Drug Testin In The Workplace Essays - Drug Control Law,

Drug Testin In The Workplace Drug testing in the United States began with the explosive use of illegal drugs, in order to curb drug abuse. This began during the Vietnam War with drug use at a climax. In general, Drug testing is a way to detect illegal drug use and deter it, usually by Urinalysis. Drug testing in the United States violates a citizen's right to unreasonable search and seizure's along with jeopardizing one's freedom. Drug testing is not only an unreliable invasion of a person's privacy but it assumes that one is guilty before submitting to the test. Drug testing began to take place in the mid 1960's when drugs like Marijuana, hallucinogens and other drugs were becoming widespread (Stencel, pp.201). The military implemented mandatory drug testing because of the widespread use and the number of Vets that were returning home because of addiction. Ronald Reagan pushed for employers to implement drug testing and even had himself screened for illegal drugs to encourage employers and to reduce opposition to testing (Stencel, pp. 200). ?The increased concern about drug abuse has, in part, ben the result of the early 1986 appearance on the streets of crack-a new, powerfully addictive form of cocaine-and the growth of cocaine addiction? (Berger, 12). President Reagan later called for a second ?war on drugs? campaign. In October of 1986, President Reagan signed into law a 1.7 billion dollar antidrug bill, called the ?Drug-Free Workplace Order?. In addition to the bill, Reagan instructed his cabinet officers to create a plan to begin drug testing for federal civil employees (Berger, 14). Drug testing thus begun a sharp climb into the area of private employers. In November of 1988 Congress passed an Act requiring grant recipients or federal contractors to maintain drug-free workplaces. Most of the employers set up voluntary testing programs and many employees began to sue, claiming that individual testing is a violation of privacy rights. The argument is that the employees are being deprived of their Fourth Amendment protection. Many believe that government testing programs should be unconstitutional unless the authorities have either reasonable suspicion or probable cause that the individuals being tested are on drugs. To justify the use of private employer testing, President Bush said in 1989 that ?Drug abuse among American workers costs businesses anywhere from $60 billion to $100 billion dollars a year in lost productivity, absenteeism, drug-related accidents, medical claims, and theft? (Horgan, 19). This claim was derived from a source that interviewed families that were 28% lower in overall income than the average household. This was used in an effort to promote Bush's ?war on drugs? forum into the private sector (Horgan, 21). Many behavior's of lower income people often differ statistically from upper-income people, therefore the statement of Bush never establishes a clear or accurate statistic. ?In 1989 President George Bush unveiled his National Drug Control Strategy, encouraging comprehensive drug-free workplace policies in the private sector and in state and local government? (Stencel, 201). This created many controversies within the American workplace and in National Treasury Employees Union v. Von Raab decision, the Supreme Court upheld that drug testing was legal as long as it outweighs privacy rights (James). Then, in 1991 Congress passed the Omnibus Transportation and Employment Testing Act, which would extend drug testing in the United States. Throughout the rest of the 90's drug tests were extended to the outermost sectors of society causing drugs to become a significant issue during election times, although politicians are never tested themselves. The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution was created because of the rough treatment of colonists by the British. The British restricted trade and travel and this gave way to smuggling. ?British soldiers frequently conducted unrestricted house-to-house searches. People were forced to keep their private records and other personal information on their person or hidden in their home or business to avoid exposure and possible arrest? (Berger, 102). The Fourth Amendment was part of the Constitution's Bill of Rights to protect one's privacy and maintain search and seizure guarantees. The right to privacy was described by Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis as ?the right to be let alone-the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men.? The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the ?right of the people to be secure in their person, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable search and seizure? except upon probable cause. Random drug testing threatens the Fourth Amendment and has been called suspicion by association. This is to say that it is

Evaluación y Calidad en la Educación

Evaluacià ³n y Calidad en la Educacià ³n Free Online Research Papers La evaluacià ³n como indicador de la calidad del sistema educativo La educacià ³n ha sufrido, a travà ©s de la historia, varios cambios en su enfoque y concepcià ³n. El Estado como proveedor de educacià ³n a la poblacià ³n ha cambiado de una orientacià ³n de cobertura a una de calidad, lo que permite de manera casi automtica introducir el tà ©rmino de evaluacià ³n como la medida predilecta para el control de calidad. Surgen, sin embargo, con este cambio, varios matices alrededor de la evaluacià ³n que deben ser considerados a la hora de utilizar sus resultados como indicador de quà © tan bien se encuentra el sistema educativo. El siguiente escrito tiene como propà ³sito analizar hasta quà © punto los resultados de las distintas evaluaciones implementadas como medidor de calidad son verà ­dicos y reflejan el estado real de las instituciones educativas a nivel nacional. Para tal fin, se utilizarn los textos y las discusiones que se enmarcan en el curso de Problemas Contemporneos en la Educacià ³n. Segà ºn Alberto Martà ­nez Boom, 2004, el cambio en el enfoque de la educacià ³n (de cobertura a calidad) se acompaà ±a de diversas modificaciones en el entorno escolar. En el nuevo momento, el que concierne la calidad, la educacià ³n pasa a ser interà ©s primordial de los sectores polà ­tico, econà ³mico y civil. Se crea entonces la llamada comunidad educativa, que tiene como propà ³sito incluir diversos puntos de vista en el mbito educacional, para que los estudiantes tengan una visià ³n ms amplia del mundo en el que se desarrollan, y se desarrollarn en un futuro. Sin embargo, y aunque en teorà ­a la comunidad educativa es un buen mecanismo para los objetivos que persigue, à ©sta no se evidencia en la prctica. El primer punto problemtico, es que las instituciones no se toman en serio las exigencias del Ministerio de Educacià ³n de la conformacià ³n de dicha comunidad (recordemos la experiencia de Andrà ©s Mejà ­a, donde relata que a falta de miembros que conformen l a vocerà ­a de la comunidad, decidieron incluir a une vendedora ambulante). Los mismos padres de familia se muestran en reiteradas ocasiones reticentes a una participacià ³n activa en la educacià ³n de sus hijos. Numerosos factores como los enunciados anteriormente, hacen que la conformacià ³n de una comunidad educativa ms all del papel se torne dificultosa. Un segundo punto problemtico, y quiz en que ms nos concierne para el tema de disertacià ³n es el que se refiere a la evaluacià ³n. Los objetivos de la comunidad educativa deben hacerse presentes no sà ³lo a la hora de la conformacià ³n de la misma, es decir, los ideales de una educacià ³n holà ­stica deben estar presentes tanto en las dinmicas de cada una de las clases dictadas en las institucià ³n, como en su currà ­culo y por sobre todo en su sistema de control de calidad (evaluacià ³n). Es asà ­ como resulta imperativo incluir dentro de la evaluacià ³n no sà ³lo mbitos acadà ©micos formales como se ha venido haciendo hasta ahora, sino reas alternas que le puedan proporcionar al estudiante la opcià ³n de escoger y generar un bagaje en torno a diferentes disciplinas. Un ejemplo puntual de lo anterior, se refiere a las pruebas de estado ICFES, donde es poca o nula la inclusià ³n de reas fundamentales en aspectos tanto profesionales como sociales y cotidianos, como lo e s la expresià ³n oral, capacidad de proposicià ³n y expresià ³n escrita. El ICFES presenta de manera simultnea otros puntos que resultan conflictivos. Entre los discutidos en clase, tambià ©n se encuentra la larga duracià ³n de las pruebas (antes dos dà ­as, actualmente una jornada completa). Las consecuencias de jornadas largas de evaluacià ³n son indudablemente negativas para el resultado de los estudiantes. La fatiga fà ­sica y mental al final afectan las respuestas de los alumnos a las preguntas enunciadas. Bajo condiciones de cansancio, es obvio que un alumno no puede dar lo mejor de sà ­, y en este orden de ideas, una institucià ³n (de educacià ³n superior por ejemplo) que se rija à ºnicamente por los resultados de la prueba de estado como filtro de entrada no est considerando el potencial del estudiante en su totalidad, sino una fraccià ³n del mismo. Un tercer aspecto ambiguo es el modo de respuesta de las pruebas del estado. Al ser opcià ³n mà ºltiple, la capacidad de redaccià ³n y expresià ³n escrita del estudiante es relegada a un segundo plano. Adems, las posibilidades de que un estudiante que no conozca la respuesta acierte en la misma son altas. Es posible acotar entonces el tà ©rmino de injusticia en el resultado final. Un estudiante competente y uno mediocre podrà ­an obtener la misma nota, o por lo menos uno parecido.  ¿Es entonces producto del azar, cuando una institucià ³n exige un buen resultado en estas pruebas acepta o rechaza a un estudiante basado en su nota obtenida?  ¿Cà ³mo hacer para discernir entre los primeros y los segundos? La lectura referente a los high stakes tests descalifica este tipo de evaluaciones en las que se juegan aspectos fundamentales de la vida de los estudiantes. Empero, y como se discutià ³ en clase, las evaluaciones que implican mayores impactos para la vida de los estudiantes resultan ser, aunque agotadoras en algunos casos, mucho ms motivacionales para los mismos alumnos. Surge entonces un modelo alterno a las pruebas del estado, que es el International Baccalaureate, o IB. Desde un punto de vista personal, el IB entra en el campo de los high stakes tests, pero con algunos matices. No solamente hace inclusià ³n de aspectos fundamentales ya mencionados como las capacidades de sà ­ntesis, expresià ³n oral y escrita y proposicià ³n, sino que se enfoca hacia una educacià ³n holà ­stica en todo el sentido de la palabra. IB se empeà ±a en graduar a alumnos con alta responsabilidad social, con un sentido de responsabilidad elevado, conocedor de reas poco usuales en el mbito nacional (como lo son la antropologà ­a, o estudios de tecnologà ­a) y al mismo tiempo competente en reas acadà ©micas convencionales. El sistema de evaluacià ³n no es cortante o definido en el tiempo, sino regido por un proceso incremental que se va evaluando a medida que va pasando el tiempo, permitiendo que el resultado final refleje aspectos importantes para todo mbito como lo es por ejemplo la capacidad y velocidad de aprendizaje de un individuo, su calidad como ser humano, y sus repuestas ante dilemas de diversa à ­ndole. No obstante, existen tambià ©n aspectos negativos en torno al IB. Como bien fue discutido, surgen puntos de debate como lo es la competencia generada al interior de una institucià ³n con este sistema de evaluacià ³n. Es cierto que las condiciones de competencia se pueden tornar difà ­ciles, sobre todo cuando las instituciones compiten para lograr ciertos objetivos. Sin embargo, esta competencia, que no debe ser llevada al extremo, educa a los estudiantes a desenvolverse en un mundo que cada vez se torna ms exigente. En segundo lugar se pone en juego la autonomà ­a de las escuelas y colegios, ya que es el sistema evaluativo el que define su comportamiento. Ante esto, es plausible afirmar que desde que exista un sistema de evaluacià ³n que se dedique a escoger quà © es bueno y quà © es malo, y a realizar clasificaciones de calidad, ese mismo efecto secundario existir. A manera de conclusià ³n se puede decir que las pruebas de estado como son aplicadas actualmente fallan a la hora de proporcionar una apreciacià ³n cercana de las aptitudes del estudiante. Es deficiente al evaluar aspectos mucho ms importantes que la academia formal, como por ejemplo la capacidad de sà ­ntesis, expresià ³n oral y escrita y calidad humana y à ©tica del individuo. Aunque fuertemente criticado por el autor del texto referente a los high stakes tests, creo que sistemas como el IB que entran dentro de ese conjunto son ideales a la hora de realizar una evaluacià ³n ya que miden no sà ³lo reas como las matemticas o la fà ­sica, sino que se enfoca en un perfil de estudiante y lo forma de manera holà ­stica. Research Papers on Evaluacià ³n y Calidad en la Educacià ³nUnreasonable Searches and SeizuresThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfQuebec and CanadaRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyThe Project Managment Office SystemPETSTEL analysis of India19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided Era

Strategic Partner Discussion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Strategic Partner Discussion - Assignment Example Consequently, there is no need for HR professionals in table Second, the HR professionals do not have the feel or business acumen to contribute to increasing company profits. HR professionals often do not have the accounting, economics knowledge. The same professionals are not adept at business management theories. Similarly, the HR professionals may not have the capacity to assume and manage business risks (Wallace, 1982). Implementation of policies. HR professionals can help employees implement company policy, without wasteful overstaffing. The HR professional can recommend more effective interviewing, hiring, training, promotion, and termination, matching skills to fill vacancies, retention and pay issues. The HR professional contributes to the improvement of the employees’ current job outputs and consistency with internal environment factors. For example, the office clerk who is slow typist can improve work output with the HR professional’s help. The HR professional will engage the employee in timing speed seminars and other trainings. The employees will enthusiastically enroll in the HR professionals’ program to increase their data encoding or typing speed (French, 1982). Change leaders. The HR professionals help employees embrace company changes. It is normal for company to institute changes in company policies and procedures. Changes include product and services changes. Customers often change product and service choices. The company must supply the new products and services. For example, the demand for the old fashioned typewriter was replaced with the later demand for computers (French, 1982). The HR professionals will contribute to reduce resistance to change. The HR professionals will use seminars to equip the employees with the necessary capabilities for successful change. HR professionals will

Self Percieved Body Image of Adolescent Girls Essay

Self Percieved Body Image of Adolescent Girls - Essay Example The study will also attempt to identify the ideal perceived body image of each respondent and ascertain how far this is from the individuals’ actual body size and their perception of their own body size. This study was chosen due to the increase of young girls at various youth groups discussing the way they look and feel about themselves, what they eat and do not eat. Also, I personally cannot remember a time in my adult life when I have felt totally happy and secure with my own body image or that of my family and friends, consequently I wanted to determine if this was true of other women and preliminary questioning of my friends suggested that the majority of women also feel this pressure to conform to a stereotypical, and very narrow, ideal of acceptable body shape. The study arouse out of my curiosity of when this phenomena begins in a woman’s life, and by questioning adolescent girls I wanted to discover if their self perception is in any way different to my own. The fact that this is a very emotive issue, and for ethical reasons it was decided that the youngest girls questioned for this particular piece of research would be 14 years of age. At the starting point of the s tudy I felt I did not have enough knowledge of when the issue arises to question younger girls, and did not want to make them prematurely aware of body image issues without any structured support system other than counselors available. From a practice-based perspective this would give further background information to then offer the right support and self esteem workshops to all adolescent girls who make use of the settings in which I work, before embarking on this crusade personal reassurance was needed and that the issue existed. This was done with guidance from the respondents themselves as to what practical measures could be put into place. The methodologies I utilised were those of applied research and action research, where ‘the agenda for the investigation

Harnessing Information Management, the Data, and Infrastructure Essay - 1

Harnessing Information Management, the Data, and Infrastructure - Essay Example A good information management system must therefore be able to evaluate the kinds of data/information a firm needs in order to function and progress well in all its operations. Taking American wireless as an example, information management can be seen to influence various aspects its performance. First and foremost, it is important to note the main usage information is to set strategies and accomplish firm’s objectives. By having efficient information management American Wireless will first and foremost benefit from a reduced operating cost (Brien, 2007). Proper information management considerably reduces per linear foot of records to store inactive records in data record centers verses doing the same in an office. A better information management also helps in improving efficiency and productivity. Through a well-managed information system acting as an asset will facilitates a firm’s operation and enables it to objectively evaluate their usage of information (Laudon & Laudon, 2000). This system will help American wireless to accurately lay out a roadmap for improvements that optimize business returns. An effective information management can a lso help a firm to make better decisions in its daily operation (Perks & Beveridge, 2003). Most firms with accurate and relevant information will always take the day as far as competition is concerned. Through a well-managed information system, a firm can therefore be guaranteed quality information they need when they need. Enterprise architecture can be said to be a framework upon which structure and operations of a firm is defined. It is a conceptual blueprint through which a firm determines how to react to disruptive forces by identifying and analyzing the execution of change toward desired business vision and outcomes (Brien, 2007). Enterprise Information architecture adopted by American Wireless will help the firm

How Information Systems Can Influence Commerce Essay

How Information Systems Can Influence Commerce Essay In this paper I will focus on how Information Systems can influence each of Porters Five Forces of Competitive Position differently .Firstly I will provide a brief description of Information Systems, then I will look at Porters 5 forces model and how Information Systems can influence each of those five Forces of Competitive. The five competitive forces arises out of Michael E. Porters work Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors(1980). This model has now become a tool which is commonly used for analysing a companys structure and its strategic processes. An information system (IS) includes information technology (IT) and peoples activities to assist in operational management and decision making. Information technology refers to the relation between people processes, data and technology. This definition, not only apply to the information and communication technology (ICT) used within the organisation, but also to the way in which people interact with this technology to support the business processes. Some writers distinguish between information systems, computer systems, and business processes. Information systems typically include an ICT component but are not purely concerned with ICT, focusing instead on the end use of information technology. Information systems are also different from business processes. Information systems help to control the performance of business processes. As such, information systems inter-relate with data systems on the one hand and activity systems on the other. An information system is a form of communication system in which data represent and are processed as a form of social memory. An information system can also be considered a semi-formal language which supports human decision making and action. An Information System consists of five basic resources, namely: People, which consists of IT specialists (such as a Database Administrator or Network Engineer) and end-users (such as Data Capture Clerks). Hardware, which consists of all the physical aspects of an information system, ranging from peripherals to computer parts and servers. Software, which consists of System Software, Application Software and Utility Software. Data, which consists of all the knowledge and databases in the IS. Networks, which consists of communication media and network support. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_system An information system is made up of all the elements which collect, manipulate, and disseminate data or information. Usually this includes hardware, software, people, communications facilities like telephone lines, and the data itself. This will entail inputting data, processing of data into information, storage of data and information, and delivering outputs ,for example management reports. http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Information_Systems In short information system Information system consists of five basic resources which are people, hardware, software, data and networks so as to facilitate planning, control, coordination, and decision making in an organization. According to Porter there are five competitive forces that shape every single industry and market. These five forces consist of, the threat of new entrants, the bargaining power of customers, the bargaining power of suppliers, the threat of substitute products or services, and the level of competition among current competitors within the market. Such forces help to carry out an analysis of the organisations current position ranging from the level of competition it faces, its profitability and attractiveness. We deal with these 5 forces on a daily basis. The relationship between the different competitive forces is illustrated below. http://www.businessteacher.org.uk/wp-content/porters-5-forces-analysis.jpg http://www.businessteacher.org.uk/wp-content/porters-5-forces-analysis.jpg Bargaining Power of Suppliers -The term suppliers comprises all sources for inputs that are needed in order to provide goods or services. http://www.themanager.org/Models/p5f.htm Suppliers are more likely to be in a good bargaining position when, a few large suppliers rather than a fragmented source of supply have command of the market, for example, companies like Microsoft and Intel, which control the highly-fragmented PC industry. In such instances suppliers of these major components are in a dominant position which can affect price, terms, and quantities of operating systems and CPUs. This will create a PC industry which is far less profitable than the suppliers of vital parts components like Microsoft and Intel, as there are no substitute, or few for a component, for example, CPUs. Such customers are isolated rendering their bargaining power weak. There are high costs involved when switching from one supplier to another. Suppliers may integrate forward to find higher prices and margins. This threat increases when, buyers profitability increases as compared to than the supply industry. The buying industry can prevent suppliers from developing, such as, the reluctance in accepting new products release. The buying industry has low obstacles for entry and frequently they are subjected to high pressure on suppliers margins in such conditions. Being associated with powerful suppliers can initially diminish organisations strategic options. Bargaining Power of Buyers Equally, the bargaining power of buyers will dictate what level of pressure can be applied to margins and volumes. Customers are in a strong bargaining position when there is less of them or when buying in large volumes. When the product is undifferentiated and can be substituted, buyers can switch to an alternative product easily and would not incur high costs. When a buyer purchases in large volumes from a supplier, this accounts for a high amount in the suppliers revenue, giving buyers an upper hand in such transactions. Buyers power also increase when the product does not have strategical importance for them. Porter argues that internet technology provides buyers with easier access to information about products and suppliers, thus strengthening buyers bargaining power. Due to the advent of IT potential buyers for products and services has increased , thus eroding their individual power as individual buyers and increasing the power of the sellers. For example, auction sites such a s e-Bay encourages competition amongst buyers and therefore increase the price of goods and increases the sellers profits. Threat of New Entrants Competition in an industry will increase, when it is easier for other companies to enter this industry. New entrants within the industry may change vital elements of the market environment, such as, market shares, prices, customer loyalty. This will pressurise existing players in this industry to react and to make adjustments. The threat of new entries will depend on the extent to which there are barriers to entry. Porter distinguishes six major barriers to entry.Barriers to entry include the following :- Customers brand loyalty ,buyers will incur high switching costs , initially there are high investments and fixed costs , existing businesses have good customer relations, such as, from long-term service contracts ,Protected intellectual property like patents, licenses etc and Legislation and government action in place. Threat of Substitutes This arises when there are alternative products offered at lower prices serving the same purpose. Products can be substituted wholly or partially. In such cases potentially this would attract a major proportion of market volume, therefore decreasing the potential sales for existing companies. This class is applicable to complementary products as well. The use of Information technology in businesses can bring about substitute products or services and also protect against them. The former occurs when different manufacturers fulfil exactly the same purpose and partial substitution of products occurs when only partially substitute by each other. There are also substitute sources, where the exactly the same product is sourced by two or more distributors. The threat of substitutes is also determined by factors which have an impact on the threat of new entrants, such as, brand loyalty of customers, good customer relations, high switching costs which customers will incur, the current price of substitutes and current market trends. In the field of communication, the economy, functions within a broad range of telecommunications and transportation technologies, therefore encourages substitute products and services which would be threats to businesses in many industries. For example on-line health and medical sites can be substitutes for contacting doctors. Competitive Rivalry between Existing Players This force deals with the level of competition in existing companies within the industry. If there is a high competitive pressure this will bring prices and margins down, thus affecting companys profits within the industry. Existing businesses are likely to face increased competition when there is a high amount of competitors with equivalent size, power and having similar strategies. If there is little differentiation between competitors and their products, this gives rise to a price competition. Market growth rates will be low, as a particular companys growth is possible only at the detriment of a competitor, for example with airlines, heavy equipments.There are high barriers to exit, for example, expensive and highly specialized equipment. The 5-Forces model assists businesses to identify weakness, e.g. those areas where it is unprepared or weak. Helps to analyse what competitive challenges are impacting the business, from suppliers, customers, etc. Such analysis helps businesses to create systems to effectively respond to those challenges and constraints. Porters model is based on the view that a corporate strategy should meet the opportunities and threats which organizations face in its external environment. The effect of Porters five forces varies among industries. However, whatever the industry type, the five forces influence profitability as they affect the prices, the costs, and the capital investment which are vital for survival and to compete within the industry. This model also helps when making strategic decisions and used by management to determine the industrys competitive structure. The Five Forces Model offers us a perspective as to how information resources can bring about competitive advantages. Porters Model, can assist Management in areas such as,(a)to envisage key sources of competition that they could encounter,(b)analyse the uses of information resources so as to improve their competitive position when facing threats from competitors and (c) to consider likely changes in competitive threats in the future. The 5 forces model offers a simple way to understand where the industry is moving to not just within. Over recent years due to the rapid growth in Information Technology, the WEB has changed the nature of competition. Porter [2001] argues that the main impact of the Web is to increase competition, which would more likely decrease an organisations profit. It can be argued that some businesses are more prosperous than others because, they have either better resources that others do, or they can utilise commonly available resources more efficiently. This could be due to superior knowledge and information assets. Compared to their competitors they do better in areas such as, revenue growth, profitability, or productivity growth, thus increasing their stock market valuations. A companys performance in competitive markets is based on its competitive advantage, above average performance in the long term can arise by creating a realistic competitive advantage. Porters opinion on competitive advantage can be used to look at how Information Systems affect the organisations performance by changing the link within the five forces model which forms its competitive environment. Porter argues that the main element to create an above average performance in the long term is to be able to maintain a competitive advantage. A competitive advantage is an advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers greater value, either by means of lower prices or by providing greater benefits and service that justifies higher prices. http://www.tutor2u.net/business/strategy/competitive_advantage.htm Without such advantage, a company can only reap the windfall, that is, make the largest profits it can whilst it is able to do so. He provides two basic types of competitive advantages, cost leadership and product differentiation. Porter provides four generic business strategies that could be used so as to obtain a competitive advantage. The strategies relate to the extent to which the scope of a business activities are narrow and broad and the extent to which a business seeks to differentiate its products. Organisations can follow four competitive strategies which are facilitated by the use of information systems in gaining a competitive advantage in their markets. These can mainly be achieved through the use of information technology and systems which include the following:- Low-cost leadership: This strategy aim is to offer the lowest operational costs and lowest prices. The organisation aims to become the lowest cost producer in its specific industry. A strategy of cost leadership requires more than just moving down the learning curve, it must find and exploit every source to its potential cost advantage. Normally, cost leaders sell a basic product or commodity and concentrate in pursuing economies of scale and absolute cost advantages. The company must ensure compliance with the industrys norms, that is, the product or service offered must be seen as acceptable and comparable to its competitors. To be the lowest cost producer the company has to ensure that it makes effective use of technology in the production process. 2. Product differentiation, where an organisations aim is to differentiate with one of a small number of market segments. The company must ensure that its competitors do not already have such products to satisfy the needs of those special customers. The product or service must be something that most of its customers see as important, and the company must position itself in a unique position so as to meet those needs. Being placed in such privileged position the company will be rewarded and a premium is paid for its uniqueness for the product or service .However the company must try to keep similar costs levels as its competitors so that the cost of uniqueness does not exceed the premium that the customer is prepared to pay. Unlike cost leadership, several firms can follow successful differentiation strategies in the same industrial sector, if the need arises. 3. Focus on market niche This strategy does not select the desired features of a products or services within an industry but concentrates in a specific segment or group, within the whole of the targeted industry, that is, the company seeks to take advantage of a niche market. A company whose strategic advantage is based on having a focus strategy will select its niche and, once this is done it will draw its strategy to provide essentially for the needs of that particular client group and will try to do better than its competitors. The organisation looks for competitive advantage in its own segment, though it does not need an overall competitive advantage. To be successful the company must exploit the under-performance of its competitors in that niche based either on cost or on differentiation. 4. Strengthen customer and supplier intimacies: Information systems facilitate direct access from suppliers to information within the company. Increase switching costs and loyalty to the company, such as, IBM, Amazon.com. Customer and supplier intimacy strategy, use information systems so as, to improve their relationships and loyalty with customers and suppliers as they are both vital to organisations. Improving customer and supplier intimacy is an effective strategy in itself. By making transactions and conditions easier and more user friendly for both customers and suppliers, this will increase the intimacy of the firm vis a vis the customer and supplier. This will offer great incentive to the customer and supplier so as to carry on with in business with the firm. Customer intimacy is a marketing term, which describes the ability of a supplier to become accepted and known as the regular partner with its customer. http://dewiindrianaaaa.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/strengthen-customer-and-supplier.html In the integration of their operations, suppliers are not only being useful, but they reinforces the Customer and Supplier Intimacy, using information systems to create long-term relationship and create brand loyalty with customers and suppliers, including increasing switching costs. Also, there is fierce competition due to similar strategies which also encourages new entrants in the industry. However, the companies gain opportunities for brand building and creating loyal customer base. For example, Thai Airways and Emirates increased customers switching costs and started the collection of airline miles to increase the size of its loyal customers. Each strategy contains a different approach in creating and sustaining a competitive advantage. Therefore, each company has to make a choice about which strategy it will employ. However, a company would not normally be able to utilise differentiation and cost leadership strategies simultaneously. For example, it would be hard to be a cost leader while adopting a differentiation strategy as differentiation costs money. Though by only reducing costs may not adversely affect differentiation, a cost leader will eventually reach a stage when following a cost advantage will eventually result in sacrificing an aim. For Porter, technology is one of the principal driving forces of competition as it plays a significant role in making structural changes to existing industries and also contributes to the creation of new industries. Technological change has had a positive impact on competition, creating new opportunities for competition and plays a vital role in the existing competitive strategy. He further argues that Information Technology and Information Systems are essential as each task creates and uses information. He points out that modern information system technology plays a particularly crucial role, such as in scheduling, controlling, optimizing, measuring and co-ordinating different activities. He also noted that office or administrative technologies, which are often neglected or come under the term of information systems, also play an important role as: Due to the advancement of technology, for many organisations there has been a significant changes in how the office functions, however not many are devoting substantial resources to it. ( Porter, 1985,) A vast amount of Research has been carried out to find out whether money invested by organisations in Information Technology, has helped organisations in achieving their objectives and goals. This type of research is referred to as aligning IT with the corporate objectives. Chan Huff (1983) argue that organisations achieve IT alignment with their corporate objectives through 3 levels of alignment, (1) Awareness (2) Integration and (3) alignment. In a latter study Chan (2001) describes the 3 levels of alignment as strategic alignment viewed as the degree of congruence between Information systems and strategic orientation or strategy. Strategic alignment has two major principles. Firstly, IT strategy should concentrate on external competitiveness instead of internal operations. Secondly, IT influences competitive advantages as it changes the direction or strength of one or more of the forces within Porters model. New technologies and their use change the competitive dynamics of industries which changes the buyers power, suppliers, new entrants, substitute products and existing rivals (Sasidharan et. al., 2006). IT must be aligned in line with the organisations corporate objectives. Most organisations rely heavily on IT to operate their business. Organisations must use IT to achieve their corporate objectives and especially to build, sustain, and extend competitive advantage [Boar 1994]. One of the main criticisms of the Five Forces Model is that it is rather static. Given that it describes the current state of an industry, therefore it would appear unsuitable for our dynamic, in an ever changing and uncertain world. Some economists argue that government is the sixth force in Porters model. The strength of each of those forces serves a separate purpose within the industry structure, which is defined by Porter as the underlying economic and technical characteristics of an industry. The information revolution has had an impact on managements view regarding the role of Information Systems in businesses. In the past it was considered to be only a part of the operating of a business, whereas, now information is highly valued. Information is also seen as a depreciating asset which is to be considered as a resource that the organization could or should use in its business. ( Robson, 1997) Worldwide the concept of doing businesses has undergone major changes, brought about by the use of Internet , for example ,businesses can now attract a significant percentage of potential buyers nationally and globally through social networks websites like Facebook. . By creating a digital market the Internet has linked buyers and sellers (Laudon Laudon, 2005).

Free Essay: Passion and Evil in Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter :: Scarlet Letter essays

Passion and Evil in The Scarlet Letter In Nathaniel Hawthorn’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, the Puritan society of Salem excludes anyone who is in any way deviant and renders that person sinful. However, the society, the townspeople themselves, is not without fault. However they try to conceal and contain their passions and all their faults because of their fear of exclusion. All the characters in the book that are excluded from society are the most "natural" and true and possess a second-sense perception and almost magical intuition. Hester Prynne's separation from the townspeople is both physical and mental. She is expelled from the town as an adulteress, and she goes to live with her illegitimate daughter to a cottage "not in close vicinity to any other habitation." (68) They are despised by the whole town. Even children throw stones at them and chase them down the street. People do not dare to come close to Hester because of the mark as an outcast. To the townspeople, Hester's character is something different and uncertain from the values that they are used to. "Wherever Hester stood, a small, vacant area - a sort of magic circle - had formed about her, into which †¦ none ventured, or felt disposed to intrude." (206) Hester is destined to forever wear a scarlet letter "A" on her chest - "A" for "adulteress" - a sign of her sin, shame and separation from the righteous people. However, by being separated from the Puritanical town of Salem and all its prejudices, Hester is able to look at the people objectively and see much she was not able to see before. "Walking to and fro, with those lonely footsteps, in the little world with which she was outwardly connected, it now and then appeared to Hester that [the scarlet letter] gave her a sympathetic knowledge of the hidden sin in other hearts. (73) The people of the town are so busy covering up their faults and hiding their human passions, that they cannot see their own or each other's faults. Hester, who wears her Cain's mark of exclusion openly, does not have to worry about the opinion of others, and gains an intuition - an insight into the hearts of the people who throw her out. Hester's mark of shame becomes a mark of being different, a mark of nonconformity.

Software Performance Engineering Techniques

Abstract— bettering public presentation of package, sites and services is a holy grail of package industry. A new attack for execution of Poka-Yoke method in package public presentation technology is proposed. Poka-Yoke is a error proofing technique used in merchandise design. The effectivity of Poka-Yoke in package development was evaluated utilizing two instance surveies: merchandise redesign mini-project given to six groups of pupils and a study of online services in the package industry. Both quantitative and qualitative rating was done. Our proposed five-step error proofing technique for package development utilizing Poka-Yoka rating demonstrated the effectivity. The consequences showed that an implementing Poka-Yoke technique improves the package development procedure. Arrested development analysis showed that Poka-Yoke has a greater impact on package quality that uses the current province of the art package development theoretical accounts. Improved UGAM tonss besides s howed one-dimensionality and justified Poka-Yoke execution. Our findings recommend use of techniques for error proofing for overall package public presentation. The purpose is to cut down mistakes in package development procedure. We are besides suggesting HQLS: a new attack for high quality in the big graduated table package development in this paper. Keywords- Poka-Yoke Principles, Performance, UGAM, Security, Quality, Mistake-proofing, Detection. I. Introduction In position of Mukesh Jain, across the Earth, end-user public presentation of the bulk of our online services, web sites and package applications is a affair of concern. Global and local rivals in the parts have led to fierce competition for relatively better public presentation than rival services. Slow services impacts on user experience, operational cost, mind-share, market portion and gross. Turning the tide on public presentation can hold existent impacts on any company’s underside line. One of the cardinal messages sent from the markets is that we need to make a better occupation of bettering public presentation of our sites and services globally. The public presentation of most of the sites and services in many instances lag. For illustration, in the US, on broadband connexion, MSN/Live Search takes 3 seconds to expose the consequences compared to Google’s 1.5 seconds and the Yahoo’s 2.5 seconds. For Search, we have seen that the longer it takes to lade the consequences page, the more people abandon the page ( i.e. Peoples typically begin go forthing a page after waiting 4 seconds, and more than 50 % of users abandon the page after waiting for 6 seconds ) . Site public presentation in states like India makes many merchandises about impossible to utilize. Recent proving showed that it takes around 40 seconds for person in India to login into Hotmail and see their letter boxs, while it takes merely 5 seconds when utilizing rival electronic mail merchandises like yahoo.co.in, rediffmail and Indiatimes. This may take to important loss in electronic mail market portion in India. The heat chart in the Table 2 reflects the comparative public presentation of the online services market. The tabular array shows the PLT [ Page-Load-Time ] in seconds for the user in each of the major states. We show the 75th percentile, intending that 75 % of minutess in the state are better than this figure, and 25 % are worse. The Numberss on the left are MSN. On the right is the â€Å" top † rival for that service in that market. Jain proposed a strategy and process to forestall and/or detect public presentation issues in clip for the merchandise technology squad to take action and repair them and forestall them from go oning. Users don’t like to wait for a page to lade. With nothing ( or really low ) exchanging cost, it is disputing for any service to retain the users with slow public presentation ( compared to the major rival in that market ) . If the service is slow one time in a piece – users may non detect and/or will non mind. But if it is systematically slow, it will impact their productiveness and they will look for faster options. The field of Poka-Yoke has a big sum of literature in merchandise design methods, package proving techniques, and direction ( M.Dudek Burlikowska et Al, 2009 ; Lawrence P Chao et Al, 2003 ; Harry Robinson, 1997, etc ) . These proposals are first-class presentations of how Poka-Yoke design methodological analysis can ensue in improved user-experience design and service public presentation with fewer defects in their several spheres. Unfortunately, major spreads between Poka-Yoke and SE continue to be in faculty members, literature, and industrial pattern. The following subdivision gives an overview of related work in Poka-Yoke. Sections 3 and 4 describe the proposals for package public presentation, technology and HQLS: a new attack for high quality in big graduated table package development. The Section 3 besides has qualitative ratings of package public presentation technology proposal. Sections 5 describe instance surveies that evaluated the architecture for HQLS and their findings. Section 6 draws decisions from the survey. II.STATE OF THE ART In recent old ages, research on using Poka Yoke in package has received much attending [ 7, 8, 9, and 10 ] . Harry Robinson introduced Poka-Yoke ( mistake-proofing ) into the Hewlett Packard’s package procedure and he claims they have been able to forestall literally 100s of package localisation defects from making their clients. As per Gojko Adzic, writer of Impact Mapping â€Å"software categories should non let us to continue and blow up when something goes incorrect. Exceptions can be an effectual manner of giving more certification, but the signal should be clean and unambiguous, in order non to misdirect users or client-developers. Software must be designed to forestall a complete clang, even in the face of system failure. Auto-save characteristics are a good illustration. It’s non frequently that the power gets cut, but when it does, our users will certainly appreciate that we saved most of their work† [ 11 ] . Much of the research focal point is for ZOC, quality control, placing defects. However, the restriction that associated research brings is non using Poka- Yoke in entireness. III.PROPOSAL FOR SOFTWARE PERFORMANCE Technology Here are the Poka-Yoke based 5 stairss ( theoretical account ) we can accommodate ( in parts or full ) to Prevent and/or Detect public presentation jobs at the right clip and repair it as depicted in the Table 1 [ 18 ] . A.Focus/Strategy The first measure for this would be to include public presentation as portion of the scheme and focal point. Sing public presentation as Key portion of the deliverable is of import. â€Å"Like security & A ; handiness, we should see public presentation as built-in portion of any characteristic. Performance can non be an afterthought- If we do non concentrate public presentation from the get downing – it might be excessively late to repair it and in some instances we might lose the opportunity† . B.Approach The attack to plan and development makes a important difference towards the exposure of the procedure for public presentation issues. This is the 1 of a bar type of mistake-proofing solution. The design methodological analysis and the development procedure can forestall many sorts of public presentation jobs. This is the 1 of a bar type of mistake-proofing solution replacing manual work with an machine-controlled tool can salvage resources and enhances the quality of the merchandise. C.Testing ( Verification & A ; Validation ) Testing for public presentation will be of import here. Performance should non be considered as a separate characteristic – it should be portion of each and every characteristic and scenario, usage instance. â€Å" TEST PASS IS INCOMPLETE without PERFORMANCE Testing † . Testing demands to be performed based on the â€Å" End-user † scenes. The Majority of the people have slower machines than what Jain squad uses in Microsoft. D.Monitoring/Measurement ( Detection ) For all the sites that are unrecorded in production, we need to hold monitoring/measurements in topographic point to be able to supervise public presentation tendencies and detect/report issues. This sensing method does nil to forestall the public presentation impact from go oning. Alternatively, it aims to happen the public presentation job at the earliest chance in order to minimise the harm. With this mistake-proofing solution, the right job is detected and reported at the right clip to the right people. The monitoring system ( webHancer, SQM, WebWatson, etc. ) can mensurate public presentation at the end-user and study it back to Microsoft. An alarming system can be built on top of it that can hold concern rules/criteria for observing public presentation forms ( for cardinal user scenarios ) and study to the appropriate people. Example: Business Scenario for measuring of Quality of Service can be explained in different types like absolute measuring, comparative measuring and competitory measuring. This mistake-proofing solution does nil to forestall the public presentation job from go oning. However, agencies are provided to minimise the impact of any public presentation issue. By this clip the bulk of the people would understand the importance of Performance and how they can lend to better the same.

I tweet, therefore I am - Emphasis

I tweet, therefore I am I tweet, therefore I am Thinking about jumping onto this bandwagon. But where will it all end? So might read my inaugural tweet by definition: an answer to the question what are you doing? in 140 characters or fewer on the micro-blogging site Twitter. And bandwagon begets bandwagon: those not tweeting are bleating about tweeting. The public is being divided into for and against camps; and perhaps the real question posed is: is there anything left now that is considered not appropriate to write about? Twitter has seen some incredible successes in its young life. It is a popular medium for celebrities, who get to by-pass the media and connect directly with their fans. Barack Obamas presidential campaign succeeded in large part because he embraced such types of social media. He updated subscribers via the site, keeping them up-to-date on his public appearances and decisions. No doubt this was key in working himself and his message into the nations psyche, while reinforcing his image as a modern man of the people. The potential of Twitter from a marketing point of view is evidently enormous. And so it is working its way into schools and university curriculums. A recent book, by money-making strategist Joel Comm, teaches the ways of Twitter Power How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time. Supporters predict a day when users will be able to search the consciousness of the planet in real-time. With a mere 140 characters to work with, Twitterers have no choice but to be succinct; and we Emphasisers are all in favour of keeping it short and simple. Whats missing is content control. Granted, escape from Big Brother (in all its forms) is generally welcome. And of course people have the right to express themselves creatively. But were considering writing instructions for this exciting new toy. The Daily Mail is using the service to send out nuggets of news to those for whom newspapers are just too darn heavy. The BBC experimented with including Twitter updates in its coverage of the Mumbai terror attacks back in November 2008, in an apparent desire to be first with the news. This rather clumsy attempt to cover a fast-moving story with equally fast-moving technology caused a considerable backlash on their website, amid accusations of inaccuracy and lazy journalism. Sky news rather glibly (and arguably massively inappropriately) sent tweets out from the courtroom where Joseph Fritzl stood trial for his horrendous crimes against his own daughter. Of course, skill in writing has little or nothing to do with Twitter, barring perhaps the occasional impressive haiku. What does is the attitude that whether youve just survived a plane crash (see the Guardians article) or youve just sat down with a cup of Bovril, the immediate prevailing thought is to publish oneself. Faced with this unrelenting, unverified barrage of thought bubbles, will we all have to become active editors of our own (and everyone elses) lives? Or will we just be tweeting while Rome burns?

Finish some philosophy quiz Example

Finish some philosophy quiz Example Finish some philosophy quiz – Essay Example Philosophy questions Question I. a True b True c True d True e True since in B-rule every voter offers a linear ordering of the underlying candidates by assigning them a score as the last candidate are ranked with least points f.) True as every voter ranks the candidates in the order of the preference from top to bottom. Moreover, the voter can be permitted to rank the candidates as equivalent in order to express the prevailing indifference amidst them. g.) True, since in C-rule every voter distributes a fixed number of prevailing points and the candidates with the maximum points wins. This strategy can also work in B-rule as every voter offers a linear ordering of the underlying candidates by assigning them a score as the last candidate are ranked with least points II.a.) Therefore, it is imperative to use the C-rule and neither the M-rule nor B-rule are to be usedB= the B-Rule is to be used in EE=the most preferred exist in EM= the M rule is to be used in EE=the most preferred exis t in ES=everyone votes sincerely in ET= social preference is transitive in ED=the most preferred cab be discovered in EO= voter preferences measured ordinallyI= it is imperative to use the C-rule~ (T˄-O) ˅ ~ (I˄~D)~ (D ˅O)S→ (~O→ (~I˄T)Therefore,~STree method0>~ (T˄-O) ˅ ~ (I˄~D)2>~ (D ˅O)3> S→ (~O→ (~I˄T) S ~D ~O ~S 4 >~ D → (~I˄T) ~~D 5>I˄~D ~I T 7 >~ (T˄O) 8>~ (I˄~D) ~T ~~O ~~I ~~D Since all the ends are closed, the argument is valid B.)In case i is indifferent between a and b and also between b and c, then I is indifferent between a and cIII.~ (U˄T) ˅ ~ (P˄~D)~ (E3 ˅P)R→ (~P→ (~T˄U)Therefore,~RIV. C-rule is stables since it solely distributes a fixed number of prevailing points and the candidates with the maximum points wins. B-rule is also stable since every voter offers a linear ordering of the underlying candidates by assigning them a score as the la st candidate are ranked with least points Conversely, M-rule is unstable since every voter ranks the candidates in the order of the preference from top to bottom. Moreover, the voter can be permitted to rank the candidates as equivalent in order to express the prevailing indifference amidst them.ReferenceJacquette, D., Gabbay, D. M., Thagard, P., & Woods, J. (2006). Philosophy of Logic. Burlington: Elsevier.

The United States in World War I Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The United States in World War I - Essay Example Later in 1917, America joined the war as they declared war against the Germans. This paper will discuss how the United States joined the war and how it participated in the war. Participation of United States in World War One Since Wilson was a peaceful man, he speedily announced that the United States was neutral in the war, and that it was to remain that way. However, it became very hard and complex for the United States to follow this path of neutrality. In this regard, the Americans could not ignore the development of the war even before joining it officially1. Even though the United States did not join the war immediately it commenced, it is evident that it had prepared for the war early in 1914. In this case, one of the largest ammunition merchants based in the United States, Bethlehem Steel, ordered millions of armoury from the British government. These included millions of weaponry shells, in addition to ten 500-ton submarines. Bethlehem continued with the construction of such alien vessels though they were against the law2. This armoury development continued through to 1915, where the U.S. armoury industry continued to develop, with support form western allied nations. In the meantime, Germany and Britain acted against the operations of the United States, which greatly angered the then president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson3. ... This is one of the operations that the Germans carried out in which president Wilson highly tolerated the Germans and acted with much patience and restraint. Most people believed that the president would declare war on Germany due to its constant attacks5. The Germans continued upsetting the Americans and on January 31, 1917, they resumed unhampered submarine conflict. This operation by the Germans saw the sinking of several U.S vessels, which angered Wilson further. Due to this, President Woodrow pushed for a declaration of war against Germany on April 2, 1917. This was the first time during the war period that United States officially joined the war and the house of Congress approved the move speedily6. After the declaration, most Americans did not receive and embrace the move. Few weeks following the declaration, out of a pool of ten million people, only 73, 000 men volunteered to join the army for the preparation of the war7. By the time the United States joined World War in Apri l 1917, the warfare had been intense in Europe for almost three years. The first instance when the United States contributed to the war was in Marshal Foch’s Allied counter-offensive commenced in July 1917. In this encounter, the Americans played a very significant role. Later in September the same year, the U.S first army of approximately 20 segments won a major victory in the St Michael salient8. The American Expeditionary force (AEF’s) was the major force employed to handle the operations of the First World War. This force first displayed the American flag in May 1917 to indicate that America was fully part of the war. Once, these forces

Ismg 11 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ismg 11 - Essay Example Laptops or PCs and other technology equipments are among some of the most frequently stolen company items. However, installing locks, which tether them to desks, can decrease the likelihood of stealing. Finally, IVK could imprint metal tags with company information on the equipments. Tying to remove these metal equipments will harm of spoil the equipments, and hence, people will not steal the equipments. According to Barton, exposing too much information of their IT Company to regular customers is both an advantage and a disadvantage to them. It is an advantage in the sense that exposing information to customers will likely improve the proceeding of their company (Austin, Nolan and ODonnell 182). For instance, using websites to expose a company’s information will likely attract more clients than companies that do not use the internet to advertise themselves. However, giving out too much information might also attract hackers to the company. This makes the company extremely vulnerable (Austin, Nolan and ODonnell 182). Hackers are able to note weak points of a company’s information system using the slightest information they can get. Therefore, what to disclose to regular clients is only the information that regards them, which will not enable them to exploit the company. Barton still has his job because of the admiration he receives from the Board of Directors (Austin, Nolan and ODonnell 184). According to the board, even though Barton is not acting as fast as they expected, he still brings in innovations to the company that no other CIO has ever done. Barton, at every board meeting, has been able to capture the attention of the key leaders who always seek for his advice. Barton’s boss, Williams, always asks Barton to advice him whenever he wants to incorporate something new in the company (Austin, Nolan and ODonnell 184). According to Williams, Barton was extremely talented in his job. Therefore, losing such a person