International Methods of Management - Career Week Project Report Term Paper

International Methods of Management - Career Week Project Report - Term Paper Example This calls for corporate effort from schools and districts in development of quality career week days based on standards. Such standard-based curriculum requires various crucial changes within domains of teaching methods, ways of running schools. Additionally, process on curriculum development should provide various opportunities for reflection and revision for purposes of ensuring frequent improvement and update. Development of high standard curriculum requires collaboration amongst educators, parents, community members and students. These shareholders are required to share their expertise in the creation of curriculum for quality student learning (Pattison and Berkas). Workshop The key sponsors of this project would be Career Services Center, Student Alumni Association and The Division of Student Affairs. The career week would offer opportunity for current students to connect to the rest of the world as well as exploring various professional options. This would be achieved through presentations, workshops as well as one-on-one mentoring with alumni and employers. There is need for students to start exploring their career options earlier enough. Career week assist in bridging the gap between academic major and career options since the events have potential of speaking to student needs irrespective of the background. The program focuses on organizational improvements as well as accommodating students from all walks of life including English speakers. Career week planning committee members Name of committee member Contact Chairman Group  : Address/Addressa  : Email  : Co-chair Group  : Address/Addressa  : Email  : Planning Committee members 1.Group  : Address/Addressa  : Email  : 2. Group  : Address/Addressa  : Email  : It’s all about deliverables Deliverables will take many forms, however in this project, they will be problem solvers, answering to the students’ expectations regarding the event. First of all, the current car eer week issues and problems pointed out by the students are listed below: Limited space for a significant number of people Restricted access to companies Companies were interested in French speakers only Poor time management / not enough time for several interviews Missing scheduled companies Misinformation: schedule difficult to understand No proper career week representatives Increasing the number of students participating in the event as well as improving relationship and communication will make significant progress after the following actions are undertaken: Better internal communication with students Take all students into consideration: International and French Internationally-oriented companies involved in the event Clear planning and continuous information transfer Appropriate and adapted spaces, welcoming as many students as possible Clearly designated career week official of which could be a white paper, a training course, a website, a position paper, or other specific te chnical solutions. Increase in the number of foreign

Sarbanes-Oxley Act Essay Example for Free

Sarbanes-Oxley Act Essay The Big Apple Strategy, an article by Mortimer Zuckerman, editor-in-chief at U. S News World Report, summarizes the down turn businesses in New York have suffered due to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Since 1950, New York has claimed to be the financial capital of the world; claiming the broadest liquid capital markets and highest concentration of the world’s financial firms. Yet in 2005, only two of the 25 largest international initial public offerings were issued using American capital markets. Mr. Zuckerman posits that this is due to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Sarbanes-Oxley was initially enacted in the wake of the Enron and Tyco scandals to provide investor protection, transparency, and accountability. Unfortunately, in order to comply with the provisions of the Act, companies have doubled budgets for outside audits that the law requires. While large companies are able to absorb increased costs of compliance, small and mid-cap companies have suffered under enormous increased costs. Sarbanes-Oxley has strained the relationship between corporate boards and management with the boards focusing more on compliance than competitive strategies. Class action lawsuits as a result of Sarbanes-Oxley have sky-rocketed with frivolous lawsuits. Mr. Zuckerman posits that the future trend is for companies to either remain private or go back to private status, or move operations overseas away from the American system of regulations. Ticket Master is one such company that has spent millions complying with Sarbanes-Oxley. For example, employees must account for every 15 minutes of their time spent on different work projects in a computerized data-base (Cimino, 2006). This allows Ticket Master to correctly identify for shareholders and board members where costs are being generated to be compliant with Sarbanes-Oxley. This time accounting is time consuming and keeping employees from focusing on projects to further company strategy. While regulation is necessary for sound corporate governance, when the regulations reach a tipping point that drives businesses out of the public sector and into more inviting environments, the United States business community loses. A revised version of Sarbanes-Oxley is needed in order to lower costs for smaller companies in the public markets.

Buyer Supplier Relationship in JIT Environment

Buyer Supplier Relationship in JIT Environment Executive Summary The main purpose of this proposal is to outline the research methodology that will be adopted to structure a dissertation on the Buyer supplier relationship in a JIT environment. The research will be mainly made upon a case study of mining company called Vale Inco. The area of focus will be on its UK refinery, based on the outskirts of London. The aim of this dissertation is to establish how lean or JIT manufacturing impacts the buyer supplier relationship in the organisation of focus and how they are evaluated and measured. A framework will be established for buyer supplier relationship model under JIT finally. The research project will follow three objectives to achieve the aim: The various factors involved in the development of buyer supplier relationship will be looked into and analysed. The external situations, the uncertainties surrounding JIT adaptation will be investigated. Furthermore, the conceptual and analytical relationship between JIT, supplier involvement and cooperation, and supply chain integration will be established and examined. The initial literature review has been conducted relating to buyer suppler relationship and JIT purchasing. Although the literature review is not extensive, this will be a continuous process throughout the period of research of this project. An outline of the research methodology that will be adopted is stated at the end. A case study based approach will be the main method of research. The final analysis will be by means of a triangulation method. Finally, a contingency plan is outlined in case of some unforeseen circumstances during the course of research. Introduction The purpose of this proposal is to define the methodology that will be used to structure a dissertation about the Buyer Supplier relationship in a JIT environment and the various factors affecting the supply chain. The research develops around the case study of a Brazilian mining company, Vale Inco, which transforms mineral resources into the essential ingredients of peoples everyday lives. The focus of this dissertation will be on the Acton Refinery based in UK. After presenting the business environment where the company operates, a literature review and a discussion on the chosen methodology will follow. Background Vale  Inco  is a  wholly owned subsidiary  of the  Brazilian  mining company  Vale. It is Vales nickel  mining  and  metals  division and is headquartered in  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada. It produces nickel,  copper,  cobalt,platinum,  rhodium,  ruthenium,  iridium,  gold, and  silver. Prior to being purchased by CVRD (now Vale) in 2006,  Inco  was the worlds second largest producer of  nickel, and the third largest mining company outside  South Africa  and  Russia  of platinum-group  metals. They have gross operating revenue of US$23.9 billion with net income of US$5.3 billion. The focus of this paper will be on Acton Refinery based in the outskirts of London. The Acton Refinery originally recovered precious metals from the residue obtained from the nickel refinery at Clydach, Wales. However, over its lifetime, Acton has become one of the worlds major refiners of platinum-group metals (PGMs) platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium and iridium, as well as gold and silver. It also processes primary mining concentrates and secondary materials such as recycled spent catalysts and electronic scrap. The plant has approximately 120 employees. Recently, Vale has started implementing Lean manufacturing in order to improve efficiency. The objective of lean is to create a system that is efficient and well organised and devoted to continuous improvement and the elimination of all forms of waste. Just In Time (JIT) is the backbone of the lean manufacturing system. Our focus will be on JIT purchasing and the buyer- supplier relationship in a JIT purchasing environment. Aims and objectives The aim of this dissertation is to establish how lean or JIT manufacturing impacts the buyer supplier relationship in the organisation of focus and how they are evaluated and measured. A framework will be established for buyer supplier relationship model under JIT finally. The research project will follow three objectives to achieve the aim: The various factors involved in the development of buyer supplier relationship will be looked into and analysed. The external situations, the uncertainties surrounding JIT adaptation will be investigated. Furthermore, the conceptual and analytical relationship between JIT, supplier involvement and cooperation, and supply chain integration will be established and examined. Literature Review A  literature review  is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge and or  methodological  approaches on a particular topic .A review of prior, relevant literature is an essential feature of any academic project. An effective review creates a firm foundation for advancing knowledge. It facilitates theory development, closes areas where a plethora of research exists, and uncovers areas where research is needed. (Webster and Watson 2002). This section will summarize previous research literature on Lean and JIT adaptation, the impact on the firms performance, supplier evaluation and the buyer supplier relationship and related issues. Specifically, the fundamental activities in JIT purchasing, the impact of JIT on the buyer supplier relationship and the supply chain integration will be discussed and reviewed. Lean JIT Manufacturing Heightened challenges from global competitors during the past 2 decades have prompted many manufacturing firms to adopt new manufacturing approaches (Hall  and  Meredith). Particularly salient among these is the concept of lean production (  Womack and Jones, 1996;  Womack et al., 1990). Lean production is a multi-dimensional approach that encompasses a wide variety of management practices, including just-in-time, quality systems, work teams, cellular manufacturing, supplier management, etc. in an integrated system. The core thrust of lean production is that these practices can work synergistically to create a streamlined, high quality system that produces finished products at the pace of customer demand with little or no waste. As mentioned earlier JIT is the backbone of Lean manufacturing. William J. Stevenson, in Production/Operations Management , defines the term just-in-time manufacturing as a repetitive production system in which processing and movem ent of material and goods occurs just as they are needed, usually in small batches (Stevenson, 1996). However, just-in-time (JIT) is more than an inventory system. JIT manufacturing is a philosophy by which an organization seeks continually to improve its products and processes by eliminating waste (Ptak, 1997). Since one purpose of JIT manufacturing is to reduce any waste and inefficiencies that do not add value to a product, it should come as no surprise that the JIT approach was developed in Japan a country with scarce resources and space limitations. Organizations wanting to use the JIT approach to manufacturing must have several building blocks in place. These building blocks were first established in the early 1950s by T. Ohno, former Executive Vice President of Toyota Motor Company (Ansari and Modarress, 1990). The building blocks include: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ company-wide commitment; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ proper materials at the right time; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ supplier relationships; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ quality; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ personnel. The JIT manufacturing approach can give organizations the necessary benefits required to survive, and perhaps even prosper, in an economy with increasingly scarce resources. The JIT manufacturing process eliminates wasted space and tied-up capital that can be allocated to alternative uses to improve the overall success of the organization (Ptak, 1997). In addition to ordering smaller batches of materials at the proper time, successful JIT organizations should keep the following requirements in mind: Just-in-time manufacturing Overall requirements for proper materials at the right time an acceptable level of quality; on-time delivery schedule; reasonable cost (Galhenage, 1997). According to Ballou (1992,pp.528) the entire supply channel is synchronized to respond to the requirements of operations or customers. The basic concept of JIT is that the material reaches the assembly or production line exactly at the right time and the right quantity. It works on the pull system rather than the conventional push system. In order for this to work the supplier plays a key role in a JIT environment. Buyer Supplier Relationship A competitive advantage exists for companies that are engaged in successful long-term buyer-seller relationships (Anderson and Narus, 1990; Badaracco, 1991; Dwyer, Schurr, and Oh, 1987; Jap and Ganesan, 2000; Ganesan, 1994; Noordewier, John, and Nevin, 1990).This makes it important for companies to understand what factors influence their relationships with other firms. An identification of the relative influence of these factors can be used to focus a companys efforts on the areas that are most important, improving the sustainable competitive advantage derived from that relationship (Takala and Uusitalo, 1996). The factors that influence relationships are reputation, performance satisfaction, trust, social bonds and comparison level of the trust, mutual goals, power/interdependence, cooperation and commitment Trust Trust is a fundamental relationship model building block and as such is included in most relationship models. Most definitions of trust involve a belief that one relationship partner will act in the best interests of the other partner. Below are four of the most often cited definitions of trust: 1. A willingness to rely on an exchange partner, in whom one has confidence (Moorman, Zaltman and Deshpande, 1992) 2. One party believes that its needs will be fulfilled in the future by actions taken by the other party. (Anderson and Weitz, 1990) 3. A partys expectation that another party desires coordination will fulfil obligations and will pull its weight in the relationship. (Dwyer, Schurr and Oh, 1987) 4. The belief that a partys word or promise is reliable and a party will fulfil his/her obligations in an exchange relationship. (Schurr and Ozanne, 1985) An integral element to achieve the reported benefits from more collaborative supplier relationships is the establishment of trust (Smith, Carroll and Ashford 1995). An interesting perspective on trust is that long term relationships may not require trust; rather the relationship may be based on the necessity of having a supplier or distributor (Kumar, 2005) In a JIT system trust becomes paramount as delivery schedules and quality of incoming material holds the key for the success of the system. Mutual Goals Mutual goal is defined as the degree to which partners share goals that can only be accomplished through joint action and the maintenance of the relationship. These mutual goals provide a strong reason for relationship continuance. Soni and OKeeffe (1994) suggest that mutual goals influence performance satisfaction which, in turn, influences the level of commitment to the relationship. Shared values are similar but broader concept. Morgan and Hunt (1994) define shared values as, the extent to which partners have beliefs in common about what behaviours, goals and policies are important, unimportant, appropriate or inappropriate, and right or wrong. Most likely mutual goals encourage mutuality of interest and it then becomes possible for both parties to achieve those goals. Goals can be better measured as compared to values and norms. Interdependence and Power This is one of the key issues that lead to breakdown in relationships between the buyer and the supplier. Interdependence and power imbalance are important relationship variables. The power of a buyer or supplier is closely related to its interrelationship with each other and its partners. Anderson and Weitz (1990) defined power imbalance as the ability of one partner to get the other partner to do something they would not normally do. Han, Wilson and Dant (1993) found that both buyers and sellers saw the need to increase interdependence on the other. The level of interdependence can be measured with its percentage of purchase or sales according to the framework provided by Hill Hill (2009). Figure1: Customer/supplier dependence. % of a customers purchases that come from one supplier Supplier is dominant Customer and supplier are mutually dependent Customer and supplier are independent of one another Customer is dominant % of a suppliers sales that go to one customer Source: adapted from Hill Hill (2009), p.279 Another school of thought is that the effect of buyer-supplier power on relationships between the two parties is one of both facilitation and constraint (Cox  et al., 2003). If the buyer, for example, is in a dominant position over the supplier (and there is a degree of stability to that dominance) then that dominance will facilitate considerable discretion over the conduct and commercial outcome of the relationship. However, if the buyer is in a dependent position vis-à  -vis the supplier, then that dependence will act as a constraint on its ambitions. For example, the desire by the buyer to initiate collaboration may not be reciprocated by the supplier. Even where it is reciprocated, the supplier may try to take a disproportionate share of the gains of any collaboration. Fig 2 : Buyer Supplier Relationship Style The model that informs this paper is based upon the above principles. There are two main elements to the model (Figure 2). First, there is the identification of the dimensions of buyer-supplier relationships. The model posits that buyer-supplier relationships consist of two main dimensions. On one hand, the way in which the two parties interact the extremes here being arms-length and collaborative. On the other, the manner in which the surplus value from the relationship is shared between the two parties the three generic possibilities being the buyer taking the majority share, the supplier taking the majority share or the surplus value being shared equally. If the ideal-typical scenarios for both dimensions are combined, it can be seen that there are six generic relationship types that can exist between the buyers and suppliers (Cox  et al., 2003). Cooperation Anderson and Narus (1990) describe cooperation as coordinated actions taken by firms in interdependent relationships to achieve mutual goals, and in this manner, both parties cooperate in order to benefit from the relationship. Cooperation requires input from both sides and both sides working to achieve the best solution with coordinated efforts producing outcomes better than one firm will achieve alone (Anderson and Narus, 1990) Cooperation implies an ongoing relationship where the structure or boundaries of that relationship have already been established and where this cooperation must take place in order for that relationship to continue. Commitment Lawler and Yoon (1993) describe commitment as an emotional attachment to a group in which members will tend to remain in the relationship and do things not necessary to maintain the relational exchange Relationship commitment exists when each partner believes that an ongoing relationship is so important as to warrant maximum efforts to maintain it to ensure it endures indefinitely (Morgan and Hunt, 1994) Commitment to the relationship exists as an enduring desire to maintain a valued relationship (Moorman et al., 1992) Methodology Choice of methodology The research strategy will be interpretative and based on the case study of the international enterprise. An inductive approach will be deployed and primary data will be collected through interviews of the organisations employees and senior management; therefore gathered information will be both qualitative (mainly) and quantitative. The methodology of the project has been decided in accordance with the onion scheme provided by Saunders (2009). Adapted from Saunders et al. (2009, p.138) Quantitative and Qualitative study There are two kinds of research methods, as mentioned earlier quantitative and qualitative. It is imperative to choose the appropriate kind of method for the given circumstance. Qualitative methods produce information only on the particular cases studied, and any more general conclusions are only hypotheses. Quantitative methods can be used to verify, which of such hypotheses are true. Quantitative research is generally made using  scientific methods, which can include: The generation of models, theories and hypotheses The development of instruments and methods for measurement Experimental control and manipulation of  variables Collection of empirical data Modeling and analysis of data Evaluation of results   The qualitative method investigates the  why  and  how  of  decision making, not just  what, where,  when. Hence, smaller but focused  samples  are more often needed, rather than large  samples. Qualitative methods produce information only on the particular cases studied, and any more general conclusions are only hypotheses (informative guesses).  Quantitative methods  can be used to verify which of such hypotheses are true. Usually a mix of both methods is used in order to get good results from the research. In qualitative method new theories and structures are built upon existing theories and collected data. While on the other hand quantitative method builds up a hypothesis based on the existing theories and data and then tests its credibility. Data Collection Methods Preliminary Literature review has already been conducted as mentioned earlier. However, further review of the existing literature will be done throughout the period of research until the submission of the draft project. Due to limited time frame review of the research till date and secondary research needs to be conducted within the course of the stipulated time frame. A continuous review process will ensure any new literature will be incorporated to the project and factored into the analysis of the project. Two kinds of data can be collected during a research: primary information and secondary information. Primary information is data collected for the first time by the researcher himself and it is fundamental to make the study be as close as possible to reality. The problem of this kind of data is that the observers influence on an information source, misunderstandings of purposes and inaccurate measurements can affect them. Secondary information is data already gathered and collected in books, newspapers, databases, etc. However it might not be comparable with a new study because of different purposes or conditions it was collected for. Primary information can be gathered in three different ways: interviews, observations and experiments. Case study Yin (2009) defined a case study as an empirical inquiry which investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, without necessarily separating phenomenon itself and context. A case study based approached will be adopted for this particular research with the focus on Vale Inco. After briefly defining the working of the company and its purchase team an interview with its purchase manager and senior buyers will be conducted from where primary data will be collected. This data will be then analysed by means of a triangulation method. Triangulation Method: Triangulation is broadly defined by Denzin (1 978: 291) as the combination of methodologies in the study of the same phenomenon. Given basic principles of geometry, multiple viewpoints allow for greater accuracy. Similarly, organizational researchers can improve the accuracy of their judgments by collecting different kinds of data bearing on the same phenomenon. Thus, the convergence or agreement between more than one method enhances our belief that the results are valid and not a methodological artefact (Bouchard, 1976: 268). . Research Limitations The selected combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches is aimed at reducing the limitation of research. However, the case study based approach gives a one dimensional view of the issue at hand and does not give a general idea of the overall scenario. Also, the interviews with the employees of the considered company gives a one sided perspective of the relationship. Also with the question of supplier co operation comes into picture, as the amount of co operation the suppliers might extend towards this research is unknown at this moment of time. Also in case the company concerned withdraws its interest in the research project or a during the course of the research a road block is encountered, a contingency plan is essential. In such a scenario the focus of attention will be shifted to another company which in most likelihood will be Transweigh Ind Ltd (Indian manufacturing company).

Comparing Henry Miller and Jack Kerouac Essay -- Authors Writers Big S

Comparing Henry Miller and Jack Kerouac I. Introduction It has never been an uncommon thing for one to retreat to nature in an attempt to ‘find one’s self,’ and somewhat clichà © these days is the retreat to nature to ‘find God.’ Hundreds of books, essays, seminars, and retreats devote themselves to helping one understand how to find enlightenment and healing through connecting with nature. It is a phenomenon that transcends religious boundaries—everyone, from Buddhists to Christian Mystics to Quakers, seems to think that the key (or, at least, one of the keys) to enlightenment lies in nature. As one may suppose, this is not a new concept. Throughout literary history, there is a distinct trend of authors praising the virtues of nature, singing of the peace that it brings and the enlightening attributes of these places away from the noise and clutter of the cities. Shakespeare tells of finding â€Å"tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, [and] sermons in stone†(Shakespeare); William W ordsworth implores us to let nature be our teacher; Goethe claims that there is rest and respite on the mountain top; and George Washington Carver admits that he tries commune with nature everyday. It seems that from Henry David Thoreau right down to contemporary authors, no generation or writing period has been devoid of at least one prolific author who takes to nature in order to find the answers. Two such authors, searching for†¦well, searching for that certain enlightenment and repose that can only be found in nature, were Henry Miller and Jack Kerouac. And despite the fact that Big Sur, California, is the chosen destination for revelation for both authors and that both authors are torn between the introspective qualities of being ‘secluded,’ and the desire for connectedness to society, they were from (moderately) different lifestyles and backgrounds and viewed the revelations that nature bestowed to them individually quite differently. By contrasting the situations and temperaments of the two authors, one can begin to see why their experiences differed so greatly. II. Henry Miller Henry Miller, born in December of 1891, spent the majority of his childhood in Brooklyn (†Henry Miller† 1). He attended high school, but never finished college; instead, he worked a variety of jobs that never lasted long, from driving a cab to working in a library (ibid.). In 1917, he ma... ...city (thus, they are very occupied with what is happening in their community.) This seems to be Miller’s salvation, while at the same time being Kerouac’s downfall. Regardless of why it worked for one and not the other, it is evident that both sought what so many today seek: to connect themselves with God and to find peace by submersing themselves in nature. Bibliography â€Å"Beat Page, The.† Rooknet.com. 4 December 2004. Ferguson, Robert. Henry Miller: A Life. New York: W W Norton & Co Inc, 1993. â€Å"Henry Miller.† 1. Levity.com. 7 December 2004. â€Å"Henry Miller.† 2. Literary Kicks. 7 December 2004. â€Å"Jack Kerouac.† Literary Kicks. 4 December 2004. Kenedi, Aaron and John Miller, eds. â€Å"Henry Miller-Big Sur.† Where Inspiration Lives: Writers, Artists, and Their Creative Places. Navato: New World Library, 2003. Kerouac, Jack. Big Sur. New York: Peguin Books, 1992. Miller, Henry. Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch. New York: New Direction Publishing Corporation, 1957. Shakespeare, William. â€Å"As You Like It.† 1623. Literature Online. Proquest Learning and Information Company. Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, MT., 2 January 2005.

Information Security Classification Essay

Information Security is simply the process of keeping information secure: protecting its availability, integrity, and privacy (Demopoulos). With the advent of computers, information has increasingly become computer stored. Marketing, sales, finance, production, materials, etc are various types of assets which are computer stored information. A large hospital is an institution which provides health care to patients. They are staffed by doctors, nurses, and attendants. Like any large organization, a hospital also has huge amounts of data and information to store. Hospitals have increasingly become automated with computerized systems designed to meet its information needs. According to the Washtenaw Community College website, the following types of information are stored in a Hospital: †¢ Patient information †¢ Clinical laboratory, radiology, and patient monitoring †¢ Patient census and billing †¢ Staffing and scheduling †¢ Outcomes assessment and quality control †¢ Pharmacy ordering, prescription handling, and pharmacopoeia information †¢ Decision support †¢ Finance and accounting †¢ Supplies, inventory, maintenance, and orders management Viruses, worms and malware are the most common threats to information security. In computers, a virus is a program or programming code that replicates by being copied or initiating it’s copying to another program, computer boot sector or document (Harris, 2006). Floppy disks, USB drives, Internet, email are the most common ways a virus spreads from one computer to another. Computer viruses have the potential to damage data, delete files or crash the hard disk. Many viruses contain bugs which can cause system and operating system crashes. Computer worms are malicious software applications designed to spread via computer networks (Mitchell). They also represent a serious threat to information security. Email attachments or files opened from emails that have executable files attached are the way worms spread. A Trojan is a network software application designed to remain hidden on an installed computer. Software designed to monitor a person’s computer activity surreptitiously and which transmits that information over the internet is known as spy ware (Healan, 2005). Spy ware monitors information using the machine on which it is installed. The information is transmitted to the company for advertising purposes or sold to third party clients. Identity theft and data breaches are two of the biggest problems facing Information security managers. Hackers steal Social Security numbers, credit card data, bank account numbers and other data to fund their operations. There are other potential threats to the hospital information like power outages, incompetent employees, equipment failure, saboteurs, natural disasters, etc. A large hospital requires an information classification policy to ensure that information is used in appropriate and proper manner. The use of the information should be consistent with the hospital’s policies, guidelines and procedures. It should be in harmony with any state or federal laws. The hospital’s information should be classified as follows: 1. Restricted 2. Confidential 3. Public Restricted information is that which can adversely affect the hospital, doctors, nurses, staff members and patients. Its use is restricted to the employees of the hospital only. Finance and accounting, supplies, inventory, maintenance, and orders management are restricted information which comes in this category. Confidential information includes data on patients which must be protected at a high level. Patient information, clinical laboratory, radiology, and patient monitoring are some of the information which comes in this category. It can also include information whose disclosure can cause embarrassment or loss of reputation (Taylor, 2004). Public information includes data which provides general information about the hospital, its services, facilities and expertise to the public. Security at this level is minimal. This type of information requires no special protection or rules for use and may be freely disseminated without potential harm (University of Newcastle, 2007). Information Classification Threat Justification Patient information Confidential Disclosure or removal Any disclosure or removal can cause serious consequences to the patient Clinical laboratory, radiology, and patient monitoring Confidential Disclosure or removal Any disclosure or removal can cause serious consequences to the patient Finance and accounting, supplies, inventory, maintenance, and orders management Restricted Loss or destruction Any loss or destruction of this information could be very dangerous for the organization General information about the hospital, its services, facilities and expertise Public Low threat Low threat since the information is public. It would affect public relations however. Research Information Confidential Disclosure or removal This is confidential material since its exposure would cause serious consequences for the hospital Figure: Classification table Information is an asset for the hospital. The above information classification policy defines acceptable use of information. They are based according to the sensitivity of the information. According to the government of Alberta information security guideline, there are four criteria are the basis for deciding the security and access requirements for information assets. These criteria are: Integrity: information is current, complete and only authorized and accurate changes are made to information; Availability: authorized users have access to and can use the information when required; Confidentiality: information is only accessed by authorized individuals, entities or processes; and Value: intellectual property is protected, as needed. Information security must adequately offer protection through out the life span of the information. Depending on the security classification, information assets will need different types of storage procedures to ensure that the confidentiality, integrity, accessibility, and value of the information are protected. The hospital director must be responsible for the classification, reclassification and declassification of the hospital’s information. The information security policy must be updated on a regular basis and published as appropriate. Appropriate training must be provided to data owners, data custodians, network and system administrators, and users. The information security policy must also include a virus prevention policy, intrusion detection policy and access control policy. A virus prevention policy would include the installation of a licensed anti virus software on workstations and servers. The headers of emails would also be scanned by the anti virus software to prevent the spread of malicious programs like viruses. Intrusion detection systems must be installed on workstations and servers with critical, restricted and confidential data. There must be a weekly review of logs to monitor the number of login attempts made by users. Server, firewall, and critical system logs should be reviewed frequently. Where possible, automated review should be enabled and alerts should be transmitted to the administrator when a serious security intrusion is detected. Access to the network and servers and systems should be achieved by individual and unique logins, and should require authentication. Authentication includes the use of passwords, smart cards, biometrics, or other recognized forms of authentication. This policy is the access control policy. It prevents unauthorized access to critical data. A large hospital like any organization today uses computers to store its information. The classification of its data is a very important goal to protect it from threats like viruses, Trojans, worms, spy ware, ad ware and hackers. Natural disasters and incompetent employees are another type of threats to the hospital’s data. A proper information security policy can protect the organization’s critical data from any external or internal threat. Bibliography Allen, Julia H. (2001). The CERT Guide to System and Network Security Practices. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley. 0-201-73723-X. Krutz, Ronald L. ; Russell Dean Vines (2003). The CISSP Prep Guide, Gold Edition, Indianapolis, IN: Wiley. 0-471-26802-X. Layton, Timothy P. (2007). Information Security: Design, Implementation, Measurement, and Compliance. Boca Raton, FL: Auerbach publications. 978-0-8493-7087-8. McNab, Chris (2004). Network Security Assessment. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly. 0-596-00611-X. Peltier, Thomas R. (2001). Information Security Risk Analysis. Boca Raton, FL: Auerbach publications. 0-8493-0880-1.

research paper on Somalia essays

research paper on Somalia essays The nation of Somalia faces many difficulties. Political, agricultural, civil, economical, famine, poverty, and the separation of the country into several little parts owned and run by warlords is making Somalia need financial aid by other countries. Somalia barely has any government. These warlords run almost the entire country. The warlords often fight against each other and several innocent people die because of this fighting. When other countries have tried to give Somalia aid with food and other supplies the warlords would take the supplies and distribute them to only the people they wanted to have the supplies. One of the several major issues that are occurring in Somalia is their government. Somalias government once was run by military leaders. They ran the government from 1969 to 1991. Then in 1991 a rebel group called the United Somalia Congress overthrew the harsh military government. The rebels believed that the military government was unfair and needed to leave. Then when the United Somalia Congress government became in charge of the Somalia, they could not hold the government up and the United Somalia Congress split into rival clan factions and fighting broke out in the capitol. Other rival groups took over parts of the country, and Somalia was left without a government. As of September 1991, Somalia is effectively under control of as many as twelve rival clans and sub clans. The major issue is affecting the entire country. The issue has been occurring since 1991 till present day. Somalia was left without a government because the rebels couldnt handle running the country a nd the government, and so the entire country fell into chaos. Somalia isnt really attempting to help anything because there is no where to begin a new government. The effects of the major cause are terrible on Somalia. Not having any government is tremendously hurting the people of Somalia. The only people that thi...

Essay about Writing Assignment

Essay about Writing Assignment Essay about Writing Assignment Writing Assignment #2 The topic of dreams and their relative function or purpose has long been a topic of research and discussion. â€Å"Evolutionary psychologists have proposed that dreams may offer a safe way to rehearse ways of dealing with dangerous situations† (Franklin & Zyphur, 2005, as cited by Zimbardo, Johnson, & McCann, 2009, pp 351). Antti Revonsuo is in agreement with these evolutionary psychologists and has developed the Threat-Simulation Theory (TST) that suggests dreaming serves an evolutionary function. Revonsuo’s TST suggests that dreaming is specialized in the simulation of threatening events which provides an offline context in which threat perception and avoidance skills could be rehearsed (Revonsuo & Valli, 2008). According to Revonsuo and Valli (2008), â€Å"The main predictions of the TST are that threatening events are frequent and overrepresented in dreams, that exposure to real threats activates the threat-simulation system, and thats dream threats contain rea listic rehearsals of threat avoidance responses†. The TST also predicts that individuals that experience more real life threats will produce more threat-simulations and have more effective simulated responses (Revonsuo & Valli, 2008). Revonsuo conducted a study in which, according to his research, proves the TST to be true. Susan Malcolm- Smith and Mark Solms re-tested Revonsuo’s theory in which they state their research evidence contradicts the key aspects of the TST. Sampling In the study conducted by Revonsuo, Valli, Palkas, Ismail, Ali, and Punamaki, The threat simulation theory of the evolutionary function of dreaming: Evidence from dreams of traumatized children (2003), they sample and compare 187 children from Kurdish, Iraq and Finland. From this point forward I will refer to this study as â€Å"Revonsuo’s study†. This study used a sample of 117 children from the highly traumatized area of Kurdish. These children were split into two groups according to their relative reported amount of trauma experienced. The amount of trauma was determined based on a scale of 20 items referring to events typically experienced by children of this area. The Trauma group, or the children that experienced the most amount of trauma, consisted of 64 children ages 9-17 (M/F=28/36). The Control group, or the children that experienced the lesser amount of trauma of Kurdish children, consisted of 53 children ages 9-17(M/F=20/33). The sample of non-traumatized ch ildren came from a Finnish sample that had experienced significantly less environmental, political or military traumatic experiences. This Non- Trauma group consisted of 70 children ages 7-12 (M/F=23/47). In the study conducted by Malcolm-Smith and Solms, Incidence of threat in dreams: A response to Revonsuo’s threat simulation theory (2004), the research sample came from a group of undergraduate students at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. From this point forward I wil refer to this study as the â€Å"Malcolm-Smith’s study†. The authors state that violence and trauma are commonplace in South Africa (Malcolm-Smith & Solms, 2004). There were 401 participants (M/F=100/301) and the research only states that the median age of the sample is 20 years. I see many issues with these samplings. Again, I believe that if Malcolm-Smith and Solms were looking to replicate the previous Revonsou study than the sampling should have been more comparable in all aspects. Malcolm-Smith’s study only selected one group from a high trauma environment, there was no non-trauma group selected in which to compare results, the age range is not provided, the median age is much higher, and the male:female ratio is skewed much more than in Revonsuo’s study. Malcolm-Smith’s study also used college educated participants. It is much more likely that this group has knowledge of psychology and research methods than do the Revonsuo sample. I do not believe these sample groups are comparable. Data Collection and Method In Revonsuo’s

Children and the Net essays

Children and the Net essays The U.S. created the Internet in the 1960s as a communications tool for the military, it was not until after the government opened it to the public in the late 1980s that the Internet became a unique phenomenon. Nobody could predict the speed by which people all over the world captured this new form of technological communication. In 1995, there were an estimated 56 million Internet users worldwide; by 1999, this figure topped over 200 million. This tremendous growth has caused something that our world has never seen before; for the first time in history, the governments of this planet are facing something that is larger than all of them combined . . . . .and they are terrified. Parents are terrified too, they are concerned that children are vulnerable to what they see and read on the Internet, therefore pornography, hate propaganda, and violent content are confusing the childrens mind and veering them to be emotionally destructive. Parents are concerned that the Internet makes pornographic, hateful, violent, profane and destructive content too easily accessible to their children. A wealth of information is readily available to those who possess the technological means to access and contribute to it. It is the place where "any person can become a town crier with a voice that resonates farther than it could from any soapbox" (Sheremata 22). This makes the Internet a very powerful and positive forum for free expression. Pornography is behind the counter at any local convenience store. The pornographic magazines may be there, but they are blocked and regulated to a certain age. Of course, children do not have access to this pornographic medium. They do, however, have easy access to the Net through their homes, schools, and libraries. The access eventually lures the children in, but if that access was not existent their sex drive would eventually diminish. ...

Media effects of societies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Media effects of societies - Research Paper Example As a matter of fact, these operations have proven both positive and negative impact on receivers. In particular, the effects of media or new media (specifically) have put a great impact on Middle Eastern societies in past few years. This paper aims to discuss the effects of media evident in the Middle Eastern Societies with the help of assessment of news media by Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman in Manufacturing Consent: the Political Economy of the Mass Media. Many media conservatives have asserted that it is the negative role of media that had inflicted rebellious vibe among the nations in Middle East. As an assertion to counter the aforementioned argument, it was well stated by media practitioners that media has just helped the nations to understand their rights and duties. A news channel, a newspaper, a website or a radio station cannot actually make people to join the protest. There are other factors which are needed to begin a revolution (McPhail, 2011). These counter arguments a ctually help us understanding the facts and figures. People who have been ignorant about their roles and rights in Egypt and Syria began to understand their roles in the society with the help of media wave. In particular, youth who were involved in using new media get to understand their rights. ... Mainly social media has allowed the relationship between state and nation to become open. For the western regions of the world, the ease of communication between state and nation is appreciated (Mellor, Rinnawi, Dajani, & Ayish, 2013). On the other hand, in Middle Eastern countries, it is rather considered as a threat to the sovereignty of the state power. Precisely, the regime of governance in Middle Eastern countries is authoritative in nature that does not allow the viewpoints of nation to be considered as significant. The effect of media i.e. is the pace of feedback has rather made it difficult for the authoritative governments of the world to control the flow of information (Mellor, Rinnawi, Dajani, & Ayish, 2013). In addition, the effects of media have been noted as effective in the field of telecommunication. Let alone in the year of 2010, the selling of Smartphones has increased by large in Middle Eastern countries. The subscription of internet utility packages has skyrockete d in Middle Eastern societies. Consequently, telecommunication sector of Middle Easter region has become effective in contributing to the GDP in respective countries (Khaddim, 2013). In return, society is able to put impact on media communication as well. It should be noted that news channels and other mediums broadcast communication that is demanded by the society. If media will not broadcast the demanded content then they will have to bear loss of viewership. Another stakeholder that has been long involved in having impact on media is the advertisers (Ward, 2013). The cost of bringing communication sources to the processing is higher which is actually managed with the amount of money received by advertising campaigns. Other than public and advertisers, it is

Using business concepts and other information relevant to the study of Essay

Using business concepts and other information relevant to the study of organizational structure and culture - Essay Example The project makes an analysis of Greggs the Bakers, which operates as one of the largest retail bakery chain in UK. The company had started as a very small concern but has demonstrated rapid growth and now has more than 1400 outlets. It is even listed in the London Stock Exchange and has plans to expand its outlets even further. The project aims to bring forth the changes occurring in the company with special relevance to the business theories and concepts. Special emphasis has been provided with regards to the company’s change strategies with were implemented through the use of innovative techniques and mechanisms and with the introduction of such products which were unique and not produced by any of its competitors. Changes taking place in Greggs the Bakers Greggs and Bakers have been demonstrating rapid organizational change. Organizational change is the process in which organizations move from their present state to a desired future state with the view of attaining effecti veness (Jones, 2008, p.10). The objective is to optimize its use of resources and using them in improved ways such that the organization is able to add to its value and consequently improve its performance. The rapid growth of the firm from small scale bakery to one of the largest bakery chain in the world demonstrates the company’s dramatic organizational change. The change process includes numerous acquisitions of bakeries and expansion steps. During the 1990s, the company was most aggressive in its expansion strategies and took over as many as numerous Bakery Oven chains of more than 100 shops in the year 1994. In fact in another four years, the company’s number of shops exceeded 1000 and by the year 2010, the number crossed 1500. This included its first all night store which was established in Birmingham. It primarily supplies its products from its large bakeries, however, a number of shops of the company also have their own bakeries. In terms of the number and sca le of is outlets, the company possesses double the numbers of stores in Britain than Starbucks, about 300 stores more than Subway and 200 numbers of stores more than McDonalds. This shows the rate at which the company has grown and has been successful in expanding its operations across the United Kingdom. Application of business theories and concepts Gaining Competitive Advantage The company tried to develop on its core competencies in order to achieve competitive advantage in the market. In fact it has been successful in doing so by producing its own unique products, maintaining its qualities and own system of distribution (Hill & Jones, 2009, p.6). The company introduced its own recipes and dishes. Its bakery product like the sandwiches, which are made freshly on the premises and their sausage rolls accounts few of the special dishes that has found immense popularity among masses. These recipes are sold by more than 2 million numbers in a week. It also sells a large range of other baker fresh stuff and other local special dishes which are primarily for the high street customers. The company has been trying to its operations using its unique products to different parts of the world. Promoting efficiency, speed and efficiency The promotion of efficiency, innovation and speed comprises of few of the major changes that the organization implemented in order to add value. The better the organization functions, the faster is it able to create value in the form of better production of goods and services. Research reveals that the capacity of organizations to create values is directly related to its ability to use innovative measures and better ways of producing quality goods and services (Jones-a, 2010, p.14). The company tried

Database Design Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Database Design Project - Essay Example This paper presents a detailed analysis of basic areas of the new technology. Data and information are the most valuable resources for any business or corporation. Therefore, the development and implementation of databases to store this valuable business for corporate working has turned out to be a major part of almost every corporation or business sector. In addition, this development and implementation of the databases has offered great advantages to the organizations for an effective management of their business activities. This paper throws light on the development and analysis of a database system for â€Å"Mayo Clinic Medical Center† that is health care business with a variety of off-site campuses interacting within its health system. This business is operating through different working and business problems. The main objective behind this research is to outline the problem areas and then suggesting most suitable solution for these problems. Mayo Clinic Medical Center is a health care business that is working through a chain of off-site campuses. The working of this business is traditional in nature and relying upon the manual ways of data and information handling. In this business, there is an utmost need of a constant link among the distant working teams and main campuses. To serve this purpose, they need well qualified staff and suitable office structure. Now the management of the Mayo Clinic Medical Center has decided to establish a new database technology framework for the corporate. The main intention of the Mayo Clinic Medical Center management is to potentially improve the overall corporate performance and working capabilities. As discussed above the business of Mayo Clinic Medical Center is currently running through manual ways. In such scenario, the overall workload and working style is more rigid. All these problems lead to less effective working performance. At present, the data

Dealing with Low Demand and Void Properties Essay

Dealing with Low Demand and Void Properties - Essay Example Controlling antisocial behaviors should also be priority for the management of void property. Many properties have been void for over five months, and the duration is likely to increase. Managing the void properties is a task that the landlords should take and improve the performance of the homes (Kennedy and Dugan, 2004, 6). Low demand properties are those that are often rejected by willing customers. A low demand property is characterized by a small waiting list; the property being refused for weighty reasons by potential tenants and elevated rates of occupancy earnings for other property in the area. An outdated design and poor location can result to a property becoming a low demand property (Empty Homes, 2004, 4). A large number of void properties exist in the urban settings. For example, in UK, there exist 860,000 void homes (Bramley, Pawson and Third, 2000). The reasons why these houses become empty are because of low educational status, high unemployment rate, reduced life expectancy and antisocial behavior. Whenever there are large numbers of void homes in a place, then it is the task of the property-owner and the community to determine how they will solve the problem. Emphasis is put on dealing with void properties by satisfying the problem of low supply, elevated prices and unsuitable housing and also low demand. There is the significance of maximizing the utilization of housing stock in areas where the demand is high (Hiscocks, Lee and Shelter Cymru, 2009, 5). However, in areas where demand is low, it is critical to understand the causes of the low demand. The allocation policies are a sustainable way of dealing with low demand. Social issues are usually visible in these areas and are identifiable by the deprived physical environment and void properties. Void properties usually attract different antisocial behaviors such as vandalism, arson and fly

Family Values Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Family Values - Essay Example She was caught off guard and humiliated over something small. Although the teacher has rules, to humiliate a child in front of the entire class was not the best idea that was available. Because of the way that Emily handled this situation, she is clearly in Kohlberg's Preconventional Morality stage and within stage one (Gould, 2009, p. 2). In this stage, she is more afraid of punishment than she is about going back to the class. In this situation, she was following the rules and the teacher created a situation that made her leave the class rather than face the embarrassment of going back. She avoids punishment by not going back to class and not telling her parents what happened. The teacher could have called Emily to his desk or asked her to speak to him after class. If he had done so, this would have given Emily a chance to explain t him what had happened instead of being humiliated in front of the class. Emily could have talked to her parents about the situation immediately so that it did not move into more fear. Unfortunately, from the case study, it did not seem that she was able to talk to her parents about it perhaps because of fear of punishment. Her parents do not seem to be involved very much with Emily because they were not suspicious of her wanting to stay out of school, although this was out of the ordinary for her. In the classroom situation, Emily has been classically conditioned to do what she is told and follow the rules. She may also have to follow rules at home without question. Because of this, she seems to have a high level of anxiety when she has to confront a situation as she did in Mr. Robinson's class. According to Richards and Blanchette (2004), classical conditioning can be used to understand how to work with people who have challenges with emotions. In this situation, it would have been beneficial for Emily to talk to her friend or to her parents about the situation.

Right, Wrong and the Truth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Right, Wrong and the Truth - Essay Example It is easy to find a person who might even kill someone else just to be able to get his hands on some wealth. Bertrand Russell writes, â€Å"Philosophy, if it cannot answer so many questions as we could wish, has at least the power of asking questions which increase the interest of the world, and show the strangeness and wonder lying just below the surface even in the commonest things of daily life.† Ethics play a very important role in the life of any kind of a citizen; may he be a layman or a business man. In every part of life, every man has the choice of being where he is, choosing the decisions that he must take in order to make his own life better, and having the choice of stepping on other people’s dreams to do the same or not. In business for example, ethics play an important role when people decide to cheat or not to cheat by selling bad quality products to consumers. Again, the question of what is right and what is wrong arises over here because morally speaki ng, it is wrong to cheat people and have them pay a higher price for something that is not worthy of the same. According to historical norms, various customs that have been taking place since times immemorial still find their way within our modern lives. However, some of these customs are banned according to the legal system within countries because they are simply very immoral in nature. For example, in earlier times, discrimination and slavery played a very important role in the lives of the upper class; however today, it is against the law to be discriminating against any person on any basis including gender, caste, creed, race etc. Thus, this is a question of both ethics and morality because it helps to understand what may be closer to being right and what may be morally accepted by society at large without harming the maximum number of people involved in the process. In many cases, the truth is far from what may be right or wrong and not many people can do something to change t hat. For example, it might be wrong to practice female infanticide in parts of the world, however, the truth is that many tribes and families have been practising it for a long time in remote areas and will not stop because it has almost become custom like. In villages in India, it is tough for people to stop practising this heinous act because they are not aware of its implications and carry it out because it is a tradition for them to be able to give birth to a boy. Coming back to socio cultural dimensions around the world, again, the idea of understanding what may be right or wrong is almost funny. It is like explaining the theory of brightness and darkness to a blind person. For the blind man, the darkness in his world holds a different kind of colour altogether that a normal person will never be able to understand. At the same time, someone who is colour-blind sees the world in a different manner than a person who is able to differentiate between colours easily. Thus, it all bo ils down to a matter of perspective; today what may seem right to one group of people may be extremely wrong in the eyes of the other. The world is made up of different kinds of people who hold different thoughts and notion within their minds. It is very difficult to be able to change people’s minds and get them to believe in what a single person might be thinking.

Dealing with Low Demand and Void Properties Essay

Dealing with Low Demand and Void Properties - Essay Example Controlling antisocial behaviors should also be priority for the management of void property. Many properties have been void for over five months, and the duration is likely to increase. Managing the void properties is a task that the landlords should take and improve the performance of the homes (Kennedy and Dugan, 2004, 6). Low demand properties are those that are often rejected by willing customers. A low demand property is characterized by a small waiting list; the property being refused for weighty reasons by potential tenants and elevated rates of occupancy earnings for other property in the area. An outdated design and poor location can result to a property becoming a low demand property (Empty Homes, 2004, 4). A large number of void properties exist in the urban settings. For example, in UK, there exist 860,000 void homes (Bramley, Pawson and Third, 2000). The reasons why these houses become empty are because of low educational status, high unemployment rate, reduced life expectancy and antisocial behavior. Whenever there are large numbers of void homes in a place, then it is the task of the property-owner and the community to determine how they will solve the problem. Emphasis is put on dealing with void properties by satisfying the problem of low supply, elevated prices and unsuitable housing and also low demand. There is the significance of maximizing the utilization of housing stock in areas where the demand is high (Hiscocks, Lee and Shelter Cymru, 2009, 5). However, in areas where demand is low, it is critical to understand the causes of the low demand. The allocation policies are a sustainable way of dealing with low demand. Social issues are usually visible in these areas and are identifiable by the deprived physical environment and void properties. Void properties usually attract different antisocial behaviors such as vandalism, arson and fly

Right, Wrong and the Truth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Right, Wrong and the Truth - Essay Example It is easy to find a person who might even kill someone else just to be able to get his hands on some wealth. Bertrand Russell writes, â€Å"Philosophy, if it cannot answer so many questions as we could wish, has at least the power of asking questions which increase the interest of the world, and show the strangeness and wonder lying just below the surface even in the commonest things of daily life.† Ethics play a very important role in the life of any kind of a citizen; may he be a layman or a business man. In every part of life, every man has the choice of being where he is, choosing the decisions that he must take in order to make his own life better, and having the choice of stepping on other people’s dreams to do the same or not. In business for example, ethics play an important role when people decide to cheat or not to cheat by selling bad quality products to consumers. Again, the question of what is right and what is wrong arises over here because morally speaki ng, it is wrong to cheat people and have them pay a higher price for something that is not worthy of the same. According to historical norms, various customs that have been taking place since times immemorial still find their way within our modern lives. However, some of these customs are banned according to the legal system within countries because they are simply very immoral in nature. For example, in earlier times, discrimination and slavery played a very important role in the lives of the upper class; however today, it is against the law to be discriminating against any person on any basis including gender, caste, creed, race etc. Thus, this is a question of both ethics and morality because it helps to understand what may be closer to being right and what may be morally accepted by society at large without harming the maximum number of people involved in the process. In many cases, the truth is far from what may be right or wrong and not many people can do something to change t hat. For example, it might be wrong to practice female infanticide in parts of the world, however, the truth is that many tribes and families have been practising it for a long time in remote areas and will not stop because it has almost become custom like. In villages in India, it is tough for people to stop practising this heinous act because they are not aware of its implications and carry it out because it is a tradition for them to be able to give birth to a boy. Coming back to socio cultural dimensions around the world, again, the idea of understanding what may be right or wrong is almost funny. It is like explaining the theory of brightness and darkness to a blind person. For the blind man, the darkness in his world holds a different kind of colour altogether that a normal person will never be able to understand. At the same time, someone who is colour-blind sees the world in a different manner than a person who is able to differentiate between colours easily. Thus, it all bo ils down to a matter of perspective; today what may seem right to one group of people may be extremely wrong in the eyes of the other. The world is made up of different kinds of people who hold different thoughts and notion within their minds. It is very difficult to be able to change people’s minds and get them to believe in what a single person might be thinking.

Harley-Davidson Inc Essay Example for Free

Harley-Davidson Inc Essay This case study analyzes the differentiation strategy adopted by Harley-Davidson Inc. to differentiate itself from the competition. Further, it will address the issues and challenges faced by Harley- Davidson Inc. due to changing demographics and financial turmoil. And last but not least the case study will give an idea of what strategies Harley- Davidson Inc. could apply in the future so that it could sustain and enhance its competitive position. There are two generic business level strategies to yield a higher rate of profit over a rival according to M. Porter. First, a firm can focus on cost leadership, which generates economic value by having lower costs than competitors. Second, a firm can focus on product differentiation and generates economic value by offering a product that customers prefer over the products of competitors. In other words the firm provides something unique that is valuable to buyers beyond offering the product at a low price. Harley-Davidson Inc. does not focus on cost leadership, but on product differentiation. Its tangible dimensions of differentiation are among other things its classic style that had characterized Harleys since its early years, the ability to personalize the motorcycle according to ones taste, the super-heavyweight cruiser bikes it sells and the wide price range. Moreover, H.D. offers a wide pre- and after- sales service that obliges dealers to carry a full line of Harley replacement parts and accessories and to perform service on Harley bikes, it offers test ride facilities, rider instruction classes, motorcycle rental, assistance for owners in customizing their bikes through dealer-based design centers and chrome consultants, insurance services and exclusive dealerships. Its intangible dimensions of differentiation are its unique image, status, exclusivity and identity. Thus, H.D does incorporate the American lifestyle, stands for individuality, freedom, toughness and adventure and can be seen as the ultimate biker status. Some people might even state that it represents something close to a religion or a family. H.D. created the HOG, a community where Harley Owners meet and interact with other Harley owners and where Harleys employees participate eagerly. That way H.D. could create a strong loyalty among Harley owners by creating a Harley experience and a unique relationship with its customers. Harley still focuses mainly on the Baby Boomer generation, customers that are now age 35 and 54, male and middle class and on heavyweight cruiser motorcycles, which prioritize the statement of style over either comfort or speed. In summary H.D. applied a differentiation strategy wherein it targeted specific products at niche segments (heavyweight cruiser motorcycles). The brand has a cult status among its loyal clientele and characterizes adventure, freedom, tradition and power. By differentiating its product from the products of competitors H.D. was able to command a premium for its products. Further, H.D. resources and capabilities are compared to those of one of his competitors taking the example of Honda. H.D. represents one of the oldest motorcycle brands in the US. They are designed, engineered, assembled and built in the U.S.A. Honda designs and builds its motorcycles in Japan. Whereas Honda is known for the best weight to power ratios, emphasizes speed and power and aims at a younger clientele, H.M. is known for its cruiser motorcycles which prioritize the statement of style over either comfort or speed and are mainly bought by customers between age 35 and 54. Further, H.D. competes with Honda by also building performance motorcycles (Buell Motorcycles) and Honda competes with H.D. by also building cruisers targeting H.D. Due to the smaller corporate size and inability to share RD across cars and bikes H.D.s ability to invest in technology and new products is limited. Thus, most of Harleys product development efforts in the past were limited to style changes, new paint designs and engineering improvements. In contrary, Honda has been continuously pursuing advancement of new technologies and new products. Thus, it puts emphasis on innovation in Fuel and Engine Technology. Because of the advanced nature of their research, Honda has a strong first-mover advantage over competitors such as H.D. It will be difficult for H.D., which does not actively pursue his own research to catch up with Honda. Moreover, Honda does also have a strong brand loyalty (64% vs. 48% Industry Average) and it offers multiple lines (cars, motorcycles, mowers). Further, Honda does cultivate mass production, whereas H.D. offers highly customized products, which allows H.D. to premium pricing. Moreover, Honda successfully continues to broaden the sales distribution base beyond the North American and Japanese markets to Asia, Russia and Europe. H.D. sells the American lifestyle and is rooted in American culture. The European motorcycle market focuses on performance bikes (70%) and not on H.D.s specialty, the cruisers (only 30%). Those circumstances lead to difficulties for H.D. regarding its position in the European market. Difficulties Honda does not have. To extend its European presence H.D. bought the MV Agusta Group, which has two families of motorcycles, a line of exclusive, premium, high-performance sport motorcycles and a lightweight motorcycle to comply with the demand on the European market. H.D. is thus facing the threat of growing advantages of determined competitors. Market shares on the international market continue to grow for other firms. Demographic changes represent a threat to H.D. because of the aging customer base H.D. does have. The owners continue to age (Baby Boomer generation and soon they are too old to ride their bikes. Another threat is the economic recession. Customers are staying away due to less buying power. H.D. had to cut jobs and to close production facilities. Further, EUs motorcycle noise standards and pollution and emission standards that are not up to level of some countries represent a threat to H.D. Because of the aging customer base H.D. should market and position their products to the right market segment. Since the original H.D. customers are soon to be too old to ride their motorcycles H.D. could apply a multi-generational and multi-cultural marketing strategy that also includes young adults and women. In order to survive H.D. needs to supply different types of bikes with different brand images to appeal to different and changing types of customers. H.D. could then further take action in increasing their market share internationally by expanding their current presence and reaching new international markets and creating value for its brand outside the U.S. Further, H.D. should focus on the Harley brand by leveraging unique H.D. strenghts. It should abandon the Buell line of sport bikes and the Agusta line. Moreover, H.D. should develop its technology to increase automation. This will lead to cheaper labor and to a more efficient customization. What H.D. should not do is lowering its customization level since customization also represents one of H.D.s highest assets for their brand. To get access to high-level technological capabilities H.D. could merge with groups like Renault/Nissan who bring Japanese manufacturing skills or Volkswagen, who has excellent Eastern European experience.

Interview With an Entrepreneur

Interview With an Entrepreneur Interviewee: Sayed Yousuf Ali I interviewed a successful entrepreneur from UAE. He has established many ventures in Middle East. He is the owner of Spyro International group in Dubai. He is basically into service sector and their services include Spyro Edu, Spyro Technology, Spyro Medicals, Able Joe Oil and gas etc. I personally admire him as he has achieved a lot in his young age. He possesses the qualities and the capability of a successful business entrepreneur. I believe that this interview will help us to understand the path that the entrepreneur chooses to travel. Describe the business and industry. This is basically a service industry. They provide customers with branding services. As a part of this they conduct brand audit, review corporate marketing communication internally as well as externally. This will include advertisements, yearly reports, trade show booth, brochures, sales sheet, training videos, press releases etc to show uniqueness of the clients organization. Describe the background of the entrepreneur, education, family, interests. Mr. Sayed Yousuf Ali the owner of Spyro group decided to start his business in the year 1995. He hails from a business family. His forefathers were also into business and have many ventures in UAE. He has completed his BE honors in Mechanical engineering. He worked in private sector for 3 to 4 years in design engineering, training and project planning. His father is also a business personality his mom a housewife. He has a young brother is studying for medicine in United States. His interests are reading, meeting new people, travelling exploring new places etc. Where did the opportunity for this business come from? His forefathers were into business so trying hands on business was very obvious. Small fabrication unit was always a dream but could not start that and had to redirect activities to different directions. His experience and knowledge prompted him to start business and was confident enough that he will flourish. He was confident that he could come up with unique approaches to help clients. He choose this business as it was a service sector which was close to his internal desire. What did the entrepreneur do to prepare to start the business? When we start a business there would always be some unforeseen challenges that would arise. For this I prepared a business plan. Business plan does not help when starting a business it but allows us to analyze the funding options that we have, making crucial business decision, also helps to understand the industry and market. How did the entrepreneur deal with any perceived risk prior to start-up? Functional risk was one of the perceived risks that the entrepreneur had to deal with. The services that we provide are effective and its outcomes are accepted by the customer was one of the perceived risk that he faced. This is a company that promotes the clients business by providing branding services so initially the clients will not have complete trust of the outcomes. What major problems did the entrepreneur encounter during start-up? To start this business the basic problem that he faced was the investment. Investment was necessary to loop in for starting the factory. So he came with an idea to align with partners by selling his ideas and impressing convincing them to invest in the business. Unfortunately many backed out. Then he planned to start a small subsidiary in UAE i.e. Consultant engineering service. This was a big hit with a good team, trustworthy hardworking team. The profit that came through consultant service was used to invest in Middle East. There were not many major problems. Although starting business in Middle East is easy but to get good trustworthy partners, proper documentation visa formalities, papers to be approved by labour were time consuming process. Choosing of company name is also an issue as it has to be approved by the Chamber of commerce. Catchy names are important to business. In service world what works are catchy name quality products services. In the starting phase of a business appointment highly experienced employee will not work out because of the expense. To cut short the expense we chose employees with less experience which affects the jobs that we undertake. So majority of the task assigned to the employees would not be something that they have specialized in it. How were these problems solved? Profit from the Consulting Company was used in the new venture that sorted out the financial problems that arise when starting the business. As this company was introduced in Dubai they got the name that we wanted. Initial stages we just keep on investing in the company and managing the expenses. We cannot fully thing about profit. It takes 2 to 3 years to get surplus amount from the business. At this stage do maximum jobs, synchronize the processes that will help you in long run. Who did the entrepreneur use for help and guidance during preparing to start-up their business? He took guidance from his father grandfather who were already into business and also learned a lot with his own experience mistakes and as well as from the people around him. Who does the entrepreneur consider to be in his/her entrepreneurial network? He considers himself on top of the line and wants at least be once in the Forbes magazine. What are the entrepreneurs growths plans for the business? Explore maximum of what is possible. Hunt for different service sectors industry like advertising, hospital, consulting etc. Widen his horizon and learning maximum out of it and planning for investment money in a proper arena. His major growth plan is to start a fabrication unit for machinery What special steps did they take or are they taking at the moment possibly due to business slump? If the company has proper number of jobs coming in proper flow of money then even in business slumps the business can stand well. But if the situation is going worse we can have to talk to the employees and make them understand that company will not be able to provide them with the same salary packages. Instead of sending them on long leaves or firing them we could reduce the salary in that case still the employee would have some earnings. At this stage the company should also avoid unwanted investments and the money that comes in should be stocked up for future use. What advice would the entrepreneur give to someone thinking about starting a business? For the youth who are interested in starting a business he advised that they should work for some time. This will allow them to learn explore many departments. Understand the different arenas of job, get good contacts then invest into same field where you have gained experience. If they have a very unique and particular idea which they feel would hit the market then should go for it. If you are from a business family and is planning to start a new business then do take advice from your parents who are already into business. Analyze the industry that you are interested in, plan everything and then invest. But if your decision is wrong then it would show a very negative impact on your family business and would be a negative publicity for the other organizations. The most important advice is dont get depressed due to failures. Failures are the initial stages to successes. Analysis: After the interview think about the following: What did you learn from the entrepreneur? Summarize what you learned from this experience. If we have the determination and the courage to stand out even in pressure believe in ourselves and have the confidence to overcome tackle the situation we can succeed in future. What would you have done differently or what would you do differently if you were to start-up your own business? If want to start up my own business I would like to work in the same industry for 4 to 5 years to understand the industry. Working in an organization the pressures it builds up to finish project that we undertake will make us strong and efficient. I would prefer starting business on a small scale with my savings and a few as loan. I would not be planning to start a business somewhere and then invest in Middle East. I would prefer directly investing the money in Middle East. Now what do you think about being an entrepreneur in the UAE as a female. What are some of the challenges you think you would come across? Provide three challenges you think you would come across and describe how you would overcome each one separately. Women in UAE can make tremendous contribution business world. They can bring great amount of creativity to a business organization. UAE women have more potential and can excel as managers, consultant etc. They have enough wealth to invest as well. The educational background of women in UAE has also changed. This all factors will contribute a UAE female to enter into the world of entrepreneurship. Challenges: Challenges as an entrepreneur is a part of business which never ends. But women may face additional challenges because of the gender. Its a male dominated society that we live and this can be a block to their way towards success, Financial institutions are not confident about the entrepreneurial qualities and capabilities of women, Men may find it risky to invest in ventures run by women, Lack of family support and their obligation can be very challenging, Women have low management skill as they have to depend upon intermediates to complete their task, managing family and business together will bring up lot of issues in to family life, lack of equal opportunities in specific industries etc are some of the challenges that can be faced by women entrepreneurs. 3 challenges: Its a male dominated society that we live and this can be a block to their way towards success and Men may find it risky to invest in ventures run by women. I would tackle this situation wisely and would make them understand that I am in no way inferior to men. Women have low management skill as they have to depend upon intermediates to complete their task. I would learn and analyze the different factors in business, learn to chose proper quality materials at cheaper price negotiate with the suppliers so that they cannot cheat me. I would prefer to do things by my own and to get proper things done by my staff rather than depending on intermediates managing family and business together will bring up lot of issues in to family life This is one of the most difficult challenges that a women can face. Family members should treat women as a supplementary income provider and should support them. Women too should be able to manage family, kids and business well. I would give proper time for my family and children. This has to be planned properly. Initially this can be difficult but slowly this would work out.

Comparing Maturity in Separate Peace and All Quiet on the Western Front :: comparison compare contrast essays

Maturity in A Separate Peace and All Quiet on the Western Front      Ã‚  Ã‚   The evolution of a child to adult is a long and complex process. There is another transitional step that goes in the middle of these two periods. In warlike terms, such as those used in the settings of Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front and John Knowles's A Separate Peace, that step could be classified as being a soldier. W.N. Hodgson acknowledges this progression as well, in the poem "Before Action." The speaker begs first for God to "make [him] a soldier" (line 8) and then once he is a soldier he asks God to "make [him] a man" (16). Soldiers aren't quite children anymore; they've seen too much pain, death, and horror to maintain their innocence as children do. However, they aren't really men yet either. In A Separate Peace and All Quiet on the Western Front, the characters all go through this process of growing up, where they begin as children and proceed on to being soldiers, finally emerging as strong, insightful men by the end of the book.    The characters in A Separate Peace are first seen as children. Gene and Phineas (or Finny), the main characters in A Separate Peace, are first portrayed as regular teenage boys, full of life, energy, and humor. Ready to find fun in everything, the boys even make games out of the war, including the "Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session" (Knowles 24) and "blitzball" (Knowles 29). They jump out of trees as a substitute for jumping out of a plane and throw a round ball around, pretending that it's a bomb. People perceive them as "careless and wild" and perhaps even "a sign of the life the war was being fought to preserve" (Knowles 17). They go through things that everyone experiences as a teen: jealousy, peer pressure, and competition. They don't know very much about the war or about life itself. Finny even blatantly denies the existence of the war, saying that "the fat old men who don't want [them] crowding up their jobs" have "cooked up this war fake" (Knowles 107). One of the b oys in their class, Leper, dreams of enlisting in the ski troops, seeing it as a safe, clean way to get involved in the war rather than having to kill and destroy.

pets 911 :: essays research papers

Facts: Pets 911 knows that every community has pets in need. We offer a free network of animal rescue organizations and services across the country. Pets 911 is becoming an answer for not only the public, but also the pet animal welfare group community on how we in this country can all take part in saving those 5 million animals every year. Pet adoptions, animal shelters, help to find lost dogs and services to find lost cats - Pets 911 for all your pet adoption information - Thousands of homeless dogs, abandoned cats and other animals available for adoption. Have you lost or found a pet? Animal Charity information is one of the fine things we offer at Pets911.com. We also provide information on cat charity events, pet charity promotions, and dog charity walks. The Pets911 fights for animal welfare in the UK and throughout the world – campaigning on a variety of issues. Every year more than 4,000 dogs are used in experiments in the UK. In most cases they are used in the development and safety testing of new pharmaceuticals (medicines and vaccines), for both humans and dogs. Humans have a special relationship with dogs and a responsibility to safeguard their welfare in every situation. The PETS911 is committed to campaigning for humane alternatives and challenging the need for the use of dogs in research and testing. However, while dogs continue to be used in research we believe every possible effort must be made to reduce the numbers used and prevent suffering throughout their short lives. Our particular concerns are : †¢ the distress, pain and suffering caused by procedures, e.g. the chemicals can make the dogs sick and surgery can cause pain. †¢ the unsuitable conditions in which the dogs live, e.g. lack of space, stimulation, and socialization with other dogs and people. †¢ the loss of life – the dogs are eventually killed either to alleviate suffering, or for post-mortem analysis of their tissues and organs. What is the PETS911 doing? †¢ Challenging dog use: The PETS911 believes there is nowhere near enough commitment to challenging the need to use dogs or to developing alternative approaches to safety testing. We work with other organizations such as the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (FRAME) and support the work of the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) to encourage the development and use of alternatives. †¢ Reducing the number of dogs used in pharmaceutical safety testing: More dogs are used in pharmaceutical safety testing than for any other purpose, so it is essential to find ways of replacing dogs and reducing their use. pets 911 :: essays research papers Facts: Pets 911 knows that every community has pets in need. We offer a free network of animal rescue organizations and services across the country. Pets 911 is becoming an answer for not only the public, but also the pet animal welfare group community on how we in this country can all take part in saving those 5 million animals every year. Pet adoptions, animal shelters, help to find lost dogs and services to find lost cats - Pets 911 for all your pet adoption information - Thousands of homeless dogs, abandoned cats and other animals available for adoption. Have you lost or found a pet? Animal Charity information is one of the fine things we offer at Pets911.com. We also provide information on cat charity events, pet charity promotions, and dog charity walks. The Pets911 fights for animal welfare in the UK and throughout the world – campaigning on a variety of issues. Every year more than 4,000 dogs are used in experiments in the UK. In most cases they are used in the development and safety testing of new pharmaceuticals (medicines and vaccines), for both humans and dogs. Humans have a special relationship with dogs and a responsibility to safeguard their welfare in every situation. The PETS911 is committed to campaigning for humane alternatives and challenging the need for the use of dogs in research and testing. However, while dogs continue to be used in research we believe every possible effort must be made to reduce the numbers used and prevent suffering throughout their short lives. Our particular concerns are : †¢ the distress, pain and suffering caused by procedures, e.g. the chemicals can make the dogs sick and surgery can cause pain. †¢ the unsuitable conditions in which the dogs live, e.g. lack of space, stimulation, and socialization with other dogs and people. †¢ the loss of life – the dogs are eventually killed either to alleviate suffering, or for post-mortem analysis of their tissues and organs. What is the PETS911 doing? †¢ Challenging dog use: The PETS911 believes there is nowhere near enough commitment to challenging the need to use dogs or to developing alternative approaches to safety testing. We work with other organizations such as the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (FRAME) and support the work of the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) to encourage the development and use of alternatives. †¢ Reducing the number of dogs used in pharmaceutical safety testing: More dogs are used in pharmaceutical safety testing than for any other purpose, so it is essential to find ways of replacing dogs and reducing their use.

Accounting Regulations Essay

Accountant Responsibilities By: Jennifer Koppelman March 11, 2014 Accountant Responsibility Accountants have responsibilities to many different groups such as their clients, the government and third parties. It is important that accountants act in a particular manner and have high ethical standards, integrity and professionalism. Accountant’s job responsibility is to validate financial statements and perform the duties in accordance with all the principles, standards and laws. Even though an accountant is hired by a company, they have a responsibility to many more people than just the company. Some of the people that accountants are responsible to, would be the company’s management, investors, creditors, outside regulatory bodies, and the integrity of the financial markets. Accountants need to be consistent and constantly be carefully exercising due diligence and pay close consideration of the materiality of content (Accountant Responsibility). Accountants have a code of professional conduct that they should adhere to. This states that accountants should maintain objectivity and be free of conflicts of interest in the discharging professional responsibilities. An accountant in public practice should be independent in fact and appearance when providing audit and other attestation services. Situations where accountants will need to show objectivity would be when they are felt compelled to deliver bad news to a client or employer based on an analysis that they had performed (Colson, 2004). There are two different types of auditors; internal auditors and external auditors which have different responsibilities. Internal auditors have the main responsibility to develop statements that present the financial situation of a company in a fair way, meaning that as much disclosure as necessary to give a reasonable picture of the financial situation to any user having a claim to the knowledge. External auditor’s responsibility is to affirm that this has happened by issuing an opinion as to whether the financial statement fairly presents the financial position of that corporation (Duska, 2005). Accountant Responsibility to Clients Accountants have a professional responsibility to clients to keep their information confidential. The rule states that a member in the public practice shall not disclose any confidential client information without the specific consent of the client. This also extends to other accountants not directly involved with the client who obtain information through practice reviews or sanctioned disciplinary hearings to maintain confidentially. There are certain exceptions that facilitate compliance with other professional and legal obligations. Maintaining confidentiality is not only a professional obligation but also a legal obligation. General knowledge and expertise obtained through a client engagement is not considered to be confidential information (Cashell). Accountants have ethical responsibility to protect their clients, produce financial statements and tax returns that are to the best of their ability after performing proper due diligence. If there was an event that an audit would occur for a government agency they should represent their clients with professionalism. Accountants should always maintain the highest ethical standards. Accountants perform essential and critical roles in society. Accountants have responsibilities to all of those who use their professional services. The American Institution of CPA’s has an official rule, Rule 301 states a member in the public practice shall not disclose any confidential information without the specific consent of the client. Accountant’s number one responsibility is to its clients, it is important that accountants do not disclose client information to anyone without the client’s permission first. There are consequences to the accountant if they do not keep client information confidential. It can also have a negative effect on the clients business, which will negatively affect the accountant also (ET Section 301 – Client Confidential Information). CPA Responsibility to Clients Case Even when an accountant has the intention to warn others of pending financial harm the courts have held that accountants must not give any client information, client information should always remain confidential. In a case Wagenheim v. Alexander Grant & Co the court ruled that Alexander Grant improperly divulged confidential information about their client, Consolidata Data Services, to other clients. Consolidata Data Services, an audit client of Alexander Grant performed payroll services for several of Alexander Grant’s other clients. Alexander Grant discovered that Consolidata Data Services was having financial difficulty; Alexander Grant warned their other clients to stop doing business with Consolidata Data Services. Alexander Grant argued that the other clients would suffer financial damage without warning them. The ruling was against Alexander Grant, the court said that there was no proof that Consolidata Data Services was in a financial hardship that they could not recover from. Which Alexander Grant had no legal right to inform third parties of the financial burden that Consolidata Data Services was in (Cashell, 1995). It is important that accountants keep client information confidential at all times. The accountant might not know the whole picture of a business and a company can state that they could have recovered from the financial burden but because the accountant may have told other clients that could ruin the reputation of the client and affect the business. It is always safer not to say anything in regards to the financial situations when you have an obligation to your client. Accountant Responsibility to Third Parties Accountants do not have as much liability to third parties as they do to clients. Accountants have a liability to third parties who are relying on the audit information, only if there is fraudulent conduct or proof of negligence would they be liable to the third party. When public accountants are done with an audit of their clients records and financials they put an opinion letter which sets forth, among other things, the scope of the audit and a professional opinion concerning the financial representations. Even though third parties may rely and act upon the auditor’s opinion, the auditor is contractually bond only to the client and usually owes nothing, no legal duty to third parties for negligence (Greene, 2003). Accountants need to be very careful when warning outsiders of a client’s fraud. Based on prior court cases, CPA’s generally do not have an obligation to inform outsiders of known fraud unless if they remain silent they are becoming culpable themselves. It is a risky situation if an accountant decides to â€Å"blow the whistle† (Cashell, 1995). Accountants are generally not responsible to third parties in contracts because there is no privity of contract. However, accountants can be held to be a common law duty of care towards third parties in certain circumstances, despite that there is no contractual duties. Circumstances that give rise to such duty have been considered in a substantial number of cases in recent years and three general tests have been developed. One of the tests would be if there is foreseeability damage, proximity between parties and considerations of justice and reasonableness. Another test would be testing the assumptions of reasonability. If the court would take an incremental approach in comparing the relationship in any given case to previously decided cases in which a duty of care had been recognized or rejected. An accountant can be liable to a third party if the accountant knew or should have known that they were relying on the audit, only for fraudulent conduct and proof of mere negligence is not sufficient. If the accountant knew that the audit report for the client was intended to supply the information to a third party who would rely on the information. If the third party would be relying on the information in a decision concerning transactions involving the client and the third party (Professional Liability of Accountants & Auditors). Duty to Disclose to Third Parties In some cases information should be disclosed to third parties but an accountant needs to be very careful and proceed accordingly. If it is detailed in their engagement letter, which is a written agreement to perform services in exchange for compensation then an accountant has a duty to disclose information. Once the letter is signed off on by an officer then the letter serves as a contract (Engagement Letter). In one case; Fund of Funds Ltd. v. Arthur Andersen & Co. the CPA had a duty to disclose. Arthur Andersen was the auditor for two clients, Fund of Funds and King Resources Corp. King Resources Corp developed natural resource properties and agreed to be the sole vendor of such properties to Fund of Funds at prices no higher than those charged to King Resource Corp industrial clients. Arthur Andersen learned the agreement was not being met but failed to inform Fund of Funds. The court did rule that Arthur Andersen should have disclosed this fact to Fund of Funds because they had knowledge of the overcharges, knew the terms of the agreement that was being violated and the language of their engagement letter produced a contractual obligation to reveal that information. Another case involving duty to disclose, this one a CPA was found that he did not have a duty to disclose information. The case Gold v DCL Inc. , Price Waterhouse & Co. informed DCL in December that they intended to qualify their audit report on DCL’s financial statements. DCL was in the business of leasing computers and Price Waterhouse believed that their ability to recover their computer equipment costs was impaired due to the impending release of a new line of more powerful computers by IBM. In February, DCL announced earnings without mentioning Price Waterhouse’s concern and on February 15 Price Waterhouse was replaced. The court ruled that there was no basis in principle or authority for extending an auditors duty to disclose beyond cases where the auditor is giving or has given some representation or certification and the silence and inaction of the defendants auditors did not make them culpable. The court’s reasoning that the CPA did not have to disclose was because the auditors had issued no public opinion, rendered no certification and in no way invited the public to rely on their financial judgment there was no special relationship that imposed a duty of disclosure (Cashell, 1995). Accountant Responsibility to the Government Different local, state and federal governments have different rules and regulations that accountants need to learn for the area and industry that they will be working in. This is important to find out and comply with the different regulations. This is part of an accountant’s responsibility to provide accounting services that are in compliance with the government regulations for your client’s particular industry. There may be different regulations for different industries so it is important to know which regulations are pertinent to your client. CPA for Responsibility to Government Case Some state laws might grant accountant client privileges, but these laws do not usually extend to a summons or subpoena related to a Federal Investigation by such agencies such as the IRS, or the SEC. In a case, Couch v. United States, the Supreme Court concluded that no Federal accountant client privilege exists and state created privileges do not apply to Federal cases. Before an accountant is responding to a Federal agency, the accountant should be sure that they are only responding to a valid and enforceable subpoena. In another case, Roberts v. Chaple, the Appellate Court ruled that the accountant violated Georgia’s statutory accountant client privilege because he provided information to the IRS without having been served a valid summons or subpoena. Some state privilege laws could also affect the ability to release information pursuant to a review of a CPA’s practice. Firms are responsible for meeting and keeping client confidentiality obligations whenever state statutes do not clearly provide a confidentiality exemption for a peer review of a firm’s practice. Whenever an accountant is not sure on if information should be released it would be best to consult a lawyer and obtain legal counsel to ensure that they are not breaking any laws or violating any confidentiality agreements or obligations(Cashell, 1995). Conclusion Accountants need to be ethical and practice with the highest professionalism and ethics. Accountants have many responsibilities not only to the client that they are servicing but to the government and to third parties. Responsibilities are higher to clients then third parties but it is important to know when and where your responsibility for each is. If an accountant is negligent or not responsible to the parties when they should have been there are consequences. An accountant’s main responsibility is to their client, it is important to keep client information confidential at all times. Not keeping client information confidential can have a negative effect and consequences on the accountant and the client. It is important that accountants do not disclose client information without the permission from the client first. All accountants need to have and maintain the highest ethics, professionalism and confidentiality.