Strategic Role Of Information Systems Information Technology Essay

Strategic Role Of Information Systems Information Technology Essay The CIMB Bank Cloud Computing Strategic Direction Paper describes the whole of MSF Sales Force policy position on cloud computing. The strategy will states that the MSF Sales Division can choose a cloud-based service if it show clearly and deliberately value for money, fitness for purpose and are adequately secure; provides guidance for MSF Sales Force on what cloud computing is; and some of the issues and benefits of cloud computing that MSF Sales Force need to be aware of. Our investigation focused on three areas such as IT infrastructure and related problems, business processes and Environmental issues. Result of our analysis has lead to several recommendations. The paper recognises that the public cloud is still undergoing a gradual change, particularly in areas such as security and privacy. These issues need to be adequately resolved before critical MSF Sales Division can be transitioned to the cloud. As a result, the paper outlines three streams of work: Stream One provides the sales division with guidance and documentation. Stream Two encourages sales division to adopt public cloud services for public facing unclassified government services and to undertake proof of concept studies to fully understand the risks of the cloud environment. Stream Three encourages a strategic approach to cloud. This work is dependent upon greater clarity around projects commissioned under the Data Centre Strategy. 1. INTRODUCTION CIMB Group is the leading Asean Universal banking franchise, offering full range of financial products and services covering consumer banking, corporate and investment banking, Islamic banking, assets management, wealth management, insurance and Takaful and private banking. However, we are writing report based on one of CIMB Bank sales division known as Mobile Sales Force. Mobile Sales Force or more known as MSF is the largest sales channel in CIMB Bank. Comprising more than 2,000 staffs, promoting and distributing CIMB Bank key products such as mortgage loan for private and corporate, personal loan for government sector and credit cards. MSF was established backed in 2006 with the vision to be the best-in-class sales organization with a passion for exceeding expectation. Prior approval and consent from MSF head of department had been obtained in conducting research. CIMB GROUP PROFILE CIMB Group is ASEANs leading universal banking franchise. We offer a full range of financial products and services covering consumer banking, corporate and investment banking, Islamic banking, asset management, wealth management, insurance and takaful, and private banking. With over 37,000 employees, CIMB Group reaches 81% of the ASEAN population, representing 89% of the regions gross domestic product. Our retail network of over 1,000 branches is the widest in the region. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, CIMB Groups main markets are Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Cambodia. Our presence in 13 countries covers ASEAN and major global financial centres, as well as countries in which our customers have significant business and investment dealings. In addition, we extend our reach and range of products and services through strategic partnerships. Our partners include the Principal Financial Group, Aviva plc, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Standard Bank plc, Daishin Securities and the Kanoo Group, among others. CIMB GROUP As the leading ASEAN universal banking franchise, CIMB Group offers a full range of financial products and services covering consumer banking, corporate and investment banking, Islamic banking, asset management, wealth management, insurance and takaful, and private banking. We operate our businesses on a dual banking leverage model, giving customers a choice of both conventional and Islamic financial solutions. Our main markets in which we offer full universal banking facilities are Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. We also have a presence in other countries where our customers have significant business and investment dealings. CIMB BANK Our Consumer Banking business offers a full range of conventional and Islamic financial products and services to meet the borrowing and financing, wealth management and transaction needs of our individual customers and businesses. Our spectrum of banking services include credit cards, mortgages, auto loans and financing, commercial banking services for Small Medium Enterprises and mid-sized corporate customers, insurance and takaful, investment and wealth management services. We have an extensive retail network across the region in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Cambodia that serves over 11 million customers The rest of this report is as follows : Section 2 : IT Infrastructure and Ecosystem. Explained the IT infrastructure and Ecosystem of the organisation. Section 3 : Cloud computing and its business benefits. Provided cloud computing and its benefits and costs. Section 4 : Recommendation of cloud computing adoption/adaption. Recommended a suitable cloud that MSF could adopt. Section 5: Conclusions. Summarises the key points from the analysis and provided recommendation 2. IT INFRASTRUCTURE AND ECOSYSTEM CIMB IT infrastructure today consist of seven major components that must be coordinated to provide the division with a coherent IT infrastructure and the major vendors within each category INTERNET PLATFORMS Microsoft, Unix, Java DATA MANAGEMENT STORAGE IBM, DB2, Oracle, SQL Server, Sybase COMPUTER HARDWAREPLATFORMS Dell, HP IT INFRASTRUCTURE CONSULTANT SYSTEM INTEGRATOR IBM, EDS, Accenture ECOSYSTEM OPERATING SYSTEM PLATFORMS Microsoft Window NETWORKING TELECOM-MUNICATION Microsoft Window Server, Linux ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE PLATFORMS Oracle, Microsoft CIMB CORPORATE NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE: Issues and Challenges Securing Information System MSF are faced with challenges of data and information security. We need to have users security procedures guidelines. At the moment, there is no such policy guidelines. As MSF is a firm providing financial services, MSF must comply with the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, better known as the Gramm-Leach Billey Act (Laudon, KC Laudon, JP 2010, pg 337) Malicious Software Malware (Laudon, KC Laudon, JP 2010, pg 328) will be another hurdle for implementation of cloud computing as there is no IT department within MSF. All IT issues and problems will have to be refer to CIMB Group IT. This will cause time, delaying as the problem cannot be solve in-house and need to wait for IT department action. MSF will have no control as to when CIMB Group IT will react to the reported problem. Absent of Transaction Processing Systems MSF did not have TPS a systems that keep track of the elementary activities of the organisation such as sales for all products such as personal and enterprise mortgages, personal loans and credit cards, customers information like age, annual income, employee, and credit decisions like common rejection reason and best customer profile. (Laudon, KC Laudon, JP 2010, pg 75) Decision Support Systems (DCS) Executive Support Systems (ESS) Due to absent of TPS no proper management information systems (MIS) to enable DCS ESS DCS is useful in providing support non-routine decision making for middle management and ESS for senior management (Laudon, KC Laudon, JP 2010, pg 78 81) Data management Systems (DBMS) As MSF have multiple products, all data given will be in different formats and all users will have their own preferred format of reporting thus creating double work when each product user need to extract and reformat the data into meaningful information. (Laudon, KC Laudon, JP 2010, pg 240) Establishing an information policy Although there are numerous CIMB Banking Acts like, Banking Financial Institute Act1989 (BAFIA) section 97 secrecy, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) GP7 confidentiality, CIMB Group Code of Ethics governing the information policy, there is still a need for drafting information policy for MSF sales division. More specific guidelines, rules and penalties in controlling MSF information policy for sharing, disseminating, acquiring, standardising, classifying and inventorying information systems are needed. (Laudon, KC Laudon, JP 2010, pg 259) 3. CLOUD COMPUTING AND ITS BUSINESS BENEFITS AND COSTS Cloud computing represent a sea of change in the way the computing performed by corporations as business computing shifts out of private data centers into `the cloud (Carr, 2008). For a huge company and having a complex proprietary systems supporting unique business process, we are mostly likely to have a hybrid computing model where firms will use their own infrastructure for the essential core activities and adopt a cloud computing for a less critical systems. 3.1 Benefits of Cloud Computing Reduced cost Cloud technology is paid incrementally, saving organizations money. The organization is able to plan the needed expenses more wisely. By cloud computing the cost is proportion to the requirement. Increased Storage Organizations can store more data than on private computer systems. Highly Automated No longer do IT personnel need to worry about keeping software up date and backup. Cloud computing will automatically do the update and backup the system giving the organization more time to do business than fixing the problems on its own. Flexibility Cloud computing offers much more flexibility than past computing methods. More Mobility Employees can access information wherever they are, rather than having to remain at their desks from morning till evening which is tiring and sometimes a boring job. The cloud made the business go mobile. Allows IT to Shift Focus No longer having to worry about constant server updates and other computing issues, organizations will be free to concentrate on innovation and research and development. This help business and product growth in the long run. 3.2 Cost of Cloud Computing Today, many large firms are burden with redundant, incompatible hardware and software because departments and divisions have been allowed to order and purchase their own technology. This make the cost of owning technology assets are relatively high. The cloud concept is paying what you use and no minimum fee required. The users are paying either on a monthly subscription fees or per transaction basis which are composed of the following mandatory components:. Management Interface at $6.25 per month Platform creation cost Application template Release Low usage (one time fee) Average Usage (one time fee) Frequent Usage (one time fee) SAP ERP 6.0 Eh P4 $29 $179 $679 SAP Enterprise Portal 7.0 Eh P1 $19 $169 $669 SAP Solution Manager 7.0 Eh P1 $49 $199 $699 SAP Business Intelligence 7.0 (BI Cont 7.05) $39 $189 $689 SAP Ides CRM 7.0 $39 $189 $689 Computing infrastructure cost This cost will only be charged when you operate your platform. Operational support and the used computing infrastructure as cpu, memory, a static network address and network traffic are included. Configuration Set CPU Memory Low Usage (per hour) Average Usage (per hour) Frequent Usage (per hour) 1-5 users 4 core 8 GB $1.99 $1.68 $1.49 6-10 users 4 core 12 GB $2.68 $2.37 $2.18 11-15 users 4 core 16 GB $3.37 $3.06 $2.87 16-25 users 8 core 18 Gb $3.98 $3.67 $3.48 4. RECOMMENDATIONS OF CLOUD COMPUTING (briefly described cloud computing recommendations) 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 5. CONCLUSIONS The following summarises the findings and recommendations as outlined below. 5.1 Summary of key findings The Study leads to the conclusion that cloud computing has the potential to transform IT, not necessarily through its impact on an agencys core business systems, but through commoditizing routine services such as e-mail, web servers, and data storage. Cloud computing can also easily deliver services that are common across government, such as accounting, procurement, and collaboration tools. If CIOs can increase their reliance on commodity computing, they will then have more time and resources to focus on the strategic management of ITand provide leadership and value for their agencies. We hope that this timely and informative report will be useful to profes ­sionals and executives across government who are seeking innovative approaches in order to leverage the new technology of cloud computing in their effort to reform and improve ITprograms and the delivery of services to both government itself and to citizens. 5.2 Recommendations 5.3. Limitation of Studies LIST OF REFERENCES Department of Finance and Deregulation 2011,  Cloud computing strategic direction paper: opportunities and applicability for use by the Australian Government  , viewed 5 April 2011, . Mell P Grance T 2011, The NIST definition of cloud computing (draft) , viewed 19 March 2011, . Wyld, DC 2009, Moving to the cloud: an introduction to cloud computing in government , viewed 19 March 2011, . Laudon, KC Laudon, JP 2010, Management information systems: managing the digital firm, 11th edition. Cirrus cloud computing : Price list, viewed on 30 April 2011 APPENDICES Appendix 1: Journal Appendix 2: Cost and Benefits Appendix 3: Cloud Computing Benefits Appendix 4: Problems With Data Centre Power Consumption Appendix 5 : Power Consumption For Each Computer Appendix 1: Journal (390 words) Thomas 24 March, 2011 Thursday: Conducted informal interview (9:30am) with Sim, Customer Service Engineer. Obtained basic information of MSF IT infratructure Thomas 03 April, 2011 Sunday: Visited report writing presentation by Adrian Stagg Lindy Kimmins (11:00pm) Thomas 03 April, 2011 Sunday: Seek permission from MSF Head (10:30pm), Mr. Daniel Cheong on selecting MSF Department for assignment 4 Thomas 04 April, Monday: Approval obtained by Mr. Daniel Cheong at 12:06am Thomas Janet 04 April, 2011 Monday: Both of us arranged to communicate through phone and email as we are from different parts of the country after office hours at 7.30pm. We discussed briefly on which of the organization intended to work on to our assignment report. In the end, after much discussion we decided to select either one of our company which we are currently employed for our assignment report after which we have discussed with our relevant IT department in our next meeting. Thomas Janet 04 April, 2011 Monday: We communicate again at 8.30pm. After much exchange informations of our survey on our IT department, we decided to select company, CIMB Bank Bhd as the organization to work on for our assignment report due to the good support from his company IT personnel. Next we discussed about the plan on how to complete our assignment through allocation of jobs. As we have selected my company to work on for our assignment report, Thomas 05 April, 2011 Tuesday: I log into CIMB Group website www.cimb.com/index.php?tpt=cimb_group and started my introduction part of my report (11:00am) Janet 06th April, 2011 Wednesday: I visited a few website : www.finance.gov.au/e-government/strategy-and-governance/cloud-computing.htm,    www.isaca.org/Knowledge-Center/Research/Documents/Cloud-Computing-28Oct09-Research.pdf  and www.startupbizhub.com/business-benefits-of-cloud-computing.htm which give me some information on opportunities of adoption by the Australia Government Thomas 08 April, 2011 Saturday: Sent email (8:30pm) to MSF Head personal assistance, requesting for MSF organisation chart, MSF IT infrastructure Eco system Janet 11 April, 2011 Monday: Visited the Australia Department of Finance and Deregulation 2011 again and started to complete the Executive Summary for our assignment. Thomas 16 April, 2011 Saturday: Visited USQ study desk for assignment 4 resources (9:00pm) http://usqstudydesk.usq.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?inpopup=trueid=391393 Visited Wikipedia for pseudonym http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudonym (9:20pm) Reading assignment 4 mock up report (10:00pm) Reading CIMB Group Rules for Business Conduct (11:00pm) Janet 25 April, 2011 Monday: Compute the company IT Infrastructure Ecosystem diagram provided by Loudon Loudon 11e (page 203) and visited http://www.intek.net/a/images/netdesign.gif for fictitious diagram on corporate network infrastructure Janet 30 April, 2011 Saturday: Compute the cloud computing benefits and it cost Thomas 09 May, 2011 Monday: Checking and resizing fonts size for assignment paper (12:00pm) Browse CIMB Group website http://www.cimb.com/index.php?ch=g2_aupg=g2_au_leadercat=bodtpt=cimb_group for CIMB Group CEO profile. Browese USQ website http://usqstudydesk.usq.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?inpopup=trueid=409613 for plagiarism check Appendix 2 : Cost and Benefits: Appendix 3 Organisation Chart of CSD Sales Channel Appendix 4 : Organisation Chart of Mobile Sales Force

Wars throughout Time Essay -- essays research papers

Sometime during the course of World War II, the United States became the most powerful nation in the world. During the last two hundred or so years, the United States has fought ten major wars and innumerable smaller military actions. For the most part it has been successful, in some instances defeating some of the world’s most powerful countries. In other instances it has simply been lucky. A common threat throughout the nation’s existence has been the practice of indifference and neglect. Between wars the Army shrinks to a very small size. Funds and attention almost disappear. This policy of the US Army may well indeed danger the nation’s safety in the future Military strength includes not only the Army, but sea and air power as well which will not be considered here. The resources of a country such as population, size, wealth, and factories all contribute to a nation’s military might and to how fast it might be expanded. Military power for ground forces has traditionally been measured in terms like regiments, brigades, divisions, corps, and armies. In addition, an important distinction exists between the Regular Army (the permanent establishment officered with West Point graduates), the militia (very important to the nation’s military strength for the first hundred years, local part-time units), and the National Guard or Reserves (in modern times a strong back-up to the Regular Army). The combined sizes of these forces have fluctuated widely when the nation has been at a threat of war.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It was very important that they created an Army during the American Revolutionary War. The colonists had militias, which fought with the British against the French and Indians. But the revolt against England demanded much more. The Americans who wanted independence gave it a maximum effort. The population of the colonies barely numbered 3,000,000 in 1775. Of the available manpower, a very large proportion either fought with the British or stayed neutral. So for an estimated 184,000 men to have fought for the new nation before the war ended in 1783, the remainder had to contribute a lot. (Almanac 209)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The new government was disorganized and needed money. Nevertheless, it created the Continental Army. It was organized as infantry in many regiments of about 800 men each. At any one time there were only about 15-20,0... ...ar II was the turning point. The rest of the world started fighting two years before Pearl Harbor. This gave the U.S. the time to expand its Army. It just barely did so (remember the Draft Act passing by one vote). Good fortune and luck allowed the policy of tiny peacetime army to work one more time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Cold War changed this forever, reinforced by tough lesson in Korea. In the time since then, the state of the world and technology demands that Army not plan a grace period to expand. It has to plan to meet a potential crises with what it has ready. Technology has dropped the need for large numbers of divisions and fighting troops. But technology has conversely demanded that stockpiles of equipment and training be at high levels at all times. Future wars will be over long before new orders for weapons like cruise missiles can be placed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The best way to prepare for the present is to learn and correct our mistakes from the past. The cost may be high, but the world remains a dangerous environment. Today the U.S. must have a ready-to-use Army of a size sufficient for any conflict ahead. This was not always true in the past.

Economic Trade-off Analysis of Cracker Jack :: essays papers

Economic Trade-off Analysis of Cracker Jack When I was little, Cracker Jack came in cardboard boxes, and the prize inside was often pretty cool: a whistle or a ring, or some similar gadget. This was also in the days when Oscar Mayer gave away tiny hot-dog-shaped whistles as promotional items. In those days, whistles were pretty popular. Slide whistles were a very common favor at birthday parties. I remember an older cousin came back from the army once, and he had a really cool whistle that played several different notes. It had come out of a box of cracker jacks. My supplier in those days was my grandfather, who conveniently owned a liquor store. My brother and sister played with my cousins in canyons and caves made out of the corrugated cardboard crates in the storeroom of beer and cigarettes. Of all the goods in the store, the interesting ones were the freezer (ice cream), the candy rack, and the magazines (Archie, Richie Rich, The Avengers, Fantastic Four...). The comics must have come from a Marvel distributor rather than DC, because Batman and Superman were rarities; Spiderman was ubiquitous. Cracker Jack was advertised as America's favorite snack. There were some drawbacks that were well-known to 10-year olds back then. First, the pour spout was a fraud. "Push here to open" was a lie. The box was not perforated there, and it was difficult if not impossible for small fingers to puncture the cardboard. Far more effective was to peel away the outer wrapper and slip open the box at a seam. The other well-known bug was that all the peanuts were always at the bottom. The problem with the peanuts didn't bother me, however, since I didn't care much for them. I was in the store the other day, and ran into America's favorite snack again. The product hung in four-ounce bags near the bakery section of the supermarket. Bags of Cracker Jack? The package coloring was the same, the logo was still a boy in a sailor outfit accompanied by a dog: Sailor Jack and Bingo. It was 99 cents, and there was a surprise inside. Didn't it used to specify a "toy" surprise inside? I had known that for some time now, Cracker Jack did not come with real toys; instead, today's youngsters get tiny joke books or stickers. No whistles or rings or anything that might possibly present either a choking hazard or a potential lawsuit. Besides, paper is a lot cheaper to manufacture than plastic, so I'm sure the profit margins went up. Today's prize, once I opened up the the package, was a paper ring.

Behaviour Self Management Essay

Behaviour Self-Management Project to Increase Studying Behaviour Behaviour Modification is a technique or approach used by behavioural psychologists to modify a particular behaviour and is largely used in a clinical or educational setting, particularly with those with learning disabilities (Atherton, 2011). Moreover, it also considered to be a treatment approach, as it substitutes undesirable behaviours with desired ones through the process of positive or negative reinforcement (Gary, 1988). Furthermore, behaviour modification has been used to treat numerous mental problems such as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), phobias, enuresis, generalised anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder and many more. Subsequently, this technique has also been used to correct maladaptive behaviours by changing undesirable behaviours such as smoking, overeating, nail biting and others, as it aims to encourage the substitution of good behaviours such as studying, weight loss and etc (O’Donohue and Ferguson, 2006). The principles of behaviour modification were first developed by B. F Skinner, who had formulated the concept of operant conditioning. Skinner, had developed the concept of positive reinforcement or punishment, whereby behaviours are changed or encouraged through a reward system. Furthermore, the operant conditioning theory also states that for learning to occur, it is important that the subject is an active participant (Sheldon, 1982). In addition, behaviour modification was also formulated by Ivan Pavlov and is famously known as classical conditioning, as it is merely based on a stimuli-response formula. Besides that, Albert Bandura also contributed to behaviour modification principles, through his theory of social modelling (Baldwin & Baldwin, 1981). The theory states that learning occurs as a result of copying or imitating other people, and is termed as vicarious learning. Additionally, the theory also states that external reinforcers are important because it enables learning to occur independently of the reinforcements. Consequently, behaviour modification underlies a number of theoretical positions such that human behaviour can easily be influenced by the presentation of consequences and could be strengthened if the behaviour is followed by rewards, as well as substandard if followed by negative consequences (Guez & Allen, 2000). Moreover, human behaviour is not only controlled by internal factors, but is also driven by external factors such as social rewards like praises or gifts. Thus, the principles of behaviour modification is different compared to other techniques in changing behaviours, because it addresses the surrounding factors as well as individual factors that can promote or derail behaviour change. Additionally, behaviour modification has also proved its effectiveness in increasing student’s appropriate classroom behaviours. A study had employed behaviour modification in two second grade Negro girls in a demonstration school for the culturally deprived (Wasik, Senn, Welch, & Cooper, 1969). Data collected in the study was based on type, duration, and frequency of teacher’s verbal interactions with the student. The study also had implemented an ABAB design, whereas treatment included positive social reinforcement when appropriate behaviours occurred. Punishment had included the use of timeout from social reinforcements, as these behaviours were contingent on inappropriate attention getting behaviours. It was observed that after 25 days, desirable behaviour in the classroom had increased remarkably from 80. % in baseline to 99. 20% in treatment and continued to remain high even after three months. Therefore, this shows that behaviour modification is an effective method to increase desirable behaviours. Target Behaviour It is essential and important that the target behaviour an individual wants to change is operationally defined. The particular behaviour would also require assessment, through collection of the baseline data. Furthermore, the behaviour that I want to change is to increase my studying behaviour, which is a behavioural deficit. Ever since I was in school, I was always known to study towards the end of the semester and could generally be considered as last minute studying. Subsequently, I would tend to be easily distracted by external stimuli such as watching movies or series on the computer, calling up friends and talking for hours as well as easily persuaded to go out. I have been known since young to be very outgoing, thus whenever friends call and ask me to meet up with them, I am bound to go. Therefore, it usually delays my ability to follow my studying schedule that I have created before the semester starts. Moreover, my main antecedent that unable me to complete my suggested two hours studying per night every weekday is also because I have a tendency to download movies or series on the computer and wasting 4 hours or more watching it. There are also consequences that I face because of my procrastination to study, because after watching these series, I would only tend to study less than an hour or not at all if I am tired. Consequently, I would cram all the materials during study week and end up being exhausted. This also is a reason as to why I tend to get ill during exam week, because it causes me to have high level of stress and in turn would affect my health. Hence, these are valid reasons as to why I feel like I need to change my behaviour and start studying more hours as I should so that I would not be stressed out during exams. Besides that, stress could also cause ulcers and the common cold, which in turn could be a setback to me during exam week as I am prone to get ulcers. Additionally, it would also allow me to focus more to improve my grade ratings to my expectations as I will soon complete my undergraduate program. Other than that, increasing my studying behaviour would also allow me to get sufficient sleep and rest for the upcoming exam and it would also benefit me in terms of managing my time efficiently. Method Design The design that I have chosen for this particular self management project is the ABAB reversal design. This design represents the attempt to first measure the baseline, the treatment that follows the initial baseline, the introduction of the second baseline as well as the reintroduction of the treatment again. Additionally, this method of application helps identify the effects of treatment and measure what happens when treatment is removed. Hence, this research design would help establish whether functional relationship exists between the target behaviour and intervention. Materials The materials used in this project include a structured diary that is recorded in the computer, behaviour contract, handphone, post-it notes, playing cards and reminders. Procedure Additionally, for this particular behaviour modification project, the operational definition is first defined as reading pages from the textbook and underlining as well as understanding sentences in the text and reading notes from the lectures for two hours. Furthermore, the behaviour would be recorded through self monitoring during baseline and treatment period as the behaviour does not occur frequently throughout the day and it only occurs during the period when no one else is around to observe. The observational period is recorded in the natural setting, which is in the study room at my home, and it is where studying behaviour typically occurs. The type of behavioural recording used is the duration recording, whereby studying behaviour is observed for two hours, between 8. 30p. m to 10. 0p. m on weekdays only. Next, in order to increase studying behaviour during weekdays, a generalised conditioned reinforcer, which is the token economy system is used because it reinforces the behaviour and minimises the need to use reactive strategies to deal with setbacks as well as it enables the ability to pair up with a variety of other reinforcers. In addition, the token economy is a playing card with my housemate’s signature on it, and one card would be given each day, whenever the desired behaviour occurred at least 2 hours a day. Furthermore, the acquired tokens would be eligible to trade with certain privileges and would be forfeited if the behaviour does not meet the expected requirements. Hence, a variety of backup reinforces are used in exchange with the accumulated playing cards on every Friday to determine the type of privileges that would be given and further information is provided in the behavioural contract (Appendix A). Besides that, punishment would be provided if I fail to meet the expected requirement. Additionally, the schedule of reinforcement chosen for this particular project is fixed interval, whereby studying behaviour is reinforced only if it occurs for at least two hours. The behaviour occurrence would also be recorded in the computer, as the behaviour occurs at home in the study room. Besides that, during the treatment period, my friends and housemate have also promised to give me social support and reinforcements. In addition, various types of response and stimulus prompts are also used in this project. Verbal prompts such as reminders to study are used by friends and housemates to evoke the desired behaviour in myself. They will do this by not persuading me to go out with them and reminding me to study instead. Furthermore, environmental prompts are also used in this project such as post its on the mirror, computer in the study room and class file that I carry to class every day, as well as using the hand phone to set alarm to study. In addition, within prompt fading was used in the second treatment period, for response prompts, whereby friends and boyfriend provided fewer verbal prompts as the week progressed during treatment period. Next, stimulus fading was also used in the second treatment period for environmental prompts, whereby on the first day, removal of alarm clock would be used and for subsequent days, one post its would be removed from either the mirror, computer or class file until the last day of treatment. Results The baseline and treatment data was collected for a period of four weeks and intervention was applied during treatment 1 and treatment 2. Figure 1: Studying behaviour in baseline and treatment weeks. Figure 1 shows that during the first baseline, studying behaviour did not occur at all for the first two days, one hour for the third, again none on the fourth and two hours on the fifth day. Hence, the average studying hours for the first baseline week is 0. 4 hours or 24 minutes. Furthermore, this could be clearly seen in the structured diary attached for the first baseline (Appendix B). Next, intervention took place in the second week, whereby various strategies were used to increase studying behaviour. Results showed that studying behaviour had occurred for two hours for the first and second day, one hour for the third day, two hours for the fourth day, and none on the fifth day. This shows that studying behaviour had increased to an average of 1. 4 hours a day and that there was an increase of 50% from the initial baseline to the treatment period. Moreover, the self management project had returned to baseline on the third week and results showed that studying behaviour had occurred for 2. hours on the first day, one hour on the second, none on the third and fourth and two hours on the fifth day. Thus, the average studying behaviour was 1. 1 hours a day for the second baseline period. Although the average hours were less compared to the treatment period, however, there was definitely an increase compared to the first baseline period, whereby average hours were only 0. 4 hours. Next, intervention was again applied and the second treatment results showed that studying behaviour occurred for one hour on the first day, 2. hours on the second, two hours on the third, one hour on the fourth, and two hours on the fifth day. Hence, the average studying hours is approximately 1. 7 hours a day. Thus, this also shows that there is an increase of studying behaviour between the second baseline and second treatment period. Besides that, there is also a staggering increase from the initial baseline and second treatment period, that precedes to fluctuate in the second baseline, when intervention was removed. Discussion  The behaviour modification project to increase studying behaviour was definitely a success because the graphs showed an increase in hours of studying as compared to the baseline data, thus indicating that there us a functional relationship between the target behaviour and the procedure. Furthermore, it is clear that the token economy system was a contributor to the success of increasing studying behaviour because once token economy was removed in the second baseline; the target behaviour had decreased tremendously. In addition, the target behaviour had increased when the second intervention was applied in the fourth week. Moreover, the use of reinforcements and punishment also helped me to keep myself motivated and determined to achieve the weekly goal that was set. Besides that, the use of within stimulus fading helped me generalise my behaviour to the subsequent weeks ahead, hence I had gradually adjusted myself with getting used to having less and less prompts throughout the week. However, there were also some limitations in this project, whereby, the duration of treatment intervention is too short to allow the behaviour to fully adjust and be generalised without the use of prompts. In addition, self monitoring was used during observation of behaviour for the baseline data. Observer may not be trained enough to record her own behaviour, hence data may not be as reliable as compared to having an inter rater observation. Moreover, the implementation of reinforcement contingency was my housemate, and sometimes the reinforcements were given a day later because she is not around. This has affected the effectiveness of the token as a reinforcing consequence as some deliveries of the token did not occur immediately after the response occurred according to the expected schedule. Furthermore, due to the delay between the response and token, it could have also affected the connection strength of the behaviour. In conclusion, behaviour modification is definitely an effective treatment method to help increase, decrease or develop new behaviours and it is applicable to use in a variety of problematic behaviours.

Hip Mask Representing An Iyoba Essay

The exquisiteness of the material and the sophistication of the carving indicate that it was created by the exclusive guild of royal ivory carvers for the king. This exquisite piece is made out of ivory, iron and cooper. This piece also contains pieces of inlaid metal and elaborate coral carvings. The piece dimensions are as followed; H. 9 3/8 x W. 5 x D. 3 1/4 in. (23. 8 x 12. 7 x 8. 3 cm). The mask is a sensitive human idealized portrait, depicting its subject with softly modeled features. This piece is framed with an elegant tiara-like coiffure and openwork collar. The pupils were inlaid with iron metal, the forehead has carved scarification marks and also she is wearing bands of coral beads below the chin. In the necklace you can see miniature motifs that represent heads of the Portuguese soldiers depicted with beards and flowing hair. In the crown tiara-like coiffure are carved more Portuguese heads alternated with figures of stylized mudfish, which symbolizes Olokun, the Lord of the Great Waters. You can see that some of the necklace portion is damage or missing and this could be due to the age and fragility of the coral. This piece is from early African art also known as â€Å"Queen Mother Pendant Mask: Iyoba†. Today, you can find this piece at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Although images of women are very rare this piece has come to symbolize the legacy of a dynasty that continues to the present day. In many of the African cultures the head is a very important, powerful and symbolic piece. The head was consider to be the symbolic center of a person’s intelligence, wisdom, and ability to succeed in this world and/or to be a tool to be able to communicate with spiritual forces in the ancestral world. In Art of History, published in 2011, both Professor Marilyn Stokstad and Michael W. Cothren claim that â€Å"one of the honorifics used for the king is the â€Å"Great Head†. The head leads the body as the king leads the people. All of the memorial heads include representation of coral-beaded caps, necklaces and royal costume. Coral, enclosing the head and displayed on the body, is still the ultimate symbol of the oba’s power and authority. † In an article titled â€Å"Iyoba Idia: The Hidden Oba Of Benin† published in 2006, issue 9 of Jenda: A Journal Of Culture And African Women Studies – Nkiru Nzegwu wrote â€Å"Iron and copper inserts were embedded in these cavities in the original model and formed part of the decoration. Some have claimed that these cavities were receptacles for embedded magical potions, and there is a historical explanation for them. The striations were the result of incisions a local doctor-diviner made to disfigure Idia and render her unattractive to Oba Ozolua. As narrated by the present Oba Erediauwa, Idia’s parents did not wish her to become an Oba’s wife, and the oracle they consulted advised that they mar her beauty to make her ugly to the Oba (Kaplan 1993, 59). The two incisions not only scarred her face but, to make assurance double sure, they also contained potent medicinal potions which the consulting physician-diviner had assured them would repel Oba Ozolua. The royal explanation is that the plan failed because the Oba sensed that something was wrong before he even saw Idia and quickly neutralized the effects of the medicine. † This is a pendant or ornament mask that represents an iyoba (queen mother-the oba’s mother), the senior female member of the royal court. It’s believed that this piece was produced in the early sixteenth century for the King or â€Å"Oba† Esigie, the king of Benin, who ruled from 1504 to 1550. This piece is to honor his mother, Idia. There are different versions of the purpose of this piece. The most common ones is that this was used a as belt ornament and it was worn at the oba’s hip. The Oba may have worn it at rites commemorating his mother, although today such pendants are worn at annual ceremonies of spiritual renewal and purification. Esigie had the support of Ida and the Portuguese soldiers in the expansion of his kingdom. Ida is remembered for raising an army and using magical powers to help her son Esigie to defeat his enemies.

Family and Indigenous Languages Essay

EXPOSITORY ESSAY THE NEED TO PROMISE THE STUDY OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE IN NIGERIA It is a pity that Nigeria’s indigenous languages have been relegated to the background over the years. Nigerian students are taught in English Language which is also regarded as the lingua franca of the country. This is not good enough. Though Nigeria has several indigenous languages, there is need to promote the study of these indigenous languages. This is why the Federal Ministry of Education made it compulsory for every student to study at least one Nigerian language at the Senior Secondary School level. Even during the tenure of Professor Babs Fafunwa as the ministry of education, it was canvassed that indigenous languages should be used to teach primary school students. Languages are associated with culture and tradition of the people. Therefore, the adoption of another people’s language as a medium of communication in Nigeria indicates that we have relegated our own culture and tradition to the background. This may also connote that we have not as a country thrown away every relic of colonization. Indigenous languages, if promote can be the unifying factor in Nigeria. They promote peaceful co-existence and tolerance among the Nigeria people who will have a sense of belonging in the country. In addition, indigenous languages also promote understanding and appreciation of our own culture and tradition. Why do we have to promote the culture of a foreign country at the expense of our own? The promotion and study of indigenous languages will also give us national identity. A language is always associated with a nation. So, if we promote and study our own indigenous languages, the world will identify us with these indigenous languages. There are lots of benefits to gain from promoting our indigenous languages. The lingua franca which we have been clamouring for over the years will ultimately emerge if we can promote the study of these indigenous languages. Furthermore, the study of these languages will enable our children to be conversant with mother tongues since thoughts and language can hardly be separated. Finally, it is an established fact that a leaner first thinks in the language of his environment and this process of thinking enriches his experience about his immediate environment and culture. Hence, a thorough foundation must be laid in the study of our indigenous languages in the country. ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY NIGERIA NEXT PRESIDENT SHOULD BE A WOMAN Good day, Mr. Chairman, panel of judges, co-debators, ladies and gentlemen and my most attentive audience. My name is Oluwole Oludayo. I am here to support the motion which states that ‘Nigeria’s next president should be a woman†. 2015, it is expected that a new civilian president will emerge to direct the affairs of the country. The presidential candidates for each of the parties have been nominated but there is one thing that I am sure most of us have not noticed all candidates are men! Sometimes, I sit down and wonder why we cannot have at least a woman among the presidential candidates since we got independence in 1960, no woman has been given the chance to contest the presidential election and I think that our great nation is making a mistake. First and foremost, if Nigeria has a woman as her president, there are so many advantages and benefits that we can enjoy. One of such benefits is that a woman president can be more honest than men. When we have an honest president, then we can begin to think of economic growth. Furthermore, we all know the popular saying which goes thus: ‘what a man can do, a woman can do better’. Indeed, this saying is true because women have proved to be better leaders than men. For instance look at the famous Magaret Thatcher. She is a woman of virtue, discipline and honour. She has proved that women can in fact excel in a man world. In addition to this, if Nigeria next president is a woman, she would be upright, disciplined and very firm she would realise that she is in a man world and that she is facing many challenges in which she cannot afford to fail because she wants to prove a point. Therefore, this will make her work very hard and to be firm in decision-taking, she will not bend for anybody. If we have a president who is very firm, bribery and corruption will be curbed. Similarly, there will be less chances of waging war. The country under the rule of a woman will be at peace with her neighbours. Instead of going to war, a woman will easily negotiate for peace and she will also make sure that she is always at peace with the citizens of the country. I must also state that women are usually compassionate by nature, although they can be firm. If Nigeria has a female president, she would feel strongly for the little children, the poor, the widow and the less privilege who beg by the road sides. Also, those people who do not have clothing and shelter will be taken care of. Finally, I must say that if Nigerians elect a female president, it will be a great turning point in the history of the country. It will also be an honour to have a Nigeria’s first woman president. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, I am of the candid view that if Nigerians can give women a chance, I am sure that they will not regret it. NARRATIVE ESSAY THE SHAME THAT REFUSES TO GO When I was fourteen years old, I was sent from my village to live with my sister who had just got married. My sister had complained about the need to have house help after having her first born. With the permission of my parents, I went to live with my sister and her husband in Lagos. Immediately I got to Lagos, I was registered in a school very near our house. My sister was a business woman who sold ladies shoes and bags while her husband was a civil servant. My sister regularly travelled to the eastern part of the country to buy her wares. In most times, I would be alone in the house with her husband and baby. After living with them for four years, I noticed a change in the attitude of my sister’s husband towards me. He was unnecessarily lavishing his care on me, buying me dresses and gifts. Several times, he bought new clothes for me and whenever he did this, he would instruct me not to tell my sister. One day, while my sister was away to Onitsha on a business trip, her husband called me and instructed me to cook rice and ‘dodo’ in the evening and that I should not go to bed until he came back at night. I did as he instructed me and I struggled to stay awake until he came back around 10.30pm. When he came back, he asked me to serve the rice and ‘dodo’ in one plate and that we were going to eat together. I told him that I had eaten but he insisted that I would eat with him on the same table. He further told me that he loved me and that all the beautiful dresses and gifts he had bought for me were mine if I would allow him to make love to me. My excuse that he should realise that he was my sister husband fell on deaf ears. To cut the long story short, we made love that night and that was the beginning of the several love bouts we had. After a year of having this secret love affair with my sister’s husband, I got pregnant. When I told him that I was pregnant for him he, he told me to make it a secret forever if could not agree to abort it. I was afraid to commit abortion and it did not take long before I was found out by my sister. She forced me to tell her who was responsible for my pregnancy. In her annoyance, she sent me back to my parents in the village, divorced her husband and swore to renounce me as her sister. I later got married and I had to live with my first child whom I had for my sister’s husband’s house. My husband did not know that Ade was my first child until somebody told him the whole story of my life. He lost all the confidence in me and since then things have not been the way it used to be. He couldn’t love me as he used to and so I have had to live with this stigma for the rest of my life. DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY THE LOCAL FESTIVAL IN MY VILLAGE The arrival of civilization and western culture has made us to forget our cultural past. Our heritage has been lost and traded off for the western ways. Those cultural heritages which had delighted our fore-fathers are looked down upon by youths who regard these heritages as old fashioned and anachronistic. I must confess that I did share this opinion with my peers but I have to give it another thought when I was privileged to accompany my parents to our village to witness a local festival. The festival is usually celebrated every first Saturday of September in my village, Obong. Every year the indigenes travel from far and near to convene at Obudu market square, the venue of the annual new year festival. The origin of this festival goes as far back as when the first group of settlers fled to the plateau for safety and decided to dwell there. I can recollect vividly what my grandfather told me about the first festival when the settlers had their first new yam harvested. Tradition has it that the very first celebration was held at the summit of the Obudu Plateau. The joy and happiness shared among the people was enough to pull the heavens down according to my grandmother. Ever since, the celebration has taken the same pattern. Last year, the new yam festival which I witnessed began on Thursday. The day preceding that Thursday, all men in the village woke up very early in the morning and left for their farms. They returned in the evening with their children carrying large tubers of yam on their hands. I joined the village children to carry the tubers which we dropped at the market square. In the evening, the men gathered after taking their bath to discuss over a gourd of freshly-tapped palm wine. Their discussion took them into the far night before they went to sleep in their various homes. Very early the next day, the women started peeling the yams for cooking. They brought all ingredients together for the cooking while the young men prepared themselves to carry masquerades. The girls, like myself were not allowed to cook but we helped the women in cooking the food. Saturday finally arrived and the festival was scheduled to begin at noon. As early as 7.00am on that day, the women were up again to add finishing touches to their cooking and finally they pounded the yams. The real festival began with the arrival of the ‘Usu’, the chief who was followed by the masquerades. The young girls like myself dressed beautifully with the ‘jigida’ beads around our waists. We danced to entertain the ‘Usu’ and his chiefs who occasionally waved their locally made fans. Then the food was served and there was more than enough to go around. Everybody ate to his or her satisfaction. Finally, after all the dancing, singing and eating, the festival came to an end in the early hours of Sunday morning. I could say that this festival is of great importance to the Obudu people because it is the only time of the year when all indigenes of the village, far and near come together to felicitate. Moreover, the festival gave me a sense of pride that I have a heritage which I can be proud of.

Importance of Internal Communications Essay

Importance of Internal Communications for a company and two case studies. Internal communications is considered a vital tool for connecting people within the company. It does not refer only to those few â€Å"official† channels of communication in a company, it is also the strategic management of information flows to ensure the optima level of employee engagement. (Civicus, 2001) This business context of communication is a dual listening process. It is a top-down, bottom-up, side-to-side communication harnessed as a means of delivering messages, listening to concerns and motivating staff. Maintaining a good internal communications within a company could reinforce the vision, values and culture among employees, who can then communicate it to internal and external audiences. Internal communications aims to ensure that employees in the company work together towards the same goal, know what they should be doing and by when. Internal communication has evolved various ways of communicating internally. Traditionally, it started off with informal and formal one-to-one and one-to-many meetings where usually the ‘the boss’ would communicate in a highly one-way fashion with employees. Lee, 2006) In this case the message is mostly communicated in one way, it does not include feedback from the message recipients. When print materials were introduced, it was then involved for formal, top-down transmission, for instance, company annual report. Internal communication then evolved to the digital era where Internet was highly used as a communication tool. When email was in troduced into the business settings and with it the nature of communication has radically changed. Lee, 2006) As the digital technology advances, internal communication has evolved to the point where not only can employees and employers freely email each other, forward messages without any editing (showing the whole conversational trail), and forward those messages outside of the corporate walls, but also employees and employers can use these emails to bring about grievance procedures, litigation and dismissal. (Lee, 2006) It is seen that internal communication has undergone deliberately change and will continue growing. Today’s internal communication practitioner is focused on challenging and stimulating employees, managing change and gaining employee engagement and commitment. (Chalmers, 2008) The aim has moved from controlling and directing people, through providing information, making announcements and supporting industrial relations, to supporting the development of a flexible work environment which adapts to change, seeks improvement, shares knowledge and know-how, generates ideas and involves people in achieving strategic goals. Chalmers, 2008) Most of the people understand the significance of internal communication but very few could manage it efficiently. Many people think that internal communication is one of the functions that they think they can do well. In fact, when it comes to real situation on handling employees, certain strategies and techniques are needed to communicate and tackle. In talking to many individuals at very different levels in very disparate sectors, what has come across as crucial is the need for internal communication to be championed at the very top of the organization and also for senior management and the boardroom to respect the expertise of the specialist tasked to deliver, be they internally or externally placed. Smith, 2008) A large number of studies by both professional management groups and professional communications bodies consistently find that ‘communicating with employees’ is a useful and powerful way of engendering greater ‘engagement’ – the propensity of the employee to want to come to work and want to contribute to the success of the company. (Lee, 2006) Gauri Deshmukh, head of HR at SAS India states that internal communication is important for a company as it provides information and encourages sharing by driving and supporting the organisation’s short-term and long-term goals and objectiv es. In addition, Deshmukh also mentions that with effective internal communications, it ensures that knowledge-sharing and communication processes are part of the daily workflow across all functions of the business. By having good internal communication, a company ensures that in between employers and employees they are constantly updated with information. In fact, a good internal communications not only affects organizational and operational success, but it has a considerable impact on external functions such as marketing, community and government relations, nd investor relations. (Brown, 2002) Internal communication is significant in any company because it is the building block of the organisational culture. (Civicus, 2001) Furthermore, internal communication is important so that employees become advocates for company. It is important to create a ‘common purpose’ across the company – creating the sense of a team where everyone feels ownership in their roles and in a chieving the company’s goals. (WK, 2010) In this way employees feel accepted and being part of the company. Likewise, internal communication is one of the key ‘intangible’ factors leading to high performance. (WK, 2010) For instance, if communication in a company is managed well employees are more confident and clear with the company mission and vision thus makes excellent financial as well as business. Not only that, having good internal communication helps build out company’s brand internally as employees are the best ambassadors, and internal perceptions should mirror what the company is telling the world. Trout, 2012) When the company is communicating effectively with its internal stakeholders, be it employees, management or volunteers, programmes and departments share more resources and information resulting in less duplication of work and stronger impact as a whole company. (Civicus, 2001) Without an effective internal communications, a company allows others to determine what information (or disinformation) is communicated to employees about their company. Brown, 2002) Smart employers realize that in environments where employees are able to move from one employer to another with relative ease, it is in the company’s best interests to retain the smarter and more productive employees; doing all they can to communicate with them, inform them, influence them and enter into some sort of psychological contract with them is a wise move. Lee, 2006) Besides, without effective internal communications, the crisis of confidence in businesses and corporate leadership could hurt sincere efforts to build a positive corporate culture and to enhance employee morale and productivity, and devastate the overall image of an organization. (Brown, 2002) Case Study I: Nokia is one of the top mobile phone manufacturer favoured by many people. In order to compete with other mobile phone manufacturer Nokia is constantly improvising and upgrading their gadgets to serve people needs these days. The reason Nokia has been so successful is no doubt its creation on mobile phones, as well as the strong team in the company that has made where it stands today. In a technologically savvy company like Nokia, it’s no surprise that they’ve been successfully implementing social media into their internal communications. (Kass, 2012) Nokia’s motto is connecting people and exploring ways to enhance communication. (Kass, 2012) In order to realize that vision, Nokia uses a number of different vehicles for two-way and push or pull communications; social media plays a big part with fitting into that strategy. Nokia’s Social Media Communications team was established in early 2008, aimed to improve inter-company communications and engaging employees. The objective of the team is to: encourage the use of social media internally to bring out the company’s unique authentic voice and to engage in social media externally on behalf of Nokia, and contributing to product and service announcements by opening up a dialogue and driving online engagement. (Kass, 2012) Nokia has 125,000 employees around the world. It is the company’s utmost important task to engage all employees in order to achieve company business goal. There are a few platforms in Nokia allowing employees from global to connect as if they work in a small company together. According to Molly Schonthal who worked on the company’s Social Media team in North America, the BlogHub is Nokia’s most powerful and effective social media tool that is used internally. It has been said that BlogHub lowers the barriers for employees to find conversations relevant to them. In terms of interaction, employees are allowed to communicate freely via BlogHub. They could make comment on posts, share ideas and knowledge on issues that have been mentioned. In addition, BlogHub serves as a useful search engine for employees to seek out information relevant to them. From a management point of view, through BlogHub feedback on various issues are gained quickly and track the conversations that are happening inside the company. Voting and ratings on posts are enabled as well for employees to be part of the decision team. Nokia has also introduced Nokia Conversations blog where latest Nokia product news would be posted. Through this blog employees could find a big overview of all the topics going on in Nokia. Similar to any other company that is engaged on social media, Nokia has its very own YouTube and Twitter account. Other than that, VideoHub has grown increasingly popular with employees allowing for postings to be updated on a daily basis. Besides, Nokia’s Infopedia wiki allows employees to share knowledge inside the company. If someone needs to quickly check a piece of information, Nokia’s effective internal communication channel, Instant Messaging (IM) is available for employees. It claims to remove the barrier of more formalized communication in between employees. For global company like Nokia, in order to save cost and time, Nokia has it’s own video conference channel where annual communication meetings and real time conversations could be held. Considering people do not check their mailboxes as much anymore Nokia has slowly cut down prints publications in an effort to become more environmentally aware. In fact Nokia in North America has completely eliminated print publications. Newsletters are now kept to an electronic HTML format, which is e-mail so it is more easily distributed. Similar to every other company Nokia uses intranet communications as well. It is the center of where people go to get information on benefits or organization charts. Furthermore, to reach more employees, Nokia regularly posts relevant company announcements on plasma screens around regional offices, usually in cafeterias and breakout rooms, with its promise on going environmental friendly. At North America, leadership also encourages employees to speak directly with their line managers to better understand organizational strategy and what role they can play in that strategy. For all of Nokia’s Web 2. 0 tools, Schonthal is quick to point out that â€Å"social media is never a replacement for high touch engagement. † (Kass, 2012) Instead, it can contribute to various company events and other in-person initiatives. â€Å"Social media complements these things but doesn’t take away from the ability to internally engage and share ideas,† she further explains. Nokia provides many platforms for employees to stay engaged, all for one clear identified goal – connect all the people in the company. For such global company I believe Nokia in different countries or branches could decide on which channel they prefer but I believe as a whole, all the employees in Nokia stay connected via BlogHub. After reviewing how Nokia strives to engage the employees I could see that the management team work hard on receiving feedback as well. They listen to their employees. They make changes. All these actions give employees feel accepted and belonged to the company. The end result is the employees are clear with the goals, mission and procedures of the company, which can result increase their work effort and efficiency and boost business. Case Study II: â€Å"We were driven to connect the organization with itself, and realized enterprise social networking was the solution. I can truly say after more than two years that we have achieved an official internal communications channel. Socialcast lifted the boundaries and made our organization transparent. We connect daily with people from India, China, the US, and Brazil. Without Socialcast it would not be possible,† says Dennis Agusi, Global Internal Communications Officer, Royal Philips Electronics. Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is a diversified health and well-being company, focused on improving people’s lives through timely innovations. As a world leader in healthcare, lifestyle and lighting, Philips integrates technologies and design into people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer insights and the brand promise of â€Å"sense and simplicity†. Philips Case Study 2012) In 2010, Philips began to explore how the company should help its employees spread around the globe to feel engaged, work like a small team driven by shared goals. On the way of researching, the Corporate Communications and IT department discovered that approximately 1,600 employees were actively using a free tool they had found on the Internet to communicate and collab orate. Knowing two platforms for collaboration would not be a great idea so the team took initiative to introduce a new platform to these early users. These early users provided positive and valuable feedback and recommendations on how to improve the enterprise social experience the best it could be. Then it led to a successful launch of an enterprise social network. The company adopted â€Å"Connect Us† and the network was launched with wide support. On launch day, Connect Us had 400 members. Within two months, 7,000 employees had joined the community. Through Connect Us they allow employee-to-employee exchanges as well as management-to-employee communications. Employees are allowed to post freely, share knowledge to make work easier. Connect Us helps to remove barriers between departments as well. Through Socialcast Reach, employees are allowed to share information and data in between departments resulting a more seamless flow of work. In addition, a new idea can be communicated more broadly, increasing sense of connectedness and engagement across the company. From management perspective, through Connect Us, the Communications and IT team could monitor what’s happening in the company, check trending topics or people, at real time. According to report, Connect Us has enabled new and sometimes unexpected forms of employee engagement. All Employee Jam† was a crowdsourcing project designed to bring to life the company’s new, refreshed Mission and Vision statement through dialogue, discussion and debate. This exercise has successfully drawn employees who had not yet joined the social community into Connect Us. According to feedback, employees who participated in this exercise were found to be far m ore aware of and aligned with the Philips Mission and Vision than those employees who did not participate. This resulted Philips truly believes that enterprise social networks help companies increase employee engagement and retention. I liked the idea of how Philips tries to maintain the communication channel as one, which is Connect Us. I believe there are other platforms available for instance intranet but Connect Us is actively used by people in the company. From not knowing employees are using free online tool to communicate to introducing socialcast network, Philips has come a long way into realizing the importance of internal communication. The All Employee Jam has definitely demonstrated the power of enterprised social networking. It encouraged the employees to share knowledge, to stay connected which resulted in a greater identity with the company. In this two case studies, both companies Nokia and Philips selected appropriate channels for communication according to its needs. Nokia has different communication platforms serving different purposes. For instance, BlogHub allows employees to find information they need and Instant Messaging is a tool for quick and easy communication. On the other hand, Philips focus mainly on Connect Us, from searching information to accelerating ideas to sharing data it is all done on Connect Us. However, on my opinion, Nokia has too many platforms it might be tough to engage all the employees in one platform, as the users are free to choose which platforms they get information from. Whereas Philips uses Connect Us, most of the employees are part of the community and anything they need require can be found on Connect Us. I think this is one of the advantages of having a focused channel. Likewise, the tools and tactics, both companies chose to be focus more on information technology. In terms of interactivity, both companies engage their employees as well as welcoming their feedbacks. The employees are encouraged to utilise these channels to feel more accepted and being part of the company. For instance, Philips Connect Us not only allows employees-to-employees exchange, as well as management-to-employees communication. In this case it removes barriers between management and employees so work can be done easier. As for Nokia, feedbacks are valued through voting and ratings on posts and comments, allowing management to understand the employees better. Besides, both case studies reviewed the importance of evaluation on internal communication. In order to improve, the management team has to constantly measure the effectiveness of the communication tools and find ways to improve. Nokia and Philips monitor their employees through these platforms to find out what is really happening in the company. This way they could make sure the employees are on par with company’s goals. In conclusion, internal communication has never been so important. Many people know what internal communication is and they think they know how to function this but they might not know the true meaning behind it. Effective internal communication does not mean to have a lot of communication platforms, spending big budget on this function but utilizing the appropriate communication tool for employees get involved. If you want to build brand for your company first you have to build your brand internally. After all employees are the representatives of your company, they are the brand. Internal communication comes a long way to build, it might need more time and effort to achieve the effective result as desired but the end result is always proven satisfaction, that I am sure. A combination of strong communication, teamwork and camaraderie framed within trusting relationships will help achieve remarkable results in times of large-scale change and uncertainty, writes University of Nottingham chief executive Peter Homa. And finally, in my own words, you can’t communicate with your audience until your internal message is crystal clear.