SWOT Analysis: SWOT Analysis is a useful technique for understanding your Strengths and Weaknesses, and for identifying

both the Opportunities open to you and the Threats you face. It helps you develop your career in a way that takes best advantage of your talents, abilities and opportunities. Originated by Albert S Humphrey in the 1960s, SWOT Analysis is as useful now as it was then. You can use it in two ways - as a simple icebreaker helping people get together to "kick off" strategy formulation, or in a more sophisticated way as a serious strategy tool. Strengths: What advantages does your organization have? What do you do better than anyone else? What unique or lowest-cost resources can you draw upon that others can't? What do people in your market see as your strengths? What factors mean that you "get the sale"? What is your organization's Unique Selling Proposition (USP)? Consider your strengths from both an internal perspective, and from the point of view of your customers and people in your market. Also, if you're having any difficulty identifying strengths, try writing down a list of your organization's characteristics. Some of these will hopefully be strengths! When looking at your strengths, think about them in relation to your competitors. For example, if all of your competitors provide high quality products, then a high quality production process is not a strength in your organization's market, it's a necessity. Weaknesses: What could you improve? What should you avoid? What are people in your market likely to see as weaknesses? What factors lose you sales? Again, consider this from an internal and external basis: Do other people seem to perceive weaknesses that you don't see? Are your competitors doing any better than you? It's best to be realistic now, and face any unpleasant truths as soon as possible.. Opportunities: What good opportunities can you spot? What interesting trends are you aware of? Useful opportunities can come from such things as: Changes in technology and markets on both a broad and narrow scale. Changes in government policy related to your field. Changes in social patterns, population profiles, lifestyle changes, and so on. Local events. Threats: What obstacles do you face? What are your competitors doing? Are quality standards or specifications for your job, products or services changing? Is changing technology threatening your position? Do you have bad debt or cash-flow problems? Could any of your weaknesses seriously threaten your business?

Example SWOT Analysis A start-up small consultancy business might draw up the following SWOT Analysis: Strengths: We are able to respond very quickly as we have no red tape, and no need for higher management approval. We are able to give really good customer care, as the current small amount of work means we have plenty of time to devote to customers. Our lead consultant has strong reputation in the market. We can change direction quickly if we find that our marketing is not working. We have low overheads, so we can offer good value to customers. Weaknesses: Our company has little market presence or reputation. We have a small staff, with a shallow skills base in many areas. We are vulnerable to vital staff being sick, and leaving. Our cash flow will be unreliable in the early stages. Opportunities: Our business sector is expanding, with many future opportunities for success. Local government wants to encourage local businesses. Our competitors may be slow to adopt new technologies. Threats: Developments in technology may change this market beyond our ability to adapt. A small change in the focus of a large competitor might wipe out any market position we achieve. As a result of their SWOT Analysis, the consultancy may decide to specialize in rapid response, good value services to local businesses and local government. Marketing would be in selected local publications to get the greatest possible market presence for a set advertising budget, and the consultancy should keep up-to-date with changes in technology where possible. MBO(Management by objective): MBO is a process whereby superior and subordinate managers of an Organisation jointly define its common goals, define each individual's major areas of responsibility in terms Of results expected of him and use these measures as guides for operating the unit and assessing the contribution of each of its members." Features: 1. Superior-subordinate participation 2. Joint goal-setting involvement 3. Joint decision on methodology resources 4. Makes way to attain maximum result: 5. Support from superior performance Steps in MBO: 1. Goal setting 2. Manager subordinate 3. Matching goals and 4. Implementation of plan 5. Review and appraisal of

Advantages: Formulation of dearer goals, Facilitates objective appraisal , Raises employee morale , Facilitates effective planning, Acts as motivational force ,Facilitates effective control & leadership Limitation: Time consuming, reward- punishment approach, increases paper work, crates org. problems, develop conflicts, lacks durability MBE( Management By Exception): Management by Exception (MBE) is a practice where only significant deviations from a budget or plan are brought to the attention of management. The idea behind it is that management's attention will be focused only on those areas in need of action. When they are notified of a variance, they can hone in on that specific issue and let staff handle everything else. If nothing is brought up, then management can assume everything is going according to plan. How Is MBE Implemented? An appropriate budget to measure performance against. This budget must be well designed, so that the business will meet its strategic objectives if the plan is conformed with. A matrix of exception amounts and who will be notified. The degree of variance allowed in different categories needs to be defined in advance, along with the appropriate level(s) of management who will respond to the variance in question. In some cases, different levels of variance will be brought to the attention of different levels of management. For example, a $5,000 variance might be reported to a department manager, while a $50,000 variance is brought to the attention of the functional V.P. A timely and accurate reporting system. Information needs to be accurately captured and compared to the overall budget on a regular basis. Exceptions need to be noted so that information can be sent to the correct team members.

Advantages: It saves the time and energy of senior executives and enables them to concentrate on more important problems and issues. It even provides the key to automation, for ordinary, routine matters can be handled by an automatic machine while cases of exceptional nature can be left for human judgment. It facilitates the engagement of specialized staff for high-routine jobs. It reduces the frequency of decision making. It leads to the identification of critical problem areas. It stimulates communication.

Disadvantages: The process assumes the budget is well designed, and that there are no issues that need to be addressed if results match the budget. The process assumes staff cannot handle variances; instead management must be brought in.

The process assumes that management's attention should be focused on 'mistakes'. When staff manages to the defined plan, nothing happens. When things vary, management swoops down to fix them. This can be very un-motivating to staff.

Computer language for management Program Development Life Cycle:

The process of developing a software, according to the desired needs of a user, by following a basic set of interrelated procedures is known as Program Development Life Cycle. PDLC includes various set of procedures and activities that are isolated and sequenced for learning purposes but in real life they overlap and are highly interrelated

The Six Steps in the Program Development Life Cycle (PDLC):

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Analyze problem Design programs Code programs Testing and debugging programs Formalize solution Maintain programs

Analyze problem, consists of reviewing program specifications; meeting with the analyst and users; and identifying program components. Design programs, involves grouping activities into modules, devising solution algorithms, and testing the algorithms. Code programs, entails translating the solution algorithm into a programming language and entering program code into the computer. Test programs, consists of correcting syntax errors and logic errors. Formalize solution, includes reviewing program code and documentation. Maintain programs, involves correcting errors and adding enhancements.

Generations of computer:
First Generation (1940-1956) Vacuum Tubes

Vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory, Big, expensive,
electricity consumption, heat producing. Relied on machine language, solve one problem at a time Input was based on punched cards and paper tape, and output was displayed on printouts. The UNIVAC and ENIAC computers are examples of first-generation computing devices. Second Generation (1956-1963) Transistors

Transistors replaced vacuum tubes

 Smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy efficient and more reliable. Yet heat is generated in plenty Relied on assembly languages. High-level programming languages were also being developed at this time, such as early versions of COBOL(common business oriented language) and FORTRAN. Input was based on punched cards and paper tape, and output was displayed on printouts. Third Generation (1964-1971) Integrated Circuits

Transistors were miniaturized and placed on silicon chips,

called semiconductors, which drastically increased the speed and efficiency of computers. users interacted with third generation computers through keyboards and monitor sand interfaced with an operating system, which allowed the device to run many different applications at one time with a central program that monitored the memory. Smaller and cheaper than their predecessors. Fourth Generation (1971-Present) Microprocessors

The microprocessor brought the fourth generation of computers, as thousands

of integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon chip. entire room size could now fit in the palm of the hand. In 1981 IBM introduced its first computer for the home user, and in 1984 Apple introduced the Macintosh. Fourth generation computers also saw the development of GUIs, the mouse and handheld devices. Fifth Generation (Present and Beyond) Artificial Intelligence

Based on artificial intelligence, are still in development, though there are

some applications, such as voice recognition, that are being used today. The use of parallel processing and superconductors is helping to make artificial intelligence a reality Quantum computation and molecular and nanotechnology will radically change the face of computers in years to come. The goal of fifth-generation computing is to develop devices that respond to natural language input and are capable of learning and self-organization.

Types of computers:
Micro computers(manufacturers of Micro-computer are Dell, Apple, Samsung, Sony & Toshiba) Mini computers (Texas Instrument TI-990, IBM Midrange computers) Mainframe computers ( Fujitsus ICL VME, Hitachis Z800) Super computers(IBMs Mira in United States, IBMs Sequoia, in United States)

How to Run a Spell Check in Word 2007:

Use the built-in Word 2007 spell checker after you create a document to proof it for typos, spelling errors, and repeated words. Then decide on a word-by-word case or globally whether you want Word 2007 to make spelling corrections. 1. On the Review tab, click the Spelling & Grammar button. The Spelling and Grammar dialog box opens and takes you to the first item that Word 2007 thinks is misspelled.

2.

Tell Word 2007 how to treat each item it finds misspelled.

Choose from these actions: Ignore Once: Click this button to tell Word 2007 that this entry is fine. Ignore All: Click this button to tell Word 2007 that every same spelling of this word is fine. Add to Dictionary: Click this button to have Word 2007 add the word to its internal dictionary. Change: First choose (click) a word from the Suggestions panel at the bottom of the dialog box. Then click this button to have Word 2007 insert the corrected word. Change All: This works like Change but changes every instance of the misspelling in the document. You must choose a spelling from the Suggestions panel. AutoCorrect: Clicking this button tells Word 2007 to insert the top-ranked word listed in the Suggestions panel.

3. Click Close to exit the dialog box. Click the Change All button of the spell checker only if youre completely positive that you want a global spelling change made. Otherwise, you run the risk of introducing more spelling errors.

DOS and Window Operating System:

DOS or Disk Operating Systems are operating systems that were most commonly found the IBM PCs and were popular between 1981 and 1995. Windows is a range of graphical interface operating systems that are developed and sold by Microsoft. Before the Windows vs. Apple war and when times were simpler, there was a computing system known as DOS (Disk Operating System) which dominated the IBM PC. Back then when you bought a computer, it was most commonly an IBM that had a DOS operating system. DOS and Windows differ from each other in many aspects. DOS or Disk Operating Systems are operating systems that were most commonly found the IBM PCs and were popular between 1981 and 1995. Many DOS versions have been released by different companies, the most popular being the MS-DOS, also by Microsoft. Related systems include MS-DOS, PC-DOS, DR-DOS, FreeDOS, PTS-DOS, ROM-DOS, Novell DOS, Open DOS and 86-DOS. The 86-DOS or QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System) was bought by Microsoft for the IBM PC. Windows is a range of graphical interface operating systems that are developed and sold by Microsoft. Early versions of Microsoft Windows ran on top of a separate version of DOS and it ceased to be used when Windows 95 was launched as a stand-along operating system that did not require a separate DOS license. With Windows 95 and 98, but not ME, the MS-DOS component could be run without starting Windows. When DOS was no longer required to run the system, it was completely stopped being used in PCs. The DOS is now obsolete and is very rarely used in the real world. DOS and Windows differ from each other greatly even though Windows is believed to be derived from DOS. DOS and Windows differ in GUI (graphical user interface), where DOS uses a full text command input, Windows uses images, icons and text in their interface. The full text command input in DOS required users to input commands and work on the computer using text codes; making it harder to understand for first-time users or less tech savvy people. Windows simplified the graphical user interface, by using the help of icons, images and text; eliminated the need for remembering the codes and the actions that go with the codes. Characters Definition DOS DOS (Disk Operating System) are simple text command operating systems that were popular from 1981 to 1995. DOS used a text based interface that required text and codes to operate Text is used as the basic input system commands. Windows Windows is a range of graphical interface operating systems that are developed and sold by Microsoft. Windows uses graphics, images and text. Uses a mouse for all operating system input.

GUI

Input System

Multitasking

DOS is unable to run multiple Windows is a multitasking processes at the same time. operating system; allowing more than one process to work simultaneously. The highest amount of Window systems offer storage size available is 2GB. storage space up to 2 terabyte. Booting up system is DOS is less demanding on the CPU. DOS uses a directory system, where all the files are contained within a particular directory or a subdirectory. Booting up Windows is more demanding on the CPU. Windows uses a different registry compared to DOS, making it difficult to manually delete programs. An excessive number of temporary files and file fragments can cause the system to slow down or crash.

Storage Size

Demands on System Resources Registry and Swap Files

Current Uses

More ideally used for Used worldwide as the most prototyping, testing, and popular operating system. making automated systems. DOS is free Windows is costly

Price