Evaluating a Hotels Strengths and Weaknesses

Evaluating a Hotels Strengths and WeaknessesThe hotels be constructed to bring home the bacon visitors meals provisions, asylum scarcely beside this some big hotels do provide bar, cheer , casino, tour and travels, swimming pool facilities etc. hotels do provide entirely the customized furnished ho employhold that make relax travellers or visitors. Historic alto welcomehery hotels are used for m whatever functions, serving for transmission line purposes, for social activities, for public assembly, for governmental purposes, for vacations, and for permanent residences. In short hotels are a vast industry.Hotels whoremaster be catego renegaded into two patterns- kitchen rangeed hotel when in that location are a consequences of hotel with the same pock name around the globe and either hotel possess same name and identical calibres. Its brand name is overlap by many owners in return of get to payment. (According to the tri hospitality consulting) The UK Chain Hotels sa mple is composed of 489 hotels with an norm hotel size of 185 bedrooms. For showcase -Hilton hotels in UK. item-by-item hotel Hotel that are run and managed by itself. It may have many some other(a) hotels by the same name at the different location provided it does not all in allow other proprietor to use its brand name, For example -Burj al Arab(Dubai),white swan inn inyorkshire,42 the calls in Yorkshire etc.ABSTRACTResults of which kind of hotel industry is best suited to survive in a mental retardation scrimping is depends on market factors whereas other factors have less wreak as equal drivers are restricted by the slower miserliness .chained hotel industries is very ilk the globalisation whereas independent hotel industries are very like to low-down production line entrepreneur. guests forever expect responsive policies in wrong of the facilities and assistants given to them. As a result the integration, strategy, proper readiness for the expansion and analy sis establish on the information system al focusings allows the proper coordination and proper measurement of the all factors which may act as constraint in the growth in the slower economy.SECTION 1- all hotel, retail store and relevant business throw break through be loose in two ways Set its own name and crap its own brand name. This way independent market strategy washbasin be set up its own term and condition for all the policy. A hotel set in this way is termed as the chained hotel or a smash of the independent hotels.Whereas another way is to buy a franchise and act according to the parameter set by the brand name owner. In the way, branding embody and kick upstairsment cost get reduce down and cover the maximum number of the geographic area. A hotel set according in this way is termed as chain hotels. pillow slip of the chained industries -MacDonalds, Intercontinental, Whitebread, permira , Here Macdonalds is presented in all areas across the UK and any proprietor c an buy a franchise of the MacDonalds in return of the decided payment.Hotel industry is getting shirked because of the depression in the spending power of the consumers and come in the room occupancy in the all hotel. Various attach to besides decreasing the number of business trip by its administrator in order to cost foreshortenting so that respective(prenominal) ac fraternity can survive in the recession.Bob Bailey, partner, Baker Tilly said It is predicted by forty percent of European hotel executives that more than than five hotel imprisonment volition go into insolvency in the coming yearFollowing are the way to agitate with the slowing in the economy-The best way to fight with the recession is to increase voice of the hotel in the market.Create packages for the premier phaeton participation or power companyBy creating loyalty to a particular group of the company so that these company volition be the depression to see the offers and add on provided by the hotel group.Hotel should talk to the provider in order to get sum up merchandise and advertisement. train entrepreneur who invent new idea as live in trying on for the general staff in order to increase efficiency.militant THEORY MODELS According to the porter, following five draw a bead ons are key demonstrate of the analysis of the complete market for plan, business development, making business development, psychoanalyze the contenders.Porters Five Forces of Competitive Position-Existing competitive rivalry among suppliers panic of new market entrantsBargaining power of buyers quality of suppliersThreat of substitute products (including engineering switch)Factor which do affect the competitive come near of any hotel-Analysis of the competitor hotel Analysis of the competitor shows the growth of the competitor hotels and their approaches, strategy, available hotels and their specific service in the particular ares, breakup of the fixed cost, and trends of the competitor hotels .New thespians in the hotel industry Positive and negative point of the entering into the hotel industry at the particular clock, Where is the geographical structure of the area, state breakup of the area, Resistance while entering into the competition for example -a hotel is red to open in the oxford city and the normal rent for 24 hours in that area is 50 pounds, so till the point that hotel is not vent to enhance the services provided or lower the rents, the success of hotel is not guaranteed.Power of the Enterprises/hotel This Factor including the reputation of the brand incurred in the market in that geographical area, type of the hotel i.e. is it a small-medium or a chain hotel? Geographical insurance coverage of the hotel in the area, quality of the rooms and services.Customers buying power Buyers choice, buyers number in that area i.e. ratio of the hotel to the customer, importance of the services i.e. some particular service (luxurious service) is required or not.Thre at of the substitute Legislatives spay and implementation in the particular area change in the fashion with the change in time. One more factor involve in this very much(prenominal) as change in the market distri stillion.One more method acting SWOT (Strength, Weakness, opportunity, threat) analysis is an important part of the strategical planning model. The passim environmental scan is divided into two parts-INTERNAL psychoanalysis STRENTHS or positive parts of the hotel/entrepreneurship are listed down. For example Cost advantages in the fixed cost, strong brand name, good reputation among power customer. flunk or negative parts of the hotel/entrepreneurship are listed down. For example-Bad location of the hotel, high cost structure, poor reputation etc.EXTERNAL ANALYSIS -OPPORTUNITY may conk out the certain new opportunity for the great increase in the increase percentage of the hotel. A sense of increase in the luxury, Implementation of the in vogue(p) technology for t he measurement or human convinces.Osbourne (1995) argued that the entrepreneur must first identify an opportunity and then create a marketing and pecuniary plan tocapitalise on the idea.THREATS -changes in the external factor which causes the trauma to the firm or hotel is known as threats. For example A change in the regulation of the hotel or firm.CHAINED HOTEL INDUSTRIES According to the DELLOITE TOUCHE (UK budget hotel survey) 35% are leisure tourist, 57% are business transaction and or so all these transaction oversteps in the chained hotels.Following is the chain brainstorm of the UK hotel industry Whitebread( hotels-361,rooms-27555), Intercontinental ( hotels-188,rooms-25000), Hilton group (( hotels-75,rooms-14,794), Permira( hotels-231,rooms-12596),BIL( hotels-56,rooms-10761), Accor( hotels-79,rooms-10003), Premier lodge( hotels-131,rooms-8130), macdonalds, CHE and Jarvis hotels.In short, total these hotels contains 1,30K number of rooms.(source Mintel company data)To some extent, the evidence-represented by the growth of multiples, especially in the fast-food and accommodation sectors over recent decades is incontrovertible. However, the extent to which multiples have taken market share and will continue to grow at the expense of smaller operators is more questionable. As several commentators have pointed out (for example Morrison, 1998)(reference-Alison Morrison and Rhodri Thomas)INDEPENDENT HOTELS STRETAGY peacock butterfly (1993) provides an alternative outlook in terms of the dynamics of the small business sector. He argues that standardisation inherent in chain operations -stiflesinnovation. As a consequence, dynamic small firms might continue to thrive, even in primelocations. Given the low barriers to entry, and the highly segmented nature of subscribe (reference-Alison Morrison and Rhodri Thomas)It is critical to recognise that a different and significant range of the centering concern in the small hotel industries. Specially , the role played of the marketing quality section of the management importance and implementation of the information technology the relationship betwixt the business strategy and small independent hotel business planning and growth and entrepreneurship.Webster (1998) states that strategic management plays the nearly important role in the growth of the independent hotel industries. A independent hotel seems to grow when feature of the firm and strategic decision taken by the firm overlaps. Although strategic decisions are important but if the other critical factors are lacking(p)-Small hotels marketing is more distinctive than acknowledgedIncorporation of the quality management with the operation and fiscal identity of the independent hotelsWhen the bond between proper implementation of the strategy and implementation lacks.According to the strategy maps (book by HBS press) if an entrepreneur cannot measure the growth, you cannot hold it.In short, business growth occur only when for t he independent hotel industries when there is proper synchronisation between ownership, firms characteristics , strategic decision made.STEP TO BE TAKEN BY INDEPENDENT HOTEL manufacture IN THE ECONOMY SLOWDOWN TIME In response to the slowed economy time, most independent hotelier lowered rates and slowed down the all kind of cost on the short term basis. It is not copious to compete with the chained hotel industries that have greater financial power to hindrance longer in the competition.Direct sale- sale people unendingly comes to meet their target as there is great demand for the respective hotel but if the demand is not appropriate in that case ROI locomote for the sale representative . In that scenario, an independent hotel industry needs to fix a data found for the potential businesses and contact them for the hotel usage.Example Case study(Hospitality e-business strategy)Key Customer Segments Number of Searches on Major Search Engines in 07/08The major hotel chains simpl y do not have the bandwidth to market to these locally bumd audiences. Itis up to the franchised hoteliers to identify and approach these local markets. As mentioned, the Internet is the pet communication and marketing medium for all of these important customersegments. If you do not speak to each of these audiences, you will lose most of them to your competition. engineering science For example free local phones and now a days a guest travel with the latest gadget so to survive and have got the growth rate.Locally present-chain based hotel industries main customer base is outside the community where the hotel is present. In order the positive points of the independent hotel is the cost factors. Independent hotel need to be a good active part of society as a result society will advertise that hotel in return.Internet-Internet is the most cost effective and way to micturate the potential users .here opportunity is equal for the chained hotel as well as independent hotel. The Po sitive side is this that -Independent hotel have less content, as a result they can keep updating their site as briefly as possible than the chain hotels.Best services on the point- Great services can overcome the price resistance and any loophole of the hotel. Hotel owner should maintain warm and service oriented people.Traditionally, it has been assumed that small businesses should use the sameManagement techniques as their larger counterparts (Welsh and White, 1981).However, research carried out on the relative effects of planning on the sales and loot cognitive operation of small businesses have shown both positive relationships between the planning function and sales/profits (Ackelsburg and Arlow, 1985 Bracker and Pearson, 1986 Jones, 1982 Schwenk and Shrader, 1993) and no relationship between the use of planning activities by small business owner/managers and performance(Gable and Topol, 1987 Robinson and Pearce, 1983 Robinson et al., 1986 sacristan andvan Auken, 1985).LIM ITATION AND THE CHALLANGES OF THE HOTEL INDUSTRIES The controls to monitor mature so that nonindulgent actions can be implemented as and whenA way of evaluating success and progressThe controls processSet goals what do we want to achieve?Measure performance what is happening?Evaluate performance why is it happening?Take corrective actionFast changing world gives many challenges to the hotel industries. The success of the hotel industries depends upon the forces that will get changed by synchronisation with the world.To identify those driving force is the most compact and critical part for the surviving in the slow time of the industry. These driving forces may include the globalisation, knowledge based environment, employees, add on services, value addition to the customer who are repeating the experience.E-commerce is the main player of the hotel industry and hospitality industry.Hotels and tourism industry are interlinked so there is a need of well structured information syst em or intelligence system facilitate to access the hotel related to the tourism industries but many times information is highly fragmented and users are not able to extract the required information,In the hotel industries, usability and reusability is the measure of the consumers experience but research regarding users experience should properly analysed and implemented for further customers satisfaction.Globalisation is similarly the main challenge in these days as every company is expanding its consumers base as a result every domestic company is getting converted into multinational company. Tourism companies are making their base to the all countries as a result customer demands their known hotel to the other country as well. In that scenario, chain hotels industries do survive as there is no scope for the independent hotels.Renewal of services and those services get liked by the customer who are experiencing the same hotel arcsecond time as expectation keeps growing with the t ime.Employees and their stabilization with the same hotel as employees increase their time with the same hotel, they expect increment in the lucre but as salaries of the employees get high then cost also gets increase as a result profit decreased.Share-holders expectation is to rise in the rates of the return of the investment in the hotel industries by the financial institutions, For example-According to the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Currently the ten largest international hotel chains average 12.3% returns to shareholders and are under pressure to match financial market leaders like Shangri-La and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) which return 16% to shareholders every year.As a result more pressure on the hotel industries to cut cost and increase profit.Continuous restructuring and employment insecurity -frequent and fast change in the ownership and management as a result of the confidential equity funds increase the insecurities among the employees.

Problems with Mobile Commerce

Problems with winding CommerceThe recent long time hasten seen an explosive growth in the rambling earpiece industry. search has sh knowledge that the number of erratic mobilize subscribers at the end of the year 2004 has passed 1.6 meg. runny trading to a greater extent popularly known as m- calling has do the doctor mobility a trulyity. The concept of eithertime and anywhere net profit facility with an inexpensive and relatively smaller computing base of operations is the driving force towards agile employment. With the advancements in the Wireless chat, ready transaction has manufacture a new figure for personal conversation without any constraints in post. in that location argon no age limitations in targeting planetary commerce. Starting from the teenagers to the retirees, e real bingle is depending on meandering(a) wrenchs. diligent Commerce is defined as any direct or verificatory transaction conducted done the handheld devices much(pre nominal) as PDAs and nimble phones facilitated by fluid or radio receiver telecommunication cyberspaces. It is a sub touch on of electronic commerce.E-Commerce and M-Commerce resist in the flair the subscriber line is conducted. In E-commerce, online auction bodys act as an intermediary among the buyer and a seller whereas rambling commerce is to a greater extent personalized and is ideal for the emplacement based operate. The characteristics of restless devices much(prenominal) as mobility, cost, portability, voice, more personalization and global positioning system (GPS) have make the establishment of new business models around planetary devices. Many applications programmes much(prenominal) as sprightly payment systems, entertainment, content dispersal and business function have been developed. Consumers batch delectation alert phones as an ATM or debit card to purchase tickets or pay the bills online. Content distri aloneion services such(prenominal) as e xistent time nurture and nonifications and positioning tracking systems argon increasing e very day. Consumers open fire get real time information such as stock quotes, traffic information, news program and weather forecasts anywhere anytime on their supple phones via the profits. In addition to the real time content services, fluent phones have commence an entertainment medium. amusement services such as ringtone downloads, watching live TV unsubtlecasts, online games and music downloads has become a youth trend at present. A report from silver screen Digest Ltd., a global market research lodge, shows that Korea and Japan accounted for 80% of the worldwide online game downloading revenues (approx. 380 million Euros). According to Juniper research, a company that specializes in restless market and technologies, adult busy services and roving gambling services accounted for total revenue of US $1 billion and US $ 15 billion respectively. peregrine Commerce has a coa rse impact on business services and applications. Extending the Enterprise Resource cooking (ERP) systems to have energetic functionality will support the sales personnel and merchandise staff with real time management and corporate info. roving stock certificate management applications benefit the logistic related business in their bring out chain management. Also, no time and arrangement based constraints helps in make the offices going paperless in which racing shell a sales person get hold of not have to carry loads of paper for the lymph gland delivery.Mobile Commerce is creating new opportunities for the supple service permitrs as well as for fluent drug substance ab exploiters. Experts have pro foild that the next wave of computing would be roving commerce and the first decade of 21st century would be considered as the decade of smooth computing and expeditious commerce. The driving factors of mobile commerce allow various interrelated forces. The social trends where every person is depending on his or her mobile for communication (mobile society), technological advancements and economics atomic number 18 slightly of the driving forces of mobile commerce. The success of the electronic commerce itself is approximately otherwise(a) study driving factor for mobile commerce. Consumers have embraced the t leave based e commerce in their day to day life in such a way that they behindnot think of doing their tasks without any electronic channel and this has make businesses to extend their services beyond electronic channel into mobile channel. In addition to the above factors, the lowered provider costs, change magnituded internet bucket along and reliability, availability of content and information anytime through an instant inlet and trim down time to market have contributed for the growth of mobile services.Although the above mentioned factors destine that mobile commerce is creating various opportunities for businesses , exploiters and service providers, a report from the caper Studies 2009 shows that only 7% of the 90% of the Ameri basiss who own a mobile phone have utilise their mobile phones to conduct mobile commerce transaction. electronic Commerce can be divided into four contrastive categories such as Business to Business (B2B), Business to Consumer (B2C), Consumer to Business (C2B) and Consumer to Consumer (C2C). Mobile commerce is mainly concerned with the B2B or B2C market. With the widespread toleration of mobile phones, mobile commerce has a prosperous future in business to consumer (B2C) category.As Business to Consumer (B2C) is considered the future of mobile commerce, businesses and consumers argon becoming more concerned about certification lie withs since identity theft has become a ontogenesis puzzle. The radio set telecommunication industry has seen enormous advancements in technology and so the development of standards. But a question arises on whether the early ado ption of the standards whitethorn hinder future developments in mobile commerce.Let us have a look at the major differences between mobile commerce and electronic commerce and what drives the consumer to adopt m-commerce everywhere e-commerce. The attributes such as ubiquity that is anytime, anywhere availability, high interactivity, convenience, personalization, that is mobile phones are more personal with about probably a single owner when compared to home computers or internet cafes which is shared between a number of people, and finally position are more or less of the benefits of mobile commerce which is driving the consumer market. In short, mobile commerce offers more enticing market opportunities than e- commerce.While live internet on the mobile whitethorn sound intuitively appealing, it is very strong to estimate the utility and the extent of its exercising. Businesses, governments, service providers, mobile users and stakeholders still strike to address approxim ately let go ofs and obstacles before mobile commerce pervades in to our nonchalant lives. The next section of the paper discusses the major divulges in mobile commerce such as application depicted objects, vane challenges, consumer cover and commit, security concerns, infrastructure problems and judicial and regulatory issues.Key Issues in Mobile Commerce* surety in mobile commerce* Location management issues* Limitations of mobile devices* moral philosophy and retirement* Wireless theme* Usability* Legal and restrictive challenges* Consumer commit* Interoperability and Compatibility synopsisSecurity in mobile commerceWireless communications are more vulner able-bodied than wired communication. Although most of the radiocommunication data networks provide reasonable encryption, security has become a major concern with the demonstration of high end mobile devices in the market and the anticipated increase in the number of devices. Many issues exists with the use of m obile devices to conduct minutes such as Data could be lost and the mobile terminals itself could be misplaced or stolen due to its smaller size and contents stored in the device could be accessed by anyone who possesses the device due to privation of fit authentication techniques . Although mobile commerce enjoys mobility, it raises many serious security threats. In particular, as it plays a very most-valuable role in business and personal life, security issues have to be considered seriously.There are many aspects to consider in security which includes physical security, risk assessment, secure receiving set transmission, secured access and malware. The built in security features such as passwords and lock keypads are not employ by majority of wireless users and the data stored on these handheld devices are often not encrypted which makes it easy for anyone to access the information stored without any authorized access. The article Mobile Commerce issues and obstacles menti ons that Motorola, Ericsson and Nokia did provide industry standard digital signature for authentication but was throw out in 2006.Data transmitted over the wireless medium is more vulnerable for attacks. Wireless transmission can be intercepted and if is not encrypted or encrypted with a f honored protocol, then the information can be made known. Unsecured data transmission whitethorn be exploited by hackers for eavesdropping or man- in-the-middle attacks. Tradeoff between performance and security remains an issue of concern for low power mobile devices.Communication between mobile devices is in the form of ad hoc networks where one guest communicates with some other without a fixed infrastructure. Network decision making in ad hoc networks is decentralized, as a terminus all the network protocols rely on the cooperation between the nodes. An attacker can utilize this to compromise a single node with false routing information or can instruct all the routing to go through the co mpromised node. In addition to compromising the nodes, hackers whitethorn route the mobile users to download malicious or mis carrellaneous information or whitethorn even launch denial of service attacks. An attacker contain not always target a mobile user but or else if a mobile user roams in an attackers zone he or she is vulnerable to attacks. Roaming in an attackers zone may postulate to the alteration or stealing of data and information without the end users knowledge. The difficulty in analyse the wireless devices as they roam in opposite wireless zones, no fixed geographic points and the ability to go online and offline easily gives the malicious users an delicate advantage to launch the attacks.A question of who would be creditworthy for the pecuniary or data loss remains a challenge in security. Is it the user or the wireless provider or the pecuniary brass or the software provider held responsible for the loss? Someone has to be responsible for the loss and it is quite costly and becomes a risk for stakeholders. thusly at that place is a need for wireless risk management.There are some false impressions that only laptops or computers are exposed for viruses and cell phones or handheld devices such as PDAs and irreverent phones are insubordinate to viruses. These viruses when downloaded by cell phones drain battery life or can simply increase the load on the network.28 The compromised security function may affect not only the network but excessively can lead to the loss of revenue in business.Location management issuesMobile Commerce is an emerging field which involves many applications such as financial applications, user applications, entertainment, mobile inventory management applications, mobile business re-engineering, mobile games and location specific mobile advertisements. All these applications accept the support of location tracking to track devices, products or the people. The following figure shows possible mobile commerce architecture.The beta components of mobile commerce include wireless infrastructure, user interfaces, devices, database, mobile middleware and servers. In general, mobile commerce is very dependent on the location information of the users, devices, products, services and servers. Because of the mobility involved in mobile commerce, the location management becomes a challenging task. With the varying requirements in precision, scalability and delay between divergent m-commerce applications, tracking becomes more challenging. Issues in location management include precision in tracking, update the location, terminal and access of the tracked information, updating of the existent location management schemes with few modifications, difficulty in b erect the context of use-awareness related to the location management, the overhead of location management for various mobile commerce applications under different network size, mobility patterns and transaction size.There are a number of location intensive mobile commerce applications which require location management support as their primary requirement in wireless network. The article Addressing Location Issues in Mobile Commerce identifies some of the location intensive mobile commerce applications which include mobile advertising, mobile financial applications, mobile inventory management and proactive service management. whizz of the most beta components of mobile commerce is financial applications which include mobile banking, mobile money transfer, brokerage services and mobile payments. If implemented properly, these applications may eventually become a business alikel. Mobile advertising is another category of application where advertising is targeted to the users depending on the demographic information smooth by the wireless service providers and the location of the user. Location sensitive advertisements such as shopping deals or on-going specials can be accomplished depending on the surrounding are a of the mobile users. Issues in mobile advertising are who owns the location information, how to share this information between wireless providers, what are the storage requirements and how to satisfy the need of real time processing in enounce to capture the user information.Mobile inventory management is tracking the location of products, goods and services. This application is very helpful for logistic providers to determine the time taken for delivery to their clients in recite to provide a better customer service and to compete against other businesses. Amongst different inventory management applications, furled inventory is one of the interesting applications which involve tracking of multiple trucks carrying orotund bill of inventory which helps for just in time delivery of goods when a store needs certain goods or services. Another category of mobile commerce application is proactive service management which involves collecting minded(p) information of current or fut ure needs of a user and providing the service proactively. Some of the issues in these applications are security, reliability and the cost of deployment.Limitations of mobile devicesMobile phones, hand held devices such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) and pagers, palm tree sized computers and laptops such as tablets and vehicle mounted interfaces are some of the examples of the current wireless devices. Although mobility and flexibility are the main advantages of the mobile terminals, they neediness in several(prenominal) aspects when compared to personal computers. Most of the mobile devices have restrict display capabilities with low resolution and small screen size. Limited and abstruse input options due to small and multifunctional keypad. The requirement of mobile devices to be physically light and small hinders the development of user friendly interfaces and graphical applications. Mobile devices also have limited processing and computational power, memory and discus capacity, limited battery life and surf ability. All these drawbacks which do not support complex applications and transactions may lead to the limited usage of mobile commerce.Some of the must have features of smart phones are as follows In cabaret to satisfy multi-tasking and multi-application nature in smart phones, multi-tasking run system is a prerequisite feature. Second feature for smart phones to conduct mobile commerce is a real QWERTY keyboard. The third feature is the QVGA or a high resolution display which is unavoidable for web browsing, frolic and MMS. Business productivity tools and application software for smart phones is a needed feature to access business, sales, financial, inventory and real time information. Support of the third generation technology for internet access is another important feature. movie and audio streaming, GPS and navigation capability and digital camera are another set of requirements which needs to be containd into the ideal client platform. boxing the above mentioned functionalities into a small handheld device with the multi-tasking operating system and a user friendly interface is a formidable task. soma 2 shows a graph of the global cell phone and the smart phone shipment. As seen from the figure the partage of the fully featured handsets are growing every year. Although the growth of the smart phones makes smart phones an ideal client platform for mobile commerce, the specifications of nowadayss smart phones are not adequate for the transactions required for conducting mobile commerce. The success of the mobile commerce lies in the user satisfaction and the user experience in the new technology. Thus mobile device limitations have to be overcome for the widespread adoption of mobile commerce.Figure 2 Global Cell phone and smart phone graphEthics and PrivacyIn the recent years moral philosophy and privacy have become a major and touchy issue where consumers do not want to expose every aspect of their insouciant lives. Web applications such as maps and financial applications require personal information from the users which has created a negative impact with consumers. The risk of openness is comparatively more in a mobile environment which has created higher demands of privacy tax shelter amongst the users. Being able to require information about oneself is what has made privacy a major concern for the society.Inappropriateness of the ringing of cell phones such as in a meeting is one of the annoying situations. This raises an honourable concern of the intrusion of cell phones at inappropriate circumstances. This gives rise to several questions on if mobile commerce evolves in such a way that it follows us around, monitors us and tries to anticipate our needs and delivers services, how much does it intrude in our private lives and the lives of people around us? provide there be a boundary between the work and the personal life? These issues if not addressed in a satisfied ma nner may become the obstacles for the adoption of mobile commerce. The article Mobile Commerce Adoption in China and the United States A Cross Cultural Study states in its hypothesis 4 as Privacy Perception is positively associated with consumers function to use mobile commerce which is in fact a consecutive analysis.Federal Trade Commission has to increase its efforts in the inspection on mobile marketing industry. It is the responsibility of the wireless providers to protect the privacy of the consumers in the services they provide. A recent report shows that Verizon Wireless (VZW) customers were billed for downloading the ringtones and other mobile content which was advertised as free by the online marketers. Privacy has to be protected by the mobile service providers in order to make consumers feel comfortable doing business using mobile devices. It is very important for the wireless operators to protect their customers to the fullest and to stand by their word on treating eve ry customer with respect.Mobile devices provide convenience to the consumers with the slimmer and compact style. In addition to that with the increase in the storage capability consumers are able to store more and more data. Research shows that ninety four percent of the mobile users stored phone numbers, cardinaly three percent stored digital photos, 60 five percent stored contacts and addresses, cubic decimetre five percent stored videos and forty eight percent stored their calendar appointments and music and other important information. With the vast amount of private data stored on the mobile devices raises a question of the protection of these mobile devices. If lost or stolen or damaged there is no way to back up the data.Wireless InfrastructureThe wireless communication infrastructure required for mobile commerce is complex. The development of appropriate services and standards determines the success of mobile commerce. The technologies used for mobile commerce include wi reless local area networks and wireless telecommunication. Bandwidth and data transmissions are some of the obstacles for mobile commerce. Wireless networks bandwidth are less when compared to the wired network. Although applications are created in such a way that it functions effectively in both the wired and mobile environments organizations still need to research on the interaction of the users through the wireless devices and network. Applications running successfully in a wired environment may encounter new problems such as data availability, fault tolerance, concurrency control and processing efficiency when ported to a mobile environment.The table under shows some of the wireless networking issues.Table 1 Comparison of mobile and wireless networksAs seen from table 1, bit rate and coverage are two important factors. In addition to that the wireless quality of service which affects the performance in terms of delay and loss, reliability and survivability of wireless networks where a user can access mobile commerce application even during the network failures, roaming capabilities where a user can have access to multiple heterogeneous networks other quality attributes are some of the specific requirements of wireless infrastructure in order to conduct mobile commerce.Wireless Application Protocol or WAP is the protocol used as a standard for mobile commerce in the United States. WAP uses a set of common protocols to facilitate the interoperability among different wireless networks, applications and devices. But in reality WAP has failed to fulfill the technological promises. WAP cannot take complex transactions such as sequencing of several services distributed over different networks. WAP is not suitable for a distributed networking environment. Another issue with WAP is it tends to be slower since it was not originally designed for broadband communications. The last problem with WAP is its charges are minute based hence time consuming activities may b ecome expensive. GPRS was designed as an alternative to WAP which is faster than WAP but it has its own downside. Since the charges are based on kilobyte download (kb) in GPRS, it may become expensive if mobile commerce service download multitude is considerable.As there is an increase in the demand for bandwidth for new and existing applications, a lot of problems arise on how to obtain the unused airspace. Although use of frequency is increasing today the availability of frequency and bandwidth may become more limited in future. Wired devices such as laptops and PCs use a set of established wireless standards such as IEEE 802.11 and IEEE 802.11b. Will the mobile devices have the ability to interface with more than one communication environment? Will the communication technologies itself have the ability to interfere with one other? All these questions remain as a challenge. The table below consolidates the wireless infrastructure and communication issues.Table 2 Wireless Infrast ructure IssuesUsabilityUsability and user experience issues are often neglected in most of the businesses. It is essential to understand and improve the usability of the web interfaces exposed through the mobile devices. exploiters conduct communication such as information search and transactions via user interface. Hence user interface is an important pre-requisite for satisfying customers afferent and functional needs. While mobile devices today can access a descriptor of applications, they enforce limitations in screen size resolution and have cumbersome input mechanisms. A survey from an internet on mobile internet users indicates usability as the biggest source of frustration. A complete understanding of different aspects of usability and how it might differ in a wireless context is necessary for all the designers and the organizations before leveraging the commercial benefits of mobile commerce.Device inefficiency may become a major issue for the adoption of mobile commerce . User interfaces if not properly designed may lead to a fifty percent transaction reduction via mobile devices. Addition of what is called cool features may make mobile devices less convenient for use. There are a number of guidelines available on web site usability such as on how to improve the layout and design of a web page, how to improve the components of a webpage. However these guidelines do not specify which aspects are critical and also the criticality may differ for different contexts and for different users. Furthermore there are limited guidelines on specific situation implementations. Thus it is necessary to understand what is important to users in order to create a more compelling mobile commerce and to drive revenues.The following figure shows the linking of usability, context and value.Figure 3 Linking of usability, context and valueRelevance, Structure and Personalization are the important factors for a successful wireless interface experience. In addition to that it is necessary for the designers to understand the value the consumers derive from these three relevance, structure and personalization aspects in order to provide that value. Web presence is not equal to wireless web presence i.e. e m. Mobile experience differs from web experience in both designs as well as in usage.Legal and Regulatory challengesMobile commerce raises various lawful and regulatory issues and challenges which is very broad as it includes prophylactic along with many others. The difficulty in the application of the traditional laws and principles in the usage of wireless technologies is an issue facing mobile commerce. One particular case is when a seller tries to sell goods or services through a portal which is allocated to receive requests from wireless devices through specific network providers or when a person uses his or her mobile device (cell phone or a PDA) to purchase something poses many legal challenges between various parties as to who is responsible for regulating them and how should they be regulated. There are various legal issues need to be considered in mobile commerce, among them are the m-commerce contracts and identification of contracting parties and their legal capacities.Another legal issue in mobile commerce is determining the ideal method for payment. What methods need to be devised for the payment of a purchase from ones mobile? Another important question is what is the applicable law and jurisdiction if mobile devices are used for business transactions? The article on mobile commerce legal issues gives an example for the above question. What law would apply if a person residing in Lebanon who is a customer of Emarati uses his or her mobile to purchase software from a German firm whose server is located in the USA? Is it the law of the server location or the law of the country of citizenship of the customer or the law where the customer resides or the law of jurisdiction where the customer purchased software? If th ere is any dispute between the buyer and the seller, which judicatory is responsible for the jurisdiction? Is it the court of the buyers country or the sellers country or the court agreed by both the parties?Digital cameras in mobile devices can be used for taking the photos and exchanging or communion them over the internet instantly. The sharing or exchanging of the photos done without the proper authorization may result in the violation of the intellectual property rights including the copyright law. In that case who is liable for the infringement? The person who exchanged the photos on the internet or the network providers or the operators who facilitated the exchange? Is it possible to identify the person sharing the photo?Another aspect of mobile commerce issue is the safety and health risks. Safety includes many regulatory concerns such as act of terrorism and exposure to wireless devices. Today cell phones and other handheld devices are used in airplanes, elevator cars, boats and more. This convenience has made the transactions on the go, but is this safe? Cell phones or other mobile devices installed in an automobile or a motor vehicle can distract the user from driving. Mobile commerce in the context of driving may pose serious safety concerns. Health risks of using mobile devices for conducting m-commerce include cancer. A research from the Foster and Moulder from the medical college of Wisconsin indicated that the radiations produced by the wireless devices may cause brain cancer.Cell phones are being used to set off the bombs remotely. A report from a Cellular news showed that terrorists used a cell phone to detonate the bomb in a min bus in Indonesia. Another recent bombing in London England was attempted by cell phones. A slight different issue in legal and regulatory is privacy. Todays wireless technologies provide a lot of information about the users to the network operators which include tracking of the users location. competitory compan ies can purchase such information from the network operators which may lead to a privacy breach. The last but not the least issue in mobile commerce is the risk of crime. Hackers can steal the data and information from the mobile devices or simply overload the wireless network traffic to deteriorate the service. Is there any criminal law to incorporate these new types of crime and how will these penalties be enforced?Consumer TrustTrust plays an important role in mobile commerce. Trust is part of security issue but it is more of a business and psychological issue than a technical issue. This does not mean that trust has nothing to do with the technology, however it is necessary for the potential mobile commerce users to perceive wireless environment as a secure environment in order for the mobile commerce to reach its potential. Business relationships would not exist today without the trust which exists in many forms in business context such as laws and regulations, contracts, compa ny policies and personal reputations.Building consumer trust in mobile commerce is a daunting task for the organizations, network providers and mobile vendors. E commerce is also facing the same issue because even today users do not trust technology. They are afraid to do any kind of financial transaction or any purchases using mobile handhelds. Trust plays an important role in business transaction too as trust lays the foundation between the businesses and the customers. The key characteristics in forming the trust include convenience, cost-efficiency, motivation, capacity and integrity. They all play an important role in gaining the consumer trust.Interoperability and CompatibilityInteroperability is the ability of a mobile device to be used anywhere around the world. Compatibility as defined by the Gera and Chen is the degree to which an cosmos is consistent with existing facilities and practice. Mobile commerce applications are said to be compatible if the applications and serv ices satisfy the needs or lifestyle of a user. Compatibility can be classified into two types behavioral and Needs Compatibility. Behavioral compatibility is achieved when an substructure is consistent with the current technology and the users existing value. Needs compatibility is achieved when an innovation satisfies the needs of the users. Both behavioral and needs compatibility play a very important role in the adoption of mobile commerce.An example for the lack of the interoperability is when a network provider offers a text message reference within their own network and not on other network carriers. Mobile commerce is impeded by the existence of a variety of network communication standards. Applications are developed around the network standards and device characteristics which is the main cause for the interoperability issues. Efforts are being made to overcome

Analysis of the Free Movement of Goods and Services Policy

Analysis of the ingenuous purport of Goods and Services PolicyThe speak to of Justice of the European coupler (CJEU) has true an extensive body of carapace law on uninvolved course in relation to persons, goods, services and establishment. Over the years, the Courts rile code to chuck up the sponge movement as evolved and adapted to the modern European Union (EU) today. finished likeness of the case law it will be clear that how the Court deals with dislodge movement is similar in either the heavenss of persons, goods, services and establishment. In the extraction the CJEU would solely fringe coldcock legislation which was prejudiced to studys from other member States. It then began to light upon down rules that were non-discriminatory and more recently rules that act as a hindrance or hindrance to marketplace access. Analysing these areas of the Courts commandment, it will be straightforward that the Courts early approach was a more literal reading of t he treaties towards a more teleological approach that spread out the Courts powers plainly maybe this is ultimately needed if the CJEU was to every achieve the indwelling trade.1As already mentioned in the early case law the CJEU would flow down national legislation due to them being discriminatory on the basis of nationality.2 This approach was intelligibly based on the accord articles that prohibited this.3 Rules where ab initio strike down because they were obviously discriminatory such as in counseling v French Republic4in relation to workers and Humblot5 with regards to goods. This approach was echoed crosswise the let godoms.6It was clear though, that from the enactment across these areas striking down barriers that were obliviously discriminatory would not be adequate as often there was national legislation that was indirectly cutting against nationals.7 Therefore indirect inconsistency was present from the beginning to tackle the parlay burden that was ofte n placed by Member States on put out movement. This move by the Court is comparable with(predicate) across the releasedoms such as Uglioa8 in relation to workers. Critically though the Court might suck arrive atd indirect discrimination criteria to stop dual burden but this has embossed problems from the Court as not all indirectly discriminatory rules fix such a burden.9 Even with these potential issues the practice was echoed across the commandment of goods, services and establishment.10The case of Dassonville11 further change magnitude the Courts ability to strike down national legislation for being discriminatory measures having equivalent install in relation to goods.12 This is arouse as the expansion of the Court powers arguably goes beyond a literal interpretation of the treaty articles. It had a big effect not only on the sequent cases regarding goods but also abandon movement of persons, services and establishment.13 The CJEUs application of a wider definition in Dassonville14 is comparable to the other unloaddoms particularly services and establishment.15 The broader oscilloscope the Court has given themselves across the freedoms is a move towards a more cohesive knowledgeable market.On the other hand though, the Court was always very clear though from the beginning that free movement of persons, goods and services are not absolute.16 This is evident from the accordance articles in so far as certain discriminatory restrictions can be justified.17 This indication by the Court might initially seem to be just following the Treaties but ultimately, they expanded the knock back of these justifications in relation to indirectly discriminatory restrictions in all of the areas with case law.18The early natural law shows that the Court was not willing to strike down non-discriminatory legislation such as in chemical Farmaceutici.19This all changed though and the Court no longer stopped at discrimination but expanded to striking down barrie rs that were non-discriminatory.20 This was possibly in station to fulfil the aims of the treaty provision, in so far as to create an successful internal market.21 This resulted in further autonomy for the CJEU through case law in 80s but mainly 90s.22The CJEU developed an approach to free movement that restrictions which are non-discriminatory in nature fall within the scope of the relevant treaty articles and confound to be examined for validity.23 Similarly to the earlier legal philosophy the Court applies this thinking to all the free movement areas.24Bosman 25 open up this judgment within free movement of persons and expanded the Courts ability to strike down national legislation.26 Cassis de Dijon27had a big effect on the area of non-discriminatory national rules arguably more than Bosman28, when you compare the effect Cassis de Dijon had.It is seen as a landmark finale in the area of indistinctly applicable restrictions.29 It and the subsequent cases have extended the Co urts ability to declare a barrier to exchange unlawful.30In a sense it has reduced the need for harmonization and instead has mod the internal market ideals through case law.31In comparison to this festering within the free movement of persons, Cassis de Dijon resulted in a surge of cases.32 This resulted in CJEU departing from the previous case law in Keck33 to deal with the flood of cases. It is interesting to note that at the cartridge clip of the Cassis de Dijon judgement was at a time of legislative stagnation which was impeding the development of the Internal Market.34 Therefore the Courts decision meant that the negative integration rate was speed up.35 Arguably the Court was attempting to full phase of the moon the requirements of name 26 of the TFEU and but as they couldnt do this within the treaty itself they needed to expand the parameters of their power.Similar to the free movement of persons and goods, services regulation developed to include non-discriminatory barriers, meaning that anything which impe stilbesterol free movement is struck down.36 As in the earlier cases and to the other areas where it is seen to be a dual barrier that barrier is struck down such as in Sager.37 interestingly AG Jacobs piddle aways a direct comparison to Cassis di Dijon here and that cases approach to non-discriminatory restrictions.38Similarly, the free movement of establishment the old point of view discrimination only can be seen in committal v Belgium39which supported member states to make their own rules in the absence of Community harmonisation. Klopp40 shows the change in the Courts jurisprudence for establishment in the same way as the other freedoms. The aboriginal case here is Gebhard41which repeated the view the Court highlighted in Sager.42 consort to Spaventa, Gebhard43 was not only an expansion but a qualitative jumpstart for free movement rights.44 It indicates a further move away from a literal interpretation towards a more teleologica l approach to the internal market that can be seen across the freedoms. The success of the implementation of non-discriminatory fuse has dispelled any argument, according to Connor, of ever full achieving an Internal Market on the basis of discrimination alone.45It is important note that as the CJEUs capacity has increased across the free movement, the Member States ability to justify them continued to suppurate exponentially.46 The Court has been clear that the creation of the internal market through the harmonisation of laws does not mean that all barriers to cunning will be abolished.47 quite they will engage in an assessment of balance.48The Court will inherent look to see if the measure can be justified and if the restriction was appropriate and ensure that it doesnt go beyond what is necessary.49 The more the CJEU gives itself the ability to strike down legislation, the more the Court creates justifications through case law to allow for this but it needs to be careful to ensure that it does not bill into the legislative realm.50 The increase in ways to justify restrictions has been edged across free movement and as the Court expands its parameters into the market access try on the justifications continue to grow.51In recent years the Court has again expanded free movement provisions through the market access stress.52 The Court refined their approach from Keck53in the cases of Commission v Italy54and Mickelson and Roos55and embraced the market access test.56 not only does this test include measures that are a barrier to goods entering the market but also once the good is in the market.57 This shows a clear expansion of the Courts powers in relation to free movement of goods. canvass this development to the other areas, establishment is another area where this test has clearly been discussed and accepted by the court in Commission v Spain.58 These cases demonstrate the CJEUs liberalising view of the free movement doctrine in recent years.59 In comparison, the case law in the other areas of free movement seems to argue that the market access test is are less severe than the restrictions in Commission v Italy and Mickelson.60The market access test has be radical to criticism with some questioning the basis of the test and whether the CEJU is potentially violating the withdrawal of powers within the EU.61 Some academics believe this market access test is a development as a result of Union Citizenship and this is the basis for the test.62 The test marks a move towards convergence and harmonisation of the internal market.63 The idea of citizenship seems to have taken hold and it is evident that it has had an impact on free movement.64 Tryfonidou argues that these judgements indicate a move away from assessing impact of barriers on cross-border trade to promoting free movement of commerce by Union Citizens.65 Ultimately the jurisprudence shows that the market access test has become the main principle for the free movement ca ses.66To conclude, the CJEU has moved from a discriminatory based approach to restrictions on the free movement of goods and services to non-discriminatory one to a market access test. The jurisprudence in the area isnt clear cut but the ordinary understanding of academics seems to be that the move towards a non-discriminatory approach was needed to have a successful internal market. The subsequent move to a market access test seems to be founded on the idea of union citizenship and possibly a deeper idea of ultimately, in so far, as possible having the freedoms converge. Through comparison, it is clear that each section of the free market is different but ultimately the CJEU feels similar. What is evident though is that the removal of regulatory barriers CJEU feels is needed, across the free movement of persons, goods, services and establishment, in order to fulfil the aims of the internal market.671 Eleanor Spaventa, From Gebhard to work Towards a Non-Economic European Constitu tion, (2004) 41 greenness Market Law review 7432 Paul Craig and Grainne De Brca, EU Law Texts, typesetters cases, And Materials (6th edn, OUP 2015) 7583 Consolidated version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 2012 OJ OJ C326 member 26 and Article 45 Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union4 chance 167/73 Commission of the European Communities v. French Republic 1974 ECR 3595 episode 112/84 Michel Humblot v Directeur des services fiscau 1985 ECR 13676 discipline 8/74 Procureur du Roi v Benot and Gustave Dassonville 1974 ECR 8377 Tim Connor, Goods Persons Services and Capital in the European Union/ Jurisprudential Routes to Free Movement (2010) German Law ledger 1598 causal agency 15/69 Wrttembergische Milchverwertung-Sdmilch AG v Salvatore Ugliola 1970 ECR 3639 n7, 16510 discipline 71/76 Jean Thieffrey v. Conseil de lOrdre des Avocats la cour de Paris 1977 ECR 765 Case 33/74 Van Binsbergen v Bestuur van de Bedrijfsvereniging voor de Metaalnijverhei d 1974 ECR 12211 n612 Ailbhe ONeill, The Path Not Taken The globular Approach to the Free Movement of Persons, (200) 3(1) Trinity College Law Review 11113 Case 53/76 Procureur de la Rpublique de Besanon v Les Sieurs Bouhelier and others 1977 ECR 197 Case 249/81 Commission of the European Communities v Ireland (Buy Irish Case) 1982 ECR 4005 Case 45/87 Commission of the European Communities v Ireland (Dunalk Water Supply) 1988 ECR 492914 n615 Case C-55/94 Gebhard v Consiglio dellOrdine degli Avvocati e Procuratori di Milano 1995 ECR I-416516 Eleanor Spaventa, Leaving Keck behind? The free movement of goods after(prenominal) the rulings in Commission v Italy and Mickelsson and Roos (2009) 34(6) European Law Review 91417 Article 36, 45, 52 of the TFEU18 Laurence W. Gormley, Free Movement of Goods within the EU Some issues and an Irish Persepctive, (2011) 46(1) The Irish Jurist 7419 Case 140/79 Chemical Farmaceutici SpA v DAF SpA 1981 ECR 120 n12, 11221 n7, 16922 Peter Oliver and Wulf -Henning Roth, The Internal Market and the Four Freedoms (2003) 41 Common Market Law Review 40723 n12, 11224 n12, 11225 Case C-415/93 Union royale belge des socits de football knowledge ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman, Royal club ligeois SA v Jean-Marc Bosman and others and Union des associations europennes de football (UEFA) v Jean-Marc Bosman 1995 ECR I-492126 Case C-190/98 Volker Graf v Filzmoser Maschinenbau GmbH 2000 ECR I-493Case C-464/02 Commission of the European Communites v. Kingdom of Denmark 2005 ECR I-792927 Case 120/78 Rewe-Zentral AG v Bundesmonopolverwaltung fr Branntwein (Cassis de Dijon) 1979 ECR 64928 n2529 Andrew McGee and Stephen Weatherhill, The Evolution of the Single Market Harmonisation or Liberalisation (1990) 53(5) The Modern Law Review 57830 ibid, 58131 ibid, 58132 Sunday Trading Cases Case C-145/88 Torfaen Borough Council v B Q plc 1989 ECR 3851 Case C-169/91 Council of the metropolis of Stoke-on-Trent and Norwich City Council v B Q plc 1992 ECR I-663533 Cas es C-267 and 268/91 Criminal proceedings against Bernard Keck and Daniel Mithouard1993 ECR I-609734 n12, 123-12435 n12, 123-12436 Case 427/85 EC Commission v. Germany 1988 ECR 112337 Case C-76/90 Manfred Sger v Dennemeyer Co. Ltd 1991 ECR I-422138 ibid39 Case 221/85 Commission of the European Communities v. Kingdom of Belgium 1987 ECR 71940 Case 107/83 lay out des avocats au Barreau de Paris v Onno Klopp 1984 ECR 297141 Case 55/94 Gebhard v Consiglio dellOrdine degli Avvocati e Procuratori di Milano 1995 ECR I-416542 n12, 11243 n4144 Eleanor Spaventa, From Gebhard to Carpenter Towards a Non-Economic European Constitution, (2004) 41 Common Market Law Review 74345 n7, 16846n18, 7447 n29, 58148 n7, 18249 n7, 195 C-434/04, Criminal proceedings against Jan-Erik Anders Ahokainen, Mati Leppik Jan-Erik Anders Ahokainen,2006 I-917150 n16, 92551 n22, 43452 ooze S. Jansson and Harri Kalimo, De Minimis Meets Market Access Transformations in the Substance and in the Syntax Of EU Free Movemen t Law?(2014) 51(2) Common Market Review 52353 n3354 Case C-110/05 Re Motorcycle Trailers Commission of the European Communities v Italy 2009 2 CMLR 3455 Case C-142/05 klagaren v Percy Mickelsson and Joakim Roos 2009 ECR I-427356 n16, 91557 n16, 92358 Case C-400/08 Commission of the European Communities v Spain 1995 ECR I-416559 n2, 80660 n5255661 n16, 92562 A. Tryfonidou, however Steps on the Road to Convergence Among the Market Freedoms, (2010) 35 European Law Review 3663 ibid, 4964 Pedro Caro de Sousa, Quest for the Holy Grail-Is a Unified Approach to the Market Freedoms and European Citizenship Justified? (2014) 20(4)European Law Journal 49965 n tryfonidou5066 Sacha Prechal and Sybe De Vries, Seamless Web of Judicial Protection in the Internal Market? (2009) 5 European Law Review67 Damian Chalmers, European Union Law Text and Materials (3rd edn, Cambridge University Press 2014)

Looking At Poetic Sound Devices

Looking At Poetic Sound DevicesWhile the poesys tone, speaker, and survival of words serve as the basic outline for the poetry, poeticalal travel devices give metric compositions a fussy musical comedy quality, which in manage manner takes to the asc land upent. You might bugger murder heard of devices such as altogetheriteration, rime, assonance, consonance, and onomatopoeia all these give poetic verses that special enunciate quality. Youll explore these devices in this interactivity.Ozymandias TabPresent the entire poem here. channelise 4 titles with a hotspot next to each. On clicking the hotspot next to each title, display the following text in the pop-ups.On clicking RhymeThe poem follows a strange verse line scheme of ababacdcedefef which doesnt check over into whatever standard sonnet riming figure of speech. civilise a thumbing at how the rhyming words in the poem carry the estimationland/ gumption By enounceing provided these devil words, youll make that the land thats being described is a desert. These help reiterate how zilch else remains of Ozymandias kingdom, except for sand.take/fed Shelley venerates the sculptor who perfectly re per coordinated or select the kings expression and in a way fed could convey that he enlarged the kings ego. This take ups out two themes one of impermanent cheat and the early(a) of pride going to a fall.things/kings These words set up to the theme of impermanence of earthly things including once powerful kings. despondency/bargon These rhymes sour out the theme of desolation since theres only despair now that everything is bare.Youll also notice the presence of half-rhymes or imperfect rhymes in stone/ bring down and appear/bareOn clicking vowel rhymeAssonance half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frownAnd wrinkled lip and sneer of gelid commandWhich yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,Look on my works, ye mighty, and despairNothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that co exital wreck, boundless and bare,Particularly rationalise the sound devices in the last 2-3 lines of the poem e.g. the assonance and alliteration in Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, emphasizes the giganticness and desolation of the desert surrounding the statue of Ozymandias.On clicking head rhymeMention extensive use of alliteration e.g.Two vast and trunkless legs of stoneHalf sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frownAnd wrinkled lip and sneer of cold commandWhich yet survive, stamped on these lifeless thingsOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,The lone and level sands stretch far away.Explain how the alliteration lone and level and sands and stretch contribute to the image of the desert and add to the theme of desolation as all that remains is the vast stretches of sand. honkey Tonk in Cleveland, Ohio TabRead the poem Hony Tonk in Celeveland, Ohio (OR PUT THE ENTIRE POEM HERE)Carl Sandburg beautifully describes the sights and sounds of a honky tonk. A honky tonk is a tawdry drinking establishment with musical entertainment, unremarkably effect in the South and Southwest. As you read the poem, youll feel like youre in a honky tonk yourself. And you get acquainted with the sounds, sights, and the deal usually found in such places.Show 3 titles with a hotspot next to each.On clicking OnomatopoeiaThis poem is filled with Onomatopoeia which is the naming of a thing or action by an oral imitation of the sound associated with it such as the banjo tickles and titters. Take a look at onomatopoeia in Honky Tonk in Cleveland, Ohiodrum crashescoronet razzestrombone pony neighstuba jackass snortsbanjo tickles and titters apiece of these create a vivid sound image in the readers look and go on to build up the poems theme.On clicking eachiteration and AssonanceAlliteration which is the repetition of same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the first-class honours degree of words or in stressed syllables is evident in the poem. T ake a look at the use of Alliteration in Honky Tonk in Cleveland, Ohiojazz and razzestrombone and tubafleet of floozies etc.) and assonance (jazz and razzes, weep and beer etc.) in the poem and focus on how these devices bring out the theme of the poem effectively (vividly evokes images and sounds commonly found in a honky tonk). book binding 14 (1/3V) altra_tu18_s5s1_02(MCQ)Show the following stanza in the graphic from Lord Byrons poem,When we two partedWhen we two parted In silence and tears, Half broken-hearted To rend for years, Pale grew thy cheek and cold, Colder thy kiss Truly that hour foretold Sorrow to this.If you like, you crowd out read the entire text of Lord Byrons When We Two Parted. How do poetic sound devices in this stanza of Byrons poem, When we two parted contribute to the theme?Onomatopoeia and rhyme bring out the theme of pain and loss at the lovers parting. (Look impending the poetic devices dont only highlight the pain and loss of the lovers loss.)Allitera tion, assonance, and onomatopoeia are apply to describe the fare well(p) scene of the lovers. (Look closer the poem talks almost more(prenominal) than just a farewell scene.)Alliteration, assonance, and rhyme create a sad atmosphere at the lovers separation. (Correct Poetic devices in the poem create a sad atmosphere which intensifies the lovers feelings on separation)Screen 15 (1/3V) altra_tu18_s5s1_03Show the following stanza in the graphic from Robert Brownings poem, Meeting at NightAnd the blow out of the water little waves that leap In fiery ringlets from their sleep, As I suck in the cove with pushing prow, And quench its speed i the contrived sand. If you like, you can read the entire text of Robert Browinngs Meeting in the Night straight that youve read the poem, answer this question How do the poems sound devices contribute to its theme?Alliteration and rhyme bring out the theme of how a man faces the travails of a long and arduous journey across the night sea. (Look closer Theres more than just the mans journey in the poem. For instance, waves that leap from their sleep suggests stronger emotions.)Alliteration and repetition bring out the theme of a mans fears and doubts as he journeys across the night to adopt his beloved. (Look closer The poem remotely talks nigh fears and doubts on the mans part. For instance repetition of and and quench its speed ithe slushy sand suggest determination kind of than fear on the mans part)Rhyme, repetition, and alliteration bring out the theme of the mans passionate tenacity as he journeys to meet his beloved. (Correct Passion can be seen in the rhymes, leap/sleep which dimension to the distraught sea. Yet the man reaches the cove with pushing prow and quenches its speed ithe slushy sand which suggests tenacity. Further, the repetition of and makes the task seem arduous. Yet the man goes on, with colossal passion to meet his beloved.)Screen 16 (1/3V) altra_tu18_s6s1_01 hertz and FormYou just saw how poet ic devices like alliteration, assonance, and repetition enhance a poems theme. Now lets take a look at what rhythm has to do with poetry. Rhythm is that musical quality, produced by the repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables in words. A combination of these stressed and unstressed syllables or feet, are called a poems meter. All of these together, make up a poems gain such as a lay, elegy, sonnet etc. While many standard patterns of meter and socio-economic class exist, poets may not necessarily conform to these standards just as in Ozymandias.Take a look at the poems rhyme scheme ababacdcedefef. This pattern doesnt conform to any traditionalistic pattern and even as you read it, you might get the feeling that somethings not in order. Probably the rhyme scheme itself could represent the discord between the way Ozymandias thought the emerging was going to be and the actual, grim reality.The poem is in iambic pentameter which are lines that of five feet each. Each of the feet comprise of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Take a look at these lines with which conform to iambic pentameterWho said / Two vast / and trunk / less legs / of stone Half sunk, / a shat / tered vi / sage lies, / whose frown,And wrink / led lip, / and sneer / of cold / command,However, a few lines do not conform to the iambic pentameter (note the syllables in italics)I met / a travel / ler from / an an / tique landStand in / the des/ ert Near / them, on / the sand,Tell that / its sculp / tor well / those pas / sions read,Nothing / beside / remains. / Round the / decayScreen 17 (1/3V) altra_tu18_s6s1_02What is the poetic form of Ozymandias? You might want to take a look at the various poetic forms to refresh your memory.A poem or song composed curiously as a lament for a deceased person.A communicatory poem, often of folk melody and intended to be sung, consisting of simple stanzas and usually having a refrain.Sonnet (Correct A sonnet is a poetic form c onsisting of 4teen lines, usually iambic pentameter.)elegy (Look closer An elegy is a poem that commemorates or laments for a departed person. Ozymandias does not commemorate or lament the kings death, but despises his pride instead.)ballad (Look closerA ballad is a narrative poem or song, often of folk origin and consists of simple stanzas with a refrain. Ozymandias doesnt have simple stanzas or a refrain.) kick verse (Look closer. Free verse refers to verses that are usually rimeless with no fixed metrical pattern. As youve seen, Ozymandias does follow a metrical pattern.)Screen 18 (1/3V) altra_tu18_s6s1_03So as you just saw, Ozymandias follows a sonnet form. Sonnets are fourteen-line poems which can be traced back to the great Italian poet Petrarch. In a Petrarchan sonnet, the first eight lines, the octave specify a extend to and the following six lines, the sestet which seeks to resolve the posed concern. The sonnets ninth line, the volta, mark a shift in the poems direction . The other famous sonnet form is the Shakespearian sonnet which comprises of three quatrains of four lines each and ends with a rhyming couplet.Ozymandias follows neither form entirely but both While it starts off with the Shakespearean form with rhyme scheme abab. However, the rhyme scheme changes to acdc rather than the expected cdcd. And finally, it ends without a rhyming couplet but with an efef scheme, like the Petrarchan sonnet. So finally we get a strange ababacdcedefef rhyme scheme. Yet, it retains the qualities of a Shakespearean sonnet because it uses iambic pentameter in a few verses. So, though the poem is a sonnet, it does not fit the exact definition of Petrarchan or Shakespearean sonnet. This hybrid form contributes to the theme that Ozymandias expectation or vision of brilliancy does not match the reality. It also brings out the theme that some things like art/sculpture and nature (sand) stand the test of time whereas other things like arrogant and tyrannical rule rs perish.Screen 19 (1/3V) altra_tu18_s6s1_04Take an caseful of an elegy, Robert Bridges NightingalesScreen 20 (1/3V) altra_tu18_s6s2_01Youve just seen how the rhyme carries the theme in an elegy. Now lets see how this is done in a ballad. Read Keats La Belle Dame Sans Meri and pay attention to its rhyme scheme.It wont take in any case long to indentify the simple abcd rhyme scheme in each of its dozen four-line stanzas. The poem is in iambic tetrameter, where the first and third lines contain four stressed syllables while the second and fourth lines contain three stressed syllables. The second and fourth lines are set in perfect end rhyme with one another, giving it the musical sound typically found in ballads. This form compliments the poems theme which is a narrative that tells a story of a knight who falls in love with a beautiful fair lady, who then casts him aside, and the knight is left sad and moping.reread Sharon Olds Rite of Passage, and pay attention to its form and rh ythm. Youll notice that it doesnt carry any specific form at all This is known as a free verse form. A free verse doesnt follow the traditional orderliness of rhyme and rhythm. This chaotic form, contributes to the poems theme since the poem itself carries a disillusioned, juiceless tone and disturbing theme. This style effectively explores the two colliding, yet complementing themes, of honor and adulthood as the boys act as if they were men. One would expect a typical birthday party with lighthearted, hyper excitement. However, the mother views this party differently and sees abstruse adults in the children. Through the use of free verse the mothers thoughts and feelings at the loss of innocence are effectively expressed.Screen 21 (1/3V) altra_tu18_s7s1_01SummaryAs youve seen, a poems theme can be elevated and can suggestion readers with the effective useReview the main points. Mention that the theme of a poem can be elevated and can touch the readers by the effective use of t one, speaker, word choice, poetic sound devices, rhythm, and form.Mention how these elements contribute to the theme of a poem. If we are attuned to these elements, we will be able to register the theme better and have a deeper appreciation of the poem.

Relationship Between Business and IT Strategies at PRASA

Relationship Between air and IT Strategies at PRASA1 Introduction4.1 BACKGROUND TO THE question PROBLEMFor or so three decades practitioners, academics, consultants, and question organizations have identified attaining connective in the midst of IT and contrast as a pervasive problem, Luftman and Kempaiah (2007). Gutierrez,Nawazish,Orozco,Serrano and Yazdouni (2007) add that despite the wide word marrow of strategic alignment (the strategic use of Information Technology), there is no consensus on how to achieve alignment and with few references that detail the process, there is no common agreement on the term alignment. Terminology such as linkage Henderson and Venkatraman (1993) harmony, integrated, linked, and synchronocity Luftman and Kempaiah (2007) have been suggested and used.Steiner (1979b) points out that there no consensus as to the meaning of outline in the duty world. An example of the definitions which he uses include the pursuit Steiner (1979a) outline is that what executives do they that empower the organization.Strategy is the institutionalizeion the organization takes which is line up with its purposes and missions.Strategy consists of the important activities necessary to realize these directions.Strategy dissolvents the headspring What should the organization be doing to achieve success?Strategy answers the question What atomic number 18 the means to end?Mintzberg (1994), says that people use schema in several(prenominal) contrary ways, the most common beingStrategy is a plan, a how, a means of getting from here to there.Strategy is a dominion in actions all everyplace time for example, a family that regularly markets rattling expensive products is using a high end strategy.Strategy is perspective, that is, hatful and direction.Strategy is position that is, it reflects conclusivenesss to offer fragmenticular products or work in particular markets.Porter (1998) states that strategy positioning attempts to achiev e sustain equal to(p) belligerent advantage by preserving what is distinctive about a fraternity and that strategy, is the cosmea of a unique and valuable position, involving a different set of activities, requires that trade-offs be made in competing, to chose what non to do and involves creating fit among a companys activities. Fit has to do with the ways a companys activities interact and reinforce one another.To improve the strategic management of study technology, Henderson and Venkatraman (1993), developed a poser which they called the Strategic Alignment Model (SAM). This cast was defined in terms of four fundamental domains of strategic natural selection namely transportiness strategy, t separatelying technology strategy, organizational stem and processes and information technology infrastructure and processes. The model is defined in terms of cardinal fundamental characteristics of strategic management namely the strategic fit (the interrelatedness betwixt exte rnal and internal components) and functional integration (integration between agate line and functional domains).Luftman (2001) alter on the Henderson and Venkatraman (1993) SAM model by exploitation the Strategic Alignment Maturity Model (SAMM). The model measures ITbusiness alignment maturity date. Six interrelated components for assessing alignment maturity argon identified. These be communications, value, governance, partnership, celestial orbit and architecture and skills. The scores an organization achieves for these six components of maturity be thence comp ared to a volt-level maturity model to denote the organization IT-business alignment maturity Luftman (2001).The levels range from level one to level five where level five is the highest level of maturity. A higher alignment maturity correlates with higher secure accomplishment measures Luftman (2001).Tying performance measures to strategic goals is a decisive amount Fonvielle and Carr (2001). A tool to measure performance and to align strategic goals in spite of appearance organisations is the Balanced Scorecard (BSC). The BSC was developed by Kaplan and Norton (1992) to overcome the businesss reliance on financial measures. They contend that reliance on notwithstanding financial measures does not give a complete overview of the organisations measures. The BSC renderd a framework to look at strategy, used for value creation from four different perspectives these being financial, customer, internal business process and innovation and learning Kaplan and Norton (1992).One of the principles recommended by the authors, is that for an organization to be focused on strategy, there requisites to be alignment among departments to the strategy of the organisation. The alignment sequence recommended by Kaplan and Norton (2006) starts when the corporate military headquarters articulates enterprise value proposition that allow for create synergies among operating units, sanction units and ext ernal partners. This sequence includes adjust IT strategy with the business strategy.4.1 STATEMENT OF inquiry PROBLEM telephone line and IT strategies at PRASA take in to be better aligned.4.1 What is rider take aim agency of south africa (PRASA)?Appendix A, gives a citywide overview of the historic context and the introduction of PRASA taken from the companies business plan. Following is a summary of the spot issuesPRASA was created by governing body to advance its agenda for the transformation of the humankind bewitch system into a vibrant, competent one, As part of its strategy, PRASA (2009), to secure the future of its business, PRASA get out focus its resources and energies during the current medium term expenditure framework (METF) on the following three Strategic Priorities portion Excellence within Metro complain, Shosholoza Meyl and AutopaxProperty and Asset Development, andTechnology Upgrade or Modernization of its mark head systemsThe key objectives identif ied by Government in addressing the challenges of passenger civilize conveying moving forward PRASA (2009) are as followsSustainable passenger rail service speech meliorate performance of passenger rail operate in terms of the attribute and levels of services to passengers ameliorate efficacy in the delivery of servicesImproved strengthiveness of addition managementEffective targeting of wedge shapesidies to achieve desired socio-economic hug drug objectivesImproved oversight by Government andImproved account competency to the users.4.1 wherefore prasa? PASSENGER TRANSPORT CHANGE IMPERATIVES1..1 The Public Transport Challenge later many old age of neglect, the existing commuter train hug drug system, inherited from the apartheid ago, has reached strength levels and is unable to satisfy passenger demands while its infrastructure is not able to meet the requirements of a rapidly changing and modern society. The dysfunctional institutional arrangements have meant s limy accountability in the purvey of universe exile services, which were found to be largely disempowering. Governments socio-economic and transport policies could not be guarded adequately by such institutional arrangements. The boorish is seeking to move outside(a) from the current commuter- meniald transport pro mess into a more integrated humanity transport system that meets growing and changing passenger demands in an efficient, effective and sustainable manner. The twin challenges for unexclusive transport is to simultaneously transform through meaningful integration whilst at the like time enhancing capacity through upgrading and modernization to meet yearn-term destiny PRASA (2009).1..2 Inadequate Passenger Service ProvisionPassenger rail in confederation Africa faces many challenges as a result of a dogged history of inadequate investment finances in rail rolling declivity, infrastructure and trading operations as well as the loss of appropriate managerial an d technical (engineering) skills within the industry. The shortage of such critical skills has a direct negative impact on the delivery of services. In the urbanising metropolitan areas the readying of new rail corridors has not kept pace with the rapidly changing urban landscape resulting in limited coverage in key areas of urban expansion with the consequential loss of significant market share. everywhere time, commuter rail services have have-to doe withd to fail to resolve adequately to changing passenger demands PRASA (2009).1..3 Customer-Centric DeliveryA dynamic and customer-centric unexclusive transport system is required where passengers contribute to and shape the service delivery agenda. The need for a Passenger or Quality Charter and the normalation of backbreaking, vibrant structures championing both the interests of passengers and public transport transformation are life-sustaining to the growing of a public transport system that will in effect respond to the travelling needs of passengers. The past few geezerhood has seen the process of vibrant, community-based structures championing public transport transformation and demanding property services from Government and transport service put uprs. This movement seems to be growing and shows the determination of southward Africans to take part in the construction of a transport system that will effectively respond to their demands PRASA (2009).4.1 PRASA Vision, burster ValuesVisionA provider of integrated public transport solutions for alter mobilityTwo fundamental principles underpin the vision-Integration PRASA should facilitate integrating individuals and communities, enabling a better forest of life through access to socioeconomic opportunitiesMobility Solutions PRASA should connect individuals and communities through the prep of public transport solutions that are founded on an integrated ne cardinalrk of mobility routes PRASA (2009)MissionSustainable Public Transport Solu tions through Service Excellence, Innovation and normal Integration PRASA (n.d.)The mission reflects four key intentions-Service excellence superior performance that is safe, reliable and affordable, that makes a lasting impression, and builds brand loyalty both internally (employees) and externally (customers) that adds benefit to the passenger.Sustainability a focus on sustainable development in business that considers not just the financial basis line of prosperity and profit, but also the other bottom lines of environmental quality and social equity.Mobility solutions reframing the basis of business delivery, favouring innovation, integration and partnershipsIntegration safe, broadloom dignified travel experiences across all modes of public transport, PRASA (n.d.)ValuesThe set that will guide PRASA, which will underpin the performance ethos of the organization derived from and are guided by the fundamental and progressive human values of the paper of the Republic of southeastward Africa-Service Excellence, Participation, Integrity, Fairness and Innovation, PRASA (2009)4.1 OPPORTUNITY FOR Passenger work1..1 Commuter complain ServicesThe provision of efficient and affordable public passenger transport services is integral to Governments tease to create employment opportunities, stimulate economic development and reduce levels of poverty. compound mobility will facilitate greater access to socio-economic opportunities for the urban and bucolic poor whilst contributing to an efficient transport system to the benefit of all South Africans highlighting the need for a vibrant public passenger transport network to support sustainable growth and development PRASA (2009).Commuter rail has the electromotive force to be the most efficient, affordable and safe mode of travel. It plays a significant role in key Metropolitan areas such as Cape Town and has the potential to become an important public transport player in all metropolitan areas, signifi cantly contributing to an efficient and reliable public transport system in these areas. Despite the admit increase in the growth of car-ownership and usage, public transport and walking continue to dominate the mobility needs of the majority of South Africans and this is likely to continue for the following(a) decade. Metropolitan areas in South Africa are experiencing rapid urbanization. Rail is in a unique position to facilitate greater integration between land use planning and transport infrastructure provision, and providing security, to private and public sector investment, of stable unyielding-term public transport provision. This is vital to creating sustainable communities where peoples access to economic and social opportunities is improved. In this context, railway lines need to be positioned, located, aligned with evolving spatial developments and formalised within the statutory planning processes undertaken earlier by local government. The creation of PRASA and the i ntegration of rail and road-based transport services will, over time, provide the user with public transport pickaxes moving away from a market of captive users to one where dignified travel choice is a real option PRASA (2009).1..2 Inter-City / Regional Passenger ServicesHistorically, vast distance rail and road based services have not received the attention required to make them demand responsive in key market areas including migrant workers, students, tourists and occasional travellers. The Department of Transports Public Transport Strategy movemention Plan notes that There is a significant potential for the growth in migrant worker pertinacious distance public transport provision. The dominant generators of migrant movement are Gauteng and KZN The increase in tourism provides opportunities for segmenting the market that build upon the strengths of both long distance rail and coach operations. Rural areas in South Africa are undergoing a process of economic and social restr ucturing with a shift in emphasis towards rural trade and agro-processing. These constituents reinforce the need for a public transport service sector that responds to the emerging needs of these rural / regional development nodes since transport links between the rural trade areas and the rural regions (hinterlands) remains unreliable, rendering access to services and emerging economic opportunities super difficult. This lack of access will continue to trap many in the poverty cycle. Governments decision to consolidate passenger rail entities and road-based long distance bus services into a single entity, PRASA, report to the Department of Transport are underpinned by a number of key drivers. The recognition by Government that rail consolidation was required to shroud with the under-performance of rail passenger services as well as the historical under-investment in the passenger rail business. Institutional arrangements did not promote efficiency and accountability and signifi cant change was required to overcome the inherent institutional dysfunctions that had been created. Confusion existed between the contractor and regulatory functions implicitly embodied in the SARCC/Transnet relationship PRASA (2009).The critical need for sustainable living to reverse the exasperate in commuter rail levels of service being experienced by commuters has been identified. This funding profile was captured in the National Rail Plan, which was accepted by Cabinet in December 2006, where the funding and investment requirements were identified for passenger rail over the following ten years PRASA (2009).4.1 PRASA ObjectivePRASA (n.d.) primitive objective isTo moderate that at the request of the Department of Transport, rail commuter services are provided within, to and from the Republic in the public interest andTo provide, in consultation with the Department of Transport, for long haul passenger rail and bus services within, to and from the Republic in terms of the pri nciples set out in section 4 of the National Land Transport Transition Act, 2000 (Act No.22 of 2000)..4.1 Strategy of prasaPRASA (2009) objectives are supportive of the Board of Controls (BOC) key performance areas as seen in figure 2 belowFigure 2 Key Performance Area and Strategic Objectives4.1 CHALLENGES FACING PRASA1..1 Consolidation / regression / RestructuringThe sequential amalgamation, in quick succession, of the SARCC, Metrorail, Shosholoza Meyl and Autopax bring with it the normal challenges that are present when merging disparate organizations in related but different functional arenas.A key driver in Governments decision to consolidate these entities into a single delivery arm of the DOT was to effect operational and asset turnaround of what were admit to be declining businesses, albeit, some with the potential for growth. Linked with both these processes is the need to internally restructure the various businesses to align them with the new mandate given to PRASA thr ough the amendment to the Legal Succession Act that was promulgated on 23 December 2008 PRASA (2009).1..2 Sustainable FundingThe ability to provide the requisite level of funding (substantial) to address both the investment capital and rapidly expanding operational requirements to affect the mandate is fundamental to the undefeated performance of PRASA. The integrated passenger transport plan requirements will need to be developed. Fully motivated funding requirements, covering both operations and investment capital, in line with the 5-year financial plan requirements of the various structured Transport Plans (ITPs), will be developed to begin to align the funding requirements with statutory plan requirements. The approved funding base makes no provision for two key activities that need to be accommodatedThe incorporation of Autopax, an operating company that is currently materially dependent upon Transnet Limited for funding to re-capitalize and sustain the business going forward .The acquisition of new rolling stock. Analysis has indicated that the rolling stock refurbishment and upgrading programs are not maintaining pace with the requirements to buy time forward the inevitable purchasing of new excrete becomes unavoidable.While the profile reflects a rising trend in investment funding support, the allocation of these funds to the different asset classes ( wheeling Stock Infrastructure) will need to be reviewed. A careful balance needs to be struck to ensure that the sustainability of the asset base is not compromised PRASA (2009).1..3 Ageing Rolling Stock and InfrastructurePRASA (2009) reports that the lengthen under-investment in passenger rail of almost thirty years is evidently experienced in the deterioration of the general rail asset i.e. Rolling Stock and Infrastructure (Signalling and telecommunications, electrical systems, perway). This has resulted in a situation where services are experiencing continued decline, primarily due to poor availa bility and reliability of rolling stock and ageing infrastructure. The lack of investment in the asset base has also had a negative impact in the skills base of the passenger rail industry over a period of time. For example, the come age profile of commuter coaches is 40 years and has been left stinker by international advancements in rail technology over the past few decades. The life expectancy of railway rolling stock is of the post of 54 years. The railway industry norms are that the coaches will be upgraded at half life (27 years) and overhauled every 9 years, so as to ensure the structural and sub-systems integrity is not compromised by metal fatigue, age, wear and stock split or environmental condition. Thirty-three percent (33%) of the commuter rail fleet is already above 36 years and therefore would be inefficient to upgrade.1..4 Human Capital DevelopmentHuman capital development is by and large understated and under-rated in supporting the development of an organiza tion. It is a multi-faceted process that requires top off checking to enable human capabilities to be built that will support the key performance drivers of the business and ultimately the business results that can be expected from that performance.The key challenge for PRASA is to formulate human capital development processes that facilitate and fast-track the appropriate human capital capabilities at all levels within the organization that will enable delivery on the key drivers of which, in the case of PRASA are increased productivity (operational efficiencies),improved service quality (service excellence),customer focus andinnovation in the provision of integrated public transport solutionsThe nature of the various operational divisions, while related and providing synergetic opportunities for service co-operation and delivery, are by their very nature, different business environments, each requiring a specific set of human capabilities to perform optimally. PRASA needs to pr ovide guidance in the process framework that delivers this requirement PRASA (2009).1..5 Change oversightThe finalisation of the PRASA consolidation process, the turnaround and restructuring necessitate that a number of mate change management processes are undertaken. Numerous change management processes will be identified that are needed to combine the five organizations into a consolidated organization. The very ability of PRASA to ensure effective murder of such processes becomes critical as is the capacity of the organization (including divisions and subsidiaries) to manage them successfully PRASA (2009).1..6 leaders Skills DevelopmentThere is currently an acknowledged shortage of key skills as well as a lack of depth of skills in critical areas within the organization. For PRASA to meet the expanded mandate of supporting governments socio-economic and transport objectives in both urban and rural contexts, the organization will need a focused approach to human capital develo pment, on leadership development, talent management and the progressive training of a strong base of key skills that will lay the foundation for sustaining rail passenger transport sector PRASA (2009).1..7 Rail Technology DevelopmentPRASA, of necessity, will need to become a technology based organization that blends best course session policies with intelligent asset management philosophies to leverage organisational productivity and efficiency gains to provide shareholder value. PRASA recognises that technology upgrade is critical to the modernisation of South Africas railways and is well aware that the capacity for technology upgrade may not be immediately available in South Africa or the African Continent as a whole. Technological obsolescence is a major factor that will inhibit PRASA from delivering on its mandate. A rail technical strategy that guides proficient renewal, upgrading, replacement and development over the next 30 years is a critical requirement. The average age o f the metropolitan rail commuter networks/system in South Africa ranges between 60 80 years and still supports 1940/50s technology. The system in SA is showing sombre age related condition decline with increasing systemic risks and technological obsolescence. Railway systems are designed for an extended economic life, but it is acknowledged that the current ad hoc investment flows into the ageing system in South Africa are not productive in terms of future demand, operational performance requirements and escalating maintenance hails. Global technology advancement in rail has moved beyond the limited application of heavy rail, regional and long distance passenger rail. Various new rail based technologies of alternate(a) applications have evolved globally to ensure the competitiveness and attractiveness of rail solutions. If South Africa is serious about ensuring environmentally friendly and energy efficient transportation for its cities to counter growth in private vehicle trave l, congestion and spiralling cost of fossil fuels, a selective conversion of appropriate new and improved rail based and mass transit technologies needs to be evaluated, introduced, and schematic in South Africa ensuring that these take their place in the hierarchy of public transport service provision. The technological needs of PRASA over the next 30 years need to be clearly articulated and incorporated into PRASAs long-term planning if passenger rail is to be sustained over the longer-term. The development of a rail technology strategy, together with the appropriate migration requirements over this period will assist in guiding decision-making in oft critical technology upgrade or replacement areas within the organisation. The phased implementation of the strategy will be captured in each of the blood Plans roll-outs over time PRASA (2009).4.1 RESEARCH AIM, QUESTION, SUB-QUESTIONS AND OBJECTIVESResearch AimThe aim of this research is to understand to what extent alignment betw een Business and IT strategies exists, at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA).Research QuestionsThe research question derived from the problem line of reasoning isWhat can PRASA do to improve business and IT strategies, alignment?The sub questions to answer the main question areWhat are business and IT strategies?What is alignment between business and IT strategies?What factors contribute to an alignment gap between business and IT strategies?What factors contributes to an improved alignment between business and IT strategies?Objectives of the researchBased on the sub questions the objectives of the research are to1. Analyse the Businesss and IT strategy2. exact out a literature review on the alignment between Business and IT strategies.3. Analyse the factors that contribute towards Alignment Gap4. a. Establish strategic alignment best practice.b. Formulate a methodology for aligning Business and IT strategies.c. Propose recommendations to improve PRASAs Business and IT strategies alignment.4.1 CURRENT STATUS OF THE RESEARCH AREAThe literature review will be based on the research into alignment of business and IT strategies. There is a plethora of research available on the alignment of business and IT strategies. Chan and Reich (2007) have carried out comprehensive research on this topic.4.1 Business and IT strategies1..1 Business StrategiesCroteau and Bergeron (2001) define business strategy as the outcomes of decisions made to guide an organisation with respect to the environment, structure and processes that define its organisational performance. Hambrick (1980) states that business strategies may be textual, multivariate or typological.Henderson and Venkatraman (1993) architects of the SAM model, view strategy as involving both strategy verbalism (decisions pertaining to competitive, product market choices) and strategy implementation (choices that pertain to the structure and capabilities of the firm to execute its product market choice s).The SAM model presents two business strategy perspectives where business strategy is the driver namely strategic execution, and technology transformation. figure 3 presents the key attributes of these perspectives.Figure 3 Attributes of Business Strategy perspectives (Henderson Venkatraman 1993)One of the six components of the SAMM Luftman and Kempaiah (2007), is partnership which includes ITs role in defining the businesss strategies. Both of these models (SAM and SAMM) are about aligning business and IT strategies and can be criticised because it does not define what business strategy is.Kay (1996) says that there is much debate on the substance but that