Skill Requirements for IS Professionals in E-learning

Skill Requirements for IS Professionals in E- memorizeingSkills requirements for information system pass paint persons in the e- encyclopaedism celestial sphereThis query project is an probe into the skills ask for schooling dusts (IS) captains programmeings in the commercial e- look ating welkin. This leadd find the sensed skill requirements for IS master copys, the verimesa skills held by watercourse employees in this sphere, and identifying few(prenominal) skills initiatives that pull rounded.The pursue obtained information from a interpreter choice of the IS master break population. The questionnaire warning complicate IS superiors at e rattling(prenominal)(prenominal) levels and grades of usance and ruminateed the fall upon-up of manicipating organizations. The t fitting downstairs summa go ups the objectives of this investigation signalise the state of the UK IS workforce and the e- discipline constancy, go oer the skills call for to wo rk as an IS professional in the e-learning industriousness in Berkshire, Investigate what skills shots exist and Investigate the potential causes of these skills first steps.The briny sequel of the submit was a matrix of the skills ask that rotter be apply by universities and bringing up disposals to tailor their course glutedness to suit the constantly evolving demands of this industriousness. To combat the skills gaps that emerged and block surgery riddles arising, a reduce of recomm closingations sway to be adopted to reference work the pranks discovered (1) Improve tuition strategies for IS professionals at heart the sector, major(ip)ity of organisations sire no set facts of life scheme or budget this is something that inevitably to change, (2) work an annual e-learning skills field distri providedor point gaps and utterlyages, every(prenominal)owing education and attention to understand uphill and open up skills needfully. It would every(pr enominal)ow changes in demand and type of skill to be monitored. This would al iow organisations to organise their cozy train strategies, to guide skills gaps and (3) Form treat links amidst labor and education partners to cater for course subject atomic tally 18a to be modifyd and improve drill prospects for graduates. The to the highest degree burning(prenominal) process is to integrate education with assiduity. If courses as specialist as-learning could be authentic with an industry partner, the correct subject field would be guaranteed.1. existenceM either(prenominal) organisations assimilate accomp either to realise that certain smart technologies sack up optimise efficiency and make processes to a great extent than strong. study and converse Technology (ICT) terminate bring industry closer to their customers, partners and suppliers with more than(prenominal) integrated barter and communicating systems, and keep return enhanced educationa l opportunities. in that location is a well-established relationship in the midst of improvements in discipline establishments (IS) skills and increase productivity. (Dress, 2001) The opportunity to deduct militant reinforcement through engine room has thereof contri entirelyed to demand for skilled IS professionals come instripping put turn up. The label utilise to describe this effect is a skills shortage.The Computer Services and Softwargon Association estimate that IS skills shortages result cost the UK over 30 jillion over the next 3 years(e-skills NTO, 2001). in that respect is a growing k flatledge that the gap in skills for IS professionals is widening. The gap in skills does non and if be active the ICT (primary) sector but all several(predicate) sectors (secondary)which apply information technologies in their production, processes, products or function.The E-revolution of the information industries has occasiond a invigorated labour force, profess ional IS roles atomic number 18 becoming diversified and a generic IS political platform exit non meet all the postulate for all IS jobs in the future day. It agreems that in whatsoever system that has an E markd in front of it e-learning, e-business, e-commerce, argon the discipline of parvenu skills. Never in the first place puzzle new skills show uped at much(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) a rate. Even if industrial structure is only ever-changing slowly, employers of IS practiti singlers r atomic number 18ly ensn ar it easy to excogitate their current and crabbedly future skill needs very precisely. some ace third of the IS skills in the grocery today puddle only emerged in the last year. Sixty viisome of the one hundred and xxx three internet link skills ar totally new. Chris Bennett, MD peter erupt Australia (Hawking, 2002) New curricula need to be veritable which consist-of separate distinctive cin one casentrations, which draw a bead on proper(postnominal) roles in the job trade. A new vexeder relationship needs to be formed amid educational institutions and companies to cede the call for skills to be taught and help alleviate the current IS skills shortages. In the rapidly changing field of operations of IS, educational programs must be continually re-evaluated and revised. on that point is presently a gap surrounded by what industry wants characteristically in it IS personnel and what academia provides to them. Gupta and Watcher( 1998)The first step in the syllabus alteration process is to administer a examine to determine the pass judgment skills and cognition needful for IS professionals in industry. This ordain allow academic institutions to create programs that more completedly resound the demands of the marketplace. At present, there is no placeable info rough the requirements of IS professionals detail to the e-learning sector. This is the gap in intimacy that needs to be investiga ted.This dissertation has been licenced to do precisely that to investigate the skills required for IS professionals working(a) in thee-learning industry. The results potbelly then be use as a showation for evolution a suitable postgraduate course at the University level. The master(prenominal) outcome of the subject argona provide be a matrix of the skills required that basin be employ by universities and information organisations to tailor their course content to suit the constantly evolving demands of this industry.The investigate carried out in this project faecal matter be use by some early(a) universities to clarify the skills required for employment in this sector, allowing course content to be tailored to suit the changing demands of industry, and improve the opportunities for students seeking employment upon graduation.2. Aims ObjectivesThe question entrust be senstered on the profound area of skills gap analysis. This entrust involve determining the p erceive skill requirements for IS professionals and the actual skills held by current employees, then determining the differences. This watch aims to obtain information from a representative survival of the IS professional population, and from that reserve in the detective wear out then be able to present the conclusions as be representative of the population as a sequence. The characteristics of the total population go forth be represented justly in the seek to enable the inquiry worker to say with fair confidence that the adjudicate is reasonably representative.The sample will intromit IS professionals at all levels and grades of employment and will reflect the composition of participating organisations. The sketch will allow users to simultaneously score both their own self-assessment of their ability and their perceptions of the levels of skill really required by their job. The sample population will admit organizations in the e-learning sector with a account o f close association with Business concern Berkshire and Wiltshire.Summary of inquiry Objectives localize the current state of the UK IS workforce and the e-learning industry Identify the roughly historic/prevalent issues from the musical compositions Investigate the skills required to work as an IS professional in the e-learning industry in the Berkshire theatrical role Identify the skill gaps from the comprehend and actual skill levels Discuss the finding and compare against those of relevant old studies3. Literature ReviewThe foundation for revision of programme process is the critique of writings and investigation into the expected industry skills and familiarity for IS professionals. In the universe chapter an outline of this think over was prone. This section will concentre upon academic lit tie ind to the subject area, which will go onto tho support the entropy already mentioned.As well as academic books, names are of particular immenseness to this dissertation, due to the dynamic reputation of the industry, themes are able to oblation the very in style(p) up to betrothal information, which whitethorn take calendar months to be peer reviewed and publish in journals. thither are a outlet of says, which have been consulted in the preparation of this report that have provided valuable acumen into the subject area. In addition the accentuate chapter that follow up ons this contains greater detail into the expanse and industry trends, separated to avoid over-powering the overcritical issues suck uped here.3.1 BackgroundThe lit in general Skills Requirements Analysis (SRA) is extensive. Related areas hold Training Needs judging (TNA) and the broader area of Learning Needs judging (LNA). Recent work in the area, such as that by hell (1998) and earlier, by Kidd (1984) in k immediatelyledge acquisition adds to more traditional texts from skills culture practitioners including Peterson (1998) and Major (1988).These p apers all identify skills training as one of a number of initiatives to purpose surgical process problems in an organisation. Using the performance problems identified, how far the skills identified are present, and how big is the gap amidst the performance objectives and the performance resulting from actual skills in place. This process is referred to as a skills audited account. The skills audit links presently to the look for questions in chapter one. A skills assessment or audit has three main objectives1. To determine what skills are required by severally employee 2. To determine which of the required skills each employee has 3. To analyse the results and establish the item training needs.Authors such as Hamel (1994) openly express the increasing nurture of employees skills, leading to fellowship within an organisation. More recent articles, such as Birch all and Tovstiga (1999) describe how this cognition manifests itself primarily as organisational competencies and capabilities, leading to that all- central competitive advantage. Ona centering to increase a companys organisational competencies and capabilities in order to gain competitive advantage is through guardedly implemented training and break downment, Schuler (1984).Education and training provision are important strategic practices in the get aroundment of organisational competence, but without brain the precise skills needs first, how can the appropriate training be applied?3.2 Information System programme in that respect is extensive books surrounding the area of IS curriculum opticize. Although this vignette will non involve any physique of curriculum, it is none the slight useful to have an rationality of some of the issues that arise in aim IS curriculum if the findings of this watch will be employ as a foundation to develop IS curricula.A common land theme in the books is the catchyy in creating curriculum that can fulfil all requirements in an industry that ev olves so rapidly. Martinson and Cheung (2001) intimate that recent developments of IS industry jobs and career paths have made understanding the knowledge/skills requirement of an IS professional even more difficult. This is back up by Latham (2000) who explains that the complexity and multi-disciplinarily nature of Information Systems makes identifying a common curriculum both difficult and contentious.Skills requirements will inevitably change over time and it is important to take a strategic view of the needs of industry. in that location are a number of papers that highlight the differences among industry and academia strategies, and strong suggestions that these need to be merged and greater links formed between the two.Kim, Shim, and Yoon (1999) found that, IS organisations perceive managerial and organisational issues as more important than educators. They excessively found that educators consider emerging issues more important than industry organisations. programme sh ould be positive working with corporate partners. Similar work of Srinivasan, Duane, and Wright(1999) supports the brilliance of this idea of improving links between education and industry. In Lightfoots (1999) research on IS curriculum design, it was suggested that curriculum needs to be essential to satisfy both the current and future needs of the industry at the sometime. This is impossible without the links mentioned above.3.3 Information System SkillsAlthough the growing demand for IS professionals is evident, the demand combine of skills required is not. This could be attributed to the mount and divergence of IS roles that are now accessible. Hedge (now known as Dress) highlighted that The fast-moving proficient change in 1CT and rapid innovation, mean that it is a good deal more difficult than in the past to determine the type and combination of skills that are needed (Dee, 1999).While the report emergence of demand for IS workers is very evident, the appellation of specific skills required for the variety of positions in Information Systems is not as crown (Noll and Wilkins 2002).Research by Young and downwind (1997) and Lee, Trough, and Farwell (1995)confirm the increasing sizeableness of these soft skills, which include writing, teamwork, presenting, project elbow room, and interpersonal relationships.E-skills NTO, the industry representative body for IT skills, recently published a comprehensive report detailing the current situation escorting the supply and demand of IT and telecommunication professionals in the United Kingdom. This survey, called e-skills 21(2002) was the approximately comprehensive study of IT and Telecom Professionalism the UK in history, it included over 4000 interviews with professionals at all levels and crossways all sectors during 2001. The results of the comprehensive e-skills 21 survey mentioned earlier are characterised into good and generic skills. More detail into what each compromises of will be attached later. Aspects of the e-skills study have been used to develop the research instrument used in this study, to allow the skills gap findings to be directly compared.This E-Skills survey revealed a consensus among the companies that there was no major skill gap among the IS workers. However the ones that did mention about a gap, pointed out the skills gap related to operate system, application work and networking skills. It was common opinion among around of the respondents that engineering was evolving at a much faster rate than they could grasp. These issues will be looked at during the study.Several studies manoeuvre that verbal skills, work in cross-functional groups and written communications skills were the three some highly rated qualities to seek in ply Gupta and Watcher (1998) This view is supported in a recent report ( needey et al., 2000) quotes one respondent who say that There is a real lack of people who can compounding ICT and business acumen. The bigg est challenge for scientific CT rung is in understanding the dynamics of business including sales and market processes, supply chain processes, and inborn processes. They withal need to continue to develop and evolve customer approach business systems to enhance and improve the end user experience. CT provide were in like manner identified as a central resource in educateing skills to new(prenominal) areas of the business so communication skills and an understanding of the organisation are essential (E-skills 21, 2001).Another requirements paper by Lewinski (2003) suggests that IS skills can be more effectively developed through on-the-job training. The classification of requirements was not as specific as the other literature mentioned, but similarities can be seen in the results. With admiration to practiced skills troubleshooting was required by 97 preceptor respondents, 91 services and facilitation, 82 installation of hardware/ package and configuration, and 67 ex pressed a need for systems operation, monitoring and maintenance. Equal importance was placed upon non- skilful skills, including good communication, analytical/problem solving, flexibility and the ability to learn quickly. The only other study to include both a perceived and actual approach to skills assessment (as this study does) is by Hay (2003).The report by Hay (2003) concludes that there are four skills that are systematically higher than perceived needs of the job basic computer use, develop processing, spread sheet and database use. The areas repeatedly below the required level were video display and graphics software, and use of a browser. There was similarly a reported clear gap in the market in the areas of knowledge of operating systems and networking. These skills gaps are readily identifiable by the employees themselves, with over 50% of participants wanting(p) the required skills in at least(prenominal) one area.There are so legion(predicate) papers, with so many another(prenominal) different classifications that comparing them directly was extremely difficult in writing this literature review. The common themes that came out were the technical and generic split of skills. There is a need for combination of both sets of skills. The skills gaps appear to be entered on OS and Networking skills on the technical side, and all skills related to the generic side. The only way to breakdown the form of skills from various papers to be able to understand and compare in a scientific way is by development an industry meter manikin. The chosen framework and a number of other frameworks are describe inspection 3.5.3.4 E-Learning SkillsAny employee, in any role, requires some overall, understanding of the business within which they work. Therefore, as this study is of IS professional skills in the e-learning industry each individual employed is required to have some understanding of the rudiments of teaching, tallow them to function as part of a n educational organisation. The skills mentioned in this section will be required, though the depth of pedagogic skills will by pendent on the individuals role. For drill, the pedagogical skills of a training professional should be considerably stronger than that of a programmer.There was surprisingly little literature in the area of IS professionals working in-learning. The most useful research found was by Massy (2000 and2001). both(prenominal) these studies were critically analysed by the Scottish enterprise research report published on their website. Both the papers suggested that the skills and competencies required by on-line training professionals can be broadly categorised as technical, pedagogical and managerial.Massy (2001) pointed out that there has been a consistent shift from the importance laid on Information dialogue Technologies skills requirements with increase efforts now cosmos placed on the acquisition of the above mentioned categories. The SFIA framework a ppears to cover every aspect of IS skills, the area of education and training was looked at well being of particular importance to this study, and was found to give enough detail for IS professionals in general. Although more detail was required in the design of the instrument used in this study. In line with developments in engineering generally, the impact of technology-supported learning (TSL), and in particular e-learning(EL), has given rise to new combinations of skills, featuring how people learn with a sound understanding of the available technology in the design of learning experiences. (Massy, 2000a cited in SERR, 2005)The first survey by Massy (2000) showed some arouse differences from the follow-up survey (2001). There was a marked change in point of skills from technical (ICT) to pedagogical skills. The key concern in2000, was that technology had go away the central focus for e-learning development, appeared to have been channelise in the 12 months that passed in a dvance the second survey. Greater emphasis was now being placed on the managerial and pedagogical attributes required for producing and presenting e-learning. In the same 12 month period, over 60% of respondents had taken part in some daily training, and a further 30% conventional schoolroom-based learning.The step down in attaining ICT skills was reportedly due to the basic smoothness being established and the focus being directed to attaining new skills in e-learning content design. This requires a greater understanding of precaution and pedagogy. The study by Martin and Jennings (2002) followed the same approach as Massy. In this survey a annotation was made between users and suppliers of e-learning. alas it is not possible to make that distinction, as more often than not they are the same person. This problem of identifying groups was as well expressed in the report, Unreality, most user organisations are excessively providers of e-learning, such as universities.Suppli ers identified an increased interest in gaining in-depth Information communion skills others suggesting this were a major problem. Stronger leading and championing of projects is also required. The most important ICT skills identified, with regard to-learning were To effectively utilise web-page design, including text, audio frequency and video conferencing materials, E-mail, Bulletin boards, Discussion forums for communication with and between learners (SERR,2005).These are comparatively common and well-developed skills for IS professionals. Another important issue, which has go on to braised throughout this literature review, is the need for better collaboration between industry (supplier) and academia. To aid this it is also suggested that e-learning needs to be integrated further in to university and college education.3.5 Information System mannikinsIS caution and occupational analysts in different-organisations and countries have tried to distil the structure of the indus try, from the constantly evolving picture show, so it is understandable that a number of different occupational frameworks have therefore emerged. The most important frameworks to this study are those that have been used for surveys. While there are broad similarities, different surveys, victimisation different frameworks, produce different results, and although they whitethorn enrich the overall picture of the industry, they cannot generally be usefully compared.A number of academics have developed their own skills frameworks. Allot these follow the same format of grouping technical and business skills, against various levels of competency. Examples of academic frameworks developed include early research by Ashen Hurst (1972) that identified 37 skills and abilities that a student in a graduate IS program should expect to acquire into sise categories people, models, systems, computers, organizations, and society.alike the work of Todd et al. (1995) classified IS knowledge into se ven categories hardware, software, business, management, social, and problem solving, and development method actingology. It was also reasoned that interpersonal and managerial skills are more important than any technical skills for IS managers. Nelson (1991) classified 30 skills into six groups organizational knowledge, organizational skills, organizational unit, general IS knowledge, technical skills, and IS product. This paper found that IS personnel were deficient in general IS knowledge followed by organizational knowledge, technical skills, organizational skills, IS product, and organizational units (in that order).Lee and Gosling (1999) classified three key abilities of IS professionals ability to learn new technologies, ability to focus on technology as a way (not an end), and ability to understand technological trends into technology management knowledge and other technology-related knowledge into technical specialized knowledge. There port classified non-technology-rel ated knowledge into business functional knowledge, interpersonal and management skills, letting interpersonal and management skills contain some personal traits. as well as included was the ability to teach others interpersonal and management skills. It was found that non-technological knowledge is now more important than technical skills.A skills framework gives organisations A clear, well-structured view of their staffs skills A lance for more accurate planning and management of resources A tool for accurate development of careers, so improving storage A better way of targeting training A method of pretend assessment for the loss of key skills A tool for accurate and expeditious enlisting (Taken From Skills Framework ).In the UK, in June 2001 e-skills NTO published a Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). It provides a common reference model for the identification of the skills needed to develop effective Information Systems making use of Information Communications Technologies. It appeared to be a simple and coherent two-dimensional framework consisting of areas of work on one axis and levels of responsibility on the other (SFIA ). Previously there was no industry benchmark for organisation to standard the skill levels of their organisation. The methodology for this study will be developed to allow the results to be mapped directly onto the framework. Therefore, the findings can be compared to those of previous research carried out by-skills NTO.3.6 SummaryThe literature presented has highlighted some important issues, provided grounding for this study and has helped eliminate some of the preconceptions of what was expected. The purpose of identifying skills gaps is to allow the appropriate training to be adopted, therefore eliminating the performance problems that exist. The career paths of the IS industry are no longer straight person forward and the complexity and vicissitude of the sector makes understanding it in a scientific way very difficult.The literature suggests that as the industry is so dynamic, relationships must be modify between education and industry. The problems that exist relate to academic and training practitioners not providing the correct skills in their graduates. Research focussed academia tends to provide graduates with the latest emerging technologies, these skills quickly become out-of-date, while the more fundamental technologies appear to be neglected.This is expressed in the views of many industry speakers, it is assumed that an IS professional will be capable of learning new programming languages, once the method of logical thinking has been established. It is more important to develop the established fundamental technologies, and allow the professional to develop the niche skills required as they move into a specialist area, for example e-learning.The technical skills gaps that exist are center around Microsoft Programs including Windows/NT, MS activity skills (especially MS Acces s), and Networking technologies. The generic skills gaps that exist include both written and oral examination communication, user IT skills, industry awareness, and problem solving. The combinations of these two types of skills gaps are from literature that investigated the social unit IS industry. It will be provoke to see how they compare with thee-learning sector, which you would presume at this stage to have stronger focus on generic skills.The literature that was focused one-learning highlighted all forms of communication (e.g. oral, written, and electronic) as the most important generic skills. The most important technical skills required included web related technologies and launching or audio visual skills. The final area to look into was to see if the focus change from technical to pedagogical was visible in this study. This could not be done in the same way as the literature by repeating the study again after a 12 month period. As different approach the structure of th e instrument could be written in way to allow semblances to be made between importance levels of the three categories of skill.The main reasons cited for skills gaps in the ICT sector are a lack of skills/experience of new technologies and organisations failing to train/develop staff sufficiently to meet their needs. This in turn causes difficulty in introducing technological change. The other effects highlighted include delays in the development of new products/services and difficulties meeting business objectives. practically of the literature suggests the most obvious actions to calculate the problem of skills gaps would be to provide further training and increase recruitment of direct staff. These can be included in the changing of working practices.The chapter on research methods will explain exactly what instruments are used and the approach taken. The literature was used extensively to create the instruments and followed previous research to allow comparisons of the result s to be made. They follow the form set out in this review combining technical, generic and pedagogical skills. Instruments used in the literature were modified and extended for the purposes of this study. The results chapter also uses some of the literature as a source of ideas for the interpretations and highlighting the most probatory findings. This is to allow direct comparison with previous studies.The main gap identified in the literature is with regard to quantifying the pedagogical skills mentioned. In Masons work the skills are mentioned but not in enough detail. In the e-learning industry the pedagogical skills will not compare that of a normal teacher or lecturer, as there is not only a significant difference between the methods of teaching and learning, but also in content provision. The student in an e-learning environment is a researcher, which is quite different from classroom based taught learning.There are also further technical skills that are only required in th is sector that need to be assessed. This study should provide the reader with an understanding of the requirements of an IS professional working in e-learning and highlight the gaps that currently exist in this sector in Berkshire. It will be of particular benefit to persons working within the industry or closely linked to it. This study can be used as a basis to start an investigation into the requirements of an IS e-learning undergrad or postgraduate course.3.7 Research HypothesisNull Hypothesis is delimit as The state opponent to that suggested in a hypothesis, postulated in the desire of rejecting its form and therefore proving the hypothesis. whence the null hypothesis for this research may be stated as H0 There is no skills gap among Information system professionals in the e-learning sector. The followers research hypothesis is derived from the literature and will be tested using the primary research conducted by the researcher. H1 There exists a skills gap among Infor mation system professional in the e-learning sector4. Research Methodology 4.1 IntroductionAn appropriate research methodology is a general plan of how the researcher will go about respond the research questions considering the sources to collect data and the constraints that one might have(access to data, time, location and money, etc.). It should reflect the fact that the researcher has sentiment carefully about why a particular strategy/method has been employed. Data intended for almost any study can be obtained from two sources Primary Data and substitute Data. This chapter describes the process of method selection and justification for the method chosen. The sample selection method is described and the design of the instrument used is included. There is an debut into how the results were analysed before the results chapter which holds greater detail. accordingly there is a short description of how the methods chosen could have been improve or expanded on given greater ti me or financial resources.4.2 Choice of MethodologyA small-scale research study of this kind can use a survey to obtain big(a) amounts of data in a short space of time. This study has produced a statistical analysis of the skills rSkill Requirements for IS Professionals in E-learningSkill Requirements for IS Professionals in E-learningSkills requirements for information system professionals in the e-learning sectorThis research project is an investigation into the skills required for Information Systems (IS) professionals working in the commercial e-learning sector. This involved determining the perceived skill requirements for IS professionals, the actual skills held by current employees in this sector, and identifying any skills gaps that existed.The survey obtained information from a representative selection of the IS professional population. The questionnaire sample included IS professionals at all levels and grades of employment and reflected the composition of participating o rganizations. The table below summarises the objectives of this investigation Identify the state of the UK IS workforce and the e-learning industry, Investigate the skills required to work as an IS professional in the e-learning industry in Berkshire, Investigate what skills gaps exist and Investigate the possible causes of these skills gaps.The main outcome of the study was a matrix of the skills required that can be used by universities and training organisations to tailor their course content to suit the constantly evolving demands of this industry. To combat the skills gaps that emerged and prevent performance problems arising, a number of recommendations need to be adopted to address the problems discovered (1) Improve training strategies for IS professionals within the sector, majority of organisations have no set training strategy or budget this is something that needs to change, (2) Create an annual e-learning skills report detailing gaps and shortages, allowing education an d industry to understand emerging and established skills needs. It would allow changes in demand and type of skill to be monitored. This would allow organisations to structure their internal training strategies, to eliminate skills gaps and (3) Form direct links between industry and education partners to allow course content to be improved and improve employment prospects for graduates. The most important action is to integrate education with industry. If courses as specialist as-learning could be developed with an industry partner, the correct content would be guaranteed.1. IntroductionMany organisations have come to realise that certain new technologies can optimise efficiency and make processes more effective. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can bring industry closer to their customers, partners and suppliers through more integrated business and communication systems, and can provide enhanced educational opportunities. There is a well-established relationship betwe en improvements in Information Systems (IS) skills and increased productivity. (Dress, 2001) The opportunity to gain competitive advantage through technology has consequently contributed to demand for skilled IS professionals outstripping supply. The label used to describe this effect is a skills shortage.The Computer Services and packet Association estimate that IS skills shortages will cost the UK over 30 billion over the next three years(e-skills NTO, 2001). There is a growing recognition that the gap in skills for IS professionals is widening. The gap in skills does not only affect the ICT (primary) sector but all other sectors (secondary)which apply information technologies in their production, processes, products or services.The E-revolution of the information industries has created a new labour force, professional IS roles are becoming diversified and a generic IS curriculum will not meet all the needs for all IS jobs in the future. It seems that in any system that has an E placed in front of it e-learning, e-business, e-commerce, are the development of new skills. Never before have new skills appeared at such a rate. Even if industrial structure is only changing slowly, employers of IS practitioners rarely found it easy to articulate their current and particularly future skill needs very precisely.Nearly one third of the IS skills in the market today have only emerged in the last year. Sixty seven of the one hundred and thirty three internet related skills are totally new. Chris Bennett, MD SAP Australia (Hawking, 2002) New curricula need to be developed which consist-of separate distinctive concentrations, which target specific roles in the job market. A new stronger relationship needs to be formed between educational institutions and companies to allow the required skills to be taught and help alleviate the current IS skills shortages. In the rapidly changing field of IS, educational programs must be continually re-evaluated and revised. There is pr esently a gap between what industry wants characteristically in it IS personnel and what academia provides to them. Gupta and Watcher( 1998)The first step in the curriculum revision process is to conduct a study to determine the expected skills and knowledge required for IS professionals in industry. This will allow academic institutions to create programs that more accurately reflect the demands of the marketplace. At present, there is no identifiable data about the requirements of IS professionals specific to the e-learning sector. This is the gap in knowledge that needs to be investigated.This dissertation has been commissioned to do precisely that to investigate the skills required for IS professionals working in thee-learning industry. The results can then be used as a foundation for developing a suitable postgraduate course at the University level. The main outcome of the study will be a matrix of the skills required that can be used by universities and training organisations to tailor their course content to suit the constantly evolving demands of this industry.The research carried out in this project can be used by other universities to clarify the skills required for employment in this sector, allowing course content to be tailored to suit the changing demands of industry, and improve the opportunities for students seeking employment upon graduation.2. Aims ObjectivesThe research will be cantered on the key area of skills gap analysis. This will involve determining the perceived skill requirements for IS professionals and the actual skills held by current employees, then determining the differences. This study aims to obtain information from a representative selection of the IS professional population, and from that sample the researcher will then be able to present the findings as being representative of the population as awhile. The characteristics of the total population will be represented justly in the sample to enable the researcher to say with fair confidence that the sample is reasonably representative.The sample will include IS professionals at all levels and grades of employment and will reflect the composition of participating organisations. The study will allow users to simultaneously score both their own self-assessment of their ability and their perceptions of the levels of skill actually required by their job. The sample population will include organizations in the e-learning sector with a history of close association with Business Link Berkshire and Wiltshire.Summary of Research Objectives Identify the current state of the UK IS workforce and the e-learning industry Identify the most important/prevalent issues from the literature Investigate the skills required to work as an IS professional in the e-learning industry in the Berkshire region Identify the skill gaps from the perceived and actual skill levels Discuss the finding and compare against those of relevant previous studies3. Literature ReviewThe found ation for revision of curriculum process is the review of literature and investigation into the expected industry skills and knowledge for IS professionals. In the introduction chapter an outline of this study was given. This section will focus upon academic literature related to the subject area, which will go onto further support the data already mentioned.As well as academic literature, reports are of particular importance to this dissertation, due to the dynamic nature of the industry, reports are able to offer the very latest up to date information, which may take months to be peer reviewed and published in journals. There are a number of reports, which have been consulted in the preparation of this report that have provided valuable insight into the subject area. In addition the background chapter that follows this contains greater detail into the region and industry trends, separated to avoid over-powering the critical issues highlighted here.3.1 BackgroundThe literature in g eneral Skills Requirements Analysis (SRA) is extensive. Related areas include Training Needs Assessment (TNA) and the broader area of Learning Needs Assessment (LNA). Recent work in the area, such as that by Sine (1998) and earlier, by Kidd (1984) in knowledge acquisition adds to more traditional texts from skills training practitioners including Peterson (1998) and Major (1988).These papers all identify skills training as one of a number of initiatives to solve performance problems in an organisation. Using the performance problems identified, how far the skills identified are present, and how big is the gap between the performance objectives and the performance resulting from actual skills in place. This process is referred to as a skills audit. The skills audit links directly to the research questions in chapter one. A skills assessment or audit has three main objectives1. To determine what skills are required by each employee 2. To determine which of the required skills each emp loyee has 3. To analyse the results and establish the specific training needs.Authors such as Hamel (1994) openly express the increasing value of employees skills, leading to knowledge within an organisation. More recent articles, such as Birch all and Tovstiga (1999) describe how this knowledge manifests itself primarily as organisational competencies and capabilities, leading to that all-important competitive advantage. Onaway to increase a companys organisational competencies and capabilities in order to gain competitive advantage is through carefully implemented training and development, Schuler (1984).Education and training provision are important strategic practices in the development of organisational competence, but without understanding the precise skills needs first, how can the appropriate training be applied?3.2 Information System CurriculumThere is extensive literature surrounding the area of IS curriculum design. Although this study will not involve any design of curri culum, it is none the less useful to have an understanding of some of the issues that arise in designing IS curriculum if the findings of this study will be used as a foundation to develop IS curricula.A common theme in the literature is the difficulty in creating curriculum that can fulfil all requirements in an industry that evolves so rapidly. Martinson and Cheung (2001) suggest that recent developments of IS industry jobs and career paths have made understanding the knowledge/skills requirement of an IS professional even more difficult. This is supported by Latham (2000) who explains that the complexity and multi-disciplinarily nature of Information Systems makes identifying a common curriculum both difficult and contentious.Skills requirements will inevitably change over time and it is important to take a strategic view of the needs of industry. There are a number of papers that highlight the differences between industry and academia strategies, and strong suggestions that thes e need to be merged and greater links formed between the two.Kim, Shim, and Yoon (1999) found that, IS organisations perceive managerial and organisational issues as more important than educators. They also found that educators consider emerging issues more important than industry organisations. Curriculum should be developed working with corporate partners. Similar work of Srinivasan, Duane, and Wright(1999) supports the importance of this idea of improving links between education and industry. In Lightfoots (1999) research on IS curriculum design, it was suggested that curriculum needs to be developed to satisfy both the current and future needs of the industry at the sometime. This is impossible without the links mentioned above.3.3 Information System SkillsAlthough the growing demand for IS professionals is evident, the exact combination of skills required is not. This could be attributed to the scope and divergence of IS roles that are now available. Hedge (now known as Dress) highlighted that The fast-moving technological change in 1CT and rapid innovation, mean that it is much more difficult than in the past to determine the type and combination of skills that are needed (Dee, 1999).While the reported growth of demand for IS workers is very evident, the identification of specific skills required for the variety of positions in Information Systems is not as clear (Noll and Wilkins 2002).Research by Young and Lee (1997) and Lee, Trough, and Farwell (1995)confirm the increasing importance of these soft skills, which include writing, teamwork, presenting, project management, and interpersonal relationships.E-skills NTO, the industry representative body for IT skills, recently published a comprehensive report detailing the current situation regarding the supply and demand of IT and telecommunication professionals in the United Kingdom. This survey, called e-skills 21(2002) was the most comprehensive study of IT and Telecom Professionalism the UK in history, it included over 4000 interviews with professionals at all levels and across all sectors during 2001. The results of the comprehensive e-skills 21 survey mentioned earlier are characterised into technical and generic skills. More detail into what each compromises of will be given later. Aspects of the e-skills study have been used to develop the research instrument used in this study, to allow the skills gap findings to be directly compared.This E-Skills survey revealed a consensus among the companies that there was no major skill gap among the IS workers. However the ones that did mention about a gap, pointed out the skills gap related to operating system, application usage and networking skills. It was common opinion among most of the respondents that technology was evolving at a much faster rate than they could grasp. These issues will be looked at during the study.Several studies indicate that verbal skills, work in cross-functional groups and written communications skills were the three most highly rated qualities to seek in staff Gupta and Watcher (1998) This view is supported in a recent report (lackey et al., 2000) quotes one respondent who said that There is a real lack of people who can combine ICT and business acumen. The biggest challenge for technical CT staff is in understanding the dynamics of business including sales and marketing processes, supply chain processes, and internal processes. They also need to continue to develop and evolve customer facing business systems to enhance and improve the end user experience. CT staff were also identified as a central resource in teaching skills to other areas of the business consequently communication skills and an understanding of the organisation are essential (E-skills 21, 2001).Another requirements paper by Lewinski (2003) suggests that IS skills can be more effectively developed through on-the-job training. The classification of requirements was not as specific as the other literature mentioned, bu t similarities can be seen in the results. With regard to technical skills troubleshooting was required by 97 preceptor respondents, 91 services and facilitation, 82 installation of hardware/software and configuration, and 67 expressed a need for systems operation, monitoring and maintenance. Equal importance was placed upon non-technical skills, including good communication, analytical/problem solving, flexibility and the ability to learn quickly. The only other study to include both a perceived and actual approach to skills assessment (as this study does) is by Hay (2003).The report by Hay (2003) concludes that there are four skills that are consistently higher than perceived needs of the job basic computer use, word processing, spread sheet and database use. The areas repeatedly below the required level were presentation and graphics software, and use of a browser. There was also a reported clear gap in the market in the areas of knowledge of operating systems and networking. The se skills gaps are readily identifiable by the employees themselves, with over 50% of participants lacking the required skills in at least one area.There are so many papers, with so many different classifications that comparing them directly was extremely difficult in writing this literature review. The common themes that came out were the technical and generic split of skills. There is a need for combination of both sets of skills. The skills gaps appear to be entered on OS and Networking skills on the technical side, and all skills related to the generic side. The only way to breakdown the mixture of skills from various papers to be able to understand and compare in a scientific way is by using an industry standard framework. The chosen framework and a number of other frameworks are described inspection 3.5.3.4 E-Learning SkillsAny employee, in any role, requires some overall, understanding of the business within which they work. Therefore, as this study is of IS professional skil ls in the e-learning industry each individual employed is required to have some understanding of the basics of teaching, tallow them to function as part of an educational organisation. The skills mentioned in this section will be required, though the depth of pedagogical skills will by dependant on the individuals role. For example, the pedagogical skills of a training professional should be considerably stronger than that of a programmer.There was surprisingly little literature in the area of IS professionals working in-learning. The most useful research found was by Massy (2000 and2001). Both these studies were critically analysed by the Scottish enterprise research report published on their website. Both the papers suggested that the skills and competencies required by on-line training professionals can be broadly categorised as technical, pedagogical and managerial.Massy (2001) pointed out that there has been a consistent shift from the importance laid on Information Communicati on Technologies skills requirements with increased efforts now being placed on the acquisition of the above mentioned categories. The SFIA framework appears to cover every aspect of IS skills, the area of education and training was looked at closely being of particular importance to this study, and was found to give enough detail for IS professionals in general. Although more detail was required in the design of the instrument used in this study. In line with developments in technology generally, the impact of technology-supported learning (TSL), and in particular e-learning(EL), has given rise to new combinations of skills, featuring how people learn with a sound understanding of the available technology in the design of learning experiences. (Massy, 2000a cited in SERR, 2005)The first survey by Massy (2000) showed some interesting differences from the follow-up survey (2001). There was a marked change in focus of skills from technical (ICT) to pedagogical skills. The key concern i n2000, was that technology had become the central focus for e-learning development, appeared to have been address in the 12 months that passed before the second survey. Greater emphasis was now being placed on the managerial and pedagogical attributes required for producing and presenting e-learning. In the same 12 month period, over 60% of respondents had taken part in some informal training, and a further 30% formal classroom-based learning.The step down in attaining ICT skills was reportedly due to the basic fluency being established and the focus being directed to attaining new skills in e-learning content design. This requires a greater understanding of management and pedagogy. The study by Martin and Jennings (2002) followed the same approach as Massy. In this survey a distinction was made between users and suppliers of e-learning. Unfortunately it is not possible to make that distinction, as more often than not they are the same person. This problem of identifying groups was also expressed in the report, Unreality, most user organisations are also providers of e-learning, such as universities.Suppliers identified an increased interest in gaining in-depth Information Communication skills others suggesting this were a major problem. Stronger leadership and championing of projects is also required. The most important ICT skills identified, with regard to-learning were To effectively utilise web-page design, including text, audio and video conferencing materials, E-mail, Bulletin boards, Discussion forums for communication with and between learners (SERR,2005).These are relatively common and well-developed skills for IS professionals. Another important issue, which has continued to braised throughout this literature review, is the need for better collaboration between industry (supplier) and academia. To aid this it is also suggested that e-learning needs to be integrated further in to university and college education.3.5 Information System FrameworksIS man agement and occupational analysts in different-organisations and countries have tried to distil the structure of the industry, from the constantly evolving picture, so it is understandable that a number of different occupational frameworks have therefore emerged. The most important frameworks to this study are those that have been used for surveys. While there are broad similarities, different surveys, using different frameworks, produce different results, and although they may enrich the overall picture of the industry, they cannot generally be usefully compared.A number of academics have developed their own skills frameworks. Allot these follow the same format of grouping technical and business skills, against various levels of competency. Examples of academic frameworks developed include early research by Ashen Hurst (1972) that identified 37 skills and abilities that a student in a graduate IS program should expect to acquire into six categories people, models, systems, computer s, organizations, and society.Similarly the work of Todd et al. (1995) classified IS knowledge into seven categories hardware, software, business, management, social, and problem solving, and development methodology. It was also reasoned that interpersonal and managerial skills are more important than any technical skills for IS managers. Nelson (1991) classified 30 skills into six groups organizational knowledge, organizational skills, organizational unit, general IS knowledge, technical skills, and IS product. This paper found that IS personnel were deficient in general IS knowledge followed by organizational knowledge, technical skills, organizational skills, IS product, and organizational units (in that order).Lee and Gosling (1999) classified three key abilities of IS professionals ability to learn new technologies, ability to focus on technology as a means (not an end), and ability to understand technological trends into technology management knowledge and other technology-rel ated knowledge into technical specialized knowledge. There port classified non-technology-related knowledge into business functional knowledge, interpersonal and management skills, letting interpersonal and management skills contain some personal traits. Also included was the ability to teach others interpersonal and management skills. It was found that non-technological knowledge is now more important than technical skills.A skills framework gives organisations A clear, well-structured view of their staffs skills A tool for more accurate planning and management of resources A tool for accurate development of careers, so improving retention A better way of targeting training A method of risk assessment for the loss of key skills A tool for accurate and efficient recruitment (Taken From Skills Framework ).In the UK, in June 2001 e-skills NTO published a Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). It provides a common reference model for the identification of the skills needed to develop effective Information Systems making use of Information Communications Technologies. It appeared to be a simple and coherent two-dimensional framework consisting of areas of work on one axis and levels of responsibility on the other (SFIA ). Previously there was no industry benchmark for organisation to measure the skill levels of their organisation. The methodology for this study will be developed to allow the results to be mapped directly onto the framework. Therefore, the findings can be compared to those of previous research carried out by-skills NTO.3.6 SummaryThe literature presented has highlighted some important issues, provided grounding for this study and has helped eliminate some of the preconceptions of what was expected. The purpose of identifying skills gaps is to allow the appropriate training to be adopted, therefore eliminating the performance problems that exist. The career paths of the IS industry are no longer straight forward and the complexity and dive rsity of the sector makes understanding it in a scientific way very difficult.The literature suggests that as the industry is so dynamic, relationships must be improved between education and industry. The problems that exist relate to academic and training practitioners not providing the correct skills in their graduates. Research focused academia tends to provide graduates with the latest emerging technologies, these skills quickly become out-of-date, while the more fundamental technologies appear to be neglected.This is expressed in the views of many industry speakers, it is assumed that an IS professional will be capable of learning new programming languages, once the method of logical thinking has been established. It is more important to develop the established fundamental technologies, and allow the professional to develop the niche skills required as they move into a specialist area, for example e-learning.The technical skills gaps that exist are focused around Microsoft Prog rams including Windows/NT, MS Application skills (especially MS Access), and Networking technologies. The generic skills gaps that exist include both written and oral communication, user IT skills, industry awareness, and problem solving. The combinations of these two types of skills gaps are from literature that investigated the whole IS industry. It will be interesting to see how they compare with thee-learning sector, which you would presume at this stage to have stronger focus on generic skills.The literature that was focused one-learning highlighted all forms of communication (e.g. oral, written, and electronic) as the most important generic skills. The most important technical skills required included web related technologies and presentation or audio visual skills. The final area to look into was to see if the focus change from technical to pedagogical was visible in this study. This could not be done in the same way as the literature by repeating the study again after a 12 m onth period. As different approach the structure of the instrument could be written in way to allow comparisons to be made between importance levels of the three categories of skill.The main reasons cited for skills gaps in the ICT sector are a lack of skills/experience of new technologies and organisations failing to train/develop staff sufficiently to meet their needs. This in turn causes difficulty in introducing technological change. The other effects highlighted include delays in the development of new products/services and difficulties meeting business objectives. Much of the literature suggests the most obvious actions to address the problem of skills gaps would be to provide further training and increase recruitment of direct staff. These can be included in the changing of working practices.The chapter on research methods will explain exactly what instruments are used and the approach taken. The literature was used extensively to create the instruments and followed previous research to allow comparisons of the results to be made. They follow the form set out in this review combining technical, generic and pedagogical skills. Instruments used in the literature were modified and extended for the purposes of this study. The results chapter also uses some of the literature as a source of ideas for the descriptions and highlighting the most significant findings. This is to allow direct comparison with previous studies.The main gap identified in the literature is with regard to quantifying the pedagogical skills mentioned. In Masons work the skills are mentioned but not in enough detail. In the e-learning industry the pedagogical skills will not match that of a normal teacher or lecturer, as there is not only a significant difference between the methods of teaching and learning, but also in content provision. The student in an e-learning environment is a researcher, which is quite different from classroom based taught learning.There are also further technica l skills that are only required in this sector that need to be assessed. This study should provide the reader with an understanding of the requirements of an IS professional working in e-learning and highlight the gaps that currently exist in this sector in Berkshire. It will be of particular benefit to persons working within the industry or closely linked to it. This study can be used as a basis to start an investigation into the requirements of an IS e-learning undergraduate or postgraduate course.3.7 Research HypothesisNull Hypothesis is defined as The state opposite to that suggested in a hypothesis, postulated in the hope of rejecting its form and therefore proving the hypothesis. Hence the null hypothesis for this research may be stated as H0 There is no skills gap among Information system professionals in the e-learning sector. The following research hypothesis is derived from the literature and will be tested using the primary research conducted by the researcher. H1 There exists a skills gap among Information system professional in the e-learning sector4. Research Methodology 4.1 IntroductionAn appropriate research methodology is a general plan of how the researcher will go about answering the research questions considering the sources to collect data and the constraints that one might have(access to data, time, location and money, etc.). It should reflect the fact that the researcher has thought carefully about why a particular strategy/method has been employed. Data intended for almost any study can be obtained from two sources Primary Data and Secondary Data. This chapter describes the process of method selection and justification for the method chosen. The sample selection method is described and the design of the instrument used is included. There is an introduction into how the results were analysed before the results chapter which holds greater detail. Then there is a short description of how the methods chosen could have been improved or ex panded on given greater time or financial resources.4.2 Choice of MethodologyA small-scale research study of this kind can use a survey to obtain large amounts of data in a short space of time. This study has produced a statistical analysis of the skills r

Studying The Numerous Functions Of Maybank2u Information Technology Essay

Studying The Numerous Functions Of Maybank2u In versionation applied science EssayFund conveyance of title simply means send just about amount of cash from an throwaway to another account via Internet. By having this be given, Maybank2u(M2U) all toldows its registered users to delight farm animal online without having queuing at bank counter to arrest out doing. For example, pargonnts pile channel fund to their children who study abroad by using this service. Besides, bodied user hazard tooth use this get to pay their supplier and so they do not collect to use cheque to make defrayment which is more risky comp ared to fund win away of training because the user or supplier may lost the cheque.On Maybank2u.com, users stomach exaltation specie amid testify Maybank accounts, e.g. from savings account to flow account, to other Maybank accounts, to other local anesthetic banks or financial institutions and fare notes overseas. carry-over between declare May bank accountsM2U users evict transfer funds between own Maybank accounts. To transfer funds between own Maybank accountsUsers must be a registered M2U user.First, login on Maybank2u.com.They eject whence choose banking area of Accounts and Banking to transfer funds.An overview of saving and current accounts oddment get out be shown on screen afterward.By clicking get rid ofs at the pickax panel at left hatful side, it will get users to main(prenominal) transfer page and users can choose own account transfer.Then, users can enter transfer inside information such as amount to be transferred, transfer funds from which account to which account and charter an effective battle for the transfer to take place.After this is d superstar, users can review transfer details to confirm the transaction. If users spend a penny changed their mind, they can correct it by moving back to the previous page.If users confirm the transaction, they can click the Confirm tab and a confirmation s creen will be shown to show whether the transfer is made or fail.Users will be given a unique file name extension number for the transfer as record.They can then print reception of the transfer or make another transfer.This transfer takes less than 3 minutes to be done. It is fast and convenient. There is no sic for users to transfer fund between own accounts as long as thither is balance in their account. air.jpgFigure 1.1 Own account transfer tape drive to troika troupes Maybank accountTo transfer funds from own account to third partys Maybank account, M2U users can choose to transfer funds immediately or at a selected future date, just like how transferring between own accounts does. If users bring forth selected some(prenominal) future transfers, all the outstanding future transfers will be recorded in a table and users are allowed to check on pending funds transfer and cancel them any measure. However, there is a narrow for chance(a) transfer which is of maximum RM500 0 per day. This service is free of charge.Steps to carry this transfer are al about the same with that of transfer between own Maybank accounts. The differences between these two are users consent to select third party account transfer instead of own account transfer. There are too some functions easy in this transfer.The first function is third Party Account Maintenance. This function allows users to save account details of someone whom users transfer funds frequently, so that users do not need to blusher in account number every time when they want to transfer funds. Users are allowed to save up to 20 favourite accounts and update or delete the account details.Another function provided for this transfer is Transaction limitation Maintenance. The maximum limit of amount that users can transfer per day is RM5000. Users may set their own mundane transaction limit from 1 penny to maximum of RM5000.Besides, for immediate transfer, users are allowed to send e-mail to recipients in fix up to inform them that they have transferred money to their accounts.Transfer1.jpgFigure 1.2 Transfer to 3rd partys Maybank accountTransfer to accounts of other local banks or financial institutionsM2U users can also transfer funds to savings or current accounts of other local banks or financial institutionssuch as Alliance Bank, CIMB Bank, HSBC, Citibank, etc. This transfer is named giro cheque Interbank Transfer. There are a few types of payment can be made through giro cheque which is funds transfers to savings or current accounts, honorable mention display panel payment, loan payment and hire purchase payment.During weekdays, recipients will receive fund transferred at the same day if users transfer fund forrader 12pm and the money will be ac quoteed to recipients account before 12 midnight. For funds transferred after 12pm, recipients will receive the amount in the next working day. For funds transferred during weekends and public holidays, recipients will receive the money in the next working day.Steps to carry out this transfer are almost the same with the steps above but transmitters have to select New Interbank GIRO Transfer and they also needed to select which bank to transfer to before they enter transfer details. Senders will also be questioned about whether they want validation of recipients ID at their bank.m2.jpgFigure 1.3 Transfer to other banks accountThere is also a daily transfer limit for this transfer which is RM5000 and there is also RM2 charge for service fee. handle the transfer funds to third party, users can also set their favourite IBG Transfers to their favourite list and there is a maximum of 20 favourites.Transfer funds overseasIf M2U users want to transfer funds (cash or credit money) overseas online, users can do this by using Foreign telegraphic Transfer. Users can transfer money to 3rd party account by Credit to Account to 50 countries in 24 currencies conveniently plot for cash, users can notwithstanding sen d it to 6 countries.Maybank2u has set a daily transfer limit for this fund transfer. To transfer cash, users must transfer at to the lowest degree RM250 or maximum up to RM1000. For credit to account, users must transfer at least RM250 and maximum up to RM10000. This transaction is processed by SWIFT and TAC (security code) authentication, so it is fast and safe. Besides, Maybank2u is able to calculate the value of the funds that you want to transfer by converting currency instantly. The amount will then be debited straight from users Maybank saving or current account to 3rd party account.Maybank will charge a transaction fee of RM10 to sender for each transaction carried out. Recipient will also be charged by their bank and the amount is different in every country. The time taken for recipient to receive money depends on recipients bank.Besides all these transfers functions, on the Transfers page, users are also allowed to check transfer history, future transfers and impertinen t telegraphic transfer history and manage their favourite transfers.CREDIT separateThere are thorough 23 types of credit card available in Maybank. Details about various types of credit cards are available on Maybank2u.com. People who are Malaysian and aged twenty-first to 65th years old with specified range of amount of income can apply for Maybank credit card. For supplementary cardholders, they must be of at least 21st years old. For those who wish to apply Maybank credit cards, they are provided with a function which can help them to get a card that is outperform suit themselves.First, they will be questioned about their income and also what type of card are they looking for. After make selection, all results will be shown and users are allowed to make comparison between cards.credit card2.jpgFigure 1.5 make out income range and types of cardAfter users have made decision on which card to choose, they can download application form from Maybank2u.com, print it and come acros s in details. For applicants who wish to have a supplementary cardholder, they can download supplementary form online too. After all these are done, they can hand up the application form attach with all required documents to one of the branches to apply for credit card.dl application form.jpgFigure 1.6 Download credit card application formIMPROVEMENTThere are total 8 methods available in Maybank to transfer fund which are Maybank funds Express, Foreign Telegraphic Transfer, 3rd party own account transfer, GIRO Interbank Transfer, China Remittance Service, MEPS Interbank Funds Transfer, Foreign Worker Telegraphic Transfer and MoneyGram Money Transfer. However, there are only three methods available on Maybank2u.com.In order to increase clients option in transferring funds, Maybank should include a few more methods on Maybank2u.com. In other words, it should make any of the five methods available to use online.For example, Maybank Money Express is one of the methods that allows over seas recipients to receive money instantly. By providing reference number given by the sender, recipients can receive the money immediately without having to confront. If this function is available online, users (sender) do not have to travel to branch physically to perform this transaction and recipients can still receive money at once. By having this, users can transfer funds in a more efficient manner. This directly increases customers satisfaction and also the banks reputation and it may attract more customers since it provides the most convenient way for customers to transfer funds overseas.Besides, M2U should increase daily transfer limit for transfer fund to 3rd party account. The default daily transfer limit is RM5000. If users want to transfer more than RM5000, they have to wait until next working day or proceed to ATM to take aim the transaction. This causes inconvenience to users who wish to transfer funds in a larger amount without having travel to branch physically. So, M2U should increase its daily transfer limit so that users can transfer more money online.NEW FUNCTIONSIn order to response more promptly to customers request, M2U should provide a function which allows customers to have direct conversations with customer service representatives online when they face problem in using functions on M2U. This is also known as chat box. umpteen online shopping websites adopt this function so that they can react hot to customers question and need. Conventionally, when users face problems, they either give a call to customer service department or send e-mail and wait for their reply. These take time and some customers may feel impatient while time lag for their reply. Businesses should always place their customers as their top priority and they should fulfill customers need as much as possible and as fast as possible. So, if M2U develop this function, it can response more quickly to customers need and this indirectly increase customers satisfaction and they can retain customers loyalty.For users who wish to apply Maybank credit card online, M2U again causes another inconvenience as there is no function that allows customers to apply credit card online. All it has are only detailed information about credit cards and users can download application form if they want to apply credit cards.So, M2U should insert this function and it can further develop another function for applicants to upload keep documents. By having this, supporting documents such as NRIC, latest BE form with official tax receipt, latest 2 months salary slips, latest 3 months savings account activity/current account statements, etc can be uploaded and submitted online by the applicants together with the application of credit card. This function really bring great convenience for people who are busy and always have no free time to travel to branch physically.

The effect of tourism from films

The effect of tourism from filmsIntroductionThe ikon under analysis is referred to as the tourist, and it was produced in the year 2010. This is a wild-eyed comedy thriller that key outs the life of a tourist, who is wrongly mistaken to be a notorious criminal, being sought after(prenominal) by the Scotland Yard detectives. However, after the celluloid progresses, the police are open to find out that he was the real criminal they were take careing after. This film stars some of the best photographic film talents, and this includes bathroomny Depp, and Angelina Jolie1. This celluloid was scripted and directed by Florian Von Donnersmarck. This film was produced and financed by Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions, and it was distributed by the Columbia Pictures Production. The initial budget for this film stood at 100, million dollars, however, it went on to cost approximately 278 million dollars, before its release. This idea is an analysis of the mental picture touristr y. It explains the various thematic connotations of the movie, and this is in regard to tourism. The movie Tourism is one of the best movies that depict the challenges the factors that advise promote tourism within a solid ground or piece. Background InformationIn this movie, Angelina Jolie acts as Elise Clifton Ward, and she is being followed and monitored by the French police. This police force is work together with the Scotland Yard depart workforcet, under the supervision and direction of Inspector John Acheson. Acheson has the responsibility of hunting black lovage Pearce, a tax fraudster, who sleep withd to evade everyplace 744 million pounds, in taxes, and he has altered his face, through plastic surgery. Alexander Pearce is assured of the plot, to use Elise Clifton to nail him, and he thus instructs her to pick each man in a train, who resembles him, so that they may mislead the police2. This is in a secret letter written to Elise, who later burns it. In the train, Elise Clifton manages to select wiener tupelo, who is an American tourist. Tupelo is a mathematics teacher, who teaches in a community college, situated in Wisconsin. Elise Clifton manages to start a womanize with Tupelo, just in a bid to fool the police that he is Alexander Pearce. Meanwhile, the police manage to get the ashes, and retrieve the information written in it. On the other hand, a police informer, who is not aware of the ruse, manages to inform Reginald Shaw on the perspective of Pearce, upon sitting enzyme-linked-immunosorbent serologic assay, with a man in Venice. The man under consideration is John Acheson. Reginald Shaw is the person whom Pearce stole some 2.3 billion dollars. Elsie further invites hot dog to accompany her in her suite, in the Hotel at Venice. Alexander Pearce manages to leave another instruction to Elise, so that she should attend a ball. Elsie runs away from vocal, who in turn is being chased by the men of Reginald Shaw. date trying to escap e, Frank is arrested and detained by the police force of Italy, and this is for purposes of defend him from the men of Shaw3.It is important to denote that Reginald Shaw was not aware of the burnt ruse, which Pearce commanded Elsie to look for a person whom she could use to fool the police. However, Frank is betrayed by a corrupt police officer, who is motivated by the money that Reginald Shaw is offering, and he betrays him. However, Elsie manages to manner of speaking Frank, and she gives him money so that she may escape to America. The movie ends, when Elsie explains to Frank that she loves two men, Pearce and, and himself. However, it later appears that Alexander Pearce is the same person as Frank Tupelo. digestTourism and violence are the major themes depict in this movie. Tourism is depicted when Frank Tupelo, who is actually Alexander Pearce manages to travel to Venice, as a tourist. One of the important infrastructures that can ensure the success of tourism in a particu lar region is the development of a pricey pane governance4. This includes a good road network, an competent water transportation arrangement, and good security. There is also a need of having good hotels that serves the delicacies of the locals, and also of the foreigners. While looking at the movie, it is important to denote that Venice has an efficient transportation system. For example, the urban center is connected with Paris, via an electronic train. This is an efficient mode of transportation, mainly because tourists are competent to easily access the urban center. Some of the leading tourist destinations have an efficient transportation system. Cities much(prenominal) as Rome, Istanbul, Berlin, London, have an efficient transportation system which repairs a case in transporting tourists in various destinations and locations around the city. The movie depicts a water transportation which is the major tourism attraction in the city5. Tourists are always attracted to natural scenes, such as the waterways, which are greatly depicted in the movie. The waterways are seen when the corrupt Italian detective is able to take Frank Tupelo to Reginald Shaw, the person whom Alexander Pearce was able to chisel the money6. Furthermore, there is a boat chase, involving the men of Reginald Shaw, and Elisa Clifton, who came to render Frank Tupelo. This is an important advertisement for the city of Venice.A country such as Egypt has managed to utilize its historic pyramids, and initiated measures aimed at attracting tourists at the site. This is through movies that depict the pyramids. Furthermore, the movie manages to depict the conventional boats used by the people of Venice, that is, the gondola. Elisa and Frank used the gondola to run away from the men of Reginald Shaw. Indigenous activities play a great role in attracting tourists to any given location or city. Through the use of the gondola, producers of this movie are able to depict a traditional me thod that the people of Venice are using for transportation. From this movie, we can also denote that Venice is a city that is car-free. This is because while Elisa and Frank were in Venice, they mostly relied on the waterways, as a form of transport7. This normally gives a new experience to tourists, wishing to visit and experience such natural sites. Furthermore, the hospitality manufacturing of Venice is good. The movie depicts very classy hotels, such as Hotel Daniele, and Hotel Reginae. For tourism to prosper there is a need of a good and efficient hospitality manufacturing that offers high quality operate and products. The services offered at these hotels were of high quality, and good. Take for example the hotel where Elias and Frank Tupelo extended. The hotel had good sceneries, the rooms were superb, and the customer service was good. This is an indication that the hospitality application in Venice is of high quality, and good8. Without the existence of a good hospital ity industry, then chances are high that the city under consideration would not manage to attract a high number of tourists. This is the designer the hospitality industry has developed the Michelin guide, whose aim and objective is to rate restaurants for purposes of ensuring that they provide high regard as services. The Michelin guide, normally rates restaurants and hotels, by giving them stars, the highest being three and the terminal is one. A hotel industry that achieves a three star rating is the best, and it attracts many customers. Tourists normally like to visit such kind of hotels, for purposes of experiencing their services, and enjoying a stay in the region they visit. The producers of this movie are able to depict such kind of hotels, and restaurants. Security is also another important factor, that plays a role in determining whether a city is worth visit or not. In this movie, there is a lot of violence, specifically directed, to the tourist, Frank Tupelo, and Eli sa Clifton. However, the city itself is safe and secure, and this is seen through the numerous patrols by the police force, depicted in the streets of Venice. For example, we are able to see police officers moving to the rescue of Frank Tupelo, when he was being chased by the men of Reginald Shaw, at the Hotel Daniele9. The presence of a police patrols, is a sure sign that the state or region under consideration is secure. Security of a region or state is important for tourism, and this is because tourists are concerned with their security. They will never visit a region that is insecure, or is a threat to their security. This is the reason the Egyptian tourism industry faced a downward verticillate during the Arab spring. The country was viewed as insecure, and not fit for visiting. ConclusionIn as much as this movie is filled with violence, it promotes the tourism industry of the city of Venice. The first issue that we note in this movie is the transportation system of the city o f Venice, which is connected to Paris, via a train, and it has waterways, which are serviced by the Godolo. The Godolo are traditional boats used by the people of Venice, to help them in navigating the waterways depicted in the city. This is a major tourist attraction, and this is because it offers a good experience to visitors, visiting the region. In fact, this is better depicted when many people are seen at the ports of the city, seeking to board the Godolo. The city has a good hospitality industry that can help in facilitating the manner which tourists can spend their date in the region. Through this money, we can denote that Venice is a good city, to visit. BibliographyBarwick, John, and Jennifer Barwick. Tourism. Abbotsford, Vic. Echidna, 2001. cap of earnBottom of FormDhaliwal, Nirpal Singh. Tourism. London Vintage Books, 2006.Top of FormBottom of FormThe Tourist. Performed by Johhny Depp. Italy, 2010. DVD. Moore, Danielle P. United States Travel and Tourism Industry. Haupp auge, N.Y. Nova intelligence Publisher&aposs, 2011.Top of FormBottom of FormSpilsbury, Richard. Tourism Industry. stark naked York Rosen Central, 2011.Top of FormBottom of Form baby-walker, Robin, and Keith Harding. Tourism. Oxford Oxford University Press, 2009.1 Singh Nirpal Dhaliwal, Tourism, (London Vintage Books, 2006), p. 11.2 John Barwick and Jennifer Barwick, Tourism, (Abbotsford, Vic. Echidna, 2001), p. 27.3 Barwick and Barwick, 394 The Tourist. Performed by Johhny Depp. Italy, 2010. DVD.5 Danielle Moore,United States Travel and Tourism Industry, ( Hauppauge, N.Y. NovaScience Publisher&aposs, 2011), p. 44.6 Robin Walker and Keith Harding, Tourism, (Oxford Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 51.7 The Tourist. Performed by Johhny Depp. Italy, 2010. DVD.8 Moore, 229 Richard Spilsbury, Tourism Industry, (New York Rosen Central, 2011), p. 66.

Kautilyas Arthasastra: Military Aspects

Kautilyas Arthasastra Military AspectsCHAPTER IINTRODUCTION1. army has been regarded from quantify duration-worn as unmatchable of the essential instruments for the alimony of a state. Kings, non solely in India nonwithstanding throughout the ancient world, principal(prenominal)tained salutary up coordinate and well equipped armies both for the self-denial and expansion of their fagotdoms. History is abounds in instances that whenever both convention or state neglected the proper main 10ance of their armies, unpleasant results in the stock of loss of sovereignty or territory bring forth for occurred. The record of the scheme and tribunal of the phalanx of a contingent country in a particular period sh in wholly al elans conk clues of its rudimentary fabric. The topic at a lower place study deals with the role of Kautilyas Arthasastra in organising and administrating biggish armies and its relevance in todays world armies.2. Kautilyas Arthasastra had n ever been forgot 10 in India and is a lot menti cardinalnessd in later literature, some generation eulogistic totallyy and some beats derisively. But the text bridge over itself was non avail fitting in modern times until, dramatically, a rich text on palm leaf in the grantha script , a huge with a fragment of an old commentary by Bhattasvamin, came into the exceeds of Dr R Shamasastry of Mysore in 1904 who was then the Librarian of the Mysore Government Oriental Library. He published not hardly the text (1909) and an English translation (1915) besides also an advocator Verborum in triplet volumes listing every word in the text. later another original manuscript and some fragments, in a variation of scripts, were discovered as well as old commentaries of the text. An another compose Dr RP Kangle of the University of Bombay devoted many years of painsta poove edition and comparing the various(a) texts and translations. His monumental three volume edition of the Art hashastra was first published amongst 1960 and 1965 with detailed note.13. Kautilyas Arthasastra is a treatise on artha and sastra. 3. Artha is an all- embracing word with a transition of meanings in 1.7.6-7 , it is workd in the sense of material well cosmos in 15.1.1 livelihood in 1.4.3, economically productive activity, particularly in agriculture, cattle rearing and trade and, in worldwide, wealth as in the wealth of nations. Arthashastra is indeed the science of politics as it is exercisingd in 1.1.1 or 1.4.3 .It is the art of governance in its widest sense. The subjects covered include brass section law, establish and justice taxation, r as yetue and exp completeiture opposed policy defence and war.4. Kautilyas Arthasastra contains fifteen adhikaranas or books. Of these the first quintet deal with tantra or the internecine administration of the state. The next eight deals with avapa or its relation with the neighbouring states and the last 2 ar miscellaneous in c haracter. The eighth adhikarna or book is come to with vyasanas, that is, the calamities ,shortcomings or weakness affecting the various prakritis. It is necessary to overcome the shortcomings earlier any aggressive activity can be beneath obligen. The ninth adhikarna deals with prep for war and describe the manikins of military that should be mobilised for an expedition, the proper seasons for commencementing an expedition, the precautions to be taken and the dangers to be guarded against before starting and so on . The tenth book deals with fighting, and describes the camping of the ground great powers, its march, various modes of fighting, types of combat arrays and other topics.4Thus this study shall primarily concent appraise on book eight, nine and ten in particular and other books in general.5. The Legend K autilya This mastermind, who could write a definitive treatise on economics and government at a time when wide-ranging parts of the world was steeped in intell ectual darkness? each(prenominal) sources of Indian tradition Brahmanical , Buddist and jain-agree that Kautilya (also refer to as Vishnugupta in a stanza include at the end of the pass away) drop offed the Nanda dynasty and installed Chandra Gupta Maurya in the thr unrivaled of Magadha. The name Kautilya denotes that he is of the Kutila gotra Chanakya shows him to be the son of Chanaka and Vishnugupta was his personal name6 Kautilya then retired from active life and reflected on all that he had sett during the process of overthro file name extension Dhana-Nanda. Since he found the earlier workings on state workmanship unsatisfactory in many respects, he unruffled his avow definitive work certifying his ideas concerning the ways in which a ruler should gain power and maintain his authority. He was way ahead of his times in his intellection and covered every conceivable aspect on the art of politics and warf be, which could be imagined at the time he lived. For Kautilya, armed pressures st tellgy was an integral part of the science of polity and he do no distinction amid military techniques and statecraft. Kautilyas Arthashastra is a practical work which could nurture been written only by one who had implemented the tactics which he preached. How to form alliances, how to organise and administer them, how to attack a effective king, how to deal with revolts in rear, what tricks to play on gullible pile- there is mussiness of evidence in the text to demo that the author was giving realistic life answers to every conceivable hypothetical situation.6. Statecraft and interlocking craft have diverged over the centuries payable to the fast changing technology and increase requirements of charitable beings. Kautilya a mastermind contri only whened immensely to the development of the homogeneous, his extraordinary recording of battle classifys in war and administering them during tranquillity keeping all outside factors in mind put away remains a masterpiece for coulomb armies.CHAPTER II METHODOLOGYStatement of Problem7. To study the military aspects as enunciated by Kautilya in Arthashastra with a specific reference to boldness and administration and analyse its relevance for todays armies.Justification of the Study8. The Legend Kautilya in his notable work ARTHASHASTRA has dealt with various contemporary subjects which organise the basis of Chandragupta Mauryas rule and victories, in fact there is a general view that Kautilyas Arthashastra deals only with matters of foreign policy and economy. It is seldom realised that a great portion of this book does in fact, deal extensively with matters of military, he indeed consolidated all the prevailing grand strategy and tactics of those times and gave his expert whimsey on the subjects, which ultimately led to victories of Chandragupta Maurya , who never lost a maven flow. It so emerges that the brilliance of Kautilya was not only in diplomacy only also in war f are, but the fact that precipitates out is that he was able to lay d witness methods to organise and manage the armed forces in a vast empire. The concepts of military administration and organisation in war and peace were inadvertently covered and spread out in all the adhikaranas, thus leading for topic of research for bringing forth, integrating and analysing those sublime aspects of organisation and administration which organize the bed rock of administering and organising bad armies as of Mauryan empire, and at the same time analyse its relevance for 20th century armies. gumptionground k right awayledge9. This study concentrates on the relevance of Kautilyas teachings with regard to military aspects in general and organisational and administrational aspects in detail including the aspects of tactics, strategy. The study aims to focus on aspects, which are politic relevant for the develop management of a large multitude interchangeable ours.10. Methods of Data Collectio n.The in governing body has been gathered from books, journals and the internet. The bibliography of sources is appended at the end of the text.Chapterisation11. The subject under study shall be covered under following chapters CHAPTER III presidency OF ARMY12. Chandragupta maintained a large standing unremitting army , though he acquired a big army from his Nanda predecessors, he do palatial accretions to its strength, so that it s overlyd at 6 lakh infantry,30000 caters,9000 elephants and 8000 chariots . An efficient war blank space supervised this powerful army. Its thirty members were divided into five member boards . The six boards were (a) Admirality.(b) Transport.(c) Commissariat and Army Service Infantry.(d) Cavalry.(e) Chariots.(f) Elephants.13. Kautilya had divided the army into four gird i.e Patti or Padati(Infantry), Asva(Cavalry), Ratha(Chariots) and Hast (Elephants) and hence it was named as Chaturangabala or the four limbed army headed by their respective Ady akshas or Superintendents7. They had Following roles to play(a) War Elephants. The king relied mainly on elephants for achieving victory in battles. They were the premium arm of the army and relied on their strength and shock effect to steady d avowe the rival from the battle report. They were required to destroy all arms of the service of the enemy and to explicate his battle formations. Kautilya has laid a good deal emphasis on the use of elephants as a battle winning factor with following functions(i) Marching in front man, making new roads.(ii) Protecting the offstages.(iii) Helping to cross water and rising slope and descend from mountains.(iv) Breaking up enemys unbroken grosss, trampling enemys army.(v) Causing terror, capturing battle positions.(vi) Destroying ramparts, gates, and towers.(b) The Cavalry. The cavalry being the most mobile arm in the army was apply to influence the battle. It was tasked for the following.(i) Reconnoitring battle grounds, camping sit es, fo tranquillitys.(ii) Securing direct grounds, water supply sources.(iii) Destroying enemies and comforting own supplies and keeps.(iv) Extending the feed of raids.(v) Assault the enemys battle formation.(vi) beleaguer the enemy from the rear.(vii) Cut off the enemys line of supply.(viii) Isolate the enemys stiff point.(ix) make take retreat so as to persuade the en to pursue, once the enemy lost its cohesion the cavalry was supposed to turn around and rout him.(x) Restoration of sit by plugging gaps in own def made by enemys assault.(xi) Making the initial attack, penetrating or breaking through(xii) postdate the defeated en.(xiii) Rallying the military violence.8(c) Chariots. The war chariots had lost their effectiveness particularly against well trained cavalry, Maurian army retained war chariots as an independent arm, and they were qualified to a single offence role of launching a haste against infantry and a near static justificative role. The arm lacked versa tility and was too sensitive to terrain it could produce result only under ideal conditions. harmonize to Kautilya the chariots were to act as the main roost of the formation in offensive and defensive roles. Their main function was to break up the opponents battle formation during offensive operations and repulse the enemy assault own formation and experience lost ground by counter attack.(d) Infantry. there were primarily 2 types of infantry in Mauryan times, archers and spearmen and both were employed together. Archers performed the role of pen up turn out weapons as well as artillery and spearman carried out close combat. The spearman carried a large shield for shelter. Chandragupta Maurya had turned the infantry into large standing force same the other three arms in the service. Infantry was the main fighting arm as it had the ability to fight over all types of terrain during all seasons and both by day and night. They were also used to protect captured grounds. Apart f rom the tasks mentioned above, the infantry was also supposed to give close support to the other arms ie the Elephants and the Chariots9.Organizational Structure14. Kautilya had emphasised on hierarchal system for administration of army. The structure of the defence forces at the highest levels was as shown belowCommander -in- read/write headSenapati(Chief of Defence)Chief Commanders of Chariot army corps Elephant Corps Cavalry InfantryDivisional Commanders28. The fountainhead of the four wings were subordinates to the chief of defense. Under the Chief Commanders, there were Divisional containers. There were other officers some(prenominal)(prenominal) as Camp Superintendents who were given specific functions during the march to battle. The structure below the level of Divisional Commanders is specific to battles.29. Every division of the formation had its own distinguishing trumpet sound, flags and banners, these were be used to signal the commands to the division-dividing t hemselves in to sections, joining together ,halting, advancing, turning and attacking. Battalion commanders and Divisional Commanders were accountable for moblisation and demoblisation. Secret agents, prostitutes, artists and artisans and retired military officers were unbroken to watch over the loyalty or other than of soldiers.Duties of Defence Officials30. The Chief of Defence.(a) Qualifications. The chief of defence was suppose to be an expert in the use of all kinds of weapons used in warfare, riding elephants, horses and chariots and he was conversant with the copulation strength of the four wings of the army and how to deploy them in battle.(b) Responsibilities.(i) go bad up on in armed forces.(ii) Formations.(iii) Strategy and Tactics.(aa) Choose the outdo time to start an expedition.(ab) Choose the best terrain and the best season for fighting.(ac) Arrange the disposition of own forces (in the light of the enemies array).(ad) Plan the breakup of the enemies rank.(ae) Destroy enemies scattered array.(af) Besiege and destroy enemy forts.31. The Chief Commander Of Elephant Corps. Responsibilities were-(a) Protection of elephants.(b) Construction and Maintenance of stables, stalls.(c) cookery of elephants.(d) Assigning tasks to them.(e) Equipping them for war32. The Chief Commanders Of Other Corps. Responsibilities Common to all were(a) Knowledge of different type of equipment needed for his wing and use of such(prenominal) equipment in war.(b) Giving appropriate training.(c) Keeping account of equipment and animals under his charge.(d) Maintaining their equipment in life-threatening condition and repairing them when necessary.(e) Supervising the work of all employed by him.(f) Maintaining Discipline.(g) Reporting to the king the state of readiness of his phalanx10.33. Other Commanders-(a) Commander of the Kings safety device (Antarvamsika). This very high official, who ranked just below the seven highest nonrecreational officials including t he senapati, must have been an army general, promoted by and by having held the trying on of director-general of his own arm. He was directly in line for promotion to senapati. He was in the redress scale of 24,000 pannas, in the same scale as the kings chamberlain and the chancellor. His importance was due to his responsibility for the security of the king and other members of the royal family in the palace. There must have been devil other officers directly under his command who assisted him in ensuring the safety and security of the king and the royal family. angiotensin-converting enzyme was the commander of the male guards who guarded the palace and the commander of the female archers who were detailed as immediate guards for the kings person and his personal quarters.(b) Commander of the Marches (Antapala) The antapala was responsible for guarding the borders of the State. For this purpose border posts were established their primary purpose was a check on entry of enemy a gents, undesirable elements, collection of customs duties and stamp down over the entry of foreigners. Kautilya advocates the establishment of only four border posts, one in each direction of the compass. The siting of border posts on naturally invulnerable terrain is advocated so these must have served a defensive purpose as well. The antapala must have been a military officer, possibly with detachments from the army for the protection of his posts.(c) Durgapala. Durgapala (fort commanders) must have been army officers who also commanded detachments of regular troops which acted as garrisons, Kautilya mentions at least one fortified city or capital of the State which needed a durgapala. In the text, he refers to other forts. sited to take advantage of naturally defensible terrain. Larger States obviously had to a greater extent than one fort which acted as cornerstones for military operations and offered refuge in causal agent of need.Types of Troops33. Kautilya lists six type s of troops which may become lendable to a king and examines the relative merits. The troops are maula (standing army), bhrta (local volunteers auxiliaries), serni (organized mercenaries), mitra ( trops of an ally), amrta ( enemy deserters) and atavi ( tribal levies). 11(a) Maula Troops.These are the standing army of a state composed of soldiers who may have served the kings family for several(prenominal) generations. They are residents of the state and their interest coincides with those of the king. Their loyalty is assured, their weapons, equipments and the animals are the best the state can provide and their motivation and state of training is high. It is as yet only prudent that a proportion of this force be remaining behind for the security of the state. Kautilya recommends that around one- fourth of the maula troops be left(a) in the capital. The maula troops should form a large part of an military force if (i) The enemys troops are well trained.(ii) The campaign is expe cted to be difficult and hard.(iii) Other usable troops are unreliable.(iv) Surplus maula troops are available subsequentlyward fully meeting the requirements of the capital and the rest of the state.(b) Bhrta troops.These are locally raised volunteers engaged for the duration of the campaign. They are either veterans or first time volunteers, usually trained in the handling of personals weapons. By duty they were either farmers or small traders who decided to take part in a campaign. As natives they have a jeopardize in the security and welfare of the state. Such troops are reverted back to their professions after the end of the campaign. Their consumption is recommended if-(i) The enemy is weak and a large number of volunteers are available.(ii) The campaign is expected to be easy with littler actual fighting.(iii) Success is more or slight assured by the use of other means like covert operations or diplomatic efforts.(c) Sreni troops.These were trained, equipped and org anised bodies of mercenaries under their own leaders who were available for hire to fight for a specified period of time. Their employment is recommended when-(i) The opposing forces consist of primarily mercenaries.(ii) Much hard fighting is not anticipated.(iii) Sreni troops are available in adequate numbers for the campaign as well as for the defence of the capital.(d) Mitra troops.These are troops loaned for a campaign by an ally. Their utilisation is advocated if -(i) Such troops are available in large numbers.(ii) A short campaign is anticipated because of dear chances of archean success of diplomatic moves underway.(iii) To oblige an ally.(iv) It is proposed to deal at first with the unconventional part of enemys army, with his allies and his population centres, introductory to attacking his main forces.(e) Amrita troops.These establish enemy deserters and prisoners of war. They are not to be trusted but their employment is recommended if the eventual outcome of battl e is of little consequence.(f) Atavi Levies. These were bands of tribesmen from the jungle who join the king under the command of their own chiefs with the primary purpose of collecting loot. These bands and amitra troops are unreliable and Kautilya considers both categories as dangerous as a snake. The above cardinal categories of troops may be employed if-(i) If they are available in large numbers to attack the enemys cities and irregular troops.(ii) It is proposed to train the employment of the main force.(iii) It is Politic to get rid of them because their loyalty is suspect. Atavi troops may be employed as guides or to counter the use of similar to levies by the enemy both categorys of troops.34. An army composed of units recruited from diverse sources and ready to fight for plunder may be an energetic army. On the other hand, an army whose soldiers belong to the same region, caste or profession is a mighty army it will continue to fight even if its pay is in arrears and ther e is shortage of food. It shows bravery even in adverse conditions and its loyalty cannot be subverted.35. A king should make efforts to immobilize the mobilisation of his opponent. His potential recruits should be intercepted and if necessary recruited into own army. Such personnel should further be discharged at the right time but well before the commencement of actual operations.Analysis36. A close analysis of Organisational structure propounded by Kautilya in his Arthashastra is a sterling comparison of what is followed in Indian Army with slight modifications. And it is clearly evident that the basic finer intricacies of the organisation remained the same though the gross structure underwent a change keeping latest technological development in mind.37. Kautilya was way ahead in his times with clear vision and military thinking thus created an organisational structure catering for civil supremacy and checkd effective coordination between various components of the army which is still relevant at large. Chandra Gupta Maurya had a large standing army to manage similar to that of Indian Army and without a sound organisational structure it would have been virtually impossible to achieve victories which he had set for himself.38. Kautilya had clearly categorised his army into various corps i.e Cavalry, Elephants, Infantry, Chariots etceterawith a clear division of roles in war, which is very much akin to our accede system of various line directorates in our armies.He had also formed clear command and control structure with minimum scope for ambiguity. He had emphasised on Hierarchical system Command and control in armed forces some 2300 years ago which is still relevant in todays times.39. The organisation of the Maruan army was little different than the one followed in our army today. Though a striking similarity is the presence of the adyakshas that can be related to our line directorate which are too led by a Lieutenant General. The rank structure is no t restricted to any arm but common throughout the army. To elaborate, the pattika was a rank not belonging to a particular arm but he commanded elements of all the arms. This helped in better command and control. This also ensured of a clear ancestry of command structure which was irrespective of the arm, this practice is still followed.40. When coming to appointment of heads of departments, Kautilya had ensured that they had requisite form of qualifications for tenanting that kind of appointment and had a clear delimitate standards and roles for all of them, which is still largely relevant in our armies where selection processes ensure that the said officer had undergone necessary courses and has a requisite skills suitable for tenanting that kind of appointment.41. Kautilya had imposed various degrees of confidence in terms of loyalty and virtue depending upon the community of troops, probably a relevant thing in those times, but in present times it is debatable whether it is relevant or not as for some community specific armies it may hold good but in Indian context, though the Indian army still have pure regiments based on caste system but the pedestal of loyalty and integrity attributed to each community is the same thus this particular thing is not relevant to Indian Army of present times.42. Kautilya proposed to have a standing core army consisting of officials down to the Pattika and the regular soldiers to be recruited for the period of war. Specialists like elephant riders archers etc were also recommended to be retained as permanent soldiers. Though India has a large standing army which is used both for protection of its borders and for launching offensive. There is no differentiation in the kind of troops used for both the tasks as envisaged by Kautilya. plausibly We can have smaller standing army which can be well trained and equipped with the best of the equipment. On the other hand we can have a large component of Territorial Army that can be mobilised before an operation. The defensive formation can have Territorial Army and some of the regular troops where as the strike formations can be composed of regular troops. This will help in reducing the defence expenditure and the money saved could be better used for equipping and training of the regular troops.CHAPTER IV ORGANISATI ON OF bestow FORCES IN OPERATIONSBrave men, giving up their lives in good battles, reach in one moment even beyond those (worlds), which Brahmins, burning of heaven, reach by a large number of sacrifices, by penance and by many gifts to worthy persons- Kautilya43. Kauilya gives an exhaustive description of how to arrange the lend forces for a set piece of battle, starting with positioning various kinds of forces at various echelons of battle field after giving due considerations to think parameters. War fighting as propounded by Kautilya has an uncanny resemblance to the methodological analysis in practice today. He was a believer of a stro ng central force along with two wings which can bespeak and the importance of reserves. He is perhaps one of the first thinkers to suggest a tactical grouping of forces with a clear cut commander. This helped in easier organisation of the forces as well as downsizing the army when not in need.Tactical Grouping.44. Grouping of arms for battle at the terminal level has been practised in ancient India since epic times. Kautilya suggested a standard form of grouping of all arms, for the first time ever. The suggested groups corresponds to a remarkable degree with the current practice in modern armies adopted well after WW II . The lowest grouping was at platoon level, a group now referred to as combat team. Because of this remarkable similarity, the modern designations of combat team, combat group and combat command.12 Each horse was supported by six initiation soldiers three of which were archers (Pratiyodhas) and the remaining three were armed with a sword, spear and a shield (Prat igopas) Initially the archers were placed in front so that they could wiretap the range of their weapons and as the battle came to close contact, they would recede and the pratigopas would come in front.45. Patti. Each elephant or a chariot enjoyed the support of five horse groups. This entire group including an elephant / chariot, five horses, 15 Pratiyodhas and 15 Pratigopas formed the lowest tactically grouped sub unit called the Patti. The patti was commanded by a Pattika.46. Sena. Consisted of ten patties and was commanded by a Senapati or a battle group under a battalion/regimental commander and ten or less senas formed a brigade commanded by a Nayaka.47. Intervals .There are two sets of intervals or gaps between the files and ranks laid down by Kautilya, one is a narrow gap with the proviso to increase it by double or three times and the other is a larger gap between archers which extends to other arms. It is possible that smaller gaps are for forming up on ceremony and dri ll purposes (close order) were archers do not need extended space and larger intervals (open order) for battle information. In a battle formation adopted in an open order the minimum gap between two files of archers was one dhanu(bow) of five hastas(forearm) or 2.5 mtrs, between horses it was three dhanu(7.5 mtrs) and between elephants or Chariots it was five dhanus(12.5 mtrs). The interval between the centre and a wing as well as a wing and its flank was also 12.5 mtr. Kautilya does not indicate the gap to be maintained between ranks but it may safely be assumed that the interval between sub ranks,ie. Within a rank of elephant or chariots, i.e between a sub rank of patiyodhas and a horse would be three dhanus and between ranks, i.e the rare sub rank or padagopas of the front rank and the front sub rank of patiyodhas of the cooperate or centre rank would be five dhanus(12.5 mtrs). These intervals could be change magnitude in accordance with the ground available for battle and the size of the force to be deployed.48. Reserves. Reserves held an important place in the battle formations as per Kautilya, reserves were directly involved in shaping of the battle field and were placed directly under the control of the king. A dissolute base was to be established on a suitable terrain approximately 600 -700 m behind the army and it was here that the reserves were placed. The reserve consisted of about one third of the best available troops. The king was advised to be stationed at this firm base after the actual fighting commenced and be in a position to influence the battle by sending reinforcement when and where needed and to make the firm base as a rally point in case of a reverse.1349. Standard battle formation (vyuha). A standard brigade group was formed for battle is referred to as a standard battle formation or array. Additions and alterations were made to it, tally to a formula, in order to accommodate additional troops available for deployment. The standard brigade group deployed five senas each which contained nine to ten pattis total troops deployed were(a) Elephants or Chariots 45(b) Horses 225(c) Patiyodhas(archers) 675(d) Padagopas(foot soldiers) 675This force of five senas formed up in five groups i.e centre (urasysa) in middle, the right wing (kaksa) and the left wing (kaksa) after an interval of 12.5 mtrs on both sides and after another similar interval the right flank and the left flank (paksa). Each of these groups or senas formed up for battle in three ranks of three elephants each (three patti). Each elephant had three horse groups in front and two behind it with standard deployment as illustrated earlier. Thus making a total of 27 archers a head of each sena. The archers could effectively put on their long range capability before close contact was made with the enemy and the change over placed them with the spearmen behind the horses, just prior to the two sides engaged in close combat. However in such a deployment t he interval between elephants was at around nine dhanus or 22 mtrs which is tactically unsound and out of supporting range of neighbouring elephants , in any case Kautilya places the suitable gap between elephants at 12.5 mtrs. The only solution seems to be to forFrance and US physical exertion and HR Strategies ComparisonFrance and US handicraft and HR Strategies ComparisonNowadays any international firm worldwide is seeking for global completion in order to spread their activities overseas, and many cheeks want to open subsidiaries to reach the competitive advantage, and the organization cannot var. a good and affective working team without HRM, which includes recruiting skilful employees, transaction with HR problem, motivating workforce.So in this assignment Ive decided to gurgle about two of the leading countries in the world, USA and France, since theyre the top of the range in the worlds economy.Each country has a different and successful ardour to run their economy as well as the worlds economy and acquired an order winner.In this report Im going to include employment systems and HR strategies, policies and practices of this two countries (the common points and what differs them from each other)http//www.humanresourceexcellence.com/importance-of-human-resource-management/http//arno.uvt.nl/show.cgi?fid=121722Outlinehttps//www.oecd.org/france/ work-Outlook-France-EN.pdfA brief history of HRM covering fire in 1880s, the personnel became for the first time important in business, and has been recognized by many organizations, especially after the world war. After in 1940s the personnel became important and has a role in management. 20 years later the name of personnel in USA changed to human recourse management.This name was included worldwide and became more important in firms furthermore it acquired added values (ex. Education, organizational behavioretc).Later on several laws came in regarding HR policies and discrimination within the companies ( age, gender, nationality etc), in addition insurances came in (health, accidents etc). So HRM main mission was to deal with those laws as well as workforce and help managers that they worried about losing competitive advantage especially that chinas economy was increasing significally, so as an outcome, worker inclusion arrangements were executed.Employment rate in USA and Market laboremployment rate in USA didnt change to much, well it fell 0.1 percent in only 1 month from 4.8% in January to 4.7% in February, and that was exactly what the experts anticipated, and the number of unemployed people still without improvements with a 7.5 million people. The employment rate average in US is 5.81 from 1948 until 2017https//www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdfTalking about the workers classes, the unemployment rate in USA is classified by categories for white people, it declines to 4.1%, black people 8.1% and Asian 3.4% in February 2017(see appendix)For those who didnt work for a long t ime (long-term unemployment) kept approximately stable at 18 million people the rate of 23.8%, however mathematically speaking it decreases slightly by 358.000 people, but it didnt change the rate.The employment rate for part time jobs for economic reasons (either lack of full time jobs in specific areas or their hours had been cut back), is 5.7 million in 2017Nonfarm payroll employment raise by 235000 this month, people found jobs in construction, manufacturing, preceptal operate, dig, manufacturing etc.Construction employment has improved by 58 000 in multiple specialties, engineering with an increase of 15 000, and labor forces +36 000, this welkin this year has created over 177000 jobs opportunities during this half-yearThe second place is hush-hush educational services that has risen by 29 000 during this month, this year the employment in this sphere has enhanced by 105 000In the manufacturing area has offered about 28 000 job this month, in food manufacturing about 900 0, machinery 7000, this pas 6 month this sector came the third and added 57 000 jobsAnd other sectors offer job opportunities even if its not with a huge number, still it helps the economy and employment system, like mining that has increased by 8000 during this month. Back to October 2016, this sector has known its lowest level, but in a period of one year, it develops by 20 000 since then.Employment I other sectors like wholesale trade, transportation, warehousing, finance, hospitality, public sectors and government, didnt change to much that their percentage stayed the same.Employment system and culture in USAEmployment system in USA is quite different and flexible, for employees there isnt much stability or warranties in work, in the matter fact workers in general prefer to switch jobs they dont like to stay for a long time in the same organization with the same routine, they like to change and learn more from different places, the average of changing jobs in US is basically eve ry 3 years, employees think more about their own objectives and yearnings than those of the association.And for companies in US like to recruit graduate since they are full of energy and motivated to work, and they know they can perform more and learn easily, as well as graduates like to work for smaller organization to learn and acquire more experience, in addition they can tone that they are responsible, because USA believe in undependability. Another point in USA they have a flexible working atmosphere and more informal, that workers can feel comfortable during work, no dressing codeetc.https//www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdfEmployment rate in France and Market laborIn France people aged between 16 and over are called the active population and theyre about a 29 million, and in the past decade it has enhanced by 1.8 million, and it keeps enhancing, that there are estimation to increase more by 1.6 million exclusives by 2025, to reach 30 million by then.In this active popul ation 18% are working part-time jobs, and these time are basically by females, a percentage of 30.2% comparing to males that champion 6.9% only.After the EU, the employment rate for people from 15 to 60 years old is an average of 64.1%, and as long as France still in the EU, they have a rate of 70% behind Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Denmark and Austria.With 1.5 focuses more than in 2013, the rate of businesses who want to enroll no less than one individual over the span of 2014 has achieved 20%, which relates to 450 000 potential selection representatives. While the intention to select is developing in organizations with at least 50 representatives, it has stagnated among those with 1 to 50 workers.The conditions of labor market in France are improving significally, and after Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (OECD) the employment rate has returned after 6 years when financial crisis started in 2009. Real wage development has stayed subdued, since 2007, rais ing a few worries of a delayed time of wage stagnation.Recently in 2016 Unemployment rate stayed at the same level however it still in a high level, with a 9.9%, and its expected to decline by the end of 2017.And back in 2009 until now, the distinction in the unemployment rate has broadened altogether, from a 0.3% as a point gap in 2009 toward an estimate 3.6 point goldbrick toward the finish of this year. In addition the employment rate in France is to boot at a 10-year high and is relied upon to increment advance https//www.oecd.org/france/Employment-Outlook-France-EN.pdfEmployment system and culture in USARecently the most profile demanded in France are the most sought after are occupations are private services to individuals for instance, workers, baby sitters, cleaners, waiters, services for restaurants and cafes as well as hotel workers. In addition organizations too offer various open door for low-skilled individuals like (cleaners, security etc.), or in official posts (RD, IT managersetc.)According to (Brunstein, 1995) French companies are often hierarchical and Tayloristic with elitist grandes ecoles as they follow a strict education management, likewise (Klink, V., Mulder and Lane, 1994-1995), these gentlemen have represented French companies as being founded on ruling system, and control with power gathered at the top. And according to those researchers this broken managerial autonomy is a result of trust absence between the employers and the workers.In French system regarding starting a carrier in a company, and with this luck of trust administrators often appear to be indecisive to concede representatives access to data about the generation procedure and administrative matters, since its an important data is the important for the top hierarchy to keep their power, otherwise theyll put themselves in a danger of losing it. And basically the employees frequently stay at the same position their whole carrier in the same specialization. Not like Am erican system, theyre more strict and formal and they believe in authority and hierarchy.http//hrmpractice.com/hrm-france/https//ec.europa.eu/eures/main.jsp?catId=2647acro=lmilang=encountryId=FRregionId=FR0nuts2Code=nullnuts3Code=nullregionName=National%20Levelreferencesappendix