Patching: Restitiching Business Portfolios in Dynamic Markets Essay

The article â€Å"Patching: Restitiching Business Portfolios in Dynamic Markets† by Eisenhardt and Brown is awe-inspiring job, because the authors attract readers’ attention to portfolio development as a skill. Further, they have succeeded in defining patching as â€Å"adding, splitting, transferring, exiting, or combining chunks of businesses†. It is necessary to outline that the article provides general overview of patching benefits and concentration on the assertion that good portfolio development depends on several generic skills such as doing everything fast, developing options, making rough choice, etc. The author emphasizes that it is important for the company to find the right general manager, because the whole company depends on his proper decision-making abilities. It is argued in the article that good portfolio development differs from bad portfolio due to patching skills. For example, Brown and Eisenhards responds that â€Å"Andrew Campbell’s observations helped us to crystallize several thoughts† meaning that he has helped in making necessary points clearer. Campbell agrees with authors that multi-business managers should have proper knowledge of industry as it is essential for developing patching skills. Nevertheless, he emphasizes that attention should be paid to pattern recognition rather than on analysis and to intuition rather than past experience. Thus Campbell assumes that pattern recognition and intuition are the central skills to be developed in manager. The article significantly contributed management science but providing thorough examination of patching benefits. Apparently, the article aims at providing clear understanding of the concept and at persuading companies to imply patching in their performance. The finding presented by the authors contributes the idea that corporate strategy should concentrate on patching, not on strategic positions that are really enduring. The article will cause others to revise their ideas about the subject discussed. Apparently, more research is needed to develop further the concept of patching.

HRM Analysis Essay

1. Should the concern for women getting down into the dirty treatment tanks have been a selection issue? Yes, we think the concern for women getting down into the dirty tanks should be a selection issue because depending on the women, some women wouldn’t mind doing that kind of work, but most women would probably not want to do that job. You can’t discriminate against the women and tell them they shouldn’t or can’t do this, so this job opportunity should stay open and the women can decide if they want to apply for that position. If women didn’t want to get into the dirty tanks then they should apply for a different department. The manager should have options on the application, such as office work, filing, secretary, etc. so the employee can specify in their application what they would like to apply for. If they would have an issue working with the dirty tanks then they shouldn’t apply for that position. The manager should be able to place them somewhere else according to their answer in the application. A lot of women would not want to do this job so I think that the people who do work in this department should get paid more than the other employees, it will be more appealing to the applicants, and maybe they can get more women working in that section. It is also looks better for the company if both women and men both work in that department, so it will be a diverse talent pool among Ovania, as well as an equal opportunity for both men and women. 2. Would this test battery and selection procedure be defensible in court? Yes I think this test battery and selection procedure would be defensible in court. The battery of tests are not to look at previous experience, in which could encourage minorities and women to apply to the new position excluding of their prior experience. They are also not considering the fact that if someone has a lot of experience in a certain field, should be the ones interviewed first, since they want the people with the most talent. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, forbids employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national derivation and Under the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Laws prohibit specific types of job discrimination in certain workplaces. In this case, they should be treating everyone who applies there equally and giving everyone the same opportunities, regardless if they have been with the company before, of if they have seniority. I believe that this company is doing the right thing because if a new employee applies for a job, and they are very skilled and talented, they should get the same opportunity that the employees who have prior experience do. If the company hired all employees that had previous work experience, they would be discriminating against the applicants who don’t. For the applicants who don’t have prior knowledge, they are trying to get the opportunity to work at Ovania so they can get the experience they need for their field of work. It is also a worthy way to have Ovania’s reputation stand out, by creating equal opportunity to everyone.

The Contribution of Enterprize Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Contribution of Enterprize Systems - Essay Example Effective implementation and use of enterprise systems enables an organisation to react instantaneously to orders from customers. These could be orders for products or information. Because ES avails data on order, manufacturing and delivery, it enables a company to produce only what customers have ordered and also to procure the correct amount of raw materials or components to fill actual orders. It also enables the company to stage production, reduce the time that finished products or components are in inventory. In terms of management, ES enables the senior management of an organisation to determine which organisational products are least or most profitable. At any one time, ES enables them to find out with much ease how a particular unit of the organization is performing. ES also helps the organisation on how to react to delayed shipment from suppliers. ES facilitates operational excellence in supply chain management (SCM). This applies to companies that produces a wide range of products and services hence it could have hundreds of suppliers (Laudon and Laudon, 2010). In a SC, ES enables the company to coordinate activities between the many manufacturing plants and suppliers, retail outlets, distribution centres and firms involved on in way or another in the production of their products. It leads to the provision of untimely and inaccurate information and this prevents inefficiencies in the SC, excessive inventory of finished goods and underutilised plant capacities. It also reduces the bullwhip effect. Enterprise applications involve pieces of software that are complex and expensive to purchase and implement. It might therefore take a company many years to complete the implementation of large-scale ES applications. The cost incurred for the implementation of ES in a large firm might amount to 4-5 times the initial software purchase price. These include software, consulting fees,

Threats And Vulnerabilities Analysis Coursework

Threats And Vulnerabilities Analysis - Coursework Example As the result, it is upon the institution to implement policies that would serve best in physical, technical and administrative safeguards of the system. The following section lists a number of policy statements that give the narration of the information security controls that could be used by the institution to implement recommendations for protection. The recommendations focus on major areas of the institutional operations including Institutional Information, Information Systems, Computerized Devices, And Infrastructure Technology. The policy statements are applicable across all departments within the organization and they are categorized in terms of Information Security Plan, Physical Controls, Monitoring Controls, Technical Security and Access Controls, General Operational Controls, and Account and Identity Management Controls.Policy statements Information Security plan The top management is responsible for documenting and overseeing implementation of an Information Security plan . This would help in securing the system and protection of data within the system, thereby thwarting intentions by any intruders. The Plan includes the following: 1.The Security Plan shall delegate and plan responsibilities across the organization to the appropriate people. For instance, this shall cut across system owners and system operators. This way, there will be proper engineering of the system’s operation thereby avoiding vulnerabilities such as poor administrative procedures.

Pride and Prejudice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Pride and Prejudice - Essay Example Elizabeth had asserted her love, and her experience can also be useful for women today. Austen's use of irony in her novel offers important insights to her attitude about life through the experiences of her characters. This paper will discuss what Jane Austen had to say about women, class mobility, and marriage based in the experiences of Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. In addition to that, the nature of Elizabeth Bennet's experience and lessons she "learned" from it will be estimated. The experience of women today and that of Elizabeth Bennet will be analyzed, as well as the reasons of Elizabeth Bennet's experience relevance for women position in our days. 2. Elizabeth Bennet is one of the main protagonists in Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Her experience in the novel is largely influenced by her nature and her personality, as well as appropriate traits of her character which allowed her to win her real love and destiny. Elizabeth is the second daughter in the family of the Bennets and the most clever and intelligent among them. Her positive traits allowed her to resist current bourgeois norms and traditions and to be higher than these norms. Mr Darcy noticed her charm and evaluated her as a woman who had interesting and unique individuality, but at their first meet they didn't had any romantic feelings towards each other - so, first impression can be not true. Darcy said that "She is tolerable, but not so handsome enough to tempt me; I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men" (Chapter 3, p.7). It happened because of Elizabeth Bennet's pride and Darcy's prejudice about her social bac kground. So, in that moment Jane Austen depicted about the common social norms which were spread between men and women in that time, and those norms often asserted women to marry men who would provide high social status for their future wives. There are some characters in the novel who made different obstacles towards the relationships development between Elizabeth and Darcy, such as Mrs Bennet, Lady Catherine, Miss Bingley and Wickham, and the motifs which these people followed interfered to romantic relationships between Elizabeth and Darcy. Lady Catherine tried to control Darcy who was her nephew, Mrs Bennet tried to get married her daughters, including Elizabeth, by all means, and it led to numerous foolishness displayed by Mrs Bennet. Wickham deceived Elizabeth telling her that Darcy had taken his money, and that caused her mistrust to Darcy: "How abominable! I wonder that the very pride of this Mr. Darcy has not made him just to you! If from no better motive, that he should no t have been too proud to be dishonest - for dishonesty I must call it" (Chapter 16, p.60). So, Austen has showed that there are many obstacles for people who love each other to be together, and that there are some women whose motifs for marriage are not love but social class advantages. The author tried to show that love and true affections of those who really love each other are able to be higher than any obstacles. But the author also showed that social class and aspiration towards money and success can be a basis for marriage for

Issues in Free Enterprise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Issues in Free Enterprise - Essay Example Ultimately, the benefit of a megamerger will intrinsically be related to context, socio-economic factors and the impact on all relevant stakeholders affected by a merger proposal such as stockholder profits, economic base of communities, and the new capital investment plans of area impacted, technological innovation, consumer choice (Davidson 1). Matthews and Berman (1999) comment that the US social security system â€Å"was initially intended to provide financial security† (p2). However, the current system is suffering from funding challenges due to the pressures of the dedicated payroll tax system and it is estimated that by 2016 the expenses of the social security will exceed revenues (Matthews & Berman 2). This is further compounded by the reality of an aging population and lower ratio of paying workers (Matthews & Berman). Additionally, whilst the current system is not in crisis, in the long term the social security system is unsustainable (Boyberg, 2005). Moreover, the US government has borrowed and spent the accumulated surplus funds and therefore reform needs to be considered now to address the future lack of sustainability of the system going forward. Economic activity and expansion rates particularly in third world countries are changing the face of natural environmental systems and Michael posits that â€Å"human pressures on the environment are damaging the world’s biophysical and ecological systems† (Michael 2008). This argument would point in favour of the assertion that current activity is placing the earth at risk. However, on other hand some commentators argue that the earth is going through various cycles and denounce the climate change aegis as an excuse to implement politically motivated agendas (Wodak & Meyer 114). Nevertheless, it is submitted that the balance of evidence would appear to tip in favour of

Contract Law Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Contract Law - Coursework Example The element of mutual agreement requires parties to agree on the terms of the contract. It stresses that the agreement must have an offer and acceptance. Finally, the element of consideration required for one party to agree to agree to a specific set of terms at an agreed price. The doctrine of consideration is one of the most crucial and controversial issues in the law of contract.1 It is crucial because for a contract to be valid, consideration must be present. In the absence of consideration, a contract is considered to be invalid and not binding to the parties involved in the contract. This is referred to as â€Å"nundum pactum†, that is, a promise made with no supporting agreement. The two main rules of a consideration are that is required to move from the promisee but does not have to move to the promisor, and it does not have to be adequate but needs to be sufficient. The cost-benefit analysis of contracts aims at making sure that parties do not enter into contracts that they will not benefit in one way or another. The doctrine of consideration has over the years developed as seen in the case of Williams v Roffey Bros. and Nicholls(Contractor)Ltd [1991] 1 QB 1.2 In this case, it is clear that little is needed in a contract for consideration to exist. However, even with consideration, not all contracts are fair, and consideration is not sufficient in dealing with these new problems. The doctrine of duress has become crucial in solving complex business relationships especially in monopoly situations. Economic duress is unacceptable uses of economic power aimed at making the victim submit to demand. Its development has affected the doctrine of consideration. Contracts are considered to be an exchange of agreements or promises between parties, which binds them legally. However, the mere fact that there is an agreement does not make a contract legal. The doctrine of consideration is very crucial yet

Trusts Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Trusts Law - Essay Example r to fully understand the trust and its principle application it is necessary to know what a trust is, the different types of trust and the specific requirements for the creation of a trust. A trust can be either express or implied.3 The express trust entails a purposeful creation while the implied trust occurs by operation of law in cases where an unconscionable outcome would occur.4 The implied trust can be either constructive or resulting.5 The resulting trust occurs where property transferred reverts to the settlor or his/her estate. A resulting trust can also be established to fill a â€Å"gap in ownership† or dispose of â€Å"surplus of trust funds† after the disposition of the trust property.6 Quite often a resulting trust follows from a trust which is settled by virtue of a condition precedent which fails.7 A resulting trust may also be implied by law where it is necessary to interpret and give effect to the settlor’s intention.8 In such a case, the settlor of the property is presumed to be the equitable owner of the property 9. When property is purchased in the name of a third party this may obviate such a presumption. For instance, an individual purchases stock and directs the vendor to transfer the stock to a third party. It is naturally presumed that the stock is held upon trust for the purchase of the stock.10 On occasions when a trustee abuses the confidence reposed in him by realizing an unauthorised profit derived from the trust property, or becomes unjustly enriched at another’s expense, the court may impose a constructive trust on the party who acted with impropriety.11 In Broadman v Phipps [1967] 2 AC 46 the court imposed a constructive trust in a situation where an attorney in the course of representing a trust happened to come across some confidential information which he used for the purpose of acquiring company shares that were partly owned by the trustees. The company did well and made significant profits as a result of the

Corporate Law Corporate Manslaughter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Corporate Law Corporate Manslaughter - Essay Example But only just. The new draft bill on corporate manslaughter is a ghost of what was once proposed. But, for the first time in the United Kingdom, there might now be a chance of prosecuting large companies for killing their workers† (2005). Between 1997 and the 2005 adoption, twelve promises were followed by delays, and five thousand people died as Parliament deliberated (Monbiot, 2005). Home Secretary claims that delays were due to complexity of the law are belied by the rapidity which the Prevention of Terrorism Act was pushed through Parliament, which allows conviction prior to a fair trial (Monbiot, 2005). The law does not allow any individuals to be tried, only companies as a whole to be fined, which when combined with existing law that only direct knowledge and malfeasance on the part of directors can lead to a prosecution means that only small businesses are likely to ever see imprisonments (Monbiot, 2005). â€Å"As directors can still be disqualified and imprisoned for a gross breach of their duty of care towards their shareholders' investments, money in the United Kingdom will remain more valuable than human life† (Monbiot, 2005). Worse, the standard for senior management being tried is grossly minimal: It must be proven that the senior manager â€Å"sought to cause the organisation to profit† for them to be criminally liable (Monbiot, 2005). When seeking to punish a corporation for their malfeasance, particularly in the case of deaths caused by reckless or dangerous working environments, pursuit of profit or easily-avoidable issues such as quality of chemicals or safety controls for machinery, the legal justifications for pursuing action are a few fold. 1. Deterrent. Both the violating company and its staff and other companies and their staffs need to be put on notice that such behavior isn't tolerated. For example: In a civil suit against a company that willfully harmed an innocent, there should be a toll taken for the life of the i nnocent, then a toll taken for the psychological harm dealt to the family and loved ones, then finally a toll taken purely as a deterrent cost. 2. Justice. The person who died deserves their fate to be taken seriously, the harm rectified, amends done (Lewis, 2009). 3. Investigative, amends-based and reparatory. The family that died deserves to have someone make amends for and take responsibility for the action. And when it comes to an organization like a corporation, the investigation can bring to light other violations. It is in the first two realms that the Act is so limited. An unlimited monetary deterrent might be appropriate, but there are so many approaches for the defendant to mitigate the harm that it is unlikely that the fine will ever truly be a serious deterrent to companies with massive operating capital and cash flows (Reid, 2010). When it comes to corporate law, punishments need to be extremely severe because big companies have the ability to protect themselves using t ies to politicians and communities, deep pockets and powerful lawyers. More importantly, individual managers may think that, if a company faces a billion-dollar fine, the worst that will happen is that they will lose their job or will be demoted or punished,

Global Perspective on Health Policy Essay Example for Free

Global Perspective on Health Policy Essay The controversial issue of healthcare coverage for all individuals is an ethical and moral issue that Americans struggle with and as socially proactive as they are on there are many issues arising of it. Healthcare is not only about health and coverage but the major issue is about funding, what can be funded and what cannot be funded and how is going to be funded. Universal healthcare in other countries offers insight into some of the biggest issues and best alternatives for providing healthcare to all and to resolve the health care rising cost. The ethical issue of health care has led to the Accountable Care Act or Obama Care policy development and legislation. More time, data and research has to be done before the definite results of this legislation can be proven. A controversial issue Considering the opposing views about Accountable Care Act legislation, it’s reasonable to understand why universal health care has elicit such a heated political controversy among political parties as well as throughout American people. Unlike other Western industrialized nations, the U.S. has not established a universal health care system. Since health care is a fundamental defining policy of the modern state, and since Obama’s health care reform can be seen as an expansion of the role of government, it can be analyzed in a global context (Ha, 2012). The issue of health care reform brings important ethical issues of justice to the forefront, as individuals, communities, and the legislature struggle with how to provide quality health care for the many without sacrificing the basic rights of even the few (Sorrel, 2012). Policy’s creation The divide on health care coverage, cost and sustainability for all Americans and the increased cost of health care in United States led to legislations being brought to seek out a solution to the issue. The American Recovery and  Reinvestment Act was the first of these laws, this act signed into law in 2009 by President Obama. The Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act was also signed into law. Also enacted and accompanied by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act. Another legislation that became a law in 2010 is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Patel, 2013). Provisions in the act are designed to expand insurance coverage, control costs, and target prevention (Gable, 2011). One of the primary targets is adults aged 19-64, since their access to health care and use of health services deteriorated between 2000 and 2010, particularly among those who were uninsured (Kenney, McMorrow, Zuckerman, Goin, 2012). The PPACA includes reforms such as prohibiting insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions, expanding Medicaid eligibility, subsidizing insurance premiums, and providing incentives for businesses to provide health care benefits. Insurance companies will no longer be able to drop clients when they become ill. The act has the potential to improve health outcomes across all income and age groups at a reduced cost (Sorrel, 2012). Steps in the state and federal policy development process. The steps of the development process focus in the four â€Å"pillars† of health reform: improving the quality of care, making health insurance affordable, supporting personal responsibility, and developing a sustainable approach to health care financing. This platform will help focus the initiative to tackle the growing costs of health care while preserving the highest quality of care for all Americans and avoiding cost-shifting wherever possible (Bipartisan Policy Center, 2013). Many ACA provisions went into effect immediately or soon after the health reform law was enacted in 2010; others are being phased in over time. Several major reforms, including the Medicaid expansion, insurance exchanges, and minimum coverage provision (â€Å"individual mandate†) will go into effect in 2014, and still others will go into effect later. APHA recommends several great resources for tracking state progress on creating health insurance exchanges, funding states have received through various ACA provisions, and states intentions regarding the Medicaid expansion, and other topics (APHA, 2010). Policy development vs implementation. Policy development starts with knowing what the problem is and how the policy will improve the issue. So the importance of analyzing the data about the problem needing fixed. When writing the policy provide the opportunity for the input of the policy makers to suggest changes which provides different viewpoints. To present the policy to the committees for approval or changes as needed. Policy Implementation is ready to start with a timetable of how the implementing of the policy and briefing the States. Implementation of the Affordable Care Act is an enormous administrative challenge, and many details of its implementation are still developed by the Department of Health and Human Services (Wann, 2013). Policy development starts from the moment the public, the legislature think there is an issue and a solution is needed. The ACA development started many years ago back in the 90s when the Clinton administration specifically Hillary Clinton supported the creation of a Universal Health C are system, that laid the foundation on which ACA started to gather the issues and started to research possible solutions. The issues was brought by the public to the press, to the meetings and hearings during the elections campaign and started to gather strength and support on President Obama challenge not only the American people, but the entire Congress to bring out to the negotiations idea on how to increase access to care while reducing cost. The ACA legislation development follows several tenets as the building block in which the legislation was written and develop on, Quality affordable health care for all Americans, the role of public programs, Improving the quality and efficiency of health care, prevention of chronic disease and improving public health, Health care workforce, Transparency and program integrity, Improving access to innovative medical therapies, Community living assistance services and supports and Revenue provisions (Democrat Senate, 2004). The implementation process of the legislation follows the same tenet but there is not planning and changing is the plan drafted and written how each steps will be attained and when and lastly the evaluation of the development and the implementation and sitting back in the drafting table to fix any encountered issues. The development and implementation phases of the legislation cannot be seen as two different path but rather as a process of two collaboration between the two parts using the same foundation to build.  To summarize the differences between development and implementation would be that the developments of the policy consist of the idea to the final written policy. The implementation of the policy is the start of putting the policy in action. Stakeholder’s involvement The stakeholders became involved with the affordable care act because even though this was controversial many believed that the needs were far greater than the issue and some changes were needed. Stakeholders for this legislation is the entire country of United States as the affected party, the health care providers, the legislators, the President of United States. In health care, the overarching goal for providers, as well as for every other stakeholder, must be improving value for patients, where value is defined as the health outcomes achieved that matter to patients relative to the cost of achieving those outcomes. Improving value requires either improving one or more outcomes without raising costs or lowering costs without compromising outcomes, or both. Failure to improve value means, well, failure (Porter, Lee, 2013). Stakeholders are heard during the elections periods where the issues to be discussed should and have to be of interest to the public to be added to the political platform. The press plays an important role on serving as the echo or the microphone to put the issues that are important for the American people. The Health care providers were a major force on the legislation development as their input from a business standpoint played major role on discussing areas that were part of the problem as well as area that needed to stay the same and it also serve as another voice of the public on such a controversial issue. Congress as a stake holder not only play a vital role on policy development and drafting but was the starting point of bringing the issue to the front and placed it in the agenda to be discussed and heard and last the President and its executive branch as the approval seal to the developed policy. In summary the Affordable Care Act has pique the interest not only as a national issue but a global one. Like any policy development the issues have to discuss by the stakeholders representing health care and each and every one has a specific interest in the issue to be solve. References American Public Health Association, (2014), ACA Implementation. Retrieved August 4, 2014 from http://www.apha.org/advocacy/Health+Reform/implementation/ Bipartisan Policy Center, (2013). Managing Costs, Preserving Care: Health Care Cost Containment Report Release. Retrieved on August 4th, 2014 from http://bipartisanpolicy.org/projects/health-care-cost-containment-initiative Patel, K. Parker, R. Villaruel, A.Wong,W (2013). Amplifying the Voice of the Underserved in the Implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Retrieved on August 4th, 2014 from http://www.iom.edu/Global/Perspectives/2013/AmplifyingTheVoice Ha, J. (2012). Health Care Reform vs ObamaCare: Partisan framing of FOX, MSNBC, NYT snd WSJ. Retrieved on August 4th, 2014 from http://gnovisjournal.org/2012/11/30/health-care-reform-vs-obamacare-partisan-framing-of-fox-msnbc-yt-and-wsj/ Porter, M. E. (2013), The Strategy that will fix health care. Harvard Business Review, Retrieved On August 4th, 2014 from http://hbr.org/2013/10/the-strategy-that-will-fix-health-care Sorell, M. J. (2012), Patient Protec tion and Affordable Care Act: Ethical Perspectives. Retrieved on August 4th, 2014 from http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/Columns/Ethics/Patient-Protection-and-Affordable-Care-Act-Ethical-Perspectives.html

The Distributional And Encompassing Coalitions Politics Essay

The Distributional And Encompassing Coalitions Politics Essay Introduction In our term paper we would like to analyze some well-known theories and also combine them with real life examples to have a comprehensive overview of whether the theories are applicable to real life and how accurate they are. For the theme of our paper we decided for the topic interest groups. Based on this topic, we further decided to use Mancur Olsons theory of special interest groups, which he precisely described in his famous book The Rise and Decline of Nations. In the first part of our paper we will mainly focus on providing general information and insights into the Olsons theory and we will also take a general look at the framework of the car lobby itself. In the following part of our paper we will discuss the ex-ante predictions regarding the success or failure when it comes to specifically selected lobby groups, based on Olsons theory as well. The final part offers a brief introduction to the particular car lobby group ACEA and also analyses the actions and influence of the lobby group. The question whether the theory is consistent with our real life example is broadly discussed and advocated as well. 1. Introduction to the Theory In this chapter we will present the theory we will use in order to conduct our case study on the influence and impact of special interest groups on government decisions. We define special interest groups as a coalition of individuals or representatives trying to gain influence on the political environment. In order to have a collective impact on a particular matter they develop access strategies to reach the decisive officials and legislators. Precisely, we will set a framework of a social coalition theory based on Mancur Olsons theory of special interest groups and their collective action in pursuing a common goal, published in his book The Rise and Decline of Nations. We will then apply this framework on the car lobby. The car lobby is considered to have strong internal connections to political officials as they are equipped with a vast number of resources and backed by the politically crucial automotive industry. We will focus on the European Automobile Manufacturers association (ACEA), which is one of the most important car lobbies in the European Union. ACEA is a representative association of the automotive industry with great impact on decisions made in Brussels. It reflects the interest of the car industry in most European Countries. We will analyze its access and impact strategies on EU institutions and their influence on democratic decision procedures. Furthermore we examine how their actions affect the total soci ety. In order to introduce Olsons theory of special interest groups, it is essential to know the underlying assumptions and problems Olson describes. Given Olsons assumption of rationality of individual behaviour, a social group may fail to achieve collective action. That is, that the group may fail to achieve its common goal. In our case it would mean the group is not able to have an influence on political decisions. To some extent it is individually rational to not take part and contribute in the groups action as it involves personal costs. It is rather rational and self-interest maximizing to withdraw from the action but to benefit from the groups outcome. Clearly, if every individual in that group is assumed to be rational the groups goal would not be achieved. Especially groups with increasing size are likely to face problems of collective action (free-riding) as group members can hardly be monitored in their individual contribution and not be excluded from group benefits. Small groups in contrast, consisting of individuals with homogenous preferences are likely to achieve a common interest. According to Olson, the presence of selective incentives, i.e. frequent interactions within the group, the ability to monitor, punish and reward individual behaviour increases the likelihood of collaboration and overcoming the collective action problem. Therefore, groups with relatively smaller size are privileged to groups larger in size. Although not a particular problem under examination in this case study it is important to mention the collective action problem. It is the underlying obstacle of a groups formation and has to be overcome in order to have an influence on decisions. However, besides overcoming the collective action problem, it is of special interest for us to examine and analyze how interest groups, here applied to the ACEA, gain access and increase impact on political decision procedures and the societies welfare as a whole. 2. Types of Coalitions 2.1. Distributional and Encompassing Coalitions According to Olson, the degree of influence of interest groups and as a result the impact on the societies welfare depends on the type of coalition in existence. He introduces the concept of coalitions called distributional coalitions and encompassing coalitions. Both types of coalition try to gain access to the political environment. In the valuation part of a real life example of an ACEA action we will evaluate to which coalition the ACEA may belong to in order to conduct a proper analysis of their influence and especially about their impact on the society. Distributional coalitions are special interest groups that only represent interests of a small number of firms. The representatives of these groups try to maintain and strengthen the companies market position by supporting protectionist and even monopolistic legislation procedures. Such protectionist measures could be tariffs, taxes or non tariff barriers imposed on market competitors which negatively affect an efficient allocation of recourses and may support inefficient economic segments. This type of interest group will heavily oppose technological progress as it might be harmful to its own position. Thus, the outcome of such penetration of political decisions is disadvantageous from a societies point of view. Successfully influenced legislation will be heavy in favour of a small number of individuals that only make a fraction of the society. But the society as a whole will face a decrease in economic output due to a lack of technological progress and even stagnate over a longer period of time. Distributional coalitions occur especially in the presence of politically stable democracies. They will form in huge numbers all across the society and will grow in size over time. Therefore, they will accumulate power and increase their degree of influence and access on political decision making. With an increasing number of distributional coalitions the political environment will be distorted and a social welfare maximizing outcome of political decisions is highly unlikely. Clearly, these coalitions try to redistribute wealth and income within the interest group leaving the society worse off, as the total welfare decreases. On the other hand, the counterpart of distributional coalitions is encompassing coalitions. The nature of encompassing coalitions is that they do not restrict their actions to the interests of a small number of individuals or firms but rather reflect the interests of the broader society. According to Olson, encompassing coalitions influence political decisions in a way that is beneficial to the society. Since their interests correspond with the broader interests of the society, comprehensive bargaining about legislation will lead to efficient political outcomes (Rosser, 2007). In contrast to distributional coalitions, encompassing coalitions foster technological progress and economic growth. Thus, their actions and impact on political decisions increase the welfare of the whole society. In conclusion of the theory part, based on Olsons special interest group theory, we defined two types of coalitions. Both coalitions, distributional and encompassing, try to gain access and impact on legislation procedures. Distributional coalitions represent the interest of a small number of individuals and rather oppose technological progress, hence, slow down economic growth. Encompassing coalitions reflect the interest of the broader society, hence; rather increase the welfare of the society. 3. Ex-ante predictions 3.1. Olsons framework on EU car lobby Considering the previous definitions and analysis on Olsons developed theory about the influence of interest groups on different realities and its impact in governmental decisions, as well as, the defined framework of the EU car lobbying which is mainly led by ACEA. It is now the purpose of this section to predict the outcome of ACEA actions in the EU political environment based on the theory. In order to achieve our purpose we might first set up some considerations on our previous analysis. First of all, we have to bear in mind that it was never Olsons goal to study the impact of particular organizations or a group. It was, instead, an attempt to highlight the role played by several interest groups in the economic development of a country as a whole. Therefore he did not trail a specific framework which would be possible to apply to a particular organization or group, although his work is accurate enough to study the outcome of any lobbying activity in its broader sense. Focusing now on the car lobbying role, we might also underline some important features of this organization regarding its history, experience, resources and internal decision-making process, some of them already described before. These features might influence the outcome of its actions under the analysis of Olsons model. When referring to automobile industry we immediately link it with a high level of complexity and regulation. Here we might wonder if that is the result of political and social evolution itself or if it may be connected with some kind of external force (interest group coalition) which influences the market outcome. It is our aim now to understand whether or not there are conditions in the car industry to the establishment of a coalition which is strong enough to influence political decisions on related matters. 3.2. Car industry and interest groups coalitions Olson identified a main requirement, to the appearance of successful interest groups: the maturity level of a certain industry. When considering this point we easily realize that automobile manufactures and all its stakeholders have been interacting for long enough to derive some successful coalition actions. Olson supported this direct relation between industry maturity and the success of interest groups action with some empirical evidence on US market. For that reason we are lead to undertake the US market as a benchmark (due to several similarities with EU system) and then conclude that it might also be the case that car industry is in a well-developed position to set off some thriving coalitions. Apart from industry maturity, so far we dont have enough information which leads us to conclude if ACEA is a distributional coalition or an encompassing one. In order to do so, we have to analyse some of the car industry background. As any other market operating industry, companies withi n the car industry can be considered rational. Therefore they will be profit-maximizers. If so, an association like ACEA, which is willing to increase companies benefits, might above all care about the impact of certain decisions for companies and not really be concerned about the outcome for society as a whole. Unless we argue that an increase in society surplus due to certain decisions will increase companies benefits. We have found the first reason why we should look at ACEA as a distributional coalition as defined in the previous section. It is also true that there are better conditions for an interest group coalition to arise and to be successful in a stable economy. Despite that, it works even better in a democracy where the de facto political power is closer to a centrist orientation rather than the extremes of laissez-faire or a socialist command. It is actually the case of the European Union. Another argument which may be crucial in our approach is that it is more likely that some groups goals prevail when the opposition, even if it exists, is not sufficiently strong to offset others damage, which will make them suffer in silence. Altogether it would lead us to conclude that ACEA, as the major car lobbying player, is closer to be a distributional coalition rather than an encompassing one. Even though it is not our main focus here, we might also refer the adoption of this framework is not consensual in the field. Some experts would be against what we are arguing here, mostly because it is not guaranteed that car lobbying activities have only negative effects in societys view. At this point it is fair to mention that some might consider lobbying activities as a way to undertake more openness and competitiveness in the political system which would lead to more transparency in EU (Schendelen, 2002). We could also support this idea in the sense that lobbyists bring out facts about political matters mainly through the media. The reason to mention this argument here, is to ensure that we do not exclude the possibility of some positive effects in further analysis of the actual ACEA activity. Bringing together our reasoning we might be in a position to set up some predicted impact ACEA may have towards political decisions in EU. This is our goal for the next subsection. 3.3. Expected ACEA impact In pursuing our attempt to apply Olsons framework to car lobbying in the EU, it seems logical to argue that car lobbying actions might be strong enough to influence political decisions on this field. Every coalition which may arise within this market segment (e.g.: ACEA) will then be the reason for time-consuming political decisions throughout crowded agendas and bargaining tables. It is expected that ACEA will achieve that by finding some means of communicating directly with EU representatives. That kind of action is also likely to involve high amounts of money due to the necessity of qualified people who work with complex regulation and try to persuade politics. For that reason ACEA will only be successful if it is able to aggregate high amounts of contributions from the biggest companies in the industry. If it happens to be so, this pressure would somehow be able to slow down societys ability to move towards more efficient technologies and to reallocate resources (e.g.: alternatives to oil market or more efficient energy-using technologies, however we will have some deeper analysis into these results in the next section). Once big enough, this distributional coalition could have its well-noticeable impact in the rate of economic growth. Thus, we could also mention that the build up of this distributional coalition would increase the complexity of regulation in areas related with car industry. In its extreme upshot it would by some means influence the course of social evolution. 4. Analysis and empirical evidence We will focus our analysis in the field where the ACEA plays its higher stakes: the negotiations for the reduction of CO2 emissions by automobile vehicles. Particularly, we intend to highlight ACEA evolution and its impact on the quality of policy making by the European Commission in the last two decades. Then, we intend to figure out if there is a link between this groups actions regarding the topic and the European Union performance in technological development, more specifically the move towards a greener and more fuel-efficient society. But first, its important to provide a brief characteristics description of this particular interest group. 4.1. ACEA a heavyweight special interest group The European Automotive Manufacturers Association ACEA, is well-known and highly respected Economic interest Grouping within the Europe. ACEA was established in 1991 with Brussels headquarters, Secretariat and Secretary General. Later ACEA also opened two other offices in Beijing and Tokyo even though the main purpose was to advocate the car manufacturers rights and interests on the highest European level possible. Today ACEA has significant importance and voice because it is gather 18 big and powerful car, truck and bus manufacturers such as BMW Group, GM Europe, Volkswagen, IVECO, Renault, Jaguarà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The automotive industry itself is a vital part of European Union economy, the ACEA members alone contribute every year roughly 20 billion euros into research and development, claim 42.8 billion on net exports and deliver taxes on approximately 3.5% of the European Union GDP. Surprisingly for such a significant lobby group, the organization of the ACEA is quite simple. The main organ is the Board of directors. Each member of the directors board is also a CEO in a company, which is a member of ACEA. The board of directors is the decision-making organ and selects a President on an annual basis. Decisions are taken into force by the Joint Committee, which is represented by senior executives of the member companies. In the case of particular issues, there is also available a specialized Committee to discuss and help on the issues. Apart from these organs, there are also more than twenty specialized working groups working for the ACEA, who are responsible for technical expertise and advisory. Every member of the specialized working group is an expert in his field and works for the member company. The general and main purpose of ACEA is to be included in these activities with European Union: 1.To have a constant dialogue with European Union and all the other organizations influencing the automotive industry; 2.Cooperation with all the responsible and decision-making organs in order to offer the industry knowledge and expertise, which ACEA has. To provide relevant opinions and suggestions to the policy makers; 3.To provide valuable partnership within the whole organization as well as to offer partnership to other interdependent industries, in order to achieve the mutual beneficial policies; 4.To provide strategic reflection on the current and future completion within the industry and on corporate responsibility; 5.To communicate the importance and activities of the industry, also to communicate the acquired data, information and expertise. 6.To monitor all the activities and threats which might influence the industry and afterwards properly respond to them or cooperate with the stakeholders. 4.2. Analysis of real-life outcomes 4.2.1. The growing size of the group Taking a closer look at this groups evolution along the last decades, we conclude that its rate of growth in terms of size and influence has been staggering. Having as a predecessor the old CMCC (Comità © des Constructeurs du Marchà © Commun), founded in 1972 and consisting of seven members, the ACEAs number of members in 2005 was two times bigger. In September 2012, the organization comprised 18 different automobile manufacturers. What can explain this phenomenon? Since the CMCC times we can perceive this interest group as an umbrella association. This kind of groups provides resources and often an identity to the smaller organizations that are part of it. In this kind of arrangement, the umbrella organization is to some degree responsible for the groups under its care. Economies of scale, a better pool of experts and experience, shared apprenticeship and exchange of know-how are some factors that theoretically attract more groups, enhancing the ability for smaller organizations and companies to influence the politic-process in a legislation negotiation context. An important point is that it is harder for a single organization and also smaller lobby groups operating outside large established lobby groups to get their voice through in this matter. In practice, it is more often the ACEA that stands for the press-releases and statements in the media, but what the ACEA does do and say is a product of the discussions within the organization by smaller organizations within them; so, in that way the smaller companies grow in strength and enhance their ability to influence and compete in Brussels over this issue. By gathering and discussing the issue under one organization like ACEA, the organizations and companies get greater power in Brussels than if they would split up into 10-15 smaller organizations, so this means that representation is a mean for these organizations and companies to permeate the EU. We can almost consider this to be a kind of natural monopoly, in terms of the rights of representing the industries interests. This phenomenon confirms Olsons hypothesis of increasing size, influence and access to policy making, in respect to this special interest group. 4.2.2. The official position of the ACEA regarding CO2 emissions reduction Officially, according to its own institutional information, the ACEA agrees with the Commission that something has to be done about the CO2 emissions and they fully support the EU objective of reducing car emissions. But the ACEA believes that most of the burden within this situation has been placed on the car manufacturers. The ACEA calls for an integrated approach, which means that everybody has to do their part in order to reach the goals. The association wants the other elements (fuel industry, policy makers and car users) to take a larger part in lowering CO2 emissions. The integrated approach to lower CO2 emissions that the ACEA presents contains five components. The first one is vehicle technology which they themselves are responsible for. Then we have alternative fuels which need to be developed further with help from the fuel industry. The third component is consumer behavior, that we as consumers/drivers need to be educated in so-called Eco-driving, which in the long run saves 5-7% save in fuel consumption and therefore also in emissions. The fourth component is infrastructural measures concerning for instance traffic lights and the planning of roads in larger cities which often causes traffic jams. If steps could be taken to solve these infrastructural problems a lot of emissions would never occur. The last component concerns CO2-related taxation, which would stimulate buyers to choose fuel-efficient cars, if they cost less in taxes; and in this area the ACEA believes that the Commission has failed on their part of the agreement. To steer free from stricter car safety and emissions regulations, lobbyists have been stating and defending before the EU decision-makers that driving behavior, trees next to roads and other infrastructure are also very important factors. Important as they may be, these are matters which the European Parliament and other EU institutions have no power over as they are controlled at member state level. Therefore, bringing these topics to discussion at a EU level is fallacious and distorting the reality of the fact and, as we later expose, may contribute to the preservation of a certain status quo in the industry. Its important to bear in mind that the cars that yield the biggest profit to carmakers are the biggest ones in size SUVs and 44. Precisely the ones raising more concerns, due to their higher rates of CO2 emissions. 4.2.3. The 1998 ACEA-EC agreement In 1995 the European Council approved a community strategy to reduce CO2 emissions from passenger cars to an average of 120gkm for newly registered cars by 2005, and at the latest by 2010. The ACEA agreement represented the first VA explicitly aimed at climate protection. Theoretically, this represented an ideal context for the use of this new policy instrument, as the basic conditions were in place: a strong euro car industry association a large share of the market, a level of trust between government and industry, and concern for the economic effects and competitiveness implications of regulations. The strategy was based in 3 policies: 1. A voluntary fuel economic agreement 2. A fiscal framework for member states 3. A fuel economy labeling scheme In 1998 a Voluntary agreement was reached between EC and ACEA under the terms of which the industry is committed to reduce average CO2 emissions figures from all cars to 140g/ by 2008. An intermediate target was set for 2003 at 170g/km. The negotiation was marked by an important democratic deficit: the process bypassed the EP, the only directly elected EU institution, and failed to ensure public participation NGO have only be consulted once during the years of negotiations. Because negotiations have been carried out behind closed doors, the danger of regulatory capture has been always present during the negotiations. This agreement also lacked monitoring, as until 2002 the only source of statistical data regarding ACEA progress concerning the goals was coming from car association sources, and an enforcement mechanism. Actually, the agreement didnt contain any enforcement mechanism it did not contain sanctions for non-compliance or measures to address the issue of internal free riders. The industry would effectively be its own watchdog. Given the highly competitive characteristics of the car industry, conditions for failure where perfectly reunited. Another interesting fact is the length of negotiations: the time span for conclusion was four years, in comparison to an average of two years, regarding the European voluntary agreements normal standards. The lack of a high level of technical capacity of the EC, in comparison with all the expertise from the ACEA side, adding to the lack of credible threats for the industry, left the EC negotiators at the mercy of the pure political bargaining. In this situation, the strength of such a strong interest group dictated the final outcome (figure 1). The content of the agreement was clearly outdated. The target of 140g/km was meant to bring about cars that would drive at 5 liters for 100km. However , recent OECD studies prove that a 50-80% improvement in fuel economy would be possible using existing technology at little extra cost over 10-15 years. In contrast , its impact would not even likely stabilize CO2 emissions from passenger cars at 1999 levels by 2010. Furthermore, the objective was not sufficiently ambitious to support a technological shift from the internal combustion engine towards lower emissions technologies such as electric or hybrid engines, not to mention hydrogen based fuel cells. Although these technologies were more or less close to commercial production, barriers of higher costs and lack of supportive infrastructure delayed their large scale development. The terms of the ACEA agreement were clearly not designed to support the introduction of much needed zero emission technologies, but to assist the continuation of the conventional car design. 4.2.4. The 21st century negotiations The voluntary agreement signed in 1998 set the deadline for the main goals accomplishment for the year 2008. However, that deal proved not to be the final one. The ACEA worked successfully to delay the date first until 2010 then until 2012. The association argued that the dates were not reasonable and its consequences, in times of economic crisis, would seriously harm the industry, with direct consequences on the employment level. Yet time has shown that most of their alarmist claims were not borne out in reality. In fact, many companies will meet the legal requirements even earlier than they have to According to European Commission official data, CO2 emissions from road transport increased by nearly 23% between 1990 and 2010, and without the economic downturn growth could have been even bigger. Transport was the only major sector in the EU where greenhouse gas emissions are still rising, being light-duty vehicles a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, producing around 15% of the EUs emissions of CO2. Since then, the EU has been putting in place a comprehensive legal framework to reduce CO2 emissions from new light duty vehicles as part of efforts to ensure it meets its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol and beyond. The legislation sets binding emission targets for new car and van fleets. For cars, manufacturers are obliged to ensure that their new car fleet does not emit more than an average of 130 grams of CO2 per kilometre (g CO2/Km) by 2015 and 95g by 2020.This compares with an average of almost 160g in 2007 and 135.7g in 2011. In fact, the new goal for 2015 was actually the original EC goal for 2012. Due to lobbying regarding the first voluntary agreement, the 120g of CO2 for 2012 turned into 130g by 2015. Recent studies prove that carmakers will reach these values well ahead of time. In July 2012, the Commission proposed legislation setting out the modalities for implementing the 2020 targets. The ACEA was a major player during this round of negotiations. Volkswagen, nowadays the most relevant member of the European automobile industry and the one that invests the most in lobbying (figure 2) has described the 95g legislative target as not based on sound impact assessment nor on a realistic appreciation of the costs and technical progress necessary to meet the goal within the timescale. A new loophole, inserted following lobbying by the ACEA, would undermine the overall fleet target. Instead of calculating average fleet emissions by adding up the emissions of every car and dividing by the number of cars, carmakers will be allowed to offset the most polluting cars against a smaller number of their cleanest cars. If this accounting trick makes it into the final law, carmakers will be able to sell more polluting cars, resulting in real average fleet emissions in excess of 95g CO2/km. At the same time, Greenpeace and several other pro-environment groups and parties call on the European Parliament and EU governments to lower the 2020 cars target to 80g CO2/km and to back a 2025 target of 60g CO2/km. Its a clear fact that efficiency standards reduce Europes need for expensive crude oil imports and drive down fuel bills for drivers. European drivers currently pay between à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1,235 and à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬2,143 to fill their tanks every year. A 95g CO2/km target without loopholes would cut costs to between à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬962 and à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1,665 by 2020, according to independent calculations. If EU governments decide to set a target of 60g CO2/km by 2025, fuel costs will drop further to between à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬494 and à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬863 by 2030. The new proposal must go through a long negotiation process between EU governments and the European Parliament before it can become law. Lobbying is likely to continue, with increasingly new arguments and strategies. For example, in 20th September 2012, VDA, a German automobile industry lobby controlled by the ACEA, proposed the possibility of getting bonus points for electric cars they have not actually sold, but to also allow car companies to bank CO2 credits. If the companies reduce their CO2 emissions more than required by 2015 they should receive a credit for this performance which should be used for underperformance in following years. After all, the Commission failed to propose any efficiency targets for 2025. Without this milestone, the rate of technological innovation could slow down in Europe, threatening the competitiveness of European cars on the global market. Europe is currently the global leader on vehicle efficiency, but the United States and China are catching up. The US has recently proposed its own 2025 target for carmakers embraced by thirteen global carmakers including BMW, Toyota and Hyundai curiously, not VW. 5. Conclusion According the Olsons theory, there are several types of interest groups, which we can basically divide into small and big interest groups. Generally sma

Report on Arcadias TOPMAN Essay -- Arcadia Business Management Essays

Report on Arcadia’s TOPMAN Introduction On the following pages you will find a formal report investigating Arcadia’s TOPMAN. It is a detailed report looking into several different areas of TOPMAN. In this report you will find information about: - The businesses legal status - The businesses objectives - The different department within the business and what they do - The management style the business uses - The culture the business has - The ICT used in the business - The types of communication used in the business There are at several different types of business the main ones being sole trader, partnership, private limited company, public limited company and franchise. All of the above company types are slightly different from each other. A sole trader is a company that is owned by one person. They are their own boss, they make their own decisions, all the profit that the business makes they have, they have the freedom that you don’t get when you are working for someone and a sole trader business is easy to set up. Also being a sole trader has disadvantages, the owner has to deal with all of the loss of the company (unlimited liability), they have to work long hours because they have to run the business them selves, they have fewer holidays than you would working for someone because they have to do everything them selves, getting money to start up a sole trader business can sometimes be hard because if a loan was needed banks hesitate when giving sole traders a loan because a very few amount of sole trader business succeed, they usually go out of business in the first year of trading. A partnership is a company that has to be owned by between two and twenty people. Investors in a partnership company can decide to join the company as a sleeping partner which is a person who invests money into the business but takes no part in the running, because there are lots of people running the business all the experience that every member of the workforce can be shared, all of the workload that needs to be don’t can also be shared, all of the loss or expenses can be shared between all of the partners therefore there would be a less amount to pay, the money that is needed to start the business can be made easier because there is a lot more people to combine there money together, also getting a... ... in higher profit turnover. Not only was the version 5 till system a strength but it also created a weakness, when the till system was first introduced for the first 4 weeks there were a lot of problems with them, they started, working extremely slow, declining most cards that customers wanted to pay with, freezing. All of the above problems caused TOPMAN to loose a lot of customers, when these problems happened the till had to be re-booted which took on aerage 10-15 minutes and customers used to get fed up and leave. Communication in TOPMAN is highly important when it comes to meeting there objectives, because TOPMAN has so many departments that are spread out all over England it is extremely hard to communication with everyone, but it is important. TOPMAN has developed several ways to effectively communicate with all of them departments whether it’s through e-mail, or telephone TOPMAN has a way to communicate with every person in the business at any time. So the communication in TOPMAN is very effective and helps TOPMAN achieve all of its objectives by providing every member of staff with the option to communicate with anyone they need at any time.

Phyllis Wheatley :: essays research papers

Televangelists like Jimmy Swaggert and Jim and Tammy Fay Bakker promise the Christian faith to millions everyday. For the right price, anybody can have something- a.k.a. Christianity, God, and faith- in their lives. On these shows, there is no need to have believed in religion before, as long as there is a need for it now. Religious telecasts asking for money in exchange for faith attract nearly five million people each year. Fifty-five percent of these people are elderly woman; Thirty-five percent are from the desperation pool, the poorest and neediest members of society; The remaining ten percent are those who might be classified as upper-middle class, who want spiritual justification for their greed. Most of us know that the religion professed on these telecasts is not about trusting in God or having a deep belief in his teachings, ideas that aggregate Christianity in society. Instead, the old, the poor, and the rich are buying something to have as their own when they have nothing else, whether it be in the material, social, or emotional sense. So-called faith gives them possession, yet places responsibility in the hands of a higher force. And in that, they are hoping to find freedom in knowing that their lives are less empty and without direction. It may seem that we can hardly relate the televangelist audience of the 20th Century to poetic views on Christianity of the 18th Century, but surprisingly, there lies many similarities between the two.. Both Anne Bradstreet and Phyllis Wheatley appeal to Christianity after their own personal tragedies. These women, like the many viewers who watch Church-TV everyday, have lost everything and are left with nothing. In an attempt to fill the void in their lives, left by Bradstreet’s burnt house and Wheatley’s treatment as a slave, they turn to the Christian faith that at times seems as empty as the faith that can be commercialized and sold by dramatists on television. In analyzing "Here Follows Some Verses Upon the Burning of Our House" and "On Being Brought from Africa to America," I will consider Christian faith as means of coping with nothingness, rather than a pious way of life. While making references to Anne Bradstreet’s similar development of faith, I will contend that Phyllis Wheatley’s Christianity seen is sought out for her own purposes in times of feeling nullity rather than a confident belief or trust in God and the acceptance of God’s will. Phyllis Wheatley’s first appeals to Christianity emerge as she is transported on a slave ship from West Africa to Boston in July 1761, which begins the poem under analysis.

Rate of Reaction Coursework :: GCSE Chemistry Coursework Investigation

An experiment to find the rate of reaction between two liquids Introduction This is an experiment to determine the effect of changing the concentration of sodium thiosluphate (Na S O (aq)) on the rate of reaction between sodium thiosulphate and hydrochloric acid (HCL (aq)). HCl+sodium thiosulphatearrowsodium chloride+sulphur dioxide+sulphur+water. HCl(aq) + Na2S2O3(aq) arrow NaCl(aq) + SO2(g) + S(s) + H2O(l) If one were to place hydrochloric acid and sodium thiosulphate into a beaker a white cloudy solution is left in the beaker. The rate of the reaction can be controlled by concentrating one of the liquids, or one could add water to dilute the mixture to slow the reaction. Method Apparatus Two beakers of 50cm3 Sodium Thiosulphate Hydrochloric acid Conical flask Measuring tube-10cm3 Measuring tube-50cm3 The apparatus is set up as shown above. I will place 50cm3 of Sodium Thiosulphate; I will keep Hydrochloric acid at a constant rate of 5cm3. Then I will reduce the sodium thiosulphate and increase the water, for example: 50cm3: 0cm3 40cm3: 10cm3 30cm3: 20cm3 20cm3: 30cm3 10cm3: 40cm3 When the reaction is complete the solution left should be white and cloudy, to test this; I will place a piece of paper with a cross on it. If I cannot see the cross on the paper then the reaction has finished. Constants * Hydrochloric acid * Temperature * Length of X on paper * Room temperature Variables  · Sodium thiosulphate  · Water Hydrochloric acid will be kept at a constant rate because the experiment is about changing the concentration of sodium thiosulphate. The temperature will be kept constant with a precise thermometer in the solution. The paper with the X on it will always be the same piece of paper. The room temperature will be kept constant because I will make sure the windows are closed. Sodium thiosulphate will be varied because that is the point of the experiment. The water will be varied to dilute the reaction. Scientific explanation In order for the sodium thiosulphate and Hydrochloric acid to react their particles must: * Collide with each other * The collision must have enough energy This is shown by the explanation below: The particles in the liquid If the collision has enough If the collision move around continually. energy, a reaction takes place does not have here an acid particle is enough energy about to collide with a no reaction sodium atom occurs. The acid particle bounces away again. If there are a lot of collisions then the rate of the reaction is fast. If there are not many, the rate is low. The rate of a reaction depends on how many successful collisions there are in a given unit of time. There are three main ways of speeding up a reaction: * Changing the concentration

Banks and Credit System of Exchange Essay

Definition of Banks—Banks are financial institutions that help people to save and borrow money.In a growing economy, the banks help to create a new pool of money to be ised for other economic activities.They complement the money or cash system of exchange with the system of credit. History of Banking in the Philippines During the pre-colonial period, Filipinos also saved and borrowed money, but usually this was done by families, relatives of tribal leaders.The oldest written relic of our precolonial past is the famous Laguna Copperplate inscriptin (LCI), which contains a record of a debt payment in 900A.D.It proves that we have a longt tradition of honoring our debts in our culture. Modern banking, as we know it, really began with the coming of the Europeans. The first credit organizations were the Obras Pias(pious work), created by the Spanish colonial government starting in the 16th century. It is interesting to know that the early Catholics in the Philippines were taught how to tithe(give 10 percent of income to the church).Thus, thye early church in the Philippines was able to collect a fund od money, and its growth and good works increased tremendously. The first general bank in Southeast Asia was the Banco Espaà ±ol-Filipino (now known as Bank of the Philippine Islands), which opened in 1851.It was given authority to issue bank notes.Soon, other banks were opened.The Catholic Church anf their trustees owned and operated most banks during the Spanish colonial period. During the American period, more banks began operations. In 1906, the government established postal savings banks all over the country to bring banking closer to the people.This Promoted the habit of thrift and savings among low-income groups. Now Americans, Chinese and Filipinos also entered the picture. In 1916 the philippine National Bank was organized. Other banks which followed were the China Banking Corporation and the Philippine Bank of Commerce.Before World War II there were 17 banks in the country. The PNB and Postal banks were owned by the Catholic Church and religious organizations, and two by Filipinos and others. The Japanese m,ilitary occupation in 1941-45 briefly restructed Philippine banking. Only Japanese and their Filipino sympathizers were allowed to operate banks. In 1946, after independence, the otigins of our modern banking system were established. Prewar banks were re-opened and resumed operations. The Central Banking Act was passed in 1948. Today, there are thousands of banks all over the country, and some Filipino banks have opened branches abroad. Tyhe Volume of banking services has also increased, as more and more services are being offered. Among these services are car loans, time deposits, automatic tellers, dreive-in windows, night depository, safe deposit boxes, payroll handling, automatic debits, and many more. KINDS OF BANKS There are different kinds of banks as follows: 1. Rural banks-These are located mostly in the countryside. The government encourages the establishment of these small banks in order to bring asavings and banking closer to people in the provinces. For example, a group may set up a rural bank with P20 million capital outside of metro Manila or cities; but p50 million is needed for a bank in the city. The main reason for rural banks is to help farmers with agricultural loans. In 1994, the Pagsanjan Rural Bank founded by Victor Zaide cabreza and Soledad Benitez Cabreza, won the award fo â€Å"Outstanding Rural Bank in he Philippines† 2. Savings and loan association—These small banks gather savings and invest them in long term securities, such as housing loans. A good example is the Monte de Piedad Bank. 3.Special government banks—The Philippine government established several bnks to handle specific duties involving its financial projects.For example, after the war, the Rehabilitation and Finance Corporation (RFC) was created to receive postwar reconstuction funds ang give financial aid to the war-damaged economy. The RFG eventually beame the Development bank of the Philippines (DBP). The Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) helps the government implement the land reform program. The Philippine Amanah Bank was organized in 1970s to cater for the growing economic needs of Muslim Filpinos. The government may also operate postal banks within selected post iffides around the country. Many small savers and children like to use postal banks because it is closer and more familiar to them. 4.Commercial banks—These make up the biggest banking group, and comprises nearly 50% of the total banking resources in the country. The main function of this type is to supply the circulating capital for the economy in the form of short-term loans.Example are the Philippine National Bank, Metrobank, BPI, FarEast Bank and Trust Company and others. 6.Universal Bank- Also known as a ful-service bank, a universal bank provides more servies than a commercial bank. Banks which have reached a capitalixation of P50 million or more can apply for a universal banking liscence. A universal bank can make more investments and lending.It can act as an investment house, a savings bank etc. It can invest directlyin private companies. Several banks are iniversal banks, starting with the Philipine National Bank, republic Planters Bank, United Cocunot Planters Bank, Allied Bank, PCIB, BPI, Far East Bank and Trust Company, and Metrobank. 6. international banks—As the name says international banks have operations in more than one country. Some Filipino bamks have branches in other countries, e.e. PNB, FEBTC, etc. Similarly, some foreign banks have branches in the Philippines, e.g. Hongkong ang Shanghai Chartered Bank, Citibank, Australia New Zealand, etc. Apart from the private banks, thee are government-owned banks, such as the International Bank for Reconstrucyion and Development (IBRD or World Bank) ased in Washington, D.C.; the Asian Development Bank (ABD) based in Metro Manila; the Bank of International Settkements (BIS) based in Basle, Switzerland. The Uses or Function of Banks— The services of banks are: 1.To accept aand guard deposits of money.People go to a bank because they trust that their money will not be stolen inside.ThePhilippine Deposit Insurace Corporation (PDIC) encures each depositor’s money up to a limit. In case the bank closes doen or is robbed, the depositor will still get their money bacl up to a fixed limit. In turn, the bank keeps a written list of the deposit in a savings book, a monthly statement or a certificate . For the right to use the money, the banks pay interest. 2. to lend money. Banks led money to qualified clients. in this way, the bank earns interest and profits. loans are ofdifferent kinds: are short-term. Loans may also be typedaccording to purpose( car loan, housing loan, business loan etc.) This may be a property title, which the bank can get in case the loan is not paid. Next, bigl loans must have a co- signer or one who will guarantee to pay the loan if the borrower defaults 9faiks to pay). 3.To remit and collect money. Banks als transfer or collect money for clients. for example, overseas contract workers can send their remittances to family through a bank to be picked up in Manila by the relative. A businesman can pay for a supply ordered from abroad through a local bank which send the payment to the foreign supplier. Usually, a bank has a correspondent bank abroad in case it does not have branches ther. Banks accept checks, bank dreafts or telegraphic transfers from other banks, according to certain conditions. 4..To perform legal roles like supervising a business, managing a private

Capstone Project Essay

Introduction The use of network services is increasing the management amount of copper and fiber cabling. This results in an ever increasing workload that must be maintained or reconfigured; resulting in challenges to organizational profitability. One of the challenges that arises is how does an administrator maintain a complex work environment when increased profits, fewer capital and operating resources are limited. One might suggest growing a complex network infrastructure requires operation efficiency with a desire to manage and protect cables without interrupting the workflow for clients. However, given the challenges affecting wireless service providers; maintaining focus and quality are just the fundamentals. The administrator is limited to the organizations profitability and cost variance when determining the best approach. These factors play a role which will likely affect the infrastructure as a whole. It is interesting enough to point out that towards the perspective of a network administrator; an issue should remain dormant and should never happen when the proper implications are set in place. However, because we live in an intractable world the possibility for a scenario is plausible. Capstone Proposal Summary As a volunteer for a network security survey for Aon Corp; the following survey was designed to point out vulnerabilities within the organizational network servers specifically under the surety office location where class mates using workstations were experiencing frustrating issues pertaining to network instability. The survey was intended to identify on whether security implications were required so that an upgrade request may be delivered. A staff meeting was set in place where we  interviewed the client regarding their needs. It is always a good choice to understand the fundamental needs of the client prior to making any changes to the network. After spending several hours brainstorming the client’s demands a solution has been reached. The project setting has been laid out clearly. During my timeframe interviewing the client I have gained the necessary background knowledge to understand my client’s visions building a strong mutual connection. Understanding this connection has entitled me to diagnose the network accordingly. As a part of the survey Aon Corp has several requirements prior to jumping into the project. First it was mandatory to inspect the minimum system requirements of the client machines. In the past latency issues have derived primarily to out of date hardware or device drivers as opposed to a security breach. It is always a wise choice to update these configurations while running the appropriate operating system updates which may all be contributing factors. During the prerequisite stage of the survey the required information is gathered to develop an effective network survey which would alleviate resource constraint. Rational & Systems Analysis It is always a wise choice to research similar case studies that may provide beneficial information relating to similar scenarios. I have done as such building my understanding of these scenarios which has a given me some background to my clients concerns. Several user friendly applications have offered me assistance analyzing security loop holes. They are the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). With accordance to the Microsoft website; the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer is a user friendly tool emphasized for technicians with a focus on assisting medium sized businesses. The tool focuses on the security state of the network with accordance to Microsoft recommendations providing guidelines and support. The user may download Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) from Microsoft.com as it is a well-known tool for all IT technicians. Once the tool has been successfully installed the administrator has the ability to scan multiple end users on the local network median. Upon completion of the scan the user is delivered a report highlighting potential threats along with missing updates. Some of these updates may include missing application patches, operations system  updates, and advised the user on whether a Windows firewall is running. MBSA has the ability to examine administrative accounts along with password policies. See Figure A for example. Figure A As technology advances, administrative technicians need to adjust to the challenges ahead. Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer is a great tool to maintain the integrity of your network infrastructure. Scott Lowe (2004), a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, said the following regarding the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer: â€Å"Supporting a huge number of Microsoft applications, MBSA can serve you in two ways. First, it will help you keep your servers protected from problems; second, with powerful reporting capabilities, it can help you actually learn why you need to do the things that are suggested so you can make an educated decision as to whether something is an acceptable risk in your environment.† Project Goals and Objectives The objective towards the following project was to initiate a plan to upgrade Aon Corp network infrastructure alleviating latency issues better improving the efficiency and flow of data across the network median. A current unstable network prolonged business growth capacity making it difficult for end users to utilize resources effectively. Without the essential resources company growth was at a bottleneck. Breaking down the goals and objectives for the following project was essential in providing a remedy to the issue, they are as follows: Client must receive a current system image snapshot -Survey of a workstation must be documented -Survey of a server must be documented -Microsoft Baseline Security tool must be run saving each workstation along with the server A scheduled protocol plan must be provided articulating details for the client on overall performance and network stability. Client must be advised of a detailed schematic for preventative measures along with upkeep Client must be given an  instructional manual for managing updates related to the operating system and antivirus software Client must be given an estimate on productivity along with return of investment In order to present the deliverables to the client; a solid fundamental understanding of the clients requirements must be developed. Acquiring a background understanding is essential in order to understand the business process and what the client wants to achieve out of their network infrastructure. Without understanding the big picture the project would certainly fail. Pre-SurveyClientMeeting The goal and objective here was to initiate a meeting with the client to discuss the business orientation and the process relations to their workstations. The clients company being a training institution; certain software was required in order for the firm to achieve their business goals. The applications required minimum system specs in order to run efficiently. During the preliminary phase of the meeting the business model and goals were discussed. Operational hours were taken into consideration as a set schedule was established for performing the survey. As the meeting came to an end a survey schematic was brought to the client’s attention in order to calculate return on investment upon project completion (refer to Appendix 2). The success of the meeting was met and the first objective was complete. Upon the completion of the survey the client was provided with an executable plan laying out the details of the upgrade and preventative measures. However, the full execution will be help outside the Capstone; it will be the key highlight to the success of the business goals. Network Security Survey As a prerequisite to the survey several spreadsheets having been compiled for capturing images of data (refer to Appendix 3 along with Appendix 4). The first document entitles end user computers and second focuses on servers. As for the MBSA scans for each workstation; a thumb drive was used to save the results. Prior to beginning the survey an update was brought to my attention from the client that others may be working on these end-user machines as well. Because of my failure to follow through during the phone meeting advising of the time schedule, I needed to contact the  other administrators advising them of my presence. Fortunately, as I arrived at the designated project site there were many computers to survey. I began to survey the end-user machines not being surveyed. About 3 minutes elapsed for each workstation to survey; running Microsoft Baseline Security (MBSA) took about 11 minutes. Unfortunately, I have missed my goal of reaching the estimated number of computers being surveys as discussed in the preliminary meeting. The survey elapsed more time than I have predicted. On the other hand it was pleasant to know that the other administrators finished their portion of the project just in time before I got to them. Surveying the workstations went according to schedule, however, as I approached the servers several problems aroused. The list of passwords the client provided did not contain the correct characters as I attempted to log into the domain controller. The owner has left the building and was unable to achieve my goal with surveying the servers as planned thus leaving my network security survey incomplete. The following day the owner has been contacted and a scheduled return visit was planned. As the domain controller was surveyed; the security network part of the survey has been successfully completed. Despite the minor issues the survey went flawless; I would have followed through with the client more efficiently if the same scenario would have repeated itself. The desired goal has been achieved and a data image has been captured so the proposal upgrade can be finalized. Proposal Upgrade Preparation The upgrade proposal was designed to contain the following suggestions. Configuration of the Domain controller Configuration of the server Configuration of the workstation Suggestions for Malware/Antivirus Report for ROI Security guide for the end-user Timeline of Upgrade As assumptions defining the network configuration have been made. Unknowingly an assumption was made that the domain controller is established as the default gateway, DNS and DHCP server. I came to understand that their infrastructure was split into four subnets. ISA server was in between the  ISP acting as NAT, DNS, DHCP, and RRAS server. Logically understanding that their domain controller was their default gateway, DHCP, and DNS server; the services were contained on the internal network. Failing to understand the possibility of a network perimeter my assumptions were incorrect. Eventually I was able to complete each task item provided above; a presentation with the client would finalize this portion of the project. The task was completed, however, not within the desired timeframe. Presentation Proposal As the completion of the proposal has been achieved a client meeting has been scheduled. The agenda of the meeting is as follows: 1. Discussing survey results (network state) 2. Hardware discussion / software suggestions 3. Projected ROI and cost 4. Questions 5. Schedule implementation Despite the presentation lasting 2 hours it was a success. Proper planning along with a satisfying network survey were the predecessors leading to this success. The network survey went very smooth and efficient. The proposal was straight to the point and meaningful for the client. As the following goal completed and the deliverables presented to the client project completion has been achieved. Due to the clients satisfactions with the deliverables the project has moved forward to the next portion of the upgrade phase. Project Timeline The timeline of the project was compiled using a Gantt chart from the software Microsoft Office Project 2012. The project plan along with the details are listed in Figure B. As indicated in Figure B, the project time frame was expected to take 238 days.   Several areas took time constraint. First the network survey as previously indicated where I failed to follow through with the client after the preliminary phase of the meeting. This resulted in the client scheduling students on campus on the same timeframe as the survey. Fortunately, there  were enough end-user computers to perform the survey. In time the remainder of the students have left the building freeing up those workstations as well. Forgetting to get a confirmation of the amount of workstations at the preliminary meeting indivertibly resulted in my underestimation of the amount of time it would take to survey the total amount of workstations. The client password list for the domain controllers portrayed to be the only problem I have run into when performing the survey resulting in a setback. Because I have forgotten to request the following information from the client; the survey was setback from the estimated time for completion; resulting in a day setback. Compiling the proposal was another task that was miscalculated. Fortunately, I was able to finalize the project in one day thus keeping the project within the constraints of the timeline. Client satisfaction was the ultimate goal as they were very grateful. It is expected that situations as such will not always go accordingly to plan; however, without the clients support the project would not have gone as smooth. Planning a larger margin while taking a less aggressive attitude at the preliminary meeting would have avoided such issues. Project Development During the preliminary development of the following project, Aon Corps network infrastructure was heading in an unknown direction pertaining to its economic success. Instabilities in their security policy, workstations were exponentially getting slower each day. Students along with testers were losing hope in the integrity of the company. Their mindset was affecting performance along with business profit opportunities. The project I was assigned to revolve around building a business by updating their network infrastructure to a level of efficiency. The concentration of the project focused on performing an upgrade solution that would provide this efficiency to the client. Original snapshots of the network were based in the upgrade proposal plan which was used to optimize the network. The optimal goal of the project was to implement a network infrastructure that would be secure. Just like all problems issues aroused during the progression of the project. Students were scheduled to be in the building at the time of the survey; a work around was developed as I was able to hinder another classroom. Upon completion of the workstations I was able to come back to the student’s  classroom which was cleared. Rearranging the order of the computers that have been surveyed the issue was concealed. Another situation that derived during development happened when I discovered that the client has given me the incorrect domain controller password list which did not contain the server administrative passwords. The lack of the following information would have definitely resulted in the project failing. Rescheduling the visit with the owner has alleviated this scenario. Unfortunately, because of the rescheduling the timeline has been pushed back preventing me from completing the project within the completion period. Anticipating that the network domain controller would be a configured as a default gateway. Assumptions were proven wrong and the configuration process to longer than expected. Due to an ISA server on the network perimeter changes to the configurations proposal had to be made. Creating an ROI report was another unanticipated event that was requested upon the client. Determining the monetary cost was difficult when comparing the proposed and current network conditions. Consequently, changes had to be made to the customer question business survey to assist me in these calculations. Gracefully, the client was able to agree upon these terms. Actual and Potential Effects Majority of the following section will focus on potential effects due to the project being a proposal. The project effects can be conceived by indicating that the client had a clear perspective towards the network infrastructure and how in its previous state it has manipulated business continuity. The client experienced the previous state and was provided with a schematic to the current stable state. Empowering the client with the details providing them with a clear understanding influenced them to take action thus changing their network infrastructure to one that works efficiently. The potential positives to the following plan are as follows. Should the client comply with the proposal providing the solution to their network; they will be rewarded with a network that is optimally configured. This will result in network operating efficiency and business processes will maintain its integrity. Less classroom interruptions will arouse related to workstation issues. Students taking tests will be less frustrated due to server crashes along with workstations. Customer  confidence in Aon corp will increase. The potential of business growth will result from the following project. There will be an ease of urgency related to network related issues. The organization can now focus on its business model focusing on their clients. Conclusion The capstone portrayed to be exciting yet challenging providing to be rewarding as well. In terms of goals and objectives I believe that it was successful. Client satisfaction has been achieved as each goal and object has been delivered. The reason why it was so successful and effective is due to the methodical planning prior to the initiation of the project. The necessity of preparation along with the preliminary client meetings has given me the fundamental understand on how to start building the project. Building a plan has given me an effective tool to deliver the clients expectations. Attention to detail along with effective communication were advantage points that designed an effective proposal. The client was efficient in being proactive by understanding the problem at point and expressing their concerns. Together a proposed plan has been derived that would act as a roadmap to that optimal network infrastructure. Flexibility and client patience played an important role during the hiccup moments of the project. The ability to determine alternative routes in an event of hitting a wall is essential to the success of any project. As the project manager it was my pleasure to achieve the client’s deliverables along with the satisfaction that they truly deserve. References Keystone Strategy, Inc Study (2005). Why IT Matters in Midsized Firms. Retrieved January 31, 2007 from http://www.key inc.com/it_matters.shtml. Lowe, Scott (2004). Verify security settings on Windows XP using Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer 1.2. Retrieved June 23, 2007 from http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-1035_11-5221961.html. Microsoft (2007). City of Stratford Brings Down the Curtain on its Legacy System with Server Upgrade. Retrieved June 23, 2007 from http://www.microsoft.com/canada/casestudies/cityofstratford.mspx. Microsoft (2007). Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer. Retrieved June 23, 2007 from http://www.microsoft.com/technet/Security/tools/mbsahome.mspx. Microsoft (2007). Windows Vista Capable and Premium Ready PCs. Retrieved January 31, 2007 from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgr ade/capable.mspx. Sherman, Erik (2007). Investing in IT for a Competitive Edge. Retrieved January 31, 2007, from http://www.microsoft.com/business/momentum/content/article.aspx?c Appendix 1: Capstone Competency Matrix The graduate responds appropriately to diversity issues in the workplace. Implements an intuitive understanding of cultural and religious backgrounds; open to opinions in an attempt to understand diverse perspectives within the organization. Upper Division Collegiate Level Reasoning and Problem Solving The graduate analyzes open-ended problems by learning about the problem and evaluating the accuracy and relevance of different Quality control is effective at determining common occurrences in issues; therefore, updating rules/protocols alleviate the issue at point. Upper Division Collegiate Level Reasoning and Problem Solving The graduate recognizes the value of critical thinking in identifying and understanding the underlying structures of disciplines and professions. Organizational issues are indifferent each day; critical thinking along with brainstorming are essential in order to research a resolution to problematic issues. Upper Division Collegiate Level Reasoning and Problem Solving The graduate demonstrates effective presentational communication strategies in a given context. Applies trial  and error to mimic the problem; then applies extensive research in reaching a solution to the issue. The research along with the problem is then logged as evidence for future claims. Language and Communication The graduate applies foundational elements of effective communication Communicates effectively in a stressful environment providing attention to detail. Language and Communication The graduate demonstrates effective presentational communication strategies in a given context. Evaluates graphical representation software to determine a flaw or an instability in performance/security of the organization. Security The graduate identifies and discusses basic concepts of security and security threats, and recommends security procedures. Implements a secure environment for each individual client PC; educating users on the importance of potential threats to network security. Security The graduate identifies security needs and recommends appropriate security practices for network infrastructure. Educates staff on the importance of implementing sufficient tools and policies in an attempt to protect the integrity of data crucial to the organization infrastructure.