Books beyond paper

The technological developments in the field of computers and internet have brought in far reaching changes in both at home and the office. Communication through letters has changed over to exchange of e-mails. The vast storage space available in the computer is being utilized for storing text, music, pictures and video in electronic format. Once inside the computer hard disk, they are all digital files consisting of bits of ‘ones’ and ‘zeroes’. Office automation has improved efficiency and has provided cost reduction to survive in a competitive environment. Modern technology is known to have had its impact on every part of our life.It can’t leave the world of books untouched. e-book We are living in the age of information and the internet. This is the period of the knowledge economy. There are several changes that have taken place in the work area. Most of the work is being done using the computer, intranet and the internet. Modern offices have become paperless offices. Faster microprocessors and higher disk space available in the computer has made storage and retrieval of data faster and convenient and this has helped Project Gutenberg to convert texts of classical literature into the digital format (History and philosophy of Project Gutenberg, 1992).The idea was to make books and other information to be made available to the general public. The World Wide Web can be considered as a vast library where all sorts of information is stored and is accessible to anybody from any corner of the world. The websites which form the World Wide Web can be considered as the books or magazines of the virtual library. The websites have different applications such as games, on line shopping, networking, music and video sharing. But there are many websites such as online dictionaries and encyclopedias which have been organized similar to books or printed matter.Some of these websites and the databases can be considered as electronic books (Bradl ey F. James). HTML coding is the standard followed by all websites to accommodate text as well as pictures. A server is a host where the WebPages are uploaded. Hundreds of such WebPages are put together in a common server with a domain name so that they can be accessed easily. The WebPages are interconnected using hypertext links. This has resulted in a network consisting of WebPages full of information on all sorts of topics.Massive work is in progress in adding content to the websites and they are being periodically updated. There are any number of online libraries which host books that can be read on the net. The HTML coded text can be read using the web browsers. In addition there are books that can be downloaded which are generally in pdf format. Adobe Acrobat Reader is the software that is required for reading text in pdf format. Reading a book from a computer screen is not same as reading from the printed book. It is basically the comfort level of the reader.To make the conce pt of the e-book more acceptable and also to provide the reader the flexibility of reading the book as per his requirement, several manufacturers have come up with paperback size portable electronic gadgets that work on batteries. The e-books come in two broad categories; the personal digital assistant (PDA) and electronic reading device (ERD). While PDA is for multi-function use and it is considered as a hand held computer, ERD is specially designed and marketed for reading pleasure. ERD has the provision to download and store the e-book files from a computer hard disk and display text on a screen.For music files mp3 compression became a standard but there is no such standard for e-books. There are as many as 25 different formats which are being promoted by different manufacturers. In addition, the e-books that are commercially made available are with digital rights management (DRM), a form of security to prevent people from sharing without authorization (Rosso Sara, 2009). The ded icated e-book readers use E Ink technology to simulate text printed on paper and ink particles are displayed electronically. There is no need of backlighting of the display. It can be read even in broad day light.Amazon kindle is a product developed by Amazon. com and the second generation model became available in March 2009. There is provision to deliver content directly to the e-book within a wireless coverage area hence a computer is not required to download content. It has features such as choosing text size; the text can be read out either through speakers or headphones while the screen continues to show the text being read; choice of voice can be male or female; dictionary look up for a particular word without disturbing the content; notes made are saved and backed up on Amazon servers.It has capacity to hold thousand digital books, and other text from magazines and blogs. Whatever books purchased from Amazon. com are in a store for the customer and he can download them as an d when he wants through the wireless access provided. All other text files belonging to the user which are in different formats can be uploaded to Amazon where they get converted to kindle format and are available for downloading and reading on the device (Kindle User’s Guide).PRS-700 is the third generation Reader available from Sony and has additional features such as touch screen, on screen key board, and side lighting for reading in poor light. The addition of touch screen is supposed to have affected the display contrast. A portable mp3 player is integrated within the Reader to listen to music in the background. The internal storage capacity may be limited to 350 books but it has memory stick and SDHC SD card slot to store thousands of books and tunes (Gade Lisa, 2008). It uses Sony software to synchronize with desk top computer to transfer books to the Reader.It supports different text formats such as text, RTF, MS Word, PDF and ePub. The iLiad book from iRex Technologi es is an e-book with 8. 1 inch touchscreen display and has memory that can be expanded to 8 GB to accommodate up to 10,000 books in digital format. This needs to be connected to a PC using a USB cable to search and browse the net to download books or get it from mobipocket. com an online ebook-store. Mobipocket Reader is the software that works with this device. The handwritten notes can be converted to digital text. This device supports several formats (Stunningly paper-like).Cybook Gen3 is an e-book from the French manufacturer Bookeen, slightly smaller in size with a six inch screen and easily fits in the hand. There is no provision for taking notes and Wi-Fi connectivity for downloading data. It needs to be connected to the PC with a USB cable to transfer data. 64MB built in memory is provided and SD card can be used for additional storage. It supports several text formats including PDF. It has an mp3 player for listening to music and also for playing audio books. It is energy e fficient and the battery provides 8000 screen refreshes (Vogel Sandra, 2008).The present generation of student population is technology friendly and would love the text books in a digital format which provides a clear advantage of easy portability in a laptop. It is easier for the libraries to store them and many people can access them using the intranet or the internet. The content can be updated as required. The library can transform itself from a place of storing books to an information portal. There is a need to distinguish the reading content from the e-book as a medium for storage and reading.It is just like the difference between the music and the storage medium such as cassettes, CDs and mp3 digital files. The technological changes that were accepted in the music industry have helped in distributing music in different formats and now iPods and iTunes are the most popular form of the medium and the distribution channel for music. We are hopeful of a similar transformation to take place in text content and its medium and distribution provided the problem of DRM is settled and text content file is made available at a fractional price of its printed counterpart.A standard open file format will be helpful in expanding the market Conclusion The text in digital format has several advantages of small size, easy portability, searching capability, font type and size, and ready access to dictionary. In theses days where people are losing reading interest, the rigid attitude of publishers on DRM and high cost of text in digital format is coming in the way of generating customer interest in e-book as a useful reading of tool. Works cited Bradley F.James â€Å"The Electronic Book and PDA† retrieved on 2009-05-14 http://www. scinet. cc/articles/ebook/electronicbook. html Gade Lisa â€Å"Sony Reader PRS-700† Nov 11, 2008 Mobile Tech Review retrieved on 2009-05-15 http://www. mobiletechreview. com/gadgets/Sony-Reader-PRS-700. htm â€Å"History and philos ophy of Project Gutenberg† Aug 92 retrieved on 2009-05-14 http://www. promo. net/pg/history. html â€Å"Kindle User’s Guide† 3rd edition retrieved on 2009-05-15 https://kindle. s3. amazonaws. com/Kindle_Users_Guide_v3. pdfRosso Sara â€Å"How to Read an ebook: Formats, Devices, Dedicated Readers and iPhone Applications† Mar 10, 2009 retrieved on 2009-05-14 http://www. whenihavetime. com/how-to-read-an-ebook-formats-devices-dedicated-readers-and-iphone-applications/? PHPSESSID=bb4854fd629733b5375a6a83a7f0d70d â€Å"Stunningly, Paper-like† The iLiad Book Edition retrieved on 2009-05-16 http://www. irextechnologies. com/products/bookedition/features Vogel Sandra â€Å"Bookeen Cybook Gen3 Review† Nov 9, 2008 Trusted Reviews retrieved on 2009-05-16 http://www. trustedreviews. com/mobile-devices/review/2008/01/09/Bookeen-Cybook-Gen3/p1

Functions of Management Essay

United Health group is a major insurance company that provides medical and mental health coverage to its consumers. The organization manages Medicaid and Medicare accounts as well as commercial accounts from employers. Providing healthcare insurance is a competitive job, therefore, the management of the organization has to use the four functions of management to remain in the competition. The four function of management are planning, organizing, leading and controlling. In this paper, we will discuss the four functions of management and how it relates to the organization. The four functions of management is planning, organizing, leading and, controlling. Planning is for the goals of the organization, planning sets the stage for action and major achievements. Organizing is assembling and coordinating human, financial resources needed to achieve the goals. This could be organizing activities such as grouping jobs into work units, marshaling and allocating resources and creating conditions so that people and things work together to achieve maximum success. Leading is stimulating people to be high performers. Leading can take place in departments, teams as well as divisions. By encouraging high performers, you are increasing their inner moral, making them feel and believe they can complete their goals rather it is individual goals that coincide with the organization’s goals. Another management function is controlling, managers make sure the organization’s resources are being used as planned and that the organization is meeting its goals for quality and safety. The four functions of management have in common is to achieve the goals for the organization. The four functions all work together. There are three different levels in management; top level managers, middle level managers and, front line managers. Top level managers are typically the CEO, COO or CIO. Middle level managers are under the top level managers and, frontline managers are considered operational managers. The top level manager determines and identifies the goals that are needed for the entire organization. Once the CEO has identified the goals and what steps that are  needed to achieve the goal, the information is conveyed to middle management. Middle management takes those goals and determines what’s needed to achieve the goals such as organizing workloads, teams or units. Then convey to frontline managers. Front line management does most of the leading, their more hands on with employees or teams. Front line managers assist with establishing individual goals that will benefit the company and coincide with the company’s goals. Front line managers also use controlling by making sure the e mployees utilize company resources if needed. Also by making sure the company goals are being met. The organization uses all four of the management functions. There have been many cases of increased health issues within call center environments such as; obesity, high blood pressure, depression and anxiety issues. The organization created incentives to make the idea more appealing to the employees. The organization has decided to inspire and motivate their employees to take better care of their health. By creating the goals of decreasing the health issues within the office setting the organization set their stage for action so they could achieve these goals. Now that the goal has been established the organization needs to assemble humans, physical information to coordinate ways to achieve the goals. The organization started providing bonus incentives such has decrease in insurance if you’re passed a bio metric screening. The organization also begin to partner with Weight Watchers providing employee discounts, LA Fitness (discounted membership), provide stress management classes along, with providing ways to exercise in the office. There are different teams within the company with a goal of losing the most weight. The teams encourage one another and provide support during their weight loss journey. All teams support and encourage with the expectations of dropping the weight and defeating the other team. The teams have weekly check-ins where the members have to weigh in, report their meal plans. By utilizing the four functions of management, the organization has been able to lower their premiums for their employees, and increase better health within the organization. The organization identified the issue of health  concerns within the office setting, set the goals of prevention and reduction. With those plans of prevention and reduction the organization was able to organize employees and coordinate ways to achieve the goals. The staff coordinated and provided information to their employees to educate and prevent. The leaders promoted the resources and encouraged those to be active and participate in all the resources the organization has to offer. Reference Page: Bateman Thomas S., Snell Scott A. 8th edition, 2009 McGraw-Management: Leading and Collaborating in a Competitive World, Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database. Sedentary jobs helping to drive obesity epidemic. (2011). Retrieved from http:// health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/fitness/articles/2011/05/26/sedentary-jobs-helping-to-drive-obesity-epidemic.

Beauty and the Beast Essay

Dave Barry in Beauty and the Beast states how women care more about their looks than men do. I can relate to this story because as a woman I know that we care more about looks than man do, we always try and look good for other people as well not only for our loved ones. For a woman our appearance is a big deal and we don’t like to get bad comments about our looks. Most men think of themselves as average-looking as Barry stresses, men never ask for others opinion of how they look while getting ready. Their primary form of beauty care is shaving themselves and after a while put their attention in other things, such as sports. Some theories that people believe in, that could be why women care more about their looks than men, start in childhood. Berry states examples such as when females are growing up they play with Barbie dolls. The concept of a Barbie doll is to imitate a human that has impeccable looks and it is the responsibility of the child to brush the doll and keep her looking up to professional fashion standards. On the converse end of this situation, males go through their childhood playing with action figures. These action figures are not designed to care about looks, but to care more about acting tough and being brave. Their names portray something that is cool and brave, such as the example that Berry gave, â€Å"Buzz-Off. † When little boys are playing with â€Å"Buzz-Off,† little girls are play with Barbie, which is a name of something that is neat and clean. â€Å"If you’re a man, at some point a woman will ask you how she looks. How do I look? She’ll ask. †` Barry opens his article with this statement; this immediately informs the reader that the article is going to discuss how women care about their looks. There is a contest here in New Mexico famous in the Hispanic culture that I have attended a few times, Miss Chiquitita were little girls between the ages of 8 to 12 compete against each other and make a runway shows with them modeling dresses, at the end the judges picks a winner, but I have notice that the judges always end up picking the thin little girls, in my point of view this is wrong because the rest of the contestants end up thinking they need to look a certain way in such a young age. Women always likes to be told that there beautiful at every time of the day. Women’s insecurity about their appearance is driven by competition with other women. We see this quite clearly in connection with the slender standard of attractiveness where women wish to be more slender than men find attractive. The reason, of course, is that they want to beat their competitors – other women. In general, women are much more concerned about their appearance than men are. The key reason for this is that their appearance is central to how they are evaluated by others. When women ask the men how we look we know the answer, we know that we look good but we just want to hear it from other people because we like to get complemented of our looks. In my personal experience I have the pressure to look good for other people as well because I feel that if I do not look good people will judge me for my appearance. I have noticed that when a group of girls get together they judge each other if they did not get ready, but on the other hand when men do not get ready nobody makes a big deal out of it. In this generation I think men are starting to take care of themselves more then back in the day. For instance, I have a guy friend that when we get ready to go out he takes as long as I do just to get ready. Men this days are being metro sexual and caring about their looks now a days like women do. But I think the major cause of this is the media because they always show women that look a certain way and they are good looking and famous, so we have that idea of being the definition of good looking and same for guys. In my point of view looks are important because that’s the first impression you give to other people. Like Dave Barry I agree that women do take much longer to get ready and care more about their looks than man do, but I think we have good reasons for this we just want to feel good about ourselves. It sheds light on a subject that people do not give much thought to, but when they stop to think about it, they do wonder why there is such a different conception of care of looking beautiful among the two genders. This article points out some reasons to why this might be, by identifying the thesis, giving examples to support the thesis, and then giving reasons to why people feel the way they do on the subject.

Understanding Business and Management Research Methods Coursework - 1

Understanding Business and Management Research Methods - Coursework Example When choosing a model, it is critical to know the theory being applied. Studies indicate that, behind every method, there is always a theory. This paper will discuss the three business and management research methods. The paper will start with the introduction, and then literature review, then analysis and evaluation of different methodological approaches, and finally highlight the main findings. In any research, it is always recommended to choose a single paradigm (qualitative, quantitative, or mixed) for a research work (Anderson, 2009). The selection is based on the pragmatic choices which are time, skills, and overall size of the project. The research methods are based on differences in the nature of reality, relationships to that being researched, role of values, use of language, and overall process of research (Bellamy, 2012). Research methodology is what constitutes a research activity. Bowerman (2013) distinguishes the three research designs as follows Quantitative research: This design is useful for exploring and understanding the meaning behind problems. Data is collected on the participants setting, and the researcher makes interpretation of the data collected (Bowerman, 2013). Quantitative research: The researcher tests theories by examining the relationship amongst variables that can be measured on an instrument to allow numbered data to be analysed using statistical procedures (Bowerman, 2013). Mixed methods: This design combines both qualitative and quantitative forms of research. It concerns the application of qualitative and quantitative methods in tandem, to allow the strength of the study to be greater than either a qualitative and quantitative approach (Bowerman, 2013). When undertaking a business research, a combination of different types and sources of data is required to derive strong findings. The types of data are qualitative and quantitative, and the types of sources are primary and secondary sources (Harwell,

Future Layout Plan for Chicago O'Hare International Airport Research Paper

Future Layout Plan for Chicago O'Hare International Airport - Research Paper Example Comparing both the plans would help one understand how the future layout plan can resolve certain limitations that exist. Fro example, the existing airfield contains a total number of 3 paralell runways and a single north-south runway. Amongst these there is only one runway that meets the standard of ADG VI, while the rest of them are just 150ft wide. Now the betterment plan includes a puporsal of the field suggest the parallel runways to be raised to the amount of 6 in number and along with that two runways will be made enough wide i.e. 200ft wide to meet ADG VI standards. The rest of the runways would be kept 150 ft wide to accommodate ADG V. An additional thing would be the designated taxi ways that would aid aircraft taxing from terminal to aircraft runways. Terminal facilities are to provide the passengers with facilities and conduct operations both internationally and domestically. At present there are four terminals with one of them being conducting international operations, and all of them being simultaneously connected to ATS, that is further linked to a station in parking lot E. The future layout plan does not plan to make an entirely new terminal system but suggests amendments in the existing terminals and simultaneously offers development of new one on the western side. The modifications include extension of the existing terminals and development of new ones within them . The purposed plan for the west terminal includes the addition of satellite concourse and apart from that it purposes the term of making three terminals able enough to conduct international operations. And underground system is also purposed in order to connect satellite system to existing core and ATS. Support/ancillary facilities are a vital feature of any airport, if we look at the existing ones in Chicago OHare airport we have a main cargo area in the southwest part of the airport and an additional

Discussions question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussions question - Essay Example zational structures leads to duties being performed effectively within the organization because there are proper guidelines to do so; proper communication channels and the leaders exercise both authority and power. When an organization has properly working organizational structure, it means that their needs and requirements are properly addressed, they have enough motivation, their work is appreciated and they are heard and their opinions and suggestions sought after (by having a proper working communication channel). This will reduce significantly employee turnover (Madura, 2007). A proper and working organizational structure will increase customer loyalty and even increase the clientele base hence ensuring that employees always have work and their future and job security is ascertained. Organizational structures have clearly defined roles and responsibilities and hence ensure that there is avoidance of role disambiguation and confusion which renders most employees redundant if that happens and hence providing a likelihood of being

Article critics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Article critics - Essay Example mization to receive 40 infusion of 500ml chelation solution or a placebo 40 infusion to an oral vitamin and chelation solution or oral placebo (Research Grant, 2012). Researchers found that patients receiving the chelation solution had fewer serious cardiovascular events than the control group 26% vs. 30%, and the trail was conducted in 134 sites in the United States and Canada from 2002-2012. However the article fails to report that there was high drop out in the placebo group than in the chelation. They were getting a placebo and the side effects of it. The Chelation group was significantly different in life outcomes measured with the assessment, as opposed to the Placebo group. According to the cnn analysis, the four percentage point difference between was â€Å"barley statistically significant†. The difference may have been by chance not because chelation actually works or they necessarily have bad side effects. The high dropout contributed to less accuracy in the study. It is less

Managing non-profit organizations Research Paper - 1

Managing non-profit organizations - Research Paper Example In a nonprofit organization the output is the fulfillment of the community’s needs without any profit and trained staff members. Management of a nonprofit organization is also different. It includes four steps; planning, developing, operating and evaluating (Kotler). Each step in turn includes other tasks. While planning, one has to plan for three different things; strategy, resources and programs. Staff members carry out strategic planning to find out the overall purpose (mission) and direction (vision and goals) for the nonprofit, in addition to the methods (values, approaches and programs) for the nonprofit to work toward the purpose and direction. The strategic planning course offers input to all other major tasks in the organization, especially program planning and resource planning. Thus, if strategic planning is not done well, the entire organization can be unfavorably influenced. During program planning, the marketing investigation (or â€Å"inbound marketing†) activities are performed to recognize, for example, precise society requirements for the nonprofit to meet, what conclusions are desira ble to meet those needs, what explicit groups of customers to provide, and how to serve them to accomplish those outcomes. Program planning makes available input to many other functions, such as resource planning (regarding staff, funds, and people), financial management, advertising and promotions, and also fundraising. Many problems commonly connected with fundraising and promotions are really the result of poor program planning. Planners (McNamara). Typically, resources include people, financial support, amenities, equipment, supplies, and even certain policies and procedures. Budgets usually are developed that contain listings of resources that are needed, along with the predictable costs to get hold of and support the use of those resources. Resource planning straightforwardly influences the superiority of all operating

Talent Management In Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT) Dissertation

Talent Management In Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT) - Dissertation Example The research found that ADAT uses Talent Management, but the process is in a nascent stage where the understanding and awareness about it is extremely low, especially among the interviewed employees. ADAT has introduced several initiatives toward Talent Management which included developing the Centre of Excellence for Recruitment and Oracle Performance Management, but the organization appears to lack in an integrated and streamlined approach toward Talent Management. Moreover, the focus of the organization was revealed to be on recruiting external talent for its critical positions, which in turn led to employee dissatisfaction and demotivation – thus defeating the very purpose of Talent Management. The research recommends that ADAT develop a comprehensive framework for Talent Management that takes into account organizational structure and job positions, business goals and future prospects, and employee relations into account. Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction I.1 Backg round and Research Overview 1.2 Research Questions 1.3 Research Methods 1.4 Research Significance 1.5 Dissertation Outline 1.6 Conclusions Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Definition and Overview of Talent Management/Human Capital Management 2.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Talent Management 2.4 Talent Management Models 2.5 Factors influencing Talent Management 2.6 Best Practices related to Talent Management 2.7 Challenges in Talent Management 2.8 Technical Talent Management and Airlines Industry 2.9 Future Outlook and Conclusion Chapter 3: Research Methodology 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Research Philosophy 3.3 Research Approach - Inductive 3.4 Research Methods - Qualitative 3.5 Research Design 3.5.1 Sampling 3.5.2 Data Collection Method 3.5.3 Data Collection Instrument 3.5.4 Method of Data Analysis 3.6 Reliability and Validity 3.7 Ethical Considerations 3.8 Conclusions Chapter 4: Findings and Analysis 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Findings and Discussion 4.3 Conclusions Chapte r 5: Conclusions and Discussions 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Summary of Findings 5.3 Recommendations 5.4 Limitations and Recommendations for Future Research List of Figures and Tables Figure 1: Basic Model of Source: Chaudhry, 2006 Figure 2: Factors Involved in Talent Management Figure: 3: High impact Talent Management Figure 4: Competency Model of Talent Management Figure 5: Talent Management Blueprint Figure 6: Types of staff involved in talent management activities, CIPD, 2006 Table 1: Management’s Perception of Performance and Potential Table 2: Employee Perception of Talent Table 3: Talent Management Program at ADAT Table 4: Employee Awareness of Career Progression at ADAT Table 5: Success Factors for Effective Talent Management Table 6: Effective Assessment of Talent Management Table 7: Current Status of Talent Management at ADAT Table 8: Challenges Faced by ADAT in TM implementation Table 9: Employees’ Perception of Talent Management List of Appendices Appendix A: Rese arch Questionnaire References Chapter 1: Introduction I.1 Introduction This chapter provides an overview of the research and its background and develops the research questions. It discusses the research methods used to achieve the

Advantage and Disadvantage of Globalization Research Paper

Advantage and Disadvantage of Globalization - Research Paper Example Globalization comprises economic incorporation, the relocation of the policies across the borders, sharing of knowledge, cultural stability, the reproduction and discourse of power. It is a global procedure, a concept and the development of global market which is free from socio-political control. Globalization tends to include all these aspects. The concepts related to globalization have been defined since long period of time with certain suggestions referring to progress, development and constancy, incorporation as well as cooperation. While few others referred to the concept as regression, destabilization and colonialism. Although there are certain challenges, this term brings with it numerous hidden agendas. These are an individual’s political thoughts, geographic spot, social position, cultural setting along with racial and religious relationship that offers the conditions determining how globalization is interpreted (Stallings) By its characteristics, globalization compr ises of numerous disciplines, communities as well as cultures. This permits for numerous viewpoints such as economic, political as well as social. Globalization is considered as an evolutionary term and is considered as a fluid procedure which is constantly changing with the progress of the human society (Goyal). The main objective of this paper is to identify the advantage and the disadvantage of globalization in the United States and other countries. At the onset, the paper will try to offer clear definition of the term globalization. Then, it will try to identify the impact of globalization on various countries and abroad. The paper will mainly concentrate upon the advantages and disadvantages of globalization to the United States and other countries as well. Meaning of the Term Globalization Globalization is the hastening and strengthening of communication among the people, companies as well as governments of numerous nations. It can be stated that value tends to play a vital ro le in describing globalization. A definition of the term globalization as â€Å"Americanization† or possibly, the â€Å"McDonaldization†, of the world demonstrates globalization as one of the procedures derived by American consumer culture that in turn affects other cultures (Al-Rodhan). There are three main tensions related with globalization. The three tensions demonstrate the contradictory values at stake in the procedure of globalization. By evaluating the controversies regarding globalization via the prism of these three main tensions, one can easily comprehend the positive as well as the negative impacts of numerous components of globalization and the ways to locate the balance thereby reproducing their values. The first tension is related to individual choice and societal choice. A conflict arises when an individual, practicing his/her right to make use of a particular lifestyle, to purchase a particular product, or to consider a particular thought is generally not matching with what society as a whole states is most preferable for the society at large. For example, a few of the people in the society may prefer smoking and

Rise and fall of American labor unions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Rise and fall of American labor unions - Essay Example This kind of project is non-routine work that is not done regularly. A project has duration. Example, the project of basketball construction has duration of two months. Project needs Resources. Project needs, men, materials, time and money to finish the basketball court. Resources are scarce. So, if the organization wants to finish the project, they have to make a budget estimate within which to finish the work. 1.2. Planning and organization. The purpose of planning is to determine the best possible way of achieving specified objective within the specified period of time and costs. It is a technique that aims at maximum utilization of resources. Every person, organization or a government entity has plans. For example, Martha has plans to build a house, the neighborhood plans to build a club house, and the government plans to build a connecting highway. In all of these plans, the elements of project management are important. These are planning, scheduling, implementation, control and monitoring. These are easily done with small projects, but gets difficult and complex when it comes to big projects like government projects. A basketball court construction is simpler in details than a government road project. 1.4 Project appraisal and financing Financing is the significant link between the project and implementation because no matter how good or feasible the project in terms of technical and economics, it cannot work without money. The problem concerns of the project is not only measuring the financial needs but to be assured of financing, where and when needed. This usually entails a loan proposal, and identifying sources of financing. The proponent or organization could resort to borrowings from banks or institutions for private entity; or if it is a government project, funds may come from general appropriations, grants or loan from government banks or rely on foreign loans. In our example, funds for the purpose may come from donations. 1.5 Project life cycle A project has a life cycle. It starts with the conception stage. It is the time when the idea started. Next is the design stage – this is where designs of the project area are presented; usually a committee appraises the appropriateness of the design. Then we have implementation – this is the time of actual work; and the commissioning stage that marks end of project. Going back to project, idea came from the Youth Association, and the design could come from another group who will design, next is a group that finances and implements the project. Last stage is the ending of the project or turn over. 1.6 Organizational workflow, staffing processes and project planning elements Workflow is defined as a sequence of steps that consists of work process involving two or more persons that adds value to the organization’s activities.2 Workflow has two processes, the sequential and parallel work flow. The former is dependent on the occurrence of the previous steps, while th e latter allows two or more steps concurrently. Staffing process. A project requires manpower, and for this purpose, there is a need to establish manpower inventory. First step to staffing is to plan for a manpower inventory in order to match manpower requirements and demand3. Afterwards, other processes follow like recruitment, selection, orientation and placement; and remuneration. A short project does not necessarily involve promotion and

Implications of Information Technology in Developing Countries Essay Example for Free

Implications of Information Technology in Developing Countries Essay The survival and growth of organizations in an increasingly turbulent environment would depend upon effective utilization of information technology for aligning the organizational structure with environmental preferences and for creating symbiotic interorganizational structures. How can IT help the organizations in responding to the challenges of an increasingly complex and uncertain environment? How can IT help the organizations achieve the flexible organization structure? These are the topics that remains to be a matter of question for many developing countries. Although Information technology is still a . black box . technology for developing countries, it is largely applied in industrialised countries to the disadvantage of the majority of developing countries. This paper will try to illuminate the aspects and the impact of Information Technology in managing organizational change and its implications for developing countries. 1. Introduction The rate and magnitude of change are rapidly outpacing the complex of theories. economic, social, and philosophical on which public and private decisions are based. To the extent that we continue to view the world from the perspective of an earlier, vanishing age, we will continue to misunderstand the developments surrounding the transition to an information society, be unable to realize the full economic and social potential of this revolutionary technology, and risk making some very serious mistakes as reality and the theories we use to interpret it continue to diverge..-Arthur Cordell(1987). We have modified our environment so radically that we must modify ourselves in order to exist in this new environment..Norbert Wiener(1957) The survival and growth of organizations in an increasingly turbulent environment would depend upon effective utilization of information technology for aligning the organizational structure with environmental preferences and for creating symbiotic interorganizational structures. How can IT help the organizations in responding to the challenges of an increasingly complex and uncertain environment? How can IT help the organizations achieve the .flexible. organization structure? These are the topics that remains to be a matter of question for many developing countries. This study will try to illuminate the aspects and the impact of Information Technology in managing organizational change and its implications for developing countries. 2. Aspects of Information Technology Information technology (IT) may be defined as the convergence of electronics, computing, and telecommunications. It has unleashed a tidal wave of technological innovation in the collecting, storing, processing, transmission, and presentation of information that has not only transformed the information technology sector itself into a highly dynamic and expanding field of activity creating new markets and generating new investment, income, and jobs- but also provided other sectors with more rapid and efficient mechanisms for responding to shifts in demand patterns and changes in international comparative advantages, through more efficient production processes and new and improved products and services (e.g. replacing mechanical and electromechanical components, upgrading traditional products by creating new product functions, incorporating skills and functions into equipment, automating routine work, making technical, professional, or financial ser vices more transportable). The development of IT is intimately associated with the overwhelming advances recently accomplished in microelectronics. Based on scientific and technological breakthroughs in transistors, semiconductors, and integrated circuits (chips), micro-electronics is affecting every other branch of the economy, in terms of both its present and future employment and skill requirements and its future market prospects. Its introduction has resulted in a drastic fall in costs as well as dramatically improved technical performance both within the electronics industry and outside it (Malone and Rockart, 1993). The continuous rise in the number of features on a single micro-electronic chip has permitted lower assembly costs for electronic equipment (each chip replacing many discrete components), faster switching speeds (thus faster and more powerful computers), and more reliable, smaller, and lighter equipment (fewer interconnections, less power and material). Similar dramatic falls in costs occurred in the transport and steel industries in the nineteenth century and in energy in the twentieth, associated with the emergence of the third and fourth Kondratiev cycles, respectively. The potential effects of microelectronics are thus very far-reaching, for its use in production saves on virtually all inputs, ranging from skilled and unskilled labor to energy, materials, andcapital. All sectors of the economy have been influenced by the development of IT applications: information technology opens up greater opportunities for the exploitation of economies of scale and scope, allows the more flexible production and use of labor and equipment, promotes the internationalization of production and markets, offers greater mobility and flexibility in capital and financial flows and services, and is frequently the precondition for the creation of innovative financial instruments. Information system developments are constantly being applied to increase the productivity, quality, and efficiency of finance, banking, business management, and public administration. In manufacturing, and to some extent in agriculture, many processes have been automated, some requiring highly flexible, self-regulating machines, or robots. The engineering industry has been transformed by computer-aided design and three-dimensional computerized screen displays. The pace of technological change in IT will most likely accelerate the already observable growth in the interdependence of international relations not just economic or financial, but also political and cultural. National economies have become more susceptible to the effects of policy decisions taken at the international level, and domestic economic measures are having increased impacts on economic policies of other countries. World markets for the consumption of similar goods are growing, and so are common lifestyles across national borders. The advance of telecommunications and computerization has recently enabled large companies to use information systems to transmit technical and economic information among numerous computer systems at different geographical locations, subjecting widely dispersed industrial plants to direct managerial control from a central location; this affects the international division of labor and production and international trade, changing the patterns of industrial ownership and control, altering the competitive standing of individual countries, and creating new trading partners. It is the integration of functions that confers on information technology its real economic and social significance. More than just a gradual and incremental technological evolution leading to improved ways of carrying out traditional manufacturing processes (i.e. simply the substitution of new technologies for existing systems and the rationalization of standard activities), IT offers the opportunity for completely new ways of working through systems integration. Rather than applying one item of new technology to each of the production functions now performed at distinct stages of the production process, i.e. design, production, marketing, and distribution (in what could be called stand-alone improvements or island automation), having evolved in to new technologies, i.e. Enterprise Resource Planning systems, IT offers the possibility of linking design to production (e.g. through programmable manufacturing, measuring, and testing equipment responding to the codification of design), planning and design to marketing and distribution (e.g. through a variety of computer aids and databases that sense an d collect changing market trends), production to distribution (e.g. by automatically incorporating orders and commissions by customers and suppliers into the production process), etc. The complete integration of all these production subsystems in a synergistic ensemble is still more a long-term trend than a reality, but use of automated equipment to link together individual items of equipment belonging to hitherto discrete manufacturing operations has already made IT a strategic issue for industry. More technical advances are expected soon in the automation of telecommunications and the linkage of computers by data transmission that will enhance the possibilities of systems integration. Such programmable automation, or computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM), has the capability of integrating information processing with physical tasks performed by programmable machine tools or robots. CIM offers radical improvements in traditional problem areas confronting manufacturers, such as: reduced lead time for existing and new products; reduced inventories; more accurate control over production and better quality production management information; increased utilization of expensive equipment; reduced overhead costs; improved and consistent quality; more accurate forecasting; improved delivery performance (Miles et al., 1988). These features characterize information technology as a new technological system, in which far-reaching changes in the trajectories of electronic, computer, and telecommunication technologies converge and offer a range of new technological options to virtually all branches of the economy. Moreover, IT forms the basis for a reorganization of industrial society and the core of the emerging techno-economic paradigm. The reason for the pre-eminence of the new technological system clustered around information technology over the equally new technological systems clustered around new materials and biotechnology is the fact that information activities of one kind or another are a part of every activity within an industrial or commercial sector, as well as in our working and domestic lives. Almost all productive activities have high information intensity (some involve little else, such as banking or education). Further more, along with the premier of internet technology and e-business architectures; powerful concepts like inventory control, supply chain management, customer relationship/service management, and management resource planning through the internet under the name of Enterprise Resource Planning have enabled IT to be capable of offering strategic improvements in the productivity and competitiveness of virtually any socio-economic activity. Other than industrial or commercial sectors, information technology is also applicable in education sector and in public institutions. Thus, Information Technology is universally applicable. Probably only a fraction of the benefits derived from information technology-based innovations have so far been reaped and the rest remain to be acquired in the next decades. The shift towards systems integration to capitalize the full potential benefits of IT requires considerable adaptations, learning processes, and structural changes in existing socioecon omic institutions and organizational systems. The tradition in most current organizations is still to operate in a largely disintegrated fashion, reminiscent of the Ford-Taylorist management approaches that dominated the fourth Kondratiev cycle: high division of labor, increasing functional specialization/differentiation and de-skilling of many tasks, rigid manufacturing procedures and controls, long management hierarchies with bureaucratic decision-making procedures and a mechanistic approach to performance. Under these conditions, use of IT is restricted to piecemeal technology improvements. By contrast, information technology-based systems offer organizations the opportunity of functional integration, multi-skilled staff, rapid and flexible decision-making structures with greater delegation of responsibilities and greater autonomy of operating units, a more flexible and organic approach enabling a quick adjustment to changing environmental conditions. (Piore and Sabel, 1984.) But this means that information management skills require the ability to make choices about the optimal arrangements for particular situations: unlike earlier generations of technology, IT offers not a single best way of organization but a set of more or less appropriate alternative organizing, staffing, and managing options that may be adopted in different organizational contexts. There is no determinism in the way information technology influences the socioinstitutional framework. Therefore, organizational innovation is a crucial part of the requirement for firms to adapt to survive (Miles, 1988). Unfortunately, this is true for all the institutions as well. Further, it is even more dramatic for the organizations in developing countries because of not being able to properly adapt to this so-called .black-box. technology. No matter how frustrating it is interpreted for these countries, IT still has significant impact on their development. Although socio-economic structure of these countries resists organizational or institutional changes, the complex interrelations between these changes and information technologies have significant implications for the way IT does and will affect the societies and economies of developing countries. As a matter of fact, the negative and positive potential impacts of IT on these countries are a matter of great controversy among economists and politicians. The main short term issues usually discussed are the potential erosion of the comparative advantages of low labor costs, particularly in relation to assembly facilities, and the effects of automation, particularly on internal markets and international competitiveness. Implications of information technology for those countries hold great importance. 3. Implications for Developing Countries The first direct effect of the micro-electronics revolution was the location of production for export in third world countries. While production of mainframe computers continued to be located largely in industrialized countries, production of smaller computers and of microelectronic devices, more subject to price competition, was shifted to low-wage locations, mainly in East Asia, where countries presented low wage costs as well as political stability, a docile labor force, and government incentives. Location of production for local and regional consumption followed, but the countries concerned were mainly middle income: three quarters of US investment in third world micro-electronic industries was concentrated in 11 countries, namely the four Asian dragons, India, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia (Steward, 1991). Export-oriented investments in these countries were associated more with direct foreign investment from larger firms in industrialized countries than with firms producing for the local market; on the other hand, licensing was more associated with smaller firms (Tigre, 1995). The automation of production decreases the relative importance of labor-intensive manufacturing and cost of labor, thereby eroding the competitiveness of low labor costs. For instance, automation led to a sharp decrease in the difference between manufacturing costs of electronic devices between the United States and Hong Kong: in manual processes, manufacturing costs were three times higher in the United States, and the introduction of semi-automatic processes made the difference practically disappear (Sagasti, 1994). Equally, the expansion of automation in Japan has contributed to a reduction of Japanese investments in the Asia/Pacific region involving firms in electronics, assembly parts, and textiles (Sagasti, 1994). The trend to increasing systems optimization and integration is most likely to induce large producers in industrialized countries to bring back a significant share of their production located in developing countries (offshore production). This movement has been called comparative advantage reversal. As integration increases, with functions previously obtained by assembling pieces being incorporated in the electronic components, value-added is pushed out of assembly processes into the components themselves and upwards towards servicing. In addition, the growing technological complexity of electronic devices increases the value of the parts manufactured by firms located in industrialized countries The amount of value-added obtained in offshore assembly has thus been constantly decreasing (Sagasti,1994). Global factories constructed in locations of least cost, often at a considerable distance from final markets, were economically worthwhile because labor was one of the major determinants of costs. Technology and rapid responsiveness to volatile local markets are becoming more important components of competitiveness. The reduction of product cycles due to the growing resistance to obsolescence of programmable machines and equipment has led to a concentration of manufacturing investment in capital-intensive flexible manufacturing, further adding to the erosion of the comparative advantages of developing countries. The assembly of systems will probably continue in some developing countries that have adopted protective legislation for local production targeted at particular market segments (e.g. Brazil), although this is changing very rapidly (Steward, 1991). The types of equipment produced under these circumstances are used largely in internal markets and are hardly competitive on the international level; they tend to be far more expensive than comparable equipment available abroad, and often their installation and use are also more costly because of expensive auxiliary installations, under-use, and lack of management skills. Nevertheless, they may at least provide the country with the capacity to follow the development of information technologies more closely. In other countries, assembly of equipment is taking place from components bought practically off the shelf, but as the level of hardware integration and the amount of software incorporated into the chips (firmware) grow, valueadded will be taken away from the assembly process, reducing or eliminating its economic advantages. The introduction of microelectronics requires certain new skills of design, maintenance, and management, as well as complementary infrastructural facilities such as reliable telephone systems and power supplies. Deficiencies in these factors prevent the widespread adoption of information technology in developing countries (Munasinghe et al., 1985). The more advanced developing countries, with a wider basis of skills and infrastructure and a more flexible labor force, may be in a better position to adopt IT and to increase their productivity and their international competitiveness. But the less developed countries, with inadequate skills and infrastructure, low labor productivity, and lack of capital resources, will find it difficult to adopt the new technologies; they are likely to suffer a deterioration in international competitiveness vis-Ã  -vis both industrialized and the more advanced developing countries (Stewart et al., 1991). Quality, too, requires an adequate level of skills, infrastructure, and managerial know-how that is generally lacking in developing countries. This greatly reduces the synergies, number of options, faster responses, and more informed decisions that can be implemented in the firm by the optimization of the systems performance. In turn, the composition of the labor force existing within firms located in industrialized countries will further improve their systems performance and further reinforce the advantages derived from automation. The proportion of the labor force employed in production is constantly decreasing in the industrialized countries, implying that performances at the systems level and innovation, not manufacturing, are becoming the key to profit, growth, and survival (Sagasti, 1994). Like biotechnology, information technology is a proprietary technology, vital technical information regarding design engineering specification, process know-how, testing procedures, etc., being covered by patents or copyrights or closely held as trade secrets within various electronic firms from industrialized countries. Many companies in the software area do not patent or copyright their products because it entails disclosing valuable information, and firms are generally reluctant to license the more recent and advanced technologies. Therefore, technology transfer takes place mainly among established or important producers, hindering the access to developing countries. Moreover, the main issue facing developing countries is not so much the access to a particular technology but to the process of technological change, because of the dynamism of this process. Sagasti implies this issue in the book The Uncertain Guest: science, technology and development (1994) that recent trends in int er-firm relationships seem to indicate that this access takes place essentially through the participation in the equity of the company holding the technology.

Rapid growth of technology

Rapid growth of technology EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In the current season, the rapid growth of technology, communication and especially the large volume of information have led many companies and organizations to use IT systems for the management and the safety of information. The main objective of this project is to implement a complete security assessment of the private hospital  «Elpis ». The firms which effectively allocate their resources for the better understanding of the risks they face, can more easily avoid unexpected situations and release resources in other directions and profitable activities (i.e. new investments), that otherwise would have potentially rejected as very dangerous. Therefore, the adoption of procedures that focus on Risk Analysis and Management can substantially help firms to prevent or control risky situations. Once, firms have identified an efficient way to measure the relationship between their risk and rewards they could significantly improve their current operations or find new profitable activities. This project investigates the risks related to the security of the hospital  «Elpis ». Specifically, it focuses on the hospital organization, the sources of operational risks and provides detail description of available technologies that can ensure the management and control of these risks. The hospital is located in Athens having two other subsidiaries called  «Mitera » in Chalkida. We know that the private hospitals interchange important medical information concerning their patients. The central IT department is established in Athens dealing with various services such as the patient registration data, patient diagnoses, management of medical information, other data saving, etc. On the other hand, the IT department in  «Mitera » hospital is obsolete with limited ability to send and receive large volume of data. Therefore, this project aims to investigate all the required procedures that can ensure the integrity and confidentiality of medical information transmission betw een the hospitals and the incessant operation of the IT services.  «Elpis » hospital is constituted by five departments: the Administrative Department, the Human Recourses Department, and Finance Department, the Secretariat-motion of Patient Department and the IT Department, while  «Mitera » hospital is organized into two departments, the Secretariat-motion of Patient Department and the IT Department. We analyse the IT department of  «Elpis » hospital which employs the head of the IT department, a network administrator, a medical software administrator, a database administrator and an information security administrator. Our analysis reveals some rules and practices that can ensure the information safety in the private hospital. Also, we have recognized significant sources of risk come from the outside environment and individuals that work in the hospital. The results of this report can be used in the improvement of medical information safety and the minimization of the possible risks. Next, we present the potential technological solutions that the hospital can adopt at a total financial cost of EURO 5000. They include the Intrusion Detection System (IDS), Antivirus, Spyware, Adware and firewall, Implementation of RAID 5, automatic fire detection mechanisms, emergency generator UPS, automatic Air conditioning control, User policy and Password policy. DETAILED ANALYSIS Description of the companys IT infrastructure In this section, we present organizational structure of  «Elpis » and  «Mitera » hospitals as well as their software part of their network. We continuous our analysis using the CRAMM methodology in order to uncover the threats and weaknesses of the IT departments. Finally, we present possible solutions that can face all these risks relevant with the operation of the IT department. The private hospital  «Elpis » is located in Athens at a building consist of 3 floors. In the first floor we find the hospitals administration and a computer room with the IT equipment. In the second floor is the pathological and chirurgical clinic, the secretariat of the clinics and the medical library. The third floor accommodates the cardiologic clinic, the secretariat of the clinic and the room of telemedicine. All the offices for each roof are connected to the same LAN. The organisational structure of private hospital  «Elpis » is constituted by five departments: The Administrative Department: has the total administrative responsibility of hospital. It applies the strategic decisions and rules which are taken through the administrative council. It aims in the appropriate allocation of responsibilities to employees and to provide the maximum good working environment. It has the responsibility for complaints and the implementation of regulation. The Human Recourses Department: Arrange for any matter relating to the official status of the hospital staff, as well as for the monitoring, organizing and control the personnel of all services of the hospital. The Finance Department: the care for the study of the economic needs of the hospital, and its contribution to preparing the budget of the hospital, making the expenditure, the liquidation of personnel acceptances and remaining compensations, procurement, management and storage of supplies and materials that needed to operate the hospital, the training of balance-sheet and assessment, the responsibility for the safeguarding of hospital fortune and the observation of economic statistical elements. The Secretariat-motion of Patient Department: arrange for any matter relating to the organization of secretarial support according with the decisions of management and other services at the hospital. It arranges the publication of tickets for admission of the sick, and compliance with waiting list admission. Also, it keeps detailed statistics of nursing movement and it grants certificates in the patients, afterwards the submission of relative application. The IT Department: has the responsibility for the organisation and operation of computerisation, processing and maintenance of computerized statistical data, providing and distribution of information in the services of hospital, in the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Social Welfare and in other relevant bodies and each other relevant work. It is responsible to research new technologies with aim to save money and increase productivity of the hospital. It provide technical support and training in the employees of hospital for each technology program that using. Also it is responsible for the security of IT programs and IT hardware. The IT infrastructure of hospital  «Elpis » consists of servers which running the medical application or others services and the ability to store all data, the network equipment (switches-Ethernet) which is used for connecting the computer room-servers and the personal computers of hospital staff and the firewall that is configured from the network administrator and monitor data traffic from the hospital on the Internet with specific criteria. In figure 1 presents the topology of the system. Hardware of Hospital Elpis: A Router (1 piece): The Router is a device which connects the workstation on the network of the hospital. The Router connects the local network of the hospital with the internet, using a leased line of 4 Mbps. Firewall (1 piece): The Firewall is a device or software that prevents access to or from a private network for which it was authorized. The Firewalls can also be applied to hardware and software, or a combination of both. It used to deter unauthorized Internet users from accessing private networks. Also firewall controls the movement of data for the region that is responsible. Switch (4 pieces): a hardware device and used to connect different components in the same network. The switches cutting useless Internet traffic and allow you an affordable high-performance network. The switch is can be used for splitting the physical LAN in two small LANs. In network of hospital this switch splits the physical LAN in two small LANs. A central switch is connected with three other switches which connect the workstations. While another switch connects the servers. Database Server (1 peace): Database Server is a device that used by one or more machines as their database. By using a database server users of the hospital have the ability to manage and organize medical data Web Server (1 peace): O web server is a computer, allowing other computers to access files that manage, using the HTTP protocol (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol). Please note that the basic web server administrator has the ultimate control of the server, unlike a simple user The Hospital uses Apache Server. Mail Server (1 peace): mail agent receives the e-mail from local users (incoming), and offered to surrender on outbound users. A computer dedicated to running such applications is also called a mail server. The transfer of medical results from the Mitera hospital to the hospital Elpis made via e-mails. Backup Server (1 peace): A Backup Server is a way to save your important medical files into one single compressed file. The best part of Backup Server is its affordable and you can transfer the compressed file onto another computer or hard drive. In addition, backup server has the possibility to administrate the tape backup machine. Tape Backup Machine (1 peace): Backup Machine provides the easiest way to backup your critical folders and files allowing access to local and network directories. The disk should be replaced at regular intervals and stored in a sheltered place. Workstastion PC (50): Each office holds, one or more desktop pc only for internal services access and development. Software of Hospital Elpis: Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Windows XP Professional ORACLE 8 The  «Mitera » hospital has a Secretariat-motion of Patient Department, the Pathological clinic and the IT department. The medical information (patients data, patient diagnoses, etc.) is exchanged between hospitals with web-hosting or email. The communication as achieved with an ADSL 4 Mbps. The technical characteristics (see figure 2) of  «Mitera » hospital are the same with  «Elpis » hospital. Hardware of  «Mitera » Hospital: A Router (1 piece), Firewall (1 piece) Switch (4 pieces) Mail Server (1 peace) Web Server (1 peace) Storage Devices (1): are used to store the medical data. The storage devices are one of the most important components of the computer system. Workstation Pc (5) Staff Members of the group will undertake to conduct the risk analysis in Chalkis hospital. They should be trained in project risk analysis in order to fulfill their goal. Specifically, the team has the following members: Director Management: He has the overall responsibility for the project in order to succeed. He is responsible for proper organization of the team and ultimately responsible for assessing the risk analysis. Chief: He is responsible for organizing team members. Has the responsibility to evaluate the job each team member. He is responsible for implementing the risk management program. Manager system and informations: they have the responsible for the integrity and availability of systems and information Security Department: they have the responsible for security programs and to identify risks and their eliminate with using the risk analysis Security Practitioners: they have the responsible for the evaluation of security requirements for each IT systems. Risk Analysis In the previous section we described the organizational and informational structure of  «Elpis » and  «Mitera » hospitals. Now, we are describing the assets that are classified into three categories: a) software assets, b) hardware assets and c) data assets. A system can be characterized as reliable and safe when it is: a) confidential: provide access only to authorized persons. They have access to important information (medical information, personal patient data), b) availability: the service that the IT facilities provide should be incessant, c) integrity: the system should be ready at any time to provide reliably any information. Also, the information should not change by unauthorized persons. Data assets The hospital manages important medical information. Thus, the access to the internal network should not be free and the communication between the hospitals should be characterized by safety and reliability. The data assets of private hospital  «Elpis » can contain the following: Patient Records: patient personal data (patient medical history) Personnel Records: staff personal data Financial Records: financial data concerning both hospitals Statistics records: statistical data related to the number of surgeries, patient entrances, deaths, etc. In this project, we perform a risk analysis and management for two data assets, the patient files and the statistical data. Hardware assets In this category, it is classified the physical assets like the equipment facilities, buildings. We focus our analysis on hardware assets. Specifically, the hardware assets of  «Elpis » hospital can be the followings: Application server: It is the most important part of the system. The medical application is installed on the application server where the medical data processing is implemented. Moreover, other staff and financial application are installed on the application server. Database server: It makes possible to the different software to ask for information, update and delete data. Backup server: It provide access to different saved data in the system relevant to medical data, patient personal data, staff data, and other general hospital data Mail server: It facilitates the interchange of mails between the  «Elpis » hospital and the hospital in Chalkida. Also, we perform a risk analysis and management for the most important hardware assets: application server and database server. Software assets This category of applications contains software that the staff of hospital uses for data processing. The software assets of private hospital  «Elpis » can be divided into: Staff Software: They are applications that manage data of hospital staff. They permit new records, delete of records and modifications. Patient folders Software: These applications manage data relevant to the patients (personal data patient medical history). Data Statistical analysis Software: They are applications that process statistical data and help in the creation of annual reports DETERMINATION OF COUNTERMEASURES In the above section was realised the analysis for the threats and the vulnerabilities for each assets (figure 3) . In this section we analyze the countermeasures which should be taken for each threat. In addition, we proposed solutions and technical relatively with the physical and hardware section as well as the architectures and security policies. The countermeasures will be supposed in such degree in order that the hospital working in an error-tolerant. Each employee will have the appropriate privileges in system, in relation to the work which he performs. The password policy should be changed. Users must renew the password once a month and use string passwords. For devices that contain important medical information that password should be changed once a week and the rights of the user accounts to be examined by managers every two weeks. As a reference the user policy should describe the rules that will prevent the user from illegal operations (even if accidental) aiming at the confidentiality of data. The company should implement a backup policy in order to store important medical information (patient file) and data which associated with the company (any company, personal information). The backups are major because theres a danger of losing important data from the disaster of equipment or external threats or by human error (deliberate or accidental). The backup will be made every day and in time that the workload of the hospital is small. Also it should be created a monthly backup that will be stored in a separate location, in case where the initial copies have been destroyed by a natural disaster or damage of equipment or human error. The storage of data will be realised with technical of Raid 5 because the price of the disc is significantly reduced and the costs of implementation Raid 5 is now within most organisms budgets. A measure that must be taken is the installation of an emergency generator UPS which will ensure continuous operation of IT equipment even if creates problems at the central UPS. Also an emergency generator UPS should be connected with the cooling system of the computer room. In the computer room there is a simple cooling system which may not ensure the proper operation of IT systems. The most effective measure is the installation of an completed cooling system which will have automatic air conditioning control with aim to minimize the risk of a sudden increase in temperature. The confidentiality and the data integrity is an important part of the hospital. The installation of IDS device provides control of the network and intrusion detection that can come from either inside or outside of hospital and detect violations of security policies. An IDS has the ability to produce reports on the above events. In addition, a measure that must be taken is the installation of completed fire protection equipment in all spaces of the hospital (patient rooms, offices, computer room). The fire system will have the ability to detect smoke or fire and more generally the change in the temperature also in case of emergency the possibility of telephone connection with the local fire station and the police. The education and training of hospital members in safety, confidentiality and organisation issues should are realised each 2 months. Thus, hospital members acquire feeling of personal responsibility and dexterities. Finally, it should be installed Software applications which will protect the network of hospital from malicious programs. The installation of Antivirus Spyware program will take place in server with a view to automatically install and update the antivirus programs on each workstation. CONCLUSION The main objective of this report was to evaluate safety in private hospital Elpis with the method of risk analysis. The hospital has implemented some measures for the correct and safe operation of hardware and software but these measures do not cover many of the threats. The most important areas that should provide the hospital are the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data. These areas should be applied to a greater degree in the user policy and the security policy. Also, it should be implemented specific technologies which ensure in the hospital proper functioning. Access to sensitive patient information and medical research should be protected specifically by unauthorized persons. Finally, it suggested equipment to help in case of emergency.

French Revolution vs The Romanian Revolution

French Revolution vs The Romanian Revolution Edy Lipianu Between the result of the French and Romanian Revolutions, which one greaterly affected the nations ideal optimistic perspectives of being a free nation? Well while Romania, which turned into a democratic nation after the dictator Ceaușescus execution, France unfortunately wound up with a military autocracy after Napoleon finished King Louis XVI supreme government. Was Napoleon military rule that awful for the French residents and was the democratic system of Romania even that useful for the Romanians? Looking at the two may help discover which one really turned out to be to a greater degree a free nation after their interesting revolutions.. While France was governed briefly by the famous military pioneer, Napoleon Bonaparte from 1789-1790, his rule was not as unforgiving as King Louis. He brought down charges intensely, permitted laborers to eat, and gave more rights to men, yet very few for ladies, shockingly. He gave individuals an essence of religious flexibility, better instruction, and sensible law. The French Revolution completely changed the social and political structure of France. It finished up the French government and its dread and finished political power from the Catholic church. It passed on an illumination to Europe including flexibility and freedom for the normal individual and furthermore the abolishment of servitude and the benefits of women. In spite of the way that the surprise completed with the climb of Napoleon, the musings and changes did not pass on. These new contemplations continued influencing Europe and shaped an expansive number of Europes front line governments. This was a period of ideological, political and social change in the political history of France and Europe all things considered, in the midst of which the French federation, as of now an inside and out government with primitive advantages for the nobility and Catholic pastorate, experienced radical change to outlines in light of Enlightenment measures of republicanism, citizenship, and rights. These movements were joined by horrible turmoil, including executions and concealment in the midst of the Reign of Terror and battling including each other huge European power. The Revolution was at first an acclaimed uprising against the through and through impact of the ruler and against their advantages and was executed for flexibility, value, and society. In reality, it incited to the loss of flexibility, dictatorship, and patriotism. The revolt relied on upon a hatred of tradition and yearning to use the force of the state to make another demand. People were given better approaches for life as nationals of the state. To crush the impenetrability to revolt and the new demand around 18,000 40,000 people were executed. The Romanian Revolution began as a notable revolt in Timisoara. After Ceaușescu was toppled, an affiliation named National Salvation Front, confined abruptly by second-rank companion party people repudiated to the methodologies of Ceaușescu and non-cooperated individuals in the revolt. Iliescu was promptly perceived as the pioneer of the affiliation and thusly of the transitory master. Romanias new individual in control, who was president from 1988-1996 and gave the subjects of new Romania an essence of vote based flexibility. That is the point at which another constitution was made giving everybody every one of the rights that truly demonstrated to individuals proper methodologies to live similarly in agreement. Iliescu proposed multi-party choices and a special vote based framework. This is extensively held to have inferred the determination of Perestroika-style changes rather than the aggregate ejection of existing establishments; it can be associated with the warm assembl ing the new organization was given by Mikhail Gorbachev and the straggling leftovers of the Soviet activity and the way that the fundamental post-dynamic overall comprehension set apart by Romania was with that country. Iliescu did not deny Communist reasoning and the program he at initially showed in the midst of the revolution included reconstructing the cultivating and the revision of trade, yet not a change to private enterprise. These points of view were held by various people from the FSN as well, for instance, Silviu Brucan, who declared in mid-1990 that the change was against Ceaușescu, not against socialism. Iliescu later evoked the probability of endeavoring a Swedish model of socialism. Gossipy tidbits prospered for a significant long time that Iliescu and other second-rank Communists had been needing to topple Ceaușescu, in any case, the events of December 1989 overpowered them. For instance, Nicolae Militaru, the new organizations first insurance serve, said that Iliescu and others had needed to take Ceaușescu prisoner in February 1990 while he was Out of the capital. Regardless, Iliescu denies this, saying the method for the Ceaușescu organization-particularly the Securitates ubiquity-made early plan for a miracle everything aside from outlandish. The French were soothed from King Louis XVIs total government and that was certainly a decent begin for their nation, everything showed signs of improvement in little ways, and individuals got the chance to live feeling free, they thought Napoleon was a saint. Napoleon had a broad and intense impact on the present day world, conveying liberal changes to the various domains that he vanquished and controlled, for example, the Low Countries, Switzerland, and extensive parts of cutting edge Italy and Germany. He executed central liberal arrangements in France and all through Western Europe.His lawful accomplishment, the Napoleonic Code, has affected the legitimate frameworks of more than 70 countries around the globe. Both of the nations ended up effectively showing signs of improvement after their insurgencies. Be that as it may, between the result of the French and Romanian Revolutions, Romania greaterly affected the nations general hopeful perspectives of being a free nation. Romania, which turned into a law based nation after the tyrant Ceaușescus execution, gave individuals more rights and everybody was equivalent. To the degree of opportunity, Romanias Revolution improved the nation a much place for its inhabitants. SOURCES: Book: Napoleon: A Life The French Revolution: From Enlightenment to Tyranny by Ian Davidson http://www.becparlamentare2008.ro/rezul/part_tara_100.pdf http://www.ft.com/cms/s/d3be5f1a-ee6e-11db-b5e9-000b5df10621.html https://archive.org/stream/codenapoleonorf00statgoog#page/n4/mode/2up http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichCode.do?cidTexte=LEGITEXT00000607072 1dateTexte=20080121 http://www.historytoday.com/marisa-linton/robespierre-and-terror http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime_20050526.shtml http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/august10.html https://books.google.com/?id=bFQ6VO1sFGsCpg=PA139lpg=PA139dq=G ospriyomka+gorbachev#v=onepageq=Gospriyomka%20gorbachevf=false http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/40551/seweryn-bialer-and-joan-afferica/sp ecial-supplement-the-genesis-of-gorbachevs-world https://books.google.com/books?id=9O15MzNKMuoClpg=PP1pg=PA89#v= onepageqf=false http://www.adevarul.ro/actualitate/politica/Ce_s-a_ales_de_primul_Guvern_postd Ecembrist_0_617938566.html http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/romania/tudor.html http://www.evz.ro/detalii/stiri/mineriadele-anului-1990-democratia-sub-bate-898037.html http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/government/c_code.html http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123270568/abstract http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/405364/National-Salvation-Front EXTRAS http://www.history5

America Needs The Death Penalty Essay example -- pro-capital punishmen

The death penalty has been a heated topic of debate for many of years. Some people believe that the death penalty is unconstitutional in that it is cruel and unusual punishment. Many people also think that the states do not have the authority to take a life. They think that it is god’s responsibility to judge life and death not mans. So they look at the death penalty from a religious view point. Items that this commission will consider in evaluating the humanity and constitutionality of the death penalty, are is lethal injection a humane way to put an offender to death. We will also consider the constitution to ensure the state follows the constitution. Further, consideration will be given to if the state ensuring that all death penalty offenders being given proper DNA testing to prove their guilt or innocence. One of the most important things that this commission needs to decide is whether the death penalty violates constitutional rights. Many people have claimed that the death penalty is unconstitutional because the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment. An example of this is in California when the state delayed the date an inmate was sentenced to die because his lawyer said that the death penalty by lethal injection was cruel and unusual punishment (Hooper, 2006). Michael Morales’ (the man sentenced to death by lethal injection) lawyers state that there were cases with other inmates that did not receive enough anesthetic and therefore felt too much pain while being put to death (Hooper). This doubt raised can create a great concern for any state and that is why the governor has decided to hault executions and put this panel in place. A good portion of this cruel and unusual punishment will be explaine... ... Constitution. However, even though the death penalty is more costly, there are people that are simply too dangerous to remain alive. The death penalty also offers deterrence for people who may be considering an awful act. It may prevent someone from robbing a store because there is a chance someone could die in the act, therefore making it a capital punishment. There are pros and cons to the death penalty, but in the end I believe that it should be considered when dealing with the most serious and gruesome criminals. Works Cited Allen, H. E., Latessa, E. J., & Ponder, B. S. (2010). Corrections in America (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Hooper, R. (2006). US States Face Dilemma Over Death Row Injections. New Scientist. 189(2541). P. 10. McGraw, D., & Locy, T. (2000). DNA and the Death Penalty. U.S. News & World Report. 128(23). P.20-21 America Needs The Death Penalty Essay example -- pro-capital punishmen The death penalty has been a heated topic of debate for many of years. Some people believe that the death penalty is unconstitutional in that it is cruel and unusual punishment. Many people also think that the states do not have the authority to take a life. They think that it is god’s responsibility to judge life and death not mans. So they look at the death penalty from a religious view point. Items that this commission will consider in evaluating the humanity and constitutionality of the death penalty, are is lethal injection a humane way to put an offender to death. We will also consider the constitution to ensure the state follows the constitution. Further, consideration will be given to if the state ensuring that all death penalty offenders being given proper DNA testing to prove their guilt or innocence. One of the most important things that this commission needs to decide is whether the death penalty violates constitutional rights. Many people have claimed that the death penalty is unconstitutional because the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment. An example of this is in California when the state delayed the date an inmate was sentenced to die because his lawyer said that the death penalty by lethal injection was cruel and unusual punishment (Hooper, 2006). Michael Morales’ (the man sentenced to death by lethal injection) lawyers state that there were cases with other inmates that did not receive enough anesthetic and therefore felt too much pain while being put to death (Hooper). This doubt raised can create a great concern for any state and that is why the governor has decided to hault executions and put this panel in place. A good portion of this cruel and unusual punishment will be explaine... ... Constitution. However, even though the death penalty is more costly, there are people that are simply too dangerous to remain alive. The death penalty also offers deterrence for people who may be considering an awful act. It may prevent someone from robbing a store because there is a chance someone could die in the act, therefore making it a capital punishment. There are pros and cons to the death penalty, but in the end I believe that it should be considered when dealing with the most serious and gruesome criminals. Works Cited Allen, H. E., Latessa, E. J., & Ponder, B. S. (2010). Corrections in America (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Hooper, R. (2006). US States Face Dilemma Over Death Row Injections. New Scientist. 189(2541). P. 10. McGraw, D., & Locy, T. (2000). DNA and the Death Penalty. U.S. News & World Report. 128(23). P.20-21

Urban Legend of the Kidney Thieves Essay -- Urban Legends

The Kidney Thieves Urban legends are apocryphal stories involving incidents of the recent past, often including elements of humor and horror that spread quickly and are popularly believed to be true (1). They reflect society's deepest fears and anxieties. One urban legend can be retold with different settings and people, but the central theme or idea remains constant. The appeal of these legends is the possibility they can be true and that they bring out the listeners' deepest fears. The storyteller in the following urban legend is a nineteen-year old man from Annapolis, Maryland. He is currently a freshman at the University, majoring in mechanical engineering. His mother is a nurse and his father, a dentist. One dark Thursday night, he sits me down in his dorm and tells me a chilling story in a hushed tone: A couple years ago a friend of one of my best friends traveled to L.A. on a business trip. One night he went to a bar that reminded him of one back in Annapolis. He went in and played a round of pool and won--the guy he beat offered him a round of drinks and they got to talking. They talked about home and after a few more drinks, Bob lost track of time. The last thing he remembers is deciding to call it a night before everything went black. The next thing he knew he woke up in a strange hotel room with a pain in his lower back. He went to see a doctor who told him that he had had major surgery, and one of his kidneys had been removed cleanly and professionally. HISTORY While seemingly not a tale of the supernatural or of ghosts, this story definitely includes elements of the uncanny. Many versions of this story are circulated, and one potential source for the story dates to 1988. In 1989, ... ...nce to decide exactly who these menacing â€Å"kidney thieves† are. Works Cited (1) Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English, Preview Edition. Lexico Publishing Group, 2004. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=urban%20legend. (2) Mikkelson, Barbara and David P. You’ve Got to be Kidneying. Urban Legends Reference Pages, 2004. http://www.snopes.com/horrors/robbery/kidney.htm. (3) Emery, David. The Kidney Snatchers. About Inc, 2005. http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/weekly/aa062997b.htm. (4) Mikkelson, Barbara and David P. Organ Nicked: Vegetable. Urban Legends Reference Pages, 2004. http://www.snopes.com/horrors/robbery/kidney2.htm. (5) NIH Publication No. 03–4241. Your Kidneys and How They Work. National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse, 2003. http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/yourkidneys/

Monsters Are Due on Maple Street

Twilight Zone The series Twilight Zone is a show that combines science fiction with society. Every episode ends with a shocking, unexpected twist. â€Å"The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street† is an episode that informs society about the fear of prejudice and hysteria. In this episode, a loud shadow in the sky passes through Maple Street. The shadow is actually a meteor. Unexpected and strange things start to happen like the electricity and cars turning off. The people who live on Maple become very curious on what the meteor has done to the neighbors living on the street.A young boy named Tommy tells the adults that everything weird happening is because of the aliens from outer space, which he read about in a comic book. First the adults refuse to believe a child, but then they unconsciously start pointing fingers at who can and cannot be aliens. People were getting blamed for doing normal things such as insomnia, looking at stars, and experimenting on a radio, but then the neig hbors would exaggerate and make it sound suspicious, strange and unusual. As the episode continues, the adults become paranoid and start to lose their minds.This twilight zone episode reveals to us that the real monsters in society are ourselves. The neighbors were very eager to figure out who and what was the cause of the power outage. Neighbors would blame other neighbors for the outage because they believed that one person was an alien. Even though they had no proof or evidence, they used their words to blame the suspects. A ruckus of mass paranoia occurs and everyone believes that everyone is an alien. Tommy compares the real life situation to a similar problem he read in a comic book about aliens taking over a town.The power outage that happened in the comic book is also occurring in real life. The adults do not believe him at first, but then they begin to slowly and senselessly start blaming other people for being an alien because they are afraid. Just like the media nowadays, mass paranoia affects everyone. The media exaggerates how something â€Å"might† happen and society makes it a big deal before anything is really happening. They cause concern and stress upon themselves because of what the media says. The central theme that exists within the episode is that words are mankind’s reatest weapon. I believe that words may not be able to physically hurt someone, but they can emotionally. Emotional pain is sometimes harder to endure than physical pain. In the neighborhood, some of the neighbors like Les Goodman are accused of being a suspect because his car randomly turned on, while everyone else’s didn’t start. Though he has no effect on the aliens, a woman claims that she has seen him look up at the sky late at night, as though he is waiting for something. She thinks he is waiting for the aliens or something from outer space.Therefore Goodman becomes an immediate suspicion to all the neighbors. Everyone in the neighborhood is now more aware of him, claiming that his family isn’t human, but aliens. The woman was being the real monster to society because she had no idea what she was talking about and jumps to conclusion about Les Goodman. Since she made a comment that didn’t have supported evidence, she dug Les Goodman into a hole, making people think he is an alien because everyone starts to believe her. This episode conveys propaganda to the audience. Everyone is following everybody else’s opinion, and they are all being biased.Just like in real life situations, propaganda occurs in the media. We are informed about a particular person’s point of view and their idea soaks up into our brain. Towards the end of the episode, all the neighbors are at their highest point of terrorization and fear. The mob starts to panic as they see a shadow figure approaching their neighborhood. Charlie assumes the shadow to be a monster. Therefore, he starts to act malicious and grabs a gun to sh oot the shadow. Everyone comes near the monster and it turns out to be Pete Van Horn, who was one of the neighbors coming home from town.The lights in Charlie’s house randomly turns on and everyone starts to tell him that is he held responsible for the death of Pete. He is now accused of being a monster because of the electricity in his house turning on, and a murder of an innocent man. Charlie was trying to protect his people, but he ends up accidently shooting a person. Everyone starts to blame him for being a monster and throws rocks at him. He did something to help, but since someone said that he is a monster for killing and having his light turn on, he is evil.This shows that all of society is influenced to have the same viewpoint of a specific person, and sometimes they tend to follow counter-information. This episode challenges social convention because society expects us to have the same perception as what the government wants us to think. The people living on Maple w ere so afraid of what was happening that they believed anything anyone said. Steve has a radio in his garage which he has been working on by himself, and they assume that he is working on an odd electronic related to the aliens. Steve was one of the first to be suspicious of Les Goodman.When Steve was blamed of being an alien, he becomes hypocritical and yells at the neighbors and tells them they are all standing out on the street to crucify someone, and that they are all set to find a scapegoat. Steve knows the only thing that will happen to the neighbors is that they will all become obsessed with finding a scapegoat, and in result they are going to eat each other up alive. Out of fear and panic, they all ruin themselves and each other. Like social convention, Steve and Les have done something odd and different, so they have been frowned upon.In the beginning of the episode, everyone on Maple Street seems happy and cheerful. It is sunny outside and kids are playing in the streets. Once it gets darker at night, the power is still out and there is no more light outside or inside. Everyone is using candles for light, there are no more children around, and the streets seem very dark and mysterious. The neighbors are portrayed as mobs. They all stick together and follow each other wherever one goes. This shows society believing one person’s point of view. The people in the back of mob don’t have much to say.Instead they just stand there and agree with the main person speaking because they are weak and do not have anything to say. Their faces have a shadow and it is dark surrounding all of them leaving making it very suspenseful. The darkness adds a more mysterious effect. The secretive aura of the darkness represents a hidden truth behind society’s lies that are spoken to us. In the end, no one living on Maple Street was an alien. Though there really was an alien, the aliens believe that stopping a few machines, putting the street in darkness will ruin the neighbors without the aliens even being round the humans. The aliens assume that all the neighbors will pick on the most dangerous enemy and be prejudice towards the enemy and to others. But as this all happens, the neighbors’ most dangerous enemy is actually themselves. They destroy themselves by panicking and finding a scapegoat. Everyone is torn apart and no one knows or believes the truth. â€Å"There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices, to be found only in the minds of men† is said at the end of the episode. I believe this quote sums up the people living on Maple Street perfectly.Their suspicion destroyed the neighborhood to a point where an innocent life was taken. The people are all thoughtless and frightened and are lying just to protect themselves. Community and society are easily manipulated when they are terrorized. The government tries to takeover some of society’s weak minds and influences them to believe what i s right and what is wrong. The community and society speaks before they think, even though sometimes it is not true. They create a monster to themselves because they are creating false facts for everyone to be concerned about.