White paper on Information security systems free essay sample

Over the past decade Panther Industries has been providing banks worldwide with safe banking solutions and protection against cybercriminals. However with 128 million malware programs written each year1, banking institutions are only becoming more vulnerable to the threats of cyber-attacks. So it is no surprise that Panther Industries – a world leader in web-banking technology has itself become a target of these emerging threats. More specifically our systems have recently faced attacks from two newer forms of security threats namely ‘Man in the browser’ (MITB) and ‘Man in the middle’ (MITB) – two Trojan horse type programs. These two threats work by altering the confidential banking data of the users and Panther Industries’ security mechanism. MITB has targeted the two most widely used browsers – IE and Firefox by modifying their web assembly structure and stealing user information such as passwords. MITM implements a similar technique of ‘phishing’ by intruding verification and redirecting bank customers to a counterfeit server which captures the sensitive information. We will write a custom essay sample on White paper on Information security systems or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page To retain clients’ confidence in Panther Industries strong authentication and transaction verification techniques need to be implemented to prevent fraud and identity theft. This white paper details the nature of MITB and MITM attacks and their ability to intercept and modify an online banking transaction. As a protection against these threats this paper also offers as a solution the use of mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) as software tokens to generate unique Digital Signatures that will lend security and authenticity to browser-based transactions. With the ever-increasing advancements in next generation mobile commerce and smartphone technology, this solution is not only secure but also convenient. Another solution proposed in this paper is the creation of VPS or Virtual Private Sessions wherein the server sends a confirmation to the user which the user must approve for the transaction to be processed. 2. System Description The software architecture at Panther Industries is designed to provide stable enterprise functionality with a host interface that integrates with a back-end with in real-time. This architecture provides the convenience of defining and executing business functions through more than one customer channels. The first tier of the software architecture is the user interface which is simply the web browser such as IE or Firefox used by the bank customers to sign-in to their online banking account. Our banking clients require no special installation for this. The second tier is a PHP based secure application server that offers enterprise level application. At Panther Industries PHP and not HTML was chosen for scripting as it is the most popular web development language which is used and recommended by IBM, Oracle, HP and many other technology leaders. PHP is a simple, flexible yet powerful and accessible programming language suited for coding and executing web applications. At Panther Industries PHP has been the lead scripting language used for integrating banking functions and data from a range of existing systems and applications. The third tier consists of a database server which Panther Industries has developed per ANSI 92 industry standard to be deployed on highly scalable database engines such as Oracle and MySQL. The software platform finds three ways of deployment namely centralized, distributed (inside) and distributed (outside). In the centralized form of deployment, the central database could be accessed via a single point with the same control panel for all system administrators and bank managers. When deployed as distributed (inside), the system supports head offices as well as branches. The system administrator module, back office and the primary servers – application server and database server are located in the head office with each branch retaining its own copy. In the database (outside) type of deployment the two primary servers are installed on the tenanted facilities and on the network of the data center which is located outside the bank. This use of this software platform at Panther Industries is two-fold. It is used by personal and corporate clients as well as the bank employees. The client registration process consists of two stages. The first stage is the preliminary registration wherein the client fills out the personal details on the registration page which generates open and private keys for further use. Upon acceptance of the bank service agreement the client’s user account is made active by the administrator. From that point on, the client can access and analyze various banking documents online. All the documents and records accessed by the client are archived and business continuity is ensured as per the service agreement. The system permanently removes all of the client’s financial information in case the service agreement is terminated. The other users of this are the bank employees namely the System Administrator (SA), Branch Administrator (BA), Bank Manager (BM) and Technical Administrator (TA). The SA acts as the supervisor for the system by registering all the bank employees and managing the user accounts. The control panel provides the SA with analytical and statistical reports about the bank activity. The BA administers the managers and clients’ user accounts, assigns a bank manager for each account and schedules and synchronizes system operation. The BM is primarily responsible for processing clients’ financial documents, check for the accuracy of client’s activity and respond to client requests via mail. The TA is responsible for the overall monitoring, administrating and configuring the system. 3. System Strengths and Weaknesses 3. 1 System strengths The software architecture at Panther Industries is designed to provide stable enterprise via a robust front-end architecture and with real-time integration with back-end systems via a host interface. To proactively manage cyber-security risks Panther Industries provides its clients with the following security tools: 1. Data encryption: Latest encryption techniques such as 128-bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) are followed to ensure a secure transmission of data. 128-bit SSL ensures that the customer is communicating with the bank’s website and not another computer impersonating the customer. This type of encryption also scrambles the sensitive data so that it cannot be read by hackers. At 128 bits, the data can be encrypted using 288 times the number of combinations as compared to a standard 40-bit encryption making this encryption a trillion times stronger5. Panther Industries provides the technology to our clients to offer this encryption to 99. 99% of their customers. Lastly 128-bit encryption ensures that no data was altered or tampered with during transmission. 2. Session handling: To heighten cyber-security, Panther industries also provides its clients with session handling wherein the application server creates and assigns a new and unique session id after a successful user authorization. In this technique the session identifiers ensure that can each customer is working with their own financial information. 3. Logging: Via this technique Panther Industries provides its clients an ability to log all customer and employee activity such as IP addresses, sessions etc. The log history generated via this technique provides for efficient supervisory and archival control. 3. 2 System weaknesses Despite of the strong security measures it provides, the system suffers from some weaknesses which can result in a compromise of customer’s financial data. More specifically the system is not secured against most recent and emerging threats as we have experienced recently – the MITB and MITM referenced in section 1. These two forms of attacks bypass the authentication measures by installing a false sense of security. What makes these hard to detect is the fact that they use authenticated sessions to piggyback on. The authentication techniques used at Panther Industries can successfully prevent attacks wherein hackers are trying to impersonate or are trying to steal identity. But since authenticated sessions are used by hackers that deploy MITB or MITM, our authentication techniques cannot prevent these forms of attacks. Another characteristic of these attacks is that they relay legitimate verified credentials in the real-time. Since these are validated credentials, they are able to successfully fool the user-session tokens created on the server. This technique buys the hacker 30-60 seconds – enough time to steal sensitive information such as passwords. 4. System protection options To provide our banking clients with a robust approach to tackle these emerging threats, we have outlined a few protection options in this section. 4. 1 Protection from Man-In-The-Browser attack 1. Digital signatures: To offer protection to the customers from a Man-In-The-Browser attack we need to (i) ensure the integrity of the transactional data between the bank and the customer and (ii) offer a higher degree of authentication to the transactions. So to successfully curb this form of attack we need to discontinue the use of a browser as a means to conduct transactions and even detect the variation in the transactions. This will take away the medium that hackers use to mount the attack in the first place. This can be achieved by offering digital signatures which can be used to sign digital PDF forms rather than conventional web-based HTML or PHP forms. So when the customer clicks the submit button the information travels via a PDF form which is digitally signed by him. The submitted information, therefore, is never exposed to the browser environment and therefore cannot be intercepted by the MITB technique. 2. Creation of Virtual Private Sessions: As the name suggests Virtual Private Sessions (VPS) are virtual sessions created with the end-user wherein the server alerts the user of any modifications made to a transaction. The transaction goes through only if the user approves it. The duration of such a session is very small and expires in 30 seconds, which doesn’t give the interceptor enough time to capture, alter or modify the data. 4. 2 Protection from Main-In-The-Middle attack To prevent the MITM attacks we propose the use of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology. In this technique, a challenge protocol is used to ensure a safe and authenticated transaction between the customer and the bank portal. The challenge protocol helps the PKI to validate the website which is requesting the authentication is the bank’s website which issued them in the first place. This validation is done automatically and will thwart any username and password requests made via an unverified URL. 5. Risk mitigation strategies The risk management strategies to mitigate any risks that arise from the MITB and MITM attacks primarily consist of educating our client about the constantly changing landscape of the cyber-security for online banking operations and the solutions that we offer via our technology. This will help the banking institutions that use our software platform to have a clear strategy in offering their customers a safe and secure online banking experience. The checklist should include the following best practices for online banking for the bank employees to prevent fraud: (i) Most current versions of anti-virus programs as well as firewall should be installed on all computers. (ii) A designated network engineer should be tasked with the responsibility of regularly updating the bank software (iii) Disable the services and / or conduits that are not in use (iv) Provide limited access to the internet to abate the risk of connecting to a malicious website (v) Not all employees should have the ‘administrator privileges’ on the computers. Such privileges should only be granted to system administrator or higher management. (vi) Make sure that the employees have scanned their mobile devices before connecting them to the banking software. (vii) Bank employees should make use of an email client that block the most commonly used email attachments which are used by hackers to install a malware on any computer. (viii) A reputable pop-up blocker should be installed on all computers. (ix) Internal bank documents used by employees are always the most recent and virus-free. (x) Unusually high transactions should be immediately brought to the attention of upper management. (xi) Banks should encourage their customers to check their account balance daily so that they can detect any suspicious transaction on their account at an early stage. (xii) Ensure that all bank employees have a high-level of awareness and follow good security practices overall. 6. Conclusion We need to acknowledge the sophistication of the Man-In-The-Browser (MITB) and Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) attacks that clients of Panther Industries can face. Despite the secure authentication and encryption techniques that Panther Industries has developed, these malware programs can steal identity and create a financial fraud in the banking sector by combining a Trojan horse program with phishing. To retain our clients’ confidence, Panther Industries has to develop new technologies to stay a step ahead of these cyber-threats. To counter the threats presented by MITB and MITM, Panther Industries should provide its clients with multi-tier authentication and digital signature technology described in section 4. The digital signature is created by encrypting the customer’s private key and associating the transactional data with it. The bank’s system validates the same and compares it with the user’s decrypted public key and authorizes the transaction. All in all clients of Panther Industries stand to benefit a lot by deploying the solutions outlined in this white paper while still offering the current ease use for their customers. 7. References

Is Globalization Beneficial or Tyrannical

Is Globalization Beneficial or Tyrannical It is undeniable that globalization describes the path that the world is taking technologically and economically. Nations all over the world have become intertwined in financial relationships that make them dependent on each other. Markets are becoming increasingly free with the global demand and supply for major technological and agricultural products.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Is Globalization Beneficial or Tyrannical? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Since the end of cold war, all nations are increasingly adopting the capitalist economic system which encourages world trade. Technology, particularly information technology, has also played a great role in dissolving national barriers to create an increasingly uniform social system. All these aspects of the modern society constitute globalization. While some analysts consider globalization desirable, some people argue that this phenomenon is a slow drift of the world towards tyranny and domination by some privileged class. A global economic system and global information technologies dominated by economically superior nations are leading the world towards tyranny and domination. Analysts Alan Taylor and Maurice Obstefield argued that the apparent economic globalization is actually trade between rich countries while poor nations are sidelined (Friedman, 2008). Trade among countries in the north is fair since countries depend on each other enhancing their economic security. However, the nations in the south are sidelined and exploited for raw materials and labor. Thus, globalization has one set of countries exploiting another group of weaker countries. As this consolidation of economic power continues among rich countries, the economically weaker countries lose bargaining power for their contribution to the world economy. Thus, globalization is not as fair or uniform as it might seem (Friedman, 2008). Robert Lucas also analyzed the idea of c apital and concluded that the apparent movement of capital from rich countries to poor countries is deceptive. The common perception is that the poor countries are benefitting from the investments made by rich countries (Friedman, 2008). However, the amount of returns the poor countries get from provision of labor, raw materials, and infrastructure to aid production by multinationals is much less that the benefit the rich countries get from the cheap labor and low overhead costs they have in developing countries.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to Lucas, the overall effect is that poor countries are exploited by rich countries. Much of the labor force in poor countries becomes dependent on the multinationals leading to tyranny by foreign countries. The multinationals act as representatives of their countries of origin and may coerce their host countries i nto any kind of agreements. In addition, the capital invested in developing countries is a small proportion of the movement of capital in the world market. The small economies of the developing countries amplify the apparent investments so that they appear to be huge investments (Friedman, 2008). Thus, the movement of capital among rich countries is obscured by their huge economies making the investments in them seem small. Information technology is the leading cause of all kinds of globalization. Cultures are slowly merging to form one uniform culture around the world. Information technology began with development of air transport and mass media. News travel around the world as fast as they do within a country. This spread of culture has been amplified by emergence of the internet in the early 1990s. Social networking and mail services on the internet have enabled people to interact socially over the internet. More people are continuously joining the internet community. Entrepreneu rs own companies that provide the internet services and access from rich countries. Through these companies, people from the developed countries are able to control the information that people can access over the internet all over the world. They have the ability to influence world opinion. In addition, they collect a vast amount of personal information from people around the world. This way, the majority of the world population can be controlled through the internet giving companies that provide internet services an immense power (Mishkin, 2009). It is obvious that the internet is used for the benefit of the developed countries. Other analysts argue that globalization is the path to global prosperity. The most significant benefit of globalization is the spread of technology from developed countries to the developing countries. Since most of the developed countries are always more technologically advanced than developing countries, technology and scientific knowledge always flows fr om the developed countries to the developing countries (Rodrik, 2010). This enables the developing countries to keep up with the global economic development. Another argument is that developing countries cannot generate enough capital to match the labor in their economies. Yoav Friedman describes globalization exclusively as a process of movement of capital. Although he blames movement of capital for the spread of financial risk over many countries, he also argues that mobility of capital is important for global economy and stability (Friedman, 2008).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Is Globalization Beneficial or Tyrannical? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Thus, capital from larger economies is needed for economic development and production to increase. People in a developing country are employed by the multinationals; through their wages, the domestic economy obtains bargaining power to purchase what it needs in t he international markets. Some analysts say that this flow of capital from the rich countries to the poor countries is necessary to enable weak economies to participate in international trade. Social networking over the internet and mass media is another major player in the process of globalization. Some analysts argue the worlds societies are interconnected trough the use of social media and mass media (Hickman, 2012). John Hickman focuses on the positive aspects of globalization. He depicts social media as a forum where ideas are generated in an open platform. Knowledge is passed from one society to the other through mass media. The societies become integrated into one global community (Hickman, 2012). This integration is necessary for cohesion and peace around the world. Through such cohesion, development and trade are possible. Globalization has several analysts arguing in its favor or against it. Although the immediate impression created by the essence of globalization indicate s that it is a positive phenomenon and an advantage for the world society, the truth is that globalization is leading the world towards tyranny (Rodrik, 2010). The world’s poor nations are becoming poorer and more dependent on the rich nations (Mishkin, 2009). This financial dependency makes them weak and susceptible to manipulation. It is also evident that the long-term effect of information technology that is instrumental in all forms off globalization is one global culture. This culture is based entirely on the culture of the dominant nations. Since these nations own communication companies and mass media corporations, it is obvious that the material broadcast contains aspects of culture from powerful countries (Rodrik, 2010). The ultimate outcome of globalization is tyranny by one or a few wealthy nations. This may put the control of the world in the hands of a few people. References Friedman, Y. (2008). Globalization of capital movements. Israel Economic Review, 2(2), 45 -78. Hickman, J. (2012, February 7). Social Media Globalization. Interactive cultures Retrieved from interactivecultures.org/2010/05/social-media-globalisation-and-glocalisation/Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Mishkin, F. (2009). Is Financial globalization beneficial. Columbia University Journal, 4(5), 85-102. Rodrik, D. (2010). Who needs the nation state?. Economic Geography, 3(1), 4-36.

Denegacin papeles a cubanos por inadmisibilidad

Denegacin papeles a cubanos por inadmisibilidad El rechazo de las peticiones de las visas CMPP o de las tarjetas de residencia confunde a muchos cubanos. Sin embargo, hay una causa que frecuentemente est detrs de este problema. Destacar que en la actualidad ya no se admiten ms solicitudes de visas CMPP, si bien se tramitan las pendientes de resolucià ³n final. Requisitos para que la CMPP y la tarjeta de residencia sean aprobadas para los cubanos Es necesario que se cumplan los requisitos que se piden para todos los solicitantes de una tarjeta de residencia, cualquiera que sea su nacionalidad. Por lo tanto, tanto la green card -tambià ©n conocida como tarjeta o permiso de residencia- como la visa CMPP sern rechazadas si el que la pide es inadmisible  segà ºn las leyes de los Estados Unidos. Y es aquà ­ donde los cubanos suelen encontrar un gran obstculo porque afecta a un gran nà ºmero de ellos: membresà ­a en el partido comunista. Cuando una persona rellena la peticià ³n de residencia permanente o de visa CMPP debe contestar la verdad sobre si ha pertenecido a un partido totalitario o al partido comunista o a alguna organizacià ³n relacionada (hay que entender juventudes comunistas y similares). En los casos en los que el solicitante tenga un pasado de militancia comunista el USCIS puede rechazar la aplicacià ³n de la visa CMPP o de la tarjeta de residente. Hay alguna alternativa para evitar el rechazo de la visa CMPP o de la tarjeta de residencia? En determinados casos pueden aplicar excepciones a la regla general, con lo cual sà ­ se aprobarà ­a la peticià ³n, o incluso cabe solicitar un perdà ³n. Serà ­a posible beneficiarse de una excepcià ³n a la aplicacià ³n de la regla general cuando: Han transcurrido dos aà ±os desde que se causà ³ baja en el partido comunista, que se aumentar a cinco se trata de ciudadanos de paà ­ses regidos por el partido comunista, como es el caso de Cuba o China. La inactividad, como dejar de pagar las cuotas al partido o dejar de participar en sus actividades se puede considerar como que se ha renunciado a la membresà ­a comunista. La afiliacià ³n fue involuntaria, porque era necesaria para conseguir alimentos, trabajo u otros bienes esenciales. Si bien este punto tiene la dificultad de la prueba en muchas ocasiones.La membresà ­a en el partido comunista no era sentida y simplemente era un vehà ­culo para conseguir una ventaja. Este punto tambià ©n puede ser complicado de probar. Es là ³gico esperar que el asunto del pasado comunista està © presente en cualquier entrevista con un oficial consular o de inmigracià ³n y que se pueda pedir al solicitante informacià ³n o documentacià ³n adicional. Adems, si el USCIS niega la solicitud por esta causa, es posible apelar la decisià ³n. Para tener claro cul es la causa concreta del rechazo verificar el nà ºmero y unas letras que aparecen en el documento en el que se notifica el mismo. Si es 212(a)(3)(d), la razà ³n es el pasado comunista. Perdn o waiver Se puede pedir un perdà ³n, tambià ©n conocido como waiver o permiso, cuando el solicitante es: Padre o madre, esposo/a, hijo/a, hermano/a de un ciudadano americano.Esposo/a, hijo/a de un residente permanente legal. En estos casos el oficial consular notificar quà © planilla debe completarse para solicitarlo. Si no es concedido, es posible apelar la decisià ³n. A tener en cuenta Resaltar que si se  miente y posteriormente se descubre la verdad, el mentiroso puede ser demandado y puede quitrsele la documentacià ³n (green card o, si han pasado los aà ±os y se ha naturalizado incluso el pasaporte americano). Mentir en una planilla federal es una idea muy mala con consecuencias que pueden ser gravà ­simas. Incluso si se miente al solicitar la visa se puede estar arrojando a la basura toda posibilidad de conseguir cualquier otro visado hacia los Estados Unidos. Las consecuencias son igual de malas si se le miente de palabra a un agente federal. Situacin legislacin que afecta a cubanos Entre las à ºltimas actuaciones del presidente Barack Obama se encuentra el haber puesto fin a la polà ­tica de pies secos pies mojados y a las visas CMPP. En la actualidad sigue vigente la Ley de Ajuste Cubano, segà ºn la cual se puede solicitar la tarjeta de residencia permanente (green card) al aà ±o y un dà ­a de presencia fà ­sica en Estados Unidos, siempre y cuando el ingreso se hubiera producido de forma legal.   Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal.

Diseases Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Diseases - Essay Example The CDC estimates that there are approximately 300 strains of Lyme disease (Matthews, 2012). Characteristics of the disease: Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that is caused by the spirochaete Borrelia burgdorferi. This bacterium also possesses several serotypes. Lyme borreliosis is transmitted through nymph and tick bites belonging to the genus lxodes. Humans are mainly infected by nymph bites. Lymph disease is mostly prevalent during the summer period. The onset of the disease is characterized by early lesions on the skin which have a central zone and expand in ring form. Other symptoms include myalgia, fever, rash, chills and migraines (McPhee & Papadakis, 2010). The patient also has a case of unexplained tendonitis, depression, insomnia and the appearance of floaters in the eyes. The disease may also progress to meningeal pathology and can also involve the central nervous system. Joint pains are also characteristic of later stages of the disease. Other symptoms that are less common in Lyme disease include inflammation of the eye, severe fatigue and hepatitis (McPhee & Papadakis, 2010). Treatment of the disease involves administrations of oral and intravenous antibiotics such as doxycycline, amoxicillin and cefuroxime (McPhee & Papadakis, 2010). Problems with diagnosing, preventing, treating or eradicating the disease: Firstly it is difficult to stop Lyme disease due to the fact that the vectors (ticks) are impossible to eradicate entirely. There is also difficulty in the diagnostic process of Lyme disease due to the fact that the â€Å"bull’s eye rash† that is considered a positive indication of the disease does not appear in all the patients. In addition, the disease has adverse impacts on organs of elimination; therefore, any type of rash can be a sign of Lyme disease. Other conditions that have been associated

Globalisation Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Globalisation - Literature review Example This essay attempts to describe globalization process by highlighting, evaluating and analyzing various definitions. Globalization is a global process and a revolution concept including economic integration, policy sharing, knowledge sharing, cultural stability, reproduction, relations and discourses of power or may sometimes be variously described as a progress, development, stabilization, integration, cooperation or perhaps regression, colonialism and destabilization. Globalization is a concept that requires careful and critical examination since sharp and enlightening definition boosts perception, is interesting and empowers people with knowledge deemed important in shaping up society’s destiny. It is worth noting that most of the intellectual imaginations have been gripped by the concept of globalization. Scholars and lay circle have commonly pursue a perception that globalization is an analytical prerequisite used in appreciating continuousness and adjustment of contempor ary society. Presently, the term has really spawned a lot of confrontational and highly intuitive annotation (Dreher, Gaston and Martens 2008, p. 14-17). ... This further signifies the impact of the contemporary social relation and the fact that there is a common and new character shared within the society because of the relevancy and the context of the term to the society. In academic, various disciplines have incorporated the word globalization in their studies and event tried to relate numerous phenomenon with it. Also, it has been applicable in several theoretical approaches as well as political spectrum across the world thus symbolizing its usefulness in the society (Meerhaeghe 2012, p. 239-45). It is undeniable that the idea of globalization remains absolutely indescribable as it is inescapable and that as much as it means something crucial, surety about what that vital thing is remains unknown. As much it is widely used, it seems that globalization do not have cogent conceptualization to qualify it being treated as a serious scholarly issue (Dreher, Gaston and Martens 2008, p. 14-17). In fact, the poor conceptualization has borne p ersistent ambiguity and confusion resulting into a bunch of objectors with suspicious motives or even the notion of intellectual laziness. The current confusion of the term is as a result of failure to engender convincing understanding that do not relate with other concepts as it is evident in some of the definitions including globalization as internalization, liberalization, universalization and westernization. Globalization as Internationalization By terming globalization as internalization it implies enhancement of transactions and interdependence amongst countries and therefore a more global world is characterized by more ideas, information, merchandise, finances and investments. Bishop, Reinke and Adams (2011, p.

Plato - Socrates Essay Example for Free

Plato Socrates Essay Apology, in greek, means ‘to give defense’ (###). In Plato’s Apology, Socrates is blamed for numerous acts and elegantly defends himself in front of the court. To start off, he was first accused of studying astrology and demonology and passing his knowledge and beliefs to other people. His first response to this was blatantly asking who has heard him speaking of such acts: â€Å"†¦should tell each other if anyone of you has ever heard me discussing such subjects to any extent at all† (19d). He also claims that if anyone has heard of him charging fees for his teachings, that that is a lie as well. Socrates continues by saying that god at Delphi claims that he is the wisest man in Athens, and he challenges anyone who believes they are wiser. Even though Meletus refuses to believe the words that Socrates speaks, he continues to listen as Socrates further explains his viewpoint. Socrates continues by saying that the reason behind his unpopularity lies behind his ability to analyze others. He criticizes the politicians, the poets, and the craftsmen for their apparent wisdom. Socrates first examines the Politicians, saying that â€Å"†¦I found that those who had the highest reputation were nearly the most deficient†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (22a) meaning that they possessed little to no wisdom. Next, Socrates examined the Poets. He simply stated that the poets had no clue what they were writing about. He believes that their poems come from sheer inspiration and natural talents, and their wisdom has nothing to do with it. Finally, Socrates speaks about the craftsmen. He shares his belief that the craftsmen are very wise, but they only possess knowledge of their crafts. Secondly, Socrates was accused of corrupting the minds of the young. Meletus originally claimed that only Socrates is guilty of corrupting the minds of the youth. Socrates asks Meletus a few questions such as: Who improves the young? In which Meletus responds by telling Socrates that the law is held responsible for improving the law. Socrates then follows up by asking who contains the knowledge of the law? : Where Meletus answers with the jurymen, audience, members of council, etc. Socrates then summarizes all of the premises for Meletus by concluded that everyone in Athens besides Socrates improves the young. Socrates continues his argument with an analogy. He uses an anaglogy involving a horse trainer. He states that there are very few horse trainers who are experts in their field, and their job is to improve them to the best of their abilities. If an ordinary person, one whom isn’t trained on horses, were attempt to train a horse, they would simply only make matters worse. What Socrates is trying to say here is that ther are very few ‘trainers’ that train people, and contrary to Meletus’s beleifs, Socrates is one of those trainers. Socrates quickly turns the boat around towards Meletus and claims that he has never given any thought towards the youth. He then continues to upgrade his argument by saying that most people, if not all, would rather live in a town full of good people rather than bad: â€Å"Do not the wicked do some harm to those who are ever closest to them, whereas good people benefit them? † (25c). This quote shows how he agrees with the previous statement that most people would rather live with good people. He states here that bad people will harm the ones that are closest to them, whereas good people will only bring them goodness. Socrates then follows up on his argument by repeating Meletus’s thoughts that he, Socrates, intentionally corrupted the minds of the young. He concludes by saying that, usually, when people harm another person, a harmful return should be expected. Therefore, if he intentionally harmed the youth, then he would be expected to be harmed as a result. He asks Meletus â€Å"†¦namely that if I make one of my associates wicked I run the risk of being harmed by him so that I do such a great evil deliberately, as you say? † (25e). Here, Socrates explains that if he were to harm another person, then he would be subjected to harm himself, and what person would subject themselves to harm in the first place? Socrates finalizes his attack on the second charge by saying that he’s either innocent of corrupting the youth, or he did so unintentionally. If he was found guilty, however, then he should rather be taught than to be subjected to the court. `In my eyes, Socrates argument was relatively strong here. During his speech, Socrates quickly turns to focus of his argument to the inconsistency of the charge and his belief in new spiritual things. He addresses Meletus’s belief in spiritual things by saying that it is a contradiction to atheism. Socrates justifies his beliefs by saying that you can’t believe in human activities but not believe in humans, or believe in flute-playing but not believe in the existence of flutes. Therefore, Socrates concludes by saying that you can’t believe in spiritual activity but not believe in spirits. He also makes his argument stronger by mocking the court in a sense with strong irony. In the beginning of The Apology, Socrates was being charged of impiety, using rhetoric to potentially acknowledge the truth behind the lies of the law. Reading about Socrates, it is clearly shown that he is quite fond of exposing the truth, making him a prime example of a rhetorician. In order to turn his case around in the court, Socrates uses rhetoric to defend himself. Since he saw no way out of the situation, he decided to complement his character and keep to his traditional ways. However, towards the end of the argument, Socrates seems to lose focus and his argument becomes less and less stable. In Crito, Socrates was given the death sentenced, and when the opportunity arised for an escape, he refused. Crito gave him numerous reasons as to why Socrates should escape. First, Socrates would be abandoning his wife and children. Secondly, people are willing to pay his way out of jail, that way he wouldn’t be in debt. Also, if he didn’t escape, Crito worries what people would think of Socrates’ companions. He is worried that the situation would reflect badly on them, that they did nothing to help Socrates escape. As well as deserting his wife and children, Crito believes that Socrates will also be deserting himself. After all he has believed in and persevered through, Crito doesn’t want Socrates to give up now. Finally, People are willing to risk themselves to help him escape from prison. Crito thinks that since Socrates has so many reasons to escape, that he should quickly act upon the situation. After Crito delivers his five reasons as to why Socrates should escape, Socrates states two different premises as to why he should stay in jail and accept his punishment. First, he defends himself against Crito’s speech. He first questions whether or not he should remain in prison and accept all punishments against him, or agree with Crito and escape. He states that if he were to escape from prison, then he would be saying that it is acceptable to perform injustice acts. He then corrects the statement by saying that no matter what the issue is, it’s unacceptable to wrong against any man. Following up, Socrates states that if one were to agree over something, then under no circumstances should that agreement be broken or cheated on. While Socrates is living in Athens, he is agreeing to all of the rules and regulations that the law presents. If he doesn’t agree with the laws, then he has the choice of leaving in pursuit of a new city or challenge the law itself. If he doesn’t perform either of these acts, then he is subjective to the laws of the city. Socrates then combines all of these premises to come to the conclusion that he should accept his punishments and refrain from escaping. Socrates then lays out his second premise by first stating that if he were to escape, he will then destroy the Law of Athens and the City, something that he promised not to break upon living in the City. At the age of consent, Socrates turned into a man, thus agreeing to the rues and regulations of the city. The law originally allowed his parents to wed and deliver Socrates, and then in turn allowed Socrates to wed and have children. So far, the Law of Athens have done nothing but help the upbringing of Socrates and his children. However, he then states that if the Law and the City’s ruling was unjust, then if Socrates were to escape, he wouldn’t be breaking the Law of Athens. The problem here is that the only way Socrates would be able to prove his ruling unjust is if he was on an equal footing with the Law of Athens or if he did not promise to abide by the Law of Athens and all of its rulings. If he was on an equal footing with the City, then whatever the city would do to Socrates, Socrates could do the city, which is inaccurate. After all, the city is responsible for the upbringing of Socrates and his family. Since he isn’t on an equal footing, and he did promise to follow all of the rules and regulations of the City, Socrates concludes by saying that the ruling of the jury was accurate. Socrates addresses the first three arguments of Crito by saying that they are irrelevant to whether or not his escaping is right or wrong. Secondly, Socrates says that although that remaining arguments are valid, the do not give good enough reasons. In Crito, the city is wronging Socrates by order of execution. Therefore, by complying to the wrong accusation, is Socrates committing an unjust act as well? With all of the arguments Socrates has made so far (one has to keep his promise, one should follow the rules of the Law, one should never commit wrongdoing), he cannot admit it. Another validation issue in Socrates’ argument is the potential contradiction with The Apology. In The Apology, Socrates states that under no circumstances will he obey any order to stop philosophizing: â€Å"Gentlemen of the jury, I am grateful and I am your friend, but I will obey the god rather than you, and as long as I draw breath and am able, I shall not cease to practice philosophy.. † (29d). Another example that seems to be contradictory in his beleifs in Crito is the story of Leon form Salamis. Socrates was ordered to bring in Leon for a possible execution, but instead headed home. â€Å"Then I showed again, not in words bu in action, that, it if were not rather vulgar to say so, death is something I couldn’t care less about, but that my whole concern is not to do anything unjust or impious† (32c-e). Here, Socrates shows how he refused to do something that he believes to be unjust. Relating this back to his situation in Crito, Socrates was being punished for being unjust, thus putting him in the same position as Leon. In Crito, he shows his obligation to obey the Law of Athens, even if that meant he was going to stop philosophizing as well as being wrongfully executed. In Phaedo, Cebes and Socrates have a long a thorough conversation of the existence of the soul. Cebes’s argument is that the soul is recycled through different bodies. However, the more times the soul is reused, then more it is damaged. Cebes believes that when the soul eventually runs out, it will result in the death of a birth. He finishes his argument by telling Socrates that unless you can prove that the soul is immortal, every man must be fearful of his soul and what will happen to it if it is reensouled. Thus, if anyone was to face death with confidence would be considered unwise. Socrates follows up with his New Method of Hypothesis. Here, he states that everyone is participating in a certain form, whether it’s the form of tallness, the form of beautiful, etc. : â€Å"I assume the existence of a Beautiful, itself, of a good and a Great and all the rest† (100b). He believes that the form of Beautiful is made up of participates, and that they all come together to create the form. Socrates also comes up with the Exclusion of Opposites. Here, he states that everything that is condisered a ‘universal fact’, will never have both itself and it’s opposite simultaneously. Socrates uses the example of the Form of Tallness, saying that one can’t possess both the Form of Tallness and the Form of Shortness. What he means here is that you can’t be both tall and short at the same time. He continues on by saying that certain states of affairs have opposites, but their character is made up of the opposite that they possess. As his argument goes on, Socrates states that the soul brings to body life as well as anything that it possesses. If this is true, then that would mean that the soul is immortal, always reensouling another body. This is unlike what Cebes said, since he was convinced that the more times the soul possessed a new body, then the sould would become weaker and eventually cease to exist. Following up on Socrates’s argument, if the soul never dies, then that you mean that it is imperishable. In conclusion, Socrates can say that the soul is abiding.

Essay on Satire and Black Humor in Catch-22 -- Catch-22 Essays

Satire and Black Humor in Catch-22      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The only thing going on was a war, and no one seemed to notice but Yossarian and Dunbar. Yossarian is one of the few "normal" characters found in the books, or at least he thinks he is. As the story progresses, it appears that no one is "normal." Values either no longer apply, or do in reverse. In this backwards world of Catch-22, where everyone is crazy, Heller uses black humor and satire to make light of an otherwise dismal situation.    Satire in the book mainly attacks three general things: senior military officers, professional and business interests, and society's remarkable reliance on forms, papers, rules and regulations. The senior officers are generally trying to intimidate and persecute the soldiers, most obviously by raising the number of missions, endangering the men's lives even more (Young 2). They are very selfish and have warped ideas about what they can do and what they can make the squadron do. They only do what they have been told to do, and have very few if any original thoughts. General Dreedle, for example, tries to have Danby shot for moaning during a mission briefing while in his presence. Another example of their warped beliefs is when Lieutenant Schisskopf comes up with the idea that they could stick pegs into each man's thighs and hook them together with copper wire so that the men would march better. Captain Black starts the Loyalty Oath Crusade, in which the men have to sign loyalty oaths for practically every task they need to perform throughout the day. They have to sign oaths to get their map cases, obtaining flak suits, being driven to their planes, and even eat or get their hair cut. His theory is that the more loyalty oaths the men sign, th... ...found in all parts of the book, they play crucial roles in making Catch-22 more enjoyable to read, and depicting the conditions felt by soldiers. Without the humor, it seems like a very disturbing and depressing tale. The characters are crazy, but we do get a good laugh at their expense. Catch-22 can be interpreted in many different ways though. What may be humorous to one person may be disturbing to another. Like any book, there is no wrong interpretation.    Works Cited Heller, Joseph. Catch 22. New York: Simon & Schuster Inc., 1989. Merrill, Robert. Joseph Heller. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1987. Young, Robert M. "Deadly Unconscious Logics in Joseph Heller's Catch-22."   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   <http://www.human-nature.com/rmyoung/papers/des3.html> Magill, Frank N. "Catch-22." Masterplots. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Salem Press, 1976.      

Change Management and Communication Plan Essay

Introduction It has been decided that Riordan Manufacturing will implement an official customer management system. This system will be used by everyone in the organization. The main goal of the team is to help with the planning and implementation of the new system in order for a smooth transition. Current Formal and Informal Structure Riordan Manufacturing has a current formal power structure of clearly lay out chain of command that is broken down into specialize departments such as V.P. Operations, Dir. Plant Ops., Pontiac, Dir. Plant Ops.: Albany and V.P. International. Riordan’s organizational charts show how the structure of the organization is broken down by department and who reports to whom. The current informal structure is Employee files. These file are kept by individual managers because there is no centralize location to file them. Managers at Riordan are also responsible for tracking FMLA absences and any requests for accommodation under the ADA whereas usually this is ran out of the human resource departments. To facilitate coordination, each managerial position is given a place in the chain of command, and each manager is given a degree of authority in order to meet his or her responsibilities (Robbins & Judge, , 2011). For example, under the executive chart the President/CEO has an assistant and two others that report to him; Senior VP-R&D, Kenneth Collins and the Chief Operating Officer, Huge McCauley. The Senior VP directs the R&D departments; Materials Engineers, Packaging Engineers, Development Engineers, Administrative Assistants, and Research Program Managers. Huge McCauley directs departments heads such as V.P. Transportation, V.P. Sales & Marketing, Chief Financial Officer, Dir. of Acct. & Finance and Dir. of HR. These departments then report their developments within their own department to the Senior VP-R&D or to Chief Operating Officer who then gives a report back to the CEO. This is the formal structure of Riordan’s Chain of Command which each employee must follow to ensure an effective organization. The current formal power structure will help Riordan with accomplishing their planned changes. Any new information about the change plan would flow down to the employees by their operating manager. Appropriate Organizational Structure for Change The power or political structure of Riordan can affect employee behavior in positive or negative ways. Constructive power within businesses involves encouraging efficiency. This incorporates giving staff the authority to make decisions as well as rewarding employees for outstanding performance by appointing them to supervising roles. When department heads do not have high esteem of the employees under them, this is considered negative power. This style of leadership stimulates employees to perform by intimidating them with losing their jobs and other repercussions. Employees who are trained to pilot the government of an organization tend to be dynamic than the ones who are kept out of the loop. To promote efficiency, organizations must cultivate a political structure that is easy for employees to understand. Instituting clear chains of command and policies can makes it simpler for staff to find needed answers and consequently spend more time on quality work. Businesses that develop environments of unconstructiveness and inconsistency suffer as a result. If employees are allowed to take part in unethical or dishonest conduct to get ahead and preferential treatment trumps the value of hard work, an organization may face decreases in efficiency which will result in a higher turnover rates. Potential Effects of Structure on Employee Behavior A clear and concise chain of command is important in any business. This structure will allow the employees of the organization to maintain an understanding and appreciation for the chain of command, the structure of the system, as well as the organization. Without the chain of command, the system would fail. Judging from the employee consensus, the team has managed to hold a sense of interest from the employee basis. They also believe that  the team is sincere in its concern for the employees of the business. A negative reaction in the population of employees was that there was a definite lack of communication. Due to the fact that the employees are also affected by the changes occurring with the implementation of this system, communication will be a crucial point between leaders, managers, and team members. We have also decided that another crucial key point will be the opinion and feedback of the employee population. In order to implement this system with the highest success rate possible, we need to know from an outside view, how it is working before there are issues with the customers. This will also make the employees feel as though they have a meaningful contribution to the task. Characteristics and Potential Influence on Employee Behavior Team orientation and culture are the bases of the cultural characteristics in regards to Riordan Manufacturing. These characteristics consist of the idea that work functions around team. This is a strong asset in a business. Individual mind-sets will only slow the business down. Team orientation is necessary because each team member represents a small portion of a larger picture. Each of them attains a common knowledge of the task and goals that need to be achieved. Another strong point of a team base is the fact that they can rely on each other for help, both with the system implementation and other issues. A potential breakthrough for the organization could be a stronger ability to use the employees by embracing them and their core values. We could gain an appreciation for their hard work and dedication to the company. Pay raises could compensate the employees for this dedication, along with bonuses and incentives. Incentives, whatever they may be, are a good way to celebrate the way that culture can influence employees so that they may embrace its importance and meaning. Potential Sources of Resistance and Strategies to Manage Effectively Resistance to change is an expected reaction of human nature. We are not accustomed to change, as it is possible to lead to failure; however, there are also ways to manage the resistance within the company. Individually, selective information processing has a high potential for resistance. Despite the fact that most bases will be covered in the way of information  distribution throughout the employees, managers, and leaders, it is highly likely that there will be confusion and a lack of communication. This has brought about the decision to make any distributed information passed along on a selective basis. Rules have been made and guidelines have been set in order to maintain order throughout the business; however, the employees have grown accustomed to these rules and guidelines. Changes on a grand scale will likely have an adverse effect on the employees. It will challenge their normal activity and behavior causing the employees to react in a way that takes away from the severity of the changes. To simplify the consequences of this scenario, employees will adopt the popular selective hearing. They will hear what they want to hear and react in such a way that makes sense to them in regards to the â€Å"old norm†. Organizationally, the biggest threat will possibly be structural inertia. Due to the fact that the business has set a plan and method of conducting business successfully, the organization is likely to attain an attitude that constitutes the saying, â€Å"if it is not broken, do not fix it†. This would obviously be reasoning for resistance to change. Change Implementation Strategy As far as the implementation of the new system goes, the next 12 months will be crucial. A plan will help to dictate the direction in which the plan will take the business. Providing a detailed step-by-step instruction manual, so to speak, will be the best chance for the success of the implementation. It may take a bit longer, but implementing the plan only one step at a time will make for a smoother transaction from one norm to the next. This will also allow for feedback of the employees without aggravation, which will also allow time for necessary adjustments. Evaluate the Success or Failure of the Change At first, the employees will likely be confused by the change. It will take time to adjust to the new norm before an evaluation of the success can be determined. Training will be of great importance. Having a pre-knowledge of the upcoming events will prepare the employees for the inevitable. We know that the change is coming and so should they. The customer base is the best way to know for sure if the plan is effective. Most businesses only exist as a service to a customer; therefore, training the employees on the right and  wrong reactions to the customers and the service that they receive will be the primary goal for Riordan Manufacturing. This will give the customers a sense that the company is making the necessary changes to better serve them. Communication Plan There are a few different channels that can be used to communicate the change. The most important channel is through face to face interaction. It is the best way to be able to see if a person understands what you are telling them. It also gives them an opportunity to ask questions if they don’t understand. By doing face to face interaction, it gives us an opportunity to read their body language and comprehend if they are on the same page as we are. Another good channel to use to communicate is email. It is a good way to send out a message to all the appropriate people at one time. While it doesn’t allow us to be able to see people’s reactions, it does allow them to read it and print it out so that they can remember it easier. Putting up flyers around the building is another way to get people informed in case that they don’t see their emails or someone forgets to tell them. On the flyers it is imperative to put on them to come see the managers with any ques tions. This is the least personal way to communicate this but still an effective way to communicate our message. There are potential barriers that could cause our message not to get relayed. We could forget to tell some people about the change that is occurring. A way to make sure we do this is to come up with a checklist to acknowledge every time that we tell someone to ensure that the message is delivered. Another barrier would be that the email does not get sent through. Sometimes computers do not work properly so there is always potential for a failure of the email being sent. One thing that we can do is to make sure that we copy the email to ourselves so that we know that the email is sent out. Also we need to make sure that we read over the email to ensure that everything was worded properly and the email is easy to understand. The final barrier that could be encountered is to make sure that we do not put too much information in our message so that there is an overload. We need to be clear and concise and be to point. Our message needs to be as efficient as it possibly can be so that our readers or hearers understand it completely. The Message Expressly, change agents bear the significant responsibility of managing change activities within the organization. Furthermore, change agents are visionaries, which identify early on that modifications to the organization are necessary to strengthen the organization, subsequently allowing the organization to remain relevant in terms of commerce generation. What is more is change agents can be internal (employees) or external (out-side consultants), managers, or non-managers. Though change agents play a critical role within the organization, organizational members do not always embrace them. Indeed, organizational change is met with individual sources (routine, security, financial factors, fear of the unknown, and discriminating information processing). In addition, the following organizational sources (structural inactivity, regulated focus of change, group inactivity, threat of proficiency, and threat to establish influential relationships). Clearly, change within the organization is a delicate endeavor. As a result, the selection of the best communication channel becomes underscored. Though the use of electronic mail has been in operation for decades the ability of Email allows for clear, well thought out directives in writing which means the message should not be convoluted. The message sender must consider his or her audience carefully. According to â€Å"Mind Tools† (2012), â€Å"your message is delivered to individual members of your audience. No doubt, you have in mind the actions or reactions you hope your message will get from this audience. Keep in mind, though, that each of these individuals enters into the communication process with ideas and feelings that will undoubtedly influence their understanding of your message, and their response,† (Introduction to Communication Skills). For example, an Email message regarding changes within an organization, To the following essential groups/teams Organizational Shareholders, Human Resources, Accounting & Finance, Research & Development, Customer Service, Manufacturing, and finally our Sales Force. Specifically for our organization to sustain the success, which we have become accustomed to the following universal changes within the organization, are schedule to take affect shortly. Furthermore, all aforementioned groups and teams will benefit from these critical modifications. Since consumer markets have become global, the outsourcing of certain manufacturing responsibilities will allow our organization to increase profits while at the same time  realign teams by promoting selected manufacturing team members to the research and development department. Moreover, this revision promises to increase organizational profits. In addition, the intention to recruit members of our sales force as permanent in-house consultants offers an optimistic outlook, as they are extremely knowledgeable regarding customer needs. Though these planned adjustments will certainly change, the way we run our organization let us embrace these challenges, and respond expeditiously to hit the ground in a full sprint. Indeed an optimistic response will help us maintain profitability and navigate the ever-changing global market place. References Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational Behavior (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. University of Phoenix. (2012). Riordan Manufacturing. Retrieved from http://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/CIST/VOP/Business/Riordan/index.asp

Diffusion

The plasma membrane is a bilipid layered membrane that allows lipid soluble substances to pass through. It is important that other substance pass through although they are not lipid soluble. In line with this, the membrane has specialized transport proteins in the membrane to facilitate the transfer of these non lipid soluble substances across the membrane. It is also useful for the movement of such molecules and ions like glucose, important intracellular and extra cellular ions involved in the maintenance of electrochemical balance. This is reason proteins carry out facilitated diffusion. It is not a waste of energy in any way.It is one of the ways by which the cell maintains the sanity of the cell. Cells even maximize energy by the use of facilitate diffusion when compared to active transport. Simple diffusion usually applies when the movements of molecules is along concentration gradient, just as in this is the case in facilitated diffusion. The use of proteins as carrier molecule s is part of mechanism to maintain the homeostasis of the cell, to speed up the process of transportation and enable the cell survive in its habitat. When we compare this type of transport with active transport against concentration gradient, really minimal energy is used in the process.

Baxton Technology Essays

Baxton Technology Essays Baxton Technology Essay Baxton Technology Essay Student name: Joseph Maloney Student number: 10391669 Word count: 940 I hereby certify that this project is entirely of my own work and has not been taken from the work of others save to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of the project. Signed: _____________ Alkermes’ human resource (HR) strategy is all about acquiring employees who show personal initiative and who get satisfaction of knowing that they are helping to make a difference in the lives of millions of people every day. Alkermes ultimate goals are to develop medicines that address unmet patient needs, to help its customer’s live happier, healthier lives. The Athlone facility of Elan must choose a strategy that supports the corporate objectives of Alkermes. They must align and prioritise the various activities of the strategy to accomplish their objectives. HR strategies need to simultaneously focus on building skills, motivation and behaviour for a successful business strategy. In my opinion the generic HR strategy most appropriate to align with Alkermes corporate strategy, is the resource-based view (RBV) model. The RBV model works towards identifying the firm’s potential key resources and developing and manipulating them to build a value-creating strategy. When Alkermes decided to merge with Elan one of their main reasons for doing so was that they could use Elan’s most valuable resource, the Elan drug technologies (EDT) unit. The EDT develops proprietary drug technologies that can be applied to a number of products, improving the effectiveness of the drugs. With Alkermes now having obtained a technological resource with a rarity that will help them gain a competitive advantage over their rivals, they must now focus on their human resources. They look to acquire talented employees who show initiative and feel good about improving people’s health. Combing and developing these resources will help them build a strong RBV model. When Alkermes employees are asked what is the main objective of the organization the reply should always be, â€Å"Excellence in everything we do†. They pursue this excellence because they know they are working towards improving the wellbeing of other people. Alkermes hopes to instil this same hypothesis in the Athlone facility of the organization. They plan to acquire talented employees who show initiative, motivation and know their commitments are ultimately towards improving the health of their customers. They plan to set up a RD programme where employee engagement is encouraged and rewarded. Most importantly they want to manage performance so that all processes are carried out in the most successful way. If all of these objectives are met the success of the organization should be easily obtained and worthwhile. RBV shows that people are strategically important to a firm’s success and that they are a potential source of sustainable competitive advantage. Alkermes have obtained a rare and valuable organizational capital in the form of the EDT unit; they now must match this with a highly skilled human capital that will get the best out of this technological resource. RBV focuses more on the HR pool, i. e. the employees than on the actual HR practice, so employees should have both a high level of skills and a willingness to achieve. Creating a good HR pool can be hard to imitate by competitors, so it can create a competitive advantage. High pay is always a major pull in attracting the best employees, as is perks, i. . company car and health benefits, as is bonus and new job opportunities for good work. Yet, Alkermes states that their commitments are ultimately towards the wellbeing of the patients that use their products. This will attract employees who feel they have a morale obligation to help people in need. This is an example of attracting potential employees using a non-monetary policy. When trying to create a performance managemen t policy for an organization you have to look at all the types of capital that affect performance, i. . human, social and organizational capital. RBV looks to integrate all the capital resources of an organization to create the most suited HR policy. Alkermes have already greatly improved their social and organizational capital by merging with Elan and using the EDT unit respectively. Now Alkermes have to look at managing the performance of their human capital. When trying to collect data on performance you cannot completely rely on employee reports via surveys about how they feel the HR strategy is working. You have to collect more quantative data. Collect data on things such as production per hour rate and job turnover rate, this will give you a more in depth idea as to how employees are preforming. You can now use this information to decide on what reward and training systems to put in place to improve performance. Communication must be both upward and downward in an organization to discover how employees are performing. It will give you an idea on what employees want and if they are best suited to the post they are in. Good performance management will result in higher operating performance, which will translate into increased profitability. Reward management is concerned with the implementation of strategies and policies that aim to reward people fairly, equally and consistently in accordance with their value to the organization. The objectives of reward management are to recruit and retain, motivate employees and to strengthen psychological contracts. They can be both monetary (bonuses) and non-monetary (esteem, i. e. job title). RBV looks at obtaining and holding onto the best possible employees, and the best way to retain them is through a strong reward system. Overall I believe that if Alkermes adopt the RBV approach and combine all of their resources by carrying out the objectives entailed they should be able to achieve their cooperate strategy. I feel that the information presented in this report is a good guideline as to how they should carry out their objectives. Hopefully the merger between Alkermes and Elan will run smoothly and will be profitable. References: alkermes. com/ www. shrm. org. digitalcommons. com.

3 Tips for Staying Focused at Work During the Holidays

3 Tips for Staying Focused at Work During the Holidays Don’t let your holiday shopping, budgeting, travel-planning- or the weather!- get the better of you this season. Stay focused on wrapping up your year and gearing up for 2017. 1. Deflect the interruptionsThe holidays are always extra distracting. Prepare yourself for the inevitable onslaught and don’t let yourself give in. Instead, use the interruptions to structure your day. Online shopping session? Office cookie break? Set these as deadlines for you to work toward and remain diligent  until its time for your break.2. Look for the right projectsEveryone’s schedules are erratic during the holidays. If you’re stuck working when everyone else is out of office, use the peace and quiet to get work done on your pet projects and big picture tasks. And don’t forget that holiday parties and lingering team lunches can be a great networking opportunity, rather than a waste of time.3. Don’t take it homeStaying focused at the desk means you don’ t have to stay late to get ahead or be on your email 24/7. Make sure to save your off-work hours for all of those distractions you’ve been fending off so successfully. Save time for your shopping and traveling and package-mailing and savor it. Guard it, even. And if you’re worried about getting those things done, schedule them as though they were after-hours meetings.Being mindful about distractions and staying focused will make you more relaxed throughout the holiday season. You’ll probably find you’re way ahead of the game once the fun is over and everybody’s back at work.

Leadership in Practice (MSC Business and management) Assignment

Leadership in Practice (MSC Business and management) - Assignment Example gled with the work and it had led to a situation where pace of work had become slower compared to what it was before the implementation of the system. The productivity of the organization had suffered as a result and the outcome was almost paradoxical. Lack of computer knowledge and miscommunication between departments were the chief factors that had led to the conflict. The employees became frustrated unable to complete their individual tasks let alone the organizational goals. The sales department was exceptionally late in uploading the reports which in turn delayed the marketing department in their course of action. The senior manager was baffled at the outcome and could not comprehend the way in which this impasse could be resolved. The individual departments blamed each other for the delay in work and this made the whole organization suffer. The subordinates started to blame the senior management and the working environment became healthy. I was working in the marketing department of Ledus Manufacturing. I believe that the leadership style was the management was the main reason that had led to this problem in the first place. The idea was a novel one as fast working could result in catering to a large number of clients and improved the profitability of the organization. I think the leadership style exhibited by the CEO of the company was essentially a transactional one which was based on a goal-reward based approach without addressing the internal dynamics of the problems (Northouse, 2012). The CEO had clearly mentioned the benefits that could be achieved if the goals could be met by the employees. This was mainly to motivate the employees and help them achieve their individual goals. The theories of leadership state that, in transactional leadership, the leader uses path goal framework to achieve organizational goals. In this case the classic problem was that clear directives were given to each of the employees by de fining their job roles but the inherent