Information Systems in Organizations free essay sample

Define the term called information system evaluation by using different types of evaluation criteria for the above mentioned information systems. 3. 2 Describe alternative methods of solving a problem 1 . 1) Describe the information needs in different information system in the above case study Definition of Information Data that is accurate and timely, specific and organized for a purpose, presented within a context that gives it meaning and relevance, and can lead to an increase in understanding and decrease in uncertainty. Information is valuable because it can effect behavior, a decision, or an outcome Different types functional areas of the organization Information systems Information systems (IS) is the study of complementary networks of hardware and software that people and organizations use to collect, filter, process, create, and distribute data. The study bridges business and computer science using the theoretical donations to intimation and computation to study various business models and related algorithmic processes within a computer science discipline. We will write a custom essay sample on Information Systems in Organizations or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Computer Information System(s) (CICS) is a field studying computers and algorithmic recesses, including their principles, their software and hardware designs, their applications, and their impact on society while IS emphasizes functionality over design. The history of information systems coincides with the history of computer science that began long before the modern discipline of computer science emerged in the twentieth century. Regarding the circulation of information and ideas, numerous legacy information systems still exist today that are continuously updated to promote ethnographic approaches, to ensure data integrity, and to improve the social effectiveness efficiency of the whole process. In general, information systems are focused upon processing information within organizations, especially within business enterprises, and sharing the benefits with modern society. Human Resources Human resources is the set of individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector or an economy. Human capital is sometimes used synonymously with human resources, although human capital typically refers to a more narrow view; I. E. , the knowledge the individuals embody and can contribute to an organization. Likewise, other terms sometimes used include manpower, talent, labor or simply people. The professional discipline and business function that oversees an organizations human resources is called hum an resource management (HARM, or simply HER). Sales and marketing Sales is what you do and say during the one moment your product or service is being purchased. Its confirming the payment options. Sales people have to feed the Marketing process and use the resources effectively that they had a part in building. There needs to be a partnership between the Sales and Marketing departments. Marketing is what you do (Sales people and Marketing people), before and after the sale. It is the strategy that will identify prospects that will lead to the sale. Marketing is learning about your client needs and delivering on them (or realizing there is not a fit with a prospect). Marketing is about building awareness and relationships its everything that makes the phone ring the first time and convinces past customers to buy from you again. Marketing includes anything that comes into contact with your customer. Finance Finance is the study of how investors allocate their assets over time under conditions f certainty and uncertainty. A key point in finance, which affects decisions, is the time value of money, which states that a unit of currency today is worth more than the same unit of currency tomorrow. Finance aims to price assets based on their risk level, and expected rate of return. Finance can be broken into three different sub categories: public finance, corporate finance and personal finance. Characteristics To Intimation Good information is that which is used and which creates value. Experience and research shows that good information has numerous qualities. Good information is elevate for its purpose, sufficiently accurate for its purpose, complete enough for the problem, reliable and targeted to the right person. It is also communicated in time for its purpose, contains the right level of detail and is communicated by an appropriate channel, I. E. One that is understandable to the user. Further details of these characteristics related to organizational information for decision-making follows. Availability/accessibility Information should be easy to obtain or access. Information kept in a book of some kind is only available and easy to access if you have the book to hand. A good example of availability is a telephone directory, as every home has one for its local area. It is probably the first place you look for a local number. But nobody keeps the whole countrys telephone books so for numbers further field you probably phone a directory enquiry number. For business premises, say for a hotel in London, you would probably use the Internet. Businesses used to keep customer details on a card-index system at the customers branch. If the customer visited a different branch a telephone call would be needed to check details. Now, with centralized imputer systems, businesses like banks and building societies can access any customers data from any branch. Accuracy Information needs to be accurate enough for the use to which it is going to be put. To obtain information that is 100% accurate is usually unrealistic as it is likely to be too expensive to produce on time. The degree of accuracy depends upon the circumstances. At operational levels information may need to be accurate to the nearest penny on a supermarket till receipt, for example. At tactical level department heads may see weekly summaries correct to the nearest OHIO, whereas t strategic level directors may look at comparing stores performances over several months to the nearest OHIO,OHO per month. Accuracy is important. As an example, if government statistics based on the last census wrongly show an increase in births within an area, plans may be made to build schools and construction companies may invest in new housing developments. In these cases any investment may not be recouped. Reliability or objectivity Reliability deals with the truth of information or the objectivity with which it is presented. You can only really use information confidently if you are sure of its liability and objectivity. When researching for an essay in any subject, we might make straight for the library to find a suitable book. We are reasonably confident that the information found in a book, especially one that the library has purchased, is reliable and (in the case of factual information) objective. The book has been written and the authors name is usually printed tort all to see. The publisher should n employed an editor and an expert in the field to edit the book and question any factual doubts they may have. In short, much time and energy goes into publishing a kook and for that reason we can be reasonably confident that the information is reliable and objective. Compare that to finding information on the Internet where anybody can write unedited and unverified material and publish it on the web. Unless you know who the author is, or a reputable university or government agency backs up the research, then you cannot be sure that the information is reliable. Some Internet websites are like vanity publishing, where anyone can write a book and pay certain (vanity) publishers to publish it. Relevance/appropriateness Information should be relevant to the purpose for which it is required. It must be suitable. What is relevant for one manager may not be relevant for another. The user will become frustrated if information contains data irrelevant to the task in hand. For example, a market research company may give information on users perceptions of the quality of a product. This is not relevant for the manager who wants to know opinions on relative prices of the product and its rivals. The information gained would not be relevant to the purpose. Completeness Information should contain all the details required by the user. Otherwise, it may not be useful as the basis for making a decision. For example, if an organization is supplied with information regarding the costs of supplying a fleet of cars for the sales force, and servicing and maintenance costs are not included , then a costing based on the information supplied will be considerably underestimated. Ideally all the information needed for a particular decision should be available. However, this rarely happens; good information is often incomplete. To meet all the needs of the situation, you often have to collect it from a variety of sources. Level of detail/ incidences Information should be in a form that is short enough to allow for its examination and use. There should be no extraneous information. For example, it is very common practice to summarize financial data and present this information, both in the form of figures and by using a chart or graph. We would say that the graph is more concise than the tables of figures as there is little or no extraneous information in the graph or chart. Clearly there is a trade-off between level of detail and conciseness. Presentation The presentation of information is important to the user. Information can be more easily assimilated if it is aesthetically pleasing. For example, a marketing report that includes graphs of statistics will be more concise as well as more aesthetically pleasing to the users within the organization. Many organizations use presentation software and show summary information via a data projector. These presentations have usually been well thought out to be visually attractive and to convey the correct amount of detail. Timing Information must be on time for the purpose for which it is required. Information received too late will be irrelevant. For example, if you receive a brochure from a theatre and notice there was a concert by your favorite band yesterday, then the information is too late to be of use. Value of information The relative importance of information for decision-making can increase or decrease its value to an organization. For example, an organization requires information on a competitors performance that is critical to their own decision on whether to invest in new machinery for their factory. The value of this information would be high. Always keep in mind that information should be available on time, within cost constraints ND be legally obtained. Cost of information Information should be available within set cost levels that may vary dependent on situation. If costs are too high to obtain information an organization may decide to seek slightly less comprehensive information elsewhere. For example, an organization wants to commission a market survey on a new product. The survey could cost more than the forecast initial profit from the product. In that situation, the organization would probably decide that a less costly source of information should be used, even if it may give inferior information.

The Role Of Bobby Kennedy Throughout The Cuban Mis Essays

The Role Of Bobby Kennedy Throughout The Cuban Mis Essays The Role Of Bobby Kennedy Throughout The Cuban Missile Crisis Introduction On the morning of Tuesday October 16, 1962, President John F. Kennedy was reading the Tuesday morning newspapers in his bed at the Whitehouse. Not twenty fours hours before, McGeorge Bundy, Kennedys national security adviser, received the results of Major Richard S. Heysers U-2 mission over San Cristobal Cuba. In light of recent mysterious Soviet and Cuban activities developing in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, the presidents administration had given the order to conduct reconnaissance missions over the island of Cuba. In particular a fifty-mile trapezoidal swath of territory in western Cuba was to be looked upon under intense scrutiny. A CIA agent reported in the second week of September that this stretch of land was being guarded closely by Peruvian, Colombian, and actual Soviet soldiers. There was a real reason to be suspicious of the activity in western Cuba. The first of this U-2 reconnaissance mission would reveal a shocking discovery.(Chang & William p.33-47) The U-2 reconnaissance reports that Bundy received in full detail two 70-foot-long MRBMs at San Cristobal. The news that Bundy would eventually have to expose to President Kennedy would sound alarms not just in his administration or in the United States of America, but throughout the entire world. Bundy did not tell the president that night. He opted to allow him a good nights rest, the last he would have for some time, as it turned out. Bundy felt there was nothing the president could do about the missiles that night anyway, and he would need to be sharp the next morning.(Brugioni p.68) Besides Bundy and the leadership of the U.S. intelligence community, Dean Rusk and his team at State, as well as McNamara and the deputy secretary of defense, Roswell Gilpatric, received word of the U-2s discovery before going to bed on October 15. Kennedys discovery of the missiles could wait till the next morning.(May & Zelikow p.24) Thus on the morning of October 16, while Kennedy was lying in bed, Bundy informed that the U-2 mission that flew over Cuba had spotted two nuclear missiles and six missile transports southwest of Havana. Before the summer of that same year had ended, Khrushchev had made the twin promise that nothing will be undertaken before the American Congressional elections that could complicate the international situation or aggravate the tension in the relations between our two countries, and ensured the president through his own brother Robert F. Kennedy, the attorney general of the United States and the presidents closet advisor by means of a back channel, that only defensive weapons were to be placed in Cuba.(Brugioni p56) This last and final statement left the young attorney general and the entire administration to believe that no offensive nuclear missiles, and certainly no weapons that were capable of hitting any target in the continental United States were being placed in Cuba at this ti me.(Chang & William p67) The news brought to the Kennedy administration in the form of the U-2s telltale photographs made nonsense of both of Khrushchevs pledges. But most importantly the Soviet Union had equipped Cuba with an arsenal of Soviet nuclear missiles despite a presidential statement only a month early that the United States would not tolerate such a situation in the Western Hemisphere. Kennedy felt personally insulted by the deployment of these missiles.(Fursenko & Naftali p.193) He thought that he had done everything possible to defuse and smooth over tense relations with the Soviet Union even before he took office in 1960. This devastating news from Cuba would result in the tense period in Cold War history to date and perhaps its tensest period in the entire history of the war. Kennedy decided limit the information regarding the devastating news from Cuba to as small a group as possible. This group would come to be known as the Executive Committee of the National Security Council, or as it would later be known and shortened to simply Ex Comm.(Brugioni p.45) This would be the group of Washingtons sharpest and most influential minds that would more or less decide the fate of the nation and the world. A heavy responsibility would be carried on their shoulders. If they failed they

Character Profile Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Character Profile - Essay Example Now after her death, the daughter has to deal with her grief, frustration, and other questions. The difference between the mother and her daughter can be accounted in terms of age, culture and identity related with it. These features are familiarized by most Chinese-Americans who are going through a confused status of identity crisis. Jing’s mother Suyuan established the Joy Luck Club along with other three Chinese ladies settled in America with an aim to remind them of their origin and cultural background. In other words, the club plays the pivotal role of bridging the gap between China and America, particularly between old and young Chinese-Americans. While Suyuan is excited about her story of â€Å"In China, everybody dreamed about Kweilin†, Jing-Mei feels strongly that her â€Å"mother’s Kweilin story was anything but a Chinese fairy tale† (Tan 1989, p. 22-25). The young Chinese-Americans often seem to have deliberately rejected their Chinese identity whereas their older counterparts are still trying to retain their identity even in the cosmopolitan foreign environment. However, the film portrays a positive outlook for the Chinese-Americans who finally come to realize their original identity. After the demise of Suyuan, Jing-Mei begins to realize the truth of her mother’s miserable history of which she is a part too. When Jing finally meets her estranged twin-sisters in China, she feels like she has her mother back. Jing’s visit to China guides her through her culture and origin. At the end of her journey, Jing-Mei realizes â€Å"what part of me is Chinese. It is so obvious. It is my family. It is in our blood.† (Tan 1989, p. 288) The cultural clash and generation shock come to both young and old Chinese-Americans as it tends to create the generational gap between the two age groups. While the older generation is desperately seeking to retain their cultural values, young Chinese-Americans find their traditional customs

Business Strategy Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Business Strategy Case Study - Essay Example As a result, the market share of GM has been slipping over the years. Like all North American and European car manufacturers, GM has also been outsourcing production facilities to low cost destinations in Latin America and Asia since the 1990s. This has enabled it to capture new markets as well as reduce costs to some extent. But, in North America, it remains straddled with high costs because of its legacy of high employee costs and strong trade unions that prevent shut down of loss-making plants. Besides, GM has invested little in research and product development. Hence, its numerous brands are ageing and less competitive in comparison to the sleek models manufactured by Japanese and Korean manufacturers. The automobile industry is one of the largest industries in the United States and contributes 5 percent of the private Gross Domestic Product (BERA, 2004). The country is also the largest manufacturer of automobiles in the world, having produced 12.2 million units in 2002. The "Big Three" US automobile manufacturers - General Motors (GM), Ford and Daimler-Chrysler - producers 76 percent of the vehicles sold in the US while 18 percent is contributed by Japanese manufacturers - Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Isuzu - and 2 percent by European manufacturers - BMW and Mercedes (division of Daimler-Chrysler). While the Asian and European manufacturers rely on exports, the US is the principal global market of automobiles hence the demand for US manufacturers is generated mostly domestically and to a small extent from Canada. II.A.1. Industry trends, conditions and key strategic factors Historically, North American manufacturers have been major players in the global automobile industry and GM, since its formation by William C Durant in 1908, has been a name to reckon with (Jones, 2005). However, over the period of a hundred years, much has changed in the structure and pattern of the industry, forcing GM to diversify from high-end passenger cars alone to catering to different segments of customer demand as well as engage in strategic partnerships with global players and extend production facilities in foreign lands (BERA, 2004). Particularly since the last half of the 1990s, globalization of automobile manufacturing, primarily aimed to cut product costs, have resulted in multiple production facilities down the value chain in a number of countries across continents. All the major players have invested heavily in outsourced destinations in Latin America, China, Malaysia and other countries in south east Asia. The "big Three" of North American automobile manufacturers, GM, Ford and Chrysler have also engaged in strategic partnerships with European counterparts. The industry has seen consolidation along the three tiers, with the first tier being composed of GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda and Volkswagen while the lower two tiers initiating mergers among themselves in order to remain competitive. II. A.2. Analysis of competitors In the early years of the 20th

Deploying a WiFi Hook-Ups in Disaster Relief - what Are the Essay

Deploying a WiFi Hook-Ups in Disaster Relief - what Are the Considerations - Essay Example In fact, there are numerous examples related to high-end Mobile Phones that require no wires or device for establishing a connection between two devices or computers. Additionally, in the past few years, Wi-Fi has appeared to be a very useful technology that is used widespread either at home or in an office environment or in any disaster situation. In this scenario, the usage of Wi-Fi networks completely depends upon the needs of users. Moreover, it offers numerous benefits over wired networks for instance there is no aspect of Roaming (access to get connected even far away from home), without requiring any change in Wire from one place to another and also offers conferencing facilities (Turban, Leidner, McLean, & Wetherbe, 2005; WellOiledPC, 2011; Eogogics, 2011). At the present, Wi-Fi technology is commonly used in business organizations for performing business operations. In fact, one the significant features of Wi-Fi technology is the access from any place (inside network premise s). In this scenario, it facilitates a staff member to take a notebook or laptop from a place of work to the discussion room devoid of network connectivity. In addition, the access towards the resources of the network needs no hunting around for a computer. As we know that now Wi-Fi hotspots can be visualized in important places like that disaster situations, hotels, airports, coffee restaurants and shops. Moreover, a number of cities are installing community Wi-Fi networks to facilitate general public to complete their business related tasks when they are outside of the office. These services facilitate them to access wherever but within the city limits (Gallup, 2011). In addition, the Wi-Fi technology is currently believed to be a pervasive public service. For example the Mayor of London announced that they will probably deploy Wi-Fi communication infrastructure, near the Olympic Games. Additionally, they have completed the planning for this deployment and telecommunication firms are bidding in order to get tenders for Wi-Fi infrastructure. In this scenario, the deployment of Wi-Fi infrastructure will facilitate more than 120 London underground stations in June 2012. In this way over half of travelers believed that Wi-Fi technology may improve their living standards (Publicservice.co.uk Ltd, 2011; Robbins, 2011). Natural disasters are rising internationally because of the climate change and global warming. In addition, the destructions as a result of these disasters are ever-increasing at an alarming rate. In view of the fact that these disasters are mainly unpredictable and take place within a very short interval of time thus technology has to be designed and deployed to catch related signals with the smallest amount of monitoring interruption. In this scenario, Wireless technology is one of the advanced technologies that can rapidly meet quick variations of data and transmit the sensed data to a data analysis center in areas where wires are out of place. I n fact, the wireless technology has the potential to quickly capture, process, and transmit significant data in an instantaneous mode with high resolution. Wireless technology offers a significant advantage of deploying signals in a disaster situation with an uncovered least maintenance. As a result, it fulfills a vital need for any instantaneous monitoring, particularly

Managament Of Innovation And Technology Marketing Essay

Managament Of Innovation And Technology Marketing Essay Entering a market early has several advantages such as being capable to establish brand loyalty and technological leadership by learning effects and long-lived reputation; seizure of scarce assets by obtaining key locations; government permits; access to distribution channels and closer relationships with suppliers; taking advantage of buyer switching costs by using customers reluctance in switching to a more technologic product or service due to its complexity and unfamiliarity; reaping increasing returns advantages by utilizing self-reinforcing positive feedback mechanisms. (Schilling, 2010, p.93-95) However, there are some advantages to entering a market late such as benefitting from the ride-effect which enables late entrant to utilize first-mover firms research and development investments; capitalizing established-suppliers, existing distribution channels, and consumers familiarity to the technology; ability of ensuring the market to be more certain by more effectively estimatin g and determining customer expectations and demands; exploiting incumbent inertia by more easily adopting the new technologies and their required production processes. In terms of considering these advantages, late entrants can surpass first movers although there are a lot of advantages of entering a market early. (Schilling, 2010, p.95-96) Name a successful (a) first mover, (b) early follower, (c) late entrant. Identify unsuccessful examples of each? Successful example of first mover: Polaroid Instant camera Unsuccessful example of first mover: Kodak 8-mm Video Camera Successful example of early follower: Samsung Microwave Unsuccessful example of early follower: Intel Microprocessors Successful example of late entrant: Palm Computing PDA Unsuccessful example of late entrant: Dvorak Keyboard (Schilling, 2010, p.98) What factors might make some industries harder to pioneer than others? Are there industries in which there is no penalty for late entry? Limited existence of natural resources, suppliers, complementary goods, distribution channels, and installed base; requirement of the most advanced technologies; establishing consumer awareness and familiarity of the newest technology; uncertainty and ambiguity of customer preference and desirability; high threat of competitive entry into the market are some remarkable factors that might make some industries harder to pioneer than others. Exceptionally, when there are industries in which a unique firm has capability to produce an unduplicated product or service, this firm can enter the market whenever it wants. Namely, there is no penalty for later entry into such industries. Hydrogen-powered automobiles can be considered as a good example of such an industry. (Schilling, 2010, p.99-102) Chapter 5 Case Questions Why did most of the early PDA companies fail, even if they had innovative and sophisticated product designs? Despite of having innovative and sophisticated product designs, most of the early PDA companies fail because of some critical factors such as running out of money and funds; having insufficient complementary goods, suppliers and distribution channels; having a narrow installed base; due to lack of advanced and enabling technologies, facing difficulties in terms of developing memory capacity, process power, modem size, battery life and size, software products; lack of awareness of PDAs functions. (Schilling, 2010, p.90) Could early PDA companies have done anything differently to survive? Early PDA companies underestimated the sales volume as well as the cost of PDAs process and production that is why they encountered financial difficulties to afford and execute their projects as a result most of PDA companies ran out of money. However, some companies like Sharp and Casio were differently focused on more specialized devices and vertical markets. By doing so, these companies could survive and kept operating. (Schilling, 2010, p.90-91) From my point of view, the best and most logical thing that early and failed PDA companies could have done was to apply merger and acquisitions strategies in order to create more financial resources, more complementary goods, more distribution channels, and larger installed base so as to sustainably carry out their projects and accomplish their short-term and long-term goals. Why was Palm successful where so many others had failed? As a late entrant and observer, accurately assessing and estimating its target market; preventing to do the same mistakes the early PDA companies did; properly determining and defining the desirability of consumers from the product; producing a cost-efficient and straightforward product design were key elements ensured Palm to be successful.(Schilling, 2010, p.91) Was being late to the smart phone market a disadvantage for Apple? What factors enabled Apple to successfully enter when it did? As an overall evaluation, I do not think that being late to the smart phone market was a disadvantage for Apple because Apple benefitted from previous operations and advancements with regard to appropriately linking to complementary goods and enabling technologies in the smart phone market. Furthermore, producing a smart phone with an aerodynamic interface and elegant design, providing additional features like taking pictures and downloading music also contributed to Apples achievement. In conclusion, all these factors enabled Apple to successfully enter and operate in the smart phone market despite of being late. (Schilling, 2010, p.92) Are there increasing returns in the smart phone market? Is it likely to eventually pick a single operating system as the dominant design? According to me, it is obvious that there are increasing returns in the smart phone market because two principal sources of increasing returns; learning effects and network externalities are continuously being improved and advanced. If we look at today, there is a great competition between Apple and Samsung in the smart phone market. Almost all software products and mobile applications are predominantly designed and produced to be compatible to these companies smart phones. Additionally, there is a high local and global demand for both Apple and Samsung smart phones. Therefore, I believe that smart phone market is likely to pick Apple and Samsung together as the dominant designs. Chapter 6 What is the difference between strength, a competitive advantage, and a sustainable competitive advantage? Strength is considered as a firms resources and adequacies that provide a firm competitive advantage. However, competitive advantage is firms power and capability to beat and surpass its competitors by using its strengths. Eventually, sustainable competitive advantage refers a firms scarce, unduplicated, precious, constant, and long-standing resources enabling it to continuously outperform its competitor for a long period of time. (Schilling, 2010, p.119) What makes an ability (or set of abilities) a core competency? According to the model of Prahalad and Hamel, abilitys power to provide superiority in strategic differentiation; effective combination and coherence of numerous initial abilities; abilitys additive to increasing product value and perceived customer value; abilitys strength to foster a firms flexibility and configuration to changes and new improvements; abilitys sufficiency to contain series of different organizations; abilitys inimitable mechanism and structure are key factors that convert an ability into a core competency.(Schilling, 2010, p.122-123) Why is it necessary to perform an external and internal analysis before the firm can identify its true competencies? As Gallon and his research fellows suggest, building specific goal-oriented teams; establishing an elaborate and detailed set of capabilities; assigning the significance, power, and value of capabilities for a firm; analysis and evaluation of each competencies in respect to providing a competitive advantage and effective fulfillment of market needs; finding key competencies to be empowered and improved so as to provide a sustainable competitive advantage over competitors are critical steps in order a firm to accurately identify its competencies and accomplish its organizational goals. Hence, performing an external and internal analysis is essential and necessary. (Schilling, 2010, p.125) Pick a company you are familiar with. Can you identify some of its core competencies? I would like to evaluate and identify Apples core competencies as a familiar and popular company. Basically, Apples core competencies are highly focusing on innovation; considerably investing in research and development; creating elegant and aerodynamic designs; manufacturing various multifunctional products such as IMac, IPhone, IPAD, IPod; large installed base and availability of complementary goods; high brand recognition and loyalty; efficiently addressing its target market; successfully exhibiting its products and training its customers through Apple Stores. How is the idea of strategic intent different from models of strategy that emphasizes achieving a fit between the firms strategies and its current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT)? The main difference between strategic intent and SWOT is their time perspective in terms of executing objectives and accomplishing goals. In this context, strategic intent has a future and long-term perspective (approximately 10 to 20 years). In essence, strategic intents core consideration is to ensure overall organization to focus on estimating future market demand, enhancing and improving its existing core competencies in order to fulfill the future market demand. On the other hand, SWOT has a short-term perspective in carrying out objectives and achieving the organizational success. In the light of this, SWOT is fundamentally focuses on current data and information such as current competencies, current market demand and meeting this demand. (Schilling, 2010, p.125-127) Can a strategic intent be too ambitious? Although strategic intent focuses on achieving future goals, it should not overlook current condition of the firm in respect to determining and establishing future plans and goals. In this context, if a firm has inadequate capabilities and resources to allow a transition between its current position and aimed future position, strategic intent can be considered too ambitious. (Schilling, 2010, p.127) Chapter 6 Case Questions How does Genzymes focus on orphan drugs affect the degree of competition it faces? How does it affect the bargaining power of customers? Genzymes focus on orphan drugs positively affects the degree of competition it faces, namely taking this action ensured Genzyme to lead competition in the market. There were several factors that weaken the competition. Initially, Genzymes competitors were quite reluctant focusing on orphan drugs due to its low demand and small market. Subsequently, Genzyme benefited from FDAs regulation and law which indicates that if a firm gets a patent and approval for an orphan drug, its drug gets a market exclusivity and protection from competition for seven years. As a result, there was no threat of potential entrants or existing rivalry at least for seven years, thus Genzyme remained powerful in the market. In addition to this, manufacturing and supplying a scarce and limited drug to relieve the pain of a particular illness induced patients not to have another choice except purchasing this drug. Therefore, Genzyme enhanced its bargaining power as a supplier whereas customers stayed with less b argaining power. (Schilling, 2010, p.110) How does focusing on orphan drugs affect the types of resources and capabilities a biotech firm needs to be successful? Focusing on orphan drugs requires a biotech firm to use the existing resources and capabilities predominantly related to producing orphan drugs rather than generally providing benefit to the medical environment so as to be successful in its commitment. Therefore, such a biotech firm should highly invest in research and development. Furthermore, such a firm should independently operate with limited and adequate employees in its own production, sales, and testing facilities so as to have higher profits and lower costs, correspondingly to be successful. Overall, I think, in this particular case focusing on orphan drugs has a positive effect in respect to more productively using the existing resources and capabilities. (Schilling, 2010, p.111) Does Genzymes focus on orphan drugs make sense? Do you think Genzyme has a long-term strategic intent? Genzymes focus on orphan drugs makes sense in terms of struggling to provide a medical treatment to rare diseases and illnesses. Accordingly, aiming to be highly profitable in this lowly competitive market also makes sense for Genzymes focus on orphan drugs. In my opinion, Genzyme demonstrated that it has a long-term strategic intent by dividing its businesses in different areas of medicine, and spreading its power to be dominant and leader in the market. (Schilling, 2010, p.113) Why do you think Genzyme has diversified into other areas of medicine? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this? I think, Genzyme has diversified into other areas of medicine in order to develop and advance its solutions to more diseases; capture more market share; reinforce and enhance its competitive advantage; profitability and sustainability; dominate the biotech market with its effective approaches to the critical medical issues. Despite of these pluses, it is inevitable for Genzyme to face more research and development costs to estimate and assess future solutions to diseases. What recommendations would you offer Genzyme for the future? I would offer Genzyme to maintain and sustain its diversified organizational structure so as to come up with new drugs for various diseases. By doing so, it can also foster and raise its profitability. However, diversifying and spreading its power to different medicine areas requires Genzyme to put more effort into developing, manufacturing, marketing, and selling operations so as to achieve the success. In this context, I think, Genzyme should only use this effort in creating and developing new drugs, namely it should pay less attention to the manufacturing, marketing, and selling processes by considering strategically established collaborations. By doing so, Genzyme can advance its core competencies and operational effectiveness in each medicine area it performs correspondingly it can considerably increase its profits.

Selective Perception in Shakespeares Hamlet Essay -- Shakespeare Haml

Selective Perception in Shakespeare's Hamlet      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From the end of Act I, the point at which Hamlet judges it may be prudent to feign madness - to "put an antic disposition on" (I.v.181) - much of the first half of the play concerns characters trying to determine why the prince's melancholy has evolved into seeming insanity.   Each of the major players in Elsinore has a subjective impression of the reason for Hamlet's madness; indeed, in each of these misconceptions there is an element of the truth.   At the same time, however, the nature of these selective perceptions provides insight into the characters who form them.   And finally, these varied perspectives are notable in their effect upon the dynamic of the conflict between Hamlet and Claudius, and upon the king's increasing paranoia.    Long before the encounter with the Ghost turns Hamlet's vague suspicions into something approaching certainty (I.v.1-113), Claudius views Hamlet not as a madman, but as a threat to the security of his rule and possibly his life.   This is evident from their first scene, in which Claudius publicly denounces Hamlet's "unmanly grief" (I.ii.94) as "a fault to heaven" (l.101); Claudius seems to be undermining Hamlet's popular support by painting him as unworthy to rule.   Even in the face of his court's attempts to dissect the "very cause of Hamlet's lunacy" (II.ii.49), Claudius' initial convictions are never shaken.   Like the other characters, Claudius has his own motives for believing as he does; like the other characters, his beliefs are subject to manipulative reinforcement by the play's events.   Moreover, the speculation regarding Hamlet's madness serves only to convince the king that Hamlet is not mad, and th... ...nnate guilt and paranoia will not let him view Hamlet any other way.   This facet of Claudius' character is integral to the resolution of the tragic sequence: while, in the end, Claudius' paranoia is not enough to save his life, it is certainly sufficient to ensure that no one else escapes the conflict unscathed.    Works Cited Bevington, David, ed.   The Complete Works of Shakespeare.   4th ed.   New York: Longman-Addison Wesley Longman, 1997. Bradley, A.C.   Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth.   London: Macmillan, 1967. Hamlet.   Prod. Dyson Lovell.   Dir. Franco Zeffirelli.   Warner Brothers, 1990. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.   British Broadcasting Corp.   Prod. Cedric Messina.   Dir. Rodney Bennett.   Time-Life Films, 1978. Shakespeare, William.   Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.   Bevington 1060-1116.   

Outline the key theoretical claims of restorative justice and critically evaluate its advantages and disadvantages as applied to contemporary punishment practices in the UK.

Abstract Restorative justice describes various processes designed to correct the harm that the criminal inflicts on it’s victims and communities (Braithwaite,1999). It requires all parties; victims, offenders and communities, to establish ways of repairing the harm of crime and prevent it from happening again (Strickland, 2004, Cornwell, 2009). Although such practices may be seen as a more equitable and humane form of justice, it has been criticised for extending the criminal justice system (net-widening) (Garland, 2001) and for it’s propensity to ‘privatise’ the justice estate, by its use of informal and less accountable forms of, what Foucault refers to as ‘governmentality’ (Foucault, 1975, Pavlich, 2013). However, research shows that restorative justice has been successful in reducing reoffending rates and more significantly, giving a voice to the victims of crime, previously ignored by the prevailing criminal justice system. Introduction Restorative justice describes various processes designed to correct the harm that the criminal inflicts on it’s victims and communities (Braithwaite,1999). It requires all parties; victims, offenders and communities, to establish ways of repairing the harm of crime and prevent it from happening again (Strickland, 2004, Cornwell, 2009). This paper will explore the conceptual underpinnings of the restorative approach that will examine it’s development within the theoretical and practical framework of contemporary punishment practices. It will argue that those who advocate restorative justice claim that traditional ways of responding to harm tend to neglect the needs of victims and communities (Braithwaite, 1999). Van Ness & Strong (2010) contend that the prevailing policies and practices of the criminal justice system focus entirely on the offender as law breaker, that only address legal guilt and punishment (Stohr et al,2012). Further, over the last three decades, within the context of the rise of neo-liberal populism, that has seen decline of the rehabilitative ideal, restorative justice practices have the potential to mitigate the worst excesses of punitive punishments (Garland, 2001). However, the theoretical underpinnings of restorative justice, as this paper will show, has been attacked in various ways, due, in part, to its propensity to either be seen as undermining the impartiality of the criminal justice system, or as yet another form of what Foucault (1975) describes as ‘governmentality’. From this perspective, restorative justice is seen as an informal process that results in a net-widening of state control (Garland, 2001, Pavlich, 2013). This, in turn, has generated a significant ideological debate over the future of criminal justice (Johnstone & Van Ness, 2007). Proponents of restorative justice, however, argue that within the prevailing punitive regime, the increase in custodial sentences has generated a penal crisis that may be mitigated by the use of restorative approaches (Cavadino & Dignan, 2006). Restorative justice may therefore be seen as a significant and pragmatic means of lowering the rate of recidivism and bringing about a more humane and equitable justice (Sim, 2008, Cornwell, 2009). The Demise of the Rehabilitative Ideal Since the eighteenth century, idea’s surrounding state punishment have led to a mixture of approaches that prevail today (Stohr et al, 2012). Clarkson, 2005, suggests that these theories in turn have generated continual discourse surrounding the moral justifications for punishment, which are; retributivism, deterrence, rehabilitation and incapacitation. Sim (2009), citing Foucault, argues that although the prevailing literature on the history of the criminal justice system has placed an emphasis on the shifts and discontinuities in the apparatus of punishment, such as the move from retributive punishment toward a more progressive rehabilitative approach, since the mid 1970s punishment has been underpinned and legitimated by a political and populist hostility to offenders (ibid, Garland 2001, Cornwell, 2009). Garland (2001) argues that the last three decades has seen a shift away from the assumptions and ideologies that shaped crime control for most of the twentieth century. To day’s practices of policing and penal sanctions, Garland argues, pursue new objectives in a move away from the penal welfarism (rehabilitation) that shaped the 1890s?1970s approach of policy makers, academics and practitioners. Cornwell (2009) argues that although the rehabilitative model of punishment was seen as a progressive approach in the middle years of the last century, when it was widely accepted that the provision of ‘treatment and training’ would change the patterns of offending behaviour, the ideology failed to work out in practice (Garland, 2001). In turn, there became a disenchantment with the rehabilitative approach, and the ‘Nothing Works’ scenario became an accepted belief, given the reality of prison custody (Martinson, 1974). Muncie (2005) claims that the 1970s neo-liberal shift in political ideology saw the rehabilitative welfare model based on meeting individual needs, regress back towards a ‘justice model’ (retributi ve), that is more concerned with the offence than the offender. From the 1990s, Muncie argues, ‘justice’ has moved away from due process and rights to an authoritarian form of crime control. The Prison Crisis Cornwell (2009) claims that the effect of the ‘justice model’ on the prison population cannot be overstated (Sim, 2008). In England and Wales in 1990 the average daily prison population stood at around 46,000, by 1998 this figure increased to over 65,000, by 2009 the number rose to 82,586 (ibid). Further, the findings in the 2007 Commission on Prison’s suggest that a ‘crisis’ now defines the UK penal system (The Howard League, 2007). Despite a 42,000 decline in reported crime since 1995, the Commission argue, the prison population has soared to a high of 84,000 in 2008, more than doubling since 1992. Cornwell (2009) claims that at present the costs of keeping an offender in prison stands at around ?40,000 per year, where the estimated cost of building new prisons to accommodate the rise of the prison population will take huge resources of public money. Prison has therefore become the defining tool of the punishment process, where the United Kingdom (U K) now imprisons more of its population than any other country in Western Europe (ibid: p.6). A History of Restorative Justice In response to the prison crisis, experimentation in the 1990s began to see various forms of restorative justice models in order to mitigate retributive punishment and as a means of re-introducing a greater emphasis on the rehabilitation ideal (Muncie, 2005). The arguments for restorative forms of justice, Cornwell (2009) claims, are not just about cost and sustainability on national resources, but more significantly, the notion of the type of unjust society the United Kingdom (UK) is likely to become unless this surge in punitive sanctions is not abated (ibid, Sim, 2009). Cornwell (2009) suggests that the main strength of the restorative justice model is that it is ‘practitioner led’, deriving from the practical experience of correctional officials and academics who have a comprehensive understanding of the penal system. From a ‘Nothing Works’ (Martinson, 1974) to a ‘What Works’ experience, the emphasis of restorative justice has been to identi fy a more humane, equitable and practical means of justice that goes beyond the needs of the offender (rehabilitative goal) toward addressing the victims and their communities (Cornwell, 2009). Restorative Justice ? Theory and Practice Howard Zehr (2002), envisioned restorative justice as addressing the victim’s needs or harm that holds offenders accountable to put right the harm that involves the victims, offenders and their communities (Zehr, 2002). The first focus is on holding the offender accountable for harm, the second is the requirement that in order to reintegrate into society, offenders must do something significant to repair the harm. Third, there should be a process through which victims, offenders and communities have a legitimate stake in the outcomes of justice (Cornwell, 2009.p:45). In this way, Zehr (2002) redefines or redirects the harm of crime away from its definition of a violation of the state, toward a violation of one person by another. At the same time, the focus of establishing blame or guilt shifts toward a focus on problem solving and obligations. As a result, communities and not the state become the central facilitators in repairing and restoring harm (ibid). Although restorative justice has received wide recognition across many western countries together with the endorsement of the Council of Europe in 1999, progress toward the implementation of restorative justice principles into mainstream criminal justice practices is slow (Cornwell, 2009). Further, restorative justice, both in theory and practice continues to generate a substantial and contentious debate (Morris, 2002). Restorative Justice ? A Critique Acorn (2005) argues that ‘justice’ has traditionally symbolised the scales of impartiality on the one hand, and the sword of power, on the other. Justice is thereby possible when a neutral judge calculates a fair balance of accounts to make decisions that are backed by state power. Restorative justice, by its practice of informal dispute resolutions, can be seen as a call to a return of a ‘privatised’ form of justice (ibid, Strang & Braithwaite, 2002). This criticism is qualified by the propensity of restorative justice advocates (Braithwaite, 1989) that critique punitive justice responses and thereby view the power of the state as harmful. This in turn, at least theoretically, erodes state power and state created crime categories, thereby threatening to create a ‘privatised’ justice process (Strang & Braithwaite, 2002). Within this process, Strang & Braithwaite (2002) argue, restorative justice cannot be seen to ‘legitimately’ deal with crimes. Acorn (2004) suggests that unlike the prevailing criminal justice system, the desire to punish (retribution) is replaced by a version of justice that is centred on specifically nuanced concepts of harm, obligation, need, re-integration and forgiveness. Such values guide Family Group Conferences, Community Mediation, Victim-Offender Commissions and various forms of tribunals (Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)) (MacLaughlin et al, 2003). Family Group Conferences is a prominent practice in restorative justice, that includes community members (paid or unpaid) to ‘hear’ disputes and help parties to resolve conflicts. However, rather than a diversion from the criminal justice system, such conferences involve offenders already convicted (Acorn, 2004). Garland (2001) views this arrangement a form of ‘net-widening’, where informal justice becomes part of the social landscape that encompasses a widening and ever expanding form of crime control (ibid) . Although restorative justice advocates argue that informal justice creates domains of freedom that empower victims, offenders and communities, opponents claim that restorative justice represents another pernicious way in which community mediation expands state control, while claiming to do precisely the opposite (Acorn, 2004, Garland, 2001, Pavlich, 2013). Restorative justice proponents are clear in their critique of the criminal justice system that is seen to not represent victims or their communities, where state officials, such as the police, lawyers and judges, are impartial, and thereby have no direct understanding of those affected by criminal offenses (Pavlich, 2013). Here, Pavlich refers to Foucault’s concept of ‘governmentality’, where the state subtly arranges the background settings to produce subjects who think and act in ways that do not require direct coercion, in what Foucault terms the ‘conduct of conduct’ (Pavlich, 2013, Foucault, 1975). In this way, Foucault argues, self governed subjects are produced when they buy into the logic and formulated identities of a given governmentality (Foucault, 1975). Garland and Sparks (2000) claim that restorative justice, as a form of govermentality has, in part, come about by the increased attention, over the last twenty-five years, toward the rights of the ‘victim’. Here, Garland (2001) argues that the last two decades has seen the rise of a distinctly populist current in penal politics that no longer relies on the evidence of the experts and professional elites. Whereas a few decades ago public opinion functioned as an occasional restraint on policy initiatives, it now operates as a privileged source. Within this context, Garland argues, victims have attained an unprecedented array of ‘rights’ within the criminal justice system, ranging from; ‘the right to make victim impact statements’, the right to be consulted in prosecutions, sentencing and parole together with notifications of offenders post release movements and the right to receive compensation. Further, the right to receive service provision ent ails the use of Victim Support agencies who help people address their feelings and offer practical help and assistance, mitigating the negative impact of crime (Reeves and Mulley, 2000). Wright (2000) suggests that while such developments may be seen as a triumph for victim support movements, these reforms do not fundamentally alter the structural position of victims. This, Wright explains, is because the punitive structural system remains intact whereby the victim’s interests will necessarily remain secondary to the wider public interest, represented by the crown (Wright, 2000). It can be argued that while critics may be seen as correct in their perception of restorative justice as a form of governmentality or net-widening by the state, the attack may be seen as premature, given the early stages of its development (Cornwell, 2009). Cornwell argues that critics have not given restorative justice enough time to develop and potentially emerge as a stand alone resolution to the problem of crime and its repercussions for the victims, offenders and their communities (ibid). Restorative justice programmes are still at an embryonic stage, where they are attracting critique, mainly due to their attachment to the Criminal Justice System (Cornwell, 2009, Morris, 2002, Ministry of Justice, 2012). Cornwell (2009) also addresses the argument that the restorative approach places too much emphasis on the status it affords to the victims of crime. In reality, Cornwell suggests, that status is very much based on political rhetoric rather than actual reform. The publication of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 that anticipated an advance in restorative and reparative measures into the criminal justice system, in reality bought in a much more punitive provision. Restorative measures under the Act are initiated on the basis of a ‘mix and match’ arrangement for ‘custody plus minus’. Here, (Garrielides, 2003) points out that restorative justice has therefore become somewhat removed from its underlying theory (Garrielides, 2003). Put simply, the restorative approach has been cherry picked to support other punitive initiatives, leaving its central tenets at the margins of the criminal justice system (Cornwell, 2009). Restorative Justice – Does it Work? Since the 1990s a number of restorative justice trial schemes began to take place, in order to measure success in terms of re-offending and victim satisfaction. According to a Ministry of Justice Report (Shapland et al, 2008), measuring the success of restorative justice against criminal justice control groups, it was found that offenders who took part in restorative justice schemes committed statistically significantly fewer offences (in terms of reconvictions) in the subsequent two years than offenders in the control group. Further, although restorative justice has been generally reported to be more successful within youth justice, this research showed no demographic differences, for example; in age, ethnicity, gender or offence type. The report also showed that eighty-five percent of victims were happy with the process (ibid). These results are reflected in various case studies. Published by the Restorative Justice Council (2013) the following gives an example of the positive impa ct that restorative justice can have on the victim, the offender and communities: Arrested in February last year, Jason Reed was sentenced to five years in prison after admitting to more than fifty other burglaries. During the criminal justice process, Jason expressed his wish to start afresh and make amends, so he was referred to the post-conviction restorative justice unit. After a full assessment to ensure his case was suitable for restorative justice measures, three conferences took place between Jason and five of his victims. The victims had different motivations for taking part and they were able to express their upset and anger directly to the offender. Jason agreed to pay back an agreed amount of compensation and the victims showed some acceptance and forgiveness (Restorative Justice Council, 2013). Conclusion Overall, this paper has argued that restorative justice may be seen as an attempt to address the disillusion within the criminal justice system in the 1970s that had conceded that ‘Nothing Works’. The demise of the rehabilitative ideal (Garland, 2001), against the backdrop of political shifts toward a neo-liberal ideology, bought about a more punitive, retributive stance toward punishment and offending (Sim, 2008). As a result, the rise in prison populations has bought about a penal crisis. In response, new initiatives in restorative justice began to develop, emerging as a more equitable, humane form of punishment (Cornwell, 2009). The advantages of the restorative approach cannot be overstated, as this paper shows, rather than the state focusing on the offender (as is the case with the prevailing criminal justice system), restorative justice seeks to address the needs of the victim and community participation (Zehr, 2002). In practical terms, there appears to be some su ccess in terms of re-offending and victim satisfaction (Ministry of Justice, 2008). Despite the criticisms (Garland, 2001), it can be argued that restorative justice demonstrates an opportunity and potential to mitigate the worst excesses of the criminal justice system and bring about a more equitable and humane approach (Cornwell, 2009). Word count: 2654 Bibliography Acorn, A (2004) Compulsory Compassion: A Critique of Restorative Justice. Vol 14, No.6 (June 2004) pp. 446-448. University of British Columbia Press Bottoms, A, Gelsthorpe, S Rex, S (2013) Community Penalties: Change & Challenges. London: Wilan Publishing Cavadino, M & Dignan, J (2006) Penal Systems: A Comparative Approach. London: Sage Publications Clarkson, M (2005) Understanding Criminal Law. London: Sweet & Maxwell Cornwell, D (2009) The Penal Crisis and the Clapham Omnibus: Questions and Answers in Restorative Justice. Hampshire: Waterside Press Dupont-Morales, M, Hooper, M, Schmidt, J (2000) Handbook of Criminal Justice Administration. New York: Marcel Dekker Inc. Garland, D (2001) Culture of Control: Crime & Social Order in Contemporary Society. Oxon: Oxford University Press Garland, D & Sparks, R (2000) Criminology & Social Theory. Oxford: Clarendon Garrielides, T (2003) Restorative Justice Theory and Practice: Mind the Gap! Available[online]from: http://www.euforum.org/readingroom/Newsletter/Vol04Issue03.pdf The Howard League for Prison Reform (2007) Do Better, Do Less: The report of the Commission on English Prisons Today. The Howard League. Available [online] from: http://www.howardleague.org/fileadmin/howard_league/user/online_publications/Do_Better_Do_Less_res.pdf Accessed on 26th February 2014-02-27 Johnstone, G (2011) Restorative Justice: Ideas, Values, Debates: Second Edition. Oxon: Wilan Publishing Marshall, T (1996) The Evolution of Restorative Justice in Britain. European Journal on Criminal Police and Research (4) 21-43 McLaughlin, E, Fergusson, R, Hughes, G, Westmaland, L (2003) Restorative Justice: Critical Issues. London: The Open University Ministry of Justice (2012) Restorative Justice Action Plan for the Criminal Justice System. November 2012 Available [online] from: http://www.restorative_justice_action_plan.pdf Morris, A (2002) Critiquing the Critics: A Brief Response to Critics of Restorative Justice. British Journal of Criminology (2002) 42 (3): 596-615 Muncie, J (2005) The Globalization of Crime Control: the Case of Youth and Juvenile Justice: Neo-Liberalism, Policy Convergence & International Conventions. Theoretical Criminology 9 (1) pp: 35-64 Raynor, P, Robinson, G (2009) Rehabilitation, Crime and Justice. London: Palgrave Macmillan Restorative Justice Council (2013) Case Studies Available [online] from: http:www.restorativejustice.org.uk/?p=resources&keyword=178 Accessed on: 27th February 2014 Reeves, H & Mulley,K (2000) The New Status of Victims in the UK: Threats and Opportunities, cit in: Crawford, A and Goodey, J (eds) Integrating a Victim Perspective Within Criminal Justice Debates. Aldershot: Ashgate Press Robinson, G & Crow, I (2009) Offender Rehabilitation: Theory, Research & Practice. London: Sage Publications Shapland, J, Atkinson, A, Atkinson, H, Dignan, J, Edwards, L, Hibbert, J, Howes, M, Johnstone, J, Robinson, G and Sorsby, A (2008) Does Restorative Justice Effect Reconviction. The fourth report from the evaluation of three schemes. Ministry of Justice 2008. Available [online] from: http://www.restorativejustice.org.uk/resource/ministry_of_justice_evaluation_does_restorative_justice_affect_reconviction_the_fourth_report_from_the_evaluation_of_three_schemes/ Accessed on 26th February 2014 Sim, J (2009) Punishment and Prisons: Power and the Carceral State.London: Sage Publications Limited Stohr, M, Walsh, A, Hemmens, C (2012) Corrections, a text/reader, Second Edition. London: Sage Publications. Strickland, R.A (2004) Studies in Crime & Punishment. New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc Sumner, C (2008) The Blackwell Companion to Criminology. London: John Wiley & Sons Wright, M (2000) Restorative justice and Mediation. Paper presented at the conference â€Å"Probation Methods in Criminal Policy: Current State and Perspectives† at Popowo, Poland, 20-21 October. Available [online] from: http://www.restorativejustice.org/10fulltext/wrightmartin2000restorative/view Accessed on: 28th February 2014 Zehr, H (2002) Little Book of Restorative Justice. New Zealand: The Little Books of Justice and Peace Building

huckleberry finn and pleasentville essays

huckleberry finn and pleasentville essays Have you ever heard of the great Mark Twain? Many people have and recognize his novels by name; especially his most famous book called Huckleberry Finn. The great thing about Huck is that it was meant to be a simple book, but ended up deemed a classic. The reason for this is that it contains many great american themes and motifs. Many American novels, books and movies also contain these themes and motifs, making it very easy to compare Huckleberry Finn to Pleasantville. Although very different stories, in comparison Huck and Pleasantville have the same motifs. Both the movie and the book have the motifs of going west, rebel vs. the establishment and Jim Crow/Shaman. This essay will compare these common American motifs. The go west motif is about the characters running away or escaping from where they previously were (this doesnt necessarily have to include a trip west). In Huck Finn the river is the tool used to help Huck and Jim escape from their life. The river helps to take Huck and Jim away from civilization and reunite them with nature. The river also helps to free them from slavery, Huck being a slave to the Widow Douglas and Jim actually being Miss Watsons slave. In Pleasantville a life in colour is how the townspeople are allowed to go west. When they are in black and white they have the perfect life, meaning that nothing can ever go wrong, therefore they can never learn from their mistakes. When David introduces the thought of thinking for themselves to the teenagers of Pleasantville they begin to notice that there are other places in the world, this begins to change things from black and white to colour. Both stories contain the motif of going west. Another motif in these two works is the Rebel vs. the Establishment motif. In Huck the rebel would be Huck and one of the establishments would be the civil ...

Signed vs. Unsigned in Programming

Signed vs. Unsigned in Programming The term unsigned in computer programming indicates a variable that can hold only positive numbers. The term signed in computer code indicates that a variable can hold negative and positive values.  The property can be applied to most of the numeric data types including int, char, short and long. Unsigned Variable Type of Integer An unsigned variable type of int can hold zero and positive numbers, and a signed int holds negative, zero and positive numbers. In 32-bit integers, an unsigned integer has a range of 0 to 232-1 0 to 4,294,967,295 or about 4 billion. The signed version goes from -231-1 to 231, which is –2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647 or about -2 billion to 2 billion. The range is the same, but it is shifted on the number line.   An int type in C, C, and C# is signed by default. If negative numbers are involved, the programmer must change to unsigned. Unsigned Char In the case of chars, which are only 1 byte, the range of an unsigned char is 0 to 256, while the range of a signed char is -127 to 127. Stand-Alone Type Specifiers and Other Usages Unsigned (and signed) can also serve as standalone type specifiers, but when either is used alone, they default  to int. Objects of type long can be declared as signed long or unsigned long. Signed long is the same as long because signed is the default. The same applies to long and short.​

The Portfolio of Current Issues in Risk Management Assignment

The Portfolio of Current Issues in Risk Management - Assignment Example Warren Buffett is a respected billionaire investor in the United States and major shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway, a multinational conglomerate financials and investment company. According to Buffett, â€Å"it takes 20 years to build a positive reputation and only five minutes to destroy it† (Rushe 2011, p.1). The article describes a black eye incident that has potentially damaged the credibility and reputation of Berkshire Hathaway amid a resignation scandal occurring on the back of questionable securities sales by an insider manager. The article insinuates that conversations between Buffett and David Sokol, an executive leader, provided insider trading knowledge to Sokol, leading to public and governmental scrutiny and investigation. Adding more enquiry to this situation is the fact that Sokol suddenly resigned from his position, which could indicate there is something to hide in the securities transactions in question. Personal Commentary Why is this relevant for risk man agement and ensuring reputational risk management for the organisation? For some organisations, the brand and its reputation in key target markets is one of the most fundamental competitive advantages sustained by the organisation. Especially true in saturated markets where public and private investments are traded in highly-publicised media, businesses require a differentiated brand name that is considered credible and adheres to the principles defined by corporate social responsibility. It is only when consumers become attached and loyal to a brand that they will begin expelling personal and social resources to supporting and defending the brand against negative criticism (Aron, Aron and Smollan 1992; Muniz and O’Guinn 2001). The situation involving Berkshire Hathaway reminds the risk management professional to carefully monitor and control the activities of internal staff members. Since this is an organisation that has much scrutiny by a variety of stakeholders and importa nt shareholders, the organisation cannot afford for representatives of the business to damage brand reputation. According to the lectures, the brand reputation of a business should be considered just as paramount as traditional risk management activities. Farris et al. (2010) reminds us that the use of a customer satisfaction metric is a vital tool in monitoring business reputation and securing brand reputation. This article seems to reinforce the importance of showing transparency and accountability as part of corporate social responsibility especially when the internal activities and investment selections of a major holdings company can be observed by a global mass market audience. Under Kantian deontology, the highest good comes from duty. For example, a merchant attempts to build a good reputation simply to ensure profitability. However, this is not a moral good since it does not stem from social duty toward others (Bowie 1999). When assessing risks or establishing a risk evalua tion tool, it is necessary to consider how the stakeholder and customer will view business actions. They will either attribute actions to moral and ethical behaviour or witness trust reduced in the corporate integrity of the business. Corporate social responsibility must be a major factor in setting up a risk management model to keep a positive reputation and avoid public scrutiny. Student’s Name: Review No.: 1 Source of article: Is your culture a risk factor? Business and Society Review 111(3) Author’

Management Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 5

Management Accounting - Essay Example mission rate coupled with vital issues required by the management before making various decisions necessitated a close and thorough analysis of Ozmedic. The report begins by presenting a budgeted income statement when the commission is increased and when the firm hires is own salespeople. The breakeven point and the level of indifference between the two options are then computed. The report then proceeds by recommending the best option between increasing the sales commission and hiring own sales people. It will be illustrated that it is better to hire own salespeople than increase the commission to 20 percent. Further, the report presents the launch date for the BPM-201 as well as factors that should be considered when deciding on launch date. In addition, the report will investigate if accepting the local government offer is viable for the firm. The report then establishes the maximum price to be paid for the outside supplier of Penlight Division for Instrulite. It then concludes by explaining other factors to be considered when deciding whether to outsource apart from the price of the product. Level of indifference between the two options refers to the sales volume at which the net income of the two options would be the same. From the appendix 2, the level of indifference would be AUD $18,000,000. From this volume of sales, the Ozmedic’s management would be indifferent of the option to choose because both results to a loss of AUD $2,840,000. Even though, this volume of sales would result to the same figure, it is not viable because the business would incur a loss regardless of the option adopted. The firm’s management should increase its promotional efforts so that a more viable level is achieved. Permanent organizations like Ozmedic would like to maximize their profits by reducing transaction costs. Given any level of sales, reduced expenses results to high profits. The best option that would help the company maximize its profit is, therefore, hiring