The Promotional Strategies of Smart and Globe Essay Example for Free

The Promotional Strategies of Smart and Globe Essay Starting from telegraphic and telephonic systems in the19th Century, the field of telephonic communication has now Expanded to make use of advanced technologies like GSM, CDMA and WLL to the great 3G Technology in mobile phones. Day by day, both the Public Players and the Private Players are Putting in their resources and efforts to improve the Telecommunication technology so as to give the maximum to Their customers. In business, it is important to use various and innovative promotional strategies to expand the demand of your product and to earn more consumers. It is one of the main things a business or a company must do to keep on working. There are 3 different ways to promote a product: to show information to consumers as well as others; to increase the demand; and change the product. Any use of those three is called the promotional strategy. Considering that competition in the business field is continuously growing, implementing efficient strategies through promoting products are indeed significant for all operators in any industry. Background of the Study Over the years since cellphones were widely used, various networking companies have succeeded in promoting their products to their subscribers. But up to this moment, only two networking companies have truly taken the top-spot of the networks – Smart and Globe Telecom – two of the most widely used networks today. The two networking companies have been using different strategies to promote their products, such as SIM cards for cellphones and Wireless Internet connectors for computers or laptops. SMART Telecommunications, being the largest mobile operator in the Philippines, is also the Internet service subsidiary of the  Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company  (PLDT) for over 45 million cellular subscribers (Smart Comm. 2010). Smart Communications, Inc. is the Philippines’ leading wireless services provider with 34. 2 million subscribers on its GSM network (Smart Comm. , 2008). Of its total subscriber base, 20. 9 million subscribers are served under the brands Smart Buddy, Smart Gold and Smart Infinity and another 13. 3 million subscribers are served through its subsidiary, Pilipino Telephone Corp. , under the brand Talk ‘N Text. SMART has built a reputation for innovation, having introduced world-first wireless data services, including mobile commerce services such as Smart Money, Smart Load and Smart Padala. SMART also offers a 3G service, Smart 3G. These actually help SMART attain a very versatile service for its subscribers. (www. smart. com. ph) On the other hand, Globe Telecom provides mobile, fixed line, and broadband Internet services. It is the second largest mobile operator in the Philippines, with 27 million customers second only to SMART and PLDT. It also provides various services like SIM networks and Wireless Internet connectors. The most effective way to attract and retain the value- conscious Philippine mobile customer was to spur action through time-limited marketing promotions† (Globe Telecom, 2009) Globe Telecom will start to offer 3G mobile services during Q2 2006. The operator will provide its next-generation services free of charge as part of a promotional campaign in select cities . As mobile growth continues at a steady pace in the Philippines there were 36mn subscribers at the end of 2005, representing penetration of about 43% we expect 3G services to be a key source of growth in the industry. With BMI forecasting mobile penetration rates to exceed 70% in 2009, there will be little room for further subscriber growth. Globe Telecom also recognized that the most effective way to attract and retain the value-conscious Philippine mobile customer was to spur action through time-limited marketing promotions. (www. telecomsinsight. com) They attained more production through time valuing and speed production, because they believe that being quick brings in more services! In such an environment, success comes to the fast, nimble and intelligent—de? ed by the ability to target market opportunities with tactical campaigns, monitor their effectiveness and ? ne tune them in short order. That’s exactly how Globe Telecom—the number two provider in the Philippines, with 27 million customers—is approaching the competitive challenge. Globe speci? cally recognized that the most effective way to attract and retain the value-conscious Philippine mobile customer was to spur action through time-limited marketing promotions—for example, reload HSDPA service with PHP30 and also get 24 hours unlimited SMS product. Call it opportunistic marketing in the extreme. (http://www-05. ibm. om/innovations) The main objective of this research is to assess the different promotional strategies of SMART and Globe Telecom Networks in the Philippines. The reasons that pushed the researchers to write about this topic is because one of the most widely used technologies today involve the use of networking, and the main providers of such networking use different promotional strategies to beat the competition. The researchers will provide adequate information about the processes and procedures of the networking companies and also the different perceptions of the respondents the researchers are going to interview. Objectives of the Study The research entitled â€Å"The Promotional Strategies of Smart and Globe as Perceived by the Selected Mass Comm Students of New Era University† has the following objectives: 1. What are the promotional strategies of Smart and Globe? 2. What benefits do respondents enjoy out of these promotional strategies? 3. How does Smart and Globe execute these promotional strategies? 4. What problems are experienced by the respondents on these promotional strategies? 5. What solutions are rewarded to help respondents when it comes to the problems on promotional strategies? Scope and Limitations The research titled â€Å"The Promotional Strategies of Smart and Globe as Perceived by the Selected Mass Comm Students of New Era University† includes the information of the respondents’ perceptions according to the survey that will be given, and also the information from the references used. The research will only limit its survey to 50 selected First Year Mass Comm Students of New Era University. Also, The Researchers did not include any other network companies besides Smart Comm. and Globe Telecomm. Significance of the Study The research entitled â€Å"The Promotional Strategies of Smart and Globe As Perceived by the Selected Mass Comm Students of New Era University† will be beneficial to the following: The students, or the teenagers, who are usually the most extensive users or subscribers of the said networks. Based on how they are the one that is easy to convince on the promos of Text or Call promos of the network companies. The general readers, who will get to know the promotional techniques of Globe and Smart. Especially on the marketing management of the telecom company to find out how they can improve more their innovative strategy on promoting or making promos on telecommunication industry. The network company of Smart and Globe Telecom, who will understand and observe in this study the convenience of the text/call promos they promote to their subscribers and on their preparedness on how they approach to the competition. Definition of Terms The definition of these terms will help the readers to better understand this research paper. a. Promotion is one of the four elements of  marketing mix  (product, price, promotion, and place). . Cellphones   is a device that can make and receive  telephone calls  over a  radio link  whilst moving around a wide geographic area. c. Strategy a word of  military  origin that refers to a  plan  of action designed to achieve a particular  goal. d. Innovative is the creation of better or more effective  products,  processes,à ‚  services,  technologies, or  ideas  that are accepted by  markets,governments, and  society. e. Network A  directory  of people maintained for their advancement f. Consumers someone who trades  money  for  goods  as an individual. g. Subscriber a person who  subscribes  to a  publication  or a  service h. SIM card a small,  removable  card  smaller than a  credit card  which stores  mobile phone  data  such as  contact  names  and  numbers,  SMSs  and  security  information i. Company An  entity  that  manufactures  or  sells  products  (also known as  goods), or provides  services  as a  commercial  venture; a corporation j. Fixed Line A  fixed  telephone  communications  cable. k. Operator A  telecommunications  facilitator  whose job is to establish temporary network connections. l. Subsidiary A  company  owned by the  parent company  or  holding company.

IVR Cloud Migration Project

IVR Cloud Migration Project INTRODUCTION The primary objective of the IVR Cloud Migration Project is to Lift and Shift their working Applications into the AWS Cloud Environment. The Lift and Shift of the IVR Applications are recommended to have automation the least amount of human interaction to build and deploy onto AWS Cloud. This document will give a step-by-step process to carry out the task of automating the creation and maintenance of the applications. REQUIREMENTS The IVR Applications require the following resources to replicate and automate the on-premise environment onto AWS Cloud. In the Automation Process, the requirement is to have minimal human interaction and have an automation pipeline from creating a build for the application to creating, deploying and configuring until a running application instance is setup. The tools that are required are as follows: AWS EC2 Instances WebSphere Liberty Profile Jenkins Pipeline CyberArk Authentication Ansible Tower AWS CloudFormation AWS Elastic Load Balancers AWS S3 Bucket ELASTIC COMPUTE CLOUD (EC2) Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) is a virtual computing environment which provides users the platform to create applications and allowing them to scale their applications by providing Infrastructure as a Service. Key Concepts associated with an EC2 are Virtual computing environments are known as instances. Preconfigured templates for your instances, known as Amazon Machine Images (AMIs), that package the bits you need for your server (including the operating system and additional software). Various configurations of CPU, memory, storage, and networking capacity for your instances, known as instance types. Secure login information for your instances using key pairs (AWS stores the public key, and you store the private key in a secure place). Storage volumes for temporary data thats deleted when you stop or terminate your instance, known as instance store volumes. Persistent storage volumes for your data using Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS), known as Amazon EBS volumes. Multiple physical locations for your resources, such as instances and Amazon EBS volumes, known as regions and Availability Zones. A firewall that enables you to specify the protocols, ports, and source IP ranges that can reach your instances using security groups. Static IPv4 addresses for dynamic cloud computing, known as Elastic IP addresses. Metadata, known as tags, that you can create and assign to your Amazon EC2 resources. Virtual networks you can create that are logically isolated from the rest of the AWS Cloud, and that you can optionally connect to your own network, known as Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs). WEBSPHERE LIBERTY PROFILE IBM WebSphere Application Server V8.5 Liberty Profile is a composable, dynamic application server environment that supports development and testing of web applications. The Liberty profile is a simplified, lightweight development and application runtime environment that has the following characteristics: Simple to configure. Configuration is read from an XML file with text-editor friendly syntax. Dynamic and flexible. The run time loads only what your application needs and recomposes the run time in response to configuration changes. Fast. The server starts in under 5 seconds with a basic web application. Extensible. The Liberty profile provides support for user and product extensions, which can use System Programming Interfaces (SPIs) to extend the run time. JENKINS Jenkins is a self-contained, open source automation server which can be used to automate all sorts of tasks such as building, testing, and deploying software. Jenkins can be installed through native system packages, Docker, or even run standalone by any machine with the Java Runtime Environment installed. Jenkins Pipeline is a suite of plugins which supports implementing and integrating continuous delivery pipelines into Jenkins. Pipeline provides an extensible set of tools for modeling simple-to-complex delivery pipelines as code. A Jenkinsfile which is a text file that contains the definition of a Jenkins Pipeline is checked into source control. This is the foundation of Pipeline-As-Code; treating the continuous delivery pipeline a part of the application to be version and reviewed like any other code. REQUIREMENTS The Requirements for Jenkins Server includes the following: The size requirement for a Jenkins instance is that there is no one size fits all answer the exact specifications of the hardware that you will need will depend heavily on your organizations needs. Your Jenkins master runs on Java and requires to have the OpenJDK installed on the Instance with the JAVA_HOME path Set. Jenkins runs on a local webserver like Tomcat and requires it to be configured. RAM allotted for it can range from 200 MB for a small installation to 70+ GB for a single and massive Jenkins master. However, you should be able to estimate the RAM required based on your project build needs. Each build node connection will take 2-3 threads, which equals about 2 MB or more of memory. You will also need to factor in CPU overhead for Jenkins if there are a lot of users who will be accessing the Jenkins user interface. The more automated the environment configuration is, the easier it is to replicate a configuration onto a new agent machine. Tools for configuration management or a pre-baked image can be excellent solutions to this end. Containers and virtualization are also popular tools for creating generic agent environments. JENKINS FILE STRUCTURE Jenkins File Structure is a model to automate the non-human part of the whole software development process, with now common things like continuous integration, but by further empowering teams to implement the technical part of a Continuous Delivery. Directory Description . jenkins The default Jenkins home directory. Fingerprints This directory is used by Jenkins to keep track of artifact fingerprints. We look at how to track artifacts later in the book. jobs This directory contains configuration details about the build jobs that Jenkins manages, as well as the artifacts and data resulting from these builds. plugins This directory contains any plugins that you have installed. Plugins allow you to extend Jenkins by adding extra feature. Note Except the Jenkins core plugins (subversion, cvs, ssh-slaves, maven, and scid-ad), no plugins are stored with Jenkins executable, or expanded web application directory. updates This is an internal directory used by Jenkins to store information about available plugin updates. userContent You can use this directory to place your own custom content onto your Jenkins server. You can access files in this directory at http://myserver/userContent (stand-alone). users If you are using the native Jenkins user database, user accounts will be stored in this directory. war This directory contains the expanded web application. When you start Jenkins as a stand-alone application, it will extract the web application into this directory. JENKINS SETUP Jenkins Setup is carried out on a managing server which has access to all your remote servers or nodes. The Process can be demonstrated with a few simple steps. Jenkins has native integrations with different Operating Systems. These are the Operating Systems that support Jenkins are: Solaris 10 Ubuntu Red Hat Distributions Windows UNIX Daemon Docker JENKINS CONFIGURATION The Configuration file for Jenkins is used to make certain changes to the default configuration. The Priority configuration changes are searched by Jenkins in the following order: Jenkins will be launched as a daemon on startup. See /etc/init.d/jenkins for more details. The jenkins user is created to run this service. If you change this to a different user via the config file, you must change the owner of /var/log/jenkins, /var/lib/jenkins, and /var/cache/jenkins. Log file will be placed in /var/log/jenkins/jenkins.log. Check this file if you are troubleshooting Jenkins. /etc/sysconfig/jenkins will capture configuration parameters for the launch. By default, Jenkins listen on port 8080. Access this port with your browser to start configuration.ÂÂ   Note that the built-in firewall may have to be opened to access this port from other computers. A Jenkins RPM repository is added in /etc/yum.repos.d/jenkins.repo CREATE A JENKINS PIPELINE The requirement for creating a pipeline is to have a repository with the Jenkins file which holds the declaration of the pipeline. STEP 1: Select New Item from the Jenkins Dashboard. New Item on the Jenkins home page src=https://aaimagestore.s3.amazonaws.com/july2017/0020514.008.png> STEP 2: Enter a Name for the Pipeline and Select Pipeline from the list of options. Click OK. STEP 3: Toggle Tabs to Customize the Pipeline to Click Apply. STEP 4: To Build the Job, Click Build Now on the Dashboard to run the Pipeline. ANSIBLE Ansible Tower is the Automation tool used in this project and is a simple tool to manage multiple nodes. Ansible is recommended to automate the deployment and configuration management of the System and its Applications. Ansible Automation can be setup on any machine as it does not require a daemon or database. It will begin with the assigned user to SSH into a host file. This allows the user to run the Ansible script to execute the roles which runs various tasks defined. NOTE: In scope of the IVR applications the ansible script executes multiple roles for the creation of EC2 Instances and the installation of WebSphere Applications. Each of these roles have their very own YAML script to create and populate the instance. REQUIREMENTS The Requirements for Ansible Server includes the following: Ansible Tower Setup requires to be on a Linux Instance (CentOS or RHEL), Linux setup for some basic services including: Git, Python, OpenSSL. Some Additional Requirement: Jinja2: A modern, fast and easy to use stand-alone template engine for Python. PyYAML: A YAML parser and emitter for the Python programming language. Paramiko: A native Python SSHv2 channel library. Httplib2: A comprehensive HTTP client library. SSHPass: A non-interactive SSH password authentication. ANSIBLE FILE STRUCTURE Ansible Playbook is a model of configuration or a process which contains number of plays. Each play is used to map a group of hosts to some well-defined roles which can be represented by ansible call tasks. Master Playbook The Master Playbook file contains the information of the rest of the Playbook. The Master Playbook for the project has been given as Site.yml. This YAML script is used to define the roles to execute. NOTE: The roles in the Master Playbook are invoked to perform their respective tasks. Path = /ivr/aws_env/playbooks/ivr SITE.YML Inventory Ansible contains information about the hosts and groups of hosts to be managed in the hosts file. This is also called an inventory file. Path = /ivr/aws_env/playbooks/ivr/inventory Group Variables and Host Variables Similar to the hosts inventory file, you can also include hosts and groups of hosts configuration variables in a separate configuration folder like group_vars and hosts_vars. These can include configuration parameters, whether on the application or operating system level, which may not be valid for all groups or hosts. This is where having multiple files can be useful: inside group_vars or hosts_vars, you can create a group or host in more than one way, allowing you to define specific configuration parameters. Roles Roles in Ansible build on the idea of include files and combine them to form clean, reusable abstractions they allow you to focus more on the big picture and only define the details when needed. To correctly use roles with Ansible, you need to create a roles directory in your working Ansible directory, and then any necessary sub-directories. The Following displays the Playbook Structure for Ansible. ANSIBLE SETUP Ansible Setup is carried out on a managing server which has access to all your remote servers or nodes. The Process can be demonstrated with a few simple steps. Step I. Login as the Root User on the Instance where Ansible needs to be installed. Use the sudo apt-get install ansible -y command to install the package onto an Ubuntu/Debian System. Use the sudo yum install ansible -y command to install the package onto a CentOS/RHEL/Fedora System. Step II. The Ansible system can connect to any remote server using SSH by authenticating the request. NOTE: Ansible can use ssh-keygen to create a RSA encrypted key and can copy it to the remote server to connect using SSH without authentication. Step III. Create an Inventory file which is used to work against multiple systems across the infrastructure at the same time. This is executed by taking portions of the systems linked in the Inventory file. The Default path for the Inventory file is etc/ansible/hosts. NOTE This path can be changed by using -i which is a recommended option depending on the project requirement. There can be more than one inventory files which can be executed at the same time. The inventory file holds the group names which defines the group of servers that are maintained together. The inventory file needs to be populated with the host IP Addresses that are to be accessed. The inventory file is as follows: Path = /ivr/aws_env/playbooks/ivr/inventory hosts The IVR in the brackets indicates group names. Group names are used to classify systems and determining which systems you are going to control at what times and for what reason. The group name can be used to interact with all the hosts alongside different modules (-m) defined in ansible. Example: ansible -m ping IVR ANSIBLE CONFIGURATION The Configuration file for Ansible is used to make certain changes to the default configuration. The Priority configuration changes are searched by ansible in the following order: Path= /ivr/aws_env/playbooks/ivr/etc/ansible.cfg is the path setup for ansible configuration changes. CLOUD FORMATION AWS CloudFormation is a service that helps you model and set up your Amazon Web Services resources so that you can spend less time managing those resources and more time focusing on your applications that run-in AWS. You create a template that describes all the AWS resources that you want (like Amazon EC2 instances or Amazon RDS DB instances), and AWS CloudFormation takes care of provisioning and configuring those resources for you. You dont need to individually create and configure AWS resources and figure out whats dependent on what; AWS CloudFormation handles all of that. CloudFormation Template CloudFormation templates are created for the service or application architectures you want and have AWS CloudFormation use those templates for quick and reliable provisioning of the services or applications (called stacks). You can also easily update or replicate the stacks as needed. Example Template STEPS TO LAUNCH A CLOUD FORMATION STACK Sign in to AWS Management Console and open the Cloud Formation console at http://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudformation/ From the navigation bar select the region for the instance Click on the Create a New Stack. Choose an Option from a Sample Template, Template to S3 and S3 Template URL Using a template to build an EC2 Instance Enter a Stack Name and Provide the Key Pair to SSH into the Instance. a A Add Tags to the Instance, this also help organize your instance to group with application specific, team specific instances. Review and Create Stack. CloudFormation Stack starts building the stack using the template. In Scope of this Project, IVR Application Instances are build using a Cloud Formation Template and will be triggered using Ansible Role. Simple Storage Service (S3) Elastic Load Balancer (ELB) A load balancer serves as a single point of contact for clients, which increases the availability of your application. You can add and remove instances from your load balancer as your needs change, without disrupting the overall flow of requests to your application. Elastic Load Balancing scales your load balancer as traffic to your application changes over time, and can scale to the clear majority of workloads automatically. You can configure health checks, which are used to monitor the health of the registered instances so that the load balancer can send requests only to the healthy instances. You can also offload the work of encryption and decryption to your load balancer so that your instances can focus on their main work. ÂÂ  Setting Up an Elastic Load Balancer Step 1: Select a Load Balancer Type Elastic Load Balancing supports two types of load balancers: Application Load Balancers and Classic Load Balancers. To create an Elastic Load Balancer, Open the Amazon EC2 console and choose Load Balancers on the navigation pane. Step 2: Configure Your Load Balancer and Listener On the Configure Load Balancer page, complete the following procedure. To configure your load balancer and listener 1. For Name, type a name for your load balancer. The name of your Application Load Balancer must be unique within your set of Application Load Balancers for the region, can have a maximum of 32 characters, can contain only alphanumeric characters and hyphens, and must not begin or end with a hyphen. 2. For Scheme, keep the default value, internet-facing. 3. For IP address type, select ipv4 if your instances support IPv4 addresses or dual stack if they support IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. 4. For Listeners, keep the default, which is a listener that accepts HTTP traffic on port 80. 5. For Availability Zones, select the VPC that you used for your EC2 instances. For each of the two Availability Zones that contain your EC2 instances, select the Availability Zone and then select the public subnet for that Availability Zone. 6. Choose Next: Configure Security Settings. Step 3: Configure a Security Group for Your Load Balancer The security group for your load balancer must allow it to communicate with registered targets on both the listener port and the health check port. The console can create security groups for your load balancer on your behalf, with rules that specify the correct protocols and ports. Note If you prefer, you can create and select your own security group instead. For more information, see Recommended Rules in the Application Load Balancer Guide. On the Configure Security Groups page, complete the following procedure to have Elastic Load Balancing create a security group for your load balancer on your behalf. Step 4: Configure Your Target Group To configure a security group for your load balancer 1. Choose Create a new security group. 2. Type a name and description for the security group, or keep the default name and description. This new security group contains a rule that allows traffic to the load balancer listener port that you selected on the Configure Load Balancer page. 3. Choose Next: Configure Routing. Step 4: Configure Your Target Group Create a target group, which is used in request routing. The default rule for your listener routes requests to the to registered targets in this target group. The load balancer checks the health of targets in this target group using the health check settings defined for the target group. On the Configure Routing page, complete the following procedure. To configure your target group 1. For Target group, keep the default, New target group. 2. For Name, type a name for the new target group. 3. Keep Protocol as HTTP and Port as 80. 4. For Health checks, keep the default protocol and ping path. 5. Choose Next: Register Targets. Step 5: Register Targets with Your Target Group On the Register Targets page, complete the following procedure. To register targets with the target group 1. For Instances, select one or more instances. 2. Keep the default port, 80, and choose Add to registered. 3. If you need to remove an instance that you selected, for Registered instances, select the instance and then choose Remove. 4. When you have finished selecting instances, choose Next: Review. Step 6: Create and Test Your Load Balancer Before creating the load balancer, review the settings that you selected. After creating the load balancer, verify that its sending traffic to your EC2 instances. To create and test your load balancer 1. On the Review page, choose Create. 2. After you are notified that your load balancer was created successfully, choose Close. 3. On the navigation pane, under LOAD BALANCING, choose Target Groups. 4. Select the newly created target group. 5. On the Targets tab, verify that your instances are ready. If the status of an instance is initial, its probably because the instance is still in the process of being registered, or it has not passed the Auto Scaling AUTOMATION OVERVIEW There are 2 Parts of the Automation Process which is used To Create a Custom AMI for all IVR Applications To Create Instances for Each Application using the Custom AMI. STEPS TO CREATE THE CUSTOM AMI The process of automating this environment starts from creating a Jenkins Pipeline for code deploy to the application that needs to be build. The Pipeline also needs integration of CyberArk for the Authentication and registering the service account required for the automation. The following process is triggered as part of the Ansible playbook where it performs multiple roles to complete automation of the Application. The Ansible role first calls for a CloudFormation Template. A CloudFormation Template is used to Build a Stack required (EC2 Instance). This template is given the AMI ID of the Verizon standard. The CloudFormation Template after the creation of the Instance triggers a WebSphere Role from Ansible that installs the OpenJDK, WebSphere Liberty Profile, creating a WLP User and Add the Necessary Net groups for the application. An AMI of the Instance at this point is created. STEPS TO CREATE THE APPLICATION INSTANCES The process of automating this environment starts from creating a Jenkins Pipeline for code deploy to the application that needs to be build. The Pipeline also needs integration of CyberArk for the Authentication and registering the service account required for the automation. The following process is triggered as part of the Ansible playbook where it performs multiple roles to complete automation of the Application. The Ansible role first calls for a CloudFormation Template. A CloudFormation Template is used to Build a Stack required (EC2 Instance). This template is given the Custom AMI created for IVR. After the creation of the Instance an S3 Role is triggered from Ansible. The S3 Role Performs the Ansible Role based on the Application Instance. NOTE: An S3 Bucket with folder structure for each application is maintained to keep the updated code and certificates along with other required installation files. IVR Touch Point S3 role fetches the EAR files, configuration files and the certificates in the IVR-TP folder of the S3 bucket and install them on the Instance that is created by the Cloud Formation Role. IVR Middleware S3 role fetches the EAR files, configuration files and the certificates in the IVR-MW folder of the S3 bucket and install them on the Instance that is created by the Cloud Formation Role. IVR Activations S3 role fetches the EAR files, configuration files and the certificates in the IVR-Activations of the S3 bucket and install them on the Instance that is created by the Cloud Formation Role. IVR CTI S3 role fetches the IBM eXtreme Scale Grid Installation followed by Siteminder SSO installation. After the application requirements are fulfilled, the EAR files, configuration files and the certificates in the IVR-CTI folder of the S3 bucket are deployed on the Instance. IVR Work Hub S3 role fetches the IBM eXtreme Scale Grid Installation followed by Siteminder SSO installation. After the application requirements are fulfilled, the EAR files, configuration files and the certificates in the IVR

Concept of Nationalism in Contemporary Political Geography

Concept of Nationalism in Contemporary Political Geography To what extent is the concept of nationalism useful for understanding contemporary political geography? Use examples to illustrate your answer. In order to analyse to what extent the concept of nationalism is useful for understating contemporary political geography, it is important to define what is meant by the concepts. Nationalism can be defined as an ‘identification with ones own nation and support for its interests.’ (Dictionaries, 2018) However, the concept of nationalism is much more complexed and I intend to expand on this during the course of the essay.   When discussing political geography it refers to ‘the branch of geography that deals with the boundaries, divisions, and possessions of states.’  (Dictionaries, 2018) With the key concepts defined it allows us to examine the question in depth. In this essay I intend to demonstrate, using a variety of examples that the concept of nationalism forms a core foundation in several contemporary debates in political geography and thus it can be useful to understanding it. One of the main reasons that nationalism has become present in contemporary political geography is due to geographical reasons.   It can be concluded that those countries with a stronger sense of national identity have a more isolationist approach and place the benefits of their own countries above that of everything else. It is evident that geographical location plays a large part in a countries sense of national identity. Britain has already acquired a strong sense of national identity, however, many argue that this sense of national identity has developed further due to its geographical location – they have no bordering nations. This concept is also visible in other countries with few bordering nations such as the USA. (Agnew, et al., 2003)This isolation means that they form more nationalist viewpoints which as I will demonstrate has a direct impact of contemporary political debates. Nationalism has also come about in contemporary political geography due to historical reasons which have, again, led to nationalist viewpoint and approaches and thus impacted several contemporary political debates. Using the example of Europe, it becomes clear to see that certain countries overtime have become dominant through their military power and strong trade links. Countries have fought for authority and those that have come out on top such as Britain can see this reflected in their national identity, which is one of pride. Their dominance over Europe has led the country to have an isolationist approach to contemporary political geography issues.   In contrast, those countries in Europe such as France which has over history suffered greatly from its vulnerability and military weakness has led to them needed strong ties with its neighbouring countries in order to help protect themselves. This has meant that over time their sense of national identity has diminished. This is reflected in contemporary political geography issues as they are certainly more open to changes, such as further integration in Europe and the issues surrounding asylum seekers, than countries with a stronger sense of national identity such as Britain. (Agnew, et al., 2003) Britain’s political stability has remained similar over time and this is what has brought about such a strong sense of national identity. In the context of nationalism and contemporary political geography the current issues faced in regards to integration in Europe are a prime example of an issue in which the two concepts are present.   The concept of nationalism is apparent here because while some are encouraging an improvement in integration, others are concerned that this will decrease individual state sovereignty.   It can be concluded that state sovereignty is one of the key aspects of nationalism. It has allowed each nation to govern itself and have its own authority, elections have made people feel part of the governance of their own nation and thus has allowed each nation to develop its own sense of national identity. For example, over history, Britain and its national sovereignty has allowed it to rule over its empire and colonies. This has led to a strong sense of national identity within the nation and a cautious view towards European integration. (Adler-Nissen, 2015) Political geography is present in this debate because it concerns the boundaries of states. In this example there are many who argue that a more integrated Europe should be one in which boundaries are broken down between nations, allowing the free movement of goods and labour.   On a similar line to this, the current debate surrounding asylum seekers and the control of European Union borders is one in which nationalism forms a central basis. It occurs across almost every country in the world and has become a significant issue in current political geography debates. The movement of people across borders has always caused conflict due to the negative representations of asylum seekers. (Manara, 2018)These negative representations of asylum seekers are ultimately aimed at protecting individual state sovereignty. (Appendix 1) A prime example of this is in the UK, one of the main driving forces behind ensuring votes to ‘leave’ Brexit was to implement stricter criteria in relation to asylum and immigration. In 2016, 75% of potential ‘leave’ voters mentioned immigration as the most important issue, this was at a time in which asylum seekers were arriving to the UK at near-record levels.  (Hirschler, 2017)   The concept of nationalism is evident here because the UK was more concerned about protecting its individual state sovereignty and economy rather than helping refugee’s during the crisis. Environmental issues also play a key part in current political geographical debates, in particular global warming and destruction of rainforests.   Climate change has profound implications for the future of the planet. In relation to political geography the debate is whether those countries who are responsible for climate change should be obliged to contribute more into the Green Climate Fund.  (Goodwin, 2014) This is because it has been proven that emissions produced by these countries are affecting not only the whole earth but in particular those countries within their borders. Since President Trump announced the United States withdraw from Paris Agreement in 2017, there have been several debates. The United States is responsible for almost a third of the excess carbon dioxide that is heating the planet. (Appendix 2) The nationalist view of President Trump here was that the contributions the country was making as part of the Paris Agreement was affecting the United States economy. However, the counter argument is that the large role the United States has played in causing climate change creates an outsize responsibility to help control the issue. A further example of an environmental issue in contemporary political geography is the destruction of the rainforests. At the centre of this debate is South America, here most deforestation takes place because of their need for agricultural land. (Goodwin, 2014) In poor countries such as South America people very often turn to agriculture in order to make money to meet every day needs of living. The farmers migrate to agricultural settlement areas, and cut down several acres of land to use for farming. The stumps are burnt which releases the nutrients into the soil that are needed to grow crops. The nationalist view here is that it is a source of income and helps boost the nation’s economy and that the forests are within the nation’s border. However, the argument is that it is affecting the entire planet as it is adding to climate change and the greenhouse effect to the large scale destruction. Not only does it affect climate change but also wildlife.   ‘It is obvious that there is no clear solution to these problems, but the result of nationalism in this sense, on the world could be disastrous.’ Nationalism has been a concept which has appeared throughout the ongoing political issues linked to immigration in Europe. It was one of the main reasons behind the choice that Britain made to leave the European Union in 2017. The European Union allows people to have free movement between the countries, and although many people would see this as a benefit it can be argued that Britain did not. Perhaps this was because of the countries strong sense of nationalism and representations of asylum seekers in the British media which meant that citizens would see the arrival of immigrants as a hindrance on the British economy. Many British people believed that it was unfair that workers who were unskilled and unable to support themselves were moving to the country and being supported by the government.  (Delanty & OMahony, 2002)   I believe that this sense of nationalism can, again, be contributed to Britain’s isolationist approach. Ex Tory Leader William Hague defined the British nationalist approach in one of his interviews. In which his response to the immigration dilemma was that ‘first we must learn to look after our own people, then we can look at helping others.’   This has been a statement which has symbolised many of Britain’s nationalistic tendencies. One final example of where it is apparent that nationalism is at the core to a contemporary political geography issue is over world economy, in particular the subject of poverty. It becomes apparent from the previous examples that a countries national interests always dominate other factors to contemporary political geography issues and it is no different here. It is well known that over the past years, the world’s wealthiest countries have been exploiting third world countries for their own economic benefits.  (Delanty & OMahony, 2002) For example, countries such as the United States and United Kingdom have benefited from the exploitation of labour forces in third world countries, such as Africa, as it allows them to increase profit on trade goods.   Nationalism is evident here as countries such as the US and UK are accepting the exploitation of third world countries in order to benefit their economies and increase profit maximisation. However, this in turn increases the amount of debt and poverty experienced in third world countries. The political debate surrounding this issue is that there are two standards. In the developing world, a minimum wage is required whereas in the underdeveloped world it can be said that they are being exploited in order to make more money. Perhaps this is one of the main reasons why disparity exists in the world and nationalism is the cause, which priorities its own economic benefits above that of equality. In conclusion, from the examples discussed above it becomes clear to see that nationalism forms a core foundation in several current political geography issues. Whether it is environmental or social issues they all unanimously point to nationalism as the centre topic. Therefore from this it can be concluded that nationalism is extremely useful to understanding a wide range of contemporary political geography issues. Nationalism is both a symptom and a cause of contemporary political geography issues, due to countries prioritising their own interest above all else.   There are many contemporary political geography issues relating to nationalism which need to be addressed in order for them to be resolved. Bibliography Adler-Nissen, R., 2015. Opting out of the European Union: diplomacy, sovereignty and European integration.. International Affairs, 91(4), pp. 897-899. Agnew, J. A., Toal, G. & Mitchell, K., 2003. A companion to Political Geography. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Delanty, G. & OMahony, P., 2002. Nationalism and Social Theory: Modernity and the Recalcitrance of the Nation. London: Sage Publications. Dictionaries, O., 2018. Oxford Dictionaries. [Online] Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/nationalism [Accessed 16 April 2018]. Dictionaries, O., 2018. Oxford Dictionaries. [Online] Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/political_geography [Accessed 16 April 2018]. Goodwin, B., 2014. Using Political Ideas. 6th ed. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Hirschler, S., 2017. Brexit, immigration and expanded markets of social control. Safer Communities, 16(4), pp. 176-185. Insitute, W. R., 2016. World Resoruces Insitute, London: World Resources Insitute. Manara, M., 2018. The depoliticisation of asylum seekers. Political Geography, Volume 64, pp. 43-52. Periwal, S., 1995. Notions of Nationalism. London: Central European University Press Book. Stewart, H., 2016. The Guardian. [Online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/16/nigel-farage-defends-ukip-breaking-point-poster-queue-of-migrants [Accessed 19 April 2018]. Appendix 1 (Stewart, 2016) Appendix 2 (Insitute, 2016)

Gay Marriage Essay -- Homosexuality, argumentative, persuasive

Marriage is the legal or religious ceremony that formalizes the decision of two people to live as a married couple. Marriage should not be based on what others think. When people get married in a heterosexual union, they do it for their own happiness, not for the happiness of others. Gay marriage is the same way. Homosexuality has always been around and will continue to exist. Why should homosexuals be denied the rights of heterosexuals? No one has the right to say that homosexuals can not marry. That is discriminating against another group of individuals who want equality. Gay marriage should be accepted; people were made with the capacity to love, no one should try to change that, not the Bible, the Constitution, or anyone. Marriage is stated many times in the Bible. But the Bible and the Amendments can be interpreted many ways. Marriage is a religious ceremony, â€Å"But I cannot imagine even the most fervent Christian obeying all of God’s laws†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Bond) Nobody is perfect, but our flaws make who we are. If we don’t always follow a few rules here and there it is okay because we are only human. Most parents teach their children to be different and don’t let others influence them. The same thing should go for gays. The people that are trying to change them are not going to succeed. Gays were made fore a certain reason, but our country has to figure that out first in order accept them. In the Bible, Jesus blesses the children and sends the young rich men away†¦ Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who left house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or fields for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now i n this age --- houses brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields with... ..., it will come. Works Cited DeMarco, Donald. "Same-Sex Marriage Should Not Be Allowed." The Family. Ed. Auriana Ojeda. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2014. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. Bond, Julian. "Opposing Same-Sex Marriage Discriminates Against Gays." Discrimination. Ed. Jacqueline Langwith. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. Dykstra, Laurel. "Not All Queers Want to Marry." Homosexuality. Ed. Paul Connors. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Current Controversies. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. Mercer, Ilana. "Gay Couples Have Equal Rights." 2014. Rpt. in Does Equality Exist in America? Ed. Stuart A. Kallen. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2014. At Issue. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.

Mencius :: essays research papers

Mencius believes that it is our nature and mind that determine what we are. It is our fate that governs our fortunes and determines our lease on life. Fate was originally a patent to a fief-holder, given by the Son of Heaven as Heaven's deputy to a feudatory. In extended usage it became our lot in life - the fate ordained by heaven. While people guard their minds and determine their conduct, they cannot determine their fate, which is in Heaven's hands. So, Mencius believed that though all humans are innately good, the realization of that good comes with self-cultivation and self-knowledge. Hsun-tzu could not accept Mencius idealistic view of human nature, nor did he believe that Heaven was the sole arbiter of human behavior. He believed that the importance of humankind in the universe is equal to but different from the importance of Heaven and Earth: "Heaven has its seasons, Earth has its riches and man has his culture. This is what is meant by the Trinity." Humanity's fun ction is to utilize the resources of Heaven and Earth to create its own culture. This can be done through the strength acquired from social organization. However, because the social organization needs to be regulated, lest it break down, and because "desires are many, but things are few", Hsun-tzu taught that people need to be restricted and guided by rules and morality. In my view of these two philosophers, I feel that Mencius' views are much more common in most religious traditions today. Mencius beliefs are a lot like Christianity, which is the religion that I am most familiar with. He believes that Heaven is a moral force whose mandate is to be respected and followed by human beings. We follow Heaven's mandate by knowing and nourishing our human nature.

Organisational Culture

Aid in Changing and Improving the Company's Organizational Culture A Proposal to Change and Improve the Company's Organizational Culture All aspects of this proposal are based on a fictitious situation. I will summaries the aspects of the organizational culture and the aspects that could improve the culture of this fictitious organization. I currently hold the position of manager at a small, privately owned coffee bistro/book store. I have been an employee there for 3 years and have held the management title for 6 months. There are a total of 11 employees of differing sections.As cited by Greenberg an organizational culture Is the shared beliefs, expectations, or core values of the all the people within the organization (Schneider, 1990). The proposal outline will be structured around this premise. The organizational culture of the organization where I work There are 6 different kinds of cultures wealth organizations. They are sensitively to others, Interest in new ideas, willingness to take risks, value placed on people, openness of available communication options, and friendliness and congeniality Martin, 1996).I have observed that the organization for which I work embodies 4 of these, which I will discuss in detail in the final report. I also plan to discuss the influence that the owner has had on this culture as well as how the organization has what is referred to as a market culture. As manager I run the organization on behalf of the owner, who is the foremost authority. An organizations culture may be either strong or weak. I believe that we have the latter, as some employees have stated that they feel uninspired by the work that they do.It is my belief that the culture is a relatively healthy one because the employees are valued members of the team and their opinions are respected. However, it can be improved. How new employees are accommodated in my organization In my experience a new employee is always warmly welcomed and informed (by either the owner, manager or colleagues) of the policies, beliefs, and expectations of the organization. Each employee will have an orientation week (which includes necessary training) when they begin their employ.Other than the training, as anger I offer guidance as well as leading by example. How I could improve the culture of my organization I believe that I could assist in improving the culture by making use of the method of organizational memory. A statement of principle would lad In reinforcing the owners vowels. I also suggest that a more ethical organizational culture Is encouraged and will examine the Importance of this as well as how It can be accomplished through leadership and fellow employees.The concept of creatively within the Individual and am Is vital and should be encouraged, this may encourage any employee that feels the work Is not Inspiring or fulfilling. I also suggest regular staff meetings to keep all up to date with progress or hindrances. It Is Important to reward excellenc e and accept mistakes, ensuring that a culture of open-communication can be established (Matheson, 201 3) . Offering incentives to new employees by rewarding their good on to others. The rewards and incentives do not need any monetary support as there are many ways, which will be provided in the report, to do so without cost. Organisational Culture Aid in Changing and Improving the Company's Organizational Culture A Proposal to Change and Improve the Company's Organizational Culture All aspects of this proposal are based on a fictitious situation. I will summaries the aspects of the organizational culture and the aspects that could improve the culture of this fictitious organization. I currently hold the position of manager at a small, privately owned coffee bistro/book store. I have been an employee there for 3 years and have held the management title for 6 months. There are a total of 11 employees of differing sections.As cited by Greenberg an organizational culture Is the shared beliefs, expectations, or core values of the all the people within the organization (Schneider, 1990). The proposal outline will be structured around this premise. The organizational culture of the organization where I work There are 6 different kinds of cultures wealth organizations. They are sensitively to others, Interest in new ideas, willingness to take risks, value placed on people, openness of available communication options, and friendliness and congeniality Martin, 1996).I have observed that the organization for which I work embodies 4 of these, which I will discuss in detail in the final report. I also plan to discuss the influence that the owner has had on this culture as well as how the organization has what is referred to as a market culture. As manager I run the organization on behalf of the owner, who is the foremost authority. An organizations culture may be either strong or weak. I believe that we have the latter, as some employees have stated that they feel uninspired by the work that they do.It is my belief that the culture is a relatively healthy one because the employees are valued members of the team and their opinions are respected. However, it can be improved. How new employees are accommodated in my organization In my experience a new employee is always warmly welcomed and informed (by either the owner, manager or colleagues) of the policies, beliefs, and expectations of the organization. Each employee will have an orientation week (which includes necessary training) when they begin their employ.Other than the training, as anger I offer guidance as well as leading by example. How I could improve the culture of my organization I believe that I could assist in improving the culture by making use of the method of organizational memory. A statement of principle would lad In reinforcing the owners vowels. I also suggest that a more ethical organizational culture Is encouraged and will examine the Importance of this as well as how It can be accomplished through leadership and fellow employees.The concept of creatively within the Individual and am Is vital and should be encouraged, this may encourage any employee that feels the work Is not Inspiring or fulfilling. I also suggest regular staff meetings to keep all up to date with progress or hindrances. It Is Important to reward excellenc e and accept mistakes, ensuring that a culture of open-communication can be established (Matheson, 201 3) . Offering incentives to new employees by rewarding their good on to others. The rewards and incentives do not need any monetary support as there are many ways, which will be provided in the report, to do so without cost.

Business Ethic

MGT3201 / 3231: ASSESSMENT CRITERIA AND GRADING STRUCTURE Individual Case Study (20%) This assessment criteria and grading structure is used as the: 1. general guidelines for marking written coursework, and 2. feedback to the students for future improvement. |Content |Analysis |Evidence of Reflection |Achievement of Learning | | | | | |Outcomes | |20 |Excellent quality of |Extremely through analysis|Describes and evaluates all |Full synthesis of the | | |content; very wide range |of material given; high |events from multiple |module through the | | |of options considered, |level of self-awareness |perspectives; transfers |achievement learning | | |imaginative and creative |and aspirations; |concepts beyond that |outcomes and full | |17 |approach. Excellent range |convincing and lucid |particular setting; |understanding of the | | |of appropriate resources |justification of choices |recognizing and justifying |process. | | |used. |made. |the impact of a specific | | | | | |situation o n learning. | | |16. |Very good quality content,|Very through analysis; |Describes ad evaluates some |Some evaluation of the | | |wide range of options |very good level of |events from different |Learning Outcomes. | | |considered, through |self-awareness and |perspectives; transfers some | | | |approach. Very good use of|aspirations; through |concepts; can recognize | | |14 |resources available. |justification of choices |impact of specific situations| | | | |made. |on learning. | | |13. 9 |Good quality content, |Good analysis; good level |Describes and evaluates |Evidence of application of| | reasonable range of |of self-awareness; some |events but stays in one |the learning outcomes. | | |options considered. Good |justification of choices |domain. | | | |use of resources. |made. | | | |10 | | | | | |9. 9 |Satisfactory content with |Some analysis; some levels|Uses practical and simplistic|Evidence of understanding | | |few options considered. |of self-awareness, little |statements to describe |the Learning Outcomes. | | |May be less through |justification.Limited |events; some sense of cause | | | |approach. Some evidence of|explanation of choices |and effect; some sense of | | |6 |use of resources. |made. |transfer. | | |5. 9 |Meager quality of content,|Adequate analysis; little |Descries personal experience |Acknowledgement of the | | |only one or two options |level of self-awareness; |only; little sense of cause |Learning Outcomes. | | |considered. Very basic, |limited justification; |and effect; little sense of | | | |limited approach.Poor use|poor explanation of |transfer. | | |3 |of resources. |choices made. | | | |2. 9 |Very poor quality of |No evidence of analysis. |Describes personal experience|Few Learning Outcomes | | |content, no detail. No | |in a simplistic manner only. |achieved. | | |evidence’s of use of | | | | |0 |resources. | | | | ? 1500 word Report (excluding appendices) Content, relevancy to the topic title, authenticity of mater ial provided and etc. ? Literature Review (Resources) ? Emphasis on Referencing (Harvard Referencing System) ? The Assignment should be of an analysis, evaluative, argumentative, synthesis of moral justifications, reasoning , concise & lucid and excellent range of appropriate resources used rather than purely descriptive and should include a number of appendices, containing Supporting evidence for findings, analysis, conclusions and Recommendations Assessment Class:MGT3201 / MGT3231 Business Ethics Case Study: Group Members:1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 1) Define the Issue __________________________________________________________________ ) Analysis / Arguments __________________________________________________________________ 3) Evidence of reflection / Justification __________________________________________________________________ 4) Moral Reasoning / Achievement of Learning Outcome __________________________________________________________________ 5) Resources ______________________________ ____________________________________ Total Score:_____ / 100 marks Final Percentage:_____ / 20% Guidelines for the Individual Report (20%) In order to facilitate processing of the Academic standard of report, please follow the general guidelines for the format and preparation of the individual report. Must have the following formatting: | |Spacing – double line paragraphs | |Font – Tahoma 10 or 11 point or Times New Roman 12 point | |Bolds – emphasis of paragraph titles or headings | |Margins set at 1† (top, bottom, left and right sides) | |Justification – left | |Page numbering: beginning on first page of report (not cover page) | |Headers or footers: name of student & ID, programme of study, academic session | |Spelling and grammar checked | |Programs – Microsoft Word or Excel if you have tables is preferred. |