Do Big Companies Take So Much From Each Other - 1328 Words

do big companies take so much from each other? MCI, Inc. was an American telecommunication corporation, a subsidiary of Verizon Communications. In the article World-Class Scandal At WorldCom by David Hancock he discusses how â€Å"The corporation was formed as a result of the fusion of WorldCom and MCI Communications corporations, and used the name MCI WorldCom for a while and was succeeded by the WorldCom Company, before changing its name on April 12, 2003, as part of the corporation s ending of their bankruptcy status.† WorldCom Inc. began as a small Mississippi telephone service provider of long distance telephones. They are not the only telecommunications firm in financial trouble, there are many others who have financial troubles also.†¦show more content†¦From all of this their revenues fell short of expectations and response in Washington was crazy. On June 26th, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged the company with huge accounting fraud and fleetly obtained the court order excepting the co mpany from controlling its payments to past and current executives. The thing that happened was the company inflated assets by as much as $11 billion, leading to thousands of lost jobs and $180 billion in losses for investors. The main player CEO Bernie Ebbers, he did not report line costs by utilizing rather than expensing and had false accounting entries to the company. Eventually he got caught and their auditing department uncovered $3.8 billion in fraud. They were faced penalties from all of this and the CFO was laid off, controller resigned, and the company filed for bankruptcy. Ebbers was sentenced to 25 years of fraud, from his horrible mistakes. According to (accounting-degree.org) â€Å"Towards the end of 2003, it was estimated that the company s total assets had been inflated by about $11 billion. This caused them to be the largest accounting fraud in history. Line costs are what they pay other companies for using their communications networks; they consist mainly of access fees and move charges for messages for WorldCom consumers.† Beginning modestly during the mid 90s and on at an accelerated pace through 2002, the company directed by Ebbers used

Essay on A Dolls House A Raisin in the Sun - 3059 Words

A Doll House, by Henrik Ibsen, and A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, both have central themes of search of self-identity within a social system. This is demonstrated by women characters from both plays breaking away from the social standards of their times and acting on their own terms. In most situations women are to be less dominant than men in society. These two plays are surprisingly different from the views of women in society and of the times and settings that they take place in.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House, which was written during the Victorian era, introduced a woman as having her own purposes and goals, making the play unique and contemporary. Nora, the main character, is first depicted as†¦show more content†¦No debts! Never borrow! Something of freedom’s lost-andnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; something of beauty too-from a home that’s founded on borrowing debt. We’venbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; made a brave stand up to now, the two of us; and we’ll go right on like that thenbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; little we have to (Ibsen, 660). Nora thought she did the right thing by borrowing money when Helmer was sick and not telling him. She knows that it was illegal to forge her father’s signature but feels that this crime should not apply to her because she had the good intention of helping her husband get well. This can be seen as an example of the subordinate position of women in society. Nora was thinking of the well being of her husband, while not thinking about the rules of the business world which is where men had all of the power at the time and even today. This is evident when Krogstad, the man she borrowed money from, comes to meet with Nora with the forged loan to discuss what she has done. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Krogstad: Laws don’t inquire motives. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Nora: Then they must be very poor laws. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Krogstad: Poor or not-if I introduce this paper in court, you’ll be judgednbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Show MoreRelatedLove and Marriage Illustrated in Raisin in the Sun, A Dolls House and Is Love an Art960 Words   |  4 Pageshaving the wedded bliss marriage proclaims today. Take a look at Ruth and Walter in â€Å"Raisin of the Sun.† Ruth is portrayed as a quiet, thoughtful woman, who would do everything and anything for her family. Ruth was even thinking about having an abortion to make her husband happy. Walter was a man with a dream. Walter always had his eyes set on the prize and would do anything to get it. In the play â€Å"Raisin in the Sun†, Ruth, Walter and the family lived during hard times when money was not so easy toRead MoreWhat Makes a Hero1664 Words   |  7 Pagesheroic act but her illogical and emotionally-powered attempts make her less of a hero and more of a hysterical woman in need of a proper period of mourning. Another female character with hysterical tendencies is that of Nora from Henrik Isben’s A Doll’s House. This woman, imprisoned in her own home by her overbearing and old-fashioned husband, leaves him and her children high and dry in an attempt to find herself. Leaving her children behind so that she can walk the path of self-discovery is selfish

Convergence Essay Example For Students

Convergence Essay TABLE OF CONTENTSExecutive Summary 1Introduction 2Part I Business Factors 3What is Convergence? 3Toll Bypass 3Utilization ? Getting Your Moneys Worth 3Part II Technical Overview 4Mixed-Media Requirements 4Problems: Delay 4 Packet Loss 5 Jitter 5 Network Technology 5Voice over ATM 5Voice over Frame Relay 6Voice over IP 7Inter-Vendor Support 8H.323 8Part III Implementations 10Types of VoIP ImplementationsVoIP through a router 10 LAN Telephones 10IP PBX 11VoIP Gateway 12Conclusion 13Appendix A ? Works Cited 14IllustrationsChart 1 ? Cost of International Voice Calls 3Graph 1 ? Long 1-Way Voice Transmission 4Chart 2 ? Summary of H.32x Standards 8Picture 1 ? Converged Network Architecture 9Picture 2 ? H.323 Architecture 9Picture 3 ? VoIP through a Router 10Picture 4 ? LAN Telephones 11Picture 5 ? IP PBX 11Picture 6 ? VoIP Gateway 12Picture 7 ? Ciscos Consolidated Data-Voice Network 13EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe universal belief, today, is that IP will become the transport for virtually all commu nications traffic. Yet, there are still fundamental issues involved with converging voice and data traffic onto the same medium. Many vendors and standards organizations are working on developing solutions that interoperate together. It is no longer desirable to have proprietary products that do not work outside the company walls. Users expect a quality of service equal to that which they are already experiencing. By making use of intelligent network design, advanced routing protocols and open-industry architecture this dream can become a reality. Umbrella standards, such as H.323, spell out a model that is non-vendor specific for providing voice, video and integrated data. Merging telephony and data will have two major benefits. The first, and most important to any businessperson, is the impact on the IT budget. Within the IT budget three areas will have savings: IT personnel, network equipment, transmission services. The IT personnel will have to be knowledgeable in both data and voice networking. Thus reducing the need for separate teams. In most cases the need for forklift upgrades has been eliminated. By simply adding hardware components and software the migration can begin. The second, and more significant than the first, is the new applications that this makes possible. Combining voice and data onto one packet infrastructure enables new capabilities that are not possible with separate networks. Together they produce a synergistic effect that can give a company customer interaction capabilities like never seen before. The network itself can be chosen for facilitating voice and data. The most impressive of which is voice over ATM. ATMs high speed, high availability, scalable architecture molds well to the requirements of convergence. Voice over IP is a more general technology allowing a variety of networks to run underneath its mature, sophisticated protocols. Several implementations allow for a gradual migration that many times uses much of the existing hardware. By properly planning and slowing making the migration, a company can be assured that end result will be a success. INTRODUCTIONConverging voice and data communications onto the same network is, by no means, easy. The two, although at first seeming alike, they are actually quite different at heart. Networks can be classified in one of two ways. The network is said to be connection oriented when a direct connection, physical or logical, is setup before data is transferred. Connection-less, however, simply addresses information and sends it to the recipient. Every packet is addressed and must be routed through the internetwork, meaning packets can take several different paths to the source. Voice networks are circuit-switching networks. They are connection oriented, whereby the caller and the called party have a connection established before talking. Data networks are a packet switc hing technology. No setup occurs when data is sent and received. Each individual packet must receive a network layer header with the destination address. When the packet is passed between routers, not all packets take the same path. This is because routing protocols have intelligent route selection capabilities that allow load balancing and other features. It is easy to see intrinsic difference. How do you make connection-less behave as connection oriented?Voice service has been highly refined for many years. Users have become accustomed to highly available, clear, fast connections when making phone calls. This presents a major quality of service (QoS) hurtle that must be overcome for Voice over IP to be accepted Protocols have been developed that use certain bits within the IP header to define the Type of Service (ToS). Currently, many vendors have used these bits in a proprietary manor but the IETF has decided to redefine them. Another issue arises when defining QoS, what do you d o differently with high priority traffic versus low? To this RSVP has answered with the ability to define a route through the network and then have high priority (Voice) traffic routed along that same path. The leaps and bounds that technology has made in recent years have opened the door to faster routers with much more sophisticated routing protocols. Enabling higher and higher data rates that are necessary for the limited delay requirements of voice traffic. Even network design has been rethought to allow for speeder and more reliable connections. Innovations and education from vendors like Cisco, 3COM and Nortel have lead to lowered congestion on network segments. This enables networks to scale as large as the company and maintain similar features across the whole enterprise. Throughout this paper it will discuss both business and technical issues associated with migrating towards a seamless voice and data network. It would be unwise to try to implement these changes too quickly. The quality of service users are accustomed to must not change. The object of networking is to increase productivity and decrease cost. A converged network promises both but the migration process must be well managed in order to ensure a smooth transition. Business FactorsWhat is Convergence? Convergence has been a hot topic for many years. The dream spawned by the Internets wealth of possibilities, of a combined voice, video and data network has fueled vendors to come up with an industry-wide, non-vendor-specific solutions. More importantly for business this dream spells big savings over the long run. Three areas of the IT budget should see savings. ? IT Personnel ? Rather than having data-network personnel and voice-network personnel. IT staff will be required to be knowledgeab le in both areas and therefore cutback to one slightly larger team. ? Network Equipment ? Although at first, in order to establish the technology, cost may be significant. By using Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) the need for dedicated, specialized devices can be reduced. Also packet switching is soon becoming as much as 20 ? 50 times more cost-effective than circuit switching because of its connection-less nature. ? Transmission Services ? Mainly dealing with cost savings from non-US calls. Convergence is defined as combining voice and data in one media without channellizing. There are basically five ways of doing this:? Point to Point digital circuits? LAN? Frame Relay? Corporate intranet? InternetToll BypassThe global market that we live in today demands that businesses conduct calls with foreign countries. The price of these calls can have a high impact on the IT budget (see chart 1). Destination Country Cost Per MinuteIreland US$0.40Japan US$0.35Israel US$0.75Brazil US$0.55For most large companies, US calls should not cost more than three cents a minute. The cost savings for international calls, on the other hand, by using VoIP is obvious after considering the volume of calls that occur. -Packet Magazine V.12, N.2, page 63Utilization ? Getting your Moneys WorthIts a fact that data communications is bursty. Meaning, data transfer peaks for a moment and then is stagnant. Consider when you are browsing on the Internet. Data transfer is high as the page downloads. Once loaded, you sit and read. The connection is idle and bandwidth is not being used. For a business, this unused bandwidth is wasteful because it could be used for other traffic that may need it. Utilization is formally defined as ?The percent of total available capacity in use.? Capacity being the total ?data carrying capability of a circuit or network in bits per second.? The cost associated with high-speed circuits is too great to allow them to go unused. Optimum network utilization occurs for Ethernet under 37%. After this point the network is too saturated with communications and token passing methods out perform CSMA/CD (Carrier Sensed Multiple Access with Collision Detection). For token passing methods utilization can approach upwards of 70%. WAN links, such as those used for VoIP, should be operating at about 70% utilization before considering an upgrade. Who Has Seen the Wind: Meaning of Life EssayWhen the remote router receives the Q.931 call request, it signals a line seizure to the PBX. After the PBX acknowledges, the router forwards the dialed digits to the PBX and signals a call acknowledgment to the originating router. All the responsibility for session establishment and signaling is with the end stations. To successfully accomplish this, additional enhancements must be made to the signaling stack. H.323 is such an addition and will be discussed in-depth next. Corporations should already have an IP addressing scheme in place. The voice interfaces will show up as additional nodes, either as an extension of the existing scheme or with new IP addresses. The dial plan mapper performs translation of these addresses. The destination telephone number or some portion is mapped to the destination IP address. When the number is received from the PBX, the router compares the number to those mapped in the routing table. If a match is found, the call is routed to the IP host and is transparent to the user. VoIP real strength is rooted in IPs mature and sophisticated routing protocols. By using routing protocols such as Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) specific factors including delay are taken into consideration for best route decisions. Other advanced features like policy routing and access-list allow you to create highly secure networks. Increasing innovations, such as tag switching, are also being developed to allow better traffic engineering. This will lead to the ability to shift traffic load based on different variables, such as time of day. Traditionally, IP traffic has been handled on a ?best effort? mechanism. Traffic was first come, first serve but voice is not tolerant to retransmission and delay. Also the variable packet size problem is an issue. Once again using RSVP to initially find a route through network and then using RFC 1717 to break up the large packet to a standard, smaller size was the solution. Weighed fair queuing was also used to put different traffic types into specific QoS queues and thus reducing queuing delay. H.323The ITU created the H.323 standard to enable mixed-media communications over packet based networks that do not provide QoS. The standard is said to be an umbrella encompassing various associated standards (See chart 2). Although H.323 provides support for audio, video, data and multipoint conferencing, only the audio support is mandatory. H.320 H.321 H.322 H.323 H.324Purpose Narrowband ISDN Broadband ISDN, LAN, ATM Guaranteed bandwidth packet networks No guaranteed bandwidth packet networks and Ethernet Analog PSTN telephone systemAudio G.711, 722, 728 G.711, 722, 728 G.711, 722, 728 G.711, 722, 723, 728, 729 G.723Video H.261, 263 H.261, 263 H.261, 263 H.261, 263 H.261, 263Multipoint H.231, 243 H.231, 243 H.242, 243 H.323 Control H.320, 242 H.242 H.231, 243 H.245 H.245Interface I.400 AAL I.400, TCP/IP UDP/IP, TCP/IP V.34-The Irwin Handbook of Telecommunications, 4th edition. H.323 power comes from its multitude of other standards. Many applications are possible by using this architecture including: Internet telephony, desktop videoconferencing, LAN telephony, conference calling and mixed media conferences such as voice, video and whiteboard. Interoperability is a key feature in todays networks. H.323 uses industry open standards which when followed by vendors allows other products to work together. A general H.323 architecture is shown in figures 1 2 below. The TCP/IP network uses TCP (reliable connection-oriented protocol) for call setup and UDP (fast, connection-less protocol) for voice packets. A signaling channel known as the RAS channel is used for communications between devices. Real-Time Transport (RTP) is used to sequence packets, compensating for UDPs lack of this capability. Real-Time Control Protocol (RTCP) monitors QoS. -Figure 1-Radcom VoIP Technology Protocol Reference poster. ? Gatekeeper ? Manages a zone (collection of H.323 devices). o Required Functionality ? Address translation, admissions and bandwidth control. o Optional Functionality ? Call authorization, bandwidth management, supplementary services, directory services, call management services. ? Gateway ? Provides interoperability between different networks, converts signaling and media e.g. IP/PSTN gateway? H.323 Terminal ? Endpoint on a LAN. Supports real-time, 2-way communications with another H.323 entity. Must support voice (audio codecs) and signaling (Q.931, H.245, RAS). Optionally supports video and data e.g. PC phone or videophone, Ethernet phone. ? MCU ? Supports conferences between 3 or more endpoints. Contains multipoint controller (MC) for signaling. May contain multi-point processors (MP) for media stream processing. Can be stand-alone (i.e. PC) or integrated into a gateway, gatekeeper or terminal. ImplementationsTypes of VoIP ImplementationsVoIP through a RouterBenefits:? If a PBX already exists, it makes maximum use of existing resources? The service is completely transparent to users? The connection can be completed over any available packet network. ? Blockage of voice calls should be rare since the PBX can complete the call over the PSTN. LAN TELEPHONESThis configuration allows you to connect devices directly to the network. Analog telephones can be connected using an Ethernet adapter through a PC. The PC gives you a lot of versatility because it can substitute for the telephones button interface. Calls within the zone are controlled by the VoIP gateway rather than having a PBX onsite. This implementation is inexpensive and great for branch offices. IP PBXAlso known as the un-PBX. This implementation has PBX hardware and software function loaded on a PC running something like Windows NT or Unix. The various cards can be loaded into the PC and generate call-processing programs. Obviously, though, the fault-tolerance of an un-PBX compared to a real PBX is no contest. PBXs are very specialized and refined systems that are far more robust than any PC. VoIP through a GatewayThis implementation is very similar to VoIP through a router, however, instead of using a router to route the calls; the functionality is part of the PBX. This can be a function of one of the cards in the PBX or simply a stand-alone device connected to the PBX. According to the Irwin Handbook of Telecommunications, ?Some manufacturers such as Lucent and Nortel provide IP trunk cards, but others do not, in which case the PBX would connect to either the router or the gateway through standard T1/E1 or analog tie trunk cards. Technology Essays

Training Transfer Design, Characteristics and Job Environment

Introduction The traditional and formal employee training comprises the acquisition of new skills and knowledge. The people, who acquire these skills and knowledge, utilize them in different fields of gainful employment. This means that gainful skills acquired in training, should be applied in employment.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Training Transfer: Design, Characteristics and Job Environment specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Formal training programs are meant to enlighten, but not to be applied in employment. Only a tenth of the knowledge gained from training is taken back to the office. The expenses incurred during training are extremely high, and there is need for the employers to maximize on the knowledge gained. The non-transfer of training can amount to billions being wasted annually. Transfer of training means that the skills and knowledge gained by trainees should be applied throughout in their jobs. Cognitive strategies and behavior should also be transferred. The primary factor for the transfer and its aspects of success are a query of debate. The process of training transfer has challenges involved in its progression. After assessments, training and application, transfer of training should be planned. The design, characteristics and job environment are key aspects depicting transfer of training. The primary factors that play a role in the success of transfer of training process A positive transfer of training is the level at which the trainees apply gains from the training context to their work experience. The laxity in the linkage between performance and training defines the problem in the transfer of training. The transfer of training can be termed as near or far to situation. This is determined by the similarity and dissimilarity in training conditions respectively. The stakes of transfer of training are high. Considering these facts, it is necessary to improve the outcom e from all training programs while minimizing losses in transfer. The knowledge of this concept can be traced to the 1990’s, but the implementation of transfer of training in formal organization emerged in the 1970’s. The transfer of training holds that the generalization and maintenance are both utilized. Generalization incorporates application of learnt capabilities, while maintenance involves the use of the material for a period.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Managers and supervisors need to adopt competences in order to improve transfer agents. These competences are grouped into two categories. The first is influence and transfer support. Here, the managers establish transfer goals, challenges, and offer incentives to encourage transfer. The managers are also entitled to offer training to their employees. The second one is the result-oriented transfer. He re, results are analyzed, transfer issues diagnosed, and learning transfer process improved by managing its elements. Challenges of the aspects of the transfer of training The methods of evaluating transfer of training are numerous, and they vary. These methods also require intensive labor. The methods of improving entry level for motivation are also vast and numerous. Relationship between transfer climate and transfer preparation are influenced by the trainee motivation. Behavior change, if not detected and rectified, is an enormous obstacle. This will in turn affect the transfer of the training process. Another challenging aspect of transfer training includes the application of e-learning systems on the transfer of training. Without e-learning, the future of transfer training is inhibited. Pre-training impacts on the transfer of training process are challenging factors to the activities of transfer. Free will on attendance gives the employee an edge in acquiring more knowledge. It improves the learning process during training and the motivation to transfer training. Many organizations hinder this option as they make it mandatory for the attendance of the training. This will in turn affect the transfer in training. A new edge should be considered in the sense that the introduction of realistic training preview is implemented. Early managerial briefs will encourage the managers to brief their employees and encourage them to willingly attend the training. The managerial support is vital in the transfer of training. Remedial training is deemed to produce better motivation.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Training Transfer: Design, Characteristics and Job Environment specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The motivation of the program will be influenced by program reputation. Perceived results and value of training will also affect the job performance and in turn affect transfer in training. Theref ore, preparation of the trainee for training ensures optimum results in transfer of training. Improved entry motivation leads to comprehensive learning that enables improved transfer of training. Sustaining applications of the training objectives Factors that affects transfer of training includes the training design, training motivation, and workplace conditions. Application of these factors to the required standards will sustain the application of the training process effectively. The motivating factor on the transfer of training has since been utilized to improve the job condition through the learning process. Self-efficacy directly affects the will and motivation to learn. Furthermore, impact on motivation directly affects the transfer of training. Self-efficacy should be aligned according to scenario, as it is amenable making it easy to alter. Design of transfer can be done in many different ways in order to promote transfer of training. Active participation and learning to the maximum are types of designs of transfer of training and all contribute to the transfer process. The trainees can also use another design of transfer of training known as relapse control. This affects the transfer of training. Feedback coupled with goal setting in work performance improvement also directly impact on application of the training objectives sustained and on transfer of training. This essay on Training Transfer: Design, Characteristics and Job Environment was written and submitted by user Andrea Flores to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.