Comparison between five process models of software engineering Essay

IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues, Vol. 7, Issue 5, September 2010 ISSN (Online): 1694-0814 www.IJCSI.org A Comparison Between Five Models Of Software Engineering Nabil Mohammed Ali Munassar1 and A. Govardhan2 1 Ph.D Student of Computer Science & Engineering Jawahrlal Nehru Technological University Kuktapally, Hyderabad- 500 085, Andhra Pradesh, India 2 Professor of Computer Science & Engineering Principal JNTUH of Engineering College, Jagityal, Karimnagar (Dt), A.P., India Abstract This research deals with a vital and important issue in computer world. It is concerned with the software management processes that examine the area of software development through the  development models, which are known as software development  life cycle. It represents five of the development models namely, waterfall, Iteration, V-shaped, spiral and Extreme programming. These models have advantages and disadvantages as well. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to represent different models of software development and make a  comparison between them to show the features and defects of each model. Keywords: Software Management Processes, Software  Development, Development Models, Software Development Life  Cycle, Comparison between five models of Software Engineering. increased recently which results in the difficulty of  enumerating such companies. During the previous four  decades, software has been developed from a tool used for  analyzing information or solving a problem to a product in  itself. However, the early programming stages have  created a number of problems turning software an  obstacle to software development particularly those  relying on computers. Software consists of documents and  programs that contain a collection that has been  established to be a part of software engineering  procedures. Moreover, the aim of software engineering is  to create a suitable work that construct programs of high  quality. 1. Introduction Computer Science No one can deny the importance of computer in our life,  especially during the present time. In fact, computer has  become indispensible in today’s life as it is used in many  fields of life such as industry, medicine, commerce,  education and even agriculture. It has become an  important element in the industry and technology of  advanced as well as developing countries. Now a days,  organizations become more dependent on computer in  their works as a result of computer technology. Computer  is considered a time- saving device and its progress helps  in executing complex, long, repeated processes in a very  short time with a high speed. In addition to using  computer for work, people use it for fun and  entertainment. Noticeably, the number of companies thatproduce software programs for the purpose of facilitating  works of offices, administrations, banks, etc, has Theories Computer Function Client Problems The Software engineering Tools and techniques to solve problems Fig. 1 Explanation of software engineering conception. IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues, Vol. 7, Issue 5, September 2010 ISSN (Online): 1694-0814 www.IJCSI.org 95 2. Software Process Models concern. A software process model is an abstract representation of a process. It presents a description of a process from some particular perspective as: The pure waterfall lifecycle consists of several nonoverlapping stages, as shown in the following figure. The model begins with establishing system requirements and  software requirements and continues with architectural  design, detailed design, coding, testing, and maintenance. The waterfall model serves as a baseline for many other  lifecycle models. 1. 2. 3. 4. Specification. Design. Validation. Evolution. General Software Process Models are 1. Waterfall model: Separate and distinct phases of specification and development. 2. Prototype model. 3. Rapid application development model (RAD). 4. Evolutionary development: Specification, development and validation are interleaved. 5. Incremental model. 6. Iterative model. 7. Spiral model. 8. Component-based software engineering : The system is assembled from existing components. System Requirements Software Requirements Architectural Design Detailed Design Coding There are many variants of these models e.g. formal development where a waterfall-like process is used, but the specification is formal that is refined through several stages to an implementable design[1]. Testing Maintenance Fig. 2 Waterfall Model[4]. 3. Five Models A Programming process model is an abstract representation to describe the process from a particular perspective. There are numbers of general models for software processes, like: Waterfall model, Evolutionary development, Formal systems development and Reusebased development, etc. This research will view the following five models : 1. Waterfall model. 2. Iteration model. 3. V-shaped model. 4. Spiral model. 5. Extreme model. These models are chosen because their features correspond to most software development programs. Requirements Definition System and Software Design Implementation and Unit Testing Integration and System Testing 3.1 The Waterfall Model The waterfall model is the classical model of software  engineering. This model is one of the oldest models and is  widely used in government projects and in many major  companies. As this model emphasizes planning in early  stages, it ensures design flaws before they develop. In  addition, its intensive document and planning make it  work well for projects in which quality control is a major Operation and Maintenance Fig. 3 Waterfall model[2]. The following list details the steps for using the waterfall IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues, Vol. 7, Issue 5, September 2010 ISSN (Online): 1694-0814 www.IJCSI.org model: 1 System requirements: Establishes the components  for building the system, including the hardware  requirements, software tools, and other necessary  components. Examples include decisions on  hardware, such as plug-in boards (number of  channels, acquisition speed, and so on), and decisions  on external pieces of software, such as databases or  libraries. 2 3 Software requirements: Establishes the expectations  for software functionality and identifies which system  requirements the software affects. Requirements  analysis includes determining interaction needed with  other applications and databases, performance  requirements, user interface requirements, and so on. Architectural design: Determines the software  framework of a system to meet the specific  requirements. This design defines the major  components and the interaction of those components,  but it does not define the structure of each  component. The external interfaces and tools used in  the project can be determined by the designer. 4 Detailed design: Examines the software components  defined in the architectural design stage and produces  a specification for how each component is  implemented. 5 Coding: Implements specification. 6 7 the detailed starting coding. There is no overlap between stages. In  real-world development, however, one can discover issues  during the design or coding stages that point out errors or gaps in the requirements. The waterfall method does not prohibit returning to an  earlier phase, for example, returning from the design phase  to the requirements phase. However, this involves costly  rework. Each completed phase requires formal review and  extensive documentation development. Thus, oversights  made in the requirements phase are expensive to correct  later. Because the actual development comes late in the process,  one does not see results for a long time. This delay can be  disconcerting to management and customers. Many people  also think that the amount of documentation is excessive  and inflexible. Although the waterfall model has  instructive because it emphasizes  project development. Even if one  model, he must consider each of  relationship to his own project [4]. ï‚ · 1. 2. 3. design Testing: Determines whether the software meets the  specified requirements and finds any errors present in  the code. Maintenance: Addresses problems and enhancement  requests after the software releases. In some organizations, a change control board maintains  the quality of the product by reviewing each change made  in the maintenance stage. Consider applying the full  waterfall development cycle model when correcting  problems or implementing these enhancement requests. In each stage, documents that explain the objectives and  describe the requirements for that phase are created. At the end of each stage, a review to determine whether the  project can proceed to the next stage is held. Your  prototyping can also be incorporated into any stage from  the architectural design and after. Many people believe that this model cannot be applied to  all situations. For example, with the pure waterfall model,  the requirements must be stated before beginning the  design, and the complete design must be stated before 96 4. 5. 6. ï‚ · 1. 2. 4. 5. 6. 7. ï‚ · its weaknesses, it is  important stages of  does not apply this  these stages and its Advantages : Easy to understand and implement. Widely used and known (in theory!). Reinforces good habits: define-before- design, design-before-code. Identifies deliverables and milestones. Document driven, URD, SRD, †¦ etc. Published documentation standards, e.g. PSS-05. Works well on mature products and weak teams. Disadvantages : Idealized, doesn’t match reality well. Doesn’t reflect iterative nature of exploratory development. 3. Unrealistic to expect accurate requirements so early in project. Software is delivered late in project, delays discovery of serious errors. Difficult to integrate risk management. Difficult and expensive to make changes to documents, †swimming upstream†. Significant administrative overhead, costly for small teams and projects [6]. Pure Waterfall This is the classical system development model. It consists of discontinuous phases: 1. 2. 3. Concept. Requirements. Architectural design. IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues, Vol. 7, Issue 5, September 2010 ISSN (Online): 1694-0814 www.IJCSI.org 4. 5. 6. Detailed design. Coding and development. Testing and implementation. Table 1: Strengths & Weaknesses of Pure Waterfall Strengths ï‚ · ï‚ · Minimizes planning  overhead since it can be done up front.  Structure minimizes  wasted effort, so it  works well for  technically weak or  inexperienced staff. Risk reduction spirals can be added to the top of the  waterfall to reduce risks prior to the waterfall phases. The waterfall can be further modified using options such as  prototyping, JADs or CRC sessions or other methods of  requirements gathering done in overlapping phases [5]. Weaknesses 3.2 Iterative Development ï‚ · Inflexible ï‚ · Only the final phase  produces a nondocumentation  deliverable. ï‚ · Backing up to address mistakes is difficult. The problems with the Waterfall Model created a demand  for a new method of developing systems which could  provide faster results, require less up-front information,  and offer greater flexibility. With Iterative Development,  the project is divided into small parts. This allows the  development team to demonstrate results earlier on in the  process and obtain valuable feedback from system users. Often, each iteration is actually a mini-Waterfall process  with the feedback from one phase providing vital  information for the design of the next phase. In a variation of this model, the software products, which are produced  at the end of each step (or series of steps), can go into  production immediately as incremental releases. ï‚ · Pure Waterfall Summary The pure waterfall model performs well for products with  clearly understood requirements or when working with  well understood technical tools, architectures and  infrastructures. Its weaknesses frequently make it  inadvisable when rapid development is needed. In those  cases, modified models may be more effective. ï‚ · 97 Modified Waterfall The modified waterfall uses the same phases as the pure  waterfall, but is not based on a discontinuous basis. This  enables the phases to overlap when needed. The pure  waterfall can also split into subprojects at an appropriate  phase (such as after the architectural design or detailed design). Table 2: Strengths & Weaknesses of Modified Waterfall Strengths ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · More flexible than the  pure waterfall model. If there is personnel  continuity between the  phases, documentation  can be substantially reduced.  Implementation of easy  areas does not need to  wait for the hard ones. Weaknesses ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · Modified Waterfall Summary Milestones are more  ambiguous than the  pure waterfall. Activities performed  in parallel are subject  to miscommunication  and mistaken  assumptions. Unforeseen  interdependencies can  create problems. Fig. 4 Iterative Development. 3.3 V-Shaped Model Just like the waterfall model, the V-Shaped life cycle is a  sequential path of execution of processes. Each phase  must be completed before the next phase begins. Testing  is emphasized in this model more than the waterfall  model. The testing procedures are developed early in the  life cycle before any coding is done, during each of the  phases preceding implementation. Requirements begin the  life cycle model just like the waterfall model. Before IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues, Vol. 7, Issue 5, September 2010 ISSN (Online): 1694-0814 www.IJCSI.org development is started, a system test plan is created. The test plan focuses on meeting the functionality specified in requirements gathering. 98 Requirements The high-level design phase focuses on system  architecture and design. An integration test plan is created in this phase in order to test the pieces of the software  systems ability to work together. However, the low-level  design phase lies where the actual software components  are designed, and unit tests are created in this phase as  well. System Test Planning High Level Design Low Level Design The implementation phase is, again, where all coding  takes place. Once coding is complete, the path of  execution continues up the right side of the V where the  test plans developed earlier are now put to use. ï‚ · Simple and easy to use. Each phase has specific deliverables. Higher chance of success over the waterfall model  due to the early development of test plans during the  life cycle. Works well for small projects where requirements are  easily understood. Unit Test Planning Integration Testing Unit Testing Implementation Advantages 1. 2. 3. Integration Test Planning System Testing 4. Fig. 6 V-Shaped Life Cycle Model[7]. 3.4 Spiral Model The spiral model is similar to the incremental model, with  more emphases placed on risk analysis. The spiral model  has four phases: Planning, Risk Analysis, Engineering and  Evaluation. A software project repeatedly passes through  these phases in iterations (called Spirals in this  model). The baseline spiral, starting in the planning  phase, requirements are gathered and risk is  assessed. Each subsequent spiral builds on the baseline  spiral. Requirements are gathered during the planning  phase. In the risk analysis phase, a process is undertaken  to identify risk and alternate solutions. A prototype is  produced at the end of the risk analysis phase. Software is  produced in the engineering phase, along with testing at  the end of the phase. The evaluation phase allows the  customer to evaluate the output of the project to date  before the project continues to the next spiral. In the spiral model, the angular component represents  progress, and the radius of the spiral represents cost. Fig. 5 V-Model [3] ï‚ · Disadvantages 1. 2. Very rigid like the waterfall model. Little flexibility and adjusting scope is difficult and  expensive.  Software is developed during the implementation phase,  so no early prototypes of the software are produced. This Model does not provide a clear path for problems  found during testing phases [7]. 3. 4. ï‚ · 1. 2. 3. Advantages High amount of risk analysis. Good for large and mission-critical projects. Software is produced early in the software life cycle. ï‚ · 1. 2. 3. Disadvantages Can be a costly model to use. Risk analysis requires highly specific expertise. Project’s success is highly dependent on the risk  analysis phase. Doesn’t work well for smaller projects [7]. 4. IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues, Vol. 7, Issue 5, September 2010 ISSN (Online): 1694-0814 www.IJCSI.org ï‚ · 1. Spiral model sectors Objective setting :Specific objectives for the phase are identified. 2. Risk assessment and reduction: Risks are assessed and activities are put in place to reduce the key risks. 3. Development and validation: A development model for the system is chosen which can be any of the general models. 4. Planning: The project is reviewed and the next phase of the spiral is planned [1]. 99 under which the system would produce win-lose or loselose outcomes for some stakeholders. 3. Identify and Evaluate Alternatives: Solicit  suggestions from stakeholders, evaluate them with respect  to stakeholders’ win conditions, synthesize and negotiate  candidate win-win alternatives, analyze, assess, resolve  win-lose or lose-lose risks, record commitments and areas  to be left flexible in the project’s design record and life  cycle plans. 4. Cycle through the Spiral: Elaborate the win conditions  evaluate and screen alternatives, resolve risks, accumulate  appropriate commitments, and develop and execute  downstream plans [8]. 3.5 Extreme Programming An approach to development, based on the development  and delivery of very small increments of functionality. It  relies on constant code improvement, user involvement in  the development team and pair wise programming . It can  be difficult to keep the interest of customers who are  involved in the process. Team members may be unsuited  to the intense involvement that characterizes agile  methods. Prioritizing changes can be difficult where there  are multiple stakeholders. Maintaining simplicity requires  extra work. Contracts may be a problem as with other  approaches to iterative development. Fig. 7 Spiral Model of the Software Process[1]. ï‚ · WinWin Spiral Model The original spiral model [Boehm 88] began each cycle of  the spiral by performing the next level of elaboration of  the prospective system’s objectives, constraints and  alternatives. A primary difficulty in applying the spiral  model has been the lack of explicit process guidance in  determining these objectives, constraints, and alternatives. The Win-Win Spiral Model [Boehm 94] uses the theory  W (win-win) approach [Boehm 89b] to converge on a  system’s next-level objectives, constraints, and  alternatives. This Theory W approach involves identifying  the system’s stakeholders and their win conditions, and  using negotiation processes to determine a mutually  satisfactory set of objectives, constraints, and alternatives for the stakeholders. In particular, as illustrated in the  figure, the nine-step Theory W process translates into the  following spiral model extensions: 1. Determine Objectives: Identify the system life-cycle  stakeholders and their win conditions and establish initial  system boundaries and external interfaces. 2. Determine Constraints: Determine the conditions Fig. 8 The XP Release Cycle ï‚ · Extreme Programming Practices Incremental planning: Requirements are recorded on Story Cards and the Stories to be included in a release are determined by the time available and their relative priority. The developers break these stories into development â€Å"Tasks†. Small Releases: The minimal useful set of functionality that provides business value is developed first. Releases of the system are frequent and incrementally add functionality to the first release. IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues, Vol. 7, Issue 5, September 2010 ISSN (Online): 1694-0814 www.IJCSI.org Simple Design: Enough design is carried out to meet the  current requirements and no more. Test first development: An automated unit test  framework is used to write tests for a new piece of  functionality before functionality itself is implemented.  Refactoring: All developers are expected to re-factor the  code continuously as soon as possible code improvements  are found. This keeps the code simple and maintainable.  Pair Programming: Developers work in pairs, checking  each other’s work and providing support to do a good job.  Collective Ownership: The pairs of developers work on  all areas of the system, so that no islands of expertise  develop and all the developers own all the code. Anyone  can change anything. Continuous Integration: As soon as work on a task is  complete, it is integrated into the whole system. After any  such integration, all the unit tests in the system must pass. Sustainable pace: Large amounts of over-time are not  considered acceptable as the net effect is often to reduce  code quality and medium term productivity.  On-site Customer: A representative of the end-user of the  system (the Customer) should be available full time for the  use of the XP team. In an extreme programming process,  the customer is a member of the development team and is  responsible for bringing system requirements to the team  for implementation. ï‚ · 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. XP and agile principles Incremental development is supported through small,  frequent system releases. Customer involvement means full-time customer  engagement with the team. People not process through pair programming,  collective ownership and a process that avoids long working hours. Change supported through regular system releases.  Maintaining simplicity through constant refactoring of  code [1]. ï‚ · 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Advantages Lightweight methods suit small-medium size projects. Produces good team cohesion. Emphasises final product. Iterative. Test based approach to requirements and quality assurance. ï‚ · 1. Disadvantages Difficult to scale up to large projects where documentation is essential. Needs experience and skill if not to degenerate into code-and-fix. Programming pairs is costly. 2. 3. 4. 100 Test case construction is a difficult and specialized skill [6]. 4. Conclusion and Future Work After completing this research , it is concluded that : 1. There are many existing models for developing systems for different sizes of projects and requirements. 2. These models were established between 1970 and 1999. 3. Waterfall model and spiral model are used commonly in developing systems. 4. Each model has advantages and disadvantages for the development of systems , so each model tries to eliminate the disadvantages of the previous model Finally, some topics can be suggested for future works: 1. 2. 3. Suggesting a model to simulate advantages that are found in different models to software process management. Making a comparison between the suggested model and the previous software processes management models. Applying the suggested model to many projects to ensure of its suitability and documentation to explain its mechanical work. REFERENCES [1] Ian Sommerville, â€Å"Software Engineering†, Addison Wesley, 7th edition, 2004. [2] CTG. MFA – 003, â€Å"A Survey of System Development Process Models†, Models for Action Project: Developing Practical Approaches to Electronic Records Management and Preservation, Center for Technology in Government University at Albany / Suny,1998 . [3] Steve Easterbrook, â€Å"Software Lifecycles†, University of Toronto Department of Computer Science, 2001. [4] National Instruments Corporation, â€Å"Lifecycle Models†, 2006 , http://zone.ni.com. [5] JJ Kuhl, â€Å"Project Lifecycle Models: How They Differ and When to Use Them†,2002 www.businessesolutions.com. [6] Karlm, â€Å"Software Lifecycle Models’, KTH,2006 . [7] Rlewallen, â€Å"Software Development Life Cycle Models†, 2005 ,http://codebeter.com. [8] Barry Boehm, â€Å"Spiral Development: Experience, Principles, and Refinements†, edited by Wilfred J. Hansen, 2000 . Nabil Mohammed Ali Munassar was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 1978. He studied Computer Science at University of Science and Technology, Yemen from 1997 to 2001. In 2001 he IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues, Vol. 7, Issue 5, September 2010 ISSN (Online): 1694-0814 www.IJCSI.org received the Bachelor degree. He studied Master of Information Technology at Arab Academic, Yemen, from 2004 to 2007. Now rd he Ph.D. Student 3 year of CSE at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad, A. P., India. He is working as Associate Professor in Computer Science & Engineering College in University Of Science and Technology, Yemen. His area of interest include Software Engineering, System Analysis and Design, Databases and Object Oriented Technologies. Dr.A.Govardhan: received Ph.D. degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in 2003, M.Tech. from Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1994 and B.E. from Osmania University in 1992. He is Working as a Principal of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Jagitial. He has published around 108 papers in various national and international Journals/conferences. His research of interest includes Databases, Data Warehousing & Mining, Information Retrieval, Computer Networks, Image Processing, Software Engineering, Search Engines and Object Oriented Technologies. 101

Challenges and Current Trends of Crm in Pc Industry: a Case Study at Dell Asia Pacific

Challenges and Current Trends of CRM in PC Industry: A Case Study at DELL Asia Pacific, Bukit Minyak ABSTRACT In the new millennium, customer service oriented performance has emerged as key success factors in maintaining the organizational competitiveness. This has led Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to take the driver seat role in creating a more loyal and profitable customer base at competitive cost. CRM has evolved from advances in information technology and constant pressing needs from customers to create value in the products and services. In current business environment, CRM is a strategic business tool that seamlessly integrates all the functional departments across the organization to work towards maximizing customer value through strategic partnership. CRM has played a key role in the PC industry by taking PC manufacturers closer to customers in terms of understanding their needs, buying behaviors and value creation in the supply chain. Armed with CRM strategies and, IT enabled customer and sales database, PC manufacturers have reoriented their business around the customer. DELL, as one of the world largest PC manufacturers, have strengthen its market share by positioning itself to provide customers with superior value, high-quality, relevant technology, and customized products and services, coupled with its IT integrated CRM solutions. At DELL, e-CRM oriented business solutions are initiated to automate and centralize customer database to embrace long-term partnership and PC market dominance. This project paper will analyze the current CRM trends and future challenges in PC industry based on the case study conducted at DELL Asia Pacific, Bukit Minyak. Furthermore, the paper will also address the selected DELL site, on its strategic effort in utilizing CRM methodologies supported by IT solutions to stay ahead of competitions. Categories and Subject Descriptors [Transaction Processing and Enterprise Resources Planning System]: Traditional Transaction Processing Application General Terms Management, Measurement, Documentation, Performance, Economics, Experimentation, Human Factors, Theory Keywords Customer Relationship Management (CRM), PC industry, Information Technology (IT), Web-based customer interaction (WCI) 1. INTRODUCTION Breakthroughs in Information Technology (IT) have changed the fundamental rule of the way business is being conducted in modern organizations. IT business icons like e-Commerce, K-Economy, etc have made things more complicated, where focus of the business has evolved and oriented around customer. Basically, customers are in the position to continuously demand and dictate what exactly they want at competitive cost – value-added products and services. Organizations are competing among each other to be the market leader, and emerging innovative IT solutions are helping organizations to achieve its competitive advantage. One of the key areas of business competencies is the ability of organizations to sustain the highest level of customer oriented service performance. The new business model is changing the producers’ mindset from product-centered to customer-centered business. This has led Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to take the center stage position to create a loyal and profitable customer base at competitive cost. 1. What is Customer Relationship Management (CRM)? CRM is a strategy used by organizations to comprehensively learn about customers’ needs and behaviors in order to establish constructive relationship with them; after all it is the core of business success. Basically, CRM is a notion regarding how an organization can keep their most profitable customers with increased values of interaction to consequently maximize the profits. This is achieved through the understanding of the drivers of current and future customer profitability to appropriately allocate the resources across all areas that affect customer relationships i. e. , communication, customer service, product/ service development, etc. Customer relationship management revolves around three key technology areas: the Internet, the customer call center and a data warehouse of customer-related information. Customer information is captured through company call center, the Internet, and other communications channels. It is this customer information, which established a â€Å"360-degree† picture of the customer that anyone throughout the organization can access when working with them. Through the Internet, both company employees and the customers themselves are able to access business transacted data from daily production systems, which are then enhanced with customer-centric information such as sales and service call activity, key customer contacts, and specific products purchased. From these technologies, there are also offshoots into emerging technology areas such as wireless technology, for facilitated remote access by customers and company field representatives; workforce management software, for streamlined back-office operations that are organized around the CRM business model; and Web-based customer interaction (WCI). Even though, there are many technological components to CRM, the useful way to view CRM is as a total business processes that will help bring together pieces of information about customers, sales, and marketing effectiveness and responsiveness, and market trends. Therefore, by integrating people, process and technologies, the relationship with both external and internal customers are maximized. 1. 2CRM Goals and Objectives Through the implementation of CRM, organizations would be able to identify their most profitable customers and leverage those relationships to the point of optimal profit. Furthermore, successful CRM programs will ensure active participation from all employees in the organization. CRM will utilize all possible ways to identify what exactly customer is looking for, market the organization’s strength, and ability to fulfill the customers’ needs, retained the customers through value added services. The main idea of CRM initiatives is that it helps businesses use technology and human resources to gain insight into the behavior of customer and the value of those customers. These are the fundamentals for customer loyalty program. There are several goals and objectives of CRM in a business framework (Kalakota & Robinson, 2000): †¢ Use existing relationships to grow revenue – enhance profitability by identifying, attracting the best customers. †¢ Use integrated information for excellent service – by using customer information to best serve customers’ needs. †¢ Introduce more repeatable sales processes and procedures – companies must improve consistency in account management and selling. †¢ Create new value and instill loyalty – the ability to respond to needs and accommodates requests. Implement a more proactive solution strategy – use proactive consumer relations that resolve problems on the first call. 1. 3CRM Architectural Framework In the CRM architecture, a company must first recognize the customer-centric approaches in the business processes. The demand of integrating the customer life cycles, interaction and servicing processes in an applicati on of CRM architecture is obvious. Thus, it is clear that the CRM is built to be customer-centric and in nature organizing CRM processes around the customer, rather than respectively to marketing, sales or any other internal function. Figure 1 illustrates the summary of CRM architecture. CRM architecture examined how products are built, how they’re deployed and customized, and integrated with external applications. A CRM product is selected primarily on its functionality; however its architecture should be a significant influence on the decision to buy or vice versa. 4. Integration with Business Application Tools CRM is definitely not a stand-alone program, it must be designed in away that it can be integrated into the company’s total business processes as shown in Figure 2. CRM must be able to work effectively with other business processes to value add the total operations. Basically, CRM tools will gather, analyze and store critical information captured at customer touch points. Together with ERP/ data warehouse, CRM database will provide the relevant information for business decision-making processes that relates to sales and marketing strategies, business development of new or existing customer and company’s strategic direction. 1. 5Role of e-CRM and Its Strategies -CRM refers to achieving CRM through using Internet technologies, primarily the web and e-mail – allied to database marketing to gear up for the new 24-hour global economy. e-CRM will focus on how to use the web site, databases and e-mails to manage customer relationships by providing online content and services. In order to achieve and support the organizational effort on e-CRM, companies must focus on few key strategies, as followings: †¢ Real time: e-CRM operates in a lmost instantaneous real time and it can be integrated seamlessly together, without the loss of efficiency. Closed loop: e-CRM operates within a closed loop system, resulting in huge gains in efficiency. †¢ Multi-channel: e-CRM is based on the architecture and available across all channels, where changes to activities through one channel are automatically and immediately updated across all channels. 2. Literature Review CRM is a highly fragmented environment and has come to mean different things to different people (Mckie, 2000). The same understanding of CRM, also have been agreed and shared by Winer (2001) and Goodhue (2002). One view of CRM is the utilization of customer related information or knowledge to deliver relevant products or services to customers (Levine, 2000). Another school of thought, CRM is inclusive of the whole organization including its internal and external environment and ‘key processes of the firm’s customers’ (Day, 2000). While such definitions are widespread, they tend to offer a narrow insight into the basic characteristics of CRM. As CRM evolves, comprehensive definitions are emerging, with an emphasis on multi dimensional business objectives. Goldenberg (2000) believed that CRM is not merely technology applications for marketing, sales and service, but rather, when successfully implemented, a cross-functional, customer-driven, technology-integrated business process management strategy that maximizes relationships and encompasses the entire organization. According to Light (2001), CRM evolved from business processes such as relationship marketing and the increased emphasis on improved customer retention through the effective management of customer relationships. Relationship marketing emphasizes that customer retention affects company’s profitability, in that it is more efficient to maintain an existing relationship with a customer than create a new one (Payne et al. , 1999; Reichheld, 1996). Christopher et al. (1991) also agreed that CRM has its roots in relationship marketing which is aimed at improving long run profitability by shifting from transaction-based marketing, with its emphasis on winning new customers, to customer retention through effective management of customer relationships. Sandoe et al. (2001) argued that advances in database technologies such as data warehousing and data mining, are crucial to the functionality and effectiveness of CRM systems. In later stage, relationship marketing emerged and had led others such as Newell (2000) to explore strategic methods for maintaining and improving customer loyalty. Furthermore, Peppard (2000) suggested that technological advances in global networks, convergence and improved interactivity, are key to explaining the growth of e-business and CRM. The increasing use of digital technologies by customers, particularly the Internet, is changing what is possible and what is expected in terms of customer management (Tamminga and O’Halloran, 2000). The appropriate use, for instance, of automation technologies, such as interactive voice response systems and Web-based frequently asked question pages, could be popular with customers and highly cost effective (Petrissans, 2000). Also for customers, CRM offers customization, simplicity, and convenience for completing transactions, regardless of the channel used for interaction (Gulati and Garino, 2000). CRM initiatives have resulted in increased competitiveness for many organizations as witnessed by higher revenues and lower operational cost. Managing customer relationships effectively and efficiently boosts customer satisfaction and retention rates (Reichheld, 1996a, b; Jackson, 1994; Levine, 1993). CRM applications help organizations assess customer loyalty nd profitability on measures such as repeat purchases, money spent, and longevity. In particular, customers benefit from the belief that they are saving time and money as well as receiving better information and special treatment (Kassanoff, 2000). Despite the diverging definitions, reality is that CRM is a complex combination of business and technological factors, and thus strategies should be formulated strategically and accordingly. 3. PC Industry The introduction of the first PC in the mid 1970s led to an industry that emerged as one of the largest and most dynamic sector. PC industry eventually became a multi-billion dollar worth of business that have gone through various growth phase. Today, the world’s PC industry is booming due to emerging demand for IT growth, which is parallel to explosive growth of world’s population. PC became the driving force for the whole computer industry. PC industry dynamics changed by the late-1990s when PCs became the means to get to the Internet. In the next decade a cellular-based packet communications network and broadband will further grow the Internet. Over the next 10 years the PC industry will prosper and thrive with two additional driving forces —consumer electronics devices built with computing platforms (information appliances) and mobile devices such as PDA and mobile phones. The PC industry is very competitive and has a good record of adapting to emerging technologies and market trends. This is likely to happen again and the PC industry will embrace information appliances and mobile devices. 3. 1PC Market Trends Trends in Table 1 showed that, the worldwide shipment for PC never stops growing from 1975 to 2005. In fact the industry volume had seen an increasing trend ever since the year 1990. However, the growth percentage began to slow down starting in late 1990s. This is the evidence that the PC industry is at the end of the growth stage, and soon will enter into the maturity stage. Apart from the effect due to the product life cycle maturity, other aspect of business such as globalization, economical and financial crisis, and presence of China market posed treat to the global PC industry. Table 1: Worldwide PC Market Growth (Source: eTForecasts, 2003) | |   | | | |Gender |Male: 31 (65%) |Female: 17 (35%) | |Occupation |Technical: 36 (75%) |Business: 12 (25%) | |Age Group |21 to 45 years old | |Income | < RM 2,000: Nil | | |RM 2,000 – 5,000: 29 (60%) | | |RM 5,000 – 8,000: 16 (33%) | | |> RM8,000: 3 (7%) | |PC Accessibility |100% | |Internet Accessibility |100% | From this survey, one important finding was all working group of people especially those who are from in dustrial organization, regardless of their income or position they hold, all of them some how able to access to PC either at home or workplace, as well as to Internet. This mainly because of current environment, which require PC and related electronics gadget to be a necessity items in day-to-day lifestyle. Furthermore the cost to purchase these devices is very much affordable, and for those who don’t own it, they are still able to access the Internet or Web-based services either at office during working hours or at Cybercafe at leisure hours. In this study, majority of the respondents is male and those who are working in technical areas, in fact both the gender and occupation background have some sort of relationship between them. Most of the male respondents are from technical background i. e. , technical or operations based managers, engineers or technicians. In contrast, most of the female respondents is working in the business related environment i. e. , sales or marketing, purchasing and finance executives. This indirectly relates to the way the understudy respond to the survey, basically, technical oriented person viewed this survey from product feature, functionality and technical superiority point of view. However, business people is more inclined to pricing, customization and human touch aspect i. e. , customer services. In this study also, majority of the respondents’ income falls in the range of RM 2,000 to RM 5,000, which indicating most of them are belongs to supervisory, executive and engineer category, with smaller group holding managerial and senior executive positions. Table 4, revealed the results based on the first section of the survey, which gave an overview of PC market trends and conditions among the understudy. The survey results shows that, educated and computer literate consumers are keeping abreast of current PC market trends in terms of product knowledge, service availability and PC manufacturers who is the trend setter. Today’s business society is more sensitive to changes surrounding them, they wouldn’t like to be left out in IT progress, and therefore they keep upgrading or changing the PC and its accessories within couple of years. Survey findings shows that, the understudy changed their PCs typically after 5 years and only 37% are changing within 3 to 5 years. This is due to majority of them are using the company’s PC or rather its costly for engineers or executives with reasonable income. Since the accessibility to Internet is possible, literally everywhere, today’s consumers are well informed and keep up with the changes in the PC market. There are consumers, who is still prefer to purchase PCs from computer shop, since they feel unsafe to do on-line transactions, however this trend will change in future as more consumers will be secured from spyware. Furthermore retailers will continue to loss their market share, mainly because of unavailability of after-sales support, and orders through mail became legacy. As for call-centers, business is expected to boom in future, since they have started to use some innovative IT solutions. Based on the findings of survey, it’s very obvious that desktop PCs are still the favorite product ype among the respondents, and those who are working in organization mainly use it. On top of that desktop PCs’ competitive price made it affordable by moderate-income group. As for mobile PCs i. e. , notebook and palmtop is common among managers and senior executives, and this product segment have bright future, since it is best suited for fast moving business environment. |Table 4: Part 1- PC Purchase Experience | |Survey Criteria |Results | |Frequency of changing PC hardware and accessories. < 3 years: Nil | | |3 to 5 years: 13 (27%) | | |> 5 years: 35 (73%) | |Purchasing Channel |Computer shop: 15 (31%) | | |Retailer: Nil | | |Internet: 29 (61%) | | |Toll Free Phone/ Call Centers: 4 (8%) | | |Mail Orders: Nil | |Product Type |Desk Top: 27 (56%) | | |Notebook: 14 (29%) | | |Palmtop: 6 (13%) | | |Others: 1 (2%) | |Brand |Acer: 5 (10%) | | |HP-Compaq: 6 (13%) | | |DELL: 18 (38%) | | IBM: 11 (23%) | | |Toshiba: 1 (2%) | | |Fujitsu: 2 (4%) | | |Clone: 5 (10%) | |Purchasing preference |Brand: 15% | | |Price: 31% | | |Service: 29% | | |Quality/ Reliability: 14% | | |Appearance: 1% | | |Functionality: 4% | | |Customization: 6% | As consumers become more knowledgeable, they tend to b e very intelligent in making decision, and selecting the right product, with excellent services from the competitive PC manufacturers. The PC market is volatile in the sense that superior product or service is expected at very competitive price, and only that manufacturer with efficient operations is able to survive. In today’s market, DELL emerged as the market leader, and this clearly reflected in the survey result, which revealed that 38% of the respondent had chosen DELL. The next contenders are IBM and HP-Compaq, however the pricing is still not as competitive as DELL. Whereas Toshiba and Fujitsu products such as notebooks are as considered as high-end products, and therefore it is serving only targeted market segments, i. e. , managers and senior executives with higher income. About 5% of the respondent preferred to purchase clone PCs, which is very low priced, and those consumer groups with lower income still can afford. In future, clone PC market will continue to deteriorate, as there will a price war. In this section also, assessment was made to study the respondents’ urchasing behavior, and what are the factors influencing the preferences that leads to the decision making of the purchasing process. Based on this study, there are two very important criteria that influence t he respondents, price and customer service factors. Basically, pricing was the main concern, due to majority of the group is moderate earners, and therefore they are looking for the best buy and next they expect are excellent services for worth of money. These factors is followed by branding and, product quality and reliability factors, which lately consumers are more sensitive of the brand, which is due to their vast exposure about the market trends, and the main contributing factor is the Internet and Web-based technology. Modern consumers have high expectations on PC performance in terms of quality and reliability. Other non-critical factors that influence the purchasing decision is high customization, product with more functionality and attractive and appealing appearances. Based on section two of the survey, only those respondents, who use DELL PC were assessed from various perspectives, such as consumers’ total experience with DELL, what are the customer touch points, DELL’s marketing and business strategies and, area that DELL can do better and how DELL can position itself as counteract from its competitors’ strategic move. Basically, findings from this section of survey were summarized into the SWOT analysis as shown in Table 5. A quick glance of SWOT analysis shows that internally DELL has tremendously improved and able to turnaround its weaknesses to further strengthen its position in the market. This was very obvious scenario couple of years ago, where DELL was competing with IBM, was then the PC market leader. However, DELL has aggressively worked on new strategies based on their identified weaknesses internally and market opportunities externally, and that made them capture the market leadership position. Without any hesitation, DELL continued on its strategic planning, with focus on key IT solutions, such as Web-based customer information portal, enhanced e-survey to capture voice of customers and other e-CRM strategies to monitor very closely on customer service performance metrics. Table 5: SWOT Analysis of DELL Product in PC Market | |Strength |Weakness | |1 |Build-to-Order approach |1 |No intermediary retailing channel | |2 |Value added customer service | | | |3 |Direct interface with end custome rs | | | |4 |Customer service specialist | | | |5 |Customer oriented business model | | | |6 |Good after sales support | | | |7 |On-Line purchasing | | | |8 |Product differentiation | | | |9 |Clear market segmentation | | | |10 |Comprehensive product information | | | |11 |Web based customer service portal | | | |Opportunity |Threat | |1 |Product leasing program |1 |Short product life cycle | |2 |Attractive payment scheme |2 |Competitive pricing | |3 |New potential market – Government agencies & higher learning|3 |No brand loyalty | | |institutions. |4 |Clone PCs | |4 |Completing the PC peripherals and accessories product range. | | Apart from that, SWOT analysis also revealed the market opportunities, which DELL should be focusing for future growth. The new opportunities are product leasing program and, emerging of new potential market segment, which is local government agencies and higher education centers. Most importantly, these are the untapped markets that DELL should c oncentrate its future efforts to maximize the return. Regarding the external threat, DELL came up with many effective counter strategies that the threats are no longer pose any risk. 5. 2 PC Market – DELL Competition Competition in the PC market remained fierce during the last few years as notebook adoption continued and consumers reacted to falling prices. Worldwide PC shipments were in line with forecasts, growing 15. 2% year-on-year to 44. 6 million units, according to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, Commercial demand showed some signs of recovery and consumers remained active during the holiday season. Strong growth in Europe and sustained notebook demand were key sources of growth, although limited supply of flat panel displays constrained shipments for some vendors. On an annual basis, shipment growth moved into double digits for the first time since 2000, boosting shipments to a record 152. 6 million on growth of 11. 4%. DELL’s underlying strengths are its abilities to penetrate into new markets with all the advantages under its belt. From the latest statistics, DELL’s server market is able to gain market share and grew by 31 percent during the last few quarters. This is contradicting to other PC vendors as they experienced declining server sales and market share and it shows that, DELL is able to strategize and implement very aggressive business and marketing plans to obtain success. 5. 3DELL e-CRM Strategies Being a giant PC maker and customer-oriented, DELL depends on sophisticated IT applications in carrying out their business processes ranging from line assembly across administration to customer relationship management. DELL has also invested substantially in building its IT infrastructure in order to create an advance and effective work place. Nonetheless, DELL also prepares its staffs to be IT oriented in performing their jobs, and this enables DELL to stay ahead of their competitors. As observed, DELL’s e-CRM strategies are closely in line with the model of CRM architecture frameworks, which was illustrated in Figure 2. The e-CRM strategy of DELL has begun with customer acquisition, value enhancement and customer relationship retention. In other words, DELL has fully utilized the IT edge in carrying out CRM operations and also use as their business analytical tools. DELL has prepared a very comprehensive web site and call centers to interact with its customers. Further enhancement of the web site and call centers, enable DELL to stand out as far as e-CRM is concerned. The Strategies In customer acquisition, DELL emphasize in direct interfacing with customers. In that sense, DELL eliminates the intermediaries in their distribution channel. All information of products can be obtained on-line and is assisted by well-trained e-CRM specialists. There are several creative features on the web that need to be highlighted. Among them are: 1. On-line configuration: Suitable for those who intend to purchase a customized system. 2. Automated order process: Once order is confirmed, the specification of goods will be informed to assembly floor to start the production and it is achieved via a fully automated process. 3. Payment on-line: The payment scheme prepared by DELL is user friendly. 4. Order status check: While waiting for PC system to be delivered, customer can check the good delivery status on-line. 5. Comprehensive technical support: DELL is well known for its technical support on-line and also call-center. DELL committed to reply their customers queries within 4 hours. 6. Information rich web site: Customers can easily access to detail information via on-line, such as E-value. DELL always emphasizes on the customer-centric approach, enhancing the customer value, thus creating sales opportunities. More importantly, DELL has managed to use strategically the innovative IT solutions in this process as following: 1. Value-add to customer: Customers are always delighted by the kind of service provided by DELL. 2. Customer database: To ensure customer have full accessibility of information they require, and should be maintained up-to-date. 3. Knowledge database: Product knowledge and experience is shared between customers and DELL employees for mutual benefits. More importantly DELL adds value to customer by creating opportunity of upgrading and cross selling of its product: 1. Continuous update of information: Educate customer awareness on DELL product update. 2. Voice of Customer: Using e-Survey to capture customer inputs and feedbacks regarding product and service performance. 3. Free software upgrades: DELL customers are entitled for selected operating and applications software through its website such as Windows XP and McAfee. 4. Customer Care: Providing additional product safety and security features in terms of quick on-line tips to combat spyware and adware. DELL continued to invest in keeping its infrastructure as one of the best IT platform. For instance, DELL staffs are able to access to internet or intranet through wireless broadband connection within the plant. This allows them to respond immediately to any issues pertaining to customer feedback and complaint. 6. 0Conclusions and Recommendations The customer expectations have risen in recent years and the firms have come up with a number of innovative ideas of serving customers. This has provided the customer with the flexibility and convenience. Similarly, various groups of customers would require different level of services and support. For first time buyer, they may require installation and training services while big corporations with internal computer specialist may expect more comprehensive CRM program coupled with other value added services. However, the important motto would be the exercise and implementations to keep the customers satisfied, and that would be the ultimate goal for each and every organization. DELL certainly has given their best to expand their customer horizon, and they are definitely on the right track towards creating profitable customer base. With that, we can expect more and more innovative business ideas from DELL in future, which will continue to delight the ever-demanding customers. We also would like to recommend that, DELL should explore further in areas concerning market opportunities, as mentioned in the SWOT analysis table. Carefully analyzing and turning each opportunity into their advantage would prepare DELL to scale at greater heights. DELL also needs to fine-tune continuously its e-CRM strategies to further strengthen their customer centric approach. REFERENCES [1]Agrawal, V. & Mittal, M. (2002). Customer Relationship Management: The e11 Way. White paper of Delhi Business Review, Vol. 3, No. 1, January –June 2002. [2]Boon, O. , Corbitt, B. & Parker, C. (2002). Conceptualising the Requirements of CRM from an Oraganizational Perspective: a Review of the Literature. AWRE 2002. [3]Bull, C. (2003). Strategic issues in customer relationship management (CRM) implementation. Business Process management Journal, Vol. 9 No. 5, 2003, pp 592-602. [4]Chen, IJ. & Popovich, K. (2003). Understanding customer relationship management: People, Process and technology Business Process Management. Journal, Vol. 9, No 5, 2003, pp672-688. [5]Christopher M. , Payne, A. and Ballantyne, D. (1991). Relationship Marketing. Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford. [6]Day, G. (2000). Managing Market Relationships. Journal of the Academy Marketing Sciences, Vol. 28, No. 1. [7]Goodhue, D. , Wixon, B. nd Watson, H. (2002). Realising business benefits through CRM: hitting the right target in the right way. MIS Quarterly, Vol. 1, Issue 2, pp74-94. [8]Jenkinson, A. (1996). Valuing Your Customers: From quality information to quality relationships through database marketing. McGraw-Hill, London [9]Kalakota, R. and Robinson, M. (2000). e-Business Roadmap for Success. Addison-Wesley, United States. [10]Kassanoff, B. (2000). Build loyalty into your e-business. Proceedings of DCI Customer Relationship Management Conference. Boston, MA, 27-29 June [11]Light, B. (2001). A review of the issues associated with customer relationship management systems. Proceedings of the 9th European Conference on Information Systems, pp1232-1241 [12]Newell, F. (2000). Loyalty. com: Customer Relationship Management in the New Era of Internet Marketing. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY [13]Payne, A. , Christopher M. and Clark, M. (1999). Relationship Marketing for Competitive Advantage. Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford. [14]Payne, A. A Strategic Framework for Customer Relationship Management. A BT CRM White Paper [15]Peppard, J. (2000). Customer relationship management (CRM) in financial services. European management Journal, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp 312-327 [16]Petrissans, A. (2000). Customer Relationship Management and the Challenge of the Internet. Cap Gemini Ernst and Young-IDC, Toronto. 17]Tamminga, P. & O’halloran, P. (2000). Finding the real value in CRM: leveraging IT solutions through the customer driven approach. Cutter IT Journal Vol. 13, No. 10, pp4-11 [18]Turban, E. et al. (2004). Information technology for management: transforming organizations in the digital economy. 4th Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, USA [19]Winer, R. (2001). A Framework for Customer Relationship Management. California Management Review, Vol. 34, No. 4. [20]Xu, Y. et al. (2002). Adopting customer relationship management technology. Industrial Management & Data Systems 102/8 2002, pp 442-452. Appendix 1 PC Industry Research Questionnaire Respondent Particular | |Age: __ Gender: __ Male __ Female | | | |Occupation: __ Technical __ Business | | | |Income Group: __ Below RM2,000/= __ RM2,000/= to RM5,000/= | |(per month) __ RM5,000/= to RM8,000/= __ Above RM8,000/= | | | |Accessible to Internet: __ Yes __ No | Part I – PC Purchase Experience |1 |Have you ever own a PC (either at home or work place? __Yes |__ No | | | | | |2 |How many time have you bought a PC for the last 5 years? |Please state: __ | | | | | |3 |Through which channel the PC is purchased? |__ Computer shop | | | |__ Elect. Appliance Retailer | | | |__ Internet | | | |__ Toll free telephone | | | |__ Mail order | | | |Others: | | | | | | |4 |What type of PC do you purchase? |__ Desktop |__ Notebook | | | |__ Palmtop |Other: _____ | | | | | |5. |What is the PC brand have you purchased? __ Acer |__ HP-Compaq | | | |__ Dell |__ Toshiba | | | |__ IBM |__ Fujitsu | | | |__ Clone | | | | | |6. |What is sequence of criteria in purchasing a PC? __ Brand | | |(from top to bottom1 to 7) |__ Price | | | |__ Service | | | |__ Reliability/Quality | | | |__ Appearance | | | |__ Functionality | | | |__ Customization | Part II: Experience with Dell (For those who has bought Dell PC only) |1 |What are your experience using Dell products? __ Good |__ Fair | | | |__ Bad | | | | | | |2 |Have you ever visited Dell’s web site? |__ Yes |__ No | | | | | |3 |Have you called to Dell’s toll free call center? |__ Yes |__ No | | | | | |4 |Have you read through Dell advertisement on printed material? __ Yes |__ N o | | | | | |5 |What channel do you find the most effective to get information from Dell |__ Internet | | | |__ Toll Free Call | | | |__ Printed material | | | | | |6 |Do you find Dell web site user friendly? __ Yes |__ No | | | | | | |7 |Do you satisfy with Dell’s |Very Dissatisfied |Dissatisfied |Neutral |Satisfied |Very satisfied | | |i. service quality | | | | | | | |ii. product quality | | | | | | | |iii. technical support | | | | | | | |iv. rice | | | | | | | | | | |2 |Does Dell continuously provide information/promotion of its product to you? |__ Yes |__ No | | | | | |3 |Can Dell employee address you by name when you call them? |__ Yes |__ No | | | | | |4 |Can Dell identify you purchase immediately when you require after sale technical support? __ Yes |__ No | | | | | |5 |Does Dell employee friendly and helpful? |__ Yes |__ No | | | | | | |8 |Will you return to Dell for subsequent purchase? |__ Yes |__ No | | | | | |9 |Do you agree Dell has successfully created good relationship with you? __ Yes |__ No | | | | | | |10 |Do you have any suggestion for Dell to further improve its Customer Service | | |Please state: | | | | [pic] ———————– Receivable/ Payable Profitability Analysis Production Planning Inventory Mgm’t Shipping Personnel Planning Payroll Back Office Functions Front Office Functions Figure 1: CRM Architecture Framework Globally Dispersed Customers Customer Support Cross-Functional Processes Breaking Down Department Walls Complete Integrated Solution Integrated CRM Applications Enhance Partial Functional Solutions Retain Marketing Mgm’t Order Mgm’t Sales Mgm’t Sales Planning Pricing After Sales Service Sales Force Automation Figure 2: Integration of CRM with Business Application Tools Customer Support Traditional Touch Points Retail Store Front Service Departments Cross-sell & Upgrade Proactive Service Direct Marketing Electronic Touch Points Website/ Internet E-mail Call Centre Voice Response System Direct Marketing Customer Life Cycle Customer Touch Points Acquire CRM Technology ERP/ Data Warehouse

In the Knight Kitchen Psychological Review Using Sigmund Freud’s Theories Essay

As per Sigmund Freud, ‘dreams are the royal road to the unconscious’. In this essay I’m going to give an overview of Sigmund Freud’s personality theory in regards to the unconscious mind and how we express it in different ways. With that, I’ll be giving an interpretation of the book, ‘In the Night Kitchen’ by Maurice Sendak using Freud’s views, as well as my own opinions, while relating the child’s dream to his unconscious. To start, Sigmund Freud, who was the founder of the psychoanalytical theory, believed that within the structure of our mind, the unconscious was the largest portion. All of our deepest wishes, desires and pleasures were stored at the back of our mind. With that, he believed since most of our unconscious thoughts were rather disturbing or bad natured, the unconscious had to project itself in different matters. One of the ways it would do so would be through our dreams. Next, ‘In the Night Kitchen’ is a children’s story that was published in the seventies. This book is incredibly controversial, and for a good reason, because it shows a naked little boy in a small section of the story. I, however, think this is a great book. It starts with Mickey, the child in the story, falling into his dream. He falls and falls until he lands in his magical dreamland where all of the buildings and surroundings are bold, colorful and intriguing. He then ends up in the night kitchen. In the night kitchen there are three big and jolly bakers making a cake. They mistake Mickey for an ingredient and add him to the batter. Without realizing they throw him into the oven until he breaks free. He then builds an airplane to find them some milk to finish their cake, and he becomes the hero to his very own story. Furthermore, I believe this story has a greater meaning to it than just the words and pictures. Through Freud’s eyes this book is not just about a child having a dream but it gives us insight to his deepest wishes, desires and fantasies. With Freud’s theories I’m going to explain how he would have seen this story. Mickey, the child in the story, starts his dream by falling and falling, which is the first relatable sequence the author has presented us. We’ve all had that feeling of falling at the beginning of our dreams. Mickey then falls into his dreamland, with giant buildings, all bold and beautiful in color. A more exciting and vibrant land we’d choose to see in contrary to what we are forced to see in our everyday lives. He lands in a kitchen where three jolly, somewhat creepy bakers are in the middle of making a cake. Mickey is then seen wearing no clothes at all, which is where the controversy of the story takes place. This, however, does not disturb me at all. Children like to spend a lot of their time without their clothes on. Freud would have just viewed this from a fixation theory perspective. I believe he would have thought that Mickey was in his phallic stage, which is the third stage in Freud’s theory. In this stage, the child’s erogenous zone and primary focus are his genitals. This is also the stage in which children are learning and understanding the physical differences between males and females. Continuing through the story, everything we see in the kitchen is customized to Mickey’s taste. For example, the flour is called ‘Best Flour’, and the oven is called, ‘Mickey Oven’. He’s created his own little world in his mind, emphasizing his wish for power. Next, the bakers in the kitchen mistake Mickey for an ingredient and add him to the batter, stirring and stirring they do not realize what they’ve done until they stick him in the oven. Mickey then pops out screaming, ‘I’m not the milk, and the milk’s not me! ’ Realizing they need milk to finish their cake, Mickey starts constructing an airplane out of dough. For this part of the dream I believe Freud would have seen it as Mickey fulfilling a wish or desire, as most little boys do dream of becoming pilots, however it’s not possible in their everyday lives, therefore he is dreaming it at night. Next, he flies up and over the kitchen, and into the milk bottle; he retrieves milk for the recipe and brings it back to the bakers so they can finish their cake. Without the milk they would not have been able to finish by morning, therefore Mickey saved the night. Another example of a little boy’s desire for power and wish for heroism, not having it in his daily life, therefore it’s in his dream. Finally, the book finishes after Mickey rescues the evening, he is then returned to his cozy bed. I feel as though the author put a lot of psychological thought into the story before he wrote the book and for that reason I’d recommend it. In conclusion, this book represents a decent portion of Freud’s perspective on the unconscious mind and how it’s expressed through our dreams. The details in the story emphasize the creativity of the little boy’s mind. The actions of the little boy in the dream relate to examples in Freud’s theories, such as the little boy flying the plane or bringing the milk to the bakers, Freud would have seen that as part of his unconscious wishes and desires. I would definitely read this book to my children, as it has a wonderful aspect of imagination and psychological creativity.

The Strategic Management Process of Walmart Case Study

The Strategic Management Process of Walmart - Case Study Example Elaboration Likelihood Model identified message relevance as one of these factors. According to this model, when message relevance is high, individuals will actively process and evaluate the information in the advertisement when forming or changing attitudes. (Barrie, 2005) When message relevance is low, individuals will not actively process the information in the advertisement, but will instead rely on peripheral message cues to form or change attitudes. Brand Identity is that element of customer perception and awareness which has its focus in the results of a certain kind of projection through the brand equity building measures. This calls for an integrative model which will combine the basic elements of the brand identity and brand equity concepts so as to create a platform for the effective discussion of the Elaboration Likelihood Model. (Jorge et al, 2005) This has been of special relevance for the Walmart company as far as its foray into target market and product variation is c oncerned. Walmart depends to a great extent on the contribution and quality of its human capital. The human capital may be defined as that element of the organisation's operational sphere that is a living, breathing part of the activities that put the innate resources and factors of production into application. This application results in profits arising out of the activities of the human capital and the efficiency with which this resource carries out its tasks. This in turn, has a bearing on the achievement of the organisation's goals. (Jorge et al, 2005) Business Partner The first role of the human resource in today's organisation is that of a business partner. This has come to the fore with the emergence of various service oriented companies that provide intensive marketing services along with the products that are being produced. This is a formal level of institutionalised operations where the organisation profits greatly. This is done by pushing the product in quarters where the effects of regular marketing and promotion cannot reach. It is also an elevated level of salesman ship where the sales agents are offered a share in the business that they make. The advantage of this is that the business partners take a personal interest in the development of a clientele. (Green, 2002. P 111) Further, this serves the two fold purpose of sales and promotion. While there might not be

Recent large earthquakes in Chile, Haiti, and Japan Essay

Recent large earthquakes in Chile, Haiti, and Japan - Essay Example Earthquakes mainly occur in countries harboring coastal oceanic shores, more predominantly in Asia continent. The region is called ring of fire where arc of earthquakes and volcanic zones stretch at pacific more than 90% of earthquake occurs. The word tsunami comes from a Japanese word meaning harbor wave, literary translated as oceanic gravity waves produced by sub-marine earthquakes or caused by geological processes such as volcanic eruptions and landslides. Tsunamis arise due to subduction occurring underwater resulting to huge raptures raising sea beds to some meters away displacing a huge cubic of waters in coastal areas. The tsunami waves are usually smaller in deep oceans but its impact is felt in harbors and coastal areas thus being catastrophic, in other places it is known as tidal waves or Seismic sea waves (Lee p.437). 2.0. Geology of Chile (2010), Haiti (2010) and Japan (2011) Earthquakes. Chile is among the seismically located countries in the world, facing approximately 8 events after 10 years. The most recent earthquake occurred in 27th February 2010 (Fig 1), it did release energy that had accumulated since the last subduction earthquake in 1835. Figure 1 Chile’s earthquake of 2010 Source: http://www.earthquake-pictures.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/2010 Chile is located in subduction zones along the coast of the Pacific Ocean similar to Japan. It has three well differentiated Seismically zones; thrust earthquakes of larger magnitude at shallow depths along the coast, larger quakes due to larger magnitude as a result of tensional and compressed subducted Nazza plates, and shallow Seismicity in the outer rise (Jiron p2). The earthquake of magnitude 8.8 lasted between 110 and 180 seconds in which rupture started at the hypocenter and spread bilaterally northwards of Pichilemu and kilometers towards the Peninsula, comprising a length of about 450 km long and average slip of about 10-12 cm, destroying all things on the way (Jiron p.16). Haiti is one of the Caribbean countries; on 12th January 2010 an earthquake (Fig. 2) of about 7.0 magnitudes lower than Chile 2010 earthquake occurred in the country. Figure 2 Haiti’s earthquake of 2010. Source: http://www.earthquake-pictures.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/H The quake occurred when tectonic plate of Caribbean shifted approximately 20 millimeters in relation to the North American plate. The cause of the quake was rapture of Ennquillo plantain garden fault, which for about 250 years had locked it. The place where the quake occurred is highly seismic and was recorded historically as a place of destruction earthquake (Farmer p.54). There was an aftershocks of about 4-5 magnitude which occurred after the main quake. Japan is located in a region that faces quakes each and every year; it lies on a region that is baptized ring of fire where an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretch at pacific. The earthquake occurred in 2011; it was measured to have a magnitude of a bout 8.9 which is large compared to both Haiti 2010 and Chile 2010 earthquakes (Fig. 3) it was followed by nuclear crisis in one of its plants (Nanto p.1). Fig. 3 Japan earthquake 2011 Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8375788/Japan-earthquake-what-causes-them.html The earthquake led to a further 23 foot tsunami and 50 more

Three Network Topologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Three Network Topologies - Essay Example Here the first topology we use for our company is BUS: The bus topology is frequently referred to as a "linear bus" for the reason that the computers are linked in a straight line. This is the easiest and mainly common technique of networking computer. By this our company’s whole computer is connected to main server so that whole data can be seen on main server.1 Next the second topology we use is STAR: In the star topology, wire sections from every computer are linked to a centralized part that is called a hub. Signals are broadcasted from the transmitting PC throughout the hub to all PCs on the network. This topology invented in the early on days of computing while computers were linked to a centralized mainframe workstation. This topology we use for the connecting the whole organization to our main server. So that any message from any PC can be deliverer to each PC on the network.2 The 3rd topology we use for our company is RING: The ring topology attaches computers on a sole circle of wire. Dissimilar the bus topology, there are no ended ends. The signals tour about the circle in one way and go by from side to side every computer, which be able to take action as a repeater to increase the signal and drive it on to the subsequently computer. The breakdown of one computer can have a crash on the whole network. This topology we use for our company to only in case of transmitting any information that we want to reach on every PC. By this information or any error report can be circulated to whole network.3 Here I will present the performance, reliability, cost and effectiveness criteria of our company for the selection of topology. We avoid using the mesh topology because it is more costly and we have lot of workstation so that we can not afford a very complex net of wires, so these only three topologies that are BUS, RING, and STAR are used by us in our company. The cost of these three for implementing point of view is less than the mesh topology.

The Process of Financial Acquisition Scholarship Essay - 11

The Process of Financial Acquisition - Scholarship Essay Example Worst of it all, all the international students to pay a lot of money in the institutions admitted. In addition to tuition fees, other requirements such as upkeep further make the burden wanting. Therefore, I am requesting if you would be in a position to grant me a scholarship. Such a situation would just change my life and every decision I make since then I would have a simple time in my study and concentrate fully in my area of specialization. My mother who remains the sole breadwinner will cease to have an extreme financial burden she is currently having. Additionally, it would not only be a motivation to me, but also an intrinsic reward, whereby I would also like to assist needy students in the future. My success as a Psycho-biologist will be of great help to my burdened family and the community. I will be of immense assistance to society in terms of contributing to community development projects such as free counseling sessions for mentally ill clients. I totally assure you tha t I will live an exemplary life worth emulation even to the other students. I look forward to your consideration to grant me a scholarship. Â  

Information System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Information System - Essay Example By making the organization operate out of the internet, the need for a physical office is almost rendered obsolete and would be more for the compliance of a formal governmental requirement than an operational necessity. To illustrate: Company â€Å"A† is in engaged in buying and selling cars, traditionally a used car business would entail a large ground where the cars will be vetted and an office address where customers who are buying or selling can transact. However, this set-up is self-limiting for the business owners since all the transactions will be limited to customers who can be generated by the local community or the adjoining community. The traditional processes for Company A would be buying cars that would entail the following tasks, car check-up to determine its actual value and then assigning the right value for the car that would include a modest profit. Sale can be made only if a customer would visit the showroom, choose a car, inspect it at the lot and then make an offer or bid if the car meets the customer’s criteria. To reach a wider market base that would include not only the surrounding community, the owners of Company A at times conduct a road show where all cars under the dealership will be transported to other cities for display or exhibition. However road-shows are expensive to set-up and normally the amount of revenue generated is not commensurate to the cost of the entire road-show. The looming saturation point of the community where Company A is located was exacerbated by the emergence of other used car company within the same general location. Intending to look for good location for a road-show in another city, the owner went online following several weeks of zero sales. Piqued by the presence of advertisement in every corner of the PC screen, the owner tried to advertise one of the cars in a website frequented by bargain hunters. In a few minutes after posting the pictures and details about the car, the owner was contac ted by an interested buyer looking for cars to be demolished in a movie, three communities away. The sale was consummated and the owner of company A was able to sell the worst looking car in the lot at a higher price which was never even contemplated for the car. Inspired by the first success in internet commerce, the owners of company A decided to go online and consequently changed their business strategy. The company decided to advertise the content of its car lot in the internet by mainly advertising in several popular sites that are most frequented by its age demographics. Not only did the interest in used car peaked, the number of customers interested in several of their cars were outbidding themselves. In their first week of operation in the internet, all of their cars in the lot were sold and paid for and are just awaiting pick-up or transport to their new owners. The owners of Company A hungry for new inventory advertised their demand for more cars to sell. The response and acceptance of the new advertisement is similar to the initial sale through the internet, offers were overflowing at prices considerably lower even though in good running condition and only slightly used. Due to the robust sales, the owners of Company A discovered a new dilemma as they are now lacking the manpower to check and valuate the cars. The owners of Company A were compelled to personally transact with the car owners to check the condition and assess its

HRD Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

HRD - Essay Example tation, staff training and development, performance management of employees, compensation arrangement and benefits and career development of the organization’s staff (Sims, 2007). Human resource planning is an organizational design that ensures that the future personnel of the organization needs will be met in the most appropriate and in a consistent manner. Through human resource planning, managers of the organization ensure that they acquire the right number of employees for the organization, and the most appropriate persons to fill the various positions in the organization at the right time. Kumar (2011) points out that this process seeks to acquire the most capable staff who can in an effective and most efficient manner handle the tasks assigned to them. An analysis of the internal factors of the organization reveals the current and expected skills requirements, vacancies and departmental expansions and reductions. Environmental factors survey shows the labour markets and use of information systems to build and maintain employee information. Human resource planning is incorporated within the strategic plan of the organization. Recruitment aims at acquiring the most appropriate applicants who match the criteria of the certain job. Employee recruitment is the process in which an organization locates, identifies, and attracts the most capable applicants for an advertised job position. It is involved in the development of a pool of successful candidates in accordance to the human resource plan of the organization (Gitman & McDaniel, 2009). Employee decruitment is however the technique for reducing the labour supply within the organization in cases of over staffing through firing, employee layoffs, transfers and retirements of both aged and yet to be aged employees. â€Å"Business Services Support† (2006)  advises that when recruiting employees for any position, certain considerations have to be put into place. Job description, which is part of the

The Dynamic Legislative Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Dynamic Legislative Process - Essay Example I indeed responded to the five questions based on my opinion and my rating was that I was generally comfortable with how the congress work as opposed to the previous people who responded to those questions who said that they were fairly dissatisfied with how the congress operates. In section 3, I learnt a lot about how the congress work not according to the way the public think things should be done. For example in the opinion that the public thought that the congress was very slow in it process and Wilson responded this by saying things should not be that way because a public that is capable of doing good things quickly, it is also capable of doing bad things quickly. In the opinion of the public was that they dislike a congress that is always arguing and with conflict but Rosenthal opposed this and said it was very health when there is conflict in representative democracy as this helps to avoid concentration of power at any one place in the government. He argues that if America was to be a representative democracy, then conflict must exist between decision makers. I agree with Hibbing and Theiss-Morse when they write that "Much of what the public dislikes about Congress is endemic to what a legislature is" because they lack an appreciation for the ugliness of democracy. Lee Hamilton explained the real legis

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I am not sure about the subject that i used, but you have to put the right subject for my work - Essay Example Geological studies, which deal with the details of the formation and structure of the physical geography, stand as a basis for analyzing the characteristics of places selected for the scientific observation to find out their fitness and potential threats. The Arbuckle Mountains in the North American constitute one of the prominent geographical locations for the geologists to make experimental studies based on its history and the formation structure. This paper will make a comprehensive trial for investigating the geological history of the Arbuckle Mountains on the basis of the geographical specifications of this region in the Oklahoma state of the United States of America. Like the presence of a diverse culture among its population, the United States also has the characteristics of accommodating varieties of geographical patterns inside its political boundaries. They include a number of large and small rivers, forests, plains, plateaus, mountains and valleys besides the urbanized industrial regions and the vast areas of land under the cultivation of numerous edible and commercial crops. Generally, mountains get the quickest glance of every explorer of a region because of the attraction they yield with their elevated altitudes. For the geologists, they give essential information about the nature of the geographical structure and thus help them make necessary assessment of the potential challenges and advantages before the plains and valleys associated with the mountains. The Arbuckle Mountains are one the oldest mountains discovered in the United States, and therefore, it is important to know the details about the region’s geological specificati ons by forming an overall idea about these mountains. The Arbuckle Mountains lie in the south-central region of the Oklahoma state in the United States of America (‘Have you thought about Oklahoma’s Climate And Geography?’). As Oklahoma’s geography features a large number of mountain ranges, the state

Uniforms in Public Schools Essay Example for Free

Uniforms in Public Schools Essay Since crime is a staple in almost every community, it only follows that public schools, as indispensable institutions in the community, may be vulnerable to criminal predicaments, if not inevitable victims of crime altogether. Crimes in public schools range from trivial to serious cases. According to a DPI news release, most of these crimes have something to do with possession, be of illegal substances, firearms, and explosives, or even petty alcohol (DPI, 2006). However, although not as rampant, crimes in public schools also involve robberies, as well as physical and sexual assaults. Even more alarming nowadays is the fact that public schools can also become targets of massacres or killings sprees, as was proven by the Virginia Tech incident in a CNN article dated April 17, 2007 (CNN, 2007). Thus, the current situation of public schools becomes rather alarming, and parents worry about their children who are in school. Marcus Nieto, author of Security and Crime Prevention Strategies in California Public Schools, says that the causes of school crimes vary along with different perspectives regarding the matter (Nieto, 1999). Joel Turtel, author of Public Schools, Public Menace, on the other hand, states that some consider lack of discipline in schools a primary cause, while others believe that it is lack of moral values and parental guidance (Turtel, 2005). Facts show that drug use is also a precipitant of school crime and violence, and there are those who maintain that it is due to â€Å"glorified violence† in culture and the media (Nieto, 1999). Survey shows that negligence of parents is also a contributing factor, and was also identified in a CNN poll as one of the top three causes of crimes in schools along with access to guns and the media (Nieto, 1999). Numerous strategies have already been and are being employed to prevent such crimes within schools. Such preventive measures range from simple and inexpensive to downright elaborate. Simple preventive measures include â€Å"assigning teachers in hallways, grouping troubled students in alternative schools, and requiring visitor registration (Nieto, 1999). † Other strategies involve creating a peaceful ambiance conducive to teaching and learning through â€Å"comprehensive school-safety plans, zero-tolerance policies for drugs and weapons, and community collaboration (Nieto, 1999). † More elaborate preventive measures include providing telephones for each classroom, installing surveillance systems, stationing of uniformed police officers and creating anonymous hotlines and websites through which anyone in possession of weapons and other illegal material can be reported. The U. S. Department of Education states in the Manual on School Uniforms that the increasing violence within schools prompts parents and faculty members to subscribe to the implementation of a school uniform policy (Department of Education, 1996). According to Linda Lumsden, the associate editor, and Gabriel Miller, a research analyst and writer for ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management at the University of Oregon, the matter of school safety is a concern that renders the idea of a dress code or uniform policy rather attractive (Lumsden Miller, 2002). However, the implementation of a uniform policy cannot possibly solve the crime problem altogether. The U. S. Department of Education furthers in the Manual on School Uniforms that â€Å"uniforms by themselves cannot solve all the problems of school discipline, but they can be one positive contributing factor to discipline and safety. † II. Presentation of Proposal A mandatory school policy may not be the entire solution for the growing levels of violence and public school crimes. However, it can contribute significantly, though indirectly, to the maintenance of a safe and disciplined environment that is conducive to learning (Department of Education, 1996). Moreover, the implementation of a dress code or school uniform policy comes along with several more benefits. The benefits enumerated by the U. S. Department of Education include: â€Å"decreasing violence and theft—even life-threatening situations—among students over designer clothing or expensive sneakers, helping prevent gang members from wearing gang colors and insignia at school, instilling students with discipline, helping parents and students resist peer pressure, helping students concentrate on their school work, and helping school officials recognize intruders who come to the school (Department of Education, 1996). † More importantly, as one parent commented at a forum regarding dress code policies via internet e-mail, uniforms can help students take school more seriously with a renewed respect for that place where they are being prepared for the future, where they will, most likely, also be required to observe a dress code. III. Summary and Rebuttal of Opposing Views Studies may have shown that no difference exists between students who are in uniform and those who are not. However, a mandatory uniform policy provides a sort of equality among students, for the same dress code will more or less reduce the superficial gap between the impoverished and the well-off. This will then lessen the pressure among students, especially adolescents, to dress in order to fit in (Middleweb, 2000). The implementation of a dress code policy may also be contested by another counter-argument, that is, a required dress code will further challenge the purchasing power of families from the poorer neighborhoods. According to the U. S. Department of Education, non-uniform outfits are usually more expensive than uniforms. According to an August 2002 article of the Wall Street Journal, the cost of uniforms range from $25-$40 per outfit (NAESP, 2002). An article from USA Today states that parents more or less spend $185 for non-uniform outfits for each child. Nevertheless, implementation of a uniform policy might still be a burden for families who cannot afford them (NAESP, 2002). Still, school districts can come up with provisions to assist those families. For instance, the school itself can provide uniforms to the students who cannot afford them (Department of Education, 1996). Community and business leaders can also provide financial assistance, and school parents can help each other provide uniforms for their children (Department of Education, 1996). The school alumni can also donate their used uniforms to the less privileged (Department of Education, 1996). IV. The Justification for the Proposal Argument A. Feasibility The implementation of a uniform dress code in public schools is highly feasible, as many school districts have already required their students to observe a dress code. Cherry Hill Elementary was the first public school to subscribe to a mandatory uniform policy (NAESP, 2002). Then Long Beach Unified School District in California followed suit in 1994 (NAESP, 2002). Since then, more and more schools have adopted uniforms. Promowear listed the top ten cities with the most schools with a uniform policy, namely: Los Angeles/Long Beach, New York, Houston, Philadelphia, Dallas/Fort Worth, Washington DC, New Orleans, Detroit, Jacksonville FL, and Atlanta (NAESP, 2002). B. Cost-Effective As a proposition of policy, the implementation of a uniform policy in public schools calls for a change in the status quo. Thus, the cost of this change must be considered. However, if the advantages are weighed against the disadvantages, the implementation of a uniform policy in public schools is cost-effective. As was mentioned above, a mandatory uniform policy comes with several benefits while the disadvantages are only minimal. Furthermore, the disadvantages comprised by the supposed repression of self-expression and additional expenses can be addressed. The U. S. Department of Education recommends that the uniform policy should not prohibit wearing â€Å"expressive items† with uniforms like pins or buttons, for instance, â€Å"so long as such items do not independently contribute to disruption by substantially interfering with discipline or with the rights of others (Department of Education, 1996). † The financial dilemmas can also be solved, as was already mentioned above. C. Does it work? The uniform policy apparently works, as many schools, both public and private, have already been observing a mandatory uniform policy for years. D. How will it be implemented? According to the U. S. Department of Education, the decision to implement a mandatory uniform policy is made by â€Å"states, local school districts, and schools (Department of Education, 1996). † Moreover, in the Manual on School Uniforms by the U. S. Department of Education, it is stated that parents and faculty members must also be involved in the evaluation on whether or not to adopt school uniforms (Department of Education, 1996). V. Moral Acceptability Since there exists an assumption that students have a right to liberty of expression, a sort of controversy springs in the midst of the idea of implementing a dress code. â€Å"Although students retain constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression, the Supreme Court has held that these rights are limited (Madrid Garcia, 1999). † In fact, the Supreme Court has recently articulated that schools can instill students with â€Å"state sponsored values and ideals;† hence, school officials have the power to regulate expression, especially if they distract such values. Another warrant or assumption might be the aforementioned notion that uniformed students are no different from those who are not. Again, the matter of concern is not individual differences but the safety and well-being of the learning environment and the school population as a whole. VI. Conclusion A mandatory school uniform policy may not be the entire solution to the predicaments regarding crime and violence within public schools, but its positive contributions to making the school environment safe, disciplined, and conducive to learning must be considered. The adoption of a school uniform policy may entail minute disadvantages, but these can be addressed and are minimal compared to the benefits a uniform or dress code policy provides. The students only have to realize that it is for their own good. CNN. (2007). Witness survives by pretending to be dead. Retrieved April 25, 2007, from www. cnn. com/2007/US/04/16/vtech. shooting/index. html Department of Education, U. S. (1996). Manual on School Uniforms [Electronic Version]. Retrieved May 03, 2007 from http://www. ed. gov/updates/uniforms. html. DPI. (2006). Latest Annual Report on School Crime and Violence Released. from www. dpi. state. nc. us/newsroom/news/2005-06 Lumsden, L. , Miller, G. (2002). Dress Codes and Uniforms [Electronic Version]. Retrieved May 03, 2003 from http://www. naesp. org/ContentLoad. do? contentId=417. Madrid, M. J. , Garcia, E. A. (1999). STUDENT DRESS CODES: Constitutional Requirements and Policy Suggestions [Electronic Version]. Retrieved May 03, 2007 from http://www. modrall. com/articles/article_13. html. Middleweb. (2000). Some Thoughts About School Uniforms. Retrieved May 03, 2007, from http://www. middleweb. com/INCASEUniforms. html NAESP. (2002). Public School Uniforms [Electronic Version]. Retrieved May 03, 2007 from http://www. naesp. org/ContentLoad. do? contentId=929. Nieto, M. (1999). Security and Crime Prevention Strategies in California Public Schools. Retrieved May 03, 2007, from www. library. ca. gov/crb/99/12/99-012. pdf Turtel, J. (2005). Public School Prisons. Retrieved April 26, 2007, from www. homefires. com/articles/public_school_prisons. asp