New Social Media Vs Traditional Media Media Essay

New Social Media Vs Traditional Media Media Essay Can you spot the difference between new media and traditional media? The traditional media consists of prints and broadcasts such as newspapers, magazines, radio broadcasting books and CDs etc. On the other hand, social media, which grows with technology, includes the use of Twitter, social networks as well as blogs -using internet as a platform. Not only has advanced technology facilitated internet consumption, it has also promoted new media to the extent that majority now believe new media will one day succeed traditional media. New media has the foundations of traditional media in serving the same purpose, similar procedures in gathering information and sharing the same audiences; however, it may succeed traditional media due to the differences in the freedom of speech, coupled with social networking services entitled to users and the hastened speed broadcasting. The purpose of new media is very much built on the traditional media. Both new media and traditional media have the same objective to keep you informed. It does not matter if you read a newspaper or magazine, or even webzines, also known as e-newsletters. Both media platforms serve to provide news and articles to inform you of the happenings around the world. Books you find in libraries and online communities like Wikipedia offer you bits of facts for your general knowledge, providing basic knowledge on certain topics. We are also alerted about fashion trends through both media platforms. The television programme, Entertainment Channel, is no different from the fashion website, Chictopia, in providing insights to the latest fashion trends. (The Peoples Fashion Destination Chictopia, 2010) Besides global news, the information both new media and traditional media provides extends to advertisements as well. Both media platforms provide advertorial information for readers of prints, br oadcasts and the online community. When you flip through a consumer magazine, you will notice advertisements on jewellery, cosmetics and even clothes on different pages. Similarly, banners and pop-ups on various websites you visit are methods of advertisements on the internet. Even though advertisements account for 70% of the revenue produced by newspapers, there has been a declined in the printing of newspapers due to lack of advertisements. (G. E. Belch M. A. Belch, 2004, p. 392) The truth is technology has made internet a better alternative for marketing and advertising. Thus, companies tend to use internet platforms over print or broadcast media to achieve branding. Based on website Clickz, each one of us receives an estimate of 5000 commercial messages daily. (Massey, 2010) However, it is impossible to view 1000 advertisements from the number of newspapers or magazines that we read, inclusive of advertisements on televisions and radios. Therefore, new media might exceed old media with the use of technology, as can be seen from the ease of advertising. Another similarity in traditional media that extends to new media is the tedious method of gathering information, drafting and proofreading. In order for the newspaper readers and e-newsletter viewers to obtain only the correct news, newspaper companies engage reporters, journalists and editors in order to print a factual article without mistakes. (U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics, 2010) Similarly, to uphold reputation as well as to ensure that the electronic sources tally with the printed media, a piece of article has to go through the same procedure in order to be published. (Simmons, 2009) The strenuous practice of gathering information is also used in broadcast media to produce drama serials and videos of new media. Television programmes and videos posted online require many takes and much editing for the final product. (Duncan, 2010) Television series as well as short clips online from BBC News, National Geographic etc, have to go through a long process of inspection before it i s ready to be broadcasted on air or uploaded on their websites. In an interview on George Negus Tonight, it was estimated that a television advertisement may take up to three months, requiring 100 people. The process includes generation of concepts, pitching the idea, developing a script and writing a storyboard before filming can take place. (George Negus Tonight, 2003) Despite the problematic procedures, technology has smoothened these processes, making new media superior to old media. An example would be Google Docs which allows users to share their work online and make revisions together with others at the same time. This saves time as a report can be completed faster. However, this requires internet as a platform and tends to promote new media, emphasizing its functions over old media. Both media platform serve the same target audience be it online, in print or broadcast. As mentioned, each form of media has an objective which is to disseminate a particular message and keep the masses informed. However, for those whom purposes resemble each other, they have same target audience to cater to and thus, garnering the same audience. Readers of fashion magazines such as Style or Vogue are most likely to be the avid viewers of fashion sites like Lookbook. In a similar way, readers of forums and the home section of local newspapers are most likely to be blog-hoppers. Furthermore, ardent fans of the broadcast media such as television and radio are likely to be audiences of new media such as Youtube. If you find yourself watching music videos on MTV, you are most likely to subscribe to Youtube or Hulu channels like Vevo that plays music videos online for fans. Both new media and traditional media serving the same purpose would therefore engage the same target audience. In addition, technology has made replaying, fast-forwarding and rewinding of videos much easier. Imagine trying to rewind the music video that you are currently watching on MTV, you would probably have to purchase the pay-per-view offer, also known as On-Demand. The next best alternative would be to watch the video on Youtube and have it replayed over and over again, or just that particular segment that you like. The ease of video watching can be seen from the 2 billion views daily based on Youtube statistics. (Website Monitoring, 2010) Such flexibility in technology generates more audience towards new media even if both media platforms were providing the same video, song or news article. Although new media shares similarities with traditional media, new media appears to be an improved version of old media. Out of the many differences, an obvious one is the magnitude in freedom of speech exercised in new media versus traditional media. Before the print media is disseminated to the masses, the editors would have vetted and censored, following strict laws that applies. In Singapores radio broadcasting network, deejay duo also known as The Muttons were suspended due to their participation in No Bra Day. It was an activity that required young female models to remove their bras in the shortest possible time. The video taken in the studio was posted on YouTube and the station was fined due to inappropriate content. (98.7FM Encyclopaedia Topics, 2008) On the contrary, it is almost impossible to censor all articles or advertisements on the website; only users in social media can be banned. Youtube reports hundreds of thousands of videos are being uploaded every day. (Youtube, 2010) With videos being uploaded at such an alarming rate, it stresses the difficulty in censoring contents. Undeniably, technology has improved almost every aspect of media development. Its failure to make censorship across the board available, however, allows netizens to speak up. Yet, this apparent freedom of speech which is only made available through internet appears to promote opposition of various political stances and an eye-opener to liberal views. Especially with people more acceptable of liberal mindsets, freedom of speech is censored in old media will result in technology will garnering more supporters of new media. Although both media platforms serve to keep you informed of news, social media has an added feature that allows users to network. With traditional media, there is no room for networking. You would have noticed advertisers leaving their contact number. However, you would only contact them to only engage or enquiry about a deal. Seldom would you notice an ad which purpose is to look for a friend or a wife. More importantly, you would not publish your address for snail mails or provide your contact number for interested members of the public to call you. There is no opportunity to discuss or socialised since everything is publicised. On the other hand, based on references gather by the website Pingdom, there are 350 million people on Facebook as of January 2010. (Pingdom, 2010) Facebook, similar to Friendster has not only made social networking easier as users can add friends whom share common interests but has also improved the search for long lost friends. Furthermore, there is a priv acy setting which you can adjust, allowing you to provide information to only people whom you want to. This allows you to form a connection with a stranger before committing in a friendship. New media also offers interactive activities such as game communities or internet chat relays. Through these game communities, players can gather teammates for online gaming and establish stronger relationships with strangers. Whereas chatting alone helps introverts make friends without having to meet people in the real world. (Whats New Media?, 2010) Although these contributions by technology are seemingly beneficial, social networking through new media has increased crime rates, often acted against minors. Paedophiles are known to use social network sites to prey on victims. They are able to do so as they can remain anonymous or adopt false personalities that would not be validated. (William-Thomas, 2009) Perhaps, social networking is the only bane of new media which most internet users embrace as reason for new media to succeed traditional media. Lastly, another improvement can also be seen from the extremely shortened publication time for new media. Publication time differs from the aforementioned methods of gathering and refers to the time it takes for the end product to reach out to the masses. As mentioned, it takes reporters, journalists and editors to create an article on the newspaper, making the process of getting a written article printed very long. Even if the information is ready for dissemination, the newsletter has not been printed and thus cannot be distributed. Furthermore once erred, it takes half or a day to correct the error and send an apology letter for the mistake or post an article the next day. If a mistake is made on a newspaper article, the journalist has to prepare an apology letter or a new article for the paper tomorrow, informing readers of the errata. On the contrary, with new media, it only takes the author a click of the button to have any information disseminated around the world on the World Wide Web. Although there are specific rules to follow if a reputable site makes an error, it does not require more than a day to have its entry edited on the site. When an error is made, the author can simply press edit and post again. Or in Twitter, you can simply delete your Tweet, another name for your entry, and post again. The convenience can be experienced when you upload a video on Youtube. After all the tedious filming and editing, all you need to do is to click on your computer screen is the word upload. Similarly for online news articles, a simple click is all it takes to have it published on a website. Moreover, the internet has become more mobile with technology and people around the world are choosing to read news online instead. If you do recall the 2007 Burmese anti-government attacks, had it not been for the internet, history would have repeated and we would have been misinformed of the total death toll, similar to the uprising in 1988. (Sai, 2008) The use of the internet through blogging of pictures taken in Burma allowed traditional media in other countries to cover the attacks. Similarly in todays context, information is readily available to us with the shortened publication time in new media compared to old media, all thanks to technology. The new media and traditional media are similar in their purposes, procedures and target audience. However, they differ in publication time, availability to networking and censorship. Both serve to keep their viewers informed and involve tedious procedures before getting the end product. Also, serve the same target audience be it electronic or print. However, with the drastic increase in internet users, social media has minimal censorship as it is unachievable with the vast volume of websites, unlike traditional media. Furthermore, new media tends disseminate messages faster than traditional media due to the short time needed in posting. Lastly, it provides opportunities for users to socialise and network. New media has its foundations built on traditional media and definitely has improved services and caters to the generations born in the era of technology. They key success, if new media is to ever succeed traditional media, is advanced technology in internet. Although social networking through new media has increased crime rates, it is one of the shortcomings that can be eradicated. With technology, new media has definitely exceeded the abilities of traditional media as an advertising alternative and smoothened the process of gathering concrete information for news articles. Ease in obtaining information and flexibility has also encouraged traditional media followers to convert to new media. With technology backing new media, is it possible traditional media will one day cease to exist?

Barangay Information System Essay

Computerization is a control system that manages the process in industrial workplace. It reduces human errors and processing time, thus it can boost productivity and results into high quality of product produce. In an information system, computerization is concerned about interrelating different but interdependent transactions. This can result in a system with well-integrated processes that can perform much faster and more accurate than a manual system. Enrollment is the process of entering and verifying data of student to register on a particular school. Different interrelated processes build up enrollment procedures called an enrollment system. Enrollment systems are used particularly in recording and retrieving student’s information. Tracking student’s information is also one feature of enrollment system, in which the school can trace the standing of a student. Wherever you go you can see people that are dependent on technology. Almost everybody knows how to use such technology. It makes our work faster and easier. Despite this progress. We still cannot deny the fact that there are still firms which are using manual process in recording their daily transactions, giving reports manually, that takes a lot of time and have not yet tried to adapt to apply technology in their field. Even though we live in an era that relies on computers and the internet, and we found out that most of the Barangays here in Cebu are still doing manual process on their informations and data processing. The Barangay is a very essential place where it contains information about the people living there. Some people would seek some information they need that can only be found in the barangay. With only manual processing it would take time to search for information. But with the aid of computers it would greatly improve the time and result you will get compared to manual labour or work done by hand. And we will be proposing an information system which would be of great help if they wish to adapt our system. We were determined to come up with a system that will change all their existing manual system into a very accurate and competent Barangay Information System. With this proposed System, it will help them save time. This system is much better compared to the ones they’re currently using. And manual processing is really inaccurate and time  consuming. While on the other hand if they do agree to adapt with the system that we came up with it will practically improve their jobs. T hey can avoid most of the most common problems that most people will encounter in manual processing. Due to competitiveness it would be best that every barangay should adapt to this kind of development. Our system is a simple program designed to make their jobs accurate, faster and more reliable. 1.1 Background of the Project The purpose of this project is to help the Barangays in Cebu in making their work faster and easier. Most of the barangays in Cebu still practice manual processing in information. This project will encourage them to adapt to greater heights and make them understand how this project will benefit them in more ways than one. The project itself is very simple. We made it as user-friendly as it can be. So that even the elderly can operate it without them getting confused in navigating. The program used in the system consist of simple GUI which is a type of interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and visual indicators such as secondary notation. We made it that way so that the user won’t get bored in using the program. This project intends the barangay to adapt to the new era that we are living. It is unpractical for them to stick to manual processing when almost everyone is already using the aid of computers and technology. Moreover this project will also improve our community. Because this can increase the potential of information sharing from one barangay to the other. We stick to the idea any work a human can do in an hour; a machine can do it in a minute. It’s more practical for us right now to apply computerized manipulation in activities rather than sticking to manual manipulation which could cost us time, and that time could eventually cost us money. This will surely give them a satisfying benefit. Not just the ones using this system but also for those who seek informations that can only be found in the barangay. And also since computer machines are now fad these days, it is now much cheaper to implement this project proposal. 1.2 Statement of the Problem The main problem encountered by most barangays in Philippines is the difficulty in recording data and undependable reports of information. This  is because they still practice manual use of storing and retrieving data. 1.3 Specific Problem a. Difficulty in keeping, updating and retrieving of personal information of residents in their respective barangays due to manual storing of data. There is also a tendency that there will be a loss of important files because their files are not kept properly secured. b. Residents are having a hard time acquiring certificates they need due to delayed response from the barangay. c. Their files, documents, certificates and other important information are not properly organized. Keeping important files for future usage is not an easy thing to do manually. d. Their employees are having a hard time working manually. When a resident asks for an important document usually an employee would assist the resident but because their documents aren’t properly organized the employee would have a hard time finding the document the resident requested. e. Losing Important Files and Documents. There are times where they would lose an important file and there is no way for them to retrieve it, it would cause a serious problem. With manual storing of data there’s a higher chance of losing important data while on the other hand if you apply automated storage of your files you can easily make back up files and keep it safe and secure. f. Manual processing of data is a waste of time. Time is really important especially if you’re working for the benefit of others. But with the help of technology and machines they can make our work faster and easier. When applying an automated system you can do more than before. Doing things manually is really hard in our time where everything is automatic and is working side by side with computers. 1.4 Statement of Goals and Objectives Our objective is to develop an Information System that will help different barangays manage their important files and documents properly and to make their work faster, easier and more accurate. 1.5 Specific Objectives a. To develop a system that can manage and organize a barangay’s household. In our system there is a section where you can add, edit, remove and view information of residents living in that barangay. b. To improve the barangay’s welfare and their relationship with their residents. Our system is capable of viewing old entries of information concerning health, crime and other important topics that would affect a person’s well-being in that barangay. c. We want to improve the barangay’s relationship with their residents. With that in mind we added a section in our system that can do just that. We added a Business & Entertainment system in our system. In this section you can search for different businesses and entertainment available in that area, this will also help new residents to know the place better with ease. d. To make their employees’ work faster and easier. With the aid of our system everything is just a single click’s reach. e. To help both residents and employees in the barangay. We also included a section where for instance a resident would need a certain certificate, now the employee can just access our Certificates Section and look for the certificate he/she needs and a blank copy of that certificate would appear automatically 1.6 Scope and Limitation The system is capable of storing and retrieving information. In our system we have 3 primary section panels. They are the household, Businesses and certificates. In the household panel we can store and retrieve informations regarding the residents living in the barangay. And in the Business panel we can list, search and remove business that is available in the barangay. In the certificates panel there is a list of certificates and you can look for  the certificate you need and when you pick that certificate our system will be Able to give you a blank copy of that certificate. This study was conducted in order to help the barangay update their information. They can easily remove business that is not in business anymore. They can remove the name of the residents who already left. And they can easily replace old certificates. As the proponent we formulated the scope of this project to keep the barangay and the way they handle their documents up to date. 1.7 Significance of the Project This study has a significant impact on the following: Barangay Sab.a The client of the Project, Barangay Sab.a will be the main beneficiary of the developed system. With the use of the automated system it is easier for them to store, manage and keep track of all their documents. This system will be of a great help to them since their current process of information is manual. Barangays In Cebu Our system is compatible with other barangays in Cebu, if they’re willing to use our program. We made it possible to be compatible with any barangay in Cebu or even in the Philippines. Developers This study provides an experience to the developers in dealing with barangays and they can improve their communication skills, programming skills and overall experience as a whole Future Researchers This will serve as a reference to future researchers that they can have an idea. It will give them additional knowledge on how to develop an application that can store and retrieve information from a database. CHAPTER II 2.1 Review of Related Work and Studies Barangay Information System A very essential factor to consider in coming up with a better view of what will really be the outcome of the proposed project thus, related literature studies and works should be reviewed, analysed and studied. INFORMATION SYSTEM Information systems encompasses a variety of disciplines such as: the analysis and design of systems, computer networking, information security, database management and decision support systems. Information management deals with the practical and theoretical problems of collecting and analyzing information in a business function area including business productivity tools, applications programming and implementation, electronic commerce, digital media production, data mining, and decision support. Communications and networking deals with the telecommunication technologies. Information systems bridges business and computer science using the theoretical foundations of information and computation to study various business models and related algorithmic processes within a computer science discipline In essence Information System is the maximum use of resource at hand to improve an organization that includes virtually all resources including technology in transforming data resources into a variety of Information products. User Activity Tracker This System can track a user’s activity. This system will notify and automatically store his activities like logging in; information manipulation includes adding, deleting and editing of stored information in our database. MOST USED SYSTEMS Storing Tracker of Information Storing Tracker will track data that you will store in your database. Every time you add or remove a data it will notify you. This will help remind you what you just did. Uses for Storing Tracker 1. This will notify you what information you just added or removed in your database. 2. Allows you to store data more accurately Site Extend A web based application for barangays which provides content that guides and  shows how they deal with their problems with manual manipulation of data, it is designed to make us use automated systems in our barangays serp-p.pids.gov.ph Barangay Management Software This software is designed to help barangays manage their information properly. This will also make work faster and easier for barangay officials. Barangay Registry Information System qBris- Barangay Registry Information System is a web-based database information system solution designed for Philippine Barangays. The system hold, monitor and manage common Barangay information such as: Barangay Demographics Barangay Officials Barangay Household Livelihoods Organization Health Workers Etc. Qbris – Improves your employer’s job. With everything automated everything is within a click’s reach. Everything is available and can be stored and retrieved from its database Data and Information Manipulation doesn’t have to be time consuming, and doesn’t have to be complicated. qBris offers a very simple means of making your work faster and easier, Asset tracking and digital home inventory software made simple. ASSOCIATED STUDIES Barangay Accounting System Barangay Accounting System helps the barangay with their finances and other financial problems. This system is used in barangays in Davao http://accountingdavao.com/BARANGAY/ Barangay Attendance Monitoring System Barangay Attendance Monitoring system will monitor attendance of Barangay officials and its employers. This system was developed by an anonymous student. Dota 2 Shop/Market Reservation System The Idea is to make a system that can sell dota 2 items that has a reservation system and online ordering (http://www.dota2shop.net). This  website is an online reservation shop for dota 2 cosmetic items. They decided to make this shop for players worldwide. Dota 2 has a very rich community An Algorithm to Migrate CDS/ISIS Flat File to MySQL Database in Windows Platform The Import, Export and Script Generator tools now run as stand-alone windows to allow easier navigation and multi-threaded execution accepting RDBMS files (AquaFold, Inc. c, 2008). Features include: * Handle identity columns with the Identity Insert keyword * Use Object Quoted Identifiers to delimit names with spaces * Next/Previous navigation for easy re-execution * Preview SQL for easy copy & paste * Remember user preferences each time the tools are executed CocoaMySQL (Mac OS X) – Data Importation and Exportation (Textor, L., 2003) * Import an entire database or any Comma Separated Values (CSV) file * Export to a CocoaMySQL dump format, CSV format or Extensible Markup Language (XML) format * Dump tables or entire databases to the formats listed above * Generate SQL table syntax of the tables for re-creation in another database DBVisualizer (Windows, Linux/Unix, Mac OS X) – Export & Import Any result set can be exported using the export wizard. It supports HyperText Markup Language (HTML), XML, CSV, SQL and TEXT formats (MINQ Software, 2008). * Export any result set CSV HTML XLS XML SQL TEXT (free version CSV HTML only) * Test Data Generator (not in free version) * Table Data Import (not in free version) RazorSQL (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux/Unix) – Export & Import Export: The Export tool allows users to export data from tables, views, or queries in several formats including Excel, delmited format, HTML, XML, Text, and as SQL insert statements. Multiple or single tables can be exported at a time. Import: The Import tool allows users to import data into tables from Excel files, delimited files, or fixed width files (Richardson Softwarec, 2008). SQLgrinder (Mac OS X) – Export & Import An Algorithm to Migrate CDS/ISIS Flat File to MySQL Database in Windows Platform Export: the delimiter can be set, add columns, specify the export column order and add export criteria. Import: allows to specify the characteristics of the import file, and preview the column mapping (Advenio, LLC c, 2007). YourSQL (Mac OS X)- New Experimental Feature: Import/Export After a long period of experimentation, the Import/Export function has been added to a public version! The function is still limited (handles only text data,) but sufficiently stable to be used on simple tables. CSV files can be exported from the File menu (YourSQL, 2008). Geographic Information System M Salem, (2008) stated that Geographic information systems refer to a map that indicates the importance of certain objects and regions. With global positioning systems, or GPS, users can pinpoint precise locations across the globe. It can also be used to create maps of amazing and unprecedented accuracy, and locate objects anywhere in the world. GIS is computer system that records, stores and analyzes information about the features that make up the earth’s surface. In the Philippines, geographical information system (GIS) is the fast gaining popularity with its integrative and analytic capability. Government agencies like department of transportation and communication (DOTC), department of education (DepEd), and the national; mapping and resources information authority (NAMRIA) have already completed several projects related to GIS. (Kraak and Omaling, 2001) According to James (2003), during the last decades, develop around digital spatial data handling gained momentum, consequently the environments where maps were used has changed considerably for most users, with the computer come on screen maps. Through these maps, the database, which they were generated, can be queried, and some basic analytical functionality can now be access. In the 1980’s these software that allowed for queries and analysis of spatial data  because known as Geographical Information System (GIS). With the development of the Geographic Information System technology it became possible to adapt interactive maps to the specific needs and requirements of a certain organization. It has served different types of applications and has provided a unique ability to display database information on a map. 2 GPS System Tracking – Applications of GPS Tracking System The General Positioning System (GPS) tracking system is the latest breakthrough of the technology aiming at improving people’s lives. The GPS tracking system is reported to be used as a travel guide and as a tracking device of vehicles. No matter its application, GPS devices are good travelling companions. The actual process of GPS tracking system is straightforward. In short, there are exactly 27 satellites rolling around the center of the Earth. Out of them, 24 are used by the GPS technology and the remaining ones are used for storage purposes. A GPS receiver installed in your car emits a signal to these satellites. Four available satellites will be used to find out your exact position. The mathematical tenet involves in this computing process is called trilateration. It can be achieved in either two dimensions or three dimensions. 2.2.2 A Trainable Transfer-based Machine Translation Approach for Languages with Limited Resources This describes an approach to machine translation that is specifically designed for rapid development of MTs with limited online resources. Its principles, which was mentioned in the paper, are: (1) that there is a possibility to automate the learning of syntactic transfer rules from limited amounts of word-aligned data; (2) that such data can be acquired from average bilingual speakers of the pair of languages; and (3) the rules that were attained from the process can be used for machine translation to other languages. After attaining the rules, they were then used to translate previously unseen source language text into the target language. The approach was used during the development of a Hindi-to-English machine translator within two mon ths with limited Electronic Barangay Management Information System The eBMIS ® is a standalone full-blown NGAS-based application software developed since 2009 with Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0, Crystal Reports 8.5  and Microsoft Access 2003. It is designed to handle a wide-range of information such as barangay profile, residents profile, barangay IDs/clearances, barangay disputes/cases, barangay activities, barangay legislation, barangay health services, budget management, financial and accounting transactions. This application software is equipped with integral systems to cover almost all functions, activities and transactions of the barangay; and developed to provide complete and accurate information and reportorial requirements for the barangay management and its stakeholders. The following integrated systems are: Resident Profiling System (RPS) – The RPS manages basic information or profile of barangay residents such as barangay ID number, full name, birth place, date of birth, gender, civil status, complete address, precinct, contact details, employment records, parents/spouse information and etc. The system also monitors derogatory records of barangay residents and maintains a record history of issued barangay IDs and clearances. Each barangay resident profile includes a digital photo image for proper identification which can be automatically taken from a web or digital camera. Barangay ID System (BIDS) – The system automatically generates barangay ID card with a predefined flexible format or layout based on the saved profile. The ID card contains the name and address of the issuing barangay, ID number, full name and complete address of the ID holder, ID picture, validity period, blood type, height, precinct number, contact person in case of emergency and etc. The barangay may implement ID system as long as it is supported or mandated by a local ordinance or resolution. Barangay Clearance System (BCS) – The BCS automatically generates barangay clearance certificate using an elegant design by providing a valid barangay ID number. The barangay clearance shows information such as name and address of the requestor or holder, certificate number, purpose of the clearance, derogatory records if there’s any, date and place of issuance, names and positions of barangay officials and a digital photo image of the requestor or holder. The barangay clearance certificate can be issued whether the requestor has derogatory records or  none. Barangay Dispute System (BDS) – The BDS handles the disputes or cases filed in the barangay and maintains information such as case number, date of filing, personal details of complainant and respondent, case type (i.e. civil, criminal or administrative), nature of case/dispute, action taken by the lupon (i.e. mediation, conciliation, arbitration, repudiation, dismissed, certified case, pending case or on-going) and status of the case. The system also monitors derogatory records of barangay residents. Any unsettled cases or disputes will be automatically presented in barangay clearance certificate. The reports generated by the system are a.) Katarungang Pambarangay – Form 1; b.) Katarungang Pambarangay – Form 2; and c.) Monthly Accomplishment Report – Part III. Barangay Activity System (BAS) – The BAS manages the activities, projects or programs implemented by the barangay. It handles information such as activity ID number, name of activity/project/p rogram, output, date of implementation, location, fund amount and source, responsible persons and any remarks. The report generated by this system is the Monthly Accomplishment Report – Part I. Barangay Legislation System (BLS) – The BLS handles the legislative activities of the barangay such as regular and special sessions. It maintains information like type of session, date of conduct, venue, present members, absent members, output, fund amount and source; and any remarks. The reports generated by BLS are Monthly Accomplishment Report – Part II and Session Attendance Schedule. Budget Management System (BMS) – The BMS manages budget appropriations and commitments of the barangay both for current and continuing appropriations per object of expenditure. It has an option for supplemental budget and budget realignment. A budget can be realigned from one expenditure class to another expenditure class, i.e. PS to MOOE. The reports generated by BMS are Registry of Appropriations & Commitments (RAC) and Status of Appropriations, Commitments & Balances (SACB). Barangay Record Keeping System (BRKS) – The BRKS complies with the requirements of Volumes 1-3 of the New Government Accounting System (NGAS) for barangays. All collections, deposits, CM/DM/bank transactions, check disbursements, cash disbursements and petty cash disbursements are entered through the system and will be automatically posted to their respective registers. The reports gen erated by BRKS are the following: Summary of Collections & Remittances (SCR-BT), Summary of Collections & Remittances (SCR-DBC), Summary of  Collections & Deposits (SCD), Summary of Checks Issued (SCkI), Summary of Cash Payments (SCP), Summary of Paid Petty Cash Vouchers (SPPCV), Cash Receipts & Deposits Register (CRDReg), Cash on Hand and in Bank Register (CHBReg), Check Disbursements Register (CkDReg), Cash Disbursements Register (CDReg), Petty Cash Fund Register (PCFReg), Abstract of CTC Collection and Abstract of Garbage Collection. Barangay Management System (BMS) This system facilitates barangay management by enabling the client barangay to maintain their resident records as complete and up-to-date as possible and as easily accessible for verification, monitoring and reference purposes based on the available residents’ census data kept by the client barangay. Data provided by this system in the form of comprehensive reports are invaluable for planning, program implementation and related purposes. Features: Automatic Business Processes – among the basic components of BMS is its automatic assessment feature which facilitates processing of community tax dues, professional tax, barangay clearance fees and other such charges which  are sources of barangay revenues. The system also allows for other barangay-related functions such as those including security and peace-keeping operations such as incident reporting, blotter, reports and records of the barangay peace-keeping council, and other related services. Forms and Reports – The system prepares and prints barangay permits and certifications (e.g. Community Tax Certificate, Occupational permits, Barangay Clearance, etc.) as well as important reports such as Barangay Profile, Socio-Demographic Profile, Residents’ Census Information, etc. Query – user-friendly query feature enables easy searching of records depending on chosen parameters (e.g. by kind of permit and/ or certification issued, by date of issuance of permit/ certification, by client-name, etc.) Standard-based – conforms with Local Government Code Sec. 394 (d) (6) which provides that each barangay maintain an updated record of residents for easy identification of inhabitants, for use as a planning tool, and of updated reference on the local barangay statistics. Design and Security Features – User-friendly design using easily-comprehensible menus facilitates utilization of application features. Flexible system makes it customizable depending on the needs and requirements of client Barangay. Employs a back-up and recovery utility for file integrity and security. BMS can also be linked to a client LGU’s existing GIS or Information System which would enable them to generate graphically-enhanced demographic profile for each barangay. Activity Tracking System There are many reasons why companies are tracking their employee’s computer activity. While increased business use of the internet has resulted in many new opportunities, it has also opened the door for more potential misuse of company equipment. It is possible for employees to send personal e-mails from their workstations, conduct on-line shopping expeditions, access online games, or spend time on social networking websites or other sites that have nothing to do with their work responsibilities. ActivTrak is a leading activity tracking software product that employers can use. ActivTrak is loaded with user-friendly features that make it simpler to successfully track employee activity. Using ActivTrak, you can monitor several computer users at once in real time. You can compile useful statistical information on the applications and documents employees have used in addition to the  websites they have visited. ActivTrak software even has an alarm system that can warn you of act ivity that is out of the ordinary. In addition to activity tracking, ActivTrak allows you to chat with computer users and can act as a blocking device to prevent the use of certain websites or applications. Installed on each Windows workstation, this activity tracking software allows the viewer to take a snapshot of the user’s screen as they are working. The snapshot can be refreshed as often as is needed. In this way an employer can view real time images of multiple users’ computer stations. At the same time it also records complete URL for a browser, application usage time and compiles the data into convenient statistics. This method of using the titlebar as a basis for collecting statistics makes ActivTrak different from other activity tracking software. Information Systems and Data Management Review of Related Literature Information systems and data management researchers at UQ are tackling the challenges of big data, real-time analytics, data modelling and smart information use. The cutting-edge solutions developed at UQ will lead to user empowerment at an individual, corporate and societal level. Our researchers are making a sustained and influential contribution to the management, modelling, governance, integration, analysis and use of very large quantities of diverse and complex data in an interconnected world. The quality of our research effort has been recognised nationally and internationally. The 2012 Excellence in Research for Australia exercise rated Information Systems research at UQ at the highest level, well above world standard. The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2013 ranked UQ’s Computer Science and Information Systems research 25th in the world. Our researchers have received numerous awards and fellowships, including Fellowships of the Australian Academy of Science and of the Australian Computer Society, Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowships, and an Emerald Management Reviews Citation of Excellence Award. UQ researchers collaborate with global industry leaders in the IT sector, renowned thought leaders, and a range of user organisations and communities. These collaborations span application areas such as intelligent transportation and logistics, water resource management, environmental studies, social  computing, healthcare, compliance and risk management, IT governance, and business process management. UQ recently headquartered a national research network on Enterprise Information Infrastructure (2005-2010) that profoundly influenced the Australian research community in terms of research collaboration, training and quality, and continues to play a leading role in promoting excellence in research training. Research topics at UQ include management of complex and interconnected data including spatiotemporal, multimedia, social, scientific and environmental data, new computing architectures for real-time analytics in data-intensive applications, and effective use and governance of information systems..The University of Queensland: Information System Research in Information Systems and Data Management predominantly occurs in the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering as well as other schools in the Faculties of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology; Business, Economics and Law; and Science. There are also significant contributions in applied research made by the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI), the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) and the Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR). Information Systems and Data Management research is supported by a high performance computing lab that provides the capacity to store, manage and analyse over 40TB of data using cluster, multi-core and in-memory computing architectures, as well as advanced data capture and visualisation capabilities. Recognising the critical importance of application drivers in defining and pursuing meaningful problems, UQ researchers consistently position their research across a broad range of applications spanning business, scientific and social domains. The eResearch group led by Professor Jane Hunter is involved in a large number of data-centric applications in both the sciences and humanities. The group investigates innovative approaches to management, analysis and visualisation services for large-scale data collections to accelerate scientific discovery. The common aim is to expedite research outcomes through the sharing, integration and analysis of open access data, using Semantic Web and Linked Open Data approaches. Hunter’s group has attracted funding from Microsoft Research, the Mellon Foundation and the ARC to develop ontology-based data integration and reasoning services for numerous agencies including the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and the Atlas of Living Australia. The research results of the data and knowledge engineering, eResearch, and business information systems groups have been applied to a large variety of data sets including GPS and trajectory data, sensor and news feeds, multimedia data, social data, bibliometric data and business data. The research has profound implications for new applications such as environmental resources management, intelligent transport systems, fleet management, location-based services and marketing, and location-based social networks, all of which can benefit from effective and efficient analysis of large amounts of trajectory data. Likewise, the work on multimedia search is a key technology for a broad range of critical applicant School District and Demographics System This new site from the National Centre for Education Statistics (NCES) acts as a gateway to geographic and demographic data related to school districts, children, and K-12 education. From the front page of the site, users will be able to access data from the 2000 Census, the 1999 Census, intercensal school district demographic data, and maps of school districts. These latter two functions are not yet available; the maps are still being developed, and the intercensal data â€Å"provided limited scope with regard to subject matter updates to the Census 2000 data.† Even in its nascent stages, however, this site is useful for those looking for data regarding US schools. The help documentation and online explanations are easy to understand, and the data can be downloaded in comma separated value files or accessed online. One particularly helpful feature is the district profiles page in the Census 2000 section, where users can compare data on school districts using drop- down menus. [TK] From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2001. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/ PCSX 2 Emulator Database PCSX2 is the first playstation 2 emulator to use MySQL as their database. The old revisions is open source and the codes can be freely edited. Our system uses a similar database with this application. CHAPTER III 3.1 Project Methodology In this project we used the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) as a  software engineering paradigm. The systems development life-cycle concept applies in a rage of hard and software configurations. A system can be composed of hardware only, software only, or a combination of both. Figure 3.Modified SDLC Research Methodology Planning Phase We the proponents conducted our meeting on how we are going to begin our study. After discussing ourselves. We came up with BIS (Barangay Information System) After that we discussed which Barangay we are going to address our study. We thought that it would be better to make our system compatible with any barangay in Cebu City. But we need a certain Barangay in which we can conduct our study properly. We asked some residents in Sab-a what problem they commonly encounter. We observed that their responses are almost entirely the same. They have problems with slow processing of information and documents they need. So we decided to make an Information System so they can properly store and retrieve their important documents in a single database. This way it would be easier for them to do their jobs. Analysis Phase After getting feedbacks from different residents we conducted another meeting and we the proponents decided to introduce our System to a Barangay. For us to answer the problems they encountered day by day. Design Phase These are many different ways on how the problem would be solved. So we designed our program that would be able to secure their information. Especially in storing and retrieving of data. This way won’t be having problems in keeping their documents. 3.2 Definition of Terms Barangay – A barangay (Brgy. or Bgy.; Filipino: baranggay, [baÉ ¾aŋˈÉ ¡aj]), formerly called barrio, is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district or ward. In colloquial usage, the term often refers to an inner city neighbourhood, a suburb or a suburban neighborhood Database – A database is an organized collection of data. The data are typically organized to model aspects of reality in a way that supports processes requiring information. GUI or Graphical User Interface – s a type of interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and visual indicators such as secondary notation, as opposed to text-based interfaces, typed command labels or text navigation. Data – s a set of values of qualitative or quantitative variables; restated, pieces of data are individual pieces of information. Computer Icon – A computer icon is a pictogram displayed on a computer screen in order to help the user navigate a computer system or mobile device. Computer – A computer is a general purpose device that can be programmed to carry out a set of arithmetic or logical operations automatically. Since a sequence of operations can be readily changed, the computer can solve more than one kind of problem. Internet – an electronic communications network that connects computer networks and organizational computer facilities around the world Computerize – to equip with or automate by computers Manipulation- to move or control something with your hands or by using a machine System – a group of related parts that move or work together

Mobile Computing and Social Networking Essay

1Introduction Tiny, portable gadgets, such as pocket digital assistants (PDAs) and mobile phones have been in the recent years pushed on the mark. Mobile or ubiquitous computing and handy gadgets are changing the relations between computers and humans.there is an introduction of a new communication approach based on context. This approach enables people to interact with computers, objects and environments seamlessly. Mobile computing devices have enabled composite cooperation and communication patterns that were not dreamt of in the past years. They possess vital features in portability, ability to share information using communication networks; wireless, and synchronizing the information with other standardized gadgets. There have drastic changes in the technological landscape in the past years led by the emergence of mobile computing devices focusing on consumer preferences. The rapid increase in use of mobile computing gadgets is nowadays noticeable in the medical or healthcare industry. The healthcare industry has never been a frontrunner in terms of Information Technology and computing in relation to caring for patients and clinical trials. Health care providers are adopting new and innovative ways using mobile computing platforms to support patient care. Thus through a constant drive to find a new method of improving the quality of patients’ lives, the health care industry has benefited. This has seen the enormous growth of wearable portable systems, monitoring the patient’s conditions for vital signs. This paper focuses in assessing the concept of monitoring patients using mobile computing gadgets transmitting using wireless technology. It also assesses the use of social networks to group support for patients with similar medical conditions. 2Monitoring patients using wearable, mobile gadgets 2.1concepts Mobile health monitoring systems have come handy in helping people to engage closely in their own health care. This technology involves the integration of a biosensor which monitors vital signs (such as heart rate, BP, temperature and other health-related information), environmental sensors, and a location sensor into a wearable wireless network. This allows an enduring, unobtrusive monitoring with immediate feedback to the patient or physician about the current status and a real time update of the user’s health data. The data makes up the EPR (electronic patient record), which allows the health status data of the patient to be accessed using many devices and heterogeneous networks. Mobile computing application in medicine allows access to EPR for consolidated information on patients from any location within the network. This advancement has brought about many benefits to the medical industry. However, it does not make a substitute for the direct eye to eye meeting between patient and the doctor due to the various setbacks it suffers. 2.2Advantages of using mobile computing to monitor patients Monitoring patients using wearable, mobile devices has a lot of merits as compared to the traditional inpatient visit by the patient. These include: 2.2.1Patient participation in their own health care This technology allows the healthcare providers to be close and interact more with patients. This grows the sense of ownership amongst patients and their relatives as they tend to take in more information and interact with it. This interaction provides the clinician an improved access to information thus leading to a better diagnosis. The resultant is a sense of ownership in the patients leading to high rates of diagnosis acceptance and following of post-diagnosis orders. 2.2.2Easier and quicker visibility of the patient’s condition The physician does not have to wait for laboratory results to be sent or telemetry to be done. The mobile computing devices allows for real time viewing of information. 2.2.3Increase in efficiency of healthcare The provider does not have to move from machine to machine, one room to the other seeking the patient’s data. Updated data can be accessed from the electronic patient records in real time by the wearable monitoring devices. This leads to swift and accurate decision making concerning patients issues since it relies on accurate data. 2.2.4Cost The development of these mobile devices can be realized within modest charges compared to specialty systems. The maintenance of these small but essential devices is also low compared to the specialty systems. This pulls down the cost of running mobile-computing monitoring devices. 2.3Disadvantages of using mobile computing to monitor patients Monitoring patients using mobile computing powered devices also suffer some setbacks. 2.3.1Health hazard The issue of radiations still is unclear posing uncertainties on its application. The health care industry players have not agreed on the standards of these devices. 2.3.2Technical stress Its application may bring more technical emphasis which can result in a stress issue to patients and medics (Brahnam & Jain, 2010). The patients’ data has to be stored securely. This is often a challenge because the users of these devices may be unequipped with the necessary level of expertise; to perform the encryption tasks. However, security is a point of concern in the application of these gadgets. An effective protocol or security measure should be used to ensure heavy security to the data accessed through them. This entails an implementation of strong access protocols at both the gadget and the network levels. Appropriate encryption measures should also be implemented to safeguard against unauthorized access of the information stored in the device, in case it lands in the wrong hands due to theft. However, these devices should be designed only to allow viewing of sensitive data locally on the mobile computing device rather than storing it. 2.4Use of social network to group support for patients Online health social networking sites give patients the privilege to obtain and disclose information on some health condition without disclosing their identities (Turban & Volonino, 2011). Support groups help patients to cope with the various conditions by providing social support and network of information to its members. Patients educate each other on the conditions and treatments using the social network. This often impacts the old doctor-patient relationship, and could develop a foundation for a market driven system where clients can make choices. Health oriented social networks are extremely beneficial to patients they provide an instrumental support by providing stress relieving services, financial assistance, advice and willingness to help. It offers nurturing support aiming at comforting stressed patients without necessarily solving the problems leading to the stress by making the patient feel cared. 3Conclusion The application of technology in the health industry has come a long way. Its adoption in the monitoring of patients has been extremely beneficial to both patients and doctors. However, there still concerns over the security of the many sensitive data passed on from one point to the other by these mobile devices. Improved security measures should be enacted, to ensure that the patient’s data is safe from external access since it may incriminate the privacy right of the patient. Health care oriented social network has been much of a platform where patients share their experiences. The healthcare providers get to acquaint themselves of the patients’ experiences and also market their services by engaging directly with the patients. * 4.0References Brahnam, S., & Jain, L. C. (2010). Advanced Computational Intelligence Paradigms in Healthcare 5: Intelligent Decision Support Systems. Berlin, Germany: Springer. Shahriyar, R., Bari, F., Kundu, G., Ahamed, S., & Akbar, M.(2009). Intelligent Mobile Health Monitoring System (IMHMS). In P.kostkova (Eds..), Electronic Healthcare: Second International ICST Conference, EHealth 2009 Istanbul, Turkey, September 2009 Revised Selected Papers (pp. 5-12). Berlin, Germany: Springer. Tan, J., (2005). EHealth Care Information Systems: An Introduction for Students and Professionals. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Turban, E., & Volonino, L. (2011). Information Technology for management: Improving strategic and operational performance (8th ed.). Hoboken NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Are Tote Bags Really Good for the Environment - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1171 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2019/06/24 Category Culture Essay Level High school Tags: Ethnographic Essay Did you like this example? In my Paper I will be talking about this piece of trash I found very interesting to observe and take notes. The object is a medium size tote like bag with dents and rips from the front part of the object to the sides of the object. This object has one hole in the left bottom area of it and to the far back left its ripped apart as well as the far right corner. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Are Tote Bags Really Good for the Environment?" essay for you Create order The object is all black, shades of jet black as well in the middle of the bag where it spells the letters M,C,M. There is what looks like some type of Greek art symbol under the letters MCM. It has these pair of what looks like leaves but not what a typical leaf looks like shape, there spread out in both directions like similar to wings. There is this object in the middle between the wing shaped leaves , its similar to a ring. Under the ring and leave like wing there is almost similar M shaped structure supporting the whole structure. This object also has a draw string hanging from one left hole looping to the other right hole. The material from the object looks like black cardboard but a very luxury, expensive type. The object I am describing is a shopping bag. This specific shopping bag holds items worth thousands, so it wouldnt be considered a regular shopping bag where we just throw away. These type of luxury shopping bags are made from fabrics including silk, cotton, and linen etc. These type of fabrics make those buying the product with these bags have such value rather than it just being a regular bag you get to hold your items then throw away Based off my empirical data the bag seems to be able to be reused, and is of a higher quality make or design than any other shopping bag that I have seen, For example are made from a silkworm,it forms a cocoon and is broken filaments processed into yarn (www.Greenopedia.com). The shopping bag is made of canvas, natural fibre like a thick paper bag. This bag is often used again after buying your luxury item, it is used as a bag you use to put anything in, gym c lothes, a pair of sneakers, anything. Anthropologically looking at the production of shopping bags and how they are now more than just a shopping bag now companies such as Bloomingdales now actually made their typical shopping bag an actual bag which resembles the iconic shopping. It has a leather- latex material and leather handles, as well as the brand Balenciaga, they have shopping bags starting at $1,ooo. This shopping bags brand is called MCM (Michael Cromer Munchen). It was named after the creator of the designer. MCM was established originally in Munich, Germany 1976 (www.theguardian.com). However, the original creator was investigated for tax evasion. Mcm was bought by Swiss investment. Sung-Joo Kim owned the license for MCM and later the brand name was changed to Mode Creation Munich (Businessoffashion.com). Societies are usually understood as even more enmeshed within cultural media than ourselves. Rather our stance is one that takes society to be always a cultural project in which we come to be ourselves in our humanity through the medium of things. This fear, at least in its earlier Marxist form, was not, however, a fear of material objects per se but of the commodity as vehicle for capitalist dominance, and this raises a key issue as to whether and when societies might be able to resist this particular form of object domination. ( A Black sweet drink from Trinidad, Daniel Miller). In America people became so entangled and brainwashed into fashion that these fashion brands how so much control over peoples lives, some people would starve just to wear the latest fashion.This also relates to how the wealthy business owners are able to keep power. Referring back to the company Bloomingdales, they seen their Big Brown Bag was growing more out of a shopping bag into an actually stylish everyday wear bag that they decided to turn it into an actual bag. He shows us how people make meaning for themselves under circumstances they do not control, how the emergence of new forms of commerce, new patterns of migration, and new systems of social control lead people to fashion new survival strategies and create their own new forms of social identity, social alliance, and social affiliation (The grounded transnationalism of Robert Alvarez, George Lipsitz). I personally feel as though big brand companies should come to be more holistic in terms of their thinking for their brand or product and more importantly the consumers. Stop robbing people of their money, I say this because these companies are exploiting people to buy their goods by any means necessary. It could be a clothing that kills as long as its selling off the selves they could care less about the repercussions. I believe companies should care for the customers as well and have more meaningful product rather than a very expensive product that does little to nothing for the consumer but break their pockets. The shopping bag is a very sourceful item it is reusable that is the best advantage it has. The bag I analyzed was most likely used to store personal things in the bag. As in the picture shown below the bag has items in them while still identified as garbage. Personally when I go to luxury store nad make big purchases and I get a sense of pride to be walking around with a luxury shopping bag even when it has nothing pertaining to that brand or just have dirty socks or your next meal in the bag ive noticed people still tend to stare just because of the logo embedded on the shopping bag. I am saying all of this to generalization the broad perspective of merchandise and how it affects society. As I further analyzed the trash I noticed the additional trash in the shopping bag so it was trash inside of trash. The shopping bag became non reusable and useless once it became damaged and ripped slightly apart. The additional items in the now trash shopping bag was an old tote lid with dirty stains on it and an surgical purple glove over the top right corner of the tote lid. Its next to an actual garbage can so I make under the assumption that this is actual trash. There were empty soda and water bottles in the shopping bag along with a black shoe box now this shoe box was slightly noticeable to be considered garbage it had a few rips of the paper from the shoe box on both sides. I also get rid of useless shopping bags as soon as I see a hole or rip because I think of fit as pointless to have lying around in my house if its destroyed, it it now considered trash at that point.

THE GOVERNING CORPORATE OBJECTIVES of SHAREHOLDERS VERSUS STAKEHOLDERS - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 17 Words: 5067 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? Virtually all CEOs and directors of publicly traded companies, especially in the United States, acknowledge that creating value for shareholders is an important corporate objective. Typically, however, shareholders are considered to be only one of a number of important constituencies or stakeholders vying for a preference in managements evaluation of key decisions. These stakeholders are usually specified to also include customers, employees, suppliers (including creditors), and the wider community. These competing claims for preference in the allocation of the companys resources have given rise to distinctly different points of view about what the corporations governing objective should be. Some, like ourselves, believe that the best managed companies are those that consistently resolve trade-offs in ways that create the maximum possible value for shareholders. An especially vivid statement of this point of view was expressed over 30 years ago by the CEO of a textile company called Indian Head Mills: 2 Marakon Associates The objective of our company is to increase the intrinsic value of our common stock. We are not in business to grow bigger for the sake of size, nor to become more diversified, nor to make the most or best of anything, nor to provide jobs, have the most modern plants, the happiest customers, lead in new product development, or to achieve any other status which has no relation to the economic use of capital. Any or all of these may be, from time to time, a means to our objective, but means and ends must never be confused. We are in business solely to improve the inherent value of the common stockholders equity in the company.1 Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "THE GOVERNING CORPORATE OBJECTIVES of SHAREHOLDERS VERSUS STAKEHOLDERS" essay for you Create order In a second camp are those who believe that the interests of a stakeholder group other than the shareholders should be consistently favored by management. Socialists, for instance, believe the interests of society and employees should supersede the interests of customers and shareholders (the state, in most cases). Given the unbroken string of failures foisted on the taxpayer by state-run companies, however, we see no reason to describe the well known flaws in this argument. Perhaps more relevant to the readers of Commentary is the view, rapidly becoming the conventional wisdom, that maximizing customer satisfaction should be the corporations governing objective. Occasionally, the most vocal advocates of making customer satisfaction the governing objective can be quite hostile to any consideration of shareholders interests. For example, a business school professor recently wrote the following: June 1993 3 Many managers in the United States still operate under the twin fictions that t heir most important stakeholders are shareholders, and that their primary purpose in management is to enhance shareholder value. Whether this is true from a legal perspective in the case of publicly traded firms is worthy of debate; but from a strategic and operational perspective, it is dead wrong for any firm publicly traded or privately held. A business does not exist for the benefit of investors, nor should it be run under that premise.2 The author went on to say that the primary objective of the company should be to service the needs of its customers, not its shareholders. While some may be sympathetic to this view, most executives who advocate customer satisfaction as the primary objective at least acknowledge the need to provide benefits to other stakeholder groups. A typical expression of this philosophy comes from Paul Allaire, CEO of Xerox, who said, I have to change the company substantially to be more market driven. If we do whats right for the customer, our market shar e and our return on assets will take care of themselves.3 Finally, there is a third group that gives priority to somehow finding the right balance among stakeholder interests. One of the strongest advocates in this camp, until it was acquired by ATT in 1991, was NCR Corporation. In its last annual report, it described itself as follows: 4 Marakon Associates NCR is a successful, growing company dedicated to achieving superior results by assuring that its actions are aligned with stakeholder expectations. Stakeholders are all constituencies with a stake in the fortunes of the company. NCRs primary mission is to create value for our stakeholders.4 A recent survey of directors suggests that NCR was not alone in its views. The survey results led the authors to conclude that boards of directors no longer believe that the shareholder is the only constituent to whom they are responsible. They state further that this study reveals that these perceived stakeholders are, in the order of thei r importance, customers and government, stockholders, employees, and society.5 In this Commentary we want to deal with two related questions. First, should the companys governing objective be to maximize the economic benefits to any group other than the shareholders? Second, is balancing competing stakeholder interests an appropriate governing objective for a large corporation? THE ARGUMENT FOR MAXIMIZING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION Without a doubt, the stakeholder group that is seen to pose the greatest challenge to the primacy of shareholder interests is customers. It goes without saying that no company can create great wealth for its shareholders without a stable and growing June 1993 5 revenue base, which can only come from having very satisfied and loyal customers. But this result is by no means automatic. It is quite possible to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction and yet be unable to translate this seeming advantage into adequate returns for shareholders, let alone great w ealth. A very good, if unfortunate, example of this challenge can be found in American Airlines (AMR). American is generally recognized as the leader among major US airlines in customer service, producing such innovations as the SABRE reservations system and the now ubiquitous frequent flyer programs. The companys management is clearly working hard to satisfy its customers and create good returns for shareholders. And yet, the economics of the industry have been and are currently so unfavorable that $100 invested in AMR shares in 1983 would have grown to only $325, far better than the performance of competitors whose shares grew to just $255, but much worse than the $450 investors would have earned from the Standard Poors 500 Index. The specific questions we want to address here are: Under what circumstances does the objective of maximizing shareholder value conflict with the objective of maximizing customer satisfaction? And when a conflict does arise, how should management choo se to resolve it? We begin by noting that every product and service provides benefits to customers based on its expected usefulness, or utility, and that these expected benefits have an economic value. 6 Marakon Associates For some products and services, such as a barrel of North Sea crude oil, the dollar value of the benefits provided to the customer can be readily measured. For others, particularly such complex offerings as a CAT scanner, measuring the value of customer benefits is more difficult, requiring the use of sophisticated research techniques, such as conjoint analysis. As long as management sets the price of each product or service no higher than the average dollar value of benefits provided to customers, and the expected benefits materialize, most customers will be satisfied with the transaction (it will be viewed as a fair exchange). In other words, customer satisfaction occurs when the product or service meets or exceeds expectations and is acquired at a price no high er than its perceived value. In addition to the value perceived by customers, every product and service also makes some contribution to shareholder value. The magnitude of this contribution will depend on the volume sold, the price realized, the cost of making and delivering the product/service to customers and the required investment. These factors interact to generate a cash flow stream for the business. The present value of this cash flow stream determines the economic benefit to shareholders of producing and selling the product or service. Seen in this way, every product or service generates a value to the customer as measured by its perceived utility in relation to its price, and a value to the June 1993 7 shareholders as measured by the present value of the cash flow the owners will eventually receive from their investment in the customer offer. The means by which an increase in customer satisfaction is translated into cash flow for shareholders is important and worthy of some elaboration. Any strategy that calls for increasing the investment of the companys resources to increase customer satisfaction will increase shareholder value only if the economic return on the investment over time exceeds the companys cost of capital. If management is on the offensive, investing in customer satisfaction ahead of its competitors, the return can only come from the customers willingness to pay a higher price for the increment of satisfaction received. This willingness to pay a price premium increases cash flow over time either through higher margins, if management chooses to price high and hold market share, or faster growth, if the choice is for lower prices and greater share. Note that if customers are unwilling to pay a higher price for the increase in satisfaction, the investment will have failed from the standpoint of both customers and shareholders, regardless of the effort expended. If, however, management is on the defensive, reacting to competitor advances i n customer satisfaction, calculating the economic return becomes more complicated. In these instances, the return comes from avoiding a loss rather than achieving a gain. If management invests successfully enough to at least match competitors, the return will be produced by either avoiding the 8 Marakon Associates June 1993 9 necessity to discount price and face declining margins, or by avoiding loss of market share and declining growth rates. In either case, the economic return can best be measured by analyzing the impact of the investment of resources on the value of the business as a whole. In Exhibit 1 we illustrate the general consequences that various strategies might have on both customer satisfaction and shareholder value. When management pursues strategies that increase both customer satisfaction and shareholder value, as characterized by arrow #1, there is obviously no conflict of interest between the two groups. Exhibit 1: Perceived Customer Satisfaction Versus Shareholde r Value Shareholder Value Customer Satisfaction Value Maximization 3 2 1 4 This occurs when the strategy succeeds in enhancing customer satisfaction to such an extent that the increase in price they are willing to pay more than offsets the increase in resources invested. The strategy thus generates both happier customers and a return on the required investment that exceeds the cost of capital, thereby creating value for the shareholders. A recent example of this win-win strategy was the introduction by Microsoft of a new software product, Windows, which was designed to offer the same type of user-friendly features pioneered by Apples Macintosh. Since its introduction in 1990, Windows has received rave reviews from customers, quickly grabbing 20% of the market, and has helped propel Microsofts market capitalization up by more than $10 billion, more than doubling its value for shareholders. Strategies characterized by arrow #2 do present a conflict. Here, managements investment in cus tomer satisfaction has paid off, but the economic cost has exceeded the returns on the investment, producing a negative value impact for the shareholders. An example of this strategy is General Motors introduction of Saturn, which has been so well received by customers that the company has been unable to keep up with demand. While recent surveys have consistently ranked Saturn high in customer satisfaction, GM has invested nearly $6 billion through 1992 to develop and manufacture the car, an amount so large that the company would have to operate existing facilities at full capacity forever and more than double profit margins, 10 Marakon Associates keeping 40% of the dealers sticker price as net cash flow, simply to earn a return on investment equal to G.M.s cost of capital. Within large companies, we generally find that a significant percentage of the products and services have overshot the peak of the curve, providing far more than the customer is willing to pay. Can these strategi es be justified on grounds that any increase in customer satisfaction will be worth it in the long run? Basically, the answer has to be no. Whenever shareholders subsidize customers in a significant way, the financial health of the company is diminished, ultimately to the detriment of all stakeholders. Not only is the companys cash flow lower than it otherwise would be, but its long-term competitiveness is also eroded due to the increase in its cost structure and investment base. Over time, any company that pursues this type of uneconomic investment will undoubtedly face competitors that position themselves closer to the peak in Exhibit 1, offering somewhat less customer satisfaction at a far lower cost. These competitors will then find themselves with a cost advantage that may well be exploited either by lowering prices in a bid for market share or by investing in a type of satisfaction that is appropriately valued by the customer. This does not mean that there are no circumstances under which a business should sacrifice shareholder value for the sake of customer satisfaction. In some cases, it may be necessary to defend highly profitable market share against a competitive attack June 1993 11 with a strategy that reduces incremental returns below the cost of capital for a short period of time. This would be applauded by shareholders whenever the value loss from not matching the competitor exceeds the value loss by not responding. In other cases, the value destroyed by one product may be more than offset by a complementary product, as is often the case with relationship banking, where corporate loans are loss leaders for profitable fee-based products. Whenever this occurs, however, one should be careful to assess the economic gains relative to losses across the product portfolio to avoid creating an abundance of loss leaders. In the vast majority of cases, however, we believe that the best strategy for any business that has overshot the peak is one that moves the business back up the curve, as illustrated by arrow #3. In many cases, this can best be accomplished by identifying and reducing those costs that contribute little or nothing to customer satisfaction. This was the course chosen by Compaq Computer in late 1991 when the board forced out the founding CEO and abandoned its follow and upgrade IBM strategy. By a combination of reengineering and out-sourcing, management cut costs by more than 30% and introduced more than 70 new models at far lower price points. This change in strategy enabled the company to more than recapture the share it had previously lost and produced a 140% return to shareholders during a period when the market return was 25%. 12 Marakon Associates In a broader sense, reducing or eliminating low value-added costs is what the process reengineering movement is striving to achieve. By analyzing all core business processes that contribute to customer satisfaction, e.g., customer service, it is often possible to simpli fy and redesign each process in ways that eliminate redundancies and inefficiency. In a recent client engagement, for example, we found potential cost savings ranging from 10-25% in several core business processes that had little or no effect on customer satisfaction. For some companies, mispricing is the primary reason that the business has overshot the peak of the curve. This usually occurs when management underestimates what its customers would be willing to pay for a particular offering. For example, in the mid- 1980s, the new management at Walt Disney realized that while its theme parks had been upgraded over the prior decade, the price of admission had not kept pace with inflation. The effective price discounting led to ever increasing traffic within the parks, which during peak periods actually reduced customer satisfaction. By increasing ticket prices back to the inflation-adjusted level of the 1970s, the profitability of the parks soared with very little impact on the volum e of admissions, a strategy which contributed a great deal to the ten-fold increase in Disneys share price. A final way to move back up the curve is to segment the market and focus on those customers who value the product offering highly enough to pay a price that exceeds economic cost. June 1993 13 This usually requires repositioning the offering to appeal either to those customers who are less price sensitive or to those who are less costly to serve. J.C. Penney, for example, has successfully repositioned itself during the past ten years from a broad, mass market department store chain to a softgoods retailer focusing on womens apparel, generating an annual return to its shareholders some 60% higher than the market as a whole. Once near the peak, it is always possible to move to the left, as depicted by arrow #4. In these cases, both customer satisfaction and shareholder value are declining, representing the strongest possible signal that the strategy being pursued needs a major o verhaul. Perhaps the most celebrated example of this is the decision by the management of Coca-Cola to introduce New Coke in 1985. Customers immediately let it be known that they much preferred the old Coke and stayed away from the new product in droves. However, having made the mistake, management reacted very swiftly. Without hesitation, the old product was reintroduced as Coca-Cola Classic, while New Coke, renamed Coke II last year, gradually faded to a niche brand, leaving both customers and shareholders much relieved. To summarize, as long as management invests in higher levels of customer satisfaction such that it earns an economic return over time that exceeds the cost of capital, there is no conflict between maximizing shareholder value and maximizing customer satisfaction. If, however, the economic return from attempting to 14 Marakon Associates increase customer satisfaction falls below the cost of capital, the conflict should be resolved for the benefit of shareholders to avoid diminishing both the financial health and long-term competitiveness of the business. THE ARGUMENT FOR FAVORING OTHER STAKEHOLDERS OVER SHAREHOLDERS If the objective of maximizing shareholder value dominates the objective of maximizing customer value, under what circumstances, if any, should management give the economic interests of other stakeholders precedence over the economic interests of the owners? To begin with, we know of no one who seriously advocates that the governing objective of the corporation should be to maximize the economic interests of the companys vendors. Rather, they propose treating suppliers fairly, which we take to mean that, as a customer, the business strives to pay market prices for its supplies, pay its bills on time, and generally treat its suppliers well. Maximizing shareholder value requires the same behavior. Suppliers and supply chain management are both crucial to developing and implementing strategies that generate the highest long-term cash flow. Churning suppliers in an attempt to pay prices that are below market levels or delaying payment as much as possible will typically lead to supply disruptions or quality problems, which will damage the value of the business June 1993 15 over time. Indeed, an important part of Total Quality Management focuses on consolidating suppliers to increase volumes purchased, working with each supplier to improve quality, and coordinating delivery-production schedules to minimize cost and inventory, each of which is likely to help maximize value for shareholders. As for the employee-stockholder relationship, the message is similar. Maximizing value for shareholders demands enlightened human resource management, since the companys workforce is a potential source of significant competitive advantage, which can be directly translated into superior value creation. Companies that attempt to pay their employees below market wages, engage in churning of the workforce, or treat their employees i n a manner that does not fully utilize their skills and talent are unlikely to create the maximum value possible for shareholders. On the contrary, those companies with the best track records of value creation, such as Coca-Cola, Disney, and General Electric, are also among the very best at human resource management. Not only do they realize the crucial role that their workforce plays in creating and sustaining competitive advantage, which translates into value creation, but they can more easily afford to invest in education and training and share some of the benefits of their success with their employees. Clearly then, there is no inherent conflict between shareholders and employees of companies that are performing reasonably well. Much has been written, however, about the issue of how companies that are performing poorly, 16 Marakon Associates and must downsize or restructure, should treat their employees. Specifically, some advocates of balancing stakeholder interests accuse West ern (especially U.S.) management of being too eager to lay off employees, particularly when compared with the widespread Japanese policy of lifetime employment. The implicit suggestion made is that, when times are tough, the shareholders should transfer some of their wealth to employees in order to avoid reductions in the workforce. In our view, there is merit to this argument, but only when the downturn in business is seen as temporary, rather than structural. Given the amount of money that most companies must invest in acquiring and training their workforce, it would probably be in the interests of both employees and shareholders to stockpile valuable people when there is a temporary falloff in demand. The reduction in earnings and cash flow that this causes is likely to be more than offset when demand rises again and the company can fully utilize its trained workforce. Thus, unless the near-term penalty is likely to be quite large, companies pursuing the objective of maximizing s hareholder value will view their employees as assets to be held onto, so that the perceived conflict between owners and workers will not materialize. When the downturn in business is structural, however, management will indeed face a shareholder-employee conflict. From the shareholders perspective, the highest-value strategy will involve a permanent reduction in workforce, probably accompanied by shutdowns of various facilities. From the June 1993 17 employees perspective, those who are likely to be let go would clearly prefer that the shareholders sacrifice some of their wealth to keep them on the job. Those unlikely to be let go would, of course, feel sympathy for their colleagues, but would also want the company to downsize and return to financial health as soon as possible, since this would enhance their own job security. Should management place the objectives of those employees likely to be let go above those of the shareholders? Again, as in the case with unprofitable investme nt in customer satisfaction, the answer is no. Over time, the company that continuously transfers shareholder value to its employees in order to avoid difficult restructuring decisions will become less and less competitive as its wage costs per unit produced climb above those of competing firms. Rivals with substantially lower wage costs will either lower prices or use the cost advantage to increase investment in customer satisfaction in a bid for market share. Inevitably, the high-wage company will be forced to match or face a steady decline in its fortunes. When this occurs, management usually faces a situation in which it is forced into a restructuring to survive, one that often involves a far greater reduction in force than would have occurred had management acted sooner. In fact, those companies that do manage for shareholder value tend to cut their workforce quickly when they must, and provide the most generous assistance to those let go. Our conclusion: Pursuing the objective of maximizing value for shareholders also maximizes the economic interests of all employees over time, even when management is forced to downsize the company. 18 Marakon Associates As for balancing the economic interests of the various communities in which it operates with those of shareholders, the objective of value maximization does not preclude the company from making contributions that enhance the environment for its employees. In fact, one could easily argue that these investments actually offer the prospect of creating value for shareholders since they reflect well on the company, enhancing its image, and add to the quality of life for employees, making recruiting talented people easier than it otherwise would be. Again, when one studies those companies that consistently create value for shareholders at rates far greater than those of their peers, one also finds companies that contribute generously to their local communities. THE ARGUMENT FOR BALANCING STAKEHOLDER INTERESTS Having established that no other group should take precedence over shareholders, we now turn to the second question posed earlier: Is balancing stakeholder interests an appropriate governing objective? The principal argument for balancing stakeholder interests can best be thought of as a fairness doctrine. Simply put, it is more equitable to optimize the economic interests of all constituencies, so that all share in any wealth that is created and all lose when the company performs poorly, than it is to maximize the benefits for only one constituency the owners or shareholders. These critics often June 1993 19 emphasize that for many companies, the shareholders are either wealthy individuals or faceless institutions that trade so frequently that it is quite difficult to even know who the shareholders are on any given day. The other constituencies, of course, are represented by people who typically have longstanding ties to the company. There are two reasons that the argument for bal ancing stakeholder interests is fundamentally flawed. The first is that the central premise underlying the fairness doctrine is predicated on the false belief that there are substantial conflicts between the economic interests of shareholders and other stakeholders. In other words, the advocates of balancing believe that managing a business is similar to a zero-sum game, where a victory for shareholders must somehow diminish the welfare of other stakeholders. As argued above, this is clearly not the case there is no inherent economic conflict between shareholders and other stakeholders over time, with the result that maximizing shareholder value will also maximize the benefits to all stakeholders. The second reason is that it is impractical. The primary purpose of a governing objective for any corporation is to establish a consistent criterion by which the organization can make decisions. This is extremely important for large companies that have decentralized decision making and em powered employees far down in the organization. Since it is extremely difficult, if not 20 Marakon Associates impossible, to measure the economic impact, or change in satisfaction, of a particular decision on each stakeholder group, balancing the competing interests will always depend on judgment. While some senior executives may be comfortable making these judgment calls, they cannot make all of the decisions for the company. Managers down in the organization, where hundreds, if not thousands of decisions are made each week, must have a clear understanding of how the choices and trade-offs they face should be resolved. For example, how should a business unit general manager respond if a competitor launches an aggressive attack, including a 20% price cut? Should the business match the price cut and try to hold market share, pleasing its customers, or should it hold its current pricing position, protecting its return on investment and risk losing customers? Should a manufacturing man ager invest in a new process technology that would increase ROI and customer satisfaction, but would also result in a 15% reduction in headcount? Decisions such as these cannot be sent up the chain of command to a few wise judges without paralyzing the company. And yet judgment cannot be widely decentralized without a clear, common criterion, since individual judgments will vary substantially, causing redundancy and conflict. In short, establishing the concept of balancing stakeholder interests as a governing objective will not work in todays decentralized corporation. June 1993 21 CONCLUSION The governing objective for all publicly traded companies should be to maximize the value of the company for shareholders. Achieving this objective not only serves the interests of the companys owners but also serves the economic interests of all stakeholders over time. While this may call for some stakeholders to face economic harm in some situations, such as when a restructuring leads unavoid ably to layoffs, over any reasonably long-time horizon, the economic interests of all stakeholders will be maximized only from decisions made in the interests of the shareholders. In short: Maximizing shareholder value is not merely the best way but is the only way to maximize the economic interests of all stakeholders over time. Among the many benefits conferred by adopting value maximization as the governing objective, two stand out in our minds as particularly important. The first has to do with decision making. Business is a game of choices. Hundreds of decisions are made every day in large organizations that involve complex tradeoffs between current earnings and long-term payoffs or between maintaining profit margins and maintaining market share. All large companies need a clear objective that can be translated into a decision criterion. Comparing the value impact of various strategic or tactical alternatives and choosing the option that creates the most value for shareholders is both clear and consistent and can be made operational throughout a large, 22 Marakon Associates complex company. All other criteria, such as global dominance, earnings growth, quality leadership and ROI, will inevitably lead to either overinvestment, profitless growth, or harmful disinvestment. The second benefit is the positive feedback effect that occurs when a company succeeds in making value creation a core competency. Accomplishing this typically requires new and better information and strategic analysis, coupled with changes in organizational structure and management processes, which over time produce an institutional advantage in both learning and decision making. The advantage emerges in many forms, such as a common vocabulary, consensus about goals and performance measures, higher-quality strategic plans, better and faster execution, and economically driven capital allocation. As the institutional advantage grows, the companys human and financial resources also expand, a s do the strategic advantages within its business units. This enables even greater investment in securing competitive advantage, which ultimately produces both higher cash flow for shareholders as well as the highest level of economic benefits for all stakeholders. June 1993 23 1 Excerpted from the Indian Head Mills Co. Manual in The Chief Shows Them How at Indian Head. Fortune. May 1962: 129-130 2 Harari, Oren. Yourre Not in Business to Make a Profit. Management Review. July 1992: 53-55 3 ibid. 4 NCR 1990 Annual Report: 2. 5 Wang, Jia and Dewhirst, H. Dudley. Boards of Directors and Stakeholder Orientation. Journal of Business Ethics. Vol. 11.2 (Feb. 1992): 115-123. 24 Marakon Associates 300 Atlantic Street 12th Floor Stamford, CT 06901 (203) 978-6600 1-3 Strand London WC2N 5HP United Kingdom 44 (00) 321 2323 456 Montgormery Street Suite 2300 San Francisco, CA 94104 (415) 365-7000 77 West Wacker Suite 3250 Chicago, IL 60601 (312) 516-2150 June 1993 25 26 Marakon Associates Copyrigh t June, 1993 Marakon Associates all rights reserved