Take home final exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Take home final exam - Essay Example The companies may opt to engage both the public and private investors in conducting out research on the occurring trends in the market and the market expectations from the companies to keep the competition real and be ahead of their competitors. The research will make them have hands-on information on the preferences of the customers thereby producing goods that meet their expectations (Mazzucato 76). Partnering with the correct stakeholders in trying to pull up together all the resources that are required to be ahead of their competitors is also another strategy of making sure that the companies are ahead in the market. The industries may end up employing the most qualified personnel and come up with a perfect marketing team that will sell the products of the company widely thereby surpassing the efforts of its competitors. Finally, the companies may try to focus on those programs that tend to encourage them to transform their basic and applied research into new products and manufacturing processes that lead to high-quality goods being produced for the customers (Mazzucato 56). During farmers production, profits and revenue should not be the only factor that the USA farmers should consider. These farmers should also consider factors like time, entrepreneurship and natural resources. During their production, farmers should consider entrepreneurship as a major factor of production. As entrepreneurs, the farmers should consider themselves as innovators and come up with new and improved ways to provide improved products to the market. They should decide on how their land, labor and capital should be used to make sure that they reap maximum profits from their farms. These benefits only accrue to the farmers and they, therefore, need to do many considerations during their production process (Uphoff 40). The farmers also need to put the issue of time in their considerations. The

Create a business plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Create a business plan - Assignment Example However, the company does not aim to restrict itself to this segment and shall provide its services to a broader market. The products offered shall include home delivery, office delivery, Food for a week and other new and upcoming products. The company shall be in a profitable position from 2013 and look to consolidate its position by increasing awareness and market share. Distribution networks will be setup that will help the company in gaining a competitive advantage. Company Profile Dream Inn is more than a restaurant serving top quality food to its customers. Dream Inn is a concept, an idea that originated earlier in the minds of its creators after observing the quality of food and service being provided by other vendors. The creators had the vision and foresight to identify various unfulfilled needs of customers in the Bahraini market. While these restaurants were providing top notch food to their customers, there are some areas of the food order and delivery value chain that le ft something to be desired. For instance, the creators recognize that customers are individuals and vary in all aspects such as ordering time and buying patterns. Dream Inn is open 24/7 to cater to customers at all hours, day and night. Secondly, the creators identified another need that remained untapped which was the requirement for customers to have home and office delivery at all times and fulfilled this need by decentralizing operations and creating multiple offices which allowed the company to cater to customers in a timely manner. Another need serviced by Dream Inn is through the use of technology – by the creation of a user friendly website which allows customers to view the products on offer and place orders easily and have their food delivered within the agreed time limits. This is particularly helpful for professionals who spend most of their time in front of the computer. Marketing Strategy Market Share The company will aim to gain a market share of 10 percent of food delivery services by 2015 and look to increase market share to 25 percent by 2020. Product Profile Dream Inn provides a vast array of services to its customers for their convenience. These services include: Provision of user friendly website for viewing the different products on offer and placing an order online for the convenience of the customer Provision of 24/7 door to door delivery services throughout the country Established outlets for convenience of customers to place orders on their way from home or office Creation of new value added services such as Food for a Week, which will allow customers to book a weekly menu in advance. This will be particularly helpful for those customers who are professionals and lack the time to order on a daily basis and can decide their weekly menu in one single attempt. This product will be equally beneficial for single bachelors who are immigrants and have moved here in order to make a living and do not have the time or knowledge to prepar e their own meals and cannot afford to order on a daily basis from high priced restaurants. Menu includes items from various fast food restaurants, Italian, Asian and cuisine of various countries. Since the products are being purchased from other restaurants, and Dream Inn is aiding their sales revenues, Dream Inn shall be able to purchase these products at a substantial discount from suppliers and gain a

Implement person centred approaches Essay Example for Free

Implement person centred approaches Essay 1.1 Define person-centred values Person-centred is about providing care and support that is centred or focused on the individual and their need There are eight person centred values that support person-centred care and support: Individuality, Independence, Privacy, Choice, Dignity, Rights 1.2 Explain why it is important to work in a way that embeds person centred values. Taking into account person centred values, rather than imposing my own choices on them and taking away their own right to independence and choice. It is important to do this as person centred approaches, policies and procedures, as well as care practices should always put the people whom we support at the centre of the day-to-day activities, as well as including the residents and their families in the planning and maintaining of this. 1.3 Explain why risk-taking can be part of a person centred approach. Risk-taking means being aware of the potential hazards, but still carrying on with the activity. Risk Assessment Processes include: visual check, recorded risk assessments. If you were no longer allowed to take risks that means you can’t progress in anything. Risk is about learning! Your inner questions. Can I do it? Can I REALLY do it? To take risk is all about challenge! 1.4 Explain how using an individual’s care plan contributes to working in a person centred way It is document where day to day requirements and preferences for care and support are detailed. Using an individuals care plan where own needs and wishes are being met, rather than offering them a choice of what is available. Using their care plan, you can build on what they want and see where there are gaps that need to be addressed. 3.1 Explain the importance of establishing consent when providing care or support. Consent is agreement to an action i.e. in social care agreeing to a bath or a shower, to medication, agreement to have details shared with others. Lack of consent could be construed as abuse i.e. forcing an  individual to have a shower when they have not agreed. Consent can be in different forms like Verbal written via a representative or advocate. It is important to establish consent because it is a basic human right for everyone to have the choice. 3.3 Explain what steps to take if consent cannot be readily established. Steps to take when consent cannot be established include, not continuing with the task, reporting to the supervisor or manager, recording the information 4.1 Describe how active participation benefits an individual. Active participation is a way of working that recognises an individual’s right to participate in the activities and relationships of everyday life as independently as possible. 4.2 Identify possible barriers to active participation. Barriers include: lack of opportunity, lack of events, lack of staff, unwillingness of residents, and lack of confidence. Ways of encouraging residents include: discussion and encouragement with the individual, providing useful information, using friends and family to encourage, ensuring appropriate activities, peer-group encouragement, persuasion techniques, highlighting the benefits of the activity 5.3 Explain why a worker’s personal views should not influence an individual’s choices. A personal view should not influence individual choices as everyone is an individual in their own right and therefore should be able to make their own choices as their interest would be different to a staff. 5.4 Describe how to support an individual to question or challenge decisions concerning them that are made by others. Different approaches for individual, discussion, providing relevant, information, guidance from friends or family using an advocate or support service. We can also challenge decision where we can encourage questions and comments, be prepared to listen, assist the individual to ask for a second opinion, speak  to/refer the individual to a senior member of staff, use the complaints procedure 6.1 Explain how individual identity and self esteem are linked with well-being Well-being may include aspects that are: Spiritual Emotional Cultural Religious Social – Political Sexual Physical – Mental. Individual identity and self-esteem are linked with well-being as everyone has their own interests and what one person may find interesting another person may not find interesting, for example, some residents like gardening and some don’t and we should never force anyone to do what they don’t like or don’t want to do. 6.2 Describe attitudes and approaches that are likely to promote an individual’s well-being Attitudes and approaches that are likely to promote an individual’s well-being include: being treated as an Individual, dignity respect, choices and good communication. It can also be environmental which includes physical environment bedroom, handbag, personal belongings, and social environment personal boundaries, subjective feelings.

Women in the Scientific Revolution

Women in the Scientific Revolution The scientific revolution is generally considered part of the broader intellectual revolution that began with the Italian Renaissance and the rediscovery and translation of the classical writers, particularly Aristotle, sometime during the fourteenth century. It is only in retrospect that one can understand broad movements, such as this, but one can assert with confidence that the scientific revolution resulted from a confluence of several factors, most particularly the rejection of the Ptolemaic model of planetary movement combined with an increased interest in Aristotelian science (Grant, 1996). Thus, the scientific revolution, insofar as it was a revolution rather than a developing, continuous process, may be claimed to have begun in 1543 with the publication of Copernicus De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, though establishing this as a boundary is as much a matter of convenience as anything else (Linton, 2004). As an intellectual and cultural phenomenon, the scientific revoluti on continues to the present, moving through such advances as Newtonian mechanics, the experimental method of chemistry, advanced in anatomy and medicine, Darwinian evolution, relativity and quantum mechanics, with myriad offshoots at every stage along the way of this development. At the present, there is much dispute about how, or whether, the scientific revolution will end: some think it will continue forever, while others believe it will culminate with grand unification, a theory of everything that explains both gravity and subatomic forces, in effect capable of describing all phenomena (Westfall, 1971). That woman have played pivotal roles in the advancement of science is undeniable; as with male figures, it is possible to isolate selected examples of women who made significant contributions. There is no reason to believe that such contributions were made because of their gender, but given the nature of society at the time of the scientific revolution, one may assert that the contributions were made in spite of their gender. As the scientific revolution may be said to continue to the present day, so too, does the gender bias in the sciences, though there is evidence this is getting better. Women in the Scientific Revolution Margaret Cavendish Perhaps Margaret Cavendish is the best example of such a woman in the midst of the scientific revolution. While biographies of her once concentrated on her eccentric behavior and the more florid aspects of her life (Grant, 1957, Whitaker, 2003), we are the beneficiaries of a recent flurry of scholarly interest in her philosophical and scientific undertakings. She engaged with, and apparently held her own against Thomas Hobbes, Robert Boyle, Renà © Descartes and others in the early Royal Society, though she herself was denied fellowship in that exalted body (Walters, 2014). Margaret Cavendish rejected Aristotelianism and the mechanist philosophies that prevailed through much of that time, adopting a vitalist view instead, holding that living things are different from nonliving things in that they possess a spark of life that subjects them to different physical rules; this is now an obsolete scientific theory (Sarasohn, 2010). ONeill in Cavendish (2001) characterizes Cavendishs natura l philosophy as an outright rejection of Aristotle while adopting stoic doctrines; ONeill (2001) also notes that while women rarely wrote on scientific matters at this time, Margaret Cavendish published six scientific books, two of which are currently in print; it is also worth noting that Margaret Cavendish was a duchess and, as such, had certain social and economic advantages most other women would not have shared. Cavendishs main scientific work was Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy (2001), written in the vernacular, rather than the Latin that was typical of scientific books until well into the nineteenth century, which itself reflects the scientific revolutions origin in the Greek and Latin classics. She had already undertaken earnest study of contemporary scientific and philosophical works and this book of hers clearly shows the influence of Thomas Hobbes, who had instructed her brother Sir Charles Lucas in philosophy; in fact, she was one of the few of her time who accepted Hobbes ideas that incorporeal souls do not exist in nature (Sarasohn, 2010). She certainly expresses herself well in her book, even discussing in the preface whether her excessive writing is a disease (Mendelson, 1987), a question that still plagues modern practitioners (e.g., Flaherty, 2004). As she points out, she wrote primarily for herself and if it was a disease, then it was a wonderful disease suffered by A ristotle, Homer and Cicero, among others (Cavendish, 2001). Women in the Scientific Revolution Maria Winckelmann In Germany, circumstances for women in science were different; few independently pursed their scientific interests. The astronomer Maria Winckelmann Kirsch is perhaps the best and certainly the best remembered example. She married the astronomer and mathematician Gottfried Kirsch and while they functioned as equals, the prevailing attitude of their time was that she was his assistant; Kirsch himself was a product of a scientific family and there is no reason to believe he did not appreciate his wifes collaboration. In any event, we know she wrote of the conjunctions of the planets and, in 1702 became the first woman to discover a comet; she also published the most erudite observations of the aurora borealis to that time (Schiebinger, 1987). Unfortunately, Maria Winckelmann Kirsch has yet to benefit from a revival of scholarly interest in her life and activities that has benefited Margaret Cavendish. Women in the Scientific Revolution Maria Gaetana Agnesi In Italy, traditionally regarded as the birthplace of the Renaissance, the situation for women was different still, and is best exemplified by Maria Gaetana Agnesi, who, like Margaret Cavendish, had the advantages of wealth and social position and also pursued her interests independently. Her father was a professor of mathematics at Bologna and Maria showed intellectual gifts from an early age (Osen, 1975). Throughout her life, he was a very religious person and constantly found herself in the verge of spiritual revelation; fortunately for the history of science, she was a person of rare intellectual energy and she undertook the study of calculus when that was still cutting edge mathematics. Her most important work is Instituzioni analitiche ad uso della gioventà ¹ italiana, which uncharitably translates to Analytic Institutions for Use by Italian Youths an excellent introduction to Euclid and the first work to include both differential and integral calculus; in fact, Struik (1987) refers to her at the first important woman mathematician since Hypatia, some thirteen centuries before; Struik (1987) also calls this work the model for all subsequent calculus textbooks. As it was intended as a textbook for use by students, like Cavendish, Agnesi wrote in the vernacular Italian, and wrote very well, though lacked the Margaret Cavendishs literary charm. Agnesi became a professor of mathematics at the University of Bologna, the first woman to achieve this, anywhere. As noted, she spent much of her life in religious contemplation, though it should also be noted that she devoted much of her she considerable wealth to helping the poor and infirm, to the point that she converted at least part of her home into a charity hospital. She was recognized in her lifetime and was praised by many, including Pope Benedict XIV, himself no intellectual lightweight (Mazzotti, 1987). If Maria Agnesi is remembered for anything now, curiously it is for something she did not discover: the Witch of Agnesi, a curve whose mathematical properties lie somewhat outside the scope of this paper. While others had previously considered this curve, Agnesi was the first to give it a rigorous analytical treatment in her textbook; that it is called a witch is the product of an unfortunate early mistranslation into English that stuck. The curve, however, has one property worth mentioning: it almost exactly resembles an isolated water wave (Mazzotti, 1987). These three are just examples of women who took part in the scientific revolution. There were many others worthy of mention and many others still whose contributions are either lost or unrecognized, in some cases, to this day. The Status of Women in Science Now It is safe to say that of all the scientists ever, an overwhelming percentage are professionally active now, and among there, there are more women than ever before. This notwithstanding, women face serious obstacles in the sciences. Statistics indicate that women do less well than men in terms of degree, tenure and salary. In a field such as nursing, that has traditionally been dominated by women, men hold four percent of the professorships; by contrast women have never held as much as four percent of the professorships in any field dominated by men; even in psychology, were women obtain the majority of doctorates, women do not yet fill the majority of professorships (Schiebinger, 2001). Even so, there have been many noteworthy women scientists at present. To cite just one such example, the American Barbara McClintock discovered the transposition of genes and this explained how certain physical characteristics are turned on or off (Comfort, 1999). For this, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1944 and in 1983 won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine and, in fact, remains the only woman to win that prize, unshared. There is some contention over the exact nature and precedence of her discoveries, but even her critics concede her pivotal role in genetics research (Comfort, 2001). Reducing Barbara McClintock and her contributions to a single paragraph is hardly fair to her, or to women in science today. It is, however, important to recognize that woman have made important contributions to science from the earliest times and while many of these contributions remain unrecognized, this is finally being addressed. Given current demographic and educational trends, it is clear that the influence of women in science will only increase with time. Conclusion As noted, women have played important roles in science from antiquity to the present, though their roles and their contributions have often been lost or gone unrecognized. This paper has examined three such figures from the time of the scientific revolution, as well as one from the postwar era in the United States to demonstrate that their contributions can be meaningful and as important as those of their male counterparts. It is to be understood that if science is to be a truly democratic and fair institution, it must welcome contributions and criticism from everyone and while tremendous strides have been made, the institution of science as a whole still has a long way to go to achieve this egalitarian goal. References Cavendish, M. (2001). Observations upon experimental philosophy. E. ONeill (ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Comfort, N. (1999). The real point is control: The reception of Barbara McClintocks controlling elements. Journal of the History of Biology, 32 (1): 133–62 Comfort, N. (2001). The tangled field. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Flaherty, A. (2004). The midnight disease: The drive to write, writers block, and the creative brain. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace. Grant, D. (1957). Margaret the first: A biography of Margaret Cavendish Duchess of Newcastle 1623–1673. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press. Grant, E. (1996). The foundations of modern science in the Middle Ages: Their religious, institutional, and intellectual contexts. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Linton, C. (2004). From Eudoxus to Einstein: A history of mathematical astronomy. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Mazzotti, M. (2007). The world of Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Mathematician of God. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Mendelson, S. (1987). Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle. In The mental world of three Stuart women. Brighton, UK: Harvester, pp. 12–61. Osen, L. (1975). Women in Mathematics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Sarasohn, L. (2010) The natural philosophy of Margaret Cavendish: Reason and fancy during the scientific revolution. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Schiebinger, L. (1987). Maria Winckelmann at the Berlin Academy: A turning point for women in science. Isis, Journal of the History of Science Society, 78 (292): 174–200. Schiebinger, L. (2001). Has Feminism Changed Science? Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Struik, D. (1987). A Concise history of mathematics (4th rev. ed.). New York, NY: Dover Publications. Walters, L. (2014). Margaret Cavendish: Gender, science and politics. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Westfall, R. (1971). The construction of modern science. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons. Whitaker, K. (2003). Mad Madge: Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, royalist, writer and romantic. London: Chatto and Windus.

The Bipolar Brain and the Creative Mind Essay example -- Biology Essay

The Bipolar Brain and the Creative Mind "Our hospital was famous and had housed many great poets and singers. Did the hospital specialize in poets and singers, or was it that poets and singers specialized in madness? ... What is it about meter and cadence and rhythm that makes their makers mad?" (1) The link between madness and creativity is one that has been hotly debated in both medical and literary circles for a long time. The two most common types of mental illness theorized to be an influence on creative people such as writers, artists, and poets were schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (2). However, various studies comparing the characteristics of schizophrenics, bipolars, and writers have concluded that schizophrenics do not share a common thought process with writers (2). In comparison, a study conducted at the University of Iowa declared that while both bipolar patients and writers tended to "sort in large groups... arbitrarily change starting points, or use vague distantly related concepts as categorizing principles" (p 107), the two differed in their abilities to control their thoughts (2). Where the exactly this line of control is located – or indeed if there is a line at all – is the debate in question. Bipolar disorder, also called manic depression, is a complex and often cruel illness that takes sufferers on a rollercoaster ride of emotional highs and deep depressions. During the mania period, either euphoria or irritability manifest themselves, and sometimes a combination of the two, called "mixed mania"(3). A person in a manic phase can also exhibit symptoms known to physicians as the DIGFAST symptoms: distractibility is heightened; insomnia is present due to increased energy; grandiosity occurs in delus... ..., 1993. 3)Medscape article, facts on bipolar disorder http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/151096 4)An article on the Pendulum website, about the possible links between bipolar disorder and creative personalities http://www.pendulum.org/articles/creativity_troubled.htm 5)A website to support those with bipolar illness, with a list of famous manic-depressives http://users.frii.com/parrot/dead.html 6)The Serendip webpage, an article entitled "Creativity and Psychopathology" http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/serendipia/Serendipia-Preti.html 7)A website to support those with bipolar disorder, with an essay by a teenage girl about her bipolar illness http://www.pendulum.org/writings/label_maker.htm 8)An article posted from the Science News, about the relationship between creativity and bipolar illness http://users.lycaeum.org/~martins/M2/creativ2.html

Information Technology Ethics Essay

Definitions -the right to be alone – the most comprehensive of rights, and the right most valued by people. (Justice Louis Brandeis, Olmstead v. US, 1928) -the right of individuals to control the collection and use of information about themselves. Legal Aspects Protection from unreasonable intrusion upon one’s isolation. Protection from appropriation of one’s name or likeness.  Protection from unreasonable publicity given to one’s private. Protection from publicity that unreasonably places one in a false light before the public. RECENT HISTORY OF PRIVACY PROTECTION Communication Act of 1934 -it restricted the government’s ability to secretly intercept communications. However, under a 1968 federal statute, law enforcement officers can use wiretapping if they first obtain a court order. Wiretapping – the interception of telephone or telegraph communications for purpose of espionage or surveillance. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) – (passed -1966, amended-1974) provides the public with the means to gain access to certain government records such as the spending patterns of an agency, the agency’s policies and the reasoning behind them, and the agency’s mission and goals. Fair Credit Reporting Act (1970) – this act regulates the operations of credit-reporting bureaus, including how they collect, store, and use credit information. – it is designed to promote accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of credit reporting companies and to check verification systems that gather and sell information about people. Privacy Act (1974) – declares that no agency of the U.S. government can conceal the existence of any personal data record-keeping system, and that any agency that maintains such a system, must publicly describe both the kind of information in it and the manner in which the information will be used. – the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the law enforcement agencies are excluded from this act. – the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) â€Å"Fair Information Practices† are often held up as a model of ethical treatment of consumer data for organization to adopt. Summary of the 1980 OECD privacy guidelines Principle Guideline Collection limitation Limit the collection of personal data. All such data must be obtained lawfully and fairly with the subject’s consent and knowledge. Data Quality Personal data should be accurate, complete, current and relevant to the purpose for which it is used. Purpose Specification The purpose for which personal data is collected should be should be specified and should not be changed. Use Limitation Personal data should not be used beyond the specified purpose without a persons consent or by authority of law. Security Safeguards Personal data should be protected against unauthorized access, modification, or disclosure. Openness principle Data policies should exist and a â€Å"data controller† should be identified. Individual participation People should have the right to review their data, to challenge its correctness, and to have incorrect data changed. Accountability A â€Å"data controller† should be responsible for ensuring that the above principles are met. Children’s Online Protect Act (COPA)(1998) – The law states that a website that caters to children must offer comprehensive privacy policies, notify their parents or guardians about its data collection practices, and receive parental consent before collecting any personal information from children under 13 years of age. European Company Directives 95/46/EC (1998) – requires any company that does business within the borders of 15 Western European nations to implement a set of privacy directives on fair and appropriate use of information. Summary of the European Data Privacy Principle Notice Tell all customer what is done with their information. Choice Give customer a way to opt out of marketing. Onward Transfer Ensure that suppliers comply with the privacy policy. Access Give customer access to their information. Security Protect customer information from unauthorized access. Data Integrity Ensure that information are accurate and relevant. Enforcement Independently enforce the privacy policy. Better Business Bureau Online (BBB Online) and TRUSTe – independent, nonprofit initiatives that favor an industry-regulated approach to data privacy which concerned about the government regulation that could have a negative impact on the Internet’s use and growth, and that such regulation would be costly to implement and difficult to change. The BBB Online Seal adheres that the website has a high level of data privacy. The seal program identifies online businesses that honor their own stated privacy policy. The TRUSTe’s main rule is that websites should openly communicate what information it gathers, its use, to whom it will be shared, and does the consumer has a choice of opting out. Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (1998) -this act required all financial-services institutions to communicate their data privacy policies and honor customer data-gathering preferences by July 1, 2001. This was to make them take actions to protect and secure customers’ nonpublic data from unauthorized access or use. KEY PRIVACY AND ANONYMITY ISSUES GOVERNMENTAL ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE Federal Wiretap Act (U.S. Code Title 18 Part 1, Chapter 119, Wire and Electronic Communications Interception and Interception of Oral Communications) – it requires processes to obtain court authorization for surveillance of all kinds of electronic communications, including e-mail, fax, internet, and voice, in criminal investigation. A court order must be issued based on probable cause before a wiretap can commence. roving tap – government authority to obtain a court order that does not name a specific telephone or e-mail, but allows them to tap any phone lines or internet accounts that the suspect uses. Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA, U.S Code Title 18, part 2, Chapter 206) – standards for access to stored e-mail and other electronic communications and records. ECPA amended Title III (Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968) – extended the title III’s prohibitions against the unauthorized interception (use of person’s oral or electronic communications). -this act failed to address emerging technologies such as wireless modems, cellular, data networks, etc. thus, this communication can still be legally intercepted. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) – allows wiretapping of aliens and citizens in the U.S. based on a finding of probable cause that the target is a member of a foreign terrorist group or an agent of a foreign power. Executive Order 123333 (U.S. Pres. Reagan, 1982) – legal authority for electronic surveillance outside the U.S. It permits intelligence agencies to intercept communications outside the U.S. without a court order. Communication Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA, 1994) – it covers radio-based data communication. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) required providers of Internet phone and broadband services to ensure that their equipment can allow police wiretaps. USA Patriot Act of 2001 – Gives sweeping new powers to Domestic law enforcement and International intelligence agencies. It contains several sunsets that gives the government much more surveillance capability. Sunset provisions – can terminates itself or portions after a specific date unless further actions is taken to extend the law DATA ENCRYPTION Cryptography – the science of encoding messages so that only the sender and the intended receiver can understand them. Encryption – the process of converting an electronic message into a form that can be understood only by the intended recipients. Public key encryption system uses two keys Message receiver’s public key – readily available Message receiver’s private key – kept secret Private key encryption system Single key to encode and decode messages RSA (named after Rivest, Shamir and Adleman) – is a public key encryption algorithm, the basis for much of the security that protects Web consumers and merchants. PGP ( Pretty Good Privacy) – uses 128 bit encryption that represents a total of 2128 . DES (Digital Encryption Standard) – the standard for encryption, it employs a 56 bit key that represents 7.2Ãâ€"1016 . (It can now be crack using brute methods) AES (Advanced Encryption Standards) – requires crackers to try as many as 1.1Ãâ€"1077 combinations. IDENTITY THEFT – occurs when someone steals key pieces of personal information to gain access to a person’s financial accounts. – fastest growing form of fraud in the United States. Phishing – is an attempt to steal personal identity data by tricking users into entering the information on a counterfeit Website. Spear-phishing – is a variation in which employees are sent phony emails that look like they came from high-level executives within their organization. Spyware – is a term for keystroke-logging software that is downloaded to users computer without adequate notice, consent, or control for the user. It creates a record of keystrokes entered into the computer with or without internet and will send to the email of the spy when internet connections are available. Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998 – the congress passed this act to fight identity fraud, making it a federal felony punishable by a prison sentence of 3 -25 years. – researchers estimated that 1 of 700 identity crimes were led to conviction. CONSUMER PROFILING – Companies openly collect personal information about Internet users. They also obtain information without users permission through the use of cookies. – marketing firms uses this information in building databases that contains consumer behavioral data. They want to know about who the users are, what they like, how they behave, and what motives them to buy. Cookies – a text file that a website puts on your hard drive so that it can remember your information later on. Affiliated Websites – is a group or collection of websites served by a single advertising network. 3 Types of Data Gathered POST – it is entered into a blank fields on an affiliated website when a consumer signs up for a service. GET – it reveals what the consumer requested product in a specific store. Click-Stream Data – it is the tracking of the information the user sought and viewed. 4 Ways to Limit/Stop deposit Cookies Set browsers to limit or stop cookies or browse the web using the incognito browsing mode which will remove all marks of your browsing. Manually delete cookies in your hard drives. Download and install cookie management program. Or use anonymous proxy websites to browse websites. However, some websites lock users to browse in their page when cookie is disabled. Personalization software – it is used by marketers to optimize the number, frequency and mixture of their ad placements. It is also used to evaluate how visitors react to new ads. Types of Personalization Software Rule-based – used business rules that are tied to customer provided preferences or online behaviors to determine the most appropriate page views and product information to display. Collaborative Filtering – offers consumer recommendations based on the types of product purchased by other people with similar buying habits. Types of Personalization Software (Continued) Demographic Filtering – it augments click stream data and user supplied data with demographics information associated with user zip codes to make product suggestions. Contextual Commerce – associates product promotions and other e-commerce offerings with specific content a user may receive in a new story online. Platforms for Privacy Preferences (P3P) – shields users from site that don’t provide the level of privacy protection  they desire. Instead of forcing users to find and read through the privacy policy for each site they visit, P3P software in the computers browser will download the privacy policy for each site, scan it and notify users if the policy does not match their preferences. The World Wide Web Consortium, an international privacy group whose members include Apple, Commerce One, Ericsson, and Microsoft, created P3P and is supporting its development. TREATING CONSUMERS DATA RESPONSIBILITY -Strong measures are required to avoid customer relationship problems. Code of Fair Information Practices – most widely accepted approach to treating consumers data responsibly. Guidelines of Code of Fair Information Practices and the 1980 OECD an organizations collects only personal information that is necessary to deliver its product and services. Company ensures that the information is carefully protected and accessible only by those with a need to know, and that consumers can review their own data and make corrections. Company informs customers if it intends to use it’s information for research or marketing, and it provides a means for them to opt out. Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) – executive to oversee data privacy policies and initiatives. Duties of CPO Avoid government regulations and reassure customers that their privacy will be protected. Stop or modify major company marketing initiatives. Training employees about privacy and checking the companies privacy policy for potential risks. Figuring out if gaps exist and how to fill them. Developing and managing a process for customer privacy disputes. WORKPLACE MONITORING Employers monitor workers – Ensures that corporate IT usage policy is followed Fourth Amendment cannot be used to limit how a private employer treats its employees. – Public-sector employees have far greater privacy rights than in the private industry. Privacy advocates want federal legislation – To keeps employers from infringing upon privacy rights of employees. SPAMMING – the transmission of the same email message to a large number of people. Spammers target individual users with direct email messages, building their mail list by scanning Usenet postings, buying mail lists or searching the web for addresses. – extremely inexpensive method of marketing. – used by many legitimate organizations. – can contain unwanted and objectionable materials. Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing(CAN-SPAM)  the act says it is legal to spam provided that the message meet a few basic requirements: (1) spammers cannot disguise identity, (2) there must be a label in the message specifying that it is an ad or solicitation, and (3) include a way that the recipient can stop the receiving of spam. The act failed to slow the flow of spam but instead, it actually increased the flow of spam by legalizing it. ADVANCED SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY Advanced surveillance technology provide a new data gathering capabilities, however, these advance can also diminish individuals privacy. Advocates of the technology argue that people have no legitimate expectations of privacy in a public place. Camera Surveillance – is one of the most common advanced system used in surveillance nowadays. It has the capability to record events, detecting unusual behaviour, automatically capturing important events, and used in monitoring day to day events in different places. Facial Recognition Software There have been numerous experiments with facial recognition software to help identify criminal suspects and other undesirable characters. It has been first tested by the Rampart Division of the Los Angeles Police Department and yielded a result. Global Positioning System (GPS) These are chips placed in different devices to monitor locations of the  users. It is useful in locating callers of 911, parents monitoring their children, etc.

Discuss the increasing importance of HRM in today’s businesses Essay

With the emergence of a highly dynamic global economic system, and with new competitors constantly arriving on the scene, businesses are constantly finding ways to increase efficiency and effectiveness to stay viable to meet present and future work demands. The Human Resource Management (â€Å"HRM†) function exercised effectively in many businesses has overtime proven to have significant impacts on business results, thus becoming increasingly influential in the formulation of business strategies. This paper seeks to discuss the increasing importance of HRM in today’s businesses, with a focus on the four key roles identified by Dave Ulrich (1993) that Human Resource (â€Å"HR†) managers of today should play to rise up to impending challenges, in response to the purpose of this assignment. This paper will also attempt to define and interpret existing HRM concepts and theories and to highlight their differences and respective roles in the shaping of today’s businesses. It will also draw some examples of good strategic HRM practices in some of today’s most successful global companies. In today’s businesses all around the world, the fundamental attributions for a business to thrive in an ever-changing and demanding society have drastically undergone an overhaul in recent years to suit and adapt to change. With vast advancements in technology and better infrastructure in place, businesses are able to operate more efficiently in today’s society than before. However, the most essential ingredient in all successful businesses is its people, or what is termed today as ‘human asset’. Good staff are the heart and blood of businesses, driving them to achieve strategic objectives and goals. With such realisation, the HRM function in a business has been identified as a key role in the sustenance of business success and how it can be better positioned to gain a competitive stance through the effective management of its people. To attempt to precisely define HRM will result in more confusion and contradiction, particularly due to the case of its constant comparison with Personnel Management (â€Å"PM†). Worthy to note, Noon (1994:23) states that though HRM is comparatively new to many countries, in the USA the HRM term has been used over fifty years as an alternative name for PM and that the two terms are synonymous. Pre 1980s, PM was largely viewed as the human face of management. Torrington and Hall (1991) puts forth that: Thus it can be seen that PM is more work-force-centred, directed primarily at the business’s employees; sourcing and training them, arranging for remuneration, defining management expectations, tending to employee’s work-related needs, dealing with their problems and seeking to modify management action, which tend to produce unhappy employees and unwelcomed responses. Such is the ‘hard’ approach of managing people, viewing an organization’s employees as a cost, which needs to be tightly budgeted. People under the PM system are viewed as resources in the same way as any other business resources, and thus, indisputable never totally identified with the management interests. Thus surfaces a â€Å"gap† between human resource and business strategies, with the management and employees mediating the needs of each to the other. Tichy, Fombrun and Devanna (1982) state that: It was during the 1980s that HRM took on a new meaning as it grew and broadened as it focused on strategic and business concerns according to Tichy et. al. (1984) and Freedman (1991). It was identified with a strategic approach, bridging the link of managing of people to the achievement of business objectives. HRM was becoming more influential across regions like South Africa and Australasia and soon, it found itself being integrated into the local business cultures. HRM took upon the role of strategically managing the utilization of human resources at its optimum level. It strived for a seamless link between business policies and HR policies, and looked upon employees as resources distinct from the other resources, striving for a more humanistic approach. Drawing on such ideas, Alan Price (2004) defines HRM in the new age as: As such, HRM is viewed as a more resource-centred approach directed primarily at managing the need for human capital. This could be attributed to the ‘soft’ approach of HRM, which view its employees as a core asset. Human capital is thus defined not only to include employees of the business, but also to encompass the management as a whole unit whose interests can only be enhanced through the inclination of effective and integrated overall management of all the business’ processes and units. Henry and Pettigrew support this belief that the strategic character of HRM is distinctive. HRM is said to be based on a management and business-oriented philosophy. This is perhaps the most significant point differentiating HRM from traditional personnel management in today’s organizations. With more upcoming challenges ahead in an unpredictable future working environment, businesses are shifting their paradigm to adopt the HRM approach for its flexibility and proven means of producing results in the long run. If HRM is going to rise to such challenges, Dave Ulrich (1993) identified a four-pronged approach that managers can undertake to make the transition successfully. They are to play the roles of: * Administrative expert Ulrich asserts that HR needs to add value by acting as a partner with line management. He notes â€Å"HR professionals add value to a business when they use their expertise to link internal organization and management practices to external business requirements.† He reckons that HR managers must be effective through their management so as to create value within the organization. * Employee champion Ulrich reckons that a good HR manager is one who is able to relate and meet the needs of employees, at the same time be their voice in the organization so as to provide assurance and seeking of new resources for their betterment. Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric (2001) formulated the â€Å"Boundaryless† concept in the company where he took ideas to the bottom line of his thriving organization. He successfully removed barriers within the organization functions, encouraged employees to voice out any new ideas they had and assigned managers who were committed to the sharing of these ideas with the board and realizing them. As a result, employees were not only rewarded and recognized, but gained much credit for contributing to the company, thus boosting levels of employee confidence and commitment. * Change Agent Ulrich points out that HR managers must be able to manage change, simultaneously acting as a catalyst for change. In the ever-changing global economy, change is inevitable in organizations where staying cost-effective to gain competitive advantage is of priority. Change is seen as a means of psyching the business up to possible uncertainties in the present and future environment. HR managers thus must be able to lead functional change and exert influence over the organization by being observant and responsive towards change to ensure that the business stays viable. They need to constantly monitor the organization to determine the need for change and implementing it successfully alongside organization objectives and values. Ulrich further states that the distinction between those who succeed and fail is â€Å"the ability to respond to the pace of change†. Bill Hewlett and David Packard who founded Hewlett Packard said of managing change and growth: * Strategic partner Ulrich states that HR managers should shoulder the role of being a strategic business partner in the translation of business objectives into action. They must thus be able to develop new ideas and contribute to the making of business decisions within the organization on top of effective people management. HRM is thus seen as part of an integrated and coherent function in the business process. Ulrich highlights the increasingly complex and paradoxical roles the HR professionals must perform to better understand HRM functions and to add value in the organization by helping line managers align strategies and processes with the business needs of the organization. Legge (1989) also provides that that HRM concentrates more on what is done to managers than what is done by manager to the employees. He also reinforces that there is a more proactive role for line managers and for top management to manage culture. Thus is the focus on the true effectiveness and value of the HRM function and if streamlining its processes and redefining HR manager relationships with line managers would define new competencies for HR managers. But is definitely sufficient to say that the role of HR is dramatically changing as how Ulrich (1993), Schuler (1990) and Walker (1992) have recognized it to be. The HR function has systematically gained prominence. Senior HR professionals have made the shift from just being just ‘another functioning role in the organization’ to being key members of the senior management team. Noble (1994) captures this transition by stating, â€Å"competition has taken human resources from the backwater to the boardroom.† Since then, several formal theoretical models of Human Resource Strategy have started to appear as early as 1984, which served as analytical views to better comprehend the development of HRM and are loosely regarded as representatives for the profession. Among them are: * Fombrun, Tichy and Devanna’s Matching Model It seeks to internally unify activities with the HR function and business strategy. It aims to achieve a ‘match’ or ‘fit’ between the two functions. It has its focus on work systems and job designs, making HRM seem to evolve in a social vacuum. * The Harvard Model Produced by Beer, Spector, Lawrence, Quinn Mills and Walton (1984), it provides a broad yet casual depiction of the determinants and consequences of the implementation of HR policies. In this model, situational factors together with stakeholder’s interests are taken into account to influence the formulation of HR policies and outcomes. It concentrates on high commitment as the ideal state of the work force. The Stakeholder theory in this context sets out to prove the varying degrees of influence and impact that stakeholders can have on the conduct and progress of the organization. The main aim is to commit and coordinate the interests of an organization’s stakeholders while directing the organization’s primary activities. * The Warwick Model An extension of the Harvard Model by Hendry and Pettigrew (1990), it emphasizes the importance of external and internal environmental impacts on HRM and is more oriented to the process of change. * Guest’s Model Guest (1989) adapted the Harvard Model by basing his analysis on the four HR outcomes, and developing these into four policy goals: commitment, flexibility strategic integration and quality. This prescriptive model seeks to see these goals as a coherent package that needs to be achieved for desired organization outcomes. * The Storey Model John Storey (1993) stated that â€Å"the ability to take, and implement a strategic view of the whole range of the personnel practices in relation to business activity as a whole† is the basic distinction between traditional personnel management and HRM. Storey’s theoretical model is based on conceptions on how organizations have been transformed from predominantly personnel/IR practices to HRM practices. These influential HRM Models serve as a means of developing strategies and formulation of policies to support current business infrastructure and provides a framework of current concept, assumptions and theories of HRM practices in the real world today. Ulrich (1993) asserts that HR needs to add value by acting as a partner with line management. He notes â€Å"HR professionals add value to a business when they use their expertise to link internal organization and management practices to external business requirements.† To assess HRM outcomes and to define its processes in this new day and age is subjected to numerous debates as to the use of the ideal method in the effective management of people. HRM is evolving in tune to the gradual yet subtle phasing out of traditional PM in most modern organizations today. It can thus be concluded aptly that a successful organization is nothing without good staff, emphasizing once again, the importance of good HRM practices in today’s businesses and the integral role it plays in the with regards to the management of an organization’s core asset – Its people.    REFERENCES Price, Alan. (2004), Human Resource Management in a Business Context, 2nd Edition, Thomson Learning. Stone, J. Raymond. (2002), human Resource Management, 4th Edition, John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. Torrington, Derek. and Hall, Laura. (1998), Human Resource Management, 4th Edition, Prentice Hall Europe. Torrington, Derek. and Hall, Laura. (1991), Personnel Management: A New Approach, 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall. Ulrich, Dave. and Smallwood, Norm. (2003), Why the Bottom Line Isn’t!, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Welch, Jack. with Byrne A, John. (2001), JACK: What I’ve learned leading a great company and great people, Headline Book Publishing Great Britain. MGW2430 Human Resource Management Averil Chan Si Wan (19603363)