Marketing principal Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marketing principal - Case Study Example The company’s major vision is creating brands that will run the market and achieving maximum profits from the brands (Narayani 1-36). Apple was started in 1976 and has since grown from a small business into one of the most valuable and successful brands in the globe. The brand has managed to plant a perception in its consumers’ minds that it is the very best of the total brands and has, therefore, gained total trust from its consumers (Mirachandani 276-277). The brand has portrayed excellent marketing techniques, and has established an ability to distinguish themselves from other brands. The company has other features such as realizing user friendly and innovative products (Sandoval 98-99). On the market of its products, a certain study revealed that the brand consumers who fall under the categories of high salaries, young ages and techno savvy tend to purchase its products. In the US for instance, about 22 million adults owned an iPod. Several products from apple target consumers who want to listen to music at a go (Mirachandani 276-277). Considering that apple is highly rated, several people desire owning one of its products. This popularity has enhanced sales for the company (Mirachandani 276-277). Apple, however, has some faults in some of its products. The iPod Nano for instance, is said to have a faulty screen that breaks easily. Issues such as poor battery life and software issues also portray weaknesses from the company in its brands (Mirachandani 276-277). The continuous release of music products is continuously generating high revenues for the company, putting it at par with the music industry (Jennings 402). This creates pressure on the company on what decision to take on the music industry. The company also stand gaining many market opportunities. ITunes for instance, is used to download legal songs (Jennings 402). If apple makes all cell phones and MP3 players

Coming to America, Scarface, and Borat Essay Example for Free

Coming to America, Scarface, and Borat Essay Motion pictures due to its nature, creates somehow a subliminal effect on its viewers. Certain dialogue and inherent acting can leave an impression to anyone who may watch it. These impressions have a large probability that what people see on screen could actually be real. Filmmakers on the other hand, know this effect on its viewers and create movies based on their own intention. For some filmmakers the purpose could be is to simply entertain, for others to educate. But even with this purpose in mind, some films made even though most likely unintentional, can cause a variety of reactions depending on the viewers perspective and comprehension of a specific film. A lot of these kinds of reactions may come from a twisting plot or a thought provoking characterization of its actors. The latter proves to have more reactions generated due to its social relevance, the characterization in films by the minorities of society. Since the inception of including minorities in film, a lot of criticisms were raised due to what others may deem offensive for the part of how the minorities are at times being falsely stereotyped and while others will consider it socially acceptable when analyzing it in a larger context (Sienkiewicz Marx, 2009). The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze three films namely Scarface, Coming to America, and Borat. The study will discuss the roles portrayed by the lead actors in which they are also considered as part of the social minorities. This paper will break down the stereotypes or negative images in which the film may convey and how does these films contribute to oppression of one group or another. Data Analysis Coming to America In this film, Eddie Murphy plays the role of Prince Akeem a soon to be King of his wealthy country Zamunda. The plot revolves around Prince Akeem’s motivation to find his bride, since the type of wives being offered to him by the current king his Father, seems to be like Prince Akeem’s soon to be slaves, due to their nature to obey and please whatever the Prince will desire. That part alone shows the characters of women, (in this movie majority of the women are black) especially growing out from poverty will do anything just to get married to a Prince. Although women here is not considered minority but the negative image conveyed by the film of their characters, except for the main lady Lisa McDowell (in which Prince Akeem soon married due to her distinct quality), are basically like Gold diggers and will do absolutely anything just to get rich. Another incident, in which the film portrays and intentionally to be funny, was when Akeem and his cousin went to America to find the bride of his dreams, they encountered deceit and theft mainly from black people living in the impoverished area of Queens New York. Criticisms here depends on the type of viewer perception, some may react that not all Black people are like that, and they might even add that they just did those crimes due to poverty, but others will just look at it as unintentional and as a way to create a joke, but based on a study social and political themes the proportion of blacks who resort to violence has risen substantially over the last decade (Powers, Rothman Rothman, 1996, p. 179). Also a scene worth noting, was when it showed the future Father in-law of Akeem, Cleo McDowell (played by John Amos) running his business, which have almost the perfect resemblance of McDonalds due to its signature usage of the Golden Arches, in which he calls the McDowell’s. This scene portrays another character of the black people engaged in playful deceit for the purpose of comedy, although ugh the scene naturally funny but again may create a message that in general black people are simply like that. Even on the way Cleo treats his daughter on finding the right man, he always preferred a wealthy young man to be his future son in law, thus Akeem here for his purpose to be loved by the way he is and not for money he assumed the role of a poor man, in which his Cleo totally disliked and preferred the more well off son of a rich family Daryl. Deceit lies and the motivation for money seems to be the underlying themes of this movie, although created as a comedy to somehow cover these types of elements, it was really shown clearly when the stereotyping ended on the scene when Akeem’s father the King went to New York to find his son and stop the potential marriage of him and Lisa, offered a significant amount of money to Cleo for his troubles, Cleo then stood up for his hidden principles and reacted as if it was an insult to treat her daughter like that. This could a positive affirmation and probably the filmmakers created this scene for viewers not to generalize and jump into conclusions on the nature of the black people in this film. Scarface On the movie Scarface, Al Pacino plays the role of a Cuban refugee named Tony Montana. As an immigrant Tony was depicted as a very strong character incapable of fear especially driven by his goal of making it big on a different country like America. This characterization of Al Pacino explains the American immigrant experience suggesting that crime which is the centerpiece of which is drugs cannot be disconnected from the American Dream (Sharret, 2001). After him and his best friend Manolo (played by Steven Bauer) went out the refugee camp after a tumultuous rebellion, they found themselves on having a job as dishwashers. This shows that in America most of the jobs for immigrants with little education end up as blue collared workers doing hard work and long hours. This kind of work only made Tony feels that it was nothing different from back home in which he tried anything possible to get away of the communism grip. He decided to results into what he feels he can do best. Violence and drug dealing, this has made the movie somehow more dangerous in respect to all immigrants trying to live an honest hardworking life in America, as viewers may perceive that this is the way immigrants are, due to their background on either poverty or a tough government from their own countries. Thus stereotyping again may exists, however this film offered much more than just the immigrant experience, from that foundation it went to describe the both the horrific image of drugs in the contemporary world and the violence and corruption attached to it (same as Sharret, 2001). It was not long when Tony Montana thought he had achieved the American Dream, he killed his former boss, took away his business and his wife and even his own bodyguard to work for him. This happened as portrayed, that tension occurs when minorities (like Tony the immigrant from Cuba) and his White boss tried; but failed to resolve issues and misunderstandings (Powers, Rothman Rothman, 1996, p. 180). Tony knows he cannot do it alone without the help of corrupt bureaucrats who actually assist drug traffic as part of the realpolitik of post-war foreign policy (same as Sharret, 2001). Those scenes have a tremendous negative effect on not only to the violence by an immigrant but on his ability to utilize the system of the society in America that seems to support the idea of competition and acquisition as hallmarks of success and accomplishment (same as Sharret, 2001). There was what it seems as turning point in the film, in which Tony, His Wife Elvira (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) and Manolo went to a fine dining restaurant. In this particular scene Tony now considered rich and powerful, went beyond as he insulted his wife for being a drug addict, and made a scene with the whole considered to be the elite class of the society. The film conveys the message that this kind of society only knows where to point fingers when it comes to trouble and it a lot of times it goes to the immigrants whom they perceived are the bad guys and specializes on dealing drugs and partaking in violence. This explains that those other diners may have no idea what an immigrant experience could be and possibly do not care except if it affects them directly, in this particular scene it did. A lot of people considered Scarface as an epic gangster film, due to its themes of the capitalist lifestyle (in contrast to communism) violence and effects of drugs. Borat Borat is a film, that is supposed to comedic in nature, turned out as a heavy racist context, full of offensive themes for both the Kazakhstan people and the Americans as well according to its critics. But is it really? again depending on the type of viewers’ point of view. The film portrayed the country of Kazakhstan as a medieval society in which rape and incest are cheerfully accepted, and sometimes combined, some audiences knows that this kind of joke is not on the country itself, but on the western perception that foreign cultures are backward (Ryan, 2006). The ploy is centered on the character Borat Sagdiyev, (played by Sacha Baron Cohen) Kazakhstans second-best reporter, going to America to analyze the attitude and nature of the American people. In his travel accompanied by his producer Azamat Bagatov (played by Ken Davitian), Borat tries to learn the American sense of humor by interviewing an American coach, this scene conveys that the joke in which adding the word and exclamation Not! At the end of every sentence is proudly of American Origin ( same as Ryan, 2006). The other particular scene in which Borat interviewed the Veteran Feminists of America, can be considered nothing more sophisticated than a prank at the expense of those who dont know what the joke is, or even that there is a joke (same as Ryan, 2006). But this scene in particular portrayed the seriousness of the Veteran Feminists which either way doesn’t want to be stereotyped as Borat would prefer. This somewhat immigrant experience of Borat has also led him to his infatuation to television personality Pamela Anderson. Borat then meet with a group of drunken friends ( which this scene is not scripted) and these guy showed Borat a videotape of Pamela Anderson having sex with his then boyfriend Tommy Lee, having seen this Borat feels very depressed, since in his country the belief of virginity is very important, and before he have seen the video he thought that Pamela is still a virgin, this again portrays that Kazakhstan people are primitive as well as naive. The guys who showed Borat the video claimed (since this was an actual shot) that they are unfairly represented in the film as sexist louts because of their drunken state, but during that scene their celebratory screening of the tape reveals their sexism indisputably (Metz, 2007). There a lot of scenes in the film in which can be easily concluded as racist tags or false stereotyping, but as some of the scenes which are shot are not scripted like, the scene discussed earlier, explains some of the actual nature of the Americans on how they sometimes treat an immigrant especially if they don’t have any background of a specific immigrant. The immigrant experience here shows that people in whom he interacts can be well perceived as if they are trying to understand the minority, but at the same time holding their ground if they see something is not just normal by their standards. Conclusion The influence of film on audience perception can really be significant. Especially when dealing with the social order of the society. In this study we analyzed three films on which the corresponding focal point is the immigrant experience by the main characters. They all seemed reacting on what the new society already has in place for them. For us viewers, we see these types of minorities and a lot of times we simply cannot enjoy a film as it is, due to the disturbance of the negative messages of violence, offensive jokes, racism, drugs, sexism and lot of subliminal messages the film itself conveys to us. The problem with this is clear from this study, that it indeed has an effect that can possibly create oppression for a particular group, and in this case the immigrant minorities of our society. Reference List Charles, L. (2006). Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. United States:Four by Two. De Palma, B. (1983). Scarface. United States:Universal Pictures Landis, J. (1988). Coming to America. United States:Eddie Murphy Productions Metz, W. (2007) Shark Porn: Film Genre, Reception Studies, and Chris Kentis Open Water. Film Criticism 31. 1 Powers, S. , Rothman, D. , and Rothman, S. (1996). Hollywoods America: Social and Political Themes in Motion Pictures. Boulder. CO: Westview Press. Sharrett, C. (2001). Cinematic Drug Wars. USA Today, Society for the Advancement of Education. Sienkiewicz, M. Marx, N. (2009). Beyond a Cutout World: Ethnic Humor and Discursive Integration in South Park. Journal of film and video 61. 2 Ryan, G (2006). Thongs of Freedom: The Kazakh Ace Reporter Uncovers Uncomfortable Truths about the US. New Statesman

Measuring Customer Service at American Express :: essays research papers

Measuring Customer Satisfaction at American Express   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  American Express is a world wide travel related service company. American Express works with both consumers and business with their financial planning as well as offers numerous amounts of credit card products and travel assistance. They have many products and services that are used throughout the world by consumers and businesses. As American Express moves towards the future, like most credit card companies, they want to be competitive and responsive to the needs of the consumer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  American Express sends out customer service surveys to the card members that call in to the telephone service center. The surveys are sent out randomly with a coding on the bottom of the survey so that the results and comments are given back to the correct employee. The employees are aware that any card member that they speak to could receive a survey. With this said, each employee goes through extensive training on the telephone behaviors that must be demonstrated while speaking to card members. The employees also go through extensive training on the policies and procedures that each card product and service has. This training is to ensure that each card member is handled with the most utmost professional behavior and their issues are handled correctly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once the surveys are returned to the company, they are returned to the Customer Satisfaction Action Team. This team reviews the surveys, separates them by employee and then by the results.. The results are separated by â€Å"Excellent† and â€Å"Very Good† and then â€Å"Fair† and â€Å"Poor† marks. The card members that score a â€Å"Fair† or â€Å"Poor† mark on the survey is called back by one of the team members and the issue is discussed further to find out why the survey was marked that way. The comments that the card members make on the surveys are returned to the employee’s team leaders. The team leader gives the feedback to the employee and discusses with them their best practices or opportunities that need to be worked on.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This tool is an excellent way to get in touch with our card members and to see how they feel the company is doing and what they feel is going right and what needs to be worked on. By doing this the company can take this information and better the customer satisfaction by either up training of employees are reviewing and possibly changing the policies or procedures.

ETHICS AND THE COLLEGE STUDENT Essay

What is ethics? Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines ethics as morals or principles that Govern a person’s or a group’s behaviors or the branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles. In college students face many ethical dilemmas. This paper will explain the factors that affect a student’s ethical decision making as well as the ethical decision making process. The socialization process is a major influencing factor in our ethical decision making. While we are children, we absorb behaviors and develop our morals and values. Our family is the biggest influence in developing our morals. For instance, proper use of grammar, the importance of education, and strong work ethic are all values that family members help us to develop. Negative influences such as alcohol and drug abuse, poverty, and physical abuse can also shape our behaviors and attitudes. Peer pressure is also an important factor college students face when making ethical choices. In a study done by UCLA, 52% of students said that peer pressure affected ethical choices they made (Yeung and Keup 2009). In addition, the same survey showed how students’ perceptions of peer beliefs and behaviors were the best predictors of their own ethical behavior. Under age drinking, illegal drug use, and casual sex are some dilemmas that students must make choices about when they are attending college. In a review by Harris (1916), he states that underage age drinking had all but disappeared and drug use was unheard of in the early 1900s. But in a survey  taken by UCLA students in 2009 78% of students under the age of 21 admitted to drinking alcohol and 57% of all students admitted to using some type of illegal drug at least once (Yeung and Keup, 2009). In addition these students admitted that peer  pressure was a major determining factor. This information shows that over the last decade underage drinking and drug use has increased amongst college students or they priorities have changed.   Stress also causes students to make unethical decisions. In another study done by UCLA 82% of students would â€Å"consider† plagiarizing, cheating on a test, or lying to a professor when in a stressful situation like finals, mid-terms, or whe n facing academic probation (Yeung and Keup 2009). Social media also plays an important role in college students’ ethical decision making. In the book, â€Å"Philosophy for the Masses: Ethics†, Bruce D. Bruce writes that advertising and media can deceptive and persuasive (Bruce 2009 p.200). Bruce goes on to say that sometimes the media blurs the distinct line between right and wrong and our youth/young adults are most often the ones that have difficulty seeing that line clearly (Bruce 2009 p.200). As stated previously, plagiarism is major dilemma that plagues college students. Stress, peer pressure, and social media are all factors that affect students when deciding whether or not to plagiarize. Young and Keup (2009) noticed that even though many college students thought about plagiarizing when stressed, they felt it was morally wrong. They also discovered that students would rather steal food from the dining facility or even present fake identification to enter a club rather that plagiarize. Most of the students in their study felt condemned or even guilty just thinking about the fact. Time management and the Ethical PEAS will aid students when facing ethical the ethical decision making process (Frame Work of Ethical Decision Making, para 2-3). Students should set aside time for homework, study time, and extracurricular activities. Structure makes it easier  to get things accomplished without the feeling of being rushed. Setting aside study time will give students adequate time to research so they will not feel the need to plagiarize; they will be prepared. Students should also use the Ethical PEAS (Frame Work of Ethical Decision Making, para 2-3). As described in the â€Å"Framework for Ethical Decision-Making† by Montana State University, PEAS is an acronym used when executing the ethical decision making process: P – What is the Problem? E – What is the Evidence? A – Analyze; What guidelines or theories will help me in my process? S – What is the Solution to my problem? Some theories a student can use are (Frame Work of Ethical Decision Making, para 4): The Front Page Newspaper Test Would you be comfortable if your actions were revealed on the front page of the paper? End/Means Test Does and ethical goal (end) justify the way you get to that goal (means)? The Golden Rule Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Utilitarianism What act or rule results in the greatest good for the greatest number? Professional Standards of Conduct Follow the rules, regulations, and codes set before you. In summary, college students must make ethical decisions daily. Stress, peer pressure, drugs and alcohol, the socialization process, and a person’s morals and values all play a part in this process. If students exercise the  ethical decision making process it will make this process much easier. Ethical dilemmas will never go away. So, we must understand ourselves, how a far we are willing to go, and always try to do the right thing. References Bruce, B.D. (2013). Philosophy for the Masses: Ethics. Available from https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/374071. Harris, G. (1916). Ethics of a College Student. The Harvard Theological Review, 9, (2), 190-200. Yeung, P.F., & Keup, J.R. (2009). Ethical Decision Making in College: Choosing Between Right, Wrong, and the Space Between. Retrieved from http://cshe.berkeley.edu/. Montana State University. (2013). Frame Work for Ethical Decision-Making. Retrieved from http://montana.edu/teachlearn/TLResources/docuements.

Water and Acetic Acid

Do the following problems in your lab notebook. Be sure to specify the knowns & unknowns, the formulas used, show your work with labeled units and round you’re answers to the appropriate significant figures. 15-1 Molarity Problems: (M = moles/ liter ) 1. What is the molar concentration of a 415 ml solution containing 0. 745 moles of HCl? (A: 1. 80 M HCl) 2. What is the molar concentration of an acetic acid (CH3COOH) solution containing 3. 21 moles in 4. 50 liters? (A: 0. 713 M) 3. How many moles of KI are present in 125 ml of 0. 500 M KI? (A: 0. 0625 mol KI) 4. How many moles of ammonia (NH3) are present in . 360 L of 2. 3 M NH3 solution in water? (A: 0. 767 mol NH3) 5. How many liters of water are required to prepare a solution of 7. 25 M MgCl2 from 4. 89 moles of MgCl2? (A: 0. 674 L) 6. What is the molarity of a solution prepared by adding 58. 5 g of NaCl to 230 ml of H2O?(A: 4. 3 M NaCl) 7. What is the molarity of a KNO3 solution prepared by adding 151. 5g of KNO3 to 300ml of H2O? (A: 5. 00 M KNO3) 8. How many grams of NaOH are required to prepare 2. 0 liters of 2. 5 M NaOH solution in water? (A: 200g NaOH) 9. What is the molarity of a soltuion prepared by dissolving 5. 68 g of NaOH in enough water to make 400. ml of solution? (A: 0. 55M) 10. If a 2. 34 g sample of dry ice, CO2, is dropped into a sealed 500 ml bottle of orange cool aid, and the CO2 gas released dissolves virtually completely in the cool-aid, what is the approximate concentration of CO2 in the now carbonated cool aid? (A: 0. 1 M) 11. How many grams of HCl are required to prepare 250 ml of a 0. 158M solution? (A: 1. 5g) 12. Vinegar is a solution of acetic acid. What is the molarity of the solution produced when 125g of acetic acid (C2H4O2) is dissolved in sufficient water to prepare 1. 50 L of solution? (A: 1. 39M)13. How many grams of bromine, Br2, are needed to prepare 0. 500 L of a 0. 100M solution in water? (A: 0. 799g) Lab Prep: Calculate the number of grams of Ni(NO3)2*6H2O requir ed to mix up 50. 0 ml of 0. 40 M. (Hint: The gram formula mass of Ni(NO3)2*6H2O is ) 15-2 Dilution Problems: M1V1 = M2V2, V2 is the TOTAL volume after dilution) 1. What is the molarity of the new solution when 500 ml of H20 are added to 500 ml of 1. 0M HNO3? (A: 0. 5 M HNO3) 2. What is the molarity of the new solution when 200 ml of 10. 5M HCl is diluted with water to a total of 1 liter? (A: 2. 1 M HCl) 3. If you want to mix up a total volume of 2. 0 L of 3. 5 M NaCl, what volume of 5. 0 M NaCl should you start with? A: 1. 4 L)4. A 52ml of sodium cyanide poison leaked from a bottle into a bucket of water that originally contained 427 ml of water. The concentration of poison in the bucket was found to be 0. 85 M after the leak. What must be the concentration of the poison in the leaky bottle? (A: 7. 8M) 5. How much water will one need to add to dilute 100 ml of 10 % SDS to 1 % SDS? (A: 900 ml H2O) 6. If you dilute 25 ml of 4. 0 % CaCl2 to a total of 100ml what is the final concentrat ion? (A: 1. 0 % CaCl2)Lab Prep: Calculate the volume of 0. 40 M Ni(NO3)2 needed to prepare 10. 0 ml of each of the following diluted solutions: . 0. 080 M b. 0. 16 M c. 0. 24 Md. 0. 32 M 15-3 % Concentration (% = g/100ml) 1. Mr. Harry's new baby is sick and not nursing well. The doctor suggests pedialyte which is a dilute sugar solution along with vitamin C. If there are 25 grams of dextrose in every 1. 0 L, what is the percent concentration? (A: 2. 5%) 2. Infant Tylenol contains 80 mg of acetominophen for every 0. 8 ml. What is its percent concentration? (A: 10%) 3. Vinegar is sold at the grocery store with a concentration of 5. 0 % acetic acid. How many grams of acetic acid are in every fluid ounce? (Hint: ml –> fl. oz? ) (A: 1. 5 g) 4.Robitussin cough medicine contains the following ingredients per teaspoonful (5 ml): 100 mg guaifenesin and 10 mg dextromethorphan hydrobromide. What is the percentage concentration for each ingredient? (A: 2 % guaifenesin, . 2 % dex †¦. . ) 15-4 Parts Per Million (PPM = mg/L) 1. LD50 is a designation for the level of dosage required to kill 50% of the test subjects – usually lab rats. If it takes only . 063 grams of arsenic in a 1. 0 liter volume to kill 50 % of a sample of test rats, what is the LD50 for arsenic in parts per million? (A: 63 ppm) 2. A water purifier claims that it removes 95% of the lead ions from your drinking water.If your water normally carries . 125 grams per liter of lead, what would be the concentration in ppm found in a glass of water you might drink from? (A: 6. 2 ppm) 3. If an adrenaline rush can be experienced when your blood contains only 5. 4 ppm of the hormone, what total mass of adrenaline is required in the blood of a person who has 6. 5 liters of blood total for the hormone to kick in? (A: 35. 1 mg) 4. A tanker of mercury (I) chloride, HgCl, carrying 150 tons crashes off the Washington coast. What total volume of sea water must the cargo mix with to dilute it down below the t hreshold of 4 ppm? (A: 3. 4 x 1010 L)

Creating an Information Technology System for Chin Bookmakers Essay Example

Creating an Information Technology System for Chin Bookmakers Essay Example Creating an Information Technology System for Chin Bookmakers Essay Creating an Information Technology System for Chin Bookmakers Essay Chin Bookmakers is a small independent bookmakers situated on Eden Hill Road in Peterlee. They currently have a small manual credit account for giving credit, on bets, to customers. At present Chin Bookmakers have approximately thirty customers to whom they give credit. They would like to extend the number of customers they presently give credit to but the system they use is time consuming and prone to error. At present amount of credit given to customers has to be checked manually by employees. This means checking backlogs to ensure previous credit has been repaid. The bookmakers would like a computerised system that will allow them to check customers credit allowance quickly and ensure that the information is correct and kept up to date. Also they would like the system to produce charts and graphs to give an overview of credit given and credit repaid on a monthly basis. The Current System An employee of Chin Bookmakers was interviewed to ascertain the exact procedure for entering logs into the credit book. The following was recorded. The customer places a bet in the usual way and asks for the bet to put on his credit account. The customer must then produce a Credit Account Card, which has printed on their name, date of birth, and an account number given by the bookmakers. It has also a small photograph of the customer and signature. The employee must then check last bet placed, on credit, in the credit accounts book. If the customer has adequate credit left on his/her account the entry is logged and the amount they owe is then updated. They then receive their normal betting slip along side credits receipt. If the customer wishes to repay credit they simply produce their Credit Account Card with payment and the amount owed will be again updated. All credit given by the bookmakers must be repaid within 30 days of the bet being placed. Failure to do so will result in the customers credit being stopped and normally placed bets will also be stopped until credit has been repaid. Once all of the customers outstanding credit has been fully repaid the customers credit rating will be restored. Source Document 1: Invoice Objectives of the New System The owner, Mr Chin, would like the new system to perform the following functions: * Allow data from the customer (Credit Account Number, bet placed and value) to be recorded quickly and accurately. * Calculate amount owed by the customer automatically. * Check credit status of the customer before the bet is placed. * Produce monthly charts and summaries over the past year. * New users must easily grasp the system. Data Flow Diagram (Level 1) Current System Performance Indicators The following performance indicators are to be used: 1. The new system should enter new credit accounts quickly and efficiently. 2. It should take no longer than 60 seconds to enter each bet on credit. 3. Customers account status should be validated automatically. 4. Customers account balance should be updated automatically, accordingly. 5. Credit receipts should be printed out automatically after each bet has been confirmed. 6. It must be impossible to accidentally erase formula, headings, etc. 7. The system must easy to grasp for new employees. Hardware and Software Chin Bookmakers has a Pentium 333MHz PC with 32Mb of RAM and 3 GB hard disk. It currently has Windows 98 and Office 97 installed on this machine. A laser printer is used for receipts and hard copies. Development of the new system will be carried out mainly at a college network and partly on a standalone home PC similar to the one above. All files will need to fit on a 31/2 floppy disk for easy transportation between college and home. (They may need to be compressed). The college network stations are 600MHz Pentium PCs with 124Mb of RAM attached to a laser printer. There are user areas on hard disk, so students have the option of saving here or on to floppy disk. Users Skill Level Users of the system will include Mr Chin, the owner, and his three employees who receive the bets. Mr Chin is computer literate but may need to be shown how to use the new system. The employees of Chin Bookmakers already use excel to process the current cash in hand bets and should have no problem adjusting to the new system. Design Choice of Software This system will be implemented using Excel 97. This package is ideal as it includes many features which can be used in customising the application, such as: * Sophisticated report facilities with the ability to format text, set margins and page layout, import a company logo if desired and preview before printing. * Ability to protect worksheets and workbooks so that the user cannot accidentally destroy formulae or headings. * Formatting to help make it clear to the user where to enter data. * Macros to perform various automated functions. * Customised menus and toolbars. * Auditing tools to ensure that there are no errors in the workbook. Worksheet Design System Overview The system will be based around one workbook containing a database of customers with credit, one worksheet for adding new customers and a worksheet each for taking out and paying back credit into their accounts. The system will also automatically tell the user if the customer in question has adequate credit in his/her account, if not the user will be prompted with an error message. A level 2 data flow diagram of the system is shown below Detailed Design The Credit Book workbook. This will be the only workbook and will contain; * Menu * Customer Database * place bet and paying in sheets. Sheet1 Menu This sheet will act as the front end and will be selected automatically using an Autoexec macro when the workbook is loaded. It will have 5 options as follows. CHIN BOOKMAKERS Ltd Sheet2 Customer Database This is where all the customers will be kept on the system. It will include details about the customers and will laid out as follows. Information here will automatically be updated by other sheets in the work book. All cells will be protected to ensure information is not tampered with or so that cells and formulae are not accidentally erased.The sheet will be protected by a password known only to authorised employees. Sheet3 Place Bet This sheet is required to debit a customers account. The customers account no. is placed in the space provided and their details are automatically displayed. All cells are locked apart from the account no. section and bet amount section which are the only cells from which data is inputted. There is one command button: 1. Clear Form This will clear the form ready for the next ( Macro Clear Form) Sheet4 Credit Account This sheet will be used to pay cash into a customers account after they have ran out of credit or wish to top up their account. Again the customers account no. is entered and details are brought up from the customer table. All cells are locked apart from account no. and amount paying in. There are two command buttons: 1. Clear Form This will clear the form ready for the next ( Macro Clear Form) Macros The following macros will be used: Add New Customer Select Credit Book worksheet Unprotect Credit Book sheet Find END OF TABLE Insert a new line above END OF TABLE Select first cell above END OF TABLE Display customer name box Display customer d.o.b. box Display customer address box Display customer telephone box Display customer credit limit box Copy formula from cell H9 Find END OF TABLE Move 1 row up, six cells across and paste formula Copy formula from cell I9 Find END OF TABLE Move 1 row up, seven cells across and paste formula Find END OF TABLE Move up 1 row, add 1 to value already in cell Protect Credit Book sheet Unprotect sheet Unprotect active worksheet Protect sheet Protect active worksheet Clear Form Select cell G10 and clear contents Select cell G22 and clear contents Select cell G10Go to main menu Go To Place credit bet Select place credit bet worksheet Go to Paying in Select Paying In Worksheet Go to Credit book Go to Credit book worksheet Security All worksheets will be protected to prevent accidental alterations. However only the Credit Book will have a password attached as data should never be directly changed into the Credit Book. Other sheets will be easily unprotected. Test Strategy The Test Strategy will include: Unit testing to test each macro under different circumstances Systematically testing all menu buttons and functions Testing the effects of entering invalid and extreme data Mock entry of customer being added and placing bet End-User testing to establish whether system meets End-Users requirements Test Plan The following tests will be performed 1. Open program and test that main menu pops up first 2. Add a new customer into the Credit Book and ensure that formulas are correctly copied and that account numbers are automatically generated 3. Test go back to main menu button from credit book 4. Test placing a bet with the new customer and check bet has been added to the total amount owing 5. Test customer making payment and make sure amount owing has been subtracted correctly 6. Test exit button Test Data and Expected Outcomes Test 1 No test data Expect main menu to appear. Test 2 Michael Charlton, 08-2-84, 25 Pickard Close, Peterlee, SR8 5LZ, 0191 5862456, à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½200.00 Expect above data to be recorded into appropriate columns. Test 3 No test data Expect main menu to appear. Test 4 à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½50.00 Expect customers amount owing to change to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½50.00 and customers credit left to change to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½150.00. Test 5 à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½25.00 Expect customers amount owing to change to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½25.00 and customers credit left to change to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½175.00. Test 6 No test data Expect program to exit. Schedule of Activities Week Task Home/College Comment Find out users current system and establish requirements by interview, establish user skills, software and hardware. Home Analyses write up. College Design workbooks and data flow diagram. College Create menu and worksheet (for entering invoices not macros) prototype and show user. Home Continue writing up design section, including front-end menu, test plan, validation of data and macros. Home and College Implement the system. Home Test system; attempt installing on users PC. Home Get user to try out system to get feedback make, final modifications. College Write up technical manuals for user. Home Write Evaluation, finish all documentation, but a folder and hand in. College Implementation and Testing Commentary on Implementation Choice of project Mr Chin (the owner of Chin BookMakers) Suggested that they need a new system to keep track of credit bets and record customers details accurately. Since Mr Chin owned a computer in store I offered to devise a new system for him. I explained that it was for my AS Level project and he agreed to let me construct the new system. The project seemed adequate and should be completed within the allotted time. Initial Design Decisions My first decision was to create a large customer database to hold 100 customers. I asked Mr Chin about this and he said he wasnt sure how many customers he was planning to give credit to. I then decided to use an end of table line to add new rows as they were needed. I also decided to create an add new customer worksheet but thought it more convenient to scrap this and create a macro with the command button situated in the credit book work sheet. Final Design My final design is as shown in the design section, The adding of new customers is very simple with pop up boxes asking for all the information needed. It is a step by step process and any new user should be able to use it. Commentary on Testing Test 3 Test 4 Test 5 Test 6 Program successfully exited. Evaluation Looking back at the objectives and performance indicators the following have been achieved: 1. Trials showed that it took the user about 30 seconds to enter each new customer well within the 60 seconds allocated. 2. User Manual Introduction Installation Backups Adding a customer Placing a bet Paying in Exiting the Application Technical Manual Installing the System Macros 4 20 Michael Charlton

Free Essays on Cat On A Hot Tin Roof - Mendacity

Discuss the roles of â€Å"mendacity† or various characters’ crutches in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Lies and Mendacity run rampant in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. They help keep the play going and keep it interesting. The play shows us the lies that people tell themselves and other instead of the truth that is hard to accept but must be said. The entire family is involved with lies to Big Daddy and Big Momma, as are the doctors. They tell them that Big Daddy does not have cancer, but only a spastic colon. Brick lies to himself about his feelings for Skipper until Big Daddy forces him to face it. He then understands that he is upset about the way his clean friendship has been misinterpreted. Gooper and Mae pretend to be loving and doting children, when in fact all they want is money and land. Big Mama lies to herself, think all the cruel things Big Daddy says are just jokes. She also lies to herself by thinking that a child from Maggie and Brick would turn Brick into a non-drinking, family man qualified to take over the family place. Big Daddy is even wrapped up in the mendacity. He admits to Brick that he is tired of letting all the lies. He has lied for years about his feelings for his wife, his son Gooper and his daughter-in-law Mae, he says he loves them, when in fact he can’t stand any of them. Maggie, who seem s to tell close to the truth the entire play, breaks down and lies about her pregnancy. Sometimes the lies are not even lies; they are just seen to be that. Big Daddy thinks that Big Momma is scheming to take over the place, when in fact she really does love him. He only sees this as a lie because of his feelings toward her. Brick seems to feel them same way about Maggie, and is surprised in the end when Maggie declares her love for him. Big Daddy and Brick are perhaps the only two that do not lie to each other. During their heart-to-heart Big Daddy says, â€Å"then there is at least two people that never lied to each ot... Free Essays on Cat On A Hot Tin Roof - Mendacity Free Essays on Cat On A Hot Tin Roof - Mendacity Discuss the roles of â€Å"mendacity† or various characters’ crutches in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Lies and Mendacity run rampant in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. They help keep the play going and keep it interesting. The play shows us the lies that people tell themselves and other instead of the truth that is hard to accept but must be said. The entire family is involved with lies to Big Daddy and Big Momma, as are the doctors. They tell them that Big Daddy does not have cancer, but only a spastic colon. Brick lies to himself about his feelings for Skipper until Big Daddy forces him to face it. He then understands that he is upset about the way his clean friendship has been misinterpreted. Gooper and Mae pretend to be loving and doting children, when in fact all they want is money and land. Big Mama lies to herself, think all the cruel things Big Daddy says are just jokes. She also lies to herself by thinking that a child from Maggie and Brick would turn Brick into a non-drinking, family man qualified to take over the family place. Big Daddy is even wrapped up in the mendacity. He admits to Brick that he is tired of letting all the lies. He has lied for years about his feelings for his wife, his son Gooper and his daughter-in-law Mae, he says he loves them, when in fact he can’t stand any of them. Maggie, who seem s to tell close to the truth the entire play, breaks down and lies about her pregnancy. Sometimes the lies are not even lies; they are just seen to be that. Big Daddy thinks that Big Momma is scheming to take over the place, when in fact she really does love him. He only sees this as a lie because of his feelings toward her. Brick seems to feel them same way about Maggie, and is surprised in the end when Maggie declares her love for him. Big Daddy and Brick are perhaps the only two that do not lie to each other. During their heart-to-heart Big Daddy says, â€Å"then there is at least two people that never lied to each ot...