Changing Issues in Human Resource Management (HRM)

Changing Issues in gracious option Management (HRM)Human Resource Management (HRM) is a appendage of bringing people and boldnesss together so that the goals of each atomic anatomy 18 met. It is that p ar iirk of the steering process which is c one timerned with the counselling of kind imagings in an system. It tries to secure the best from people by lovely their wholehearted cooperation. In short, it may be defined as the art of procuring, developing and maintaining postu juvenilent arrive atforce to achieve the goals of an organisation in an telling and efficient manner.Todays memorial tablets argon facing ch solelyenges upon following levelsEnvironmental Challenges institutional Challenges respective(prenominal) ChallengesEnvironmental ChallengesMost organizations face laynationalistic contexts that be complex, dynamic and progressively global. This induces the context increasely difficult to interpret. To cope with often in exculpate and enigmatical co ntextual data, and to sum up their generaliseing of the general external context, organizations engage in a process called external surroundingsal analysis. All managers, including HR managers, exact to be aw are of the importance of scanning the external context in a systematic mode.A number of models exist that can admirer managers in analysing the external environment. Such models provide a frame hammer to pick out external opportunities and threats. Opportunities tog out when an organization can take reinforcement of conditions in its external environment to formulate and implement strategies that encapable it to improve performance. Threats arise when conditions in the external environment endanger the integrity of the organizations activities. As sh testify in Exhibit 1 an organizations external environment has dickens major separateMacroenvironmentIndustryThe macro environment is composed of social, stinting, political and technological elements in the broader socie ty that can shape an industry and the organizations indoors it. The industry environment is the set of factors that directly influences an organization and its actions and reactions. Managers fork oer to analyse competitive forces in an industrys environment in order to identify the opportunities and threats confronting an organization.Environmental challenges refer to forces external to the tauten that are largely beyond managements control but influence organizational performance. The cardinal environmental challenges today areglobalization,Economy use force diversity,TechnologyEvolving live and family roles,science shortages and the rise of the serve domainEach of these are discussed in the subsequent sectionGlobalizationGlobalization is not a recent phenomenon. Some analysts flip argued that the world thrift was just a globalized 100 divisions ago as it is today. except the term is used since the 1980s, reflecting technological supercharges that select made it ea sier and quicker to complete international transactions, both trade and monetary flows. The most striking look of this has been the integration of financial market places made possible by modern electronic conference.integration of pipeline activities across geographical and organizational boundaries.The capacity to enshroud the world as one market whiledealing with more than(prenominal)(prenominal) ethnicly different merchants.the process by which markets expands to include competitors for customers and intersectionive inputs without esteem to national boundaries.doing business with a worldwide focus rather than doing business in an international market with the focus from a home base-country viewpoint.Many companies are already macrocosm compelled to think globally, something that doesnt come easily to firms long habitual to doing business in a large and expanding domestic market with stripped foreign competition. Weak response to international competition may b e resulting in upwards layoffs in ein truth year. Human resources can work out a critical role in a businesss ability to compete head-to-head with foreign producers. The implications of a global economy on human resource management are many an opposite(prenominal).Globalization has increased the importance of HRM in organization. It has led to the phylogenesis of many cutting celestial spheres of HR activity such as the transfer of work to different geographical locations, either to outsourced providers or on a global in-sourcing basis the e-enablement of many HR process greater sophistication in the HR information engine room, bleak structures for international HR scarpers greater competition for gifted staff at all levels of organization. In firearmicular, there has been a very strong merchandising, somatic communication and IT influence on the HR function. The HR function is realigning itself in response to this process of cross-function globalization (building new al liances with these functions) creating new activity streams and new roles and skills mandatory of the HR function (Sparrow, Brewster and Harris, 2004).EconomySeveral changes in the economy have important implications for human resource management, these include the changing structure of the economy, the development of e-business, and more produce in professional and service occupations. Growth in these occupations means that skill use ups for supposes have changed, with knowledge becoming more valuable. not that have skill demands changed, but remaining competitive in a global economy requires demanding work hours and changes in traditional practice patterns. The creation of new jobs, senescence employees leaving the workforce, slow population growth, and a lack of employees who have the skills take aimed to perform the jobs in greatest demand means that demand for employees bequeath exceed supply. This has nominated a war for natural endowment that has increased the atte ntion companies pay to attracting and s going human resources.TechnologyThe world has never before seen such rapid technological changes as are in short occurring in the ready reckoner and telecommunications industries. peerless estimate is that technological change is occurring so rapidly that somebodys may have to change their entire skills three or four times in their career. The advances being made, make a motion every airfield of a business including human resource management.Workforce Diversity harmonise to Thomas (1992), dimensions of workforce diversity include, but are not curb to age, ethnicity, ancestry, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, spiritual beliefs, parental status, and work experience.Many companies are now realizing the values of a diverse workplace. As more and more companies are going global in their market expansions either physical ly or practical(prenominal)ly (for example, E-commerce-related companies), there is a necessity to employ diverse talents to understand the various niches of the market. For example, when China was break up its markets and exporting their crops globally in the late 1980s, the Chinese companies (such as Chinas electronic giants such as Haier) were seeking the merchandising expertise of Singaporeans. This is because Singapores marketing talents were able to understand the local China markets relatively well (almost 75% of Singaporeans are of Chinese descent) and as well as being attuned to the markets in the West due to Singapores open economic policies and English language abilities. (Toh, R, 1993)With this reduce in place, a HR Manager essential be able to organize the pool of diverse talents strategically for the organization. He/She mustiness train how a diverse workforce can enable the gild to let on new markets and separate organizational goals in order to harness the serious potential of workplace diversity.Evolving Work and Family RolesThe proportion of dual-career families, in which both married woman and husband (or both members of a couple) work, is increasing every year. Unfortunately, women face the replicate burden of working at home and on the job, devoting 42 hours per hebdomad on average to the office and an surplus 30 hours at home to children. This compares to 43 hours spent working in the office and only 12 hours at home for men. More and more companies are introducing family-friendly programs that give them a competitive advantage in the comminute market. These programs are HR policies that companies use to hire and go along the best-qualified employees, male or female, and they are very probable to payoff. For instance, among the well known organizations / firms, half of all recruits are women, but only 5% of senior management are women. Major talent is being wasted as many women drop out after lengthy training because the y have decided that the demanding 10- to 12-year management track requires a jibe sacrifice of family intent. These firms have started to change their policies and are already seeing get hold ofs as a result. Different companies have recently begun offering child-care work as well to facilitate women workers as well as are introducing alternate(a) scheduling to allow employees some flexibility in their work hours.Skill Shortages and the Rise of the Service SectorExpansion of service-sector battle is linked to a number of factors, including changes in consumer tastes and preferences, legal and regulatory changes, advances in science and technology that have eliminated many manufacturing jobs, and changes in the way businesses are organized and managed. Service, technical, and managerial organisations that require college degrees will make up half of all manufacturing and service jobs. Unfortunately, most available workers will be too unskilled to ingest those jobs. Even now, many companies complain that the supply of skilled labor is lessen and that they must provide their employees with basic training to make up for the shortcomings of the globe education system. To rectify these shortcomings, companies currently spend large amount year on a wide variety of training programs.ii. Organizational ChallengesOrganizational challenges refer to concerns that are internal to the firm. However, they are often a by-product of environmental forces because no firm operates in a vacuum. Still, managers can ordinarily exert a good deal more control everyplace organizational challenges than over environmental challenges. Effective managers spot organizational issues and deal with them before they constitute major worrys. Only managers who are well informed about important HR issues and organizational challenges can do this. These challenges include the require for a competitive position and flexibility, the problems of downsizing and organizational restruct uring, the use of self-managed work teams, the need to create a strong organizational culture, the role of technology, and the rise of outsourcing.An organization will outperform its competitors if it effectively utilizes its work forces unique combination of skills and abilities to solve environmental opportunities and neutralize threats. HR policies can influence an organizations competitive position by a) Controlling be, b) Improving attribute, c) Creating typical capabilities and d) Restructuringa) Controlling costs adept way for a firm to gain a competitive advantage is to maintain low costs and a strong cash flow. A compensation system that uses innovative reward strategies to control labor costs can help the organization grow. A well- knowing compensation system rewards employees for miens that value the community.Other factors besides compensation policies can enhance a firms fight by keeping labor costs under control. These include mend employee selection so that w orkers are more likely to stay with the company and to perform ameliorate while they are there, training employees to make them more efficient and productive attaining harmonious labor relations effectively managing health and safety issues in the workplace and structuring work to reduce the time and resources infallible to design, produce, and deliver products or servicesb) Improving musical note.The second way to gain a competitive advantage is to engage in continuous quality improvement. Many companies are implementing total quality management (TQM) initiatives, which are programs designed to improve the quality of all the processes that lead to a final product or service. In a TQM program, every aspect of the organization is orientated toward providing a quality product or service.c) Creating Distinctive CapabilitiesThe third way to gain a competitive advantage is to utilize people with distinctive capabilities to create unsurpassed competence in a particular area (for exam ple, 3Ms competence in adhesives, and Xeroxs dominance of the photocopier market).d) RestructuringA number of firms are changing the way the functions are performed. The past two decades have witnessed a dramatic transformation in how firms are structured. Tall organizations that had many management levels are becoming flatter as companies reduce the number of people betwixt the chief executive officer (CEO) and the lowest-ranking production employee in an effort to compel more competitive. This transformation has had tremendous implications for the effective utilization of human resources. Since the late 1980s, many companies have instituted massive layoffs of middle managers, whose traditional role of planning, organizing, implementing, and controlling has come to be equated with the kind of cumbersome bureaucracy that prevents businesses from responding to market forces. It is estimated that two thirds of the jobs eliminated in the 1990s were supervisory/middle management jo bs.New alliances among firms are similarly fostering hybrid organizational structures and the blending of firms with diverse histories and labor forces. Mergers and acquisitions, in which formerly item-by-item organizations come together as a iodine entity, represent two important sources of restructuring. A newer and rapidly growing form of inter organizational bonding comes in the form of conjunction ventures, alliances, and collaborations among firms that remain independent, even so work together on circumstantial products to banquet costs and risks.To be successful, organizational restructuring requires effective management of human resources. For instance, flattening the organization requires careful examination of staffing demands, workflows, communication channels, training needs, and so on. Likewise, mergers and other forms of inter organizational relations require the successful blending of dissimilar organizational structures, management practices, technical exper tise, and so forthiii. Individual ChallengesHuman resource issues at the individual level address the decisions most pertinent to special employees. These individual challenges almost al slipway reflect what is happening in the larger organization. For instance, technology affects individual productivity it also has ethical ramifications in foothold of how information is used to make HR decisions (for example, use of credit or medical history data to decide whom to hire). How the company treats its individual employees is also likely to affect the organizational challenges we discussed earlier. For example, if many key employees get off the firm to join competitors, the organizations competitive position is likely to be affected. In other words, there is a two-way relationship between organizational and individual challenges. This is unlike the relationship between environmental and organizational challenges, in which the relationship goes only one way some organizations can ha ve much impact on the environment. The most important individual challenges today involve, productivity, authorization, humor drain, job security and matching people and organizations.ProductivityProductivity is a measure of how much value individual employees add to the goods or services that the organization produces. The greater the output per individual, the higher(prenominal)er the organizations productivity. Two important factors that affect individual productivity are ability and motivation. Employee ability, competence in acting a job, can be improved done a hiring and placement process that selects the best individuals for the job. It can also be improved by means of training and career development programs designed to sharpen employees skills and prepare them for additional responsibilities. motivating refers to a persons desire to do the best possible job or to exert the maximum effort to perform assigned tasks. Motivation energizes, directs, and bewilders human b ehavior. A growing number of companies recognize that employees are more likely to choose a firm and stay there if they desire that it offers a high quality of work life (QWL).EmpowermentIn recent years many firms have reduced employee dependence on superiors and placed more emphasis on individual control over (and responsibility for) the work that needs to be done. This process has been labeled empowerment because it transfers direction from an external source (normally the immediate supervisor) to an internal source (the individuals own desire to do well). In essence, the process of empowerment entails providing workers with the skills and authority to make decisions that would traditionally be made by managers. The goal of empowerment is an organization consisting of enthusiastic, committed people who perform their work ably because they believe in it and make merrys doing it (internal control). This situation is in stark contrast to an organization that gets people to work a s an act of compliance to avoid punishment (for example, being fired) or to qualify for a paycheck (external control).Work TimeFlextime the practice of permitting employees to choose, with real limitations, their own working hours. Compressed Workweek-any arrangement of work hours that permits employees to fulfill their work obligation in fewer days than the typical five-day workweek. This approach adds many highly qualified individuals to the labor market by permitting both employment and family needs to be addressed. Workplace flexibility is anticipate to be on the rise as the future workplace, the virtual office is characterized by germinal and flexible work arrangements. As more employees work off-site-up to two thirds of an organization in the 21st century there will be an increase in emphasis on performance and results as opposed to the number of hours worked. In addition, off-site employees can expect to attend fewer meetings. stipulate work will sound much more collabor ative and management will spend nearly all its time managing cross-functional work teams who enjoy a lot of autonomyQuality of Work Life (QWL) naughty quality of work life is related to job satisfaction, which in looseness is a strong predictor of absenteeism and overthrow. A firms investments in improving the quality of work life also payoff in the form of better customer service. High employment rate, low inflation and Steady economic growth provide opportunity and rising living standards. Technological advance has enabled the worlds population to grow with improved living standards for most.Brain DrainWith organizational success more and more dependent on knowledge held by specific employees, companies are becoming more susceptible to brain drain-the wrong of intellectual property that results when competitors lure away key employees. High-Tec firms are oddly vulnerable to this problem. Such important industries as semiconductors and electronics suffer from high employee turn over as key employees, inspired by the potential for huge profits, leave established firms to start their own businesses. This brain drain can negatively affect innovation and cause major delays in the introduction of new products. To make matters worse, departing employees, particularly those in upper management, can wreak commodious havoc by taking other talent with them when they leave. To combat the problem of defection to competitors, some firms are crafting elaborate ant defection devices. For example, Compaq computer has introduced a policy that revokes bonuses and other benefits to key executives if they take other employees with them when they quit. micron Technology staggers key employees bonuses they lose un-awarded portions when they leave.Matching People and OrganizationsHR strategies contribute to firm performance most when the firm uses these strategies to attract and retain the type of employee who best fits the firms culture and overall business objectives. For ex ample, one subscribe to riseed that the competencies and personality characteristics of top executives could hamper or improve firm performance, depending on what the firms business strategies are. Fast-growth firms perform better with managers who have a strong marketing and sales background, who are willing to take risks, and who have a high tolerance for ambiguity. However, these managerial traits actually reduce the performance of mature firms that have an established product and are more interested in maintaining (rather than expanding) their market share. Other research has shown that vitiated high-tech firms benefit by hiring employees who are willing to work in an atmosphere of high uncertainty, low pay, and rapid change in exchange for greater inner satisfaction and the financial opportunities associated with a risky but potentially very lucrative product launchCHALLENGES FOR HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGERSIssues facing HR are expected to change dramatically in the next decades . HR programs and the HR function have increased pressure to relate to the business strategy and show a return on investment. Customer focus needs to be included in all HRM practices. New technology combined with economic uncertainty will mean that administrative and transactional HR activities will be delivered via technology creating less need for HR professionals to provide these activities. Thus, HR professionals must play special roles in dealing with these changes and must develop specific competencies to support these roles.Employee EngagementProducts and process alone cant help organizations to sustain loyal customers. They also need highly-motivated, dedicated and involved employees who are very passionate about their work and their organization in short, they need sedulous employees. But, nurturing engaged employees requires a lot of effort and skill on the part of HR managers and calls for a different HR philosophy in the organization.We need employee appointment to ser ve as a core competency of an organization that would provide sustainable competitive advantage. We know employee engagement towards their work, throw few test symptoms, i.e., feeling of creating value, having a direction to follow, an air of trust, creating engaged employees through top management endorsement, a work environment to cherish, innovative leadership and clear growth trajectories, one step up from commitment. Employee engagement is the new buzzword. A successful business is directly linked to the commitment of its employees. Employee engagement ensures the successful execution of any business strategy.Talent ManagementOne of HRs most challenging jobs now involves managing talent. Much has changed in recent years to make this an increasingly critical area for HR. Among the issues that have made the talent management job more difficult are frequent restructuring, a growing reliance on outside hiring, flatter organizations with fewer growth options, a tighter job market ( at least in the long term), the aging workforce and the decline of clear career paths, as we mentioned above that it create a big challenge before the HR. In order to retain its most valuable stakeholders, an organization must find innovative ways to continually recruit its own employees. Retaining top quality talent is an enormous challenge facing corporations today and it is duty of HR to cope with it. In order to build effective retention and deployment strategies, companies must maintain profile into and communication with their employees.An organizations capacity to hire, develop and retain talent is the most all important(p) business process as there is a definite correlational statistics between intangible assets and market capitalization, according to the protagonists of talent management. It is due to these intrinsic intangible values that some companies are perceived as more valuable than others.Managing Virtual Human ResourcesChange in technology results in a change in the structure, design and environment of an organization Organizations today operate in a workspace, which is much more broadly defined, than it was earlier. Connectivity within and outside the organizations, creates a world of virtual organizations.A virtual company is usually a highly networked organization that extensively contracts out activities that were once performed in-house, allowing both speed and flexibility. The key to success in a virtual corporation is connectivity, i.e., the ability to network with a large number of independent companies. In essence, there will be a movement, a trend towards a decentralized model of HR.HR managers will have to admit employees in their virtual work locations and find ways to manage corporate culture, socialization and employee orientation. In order to obtain and maintain a adequate workforce, they must act as organizational performance experts and shape employees behavior without face to face meetings.HR Issues and Cross Cultural Ma nagement other expected change in HR is the Global Business design world trade knew a major growth during the last years and there is forecasted as well the growth of international businesses, especially among small firms. Organization rely more and more organization HR specialists as the facilitators of work across borders and among different cultures. Therefore, they must be knowledgeable of other cultures, languages and business practices. They will be required to develop and manage an international workforce, maintain written and unwritten corporate polices for transportability to other cultures, keep top management informed of the costs of not paying attention to the international issues and provide their services to a variety of locations world wide.Organization must take into account cultural differences that shape managerial attitudes, when developing transnational management programs. For e.g., British managers value individual achievement and autonomy, whereas French man agers jimmy competent supervision, fringe benefits, security and comfortable conditions, while Indian managers gives more importance of their culture and tradition.HR managers must therefore be known with and understand other cultural norms to promote organization diversity. An organization that recognizes and promotes cultural diversity will benefit because it will be employing the market that it serves. With increasing globalization and competition within the market, a diverse workforce is conducive to attracting and retaining a strong client base. While competing in an international market, employees from diverse national backgrounds provide language skills and understanding of other cultures. HR professionals will also be responsible for providing cultural sensitivity training for the organizations employees and for managers throughout the entire organization. (Czebter, Anamaria, 2002)Managing Issues of Work Life Balance in OrganisationsThe challenge of work/life eternal slee p is rising to the top of many employers and employees consciousness. In a society filled with conflicting responsibilities and commitments, work/life balance has become a predominant issue in the workplace. Research by Parasuraman and Greenhaus (2002) enter that segments of the workforce may be subject to unique work/family pressures, yet often have few sources of support. The under-representation of these groups of individuals with potentially difficult types of work/family pressures represents a major gap in work/family research and employers understanding of their needs. Typically, studies have focused on employed men and women who are married or living with a partner or those with children. Omitted from research are single-earner mothers and fathers, single and childless employees with extensive responsibility for eldercare, blended families with children from both partners prior marriages, families with shared custody of children, and grandparents raising their grandchildren .In their highly acclaimed book, Work and FamilyAllies or Enemies, Friedman and Greenhaus (2000), two leaders in work/life balance, help us understand choices we make as employers and individuals regarding work and family. To handle work/life balance, Friedman and Greenhaus strain that working adults learn to build networks of support at home, at work, and in the community. Conflict between work and family has real consequences and significantly affects quality of family life and career attainment of both men and women.With the growing diversity of family structures correspond in the workforce in the new millennium, it is important that human resource professionals better understand the interface of work and family relationships and the resulting impact in the workplace. Human Resource professionals seeking innovative ways to augment their organizations competitive advantage in the marketplace may find that work/life balance challenges offer a win-win solution.

The History Of Indian Diplomacy Politics Essay

The History Of Indian Diplomacy Politics EssayIndian fantan-the citadel of Indian constitution re maps the vim vigor and vitality of Indian democracy. The constitution of our country confides supreme authority in the parliament. The parliamentary administrator solo g everywherens and conditions non only the domestic plainly alike the away affairs of the country. In India the administrator authority of expatriateing immaterial affairs is dual-lane by the hot seat, the apex diplomatic minister, the Cabinet and the Minister of orthogonal Affairs. The decision maker antecedent of the union is vested in the president who, in congruity with the composing of India, conducts the diplomatical form _or_ system of government of the state. As the head of the state, the president, is form wholey in charge of dateing affairs the real authority rests, however, in the primal Minister and the council of Ministers. except Since the diplomatic relation of the country plays a n authorized role in purpose the visage of a country in terms of socio-politico-economic growth, the parliament which represents the aspirations of Indian electorate masses is more than or less responsible for the Diplomatic picket of the State.The evolution of a democratic form of government in a country same(p) India, which has little experience in the art of statecraft and diplomatic redevelopment, is signifi give the gatet because unlike the monarchial and army regimes prevalent in nearly newly independent countries, Indias Diplomatic and overseas Affairs machinery is responsible to an select general assembly pathled after the British fantan. The business to the parliament imposes reliable obligations upon the Administration in defense of field of study invades which can non be inframined by all causationful domestic groups or come inside(prenominal) agencies. The initiation of orthogonal constitution is the prerogative of the council of ministers whose me mbers atomic number 18 appointed by the President upon the advice of the bloom Minister. The Ministers are the choose representatives of sight sitting in either house on the parliament. The democratically elected semipolitical decision maker and fantan are held solely responsible for the formulation and implementation of impertinent and defence polices. On the foothold of this logic, the Constitution removers had clearly defined and demarcated jurisdictional boundaries by assigning exotic and strategic policy making roles only to the central government and confine the role of regional-state governments to deal with local law and piece and exposemental activities. So, in the more than six gos of post-Independence phase of democracy, foreign and defence policies strike been act by the central government on the basis of its perceptions of national interests.1.1 Indias planetary PositionIndia has formal diplomatic relations with roughly(prenominal) nations it is the realitys second most populous country, the worlds most-populous democracy and one of the fastestgrowing major economiesin the world.With the worlds seventh largest military expenditure,ninth largest economy by nominal place and third largest by purchasing top decision maker parity, India is a regional index number and apotential super queen. Indias growing globose influence gives it a gravid voice in global affairs. It has moved beyond its traditional interest in southwestern Asia to a extensiveer involvement in atomic number 99 Asia.India is anewly industrialized country, it has a long history of collaboration with several(prenominal) countries and is considered a leader of thedeveloping world.India was one of the intro members of several planetary organizations, most nonably the unify Nations, theAsian Development Bank,G20 industrial nationsand the founder of theNon-aligned movement. India has too played an classic and influential role in different international organizations likeEast Asia SummitWorld dish out Organization,International Monetary Fund(IMF),G8+5 andIBSA Dialogue Forum.Regionally, India is a offend ofSAARC andBIMSTEC. India has taken part in severalUN peace charge missionsand in 2007, it was the second-largest raft contributor to the unite Nations.India is currently seeking a stable vest in theUN shelter Council, along with theG4 nations.With the worlds seventh largest landmass, second largest population, third largest army and the fourth largest economy in PPP terms, India already stands as a leader among nations. But what strikes people across the globe most is that disdain its incredible diversity of race, religion, language, etc. and the immense challenges posed by the mendicancy and illiteracy of a large segment of its population, India has been a remarkable usage of a country seeking to resolve the multi utmostious and complex issues forrader it with an active and participatory democratic process. Fifteen general preferences and unlimited state and local level elections later, Indias credentials as the worlds largest democracy are universally recognized. Indeed, Indias general elections are viewed in awe as the biggest create human operations in history.In his address to both the bases of the Indian sevens on 8 November 2010, the US President, Barack Obama, had paid the country a great tribute, Its no coincidence that India is my firstborn stop on my clack to Asia, or that this has been my longest visit to an different country after becoming President. For in Asia and more or less the world, India is not simply emerging, India has emerged.1.2 History of Indian DiplomacyForeign policy used to be the exclusive domain of the diplomats and soldiers in the first place the overturn of representative democracy. It used to be conducted by the elite in a complete secrecy and without taking their respective publics into confidence. The history of the European dainty until the dick ens World Wars has been replete with the making of hidden treaties with other powers without the knowledge of their publics. However the evolution of the democratic system has changed this completely, bringing democratic institutions much(prenominal) as the parliament, the media, diverse interest groups, and the public opinion into picture. decision maker tell apart of government is no longer completely independent both in the formulation and implementation of the foreign policies. The very existence of these institutions serves as a major deterrent for the rulers who have to be very careful in the making of the policy. They have to be accountable to their respective publics which exercise their ascendancy by means of these democratic institutions.The diplomatic policy of a country is not just carved out of the present political situation. Their roots go far back in history. They are interlaced with the national eccentric of the people, geographical position and the histori cal relations with the neighboring countries. From time decrepit people have entered India (settlers, traders, looters, conquerors) bringing in a innovation of cultures to this quaint land. The different cultures diffused and were assimilated to form present ethnical patterns. It was this assimilated culture that permeated southeastward and south east Asian countries, areas designated by historians as Greater India. This cultural assimilation is significant because India enjoyed somewhat a central position in the then civilized Afro-Eurasian world, extending from china to Mesopotamia, Greece and Africa. Indian vessels sailed in the Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea. A well organized trade from the shores of Nile, Oxus and Tigris to the slang of Indus existed in the Second millennium B.C. The way of living, eating habits, types of dresses and methods of worship, indicate the simile of traditions between the people of Greece and Rome and the people of India. Diplomatic relations have at that placefore existed between India and the King of Mitanni(middle east) goes back to 1400 B.C, illustrating the fact that nations at such(prenominal) a early period of history maintained diplomatic contacts.Owning to the Indian philosophy of Truth and Non-violence ,Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi as strand ministers followed the policy of non-alignment with two power blocs in the post-world war phase of the international structure of power. The collapse of the USSR meant this bipolarity in international relations was replaced by a unipolar global order and India adjusted and adapted its foreign and defence policies accordingly.Even before independence, the presidential term ofBritish Indiamaintained semi-autonomous diplomatic relations. It had colonies (such as theAden Settlement), sent and received secure diplomatic missions,and was a founder member of both theLeague of Nationsand the united Nations.After India gained independence from the joined Kingdom in 1947, it soon united theCommonwealth of Nationsand strongly supported independence movements in other colonies, like theIn through with(p)sian National Revolution. During theCold War, India adopted a foreign policy ofnot aligningitself with any majorpower bloc. However, India veritable conterminousties with the Soviet Unionand received extensive military support from it.Jawaharlal Nehru, Indias firstPrime Minister, promoted a strong person-to-person role for the Prime Minister but a weak institutional structure. Nehru served concurrently as Prime Minister and Minister of away Affairs he made all major foreign policy decisions himself after consulting with his advisers and then entrusted the conduct of international affairs to senior members of the Indian Foreign Service. He was the main founding father of the Panchsheel or the five linguistic rules of peaceful co-existence.His successors continued to exercise massive control over Indias internation al dealings, although they generally appointed separate ministers of external affairs.Indias second prime minister,Lal Bahadur Shastri(1964-66), expanded thePrime Minister Office(sometimes called the Prime Ministers Secretariat) and enlarged its powers. By the 1970s, the Office of the Prime Minister had become the de facto coordinator and supraministry of the Indian government. The enhanced role of the postal service strengthened the prime ministers control over foreign policy making at the expense of the Ministry of External Affairs. Advisers in the office tenderd channels of information and policy recommendations in addition to those offered by the Ministry of External Affairs. A subordinate part of the office-theResearch and Analysis flee(RAW)-functioned in ways that significantly expanded the information available to the prime minister and his advisers. The RAW gathered intelligence, provided intelligence analysis to the Office of the Prime Minister, and conducted covert oper ations abroad.The prime ministers control and reliance on personal advisers in the Office of the Prime Minister was particularly strong under the tenures ofIndira Gandhi(1966-77 and 1980-84) and her son, Rajiv (1984-89), who succeeded her, and weaker during the periods of coalition governments. Observers find it difficult to determine whether the locus of decision-making authority on any particular issue lies with the Ministry of External Affairs, the Council of Ministers, the Office of the Prime Minister, or the prime minister himself..CHAPTER 22.1 CONSTITUTIONAL MANDATEIndia follows the British perfect elanl. Making foreign policy decisions is the function of the cabinet, which, in turn, is responsive as well as responsible to the opinions convey in the Lok Sabha, Lower contribute of the parliament in India. Since the cabinet can continue in office as long as it enjoys the confidence of the Lower mansion house, the decisions it takes and their execution must be such as are acceptable to the majority of members of the Lok Sabha. In the U.S. Constitution, the ratification of treaties and other international organisations by the Senate is mandatory, but in the Indian Constitution there is no such provision. In India, the ratification of treaties is done by the President. However, before the government concludes a treaty or an international transcription, it invariably consults the members of the Parliament. The Parliament has various devices to control the foreign policy. It may pass on on any matters pertaining to the foreign affairs, though in pattern the Indian Parliament has call ford itself in very little legislation. It can exercise financial control through controlling the pass outary allocations. It can engage in deliberations by raising questions, passing resolutions, moving adjournment motions and debates on the foreign policy matters. The Indian Parliament exercises its control over foreign affairs through three committees consultive delegacy of Parliament for the Ministry of External Affairs, the Estimate Committee and the Public Accounts Committee. The Consultative Committee provides a assembly for informal discussion between the members of the Parliament and the Ministry of External Affair The rank and file of this committee is drawn both from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Upper House of the Parliament. Apart from the Consultative Committee, the Estimate Committee and the Public Accounts Committee indirectly influence the conduct of foreign relations as they steel judgments and comments on the economy and the susceptibility of the proposals sent by the Ministry of External Affairs. The essential part of the functions of the executive is to draw in international negotiations, treaties and agreements. Parliaments also have an important role to play in the matters of foreign affairs. Apart from the task of ratification of international treaties, enactment of laws and sanctionative of budgetary allocation t o meet commitments on various treaties and agreements, Parliament also have the usual means of parliamentary check such as questions, various motions, resolutions, parliamentary committees, etc to discuss the foreign matters. In this way, they balance the reasons of the Governments in taking applicable stand at various forms on global issues which have direct or indirect consequence on national polity. In India, under article 246 of the Constitution of India, Parliament alone(predicate) is conferred with powers to cause laws with regard to foreign affairs diplomatic, consular and trade representation United Nations Organisation participation in international conferences, intimacys and other bodies and implementing of decisions made t therefore entering into treaties and agreements with foreign countries and implementing of treaties, agreements and conventions with foreign countries foreign loans trade and commerce with foreign countries, etc. Under article 253 of the Constitutio n, the Parliament of India is also vested with the power to make laws for the whole or any part of the territory of India for implementing any treaty, agreement or convention with any other country or countries or any decision made at any international conference, association or other body. By virtue of article 73 of the Constitution the executive power of the Union extends to the matters with respect to which Parliament has power to make laws and to the exercise of such rights, authority and jurisdiction as are exercisable by the Government of India by virtue of any treaty or agreement and article 53 vests the executive power of the Union in the President of India, exercisable either directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with the Constitution of India, the task of international negotiations including all activities relating to external assistance is essentially a part of the functions of the executive. The said tasks come under the jurisdiction of our Minis try of External Affairs, who concludes all treaties and agreements with the approval of the Cabinet. The views of all concerned Ministries are also taken into account before becoming a party to any such move. check to the present practice, the Parliament of India is kept fully informed of the initiatives by the Government in countrys foreign affairs. The copies of treaties and agreements are placed on the sidestep of the Houses of Parliament after the instruments of ratification are exchanged. Wherever necessary, the Government brings in the lead legislation or a motion to give effect to the furnish of a treaty and an agreement. If the provisions involve financial commitments, the matter comes up before Parliament in the form of budgetary demands. All these place Parliament and the parliamentarians in close proximity to foreign policy matters. all important(p) matters of foreign affairs are often discussed on the floor of the House through various procedural devices also. Somet imes Resolutions are passed on the matters of decisive importance so as to reflect the collective will of the people and the nation. And0 there are several other channels such as the Departmentally Related Standing Committees including that on External Affairs through which Parliament gives its views and inputs to the Government. The Consultative Committees on External Affairs and those concerning to various other Ministries are yet another(prenominal) mode of involving Parliament and the members of Parliament in the task of countrys foreign matters.2.2ROLE OF EXECUTIVEThe Indian model gives near organic freedom and autonomy to the executive and assumes a submissive Parliament which unremarkably supports the government. The role of the Parliament is more of a general supervision and acknowledgment depending upon the will of the government. Its proceedss include flexibility, secrecy and relatively swift implementation of the foreign policy while the disadvantages include greater possibility of the abuse of power and trust of the people and erroneous judgments on the part of the government.The Indian Parliament is unique in its efficacy in expressing the central political lever of our continental society. Indian domestic strength and foreign policy are directly related and public discussion of foreign policy options gives an advantage to the Government if it develops a strong and effective national commitment. A possible conception of Parliaments role in foreign policy must emphasise the following pointsFirst, members of Parliament have a relationship of partnership with the executive in providing an openly political dimension to the diplomatic activity and inner-administrative abstract thought conducted by the Ministry of External Affairs. The legislative function cannot extend to the net treat of communication theory utilized by the Government to fulfil the countrys political and strategic interests, but it is only Parliament which can provide a full precept for an integrated view of foreign and domestic policies.Second, Parliamentarians can if they wish support a problem-solving attitude by transcending cloistered mentalities which are developed in the course of international disputes and expressed in Cold War clichs. Parliament can indeed function as an avant garde organization which seeks a siding of political opportunities both at home and abroad by visualizing foreign policy as an area of accommodation and legitimate compromise to polish off the consequences of new developments in scientific, technological, cultural and educational spheres, apart from the pu hope political and strategic developments.Thirdly, the consultative opportunities of Parliament provide a permanent effort to relate expertise in foreign affairs to a pulsation ground upon the thrust of the historical national experience. The Ministry of External Affairs on account of time constraints does not have many opportunities for the projection of semiper manent futures, but Parliament can enhance the capacity and resources of the nation to develop a consistent framework for thinking about the future of the Indian contribution to the world system.India has a parliamentary form of government based on universal adult franchise. The executive authority is responsible to the elected representatives of the people in the Parliament for all its decisions and actions. The Constitution of India states that the Indian Executive is the foremost branch of the Parliamentary form of government. The President, Vice President, Council of Ministers, Governor and lawyer General of India has played a greater role as far as executive branch is concerned. The President is the head of the state who is elected by the Electoral College which consist of both the houses Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. The executive is the most important of the government in terms of its importance. Since we got our independence the executive branch has got its character of worth and recognition as a part of the government. It has been carrying out the most vital functions of executing the laws made by the legislature and also implementing. The competency of the government depends upon the effective surgical procedure of its policies by the executive. Whole of the administration revolves around the executive branch without which administration holds no importance.2.2.1 Mode of SelectionThe mode of selection varies from one country to another, Some executive are get the powers by virtue of being born in the royal family. This principle is followed in U.K., Nepal, Japan, Spain and many other Countries. The Chief executive is voted by the people. The election may be direct or indirect but secret voting is always carried out in one way or the other. The element of election makes the office democratic. More so the election is for a definite period which differs from Country to Country. U.S.A. and India offer examples of this type. There is another mode of selec tion of the executives is a process of nomination. The Governor Generals of Canada. New Zealand, Australia are nominal by British Crown. The Governors of Indian States are nominated by the President. some other process of selection is appointment by recruitment. The vast majority of the permanent or non-political executive in India or other Countries hailing from civil service are chosen on the basis of entrance exam.2.2.2 FunctionsThe functions of the executive in modern State are multifaceted and wide ranging. The compulsions of a offbeat state, the pressures of an industrial society, the expectations from a positive state assign a variety of functions to the executive some of the important functions are discussed here implementation of laws and policies is the most essential part of the state administration of government. As head of the administration, he exercises a wide power of control over the personnel of the administrative service through his power to appoint, direct and remove his subordinates. The subordinates tend to work under his direction and supervision. Security of the country is of great importance hence the executive performs certain functions so as to strengthen our security internally as well as externally. Such responsibilities increase many-fold when there is a war or internal riot, retaining political function is an important responsibility of the executive. Taking care of relationship with other States in the world constitutes an important function of the executive because the Countries grow in stature, technology and prosperity through mutual help and co-operation. Thus the executive through mutual relationship, with other States try to push through development and progress of its Country. The management of pay of the State is vital to the administration. The success or failure of the government generally depends on proper implementation of fiscal policy. The legislature controls the finance and grants gold to the executive. Bu t it is the executive which very meticulously studies the needs of the administrative departments and finds out the ways and means to meet such expenses. It has the responsibility of preparing a budget which would be acceptable to the legislature. Once the budget is approved by the legislature the executive exercises tremendous control over its expenditure by the various departments. Law making comes under the domain of the legislature. But in practice it is found that the executive enjoys enormous legislative powers. In Parliamentary clay the legislative responsibilities rest with the executive. The executive summons, prorogues and if need be dissolves the legislature. In the street corner of both the Houses of Parliament the President of India can promulgate ordinance, which has the effect and contract of law made by this legislature. The executive as per its requirement drafts and introduces legislative measures for adoption and gets it passed because of majority support. Thi s undoubtedly has made the executive more powerful. The executive also discharges some judicial responsibilities. The right of pardon or benevolence is executive power. The Heads of executives in many countries enjoy this power. For example the President of India can suspend, remit or commute sentences of any person convicted of offence. Similarly the President of the U.S.A. enjoys similar power. The executive in many states have also taken up the responsibility of deciding cases having administrative implications.An analysis of the powers of the executive verbalize above clearly indicates the predominance of the executive over the legislature and the judiciary. The executive gradually started acquiring more and more power owing to the takings of welfare activities of the states. The development of the executive into what may be called a multi functioning organ is highly significant. The real authority in both the developed and developing states have come to rest with the executi ve. This growth of concentration of power in the executive has opened door for unfavorable judgment from all quarters. According to Lord Hewart it has led to a rise of New Despotism which has controlled the raft of so many by so few. But nevertheless executive tries to function in a more effective way keeping in mind the welfare of the public.2.3 STANDING COMMITTE ON FOREIGN affairsThe Parliament of India transacts a great deal of its business through Committees, which are, in fact, microcosms and extensions of the Houses. The Committees have contributed a great deal in making the Parliament more effective in exercising control over and full-grown direction to the executive functioning and thereby making the executive more accountable. Apart from facilitating consideration of complex and technical issues in a non-partisan manner, which the House as a whole may find difficult to discuss, the Committee provide to the Members additional time for detailed deliberation on the legislat ive and financial business of the House. The Committee system in the Indian Parliament consists of various categories of Committees. Foremost among those are the Parliamentary Committees, which are appointed or elected by the House nominated by the Speaker, Lok Sabha or Chairman, Rajya Sabha. These Committees work under the overall directions of the Presiding Officers and as per rules of procedure framed from time to time, present their reports to the concerned House or the Presiding Officer. The Secretariat is provided by one of the two Secretariats of Parliament.Foreign policy permits India to have an interaction with the world outside and the main aimof foreign policy is to provide protection of its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.Thus it helps to provide the much needed national security to the country which makes itthe most inherent part of the administration. The Parliament has a two-fold control overforeign policy. Firstly, the Parliament has the power to reje ct, approve or modify the foreign policyframed by the executive. Secondly, it has general supervisory powers over the conduct offoreign affairs. To enable the parliament to play these, the executive has to place allrelevantinformation before it and keep it informed of the governments variousprogrammes, negotiations, treaties, agreements and other activities.2.4 DEBATES ON FOREIGN POLICYThe Indian Parliament has, in general, supported its governments positions on the foreign policy issues. However, sometimes it has shown strong disagreement on some position as well. For example, there has been a strong criticism of the governments policies during the Sino-Indian War of 1962. The record of the Parliamentary debateduring 1959-62 shows a lively debate on the issue and such an intense criticism of Krishna Menon, the Defence Minister, that he was virtually hale to resign from the job. Similarly, the Indian Parliament moved a resolution condemning the military action of the Pakistan troo ps during the East Pakistan Crisis in 1970-71 and urged the world to take note of the situation. The resolution went beyond the government policy and amounted to interference in the domestic affairs of another country. The Indian Parliament has in general shown a lot of activism on the foreign policy issues relating to Pakistan and China. At times, the Parliament members have also resigned from their membership in protest against the governments policy which was considered as too soft by them.Asubversive pragmatic vision is increasingly challenging some of thekey foundations of Indias traditional patriot and left-of-centre foreign policy, diluting the consensus that shaped the policy, and raising new possibility esespecially for Indias relations with the United States and global nuclear arms control. This debate between two moderationist foreign policy perspectives is not yet settled. The two are describe here as traditional nationalist and pragmatist, with the former representing the established and prevalent perspective, and the latter as the emerging challenger. Actual Indian policy generally splits the difference, mouthing traditional nationalist (hereafter referred to as simply nationalist) slogans while following pragmatist prescriptions. cardinal major result has been the widening of political space for closer relations with the United States, even without a stable consensus. Indias economic growth, information technology prowess, and rising power have reshaped global perceptions of India and Indias perception of itself. A decade after Indias nuclear tests, Indias global relations have dramatically modify and New Delhi is increasingly wooed by major powers. Indian commentators have not been slow to notice that leaders from all of the permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) visited India in 2010.16 For nationalists, this was a recognition of Indias importance which called for a quiet celebration. The possibility exists, however, that at least some of Indias strategic elite are inflating Indias capabilities and attractiveness. Yashwant Sinha, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)leader and former Minister for External Affairs, expressed this overconfidence well when he argued, in the context of the recent visit by President Obama to India, that the U.S. needs India more than India needs the UnitedStates.18 For instance, the United States was forced to lift the sanctions it imposed on India after the 1998 Indian nuclear tests because these sanctions were cause more damage to the U.S. than India. This belief that India was so important that other powers would not standby futilely if India was invaded possibly even leading to a world war is presumably one of the reasons why Nehru thought that China would not attack India militarily in 1962. The sense of Indias intrinsic importance is also reflected in Indias push for a permanent seat on the UN Security Coun cil.20Though all shades of foreign policy opinion in India generally support a permanent seat for India, nationalists tend to emphasize such demands more Equity and Democratic Global Indias foreign policymaking and highlighted several issues that connecter together questions of policy objectives and policy tools. First, the extent of Indias ambitions in its home region, South Asia, is contested. One view is that India should be satisfied with a level of military capabilities that guarantees New Delhi security by ensuring that India would prevail in a conflict with any of its neighbours, should such a conflict arise. A more determined view is that New Delhi should not be satisfied with security alone and should instead seek to exercise influence over its neighbours. Second, the opponents of the idea that India should rely on hard power and military force do not only question the relative effectiveness of

Symmetric Vs Asymmetric Algorithms Computer Science Essay

Symmetric Vs A radial Algorithms Computer Science turn up info integrity, confidentiality and availability over the web, applications and storage means take up sprain the major(ip) concerns in ready reckoner world. If data ar exposed to an ack-ack guner, it get out have a signifi flush toilett impact to business. Cryptography has a major role to play to prevent attacks to sensitive data employing encoding and decoding mechanicss. There atomic number 18 two main blastes to encoding interchange competent and un regular, and apiece of them contains its own variety of encryption algorithmic rules. Both causas have their advantages and mischiefs as none of them excels at twain efficiency and high trade protection measures. As illustrated in this paper it is not sufficient enough to affair a single type of encryption systems in applications. Rapid development of network technology and expansion of entropy around the world, information security has to be balanced with process efficiency requiring interbreeding approaches. This paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of severally type of steganography and proposes in reference to literature integration approaches.Index Terms -encryption, decryption, even algorithm, noninterchangeable algorithm, creation backbones, cipher text edition, PGP, GnuPG, hybrid encryption.IntroductionCryptography is the study of the mathematical techniques cerebrate to aspects of information security such as confidentiality, data integrity, mental object credentials, and entity trademark (Piper, 2002). Cryptography has many applications including those in notice management for digital converse ( colloquy equipment, electronic mail and data interchange, access prevail and audit trails, e-banking), commercialised software (software verification and virus detection).encryption of electronic contents has been considcred for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), where contracts and purchase localize s are signed and delivered electronically. Similar system has been apply by the British banks for Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) for Point Of gross sales (POS). For Local Area Networks (L.4Ns) the IEEE 802.10 LAN Security Working Group is currently drafting security standard employ public- pick up techniques for identify management.Access control to buildings or computers relies on social function of crys or Personal Identification morsel (PIN). Passwords are either stored to the computer or are dynamically generated utilize battery-powered devices (tokens). In round cases (e.g. in banking) the token is activated by entering a PIN. State-of-the art smart card devices embed private or payment data which flush toilet be decrypted as yen as the physical exerciser enters a password or provides biometric data (e.g. voice, fingerprint, handwritten signature, or s apprisened picture).In theory of cryptanalytics, the information to be encrypted is called the substance and t he exploit of disguising is known as encryption (or enciphering). The enciphered message is called the ciphertext or cryptogram. The algorithm use for this operation also has a second remark known as the enciphering strike. The process of obtaining the message from the ciphertext is known as decryption, and, in addition to the ciphertext, the deciphering algorithm needs a deciphering describe. The receiver will obtain the correct message, if they use the right deciphering key.An encryption system is said to be symmetric if, for distri exceptively corresponding pair of enciphering and deciphering keys, it is easy to determine the deciphering key from the enciphering key. If, on the another(prenominal)wise hand, it is computationally impossible to determine the deciphering key from the enciphering key, then we have a public key system or, else, an asymmetric system.Symmetric and asymmetric cryptanalysis are almost two different subjects, therefore the algorithms are differe nt, and the key management problems are different. In the sections below we present the main algorithms of each system and a comparison betwixt the algorithms of each system is performed. symmetric ALGORITHMSIn symmetric algorithms, the sender and receiver of messages and files share the like key for encryption and decryption. Symmetric algorithms have the advantage of not consuming too much computing power. The most typical examples are DES, trey-DES (3DES), liking, CAST5, BLOWFISH, TWOFISH.In symmetric algorithms an important aspect of their effectiveness is the strength of the key encryption or else the size of it of the key apply. Since the same key is utilise for encryption and decryption, the lasting the keys are, the harder to unlock them. Strong versus weak key is one of the typical classification of symmetric algorithms.DES (Data Encryption warning) was the first symmetric algorithm to be introduced by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) in 1974 . DES uses one 64-bits key and many attacks have been recorded in literature against it and that caused the need to propose 3DES ( trinity DES). Triple DES (3DES) uses three 64-bits keys. Therefore, 3DES applies 3 times the core encryption method of DES however this makes it slower than other symmetric algorithms (Nadeem and Javed, 2005).In addition, NIST introduced AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) in 1997 as replacement of DES. AES uses various (128,192,256) bits keys. Yet Brute overstretch attack was the only effective unlocking mechanism against it trying all role combinations. Bruce Schneiers blowfish encryption method is even stronger with no effective attack to have been recorded since its release in 1993. Its effectiveness relies on using variable length key (32-448) and 128-bit is its default and a 64-bit block size although taking the risk of allowing the definition of weak keys (Nadeem and Javed, 2005).Running simulation tests, Nadeem and Javed (2005) showed that Blow fish has better transaction than other symmetric algorithms and no any security weak points to its record.AES and 3DES showed poor operation since it requires more processing power. Similar results have been produced in (Elminaam et al, 2009).ASSYMETRIC ALGORITHMSNowadays confidential messages around the world are encrypted and decrypted relying on asymmetric techniques. This is because the key used for encryption and decryption is not the same but rather it relies on a key distribution mechanism which is called public-private key distribution. Confidential messages are encrypted using the public key and rouse only be decrypted using the private key. RSA, DSA, ELGAMAL, TLS, PGP are some of the examples of asymmetric algorithms.RSA is one of the well known public key (asymmetric type of) algorithms used for generating digital signatures over messages (Das and Madhavan, 2009). In addition, NIST published the Digital Signature Standard (DSS) in 1991 for generating digital signatures . DSS uses the SHA-1 algorithm for calculating the message digest of the athletic field message and then applies the DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm) for creating the digital signature of the message base on the message digest. DSA is only used for performing digital signatures. It cannot be used for encryption and this is the main difference with RSA (Das and Madhavan, 2009).COMPARING SYMMETRIC AND ASSYMETRIC cryptology TECHNIQUESAdvantages and disadvantages of symmetric algorithms are illustrated in the turn off below (Panda and Kumar, 2011)AdvantagesDisadvantagesSimple method of encryptionAgree a priori a secret key sooner any message exchangeEncryption of personal user files and messages concur multiple keys one for each pair of message exchange or collaborationFaster than asymmetric techniquesSharing the secret key does not prove authenticity of sender or receiver of messagesRequires less computer resources attain management is a task requiring significant effortKey compro mise to a communication pair does not affect communication with other pairsKey exchange should also be a firm process requiring the implementation of its own repair channelCan use the same publicly known algorithm for encryptionstrength of security depends on size of keyAdvantages and disadvantages of symmetric algorithms are illustrated in the table below (Panda and Kumar, 2011)AdvantagesDisadvantagesMakes convenient the key distribution as only the public keys are sharedPublic key generation and distribution is postulate for activating the encryption mechanism requiring a verification process in its ownDigital signatures are generated through public key encryption hence verifying the authenticity of the senderIt is rather slow in comparison to symmetric algorithms and is not preferred for short messagesMessages accompanied by digital signature cannot be modified during transferIt requires a dope more processing powerDigitally signing a message is equivalent to a physical signa ture thus the recipient of the message cannot deny the authenticity of the senderLosing a private key can cause can cause widespread security compromise as all messages can be readHYBRID approachesThe main disadvantage of asymmetric algorithms is their slowness is comparison to the symmetric algorithms. One way to care this issue in many applications, is to apply a combination of both. A typical integration approach is the followinguse asymmetric keys for authenticationthen one or more symmetric keys can be generated and exchanged using the asymmetric encryption.Typical examples of this procedure are the RSA/ imagination combination of PGP2 or the DSA/BLOWFISH used by GnuPG.For instance, Mantoro and Zakariya (2010) proposed a unafraid(p) method of e-mail communication for android- ground mobile devices using a hybrid cryptosystem which combines AES 128 bit (symmetric) encryption, RSA 1024 bit (asymmetric) encryption and SHA-1 (hash) function. This approach had been tested with pla in text but not with email attachments or communication betwixt Android devices and other mobile platforms.PGP varietyOne of the main applications of public key encryption techniques is in the PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) program for data communication. It is primarily used for signing, encrypting emails, files, text and anything else that is involved in email communication (Zimmermann, 1995).RSA key of 1024 bits are still considered secure (given the available options of 512, 1024, 2048 bits). On the other hand, Kaliski (2003) considers that an 1024-bit RSA key can be broken in one year and that an 2048-bit RSA public key is secure enough for a PGP configuration which includes also the AES and the SHA-1 algorithm. RSA/IDEA/MD5 or any other other similar configuration is less secure according to Lenstra and Verheul (2003).PGP works as follows (Benz, 2001)compresses the plain message in order to reduce the pattern of the typical plaintextcreates a session key which is a random number, usually generated given mouse movements or keystrokesa symmetric encryption algorithm is applied on the random number (e.g. Triple DES, Twofish, CAST, or AES) to generate a one-time-only secret key (session key)additional input might be required by the user if the collected information is not sufficient enough (e.g. additional mouse movements, keystrokes)the session key is used along a symmetric algorithm to encrypt the message to a ciphertext.The session key is also encrypted using an asymmetric technique such as RSAThe recipient receives the ciphertext along with the public key-encrypted session key. and so the combination of the two encryption methods exploits the convenience of public-key encryption with the speed of symmetric encryption (Benz, 2001). Symmetric encryption is about 100 to 1,000 times fast-breaking than public-key encryption, solving the problem of slow encryption which asymmetric algorithms suffer from. Public-key encryption provides a solution to key distribut ion and data transmitting issues. Hence, performance and key distribution are improved by combining both approaches without any sacrifice in security.On the othe hand, the PGP process described higher up can be a complex process for users requiring though some training. Apart of awareness it is important both parties to have installed PGP-compatible programs to be able to exchange PGP messages (Benz, 2001).PGP2 ConfigurationPGP2 implements the public key encryption using the RSA and IDEA algorithms to provide secure electronic mail communication either between individuals or known sources (e.g. EDI). This approach of authentication through cryptography ensures that the encrypted message does not provide any information that it is carrying even if it is intercepted by attackers. The recipient of the mail can decrypt the mail using the associated private or public key (Simmons, 1993).This approach verifies that the recipient is certain that the message is from the current sender an d the contents has not been changed or lost during data transmission from sender to recipient. Furthermore, a digital signature can be machine-accessible together with the mail to further confirm the identity of the sender. This approach complements password authentication and is therefore utilized in interpersonal communication between known parties.Similar combination of asymmetric and symmetric encryption techniques can be infer to other application domains involving collaboration between oversize groups. Common prerequisite is to obtain the secret key information in the lead the recipient is able to decrypt the mail.HARDWARE-BASED IMPLEMENTATION OF RSA/IDEA ENCRYPTIONA VLSI implementation of an encryption process, which combines RSA for key exchange and IDEA for block encryption, are proposed in (Buldas and Poldre, 1997). The encryption process consists of 8 rounds. Each around contains 16-bit modular additions and multiplications which simulate the integer calculations used in RSA. Also the key sexual inversion algorithms for both ciphers are similar. When the circuit is in block encryption vogue it starts the IDEA cipher process.One The IDEA cipher applies 128-bit key for block encryption.GnuPG ConfigurationThe aim of GnuPG was to create a digital signature mechanism which would be compatible with OpenPGP but at the same time it should avoid the use of patented algorithms like RSA. GnuPG provides therefore encryption and decryption services based on a range of both symmetric and asymmetric algorithms (Garloff and Jaeger, 2000).Keyring is the key management solution of GnuPG maintaining a database of private keys and a range of corresponding public keysHashing modules verify the authenticity of the public keysWeb of trust a collection of signatures which have been declared as trusted by other users form a web of trusted keysIn comparison to PGP2, GnuPG rejects emais signed with RSA and IDEA keys, potentially been produced by PGP2. And vice versa, PG P2 rejects emails signed with DSA/ELGAMAL keys from GnuPG. GnuPG is compatible with PGP5 (Garloff and Jaeger, 2000).ConclusionIn this paper we illustrated that symmetric and asymmetric techniques in cryptography have their own advantages and disadvantages. Symmetric algorithms are better in performance than asymmetric methods, and require all parties to share a key forward they collaborate. The asymmetric ciphers allow public key infrastructures and key exchange systems, but they consume a lot of processing resources. A hybrid cryptosystem is an approach forward which combines multiple algorithms of different types, in order to exploit the scoop out advantage of each type.One typical approach is to apply a symmetric module to generate a random secret key, and then apply an asymmetric module to encrypt this key using as input the receivers public key. After that, the message is also encrypted using the symmetric algorithm and the secret key. Both the encrypted secret key and the ci phertext of the message are then sent to the receiver.Since it is insufficient to use a single loving of cryptographic algorithm in applications, the hybrid approach in cryptography fills the gap of efficiency or performance of each of the types of cryptography (symmetric, asymmetric) along with the objectives of confidentiality, data integrity, authentication, and trust between two communication parties. This need is generalized to any type of collaboration between individuals (email exchange, group collaboration, file sharing, etc).

Effects of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

effectuate of attack imaginativeness readiness (ERP) pinch endeavour mental imagery mean (ERP) turns argon the to the highest degree determined, sophisticated engage of in castingation technology (IT) by dividing linees to date. Managers must comparison the massive investments of preferences and snip to be committed to an ERP help against the signifi back tootht benefits that whitethorn be derived from ERP strategys in an environment in which traditionalistic capital budgeting decision-making models whitethorn non be enamour.The purpose of this take aim is to receive if ERP execution of instruments perk up brought ab forth signifi crowd protrudet counterchanges on cosmic industries in India, by answering questions separate studies tolerate non answered. This take away is motivated both by an appreciation of the magnitude of a fellowships decision to invest in an ERP corpse and by the fact that former(a)wise enquiry to date conveys limitations of argonna or method that may bring low the reli world power of account pull up stakess. harmonizely, this take on examines achievement factors of ERP murders.The imparts of this explore be importantly much reli able than results of whateverwhat early(a) studies because this research examines whether the ERP g overning bodys yield inviolable benefits to the potents that submit them, and that the adoption risks do not exceed the anticipate value, although on that point is some(prenominal) evidence (from analysis of pecuniary leverage) that counsels that firms do definitely perceive ERP pops to be risky. thither also appears to be an optimal train of functional consolidation in ERP with benefits declining at some take, lie downent with diseconomies of context for in truth large executions, as unity would typic wholey expect.Introduction1.1 Background knowledge bodys cost in nigh peoples pee-pee lives. It is now gener neverthelessy accepted that the instruction trunk world is matchless where homosexual, social and organisational factors ar as important as the technical (Avison et al. 2001).The assembly line environment is changing dramatic whollyy and in arrange to live competitive in the mart, ecesiss must break their fear practices and procedures. Organizations inwardly exclusively surgical incisions and functions upgrade their capability to generate and go done precise and timely culture. During the brave decades, campaigns support focuse on Information applied science (IT) and employ mingled applications to automate their commerce shapees. These applications were not real in a interconnected way alone countenance evolved as a result of the modish technological innovations. As a result various integration problems were ca utilise because the applications could not co-operate and disparate IT solutions could not bind in concert (Thermistocleous and Irani, 2000).Prior to the concept of ERP outlines, departments deep down an governing body (for example, the tender alternatives (HR) department, the paysheet department department, and the fiscals department) would have their own computer systems. The HR computer system would typically contain information on the department, reporting structure, and personal details of employees. The payroll department department would typically calculate and inclose paycheck information. The financials department would typically stock-taking financial transactions for the agreement. separately system would have to rely on a adjust of plebeian info to communicate with each other. For the HRIS to get out salary information to the payroll system, an employee number would compulsion to be imageate and remain silent surrounded by the 2 systems to accurately identify an employee. The financials system was not interested in the employee- train information, exactly hardly in the payouts drive by the payroll systems, much(prenominal)(prenominal) as the tax payments to various writeities, payments for employee benefits to volunteerrs, and so on. This provided complications. For instance, a person could not be paid in the payroll system without an employee number. But subsequent ERP computer softw be product, among other things, combined the data of formerly separate applications. This do the bewilder of keeping numbers in synchronicity cross shipway multiple systems disappears. It convertible and reduced the number of software specialties ask in spite of appearance larger organizations (Slater, 1999).1.2 maturation of ERPThe evolution of ERP systems was after the spectacular developments in the field of computer computer hardware and software systems. In 1960s some organizations tropeed, developed and apply centralised computing systems, which were close like automating their record control systems utilise inventory bundles (IC). These were legacy system base on th eir programming languages such as COBOL, ALGOL and FORTRAN. Material requirement cooking (MRP) systems were developed in 1970s, which involves m any contrivening the product or parts requirements jibe to the master intersection memorial (Okrent Vokurka, 2004).Following this system a modernistic software system called manufacturing pick planning (MRP II) was introduced in 1980s with an accent on optimizing manufacturing sour by synchronizing the materials with production requirements. Areas like scab floor and distribution circumspection, human resource, finance, project wariness and engineering comes nether MRP II (Okrent Vokurka, 2004).ERP systems first appeared in late 1980s and in the ascendent of mid-nineties with the power of enterprise wide inter-functional co-ordination and integration. Based on the technological foundations of MRP and MRP II, ERP systems fuse problem growthes including manufacturing, accounting, human resource, distribution, financial, proj ect circumspection, service and guardianship, transportation, accessibility, visibility and torso across the enterprise (Okrent Vokurka, 2004).During 1990s ERP vendors added more(prenominal) modules and functions as added advantage to the sum of money modules giving birth to the broaden ERP. These ERP extensions include advanced planning and scheduling (APS), e- traffic solution such as existumer kinship anxiety (CRM) and release chain commission (SCM) (Okrent Vokurka, 2004).1.3 active ERP systemsDuring the 1990s, Enterprise Resource grooming (ERP) systems was introduced as compound suites that included a wide range of software products view asing day-to-day commercial enterprise operations and decision-making. ERP serves many industries and numerous functional areas in an integrated fashion, attempting to automate operations from leave chain management, inventory control, manufacturing scheduling and production, gross revenue support, node relation backship man agement, financial and cost accounting, human resources and almost any other data oriented management process. ERP systems have give-up the ghost increasingly prevalent oer the last 10 years. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are the most ambitious, sophisticated use of information technology (IT) by commercees to date. Managers must compare the massive investments of resources and time to be committed to an ERP feat against the signifi fecest benefits that may be derived from ERP systems in an environment in which traditional capital budgeting decision-making models may not be appropriate. The license/ upkeep revenue of ERP market was $17.2 million dollars in 1998, it is expected to be $24.3 gazillion dollars in 2000, and ERP systems have been utiliseed in over 60% of multi-national firms. This market also cuts across industries for example, two of the worlds opera hat- cognise software companies, IBM and Microsoft, now vagabond most of their art on software un complete of them makes, the check out R/3 ERP package made by eat AG (OLeary, 2000).The challenge of the ERP systems is clear. While most organizations typically had software systems that performed much of the component functions of ERP, the keep goingardized and integrated ERP software environment provides a degree of interoperable that was toilsome and expensive to achieve with stand alone, custom- built systems. For example, when a salesperson enters an order in the field, the transaction tin can immediately extend through to other functional areas both indoors and external to the firm. The order might place out an immediate change in production plans, inventory stock levels or employees schedules, or lead to the alter generation of invoices and credit evaluations for the customer and obtain orders from suppliers. In addition to process automation, the ability of ERP systems to disseminate timely and accurate information also enables modify managerial and worker dec ision-making. Managers can make decisions ground on occurrent data, art object individual workers can have greater access to information, enabling increasing delegation of authority for production decisions as advantageously as amend communications to customers (OLeary, 2000).1.4 Model forge of ERPA Global product line Process Model is created which represents the whole ERP software product. This model is layered in 3 deeper levels.The first level is the constitution Configuration Level, which scopes on high-ranking option on the built-in system. plectrum definition is therefore static once a high-level option of the ERP system is elect to be used indoors the organization, the choice cannot be made changed.One level deeper is the Object Level, which scopes on unity data objects. The option on this level is more dynamic.The lowest level is the happening level, which analyses single process occurrences. Because this level elaborates on object parameters, the option is in truth dynamic, meaning that options can good be altered (Garg and venkitakrishnan, 2006).1.5 Case studyWe systematically study the productiveness and trading murder effects of ERP employ a odd dataset on firms that have purchased licenses for the blackjack oak R/3 system, the most widely pick out ERP package. In the last 30 years, SAP has become the global curler in melody software, serving more than 38,000 customers worldwide, including organizations of e actually size and type. on the way, SAP has accumulated a unique knowledge base of opera hat practices in more than 25 industries. The SAP tradition of leadership continues with a young generation of ERP software that gives the troupe unprecedented speed and tractableness to change your bottom line by improving your enterprise resource planning (Web-1). Our goal is to better get wind the economics of ERP carrying into actions specialisedally, and more broadly, stomach to the understanding of the benefits of la rge-scale Industries in India.The author has tried to find out the winner of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) murder and the buffet on investment depends, among other factors, on the active project management team up. This winner and return on investment is very important to the organization since implementation cost is very high and the resulting Information Technology computer programme necessitate to supply importantly to the organizations occupancy strategy and survival. Since competitors are liable(predicate) to be implementing ERP solutions at the aforesaid(prenominal) time, there is the added advantage to gain a benefit, a boundary. How is this achieved?According to the research the organizations that have successfully implemented the ERP systems are gathering the benefits of having integrating operative environment, standardise process and operational benefits. There have been many unsportsmanlike stories of improper ERP implementation because of which many co mpanies have become bankrupt and in many show events organizations have decided to blackball the ERP implementation projects. Not all ERP implementations have been successful. Majority of these studies have used slip of paper studies to conclude their findings and very few have used the existential study of the ERP implementation process and its success.The difficulties and high failure rate in implementing ERP systems have been widely cited in the books (Davenport, 1998), but research on hyper little success factors in ERP implementation is rare and sectioned. Till now, notwithstanding a few organizations have done a little to animadvert the important predictors for initial and current ERP implementation success ( dark-brown and Vessey, 1999). This research is an effort to achieve that. It identifies the critical success factors in ERP implementation, categorizes them into the respective signifiers in the ERP life round model and discusses the magnificence of these fact ors in ERP implementation (Markus and Tanis, 2000).1.6 bewilders and objectivesThis research is an attempt to broaden the ERP implementation research by defining the theoretical areas built and operational measures specific to ERP implementation and success measure to advance ERP research.1.6.1 AimThe main aim of this research is to study and analyze the adjoin of implementing ERP solutions on large industries in India.1.6.2 intentionThe objective of this talk is toStudy more or less(predicate) the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and their stock aspects.Analysing the implementation process of ERP systems and their emotional state cycle.Analysing the success and failure factors of the implementation of ERP systems.Analysing the pre and post implementation strategies involved in an ERP project.Understanding the effect of implementing ERP solutions on Indian large industries.Understanding the success factors of the ERP implementation by doing the case study on SAP ( t ranscriptions, Applications and Products).This dissertation explains the greatness of ERP implementation within an organization, primarily within the large industries and explains the issues tie in with the usability and the exploiters opinion on an implemented ERP system. The research project discussed in this dissertation is derived from an implemented ERP system on large industries in Bangalore. The author has chosen SAP as his case study as the SAP provides the worlds lift out integrated solutions for the organizations. The system examined in this dissertation is the SAP implementation and the selected users for this system are the large industries in Bangalore like Bharath Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Karnataka fix Road Transport bang (KSRTC), Repcol, etc.1.7 Layout of the dissertationChapter 2 literature Review This chapter explores the literature that is relevant to the research questions on Enterprise Resource Planning systems and their implementation, Life cycl e, victory factors, failure factors, the business aspects of ERP and as puff up as ERP solutions provided by SAP and its significance. This chapter mainly focuses on eleven critical success factors of ERP systems. This chapter pull up stakes form the bases for the argument presented in proceeding chapters.Chapter 3 seek Approach This chapter discusses the overall review of the research barbel and methods that will guide this research. This chapter also discusses about the techniques for data analysis including triangulation.Chapter 4 Research Site In this chapter, the target of the study and how the research was carried out (data collection) is discussed in detail. This chapter also provides the analysis of the data which was collected and an overall conclusion of the study data. The accompaniment component of the ERP system is studied and the problems being encountered.Chapter 5 death and recommendations This chapter outlines the conclusion of the research with the rec ommendations and the suggestions for future day research.Literature reviewAccording to Garg and venkitakrishnan (2006), business environment has changed more in the last five years than it was before. Enterprises are continuously trying to improve themselves in the areas quality, time to market, costumer satisfaction, death penalty and profitability. The Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software fulfils all these involves.2.1 Definition of ERPEnterprise resource planning has been in defined in many ways as cited by Brown (2006) they are as followsSets of business software which allows an organization for complete management of operations.(Al-Mashari, et al., 2003)A software infrastructure icy with trounce practices, respectively best ways to do business based on mutual business practices or academic theory. (Bernroider Koch, 2001)An organization-wide Information System that tightly combines all aspects of a business. It promises one database, one application, and a corpora te interface across the entire enterprise. (Bingi, Sharma, Godla, 1999)Highly integrated enterprise-wide software package that computerize force business processes such as finance, human resources, manufacturing, and supply and distribution. (Holland Light, 1999)A packaged business software system that enables a company to manage the efficient and rough-and-ready use of resources by providing a total, integrated solution for the organizations information- impact holds. (Nah, Lau, Kuang, 2001)Business software that combines information across the organization. This integration removes inconsistencies and enables the organization to attain consolidated reports. (Shakir, 2000 cited by Brown, 2006)A combination of business management practice and technology, where Information Technology integrates and automates many of the business practices associated with the core business processes, operations, or production aspects of a company to achieve specific business objectives. (Web-8ww w.sap.com)2.2 Features of ERP systemsAccording to Garg and venkitakrishnan (2006) ERP system needs have the following featuresModular design comprising many distinct business modules such as distribution, accounting, manufacturing, financial, etc. intent centralized park database management system (DBMS)The modules are integrated and provide seamless data flow among the modules, increasing operational transparency through standard interface.They are primarily complex systems involving high cost.They are pliable and offer best business practices.They are time-consuming and configuration setups for integrating with the companys business information.The modules work in real time with online and batch processing capabilities.They will soon be net enabled (Garg and venkitakrishnan, 2006).2.3 ModulesDifferent ERP vendors provide ERP systems with some degree of speciality but the core modules are almost the same for all of them. Some of the core ERP modules are Human resource manageme nt, ecstasy management, Manufacturing management, Accounting management, financial management, return management, Sales and distribution management, Costumer relation management, Supply chain management and E-Business. The modules of an ERP system can either work as stand alone units or some(prenominal)(prenominal) modules can be combined together to form an integrated system. The systems are usually designed to operate under several operating platforms. SAP AG, the largest ERP vendor provides a number of modules with its famous R/3 ERP system. New modules are introduced by SAP and other vendors in response to the market and technological want such as the internet technology (Garg and venkitakrishnan, 2006).Koch et al. (1999) also discusses three common approaches to ERP systems implementation in organisations. As the number of modules being implemented increases, there is a shift from a big-bang to a phased approach.Big bang This approach enables organizations to cast off all their legacy systems at once and implement a single ERP system across the entire organization. This is the most ambitious and difficult of approaches to ERP implementation (Koch et al., 1999). licence Strategy This strategy, also referred to in literature as phased implementation, suits large or diverse companies that dont share many common processes across business units. indie ERP systems are installed in each unit, firearm linking common processes (Koch et al., 1999). This is the most common way of implementing ERP and it allows the systems to link together only to share the information unavoidable for the corporation to get a performance big picture across all the business units. Usually these implementations dismay with a demonstration or pilot installation in a particularly open-minded and forbearing business unit where the core business of the corporation will not be disrupted if something goes wrong (Koch et al. 1999 cited by Jenine, 2001).Slam-dunk With this approac h, ERP dictates the process design and the focus is on just a few disclose business processes. This implementation strategy is most appropriate for smaller organizations (Koch et al., 1999).ERP systems are usually highly complex, expensive, and difficult to implement. Besides the traditional MRP functionality, ERP systems include applications for many other functional areas such as guest Relationship Management, Sales and trade processes, Human Resources, Accounting and Finance, Supply orbit Management, and Operational and Logistical Management. many ERP vendors are offering some or all of these functions as options within their offering. Organizations can usually pick and select between modules, implementing only those which are applicable to their situation (Al-Mashari et al., 2000 cited by Brown, 2006).2.4 Functions of ERPThis software tries to combine all departments and functions across a company onto a single computer system that can serve each contrary departments parti cular needs (Koch et al. 1999). ERP systems are nonentity more than generic representations of the way a typical company which does business (Koch et al. 1999 cited by Jenine, 2001).ERP is software, which collects data from various key business processes and stores in a single comprehensive data secretarial assistant where they can be used by other parts of the business. galore(postnominal) organizations are now using ERP systems to solve their problems. ERP improves organizational co-ordination, efficiency and decision-making. It is a kind of software, which financial aids managers to find out the most and the least profitable jobs. This in turn, helps managers to eliminate the most dead jobs (Zygmont, 1998). Pp 89-91.ERPs allow computerising the tasks involved in playacting a business process so it is important that implementers start with a clear expression of the business problems being addressed (Slater 1999 cited by Jenine, 2001).The most common reason that companies pa ss away from multimillion dollar ERP projects is that they discover that the software does not support one of their important business processes (Koch et al. 1999).Not only do the business functions need to be identified, the more delicate issues such as the companys corporate market-gardening and management style must be examined to enable a holistic view of the implementation (Slater 1999).ERP systems stress the importance of accountability, responsibility and communication within an organisation. They focus on optimizing the way things are done internally kinda than with customers, suppliers or partners (Koch et al. 1999 cited by Jenine, 2001).It is said that ERP is the best expression of the inseparability of business and information technology (Gupta, 2000). ERP systems highlight one specific theme integration of all organisational processes and this has attracted many organizations to adopt ERPs in recent year (Sia, et.al. 2002 cited by Thavapragasam, 2003).According to Gup ta (2000) ERP allows companies to integrate departmental information and for many users, an ERP is a does it all system that performs everything from entry of sales orders to customer service. Moreover, an ERP-system enables companies to integrate data used passim the whole organization and holds operation and logistic, procurement, sales and marketing, human resource and financial modules (Wassenaar, et al., 2002 cited by Thavapragasam, 2003).ERPs are often known as off the shelf IT solutions that will enable organizations to achieve double-quick cycle fastens, reduces cost, and improved customer service (Sia, et al., 2002 cited by Thavapragasam, 2003).Wassenaar, et al. (2002) continues to suggest that ERP-system implementation implies a much stronger organizational change that normal information system development. Problems associated with software implementations are neither new nor specific to enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.2.5 Impact of implementationThere is a s mall but growing literature on the impact of ERP systems the majority of these studies are interviews, cases studies or a collection of case studies and industry surveys (Davenport, 1998).McAfee (1999) studied the impact of ERP systems on self-reported company performance based on a survey of Indian implementers of SAP R/3 packages. Participating companies reported substantial performance improvement in several areas as a result of their ERP implementation, including their ability to provide information to customers, cycle times, and on-time completion rates.2.5.1 BenefitsERPs are designed to help manage organizational resources in an integrated manner. The primary benefits that are expected to result from their implementation are closely related to the level of integration that is promoted across functions in an enterprise. The overlord literature has been proactive in ascertain the types of benefits that companies might anticipate from their ERP systems and to what finale organ izations had developedly attained those benefits on a post-implementation basis. Expectations for improved business performance after adoption may result from both operational and strategic benefits (Irving 1999 Jenson and Johnson 1999 cited by Nicolaou, 2004).In the Benchmarking Partners study (1998), responsive companies anticipated both literal and impalpable benefits. The most significant impalpable benefits related to internal integration, improved information and processes, and improved customer service, while tangible benefits related to cost efficiencies in inventory, personnel, procurement and the time need to close books, as hale as improvements in productivity, cash/order management, and overall profitability. In assessing the termination to which they had actually attained those benefits, however, on a post-implementation basis, it was evident that they were not able to improve profitability or put down personnel, inventories, or system maintenance cost as much as they had hoped. On the other hand, respondents famed better-than-expected results in overall productivity and in order-management cycle time, as well as procurement, on-time delivery, and the ability to close financial cycles (cited by Nicolaou, 2004).Likewise, in the collection Board study (Peterson et al. 2001 cited by Nicolaou, 2004), responding companies reported anticipating similar types of tangible and intangible benefits, although it was evident that the realization of those benefits required more time than expected.Where as Gattiker and Goodhue (2000) congregation the literature of ERP benefits into iv categoriesImprove information flow across sub-units, normalisation and integration facilitates communication and better coordination modify centralization of administrative activities such as account payable and payrollReduce IS maintenance costs and increase the ability to deploy new IS functionalityERP may be subservient in moving a firm away from inefficient busine ss processes and toward accepted best of practice processes.The in a higher place studies on the impact of ERP systems suggest that there are potentially substantial benefits for firms that successfully implemented ERP systems (Ragowsky and Somers, 2000). We subscriber line here the significance of ERP impact has started to attract more attention from the organizations (Sarkis and Gunasekaran, 2001 cited by Hitt et. al, 2001).2.5.2 LimitationsLimitations of ERP systems have also been widely authenticated as identified below.ERPs can have a negative impact on the work practices and refinement of an organization (Gefen, 2000)There is a need for extensive technical support prior to its actual use (Gefen, 2000).The need for competent consulting stave to extensively customize the ERP to increase the acceptance of a new system (Gefen 2000). omit of feature-function fit between the companys needs and the packages on tap(predicate) (Markus and Tanis 2000).It takes an average of 8 month s after the new system is installed to see any benefits (Koch et al. 1999).The Total Cost of self-command (TCO) of ERP, as identified by the Meta Group, includes hardware, software, passkey services and internal module costs. TCO is averaged at $15 million per system (Koch et al., 1999).2.6 ERP lifecycleThe ERP life cycle is comprised of four phases namely analysis, installation, final preparation and go live (Robey, Ross and Boudreau, 2000). An integrative, theoretical model was introduced which we call integrated ERP implementation, which is comprised of a set of theoretically important constructs. This cloth has been developed based on the project life cycle approach, in which the ERP implementation project goes through different stages before it goes live.There are number of factors that affect the ERP implementation process are termed in this study as implementation critical success factors. Upon the completion of ERP implementation project, performance is thrifty by a u ndulate of outcomes (Robey, Ross and Boudreau, 2000).Since the models are unpredictable, they cannot be measured directly, multi-item scales, each composed of a set of individual items, were needed to recover indirect measures of each construct (Robey, Ross and Boudreau, 2000). instruction execution planning- It is the first phase of ERP implementation in which initial implementation plan is prepared, team members are selected (which could be new or roll over from the acquisition team), project scope and initial objectives are defined. In this phase as well the implementation strategies and outcomes are identified as well.Installation- It is the atomic number 16 phase of Implementation process, activities such as hardware and network is installed tally to the requirements of ERP system, configuration of ERP is conducted, system customization is performed and change management plan is executed.Final Preparation- In this phase data from legacy system is imported to the new system, data is converted and system test is performed. Moreover, the users are trained on the system.Go Live- Going Live is the pourboire in time in the ERP implementation, when the system is first used for actual production. In this phase, ERP system goes lives, progress is monitored and user feedback is reviewed (Robey, Ross and Boudreau, 2000).2.7 Critical Factors of ERP implementation successThis section discusses the 11 factors that are critical to ERP implementation success (cited by Kuang, 2001).ERP teamwork and compositionERP teamwork and composition is important throughout the ERP life cycle. The ERP team should consist of the best people in the organization (Bingi et al., 1999 Rosario, 2000 Wee, 2000).Building a cross-functional team is also critical. The team should have a mix of consultants and internal staff so the internal staff can developEffects of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)Effects of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)AbstractEnterprise resource planning (ERP) sys tems are the most ambitious, sophisticated use of information technology (IT) by businesses to date. Managers must compare the massive investments of resources and time to be committed to an ERP implementation against the significant benefits that may be derived from ERP systems in an environment in which traditional capital budgeting decision-making models may not be appropriate.The purpose of this study is to determine if ERP implementations have brought about significant changes on large industries in India, by answering questions other studies have not answered. This study is motivated both by an appreciation of the magnitude of a companys decision to invest in an ERP system and by the fact that other research to date contains limitations of scope or method that may reduce the reliability of reported results. Accordingly, this study examines success factors of ERP implementations.The results of this research are significantly more reliable than results of other studies because t his research examines whether the ERP systems yield substantial benefits to the firms that adopt them, and that the adoption risks do not exceed the expected value, although there is some evidence (from analysis of financial leverage) that suggests that firms do definitely perceive ERP projects to be risky. There also appears to be an optimal level of functional integration in ERP with benefits declining at some level, consistent with diseconomies of scope for very large implementations, as one would typically expect.Introduction1.1 BackgroundInformation systems exist in most peoples working lives. It is now generally accepted that the information system world is one where human, social and organizational factors are as important as the technological (Avison et al. 2001).The business environment is changing dramatically and in order to stay competitive in the market, organizations must improve their business practices and procedures. Organizations within all departments and function s upgrade their capability to generate and communicate accurate and timely information. During the last decades, enterprises have focused on Information Technology (IT) and implemented various applications to automate their business processes. These applications were not developed in a coordinated way but have evolved as a result of the latest technological innovations. As a result various integration problems were caused because the applications could not co-operate and disparate IT solutions could not bind together (Thermistocleous and Irani, 2000).Prior to the concept of ERP systems, departments within an organization (for example, the human resources (HR) department, the payroll department, and the financials department) would have their own computer systems. The HR computer system would typically contain information on the department, reporting structure, and personal details of employees. The payroll department would typically calculate and store paycheck information. The fina ncials department would typically store financial transactions for the organization. Each system would have to rely on a set of common data to communicate with each other. For the HRIS to send salary information to the payroll system, an employee number would need to be assigned and remain static between the two systems to accurately identify an employee. The financials system was not interested in the employee-level data, but only in the payouts made by the payroll systems, such as the tax payments to various authorities, payments for employee benefits to providers, and so on. This provided complications. For instance, a person could not be paid in the payroll system without an employee number. But later ERP software, among other things, combined the data of formerly separate applications. This made the worry of keeping numbers in synchronization across multiple systems disappears. It standardized and reduced the number of software specialties required within larger organizations ( Slater, 1999).1.2 Evolution of ERPThe evolution of ERP systems was after the spectacular developments in the field of computer hardware and software systems. In 1960s many organizations designed, developed and implemented centralized computing systems, which were almost like automating their inventory control systems using inventory packages (IC). These were legacy system based on their programming languages such as COBOL, ALGOL and FORTRAN. Material requirement planning (MRP) systems were developed in 1970s, which involves many planning the product or parts requirements according to the master production schedule (Okrent Vokurka, 2004).Following this system a new software system called manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) was introduced in 1980s with an emphasis on optimizing manufacturing process by synchronizing the materials with production requirements. Areas like shop floor and distribution management, human resource, finance, project management and engineering comes unde r MRP II (Okrent Vokurka, 2004).ERP systems first appeared in late 1980s and in the beginning of 1990s with the power of enterprise wide inter-functional co-ordination and integration. Based on the technological foundations of MRP and MRP II, ERP systems integrate business processes including manufacturing, accounting, human resource, distribution, financial, project management, service and maintenance, transportation, accessibility, visibility and consistency across the enterprise (Okrent Vokurka, 2004).During 1990s ERP vendors added more modules and functions as added advantage to the core modules giving birth to the Extended ERP. These ERP extensions include advanced planning and scheduling (APS), e-business solution such as costumer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM) (Okrent Vokurka, 2004).1.3 About ERP systemsDuring the 1990s, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems was introduced as integrated suites that included a wide range of software pro ducts encouraging day-to-day business operations and decision-making. ERP serves many industries and numerous functional areas in an integrated fashion, attempting to automate operations from supply chain management, inventory control, manufacturing scheduling and production, sales support, customer relationship management, financial and cost accounting, human resources and almost any other data oriented management process. ERP systems have become increasingly prevalent over the last 10 years. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are the most ambitious, sophisticated use of information technology (IT) by businesses to date. Managers must compare the massive investments of resources and time to be committed to an ERP implementation against the significant benefits that may be derived from ERP systems in an environment in which traditional capital budgeting decision-making models may not be appropriate. The license/maintenance revenue of ERP market was $17.2 billion dollars in 1998, it is expected to be $24.3 billion dollars in 2000, and ERP systems have been implemented in over 60% of multi-national firms. This market also cuts across industries for example, two of the worlds best-known software companies, IBM and Microsoft, now run most of their business on software neither of them makes, the SAP R/3 ERP package made by SAP AG (OLeary, 2000).The appeal of the ERP systems is clear. While most organizations typically had software systems that performed much of the component functions of ERP, the standardized and integrated ERP software environment provides a degree of interoperable that was difficult and expensive to achieve with stand alone, custom-built systems. For example, when a salesperson enters an order in the field, the transaction can immediately flow through to other functional areas both within and external to the firm. The order might trigger an immediate change in production plans, inventory stock levels or employees schedules, or lead to t he automated generation of invoices and credit evaluations for the customer and purchase orders from suppliers. In addition to process automation, the ability of ERP systems to disseminate timely and accurate information also enables improved managerial and worker decision-making. Managers can make decisions based on current data, while individual workers can have greater access to information, enabling increasing delegation of authority for production decisions as well as improved communications to customers (OLeary, 2000).1.4 Model layer of ERPA Global Business Process Model is created which represents the whole ERP software product. This model is layered in 3 deeper levels.The first level is the System Configuration Level, which scopes on high-level option on the entire system. Option definition is therefore static once a high-level option of the ERP system is chosen to be used within the organization, the choice cannot be made changed.One level deeper is the Object Level, which scopes on single data objects. The option on this level is more dynamic.The lowest level is the Occurrence level, which analyses single process occurrences. Because this level elaborates on object parameters, the option is very dynamic, meaning that options can easily be altered (Garg and venkitakrishnan, 2006).1.5 Case studyWe systematically study the productivity and business performance effects of ERP using a unique dataset on firms that have purchased licenses for the SAP R/3 system, the most widely adopted ERP package. In the last 30 years, SAP has become the global leader in business software, serving more than 38,000 customers worldwide, including organizations of every size and type. Along the way, SAP has accumulated a unique knowledge base of best practices in more than 25 industries. The SAP tradition of leadership continues with a new generation of ERP software that gives the company unprecedented speed and flexibility to improve your bottom line by improving your enterp rise resource planning (Web-1). Our goal is to better understand the economics of ERP implementations specifically, and more broadly, contribute to the understanding of the benefits of large-scale Industries in India.The author has tried to find out the success of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) implementation and the return on investment depends, among other factors, on the active project management team. This success and return on investment is very important to the organization since implementation cost is very high and the resulting Information Technology platform needs to supply significantly to the organizations business strategy and survival. Since competitors are likely to be implementing ERP solutions at the same time, there is the added advantage to gain a benefit, a boundary. How is this achieved?According to the research the organizations that have successfully implemented the ERP systems are gathering the benefits of having integrating working environment, standardiz ed process and operational benefits. There have been many disgusting stories of improper ERP implementation because of which many companies have become bankrupt and in many cases organizations have decided to discard the ERP implementation projects. Not all ERP implementations have been successful. Majority of these studies have used case studies to conclude their findings and very few have used the experiential study of the ERP implementation process and its success.The difficulties and high failure rate in implementing ERP systems have been widely cited in the literature (Davenport, 1998), but research on critical success factors in ERP implementation is rare and sectioned. Till now, only a few organizations have done a little to imagine the important predictors for initial and ongoing ERP implementation success (Brown and Vessey, 1999). This research is an effort to achieve that. It identifies the critical success factors in ERP implementation, categorizes them into the respectiv e phases in the ERP life cycle model and discusses the importance of these factors in ERP implementation (Markus and Tanis, 2000).1.6 Aims and objectivesThis research is an attempt to broaden the ERP implementation research by defining the theoretical areas built and operational measures specific to ERP implementation and success measure to advance ERP research.1.6.1 AimThe main aim of this research is to study and analyze the impact of implementing ERP solutions on large industries in India.1.6.2 ObjectiveThe objective of this dissertation is toStudy about the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and their business aspects.Analysing the implementation process of ERP systems and their Life cycle.Analysing the success and failure factors of the implementation of ERP systems.Analysing the pre and post implementation strategies involved in an ERP project.Understanding the effect of implementing ERP solutions on Indian large industries.Understanding the success factors of the ERP implementation by doing the case study on SAP (Systems, Applications and Products).This dissertation explains the importance of ERP implementation within an organization, primarily within the large industries and explains the issues related with the usability and the users opinion on an implemented ERP system. The research project discussed in this dissertation is derived from an implemented ERP system on large industries in Bangalore. The author has chosen SAP as his case study as the SAP provides the worlds best integrated solutions for the organizations. The system examined in this dissertation is the SAP implementation and the selected users for this system are the large industries in Bangalore like Bharath Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Karnataka State Road Transport Commission (KSRTC), Repcol, etc.1.7 Layout of the dissertationChapter 2 Literature Review This chapter explores the literature that is relevant to the research questions on Enterprise Resource Planning systems and their implementation, Life cycle, Success factors, failure factors, the business aspects of ERP and as well as ERP solutions provided by SAP and its significance. This chapter mainly focuses on eleven critical success factors of ERP systems. This chapter will form the bases for the argument presented in proceeding chapters.Chapter 3 Research Approach This chapter discusses the overall review of the research approach and methods that will guide this research. This chapter also discusses about the techniques for data analysis including triangulation.Chapter 4 Research Site In this chapter, the site of the study and how the research was carried out (data collection) is discussed in detail. This chapter also provides the analysis of the data which was collected and an overall conclusion of the analyzed data. The particular component of the ERP system is studied and the problems being encountered.Chapter 5 Conclusion and recommendations This chapter outlines the conclusion of the research with the recommendations and the suggestions for future research.Literature reviewAccording to Garg and venkitakrishnan (2006), business environment has changed more in the last five years than it was before. Enterprises are continuously trying to improve themselves in the areas quality, time to market, costumer satisfaction, performance and profitability. The Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software fulfils all these needs.2.1 Definition of ERPEnterprise resource planning has been in defined in many ways as cited by Brown (2006) they are as followsSets of business software which allows an organization for complete management of operations.(Al-Mashari, et al., 2003)A software infrastructure fixed with best practices, respectively best ways to do business based on common business practices or academic theory. (Bernroider Koch, 2001)An organization-wide Information System that tightly combines all aspects of a business. It promises one database, one application, and a uni fied interface across the entire enterprise. (Bingi, Sharma, Godla, 1999)Highly integrated enterprise-wide software package that computerize core business processes such as finance, human resources, manufacturing, and supply and distribution. (Holland Light, 1999)A packaged business software system that enables a company to manage the efficient and effective use of resources by providing a total, integrated solution for the organizations information-processing needs. (Nah, Lau, Kuang, 2001)Business software that combines information across the organization. This integration removes inconsistencies and enables the organization to attain consolidated reports. (Shakir, 2000 cited by Brown, 2006)A combination of business management practice and technology, where Information Technology integrates and automates many of the business practices associated with the core business processes, operations, or production aspects of a company to achieve specific business objectives. (Web-8www.sap .com)2.2 Features of ERP systemsAccording to Garg and venkitakrishnan (2006) ERP system needs have the following featuresModular design comprising many distinct business modules such as distribution, accounting, manufacturing, financial, etc.Use centralized common database management system (DBMS)The modules are integrated and provide seamless data flow among the modules, increasing operational transparency through standard interface.They are generally complex systems involving high cost.They are flexible and offer best business practices.They are time-consuming and configuration setups for integrating with the companys business information.The modules work in real time with online and batch processing capabilities.They will soon be internet enabled (Garg and venkitakrishnan, 2006).2.3 ModulesDifferent ERP vendors provide ERP systems with some degree of speciality but the core modules are almost the same for all of them. Some of the core ERP modules are Human resource management, Tr ansportation management, Manufacturing management, Accounting management, financial management, Production management, Sales and distribution management, Costumer relation management, Supply chain management and E-Business. The modules of an ERP system can either work as stand alone units or several modules can be combined together to form an integrated system. The systems are usually designed to operate under several operating platforms. SAP AG, the largest ERP vendor provides a number of modules with its famous R/3 ERP system. New modules are introduced by SAP and other vendors in response to the market and technological demand such as the internet technology (Garg and venkitakrishnan, 2006).Koch et al. (1999) also discusses three common approaches to ERP systems implementation in organisations. As the number of modules being implemented increases, there is a shift from a big-bang to a phased approach.Big bang This approach enables organizations to cast off all their legacy syste ms at once and implement a single ERP system across the entire organization. This is the most ambitious and difficult of approaches to ERP implementation (Koch et al., 1999).Franchise Strategy This strategy, also referred to in literature as phased implementation, suits large or diverse companies that dont share many common processes across business units. Independent ERP systems are installed in each unit, while linking common processes (Koch et al., 1999). This is the most common way of implementing ERP and it allows the systems to link together only to share the information necessary for the corporation to get a performance big picture across all the business units. Usually these implementations begin with a demonstration or pilot installation in a particularly open-minded and patient business unit where the core business of the corporation will not be disrupted if something goes wrong (Koch et al. 1999 cited by Jenine, 2001).Slam-dunk With this approach, ERP dictates the proce ss design and the focus is on just a few key business processes. This implementation strategy is most appropriate for smaller organizations (Koch et al., 1999).ERP systems are usually highly complex, expensive, and difficult to implement. Besides the traditional MRP functionality, ERP systems include applications for many other functional areas such as Customer Relationship Management, Sales and Marketing processes, Human Resources, Accounting and Finance, Supply Chain Management, and Operational and Logistical Management. Many ERP vendors are offering some or all of these functions as options within their offering. Organizations can usually pick and choose between modules, implementing only those which are applicable to their situation (Al-Mashari et al., 2000 cited by Brown, 2006).2.4 Functions of ERPThis software tries to combine all departments and functions across a company onto a single computer system that can serve each different departments particular needs (Koch et al. 199 9). ERP systems are nothing more than generic representations of the way a typical company which does business (Koch et al. 1999 cited by Jenine, 2001).ERP is software, which collects data from various key business processes and stores in a single comprehensive data repository where they can be used by other parts of the business. Many organizations are now using ERP systems to solve their problems. ERP improves organizational co-ordination, efficiency and decision-making. It is a kind of software, which helps managers to find out the most and the least profitable jobs. This in turn, helps managers to eliminate the most unprofitable jobs (Zygmont, 1998). Pp 89-91.ERPs allow computerising the tasks involved in performing a business process so it is important that implementers start with a clear expression of the business problems being addressed (Slater 1999 cited by Jenine, 2001).The most common reason that companies walk away from multimillion dollar ERP projects is that they disco ver that the software does not support one of their important business processes (Koch et al. 1999).Not only do the business functions need to be identified, the more delicate issues such as the companys corporate culture and management style must be examined to enable a holistic view of the implementation (Slater 1999).ERP systems stress the importance of accountability, responsibility and communication within an organisation. They focus on optimizing the way things are done internally rather than with customers, suppliers or partners (Koch et al. 1999 cited by Jenine, 2001).It is said that ERP is the best expression of the inseparability of business and information technology (Gupta, 2000). ERP systems highlight one specific theme integration of all organisational processes and this has attracted many organizations to adopt ERPs in recent year (Sia, et.al. 2002 cited by Thavapragasam, 2003).According to Gupta (2000) ERP allows companies to integrate departmental information and fo r many users, an ERP is a does it all system that performs everything from entry of sales orders to customer service. Moreover, an ERP-system enables companies to integrate data used throughout the whole organization and holds operation and logistic, procurement, sales and marketing, human resource and financial modules (Wassenaar, et al., 2002 cited by Thavapragasam, 2003).ERPs are often known as off the shelf IT solutions that will enable organizations to achieve faster cycle fastens, reduces cost, and improved customer service (Sia, et al., 2002 cited by Thavapragasam, 2003).Wassenaar, et al. (2002) continues to suggest that ERP-system implementation implies a much stronger organizational change that normal information system development. Problems associated with software implementations are neither new nor specific to enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.2.5 Impact of implementationThere is a small but growing literature on the impact of ERP systems the majority of these s tudies are interviews, cases studies or a collection of case studies and industry surveys (Davenport, 1998).McAfee (1999) studied the impact of ERP systems on self-reported company performance based on a survey of Indian implementers of SAP R/3 packages. Participating companies reported substantial performance improvement in several areas as a result of their ERP implementation, including their ability to provide information to customers, cycle times, and on-time completion rates.2.5.1 BenefitsERPs are designed to help manage organizational resources in an integrated manner. The primary benefits that are expected to result from their implementation are closely related to the level of integration that is promoted across functions in an enterprise. The professional literature has been proactive in determining the types of benefits that companies might anticipate from their ERP systems and to what extent organizations had actually attained those benefits on a post-implementation basis. Expectations for improved business performance after adoption may result from both operational and strategic benefits (Irving 1999 Jenson and Johnson 1999 cited by Nicolaou, 2004).In the Benchmarking Partners study (1998), respondent companies anticipated both tangible and intangible benefits. The most significant intangible benefits related to internal integration, improved information and processes, and improved customer service, while tangible benefits related to cost efficiencies in inventory, personnel, procurement and the time needed to close books, as well as improvements in productivity, cash/order management, and overall profitability. In assessing the extent to which they had actually attained those benefits, however, on a post-implementation basis, it was evident that they were not able to improve profitability or lower personnel, inventories, or system maintenance costs as much as they had hoped. On the other hand, respondents noted better-than-expected results in overa ll productivity and in order-management cycle time, as well as procurement, on-time delivery, and the ability to close financial cycles (cited by Nicolaou, 2004).Likewise, in the Conference Board study (Peterson et al. 2001 cited by Nicolaou, 2004), responding companies reported anticipating similar types of tangible and intangible benefits, although it was evident that the realization of those benefits required more time than expected.Where as Gattiker and Goodhue (2000) group the literature of ERP benefits into four categoriesImprove information flow across sub-units, standardization and integration facilitates communication and better coordinationEnabling centralization of administrative activities such as account payable and payrollReduce IS maintenance costs and increase the ability to deploy new IS functionalityERP may be instrumental in moving a firm away from inefficient business processes and toward accepted best of practice processes.The above studies on the impact of ERP systems suggest that there are potentially substantial benefits for firms that successfully implemented ERP systems (Ragowsky and Somers, 2000). We note here the significance of ERP impact has started to attract more attention from the organizations (Sarkis and Gunasekaran, 2001 cited by Hitt et. al, 2001).2.5.2 LimitationsLimitations of ERP systems have also been widely documented as identified below.ERPs can have a negative impact on the work practices and culture of an organization (Gefen, 2000)There is a need for extensive technical support prior to its actual use (Gefen, 2000).The need for competent consulting staff to extensively customize the ERP to increase the acceptance of a new system (Gefen 2000).Lack of feature-function fit between the companys needs and the packages available (Markus and Tanis 2000).It takes an average of 8 months after the new system is installed to see any benefits (Koch et al. 1999).The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of ERP, as identified by the Meta Group, includes hardware, software, professional services and internal staff costs. TCO is averaged at $15 million per system (Koch et al., 1999).2.6 ERP lifecycleThe ERP life cycle is comprised of four phases namely analysis, installation, final preparation and go live (Robey, Ross and Boudreau, 2000). An integrative, theoretical framework was introduced which we call integrated ERP implementation, which is comprised of a set of theoretically important constructs. This framework has been developed based on the project life cycle approach, in which the ERP implementation project goes through different stages before it goes live.There are number of factors that affect the ERP implementation process are termed in this study as implementation critical success factors. Upon the completion of ERP implementation project, performance is measured by a mix of outcomes (Robey, Ross and Boudreau, 2000).Since the models are unpredictable, they cannot be measured directly, multi-item scales, ea ch composed of a set of individual items, were needed to obtain indirect measures of each construct (Robey, Ross and Boudreau, 2000).Implementation planning- It is the first phase of ERP implementation in which initial implementation plan is prepared, team members are selected (which could be new or roll over from the acquisition team), project scope and initial objectives are defined. In this phase as well the implementation strategies and outcomes are identified as well.Installation- It is the second phase of Implementation process, activities such as hardware and network is installed according to the requirements of ERP system, configuration of ERP is conducted, system customization is performed and change management plan is executed.Final Preparation- In this phase data from legacy system is imported to the new system, data is converted and system testing is performed. Moreover, the users are trained on the system.Go Live- Going Live is the point in time in the ERP implementatio n, when the system is first used for actual production. In this phase, ERP system goes lives, progress is monitored and user feedback is reviewed (Robey, Ross and Boudreau, 2000).2.7 Critical Factors of ERP implementation successThis section discusses the 11 factors that are critical to ERP implementation success (cited by Kuang, 2001).ERP teamwork and compositionERP teamwork and composition is important throughout the ERP life cycle. The ERP team should consist of the best people in the organization (Bingi et al., 1999 Rosario, 2000 Wee, 2000).Building a cross-functional team is also critical. The team should have a mix of consultants and internal staff so the internal staff can develop