Gorilla Tourism in Central Africa Essay Example for Free

Gorilla Tourism in Central Africa Essay The present essay is an investigation of ethical challenges with regard to gorilla tourism in Central Africa region. The paper undertakes a thorough research on the concerned issue and explores many a facet of this area. The purpose of this investigation is to create a better understanding of the issues present in the region so that a practical approach can be adopted to address these issues. 2- Gorilla Tourism and Challenges Gorilla tourism is to date becoming a universally accepted activity because of certain positive signs for gorilla conservation, promotion, and future stability of the species in Africa. Gorilla tourism is also considered as an effective tool that can be made use of to foster the gorillas of African region. Another important point to note is that, today, gorilla tourism is seen as a successful business for the countries that utilize this tool for the purposes of gorilla conservation. They now receive ample volume of revenue in connection with gorilla tourism. Some of the countries like Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic (DR) of Congo (ex-Zaire) are mentioned especially in this regard because of the revenues that they generate for the endangered gorilla species. However, with all these activities taking place, and more and more people from all parts of the world are moving toward African region for gorilla tourism, some other threats has risen. These range from disease to ethical treatment of the issues. How these challenges count toward gorilla tourism, and how they can be effectively confronted, is, then the central issue of today’s gorilla tourism in African region. This area is considered vital in conservation efforts of gorillas because of its impact on gorilla tourism (Homsy, 1999). Critics and experts state that in order to take Africa for future gorilla tourism, it is highly imperative to address such challenges as ethical issues; only this way will it be possible to reduce the widening gap between African and western nations; as well as, this is the way to promote successful gorilla tourism in Africa, a region tormented by war, internal political instability, and other grave issues. Cross-cultural communication is one solution which is being discussed in this connection through media communications. However, all these areas take ethical consideration as the core point of gorilla tourism (Okaka, 2007). 3- The Root Cause Although it has been noted that gorilla tourism is seen as one vital solution to a wide spectrum of problems present in central Africa that range from gorilla conservation to regional development, it is important to look at the core issue that is seen as basic to present day ethical challenges to gorilla tourism in central Africa. This takes as back into the past as several decades by which we can see that the region of central Africa is tormented by numerous political and tribal rivalries which gave way to several problems; but ethical challenges became all the more raging. This panoramic scene or tribal and political wars and conflicts in the region became all the bloodier in the 1990s. A number of countries and communities are seen involved in this struggle. The impact of these rivalries fell on gorilla tourism and ethical challenges became a critical area of discussion in this region. Hence, initiatives were taken to address these. However, today, the region is still in a position where still much is needed to be done (International Wildlife, 1999). 4- Challenges Looking specifically at the situation, it is revealed that with the initiatives to increase tourism in central Africa a number of challenges are coming to the forefront. Perhaps, the most critical of the challenges is the pressure being placed on ecological system of the region. This has mainly been caused the recent development of isolated areas for recreational purposes. The problem is so severe that is rings an alarming bell for the concerned authorities. For example, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park presents a bleak situation. Here, â€Å"gorilla deaths from infections have increased along the border as a result of more frequent trekking groups and human contact† [italic added]. Moreover, Rwenzori Mountains gives rise to another mounting problem in the region: wasted left behind in the area by nature hikers. This is seen as a serious health problem and a monstrous future challenge in the region regarding gorilla tourism. Ahead, we find other problem associated to the overall count of these issues. For instance, at present increasing amounts of complaints are registered among Ugandans with regard to the â€Å"trivialization of ethnic rituals for tourism†. Hinged on this very problem is the eviction of communities which have been there for centuries. The major purpose of this eviction is none other than the present trend of developing recreational parks and other protected zones for gorilla tourism. However, this is gaining wider criticism worldwide among critics and opposition among the local peoples. What is more? There is constant reference to the ethnic challenges linked to gender-related inequalities. In particular, â€Å"the rise in tourist-related prostitution and the transmission of HIV-AIDS† [italics added]. Furthermore, there is another ethical disparity rooted in the region with regard to women-centered labor work. Although women here are basic source of tourism handiwork, there is little that has been done to address their work-related problems. For instance, women who produce handicraft have to travel long distances every day only to get the required materials used in their handcraft products. With all these problems, there is still no certain word about political stability of the region which is seen a critical challenge for the present as well as for future development of gorilla tourism in Central Africa (Ringer, 2002). 5- Conclusion To address a number of present ethical challenges and to fight any future issues in the region, there have been quite a few collaborative efforts that have been initiated in Central African Region for as long as last 15 years. Although major programs are sponsored by single donors, there is one notable exception of Dzanga-Sangha Project. This project involves a number of working organizations such as WWF, GTZ, and Peace Corps and numerous other donors from US and Germany. There is mention that several of the informal initiatives undertaken to address ethical issues and other problems did not meet a successful standard in the region. However, it has been well recognized that transboundary management of ethical issues and natural resources is the key solution to major problems in the region. This has been recognized mainly due to the development of a tri-national park which spreads in Dzanga-Sandha. This has proved to be significant in days of conflict and numerous issues related to conflict situation (Blom and Yamindou, 2001). There are other number steps that are being taken to address challenges to gorilla tourism in the region. For instance, research regarding present issues and challenges is seen as a vital solution to a number of problems in the region (Green Campus, 2007). References Blom, A. , Yamindou, J. (2001). A brief history of armed conflict and its impact on biodiversity in the Central African Republic. World Wildlife Fund, Inc. Retrieved on March 2 2009 from: http://www. worldwildlife. org/bsp/publications/africa/141/CAR. pdf Green Campus (2007). The AJ Environmental Education Directory 2007: Green Campus Life and Learning. Alternatives Journal. Volume: 33. Issue: 5. November-December 2007. Page Number: 15+. COPYRIGHT 2007 Alternatives, Inc. Homsy, J. (1999). Ape tourism and human diseases: how close should we get? Retrieved on March 2 2009 from: http://www. igcp. org/pdf/homsy_rev. pdf International Wildlife (1999). Soldiers in the Gorilla War. Magazine Title: International Wildlife. Publication Date: January 1999. COPYRIGHT 1999 National Wildlife Federation. Okaka, W. (2007). The role of media communications in developing tourism policy and cross-cultural communication for peace, security for sustainable tourism industry in Africa. Retrieved on March 2 2009 from: http://www. iipt. org/africa2007/PDFs/Okaka. pdf Ringer, G. (2002). Gorilla tourism: Uganda uses tourism to recover from decades of violent conflict. Alternatives Journal. Volume: 28. Issue: 4. Publication Date: Fall 2002. Page Number: 17+. COPYRIGHT 2002 Alternatives, Inc.

Against Reinstating the Military Draft Essay -- essays research papers

Against Reinstating the Military Draft On July 1, 1973, Congress chose to end the draft in favor of an All Volunteer Army. According to "The Professional Bulletin of Army History, No. 27," the last man was drafted in December 1972 and reported for training in June 1973. Now, not only might the renewed military draft come back but also the age of compulsory service in the meat grinder might be extended from its former limit of 26 years up to 42 years of age. As Ken Adachi, the editor of ?Educate Yourself,? reports, a new draft will include BOTH men and women. While at various points in history the United States military has operated effectively and efficiently with the draft, reinstating the draft would contradict the ideals of freedom and patriotism that the United States stands for and is supposedly fighting for. People who support the military draft will say that it is the obligation of every citizen of the United States, and every other person residing in the United States, who is between the ages of 18 and 42, to perform a period of national service. Aren?t there many other ways--less deadly ways--to contribute to the country?s well being? Should we, as citizens, be allowed to evade this ultimate obligation by turning it over to the poorer members of society, those who can't find good-paying jobs or training except in the military? In "A War for Us, Fought by Them," William Broyles, a Vietnam war veteran and the father of a young man who is a soldier in the Marines, argues that the military draft should be brought back, and this time it should be done right: everybody should be drafted, not just ?the profoundly patriotic or the economically needy" (Broyles 695). On the other hand, one of the checks that help main... ...e unnecessary moneymakers, products of lies and deception behind the scenes, orchestrated by powerful and rich men who usually never suffer but, rather, gain from their machinations to create war. I support a National Service Obligation system that would draft all persons, at age 18, to serve for 18 months in some form of public service. This would allow American citizens to contribute to the country in different ways. But it should be one?s own decision how to contribute to the country. As said before, I believe that reinstating the military draft will not increase patriotism or a sense of duty, but will rather decrease the effectiveness of the military and will create huge protest feeling among country?s citizens. Therefore we should explore every possible way to contribute the country?s future instead of just putting our future and ourselves in the Meat Grinder.

Project Management and Tran Essay

Tran was taking his dog Callie on her evening walk as the sun began to set over the coastal range. He looked forward to this time of the day. It was an opportunity to enjoy some peace and quiet. It was also a time to review events on the Ajax project and plot his next moves. Ajax is the code name given by CEBEX for a high-tech security system project funded by the U. S. Department of Defense (DOD). Tran is the project manager and his core them consisted of 30 full-time hardware and software engineers. Tran and his family fled he was 18 and used the education stipend to attend Washington State University. He joined CEBEX upon graduating with a dual degree in mechanical and electrical engineering. After working on a variety of projects for 10 years Tran decided he wanted to enter management. He went to night school at the University of Washington to earn an MBA. Tran became a project manager for the money. He also thought he was good at it. He enjoyed working with people and making the right thing happen. This was his fifth project and up to now he was batting. 500,with half of his projects coming ahead of schedule. Tran was proud that he could now afford to send his oldest child to Stanford University. Ajax was one of many defense projects the CEBEX Corporation had under contract with DOD. CEBEX is a huge defense company with annual sales in excess of $30 billion and more than 120,000 employees worldwide. CEBEX’s five major business areas are Aeronautics, Electronic Systems, Information& Solutions, and Space Systems. Ajax was one of several new projects sponsored by the Integrated Systems & Solutions division aimed at the homeland security business. CEBEX was confident that it could leverage its technical expertise and political connections to become a major player in this growing market. Ajax was one of several projects directed at designing, developing, and installing a security system at an important government installation. Tran had two major concerns when he started the Ajax project. The first was the technical risks inherent in the project. In theory the design principles made sense and the project used proven technology. Still the technology had never been applied in the field in this matter. From past experience, Tran knew there was a big difference between the laboratory and the real world. He also knew that integrating the audio, optical, tactile, and laser subsystems would test the patience and ingenuity of his team. The second concern involved his team. The team was pretty much split down the middle between hardware and electrical engineers. Not only did these engineers have different skill sets and tend to look at problems differently, but generational differences between the two groups were evident as well. The hardware engineers were almost all former military, family men with conservative attire and beliefs. The electrical engineers were a much motlier crew. They tended to be young, single, and at times very cocky. While the hardware engineers talked about the Seattle Mariners, raising teenagers, and going to Palm Desert to play golf, the software engineers talked about Vapor, the latest concert at Gorge amphitheater, and going mountain biking in Peru. To make matters worse, tension between these two groups within CEBEX festered around salary issues. Electrical engineers were at a premium, and the hardware engineers resented the new hires’ salary packages, which were comparable to what they were earning after 20 years of working for CEBEX. Still the real money was to be made from the incentives associated with project performance. These were all contingent on meeting project milestones and the final completion date. Before actual work started on the project, Tran arranged a tow-day team-building retreat at a lodge on the Olympic peninsula for his entire team as well as key staff from the government installation. He used this time to go over the major objectives of the project and unveil the basic project plan. An internal consultant facilitated several team-building activities that made light of cross-generational issues. Tran felt a real sense of camaraderie within the team. The good feelings generated from the retreat carried over to the beginning of the project. The entire team bought into the mission of the project and technical challenges it represented. Hardware and electrical engineers worked side by side to solve problems and build subsystems. The project plan was built around a series of five tests, with each test being a more rigorous verification of total system performance. Passing each test represented a key milestone for the project. The team was excited about conducting the first Alpha test one week early—only to be disappointed by a series of minor technical glitches that ook two weeks of problem solving to resolve. The team worked extra hard to make up for the lost time. Tran was proud of team and how hard members had worked together. The Alpha II test was conducted on schedule, but once again the system failed to perform. This time three weeks of debugging was needed before the team received the green light to move to the next phase of the project. By this time, team goodwill had been tested, and emotions were a bit frayed. A cloud of disappointment descended over the team as hopes of bonuses disappeared with the project falling further behind schedule. This was augmented by cynics who felt that the original schedule was unfair and the deadlines were impossible to begin with. Tran responded by starting each day with a status meeting where the team reviewed what they accomplished the previous day and set new objectives for that day. He believed these meetings were helpful in establishing positive momentum and reinforcing a team identity among the engineers. He also went out of his way to spend more time with the â€Å"troops,† helping them solve problems, offering encouragement, and a sincere pat on the back when one was deserved. He was cautiously optimistic when the time came to conduct the Alpha III test. It was the end of the day when the switch was turned on, but nothing happened. Within minutes the entire team heard the news. Screams could be heard down the hallway. Perhaps the most telling moment was when Tran looked down at the company’s parking lot and saw most of his project team walking by themselves to their cars. As Callie chased some wild bunnies, Tran pondered what he should do next. 1. How effective has Tran been as a project manager? Explain. 2. What problem(s) does Tran face?

Quotes From President Andrew Jackson

Like most presidents, Andrew Jackson had speechwriters, and as a result, many of his speeches were elegant, brief, and rather low-key, despite some of the chaos of his presidency. Andrew Jacksons election to the United States presidency in 1828 was seen as the rise of the common man. According to the election rules of the day, he lost the election of 1824 to John Quincy Adams, although in fact Jackson had won the popular vote, and tied Adams in ​the electoral college, but lost in the House of Representatives. Once Jackson became president, he was one of the first to truly utilize the power of the presidency. He was known for following his own strong opinions and vetoing more bills than all presidents before him. His enemies called him King Andrew. Many quotations on the internet are attributed to Jackson, but lack citations to give context or meaning to the quotation. The following list includes quotes with the sources where possible--and a handful without. Verifiable Quotes: Presidential Speeches Verifiable quotations are those that can be found in specific speeches or publications of President Jackson. In a free government, the demand for moral qualities should be made superior to that of talents. (from a rough draft of his Inaugural Address) It will be my sincere and constant desire to observe toward the Indian tribes within our limits a just and liberal policy, and to give that humane and considerate attention to their rights and their wants which is consistent with the habits of our Government and the feelings of our people. (from Jacksons First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1829) Without union, our independence and liberty would never have been achieved; without union, they never can be maintained. (Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1833) There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses. (message to the U.S. Senate regarding his veto of a proposed Bank of the United States, July 10, 1832) Verifiable Quotes: Proclamations The individual who refuses to defend his rights when called by his Government deserves to be a slave, and must be punished as an enemy of his country and friend to her foe. (Proclamation before he became president, declaring martial law in New Orleans during the War of 1812, December 2, 1814) The moment we engage in confederations, or alliances with any nation we may from that time date the downfall of our republic. (Warning to John C. Calhoun who had announced to Congress that he was going to be attending a conference in Panama to improve relations and discuss the possibility of Northern intervention in Latin America, in 1828) The wisdom of man never yet contrived a system of taxation that would operate with perfect equality. (Proclamation to the People of South Carolina, written by Edward Livingston and issued by Jackson on December 10, 1832, at the height of the Nullification Crisis) Unverified Quotations These quotations have some evidence that they may have been used by Jackson, but cannot be verified. Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error. (also attributed to General Peyton C. March) One man with courage makes a majority. (This is an old adage which was written by the 16th-century Scottish reformer John Knox, that may or may not have also been quoted by Jackson) This quotation appears on the Internet as attributed to Jackson but without a citation, and it doesnt sound like Jacksons political voice. It could have been something he said in a private letter: I can say with truth that mine is a situation of dignified slavery. Sources Dirck BR. 2007. The Executive Branch of Federal Government: People, Process, and Politics. Sacramento: ABC-CLIO.Farwell B. 2001. The Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Land Warfare: An Illustrated World View. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.Keyes R. 2006. The Quote Verifier: Who Said What, Where, and When. New York: St. Martins Griffin.Northrup CC, and Prange Turney EC. 2003. Encyclopedia of Tariffs and Trade in U.S. History. Volume II Debating the Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group.issues : selected primary documents.

Of Mice and Men - 1352 Words

Of Mice and Men Essay - Fate or Choice? Choice is defined by the ‘Shorter Oxford Dictionary’ as; â€Å"The act of choosing; preferential determination between things proposed.† It also states the definition for fate; â€Å"The principle, power, or agency by which events are unalterably predetermined from eternity.† Is our life choice, can we determine our fate by choosing our path or is our destiny determined for us? John Steinbeck puts forward this question in his novella Of Mice and Men. George and Lennie are two completely juxtaposed men that John Steinbeck portrays to his readers to show fate, using foreshadowing. A different approach to this question is that our life’s destiny is predetermined for us, but based on the†¦show more content†¦This happens in Of Mice and Men, the fact that Lennie dies signals to George and Candy that the Dream was never real, just something to keep them going, to make life worth living. It was, always from the beginning, inevitable that Lennie was going to die at some stage near the end. This was shown with the use of foreshadowing. John Steinbeck uses imagery to represent characters, in nature, to foreshadow coming events. The river, the water-snake, the sunset and the heron. The water-snake – temptation and downfall, the heron – one being tempted, the river – journey/cyclic, sunset- end of something, start of a new beginning. It was also inevitable that Curley’s wife would die. The lead up to the death is quite obvious. The attraction Lennie has to her and the way she talks to him. Also at the scene where she dies there is some back-tracking. In Weed Lennie felt that girl’s soft red dress, this led to trouble, and George and Lennie had to leave. In the barn he felt her soft hair. This led to his vice-like grip not letting go and a dreadful end for her. This simple quote perfectly explains Lennie’s actions, and why he does the things he does: â€Å"The fly is attracted to the light† (scribd.com) Lennie takes the old, â€Å"think before you act† way. He does not know what he is really doing until it is done. Is Of Mice and Men a story about choice or fate? We can never really and truly decide because it is made up of a little bit of both.Show MoreRelatedOf Mice and Men1242 Words   |  5 PagesOf Mice and Men Thomas Hobbes in his Leviathan states that, in the state of nature mans life is nasty, brutish and short. In depression era America, no greater truth could be said. There were millions unemployed, largely unskilled and living on the margins of society. The lowest of the low were the migrant labourers travelling from place to place trying to scratch a living. They often had to travel illegally by freight car with all its consequent dangers. Their life expectancy was low, crimeRead MoreOf Mice and Men961 Words   |  4 PagesPeople have a tendency to lose sight of their goals and dreams. Mentally, people struggle to maintain their sanity in this game of life that has no set of rules. In the book Of Mice and Men, this story portrays the inequality between people’s dreams and what can actually be accomplished. John Steinbeck, the author Of Mice and Men, utilizes his general themes of friendship and loneliness, through his deep characterization and connection between characters i n order to illustrate â€Å"The American dream.† TheRead MoreMice and men1998 Words   |  8 PagesHey this essay is about me not having one and just wanting a free account.GCSE JOHN STEINBECK The first 200 words of this essay... à ¯Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¿Of Mice and Men Essay à ¢Of Mice and Menà ¢ is the fictional short novel written by John Steinbeck in 1937. Steinbeckà ¢s perspective when writing the novel could be based on the fact that he had once worked on a ranch and had a certain fascination about it. The novel is set in 1930s America and this can be seen as the cause of the very enduring culmination that takesRead MoreOf Mice and Men1006 Words   |  5 Pagesheart of every novel.† In your view, what are the distinctive ideas explored in Of Mice and Men? Explain how these ideas are developed throughout the novel. Themes are integral and fundamental aspects which render the literature valuable. They usually provide insight into the author’s perception and internalisations of the world in which they live. Set in California during the Great Depression, Of Mice and Men, by Steinbeck, illustrates the hardships experienced by individuals as they roamed theRead MoreOF MICE AND MEN1721 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿In the book Of Mice and Men, the single women that appeared in the book resented herself as an object. The statement Women today are more often treated by men as equals rather than objects can be true or false. A man that goes to Gentleman s Cubs every night is a different man that studies at Harvard Law School. A striper is going to be a different person than a CEO of a successful business. It’s all about how you present yourself. In Of Mice and Men, Curley s wife presents herself in a seductiveRead MoreOf Mice and Men1035 Words   |  5 PagesFriendship of George and Lenny The book Of Mice and Men focuses on the friendship of two migrant workers in California at a time when most of the work was done by people and not by machines.  Ã‚  George was a small man who acted worldly and wise.  Ã‚  Lennie was a huge man that had the mind of a child.  Ã‚  Together George and Lennie would bounce from job to job with no money in their pockets and only the dream of someday owning a place of their own to keep them going.  Ã‚  The two men were not able to stay in one placeRead MoreOf Mice and Men547 Words   |  2 PagesJohn Steinbeck’s landmark novel Of Mice and Men is perhaps best known for its revolutionary telling of two characters that are very different, but have come to rely on each other to survive during the Great Depression. The two characters are men named George and Lenny. George is somewhat of an average fellow who has no real special skills or attributes. Lenny is large and abnormally strong, but unfortunately has the mind of a child. Le nnie looks up to George as if he were a role model. This statementRead MoreMice and Men822 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Of Mice and Men† The Great Depression took place in the United States in the 1930s. Northern California, Salinas Valley was affected by the Great Depression. Many farmers lost their properties and were forced to find other work. Banks were forced to foreclose on mortgages’ and had to collect debts. Hundreds of thousands of farmers packed up their families and few belongings, and headed for California. The Great Depression left many people in poverty and caused them to face unpleasant eventsRead MoreOf Mice and Men1171 Words   |  5 PagesOf Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Q- â€Å"I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her† what is the reader supposed to think about Curley’s wife? * How is she described by the other characters? * How the author describes her * How she speaks/behaves * Her dreams * Is she the cause of all the trouble Written By Ruqayyah Draey Curley’s wife is not well described and respected by the other characters. She is often looked down upon and discriminatedRead MoreOf Mice and Men2269 Words   |  10 PagesOf Mice and Men John Steinbeck World Literature Mrs. Finke December 7, 2012 Of Mice and Men: A Classic for the Ages Thesis: Despite some impurity Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck should be considered as a classic due to its honesty, truth, loveliness, justice and of good report. I. Introduction II. Impurity A. Swearing B. Violence C. Economic poverty D. Psychological corruption III. Honesty A. Steinbeck’s

Sample Resume Customer Service Excellence Course

Email to the external training provider seeking information about the training To: learning@cciwa.com Subject: Customer Service Excellence Course Dear Sir I looking forward customer service improvement course a short course for training staffs of organisation. Please inform me If you have the training course and identify of starting date, time, location and the training costs you charge for per person? I hope your contact me as soon as Best Regard, Part D: Report Summary of meeting 1. Staff training need †¢ Increase motivation and engagement Yuko cause customer service has a big impact on the success of an organisation, this can be used to motivate and engage members of staff. If you show employees that the company care about their†¦show more content†¦To implement effective customer service training with employees, you first need to know what your customers expect from your staff and what their needs generally are. This can be accomplished by giving each customer a comment card, setting up a ratings or feedback section on your company’s website, and/or asking customers about their experience with your company on their last visit and past visits. You also may elect to hire a survey firm that conducts customer satisfaction surveys. For instance, Allegiance, a customer service research firm, offers a number of products for gathering information about your customers and how they interact with your employees (See Resources). Step 2 Evaluate each employee’s skills and skill level. This can be accomplished simply by watching how an employee interacts with customers and what level of service they offer. Some employees will be natural salespersons and posses the skills to up-sell customers with little effort. Others will be better at problem solving or pre-emptive problem solving in which they are able to identify when a customer is unhappy or unsatisfied and address the situation before it Yuko comes unmanageable. Study your employees and identify which have the best skill sets for a particular customer service need, such as establishing a rapport and up-selling. Conduct regular meetings allowing, each employee to showcase and explain how they carry out their particular skill set. Related Reading: How toShow MoreRelatedStudy of Recruitment Process and E- Recruitment12119 Words   |  49 Pagesare expected to continue their explosive growth. Presently, e- recruitment has been adopted in many organizations either from large organizations to small size companies. Most organizations are already using e-recruitment to post jobs and accept resumes on the Internet, and correspond with the applicants by e-mail. It brings the benefits to the organizations. Recruitment acts as a link between the employers and the job seekers and ensures the placement of right candidate at the right place at theRead MoreCulture6797 Words   |  28 Pages ACKNOWLEDGEMENT It is my pleasure to be indebted to various people, who directly or indirectly contributed in the development of this work and who influenced my thinking, behavior, and acts during the course of study. I express my sincere gratitude to Mr.Shravan Talwars(CEO) for providing me an opportunity to undergo the Summer Training at Moolchand Medcity. I am thankful to Ms.Preeti Malhotra (Trainer) for her support, cooperation and motivation providedRead MoreSharon Construction7271 Words   |  30 PagesStudent Handbook BADM 200W~Analysis of Business Issues A Writing in the Disciplines (WID) Course The George Washington University School of Business Fall, 2010 Warren Sharp, PhD Visiting Professor, School of Business Table of Contents Page Introduction 2 Format of the Course 3 Learning Objectives 4 Methods of Communication 4 Critical Thinking 5 Revision and Feedback (Peer Review) 5 Research and Analysis 6 Career Management Strategy 6 Business Terminology 7 Read MoreStudy on Recruitment and Selection Process18240 Words   |  73 Pageswhose aid and advice helped me to complete this project work successfully without any difficulty. I am sincerely thankful to Management Team of Visakhapatnam steel plant, for their valuable support and the interest they have shown in me during the course of the project. 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Their restaurant were set up differently to the restaurants of those times, with open kitchens the customers could see right through, and counters with many operational cash registers. Under a high degree of customer satisfactory contributed for business expansion, McDonald today has over than 30,000 restaurants over than 100 countries in the world and it has maintained the top position in the Fast Food IndustryRead MoreRecruitment and Selection Process of Insurance9958 Words   |  40 Pagesbecome a challenge for each company to adopt practices that would help the organization stand out in the market. The competitiveness of a company of an organization is measured through the quality of products and services offered to customers that are unique from others. Thus the best services offered to the consumers are result of the genius brains working behind them. Human Resource Management in this regard has become an important function in any organization. All practices of marketing and financesRead MoreRecruitment Selection process at WNS11192 Words   |  45 Pages A PROJECT REPORT ON â€Å"STUDY OF RECRUITMENT PROCESS In WNS GLOBAL SERVICES â€Å" GURU JAMESHWAR UNIVERSITY In the partial fulfillment of Master of Business Administration (2008-2010) SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY: Teacher shivani DECLARATION I, Shivani, student of MBA II semester, hereby certify that the project study title â€Å"RECRUITMENT PROCESS † is an original piece of work and is being submitted in partial fulfillment for theRead MoreH2O Can Expand Operations from Germany Into the Us30890 Words   |  124 Pagesmanager’s desktop menu: †¢ Human Resource Ad-Hoc Query †¢ Reports on General Employee Information, Training, Performance Appraisals, and Personnel Development †¢ Cost and Budget †¢ Accounting functions and quota planning †¢ Customer specific reports †¢ Technical support of ABAP developments SAP Business Warehouse SAP Business Warehouse supports strategic human resource reporting thorough the integration of SAP HR, SAP R/3 Financial, and Logistics data. 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Erp Project Oracle vs Asap Free Essays

string(220) " Catering This department manages the catering services at the students and staff cafeterias, the department also makes orders for all the ingredients they need for preparing the food on the menu for the different days\." Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Project Students name: Registration number: Course: Date: Table of Contents ABSTRACT3 INTRODUCTION5 VENDOR OVERVIEW8 INTRODUCTION8 SAP8 ORACLE9 BUSINESS FUNCTIONS13 Production14 Sales14 Support services15 External services15 BUSINESS FUNCTIONS SUPPORTED BY ORACLE AND SAP16 TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM FROM SAP AND ORACLE19 COST COMPARISON BETWEEN SAP AND ORACLE20 EASE OF USE22 ERP MODULES23 Oracle’s Financial Management Analytics23 Oracle database 11g enterprise edition24 VENDOR SELECTION27 ERP DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE28 SCOPE AND COMMITMENT STAGE28 ANALYSIS AND DESIGN29 ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT STAGE30 IMPLEMENTATION STAGE30 OPERATIONAL STAGE30 Bibliography31 ABSTRACT Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a system that integrates all the internal and external functional units of an organization, the functional units may be manufacturing, finance, storage, management, transport, customer satisfaction etc. in order to integrate all the organization’s functional unit into a flawless and harmonious system, computer software have been developed by different vendors, these software may be custom made for a particular organization or they may be general for use by any organization (Jerferson, 2010). ERP systems are put in place to improve on the efficiency of information management of the organization, all the data from the different units of the organization are managed by the software and is usually stored in a central location called a server, the server may be physically located in the organization or it may be a virtual one on the internet, the virtual serve uses a technology called cloud computing. We will write a custom essay sample on Erp Project Oracle vs Asap or any similar topic only for you Order Now The ERP system normally contains modules that are specialized sub-systems that are task-oriented, these modules include human resource, production planning, financial planning, quality management, materials management, sales and distribution, maintenance, controlling, asset management, project management and industry solutions. The ERP software are developed and sold by vendors under different levels, the highest level is the large Enterprise ERP tier I which include vendors such as SAP, Oracle and Microsoft, this level is for larger enterprises with complex communication protocols between so many functional units. The second level is the midmarket ERP tier II which include vendors such as Infor, QAD, Lawson, sage and IFS, these ERP software are suitable for medium companies that have average complexity in terms of information management. The last level is the small business ERP tier III, vendors of these ERP systems include Exact Globe, Syspro, NetSuite and Visibility, ERP software in this are suitable for small businesses with simple information management systems (Jerferson, 2010). In this project, a detailed analysis of a hypothetical university’s information management system is made, and then an ERP software will be selected from one of the two vendors, SAP or Oracle. The selection will be based on the steps of the ERP development life cycle, the cycle will involve all the standard phases of an ERP development life cycle. The major activities of the university include provision of education, research activities and community service. The functional units of the university include the academics affairs, inance department, staff administration, medical services, marketing and public relations, central store, catering, students welfare and quality assurance. The project will analyze the software modules that are provided by Oracle and SAP, a detailed investigation on the suitability of the two will also be made, and then one of them will be selected for use as the university’s ERP system. This selection will be based on facts and will be as system atic as the ERP development cycle. INTRODUCTION There are several ERP vendors in the global market, each is fighting to be the dominant brand, and as a result, stiff competition between the vendors is taking place. Each vendor is engineering better ERP software to attract the customer’s attention and fulfill their needs, some of the vendors are SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, Lawson, sage and IFS. In this project, the two most dominant vendors in the market will be analyzed, these are SAP and Oracle. The two vendors had a total market share of 55% between the year 2005 and 2009, and they have developed a wide range of products that are tailored to suit several organizations, be it military, government or industrial (Jerferson, 2010). SAP and Oracle are both in the large enterprise tier I category and they have mainly designed products to suit this segment of the market, however, nowadays they are developing ERP software for midmarket tier II. The project will take a hypothetical university as a case study, the university offers a variety of courses and has a number of campuses distributed all over the country. As part of the management policy, the university is divided into several departments that represent the business functions of a generalized organization, the departments are:- 1. Academics affairs This department deals with the core business of the university, which is provision of education, the department organizes the timetables, assigns lecturers to the different units, manages the curriculum, manages the student’s results, ensures that all the university policies are adhered to and organizes the tests and exams. 2. Central store In this department, they receive anything that is supplied by the suppliers. The central store also makes requisitions for general materials such as stationery, staff uniforms, sanitary consumables etc. but they don’t make orders for special materials that are specific to a certain department only such as machinery, computers, furniture etc. 3. Finance This department deals with the management and controlling of the university’s budgets, it also deals with monitoring and management of the school fees as well as the staff salaries and allowances. The department relies heavily on computer software to carry out its daily activities, all data is stored in a central server. 4. Students welfare The student’s wellbeing is taken care by this department, activities such as sports, festivals, parties, concerts are organized, monitored and financed by this department. 5. Human resource The recruitment of new members of staff, promotions and disciplinary procedure for misconduct of staff are all carried out by this department. The department also carries out training programs for members of staff. . Catering This department manages the catering services at the students and staff cafeterias, the department also makes orders for all the ingredients they need for preparing the food on the menu for the different days. You read "Erp Project Oracle vs Asap" in category "Essay examples" The sales from the cafeteria are not managed by the catering department, they are managed by the finance department. 7. Medical services The studentâ₠¬â„¢s and health needs are meet by this department, the staff in this department include doctors, nurses and pharmacists. They treat any sick student or staff for free, but they use software to keep their data such as medical records, inventory and lab results. 8. Public relations This department deals with uplifting the university’s image, maintaining good relations with other stakeholders and promoting the university at different levels of the socioeconomic setup. 9. Other department Other smaller departments include quality assurance office, advertising department and repairs and maintenance, transport and research institute. VENDOR OVERVIEW INTRODUCTION SAP SAP AG is a software company based in Germany that makes enterprise software, the company was founded in June 1972 and was started by former IBM engineers, the company was initially called Systemanalyse und Programmentwicklung (â€Å"System Analysis and Program Development†) but the name was later changed to Systemanalyse und Programmentwicklung (â€Å"System Analysis and Program Development†), in 2005, the name was officially changed to SAP AG, SAP AG was included in the German stock index DAX in 1995 and was included in the Dow Jones STOXX 50 in 2003 (Leakey, 2013). Currently, SAP is the world leader in the sale of business and database software with a market share of 32%. Some of the main products of SAP are:- CATEGORY| PACKAGE NAME| Business| Analytics| | Advanced Planner And Optimizer| | Business Information Warehouse| | Portal| | Enterprise Central Component| | Governance, Risk And Compliance| | Human Resource Management Systems| | Knowledge Warehouse| | Internet Transaction Server| | Catalog Content Management| | Hana| | Supply Chain Performance Management| | Training And Event Management| | Manufacturing | | Master Data Management| | Service And Asset Management| Industry| Oil And Gas| | Healthcare| | Telecommunication| | Public Sector| | Utilities| | Retail| Small and midsize enterprises| Business One| | Business ByDesign| Other| CCMS| | Sapgui| | eCATT| | Central Process Scheduling| | Solution Manager| ORACLE Oracle is an American database and business management software company that was founded in 1977, its first name was Software Development Laboratories, in 1979 the name was changed to Relational Software Incorporation, the name was changed again in 1982 to Oracle Systems Corporation and lastly it was renamed Oracle Corporation in 1995 (Wikipedia, 2013). Oracle is ranked as the world’s third largest software maker after Microsoft and IBM by revenue, however, it is ranked second in as an ERP software maker by market share after SAP. Oracle had a market share of 23% in ERP software between 2005 and 2009 while SAP had a staggering 32% market share. Some of Oracle’s products are listed below CATEGORY| PACKAGE NAME| Applications| Oracle E-Business Suite| | Enterprise performance management| | Financial management| | Oracle fusion applications| | Oracle CRM on demand| | Customer relation management| Hyperion| | JD Edwards world| | JD Edwards enterprise one| | Human capital management| | Master data management| | Primavera| | Web commerce| | Sustainability| | Procurement| | Project management| | Siebel| | Supply chain management| Database| Oracle database 11g enterprise edition| | Oracle database 11g standard edition| | Oracle database 11g standard edition one| | Active data guard| | Advanced security| | Airline data model| | Database security| | Express edition| | Label security| | MySQL| | OLAP| | Oracle database appliance| | Database vault| NoSQL database| | Secure backup| | Secure enterprise search| Engineered systems| Oracle big data appliance| | Oracle database appliance| | Oracle exadata database machine| | Oracle exalogic elastic cloud| | SPARC superCluster T4-4| | Sun ZFS storage appliance| Enterprise management| Application management| | Application performance management| | Application quality management| | Cloud management| | Database management| | Hardware management| | Lifecycle management| | Middleware management| | Oracle enterprise manager 12c| Java| javaFX| | Oracle JDeveloper| Java platform Micro edition| | Java platform standard edition| | Oracle java SE suite| | Netbeans IDE| | Oracle java SE support| Middleware| Application grid| | Application server| | Collaboration| | Portal| | Linux| | Developer tools| | Weblogic| | Webcenter| | SOA| | Identity management| Others| Solaris| | Serv ers (hardware)| | Integrated management| | Sun ray clients| | Virtual desktop infrastructure| From the list, it can be seen that Oracle makes more products than SAP, this may explain why their revenue is higher. BUSINESS FUNCTIONS Business functions are the routine tasks performed in order to achieve the goal of an organization. The figure below shows the business functions (LLC, 2002). These functions are similar for almost all types of organization, but in some organization some functions are totally omitted based on the products or services offered. The figure below shows the most common business functions of any organization. A brief description of the business functions is given below Production Research and development: in this level, the organization develops new products and new designs for existing products. Tests, experiments and survey are the characteristic activities of this phase, data collected from tests and experiments is stored, managed and utilized by the organization’s decision makers Production and quality: this is a major function and usually represents the biggest part of the organization in terms of human resource, at this level, the production is managed, scheduled and planned. Effective machine and staff utilization is a very important aspect in this function, the quality and production rates are controlled based on the data received from the sales and design team. Distribution and Logistics: this function deals with the supply chain, it manages the raw materials and the final products. The activities that fall under this function include the coordination of storage of raw and finished products, management of transport and staff who directly deal with the supply chain. Sales Sales: under this function, the relationship between the organization and its customer comes in, the sales team presents the products to the customers in a convenient and persuasive manner, the team also makes tenders, proposals, invoices etc. o the customers. The team also gives feedback to the research, development and marketing teams on the status of customer satisfaction. Marketing: the marketing department deals with promoting the products of the organization, marketing will involve managing the packaging, advertising, forecasting, budgeting, pricing and planning. Carrying out market research and survey is also a key role played under this function Support services Fin ance: this is a key function in any organization, even for non-profitable organizations. Management of funds and budgeting are the key activities in this function, the finance department records the incomes and expenditures of the organization and carries out future planning in terms of increasing the income and reducing the expenditure. Computing: the use of computers has become almost mandatory for any business, therefore, having computing support services is very important. In this category, the organization’s database, network and software are effectively managed. Human resource: it deals with recruitment of new members of staff, promotion of staff, formulation of contracts and job descriptions for the staff, training of the staff and carrying out disciplinary tasks concerning the staff. Materials: under this category, the requirements of the organization are identified and then the potential suppliers are contacted, the prices are negotiated and the purchase orders are prepared. The staffs working in this area have to closely work with the production team as well as other teams in order to ensure that all teams in the organization have the necessary materials. External services Chartered accountants: the accountants carry out audits to validate the company’s accounts, they also give advice on matters relating to tax and other issues related to the finances of the organization. Management consultants: the consultants carry out surveys on the organization’s policies, procedures, methods, governance and administration. Then they use the data from the surveys to recommend changes to the areas that have any flaws or require improvements. Recruitment agency: they carry out job interviews for recruitment purposes, they look for the necessary skills required by the organization and recommend to the human resource department a list of candidates who can best fit in the job. Advertising: in most organizations, advertising is done by the marketing team, but in large organization, a separate external body is charged with advertising the organization’s products and services. The advertisers will propose to the management the best approach to get an edge over the competitors. Market research: this can also be done by the marketing department or by an external agency, surveys, data analysis, drawing conclusions from the analysis and formulating recommendations are the main tasks in market research. Public relations: this has recently become a very important business function for almost all organization, the public relations department uplifts and maintains the image of the organization, they answer to any inquiries made, carry out exhibitions, attend and organize conferences and also prepare press releases, brochures and newsletters. BUSINESS FUNCTIONS SUPPORTED BY ORACLE AND SAP From the list of business functions and the list of packages of the two vendors, it is easy to see that the two vendors have packages for almost all the business functions, packages such as procurement, Human capital, JD Edwards world, Master data management, Database security, Database management etc. from oracle cover almost all the business functions. SAP also has packages that support business functions these packages included Supply Chain Performance Management, Human Resource Management Systems, Manufacturing, Business One, Central Process Scheduling etc. the table below compares the two vendors in their ability to support business functions, BUSINESS FUNCTION SUPPORTED| SAP| ORACLE| Research and development| * Master Data Management * Central Process Scheduling * Analytics * Solution Manager| * Project management * Master data management, Advanced security * Active data guard * Application management * Database management * Collaboration * Identity management| Production and quality| * CCMS * Business One * Utilities * Manufacturing * Advanced Planner And Optimizer| * Integrated management * Hardware management * Lifecycle management * Application performance management * Oracle exalogic elastic cloud * Database security * Siebel| Distribution and Logistics| * Central Process Scheduling * Service And Asset Management * Supply Chain Performance * Management * Catalog Content Management| * Central Process Scheduling * Service And Asset Management * Supply Chain Performance * Management * Catalog Content Management| Sales| * Business ByDesign * Retail * Master Data Management * Portal * Internet Transaction Server| * Business ByDesign * Retail * Master Data Managem ent * Portal * Internet Transaction Server| Marketing| * Training And Event Management * Analytics| * Application quality management * Project management * Enterprise performance management| Finance| * Enterprise Central Component * Internet Transaction Server * Master Data Management * Service And Asset Management * Business One * Business ByDesign| * JD Edwards world * Financial management * Oracle E-Business Suite * Web commerce * MySQL * Oracle database appliance * Database vault * Database management| Human resource| * Human Resource Management Systems * Training And Event Management| * Human capital management| TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM FROM SAP AND ORACLE Technology platform refers to the ability to create or edit a software on an existing or future system, different ERP vendors have platforms that support their range of products and even their rivals products, this helps in allowing the customer to purchase a mixture of products from the same vendor or from two or more vendors. Th e table below shows the technology platforms of the two vendors SAP| Oracle| Sapgui * NetWeaver * Enterprise Workspaces * Cloud * SAP StreamWork * Mobility * Sybase Unwired Platform * Sybase Afaria * Project Gateway * Duet Enterprise * In-Memory Computing | * Virtual desktop infrastructure * Developer tools * Linux * Portal * Application grid * Oracle java SE support * Netbeans IDE * Java platform standard edition * Java platform Micro edition * Oracle JDeveloper * javaFX * Application server * Collaboration| The table below shows the technology platform of the two In terms of the operating systems they support and other platforms. SAP| ORACLE| * Windows * Open Source * Web Based * Linux| WindowsLinuxUnix| COST COMPARISON BETWEEN SAP AND ORACLE The total cost of implementing an ERP project is the total amount paid to put the system in place, it involve the purchase of the system, the cost of implementing the changes required for the system to work and the salaries and wages of the personnel who work in the system. In term of the initial cost, SAP has a higher price than Oracle, SAP has maintained their high billing rates because their focus is mainly on larger enterprises, so the price seems unreasonable for small and medium enterprises, and therefore, most customer rank SAP as the most expensive (Jerferson, 2010). However, SAP has the lowest average cost overrun at about 8% over budget but Oracle had the highest cost overrun at about 15%, which is almost double that of SAP. The payback period for SAP is 13 months while that of Oracle stands at 11 months (Jerferson, 2010). According to a research conducted by Panorama consulting group, the project cost for the two vendors were as depicted on the graph below It can be seen that the two normally go beyond the anticipated budget (at 53. 6% SAP, 52. 6% Oracle) suggesting that the budgeted cost for ERP projects are likely to be less than the actual budget by an average of 53. 1% (Jerferson, 2010). The tables below were extracted from Nucleus Research and they were comparing the costs of SAP and Oracle (Jerferson, 2010). EASE OF USE The ease of use of an ERP system can be compared by looking at the customer’s satisfaction after purchasing the software. 2% of SAP’s customers were satisfied while 74% of Oracle’s customer were satisfied, this indicates that Oracle’s software are easier to use than SAP’s software but the margin between the two was very close (Jerferson, 2010). ER P MODULES The two modules were selected from Oracle, and they are Oracle’s Financial Management Analytics This module provides the top financial management team with a good insight into the status of the financial department and the financial results, it offers a unified solution that can be deployed quickly and contains packaged dashboards and analytics tools that help give a quick insight into the status of the financial system. This module supports the financial business function, finance involves a lot of staff and workload, and the staffs carry out routine tasks that can be repeated daily, weekly, semi-annually or annually. These records are often kept in files and this poses a huge challenge when the top management needs a quick insight or review into the results. Oracle’s Financial Management Analytics automates this system and maintains the records in a database system so that they can be accessed easily. The working principle of Analytics is depicted in the figure below (Oracle, 2012). The key features of Analytics are shown in the table below FEATURE| DESCRIPTION| Executive View| Gross Profit By Region, Income By Region, Net Cash Flow| Process Management| Metrics, Trend Analysis, Overall/Entity Status| Financial Close Schedule Summary| Summary, Graphs, Milestones, Compensation| Performance Indicators| Ratios Year On Year Comparison Table, Ratio Components, Ratio Trend Analysis| Profit And Loss| Summary Income Statement, Variance Analysis, Trend Profit And Loss| Gross Profit| Variance Analysis, Gross Profit By Product, Trend Gross Profit| Balance Sheet| Consolidating Balance Sheet, Metrics, Variance Analysis, Trend Balance Sheet| Cash Flow| Cash Flow Summary, Consolidation, Variance Analysis| Current Analysis| Variance Analysis| This module supports the finance business function, this is a key function in any organization, even for non-profitable organizations. Management of funds and budgeting are the key activities in this function, the finance department records the incomes and expenditures of the organization and carries out future planning in terms of increasing the income and reducing the expenditure. Oracle database 11g enterprise edition Oracle’s database 11g enterprise edition is a database management software that is suitable for small and medium sized enterprises, this module manages all the data in the organization and enables all the business applications to benefit from the performance, reliability, security and scalability of Oracle’s database 11g enterprise edition (Wikipedia, 2013). Oracle’s database 11g enterprise edition supports all standard data types such as XML, Text, Documents, Images, Audio, Video and Location data. Access to data is via standard interfaces such as SQL, JDBC, SQLJ, ODBC . NET, OLE . NET and ODP . NET, SQL/XML and Xquery, and WebDAV. It also has some analytical tools for modeling in SQL-based systems (Wikipedia, 2013). The figure below shows the working principle of Oracle’s database 11g enterprise edition. DATA STORE PROCESS DATA STORE USER USER PROCESS DATA STORE PROCESS DATA STORE PROCESS DATA STORE USER USER PROCESS DATA STORE PROCESS This module support several business functions, for example it supports the sales, finance, logistics, human resource management, production etc. by keeping all the relevant data in a secure and organized manner for easy access and retrieval when needed. The two selected modules can perfectly fit in the university’s operation. The university has a finance department which deals with the management and controlling of the university’s budgets, it also deals with monitoring and management of the school fees as well as the staff salaries and allowances. The department relies heavily on computer software to carry out its daily activities. Oracle’s Financial Management Analytics can be used to manage the finance department of the university. Oracle’s database 11g enterprise edition can be used to manage all the university data including the student’s results, past and present exams, e-books, financial records, hospital records, timetables etc. VENDOR SELECTION The preferred vendor is Oracle, this is because, they are cheaper compared to SAP, the payback period is shorter than that of SAP and their customers enjoy higher rates of satisfaction. In addition, Oracle has better customer services than SAP and has a wider range of products to choose from than SAP. The domain of the organization under study did affect the choice, the university is a service provider and not a manufacturing organization, hence, some of the modules needed in the manufacturing domain may not be needed by the service providing university. The size also affected the choice of the vendor, the university can be considered as a big enterprise with branches (campuses) in different regions, thus a powerful tier I ERP system would be required to manage the university. A customized version of ERP will be the most appropriate for use in the university, this is because, the university is a unique enterprise with unique types of data management protocols, some data can be accessed by a few authorized users while other types of data should be available for every user, the levels of authority in the university are different from those in other service providing enterprises. Therefore, a great deal of customization will be required if a successful ERP system is to be implemented, this is nevertheless, an expensive option since customized ERP system cost more and take longer to implement. ERP DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE The ERP development life cycle can be summarized in a flowchart below (Motiwalla, 2010). SCOPE AND COMMITMENT STAGE This is the first stage of the cycle and it entails carrying out a feasibility study to determine whether the ERP system will actually work and if it works (Motiwalla, 2010), will it benefit the university. In addition to this, the university will develop the scope of the implementation based on the resources and time requirements. Then the characteristics of the ERP implementation are defined to determine what features should be included in the ERP and the customization it may need, the top management’s commitment becomes very important at this stage and the short and long term vision for the new ERP system are formulated. Once this has been done, the suitable vendor is selected based on criterions such as price, reliability, payback period, customer support etc. The scope and commitments required at this stage include: * Gap analysis: an evaluation of the functions provided by the proposed ERP system is made and a comparison between the functions it can perform and the required functions is also made * Physical scope: the number of users who will use the system, the location where the system will be implemented and the sites that will be addressed are considered at this point * BPR scope: at this level, the users, department and sites affected are identified, the current processes are looked at to see if any changes will e required to implement the system * Technical scope: evaluate the ERP system to establish if there are any modifications to be done on the system * Resource scope: the time and money allocated to the project are determined at this point * Implementation scope: the actual implementati on is considered to determine which modules will be implemented and the link with the existing system ANALYSIS AND DESIGN At this stage, the ERP system is designed by the appointed teams, the user requirements are established, and the differences between the current business process and the ERP are identified and accommodated in the design (Motiwalla, 2010). Conversion of the data and the system is done at this point so that the new system is linked with the old one, a change in the management plan is also formulated to ensure successful implementation of the ERP system. Training of the staff on how to use the new system is also done at this stage. ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT STAGE The software is purchased from the vendor and the license is paid for as well, tasks identified in the gap analysis are executed at this stage, the changes in the management are also implemented to allow for the proper functionality of the new ERP, the old data is transferred to the new system and finally the security of the new system is configured. IMPLEMENTATION STAGE The purchased software is installed and implemented, the approach used in implementation can be one of the following * Phased * Pilot * Parallel * Big bang Each of these approaches has its pros and cons, but for our case, the best approach would either be phased or parallel because these two would give the staff and the students enough time to adapt to the new system. OPERATIONAL STAGE This is the final stage of the cycle, the project team officially hands over the system to the university, the university will own the system and shall be responsible for managing new releases, installation of the patches and upgrades and renewal of contracts and licenses with the vendor. Bibliography Jerferson, D. (2010). Battle of the Titans: SAP vs ORACLE. Denver: Panorama Consulting Group. Leakey, J. (2013, February 21). SAP AG. Retrieved February 22, 2013, from Wikipedia: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/SAP_AG LLC, A. P. (2002). Business Etiquette. London: ILT. Mereddy, R. (2011). SAP basis Administration Handbook. New Dehli: McGraw-Hill. Motiwalla, L. F. (2010). Enterprise System for Management. New Jersey: Pearson Education Incorporation. Oracle. (2012). Oracle Financial Management Analytics Data Sheet. California: Oracle Press. Research, N. (2010). TCO CASE STUDY: SAP VERSUS ORACLE JD EDWARDS. Alabama: Nucleus REsearch Incorporation. SAP. (2013, February 19). SAP Home Page. Retrieved February 22, 2013, from SAP: http://www. sap. com/index. epx Wang, J. (2011). Oracle Database 11g. New York: Oracle Press. Wikipedia. (2013, February 22). Oracle corporation. Retrieved February 22, 2013, from Wikipedia: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Oracle_Corporation How to cite Erp Project Oracle vs Asap, Essay examples