Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Module Name: Management Information System


Open University Malaysia
Faculty of Information Technology and Multimedia Communication
CBMS4303
Management Information System

Name: Adam Khaleel

Lecturers: Udhuma Abdul Latheef / Ibrahim Shahid
Learning Centre: Villa College


Trimester:  May 2012
Table of Contents

Executive Summary

This report mainly talks about the current systems available in the Lemon Leaves restaurant chain and how these systems can be improved.  Firstly, the current status of the existing systems and the weaknesses will be discussed. Secondly, the set objectives of new systems based on some assumptions will be given. Thirdly, the description of the new system with the new features will be given. Next part will discuss how the information will flow across the departments. The following part talks about the benefits of collecting and processing information effectively. After that ways the company could improve the existing systems will be discussed. Lastly, a conclusion with some recommendations will be given.

Introduction

    A good information system is very important for every restaurant chain to run the business smoothly. The preparation of this report is asked by the Chief Executive and Operation Director of the company. The main purpose of this report is to prepare strategies for this company on how the company could develop the existing information system which will benefit and assist in gathering information for the decision making.
This report mainly talks about firstly, the description of existing system. Secondly, the objectives of the system in terms of business process, flexibility and adaptation with some assumptions will be described. Thirdly, the description of the new information system and how the information will flow across the departments in this new system will be given in relation with the internal and external functional areas of the company. Fourthly, benefits of collecting and processing information effectively will be discussed by suggesting the ways in which the company could improve the existing system. Finally, a conclusion will be given with some suggestions and recommendations for the development of new system.
Since 2001, Lemon Leaves restaurant chain is operating and selling food stuffs through their restaurants in Maldives. The company is operating in 17 inhabited islands and in 6 tourist resorts with 23 restaurants. The head office is located in Male’ and there are total 411 employees with 203 foreign employees. The company has a tagline of “taste and enjoy”. The average annual sales revenue is 29.5 million rufiyaa. Currently the company has a powerful till system, a purchase Oder system and an administrative system.  
The point of sale systems (POS) in this restaurant chain are computer systems that are used to record sales transactions made within the restaurant. In addition to this, the bills and receipts are prepared by these systems. The systems are connected with printers and a barcode reader. The printer helps to print the documents and the barcode reader helps to read the barcodes on the different bottles and cans sold in the restaurant. However, the till systems in each store works independently and the details of the transactions of the day are transmitted to head office during the night after closing of business.
The purchase order system has a computer system which is connected to a printer and fax machine and purchases are made by using internet based application software. This system is mainly used for ordering goods and services from the suppliers. In addition to this, the system is used for delivering the purchased goods to the all restaurants located in different areas in the country. However, all the purchase transactions are not done by this system and some transactions are done by the telephone and fax machine.
Every restaurant has a separate administrative system which is also a computer system containing software application which records the information of employees and finance. The attendances of the employees are taken manually and enter this information in the system to calculate the salary and to provide other incentive. The whole finance records and accounts are entered and prepared by this system using software applications.  
The rest of the company’s systems are run at head office. The head office is responsible for hiring and training of the employees. The head office receives the daily transactions of each restaurant after the sales are completed during the night and these transactions are entered in the journals on the next day.

System objectives and assumptions

Business process: The current restaurant process of the company is shown below.
 C:\Users\Khaleel\Desktop\a.jpg
This process is not so effective and some objectives of new system are set to develop a new system. Currently each restaurant has a warehouse to store purchased foods and the purchase responsibility is taken by each restaurant with the help of head office. So that the holding cost and other expenses are very high. Therefore the first objective is to minimize the cost of storage and other costs related to stock.  
Currently the order is taken manually by the waiters and the bills are prepared by the POS system. Hence, the second objective is to minimize the number of waiters and to introduce self services in the new system in order to minimize labour costs and to assist in collect more information about the customers.
Currently the sales are made on cash basis only. The third objective is to introduce other payment modes to assist customers in payments. The introduction of these modes will help to credit the restaurant bank account by debiting the customers’ accounts which will save time and cost of the company.

Flexibility

Currently the company is having different three systems. The till system is available in each restaurant but the transactions are not immediately transferred to head office. The fourth, objective is to create more flexible system by enabling transmission of the daily transactions of each restaurant immediately to the head office.
Currently the three systems available in the company are not integrated and the managers have to go through each system to take final decision. The fifth objective is to integrate the three systems to assist management in decision making.
The executive meetings are held in head office which is very difficult for the employees to attend the meeting. The sixth objective is to create online transactions and other social net works.  More internet access will be provided to each and every restaurant.

Adaptation

The company has a traditional structure which is very difficult to adapt the new changes of the system. The seventh objective is to restructure the existing organization structure to adapt the new changes of the systems to the company.   
Some employees might not be satisfied to change the existing system. The eighth objective is to adapt the employees to the new change by training and by getting ideas from the employees on how the change could be done to the systems.
Finally, the adaptation of the new system will be done step by step within one year. The objective is to minimize the negative effects of implementation.  

Assumptions are as follows;

  1. It is assumed that the Lemon Leaves restaurant chain is a real company operates in Maldives and it is assumed that the information about the company provided are true.
  2. The three systems in the company are not integrated.
  3. The till systems works independently in each store which are unable to transmit the transactions immediately to the head office.
  4. Except the till systems other systems are run at head office.  
  5. Personal data and hours worked for payroll are entered at each store directly into the head office system.
  6. The POS is used only to enter the sales transactions and to prepare bills.
  7. The purchase system is used only for ordering goods from the supplier and to deliver goods to outlets. The most of the purchase orders are done by the phone, fax and visiting the suppliers.
  8. Administrative system is used only to record the data of human resource, payroll and finance.
  9. The company has a traditional organizational structure.
  10. The sales are made only on cash basis.
  11. The order is taken manually by the waiters in each restaurant.
  12. Each restaurant has a warehouse to store purchased foods and purchase responsibility is taken by each restaurant with the help of the head office.
  13. The company does not have marketing activities yet.
  14. The company does not have intranet and other social networks.
  15. The company delivers foods to the customers but does not have online transactions system.  
  16. The company has limited internet access at the restaurants for the employees.

Description of new information system

The current internal functional areas of the company are human resource, finance, administration, information technology. The current external functional areas include sales, purchases, distribution, and customer service and the marketing function will be introduced in the new system.
The existing Point of sales system can be improved by adding new features and will assist the sales, administration, marketing, finance, customer service, purchase functions in the company. Kashima, Matsumoto & Ishii (2004) has found that the POS system can be developed in the following ways. The new POS system will be a touch screen terminals or wireless handheld devices and will assist businesses to track transactions in real time. The new POS software will be able to print guest checks, print orders to kitchens and bars for preparation, process credit cards and other payment cards and run reports. The picture below shows how the new POS system will operate.
 C:\Users\Khaleel\Desktop\aa.jpg

The sales transactions can be entered into the system by the cashier and there will be fewer waiters because the orders will be taken by the customers through Wi-Fi available at the tables. The purchase order can be forwarded to the head office by this system. The administration department can access the system and will be able to get immediate records from the restaurants. The system can be used to market the company and the individual restaurants through the internet.  The finance department can prepare the financial reports by getting information from the POS system. The system will also be able to provide customer services like providing the menus.
Kasavana (2004) has found that the existing purchase order system can be developed by adding important features and will assist the purchase, distribution, finance and administrative functions in the company. It involves automated purchasing using Internet based application software.  The web browser can be used to log into an e-procurement site to view vendor offerings and product catalogs, and to place orders. The just in time technology will be introduced into the system and this will help to create good contact to the suppliers. The amount payable to suppliers can be provided to the finance and administrative departments. The distribution of the goods to the outlets can be monitored by this system.
The new administrative system will assist the human resource, finance functions in the company. Etinger (2011) has found that a punch card attendance machine can be installed and connected to the administrative system. The new administrative system will be able to maintain all the records of the employees such as attendance, leaves etc. The recruitment, selection and training of the employees will be done by this system. The system will be able to transfer the salary to the employees by using online banking system. The tax payable to the government will be calculated by the system and the amount will be paid by using online banking system.

The flow of information across the departments

Lindgren (2012) has found the following ways could be used to pass information across the departments. The information can pass between the departments by developing intranet in the company. The intranet will assist the employees to access the information within the organization. The employees will be able to send and receive emails.
The information can flow through internet. The new system will provide Wi-Fi internet access in the company and employees will be able be connected by other social networks such as facebook, twitter.
The telephones are provided to the employees and it will help to contact the each other. The information can be sent between them by using the SMS and by calling.  
The fax machines are provided to each restaurant and the employees can fax information between the outlets. It also helps to send and receive information from the suppliers and other external parties.
The meetings can be held in the company in different levels. The meetings can be held by video conferences or audio conferences which help to connect the employees in different areas of the country.
Oral communication can be used to delegate tasks to the employees. Sometimes the customer relation activities can be carried out by the employees using oral communication to the customers.
The development of a company website will allow the employees to be connected between the outlets. The customers will be able to place orders through the website. The marketing and advertisement activities can be carried out through the web site.
The new organizational structure will allow the vertical, horizontal and diagonal communication within the organization as a result the two ways communication will take place.
The vision, mission, core values and organizational structure of the company can be shown in the website and intranet. The employees and other stakeholders will be able to get information about the company.  

Benefits of collecting and processing information effectively

Business information systems (n.d.) has found that collecting and processing information effectively helps in decision making, data mining, saves time, saves costs and helps in preparation of budgets.
Decision making: the collecting and processing of information effectively will help the management to make correct decisions. For example, the immediate transmitting of daily transaction to head office will provide update information for the managers to make decisions. If the information is not up dated the managers will find it difficult to take the right decision. For instance the purchase order cannot be made at the right time for the right amount of quantity.
Saves time: the effective collecting and processing of information will save time and tasks can be completed faster. For example, the integration of systems will allow the managers to get necessary information from one system in a short period of time. As a result the managers will be able to do more works during the working hours.
The costs can be saved by collecting and processing information effectively. For example, the ordering the purchase at the right time will save costs like transportation, storage, spoilage of stock etc. if the information is not processed effectively the order cannot be made at the right time.
The effective information system helps in data mining technology. For example it can integrate information from various resources to develop a detailed data image for every individual such as income, hobby, family and political interest of customers. This will help mangers to make decisions.
The effective information system will help to prepare budgets more accurately. For example, the information of current demand from the customers and the information of customer complaints will help to forecast the future demand hence the sales budget can be prepared more accurately.

Ways the company could improve the existing system   

The existing system has more weakness and the system can be improved in different ways. Firstly, an intranet network can be created to function the systems of the company effectively and to provide necessary information to the employees.  (Marvin Technology, n.d.).
Secondly, the integration of all the systems can be done by connecting the systems through intranet. After integration each system is linked to other systems and information of other systems can be accessed from one particular system. (Business Information Systems, n.d.)
Thirdly, Kashima, Matsumoto & Ishii (2004) has found that the POS systems can be linked to the head office system which can be done through intranet. The immediate transmission of daily transactions can be made and the systems can be up dated.
Fourthly, Kashima, Matsumoto & Ishii (2004) has found that the improved POS systems can be installed in restaurants. These systems will have new features like touch screen terminals, Wi-Fi connection etc. These additional features will help more functional areas in the company.
Fifthly, MC Donald’s fast food restaurant JIT (n.d.) has found Just-In-Time technology can be used in purchase order system. This system will have online transactions with the suppliers and the purchase will be made at when need. The supplier will help to minimize the storage cost of the company by providing the goods on time.
Sixthly, Kasavana (2004) has found that the centralized purchase and distribution can be done by the head office. This will decrease the work load of to the individual restaurants. The storage space in each restaurant can be used to increase the space of customer area as result sales can be increased.
Finally, Adrian (2010) has found that a company website can be to help in marketing of the company. The internet access to all the restaurants can be provided by using Wi-Fi which will help the different functions in the company. Meantime, an online brochure can tell people about our food, our chef, display our menu and prices if required and also can show nice images.

Conclusion

In conclusion, currently the company has POS, purchase order and administrative systems which are not integrated and the systems are not able to transmit transactions immediately to the head office. In order to develop the systems many different objectives are set and these objectives are set based on certain assumptions. The descriptions of new systems are given by showing the improvements that can be brought to these systems and the ways in which information will flow between the departments are discussed. The benefits of collecting and processing information effectively are mentioned. Finally, the ways in which the company could improve the existing systems are discussed.
At last, I recommend all the mangers to think about these changes that could bring to our company because the management full support is very important for these changes. I also recommend the all the employees to provide your views and suggestions about these changes and your participation will help to come up with a final decision on next month managers’ meeting.

References

Adrian. (2010). Advantages and disadvantages of websites for business. Retrieved June 17, 2012, from http://blog.thecompanywarehouse.co.uk/2010/10/06/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-websites-for-business/
Business information systems. (n.d.). Retrieved June 17, 2012, from http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/007078051x/576222/baL8051x_ch03.pdf
Etinger, M. (2011). An attendance system for payroll system. Retrieved June 16, 2012, from http://ezinearticles.com/?An-Attendance-System-for-Payroll-Processing&id=6116395
Kasavana, M. (2004). Procurement: strategic sourcing for restaurants. Retrieved June 15, 2012, from http://www.hospitalityupgrade.com/_files/File_Articles/HUspring04Kasavana.pdf
Kashima, T., Matsumoto, S., & Ishii, H. (2010). Recommendation method with rough sets in restaurants point of sale system. Retrieved June 15, 2012, from http://www.iaeng.org/publication/IMECS2010/IMECS2010_pp2018-2023.pdf
Lindgren, P. (2012). Information flow in multicultural work environment: case Amarillo restaurant in Turku. Retrieved June 16, 2012, from http://publications.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/39533/Information%20flow.pdf?sequence=1
Marvin Technology. (n.d.). Retrieved June 18, 2012, from http://marvintechnology.com/information-center/restaurant/intranetextranet/
MC Donald’s Fast food restaurant JIT. (n.d.). Retrieved June 17, 2012, from http://opepiimraipur.blogspot.com/2011/06/mc-donalds-fast-food-restaurant-jit.html

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Monday, December 16, 2013

Module Name: Thinking Skills and Problem Solving


Open University Malaysia
Faculty of Science and Technology
SBSF1103
Thinking Skills and Problem Solving

Name: Adam Khaleel

Lecturer: Aishath Shifa
Learning Centre: Villa College


Trimester:  May 2012

Contents


Executive Summary
This essay mainly focuses on critical analysis of an advertisement picture selected for an introductory activity for a topic of “A new mobile internet package” to an audience. The description of the audience and picture and the justification on how the topic is related to the audience and picture are given. In addition to this some ideas to enhance the creative thinking of the audience are given based on the critical analysis of the selected picture. Finally, a conclusion of the assay is included and few recommendations are given to the people who have created the selected picture.

A New Mobile Internet Package

The critical thinking skills are very important to enhance our creative thinking ability in today’s competitive world. According to Haskins, G. R. (n.d.), Critical thinking is “A process by which we use our knowledge and intelligence to effectively arrive at the most reasonable and justifiable positions on issues”. According to Bloom, B. (1956), “Creative thinking involves creating something new or original”. The purpose of this assay is to learn how to analyze a picture critically and develop creative thinking of an audience. This assay will mainly talk about, firstly the description of the selected picture advertisement and its audience. Secondly the justification on how this picture and audience are relevant to the topic will be given. Thirdly a comprehensive critical analysis of the picture will be given. Fourthly, some ideas will be demonstrated to enhance creative thinking of the audience with the use of the picture selected. Finally, a conclusion with some recommendations will be given.
C:\Users\Khaleel\Desktop\i-like-it-big-page.jpg
GB pack (Image). (n.d.). Retrieved June 01, 2012, from http://www.dhiraagu.com.mv/mobile/mobile_internet/gb_pack.php
The audience of this picture is all Maldivians including all age groups from both sexes because most of them are using the mobile phones. The Maldivians or the audience is having a unique culture and most of the time uses Dhivehi language for communication. The majority of the audience is Sunni Muslims and most of them are literate. The audience has no different races but they are dispersed in different areas of the country and have different dialects.
The picture shows a man who is carrying a big green watermelon and a girl who is carrying a big hand bag. It seems that both of them are teenagers who wore jeans and t-shirts and are very happy about something happened to them.  It shows a big red colour circle mentioning a phrase “I like it BIG!” and the word BIG is in yellow colour. It shows some information about the mobile internet like how to SMS to get the GB pack and it shows 1 GB is worth for160 Rufiyaa. It also mentions that this is a newly introduced package and the black colour desktop screen shows an internet access.
The topic “A New Mobile Internet Package” is very much related to the above picture and audience due to the following reasons. The picture shows a word “New” which means this is a newly introduced package for the audience and it mentions that this package is for mobile customers. In addition to this, the picture is highly attractive to the audience because it shows a big watermelon, big hand bag, and a big red circle mentioning the word “BIG” in a different colour. The audience or the customers cannot ignore the picture and will be persuaded to see the picture in detail.
D’Souza, S (2010) has found some ideas about the critical analysis of picture advertisements and these ideas are used in this critical analysis. It has revealed some positive things after the critical analysis of the above picture. The picture advertisement gets the audience attraction easily. People will be tempted to see the picture in detail. Audience will be curious to know why the man is carrying a big watermelon and why the girl is carrying a big bag. The audience will also need to know the meaning of the phrase “I like it BIG!” As a result the audience will be more attractive to this picture.
The main message is very clearly revealed from the picture. It shows that the watermelon carrying by the man is extremely large and we are not able to get that size watermelon in Maldives that can be consumed by many people. Meantime the hand bag carrying by the girl is also extremely large and it can store more items in it. The blue colour background is the sky and the red colour circle is the sun surrounding with the white colour is the sun rays. It shows that the sun is become larger than its normal size. This means that mobile internet package became bigger and can have many advantage from it.
It shows very positive feeling from the picture. The picture shows a young man and a young girl who are worn jeans and t-shirt. They seem that both of them are extremely happy about something very special happened to them. As a result audience will be more excited to see the picture.
The picture shows the connection quality of the GB pack. It shows that the both man and girl are happy at a same time and the man is following the girl continuously which means it shows not only the mobile internet package size but also the quality of the connectivity or the signal strength. As a result audience will feel more persuade to use the package.
The picture shows some other important information as well. It shows how to SMS to subscribe the package and the price of the package. This information is very important to the audience to decide whether to purchase the package or not.
However, the picture revealed more negative things compared to the positive things. The picture advertisement does not show the supplier of the service providing. The brand name or logo is not included in the picture. It is not sure whether the picture is from Wataniya or Dhiraagu. As a result the competitor can take advantage and it will create negative image to the company.  
It shows that the advertisement is aimed for teenagers only. It seems both the man and the lady are teenagers and no other age group is shown in the picture but the mobile internet is used by other age groups as well. As a result this advertisement might not reach to the all targeted audience resulting advertisement failure.  
The picture does not include other necessary information. It does not have any contact number and address of the supplier. The customers or the audience will not be able to contact the supplier to get necessary information about the package. If there are more suppliers, the audience will not be interested to get the contact number because that will waste their time.  As a result the advertisement will not be effective and sometimes it may fail.
The picture uses the romance and sex appeal technique to attract the audience. The girl’s dress will not be accepted by some part of the society because the Maldives is 100% Muslim nation. This might create a bad image to the company as a result the advertisement will be ineffective.
The advertisement is more persuasive and misleading. It contains less information and tries to persuade the audience by using different techniques such as romance and sex appeal. The audience will not be able to get the true information about the service as a result they could waste money and time.
The watermelon is a perishable item which is easily damaged in a short period. It means that the GB package cannot be used for a long period. As a result some customer might not buy the package and may go for other packages.   
Therefore it is important to think outside the picture to find some creative ideas to improve this picture. Firstly, it is understood that the picture is more persuasive and misleading. The negative effects can be minimized by providing more realistic information. The watermelon is too big and it is not possible to get that size watermelon in Maldives. Hence changing the watermelon to more realistic size will create more effective image. In addition to this it is not clear the duration of this package. The duration is important information to include in the picture to avoid confusion. So, this is a kind of changing the process of persuasive to informative which will minimize the misleading and confusion.
Secondly, it is understood that the picture is not considering the society and cultural view. It would more effective and attractive if the man and girl wear a cultural or Islamic dress instead of wearing western style clothes. The girl can wear veil and the man can wear cultural dress. It will show good image to the children and our traditional dress can become more popular.  This is a kind of taking a new approach which will result creation of good reputation of the company.
Thirdly, it has no brand name or logo of the company. If the logo or brand name is included in the picture, it will be easier to identify the supplier. Dhiraagu has a logo which shows a kind of open hand. If the logo is put into the red circle it will be very easy to identify the supplier in the first glance. It will show how strong the brand name is and how creative they are. This is a kind of searching for new use for existing thing. As a result it will create good corporate image and the competitor will not be able to take advantage from the picture.
Fourthly, the picture seems that both the man and girl are teenagers. If the picture includes people from different age group will show totally a different picture. It can show a school kid and an old man or lady to show the picture is for all the age groups because today mobile phones are used by all age groups.  This is a kind of coming up with something new will result high chance of accepting the picture and will increase the sale of GB packages.
Fifthly, the picture shows a big watermelon and a big hand bag. If one of them changed to a big mobile phone, definitely the attraction will be high hence people will wonder why he or she is carrying a big mobile in this technological world. The mobile phone is very much related to this picture because the package is for the mobile internet only. It is very clearly says “Mobile internet just got BIGGER” hence a big mobile will be more suitable to this picture to get audience attraction. So, this is a kind of innovation which will improve the quality of the picture.
Lastly, the picture does not have other relevant information which must be provided. Even though the advertisement is persuasive the picture should include the contact number and address of the supplier. If the picture includes this information it will help to contact and visit the supplier to get more information about the service provided. This is a kind of improving on existing things which will help to identify the potential customers and the sales of the GB package can be increased.  

The following picture shows how the creative thinking can be applied to the original picture. 
 C:\Users\Khaleel\Desktop\Lo ge Assaignments\Semester 5\Thinking Skills\yugb.jpg

In conclusion, this essay described the audience and selected picture by giving a topic to the audience. It has justified how the topic is relevant to the audience and the picture. In addition to this, a critical analysis has revealed some positive and negative features of the picture selected and it is understood that the picture is more persuasive. Finally, some ideas have been presented to enhance the creative thinking of the audience based on the critical analysis of the picture selected.
At last, it is recommended to consider the following information before preparing a picture for any purpose. Dr. Kantilal, H. K., Dr. Espira, A (2011, P.115-117) has found the characteristics like clarity, accuracy, relevance, consistency, logical correctness, completeness, fairness etc which are important for critical thinking. Meantime, Woodcock, B (n.d.) has found “the lateral thinking is very important in careers such as advertising, marketing, the media and art and design”. In addition to this, Fern, E. J., Liberzon, V (2005) has found “It is not enough to think outside the box.  We must learn to live outside the box”.

References

Bloom, B. (1956). Critical and Creative Thinking - Bloom's Taxonomy. Critical Thinking. Retrieved June 02, 2012, from http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic69.htm
D’Souza, S. (2010). Intel’s advertisements. A critical analysis of 5 ads. Retrieved June 01, 2012, from http://www.scribd.com/doc/36951757/Intel-Advertisements-Critical-Analysis
Dr. Kantilal, H. K., Dr. Espira, A. (2011, P.115-117). Thinking skills and problem solving. Eight characteristics of critical thinking. Malaysia, Meteor Doc Sdn Bhd.
GB pack (Image). (n.d.). Retrieved June 01, 2012, from http://www.dhiraagu.com.mv/mobile/mobile_internet/gb_pack.php
Haskins, G. R. (n.d.). A practical guide to critical thinking. Introduction. Retrieved June 02, 2012, from http://www.skepdic.com/essays/Haskins.html
Woodcock, B. (n.d.). Lateral thinking skills. Retrieved June 01, 2012, from http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/lateral.htm

Appendix-1

The Picture Selected for this assignment is shown below;
 C:\Users\Khaleel\Desktop\i-like-it-big-page.jpg
GB pack (Image). (n.d.). Retrieved June 01, 2012, from http://www.dhiraagu.com.mv/mobile/mobile_internet/gb_pack.php

Appendix-2   

The ideas from the following critical analysis of the picture are taken for this assignment.

C:\Users\Khaleel\Desktop\aa.jpg

D’Souza, S. (2010). Intel’s advertisements. A critical analysis of 5 ads. Retrieved June 01, 2012, from http://www.scribd.com/doc/36951757/Intel-Advertisements-Critical-Analysis
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