Theme Based Approach In A Freshman Education Essay

In the last decennaries several attacks to learn English in EFL contexts have appeared and disappeared as research in this country has developed. Since the 1980s, when constructivism appeared â€Å" with its accent on societal interaction and the find, or building, of intending â€Å" ( Brown, 2007, p.12 ) , several methods have come up claiming to be the best to integrate the basic elements of this theory and to be the solution for English instructors to do all their pupils learn and have fun with the mark linguistic communication. As Brown ( 2007 ) explains many of these methods are considered representatives of what is today known as the Communicative Language Approach, which is â€Å" an eclectic blend of the parts of old methods into the best of what a instructor can supply in reliable utilizations of the 2nd linguistic communication in a schoolroom † . ( Brown, 2007, p. 18 ) The intent of this paper is to analyse the advantages and disadvantages of using one of these ‘so called ‘ communicative attacks, the Theme-Based Approach, in the context of a first-year university class of English as a foreign Language. Though the writer of these paragraphs believes that there is no such thing as the ‘perfect method ‘ , and that it is a good instructor ‘s occupation to take the pedagogical techniques that best suit her scholars ‘ demands and her beliefs about linguistic communication instruction, she will merely measure the benefits and disabilities of utilizing the schemes proposed by this individual attack in her ain instruction context. Yang ( 2009 ) explains that the theme-based direction is normally considered within the theoretical account of content-based direction. ( p.162 ) As the name suggests, the course of study of this attack is organized around subjects or subjects which contextualize the elements of the mark linguistic communication that are presented to scholars. Many of these subjects can be derived from the capable affair contents that the pupils are larning in the different phases of their instruction. Shin ( 2007 ) states that â€Å" When learning English as a Foreign Language ( EFL ) at any degree, the schoolroom has to be a topographic point in which linguistic communication is non merely taught but besides used meaningfully † . ( p.2 ) Curtain and Dahlberg in their book Languages and Children: Making the Match ( 2010 ) assert that as â€Å" the instructor connects linguistic communication direction to bing subjects or creates language-specific subjects, the linguistic communication category is clearly an incorporate portion of the school twenty-four hours, and linguistic communications are perceived to be meaningful constituents of pupil acquisition † . ( p.1-2 ) Brinton ( cited in Shin, 2007 ) claims that a thematic course of study can supply â€Å" rich input for lessons that are either language-based ( i.e. , with a focal point on vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar ) or skills-based ( i.e. , with a focal point on hearing, speech production, composing, or reading ) . † ( p.2 ) Gao ( 2011 ) describes the theme-based attack as trusting on Krashen ‘s linguistic communication acquisition theory which states that scholars have to be presented with sufficient comprehendible input. This input has to reflect his thought of one + 1, where ‘I ‘ is the scholars ‘ current linguistic communication competency and ‘+ 1 ‘ is the â€Å" input supposed to be the somewhat higher degree than pupils ‘ module † . ( p.34 ) The instructor would be responsible of supplying this input and of assisting pupils to transform this input into consumption. To make this, he or she has to choose the subject and the activities related that would outdo suit the involvements and demands of the pupils. Yang ( 2009 ) adds that when taking the subject and be aftering the activities, the â€Å" kids ‘s proficiency degree † should besides be considered. ( p.170 ) As in any communicative course of study, in the theme-based attack, the sch olar is the supporter of the procedure, so it is unthinkable to form a course of study without sing the scholars ‘ involvements and demands as a starting point. In the undermentioned paragraphs the learning context will be presented together with the different facets of the theme-based attack that are believed to be applicable to this context. Nowadays most schools are increasing the figure of hours of English in their course of studies. Hence they are necessitating instructors with a high bid in the four accomplishments of the linguistic communication. Most schools are integrating English in more than one capable affair. The Escuela de Educacion of Universidad de los Andes took this demand into consideration when be aftering the new course of study and included 5 semesters of mandatory English classs. The general aims of the English course of study are â€Å" to heighten the four linguistic communication accomplishments through reading, discoursing and working with a choice of texts that assistance in a better apprehension of human existences and learning † ( English II, 2012 ) . Students are divided in two proficiency degrees which allow the pupils to experience relaxed every bit good as demanded in a degree that fits their proficiency. Nunan ( cited in Yang 2009 ) claims that linguistic communication is best acquired when the scholars are organized in homogenous degrees of proficiency. The theme-based attack allows the instructors to accommodate the subjects, stuffs and activities to the pupils ‘ proficiency degree, which is consistent with the organisation of pupils in this context. Since the category described here is a freshmen lower-level English category, the pupils, who are to go simple instructors, are expected to bring forth short conversations on assorted subjects utilizing grammatically right, formal and informal linguistic communication, and a good bid of the English sound system. They have to show critical thought and cognition of the specific subject and related vocabulary. They besides have to be able to place the chief and secondary thoughts in a short text ( English II, 2012 ) . These aims refer to cognitive procedure every bit good as linguistic communication bid. The linguistic communication is an instrument to develop believing accomplishments. A Theme-based course of study seems really suited to let all these aims to be achieved. The English linguistic communication can be learnt utilizing the wide subject of Education, and within this, a myriad of subjects runing from simple degrees capable affairs, to larning and learning theories, or cultural cognition of the English speech production states. â€Å" When subjects are good chosen, pupils will be more occupied with the acquisition because they can see its intent and happen it interesting -and merriment † . ( Curtain & A ; Dahlberg, 2010, p.2 ) In other words, this attack motivates pupils to larn linguistic communications. Gao ( 2011 ) mentions the experiment carried out in The Jiang University that supports this statement. Freeman & A ; Freeman ( cited in Yang, 2009 ) confirm this thought when they express that pupils are more willing to take part in the category, seek harder, and remain concentrated, when the â€Å" content of the lesson is relevant and interesti ng † to them. â€Å" Their motive is more likely to increase † . ( p.162 ) In the instance of the context analyzed in this paper, around one tierce of the pupils take it really earnestly and understand the importance of larning English for their future calling ; one third are mean pupils, who want to larn, but do non make any excess work and, one tierce who take it merely as portion of the course of study. This is really pathetic if it is considered that intrinsic motive is most of import in the procedure of larning. The bulk of the category does non hold it in a desirable grade. The theme-based attack can be a major part to this issue. Another interesting possibility allowed by this attack is the usage of reliable stuffs. The instructor can choose reliable readings such as verse forms, rimes, short narratives, newspaper articles, academic documents, among others, that present the scholars with new vocabulary used in existent state of affairss in relation to the chosen subject. Apart from developing the accomplishment of reading, these readings can be the get downing point to pupils ‘ production in English. â€Å" Ideally, the sorts of activities instructors design for the stuffs should travel from comprehension activities to such production activities as doing presentations to the category, or composing studies, making a category anthology of narratives, or even printing a newspaper † . ( Strong, 1995 ) Hence, the four linguistic communication accomplishments can be promoted. Besides, vocabulary related to the selected subjects is more easy learned, as Khayef and Khoshnevis ( 2012 ) proved in their sur vey carried out in Iran. Subjects besides allow pupils to show critical thought and cognition of the specific subject and related vocabulary. Curtain and Dahlberg assert that activities in a theme- based attack can prosecute pupils â€Å" in complex thought and more sophisticated usage of linguistic communication † ( p. 4 ) Discussion around subjects of involvement to the scholars can take them to the development of complex thoughts that involve the usage of complex cognitive accomplishments, such as analysing, synthesising, contrasting, comparing and others. These accomplishments are desirable for our pupils, non merely for their ain benefit, but for their future pupils ‘ , excessively. Students in the context described know that there are high outlooks of them and that any aid required will be available. This makes them experience motivated to set their best attempt in utilizing the mark linguistic communication and take parting in the collaborative activities. â€Å" The pupils in a theme-based schoolroom carry through a diverseness of communicative undertakings in concerted groups in which they portion a common end working fruitfully † ( Gao, 2011, p.37 ) The disciplined environment that exists in this context would prefer this sort of work. Some of the techniques used in category are choral reading, grammar exercisings in a context, unwritten presentations of different subjects, cloze, duologues, contemplation, argument and treatment. The thought is to assist scholars use the linguistic communication more spontaneously. It is of import to see the different acquisition manners of the pupils as it is done in this class, and to take techniques that develop eloquence and truth every bit good. Most, if non all, of these techniques can be easy adopted in the theme-based attack, but most significantly, it facilitates the development of truth by incorporating the instruction of grammatical elements of the linguistic communication in a meaningful context. â€Å" Thematic direction avoids the usage of stray exercisings with grammatical constructions, practiced out of context † ( Curtain & A ; Dahlberg, 2010, p.4 ) . This position is wholly consistent with the manner grammar is presented in the context dealt with in this pa per, although there is a hazard of non giving adequate consideration and deepness to the syntactic elements of the linguistic communication. As future instructors, these scholars may necessitate a more profound cognition of the constructions that configure the English linguistic communication, so that they are able to work out the possible uncertainties of their future pupils. Fluency besides plays an of import function in this attack for it promotes cases of unwritten communicating. Gao ( 2011 ) confirmed in his survey â€Å" that the pupils under the counsel of Theme-based Oral Approach ( TOA ) are more likely to better their unwritten English abilities and more enthusiastic and interested in unwritten English learningaˆÂ ¦ † . ( p.37 ) Talking about subjects and subjects of common involvement, such as the 1s related to the pupils professional field or to the Anglo speech production civilization, facilitates the interaction and dialogue of significance that are described as portion of the ends of the class and that underlie the sort of activities that the Theme-based attack advocators. It is of import to retrieve that these scholars are future instructors, so the context is different from the typical linguistic communication class. They are supposed to be theoretical accounts to other pupils in the hereafter, either in the usage of the mark linguistic communication as in her attitudes. This implies an excess variable playing in this 2nd linguistic communication larning environment that can besides be assumed by this attack. The instructor is responsible of choosing the subjects and accommodating them to the different degrees of proficiency and believing accomplishments of his or her pupils. Students in this class may accommodate all the activities they are larning English with to the contexts in which they will be learning in the hereafter. Even though a theme-based course of study reestablishes the importance of the function of instructors in the acquisition procedure, it gives them a great duty in the success or failure of this procedure, every bit good. Yang ( 2 009 ) asserts that â€Å" theme-based instruction as an attack will non automatically do scholars go more interested in larning English, unless instructors are able to utilize interesting activities and suited stuffs † . Choosing the right subjects, stuffs, activities and forming the pupils ‘ work in the right manner is what boosts larning. This can besides be said about most attacks. Possibly one of the chief factors for any methodological analysis to be fruitful is the manner in which the instructor uses it in a specific context. The theme-based attack requires that the instructor put a considerable sum of clip in be aftering the lesson. Teachers can easy experience overwhelmed with the force per unit area of finding the ends, choosing the subject, making the activities and stuffs, measuring the results and all the other characteristics involved in lesson planning. All this planning can be really time-consuming, being clip one of the most cherished and elusive hoarded wealths in a instructor ‘s life. All in all, I believe that the advantages for utilizing the theme-based attack in the context described exceed by far the disadvantages. This methodological analysis can assist instructors actuate pupils to larn English as a foreign linguistic communication, advancing its usage in meaningful state of affairss that encourage pupils to develop the four accomplishments, hearing, reading, composing and speech production, every bit good as of import thought accomplishments. The costs or disadvantages affect chiefly the instructor who is the 1 responsible for be aftering the lesson. I believe that the clip invested in making so exhaustively will pay back with high involvements. The confirmation of pupils ‘ acquisition is the best wages any instructor can hold. As for the grammar cognition issue mentioned as of import in this context, I think that instructors can fall back to other sorts of activities to supply excess chances to exert this component, even if it does n't suit absolutel y good in the theme- based attack. Ana Maria Reyes

Nowadays, Food Has Become Easier to Prepare Essay

Man, through the ages, has undergone many changes, from a period when he hunted for his food to the present era when man is dependent on preprocessed foods. During this period not only has man changed his mode of eating but his whole lifestyle as well. In pursuit of more in this competitive world, man no longer has time as he once had. He is caught in a race against the clock. A person who finishes more in lesser time is considered more efficient. This pressure to do more in less time has affected his eating habits as well and, as a result, man no longer has time to cook food. Early man’s only objective was to seek food to sustain him and his family. Nowadays finding food has taken a back seat to other priorities, such as career and education. Food is no longer of that importance. This is not an encouraging trend. People are too dependent on preprocessed or precooked food, which no longer has the freshness it once had. Such foods loose their mineral and vitamin content and are not as healthy as fresh food. That is why the number of diseases is also rising. People have also shifted to high calorie content food like French fries, pizzas, and ice cream, etc., which is causing obesity, fatigue, etc. As man is becoming busy and too involved in his busy schedule, he has no time even to take care of his own personal needs. Furthermore, cooking is an art which is dying out. People once enjoyed cooking . It was a means of eliminating stress and tension. People were once able to relax during this time and reflect on their lives. People may tend to argue that by using precooked and preprocessed food they are efficiently using time and can use this precious time saved for other purposes. But is it really worth it? This is a question whose answer can invite much speculation about whether by saving this little time we are inviting lots of other problems, which could easily be avoided. It is actually making our lives not simpler but more complicated. We have lost many of the simpler things in our lives, like the simple acts of selecting our evening meal, preparing it, and enjoying it with our loved ones, and we are worse off for it.

Resume of Joe Rizal

CURRICULUM VITAE Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y Alonso Realonda Personal Information: Home address: Calamba, Laguna Date of Birth: June 19, 1861 Place of Birth: Calamba, Laguna, Philippines Height: 5 feet Weight: 42 kg/ 411. 6 N Job Experience: Student Assistant (April 2010 and April 2011) Saint Louis University Human Resource Department Baguio City, Philippines Major Duties and Responsibilities: 1. File copies of different letters. 2. Sort files alphabetically to their respective filing cabinets. 3. Classify and sort files of different departments and colleges. 4. Assist in the making and laminating in the identification cards of employees. 5. Assist in instructing and organizing of the enrolment of working scholars. Enrolment helper (May 2010 and May 2011) Saint Louis University- Laboratory Elementary School Medical and Dental Clinic Baguio City, Philippines Major Duties and Responsibilities: 1. Give medical forms to the parents or guardians of incoming kinder and transferee pupils. 2. Instruct the parents and guardians on what to place on the forms. 3. Give the parents and guardians their corresponding number for the proper sequence of entering the clinic. . Sort and file the medical records of the new pupils. 5. Classify and file the medical records of the pupils according to their sections for the next school year. Working scholar (November 2009-March 2011) Saint Louis University- Laboratory Elementary School Medical and Dental Clinic Baguio City, Philippines Major Duties and Responsibilities: 1. Assist the nurses in first aid procedures. 2. Assure the cleanliness of the clinic. 3. Assure the safety of the pupils, specially the lower grade pupils (kinder to grade 3) by bringing them back to their specific classrooms. 4. File patients’ health cards to their respective place. 5. Assist in the medical dental and medical check-up. 6. Wash and dry dental instruments. Educational Attainment: College: Philosophy and Letters (1877-1878) University of Santo Tomas Sampaloc, Manila Philippines Course on Surveying Ateneo de Manila (1877-1878) Loyola Heights, Quezon City, Metro Manila Philippines Medicine (1878-1882) University of Santo Tomas Sampaloc, Manila Philippines Medicine & Philosophy and Letters Universidad Central de Madrid Madrid, Spain Secondary: Ateneo de Manila (1872-1877) Loyola Heights, Quezon City, Metro Manila Philippines Elementary: Mabini Elementary School (1999-2005) Baguio City, Philippines Skills and Hobbies: Skills: * Ability to work under pressure * Can write speeches, scripts and reports * Flexible in working in a multi-cultural working environment * Literate in Computer programs: * Microsoft Word * Microsoft PowerPoint * Microsoft Excel * Microsoft Access * Microsoft Publisher * Microsoft Photoshop * Movie Maker Hobbies: * Reading books, watching movies, listening to music, editing pictures, making movies in movie maker, writing poems, singing, playing the piano and uitar. * Sports: * Volleyball Seminars: The taxation approach * November 28, 2010 * AVR Devesse building, Maryheights Campus, Bakakeng, Baguio City Insurance, Savings, and Investments * January 30, 2011 * Center for Culture and the Arts, Saint Louis University Relevant Issues with the CARPer * September 18, 2011 * AVR Devesse building, Maryheights Campus, Bakakeng, Baguio City Character References: I, do hereby, attest that the above statements are true, correct and updated to the best of my knowledge.

Obama's Bailout Plans Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Obama's Bailout Plans - Term Paper Example Treasury to help average Americans, $300 billion was used to bailout homeowners affected by the housing crisis in July, $200 billion for the release of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in September, and another $50 billion and $25 billion were used to save money market funds and car companies, respectively. Stimulus packages were also injected this year, as the Obama regime unleashed a mammoth $787 billion in February to combat unemployment and another $275 billion was allocated also in February for nine million homeowners to refinance their home loans in order to prevent threats of foreclosure. Another wave of economic rescue plans were bared in March, such as the $30 billion to again lend financial assistance to American Investment Group (AIG) hit by the banking crisis last year, $15 billion to help troubled small businesses, $1 trillion to try to save toxic assets from the balance sheets of financial institutions, and $ 22 billion to assist two automakers, General motors and Chrysler. The latest of the bailouts is the $1 trillion stimulus package as a result of the G-20 meeting in London in April. Given this uncertain amount of bailouts and stimulus packages, the office of the President, the Federal Reserve and the ... Millions of American jobs are at stake, and thousands of businesses- large or small- are also at risked of getting sideswiped by the financial turmoil. The fear of massive unemployment due to the unprecedented closure of big businesses like banks, car companies, and even small businesses galvanized the Obama administration into action by injecting stimulus packages that are aimed at saving the economy. Based on the U.S. government's forecast, joblessness will stand at 8.1 percent this year, but the figure is expected to drop to 7.9 percent in 2010 (Dickson). This means that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of American workers are at risk of being pushed out of their jobs. Recession in the United States was said to have reached an alarming level, as businesses continue to be severely affected and unemployment rate continues to escalate. Now, the Federal Reserve is playing a major role in trying to solve the financial crisis that continues to threaten the U.S. dollar. However, will the Federal Reserve solve the economic crisis or will it only worsen the problem The Fed and the monetary system The Federal Reserve System, which was created in 1913 during the term of former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson by virtue of the Federal Reserve Act, is a semi-public monetary institution. This means that despite the word "federal," this institution is not 100-percent owned by the federal government. Since the creation of the Federal Reserve, economic crunch became unavoidable due to the inflationary nature of America's monetary system. In fact, a number of well-known critics of the Federal Reserve, which is beyond the control and supervision of the U.S.

Designer Research Project Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Designer Project - Research Paper Example His talent and professionalism enabled him to work for a variety of companies, like IBM and NeXT. While working as a consultant for these corporations, he was responsible for conceiving detailed communication systems. The systems varied from logos, building signage, packaging and a variety of other designs that are still used to date. Consequently, I think that is why I chose him for this project. His work on IBM and NeXT revolutionized the marketing strategies adopted by technological companies, and as a Computer Science major, I was drawn to his work. The growth of NeXT as a company and as a corporate identity, can be partially attributed to Paul’s work on the company’s logo and brochures. Paul’s work was not only visually stimulating, but evoked emotions of admiration. He adopted a problem-solving method to graphic design and in turn, it earned him devoted admirers on a global scale, even ten years after his death. His work was essential in swaying consumers to certain brands, because it was trusted by many consumers to communicate an essential truth via the brand’s visual cues. Indeed, he was skilled in brand identity. For Paul Rand, he was motivated by modest expectations and good ideas. He was on various occasions quoted saying that, in order to comprehend what a logo was capable and incapable of accomplishing, then a person’s designs would always need to achieve the simplicity that all people crave for. He emphasized that simplicity was not the aim of a project, but was a by-product of modest expectations and a good idea. In addition to his affinity for good ideas and modest expectations, presentation was key to him. He was adamant that for every design a designer is involved with, he should strive to tell a story that is unique and tailored in accordance with the wishes of the client. The quality of work produced for a client and the clarity with which it conveys the

The Financial Crisis in Greek Banking Industry Dissertation

The Financial Crisis in Greek Banking Industry - Dissertation Example However, it is an important part of the dissertation because it makes a significant contribution in backing the researcher’s point of view while providing current knowledge including substantive findings in terms of theoretical and methodological contribution. It reviews the books, journal articles, and magazines to give new interpretations to old sources. In the article written by Li and Xu (2002), it is stated that higher- risk assets give higher returns in comparison to low-risk assets like treasury bills (see table1 below). It forms a basis for the decision of asset allocation and making an estimation of interest rates in financial markets (Haitao Li and Yuewu Xu, 2002). During the process of bidding demand for firm’s products and its value influence the financial premium of the firm. It is so because there is a direct correlation between net expected value and performance of the firm as it yields higher returns. This implies that the higher the value of the firm th e higher premiums. Barberis, et al, (2001) held the view that higher volatility is recorded in the stock prices of a company when performance if its assets are not up to the standard. The entire banking industry came under pressure due to credit turmoil and subsequent deterioration of global market which in turn prompted the intervention of the central banks particularly the IMF and the World Bank. This sector was adversely affected by the inherent weakness of the Greek economy that is a result of rising debt and deficits. However, improvements have been noticed in the premiums paid because of the strong legal framework and improvements to the operational model. A similar report finds that, as a way of increasing the economies of scale, merger and acquisitions were imminent. The risk in the assets can be reduced by diversification of the assets. It also brings profitability and promotes growth besides improving the survival rate in similar future financial crises. According to Nenov a (2006) desire of having effective control over the firm and then pressurize the shareholders to sell the firm at a lower price is the reason why banks overvalue premium during the process of mergers and acquisitions. In addition to this, the value of the premium is also influenced by enforceability of ownership rights and confidence in the target banks ( LaPorta et al., 1998; Djankov et al., 2008; Nenova,2006; Bris and Cabolis,2008). As provided, the weaker the shareholder protection creates get-out for managers, shareholders to seize smaller, and minority shareholders with motives of gaining higher private benefits (Dyck and Zingales, 2004). A research study conducted by Hunter and Wall (1995) stated that acquirers are interested to pay more premiums for the banks that adopt strategies such as diversification for reducing combined firm’s overall risk and for the banks that would increase the value of the government safety net to the combined firm. With the help of regressi on analysis, it can be understood that a target with high variance of own profitability and high covariance with the acquirer’s profitability will yield less premium. Theory of diversification will also make the similar implication. MANNER OF PREMIUMS COMPUTATIONS: a) An Informal Model of Bank Takeover Pricing During the process of valuation of a bank for merger and acquisition, several factors are considered by the bidder.

Englands involvement in the Enlightenment and its affect on the Research Paper

Englands involvement in the Enlightenment and its affect on the Constitution - Research Paper Example This revolution aimed at achieving high levels of tolerance and inclusiveness, (Mason p 40). The movement was sparked by Baruch Spinoza, Pierre Bayle, John Locke and Isaac Newton in 1600-1700. The movement flourished until the rise of romanticism which put more emphasis on emotion. From that moment, the anti-Enlightment gathered momentum but then the 18th century, (Apetrei 2010). John Locke was one of the most influential thinkers in England under this movement. He influenced many other thinkers such us Voltaire among others. He defined property as a natural right derived from labor, (Mason p10). Using this, he came up with a slogan life, liberty and property, (Apetrei p201). The Great Britain customized its own Enlightment, (Mason p201). The Protestants in England sought to express themselves in ways that kept on widening the freedom of speech and the media at large. Unitarians and Quakers who were radical opened new levels of open communication that caused Voltaire to imagine they were congenial. This happened when he was in exile there, (Kors 1987). England was able to experience the revolution and, therefore it proceeded with smoothness to the path of democracy. This smooth road to democracy in England proved to be a dynamite in the France because of the resistance from the church and state was strong, (Mason p210). This gave rise to a revolution in France. The irony is that, England maintained a society that was full of class advantages and privileges and pious. With time, the power of religion slowly decreased in England. In France, it was radically removed, (Apetrei p10). In 1780, the debating groups or societies began to grow rapidly in London, (Kors p87). This was the immediate impact of the Enlightment movement. Prior to that, the society was dictated by superstitions and a blind following of the state’s policies and culture, (Kors 1987). The levels of indolence were high, with the church and the state leading affairs through emotion and force. Groups of fifty or more people, men especially, met to discuss issues of the state, (Mason p210). Law students also set up mooting clubs to practice rhetoric and openly discuss issues that affect their lives and the lives of the other citizens. There was the birth of the spouting groups and clubs, (Mason p110). These helped actors in training for theatrical roles, (Apetrei p110). This gave way for citizens to express their sentiments through theatre and art, (Mason 2010). The laws students could openly challenge the government policies, and compared their government with other governments and constitutions. Outrageous sermons were made, which were open and free as more Protestants sought for space to express their opinions, (Mason 2010). This gave birth to the rise of human rights. People were beginning to be convinced that they are entitled to some basic values and standard by the estate, (Kors 1987). England in particular was notorious for having different classed of people of di fferent status. These classes had different privileges-based access to power and perception, (Mason 2010). The aim was to make the society embrace decency and order. It also sought to make people more liberal than they were. Debating societies welcomed up to 1200 people a night who were willing to share ordinary issues that affected their lives, (Apetrei p210). Besides, the groups

Anthropological Theories of Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Anthropological Theories of Development - Essay Example The nations are always starting with gathering data and information about their external environment and its ability to help them in meeting their basic needs of food and shelter. The data and information gathering and assimilated in this timeframe always remain with the nation even at the later stages of its life. Additionally, it is suffice to say that this stage provides basis for all other ones to take place as the windows program helps other software in running.   The next stage of national development involves perfection of building methods and agriculture is also known to grow in this stage. The nation does not have the capacity to transform their homes into concrete structures but nonetheless they have them and it is the whole point and objective of this step.   The nations move in the direction of industrialization and division of labor and formal organizational structures seem to emerge during this stage. The need to communicate with other nations also significantly gro ws as the local production begins to outweigh the local demand and therefore, formal trade ties should be developed in order to export the surplus production and import the products that are short in the indigenous marketplace.   The nations after fulfilling the requirements of industrialization move in the direction of becoming knowledge economies. The knowledge economies are primarily responsible for creating new information by doing research in all fields of life. The knowledge in then, applied in other countries.

Entrepreneurship & Innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Entrepreneurship & Innovation - Essay Example This is particularly a niche market, since traditionally, food shops offer meat foods that really do not emphasize on the health factor in their menus. This particular group needs consciously look for restaurants that cater to their needs, but also offer a variety of menus to make their eating experience more exciting. Members of the younger age group are the ones more adventurous of their food choices, and therefore needs an exciting array of dishes to choose from. The ones belonging to the older bracket have more particular menus in mind, and so they are more discriminating in terms of the ingredients and presentation. HEATLHWAY looks at being able to serve both the needs of these target markets. On top of this, management looks at being able to create a health restaurant that offers reasonably good prices and with good service. The young professionals market will also be a target market, as they need to socialize and find comfortable places to meet up with friends. They may also need a place where they could hang out, check on their laptops or just chill while dining. HEALTHWAY aims to cater to their needs by ensuring a good cozy atmosphere conducive for small talk, quiet reading or for relaxation. Moreover, the healthy options are perfect for this group of people who are also conscious of the food they take. HEALTHWAY positions itself as a restaurant with the mission of providing excellent food options to vegetarians and health conscious individuals. All efforts will be geared towards this mission, and as such, management plans to market the establishment with the following features: With technology constantly evolving and with people now having to do so many things in a short span of time, fast food and instant food is very much in demand. But the question is how healthy these foods really are and how beneficial are they to the people? Are these types of food really helpful in terms of nourishing

Final Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Final Assignment - Essay Example The definition of terrorism varies from state to states and also among individuals. Notably, many definitions suggested cover the three aspects of terrorism including the causes, perpetrators and the means of attack.1 Defining terrorism is very difficult because the meaning of the term has changed frequently since its inception, that is, it was initially seen as a positive, politically focused and state-sponsored activity but with time, it has been largely associated with violent non-state actors and criminal implications. Secondly, terrorists never admit being terrorists and they never accept being violent and a threat to the international community but they perceive themselves as focused individuals participating in legitimate struggle using the only available means to them. In addition, the use of neutral names such as Al Qaeda attracts different public opinions. For instance, the victims of terrorism perceive the perpetrators as criminals and while majority firmly opposes terrori sm, some individuals offer sympathy and support to them. Therefore, conflicting views makes it difficult to come up with a universally accepted definition. Uncivil network are seen as the drivers of the conflict as they encourage individuals to cause violence and engage in activities that disrupt peace.2 In most cases, uncivil networks are formed for political reasons. They are fraud to acquire power or political influence. In addition, they are formed to challenge the legal rules and they are mostly associated with illegality or criminal activities. Human trafficking is a process whereby individuals are transported from their communities or countries via the use of threat or deception and forcing them into unfavorable work conditions and dehumanizing activities. Agreeably, it is mainly done to exploit individuals, for instance, it includes sexual exploitation, forced labor and marriage, and removing organs from individuals among others. It is a violation

Animation Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Animation Critique - Essay Example Fred Moore was different from the other animators because of his style of drawing. He was ranked in a different league because he gave charm, emotion and appeal to his characters. By doing this his characters looked more substantial while performing their actions. Fred had the 14 points of animation which he kept in check while working. He concluded that the character should have appeal, interesting depiction, entertaining, presence of creator in character, advancement of character, two-dimensional clarity, three-dimensional solidity and four-dimensional drawing (Duggan, 99). Moore was famous for portraying womanhood with great flair. His drawing of Snow White did not impress Walt hence he was given the responsibility to create the dwarfs. Moore designed the look and personalities of the seven dwarfs and also animated the famous scene of Snow White kissing Grumpy dwarf (Lenburg, 342). Animation history is full of world class animators. Another famous individual known in field is Pete Burness, who is well known for creating the character of Mr. Magoo (Lenburg, 39). The most famous character in the world of animation is Walt Disney. He was a legend who gave us Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Snow White and Bambi. He was known for his innovative thinking and perfection. His animated characters have and will always be alive among us (Krasniewicz,

Campus Recreation Essay Example for Free

Campus Recreation Essay Sheer volume of participants and diversity of facilities make this an exciting area Def – a program that provides facilities and activities to those that go to school or work at a high school, college or university Intended to promote wellness and develop life long skills Can serve the local community through special memberships or facility rentals Campus recreation gains thousands of new participants every year loses thousands as well Participation can have a significant impact on the campus environment Approx 75% of students participate in campus rec High campus participation can be related to higher GPA Facilities are used to recruit student athletes and potential faculty/staff Individual involvement in has been reported to produce 3 benefits: improved emotional well-being, reduced stress improved happiness Correctional Recreation. Role that recreation plays in correctional facilities varies but there are some standard approaches that have been used throughout North America: Access to appropriate forms of recreation should not be denied Goal of incarceration is to prepare offenders for release and since recreation is part of a normal balanced lifestyle, it must be incorporated into correctional facilities Correctional facilities have a responsibility to â€Å"work† the whole person, which involves the mental, social, physical and spiritual needs of prisoners 1. Develop acceptable outlets for stress – inmates learn to identify and practice acceptable way to relieve stress 2. Identify activities that serve as alternates to addictions – replace time previously devoted to drug use with rec activities 3. Foster interpersonal skills – learn cooperation and team work through rec programs 4. Develop a new sense of purpose – help to guide thinking and future behaviour 5. Enhanced self-esteem – positive rec activities will improve this 6. Foster new interests – provides an outlet to new experiences 7. Awareness of personal needs – recreation can provide appropriate ways to satisfy specific needs 8. Develop decision-making/problem solving skills – recreation allows participants to experience and process the impact of their decisions 9. Develop a possible career – creative skills can be identified and channelled (e. g. music, writing) Worksite Recreation s the offering of recreational activities through the workplace Programs are offered before work, at lunch or after work. Employers have learned that the investments they make in employee health/wellness have a positive benefit financially Benefits employer in recruitment and retention of employees Reduced health care claims Reduced absenteeism Enhanced business image within community Armed Forces Recreation Military recreation programs are founded on 7 principles: 1. Provide inclusive, creative diversified recreation 2. Address physical, emotional social interests 3. Making optimal use of their resources 4. Leadership development 5. Create opportunities for individual and group growth 6. Nurture partnerships with other rec organizations 7. Ensure that rec services are governed in accordance with Canadian military financial management policies Defining Culture Consists of 3 attributes: religion, language social/arts activities Culture influences what we do and how we do it Culture helps to understand our behaviours, attitudes and mindsets Multiculturalism Act (July 1988) – Commits the Gov.. of Canada to assist communities and institutions in bringing about equal access and participation for all Canadians in the economic, social, cultural political life of the nation 1. Ethnicity Theory – Differences in leisure choices is due to ethnicity, cultural values preferences 2. Sociodemographic Theory – Differences in ethnic group participation are actually due to differences in age, education income 3. Opportunity-choice Theory – Considers leisure participation to be influenced by both ethnicity sociodemographic factors Aboriginal People Recreation can be used as a means to alleviate social problems Within the Aboriginal community recreation is recognized as a way to combat: Youth criminal involvement. Teen pregnancy Alcohol abuse Family violence Unemployment It fills the free time of the youth Expenses Structural Expenses – expenses associated with maintaining or improving the physical structure of the facility/site Gross Income – the total amount of money generated over a specified amount of time Net Income – the remaining funds after all expenses have been paid (profit) Fees/Charges Rentals Donations Sponsorships Budgeting – Four types of operating budgets: Line-item Budget Object Classification Budget Program Budget. Performance Budget Recreation Facility Management Management an art that coordinates the efforts of people to accomplish goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively Recreation Facility Management is an interdisciplinary field devoted to the coordination of space, infrastructure, people and organization, often associated with the administration of office blocks, arenas, schools, convention centers, shopping complexes, hospitals hotels employees, money, equipment and facilities marketing Def. – the effort to reach and audience to deliver them a product/service Marketing can be divided into the 4 P’s: Product, Promotion, Price Place Special Recreation Special Recreation – a recreational service that takes place in a public community setting to provide enjoyment and to challenge and enrich people with disabilities Special Olympics ;Provides sports opportunities to people with intellectual disabilities More then 3 million participants worldwide Includes more then 25 sports (swimming, track field) Paralympics. Largest sporting event in the world for people with physical disabilities 21 sports 6 categories – visual impairments, intellectual disabilities, amputation, spinal-cord injuries, cerebral palsy â€Å"les autres† First Paralympics held in 1960 in Rome Offers disabled war veterans an area of sport to develop after injuries Outward Bound Developed in Wales in 1941 Believes young men women must face increasingly complex situation in which self-esteem confidence are at a premium Prepares people to face difficult natural environments. Programs for special needs youth developed in 1970’s focusing on strengthening mental aspect and self-confidence VSA Arts International non-profit dedicated to creating a society in which people with disabilities can learn through, participate in enjoy the arts Offer innovative programs on local, national international levels (e. g. Training institutes, arts camps award programs Therapeutic Recreation Purposeful selection of recreation activities to reach a goal 2. Enhancement of independent functioning through recreation participation 3. Quality of life, wellness, optimal health as core concerns 4. Focus on the individual in the context of their own environment TR Process Assessment . Planning Implementation . Evaluation Recreation Sport Management Participation in rec sports surpasses that of all other rec activities In 2009 77% of Canadians 6 yrs and older participated in some form of sport or fitness activity Once considered only a diversion from work, sport has become a multi-billion dollar industry Much of a fan or participants time and money is devoted to their sport or team. Def – the administration and management of a large number and variety of sport, fitness, and recreation programs Focuses mainly on the business 5 basic programming areas: Instructional sports – teach skills, rules and strategies in a non academic environment Informal sports – self-directed participation focused on fun and fitness Intramural sport – structured sports (leagues/tournaments) conducted in a particular setting Extramural sports structured sports between winners of intramural programs Club sports – groups of participants that organize because of a common interest Trends. Funding Legal Aspects Sport Facilities Technology Sport Facilities Technology Health – a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease Wellness Def The condition of good physical and mental health, especially when maintained by proper diet, exercise, and habits Genetics Race or ethnicity Access to health care 4. Environment 6 wellness dimensions: Physical Wellness Intellectual Wellness Emotional Wellness Social Wellness Environmental Wellness Spiritual Wellness.

The spirits in a christmas carol

The spirits in a christmas carol A Christmas Carol was written in 1843 by Charles Dickens, who today remains the most widely known novelist of the Victorian period. Dickens was born in Portsmouth and his farther had a constant struggle to keep order of his finance. His farther was put into prison whilst Dickens was put into a work house for the majority of his school years. These events contributed together to give Dickens a first class view of Poverty and how the general children of England lived during the 1800s. These themes can be easily associated with A Christmas Carol. They had a great influence on his writing and made him into the novelist he was. The main character in the novel is Ebenezer Scrooge. The protagonist starts off as a wealthy but extremely grumpy and cantankerous business man. He is the sort of person that only thinks of himself and no ones else. The action of four spirits, change the way he acts and feels and turn him into a respectful member of the community. Jacob Marley, The Ghost of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come all have a different effect on Scrooge. From seeing what Scrooge was like as a young boy, to what the future awaits for him. Dickens uses different techniques and methods for each of the spirits to accomplish this. Each of the spirits are also presented differently because they resemble and mean different things. Dickens uses Scrooges old business partner, Jacob Marley, to warn Scrooge of what the future holds for him unless he changes his ways. Marley is the first spirit Scrooge encounters because he is the only person Scrooge would trust. Marley makes a dramatic entrance and astonishes Scrooge. Marley has to look similar to what he looked like seven years ago, to convince Scrooge that he is real. The same face: the very same à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. and the hair upon his head. Scrooge to begin with, refuses to believe that the phantom he is seeing in front of him is real, despite the fact Marley has hardly changed after death. As Marleys appearance has not really changed, this idea slowly convinces Scrooge that the phantom is really Marley because of its likeness. Scrooge has to know what and who has entered his house to haunt him, so a detailed description of Marley is needed. Scrooge first sees Marleys face in the door knocker, after he has come back from a evening meal. Only the rich used to be able to go out for meals, so this shows that Scrooge is wealthy and can afford expensive luxuries. In the 1800s the modern door bell was not invented so the majority of doors had door knockers instead. The face on the knocker catches Scrooges attention, but when he goes back to look, the face has gone. Scrooge then comes to the conclusion that his eyes must have been playing tricks. It is not until Marleys main entrance that Scrooge believes it is really Marley. Dickens uses onomatopoeia to describe Marleys dramatic entrance. The cellar-door flew open with a booming sound. The experience Scrooge has with Jacob Marley is full of suspense and tension. The use of the word flew indicates that the involvement of Marley is dramatic. This helps to evoke fear because of its suddenness. When the reader reads it, the suspense which has been built up is released in one sentence. The onomatopoeia helps the reader to understand what the situation was like for Scrooge. The cellar door could also represent the opening to the changing of Scrooges character. It opening could resemble another chance to go down it, in other words another chance to change the way he lives his life. It is only when Marley takes off the bandage around his head that Scrooge believes that the figure in font of him really is real and is Jacob Marley. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦when the phantom taking off the bandage round its head, as if it were too warm to wear in-doors, its lower jaw dropped down upon its breast! Scrooge fell upon his knees, and clasped his hands before his face. In the 1800s when somebody passed away a bandage was wrapped and tied below the jaw. This was so when the body decomposes the jaw skeleton is still attached to the rest. When Scrooge sees the lowered jaw, he is shocked and in dismay. This was proof that it was Jacob Marley and that everything he had been saying was true. Scrooge could not bear to see what had happened to his best friend. The taking off the bandage evokes fear into Scrooge and makes the said much more real and chilling. This makes Scrooge emotional to the whole visit of Jacob Marley. This tells and shows the reader that Scrooge still has some sort of heart inside of him and it just needs more work and acknowledgement to begin to make Scrooge change. From the text Dickens has given you the idea that the Jacob Marley has not made as big of effect as he wished. It tells us Marley wanted to make a bigger impact to Scrooge and maybe Marley had a little bit of good left in him when he died, so now he is trying to help his old business partner. Jacob Marleys spirit has now left Scrooge and it is the turn of The Ghost of Christmas Past to haunt and teach Scrooge how he must change. The Ghost of Christmas Past has heavy description and takes him back first to his old boarding school and several other important places. Dickens has used similes to describe the strange look of Ghost of Christmas Past. It was a strange figure like a child, yet not so like a child as like an old man. Scrooge can not make out the strange look of the ghost. There is a lot of description about this first of the three spirits. The description Dickens gives for the spirit is peculiar suggesting it is like that to help Scrooge understand the things he is going to see. A simile is a different technique for the reader to take in, other than a lot of description, so this gives the novel a better flow. The spirit could be described like a child, as this spirit is about how Scrooge used to be. The ghost takes Scrooge back to when he went to boarding school, so seeing a child like figure would give you an impression that you are going to re-visit your former self. The fact that it has the appearance of both a child and old man, also symbolises that the spirit is ageless. This indicated that Scrooge is in the presence of the supernatural. After much waiting and confusion over the entrance of the spirit, it suddenly appears in front of Scrooge. Light flashed up in the room upon the instant, and the curtains of his bed were drawn. During the 1800s central heating was an item people could have only wished for. So they would have a curtain which went round the bed to try and keep the warm in and the cold out. A hand of the ghost suddenly opens the bed curtains, this could represent the ghost opening a new opportunity for Scrooge to change into a better person. Again the ghost makes a dramatic entrance, filling the room of light. The light filling the room and the opening of the curtains could resemble getting up at the beginning of the day signifying Scrooge and the ghost are soon to be busy revisiting Scrooges former self. The spirit is described as wearing the purest white gown, this can be linked to several religious figures, the sudden explosion of light also supports this. In that time the majority of English people followed some sort of the Christian religion, so its more than likely Scrooge was a Christian. Although it is not mentioned in the text, Scrooges attitude suggests he is a little startled by the entrance of the strange figure. These points combined give the impression that Scrooge thought the first spirit was a religious figure as he had not encountered any of the other spirits at that point. Scrooge is reminded of the life he used to live through the use of the senses, in this case smell. A thousand odours floating in the air, each one connected with a thousand thoughts, and hopes, and joys, and cares long, long, forgotten. In this instance Dickens has used the senses to describe thoughts which were going through Scrooges mind. This is a different technique which has been used, which helps to engage and involve the reader. The senses are a great way to remember different things. People associate different smells and sounds to different memories through out their lives. The Ghost of Christmas Past is all about Scrooge remembering how he used to be and how jolly he was before his greed for money kicked in. So for Dickens to involve the sense of smell, it is a very effective technique. After Scrooge has met The Ghost of Christmas Past, he encounters The Ghost of Christmas Present. Scrooge recognises The Ghost of Christmas Present to be jolly and kind, but he is still a little nervous about meeting the spirit. He was not the dogged Scrooge he had been; and though the Spirits eyes were clear and kind, he did not like to meet them. Scrooge timidly enters the room the ghost is in, this shows Scrooge is not yet settled with meeting the paranormal. On the other hand, perhaps he fears where the ghost is going to take him and what it is going to show him. One of the first mentions of this spirit is that his eyes are clear and kind, straight a way this give the reader an idea of what the spirit is going to be like. Dickens uses developed and detailed description to explain to the reader what The Ghost of Christmas Present represents. Scrooge did as he was told, and held it fast. Holly, mistletoe, red berries, ivy, turkeys, geese, game, poultry, brawn, meat, pigs, sausages, oysters, pies, puddings, fruit, and punch, all vanished instantly. So did the room, the fire, the ruddy glow, the hour of night, and they stood in the city streets on Christmas morning, One second Scrooge is in his house with spirit, the next he is on a busy street. The suddenness of this event really grips the reader, as there is a dramatic change in plot in such a small part of text. All of the description gives the reader a detailed picture of what the scene is like and helps to understand how Scrooge could have been feeling. In the 1800s the butcher would have animals hanging up in the shop, no pre cut, packaged meat. 1800s shops would be a lot different to what they are today, so it also gives the reader an insight to what a Christmas used to be like. All of this food could represent the wealth which Scrooge has, as it is the Ghost of Christmas Present. The spirit points out to Scrooge a boy and a girl whos family do not have much money, but still manage to stay happy. They were a boy and a girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish but prostrate too, in their humility. The ragged description of the children shows the family do not have much money. Despite this the children still manage to remain humble and humane. Dickens has shown the children are happy with what they have through a lot of description, mainly adjectives, at the time when it was written children had to live through poverty, so the description is extremely relevant. The spirit points out how they have no money but are happy, and that he is rich and remains full of grumpiness, signalling to Scrooge money is not everything. ________________________________ The last of the three spirits, is the ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. This spirit is the most noticeable from the rest. The spirit has no speech at all but communicates to Scrooge through simple action such as pointing. No speech confuses Scrooge and he starts to fear the ghost. Dickens has personified death for the spirit, this is represented in the way he looks and his general movements. The phantom slowly, gravely, silently approached. Death comes with no warning. It is inevitable and can happen in a flash with no warning what so ever, so death could be described as silent. The word slowly could be used to give the significance of from the time your born, to the time you die, it is a long time. At the present day we maybe wouldnt say gravely but it contains context to what was happening at that point during the novel. The phantom does not speak, wears a black garment from head to toe, if you saw this kind of being gravely walking towards you, you would not believe it is alive but the supernatural. This really evokes fear into Scrooge and makes him think really what he has become. To the reader this also builds up suspense and tension to what the spirit is going to do to Scrooge. Dickens has presented the final spirit so it has a clear representation to the grim reaper. It was shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible save one outstretched hand. The grip reaper wears a black garment, with its face not visible, and so does The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. A clear comparison can be made. The term the Grim Reaper came around after the 15th century, so Dickens may have taken ideas from that. Scrooge had more than likely heard of the Grim Reaper, so he might of thought thats what had visited him. What the spirit didnt say, Scrooge got the messages through the spirits actions. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come had a clear effect on Scrooge as he is terrified of the spirit. Scrooge feared the silent shape so much that his legs trembled beneath him. The spirit has a very frightening appearance and is used to help Scrooge think about what he has done. Scrooge is completely terrified by the ghost, it strikes fear into him and almost forces him to think differently. The final spirit rounds of the work of the first two, and cements in the ideas he has come across because of the spirits. The work of the three spirits changes Scrooges attitude to Christmas and to those who are less fortunate as he is. He becomes a very generous person, giving his clerk a pay rise, giving a lot of money to charity, sends Christmas meals to unsuspecting recipients and most of all and most important he revitalises his true Christmas spirit. By writing A Christmas Carol, I feel Dickens was trying to send a clear message out to society. In 1843 there were two levels of social status, the poor and the rich. Dickens had experienced both, so he knew what a small difference could make. He was trying to join the poor and the rich, so everybody could live a joyful and happy Christmas. When the book was published it re-birthed the low Christmas spirit, it also started Christmas conditions such as general good will to all. I think The Ghost of Christmas Past affected Scrooge the most, as sees how he used to live and compares it to how he lives now. Dickens uses a different technique for this spirit, he uses a big method of using the senses to represent Scrooges past memories. Along with the senses, Dickens long and intense descriptions help the reader picture the situation Dickens was trying to create. I feel overall the best technique was the description of the spirits. Dickens varies techniques make the novel much more exciting and give the book a much better flow. Different methods are needed because the different spirits have different ways of explaining to Scrooge that he must change his ways. For example, The Ghost of Christmas Past has a few similes whilst The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come has no speech.

Effects of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Effects of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Abstract Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are the most ambitious, sophisticated use of information technology (IT) by businesses to date. Managers must compare the massive investments of resources and time to be committed to an ERP implementation against the significant benefits that may be derived from ERP systems in an environment in which traditional capital budgeting decision-making models may not be appropriate. The purpose of this study is to determine if ERP implementations have brought about significant changes on large industries in India, by answering questions other studies have not answered. This study is motivated both by an appreciation of the magnitude of a companys decision to invest in an ERP system and by the fact that other research to date contains limitations of scope or method that may reduce the reliability of reported results. Accordingly, this study examines success factors of ERP implementations. The results of this research are significantly more reliable than results of other studies because this research examines whether the ERP systems yield substantial benefits to the firms that adopt them, and that the adoption risks do not exceed the expected value, although there is some evidence (from analysis of financial leverage) that suggests that firms do definitely perceive ERP projects to be risky. There also appears to be an optimal level of functional integration in ERP with benefits declining at some level, consistent with diseconomies of scope for very large implementations, as one would typically expect. Introduction 1.1 Background Information systems exist in most peoples working lives. It is now generally accepted that the information system world is one where human, social and organizational factors are as important as the technological (Avison et al. 2001).The business environment is changing dramatically and in order to stay competitive in the market, organizations must improve their business practices and procedures. Organizations within all departments and functions upgrade their capability to generate and communicate accurate and timely information. During the last decades, enterprises have focused on Information Technology (IT) and implemented various applications to automate their business processes. These applications were not developed in a coordinated way but have evolved as a result of the latest technological innovations. As a result various integration problems were caused because the applications could not co-operate and disparate IT solutions could not bind together (Thermistocleous and Irani, 2000). Prior to the concept of ERP systems, departments within an organization (for example, the human resources (HR) department, the payroll department, and the financials department) would have their own computer systems. The HR computer system would typically contain information on the department, reporting structure, and personal details of employees. The payroll department would typically calculate and store paycheck information. The financials department would typically store financial transactions for the organization. Each system would have to rely on a set of common data to communicate with each other. For the HRIS to send salary information to the payroll system, an employee number would need to be assigned and remain static between the two systems to accurately identify an employee. The financials system was not interested in the employee-level data, but only in the payouts made by the payroll systems, such as the tax payments to various authorities, payments for employee benefit s to providers, and so on. This provided complications. For instance, a person could not be paid in the payroll system without an employee number. But later ERP software, among other things, combined the data of formerly separate applications. This made the worry of keeping numbers in synchronization across multiple systems disappears. It standardized and reduced the number of software specialties required within larger organizations (Slater, 1999). 1.2 Evolution of ERP The evolution of ERP systems was after the spectacular developments in the field of computer hardware and software systems. In 1960s many organizations designed, developed and implemented centralized computing systems, which were almost like automating their inventory control systems using inventory packages (IC). These were legacy system based on their programming languages such as COBOL, ALGOL and FORTRAN. Material requirement planning (MRP) systems were developed in 1970s, which involves many planning the product or parts requirements according to the master production schedule (Okrent Vokurka, 2004). Following this system a new software system called manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) was introduced in 1980s with an emphasis on optimizing manufacturing process by synchronizing the materials with production requirements. Areas like shop floor and distribution management, human resource, finance, project management and engineering comes under MRP II (Okrent Vokurka, 2004). ERP systems first appeared in late 1980s and in the beginning of 1990s with the power of enterprise wide inter-functional co-ordination and integration. Based on the technological foundations of MRP and MRP II, ERP systems integrate business processes including manufacturing, accounting, human resource, distribution, financial, project management, service and maintenance, transportation, accessibility, visibility and consistency across the enterprise (Okrent Vokurka, 2004). During 1990s ERP vendors added more modules and functions as added advantage to the core modules giving birth to the ‘Extended ERP. These ERP extensions include advanced planning and scheduling (APS), e-business solution such as costumer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM) (Okrent Vokurka, 2004). 1.3 About ERP systems During the 1990s, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems was introduced as â€Å"integrated suites† that included a wide range of software products supporting day-to-day business operations and decision-making. ERP serves many industries and numerous functional areas in an integrated fashion, attempting to automate operations from supply chain management, inventory control, manufacturing scheduling and production, sales support, customer relationship management, financial and cost accounting, human resources and almost any other data oriented management process. ERP systems have become increasingly prevalent over the last 10 years. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are the most ambitious, sophisticated use of information technology (IT) by businesses to date. Managers must compare the massive investments of resources and time to be committed to an ERP implementation against the significant benefits that may be derived from ERP systems in an environment in which tr aditional capital budgeting decision-making models may not be appropriate. The license/maintenance revenue of ERP market was $17.2 billion dollars in 1998, it is expected to be $24.3 billion dollars in 2000, and ERP systems have been implemented in over 60% of multi-national firms. This market also cuts across industries for example, two of the worlds best-known software companies, IBM and Microsoft, now run most of their business on software neither of them makes, the SAP R/3 ERP package made by SAP AG (OLeary, 2000). The appeal of the ERP systems is clear. While most organizations typically had software systems that performed much of the component functions of ERP, the standardized and integrated ERP software environment provides a degree of interoperable that was difficult and expensive to achieve with stand alone, custom-built systems. For example, when a salesperson enters an order in the field, the transaction can immediately flow through to other functional areas both within and external to the firm. The order might trigger an immediate change in production plans, inventory stock levels or employees schedules, or lead to the automated generation of invoices and credit evaluations for the customer and purchase orders from suppliers. In addition to process automation, the ability of ERP systems to disseminate timely and accurate information also enables improved managerial and worker decision-making. Managers can make decisions based on current data, while individual workers can have greater a ccess to information, enabling increasing delegation of authority for production decisions as well as improved communications to customers (OLeary, 2000). 1.4 Model layer of ERP A Global Business Process Model is created which represents the whole ERP software product. This model is layered in 3 deeper levels. The first level is the System Configuration Level, which scopes on high-level option on the entire system. Option definition is therefore static: once a high-level option of the ERP system is chosen to be used within the organization, the choice cannot be made changed. One level deeper is the Object Level, which scopes on single data objects. The option on this level is more dynamic. The lowest level is the Occurrence level, which analyses single process occurrences. Because this level elaborates on object parameters, the option is very dynamic, meaning that options can easily be altered (Garg and venkitakrishnan, 2006). 1.5 Case study We systematically study the productivity and business performance effects of ERP using a unique dataset on firms that have purchased licenses for the SAP R/3 system, the most widely adopted ERP package. In the last 30 years, SAP has become the global leader in business software, serving more than 38,000 customers worldwide, including organizations of every size and type. Along the way, SAP has accumulated a unique knowledge base of best practices in more than 25 industries. The SAP tradition of leadership continues with a new generation of ERP software that gives the company unprecedented speed and flexibility to improve your bottom line by improving your enterprise resource planning (Web-1). Our goal is to better understand the economics of ERP implementations specifically, and more broadly, contribute to the understanding of the benefits of large-scale Industries in India. The author has tried to find out the success of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) implementation and the return on investment depends, among other factors, on the active project management team. This success and return on investment is very important to the organization since implementation cost is very high and the resulting Information Technology platform needs to supply significantly to the organizations business strategy and survival. Since competitors are likely to be implementing ERP solutions at the same time, there is the added advantage to gain a benefit, a boundary. How is this achieved? According to the research the organizations that have successfully implemented the ERP systems are gathering the benefits of having integrating working environment, standardized process and operational benefits. There have been many disgusting stories of improper ERP implementation because of which many companies have become bankrupt and in many cases organizations have decided to discard the ERP implementation projects. Not all ERP implementations have been successful. Majority of these studies have used case studies to conclude their findings and very few have used the experiential study of the ERP implementation process and its success. The difficulties and high failure rate in implementing ERP systems have been widely cited in the literature (Davenport, 1998), but research on critical success factors in ERP implementation is rare and sectioned. Till now, only a few organizations have done a little to imagine the important predictors for initial and ongoing ERP implementation success (Brown and Vessey, 1999). This research is an effort to achieve that. It identifies the critical success factors in ERP implementation, categorizes them into the respective phases in the ERP life cycle model and discusses the importance of these factors in ERP implementation (Markus and Tanis, 2000). 1.6 Aims and objectives: This research is an attempt to broaden the ERP implementation research by defining the theoretical areas built and operational measures specific to ERP implementation and success measure to advance ERP research. 1.6.1 Aim The main aim of this research is to study and analyze the impact of implementing ERP solutions on large industries in India. 1.6.2 Objective The objective of this dissertation is to: Study about the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and their business aspects. Analysing the implementation process of ERP systems and their Life cycle. Analysing the success and failure factors of the implementation of ERP systems. Analysing the pre and post implementation strategies involved in an ERP project. Understanding the effect of implementing ERP solutions on Indian large industries. Understanding the success factors of the ERP implementation by doing the case study on SAP (Systems, Applications and Products). This dissertation explains the importance of ERP implementation within an organization, primarily within the large industries and explains the issues related with the usability and the users opinion on an implemented ERP system. The research project discussed in this dissertation is derived from an implemented ERP system on large industries in Bangalore. The author has chosen SAP as his case study as the SAP provides the worlds best integrated solutions for the organizations. The system examined in this dissertation is the SAP implementation and the selected users for this system are the large industries in Bangalore like Bharath Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Karnataka State Road Transport Commission (KSRTC), Repcol, etc. 1.7 Layout of the dissertation Chapter 2 Literature Review This chapter explores the literature that is relevant to the research questions on Enterprise Resource Planning systems and their implementation, Life cycle, Success factors, failure factors, the business aspects of ERP and as well as ERP solutions provided by SAP and its significance. This chapter mainly focuses on eleven critical success factors of ERP systems. This chapter will form the bases for the argument presented in proceeding chapters. Chapter 3 Research Approach This chapter discusses the overall review of the research approach and methods that will guide this research. This chapter also discusses about the techniques for data analysis including triangulation. Chapter 4 Research Site In this chapter, the site of the study and how the research was carried out (data collection) is discussed in detail. This chapter also provides the analysis of the data which was collected and an overall conclusion of the analyzed data. The particular component of the ERP system is studied and the problems being encountered. Chapter 5 Conclusion and recommendations This chapter outlines the conclusion of the research with the recommendations and the suggestions for future research. Literature review According to Garg and venkitakrishnan (2006), business environment has changed more in the last five years than it was before. Enterprises are continuously trying to improve themselves in the areas quality, time to market, costumer satisfaction, performance and profitability. The Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software fulfils all these needs. 2.1 Definition of ERP Enterprise resource planning has been in defined in many ways as cited by Brown (2006) they are as follows Sets of business software which allows an organization for complete management of operations.(Al-Mashari, et al., 2003) A software infrastructure fixed with â€Å"best practices,† respectively best ways to do business based on common business practices or academic theory. (Bernroider Koch, 2001) An organization-wide Information System that tightly combines all aspects of a business. It promises one database, one application, and a unified interface across the entire enterprise. (Bingi, Sharma, Godla, 1999) Highly integrated enterprise-wide software package that computerize core business processes such as finance, human resources, manufacturing, and supply and distribution. (Holland Light, 1999) A packaged business software system that enables a company to manage the efficient and effective use of resources by providing a total, integrated solution for the organizations information-processing needs. (Nah, Lau, Kuang, 2001) Business software that combines information across the organization. This integration removes inconsistencies and enables the organization to attain consolidated reports. (Shakir, 2000 cited by Brown, 2006) A combination of business management practice and technology, where Information Technology integrates and automates many of the business practices associated with the core business processes, operations, or production aspects of a company to achieve specific business objectives. (Web-8:www.sap.com) 2.2 Features of ERP systems According to Garg and venkitakrishnan (2006) ERP system needs have the following features: Modular design comprising many distinct business modules such as distribution, accounting, manufacturing, financial, etc. Use centralized common database management system (DBMS) The modules are integrated and provide seamless data flow among the modules, increasing operational transparency through standard interface. They are generally complex systems involving high cost. They are flexible and offer best business practices. They are time-consuming and configuration setups for integrating with the companys business information. The modules work in real time with online and batch processing capabilities. They will soon be internet enabled (Garg and venkitakrishnan, 2006). 2.3 Modules Different ERP vendors provide ERP systems with some degree of speciality but the core modules are almost the same for all of them. Some of the core ERP modules are Human resource management, Transportation management, Manufacturing management, Accounting management, financial management, Production management, Sales and distribution management, Costumer relation management, Supply chain management and E-Business. The modules of an ERP system can either work as stand alone units or several modules can be combined together to form an integrated system. The systems are usually designed to operate under several operating platforms. SAP AG, the largest ERP vendor provides a number of modules with its famous R/3 ERP system. New modules are introduced by SAP and other vendors in response to the market and technological demand such as the internet technology (Garg and venkitakrishnan, 2006). Koch et al. (1999) also discusses three common approaches to ERP systems implementation in organisations. As the number of modules being implemented increases, there is a shift from a big-bang to a phased approach. Big bang This approach enables organizations to cast off all their legacy systems at once and implement a single ERP system across the entire organization. This is the most ambitious and difficult of approaches to ERP implementation (Koch et al., 1999). Franchise Strategy This strategy, also referred to in literature as ‘phased implementation, suits large or diverse companies that dont share many common processes across business units. Independent ERP systems are installed in each unit, while linking common processes (Koch et al., 1999). This is the most common way of implementing ERP and it allows the systems to link together only to share the information necessary for the corporation to get a performance big picture across all the business units. â€Å"Usually these implementations begin with a demonstration or â€Å"pilot† installation in a particularly open-minded and patient business unit where the core business of the corporation will not be disrupted if something goes wrong† (Koch et al. 1999 cited by Jenine, 2001). Slam-dunk With this approach, ERP dictates the process design and the focus is on just a few key business processes. This implementation strategy is most appropriate for smaller organizations (Koch et al., 1999). ERP systems are usually highly complex, expensive, and difficult to implement. Besides the traditional MRP functionality, ERP systems include applications for many other functional areas such as Customer Relationship Management, Sales and Marketing processes, Human Resources, Accounting and Finance, Supply Chain Management, and Operational and Logistical Management. Many ERP vendors are offering some or all of these functions as options within their offering. Organizations can usually pick and choose between modules, implementing only those which are applicable to their situation (Al-Mashari et al., 2000 cited by Brown, 2006). 2.4 Functions of ERP This software tries to combine all departments and functions across a company onto a single computer system that can serve each different departments particular needs (Koch et al. 1999). ERP systems are nothing more than generic representations of the way a typical company which does business (Koch et al. 1999 cited by Jenine, 2001). ERP is software, which collects data from various key business processes and stores in a single comprehensive data repository where they can be used by other parts of the business. Many organizations are now using ERP systems to solve their problems. ERP improves organizational co-ordination, efficiency and decision-making. It is a kind of software, which helps managers to find out the most and the least profitable jobs. This in turn, helps managers to eliminate the most unprofitable jobs (Zygmont, 1998). Pp 89-91. ERPs allow computerising the tasks involved in performing a business process so it is important that implementers start with a clear expression of the business problems being addressed (Slater 1999 cited by Jenine, 2001). The most common reason that companies walk away from multimillion dollar ERP projects is that they discover that the software does not support one of their important business processes (Koch et al. 1999). Not only do the business functions need to be identified, the more delicate issues such as the companys corporate culture and management style must be examined to enable a holistic view of the implementation (Slater 1999). ERP systems stress the importance of accountability, responsibility and communication within an organisation. They focus on optimizing the way things are done internally rather than with customers, suppliers or partners (Koch et al. 1999 cited by Jenine, 2001). It is said that ERP is the best expression of the inseparability of business and information technology (Gupta, 2000). ERP systems highlight one specific theme: integration of all organisational processes and this has attracted many organizations to adopt ERPs in recent year (Sia, et.al. 2002 cited by Thavapragasam, 2003). According to Gupta (2000) ERP allows companies to integrate departmental information and for many users, an ERP is a â€Å"does it all† system that performs everything from entry of sales orders to customer service. Moreover, an ERP-system enables companies to integrate data used throughout the whole organization and holds operation and logistic, procurement, sales and marketing, human resource and financial modules (Wassenaar, et al., 2002 cited by Thavapragasam, 2003). ERPs are often known as off the shelf IT solutions that will enable organizations to achieve faster cycle fastens, reduces cost, and improved customer service (Sia, et al., 2002 cited by Thavapragasam, 2003). Wassenaar, et al. (2002) continues to suggest that ERP-system implementation implies a much stronger organizational change that normal information system development. Problems associated with software implementations are neither new nor specific to enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. 2.5 Impact of implementation There is a small but growing literature on the impact of ERP systems; the majority of these studies are interviews, cases studies or a collection of case studies and industry surveys (Davenport, 1998). McAfee (1999) studied the impact of ERP systems on self-reported company performance based on a survey of Indian implementers of SAP R/3 packages. Participating companies reported substantial performance improvement in several areas as a result of their ERP implementation, including their ability to provide information to customers, cycle times, and on-time completion rates. 2.5.1 Benefits ERPs are designed to help manage organizational resources in an integrated manner. The primary benefits that are expected to result from their implementation are closely related to the level of integration that is promoted across functions in an enterprise. The professional literature has been proactive in determining the types of benefits that companies might anticipate from their ERP systems and to what extent organizations had actually attained those benefits on a post-implementation basis. Expectations for improved business performance after adoption may result from both operational and strategic benefits (Irving 1999; Jenson and Johnson 1999 cited by Nicolaou, 2004). In the Benchmarking Partners study (1998), respondent companies anticipated both tangible and intangible benefits. The most significant intangible benefits related to internal integration, improved information and processes, and improved customer service, while tangible benefits related to cost efficiencies in inventory, personnel, procurement and the time needed to close books, as well as improvements in productivity, cash/order management, and overall profitability. In assessing the extent to which they had actually attained those benefits, however, on a post-implementation basis, it was evident that they were not able to improve profitability or lower personnel, inventories, or system maintenance costs as much as they had hoped. On the other hand, respondents noted better-than-expected results in overall productivity and in order-management cycle time, as well as procurement, on-time delivery, and the ability to close financial cycles (cited by Nicolaou, 2004). Likewise, in the Conference Board study (Peterson et al. 2001 cited by Nicolaou, 2004), responding companies reported anticipating similar types of tangible and intangible benefits, although it was evident that the realization of those benefits required more time than expected. Where as Gattiker and Goodhue (2000) group the literature of ERP benefits into four categories: Improve information flow across sub-units, standardization and integration facilitates communication and better coordination; Enabling centralization of administrative activities such as account payable and payroll; Reduce IS maintenance costs and increase the ability to deploy new IS functionality; ERP may be instrumental in moving a firm away from inefficient business processes and toward accepted best of practice processes. The above studies on the impact of ERP systems suggest that there are potentially substantial benefits for firms that successfully implemented ERP systems (Ragowsky and Somers, 2000). We note here the significance of ERP impact has started to attract more attention from the organizations (Sarkis and Gunasekaran, 2001 cited by Hitt et. al, 2001). 2.5.2 Limitations Limitations of ERP systems have also been widely documented; as identified below. ERPs can have a negative impact on the work practices and culture of an organization (Gefen, 2000) There is a need for extensive technical support prior to its actual use (Gefen, 2000). The need for competent consulting staff to extensively customize the ERP to increase the acceptance of a new system (Gefen 2000). â€Å"Lack of feature-function fit† between the companys needs and the packages available (Markus and Tanis 2000). It takes an average of 8 months after the new system is installed to see any benefits (Koch et al. 1999). The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of ERP, as identified by the Meta Group, includes hardware, software, professional services and internal staff costs. TCO is averaged at $15 million per system (Koch et al., 1999). 2.6 ERP lifecycle The ERP life cycle is comprised of four phases namely analysis, installation, final preparation and go live (Robey, Ross and Boudreau, 2000). An integrative, theoretical framework was introduced which we call â€Å"integrated ERP implementation,† which is comprised of a set of theoretically important constructs. This framework has been developed based on the project life cycle approach, in which the ERP implementation project goes through different stages before it goes live. There are number of factors that affect the ERP implementation process are termed in this study as implementation critical success factors. Upon the completion of ERP implementation project, performance is measured by a mix of outcomes (Robey, Ross and Boudreau, 2000). Since the models are unpredictable, they cannot be measured directly, multi-item scales, each composed of a set of individual items, were needed to obtain indirect measures of each construct (Robey, Ross and Boudreau, 2000). Implementation planning- It is the first phase of ERP implementation in which initial implementation plan is prepared, team members are selected (which could be new or roll over from the acquisition team), project scope and initial objectives are defined. In this phase as well the implementation strategies and outcomes are identified as well. Installation- It is the second phase of Implementation process, activities such as hardware and network is installed according to the requirements of ERP system, configuration of ERP is conducted, system customization is performed and change management plan is executed. Final Preparation- In this phase data from legacy system is imported to the new system, data is converted and system testing is performed. Moreover, the users are trained on the system. Go Live- Going Live is the point in time in the ERP implementation, when the system is first used for actual production. In this phase, ERP system goes lives, progress is monitored and user feedback is reviewed (Robey, Ross and Boudreau, 2000). 2.7 Critical Factors of ERP implementation success This section discusses the 11 factors that are critical to ERP implementation success (cited by Kuang, 2001). ERP teamwork and composition ERP teamwork and composition is important throughout the ERP life cycle. The ERP team should consist of the best people in the organization (Bingi et al., 1999; Rosario, 2000; Wee, 2000). Building a cross-functional team is also critical. The team should have a mix of consultants and internal staff so the internal staff can develop Effects of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Effects of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Abstract Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are the most ambitious, sophisticated use of information technology (IT) by businesses to date. Managers must compare the massive investments of resources and time to be committed to an ERP implementation against the significant benefits that may be derived from ERP systems in an environment in which traditional capital budgeting decision-making models may not be appropriate. The purpose of this study is to determine if ERP implementations have brought about significant changes on large industries in India, by answering questions other studies have not answered. This study is motivated both by an appreciation of the magnitude of a companys decision to invest in an ERP system and by the fact that other research to date contains limitations of scope or method that may reduce the reliability of reported results. Accordingly, this study examines success factors of ERP implementations. The results of this research are significantly more reliable than results of other studies because this research examines whether the ERP systems yield substantial benefits to the firms that adopt them, and that the adoption risks do not exceed the expected value, although there is some evidence (from analysis of financial leverage) that suggests that firms do definitely perceive ERP projects to be risky. There also appears to be an optimal level of functional integration in ERP with benefits declining at some level, consistent with diseconomies of scope for very large implementations, as one would typically expect. Introduction 1.1 Background Information systems exist in most peoples working lives. It is now generally accepted that the information system world is one where human, social and organizational factors are as important as the technological (Avison et al. 2001).The business environment is changing dramatically and in order to stay competitive in the market, organizations must improve their business practices and procedures. Organizations within all departments and functions upgrade their capability to generate and communicate accurate and timely information. During the last decades, enterprises have focused on Information Technology (IT) and implemented various applications to automate their business processes. These applications were not developed in a coordinated way but have evolved as a result of the latest technological innovations. As a result various integration problems were caused because the applications could not co-operate and disparate IT solutions could not bind together (Thermistocleous and Irani, 2000). Prior to the concept of ERP systems, departments within an organization (for example, the human resources (HR) department, the payroll department, and the financials department) would have their own computer systems. The HR computer system would typically contain information on the department, reporting structure, and personal details of employees. The payroll department would typically calculate and store paycheck information. The financials department would typically store financial transactions for the organization. Each system would have to rely on a set of common data to communicate with each other. For the HRIS to send salary information to the payroll system, an employee number would need to be assigned and remain static between the two systems to accurately identify an employee. The financials system was not interested in the employee-level data, but only in the payouts made by the payroll systems, such as the tax payments to various authorities, payments for employee benefit s to providers, and so on. This provided complications. For instance, a person could not be paid in the payroll system without an employee number. But later ERP software, among other things, combined the data of formerly separate applications. This made the worry of keeping numbers in synchronization across multiple systems disappears. It standardized and reduced the number of software specialties required within larger organizations (Slater, 1999). 1.2 Evolution of ERP The evolution of ERP systems was after the spectacular developments in the field of computer hardware and software systems. In 1960s many organizations designed, developed and implemented centralized computing systems, which were almost like automating their inventory control systems using inventory packages (IC). These were legacy system based on their programming languages such as COBOL, ALGOL and FORTRAN. Material requirement planning (MRP) systems were developed in 1970s, which involves many planning the product or parts requirements according to the master production schedule (Okrent Vokurka, 2004). Following this system a new software system called manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) was introduced in 1980s with an emphasis on optimizing manufacturing process by synchronizing the materials with production requirements. Areas like shop floor and distribution management, human resource, finance, project management and engineering comes under MRP II (Okrent Vokurka, 2004). ERP systems first appeared in late 1980s and in the beginning of 1990s with the power of enterprise wide inter-functional co-ordination and integration. Based on the technological foundations of MRP and MRP II, ERP systems integrate business processes including manufacturing, accounting, human resource, distribution, financial, project management, service and maintenance, transportation, accessibility, visibility and consistency across the enterprise (Okrent Vokurka, 2004). During 1990s ERP vendors added more modules and functions as added advantage to the core modules giving birth to the ‘Extended ERP. These ERP extensions include advanced planning and scheduling (APS), e-business solution such as costumer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM) (Okrent Vokurka, 2004). 1.3 About ERP systems During the 1990s, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems was introduced as â€Å"integrated suites† that included a wide range of software products supporting day-to-day business operations and decision-making. ERP serves many industries and numerous functional areas in an integrated fashion, attempting to automate operations from supply chain management, inventory control, manufacturing scheduling and production, sales support, customer relationship management, financial and cost accounting, human resources and almost any other data oriented management process. ERP systems have become increasingly prevalent over the last 10 years. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are the most ambitious, sophisticated use of information technology (IT) by businesses to date. Managers must compare the massive investments of resources and time to be committed to an ERP implementation against the significant benefits that may be derived from ERP systems in an environment in which tr aditional capital budgeting decision-making models may not be appropriate. The license/maintenance revenue of ERP market was $17.2 billion dollars in 1998, it is expected to be $24.3 billion dollars in 2000, and ERP systems have been implemented in over 60% of multi-national firms. This market also cuts across industries for example, two of the worlds best-known software companies, IBM and Microsoft, now run most of their business on software neither of them makes, the SAP R/3 ERP package made by SAP AG (OLeary, 2000). The appeal of the ERP systems is clear. While most organizations typically had software systems that performed much of the component functions of ERP, the standardized and integrated ERP software environment provides a degree of interoperable that was difficult and expensive to achieve with stand alone, custom-built systems. For example, when a salesperson enters an order in the field, the transaction can immediately flow through to other functional areas both within and external to the firm. The order might trigger an immediate change in production plans, inventory stock levels or employees schedules, or lead to the automated generation of invoices and credit evaluations for the customer and purchase orders from suppliers. In addition to process automation, the ability of ERP systems to disseminate timely and accurate information also enables improved managerial and worker decision-making. Managers can make decisions based on current data, while individual workers can have greater a ccess to information, enabling increasing delegation of authority for production decisions as well as improved communications to customers (OLeary, 2000). 1.4 Model layer of ERP A Global Business Process Model is created which represents the whole ERP software product. This model is layered in 3 deeper levels. The first level is the System Configuration Level, which scopes on high-level option on the entire system. Option definition is therefore static: once a high-level option of the ERP system is chosen to be used within the organization, the choice cannot be made changed. One level deeper is the Object Level, which scopes on single data objects. The option on this level is more dynamic. The lowest level is the Occurrence level, which analyses single process occurrences. Because this level elaborates on object parameters, the option is very dynamic, meaning that options can easily be altered (Garg and venkitakrishnan, 2006). 1.5 Case study We systematically study the productivity and business performance effects of ERP using a unique dataset on firms that have purchased licenses for the SAP R/3 system, the most widely adopted ERP package. In the last 30 years, SAP has become the global leader in business software, serving more than 38,000 customers worldwide, including organizations of every size and type. Along the way, SAP has accumulated a unique knowledge base of best practices in more than 25 industries. The SAP tradition of leadership continues with a new generation of ERP software that gives the company unprecedented speed and flexibility to improve your bottom line by improving your enterprise resource planning (Web-1). Our goal is to better understand the economics of ERP implementations specifically, and more broadly, contribute to the understanding of the benefits of large-scale Industries in India. The author has tried to find out the success of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) implementation and the return on investment depends, among other factors, on the active project management team. This success and return on investment is very important to the organization since implementation cost is very high and the resulting Information Technology platform needs to supply significantly to the organizations business strategy and survival. Since competitors are likely to be implementing ERP solutions at the same time, there is the added advantage to gain a benefit, a boundary. How is this achieved? According to the research the organizations that have successfully implemented the ERP systems are gathering the benefits of having integrating working environment, standardized process and operational benefits. There have been many disgusting stories of improper ERP implementation because of which many companies have become bankrupt and in many cases organizations have decided to discard the ERP implementation projects. Not all ERP implementations have been successful. Majority of these studies have used case studies to conclude their findings and very few have used the experiential study of the ERP implementation process and its success. The difficulties and high failure rate in implementing ERP systems have been widely cited in the literature (Davenport, 1998), but research on critical success factors in ERP implementation is rare and sectioned. Till now, only a few organizations have done a little to imagine the important predictors for initial and ongoing ERP implementation success (Brown and Vessey, 1999). This research is an effort to achieve that. It identifies the critical success factors in ERP implementation, categorizes them into the respective phases in the ERP life cycle model and discusses the importance of these factors in ERP implementation (Markus and Tanis, 2000). 1.6 Aims and objectives: This research is an attempt to broaden the ERP implementation research by defining the theoretical areas built and operational measures specific to ERP implementation and success measure to advance ERP research. 1.6.1 Aim The main aim of this research is to study and analyze the impact of implementing ERP solutions on large industries in India. 1.6.2 Objective The objective of this dissertation is to: Study about the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and their business aspects. Analysing the implementation process of ERP systems and their Life cycle. Analysing the success and failure factors of the implementation of ERP systems. Analysing the pre and post implementation strategies involved in an ERP project. Understanding the effect of implementing ERP solutions on Indian large industries. Understanding the success factors of the ERP implementation by doing the case study on SAP (Systems, Applications and Products). This dissertation explains the importance of ERP implementation within an organization, primarily within the large industries and explains the issues related with the usability and the users opinion on an implemented ERP system. The research project discussed in this dissertation is derived from an implemented ERP system on large industries in Bangalore. The author has chosen SAP as his case study as the SAP provides the worlds best integrated solutions for the organizations. The system examined in this dissertation is the SAP implementation and the selected users for this system are the large industries in Bangalore like Bharath Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Karnataka State Road Transport Commission (KSRTC), Repcol, etc. 1.7 Layout of the dissertation Chapter 2 Literature Review This chapter explores the literature that is relevant to the research questions on Enterprise Resource Planning systems and their implementation, Life cycle, Success factors, failure factors, the business aspects of ERP and as well as ERP solutions provided by SAP and its significance. This chapter mainly focuses on eleven critical success factors of ERP systems. This chapter will form the bases for the argument presented in proceeding chapters. Chapter 3 Research Approach This chapter discusses the overall review of the research approach and methods that will guide this research. This chapter also discusses about the techniques for data analysis including triangulation. Chapter 4 Research Site In this chapter, the site of the study and how the research was carried out (data collection) is discussed in detail. This chapter also provides the analysis of the data which was collected and an overall conclusion of the analyzed data. The particular component of the ERP system is studied and the problems being encountered. Chapter 5 Conclusion and recommendations This chapter outlines the conclusion of the research with the recommendations and the suggestions for future research. Literature review According to Garg and venkitakrishnan (2006), business environment has changed more in the last five years than it was before. Enterprises are continuously trying to improve themselves in the areas quality, time to market, costumer satisfaction, performance and profitability. The Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software fulfils all these needs. 2.1 Definition of ERP Enterprise resource planning has been in defined in many ways as cited by Brown (2006) they are as follows Sets of business software which allows an organization for complete management of operations.(Al-Mashari, et al., 2003) A software infrastructure fixed with â€Å"best practices,† respectively best ways to do business based on common business practices or academic theory. (Bernroider Koch, 2001) An organization-wide Information System that tightly combines all aspects of a business. It promises one database, one application, and a unified interface across the entire enterprise. (Bingi, Sharma, Godla, 1999) Highly integrated enterprise-wide software package that computerize core business processes such as finance, human resources, manufacturing, and supply and distribution. (Holland Light, 1999) A packaged business software system that enables a company to manage the efficient and effective use of resources by providing a total, integrated solution for the organizations information-processing needs. (Nah, Lau, Kuang, 2001) Business software that combines information across the organization. This integration removes inconsistencies and enables the organization to attain consolidated reports. (Shakir, 2000 cited by Brown, 2006) A combination of business management practice and technology, where Information Technology integrates and automates many of the business practices associated with the core business processes, operations, or production aspects of a company to achieve specific business objectives. (Web-8:www.sap.com) 2.2 Features of ERP systems According to Garg and venkitakrishnan (2006) ERP system needs have the following features: Modular design comprising many distinct business modules such as distribution, accounting, manufacturing, financial, etc. Use centralized common database management system (DBMS) The modules are integrated and provide seamless data flow among the modules, increasing operational transparency through standard interface. They are generally complex systems involving high cost. They are flexible and offer best business practices. They are time-consuming and configuration setups for integrating with the companys business information. The modules work in real time with online and batch processing capabilities. They will soon be internet enabled (Garg and venkitakrishnan, 2006). 2.3 Modules Different ERP vendors provide ERP systems with some degree of speciality but the core modules are almost the same for all of them. Some of the core ERP modules are Human resource management, Transportation management, Manufacturing management, Accounting management, financial management, Production management, Sales and distribution management, Costumer relation management, Supply chain management and E-Business. The modules of an ERP system can either work as stand alone units or several modules can be combined together to form an integrated system. The systems are usually designed to operate under several operating platforms. SAP AG, the largest ERP vendor provides a number of modules with its famous R/3 ERP system. New modules are introduced by SAP and other vendors in response to the market and technological demand such as the internet technology (Garg and venkitakrishnan, 2006). Koch et al. (1999) also discusses three common approaches to ERP systems implementation in organisations. As the number of modules being implemented increases, there is a shift from a big-bang to a phased approach. Big bang This approach enables organizations to cast off all their legacy systems at once and implement a single ERP system across the entire organization. This is the most ambitious and difficult of approaches to ERP implementation (Koch et al., 1999). Franchise Strategy This strategy, also referred to in literature as ‘phased implementation, suits large or diverse companies that dont share many common processes across business units. Independent ERP systems are installed in each unit, while linking common processes (Koch et al., 1999). This is the most common way of implementing ERP and it allows the systems to link together only to share the information necessary for the corporation to get a performance big picture across all the business units. â€Å"Usually these implementations begin with a demonstration or â€Å"pilot† installation in a particularly open-minded and patient business unit where the core business of the corporation will not be disrupted if something goes wrong† (Koch et al. 1999 cited by Jenine, 2001). Slam-dunk With this approach, ERP dictates the process design and the focus is on just a few key business processes. This implementation strategy is most appropriate for smaller organizations (Koch et al., 1999). ERP systems are usually highly complex, expensive, and difficult to implement. Besides the traditional MRP functionality, ERP systems include applications for many other functional areas such as Customer Relationship Management, Sales and Marketing processes, Human Resources, Accounting and Finance, Supply Chain Management, and Operational and Logistical Management. Many ERP vendors are offering some or all of these functions as options within their offering. Organizations can usually pick and choose between modules, implementing only those which are applicable to their situation (Al-Mashari et al., 2000 cited by Brown, 2006). 2.4 Functions of ERP This software tries to combine all departments and functions across a company onto a single computer system that can serve each different departments particular needs (Koch et al. 1999). ERP systems are nothing more than generic representations of the way a typical company which does business (Koch et al. 1999 cited by Jenine, 2001). ERP is software, which collects data from various key business processes and stores in a single comprehensive data repository where they can be used by other parts of the business. Many organizations are now using ERP systems to solve their problems. ERP improves organizational co-ordination, efficiency and decision-making. It is a kind of software, which helps managers to find out the most and the least profitable jobs. This in turn, helps managers to eliminate the most unprofitable jobs (Zygmont, 1998). Pp 89-91. ERPs allow computerising the tasks involved in performing a business process so it is important that implementers start with a clear expression of the business problems being addressed (Slater 1999 cited by Jenine, 2001). The most common reason that companies walk away from multimillion dollar ERP projects is that they discover that the software does not support one of their important business processes (Koch et al. 1999). Not only do the business functions need to be identified, the more delicate issues such as the companys corporate culture and management style must be examined to enable a holistic view of the implementation (Slater 1999). ERP systems stress the importance of accountability, responsibility and communication within an organisation. They focus on optimizing the way things are done internally rather than with customers, suppliers or partners (Koch et al. 1999 cited by Jenine, 2001). It is said that ERP is the best expression of the inseparability of business and information technology (Gupta, 2000). ERP systems highlight one specific theme: integration of all organisational processes and this has attracted many organizations to adopt ERPs in recent year (Sia, et.al. 2002 cited by Thavapragasam, 2003). According to Gupta (2000) ERP allows companies to integrate departmental information and for many users, an ERP is a â€Å"does it all† system that performs everything from entry of sales orders to customer service. Moreover, an ERP-system enables companies to integrate data used throughout the whole organization and holds operation and logistic, procurement, sales and marketing, human resource and financial modules (Wassenaar, et al., 2002 cited by Thavapragasam, 2003). ERPs are often known as off the shelf IT solutions that will enable organizations to achieve faster cycle fastens, reduces cost, and improved customer service (Sia, et al., 2002 cited by Thavapragasam, 2003). Wassenaar, et al. (2002) continues to suggest that ERP-system implementation implies a much stronger organizational change that normal information system development. Problems associated with software implementations are neither new nor specific to enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. 2.5 Impact of implementation There is a small but growing literature on the impact of ERP systems; the majority of these studies are interviews, cases studies or a collection of case studies and industry surveys (Davenport, 1998). McAfee (1999) studied the impact of ERP systems on self-reported company performance based on a survey of Indian implementers of SAP R/3 packages. Participating companies reported substantial performance improvement in several areas as a result of their ERP implementation, including their ability to provide information to customers, cycle times, and on-time completion rates. 2.5.1 Benefits ERPs are designed to help manage organizational resources in an integrated manner. The primary benefits that are expected to result from their implementation are closely related to the level of integration that is promoted across functions in an enterprise. The professional literature has been proactive in determining the types of benefits that companies might anticipate from their ERP systems and to what extent organizations had actually attained those benefits on a post-implementation basis. Expectations for improved business performance after adoption may result from both operational and strategic benefits (Irving 1999; Jenson and Johnson 1999 cited by Nicolaou, 2004). In the Benchmarking Partners study (1998), respondent companies anticipated both tangible and intangible benefits. The most significant intangible benefits related to internal integration, improved information and processes, and improved customer service, while tangible benefits related to cost efficiencies in inventory, personnel, procurement and the time needed to close books, as well as improvements in productivity, cash/order management, and overall profitability. In assessing the extent to which they had actually attained those benefits, however, on a post-implementation basis, it was evident that they were not able to improve profitability or lower personnel, inventories, or system maintenance costs as much as they had hoped. On the other hand, respondents noted better-than-expected results in overall productivity and in order-management cycle time, as well as procurement, on-time delivery, and the ability to close financial cycles (cited by Nicolaou, 2004). Likewise, in the Conference Board study (Peterson et al. 2001 cited by Nicolaou, 2004), responding companies reported anticipating similar types of tangible and intangible benefits, although it was evident that the realization of those benefits required more time than expected. Where as Gattiker and Goodhue (2000) group the literature of ERP benefits into four categories: Improve information flow across sub-units, standardization and integration facilitates communication and better coordination; Enabling centralization of administrative activities such as account payable and payroll; Reduce IS maintenance costs and increase the ability to deploy new IS functionality; ERP may be instrumental in moving a firm away from inefficient business processes and toward accepted best of practice processes. The above studies on the impact of ERP systems suggest that there are potentially substantial benefits for firms that successfully implemented ERP systems (Ragowsky and Somers, 2000). We note here the significance of ERP impact has started to attract more attention from the organizations (Sarkis and Gunasekaran, 2001 cited by Hitt et. al, 2001). 2.5.2 Limitations Limitations of ERP systems have also been widely documented; as identified below. ERPs can have a negative impact on the work practices and culture of an organization (Gefen, 2000) There is a need for extensive technical support prior to its actual use (Gefen, 2000). The need for competent consulting staff to extensively customize the ERP to increase the acceptance of a new system (Gefen 2000). â€Å"Lack of feature-function fit† between the companys needs and the packages available (Markus and Tanis 2000). It takes an average of 8 months after the new system is installed to see any benefits (Koch et al. 1999). The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of ERP, as identified by the Meta Group, includes hardware, software, professional services and internal staff costs. TCO is averaged at $15 million per system (Koch et al., 1999). 2.6 ERP lifecycle The ERP life cycle is comprised of four phases namely analysis, installation, final preparation and go live (Robey, Ross and Boudreau, 2000). An integrative, theoretical framework was introduced which we call â€Å"integrated ERP implementation,† which is comprised of a set of theoretically important constructs. This framework has been developed based on the project life cycle approach, in which the ERP implementation project goes through different stages before it goes live. There are number of factors that affect the ERP implementation process are termed in this study as implementation critical success factors. Upon the completion of ERP implementation project, performance is measured by a mix of outcomes (Robey, Ross and Boudreau, 2000). Since the models are unpredictable, they cannot be measured directly, multi-item scales, each composed of a set of individual items, were needed to obtain indirect measures of each construct (Robey, Ross and Boudreau, 2000). Implementation planning- It is the first phase of ERP implementation in which initial implementation plan is prepared, team members are selected (which could be new or roll over from the acquisition team), project scope and initial objectives are defined. In this phase as well the implementation strategies and outcomes are identified as well. Installation- It is the second phase of Implementation process, activities such as hardware and network is installed according to the requirements of ERP system, configuration of ERP is conducted, system customization is performed and change management plan is executed. Final Preparation- In this phase data from legacy system is imported to the new system, data is converted and system testing is performed. Moreover, the users are trained on the system. Go Live- Going Live is the point in time in the ERP implementation, when the system is first used for actual production. In this phase, ERP system goes lives, progress is monitored and user feedback is reviewed (Robey, Ross and Boudreau, 2000). 2.7 Critical Factors of ERP implementation success This section discusses the 11 factors that are critical to ERP implementation success (cited by Kuang, 2001). ERP teamwork and composition ERP teamwork and composition is important throughout the ERP life cycle. The ERP team should consist of the best people in the organization (Bingi et al., 1999; Rosario, 2000; Wee, 2000). Building a cross-functional team is also critical. The team should have a mix of consultants and internal staff so the internal staff can develop