Telecommunications Infrastructure

This has seen companies shifting business focus, looking for new ways to odd value to existing revenue streams; it has also seen a strong desire to leverage new value from infrastructure that is already in place. This has especially been the case with mobile network moving Increasingly to support mobile broadband services and newer generations of mobile technologies. Browse Full Report With TCO: http://www. Nonrepresentational. Is/analysis-details/ Asia-flexed-telecommunications-launderettes The governments of Asian nations have long recognized – some earlier than others – that there needed to be some encouragement of private sector investment to meet he demand for the all-important capital needed in the telecoms sector. At the same time, It was also generally well recognized that this strategy could not rely on local Investment alone, and would Inevitably mean a substantial level of foreign investment.

Of course, despite this recognition, there has inevitably been some resistance within some administrations to opening up the telecoms sector to foreign Investors and as a consequence the level of ‘encouragement’ across the region has been variable. The initial round of substantial investment in telecoms infrastructure in Asia was in fixed telephone networks. Over a number of decades the regional economies were progressively building their often quite substantial fixed-line national networks. These fixed networks were in time followed by the building of mobile networks.

In many of the developing nations of the region, the building of fixed-line infrastructure was not far advanced before it was overwhelmed by the introduction of mobile Infrastructure. This created the phenomenon of ‘substitution’ In many of the markets of Salsa (where mobile services perform the function of the limited, or even non- existent, fixed telephone services. ) Nevertheless, despite the unevenness in supposition, fixed infrastructure has been and continues to be an important component In the overall development of the region’s telecoms sector.

Coming Into 2014 there were an estimated 500 million fixed-line subscribers in Asia; this was down from a peak of around 570 million in 2009; of course, fixed-line numbers are 1 OFF region. Whilst the fixed line numbers have gone into an overall decline, in some markets the numbers have continued to increase. Overall, it is anticipated that the decline will continue for a few more years before the market ‘levels off. ‘ To Get Download Full Report with TCO: http://www. Nonrepresentational. Biz/ ample/sample/134555 As already suggested, the focus of infrastructure building has been shifting.

There has been a major push to upgrade domestic telecoms networks to Next Generation Networks (Nuns). This process has seen large scale investment by Sais’s leading telecoms markets in new-generation IP-based telecommunications networks. At the same time there has been a major surge in infrastructure building as mostly developed economies roll out National Broadband Networks (NBS). These networks come in various ‘shapes and sizes’ as governments work with operators to tackle the strategic challenge of delivering high speed to the nation.

Not surprisingly the NBS rely heavily upon fiber; in some cases it is Fiber to the Premises (Ftp), while in others it might be Fiber to the Node (Often). And the cost varies accordingly. Those countries that have government backing for N.B. roll-out are generally the ones that have been setting the pace. In addition to the national networks, international connectivity remains central to the overall effectiveness of the region’s telecommunications services.

Submarine cable routes crisis-cross the Asia Pacific area, providing both intra-regional and inter- regional networks. This sector of the market has been characterized by widely lactating supply and demand, which in turn has seen somewhat erratic investment strategies. Submarine projects are subject to this boom and bust market phenomena, with planned projects commonly being delayed or abandoned, consortia being reshaped, etc. In fact, over-supply of capacity has been common in the Asian market.

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Global Marketing Research

Table of contents

Introduction

Rarely does a marketing research project rely solely on secondary data. At the same time, rarely does a marketing research project not rely on secondary data at all. Three stages of the marketing research process are especially pertinent to the use of secondary data: problem definition, research design, and report presentation. Within these stages, the use of secondary information pertains to project information, foundation and context, and techniques and tools.

Project Information

Secondary data generally do not substitute for, or compete with, primary data. Rather, they are complementary. At the same time, there are some marketing situations in which secondary data are the only data required to assist users of marketing research in their
decision making. Users of marketing research are confronted with recurring decisions. It is therefore likely that helpful secondary information will exist.

Foundation and Context

The most frequent application of secondary data in marketing research is not as sole project information, but as groundwork to establish a foundation and context. On this foundation and in this context, primary data are collected, analyzed, and reported. The
groundwork is laid in the form of a literature search. A literature search is a search among existing material for information pertinent to the current marketing research project. It is often an aspect of exploratory research, through which marketing
researchers gain familiarity with the topic of their current marketing research project. Typical materials utilized in a literature search are computer data bases, books, magazines, scholarly journals, newspapers, and company records.

Guiness brewing company

Several years earlier, the chief executives at Guinness Brewing Company had begun their decision process concerning whether to expand operations into the Hong Kong market. The company, with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, was already marketing its flagship product in over a hundred countries. Its flagship product, Guinness Beer, is accurately categorized as a stout or ale. Such a dark brown, as to be almost black in color, Guinness Stout contrasts with the light-colored American beers, which are categorized in the British Isles and many other parts of the world as lagers. Hoping to avoid reaching an incorrect decision, Guinness Brewing wanted marketing research information to assist their decision making. Their list of questions was long. For example, they wanted to know:

  • How many people live in Hong Kong?
  • What is their age distribution?
  • What is their income?
  • What is their education?
  • Where are the people located in the city and country?
  • What are the demographic characteristics of people by areas within the city and country?
  • How do the people live in terms of housing?
  • How much beer is consumed, in total and per capita?
  • What type of beer is preferred?
  • What brands currently exist?
  • What are the market shares of the different brands?
  • How is beer purchased in Hong Kong? For example, what portion of the beer market is comprised of single servings in restaurants (and what kind of restaurants) and drinking establishments (such as bars, nightclubs, and hotel lounges) and what portion of the beer market is comprised of multiple packs (and what size packs, since the soft drinks sold at grocery stores are sold only as single cans or in packs of
    eight).
  • How many tourists visit Hong Kong each year?
  • How much beer do these tourists consume?

Much, but not all, of this information already existed in the form of secondary data. For example, from the secondary data it was determined that Hong Kong had a population of about 5.7 million people in an area of about 400 square miles, and is on the doorstep of China with a population of well over I billion people. While over forty brands of beer are marketed in Hong Kong, San Miguel has an overwhelming market share of approximately 80 percent. It was also determined from secondary data that per capita beer consumption was low at about 27.1 liters per year, and that income was around HK
$9,000 per month. The education of most residents did not include “tertiary” school (Patzer: 1995).

The Guinness Brewing company was confronted with both the benefits and detriments of using secondary data. It was beneficial that, since much of the desired information already had been gathered, it could be obtained with minimum expenditures in time and money.

Typically, however, detriments were also present. First, unlike the government system in the United States, which reports substantial census information according to zip code, or in England and Ireland, where an analogous system utilizes postal codes, Hong Kong had no such mail or postal delivery system. Second, much of the data or information had been collected several years earlier, and some even as much as eight to ten years earlier. Third, it seemed possibly that some of the more positive information was too optimistic (and may have been prepared by city promoters hoping to attract industry). Fourth, some critical information was reported only in Chinese (Cantonese, to be exact) rather than English. Fifth, much of the information that was available had to be translated or converted. For example, per capita beer consumption had to be converted from liters to pints and barrels, the Hong Kong dollar had to be translated into Irish pounds (or punts), and the education system referred to as tertiary school had to be interpreted in terms of primary, secondary, college, and university education levels.

The conclusion was that these secondary data substantially helped the Guinness Brewing executives make their decision about expanding into the Hong Kong market. The availability of these secondary data saved time and money and also helped form the foundation and context for conducting a more efficient and effective marketing
research project pertaining to the potential of Guinness Beer in Hong Kong. However, these data were not perfect. Much of the data were not relevant because of their age and how they were reported, while other data were difficult to meaningfully convert into the home country’s system in Ireland.

Shangai: The Opportunity

In 1979, as part of his market reforms, Deng Xiaoping invited foreign companies to return to China. Simple arithmetic, soaring gross domestic product (GDP), a market of 1.3 billion people, and purchasing power magic, foretold the world’s biggest economy as early as 2020. When businesspeople fell under the country’s statistical spell, huge amounts of investment began to arrive. The annual increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) averaged more than 40 percent over the 1990s and peaked in 1993 at 175 percent. A total of more than $270 billion has been invested, by thousands of foreign firms, since 1992. That is nearly half of all investment in the developing economies (Alon: 2003).

One of the problems that international firms first faced in locating to China and other emerging markets is the absence of a business infrastructure to support activities, market research and advertising, distribution channels, technical support for telecommunications, and suitable personnel are all areas of difficulty. The development of infrastructure is undertaken primarily by the private sector, including foreign firms, while physical infrastructure is provided by the government. Reports suggest that young Chinese entrepreneurs are active in providing the commercial infrastructure. It is certainly true, as the research confirmed, that there are many local managers and staff with not only exemplary English-language ability but also an understanding of business processes partly inculcated by overseas education.

In seeking to understand international business, it is essential to understand the countries involved and the particular local market conditions prevailing. This is best achieved by seeking personal, in-depth interviews with leading executives of international businesses, as well as significant government and nongovernmental organization officials.

Identified firms were initially approached by telephone and invited to participate in the study. The interviews were conducted by the researcher. As the interviewing program proceeded, respondents were asked to nominate other potentially important respondents. It soon became clear that good coverage of all the major players had been achieved. Interviews were mostly conducted in English, as many of the international executives that were interviewed had competence in English.

A grounded theory-influenced approach was used (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), which meant the research was not limited by a priori hypotheses. Instead, the data collection and analysis process itself drove the choice of issues. The interviews were guided by, but not confined to, a list of topics and themes derived from a recognized model of strategic management. Moreover, knowledge and understanding of the market context of business conditions in China informed the questioning. The topic list was committed to memory, and each individual was asked the same questions in an identical fashion. However, the sequence varied to reflect the flow of what was constructed to be a conversational interaction. In this way, the interviewees were probed on the difficulties involved in business development in Shanghai in order to identify emergent themes. All interviews were tape-recorded. A total of 36 such interviews, in 30 companies, have to date been completed, transcribed, and analyzed. In addition, extensive experience of the region and familiarity with published sources have been drawn upon (Alon: 2003).

Conducting research in Shanghai entails coping with a number of factors common to research in other East and Southeast Asian countries and some unique ones. The companies in the sample and the nationality of the interviewees comprised a rich combination of backgrounds. Increasingly, the international education of local managers and their exposure to the business environment have reduced, although not eliminated, previous issues of cross-cultural communications difficulty, and proficiency with English makes that language a comfortable medium for both interviewer and respondent.

China`s Haier Group

Restructured in 1985 as a small manufacturer of refrigerators burdened by a debt of RMB1.47 million, the Haier Group not only has survived a series of radical reforms but also has turned out to be one of the most successful companies in China. Its story has been written as a case study by Harvard Business School. Now Haier has become an international organization that generated close to RMB43 billion (U.S.$5.18 billion) in sales in 2000. In 1985, Haier had only one product and a staff of 800. Today more than 20,000 employees are producing a full line of electronic household appliances, including refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, freezers, TV sets, computers, cellular phones, furnishing equipment, and many others in 42 main categories and more than 9,000 models. Haier ranks number one in China’s household appliance industry as measured by brand recognition and sales revenues.

According to a survey by Chinese Entrepreneur (2001), Haier was ranked first as measured by industry position, technology and service, market influence, mergers and acquisitions, strategic vision, and financial management. Haier has gained an international reputation by exporting to over 100 countries. In the most recent global survey by Euromonitor, a leading market research institute, Haier was ranked as the world’s top refrigerator brand and the world’s sixth-largest white appliance producer (Xinhua News Agency, 2002). In addition, Financial Times (1999) placed the CEO of Haier, Zhang Ruimin, twenty-sixth on its list of the world’s most respected business leaders (Zhang is the only Chinese person on the list). The Global Excellence in Operations (GEO) Award Program, sponsored by A.T. Kearney and Financial Times, honored Haier as one of 14 finalists for Special Merit Recognition in 1999 (GEO Award, 2000). There have been three key phases in Haier’s development:

  • Brand-building phase (1984-1991): It took Haier seven years to build a strong brand in refrigerators through a well-planned TQM (total quality management) program.
  • Diversification phase (1992-1998): It took Haier another seven years to diversify and broaden its product offerings.
  • Internationalization phase (since 1998): Haier is currently going through a program to internationalize the company. It has about 62 distributors and more than 30,000 outlets around the world. The company’s strategic intent is to become one of the Global Top 500.

The Content of Haier’s E-Business Strategy

The best thing about such market entry was that, the company never followed a strict research pattern, because e-business is less costly and the company was in need of such setup in order to save it self from growing debts.

E-Target

The primary strategic targets for Haier’s e-business are revenue size, market share, and revenue growth rate. These targets are based on Haier’s long-term intent and vision of global brand. However, Haier seems to pay much less attention to profit growth and profit margin. Further, there is no differentiation between core and noncore businesses in Haier with regard to its e-target.

E-Mode

The strategic mode of Haier’s e-business is its e-business platform. This e-business platform is composed of four key elements. The first is supply chain management, including distributor management, supplier management, and other corporate partnership management. The second is customer relationship management, including institutional and individual consumers. The third is the enterprise resources planning system. The fourth is organizational restructuring. The first two elements are the B2B and B2C external networks, while the last two are the typical internal networks. These four elements constitute Haier’s integrated e-business platform or e-business strategy mode.

Haier’s external B2B network is based on iHaier.com. It is an international supply chain. With this platform, Haier can find the best suppliers, set up close partner relationships with their suppliers, and reduce the purchase cost while improving product quality. Haier plans to use this system not only for itself but also for other related companies. This platform has the functions of ordering, automated stock replenishment, payment processing, and production control and processes more directly related to the production process. This platform is open, where information is fully shared. Haier has not been a member of any neutral e-marketplaces yet. Further, up to now, iHaier.com only focuses on the household appliance industry. Finally, Haier’s platform only supports Haier’s own procurement, although Haier states that it will also host third-party procurement in the future.

Haier’s B2C external network is based on eHaier.com. This Web site has the function of taking online orders, but online payment is limited to selective cities only (most consumers pay at the time of delivery). However, Haier’s B2C platform is still only for Haier’s own products. It will be changed to carry other producers’ products in the future. To support its B2C platform, Haier has built one of the best distribution networks in China. Haier has more than 30 call centers in major cities and more than 10,000 distributors that reach more than 60,000 rural areas. Further, Haier’s B2C platform is able to process customized orders (Hackley: 2003).

Conclusion

The research depends on the type of market entry the firm is willing to have, at times the research is not necessary (As we have seen in the case of Haier), but even in that case the data can be available through many sources. Many specific sources of secondary data exist. There are so many, that dealing with them can be confusing and, even, overwhelming. Moreover, while the number of secondary data sources available is already large, it is increasing every moment. Similarly, the technologies to archive, access, and retrieve these sources are changing.

It is important for individuals who conduct marketing research to be as efficient and effective as possible when locating the desired information. Fortunately, the task is becoming easier, even in the midst of an increasing quantity of available information. The reason is due to computerization. Data bases themselves are becoming increasingly computerized, as are the means for searching them. The internationalization itself is turning the things easier.

References

  1. Alon I. (2003), “Chinese Economic Transition and International Marketing Strategy. Contributors”, Westport, CT: Praeger.
  2. Glaser B.G., Strauss A. (1967), “Discovery of Grounded Theory. Strategies for Qualitative Research”, N.A.: Sociology Press.
  3. Hackley C. (2003), “Doing Research Projects in Marketing, Management and Consumer Research”, New York: Routledge.
  4. Patzer G.L. (1995), “Using Secondary Data in Marketing Research: United States and Worldwide”, Westport, CT: Quorum Books.

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An Overview of Project Finance and Infrastructure

In the United States s alone, firms financed d S 19 billion o of capital expo punctures using project finance loans and bonds in n 2009, down n from $39 billion in 2008 and $47 billion n in 2007. The he economic crisis, which h began as a housing h crisis in the U. S. In n 2007 and SP bread globally y in 2008 and d 2009, froze g global capita al markets, cue retailed bank k lending, and d dramatically reduced p project finance lending. Of or this reason n, it makes sense to look k back at 2007, when thee credit mark sets were pop pen and liquid did, to understand the relative import once of project finance.

In the U. S. , firm ms financed $447 billion of capital expense indentures using g project final once in 2007-?much less the Han the $1 , 1 266 billion corp. orate bond m market, the $9 44 billion MO Ortega-backed security market, the $8898 billion asset-backed security market, and the $3 359 billion tax x-free municipal bond ma racket. Yet com marred to fin Nanning much humanism for new or start-u up companies, the $47 billion invested in project companies w was larger the Han the $46 b raised d through initial public offerings (IPSO) and the $332 billion NV vested in new w firms by venture al funds. Private-sector firms have historically used project fin nuance for mind distrust projects such as m mines, pipelines, and oil fields. Begin inning in the early asses, h however, privy ate firms also began financing infrastructure projects such ass toll roads, power plants, and telecoms immunization NSA systems. B More recently, in the 20 Coos, private firms have begun to fin nuance social infrastructure projects us such as shoo Owls, hospitals, and prisons.

Studies on economic development find d that infrastructure investment is associated with as much as one-for-one percentage increases in g gross domestic product (G GAP), though GHz recent stud dies indicate that every dollar d of increased infrastructure spend ending generates an a Information on some e of these and other projects ca n be found in Benjamin C. Zesty, Modern Project Finance: A C Casebook (New Jersey: Wiley, 200 04). B The infrastructure sector includes WA eater, transportation, electricity, n natural gas, and d telecommunications projects.

In n these types of o projects the users of the project or the buyers off the output or eservice are typically individuals rather than companies. Professor or Benjamin C. Est. y and Senior Researcher Aledo Asses off the Global Research Group prepared this note as the basis for class discussion. Copying get 2010, 2011 President and Fellow was of Harvard College. To order copies or request perm session to reproduce materials, call 1-?800-5457685, write Harvard Busing news School Publish hinge, Boston, MA 021 63, or go to www www. Hubs. Harvard. Deed/educators.

The his publication may y not be digitized d, photocopied, or otherwise reproduce cued, posted, or trans insisted, without the permission Of H Harvard Business S School. This document is authorized for use only by Bogie Ghana in Financial Management taught by Seward, at University of Wisconsin – Madison from January 201 5 to July 2015. 210-061 An Overview of Project Finance and Infrastructure Finance-? 2009 update increase of $1. 59 in GAP. Country-specific studies of development find that inadequate infrastructure severely hinders economic growth.

For example, insufficient or irregular power supply reduces GAP by 1% to 2% in India, Pakistan, Colombia, and Uganda. 3 Despite the growing demand and opportunities for private-sector involvement in building infrastructure, private firms still provide only a small fraction of the total amount invested, which is a small fraction of the total project demand. Indeed, many governments have announced multimillion-dollar stimulus packages with a heavy emphasis on infrastructure spending as a way to stimulate growth during the current lobar recession.

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Public Key Infrastructure

Table of contents

Abstract

This paper is intended to show the importance using a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). PKI is a broad subject matter and is constantly evolving to meet the growing demands of the business world. This paper will address PKI at a relatively high-level and will not include details regarding the underlying cryptography (Weise, 2001). This paper will cover the history behind PKI, why we should us PKI, its purposes and functions how PKI works.

Introduction

With today’s security threat of hackers, spammers and viruses infecting computers, PKI is an essential component of an overall security strategy that must work in concert with other security mechanisms, business practices, and risk management efforts to help protect vital information (Weise, 2001). The Internet isn’t the only area of security that needs PKI, e-mail systems need to incorporate a higher level of security through digital signatures and e-mail encryption within the work environment to ensure business information is exchanged between validated and trusted recipients.

History

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is simply the single most effective method for securing a public communications networks, and is used throughout the world for the transmission of sensitive data. Government agencies, the U.S. Army, Navy, Air force, financial and medical institutions use PKI to ensure their communications are protected and safe from unwanted hackers and accidental transmission of sensitive communications to others.

The notion and concept of PKI dates back to the original paper on public key cryptography (Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman, 1976). What you might know about Diffie and Hellman is that they invented the concept of asymmetric ciphers, ones where there are two related keys, as opposed to symmetric ciphers, where there is only one key used. In their proposal, they suggested using two values that were related via some very slow to compute mathematical function, but where one value could be used to encrypt a message and the other to decrypt the enciphered message. Because the relationship between the two values would be non-trivial to compute, one of the key pair could be made public with no loss in the security of other, private, and key (Farrow, n.d.).

With the invention of PKI by Diffie and Hellman, they inevitably changed secure communications entirely and how we use it today. With the further development of high speed digital electronic communications the Internet and its predecessors, a need became evident for ways in which users could securely communicate with each other, and as a further consequence of that, for ways in which users could be sure with whom they were actually interacting. The idea of cryptographically protected certificates binding user identities to public keys was eagerly developed (Wikipedia, n.d.).

Vendors and entrepreneurs saw the possibility of a large market, started companies (or new projects at existing companies), and began to agitate for legal recognition and protection from liability. An American Bar Association technology project published an extensive analysis of some of the foreseeable legal aspects of PKI operations (see ABA digital signature guidelines), and shortly thereafter, several US states (Utah being the first

in 1995) and other jurisdictions throughout the world, began to enact laws and adopt regulations. Consumer groups and others raised questions of privacy, access, and liability considerations which were more taken into consideration in some jurisdictions than in others (Wikipedia, n.d.).

The enacted laws and regulations differed, there were technical and operational problems in converting PKI schemes into successful commercial operation, and progress has been far slower than pioneers had imagined it would be (Wikipedia, n.d.).

By the first few years of the 21st century, it had become clear that the underlying cryptographic engineering was not easy to deploy correctly, that operating procedures (manual or automatic) were not easy to correctly design (nor even if so designed, to execute ”perfectly”, which the engineering required), and that such standardization standards as existed were in some respects inadequate to the purposes to which they were being put (Wikipedia, n.d.).

PKI vendors have found a market, but it is not quite the market envisioned in the mid-90s, and it has grown both more slowly and in somewhat different ways than were anticipated. PKIs have not solved some of the problems they were expected to, and several major vendors have gone out of business or been acquired by others. PKI has had the most success in government implementations; the largest PKI implementation to date is the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) PKI infrastructure for the Common Access Cards program (Wikipedia, n.d.).

Why We Should Use PKI

Securing the infrastructure and data of an organization is not a simple task. There are many factors that must be considered before implementing security, such as the level of security we want to achieve. Based on the nature of the organization (i.e. e-commerce, healthcare, financial, and military), we need to apply appropriate security technologies to reach the required security level. If the organization needs a high level of security that calls for encryption, non-repudiation, authentication of users, and integrity of data, a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is a good starting point for addressing the problem.

With the growth in use of the Internet for business transactions, the need for confidentiality and positive identification of all parties involved is increasingly vital. The use of encryption and digital signatures are important tools in the ongoing struggle to maintain privacy and confidentiality over the Internet. Confidentiality of data stored on the corporate network is also becoming increasingly important for many organizations.

Public key infrastructure (PKI) is the perfect solution for ensuring the privacy of data employed in most corporate systems. This is especially true in the kinds of systems implemented as part of e-commerce solutions, where organizations are engaging in transactions with individuals who are unknown to them, and with whom they may never have any further contact.

Purpose, Function and How PKI Works

Public key systems allow us to communicate securely between individual and organization using keys which can be freely distributed and published anywhere; an example is like your telephone number in a directory. This can be achieved by the use of digital certificates, which bind a public key to an individual or organization and carry the signature of a trusted Certification Authority (CA) verifying its authenticity. A PKI
infrastructure does not serve a particular business function; rather, a PKI provides a foundation for other security services. The primary function of a PKI is to allow the distribution and use of public keys and certificates with security and integrity (Weise, 2001).

A PKI is a foundation on which other applications and network security components are built. Systems that often require PIK-based security mechanisms include:

  • E-mail
  • E-commerce (e.g., debit and credit cards)
  • Government contractors sending sensitive information via e-mail Home Banking

PKI is not by itself an authentication, authorization, auditing, privacy, or integrity mechanism; PKI only allows for the identification of entities. For example: A PKI does not infer trust by itself, but requires the establishment of a trust base, on which the PKI can rely. This means that the basis of trust must be established on a personal, business, or other level, before it can be accepted by the PKI (Weise, 2001). There are a number of requirements that businesses have with respect to implementing effective public-key infrastructures. First and foremost, if users cannot take advantage of encryption and digital signatures in applications, a PKI is not valuable. Consequently, the most important constraint on a PKI is transparency. The term transparency means that users do not have to understand how the PKI manages keys and certificates to take advantage of encryption and digital signature services. An effective PKI is transparent (Entrust, 2006). In addition to user transparency, a business must implement the following items in a PKI to provide the required key and certificate management services: public key certificates

  • a certificate repository
  • certificate revocation
  • key backup and recovery
  • support for non-repudiation of digital signatures
  • automatic update of key pairs and certificates
  • management of key histories
  • support for cross-certification
  • client-side software interacting with all of the above in a secure, consistent, and trustworthy manner

Certificates and Certification Authorities

For PKI to be valuable and work properly, users must be assured that the other parties with whom they communicate are trustworthy. To provide this assurance, all users of a PKI must have a registered identity. In order to accomplish this; a trusted third party Certification Authorities (CAs) will provide various key management services. A CA essentially certifies the identity of an end entity (user). This is accomplished by an entity providing sufficient proof of their identity to the CA, and then having the CA generate a message containing the entity’s identity and public key (Weise, 2001). I recently went through this process of obtaining a digital signature certificate and e-mail encryption certificate for my current program. These identities are stored in a digital format known as a public key certificate. CAs create certificates for users by digitally signing a set of data that includes the following information (and additional items): The user’s name in the format of a distinguished name (DN). The DN specifies the user’s name and any additional attributes required to uniquely identify the user (for example, the DN could contain the user’s employee number). A public key of the user. The public key is required so that others can encrypt for the user or verify the user’s digital signature. The validity period (or lifetime) of the certificate (a start date and an end date). The specific operations for which the public key is to be used (whether for encrypting data, verifying digital signatures, or both).

The CAs signature on a certificate allows any tampering with the contents of the certificate to be easily detected. (The CAs signature on a certificate is like a tamper-detection seal on a bottle of pills?any tampering with the contents of a certificate is easily detected) As long as the CAs signature on a certificate can be verified, the certificate has integrity. Since the integrity of a certificate can be determined by verifying the CA?s signature, certificates are inherently secure and can be distributed in a completely public manner (for example, through publicly-accessible directory systems) (Entrust, 2006). Users retrieving a public key from a certificate can be assured that the public key is valid. That is, users can trust that the certificate and its associated public key belong to the entity specified by the distinguished name. Users also trust that the public key is still within its defined validity period. In addition, users are assured that the public key may be used safely in the manner for which it was certified by the CA (Entrust, 2006). How PKI Works:

In public key cryptography, a public and private key are created simultaneously using the same algorithm (a popular one is known as RSA) by a certificate authority (CA). The private key is given only to the requesting party and the public key is made publicly available (as part of a digital certificate) in a directory that all parties can access. The private key is never shared with anyone or sent across the Internet. You use the private key to decrypt text that has been encrypted with your public key by someone else (who can find out what your public key is from a public directory) (Searchsecurity.com, 2006).

An example of this; if I send you a message, I can find out your public key (but not your private key) from a central administrator and encrypt a message to you using your public key. When you receive it, you decrypt it with your private key. In addition to encrypting messages (which ensures privacy), you can authenticate yourself to me (so I know that it is really you who sent the message) by using your private key to encrypt a digital certificate (Searchsecurity.com, 2006). An example of this can be seen in figure 2 below.

  1. Bob sends Stan an encrypted message.
  2. Bob can get Stan’s public key (but not his private key) from the central administrator to encrypt the message.
  3. Stan receives the encrypted message
    and decrypts using his private key.
  4. In addition to sending encrypted messages (which ensures privacy), Stan can authenticate himself to Bob (so Bob knows that Stan is really Stan) by using his private key to encrypt a digital signature.

Conclusion

PKI is a very complex subject, more that I understand fully and is evolving in terms of its use in the commercial and e-commerce sectors. With the underlying technology pretty sound, the question of interoperability and performance still linger. With that said, PKI still offers great benefits to those in need of the basic security services of using a PKI implementation.

References

  1. Farrow, Rik. Private Key Infrastructure; or, why there is no Public Key Infrastructure. Retrieved May 1, 2007 from: http://www.spinit.com/Network/net0903.html
  2. Miller, Jason. GCN Staff (2006, November). PKI gets shot in the arm from HSPD-12. Government Computer News, page 7.
  3. Entrust. (2006). Securing Digital Identities & Information. What is a PKI? Retrieved May 1, 2007 from: http://www.entrust.com/pki.htm?source=overture
  4. Weise, Joel. Sun Microsystems (August 2001) Public Key Infrastructure Overview. Retrieved May 28, 2007 from: www.sun.com/blueprints
  5. Unknown Author. Public Key Encryption and Public key Infrastructure – Explained. Retrieved May 1, 2007 from: https://www.safe-mail.net/support/eng/help/protectsecure/pki.html
  6. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2007). Public Key Infrastructure. Retrieved May 1, 2007 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_key_infrastructure
    Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2007). Digital Signature. Retrieved May 1, 2007 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_signature
  7. Unknown Author. Public Key Encryption and Public key Infrastructure – Explained. Retrieved May 1, 2007 from: https://www.safe-mail.net/support/eng/help/protectsecure/pki.html

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Emerging Business Environment in Nepal

Thus, business environment in Nepal flourished after then. Summarizing this brief history, Nepal has evolved in lots of ways in term of business. Upon the exclusion of International relations, this country has emerged Its own line of traditional business since the medieval era. During the times where industrialization had not landed upon the country’s lap, it run its own basic industries like, woodwork, pottery, Nepal paper, etc. These items still have not lost their charms. Currently these industries play a crucial role In terms of original traditional business.

Besides these, many International connectional businesses have come forth. For instance, Usury Nepal, Nacelle, etc. Economic Liberation’s: After the formal dethroning of our former King, we all know that Nepal is now a Democratic country. During the Monarchical era, most of the large scale Industries were held by the government Itself. Whether It be transportation or communication, all of the system’s possession were under the Nepal government. The public transportation was under the government. The basic communicating services were also under the government.

Since telephone services came only after the year 1970 3. S, before that letter services were the only means of communicating. Thinking of It now, actually letter writing was a very obligatory process of communicating: it actually made people feel that someone really remembered then. Besides that, government health services were the only ones that provided health checkup services. Even if people were not satisfied with It, they had to endure It. Nonetheless, every power was owned by the monarch government.

An example of success story in terms of private investment in infrastructure development is Nepal Upwards Bias Company Limited (NBC) , Napalm’s first public limited company building a National toll Highway of Asian highway standards. It aims at bringing together and managing investments, skills, expertise and resources of the Nameplates people from within and outside the country. This Project involves a 50 km tunnel on the highway that connects Katmandu and hothead with its cost estimation from RSI. 3 billion to RSI. 34 billion. Another infrastructure related private investment sector is Hydrophone.

Many hydrophone station have risen up. Namely, some of them are Butyl Power company, Booth Kooks Power company Pat. Limited, etc. Latter one being the first private company to undertake hydrophone project. Emergence of multi-national companies Just like a part of development process, many multi national companies registered their place in Nepal. They emerged in the country’s context with reasonable pricing for the affordability of common citizens. Though a bit of impossibility lingered around he corner of establishment for these companies; all the same, they are now well of with customer’s increased interest.

As a matter of fact, these companies reign over the market in comparison to local products. Some of the Multi National companies in Nepal are Hyatt Regency, Radiators ( Hotel) Ideas, Nikkei, Lee Cooper, bossing, Rebook, Converse (Clothing line) Coca Cola, Pepsi, Front (Beverage) KEF, Lava, Pizza Hut, etc. (restaurant services) and others

With the introduction to technology and scientific progression, work process has been made easier. In today’s context, IT development has been highly encouraged.

As an international taboo, Nepal has adopted the belief that a work that can be done in 20 days can be finished in 10 days with the help if technology enhancement. Also, development of IT has encouraged environmental security. For instance, ‘instead of printing a letter, why not send it in e-mail’ kind of encouragement. It’s a kind of strategy that brings out the best of internet facility. It helps to reduce the cost of organizational activity; substituting the cost of five printers for an office with Just one with equal amount of productivity. Furthermore, more IT engineers are encouraged for the provision of good platform.

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Project Management Persuasive Essay

McDonald’s is creating a multinational distribution system for all of its foreign and domestic subsidiaries. The project manager is from the corporate headquarters and he manages teams from each of the countries involved. The project would be classified as

  • Global
  • Overseas
  • Local D
  • Domestic
  • Foreign

The major issues dealing with international project management include all of the following

  • Selection and training of personnel for international projects
  • Foreign currency exchange rates
  • Location of international expansion
  • Environmental factors
  • Challenge of working in a foreign culture

The growing presence of the Russian Mafia has discouraged many foreign firms from setting up operations in the former Soviet Union. This is an example of which of the following environmental factors?

  • Security
  • Economic
  • Cultural
  • Legal/political
  • Infrastructure

An information systems specialist reported that his performance on a project in Northern Sweden declined due to sleep deprivation during the summer months in which there were 20 hours of daylight each day. This is an example of which of the following environmental factors?

  •  Cultural
  • Legal/political
  • Geographic D
  • Economic
  • Infrastructure

Needs for a project could include telecommunications, transportation, power, and availability of technically skilled talent. This is an example of which of the following environmental factors?

  • Geographic
  • Infrastructure
  • Economic
  • Legal/political
  • Cultural

Which of the following can help a project manager to digest, clarify, and understand the factors leading to the selection of a specific project?

  • Risk matrix
  • Priority matrix
  • Responsibility matrix
  • Gantt chart
  • Contingency matrix

American project managers have earned a reputation abroad for being very good at understanding technology but not good at understanding:

  • Cultures
  • People
  • Local traditions
  • Local business practices
  • Laws

Kluckhohn-Strodtbeck’s cross-cultural framework includes all of the following except:

  • Perception of God
  • Relation to nature
  • Time orientation
  • Basic nature of people
  • Activity orientation

The Hofstede framework includes all of the following dimensions except:

  • Masculinity-feminity
  • Uncertainty avoidance
  • Power distance
  • Individualism versus collectivism
  • All of these are included in the Hofstede framework

The significance of personal relationships has created a system in which Mexicans are obligated to give preference to relatives and friends when hiring, contracting, procuring, and sharing business opportunities. This system is referred to as:

  • Manana
  • Gringo
  • Compadre
  • Quid pro quo
  • Nepotism

Which of the following is not contained in the Assessment Matrix Project Site Selection?

  • Political stability
  • Worker skill, supply
  • Infrastructure
  • Culture compatibility
  • Utilities 1

Which of the following is not true for French values?

  • They value punctuality
  • Great importance is placed on neatness and taste
  • The French are easy to negotiate with
  • French managers see work as an intellectual exercise
  • The French consider managers to be experts

A sense of frustration in not being understood is typical of which of the following stages of culture shock?

  • Honeymoon
  • Gradual adjustment
  • Irritability and hostility
  • Repatriation
  • Adaptation

When you begin to lose confidence in your abilities to communicate and work effectively in a different culture, you are in which of the following stages of culture shock?

  • Honeymoon
  • Gradual adjustment
  • Irritability and hostility
  • Repatriation
  • Adaptation

Which film project was reviewed in a Snapshot from Practice?

  • The Godfather
  • Star Wars
  • Hearts of Darkness
  • Apocalypse Now
  • Rambo

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Economic Analysis on Development of Marine Insurance

Though the analysis we conclude that Shanghai has advantages in such key factors as property insurance development and ergo handling capacity. These advantages should help Shanghai to develop marine insurance most effectively, strengthen the link between international shipping and finance development, and continuously promote the local economic development. Finally, the paper suggests high-priority development of marine insurance in Shanghai.

Keywords: Marine Insurance, Partial Correlations, Economic development 1 Introduction The government document, suggestions for development of modern service and advanced manufacturing industry and establishment of international finance and shipping center in Shanghai, is significant to the economic reform and long-term velveteen of Shanghai. It is also a strategic plan for further promoting reform and opening up policy, transforming the economic development mode and enhancing overall national strength.

In order to achieve the goals, marine insurance industry should be put great emphasis on because it relates to both finance and shipping factors. Ship financing, fund settlement, shipping market derivative and marine insurance are traditional finance services in shipping industry. Marine insurance is a branch of insurance with a long history. The objects of insurance are not only ships, argues and other movable property on the sea, but also the freight, rate, commission, expected interests and third party liabilities due to the maritime perils.

Marine insurance initiated early in Western countries, but its contents changed rapidly according to its appliance. The studies of marine insurance mostly concern its juristic aspect. Martinet Reintroductions (1990) [6] conducted theoretical research of marine insurance by systematical modern insurance ideals. Modern theories of economics and management bring the theory of marine to completion. Hong Zoo, Mike B. Adams (2006) [2] studied the logistic insurance as a major property insurance.

Through the research of the purchasing behavior of property insurance of Chinese enterprises, a link was established between insurance and economy. Research of marine insurance is a new direction for scholars in China. Marine insurance is separated from logistic insurance. As water transport is a vital form of logistics forms, marine insurance is also essential in logistic insurance. Lie Hen (2007) [5] studied the risks of modern logistics and demands for logistic insurance. Rene Wing, Wang Wee (2009) [7] analyzed the accelerating effect of insurance to the development to logistic industry.

The development to marine insurance can bring along the finance, shipping, and overall development in the whole region. Jinn (1993) [3] set the establishment of shipping center and transport network as primate strategy based on the analysis of the trend of economic globalization. A hierarchical shipping center network should be surrounded by core city in order to promote cooperation. Khan (2000) [4] considered that the effect marine insurance bring about is a result of ‘Economics of Scale’ in finance system and improvement of integrated efficiency.

International shipping center denotes port city with hard infrastructure such as container transportation hub port, departed fairway, collection and distribution network, and soft infrastructure such as finance, trade, and information services. The 21 economic growth is refer to the growth of the real economy such as GAP and per capita GAP, the improvement of production technology, the optimization of economic structure and the perfection of economic system. Nevertheless, due to the lagging development of marine insurance and the fact that researchers rarely have chance to acquaint practical operations, some researches are lack of pertinence.

In positive view, the new subject provides new opportunities to researchers. The train of thought and technical route of this paper is taking the cross-industry feature of marine insurance into consideration, conduct a correlation analysis of economic aggregate index and statistics in logistic and finance industry. Choosing port throughput and total amount of property insurance as typical detail indicator of shipping logistics and insurance industry afterwards, the paper conducts further studies of partial correlations without the influence of economic aggregate.

Finally we mind out the major factor of marine insurance development by comparing those coefficients of correlation. Marine insurance is developing rapidly in Shanghai, the most developed port city in China. This research is not only to the actual need of marine insurance industry but will also accelerate the theoretical innovation in marine insurance. 2 The Externalities and Social Benefits of Marine Insurance Marine insurance provide not only basic functions as risk sharing and compensate for loss or damage but derivative functions as risk management as well.

Ships as huge movable assets of high value, face frequent and serious accident risks, thus, sis management is especially vital in marine insurance business. The function of risk management benefits the whole shipping industry and other related industries as marine architecture, and trade. Besides, the level of finance service will be improved along with the development of marine insurance. Specifications in services as valuation of assets, credit guarantee, and auction of cargoes will be established and perfected.

Those specifications can serve broad fields in the society. Because the operation of marine insurance is on the basis of credit system and legal safeguard, he development of marine insurance is of great importance to the financial firms and the government especially in the establishment of credit system. 3 Factor Analysis on Developing Marine Insurance 3. 1 Partial Correlations Method Partial correlation method is to obtain the degree of correlation of two variables in a multivariate model by figuring out the coefficient of correlation when controlling other variables.

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