami, H., & Nishino, K. (2010). Killing two birds with one stone: profit for now and learning for the future.  Long Range Planning,  43(2), 364-369. Kastalli, I. V., & Van Looy, B. (2013). Servitization: Disentangling the impact of service business model innovation on manufacturing firm performance.  Journal of Operations Management,  31(4), 169-180. Osiyevskyy, O., & Dewald, J. (2015). Explorative versus exploitative business model change: the cognitive antecedents of firm?level responses to disruptive innovation.  Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal,  9(1), 58-78. Vahlne, J. E., & Johanson, J. (2014). Replacing traditional economics with behavioral assumptions in constructing the Uppsala Model: toward a theory on the evolution of the Multinational Business Enterprise (MBE). In  Multidisciplinary Insights from New AIB Fellows  (pp. 159-176). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Van Alstyne, M. W., Parker, G. G., & Choudary, S. P. (2016). Pipelines, platforms, and the new rules of strategy.  Harvard Business Review,  94(4), 54-62.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Advantages and disadvantages of internet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Advantages and disadvantages of internet - Essay Example The pornographic sites are likely to make certain they are the primary sites to be listed inside any search zone; hence, children encounter such sites effortlessly. Regardless of all of the horrible disadvantages of the Net, there seems to be numerous advantages as well. Actually, the advantages even prevail over the disadvantages. The most frequent thing the Internet is employed for is research. Kids as well as students are amongst the top individuals who make use of the Internet for research. Nowadays, it is almost necessary that students apply the Internet for their research. Entertainment happens to be another popular motive why many kids surf in to the Internet. Now we are able to communicate in a few seconds with a person who happens to be sitting or even working in the other section of the world. There are numerous messenger services which are being offered. With the assistance of such services, it appears to become very simple to create a sort of worldwide friendship where yo u could share your feelings, can discover other cultures of diverse ethnicity. The primary objective of internet has constantly been the communication section. And the internet has stood out beyond the expectations of countless people. Still improvements are going on towards constructing it even faster and more dependable. By the initiation of computer’s Internet, our world has trimmed down and has achieved the form of a universal village. Downloading on line or video games, going into chat rooms, or merely surfing the Web are a few of the uses people have revealed. Information is perhaps the biggest improvement internet has donated. The Internet is an effective treasure trunk of information. Any type of information on whichever topic is very much available on the Internet. You could almost get any variety of data on roughly any kind of issues that you are seeking. In order to keep children protected, parents

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Business Communication Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Communication - Term Paper Example In fact my personal life has become developed and my personality has grown as a result of the same (Markus 2005). My daily work activities are now managed in a much better way than these used to be in the past. I have come to know exactly how to speak to a set of audience and in what attire I should be donned in when I am giving a presentation or influencing a set of audience. The business communication ranks have helped me immensely within my grooming domains and given me a chance to explore my truest basis with the passage of time. It has made me feel that I am a valuable member of the business clan and that my work realms are very significant towards the business undertakings in the time and age of today. The trends that I have seen in my current workplace domains have been slightly different from what these used to be in my former workplaces. I have understood that within these quarters I have been able to see things through within the ranks of business communication which was no t the case in the past. I have been able to manage myself in accordance with the growing business communication trends which have to be understood by people like me so that we can grow and develop with the passage of time. ... ave seen people adapt to formal routines and procedures more than the informal methodologies which were adapted within the previous workplaces where I was employed. Now I am better able to acquaint myself with the changing business communication dynamics more than these used to be coherent within my previous workplace domains (Eckhouse 1999). Hence I feel that now I am at a better place than where I used to be in the past. It gives me a vital point of advantage over the other employees who are in the process of coming to ranks with the changing business communication regimes. The message types that result from such business communication trends which have been emerging of late include the fact that only those individuals make it to the top who believe in the power of business communication and employ it to their best advantage. They perceive business communication would be of success towards their own domains and would help them grow and develop their own selves in an amicable and tr uly fulfilling way. This shall make them stand out from the crowd and make their positions apparent within the formal mix of things as far as the organizational regimes are concerned. More than anything else, the message types that are coming to the fore include the likes of establishing new trends that are wholly based on the patterns of allowing nearly everyone to be a part of the formal business communication quarters and thus giving them a chance to manifest their truest selves through hard work, commitment and a sense of being loyal towards their own skills and abilities. All said and done, I believe that any organization would dearly require that its employees believe in the premise of business communication and give their best so that not only their own growth and development regimes

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Anything related to Civil Engineering Research Proposal

Anything related to Civil Engineering - Research Proposal Example balancing all the fundamentals of construction management, safety remains the most significant aspect of the construction management that ends up being compromised, when the balancing of the other aspects of the construction is involved (Andersen, 21). Construction is a hazardous business. Whenever construction accidents happen, the costs are normally high on the people, productivity and profitability associated with the project (McGraw Construction, 7). In this respect, there is a great need to understand how safety can be integrated into the whole construction management process, right from the design to the completion of the project. It is well known that safety issues, accidents and hazards are costly to the construction industry. For that reason, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) laws have been established in order to guide the safety and health protection at construction project sites (Lingard, 212). Nevertheless, even with the laws guiding safety and health protection within construction sites in place, accidents and safety hazards still occur in construction sites (Andersen, 21). A large number of construction project owners have always engaged in search for ways to circumvent the safety measures and regulations issued by different safety authorities and agencies in their construction projects (Lingard, 213). However, the few parties in the construction industry who have been keen to adhere to the safety and health requirements in their projects have realized significant positive impacts, which include good reputation, less injury and less legal claims against the companies, as well a s little disruptions in the project plans (McGraw Construction, 27). Therefore, this research study will seek to assess how safety management can become the priority of the construction project owners, as opposed to being a mandatory regulation that they should adhere to. The proposed research seeks to evaluate the motivation and underlying factors

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Mill Compared To Plato, Locke, Marx And Machiavelli

Mill Compared To Plato, Locke, Marx And Machiavelli In this paper, I will argue that John Stuart Mills theories are the most reasonable compared to Plato, Marx, Locke, and Machiavelli. Moreover, Mills theories allow mankind to exercise individual rights to a greater extent than the theories of the other mentioned philosophers. More than those of Plato, Marx, Locke, or Machiavelli, John Stuart Mills theories are compelling because they are the most logically sensible and provide for the welfare of the people. As mentioned, my standard for judging these theories is the extent to which they make logical sense and promote the welfare of the people. A good political system promotes the welfare of the people, so it follows that a political theory would also support this same goal. As far as making logical sense is concerned, a political theory that is logically constructed with sound reasoning is more likely than not to be well thought, feasible, and true. I will start with explaining why I do not find the other theorists compelling, and end with explaining why I find Mill the most compelling in the bounds of the criteria just explained. The philosophies of Marx and of Plato are inherently idealistic, which in itself does not necessarily discredit the theories. Idealistic visions of the most perfect type of government are helpful in testing the efficacy of a political theory in the theoretical realm. Moreover, political philosophies are not created with direct implementation in mind. It is wrong to expect a political theory to be intended for direct application in politics. A discourse on political theory is intentionally distinct from a law or a constitution. It is wrong to confuse a law or constitution, which is intended for immediate implementation in politics, with a political theory, which is intended usually to influence opinion and real political policies. Although I have offered this argument that suggests the theories of Plato and Marx are not to be judged by their implementation, it is worthwhile to note that their implementation would depend on an evolved type of human nature, one that would recognize ones place in society and the benefit to society of fulfilling ones duty. This evolved human nature simply does not exist even today, much less to mention during the time of Plato. Plato maintains that democracy is one of the lowest forms of government, and that it can decay into despotism is fairly clear (Plato 288). Plato thinks the best government is aristocracy (Plato 267). Part of my criteria for judging these theories is how well it provides for the welfare of the people. Granted, Plato has a somewhat valid argument that a great amount of freedom in a democracy may lead to undisciplined behavior. But an aristocracy is much less likely to have the welfare of the people in mind than a democracy. While democracy is not perfect, it by nature follows the will of the greatest number of people. Assuming that the majority of people act in their own best interest, then at least the majority is ensured its own welfare. With an aristocracy, there is no such insurance of general welfare. The only thing that is certain is that the aristocrats will rule, presumably according to their own interests. Additionally, Plato is willing to censor artistic materials. This assum es infallibility in the republics ability to discern whether works are beneficial to the state. I will discuss later in this paper about this concept, in reference to Mill. Most of the autocratic elements of Platos philosophy depend on a fundamental assumption that the governments judgments are infallible, which is logically incorrect. Marx maintains that everything in society is based on economics and production. This also forms the theoretical basis for many of his other theories. But this is a generalization that has many exceptions. The religious and charitable elements of society are not driven by capitalist economy; they are based on unrelated concepts of giving and kindness. Granted, religious houses and charitable institutions are fueled by monetary donations, but the fact that people are willing to relinquish their capitalist earnings for which they have toiled demonstrates even further the existence of a charitable or non-selfish motive. Additionally, as briefly mentioned earlier, both Plato and Marx have twisted views of human nature that dont correlate with reality to the extent that Mill does. Platos theories depend on the idea that people will somehow fall into their duty in society, and if they dare overstep their bounds, they are committing an injustice. Marxs theories depend on the assumption that people will not be disheartened by the prospect of never owning property. Mill formulated his theories with a view of human nature that seems more accurate. Mill believed that humans were individuals and respected the inherent individual nature of man. In his discussion on the fallacy of custom, he noted that man is not a machine to be built after a model, and set to do exactly the work prescribed for it, but a tree, which requires to grow and develop itself on all sides according to the tendency of the inward forces which make it a living thing (Mill 114). This is most in contrast to Plato and Marx, whose theories r est on the assumption that people will fall into their positions in life without following any inward forces that may motivate them to want more. Mill said that impulses are equally a part of human nature as are restraints (115). This is a true statement of human nature; one cannot ignore the existence of human impulses and emphasize restraints. Lockes ideas are not very realistic. There are issues with Lockes theory of property, namely the labor theory of property, and there are issues with Lockes natural rights theory. With the labor theory of property, which states that man makes something his property only when he has used his labor to take it out of nature (Locke 11), there is an issue that arises from the fact that the majority of the labor today uses machinery, factories, and various means of production. Someone must own these means of production. Lockes labor theory of property does not account for ownership of the means of production. Locke championed the theory of natural rights, rights endowed by God that are inalienable. The whole concept of natural rights is, as Jeremy Bentham said, rhetorical nonsense (Anarchical Fallacies). Natural rights never truly existed in the first place. Natural rights are imaginary, so it is impossible for an imaginary object to be taken away. The notion of natural rights may be useful to society, but the apparent usefulness of an idea is never enough reason to overlook the truth value of the idea. A political theory based on these unrealistic concepts are difficult to take seriously in political situations that affect many people. Machiavellis Prince was meant for distribution to those in positions of power. Accordingly, it deals exclusively with the interests of a single powerful person. Whereas the theories of Marx, Plato, Aristotle, Locke, and Mill dealt with the welfare of all society, Machiavellis ideas have but one persons welfare in mind. Granted, Machiavelli did advocate the prince to care for the welfare of the people, but Machiavelli makes it clear that this is a self-interested tactic aimed at perpetuating the Princes leadership. Caring for the welfare of the people in The Prince is about avoiding hatred of the Prince and maintaining good relations with the people (Machiavelli 64). Indeed, The Prince seems to be an accurate and probably very useful handbook for the autocrat. Benito Mussolini praised The Prince as the statesmans supreme guide (Arditti). Although The Prince supports the welfare of the people, it only supports the welfare of the citizens as an auxiliary tactic for keeping the prince in power. The welfare of the people is not a primary objective of the prince. Therefore, as a mere tactic, the emphasis on the welfare of the people may be easily disposed of and replaced with another tactic. An ideal system of government would revolve around the welfare of the people as a matter of necessity. The first part of my criteria for judging these theories is how much logical sense it makes. In this section, I will look at how John Stuart Mills theories make sense logically. Mills comments about the flaws of democracy and republics are logical. A paradox of republics is that although they are often commonly referred to as exercises in self-government or government by the people for the people, the government does not always reflect the wishes of all the people. There are a few reasons for this that Mill wisely points out. Firstly, what seems to be the will of the majority is truly the will of only the most active part of society (Mill 66). These people are simply those who succeed in making themselves accepted as a majority (66). What is perceived as the majority, particularly concerning certain ideas about which people feel strongly, is often a false majority. Secondly, in a republic, those who exercise the power are not those over whom the power is exercised (65). Looking at the workings of a republic, this point becomes obvious as we see the political class making decisions that affect the rest of the public, without necessarily requiring the permissi on of those their decisions affect. Moreover, a democratic republic may give rise to a new kind of tyranny, which is what it was adopted to avoid. Democracies are apt to give way to a tyranny of the majority, a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville and repeated by Mill. This special kind of tyranny is practiced not by an authority acting independently, but by society itself. Although less threatening in terms of penalties than a dictatorial tyranny, the tyranny of the majority is more dangerous because it is the more difficult to escape. In this case, the party imposing tyranny does not live in a castle far away, but rather is your neighbors. Toppling this kind of tyranny would be more complex than assassinating a single dictator. Mills harm principle as the basis for society taking action over the individual makes logical sense. We can start with a brief explanation of the harm principle. Society has jurisdiction over individual conduct only in so far as it affects the welfare of others. Accordingly, society can legitimately punish offenders after the fact, or place necessary restrictions on individual freedom as a preventative measure. But this does not apply to circumstances when a persons conduct affects the interests of no persons besides himself, or needs not affect them unless they like (130). This is the essence of the harm principle. The harm principle generally relates to the justice system, a governments institution for punishing people. The purpose of a criminal justice system is to prevent or at least minimize damage done to society. Damage done to an individual by the same individual, self-harm, is not within the scope of duty for a justice system; harm inflicted upon oneself is, under most pract ical circumstances, not harm inflicted upon society. Punishing the activities one does to oneself would require a separate institution from the justice system, and adding such a duty to the responsibility of a justice system would be a perversion of the justice system. In order for a governments justice system to accomplish its goal of regulating harm upon society, it almost by definition has to follow the harm principle. Issues regarding the harm principle necessarily arise when one thinks about how it may be applied. Mills answers to these issues are logical and consistent with his original theory. One issue is that there are some bad social institutions that necessarily involve harm being done to some party, such as in a contest, an overcrowded profession, or a competitive examination (Mill 148). Mill says the suffering these social institutions bring is unavoidable. When, however, the competition is won by cheating or force, is the only circumstance that allows for society to interfere (148). This view on necessary harm makes logical sense; there are no ways to mitigate the suffering of the loser without diminishing the prospect of reward in competition which brought the loser into the game in the first place, only ways to keep the competition fair. Mill has an answer to another issue that concerns the harm principle as it relates to restraint on trade of certain commodities. This also relates to that which is only potentially harmful to society, namely how far liberty may legitimately be invaded for the prevention of crime, or of accident (149). Although it is likely for the government to abuse their preventative role, it is a necessary one. It is within the governments power to regulate, but not ban, the sale of poison. It is also within the governments power to prevent accidents, such as by enforcing fire precautions. Mill notes that the governments preventative measures against accidents do not infringe upon liberty. Liberty is the right to do what one pleases, and falling upon an accident most unlikely to be something one would wish to do (149). In regard to goods or services which can cause harm or evil, such as prostitution, gambling, or alcohol, Mill believes that the end users should not be punished, but instead the sellers, or those who profit from the activity perceived as evil. The profiteer has a vested interest in people committing this evil. Unlike the user, w ho is only harming himself, the profiteer might as well be instigating the harm upon others, making the actions of the profiteer under the jurisdiction of society. Mill is also in favor of sin taxes, because they limit the availability of an evil product to the very few without enacting full-fledged prohibition (153). In describing various applications of his harm principle, he brings the theoretical harm principle to life and clarifies common questions. They also logically follow from his original theory, so they make logical sense. It is never appropriate to assume infallibility. This is a theory of Mill that is well founded and rational. Here is the line of logic that rationalizes the notion that we must always assume fallibility. Few will deny that they are immune to mistakes, that their judgment is absolutely impeccable (Mill 78). If one is liable to make an error in judgment, then it is reasonable to say that all of their judgments are equally liable to this possibility for error; that is, every opinion held to be true has a probability, however small, to be false. Consequently, it is never correct to maintain an opinion or an idea to be absolutely true with no possibility for it to be false. To say that ones opinion can be absolutely true is to say that ones judgment is absolutely infallible. So this leads us to the conclusion that we can never be absolutely sure that an apparently false idea is indeed false. Besides, as a further proof of the subjectivity of opinions, people in different geographic region s of the world hold starkly different views on the same matters. It is the same accident which makes one a Churchman in London [that] would have made him a Buddhist or a Confucian in Peking (78). Thus we have the sound basis for assuming infallibility. Following from the notion of assuming fallibility, it is equally wrong to assume a particular way of life as wrong. In so far as it does not affect others, the right to individuality of action is just as important as the right to individuality of thought. People should be permitted to try various modes of life and various experiments of living (Mill 112). Diversity, in contrast to homogenous adherence to custom, is good for society. Diversity is especially beneficial because mankind is imperfect and incapable of fully realizing all sides of the truth (112). In the absence of a superhuman ability to recognize truth, it is necessary for there to be a broad pool of choices in ways to conduct ones life, gathered through experimentation. For there to be such a pool of choices, needless to say, there must be liberty of action. The second part of my criteria for judging these theories is the extent to which it promotes the welfare of the people. In this section, I will show that Mills theories are more likely to lead to a high level of human welfare. Mills harm principle is the antidote to tyranny. If government is permitted to interfere with individual rights only in cases where harm to others is involved, then under such a doctrine, it would be hard for a would-be tyrant to justify infringing upon the rights of the citizens. Assuming that the harm principle is enforced in its truest form, all incidents of government interference would be justified. So Mills harm principle naturally gives way to individual rights. Individual rights is inextricably tied to well-being of the citizens, because individual rights allows people the freedom to carry out the activities associated with happiness. Consequently, the harm principle leads to the welfare of the people, making it a very beneficial political theory. Moreover, the harm principle directly benefits the welfare of people by preventing people from being harmed by a persons actions. This is a benefit of Mills harm principle, although it is not exclusive to Mill since punishment of offenders was a practice long before Mill wrote down this theory. To be precise, the harm principle was intended to place limits on the punishment system already in place. Nevertheless, the harm principle sets a rather specific and appropriate standard for the use of punishment-for the purpose of preventing damage and thus promoting the welfare of general society. Mills theory that infallibility should never be assumed is conducive to liberty. It allows for liberty of thought, liberty of discussion, and all other liberties which follow from these two. When a government never assumes infallibility in opinions, then it will permit free discussion of all topics, even of its policies. A society that understands the fallibility of its opinions would tolerate opinions to the contrary of the established opinions. In this ideal state, the government and society at large would necessarily grant equal rights to all opinions in terms of their permission to be voiced. If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind (Mill 77). So a consequence of assuming infallibility is to never stifle an opinion, however false it may appear. Since one may never truly be confident about the t ruth value of an opinion, the truth or falsity of that opinion is equally likely. Every opinion has a likelihood of being either true or false, so no opinion is exempt. If one stifles a true opinion, then the damage is obvious: one loses an opportunity for truth (Mill 77). If one stifles a false opinion, then one loses something just as important: the opportunity to illuminate the truth by its contrast with error (Mill 77). Thus an adherence to the constant assumption of infallibility would insure liberties to free thought and discussion. A great part of the welfare of a people is securing their liberties to free expression, so this theory is beneficial to the welfare of the people. All of Mills arguments are further strengthened by his apparent rigorous evaluation of his arguments. Fitting with his philosophy which discusses this point itself, Mill carefully examines all sides of his statements and arguments. He even makes strong arguments for the opposing side that are nearly as convincing as his own side of the argument. The discipline with which he examines his arguments makes them seem highly likely to be true. Almost all, if not all, of the major points that Mill makes in On Liberty are preceded or followed by a counter argument. Neither Plato, Locke, Machiavelli, or Marx use this extent of rigorous detail in their arguments. Mill also explains various aspects of his arguments at great length, although he isnt the only theorist among this group to do so. In conclusion, Mills theories are the most compelling compared to those of Plato, Locke, Marx, and Machiavelli. Mills theories make logical sense and provide for the welfare and individual liberty of the people. The theories of Plato, Marx, Locke, and Machiavelli either do not make logical sense or do not provide adequately for the welfare of the people. Thus the theories of Mill prevail as the most compelling according to this criteria for judging the theories.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Robinhood :: essays research papers

The themes of â€Å"Robin Hood† are many and complex. Robin hood has the theme of chivalry through out its pages. Every word empowers the average person to stand up to a evil government that oppresses its people. The themes are rich and interesting, that’s what makes robin hood a good story. They deal with feelings and emotions that do really happen to average people. The themes have importance to us all and can be truly entertaining when done in a clever way. Robin Hood showed many of these signs of chivalry, the way most of us show these signs of are morals, through actions. Stealing from the rich giving to the poor was one of the many ways robin hood showed his good nature. Another way was to court Made Marian, which on its own is a very cheval act. One of the mane rules of chivalry state that you must treat the farer sex with good taste he did this with Made Marian. His good nature and act of honor made Robin Hood a cheval man. Robin Hood was a chivalry kind of guy, helping people fight evil and ridding the countryside of a terrible king. Probably the best reason of his chivalry was his act of standing up to the evil king. He saw that there was a unjust situations and he had to take a role in taking that government down. He organized a legion of men to do this act of chivalry. He took chances to get deeds accomplished and he gloriously accomplished those things. The king, even though robin should have been honoring him, was evil and that’s why robin had to do what he did. Another one of the Robin Hood themes is one of empowerment. It is with this theme that the lower classes get recognized as a strong entity in today’s society. This theme has the strongest meaning to the

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Software Engineering – Payroll System

Introduction Information System is processing of information received and transmitted to produce an efficient and effective process. One of the most typical information systems is the Transaction Processing System. Transaction Processing System collects, stores, modifies, and retrieves the transactions of a certain organization. The process of retrieving, modifying and transmitting data to be stored using information system is referred to as transaction. Transactions occur is known to be a part of records. All of these records were originally kept in paper. When a certain organization uses a certain transaction processing system, retrieving and transmitting of information will be available at anytime needed. The number and volume of transactions can be calculated for a given time period. Payroll System is complete Payroll  software  right from Employees Personal Information, Pay Structure, Loans, Reimbursement, Pay Slip Generation & Printing, Salary Register, P. F. , E. S. I. , Profession Tax, Income Tax, and L. I. C. Reports etc. Added to the above reports, standard formats for annual submissions of PF, E. S. I. , and P. T. are also generated automatically. This  software  can be used by Industrial units, Distribution Agencies, Departmental Stores, Consultants, Business Houses and Contractors Etc. The developers of the  package  follow a predefined pattern so that the user has the ease of use and can utilize the  package  to its fullest extent. Care has been taken so that the  software  is as much user friendly as possible and any suggestions on improvements in this regard are welcome. The use of this  package  is a must for  personnel  departments in various Industrial houses since it will help in reducing monotonous manual labour and produce accurate results for salary and related calculations. Payroll System with Time keeping and Fingerprint refers to the records – paper or electronic – and calculations that you make to work out your employees' pay and deductions under the PAYE (Pay As You Earn) system. It's essential to a business or company that you pay your employees the right amount and on time – and that you make the correct deductions. So keeping accurate payroll records is really important. Now a day, Manual System is replaced into more advance and modern technology, just like the Manual Payroll System where the accountant, computes or process employees salaries through calculator. The way of saving files and important documents are only filed in filing cabinets that may cause loss of files when large amount of data are being received. In addition, it is not secured. And in fact, most accountant, uses same software of Microsoft office especially MS Excel. And with the use of this proposed system, a new and more advance Payroll System may be produced which can provide data security, prevent loss of data and redundancy and easier to access, accurate and faster to use. ABSTRACT Project Objectives The Software engineering course that we took this semester placed emphasis on the paradigm of extreme Programming (XP) techniques. Extreme programming is a programming technique that bases its values on simplicity, communication, feedback and courage. It encourages team work and constant communication with the client. The objective of this project is to put into practice the teachings that we have learnt about XP. Approach When we were first given this project, we met to determine how we were to carry out the task assigned to us. We drew up a time-line, discussed about the programming language to use to carry out the task, how the GUI would look like and also to make sure that we understood what was assigned to us. We finally settled for Visual Basic (VB) as our programming language. We got more information on what we were to do and set about completing our task, making use of the new ideas taught in class, and especially spikes. Achievement Our task was to develop a payroll system that would keep a record of employee data including their pension plan, union membership status, and taxes and also to be able to calculate the pay of the employees taking into consideration employee data. We have been able to achieve these task. The software we developed calculates the employee net pay from the deductions. The pay slip can be printed out as a receipt. Most of the bugs that we found and those that the clients and beta users found have been corrected. Any new bugs found will also be corrected and the software will be updated and released. Because we used object-oriented principles, modifying the software to fix bugs or add a new feature has been relatively easy. The Company name We believe that consistent quality results can be achieved only if the organization is â€Å"process† driven. Therefore, we have designed a standard process which needs to be followed by our development group for each project/product. A process audit is carried out by the quality department, and any deviations from the standard process are reported. We keep enhancing our process depending upon the suggestions of our defect prevention board, and the Following is the snapshot of our standard software development process: Related Document| COMPANY NAME Software Development Life Cycle| Requirement Specifications| Step 1: Requirement Analysis:   This is perhaps the most important step in the entire cycle. If the requirements are understood well and documented clearly, then the implementation becomes much smoother and less amount of re-work is required in the software. Functional Specifications| Step 2: Functional Documentation: After the requirements are known, we make â€Å"Functional Specifications† which mainly consists of specifications of the user interface and the reports. These are given to the client, to give him the knowledge of how the system would function to meet his requirements. The comments of the client are addressed and then this document forms the basis of Software Design. | Design Specifications| Step 3: S oftware Design: Once the functionality is frozen, the software is then designed to implement the same. A design specifications document is created which describes the overall software architecture and the components included in the same. The Design Specification also divides the system into smaller components (modules) which we can be treated as individual units. | Program Specifications| Step 4: Module Specifications: After the Design is finalized, program specifications are prepared for each independent unit identified in the Design. The development of modules is carried out on basis of these program specifications. |   | Step 5: Unit Development: Each module is developed on the basis of program specifications. The software developed is reviewed by peer as well as by SQA. | Unit Test Plan| Step 6: Unit Testing Each unit developed is then tested independently. Stubs are used wherever there is integration required with other units. The unit is first tested by the developer, and then an Independent unit testing is carried out to flush out unit level errors. |   | Step 7: System Integration Once all the units are developed, the system is then integrated together by the integration team. | System Test Plan| Step 8: Integration Testing This is the last step before the software is released to the user. The integrated system is tested on basis of system integration test plan to see whether it meets all the requirements of the system. The integration testing is first carried out by development group and then carried out by the SQA. The system is released only when it gets satisfactory quality rating by the SQA. | UAT plan| Step 9: User Acceptance Test Once the software is released, a user acceptance test is carried out in the production environment. The system is put into production when the user is satisfied with the results of user acceptance test. | Payroll System  Our Payroll System is specific to Philippine setting. It has a fully integrated attendance leave credit monitoring, benefits & compensation management. It has an open-ended employee number capacity. It is ready for integration with any timekeeping device(s) or software. Its robust database capability can process large records with ease. TimeKeeping and Fingerprint System  Ã‚  The Timekeeping System works as the Bundy-clock component of the payroll system. The list of employees is imported from the payroll software. There is no need for an employee list encoding! The package includes a biometric Finger Print Recognition Device. The initial list of mployees is imported from the payroll software. It is just a simple â€Å"click† on the interface button. * Simple Interface with Photo Display upon Finger Print Recognition. * Intelligent Finger Print In & Out Recognition, right on the spot for real-time verification of employees. * Fully Supported and Seamless Inter – connectivity with the PayrollPro. * Customized reports and fine-tuning is guaranteed for specific attendance-related company-policies. Statement of the Problem   In any company, it is very important to monitor the employee’s attendance or time for accurate payroll and discipline. Some companies and schools are using manual punch card to record the employee’s attendance while others are still using logbook. Traditionally, such information would be gathered on a site by site basis and transmitted by either manual or electronic means, to a central point where payroll would then be processed and other reports prepared. Oftentimes, the information was outdated by the time it arrived, delaying payroll preparation and requiring numerous employees to complete just that one task. Based on observation, Universidad de Manila is currently using the punch card machine and log book for time and attendance data tracking. But these systems are inaccurate and are less secured. These also have the following time keeping problems: 1. Lost card/ logbook – Misplacement by the time keeper. – Pages of logbook are crumpled and torn apart. 2. Buddy punching -Proxy attendance for others 3. Manual encoding of attendance to payroll programs and other frauds. | General Problem: i. How to develop an upgrade payroll system that can help the employee’s to lessen their effort and consuming of time when they using it? Specific Problem: i. What are the Benefits of Payroll System? An automated payroll system helps the company to manage its payroll processes more effectively. As an organization expands, the operations can be more challenging. The company hires new employees, promotes current ones to new positions, and terminates others. It's hard for a payroll employee or department to keep track of all these changes by hand. An automated payroll system solves these problems because it captures and stores new hire information and processes payroll quickly and accurately especially we will upgrade their current system to a new one which is much easier to access data. ii. How the Fingerprints help the employees to lessen the time they consume before? Well Fingerprints help solve mysteries and crimes and such is because a fingerprint is unique because you’re the only one who has that pattern such as cuts, curves, and swirls. But now we will use Fingerprint as Time in and Time out to lessen the waste of time of an employee. They just need to touch the biometric and that is so easy than the previous system they use. Current State of Technology In a company, payroll is the sum of all financial records of salaries for an employee, wages, bonuses and deductions. In accounting, payroll refers to the amount paid to employees for working for a period of time. Payroll is crucial because payroll and payroll taxes considerably affect the net income of most companies and they are subject to laws and regulations. The primary mission of the payroll department is to ensure that all employees are paid accurately and timely with the correct allowances and deductions, and to ensure the allowances and deductions are paid in a timely manner. This includes salary payments, tax withholdings, and deductions. Pens and big notebook are usually used in logbook system. Employees will simply write down their names, time they log-in and signatures as their attendance. When the time of work is done or employees had to leave from their work because of an emergency, they will just write the time-out for completing their attendance for the day. While in punch card machine, the employees simply insert the time card or punch card into a slot on the Bundy clock. When the time card hit a contact at the rear of the slot of the clock, the machine could print day and time information on the card. Using this, employees can easily do the proxy attendance for others. Especially when you will need to calculate manually the taxes, insurance and any other applicable deductions and allowances in addition to each employee's actual earnings. The advantage of using their manual system is that it is very inexpensive, with virtually no start-up costs and the disadvantage of it is that whatever you save on start-up costs will probably be eaten up by the amount of time it takes to process payroll. In addition, it's very easy to make mistakes when processing payroll manually, and the penalty for mistakes, especially mistakes in taxing, can be very costly. Project Rational The study focuses on the Automated Payroll System that will help the company to have an accurate system that will lessen the waste of time when they use this system. This study will be the one source to improve the Technical knowledge in system in software engineering. This study will be a great foot step to practicing their ability in making an automated system and to their knowledge in programming. The computerized payroll software systems save time and money, they're very easy to use and they're also very practical. Especially for the employee, Computerized payroll systems are much faster and easier compared to the manual processing also quick and accurate it will be easy for Time In and Time Out and also it lessen the work load of the Accountant specifically when preparing the summary of their report and the computation of monthly deduction and net salary. General Objective Specific Objective: An objective of our proposed system is to develop a system that will eliminate the problem of insufficient and incomplete information. This proposed system will contain a different flow in calculating the salary, eduction and etc. that will eliminate the error. and also we provide a fingerprint to make a sufficient process when making a Login and Logout. To develop a payroll system that has a fingerprint technology we provide a fingerprint to make a sufficient process when making a Time in and Time out and it will be much faster and less of time for the employee and to the accountant. She don’t nee d to encode it in a spreadsheet because, it’s connected to the payroll so it become easy for the accountant. Computerized Payroll System File Maintenance The system provides the following: Employee File The employee file program is used to add, change view or delete employees’ data. Position Deduction File This program is used to maintain employee deduction records. Note: only employees who have adjustments, misc. earnings, or misc. deductions should have a deduction record. Deduction records that do not have a corresponding employee record will be automatically purged by the calculate payroll pre-processing program. Scope and Limitation After several interviews and observations, the researchers have come to identify how the payroll works. The aim of the research is to provide a specific COMPANY, a computerized payroll system. The proposed system will guide the employer through all the stages of the process. SCOPE The  System  is designed for the enhancement or development of Computerized Payroll System for COMPANY. It includes the features that can Add Employees record, Edit Employees information, Delete Employees record, print / Save the Pay Slip of each employee and Updating Employees information as well as the Weekly Salary, Cash advance, the rate per day, overtime, Gross payment, Net pay, and Deduction such as withholding tax and SSS, adding up with a log-in log-out process for security purpose. Moreover, with help file can be used by the users to know how to use the payroll software. Special Features Time Card Entry (Daily Entry or Summary Entry per Payroll Period) Automated computation of withholding tax * (weekly/ semi / monthly/ year-end) * Automatic computation of SSS/ PhilHealth and PagIbig Premiums * Infinite slots for user definable other income and deductions * Loan handling module for SSS, PagIbig and your very own company vales which effectively keeps track of each balances * Printing of Pay Slips and Payroll Register Report generation for SSS, PhilHealth, PagIbig ; withholding tax (monthly ; quarterly reports) * Automatic year-end recap of withholding LIMITATIONS On the other hand, this study limits only to the proposed enhancement Computerized Payroll System of the COMPANY. A proposed system which can only be access by authorized person. It does not support network topology implementation, online program or online transaction.