This research paper is for a presentation at an international conference. It would serve an expert in international accounting standards for the public sector (IPSAS) and private (IFRS / IAS). The topic is the accounting of the leasing transaction that has recently affected the IPSAS which has started a working group to issue a new principle (inspired by the introduction of the new IFRS 16 for the private sector) to replace the current IPSAS13 which is based on the IAS17. The new principle is contained in the Exposure Draft 64 which highlights the points on which it has invited comments, and the related comment letters are attached here. The new IPSAS13 should have been issued by the end of 2018 but criticizes have arisen which can be detected by the comment letters and therefore have been postponed. The work could be a review of the literature (also systematic with bibliometrix for example) that starting from that for the private sector shows points of connection or discordance with the public sector within the IPSAS / IFRS harmonization process and then fell on leasing theme. Or it could be a more conceptual contribution that gives hints, on the points concerning the ED64 commentaries, always taken from a careful analysis of the literature. Work could also focus only on concessionary leases.

1. Title
Technology Management Plan
2. Introduction
You have been selected to be the acting CIO for a subsidiary of Largo Corporation called Rustic Americana. Its primary products include arts and crafts that reflect the history, geography, folklore and cultural heritage of the United States. It specializes in direct marketing and sales through its call center. Sales are through a web store, a brick and mortar store, and a direct mail catalogue. All services are housed under one roof that include warehousing, order fulfillment, shipping, corporate management and operations, and the call center. The success of the company hinges on its eye-catching direct mail catalogue and the unique product line.
Unfortunately, annual sales have declined over the years due largely due to internal issues. The previous CIO was terminated some say due to incompetence primarily related to the underperforming call center. In addition, speculation swirled around the activities of the CIO. He was often absent from the building. He secluded himself behind the closed door of his office. Associated rumors mounted, and it was believed that he was running a consulting business on company time. When the Rustic Americana CEO asked him about this during a formal review, the CIO answered that it was a weekend hobby that kept him abreast of emerging technologies. The CEO asked him if one of their competitors was a client and he vehemently denied the accusation. She was certain that the CIO was not being entirely truthful with her.
Call Center Operations
Managing a call center demands a wide range of skills including managerial, troubleshooting, patience and being cool under pressure. Knowledge of computer and communications skills is helpful but most call centers have a technical support division. The call center manager is Prisha Khan – she has been in the job for about 2 months.
The customer service representative (CSR) in the call center responds to a call for product. On the customer management system (CMS), the CSR collects and directly enters customer information; on a separate inventory management system (IMS), the CSR looks up the product, and verifies if the warehouse has it in stock. If it does, the order is entered on the CMS, and the CSR decreases the inventory on the IMS. On the CMS, the CSR creates an order fulfillment ticket that is automatically shuttled to the warehouse processing clerk who prints it and then generates the shipping label. The shipping label is prepared through a web-based system through either UPS or USPS, which also produces a tracking number used by both the company and the customer. The processing clerk enters the shipping costs and tracking number into the CMS. The customer is billed when the order ships.
The warehouse crew uses bar code scanners to track merchandise; once the order is selected, it moves along a conveyor to a shipping clerk who packages the order, affixes the shipping label, scans the bar code, and places the package into a bin for delivery pick-up. The final scan automatically enters the dollar amounts into the system for billing.
An old UNIX system is used to manage inventory. Data input clerks entered information on new merchandise into it, CSRs referred to it for product data, and if the product was on hand, it produced an order processing form which was sent to the warehouse for processing. The CSR could reduce the inventory through the terminal on their desk. The problem they experienced was a refresh rate on volatile inventory. It was a common occurrence that a customer would be told the product would ship when it was in fact depleted by other CSRs.
There were conflicting views on the party responsible for upgrading the systems. The former CIO believed the call center manager needed to take the lead on upgrading operations, while the call center manager complained that this was an IT problem and she could not tolerate downtime. To add to the fray, the Chief Financial Officer balked at the cost associated with this investment. The CEO did not feel the urgency and leaned to the CFO for advice.
Staffing the call center is the responsibility of the call center manager. Ms. Khan uses past volume experience to make sure there were sufficient CSRs on hand. She kept a list of “on-call” CSRs for unanticipated business. Her staffing limit was the number of stations with computer access to the servers. The call center uses a Cisco Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system. The phone system runs on two standalone servers — one for call routing and the other for voicemail. There is a dedicated toll free number into the center, and the system is programmed with an auto-attendant to direct calls. The volume of calls is a problem, and the number of lines is less than the number of agents available to take calls during high volume periods. This is because there is a per-trunk monthly service charge and the call center cannot adjust the number of trunks based on periodic demand. When the caller is placed in queue, the standard practice is to limit the length of the average call to six rings. The phone system requires a local coaxial cable Internet service to supply broadband. Phones are connected to the network architecture using standard Cat5 copper cabling which routes phone traffic to the call center.
Under this approach, there have been issues with “quality of service.” The former CIO was fond of saying “problems with the cable company” when things went wrong. There was no effort to track downtime. During these “downtimes” the entire call center becomes idle and revenue is lost. Because the Internet is tied to the same cable service, web services were also down. The Rustic Americana CEO felt that the lack of access discouraged new customers, but no data was collected to indicate a correlation between downtimes and sales decline.
Inside the building there is an application server, a server for Microsoft Outlook email, the web server, and the typical complement of routers and switches. The former CIO used a variety of hardware from different vendors. When broadband cable services are up, bandwidth is not a problem, except when the former CIO allowed employees to stream movies during their breaks to boost morale. Employees routinely used their workstations to check personal email, and to manage their social networking accounts. There was a problem with one employee posting unflattering comments about the company that resulted in a severe reprimand.
The data systems for the call center are setup as follows. The center has two data servers. One data server has a UNIX operating system, and it runs Oracle database technology. The second server is a Microsoft operating system, and it runs SQL database technology. The two data servers are accessed via 40 workstations in the call center. It is staffed 24/7 but is closed on major holidays. The call center also contains 10 additional older workstations, which are used by data input clerks to update inventory when ordered and upon arrival this inventory was verified and bar code tagged with local stock inventory labels.
CSRs use a “homegrown” customer support application developed in house which uses a generic Oracle Forms interface. The former CIO did not believe in “bells and whistles” of modern Customer Resource Management (CRM) systems — besides, the Director of Marketing did not understand the value of CRM, the CFO was not persuaded to make the software and hardware investments, and the Rustic Americana CEO held stereotypical, non-strategic views of customers. The inability to do their required work was a constant complaint of agents. Moreover, there is no technology infrastructure in place to support mobile computing such as staff use of tablets or (more critical) a wireless interface on bar code scanners used in the warehouse.
Your Role as Acting CIO
You should frame your work around understanding the mechanics of enterprise technology management beyond the need to specifically recommend the replacement of antiquated yet functional systems. You should strive for an alignment of technology with the business needs.
You have been asked by the Corporate CEO to fix the problems created by the former CIO’s perceived mismanagement of the IT operations and resources. In particular, you need to address the numerous complaints about the call center regarding its poor service such as delayed shipping and failure to notify when a product is out of stock.
The CEO asked that a plan be prepared and presented for effectively managing the company’s IT operations – specifically its call center. Within Rustic Americana, there is a Chief Financial Officer, a Director of Marketing, a Direct Sales Director and the usual departments. You are the “acting” CIO, and as such, you have your own staff of ten which includes an assistant who handles staff management and equipment orders, a network engineer for each of the three critical systems, a systems analyst, a web server programmer, and four desktop support technicians.
This learning activity focuses what it takes to manage technical operations. You will learn about creating reliable feedback mechanisms for difficulties at all levels of enterprise Information Technology interface. This includes timely discovery of technology related issues, resolution of these issues, creating a culture of trust and dependence, informing staff of your activities, and developing strategic plans for reducing bottlenecks in the future.
Understanding technology management is important to an IT professional because in this environment, as would be true of most corporate environments, computer-based information systems are at the core of an efficient and competitive service delivery. Effective leadership requires the identification of problems, the resolution of those problems, an eye on the future of the corporation and its profit, and transparency through communication with peers and subordinates.
3. Steps to Completion
1) Analyze the Situation
First review and analyze the business and IT operations of the call center. Break down the entire process into smaller parts and analyze these parts. If necessary draw a sketch.

In general, here are some typical questions one should consider as part of the analysis:
1. What is the business model for the corporation?
2. Where is technology strong? Where is it weak?
3. How do we manage capacity both in terms of our computer system’s capacity (and response time and fault tolerance) and our staffing capacity (does the work performed full occupy the expertise for which it is paid?).
4. What is our sustainability policy?
5. What is our technology innovation strategy?
6. What is our level of contract support? How are contracts evaluated for their full value to the efficiency of the corporation?
7. How are problems solved within the corporation?

Next identify key issues and challenges. Beyond technical concerns, there are also managerial issues that need to be addressed.

Deliverable: Capture this information in an issue matrix which is a table that lists, categorizes and prioritizes these problems (High, Medium, and Low), that assigns responsibility for the problem to internal staff, to contract support, or to others (specify these individuals) and contain other information you feel relevant. This will be shown to management so they will readily identify and understand the key concerns. Use your creativity.
Identify problems and do not jump the gun and start identifying or implying solutions at this point. Solutions are to be presented in Step 3.

2) Identify Best Practices
Research current best practices relating to technology management practices including operational improvement approaches. You can start with these U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) information:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-AIMD-97-38/pdf/GAOREPORTS-T-AIMD-97-38.pdf
http://www.gao.gov/key_issues/leading_practices_information_technology_management/issue_summary
http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/663051.pdf

Also, key management best practices are listed in Chapter 2 of this reference: https://books.google.com/books?id=SPjRBQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

(Note: If you have trouble accessing this reference, you will need to go to the Safari e-book database. To do this, go to the library home page at http://www.umuc.edu/library, click Databases by Title (A-Z ), and then S, and then the Safari Books Online database. Using the search bar, you can then locate the book entitled “IT Best Practices”. Click on the book that is by Tom C. Witt. Proceed to Chapter 2.)

Also identify people management skills needed to have an effective operation. You can begin with this link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2014/06/09/6-tips-for-managing-people-who-are-hard-to-manage/

Understand ethical requirements for individuals in an organization. Here is a Prezi presentation about the subject:
https://prezi.com/swchhg04exdh/how-ethical-theories-apply-to-it-professionals/

Deliverable: Prepare a best practices report that addresses the key findings from this step. This will be shown to corporate management. Minimum length: 400 words.

3) Select Applicable Operational Improvements

You are to identify what is needed for managing the call center. You use all of your staff as a team to identify solutions (Note: you may request for new positions on your staff but you cannot exceed your current number of slots).
You have a sense of the problems; now document the best practices which, if implemented, generate a computing environment more stable, reliable and innovative and help in resolving the challenges you have set as top priorities facing your corporation.
Specifically, identify needed operational improvements applicable to Rustic Americana’s call center with a set of recommendations. Among other approaches, explore the use of ITIL to provide customer-centric IT services. Here is a good starting resource: https://www.traincanada.com/files/downloads/ITIL-the-basics-White-Paper.pdf

Here is an introduction to call centers: https://books.google.com/books?id=0ZdG1qF2XvYC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

Also, be sure to address ethical behavior based on concerns raised in this learning demonstration. This has been a major concern in Largo Corporation because of recent unethical corporate practices that has been in the news recently.

Also address needs for the support, renewal, and sustainability of a call center technology. Be sure to specify effective day-to-day practices needed to manage operations.

Deliverable: Develop an operational improvement report that summaries the key requirements discussed above. Minimum length: 600 words.

4) Document Findings and Recommendations

Document key findings and recommendations in a presentation to your executive team (e.g., CEO, CFO, and Director of Marketing). This presentation should document the issues and solutions identified earlier.
Deliverable: Final presentation
The presentation should consist of 10-15 slides. It should include audio narration (directions are found at: https://support.office.com/en-au/article/Add-narration-to-a-presentation-0b9502c6-5f6c-40ae-b1e7-e47d8741161c). The narration should also be captured in the slide notes.
4. Deliverables
1) Issue matrix
2) Best practices report
3) Operational improvement report
4) Final presentation

Except for the presentation, combine all of the files into one Word document. Provide an abstract, introduction, table of contents and conclusion in this one document.

Weight: 50%
Type of Collaboration: Individual
Due: Due to Turnitin: 1/4/19 – Final date for submission to Turnitin: 5/4/19
Submission: Submit a draft of your assignment (not a PDF) to Turnitin by 1/4/19 so you have time
to review your Originality Report and edit your work and final copy to turnitin by
5/4/19 including your reference list.
Format: Assignments submitted after the due date and time, without an approved extension, will
be penalised 10% per day for late submission.
You must keep a copy of your assignment.
Length: 2,000 words
Curriculum Mode: Essay
Episodes of alienation in schools receive a great deal of attention in the news media and result in continuing calls
for schools to take action. Write an essay in which you (1) chose ONE issue studied this semester [either low SES;
Gender; Sexuality; Race & Ethnicity, Language or Culture] and show how student alienation may occur as a result of
your selected issue in schools. (2) Review relevant literature in terms of the potential reasons for students’ feelings
of alienation and discuss the theory (ies) that assists us to best understand your selected issue (3) Critically discuss
what actions a teacher might take in the classroom to reduce student alienation. (4) Show how power impacts feelings
of alienation(5) Explain how the dilemmas around student alienation in your selected issue have been resolved
at a policy level and if they have not yet been resolved, propose ways in which policy could assist to resolve students’
feelings of alienation.
The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate your understanding of equity and access in approaches to education
and the impact on student alienation.
In order to complete this assignment you need to:
1. Clearly identify the social justice issue;
2. Define what you understand by student alienation
3. Use one or two sociological theories to assist your understanding of this issue and support your analysis/argument;
4. Discuss how forces of power impact students’ alienation in regards to your selected issue
5. Reflect critically how student marginalisation will impact your own and others’ teaching practices;
6. Demonstrate your awareness of how schooling policies might impact on the issue by including some discussion
and reference to these.
Please Note:
This assessment requires a focus on research, analysis and links to theory, rather than on description and unsubstantiated
opinions. Your discussion of the question should demonstrate your understandings of the issues and research
on the topic. Note that Internet references (such as Wikipedia/google/social media sites) should not be the focus of
your discussions.
WHAT DO I NEED TO SUBMIT?
– A fully referenced essay of 2000 words incorporating at least 6 references from the following sources: prescribed
unit text book, other academic book chapters (rather than books in their entirety) or journal articles, readings
from the unit reading list and/or no more than 2 credible newspaper sources.
Exemplar:
Past exemplars of assignments identified as a distinction/credit/pass can be found in the assessment folder on the
Unit’s vUWS site.

Using the SCORE business plan, fill out the SWOT analysis for your business and analyse your competitors and then complete

Competitor data collection plan (Page 14 and

Competetive analysis worksheet (page 15)

All parts must be FULLY completed with names of competitors

Using the SCORE business plan, fill out the SWOT analysis for your business and analyse your competitors and then complete

Competitor data collection plan (Page 14 and

Competetive analysis worksheet (page 15)

All parts must be FULLY completed with names of competitors

Using the SCORE business plan, fill out the SWOT analysis for your business and analyse your competitors and then complete

Competitor data collection plan (Page 14 and

Competetive analysis worksheet (page 15)

All parts must be FULLY completed with names of competitors

Hello, this is my thesis paper that needs to be EDITED:

First 20 pages should include :
– what is terorirsm ?
– make a comparison between general criminals and terrorists.
– do ex-terrorists for example show a different process of rehabilitation or fall-back after release than other criminals?
– Mention rehabilitation programs in the UAE

Add this good case study with quantitative analysis on line wolves, just as an example: (you decide where to add it)

https://rusi.org/publication/occasional-papers/lone-actor-terrorism-analysis-paper

Last 3 pages should include (recommendations for the UAE and how the UAE can use these programs effectivley to enhance security)

You could check out
•EXIT sweden online
• Desistance theory (full reintegration) which is a branch in criminology

Or you could read more on Fergus Mcneill

PS: follow the paper format

You have to present a research paper in essay form. You must cover the following:

Introduction and background – provide sufficient info, with info from outside the paper as well
Research question and/or hypothesis – clearly identify it
Method and analysis
Results – include figures and labels
Discussion
Implications
A critical analysis
References (APA style)

Please note: You have to SUMMARIZE it and not critique it. So please do not say it is good or bad, at least until critical analysis section. You should Describe and Explain and Summarize it, as though you are presenting, but on paper. A clear guide is given. Please ask if you have problem. Please do not be over detailed – very important

This is in fulfilment of a business and tourism course.
‘Assessing the impact of Instagram on destination image’

Will be put through turn it in so all original words.

A first draft literature review has been included to give you background to my research paper.
Aims and objectives of the research and research questions to be answered have also been included, please make sure to relate to the literature review (compare/contrast your findings with points made my various authors in the literature review)

What I need is:
a semiotic analysis/discussion on Instagram of two cities/countries official Instagram pages. I have chosen VisitScotland as one. and the other you chose would preferably contrast with the type of image portrayed by VisitScotland.

I need screen grabs included in the text to show your semiotic analysis of the photos uploaded by these official instagram pages. (4 photo/instagram page website feature analysis’ for each city/country = 8 in total)
The research will discuss similar themes portrayed (if any) such as colours, are the photos edited? do they allow the public photos to be used on their instagram or are they very controlling with what destination image is being portrayed.
Since having an official instagram account, has this boosted visitor numbers? research dates and compare for both countries/cities.