Communication and Dialogue

Abstract: In this new era of globalisation wherein people from diverse culture and ethnicity have come together to work in an organisation, dialogue is indeed an important way of communication. Many researches have proved the fact that differences in culture may inculcate a difference in the thinking pattern or stem into differential analysis of a situation. In an organisation where values and growth are related  to each other, differences in opinion may lead to altercation and conflicts if not addressed well.Dialogue, a bidirectional flow of communication where emphasis is laid not only on saying but also on listening and understanding at the same time can be an useful tool in an organisation to resolve inter personal conflicts, conflicts within the department or conflicts between two different departments of the same organisation. The essay will highlight the importance of introduction of dialogue in a multicultural organisation and its use as a problem solving tool in multicultu ral organisation where cultural thinking act as an impediment among them.Also, it will review the role of dialogue in promoting organisational learning. Next it will explore some of the barriers in communication such as â€Å"Silo virus† and need for eliminations of those barriers, ending into a conclusion for the implication of dialogue in a multicultural organisation. Sequential Conversation or Unidirectional Flow of Communication versus Dialogic conversation A conversation is said to be sequential or unidirectional when there is a flow of information from the speaker to the listener (Eisenberg & Goodall, p. 27).This one way communication can be practically seen in classes where student completely rely on teachers lectures, also when managers or the instructor define the protocol of the work to the subordinates or receivers. In other words in a unidirectional or sequential communication listeners are passive and are uninvolved in constructing the ideas of the communication (Eisenberg & Goodall, p. 28)  . Traditionally communication between managers and employee were articulated as straightforward unidirectional flow of delivering management messages to employees and other constituencies (Tourish and Hargie 2009, p. ). However, dialogue provides equal opportunities to all who are involved in the communication. Everyone has the say to voice their opinion and give their feedback either in agreement or in opposition of the core matter. Dialogue in a working definition can be defined as a mindful conversation emphasising on equitable and empathetic transaction of opinions of the participants to create new opportunities for working together to produce new and innovative ideas (Eisenberg & Goodall, p. 40-45) Hence dialogue is a balance between creativity and constraints (Eisenberg & Goodall ,p. 0). Dialogue demands its participants should be able to critically reflect themselves i. e, they should be open to the fact that the perceptions made by them may no t always be accurate. â€Å"What we perceive is often based on our needs, our expectations, our projections, and, most of all, our culturally learned assumptions and categories of thought (Schein 1993,p. 33)†. Participants should be able to suspend the perceptions and feelings for some time to see the outcome of the dialogue (Schein 1993).By suspending the feelings the participants will allow the disagreements to fly off, hence will build mutual understanding and trust on each other. Higher the trust higher will be the effectiveness of the group. Participants will be open to voice their unfearful opinions, and will come up with more innovative and successful solutions. Dialogue as a problem solving tool in a multicultural organisation The definition of dialogue says that there should be equal sharing of perceptions, assumptions, thoughts and experiences to come to an radical conclusion (Schein 1993).Healthy communication connects the employee more strongly with the organisati on by eliminating the sense of isolation and dissatisfaction. Employee who communicate regularly with their managers and co-employees have a higher sense of job engagement than those who are reluctant to voice their opinion. There is a direct relation between the healthy communication, participation of the employees in decision making and growth of the organisation. Dialogue does not only mean that you are heard, but it also signifies that your voice matters in the decisions of the company.It gives a sense of belonging to the employee and burns out stress and discomfort. The organisation with the higher number of contented employee will have higher productivity both in number and innovations. â€Å"The quality of relationships with co-workers is a crucial factor in determining levels of job satisfaction† (Tourish & Hargie 2009, p. 16). Job satisfaction cannot only be guaranteed by successful completion of a task, but it involves many other vital factors too. Today when it is impossible to find an uncultured organisation, learning about the intercultural ommunication is an indispensable necessity (Crossman et al 2011, p. 57). Culture plays an prominent role in structuring human behaviour, ideas and thought process (Wood2011). Differences of thinking may lead to ambiguity at the work place which may end into conflicts. According to Ting-Toomey, the greater the difference between two cultures, the more that conflicts will arise in areas such as historical grievances, cultural world views and beliefs (Crossman et al 2011). Creating Coherence in Multicultural Organisation with dialogue Employees have different personal needs and hence different dimensions for the satisfaction.The organisation should know about the personnel needs of the employee and should work in a way to nurture good relationships among the employees (Tourish & Hargie 2009). Incorporating good communication practices such as regular group meetings, open house discussions or building new ch annels for communication sustains job engagement of the employee. Mangers should have expertise in intercultural communication skills to nurture an environment of tolerance to the ambiguity caused by incompatibility of cultural values and norms.As Brannen & Salk 1999, said working together to give fruitful result can only be achieved by compromising the ambiguity and confusion for quality issues. The practices like   an  open house group discussions  ,thought sharing and dialogues exchange with seniors and colleagues will help in bridging the gap of miscommunication and misunderstanding. Employees who have an access to information, organisation policies, new ventures and developments feel more secure and safe at work. Intercultural communications along with dialogue help in enhancing the process of organisational learning through group interaction.It helps in sharing of cultural ideas, values and beliefs. Cordial and happy relations at work place eliminate stress and burnout c aused by work pressure and thus benefits the employee with good concentration and higher thinking. Socially balanced work culture  breed  employee with better insights and hence result in collaborative thinking and exemplary innovations. However in a real business world where emphasis is laid more towards the successful completion of the task, is it realistic to preach dialogue at every stage of decision making?Is it possible for an organisation to understand the needs of every employee? Will it be correct to say that it  is the responsibility of a manager to inoculate good intercultural communication where the employees are reluctant to shift their values and paradigm? Implementing dialogue can be a laborious process for a manager. It is the Manager who bears the responsibility of accomplishing the targets with in the given time frame. Dialogue can only be successful when employees are ready to take the responsibility to change themselves, else it will only result in wastage of time.Dialogue is easy to preach in a likeminded group sharing similar values but difficult to express with those who are reluctant to change. Say for instance it is easy to teach a budding employee about the virtues of good communication. However,  the same could not be expressed to those highly experienced or talented employees who are reluctant to adapt to new changes. Also, it is difficult to bring employees out of their comfort zone and to speak up expressing their true feelings. Dialogue- the core of organisational learning Dialogue lies at the core of organizational learning, for without dialogue, individuals and groups cannot effectively exchange ideas, nor can they develop shared understanding† (Mazustis & Slawinski 2008, pg 438). Argyris said that there are two different modes of learning, Model 1 and Model II, best be summarized as single or double loop learning. He mentioned in his writing â€Å"Teaching Smart people how to learn†, highly skilled profess ional are good at single loop learning because of their vast experiences and success gained in those experiences.However, Argyris argue that it is difficult for them to admit their mistake,  and hence they adopt a defensive attitude wherein they start blaming others for the failure. Defensive reasoning can block learning. Model I learning behavior persists throughout the organization resulting in to win/lose dynamics in which individual avoid confrontation (Mazustis & Slawinski 2008). On contrast Model II which is based on open dialogue, self-reflection and double loop learning will help in bringing fundamental changes in organizational norms, priorities and behavior (Argyris and Schon1978).It is through dialogue that people share ideas with others. Integration of these ideas with others is only possible when a group has   a  common language and common thought process, which can only be built by dialogue(Mazustis & Slawinski 2008). Shared meaning can lead not only to the trans ference of knowledge, but also to the creation of new knowledge and understanding among participants (Mazustis & Slawinski 2008). Finally, the process get embedded into the organization. This process is what Crossan et al. (1999) refer to as institutionalizing. Dialogue is therefore at the core of the socio-psychological processes of the model of organizational learning (Crossan et al. , 1999)† (Mazustis & Slawinski 2008). Barriers to communication- Silos formation Advancement in technology and increase in complexity of organisation resulted in division of the organisation into different specialised departments or subunits. Employee in one department share same work language, technology and work terminology developing a subculture of its own. Different departments in an organisation work together to complete the task, failure of one may result in failure of others. Organisational effectiveness is therefore dependent on the valid communication across subculture boundaries† (Schein 1993,p. 41). Silo formation and Need to eliminate Silos Fragmentation of organisation into small departments may result in the formation of â€Å"silos† throughout the organisation. Individuals in silos share strong personnel bonds, common interests, abilities, work structure and relational bonds that differentiate them from others. Individuals in a silo interact more to each other than with the outside employees creating an atmosphere of alienation for those who are not part of the silo group.Silos act as a barrier to inter departmental flow of communication resulting in the  creation of isolation and hostility for others who are not  part of the group. Employees hesitate to co-operate with other departments thinking that the objective of their silo is different from that of other department. Interdepartmental competition may prevent the desire to transfer valuable information from one to other department. Communication breakdown can lead to errors and finger p ointing, lack of responsibilities and hence failure of the task or the department itself What is the role of a good manager in an organisation full of silos?Managers should learn to trust his team members and also should show respect their peers. Mutual trust, respect for each other structure and values will help in dissolving silos. Senior should preach the essential values of their organisation and not that of a single department. Organisation based on Hierarchical pyramid structure An organisation based on principals to maintain and respect hierarchical structure, could not support dialogue. Hierarchy do not support the idea of cross questioning your boss or voicing against the idea of your manager, it may lead to serious repercussions for the employee.Time constrain Time is again a vital factor to be considered while promoting dialogue. Every project is designed to be accomplished with in a limited time frame. Listening to every voice of the department may lead to wastage of tim e. Managers should be able to recognise the right time to implement debate and discussion instead of dialogue. Breaching the comfort zone of employee Dialogue demands empathy and tolerance to other and is a time consuming process. In this fast pace society where human beings are already over engaged with priorities it is difficult to maintain patience to listen to others.Highly experienced employee find it difficult to listen to a new employee, they do not want to change their work protocol and hesitate to adapt to new changes. It is difficult to breach the comfort zone of over experienced employees and sometimes they find it insulting too. Defensive Behaviour and lack of trust Individuals may engage into defensive routines where they hesitate to open a dialogue with the seniors fearing that may lead to some serious problems with the co-employees or the manager himself.Also, colleagues working in an organisation may feel competition with their  colleague, and thus, employee consci ously prevent flow of information to others creating a hostile environment for others. Lack of true Feedback Dialogue may be impeded by organisation norms such as the practice of only delivering good news to senior managers, and hiding distressing news. Individuals need  the  information to be able to detect and correct errors, but some organizational norms prevent such information from being discussed (Argyris and Schon, 1978). Baker et al. 2005: 425), for example, conclude that some ‘norms determine what can be said and not said, what and who is heard and not heard, who has  a  voice and who does not have  Ã‚  a  voice   who is in and who is out of the conversation’ (Mazustis & Slawinski 2008). These norms inhibit prevent knowledge from being shared openly across functional silos, divisions and levels. Conclusion Dialogue is no doubt an important tool of communication to bring changes in an organisation and to promote  a  higher degree of organisatio nal learning. Proper implementation of dialogue in an organisation will make employees more responsible to each other.It will also ensure trust, empathy, tolerance and engagement among the employees by creating a safe and secure work environment. Sharing of ideas, discussion about work and group thinking will inculcate high sense creativity and innovations. However, it is difficult to have an idealistic organisation working on the principals of dialogue. It  is a group endeavour and demands time and patience which are difficult to attain in this fast pace society. Human beings are primarily driven by their emotions and it is difficult to suspend feelings and emotions which is the demand to sustain a dialogue.Implications of dialogue are great but is difficult to practice. Books Crossman, J. , Bordia, S. & Mills, C. 2011 Business Communication : for the Global Age, McGraw-Hill, North Ryde, N. S. W. Eisenberg,M. , Goodall,H. L. & Trethewey,A. 2010, Organizational communication : bal ancing creativity and constraint, Boston : Bedford/St. Martin's Cheney,G. (ed. ) 2011, Organizational Communication in an Age of Globalization : Issues, Reflection ; Practices, 2nd edition, Long Grove, Ill. : Waveland Press Cottrell, S. 011, Critical thinking skills : developing effective analysis and argument, Houndmills, Hampshire, UK : Palgrave Macmillan Ferraro, G. P. ; Briody, E. K. 2013, The cultural dimension of global business,7th ed. , Pearson, Boston, pp. 29-65. Hargie,O. ; Tourish,D. (ed). 2009, Auditing organizational communication : a handbook of research, theory and practice ,Imprint East Sussex : New York, NY Walker, R. 2011, Strategic management communication for leaders, Mason, Ohio : South-Western Cengage Learning Wood,J. 2011, Communication mosaics : an introduction to the field of communication,Boston, MA : WadsworthE journals Amy,H. 2008, ‘Leaders as facilitators of individual and organizational learning’ , Leadership ; Organization Development Jour nal, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 212-234 Argyris 1991, ‘Teaching smart people how to learn’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 69,no. 3,pp. 99-100 Argyris, C. and Schon, D. (1978), ‘Organizational Learning: A theory of action perspective’ Bloor,G. 1999, ‘Organisational culture: organisational learning and total quality management’ , Australian Health Review, Vol 22, no 3 Groysberg, B. ; Slind, M. 2012, ‘Leadership is a conversation', Harvard Business Review, 90(6):76-84. Mazutis,D. amp;Slawinski,N. 2008, ‘Leading organizational learning through authentic dialogue’ , Richard Ivey School of Business,The University of Western Ontario, Canada, Vol 39, pp. 437-456 Schein,E. 1993, ‘On dialogue, culture, and organizational learning’ ,Organisational Dynamics, Vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 40-51 Website Forbes, John Kotter, viewed on 26 March 2013, ;http://www. forbes. com/sites/johnkotter/2011/05/03/breaking-down-silos/;. Matthew Moore 2011, viewed 26 March 2013, ;http://www. improvementandinnovation. com/features/article/breaking-down-organisational-silos-why-its-important-collaboration-quality-and-gro/;.

Organizational Communications Strategy Essay

Leaders are responsible for motivating people to do their work effectively and achieve common objectives. Some believe leaders are born but some of the qualities can also be embedded in leaders through training and learning. Communication is the process when one person conveys thoughts or feelings to another individual or collection of people. The effectiveness of the communication process can be measured by message intended is equal to the message extracted. Feedback is essential for the communication process as this provides a response to on how successful we have been in transferring our message as originally intended. Teams focus on a collective style of working where the team members work together to achieve common goals. In teams the synergy level is positive, that is the performance of the team is greater than the individual efforts. The self managed teams discussed in this case are linked with empowerment, empowering employees enables them to participate better in team decision making processes. Leaders should facilitate and gain the trust of these teams rather than try to control and dictate to them. This allows instant action to be taken against a problem leading to valuable solutions. Communication is the back bone of an organization; it is one of the most important aspects required for the survival and success of the organization, whether the objective is dealing with corporate clients, employees or general public. The aim of the massage is to get across the Messages clearly, convincingly and to the relevant targeted audiences, Content that is delivered should be conveyed using the most effective and efficient channels, and a important aspect which is to be kept in mind is that Communications are customized to reflect cultural, and local diversity so it should be utilized accordingly for the betterment of the organization. Every thing done in the organization is through communication so it is a very significant element of any organization. The company I have chosen of the fortune 500 is FedEx the communication strategy is accordingly to the current trends in the business, I will emphasize on IT for the purpose of communication whether it be with in the organization or out side to customers, the internet will be used in fact for this purpose, as it is the most efficient and effective communication medium of present era. IT internal use it is a blessing as at present organization are moving toward paper less offices and e-mails are the best way to correspond and to Provide timely responses to all questions and feedback received. For external use website is a best source to attract new and maintain present customer as a large population of the world uses the WWW, for socializing, checking e-mails, browsing etc. using this medium will help FedEx in Developing focused, targeted communications at the right time to the correct audience, Communicate concise, pertinent, interesting content with a positive tone to cater the market. Website will be used for the purpose of providing a repository of business wide communications and questions and answers that is easily accessible to all FedEx concern employees. Another vital source I would use for my communication strategy will be the mobile phone, it has been growing rapidly at present and the cell phone has become one of the most vital means to convey messages, as the general public who use cell phones are addicted to it. We could target our customer by mobile massages which are used at present companies to attract customer, further the merge of the mobile and the internet has had a positive impact on the industry. Further, we could use other means of promoting their Internet marketing efforts offline like newsletters, direct mails, etc in order to reach more people nationally and internationally. The same tools can be used to promote not only the website but the company as a whole at the same time based on data gathered about customers online. Conduct online promotion using banner ads, e-newsletters, e-zines, etc. Since internet marketing is a new concept, those people who do go online may not be aware of exactly which companies have websites now. Therefore it would be a really effective idea right now to start placing banner ads on websites, there should be an overall increase in awareness of the use of Websites to interact with their customers online. I believe that the postal system is not very reliable but the usage of online advertisement can increase the interactivity and understanding of consumers and become more personalized. The World Wide Web has got billions of users with a great deal of attention from press and industry analysts. It’s got big names like Amazon and Yahoo which makes it sound even more intimidating to small businesses to use the Internet as a big part of their marketing solution. Like traditional advertising, Web marketing does not need a catchy slogan or striking images or animations. To get started, all one needs to do is state just the facts: who you are, what you sell, where you’re located, and other basic information. It does not cost a lot to fix mistakes, add new information or make other changes. That’s one source of anxiety absent in Web marketing. The same free tools used to develop web pages can be used to fix them, add to them or expand them. Today’s consumers rarely wait until they enter a store before they begin to develop a decision to purchase one brand over another. For most businesses this is one of the greatest opportunities of the Internet. By responding to the consumers’ need for information and providing them with the information they are looking for earlier in the sales cycle, a business of any size can develop the kind of branded relationship that at one time only corporations with large ad budgets could afford. To get maximum benefit one can blend conventional advertising with online advertising to further energize and empower the overall campaign and make it interactive. What is needed is creativity and imaginative thinking. There is no particular, sure-fire way of doing it right and there is hardly a code of conduct. That gives internet-advertising a lot of breathing space but also leaves no excuses for not being innovative. As I have mentioned above if we conduct a cost and benefit analysis it would portray more benefit than the cost, the major target market of this media are the corporate clients as they make up most of the market in using FedEx services, with this innovative medium we will attract new customer for our product as well, the stake holder are the employee, loyal customer, the management of FedEx etc. In order to cater cultural nuances of people from all over the world we will have website customized to match the particular countries culture, and we will endeavor to cater the worldwide culture accordingly for instance Take nudity, Many Mildest cultures are reluctant to displaying women’s skin, while Europeans are far more tolerant of public nudity than Americans, these cultural difference will be catered for the effectiveness of the organizational communications strategy. Culture is a very difficult term to define. However, certain people have gone on and defined culture well by saying that it is a ‘set of shared values, opinions and practices of a community or group of people. ’ (Definition of Culture) The importance of the understanding of a socio-cultural environment of any country is imperative to attaining business advantage and eventually translatable success. This understanding of socio-cultural environment is then translated effectively into business practices so that they appeal to the local crowd and create a positive image of the firm in their minds. (Cultural Barriers) In my opinion this organizational communications strategy will do wonders for the organization, I hope this strategy will be implemented for the betterment of the organization.

Is consociational democracy democratic? Essay

Today, democracy is both a pervasive presence and a valued symbol in European politics1. Theorists of the concept generally agree on the fundamental principles of democracy but have tended to differ radically in their conception of popular rule and democratic practices2. Consequently, it was somewhat inevitable that democracy as an ideal emerged in different forms across the diverse societies prevalent in Western Europe. Arend Lipjphart’s seminal work on ‘consociational democracies’3 contributed to democratic theory – concerned primarily with political stability of democratic regimes in plural societies4. The democratic viability of Lipjphart’s theory has recently been called into question however5. What then is ‘democracy’? Establishing the benchmarks of the concept at the outset will allow us to evaluate the extent to which ‘consociational democracy’ can be seen as ‘democratic’. An assessment of the key themes of Lipjphart’s theory – that of ‘grand coalitions’, ‘segmental autonomy’, ‘proportionality’ and ‘minority veto’ respectively – will set the structure to the following discussion. Drawing examples from the Belgian and Swiss ‘consociational’ regimes will provide illustrations of the emerging argument that consociational democracy is undemocratic6. Abraham Lincoln famously described the concept of ‘democracy’ as ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’7. Lincoln’s prominent phrase encapsulates three fundamental principles, which, roughly translated, mean that we as citizens govern through political parties representing our interests; exercise our choice through franchise to elect those in control; and have the right to hold persons in power accountable for their actions. Moreover, the fourth striking characteristic noted by academics is that democracy represents political stability8. For Lipjphart, â€Å"consociational democracy means government by elite cartel designed to turn a democracy with a fragmented political culture into a stable democracy†9. ‘Grand coalitions’ would be used to prevent cultural diversity from being transformed into â€Å"explosive cultural segmentation†10. Politics, by its very nature, feeds on conflicts arising from social heterogeneity11 and the stability of divided societies often depends on whether the elites of rival subcultures are willing and able to reject confrontation in favour of compromise12. A grand coalition enables political leaders of all the segments of the plural society to jointly govern the country13. Nobel prize winning economist Sir Arthur Lewis endorses the system by arguing that all who are affected by a decision should have the chance to participate in making that decision, because â€Å"to exclude losing groups from participation clearly violates the primary meaning of democracy†14. In this sense, by embracing the notion of grand coalition, consociationalism can be said to be ‘democratic’15. There is, however, evidence to suggest that in practice the principle of ‘grand coalition’ does not adhere closely to the benchmarks of democracy. The Belgian governmental arena has overall remained fairly closed to non-pillar parties, which seems to contradict the very essence of grand coalition government16. In Switzerland, even though the major parties are represented on roughly proportional grounds in the Federal Council, the representatives are not always those nominated by the party17. Does this lie comfortably with the initial conception of democracy as government ‘of the people’? What of accountability? Since the Federal Council makes its decisions in a collegial manner, no party can hold its representative government directly responsible18. The Swiss consociational system cannot therefore be said to be truly accountable to the electorate – contrary to one of the fundamental principles of democracy19. Moreover, the Swiss referendum system has often highlighted flaws inherent in a ‘grand coalition’. Although the outcome of a policy decision is one of ‘amicable agreement’ among the elite, it might be opposed by 49% of the electorate at referendum20. Papadopoulos argues that the major problem stems from the fact that, since some decisions are taken at the end of the process by popular vote, it effectively excludes any further appeal or bargaining21. Can the ‘grand coalition’ system truly coincide with the democratic principle of representativeness if binding collective decisions may be taken on very small popular majorities?22 Furthermore, since accommodating strategies are not always effective, they are more easily gridlocked23 and potentially unstable24. Consequently, it seems that elite accommodation does not fulfil its proposed stabilising function and thus does not conform to the ultimate proposition of democratic stability. In all democracies power is necessarily divided to some extents between the central and non-central governments in order to avoid a concentration of power25. The ‘consociational’ school, inspired by the writings of Tocqueville, sees decentralisation of power as the essence of democratic government26. The principle of ‘segmental autonomy’ seeks to ensure that decision-making authority is, as much as possible, delegated to the separate subdivisions of society whereas issues of common interest are decided jointly. In contrast with majority rule, it may be characterised as â€Å"minority rule over the minority itself in matters that are their exclusive concern†27. This follows from Jan-Erik Lane’s proposition that all societal groups will respect the rules of democracy if they have autonomy over their own affairs28. Federalism is the best-known method of giving segmental autonomy to different groups in society. Segmental autonomy may also be provided on a non-territorial basis which is of particular relevance to plural societies where distinct sub-societies are not geographically concentrated. Such non-territorial autonomy characterised the Belgian system prior to its transformation into a federal state in 1993. Switzerland is also a federal state in which power is divided between the central government and a number of cantonal governments. Both systems, according to Tocqueville’s analysis, are conducive to democracy. It is evident that one of the subsidiary characteristics of segmental autonomy in the form of federalism is that the smaller component units are overrepresented in the federal chamber – their share of legislative seats exceeds their share of the population29. The maximum extension of this principle seems to be equality of representation regardless of the component units’ population. Such parity is evident in Switzerland where two representatives stand for each canton. Can an overrepresentation of minorities be truly democratic if it disregards the will of the majority? Moreover, the form segmental autonomy takes in the Netherlands is that pillar organisations in areas such as education, health care and housing are recognised and financed by the government. Each organisation has considerable influence in the running of their policy sector, but the increasing intervention of the state in imposing standards means that â€Å"the organisations that are autonomous in name are, in practice, quasi-governmental agencies†30. Thus, it can be argued that the pillars are to an extent no longer democratically representative of the societies they act for. What of democratic stability? In the Swiss context, highly decentralised federalism has been accused of being a hindrance of effective government31 and Belgium’s new system of federal consociationalism is bipolar, which is not always a good condition for its smooth operation32. â€Å"There can be no doubt that the adoption of a system of elected administrative officers plays a most vital part in the process of democracy†33. The notion of ‘proportionality’ serves as the basic standard of political representation34. The rule of proportionality, said to be so central to the ‘politics of accommodation’, attempts to ensure that all parties have access to state resources35. Indeed, it seems that if partisan conflict is multi-dimensional, a two-party system must be regarded as an â€Å"electoral straight jacket that can hardly be considered to be democratically superior to a multi-party system reflecting all of the major issue alternatives†36. Moreover, in two-party systems the party gaining an overall majority will tend to be overrepresented in parliament, whereas votes translate into seats proportionally through the adoption of proportional representation37. The Swiss consociational system, takes representation a step further through referenda, whereby the public effectively have a veto on state policy38. Thus, with regard to representation, it would seem that consociational democracy acquires the higher democratic ground. On the other hand, even if we concede that ‘proportionality’ is more ‘representative’, it is implicit that a defining characteristic of consociational democracy is the absence of competition since the campaigning is directed at the mobilization of the sub-cultural constituency, not at competition with other parties. Competition between parties is, however, a defining feature of democracy39, stemming from the notion of freedom and choice. Can non-competition be equated with absence of choice and thus be seen as undemocratic? Conversely, certain academics have argued that in its pure form the system of proportional representation â€Å"generally backfires and may turn out to be the kiss of death†40. Indeed, party volatilities may have significant consequences for the political process in consociational democracies41. The Swiss party system is highly fragmented42, and the increasing fractionalisation of the party system in Belgium has led to high volatility elections and instability43. Does this adhere to the democratic notion of stability? Moreover, in the Swiss context it may be argued that referendums are basically majoritarian in their effects, because they are usually decided by simple popular majorities. Indeed, it has been suggested that, due to the inability to discuss matters emerging in referenda, they are bound to be more dangerous than representative assemblies to minority rights44. Additionally, statistics show that the level of participation in Swiss referenda has been low – often below 50 per cent of those eligible to vote45. In the light of some assertions that ‘too many referenda kill democracy’46, can this aspect of proportionality in Swiss politics be described as democratic? The ‘grand coalition’ system of government serves to give each societal segment a share of power at the central level. There is no provide a guarantee, however, that the policy will not be outvoted by a majority when its primary objectives are contested47. The purpose of a ‘minority veto’48 in consociational democracies is to provide such a guarantee. The ‘minority veto’ tool provides a strong system of checks and balances and reinforces the notion of separation of powers at the heart of government. Indeed, academics have noted that Belgium’s federal state is â€Å"replete with checks and balances†49, and the notion of separation of powers in both Belgium and Switzerland manifests itself through a bicameral legislature with equal legislative powers. Consequently, it may be argued that the ‘minority veto’ sustains the democratic principle of holding the government to account. Does ‘mutual veto’ work in practice? One of the ‘rules of the consociational game’ was ‘the government’s right to govern’ with the corollary that the parties should not interfere thus allowing the government to â€Å"rise above inter-subcultural strife†. To a considerable degree, this â€Å"aloofness from party politics has given way to a politicisation of the cabinet by the governing parties†50, making the minority veto principle largely redundant. However, when it does have an effect, the reciprocal control of power inherent in mutual veto often results in mutual obstruction and blocked decision-making. Swiss constitutional amendments, for example, must be approved by a majority of the cantons – which effectively gives the smallest cantons, with less than 20 per cent of the population, a potential veto51. It is implicit in Switzerland that good solutions are often difficult to reach because the Federal council â€Å"does not observe the implicit rules of the accommodation game†52. Can a system that disregards the wishes of the majority be truly democratic? Some have even commented that â€Å"to admit the minority veto as a major and normal means of limiting power is to admit a shuddering principle†53. If you reward divisiveness through veto power, you institutionalise those divisions. In this light, Lipjphart’s machinery seems to engender â€Å"consensus-braking than consensus-making†54. Divisiveness and instability can hardly be reconciled with the traditional concept of democracy. Is consociational democracy democratic? Assessing the main themes of Lipjphart’s concept has highlighted â€Å"fundamental weaknesses† in consociational theory55. Even though ‘grand coalitions’ seek to represent all groups in society, the collegial manner of decision-making raises problems of accountability. ‘Segmental autonomy’ may be praised in theory, but it seems that in practice, smaller pillars tend to become institutionalised through heavy regulation at central level, thus negating the democratic essence of the notion. The concept of ‘proportionality’ aims at a fair distribution of power, yet the party volatilities produced as a result can hardly be conducive to democratic stability. Academics of the consociational school argue that ‘minority veto’ resolves the accountability deficit inherent in grand coalition government since it provides a system of checks and balances. On the other hand, critics contest that mutual veto encourages gridlock and frustration at the heart of administrations. The Swiss and Belgian experience has shown that consociational democracies tend to be stable, but are they stable because they are consociational56? At the very least, empirical evidence highlights a ‘democratic deficit’ in consociational theory57. 1 What democracy is and is not, p.70 2 http://www.xrefer.com/entry/343784 3 http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/spire/Staff/Pages/Luther/researchint.htm 4 Politics and Society in Western Europe, lane + ersson, p.156 5 http://www.xrefer.com/entry/343729 6 Consociationalism has been practiced in Belgium and Switzerland since 1945 and 1943 respectively. Note: It has been argued that the Swiss model does not strictly fit into the consociational mould (Barry, Review article), but for the purpose of this analysis we will discuss Switzerland due to its grouping as one of the four original identified ‘consociational’ societies (Paul Pennings, party elites in divided societies, p.21, also Kenneth D Mc Rae p.520) 7 http://www.xrefer.com/entry/343784 8 ‘On Liberty’, J.S. Mill, Cambridge University Press, 1989 9 Sited in Politics and Society in W Europe, lane + ersson p.157 10 The odd fellow, Switzerland, p.135 11 Politics and society in Western Europe, Neo Taqu. p.2 12 http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/spire/Staff/Pages/Luther/researchint.htm 13 Arend Lipjphart, Consociation and Federation p.500 14 W. Arthur Lewis, Politics in West Africa (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1965) p.64 15 Since 1959, Switzerland has been governed by a grand coalition of the four major political parties. The Belgian state is also maintained according to Luther’s framework of vertical linkage within the subcultures as well as engagement in overreaching accommodation to bridge the gap between the pillars (From consociation to federation, Belgium, p.104) 16 From consociation to federation, Belgium, p.98. In Belgium, to an increasing extent, the system of consociational accommodation became the ‘system’ of Christian Democrat and socialist cooperation. In 1999, the ‘natural’ centre left coalition has been in power for twelve years 17 Brian Barry, review article, p.482 18 The odd fellow, Switz, p.154 19 Indeed, it has been said that power and strict accountability for its use are the essential constituents of good government. Woodrow Wilson, Congressional Government: A study in American Politics (New York: Meridian Books, 1956) p.186 20 Brian Barry, review article, p.483 21 The odd fellow, Switz, p.138 22 In a multi-party system without a majority party, the coalition’s programme will be a compromise between the individual party platforms – a compromise made by political leaders instead of mandated directly by the voters. (Democracies, p.110) 23 Comparative constitutional engineering, p.71 24 Party Elites in divided societies, paul pennings, p.22 25 Democracies p.169 26 Politics and Society in Western Europe, Ersson + Lane, p.169 27 Lipjphart, consociation and federation, p.500 28 Lipjphart, consociation and federation, p.500 29 Democracies, p.173 30 Party elites in divided societies, Rudy Armstrong, p.124 31 The Swiss Labyrinth, p.25 32 From consoc. To fed. Belgium, p.107 33 European democracy between the wars, p.23 34 Consociation and federation, Lipjphart, p.501 35 Parties, Pillars, Rudy B. Andeweg, p.129 36 Democracies, p.113 37 Democracies, p.151. The two-party ‘leader’s bias’ was strongly illustrated in the UK in 1997, with Labour gaining 65 per cent of British seats on 45 per cent of the vote, while the Conservatives were under-represented in the commons (Dunleavy, Developments in British Politics p.147) 38 Indeed, Switzerland has developed â€Å"the theory and practice of the referendum to a pitch to which no other nation has begun to match† (Butler and Ranney, eds., Referendums:A Comparative Study of Practice and Theory (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1978) p.5 39 What democracy is and is not p.70 40 Comparative constitutional engineering, p.73. It has been said that the dispersal of power across several minority parties adds profusion to confusion, Ibid. p.71 41 paul pennings, party elites, p.38 42 The odd fellow, p.141 43 From consociation to federation, Belgium, p.93. In ‘Democracy or Anarchy?’ Ferdinand A Hermens warned of the dangers proportional representation posed to the survival of democracy, arguing that the instability created by the latter would invoke the rise of autocratic regimes. (F.A. Hermens, Democracy or Anarchy? Astudy of Proportional Representation (New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1972) p.293) 44 Democracies, p.31 45 The Swiss Labyrinth, p.5 46 The Swiss Labyrinth, p.5 47 Consociation and Federation, Lipjphart, p.501 48 Note: The term ‘minority veto’ will be used interchangeably with ‘mutual veto’ 49 From consociation to federation, Belgium, p.103. The Belgian constitution can only be changed by two-thirds majorities in both chambers of the legislature. This rule is effectively a minority veto where a minority or a combination thereof controls at least a third of the votes in one chamber. 50 Parties, Pillars and the Politics of accommodation, Andweg p.127 51 Democracies, p.190 52 The Swiss Labyrinth, p.27 53 Comparative Constitutional Engineering, p.71 54 Comparative constitutional engineering, p.72 55 http://www.sagepub.co.uk/journals/details/issue/abstract/ab013998.html 56 http://www.xrefer.com/entry/343729 57 Craig and De Burca p.155

User Manual for Marymount Online Functions Assignment

User Manual for Marymount Online Functions - Assignment Example It is intended for students who have not explored the various functions, features, and terminology and course registration process of the online application software. This manual focuses on the function of how to obtain Marynet, Grades for 14/SP. Several requirements are needed to be able to use this manual. You will need either a PC, Laptop, Tablet or a smartphone with an installed adobe program that will allow you to read this manual. No additional programs and software is needed. Most importantly, you will need to have internet connection to be able to access the online application. The sections and topics in this manual are interelated, therefore, you should read and understand preceding topics and sections consecutively. It is also recommended that you read the manual keenly understanding all the procedures accurately. For better understanding, most procedures have been illustrated using screenshots and pictures alongside their descriptions. Should you have any additional questions and clarifications, the FAQ section answers soe of the common questions . New and custom terms unique to this manual have also been defined and explained in the glosary. Before you can be able to perform any functions in the online application, you must log in to the system. To do so use the following address to open the login web page: https://bb.marymount.edu . Simply click on the link to be able to log in. The following webpage will appear. Type your user name and password on this screen then click login to log in to the system. In case you experience any problems while logging, such as forgetting your password, simply click the â€Å"Reset My Marymount Password† link. Once you login you will be able to access the Main Menu from where you can select the actions you wish to perform. The following screen appears that will allow you to select the appropriate function to perform. After selecting

A Nestle breakfast cereal (market opportunities, product strategy and Essay

A Nestle breakfast cereal (market opportunities, product strategy and next steps) - Essay Example On the other hand, market remains competitive with competition from pastries, cereal bars and biscuits as well as porridges. It is interesting to note that the consumers over 50, given their need for greater convenience and behavior of eating more at home may be inclined towards â€Å"hot cereal† products. These hot cereals offer an even more convenient breakfast option for consumers along with a more portable â€Å"pot† format for the cereal. They also reflect the deep-seated cultural tradition of eating â€Å"hot oats† or â€Å"hot biscuits† across continental Europe (Culliney, 2013). Considering that individuals over 50 tend to prescribe to age-old traditions, this may seem just the right option. Our competitor, Kellogg’s, has already stepped into this market by providing its â€Å"Special K Nourish† product (Culliney, 2013). Considering that consumers over 50 years tend to use the microwave or steam for the preparation of their cereals, h ot cereals provide just the right opportunity to capitalize this. Furthermore, targeting the mental health of consumers over 50 presents a vast opportunity for breakfast cereals sellers. Although manufacturers have traditionally focused on good health of the brain and heart by providing low cholesterol, sugar or fats to this age bracket, it is now time to shift the focus towards catering to the cognitive areas of development in these individuals. Deterioration in mental health, such as Alzheimer’s disease, is common in the older segment; however, few companies have made claims in the area (Culliney, 2012). Considering that individuals over 50 years constitute a major proportion of purchases of breakfast cereals, a growth in the market for fortified cereals is anticipated. Further growth can be achieved by altering the ingredients used in these cereals. For instance, omega-3, linseed, chia seeds, flax seed and poppy seeds could be added to enrich the nutritional value of these breakfast cereals (Culliney, 2012). Fortified cereals that include special ingredients such as zinc, iodine and GABA could be provided to this age group. Most importantly, segmenting via age could be a misleading idea. It is wrong to assume that consumers aged 55-75, for instance, have similar needs because they do not (Culliney, 2012). For instance, it would be useful to create sub- segments in this age group such as thrivers, seniors, elders and survivors. Furthermore, individuals over 50 dislike the idea of being overtly targeted at on the basis of their age (Hought, 2008). Therefore, marketing should be aimed at health benefits or other perceived benefits of the cereal rather than age. 2. Product Strategy Nestle has not yet tapped the highly profitable segment of hot cereals. This comes as a surprise since our competitor, Kellogg’s, has already launched its hot cereal â€Å"pots† which could lure consumers over 50 looking towards microwave cereals. Therefore, our company shall introduce an entirely new product named â€Å"Nestle Live Long Hot Pots† which would offer greater indulgence for our over 50 consumers who spend longer time having breakfast. This product would not only be low in terms of calories but also low in sugar and, therefore, safe for individuals with diabetes in this target group. However, low calories shall not be the thrust of this product as consumers want high nutritional value and not just low

Critical Perspectives of Management and Organisations Essay

Critical Perspectives of Management and Organisations - Essay Example 87). These behaviours have become so common in the workplace to the point that they are viewed as normal and legal steps are rarely taken to discourage the same (Thomson Reuters, 2007). Although various countries have established laws to control this behaviour and minimize its effects to the employees, which are usually negative to their productivity and psychological health, most companies still tolerate them especially in the cases where seniors harass subordinates (Crosby, 2007, p. 45-50). Most of these cases are not reported as individual are usually afraid of losing their jobs. Desexualizing the work place is important both for the sake of the organization and for the employees who may become tormented by unwelcome advances of their bosses. Desexualizing is the change in direction with respect to suppressing sexuality as a way of establishing managerial control on employees. The topic of sexuality in the workplace is very important both for the employees and for the employers (O erez & Liberman, 2010, p. 102-107). The employees benefit by knowing that they have the right to be provided with a healthy working places without sexual discrimination of any kind. In addition, the topic provides information to the employees on possible steps to take in the case that they may be subjected towards sexual discrimination (Williams et al., 1999, p. 77-79). On the other hand, the employer is made aware that they may be subject to lawsuit in the event that sexual discrimination takes place in the organization and they fail to take steps to avert the same. In this essay, I am going to present the work of Katie Sullivan who outlines various claims connected to the case of sexualisation in the work place. In the essay, I am going to show how the society has accepted this behaviour and present facts to show how it can be averted especially in the profession of massage. Sullivan

Criminology Theory Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Criminology Theory Assessment - Essay Example Before embarking upon the topic under analysis, it would be quite advisable to discuss the criminal activities observed by Bernard Madoff. Madoff belongs to a Jewish family of the USA, who laid the foundation of a penny stock under the title Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in 1960 and got it registered at Wall Street as a small trading firm. The firm made huge business during the course of time, and hundreds of businessmen invested their money from its platform at stock exchange. The main reason behind its popularity was its secret attractive profit offers, as the company offered extra percentage in profit than its competitors. From the 1970s right on through to 2008, Bernie Madoff was certainly responsible for making some of his clients’ money.   However, as will become apparent later on in this discussion, that money was not made honestly. (madoffscandal.com) Consequently, he earned respectable name and fame as a young energetic Wall Street businessman within f ew years of his entry into the stock market. By the early 1980s his firm was one of the largest independent trading operations in the securities industry. (NYT, 2009) Being a very social person by nature, Madoff entered into business contracts with the big investors during his visits at clubs, restaurants and ceremonies with the promise of extra profit generated for them by his company. Initially, he tapped local money pulled in from country clubs and charity dinners, where investors sought him out to casually plead with him to manage their savings so they could start reaping the steady, solid returns their envied friends were getting. (Henriques, 2008) The investors appeared to be satisfied with the lucrative and steady profit transactions made by Madoff Securities, and did not express even slightest signs of doubts regarding fraud or misrepresentation at the company’s end. Hence, the number of investors observed significant increase at the company. However, the nature and m ethodology, adopted by the company, regarding offering profit to the investors appeared to be dubious and shocking for the competitor firms, which were already suspicious about the secret activities of the Madoff Securities. Consequently, it was discovered that Madoff had adopted the largest Ponzi scheme by exercising dishonesty with the investments made by the clients of his company. Madoff confessed of committing fraud with estimated investor losses of about $50 billion by inflicting the Ponzi scheme upon them. A Ponzi scheme is a swindle offering unusually high returns, with early investors paid off with money from later investors. (Honan & Wilchins, 2008) The court announced 150 years imprisonment sentence to Madoff for his crime. Though Madoff pleaded guilty of committing dishonesty and fraud with his investors, he also blames banks and financial institutions for their criminal negligence of performing blindness to his activities. Since these financial institutions were well aw are of all the transactions being made, they could have brought it to the limelight in order to stop Madoff from sticking to the same Ponzi scheme. Here appears the Social Control Theory: Articulated by Travis Hirschi in 1969, social control theory states that social control depends upon people anticipating the consequences of their behavior. (Macionis, 2007: 231) In other words, crime rate can witness imperative decreases in the society provided the criminals foresee the outcome of their

MOTIVATION Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

MOTIVATION - Research Paper Example Thus Motivation or Motives act as a set of psychological catalysts that contribute in converting the needs, wants and desires of an individual into effective drives to help achieve end goals and incentives. Henceforth motivation also helps an individual in effectively reducing the tension gained from the growing set of desires and wants to achieve or accomplish ends and goals (Bowkowski, 2011, Ch.5). The inner drive of an individual to satisfy the emerging want or need can be reflected as follows. Figure 1 (Bowkowski, 2011, Ch.5) Difference between Traditional and Current Approaches to Motivation Different sets of Motivation Theories have gained emergence from the traditional to the modern managerial periods. These different theories related to the Traditional and Modern context owes some specific differences that can be highlighted as follows. The Traditional Theories related to motivation focus on rendering an effective analysis of the job environment or work atmosphere of an indiv idual and the different types of rewards needed to enhance the performance levels of the employees. Here rewards act as intrinsic motivators to help an individual generate the needed drive to achieve the end goal. On the contrary the Current Approaches to Motivation rely mainly on three types of theories like Content, Process and Reinforcement that contribute in shaping the motivational behavior of an individual to achieve the end goals. Identification and Description of Content Theories of Motivation based on Employee Needs The Content Theories of Motivation tend to operate based on a premise that certain factors are responsible in creating an inner drive in an individual to generate a desire to achieve end goals and thereby satiate the gamut of needs and wants emergent in one’s psychological level. Thus through the use of Content Theories the managers tend to gain an understanding of the factors that tend to drive or kindle the energy in an individual to achieve desired end s. Content Theories being related to the unsatisfied needs or wants of an individual is also referred to as Needs Theory (Bowkowski, 2011, Ch.5). Identification and Explanation of Process Theories of Motivation The Process theories of Motivation relate to the Cognitive elements used by an individual to decide on the behavioral process or attributes needed to specifically fulfill a desired set of objectives or accomplish the goals set. Herein the person needs to effectively evaluate whether the factor choices for motivation are resultant or effective to achieve end objectives. Thus herein motivation depends on factors like the attributes of the goals set to achieve, secondly in whether equitable access is existent in helping an individual gain the required opportunities in achieving desired ends and finally in whether one possesses the required level of potency in helping to raise the expectation for meeting end goals. Significant Process Theories relate to Expectancy, Equity, Satisf action-Performance, Goal-Setting and Reinforcement (Bowkowski, 2011, Ch.6). Description of Reinforcement Theory of Employee Motivation The Reinforcement Theory of Motivation works mainly along four parameters: Positive and Negative Reinforcements and Punishment and Extinction. Positive and Negative Reinforcement criteria generally focus on motivating an individual’s performance through the generation of rewards and also

Prevention and Control of Diseases and Health Conditions Assignment

Prevention and Control of Diseases and Health Conditions - Assignment Example In the time of menopause, women experiences declining level of progesterone and estrogen thus having symptomatic changes for women. However, HRT can be an efficient treatment for the typical menopause symptoms. According to studies on HRT, they should that the risk: benefit ratio can rise significantly for those women with ages 60 years and above. The risk involved such as stroke, breast cancer, endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer among others complications might have been the main thing that went wrong in the clinical studies (OConnor-Fleming, & Parker, 2008). HPV is said to be the most common American’s sexually transmitted disease. Merck Pharmaceuticals having introduced a vaccine that protects against the sexually transmitted virus raises many concerns, not on the issue of risks but on the issue of ethics. In my opinion, I think the vaccine will make things worse rather than good. On the issue of ethics, the vaccine will lead to some women letting their guard down when it concerns annual gynecological exams and safe sex (McKenzie, Pinger, & Kotecki, 2012). On the issue of breast cancer, the age bracket is not relevant considering the past statistics on the range of women who have died of breast cancer. According to the Canadian National Breast Screening Study, 5% of the screenings are positive or suspicious, but the 80-93 % is false positives that cause anxiety to many, however, on public perspective, this shows that the hospitals undertaking the screening might be using tests have questionable accuracy. I believe the 5% is worth saving, considering the limited resources and screening in any age group is not justifiable (OConnor-Fleming, & Parker,

Critically evaluate Kelleys ANOVA model of attribution Essay Example for Free

Critically evaluate Kelleys ANOVA model of attribution Essay Attribution theories involve the use of social and psychological research to explain how we interpret the events and behaviours we see around us. When observing behaviour, our own or other peoples, we attempt to provide explanations for its occurrence, these explanations are usually situational or dispositional. Thus, attributions are personal expressions about causal factors of events or behaviours. Theories have offered important insights into the ways in which people explain their own actions and the actions of others. Many theoretical models have been suggested; they usually involve a search for the cause of the behaviour, and an attempt to determine whether this is internal or external, followed by a decision as to whether the behaviour is logical or rational. Some of the most prominent theories are initially Heiders (1948) Model, which highlighted the fact that all behaviours have both internal and external causes. There is also Jones and Davis (1965) Correspondent Inference Theory that is concerned with how we move from observing behaviour, to understanding the intention of the actor, to concluding the disposition which caused the intention. There is also Kelleys (1967) ANOVA model, which is concerned with what information we use to arrive at a causal attribution. In this essay, I shall attempt to further discuss and evaluate Kelleys model, as it is one of the most recent and widely discussed. Inevitably, all of these theories have been further formalized and extended by later psychologists. The key question for Kelley (1967) was what type of information does the person use in order to make a causal attribution? (Scott and Spencer, 1998). He saw the person as a nai ve scientist who weighs up several pieces of information before arriving at an explanation for events causes. Kelly believes that in order to determine the origins of a behaviour, for example Nicola argued with her dad, we need three types of information; distinctiveness, consensus and consistency. Distinctiveness refers to information we require about the stimulus, which in this case is Nicolas dad. If Nicola only argues with her dad the distinctiveness is high, however, if she argues with everyone the distinctiveness, of her dad, is low. The second type of information that is needed is consensus details about Nicola herself. There is high consensus for Nicolas argumentative behaviour if many people argue with her dad and low consensus if it is only she. Finally, consistency information, about the circumstances surrounding the argument, needs to be considered. For example, there is high consistency if Nicola argues with her dad in many situations, but low consistency if Nicola has only argued with her father on this specific occasion. When all of this information has been obtained we use the principle of covariation, deciding what factor is always present with this behaviour, to determine what was the cause of the argument.

Network System for Secure Communication

Network System for Secure Communication Methodology: The main methodology involved behind this research project is to provide the importance of such technology from professionals and well referred articles. Some of the general interviews will be added to the project with details showing their interest towards the current technology and also the change they see in communicating with the new technology. It on the hands of the components of IP Security that contribute to this level of secure communication: The IP Security (IPSec) Driver is used to monitor, filter, and secures the traffic throughout the system. The (ISAKMP/Oakley) abbreviated as Internet Security Association Key Management Protocol performs key exchange and management functions that oversee security issues between hosts, and provide keys which can be used with security algorithms. The IP Security Policy and the Security Associations are derived from those policies that define the security environment where two hosts can communicate. The function of Security Association API is to provide the interface between the IPSec driver, the Policy Agent and the ISAKMP. The function of the management tools is to create policies, monitor IP Security statistics, and log IP Security events. The main methodologies which are under consideration for this project are Classical encryption technologies, IP sec Tunnel, IP sec VPN, Internet Key Exchange methods, Block Cipher Data Encryption, Advanced Encryption, Symmetric ciphers, Public private key functions, Digital signature etc, which have suggested me to design a better system. Implementation: The main reason behind selecting IPSec is that it so powerful that it provides security to IP layer, and also forms the basis for all the other TCP/IP protocols. This is generally composed of two protocols: Authentication Header (AH); Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP); IPSec Implementation Methods: IPSec is comprised of several implementations architectures which are defined in RFC 2401. The IPSec implementation also depends on various factors including the version of IP used (v4 versus v6), the basic requirements of the application and other factors. End Host Implementation: Implementing IPSec in all host devices provides the most flexibility and security. It enables â€Å"end-to-end† security between any two devices on the network. Router Implementation: Router implementation however is a much simpler task since we only make changes to a few routers instead of hundreds or thousands of clients. It only provides protection between pairs of routers that implement IPSec, but this may be sufficient for certain applications such as virtual private networks (VPNs). The idea will be implemented after proper testing of various available methodologies. The current strategy for implementation is as follows:. We use certain open source softwares which provide encryption and decryption methods and authentication. In the actual system, the user is asked to enter details of files to be sent and also some other details about the password and the public keys if included. The required software are used in a way which helps to run a smooth process and secure operation. CONTENTS Acknowledgement I owe many thanks to people who helped supported me in doing my dissertation. Firstly, I would like to express my immense gratitude to my respected professor Mr. Dr. XXX, YYYY University, London for his support and motivation that has helped me to come up with this project. He supported me when its needed and suggested me in understanding various methodologies in my project. He also took care of my project with attention to achieve my goal. I thank to my Institution and faculty members for giving me an opportunity to do my dissertation and also for library, computer lab facilities for doing my dissertation to achieve practical results which can resolve my project related issues. I also extend my Heart full thanks to my family friends. I owe my special thanks to my Dad and his colleagues who gave me suggestions on doing my Dissertation. Abstract In the present system the network helps a particular organization to share the data by using external devices. The external devices are used to carry the data. The existing system cannot provide security, which allows an unauthorized user to access the secret files. It also cannot share a single costly printer. Many interrupts may occur within the system. Though it is advantageous we have numerous disadvantageous, somebody writes a program and can make the costly printer to misprint the data. Similarly some unauthorized user may get access over the network and may perform any illegal functions like deleting some of the sensitive information Security is the term that comes into picture when some important or sensitive information must be protected from an unauthorized access. Hence there must be some way to protect the data from them and even if he hacks the information because he should not be able to understand whats the actual information in the file, which is the main intention of the project. The project is designed to protect the sensitive information while it is in transaction in the network. There are many chances that an unauthorized person can have an access over the network in some way and can access this sensitive information. My main topic focuses on IPSec (Internet Protocol Security) is an extension to the IP protocol specified by IETF which provides security to the IP and the upper-layer protocols and cryptography in a network sharing system. It was first developed for the new IPv6 standard and then â€Å"back ported† to IPv4. The IPSec architecture is described in the IPSec uses two different protocols AH (Authentication Header) and ESP (Encapsulating security payload) to ensure the authentication, integrity and confidentiality of the communication. It uses strong cryptography to provide both authentication and encryption services. Authentication ensures that packets are from the right sender and have not been altered in transit. Encryption prevents unauthorised reading of packet contents. [2] Cryptography is the technique used to secure the data while they are in transactions. Encryption and Decryption are two techniques used under cryptography technology. Data cryptography is the art of securing the resource that is shared among the applications. The main idea behind the design is to provide a secured communication between the networks showing network level performance practically by differentiating different operating system which can ensure the security, authenticity by considering, analyzing and testing any best available methodologies. 1. Introduction: Businesses today are focused on the importance of securing customer and business data. Increasing regulatory requirements are driving need for security of data. There have been many methods which have evolved over the years to address the need for security. Many of the methods are focused at the higher layers of the OSI protocol stack, thus compensating the IPs lack in resolving security issues. These solutions can be implemented in certain situations, but they cannot be generalized because they are particularly too many applications. For example, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) can be used for certain applications like World Wide Web access or FTP, but there are many other applications which cannot be resolved with this type of security. A solution is required to allow security at the IP level was very necessary so that all higher-layer protocols in TCP/IP could take advantage of it. When the decision was made to develop a new version of IP (IPv6), this was the golden opportunity to resolve not just the addressing problems in the older IPv4, but also resolve lack of security issues as well. Later a new security technology was developed with IPv6 in mind, but since IPv6 has taken long time to develop, and thus a solution was designed to be usable for both IPv4 and IPv6. The technology which brings a secure communications to the Internet Protocol is known as IP Security, commonly abbreviated as IPSec. IPSec services allow users to build secure tunnels through certain networks. All the data that passes through the entrusted net is encrypted by the IPSEC gateway machine and decrypted by the gateway at the other end. The result obtained is a Virtual Private Network or VPN. This network is effectively private even though it includes machines at several different sites which are connected by the insecure Internet. Cryptography technique is used to secure the data while they are in transactions. Encryption and Decryption are two techniques which are used under cryptography technology. Data cryptography is the art of securing the resource that is shared among the applications. The Encryption and Decryption are termed as two powerful security technologies that are widely implemented to protect the data from loss and deliberate compromise. In this project the networking allows the company to share files or data without using certain external devices. Some unauthorized users may get access over the network and perform some illegal functions in certain cases like deleting files while the transaction is still on at that time encryption and then decryption techniques are implemented to secure the data. Many other attacks in cryptography are considered which lead me to research on different types of IPSec implementation methodologies in order to design the best model such that it may be suitable for the present trend of networking systems also form a platform to enable communication to the outside world. Thus in orders to implement IPSec, certain modifications are required to the systems communications routines and certain new systems processes conduct secret key negotiations. What is IPSec? An extension to the IP protocol is considered as IPSec which provides high level security to the IP and to the upper-layer protocols. This was initially developed for the new IPv6 standard and then was back ported to IPv4. IPSec provides the following security services: data origin authentication, connectionless integrity, replay protection, data confidentiality, limited traffic flow confidentiality, and key negotiation and management. It has been made mandatory by the IETF for the use of IPSec wherever feasible; the standards documents are close to completion, and there are numerous implementations. Overview of IPSec Architecture: The IPSec suite defined as a framework of open standards. The following protocols are used by IPSec to perform various functions. [2][3] IPSec provides three main facilities which are explained below: Internet key exchange(IKE and IKEv2) : This is used to set up a security association (SA) which can be done by handling negotiation of protocols and algorithms and generating the encryption and authentication keys which can be used by IPSec.[4][5] Authentication Header (AH): This is used to provide connectionless integrity and data origin authentication for IP datagrams and also provides protection against replay attacks.[6][7] Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP): This is used to provide confidentiality, data origin authentication, connectionless integrity, anti-replay service, and limited traffic flow confidentiality. [9] Both authentication and encryption are generally desired in this mechanism. Assure that unauthorized users do not penetrate the virtual private network Assure that eavesdroppers on the Internet cannot read messages sent over the virtual private network. Since both the above features are generally desirable, most implementations are likely to use ESP rather than AH. Security Association: The security Association mechanism is used for authentication (AH) and confidentiality (ESP) A one way relationship between a sender and a receiver that affords security services to the traffic carried on it. Security services are afforded to an SA for the use of AH or ESP but not both. SA identified by three parameters: Security Parameter Index (SPI) IP destination address Security protocol identifier Overview of IPSec Services and Functions: IPSec is not only assumed as a single protocol, but is rather considered as a set of services and protocols which provide a complete security solution to the IP network. These services and protocols are combined to provide various types of protection. Since IPSec usually works at the IP layer, it provides protection for any higher layer TCP/IP application or protocol without using any additional security methods, which is considered as a major strength for its implementation. General types of protection services offered by IPSec include: Encryption of user data to achieve privacy. Authentication and message integrity has to be achieved to ensure that it is not changed on route. Protection against certain types of security attacks, such as replay attacks. The ability of the devices to negotiate the security algorithms and keys required in order to meet their security needs. wo security modes called tunnel and transport are implemented to meet the various network needs. Features Benefits: IPSec is observed to be transparent by the end users. The users on the security mechanisms need not be trained. IPSec assures security measures for individuals. There is no requirement to change the software on a user or a server system. Strong security measures are applied to the entire traffic crossing the perimeter. 2. Objective: IPSec is mostly designed in order to encrypt the data between the two systems without any spoofing attacks. It is a key force of defence against internal and external attacks. However, other than these, there are many other security strategies which have prevented the security attacks. The main idea in my research is to provide a better approach to the implementation of IP Security by analyzing the present methodologies. In the implementation of this design, I am also considering different operating systems to provide a better approach towards security which can prove to be good in ideal ways. The design of such an approach is helpful in restricting any unauthorised access to the network and also helps in providing a secure and authenticated access. The main idea behind the design is to provide a secured communication between the networks independent of the operating system which can ensure the security, authenticity by considering, analyzing and testing any two best available methodologies. In my overview of RFCs available in the Internet such as Cryptography the receiver end of a particular communication channel is not aware of the sender unless the sender transmits some information with private and public keys with cipher text which can prove his authenticity. Now the receiver sends the same package with his signature and then the receiver is also authenticated mutually. Attacks may occur in different ways. There are also many ways where in such communications can be detected and using techniques like eavesdropping or sniffing or man in the middle attack. These are the three major problems for secure communications. In my research, I will attempt to design a procedure which can be easily followed in order to overcome such problems. There are many techniques available now which are better than normal communication. The major problem in such techniques is the implementation of man in the middle attack. There have been many advances to try and rectify the problems but there has always been a flaw in the design. My research is to design a system using the current technologies used to encrypt and authenticate. These techniques play a major role in the implementation of IP Security. The major interest would be in areas like encryption, decryption and authentication. Additions will be done to this research as it is implemented. The goal is to use research existing systems and to suggest a system which makes it even hard to break. It is not 100% immune to attacks but the attack may take longer to break the system than the present rate. This system will also be very safe and will be easy to use in daily life rather than something with a dozen processing steps to be followed. 2.2 SCOPE With the rapid development of Multimedia data management technologies over the internet there is need to concern about the internet there is need to concern about the security and privacy of information. In multimedia document, dissipation and sharing of data is becoming a common practice for internet based application and enterprises. As the internet forms the open source the present for all users security Forms the critical issue. Hence the transfer of information over the internet forms the critical issue. At the present situations the cryptographic techniques are used for providing ‘SECURITY. 2.3 PROJECT PERSPECTIVE The project â€Å"Network system for Secure Communication† is totally enhanced with the features that enable us to feel the real-time environment. Todays world is mostly employing the latest networking techniques instead of using stand-alone PCs. IPSec tunnelling or Encryption, information scrambling technology is an important security tool. By properly applying, it can provide a secure communication channel even when the underlying system and network infrastructure is not secure. This is particularly important when data passes through the shared systems or network segments where multiple people may have access to the information. In these situations, sensitive data and especially passwords should be encrypted in order to protect it from unintended disclosure or modification. 2.4 PROPOSED SYSTEM In this system ‘security is the term that comes into picture when some important or sensitive information must be protected from an unauthorized access. Hence there must be some way to protect the data from them and even if he hacks the information, The proposed system provides the ‘security and it does not allow unauthorized users to access the secret files. As per the ISO standards the security parameters are: Confidentiality Authentication Integrity Key distribution Access control CONFIDENTIALITY: Confidentiality is the protection of transmitted data from passive attacks. It can protect the data from unauthorized disclosure. AUTHENTICATION: A process used to verify the integrity of the transmitted data, especially a message. It is the process of proving ones identity to someone else. INTEGRITY: The sender and the receiver want to ensure that the content of their communication is not altered during transmission. KEY DISTRIBUTION: Key distribution can be defined as a term that refers to means of delivering a key to the communicating parties, without allowing others to see the key. ACCESS CONTROL: It is a ability to limit and control the access to host systems and applications via communication links. 3.Literature Review This project emphasis design and evaluates a computer-based system using appropriate process and tools. Most of the industry wide routers in the network implement their functionality in hardware and therefore we believe that hardware based routers are more efficient than a software-based router implementation besides that most of the work is in the research community which will be performed, using software-based routers utilizing off-the-shelf PCs. Various works have to be attempted which evaluates different protocol stack, however none of them use hardware-based routers, has such a wide range of metrics, and none investigated mechanisms. My research methodology emphasis surveys, forums from the internet and articles from IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics EngineersorIEEE) a quantitative approach in advance technology. I also consider various other thesis and books which are best suitable for my project. Here following are the network related definitions, and few protocols from application layer, network and internet layer also discussed which actually gives clear idea of understanding the concepts. 3.1 IPSec Standards: IPSec is actually a collection of techniques and protocols; it is not defined in a single Internet standard. Instead, a collection of RFCs defines the architecture, services and specific protocols used in IPSec. Some of the most important of these are shown below: [RFC 2401] Security Architecture for the Internet Protocol (IPSec overview) The main IPSec document describes the architecture and general operation of the technology, and showing how the different components fit together. [RFC 2402] IP Authentication Header It defines the IPSec Authentication Header (AH) protocol used for ensuring data integrity and origin verification. [RFC 2403] The Use of HMAC-MD5-96 within ESP and AH Describes a particular encryption algorithm for use by AH and ESP called Message Digest 5 (MD5), HMAC variant. [RFC 2404] The Use of HMAC-SHA-1-96 within ESP and AH Describes a particular encryption algorithm for use by AH and ESP called Secure Hash Algorithm 1 (SHA-1), HMAC variant. [RFC 2406] IP Encapsulating and Security payload (ESP) It describes the IPSec Encapsulation Security Payload (ESP) protocol that provides data encryption for confidentiality. [RFC 2408] Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol (ISAKMP) It defines methods for exchanging keys and negotiating security associations. [RFC 2409] The Internet Key Exchange (IKE) Describes the Internet Key Exchange (IKE) protocol used to negotiate security associations and exchange keys between devices for secure communications. It is based on ISAKMP and OAKLEY. [RFC 2412] The OAKLEY Key Determination Protocol It describes a generic protocol for key exchange. [RFC 2131] Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) DHCP allows a host to obtain an IP address automatically, as well as to learn additional information about subnet mask, the address of its first-hop router, and the address of its local DNS server. [RFC 2131; RFC 3022] Network Address Translation (NAT)- In an attempt to provide transparent routing to hosts, NAT devices are used to connect an isolated address realm with private unregistered addresses to an external realm with globally unique registered addresses. Domain Name System (DNS): It is a hierarchical naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various other information with domain names assigned to each of the participants. Most importantly, it translates domain names meaningful to humans into the numerical (binary) identifiers associated with networking equipment for the purpose of locating and addressing these devices worldwide. For example, www.example.com translates to 208.77.188.166. Windows Internet Name Service (WINS): It is Microsofts implementation of NetBIOS Name Service (NBNS), a name server and service for NetBIOS computer names. Effectively WINS is to NetBIOS names, like DNS is to domain names in fact its a central mapping of host names to network addresses. Like DNS it is broken into two parts, a Server Service (that manages the encoded Jet Database, server to server replication, service requests, and conflicts) and a TCP/IP Client component which manages the clients registration and renewal of names, and takes care of queries. VPN (Virtual Private Network) : It is a virtual computer network that exists over the top of an existing network. The purpose of a VPN is to allow communications between systems connected to the VPN using an existing shared network infrastructure as the transport, without the VPN network being aware of the existence of the underlying network backbone or without the VPN interfering with other network traffic on the backbone. A VPN between two networks is often referred to as a VPN Tunnel. Most VPN technologies can be separated into two broad categories, Secure VPNs and Trusted VPNs. Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6): It is the next-generation Internet Protocol version designated as the successor to IPv4. It is an Internet Layer protocol for packet-switched internetworks. The main driving force for the redesign of Internet Protocol was the foreseeable IPv4 address exhaustion. IPv6 was defined in December 1998 by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) with the publication of an Internet standard specification, RFC 2460. IPv6 has a vastly larger address space than IPv4. This results from the use of a 128-bit address, whereas IPv4 uses only 32 bits. This expansion provides flexibility in allocating addresses and routing traffic and eliminates the primary need for network address translation (NAT), which gained widespread deployment as an effort to alleviate IPv4 address exhaustion. Due to its security and flexibility entire Internet will be deployed byIPv6 in 2012 as expected. Tunnelling: In computer networks tunnelling protocol (delivery protocol) encapsulates the different payload protocol i.e., It carries a payload over an incompatible delivery-network. It can also provide a secure path through an untrusted network without any data loss. Transport Layer Security (TLS): Transport Layer Security (TLS) and its predecessor, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), are cryptographic protocols that provide security for communications over networks such as the Internet. TLS and SSL encrypt the segments of network connections at the Transport Layer end-to-end. Encryption: In cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information (referred to as plaintext) using an algorithm (called cipher) to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result of the process is encrypted information (in cryptography, referred to as cipher text). In many contexts, the word encryption also implicitly refers to the reverse process, decryption. Internet Key Exchange: Internet Key Exchange (IKE or IKEv2) is the protocol used to set up a security association (SA) in the IPSec protocol suite. IKE uses a Diffie-Hellman key exchange to set up a shared session secret, from which cryptographic keys are derived. Public key techniques or, alternatively, a pre-shared key, are used to mutually authenticate the communicating parties. 4.IPSec System Architecture Authentication Header and Encapsulating Security Payload are commonly called â€Å"protocols†, though this is another case where the validity of this term is debatable. They are not really distinct protocols but are implemented as headers that are inserted into IP datagrams, as we will see. They thus do the â€Å"grunt work† of IPSec, and can be used together to provide both authentication and privacy. IPSec protocols: The IPSec protocol family consists of two protocols: Authentication Header (AH) and Encapsulated Security Payload (ESP). Both these protocols are independent IP. AH is the IP protocol 51 and ESP is the IP protocol 50 Authentication Header: This is a member of the IPSec protocol suite. Authentication Header provides connectionless data integrity and data origin authentication of IP packets. Further, it can also provide protection against the replay attacks by using the sliding window technique and by discarding the old packets. Authentication Header also gives protection for the IP payload and all the header fields of an IP datagram. AH generally operates on the stop of IP, by using the IP protocol number 51. An AH packet diagram is shown below which describes how an AH packet can be constructed and interpreted: Field meanings: Next header: This field is an 8-bit field that mainly identifies the type of the next payload obtained after the Authentication Header. The value of this field can be chosen from the set of defined IP Protocol Numbers. RESERVED These fields are usually reserved for the future use. Payload length This defines the size of Authentication Header packet. Sequence number This field represents a monotonically increasing number which is used to prevent certain replay attacks. Security parameters index (SPI) This field is used to identify the security parameters, in combination with the IP address, and then identify the security association techniques implemented with this packet. Authentication data This field contains the integrity check value (ICV) which is necessary to authenticate the packet. This field may also contain padding. Encapsulating Security Payload: ESP which can be expanded as Encapsulating Security Payload is a member belonging of the IPSec protocol suite. IPSec achieves integrity, origin authenticity, and confidentiality protection of packets. This protocol also supports encryption-only and authentication-only configurations. However usage of only encryption technique without authentication is not recommended because it is termed insecure. ESP does not protect the IP packet header like the Authentication Header (AH) does. The packet diagram below shows how an ESP packet is constructed and interpreted: Field meanings: Security paramete Network System for Secure Communication Network System for Secure Communication Methodology: The main methodology involved behind this research project is to provide the importance of such technology from professionals and well referred articles. Some of the general interviews will be added to the project with details showing their interest towards the current technology and also the change they see in communicating with the new technology. It on the hands of the components of IP Security that contribute to this level of secure communication: The IP Security (IPSec) Driver is used to monitor, filter, and secures the traffic throughout the system. The (ISAKMP/Oakley) abbreviated as Internet Security Association Key Management Protocol performs key exchange and management functions that oversee security issues between hosts, and provide keys which can be used with security algorithms. The IP Security Policy and the Security Associations are derived from those policies that define the security environment where two hosts can communicate. The function of Security Association API is to provide the interface between the IPSec driver, the Policy Agent and the ISAKMP. The function of the management tools is to create policies, monitor IP Security statistics, and log IP Security events. The main methodologies which are under consideration for this project are Classical encryption technologies, IP sec Tunnel, IP sec VPN, Internet Key Exchange methods, Block Cipher Data Encryption, Advanced Encryption, Symmetric ciphers, Public private key functions, Digital signature etc, which have suggested me to design a better system. Implementation: The main reason behind selecting IPSec is that it so powerful that it provides security to IP layer, and also forms the basis for all the other TCP/IP protocols. This is generally composed of two protocols: Authentication Header (AH); Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP); IPSec Implementation Methods: IPSec is comprised of several implementations architectures which are defined in RFC 2401. The IPSec implementation also depends on various factors including the version of IP used (v4 versus v6), the basic requirements of the application and other factors. End Host Implementation: Implementing IPSec in all host devices provides the most flexibility and security. It enables â€Å"end-to-end† security between any two devices on the network. Router Implementation: Router implementation however is a much simpler task since we only make changes to a few routers instead of hundreds or thousands of clients. It only provides protection between pairs of routers that implement IPSec, but this may be sufficient for certain applications such as virtual private networks (VPNs). The idea will be implemented after proper testing of various available methodologies. The current strategy for implementation is as follows:. We use certain open source softwares which provide encryption and decryption methods and authentication. In the actual system, the user is asked to enter details of files to be sent and also some other details about the password and the public keys if included. The required software are used in a way which helps to run a smooth process and secure operation. CONTENTS Acknowledgement I owe many thanks to people who helped supported me in doing my dissertation. Firstly, I would like to express my immense gratitude to my respected professor Mr. Dr. XXX, YYYY University, London for his support and motivation that has helped me to come up with this project. He supported me when its needed and suggested me in understanding various methodologies in my project. He also took care of my project with attention to achieve my goal. I thank to my Institution and faculty members for giving me an opportunity to do my dissertation and also for library, computer lab facilities for doing my dissertation to achieve practical results which can resolve my project related issues. I also extend my Heart full thanks to my family friends. I owe my special thanks to my Dad and his colleagues who gave me suggestions on doing my Dissertation. Abstract In the present system the network helps a particular organization to share the data by using external devices. The external devices are used to carry the data. The existing system cannot provide security, which allows an unauthorized user to access the secret files. It also cannot share a single costly printer. Many interrupts may occur within the system. Though it is advantageous we have numerous disadvantageous, somebody writes a program and can make the costly printer to misprint the data. Similarly some unauthorized user may get access over the network and may perform any illegal functions like deleting some of the sensitive information Security is the term that comes into picture when some important or sensitive information must be protected from an unauthorized access. Hence there must be some way to protect the data from them and even if he hacks the information because he should not be able to understand whats the actual information in the file, which is the main intention of the project. The project is designed to protect the sensitive information while it is in transaction in the network. There are many chances that an unauthorized person can have an access over the network in some way and can access this sensitive information. My main topic focuses on IPSec (Internet Protocol Security) is an extension to the IP protocol specified by IETF which provides security to the IP and the upper-layer protocols and cryptography in a network sharing system. It was first developed for the new IPv6 standard and then â€Å"back ported† to IPv4. The IPSec architecture is described in the IPSec uses two different protocols AH (Authentication Header) and ESP (Encapsulating security payload) to ensure the authentication, integrity and confidentiality of the communication. It uses strong cryptography to provide both authentication and encryption services. Authentication ensures that packets are from the right sender and have not been altered in transit. Encryption prevents unauthorised reading of packet contents. [2] Cryptography is the technique used to secure the data while they are in transactions. Encryption and Decryption are two techniques used under cryptography technology. Data cryptography is the art of securing the resource that is shared among the applications. The main idea behind the design is to provide a secured communication between the networks showing network level performance practically by differentiating different operating system which can ensure the security, authenticity by considering, analyzing and testing any best available methodologies. 1. Introduction: Businesses today are focused on the importance of securing customer and business data. Increasing regulatory requirements are driving need for security of data. There have been many methods which have evolved over the years to address the need for security. Many of the methods are focused at the higher layers of the OSI protocol stack, thus compensating the IPs lack in resolving security issues. These solutions can be implemented in certain situations, but they cannot be generalized because they are particularly too many applications. For example, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) can be used for certain applications like World Wide Web access or FTP, but there are many other applications which cannot be resolved with this type of security. A solution is required to allow security at the IP level was very necessary so that all higher-layer protocols in TCP/IP could take advantage of it. When the decision was made to develop a new version of IP (IPv6), this was the golden opportunity to resolve not just the addressing problems in the older IPv4, but also resolve lack of security issues as well. Later a new security technology was developed with IPv6 in mind, but since IPv6 has taken long time to develop, and thus a solution was designed to be usable for both IPv4 and IPv6. The technology which brings a secure communications to the Internet Protocol is known as IP Security, commonly abbreviated as IPSec. IPSec services allow users to build secure tunnels through certain networks. All the data that passes through the entrusted net is encrypted by the IPSEC gateway machine and decrypted by the gateway at the other end. The result obtained is a Virtual Private Network or VPN. This network is effectively private even though it includes machines at several different sites which are connected by the insecure Internet. Cryptography technique is used to secure the data while they are in transactions. Encryption and Decryption are two techniques which are used under cryptography technology. Data cryptography is the art of securing the resource that is shared among the applications. The Encryption and Decryption are termed as two powerful security technologies that are widely implemented to protect the data from loss and deliberate compromise. In this project the networking allows the company to share files or data without using certain external devices. Some unauthorized users may get access over the network and perform some illegal functions in certain cases like deleting files while the transaction is still on at that time encryption and then decryption techniques are implemented to secure the data. Many other attacks in cryptography are considered which lead me to research on different types of IPSec implementation methodologies in order to design the best model such that it may be suitable for the present trend of networking systems also form a platform to enable communication to the outside world. Thus in orders to implement IPSec, certain modifications are required to the systems communications routines and certain new systems processes conduct secret key negotiations. What is IPSec? An extension to the IP protocol is considered as IPSec which provides high level security to the IP and to the upper-layer protocols. This was initially developed for the new IPv6 standard and then was back ported to IPv4. IPSec provides the following security services: data origin authentication, connectionless integrity, replay protection, data confidentiality, limited traffic flow confidentiality, and key negotiation and management. It has been made mandatory by the IETF for the use of IPSec wherever feasible; the standards documents are close to completion, and there are numerous implementations. Overview of IPSec Architecture: The IPSec suite defined as a framework of open standards. The following protocols are used by IPSec to perform various functions. [2][3] IPSec provides three main facilities which are explained below: Internet key exchange(IKE and IKEv2) : This is used to set up a security association (SA) which can be done by handling negotiation of protocols and algorithms and generating the encryption and authentication keys which can be used by IPSec.[4][5] Authentication Header (AH): This is used to provide connectionless integrity and data origin authentication for IP datagrams and also provides protection against replay attacks.[6][7] Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP): This is used to provide confidentiality, data origin authentication, connectionless integrity, anti-replay service, and limited traffic flow confidentiality. [9] Both authentication and encryption are generally desired in this mechanism. Assure that unauthorized users do not penetrate the virtual private network Assure that eavesdroppers on the Internet cannot read messages sent over the virtual private network. Since both the above features are generally desirable, most implementations are likely to use ESP rather than AH. Security Association: The security Association mechanism is used for authentication (AH) and confidentiality (ESP) A one way relationship between a sender and a receiver that affords security services to the traffic carried on it. Security services are afforded to an SA for the use of AH or ESP but not both. SA identified by three parameters: Security Parameter Index (SPI) IP destination address Security protocol identifier Overview of IPSec Services and Functions: IPSec is not only assumed as a single protocol, but is rather considered as a set of services and protocols which provide a complete security solution to the IP network. These services and protocols are combined to provide various types of protection. Since IPSec usually works at the IP layer, it provides protection for any higher layer TCP/IP application or protocol without using any additional security methods, which is considered as a major strength for its implementation. General types of protection services offered by IPSec include: Encryption of user data to achieve privacy. Authentication and message integrity has to be achieved to ensure that it is not changed on route. Protection against certain types of security attacks, such as replay attacks. The ability of the devices to negotiate the security algorithms and keys required in order to meet their security needs. wo security modes called tunnel and transport are implemented to meet the various network needs. Features Benefits: IPSec is observed to be transparent by the end users. The users on the security mechanisms need not be trained. IPSec assures security measures for individuals. There is no requirement to change the software on a user or a server system. Strong security measures are applied to the entire traffic crossing the perimeter. 2. Objective: IPSec is mostly designed in order to encrypt the data between the two systems without any spoofing attacks. It is a key force of defence against internal and external attacks. However, other than these, there are many other security strategies which have prevented the security attacks. The main idea in my research is to provide a better approach to the implementation of IP Security by analyzing the present methodologies. In the implementation of this design, I am also considering different operating systems to provide a better approach towards security which can prove to be good in ideal ways. The design of such an approach is helpful in restricting any unauthorised access to the network and also helps in providing a secure and authenticated access. The main idea behind the design is to provide a secured communication between the networks independent of the operating system which can ensure the security, authenticity by considering, analyzing and testing any two best available methodologies. In my overview of RFCs available in the Internet such as Cryptography the receiver end of a particular communication channel is not aware of the sender unless the sender transmits some information with private and public keys with cipher text which can prove his authenticity. Now the receiver sends the same package with his signature and then the receiver is also authenticated mutually. Attacks may occur in different ways. There are also many ways where in such communications can be detected and using techniques like eavesdropping or sniffing or man in the middle attack. These are the three major problems for secure communications. In my research, I will attempt to design a procedure which can be easily followed in order to overcome such problems. There are many techniques available now which are better than normal communication. The major problem in such techniques is the implementation of man in the middle attack. There have been many advances to try and rectify the problems but there has always been a flaw in the design. My research is to design a system using the current technologies used to encrypt and authenticate. These techniques play a major role in the implementation of IP Security. The major interest would be in areas like encryption, decryption and authentication. Additions will be done to this research as it is implemented. The goal is to use research existing systems and to suggest a system which makes it even hard to break. It is not 100% immune to attacks but the attack may take longer to break the system than the present rate. This system will also be very safe and will be easy to use in daily life rather than something with a dozen processing steps to be followed. 2.2 SCOPE With the rapid development of Multimedia data management technologies over the internet there is need to concern about the internet there is need to concern about the security and privacy of information. In multimedia document, dissipation and sharing of data is becoming a common practice for internet based application and enterprises. As the internet forms the open source the present for all users security Forms the critical issue. Hence the transfer of information over the internet forms the critical issue. At the present situations the cryptographic techniques are used for providing ‘SECURITY. 2.3 PROJECT PERSPECTIVE The project â€Å"Network system for Secure Communication† is totally enhanced with the features that enable us to feel the real-time environment. Todays world is mostly employing the latest networking techniques instead of using stand-alone PCs. IPSec tunnelling or Encryption, information scrambling technology is an important security tool. By properly applying, it can provide a secure communication channel even when the underlying system and network infrastructure is not secure. This is particularly important when data passes through the shared systems or network segments where multiple people may have access to the information. In these situations, sensitive data and especially passwords should be encrypted in order to protect it from unintended disclosure or modification. 2.4 PROPOSED SYSTEM In this system ‘security is the term that comes into picture when some important or sensitive information must be protected from an unauthorized access. Hence there must be some way to protect the data from them and even if he hacks the information, The proposed system provides the ‘security and it does not allow unauthorized users to access the secret files. As per the ISO standards the security parameters are: Confidentiality Authentication Integrity Key distribution Access control CONFIDENTIALITY: Confidentiality is the protection of transmitted data from passive attacks. It can protect the data from unauthorized disclosure. AUTHENTICATION: A process used to verify the integrity of the transmitted data, especially a message. It is the process of proving ones identity to someone else. INTEGRITY: The sender and the receiver want to ensure that the content of their communication is not altered during transmission. KEY DISTRIBUTION: Key distribution can be defined as a term that refers to means of delivering a key to the communicating parties, without allowing others to see the key. ACCESS CONTROL: It is a ability to limit and control the access to host systems and applications via communication links. 3.Literature Review This project emphasis design and evaluates a computer-based system using appropriate process and tools. Most of the industry wide routers in the network implement their functionality in hardware and therefore we believe that hardware based routers are more efficient than a software-based router implementation besides that most of the work is in the research community which will be performed, using software-based routers utilizing off-the-shelf PCs. Various works have to be attempted which evaluates different protocol stack, however none of them use hardware-based routers, has such a wide range of metrics, and none investigated mechanisms. My research methodology emphasis surveys, forums from the internet and articles from IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics EngineersorIEEE) a quantitative approach in advance technology. I also consider various other thesis and books which are best suitable for my project. Here following are the network related definitions, and few protocols from application layer, network and internet layer also discussed which actually gives clear idea of understanding the concepts. 3.1 IPSec Standards: IPSec is actually a collection of techniques and protocols; it is not defined in a single Internet standard. Instead, a collection of RFCs defines the architecture, services and specific protocols used in IPSec. Some of the most important of these are shown below: [RFC 2401] Security Architecture for the Internet Protocol (IPSec overview) The main IPSec document describes the architecture and general operation of the technology, and showing how the different components fit together. [RFC 2402] IP Authentication Header It defines the IPSec Authentication Header (AH) protocol used for ensuring data integrity and origin verification. [RFC 2403] The Use of HMAC-MD5-96 within ESP and AH Describes a particular encryption algorithm for use by AH and ESP called Message Digest 5 (MD5), HMAC variant. [RFC 2404] The Use of HMAC-SHA-1-96 within ESP and AH Describes a particular encryption algorithm for use by AH and ESP called Secure Hash Algorithm 1 (SHA-1), HMAC variant. [RFC 2406] IP Encapsulating and Security payload (ESP) It describes the IPSec Encapsulation Security Payload (ESP) protocol that provides data encryption for confidentiality. [RFC 2408] Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol (ISAKMP) It defines methods for exchanging keys and negotiating security associations. [RFC 2409] The Internet Key Exchange (IKE) Describes the Internet Key Exchange (IKE) protocol used to negotiate security associations and exchange keys between devices for secure communications. It is based on ISAKMP and OAKLEY. [RFC 2412] The OAKLEY Key Determination Protocol It describes a generic protocol for key exchange. [RFC 2131] Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) DHCP allows a host to obtain an IP address automatically, as well as to learn additional information about subnet mask, the address of its first-hop router, and the address of its local DNS server. [RFC 2131; RFC 3022] Network Address Translation (NAT)- In an attempt to provide transparent routing to hosts, NAT devices are used to connect an isolated address realm with private unregistered addresses to an external realm with globally unique registered addresses. Domain Name System (DNS): It is a hierarchical naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various other information with domain names assigned to each of the participants. Most importantly, it translates domain names meaningful to humans into the numerical (binary) identifiers associated with networking equipment for the purpose of locating and addressing these devices worldwide. For example, www.example.com translates to 208.77.188.166. Windows Internet Name Service (WINS): It is Microsofts implementation of NetBIOS Name Service (NBNS), a name server and service for NetBIOS computer names. Effectively WINS is to NetBIOS names, like DNS is to domain names in fact its a central mapping of host names to network addresses. Like DNS it is broken into two parts, a Server Service (that manages the encoded Jet Database, server to server replication, service requests, and conflicts) and a TCP/IP Client component which manages the clients registration and renewal of names, and takes care of queries. VPN (Virtual Private Network) : It is a virtual computer network that exists over the top of an existing network. The purpose of a VPN is to allow communications between systems connected to the VPN using an existing shared network infrastructure as the transport, without the VPN network being aware of the existence of the underlying network backbone or without the VPN interfering with other network traffic on the backbone. A VPN between two networks is often referred to as a VPN Tunnel. Most VPN technologies can be separated into two broad categories, Secure VPNs and Trusted VPNs. Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6): It is the next-generation Internet Protocol version designated as the successor to IPv4. It is an Internet Layer protocol for packet-switched internetworks. The main driving force for the redesign of Internet Protocol was the foreseeable IPv4 address exhaustion. IPv6 was defined in December 1998 by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) with the publication of an Internet standard specification, RFC 2460. IPv6 has a vastly larger address space than IPv4. This results from the use of a 128-bit address, whereas IPv4 uses only 32 bits. This expansion provides flexibility in allocating addresses and routing traffic and eliminates the primary need for network address translation (NAT), which gained widespread deployment as an effort to alleviate IPv4 address exhaustion. Due to its security and flexibility entire Internet will be deployed byIPv6 in 2012 as expected. Tunnelling: In computer networks tunnelling protocol (delivery protocol) encapsulates the different payload protocol i.e., It carries a payload over an incompatible delivery-network. It can also provide a secure path through an untrusted network without any data loss. Transport Layer Security (TLS): Transport Layer Security (TLS) and its predecessor, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), are cryptographic protocols that provide security for communications over networks such as the Internet. TLS and SSL encrypt the segments of network connections at the Transport Layer end-to-end. Encryption: In cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information (referred to as plaintext) using an algorithm (called cipher) to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result of the process is encrypted information (in cryptography, referred to as cipher text). In many contexts, the word encryption also implicitly refers to the reverse process, decryption. Internet Key Exchange: Internet Key Exchange (IKE or IKEv2) is the protocol used to set up a security association (SA) in the IPSec protocol suite. IKE uses a Diffie-Hellman key exchange to set up a shared session secret, from which cryptographic keys are derived. Public key techniques or, alternatively, a pre-shared key, are used to mutually authenticate the communicating parties. 4.IPSec System Architecture Authentication Header and Encapsulating Security Payload are commonly called â€Å"protocols†, though this is another case where the validity of this term is debatable. They are not really distinct protocols but are implemented as headers that are inserted into IP datagrams, as we will see. They thus do the â€Å"grunt work† of IPSec, and can be used together to provide both authentication and privacy. IPSec protocols: The IPSec protocol family consists of two protocols: Authentication Header (AH) and Encapsulated Security Payload (ESP). Both these protocols are independent IP. AH is the IP protocol 51 and ESP is the IP protocol 50 Authentication Header: This is a member of the IPSec protocol suite. Authentication Header provides connectionless data integrity and data origin authentication of IP packets. Further, it can also provide protection against the replay attacks by using the sliding window technique and by discarding the old packets. Authentication Header also gives protection for the IP payload and all the header fields of an IP datagram. AH generally operates on the stop of IP, by using the IP protocol number 51. An AH packet diagram is shown below which describes how an AH packet can be constructed and interpreted: Field meanings: Next header: This field is an 8-bit field that mainly identifies the type of the next payload obtained after the Authentication Header. The value of this field can be chosen from the set of defined IP Protocol Numbers. RESERVED These fields are usually reserved for the future use. Payload length This defines the size of Authentication Header packet. Sequence number This field represents a monotonically increasing number which is used to prevent certain replay attacks. Security parameters index (SPI) This field is used to identify the security parameters, in combination with the IP address, and then identify the security association techniques implemented with this packet. Authentication data This field contains the integrity check value (ICV) which is necessary to authenticate the packet. This field may also contain padding. Encapsulating Security Payload: ESP which can be expanded as Encapsulating Security Payload is a member belonging of the IPSec protocol suite. IPSec achieves integrity, origin authenticity, and confidentiality protection of packets. This protocol also supports encryption-only and authentication-only configurations. However usage of only encryption technique without authentication is not recommended because it is termed insecure. ESP does not protect the IP packet header like the Authentication Header (AH) does. The packet diagram below shows how an ESP packet is constructed and interpreted: Field meanings: Security paramete