Financial Analysis of Northrop Grumman Essay Example for Free

Financial Analysis of Northrop Grumman Essay The fiscal analysis of Northrop Grumman includes the examination of profitability, liquidity, and equity ratios, its 3 year stock price, as well as a general financial overview of the company. This case study exams their fiscal strategy as well as the debt utilization and possible effects of the fiscal crisis on Northrop Grumman. This document compares Northrop Grumman to other companies in the defense sector by comparing their ratios as well profitability. The paper will provide the reader with an understanding of the financial makeup of the company and its current and recent performance as well as estimates of future earnings. Overview of Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman is one of the world’s major defense contractors. Northrop Grumman is an innovative company that has long history of making aircraft and other products that support the defense industry. Northrop Grumman is made up of the former Northrop and Grumman companies and eighteen other companies that have been integrated into one successful corporation. Northrop Grumman has four primary sectors in its business model: aerospace systems, electronic systems, information systems, and technical services. The company has its headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia, and production facilities across the United States, with major facilities in California, Virginia, and Maryland. Northrop Grumman is the third largest defense contractor in the world. Some of Northrop Grumman’s primary competitors are Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, and L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. Northrop Grumman plans on remaining competitive even with the threat of sequestration looming over the federal government and the threat of an additional $500 Billion in defense cuts above the currently planned $500 billion in defense cuts. They plan on remaining competitive by being able to successfully develop and market their products, to stay ahead of the competition. This is done by reaming innovative, and providing the facilities and people to accomplish these goals of developing and manufacturing new products and support businesses and governments in information technology. History of Northrop Grumman Northrop was founded in 1939 by Jack Northrop in Hawthorne, California. The company produced its first aircraft in 1940, the N-3PB patrol bomber for the Norwegian Air Force. The first production aircraft for the United States Army Air Force was the P-61 Black Widow. They continued developing aircraft for the United States Air Force, competing in the bomber contract in the mid-1940s for the long range heavy bomber contracts using his radical flying wing designs of the XB-35 and XB-49, which were in competition with the B-36 and B-47. This was a highlight of Jack Northrop’s development of technologically advanced aircraft. In 1959, they had the first flight of the F-5 a supersonic low cost fighter that would serve as the basis of the T-38 supersonic jet trainer for the USAF, and later on the F-20 an upgraded version of the F-5. They also designed the US first ICBM the Shark. They continued with development of many programs culminating with the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber, currently the most advanced and expensive bomber ever built for the US Air Force. In 1994 they acquired the Grumman Corporation and became Northrop Grumman. The Grumman Corporation started out in the 1930 was instrumental in the development of Naval Aircraft. They built the XFF-1, built in 1931, was the first naval aircraft with retractable landing gear. The built the widely successfully naval fighters the Wildcat with the first ever sto-wing and the Hellcat one of the most successfully carrier aircraft of World War Two. Grumman continued to develop aircraft for the United States Navy, developing the F9F Panther, one of the United States Navy’s earliest jet fighters. Grumman continued to develop jet aircraft, including the A-6 Intruder family of aircraft for the Navy, as well as the F-14 Tomcat, made famous by the movie Top Gun. Most notably the Grumman designed and built the Lunar Lander for the Apollo program. Key Products Northrop Grumman is primarily involved in four related by also distinct industries which are also their core competencies. They are involved in aerospace systems, electrical systems, information systems and technology systems. Involvement in these key areas allows them to focus on their customers’ needs for unmanned air systems; command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR); logistics, and cyber security. The company is currently involved in a many major programs for the Defense Department. They are producing the RQ-4 Global Hawk an unmanned air system (UAS) that is the only UAS that is allowed to fly in US airspace. They are also developing and producing active electronically scanned array radars for the F-35 and F-16 as well as a multitude of electronic warfare systems like the US Navy’s Next Generation Jammer. The Lightning family of advanced targeting pods is also a key program within Northrop Grumman, with the L ightning Generation four reaching its 250th produced unit. Northrop Grumman is also developing the X-47b for the US Navy, which would give them a stealth carrier launched unmanned combat air vehicle, which would be the first for the US Navy. This aircraft also made history, by being the first unmanned combat air vehicle to accomplish a catapult launch, on 29 November 2012 at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland (McKinney 2012). Northrop Grumman is also a partner with Lockheed Martin in building major components to the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter Program, specifically the center fuselage and weapons bay. They also participate in the civilian sector with the flat sequencing system for the US Post Office, and information systems for the Department of Homeland Security and public 911 services. Financial Condition Northrop Grumman is a financially secure company that is looking to maintain its current status quo. According to their Value Line Report they were given an A++ rating for financial stability. Value Line is also estimating their 2012 revenues at $25100 million, which represents a decrease of $1312 million. Even though the company’s revenues have decreased since 2010, they have been able to maintain their strength in the defense industry. They are still the third largest defense contractor; even with their recent sell offs of Newport News and Huntington Ingalls Industries, Incorporated. This sell off, the drawdown in the Iraq and Afghanistan, and the decreases defense spending has led to a decrease in revenues however according to Value Time, their revenue in 2013 is estimated to be $2,500 million a decrease of only $100 million. Northrop Grumman also carriers a middle grade bond rating of BBB+, BBB+, and Baa+ from the 3 major bond raters, S P, Finch, and Moody’s. These rating show that Northrop Grumman is stable company with an average stock price for 2012 of $63.13. Northrop Grumman Fiscal Strategy Northrop Grumman’s corporate strategy can be explained in the 2011 Annual Report opening quote from CEO Web Bush, â€Å"2011 was an outstanding year for Northrop Grumman, affirming that our focus on performance, portfolio alignment and effective cash deployment continues to create value for our shareholders, customers and employees and position our company positively for the future.† This quote states the overall direction that CEO Web Bush is taking Northrop Grumman into the future. The key to this strategy is Northrop Grumman focusing on performance. An example of this was an earnings per share increase of 17% on diluted shares to $7.41 (Northrop Grumman 2011). In 2011, with the spinoff of their shipbuilding division, they were able to provide, $1.6 billion in equity to their shareholders (Northrop Grumman, 2012). These actions have all been to provide the most benefit to their shareholders. Northrop Grumman is also focusing in on the new strategies that the Department of Defense is pursuing, with over 90% of their business with the DoD and the US government by focusing in on the growth areas of the DoD. C4ISR, unmanned systems, cyber security, and logistics are leading the way as the new focus of Northrop Grumman as they are the portions of the DoD that will continue to grow with the current budget issues facing the Obama presidency. They are also continuing its focus on their aerospace division which is the most profitable, since Northrop Grumman is a prime contractor on the F-35 and the F/A-18, as well as the builder of the Global Hawk. They are also seeing the US budget problems as an ideal point to start pursue the international market place more, like the recent sale of Global Hawks to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Their continued focus of on stockholder’s value means they need to focus on their key priorities of unmanned air system, C4ISR, logistics, and cyber security. Another part of Northrop Grumman’s strategy is making minor and major acquisitions into other companies allowing them to expand their business, which in turn will help increase stockholders value. They will from time to time create strategic alliances, form joint ventures, and dispose of or spinoff companies when they believe that these actions will aid in creating more value for their stockholders. Northrop Grumman’s strategic plan is to continue to focus on increasing shareholder value as well as to continue to maintain their cutting edge in technology and in the defense industry, and to develop systems that will support the DoD new strategies as US forces leave Afghanistan and begin to focus on the Pacific Region. The current fiscal crisis that is gripping the US, with large cuts to the defense budget, expiration of the George W. Bush tax cuts, increased tax rates, cuts to social programs, and new taxes from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Ac 2010, will directly affect Northrop Grumman at all levels. However, Northrop Grumman is in a position to succeed with the cuts and tax increases and the possibility of another $500 billion in budget cuts to its largest customer, the Department of Defense in the event of sequestration, because of the companies diversity within the defense market and their mix of being the primary contractor and a subcontractor on many contracts. They plan on continuing their focus on their core industries needs of the DoD. Northrop Grumman also believes that their business is well positioned within the US government, because of the diversity of programs they are working on like the F-35 Lightning II, RQ-4 Global Hawk, Minute Man III upgrades, next generation jammer, and other classified programs. These programs, with their importance to the US DoD will allow Northrop Grumman to remain viable during the fiscal crisis, and remain profitable. They also believe that a deal will be reached averting the crisis, and allowing business to continue. Northrop Grumman’s Weighted Average Cost of Capital Northrop Grumman has a weighted average cost of capital of 8%. This represents the low cost at which Northrop Grumman is able to procure financing. They currently have been buying back shares, which are increasing shareholder’s equity by making each share worth more; as well they have been utilizing debt effectively. They particularly have been using bonds to buy back stock as well as for financing capital programs. They use the weighted average cost of capital as a tool in determining discount rate and terminal value assumptions. The weighted cost of capital takes into consideration the relative weights of the components of their capital structure. This is used to measure the costs of new capital, and with a weighted average cost of capital at 8%, Northrop Grumman seems to balance in its approach to capital which is a sign of a mature and financial stable company. Profitability Northrop Grumman has been a profitable company over the course of its history. In 2002 their profits were $697.0 million and a Value Line estimate of $2,005 million for 2012, which are almost three times the profits of 2002. These recent profits can be attributed to the operations in the Middle East, particularly the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which have increased profits in every major defense contractor. Northrop Grumman plans to remain profitable during the defense cuts from 2011-2021 by continuing their excellence in their product development, manufacture and support. Failure in any of these areas will have a negative effect on their profitability. They also need to ensure that their contracts are completed on time and on budget, to ensure that with some of the current contracts and political environment that either they do not get canceled, or that they do not have continue on with their own funds. Other things that could affect profitability would be a failed rocket launch or failure of a product that cannot be fixed causing a contract to be canceled. Northrop Grumman’s net profit margin has also increase since 2002. In 2002 their net profit margin was 4.1% and has increased gradually to an estimated 8.0% in 2012. However, Value Line estimates that their net profit margin will decrease to 7.3% in 2013 and fall to 6.8% till at least 2015. The gradual increase in profits is attributed to the wars in the Middle East, where there has been an increased demand on their products, but the estimated decrease will be a result of the winding down of operations in the Middle East and the fiscal crisis enveloping the US Government. Even though their profits and net profit margin is planning on decreasing in 2013 and beyond according to Value Line, Northrop Grumman will remain profitable and thereby allowing to focus on their strategy of performing well for their shareholders. This increase in profitability is in line with their strategy of performance particularly with their stock price, which investors take the firm’s profitability into account. This has resulted in an average return on capital of 9.2%. Their return on capital is estimated to continue this increase rate through 2017 at 11.5%. Northrop Grumman’s EBITA Margin for 2011 is 14.26% at $3,304,000 million which has been increasing since 2010 and should continue to steadily increase even with the future budget uncertainty in the US government. Dividend Policy Northrop Grumman is also a stable company because of its dividend policy. Northrop Grumman offers a quarterly dividend and has been paying a dividend since 1943 except for 1949-1950. The dividend payouts for 2012 were $0.50 for the first quarter and $0.55 for each subsequent quarter, totaling $2.15, with earnings per share of $7.40 estimated for 2012 resulting in a 29% dividend payout ratio. When compared to other companies in the defense industry, Northrop Grumman is on par with its main competitors in regards to a dividend payout ratio with Boeing having a 2011 dividend payout ratio of 31% and Lockheed Martin of 41% in 2011 (Tortoriello, 2012). In 2011, Northrop Grumman was able to allocate $2.8 billion to give back to shareholders by repurchasing stock and through dividends. These strong cash flows in 2011 were a result of the spinoff of their shipbuilding industry, and $26,412 million in sales. The company is continuing its share repurchasing in 2012 with $290 million allocated to repurchase 13.6 million shares, with $2.0 billion left in that program (NOC earnings release, 2012). This along with the $2.15 dividend in 2012 represent Northrop Grumman strength as a company and their resolve to focus on their shareholders, by buying back stock, making it worth more and continuing to raise their dividend. Prior to the 2000s Northrop Grumman conducted its dividend policy like a utility with dividends that did not change its payout year to year. This all changed when Ron Sugar became CEO of Northrop Grumman in 2003. He began a program the resulted in stock buyback programs and was able to double the dividend payout during his tenure. CEO Sugar was able to raise the sales per share, however this did not result in an increase in the share price, which a low of $33.80 (Forbes, 2011). Northrop Grumman through their current CEO Wes Bush has increased their emphasis shareholder returns. He was able to the do by increasing dividends by an average of $0.13 per year and an average dividend of $1.78, since 2007. The 2012 dividend will be $2.15 with the fourth quarter paid on Dec 31, 2012. Northrop Grumman’s dividend policy is to continuously provide a dividend to its shareholders and to continuously attempt to increase the dividend as well. Another part of Northrop Grumman’s dividend policy is the stock buyback program. Northrop Grumman has been doing this since 2010, since they have excess cash from the spinoff of Newport News and Huntington Ingalls Industries, Incorporated, the shipbuildin g portion of Northrop Grumman and recent bond issues to buy back stock, in lieu of issuing a higher dividend. Corporate Bond Policy and Debt Usage Northrop Grumman uses corporate bonds like many other companies, for acquisitions, capital expansion projects, and refinancing existing debt. They currently have nine bond issues out with interest payments ranging from 1.85-7.81% with maturity dates from 2014 to 2040. Its current credit rating from SP, Fitch and Moody’s is BBB+, BBB+, and Baa1. These rating mean that Northrop Grumman has a lower medium grade rating, however according to Moody’s their debt metrics are at the high end of their current class of debt. Their current long term debt on 31 December 2012 will be $3,935.0 million (Value Line, 2012). Since 2009 they have paid of $256.0 million towards their long term debt. In 2011, Northrop Grumman paid $2,692 million in interest payments, according to their 2011 Annual report. They are projecting paying $207.0 million in 2012, which is lower than 2011, but that number is likely to rise at least through 2017. In November of 2010, Northrop Grumman issued a tender offer to buy its bonds back for a total of $2.119 Billion of bonds from its subsidiaries. Concurrently, they have a public offering of senior unsecured debt securities for debt repayment, pension funds, acquisitions, share repurchases, and working capital. On 15 February 2011, Northrop Grumman had a bond issue of $750 million at maturity with an interest rate of 7.125%. Moody’s has not down or upgraded Northrop Grumman’s bond rating, due to a large order of RQ-4 Global Hawks to NATO, and because of a $4.0 billion share repurchase plan. That sale could have a positive effect on their bond rating. All in All, Northrop Grumman has had numerous bond issues, and is currently using its latest one for a multitude of purposes. Industry Comparison Northrop Grumman is one of the top five defense companies in the world with defense revenues in 2010 of $31,181 billion (Tortoriello, 2012). Northrop Grumman as the one of the leading defense contractors in the world and is on par with or exceeding its competitors. Comparing the profitability of Northrop Grumman to its peers in the defense industry, we can take a look at figure 1 and compare profitability ratios of Northrop Grumman with the averages in their industry group. The median return on assets (ROA) for the search and navigation equipment is 7.10%, Northrop Grumman currently has a ROA of 7.45% as of 31 Dec 2011, and their current ROA is 5.72% as of 30 September. Using 2011 numbers, Northrop Grumman is slightly more profitable than the other firms in its SIC industrial grouping. Northrop Grumman is also effective in how they finance their activities, by using a mix of bonds, stock options, and other forms of financing. As of 2011 their total debt to equity ratio is 0.38 when compared to the industry average is of 84.40 is significant because it shows little financing Northrop Grumman is using at this time, however, they are still have a decent bond rating of Baa1 from Moody’s and Value Line has their financial strength listed as A++. The industry average for the quick ratio is 2.00. Northrop Grumman’s 2011 quick ratio was 0.97. With a quick ratio below one, this shows that Northrop Grumman is highly effective at creating cash from its investments and work activities. In examining these ratios; it shows that Northrop Grumman is a highly successful and stable company that would present a low risk investment to an investor. However, it is to be seen what the possibilities of sequestration and cuts to the military have on these ratios and the profits and low debt that Northrop Grumman has during the 2000s. Stock Price Analysis Northrop Grumman is a publicly traded firm on the New York Stock Exchange, under the symbol NOC. As of 14 December, 2012 they currently have 254,000,000 shares of common stock outstanding. They currently have zero preferred stock and $3,935 million currently in bonds. According to Northrop Grumman’s last cash flow statement, they paid $543 million in dividends. As of 15 November 2012, the board of directors decided to issue a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share payable 12 December 2012. Northrop Grumman since 2009 has paid an average dividend of $1.83. They also have repurchased $2,194 million in company stock, and they have been doing this for the past few years as another way to compensate their investors besides dividends. Northrop Grumman over the past thirty-six months has seen its stock rise and fall and continue on that path with an average volatility of 2.0. The low volatility of their stock is representative of a stable company, and stable stock prices, that would attract conservative investors, and give new investors faith that they will receive a decent return on their money. Northrop Grumman during this time has since its stock prices with a high of $71.87 and a low of $49.26. The few really large troughs in the wave that the stock price creates is August of 2011 and fall of 2009. These troughs represent the low times for Northrop Grumman’s stock, but during these times there stock has been steadily climbing specifically after Wes Bush took over as CEO and began to focus on improving the share price as well increase the performance of the company. These dual actions have led to an increase in their share price as well helping the company reduce debt, and increase capital to deal with the impending financial crisis that could possibly lead to another recession. As of 14 Dec 2012, Northrop Grumman is trading at $67.37 (yahoo finance, 2012); they have consistently been trading in the upper $60s since July of 2012, when the stock price was rising from a low of $57.29 in June of 2012. Northrop Grumman stock has been rising because of the good ratings they have received from numerous media outlets, such as Value Line and Yahoo Finance. The rise in stock prices and favorable rating can be attributed to the company renewed focus on its core industries and the spinoff of its ship building subsidiaries. Their performance has increased under the leadership of their current CEO Wes Bush. Their stock prices have also remained stable in recent months, because of the strong cash presence, which is adding investor friendly initiatives such as a raising the dividend and repurchasing stock, as well as lobbying for new contracts, like the $30 million post office contract and the NATO contract to buy RQ-4 Global Hawks. Lastly, Northrop Grumman is one of the more stable companies with an estimated EPS in 2012 of $7.40, down $0.01 from 2011, which is indicative of a stable company that is meeting or exceeding its performance estimates. Currency Risk Northrop Grumman is exposed to foreign currency risk; however they are not at a great risk to fluctuations in foreign currency. They are exposed to the risks of foreign currency from their international operations. They mitigate foreign currency risk by entering into foreign currency forward contracts as to manage portions of receipts from international customers and payments that may be have to made to international partners. As of 31 December 2011 Northrop Grumman had $233 million in foreign currency forward contracts outstanding (Northrop Grumman, 2011). With $26,412 million in sales in 2011, (Northrop Grumman, 2012), $233 million is not very significant, and they believe a 10% change in interest rates of foreign currency exchange rates would not have a significant effect on the financial position or effect their operations. Capital Markets Northrop Grumman will be affected by the volatility and disruption the domestic and international credit markets. Northrop Grumman access these markets from time to time when they need capital to support capital expansion projects, refinancing of existing debt, and for evolving lines of credit. With the current fiscal crisis in the US and Europe, will make it difficult for Northrop Grumman access credit on favorable terms or at all which will have an adverse effect on the fiscal standing. They are at risk, because of counterparty default because they deal with bankers and brokers in the credit market, when they have need for more capital. Their suppliers are also at risk with the volatility and disruptions in the credit markets from the fiscal crisis. If their ability to access credit on favorable terms, or at all could adversely affect Northrop Grumman by forcing them to change suppliers, which could lead to them to be unable to meet their contractual obligations. This could cause delays in programs or force them to find other means to assist their suppliers to support their contracts. Northrop Grumman has also entered into credit agreements amounting to an aggregate principle of $2 billion. This is a revolving door 364 day credit agreement that will help them cover costs over the short in the event of a decrease in cash. This revolving line of credit is based on many rates, including the LIBOR or an alternate rate. Northrop Grumman will be facing issues in the credit market, due to the fiscal crisis in the US, and the instability in the federal budget and the looming threat of sequestration, which will directly affect the credit markets. However, the slow growth rates of the US economy, and economy remaining on the brink of falling back into recession has kept interest rates low, which is an attempt to make credit easier to access. Conclusion Northrop Grumman is a leading defense contractor in the United States that has four main business areas, aerospace systems, electronic systems, information systems, and technical services. They are involved in many products that are used or are in development for the Department of Defense, from the RQ-4 to new electronic warfare systems. Northrop Grumman currently receives 90% of its revenues from the US government, primarily from military contracts. They are also a very stable company that has been increasing their dividends over the past few years, as well as having a steady stock price that has been increasing as well. Their currently a lower medium grade bond rating, rated at Baa+ from Moody’s. They have a strong history of supporting the US military with a multitude of historic aircraft and systems that support these aircraft. Northrop Grumman will continue to excel within the looming threat of sequestration and $1 trillion in budget cuts to the defense budget over the next ten years. All in all, Northrop Grumman is a leader in the defense industry and will continue to be a profitable company during the drawdowns in the Middle East and the defense budget cuts facing the US armed forces. References Defense System Staff (2012) NATO inks $1.7B deal for Block 40 Global Hawks, 1105 Media, Vienna, VA. Retrieved on November 10, 2012 from http://defensesystems.com/articles/2012/05/21/agg-nato-global-hawks-contract.aspx. Dobosz, John (2012) Half A Trillion In Pentagon Budget Cuts Turns Defense Stocks Into Dividend Darlings, Forbes, Inc. Retreived on November 12, 2012 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/johndobosz/2012/05/25/superior-firepower-pays-fat-dividends/ Harrington, Robert L. (2012) Value Line Northrop Grumman. Value Line Publishing. Retrieved on November 20, 2012 from http://www3.valueline.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/secure/vlispdf/stk1700/index.aspx. Mergent (2012) Mergent Online General Company Information, 2012. Retrieved November 15, 2012 from www.mergentonline.com. McKinney, Brooks (2012) Northrop Grumman, U.S. Navy Conduct First Catapult Launch of X-47B Unmanned Aircraft, Globe Newswire. Retrieved on November 29, 2012 from http://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/pages/news_releases.html?d=10014076. Movius, Steve (2012) Northrop Grumman Reports Third Quarter 2012 Financial Results. Falls Church, Va. Northrop Grumman (2012) 2011 Annual Report. Falls Church, Va. Thompson, Loren (2011) How Northrop Grumman Aims To Outperform, Forbes, Inc. Retrieved on November 29, 2012 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/beltway/2011/01/10/how-north rop-grumman-aims-to-outperform/. Thompson, Loren (2012) Northrop Grumman Finds A Formula That Will Work In Hard Times, Forbes, Inc. Retrieved on December 11, 2012 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/lorenthompson/2012/12/11/northrop-grumman-finds-a-formula-that-will-work-in-hard-times/?partner=yahootix. Tortoriello, Richard (2012) Industry Surveys, Aerospace and Defense. S and P Capital IQ Industrial Surveys, New York. Retrieved on November 25, 2012 from http://www.netadvantage.standardandpoors.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/NASApp/NetAdvantage/index.do. (2012) Industry Browser Industrial Goods Aerospace/Defense Major Diversified Company List Yahoo Finance. Retrieved on December 8, 2012 from http://biz.yahoo.com/p/610conameu.html. (2012) Moodys Disclosures on Credit Ratings of Northrop Grumman Corporation , Services, New York. Retrieved on November 3, 2012 from http://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-Disclosures-on-Credit-Ratings-of-Northrop-Grumman-CorporationPR_243144. (2011) Moo dys says Northrop Grummans $4 billion share repurchase authorization wont impact ratings, Moody’s Investor Services, New York. Retrieved on November 10, 2012 from http://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-says-Northrop-Grummans-4-billion-share-repurchase-authorization-wontPR_218143. (2012) Northrop Grumman Corp. Ford Equity Research, Retrieved November 30, 2012 from www.fordequity.com. (2012) Northrop Grumman Corp. Mergent Corp. Retrieved on December 12, 2012 from www.mergent online.com. 2012 D B ratios, SIC 3812. Retrieved on December 5, 2012 from http://www.mergentkbr.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/index.php/reports/industry (2010) Northrop Grumman Announces Cash Tender Offers for Debt Securities and Commences Debt Offering. Los Angeles. Retrieved on November 10, 2012 from http://investor.northropgrumman.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=112386p=irol-newsArticleID=1489734highlight=. (2012) Northrop Grumman, Yahoo Finance. Retreived on October 30, 2012 from http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=NOC+Balance+Sheetannual. (2012) Northrop Grumman Corporation, numerous Moody’s reports. Moody’s Investor Services. New York. Retrieved on November 1, 2012 from http://www.moodys.com/credit-ratings/Northrop-Grumman-Corporation-credit-rating-558850. (2010) Northrop Grumman Announces Cash Tender Offers for Debt Securities and Commences Debt Offering, PR News Wire, Los Angeles. Retrieved on November 27, 2012 from http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/northr op-grumman-announces-cash-tender-offers-for-debt-securities-and-commences-debt-offering-106442983.html. (2012) 3 Defense Companies To Buy Ahead Of A Fiscal Cliff Compromise. Retrieved on December 9, 2012 from http://seekingalpha.com/article/1053621-3-defense-companies-to-buy-ahead-of-a-fiscal-cliff-compromise?source=yahoo.

Images of Blood in William Shakespeares Macbeth Essay -- GCSE Course

Images of Blood in William Shakespeare's Macbeth  Ã‚   In Shakespeare?s tragic play Macbeth, the symbol of blood is portrayed often and with different meanings. Blood as a symbol is developed throughout the play until it becomes the dominating theme. Perhaps the best way to show how the symbol of blood changes throughout the play is to follow the character changes in Macbeth. First he is a brave honored soldier, but as the play progresses acknowledged and trusted by his king, he becomes a treacherous person who has become identified with death and bloodshed, and ends up killing Duncan who put so much trust in him. This is ironic because the previous thane of Cawdor was executed for treason, which is the first thought that comes into his mind when he is appointed thane. He knows that the king?s trust was misplaced; the fact that he murdered his king plays upon his conscience and shows his guilt in different forms. The situation worsens for him after he murders Banquo, who was one of his most loyal and trusted friends. A similar idea can also be applied to lady Macbeth, as her character changes dramatically throughout the course of the play. Hers and Macbeth?s roles can be seen to swap in a way. When the idea of killing Duncan come s into the minds of Macbeth and lady Macbeth, Macbeth is uncertain, he seems withdrawn about the whole idea. Lady Macbeth comes across as evil and bloodthirsty, for it is she who ensures that the murder takes place. Towards the end of the play though, although both characters show the immense guilt of what they have done, it is lady Macbeth who is now withdrawn, and Macbeth who comes across as evil, for the full spell of the witches has now taken effect, he does not believe that the Scots will be d... ...s that he is guilty, when he says "But get thee back, my soul is too much charg'd with blood of thine already.? Of which, Macduff replies, "I have no words, my voice is in my sword, thou bloodier villain than terms can give thee out." After the death of Macbeth at the hands of Macduff, the symbolic theme of blood swings back to the theme of triumph and glory that it was at the beginning of the play. It is the symbol of honor to Malcolm this time. The death of Macbeth is an honored feat that Macduff is congratulated for. As we have seen, the meaning of the symbol of blood changes from honor to treachery, and then to guilt, after this, it returns to the symbolic meaning of honor once again after the villain that changed the meaning from honor to tyranny is killed. Works Cited: Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Ed. Dietrich Klose. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1970.

E-Ticket

INDEX 1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 2. FEASIBILITY STUDY a) ABSTRACT b) PROBLEM STATEMENT c) FORMULATION OF SOLUTION STRATEGIES and d) ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATE SOLUTIONS 3. REQUIREMENT ANALYSIS a) HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS b) SRS DOCUMENT i. SOFTWARE MODEL ii. ARCHITECTURAL PATTERN iii. DESIGN PATTERN iv. SCOPE AND PROCESS v. OUTLINE OF ANALYZED PROCESSES 4. SYSTEM DESIGN a) PROJECT SYNOPSIS b) ER-DIAGRAMS c) UML DIAGRAMS i. USECASE DIAGRAMS ii. CLASS DIAGRAMS iii. SEQUENCE DIAGRAMS d) DATABASE DESIGN 5. MAINTENANCE 6. CONCLUSION 7. BIBLIOGRAPHY ABSTRACT ? Name of the Project: e-Ticketing Vision: The Ultimate motto of the project addresses all the problems that were faced by the current traveling agencies. Coming to the feasibility aspect the current project focuses on 1) Economical Feasibility 2) Technical Feasibility 3) Operational Feasibility ? Deliverables/ Functional Specification:- 1. Current Administrators 2. Current Agents 3. Customers 4. Details of the services. 5. Timings, Sourc e, Destination details. Note: The application should be secured with different levels of access control. INITIAL INVESTIGATION Project Request and Problem initializationThe first step in System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is the identification of need. The user request identifies the need for change and authorizes the initial investigation. The objective is to determine whether the request is valid and feasible. The outcome of the initial investigation is the presentation of results called project proposal. An acceptance signature on the project proposal by the authorized person and its acceptance by the MIS department makes it a formal agreement to proceed with the detailed analysis and design of the candidate system. PROBLEM DEFINITION:This project is basically about the â€Å"e-Ticketing† for â€Å"xxxxxxxxxx†. The existing procedure of â€Å"e-Ticketing† was done locally respective to the travelling agency, looking up and checking the various details of di fferent services in different places was a tedious and cumbersome process. It was even error prone and definitely not a pleasant task to perform. There are many problems involved in the existing system and has the following limitations- †¢ Time consuming (All process was done involving manually). †¢ Lack of integration. †¢ Difficulty in data processing (Since for each time the customer has to manually involve). Changing the decision at the last moment is a tedious task. †¢ Difficulty in viewing the service details. These were the chief reasons for the development of the project. To alleviate the above lacuna and thus achieving better information retrieval, the organization has decided to introduce the use of â€Å"e-Ticketing† FORMULATION OF SOLUTION STRATEGIES AND ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATE SOLUTIONS Organizations today can be benefit from the availability of these alternatives and evaluate how they can best benefit from them in the short to long term. Full tr easury centralization is today more accessible than ever.The traditional centralizing structures are still the preferred options, but payment factories are becoming more critical as the integration layer between treasury and the rest of the organization. Furthermore, strategic outsourcing is lowering the investment and project risk barriers and can significantly reduce the execution time of a centralization initiative if not even leap-frog some of the intermediate phases. While organizational centralization is a concept that is well understood, its practical application faces many challenges that often lead to a slow progression towards fully centralized management models.Transition can take different forms and can proceed at different speeds depending on the corporate organization. Individual business as well as form-wide initiatives, driven by cost efficiency, process integration or performance visibility, generate new centralization-fostering opportunities The use of reference to centralization terminology requires some qualifications: †¢ Strategic coordination – the less intrusive form, relying on policies, procedures and guidelines centrally issued. Compliance control – based on a formal and strict compliance and reporting framework, which could extend to central approval for certain activities †¢ Mandated execution – involving the transfer of some value-adding activities to a central entity †¢ Functional consolidation – migration and reorganization of entire activities into a new infrastructure Over the past decade functional centralization has experienced a strong acceleration thanks to rapid developments in application technology and communication protocols.By breaking down some of the barriers to effective exchange, access and circulation of data and information, the functional distribution of tasks and activities can be designed in a more flexible manner. Business applications can be deployed as single globa l installations and accessed remotely and securely. They can interface more easily with other systems and integrate a number of independent or standalone processes. The combination of these features takes centralization to a new level of sophistication and at the same time makes it more accessible and appropriate to a broader number of organizations.While organizational centralization is a concept that is well understood, its practical application faces many challenges that often lead to a slow progression towards fully centralized management models. Transition can take different forms and can proceed at different speeds, depending on the corporate organization. â€Å"Centralization† is commonly associated with a number of strong benefits that range from pure cost savings to control improvement, full compliance with corporate policies, process standardization, increased productivity and expertise consolidation. Hardware and software Requirements User interface requirements: D reamweaver MX.IDE : Eclipse Database requirements : Oracle8. 1 Server : Tomcat 5. 0 Preferred Technologies : JavaScript, Java ( Jdbc 2. 0,Servlets2. 1, JSP 1. 2 ,Struts) SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS MODEL In this project we are using the â€Å"Evolutionary Model† which is also referred to as the successive versions model and sometimes as the Incremental model. Comparison of different life cycle models Although classical waterfall model is the basic model for all the other life cycle models but it cannot be used in practical development projects, since these models supports no mechanism to handle the errors during the phases.This problem is overcome in iterative waterfall model but it is not suitable for very large projects and for projects that are subject to many risks. This model assumes that the requirements be completely specified before the next of the development activity can start, it cannot be satisfactorily used in projects where only rough requirements are available at the beginning of the project. This model creates blocking states in the system i. e. , some team members would have to wait for a phase to be complete before they can start their next activity. This is clearly wastage of resources and such wastages are rarely tolerated in real projects.In this life cycle model, the software is first broken down into several models (or) functional units, which can be incrementally constructed and delivered. The development team first develops the core modules of the system. This initial product skeleton is refined into increasing levels of capability by adding new functionalities in successive versions. Each evolutionary version may be developed using an iterative waterfall model of development. Each successive version of the product is fully functioning software capable of performing more useful work than the previous versions.In this model, the user gets a chance to experiment with partially developed software much before the complete version o f the system is released. Therefore, the evolutionary model helps to accurately elicit user requirements during the delivery of the different versions of the software, and the change requests therefore after delivery of the complete software are minimized. Also the core modules get tested thoroughly, thereby reducing chances of errors in the core modules of the final product. Further, this model obviates the need to commit large resources in one go for development of the system.The main disadvantage of the successive versions model is that for most practical problems it is difficult to divide the problem into several functional units, which can be incrementally implemented and delivered. Therefore, the evolutionary model is normally useful for only very large products, where it is easier to find modules for incremental implementation. Often the evolutionary model is especially when the customer prefers to receive the product in increments to be able to start using the different feat ures as and when they are developed rather than waiting for the full product to be developed and delivered.Evolutionary model is very popular for the object-oriented software development projects, because the system can easily be partitioned into stand-alone units in terms of the objects. ARCHITECTURAL PATTERN Model-View-Controller The Model Layer The model layer in a Java based web application can be implemented using any Java-based technology, such as EJB, Hibernate, or JDO. In our CoreBanking System. The model is represented as simple JavaBeans containing the data and business logic in a simple data access object. As far as possible, the model objects should be developed so that they have no knowledge of the environment.This allows us to more easily reuse them across environments and applications. The View Layer The view layer of most Java based web applications is made up of JavaServer pages. To facilitate the development of the view, Java provides a set of JSP tag libraries. Th ese tag libraries allow us to easily provide fully internationalised user interfaces that interact with the model components of a web application. The vast majority of dynamic Web front ends are based on HTML forms, and users of such applications have come to expect from these applications certain behaviours, such as form validation.With standard JSP, this is a tedious process that involves recording the contents of the form and populating every form element with information from a JavaBean in case of error. Java facilitates this sort of form processing and validation using Custom tags. These, in combination with the JSP tag libraries, make View development with forms really simple and natural. The Controller Layer Java includes a Servlet that implements the primary functions of the Controller, which is to map the incoming URL to a model object. The Servlet provides the following functions: 1.Decide what action is required to service a users request 2. Provide view data to the view 3. Decide which view to show next A Java developer must provide these actions (models) to implement the logic of their application. What is Model-View-Controller? . Let’s start by looking at how the Model, the View, and the Controller interact with one another: [pic] Figure 1: Model 2/MVC architecture As you can see from the above diagram, the user interacts with the Controller components (usually represented by Servlets) by submitting requests to them.In turn, the Controller components instantiate Model components (usually represented by JavaBeans or other similar technology), and manipulate them according to the logic of the application. Once the Model is constructed, the Controller decides which View (usually represented by JavaServer Pages) to show to the user next, and this View interacts with the Model to show the relevant data to the user. Using Java Server Pages or Servlets alone is known as Model 1. Model 2 was not particularly innovative or new; it uses Servlets to resemble Controller and Java ServerPages for resembling views.Many people realised that it follows the well-known MVC pattern that was developed back in the days of Smalltalk. As such, Java programmers tend to use the terms Model 2 and MVC interchangeably. DESIGN PATTERN Data Access Object Context Access to data varies depending on the source of the data. Access to persistent storage, such as to a database, varies greatly depending on the type of storage (relational databases, object-oriented databases, flat files, and so forth) and the vendor implementation Problem Applications can use the JDBC API to access data residing in a relational database management system (RDBMS).The JDBC API enables standard access and manipulation of data in persistent storage, such as a relational database. The JDBC API enables J2EE applications to use SQL statements, which are the standard means for accessing RDBMS tables. However, even within an RDBMS environment, the actual syntax and format of the S QL statements may vary depending on the particular database product. There is even greater variation with different types of persistent storage. Access mechanisms, supported APIs, and features vary between different types of persistent stores such as RDBMS, object-oriented databases, flat files, and so forth.Such disparate data sources offer challenges to the application and can potentially create a direct dependency between application code and data access code. When business components-entity beans, session beans, and even presentation components like servlets and helper objects for Java Server Pages (JSP) pages –need to access a data source, they can use the appropriate API to achieve connectivity and manipulate the data source. But including the connectivity and data access code within these components introduces a tight coupling between the components and the data source implementation.Such code dependencies in components make it difficult and tedious to migrate the appl ication from one type of data source to another. When the data source changes, the components need to be changed to handle the new type of data source. Forces Portability of the components is directly affected when specific access mechanisms and APIs are included in the components. Components need to be transparent to the actual persistent store or data source implementation to provide easy migration to different vendor products, different storage types, and different data source types. SolutionUse a Data Access Object (DAO) to abstract and encapsulate all access to the data source. The DAO manages the connection with the data source to obtain and store data. The DAO implements the access mechanism required to work with the data source. The data source could be a persistent store like an RDBMS, an external service like a B2B exchange, a repository like an LDAP database, or a business service accessed via CORBA Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP) or low-level sockets. The business com ponent that relies on the DAO uses the simpler interface exposed by the DAO for its clients.The DAO completely hides the data source implementation details from its clients. Because the interface exposed by the DAO to clients does not change when the underlying data source implementation changes, this pattern allows the DAO to adapt to different storage schemes without affecting its clients or business components. Essentially, the DAO acts as an adapter between the component and the data source. Participants and Responsibilities Business Object The Business Object represents the data client. It is the object that requires access to the data source to obtain and store data.A Business Object may be implemented as a session bean, entity bean, or some other Java object, in addition to a servlet or helper bean that accesses the data source. Data Access Object The DataAccessObject is the primary object of this pattern. The DataAccessObject abstracts the underlying data access implementati on for the Business Object to enable transparent access to the data source. The Business Object also delegates data load and store operations to the DataAccessObject. Transfer Object This represents a Transfer Object used as a data carrier. The DataAccessObject may use a Transfer Object to return data to the client.The DataAccessObject may also receive the data from the client in a Transfer Object to update the data in the data source. Consequences: †¢ Enables Transparency Business objects can use the data source without knowing the specific details of the data source's implementation. Access is transparent because the implementation details are hidden inside the DAO. †¢ Enables Easier Migration A layer of DAOs makes it easier for an application to migrate to a different database implementation. The business objects have no knowledge of the underlying data implementation. Thus, the migration involves changes only to the DAO layer.Further, if employing a factory strategy, i t is possible to provide a concrete factory implementation for each underlying storage implementation. In this case, migrating to a different storage implementation means providing a new factory implementation to the application. †¢ Reduces Code Complexity in Business Objects Because the DAOs manage all the data access complexities, it simplifies the code in the business objects and other data clients that use the DAOs. All implementation-related code (such as SQL statements) is contained in the DAO and not in the business object.This improves code readability and development productivity. Centralizes All Data Access into a Separate Layer Because all data access operations are now delegated to the DAOs, the separate data access layer can be viewed as the layer that can isolate the rest of the application from the data access implementation. This centralization makes the application easier to maintain and manage. Scope of the Development Project Database Tier: The concentration is applied by adopting the Oracle 8. 1 Enterprise versions. SQL is taken as the standard query language.The overall business rules are designed by using the power of PL/SQL components like stored procedures stored functions and database triggers. User Tier: The use interface is developed is a browser specific environment to have centralized architecture. The components are designed using Dreamweaver and Java server pages power the dynamic of the page design. Data Base Connectivity Tier The communication architecture is designed by concentrated on the standards of servlets and Java Beans. The database connectivity is established using the Java Database connectivity. PurposeThe generated application is the first version upon the system. The overall system is planned to be in the formal of distributed architecture with homogeneous database platform. The major objective of the overall system is to keep the following components intact. ( System consistency ( System integrity ( Overall se curity of data ( Data reliability and Accuracy ( User friendly name both at administration and user levels ( Considering the fact of generality and clarity ( To cross check that the system overcomes the hurdles of the version specific standards OUTLINE OF ANALYZED PROCESSES ACTOR: ADMIN Process:1 Registration of new Administrator Input: Enter all the admin details like first name, last name, date of birth etc. Process: registration (form) Output: registration success/ registration fail ? Process:2 View Pending Agents Input: All the Pending Agents Process: view Pending Agents (form) Output: Accept/Reject Process:3 View Permanent Agents Input: All the Permanent Agents Process: view all the permanent Agent Details Output: success/fail ? Process :4 Add a new Bus Input: Enter Number, Type, Source, and Destination†¦ Process: Add the details in the database Output: success/fail Process :5 Add a new Bus Type Input: BusType, Id†¦ Process: Insertion of new Type (Id. ) Output: succes s/fail ? Process :6 Add Offer Input: OfferName, Applicable for, time. Process: adding Offer (form) Output: success/fail ? Process :7 Add New Trip Details Input: Enter all the trip details like Tripid, Locationid, etc. Process: New Trip (form) Output: success / fail ? Process:8 Change Halts Input: Enter existing source, destination details of the Location Process: change Halts (form) Output: success/fail ? Process:9 Send Messages To Notice Board Input: Enter Description of the Topic, Applicable to†¦Process: sendMessages(adform) Output: success ? Process:10 Send Mails Input: Agents Id, Customer Id Process: send mails (form) Output: success ? Process:11 Create new group Input: Enter grid and name of the group Process: insertGroupDetails (GroupDetailsForm gdf) Output: success ? Process:12 View all the Buses Input: View All Process: get all the details from Database Table Output: success/fail ? Process:13 View Offers Input: View Offers, Time they will be elapsed. Process: view Offer s (table) Output: success ? Process:14 view Permanent Agents Input: view all the existing Permanent AgentsProcess: all the permanent Agents (table) Output: success ? Process:15 view messages Input: view All the messages that r sent by Agents, Customers Process: view Messages (table) Output: success ? Process:16 view Buses Input: view all the existing Buses Process: view Buses(table) Output: success ? Process:17 View TripDetails Input: view All the TripDetails Process: Get all the trip details like(Trip Id,Timings.. ) Output: success ? Process:18 view BusTypes Input: view all the existing BusTypes Process: View BusTypes(table) Output: success ACTOR: AGENT ? Process:1 RegistrationInput: Enter all the Agentdetails like first name, last name, date of birth etc. Process: registration (form) Output: registration success/ registration fail ? Process:2 View Pending Agents Input: All the Pending Agents Process: view Pending Agents (form) Output: Accept/Reject ? Process:3 View Permanent Agent s Input: All the Permanent Agents Process: view all the permanent AgentDetails Output: success/fail ? Process :4 Add a new Bus Input: Enter Number, Type, Source, and Destination. Process: Add the details in the database Output: success/fail ? Process :5 Add a new BusType Input: BusType, Id,Process: Insertion of new Type (Id. ) Output: success/fail ? Process :6 AddOffer Input: OfferName, Applicable for,time.. Process: adding Offer (form) Output: success/fail ? Process :7 Add New TripDetails Input: Enter all the tripdetails like Tripid, Locationid, etc. Process: NewTrip(form) Output: success / fail ? Process:8 Change Halts Input: Enter existing source, destination details of the Location Process: change Halts (form) Output: success/fail ? Process:9 Send Messages To NoticeBoard Input: Enter Description of the Topic,Applicable to†¦ Process: sendMessages(adform) Output: success Process:10 SendMails Input: AgentsId, CustomerId Process: send mails(form) Output: success ? Process:11 Cr eat new group Input: Enter gid and name of the group Process: insertGroupDetails (GroupDetailsForm gdf) Output: success ? Process:12 View all the Buses Input: View All Process: get all the details from Database Table Output: success/fail ACTOR: CUSTOMER ? Process:1 Registration of new Administrator Input: Enter all the admindetails like first name, last name, date of birth etc. Process: registration (form) Output: registration success/ registration fail ? Process:2 View Pending AgentsInput: All the Pending Agents Process: view Pending Agents(form) Output: Accept/Reject ? Process:3 View Permanent Agents Input: All the Permanent Agents Process: view all the permanent Agent Details Output: success/fail ? Process :4 Add a new Bus Input: Enter Number, Type, Source, and Destination. Process: Add the details in the database Output: success/fail ? Process :5 Add a new Bus Type Input: BusType, Id, Process: Insertion of new Type (Id. ) Output: success/fail ? Process :6 AddOffer Input: OfferNa me, Applicable for, time. Process: adding Offer (form) Output: success/fail Process :7 Add New TripDetails Input: Enter all the trip details like Tripid, Locationid, etc. Process: New Trip (form) Output: success / fail Project Synopsis Technical Descriptions ? Database: The total number of databases that were identified to build the system is 14. The major parts of the databases are categorized as administration components and customer of based components. The administration components are useful is managing the actual master data that may be necessary to maintain the consistency of the system. These databases purely used for the internal organizational needs and necessities.The Administrator, Agent and Customer components are designed to handle to transactional states that arise upon the system whereas customer makes a visit onto the portal for making his transactions faster. The Customer components are scheduled accept parametrical information from the users as per the system nece ssity. ? GUI: In the flexibility of the users the interface has been developed a graphics concept in mind, associated through a browsers interface. The GUI’S at the top level have been categorized as ? Administration users interface ? Agents interface ? Customer users interfaceThe Administration users interface concentrate on the consistent in that is practically part of organizational actuaries and which needs proper authentication for data collation. The Administrator and Agent user interface helps the respective actors in transacting with the actual information as per their necessities with specific to the required services. The GUI’s restrict the ordinary users from mismanipulating the systems data, which can make the existing system non-operational. The information with specific to their personal standards and strategies can be changed through proper privileges. Modules: ) Administrator Module: This module maintains the services related to system administrator who is authenticated upon the system. This module fairly maintains the integration between the modules related to backend database and the functionalities carried out in the whole organization. This module also binds itself with the agent and customer details. 2) Agent Module: This module maintains the information related to the customers who have been signed upon to the system as well as the internal information of the organization. The module integrates itself with the other modules like the Administrator module and customer module that are provided y the organization. This module acts as a major integrator with Admin transactions and the requests for approvals that are raised by the customer. 3) Customer Module: This module manages and keeps track of the details of the existing services. It has interaction to Agent as well as administrator to keep track of the consistency of information form time to time as they are executed. 1. Actor: Admin The Admin module consists of the followin g services: ? Register another administrator. ? View pending agents and Accept or Reject them ? View permanent agents ? Add a new Bus. ? Add New Bus Type ? Add Offer Add New Trip Details ? Change Halts ? Send Messages to notice Board ? Send Mails ? View All the Busses ? View All Administrators ? View Offers ? View Permanent Agents ? View Messages ? View Busses ? View Trip details ? View Bus Types Register another administrator: In this process, Admin submits the details of another administrator with whom he want to share his responsibilities. The person whom admin appoints as an administrator will have the privilege to do all the responsibilities that are performed by actual Admin only if he is properly authenticated after login. †¢ View pending agents and Accept or Reject them::In this process, he can view the pending agents, he may accept the agents or reject. The agents who r accepted will be treated as Permanent agents. Those who are rejected, their details will not be upda ted in the database. †¢ ViewPermanentAgents: In this process he can view all the permanent agents along with their complete details. And the details of new Agents which he made from pending to permanent agents. †¢ Add New Bus : In this process, if the existing services are not able to meet the requirements of customers, he may add new types to meet the requirements of customer. Add New Bus Type: In this process, if the existing services are not able to meet the requirements of customers, he may add new types to meet the requirements of customer. †¢ Add Offer: In this process, a strategy of new offers will be declared by admin to attract customers, and increase his business and thereby withstanding in the competition. †¢ Add New Trip Details: In this process, new trip details will be declared by admin as per the agent & customer requirements. By modifying the trip details according to customer and agent requirements they may feel convenient. †¢ Change Halts:I n this process, admin can change the halts of his buses according to the Requirement of customers and also the agents keeping in view of appropriate halts and timings. †¢ Send Messages to notice Board: In this process, admin can display the messages about the bus services, timings, charges, offers, trips, also the details of performance appraisal of his employees to motivate them. †¢ Send Mails: In this process, admin can send the messages about the queries that were posted by both agent and customer. A proper feedback must be there for every organization to withstand the competition and to be interactive with customers. View All Administrators: In this process Admin can view all the administrators that are appointed by him for responsibility division. and he can all the details of them completely in this module. †¢ View Offers: In this process Admin can view the offers he provided . Because he should delete the offers as and when the time of the particular offer has been elapsed. †¢ View Permanent Agents: In this process Admin can view the permanent agents that r under his guidance. By viewing this module he can have the complete idea that who are the new agents added as permanent and also their details. View Messages: In this process Admin can view all the messages that are sent by agents for enhancements and has the privilege to implement the enhancements if the requirements are really needed. Can view all the messages that are sent by agents for enhancements and has the privilege to implement the enhancements if the requirements are really needed. †¢ View Buses: In this process, admin can view the details of the services and their appropriate timings and their halts and also the type of services and all other desired details. †¢ ViewTripDetails:In this process, admin can view the details of the services and their appropriate timings and their halts and also the type of services and all other desired details. †¢ ViewBusTyp es: Instead of sending messages to each and every account with this service Admin can display the message into the notice board and is accessed by every person. †¢ Logout: Whenever the Admin wants to quit the application he needs to use this service so that the session will be invalidated so that no one can access his account thus restricting others in accessing the Admin’s account. 2. Actor: Agent Registration for new License ? Registration ? Add Offer ? View Offers ? Send Messages ? View Messages ? Book Ticket ? Block Ticket ? Add Customer ? View Customers ? Logout †¢ Request for new license: In this process, new bus station that is agent want to establish should take a license from the Central agency i. e. Head Office . In the license certificate establishment details. Location, date details will be there. Registration In this process, agent can change his password by submitting the specified fields like agent id, old password, new password, retype new password.I f he enters the correct values then his password and he will get new password. †¢ Add Offer In this process, offers will be announced by agent office to implement business strategies such that it will improve the throughput and withstand in the competitive environment. †¢ View Offers: In this process, the existing offers include and also to delete the offers if the specified offer time has been elapsed. †¢ Send Messages: In this process, the total offers include new & old will be maintaining at the agent office. If the correspondent agent office has some permanent customer it can send messages to them. View Messages: In this process, every agent maintain list of messages to which they have sent, the messages how the people (customers r interactive with both agents and Administrators. †¢ Book Ticket: In this process, agent can book the tickets as the requirement of the customer approached by verifying the availability of trips, timings, availability seats†¦. †¢ Block Ticket In this process, agent office maintains details of customers if any one wants to cancel the tickets immediately they can block the tickets by assigning to others who r ready that trip. .Add Customer:In this process, if any customer wants to register with the agent he has the privilege to add the customer and make the services available to this new Customer. †¢ View Customers: In this process, every agent office maintains data about the customers, and their complete details regarding the journey along with his journey details. And also the services he was using. †¢ Logout: Whenever the Agent wants to quit the application he needs to use this service so that the session will be invalidated so that no one can access his account thus restricting others in accessing the Agent’s account. 3. Actor: Customer ? Register ? View Offers View Messages ? Send Messages to Agent ? Send Messages to Administrator ? View Bus Services ? View Bus Trip details like t imings †¦ ? Send Request to agent for booking a ticket ? Logout †¢ Register : In this process the Customer who wants the intended services provided by the agency. He should submit the details required, and if they r valid then only he will be given with one unique ID, Password which he should submit while login phase. If he forgets the password or Id he will be provided with an option to regain its Uid And password, but he should submit some details correctly with the data which he was submitted during registration phase. View Offers: In this process, customer see offers according to that he can register to view the offers. If he is eligible for that offer i. e. time is not elapsed he may bargain that offer. †¢ View Messages: In this process, customer sees all messages that are given by Customers, Agents, and Administrators and may get the required information. †¢ Send Message to Agent: In this process, Customer Registration modifications (i. e. ticket cancellati on, buy new tickets, dates postponement) occur. If the customer has any problem-sending message to agent can solve him. †¢ Send Message to Administrators:If the agents could not solve problems of the customers, meesage are sent to the administrators to solve those problems. Such they may get the accurate information from the adminstrator or send their valuable suggestions to implement by the Organization. †¢ View Bus Services: This process helps to get overall information about bus services i. e. Bus timings, routes such that he may get the services for his desired timings And may travel accordingly. †¢ View Bus Trip details like timings †¦ This process helps to give overall information about bus services And No. f Trips, Bus timings, routes, availability at his desired timings †¢ Send Request to agent for a ticket booking: In this process customer can directly reserve the tickets in nearer agents or from far place. by submitting the source & destination det ails along with the fare details i. e. the way of amount to be paid. †¢ Logout: Whenever the Customer wants to quit the application he needs to use. This service so that the session will be invalidated so that no one can access his Account thus restricting others in accessing the customer’s account. IMPLEMENTATION Program Design LanguageThe program design language is also called as structured English or pseudopodia. PDL is a generic reference for a design language PDL looks like a modern language. The difference between PDL and real programming language lies in the narrative text embedded directly within PDL statements. The characteristics required by a design language are: ? A fixed system of keywords that provide for all structured constructs date declaration and modularity characteristics. ? A free syntax of natural language that describes processing features. ? Subprogram definition and calling techniques that support various nodes of interface description.PDL syntax should include constructs for subprogram definition, interface description date declaration techniques for structuring, conditions constructs, repetition constructs and I/O constructs. PDL can be extended to include keywords for multitasking and/or concurrent processing interrupt handling, interposes synchronization the application design for which PDL is to be used should dictate the final form for the design language. Testing Objectives: The main objective of testing is to uncover a host of errors, systematically and with minimum effort and time. Stating formally, we can say, ?Testing is a process of executing a program with the intent of finding an error. ? A successful test is one that uncovers an as yet undiscovered error. ? The tests are inadequate to detect possibly present errors. ? The software more or less confirms to the quality and reliable standards. Unit Testing : ? The purpose of the coding and unit testing phase of software development is to translate the software d esign into source code. Each component of the design is implemented as a program module. The end-product of this phase is a set of program modules that have been individually tested.To enable the engineers to write good quality programs, every software development organization normally formulates its own coding standards that suits itself. A coding standard addresses issues such as the standard ways of laying out the program codes, the template for laying out the function and module headers, commenting guidelines, variable and function naming conventions, the maximum number of source lines permitted in each module, and so forth. ? During this phase, each module is unit tested to determine the correct working of all the individual modules.It involves testing each module in isolation as this is the most efficient way to debug the errors identified at this stage. Another reason behind testing a module in isolation is that the other modules, with which this module has to be interfaced, may not be ready. Integration and System Testing Integration of different modules is undertaken once they have been coded and uni tested. During the integration and syste3m testing phase, the modules are integrated in a planned manner. The different modules making up a software product are almost never integrated in one shot.Integration is normally carried out incrementally over a number of steps. During each integration step, the partially integrated system is tested and a set of previously planned modules are added to it. Finally, when all the modules have been successfully integrated and tested, system testing is carried out. The goal of system testing is to ensure that the developed system conforms to its requirements laid out in the SRS document. Our project is integrated and tested by using an activity by name (- testing. (- testing is the system testing performed by the development team. MAINTENANCEMaintenance is any work done to change the system after it is in operational. The term maintenance is used to describe activities that occur following the delivery of the product to the customer. The maintenance phase of the software life cycle is the time period in which a software product performs useful work. Maintenance activities involve making enhancements to products, adapting products to new environments, correcting problems. In this be retrieve the data from the database design by searching the database. So, for maintaining data our project has a backup facility so that here is an additional copy of data, which needs to be maintained. More over our project would update the annual data on to a CD, which could be used for later reference. CONCLUSION ? WORK DONE: The â€Å"e-Ticketing† was successfully designed and is tested for accuracy and quality. During this project we have accomplished all the objectives and this project meets the needs of the organization . The developed will be used in searching, retrieving and generating information for t he concerned requests. ? GOALS ? Reduced entry work. ? Easy retrieval of information ? Reduced errors due to human intervention ? User friendly screens to enter the data Portable and flexible for further enhancement ? Web enabled. ? Fast finding of information requested BIBLIOGRAPHY Reference Books: 1. The Complete Reference ——————–Patrik Naughton, Herbert Schildt 2. Java Servlet Programming ——————–Orielly 3. Html Black Book ——————–Steven Hozner 4. The Programming Language ——————–Ivan Bayross 5. Software Engineering ——————–James Websites: 1. http://www. java. sun. com 2. http://www. sunsoft. com 3. http://www. javasoft. com 4. http://www. apress. com 5. http://www. oracle. com 6. http://www. jspin. com

Essay on African Diaspora - 1818 Words

Part 1: Question one is what is the African diaspora? (Who should be considered in the African diaspora? How is this like the black Atlantic and how is it different?). Students should use the Colin Palmer piece to answer this question. In its most recognizable form, the African diaspora refers to the many cultures and societies abroad that exist throughout the world as the result of the historic movement, mostly forced, of native Africans to other parts of the globe. Most specifically, the African diaspora is the blanket term used to represent a confluence of events that led to the forced displacement of millions of innocent people. The term first originated in the 1950s and initial studies focused on the â€Å"dispersal of people of†¦show more content†¦No diasporic community manifests all of these characteristics or shares with the same intensity an identity with its scattered ancestral kin. In many respects, diasporas are not actual but imaginary and symbolic communities and political constructs; it is we who often call them into being.† (Palmer) It is essential to note that the term African Diaspora does not describe any single event, group of people or set of customs. It represents a current state of being for many citizens of the world and provides context for understanding the social structures and intercultural relationships of the world we live in today. Collin Palmer provides great insight into the context of diaspora. He writes that there have been several movements, massive migrations of people, throughout history. There is no single â€Å"diasporic movement or monolithic diasporic community† to be studied, but rather a confluence of people, events and ideologies that span thousands of years, across every continent. Each period of movement, each diasporic stream, happened for different reasons. Palmer’s approach to the African Diaspora begins with a look nearly 100,000 years into the past. He identifies five major streams, with the first African diaspora that occurred as aShow MoreRelatedThe African O f African Diaspora Essay1382 Words   |  6 PagesOver the course of four months, through my African World Survey class, I have seen a glimpse of five thousand years of African history unfold. Before entering the class, my expectations from the course was to learn where did my people come from and how did they live. Within the time I spent in the first class, I soon realized that these two questions did not have simple answers to them. 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Whether in the United States, Europe, Latin America, or even Africa itself, blackRead More African Diaspora Essay2370 Words   |  10 Pagessimple terms, the Diaspora as a concept, describes groups of people who currently live or reside outside the original homelands. We will approach the Diaspora from the lenses of migration; that the migration of people through out of the African continent has different points of origin, different patterns and results in different identity formations. Yet, all of these patterns of dispersion and germination/ assimilation represent formations of the Diaspora. My paper will focus Read MoreAfrican Americans And African American Diaspora Studies1235 Words   |  5 Pages A question that is commonly returned to in African American diaspora studies is how much should African roots be considered in the study of African American culture, and how much influence should African heritage have on black individuals. 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The term diaspora is commonly known to mean a settling of scattered colonies of people from their home country to another place. The study of African Diaspora represents a growth industry. Slavery has been a common theme throughout history. To conquer the oppression and adversity usually set into place for those whom are forced to leave their homeland, resiliency is essential. Humanity has molded and shaped the progress ofRead MoreNigerian Diaspora And The African Diaspora1256 Words   |  6 PagesI am a part of the Nigerian diaspora, one of the millions of Nigerians living in a foreign nation. I moved to the United States at the age of 8 and since then, the Nigerian culture I had known and brought with me has changed and adapted to the dominant culture of the USA. Many Nigerian families and communities abroad are f aced with the same internal struggle of holding onto their traditional cultural values, while ensuring enough adaptation into the dominant culture. 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