Malicious Attacks

Malicious attacks basically seek to exploit vulnerabilities in a network. These threats can be passive or active and have very negative consequences. The difference between active and passive attacks are that active attacks makes changes or modifications to the data or attempt to gain some type of access to the network, while passive attacks do not make changes to the system at all. According to Solomon, 2012, there are many malicious attacks and threats that can be carried out against the network, some of which are identified below: -Brute force attacks are one of the most tried and true attack methods where the attacker uses a software program to try all possible combinations of a password, security code or user ID, until one of them is successful. -Hijacking is another type of attack that involves the attacker taking control of a session between two machines and masquerades as one of them. This can involve man-in-the-middle, browser or session hijacking. Social engineering is another common attack where the attacker tricks the user in carrying out actions for them; for example, the attacker may obtain the user’s login credentials by posing as an IT Specialist which would then help the intruder gain access to the network. -Computer viruses act like a biological virus, where it infects the host program and could cause the host program to replicate itself to other computers. Some of these viruses have become smarter with the capability to combat malware-detection programs by disabling their detection functions. Trojan horse is a malware program that masquerades as a useful program They use their outward appears to trick users into running them; they look like programs that perform useful tasks but actually hid malicious code. -Rootkits are newer types of malware that modifies or replaces one or more existing programs to hide traces of attacks. -Spyware is a type of malware that specifically threatens the confidentiality of information. It does this by gathering information about a user through an Internet connection without the users’ knowledge. The impacts of all of the above attacks could damage or disrupt the system. It could also cause security privileges to be escalated to allow the intruder to access, modify or even delete private data. Additionally, as a result of any intrusion on the network, users would experience PC slowness, crashes and just no access at all to necessary resources. Malicious software is a major threat to the network, internal attackers, equipment theft and denial threats can pose even more of threat. Internal ttackers reside within the company and could be a cybercriminal, which is why it’s important to monitor the threats constantly and carefully. Equipment theft can also pose a serious threat because if equipment ends up in the wrong hands, confidential information could be exposed like account numbers or access codes. Lastly, Denial threats make assets or resources unavailable or unusable by flooding a specific port on a server rendering authorized users no access to import resources, wh ich could be a severe impact. If there is a vulnerability in the network or organization, then there is a possibility of a threat. If the vulnerability can be eliminated or addressed, the risks of attacks or threats are greatly decreased. Some common vulnerabilities are listed below according to Radack, 2013: -In the user domain where the user lacks the awareness of security policies or accidental violation of acceptable use policy in the user domain. -In the workstation domain there could be weaknesses in installed software and where unauthorized users could access the system. In the LAN domain, transmitting private data unencrypted, unauthorized network access and where malicious software can be spread -In the LAN-to-WAN domain there could be exposure and unauthorized access of internal resources to the public and loss of productivity due to internet access. -In the remote access domain is where brute-force attacks occur on access and private data and data leakage from remote access or lost storage devices. In the system and application domain there could be unauthorized physical or logical access to resources and weaknesses in server operating system or application software. -With VoIP there could be default manufacturer passwords still in place, insecure class-of-service settings and trunk access group restriction settings. The impact of any vulnerability is of course the possibility of a threat succeeding. A vulnerability is considered a weakness and any weakness in a network or organization will quickly be exploited by an attacker. The attacker is able to obtain information in all seven domains if one domain is not fully protected. For example, if a brute-force attack is deployed on a network and successful, it could affect users access to resources. Users could be in accordance with security policies and following correct protocol in order to protect the network as much as they can but if the brute-force attack is indeed successful, they efforts are thwarted. This is why it’s important to address each and every possible vulnerability in the seven domains of a network. If users are equipped with the right security tools; workstations are secure with strict access control policies; LAN servers are secured with various standards and guidelines; LAN-to-WAN security should maintained while allowing users as much access as possible; WAN domain has confidential encryption of data transmission; remote access domain has security controls applied according to policies; lastly if the systems/application domain has security policies, procedures and guidelines implemented in the various applications or systems, all vulnerabilities would be addressed.

Singin’ in the Rain Analysis

Singin’ In the Rain Music Analysis Singin’ In The Rain (Kelly/Donan, 1952) is known to be one of best musicals ever made and one of the funniest movies of its time. This statistic can be attributed to the musical numbers that it incorporates. Singin’ in the Rain uses popular music of its time that people may already be familiar with. It works to seamlessly integrate them into a musical about the transition of film from silent to talkies. Additionally, the film is able to utilize them in such a way that every single song contributes to the overall effect of the film in some way.Each song either pushes and develops the film’s conflicts or establishes one of the protagonists’ goals or interests; they use deception of sound or visual presentation like dance to support them. The first number that stands out in the film is the song shown during Don’s interview in which he talks about his road to success in Hollywood. Although he speaks about attend ing school and performing for the best, visually the song depicts Don and Cosmo doing a dance and fiddle performance for an underwhelmed crowd. Even though they show obvious expertise, the audience clearly do not think very much of the performers when they finish.Don’s uphill climb is hardly the glorious journey that he is describing it as. The music not only shows a disjoint between the narrations and actions, but also introduces us to Don’s point of view and the deceptiveness of his Hollywood career in comparison to his real life. This whole sequence helps the film get across to the viewer Don’s character, showing us his interest in falsifying his life in order to stay at the pinnacle of pop culture. A second piece with similar intentions is when Lina sings â€Å"Singin’ in the Rain† towards the end of the movie.This is a crucial point in the movie because Lina feels that she feels that she has the company at her feet. Of course, it is actually K athy behind the curtains singing while Lina is mouthing the lyrics on stage. The audience see Linda singing, but hear Kathy’s voice. This scene presents the primary conflict of Lina clashing with Kathy while again utilizing sound deception. Another number that stands out is the first rendition of the title song, â€Å"Singin’ in the Rain. † Don and Kathy had just decided to turn The Dueling Cavalier into a musical, and when Don leaves her apartment, he begins to sing.This number shows us that he has fallen in love with Kathy and, as he dances and sings loudly through the streets, that he intends for everyone to know. He feels jovial about his situation even though it would likely destroy his reputation if people found out that Don and Lina are no longer â€Å"household names† like â€Å"bread and butter. † This number not only shows us his interest in a relationship with Kathy, but also introduces Don's newly found conflict to the viewers. Finally, the musical sequence in the very last scene during which Don sings, â€Å"You are my Lucky Star† is an effective one.As the very end of a Hollywood movie, this song has the responsibility of wrapping the conflict up while also getting Don and Kathy together, which is exactly what it does. Don exclaims Kathy as the real star of The Dueling Cavalier, and just as she realizes what he had done for her, he begins to sing to her. The song does a great job of showing their deep love for each other and also resolving all loose ends; by showing Kathy’s point of view with her acceptance of Don’s actions, and the revelation to the masses of their love for each other, it provides an apt ending to a movie for the ages.From start to finish, the music in â€Å"Singin’ In the Rain† does an outstanding job of merging with the film, even though most of them already existed before the film was created. They empower the film to carry emotion and advance easily, while also allowing the film to remain light and comical. Pieces play with deception and manipulation of sound, while others leave you in awe with their complex dance performances. Each musical number in Singin’ In The Rain plays a unique and crucial role, and it is because of them that this film has become one of the most widely renowned in American history.

BORDER DISPUTES BETWEEN NICARAGUA AND COSTA RICA

BORDER DISPUTES BETWEEN NICARAGUA AND COSTA RICA Disclaimer: This work has been submitted by a student. This is not an example of the work produced by our Law Essay Writing Service . You can view samples of our professional work here . BORDER DISPUTES BETWEEN NICARAGUA AND COSTA RICA The case deals with boundary disputes, it is therefore essential to list treaties which deal with boundary disputes and it is also important for the court to interpret the provisions of a treaty in the present case and this can only be done in terms of customary international law on the subject matter as reflected in Articles 31 and 32 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties because it has various means of developing peaceful cooperation among nations regardless of their constitutional and social systems. Article 2(1) of the Vienna Convention[1969] established the definition of a treaty; it went ahead to state that â€Å"treaty† means an international agreement concluded between States in written form and governed by international law, whether embodied in a single instrument or in two or more related instruments and whatever its particular designation; LIST OF TREATIES ON BOUNDARY DISPUTES Boundary Waters Treaty   [ 1 ]   (Treaty Between the United States and Great Britain Relating to Boundary Waters between the United States and Canada; 36 Stat. 2448; T.S. 548) — The treaty was signed in Washington, D.C.on January 11, 1909, The purpose of this treaty is to prevent disputes regarding the use of boundary waters and settle all questions pending or that may arise between the United States and Canada involving the rights, obligations, and interests of both nations along their common frontier. The treaty establishes the International Joint Commission, with three members appointed by each country, to review and make recommendations on disputes and other issues involving U.S./Canada boundary waters. The Treaty of Asurar   [ 2 ]   Ali- This treaty was signed on February of 1639 between the Mughal commander Allah Yar Khan and the Ahom commander Momai Tamuli Borbarua, According to the treaty, the boundary between the Mughals and Ahoms was fixed on the Barnadi River in the northern bank [ utarkul] of the Brahmaputra River and the Asurar Ali [Ali is causeway in Assamese] in the southern bank [dakhinkul]. The Ahom king recognized the supremacy of the Mughals in Kamrup, and the Mughal fauzdar agreed not to interfere in the Ahom kingdom. Trade and commerce between the two regions was permitted afterwards. The Treaty of Tartu   [ 3 ]   -This treaty was made between Finland and Soviet Russia was signed on 14 October 1920 after negotiations that lasted for four months. The treaty confirmed the border between Finland and Soviet Russia after the Finnish civil war and Finnish volunteer expeditions in Russian East Karelia. Ratifications of the treaty were exchanged in Moscow on December 31, 1920. The treaty was registered in the League of Nations Treaty Series on March 5, 1921. HISTORY PROCEEDINGS ON THE CASE CANAZ TREATY(1858) The border between the Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans is defined by the course of the San Juan River which flows to the east and the Caribbean. The bo rder was established in 1858 by the Canas-Jerez Treaty, negotiated between Costa Rica and Nicaragua at the conclusion of a military conflict which finally ended the possibility of a trade route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in this region of Central America. According to the terms of the treaty the south bank represents the start of Costa Rican territory; however Nicaragua maintains sovereignty over the river itself. Costa Rica has the right to navigation for commerce.

Difference between Data and Information as It Applies to Freeway Ford Essay - 4

Difference between Data and Information as It Applies to Freeway Ford - Essay Example The success of a managerial decision depends on the correct interpretation of data collected. Data has no value at all if it is not transformed to meaningful information. In this case Freeway Ford knows the purchase date and owner of every car it sells. In other words Freeway Ford has the data about the exact date and the actual purchaser of every car it sells. But they never tried to convert these data in to useful information. Normally people will go for new cars within a period of 3 to 4 years. Freeway Ford could have easily prepared a database with respect to the cars they sold based on the date. From this database they can contact their customers regularly at least once in 3 months or 6 months period to know about the functioning of their car and also about their future purchasing plans. Service is one of the core elements of every purchasing decision. Regular follow ups always attract customers and they will consider Freeway Ford once again when they think about purchasing a ne w car or exchanging their used car, if they receive proper service from Freeway Ford. A used car buyer will always be interested in knowing the previous history of the car for known problems and also any accidents it suffered previously. Freeway Ford has all these data, but they fail to convert them into information. Each vehicle has an identification number (VIN) and the insurance companies sending the repair and claim details every month and Freeway Ford could have easily created a database for each car based on the repair and claim details which will be useful to the customers. Freeway Ford can create a website which explains everything to the customers with respect to their used car selling activities. Each vehicle details must be provided in the website so that a buyer can access all the relevant information regarding the vehicle he was interested in, even if he is not at the Freeway Ford location using internet technologies. Even a laptop is enough for Freeway Ford to convince the purchasers regarding the previous history of their cars.  

Biomasses energy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Biomasses energy - Assignment Example Hence, there is increased release of carbon to the atmosphere. On the other hand, the reliance of biomass such as cutting whole tree will lead to a reduced intake of carbon. Most of the biomass is generally received from the forest (Greene and Lyutse 1). Forest is said to play a significant role as carbon sinks. It absorbs large amount of carbon that protects from global warming. Hence, cutting trees as a source of biomass will mean reduced carbon sink and hence more amount of carbon will not be absorbed. The Kaya concept is an equation used to determine the rate of carbon dioxide release to the environment based on the economic activity of nay given country. The rate of energy use of the country is shown to have a strong link to carbon intensity of that energy use (FREE 1). As most of the countries join the league of emerging economies, it is expected that there will be an increased emissions of products the most significant being carbon dioxide. This is because an increased out put per capita is expected to occur over an increased use of energy. Because of the increase, the concept makes various suggestions to the emerging economies. One of the significant suggestions is for these countries to engage in ways of reducing energy intensity. One alternative for the countries is to adopt increased efficiency in energy use. The other suggestion is to change consumer behavior when it comes to energy use. The changes are said to be real through adoption of ‘green energy’ in th e future. The wood industry is a legitimate player in biofuels due to its heavy carbon content. First, the wood industry has more reliable energy in the name of biopower as compared to other sources of energy that have been heavily used in the past (Union of Concerned Scientist(UCS) 1). The energy is beneficial to society once it is used in a sustainable way. The use of this form of power in a sustainable way means that

Genetic Modified Foods (Cons) Speech or Presentation

Genetic Modified Foods (Cons) - Speech or Presentation Example Many of the disadvantages associated with the GM foods are realized in environmental, medical and economic respects. The speech will seek to address the disadvantages of GM foods in a manner that would be appropriate to my three sets of audiences. It should be realized that these three sets of audiences have their own sets of reservations with respect to GM foods, and this forms the basis of their antipathy (McHughen, 2009). Environmentalists are normally concerned with the preservation of the flora and fauna across the world and greatly opposing any human activity that interferes with the functioning of the natural world. In this case, nature should be left to take its own course without destroying it. Environmentalists have associated GM foods with cases of mortality realized in certain organisms. One study revealed that butterfly caterpillars were highly susceptible to pollen from certain types of GM foods. It is said that the modified crops produced several kinds of toxins which greatly affect organisms in contact with them. In this case, my speech on the disadvantages of GM foods to the environmentalists will basically focus on the use of facts and evidence to bring out the effects of GM crops on the organisms such as plants and insects (Ruse & Castle, 2002). The focus of genetical engineering is to transfer genes from one crop to another. However, it is often realized that certain crops which were not really targeted by the gene transfer are also affected in the process. As such, the natural environment is affected as crops gain certain characteristics which are not really intended. In several areas where genetically modified crops are grown, several farmers always complain that their crops are cross-pollinated by the genetically modified crops. In the end, the genes are spread from one crop to another, which might eventually affect the characteristics of the natural crops. The speech to the environmentalists will, therefore, focus on many examples of the effects of GM foods on the natural habitat (Smith, 2007). To the health experts, the focus is the effect of the GM foods on the health of the human beings who consume it. In this regard, much research has been conducted in order to determine the health effects of GM foods. Much of this research has led to several realizations while there is still much to be uncovered. In any case, it should be realized that some of the health effects of GM foods might not be evident in the short run. It has been confirmed that many children across the developed world have at one time developed risky allergy conditions after consuming certain types of peanuts and other foods produced through genetical means (Wendy, 2005). This is a result of the genetical process in which the introduction of a new gene in the crops leads to the formation of a new allergen which causes reactions in the humans (Smith, 2007). The GM foods are generally associated with different types of allergies most of which are life threatening. My speech to the health experts would, therefore, revolve around the health issues of GM foods and provide classic cases of how these foods have caused great challenges in this respect. Apart from the known effects, there is still much information to be discovered on the effects of GM foods on human health. In this case, it is safer to avoid using such foods until much of the information has been obtained and

Same Sex Marriage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Same Sex Marriage - Essay Example Analogous to other civil rights movements, a shift in societal norms calls to question the laws of the land, in this case the notion of marriage in legal terms. There is no denying the fact that marriage is an institution traditionally reserved for the heterosexual couples. Given the traditional legal definition of marriage, same sex couples face certain challenges. Same sex marriage is a controversial issue with staunch opposition due to deeply entrenched religious and patriarchal opinions. Those in favor of same-sex marriage have a lot at stake on this particular issue, as many financial and legal benefits are bestowed upon married couples. Pragmatically speaking, marriage ought to be an institution that allows two loving people to legally fulfill their commitment towards each other regardless of their sexual orientation. Thus, legalizing same sex marriage is beneficial not only to the individuals involved, but to the society at large. While it is the belief of many that allowing s ame-sex marriage is legalizing a practice that is against the standard of norms of the society, the truth of the matter is that same sex marriage provides an opportunity for individuals to live a fulfilling life, devoid of psychological and emotional trauma (Polikoff, 101). This does not only benefit the homosexual individuals, but the whole society, considering that such individuals will live a healthy life, which will in turn reduce the costs involved in sustaining or rehabilitating the health of such individuals whenever they suffer from stress, depression and other psychological and mental disorders, arising from their discomfort and the prejudice they face in the current society (Guillen, n.p.). There is an agreement on certain aspect of the argument against homosexual marriage, the most important being the argument that same sex marriage poses a threat of human extinction, considering that when a marriage does not produce children, then, there is the danger of the shortage or lack of a new generation to take up the responsibility of running the world (Guillen, n.p.). Nevertheless, some of the arguments against same sex marriage are just refutable, owing to the fact that they are mostly aligned towards favoring one sectional attitude of the society. The argument that same sex marriage poses the danger of human extinction is not plausible, considering that legalizing same sex marriage does not amount to making it mandatory. Therefore, individuals with a heterosexual orientation will continue with procreation, while those who do not have the prospective for having children can still be comfortable in the society (Polikoff, 104). Additionally, the recognition of same sex marriage will work towards establishing a society of equal values, where the rights of all individuals are respected, and especially the rights of the minority groups. Through the recognition and legalization of same sex m

Media & Media Costs in Russia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Media & Media Costs in Russia - Essay Example Recently they have been known to show the kind of damage that can be caused by the vodka drink (Elder par. 1 ). For my target market, the television media would be more appropriate since it is still the most popular information source (TMFAR par. 3). The average cost of media has increased with the print media at a cost of 72.64 billion rubles. However, these have been raised by the introduction of internet services and social media in the country. It is because they have turned into remarkably significant fast and reliable communication tools with which information reaches a wide range of people within a short period. Nonetheless, owing to its accessibility the television still holds the first position while the internet comes third (Arapova par. 8). The means used in promotions and advertising are equally competitive with the television being the main advertising media used to reach the target market. Besides this, the sales promotions that are customarily used in Russia mainly include the internet. Most people in Russia are beginning to use the internet for different reasons (TMFAR par. 1-5). Arapova, Galina. Media freedom in the Russian regions? You must be joking†¦. Retrieved 21 March from Open democracy Russian

Brain Rules Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Brain Rules - Essay Example Therefore, the question posed by the researchers was that is the sedentary population turns out to be active. Will their cognitive scores rise? In this case, the answer given is a yes; the reason given is that exercise is aerobic. They further describe that executive functions had to improve after 4 months; memory scores also had to improve(Medina John, 2010)..There are two reasons given on why exercise improves cognition and it includes the following: Firstly, oxygen flow to the brain is increased as a result of exercise. This reduces the brain bound radicals. One of the fascinating results for previous decades is that oxygen increase is usually accompanied by an uptick in mental sharpness. Secondly, the brain’s molecular machinery is acted upon by exercise directly. It improves the neuron’s survival, creation as well as resistance to stress and damageThe information provided is very useful because exercise has been indicated to be very important in terms of boosting b rain power. It has also been reflected that having enough rest can be critical because it can make someone productive. In this regard, if I put the information into action, then my learning power could be improved. Oxygen flow to the brain is increased as a result of exercise. This reduces the brain bound radicals. In regard to this finding, it can be seen that exercise is good for the health and when exercise is taken into consideration practically. Another advantage reflected is that exercise influences executive function positively.

Language and ethnicity -Ethnic related speech mitigation and PDI Essay

Language and ethnicity -Ethnic related speech mitigation and PDI effect - Essay Example This paper will also examine the concept of Power Distance Index, and how it affects speech. In addition to this, this paper will explain the difference between high PDI and low PDI countries. This paper will further analyze the success rate based on the PDI of the community. The idea of speech code came about as a result of the coding principle by Basil Bernstein and the programmatic approach that Hymes adopted to communication. The combination of the two concepts saw to the development of the concept that speech code is. Basil Bernstein, a British psychologist, noted that different social classes or social differences can exist within one society. While these differences include language features, they also entail coding principles, which dictate communicative conduct. Coding principle, according to Bernstein, refers to the rule that governs what to say, and depending on the context, how to say it (Sadovnik, 2001). Method According to Bernstein’s theory on coding principle, speakers are directed to rely on shared context of communication, other than only the verbal communication. When this happens, the speaker can communicate more effectively since they are aware that in addition to their words, the signals, and non-verbal cues they use also dictate the meaning they send forth. The coding principles used vary according to the socioeconomic differences of the people involved. Even though, a community shares a similar language, different socioeconomic groups value different ways of communicating; in other words, the coding principle. In his theory, Bernstein claimed that the use, and value placed on the coding of language, is influenced by the socioeconomic conditions (Philipsen, 2007). Three coding principles are usually used in linguistics, and these are informativity, rigidity, and attenuation. Using these three principles, the same set of words may have different meanings to different groups of persons. The structure and interaction patterns that cha racterize a family influence the way the members in focus express themselves. The use of language, and the way it is coded is also sensitive to the social organization of the society, and the correlative differences in the family (Sharifian, 2007). Judith Orasanu and Ute Fischer carried out a study on â€Å"Cultural Diversity and Crew Communication.† This study carried out in 1999 involved dialogue between an aircraft officer, and his first officer. In their study, they established that nationality played an important role in influencing communication. This is evident when the modes of communication of different communities are put into consideration. Communication in Korean and Japanese communities is accentuated with symbols, facial expressions, and other gestures. These are aspects of receiver oriented speech. The main focus is on getting information across to the recipient of the information. In contrast to this, there is transmitter oriented speech. Here, the speaker aim s to get out his point without being overly concerned with whether or not the recipient gets the intended information. This is characteristic with Danish, or Swedish communication. The source of information basically uses communication aspects he feels will get his message out in the best way possible. Focus is on getting the message out, and not across. Performance Distance Index (PDI) A society that records a

Tax Law Essay Example for Free

Tax Law Essay Summarize the sources and objectives of modern income tax statutes. The primary source of US tax law is Congress. Power to initiate tax legislation is vested in the House of Representatives but all tax bills must pass both houses and be signed into law by the President. Many times the details of the legislation are not dictated by Congress, but left to the Treasury Department which adopts regulations (that have the force of law) to spell out the details as well as interpret the statutes and provide guidance on the law. In addition, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issues rulings that address the application of the law to specific fact situations. The court system is also involved in making tax law through decisions about specific fact situations. The main tax courts are the US Tax Court and the District Courts of the US. These decisions can (and do) overturn and change tax provisions based on other decisions, as well as the legislative history of the particular legislation. The primary objective of the federal income tax law is to raise revenues for government operations. In recent years, the federal government has broadened its use of the tax laws to accomplish various economic and social policy objectives. Economic Objectives The federal income tax law is used as a fiscal policy tool to stimulate private investment, reduce unemployment, and mitigate the effects of inflation on the economy. The federal income tax law also attempts to stimulate and encourage certain activities, specialized industries, and small businesses. Social Objectives The tax law attempts to encourage or discourage certain socially desirable or undersirable activities. For example: Special tax-favored pension and profit-sharing plans have been created for employees and self-employed individuals to supplement the social security retirement system. Compare and contrast GAAP and tax accounting. Explain why they are different. GAAP accounting records all financial transactions: cash, accrual, investment, expenses, tax and all other expenses and deductions that may or may not have to be reported on your yearly tax form. This form of accounting is governed by strict standards and rules and may show actual income that is different from taxable income. GAAP accounting is a set of standards provided by policy boards and commonly accepted methods of recording financial information that gives consistency to any type of financial reporting. Tax based accounting is used by most CPAs, and the majority of certified financial statements come from tax based accounting. The focus of this type of accounting is on tracking your taxable income as it builds throughout the year. Tax accounting is a method of producing financial statements that uses the same methods that will apply to your tax return. Features GAAP accounting provides a means for a business to have a complete overview of the reality of its operations by tracking all monetary relationships, investments and expenditure. Tax accounting provides a focus on business or personal expenses that pertain to tax records only. Benefits GAAP accounting is more involved then tax accounting and provides more details about the monetary reality of daily operations that may or may not pertain to your tax needs. It also provides an accurate statement of your liabilities and assets. Tax based accounting has less rules and makes it easier to see where you stand at any given point of the year with taxable income, it does not, however, reliably report all liabilities and assets. Considerations When choosing which form of accounting to use for your personal or business needs there are several points to consider. If your business must issue financial statements to investors, GAAP provides greater consistency in the reporting, as it is guided by industry standards and not subject to the many changes that occur in tax requirements on a yearly basis. If you are newly in business, or if you are just beginning to use an accounting method in your personal life, you may want to utilize GAAP standards, as it will allow ou to begin to see how money is used in all areas of your life and business. If you are established in your business and do not need to issue financial statements, or your personal budget is adequate and realistic to your living needs, the simpler tax accounting methods may be better for you as your focus will remain on what is needed to successfully file taxes at the end of each year, and you do not need the masses of data associated with tracking ever y financial transaction that occurs during the year. Expert Insight Tax accounting, also known as OCBOA (Other Comprehensive Basis of Accounting), also includes a method of accounting known as cash basis. It is rare that any business can succeed basing its accounting on cash. The intricacies of financial transactions and the necessity of looking for non-cash based deductions come tax time make cash based tax accounting impractical. Note that all standards for accounting are set by the IASC (International Accounting Standards Commission). Differentiate between tax avoidance and tax evasion. Since the passage of the first income tax law, tax accountants, lawyers, and business persons have concerned themselves with choosing among the various forms a transaction may take. Tax planning is the process of arranging an individual’s transactions in such a manner as to maximize the individual’s after-tax income. This process is called tax avoidance, and it is a legal and legitimate pursuit. Some persons choose to ignore their obligations and the clear provisions of the law, and their actions often result in Tax Evasion. Tax evasion involves fraudulent or criminal behavior as well as conduct involving deception, concealment, or destruction of records. Tax evasion occurs when the taxpayer avoids payment of taxes that are legally due and owed under tax laws, either through underreporting income or claim deductions to which they are not entitled. The English precedents were relied on repeatedly by Indian courts as well. Tax avoidance was thus seen as a permanent right of assessees. Then came the turbulence, temporary though. The Supreme Court, in the McDowell Co Ltd vs CTO (1985 154 ITR 148 SC) case, said that time has come to depart from the old thinking. It said even tax avoidance is bad and deserves condemnation. The apex courts justification for this being, the House of Lords, the highest judicial forum of English, has given a go-by to the principle laid down by the British courts (in Duke of Westminster case). Since tax avoidance as a legal route was rejected by the very country of origin, it does not merit any better treatment in India, the Supreme Court held. The adverse legal consequences of this judgment for taxpayers were enormous. First, it came from the highest court of the land and, therefore, binding on all lower courts and Tribunals. Two, the McDowell case blurred the distinction between avoidance and evasion. The Department, of course, welcomed the ruling. It repeatedly tried applying this case, as only the Supreme Court can undo the McDowell case, if at all. And fortunately the apex court did reverse the findings in the McDowell case in Union of India vs Azadi Bachao Andolan (2003 132 Taxmann 373 SC). It was argued before the Supreme Court that the McDowell case had changed the face of fiscal jurisprudence in the country. Therefore, for any tax planning, the court must strike down what is intended to and results in avoidance. Rejecting this argument, the apex court upheld the legitimate rights of taxpayer in tax avoidance. In the process, it found that the McDowell ruling was nothing exceptional but only an exception to the well-settled law.

Putting An End To Worship Wars Essay Example for Free

Putting An End To Worship Wars Essay There are many different kinds of worship styles because there are different kinds of people with different kinds of personalities. America is made up of different races and religion therefore we worship God differently. God created mankind in His image and His likeness to worship Him in spirit and truth. We must Worship God according to the principles of Scriptures so that He is magnified, glorified and exalted. It does not matter that we express our worship differently. What does matter is that we worship God with all our hearts and inner being. We as the church, the body of Christ must learn to except the difference in worship, if the worship is legitimate and stop trying to force our way of worship on other members of the body of Christ. America is the only nation that has different worship styles in the churches. The change in worship is because of culture changes such as the Internet, computerized television screens, and the Interstate freeway. American no longer chooses a church by denomination or church doctrine but by worship service and gift gravitation. Research revealed that churches were growing because of renewal, revival, and excitement not from outreach programs. The excitement of worship produced growth. Worship service are different because of cultural difference, different spiritual gifts and because the commands and principles of Scripture are applied differently. Worship wars have split churches, caused Pastors to be replaced, caused members to leave, and caused drops in church growth. The Evangelistic church exists to accomplish evangelism, which is communicating the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Bible Expositional Church exists to equip believers for the work of the ministry through the systematic expositional preaching and teaching of Scriptures. The Renewal Church exists to worship God the Pastor is often the worship leader. Worship is the focus of the service and exhortation is the spiritual gift. The Body Life Church purpose and mission is the context of fellowship. The focus is on the cell group and corporate gatherings of believers therefore; their strength is small group ministries. The Liturgical Church exist to serve God with praise and worship and to service other in the name of God. Its strength is their involvement in society causing leaders to emerge. The Congregational Church is a church of balance. They have no single spiritual gift and are described as a single cell churches. Their strength is balance in ministry. These six paradigms mean that Christians worship differently because we are different. We have different spiritual gifts, different callings, different personalities, different background and different doctrine. In the future of worship there will be more of a thirst for God, thirst for worship, and worship will be more spontaneous. The Holy Spirit will inspire, and release whole hearted worship in people of all expressions. Worship will become more of a celebration causing the atmospheric presence of God to be felt in worship. The Impact and Implementation of this Book in My Own Life The knowledge that I received from this book has help me to understand the different worship styles. I have a greater respect for them because I understand that they are worshipping God in their own way. It also help me to understand why I worship the way I do. I am what we call a radical worshipper. I love Worshipping God and I love when others people worship God. I can fit anyway as long as I can worship God.

Analysing Existing Trends of Space Selling

Analysing Existing Trends of Space Selling Abstract If an ad is created and placed in the media, the costs of creation and time or space in the media must be paid for. This is a major area in which advertising departs from public relations. Advertising doesnt have that problem. If time or space is bought in the media, the ads (as long as they follow the guidelines set down for good taste, legal products and services, etc.) will appear. The drawback is that ads are clearly designed to extol the virtues of products and companies, and any ad is perceived by consumers as at least partly puffery. There are two basic ways to sell anything: personally and non-personally. Personal selling requires the seller and the buyer to get together. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. The first advantage is time: the seller has time to discuss in detail everything about the product. The buyer has time to ask questions, get answers, and examine evidence for or against purchase. A second advantage of personal selling is that the seller can see them. Finally, the seller can easily locate potential buyers. If they enter a store, they probably have an interest in something that store sells. Street vendors and door-to-door sellers can simply shout at possibilities, like the Hyde Park vendors who call out. From there on they fit their message to the individual customer, taking all the time a customer is willing to give them. From the above, it appears that personal selling is much better than advertising, which is non-personal. This is true. Advertising has none of the advantages of personal selling: there is very little time in which to present the sales message, there is no way to know just who the customer is or how she is responding to the message, the message cannot be changed in mid-course to suit the customers reactions. Products, services or ideas are the things that advertisers want consumers to buy (in the case of ideas, buy means accept or agree with as well as lay out hard, cold cash). However, there is more involved in products or services than simply items for purchase. A product is not merely its function. It is actually a bundle of values, what the product means to the consumer. That bundle may contain the products function, but also the social, psychological, economic or whatever other values are important to the consumer. Chapter 1: Introduction In an era when physical tail space is still at a premium, constrained by planning restrictions and rising costs, productive use of space is a key indicator of buying and merchandising success, and high space productivity depends on offering the right range, in a logical layout, with products available and easy for the customer to find. Decisions about how much space to devote to each product line and its location in the store play an important role in the pursuit of merchandising success. The aim of this chapter is to provide an insight into this process. 1.1 Space selling management: Space selling constraint applies to all retailers, but in non-store retailing the constraints are different. A mail order retailer, for example, has page space and the number of pages in a publication as constraining factors, whilst a TV shopping channel needs to break down the airtime to different products. However, internet retailing offers great opportunities for adding space without much additional resource input. The main constraint on the amount of space used in a virtual outlet is the customers attention span. In spite of this additional freedom, the objectives of space allocation are essentially the same no matter which retail format is used. The management of retail space is concerned with a number of key objectives. The first is to optimize both short-term and long term returns on the investment cost of retail pace. The second is to provide a logical, convenient and inspiring interface between the product range and the customer. This can be particularly important in a large store, where customers can quite easily become overwhelmed and lost. Another objective is to make sure that the right selection of products is available; that products fit into the retail space and that stock-outs are avoided. Choice for the customer is maximized when the best selection for them is put into the available space. Space allocation aim has an important role to play in communicating the retail brand, When ice is managed centrally it helps a chain of retail outlets to achieve visual consistency, so that customers arc reassured by the similarity of the store layout and shelf appearance. 1.2 The Space Management Process: A retailer goes through a number of stages when allocating space to products. These four stages will they used as a framework for the Inclusion of discussion topics within this chapter. Measuring Space Selling: Although space in a store outlet is three dimensional, retail space is often measured in square, rather than cubic units, Square units arc appropriate where, for example in fashion retailing, a variety of single tier fixtures stand on the shop Iloor (see FigureS. I). Many fixtures, however, arc multilevel and so more appropriate ways of measuring space to allocate might be on the basis of linear or cubic footage (see Figures 8.2 and 8.3). Measurements of space that are more specific to individual retailers might be useful, such as the number of pages to be published in a catalogue or the total number of fixtures available in an outlet. Space Productivity: The two principal measures of retail success arc sales and profits. Sales volume and profitability can also he measured in relation to the amount of space used to generate those levels of sales and profits. This can then be compared with the level of financial investment in that space. The resulting measures express the productivity of retail space. Sales (or profits) per square meter is a commonly used measure of retail space productivity, which is an important concept in the evaluation of retail product management performance. Dividing the space into selling areas: At this stage, space management is concerned with allocating space to different product areas, defined according to individual retail businesses, but usually on the basis of product (department or category. The amount of space will he determined to a greater extent on previous performance indicators, typically sales values. However, sonic products, because of their physical characteristics may need disproportionate amounts of space in relation to sales. In a department store, home furnishings may need a relatively large amount of space to generate a good level of sales because the products are bulky, a large variety of merchandise is needed for customers to choose from and a lot of display space is needed to do the product justice. On the other hand, jewellery is a high value product category that needs relatively small amounts of space for display and selling purposes. The stage a product category is at in its life cycle is likely to influence the space allocation at this level. If a category is growing, then more space should be allocated, whereas a declining category needs to have its space rationalizes. Measuring selling space using square metres Using linear measurement for space selling Using cubic measurement for space selling Typical â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"hotspots In a Space selling Particularly evident in department stores, where specialist products such as furniture and home entertainment, as well as hairdressing salons and customer service departments   located on basement or upper floors, Customer flow can also be encouraged by locating high demand items throughout the store layout, with plenty of impulse items located in between. Retailers need to find a balance between maximizing sales of high demand products, generating flow around slower selling products (which may have higher profit margins), and providing logic and convenience in the layout for the customer, Product adjacencies: A logical route through the different product categories or departments is part of a customer focused offer, and can encourage linked sales. For example, in a baby equipment retailer like Mother cares it makes sense for merchandise to be grouped into themes for space planning purposes. These product themes are then presented in a logical way to the customer as they move through the store. Products for immediate needs, such as feeding and general baby care come first, followed by bath time and clothes; and then on to the more expensive, one purchases in the travel and nursery departments. The barbecue season provides a good opportunity for retailers to generate interest and sell distinctive groups of complementary products. Some of these products are strictly seasonal: the barbecues themselves and the briquettes for example. However, other products can be given additional space allocations in the seasonal aisle as part of the â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"barbecue category. Firelighters, matches, marinades, sauces, disposable tableware and beer are products that are found around the supermarket throughout the year, but are given a boost In the barbecue season by being merchandised as complementary goods. It is estimated that guests take an average equivalent of eight drinks when they are Invited to a barbecue, and â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"studies (bulk packed small bottles of beer) are particularly popular for barbecues as they are easy to handle, â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"women friendly, and easily chilled. Whilst the majority of barbecue beer is bulk purchased In advance from supermarkets, and then chilled down at home, convenience store retailers are often used for guests to buy drinks en route, and so providing chilled beer becomes important for this type of retail format. Allocation space to individual product: Having made a plan for the layout of departments or categories within the retail outlet, the next stage is to make a decision about exactly how individual product lines should be displayed within the outlet, whether the product is going to sit on a fixture, or be represented by a photograph within a page spread. Various approaches to space allocation are discussed, for example by using sales or profits as a guideline, some practical challenges arc considered, and the relationship between category management and space allocation is explored in this section. Allocating space on the basis of sale: The guiding principle here is the more a product sells, the more space it should be given. Retaining a high stock service level will depend on retailers ensuring that they devote enough space to a high demand product, such as milk, to prevent replenishment of that item becoming inefficient and inconvenient to the customer. A fast selling item however may not be one that a retailer makes much profit on (again milk is a good example), and so they may decide to allocate more space to their profitable lines. In taking this approach, however, the retailer is likely to encounter the problem of not devoting enough space to fast moving lines, so a balance has to be achieved. Another decision that has to be made is which â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"sales figure should he used for the allocation exercise, Alternatives are historical sales figures (for that outlet); market share figures; or projected sales figures. Store A is a branch of clothing retailer XYZ in a medium sized town centre. Ten miles away there Is a regional shopping centre where branch B Is located and twelve miles In the opposite direction, branch store C Is located In the heart of a city centre shopping complex. The policy of retailer XYZ is to offer a returns policy In all of its stores for products bought in any outlet nationwide (including those purchased from its web site). Shoppers from the town where store A is located, often take shopping trips to the neighboring centres, where B and C are located, especially if they are wanting to make a major purchase such as a coat or a suit, and require a wide choice of retail stores to select from. Unfortunately for store A, any unwanted products usually end up being returned to the customers local store. This has the effect of distorting the sales figures for store A, upon which space allocation decisions are made. Unfortunately, the retailers information system does not recogniz e the difference between a returned garment from the original store and one returned from a different outlet. In order to counteract this problem, which can be quite widespread, a retailer would need to allocate space on the basis of estimated sales rather than historical sales. Space elasticity: Allocating space according to a measure of sales assumes that there a relationship between the amount of space and the rate of sales, this relationship is termed the space elasticity of a product and it refers to the extent to which the sales of a product will change in response to a changed. In the amount of space allocated to that product Research suggests that space elasticity not uniform amongst products, or across stores or departmental locations. Using profit measures as a basis for space allocation ill prevent a business manager from allocating large amounts of best quality retail space to unprofitable products. They could mean, however, that a retailer was allocating unnecessarily large amounts of space to products that would sell as well with a smaller space. Profitable lines may not in fact sell very quickly at all, and allocating extra facings or shelves of the product may have very little impact on the sales of the product. In this case the quality of the space becomes important, so the retailer can locate high profit items in locations around the stare that arc better selling. The relationship between the sales and generated by different products, and suggests how space and ranging decisions should be made accordingly. Allocating space according to sales, and in particular, product profitability, is working with the interests of the retailer, and not the customer in mind and therefore may suggest an illogical and prese ntation of products. Long term profitability depends on customer loyalty, which is dependent (among many other things) upon being satisfied with the presentation and assortment of products. Fine tuning the allocation of space within a retail outlet therefore requires extensive amounts of high quality data, together with a pragmatic and customer orientated managerial approach at store level. Productivity and efficiency and towards are visual display improvements. Once an optimum level of efficiency is achieved, space planners can move onto the objective of making their products and fixtures more attractive than their competitors. Some of the latest planning systems are able to simulate the entire store environment, so that the product manager can view an attractive plan in virtual reality and make any adjustments they fed are necessary. Recent space optimization technology applications offer the opportunity to create specific platform. Space Allocation and Category Management: Although the performance of individual product lines is Important to retailers in terms of the rate of sales which influences availability and the levels of contribution to turnover and profitability, the focus of performance In many retail organizations is at product category, rather than individual SKU level. A retailer is more interested in overall levels of sales and profits generated by their product range, rather than the sales of a single line that might be of interest to its manufacturer. The product category has emerged as a manageable classification for most aspects of product management, and certainly applies in the case of space management. In fact, many would argue that space planning and allocation and the systems that drive the process can only be properly implemented in tandem with a category management approach. Category management seeks to optimize the depth and variety of a product assortment within a specified amount of retail space and to generate maximum profitability by seeking efficiency in the operations that support the depth and variety. This includes replenishing to guarantee availability and adding new products and running promotions to generate customer interest and increase short term sales of particular products, without harming the overall profitability of the category. Space allocation systems allow (Inc tuning of a category assortment, provide the means by which product and category performance can be monitored and analyzed. and by using the programme output the plans can he easily communicated and successfully implemented within the various retail out lets. In some categories key brands are dominant, in which case their presence needs to have immediate impact within the space allocation plan. Other categories are very competitive, in which case low price, budget own brand and promotional products strongly on the promotional. Many businesses use the principle that shoppers will a category from bottom to top, and left to right, and so well-known brands arc placed on middle and lower shelves on the left of the category space in order to provide strong cues to the customer. Premium products meanwhile are placed on high level shelves, selecting their high quality positioning, and the fact that the customer for premium products will seek out the better quality product within the category. In some categories the customer decision-making processes are quite unique and nerd to he fully reflected within space allocation plans. For example, the decision sequence for wine is generally as follows: Colour Country of origin Price Level - Brand Whereas the decision sequence for yoghurt might be: Natural or flavored type (low fat, standard or luxury) - Price Level Brand Name These decision processes should determine how products arc displayed within the category space. In certain modes, if the product is maintained in the offer, long-term customer satisfaction will be retained In spite of the Individual poor product performance. Therefore it is the stores personality traits that determine the core product ranges, and not the size; the size of the outlet determines the width and depth of the selling type that would appeal to the local customers, Stores are empowered with the merchandise that allows them to drive local market opportunities and local suppliers can also be involved in the process of providing tailored products for individual store needs, As retailers offer more formats from which customers may choose to shop, format preferences and product preferences can be matched, For example, Tesco found that its online shoppers tended to from more affluent backgrounds, and so the on-line product offer is tailored accordingly, with a large range of wines and few value lines, For many small retailers the cost of a computerized space planning is prohibitive, and so many rely on basic sales and profit margin analysis combined with trial and error in space allocation decision making. 1.3 Summary: A great deal of space selling is carried out in order to achieve relatively short-term retail objectives, such as maximizing the benefits of a product or departmental promotion, meeting seasonal sales figures, or improving branch profitability. However, the long term strategic objectives of the retailer provide the framework within which these decisions are taken. Space allocations must be in line with the overall positioning strategy of the retailer; the variety and depth of assortment and the stock availability service level should not be compromised by the need for short-term productivity gains. In addition, the arrangement of products around the store needs to be considered in the light of the contribution that product items, brands and categories make to the positioning statement, it may be necessary to over-represent new products or to allocate extra space to growing or seasonal categories in order to reinforce an innovative product positioning strategy. The local customer prof ile may also lead to exceptional space allocations in an effort to meet individuals requirements more closely. However, the retailers space is the extent of its empire, and every inch of that space must be used to its maximum effect even if, as we shall see in the next two chapters, some space is designed to he devoid of products. The measurement of that effect, however, must be appropriate in terms of the overall aims for that space. Chapter 2: Literature Review Space Selling: Space selling refers to space available for advertising in different media. The advertising media available are print, electronic outdoor. The space available and intend for advertising in different media. Decision about how much space to devote to each product line and its location plays an important role in the pursuit of merchandising success. The aim of this thesis is to have an insight into this process. First will have to understand that the services of every publication/channel, costs of space selling. The ads featured in it. And a space seller to sell that advertising space/time to potential advertisers. 2.1 UCPL acquires marketing and space-selling rights for Lemon TV and Jhankar TV: K Sera Seras recently launched free-to-air channels music channel Lemon TV, and Hindi movie channel Jhankar TV have appointed Universal Communication Pvt. Ltd (UCPL) for their marketing and space-selling rights. UCPL is a player in the space of airtime selling and marketing of serials, television programmes and feature films for various television networks in India. Jhankar TV will particularly target the Hindi speaking audience. This is a channel that would reach to the audience of cable and satellite in UP, Bihar, MP and Rajasthan. On the other hand, for Lemon TV, they are planning to have different kinds of event and programmes like Lemon party. This will bring in more interactivity too with the relevant TG. When asked about the marketing challenges for these new channels, Every new channel in India right now faces the challenges of clutter and telling the advertiser what difference does this channel bring to the table, and what is the value addition. These channels are also in the same situation and we are confident about overcoming these challenges. UCPL is associated with media and advertising agencies like Mindshare, Mediaedge:cia, Madison, McCann Erickson, Lintas, etc., and with clients like Hindustan Unilever, Procter Gamble, and Godrej, among others. As a company, UCPL has now diversified into full-fledged events and brand promotions, striving to create and mange innovative concepts, thus offering their client complete 360-degree solutions. 2.2 Using the blogging concept to sell wikis: If a person understands what a blog is, the wiki may be compared and contrasted to a blog. A blog enables a single person to get a message out. A wiki enables a group of persons to assemble a body of knowledge. A wiki can be presented as a blog with one major post (the purpose, topic, idea of the wiki) that others can build knowledge around, without the initiating post getting buried in archives as new posts arrive and are displayed in reverse chronological order. A wiki may be sold as a horizontal blog platform. Blogs are vertical, recent updates on top, all others shoved down into oblivion, with only tags, categorical sidebar listings, or site search to dredge them up again. But a wiki distributes all the information in a more horizontal, flat, single surface that stretches through pages spread out, not sedimented. The wiki may be sold as a web site set up for idea construction; it is team-architected rather than single-authored. Blogs tend to be univocal and identifiable; one known person expounding a position, with audience members invited to comment on the sermonizing, but not really authorized to begin their own topic threads. Wikis are multimodal and transiently anonymous, many unknown people working together. A wiki, thus is like a super-democratized blog. A blog where the walls between bloggers are audience is dissolved. The audience members become the contributing authors and the originating authors become the audience, and vice vers a. 2.3 Modern Trends in Working Styles: Another interesting way of presenting wikis has to do with the fact that they allow for easy remote working. One of the main advantages a wiki provides is the fact that it is available from any internet-connected web browser, at any time. Information can be worked on efficiently in an asynchronous manner. In this regard, wikis solve tricky coordination problems. Whats more, a wiki provides a virtual space where all relevant business information can be stored. Hence people working from different places, at different times of the day can still end up with a coherent document. A wiki is more efficient than e-mail for the resulting document can almost be exploited immediately and its last version is always on top (which is quite useful when working with more then one person). 2.4 The Advantages of Asynchronous Communication: Wiki content growth and increasing value in an organization by facilitating asynchronous communication which is often more convenient than other forms of collaboration that require face time or same time. On the other extreme, making large batches of content (Power Point, White Papers) are inefficient simply because they require the author to provide context and content, some of which may be error laden or out-of-date. Wikis allow smaller batches of contribution to appear at any time, thus relieving two bottlenecks to collaboration. Add to this the fact that they are completely auditable for contribution, and the need for creating credit concurrently is removed. 2.5 ROI on social software: Being able to make a business case will be very important to all convince for every enterprises and after than to make a start on adopting social software. Charlene Li has a contribution about ROI on blogging. But Return on investment has to be calculated for all sorts of social software. Then again, ROI is becoming increasingly irrelevant when online collaboration tools and social media platforms are available for free, or at extremely low cost. Many companies find they can get along just fine with the free versions of blogs (lBlogger), podcasting (Odeo), video uploading and player embeds (YouTube), and wikis (Socialtext). ROT (return on time) is the far more challenging aspect of social software. It takes a significant investment in time to become known in the blogosphere, for example. Bloggers must spend large amounts of time in researching topics, writing posts, linking to other Blogs, interacting with comment posters, reading other Blogs, posting comments at other Blogs, producing multimedia content, emailing other bloggers, and adding features and functionalities to a blog. All this in addition to remaining informed about ones industry or field of study. Warning top management about falling behind in competitive technology should be sufficient to begin a case for online collaboration tools. Explaining that the trends are massively aligned, user-generated content, customer co-creation of product, corporate contributions to innovation, and universal content utopia, advocates of social software and user media can point to great examples of Peer Pioneers companies leading the way: PG, IBM/Linux, Second Life, Digg, Jigsaw, YouTube, and InnoCentive. 2.6 Successful Strategies for Selling Ad Space on Low-Traffic Websites: Upon first thinking about it, the idea of selling advertising on a website or blog with limited traffic seems a bit daft. After all, arent most advertisers interested in putting their product in front of the highest number of eyeballs possible? Approaching them with piddly visitor numbers seems like a surefire way to end up in the deleted folder. But though it may feel like putting the cart before the horse, there are many good reasons and ways to sell ad space on low-traffic websites. What you need to always keep in mind is that, while advertisers are drawn to high traffic numbers, they desire something else even more: high conversion rates. There are plenty of success stories of websites that have limited traffic but sell a ton of advertising. These websites succeed because they do one thing well: they deliver the right type of customer to the right type of business. Space selling concept: * Take a close look at your website Whether they sell landscape or skyscraper ads, text ads, video or any other format, they have to offer something of value before you can start to sell advertising space. They know this sound obvious, but it always surprises them how many publishers and online media owners come up with a niche product that nobody wants to buy advertising space in! If they are going to make a fortune in selling subscriptions or other membership related offerings, then fine but in most cases, forget about their hobby or leisure interest, unless it is unique and offers a great angle. Do make sure their product is going to be attractive to a large enough audience before they attempt to sell advertising and if they have a fair bit of competition, make sure that they have some unique selling points and formats. As they move into Web 2.0 the requirements from a lot of advertisers will change. If they can offer a new format or idea and take the hard work out of it for th e advertiser, they are onto a winner. If they dont, theyll lose out to their rivals. * Choosing ad formats that will sell Not all ad formats sell well on ALL websites. Put another way, some ads work better on consumer websites than they do on business sites and visa versa. The trick is to test their ads with different messages, fonts, colours and designs. This research will be well worth it in the end and can make the difference between making a decent revenue stream and making a substantial one. One of the biggest things to bear in mind is where the advertising should be placed. If they sell products on their site, there is very little point displaying adverts, which could detract potential customers away from their own sales message. So, the first thing they need to do is highlight the sections and pages where they are happy to accept advertising. When they have done that, they can then take a look at design and placement. Always think of the customer when you think about designs, placements and tracking. Make it simple for advertisers to find and relate to the f ormats, as they will have to justify the ad spend to their bosses. * Reporting and statistics This is a vital part of their business! Remember, communication is the key to long-term success. If they dont have a good reporting and stats package in place, then they will find it difficult to show their customers what they are/could be getting from their services. This can take a bit of time to set up, but it really is worth the time and money they put into it. Once in place, it can be automated to match their business model and to provide an essential package for their existing and potential customers. Remember out of sight, out of mind leave it to their competitors to make this mistake! * What are their competitors doing well? Even if they are offering a good service, they bet there is something they can learn from their competition. Some media companies do have the luxury of having someone w Analysing Existing Trends of Space Selling Analysing Existing Trends of Space Selling Abstract If an ad is created and placed in the media, the costs of creation and time or space in the media must be paid for. This is a major area in which advertising departs from public relations. Advertising doesnt have that problem. If time or space is bought in the media, the ads (as long as they follow the guidelines set down for good taste, legal products and services, etc.) will appear. The drawback is that ads are clearly designed to extol the virtues of products and companies, and any ad is perceived by consumers as at least partly puffery. There are two basic ways to sell anything: personally and non-personally. Personal selling requires the seller and the buyer to get together. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. The first advantage is time: the seller has time to discuss in detail everything about the product. The buyer has time to ask questions, get answers, and examine evidence for or against purchase. A second advantage of personal selling is that the seller can see them. Finally, the seller can easily locate potential buyers. If they enter a store, they probably have an interest in something that store sells. Street vendors and door-to-door sellers can simply shout at possibilities, like the Hyde Park vendors who call out. From there on they fit their message to the individual customer, taking all the time a customer is willing to give them. From the above, it appears that personal selling is much better than advertising, which is non-personal. This is true. Advertising has none of the advantages of personal selling: there is very little time in which to present the sales message, there is no way to know just who the customer is or how she is responding to the message, the message cannot be changed in mid-course to suit the customers reactions. Products, services or ideas are the things that advertisers want consumers to buy (in the case of ideas, buy means accept or agree with as well as lay out hard, cold cash). However, there is more involved in products or services than simply items for purchase. A product is not merely its function. It is actually a bundle of values, what the product means to the consumer. That bundle may contain the products function, but also the social, psychological, economic or whatever other values are important to the consumer. Chapter 1: Introduction In an era when physical tail space is still at a premium, constrained by planning restrictions and rising costs, productive use of space is a key indicator of buying and merchandising success, and high space productivity depends on offering the right range, in a logical layout, with products available and easy for the customer to find. Decisions about how much space to devote to each product line and its location in the store play an important role in the pursuit of merchandising success. The aim of this chapter is to provide an insight into this process. 1.1 Space selling management: Space selling constraint applies to all retailers, but in non-store retailing the constraints are different. A mail order retailer, for example, has page space and the number of pages in a publication as constraining factors, whilst a TV shopping channel needs to break down the airtime to different products. However, internet retailing offers great opportunities for adding space without much additional resource input. The main constraint on the amount of space used in a virtual outlet is the customers attention span. In spite of this additional freedom, the objectives of space allocation are essentially the same no matter which retail format is used. The management of retail space is concerned with a number of key objectives. The first is to optimize both short-term and long term returns on the investment cost of retail pace. The second is to provide a logical, convenient and inspiring interface between the product range and the customer. This can be particularly important in a large store, where customers can quite easily become overwhelmed and lost. Another objective is to make sure that the right selection of products is available; that products fit into the retail space and that stock-outs are avoided. Choice for the customer is maximized when the best selection for them is put into the available space. Space allocation aim has an important role to play in communicating the retail brand, When ice is managed centrally it helps a chain of retail outlets to achieve visual consistency, so that customers arc reassured by the similarity of the store layout and shelf appearance. 1.2 The Space Management Process: A retailer goes through a number of stages when allocating space to products. These four stages will they used as a framework for the Inclusion of discussion topics within this chapter. Measuring Space Selling: Although space in a store outlet is three dimensional, retail space is often measured in square, rather than cubic units, Square units arc appropriate where, for example in fashion retailing, a variety of single tier fixtures stand on the shop Iloor (see FigureS. I). Many fixtures, however, arc multilevel and so more appropriate ways of measuring space to allocate might be on the basis of linear or cubic footage (see Figures 8.2 and 8.3). Measurements of space that are more specific to individual retailers might be useful, such as the number of pages to be published in a catalogue or the total number of fixtures available in an outlet. Space Productivity: The two principal measures of retail success arc sales and profits. Sales volume and profitability can also he measured in relation to the amount of space used to generate those levels of sales and profits. This can then be compared with the level of financial investment in that space. The resulting measures express the productivity of retail space. Sales (or profits) per square meter is a commonly used measure of retail space productivity, which is an important concept in the evaluation of retail product management performance. Dividing the space into selling areas: At this stage, space management is concerned with allocating space to different product areas, defined according to individual retail businesses, but usually on the basis of product (department or category. The amount of space will he determined to a greater extent on previous performance indicators, typically sales values. However, sonic products, because of their physical characteristics may need disproportionate amounts of space in relation to sales. In a department store, home furnishings may need a relatively large amount of space to generate a good level of sales because the products are bulky, a large variety of merchandise is needed for customers to choose from and a lot of display space is needed to do the product justice. On the other hand, jewellery is a high value product category that needs relatively small amounts of space for display and selling purposes. The stage a product category is at in its life cycle is likely to influence the space allocation at this level. If a category is growing, then more space should be allocated, whereas a declining category needs to have its space rationalizes. Measuring selling space using square metres Using linear measurement for space selling Using cubic measurement for space selling Typical â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"hotspots In a Space selling Particularly evident in department stores, where specialist products such as furniture and home entertainment, as well as hairdressing salons and customer service departments   located on basement or upper floors, Customer flow can also be encouraged by locating high demand items throughout the store layout, with plenty of impulse items located in between. Retailers need to find a balance between maximizing sales of high demand products, generating flow around slower selling products (which may have higher profit margins), and providing logic and convenience in the layout for the customer, Product adjacencies: A logical route through the different product categories or departments is part of a customer focused offer, and can encourage linked sales. For example, in a baby equipment retailer like Mother cares it makes sense for merchandise to be grouped into themes for space planning purposes. These product themes are then presented in a logical way to the customer as they move through the store. Products for immediate needs, such as feeding and general baby care come first, followed by bath time and clothes; and then on to the more expensive, one purchases in the travel and nursery departments. The barbecue season provides a good opportunity for retailers to generate interest and sell distinctive groups of complementary products. Some of these products are strictly seasonal: the barbecues themselves and the briquettes for example. However, other products can be given additional space allocations in the seasonal aisle as part of the â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"barbecue category. Firelighters, matches, marinades, sauces, disposable tableware and beer are products that are found around the supermarket throughout the year, but are given a boost In the barbecue season by being merchandised as complementary goods. It is estimated that guests take an average equivalent of eight drinks when they are Invited to a barbecue, and â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"studies (bulk packed small bottles of beer) are particularly popular for barbecues as they are easy to handle, â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"women friendly, and easily chilled. Whilst the majority of barbecue beer is bulk purchased In advance from supermarkets, and then chilled down at home, convenience store retailers are often used for guests to buy drinks en route, and so providing chilled beer becomes important for this type of retail format. Allocation space to individual product: Having made a plan for the layout of departments or categories within the retail outlet, the next stage is to make a decision about exactly how individual product lines should be displayed within the outlet, whether the product is going to sit on a fixture, or be represented by a photograph within a page spread. Various approaches to space allocation are discussed, for example by using sales or profits as a guideline, some practical challenges arc considered, and the relationship between category management and space allocation is explored in this section. Allocating space on the basis of sale: The guiding principle here is the more a product sells, the more space it should be given. Retaining a high stock service level will depend on retailers ensuring that they devote enough space to a high demand product, such as milk, to prevent replenishment of that item becoming inefficient and inconvenient to the customer. A fast selling item however may not be one that a retailer makes much profit on (again milk is a good example), and so they may decide to allocate more space to their profitable lines. In taking this approach, however, the retailer is likely to encounter the problem of not devoting enough space to fast moving lines, so a balance has to be achieved. Another decision that has to be made is which â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"sales figure should he used for the allocation exercise, Alternatives are historical sales figures (for that outlet); market share figures; or projected sales figures. Store A is a branch of clothing retailer XYZ in a medium sized town centre. Ten miles away there Is a regional shopping centre where branch B Is located and twelve miles In the opposite direction, branch store C Is located In the heart of a city centre shopping complex. The policy of retailer XYZ is to offer a returns policy In all of its stores for products bought in any outlet nationwide (including those purchased from its web site). Shoppers from the town where store A is located, often take shopping trips to the neighboring centres, where B and C are located, especially if they are wanting to make a major purchase such as a coat or a suit, and require a wide choice of retail stores to select from. Unfortunately for store A, any unwanted products usually end up being returned to the customers local store. This has the effect of distorting the sales figures for store A, upon which space allocation decisions are made. Unfortunately, the retailers information system does not recogniz e the difference between a returned garment from the original store and one returned from a different outlet. In order to counteract this problem, which can be quite widespread, a retailer would need to allocate space on the basis of estimated sales rather than historical sales. Space elasticity: Allocating space according to a measure of sales assumes that there a relationship between the amount of space and the rate of sales, this relationship is termed the space elasticity of a product and it refers to the extent to which the sales of a product will change in response to a changed. In the amount of space allocated to that product Research suggests that space elasticity not uniform amongst products, or across stores or departmental locations. Using profit measures as a basis for space allocation ill prevent a business manager from allocating large amounts of best quality retail space to unprofitable products. They could mean, however, that a retailer was allocating unnecessarily large amounts of space to products that would sell as well with a smaller space. Profitable lines may not in fact sell very quickly at all, and allocating extra facings or shelves of the product may have very little impact on the sales of the product. In this case the quality of the space becomes important, so the retailer can locate high profit items in locations around the stare that arc better selling. The relationship between the sales and generated by different products, and suggests how space and ranging decisions should be made accordingly. Allocating space according to sales, and in particular, product profitability, is working with the interests of the retailer, and not the customer in mind and therefore may suggest an illogical and prese ntation of products. Long term profitability depends on customer loyalty, which is dependent (among many other things) upon being satisfied with the presentation and assortment of products. Fine tuning the allocation of space within a retail outlet therefore requires extensive amounts of high quality data, together with a pragmatic and customer orientated managerial approach at store level. Productivity and efficiency and towards are visual display improvements. Once an optimum level of efficiency is achieved, space planners can move onto the objective of making their products and fixtures more attractive than their competitors. Some of the latest planning systems are able to simulate the entire store environment, so that the product manager can view an attractive plan in virtual reality and make any adjustments they fed are necessary. Recent space optimization technology applications offer the opportunity to create specific platform. Space Allocation and Category Management: Although the performance of individual product lines is Important to retailers in terms of the rate of sales which influences availability and the levels of contribution to turnover and profitability, the focus of performance In many retail organizations is at product category, rather than individual SKU level. A retailer is more interested in overall levels of sales and profits generated by their product range, rather than the sales of a single line that might be of interest to its manufacturer. The product category has emerged as a manageable classification for most aspects of product management, and certainly applies in the case of space management. In fact, many would argue that space planning and allocation and the systems that drive the process can only be properly implemented in tandem with a category management approach. Category management seeks to optimize the depth and variety of a product assortment within a specified amount of retail space and to generate maximum profitability by seeking efficiency in the operations that support the depth and variety. This includes replenishing to guarantee availability and adding new products and running promotions to generate customer interest and increase short term sales of particular products, without harming the overall profitability of the category. Space allocation systems allow (Inc tuning of a category assortment, provide the means by which product and category performance can be monitored and analyzed. and by using the programme output the plans can he easily communicated and successfully implemented within the various retail out lets. In some categories key brands are dominant, in which case their presence needs to have immediate impact within the space allocation plan. Other categories are very competitive, in which case low price, budget own brand and promotional products strongly on the promotional. Many businesses use the principle that shoppers will a category from bottom to top, and left to right, and so well-known brands arc placed on middle and lower shelves on the left of the category space in order to provide strong cues to the customer. Premium products meanwhile are placed on high level shelves, selecting their high quality positioning, and the fact that the customer for premium products will seek out the better quality product within the category. In some categories the customer decision-making processes are quite unique and nerd to he fully reflected within space allocation plans. For example, the decision sequence for wine is generally as follows: Colour Country of origin Price Level - Brand Whereas the decision sequence for yoghurt might be: Natural or flavored type (low fat, standard or luxury) - Price Level Brand Name These decision processes should determine how products arc displayed within the category space. In certain modes, if the product is maintained in the offer, long-term customer satisfaction will be retained In spite of the Individual poor product performance. Therefore it is the stores personality traits that determine the core product ranges, and not the size; the size of the outlet determines the width and depth of the selling type that would appeal to the local customers, Stores are empowered with the merchandise that allows them to drive local market opportunities and local suppliers can also be involved in the process of providing tailored products for individual store needs, As retailers offer more formats from which customers may choose to shop, format preferences and product preferences can be matched, For example, Tesco found that its online shoppers tended to from more affluent backgrounds, and so the on-line product offer is tailored accordingly, with a large range of wines and few value lines, For many small retailers the cost of a computerized space planning is prohibitive, and so many rely on basic sales and profit margin analysis combined with trial and error in space allocation decision making. 1.3 Summary: A great deal of space selling is carried out in order to achieve relatively short-term retail objectives, such as maximizing the benefits of a product or departmental promotion, meeting seasonal sales figures, or improving branch profitability. However, the long term strategic objectives of the retailer provide the framework within which these decisions are taken. Space allocations must be in line with the overall positioning strategy of the retailer; the variety and depth of assortment and the stock availability service level should not be compromised by the need for short-term productivity gains. In addition, the arrangement of products around the store needs to be considered in the light of the contribution that product items, brands and categories make to the positioning statement, it may be necessary to over-represent new products or to allocate extra space to growing or seasonal categories in order to reinforce an innovative product positioning strategy. The local customer prof ile may also lead to exceptional space allocations in an effort to meet individuals requirements more closely. However, the retailers space is the extent of its empire, and every inch of that space must be used to its maximum effect even if, as we shall see in the next two chapters, some space is designed to he devoid of products. The measurement of that effect, however, must be appropriate in terms of the overall aims for that space. Chapter 2: Literature Review Space Selling: Space selling refers to space available for advertising in different media. The advertising media available are print, electronic outdoor. The space available and intend for advertising in different media. Decision about how much space to devote to each product line and its location plays an important role in the pursuit of merchandising success. The aim of this thesis is to have an insight into this process. First will have to understand that the services of every publication/channel, costs of space selling. The ads featured in it. And a space seller to sell that advertising space/time to potential advertisers. 2.1 UCPL acquires marketing and space-selling rights for Lemon TV and Jhankar TV: K Sera Seras recently launched free-to-air channels music channel Lemon TV, and Hindi movie channel Jhankar TV have appointed Universal Communication Pvt. Ltd (UCPL) for their marketing and space-selling rights. UCPL is a player in the space of airtime selling and marketing of serials, television programmes and feature films for various television networks in India. Jhankar TV will particularly target the Hindi speaking audience. This is a channel that would reach to the audience of cable and satellite in UP, Bihar, MP and Rajasthan. On the other hand, for Lemon TV, they are planning to have different kinds of event and programmes like Lemon party. This will bring in more interactivity too with the relevant TG. When asked about the marketing challenges for these new channels, Every new channel in India right now faces the challenges of clutter and telling the advertiser what difference does this channel bring to the table, and what is the value addition. These channels are also in the same situation and we are confident about overcoming these challenges. UCPL is associated with media and advertising agencies like Mindshare, Mediaedge:cia, Madison, McCann Erickson, Lintas, etc., and with clients like Hindustan Unilever, Procter Gamble, and Godrej, among others. As a company, UCPL has now diversified into full-fledged events and brand promotions, striving to create and mange innovative concepts, thus offering their client complete 360-degree solutions. 2.2 Using the blogging concept to sell wikis: If a person understands what a blog is, the wiki may be compared and contrasted to a blog. A blog enables a single person to get a message out. A wiki enables a group of persons to assemble a body of knowledge. A wiki can be presented as a blog with one major post (the purpose, topic, idea of the wiki) that others can build knowledge around, without the initiating post getting buried in archives as new posts arrive and are displayed in reverse chronological order. A wiki may be sold as a horizontal blog platform. Blogs are vertical, recent updates on top, all others shoved down into oblivion, with only tags, categorical sidebar listings, or site search to dredge them up again. But a wiki distributes all the information in a more horizontal, flat, single surface that stretches through pages spread out, not sedimented. The wiki may be sold as a web site set up for idea construction; it is team-architected rather than single-authored. Blogs tend to be univocal and identifiable; one known person expounding a position, with audience members invited to comment on the sermonizing, but not really authorized to begin their own topic threads. Wikis are multimodal and transiently anonymous, many unknown people working together. A wiki, thus is like a super-democratized blog. A blog where the walls between bloggers are audience is dissolved. The audience members become the contributing authors and the originating authors become the audience, and vice vers a. 2.3 Modern Trends in Working Styles: Another interesting way of presenting wikis has to do with the fact that they allow for easy remote working. One of the main advantages a wiki provides is the fact that it is available from any internet-connected web browser, at any time. Information can be worked on efficiently in an asynchronous manner. In this regard, wikis solve tricky coordination problems. Whats more, a wiki provides a virtual space where all relevant business information can be stored. Hence people working from different places, at different times of the day can still end up with a coherent document. A wiki is more efficient than e-mail for the resulting document can almost be exploited immediately and its last version is always on top (which is quite useful when working with more then one person). 2.4 The Advantages of Asynchronous Communication: Wiki content growth and increasing value in an organization by facilitating asynchronous communication which is often more convenient than other forms of collaboration that require face time or same time. On the other extreme, making large batches of content (Power Point, White Papers) are inefficient simply because they require the author to provide context and content, some of which may be error laden or out-of-date. Wikis allow smaller batches of contribution to appear at any time, thus relieving two bottlenecks to collaboration. Add to this the fact that they are completely auditable for contribution, and the need for creating credit concurrently is removed. 2.5 ROI on social software: Being able to make a business case will be very important to all convince for every enterprises and after than to make a start on adopting social software. Charlene Li has a contribution about ROI on blogging. But Return on investment has to be calculated for all sorts of social software. Then again, ROI is becoming increasingly irrelevant when online collaboration tools and social media platforms are available for free, or at extremely low cost. Many companies find they can get along just fine with the free versions of blogs (lBlogger), podcasting (Odeo), video uploading and player embeds (YouTube), and wikis (Socialtext). ROT (return on time) is the far more challenging aspect of social software. It takes a significant investment in time to become known in the blogosphere, for example. Bloggers must spend large amounts of time in researching topics, writing posts, linking to other Blogs, interacting with comment posters, reading other Blogs, posting comments at other Blogs, producing multimedia content, emailing other bloggers, and adding features and functionalities to a blog. All this in addition to remaining informed about ones industry or field of study. Warning top management about falling behind in competitive technology should be sufficient to begin a case for online collaboration tools. Explaining that the trends are massively aligned, user-generated content, customer co-creation of product, corporate contributions to innovation, and universal content utopia, advocates of social software and user media can point to great examples of Peer Pioneers companies leading the way: PG, IBM/Linux, Second Life, Digg, Jigsaw, YouTube, and InnoCentive. 2.6 Successful Strategies for Selling Ad Space on Low-Traffic Websites: Upon first thinking about it, the idea of selling advertising on a website or blog with limited traffic seems a bit daft. After all, arent most advertisers interested in putting their product in front of the highest number of eyeballs possible? Approaching them with piddly visitor numbers seems like a surefire way to end up in the deleted folder. But though it may feel like putting the cart before the horse, there are many good reasons and ways to sell ad space on low-traffic websites. What you need to always keep in mind is that, while advertisers are drawn to high traffic numbers, they desire something else even more: high conversion rates. There are plenty of success stories of websites that have limited traffic but sell a ton of advertising. These websites succeed because they do one thing well: they deliver the right type of customer to the right type of business. Space selling concept: * Take a close look at your website Whether they sell landscape or skyscraper ads, text ads, video or any other format, they have to offer something of value before you can start to sell advertising space. They know this sound obvious, but it always surprises them how many publishers and online media owners come up with a niche product that nobody wants to buy advertising space in! If they are going to make a fortune in selling subscriptions or other membership related offerings, then fine but in most cases, forget about their hobby or leisure interest, unless it is unique and offers a great angle. Do make sure their product is going to be attractive to a large enough audience before they attempt to sell advertising and if they have a fair bit of competition, make sure that they have some unique selling points and formats. As they move into Web 2.0 the requirements from a lot of advertisers will change. If they can offer a new format or idea and take the hard work out of it for th e advertiser, they are onto a winner. If they dont, theyll lose out to their rivals. * Choosing ad formats that will sell Not all ad formats sell well on ALL websites. Put another way, some ads work better on consumer websites than they do on business sites and visa versa. The trick is to test their ads with different messages, fonts, colours and designs. This research will be well worth it in the end and can make the difference between making a decent revenue stream and making a substantial one. One of the biggest things to bear in mind is where the advertising should be placed. If they sell products on their site, there is very little point displaying adverts, which could detract potential customers away from their own sales message. So, the first thing they need to do is highlight the sections and pages where they are happy to accept advertising. When they have done that, they can then take a look at design and placement. Always think of the customer when you think about designs, placements and tracking. Make it simple for advertisers to find and relate to the f ormats, as they will have to justify the ad spend to their bosses. * Reporting and statistics This is a vital part of their business! Remember, communication is the key to long-term success. If they dont have a good reporting and stats package in place, then they will find it difficult to show their customers what they are/could be getting from their services. This can take a bit of time to set up, but it really is worth the time and money they put into it. Once in place, it can be automated to match their business model and to provide an essential package for their existing and potential customers. Remember out of sight, out of mind leave it to their competitors to make this mistake! * What are their competitors doing well? Even if they are offering a good service, they bet there is something they can learn from their competition. Some media companies do have the luxury of having someone w