Contemporary Approaches to Management Essay

The contemporary approaches to management include: sociotechnical theory, quantitative management, organizational behavior, and systems theory. As defined in our text book, (retrieved from: https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/0077530667/pages/116411950) sociotechnical systems theory an approach to job design that attempts to redesign tasks to optimize operation of a new technology while preserving employees’ interpersonal relationships and other human aspects of the work. This idea developed in the 1950’s at London’s Tavistock Institute of Human Relations simply put means that happy employees equal productive employees. Quantitative management is a contemporary management approach that emphasizes the application of quantitative analysis to managerial decisions and problems (retrieved from: https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/0077530667/pages/116411950). Although this could be a useful approach, most managers do not implement it due to lack of understanding of the formulas required or because some of the everyday issues they deal with, cannot be put into a mathematical equation. However, it has proven to be a useful strategy in military operations and organization’s strategic planning. Our text defines organization behavior (retrieved from: https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/0077530667/pages/116411951 ) as a contemporary management approach that studies and identifies management activities that promote employee effectiveness by examining the complex and dynamic nature of individual, group, and organizational processes. Similar to the sociotechnical systems theory, this idea also emphasizes that the employee’s needs and well being can effect productivity. And the last of the approaches is systems theory defined as a theory stating that an organization is a managed system that changes inputs into outputs. (retrieved from : https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/0077530667/pages/116411951 ). This theory recognizes that are many factors that contribute to an organization’s productivity. The input being materials, labor and money are factors that can influence and affect the output (the final product a company sells). All organizations are open systems, which simply mean organizations that are affected by their environments and affect their environment. There are internal, external and competitive environments that make up a company’s macroenviroment. The internal environment refers to things (employees, materials and capital) inside the company. The external environment includes all forces outside the company’s walls, such as the economy, competitors and government. Finally, the competitive environment which is made up of competitors, suppliers and consumers. I would agree that all four approaches play a part in every organization. Depending on the type of business, one strategy may prove more effective than another but at some point the different approaches would be used for the many diverse issues organizations face. There are many similar concepts all company’s face (employees, environment, competition) and each approach has uses in all companies and within the macroenvironment. References: Title: Management (M Starts Here series–soft cover), 3rd ed. (2013) Author(s): Bateman and Snell Physical Book ISBN: 9780078029523 Publisher: McGraw Hill Digital book or physical text: Digital

To What Extent Was the Lack of Political Reforms the Main Cause of the 1905 Revolution

To what extent was the lack of political reforms the main cause of the 1905 revolution? The 1905 Revolution was brought about by Bloody Sunday, this attack from the Tsar’s army on innocent peaceful protestors was the trigger for the revolution. Many other reasons throughout the years leading up to 1905 lead to the revolution. To understand fully why the revolution took place you need to understand all of the political reforms or the fact that there were not enough. A main factor contributing to 1905 revolution was the power held by the Tsar, the peasants and workers did not agree with the autocracy that was pushed onto them. Before the revolution all other political parties were banned by the Tsar and were not allowed to form groups that were against the Tsar, any groups that did try to do this, their leaders were either killed or sent to camps in Siberia as political prisoners, this level of harsh treatment towards political opponents and because of this lack of political reform a large amount of resentment was felt towards the Tsar. The lack of a Parliament also left people in Russia pushing for change, and because of this, there was a real need for a reform to create a working parliament so that not all of the power was in the Tsars hands. To stop the 1905 Revolution, the Tsar realised he was going to have to give up some of his power and to try and reason with his people, or this is the picture that he painted with the October Manifesto, this contained some political reforms that relinquished some of his power and some reforms that gave peasants more independence and factory workers better conditions. This manifesto showed a reasonable level of political reform but he did not actually have any intention of giving any of his power up. By deploying the October Manifesto the Tsar actually calmed tempers of his opponents and satisfied them for a time. If the Tsar had stuck to these political reforms there would have been no more unrest through the country but because he went back on them, it in fact worsened the situation and because of the lack of reforms this again led to more and more uprising across Russia. All of the different political parties that started to develop across the country started to socially and economically advance, this was because of more and more middle class people thinking that their voices should be heard. These parties all had many different ideas for political reforms, but first of all they all wanted an nd to autocracy and political change to take place. There was also a major uproar about the Russo-Japanese war which ended in September 1905. This was a huge embarrassment for Russia who were supposed to be one of the great powers in the world and were defeated by an inferior force. This caused much anger throughout Russia because of the Russian people believing that Nicholas II was not able to lead th e country through a war. This was another contributing factor to the uprising of 1905. The loss of the war shocked the Russians and knocked the countries esteem and added to what was already a simmering tension within Russia. In turn this was one of the triggers to the revolution. There was a slight hope that came through with the October Manifesto with the chance of a Duma, but this was short lived, after Nicholas II closed the first two Dumas down after only three months of them starting. This was another case where a political reform that would have made a difference to Russia and helped keep the country under control was not used to its full extent and ended up mounting more anger towards the Tsar for going back on his word. His minister then made it near on impossible for any real threat to the Tsar to be involved in both the third and fourth Duma. During this time there was a huge growth in the industrial industry in Russia and there was a need for political change to be able to get better working conditions in factories. More and more factories were being built and because of the lack of reform leading to the revolution many workers were protesting about their safety, hours and conditions. A real lack of political reform was a main contributor to the 1905 Revolution, although the real trigger was the Bloody Sunday massacre there was throughout the beginning of the 20th century a growing anger and resentment felt towards the Tsar and the way he was leading the country. The reaction of the Tsar in the revolution led to resentment about the reforms in the October Manifesto as well due to him just turning back on them. Overall there was a definite lack of reforms leading up to and after the 1905 Revolution.

Human Resource Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human Resource Questions - Essay Example hor further asserts that communication also allows human resources to channel the problems that may be facing in their work environments (Smith, 2013). Minus proper communication frameworks, employers rarely understand what human resources require to feel comfortable in their working environments. At this point, labor unions provide a solution that may seem the best alternative to the human resources. Another significant strategy is providing human resources that are considerate to their need in the working environment. Fredericks (2014) is of the assumption that upon employment the perception of the employee on their organization is developed. For this reason, the terms of the employment contract may influence their decision to whether or not join a labor union. For instance, working hours stated in the contract should be reasonable. In an instance where an employee would be required to work for long hours, the compensation should be worth the requirements (Lim, 2012). With proper consideration of employee needs in creating employment contracts on matters such as payment, incentives, working hours and conditions minimize the probability of the human resources to later join labor unions (Lim, 2012). Negotiations between labor parties may be undertaken from different resolution alternatives. Employees may decide to strike to increase the willingness of the employer to address their needs (Maas, 2010). On the other hand, the employer may develop a more peaceful and non-weapon negotiation frameworks. For instance, mediation between conflicting parties and the use of arbitration to solve the problem (Maas, 2010). The mediation process involves creation of a proper communication framework between conflicting sides. Through proper communication a common ground between the conflicting parties may be found (Rahim, 2015). The process may be done by representatives from both parties. However, the process may have disadvantages. Firstly, the superior nature of one party

Egyptian human rights organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Egyptian human rights organizations - Essay Example A. In a four part article entitled "The Effect of the Emergency Law on the Human Rights Situation In Egypt: 1992-2002," the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights traces the historical background of emergency law in Egypt throughout the twentieth century. According to the facts offered, the history of emergency laws in Egypt can be traced back to 1914, at which time it was first enacted due to the break out of World War I ("History" ). Significant to mention for purpose of discussion is that one of the laws enacted under the wider emergency law was the Gathering Law 10 of 1914 ("Conclusion"). Noteworthy here is that during this period in history, Egypt was increasingly falling under British political control and World War I was, as it may have been interpreted by Egyptian masses at that time, a war against Britain and her allies by Germany and her allies. This meant that there was an atmosphere of great excitement among the Egyptian population, many of whom supported a British defeat believing that would mean liberation for Egypt. Accordingly, within this politically tense and unstable climate, demonstrations were carried out by Egyptians against the British, their foreign occupiers. Accordingly, emergency laws and the law of gathering which accompanied it, were passed in order to control the growing resentment against Britain and to limit, as much as possible, public demonstrations against it. B. Within this context, it is possible to state that Egypt experienced its first emergency laws at the hands of its enemy and occupier and was explicitly intended to subdue the Egyptian masses, deprive them of the right to demand their freedom and liberation, and limit their ability to fight for this freedom ("Conclusion"). In other words, it was a law passed by an occupier and a colonizer to ensure continued occupation and colonization. C. Now you will explain that the Egyptian people continued to suffer from emergency rule, except for a couple of brief breaks, until the revolution of 1952. In other words, in the pre-revolutionary period and due to the circumstances of occupation, emergency laws were part of Egyptian political climate. III. Emergency Law Under Nasser: Post-1952: A. " the emergency law that the regime inherited in 1952 had two chief features: it gave the government very strong powers (for instance, verdicts of military courts could not be appealed but were submitted to the military governor for approval), and it could be portrayed as a creation of the British" (Brown 82-83). B. With a new government in place, many Egyptian intellectuals and nationalist emphasized the second feature of the emergency law. Unfortunately, the Nasser regime preferred to focus on the first feature, insofar as it gave them the power to deal effectively with all those elements

Life experience that influenced my self-esteemation Essay

Life experience that influenced my self-esteemation - Essay Example Friends are known to have the power to change one’s perception towards him or herself through the manner in which they treat a person. In this light, jealousy would be the best word to describe the state my friends put me in by being polite at numerous instances while I, on the other hand, remained strong at few moments only. As a result, this made me the underdog amongst all my friends, meaning that of them all, I was the most disadvantaged, thus, was obviously picked at for this reason. Oftentimes, friends work as a yardstick against which one evaluates him or herself in relation to success and self-worth. The manner in which they treated me was only to their own benefit, which ruined my sense of self-worth all the more. These treatments make people face difficulties in socializing with others due to lack of confidence in actions to the point of missing out some crucial stages of life. In this case, in order to overcome the whole ordeal of diminished self-esteem, success was the key and this experience taught me that friends would only treat an individual in the way he or she allows them. The experience of beating my friends at their own game in a music competition was the deal breaker, where my friends and I had formed a band to compete in a local town event, where we had to outperform other local bands. In an attempt to put the blame on me in case we lost, or so I perceived, I was put on the lead guitar in spite of my lack of proficiency in the task at hand. The b and went on stage to the joy of the crowd, and the performance began with all the electric guitars playing to tune, mine included. The crowd was overjoyed with the performance and the band at large due to the coordination of music making. Off the stage, my friends/band mates were surprised at how well I had performed making them embarrassed at their behavior towards me and the flop in their plan. My friends shared in the achievement though half-heartedly and congratulated me in disbelief of my splendid performance. Drawing from this experience, I discovered the potential I held inside to make myself a better person, and for my own development. This success acted as a massive confidence boost, from which I quit playing a secondary role to my friends and saved me from the burden of handling all the cold and mocking attitudes coming from my â€Å"friends.† In addition, it proved to them that I could do even beyond that which I had thought to the surprise of everyone, including m yself. This experience was significant in my life, in relation to making choices from the subsequent events after the music competition. This is because it molded my attitude to be that of winning and doing better by heightening my sense of self-worth. This stemmed from the positive thoughts and feelings that I felt towards myself, which rescued me from a state of self-pity. From then on, I chose my thoughts carefully to suit a positive life attitude and positive practices to match it. In addition, I have learnt to choose my friends wisely based on their treatment of their prior friends, rather than being an experimental friend to be shoved all over the place for their own pleasure. Furthermore, I have learnt the truth about friendship and its aspects in relation to staying true to yourself but not attempting to fit in order to gain recognition. The

Auditing&Assurance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Auditing&Assurance - Assignment Example Auditors go evaluate reports to ensure that they are accurately presented 1. The work of auditing should be conducted by independent professionals who demonstrate a high level of integrity. They should be honest, unbiased and sincere while discharging their duties. Most organizations experience cases of fraud, mismanagement of resources, and corruption among other vices. The vices are very costly to the organization and sometimes may be the beginning of the downfall of an organization. Most organizations lose their resources through fraudulent activities that are carried out by employees and sometimes senior managers. It is not easy to establish the fraudulent activities since it is performed by skilled individuals such as accountants. The cases might go easily unnoticed if a prima-facie approach is used to verify transactions. In order to unearth anomalies and discrepancies, a proper and independent investigation must be initiated. Auditors are the only professional that can be able to launch a thorough investigation that can assist the management discover fraudulent transactions and other illegal activities2. Auditing entails a number of activities. It analyses the books of account of an organization critically. Groups carry out numerous transactions that are recorded in the books of account. Conversely, fraudulent activities may take place during the recording stage. Accountants may alter the figure so that they can embezzle funds. The role of auditors is to look into the books to ensure no suspicious transactions have been recorded. In addition, they confirm the arithmetic accuracy of the documents that have been provided. Secondly, they are mandated with the responsibility of verifying the assets and liabilities of an organization. In the case of the body, the auditors had to undertake quarterly inventory counts. Furthermore, they detect and prevent errors and fraud from occurring. Finally, they report to the management n matters relating to

Clinical Research Informatics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Clinical Research Informatics - Assignment Example Clinical research informatics primarily derives its importance from the fact that it is the lynchpin which links the innovative technologies to their use in the patient care (Majumder, 2012). Clinical research informatics facilitates the ongoing dialogues among both practitioners and researchers in their constant surge to create a dynamic environment of clinical research. â€Å"The development of CRI†¦drives a growing pool of scientific literature based on original CRI research, and high-impact tools and systems will be developed† (Richesson and Andrews, 2012). Health care organizations benefit from the clinical research informatics as they unveil innovative treatment options for the diseases to improve the quality of health care. Clinical research informatics enhance the translational continuum on four levels; â€Å"basic research to clinical trials (T1), clinical trials to academic health center practice (T2), diffusion and implementation to community practice (T3), an d ‘real world’ outcomes (T4)† (Kahn and Weng, 2012). Hence, clinical research informatics make it possible for the health care organizations to apply the theoretical knowledge to practical

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT - Essay Example Since the transformation is taking place increasingly in most of the organisations, the role of the HR managers also tends to change. The HR managers need to be more competent in order to deal with such kind of changes. When such kind of changes tend to trigger, it becomes increasingly important to motivate the staffs and appraise the performance on a standard basis. Employee motivation and appraisal are the most significant roles of the HR managers (Jones & George, 2009). Importance of Employee Motivation and Appraisal It is a well known fact that the recruitment and selection as well as training and development components of the human resources management system explain that the employees need to have all the necessary knowledge as well as the skills in order to perform the task of the organisation. Performance appraisal tends to complement the above mentioned components of the human resource management. The term performance appraisal seeks to gauge the job performance of the emplo yees along with their input towards the organisation. It is increasingly essential to provide the feedback as well to the employees which can be comprehended as a process whereby the information related to the performance appraisal is shared by the managers with their subordinates. The process also permits the subordinates to reflect upon their performance and thus managers can work with these subordinates to plan for the future. However, the main point to keep into mind is that the performance appraisal needs to take place prior to the performance feedback. It can be mentioned that the performance appraisal can be exercised without providing any feedback to the employees, but there are certain managers who provide their valuable feedback since it assists in motivating the staffs and thus contribute to improve their performances. The performance appraisal lets the managers to effectively manage the human resources in the organisation. It assists them in comprehending the training an d development requirement of the staffs in the organisation. In addition to this, the most useful decisions relating to the bonuses pay and perks, promotion depends upon the accurate and correct appraisal of the employees. Feedback lets the good performers understand that their efforts are being valued at the organisation while on the other side it also lets the poor performers comprehend the truth that they need to progress on the determined areas so that the overall efficiency can be increased. It has been noted that most of the managers dislike providing their valuable feedback to the employees especially at times when the feedback tends to be negative. However, the managers need to remember that providing feedback can benefit the organisation to a great degree. The performance feedback needs to be provided following certain guidelines which can contribute to the employee’s motivation and the enhancement of the employee’s performance in the organisation. It would be prudent for the managers to be specific on what they like to comment and then focus on the behaviour of the employees that can be easily corrected and is within the workers ability to improve. For instance, if the managers tell the salesperson that he is being too shy when dealing with the customers, it would do

Understanding the relationship between The banking sector and money Research Paper

Understanding the relationship between The banking sector and money laundering - Research Paper Example The annotated bibliography will enable me establish validity of the research, consider multiple perspectives and viewpoints of numerous authors and gain more background information on the topic of study. The annotated bibliography will also follow the appropriate citation style (Oliver, 2010). My research strategy for locating resources for my portfolio project while entail using information technology resources in the library such as computers to search for research databases on numerous authors who have studied the topic in order to get more background information (Oliver, 2010). I will be able to compare various sources in order to establish the relevancy and validity of their findings in my portfolio project. I will scholarly sources such as published books and peer reviewed journals that offer credible background information on various subjects of study (Oliver, 2010). The determining factors that will influence my decision include the relevancy of the source, the validity of the content and consistency of the information contained in the source (Oliver, 2010). I will also look at the credibility of the authors, the publishers and objectivity of facts presented by the author. I will also ensure the source ideas and findings are collaborated by other authors and ideas are logical according to the background information of my annotated bibliography (Oliver, 2010). My strategy has not changed since I will prepare an annotated bibliography that will guide me while writing the portfolio project. I will summarize the main sources, assess their relevancy to my topic, and reflect on their importance to my portfolio project (Oliver, 2010). I will seek help from the college writing center and my lecturers on how to arrange my ideas in a logical manner and different aspects that should be incorporated in the portfolio project. I will consult my lecturer on the difficult aspects of the project such

Healthcare mangement - Delivery and service - team work Essay

Healthcare mangement - Delivery and service - team work - Essay Example A better knowledge and development of skills of every individual is improved by their participation. The welfare of the team and the set goal gains a upper hand than the personal development and motives of an individual within the team (Growing a team, 2011). In a healthcare setting the members of a team work together to provide care for patients. For instance a physician and physiotherapist may work together to provide care for a patient (Clements, Dault & Alicia, n.d). In many cases the team leader can include several members within the team which can result in an unbalance and incase the team includes only people with a particular expertise only a specific area is focused and developed while gaps are left in the other areas. Many individuals within a team may have a feeling that their talents are underutilized within the team. In case the leader is unable to motivate the members, the work output often is not satisfactory and is left incomplete. In case of such differences, all the team members do not get their fill which is also reflected in the final result (Growing a team, 2011). In healthcare team work constitutes an important aspect for providing patient care. The collaborative efforts of both the physician and other paramedics would help to provide optimum care and treatment for the patients as the specific skills of everyone in the team results in improved outcomes for the patient.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Essay Example for Free

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Essay Imagine staying away from everybody, isolating yourself form someone you love, a family member or colleague because they seem to be sick. Imagine not being able to shake hand, kiss, or hug anybody because you are concerned that you might get some bacteria form them. Imagine not being able to open a door or pressing a button in the elevator with your hand because so many people have touched it before you. Imagine if you repeatedly check if the door of your apartment is locked even though you know for sure that you have locked it and you have checked several times. These are some symptoms of an anxiety disorder known as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) which is characterized by uncontrollable, unwanted thoughts and repetitive, ritualized behaviors you feel compelled to perform. I have read about this disorder a long time ago because I noticed it with the Canadian comedian Howie Mandel. I noticed that Howie has mysophobia, so he does not shake hands with anybody. But I didn’t think about it as a mental illness, I thought it was just a fear that developed in his mind because of an incident that happened to him and I thought it would go away easily by facing that fear. But after watching the movie Back Form Madness, I realized that it is more complicated than what I thought it was. Glen, the photographer, was the person who got most of my attention, mainly because I am a photographer and I have done wedding photography for a while. So I know how hard it is for a photographer to take a perfect picture and the different aspects that should be focused on while taking a picture. Having OCD would defiantly make it much harder because you will be checking so many things in the camera and will take a long time to take a picture which will cause you anxiety because the customers will be mad. In this case, I will stop shooting and I will do the cingulotomy surgery even though, as Glen said, it is very dangerous and very painful. After the surgery, Glen was hopeless because he thought that he would die without getting cured. I cannot really talk about how I would feel because I believe that we cannot feel the whole pain of others unless we are in their shoe. But all I can say is, hope is in the horizon as the sun keeps rising every day with new opportunities to everybody.

Aboriginal People In Canadian History And Culture History Essay

Aboriginal People In Canadian History And Culture History Essay Canada has provided a home for settlers ever since the first inhabitants arrived on the continent. Each of these groups of settlers had contributed to the rise of the country in several ways. Among the many inhabitants throughout the history of Canada, Canadian Indians had one of the greatest influence on the countrys economy and provided a very rich cultural heritage. Many experts think that the first Indian settlers had migrated to Canada during the last Ice Age, leaving their previous homeland, Siberia. After the ice had melted, only people could cross to Canada through the Bering Strait, while land animals had to stay behind.  [1]  Therefore, Canadian Indians had to establish their villages and society without the help of the most common European domestic animals such as donkeys, horses or oxen. Despite the fact that their domestic animal resources were limited, early Canadian Indians were very successful farmers. During the period between 500 BC and 1000 AD, each of the numerous Indian tribes had their own developed culture, customs and beliefs. Their food sources varied according to the geographical features of their living areas. In the northern areas of the country, fishing and hunting were the most popular means of acquiring food. The tribes living there, for example the Inuits, hunted for whales, thus they introduced a sea-hunting culture to the area. Moreover, among the Inuits, there were several fishermen who fished for salmon in the cold rivers surrounding their villages. The weather around the Arctic was quite harsh, especially during winter when the seas froze and snow covered everything, which made it necessary for the Inuits to develop new objects, such as the dog sleds, or the snow houses  [2]  , which are in use even in present day. The arrival of the European conquerors brought a huge change into the lives of the native people of Canada. As the members of the First Nations were skilled hunters and fishermen, they had resources and useful goods to offer to the Europeans. Among these goods, the most important one was animal fur (first the fur of beavers). Europeans and the native people made contact with each other with the help of trading goods. Europeans traded metal tools (which were very much needed by the Indians) for highly expensive animal fur. The limited cultural background of the North American hunting peoples provided an insatiable demand for the products of the more elaborate cultural development of Europeans. The supply of European goods, the product of a more advanced and specialized technology, enabled the Indians to gain a livelihood more easily to obtain their supply of food, as in the case of moose, more quickly, and to hunt the beaver more effectively.  [3]   As a result, several trading posts had been set up, which later evolved into towns, thus helping the development of Canadian settlements. The most active fur trading tribes, such as the Algonquians and the Hurons had an enermous role in the establishment of the very first trading stations and colonies. They hunted for food which they provided for the colonists, even if they had to carry these goods several hundreds of kilometers to be able to sell them. With the help of these tribes, the French colonists managed to establish the colony of Quebec, the first colony of Canada, in 1608. If it had not been for the help of the Algonquian and the Huron tribes, the French may have not been able to hold their stand on the continent. Due to the fact that the aboriginal inhabitants of Canada had been living in the country for a long time, several geographical areas were named by them, and many of these names are still in use in the present day. Actually, the name Canada originates from an Iroquoian word that means village or settlement  [4]  , which was later adopted by French settlers like Jacques Cartier. Other provinces and territories whose official names are aboriginal in origin are Yukon, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nunavut.  [5]  Also, there are thousands of towns or cities with their names originating from aboroginal names, which indicates the huge impact of the aboriginal culture on present day Canada. The art of the indigenous people of Canada also largely contributed to the countrys cultural heritage. The most important art had been created before the European settlers arrived, and these artifacts have very unique characteristics. The most popular artifacts produced in that time were the totem poles, which had animals, such as eagles, bears, ravens or legendary creatures depicted on them. Many of the aboriginal people were skilled sculptors or painters, and after the Europeans arrival some of them started to make art for a commercial purpose. As a result, more and more aboriginal art had reached a wide variety of audience, and the Indian art became more and more popular. The culture of the aboriginal people had a huge effect on the contemporary theatre, too. Many stories featured in plays or dramas were based on aboriginal stories told by Indian storytellers. Each tribe had its own creation story or myth that was told orally to the members of the tribe for hundreds of years, and especially during ceremonial occasions. These stories preserved the spoken language of the tribes, and added them to the cultural heritage of Canada. Today, there are several languages still spoken by indigenous people, and the most widespread ones include Anishinaabe and Cree, with several hundred thousand speakers; also Inuktitut, Nunavut, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut, and Mikmaq.  [6]   One of the most important contribution of the native people to the economy of Canada was the use of the canoe throughout the trading period of the 17th and 18th century. As the European colonists could not navigate the area, they often hired aboriginal guides to help them find their way, and to mediate between trading tribes. The canoe (usually made from birch bark) was the fastest means of transport through the rivers of the country, and due to its design and structure, it could carry a huge amount of goods, such as fur, food, or the metal and iron tools that the native people were given in return. There had been several examples of a single native person carrying goods on his canoe from the eastern part of the country to the west. This journey consisted of several thousand kilometers, and the importance of keeping the trade routes active was recognised both by the colonists and the Indians. The native people of Canada contributed to the military successes first against the British, then later against the United States. During the war between the French colonists and the British, the Iroquis had trained the French soldiers in guerilla warfare, which was a great advantage. New France (the French colony in Canada) also had allies among the Algonquians, and they proved to be a great asset. The French had very close trading (hence military) ties with the Abenakis from Maine, many of whom had sought refuge in Canada and with the Micmacs and Malecites in the Maritimes. France also had loose alliances with the Great Lakes Algonquians: the Ojibwa, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Miami, and Illionis. Moreover, the Canadian fur traders and fort commanders, unlike the land-hungry English settlers, cultivated a friendship of the Algonquians by giving the Indians gifts and presents.  [7]   One of the most important Indian war heros was named Tecumseh, leader of the Shawnee tribe, and a large contributor to the success of the war against the Americans. He was later considered a folk legend, and many Canadians remember him as a hero for the defense he did to their country, even today. Apart from cultural and military contributions, the aboriginal people in Canada invented several of the now everyday items and activities, such as maple syrup, tug of war, lacrosse, the toboggan, snowshoes. Lacrosse is now a very popular sport in Canada, while maple syrup is considered one of Canadas national products. The aboriginal people showed the settlers how to make maple syrup, or itsinzibuckwud, as the Alqonquians called it, which meant drawn from wood. In the early days of colonization, it was the Natives who showed French settlers how to tap the trunk of a tree at the outset of spring, harvest the sap and boil it to evaporate some of the water. This custom quickly became an integral part of colony life and during the 17th and 18th centuries, syrup was a major source of high quality pure sugar. Later, however, they would learn to bore holes in the trees and hang their buckets on home-made spouts.  [8]   In modern day Canada, Quebec produces the largest amount of maple syrup in the world, followed by the United States. In conclusion, the native peoples contribution to the economy and cultural heritage of Canada is very important. Not only did the aboriginals made it possible for the European settlers to establish a country in the continent, but they also introduced them to the typical food and tools of the native people, which made the life of the settlers easier. With the help of fur trade, the early Canadian economy was flourishing, and the alliances between the European settlers and the Indians helped Canada obtaining its independence.

Online Property Management System

Online Property Management System Study and Develop of an online property management system for City 2 Property Chapter 1: Literature Review 1.1 Overview In this chapter, the author conducts literature review mainly on the studies of online property management system to find out how property management works on the internet. The author also focuses on the technologies and tools involved in making online property management system more efficient. 1.2 Online Property Management Online property management basically contains most of the business method that renovate to the internet. It is the management of property management using online tools. When online property management implemented, it make many things like booking keeping, collecting rental fees, managing properties and contact with clients more easy and efficient. Online property management is simple and usually do not require any high performance or complicated application to work on. Usually, many real estate company in Malaysia still prefer paperwork instead of using property management system to enhance their operation. One of the reason is the preference of paperwork and not use to working on system when think about working using a system. Therefore, less complicated interface and process in online property management system give advantages to those who considering on implementing system work into their business. And for this reason, it encourages online property management system to a higher demand level in online business nowadays. 1.3 Supporting Technologies One of the advantages of online property management system is the usage of available technologies that are provided to all users that enhance their online business operation. Other than some common technologies that are usable in all business that provide different usage and advantage to the business, there are also some technologies that provide great advantage on online property management business. 1.3.1 Google Map Google map is a web mapping service application powered by Google. It provide mapping service that show a geographical mapping just like a dynamic country map, it provide the street name and route in many different view and also paths travel by own vehicle, foots or public transport. One of its supports towards property management is to show the direction from one location towards another, as well as showing the shortest route among few paths. All these benefits support users to find out the exact location of a place, and also make users know more about the places surrounding the targeted location in case they want to know more or when they are lost. 1.3.2 Visual Tour Visual tour is a new snapshot technology that able to capture numerous of pictures in a room or environment, using visual tour software and photo stitching software to stitch all the pictures together and produce a 360 degree virtual home view. This technology tend to provide a visual home tour to the property buyers by showing how is the inside of a property looks like when buyers does not need to travel all the way to the property location but using the internet to enjoy a tour just like when they are exactly in the building. To produce a visual tour video, a RTV tour builder kit contains of a camera and custom rotator mount on the side of the camera is needed. To start capturing, place the tripod on a best capturing spot, usually on the middle of a room, then manually rotate the camera one side to another from left to right, and then from top and bottom until every view of that room is being taken. Upon completing the capturing process, a visual tour software by overlapping the sides of all images together to utilize a 360 degree panaromic images. Lastly, the completed visual tour video need to upload to the RTV tour server through the internet to allow tour video automatically customize with owners banner, logo or photos, and then features like hyperlink to post into their websites, google map, and others will be added and send back to the owner. 1.3.3 Other Supporting Tools There are other technologies or tools supporting online property management as well. These tools are not mainly for online property management but also benefit the system operation like other businesses do. * Search function Search function is a common tool that filter information according by using a keyword enter by user and match data available in the current system, and display or show to the users Usually property buyers tend to have a property expectation in their mind before looking for agents to locate the property they want, search function in a system allow buyers to go through some simple steps to find out if theres any property that match their expectations or requirements, instead of searching all the properties one after another. * Mortgage loan calculator A mortgage loan calculator is to calculate the loan needed to pay by a property buyers per months. It usually require user to input some basic information like property value, interest rate, years and down payment to obtain the loan result. This is a simple tool that requires very little effort in developing but requires a correct formula to obtain the accurate result. * Reminding tools A reminding tool usually require user to enter a task name and an expired date. Upon reaching the expired date, user will receive a notification regarding the task. Property agents benefits from reminding tool in various ways. Collecting rental fees is an important process when properties are rented. Sometimes delay rental fees can be quite troublesome and if does not handle carefully, a delay rental fees could be forget or paid rental fees may not recorded properly. Therefore, the task of a reminding tool not only notify user regarding incomplete task but also ensure user about completed task. * Looking for agent Usually it is a good idea to record agents information in a system to allow buyers to look for a particular agent. In a system, not only agents brief personal and contact information could be found, buyers can also found the agents available listing. In case there are buyers who prefer a particular agent service and listing in that area, they can contact the agent directly without contacting the company or other agent. * iExpert A simple Question and Answer (QA) in a system that contain questions ask by the user regarding property issues, and can be answered by other users and working agents. It work like a forum but much more simple than it, it only require user to enter a question if he or she has one, or choose to view all available questions and answer any question if they know. 1.4 Summary As a summary of this chapter, the author has understood how online property management system work compares to real time business. More importantly, the author had conduct studies on the technologies that support online property management system which offer great advantages to the user when using the system. Chapter 2: Analyze Existing Websites 2.0 Overview In this chapter, the author visit and investigate several existing real estate websites to gain understanding in common features and also how other real estate websites manage their information. The author focuses more on some feature that is unique for real estate websites. The author also tend to list out some of their strengths and weaknesses to gain knowledge about pros and cons when manage a real estate business online. 2.1 ThinkProperty ThinkProperty is a free property service website that allows all real estate agents in Malaysia to post their property listing for free. It is owned by Think Media Sdn Bhd and was launched at October 2007. Powerful tools in ThinkProperty make properties more manageable and easier to search. It tends to provide great advantage to the sellers and buyers. 2.1.1 ThinkPropertys Features 2.1.1.1 Member features i) Managing properties Users are requiring registering as a member in order to use the features offer to all members. Register link can be found under login or the side navigation regarding all the features on the right. By clicking on registering, user will navigate to a page listing eight benefits to become a member. On the bottom on the page, user can click on â€Å"Register now† button to register as member by filling up the registration form and upon completing the form, user need to validate their account through e-mail. Then user will be successfully registered as a ThinkPropertys member and allow to login using the registered username and password. Once login, user can see their registered name and a dropdown list contain all available members features on the login interface. The dropdown list contains auto post back function, which means when user selects any option within the drop down list, user will automatically navigate to the page according to the selected option. For features under â€Å"Create new listing†, users will be direct to a form to submit the property they want to add. When they have done submitting it, the added property can be found in features under â€Å"Manage my listing†. User can check back their added listing anytime they want, and can choose to modify the information or delete the added listing. In ‘My properties and ‘My Auctions page, user can choose to filter the order of the listings by selecting property type, posted duration and other option. In property wanted, user can submit a wanted property to the moderator and wait until further notification. Usually agent will notify user by e-mail or contact number regarding the property they want. ii) Personal Profile Some of the information in a member personal profile is filled up during registration, while most of the information is blank. The information in personal profile included user type, company information, contact information, and websites. All this information will be useful if some other user need to find out more about a particular user for some business issues. This will be needed especially in the forum. User will be allowed to use the forum to post new thread or answer to any existing thread when they had become member. Providing all this information will be convenient to other member as well as the agents in case they need to contact the member. Other than entering their personal information, user can upload picture and video of themselves. Added picture will be shown in the profile page when it is viewed. As for video, user need to click on the video button located on the left side to view video in a new pop out. Brief information of the properties owned will also show in this page, as well as latest 10 posted threads in the forum can also be view by clicking on the â€Å"Forum† button. All this function is to ease other member in finding out more about a particular member. iii) Think Mail Think mail serve as a mailing service for members to receive messages sent by other member or agent. This is a simple service to read and delete mails; however it does not support sending message here. User need to go to another member page and click on the ‘Message button to send him or her Think Mail message or e-mail message. Other than this, user can set his or her e-mail alert option. This service is to receive property alert message in case user got use any service like property wanted and awaits agent finding. 2.1.1.2 Forum Just like other forum, ThinkProperty forum contain all types of topic discuss about buying properties, selling properties, property investment, finance issues and much more. Only registered member are allowed to post any question on the suitable thread and await other member to reply or reply to any existed thread. With the support of a forum, all members can get more help and information regarding property issues and problems, and also get to know more about agents and people from other place. A forum also serve as another way to obtain information and solving problem, otherwise user can only communicate to the moderator by using customer support and sending messages. 2.1.1.3 Customer Support In ThinkProperty, there are three ways to obtain supports. First is to use the most common method like many websites do, using the feedback form to send question and awaits reply from the moderator. Second is to use the forum to post new question and awaits replies from other member and moderators. Third is to use the live help desk located on almost every pages on the top right, right below of the main menu navigation. Live help desk is an instant messaging service. When click on it, a new window will pop up and there will be someone there to answer any question asks by the user. This is one effective way to obtain answers instantly without waiting like other two customer support. However, live help desk is not always available to be use. There is no specific time when it is available, but user can found it available many times in a day. 2.1.1.4 Viewing Properties To view the available properties, user has to enter a desire location in the search box on the top of the website. This is a more direct way to find property around an area, instead of viewing all properties from other places at one page. While entering data into the searching box, a drop down that contain some location that match the entered data will show to let user navigate quickly if the target location is within the drop down. When random data being entered, especially when input character is less than 3, location that is not related to the entered data will show. Otherwise, it will show no result match in the drop down. A ‘Display map check box under the search box is to indicate navigate user to view all properties page with its detail or navigate to Google map that shows the entered location and properties contain on that area. 2.10 shows an example of Google map result when display map is checked. The red house symbol below shows the properties that are available around the area. When mouse hover on one of the red symbol, a small dialog box pop out and show brief information about the property. User can click on the click on the bottom of the box to see more information about that property. Without checking the â€Å"Display Map†, when a location is selected, it will navigate to a page that shows all properties with some information located in that searched place. For example, 2.11 shows all properties available in Damansara when user enters Damansara in the search box. On the left side of the page, there is one filtering function to sort the wanted property details. By clicking on any of the filtering option, the function of it will show and allow user to choose or enter related information 2.15 shows the bottom of the property page. Google map of a particular property will be show if the property has information about it. At another side will be the seller information. In case user interested to find out more, they contact using the provided information or use the form below to e-mail the seller. In case user found that a particular property is not available anymore but it is still tag as available, user can simply click on the link beside the red icon below to notify the unavailability of this property to any user that view this property later. When user had done with one property, user can always choose to go back to all the property listing or simply click on the next button to view another property, or click on the previous button to view visited property before this, this two buttons located on top of the view all listings page. 2.1.1.5 Find Agent ThinkProperty does not offer a direct page to view all agents features. To find an agent, user needs to click the â€Å"Find Agent† link above the search box and then choose either find agent by area or by name. In case user knows any particular agent name and hoping for their service, they can try this search box to locate the agent to see all their posted listing. This also eases users when they know the agent name and where they work, but did not have any contact information about the agent. This may not work only if the target agent is not a member of ThinkProperty website. 2.1.2 Strengths and Weaknesses 2.1.2.1 Strengths * Simple, user-friendly interface. Overall web pages do not contain much unnecessary things. Simple looking and direct way to navigate to pages provide good browsing experience to users * Less complex function and process. Most of the process like job application form, submitting properties, searching functions are step by step methods and does not consist of much complicated process, this helps in reducing user confusion when using ThinkPropertys website * Good functionality and features. Sufficient features to provide good properties searching and managing experience * Good customer support service. Contain of more than one types of customer support feature for the purpose of increase efficiency in providing helps to the users when browsing ThinkProperty 2.1.2.2 Weaknesses * Risk might be unavoidable. ThinkProperty may not responsible for any information risk like fake agent or propertys information as they have no control over agents or members information * Searching function is the only way to view all properties and agents. As searching for properties and agents only depends on the searching box provided, first time user may not know how to find property and agent information. 2.2 iProperty During Jan 2009, iProperty was declared as the top property portal in Malaysia by Google Ads Planner. Operating their business in Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, India and Philippines allow clients from different states to use their service. For further development, they are working towards capitalize the property market and maintain their top leading position and continue working on online property advertising. (Sorensen, 2009) 2.2.1 iPropertys Features 2.2.1.1 Members Features Like other websites to use all the features offer to members only, user has to proceed to registration and approved as a member first. Before login, there will be several links under login like My shortlist, My Property Ads and others, but when user click on those link without login, they will be directed to the login page, which contain registering and forgotten password feature. To register, user just has to click on â€Å"Register Now† link located on the top left side of every page or under the login field on login page and navigate to the registering page. Upon submitting the form, user will receive a random generated password in their registered e-mail, user has to use that password and registered username to login, and then they can choose to change the password later on. i) Create Personal Profile Upon registering as member, user can choose to create their personal profile. This feature is optional, other than letting the agents to know more about them when using iPropertys service like property wanted and property ads, it also allow other member to find out more about a particular agent through iExpert. ii) My iExpert iExpert is a service designed to ease the sharing of property information sharing among members. All users are allow to use iExpert to search and view questions and answers provided by the members, however, only members are allow to post new questions and answer existing questions. It serves like a partial forum but does not contain much feature like forums do. iii) My Property Wanted Like other property website, iProperty offer a property wanted feature to all members only that allow them to submit a form consist of the property requirement a buyer want, and let the agents to perform a property search to find available property match the buyer requirement and notify buyers about it. Members who use this feature will keep property wanted information in their profile. 2.2.1.2 Viewing Properties The â€Å"New Property Review† button contain under the drop down of â€Å"New Properties† located on top of the main menu navigation direct users to the latest property listing in iProperty. User can choose to view different types of property by months by selecting from a list box on the right side of the main title. This is one of the ways to view property owned by iProperty. Another way of finding properties is to use the searching function located on top of the page under the main menu or view properties through related developers or agents. Viewing a property consist of several parts. The first part is the propertys review that contain of long description of the particular property. It consists of some pictures regarding the property with describing the surrounding, environment and facility to attract the interest of people to know more about it. The second part is the propertys specification. This page usually of one picture regarding the property and all details like address, property type, land title, tenure, land area, price range, posted date, and side information which are nearby transportation, schools, and amenities. Next part is viewing the property gallery. This page usually consists of photo gallery taken by camera about the property environment. Visual tour will also available in this page if the particular property has any video about visual tour. Map is available in most of the properties to show the location of a property and also direction to approach to it. For those properties that has Google Map details, a map will be provided as well. Lastly, user who interested in a property can register to it using a provided form to let the agent to contact and brief user about further information. Other than property specification, there are extra corner for sending enquiry to the agents or related person, sending enquiry to the developers and also a home loan calculator provided by Maybank with the information of preferred MPF, interest rate, loan years that is already provided according to the property and the monthly repayment result is provided automatically to the user. 2.2.1.3 Visual Tour iProperty provide visual tour service for user to experience a virtual visiting property experience. Visual tour video can be found on the bottom of each property under gallery view. However, not all properties provide visual tour service. User can found properties that contain visual tour service on the â€Å"Visual Tour† link under new properties on the main menu navigation. 2.2.1.4 Find an Agent Finding an agent in iProperty only require a click on â€Å"Find An Agent† button located on top of the page in main menu navigation. From this page, user can see their name, contact number, e-mail and self description. On top of it, there is a search agent function to find an agent by name, state and area, or user can filter all agents according to the first alphabet of their name. By clicking on their name, user will direct to their page that contain all of the listing they hold. User can also send a message to a particular agent in their page by submitting a form above the holding listing. 2.2.1.5 Search Function There are basically three types of search function depend on each pages. Different types of search function shown in different page for different purpose. 2.29 show a search function located on the main page and new project page. There are sufficient data for user to specify the searching information to obtain better matching property. User can click on â€Å"Advance Search† to have more option to search. Alternately, user can choose to filter properties according to different state by clicking â€Å"By Area† or different country by clicking on â€Å"Overseas†. The second searching function is searching agent function. This feature available only in â€Å"Find An Agent† page and the concept is the same with normal searching function. User just has to input the agents name, area or state, or choosing the first alphabet of their name to find a particular agent. The third searching function located on â€Å"Home Service† page. This searching function use to search for available furniture or home products. 2.2.2 Strengths and Weaknesses 2.2.2.1 Strengths * Rich supporting technologies. iProperty consist of several tools like Google Map, Visual Tour, and some other function that make their service very efficient. * Detail properties information. All properties information included location map, floor plan, transportation and amenities nearby, image gallery and other related information provide information more than what the clients want to know. 2.2.2.2 Weaknesses * Too much information in a page may be unnecessary. Most of the pages contain a lot of information even if it is not related to the page. Users may found it confusion on information that is related or none-related to what they need. 2.3 Summary In this chapter, the author analyze some existing real estate company websites. As understanding features they use to enhance their operation is the main priority in this objective, the author has more knowledge on developing a real estate websites, as well as some of the strengths and weaknesses, to be learnt and avoid when developing an online property management system. Chapter 3: Conduct Interview and Survey 3.1 Overview In this chapter, the author conducts interview and surveys to the head of City 2 Property and also some agents who are experience in real estate business. The author uses this two fact finding method to determine the user requirement of the proposed system and the agents expectation towards it. In the end, the author will record the fact finding result and present on this chapter. 3.2 Interview The author decided to conduct an interview to the head of City 2 Property, Mr. Koo Kam Swee, because he is the most suitable person that understands the requirement or the needs of this proposed system. The interview question will be produce base on the purpose of understanding what will Mr. Koo expect the proposed system can do and how it benefits the business operation and the agents in the company. All the interview questions and answers show below contain main questions and some new questions that were asked during the interview. 3.2.1 Interview Questions and Answers 1. What give you an idea of using a website for your business? (To understand the purpose of the proposed system towards the company) Our companys operation mostly depends on paper work as we have already used to it. We never thought about creating a website until I realize the advantage of a website that can help people from the outside to access to our service faster and anytime even after our operation hour. Therefore, creating a website like other real estate company helps the customers to reach us easier. Author finding: The author uses this question to find out the interviewee main purpose of having this proposed system. The author now understand that the manager get the idea that online business provide fast and easy ways to interact with clients, therefore he decide to implement a website for the company. 2. Without a system, what types of problem your company and the agents faces? (To understand how should the proposed system benefit the company) As I mention, most of our works depend on paperwork. Upon completing a document work, if require sending to clients or others, we need to send through letters, awaits receiving, and finally reply back to us. The overall process takes up a great amount of time. If there is a website, we can shorten the time of this type of process so that we can complete a task much faster. Author finding: From above statement, the author understands that the manager hope that the proposed system can benefit by completing a task faster using electronic mail instead of delivering letters which is very time consuming. 3. Other than that, what are other problems exist? For instant, what you think other real estate company with websites benefits compare to your company? (To understand more on the benefits of the interviewee expect towards the proposed system) Having a website for the company nowadays is a type of competitive advantage. I know some of the other real estate company having their own websites, this give them the advantage of allowing clients to reach them easier, meanwhile this become a disadvantage for us as we lack of this service to offer to the clients. Author finding: Spontaneous question continue from the second question, the author try to find out more about the expectation of the manager that the proposed system can benefit the company. The author gives an example of other real estate competitive to make interviewee to think more critical on the benefits he expects. By the answer of the interviewee, the author know that the manager expect the proposed system can be a competitive advantage when compete with other real estate company. 4. For the website, what features you expects most? In another words, what feature you think is the most important in the entire website? (To understand what feature the interviewee concern the most) The most important part in the website would be allowing people to view our properties. We hope that people who view our properties using the website can know all the details of a property when they access the page. Author finding: The author wanted to know what is considering as the most important feature in the proposed system. The answer given shows that the manager expect viewing properties as an important feature that should put effort on for the purpose of allowing the users to know the full details of a property. 5. Other than viewing propertys details, what other feature you hope to be implemented to make viewing properties a better experience for the users? (To make the interviewee consider more on the functionality of the concerned feature) To be able to view propertys picture with all the details, this would be good enough. Additionally, I hope the website can handle some clients services like sending enquiry about a property or provide information about our contact so that their can call us or send message to us whenever they need our service. Author finding: A spontaneous question follows by question number 4. The author trying to make the interviewee think more on adding some functionality that can make viewing properties better for the users. But the manager does not have too high expectation on other function about it, and suggest other feature regarding serving clients by receiving enquiries and mail from them using the proposed system. 6. Will you expect people to be able to register as a member of City 2 Property website? If yes, what do you hope to benefit from this feature? (To understand what the manager think about member system and how to benefit from it) Possible. Having members in our website help us know more about them, in case we want to contact them using mobile phone, we may be able to locate their contact information through the website. Author finding: The author finds out that the manager does not have high expectation on the member system as well. The manager hopes that this feature can be used to find out the members contact information so that the agent can contact them when necessary. 7. If a member system is implemented, what you think about allowing members to sell their properties using the website? (To understand what the manager think about selling properties online) I guess this should be no different than clients call up to offer their properties to us. If what I think is correct, th Online Property Management System Online Property Management System Study and Develop of an online property management system for City 2 Property Chapter 1: Literature Review 1.1 Overview In this chapter, the author conducts literature review mainly on the studies of online property management system to find out how property management works on the internet. The author also focuses on the technologies and tools involved in making online property management system more efficient. 1.2 Online Property Management Online property management basically contains most of the business method that renovate to the internet. It is the management of property management using online tools. When online property management implemented, it make many things like booking keeping, collecting rental fees, managing properties and contact with clients more easy and efficient. Online property management is simple and usually do not require any high performance or complicated application to work on. Usually, many real estate company in Malaysia still prefer paperwork instead of using property management system to enhance their operation. One of the reason is the preference of paperwork and not use to working on system when think about working using a system. Therefore, less complicated interface and process in online property management system give advantages to those who considering on implementing system work into their business. And for this reason, it encourages online property management system to a higher demand level in online business nowadays. 1.3 Supporting Technologies One of the advantages of online property management system is the usage of available technologies that are provided to all users that enhance their online business operation. Other than some common technologies that are usable in all business that provide different usage and advantage to the business, there are also some technologies that provide great advantage on online property management business. 1.3.1 Google Map Google map is a web mapping service application powered by Google. It provide mapping service that show a geographical mapping just like a dynamic country map, it provide the street name and route in many different view and also paths travel by own vehicle, foots or public transport. One of its supports towards property management is to show the direction from one location towards another, as well as showing the shortest route among few paths. All these benefits support users to find out the exact location of a place, and also make users know more about the places surrounding the targeted location in case they want to know more or when they are lost. 1.3.2 Visual Tour Visual tour is a new snapshot technology that able to capture numerous of pictures in a room or environment, using visual tour software and photo stitching software to stitch all the pictures together and produce a 360 degree virtual home view. This technology tend to provide a visual home tour to the property buyers by showing how is the inside of a property looks like when buyers does not need to travel all the way to the property location but using the internet to enjoy a tour just like when they are exactly in the building. To produce a visual tour video, a RTV tour builder kit contains of a camera and custom rotator mount on the side of the camera is needed. To start capturing, place the tripod on a best capturing spot, usually on the middle of a room, then manually rotate the camera one side to another from left to right, and then from top and bottom until every view of that room is being taken. Upon completing the capturing process, a visual tour software by overlapping the sides of all images together to utilize a 360 degree panaromic images. Lastly, the completed visual tour video need to upload to the RTV tour server through the internet to allow tour video automatically customize with owners banner, logo or photos, and then features like hyperlink to post into their websites, google map, and others will be added and send back to the owner. 1.3.3 Other Supporting Tools There are other technologies or tools supporting online property management as well. These tools are not mainly for online property management but also benefit the system operation like other businesses do. * Search function Search function is a common tool that filter information according by using a keyword enter by user and match data available in the current system, and display or show to the users Usually property buyers tend to have a property expectation in their mind before looking for agents to locate the property they want, search function in a system allow buyers to go through some simple steps to find out if theres any property that match their expectations or requirements, instead of searching all the properties one after another. * Mortgage loan calculator A mortgage loan calculator is to calculate the loan needed to pay by a property buyers per months. It usually require user to input some basic information like property value, interest rate, years and down payment to obtain the loan result. This is a simple tool that requires very little effort in developing but requires a correct formula to obtain the accurate result. * Reminding tools A reminding tool usually require user to enter a task name and an expired date. Upon reaching the expired date, user will receive a notification regarding the task. Property agents benefits from reminding tool in various ways. Collecting rental fees is an important process when properties are rented. Sometimes delay rental fees can be quite troublesome and if does not handle carefully, a delay rental fees could be forget or paid rental fees may not recorded properly. Therefore, the task of a reminding tool not only notify user regarding incomplete task but also ensure user about completed task. * Looking for agent Usually it is a good idea to record agents information in a system to allow buyers to look for a particular agent. In a system, not only agents brief personal and contact information could be found, buyers can also found the agents available listing. In case there are buyers who prefer a particular agent service and listing in that area, they can contact the agent directly without contacting the company or other agent. * iExpert A simple Question and Answer (QA) in a system that contain questions ask by the user regarding property issues, and can be answered by other users and working agents. It work like a forum but much more simple than it, it only require user to enter a question if he or she has one, or choose to view all available questions and answer any question if they know. 1.4 Summary As a summary of this chapter, the author has understood how online property management system work compares to real time business. More importantly, the author had conduct studies on the technologies that support online property management system which offer great advantages to the user when using the system. Chapter 2: Analyze Existing Websites 2.0 Overview In this chapter, the author visit and investigate several existing real estate websites to gain understanding in common features and also how other real estate websites manage their information. The author focuses more on some feature that is unique for real estate websites. The author also tend to list out some of their strengths and weaknesses to gain knowledge about pros and cons when manage a real estate business online. 2.1 ThinkProperty ThinkProperty is a free property service website that allows all real estate agents in Malaysia to post their property listing for free. It is owned by Think Media Sdn Bhd and was launched at October 2007. Powerful tools in ThinkProperty make properties more manageable and easier to search. It tends to provide great advantage to the sellers and buyers. 2.1.1 ThinkPropertys Features 2.1.1.1 Member features i) Managing properties Users are requiring registering as a member in order to use the features offer to all members. Register link can be found under login or the side navigation regarding all the features on the right. By clicking on registering, user will navigate to a page listing eight benefits to become a member. On the bottom on the page, user can click on â€Å"Register now† button to register as member by filling up the registration form and upon completing the form, user need to validate their account through e-mail. Then user will be successfully registered as a ThinkPropertys member and allow to login using the registered username and password. Once login, user can see their registered name and a dropdown list contain all available members features on the login interface. The dropdown list contains auto post back function, which means when user selects any option within the drop down list, user will automatically navigate to the page according to the selected option. For features under â€Å"Create new listing†, users will be direct to a form to submit the property they want to add. When they have done submitting it, the added property can be found in features under â€Å"Manage my listing†. User can check back their added listing anytime they want, and can choose to modify the information or delete the added listing. In ‘My properties and ‘My Auctions page, user can choose to filter the order of the listings by selecting property type, posted duration and other option. In property wanted, user can submit a wanted property to the moderator and wait until further notification. Usually agent will notify user by e-mail or contact number regarding the property they want. ii) Personal Profile Some of the information in a member personal profile is filled up during registration, while most of the information is blank. The information in personal profile included user type, company information, contact information, and websites. All this information will be useful if some other user need to find out more about a particular user for some business issues. This will be needed especially in the forum. User will be allowed to use the forum to post new thread or answer to any existing thread when they had become member. Providing all this information will be convenient to other member as well as the agents in case they need to contact the member. Other than entering their personal information, user can upload picture and video of themselves. Added picture will be shown in the profile page when it is viewed. As for video, user need to click on the video button located on the left side to view video in a new pop out. Brief information of the properties owned will also show in this page, as well as latest 10 posted threads in the forum can also be view by clicking on the â€Å"Forum† button. All this function is to ease other member in finding out more about a particular member. iii) Think Mail Think mail serve as a mailing service for members to receive messages sent by other member or agent. This is a simple service to read and delete mails; however it does not support sending message here. User need to go to another member page and click on the ‘Message button to send him or her Think Mail message or e-mail message. Other than this, user can set his or her e-mail alert option. This service is to receive property alert message in case user got use any service like property wanted and awaits agent finding. 2.1.1.2 Forum Just like other forum, ThinkProperty forum contain all types of topic discuss about buying properties, selling properties, property investment, finance issues and much more. Only registered member are allowed to post any question on the suitable thread and await other member to reply or reply to any existed thread. With the support of a forum, all members can get more help and information regarding property issues and problems, and also get to know more about agents and people from other place. A forum also serve as another way to obtain information and solving problem, otherwise user can only communicate to the moderator by using customer support and sending messages. 2.1.1.3 Customer Support In ThinkProperty, there are three ways to obtain supports. First is to use the most common method like many websites do, using the feedback form to send question and awaits reply from the moderator. Second is to use the forum to post new question and awaits replies from other member and moderators. Third is to use the live help desk located on almost every pages on the top right, right below of the main menu navigation. Live help desk is an instant messaging service. When click on it, a new window will pop up and there will be someone there to answer any question asks by the user. This is one effective way to obtain answers instantly without waiting like other two customer support. However, live help desk is not always available to be use. There is no specific time when it is available, but user can found it available many times in a day. 2.1.1.4 Viewing Properties To view the available properties, user has to enter a desire location in the search box on the top of the website. This is a more direct way to find property around an area, instead of viewing all properties from other places at one page. While entering data into the searching box, a drop down that contain some location that match the entered data will show to let user navigate quickly if the target location is within the drop down. When random data being entered, especially when input character is less than 3, location that is not related to the entered data will show. Otherwise, it will show no result match in the drop down. A ‘Display map check box under the search box is to indicate navigate user to view all properties page with its detail or navigate to Google map that shows the entered location and properties contain on that area. 2.10 shows an example of Google map result when display map is checked. The red house symbol below shows the properties that are available around the area. When mouse hover on one of the red symbol, a small dialog box pop out and show brief information about the property. User can click on the click on the bottom of the box to see more information about that property. Without checking the â€Å"Display Map†, when a location is selected, it will navigate to a page that shows all properties with some information located in that searched place. For example, 2.11 shows all properties available in Damansara when user enters Damansara in the search box. On the left side of the page, there is one filtering function to sort the wanted property details. By clicking on any of the filtering option, the function of it will show and allow user to choose or enter related information 2.15 shows the bottom of the property page. Google map of a particular property will be show if the property has information about it. At another side will be the seller information. In case user interested to find out more, they contact using the provided information or use the form below to e-mail the seller. In case user found that a particular property is not available anymore but it is still tag as available, user can simply click on the link beside the red icon below to notify the unavailability of this property to any user that view this property later. When user had done with one property, user can always choose to go back to all the property listing or simply click on the next button to view another property, or click on the previous button to view visited property before this, this two buttons located on top of the view all listings page. 2.1.1.5 Find Agent ThinkProperty does not offer a direct page to view all agents features. To find an agent, user needs to click the â€Å"Find Agent† link above the search box and then choose either find agent by area or by name. In case user knows any particular agent name and hoping for their service, they can try this search box to locate the agent to see all their posted listing. This also eases users when they know the agent name and where they work, but did not have any contact information about the agent. This may not work only if the target agent is not a member of ThinkProperty website. 2.1.2 Strengths and Weaknesses 2.1.2.1 Strengths * Simple, user-friendly interface. Overall web pages do not contain much unnecessary things. Simple looking and direct way to navigate to pages provide good browsing experience to users * Less complex function and process. Most of the process like job application form, submitting properties, searching functions are step by step methods and does not consist of much complicated process, this helps in reducing user confusion when using ThinkPropertys website * Good functionality and features. Sufficient features to provide good properties searching and managing experience * Good customer support service. Contain of more than one types of customer support feature for the purpose of increase efficiency in providing helps to the users when browsing ThinkProperty 2.1.2.2 Weaknesses * Risk might be unavoidable. ThinkProperty may not responsible for any information risk like fake agent or propertys information as they have no control over agents or members information * Searching function is the only way to view all properties and agents. As searching for properties and agents only depends on the searching box provided, first time user may not know how to find property and agent information. 2.2 iProperty During Jan 2009, iProperty was declared as the top property portal in Malaysia by Google Ads Planner. Operating their business in Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, India and Philippines allow clients from different states to use their service. For further development, they are working towards capitalize the property market and maintain their top leading position and continue working on online property advertising. (Sorensen, 2009) 2.2.1 iPropertys Features 2.2.1.1 Members Features Like other websites to use all the features offer to members only, user has to proceed to registration and approved as a member first. Before login, there will be several links under login like My shortlist, My Property Ads and others, but when user click on those link without login, they will be directed to the login page, which contain registering and forgotten password feature. To register, user just has to click on â€Å"Register Now† link located on the top left side of every page or under the login field on login page and navigate to the registering page. Upon submitting the form, user will receive a random generated password in their registered e-mail, user has to use that password and registered username to login, and then they can choose to change the password later on. i) Create Personal Profile Upon registering as member, user can choose to create their personal profile. This feature is optional, other than letting the agents to know more about them when using iPropertys service like property wanted and property ads, it also allow other member to find out more about a particular agent through iExpert. ii) My iExpert iExpert is a service designed to ease the sharing of property information sharing among members. All users are allow to use iExpert to search and view questions and answers provided by the members, however, only members are allow to post new questions and answer existing questions. It serves like a partial forum but does not contain much feature like forums do. iii) My Property Wanted Like other property website, iProperty offer a property wanted feature to all members only that allow them to submit a form consist of the property requirement a buyer want, and let the agents to perform a property search to find available property match the buyer requirement and notify buyers about it. Members who use this feature will keep property wanted information in their profile. 2.2.1.2 Viewing Properties The â€Å"New Property Review† button contain under the drop down of â€Å"New Properties† located on top of the main menu navigation direct users to the latest property listing in iProperty. User can choose to view different types of property by months by selecting from a list box on the right side of the main title. This is one of the ways to view property owned by iProperty. Another way of finding properties is to use the searching function located on top of the page under the main menu or view properties through related developers or agents. Viewing a property consist of several parts. The first part is the propertys review that contain of long description of the particular property. It consists of some pictures regarding the property with describing the surrounding, environment and facility to attract the interest of people to know more about it. The second part is the propertys specification. This page usually of one picture regarding the property and all details like address, property type, land title, tenure, land area, price range, posted date, and side information which are nearby transportation, schools, and amenities. Next part is viewing the property gallery. This page usually consists of photo gallery taken by camera about the property environment. Visual tour will also available in this page if the particular property has any video about visual tour. Map is available in most of the properties to show the location of a property and also direction to approach to it. For those properties that has Google Map details, a map will be provided as well. Lastly, user who interested in a property can register to it using a provided form to let the agent to contact and brief user about further information. Other than property specification, there are extra corner for sending enquiry to the agents or related person, sending enquiry to the developers and also a home loan calculator provided by Maybank with the information of preferred MPF, interest rate, loan years that is already provided according to the property and the monthly repayment result is provided automatically to the user. 2.2.1.3 Visual Tour iProperty provide visual tour service for user to experience a virtual visiting property experience. Visual tour video can be found on the bottom of each property under gallery view. However, not all properties provide visual tour service. User can found properties that contain visual tour service on the â€Å"Visual Tour† link under new properties on the main menu navigation. 2.2.1.4 Find an Agent Finding an agent in iProperty only require a click on â€Å"Find An Agent† button located on top of the page in main menu navigation. From this page, user can see their name, contact number, e-mail and self description. On top of it, there is a search agent function to find an agent by name, state and area, or user can filter all agents according to the first alphabet of their name. By clicking on their name, user will direct to their page that contain all of the listing they hold. User can also send a message to a particular agent in their page by submitting a form above the holding listing. 2.2.1.5 Search Function There are basically three types of search function depend on each pages. Different types of search function shown in different page for different purpose. 2.29 show a search function located on the main page and new project page. There are sufficient data for user to specify the searching information to obtain better matching property. User can click on â€Å"Advance Search† to have more option to search. Alternately, user can choose to filter properties according to different state by clicking â€Å"By Area† or different country by clicking on â€Å"Overseas†. The second searching function is searching agent function. This feature available only in â€Å"Find An Agent† page and the concept is the same with normal searching function. User just has to input the agents name, area or state, or choosing the first alphabet of their name to find a particular agent. The third searching function located on â€Å"Home Service† page. This searching function use to search for available furniture or home products. 2.2.2 Strengths and Weaknesses 2.2.2.1 Strengths * Rich supporting technologies. iProperty consist of several tools like Google Map, Visual Tour, and some other function that make their service very efficient. * Detail properties information. All properties information included location map, floor plan, transportation and amenities nearby, image gallery and other related information provide information more than what the clients want to know. 2.2.2.2 Weaknesses * Too much information in a page may be unnecessary. Most of the pages contain a lot of information even if it is not related to the page. Users may found it confusion on information that is related or none-related to what they need. 2.3 Summary In this chapter, the author analyze some existing real estate company websites. As understanding features they use to enhance their operation is the main priority in this objective, the author has more knowledge on developing a real estate websites, as well as some of the strengths and weaknesses, to be learnt and avoid when developing an online property management system. Chapter 3: Conduct Interview and Survey 3.1 Overview In this chapter, the author conducts interview and surveys to the head of City 2 Property and also some agents who are experience in real estate business. The author uses this two fact finding method to determine the user requirement of the proposed system and the agents expectation towards it. In the end, the author will record the fact finding result and present on this chapter. 3.2 Interview The author decided to conduct an interview to the head of City 2 Property, Mr. Koo Kam Swee, because he is the most suitable person that understands the requirement or the needs of this proposed system. The interview question will be produce base on the purpose of understanding what will Mr. Koo expect the proposed system can do and how it benefits the business operation and the agents in the company. All the interview questions and answers show below contain main questions and some new questions that were asked during the interview. 3.2.1 Interview Questions and Answers 1. What give you an idea of using a website for your business? (To understand the purpose of the proposed system towards the company) Our companys operation mostly depends on paper work as we have already used to it. We never thought about creating a website until I realize the advantage of a website that can help people from the outside to access to our service faster and anytime even after our operation hour. Therefore, creating a website like other real estate company helps the customers to reach us easier. Author finding: The author uses this question to find out the interviewee main purpose of having this proposed system. The author now understand that the manager get the idea that online business provide fast and easy ways to interact with clients, therefore he decide to implement a website for the company. 2. Without a system, what types of problem your company and the agents faces? (To understand how should the proposed system benefit the company) As I mention, most of our works depend on paperwork. Upon completing a document work, if require sending to clients or others, we need to send through letters, awaits receiving, and finally reply back to us. The overall process takes up a great amount of time. If there is a website, we can shorten the time of this type of process so that we can complete a task much faster. Author finding: From above statement, the author understands that the manager hope that the proposed system can benefit by completing a task faster using electronic mail instead of delivering letters which is very time consuming. 3. Other than that, what are other problems exist? For instant, what you think other real estate company with websites benefits compare to your company? (To understand more on the benefits of the interviewee expect towards the proposed system) Having a website for the company nowadays is a type of competitive advantage. I know some of the other real estate company having their own websites, this give them the advantage of allowing clients to reach them easier, meanwhile this become a disadvantage for us as we lack of this service to offer to the clients. Author finding: Spontaneous question continue from the second question, the author try to find out more about the expectation of the manager that the proposed system can benefit the company. The author gives an example of other real estate competitive to make interviewee to think more critical on the benefits he expects. By the answer of the interviewee, the author know that the manager expect the proposed system can be a competitive advantage when compete with other real estate company. 4. For the website, what features you expects most? In another words, what feature you think is the most important in the entire website? (To understand what feature the interviewee concern the most) The most important part in the website would be allowing people to view our properties. We hope that people who view our properties using the website can know all the details of a property when they access the page. Author finding: The author wanted to know what is considering as the most important feature in the proposed system. The answer given shows that the manager expect viewing properties as an important feature that should put effort on for the purpose of allowing the users to know the full details of a property. 5. Other than viewing propertys details, what other feature you hope to be implemented to make viewing properties a better experience for the users? (To make the interviewee consider more on the functionality of the concerned feature) To be able to view propertys picture with all the details, this would be good enough. Additionally, I hope the website can handle some clients services like sending enquiry about a property or provide information about our contact so that their can call us or send message to us whenever they need our service. Author finding: A spontaneous question follows by question number 4. The author trying to make the interviewee think more on adding some functionality that can make viewing properties better for the users. But the manager does not have too high expectation on other function about it, and suggest other feature regarding serving clients by receiving enquiries and mail from them using the proposed system. 6. Will you expect people to be able to register as a member of City 2 Property website? If yes, what do you hope to benefit from this feature? (To understand what the manager think about member system and how to benefit from it) Possible. Having members in our website help us know more about them, in case we want to contact them using mobile phone, we may be able to locate their contact information through the website. Author finding: The author finds out that the manager does not have high expectation on the member system as well. The manager hopes that this feature can be used to find out the members contact information so that the agent can contact them when necessary. 7. If a member system is implemented, what you think about allowing members to sell their properties using the website? (To understand what the manager think about selling properties online) I guess this should be no different than clients call up to offer their properties to us. If what I think is correct, th