Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with Applications Review Essay Example

Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with Applications Review Paper Essay on Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with Applications Star on the eve of the collapse; a child who is learning to read; blood cells attacking virus these are just some of the amazing complex objects of the physical world. Computer programs are too complex, but the complexity of a different kind. Einstein argued that there should be a simple explanation of natural processes, because God does not act out of whim or arbitrarily. Programmers do not have this consolation: the complexity with which it must deal, lies in the very nature of the system  » This quote could not be better characterize the complexity of our profession and the main purpose of this book.. The main thing that gives this book it is an opportunity to take a look from a different point of view on the process of development of software systems, to analyze the problems and difficulties that are inherent in it, and learn how to deal with them. The book opens our eyes to many conceptual issues, such as the nature of the complexity of software systems, organized and unorganized complexity, the role of hierarchy and abstraction limits of human capabilities in the context of the development of software systems We will write a custom essay sample on Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with Applications Review specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with Applications Review specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with Applications Review specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The authors write:. The experiments of psychologists, for example, Miller, show that the maximum number of pieces of information that a person can operate at the same time, approximately seven (plus or minus two). Probably, this restriction information channel capacity due to the volume of human short-term memory. And it is this limitation is a kind of litmus test for object-oriented decomposition of a complex system. The authors then go directly to an object model describing the basic provisions, explaining what is abstraction, encapsulation, modularity, hierarchy, inheritance . Argue in favor of using an object model for the solution of complex programming tasks. A very important question is the measurement of the quality and variety of abstractions relations between classes and objects. In the second part of the book, the authors describe a method of constructing a complex system based on the object model. First introduced graphic notation (now in the book used the UML, instead of notation Butch), and then covers the basics of the generalized development process. Heres what they say: The amateurs are constantly looking for a magical method or tool that could make the programming process trivial. In contrast, the professionals know that such a panacea does not exist. Amateurs want a ready-made recipes; professionals know that this approach leads to unsuitable design solutions and the piling up of lies, for which developers are hiding from the responsibility for wrong decisions previously adopted. Amateurs or ignore all the documentation, or make a fetish out of it, taking care more about how their paper product looks in the eyes of the customer than on its substance. Professional recognizes the importance of documentation, but always prefers sensible architectural i nnovations. The process of object-oriented analysis and design can not be described using the recipes, however it is defined well enough to become the basis for predictable, repeatable software development process.  » The authors emphasize the importance of architectural integrity, iterative and progressive development lifecycle . An interesting feature of the presentation is that the authors do not consider the rational unified process development only true in all cases, and accelerated methods (agile process) is fundamentally wrong. Choosing between rapid and systematic design should assess the risk. What are the risks faced by the project? Choose a style and appropriate methods for minimizing these risks . Selection of the design process does not mean that the job is done. This process should be updated throughout the project lifecycle. Tools that work well, you should leave, and tools that work badly to exclude. The aim must be a continuous improvement process based on practical experience.  » The third part of the book consists of examples of applications covering different subject areas. The main problem of the examples in the field of object-oriented analysis and design is something that is very difficult for them to show iterative development process. You can not on the pages of the book tell you how to think outstanding design, taking certain decisions. As he analyzes the requirements, how he feels, where lies the catch and needed to clarify the requirements of the user, and in any case to contact the domain expert. How to identify the abstraction which side they look better, how to identify the essential characteristics of an object for your particular task. All this, unfortunately, very difficult to describe the examples. But with all this, examples are useful and can help you to draw certain conclusions in certain circumstances, your professional activity. So if this book will make you a superior architect? Frankly, I do not know After learning process, just as the process of software development is iterative and progressive. The mere existence of this book on the shelf is not a guarantee of success of your projects. After reading this book, you will not be able to in his first draft with ease to analyze conflicting user requirements, you will not discover the secrets of object-oriented decomposition and your abstract will be far from ideal. After all, the book its just a trend, it is not the freeway, on which you can shoot at breakneck speed, its just a barely noticeable path through the thorny path, whose name object-oriented analysis and design .

Linear Programming Essay Example

Linear Programming Essay Example Linear Programming Essay Linear Programming Essay Linear Programming After completing this chapter you should be able to: identify a product which maximises the contribution per unit of scarce resource when there is only one scarce resource, and determine the optimum solution. formulate an LP model to solve for the optimal product mix which maximises profits, or for cost minimisation problems to minimise costs. solve 2 variable problems graphically. use a spreadsheet to solve LP problems with any number of variables. interpret the sensitivity reports of spreadsheet solutions to LP problems to test objective function coefficient sensitivity, determine shadow prices and RHS ranging. rform throughput accounting and solve problems using the concept of the Theory of Constraints. Introduction In this chapter we continue with our profit planning, or product mix, decisions. We extend CVP analysis in the last chapter by introducing the notion of scarce resources. Although CVP analysis does not provide answers regarding optimum product mixes (mixes which maximise profits or minimise costs) one advantage of CVP analysis is that it focuses attention on products with high contribution margins. Managers and salespeople can often direct their efforts to increasing output and sales of high ontribution margin products and thereby maximise the contribution towards fixed costs and profits. Unfortunately, it is not always desirable to attempt to maximise the sales of high contribution margin products, at the expense of those with lower margins. Most firms have constraintsl (in the short run) on production constraints which limit the volume of output. In such cases it is preferable sometimes not to emphasise the sales of high contribution margin products. Rather, attention should be directed to the contribution margin per unit of scarce resources required to produce the products. Thus, sometimes products with low contribution margins also have low resource requirements, and can be highly profitable. We shall now focus on this type of analysis. Multi 9 9-1 A firms two products are both produced on a single machine. Product 1 requires 2 hours of machine time per unit of product while Product 2 requires 4 hours per unit. There is a maximum of 20 000 hours of machine time available per time period. Product 1 has a contribution margin of $4 per unit, Product 2 a margin of $5 per unit. profitable, generating $5 per unit as against Product 1 s $4 per unit. But let us check this out. If all machine time were devoted to Product 2, which requires 4 hours per unit, it would be possible to produce 20 000/4 = 5000 units per period. These 5000 units would each generate $5 contribution margin, providing a total contribution (variable profit) of 5000($5) = $25 000. If, instead, we concentrated on Product 1, which requires 2 hours of machine time per unit, it would be possible to produce 20 000/2 = 0 000 units, each earning $4 contribution margin, giving a variable profit of 10 000($4) = $40 000. This is $15 000 more than it is possible to earn from Product 2. It may seem surprising that the product with the lower contribution margin is the more profitable to produce. What is important, however, is not the contribution margin per unit of product, but the contribution margin per unit of the limiting resource. As Table 9-1 demonstrates, Product 1 earns the higher contribution margin per machine hour, $2. 00 per MH versus only $1. 25 per MH for Product 2. Contribution Margin per unit Machine Hours per unit Contribution Margin per Machine Hour Product 1 $4 2 $4/2=$2. oo Product 2 $5 4 $5/4=$1. 25 Table 9-1 : Contribution margin per unit of limiting resource Thus, with one limiting resource, we should produce only one product, the one with the highest contribution margin per unit of that limiting resource. In example 9-1 we should maximise the production of Product 1 which has the higher contribution margin per machine hour. It would not pay to produce a mix of the two, that is, some of each product. The reason is that for every unit of Product 2 which is produced a ontribution of $5 would be earned but an opportunity cost of $8 is incurred. That is, in the time that it takes to produce one unit of Product 2 (4 hours of machine time) two units of Product 1 could be made earning a contribution margin of 2x$4 = $8, leaving the firm $3 worse off. Two Limiting Resources production, because it may not be possible to obtain the same profitability rankings on different scarce resources. Consider example 9-2. Example 9 9-1, both products have to proceed through a labour-intensive finishing process. Both products require hour of finishing labour, but there is a maximum of 8000 hours of skilled finishing labour available per time period. Having learned our lesson about calculating contribution margin per unit of scarce resource, we now proceed to calculate the contribution margin per hour of finishing labour for each product, as shown in Table 9-2. Finishing Labour Hours per Finishing Hour $411-$4. 00 $511-$5. 0 Table 9-2: Contribution margin per unit of limiting resource Product 1 generates $4 per finishing hour, while Product 2 generates $5 per finishing hour. Thus Product 2 is more profitable in terms of contribution per hour of finishing abour. We are now faced with a problem of conflicting profitability rankings. There are two scarce resources, machine time and finishing time. Product 1 is more profitable in terms of machine resources consumed but Product 2 is more profitable in terms of finishing resources. Since these profitability rankings conflict, we cannot determine the optimum action using this type of analysis. We have to use a technique known as linear programming. In general, when there are multiple constraining resources there are usually conflicting profitability rankings, and linear programming must be used to determine the optimum product mix. Linear Programming achieve some objective such as profit maximisation or cost minimisation. It is assumed that there are constraining resources (such as limited production or distribution facilities) or market factors (demand etc. ) which prevent a firm from producing and selling unlimited quantities of individual products, and hence the aim is to optimise the use of these constraining resources. The word linear indicates that linearity is an assumption behind this technique. It is assumed that cost and revenue functions are linear, and that there is a linear relationship between inputs and outputs. If the output of a product is doubled, resource requirements are doubled. Care is needed when using this analysis that linearity is a reasonable assumption, and that the data are reasonably accurate. A convenient way of introducing LP is by means of the graphical method, but this restricts us to somewhat trivial examples involving two variables. For problems with more than two variables we need to use the simplex method. There are many specialised LP computer programs employing the simplex method. Also, these problems can be solved using most popular spreadsheets. Spreadsheet solutions will lso be illustrated. Maximisation Problems Example 9 9-2, where we have two products and two constraints (machine hours and finishing hours). In addition, period fixed costs are $18 000. We are required to formulate an LP model for this example and solve it to determine the product mix which will maximise the firms period net profit. A linear programming model consists of two parts, an objective function and a set of constraints. First, we formulate the objective function. Let xl represent the number of units of Product 1 to be produced, and x2 the number f units of Product 2. The objective is to maximise period net profit, which could be expressed in the form Maxtrntse P = 41+52 18 OOO (9-1) where the coefficients of xl and x2 are 4 and 5, which are the respective contribution margins of products 1 and 2, and 18 000 represents the period fixed costs. We can, however, simplify the analysis by ignoring fixed costs at this stage, and simply maximise variable profit (total contribution margin): Maximise P = 41 +52 (9-2) Fixed costs can then be subtracted from the optimum variable profit to give optimum net profit. Now we turn to the constraint set. First, there is a machine constraint: Product 1 there is a maximum of 20 000 machine hours available per period. Then, 2X1+4X2 = 20 ooo (9-3) is one of several ways of stating this information. This expression states that the machine time is to be fully used (i. e. to capacity). Graphically, Equation (9-3) would appear as shown in Figure 9-1 . Figure 9-1 The graph of Equation (9-3) is obtained by finding the two points 10 000 and 5000 on the xl and x2 axes respectively, and Joining them with a straight line. If no units of product 2 are made, then x2 = O, and we have 21 + 20000, e 21 = 20000, and hus xl = 10 000. Similarly; if no units of product 1 are made, then xl = O, and we have 2(0) + 42 = 20 000 and hence x2 = 5000. Strictly, the line should extend further at each end, but since on either of these extensions one of the variables would be negative, indicating negative production, interest is focused only in the positive quadrant. The line segment in Figure 9-1 represents combinations of xl and x2 which fully utilise the machine capacity of 20 000 hours. There are many possible solutions, some being integer values of xl and x2 while others are non-integer solutions. In eneral, LP solutions may be non-integral, and if only integers are acceptable one should use Integer Programming. Some possible solutions which represent combinations of whole units of production of xl and x2 are: (0,5000), ie xl † O, 12 (2000,4000), 2 000, (4000000), 4 000, 6 000, 2000 (8000,1000), 8 000, 1 ooo (10000,0), 10000, If the assumption of fully utilising machine capacity is relaxed, so that although 20 000 hours represents maximum machine time, less than 20 000 hours may be consumed if desirable, Equation (9-3) is converted to the inequality (which is graphed in Figure 9-2): 2X1+4X2 20 ooo Figure 9-2 Graphically, possible solutions are now extended to encompass not only points along the line segment, but also all of the area below the line, anywhere in the shaded portion of Figure 9-2. In addition to the solutions possible in (9-3), further possibilities exist in (9-4), such as Xl = 3000, = 1000, or Xl = 2000, 12 = 2000. It may be noted that in general, equations are tighter than inequalities, and restrict the number of alternative solutions. The second constraint, finishing labour, must also be considered. Given that both products require 1 hour of finishing time, and a maximum availability of 8000 hours, his constraint may be expressed in the form IXI+1X2 8000, or Simply Xl+ 12 08000 (9-5) Considered on its own, this constraint is shown in Figure 9-3. But this second constraint cannot be considered alone. It must be considered simultaneously with the first constraint. That is, the two inequalities must be considered together: Xl+X20 8000 (9-6) Both of these constraints should be drawn on one graph (superimposed on each other) to form the area of feasible solutions, illustrated as the shaded portion of Figure 9-4. Only the shaded area satisfies both constraints, being the area common to both constraints. This shaded area is a polygon containing the solution set. The set of points described by the polygon is convex. Figure 9-4 It will be noticed that once the second constraint was added the area of feasible solutions was reduced. Whenever another constraint having no new variables is added, the area of feasible solutions is less than or equal to the prior situation. We have already mentioned that we ignore negative values for xl and x2, because negative production values are not economically meaningful. Nevertheless, such a restriction is made explicit in an LP model, so that to (9-6) we should add the non- egativity constraints xl ,x200: That is, xl or x2 may be greater than zero, or equal to zero, but not less than zero (e, not negative). Although the constraints in (9-7) limit the available alternatives, they do not provide a unique answer to the decision problem of how much of each product to produce. The objective function in (9-2) which indicates the aim of maximising variable profit, is used to appraise the various possible solutions, and must be added to (9-7) to present a full statement of the problem: subject to 21+42 20 OOO so-profit Line Solution Method (machine constraint) finishing constraint) (9-8) can be added to the graph depicted in Figure 9-4. The objective function can take an infinite number of positions on the graph, each position being an so-profit line. If we examine the objective function P = 41+52 we note that it is the equation of a straight line with a negative slope of -4/5 (which can be read straight from the coefficients if xl is plotted on the horizontal axis). Formally, we can show that this is correct. The equation of a straight line is usually of the form y = mx+b where y is plotted on the vertical axis, m is the gradient and b is the y-intercept. We have placed x2 on the vertical axis, so let us convert the objective function to a form which corresponds with y = mx+b: 41+52 is converted to 52 = -4xl 12 = +P/5 So in (9-9) we verify that the slope (m) is equal to -4/5. The x2 intercept (not of great interest to us) is P/5. Thus the objective function has a slope of -4/5, and can take on many parallel positions each of which gives a different value for P. So, if one position is plotted, other positions are merely parallel shifts of this line. The further from the origin the objective function line is, the higher is the profit level. Therefore the optimum solution occurs when the objective function is as far from the origin as possible, but is Just touching the solution set. At its highest point it may touch a vertex on either axis, such as xl=8000 or x2=5000, or at the point of intersection of the two constraints, in all three cases there being a unique solution. In some cases it may lie along a constraint, indicating multiple optima. To make an initial plot of this objective function which has a slope of -4/5, we Join the points 4 on the vertical axis and 5 on the horizontal, or some multiple of them; for xample, 4000 on the vertical (x2) axis and 5000 on the horizontal (xl) axis, shown as a broken line in Figure 9-5. We then use a ruler and move it parallel to and up from the initial plot until we get a line Just touching the solution set. In this case there is a unique solution because the objective function (broken line) is Just touching a vertex at the point (6000,2000) meaning a production of 6000 units of Product 1 and 2000 units of Product 2. We either read these values directly from the graph, or else we determine them by solving simultaneously the equations of the two straight lines hich intersect at the desired point. Figure 9-5 Solving simultaneously: 8 ooo so 12=2000 and by substitution Xl = 6000 Note that the optimum solution, given two constraints, calls for production of both products. In fact, there can never be more products than the number of constraints, but there may be fewer. The solution (6000,2000) is the point of maximum profit. We calculate the variable profit by substituting 6000 for xl and 2000 for x2 into the objective function: p = 4xl +512 = $34 000. Finally, we can subtract the period fixed costs to obtain net profit: Net profit = $34 000-$18 OOO = $16 000. Relative Gradient Solution Method Instead of actually plotting the objective function to determine the optimum product mix we could simply compare the gradients of the objective function and the constraints. Reading from (9-8) we have the following gradients: Objective function -4/5 = -0. Machine constraint -2/4 = -1/2=-0. 5 Finishing constraint -1/1 † We note that the gradient of the objective function (-0. 8) lies between the gradients of the two constraints (-0. 5 and -1. 0). Therefore the optimum solution will be at the intersection of the two constraints. If the objective function were flatter than either onstraint (for example, a gradient of -0. 4) the optimum solution would be on the x2 axis at (0,5000); if it were steeper than either constraint (say -2) the optimum solution would be on the xl axis at (8000,0). Check these out by altering the angle of your ruler and pushing it away from the origin. Corner Point Solution Method A third method for determining the optimum solution is to evaluate the objective function at each corner point of the feasible set. This is the way the simplex method works, starting from the point (0,0) and working around from vertex to vertex until the largest objective function value is found. So we simply substitute the co-ordinates for each extreme vertex (corner point) in the feasible set into the objective function to find the maximum value. In Figures 9 9 9-3, plus the additional information that no ore than 3000 units of Product 2 can be sold per time period. Determine the optimum mix and period net profit. The new LP model will be simply the previous one in (9-8) augmented by the inclusion of the additional market constraint: Maximise 41+52 Subject to 21+42 0 20 000 (machine constraint) xl+ x2 0 8 000 (finishing constraint) 12 C] 3000 (market constraint) (9-10) Observation of Figure 9-6 reveals that the previous solution still holds: xl=6000, x2=2000, net profit = $16 000. Although the new constraint has reduced the size of the solution set, it has had no impact on the optimum solution. Spreadsheet

Online Degrees Grow in Popularity and Prominence

Online Degrees Grow in Popularity and Prominence Until recently, an online degree was more likely to be associated with a diploma mill than a legitimate institution of higher education. Granted, in some cases, this reputation was well-earned. Many for-profit online schools are unaccredited and have been the target of federal investigations and lawsuits as a result of their fraudulent practices, which include charging outrageous fees and promising jobs they can’t deliver. However, many of those schools have been driven out of business. And now, online degrees and certificates are becoming more popular with students and employers. What’s responsible for the change in perception? Prestigious schools Such Ivy League schools as Yale, Harvard, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, and Dartmouth offer either online degrees or certificates. Some of the many other top-rated schools with online programs include MIT, RIT, Stanford, USC, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Purdue, and Penn State. â€Å"More prestigious universities are embracing the online degree,† according to Dr. Corinne Hyde,  assistant professor for USC Rossier’s online masters in teaching degree. Hyde tells ThoughtCo, â€Å"We now see top-ranked schools taking their degree programs online and delivering very high quality content that is equivalent to, if not in some cases better than, what they’re delivering on the ground.† So, what’s the lure of online education to top schools? Patrick Mullane, executive director of Harvard Business School’s HBX, tells ThoughtCo, â€Å"Universities see online education as a way to broaden their reach and more effectively fulfill their missions.† He explains, â€Å"They see mounting evidence that when online programs are done well, they can be as effective as in-person education.† Natural progression of technology As digital technology becomes more ubiquitous, consumers expect their learning options to reflect this level of pervasiveness. â€Å"More people in all demographics are comfortable  with  the on-demand nature of technology and the quality of product or service it can deliver,† Mullane says. â€Å"If we can buy stocks, order food, get a ride, purchase insurance, and speak to a computer that will turn on our living room lights, then why can’t we learn in a way very different from how most learned in the past?† Convenience Technology has also produced an expectation of convenience, and this is one of the primary benefits of an online education. â€Å"From the student’s perspective, there is a massive appeal to being able to pursue a desirable degree without having to pick up and move across the country, or even without having to commute across town,† Hyde explains. â€Å"These degrees are generally highly flexible in terms of where students can be while completing the work, and they offer access to the same high-quality resources and faculty that students would receive if they were in a brick and mortar classroom.† While juggling school with work and other demands is challenging at best, it’s obviously easier when not tethered to a physical class that is offered at times that are set in stone. Quality Online programs have also evolved in terms of quality and implementation. â€Å"Some people immediately think of impersonal, asynchronous courses when they hear ‘online degree,’ but that couldn’t be further from the truth,† Hyde says. â€Å"I have taught online for eight years and build outstanding relationships with my students.† Using  webcams, she sees her students live for weekly class sessions and routinely has one-on-one video conferences when not in class. In fact, Hyde believes that online education provides greater opportunities for connecting with her pupils. â€Å"I can see the environment in which students are learning – I meet their kids and their pets – and I engage in conversation and application of the concepts to their own lives.† While she might not meet her students in person until the commencement program, Hyde says she has developed relationships with them long before then – and often, these relationships continue afterward. â€Å"I work very hard to create a true community of learners in the classroom by engaging in deep, thoughtful conversation, mentoring them in their work, and staying connected with them on social media once my class is complete. Learning Approaches Online programs are as diverse as the schools that offer them. However, some colleges and universities have taken online learning to another level. For example, HBX focuses on active learning. â€Å"As in a Harvard Business School classroom, there are no long, drawn-out faculty-led lectures,† Mullane says. â€Å"Our online business courses are designed to keep learners engaged throughout the learning process.† What does active learning entail at HBX? â€Å"Open responses† is one of the exercises that allows students to think through decisions as though they were the business leader in a given situation, and describe the choices they would make. â€Å"Interactive exercises like random cold calls, polls, interactive demonstrations of concepts, and quizzes, are other ways HBX utilizes active learning.† Students also take advantage of technology platforms to ask and answer questions among themselves, in addition to having their own private Facebook and LinkedIn groups to engage with each other. Just in case learning Even when students don’t pursue an online degree program, they can get advanced training that can often lead to career advancement or meet the requirements of an employer. â€Å"More and more students are turning to online credential or certificate programs to learn a specific skillset, rather than going back to school for a master’s program or second bachelor’s,† Mullane says. â€Å"A colleague of mine has called this shift one from  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœjust in case learning’ (which is characterized by the traditional multi-discipline degree) to  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢just in time learning’ (which is characterized by shorter and more focused courses that deliver specific skills).† MicroMasters are an example of credentials for employees who have a bachelor’s degree and might not want to pursue a full-blown graduate degree.    Check out this list of the most popular online degrees.

Was The Black Panther Party a successful force for change during the Essay

Was The Black Panther Party a successful force for change during the civil rights years - Essay Example its aims and policies (Wikipedia.org), rejecting armed resistance and instead focusing on tackling matters relating to social, economic and political inequality not only of African Americans, but also other minority groups in the country. The BPP efforts, however, were not only unappreciated, but also vehemently opposed by the government, Federal Bureau of Investigation {FBI} and the police, resulting in its unfortunate and untimely demise after a promising span of just 14 years. While it lasted, the BPP undoubtedly represented a successful force for change during the civil rights years. The general situation refers to the circumstances prevailing in the country since the Civil War ended. The War, hailed as the destroyer of slavery of blacks after having suffered years of oppression, did not in fact result in the anticipated assimilation of blacks into American mainstream society. Oppression of blacks continued in the form of Ku Klux Klan atrocities, widespread lynching of blacks and the de facto refusal to grant them all civil rights. Blacks responded by non-violent means, forming representative organizations to put forward their protests. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People {NAACP} was created to foster assimilation of blacks into mainstream American society. The Universal Negro Improvement Association {UNIA} headed by Marcus Garvey was established to foster independence of blacks. Not only did these associations prove ineffective, the response of white Americans – violent, suppressive and unbending – showed no signs of com promise. Blacks continued to live in oppression in the United States (Blackpanther.org). The specific situation followed the groundbreaking Civil Rights Act that the United States Congress enacted in 1964. It prohibited racial discrimination in public facilities. The Act was the culmination of the Civil Rights Movement spearheaded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – a struggle that involved nonviolent blacks being

PROTOTYPES IN THE GRAPHIC DESIGN PROCESS Research Paper

PROTOTYPES IN THE GRAPHIC DESIGN PROCESS - Research Paper Example It is their use that is referred to as prototyping. Through prototyping, which is a method of generating possible solutions and subsequent evaluation of the effectiveness of the solution in solving a problem, designers can make solutions before analysis. The discussion that follows under is all about the importance of prototyping to designers and their roles in the creation of prototypes which are fully functional for the ever-changing user interfaces. Graphic design regularly alludes to both the procedure of designing by which the correspondence is made and the results of designs which are produced. Graphic designers likewise receive arrangement based procedures by first creating potential arrangements. They then check to what degree the produced contemplations can take care of the issue. This strategy is known as prototyping. The idea of rapid prototyping as it applies to the graphic design process, is to create learning experience in a design assessment cycle that proceeds for the duration of the life of the relevant project. This cycle, which is well known as the spiral cycle or layered methodology, is thought to be iterative, implying that items are persistently enhanced as this cycle in the rapid prototyping proceeds (Danis et al. 2000, p. 17). The rapid prototyping gives the designer to start with the low fidelity such as a paper and a pen, then advances to a higher fidelity prototype. There are two types of prototypes that can be developed, that is, the vertical prototypes with less features on the screen and the horizontal prototypes with the whole screen having no underlying functionality. The prototype has got a good number of profits which includes; a prototype allows th e designer to make a more exact finished item. It provides for him or her capacity to apply finish control over discriminating design points of interest,

Corruption Probe against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif

Corruption Probe against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Panama Papers and Corruption Probe against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif A case of tax avoidance Panama Papers[1] or Panama leaks refer to information based on 11 million documents involving more than two hundred thousand off shore companies. These documents contain confidential information about financial affairs of various affluent individuals and families across the globe. While some of the offshore entities are legal, some of the shell companies have been used for money laundering, tax evasion and fraud and hiding corruption money. The Panama leaks have led many governments to initiate investigations and legal proceeding against individuals whose names were found to be part of these papers. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif belongs to the most prominent and one of the richest families in Pakistan. The Sharif family has been actively involved in politics since last 30 years. Nawaz Sharif has served as a 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from November 1990 to July 1993, and from February 1997 to October 12, 1999. He is now serving under his third terms as a Prime Minister since June 2013. His brother, Shahbaz Sharif is the current Chief Minister of the province of Punjab. Their third generation is also actively involved in the politics. Panama Papers do not implicate either Nawaz or Shahbaz Sharif. However, these papers do identify in-laws of Shahbaz and children of Nawaz to offshore companies. Nawazs children have been tied to four offshore companies, Nescoll Limited, Nielson Holdings Limited, Coomber Group Inc., and Hangon Property Holdings Limited. The companies acquired luxury real estate in London during 2006-2007. The real estate was collateral for loans of up to $13.8 million according to the Panama Papers. The prime ministers children[2] say the money came from the sale of a family business in Saudi Arabia[3]. The Panama Papers have identified Maryam as the joint owner with her brother Hussain of Coomber Group. The three companies obtained a  £7 million mortgage from the Swiss bank, Deutsche Bank (Suisse) SA and purchased f our appartments in at 118 Park Lane in London. Hassan, the other brother, bought Hangon Holdings and its stock in 2007 for  £5.5 million. Hangon, bought property, financed through the Bank of Scotland, at 1 Hyde Park Place in London.[4] Nawaz Sharif and his family used the services of a law firm, Mossack Fonseca[5], to create their offshore companies. They help their clients in creating complex shell company structures that, while legal, also allow the firms clients to operate behind an often impenetrable wall of secrecy. These offshore or shell companies help the owners to avoid any corporate taxes, withholding taxes, income tax, capital gains tax, local taxes, and estate or inheritance taxes, including gift taxes.   This arrangement is ethical and legitimate as long there is no secrecy or corruption money involved. However, this issue becomes questionable when it involves money laundering by corrupt politicians, public officials and criminal organizations. In Nawaz Sharif s case, few questions arise; what is the real source of this money and did Sharif family paid tax on this money? Recently, opposition parties have filed several petitions in the Supreme Court of Pakistan to investigate charges of corruption against the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in connection with Panama Papers disclosures. The Supreme Court has appointed a commission to probe corruption charges against the prime minister. The Court has issued notices to his daughter Maryam, sons Hasan and Hussain, son-in-law Muhammad Safdar, finance minister Ishaq Dar, director general Federal Investigation Agency, chairman Federal Board of Revenue, and the attorney general. The case is still being heard in the court and the court has not reached to a decision as yet. Our paper will focus on ethical issues around undeclared offshore assets and tax evasion and then we will try to reach to a conclusion whether Sharif family can be implicated for tax evasion or not. Lets first examine the ethics of tax avoidance and tax evasion. For our ethical analysis, we will apply Utilitarianism[6] approach and the Deontology[7] approach. The Utilitarianism approach states that ethics of tax avoidance cannot be determined theoretically because this evaluation depends, ultimately, on the quality of the government. The latter approach states that tax avoidance is an unethical behavior, since the result of this evaluation creates an irrational outcome. Despite the fact that the Utilitarianism and the Deontology approaches do not bring a unique result, this examination indicates that, in general, tax evasion is unethical. The only possibility in which tax avoidance would be ethical is when the government is expected to spend the tax revenue in a not good way.   Despite the existence of other relevant approaches on Ethics, these two represent the most studied and examined methods, which usually bring trustworthy results in an ethical investigation, and for this reason, they are appropriate to achieve the objectives of this paper. We will discuss the differences and similarities between tax avoidance and tax evasion, and will depict two recent cases of tax avoidance. Then we will use the theory about Utilitarianism and Deontology, and how these theories can be applied to different approaches of tax avoidance. Before we proceed further, we have to define tax avoidance and tax evasion. Tax avoidance is defined as the use of legal methods to modify an individuals financial situation to lower the amount of income tax owed. This is generally accomplished by claiming the permissible deductions and credits[8].   In 1873 case, US vs Isham, the court gave a ruling that a company cannot be held liable for the activities that are undertaken to reduce the tax burden while following a legal process[9]. This opinion outlines the boundaries of tax avoidance, which is the acceptance that this is a legal way to reduce tax payments; therefore it is a perfectly legal tax structure. However, when an individual or a company exploits the gaps in the tax law and minimizes the tax burden through legal but opposite to the purpose of tax law, then such act is construed as unethical. The offshore or shell companies are a perfect example of clever tax planning to minimize or totally avoid the tax liability. H ence, we can say that tax avoidance is unethical since it uses the gaps in the tax structure that were not expected or perceived by the government. Tax evasion is defined as an illegal practice where a person, organization or corporation intentionally avoids paying his true tax liability[10] .   Tax evasion is unethical as well as strictly illegal. It involves deliberate act of avoiding taxes through violation or circumvention of tax laws. In order to establish whether tax avoidance is a kind of conduct considered ethically right or wrong, it is necessary to make use of the ethical approaches. For the purpose of this work, as indicated above, the Utilitarianism and the Deontology approaches will be applied to tax avoidance. The Utilitarian approach[11] to tax avoidance, the means used to attempt the tax reduction is not taken in consideration. All taxpayer motivations and concerns are not contemplated; the only thing that will be evaluated is the result that a scheme would produce. Hence, to determine whether tax avoidance is a kind of conduct ethically right or wrong, it is necessary to evaluate the amount of utility or disutility it brings to the taxpayer, the State, or the society. A preliminary approach is possible to consider the taxpayer as a winner, and the State, representing the society, as a loser. Following the framework presented, the first duty is to evaluate the gain or loss of utility for taxpayers who undertook a tax avoidance arrangement. For this matter, it is necessary to assume that, for the taxpayer, less tax is always desirable. Thus for the taxpayer there is an inverse relation between its amount of tax liability and its perceived utility. Taken this assumption, and considering no other consequences, when a taxpayer makes use of a tax avoidance arrangement his utility grows considerably compared with his former situation. Therefore, taking the Utilitarianism criteria, for this taxpayer, the use of tax avoidance is an advantageous action and the right thing to do. After establishing that the tax avoidance arrangement increases the taxpayers utility, then it is necessary to investigate whether this scheme also increases the utilities of the State and society. In this case, the State results should be considered as society results, since the tax collected by states is assumed to be appropriate by the entire society, and, as a result, a good for the State is a good for the society. Tax avoidance arrangements as defined in this work reduce taxpayer liabilities and, therefore, reduce State revenue. States are expected to use revenue to pay their current obligations, but also to invest in State equipment to provide better lives to its citizens. However, there not have been any guarantees that the amount of revenue States collect will indeed be used in a desired way for society. In this case, the quality of public administration and state politics are the keys of the utility measure.   So to define if tax avoidance creates more or less utility for the society, it is necessary to evaluate whether this supplementary revenue (that which is paid by the taxpayer in the event he or she does not use the tax avoidance scheme) is expected to have a good use or not. It is not possible to define whether tax avoidance increases the societys utility without defining in advance if the resources obtained will be well spent by the government. As a matter of conclusion, it is possible to settle on the fact that the reduction in State revenue due to the use of tax avoidance schemes led to a reduction in societal utility. Although it is not possible to determine how governments would use the portion of tax avoided, even a little part of the supplementar y money received by the State can be applied in a good way, bringing some marginal benefit to the society. So, according to this reasoning, tax avoidance has a disutility to society, but the extent of its disutility will depend on the specific case analyzed. The question at this point is to weigh the benefit created by a tax avoidance arrangement to the taxpayer, versus the loss it brings to the society, hence determining whether tax avoidance in ethically right or wrong based in a Utilitarianism view. As seen above, the taxpayer views tax avoidance as creating utility and ought to be the right thing to do, but for the society the ethical judgment over tax avoidance relies on the expected quality of the State, and the effective return the revenue can bring to society. Consequently, it is not possible to define in a Utilitarianism view whether tax avoidance is ethically right or wrong, since the consequence of this conduct cannot be applied to all cases, but merely in specific cases under analysis. In short, using the Utilitarianism approach, the ethics of tax avoidance depend on the specific State where tax avoidance is supposed to happen. If the State tends to perform well with the tax revenue, tax avoidance is wrong, because this revenue will bring more utility to the society, even though the taxpayer will lose some utility. On the other hand, if the State manages tax revenue in an undesirable way, the utility created for the taxpayer will overcome the little disutility generated to the society. Using this arrangement will result in the presence of more utility, and therefore an ethical behavior. 44 4.2.2 The Deontological Approach to Tax Avoidance Deontological ethics, or Kantian ethics, points out that an individual ought to observe a moral norm before executing any action. Under this viewpoint, the intention of the individual ought to be in accordance with a moral norm, regardless of the expected and the effective consequences of this act. To apply the Ka ntian ethics is necessary to transform the situation under analysis in a maxim, and then this maxim should be evaluated as if it is a categorical imperative. As showed before, there are three formulations for the categorical imperative, but to analyze this kind of question, only the first formulation has adequacy to the characteristics of the maxim derived to the taxpayers behavior. This first formulation is one in which Kant pointed out that: Act only in accordance with that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law. From this formulation, a given situation has to be transformed into a maxim, and this maxim has to be examined in such a way that the subject of maxim would desire that all actors would apply the conduct described in the maxim as a natural and universal law. Thus to value the ethics of tax avoidance, a maxim must be defined. This maxim should represent the conduct of a taxpayer while using this arrangement, and has to be a general statement that could be used in any situation, not only in the specific case. As previously observed, the use of a tax avoidance arrangement is the legal use of the loopholes or the methods not expected by the legislator to reduce taxpayer liabilities. This scheme is broadly considered within the law, nevertheless it is not a desirable scheme for the States due to the reduction in States revenue and for its anticompetitive consequences. In light of these issues, the maxim related to the use of tax avoidance by taxpayers could be defined as: taxpayers always make use of tax avoidance arrangements in order to reduce its tax liabilities. 45 This maxim generalized the taxpayers behavior as if it is a natural law to be applied to all possible actors. It is now necessary to test this maxim faced with the first categorical imperative formulation: Act only in accordance with that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law. Under this first formulation, the tax avoidance maxim should be analyzed as if a taxpayer would desire that all others taxpayers in an economy make use of tax avoidance arrangements as a natural law. So, from the standpoint of the taxpayer it is necessary to evaluate if will be it desirable that all others taxpayers use the tax avoidance arrangement in the same way it is using the scheme. As a result, in examining this formulation, this maxim is an undesirable situation, because if all taxpayers reduce their tax liabilities by using a tax avoidance scheme, the total revenue received by a State will decline significantly, forcing the State to act harshly against this situation. For instance, this response can go from increasing the existent tax amounts to creating new taxes to support the obligations. Apart from this consequence, if all taxpayers reduce their liabilities[12], no one will have a competitive advantage, demonstrating that the scheme fails in benefiting any market participant. Therefore, the widespr ead use of tax avoidance arrangements will reduce State revenues to an insufficient level, leading to efforts to somehow increase their revenues, the most common way being elevating the amount collected by the existing tax or to create new taxes altogether. As a result, applying categorical imperatives over the tax avoidance maxim brings the particular taxpayer and others to a situation equal or inferior than before, which denotes that this is not a rational maxim and thus not an ethical action. CONCLUSION Since the beginning of the twentieth century, societies around the world have been demanding more goods and service from states. Aside from demands in goods and services, demands for health care, transportation facilities, energy supply, among others, can also be observed. Also as an important issue, there has been a large and constant claim for more welfare spending. 46 Notwithstanding these demands, people in general refuse to pay more taxes to fund this increasing spending by States: They want more from the State but want to avoid paying for the higher presence of States in their lives. But to refuse to pay these taxes is, as a rule, an illegal act. Although people and organizations do not like to pay taxes, they pay in order to be within the law. As demonstrated in this work, tax avoidance is a kind of arrangement in which someone can reduce his or her tax liability in a legal way. For this reason, this arrangement has become increasingly common, resulting in very impr essive amounts of tax avoidance, and resulting in a reduction in States revenues. In view of these questions, States have been fighting against tax avoidance with real persistence but have not been very effective, mostly because taxpayers tend to have tax specialists ready to take advantage of an inevitable new tax rule that tries to combat tax avoidance. Even when States are truly efficient in setting a tax framework, taxpayers are usually more efficient than States. The most common methodology used by States to tackle tax avoidance is called GAAR, or General Anti Avoidance Rules. As viewed, almost all capitalist countries have some kind of GAAR to deal with the taxpayers who intend to make use of tax avoidance schemes. In this regard, the U.S. anti avoidance system is based in judicial decisions that constructed a framework of tests and theories applied to situations in which illegal tax avoidance is supposed to be perpetrated. In Brazilian cases, although there is not a totally o perational legal framework, the federal and local tax authorities have been using this law structure to fight against these arrangements. Hence, from the legal standpoint, there are not any remaining and relevant questions related to the legality of tax avoidance arrangements. It is recognized by the doctrines and judicial systems that tax avoidance arrangements are within the law. Nevertheless, from the ethical viewpoint, there has been different opinion about the ethics of tax avoidance, namely that it is unethical. 47 Society, in general, tends to consider tax avoidance as an unethical conduct, mainly when confronted with cases related to companies like Apple and Caterpillar, both studied in this work. However, Ethics as a subdivision of Philosophy has methodologies to deal with these kinds of questions. These methodologies are known as Ethical Standards, and among the Ethical Standards there are two that represent the strongest fields in the history of Ethics: the Utilitarianism and the Deontology approaches. In short, Utilitarianism tries to evaluate the ethics of an action by measuring the result of this action, while Deontology is concerned with the intent of the actor not with the result of its action. So, to analyze the ethics of tax avoidance, these two approaches were applied to this kind of tax arrangement. This work found an inconclusive answer using the Utilitarianism approach, but a conclusive answer when using Deontology. By employing the Utilitarianism approach, tax avoidance ethics will depend on the expected quality of the government. The arrangement will be considered ethical if the revenue that the State did not collect would not be used in a good and responsible way. On the other hand, if this revenue that the State did not collect was expected to be used wisely by the government, the use of tax avoidance arrangement by taxpayers will be unethical, morally reprehensive. Using the Deontology approach, after applying the categorical imperat ive to the maxim related to tax avoidance, the result is that tax avoidance is an unethical action. This is considered unethical because its use is not a rational behavior, since the final result does not bring any advantage for this taxpayer and probably results in cost without any return. As stated above, the ethical analysis using the framework developed by Utilitarianism and Deontology philosophers offered an answer to the question asked in the beginning of this work, but this answer was not consistent. These ambiguous results, however, do not invalidate the objectives of this research; they in fact emphasize the necessity to consider both approaches together in other to have a deeper perspective of the question at hand. Despite the differences in the results for countries where the government has a good historical use of the revenue obtained from taxation, both methodologies deny the use 48 of tax avoidance, declaring that this is an unethical behavior. Only in the countries wh ere the government has a bad historical use of the revenue obtained from taxation prompts the Utilitarianism approach to indicate that tax avoidance is an ethical action, but even in this case from a standpoint of Deontology, tax avoidance is still not ethical. The use of different ethical approaches can, as in this case, result in different ethical viewpoints, but, more importantly, the reasoning for this result can clarify the question under scrutiny. Another possibility to better deal with these questions is to extend this work by using others kinds of ethical approaches, like Virtue Ethics and Common Good Ethics. These two approaches, by using distinct methodology and theories, can exam the question here from different viewpoints, achieving maybe dissimilar results, but certainly improving the understanding of the topic The Article 62 of constitution of Pakistan requires a member of the Parliament to be righteous and honest[13]. The Panama Papers have raised a serious question about the integrity of Nawaz Sharif and his family. Final Page Grade: _______ [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Papers#Asia [2] Maryam Nawaz, Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz (three children of Nawaz Sharif) [3] http://www.wsj.com/articles/pakistan-prime-minister-upgrades-probe-into-panama-papers-affair-1461344499 [4] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36092356 [5] https://vgsomnews.wordpress.com/2016/04/29/panama-papers-leak-and-ethics-of-tax-havens/ [6] The utilitarian approach, also called utilitarianism, is essentially a moral principle that asserts that morally correct actions are those that provide the greatest volume of benefits over harms for the majority of people [7] Deontology (or Deontological Ethics) is an approach to Ethics that focuses on the rightness or wrongness of actions themselves, as opposed to the rightness or wrongness of the consequences of those actions (Consequentialism) or to the character and habits of the actor (Virtue Ethics) (http://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_deontology.html) [8] http://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tax_avoidance.asp [9] Assaf Likhovski (2008, p. 52) [10] http://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/taxevasion.asp [11] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Muel_Kaptein/publication/228174813_Three_General_Theories_of_Ethics_and_the_Integrative_Role_of_Integrity_Theory/links/543196ad0cf27e39fa9f93ea.pdf [12] http://eml.berkeley.edu//~saez/course/Slemrod,Yitzhaki%20PE%20Handbook%20chapter.pdf [13] http://www.na.gov.pk/uploads/documents/1333523681_951.pdf

Spin-Out Management: Theory and Practice Critique

Name: Yue Qi BA501 1H-Management Theory & Org-FA12 Instructor: Dr. Scott Burke Week 8(10/17-10/23)-Spin-out management: Theory and practice Critique Critique The article The Tensions of Organization Design: Optimizing Trade-offs discusses a new theory of organization design which is the tensions of organization design that managers must face and resolve. Robert Simons introduces four crises in different stages of organizational growth, including the crisis of leadership, the crisis of autonomy, the crisis of control, and the crisis of red tape.To anticipate and avoid the crises just mentioned, managers must design organizations that can adapt over time. And the author offers a number of tensions that affect organization design which we must be sensitive to the need to reconcile the tensions between: Strategy and structure, Accountability and adaptability, Ladders and rings, Self-interest and mission success. The author uses an organized thought process throughout the article that hel ps to develop a clear understanding of the subject matter.The author begins with a background of the importance of this subject and the factors that make the subject relevant in today’s environment: â€Å"New technologies have increased productive capacity, markets have become global, the pace of competition has quickened, work has become more complex, and the capabilities of workers have been enhanced. Information technology, outsourcing, and alliances have changed the traditional boundaries of the firm†. Then the article go with the negative effects an organization will encounter by doing nothing, using previous research from Greiner and Miller & Friesen.Next, the four tensions of organization design are discussed in a manner that is easy to comprehend. Each tension is given its own section that gives a background of the information that is about to be presented and the implications for organizations to tend to those tensions. A crisis of leadership emerges in an ent repreneurial structure when the leadership of founding entrepreneurs is no longer suitable for the management of a larger company and the organizational structure will change to functional structure which is based on specialization and separate business functions.Under this structure, decision making becomes highly centralized. As the firm is growing, the decision making prevents company from contact with customers and market and leads to a crisis of autonomy. Then the organizational structure will be redesigned as a decentralized structure. After the company's growth resumes, a crisis of control arises from a set of problems, such as waste of resource, decline of profit, and hampered coordination. The segment structure, which relies on the new centralized staff groups, like a new top management team, replaces the former structure.Over time, central staff groups become more powerful, leading to a crisis of red tape in which decision making slows down and a lot of time is wasted in m eetings. Therefore, the organizational structure will back to basics and cut through the bureaucracy. To avoid the crises just described, managers must always redesign organizations with changing circumstances. The second one is the tension between accountability and adaptability. There are always some imbalance problems between accountability and adaptability, like agency problem and ethic problem.For instance, top managers may focus on the accountability for today's goal to accomplish a great job while stakeholders may emphasize the adaptability for the future to retain competitiveness of the company. By using governance mechanisms, like stock-based compensation schemes or promotion tournaments and career paths, this kind of problem can be resolved. The third one is the tension between ladders and rings, namely, the tension between vertical hierarchy and horizontal networks. If an organization has vertical hierarchy, it chooses a mechanistic structure; and, an organization with ho rizontal networks has an organic structure.When managers trade off ladders against rings, they also balance differentiation and integration, centralization and decentralization, and standardization and mutual adjustment. The tension between self-interest and mission success is the last one managers should consider. The author demonstrates this problem through introducing the change of the view of human nature in organizations, and concludes that every individual in every organization makes some important decisions: Should I work toward my own self-interest, the goals of the subunit to which I belong, or the goals of the overall organization taken as a whole?If the tension is interrupted, employees may leave the organization and the organization will lose part of its workforce. Thus managers should recognize the importance of the tension between self-interest and mission-based goals to keep the advantage of human resources. In all, Robert Simmons’ work was organized in a way t hat made the information clearly understandable and that helped to engage the reader.