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SUPPLY CHAIN Supply chain includes all the activities associated with the flow and transformation of goods from the raw materials stage all the way to the end user. Supply chain can be broken into three parts, that is, upstream activities, internal activities and downstream activities. Upstream activities relate to materials/services or the input from suppliers [...]

E-BUSINESS Advantages of E-business Some advantages of an e-business are given as under: Personalized service Product, place, price and promotion are generally recognized as the 4 P’s of marketing in relation to traditional offline businesses. However, personalization is the 5th ‘P’ added to the other 4 P’s when we talk about an e-business. In fact, [...]

INVESTMENT THEORIES Investment is the most volatile component of GDP. When expenditure on goods and services fall during a recession, much of the decline is usually due to a drop in investment spending. Economists study investment to better understand the fluctuations in the economy’s output of goods and services. The models of GDP, such as [...]

ECONOMIC GROWTH (CONTINUED) Previously, in the Solow model, • The production technology was held constant • Income per capita was constant in the steady state. Neither point is true in the real world TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS IN THE SOLOW MODEL A new variable: E = labor efficiency. Assume: Technological progress is labor-augmenting: it increases labor efficiency [...]

ECONOMIC GROWTH PER CAPITA INCOME OF SELECTED COUNTRIES, 2004 (IN US $) Norway 43,350 Saudi Arabia 8,530 Switzerland 39,880 Mexico 6,230 United States 37,610 Malaysia 3,780 Japan 34,510 Brazil 2,710 United Kingdom 28,350 Russia 2,610 Belgium 25,820 Egypt 1,390 Germany 25,250 China 1,100 France 24,770 Indonesia 810 Australia 21,650 India 530 Italy 21,560 Pakistan 470 [...]

CLOSED ECONOMY, MARKET CLEARING MODEL KEY QUESTIONS TO BE ADDRESSED What determines the economy’s total output/income? How the prices of the factors of production are determined? How total income is distributed? What determines the demand for goods and services? OUTLINE OF MODEL (A closed economy, market-clearing model) SUPPLY SIDE includes factor markets (supply, demand, price) [...]

THEORY OF COSTS INTRODUCTION The production technology measures the relationship between input and output. Given the production technology, managers must choose how to produce. To determine the optimal level of output and the input combinations, we must convert from the unit measurements of the production technology to dollar measurements or costs. MEASURING COST: WHICH COSTS [...]

THE FOUR BIG MACROECONOMIC ISSUES AND THEIR INTER-RELATIONSHIPS (CONTINUED) EXOGENOUS GROWTH THEORY The Exogenous growth model, also known as the Neo-classical growth model or Solow growth model is a term used to sum up the contributions of various authors to a model of long-run economic growth within the framework of neoclassical economics. The most important [...]

INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS (CONTINUED) COST & BENEFIT ANALYSIS Rational choice is the choice based on pure reason and without succumbing to one’s emotions or whims. Consumers can decide about the rational decision by using cost and benefit analysis. Rational choice is a general theory of human behavior that assumes individuals try to make the most [...]

CULTURE AND CHANGE Cultural Change Although the rate of change varies from culture to culture, no cultures remain unchanged. Small-scale cultures that are less reliant on technology are seen to change more slowly than industrialized cultures and societies. However, nothing is as constant as change. There is no culture or society which can safeguard itself [...]

FOOD AND CULTURE (continued) Food Collection Food collection involves (systematic exploration) of natural plants and animals available in given natural environments. People have been foragers for an overwhelming majority of time, and have only developed other options to secure food in the last 10,000 years or so. Food Collectors Most societies prefer to produce food, [...]

SOCIAL CHANGE Change is difference between two points in time. What was at time one and what it is at time two. The difference between two points in time can be called as change. Time 2 – Time 1 = Difference i.e. change Social change means the changes in the social structure and social relationships. [...]

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Technological developments, population growth, and cultural outlook have put increasing demands on the natural environment, and people are becoming concerned. People in the third world countries face grave problems of overpopulation and poverty. What are some of the key environmental issues? Solid Waste: The “Disposable Society” Think about a day in your life [...]

ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY What is the relationship between environment and society? What kinds of impact do human groups make upon the planet? How have environmental (or ecological) limits shaped human behavior, cultural practices and social institutions? What do developments in science and technology, economic practice and government policy tell us about the changing forms of [...]

THEORY OF POPULATION GROWTH In pre-modern societies, birth rates were very high by the standards of industrialized world today. Nonetheless, population growth quite was low until the 18th century because there was a rough overall balance between births and deaths. The general trend of the numbers was upwards, and there were sometimes periods of more [...]

RESEARCH METHODS What is research? Research is a process of constant exploration and discovery. It is a systematic process of collecting and analyzing information (data), in order to increase our understanding of the phenomenon with which we are concerned or interested. Research is characterized by following attributes 1.  It is based on work of others [...]

DISARMAMENT AND ARMS CONTROL (CONTINUED) Disarmament after WWII The devastation unleashed by WWII again led to calls for disarmament. The UN charter laid much emphasis on the need for disarmament. The UN established a Military Staff Committee to assist the Security Council to regulate armaments and explore means for disarmament. Disarmament efforts by the UN [...]

NEW INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORDER: How NIEO Could Be Achieved? A NIEO would require revised terms of trade and removal of agricultural subsidies and technology transfer from the developed to the developing world. Development aid, which is not ‘tied’ or motivated by political interests, could also help achieve economic development in poor countries. Greater decision-making power [...]

Foreign Policy of Pakistan Features & Highlights No state can live in isolation. There is a need of interaction. The linkages between internal & external environment are very necessary to create harmonious relations among the peoples living in the different regions. The national interests and identity, economic reasons, peace and stability are the motives of [...]

CONNECTION-ORIENTED NETWORKING AND ATM LANs and WANs can both connect multiple computers, but they have different base technologies and meet different goals. ATM is a single technology that is designed to meet the goals of both LANs and WANs. ATM uses the concept of connection-oriented networking. ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MODE (ATM): Telephone companies (Telco’s) introduced ATM [...]

SWITCHES AND WAN TECHNOLOGIES SWITCHING: A switched LAN consists of a single electronic device that transfers frames among the connected computers. A hub with multiple ports simulates a single shared medium. However a switch simulates a bridged LAN with one computer per segment. A switch is shown in the figure below. Figure 15.1 If a [...]

LAN WIRING AND PHYSICAL TOPOLOGY 10BASE-T: This is another standard of wiring scheme. It is commonly called 10Base-T, Twisted Pair or TP Ethernet. It replaces AUI cable with twisted pair cable and thick coax with hub. This makes it cheaper and that ‘s why it is most useful technology of today. It is shown in [...]

CONNECTION BETWEEN NIC AND PHYSICAL NETWORK: TWO ALTERNATIVES: NIC contains all circuitry and connects directly to network medium. A cable from NIC connects to additional circuitry that then attaches to the network medium. THIN ETHERNET VERSUS 10BASE-T: Thin Ethernet and 10Base-T are both Ethernet. The network technology is not limited to one style of connection. [...]

HARDWARE ADDRESSING We need to devise technique for delivering message through LAN medium to single, specific destination computer. Sending computer uses a hardware address to identify the intended destination of a frame. The sending computer also identifies type of data carried in the frame. SPECIFYING A DESTINATION: The data sent across a shared network reaches [...]

CARRIER SENSE MULTIPLE ACCESS (CSMA) There is no central control management when computers transmit on Ethernet. For this purpose the Ethernet employs CSMA to coordinate transmission among multiple attached computers. CSMA is a coordination scheme that defines how to take turns using a shared cable. A computer listen to the codes i.e. it senses the [...]

GROWTH OF LAN TECHNOLOGY The development of shared communication channels (LANs) started in 1960s and early 1970. The key idea behind was to reduce the number of connections by sharing connection among many computers Each LAN consists of a single shared medium. The computers take turns using the medium. First one computer uses the medium [...]

Importance of ethics in IS Information is a source of power. Consequently, developments in information systems also involve social and political relationships– and so make ethical considerations in how information is used all the more important. Electronic systems now reach into all levels of government, into the workplace, and into private lives to such an [...]

System Analysis System analysis can be defined simply as: “The study of business problem domain to recommend improvements and specify the business requirements for the solution.” Or alternatively as: “A problem solving technique that decomposes a system into its component pieces for the purpose of studying, how well those component parts work and interact to [...]

Entry and Feasibility Study The purpose of this phase is to obtain a commitment to change and to evaluate whether cost effective solutions are available to address the problem or opportunity that has been identified. Following examples can be considered to explain this situation. Say a problem has been recognized by a group of users. [...]

Planning for System Development The management should prefer to have a plan for IT development so as to help it to take various software development projects in a structured way. At the very start, planning is done by the management regarding following issues Scope of software development – certain selected areas or the entire organization. [...]