Corporate Finance Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Corporate Finance - Case Study Example The company's other division, ALSO, provides 'information and communications technology and consumer electronics in the wholesale and logistics sectors (Google Finance 2009).' Schindler operates in 125 countries, with its 45,063 employees around the world, while most of its ALSO operations cater to European customers (Yahoo Finance). A firm's liquidity is measured by certain financial ratios which include the current ratio, quick ratio, and average collection period. Schindler Holding's current ratio is 1.45 in 2004, 1.3 in 2005, 1.31 in 2006, 1.29 in 2007, and 1.33 in 2008 (see Table 1 in the Appendices). The company's quick ratio is 1.06 in 2004, 0.92 in 2005, 0.87 in 2006, 0.84 in 2007, and 0.95 in 2008 (see Table 1 in the Appendices). As for the company's average collection period, the company collects its accounts receivable in 53.81 days in 2004, 58.29 days in 2005, 59.73 days in 2006, 52.13 days in 2007 and 47.45 days in 2008 (see Table 1 in the Appendices). Exhibit 1 in the Appendices shows the trend of Schindler Holding's current ratio and quick ratio. The company's current ratio has declined from 2004 to 2005, increased from 2005 to 2006 then declined again to 2007. From 2007 to 2008, this ratio is increasing. The company's quick ratio on the other hand has faced a constant decline from 2004 up to 2007. In 2008, the company's quick ratio has increased from 2007. The difference in the trend between the two ratios tells one thing-while the company has increased its current assets in 2006, the increase is mainly attributed to assets aside from cash, short-term marketable securities and accounts receivable. Exhibit 3 in the Appendices shows an lengthening collection period from 2004 to 2006. From 2006 to 2008, however, the trend goes downward. This means the company has cut down on its collection period. The shorter the collection period, the shorter the operating cycle is and cash comes back to the company from its operations more quickly. ii. Operating efficiency The company's operating efficiency is measured by ratios such as the company's inventory turnover, fixed asset turnover, and total asset turnover. Schindler Holding's inventory turnover in 2004 is 22.53 times, 21 times in 2005, 17,87 times in 2006, 16.13 times in 2007, and 18.71 times in 2008 (see Table 1 in Appendices). Exhibit 2 shows the trend for this ratio; from 2004 up to 2007, Schindler Holding's inventory turnover ratio is in a downward trend before it goes up in 2008. Since inventory turnover ratio determines how fast a company disposes inventories and turn into cost of goods sold to the company. The company has become less efficient in converting its inventories into sales from 2004 to 2007, until it has improved its efficiency in 2008. The company's fixed asset turnover ratio measures how hard the company's fixed assets are employed in terms of contributing to the company's revenues. In 2004, this figure amounts to 15.42 times, 20.34 times in 2005, 22.97 in 2006, 27.29 times in 2007 and 28.83 times in 2008 (see Table 1 in the Appendices). This ratio has an upward trend from 2004 to 2008 (Exhibit 2), which means the company increases the efficiency of its fixed assets, in relation to revenue generation. The company's total asset turno

A Modest Proposal Essay Example for Free

A Modest Proposal Essay A Reading of A Modest Proposal concentrating on how Swift criticised the society in which he lived. A Modest Proposal is a satirical pamphlet written by Jonathon Swift in 1729. It outlines the dreadful way in which Catholics were treated by the protestant minority in Ireland during these times. During the time Swift wrote this piece of prose, a series of laws called the Penal Laws excluded Catholics from society. They made it illegal for them to own any land and if they made a profit of more than a third of their rent, they could face eviction. They lived in absolute poverty and had no human rights. Swift may have written this text for innumerable reasons but one can suggest that there were three main points: (1) to cause outrage and shock in order to get the author, Swift, much attention, (2) to draw attention to the governments refusal to do anything about child poverty and (3) to draw attention to the plight of the poor by showing that his proposal was no more monstrous than the situation that already existed. The text works by combining many elements of literary techniques, such as irony, shock tactics and moral pronouncements, in order to create the maximum response possible from the reader- shock. It can be suggested that this shock was hoped to achieve anger throughout the protestant communities and maybe to cause some civil unrest until something was done about it. The title also covers up what the proposal actually is. In a rough translation, the title could mean A humble suggestion for preventing the children of the poor from being a burden to their parents as they are of no use to their parents or society, and making them useful to the public. Though this translation may give an insight to what the suggestion is about, the reader still does not know what it actually is. The text can be split into four parts: (1) the problem, (2) the plan, (3) the solution and (4) the benefits.   The first criticism made by Swift can be found in the first paragraph, It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town crowded with beggars of the female sex. This shows that Swift may be implying that the proposal is about the poor people of Ireland. One may notice that this quotation is also a criticism about how many poor Catholics there are in Ireland and that something should be done about it. The next criticism is in the fourth paragraph supported by her milk for a solar year with little other nourishment. This could suggest that there is not enough food for Catholics, so they have to feed the babies on just their mothers milk, however, this quotation could just show that babies can survive on just their mothers milk so it could be a statement of fact. The next criticism can also be found in the fourth paragraph, wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives. This can be connected with paragraph one as this may mean that the catholic children would be begging for food and clothing for the rest of their lives unless something is done about it. Another criticism can be found in paragraph six, able to maintain their own children, although I apprehend that there cannot be so many. This may appear to some readers that the author is writing about the poor state of Catholics and that they are so poor, that cannot provide for their own children but it could also be translated that Protestants think so badly of Catholics that they do not care how their children are treated. In paragraph seven, there is a further criticism concerning Catholic children. He says that a boy or girls before twelve years old is no salable commodity meaning that young children are useless to society. Swift then compares the poor children to animals in paragraph fifteen, will make admirable gloves for ladies and summer boots for fine gentlemen. Here, Swift is comparing childrens skin to leather from a cow. Going back to paragraph twelve, yet another criticism can be found within the quotation landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of their parents, seem to nave the best title to the children. This could be seen as a pun with the word devoured literally meaning that the landlord has consumed virtually all of the Catholics assets. By using this word, Swift as linked to the suggestion of eating children by saying that the landlords have already destroyed the Catholic tenants lives, so what difference will it make if they eat their babies? To make this pamphlet seem real, Swift has used a number of literary techniques, for example, he has used a vast amount of irony such as in paragraph twenty eight, he implies eating babies at wedding and christening ceremonies. Swift also uses a large amount of shock tactics, par se, paragraph fifteen, will make admirable gloves for ladies Though it may seem true, Swift does not actually mean to eat the children of Catholics. By suggesting such a hideous and shocking proposal, he would have gained much attention and reveal the way in which Protestants were treating the Catholic majority. Overall, it can be said that this pamphlet was very successful in trying to eliminate racism toward the Catholics but this prejudice can still be seen today between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland and parts of Scotland. It is also a great example to show how satire has changed very little throughout the centuries, for example, The Office is set out very much in the same way as A Modest Proposal. The same techniques can be applied (Irony ect) and some of the same subjects can still apply such as government and other races of people but most of all, this pamphlet shows the reader just how effective using satire is to get the authors point across successfully. Simon Garlinge Pre 1914 prose coursework first draft Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Jonathan Swift section.

Online Etiquette in Virtual Learning Environment: Reflection

Online Etiquette in Virtual Learning Environment: Reflection Netiquette and Student Learning Experience on Blackboard – Reflective essay Communicating by email and other methods on the Internet such as online message boards and chat systems has become very common these days. It is almost impossible to pursue a course of study in higher or further education without using computers, and without communicating with other people online. Yet it can be safely said the most of us have never had any type of formal training in communicating online. The increased use of Virtual Learning Environments such as Blackboard and Moodle put an additional imperative on students to learn how to communicate online. This means that students now not only need to learn the content of the course, they also need to use a new tool properly prior to studying the subject matter. At our University, the Blackboard is used for various courses. Most students today are already familiar with the Internet and have already communicated with others via various methods on the Internet; hence there isnt a steep learning curve when they learn to use this new tool. Additionally, support is provided in various ways for students who require it. Firstly, students can approach the online learning support officer if they require any general help with the system. Secondly, they can approach the module leader or teacher if they have any problems with any specific course they are taking on Blackboard. Thirdly, they can approach their personal tutor with any problems t hat cannot be otherwise resolved. Practically, however, students often find peer support invaluable. I always found myself asking or being asked about specific issues with Blackboard. Some of the common questions are about where are the buttons one would require to perform certain tasks, for example the upload button when submitting an assignment, what happens when the system hangs – this often creates a lot of anxiety, especially when it happens close to the deadline for the submission of an assignment! I have often found that the people who are able to readily answer these questions have often faced the same problem themselves, and found it out either by trial and error on their own, or were in turn helped by some others. Although technology is often (dis)credited as the cause of an increasing loss of personal contact in every aspect of modern life, ironically, the use of an unfamiliar tool such as the Blackboard actually helped me communicate better with some other student s, as we faced a shared problem and being compatriots somehow brought us closer. Netiquette was something I decided that I had to learn before I was brave enough to add my comment in the discussion forums. This was mainly because I was very used to the Internet slang of using the short form of words such as CUL8R and I wasnt very sure these would be acceptable and did not want to get on the wrong side of the lecturer unnecessarily. I did some reading on the topic and found a great deal of material on the Internet regarding Netiquette. In particular, I read the RFC 1855 (Hambridge, 1995), which was a sort of bible on netiquette. On reading it the reasons behind many of netiquette rules that I didnt think were important, most of it seemed to be common sense and polite. The WIRED article by Leahy (2006) cited one good example of an email communication that had this sentence Don’t work too hard, which could be interpreted in a variety of ways – had this been addressed to me, I would have wondered, was the writer sarcastically implying that I was working too hard, perhaps trying to impress someone, in which case I probably would have taken offence, or was it just a joke? Either way, its difficult to interpret. I read the general rules for posting on Blackboard and saw that they werent very different from the RFC 1855. There were only minor differences, some recommendations adapted to keep in view that this was an educational discussion board in an educational institution. Going back to my interaction on Blackboard, I monitored the comments on the discussion board for while before I decided to post a somewhat inconsequential comment to test the waters. I had given a great deal of thought before deciding to participate in the discussion online. Initially, I thought that since participating in the online discussion forum wasnt compulsory, I need not participate; it would only take me more time to learn the rules, and then engage in a discussion that didnt really earn me any marks in my final score for the module. However, I spoke to some of my peers, and got the view that participating in discussions not only helped you clear your doubts, it also helped others; most often, someone else had the same question, but was just too scared to post it, and when you did, they were grateful to you; sometimes that made them bolder to start posting too. Then, one of the lecturers for one of the modules that was using Blackboard encouraged us to continue a discussion that took place in class online, and that was what spurred me on to leave me comment; however, having thought out my first post for very long before posting it, I feel that I somehow killed it and it had the desired effect: it was so inconsequential, no one posted a reply to it. Funnily, I found this was somewhat disheartening, however, resolved to take part in the discussions better and managed to follow through. The main benefit I obtained from the discussion boards is that if there are some strands of thought running on your mind about a topic that is being discussed, the discussion board offers you the opportunity to actually post those thoughts anytime, anywhere. On hindsight, communicating on the Blackboard discussion board did not have very different rules from communicating face to face in the classroom. One just has to remember that when posting on an online forum, the readers cannot see your face to gauge your expression and therefore are more likely to misinterpret your s tatements. Using emoticons, if these are acceptable, can help convey the tone of the message to a certain extent. Also, if you are always prepared to offer a clarification and apology if necessary if your message has been misinterpreted then you cannot go very much wrong. There are indeed some excellent positives to the use of Blackboard (or any other Virtual Leaning Environment) in the university. The use of the VLE allowed us to work at home (or as a group in one persons home) and enabled us to avoid spending the time travelling to university, and also the stress. We were able to discuss group assignments at a place convenient to the entire group, and as for individual assignments, there is a great deal to be said for sitting on ones own room with a pizza and coke and typing up an assignment. While it took some getting used to, once I got used to the system, I greatly appreciated the availability of all the information that was made available on an anytime, anywhere basis. However, I think that I would not like to pursue course of study that was conducted wholly through the VLE. This is because I felt that the face to face interaction I had with the lecturers of most modules was important, even if it consisted of me simply sitting passively in class listening to the lecture. This is because I felt I could understand much more when it was the lecturer explaining a certain point in person, not reading the written word; additionally, during face to face interaction, I had the opportunity of clearing any doubts that popped into my mind, and one once occasion, the teacher drew a simple diagram which allowed me to grasp the concept quickly; this would not have been possible if we were discussing the topic on the discussion forum on Blackboard. If all the convenience of using a VLE in additional to face to face teaching can be made available in a cost-efficient circumstance, then I would definitely recommend the use of Virtual Learning Environments. As for discussions on Blackboard, with my experience, I am now a bit confident at posting my comments on discussion topics. Perhaps the next semester I may even be bold enough to start up discussion on new topics if the opportunity presents itself. References Hambridge, S. (1995) RFC1855: Netiquette Guidelines (Available online at http://rfc.net/rfc1855.html last accessed Aug 2007) Leahy, S. (2006) The Secret Cause of Flame Wars Wired (Available online at http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/02/70179 last accessed Aug 2007) What is ethical policy? What is ethical policy? WHAT IS ETHICAL POLICY? In recent past so many successful business failed, many profitably running businesses suffered from a downfall and it is said that some effective corporate receives a great fall in their profits and popularity. One of the main reasons behind these surprising happening was lack of business ethics. Thus the ethics can be defined as the ability to distinguish between right and wrong (Buzzle.com, 2009). For a business to grow and maintain its prosperity, it must be found on certain ethical principals. A business that is based on ethics can run successfully for years (Buzzle.com, 2009). Money makers who do not pay attention to ethical values can only earn a short term success. To last long in the market, ethical business policy is must. An ethical business policy is important at many levels. It establishes expectations for employees and management as well, and defines the enforcement mechanism and penalty for noncompliance. When the ethical policy is professed as an integral component of the organizations culture is understood, followed and enforced (Bankers Online, 2010). An effective ethical policy has number of advantages. Its awareness among employees is a guarantee of proper conduct and doing the right things. They will better understand their responsibilities and expectations and assume the appropriate level of accountability when identifying and managing business risk (Messmar, 2003). The ethical policy of an organization is more than just a formal document outlining related rules of conduct. It is about integrating positive values throughout an organization (Sethi, 2003). Some key fundamental characteristics of for making ethical policy effective and worth having are (Find Articles, 2008);  · Employees often used to follow the behaviour of their superior executives, managers and others who have succeeded in the company. There fore everyone at every level must stick to the guideline laid down by the ethical policy.  · Companies those are very successful in their business have made ethics a key element of their corporate culture. Conducting business with integrity is considered as important as bottom line results. Ethical standards are applied any time a decision is made or an action is taken, not just during controversial situations (findarticles.com, 2008).  · Many firms make the mistake of asking their legal department to draft their code of ethical practice. As a result the policy may not reflect the challenges employees routinely face on the job. That is why it is valuable to include people from all levels of the organization in discussion about ethical guidelines. Once the ethical policy is implemented, it is equally important to review it periodically to ensure it accounts for current business practices (Find Articles, 2008).  · While deciding for the ethical policy companies should adopt democratic approach despite of giving the task of policy formulation to the legal department firms must include people from all levels of the organization in discussion about ethical guidelines. Once the ethical policy is implemented.  · Management should apply the same ethical standards to everyone in the organization. The consequences for an executives dishonest conduct should be consistent with those of a junior staff member. No exceptions should be made (Find Articles, 2008).  · The work environment must be one in which people feel they can deliver bad news to management without fear of repercussions. (Find Articles, 2008). A good ethical policy will not prevent every crisis, but it will ensure that staff members have a clear understanding of expectations. Collaborate with employees on defining the rules and make sure everyone is aware of the requirements. Then take step to instil core values throughout the organization (Rodgers, 2004). With regular reinforcement, ethics will guide every decision organization makes and become a central element in the way the organization conducts business. CONTENT OF ETHICAL POLICY First of all, the ethical policy must reflect organizations values, controls and processes. Unless the policy, controls and processes adequately reflect that institution is unique organization, the code will not be effective in providing guidance or offering protections (Bankers Online, 2010). Depending on regulatory requirements the contents of ethical policy vary. In general, the ethical policy should contain rules on; record keeping, information security and privacy, gift and hospitality, cooperation with investigations and audits, conflicts of interests and of course, a â€Å"whistleblower† provision, establishes procedures for reporting any suspected illegal or unethical activities by others within the organization (Bankers Online, 2010). ADMINISTERATION OF ETHICAL POLICY There is no unique style of administration. In some companies legal department has oversight and administrative responsibility. In some, responsibility rests with Human Resources or compliance. Some other organizations have a special ethics committee empowered specifically for purposes of oversight and enforcement (Bankers Online, 2010) (Wood, 2002); Accountability is clearly defined. The responsible department or person has the stature necessary to facilitate enforcement, It is assigned to someone who does not have a propensity to engage in illegal or unethical activities. Important components of the administration of ethical policy include initial and on going training and awareness effort of receipt, understanding, and compliance with the code; standards for documentation of exceptions; standards for investigation of suspected or reported wrongdoing; consistent enforcement; and finally periodic review of the code to ensure that it is comprehensive and reflects the current organizational structure and business practice (Bankers Online, 2010). THE TAJ GROUP OF HOTEL: TAJ GROUP OF HOTELS: The Taj Hotels Resort and Palaces is a group of 64 hotels at 45 locations across India with an additional 15 international hotels. The most significant addition to the Taj portfolio has been the iconic landmark hotel in New York, the Taj Boston and the blue in Sydney (Taj Hotel, 2009; Tata.com, 2009). The Taj Group of hotels is a part of Indian Multinational Group ‘TATA which has been respected in India for 140 years for its adherence to strong values and business ethics. TATAs vision is to attain leadership through business excellence in the sectors that they operate in, while upholding values and integrity, to improve the quality of life of the communities they serve. TATAs has always been values driven. These values continue to direct the growth and business of TATA companies. The five core TATA values are (Tata.com, 2009); Integrity, Understanding, Excellence, Unity and Responsibility (Tata.com, 2009).Detail analysis of ethical policy of Taj Groups of hotel is as follows. ETHICAL POLICY AND ITS ANALYSIS As a part of TATA group Taj Group has a very comprehensive ethical policy, which gives each and every detail about what the group is intended to do in future. As a part of TATA the Taj group carries a long history of ethical practices. The ethical policy is in real sense an essence of 150 year of ethical and value based business developed by TATAs around the world. As TATA is very big organization they have a very detailed ethical policy for the entire group consisting 25 clauses which focuses on every aspects of ethical practice. The important points of this policy are discussed and analyzed here (Tata.com, 2009). National interests: the group is committed to benefit the economic development of the countries in which it operates. In the course of its business the company shall respect the culture, customs and traditions of each country and region where it operates. Financial Reporting of reports: The organization shall prepare and maintain its accounts in accordance with the generally accepted guidelines. There shall be no wilful omissions of any company transactions from the books and records. Any wilful, material misrepresentation of and / or misinformation on the financial accounts and reports shall be regarded as a violation of the Code, apart from inviting appropriate civil or criminal action under the relevant laws (Tata.com, 2009). Competition: As a TATA Group member organization shall fully support the development of open market and shall promote the liberalization of the market. No employee shall engage in restrictive trade practice act. Equal opportunity Employer: organization shall provide equal opportunities to all its employees and all qualified applicants for employment and shall promote diversity and equality in the workplace. Gift and Donation: A Tata company and its employees shall neither receive nor offer or make, directly or indirectly, any illegal payments, remuneration, gifts, donations or comparable benefits that are intended, or perceived, to obtain uncompetitive favours for the conduct of its business. Government Agencies: A Tata company shall comply with government procurement regulations and shall be transparent in all its dealings with government agencies. Political non alignment: A Tata company shall be committed to and support the constitution and governance systems of the country in which it operates. A Tata company shall not support any specific political party or candidate for political office. Health, safety and environment: A Tata Company shall strive to provide a safe, healthy, clean and ergonomic working environment for its people. A Tata company, in the process of production and sale of its products and services, shall strive for economic, social and environmental sustainability. Quality of products and services: The quality standards of the companys goods and services shall meet applicable national and international standards. Corporate citizenship: A Tata company shall be committed to good corporate citizenship, not only in the compliance of all relevant laws and regulations but also by actively assisting in the improvement of quality of life of the people in the communities in which it operates. The company shall encourage volunteering by its employees and collaboration with community groups. Cooperation of Tata companies: In the procurement of products and services, a Tata company shall give preference to other Tata companies, as long as they can provide these on competitive terms relative to third parties. Public representation of the company and the group: Tata group shall be represented only by specifically authorized directors and employees. It shall be the sole responsibility of these authorized representatives to disclose information about the company or the group. Group policies: A Tata company shall recommend to its board of directors the adoption of policies and guidelines periodically formulated by Tata Sons. Shareholders: A Tata company shall be committed to enhancing shareholder value and complying with all regulations and laws that govern shareholder rights. Ethical conduct: Every member of the organization shall exhibit professionalism, honesty and integrity, while conforming to high moral and ethical standards. Regulatory compliance: Employees of a Tata company, in their business conduct, shall comply with all applicable laws and regulations. Conflict of interest: An employee or director of a Tata company shall always act in the interest of the company, and does not involve a conflict of interest with the operations of the company. Integrity of data furnished: Every employee of company shall be entirely responsible in ensuring that the confidentiality of all data is retained and in no circumstance transferred to any outside party in the course of normal operations. Reporting concerns: Every employee of a Tata company shall promptly report to the management, any actual or possible violation of the Code or an event of misconduct, not in the companys interest. Analysis of ethical policy: Customer Focus: Customer relationship is of utmost importance for a business to achieve long-term profits. To gain a long term relationship with customers and achieve customer return for the business, the business needs to be based on ethics. The trustworthiness of a business, its customer service, its customer care, its way of dealing with customers and its urge to retain its old customers, is a part of business ethics. Businesses ethics leave a long lasting impression on their minds builds trust, fetching a business more customers while retaining the older ones (Buzzle.com, 2009) (BIZ ethics, 2009). Legalities: Most of us are concerned about making money for our business and we cater to the legalities in business but we seldom bother to base our business on ethics. At times, ethical duties of a businessmen and project managers could be more abiding then even the business laws. Ethics is a far reaching concept and goes beyond the idea of making money legally. Ethical values are way ahead of earning money. Ethics is more about the earning long lasting relationship in business (BIZ ethics, 2009) (Buzzle.com, 2009). Ethical Practice: People who seek motivation behind being ethical should understand that they are ethical by definition. Ethics is an integral part of running business and hence ethical values accompany business by default. Without following certain ideals in business, one cannot become successful. Success that is attained without a foundation of strong ethics is bound to be short lived. A business can not continue to prosper without an ethical base. A few successes can be coincidence or flukes but persistent success can only be a result of strong foundation of ethics (BIZ ethics, 2009) (Buzzle.com, 2009). Human resource: Organisational benefits should not be used in an unfair manner. The use of company resources for personal benefits and taking an undue advantage of business resource is completely unethical. Using the wealth of the business for personal reasons is not ethical. Using company fund for personal reason is unethical. A thoughtful and careful utilization of company resources is a part of business ethics. A vigilant and prudent use of resources is an essential component of ethics in business (Buzzle.com, 2009). Hospitality Bribe: Accepting bribes, pleasing the so called important clints, favouring a part of the customers while being unfair towards the others is against business ethics the primary aim is not just to maximise profits. It is rather to cater the needs of the society and work towards benefiting the masses. THE HILTON GROUP OF HOTEL: Hilton world wide is a multinational hospitality company started in 1919 in Cisco Texas. Today Hilton is expanded in 79 countries and operates around 3400 hotels world wide. Hilton world wide offers business and leisure travels the finest accommodations, service, amenities and values. The values of Hilton group are incorporated in its name that is HILTON where (Hilton Hotel, 2010); H Hospitality passionate about delivering exceptional world class services. Integrity doing right things all the time. Leadership leading the industry and community. Teamwork team work in every thing done. Ownership owner of action and decision. Now operate with the sense of urgency and discipline. The vision of Hilton group is â€Å"to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality†. ETHICAL POLICY Hilton Groups ethical policy is brief but comprehensive in nature. It clearly explain what is expected from the employee while performing their duties. Main points of Hilton groups ethical policy are discussed here as under (Hilton Group, 2010). Promote honest and ethical conduct, including fair dealing and the ethical handling of conflicts of interests. Promote compliance with applicable law and governmental rules and regulations. Promote prompt internal reporting of violation of this ethical policy. Insure the protection of the companys legitimate business interests, including corporate opportunities , assets and confidential information; and Deter wrong doing. As there is no standard format to draft the ethical policy for all the organization, in other words we can say that the ethical policy of the organization depends on the vision , mission and the core values of the company. Therefore two ethical code of conducts could not be compared point to point basis but their impact on the success of business could be. Here an attempt is being made to compare the ethical policy of the Taj Groups of hotel with the leading multinational player in hospitality industry The Hilton Group. In the Taj Groups ethical policy the national interests is at the top shows that TATAs believe that interests of the nation where they operates are of utmost important and shows their commitment to economic development of that nation and respect for the local culture tradition and values but this thing is not mentioned clearly in the ethical policy of Hilton group of hotels. Hilton group emphasis on corporate opportunities that for its entire group the business interests of the group are of utmost importance than any other thing. In case of Taj corporate opportunities are not discussed in detail, as Taj is a member of a well diversified industrial group it is been said that while working with other organisation group companies must be favoured. The Taj and Hilton are regarded very successful organization in hospitality industry, their success id simple reflection of the values and principal they follow in routine as well as strong adherence to their ethical policies respectively. Both the organisation emphasised on the transparent financial reporting system. Timely disclosure of all the transaction, prohibition of creative accounting, miss appropriation of financial information is regarded as the violation of ethical policy and punishable too. The ethical conduct is at the centre of the policy for both the organisation. Both the organisation put great emphasis on the professionalism, honesty and integrity while exhibiting high moral standard on work. Conflicts of interests is been recognized by both the organisation, it is clearly defined that if there exist any conflict, in that situation all the employees of the organisation will uphold the companys interest first. Hilton group is specially a hospitality company which has its interest in expanding world over and they are successful in achieving their objective, their policy of joining hands with other similar organisation for the expansion is paying them in better way. Taj group has to work on its expansion strategy that how they will realize the dream of being worlds best hospitality company. Taj group has to work on the application of technology to their counter part is using. Hilton groups web portal is more customer friendly than any other similar organisation. As Hotel Taj was the main target of Mumbai terror attack in India, Taj group has to come out with the clear policy with regard to the security of their guest because one incident in Mumbai degraded the image of the Group hotels and specially to attract the international customers more in number they have to concentrate on their marketing strategy too. In case of Hilton customers security policy is not clearly defined in their ethical policy thus they also required to work on it without waiting for any unpleasant event. Experts in business management and researchers have certified the need for businessman and company professional to study ethics. They have asserted the importance of founding business on ethical values and following them. They have urged management professionals to adhere to ethics and accept it as a part of business. Ethics remain being important in business and strong ethical values shall take the business a long way! (Biz Ethics, 2009) (Buzzle.com, 2009)

Hamlet :: essays research papers

Hamlet   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the themes I found in the play Hamlet, was the way Hamlet seemed to hold back on getting revenge for his father’s murder once he know who did it. After his father’s death and the hasty remarriage of his mother to his uncle, Hamlet started to spiral into a suicidal frame of mind. It is in this state that he meets the mysterious figure of his father’s ghost where he is told that it was his uncle, Claudius responsible for his death. Hamlet pledges to revenge his murder by Claudius who, the ghost also informs Hamlet, had already committed adultery with his queen during his lifetime. â€Å"Although Hamlet accepts the ghost’s word while he is with him, seeds of doubt about the ghost’s authenticity have been sown from the very beginning of the play and continue to torment Hamlet up until the end of the play† (Heilman p.45). Hamlet is not shore if this is really his farther or a devil in disguise. Hamlet Swears revenge will be quick for his father’s murderer. For the two months since Hamlet has seen the ghost, Hamlet has been unable to commit his vowed revenge; unable to explain to himself either his long delay or his depression and insanity. Maybe he’s scared of taking revenge on Claudius, he may think by taking revenge he endangers his own soul. â€Å"No matter how right a man might think his motives are, if Claudius is innocent; the act of revenge would inevitably make Hamlet as evil as the accused in the eyes of God† (Becker p.32). â€Å"Hamlet decides to test Claudius’ guilt and the authenticity of the ghost; he will stage a performance of a play, which will reproduce Claudius’ crime and observe his reaction to it†(Durband p.304). This plan was successful because Claudius broke down during the performance. Hamlet now knows Claudius is the murderer, and the ghost was actual his father. Hamlet has a perfect opportunity to achieve his revenge when he accidentally comes upon the guilt-ridden Claudius alone in prayer. Again he rationalizes himself into delay, this time on the grounds that his revenge would not be horrible enough as Claudius penitence might save his soul from hell. Although Hamlet dies at the end, he was able to avenge his father’s death. Because Laertes confessed that the king was to blame for hamlets mothers death as well as for the poison on the sword, Hamlet was able to achieve his revenge in terms that exonerated his soul from danger.

The Secret of Ella and Micha Chapter 1

8 months later†¦ Ella I despise mirrors. Not because I hate my reflection or that I suffer from Eisoptrophobia. Mirrors see straight through my facade. They know who I used to be; a loud spoken, reckless girl, who showed what she felt to the world. There were no secrets with me. But now secrets define me. If a reflection revealed what was on the outside, I'd be okay. My long auburn hair goes well with my pale complexion. My legs are extensively long and with heels, I'm taller than most of the guys I know. But I'm comfortable with it. It's what's buried deep inside that frightens me because it's broken, like a shattered mirror. I tape one of my old sketches over the mirror on the dorm wall. It's almost completely concealed by drawings and obscures all of my reflection except for my green eyes, which are frosted with infinite pain and secrets. I pull my hair into a messy bun and place my charcoaled pencils into a box on my bed, packing them with my other art supplies. Lila skips into the room with a cheery smile on her face and a drink in her hand. â€Å"Oh my God! Oh my God! I'm so glad it's over.† I pick up a roll of packing tape off the dresser. â€Å"Oh my God! Oh my god!† I joke. â€Å"What are you drinking?† She tips the cup at me and winks. â€Å"Juice, silly. I'm just really excited to be getting a break. Even if it does mean I have to go home.† She tucks strands of her hair behind her ear and tosses a makeup bag into her purse. â€Å"Have you seen my perfume?† I point at the boxes on her bed. â€Å"I think you packed them in one of those. Not sure which one, though, since you didn't label them.† She pulls a face at me. â€Å"Not all of us can be neat freaks. Honestly, Ella, sometimes I think you have OCD.† I write â€Å"Art Supplies† neatly on the box and click the cap back on the sharpie. â€Å"I think you might be on to me,† I joke. â€Å"Dang it.† She smells herself. â€Å"I really need it. All this heat is making me sweat.† She rips some photos off her dresser mirror and throws them into an open box. â€Å"I swear it's like a hundred and ten outside.† â€Å"I think it's actually hotter than that.† I set my school work in the trash, all marked with A's. Back in High School, I used to be a C student. I hadn't really planned on going to college, but life changes – people change. Lila narrows her blue eyes at my mirror. â€Å"You do know that we're not going to have the same dorm when we come back in the fall, so unless you take all your artwork off, it's just going to be thrown out by the next person.† They're just a bunch of doodles; sketches of haunting eyes, black roses entwined by a bed of thorns, my name woven in an intricate pattern. None of them matter except one: a sketch of an old friend, playing his guitar. I peel that one off, careful not to tear the corners. â€Å"I'll leave them for the next person,† I say and add a smile. â€Å"They'll have a predecorated room.† â€Å"I'm sure the next person will actually want to look in the mirror.† She folds up a pink shirt. â€Å"Although, I don't know why you want to cover up the mirror. You're not ugly, El.† â€Å"It's not about that.† I stare at the drawing that captures the intensity in Micha's eyes. Lila snatches the drawing from my hands, crinkling the edges a little. â€Å"One day you're going to have to tell me who this gorgeous guy is.† â€Å"He's just some guy I used to know.† I steal the drawing back. â€Å"But we don't talk anymore.† â€Å"What's his name?† She stacks a box next to the door. I place the drawing into the box and seal it with a strip of tape. â€Å"Why?† She shrugs. â€Å"Just wondering.† â€Å"His name is Micha.† It's the first time I've said his name aloud, since I left home. It hurts, like a rock lodged in my throat. â€Å"Micha Scott.† She glances over my shoulder as she piles the rest of her clothes into a box. â€Å"There's a lot of passion in that drawing. I just don't see him as being some guy. Is he like an old boyfriend or something?† I drop my duffel bag, packed with my clothes, next to the door. â€Å"No, we never dated.† She eyes me over with doubt. â€Å"But you came close to dating? Right?† â€Å"No. I told you we were just friends.† But only because I wouldn't let us be anything more. Micha saw too much of me and it scared me too much to let him in all the way. She twists her strawberry blonde hair into a ponytail and fans her face. â€Å"Micha is an interesting name. I think a name really says a lot about a person.† She taps her manicured finger on her chin, thoughtfully. â€Å"I bet he's hot.† â€Å"You make that bet on every guy,† I tease, piling my makeup into a bag. She grins, but there's sadness in her eyes. â€Å"Yeah, you're probably right.† She sighs. â€Å"Will I at least get to see this mysterious Micha – who you've refused to speak about our whole eight months of sharing a dorm together – when I drop you off at your house?† â€Å"I hope not,† I mutter and her face sinks. â€Å"I'm sorry, but Micha and I†¦ we didn't leave on a good note and I haven't talked to him since I left for school in August.† Micha doesn't even know where I am. She heaves an overly stuffed pink duffle bag over her shoulder. â€Å"That sounds like a perfect story for our twelve hour road trip back home.† â€Å"Back home†¦ † My eyes widen at the empty room that's been my home for the last eight months. I'm not ready to go back home and face everyone I bailed on. Especially Micha. He can see through me better than a mirror. â€Å"Are you okay?† Lila asks with concern. My lips bend upward into a stiff smile as I stuff my panicked feeling in a box hidden deep inside my heart. â€Å"I'm great. Let's go.† We head out the door, with the last of our boxes in our hands. I pat my empty pockets, realizing I forgot my phone. â€Å"Hold on. I think I forgot my phone.† Setting my box on the ground, I run back to the room and glance around at the garbage bag, a few empty plastic cups on the bed, and the mirror. â€Å"Where is it?† I check under the bed and in the closet. The soft tune of Pink's â€Å"Funhouse† sings underneath the trash bag – my unknown ID ringtone. I pick up the bag and there is my phone with the screen lit up. I scoop it up and my heart stops. It's not an unknown number, just one that was never programmed into my phone when I switched carriers. â€Å"Micha.† My hands tremble, unable to answer, yet powerless to silence it. â€Å"Aren't you going to answer that?† Lila enters the room, her face twisted in confusion. â€Å"What's up? You look like you just saw a ghost or something.† The phone stops ringing and I tuck it into the back pocket of my shorts. â€Å"We should get going. We have a long trip ahead of us.† Lila salutes me. â€Å"Yes, ma'am.† She links arms with me and we head out to the parking lot. When we reach the car, my phone beeps. Voicemail. Micha â€Å"Why is Ella Daniels such a common name,† Ethan grunts from the computer chair. His legs are kicked up on the desk as he lazily scrolls the internet. â€Å"The list is freaking endless, man. I can't even see straight anymore.† He rubs his eyes. â€Å"Can I take a break?† Shaking my head, I pace my room with the phone to my ear, kicking the clothes and other shit on my floor out of the way. I'm on hold with the main office at Indiana University, waiting for answers that probably aren't there. But I have to try – I've been trying ever since the day Ella vanished from my life. The day I promised myself that I'd find her no matter what. â€Å"Are you sure her dad doesn't know where she is?† Ethan flops his head back against the headrest of the office chair. â€Å"I swear that old man knows more than he's letting on.† â€Å"If he does, he's not telling me,† I say. â€Å"Or his trashed mind has misplaced the information.† Ethan swivels the chair around. â€Å"Have you ever considered that maybe she doesn't want to be found?† â€Å"Every single day,† I mutter. â€Å"Which makes me even more determined to find her.† Ethan refocuses his attention to the computer and continues his search through the endless amount of Ella Daniels in the country. But I'm not even sure if she's still in the country. The secretary returns to the phone and gives me the answer I was expecting. This isn't the Ella Daniels I'm looking for. I hang up and throw my phone onto the bed. â€Å"God Dammit!† Ethan glances over his shoulder. â€Å"No luck?† I sink down on my bed and let my head fall into my hands. â€Å"It was another dead end.† â€Å"Look, I know you miss her and everything,† he says, typing on the keyboard. â€Å"But you need to get your crap together. All this whining is giving me a headache.† He's right. I shake my pity party off, slip on a black hoodie, and a pair of black boots. â€Å"I've got to go down to the shop to pick up a part. You staying or going?† He drops his feet to the floor and gratefully shoves away from the desk. â€Å"Yeah, but can we stop by my house. I need to pick up my drums for tonight's practice. Are you going to that or are you still on strike?† Pulling my hood over my head, I head for the door. â€Å"Nah, I got some stuff to do tonight.† â€Å"That's bull.† He reaches to shut off the computer screen. â€Å"Everyone knows the only reason you don't play anymore is because of Ella. But you need to quit being a pussy and get over her.† â€Å"I think I'm going to†¦ † I smack his hand away from the off button and squint at a picture of a girl on the screen. She has the same dark green eyes and long auburn hair as Ella. But she has on a dress and there isn't any heavy black liner around her eyes. She also looks fake, like she's pretending to be happy. The Ella I knew never pretended. But it has to be her. â€Å"Dude, what are you doing?† Ethan complains as I snatch my phone off my bed. â€Å"I thought we were giving up for the day.† I tap the screen and call information. â€Å"Yeah, can I get a number for Ella Daniels in Las Vegas, Nevada.† I wait, worried she's not going to be listed. â€Å"She's been down in Vegas.† Ethan peers at the photo on the screen of Ella standing next to a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes in front of the UNLV campus. â€Å"She looks weird, but kinda hot. So is the girl she's with.† â€Å"Yeah, but she's not your type.† â€Å"Everyone's my type. Besides, she could be a stripper and that's definitely my type.† The operator comes back on and she gives me a few numbers listed, one of the numbers belongs to a girl living on the campus. I dial that number and walk out into the hall to get some privacy. It rings and rings and rings and then Ella's voice comes on the voicemail. She still sounds the same, only a little unemotional, like she's pretending to be happy, but can't quite get there. When it beeps, I take a deep breath and pour my heart out to the voicemail.

Business Mgt Essay

Part I. Assume you have taken over responsibility to play the lead Information Technology (IT) management role in Magnum Enterprises. Your boss, Rachel Heigl, is Magnum’s CIO. The IT management group is comprised of six people who you will be supervising. Ms. Heigl is an enlightened manager, and she believes that if you are to carry out your responsibilities effectively, you need to work with her in defining your IT management role. As a first step, she invites you to write a short statement where you describe what you see to be your role as head of the IT management effort at Magnum. Proper IT Management requires researching and discerning information technology as a company resource guiding both operational and crucial company capabilities. Using information technology to maximize satisfaction of the customer alongside productivity and profitability will ensure that our competiveness with other business stays at a maximum. In turn IT can make business processes more effective and efficient to provide said resources to customers. The lead IT shall ensure performance of the company through managing technology while encompassing priorities of the business into the role. Striving to be a partner with great initiative this business will discover its leader will have accomplished and achieved what they desired. My first role of business would be to establish the parameters and to understand the IT knowledge areas. These are made up of development processes; management challenges information technologies, business applications and foundation concepts. Concepts of the foundation are making sure the role of information systems paired with business and technical concepts are a familiarity with the end user. Familiarity of concepts in entry level information systems bind with a competitive strategy can lead to an overwhelming strategic advantage. Educating Magnum’s team upon the significance of information technology with the three roles that the business world performs in order to combine business management, software, and hardware capabilities. At the Management level, decision making would lead to significant improvements for IT utilization. Business operations see information systems as a huge support to review and collect data from financial operations, managing manufacturing processes that are very sophisticated, tracking company inventory, and productivity. The use of metrics paired with identifying trends to assist the company in making informed decisions faster to provide information about our competitors. IT  is used quite often to provide a strategic support advantage for the company. Automated inventory and ordering systems an assist with the savings costs. With this information we would need to review our mission statement that identifies the company’s functions, provides oversight on the overall goal, a sense of direction, and guides decision making. Investigating and development towards understanding how we generate money and ensuring a customer base for our company. Envisioning the business plan, mission, with current IT structure and the ability to communicate with senior leadership will guide me with necessary tools to assist the Chief Information Officer (CIO). To ensure a strategic IT plan is created in which will be shared and implemented with my team. Planning to have Magnum’s team familiar with data resource management capabilities, hardware, networks, telecommunications, and software within the company is the second area of information systems known as information technologies. In today’s society PDA’s (personal digital assistants; IE. Blackberry’s ETC.) Personal computers and network servers are integral computer hardware and are crucial in our business environment. Being extremely knowledgeable is vital to our team troubleshooting and resolving hardware issues instead of having to call anot her company for maintenance. We have the ability to break down our company’s software into two categories, application software and system software. Both types normally off the consumer shelf as commercial software instead of having an employee on the team write the software codes for these programs. I plan to ensure my teams are extremely familiar with all software programs and have a firm foundation when troubleshooting and resolving technical issues. Additionally, if not already formed, I will institute a configuration control board and implement test scenarios to ensure future hardware and software being purchased will not have compatibility issues. Also a part of information technologies is data resource management. This is essential in sustaining and maintaining our company. We will require a database management system of good quality that is capable of data consolidating into a database in turn can be accessed my several program applications. Within the past fifteen to twenty years networks and telecommunications software have played a vital role. To ensure the expansion and growth for Magnum Enterprises, we will need out network to be consistent, reliable, monetary sufficient. I would prepare the team to  either install or review and change as needed our network management system that assists with traffic management, capacity planning, network monitoring, and security in essence that our system will grow and change with modern day business culture and practices as the company expands. In order to have the most dependable and proven with the cost of it a ring network should be put into place. The next area, development processes, deals with designing, planning, identifying ideas, and implementing information systems to meet potential business opportunities. It is critical that we ensure our business management capabilities alongside our hardware and software are integrated successfully within our company. Basis within t he development process and depending upon the circumstance, there are a couple of processes we want our team to employ as resolving problems com along with our business systems. Those processes are considered or known as the prototyping approach and he systems development life-cycle. The synopsis of prototyping involves quickly developing or constructing test modules of a desired system in which we will engage when we cannot determine or classify the end user requirements. These systems would be used to assist our personnel with the capabilities to design or create an information system that will be intuitive and easy to navigate for consumers. Prototyping involves four steps with the first being investigation and analysis step. This step, requirements grouped and defined. Second, is the analysis and design step in which a model is developed and constructed to meet consumer business requirements. Next, in the design and implementation, this finalizes the model that was tested and begins the initial installation. The last step to this four step process is implementation and maintenance, which would consist of the business system being accepted, used, and maintained. Prototyping advantages are: decrease in the development time, development costs and requires user i nvolvement. This generates higher satisfaction results. I plan to employ this type of approach to small initiatives. The next area is business application for information systems. This will consist of being familiar with commerce and business applications for our employees and which are used within the company to make strategic leadership and management decisions. A few of the most used business applications within a majority of companies are accounting, human resource management, enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, customer relationship management, financial management,  and supply chain management. An Architectural picture of or IT business applications will ensure that I will have familiarity with all applications that we use. This approach will identify the current interrelationships, interfaces with customer, employees, business applications, and stake holders. We will then need to review the chart and see if there are any potential process improvements that we can make to integrate those systems cross functionally and keep operational costs to a minimum. The systems devel opment lifecycle employs the systems approach to create IT solutions. This lifecycle is often utilized for large applications and it is composed of five processes that I expect my team to know and become familiar when employing the systems development lifecycle: systems investigation, systems analysis, systems design, systems implementation and systems maintenance. The first process, systems investigation, involves project brainstorming, planning and performing a feasibility study. During the brainstorming and planning initiative, a project management implementation plan is created identifying the detailed steps that will be accomplished during the creation and development of the system. The feasibility study is critically important as this outlines all requirements for the system. It also explores four major areas, organizational, economic, technical, and operational feasibility, which determines if it’s worthwhile to invest in potential business ventures. In reviewing the organization’s feasibility, we need to determine if the system is in line with and supports our company’s strategic objectives. The economic feasibility identifies and evaluates the project’s tangible and intangible cost and benefits. Technical feasibility is assessed by confirming if the necessary hardware and software will be available or can be developed and tested before implementation. Operational feasibility is determined by the motivation, desire, willingness, and competence of the stakeholders (management, employees, customers and suppliers) to use and operate the proposed system. Systems Analysis consists of consolidating requirements and includes a detailed breakdown of the business needs and requirements of the organization. This starts with an organizational analysis from one of the business end users. This individual must be keenly aware of the organizational management structure, business requirements, and current IT systems operati ons and its proposed relationship with the newly created system. Some of the outputs generated from the systems analysis  include system flowcharts, data flow diagrams, and connectivity diagrams which aid in the development of the analysis report The next process, systems design, focuses on the design, process diagrams, business rules, and developing specifications for the hardware, software, data resources that will meet the proposed requirements for new business system. The three major outputs produced from the systems design phase are user data, interface, and process design. The fourth process of the systems development lifecycle is system implementation. This encompasses either acquiring the hardware or software or developing it from company resources and then testing the products in a test environment to see how well they operate and integrate with your existing IT architecture. If testing goes well, an implementation plan including training end users and developing system documentation will be accomplished prior to incorporating and execu ting this system within our IT architecture. The final process, systems maintenance consists of consistently monitoring and evaluating the newly implemented system. This also includes correcting errors and discrepancies not identified during the testing phase and continuously making system improvements, advancements and upgrades. The final area of information systems is management challenges. There are numerous challenges that our IT team may be faced with at Magnum Enterprises. One challenge is addressing our security concerns which involve several areas. For instance, our IT team needs be constantly vigilant and on the alert for potential competitors trying to or actually hacking into our systems to steal or damage our data. Additionally, we may also be challenged with setting up restrictions and locking down the network for personnel to only use the network and its software applications for official business. Ensuring that our software is controlled and that employees are not illegally making copies of software for personal use is another area of concern. Preventing virus attacks to our network and installing anti-virus software to diagnose and remove computer viruses is of utmost concern. Failure to maintain a secure network can potentially halt our business from being productive and resulting in thousands of dollars in lost revenue. Additional challenges the IT team may be faced with may involve expanding our infrastructure and network to address our growing business. Ensuring our network provides our employees accessibility to the data they need, wherever they require it, regardless of their location will test our innovativeness.  The company may not have a backup plan to allow it to operate effectively and efficiently in the event of a forced relocation. If that is the case, I will recommend to our management staff that we establish a continuity of operations plan enabling us to relocate with minimum impact to our business operations like a hot site for temporary functionality. In the dynamic world of IT we will always be faced with challenges, however, utilizing IT and being on the leading edge of new IT systems provides our business with many benefits and makes our organization more effective and efficient. For example, IT can be used to improve and promote new business processes such as creating an automated inventory system which will save money in additional labor costs. Another use of IT in making it more efficient and effective is that using certain software programs enables us to identify and target our top customers in terms of profitability to our business. In summary, IT enables our company to successfully plan, integrate, manage, and carry out strategies which lead to profit. Part II. Six months after you take over the lead IT management role at Magnum, the CIO, Ms. Rachel Heigl, is pleased with your work. She has just attended a meeting of Magnum’s executive committee (the committee comprised of the most senior managers of Magnum), where the CEO and Vice President of marketing have indicated that Magnum’s mediocre e-business capabilities must be strengthened. As CIO, Ms. Heigl is given primary responsibility in improving Magnum’s e-business performance. She in turn puts you in charge of a small task force comprised of representatives from the marketing, operations, finance, and legal departments. In order to advance and improve Magnum’s e-business performance operations, it’s vital I establish a cohesive team with representatives from the marketing, operations, finance, and legal departments. Their input and perspective is necessary and essential in developing a way ahead and strategic plan for the future of our e-busin ess department. Developing success with our e-business begins with marketing the company. Marketing is concerned with developing and creating an innovative plan so that the product or service can be promoted and sold. Promoting our products and services are key and critical in attracting new customers as well as maintaining our current customer base. It is important that I develop an understanding of the marketing role and how it can benefit  by using Information Technology systems. Marketing information systems support well established and e-commerce processes that sustain major elements within the marketing function and is described as a continuing and interacting structure of people, equipment and procedures to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate, and distribute pertinent, timely and accurate information for use by marketing decision makers to improve their marketing planning, implementation, and control. The major components of marketing information systems include interactive marketing, sales force automation, customer relationship management, sales management, product management, targeted marketing, and market research. Two of the seven components I will be discussing are interactive marketing and customer relationship management. In our environment today, marketing information systems aid marketing personnel in a variety of tasks associated with branding products and customer service initiatives. For instance, interactive marketing is largely dependent on utilizing the internet, which permits the business and its customers and potential customers to become partners in developing, socializing, acquiring and advancing products and services. With the IT department enabling this type of communication, the company benefits from generating new ideas for other products and services as well as establishing strong customer loyalty. Another area within the marketing information systems is C ustomer Relationship Management (CRM). This incorporates and automates many customer service processes. It consists of utilizing an IT framework to construct, automate, and integrate marketing processes with the company’s business operations. CRM is usually comprised of a software suite that allows a business to provide efficient, effective and reliable service to its customers. Additionally, CRM permits a company to identify and target their most important customers as well as facilitate real-time customization of products and services based on the customer’s wants and desires. Understanding the marketing department’s views and concerns enables the IT department to implement and install an IT infrastructure that will be capable of supporting various information technologies. Some of the benefits that can be obtained from the marketing department are: an opportunity to increase sales and revenue, a chance to touch new market areas, 24/7 accessibility for the customer, and more flexibility and convenie nce for the customers. The production and operations function is supported by  manufacturing information systems. Manufacturing information systems are designed to be used specifically in an operations and production environment. Different types of manufacturing information systems consist of computer integrated manufacturing (CIM), process control, machine control and robotics. CIM involves using computers to control the total manufacturing process, from design to distribution, to produce produces products of the highest caliber. Process control involves utilizing computers to oversee and control continuing physical processes. Machine control consists of using a computer based system to direct the actions of a machine. Robotics involves designing, constructing, and building machines that have the intelligence of a computer and human like physical capabilities. It’s key I understand how the operations representative depends on these information systems to operate effectively as well as their expec tations for these systems. Working together as a team will enable the IT and operations department to develop better ideas to increase the manufacturing and production process. Developing an understanding of all the accounting and financial based systems within our business and discussing these systems with the finance representative enables our IT and finance departments to plan effectively when troubleshooting and performing upgrades. These systems include but are not limited to order processing, inventory control, accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, general ledger, cash management, investment management, capital budgeting and financial planning. The success of these systems is integrally connected with its information technology and services. For example, the order processing system â€Å"captures and processes customer orders and produces data needed for sales analysis and inventory control and the accounts payable system keeps track of data concerning purchases from and payments to suppliers. Communicating with the finance representative is essential in setting up or modifying these systems to meet the needs of our business. Any interrupti on or degradation in service can lead to severe damage to the business and financial services that Magnum Enterprises relies on to function and operate. As with any business, competitors are always looking for an advantage to get them ahead in their particular discipline or industry. Unfortunately, being extremely aggressive and ambitious can sometimes cloud your decision making capabilities to the point that you may  be committing breaking privacy laws and monitoring and copyright violations. As the IT lead manager for Magnum Enterprises, I’m charged with ensuring our network infrastructure and IT systems are operating proficiently. However, when it comes to addressing privacy issues from an IT perspective, opinions and viewpoints from a legal expert are necessary. In regards to privacy, several websites accumulate usernames and passwords and personal information such as home addresses and phone numbers without authorization from users. Applying internet monitoring technology within the workplace raises concerns about where the boundaries lie between personal use and public resource use. Copyright concerns and violations has become an issue with the development of the Internet and upgrades to technology. Discussing these concerns with a legal expert and implementing and adhering to strict guidelines will help prevent our company from committing these violations. In addition to the goals of strengthening the capabilities of the e-business, attention must be paid to some key technical challenges. Overseeing secure information throughout our business is extremely difficult to implement and maintain successfully. Key technical issues that may be encountered when re-engineering our e-business include privacy and confidentiality, authenticity, data integrity, access control, availability and infrastructure. Privacy and confidentiality involves businesses protecting and securing personal information while being stored or t ransmitted through email. This can be accomplished by utilizing encryption devices or firewalls. Authentication is used to confirm an individual’s identity and during e-business transactions, the purchaser and buyer wants assurance that proper identity is established. A secure way to assist with confirming identity to both individuals is to utilize a virtual private network. Data integrity means the data is correct and has not been altered while being stored or transmitted. The use of firewalls assists in preventing unauthorized users and safeguarding data. Another way to ensure data integrity is through the use of antivirus software which also aids in keeping your data free from viruses. Access control exists when you’re authorizing certain individual’s permission to restricted systems or data. Several measures that can help with access control include firewalls, access privileges, passwords, digital certificates and virtual private networks. Availability is an issue when customers and employers need information  without any disruptions. Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) systems, data backups and the use of anti-virus software assist with ensuring data is always available. Our e-business infrastructure constantly needs to be monitored to ensure its meeting the needs of our business. An infrastructure that is unable to consistently support the network traffic load can potentially cost our company thousands of dollars in lost sales. If the network is continually slow, increasing the speed of the network backbone will assist in providing faster and reliable support for our customers. In addition to increasing the speed of the network backbone, implementing cross-functional enterprise systems will assist in improving critical business processes throughout Magnum enterprises. A final technical challenge is ensuring all of our systems are compatible and can operate on several different hardware platforms. By having this capabi lity, our operating costs from a technical refresh perspective will decrease. While strengthening capabilities and addressing technical issues, there are management challenges within the e-business that must be addressed. As discussed earlier, our team must be vigilant in addressing security challenges such as hacking into our systems, software theft, and protecting our software applications. In addition to security issues, there are ethical concerns that must be addressed. Privacy has always been a serious and contentious issue amongst employers and employees. For instance, computer monitoring is considered by many personnel to be an infringement on the employee’s privacy and shouldn’t be allowed. However, employers argue that since the computer is a company owned resource, they should be allowed to monitor the work of their employer. In reality, many employers are concerned as to whether or not the employee is actually working and producing or just goofing off and surfing the internet. Utilizing IT equipment at work has been mentioned to cause a variety of health issues which management must address. For example, if your job consists of being in front of a computer all day, some of the health problems you may experience damage to the neck and arm muscles, eye strain, carpal tunnel syndrome, job stress, poor posture and poor circulation. Resolutions to some of these health concerns can be through the science of ergonomics. The objective of ergonomics is to devise and create safe health work conditions with the goal of decreasing health issues and increasing employee morale and work productivity. If  Magnum Enterprises has customers internationally, they also may be faced with political, geo-economic and cultural challenges. From a political concern, there are countries that have restrictions regulating or denying the transfer of data across their borders which can potentially result in customers or businesses from having to pay import or export fees. Geo-economic concerns involve issues such as identifying and locating personnel with IT skills to work at remote sites and communicating with personnel across all 24 time zones. Cultural challenges â€Å"include differences in languages, cultural interests, religions, customs, social attitudes, and political philosophies†. For example, if Magnum Enterprises was conducting a business transaction via a Video Teleconference it would be disrespectful to look them in the eye when introducing yourself. Before meeting an international customer, it would prudent to review their customs and courtesies to ensure a smooth business relationship. Improving Magnum’s e-business performance faces several challenges. Consulting with key department personnel from operations, marketing, finance and legal as well as addressing technical and management obstacles will assist me in charting a plan to put our e-business on the right track towards success.

Information Privacy

Information Privacy Information privacy is the privacy of personal information within organizations, and their attempts to define content of information stored on computer systems that third party can also access. Data masking, encryption, and authentication are some of the ways of protecting data from the public so that only authorized personnel can access such information (Rouse, 2013).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Information Privacy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Organizations always use this aspect of information technology (IT) to increase confidentiality within the management in order to reduce vulnerability and exposure of their systems to unauthorized segment. Information on finance, medical data, criminal records, and business information are some of the personal data that require continuous privacy. The United States, for instance, has different legislations on data privacy that deal with specific sectors given the different needs that emanate from them. Data usage by unauthorized persons is illegal in most parts of the globe. Therefore, concerned parties must come up with relevant protective measures to address the possibilities of such pieces of information of finding their way on the wrong hands. Patients’ records are essential in managing health facilities by ensuring that they offer quality services to the clients. For instance, a patient’s medical history is essential in determining the types of medication to administer to the patient. Such data remain confidential, and should only be used for treatment purposes only. As a way of preventing information leakage, which may result in stigma to a patient, the management must ensure that pieces of information on all patients are kept securely to maintain confidentiality. The US has the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) that ensures that patients’ data remain accessible only to the authorized segment of the staff. HIPAA uses electronic data interchange to give patients’ information unique identifiers that the unauthorized group cannot interpret. Users are given privileges under strict laws to access all medical records, and, at the same time, have to maintain data integrity and confidentiality on information that may lead to identification of a patient (Rouse, 2013). Websites also have confidentiality policies that guide their service provision. Some organizations have put tracking measures in place to identify those accessing their websites for security purposes. For example, when one accesses such sites, the computer stores cookies automatically. This move prevents hacking of information by third parties as the organizations can trace all their users. This issue of cyber security has been contentious, with opponents arguing that it is against the privacy policy to allow organizations to track their users through cookies. However, proponents hold that even though the move infringes on the privacy of the public, it has impressive impacts on guarding the security of organizations. That is, loss of data by an organization has great impacts on society as compared to tracking individuals.Advertising Looking for research paper on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The US citizens use cyberspace to travel, power their homes, communicate, provide essential government services, and run their economy. The overreliance on the network has posed serious attacks thus causing more information vulnerability. Organizations should work towards limiting data breaches that may arise from information hacking. Using password-protected data is one way of improving the security of online data (Zhan, 2009). Markedly, choice of passwords is key in limiting data loss. In cybercrimes, one does not need to break into a physical property to steal information or use force to access the materials. For example, bank frauds have been on the rise with the coming of this new technology. In addition, cases of information confidentiality is worrying, as other internet savvy people can access such information, a recent example is the Wikileaks. These cases prompted US to pass legislations that could help in eradicating this menace. Since many departments and organizations use this modern technology, fighting the vices is a shared responsibility (Raab Mason, 2002). The private and public sectors are collaborating to create awareness on cyber security among the internet users. With the high rates of cybercrimes, financial institutions, for instance, have to use complex mechanisms to enhance the security of their data, as fraudsters can easily transfer funds through the online platform to their accounts. In this aspect, the browsing history of users is significant in enhancing information security for the benefit of both the users and website owners. Internet security has made most users to maintain anonymity while online. A study by Pew Research Institute revealed that 86% of Americans prefer being anonymous to keep their data private (Gorodyansky, 2013). They protect their IP addresses, encrypt emails, and delete cookies frequently from their computers. Information privacy remains a controversial issue in the US given the recent phone-tapping move by the federal government. The government has also gained access to emails of prominent personalities as a way of enhancing the overall security of the country. Instances of terrorist attacks similar to the 9/11 that led to loss of lives and destruction of properties have been common with the manufacture of nuclear weapons by some Middle East Nations. In security line, the US can breach the information security policy in order to enhance the safety of its citizens and the entire world. References Gorodyansky, D. (2013, October 13). Internet Privacy and Security: A Shared Responsibility. Wired.com. Web.Adv ertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Information Privacy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Raab, C. D., Mason, D. (2002). Privacy, Surveillance, Trust and Regulation. Information, Communication Society, 5(2), 237-241. Rouse, M. (2013, August 5). Data privacy (information privacy). SearchCIO. Web. Zhan, J. (2009). Information Privacy: Security and Integrity. International Journal of Information Privacy, Security and Integrity, 1, 55-83.

The Stock Market Crash of 1929

The Stock Market Crash of 1929 Free Online Research Papers The stock market has been around and well-known for many years and has been dated back into colonial times. However, in 1929, the stock market unfortunately took a drastic turn for the worst. In just a matter of days, the market underwent a cascading decline, and took everything down with it. To many, the stock market may seem very complicated and esoteric. However, after some research some come to find its actually very simple, because someone else basically does the work for you. This ‘someone else’ is a stock broker. In simpler terms, a stock broker is like an auctioneer. The job of an auctioneer is to pair a buyer with a seller, much like the job of a stock broker. They also determine adequate pricing of whatever it is being sold (Gerlach). In the stock market, shares of companies are what is being sold. If you buy a share of a stock, you own a part of that company. Generally, if the company did well, you would earn a profit, and if it didnt do so well, you could potentially lose money. Investors soon purchased stock on margin. Margin is the borrowing of stock for the purpose of getting more leverage. For every dollar invested, a margin user would borrow 9 dollars worth of stock. Because of this leverage, if a stock went up 1%, the investor would make 10%! If a stock drops too much, a margin holder could lose all of their money AND owe their broker money as well (Stock Market Crash). Investing money in the stock market was a very risky act. Some lucky investors end up acquiring huge profits and simultaneously become millionaires over night. However a lot of patience is necessary as not to panic and sell your share as soon as the prices drop in the slightest bit. Keeping calm through a downfall could ultimately be your saving grace in the end. Because more and more Americans were purchasing stocks, the value of the marked drastically increased (Ohio History Center). There was a peak in prices in September 1929, and after this, the priced dropped. Some brokers were on the brink of panic and quickly called in there loans, which would have been a wise decision. On the other hand, many brokers carried on, continuing to loan money, and looked at the decline as just a bad day in the market. On Wednesday October, 23rd, the Dow Jones had descended 24 points in a mere half hour, causing a slight panic across the nation. The next day, Thursday the 24th, all brokers called in their loans causing all prices on the market to face a gargantuan downfall. Many at this point figured the stock market just need a few days to bounce back. To keep a lid on the hysteria, brokers began to merge their funds to buy enough stocks to even out the market. This briefly balanced the priced. However, by the following Monday, prices had fallen again. Tuesday October 29th, 1929, ‘Black Tuesday,’ was the day all hell had broken loose. This was the very day of the stock market crash. Because of the rapidly declining prices, the once reliable ticker tape had trouble keeping up and ended up causing mass confusion and chaos. On account of the dwindling prices, many people vacated the market and withdrew all their funds while their debts were still meager. With everyone pulling out at once, mass mayhem had occurred and the market had crashed. After the crash, the suicide rate skyrocketed. Many people leapt to their demise out of tall buildings because being dead was easier than facing financial debt. The most abundant time of suicides came in 1930, the year following the crash. In 1925 the number of suicides in New York was 14.4 per 100,000 of the population. In 1934, that number had escalated to 17.0 per 100,000 of the population (Galbraith). Also, the stock brokers who decided suicide was not the answer, lost their jobs. American across the nation were in debt. However, it was the Americans who has invested all they had who were hit the hardest and has lost everything as a result of the crash. Eventually the crash of the stock market has negatively effected everyone. Research Papers on The Stock Market Crash of 1929Analysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaTwilight of the UAWQuebec and CanadaThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationDefinition of Export QuotasMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2Open Architechture a white paperHip-Hop is ArtBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of Self

Reality creation and practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Reality creation and practice - Essay Example The social construction framework is useful to human service workers in the fields of family therapy and psychotherapy in that it allows practitioners to investigate and empower client’s creation of meaningful understandings of themselves and the wider world. The framework focuses on the key influences of sociocultural forces and the environmental context of human understanding, learning and accumulation of knowledge. Within family therapy this theory provides the therapist with a powerful ability to draw family members away from blaming each other for their behaviors, and placing these behaviors within a larger sociocultural context. For example, the Western values of independence, competition and profit contributing to the family to place pressure on their son to find gainful employment and to do better in life than what they have. In turn, the son has felt misunderstood, isolated and unable to achieve due to constant â€Å"failures† and has chosen to drop out of soci ety. Now living in a shelter, the son is attempting to find work, but constantly faces rejection, which is further inhibiting his self-esteem. His parents feel they are unable to help him, feel guilty for his poor upbringing and don’t have anyone to talk to. The framework is useful for the family therapist in this instance in that the family can be encouraged to exhibit agency within the therapeutic process, such as role playing each other as well as perceived ideals, and with their increased agency and autonomy be less dependant on the therapist to provide meaning for their experiences. The psychotherapist as well benefits from the use of the social construction framework in that theories such as Bandura’s self-efficacy model complement the concept of reality being constructed through human activity. Using social modeling of Bandura allows the personal counselor to empower their client by

The Causes of World War One and Two Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

The Causes of World War One and Two - Essay Example He then maintained a non-aggression and cordial relationship pact with Russian. However, Kaiser Wilhelm 11, his successor, dismissed him in 1890. Kaiser Wilhelm 11 could not renew the pact arguing that it was logically inconsistent with Germany’s commitments to Austria Hungary. The Russian foreign affairs ministry maintained friendly relations with Germany. However, the Russian military insisted that a new alliance with France was more important for Russia’s national security. Consequently, the Tsar military aid opened direct talks between the French and Russian generals of staffs. Despite the reservations of professional diplomats, the generals persuaded Tsar Nicholas 11 and the French cabinet to sign the pact. The secret military convention was signed in 1892 and later ratified in 1894. There was the crow memorandum of 1907. This treaty gave rise to the Anglo-Germany antagonism. Influential career diplomat Sir Eyre Crowe spearheaded this treaty in 1907. This was brought about by the fact that Great Britain considered France as the most serious threat to its African and Asian interests. However, under a strong fear of Germany in 1904, the British concluded the â€Å"entente cordiale† with France. This was a friendly resolution of differences in Africa. The British inspired this resolution after they stood firmly beside France against Germany in the first Morocco crisis. Germany had protested forcefully against the creation of a French protectorate in Morocco. In the memorandum, Crowe sought to persuade the British foreign secretary, Sir Edward Grey, to conclude a similar agreement with Russia. This led to† Anglo Russian entente† of 1907 that paved way for diplomatic cooperation and joint military planning between France, Russia, and Great Britain. Crowe considered Germany as the greatest peace threat in Europe. There were four major diplomatic crises in Europe from 1905 to 1913.

Movie review Much Ado About Nothing Shakespeare Assignment - 1

Movie review Much Ado About Nothing Shakespeare - Assignment Example I do not like the way characters in the film appear half naked during house parties. The film portrays a life pursuit of pleasure, such as drinking, dancing and making love that to some extent becomes immoral (Canby). Benedict and Beatrice are in a funny and sarcastic relationship that makes the film more appealing. Benedict himself is a funny character in the way he acts in the film. His humor is mainly found in act 2 scenes 3, especially when he falls with a chair after overhearing Don Pedro, leonate and Claudio saying that Beatrice is in love with him. I would recommend this film to adults because it is funny and involve issues that only adults can comprehend such as love affairs, sex and marriage (Canby). I have decided to examine Don John as one of the characters in the film. There are a lot of similarities in the way Don John is portrayed in the text and in the film. In the act 2, scene 1 of the film, Don John is portrayed as a jealous man (Canby). He does not like Claudio for being in relationship with the Hero. He is also jealous of Don Pedro, his half-brother, for being Claudio’s ‘wingman’ in his relationship with the Hero. Similarly, Don John is portrayed in the text as being jealous that makes him villain to an extent of breaking the relationship between Claudio and hero. The film portrays Don John as being villainy especially through his actions and the way he dresses. During the mask part held in a Tuscan villa, Don John is portrayed wearing a red evil mask implying that he is evil in his actions. However, the final scene of the film portrays how Don John gets low props after being arrested for attempts to break the relationship between Claudio and Hero (Canby). The film has applied the quality of motion in act 2, Scene 3. The camera moves to cover a wide area of the Leonato’s garden. It brings a sensual appeal to the audience and simultaneously communicates the

Summarizing how information security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Summarizing how information security - Essay Example Information Security System of Citibank With Respect To CIA Triangle CIA Principle The CIA triad namely Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability can be considered as one of the simple and widely applicable security models for an organization which assures to protect all kinds of information from external threats. These three major principles are supposed to be relevant with the entire security analysis of an organization (Imperial College London, 2012). Confidentiality: Confidentiality can be acknowledged as the ability to maintain secrecy of information from unauthorized external users. It is possibly the major apparent aspect of the CIA triangle in terms of security assurance for an organization. However, this principle is frequently attacked by the external users through Cryptography and Encryption techniques in order to transfer files or information from one system to another (Imperial College London, 2012). In the context of Citibank, it has been found that the organization s eeks to implement a well-built security system in order to protect the information related to financial aspects and other banking transactions of its 200 million customers (Citigroup Inc., 2012). Integrity: According to the CIA principle, the aspect of integrity can be stated as the ability to make sure of keeping or storing data or information in an appropriate and unaffected way. It has been learnt that Citibank manages the personal data, records as well as information of each client in an appropriate manner and with the assistance of Citi Records Management Policy as well as Citi Data Management Policy. Furthermore, the organization implements advanced security processing system of each data, record or information that are collected from individual clients in terms of appropriate and secured storage capacity (Citigroup Inc., 2012). Availability: This principle of the CIA triad relates to the accessibility of transaction records or information by an appropriate and authorized user at the right time. However, various security issues with respect to accessing transactional record and information of a client by other external or unauthorized persons have been recorded. The organization is known to adopt an advanced form of process to identify the appropriate and authorized persons (Citigroup Inc., 2012). Security Policies in Citibank Citibank ensures an effective and efficient form of security policy regarding maintaining and protecting data, information or record of its individual client. In the context of information security, it can be stated that the organization strictly maintains laws and regulations in order to increase the level of protecting information from external threats. Citibank significantly pursues a formal set of rules and regulations pertaining to The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) which is also known as ‘Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999.’ According to this Act, the financial service providers need to possess appropria te information security systems in order to maintain and protect the personal form of information of each client. Moreover, the regulatory Act also focuses on maintaining an effective and appropriate CIA principle with respect to the various transactions made by any financial institution

BUSINESS LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

BUSINESS LAW - Essay Example Colins Computers (CC) made an offer to the general public that sought to invite them to subscribe to their computer maintenance services. It made this offer in writing through an advertisement that was placed in the local newspaper and on their website. Geoffs Gym (GG) is the offeree in this case owing to the fact that is spotted the advertisement and was interested in the services that Colin had to offer. It was in desperate need of the maintenance services that Colins Computers had to offer. The terms of the agreement were also clearly stated in the advertisement where they offered to service computers at a very competitive price of $1000.00 per month for 12 months. And if the new customers were to accept the offer promptly then they would reduce this monthly amount by $50. The terms of the offer also stated that in the event that a party was interested in their offer then they should communicate to the company directly through post, email or text before 8th June. These terms were put in place so that Colin Computers could schedule their plan of activities in advance. The reason for these terms was also very well stated. An offer will only be valid if it is not vague and it is not an invitation to treat. An offer must be made in a very clear manner with certainty before it can be enforced by the courts. Vagueness is established when the terms that have been expressed in the offer are too vague. An invitation to treat is realized in the case of display of goods in a shop and advertisements. These needs to be distinguished from offers being that the courts will not regard them are valid. In the case of Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots [1953] where the goods are displayed in a shop and it is intended that customers will enter the shop willingly and decide on what they want to buy. The contract in this case is not considered complete until the customer has indicated the