Librarysystem

A PROPOSED COMPUTERIZED LIBRARY SYSTEM USING RFID FOR BARANGKA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Informatics International College Cainta, Rizal In Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for Thesis A MEJIA, JEMWARD ALLEN M. AMERICA, EDMAN PAUL R. LUMBAO, JONALYN D. FEBRUARY 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS THESIS APPROVAL SHEET †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. iii DEDICATION †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ iv ABSTRACT †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ v TABLE OF CONTENTS †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. vi LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1 Background of the Study †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 Statement of the Problem †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5 Scope and Limitation †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 6 Significance of the Study †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦9 Research Hypothesis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦10 CHAPTER 2 EVALUATION DESIGN AND FRAMEWORK †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 11 Theoretical Framework †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 12 Conceptual Framework †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦14 The Variables, their Definitions and Importance to the Study †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦15 Definition of Terms †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 18 Methods of research †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 19 Locale of the Study †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦20 Participants of the Study †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 21 Sources of Data †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 22 Procedure of the Study †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 24 Design Strategy †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 25 Statistical Treatment †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 26 CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 27 CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 28 CHAPTER 6 OUTPUT †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 9 BIBLIOGRAPHY †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 130 APPENDICES †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 131 CURRICULUM VITAE †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦140 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We would like to extend our gratitude to the following staff and students of Barangka Elemen tary School who helped us while working on this proposal: Ms. Lourdes Larios, Ms. Violeta Dig, Ms. Aizaleen Marcelo, Jan Bernice Reign Cruz, Arch Gabriel Tesorero, Katya Santos, Patricia Kaye Cervantes, Reylaldo Jose, Kimberlyn Gumaro, Rudelyn Dingding, Eunice Roxas, Claire Erika Samsona, Maria Angelica Ronsairo, Rica Mae Guttierez and Jim Arron Abanos.We would also like to thank our adviser, Ms. Mylene Alvaran who guided us throughout the whole process of this study. To our families who gifted us with education, the rest of our Informatics Marikina family, and last but not the least, to our Lord God. With Him all things are possible. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The library is always been a â€Å"study room† for the people especially for the students who wants to make studies and researches. We simply define library as a room or building containing a collection of books. Before the advent of omputers, libraries usually used a card catalog to index all the items inside it. For acad emic libraries, if the students want to borrow a book, they should have their library card and they should give it to the librarian for the security of the books and for special libraries you should be member of that institution, organization or association. There are three types of libraries. First public libraries, it describes as large main branch and opens to the public and it is maintained by the local authorities like National Library here in the Philippines.It has the most extensive reference collection (dictionaries, encyclopedia, indexes, historical documents of the Philippines, etc. ) and provides resources such as internet access and databases on CD-ROM. Second type of library is the College Libraries. This type is what all schools have. Sometimes it’s open to the public also and its collection reflects the academic majors and specialties of the school. Lastly, the Special Libraries, its being run by corporations, associations or governments or specialized in a par ticular subject.The existence of a library for every schools, organizations, institution and associations come with much importance, like it can be considered as a store-house of knowledge and renders a great service to the society. It plays a very important role in promoting the progress of knowledge. Foe people who love read books which also called â€Å"bookworms† but can’t afford to buy books, library is the best for them, also a best help especially for students. It is also a very useful for rural youths to spend their time reading books instead of doing evil habits such as gambling and loitering.Nowadays library has been evolving to automated library system (ALS) or also known as Library Management System (LMS). It is use to track all items inside the library and monitor who have borrowed and return books. It uses a software or program that interact with the database and has two graphical user interfaces (GUI), one for user and one for administrator. It is cost e ffective and space saving alternative to other document shelving, and addressing the need for secure and automated document and record handling. Radio-frequency technology has come far from its roots at the beginning of the twentieth  century.Russian physicist  Leon  Ã‚   Theremin is commonly attributed as having created the first RFID device in 1946 (Scanlon, 2003). While Theremin may be recognized for the first successful application of the technology, RFID has earlier roots. RFID is a combination of radar and radio broadcast technology. Radar was developed in the  U. S. in the 1920s (Scanlon, 2003). Scholars noted the relationship between electricity and magnetism, which is a foundation of radio broadcasting, at the beginning of the nineteenth century (Romagnosi, 2009).Harry Stockman wrote a seminal paper in 1948, identifying the vast amount of research and development still needed before â€Å"reflected-power communications† could be used in applications. Interest in implementing RFID in libraries is on the rise (Dorman, 2003). RFID technology has been used to raise efficiency in transport, business and theft-monitoring systems. The evolution of RFID described below suggests that libraries may well benefit from widespread use of this technology. Background of the StudyBarangka Elementary school is located at General Julian Cruz Street, Bonifacio Avenue, Barangka. Marikina City. The school is currently has more than 1000+ book titles and copies. With only a librarian and a teacher librarian handling all transactions thru manual recording and processing, book borrowing and returning as well as master list updating has always been a tedious task. This has been causing delays in processing, organization, and inventory of currently available, currently borrowed, damaged, donated and phased-out books and consumes a lot of time.Other than those problems it can also came up with the result of data mishandling, book records are not updated and lots o f borrowers will have a time waiting for one borrower to another, librarian will be more confused if there will come a time were all students are borrowing a book all at the same time. T0he researchers came up with the idea of developing a Library System that would improve transaction efficiency. Being part of an institution where identification is used not just for efficiency but for safety as well, the proponents decided to make the usage of the library system but the library data files/ documents more secured.The library system may only be used by authorized staff, but it would be better if the library itself was restricted for those who are supposed to benefit from it. By having the need to identify themselves with the use of RFID, everyone who borrows a book in the library is enlisted. Also, it will help the library staff to be able to monitor and distinguish the days and books the library is most used and the statistical details of the library. Statement of the Problem Current Library System of Barangka Elementary School (Manual Library System) 1. The system is inconvenient to use 2.The security of books is questionable 3. Take more effort and time consuming in listing and checking all the books 4. The librarians don’t have any idea about the circulating books. 5. The students and professors don’t know the books information and availability. 6. Sometimes the librarian didn’t know the total amount of fines and date of dues of the students. 7. The librarian can’t have a reports of who borrowed and returned books. 8. The student cant reserve book/s. 9. Sometimes the books were being borrowed by students for more than 2 days. 10. The books were damaged after returning HypothesisThere is no significant difference between the perceptions of the teachers, students and the librarian concerning the Library System using RFID. Scope and Limitation The study took place at the Barangka Elementary School. The researchers conduct a study ins ide the school and ask for permission to gather some information about their library. After that the researchers went to the library and have some study, they went to the Barangka Elementary School on February 22, 2013 to gather some information for the proposed library system using RFID and gathered these following variables to suits the proposal system.These variables that the researchers gathered are student name, address, contact details, and book ID for further explanation student name is needed for the librarian to know who is the borrower and identify the borrower, Address to identify the borrowers current location, contact details to contact the borrower if there is some problems about the book and book id to identify the number of the book and the number of its copy when it is being borrowed. After gathering the variables needed, the researcher needs some programming language in order to use the gathered variables as data to the proposed system.The VB6. 0 or shall we say Vi sual Basic 6. 0 or Visual Basic. Net is being chosen by the researcher as programming language. The researcher also needs some hardware for the proposed system in order to make some testing and runs. For the researchers they choose desktop and laptop computer which is currently installed with vb. 6. 0 and running to an operating system of Windows XP and Windows 7. Significance of the Study In this section, the study benefits the following people inside and outside the organization: 1. Librarian Once the new I.T solution is implemented in the library, the librarian would be able to easily monitor more books that are available or unavailable. He/she can easily identify the borrower with the use of RFID. This means faster access to information and faster processing of book borrowing. 2. Students and faculty Students and faculty members can benefit from this study because with the new automated system, they would be able to easily find the books they want to barrow. They would also bene fit from faster processing of book borrowing since the library staff would be able to easily track borrowers. . School administration The school administration will also benefit from this study because the library system also brings about more secure ways of managing the school’s library collection. This means that the possibility of losing books due to lost borrowing records and security problems will be minimized with the proper implementation of the new system. This new system serves as a good way to protect the school’s investment in library holdings. Chapter 2 EVALUATION DESIGN AND FRAMEWORK Theoretical Framework The association of research libraries (ARL) in North America has collected tatistics related to its member’s libraries for many years ago. These statistics focused on â€Å"input† measure size of collections or number or staff. Subsequently, ARL considered â€Å"Output† measures such as circulation statistics. Shim and Kantor (1996) u sed data envelope Analysis (DEA) to evaluate digital libraries. DEA measures the relative efficiencies of Organizations (â€Å"decision making units†), given multiple inputs and outputs the measurement of efficiency can apply to a single institution over time, or across multiple institutions.As shim and Kantor state â€Å" an efficient library is defined as the one which produces the same output with less input or, for a given input, produces more output. † While this approach advance the notion of evaluation, Kyrillido (2002) points out that the relationships between inputs and outputs within a library are not necessarily clear. Additionally, Shim and Kantor indicate that libraries must describe how inputs are transformed into services, rather than outputs. ARL has acknowledged this need through its New Measures Initiative, which emphasizes outcomes, impacts, and quality, based on user satisfaction.ARL‘s E-metrics projects represents an effort to define and coll ect data on the use and value of electronic resources. ARL’s LibQual+â„ ¢ attempts to measure overall service quality in academic research libraries (Cook et al. , 2001). LibQual+â„ ¢ arose from SERVQUAL, an instrument, based on the gap theory of service quality, which was used to assess private sector institutions. ARL intends to extend LibQual+â„ ¢ to evaluate digital libraries, through the National Science Foundation’s National SMETE Digital Library (NSDL) program.The affirmed Kantor, along with Saracevic, (1997a; 1997b) conducted a long term study to develop a taxonomy of user values for library services and a methodology for applying the taxonomy. They also provide arguments for the importance of used-based evaluation include Norlin (2000) who evaluated user satisfaction regarding references services with surveys to gather demographic data, unobtrusive observations of the delivery of reference services, and follow-up focus groups. Hill et al. (1997) used multiple methods to obtain feedback regarding the Alexandria Digital Library (ADL) at the University of California, Santa Barbara.The study adopted several methods to evaluate user views including: online surveys, ethnographic studies, focus groups, and user comments. The goal of this study was not to compare the value of the library system to its costs, but rather to incorporate the user feedback in the ongoing design and implementation of the ADL. Talbot et al. (1998) employed a Likert type survey to evaluate patron satisfaction with various library services at the University of California, San Diego. This survey was conducted in response to a comprehensive change in the library management’s philosophy.Chris Borgman at UCLA has written extensively regarding digital libraries from user-centric perspective. One of her recent works, Borgman (2000), provides a multi-disciplinary, holistic, human- centered perspective on the global information infrastructure. Many economists inc luding Hal Varian, Malcolm Getz, and Jeff Mackie-Manson have examined the evaluation of libraries and information. Mackie-Manson, and the others, examined the issue of electronic journals pricing during the Pricing Access to Knowledge (PEAK) 2000 conference.There are numbers of studies that adopt multi-attribute, stated-preference techniques, or some variant of them. Crawford (1994) describes a multi-attribute, stated-preference application for evaluating reference within academic libraries and provides an overview of an earlier study using similar techniques (Halperin and Stradon 1980). Harless and Allen (1999) utilize contingent valuation methodology (CVM), a subset of multi-attribute, stated –preference techniques, to measure patron benefits of reference desk services.Basically, CVM explores user’s willingness to pay in dollar values, for varying levels of services. The most widely cited reference for CVM’s Mitchell and Carson (1989). The Harless and Allen pa per raises the important distinction between use and option value, concepts that have been developed in the context of environmental. Use value reflects the value of benefits as assigned by actual users of specific services. Option value incorporates the additional benefits as determined by users who might use specific services in the future (i. e. individual who had not used the reference service but still placed a value of its existence). Any evaluation study that focuses only on individuals who use a specific service (e. g. , interviewing only patrons as they leave the reference desk) will most probably underestimate the benefit of the service in question. Outside of the US, the eVALUEd project team has implemented a questionnaire designed to collect data regarding evaluation methodologies in the UK. The questionnaire was offered to the heads of Library/Information Services in Higher Education Institutions in UK.The goal eVALUEd is to produce a transferable model for e-library ev aluation and to provide training and dissemination in e-library evaluation. The results of this effort should provide an interesting comparison to efforts based in the US. These studies demonstrate an increasing emphasis on both inter and intra-institutional measures, outcomes rather than inputs, a user-centric perspective, adoption of evaluation techniques from various disciplines, and evaluation of libraries that is published as a software. Conceptual FrameworkThe aim of conceptual model of the study is to visualize the theoretical plans that will be used in the study. It is composed of three blocks, explicitly the input, the process and the output blocks. The Input Block is made up of personal information such as name and address contact details . Book number for the numerical arrangement of book according to its accession number and identification card for serial number purposes. The Process block is made up process where all the variables in the input is being used to make a pr ocess that will definitely return a certain output.The Output block is made up of what will be the outcome when the inputs and process have been done and it is Library system using rfid The Evaluation will now see if the system meets the client’s requirements if it is working properly. It will serve as assembly practice for the comments, feedbacks, and suggestions from the user of the system. Importance to the study The importance of name to the study is to identify who are the borrower / user of the library system. The importance of address in the study is to identify the borrowers / user’s location for security purposes.The importance of contact details in the study is to identify the borrowers/ user’s details whenever there are some arguments about the book that has been borrowed or returned. The importance of the Book ID/ Book Number is to identify the current book status whenever it is in or out of the library. Chapter 3 Methodology Method of Research The p roponents use the following techniques or methods in order to achieve data gathering for this study. First, the researchers use the descriptive method of research that involves a process of observation of events and facts and their description in words and/or numbers.Second, the proponents also use the job analysis method that deals with the assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of practices, policies, instruments or other variables in work process of an organization. These two methods were used because the tasks in the study involves the observation of perceptions of the respondents and the analysis of existing work practices in order to come up with improvements. Locale of the Study The study took place in Barangka Elementary School, located at Bonifacio Avenue Barangka Marikina City, beside the Barangay Hall of Brgy. Barangka.The library currently uses manual process of borrowing and returning of books, a data base that contains an inventory of books. However the library doesn’t give students and faculty members/ staffs the ability of borrowing and returning of books more secured and much detailed information. The database just helps the librarian in performing regular inventories of books. The researcher then thought of coming up with a solution to help improve the way the library’s collection and book borrowing are managed. For further analysis here a scenario for us to know about the process currently happens in Barangka elementary school library.At first the student will confront the librarian asking for a book and then the librarian will look up to his/ her records of the books. If the book is in the book shelves then the librarian will tell if it is available or out. When the book is available then the librarian will ask if the student will borrow the book and ask for his/ her library card and fill it with the following information. After registering the book as being barrowed the librarian take a look at his/ her records and re cord the book that is being borrowed.And this is the process in the Barangka elementary school library. Participants The participants in this study were librarian, Students and faculty members. During this conduct of study the population of the participants could be broken down to 150 students, 10 faculty members and staff and school librarian with the total of 161 persons. The survey was held to get the general perceptions of the librarians, students and faculty members on the accuracy, efficiency and security of the current library system. Research InstrumentsInterview about the existing library system was done by asking questions related company’s background, existing library process, problems encountered while using the existing system. The answers are answerable by their own insights of the person involved during the interview session. The purpose of the surveys and interviews is for the proponents will know of there will be improvements that they are going to add for th eir proposed project. The proponents used questionnaires for surveys of Barangka Elementary School Library system using rfid.The questionnaire is composed of 4 questions. These are answerable by the numbers which are from their own perceptions and experiences and experiences. Number one (1) is equivalent to always answer, number two (2) is equivalent to often, number three (3) is equivalent to sometimes answer, number four (4) is equivalent to rarely answer and number five (5) is equivalent to never answer. The proponents chose the survey to be answerable by 1,2,3,4 and 5 only because they want it to be more convenient and answerable by the students of the Barangka Elementary School. Data gatheringBefore initiating the study, the researchers requested permission through a letter signed by the adviser, and approved by the school Principal. The questionnaire to be used for the survey was prepared and presented to the adviser for the approval. After the adviser’s approval of the questionnaire, the researchers conducted the survey in the school where the participants include the librarian, students and faculty members. Design Strategy 1. Planning On completing the survey and the data gathering, the researchers started the planning stage in the developing the Library system using rfid.Through the survey and interview, the researchers learned more about the existing manual library system, and how it can be improved through with the use of RFID. During the planning stage, the data flow diagram, entity relationship diagram and flow chart were prepared. 2. Writing The researchers used VB. 60 and VB. net in programming the process and Microsoft Access for the database. Vb6. 0 and Vb. net was selected it can handle a program more reliable, Microsoft Access is selected because it can handle database more efficiently. 3. Testing The Library system using rfid was tested first among the researchers.The librarian, students and the faculty members also tested the system and gave suggestions in improving its usability. 4. Implementation The proponents have launched the Barangka Elementary School Library system using rfid after all testing, analyzing the final results and all the criteria and said goal are accomplished. Should the proponents and benefactors of the said system are not satisfied; the system will then undergo a new evaluation. The implementation has the following stages: 1. Training of staff and librarian – The staff, administrations and librarians will be trained later on time.They’ll learn the security features, how to enter data produce reports. 2. Live run of the System – The proponents will present during this initial live run to troubleshoot possible errors. 3. Turnover of documentation and software – The software and documentation will be turned over to the administrators and librarians of the school as soon as the System was being approved. Chapter 4 Results and Findings This chapter presents the dat a gathered through the survey. The results were analyzed by using the weighted means, and their corresponding verbal interpretations.Table 1, 2, 3, and 4 show the results of the survey conducted for the students and librarian of the Barangka Elementary School, Marikina City on the accuracy, security, accessibility, and usability of proposed library system which is Barangka Elementary School Library System using RFID. They asked 160 respondents including the librarian and faculty staff. Table 1: Perceptions of the students and the librarian on security Question 1| Number of Respondents| WtdX| Verbal Interpretation| | 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| | | The books are well secure. 152| 8| 1| 0| 0| 1. 3| Books are always secure. | The results under the category accuracy gave weighted means ranging to 1. 3 (always). The results indicate that all books were secure Library System School using RFID. Table 2: Perceptions of the students and librarian on the accessibility Question 2| Number of Respondents| Wt d X| Verbal Interpretation| | 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| | | The accessibility of the system is applicable. | 154| 6| 0| 0| 0| 1. 15| The accessibility of the user accounts is always applicable. |According to the results under the category accessibility gave weighted means ranging to 1. 15 (Always). The results include that the proposed system has user level accessibility from school staffs to student accounts of campus. Table 3: perception of the students and the librarian on accuracy Question 3| Number of Respondents| Wtd X| Verbal Interception| | 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| | | . The Accuracy in updating account details | 148| 12| 0| 0| 0| 1. 1| The data and settings are always accurate| Under the table of question about accuracy gave weighted means ranging to 1. (Always). The result include that the records / data and settings are always accurate and can give correct and updated information to the users. Table 4: Perceptions of the students and the librarian on usability Question 4| Number of Respondent s| Wtd X| Verbal Interpretation| | 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| | | Usability of the system. (e. g. Features Modules)| 150| 10| 0| 0| 0| 1. 25| The system is always usable or user friendly. | Under the table of usability the weighted means ranging to 1. 25 (Always).The result implies that the users can use the system with minimum trainings or without trainings at all. Chapter 5 Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation This presents the summary of findings, conclusion and recommendations to solve the problems. A. Summary The findings of this study are shown under the categories of accuracy, security, accessibility, and usability. 1. Perception of accuracy According to the perception of the students and the librarian, accuracy of data are well maintained by the system. 2. Perception on security According to the students and librarian, all the books can be secure. . Perception on accessibility According to the students and the librarian, user accessibility of the system is applicable and working prope rly. 4. Perception on usability According to the students and librarian, the system is easy to use with graphical user Interface. B. Conclusion Taking into the account the finding mentioned previously, proponents came up with their conclusion that the system has meet the minimum requirements and important requirements that the client needs. All the modules are working properly and satisfy the users.Although the system is open for future enhancement. C. Recommendation The proponents came up with the following recommendations based on the result of the live run testing of the system; . User Level – logout of the existing account first before another user can login. . Quantity of the books – the total number of books in each category. . Fine computation – computation of fine of each student. . Usability of internet in accessing accounts of the users – using of internet in accessing user accounts. APPENDCES A. Survey Questionnaire Name: __________________ Dat e: _____________Upon using the applied system, indicate if the questions below meet the desired requirements of the users. Check the number of your desired answer. (1- Always, 2- Often, 3- Sometimes, 4- Rarely, 5- Never) Questions| 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 1. The books are well secured| | | | | | 2. The accessibility of the system is applicable. (e. g borrower type)| | | | | | 3. The account details are updateable| | | | | | 4. Usability of the system(e. g graphical interface)| | | | | | Screenshots Login Page Main Menu Books User Borrower Borrowing Returning Book Reports

Pros and Cons of Using a Plus-Minus Grading System

Student and Faculty Views of Plus-Minus Grading Systems Working Paper Series—07-11 | December 2007 Jim Morgan (928) 523-7385 James. [email  protected] edu Gary Tallman Robert Williams All professors at: Northern Arizona University The W. A. Franke College of Business PO Box 15066 Flagstaff, AZ 86011. 5066 Student and Faculty Views of Plus-Minus Grading Systems Introduction Many colleges and universities have adopted or are considering adopting a grading system that provides a larger number of marking choices than the A through F whole-letter system. This usually takes the form of a plus-minus (+/-) grading system in one version or another.While a variety of reasons have been put forth for the move to +/- grades, a key motivation is the belief that a +/- grading system can either reverse the progression of grade inflation or counter its effects by establishing more grade choices so that performance can be more effectively differentiated. This paper first reviews studies of th e prevalence in American colleges and universities of +/- grading systems and, perhaps more importantly, the prevalence of schools not using +/- systems who could potentially benefit from a shift to use of this form of grading system.Because of limitations found in available data, a targeted analysis of grading systems of a selected set of universities has been conducted. The results of this secondary research are briefly reported in the second section below. Results of the first two sections indicate that there remains a substantial set of schools that do not currently utilize +/- grading and might be considering a shift to this form of grading system. Next the paper reviews literature dealing with faculty and student perceptions of +/- grading systems and the effects of these systems on the level and distribution of grades and on student effort.Substantial differences in the perceptions of the two groups are found. The major focus of this paper is the analysis of how faculty and s tudent perceptions of the benefits of a +/- grading system differ and what the motivations for these differences might be. The technique used to explore these questions is a survey of both faculty and student reactions to a hypothesized change to a +/- grading system at a mid-size public university in the Southwest. The results indicate that the faculty is much more supportive of a change than are students.Insights as to why each group views the effects of the hypothesized change differently are explored in the paper with possible explanations for the differences found in expectancy theory, a popular theory of human motivation that suggests students and faculty will each react to the change in a way that is likely to produce positive benefits for them, and in resistance to change theory which seeks to identify the factors causing resistance among groups affected by a change. Our study shows that each group perceives the effects of the change differently and that some students and fa culty members have very strong commitments to their views.Examination of the Extent of Use of +/- Grades A study by the American Association of College Registrar and Admissions Offices reported that 36% of institutions (both 2 and 4 year) in 1992 used pluses or minuses in grading whereas 56% of such institutions did so in 2002 [Brumfield, 2005]. Thirty-two institutions moved to a +/- system over the ten year period. Private schools were much more likely to use a +/- system than public schools. This continues the trend noted in the prior ten year period when a 12% increase in institutions using a +/system was noted [Riley, Checca, Singer, & Worthington, 1994].In order to further evaluate the use of +/- and other extended category grading systems, on-line catalogs of a representative sample of one fourth of all AACSB accredited business schools were reviewed to determine each school’s undergraduate grading policy. A total of 99 schools were surveyed, 71 of them public and 28 pr ivate. Table 1 shows the distribution of grading systems used. Three basic grading systems were identified: systems using pluses-minuses, systems using a single intermediate grade and traditional whole-letter grading systems of A, B, C, D, and either E or F.Note that about one third of the schools continue to use whole-letter only grading systems. Among public schools, 30 of 71 (42. 5 percent) use only whole-letter grading. Plus-minus grading systems are clearly the most prevalent type of grading system among this group of schools. To clarify the notation used below, the A+ to C+ system would use the grades A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C , D, F, while an A+ to D- system would use A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, F and so on. The plus or minus typically raises (lowers) the grade by . or . 33 grade points. As the table indicates, many schools 1 do not allow pluses and minuses across their full range of grades. The grade of A+ creates the possibility of a GPA greater than 4. 0 and, probably for this reason; only 9 of the 60 schools with a +/- system include an A+. Four of the 9 schools using the A+ resolve the GPA problem by recording the A+ as a 4. 0 when calculating GPAs, so that the A+ becomes just a notation on individual course grades. Schools also differ with respect to the bottom of the +/- range.Most frequently, pluses and minuses are used all the way down through the D-, however, due to issues relating to transfer grades and determining the grade required for satisfying prerequisites, a number of schools terminate the use of pluses and minuses with the D+ (they do not use a D-) and others stop at the C+ or even C- level. TABLE 1 Distribution of University Grading Systems Number of Schools Using 60 1 8 4 3 16 27 1 7 4 3 32 32 Plus and Minus Grades A+ thru C+ * A+ thru DA- thru C+ A- thru CA- thru D+ A- thru DB+ thru DSingle Intermediate Grade AB, BC & CD AB and BC Whole-letter Only A thru F The A+ grade is counted as a 4. 0 for 4 of the schools us ing an A+ Systems using a single intermediate grade are far less prevalent than the +/- systems. The single intermediate grade is typically listed either as the concatenation of the two grades it lies between, such as AB for the grade between an A and a B, or as a plus without a corresponding minus. In these systems the grade points awarded for the intermediate grade are half way between the two related whole-letter grades (a 3. 5 for an AB or a B+). Why the Movement to +/- Grading?The proportion of institutions using +/- grading systems increased by 12 percent from 1982 to 1992 [Riley, Checca, Singer, & Worthington, 1994] with the trend continuing. There are three reasons typically cited as motivation for universities to change to a +/- grading system. They are concerns over grade inflation, ability to differentiate between students and ability to motivate students to aspire to learn more. A substantial body of literature details the existence of grade inflation in American college s and universities.One study [Levine, 1994] surveyed 4,900 college graduates from 1969 to 1993 and found that the number of A’s awarded had quadrupled and the number of C’s had dropped by two thirds. +/grading shows some promise in reducing grade inflation. In a recent article the author cites evidence of other studies plus his own analysis of the experience of Berry College to conclude that the implementation of a +/- system halts and in some cases produces a minor reversal in grade inflation [Bressette, 2002]. This effect is not equal over all majors.Majors that traditionally have low GPA’s are affected less by a change to a +/- system than majors in a high GPA major [Bressette, 2002]). 2 Proponents of a +/- system also believe it better differentiates students and that it is fairer or more precise. Researchers have found that grades are more reliable indicators of student performance as the width of a grade interval is narrowed [Singleton & Smith, 1978]. The existence of grade inflation in combination with the traditional A-F grading system effectively reduces the grades available and widens the range of student performance represented by each grade.The introduction of +/- grades increases the grades available and narrows the interval for each grade. In majors where grading is more holistic however, faculty believe the additional grade choices create less precision in student evaluations [Quann, 1987]. It is also argued that students are motivated to work harder under a +/- system. Anecdotal evidence in the form of student quotes indicates that they must continue to work through the entire semester to earn a grade under the more refined +/- system.The chance of earning a higher grade may be a motivator (plus) but the risk of earning a lower grade (minus) might be an even stronger motivator according to one study [Cullen et al. , 1975]. Evidence to the contrary is present in a study of economics classes at a mid-size Midwestern universit y that concluded students who chose +/- grading were not significantly more motivated than students who did not [McClure & Spector, 2005]. Student and Faculty Attitudes Toward +/- Grading As noted above, the momentum is toward adoption of a +/- grading system.However, fully one third of all schools currently use a whole-letter grading system. As these schools contemplate a change to their grading system it will be important for them to recognize the differing perceptions of benefits and costs that major stakeholders have. The major focus of this paper is the analysis of how faculty and student perceptions of the benefits of a +/- grading system differ. A recent study of business school faculty and students identified a substantial gap between the expectations and perceptions of the two groups with respect to grading and academic rigor [McKendall et al. , 2006].In addition, articles and editorials in student newspapers of universities considering adopting +/- grades suggest that this type of change in grading policies is always controversial. Such changes are typically proposed by the faculty and often opposed by students [Brown Daily Herald, 2006]. Students have noted that the use of a +/- system that does not include an A+ grade tends to lower the GPAs of the best students since they potentially have many current A grades that could become A minuses, but relatively few B and lower grades that could be raised by the plus grade [Storelli-Castro, 2006; Daily Athenaeum, 2006].Perhaps the clearest evidence of how students view +/- grading versus traditional grading occurs when students have a choice in a particular class. Humboldt State University made the +/- system optional. Student choices were tracked in six introduction to programming classes. Students overwhelmingly chose the traditional grading system over the +/- system, although students who chose the +/- system earned more pluses than minuses [Dixon, 2004]. Students from another university were quoted as arguing that the +/- system would increase the intrinsic value of an ‘A’ and help in identifying the very best students [Bressette, 2002].A survey of faculty documenting their actual use of a voluntary +/- grading system conducted at Ball State University provides evidence of variation in faculty support for such a grading system [Malone, Nelson & Nelson, 2000]. The survey asked graduate faculty how extensively they used the +/- system. Seventy-six percent indicated it was used considerably with assistant professors and those at the university for 1-4 years indicating the heaviest usage. Full professors use it less as did those with over 15 years service.The colleges that used it most were Architecture, Communication Sciences and the Humanities. The colleges that used it the least were Business, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Psychology. Business used the +/- system far less than any other unit in the University. No explanation was proffered for the differences b y college. The differing perceptions of faculty by disciplines were noted in another study that concluded â€Å"Faculty believed that the meaning of a grade varies more across disciplines than across institutions† [Ekstrom & Villegas, 1994]. While the studies noted above point to a variety of student and faculty attitudes toward +/grading, for the most part these studies have not examined the conceptual bases for student and faculty attitudes. There are at least two theoretical perspectives that may be useful in explaining these attitudes. The first is resistance to change theory and the second is expectancy theory. Resistance to change theory is quite intuitive and simply states that affected parties tend to resist change to their environment, work or otherwise.Literature describing reasons for resistance to change is well established and many of the major elements cited today were identified many years ago. A 1966 American Management Association keynote presentation identif ied a number of factors that cause people to resent and resist change [Burns 1966]. While this presentation dealt with the work environment, many of the factors identified also apply to the type of change dealt with here. Here in paraphrased form, is a partial list of the factors identified: 1.The change was poorly communicated and the parties involved do not understand the purpose of the change. 2. The parties involved lacked any involvement in planning the change. 3. The belief that the cost of the change is too high versus the potential benefits to be received from the change. 4. The pervasive belief that the current way of doing things is perfectly adequate. 5. The fear that the new system will fail. 6. The failure to consider the habit patterns of those affected by the change and the impact of the change on those habit patterns.In a more recent study, Goltz and Hietapelto [2002] found that employees (or students in our most likely case) resist change when it decreases their pow er or degree of control over stimuli affecting them. A second theoretical explanation of why evolution to a +/- grading system would be resisted can be found in expectancy theory. Expectancy theory, first conceptualized by Vroom [1964] and relying on the work of earlier scholars such as Tolman [1932], Rotter [1954], and Atkinson [1956], represents a cognitive approach to explaining human behavior.The models picture human beings as active, thinking, learning and predicting creatures. People learn to perform certain behaviors (or at least increase the chance of performing the behavior) that they expect would lead to positive outcomes. Consequently, humans are not just products of their environment but they are active in attempting to understand the environment in terms of threats and opportunities. For example, students may perceive a change to +/- grading as a threat. Some of the studies cited above suggest that +/- systems not including an A+ grade do tend to reduce the grades of th e best students.More generally, students may believe that +/- grades serve to reinforce the importance of grades, that lower overall GPA’s will result from the change and that higher levels of incremental study time will be necessary to prosper under a +/- system. The expectations of lower GPA’s, also carries with it graduate school acceptance concerns as well. Finally, the issue of +/- grading is much more personal to students as they rightly understand that the effect of the change applies directly to them. Faculty, on the other hand, do not take the change nearly as personally.Faculty may perceive greater flexibility and greater justice in grading with a +/- system and they might also expect that the +/system would be more motivational to students which would cause them to have a favorable attitude toward a +/- grading system. Survey Methodology This section describes a survey of student and faculty opinions about the introduction of a +/grading system at a mid-size d university in the Southwest. The university currently uses a whole-letter grading system with only the grades A, B, C, D, and F.The variant of +/- grading system being considered is one that adds grades of A-, B+, B-, and C+ to the set of potential grades with + grades being recorded at . 3 points higher than the base grade (e. g. 3. 3 for a B+) and – grades being recorded at . 3 points less than the base grade. 4 Respondents were asked whether they Favored, Opposed or Didn’t Know About or Care About a change to the grading system that would utilize the +/- grading scheme described above. Those who either Favored or Opposed were then asked to rate the strength of their opinions as either: care only slightly, care somewhat strongly or care very strongly.The results of these two questions were combined to produce a 7 point scale with values ranging from Very Strongly Support to Very Strongly Oppose (see Table 2). Respondents were also asked to describe the reasons for their support or opposition. Results of this open ended question were recorded and categorized with up to two reasons being recorded for each respondent. In addition respondents were asked to provide additional information that might be related to their views of the proposed system. Students were asked to indicate their class standing, their GPA, and the college of their major.Faculty members were asked to indicate their college and their length of service at the university. The survey of students opinions was collected by a group of Marketing students who randomly solicited responses from students entering and leaving commonly used buildings across the campus. The survey of faculty was collected on-line through an e-mail solicitation. Examination of the demographic distribution of responses suggests that the respondents are broadly representative of the students and faculty respectively.The 1433 student responses represent just over 10 percent of the count of student on the surveye d campus, while the 433 faculty responses represents over 50 percent of the eligible pool of faculty members. Hypothesized Relationships Based upon the literature reviewed in the previous sections, the following hypotheses about faculty and student attitudes toward the introduction of +/- grades are proposed. H1 – Faculty are more supportive of a +/- system than students. There is some evidence that a move to a +/- grading system may reduce the progression of grade inflation or perhaps reverse it.Therefore, faculty who are concerned about the effects of grade inflation would be expected to be supportive of a +/- grading system. Based upon expectancy theory. Both students and faculty may have resistance to change reasons for opposing the new system, but these reasons are likely to be stronger for students. Students may view any change in the grading system imposed by faculty as a potential threat to their GPA. Students also are likely to feel less involved in the change and ha ve less understanding of the purpose for the change.Thus, students would be expected to resist the change to a +/- grading system. H2 – Freshmen will be more supportive of +/- grades than upperclassmen. Class standing can also be expected to affect student responses to a change in grading system. Upperclassmen have more experience with the current grading system. They may feel that they have learned how to work within that system effectively to optimize their grades. Resistance to change tends to increase, as individuals have more experience with and more of a stake in an existing system.Thus, we hypothesize that freshmen will be more favorable toward +/- grades than upperclassmen. H3 – As a student’s GPA increases, support for +/- grades decreases. Since most +/- grading systems, including the one described to our respondents, do not include an A+ grade, expectancy theory suggests that students with very high GPAs have a rational reason to believe that +/- grad es are more likely to lower than raise their GPAs. For example, consider a student who has earned As in 80 percent of her/his courses and Bs in the other 20 percent leading to a 3. 8 GPA.For that student, the new grading scheme could only lower and not raise 80 percent of her grades while, for the remaining 20 percent, the grade could be either higher (a B+) or lower (a B-). On the other hand, since the system proposed in this survey does not include a C-, a student who has earned 80 percent Cs and 20 percent Bs under the whole-letter system has 80 percent of his/her grades that could only be increased by 5 the +/- grading system. Therefore, we hypothesize that students with higher GPAs will be less favorable toward the use of +/- grades than student with lower GPAs.H4 – As the average grade issued in a student’s college increases, support for +/grades decreases. The average grade in the college where a student is majoring can also be expected to affect responses to +/ - grading. Students in colleges where a very high proportion of As are currently given would have reason to fear that +/- grades would lower average GPAs issued in their unit. In a college with a 3. 2 average grade we might expect that 40 percent or more of the grades issued are As and that 40 percent of grades could not increase, but could only be lowered by the introduction of a typical +/grading system.By comparison, a college with a 2. 7 average grade would be expected to be issuing much fewer As, so that use of +/- grades could potentially either raise or lower nearly all of that unit’s grades. In addition, at least one empirical study [Bresette, 2002] found this type of effect as discussed above. For this reason, we hypothesize that students, in keeping with the predictions of expectancy theory, will be less favorable toward +/- grades the higher the average grade issued by their college. H5 -Faculty support for +/- grades will become less favorable as tenure at the sch ool increases.Faculty views of +/- grades might be expected to vary with the length of time that a faculty member has taught under the current grading system. As a faculty member’s experience with using the existing grading system increases, they, like students, may become comfortable with that system and therefore may be more resistant to change. In addition this type of effect was found in one of the empirical studies cited above [Malone, Nelson, & Nelson, 2000]. H6 – Faulty support for +/- grades will be more favorable as average grades issued in their college increase.The grading culture of the college in which a faculty member teaches may also impact their views of +/- grades. Faculty in colleges with high average grades might logically feel a greater need for additional grading options to better reflect student performance, whereas faculty in colleges with lower average grades might feel that the current system provides adequate assessment of student performance. On the other hand, since faculty are responsible for issuing grades, differences in current grading practices across colleges tend to reflect the grading preferences of the faculty in those colleges.Faculty in colleges with high average grades may be less likely to feel that grade inflation is an important issue. Thus, faculty support for +/- grades may be either stronger or weaker in colleges with high average grades. We believe the desire for additional grading options will be the stronger of the two effects. Survey Results In analyzing the survey results, we will first look to see whether student and faculty opinions about the use of +/- grades differ. Table 2 below shows summary data about student and faculty opinions. There is a strong divergence between student and faculty opinions about the proposed use of +/- grades.Over half of faculty respondents support +/- grades at least somewhat strongly while only 15 percent of students share this level of support. Almost half of the student respondents oppose +/- grades at least somewhat strongly, and many of the remaining students are relatively indifferent to, rather than supportive of, +/- grades. A Chi-squared test of the null hypothesis that the distribution of faculty opinions and student opinions do not differ has been conducted and the null hypothesis is rejected at the . 0001 level, indicating that there is a significant difference between the opinions of the two groups thus supporting hypothesis one. TABLE 2: Distribution of Opinions of Students and Faculty About Use of +/- Grades Students Count Percentage 64 4. 4% 148 10. 3% 145 10. 1% 289 20. 0% 129 8. 9% 332 23. 0% 336 23. 3% 1443 100. 0% 0. 0001 Faculty Count Percentage 126 27. 0% 123 26. 4% 48 10. 3% 26 5. 6% 18 3. 9% 57 12. 2% 68 14. 6% 466 100. 0% Support Very Strongly Support Somewhat Strongly Support Slightly Don’t Know / Care Oppose Slightly Oppose Somewhat Strongly Oppose Very Strongly Chi-Square test p-value The next set of tables provides an analysis of the degree to which student opinions about +/grades vary across different categories of students.First we look at the effect of class standing, that is, do views differ between freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Table 3 presents these results. The Chisquare test indicates that the distributions are significantly different and inspection of the table shows very clearly that sophomores and juniors tend to be most strongly opposed to use of +/- grades. Freshmen and seniors do not support use of +/- grades, but are less strong in their opposition and more likely to be indifferent or care only slightly about the grading alternatives.Sophomores and juniors may feel comfortable with the current grading system and be more reluctant to change, while freshmen have less familiarity with the existing system and seniors feel that they would not be personally affected by any change providing support for hypothesis two. TABLE 3: Student's Class Standing vs Student' s Opinion of Use of +/- Grades Freshman 5. 4% 11. 6% 13. 2% 22. 1% 7. 8% 19. 8% 20. 2% (258) 0. 0045 Sophomore 3. 2% 10. 3% 10. 6% 20. 1% 7. 1% 28. 0% 20. 6% (339) Junior 5. 3% 8. 2% 7. 4% 15. 6% 10. 3% 22. 5% 30. 7% (417) Senior 4. 1% 11. 5% 9. % 22. 1% 9. 9% 21. 9% 20. 7% (416) Support Very Strongly Support Somewhat Strongly Support Slightly Don't Know / Care Oppose Slightly Oppose Somewhat Strongly Oppose Very Strongly Students in Category Chi-Square test p-value Table 4 summarizes the distribution of opinions among students in different grade point average categories. Since, the +/- grading system does not include an A+, students with very high GPAs might rationally assume that they personally have more to lose (through A-s and perhaps B-s) than they have to gain (through B+s), and thus oppose the change.The results of Table 4 support this idea, the Chi-square test indicates that students with differing GPAs do differ in their views of +/- grades and students with higher GPAs ar e systematically more inclined to oppose using +/- grades thus supporting hypothesis three. Student respondents were asked to indicate the college of their major. Since the classification of colleges differs substantially across universities this information is not directly comparable to other 7 universities. However, it would be of interest to know whether the grading rigor of a student’s college affects student opinions about +/- grading.Students in colleges which currently give many high grades may feel that they have more to lose from the use of +/- grades than students in other colleges. The university in question has six colleges. Two of them have issued grades which, on average, were below a 2. 8 over the last 3 academic years, two issued grades which were on average between 2. 8 and 3. 1 over that period, and two issued grades which were on average above a 3. 1 for that period. TABLE 4: Student's GPA vs Student's Opinion of Use of +/- Grades 2. 00 or Less 8. 7% 8. 7% 13. 0% 39. 1% 0. 0% 13. 0% 17. % 100. 0% (23) 0. 0001 3. 50 or More 3. 5% 9. 8% 9. 5% 15. 0% 8. 1% 26. 6% 27. 5% 100. 0% (346) Support Very Strongly Support Somewhat Strongly Support Slightly Don’t Know / Care Oppose Slightly Oppose Somewhat Strongly Oppose Very Strongly Students in Category Chi-Square test p-value 2. 00-2. 49 5. 8% 9. 1% 9. 1% 33. 9% 10. 7% 16. 5% 14. 9% 100. 0% (121) 2. 50-2. 99 4. 3% 10. 6% 11. 1% 24. 7% 10. 6% 20. 1% 18. 5% 100. 0% (368) 3. 00-3. 49 4. 7% 10. 7% 9. 4% 15. 6% 8. 4% 24. 8% 26. 4% 100. 0% (572) Table 5 shows the distribution of student opinions across these categories.The Chi-square test for equal distribution does indicate that there is a significant difference in the distribution of responses. Opposition to +/- grades is strongest and support for them weakest among students in colleges issuing the highest average grades thus supporting hypothesis four. This result should be interpreted somewhat cautiously however, because of the natural co rrelation of average grade with the student’s own GPA examined in Table 4. That is, in general, students in colleges issuing high grades are more likely to have high GPAs.Next we examine how faculty opinions about +/- grades vary across different faculty categories. First the length of service at the university is examined. Much like the situation described for students, it might be hypothesized that faculty who have been at the institution for a long period of time will be less likely to support a change in a grading system that they are used to and comfortable in using. TABLE 5: Average GPA Issued in Student’s College vs Student’s Opinion of the Use of +/- Grades Average GPA Issued in Student’s College ;lt; 2. 2. 8-3. 1 ;gt;3. 1 6. 0% 3. 8% 2. 6% 11. 6% 10. 5% 8. 5% 9. 6% 11. 7% 7. 6% 19. 8% 22. 0% 16. 3% 9. 1% 10. 5% 5. 8% 24. 9% 19. 8% 27. 1% 19. 1% 21. 7% 32. 1% (450) 3. 1 21. 0% 28. 6% 31. 5% 35. 3% 21. 4% 23. 8% 11. 8% 11. 4% 8. 8% 2. 5% 5. 7% 7. 2 % 3. 4% 4. 3% 3. 9% 16. 8% 12. 1% 9. 9% 9. 2% 16. 4% 14. 9% (119) 0. 1329 (140) (181) Support Very Strongly Support Somewhat Strongly Support Slightly Don't Know / Care Oppose Slightly Oppose Somewhat Strongly Oppose Very Strongly Faculty in Category Chi-Square test p-valueThe reasons given by students and faculty members for supporting or opposing use of +/- grades are summarized in Tables 8 through 11. These tables were assembled by categorizing open-ended responses. In the case of respondents opposing +/- grades, there were a number of somewhat distinct 9 responses that were still logically related in an overall category. In those instances the overall number of occurrences in the general category is presented, but the distribution of responses within the subcategories is also presented.Table 8 summarizes reasons given by students supporting the use of +/- grades. The predominant reason given was that the system would provide grades that are more accurate and provide a more refin ed measure of performance. The second most prevalent reason – that +/- grades provide a more appropriate reward for the effort is somewhat related. Other rather frequent reasons given were the feeling that +/grades will raise GPAs and the belief that they will increase incentives for students to work hard in classes.In contrast to the 35 students who felt that +/- grades would raise GPAs, Table 9 indicates that 10 times as many students (352) believe that +/- grades will have a negative impact on grades. It seems clear that fear of lower grades was the most important factor in the overall negative view of students toward the +/- grading system. Just over 100 students indicated that they oppose +/- grades simply because they prefer the current system and either see no reason to change or do not like the new system.Students also criticized the new system as being overly complicated, increasing stress and placing too much focus on grades, requiring more work of them to receive t he same grades, and having a potential negative impact on employment, scholarships, and/or getting into graduate school. TABLE 8: Students' Reasons for Supporting +/- Grades Number of Comments Grades are More Accurate/Refined Provide More Appropriate Reward for the Effort Will Raise GPA's Increased Incentives to Work Harder Will increase the Reputation of the School Other Schools Use Them 145 43 35 21 7 5Reasons for faculty support for +/- grades are summarized in Table 10. The two most prevalent reasons cited closely parallel the top two reasons for support provided by students. First, that grades will be more accurate and refined under a +/- system (identical to the students’ top response) and second that they are fairer or better for the students (similar to the students’ response of – provides more appropriate reward for effort). Other prominent reasons for support included the belief that +/- grades will help combat grade inflation, and that they will impro ve student motivation. 0 TABLE 9: Students' Reasons for Opposing +/- Grades Number of Comments In SubIn Category Category 352 164 145 32 11 104 54 50 38 34 21 16 15 9 8 5 Negative Impact on Grades An â€Å"A† is an â€Å"A† (is difficult enough) It will lower my GPA Achieving 4. 0 is More Difficult Heard from ASU / Lower Grades Prefer Current System Like current System / no reason to change Don't like the change System is more Complicated Too much pressure / stress Will require more study time for the same grades Puts too much focus on grades Negative Impact on Scholarships/Employment/Grad.School Doesn't motivate me more Like high School/Grade School Changes School's Atmosphere TABLE 10: Faculty Reasons for Supporting +/- Grades Number of Comments Grades are More Accurate/Refined Grades are Fairer/Better for Students Will Combat Grade Inflation Will Improve Student Motivation Better / Easier for Faculty (Feel better about grades given) Will Improve Student Feedback 173 50 26 23 12 10 Reasons for opposition to +/- grades among faculty were varied (see Table 11). Most commonly cited is the idea that the change poses more costs than the benefits it provides.The next most frequent concern was the belief that grade challenges and arguments over grades would be increased since more students would be near a boundary between grades. Somewhat related to this are concerns that grades will be more difficult (physically and emotionally) for faculty to construct and compute and that the particular grade given will be arbitrary. Interestingly almost as many faculty believed that +/- grades would have no impact on or would increase grade inflation (17) as believed that +/- grades would reduce grade inflation (26). Finally, 10 faculty members expressed concern that +/- grades would overemphasize grades. 11TABLE 11: Faculty Members' Reasons for Opposing +/- Grades Number of Comments In SubIn Category Category 39 14 9 9 7 24 21 17 17 10 7 10 6 4 3 2 Cost versus Be nefit Current System is OK (no need for change) No Benefit to Change No Benefit to Students High cost to change with Little Benefit Will Increase Grade Challenges/Arguments Grading Will be More Difficult for faculty Grades are More Arbitrary Grade Inflation Impact Will Encourage Grade Inflation Won't Reduce Grade Inflation Overemphasis on Grades Emphasizes Grades versus Learning Adds to Student Anxiety over Grades Not used by Employers / recruiters May Hurt Student Grad School chancesConclusions This study examined the extent of use of +/- grades in AACSB accredited business schools by collecting data from 99 such schools. Sixty percent of the schools use some variant of a +/- grading system, 32 percent use only whole-letter grading and the remainder use a single intermediate grade. A survey of faculty and student opinions about a move to +/- grading at a mid-sized university in the Southwest provides a number of interesting insights. There is a strong divergence between student and faculty opinions.Over half of faculty respondents support +/- grades at least somewhat strongly as compared to only 15 percent of students. Nearly half of student respondents oppose the change at least somewhat strongly. Students and faculty supporting the +/- grading system cited very similar reasons for their support – the belief that grades will be more accurate and refined and the belief that grades will be fairer or better for students. Some students also indicated the change would provide incentive to work harder. Some faculty felt it would combat grade inflation and improve student motivation.Students who oppose the change believe there will be a negative impact on GPA’s (352 students believe this versus 35 who believe grades would improve). The next most prevalent student comment was that they prefer the current system and see no need for a change. Faculty who opposed the change commented most frequently that there is little benefit from the change and next th at it will increase grade challenges or make grading more difficult for faculty. Opposition to the change was strongest and support for +/- grades was weakest among students in colleges issuing the highest average grades.In addition, sophomores and juniors and students with higher GPAs tend to be most strongly opposed. This suggests that student opposition to a +/- grading system could be reduced by implementing it in a phased manner (starting with the freshman class) and by finding a way to incorporate a grade of A+. In addition, resistance to change theory suggests that it is important that the reasons why the use of +/- grades might be in the best interest of students be effectively communicated throughout the process and that students groups should be involved early in any proposal to institute +/- grades.

Marriott Corporation Essay

While management was correct in some aspects of measuring debt capacity for Marriott Corporation, the method used to obtain the ratio of 6.64 did not include the debt from the previous repurchase, grossly overstating the ratio and leading to believe that Marriott Corporation had a large unsused portion of debt capacity. This is shown in Exhibit 5. After thorough analysis and a different approach to finding the debt capacity, it is concluded that the actual debt capacity for Marriott Corporation is 3.94 EBIT-adjusted/net interest. To come up with the actual debt capacity for Marriott Corporation, the EBIT-adjusted/net interest ratio was still used, but the numbers supporting the ratio were altered. From Exhibit 5, we get the total debt of Marriott at the end of 1979. Total debt is defined as the sum of short-term loan, current portion of long-term debt, senior debt and capital leases. The average market price of Marriott in 1979 was $14.9/share, and the interest rate for Baa corporate debt was 12%. It was assumed that Marriott repurchased stock at the price of $15/share using 12% debt financing. Using the net interest before the repurchase, which was $27.8 million, it is concluded that adjusted EBIT was $184.59 million. In 1979, additional debt from the repurchase of stock $159 million, adding this to the debt of the original figures, the new debt is totaled at $583.83 million. Using a 12% interest rate from the new debt and finding the new numbers for the ratio, the new adjusted EBIT-adjusted/net interest ratio is 3.94. This figure hits below Marriott Corporations benchmark of 5. Returning Shareholders’ Capitol A. New Debt Capacity And Repurchasing Shares If the firms stock is in a position to be affected by dilution, repurchasing shares may be a solution. This would allow Marriott Corporation to maintain its ability to make decisions utilizing all the available resources. This was previously one by Marriott in 1979 with the repurchase of 5 million shares. With the new debt capacity ratio at 3.94, a repurchase share alternative is not recommended as Marriott Corporation does not have the excess debt capacity previously thought to carry out this alternative. Performing a secondary scenario analysis, suppose Marriott had just enough debt capacity, which means new adjusted EBIT/Net interest ratio equals 5. Using this number, the repurchase price should be $7.17 so that Marriott Corporation could utilize its debt capacity fully. Using this number, only 10.6 million shares could be purchased resulting in the repurchase of stock alternative not taking place as expected. This would result in investors to believe that Marriott Corporation has hit its growth limit, as the repurchase strategy would not have enough depth to persuade investors through EPS and ROE that Marriott Corporation is still a growing company. It is concluded that repurchasing shares is not the correct alternative, even with a benchmark debt capacity of 5. B. Increasing Dividends While increasing dividends would be a good alternative to satisfy investors, it is not without its repercussions as well. If dividends were to be paid out, a gradual steady increase over many years would be the best alternative, as one lump sum payment does not resolve the debt capacity issue, as well as signify to investors negative signs if Marriot Corporation were to one year pay a high divided and the next decrease that same dividend. Typically, when a firm increases dividends, that level of dividends must be maintained to satisfy shareholders, as well as institutional investors and prospect investors. Another factor to consider when analyzing this alternative, is that although Marriott Corporation has had high growth is recent years, compared to competitors, the stock price, return on equity, as well as earnings per share are low, as seen in Exhibit 11 and Exhibit 12. Although paying dividends in conjunction with a more value creating alternative could be used, solely paying out dividends is not recommended. Promote Growth A. Diversify Through Acquisition Marriott also has the alternative to invest in a new firm. Marriott  Corporation has a competitive advantage that could be passed along if they were to acquire existing companies. This competitive advantage is obtained through their competitive expertise of the industry, as well as proven higher occupancy rate than their competition. The company’s assets are mainly real-estate based which means that they should put a premium on the land that they can get by acquiring a new firm. There is relatively little risk in acquiring another firm as well, because their sales can be seen and analyzed before Marriott Corporation makes an offer. According to Exhibit 10 there is a very high price to be paid for a new hotel. Prices paid for hotels, however, did not rise at all from 1975-1978 and number of offers stayed relatively reasonable. From 1977-1978 acquiring another hotel chain actually became a better deal at several data points. Market price/book value dropped considerably meaning that hotels became a much better value for the amount of assets they had. Market price/cash flow is lower as well, with average return on equity rising as well. One caveat is that buying hotel chains in the market value of $25-$250 million had a much higher tender offer/ market value in 1978 up from 39.64% to 60.05%, while hotel chains over 250 million dropped by almost as much. Although there is a risk involved with buying any company or hotel, hotels which are thoroughly analyzed beforehand could be excellent ways to promote growth in the Marriott Corporation. Hotels that would be purchased would be proven to succeed in their respective locations. B. Accerlerate Expansion of Existing Business Marriot has two options about the operation of hotel chains. First, it can own the hotel and enjoy the profit margin. Second, it can sell the hotel but retain management contracts so it controls the operation of such units. Following is the detailed decomposition of costs associated with two options. According to Exhibit 9, in 1978 the typical cost for a hotel room consists of improvement cost, furniture, fixtures and equipment cost, land cost, pre-opening cost and operating cost. For an owned hotel, Marriot had to pay the total cost for running the property, but if it is managed, Marriot only had operating cost because the buyer was responsible for the maintenance. In an attempt to emphasize more on return on invested capital rather than margins, Marriot sold some of their existing hotels and retained  management contract to free up capital. Managed hotels had operating margin of 8%-10%, while owned had 15%. We assume 10% margin for managed hotels and 15% for owned hotels. To deci de when to sell the property, we analyze the remaining present value of future cash flow of a hotel at different point of time in its life cycle. We further assume that when the hotel is sold, the selling price is set so that present value of future cash flow equals the 10% margin. We assume $50 revenue per room night of a typical 150-room hotel, and one year has 360 days. Sales level for each year in the life cycle connects to the occupancy rate. From the graph in Exhibit 9, we get different occupancy rate for the whole life cycle. It reaches the peak 100% at year 8, and after year 10, it declines almost linearly to 10% in year 30. We can see that if Marriot sells the hotel before opening, the selling price would be $1.63 million at time 0. After the peak, assuming year 9, the selling price would be $ 1.55 million. The max value of PV is at year 4, which has $2.85 million in PV at 15% margin. Marriot Corporation would free up more capital if it sells the hotel before opening, but instead it would lose more operating profit. If Marriot is short of capital, it could sell the hotel up-front so that the freed up capital can be invested in other profitable projects. Selling after the peak is a good choice if Marriot wants to enjoy the increasing operating profit before the peak. Shareholder value can be added if the return on freed-up capital exceeds the profit loss from selling the property. Recommendation After the analysis of the different alternatives, and correctly measuring debt capacity, it is concluded that Marriott Corporation does not return shareholder capital but instead promotes growth of the existing company. This provides benefits in a couple of ways. By promoting growth, Marriott Corporation can signal to investors that the firm is still growing, providing incentives for institutional investors as well as individual investors, resulting in a positive market outlook for Marriott Corporation. Also, with the actual debt capacity measured, it is shown that Marriott Corporation does not have the additional capacity to undertake those alternatives, resulting in even more negatives in the future. By promoting the existing business, Marriott Corporation has more control over their financial prospects, through the possibilities of merging or opening or  building more hotels. This would provide positive NPV for Marriott Corporation, and perhaps in the future when cash flows continue to be positive as well as debt continues to shrink, Marriott Corporation can look into returning shareholders’ capital.

Sony Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sony - Essay Example To be the most competitive and outstanding market player, it is desirable for Sony Company to practice both online and off-line marketing. Sony on the Web Marketers at Sony Corp are looking for alternative marketing and social networks marketing is the most preferable in the modern context. They connect with their customers online. They can promote their goods globally. The most effective strategy of Sony online is online tutorial, where they located the information about digital photography. The name of the company is Sony 101, where four special "campuses" for online visitors are developed: personal computing, entertainment for home, digital photography, and finding different business solutions for the small businesses (Bearman and Bruckner). Online visitors can be enlisted to any course they like in these campuses (Grasby, 2004). For example, one of the most popular campuses is the digital photography campus. Different relevant Sony products are advertised in the process of study of this course. Barbara L. Miller, director of corporate marketing Web services with the Tokyo-based company of Sony claims that they intended to talk about different changes in technology and were not merely focused on promotion of Sony products. Sony launches internal marketing, where their customers can advertise Sony products and tell about them to each other. In accordance with Social Vibe, it is claimed that some of the Company's ads reached up to a 40% share rate. Further on the Company was focused on advertising in the Facebook. The effectiveness of these types of ads is evident: 91% of people looked for the company's ads and paid attention to brand messages. They developed a new advertising campaign to appeal for different types of customers: from families to women and men. A well-known name of the advertising company is: "It only does everything, because the company wants to shift the accents from being a seller of hardcore games and Xboxes to an entertainment center" (). Sony united its power with Deutsch LA, which helped the company to be on the move. Sony makes an emphasis on online ads and decreases the number of printed sources of advertising. Dille underlines: "The ability to have that one-to-one relationship with consumers, monitoring the effective messages, and changing things on the fly gives us a closer relationship with consumers" (Super Facebook Marketing Case Study). They are more interested in mothers, who can take the PlayStation 3 message to their social network friends. Thus, the potential customers advertise products of the company themselves, as well as looking for alternative means of advertising. On the Facebook page Sony has a chance to communicate with more than 1 million fans and Twitter comprises more than 323,000 followers (Super Facebook Marketing Case Study). To measure success of the company online, it is relevant to pay attention for click-through rates. It is of high importance for the company to find out the real reaso n of the customers for being interested in one or another product. The first positive changes are evident: Sony sales increased up to 35% and Microsoft sales decreased up to13%. In accordance with the modern prognosis, it is possible to predict that video game advertising could increase from $24 million in 2009 to $47 million in 2014, which comprises a 14.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) (Super Facebook M

Winston's advertising Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Winston's advertising - Term Paper Example Advertisements involve a number of techniques to attract consumers. Some advertisers focus on a particular age group and design the advertisement on their perception about what the people of that age group would like to see (Haase, 1931 pp 67-80). On the other hand, other advertisers use a different approach to target their customers. They make up a plan to target their customers by dividing them in the gender groups. Some also target the customers using a cultural diversification approach and target people belonging to a particular culture. There is a wide range of techniques which are used to target audience for different products. The common theme of those advertisements is the use of texts and visuals to attract the customers. Designing an advertisement campaign for children would require the marketers to use cartoon characters, colourful pictures and creative art work to attract them, whereas, such an advertisement would fail to grab the attention of professional people to sale machinery or equipments. Hence, the use of symbols, language and illustrations is of immense importance in targeting audience and increasing sales. This paper aims to analyze the advertisement of Winston Cigarette. The advertisement under consideration is published in various magazines like Popular Mechanics, Times Magazines and so on. The advertisement targets the teenagers and males aged between 20 and 30. The symbols, metaphors and textual details are all attractive to the male counterparts of these age ranges. The Role of the Media Used: The advertisement is published in Popular Mechanics magazine November 2004 (p. 41). Magazines are a great source of profit for the companies as they help in gaining and retaining customers. People like reading magazines in their spare time and go through the creative advertisements and try to avail the best product in the available resources. Moreover the promotional campaigns make the most of magazine advertisements which allow the consumers to avail their desired product with favourable packages or discounts. Magazine advertisements further help in directly targeting the target groups. For instance, if a business requires a marketing plan which is mostly encountered by children, children magazines and books may be successful in achieving this goal. Hence we can say that magazine advertisements are highly targeted to the desired population and may reduce the likelihood of being unsuccessful. If the advertisement is not creative enough to capture a large population it is still safe as it will reach to the targets view. The next advertisement may help reducing the losses of the existing marketing campaign. The advertisements by media are very important to get the message of the manufacturer to the consumers. Semiotic Analysis The semiotic analysis is helpful in evaluating the success of advertisements in capturing the attention of consumers by the use of symbolic and textual information. The symbolic features of an advertis ement also give some information about the product. The advertisement under consideration carry many features that worth an in depth semiotic analysis. Firstly the advertisements contain eye-catching pictures and excellent colour contacts to grab the attention of the consumers. The advertisement has made use of different font styles and sizes to make it look more unique. The use of font sizes and styles greatly depend on what the advertiser really wants to tell the customer and what is necessary or obligatory to include but not desired by the advertiser. The advertisement is designed for the marketing of Winston, a cigarette brand. This advertisement involves more textual features than the visual ones. It contains a number of creative and clever sentences that provide a sense of winning and uniqueness. Underneath the product image in this advertisement are the words â€Å"Additive free – Naturally smooth†. These tricky words do not mean that it is safe to smoke these c igarettes or they are not

Buddhism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Buddhism - Essay Example .† (The Buddhist Encyclopedia, 2008) However, the fault with this explanation is that it is undeniable that there is an entity that does understand what it went through, is going through, and will be going through. The Buddhists then further explain that, â€Å"this lack of a fixed self does not mean lack of continuity,† as stated in the Buddhist Encyclopedia online. It also says that Buddhism uses a lot of metaphors, one of which is that of fire. In the same way that the flame of one candle to another and the fire spreading from field to field is dependent on the original fire, â€Å"there is a conditioned relationship between one life and the next; they are not identical but neither are they completely distinct.† (The Buddhist Encyclopedia, 2008) But, seriously, a fire or flame is something far beyond compare to that of a being that has the capacity to store information, knowledge, and emotions from one life to the next, and retrieve and be able to tell them in such a detailed manner. In fact, in the reading, we were told that â€Å"The Enlightened One†, a real human being, was an ape in his past life, as told in the Great Ape Jataka tale. Supposedly, the real being shou ld tell stories as real as his very existence, but we read the story and we find qualities in the Great Ape that biologists and archaeologists of different generations would have turned the whole world upside down just to find the legendary beast. The ape could not only talk to humans (in what language it was not mentioned), but also foresee events. We all know that apes can’t do these, even with the smartest technology available today or in the next hundred years. So granting without accepting for a moment that reincarnation is behind it, what is it that made the ape like that if there is no entity that has the capacity to analyze the connection between the lives he has lived, the entity that tries to be something better each time for it to reach nirvana? Speaking of

Final International Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Final International Terrorism - Essay Example For example, the US war in Iraq has different social and political reasons than the recent Hamas action against Israel. Yet, at the root of both actions is the fight for land or resources that each feels they are entitled to. The US is fighting for the right to the oil, and Hamas is fighting to regain control of what they perceive as their homeland. Issues of ethnicity, religion, and ideology influence young disciples to commit violent acts, and they all contribute to the perpetuation of the violence, but it is not what brings them to the battle. Radical Islamic groups use religion merely to attract recruits (Rowley and Schneider, 2004, p.560). The US would be less concerned about a democratic or capitalistic Iraq, if the region did not have oil. Hamas would be less concerned about the religious practices of the Jews, if they did not threaten their ability to have a place to call home, and vice-versa. While religious, philosophical, and ideological platitudes are used by leaders to justify violence, the reason for war is the simply the pragmatism regarding the ownership of territory, land, and resources. The Council on Foreign Relations defines Hamas as an organization whose primary purpose is to provide social services for the Palestinian people (Hamas, 2009). The group was formed to do charitable work in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and did not become politically oriented until the Six Day War in 1967, when it began to coordinate political activities with the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza (Hamas, 2009). Since its first acts of violence in 1993, it has been perceived as a dangerous terrorist group, while obtaining political legitimacy through their recent election as a ruling party. Hezbellah and Hamas have similar social roots, and share the goal of "promising the elimination of Israel from the map of the Middle East" (Rowley and Schneider, 2004, p.559). However, Hamas is an umbrella group for radical Sunni groups and Hezbollah is an organization comprised of Shiite groups. Many shadowy organizations claim the name of Islamic Jihad, and it has become synonymous with a movement, rather than an organization. However, it is an organization that was formed in the Gaza strip in 1981 that professes violence, the destruction of Israel, and the establishment of an Islamic state in Palestine (White, 2009, p.226). None of these terrorist organizations present a direct threat to the United States. However, they seek recriminations against the US due to its economic and military support for Israel, which they view as a terrorist nation, as well as protecting Israel from UN sanctions. While negotiations imply an in-depth agreement that may be pre-mature at this point, it would be helpful to open a dialog with organizations such as Hamas and Hezbellah. It could put us on a road to future agreements with minimal risk. 3.) The Kurdish Conflict and the PKK: The Kurds are an ethnically homogeneous group that has a common language and occupy a contiguous geographical area that includes parts of Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran. The PKK is the Kurdistan Workers Party, which was formed in 1978 as a Marxist-Leninist organization (White, 2009, p.334). It has a terrorist arm that has the goal of creating

Management issue Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Management issue - Assignment Example Many organizations fail on this issue as they do not apply or rather use the appropriate management strategies (Hopkins, 3). With the interconnectedness of factors in the market, risks in companies may crop up from any corner across the globe and cause uncertainty and volatility which in turn increase the pressure on managers. Moreover, the uncertainty increases the management need for specific and accurate data. This goes along with the need to ensure that every decision the management makes take into account several alternatives in related issues. Various factors have come to the forefront forcefully due to the ever changing nature of markets across the globe. These factors have a greater impact on risk management of businesses. To start with, operational risk is on top of this list. With the ever rising complexity in transactions, the world’s nature of every market and the particular risks they represent is common for companies. Thus, comparing to the previous years, a number of firms have an employment position for operational risk officers; such positions never existed in previous years. Secondly, economic models are now on a focus. These have led to various questions that lack easy answers. For instance, given a capital challenges that resulted to a crisis in the organization, should the firm continue using the same proprietary model? Proper models or rather proper use of these models is at stake in many organizations since they have an impact in the firm’s risk management. In addition, the corporate governa nce is an upcoming factor which is being focused by risk managers. These managers are currently involved in companies’ corporate governance and other discussions such as compensation. In most cases, they are asked to give opinions on packages of compensation and if the incentives in these packages might height the company’s profile. Lastly, the role of overall management in the modern companies is dramatically changing. The risk-related

Interview report about education Research Paper

Interview report about education - Research Paper Example People make money by selling their scientific knowledge and related skills to the concerned buyers. This imparts the need to improve the quality of education in general and the scientific education in particular so that the world’s civilization can touch new heights. Likewise, improving the quality of schools as the platforms of deliverance and exchange of knowledge is no less important. To achieve these purposes, a qualitative study was conducted to evaluate people’s perceptions on education and the potential ways in which education can be improved. A total of 15 people were included in the survey, 11 of which were students and were outside the professional education community, while 4 of the research participants were from the professional educational community. There were 8 questions in total in the survey. Question statements are shown in Table 1. Table 1: Questions of survey Question No. Question Title Question Statement 1 Significance of schools Why do you think w e have schools? 2 Significance of science classes Why do you think we have science classes? 3 Outcome of holistic success of schools If all schools were very successful, what do you think the result would be? 4 Outcome of holistic success of science classes If all science classes were very successful, what do you think the result would be? 5 Learning needs and processes What do you think students should learn and how should they learn? 6 Learning needs and processes of science classes What do you think students should learn in science classes and how should they learn it? 7 Ways to improve schools What would you suggest that schools do differently so that they could be successful? 8 Ways to improve science classes In the sciences specifically, what should be done differently in order to be successful? Table 2: Particulars of the research respondents Name Maximum Education Gender Age (Years) Religion Country A PhD (Geotechnical Engineering) Male 62 Christian USA B MS-Comparative Reli gion Studies Female 35 Christian USA C Master of Business Administration Male 25 Muslim India D BSC-Mechanical Engineering Female 33 Christian USA E Intermediate Male 18 Christian UK F Grade 9 Male 15 Jew Israel G Grade 8 Male 14 Christian Australia H Grade 7 Female 13 Jew Australia I Grade 6 Female 12 Muslim Pakistan J Grade 5 Male 11 Hindu India K Grade 3 Male 9 Christian China L Grade 2 Female 8 Hindu Nepal M Grade 1 Female 5 Christian USA N Upper Nursery Male 5 Muslim USA O Lower Nursery Female 4 Buddhist Japan Findings Common themes in the responses to all questions were identified. Table 3 lists the common themes identified in the answers of the respondents along with the respondents that supported them. Table 3: Common themes in responses Question No. Common Themes in Response to Question 1 To have a formal and structured educational system 2 To develop an understanding of the way things work 3 Demand of good jobs would outweigh the supply 4 Very rapid technological advanceme nt 5 Students should learn ethics and science. They should learn them in schools 6 Corporate social responsibility in addition to the traditional science education. Teachers of science should be experts in professional ethics 7 Upgrade the curriculum to incorporate latest knowledge 8 More practical work, and provision of technical training including software Response to Quest

Advantages and Disadvantages of Servant Leadership Essay

Advantages and Disadvantages of Servant Leadership - Essay Example   Another important advantage is the possibility of achieving high productivity and capacity among employees. Servant leadership tends to command respect, trust, and loyalty from employees. Therefore, organizations using servant leadership model are able to record more work output because employees feel as an important part of the organization. Indeed, employees who are nurtured to be leaders in different capacities develop a sense of ownership to the organization as opposed to an autocratic, dictatorial, or centralized form of leadership. Servant leadership cultivates high levels of involvement not only in daily operations of the organization but also in decision making. Whereas servant leadership seeks to attend to the needs of employees, the employees, in turn, feel empowered to attend to the needs of the customers and the organization in general. Furthermore, employees working under servant leadership are given the opportunity to make decisions, provide views and opinions, as w ell as air their concerns. This is a great advantage to the organizations as it can be able to tap into the wide variety of ideas from different employees. This is more important as opposed to the one sided ideas found on other centralized forms of leadership.On a different note, servant leadership can be likened to delegation of duties. Therefore, even in situations when a servant leader may be temporarily not in touch with the employees, the employees can actually act as leaders in their own individual capacities.