Saturday, August 31, 2019

Humor in Advertising Essay

If you hear the word â€Å"coke,† what is the first product that comes into your mind? Or if you hear the name â€Å"McDonald’s,† what television commercial do you remember? When we hear these words or terms, we can easily associate them with products because of the advertisements that we see on television, hear over the radio, read in the magazines or billboards or in the Internet. Advertising is simply the public promotion of products and services. Its primary intention is to persuade the prospective consumer to buy the products or avail the services. Usually, advertising are paid promotions. One of the strategies of advertising is injecting the copy with humor. Though according to Brian Sternthal and Samuel Craig of the Journal of Marketing (1973), there are relatively little known about the persuasive effect of humor, advertisers still continue to use humor in their ads. This is not only to make people laugh but actually the combination of advertisement and entertainment. Many believe that it is easier to get the attention of the audience when there is humor and they can laugh at the advertisement. Humor also reinforces the retention of the audience to certain products or services. However, there are advertising agencies that are against the use of humor in advertising. Reasons include the absence of sense of humor to some audience, thus ruining the intention of the advertisement and could decrease the positive perception of the target market. Moreover, humor in advertising could be subjective and may be misinterpreted; also, it could insult someone. Though there are different interpretations in using humor in advertising, we could still say that it could be an effective instrument to persuade people. Whether the impact of the humor is positive or negative, you are assured that you have got the attention of your viewers and most likely because they are affected by it, they may try the product. References: Sternthal, B. & Craig, S. (Oct. 1973) Humor in Advertising. Journal of Marketing Vol. 39 No. 4, pp. 12-18 _______. (______). Using Humor in Advertising. Retrieved December 15, 2007 from http://www. myprofessionaladvertising. com/Humor%20in%20Advertising. htm Advertising Definition http://wordnet. princeton. edu/perl/webwn? s=advertising.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Post Katrina Business Recovery Essay

CDFIs   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stand for community development financial institutions. These are unique financial institution in that they provide funding to the low-income bracket that is otherwise ignored by the mainstream financial institutions. They are privately owned by the local community and have an aim to make profit. However, their emphasis on profit making is subject to benefits to local community. They provide funds for rebuilding businesses and housing especially in disaster hit areas. CDFIs include community development banks, community development trade unions, community development loans funds micro enterprises funds, community development venture funds, and community development corporation-based lenders and investors (www.cdfiorg,2007)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   CDFIs are quite useful in helping people who have lost investments in disasters rebuild. Small businesses that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast could get funding to rebuild from CDFIs. CDFIs form a channel for the disinvested people to make new investments or rebuild their old investments. They can also offer advice and financial know-how to the borrowers and assist them stabilize and repay the loans. Finally, they offer other banking services that the low-income community requires (Mascarenhas, Prianjalo, 2006). CDFIs are most effective because they do not require the traditional securities from borrowers and have flexible rules of engagement with clients to help both parties achieve their objectives. The low collateral makes funds easily accessible to the community members rebuilding their business from the disaster. The private sector can come in to invest in CDFIs and provide additional capital. This gives the CDFI greater coverage and flexibility. The CDFIs will bridge the gap between the un-banked disaster victims and the traditional banking system. Tax credits   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tax credits provide a taxpayer a tax savings and in effect raise the personal of business income. Tax credits unlike tax deduction reduce the tax payable rather than the taxable income. The federal or state governments apply them to encourage a certain investment program and to achieve an overall social goal. They integrate social awareness in business investment decisions in the private sector. (Laws, Forrest, 2007). In the Katrina recovery program, tax credits would be useful in encouraging investment the Gulf Coast. The Coast became hostile to investment due to the hurricane damage and the resultant poverty levels. Such tax credits would also be useful when extended to disinvested people trying to restart their business in that region. They do not have to pay full taxes while their businesses are struggling to regain profitability. The tax credits can be based on and expense such as wage bill to boost employment and the society achieves a double bottom line. Such tax credits are also effective when they actually make the disaster-hit area more appealing to investor over other investment destinations (Seck, Kathyrn 2007). Tax credits may help businesses break even stay afloat in a harsh business environment. Tax credits also ensure enough cash is available to run operations. Guaranteed loans and bonds   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   They are loans provided by the private sector to borrowers whose businesses were affected or destroyed by a disaster for which the federal or state government provides partial guarantee in case of default. These loans target small businesses that fit in within a certain criteria provided when such a program is set up. The amount loaned out must also be in tandem with the number of employees. These loans are effective if the interest rates charged are reasonable to enhance accessibility by the borrowers. These loans provide necessary cash to run operations of the businesses (www.doa.louisiana.gov.2006) Business improvement districts   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This is an initiative taken by business taken by business people and property owners within a given urban area to payout extra taxes or fees in return for specified services within that area. The fees are paid to a local authority, which in turns provides the services such services may include: additional security, enhanced clean-ups, or public lighting. The private sector group involved demands the services that transform the target area in to an attractive destination either for investment or for consumptions. One of the advantages is that BIDs direct private sector enthusiasm to improve on the business environment. They also enable the private sector to make their own priorities in the public services they need. The private sector also directly benefits from the contracts to provide such services. BIDs also ensure constant cash flow contributed by all beneficiaries from which the services are provided. Contributions are mandatory to all. (Stokes, R. 2006)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the other hand BIDs may impose excessive fees that may not be unanimous to all but the majority may push through their figure. BIDs may also benefit the members unevenly in spite of ratio of contribution made. BIDs provide such services as refurbishment of disaster urban area. The local business community and property owners will with local authority to join rehabilitate the damage infrastructure. They will also be in involved in lighting up the public areas and provision of social services. The BIDs will also enhance security in the recovery period finally they will regain their market segment through aggressive sales promotion both locally and nationwide.( Mitchell, Jerry, 1999.)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   BIDs required professional management that is able to evaluate various ideas and provide a systematic way of achieving them. The management should be accountable to all members providing as report of low the funds have been utilized. BIDs on formation should provide a clear appraisal methodology to check on whether the laid down goals are met. Tax investment financial district   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This is a local authority initiative that involves identifying of a particular area in a city and enhancing private sector investment in that area through channeling of tax increment to fund the initiative. The city issue bonds to raise funds for providing incentives in the specified district. Such incentives could be road network on institution or a toxic waste removal. These incentives rebuild the district appeal to investors and the property prices go up. The higher property prices expand the taxable property income and consequently, the property taxes. The authority then channels the tax increment caused by the redevelopment in to a special fund, which bay the bonds. The city sets the boundaries for district and uses the taxable income of the plan as the base. TIFs runs for a specified period after which the tax freeze is lifted and property owners can profit from the redevelopment. (Michael, Joel, 2006) TIFs are advantageous in that they promote investment in area where the private sector had shunned and was disinvesting. They ensure balanced growth through out the city without some parts lagging for behind. Tax revenues are also not diverted from other areas of the city to promote investment in a particular district. However TIFs may lead to displacement of low-income earners by the rich one the district is improved the poor are pushed to poorer areas of the city.( Tyler, Norm, 2007)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   TIFs will finance such development as: restoration public infrastructure, utilities, rehabilitation parks and side walks, lighting up of the districts and provision of parking facilities in the disaster-hit towns of the gulf coast. When these services are provided, the private sector will find the cities to be more appealing to private sector. However, the authorities need to carry out a detailed study in the viability of the program and in setting up the boundaries of the district. Public expenditure should go to project that would stimulate private sector growth raise property prices taxes. (Eathington, Liesl, and David Swenson, 2002)   References:   Seck, Kathyrn, 2007. Landrieu Introduces Gulf Coast Small Business Recovery Package. US Senate Committee on Small Businesses & Entrepreneurship. Retrieved On 11/30/07 from http://sbc.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=269054 Coalition of CDFI, 2007. What are CFDIs? Retrieved On 11/30/07 from http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:OraXP0FLmrkJ:www.cdfi.org/whatare.asp+CDFI&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=ke Prinjali, Mascarenhas, 2006. Groups Investing In Katrina-Torn Gulf Region. Washington DC. Retrieved On 11/30/07 from http://www.socialinvest.org/news/releases/pressrelease.cfm?id=55 Laws, Forrest, 2007. Baucus: Permanent Disaster Fund, Tax Credits To Ease Budget Crunch. Farm press. Retrieved On 11/30/07 from http://deltafarmpress.com/farmbill/070914-Tax-Package/ Louisiana Office of Community Development; Disaster Recovery Unit, 2006. Long Term Recovery Loan Guarantee Program: Proposed Guidelines. Retrieved On 11/30/07 from http://www.doa.louisiana.gov/cdbg/dr/ed/Proposed-LTRLP-Guidelines-06_11_27.pdf Mitchell, Jerry, 1999. Business Improvement Districts and Innovative Security Delivery. Retrieved On 11/30/07 from http://www.businessofgovernment.org/pdfs/Mitchell.pdf Tyler, Norm, 2007. Tax Increment Financing. Downtown Revitalization. . Retrieved On 11/30/07 from http://www.emich.edu/public/geo/557book/d232.tif.html Eathington, Liesl, and David Swenson, 2002. Do Tax Increment Finance Districts in Iowa Spur Regional Economic and Demographic Growth? Department of Economics. Iowa State University. Retrieved On 11/30/07 from http://www.econ.iastate.edu/research/webpapers/paper_4094_N0138.pdf Stokes, R. 2006. Business Improvement Districts and Inner City Revitalization: The Case Of Philadelphia’s Frankford Special Services District. International Journal of Public Administration, Volume 29, Issue 1 – 3 January 2006. Michael, Joel, 2006. Tax Increment Financing. Minnesota House of Representatives. Retrieved On 11/30/07 from http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/issinfo/sstif.htm

Thursday, August 29, 2019

German Threat Was the End to Splendid Isolation

The Growing German threat was the most important reason for Britain ending its policy of Splendid Isolation. How far do you agree? At first examination it would seem that it was not actually the fear of Germany that prompted Britain to end their policy of splendid isolation if we take into consideration that this of fear of Germany only really came to fruition in about 1905. However it was before this that Britain had broken its so named policy of ‘Splendid Isolation’ by signing an alliance with japan in 1902 and then going on to form an entente with the French in 1904.Certainly there are indeed other reasons other than the emerging German threat that might have forced their hand, such as the emergence of alliance’s all around the globe which had begun to upset the balance of power (Franco Russian) this may have left Britain feeling pushed into a corner somewhat so that they felt that they had no other choice but to join an alliance so it was not left behind as it s own level of relative power decreased.Furthermore with the decrease of Britain’s level of relative power (it was easily being led by the US) but most notably Germany, the fact that a state as new as Germany could grow at such a rate made the British sit up and take note. And when in 1905 during the first Moroccan crisis it was the German’s who attempted to test the new bonds between the French and the British it demonstrated not only to Britain but to the world that the German’s wanted to carve out their own chunk of glory and they were not about to let anyone stand in their way.It was indeed between the years 1906-14 when the Anglo-German naval race was to take place. It was during this time that Germany drastically increased size of its navy, however this navy was only ever meant for short term purposes. Looking at it now it is obvious why the level of British Paranoia may be reaching breaking point at this time as a fleet of short range boats began to mass on her border, it demonstrated once again that the Germans were determined to become one of the great powers.It could however be argued that this naval race was nothing more than an inconvenience towards the British as they in the end emphatically managed to build substantially more ships than the Germans. But it was to show once again that the German’s were without a doubt an up and coming nation and one that Britain must watch carefully and so it was here that the first feelings of fear of Germany were beginning to be felt. Moreover it was understood that the German’s did not actually ever want a war with the British and that the only reason for the assing of this fleet was as I have already said to inconvenience the British and indeed provide a certain amount of leverage over them in terms of international affairs and agreements, this began to scare Britain, so much so that Britain it would seem began to move even more out of the idea of ‘Splendid Isolationâ⠂¬â„¢ when, in 1912 it came to a series of military agreements with the French and actually handed over control of the Mediterranean which actually included the main route to India for the British (The Suez canal).Although these agreements were not intended as a military alliance some historians have seen it as such, but there is no mistaking that it was definitely a move away from the policy of ‘Splendid Isolation’ that Britain had previously adopted, and it would also seem to be because of the fear of the every growing in power Germans. As Germany grew in power Britain began to realise that if it came to war that the only way in which Germany could be defeated is if Britain herself became involved with yet another alliance and so in 1907 it did this with Russia, thus forming the triple entente.I believe that if it was not for increasing aggression of the German’s then Britain would most probably have never had to forge this alliance which once again brought it forward out of its formerly adopted policy of ‘Splendid Isolation’. Although the fear of Germany was undoubtedly important another important factor in regard to the dropping of the policy of ‘Splendid isolation’ is the dropping of Britain’s level of relative power and also trade.The fact that other countries (USA and Germany in particular) were growing exponentially gave Britain cause for concern and she knew that sooner or later she would lose her empire if she did not act, if she continued to operate this policy of splendid isolation then not only in time would her empire collapse around her, therefore severing any trade routes she may have had with them, but the other powers would also continue to grow until eventually they are considerably stronger than her and Britain alone would be no match for Germany.Another important factor that we need to consider in all of this is of course the influence that the Boer war may have had on Britain’s f oreign policy. And when Britain eventually did emerge from that war in 1902 she emerged victorious but it had come at a cost and that cost was a great deal of pride. Although that they had in essence been victorious it is not to be forgotten that they had beaten some lowly people, not the great powers that they had defeated in the past.Britain had to pour huge amounts of resources into this war and this was to come at a massive cost as it was to leave her extremely vulnerable in other places around the world, not least in India. Moreover this links back to the fear of Germany because it was in actual fact the German’s who were angry at Britain for fighting the Boer’s, Indeed this helped to start the path of sour relations with Germany. Not only this but Britain’s industrial power was coming under increasing levels of threat, and although they still ruled the seas it was only a matter of time before it was caught on that front also.The seas became a contentious i ssue for Britain and around 1902 they realised that they would no longer be able to uphold a two power naval standard and the fear of Russia factored into this. The fact was that if Russia and Germany or Russia and France (Franco-Russian alliance) were to attack Britain at sea then her navy would be crushed. She was severely concerned about this fact and so sought the aforementioned alliance with Japan that would help her to hopefully keep both the Russian’s and the German’s at bay.It is clear that fear of Russian along with fear of the German’s was extremely high on the list of priorities of the change in direction of British foreign policy, which in the end culminated with their withdrawal from their so called ‘Policy of Splendid isolation’. Therefore I believe that although Britain’s fear of the growth of German power was significantly important in regard to them ending their policy of ‘Splendid Isolation’ it is not the sole r eason but is the most important.The fact that they had been badly bruised by emerging with their ‘bad victory’ in the Boer war and the fact that they could no longer bear the financial strain of keeping a two power standard navy also meant that they had to drop that policy. And although it was indeed before the intervention of the German actions that the 1902 alliance with Japan and the 1904 entente with France, it is clear that the impact of the German‘s was also extremely important if not more so than the Boer war, the fear of Russia and the fear of losing trade and the routes to India.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Project Management for Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Project Management for Business - Essay Example Measures need to be enacted to evaluate the achievement and progress of the objectives. Project managers are therefore tasked to liaise with all the stakeholders to set up objectives which are commonly agreed on. Products in which a project engages are varied and can be classified as new, processes or services. Any kind of product that is dealt with need to be developed to meet the company objectives and also to add value to the organization. Articulation of the project benefits is vital at the initiation. This will provide a clear roadmap to the success and benefits of the project. Communication is vital element of the project. Clear information need to be relayed to those who are likely to be affected by the project. The end users should also be made to comprehend the potential benefits that are likely to accrue from the introduction of a given product. Proper communication mechanisms will help to battle the possible human reluctance to change in cases of new or totally improved products (KLOPPENBORG, 1900, np). Resources that are needed to implement the objectives should be identified and put in place to ensure smooth running of the project. These are in terms of time, technical, financial as well as human resources. People are the last major element that is required for the success of a project. They are the stakeholders and people who have other roles and vested interest which are geared toward the success of the project (KLOPPENBORG, 1900, np). The most crucial people in a project are the sponsors, the project manager, the team members and the potential customers. The principles of project management revolve around five pillars: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control then lastly closure. They are like the processes through which a project has to pass, right from its inception to winding up. The initiating process involves the procedures which are put in place in order to jumpstart a project. At this stage, new projects may require to

Feasibility Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Feasibility Proposal - Essay Example In a study conducted by Display Search, it was revealed that tablets purchase worldwide will hit 416 million, 23 million more than regular laptop’s 393 millions by the year 2017. This trend is supported by the increasing demand of the tablets from the emerging markets around the world. In the study, many people revealed their preference to tablets to be based on its user-friendly nature, classiness and convenience. According to Richard Shim, an analyst and a member of the team who conducted the research, consumers continuously shift towards mobile computing against the traditional notebook, a trend that has picked up well in mature markets around the world. For example, tablet PCs are expected to grow by annual average of 28% in the next 5 years within the mature markets of United States, Japan, and West Europe. The challenge for HP is to ensure it manufacture tablets that are sleek and trendy, which will resonate with the increasingly trendy consumer. In a market where intern et business giants such as Google and Microsoft have taken by storm through their flagship tablets in the market, it is logical to note that any failure by the HP to embrace the tablet market will deal a big blow to its market share. The strategy is to ensure the company maintains or improve its 16% market share around the global consumption of PC usage. Problem statement While many tablet manufacturers have concentrated their tablet market share within the established or rather mature markets, HP has not involved itself in the manufacturing of tablets despite the growing trend in the tablet PC usage around the world. Companies such as Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, and Google have consolidated their market share in the tablet PC manufacturing, leaving HP still struggling with its notebook PCs. A point to note, however, is that many of these companies only focus their products towards mature markets. This trend leaves the gap in the emerging markets, which are expected to grow in equal measure in the projected years. HP can take a leap into the emerging markets, which seem to be catching up with the established markets in the tablet PC usage on a daily basis. However, this should not mean that HP needs to ignore the mature markets, which sets trends for the emerging markets. The company, however, can develop cheap but classy tablets to match the buying trends in emerging markets. A proper study, however, will be needed to ensure a pricing criteria, design and consumption trend is established. The goal of this study is to establish the consumption trend, both in the mature as well as emerging markets. Methodology The research will largely be an internet based, and phone calls. This study will involve web searches on what customers of competitors say on online forums, design online questionnaires, as well as feedback forms for HP notebook users. This strategy will ensure that information about the established and emerging markets are defined, the customers’ b ehaviours, and the future business prospects of both markets. This research will include acquiring of products information, analysis of the existing brands, profiling of the users psychology, and geographical information. Document Specification In about 3000 words report, the study is expected to give a comprehensive result of the strategies HP should use to enter the tablet PC market. The report is expected to outline the following key areas: 1. Project description: indentifying and exploring

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Development of Nationalism in East and Southeast Asia Essay

Development of Nationalism in East and Southeast Asia - Essay Example In terms of East and Southeast Asia, critics assert that nationalism is the process that gave rise to different nationalist movements in the region in the twentieth century. The aim and objective of these movements was to rebel against the colonial ideologies of the West.Nationalism is considered to be a process, which develops with respect to time; it does not emerge abruptly or unexpectedly. â€Å"It is not a phenomenon that appears suddenly. It is the result of a process by which a people become conscious of themselves as a separate national entity in the modern world, a process by which they become willing to transfer their primary loyalty from the village, or the region, or the monarch, to the nation-state† It is this perspective, which can be found in East and Southeast Asia. In order to integrate nationalism, several steps and measures have been adopted by the government. These measures include the suppression of opposition, the selection of a mutual language and the co ncentrate on economic growth in order to sustain and maintain liberty. Nationalism and Communism in Southeast Asia is the product of colonisation. The vast majority of the East and Southeast Asian countries were â€Å"controlled either by the British, French, Dutch, Americans or Portuguese, who sought to control unnatural boundaries and had no regard for the natives of those areas† After the end of World War II, majority of the East and Southeast Asian countries declared independence from the Western imperialist. For instance, Indonesian nationalists fought with the Dutch in order to get their independence. Philippine got it independence from United States; Vietnam got its independence from France after the Indochina war. In Vietnam, the French did not have the ability to withstand Vietnamese nationalism and thus, they adopted repressive strategies in order to control it3. Majority of the Vietnamese nationalist’s politic leaders and activists were jailed. Furthermore, opposition from Vietnamese nationalists made the French to remove them from government positions and to create hurdles and obstacles in their education4. Communism is considered to be movement, which concentrates on changing the social and political structure of the society. The change is brought by creating a society in which there is no class difference among the citizens, they can freely access the goods they need and wage labour and private property concepts are disregarded1. Frequently, nationalism and communism have crossed path. For instance, the civil war in China was between these two beliefs, which concentrated on controlling China. The Chinese Civil War started in 1947 and lasted for a period of three years. China was divided into two parts; Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China. The fifties witnessed Communist China, which had gained full control of mainland China4. During the struggle for independence in Vietnam, Vietnamese nationalists fled to China, where they were ignored. However, they provided assistance to them once they realized the advantage of Vietnamese nationalists; they could be used to spy the Japanese military activities in Vietnam. In the year 1945, â€Å"the Emperor Bao Dai abdicated to Ho.   Ho Chi Minh then formed a provisional government with himself as its president and Vietnam declared independence on 2nd of September, in the year 1945†1. During this time, the Americans feared the expansion of communism and thus, provided military

Monday, August 26, 2019

The importance of sustainable purchasing and supply Essay

The importance of sustainable purchasing and supply - Essay Example It can also be stated that purchasing and supply operations on a long term basis enable the organisations to gain greater stability and generate substantial profits. The paper intends to discuss the perception of procurement and the benefits of effective purchasing and supply in a business. Various aspects like the significance of the association between a good purchaser and a supplier, the notion of competitive advantage and how the selection of a reliable supplier is such an important issue in generating competitive advantage will also be discussed in the paper. 1. Concept of Procurement Procurement is the process of obtaining new products or services. It is often regarded as a strategic role for different organisations belonging to both public along with private sectors. It has been viewed to be a dynamic process that covers several significant activities relating to supply chain that comprise generating contracts, purchasing and performing logistical functions (Bower, 2003). It h as been apparently observed that the procurement process includes certain fundamental inputs in the form of physical structure like raw materials that is required for preserving the product standards and maintain greater product reliability supporting the organisations to accomplish superior competitive position. The process of procurement also consists certain other wide ranging aspects that include storing, receiving and inspecting among others. The process also signifies the requisition as well as the acquisition of materials. The perception of procurement generates a logical meaning that indicates to supply the right materials to the correct person and at a precise time. It can also be viewed that an effective process of purchasing or procurement assists an organisation in decreasing the costs and maintaining the quality of the products along with mitigating the risks linked with supply chain management. Moreover, effectual procurement would also enable the organisations to gene rate greater productivity, broader availability of raw materials and mitigate the risks relating to inventory levels of products (Altekar, 2005). In this similar concern, the aspect of sustainable procurement can be considered as a significant aspect as a form of business activity in this modern day context. It is regarded as a process through which considerable savings can be done with respect to decrease in the waste materials, increase in the efficiency of the business along with gaining greater competitiveness. Various oil companies have generally adopted sustainable procurement programs such as investing much upon transportation facilities and networking with the intention of competing with their major market competitors. It also develops the economy by offering employment facilities and sourcing organisation (Mahadevan, 2010). 2. Benefits of Effective Purchasing and Supply Effective purchasing and supply can be principally determined as one of the imperative elements in the pr ocess of supply chain mana

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Children who are raised by single parents can be just as progressive Essay

Children who are raised by single parents can be just as progressive with emotional, social and behavioral skills as those who are raised by both parents - Essay Example Single parenthood is on the rise across the globe resulting in mixed reactions pertaining to the stability of children raised by single parents. The high prevalence is attributable to a multitude of factors; for example, the rampant spread of feminist ideologies, technological advancement and high divorce rate (Ellwood & Jencks 1). Feminist ideologies advocate for women empowerment achieved through financial liberation, and disputing socially constructed gender based stereotypes that confine women to specific social roles. The modern, liberated woman defies traditional social expectations whereby, marriage becomes less of a priority as the focus shifts to career development. In addition, these women are free to express their sexuality openly; for example, pre-marital sex and having children out of wedlock is now common and met with minimal disapproval by the society (Ellwood & Jencks 4). In some cases, these women explore alternative methods of having children on their own such as ad option or procuring the services of fertility specialists trained to perform artificial inseminations. Technological advancements targeting reproductive health have made the latter possible. Finally, the high divorce rate also contributes to the rise in single parenthood. Initially, courts required proof of infidelity, neglect or abuse to dissolve a marriage. This is not the case in contemporary society whereby, legislative directives approve no-fault divorces (divorces based on irreconcilable differences) (Ellwood & Jencks 5). In â€Å"Resilience and Vulnerability†, authors Hetherington & Elmore (182-212) discuss the role of resilience in influencing positive development of children raised by single parents. Resilience refers to an individual’s ability to cope and adapt to changes in their physical and social environment. Hetherington and Elmore infer that parenting styles adopted by parents function to build or destroy a

Saturday, August 24, 2019

The Divergence of U.S. & U.K Takeover Regulations Essay

The Divergence of U.S. & U.K Takeover Regulations - Essay Example In their article, The Divergence of U.S. and UK Takeover Regulation (2007), Armour and Skeel note that takeover is the persistent bid by one company (bidder) to acquire the business of another (target), or the process by which the bidder acquires the target company. When the term regulation is incorporated into this definition, takeover regulation denotes the practice of monitoring and controlling the bidder-target interaction so that the underlying takeover deal is fair to all stakeholders involved. This process is actually regulated by legal provisions both in the U.S and the UK. Having noted divergence in takeover regulation between the U.S and the U.K, it is important to highlight key differential areas. The key areas of divergence in the U.S and UK handling of takeover regulation is the subject matter of Armour and Skeel’s text. While in both countries the takeover process is regulated by law, there are critical variations across the applicable legal framework. In the U.S, for example, defensive tactics by managers are provided for by law. In contrast, the UK takeover system illegalizes the practice of defensive tactics in the event of a materialized takeover. These two countries are noticeably unique in the manner in which they handle takeover regulation. UK system of takeover regulation is primarily driven by self-regulation. On the other hand, self-regulation is little, if any, in the U.S. Furthermore, the application and subsequent use of Delaware laws in the U.S provides a mechanism for litigation as far as takeover regulation is concerned. For this reason, relevant courts and lawyer activities are high in the U.S relative to takeover bids. In the UK, courts and lawyer activities are little, if any. Arising matters, issues, and concerns regarding takeovers are dealt with by the Takeover Panel (Gaughan 88). This divergence informs the UK-based

Friday, August 23, 2019

Financial Reporting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Financial Reporting - Essay Example Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 AASB 101 â€Å"Presentation of Financial Statements† 4 AASB 107 â€Å"Statement of Cash flows† 7 AASB 116 â€Å"Property Plant & Equipment† 8 AASB 138 â€Å"Intangible Assets† 9 AASB 136 â€Å"Impairment of Assets† 10 AASB 137 â€Å"Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets† 10 AASB 112 â€Å"Income Taxes† 10 AASB 110 â€Å"Events after the Reporting date† 11 Overall evaluation and objectives of reporting 12 Introduction A fair and comprehensive disclosure of information requires that the entity adheres to certain accounting norms. The financial statements of a company must be prepared in conformance with the relevant accounting standards. There are accounting standards which prescribe the accounting treatment of intangible assets, contingent assets, contingent liabilities, presentation of statements etc. The adoption of these accounting standards in the case of Early Learning Services Limited has been reviewed as to whether the company has prepared its financial reports as per the accounting norms. AASB 101 â€Å"Presentation of Financial Statements† The accounting standards to be applied in Australia with effect from January 1, 2005 include International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs). International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issues IFRSs. For reporting periods commencing on or after January 1, 2009 IASB made certain amendments to the IAS 1 ‘Presentation of Financial Statements’. In line with this AASB also made certain amendments to AASB 1 ‘Presentation of Financial Statements’ for enabling IFRS compliance of the reporting entities in Australia. The major changes to this standard as compared to AASB 101 issued in the year 2006 are discussed as under- Making the reporting comprehensive- The revised standard brings in a notion of ‘completeness’ in financial reporting. Previously this standard used the heads ‘balance sheet’ and ‘cash flow statement’ to refer to the two statements. On the other hand the revised standard uses ‘statement of financial position’ and ‘statement of cash flows’ to describe the above statements. As per the new rules an entity has to present comparative information with respect to the previous year. Disclosure relating to changes owners’ equity- Previously AASB 101 required items relating to expenses and income which are not shown as profit or loss to be reported in ‘statement of changes in equity’. The previous standard also required preparation of ‘statement of recognized income and expense’ comprising of profit or loss in the statement of changes in equity, any affects of accounting policy changes and any correction related error. The new amendments require â€Å"owner changes in equity† to be reported separately from â€Å"non-owner change s in equity†. The detail relating to comprehensive income is not permitted to be presented in the â€Å"statement of changes in equity†. The main aim of this is to integrate items with similar characteristics and separate items with varying characteristics to disseminate useful information. Changes relating to â€Å"Other comprehensive income†- As per the revised standard an entity has to make disclosure of income tax relating to each comprehensive income component. This was not required as per previous AASB 101 version. Dividend presentation- As per old AASB 101 the amount of ‘

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Tobacco Industry Essay Example for Free

Tobacco Industry Essay Philip  Morris Pakistan is beginning to feel a financial pinch, and is already reducing the scale and scope of some of its manufacturing operations inside the country. In a statement released to the press on Saturday, the company announced that it will be reducing the operations in its smallest factory, located in Mandra, near Rawalpindi. The company cited â€Å"difficult economic conditions† including high taxes and low consumer purchasing power as a primary reason for the decision. The decision was described by Philip Morris as â€Å"difficult, but necessary. Among the key factors that specifically affected Mandra was a government regulation known as SRO 863(I), a 2010 law that effectively bans the marketing and sales of the smaller 10-cigarette packs, which were the mainstay of the company’s operations near Rawalpindi. Given the fact that Mandra is the company’s smallest factory, and that its main product is now illegal, the operational costs per cigarette at the plant would effectively become too high to be sustainable. â€Å"The main activity of the factory has become obsolete,† said the company in its statement. It, however, declined to say whether the factory would be completely shut down. Philip Morris did not disclose how many of its 2,363 employees in Pakistan work in Mandra and how many of them would be laid off. The company did, however, state that it would be paying the laid off workers a severance package that would exceed the legal minimum requirements. â€Å"We are committed to ensuring that all retrenched employees are treated fairly and with dignity, and genuinely appreciate the contributions that each and every employee has made over the years,† said Arpad Konye, the managing director at Philip Morris Pakistan, in the statement released to the press. The troubles at the Mandra facility are the latest in Philip Morris’ woes in Pakistan. The company had been operating as a joint venture with the Lakson Group (the parent company of Century Publications, the publisher of The Express Tribune) until 2007. In that year, the global company bought out its local partner’s share to retain well over 97% of the Pakistani subsidiary. (The remainder is listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange). The acquisition, however, does not appear to have turned out well. Profits have gone from Rs1. billion in 2007 to Rs573 million in 2010, a nearly 62% drop. The year 2011 appears to have gone even worse, with the company earning a net loss of Rs284 million for the first three quarters of the year, ending September 30, 2011. Philip Morris Pakistan has perennially been the number two player in the Pakistani tobacco industry, outshone by the Pakistan Tobacco Company, the local subsidiary of British American Tobacco. Industry insiders say that Pakistan Tobacco has better market penetration with its higher-end brands than Philip Morris. Philip Morris got into a cut-through price war with Pakistan Tobacco over the lower-end brands,† said one person familiar with the matter. â€Å"And Pakistan Tobacco has an unassailable advantage on the higher-end segment of the market because of their Benson amp; Hedges and Gold Leaf brands. † Philip Morris appears to have come out the worst of that price war, with revenues declining by 3. 9% to Rs24. 7 billion during the first nine months of 2011. By contrast, Pakistan Tobacco’s revenues went up by 12. 3% to Rs49. 9 billion during the same period.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Uniformity of Accounting Standard and Conceptual Framework Essay Example for Free

Uniformity of Accounting Standard and Conceptual Framework Essay Uniformity of Accounting Standard and Conceptual Framework Executive summery Harmonization of the accounting standard and conceptual framework is emerging as a requirement for of the international community. As business cross national boundaries so the transecting parties need uniformity in the financial reporting for better understanding of the business conditions. The process of harmonization gets accelerated by the initiative of the two major standard setting body of the world IASB and FASB. Although the two authoritative bodies try to uniform the accounting standard but the major concern arises here is the biasness of the influencing nations. In the assignment, pros of the harmonization process is discussed which is essential for international business community. The process is also disturbed by taking into account no consideration of the society and judgment of the professionals. In the assignment some recommendations are made for accelerating the harmonization process. Contents Introduction Economics and politics are the two major elements that shape the accounting standard of a nation. As each and every nation varies in their economic condition, customized accounting standard gets its appeal. Nowadays business is not confined in the national boundaries. With the integration of the worldwide market and the economic forces the process harmonizing the accounting standard has become an emerging issue. In the process independent rather than governmental organization is most appropriate. If we account for the advantages and disadvantages of the harmonization process then in the pros side of the ledger high quality standard of the FASB is the achievement and in the cons side I will posted the biasness of the standard setters. The process reduces the cost of the international community because adding an additional member in the process tends to zero marginal cost of standard setters. Why uniformity in the accounting standard and conceptual framework? With the widespread integration of the markets and policies all over the world, nowadays it becomes inevitable for the financial institutions all over the world to follow a uniform standard for financial reporting. Following the high quality accounting standard tends to a higher standard financial reporting. The pros for informing standard all over the world are as follows: (Ball, ,2005) Maintaining uniformity in financial data presentation: standards are set to guide the contracts of the financial institutions. In the case, if the financial reporting of the entities is different, it causes problem for both the contracting parties in the maintenance of the conditions of the contracts. For example- Company X lends money from Bank Y on the condition that landed amount must not exceed 60% of the total tangible. In the situation valuation techniques of the firms are different then it affects the contract adversely. So following a uniform standard for valuation of tangible asset is a solution of the problem Uniform presentation of financial performance: investors make investment decision based on the financial performance of any firm. In the situation, if the firms follow different standard to represent profitability then it becomes misleading for the investors. Following a uniform standard for reporting can resolve the problem (Lammle, ,2005) Adopting uniformity in the accounting standard offers the society the following three benefits: 1. Uniform accounting standard offers the benefit of economics of scale. Standard once are set, the cost of adding additions user is zero 2. The auditors tasks get easy because all the financial institutions follow uniform policy and procedure for reporting 3. Comparability can be made which reduce the cost of the firms contracting each other Extended cross border transactions: nowadays cross border transaction has been increased. Information about the foreign products and the financial information of the business are now available in internet. As a result, investors invest in foreign firms. In the situation uniform financial reporting gets very important (Buys, ,2011) Uniform financial reporting offers the investors the following benefits: IFRS standards offer a more accurate presentation of the financial data than that of the national standards. Information of some firms is not readily available. In the situation uniformity in accounting standard reduce risks in decision making Usually small investors cannot evaluate all the information than that of professionals. Following the IFRS standard improves the quality of information which ultimately gives the investors more information for access Following the uniform accounting standard serves the purpose of comparability and information accessibility cost gets reduced In IFRS standard emphasis is given for the comparability of information and it becomes more accessible. So integrating the entire world standard with IFRS yields the investors the above benefits. Some other passive pros of uniform accounting standard are as follows: Improve usefulness of financial data Increase transparency which ultimately benefits stakeholders The above two factors tend to reduce agency costs of the firms The above are some of the benefits of harmonization of the accounting standard. The process of harmonization is fueled by the process of globalization. As transactions occurs across national boundaries, there create a need for uniform accounting standard. In today’s business world, transactions cross national boundaries. As a result uniformity in reporting financial data gets very important. IFRS standard plays a vital role in the process of harmonization and many of the European nations follow IFRS. In the process an initiative is taken by USA to harmonize GAAP with IFRS. (HINES, ,2005) Arguments against uniform financial reporting Uniformity in financial reporting is made at the expense of the society. Culture differs in different nations, as a result in the process of uniform accounting reporting cultural aspects are considered. Economic condition of different nations also varies, for example- some are big, and some are small. Uniformity ignores the judgments of the professionals. The process also discourages research in the field and also discourages different ways of financial reporting. Shortcomings of uniform financial reporting are as follows: (Sunder, ,2007) Application of the concept uniformity: the concept of uniformity can never be defined specifically so that the standard setters can apply it in financial reporting. For example- in case of reporting the R D expenditure, management discretion is ignored. In recording the expenditure economic nature of the firm is considered. But the economic condition of the firms is not feasible in many cases. As a result, the uniformity issues creates problem Social norms: the process of uniformity in accounting standard barely considers the issues like cultural, social and political differences in the nations. As a result the process of implementation is affected largely. (Madawaki, ,2012) In applying the standard in the society the standard setters face the following three problems related with the practice in the society: 1. Information problem: in the process of developing standards, the stand makers have very little information about the social circumstances. Standard are set to replace the previous one but the process is very complex. Involvement in the social norms provide more information which is largely ignored in the process 2. Problem in design the standard: in designing standard, it becomes very important to attain representation, impartiality and consistency. The professionals set the standard may not be impartial. In the process, the influencing stakeholders try to influence the standard setting for their benefit. This influence distorts the proper standard setting of the standard setting body. 3. The gaming problem: the development of the standard alters the decision environment of the business firms. Standard also paves some new opportunities. The standard setters do not possess all the information for desired chances as a result misunderstanding arises. The standard setters should ensure that the standards ensure the mutual understanding between the standard setters and the business firms Legal situation of a nation: in the cases where standard is conflicting the low of the nation the jurisdiction of the nation imply it invalid to impose Education and research: in the process of uniformity new standards are set. As a result, the professional teams of the standard setting body have to train the local the professionals in the new standards. In the educational programs also the subject concern with the topic should be amended. This means that the whole system such as: educational materials, accounting software, reporting system all have to be restructured (Agrawal, ,1987) The process of uniformity is questioned by the dominance of some countries. Many nations argue that the head of IASB is the representative of USA. It is a major defense against the standard setting process. In some cases, the judgmental areas of the business firms vary. In the situations, uniformity is somehow impossible. Harmonizing standard with the US GAAP in the uniform of standard is also a major shortcoming. Recommendation The process of harmonization of the two standard setting bodies FASB and IASB has already been started. The process benefits the transactions across national border. Cost of providing information is also reduced. In the situation the process can be successful if it can maintain the following standards: (Barbu, ,2007) To cope with the changing global marketplace, the standard setting body should update the accounting standard in a regular basis and should communicate it with the related parties for implementation The standard setting body should be private and independent to avoid any political pressure of the government which ultimately ensures democracy. In case of governmental standard setting body, there is a chance to be biased in formulating accounting standard In setting the standard the economic variety of the nations should be considered There should be some areas for professional judgment because of the economic variety of the nations To implement the process of uniformity a monitoring sell should be developed. The department oversees the maintenance of the accounting standard. If any nation does not follow the prescribed standard then the department can panelize the nation (Buchanan, ,2007) Conclusion The process of harmonization gets appeal of the international community in the last ten years. The process gets accelerated by the Europeans as they are currently following IAS and IFRS for financial reporting. United States is also a pioneer in the issue by creating a bridge with the international standard with GAAP. In the process the stakeholders gets advantaged by sharing a uniform financial reporting. The cross border relationship is emerged in a new horizon now. The audit process gets the justification in the harmonization process.  But the process is not without some problems also. The process reduces the independent judgment of the auditors. The major stakeholders also influence the standard setting process. An independent private standard setting body is a possible solution to the problem.

Common interests between the stakeholders

Common interests between the stakeholders In 2009, Logilink received a new project to handle the logistics arrangement of cement between Spain and Algeria. Our client, KDM Company was assigned by the government to supply the cement to build the new highway between Algiers and Constantine in Algeria. This project has a big impact in the economical and the political side, therefore the government of Algeria has assigned KDM to supply the cement in 6 months period of time. Logilink as a logistics firm had to ensure the proper transportation of cement from refinery at Spain to Algerian port. During the 6 months period, we have arranged with KDM to transport 48,000MT of cement per month to fulfill the total quantity required for this project. 4.STAKEHOLDERS Logilink assigned our Project Manager Mr. Javier, to be in charge of this project. With the support of our CEO and shareholders, he selected the team to work with. The team comprised of five employees; Mr. Nilo the Ship Controller, Mr. Ziani the Finance Analyst, Miss Juan the Admin Assistant, Mr. Jose the Project Office Manager and me as the Operation Manager. To ensure smooth execution of this project, the functional teams within Logilink were instructed by the CEO to collaborate with Mr. Javier and provide him with all the resources required. The groups, persons, organizations and institutions related to the building and running of the new highway or which is in its area of influence is registered or inventoried by means of brain storming. (Appendix1) The team defined the stakeholders for this project by identifying organizations that had responsibilities or may affect the process and who had the influence over the new highway project. List of stakeholders: The evaluation of the projects environmental impact corresponds to the Association of Environment (APE) The authorizing body for the project was the Ministry of Public Works Logilink was responsible for shipping, maritime traffic and safety The supplier of Cement was Repsol The government sole distributor for cement in this project was KDM. The construction was handled by private entrepreneurs Bank (Societe General) Media Local transport companies. Local supplies companies. Stakeholders interests, project impact level and priority in relation to other stakeholders are identified in table1. Table 1: Stakeholders interests and impacts table Interests Potential project impact Relative priorities of interest Secondary Stakeholders Ministry of public works Achievement of targets Control over funds Political image + 2 Entrepreneurs -Profits Achievement of targets -reputation +/- + +/- 1 Media Profits Supply information to the public. +/- 3 Bank Societe Generale Profits + 3 Association Of Environment (APE) habitat destruction -Environmental degradation ? 3 Local transport companies. Profits liabilities +/- + 2 Local supplies companies profits Liabilities +/- + 2 Primary Stakeholders KDM co.ltd Profits Achievement of targets Liability (avoid at all costs) -Reputation +/- + +/- 1 Project Manager Promotion -Rewards + + 1 Repsol (Supplier) -Profits Gain Algerian Market +/- +/- 1 Team members rewards and bonuses promotions -expand skill level + ? + 2 During the process of strategic management, attention to stakeholders is important since the success and survival for public organizations relies on fulfilling key stakeholders according to their description of what is precious. (Bryson 1995: 27; Moore 1995). As an alternative, many individual groups and organizations are occupied or have partial liability to act. Discovering what the predicament is and finding solutions are part of the problem while taking stakeholders into relation is an important criterion of problem solving. (Bryson and Crosby 1992; Bardach 1998)(pb-bryson) To identify common interests between the stakeholders, the planning team had to find the relationship between the stakeholders to find the typical strategy where individual stakeholders will think that their own interests are advanced. (Andreasen 1995; Kotler, Roberto, and Lee 2002) For example, KDMs interest was to show efficiency and gain Algerian governments trust. They will increase profit and obtain more contracts. KDMs interest matched with our interest since we were a booming company searching for reputation rather than just making profit. The government wanted to complete the project on time with high quality in order for them to be more credible in the eye of the public. From the side of Repsol, their interest is to gain maximum profit which matches the entrepreneurs goals. The stakeholder-issue interrelationship diagram explains how the planning team determined the relationship between the stakeholders through their common objectives. Figure 1 Stakeholder-Issue Interrelationship Diagram (Bryant, 2003) Political image and credibility Supply information for the public Habitat destruction and environmental degradation Control over funds Entrepreneurs Ministry of public works Association Of Environme Media Societe Generale Achievement of targets Profits Reputation Liabilities Local supplies companies Local transport companies Repsol Logilink co.ltd KDM co.ltd It was necessary for our project team to analyze the stakeholders. We investigated each stakeholder, by knowing their powers, weaknesses, forces and threats (calvert 1995). Wideman (1998) suggests that the analysis should start by grouping stakeholders based on the influence. The influence level differs between stakeholders; it depends on the hierarchical relationship to the project. The government had a high level of influence compared to other secondary stakeholders which influences were lower as the project was just an opportunity to achieve goals. (Source: Wideman 1998, p.  219) KDM as the most important stakeholder had an influence on the project. If they werent satisfied they could stop the project. The Ministry of Public Works had a concern to the public sector so their influence was the highest. The environmental association could also oppose the project. Nevertheless, they didnt have a great degree of representation or the capacity for mobilizing people, so they had considerable degree of importance, but not influence. Logilink didnt have excessive importance due to low amount of competences that could affect the project. However, given their representation and capacity to mobilize, they were very influential. The same is true for entrepreneurs. Local supply and transport companies had positive effect on the project execution which resulted in low importance and influence as they represented a small segment of the population. Figure2. Classification of importance and influence of stakeholders affected by the New Highway project (Backoff and Nutt, 1992) KDMImportance Logilink Entrepreneurs LTC + LSC Repsol Ministry of public works Media Societe Generale Association Of Environment Influence Mr. Javier designed a plan to increase support and minimize oppositions from the project stakeholders (Source: PMI 2004), after identifying stakeholders process and classifying the stakeholders by their geographic location and interest in the project. The strategy defined the level of participation desired by key stakeholders. The planning team interviewed key stakeholders individually, to ensure everyones genuine support to the project. If support is lacking, they discussed and resolved obstructing issues. The treatment regarding communication and participation differed between stakeholders. The planning team arranged for each key stakeholder depending on interest level and the choice to be involved in all phases or in specific phases of the project. KDM wanted to be involved in all phases of the project. Our project team arranged a weekly meeting with KDM and updated them by sending reports for each shipment. The Ministry of Public Works just wanted to be informed when the project was completed. The stakeholder management strategy used for the project was adequate to satisfy each key stakeholder and avoid any resistance to the projects process. 5. Organisational structure The organizational structure in our company defer from one project to another, in our new highway project the company used a project team organizational structure, due to its importance and complexity. This project required specialists to work on it full time as the due time of the project was too tight. The company head office allocated Mr.Javier as project manager; the team of the project took a functional oriented structure form (Cleland 1999) Figure3.Dedicated project team (Gray Larson 2000) Human Resources Finance and administration Ship Controller Logilink co. ltd Project Directors Project Manager2 Project Manger 1 Team 1 Team 2 Sales and Marketing Figure 3 shows the feature of our new project team. The team consists of the following; Mr. Nilo the Ship Controller, Mr. Ziani the Project Accountant, Miss Juan the Admin Assistant, MR.Jose the Project Office Manager and me as the Operation Manager. To execute this project efficiently, the functional teams within Logilink were instructed by the Head Office to join forces with Mr. Javier and provide him with all the resources required. The importance of the project and its amplitude for success were the mean factors that determined the project team. All team members had a big experience in such project and knew how to deal with it in such short time. The company applied this structure as project team structure allows the project team to work independently. The team consecrated full time for the project rather than being disrupted by other obligations or duties with their mean functional departments, Although he had to report to senior executives in the parent organization, Mr Javier had the full authority over the project. After utilizing this structure, we gained faster response time since most decisions were made within the team and were not differed up the hierarchy. With proper direction, the project team worked together and was fully committed only on maximizing the projects success while disregarding their area of expertise. Gray and Larson (2000), Figure4. Projectized Organization (Source: PMI 2004) In the project management consulting work, they identified a list of characteristics that many project managers have offered as successful characteristics in their core teams. For the most part, these characteristics are observed in individuals based on their experiences and the testimony of those who have worked with them. Typically these are not characteristics whereby the presence or absence in an individual is determined through interviews (Klassen and McLaughlin, 1993). The roles and responsibilities of the project ream depend of the nature of the project itself and the level of power and capacities. In the planning and resourcing process the project team was identified, so the team remained involved throughout the project and the resources from other groups were used when it was required. 6. Roles, responsibilities and relationships of project team members After identifying the goals of the project and determining the resources needed, the head office discovered that they require a Project Manager with a lot of experience and knowledge for this particular project. Mr. Javier who is the existing Project Director in our firm was selected to be the Project Manager. His role was to ensure the implementation and success of the project as he had control over all project resources. The roles and responsibilities of each team member were as follow: As the Project Office Manager, Mr. Joses responsibilities were to control and track the detailed plan, manage documentation and prepare various reports. As the Project Accountant, Mr. Ziani had to deal with procurement, sub-contractor expenditure, joint venture accounting, monitor progress tracking and handle financial reporting. As the Ship Coordinator, Mr. Nilo was responsible for the administrative aspects of the ship and served as the associate between our company and the client. As an Admin Assistant, Ms. Juan was a specialist in the creation of accurate usable documentation both for the daily usage of the solution and as design documentation for future reference. -As the Operation Manager, I handled the way the live technical solution should be operated. Operating procedures would include routine operations, controls, security, backup/recovery and disaster plans (Simon, 2004). The organizational chart is an illustrative display of project reporting relationships (Kerzner, 2003). In our organization, the reporting relationships were informal due to the small size of the team. Our Project Manager was responsible for the creation of a WBS that mapped our assigned project to this organizational breakdown structure. To present the reporting relationships within the project context, the company designed the organizational breakdown structure in a way to show who the project is functionally organized and to describe the hierarchy and organizations that supplied resources to arrange and to transmit the work identified in the work breakdown structure (WBS) (Kerzner, 2003). Figure5.Illustrates our organizational breakdown structure (OBS). MR.Javier Project Manager MR.Ziani Project accountant Miss.Juan Admin assistant Mr.Jose Project office manager Mr.Nilo Ship coordinator Mr.Ismail Operation manager Directors Functional Departments In a project team, the nature and volume of the project as well as the variety of projects to be handled will determine the lead position. Kerzner (2003, p. 162). The project management and team leadership positions should be carefully defined and staffed at all projects levels. In a self-directed work environment, a Project Manager must display reliability, respect, trust as well as qualities that typically appears from the representation of an excellent decision maker with a superior track record in order to create and direct a project team (Cleland, 1999). The Line Manager of the team members should not be associated with the duties of a Project Manager. The Project Manager is dedicated to manage the work of the project. The Project Manager must get the cooperation and support from the team without having direct authority over them. The ability to link the project to the strategy of the business is also an indicator of a successful Project Manager (Cleland, 1999). Mr. Javier motivated the team to reach great goals, rather than merely bossing around with them (Rowe, 2007). Prior to the implementation of any leadership style, the leader should focus in plans to obtain employee satisfaction by applying components such as trust, confidence and effective communication. (Lamb and McKee, 2004).Managers with these attributes are effective in their leadership ability regardless of the style of leadership that they adapt (McShane and VonGlinow, 2004). Mr. Javiers approach as a people oriented leader enabled him to achieve employee satisfaction by utilizing his excellent competencies and skills. 7. Team development and conflict New highway project was really important for our firm due to the huge opportunities hidden behind it. The head office wanted to allocate the best resources in our company to meet the project requirements. Mr.Javier as the most experienced project manager in our company was allocated to be the project manager for this project. He had a meeting with the head office to select the members of the project team. The team was chosen within many criteria adequate with the project and to satisfy the key stakeholders expectations and needs (Source: PMI 2004) The main criteria were identifying by Gray and Larson (2000) as: Problem solving ability, were the team members had to work under pressure and ambiguities. Availability, were the team was selected to work fulltime in this project, in a way to take decision on the spot and avoid all kind of problem during the project life cycle. Technological expertise, the members of the team was chosen to be appropriate for the roles. Credibility, by allocating people with a high credibility to improve the project and the project team reputation. Political connections, one of the most important criteria because it will help to create a good relationship with the key stakeholders. Ambition, initiative, and energy, project team with those criteria will have the abilities to compensate and cover the weaknesses in other fields. Conflicts are part of individual relationships and organizational development, and no relationship or organization can hope to mature to productivity and be successful without being able to resolve conflicts effectively (Cottringer, 1997, p. 6). During the project life cycle, we faced an interpersonal conflict between Mr.Ziani and Ms.Juan. This conflict was initiated before they joined the project team, but the tension between them raised during the implementation of this project as the interdependency between them was high. As a result, the cost of not resolving it was also high. The entire team noticed the obvious heightened anger between Mr. Ziani and Ms. Juan. Consequently, both Mr. Ziani and Ms. Juan were distracted from their own work responsibility because both of them were occupied with blaming each other. A negative impact in their job performance was caused by the behaviors that both of them portrayed as they interact. For example, when Mr. Ziani needs a document or information from Ms. Juan he passed through another colleague to get it from her. Likewise from Ms. Juans side, when she received a communication or she need some work from Mr. Ziani, she asked other team members to talk on her behalf. It resulted in a stressful work environment. Knowing that the duration of this project is short, the Project Manager dealt with this conflict by using an avoidance technique, physical separation and limited interaction (Pinto and Kharbanda, 1995). He tried to keep Mr. Ziani and Ms. Juan out of each others way as much as possible, and he played the role of referee between them till the end of the project. Simultaneously, in order to ensure that this conflict will not impact the job performance, he ordered the other members of the team to play the intermediary role between them and helped them to avoid the confrontation. Conclusion: In the first stage, Logilink identified the common interests between the stakeholders and analyze them by knowing their power, weaknesses, forces and threats (calvert 1995). The organizational structure applied by the company for this project was a company used a project team organizational structure. This structure gave to the project team the power to work independently and to consecrate full time for the project In the project team Mr Javier had the full authority over the project. Mr. Javier motivated the team to reach great goals, rather than merely bossing around with them (Rowe, 2007). Mr. Javiers approach as a people oriented leader enabled him to achieve employee satisfaction by utilizing his excellent competencies and skills. The team was chosen within many criteria adequate with the project and to satisfy the key stakeholders expectations and needs (Source: PMI 2004), hence we saw an interpersonal conflict between two members of the project team. This conflict affected the teams job performance. In this conflict Mr.Javier used an avoidance technique, physical separation and limited interaction as for him it was the best way to deal with this conflict in that time due to the project circumstances.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Profiling Essay -- Legal Issues, Ethics

One area of psychology and investigation, (an occupation? or shall I say craft?), many ways to refer and interpret it, with a complex past intermingling various areas of study, Profiling, like any other area of study, has both its advantages and disadvantages. Yet, how useful is it as an investigative tool? It certainly isn’t considered as a hard science, however this does not mean that is should be discarded and not taken seriously. Or does it? I say advantages and disadvantages, because whilst my personal position is towards profiling in general, it can only be used in conjunction with other, more deeply studied police work. Here I will discuss mainly its advantages and why I hold the position in favor of criminal profiling, but some disadvantages will obviously be mention in relation the advantages. As asserted by Wilson and Seaman (2007), one of the first psychological profilers was James A. Brussel, M.D in the 1950, then dubbed â€Å"The Sherlock Holmes of the Couch.† Although he was very accurate in providing the police with a profile of the criminal which helped them locate and arrest the Mad Bomber, using primarily his handwriting on letters sent to the police, his â€Å"technique was not enough in itself to change traditional law enforcement procedures.† (Wilson and Seaman, 2007). It was only in the early 1970s that the FBI Behavioral Science Unit in Quantico decided to use this profiling technique when investigating violent crimes. Here, they would profile the type of criminal involved using the crime scene itself and the various criminal MOs. Their initial investigation using this method was held in 1974 with the case of the kidnapped seven-year old girl, Susan Jaeger. Profilers predicted the kidnapper being a young, whi... ...nalytical Theory. Turvey (2001) points of the voyeurism problem and affirms that this fact alone might be a magnet for so-called profilers to join the field. This, of course, will create problems for all involved in the case. Here, another setback to profiling is formed which might reduce the profiler’s ‘expertise’, for how can on be certain of the real intention of a profiler and his compatibility to the team? Having said all this, one can say that in reality, profiling is an art and not a science, as â€Å"by itself, a profile does not solve any crime† (Holmes and Holmes, 2009). That is, however, not said to reduce all its credibility and usefulness. Profilers have helped the police and it most likely that will continue to do so in the future, but it must be kept strictly as an aid and not as the only means. But yes, all in all, it is a useful investigative tool.

Monday, August 19, 2019

The Downfall of Lady Macbeth :: Free Macbeth Essays

The Downfall of Lady Macbeth   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Macbeth is a play full of magic, mystery, and murder.   The variety of plots, as well as the interesting characters, force the reader to pay full attention at all times.   Unfortunately, one of these characters is a victim of her own imagination. Although Lady Macbeth adds much positive flavour to the play, her character is revealed through her aggressive attitude with her husband, her inhumane disregard for life, and her guilty conscience.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lady Macbeth is very assertive when dealing with her husband's hesitations about murdering Duncan:      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "O never shall sun that morrow see!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Your face... is as a book where men   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   May read strange matters.   To beguile the time,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   But be the serpent under't."    This urging causes Macbeth to possess Å’black and deep desires', which lead him to   murder the king.   She takes it upon herself to pressure him and therefore, her bold character is revealed.   Macbeth's intentions would have been less serious if his wife was not more anxious than he was.   She, more than her husband, is to blame for the death of King Duncan, due to her relentless pursuit of power and authority.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lady Macbeth is a heartless fiend with an savage disregard for life. This is evident in the manner in which she downplays the murder of Duncan to her husband:      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "A little water clears us of this deed;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   How easy is it, then!   Your constancy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hath left you unattended...   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Get on your night-gown, lest occasion call us,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   And show us to be watchers.   Be not lost   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   So poorly in your thoughts."    She tries to make Macbeth believe that committing the murder was not a vicious deed and that washing their hands will wash away all the guilt.   Macbeth exclaims that "all Neptune's ocean" will not wash the blood from his hands. Lady Macbeth appears at this point to be a ruthless killer working on behalf of the prince of darkness, which solidifies her character and gives the audience new insights to her psychological state.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The audience is lead to believe that Lady Macbeth will never feel any guilt concerning the murder, but her guilty conscience is displayed near the end of the play. She begins to sleepwalk and relive the murder in her mind:      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "Out, damned spot! out, I say!   One; two; why, then   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Å’tis time to do't.   Hell is murky!   Fie, my lord--fie!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   a soldier, and afeard?

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Shakespeares Macbeth as Tragic Hero Essay -- Macbeth essays

Macbeth as Tragic Hero      Ã‚  Ã‚   A tragic hero is usually a person of high esteem or social ranking cursed with a flaw or obsession that will eventually lead to their demise. Macbeth is a tragic hero. Examining the events that occur as Macbeth travels the typical path of a tragic hero easily supports this claim.    Before Macbeth is even introduced to the audience, Duncan and Ross speak of his greatness. When it is discovered that the Thane of Cawdor has surrendered, Duncan decides to give Macbeth this title: "What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won" (1.2.70). This lets the audience see Macbeth's rank, which starts him in the right direction for a tragic hero.    As Macbeth starts to believe the prophecies of the witches that he will be the Thane of Cawdor, Glamis, and the King, the audience starts to see his obsession with his destiny: "Stars, hide your fires;/ Let not light see my black and deep desires" (1.4.50-51). This great ambition will turn into the flaw that hurtles Macbeth to his demise.    Macbeth is convinced, partly by his own ambition and partly ...

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Reid Based Prepaid Energy Mater

chapter 1 [pic] 1. 1 Objectives of the Study Prepaid energy meter are being used worldwide to improve the collection of funds for the energy used. Weather it is developed nation or developing nation all electricity boards are facing two major issues 1. Power Theft 2. Collection of funds In the existing system the above two problems are non predictable and time consuming process respectively. To overcome these things in the proposed system Cal cards has developed and implemented as RFID based pre-paid energy meter. Cal card take information management to new heights with RFID technology.Using the state of the art technology, we can now write data into the RFID tag electronically. Using dual Authentication, Stream Encryption and other security features we restrict access to un-authorized personnel for any particular information. In this project three units are important they are RFID Card, RFID Reader and Writer. Tags are programmable and they may be read or read/write i. e. the inform ation stored in the tag’s memory cannot be changed or can be updated as required. The reader powers the antenna to generate radio frequency waves to transmit a signal that activates the tag and allows data to come into or leave the tag’s memory.This card can be designed to hold all amount details including Name of the family head, ID number, resident address and amount has been recharged. chapter 2 [pic] 2. 1 Methodology of the study Methodology: This System assigns a unique card number for each house. A particular house person places the RFID card within 5cm distance from the RFID Reader. The RFID Reader reads down the time, date and for how much amount it was recharged. The success of recharge will be indicated on the LCD display with buzzer acknowledgement sound.The display also indicates the current energy utilization. The Interface software is responsible for energy utilization record processing and calculation amount for the utilized energy. 2. 2 EMBEDDED SYSTEM: Embedded System is a combination of hardware and software used to achieve a single specific task. An embedded system is a microcontroller-based, software driven, reliable, real-time control system, autonomous, or human or network interactive, operating on diverse physical variables and in diverse environments and sold into a competitive and cost conscious market.An embedded system is not a computer system that is used primarily for processing, not a software system on PC or UNIX, not a traditional business or scientific application. High-end embedded & lower end embedded systems. High-end embedded system – Generally 32, 64 Bit Controllers used with OS. Examples Personal Digital Assistant and Mobile phones etc . Lower end embedded systems – Generally 8,16 Bit Controllers used with an minimal operating systems and hardware layout designed for the specific purpose. Examples Small controllers and devices in our everyday life like Washing Machine, Microwave Ovens, where th ey are embedded in.SYSTEM DESIGN CALLS:[pic] THE EMBEDDED SYSTEM DESIGN CYCLE: [pic] â€Å"V Diagram† In this place we need to discuss the role of simulation software, real-time systems and data acquisition in dynamic test applications. Traditional testing is referred to as â€Å"static† testing where functionality of components is tested by providing known inputs and measuring outputs. Today there is more pressure to get products to market faster and reduce design cycle times. This has led to a need for â€Å"dynamic† testing where components are tested while in use with the entire system – either real or simulated.Because of cost and safety concerns, simulating the rest of the the system with real-time hardware is preferred to testing components in the actual real system. The diagram shown on this slide is the â€Å"V Diagram† that is often used to describe the development cycle. Originally developed to encapsulate the design process of software applications, many different versions of this diagram can be found to describe different product design cycles. Here we have shown one example of such a diagram representing the design cycle of embedded control applications common to automotive, aerospace and defense applications.In this diagram the general progression in time of the development stages is shown from left to right. Note however that this is often an iterative process and the actual development will not proceed linearly through these steps. The goal of rapid development is to make this cycle as efficient as possible by minimizing the iterations required for a design. If the x-axis of the diagram is thought of as time, the goal is to narrow the â€Å"V† as much as possible and thereby reduce development time. The y-axis of this diagram can be thought of as the level at which the system components are considered.Early on in the development, the requirements of the overall system must be considered. As the system is divided into sub-systems and components, the process becomes very low-level down to the point of loading code onto individual processors. Afterwards components are integrated and tested together until such time that the entire system can enter final production testing. Therefore the top of the diagram represents the high-level system view and the bottom of the diagram represents a very low-level view. Notes: †¢ V diagram describes lots of applications—derived from software development. Reason for shape, every phase of design requires a complimentary test phase. High-level to low-level view of application. †¢ This is a simplified version. †¢ Loop Back/ Iterative process, X-axis is time (sum up). Characteristics of Embedded System: †¢ An embedded system is any computer system hidden inside a product other than a computer †¢ There will encounter a number of difficulties when writing embedded system software in addition to those we encounter when we wr ite applications – Throughput – Our system may need to handle a lot of data in a short period of time. Response–Our system may need to react to events quickly – Testability–Setting up equipment to test embedded software can be difficult – Debugability–Without a screen or a keyboard, finding out what the software is doing wrong (other than not working) is a troublesome problem – Reliability – embedded systems must be able to handle any situation without human intervention – Memory space – Memory is limited on embedded systems, and you must make the software and the data fit into whatever memory exists – Program installation – you will need special tools to get your oftware into embedded systems – Power consumption – Portable systems must run on battery power, and the software in these systems must conserve power – Processor hogs – computing that requires large amount s of CPU time can complicate the response problem – Cost – Reducing the cost of the hardware is a concern in many embedded system projects; software often operates on hardware that is barely adequate for the job. †¢ Embedded systems have a microprocessor/ microcontroller and a memory. Some have a serial port or a network connection. They usually do not have keyboards, screens or disk drives.APPLICATIONS: 1. Military and aerospace embedded software applications 2. Communication Applications 3. Industrial automation and process control software CLASSIFICATION: †¢ Real Time Systems. †¢ RTS is one which has to respond to events within a specified deadline. †¢ A right answer after the dead line is a wrong answer RTS CLASSIFICATION: †¢ Hard Real Time Systems †¢ Soft Real Time System HARD REAL TIME SYSTEM: †¢ â€Å"Hard† real-time systems have very narrow response time. †¢ Example: Nuclear power system, Cardiac pacemaker. SOFT RE AL TIME SYSTEM: â€Å"Soft† real-time systems have reduced constrains on â€Å"lateness† but still must operate very quickly and repeatable. †¢ Example: Railway reservation system – takes a few extra seconds the data remains valid. LANGUAGES USED: †¢ C †¢ C++ †¢ Java †¢ Linux †¢ Ada †¢ Assembly MPLAB FEATURES: MPLAB Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is a free, integrated toolset for the development of embedded applications employing Microchip's PIC ® and dsPIC ® microcontrollers. MPLAB Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is a free, integrated toolset for the development of embedded applications employing Microchip's PIC ® and dsPIC ® microcontrollers.MPLAB IDE runs as a 32-bit application on MS Windows ®, is easy to use and includes a host of free software components for fast application development and super-charged debugging. MPLAB IDE also serves as a single, unified graphical user interface for additio nal Microchip and third party software and hardware development tools. Moving between tools is a snap, and upgrading from the free software simulator to hardware debug and programming tools is done in a flash because MPLAB IDE has the same user interface for all tools.MPLAB IDE’s SIM, high speed software simulator for PIC and dsPIC (Digital Signal Processing PIC Microcontroller) devices with peripheral simulation, complex stimulus injection and register logging. CHAPTER 3 [pic] 3. 1 Block Diagram of RFID PREPAID energy meter BLOCK DIAGRAM 3. 2 Description of the Block Diagram The AC main Block is the power supply which is of single phase 230V ac. This should be given to step down transformer to reduce the 230V ac voltage to low voltage. i. e. , to 6V or 12V ac this value depends on the transformer inner winding. The output of the transformer is given to the rectifier circuit.This rectifier converts ac voltage to dc voltage. But the voltage may consist of ripples or harmonics. To avoid these ripples the output of the rectifier is connected to filter. The filter thus removes the harmonics. This is the exact dc voltage of the given specification. But the controller operates at 5V dc and the relays and driver operates at 12V dc voltage. So we need a regulator to reduce the voltage. 7805 regulator produces 5V dc. The 7805 regulator produces 5V dc and this voltage is given to PIC micro controller and sensors. The outputs of the sensors are also given to PIC micro controller.LCD, Keypad unit, SMART CARD read and write unit are connected to the controller. The controller reads the SMART CARD data from SMART CARD reader. The controller displays the data on LCD, depends upon the energy consumption the amount will be reduced. [pic] 3. 3 circuit diagram of RFID PREPAID energy meter: [pic] 3. 4 Circuit Description POWER SUPPLY: Power supply unit consists of Step down transformer, Rectifier, Input filter, Regulator unit, Output filter. The Step down Transformer is us ed to step down the main supply voltage from 230V AC to lower value.This 230 AC voltage cannot be used directly, thus it is stepped down. The Transformer consists of primary and secondary coils. To reduce or step down the voltage, the transformer is designed to contain less number of turns in its secondary core. The output from the secondary coil is also AC waveform. Thus the conversion from AC to DC is essential. This conversion is achieved by using the Rectifier Circuit/Unit. The Rectifier circuit is used to convert the AC voltage into its corresponding DC voltage. There are Half-Wave, Full-Wave and bridge Rectifiers available for this specific function.The most important and simple device used in Rectifier circuit is the diode. The simple function of the diode is to conduct when forward biased and not to conduct in reverse bias. The Forward Bias is achieved by connecting the diode’s positive with positive of the battery and negative with battery’s negative. The effi cient circuit used is the Full wave Bridge rectifier circuit. The output voltage of the rectifier is in rippled form, the ripples from the obtained DC voltage are removed using other circuits available. The circuit used for removing the ripples is called Filter circuit.Capacitors are used as filter. The ripples from the DC voltage are removed and pure DC voltage is obtained. And also these capacitors are used to reduce the harmonics of the input voltage. The primary action performed by capacitor is charging and discharging. It charges in positive half cycle of the AC voltage and it will discharge in negative half cycle. Here we used 1000 µF capacitor. So it allows only AC voltage and does not allow the DC voltage. This filter is fixed before the regulator. Thus the output is free from ripples. Regulator regulates the output voltage to be always constant.The output voltage is maintained irrespective of the fluctuations in the input AC voltage. As and then the AC voltage changes, th e DC voltage also changes. Thus to avoid this Regulators are used. Also when the internal resistance of the power supply is greater than 30 ohms, the output gets affected. Thus this can be successfully reduced here. The regulators are mainly classified for low voltage and for high voltage. Here we used 7805 positive regulators. It reduces the 6V dc voltage to 5V dc Voltage. The Filter circuit is often fixed after the Regulator circuit. Capacitor is most often used as filter.The principle of the capacitor is to charge and discharge. It charges during the positive half cycle of the AC voltage and discharges during the negative half cycle. So it allows only AC voltage and does not allow the DC voltage. This filter is fixed after the Regulator circuit to filter any of the possibly found ripples in the output received finally. Here we used 0. 1 µF capacitor. The output at this stage is 5V and is given to the Microcontroller Microcontroller and sensors are operated at 5V dc voltage. The output of the 7805 regulator is connected to PIC 16f877A microcontroller. Controller CircuitThe PIC 16f877A microcontroller is a 40-pin IC. The first pin of the controller is MCLR pin and the 5V dc supply is given to this pin through 10K? resistor. This supply is also given to 11th pin directly. The 12th pin of the controller is grounded. A tank circuit consists of a 4 MHZ crystal oscillator and two 22pf capacitors is connected to 13th and 14th pins of the PIC. The circuit consists of MAX-232 IC. It is a 16-pin dual in package IC. The 11th and 12th pins of MAX-232 IC are connected to the 25th and 26th pins of the PIC microcontroller. These are receiver OUT and Transmitter IN pins respectively.LCD is connected to the RC0 to RD7 pins of the PIC microcontroller. 13th, 14th and 15th pins of the MAX-232 IC are connected to the smart card read Buffer. The Keypad unit connected to the RB0 to RB3 pins of the PIC micro controller. The keypad unit consists of 4 switches. One is for menu, sec ond is Exit, third one is for Clear and the other is for Day Increment. MAX-232 IC is used to convert the voltage from 5V to 10V and 10V to 5V. This IC is used to communicate with the PC. It also acts as voltage converter. The LCD used here is to display the Attendance details. [pic] 3. 5 CIRCUIT OPERATIONThe input of the circuit is taken from the main. It is a single phase 230V ac voltage. This 230 AC voltage cannot be used directly, thus it is stepped down. The Step down Transformer is used to step down the main supply voltage from 230V AC to lower value. Because the microcontroller and sensors are operated at +5V dc voltage and relays and drivers will be operate at +12V dc voltage. So first this 230C AC voltage should be stepped down and then it should be converted to dc. After converting to dc it is applied to controller, sensors, relays and drivers. In this project we used 230/12V step down transformer.In this circuit we used two regulators. 7805 regulator for producing 5V dc, and 7812 regulators for 12V dc voltage. The output of 7805 regulators is given to PIC microcontroller and three sensors. The output of the 7812 regulator is connected to driver IC and a Relay. The main parts of this project are smart card and PIC micro controller. The coding will be installed to microcontroller through PIC Flash micro systems compiler unit. The crystal oscillator is used to generate the clock pulses to the PIC micro controller. The speed of the microcontroller depends upon the value of the crystal oscillator.In this project we used the 4 MHz crystal oscillator. Whenever recharged smart card shown in front of the reader the data from card will be read and send to controller through reader. The controller confirms whether it is old or new card. After this it will automatically open the lock to use EB power supply. If the wrong card shown, controller activate the alarm. Depends on the energy consumption the amount will reduced by the controller, when its come to below zero the controller automatically cut down the EB power supply through driver unit. In the driver unit ULN2003 is used as driver to driver the 12v relay.We inserted the process into the controller through coding. Coding was developed in Embedded ‘C’ Language. CHAPTER 4 [pic] 4. 1 Hardware Requirements: 1. Power supply unit 2. Microcontroller 3. MAX-232 IC 4. LCD 5. Keypad Unit 4. 2 POWER SUPPLY UNIT: Circuit Diagram [pic] Power supply unit consists of following units i) Step down transformer ii) Rectifier unit iii) Input filter iv) Regulator unit v) Output filter 4. 3. 1 Stepdown transformer: The Step down Transformer is used to step down the main supply voltage from 230V AC to lower value. This 230 AC voltage cannot be used directly, thus it is stepped down.The Transformer consists of primary and secondary coils. To reduce or step down the voltage, the transformer is designed to contain less number of turns in its secondary core. The output from the secondary coil is a lso AC waveform. Thus the conversion from AC to DC is essential. This conversion is achieved by using the Rectifier Circuit/Unit. 4. 3. 2 Rectifier Unit: The Rectifier circuit is used to convert the AC voltage into its corresponding DC voltage. There are Half-Wave, Full-Wave and bridge Rectifiers available for this specific function. The most important and simple device used in Rectifier circuit is the diode.The simple function of the diode is to conduct when forward biased and not to conduct in reverse bias. The Forward Bias is achieved by connecting the diode’s positive with positive of the battery and negative with battery’s negative. The efficient circuit used is the Full wave Bridge rectifier circuit. The output voltage of the rectifier is in rippled form, the ripples from the obtained DC voltage are removed using other circuits available. The circuit used for removing the ripples is called Filter circuit. 4. 3. 3 Input Filter: Capacitors are used as filter.The ri pples from the DC voltage are removed and pure DC voltage is obtained. And also these capacitors are used to reduce the harmonics of the input voltage. The primary action performed by capacitor is charging and discharging. It charges in positive half cycle of the AC voltage and it will discharge in negative half cycle. So it allows only AC voltage and does not allow the DC voltage. This filter is fixed before the regulator. Thus the output is free from ripples. 4. 3. 4 Regulator unit: [pic] 7805 Regulator Regulator regulates the output voltage to be always constant.The output voltage is maintained irrespective of the fluctuations in the input AC voltage. As and then the AC voltage changes, the DC voltage also changes. Thus to avoid this Regulators are used. Also when the internal resistance of the power supply is greater than 30 ohms, the output gets affected. Thus this can be successfully reduced here. The regulators are mainly classified for low voltage and for high voltage. Furth er they can also be classified as: i) Positive regulator 1—> input pin 2—> ground pin 3—> output pin It regulates the positive voltage. ii) Negative regulator —> ground pin 2—> input pin 3—> output pin It regulates the negative voltage. 4. 3. 5 Output Filter: The Filter circuit is often fixed after the Regulator circuit. Capacitor is most often used as filter. The principle of the capacitor is to charge and discharge. It charges during the positive half cycle of the AC voltage and discharges during the negative half cycle. So it allows only AC voltage and does not allow the DC voltage. This filter is fixed after the Regulator circuit to filter any of the possibly found ripples in the output received finally. Here we used 0. 1 µF capacitor.The output at this stage is 5V and is given to the Microcontroller. 4. 4 MICRO CONTROLLER: A computer-on-a-chip is a variation of a microprocessor which combines the processor core (CPU), some memory, and I/O (input/output) lines, all on one chip. The computer-on-a-chip is called the microcomputer whose proper meaning is a computer using a (number of) microprocessor(s) as its CPUs, while the concept of the microcomputer is known to be a microcontroller. A microcontroller can be viewed as a set of digital logic circuits integrated on a single silicon chip. This chip is used for only specific applications. . 4. 1 ADVANTAGES OF USING A MICROCONTROLLER OVER MICROPROCESSOR: A designer will use a Microcontroller to 1. Gather input from various sensors 2. Process this input into a set of actions 3. Use the output mechanisms on the Microcontroller to do something useful 4. RAM and ROM are inbuilt in the MC. 5. Cheap compared to MP. 6. Multi machine control is possible simultaneously. Examples: 8051 (ATMAL), PIC (Microchip), Motorola (Motorola), ARM Processor, Applications: Cell phones, Computers, Robots, Interfacing to two pc’s. 4. 4. 2 Microcontroller Core Features: †¢ High-per formance RISC CPU. Only 35 single word instructions to learn. †¢ All single cycle instructions except for program branches which are two cycle. †¢ Operating speed: DC – 20 MHz clock input DC – 200 ns instruction cycle. †¢ Up to 8K x 14 words of FLASH Program Memory, Up to 368 x 8 bytes of Data Memory (RAM) Up to 256 x 8 bytes of EEPROM data memory. †¢ Pin out compatible to the PIC16C73B/74B/76/77 †¢ Interrupt capability (up to 14 sources) †¢ Eight level deep hardware stack †¢ Direct, indirect and relative addressing modes. †¢ Power-on Reset (POR). †¢ Power-up Timer (PWRT) and Oscillator Start-up Timer (OST). Watchdog Timer (WDT) with its own on-chip RC oscillator for reliable operation. †¢ Programmable code-protection. †¢ Power saving SLEEP mode. †¢ Selectable oscillator options. †¢ Low-power, high-speed CMOS FLASH/EEPROM technology. †¢ Fully static design. †¢ In-Circuit Serial Programming (ICSP ) . †¢ Single 5V In-Circuit Serial Programming capability. †¢ In-Circuit Debugging via two pins. †¢ Processor read/write access to program memory. †¢ Wide operating voltage range: 2. 0V to 5. 5V. †¢ High Sink/Source Current: 25 mA. †¢ Commercial and Industrial temperature ranges. †¢ Low-power consumption.In this project we used PIC 16f877A microcontroller. PIC means Peripheral Interface Controller. The PIC family having different series. The series are 12- Series, 14- Series, 16- Series, 18- Series, and 24- Series. We used 16 Series PIC microcontroller. 3. PIC MICROCONTROLLER 16F877A 1. INTRODUCTION TO PIC MICROCONTROLLER 16F877A The PIC 16f877A microcontroller is a 40-pin IC. The first pin of the controller is MCLR pin and the 5V dc supply is given to this pin through 10K? resistor. This supply is also given to 11th pin directly. The 12th pin of the controller is grounded.A tank circuit consists of a 4 MHZ crystal oscillator and two 22pf capacitor s is connected to 13th and 14th pins of the PIC. 2. FEATURES OF PIC MICROCONTROLLER 16F877A †¢ Operating frequency: DC-20Mhz. †¢ Flash program memory (14 bit words):8K †¢ Data memory (in bytes): 368 †¢ EEPROM Data memory (in bytes):256 †¢ Interrupts: 15 †¢ I/o ports: A, B, C, D, E †¢ Timers: 3 †¢ Analog comparators: 2 †¢ Instructions: 35 4. 3. 3 pin diagram of pic 16f874a/877a: [pic] 4. 3. 4 FUNCTIONAL BLOCK DIAGRAM OF PIC 16F877A [pic] 4. 4 LCD Display: Liquid crystal display (LCD) has material which combines the properties of both liquid and crystals.They have a temperature range within which the molecules are almost as mobile as they would be in a liquid, but are grouped together in an order form similar to a crystal. LCD DISPLAY: [pic] More microcontroller devices are using ‘smart LCD' displays to output visual information. The following discussion covers the connection of a Hitachi LCD display to a PIC microcontroller. LCD disp lays designed around Hitachi's LCD HD44780 module, are inexpensive, easy to use, and it is even possible to produce a readout using the 8 x 80 pixels of the display.Hitachi LCD displays have a standard ASCII set of characters plus Japanese, Greek and mathematical symbols. For an 8-bit data bus, the display requires a +5V supply plus 11 I/O lines. For a 4-bit data bus it only requires the supply lines plus seven extra lines. When the LCD display is not enabled, data lines are tri-state which means they are in a state of high impedance (as though they are disconnected) and this means they do not interfere with the operation of the microcontroller when the display is not being addressed. The LCD also requires 3 â€Å"control† lines from the microcontroller. Enable (E) |This  line allows access to the display through R/W and RS lines. When this line is low, the LCD is disabled and | | |ignores signals from R/W and RS. When (E) line is high, the LCD checks the state of the two c ontrol lines and | | |responds accordingly. | |Read/Write (R/W) |This line determines the direction of data between the LCD and microcontroller. When it is low, data is written | | |to the LCD. When it is high, data is read from the LCD. |Register select (RS) |With the help of this line, the LCD interprets the type of data on data lines. When it is low, an instruction is | | |being written to the LCD. When it is high, a character is being written to the LCD. | Logic status on control lines: E  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   0 Access to LCD disabled 1 Access to LCD enabled R/W 0 Writing data to LCD 1 Reading data from LCD RS  Ã‚  Ã‚   0 Instruction 1 Character Writing data to the LCD is done in several steps: Set R/W bit to low Set RS bit to logic 0 or 1 (instruction or character) Set data to data lines (if it is writing) Set E line to highSet E line to low Read data from data lines (if it is reading). Reading data from the LCD is done in the same way, but control line R/W has to be high. When we send a high to the LCD, it will reset and wait for instructions. Typical instructions sent to LCD display after a reset are: turning on a display, turning on a cursor and writing characters from left to right. When the LCD is initialized, it is ready to continue receiving data or instructions. If it receives a character, it will write it on the display and move the cursor one space to the right. The Cursor marks the next location where a character will be written.When we want to write a string of characters, first we need to set up the starting address, and then send one character at a time. Characters that can be shown on the display are stored in data display (DD) RAM. The size of DDRAM is 80 bytes. |The LCD display also possesses 64 bytes of Character-Generator (CG)|[pic] | |RAM. This memory is used for characters defined by the user. Data | | |in CG RAM is represented as an 8-bit character bit-map.Each | | |character takes up 8 bytes of CG RAM, so the total number of | | |ch aracters, which the user can define, is eight. In order to read | | |in the character bit-map to the LCD display, we must first set the | | |CG RAM address to starting point (usually 0), and then write data | | |to the display.The definition of a ‘special' character is given in| | |the picture. | | Before we access DD RAM after defining a special character, the program must set the DD RAM address. Writing and reading data from any LCD memory is done from the last address which was set up using set-address instruction. Once the address of DD RAM is set, a new written character will be displayed at the appropriate place on the screen.Until now we discussed the operation of writing and reading to an LCD as if it were an ordinary memory. But this is not so. The LCD controller needs 40 to 120 microseconds (uS) for writing and reading. Other operations can take up to 5 mS. During that time, the microcontroller can not access the LCD, so a program needs to know when the LCD is bu sy. We can solve this in two ways. One way is to check the BUSY bit found on data line D7. This is not the best method because LCD's can get stuck, and program will then stay forever in a loop checking the BUSY bit. The other way is to introduce a delay in the program.The delay has to be long enough for the LCD to finish the operation in process. Instructions for writing to and reading from an LCD memory are shown in the previous table. At the beginning we mentioned that we needed 11 I/O lines to communicate with an LCD. However, we can communicate with an LCD through a 4-bit data bus. Thus we can reduce the total number of communication lines to seven. The wiring for connection via a 4-bit data bus is shown in the diagram below. In this example we use an LCD display with 2Ãâ€"16 characters, labeled LM16X212 by Japanese maker SHARP.The message ‘character' is written in the first row: and two special characters ‘~' and ‘}' are displayed. In the second row we have p roduced the word ‘mikroElektronika'. INTERFACING PIC MICROCONTROLLER TO LCD: [pic] 4. 5 DESIGN OF EMBEDDED SYSTEM Like every other system development design cycle embedded system too have a design cycle. The flow of the system will be like as given below. For any design cycle these will be the implementation steps. From the initial state of the project to the final fabrication the design considerations will be taken like the software consideration and the hardware components, sensor, input and output.The electronics usually uses either a microprocessor or a microcontroller. Some large or old systems use general-purpose mainframe computers or minicomputers. User Interfaces: User interfaces for embedded systems vary widely, and thus deserve some special comment. User interface is the ultimate aim for an embedded module as to the user to check the output with complete convenience. One standard interface, widely used in embedded systems, uses two buttons (the absolute minimum) to control a menu system (just to be clear, one button should be â€Å"next menu entry† the other button should be â€Å"select this menu entry†).Another basic trick is to minimize and simplify the type of output. Designs sometimes use a status light for each interface plug, or failure condition, to tell what failed. A cheap variation is to have two light bars with a printed matrix of errors that they select- the user can glue on the labels for the language that he speaks. For example, most small computer printers use lights labeled with stick-on labels that can be printed in any language. In some markets, these are delivered with several sets of labels, so customers can pick the most comfortable language.In many organizations, one person approves the user interface. Often this is a customer, the major distributor or someone directly responsible for selling the system. PLATFORM: There are many different CPU architectures used in embedded designs such as ARM, MIPS, Coldfir e/68k, PowerPC, X86, PIC, 8051, Atmel AVR, H8, SH, V850, FR-V, M32R etc. This in contrast to the desktop computer market, which as of this writing (2003) is limited to just a few competing architectures, mainly the Intel/AMD x86, and the Apple/Motorola/IBM PowerPC, used in the Apple Macintosh.With the growing acceptance of Java in this field, there is a tendency to even further eliminate the dependency on specific CPU/hardware (and OS) requirements. Standard PC/104 is a typical base for small, low-volume embedded and rugged zed system design. These often use DOS, Linux or an embedded real-time operating system such as QNX or Inferno. A common configuration for very-high-volume embedded systems is the system on a chip, an application-specific integrated circuit, for which the CPU was purchased as intellectual property to add to the IC's design.A related common scheme is to use a field-programmable gate array, and program it with all the logic, including the CPU. Most modern FPGAs are designed for this purpose. Tools: Like typical computer programmers, embedded system designers use compilers, assemblers, and debuggers to develop embedded system software. However, they also use a few tools that are unfamiliar to most programmers. Software tools can come from several sources: †¢ Software companies that specialize in the embedded market. †¢ Ported from the GNU software development tools.Sometimes, development tools for a personal computer can be used if the embedded processor is a close relative to a common PC processor. Embedded system designers also use a few software tools rarely used by typical computer programmers. One common tool is an â€Å"in-circuit emulator† (ICE) or, in more modern designs, an embedded debugger. This debugging tool is the fundamental trick used to develop embedded code. It replaces or plugs into the microprocessor, and provides facilities to quickly load and debug experimental code in the system. A small pod usually prov ides the special electronics to plug into the system.Often a personal computer with special software attaches to the pod to provide the debugging interface. Another common tool is a utility program (often home-grown) to add a checksum or CRC to a program, so it can check its program data before executing it. An embedded programmer that develops software for digital signal processing often has a math workbench such as MathCad or Mathematica to simulate the mathematics. Less common are utility programs to turn data files into code, so one can include any kind of data in a program. A few projects use Synchronous programming languages for extra reliability or digital signal processing.DEBUGGING: Debugging is usually performed with an in-circuit emulator, or some type of debugger that can interrupt the microcontroller's internal microcode. The microcode interrupt lets the debugger operate in hardware in which only the CPU works. The CPU-based debugger can be used to test and debug the el ectronics of the computer from the viewpoint of the CPU. This feature was pioneered on the PDP-11. As the complexity of embedded systems grows, higher level tools and operating systems are migrating into machinery where it makes sense.For example, cell phones, personal digital assistants and other consumer computers often need significant software that is purchased or provided by a person other than the manufacturer of the electronics. In these systems, an open programming environment such as Linux, OSGi or Embedded Java is required so that the third-party software provider can sell to a large market. OPERATING SYSTEM: Embedded systems often have no operating system, or a specialized embedded operating system (often a real-time operating system), or the programmer is assigned to port one of these to the new system.BUILT- IN SELF- TEST: Most embedded systems have some degree or amount of built-in self-test. There are several basic types. 1. Testing the computer. 2. Test of peripheral s. 3. Tests of power. 4. Communication tests. 5. Cabling tests. 6. Rigging tests. 7. Consumables test. 8. Operational test. 9. Safety test. START UP: All embedded systems have start-up code. Usually it disables interrupts, sets up the electronics, tests the computer (RAM, CPU and software), and then starts the application code. Many embedded systems recover from short-term power failures by restarting (without recent self-tests).Restart times under a tenth of a second are common. Many designers have found a few LEDs useful to indicate errors (they help troubleshooting). A common scheme is to have the electronics turn on all of the LED(s) at reset (thereby proving that power is applied and the LEDs themselves work), whereupon the software changes the LED pattern as the Power-On Self Test executes. After that, the software may blink the LED(s) or set up light patterns during normal operation to indicate program execution progress or errors. This serves to reassure most technicians/eng ineers and some users.An interesting exception is that on electric power meters and other items on the street, blinking lights are known to attract attention and vandalism. CHAPTER 5 [pic] 5. 1 Software Tools: 1. MPLAB 2. Protel 3. Propic 4. HI-Tech PIC C Compiler 5. 2 MPLAB Integration: MPLAB Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is a free, integrated toolset for the development of embedded applications employing Microchip's PIC micro and dsPIC microcontrollers. MPLAB IDE runs as a 32-bit application on MS Windows, is easy to use and includes a host of free software components for fast application development and super-charged debugging.MPLAB IDE also serves as a single, unified graphical user interface for additional Microchip and third party software and hardware development tools. Moving between tools is a snap, and upgrading from the free simulator to MPLAB ICD 2 or the MPLAB ICE emulator is done in a flash because MPLAB IDE has the same user interface for all tools. Choose MPLAB C18, the highly optimized compiler for the PIC18 series microcontrollers, or try the newest Microchip's language tools compiler, MPLAB C30, targeted at the high performance PIC24 and dsPIC digital signal controllers.Or, use one of the many products from third party language tools vendors. They integrate into MPLAB IDE to function transparently from the MPLAB project manager, editor and compiler. 5. 3 INTRODUCTION TO EMBEDDED ‘C’: Ex: Hitec – c, Keil – c HI-TECH Software makes industrial-strength software development tools and C compilers that help software developers write compact, efficient embedded processor code. For over two decades HI-TECH Software has delivered the industry's most reliable embedded software development tools and compilers for writing efficient and compact code to run on the most popular embedded processors.Used by tens of thousands of customers including General Motors, Whirlpool, Qualcomm, John Deere and many others, HI-TECH's reliable development tools and C compilers, combined with world-class support have helped serious embedded software programmers to create hundreds of breakthrough new solutions. Whichever embedded processor family you are targeting with your software, whether it is the ARM, PICC or 8051 series, HI-TECH tools and C compilers can help you write better code and bring it to market faster. HI-TECH PICC is a high-performance C compiler for the Microchip PIC micro 10/12/14/16/17 series of microcontrollers.HI-TECH PICC is an industrial-strength ANSI C compiler – not a subset implementation like some other PIC compilers. The PICC compiler implements full ISO/ANSI C, with the exception of recursion. All data types are supported including 24 and 32 bit IEEE standard floating point. HI-TECH PICC makes full use of specific PIC features and using an intelligent optimizer, can generate high-quality code easily rivaling hand-written assembler. Automatic handling of page and bank selection f rees the programmer from the trivial details of assembler code. 5. 4 Embedded C Compiler: ? ANSI C – full featured and portable Reliable – mature, field-proven technology ? Multiple C optimization levels ? An optimizing assembler ? Full linker, with overlaying of local variables to minimize RAM usage ? Comprehensive C library with all source code provided ? Includes support for 24-bit and 32-bit IEEE floating point and 32-bit long data types ? Mixed C and assembler programming ? Unlimited number of source files ? Listings showing generated assembler ? Compatible – integrates into the MPLAB IDE, MPLAB ICD and most 3rd-party development tools ? Runs on multiple platforms: Windows, Linux, UNIX, Mac OS X, Solaris Embedded Development Environment:PICC can be run entirely from the. This environment allows you to manage all of your PIC projects. You can compile, assemble and link your embedded application with a single step. Optionally, the compiler may be run directly from the command line, allowing you to compile, assemble and link using one command. This enables the compiler to be integrated into third party development environments, such as Microchip's MPLAB IDE. 5. 5 Embedded system tools: 5. 5. 1 Assembler: An assembler is a computer program for translating assembly language — essentially, a mnemonic representation of machine language — into object code.A cross assembler (see cross compiler) produces code for one type of processor, but runs on another. The computational step where an assembler is run is known as assembly time. Translating assembly instruction mnemonics into opcodes, assemblers provide the ability to use symbolic names for memory locations (saving tedious calculations and manually updating addresses when a program is slightly modified), and macro facilities for performing textual substitution — typically used to encode common short sequences of instructions to run inline instead of in a subroutine.Assemb lers are far simpler to write than compilers for high-level languages. Assembly language has several benefits: †¢ Speed: Assembly language programs are generally the fastest programs around. †¢ Space: Assembly language programs are often the smallest. †¢ Capability: You can do things in assembly which are difficult or impossible in High level languages. †¢ Knowledge: Your knowledge of assembly language will help you write better programs, even when using High level languages. An example of an assembler we use in our project is RAD 51. . 5. 2 Simulator: Simulator is a machine that simulates an environment for the purpose of training or research. We use a UMPS simulator for this purpose in our project. 5. 5. 3 UMPS: Universal microprocessor program simulator simulates a microcontroller with its external environment. UMPS is able to simulate external components connected to the microcontroller. Then, debug step is dramatically reduced. UMPS is not dedicated to only one microcontroller family, it can simulate all kind of microcontrollers.The main limitation is to have less than 64K-Bytes of RAM and ROM space and the good microcontroller library. UMPS provide all the facilities other low-cost simulator does not have. It offers the user to see the â€Å"real effect† of a program and a way to change the microcontroller family without changing IDE. UMPS provide a low-cost solution to the problems. UMPS is really the best solution to your evaluation. 5. 5. 4 UMPS key features: -The speed, UMPS can run as fast as 1/5 the real microcontroller speed. No need to wait 2 days to see the result of a LCD routine access.All the microcontroller parts are simulated, interrupts, communication protocol, parallel handshake, timer and so on. – UMPS have an integrated assembler/disassembler and debugger. It is able to accept an external assembler or compiler. It has a text editor which is not limited to 64K-bytes and shows keyword with color. It can a lso communicate with an external compiler to integrate all the debug facilities you need. – UMPS is universal, it can easily be extended to other microcontroller with a library. Ask us for toolkit development. – External resource simulation is not limited.It can be extended to your proper needs by writing your own DLL. – UMPS allows you to evaluate at the lowest cost the possibility to build a microcontroller project without any cable. – UMPS include a complete documentation on each microcontroller which describe special registers and each instruction 5. 5. 5 Compiler: A compiler is a program that reads a program in one language, the source language and translates into an equivalent program in another language, the target language. The translation process should also report the presence of errors in the source program. Source Program |> |  Compiler |> |Target Program | |   |   |v |   |   | |   |   |Error Messages |   |   | There are two parts of compilation. The analysis part breaks up the source program into constant piece and creates an intermediate representation of the source program. The synthesis part constructs the desired target program from the intermediate representation. 5. 5. 6 The cousins of the compiler are: 1. Preprocessor. 2.Assembler. 3. Loader and Link-editor. A naive approach to that front end might run the phases serially. 1. Lexical analyzer takes the source program as an input and produces a long string of tokens. 2. Syntax Analyzer takes an out of lexical analyzer and produces a large tree. Semantic analyzer takes the output of syntax analyzer and produces another tree. Similarly, intermediate code generator takes a tree as an input produced by semantic analyzer and produces  intermediate code 5. 5. 7 Phases of compiler: The compiler has a number of phases plus symbol table manager and an error handler.    |   |Input Source Program |   |   | |   |   |v |   |   | |   |   |Lexical Analyzer |   |   | |   |   |v |   |   | |   |   |Syntax Analyzer |   |   | |   |   |v |   |   | |Symbol Table Manager |   |Semantic Analyzer |   |  Error Handler | |   |   |v |   |   | |   |   |Intermediate Code |   |   | | | |Generator | | | |   |   |v |   |   | |   | Code Optimizer |   |   | |   |   |v |   |   | |   |   |Code Generator |   |   | |   |   |v |   |   | |   |   |Out Target Program |   |   | 5. 6 FABRICATION DETAILS The fabrication of one demonstration unit is carried out in the following sequence. ? Finalizing the total circuit diagram, listing out the components and sources of procurement. ? Procuring the components, testing the components and screening the components. ? Making layout, repairing the interconnection diagram as per the circuit diagram. Assembling the components as per the component layout and circuit diagram and soldering components. ? Integrating t he total unit, intertwining the unit and final testing the unit. CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION The System RFID BASED ENERGY is developed and operated successfully in the laboratory. The prepaid energy meter was working properly and perfectly. The circuit having potential and current transformers which gives the power consumption in analog form. This is converted to digital and the converted one is again converted into KWH form i. e one unit. According to the tariff rates stored in the microcontroller, The consumed units and cost are displayed on the LCD. Future enhancements: Our project is just to caluculate the reading i. consumed power and caluculate the cost and then display the cost on the LCD. In future this circuit can also be used as a prepaid energy meter using a smart type arrangement. For we want to add a smart card reader and relay in extra. Due to this every customer has a smart card with some credits and after completing these credits we again go to EB and recharge the card. The energy meter reading can be send to the EB by implementing small kind of SCADA system, using this the readings can be straightly monitor by the EB. CODE: #include;pic. h; #include†lcd_16x4. c† __CONFIG(XT & WDTDIS & PWRTDIS & BORDIS & LVPDIS & WRTEN & DEBUGDIS & DUNPROT & UNPROTECT); void init(); oid ADC_VTG_CT(); void ADC_VTG_CT1(); void disp_meter(); void delay(); write_eeprom(unsigned char add,unsigned int data); unsigned int read_eeprom(unsigned char add); unsigned int i, j,bal,gsmcost, curt,vltg,crt,tmp,tmp1,k,fcrt,escp,cap_time,testeng,Engeeprom,tempvalue,ROTabv100=0,ROTupt100=0; bank2 unsigned char mill_count,tick1=0,h[15],rec=0; bank1 unsigned char sec, min,hr,check1,VHUDS,VTENS,VONES,CHUDS, CTENS, CONES,COLACK,COTENTH, ETHOD,EHUDS,ETENS,EONES,COTHOD,COHUDS,COTENS,COONES,EEONES,EETHOD,EETENS,EEHUDS,EELACK,EETENTH,unteeprom,unit,var=0,u11,u12,u13; unsigned char tm,tt,th,ctl; float cpwt1,cpwt2,Energy,Cost_engy,Cost; bit check_dev,card_present; ank2 unsigned char q t,msg,n,set1=0,set2=0,set3=0,set,set4=0,tab,cap,cap1,cap2,eeprom_erase_cnt; unsigned interrupt isr(void) { if(TMR1IF) { TMR1IF=0; mill_count++; //mill_count, scan_count, keypress, check, keyok,key if(mill_count;=25) { mill_count=0; sec++; if(sec;=59) { tick1=1; sec =0; ctl=1; min++; if(min;59) { min=0; hr++; if(hr;23) { hr=0; } } } }//mill_count }//TMR1IF if(RCIF==1) { h[rec]=RCREG; rec++; if(rec==12) { card_present=1; rec=0; } RCIF=0; } } void main() { init(); RC4=0; while(1) { lcd_move(0,0); lcd_puts(â€Å"Energy Meter†); RC4=0; if(card_present==1) { lcd_move(1,0); lcd_puts(â€Å"Recharged:†); if(h[9]==51) { lcd_move(1,10); lcd_puts(â€Å"Rs. 100†); or(j=0;j;=45000;j++); for(j=0;j;=45000;j++); gsmcost= 100; set1=1; card_present==0; lcd_clear(); } if(h[9]==56) { lcd_move(1,10); lcd_puts(â€Å"Rs. 50 â€Å"); for(j=0;j;=45000;j++); for(j=0;j;=45000;j++); gsmcost= 50; set1=1; card_present==0; lcd_clear(); } } while(set1==1) //&& SW==1) { //while(SW==1); lcd_mov e(0,0); lcd_puts(â€Å"Energy Meter†); COLACK =read_eeprom(0x00); COTENTH =read_eeprom(0x01); COTHOD =read_eeprom(0x02); COHUDS =read_eeprom(0x03); COTENS =read_eeprom(0x04); COONES =read_eeprom(0x05); Engeeprom = ((COLACK*100000)+(COTENTH*10000)+(COTHOD*1000)+(CHUDS *100)+(COTENS *10)+COONES); unteeprom =read_eeprom(0x06); ROTupt100 =read_eeprom(0x07);ROTabv100 =read_eeprom(0x08); disp_meter(); RC4=1; DelayMs(10); ADC_VTG_CT(); } while(set2) { lcd_move(0,0); //lcd_putn(check1); disp_meter(); ADC_VTG_CT1(); lcd_move(0,0); lcd_puts(â€Å"vtg:†); lcd_write(VHUDS+0x30); lcd_write(VTENS+0x30); lcd_write(VONES+0x30); lcd_move(0,8); lcd_puts(â€Å"crt:†); lcd_write(CHUDS+0x30); lcd_puts(â€Å". â€Å"); lcd_write(CTENS+0x30); lcd_write(CONES+0x30); RC4=1; DelayMs(10); if(curt) { tm = min – cap_time; //check1=1; if(min ; 58) { th++; } tt = (th*60)+tm; if(ctl==1) { ctl=0; //check1=2; Energy = ((vltg * curt *(float)tt)/100000); Energy = Energy*1000; testeng = (i nt)Energy; Energy = Energy/1000; Cost = Energy * cpwt1;Cost_engy = Cost + Cost_engy; bal = gsmcost – Cost_engy ; Cost_engy = Cost_engy*1000; Engeeprom = (int)Cost_engy; //bal = gsmcost – Engeeprom ; fcrt =bal; COLACK = fcrt/100000; fcrt=fcrt%100000; COTENTH=fcrt/10000; fcrt=fcrt%10000; COTHOD=fcrt/1000; fcrt=fcrt%1000; COHUDS=fcrt/100; fcrt=fcrt%100; COTENS=fcrt/10; fcrt=fcrt%10; COONES=fcrt; write_eeprom(0x00,COLACK); write_eeprom(0x01,COTENTH); write_eeprom(0x02,COTHOD); write_eeprom(0x03,COHUDS); write_eeprom(0x04,COTENS); write_eeprom(0x05,COONES); DelayMs(2); Cost_engy = Cost_engy/1000; if(Energy;0. 900) { Energy = 0; unit++; unteeprom = unit; write_eeprom(0x06,unteeprom); DelayMs(2); if(unit==100) { cpwt1 = cpwt2; nit = 0; } } } } else { set1=1; set2=0; lcd_clear(); } /*if(SW==1) { while(SW==1); RC4=0; set1=0; set2=0; lcd_clear(); } */ }//while(set2) }//while(1) }//main() void init() { TRISA = 0xFF; TRISB = 0xF0; TRISC = 0x80; PORTB = 0x00; ADCON1=0X82; GIE=PEIE= TMR1IE=RCIE=1; TMR1L=0X17; TMR1H=0XFC; SPBRG=25; BRGH=1; RCSTA=0X90; TXSTA=0X24; cpwt1 = . 4; Cost_engy = 0; unit = 0; unteeprom = 0; Engeeprom = 0; eeprom_erase_cnt=read_eeprom(0x10); if(eeprom_erase_cnt;5) { eeprom_erase_cnt=0; write_eeprom(0x10,0); write_eeprom(0x00,0); write_eeprom(0x01,0); write_eeprom(0x02,0); write_eeprom(0x03,0); write_eeprom(0x04,0); write_eeprom(0x05,0); } else { eprom_erase_cnt++; write_eeprom(0x10,eeprom_erase_cnt); } lcd_init(); //set1=1; T1CON=0X01; DelayMs(10); } void disp_meter() { if(set1) { lcd_move(1,0); lcd_puts(â€Å"U:†); lcd_putn(unteeprom); } if(set2) { fcrt =testeng; ETHOD=fcrt/1000; fcrt=fcrt%1000; EHUDS=fcrt/100; fcrt=fcrt%100; ETENS=fcrt/10; fcrt=fcrt%10; EONES=fcrt; lcd_move(1,0); lcd_puts(â€Å"E:†); lcd_write(ETHOD+0x30); lcd_puts(â€Å". â€Å"); lcd_write(EHUDS+0x30); lcd_write(ETENS+0x30); lcd_write(EONES+0x30); } lcd_move(1,8); lcd_puts(â€Å"C:†); if(COLACK) { lcd_write(COLACK+0x30); lcd_write(COTENTH+0x30); lcd_write(COTHOD+0x30); } else if(COTENTH) { lcd_write(COTENTH+0x30); lcd_write(COTHOD+0x30); //lcd_puts(â€Å". ); lcd_write(COHUDS+0x30); lcd_write(COTENS+0x30); //lcd_write(COONES+0x30); } else { lcd_write(COTHOD+0x30); lcd_puts(â€Å". â€Å"); lcd_write(COHUDS+0x30); lcd_write(COTENS+0x30); lcd_write(COONES+0x30); } /*********************AT COMMANDS********gsm energy meter coding********* if(tick1==1) { tick1=0; u11=unteeprom/100; u12=(unteeprom%100)/10; u13=unteeprom%10; sendtopc1(â€Å"AT†); TXREG=13; while(! TXREG); delay(); for(k=0; k