Hyundai Strategic Analysis and its Business in South Africa The WritePass Journal

Hyundai Strategic Analysis and its Business in South Africa Introduction Hyundai Strategic Analysis and its Business in South Africa Introduction What is the Hyundai Motor Company (HMC)South Africa and consumer (Target Market)I20 Hyundai car (market offering)Primary data and Secondary dataWhat is the benefit of primary data?The conclusionBibliographyRelated Introduction In recent times, it is sure that the importance of marketing research has increased due to serious competition between companies. That is why there are a plenty of method for information research in order to understand the mind of consumer which can be useful to make the plans and strategy for producing of marketing offering needed by consumer. In addition, through the researching of marketing, the company can build up the priority way to be connected in terms of closes between company and consumer. Therefore, most of companies in the world have tried to concentrate on the marketing area by investing a lot of money to investigate for gaining specific information which affects to increase a profit. In this essay, Firstly, the organisation selected is the company of Hyundai Motor. Secondly, target market is South Africa. (sourse:www.autoblog.com/media/2006/06/hyundai.jpg) What is the Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) is one of the most competitive companies in Korea. From 1960s to the early 1980s, Korean government supported automobile industry through special policies and laws like Automobile Industry Protection Law and A Long term Plan to Promote the Automobile industry in order to boost the economy after the Korean War(1950-1953). While developing continuously with this support, HMC started to export their technique and products to other countries. Their first export was carried out in 1980s in Quebec, Canada. However, their first attempt was unsuccessful closing their plant rather early and struggled to succeed again in India in 1998. Now, HMC is a global company which could survive among other companies in competitive relation: KIA and DAEWOO during economic recession and has continued to develop from both inside and outside of Korea. (A review by Russell et al. 2006) South Africa and consumer (Target Market) According to the table it can be seen below, it show that the growth of rating of economy in South Africa has developed rapidly. It means that for motor company the South African can be consumer marketing area to get a profit.   (Source:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_South_Africa) In addition, South Africa has launched a programme called Black Economy Empowerment, since 1994. This programme is aimed at promote the Black People who have more disadvantages relatively under the circumstance of apartheid economically. Despite some criticism on this programme, it plays a crucial role in developing South Africas economy. To be concrete, it encourages companies being run by black owners, especially the Petroleum and Liquid Fuels (PLF) and Mining industry to achieve economic growth within some years. (A reviewed by Stefano Ponte et al 2007) With this series of economic strategy, South Africa has founded more growing economic system and increasing the black peoples right gradually. From this information, it can be known that the quality of life style of Black People in South Africa among Africa is developing due to policy of government which support Black People. As a result, the people supported by BEE policy might have became middle class who get a confidence economically and the ability to buy products. Briefly, it can be said that this group can be great market if the HMC is aimed at there. I20 Hyundai car (market offering) In mind of consumer, it is sure that the extent of safety of product is main issue. I20 is the motor produced which is one of the most safeties cars in Hyundai motor company. I20 contains of both the condition of safety and modern design including superb interior made from material which feel people comfortable. I20 is the prestigious European National Car Assessment Programme 5 star which proves the quality of safety. In addition, it is cheaper than other motor companies. (I20 may be required hyundai.com/in/en/Showroom/Flash/SRFOVERVIEW/DF_IN_SR_BJ_080313131438.html , no date) It will be able to have a competitiveness of product to survive in business market if it is sold in South Africa. However, the Hyundai motor company need to have other market strategy for getting more powerful endurance. One example is that they put specific brand image and soul into I20 by using advertisement and giving people t-shirt drawn the picture and logo of I20 to connect with consumer. In conclusion, it should reach on the target group who became middle class in South Africa who has economical ability because of BEE policy established in time of Nelson Mandela. In addition, it should be focus on group which has educated under parent affected by BEE. They get a sense of selecting the car designed as modern and up to date and elegant. (Source: Http://www.hyundai.com/in/en/Showroom/Flash/SRF/DF_IN_SR_BJ_080313131453) Primary data and Secondary data Generally, there are three types of information the company can obtain: Internal data, Marketing intelligence, and Marketing research. (The view proposed by Philip Kotler 2010 P.126-131).Three kind of information can be divided into two methods: Primary data, and Secondary data. Basically, the primary data is related to marketing research. Secondary data also is connected to marketing intelligence and internal data. When it comes to the principle of marketing, the mean of primary can be classified as ‘it consists of information gathered for the special research plan’. (Philip Kotler 2010 P.131) The secondary data can be defined as ‘it consists of information that already exists somewhere having been collected for another purpose’. Philip Kotler 2010 P.131) Secondary data can be consists of two sorts of source: internal source and external sources. Examples of internal source are company reports, previous company research, salesperson feedback and customer feedback. The examples of external source are the published research, trade organisation, syndicated research and government source. Primary data collection is divided into four types of collection: research approaches, contact methods and sampling plan and research instrument. (Philip Kotler 2010 P.133-142) Firstly, the research approaches consists of four types of researches: observational research, ethnographic research, survey research and experimental research. The observational research can be the technique to collect the primary data by observing the people in term of action and circumstance. The ethnographic research is to use the professional discover for understanding of natural the environment of consumer. The survey of research is generally the most useful skills for knowing of knowledge and attitude and preference. The experimental research is of collection general information. When it comes to contact method in a marketing research, generally, it is linked to the way of online to pick up the thought of consumer. The benefits of contact method by online are that it is cheap and speed. The representati ve examples of contact Methods are Mail and Telephone and personal interviewing. (Philip Kotler 2010 P.135) According to principle of marketing, the definition of sample can be determined as ‘a segment of the population selected for marketing research to represent the population as a whole.’ (Philip Kotler 2010 P.139) In order to use this tactics, first of all, the company should consider who people to be selected for survey are. In addition it should be took into account how many people will be research as well as how the people can be chosen. Furthermore, the research instrument is questionnaires that it is general way by using phone and online. (Philip Kotler 2010 P.139-142) What is the benefit of primary data? Basically, there are advantages and disadvantages both primary data and secondary data. Compared with primary data, there are a number of secondary data so that it can be of use for the company faced with problem, indicating a way for overcoming of problem with developing of the understanding of problem. (Illustrations of the Secondary VS Primary Market research can be found online. allbusiness.com/marketing/market-research/1310-1.html) However, there are some problems in a secondary data up to whether its information is relevant with problem of company or not. Therefore it is necessary for the company to consider the extent of relevant, accurate, up to date and impartial with the problem faced with company. (Philip Kotler 2010 P.133) On the other hand, the main benefit of primary data is to get the information for target group in the time of makeing new products, which affect the company get competitiveness for winning against competitive company. (Illustrations of the Secondary VS Primary Market research can be found online. allbusiness.com/marketing/market-research/1310-1.html) In addition, this method will become the protection of wall for loss of profit by preparing the situation carried out. From the primary data, the company can obtain fulfilling conditions of information in term of accurate, up to date, relevant.   (Source:http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~renglish/370/notes/chapt08/index.htm) The conclusion For company both secondary data and primary data should be need. Even though the cost of making of primary data is expensive but help the company to succeed against competitive company. (Illustrations of the Secondary VS Primary Market research can be found online. allbusiness.com/marketing/market-research/1310-1.html) For improving of marketing research skill, firstly, the company has to define what the problem is and the target marketing is. In addition, should   be created new idea what the market place is and the target consumer is as well as considering of which product the consumer want to buy. If company build up the creative strategy for specific target market with consumer, it will be able to succeed. Bibliography RUSSELL D. LANSBURY*, SEUNG-HO KWON** CHUNGSOK SUH (2006) ‘Globalization and Employment Relations in the Korean Auto Industry: The Case of the Hyundai Motor Company in Korea, Canada and India’ Vol. 12, No. 2, 131–147, EBSCO (Online), available at (assessed: April 2006) Stefano Ponte, Simon Roberts and Lance van Sittert (2007) ‘Black Economic Empowerment’, Business and the State in South Vol. 38, Issue 5, p933-955. 23p. EBSCO (Online), (assessed: ep2007) Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong 2010 Principle of Marketing, Thirteenth Edition, p 126-142.PEARSON allbusiness.com/marketing/market-research/1310-1.html (no date and Author) hyundai.com/in/en/Showroom/Flash/SRFOVERVIEW/DF_IN_SR_BJ_080313131438.html (No date and Author) http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~renglish/370/notes/chapt08/index.htm Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_South_Africa [/level-freee-rstricted]

New Forms of Employment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

New Forms of Employment - Essay Example These phrases have in common their definition of employment relations that differ from typical work arrangements in which it was normally implied that work was implemented full-time, would last for an indefinite period, and was fulfilled at the employer's office strictly according to the employer's instruction. Typical work arrangements were the model in a lot of industrial states for much of the twentieth century and were the foundation of the structure within which employment law, bargaining, and security systems functioned. Reforms beginning at the end of twentieth century created the situation that led countries, companies, and employees to look for more flexibility in employment. As a result, the usual employment relationship started changing (Galbraith, 2004, p. 42; Houseman & Osawa, 1995, p. 10). Worldwide economic reforms increased competition and indecision among companies and made them to push for larger earnings and to be more adaptable in setting relations with their workers and responding to customers. Slow-moving economic development resulted in high unemployment rate that made it obvious, particularly in Europe, that economies were unable to create a sufficient amount of jobs to offer full-time salary employment for all employees (Keeley, 2001, p. 214). The adoption of atypical employment was facilitated by technical developments in communication and information systems that made it simple for companies to specialize their manufacture, bring temporary workers together quickly for assignment s, and count more on outside contractors. Employment laws created to protect permanent workers also fueled the development in atypical work by making employers pass up the mandates and expenses connected with these laws (Brown et al. 2000, p. 13). So too did demographic reforms in the composition of the work force, such more married women and old people working, who frequently preferred the flexibility obtainable through atypical employment arrangements (Gellerman, 1990, p. 122). Therefore, if to evaluate temporary employees and so-called "multifunctional full-time workers" (those who do most part of the work on constant basis), the former is obviously more beneficial and profitable. Atypical work relations are not new. Work arrangements that did not correspond the model of full-time work always existed, and history is full of instances of peripheral work forces and flexible labor markets where the work is unbalanced and temporary (Gratton et al., 1999, p. 74). For example, in the contracting system of the United States in the 19th century, management provided equipment and space in the plant, supplied raw material and monetary resources, and set for the sale of the product while contractors were accountable for manufacture and hired the employers, paid them and controlled them (Jackson & Schuler 1995, p. 237).

Religion and Theology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Religion and Theology - Essay Example Religion typically appeals to emotional values of a person as opposed to the intellectual values. Believers always tend to think that an emotional reason for believers is not worthy. A person may be identified according to his/her religion in many ways, such as the dressing codes, the speech of a person and their lifestyle. You can identify a person religion due to the way the person dresses, some religion are strict in the believer’s mode of dressing and therefore are against other types of dressing while others do not care about the dressing mode.the speech of a person can also make you to differentiate people according to their religion for instance Muslims usually include Muhammad in between their conversations while Christians include Jesus Christ, this can help one to differentiate between a Muslim and a Christian. The name of a person can suggest the religion of the respective person (Neusner, 304). For instance the Christians name their children according to the names in the bible. This are only but a few ways one can be identified in regard to the religion he/she belongs to. Despite the difference in religions and beliefs most people believe in on e true God. Muslim is one among the many religions. The Muslims believe in Muhammad as the messenger of God. They believe in Quran as the only revelation that is not changed with human influence. Though they agree that there are other revelation but they argue that the other revelation have been altered with time thus remaining with the Quran as the perfect one. The Muslims are tied up by various religious concepts and practices this includes fasting in various seasons such as the Ramadan and alms giving. During their fasting period they dedicate themselves in helping the poor and the needy, this is not usually considered as a charity work thus it is a religious requirement that must be respected by all Muslims. They usually take this as the best moment to be near to God and do his work. Their fasting always starts from dawn and ends at dusk at wich time they ought not to take anything even a drink, pregnant women and the sick people are usually exempted from the fasting because the y can not stay for long hours without food. They always pray five times in a day, the five pillars of worship has always been the concept of worship and they stick unto it. Their religion also insists that one must have a trip to Mecca once in a one’s lifetime, at the least. The rituals done during the trip to Mecca include having a walk seven times rounds the Kaaba, if possible one should make sure he/she touches the black stone, they usually run in between mount. Safa and mount marwa seven times continuous, in addition to the above rituals a Muslim is also supposed to symbolically stone the devil in mina. They not only assemble in the mosque for their prayers but also meet there to study different things in regard to life. Children classes are also held in the mosque, Muslims always believe that a child should be taught while still young. When going to the toilet the Muslims usually carries a jerican of water to wash themselves, they do this to maintain cleanliness unlike m any religions that their believers use the tissue papers. This seems so interesting but attending their worshipping service is more interesting though not easy if you are a non Muslim to be granted the permission. The Muslims worship every Friday at 1.00 pm, before starting their worshiping session the women are separated from the men. They always have strict rules regarding fornication and hence prevent the intermingling of men and women to the greatest extent possible. This is why they usually separates them during the worshipping session to

Statement of Cash Flow Essay Example for Free

Statement of Cash Flow Essay The importance of cash the cash flow statement help businesses and creditors understand how liquid a company is. Team A discussed some important factors about the statement of cash flow. The purpose of the statement of cash flow and how it is used in accounting is explained. The direct and indirect method of preparing a statement is used. Steps in preparation and classification are explained. The team also examines things that they struggled with and also things that they were comfortable with. The purpose of the statement of cash flow Statement of cash flows purpose is to provide information of cash payment, cash receipt of a business during a period. It also provides answer to question for future investors wanting to make investment in the company. The investors will looks at the business cash flow statement â€Å"where did the cash come from during the period, what was the cash used for during the period, what was the change in the cash balance during the period† (Kieso, Weygandt, Warfield, 2010, p. 198). This shows the business economic and solvency which is more attracted to the investors. The statement of cash flow reports has four major categories, and they are 1) Cash effect of operating during a period. 2) Investing transactions transaction. 3) Financing transaction and 4) the net cash increase or decrease during the period. Between the four every aspect of a business transaction is covered. Statement of cash flow documents shows incoming and outgoing cash of the business. The document makes available a direction in which help guide decision of potential investor, reader, or lender understand the company financial report. Because this document is prepared last it will show a company income statement, balance sheet, owner equity statement, as the result, the report adds validity and accountability to the company financial statements. For example, investors, analysts, potential investors, stockholders, and lender use the statement cash flow report to evaluate the financial strength of the business. How the statement of cash flow used in accounting A company will use the statement of cash flows to illustrate cash payments and receipt payments for a specific period. This report shows how cash changes because of transactions that occur in daily operations such as investment transactions, financing transactions. This report will illustrate to investors and managers the level of liquid resources the company has available. Understanding a company’s cash flow will show the source of cash, the uses for the cash spent, and the balance of cash at the end of the period. This report will tie the information given on the income statement and on the balance sheet. The combination information provided in these statements provides a company’s inflows and outflows of cash. The statement of cash flows removes transactions not related to cash events and allows a person to look at the areas within the business that generate cash or the areas that cause a loss of cash (Luft, 2012). Analyzing the statement of cash flow gives investors and managers a history of how the cash earned and how the cash was used along with the amount of cash remaining at the end of the month. The usefulness of the Statement of Cash Flow The usefulness of the statement of cash flow is for businesses to understand how they are dong financially. Businesses use the statement of cash flow to know how quickly their assets can be converted into cash. Creditors are concern about how they will be paid. When a company can produce a high amount of cash, they can pay their bills. The statement of cash flow also provides information about a companys spending habits. Because a company has net income does not mean their business thriving. Knowing the companys net cash will provide the information needed to know whether or not to do business with them (Kieso, Weygandt, Warfield, 2010). The inflow and out flow The statement of Cash Flow outlines the inflow and outflow of cash from a company for a given period. Inflows include the transfer of funds to a company from another party as a result of core operations, investments or financing (Nordmeyer, 2012). The inflow of cash is generated when businesses either sell their products or perform a service for revenue. Theses inflows can range from collections on accounts, monies from investors, or interest on loans. Cash outflow, on the other hand, is money leaving a company. The outflow of cash from a company can include dividends paid to stockholders, bills, or the materials purchased to complete the products a company sells. Steps in preparation There are three major steps in preparing a Cash Flow Statement. The first step is to â€Å"determine the change in cash† (). This is calculated by comparing the current year’s cash balance to the previous year’s cash balance. For example, XYZ Inc. has a cash balance on its balance sheet of $100,000 and $90,000 for years ending December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2012 respectively. Their change in cash would be a decrease of $10,000. The second step is to â€Å"determine the net cash flow from operating activities† (). This step is depends on the method chosen. The â€Å"direct method reports cash receipts and disbursements from operating activities† (). XYZ, Inc. reported the following: revenues of $80,000, accounts receivables $20,000, accounts payable $30,000 and operating expenses of $50,000. To calculate the net cash flow they would subtract accounts receivable from revenues ($80,000-$20,000 = $60,000) to determine cash collected from revenues. Then, subtract accounts payable from operating expenses ($50,000-$30,000 = $20,000) to determine cash payments for expenses. Cash collected from revenues minus cash payments for expenses equals net cash provided by operating expenses ($40,000). This does not take into consideration income taxes. In contrast, the â€Å"indirect method adjusts net income for items that affected reported net income but did not affect cash. † This is done by adding back noncash charges in the income statement to the net income and deducting noncash credits (). Finally, the third step â€Å"determines the net cash flow from investing and financing activities. † This step determines â€Å"whether any other changes in balance sheet accounts caused an increase or decrease in cash† (). This step could include changes in common stock, retained earnings, or bonds. The hardest part in grasping the cash flow steps was learning when to add or subtract an increase or decrease. However, through research I could learn an increase in accounts receivable, prepaid expenses, and how accounts payable is subtracted and a decrease is added (Investopedia, 2012). Increases are added and decrease are subtracted for prepaid expenses and inventory (Investopedia, 2012). This week reflect on the statement of cash flow. Team A spoke about the importance of the statement of cash flow. It is need to determine where a company is financially. It is also use to understand the liquidity of a business. Why companies use the direct method or indirect method of preparing a statement is explained. Steps in preparation and classification are explained. The team also examines things that they struggled with and also things that they were comfortable with.

In the Heart of the Sea Essay example -- essays research papers

In the Heart of the Sea What caused an 85 ton Sperm whale to crash into the side of the Essex, causing one of the most disastrous and tragic accidents in maritime history? Was this a calculated attack? Did it see the whaling ship as an unwanted rival in its territory? Did the crew of the Essex have anything to do with the whales’ sporadic behavior? Or was this simply an unexplainable act of nature’s unpredictability?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On November 20, 1820 the crew of the Essex spotted an unusual sight, an extremely large bull. The men estimated it to be about eighty-five feet long and weigh approximately eighty tons. However it was not only the large sight of the whale that alarmed the men, but it was its strange behavior. â€Å"Instead of fleeing in panic, it was floating quietly on the surface of the water, puffin occasionally through its blowhole, as if it were watching them. After spouting two or three times, the whale dove then surfaced about 35 yards from the ship (81).† After diving the whale began to do the unspeakable it began to charge the Essex, â€Å"Its twenty foot-wide tail pumped up and down slowly at first, with a slight side to side waggle, it picked up speed until the water crested around its massive barrel shaped head. It was aimed at the Essex’s port side (81).† Upon noticing that the whale was going to ram into the ship the captain gave the order to â⠂¬Å"pull the helm hard up† to prevent a direct hit however the order was given to late the whale it the shi...

bpo management system Essay

1. Introduction 1.1 Purpose This document describes the high level design for the CHART/EORS Intranet Mapping Application and the CHART Internet Mapping Application. The purpose of this design is to show the high-level technical approach to meeting the requirements defined in system requirements specification. This serves to identify the architecture of the system and high-level interactions between major system components. 1.2 Objectives Identify and describe the software architecture for the system. Provide  high-level approaches to various technical challenges. Provide a guide for future development efforts, such as detailed design and coding. 1.3 Scope This high level design encompasses the approach for meeting the requirements as defined in the documents CHART/EORS Intranet Mapping System Requirement Specification and CHART Internet Mapping System Requirement Specification. 2. System Architecture 2.1 Overview The following diagram shows the system architecture used by CHART mapping applications.  The system design utilizes web based multi-tier system architecture. The data storage is managed at the data tier by the databases. The main business logics are hosted in the two applications in the web server. Because mapping is an area that there are many requirements related to client side interactions with the graphic content of the application, application logics are partitioned based on the most appropriate location to execute them. Some are located on the client browsers to provide instantaneous feedback to the user. The general system operation flow involves the following: 1. Data updates from various sources such as the CHART II CORBA events, EORS data inputs, device and event editing modules are stored in the databases. 2. When a mapping application receives a mapping request, it sends the image map generation request to the ArcIMS map server. The ArcIMS server retrieves the map data from the databases and creates a rendering of the map and saves it as a raster image file. The mapping application generates HTML pages embedded with the image and sends it to the browser client. 3. For the CHART Intranet mapping client, the application also generates the dynamic content in VML format, which encodes the device and event information in vector format. This enables the application to update the dynamic data without having to reload the whole map image. This avoids the heavy load on the map server when the application scales up. 4. When the images and VML  data arrives at the client browser, the client displays the map to the user. The user can interact with this data on the client. 2.2 SQL Server and ArcSDE ArcSDE from ESRI allows managing of geographic information in commercial databases such as SQL Server, Oracle, DB2 and Informix. ArcSDE provides functionalities to efficiently store and retrieve spatial information using spatial indexing mechanisms. ArcSDE provides a set of API and administrative utilities that help manage the spatial data storage. For the CHART mapping systems, the combination of ArcSDE and SQL Server manages the spatial information in the relational database. ArcSDE adds spatial functionalities without disrupting standard SQL database capabilities. 2.3 Map Server (ArcIMS) ArcIMS includes a few components that will play important roles in the CHART mapping application. The workhorse component that processes the data and generates maps is the spatial server. Managing the spatial servers is the ArcIMS Application Server, which monitors each spatial server’s activity and brokers map requests to the least busy spatial server. The detailed interaction of a map request is as the following: When the ASP.Net page receives a map request, it parses it and uses the ActiveX Connector object model to construct a map request. The connector then sends the map request in ArcXML format to the Application Server. The Application Server then finds the least busy spatial server and forwards the map request to it. The spatial server performs the query against the ArcSDE database, retrieves the data and renders them into a raster image file. The location of the file is then sent back to the connector and the ASP.Net page writes it back to the client as HTML page with the image embedded in it. 2.4 Web Server (IIS) .Net Framework and ASP.Net The web server hosts and publishes content to the client browser. In the case of the CHART mapping applications, most of the content is dynamic content generated by ASP.Net modules. When IIS recognizes a page being an ASP.Net module (an aspx extension), it passes the request to the .Net Framework to load the module and handle the request. The ASP.Net pages are then loaded into memory and executed. The .Net Framework provides many utilities such as garbage collection, tracing, just-in-time compilation that manages the execution of ASP.Net modules. The ASP.Net page modules are where the CHART mapping application logic is coded. The web server also provides security via the Secured Socket Layer (SSL), allowing interactions between the user’s browser and the web server to be encrypted when necessary. 2.5 Security 2.5.1 Network Level Security Network layer security will be managed by the network security configurations like firewall and RSA secure ID. 2.5.2 Secured Socket Layer (SSL) MDOT has a certificate server to provide digital certificates for the SSL configuration. The server name must remain consistent with the certificate. All links shall use the same server name, otherwise, if the server is referred using an IP address or a local server name, etc., the user will see an alert indicating the certificate is in-consistent with the resource. IIS supports the configuration of one folder in the web application requiring SSL while other portion does not. The session information remains consistent between SSL portion of the web site and the non-SSL portion. 2.5.3 Enterprise User Enters Read-Only View Many of the CHART mapping functionalities are for display and reviewing data, i.e. a read-only view. The design allows enterprise viewers and CHART users to access the read-only portion of the web site without having to input user name and password. This also enables CHART users to reach the viewing area without having to enter their login information again. When system receives a user request to enter the secured area, the system checks whether the current session has been authenticated. If not, system displays login screen. The user shall enter their CHART user name and password. Upon receipt of the user name and password, the system checks it  against the CHART II database’s user tables. If they are authenticated, the system stores the user information in the session. The session will be managed in the server until the configured timeout expires. All subsequent requests from the same user session will inherit the same authorization information for the user. 2.5.4 CHART User Enters Editing Area Other applications, like future versions of CHART II and CHART Lite, can launch the map editing URL via the HTTPS protocol. The user name and password can be sent via https request. The system verifies their authentication information against the CHART II user database using an OLEDB/ODBC connection. If the authentication information is correct, the system will store this information in the session. The user will be redirected to the map page. If the authentication is rejected, the user request will be redirected to the login screen to reenter the authentication information. Associating a CHART user with an op-center/default map view area: Based on CHART II R1B3 database design, users are not associated with an op-center; rather, the user specifies an op-center during logon. In order to display a default map view area based on an op-center, an external application launching the CHART mapping application will also need to pass in the operation center name to initialize the map to the associated extent. Passing user name and password in URL request: The mapping site shall have a module that verifies the user name and password, then forward the page to the map page, hence avoiding showing the password on URL address box. At the current time, without the full integration with CHART II and CHART Lite, the system will expect plain text user name and password. In the future, an encryption/decryption algorithms agreed between the systems can be added to achieve higher security. 2.5.5 EORS Security Currently, the EORS security has not been implemented. EORS functions will be hard-coded with security configuration. 3. Network Configuration The design above depicts CHART network configuration as the Internal network, a Demilitarization Zone (DMZ) network for hosting the web server and connecting out to the external Internet network. There will be two firewalls, one between the Internet and the DMZ network and another one between the DMZ network and the internal network. The map server and database servers are to be hosted in the internal network for maximum security. The initial configuration calls for two physical computers to host the map servers and database servers. In the future, if the system needs to scale up, additional physical servers can be added. The Intranet web server can optionally be hosted on the load-balanced virtual server too. 3.1.1 Map Server Load Balancing The design achieves load balancing by a combination of Windows 2000 Advanced Server Network Load Balancing (NLB) Service and the ArcIMS Application Server. The system utilizes two physical server computers. The two servers are configured with NLB. NLB works on the TCP/IP level. Any incoming traffic from web server to the virtual server IP address is load balanced between the two application servers by NLB. ArcIMS Application Server operates at the application level, monitoring each spatial server’s load and operation. When a spatial server is busy, it directs the map request to idling spatial server(s). Each physical map server hosts one ArcIMS Application Server and two ArcIMS Spatial Server instances. An application server failure forces NLB to direct new connections to the remaining application server. When the failed server is recovered, new client connections should once again be shared between the two servers. The two spatial server instances are â€Å"cross registered† to the application servers. As shown in the diagram, Spatial Server A1 and A2 are registered to Application Server B and A correspondingly. This arrangement ensures that when a spatial server is down, the application server can still  utilize the spatial server from the other server to serve the map request and the application server continue to function. Also, this configuration also allows ArcIMS to load balance at the Spatial Server level as opposed to just the network traffic level, which is what NLB provides. This configuration can withstand an Application Server failure, a Spatial Server failure, a simultaneous Application/Spatial Server failure or hardware failure of one of the physical map servers. Using two map servers with network load balancing should provide high-availability load balanced ArcIMS web site. 3.1.2 Database Load Balancing By running two SQL Server and ArcSDE instances with NLB to balance the load, the system can achieve high availability at the database server layer. The database servers are completely independent and share no hardware components. This type of availability is achievable with the standard edition of SQL Server. The two database servers are setup with Transactional replication. One of the two SQL Servers is configured as the publisher and the other one as a subscriber. All the data modification such as insert, delete and update will be performed on the publisher and changes are replicated to the subscriber. Transactional replication can provide very low latency to Subscribers. Subscribers receiving data using a push subscription usually receive changes from the Publisher within one minute or sooner, provided that the network link and adequate processing resources are available (latency of a few seconds can often be achieved). When the web server and map server requests use the virtual IP address on the load-balanced group of database servers, they are directed to the database server with the least amount of load. If one of the database servers goes down due to hardware failure, NLB detects that this server is down and no longer directs database requests to this machine. The remaining machine handles the database requests and apart from a slight drop in performance the users are unaware that a database server has failed. When the hardware is fixed the offending machine can be brought back online. One limitation exists for this design. It happens when the publisher database is down. In this situation the data updates cannot be committed until the publisher database comes back. But at the same time, all read access from the Internet and Intranet server could still be directed to the secondary server. In the case when the publisher data is going to be down for extended time period, system configuration need to allow system administrator to change the configuration so that the replica will serve as the main database. Compared with clustering solution, this system design provides the maximum database availability and performance benefit. The databases that need to be replicated would include: 1. Background map database. Background map data does not change often. A snapshot replication is sufficient for replicating data updates in one database to the other. 2. CHART/EORS Spatial Database CHART/EORS spatial database stores CHART and EORS device and event information with spatial data. They are dynamically updated throughout the day. Transactional replication will be setup to ensure that data change in one database gets replicated to the other one. 3. SDE metadata. In general, the system can continue to provide access of map and data to both the Internet and Intranet users in the case of failure of any one component in the system. The only exception is that when the publisher database is down, the new data cannot be updated into the system. Users will get delayed information. 3.1.3 DMZ Configuration CHART is currently implementing a Demilitarization Zone (DMZ) network to enhance the network security. This entails creating a separate network for the web server computer(s) and separating it from the internal network with a firewall. In an ideal world, the DMZ would have no physical connection to the internal network. This would require two separate map server setups to serve the  Internet and Intranet users. The recommended way to implement is to disallow any access from the DMZ to the internal network, but allow access from the internal network to the DMZ. In other words, allow out-bound connections. On each of the ArcIMS server computers, mount a network drive to a shared drive on the Web server. Each ArcIMS spatial server would write the output raster image files to the location on the web server to be delivered to the Internet client browsers. 4. Database Organization To reduce the dependency and operation interference between the spatial data and the attribute data, the EORS spatial database and CHART spatial database will be created as two SQL Server databases. To reduce the performance overhead when joining data between the spatial and attribute data, the EORS spatial database will reside on the same database server(s) as the EORS database. 5. Technical Challenges 5.1 Map Display Mechanism CHART Intranet mapping application requires that changes in event and device data be reflected on all map clients in a near-real-time fashion (within 5 seconds). To do so via the traditional raster map publishing mechanism will result in all clients retrieving updated map every 5 seconds or at least when event/device status update requires a new map to be generated. When there is large number of users of the system, it will result in a high map server load in a concentrated short time period. To resolve this issue, the project team reviewed various technical approaches and summarizes their advantages and disadvantages as the following: 5.1.1 Raster (JPEG, GIF or PNG) Image This is a popular approach that utilizes the basic image display functionality of web browsers. It utilizes the server processing power efficiently. The disadvantages are that the images have limited client side intelligence, leaving most of the computation concentrated on the server. It’s capability of handling large number of concurrent map requests is limited. Generally, one map server can support 4-8 requests per second. For  CHART’s situation, when an event changes status, if a new map image needs to be generated, it would be about 40 requests per second (200 users at 5 second update interval). Many servers will be required to support the load. With the license fee involved with using GIF format, we will not use GIF for map publishing. Compared with JPG format, PNG graphics do not have the â€Å"bleeding† effect inherent with the JPEG compression algorithm. With the map displaying lines rather than continuous tone images, it is much cleaner. PNG also results in a smaller file, which translates into faster download times for client. The only JPG advantage is server side image generation times. It is recommended to utilize PNG for the Intranet application to produce highest quality images for standardized IE browser while utilizing JPG for the Internet to allow for support of as many browsers as possible. Also, the reduction in image processing time should deliver better web image generation performance. 5.1.2 XML Based Vector Graphics 5.1.2.1 Vector Markup Language (VML) VML is a XML based W3C standard in describing vector graphics. Basically, it encodes the vector coordinates of points, lines and polygons in XML format. The support of VML is included in Internet Explorer 5.0 and later. There is no download needed to display VML encoded vector graphics. It also has built-in support for style sheet and scripting. This makes it possible to modify the display properties and positions of the vector graphics using the JavaScript on the client-side browser. Using this functionality, we can dynamically update the display of devices and events. 5.1.2.2 Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Scalable Vector Graphics is another XML-based W3C standard format for vector graphics. Compared with VML, it requires Java or ActiveX based plug-in to be displayed. Also, based on review of the plug-ins (SVG Viewer by Adobe), there is not as much support for scripting as for VML. 5.1.3 ArcIMS Java Viewer ArcIMS includes a Java Viewer, which provides a Java Applet that can be customized to a certain extent to display vector encoded GIS data on the client side. It requires a download to the client. The Java Viewer reads vector data from ArcIMS feature server encoded using an ESRI proprietary compression format, which makes it difficult to implement special features such as WSMS offsetted road networks because they need to be offset dynamically based on map scale. 5.1.4 MapObjects Java MapObjects Java from ESRI provides a set of Java-based objects for GIS functionalities. It has an extensive set of functionality that can satisfy the requirements. But, it requires a license fee of $100/seat, or comparable server-based licensing. It also requires a download to client machine to run it. 5.1.5 Summary Based on the research above, the project team recommends the following design: Use raster map for background map display (background data with SHA grid map are often large amount of data, suitable for server side processing) Use XML data format to transport the device and event data from server to browser client. Use JavaScript to create and update the VML vector data elements to display the dynamic layers including all the CHART/EORS devices and events. The diagram above illustrates the map display mechanism: 1. Map server reads the spatial data from background database and sends the published map image to the client browser to be displayed as background. 2. Device and event information is broadcasted from the CHART II system in the form of CORBA events. 3. CORBA event listener receives the event broadcast and saves the data into CHART spatial database. 4. CHART/EORS device and event data are published in XML format to the client. Client browser parses the XML into a XML Document Object Model (DOM) using the XML parser. 5. The client browser then iterate through the DOM tree structure and create corresponding VML elements based on the XML device and event data. The VML elements are displayed on the top of the background raster map image. 6. At a pre-configured interval, the browser client retrieves update of device and event data from the IIS server in XML format and update the VML display  based on the updated information. 5.2 Automated Refresh of Device and Event Data CHART/EORS device and event information needs to be updated at a pre-configured interval. They should be updated separate from the background map to reduce the load on the map server. The technical approach to achieve this will be to use a hidden frame to send the request to retrieve updated device and event data and receive the response. The response will package the data in XML file to be parsed into a document object model (DOM) and display the data on map. The request can be to retrieve all data or only retrieve data newer than last retrieval. When the new device/event is received and it requires changing the display of the device/events, the style assignment for the elements can be changed to update the device and event display.   The VML elements will be sent using real-world coordinates (Maryland State Plane 1983). After the data has been retrieved to the client side, the VML map layers can be dynamically projected using the â€Å"local coordinate space†. When user zooms or pan the map, the VML will be projected using the updated coordinates to fit the new map extent without going back to the server to retrieve new data set. 5.3 Inter-Frame Client Script Synchronization The map page has a few frames and the browser loads them asynchronously. Scripts in one frame may call scripts in another frame that may not have been loaded. The approach to resolve this is to add client-side exception handling and verification routine to ensure that the script is called always after the frame is loaded. 5.4 Assigning and Editing Event Location The dynamic nature of VML elements in the browser allows adding and modifying VML elements by scripting. When the user clicks or drags the mouse on the map, client-side script manages the transformation of screen coordinates and real-world map coordinates. The coordinates are sent back to the server’s secured URL where the information is extracted and saved to the database. 5.5 Scalability The CHART mapping application serves not only the Intranet users, but also Internet browser clients. During emergency situations, the load on both the Internet and Intranet servers could get extremely high. The system must be able to scale up to serve large amount of users. The technical approach to solve this issue involves two main facets. As described in the network configuration section, the system will employ network load balancing and allows adding additional hardware in the future. The system should also be able to utilize the caching feature of IIS and ASP.Net to scale up without significantly increase hardware investment. ASP.Net allows caching configuration for individual page modules, such as whether the page is cached and how long it is cached. After the application is deployed, these caching settings can be configured on the web pages. For example, if it is determined that the Internet mapping can be up to 3 seconds late, by setting caching time to 3 seconds, all requests from the Internet will receive a cached response without creating additional load on the map and database server. 5.6 Exception Management and Recovery CHART II keeps its clients updated via a push model using the CORBA Event Service. The Event Service does not guarantee delivery; therefore it is possible for event data to be lost/dropped (although in practice, this is rare). To account for this possibility, the CHART Web Event Listener will refresh its information about the status of devices and traffic events from CHART II at a configurable interval. Also, each time the Event Listener is started, it will retrieve all relevant data from CHART II. Thus, the update model becomes a push model with an occasional pull to be safe. This process will be used to recover from the following situations: 1. The Event Listener was down and did not receive new data from CHART II. 2. CHART II CORBA event(s) occasionally dropped while the Event Listener is up and running. Another likely scenario is that the CHART II server or service(s) restart. After a typical restart, the CORBA Event Service CORBA objects will be  recreated with the same characteristics allowing the Event Listener to continue to automatically receive CHART II CORBA events. As the CHART II services will not be processing events during this time, no events are likely to be missed. Therefore, the Event Listener does not need to do anything special to handle a CHART II server or service(s) restart. Sometimes CHART II maintenance will require that new (and different) Event Service CORBA objects be created. This might happen during a CHART II upgrade, for example. In this case, the Event Listener will need to be restarted so that it can pick up the new objects. Since this type of maintenance does not occur often and the Event Listener restarting is fast, the restart can be handled as part of the CHART II upgrade procedures. 5.7 Integration with ASP Code in EORS and CHART Web Application The CHART Intranet Mapping, replacing the existing EORS mapping application, will still be launched as a separate window by a URL string with a few parameters identifying the district, view type, etc. The impact on EORS web application should be limited to modifying the URL links. The current CHART Internet Mapping site uses â€Å"include† statement to include site navigation pages from upper level CHART web site’s pages. When upgrading Internet Mapping to ASP.Net, â€Å"include† statement is no longer used. Instead, a ServerXMLHTTP request can be formulated to request the text from the included ASP page and merge them into the mapping ASP.Net pages. The limitation of this implementation would be that the ASP.Net application couldn’t share the session and application variables from the ASP application. Currently, there are only a couple of them, such as database connection string. The ASP.Net mapping application will maintain a separate set of application variables. 6. User Interface Design 6.1 Intranet Map Site User Interface Design Here following is a high-level frame structure for the Intranet mapping site: 1. AppFrame is the highest-level frame that includes all the child frames. On the top of the page, there will be the title frame, which will host the  CHART icon. Also inside the title frame will be a group of tabs, such as Traffic, Roadway Weather, Message Sign, etc. 2. ToolsFrame hosts the map navigation and other map related tools. The ToolsFrame will also host menu system that allows the user to bring up data and other detailed information. 3. HiddenFrame will be used to submit and receive information from the server. 4. ContentFrame is further divided to a map frame on the left and a data frame on the right. The user shall be able rearrange the frame boundary to give more space to the map or data area. Data frame will display data as well as legend, layer control and other items when needed. 5. PromptFrame will display the current tool selected and instructions for user activities. Here is a screen shot of the preliminary user interface design: 6.2 Internet Map Site User Interface The overall CHART Internet mapping web site design will stay the same as current web site. The site will stay as part of the overall CHART web site by including the CHART navigation menus into the site. The site will not be using frames; instead, all elements will be laid out as HTML tables. 7. References 1. CHART/EORS Intranet Mapping System Requirement Specification 2. CHART Internet Mapping System Requirement Specification 3. Security and ArcIMS – ESRI White Paper 4. ArcSDE Configuration and Tuning Guide for Microsoft SQL Server – ESRI White Paper 5. ArcIMS 4.0 High-Availability Configuration Testing Using Network Load Balancing –ESRI White Paper 6. Vector Markup Language (VML) Specification – W3C 8. Terms and Glossary ArcXML – ESRI’s map request/response specification in XML format CORBA – Common Object Request Broker Architecture CSS – Cascading Style Sheets DOM – Document Object Model ESRI – Environment System Research Institute GIS – Geographic Information System GML – Geography Markup Language NLB – Network Load Balancing SSL – Secure Socket Layer SVG – Scalable Vector Graphics VML – Vector Markup Language XML – Extensible Markup Language

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