Paper on Summation

Sowmya SUMMATION A Detailed review of Summation SUMMATION Introduction The CT Summation Blaze LG product family helps you efficiently manage case information such as transcripts and documents with the benefits of full-text imaging, PDF support, electronic evidence support and comprehensive production tools. Summation to load and check DII File DII File: A DII file is a specially formatted ASCII text file that can be created within any text editor. The DII file uses a non-delimited, multiple line format. Each record ends with the image filenames themselves. The data from the file is loaded into Summation’s Core Database and establishes the link between the database summaries and the associated images and OCR documents. DII FILE COMPONENTS @T (Image Tag) Required for each DII record. Must be used before any @C tokens for each DII record. Each instance of a line beginning with the @T token causes Summation to create a new database record or overwrite an existing one. If the value that follows the @T line does not match an existing record number in the active table (usually either the STDTABLE or the ETABLE) then a new record with that number is created. If a record with that number already exists, Summation prompts the user to either replace that record’s existing image information or leave its image information intact. The field normally used to determine a record’s unique number is either the BEGDOC# field (for the STDTABLE) or the DOCID field (for the ETABLE). This field can be changed via OPTIONS>DEFAULTS>IMAGING>COLUMN TO HOLD IMAGE TAG but it is not recommended. If there is an input template on the database’s record number field, then the @T value must conform to the template format. Example: The case database has an input template restricting the BEGDOC# field to the format â€Å"AA000000† (i. e. alpha, alpha, numeric, numeric, numeric, numeric, numeric, numeric). A DII file with the following @T values is loaded: @T RT100556 @T 998113 The first line matches the template format and a new database record with a BEGDOC# value of â€Å"RT100556† would be created. The second line is incorrect, s o no database record for this line would be created and an error message would appear on-screen and also be written to the error log. D (Default Directory) Required for each DII record that has images or OCR to be loaded. The @D token designates the location where the image file(s) for a database record is stored. The data specified after the @D is loaded into the Default Directory (DEFDIR) field of the ImgInfo table. There are 3 different ways to denote the DEFDIR. 1. @I, which refers to the default IMAGES subfolder under the case directory. For example, for a mobile installation, if the case were SMITH V. JONES, â€Å"@I† would equal â€Å"C:PROGRAM FILESSUMMATIONCASEDATASMITH V. JONESIMAGES. † 2. The full path to the image file(s) location. A UNC, local, or mapped drive letter path is acceptable. For example: @D SERVER1IMAGESSMITH V. JONESVOLUME1DISK1 @D C:IMAGESSMITH V. JONESVOLUME1DISK1 @D Z:IMAGESSMITH V. JONESVOLUME1DISK1 3. @V, which refers to the specific volume label of removable media. NOTE: Users of Summation LG/iBlaze can use UNC paths after the @D to specify a folder containing images. @L (Long Name Entry) Summation 5. 21 Legacy Field. @L denotes the long name or description of the image file(s). The @L value is loaded into the LONGNAME field of the ImgInfo Table. This tag is obsolete and unnecessary on modern versions of Summation (1. 0 and higher) as they support long image file names. @C (Column to Link) 3 Optional token. @C is used to load data into specified fields in the user’s document database. This is a useful way to decrease the amount of data entry required for the database users. It is meant for use when the same value is repeated for a group of documents, such as documents that all have the same box number or author. It is not meant to replace regular data entry. For this reason, there is a limit of six (6) @C codes available for each DII record. The syntax for using the @C token is: @C For example, to fill in the ISSUES field of the database with the value â€Å"Mental Health,† the line would read: @C ISSUES Mental Health The @C line(s) should appear underneath the @T line for each database record. For consecutive DII records where these values are the same, you do not need to repeat the @C line. Instead, insert the next @C line in the next DII record where the data changes. To stop entering data in a field, insert a @C line with the field name following by nothing. @I (Image Location as in Case Customize) Used with the @D token. The @I value refers to the image location specified in Case Customize. The @I value is loaded into the DEFDIR field of the ImgInfo table. This location must be a drive letter (or UNC path for LG/iBlaze users) and path that points to the directory where the images are stored. Summation users can select any valid location or use Summation’s default location, the IMAGES subdirectory under the case directory. In either case, the image files must be copied to this location. @V (Volume Label of Removable Media and Any Subdirectories) Used with the @D code. The @V value refers to the volume label of the removable media holding image files. When using a volume label, the program will search a range of drive letters for the specific removable media volume. The range of drive letters to be searched can be specified in OPTIONS>DEFAULTS>IMAGING>DRIVES HOLDING IMAGES. The volume label can be obtained from any drive by using the DIR command at the command prompt or by looking at the drive properties in Windows Explorer/My Computer. When using the command prompt, the volume label will appear at the top of the directory display listing. Since most document images are now stored on either local or network hard drives Summation has provided an option to convert volume labels to directory names for existing database records with @V image paths. By selecting the option box labeled â€Å"Map Volume to Directory† under OPTIONS>DEFAULTS>IMAGING the volume name is converted to a directory name. A drive letter or letters matching the location wher e the images are stored must be added in the OPTIONS>DEFAULTS>IMAGING>DRIVES HOLDING IMAGES section. For example: DEFDIR in ImgInfo Table: @VCD_00001:01 Drives Holding Images: DE Program looks in: D: or E: drive for media with a volume label of â€Å"CD_00001. † If it finds matching media, it looks for a directory there named â€Å"001† for whichever image file or files were specified. @Fulltext (Lets the Database Know There is an OCR Document Attached to the Record or Records) Tells Summation that there are OCR documents attached to the record. The filenames must match the names of the images (not including the extension), and they must be located in the same place. Variations: @FULLTEXT DOC – One OCR text file exists for each database record. FULLTEXT PAGE – One fulltext file exists for each page of the document summary. @FULLTEXT [PAGE or DOC] is placed before the @T line. Similar to the @C token, this statement remains in effect until turned off by using the opposite designation. In other words, if you are using the â€Å"PAGE† method, turn it off by using @FULLTEXT in the record that does not contain a fulltext file. @O (Where OCR Documents Are if They Are Not in the Image Location) Used when the OCR documents are located someplace other than the image location as specified by the @D line of the DII file. It is placed immediately below the @D line. This token can ONLY be used in conjunction with the â€Å"@FULLTEXT DOC† tag. The full path to the OCR text document must be included. Example: 5 @FULLTEXT DOC @T AB100001 @D @I @O J:docsscanned 100001. TIF This tells Summation that the fulltext document for record AB100001 is not in the default Images directory (@I) but, instead can be found in J:docsscanned. The file name must still match the image file name. In this case the image file name is 100001. TIF, therefore the OCR text file name should be named 100001. TXT. ; (Comment Lines) Optional code for each DII record. You can make comments in the DII file for your reference. These lines do not affect the DII load. Example: ; After this Semi-colon I can make notes for my current record Image Files Required for each DII record. The last line(s) of each DII record is always the image filename(s). Backslashes in front of the filenames will direct Summation to look for the files at the root of the specified drive however, these can usually be omitted. Iterators Iterators are important optional coding methods. Iterators provide a way to use shorthand for image file names. This allows for less text per DII record, thereby producing a DII file that loads more quickly. If your image files use a number sequence, you can use iterators to indicate a range of numbers, rather than listing each image file separately. Ranges are only valid when the lower number and the higher number are the same number of digits. Files Listed Separately Example: IM00001. TIF IM00002. TIF IM00003. TIF IM00004. TIF IM00005. TIF Files Iterated Example: 6 IM000{1-5}. TIF If iterating records with attached full text (OCR) documents in PAGE format, be careful not to exceed powers of 10 in the iteration. Example: IM0000{01-09}. TIF IM0000{10-99}. TIF IM000{100-999}. TIF The example above will properly load all 999 images and their corresponding OCR full-text documents. This rule applies to the @FULLTEXT PAGE format only. Tokens Used in Summation’s DII File Token @APPLICATION Field Populated APPLICAT @ATTACH ATTCHIDS (Field selected for related attachment Doc IDs in Link Fields defaults) @ATTACHRANGE ATTRANGE Description The application used to view the electronic document. For example: @APPLICATION Word IDs of attached documents. Appending the value allows the DII to populate multiple values in the ATTCHIDS field. For example: @ATTACH EML0001; EML0002 The document number range of all attachments if more than one attachment exists. Each attachment, along with the e-mail message, will be loaded into Summation as its own record. The attachment 7 @ATTMSG @BATESBEG @BATESEND @BCC @C range would be populated with the document number of the first attachment and the last number of the last attachment. For example: @ATTACHRANGE WGH000008 – WGH0000010 N/A Relative or full path and file name of the e-mail attachment that is an email message itself. The file will be copied to the MSF folder. The Media field will be populated with the term eMail and the FOLDERID field is coded with the session name assigned during the load of DII. BATESRNG Beginning Bates number, used with @BATESEND. For example: @BATESBEG SGD00001 BATESRNG Ending Bates number, used with @BATESBEG. For example: @BATESEND SGD00055 BCC Anyone sent a blind copy on an e-mail message. For example: @BCC Nick Thomas Optional code used to load data into specified fields in the user’s document database. This helps decrease the amount of data entry required for the database users. It is meant for use when the same value is repeated for a group of documents, such as documents that all have the same box number or author. The syntax of using the @C token is: @C For example, to fill in the ISSUES field of the database with the value Mental Health, the line would read: 8 @C ISSUES Mental Health For consecutive DII records where these values are the same, you do not need to repeat the @C line. Instead, insert the next @C line in the next DII record where the data changes. To stop entering data in a field, insert an @C line with the field name following by nothing. @CC CC @D DEFDIR @DATECREATED DATECRTD @DATERCVD DATERCVD @DATESENT @DATESAVED DATESENT DATESVD Anyone copied on an email message. For example: @CC John Ace Required token for each DII record that has an image associated with it and designates the directory location of the image file(s). The data specified after the @D goes into the Default Directory (DEFDIR) field of the ImgInfo table. There are three dif ferent ways to denote the DEFDIR: 1. @I (to refer to the Case Customize Image Location) 2. The hard coded drive letter and path into the DEFDIR field 3. V (to refer to the specified volume label of the CD-ROM) For example: @D @V CD-101:Box_34 Note: Users of Summation iBlaze/LG can use UNC paths after the @D to specify a folder containing images. The date that the file was created, if applicable. For example: @DATECREATED 01/04/2003 Date that the file was received. For example: @DATERCVD 01/04/2003 Date that the file was sent. For example: @DATESENT 01/04/2003 When the file was saved, if applicable. For example: 10 @DOCID DOCID @EATTACH DOCLINK (Field selected for Linked Documents in Link Fields defaults. ) @EDOC DOCLINK DATESAVED 01/04/2003 Document ID of a full-text document, e-mail message, or electronic document. If the DII includes full-text files, then the DOCID value (instead of the @T value) is used to load and associate ocrBase documents with the appropriate summary. For exa mple: @DOCID EML00017 Relative or full path and file name of the attachment. The file will be copied to the eMail directory and the relative path of the file will be placed in the DOCLINK field. The MEDIA field will be populated with the term Attachment. For example: @EATTACHServerFiles Flood Damages. ls Relative or full path and file name of the electronic document. The file will be copied into the eFiles directory and the relative path of the file will be placed in the DOCLINK field. The MEDIA field will be populated with the term eDoc. For example: @EDOC D:eDocWordDoc. doc 11 @EDOCIDSEP DOCID @EMAIL-BODY BODY @FOLDERNAME FOLDER This token is intended for service bureaus that use their own tracking numbers (for example, TRACK001_Doc001. txt). This token allows Summation to remove the tracking ID (TRACK001) from the file so that it can be replaced with a Summation naming convention. The token uses a onecharacter string a value to indicate the demarcation in the file name. In the example above, the underscore character separates the tracking number from the file name, so the token should be followed by the underscore character. Use this character at the top of the DII file above the individual records. For example: @EDOCIDSEP _ Body of an e-mail message. Must be a string of text contained between @EMAIL-BODY and @EMAIL-END. The @EMAIL-END token must be on its own line. For example: @EMAIL-BODY @EMAIL-END The name of the folder that the e-mail message came from. For example: @FOLDERNAME Conner-Stevens – MailboxCStevensInbox 12 @FROM @FULLTEXT FROM From field in an e-mail message. For example: @FROM Kelly Morris Indicates that there are OCR documents attached to the record. The file names must match the names of the images (not including the extension), and they must be located in the same place. Variations: @FULLTEXT DOC – One full-text file exists for each database record. @FULLTEXT PAGE – One full-text file exists for each page of the document summary. These tokens should be placed before any @T tokens. Similar to the @C token, this statement remains in effect until turned off by using the opposite designation. In other words, if you are using the PAGE method, turn it off by using @FULLTEXT in the record that does not contain a full-text file. The @FULLTEXTDIR token is a partner to the @FULLTEXT token. This token provides more flexibility to both the service bureau and the client when loading a DII file that includes full-text files. The @FULLTEXTDIR token allows the service bureau to specify a directory from which the full-text files will be copied during the load. Therefore, the full-text files do not have to be located in the same directory as the images at the time of load. The @FULLTEXTDIR token gives users the flexibility to load the DII file and full-text without requiring them to copy the fulltext to the network first. An example of the syntax used with the @FULLTEXTDIR token is: @FULLTEXTDIR Vol001Box001ocrFiles The above example shows a relative path, which indicates to Summation that 13 @FULLTEXTDIR @HEADER HEADER @I DEFDIR @INTMSGID INTMSGID it should search for the full-text files in the same location as the DII file that is being loaded and follow any subdirectories in the @FULLTEXTDIR argument. The relative path works whether the DII file is on a network drive or on a CD as a sibling of the Vol001 folder. Just as @FULLTEXT PAGE and @FULLTEXT DOC apply to all subsequent records in the DII file until they are turned off (by adding the token after the last record that includes fulltext), the @FULLTEXTDIR argument applies to all subsequent records in the DII file until it is changed or turned off (by including the token with a blank argument). E-mail header content. The @HEADER-END token must be on its own line. For example: @HEADER @HEADER-END This token is used with the @D token. The @I token refers to the image location specified in Case Customize. This location must be a drive letter (or UNC path for iBlaze/LG users) and path that points to the directory where the images are stored. Summation users can select any valid location or use Summation’s default location, the IMAGES subdirectory under the Case Directory. In either case, the image files must be copied to this location. Internet message ID. For example: 14 @L LONGNAME @INTMSGID This token is optional code and denotes the long name or description of the image file(s). The data after @L goes into the LONGNAME field of the ImgInfo table. Note: This applies to Summation Blaze Version 5. 21 and earlier, and is used in the IMGINGO table. For example: @L Patient History Form @MEDIA MEDIA @MSGID MSGID Populates the Media field with the designated value (for example, eDoc, eMail or Attachment). If the value indicated in the token differs from the Summation default, or an entry exists in the field, then the most recent process wins and an entry is made in the error log. Because of this, use this token with care an only if you have a compelling reason. For example: @MEDIA eDoc E-mail message ID generated by Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes. For example: @MSGID 00000000E8324B3A0A80 0F4E954B8AB427196A13 04012000 15 @MULTILINE Any field specified @NOPAGECOUNT DOCID Allows carriage returns and multiple lines of text to populate the specified field. Text must be between @MULTILINE and @MULTILINE-END. The @MULTILINE-END token must be on its own line. For example: @MULTILINE NOTEFIELD Here is the first line. Here is the second line. Here is the last line. @MULTILINE-END For consecutive DII records where these values are the same, you do not need to repeat the @MULTILINE line. Instead, insert the next @MULTILINE line in the next DII record where the data changes. To stop entering data in a field, insert an @MULTILINE line with the field name following by nothing Turns off automatically using a number after a space in the Document ID as the number of pages. Allows Document IDs to contain spaces. Must be entered at the beginning of the DII file and applies to all records for the entire DII file. @NOPAGECOUNT @FULLTEXT page @TGHSPLT 3602 Q00555 @D @I Box011Dir01GHSPLT 3602 Q00555. tif 16 @OCR @OCR-END @O Some service bureaus and clients prefer a different approach to loading full-text than the traditional Summation method of requiring the full-text to be loaded from separate ASCII text files. Some clients prefer including the full-text in the DII file itself. The @OCR and @OCREND tokens give service bureaus the flexibility to include the full-text (including carriage returns) in the DII file. This method of loading full-text significantly improves the speed of the DII load, by eliminating the need for the system to search for and locate each text file and open it to copy the text into the ocrBase. The @OCR-END token must appear on a separate line. Note: When using the @OCR and @OCR-END tokens and including the full-text in the DII file, service bureaus cannot apply page breaks at specific locations in the full-text document. An example of the syntax used with the @OCR and @OCR-END tokens is: @OCR @OCR-END There are two uses for the @O token. This token is used when the full-text documents are located someplace other than the image location as specified by the @D line of the DII file. It tells Summation that there are full-text documents at this location. It is placed immediately below the @D line. There can be only one text file for the record, and it must have the name of the 1st TIFF image with a . TXT extension. The full or relative path to the full-text document must be included. For example: @O J:docsscanned 17 @PARENTID PARENTID (Field selected for Parent ID in Link Fields defaults. ) Parent document ID of an attachment. For example: @PARENTID WGH000003 @PSTCOMMENT @PSTCOMMENT-END Users may want to record information about a . PST file that is loaded into a Summation case. For example, a user may want to identify where a specific . PST file came from and what it relates to (for example, client e-mail messages related to flat space and received on April 26, 2004). The comments are associated with the . PST file designated by the @PSTFILE token that follows. The comments can be viewed from the e-mail and attachment records generated from the . PST file designated in the @PSTFILE token. The @PSTCOMMENT token is used in conjunction with @PSTFILE. It should be followed by the @PSTCOMMENT-END token and must appear before the @PSTFILE token it applies to. The @PSTCOMMENT-END token must appear on its own line. For example: @PSTCOMMENT @PSTCOMMENT-END @PSTFILE EMAIL001Pfranc. pst, Pfranc_04April_2004 Note: The comments will not be written to the Core Database record in Summation, but users can review the comments by right-clicking an e-mail record and selecting the Show PST Info option. 18 @PSTFILE The @PSTFILE token is used to process the . PST file by designating: 1) the location of the . PST file at the time of load, and 2) the unique ID of the . PST file. The path to the . PST file can either be hard-coded or relative to the location of the DII file at the time of load. The unique ID should be the same value assigned by the user to the . PST file when processing using Summation’s eDiscovery Console. If either necessary value is missing, the DII load will record an error and the . PST file that corresponds to the record with the missing information will not be processed. An example of the use of @PSTFILE: @PSTFILE EMAIL001PFranc. st, PFranc_04April_2004 Summation gathers this information but does not process the . PST file until the DII load is complete. The PSTID (the second value) is populated into the PSTID field as designated on the eMail tab in the Defaults dialog box (accessed from the Options menu) in Summation. The PSTID argument assigned by the @PSTFILE token is assigned to the record it appears in and will apply to all subsequent e-mail records. The argument is applied until either the @PSTFILE token is turned off by setting it to a blank argument (such as: @PSTFILE), or the argument changes. The @PSTFILE token can occur multiple times in a single DII file and assign a different argument each time. This allows the service bureau to process multiple . PST files and present the data for all . PST files in a single DII file. For example, a service bureau can process five . PST files and include five instances of @PSTFILE tokens with five different arguments, all in the same DII file. 19 @READ READ @RELATED OTHERIDS (Field selected for Related Document IDs in Link Fields defaults. ) STOREID Notes whether the e-mail message was read. For example: @READ Y The document IDs of related documents. @RELATED WGH000006 @STOREID @SUBJECT SUBJECT The . PST identifier. Should not be used if @PSTFILE is used. For example: @STOREID The subject of an e-mail message. For example: @SUBJECT Town Issues 20 @T IMGTAG This token is required for each DII record and designates the ImageTag. It must be the first item listed for each database record. This data specified after the @T goes into both the Image Tag (IMGTAG) field in the ImgInfo table and the Column to Hold ImageTag in the Document Database. The image tags must be unique values. For this reason, many users choose the document number as the image tag. The image tags establish the link between the document database table and the ImgInfo table. When a user is in a document database record that has a corresponding image file and they want to view the image, Summation looks at the value in the Column to Hold Image Tag field in the database and reads the image file location from the ImgInfo table record with the matching value in the Image Tag field. For example: @T CR00293 1 Note: If there is a template on the Column to Hold Image Tag field of the user’s document database, then the Image Tag must conform to the template format. For example, if the template 21 forces the field to contain a certain number of digits, any image tag values that are comprised of fewer digits must be appropriately zero filled. @TIMERCVD TIMERCVD @TIMESENT TIMESENT @TO @TRANS TO DEPOIDS (Field selected for Transcript Zoom in Link Fields defaults. Time that the e-mail message was received. For example: @TIMERCVD 11:00 a. m. Time that the e-mail message was sent. For example: @TIMESENT 10:59 a. m. To field in an e-mail message. For example: @TO Conner Stevens The transcript description. The value populates the Transcript Zoom field. For example: @TRANS conner stevens v1. txt 22 @V This token is used with the @D token and refers to the volume label of the image location. By using a volume label instead of a drive letter, the user does not have to use the same drive letter designation for their media as had been used by the service bureau. The @V token is used most often with the images that are being burnt onto CD ROMs. Substitute the volume label for the drive letter in the @D line, still including the path leading up to and including the directory in which the images are located. The Summation user must set up the Drives Holding Images in the case Imaging Defaults so that Summation knows on which drive(s) to look for the specified volume(s). The volume label can be obtained from any drive by using the DIR command at the command prompt or by looking at the drive properties in Microsoft Windows Explorer/My Computer. When using the command prompt, the volume label will appear at the top of the directory display listing. Use the Map Volume to Directory option in imaging defaults if your images are on CD-ROM, you have used the @V (volume label) code in your DII file, and the volume label of the CD(s) is also the first subdirectory. Enabling this option tells Summation to map the volume label indicated after the @V in the DEFDIR line of the ImgInfo table to the drive letter(s) set in your Drives Holding Images: @Vol:=>A:vol. Example: DEFDIR in ImgInfo Table: @VCD_00001: Drives Holding Images: D Maps to: D:CD_00001 This option is commonly used when the CDs are stored on a Meridian tower, or 3 when the volumes have been copied to a fixed drive from a CD ROM and t BENEFITS OF USING A DII FILE TO LOAD IMAGE SUMMARY INFORMATION The DII file is a formatted ASCII text file that is used to load large batches of images. The DII file is loaded in Summation from Imaging Defaults, using the Read DII utility. DII data is added to Summations Image Information (ImgInfo) Table and serves as the link between your docum ent database data and the images and/or ocrBase documents. The Image Tag is the unique identifier for each image and/or ocrBase document. When you load the DII file, Summation will alert you if any of the Image Tags (document IDs) already exist in the ImgInfo Table and give you the option to overwrite the existing record(s). When used correctly, a DII file can significantly reduce data entry time. 24 Batch Loading of Image Summary Information The major advantage of using a DII file is the ability to load summary information for thousands of images at a time. The summary information is encoded within the DII file and the summary records for each designated image are automatically updated as the file loads. In this way, thousands of summary records can be updated, giving users easy access to thousands of associated images. Reduced Coding Coding and typing can be reduced by using the @C (Column to Link) designator. @C is meant for use with documents that are categorized into groups and therefore contain repetitive data (not to replace data entry! ). It is meant for use by imaging service bureaus that are supplying you with a DII file before you begin coding, thereby creating new database records. Each record is limited to 6 @C lines. For example, suppose the service bureau is scanning and coding numerous medical records pertaining to various doctors. The records to be scanned are already sorted by doctor, and due to the nature of medical records, they are also sorted by patient. If you want to have fields filled in within the database as linked records are created, the doctor name and patient names need not be entered repeatedly. Summation assumes that the preceding doctor and patient names are to be used again in the current record if no new names are entered. Error Checking Summation will check to see if duplicates of the new records already exist within the Summation database. When a duplicate is encountered, the Summation user is prompted to either overwrite the existing record or ignore the new record. When the program encounters errors with a particular record during loading, they are documented in an error file. The error file is created in the directory of the case where the DII file is being loaded and has the same name as the DII file except with a â€Å". LOG† extension instead of â€Å". DII. † This error file lists the type of problem and its location (by line number) within the DII file. This log file is written in simple ASCII text format and can be opened with any text editor including Windows Notepad, Wordpad, and Microsoft Word. Example: A DII file named â€Å"DISK1LOAD. DII† is loaded into the â€Å"SMITH V. JONES† case. If errors are encountered during loading, they would be written to a file titled â€Å"DISK1LOAD. LOG† in the Summation program folder under the CASEDATASMITH V. JONES subfolder. 25 Simultaneous Data Entry and Scanning If users coordinate with either an outside vendor or an internal department to scan their documents, they can begin the work of summarizing the documents while they are being scanned. The customer and the scanning group must coordinate the document numbers and names to be used in advance. ) When scanning is complete, the vendor or scanning department can deliver the scanned image files and/or full-text documents to the customer on any removable media the customer’s system is compatible with. Can replace previous entries for tags There are times when organized coordination of document image tags between you and the imaging service bureau is not possible. In this case, it is easier for you to summarize the documents after receiving the files and matching DII file from the service bureau. When the DII file is loaded, it creates database records as it fills the ImgInfo Table. The only information in such a database record is the image tag. The DII data is loaded into the ImgInfo Table and the Image Tags are loaded in the Column to Hold Image Tag (The field in the document database containing the unique image tags for each image in the case. This is often the field that contains the beginning document number, although it may be a special field created for this purpose. The Column to Hold Image Tag cannot be a multientry field; it must be an integer, text or note type field. field of the database table. It is also possible to have additional fields filled in as the linked records are being created. These are linked through the use of the optional @C designator. STARTING WITH SUMMATION Starting A New Case To begin loading evidence into a case, you must start a new case that does not contain information. To start a new case: 1. From the Case menu, select New. 26 2. Assign a name to your case and click OK. 3. When prompted click Yes to assign a password to your case or No to create a case that is not password protected. BACKING UP AND RESTORING DATABASES Both the Core Database and the Notes Database should be backed up regularly to protect against loss of data in the event of database corruption. If you are operating on a network, you may still wish to create an independent backup of these two key components. After backing up the Notes and Core Databases, you should consider running additional utilities to keep the databases â€Å"tuned up†. To Backup the Core and Notes Databases: 27 1. Click once on the case name in the Case Explorer window so that it is selected. 2. Access the Backup utility by: ? Opening the CASE menu and electing Tools OR ? Right-clicking on Core Database in the Case Explorer and selecting Core Database Utilities Select Backup Database†¦ The backup window opens with both the Database and the Notes database options checked. Leave both options checked. Click on Backup. You will be advised when the databases have been successfully backed up. Click OK. LOADING IMAGES WIT H A DII FILE A DII (Document Image Information) file is a text file formatted to batch load summaries with images into a Summation database. Loading database summaries and image information using a DII file is more efficient. Preliminary Steps To help ensure the successful load of images using a DII file, the following steps should be taken prior to loading: ? Open the case into which you want to load the images. ? Back up your database. (From the Case menu, select Tools, Backup Database, and Backup. ) ? Verify the location that Summation has designated for images for this case (the @I value for this case). (From the Case menu, select Customize to open 28 the Case Directory Customization dialog box. ) Note the value in the Image Location field. The default value for this field is a single folder name (such as IMAGES). If the Image Location field contains a folder or folders without a drive letter, then this location is relative to the path in the Case Directory field. However, if the field contains a drive letter followed by a path, then this is the absolute value of Summation’s image path for this case. Most of the time, the Image Location is relative to the Case Directory path. To verify the complete path, simply connect the Image Location value to the end of the Case Directory path. You may want to copy and paste these values to a Notepad document to keep track of them. Example: ? Case Directory field – :PROGRAM FILESSUMMATIONBLAZECASEDATAMY NEW CASE ? Image Location field – IMAGES ? Complete image path – C:PROGRAM FILESSUMMATIONBLAZECASEDATAMY NEW CASEIMAGES The image path is the location that Summation has designated for the images for this case (the @I value for this case. ) ? Verify the images path in the DII file by opening a text editor and locating the image path after the @D token. Example: Sample DII-01 shows the following value: @D @I @D is the default directory of the image files. I is a value that works in conjunction with the @D token to load the image path into Summation’s database. Using the previous case image path example, the @D line would be converted by Summation as C:PROGRAM FILESSUMMATIONBLAZECASEDATAMY NEW CASEIMAGES @I is used to specify the image location. Alternatively, @V or a hardcoded path can be used to designate the Images directory. This tutorial assumes that the DII file is using @I, since that is the most common syntax. The image path can be extended by appending additional subdirectories after the @I value. Example: @D @I estdata1 29 Continuing with the previous example, this @D line would be converted by Summation as C:PROGRAM FILESSUMMATIONBLAZECASEDATAMY NEW CASEIMAGESTESTDATA1 @V Designations. Reading about @V is only necessary if your DII file uses the @V value to designate the image path. If your DII file uses the @I value, skip ahead Step 5. The @V value is a legacy format designation that allows Summation to locate and display image files stored on removable media (such as CD-ROM, DVD, etc. ) by volume name (the disc label). Vendors will typically supply two versions of a DII file: one that uses the @I value and one that uses @V. In almost all cases the preferred version to load is @I. Hard-Coded Path Designations. Reading this section is only necessary if your DII file uses a complete path including computer name or drive letter to designate the image path. If your DII file uses the @I value, skip ahead to Step 5. Summation will accept a complete path value following the @D token, but in order for Summation to display the document images, this path must be valid from the workstation accessing the case in question. Example: @D R:IMAGESDISC101 If a workstation accessing the case in which this DII file was loaded did not have an â€Å"R:† drive correctly mapped to the image file location attempting to view the image(s) would fail. ? Copy the images to the correct directory. ? Before copying IMAGES directory structure, merge all the OCR’s . txt files with the corresponding tiffs. To copy the images: 1. Open Windows Explorer (right-click Start and select Explore) and note the image path you verified in Step 3. NOTE: You can browse to this path quickly by copying and pasting the path from Step 3 into the Address field and pressing Enter. This is the directory that you will copy the images to. 2. Browse to the images that need to be loaded. These images might arrive to you on a CD, a DVD, or an external hard drive. In any case, browse to the images and prepare to copy them to the image location on your computer’s hard drive. 3. Copy the images from the CD, DVD, or external hard drive to the images location. 30 NOTE: It's important to copy the correct folder and subfolders. Verify this first by copying the first directory after the @I token in Step 4 above. Example: (A) @I value from the DII file: @I estdata1 (B) Folder to copy from the CD: D: estdata After verifying the correct folder containing images, copy it to the image path from Step 3 above. After the folders containing images have been copied to the correct image path directory, you are ready to load the DII file. This will populate Summation's database and will allow you to view and manage these images through the Summation interface. Loading the DII File 1. From the Options menu, select Defaults, and click the Imaging tab. 2. Verify the Column to Hold Image Tag. If you are currently using the standard form/table (STDTABLE), the Column to Hold Image Tag field should be set to BEGDOC#. If you are currently using the e-form/table (ETABLE), the Column to Hold Image tag field should be set to DOCID. NOTE: Documents are added or updated by a DII file based on the values in the field selected in the Column to Hold Image Tag. If a value listed after the @T token does not exist in this field for any record, a new record with this value is created. If the value does not exist, then this record's image information is updated. Click OK to save your settings. From the Options menu, select Defaults, and click the Imaging tab, and click Load DII File button. Browse to and select the DII file, and click Open. Click OK. The DII file is loaded into Summation's database and your images can now be viewed and managed through the Summation interface. 3. 4. 5. 6. CHECKING DII FIELDS 1. Right-click on core database in case explorer. 2. Select â€Å"set view to open† option, and check for Column view, Form view, Image viewer, ocrBase viewer and eDocs viewer. Select required view in â€Å"View in focus when opened† window and click ok. 3. Right click on core database and open. 31 . Dialog box appears as below opening in all the formats that are checked in the step 2. 5. Select column view by clicking on that label. 32 6. Before editing anything, change the database to edit mode from display mode. ( right-click on the column and check edit option). 7. Double click on the fields label. 8. You will find a small field list table containing a ll the available fields. 33 9. Double click on any field to bring it to view or to hide it from the view. This way we can add or remove required fields and can check whether all the fields have generated correctly in the loaded dii file. 10. Once all the required fields are selected, right click on any of the label and check display to come back to display mode. 11. Click on eDocs, Image, ocrBase or form in the lower toolbar to view in the respective format. ADDING FIELDS TO DATABASE 1. Fields are added through the Form Editor. To access the Form Editor, select â€Å"Options –> Utilities†, then select the â€Å"Create or Modify Forms † options. This will launch a separate window called the Form Editor. Now you will want to decide where you want your new field to reside. 34 Figure: Form editor 2. You may need to reorganize the form to fit the custom field. The Form may be resizable just like any window, by dragging the cursor near the corners to bring into view the resize cursor (the thin black line with arrows on either end). Click and drag to resize the form if necessary. 3. A light line around fields denotes a frame grouping of selected fields on the form. To resize the frame, click your cursor on the line until small black squares surround the frame, then click and drag them. 4. On the small floating toolbar, click on the button denoted with an ‘ab'. 5. Click on the form where you want to place the new field. A small dialog box will open, listing the currently available fields in the selected form. 6. Click on the â€Å"New† button to create a new field. 7. Assign a name and data type to the new field. 35 A field NAME must not contain any special characters or spaces, and must be less than 8 characters long, because Summation references the field name internally. The field label may be customized to the users preference. 8. Once you have assigned a name and label, you need to select a data type. It is important to put some thought into selecting a field data type, since you cannot change the data type on a field once it has been created. If you are unsure of which data type to assign to your field, click on the radio button next to each option to view a brief description in the bottom portion of the dialog box. 9. Click â€Å"Create New Column†. When prompted that the column was created successfully, click â€Å"OK†. 10. Click †Close† to return to the Field List dialog. If you should need to create multiple fields follow steps 7 through 9 until all fields have been created. 11. The new field should be one of the choices and will be selected by default. Click â€Å"OK† to select the new field and place it on the form. To adjust the field's position on the form, click and drag it to a different location. To adjust the field label and the field box individually, click anywhere on the form to unselect them. Then click back on the item you want to resize or reposition. 12. When you have successfully created, sized and positioned all custom fields, click on the â€Å"Save† icon in the toolbars. If your database contains data in it, you will be prompted to copy data to new table structure, click â€Å"OK†. 13. Close the Form Editor by selecting â€Å"Exit† from the â€Å"File† menu. 14. Click â€Å"Close† to close the Utilities dialog. To Load ocrBase Documents Using the Load Full-Text Documents Dialog: 36 Double-click on ocrBase in Case Explorer OR select ocrBase from the VIEW menu. Make sure ocrBase is in the active view. 1. From the FILE menu, select Load ocrBase Documents. 2. Select the Choose Files tab. 3. The default directory shown is the current case directory or the last directory selected using the Browse button. If the documents are located in another directory, click on Browse to navigate to that folder. 4. Select the files you want to load using any of the following techniques: ? Hold Ctrl and click on the document files one at a time ? Hold Shift, click on the first document file, then click on the last document file ? Click on the first document file, then hold the left mouse button down as you drag to the last document file you wish to load ? Select the Select All option to load all document files in the files window ? To cancel the selection of a file, click on the filename again 5. If you want Summation to verify the document numbers against any templates associated with the Column to Hold Image Tag field (BEGDOC# or other field, as needed), leave Check Templates selected. If you do not want the document numbers verified against any existing templates, clear the Check Templates selection. 6. Select one of the options in the Document ID (BEGDOC#) section: ? Ask Me (default): During the loading process, you will be prompted to enter a Document ID number for each document file being loaded. ? Use Filename: The document filename will be used during the loading process as the Document ID. 7. Click Load Documents. Summation loads the documents into the ocrBase. SEARCHING (Before doing any kind of search, make sure Core Database box is checked in case explorer) 37 . Check on the core Database in the case explorer. 2. Open the database in the column view. 3. Double click on â€Å"Searches† under the Core Database Views in case explorer. 38 4. Core Database Query dialog box appears. 5. Select the required field in â€Å"Search one of these Fields†. Click on â€Å"More fields Choices† to choose from more number of fields. Double click on the required field and see that Query appears on the query box below. 6. Same way give the required values in the section 2 & 3. 7. Execute the query. For example, Consider searching for docDates. Steps: 1. Click on docDate box under â€Å"Search one of these fields† (section1). 2. Scroll down on the drop down list, â€Å"in this manner† (section2) section and select the required field. 3. Enter the date in â€Å"For this value† (section3). 4. Full Query appears on the query box. 39 5. Click Ok to execute the query. 6. All the documents that match with the query will be listed. 7. To retrieve back all the documents, Go to Search-;Retrieve all summaries. QUICK SEARCH USING CASE EXPLORER When you use the Case Explorer to search the Core Database, the results appear in the Search Results format. The search results can be printed in the stacked format directly from the Search Results View. To Quick Search using the Case Explorer 1. Make the Case Explorer window the focus. 2. Click the check boxes next to the components you wish to search (e. g. Core Database, Transcripts, Transcript Notes, ocrBase). ? ? ? ? ? Core Database Transcript Notes eDocs & eMail ocrBase Notes ocrBase 40 ? Chronology of Events ? People ? Pleadings 4. Click in the Quick Search box. Depending on what combination of case elements you have selected, the Search dialog appears. Here you can change your search results Sort Order and/or specify running a Standard or HotFacts only search. 4. Type the search term or phrase in the white Quick Search box. You can use wildcards and compound operators (AND/OR connectors) in your search. ? Multi-character wildcard = an asterisk (*) ? Single-character wildcard = a question mark (? ) ? AND connector = & or AND (there must be spaces between the AND and the words) ? OR connector = (a backwards slash usually located above the Enter key on your keyboard) or OR (there must be spaces between the OR and the words) ? You can also use Intelli-Parse if you wish to conduct field-specific searches Click the Search button to run the search. The search results will appear in a new Search Results window. COMPOUND SEARCHES CONNECTORS IN THE DATABASE: 41 Connectors make it easy to search for document summaries where varying conditions are to be used, for example, to find document summaries where a name is in a summary field and where a certain type of document is involved. Connectors can also widen the search to include summaries of several sorts; such as, summaries concerning documents dated in the current year or any documents mentioning the defendant. As a general rule, using the connector AND narrow the search, while using the connector OR widens the search. Up to 10 connectors can be used in a search of the document summaries. Search Connectors Connector AND Definition A summary contains both values Summaries contain either of the values Example DOCDATE EQ 5/15/90 AND DOCTYPE OR DOCDATE EQ 6/15/90 OR DOCDATE EQ 7/12/90 AND NOT This excludes a NAME EQ â€Å"Smith, J. † AND NOT DOCTYPE EQ summary that Memo meets the connected value This requests NAME EQ â€Å"Smith, J. † OR NOT DOCTYPE EQ OR NOT 42 ocument summaries where the Name equals â€Å"Smith, J. † or the Doctype field does not equal Memo Memo You can create a more complex Quick Search by combining search clauses. To narrow the search, use the AND connector, designated by the ampersand (&). To broaden the search, connect your search clauses using the backslash () to represent the OR connector. You may use a total of ten clauses (i. e. , any combination of up to nine AND and/or OR connectors). Use parentheses to denote precedence or relationships between clauses within the search phrase. Sample ‘OR' Search: bill presley Sample ‘AND' Search: fire & terminate It makes no difference whether or not you put spaces between the words and the connectors. DRILL DOWN SEARCHING If you're reviewing a transcript on screen and come across a term of interest, you can search for other occurrences of that term without losing your focus by using Summation's Drill Down Searching function. Simply highlight the term of interest, right mouse click, and select â€Å"Search for ‘term'† from the menu that appears. Summation will take you to the next occurrence of the term. 43 How to Run a Drill Down Search 1. Open a transcript. 2. Right click on the text for which you want to search. 3. From the right click context menu that appears, select â€Å"Search for ‘text'. † Summation goes to the next occurrence of the term in the open transcript USING WILDCARDS IN SEARCHES Searches in Summation are done on a whole-word basis: a search for agree will find just that, not words including â€Å"agree† like â€Å"agreement. † Sometimes you need to search for more than just whole words. To accomplish this Summation Blaze supports wildcards in searches. The asterisk (*) designates a wildcard, which can represent any portion of a word. Using wildcards widens the field of possible hits generated by the search. Wildcards are used to find all words that have your search phrase embedded within them. If you run a Quick Search for TERM*, the search is expanded to encompass any word with â€Å"term† as the base, for example, â€Å"term,† â€Å"terminate,† â€Å"termination,† etc. Your placement of the asterisk (either preceding or following the word, or embedded within letters) determines the hits that result. You can use wildcards in any type of search within Summation. 44 Type This agree [no wildcard needed] agree* *gree *agree* To Find AGREE Words beginning with AGREE-, such as agreement or agreeable Words ending with -GREE, such as disagree, pedigree Words with -AGREE- as the root, such as disagreement Words beginning with A- and ending with -EEP, such as asleep a*eep USING SEARCH CONNECTORS The Summation system provides you with means to perform both simple and complex searches. You can search all fields in the document database (using the Quick Search Box) or select specific fields to search (using the Full Boolean Search dialog). This Tutorial walks you through setting up and performing both simple and complex searches. When you enter a search term or phrase in the Quick Search box, Summation conducts an Anytext search and searches for the specified text in all fields in all summaries in the database. If you want to refine your search to multiple terms and/or phrases, then you can use â€Å"connectors†. You can further refine your search to specific fields in the database, by performing a Full Boolean search (as opposed to a search from Quick Search box). The available connectors in Summation are AND, OR, AND NOT, and OR NOT. You can connect up to ten search clauses in one Boolean search using nine connectors. The Full Boolean search provides a list of operators specific to each field, which you can use (in conjunction with connectors) to further refine your search to terms in designated database fields. Search Connectors Using An Anytext Search 1. Launch Summation. 45 2. Open the Core Database, by double-clicking on its corresponding item in the Case Explorer tree. 3. Put the focus on the Form or Column View, by clicking on the respective view. 4. Type a search term in the Quick Search Box (the field above the Core Database view with the phrase Enter Search Phrase populated in it). 5. Link words or phrases with a connector to search on multiple terms or phrases. (For example, Smith AND taxes OR court. ) Note: A space must lead and follow each connector. The connectors should always be in capital letters. 6. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you complete entering all desired search terms/phrases and connectors. Note: If you search string includes more than 5 terms, you may find it more efficient to use the Full Boolean search setup dialog. 7. Click the Search button on the Toolbar, to the left of the Quick Search Box, to process the search. Searching Using The Full Boolean Dialog Box 1. Launch Summation. . Open the Core Database, by double-clicking on its corresponding item in the Case Explorer tree. 3. Put the focus on the Form or Column View, by clicking on the respective view. 4. Click the Boolean button in the Toolbar. 5. In Section 1 of the Full Boolean dialog, choose the Anytext icon (or other default icon) or choose â€Å"More Field Choices† to select fields from the active table. 6. In Section 2 of the Full Boolean dialog, use the default connector (e. g. contains) or select a connector from the drop-down list. 7. In Section 3 of the Full Boolean dialog, type the search term or phrase you want to search on. 6 8. Click the Connector button to add another search string (field, connector and term/phrase). 9. Repeat Steps 2 through 5 until all search strings have been entered. 10. Click the Display Results button to process the search. Using HotFacts with ocrBase just as u can identify a transcript note, a core database record or an ocrbase note as a hot fact, you can also use the hotfact â€Å"flag† to identify key ocrbase documents in your case. to mark an ocrbase document as a hotfact: ? Click on the ? Click on the so that it becomes again to unmark the document. SEARCHING HOTFACTS You can search only database records flagged as HotFacts when you check the Document Database folder at the Case Folder – Main Window. The Search Document DB dialog appears, consisting of 2 sections: Sort Order and Search Type. The first 2 Sort Order field options are Date (DOCDATE) and Issue (ISSUES). The third sort order field option is taken from the first field set in your Sort Order tab, found under the Query tab in the document database. If there is no sort order set there, the third option will read â€Å"Unsorted Doc DB†. The Search Type section determines what set of document database summaries you want to search. To search all HotFacts, select Only HotFacts and then Everyone’s. To search only your own HotFacts, select Only HotFacts and then My HotFacts. 47 Searching Document Database Records Flagged as HotFacts 1. From the Case Folder – Main Window, check the Document Database folder. 2. The Search Document DB dialog appears. 3. In the Sort Order section, select the field by which you want to sort your search results. You can choose Date, Issue, or the first field you have selected in your Document Database Sort Order. 4. In the Search Type section, select the record set in which you want to search: only HotFacts (all HotFacts), or My HotFacts. . Type the phrase for which you want to search into the Quick Search Box on the toolbar. 6. Click on the search binoculars to display the Search Results. SEARCHING CASE OUTLINES â€Å"You can search the case outline. For example, in the figure below, you see a search for ‘damage,' showing the first hit found in the Case Outline: th e word ‘damages. ‘ Because the search algorithm here provides for a simple string search, it will find any phrase containing the same characters (e. g. a search for ‘damage' will find ‘damaged' ‘damages' and ‘damaged'. Subsequent hits can be found by clicking again on the OK button. Summation indicates the line with the hit by outlining it in black. † 48 FILTERED FUZZY SEARCHING The Fuzzy Search is a variation on the Quick Search that allows you to search for a specific word and words spelled similarly to it. This tool can be used in a variety of circumstances, for example when working with documents that have been processed by optical character recognition software, since certain characters are often mistaken for similarly-shaped ones during that process. You can also use the fuzzy search to look for words that may have been misspelled, or for words with British spellings (such as â€Å"flavour† and â€Å"flavor†). The Fuzzy Search finds near-matches to your search requirements. It is available for searching your transcripts and/or full text (ocrBase) documents. When used to search transcripts and/or full text documents from the Case Folder – Main Window, the words found are displayed in a list of approximate matches. Filtered fuzzy searching lets you search transcripts and/or ocrBase documents for nearmatches of a single word, without having to wade through numerous false 49 positives. This allows you to select only the words in which you are interested and run another search by clicking on the Search button. A standard search for these words is then launched, displaying the hits in the regular Search Results Window, from which you can print them, write them to file, mark them as HotFacts, or drag them into the Case Organizer. The List of Approximate Matches for a Filtered Fuzzy Search 1. From the Case Folder – Main Window, check the ocrBase and/or transcript folders you wish to search. 2. Enter the term for which you want to search into the Quick Search Box. 3. Click the Fuzzy Search button on the toolbar. 50 4. A list of approximate matches appears, with the original word(s) preselected. To narrow your search, enter a higher percentage similar and click on Refind. To broaden your search, enter a lower % similar, and click on Refind. (You can select percentages between 65% and 99%. ) 5. When you're satisfied with your list of matches, select the ones for which you wish to search by clicking on them; choose all words by clicking on Select ALL words. (You can deselect words by clicking on them. ) 6. Click the Search button. Your hits are displayed in the Search Results Window. SORTING By default, contents of fields are sorted in standard A to Z, 0 to 9 sequence. You can designate descending sort (Turn this option on from the Sort Order tab of the Query page of the Document Database folder. This option forces the contents of the field to be sorted in reverse order, Z to A and 9 to 0. Ascending sort order is the default when a field is included in the sort order) using the Sort Order tab of the Document Database folder. You can also have your note hits sorted in reverse-chronological order. 1. Open the database in column view. 2. Right-Click on the column label, Click sort by â€Å"label† option. 51 To change the default order: ? Double-click on icon on the toolbar. ? Check the box in the â€Å"Sort by† table. Give OK. 52 Conclusion This concludes the detailed discussion with reference to the application of Summation to facilitate the QC process. While there are more uses and applications of Summation in EDD these have been omitted to focus the reference of the context under discussion. If you have any queries / suggestion please feel free to contact me at [email  protected] net. In case you need specific detailed references please feel free to use the links below: References: http://www. summation. com/Support/tutorials. aspx http://info. summation. com/products/pdfs/ http://support. summation. com/knowbase/technotes 53

Mitigation Analysis on Imposing a New Vacation Policy

In the verge of administrative challenges, the best organizational strategy to implement as a leader is the perspective on â€Å"delegation.†Ã‚   It is important to take note that the obligation of a leader mainly falls on the vortex of â€Å"conceptual skills† mixed with the forecasted value of human resource power.   In the case presented, given the fact that the main issue mainly lies on the scarcity or unavailability of information dissemination medium, the finest way to get through the dilemma is to dwell on the basic of communicating—snail mail would be a good option. Another alternative would be delegating the â€Å"message†Ã¢â‚¬â€the new vacation policy—to your subordinates. Take for example, in every state or country by which your company has scope onto, the power of local autonomy would serve you right.   As a matter of fact, it will be a lot easier to have the â€Å"regional† offices do the relay of message or idea, than to spend much on the expense of that purpose.   Further, with regard to the predicament on â€Å"language† inefficiency among your constituents, it would rather be best to have those â€Å"regional† office department heads to fix the problem—the regional directors must be critically filtered in such a way that they are able to understand both the international language and respective dialects of the region. Moreover, in the light of the â€Å"new policy,† to be able to get a glimpse of the feedback and recommendations of your subordinates, it is recommended that the leader calls for a general assembly for all the designated regional offices, and decentralize the power of â€Å"company† hearing or survey for each location (Stillman, 2004).   In such way, it will be cost-efficient, less hassle and beneficial for both the members and the leader for that instance. However, to be able to assess that the â€Å"plan† is effective and is proficient enough to be thoroughly implemented, the leader must consistently visit the respective regions to â€Å"personally† check on the employees and to give them an echelon of faith that the company is still highly respectable and professional in the keenest way possible (Ollman, 1999). Reference Ollman, B. (1999). Market Economy: Advantages and Disadvantages [Electronic Version]. Retrieved October 21, 2007 from http://www.nyu.edu/projects/ollman/docs/china_speech2.php. Stillman, R. J. (2004). Public Administration: Concepts and Cases (8th ed.). Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company.      

Poverty and Education

OMAR BANDEH # 2122369 ENG 102 PROFESSOR LAWSON Topic Outline Thesis: Education is the most powerful weapon that can bring positive changes in a society. I. Empower an individual to be a model citizen A. Educate him about his Rights B. Develop his self esteem II. Poverty alleviation A. Wide range of job opportunities B. Living standards increased C. Reduction in crime rate III. Eradicate Disease A. How to avoid it B. How to treat it C.How to live with it THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION IN A SOCIETY Every nation especially third world countries should invest a substantial amount of their budget on education for it is the most invaluable asset that could transform an entire society. It was said by Aristotle that educated men are as much superior to the uneducated as the living are to the dead† if that is so then an uneducated society is as good as a dead society.After all education is the most powerful weapon that can bring positive changes in a society, it is the only weapon that can empower an individual in particular and a whole society in general, alleviate poverty and eradicate disease. The foremost aim of education is to empower an individual to be a model citizen and for that to happen he must know his rights and responsibilities. Without education, man is a splendid slave knowing not the difference between good and bad or his rights such as his freedom of speech, worship and movement, for only the educated are free.Free to make decisions, to face life, and to accept successes and failures. More over education is the only tool that can develop one's personality, his self esteem and confidence for it is a combination of these that gives a person the ability to stand up against tyranny and oppression of any form. In a complex modern democracy, citizens must be educated for them to be able to participate in a nation’s democratic and developmental process.For example if Nelson Mandela was not educated he would not have been able to challenge the aparth eid government thereby helping to bring it, to its end and in the process making the whole of South Africa free and colour blind. Secondly, the role of education in poverty eradication is crucial. There is overwhelming evidence that education is the one tool that children from poor families can use to break the cycle of poverty in which they are born in.A poor farmer’s son has the same opportunities to that of a president’s son if he is educated, for education provides the knowledge and skill with which an individual can use to get a job and earned a living on his own. It is only with an affordable education that a society’s poverty can be reduced and its living standards increased. And because poverty is a multidimensional social problem once it is taken care of, high crime and prostitution rates will dramatically reduced. Finally, disease, the one thing that can decimate an entire society especially an uneducated one.For education provides knowledge about dise ases, how to treat them and most importantly how to avoid them. For example diseases such as HIV/AIDS have blighted entire societies in places like Uganda and South Africa before people knew what it is and how it can be avoided. Now, after much sensitization the rates of HIV/AIDS infection have reduced dramatically and those already infected have been adequately educated on how to live with the disease in such a way that life expectancy of an Aids patient have increased compare to before.In addition, the availability of education in a society informs them the use of being hygienic and how to maintain high hygienic standards such as washing one’s hand after using the toilet and also before eating which has help to reduce the prevalence of diseases such as cholera and diarhoea. Therefore, to conclude, the impact of investing in education is profound for it is the only tool that can positively change a society by empowering it, lifting it out of poverty and most important of all enabling its people to live longer healthily.

EBay, Net-a-porter, and Topshop Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

EBay, Net-a-porter, and Topshop - Essay Example The transaction at eBay is all through auction, and the auction period can be set for 3, 5 or 7 days at the discretion of the seller. Once the successful bidder is decided based on the highest bid through the auction, e-mail is sent automatically to both the parties. The contract has to be concluded within three days, and in the event that the contract is not concluded within the stipulated time, the seller has the option to start a fresh contract with the purchaser that has suggested the second highest bid. Â  The purchaser has the right and option to inquire about the quality, delivery method and period, payment and condition of the auction products before placing the bid. This results from the philosophy of eBay that they do not guarantee the quality of the products auctioned at eBay. They leave this to the two parties concerned. eBay only performs the role that connects the seller and purchaser and is not concerned about the items enlisted in the auction. They get their fees according to the rules set, such as registration fee of the auction advertisements and the final value fee after sales from the seller, in case the transaction is made as per agreement Since eBay does not wholesale or retail the products directly, the transportation, package, and management related to the inventory do not arise. Â  There is no cost in participating in the auction to purchase the product as the membership is free. There may be no visitors if cost is levied to participate in the auction. eBay auctions are open even to the nonmembers, and in case they want to participate in the auction, all that is required is to register as a member. Â  Anyone who has an email ID can have access to eBay or have a virtual account.

Commercial Agreement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Commercial Agreement - Essay Example (Ogola, 1999) It follows from the above that an agent is a mere connecting link, bringing about a contractual relation between his principal and third parties. The acts of an agent, done within the scope of his authority, bind his principal. Once an agent has brought his principal into contractual relations with another, he drops out, and his principal sues or is sued on the contract. (Emanuel, 2004) Lopez had very strict instructions not to sell any other product other that tropical fruity juices produced by Fruity Limited Company. Using the company fund, he went ahead and bought cartons of bottled water from the local store at a discount and sold them to Danny making a profit of 100 from the deal which he failed to disclose to the company. Under the agency law, the agent must not make any secret profit or accept bribes. Where he does so, he is forced to refund all such amount to his principal and lose the right of receiving commission. Apart from this, the principal can, if chooses, repudiate the contract with the third party. For the case, Lopez makes secret profit which he was supposed to have disclosed to the company. Lopez as an agent for the company had very strict instructions on the specific products that were to be sold at the outlet. As an agent, he had not taken his duties seriously according to the agency law. According to the agency l... For this case, since Lopez undertook his duties against the company's instructions, the company had a right to terminate his agency without paying him for the work he had done. (Ogola, 1999) Advice to Lopez On the other hand, Lopez as an agent contract by the company to head the outlet, he should have kept proper accounts which he was supposed to produce them to his principal. He should not have mixed his principal's money with his own money unless the terms of the agency had permitted him to do so. For the case, Lopez had mixed his money with those of the company when he made secret profits. (Emanuel, 2004) Danny had ordered 10 boxes of tropical fruity juice from Lopez which he settled with Lopez previous personal debt owed to him. For the case, Lopez mixed his principal's money with his own against the agency agreement. For this case, Lopez was not supposed to settle personal debts with the company's money. Advice to Danny For the case of Danny whereby they settled personal debts with Lopez and also sold bottled water to Lopez, he has no case to answer. This is so because, an employee who has been placed in a position of responsibility may be assumed to have such authority as normally matches with the position, irrespective of what is his actual authority. This means that if a third party enters into a contract with such a person believing him to have proper authority of his employer, he will succeed directly against the employer. This is what is referred to as ostensible authority. For the case of Danny, he believed that Lopez being the manager of the outlet, had the authority to purchase on behalf of the company and also he could mix his money with the principal's money in the case

The Four Noble Truths and the Life of Siddhartha Gautama Essay

The Four Noble Truths and the Life of Siddhartha Gautama - Essay Example To live means to suffer. Throughout our lives, we experience suffering irrespective of we want it or not. Everything in life leads to suffering of one form or another, sometime physical and sometimes psychological. Both physical and psychological sufferings such as tiredness, sickness, pain, old age, injury, depression, frustration, disappointment, fear, sadness and finally death are inevitable. Life is not all about suffering as we do experience positive feelings such as happiness and comfort. But to believe that life is all about such positive experiences and emotions is to live in a delusion. Life is not perfect and definitely not complete. The world we live is subject to impermanence. Everything changes, and positive emotions and feelings also do change. It is not always possible to get what one wants. Therefore, suffering is an integral part of life and everybody experiences it in one form or another and to variable degrees. Life is a suffering is the first of the four noble tru ths1. This is illustrated in Buddha’s life when he goes on ride through the countryside. During his journey he saw an old man, a sick man and a corpse. This signifies the hard realities and suffering of life which no one can escape: old age, sickness and death2. Noble Truth of Origin of Suffering Being attached to things that are transient and the ignorance that they are transient is the cause of all origin. It is in this attachment and ignorance that lays the origin of suffering. Transient things are not just limited to physical objects but include everything from our ideas to concepts. Nothing is permanent and constantly changes. Attachment to these transient things and ignoring the fact that they will not remain forever is the root cause of suffering. That is, craving and clinging on transient things is what causes suffering. Desire, popularity, fame, passion, wealth, prestige, ardour, self image, etc are the various transient things that lead to suffering3. This is illust rated in Buddha’s life when he leaves the palace and goes in search of enlightenment. But his father, the king, had always believed that the palaces he had created were enough to keep his son happy and in turn keep him happy. All that he had created for his son were transient and as a result had created him a transient environment. But it all fell apart when Buddha decided to give up everything and this caused a lot of pain and suffering to the king. He was attached to his son and the things that he had created for his son4. Noble Truth of Cessation of Suffering The suffering can be stopped and the way to do it is to eliminate the cause of the suffering. That is, the suffering can stopped by eliminating the conceptual attachment and sensual craving. Therefore, the suffering can be overcome by detaching from the transient things which are the cause of suffering. It is by attaining and perfecting complete dispassion that the suffering can be completely removed from one’s life5. Buddha gave up all transient things in search of enlightenment. He left all the pleasures and attachments of the palace and decided to live as a ascetic. He also detached himself from human bonds of family (father, wife and son). He eliminated all causes of suffering from his life6. Noble Truth of the Way to the Cessation of Suffering The path to cessation of suffering is one of self-improvement. The path to self improvement is neither of the

Preventative Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Preventative Education - Essay Example Since COPD is primarily a disease related to excessive or long-term smoking and is completely preventable from both a pharmacological and non-pharmacological perspective and there are numerous methods that can be implemented to focus on the prevention, accurate diagnosis, and management of this disease (Barnett, 2009). Through a comprehensive understanding of the disease, as well as the physical, psychological and social impact COPD has on the patient, their careers, and their families, healthcare professionals will be better equipped to comprise management plans that are effective in all the affected areas of the patient’s life (Barnett, 2009). Formulating a collaborative approach that includes working with other healthcare professionals relative to the patient’s care like physiotherapists, occupational therapists, district nurses and social workers will enable a holistic approach to the patient’s care to be established and maintained (Barnett, 2009). Through th is approach, the healthcare professional can help the patient examine numerous aspects of their lifestyle that may be detrimental to their health and exacerbate their COPD. Providing the patient with complete care and information is the most vital tool a nurse can provide to their patient. In the instigation of preventative routines, successful implementation of a case management scheme including the medical interventions available can help establish a routine of such care within the institution. Even though the current treatments are limited in helping relieve symptoms, nurses can do a lot to help educate patients and enable them to cope with their condition to reduce the progression of the disease (Barnett, 2006). The most vital piece of information a... This paper approves that many opportunities for health promotion through patient education are underutilized in all aspects of healthcare. Through education, nurses can develop the skills necessary to use every opportunity for promoting health in everyday practice and help their patients become educated in various methods to promote and preserve their own well-being. Keeping the needs of the facility and the needs of the patient balanced is the duty of the nurse and proper case management will help the nurse keep these contradictory aspects well in hand. This essay makes a conclusion that incorporating theories of holistic care with those of case management can help the nurse provide the best care possible for the patient at the lowest cost to the institution. COPD is a systemic disease with high and increasing worldwide prevalence. The onset of this disease has been associated with both individual and community-based factors and COPD is usually the result of a combination of these factors. Numerous strategies are available to manage or prevent COPD, and nursing education is needed to empower nurses to educate their patients and present proper solutions through case management schemes that will benefit the patients and the institutions through effective, cost-minimal methods of treatment. Nurses all over the world have important roles in fighting the COPD pandemic and health promotion is the best tool available to keep healthy people healthy as long as possible.

Death is a Social Construct Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Death is a Social Construct - Essay Example With death the bond between the spirit and the physical being is dissolved. As per the Webster's dictionary the "social constructs" can be stated as a social mechanism, phenomenon, or category created and developed by society; a perception of an individual, group, or idea that is constructed via cultural and/or social practice. Death is not a social construct in the literal sense as people do die whether the society wants them to or not. The rituals associated with death and the meaning that every group gives to this concept differs from society to society and culture to culture. This meaning is created and developed by the society and the religion that they practice. For example: Hindu's believe in seven lives, thus when a person in their community dies they believe that he will be reborn. On the other hand, Muslims believe in life after death not rebirth. Both religions have very different ways of tending to the dead; the Hindu's burn the dead while the Muslims bury them. From this we can see the way society and social constructs have affected the concept of death but not death itself. Death traditions take longer to change. The changes in the recent past have come from the grass roots. Phillipe Aries's classic The Hour of Our Death (1982) has categorized deaths evolution into five categories. Death used to be a part of every community, this was when communities were small and close knitted. The death rituals were personal as well as public but nowadays death has entered the invisible era. Here death is kept a secret and nobody talks about it, it is a taboo to mention it. In Phillipe's book the five eras of death mentioned are: tame death, death of self, remote and imminent death, death of the other and invisible death. The society we live in finds it necessary to anthropomorphize the death and project it categories and relations. Every religion has some degree of anthropomorphizing of the concept of death; just the intensity with which it is instilled in every religion differs. We find a need to rationalize the concept, to face reality and this is done from two basic sources: first is the anthropomorphic character, which is that we continue to exist even though somebody has died. The second source is the social institutions that make people face reality through the socialization process. They make them think logically and legitimately. Social institutions that control the concept of death can not loose sight of the biological being. The biology of an individual limits the reality constructing activities. The survivors blur the difference between the dead and the living especially when they have recently lost a loved one. An example to explain this would be that of the European peasant cultures feed ing the returning soul. This refers to the symbolic form of eating as the soul can not eat the same way a live person can. If this was to be the case than the soul would have to have some features which can enable this act, this is negated by experience. (Berta, 1960) In the article by Derek Edwards, Malcolm Ashmore and Jonathan Potter, death and furniture are represented as arguments which go against the relativism to extremes. Death has two versions, the bad version, which is focused on the misery and the tragedy associated with death. This version of death is directly linked to

Decision Support System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Decision Support System - Essay Example Companies, therefore, seek new profit opportunities suggested by them. They must plan innovations and purposely set out to capitalize on new approaches. Marketing is perceived as a means of adjusting to changes through altering such variables as products, services, prices, and channels of distribution to better meet changing environments. Change will be discussed in the chapters on assessment of marketing opportunity and the product and service mix. Chapter 8, Nonlinear Optimization processes will help a manager to model the performance of the company and predict its development opportunities. As an integral part of business, optimization is concerned with setting goals, establishing policies and programs, and implementing business action for the entire firm. Its major tasks are to translate consumer wants and needs, actual and potential, into profitable products and services that the company is capable of producing; to cultivate markets to support these products; and to program the distribution activities necessary to reach the markets. Chapter 16, Markov processes, will help a manager to evaluate random sample and predict possible variations in the proposed management model. ... In reality, the conception of Markov processes as a viewpoint or as the fundamental purpose of a business focuses on the business as a satisfier of consumer wants and needs. This conception implies a top-management philosophy of business operation -- the marketing philosophy. Accordingly, customers and consumers become the core around which a business revolves, thus recognizing customer orientation to decision-making and problem-solving and the impact of marketing on other functional areas. Chapter 2 and 3, Introduction to Linear programming and Linear programming sensitivity analysis, will help a manager to model different situation and select the best alternative. This technique of analysis is intended to provide an overview of the performance of the corporate. The ratios can be applied to the business to examine current achievement and trends. They can also be applied to competitors to enable external benchmarks' of performance to be established. Businesses realize that they cannot appeal to all consumer wants and needs, even for limited markets. Thus they assess both corporate capabilities and goals (actual and potential) and market opportunities to seek areas of profitable intersection. It reflects an integrated and coordinated approach to the management of marketing activity, and the development of total systems of business action that recognize the market as the focal point of business. Essentially, the marketing philosophy is a way of thinking about corporate ac tivity; a frame of mind; an attitude. It recognizes the primacy of consumers and customers as they influence all business operations. It starts with the company's chief executive, who must recognize that, lacking markets for the company's products and lacking customer wants and needs,

An Instrument - Reliable and Validity Assignment

An Instrument - Reliable and Validity - Assignment Example A measurement may be reliable but need not be valid. Nevertheless, measurement has to be reliable before it can be valid. A tool should be reliable and should be suitable for measuring the intended object. In designing a research project it is absolutely necessary that the measurements are both reliable and valid. If it is not so the tools of measurement are basically useless for measuring what the researcher wanted to measure. 2. Almost daily, we hear about research that seems to contradict earlier findings. One day, for example, a particular food is good for you and the next it is not. What does this reflect about the scientific method What are the advantages and disadvantages of the scientific method It is very true that we find research to support or to conclusively oppose something. For any study that puts forward a recommendation, there is another one that is apparently researched and documented and challenging the conclusions of the first. There is no convergence in the points of view of people. This does not invalidate the scientific method. There could may many possibilities for this divergence. Perhaps a researcher may not have used the valid tools for testing. The tools themselves may not have been reliable. The test conditions may not have been the same in all cases.   It insists on systematic experimentation. Scientists have developed criteria and practices to reduce the individual and social bias on scientific findings. The basic approach is an experiment, observation, and inference. It approaches reality objectively. However, our five senses might even play tricks on us. That is why theories of Ptolemy were later replaced by the theories of Copernicus. Some times more efficient tools to observe reality will be developed which give more data, hitherto unavailable. The use of an electron microscope has unraveled new insights into cell and modern cell biology is entirely different from what it was fifty years ago. 3. Suppose you wish to measure the effect of physical exercise on self-esteem. What type of experimental design would be most appropriate to Describe the types of groups necessary for this design? How would you measure your variables Which threats to internal validity would you need to consider The available evidence indicates that exercise not only benefits by providing a healthier body but also enhancing self-esteem. However, this has to be proved by empirical evidence. Visitors to a fitness center would be the ideal group to test the validity of this thesis.  

Automation Assembly Parts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8000 words

Automation Assembly Parts - Essay Example QFD has evolved from being a tool for product and process design to being used for strategic planning systematically linking customer requirements with organisational functions and processes. A study has been proposed to review QFD practices and develop a mechanism for implementing QFD. The objective of the study is to review available literature on QFD, and develop a methodology for QFD implementation within an organisation. Published literature in journals, conferences, and case studies would be considered for the study. The development of a product includes several processes, and QFD enables an analysis of every process for satisfying customer requirements within the functional constraints of the organisation. The scope of this study is QFD in a manufacturing organisation. The report will include an understanding of best QFD practices and an illustration for implementing QFD. It is expected that the results of the study will reinforce the use of QFD as a quality management techniq ue, and help identify the ideal ways of implementing QFD in a manufacturing organisation. The assurance of quality in a manufacturing organisation does not only help satisfy customer requirements, but also cut costs and improve efficiency. A study has been proposed to study statistical tools that have been deployed in the manufacturing industry to assure quality. Statistical tools include testing of hypotheses, analysis of regression, control charts, process capability, and six sigma. The study will include review of published literature in journals, conferences, books and case studies to identify best practices involving the use of statistical tools in a manufacturing organisation. Statistical distributions have been used to characterize populations based on a sample. Hypothesis testing has been deployed to help distinguish between areas of concern. Experiments are designed to

Nintendo History Essay Example for Free

Nintendo History Essay Nintendo was founded in 1889. It was a poker card workshop. But now it’s Japans most famous game production company. Its production of electronic games are popular all around the world. Nintendo is the NO.1 of the worlds video game companies. With only 850 staffs, Nintendo used to beat such super enterprises as Toyota occasionally, thus becoming Japanese first profit-making company. Nintendo spells â€Å"Wii† with two lower-case â€Å"I† characters means: To resemble two people standing side by side, representing players gathering together. Wii sounds like we, which emphasizes that the console is for everyone. Wii can easily be remembered by people around the world, no matter what language they speak. The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. The Nintendo Wii is the 7th generation video game console of the Nintendo series. It plays Nintendo video games via discs, and detects movement in three dimensions. The Wii is meant to stimulate interactivity and movement among its users, so that they play games and get exercise simultaneously. The primary wireless controller, the Wii remote, is a handheld pointing device which makes the on-screen player mimic the movements of the person possessing the Wii remote. Nintendo production of electronic games In 1983ï ¼Å¡NES In 1989ï ¼Å¡Game Boy In 1990ï ¼Å¡Super Famicom In 1996ï ¼Å¡Nintendo64 In 2001ï ¼Å¡Game Boy Advance In 2001ï ¼Å¡GameCube In 2004ï ¼Å¡Nintendo DS In 2006ï ¼Å¡Wii In 2012ï ¼Å¡Wii U http://game.people.com.cn/n/2012/1120/c49419-19633647-4.htmlhttp://blog.eio.com/2012/07/21/an-introduction-to-the-nintendo-wii/ 1. Was Nintendo just lucky, or does the Wii’s success have strategic merit? Nintendos strategy was very clear and clever. It thought that it could not survive in the competition with Microsofts Xbox and Sonys Play Station 3. So, Nintendo do not try to compete to the competitor rather than it tried to rebuild the gaming system. Without concerning the more advanced technology, it tried to do more using less investment. They realized that they couldn’t make a better product, so by changing the way in which the product is used they created a whole new market at their control. By changing their focus away from the game but the experience Nintendo created a unique strategy that is now synonymous with their name. Nintendo developed the Wii with a very specific design and marketing strategy in place. So, Nintendos strategy was so resourceful and it worked like magic mix strategy.Their success with the Wii really stems from two sources. First, they have gained substantial market share with previously untapped demographics (elderly, smallchildren, and families) . Second, because they have eliminated many of the additional costs and features of the more advanced game systems, they have been able to better compete based on price.Even while they were struggling, Nintendo maintained a strong brand within the gaming industry. Marketing Strategies of Nintendo are through the product, pricing, promotion, and place. With the product, Nintendo redesigned the controller to make it easier and more nature to play games,e.g motion sensitivity, IR sensors. Nintendo keep price at $250.00 while XBOX and PS3 over $350.00. Wii games cheaper $10.00 than XBOX and PS3. It offering various accessories to generate revenue. Ninendo promotion through mass selling, uses intermediary (GameStop, hypermarket, mall), uses both push or pull techniques. Pushing is used by advertising through commercials, ads, circulars, magazines, and internet.Pulling is demonstrated by keeping on-hand inventory low leaving customers returning to check availability.Nintendo has included a free game with eachWii unit, other systems, they increase the price by $20-50. they offer the Nintendo WiFi connection. This allows you to play certain online games against friends and others. Nintendoapos;s WiFi connection is free and offers many nice updates. Ab out the place, Nintendo has distribution centers around the world. Each distributing the regions version of Nintendo’s systems or games. In the United States there are 2 distribution centers, that are Redmond, Washington; Atlanta, Georgia. Retailers get their inventory directly from Nintendo.Businesses are gaining approximately $10 per unit sold; however, they make their money through game and accessory sales. 2) In which stage of the product life cycle is theWii? Based on that stage, is Nintendo employing good marketing mix strategies? The sales of Nintendo keep increasing and last sales not significant. The stages is growh- early maturity. If a product is accepted by the marketplace, it enters the growth stage of the product life cycle. The growth stage is characterized by increasing sales, more competitors, and higher profits. Unfortunately for the firm, the growth stage attracts competitors who enter the market very quickly. For example, when Diet Coke experienced great success, Pepsi soon entered with Diet Pepsi. You’ll notice that both Coca-Cola and Pepsi have similar competitive offerings in the beverage industry, including their own brands of bottled water, juice, and sports drinks. As additional customers begin to buy the product, manufacturers must ensure that the product remains available to customers or run the risk of them buying competitors’ offerings. For example, the producers of video game systems such as Nintendo’s Wii could not keep up with consumer demand when the product was first launched. Consequently, some consumers purchased competing game systems such as Microsoft’s Xbox. A company sometimes increases its promotional spending on a product during its growth stage. However, instead of encouraging consumers to try the product, the promotions often focus on the specific benefits the product offers and its value relative to competitive offerings. In other words, although the company must still inform and educate customers, it must counter the competition. Emphasizing the advantages of the product’s brand name can help a company maintain its sales in the face of competition. Although different organizations produce personal computers, a highly recognized brand such as IBM strengthens a firm’s advantage when competitors enter the market. New offerings that utilize the same successful brand name as a company’s already existing offerings, which is what Black Decker does with some of its products, can give a company a competitive advantage. Companies typically begin to make a profit during the growth stage because more units are being sold and more revenue is generated. The number of distribution outlets (stores and dealers) utilized to sell the product can also increase during the growth stage as a company tries to reach as much of the marketplace as possible. Expanding a product’s distribution and increasing its production to ensure its availability at different outlets usually results in a product’s costs remaining high during the growth stage. The price of the product itself typically remains at about the same level during the growth stage, although some companies reduce their prices slightly to attract additional buyers and meet the competitors’ prices. Companies hope by increasing their sales, they also improve their profits. The Maturity Stage After many competitors enter the market and the number of potential new customers declines, the sales of a product typically begin to level off. This indicates that a product has entered the maturity stage of its life cycle. Most consumer products are in the mature stage of their life cycle; their buyers are repeat purchasers versus new customers. Intense competition causes profits to fall until only the strongest players remain. The maturity stage lasts longer than other stages. Quaker Oats and Ivory Soap are products in the maturity stage—they have been on the market for over one hundred years. Given the competitive environment in the maturity stage, many products are promoted heavily to consumers by stronger competitors. The strategies used to promote the products often focus on value and benefits that give the offering a competitive advantage. The promotions aimed at a company’s distributors may also increase during the mature stage. Companies may decrease the price of mature products to counter the competition. However, they must be careful not to get into â€Å"price wars† with their competitors and destroy all the profit potential of their markets, threatening a firm’s survival. Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) have engaged in several price wars with regard to their microprocessors. Likewise, Samsung added features and lowered the price on its Instinct mobile phone, engaging in a price war with Apple’s iPhone. With the weakened economy, many online retailers engaged in price wars during the 2008 holiday season by cutting prices on their products and shipping costs. Although large organizations such as Amazon.com can absorb shipping costs, price wars often hurt smaller retailers. Many retailers learned from their mistakes and ordered less inventory for the 2009 holiday season. Companies are challenged to develop strategies to extend the maturity stage of their products so they remain competitive. Many firms do so by modifying their target markets, their offerings, or their marketing strategies. Next, we look at each of these strategies. Modifying the target market helps a company attract different customers by seeking new users, going after different market segments, or finding new uses for a product in order to attract additional customers. Financial inst itutions and automobile dealers realized that women have increased buying power and now market to them. With the growth in the number of online shoppers, more organizations sell their products and services through the Internet. Entering new markets provides companies an opportunity to extend the product life cycles of their different offerings. Many companies enter different geographic markets or international markets as a strategy to get new users. A product that might be in the mature stage in one country might be in the introductory stage in another market. For example, when the U.S. market became saturated, McDonald’s began opening restaurants in foreign markets. Cell phones were very popular in Asia before they were introduced in the United States. Many cell phones in Asia are being used to scan coupons and to charge purchases. However, the market in the United States might not be ready for that type of technology. Modifying the product, such as changing its packaging, size, flavors, colors, or quality can also extend the product’s maturity stage. The 100 Calorie Packs created by Nabisco provide an example of how a company changed the packaging and size to provide convenience and one-hundred-calorie portions for consumers. While the sales of many packaged foods fell, the sales of the 100 Calorie Packs increased to over $200 million, prompting Nabisco to repackage more products. [5]Kraft Foods extended the mature stage of different crackers such as Wheat Thins and Triscuits by creating different flavors. Although not popular with consumers, many companies downsize (or decrease) the package sizes of their products or the amount of the product in the packages to save money and keep prices from rising too much. Car manufacturers modify their vehicles slightly each year to offer new styles and new safety features. Every three to five years, automobile manufacturers do more extensive modifications. Changing the package or adding variations or features are common ways to extend the mature stage of the life cycle. Pepsi recently changed the design and packaging of its soft drinks and Tropicana juice products. However, consumers thought the new juice package looked like a less expensive brand, which made the quality of the product look poorer. As a result, Pepsi resumed the use of the original Tropicana carton. Pepsi’s redesigned soda cans also received negative consumer reviews. Tropicana’s New Packaging Tropicana’s new (and now abandoned) packaging look didn’t compare well with the â€Å"orange and the straw† but is still used on the lower-calorie Tropicana. When introducing products to international markets, firms must decide if the product can be standardized (kept the same) or how much, if any,adaptation, or changing, of the product to meet the needs of the local culture is necessary. Although it is much less expensive to standardize products and promotional strategies, cultural and environmental differences usually require some adaptation. Product colors and packages as well as product names must often be changed because of cultural differences. For example, in many Asian and European countries, Coca-Cola’s diet drinks are called â€Å"light,† not diet. GE makes smaller appliances such as washers and dryers for the Japanese market. Hyundai Motor Company had to improve the quality of its automobiles in order to compete in the U.S. market. Compan ies must also examine the external environment in foreign markets since the regulations, competition, and economic conditions vary as well as the cultures. Figure 7.15 Some companies modify the marketing strategy for one or more marketing variables of their products. For example, many coffee shops and fast-food restaurants such as McDonald’s now offer specialty coffee that competes with Starbucks. As a result, Starbucks’ managers a decided it was time to change the company’s strategy. Over the years, Starbucks had added lunch offerings and moved away from grinding coffee in the stores to provide faster service for its customers. However, customers missed the coffee shop atmosphere and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and didn’t like the smell of all the lunch items. As a result of falling market share, Starbucks’ former CEO and founder Howard Schultz returned to the company. Schultz hired consultants to determine how to modify the firm’s offering and extend the maturity stage of their life cycle. Subsequently, Starbucks changed the atmosphere of many of its stores back to that of traditional coffee shops, modified its lunch offerings in many stores, and resumed grinding coffee in stores to provide the aroma customers missed. The company also modified some of its offerings to provide health-conscious consumers lower-calorie alternatives. [6] After the U.S. economy weakened in 2009, Starbucks announced it would begin selling instant coffee for about a dollar a cup to appeal to customers who were struggling financially but still wanted a special cup of coffee. The firm also changed its communication with customers by utilizing more interactive media such as blogs. Whereas Starbucks might have overexpanded, McDonald’s plans to add fourteen thousand coffee bars to selected stores. [7] In addition to the coffee bars, many McDonald’s stores are remodeling their interiors to feature flat screen televisions, recessed lighting, and wireless Internet access. Other McDonald’s restaurants kept their original design, which customers still like. http://www.studymode.com/essays/Assignment-Case-Study-Of-Nintendo-878245.html http://www.papercamp.com/essay/46271/Nintendo-Case ï‚ · http://www.xbitlabs.com http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/bookhub/2030?e=fwk-133234-ch07_s02