Organizational Change and Development

In the past, people have been treated the organization as a closed system, that is to say, organizational behavior and performance are the results from unilateral decision by managers, ignoring the existence of the environment. However, as an open system, the organization and its external environment are interaction and mutual penetration. Environment should be seen as the organizational material, energy, the ultimate resource of information and the key to organization renewal. This paper will discuss the contribution of environmental determinist theories by interpreting Institutional Theory, Population Ecology, Resource Dependence Theory and Business Ecosystem Theory. 2. Institutional theory Starting from the sociological system theory, institutional theory focuses on the isomorphism and similar between organizations, and put it down to the requirements of the institutional environment outside the organization. (Tidd, 2001) In institutional theory, the organization faces with two different environments: technical environment and institutional environment. Technological environment requires the organization must be efficient and organized by the principle of maximum production, while the institutional environment requires organizations must be legitimacy. Meyer and Rowen pointed out that many organizations even had to have the internal operations separated from organizational structure in order to reduce the negative impact from the institutional environment requests on the efficient operation. DiMaggio and Powell further put forward three mechanisms lead to convergence of the organizational type and organizational behavior. Camarinha-Matos, & Afsarmanesh, 2007)The first one is forcing mechanisms, such as government regulations and cultural expectations. The second one is imitation mechanism. When faces with uncertainty problem, organizations tend to adopt the solution used by other organizations in the same organizational field. The last one is regulatory mechanisms, which comes from development and complication of professional networ ks in professional training, and organizational field. Sequential studies take a large number of empirical analyses on the mechanism above. Take Galaskiewicz and Wasserman for example, they confirmed the importance of networking to the mechanism of imitation. They noted that, although the successful organization may be easy to become the object of imitation, the organization managers tend to imitate the organization they trust, such as those that have the interpersonal association with their own organization.

Ilm M4.01 Essay

Managers have subordinates – people who operate at levels below the managers’. 10 In summary10 Leadership and Adaptability10 4. Communication and interpersonal relationships11 4. 1 Explanation11 4. 2 Barriers11 5. Development opportunities12 5. 1 Personal style14 5. 2 Personal development16 M4. 01: Understanding the management role (Work based assignment) 1. Introduction 1. 1 My Role – Principle Desktop Engineer †¢ Medway Council. The council employs around 7,000 people in a wide variety of general and specialist roles. Staff are based in the two main offices: Gun Wharf Chatham Maritime and Civic Centre in Strood. As well as in schools, social services centres and leisure, countryside, heritage and arts centres. †¢ My role within the organisation is Principle Desktop Engineer. I currently have a team of 8 engineers and an apprentice. †¢ The main purpose of the job is to manage the desktop engineer team, providing an effective and efficient desktop service to Medway Council. A full Job description (JDQ) is listed at appendix 1. 2. Medway Council[1] Medway Council is a unitary council responsible for providing services, including education and social services, in Rochester, Strood, Chatham, Gillingham, Rainham, the nearby rural areas and the Hoo Peninsula. The council also ensures that people comply with regulations, supports business and tourism in Medway and works to include everyone and regenerate the area. Services People who need services can find information on our website or at the council’s main offices, the town centre contact points as well as in local papers and radio and in the free magazine for residents, Medway Matters. You can also pay online for many services, including council tax, rent and parking fines and also complain if services are not up to your expectations. Decisions Decisions about our services are made after asking people for their views about, for example, what core values should underpin decisions and much more. Councillors make decisions about everything from refuse collection to regeneration of the area. It is their job to ensure that services are provided cost effectively, where they are needed and without discrimination. Council meetings are publicised in advance and members of the public are welcome to attend. Partnership Working in partnership with others to tackle problems effectively and campaign is co-ordinated through the Local Strategic Partnership and set out in the community plan. Other examples of partnership working are the Children and Young People’s Partnership and Community Safety Partnership (CSP). Employer As an employer of around 7,000 people, Medway Council offers full and part-time career opportunities. 2. 1 The council’s vision †¢ The Council’s vision for Medway is that Medway will be thriving, confident and healthy, a place where people are proud to live, work and learn. There will be opportunities for everyone to achieve and succeed, and to get the most out of life. We will celebrate the diversity of our communities, tackling disadvantage in all its forms. The local economy will grow an increasing number and range of jobs created by the expansion of existing businesses and the attraction of new ones. With a University for Medway offering opportunities for all local people, we will have a highly educated and skilled workforce, able to meet the needs of employers. Economic prosperity and progress will not however, be achieved at the expense of the environment. People living in Medway will enjoy a high quality of life, with decent, affordable housing. There will be a responsive transport system, helping to reduce traffic congestion. We will improve the environment and maintain it for future generations. †¢ This can only be achieved through the participation of all – the community, the Council, businesses and others sharing ambition and responsibility. We will listen to local people and jointly take pride in improving the place where we live. Networks of voluntary groups working with local people will be encouraged. Medway Council will provide high quality services, always working to improve value for money. Over and above this the Council will consult and involve local people so that decisions are taken on spending limited resources together. The Council will co-coordinate partnerships across boundaries to achieve common objectives. Medway Council will seek to set an example as a good and fair employer. †¢ Medway matters â €“ there is no limit to what we can achieve. Working together we will shape the future of Medway and create an environment of flourishing communities with people who fulfil their potential. . 2 Organisational structure The council is made up of two directorates: †¢ Children and Adults †¢ Regeneration, Community and Culture An additional partnership with NHS Medway includes: †¢ The Public Health Directorate An organisational chart can be found at appendix 2 with a management role table at appendix 3. 2. 2. 1 Functional areas and managerial roles in relation to its purpose Under the Medway Council Personal Development Review (PDR) there are several personal qualities and attributes (PQAs) which middle managers are assessed against: Commitment to diversity and integrity – promoting and managing diversity and demonstrating a fair and ethical approach in all situations †¢ Openness to change – proactively supporting change, seeking opportunities to pr omote improved organizational effectiveness †¢ Confidence and resilience – consistently projecting and promoting a confident, controlled and focused attitude in highly challenging situations †¢ Working with others – leading, involving and motivating others both within Medway and in the community †¢ Effective communication – communicating effectively oth orally and in writing †¢ Commitment to development – committed and able to develop self, individuals and teams to improve organisational effectiveness †¢ Problem solving – understanding and applying relevant information to make appropriate decisions which reflect key priorities and requirements †¢ Situational awareness – maintaining an active awareness of the environment to promote safe and effective working †¢ Commitment to excellence – leading groups to achieve excellence by the establishment, maintaining and managing performance requirements †¢ Planning and implementing – creating and implementing effective plans to deliver a range of organizational objectives †¢ Political/organizational awareness – recognizing the potential political impact and implications of actions from a strategic perspective These are primarily for operational staff but there is an expectation that all middle managers fulfil these roles. 2. 3 Stakeholders and their objectives A stakeholder is any individual or organisation that is affected by the activities of a business. They may have a direct or indirect interest in the business, and may be in contact with the business on a daily basis, or may just occasionally. Our main stake holders are: †¢ Members – they are elected, accountable and drive values and activities. †¢ Staff – they will be interested in job security and pay. †¢ Agencies – Shools, NHS, Housing, Police, Highways, Waste and Building Control. †¢ Other authorities – SE7, a partnership of seven councils that have committed to working together to improve quality of services and to achieve savings. Stakeholders have an interest in the company but do not own it. I would suggest that most people would say the public would be the main stakeholder as the end-user. However there is a stakeholder matrix which is used to assess how much power and influence they have to an organisation. Using this then influences how much attention/priority the organisation should allocate to each. [pic] 3. The role of management in achieving goals To achieve its goals and ensure that the stakeholder’s interests are continually analysed and met, the council employs middle managers. The council goals can only be achieved if everyone works as a team and supports the council vision and values. Middle managers are an important component of this team. Middle managers have a responsibility within the organisation to implement at an operational level, the policy and programs set out by the senior managers and directors. They have a strong impact on the outcome of customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and the efficiency and development of the organisation. Middle managers within the company also act as role models who interpret and represent the company; they communicate and track the different goals and policies ensuring information flows up as well as down. 3. 1 Responsibilities of middle managers Middle managers relay strategic objections from senior managers to their subordinates. They set local targets, review and evaluate, and report back to senior managers. Communication is therefore crucial in the organisation to ensure everyone fully understands their roles and responsibilities. Middle managers play an important role in promulgating information to their staff from senior managers in an appropriate manner and understandable language to ensure duties are carried out efficiently and effectively, as we have a duty as â€Å"public servants† to provide value for money. In essence they make it â€Å"real†. Various systems are in place to enable middle managers to provide evaluation on targets to senior managers, and provide data for Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs). Adair’s Action Centred Leadership model can be used to show how middle managers can show achievement towards the organisation’s goals: By Achieving the Task By Developing the Team By Developing Individuals Importantly as well, Adair set out these core functions of leadership and says they are vital to the Action Centred Leadership model: Planning – seeking information, defining tasks, setting aims †¢ Initiating – briefing, task allocation, setting standards †¢ Controlling – maintaining standards, ensuring progress, on-going decision-making †¢ Supporting – individuals’ contributions, encouraging, team spirit, reconciling, morale †¢ Informing – clarifying tasks and plans, updating, receiving feedback and interpreting †¢ Evaluating – feasibility of ideas, performance, enabling self assessment Following training, Medway Council middle managers are involved in recruiting staff, conduct appraisals and performance management and absence management, in accordance with service procedures. Middle managers are specialists within their department or team. . 3. 2 Leadership/Management styles How you talk to your staff, how you motivate, how you delegate, how you solve problems and how you make decisions will depend on you view your role as a manager or as a leader. The table at appendix 4 lists the different styles. 3. 3 To lead or to manage You need both. The old proverb says that leadership is doing the right thing; management is doing things right. The difference between the two is not as sharp as the saying would suggest, and both are required for effective corporate growth: leadership risk creates opportunities while management strictness turns them into tangible results. â€Å"If your organization is not on a journey don’t bother about leadership – just settle for management† advises John Adair. â€Å"There is a direct correlation between the way people view their managers and the way they perform† [2] Leadership vs. Management What is the difference between management and leadership? The biggest difference between managers and leaders is the way they motivate the people who work or follow them, and this sets the tone for most other aspects of what they do. Many people are both. They have management jobs, but they realize that you cannot buy hearts, especially to follow them down a difficult path, and so act as leaders too. Managers have subordinates – people who operate at levels below the managers’. Leaders have followers, leaders do not have subordinates – at least not when they are leading. Many organizational leaders do have subordinates, but only because they are also managers. But when they want to lead, they have to give up formal authoritarian control, because to lead is to have followers, and following is always a voluntary activity. In summary The table at appendix 5 summarizes the differences between being a leader and being a manager. This is, of course, an illustrative characterisation, and there is a whole spectrum between either end of these scales along which each person can range. Leadership and Adaptability We know that what will inspire or motivate one staff member, will not inspire or motivate another; managers therefore need to be adaptable in their responses to staff. 4. Communication and interpersonal relationships 4. 1 Explanation[3] Interpersonal communication is a crucial part of your everyday life, yet you probably rarely think about the way in which you interact with other individuals. DeVito defines interpersonal communications as â€Å"communication that takes place between two persons who have an established relationship; the people are in some way ‘connected’ Thus, as interpersonal communication can occur between romantic partners, business associates, doctors and patients, etc. , it permeates our lives. Often, you devote your interpersonal interactions to attempts at influencing the other individual in some way. 4. 2 Barriers One thing I’ve seen as an inhibitor is people like to communicate in different ways. So as a manager, we need to really seek to understand for each person, what they prefer. Some may like short 1-1 sessions that focus on quick communication of facts. Some may like longer communication sessions and be comfortable talking about personal life. Some may want weekly 1-1s, some bi-weekly. Trying to tailor the communication style in personal interactions is important. Another inhibitor I’ve seen is globally dispersed teams where communication can often take the form of instant message conversations and emails. I find that at least on occasion, suggesting a quick 5 minute call to cover something can really be of value – allows a more personal level of communication and can also allow for â€Å"off topic† communication which can help people connect. Management is based on communication but being able to transfer that into drivers, performance, motivation and sustainability needs leadership and empowerment skills. It is the basis of trust building. You can give someone a reprimand or praise and even both over a coffee and with genuine commitment you have a strong bond to build on. It converts into motivation when focused right. It’s not just about communicating – it’s about several crucial interplays of trust, motivation, inspiration, support and leadership. The main barriers we come across are solved on a trust related basis. Even a simple barrier like arriving late for work is a mountain without trust. Bottom line is each team player is different – respect will give you the ability to enter and discuss. Trust will aid the action plan†¦ then follow up and reward progress mechanisms facilitate team building and mentoring. 5. Development opportunities Every council employee has a PDR covering: †¢ Performance over the last 6/12 months, achieved objectives/targets, areas of good performance. †¢ Areas of performance to be developed further or any other problems or constraints. †¢ Agreed priority objectives/targets for next 12 months (including any Corporate Plan objectives/targets). †¢ Review of development and training over last 12 months. †¢ Agreed future development. †¢ section/department/authority. †¢ Manager’s comments. †¢ Employee’s comments All managers will manage differently as no two people are the same. However if a manager is able to critically appraise their own performance they will be able to identify areas to be developed, or at least to be aware of. The Johari Window (Loft and Hingham) is a widely used model for understanding and training self-awareness, personal development, improving communications, interpersonal relationships, group dynamics, team development and inter-group relationships. [4] [pic] 1. The public area contains things that are openly known and talked about and which may be seen as strengths or weaknesses. This is the self that we choose to share with others 2. The hidden area contains things that others observe that we don’t know about. Again, they could be positive or negative behaviours, and will affect the way that others act towards us. 3. The unknown area contains things that nobody knows about us – including ourselves. This may be because we’ve never exposed those areas of our personality, or because they’re buried deep in the subconscious. 4. The private area contains aspects of our self that we know about and keep hidden from others. 5. 1 Personal style The main two styles used by myself now are Negotiating and Facilitating I carried out a self-assessment and had three of staff carry out the assessment for comparison. All four assessments are fairly well balanced showing my main two styles are: Negotiating and Facilitating. Appendix 6 is my self-assessment. Appendix 7 is an assessment by one of my senior engineers. This shows a lower result for Directing and a higher result for Laissez-faire when compared to the other two staff assessments. This person is experienced, knowledgeable and trustworthy and has pride in his work. Appendix 8 is an assessment by one of my junior engineers. This shows an increase in Directing and a small decrease in Laissez-faire. This person is competent but still requires a little coaching at times. Appendix 9 is an assessment by a fairly new member of staff. This shows a significant increase in Directing and a small decrease in Laissez-faire. This person being fairly new to the team still requires Directing while he gets used to the policies and working practices of the organisation. From the assessment results, it is clear that my main two leadership styles are Negotiating and Facilitating, this fits in well with the organisation and is both encouraged and supported by the business. I believe I use the following styles: †¢ Style 1 – the directing or telling leader. This style I use on new members of staff and for projects that are high priority and need to be completed by the book. †¢ Style – 2 the coaching or selling leader. I use this style when dealing with the every day workloads, I have two senior engineers who manage the internal and external work queues seperately. I leave them to orghanise there own schedule but monitor both queues and expect feed back from them. †¢ Style 3 – the supporting or participating leader. I use this style during when I have smaller projects that I can delegate to my engineers knowing that they are fully capable of achieving the goals laid down. †¢ Style 4 – the delegating leader. I use this when I delegate more complex projects to my senior engineers knowing that they are fully capable of achieving the goals set out and will seek my advice/approval if any changes are required during the project. 5. 2 Personal development My areas for self improvement would be: 1. Communication, change leadership is enhanced when leaders communicate a little at a time, as often as possible, in as many different ways as possible, and providing as many different perspectives as possible. Once team members have built their own personal model of the future and have checked it out against the reality of what is happening on the ground, so that they can once again begin to make their own decisions, the communication process will have served its purpose. This could be achieved by allowing time for more team meetings to pass on any changes that may be in the pipeline, get an update on how the team feel in general. What has worked – can we improve on current working practices to give an improved and more efficient service to the organisation. What hasn’t worked and why, analyse where the task went wrong and see if it can be avoided in the future, lessons learnt. Finally to give praise/rewards where/if appropriate. 2. Self awareness, more patience with both team members and customers, being an autocratic leader for 20 years leaves its mark. My own personal development plan can be found at appendix 10 Possible organisational improvements: 1. Review working practices on a regular basis and try to improve on them making work more productive, efficient leading to a more effective service to the organisation [pic][pic] ———————– [1] Medway Council website [2] Adair, 1997 [3] DeVito, J. A. (2004). The interpersonal communication book, 10th ed. Boston: Pearson-Allyn & Bacon. [4] Google Images

Abap Data Dictionary

The ABAP Dictionary centrally describes and manages all the data definitions used in the system. The ABAP Dictionary is completely integrated in the ABAP Development Workbench. All the other components of the Workbench can actively access the definitions stored in the ABAP Dictionary. The ABAP Dictionary supports the definition of user-defined types (data elements, structures and table types). You can also define the structure of database objects (tables, indexes and views) in the ABAP Dictionary. These objects can then be automatically created in the database with this definition.The ABAP Dictionary also provides tools for editing screen fields, for example for assigning a field an input help (F4 help). Type definitions Structure Database objects Table DB table Data element Table type Tools Poss. values Screen F4 The most important object types in the ABAP Dictionary are tables, views, types (data elements, structures, table types), domains, search helps and lock objects. April 2001 9 BC – ABAP Dictionary ABAP Dictionary SAP AG ABAP Dictionary Purpose Data definitions (metadata) are created and managed in the ABAP Dictionary.The ABAP Dictionary permits a central description of all the data used in the system without redundancies. New or modified information is automatically provided for all the system components. This ensures data integrity, data consistency and data security. You can create the corresponding objects (tables or views) in the underlying relational database using these data definitions. The ABAP Dictionary therefore describes the logical structure of the objects used in application development and shows how they are mapped to the underlying relational database in tables or views.The ABAP Dictionary also provides standard functions for editing fields on the screen, for example for assigning a screen field an input help. What Information is Stored in the ABAP Dictionary? The most important object types in the ABAP Dictionary are tables, vie ws, types, domains, search helps and lock objects. Tables [Page 13] are defined in the ABAP Dictionary independently of the database. A table having the same structure is then created from this table definition in the underlying database. Views [Page 97] are logical views on more than one table. The structure of the view is defined in the ABAP Dictionary.A view on the database can then be created from this structure. Types [Page 136] are used in ABAP program. The structure of a type can be defined globally in ABAP programs. Changes to a type automatically take effect in all the programs using the type. Lock objects [Page 209] are used to synchronize access to the same data by more than one user. Function modules that can be used in application programs are generated from the definition of a lock object in the ABAP Dictionary. Different fields having the same technical type can be combined in domains [Page 161].A domain defines the value range of all table fields and structure compon ents that refer to this domain. The ABAP Dictionary also contains the information displayed with the F1 and F4 help for a field in an input template. The documentation about the field is created for a data element [Page 138] that describes the meaning of the contents of a table field. The list of possible input values that appears for the input help is created by a foreign key [Page 19] or a search help [Page 172]. Integration in the ABAP Development Workbench The ABAP Dictionary is completely integrated in the ABAP Development Workbench.The R/3 System works interpretatively, permitting the ABAP Dictionary to be actively integrated in the development environment. Instead of the original objects, the interpreters see only internal representations of these objects. These internal representations are adjusted automatically when the system finds that changes have been made in the ABAP Dictionary. This ensures that the screen and ABAP interpreters, input help, database interface, and dev elopment tools always access current data. 10 April 2001 SAP AG BC – ABAP Dictionary ABAP DictionaryThe following ABAP program lists the airline carriers (see Flight model [Page 302]) and carrier IDs contained in table SCARR. DATA: SCARR_TAB TYPE SCARR. SELECT * INTO SCARR_TAB FROM SCARR. WRITE: / SCARR_TAB-CARRID, SCARR_TAB-CARRNAME. ENDSELECT. Only structure SCARR_TAB is declared in the program. All the information about this structure, such as the field names, data types and field lengths, are copied from table SCARR, which is defined in the ABAP Dictionary. This information about table SCARR is called from the ABAP Dictionary when the program is generated.This means that the source text of the program need not be adjusted when a change is made to table SCARR, for example when the length of a table field is changed. The next time the program is called, the system automatically determines that the structure of table SCARR has changed. The program is simply regenerated, ther eby retrieving up-to-date information about table SCARR from the ABAP Dictionary. ?Development environment ? Development environment ABAP Tools Data Modeler Screen Painter ABAP Dictionary ABAP Interpreter Dialog Control Interfaces Screen InterpreterRuntime environment of the application Runtime environment of the application When you work on development projects, objects of the ABAP Dictionary can be changed any number of times before being activated [Page 237] and made available to the operative components of the system. Objects can have both an active and an inactive version in the ABAP Dictionary at the same time. Inactive ABAP Dictionary objects have no effect on the runtime system (ABAP processor, database interface). This permits greater changes to several objects without impairing the April 2001 11 BC – ABAP Dictionary ABAP DictionarySAP AG executability of the system. The objects can only be activated together when they have all been changed. 12 April 2001 SAP AG BC à ¢â‚¬â€œ ABAP Dictionary Tables Tables Tables can be defined independently of the database in the ABAP Dictionary. The fields of the table are defined with their (database-independent) data types and lengths. When the table is activated, a physical table definition is created in the database for the table definition stored in the ABAP Dictionary. The table definition is translated from the ABAP Dictionary to a definition of the particular database.Database-independent Definition of the Tables in the ABAP Dictionary T1 T2 T3 †¦ Tn Activation program and DB UTILITY DB Definition of the tables in the database T1 T2 T3 Tn A table definition in the ABAP Dictionary contains the following components:  ·  ·  ·  · Table fields [Page 14] define the field names and data types of the fields contained in the table Foreign keys [Page 19] define the relationships between the table and other tables. Technical settings [Page 30] control how the table should be created in the database. In dexes [Page 61]: To speed up data selection, secondary indexes can be created for the tableThe customer can modify SAP tables with append structures [Page 69] and customizing includes [Page 68]. This kind of modification ensures that the customer enhancements are automatically merged with the new versions of the SAP tables when there is a release upgrade. See also: Creating Tables [Page 72] Making Changes to Tables [Page 83] April 2001 13 BC – ABAP Dictionary Table Fields SAP AG Table Fields You must define the following for a table field in the ABAP Dictionary:  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Field name: The field name can have a maximum of 16 places and may contain letters, digits and underscores.The field name must begin with a letter. Key flag: determines whether the field should belong to the table key. Field type: data type of the field in the ABAP Dictionary. Field length: number of valid places in the field. Decimal places: number of places after the decimal point, spec ifying numeric data types. Short text: short text describing the meaning of the field. You can also include [Page 16] the fields of a structure in the table. Assignment of the Data Type, Field Length and Short Text You can assign the data type [Page 242], length and short text in different ays:  ·  · You directly assign the field a data type, field length (and if necessary decimal places) and short text in the table definition. You can assign the field a data element [Page 138]. The data type, field length (and decimal places) are determined from the domain of the data element. The short description of the data element is assigned to the field as a short text. Other Assignment Options  ·  ·  · Check table: An input check for the field can be defined with a foreign key [Page 19]. This input check appears on all the screens in which the field is used. Search help assignment: A search help [Page 172] can be assigned to a field.This search help defines the input help flow on a ll the screens in which the field is used. Reference field and reference table [Page 15]: You must specify the table field in which the corresponding unit of measure or currency can be found for fields containing quantities (data type QUAN) or currency amounts (data type CURR). See also: Creating Tables [Page 72] 14 April 2001 SAP AG BC – ABAP Dictionary Reference Fields and Reference Tables Reference Fields and Reference Tables You must specify a reference table for fields containing quantities (data type QUAN) or currency amounts (data type CURR).This reference table must contain a field with the format for the currency key (data type CUKY) or unit of measure (data type UNIT). This field is called the reference field of the output field. The reference field can also reside in the table itself. A field is only assigned to the reference field at program runtime. For example, if a field is filled with currency amounts, the corresponding currency is determined from the assigned reference field, that is the value entered in this field at the moment defines the currency. Table Field 1 T1 Field 3 Field 2 (CURR)Reference table Field 4 Field 5 (CUKY) T2 Field 7 Field 6 Reference field Runtime T1-Field 2 1,500. 00 T2-Field 5 DEM Table SBOOK in the flight model [Page 302] contains all the flight bookings made by customers. Field FORCURAM contains the price of the booking in the customer’s currency. Field FORCURKEY of table SBOOK contains the corresponding currency key for this price. SBOOK is therefore the reference table for field FORCURAM and FORCURKEY is the reference field for field FORCURAM. April 2001 15 BC – ABAP Dictionary Reference Fields and Reference Tables SAP AGIncludes In addition to listing the individual fields, you can also include the fields of another structure in tables [Page 13] and structures [Page 144]. Individual fields and includes can be mixed as required. Structure includes Table F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F3 F4 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 Databa se When an include is changed, all the tables and structures that include it are automatically adjusted. Structure A was included in table B. A new field is inserted in structure A. When structure A is activated, table B is adjusted to this change, that is the new field is also inserted there.You can assign the include a group name [Page 148] with which the group of fields in the include can be addressed as a whole in ABAP programs. Includes can also be nested, that is structure A includes structure B which in turn includes another structure C, etc. The maximum nesting depth is limited to nine. The maximum length of a path of nested includes in a table or structure is therefore nine (the table/structure itself not included). 16 April 2001 SAP AG BC – ABAP Dictionary Reference Fields and Reference Tables Table/structure U1 Include U1 U2Include U2 U3 Maximum depth = 9 Include U8 U9 Include U9 Only flat structures [Page 144] can be included. In a flat structure, every field eith er refers to a data element or is directly assigned a data type, length and possibly decimal places. Only structures may be included in a table. Tables, structures and views may be included in a structure. The length of the field names is more restricted in tables than in structures. In a table, a field name may not have more than 16 places, but in a structure up to 30 places are allowed for the field name.A structure therefore can only be included in a table if none of the field names of the structure are longer than 16 places. The path of nested includes may only contain one table. Table TAB1 includes structure STRUCT1, which in turn includes structure STRUCT2. The path of the nested includes here only contains table TAB1. It is also possible to include TAB1 in a further structure STRUCT0, but no other table TAB2 may be included in TAB1 since in this case a path of nested includes would contain two tables (TAB1 and TAB2). See also: Inserting an Include [Page 85] April 2001 17 BC à ¢â‚¬â€œ ABAP Dictionary Named Includes SAP AGNamed Includes If an include [Page 16] is used to define a database table or structure, a name can be assigned to the included substructure. The group of fields in the include can be addressed as a whole in ABAP programs with this name. In ABAP programs, you can either access the fields directly with – or analogously with –. You can access the fields of the group as a whole with -. Structure PERSON includes structure ADDRESS with the name ADR. ADDRESS has a field CITY. With PERSON-ADR you can address all the fields in structure ADDRESS. The included field CITY can also be addressed with PERSON-CITY or PERSON-ADR-CITY.You can include a structure more than once (e. g. in a period group). Since direct access by field name should be permitted here, the included field names must be renamed to ensure that they are unique. A suffix can be assigned to each group, extending the names of the group fields. The fields can then be addres sed in ABAP programs with – or –. Structure PERSON includes structure ADDRESS twice. An address is the private address with suffix H and name ADRH. The other address is the business address with suffix W and name ADRW. You can access field CITY in the private address with PERSON-CITYH or PERSON-ADRH-CITY.The functionality of the named includes in the ABAP Dictionary corresponds to the ABAP construction INCLUDE TYPE †¦ AS †¦ RENAMING †¦ . 18 April 2001 SAP AG BC – ABAP Dictionary Foreign Keys Foreign Keys You can define the relationships between tables in the ABAP Dictionary by creating foreign keys. Using foreign keys, you can easily create value checks for input fields. Foreign keys can also be used to link several tables in a view [Page 97] or a lock object [Page 209]. Field Assignment in the Foreign Key A foreign key links two tables T1 and T2 by assigning fields of table T1 to the primary key fields of table T2.Foreign key fields Foreign key t able T1 Field 1 Field 2 Field 3 Field 4 Primary key Check table Field 5 Field 6 T2 Field 7 Primary key Table T1 is called the foreign key table (dependent table) and table T2 the check table (referenced table). The pair of fields for the two tables must have the same data type and length. One field of the foreign key table therefore corresponds to each key field of the check table. This field is called the foreign key field. A foreign key permits you to assign data records in the foreign key table and check table.One record of the foreign key table uniquely identifies one record of the check table using the entries in the foreign key fields. Check Field and Value Check One of the foreign key fields is marked as the check field. This means that the foreign key relationship is maintained for this field. April 2001 19 BC – ABAP Dictionary Foreign Keys SAP AG When an entry is made in the check field, there is a check whether the check table contains a record with the key defined by the values in the foreign key fields. If this is so, the entry is valid. Otherwise the system rejects the entry.Input template for foreign key table T1 Field1 Field2 Field3 Field4 1 3 Field5 1 1 2 3 3 3 4 4 Check table T2 Field6 1 3 1 1 2 3 1 2 Field7 Text 1 Text 2 Text 3 Text 4 Text 5 Text 6 Text 7 Text 8 Input is valid since there is a corresponding record in the check table In this example the entry Field2 = 2 and Field4 = 2 would be rejected since T2 does not contain a record with the key Field5 = 2 and Field6 = 2. If you do not want to check against all the key fields of the check table, you can exclude fields of the foreign key table from the assignment of the fields to the check table with generic and constant foreign keys [Page 22].How the Input Check Works A SELECT statement is generated from the definition of the foreign key. If an entry is made in the check field, this SELECT statement is submitted. If a suitable record of the check table is found, the entry is valid. Otherwise the entry is rejected. The corresponding SELECT statement has the following form for the foreign key table shown in the above graphic: SELECT * FROM T2 WHERE T2-FIELD5 = T1-FIELD2 AND T2-FIELD6 = T1-FIELD4. A screen entry for check field Field2 is therefore only valid if the check table contains a record with the entries made in the screen for Field2 and Field4 as key.Table SBOOK in the flight model [Page 302] contains the customer’s flight bookings for a carrier. The flight bookings can be made by a travel agency or directly at the carrier’s sales counter. If the booking was made at a counter, its number is stored together with the booking in field COUNTER in table SBOOK. 20 April 2001 SAP AG BC – ABAP Dictionary Foreign Keys You must make sure that only correct counter numbers can be entered. All the counters are entered in table SCOUNTER. The necessary value check can be defined by creating a foreign key for check field COUNTNUM. Foreign key fields Foreign key table SBOOKMANDT CARRID CONNID FLDATE CUSTOMID †¦ COUNTER †¦ CANCELED Check field Check table SCOUNTER MANDT CARRID COUNTNUM AIRPORT Key fields See also: Multi-Structured Foreign Keys [Page 29] Semantic Attributes of Foreign Keys [Page 24] Creating Foreign Keys [Page 75] April 2001 21 BC – ABAP Dictionary Generic and Constant Foreign Keys SAP AG Generic and Constant Foreign Keys It is not always advisable to check a foreign key against all the key fields of the check table. This is true for example for time-dependent check tables and for check tables whose version number is a component of the key.You can use generic foreign keys in these cases. Fields are excluded from the assignment to the key fields of the check table here. The check is only against the remaining key fields. You can also assign a constant value to a key field of the check table. In this case you only have to check against the specified constant. You can use this check if only records o f the check table which contain a constant value in this key field are valid. Foreign key table FTAB Field 6 Field 7 Field 8 Field 9 Generic * Constant K Check table PTAB Field 1 Field 2 Field 3 Field 4 Field 5Primary key The corresponding SELECT statement for the screen check has the following form for the foreign key definition in the graphic: SELECT * FROM PTAB WHERE PTAB-FIELD1 = FTAB-FIELD6 AND PTAB-FIELD3 = FTABFIELD8 AND PTAB-FIELD4 = ‘K’. An entry is only valid in check field Field6 if a record of check table PTAB exists containing the input value for Field6 in PTAB-Field1, the input value for Field8 in PTAB-Field3 and constant K in PTAB-Field4. 22 April 2001 SAP AG BC – ABAP Dictionary Generic and Constant Foreign KeysInput template for foreign key table FTAB Field 6 Field 7 Field 8 Field 9 3 30 1 B Check table PTAB Field 1 Field 2 Field 3 Field 4 Field 5 1 1 2 3 3 3 4 4 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 3 1 1 2 3 3 4 A B A K A A C C Text 1 Text 2 Text 3 Text 4 Text 5 T ext 6 Text 7 Text 8 Input is valid since Field 7 and Field 9 were removed from the assignment The values entered on the screen for Field7 and Field9 are meaningless when checking against the check table. An entry with Field6 = 1, Field8 = 3 and Field9 = B would not be valid in this case since there is no record with PTAB-Field1 = 1, PTAB-Field3 = 3 and PTAB-Field4 = K in the check table!April 2001 23 BC – ABAP Dictionary Semantic Attributes of Foreign Keys SAP AG Semantic Attributes of Foreign Keys A foreign key describes a relationship between two tables. You can define this relationship more precisely by specifying the cardinality [Page 25] and type of foreign key fields [Page 26]. This information is optional and is primarily for documentary purposes. In particular, the definitions of the cardinality and type of the foreign key fields are not used in the value check for the foreign key. The definition of the semantic attributes is only sed in the following cases:  · If K ey fields of a text table is selected as the type of the foreign key fields, the foreign key table is considered to be the text table [Page 27] for the check table. If a screen field is checked against a table, the key entries of the check table are normally displayed in the input help (F4 help) for this field. If there is a text table for the check table, each key entry displayed is enhanced with an explanatory text (contents of the first character-like field of the text table) in the user’s logon language.Tables can only be included in a help view [Page 115] or maintenance view [Page 117] if they are linked with a foreign key. It only makes sense to create such a help or maintenance view if for each record in the primary table of the view there is no more than one corresponding record in each secondary table of the view. The system therefore checks if the foreign key with which the tables were linked in the view have suitable cardinalities when it creates a maintenance or h elp view. See also Restrictions for Maintenance and Help Views [Page 119]. The foreign key between tables SBOOK and SCOUNTER ensures that only existing counters can be entered in field COUNTER (counter at which the flight was booked). See the example in Foreign Keys [Page 19] . A booking can be made at either a travel agency or at the carrier’s sales counter. If the booking is made at a travel agency, the field COUNTER of table SBOOK remains empty. The foreign key fields do not have to be filled, that is the left side of the cardinality is C. Any number of bookings may be made at each counter.There may therefore be any number of entries (bookings) in foreign key table SBOOK for each record of the check table SCOUNTER. The right side of the cardinality is therefore CN. Of course several bookings can be made for the same carrier at a counter. These bookings do not differ in their foreign key fields (MANDT, CARRID, COUNTER). The entries in the foreign key fields therefore do not uniquely identify an entry in the foreign key table SBOOK (a booking). The foreign key fields therefore have the type No key fields/candidates. 24 April 2001 SAP AG BC – ABAP Dictionary Cardinality CardinalityThe cardinality (n:m) describes the foreign key relationship with regard to the number of possible dependent records (records of the foreign key table) or referenced records (records of the check table). The left side (n) of the cardinality is defined as follows:  ·  · n=1: There is exactly one record assigned to the check table for each record of the foreign key table. n=C: The foreign key table may contain records which do not correspond to any record of the check table because the foreign key field is empty. This can occur for example if the field of the foreign key table is optional, in which case it does not have to be filled. =1: There is exactly one dependent record for each record of the check table. m=C: There is at most one dependent record for each record of the check table. m=N: There is at least one dependent record for each record of the check table. m=CN: There may be any number of dependent records for each record of the check table. The right side (m) of the cardinality is defined as follows:  ·  ·  ·  · April 2001 25 BC – ABAP Dictionary Type of Foreign Key Fields SAP AG Type of Foreign Key Fields The Type of foreign key fields describes what the foreign key fields in the foreign key table mean.The following types of foreign key field can be defined:  · No key fields/candidates: The foreign key fields are neither primary key fields of the foreign key table nor do they uniquely identify a record of the foreign key table (key candidates). For this reason, the foreign key fields do not (partially) identify the foreign key table. Key fields/candidates: The foreign key fields are either primary key fields of the foreign key table or they already uniquely identify a record of the foreign key table (key candidates). The foreign key fields therefore (partially) identify the foreign key table.Key fields of a text table: The foreign key table is a text table [Page 27] for the check table, that is the key of the foreign key table only differs from the key of the check table in that it has an additional language key field. This is a special case of the type Key fields/candidates.  ·  · 26 April 2001 SAP AG BC – ABAP Dictionary Text Tables Text Tables Table A is a text table of table B if the key of A comprises the key of B and an additional language key field (field of data type LANG). Table A may therefore contain explanatory text in several languages for each key entry of B.To link the key entries with the text, text table A must be linked with table B using a foreign key. Key fields of a text table must be selected here for the type of foreign key fields (see Semantic Attributes of Foreign Keys [Page 24]). Table B Key fields K1 and K2 K1 †¦ 1 1 †¦ K2 †¦ 1 2 †¦ F1 à ¢â‚¬ ¦ XX YY †¦ F2 †¦ YY XX †¦ Text table A for B Key fields K1, K2 and L (type LANG) K1 †¦ 1 1 1 1 †¦ K2 †¦ 1 1 2 2 †¦ L †¦ DE EN DE EN †¦ TEXT †¦ Text 1 (German) Text 1 (English) Text 2 (German) Text 2 (English) †¦ Text foreign keyIf table B is the check table of a field, the existing key entries of table B are displayed as possible input values when the input help (F4) is pressed. The explanatory text (contents of the first character-like non-key-field of text table A) is also displayed in the user's logon language for each key value in table B. April 2001 27 BC – ABAP Dictionary Text Tables SAP AG Hit list if user logs on in English K1 †¦ 1 1 K2 †¦ 1 2 †¦ Text †¦ Text1 (English) (English) Text2 (English) (English) †¦ Maintenance screen Field 1 Field 2 †¦ Call the input help Field is checked against table BOnly one text table can be created for table B! The system checks this when you atte mpt to activate a table with text foreign keys for B. 28 April 2001 SAP AG BC – ABAP Dictionary Multi-Structured Foreign Keys Multi-Structured Foreign Keys When you define a foreign key, a field of the work area that is not contained in the foreign key table can also be assigned to a check table (for example a field of another table). This is possible for all fields except for the check field. Table T2 is the check table of foreign key table T1. Field F of the work area is assigned to key field Field6 of check table T2.Foreign key table T1 Field 1 Field 2 Field 3 Field 4 Primary key Field F of work area Check table T2 Field 5 Field 6 Field 7 Primary key The corresponding SELECT statement for the input check is then: SELECT * FROM T2 WHERE T2-FIELD5 = T1-FIELD2 AND T2-FIELD6 = F. If an entry is made in field T1-Field2 (check field), this SELECT statement will be submitted. If a corresponding record is found, the entry is valid; otherwise it is rejected. If a field that is not contained in the foreign key table is assigned to a field of the check table, this field must be filled at the time of the input check.Otherwise the check always fails, and no values can be entered in the check field. April 2001 29 BC – ABAP Dictionary Technical Settings SAP AG Technical Settings The technical settings of a table define how the table will be handled when it is created in the database, that is whether the table will be buffered and whether changes to data records of the table will be logged. The most important parameters are:  ·  · Data class: The data class [Page 31] defines the physical area of the database (tablespace) in which the table should be created. Size category: The size category [Page 32] defines the size of the extents created for the table.When the table is created in the database, the required information about the memory area to be selected and the extent size is determined from the technical settings.  ·  · Buffering permission: The b uffering permission [Page 33] defines whether the table may be buffered. Buffering type: If the table may be buffered, you must define a buffering type (full, singlerecord, generic). The buffering type [Page 34] defines how many table records are loaded into the buffer when a table entry is accessed. Logging: This parameter defines whether changes to the table entries should be logged.If logging [Page 41] is switched on, each change to a table record is recorded in a log table.  · The Convert to transparent table flag (transparent flag [Page 42]) is also displayed for pooled tables or for tables which were converted into transparent tables earlier on with this flag. See also: Maintaining Technical Settings [Page 77] Buffering Database Tables [Page 43] 30 April 2001 SAP AG BC – ABAP Dictionary Data Class Data Class If you choose the data class correctly, your table is automatically assigned to the correct area (tablespace or DBspace) of the database when it is created.Each d ata class corresponds to a physical area in which all the tables assigned to this data class are stored. There are the following data classes:  ·  ·  · APPL0 (master data): Data which is seldomly changed. An example of master data is the data contained in an address file, such as the name, address and telephone number. APPL1 (transaction data): Data that is frequently changed. An example of transaction data is the goods in a warehouse, which change after each purchase order. APPL2 (organizational data): Customizing data that is defined when the system is installed and seldomly changed.An example is the table with country codes. Two further data classes, USR and USR1, are provided for the customer. These are for user developments. The tables assigned to these data classes are stored in a tablespace for user developments. Tables in the ABAP Dictionary Master data Table 1 Table 3 Organizational data Table 2 Transaction data Table 4 Table 7 System data Table 5 Table 6 Tablespace m aster data Table 1 Table 3 Tablespace Org. data Table 2 Tablespace Trans. data Table 4 Table 7 Tablespace System data Table 5 Table 6 Database April 2001 31 BC – ABAP Dictionary Size Category SAP AG Size CategoryThe size category defines the expected space required for the table in the database. You can choose a size category from 0 to 4 for your table. Each category is assigned a certain fixed memory size in the database, which depends on the database system used. When a table is created, initial space (an Initial Extent) is reserved in the database. If more space is required at a later time due to data entries, additional memory will be added depending on the selected size category. Technical settings Size category TABA 1 3 4 TABB TABC Initial First Second Extent Extent Extent TABA TABB TABC †¦ †¦ †¦Database Selecting the correct size category prevents a large number of very small extents from being created for a table. It also prevents space from being waste d if extents which are too large are created. 32 April 2001 SAP AG BC – ABAP Dictionary Buffering Permission Buffering Permission You must define whether and how a table is buffered in the technical settings for the table. There are three possibilities here:  · Buffering not permitted: Table buffering is not permitted, for example because application programs always need the most recent data from the table or the table is changed too frequently.Buffering permitted but not activated: Buffering is permitted from the business and technical points of view. Applications which access the table execute correctly with and without table buffering. Whether or not table buffering will result in a gain in performance depends on the table size and access profile of the table (frequency of the different types of table access). Table buffering is deactivated because it is not possible to know what these values will be in the customer system. If table buffering would be advantageous for th e table size and access profile of the table, you can activate it in the customer system at any time.Buffering activated: The table should be buffered. In this case you must specify a buffering type [Page 34].  ·  · See also: Buffering Database Tables [Page 43] Which Tables Should be Buffered? [Page 53] April 2001 33 BC – ABAP Dictionary Buffering Types SAP AG Buffering Types The buffering type defines which table records are loaded into the buffer of the application server when a table record is accessed. There are the following buffering types:  ·  · Full buffering [Page 35]: All the records of the table are loaded into the buffer when one record of the table is accessed.Generic buffering [Page 37]: When a record of the table is accessed, all the records having this record in the generic key fields (part of the table key that is left-justified, identified by specifying a number of key fields) are loaded into the buffer. Single-record buffering [Page 39]: Only the re cords of a table that are really accessed are loaded into the buffer.  · See also: Buffering Database Tables [Page 43] 34 April 2001 SAP AG BC – ABAP Dictionary Full Buffering Full Buffering With full buffering, either the entire table is in the buffer or the table is not in the buffer at all.All the records of the table are loaded into the buffer when one record of the table is read. In this example, a program reads the record highlighted in red from table SCOUNTER. If the table is fully buffered, all the records of the table are loaded into the buffer. Database table SCOUNTER MANDT CARRID COUNTNUM AIRPORT Buffer contents 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 AA BA BA BA BA LH LH LH LH LH LH LH LH UA 00000001 00000001 00000002 00000003 00000004 00000001 00000002 00000003 00000004 00000005 00000006 00000007 00000008 00000001 ACA ACE BER LCY LHR BER DEN FRA LCY LGW LHR MUC RTM HAM 01 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 AA BA BA BA BA LH LH L H LH LH LH LH LH UA 00000001 00000001 00000002 00000003 00000004 00000001 00000002 00000003 00000004 00000005 00000006 00000007 00000008 00000001 ACA ACE BER LCY LHR BER DEN FRA LCY LGW LHR MUC RTM HAM Application server SELECT * FROM SCOUNTER WHERE MANDT = ‘001’ AND CARRID = ‘LH’ AND COUNTNUM = ‘00000004'. The buffered data records are sorted in the buffer by table key. Accesses to the buffered data can therefore only analyze field contents up to the last specified key field for restricting the dataset to be searched.The left-justified part of the key should therefore be as large as possible in such accesses. For example, if you do not define the first key field, the system has to scan the full table. In this case direct access to the database can be more efficient if the database has suitable secondary indexes [Page 61]. When Should you Use Full Buffering? When deciding whether a table should be fully buffered, you should take into account the size of the table, the number of read accesses, and the number of write accesses. Tables best suited to full buffering are small, read frequently, and rarely written.Full buffering is recommended in the following cases: April 2001 35 BC – ABAP Dictionary Full Buffering  · SAP AG Tables up to 30 KB in size. If a table is accessed frequently, but all accesses are read accesses, this value can be exceeded. However, you should always pay attention to the buffer utilization. Larger tables where large numbers of records are frequently accessed. If these mass accesses can be formulated with a very selective WHERE condition using a database index [Page 61], it could be better to dispense with buffering.Tables for which accesses to non-existent records are frequently submitted. Since all the table records reside in the buffer, the system can determine directly in the buffer whether or not a record exists.  ·  · 36 April 2001 SAP AG BC – ABAP Dictionary Generic Buffering Generi c Buffering With generic buffering, all the records in the buffer whose generic key fields match this record are loaded when one record of the table is accessed. The generic key is a part of the primary key of the table that is left-justified. In this example, the record highlighted in red is read by a program from table SCOUNTER.If the table is generically buffered, all the records read whose generic key fields (MANDT and CARRID) agree are loaded into the buffer. Database table SCOUNTER MANDT CARRID COUNTNUM AIRPORT Buffer contents 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 LH LH LH LH LH LH LH LH 00000001 00000002 00000003 00000004 00000005 00000006 00000007 00000008 BER DEN FRA LCY LGW LHR MUC RTM 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 AA BA BA BA BA LH LH LH LH LH LH LH LH UA 00000001 00000001 00000002 00000003 00000004 00000001 00000002 00000003 00000004 00000005 00000006 00000007 00000008 00000001ACA ACE BER LCY LHR BER DEN FRA LCY LGW LHR MUC RTM HAM Application server Generic key SELECT * FROM SCOUNTER WHERE MANDT = ‘001’ AND CARRID = ‘LH’ AND COUNTNUM = ‘00000004'. When Should you Use Full Buffering? A table should be buffered generically if only certain generic areas of the table are normally needed for processing. Client-specific, fully-buffered tables are automatically generically buffered since normally it is not possible to work in all clients at the same time on an application server. The client field is the generic key. Language-specific tables are another example where generic buffering is recommended.In general, only records of one language will be needed on an application server. In this case, the generic key includes all the key fields up to and including the language field. How Should you Define the Generic Key? In generic buffering, it is crucial to define a suitable generic key. April 2001 37 BC – ABAP Dictionary Generic Buffering SAP AG If the generic key is too small, the buffer will contain a few very large areas. During access, too much data might be loaded in the buffer. If the generic key is too large, the buffer might contain too many small generic areas.These can reduce buffer performance since there is an administrative entry for every buffered generic area. It is also possible that too many accesses will bypass the buffer and go directly to the database, since they do not fully define the generic key of the table. If there are only a few records in each generic area, it is usually better to fully buffer the table. Only 64 bytes of the generic key are used. You can specify a longer generic key, but the part of the key exceeding 64 bytes is not used to create the generic areas. Access to Buffered DataIt only makes sense to generically buffer a table if the table is accessed with fully-specified generic key fields. If a field of the generic key is not assigned a value in a SELECT statement, it is read directly from the database, bypassing the buffer. If you access a generic area that is not in the buffer with a fully-specified generic key, you will access the database to load the area. If the table does not contain any records in the specified area (â€Å"No record found†), this area in the buffer is marked as non-existent. It is not necessary to access the database if this area is needed again. 8 April 2001 SAP AG BC – ABAP Dictionary Single-Record Buffering Single-Record Buffering With single-record buffering, only the records that are actually read are loaded into the buffer. Single-record buffering therefore requires less storage space in the buffer than generic and full buffering. The administrative costs in the buffer, however, are greater than for generic or full buffering. Considerably more database accesses are necessary to load the records than for the other buffering types. In this example, the record highlighted in red is read by a program from table SCOUNTER.If single-record buffering is selected for the table, onl y the record that was read is loaded into the buffer. Database table SCOUNTER MANDT CARRID COUNTNUM AIRPORT Buffer contents 001 LH 00000004 LCY 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 AA BA BA BA BA LH LH LH LH LH LH LH LH UA 00000001 00000001 00000002 00000003 00000004 00000001 00000002 00000003 00000004 00000005 00000006 00000007 00000008 00000001 ACA ACE BER LCY LHR BER DEN FRA LCY LGW LHR MUC RTM HAM Application server SELECT SINGLE FROM SCOUNTER WHERE MANDT = ‘001’ AND CARRID = ‘LH’ AND COUNTNUM = ‘00000004'.When Should you Use Single-Record Buffering? Single-record buffering should be used particularly for large tables where only a few records are accessed with SELECT SINGLE. The size of the records being accessed should be between 100 and 200 KB. Full buffering is usually more suitable for smaller tables that are accessed frequently. This is because only one database access is necessary to load such a table with full buffering, whereas several database accesses are necessary for single-record buffering. Access to Buffered Data All accesses that are not submitted with SELECT SINGLE go directly to the database, bypassing the buffer.This applies even if the complete key is specified in the SELECT statement. April 2001 39 BC – ABAP Dictionary Single-Record Buffering SAP AG If you access a record which is not yet buffered with SELECT SINGLE, there is a database access to load the record. This record is marked in the buffer as non-existent if the table does not contain a record with the specified key. This prevents another database access when accessing the table at a later time with the same key. 40 April 2001 SAP AG BC – ABAP Dictionary Logging Logging Using the logging flag you can define whether changes to the data records of a table should be logged.If logging is switched on, each change to an existing data record (with UPDATE, DELETE) by the user or application program is recorded in the data base in a log table (DBTABPRT). ABAP Dictionary Log TAB Application transaction TAB Change a record Field 1 Field 2 Field 3 System profile †¦ rec/client =ALL †¦ TAB Field 1 Field 2 Field 3 Log table Database To switch on logging, the R/3 System must be started with a profile containing parameter rec/client. This parameter defines whether all clients or only selected clients should be logged. The parameter can have the following values: rec/client = ALL Log all clients. ec/client = 000[,†¦ ] Log the specified clients. rec/client = OFF Do not log. Logging slows down accesses that change the table. First of all, a record must be written in the log table for each change. Secondly, a number of users access this log table in parallel. This can cause lock situations although the users are working with different application tables. Logging is independent of the update. The existing logs can be displayed with Transaction Table History (SCU3). April 2001 41 BC – ABAP Dic tionary Converting Pooled Tables to Transparent Tables SAP AG Converting Pooled Tables to Transparent Tables

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Area of Employment Law in the U.K Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Area of Employment Law in the U.K - Essay Example Aside from the fact that it lacks consistency, the provision does not form anything like a coherent code (OCinneide, 2007). In fact, the provision was made up of various pieces of legislation which does not cover only pure employment and work equality issues. Rather than focusing only on workplace equality issues, there was a larger equality framework related to education or public authority benefits. The purpose of implementing the Equality Act 2006 was created to promote the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) which aims to outlaw or dissolve other inadequate employment legislation such as the Commission for Racial Equality, Disability Rights Commission, and the Equal Opportunities Commission. Specifically, the EHRC aimed to promote the importance of workplace equality with gender as a basis (Office of Public Sector Information, 2006). Aside from amending the previous Disability Discrimination Act of 1995, Equality Act of 2006 also provides the public with more straightforward provisions and imposed duties concerning work inequalities and discrimination based on religion or beliefs. Although Equality Act 2006 mentioned brief introduction concerning sexual orientation in the workplace, the problem with this particular Act is that the said UK employment legislation on workplace equality and discrimination is limited in terms of providing a more detailed rule concerning iss ues related to sexual orientation. As a common knowledge, UK is bounded to comply with the EU Directive which aims to develop a legislative provision that will protect employees on the ground of gender re-assignment.  

Discuss four aspects of the social context of care Essay

Discuss four aspects of the social context of care - Essay Example Health is also affected by the kind of living and working conditions he enjoys and whether the people he is interacting with are having a positive influence on his life. (Wilkinson Richard and Marmont Michael, 2003) There was a previous school of thought which prescribed that the doctors along with the nurses should not get too involved in the social aspect of the patient. One tends to lose their level of reasoning and rationality of thought on such interactions. Making the correct diagnosis along with administering the drug by the nurses were the requirements of a doctor and a nurse. However the present school of thought introduces a social aspect into the medium whereby doctors and nurses are advised to have a more pleasant interaction with the patients. Even if the patient can afford the treatment the greatest barricade for ordinary people gaining access to proper healthcare includes class, gender, ethnicity and disability. Stigma Stigma relates to a psychological problem that is experienced by patients having Aids, epilepsy and other mental illness. This is characterised by a feeling of depression and low well being. (Brakel Wim, 2005) The literary concept of stigma is defined as the social rejection of an individual or a group due to a negative judgement made by the society at large due to a health problem that the individual or group is facing. Stigma is associated with the following actions 1. Discrimination- This entails preferential treatment given to some people over others due to a particular health issue a patient might posses. (Wilkinson Richard and Marmont Michael, 2003) Source: Brakel Wim, 2005, measuring social stigma 2. Participant Restriction- This involves the problems a patient might experience when intermingling with society in general. Participation is restricted from certain activities which can have a negative impact on his psychological well being. (Brakel Wim, 2005) 3. Stereotype- This occurs when the society at large perceives people suffering from a particular illness as all having the same personality traits and behaving in a certain manner. This can give rise to cliches with society not appreciating the individuality of the person. Stigma affects the mental condition of the patient adding to the illness or disability he is already experiencing. People tend to develop an inferiority complex. Stigma and discrimination is harmful in areas related to medical access to these patients. For AIDS patients the primal fear is total isolation since the general feeling among public is that it is contagious and can spread via contact. ( Brakel Wim, 2005) This fear causes them to hide their disease resulting in severe lowering of self esteem. Concealing the disease can also increase the risk of them aggravating it even further at the same time affecting the individuals around them. Indicators have been developed to assess the stigma that is associated with each disease like Aids and leprosy. The AIDS Attitude Scale develop ed in 1992 has been used for stigma assessment among health care professionals. (Brakel Wim, 2005) This has now been updated to include the attitude of the general public as well. One instrument called the Explanatory Model Interview Catalogue (EMIC) has been developed to measure stigma for different health conditions by creating a data base of the attitude of society at large. The answers to the queries are graded on a scale of 0-3. The answer ‘

Second Language Acquisition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Second Language Acquisition - Essay Example This means that linguistic studies are extremely important as they investigate the matters are able to contribute to a better understanding of the human civilization. This paper will examine the differences between two notions: communicative competence on the one hand and linguistic competence on the other. Since the key to perceiving the differences between the above mentioned notions partially lies in the process of language acquisition, the paper will utilize three perspectives that were developed with regard to Second Language Acquisition, namely linguistic, psychological and social one in other to make the analysis objective as well as detailed. Each of the above mentioned perspectives will be analyzed in great detail and various frameworks within it will be used, such as Transformational-Generative Grammar and Universal Grammar, Functionalism and Neurolinguistics, Information Processing and Connectionism, individual differences of learners will also be utilized, together with m icrosocial and macrosial foci of the social perspective. To begin with, it would be particularly important to provide definitions of each of the concept so that the differences between then might become visible based on some fundamental aspect. Thus, it is suggested that communicative competence might be defined as â€Å"what a speaker needs to know to communicate appropriately within a particular language community† (Saville-Troike 2006, p. 100). As one can easily see, there are several key words in this definition. First of all, it includes a certain amount of skills and knowledge that is essential for acquiring communicative competence. Secondly, there is a word that defines the essential element of this notion – â€Å"appropriately†. In other words, a person might possess the above mentioned skills and knowledge, but their amount may not be sufficient in order to contribute to

Investigation of Process Parameter Optimization of High Speed CNC Research Paper

Investigation of Process Parameter Optimization of High Speed CNC Milling for Composite Materials using Combined Genetic Algorit - Research Paper Example Machinability in terms of quality and productivity is of great concern in a competitive market. CNC milling performance is evaluated in terms of surface roughness, material removal rate, taper and facing. CNC machining is done initially in a number of passes an final end milling is done in a single pass. The most common machining parameters are cutting speed, feed, depth of cut. To have a balance between productivity and quality, the machining parameters need to be optimised. High speed CNC milling process needs to balance between productivity and quality of the end product. While quality is measured in terms of surface finish, the productivity is measured in terms of material removal rate. Good machinable materials acquire a smooth finish as they can be easily cut with less power. They also cause minimum damage to the tool. If the material has improved material properties then it’s machinablity becomes difficult. Hence improving machinability without sacrificing performance is a challenge. Predicting the optimal parameters for CNC milling is difficult as the milling process depends on several factors. The important factors relative to the material include the thermal conductivity, toughness, chemical properties and the microstructure of the material. The other important factors are the geometry of the cutting tool and the parameters of CNC milling process. Objectives : The aim of this research work is to †¢Find the important factors that characterise the best performance of the high speed CNC milling process. †¢Using combined Genetic Algorithm and Artificial neutral networks techniques to optimise these high speed CNC milling parameters by identifying the correlation between the factors like feed, depth of cutting and cutting speed. Based on the correlation of these parameters, the optimal set is to be determined for perfect output parameters like surface roughness and material removal rate. (4) High speed CNC Milling : CNC milling is the most fundamental operation in industrial machining. According to Mike S. Lou et al (1999 ) â€Å"The quality of the surface plays a very important role in the performance of milling as a good-quality milled surface significantly improves fatigue strength, corrosion resistance, or creep life. Surface roughness also affects several functional attributes of parts, such as contact causing surface friction, wearing, light reflection, heat transmission, ability of distributing and holding a lubricant, coating, or resisting fatigue†. Speed of the milling depends on the tool size used. If the tool size is smaller, then to avoid breakage of the tool the spindle speed required will be more. For milling with using micro tools the speed range of the spindles may be up to 60,000 rpm ( Datron white paper, 2005). Thus high speed milling involves higher RPM rates with more feed rates and small step overs. The advantage of this high speed is that there is less heating of the parts because of less time for the heat to feedback. The generated heat is 40% due to the friction and 20% due to deformation. For better quality in machining, the low milling force and cooler tools can be used so that the vibration is less. A white paper of DATRON (2005) states that â€Å"The high spindle speed reduces the chip load to less than 0.005†. Such a low chip load significantly reduces the forces between the tool and the material. High-speed/low-force machining yields less heat, reduces tool deflection, and allows machining of thinner walled work pieces. This all results in cooler machining, superior surface and edge quality, better accuracy and, as a

The Lamb by William Blake Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Lamb by William Blake - Essay Example William Blake wanted to show that there are contrasts in all human behavior. The Lamb represents the spiritual side, nature, innocence and childhood. He is a principal theme in the Christianity. Other themes studied in this essay will be the origin of humanity, nature and innocence. Blake considers these themes passive in retrospect to the experience one performs in life. A stream, the English country side and a small innocent child who questions the values of life are passive in comparison to the actions of a "tyger". "By the stream and o'er the mead". The first stanza brings us to the English country side with a stream and a meadow. "By the stream and o'er the mead" is literal but Blake differentiates between the physical and the spiritual: "gave thee life, and bid thee feed" and "Gave thee such a tender voice". The alternating between the physical and the spiritual adds to the playfulness of a child asking a question and then answering it. The narrator is playing. He is answering his own questions. "Little Lamb, who made thee?" Then the next stanza. "Little Lamb, I'll tell thee." The scenario is set in the first stanza and it is a nice setting. The lamb is a metaphor for a child as there is then reference to a child asking questions in regards to his clothing. " Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest clothing, woolly, bright". In going one step deeper, the reader realizes that the questions are much more profound in the first stanza." Dost thou know who made thee?""Making all the vales rejoice?" This poem is in a child like song but the sophistication of the questions show that though the language is simple, the questions deal with the essence of humanity. In the first stanza the reader does not know who is asking the questions. He assumes, the narrator is a child talking but line three "Gave thee life, and bid thee feed", would not come from a child of either the 21st or 18th century. There are other interpretations. Is he a child; is he God or is he a pare nt asking the questions for his child? There is also reference that we are all the children of God. "Little lamb, who made thee? Dost thou know who made thee? If he is a parental figure and wanting to get the child to reflect on the existence of life. "Dost thou know who made thee?" In the second stanza, the narrator takes a different attitude. First by the form, the reference to Jesus by the 'He' and 'Himself' and 'He'. The narrator is stronger as he answers the questions in the first stanza. He alluded to the lamb being Jesus; to their having the same character traits of innocence, meekness and naivety. "For He calls Himself a Lamb. He is meek, and He is mild, "He became a little child" is his becoming a child of God."We are called by His name" is reference to our being children of God. "The Lamb" is a child's song. Blake wrote it in a common hymn like form that was well known in church. The trochaic meter was pleasing: ."Gave thee life, and bid thee feed. This continues throughou t the poem. He used another technique of repeating the first and last couplets of each stanza to continue the sing song effect : "Little Lamb, who made thee?" "Doest thou know who made thee?"" Little Lamb, I'll tell thee?""Little Lamb, God bless thee!". Another literary device was saying goodbye or good night in the last sentence as a lullaby."Little Lamb, God Bless thee!" The rhyme of the poem is AABBCCDDEE of the first stanza then AABBCCDDEE of the second stanza. The rhythm and the rimed couplets add

The Mystery Surrounding the Bermuda Triangle Essay Example for Free

The Mystery Surrounding the Bermuda Triangle Essay My research question is â€Å"Is the Bermuda Triangle likely to be a cause of natural phenomenon?† My working hypothesis is based on the concrete evidence that scientists have put forth concerning the various unfortunate incidents related to aircrafts and surface vessels, there is more inclination towards the Bermuda Triangle being a cause of natural phenomenon rather than any other phenomena. After more extensive research, I might decide to narrow the working hypothesis to just one major incident that effectively backs up my claim. Working Bibliography (in APA form) Print sources Daniel Lexton. (2003). The bermuda triangle. Skeptic, 10(3), 96B. From this, I found out about a number of unfortunate incidents that occurred in the region that is named Bermuda Triangle. Lexton gives explanations for why these incidents may have happened. I believe that these will come in handy when I am trying to argue for natural causes. Njau, E. C. (1995). The bermuda triangle mysteries: An explanation based on the diffraction of heat waves. Renewable Energy, 6(8), 1017-1022. doi:10.1016/0960-1481(95)00098-X. This is specifically about the theory of diffraction of heat waves. It logically explains how the eastward-moving heat waves may be responsible for the mysteries noted in the Bermuda region. Audience: AUS students who have an interest in mysterious happenings and are perhaps curious of what the Bermuda Triangle is and would like to know the reasons behind it. Counterargument and refutation: Some people may argue that the cause of such happenings is due to supernatural explanations. However, I will present theories put forth by scientists that have a more concrete explanation. I will convince my readers that ‘coincidences’ do occur and resorting to supernatural causes is not a solution. After all, we see with experience that almost everything has a valid explanation. Time is what we need to officially prove it.

Electronic Manufacturing Services Industry Commerce Essay

Electronic Manufacturing Services Industry Commerce Essay This research discusses Electronic Manufacturing Services industry and providers trends and it is relation to supply chain aspects of electronics industry. The challenges that faced and still facing this industry are discussed in details. Electronic Manufacturing Services industry provides solutions and mechanisms to solve supply chain problems in electronics industry. A case study of Flextronics International Company presented to explain how this industry helps Original Equipment Manufacturer and how it can be a good solution for the major problems and challenges in electronics manufacturing world. Introduction: Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) or Contract Manufacturer (CM) has started their service since 1960, once huge Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) began working with subcontractor in order to achieve more profit and to deal with high demand changes without the needs to new labor and capital. The EMS industry grew up and played a major role in manufacturing processes and technology, also EMS providers have increased their capability, manufacturing flexibility, purchasing power and cost reductions of material used in this industry. Therefore, it has been hard for OEM to cope with high demand changes and manufacturing flexibility beside cost reduction since EMS providers had handle all of those aspects efficiently [1]. From 1970 to 1990, EMS has increased their role and share in global network and supplied a high variety of services such as assembly, prototype, testing, circuit board, material purchase and management, and shipping to the end customer. A huge demand was created due to technological development since 1990; this has obliged OMEs to deal with EMS providers in order to respond more efficiently to product innovation, the shorter life cycles and dynamic changes of demand. EMS providers have facilitated enlargement and development of OEM companies by providing them high flexibility and better control of the variety of new products and demand changes [1]. Outsourcing works better in electronics industry for several reasons. First, the products of most electronics are similar in production process and building methodology. Second, the nature of electronics markets is very dynamic and interacted which push OMEs to deal with EMS. All parts of personal computers and medical appliances are consisted from parts such as capacitors, memory chips, and resistors. The reason that makes the product unique is the method of joining the different parts onto printed circuit board, customization of components and parts, and the programming of the device and its special software. The basic similarity in finished goods makes the EMS to have an easy methodology to divide their apparatus, skills and data, and information to cope with several production orders [2]. Challenges Facing Electronics Industry: The main challenges that faced and still facing this industry and cause it to deal with EMS are: High customization: customers demand is increasing continuously and rapidly. They required the manufacturers to produce vastly customized products quickly and at relatively low cost. This results in very high load and pressure on electronics firms to respond to those highly customized orders with flexible supply chain and low cost [3]. Second challenge is the short life cycle: producers have to manufacture new products that have good price, keep up reasonable profit and keep market share. This will result in too short life cycles of products and will make it more complicated to forecast customer demand. Therefore, manufacturers must be close to customers and must work with retailers and resellers to better understand markets needs and demand [3]. Third challenge is inventory control versus quick declination: the challenging environment in electronics industry requires the manufacturers to produce components at low price with new performance and functionality, to keep high competitiveness. Therefore, using the existing inventory as early as possible is very important to maintain profit [3]. The conflict between supply and demand is the fourth challenge: material is one of the main constrained in electronics industry. Continuous production of new products and redesign of old parts and components are being processed while the prediction of customer demand is very difficult. Therefore, manufacturer must work collaboratively with material suppliers to satisfy demand and at the same time they have to work with retailers to forecast customers demand [3]. The fifth challenge is the high pressure from distributers and retailers to deliver products at the right time and right place. This applies high strain on electronics manufacturers. Thus, good communications and collaboration with retailers and distributers is required to guarantee better delivery and customer satisfaction [3]. EMS Industry Growth and Supply Chain: EMS industry has a major role in supply chain management and components. It is being an important part and partner in electronics manufacturing world. The reasons behind this evolution are as follows: Economical scale: the demand of electronics is increasingly very high, and it depends on product cycle. Therefore, if EMS providers decide to increase capacity to satisfy high customer demand this will lead to excess labor and resources but, they have the ability to shift those excess labor and resources to another OME customer. This means that EMS providers have high flexibility and alternatives to deal with [2]. Main capability: electronics industry witnesses high competition between OEMs thus, looking for customer needs and expectations is very important part to design high competitive products quickly. Thus, the main capability of OME is in new product design and customer satisfaction. By dealing with EMS, electronics OMEs can focus and make more attention on new products design and customer satisfaction [2]. Decreasing materials cost: the huge growth of EMS providers gives them more power and influence of obtaining raw materials. This increased power and size can result in decreasing components costs [2]. Better profit and return on investment: electronics manufacturing overhead cost and capital investment is very high and to pay it back it takes long time. Taking into consideration that the life cycle is short in this industry, it will be very hard to make the decision of investment. Thus, EMS providers can help OEM to take their decision by constructing the whole manufacturing processes and overhead cost which will result in better profit and return on investment [2]. The high pressure of time to market: as we discussed before, the cycle time of the product is too short thus, being at the top in the market is very essential to gain higher profit. EMS providers can supply capacity and expertise required for new products and new design process quickly. Therefore, EMS providers have the ability to bring new products into market quickly and satisfy customers demand [2]. Markets globalization: nowadays, markets are being global and OMEs are struggling to satisfy demands in global markets. EMS providers have the ability to take the advantage of low labor costs in many places in the world. Furthermore, they can supply products at short lead time and decrease supply chain costs locally [2]. EMS Providers Customers: Choosing customers is the most important decision for EMS providers. Since EMS providers are not in the business to make demand, they must be careful and aware about products that have huge market demand in addition to future changes. EMS providers must place themselves in manufacturing areas that enable them to add more value. For instance, most of EMS companies get rid of personal computers assembly processes and they get more involved in medical electronics, servers and cell phones so they can add more value to their manufacturing processes due to the high demand on those electronics areas [2]. Typically, EMS providers have a wide customer found and they are producing a collection of components and products. Consequently, they achieve high production and capacity utilization. EMS is striving to build high diversity of OME customers to gain higher return on their investment and improver utilization. Additionally, by building this wide base, EMS providers can compensate the demand from other customers if one of their customers market has gone down [2]. Another issue for choosing customers is the competitors. Once EMS wants to make contract with a competitor of one of its customers, EMS provider usually ask for permission from his old customer, then he will construct a special production line for this new customer. This behavior leads to construct EMS industry that has ethical base and reliable attitude. Furthermore, the maturity of EMS industry will lead to high competition within electronics industry and small OEMs have the ability to grow up within short period into big company through dealing with EMS providers and taking the advantage of their supply chain capabilities [2]. EMS Industry and Supply Chain Management: Ever more, EMS providers are not only produce components and provide services but they are also being a major part of supply chain solutions to OME manufacturers. Supply chain roles consist of product manufacturing and design, shipping and delivery to end users, demand forecast and expectations, suppliers management and interaction [2]. Demand forecast and expectations of EMS depends basically on OEM orders. EMS providers are trying to produce all orders of OME companies. OME provides demand for long and short term periods and EMS uses the short term for material purchasing. Long term demand is used typically fort capacity requirements planning and material forecasting. The demand is very dynamic, so the long term demand may change and the OME can amend this demand based on its contract with EMS. Sometimes, if EMS provider not able to deliver the planned quantity it may get penalized; therefore, EMS starts to build its own skilled expertise and procedures to work on demand forecasting with OEMs in order to protect itself from penalization [2]. Shipping and delivery to end users is being a service that many EMS providers may provide. EMS providers have started to provide entire supply chain solutions. They started shipping the products to OEMs customers and end users. This results in add more value to EMS providers and to solve shipping issues that may face OEM companies. Transportation costs may be very high and OEMs want to make the assembly process close to their end users. EMS has increased its global existence to be very close to the end users markets. Building their factories close to the end users enables them to decrease lead time and decrease shipping costs to the end customers [2]. In order to manufacture and design new products, EMS should expand its capacity. When OEMs outsource more and more of their works to EMS, then, filling the capacity will be not hard. The main challenge of building the capacity and the time of this building is the short life cycle of electronics products. Thus, EMS providers should be careful when to build the capacity required and should be aware how to combine and integrate all facilities and capacities of all customers to achieve higher utilization [2]. Electronic Commerce and EMS: Recently, EMS providers are using electronic commerce in their supply chain management strategies. The aims of using this tool are to accelerate purchasing process time, to automate purchasing process and to decrease overhead cost. Therefore, the supply chain will be more efficient and overall cost will be minimized. In addition, the application of electronic commerce enlarges the supplier foundation for EMS providers and affects global sourcing positively. Another main fact is, sharing the information between OEMs, EMS, suppliers, and end customers will be very important to integrate supply chain parties and will lead to success of EMS industry [2]. Challenges Facing EMS Industry: First challenge is managing inventory level, which is very hard issue for EMS providers. Presently, studies show that the typical minimum level of the inventory is about 2 weeks. Determining the level of inventory depends on accuracy of demand forecast from OEM and the ability of suppliers to respond to this forecast [2]. The accuracy of demand forecast is very important and depends mainly on OEM. EMS and OEM agree on specific mechanism to capture customers needs. For example, OEM may provide one month demand and four months forecast. Based on this agreement, OEM will add one more month at the beginning of each month besides providing actual demand for the coming month. Consequently, this kind of agreements will help to better control inventory level [2]. Ability of the supplier to respond to the new demands and forecast is a major factor to help EMS controlling inventory issues. Responsiveness of supplier depends on lead time, capacity available, and safety stock level. Some suppliers choose to build additional capacity to be able to refill EMS orders within couple of days for example. EMS should provide bonus for such suppliers [2]. EMS usually has many customers, this means that EMS should pool inventory for those customers. Furthermore, suppliers of EMS industry will face the same issue and they should manage their inventory to face the problem of pooling [2]. Demand uncertainty is a big challenge in EMS industry thus, the owning the inventory is subjected to high risk. Unsurprisingly, no one wants to take the risk and own the inventory. Suppose that the supplier owns the inventory, this may lead EMS to set a high inventory level. Without a doubt, setting the optimal inventory level is very hard and taking the risk of inventory ownership needs more and more study and analysis [2]. The second challenge is risk sharing in electronics industry. EMS providers have, due to their position, the ability to relocate risks to suppliers or OEM as much as they can. Their special position in electronics industry supply chain allow them spread and share the risks of demand ambiguity and capacity investments with suppliers or OEM customers or both of them. Consequently, EMS could reduce risks through supply chain relation [2]. EMS Industry and Information System: In recent times, Make-to-Order (MTO) strategy is being more efficient in electronics industry to control demand uncertainty and short product life cycle. MTO needs more sophisticated information system tools to control and manage the complicated supply chain. Electronic commerce ability must be improved and used in this industry. Another challenge to EMS information systems is to design for manufacturing product and process. The ability of prediction and innovation of new designs necessitates EMS to continuously improve its knowledge base and information system tools [2]. Flextronics Case Study: Flextronics International is EMS provider registered as Singapore Company and based in San Jose. It was founded in 1969 and from 1994 to 1998 it expanded and gained high growth in several regions. The companys annual revenue has grown to $5.74 billion for fiscal 2000 ended March 31 from $640 million in fiscal 1997 [4]. Flextronics has been among the five largest EMS providers in the US since 1997 [5]. The company is implementing the principle of Industry Park or Campus. It built low cost production campuses in North and South America, Asia and Europe where major customers exist in. Every property or campus is prepared with high manufacturing equipments and technologies, engineering staff and services, and plastics skilled expertise. Flextronics has expanded its service area by being close to suppliers of its material needs such as molding of plastic, chips and microchips packaging, and product allocation at its campus in Guadalajara-Mexico, Sarvar-Hungary, and Doumen- China. The strategy of Flextronics enables its suppliers to rent areas close to campuses which help them to supply materials easily and build their own foundation. Flextronics is considered currently as a leader in responsiveness, speed, and flexibility in EMS providers world [2]. The company has strength points in many areas such as product quality, purchasing capability, and customers base. It is manufacturing many products in different areas such as computers, communications, and medical equipments. The company provides its customers high degree of product and mass customizations, flexibility of production and design, superior supply chain management, efficient logistical issues and decreased time to market. Flextronics has located its business in all markets to control cyclical changes of each industry, thus rising consistency and steadiness, and improving quality. Consequently, provide the ability to OEM customers to decrease production and shipping costs and at the same time Flextronics growing up its customer foundation [2]. The high diversity of services and flexibility offered by Flextronics resulted in new contracts and awards from international OEMs like IBM, Microsoft, Nokia, Ericsson, and Motorola. Flextronics has boosted its presence in Europe by purchasing Dii Group in 2000 for $2.4 billion and in the same year, the company has achieved a huge step by signing a contract with Motorola Company for $10 billion. By signing this contract, Flextronics was planning to produce cellular phones, pagers, and other wireless devices for Motorola Company by the end of 2005. Flextronics became the major EMS provider for Motorola business. The expected value of this alliance is about $30 billion [6]. Product Portfolio and Customer Base: Flextronics has broad customer base as mentioned before. The company chooses its suppliers and customers carefully. Flextronics focuses on telecommunications products and servers. Figure 1 shows the product market mix of the company in 2000. Comparing those numbers with numbers in 1998, for example, the results shows that consumer electronics products share decreased from 10% to 8%, whereas computer products increased from 15% to 27%, and medical and others increased from 5% to 12% [5, 7]. Figure 1: Percentage of Product Market Mix of Flextronics International Ltd [2]. Flextronics Supply Chain Strategy and Challenges: Flextronics has transformed from seller to manufacturer and EMS provider. The company chooses it suppliers carefully based on performance and trust. Meeting the demand and forecast is very important as a measure of performance. Strategy of Flextronics is to deal with wide range of suppliers and makes acceptable profit without have narrow range of suppliers [2]. Flextronics wants to supply production schedules to customers. However, the company usually uses short term demand because it believes that the long term forecast is not accurate. Furthermore, the company has its own engineers that are responsible for demand forecast [2]. The company uses Kanban system in its manufacturing factories with limited buffers at each stage. Using MTO strategy, the company doesnt own finished goods warehouse. Singapore warehouse carries on about two days of inventory from each supplier, and then ships them twice a day to the site in Malaysia. Flextronics is the owner of this warehouse and pays for inward shipping. The company wants its suppliers to have about two weeks of inventory if possible, but this is not committed inventory because it knows that its suppliers have other customers [2]. Its very rare to ship components to the production location from every region in the world. Therefore, Flextronics has come up with the model of Industrial Park to solve logistical issues that face supply chain. This strategy enables all of the suppliers to be close or in the same region of the company campus. Furthermore, geographical boundaries can be eliminated, keep away from import and export limitations, and minimize logistical difficulties for distribution [2]. Flextronics Information System: The complicated nature, short life cycle and demand uncertainty results in the need for complicated information system to deal with all aspects in electronics industry. It is common for EMS providers to build software solutions to enable them to track their demand, production processes and inventory control. During 1999, Flextronics use to upgrade its electronic commerce ability using some new software programs. The software allows buyers or purchasing managers to use the Internet to view customer orders and demands. A number of Flextronics major customers have their own websites to post their new orders. The company looking forward to enable suppliers in close future to view and respond to orders too. In addition, Flextronics has web-based tool for OEMs and they can log in the website to view important information about the products being produced on production line and related quality data, engineering observations, production rates, and failure rates [2]. Conclusion: EMS providers are being an essential part of electronics supply chain industry. Electronic industry is very complicated and has many challenges and obstacles. Short product life cycle, uncertainty of demand, inventory problems and capacity and lead time constraints are being solved through contracting and dealing with EMS providers. EMS industry integrates supply chain and increases capacity utilization. Furthermore, it can share industry risks with OEM and suppliers. The growth of this industry is increasing since it offers several services, manufacturing solutions, supply chain flexibility, reduced materials costs and proximity to raw materials suppliers.