The Life of a Crime Scene Investigator

The Life of a Crime Scene Investigator Isabella McCarty Williams Everest University Online (Orlando Campus) The Life of a Crime Scene Investigator The career I have chosen is a Crime Scene Investigator known as a CSI. In this research paper we will discuss the job details, salary, and the guidelines on collecting evidence. It is important that I cover these things to explain the importance of this career. Hope you enjoy the mind-bending information provided. Hi everyone, I am studying to be a Crime Scene Investigator (a. k. a. CSI).When working in the criminal investigation field, there are certain things you must know or learn. It takes years of training and schooling to be a CSI when you think you are done, your wrong. CSI’s are constantly going back to school and going through more training just to keep their license. That’s enough about that right now. I wish you luck for you are in a world full of surprises! We will first be discussing the job details of a Crime Sc ene Investigator. A CSI works in an office of their job assignment Monday-Friday from 8:30am-4:30pm for 8 hours of fun and exciting tasks.What I found to be interesting was a CSI must â€Å"successfully complete a minimum of 720 hours of training in crime scene processing, with a minimum of 80 hours of training in latent fingerprint processing, 40 hours in major death investigation, 40 hours in advanced death investigations, 40 hours in photography, 40 hours in blood spatter interpretation, and other training courses in arson investigation and forensic pathology. In addition, the crime scene investigator must be certified by the International Association for Identification, Crime Scene Certification Board, within 18 months as a crime scene investigator. (N. A. , Crime Scene Investigator Job Details, N. A. ) Also as a CSI you must obtain contact with the law enforcement officials at all levels, state and federal prosecutors, county coroners, medical examiners and pathologists in per son or by telephone, on a professional basis. This is a great way to stay on top of the crimes and promiscuous things going on in the forensic field. These are the job details of a CSI, it is not easy becoming or staying licensed as you can tell from the previous information listed above. Next we will be talking about the salary of a Crime Scene Investigator.CSI salary is within the range of $37,960 to $99,980 a year. Out of the many industries where CSI's can be employed, the local government ranks the highest when it comes to providing jobs to crime scene investigators. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics says that â€Å"detectives and criminal investigators in the District of Columbia earns the highest wages; having an annual mean wage of $94,620, and an hourly mean wage of $45. 49. † (N. A. , Crime Scene Investigator Salary, 2012) As you can see Crime Scene Investigators get a decent pay, but most of the money they receive goes to schooling and surviving.The salary of a CS I is immaculate and definitely worth the time and effort put forth. Lastly, we will look at the guidelines for collecting evidence. When collecting evidence the guidelines are strict, they are strict because in some cases if you don’t follow them you could lose all the evidence you have. Also when taking pictures of evidence at night you have to â€Å"make sure you adjust your camera’s position, time of exposure, and supplemental lighting so the camera can â€Å"see† what you see. † (N. A. , Crime Scene Resources, 2000-2012) Another interesting fact from this website is there are over 200 ways to collect and process a finger print.When collecting evidence you cannot make any mistakes. If you make one mistake that could be someone’s entire life in your hands. In this essay we have reviewed the Crime Scene Investigators job details, salary, and the guidelines for collecting evidence. In conclusion, it takes a lot to become a good CSI it comes with ex cellent pay and great skills and knowledge. I suggest if you want to go into this field be ready to have a continuous line of schooling and be ready to face new obstacles every day.I thank you for taking the time out to read this essay and hope you have learned and found this field as interesting as I have. References N. A. (2000-2012) Become a forensic investigator. Retrieved from http://http://www. crime-scene-investigator. net/ N. A. (2012) A crime scene investigator’s salary. Retrieved from http://www. criminaljusticeschoolinfo. com/crime-scene-investigator-salary. html N. A. (N. D. ) A crime scene investigator’s job details. Retrieved from http://www. feinc. net/csi-desc. html

E commerce online food ordering system

The BARS also provides the business understanding that should e incorporated into message implementation guides and other user documentation as well as supporting re-use of artifacts within the standards development process. 3 Audience The main audiences for this document are the potential authors of individual Bars. These are primarily the ANNUNCIATE business and IT experts who are responsible for specifying the business requirements for e-business or e-government solutions in a specific domain and for progressing the development of solutions as relevant standards.Authors may include other standards bodies or users and developers in developed or developing economies. Reference Documents Knowledge and application of the following standards is crucial to the development of quality business requirements specifications. Other key references are shown in the appropriate part of the document. UN/CAVEAT. Techniques and Methodologies Group (TM). ASPECT'S Modeling Methodology (MUM): MUM Meta Model – Core Module. (Candidate for 2. 0). 2009-01-30. Methodology (MUM): MUM Meta Model – Foundation Module. Candidate for 2. 0). Formal definitions of many of the technical terms used in this BARS specification may be found in the above references but for convenience some key definitions are included in Appendix loft this document. 5 purpose of BARS 2. 0 A BARS is designed to capture the requirements that a business, government or sector has for an e-commerce solution in a particular area of business (I. E. Domain) and to achieve it in such a way that it provides a basis for a subsequent standards development process within ANNUNCIATE.Version 2 of the BARS documentation template requires that the business requirements are first specified in business terms and that these requirements are then expressed formally as ML diagrams or worksheets that aid standardization and provide IT practitioners with the required retracts from which to develop formal specifications. By facilitating consistent documentation of business collaborations between participants, the BARS 2. 0 template supports the standardization and harmonistic of business processes and encourages re-use of the resulting artifacts in part or as a whole.This consistency, achieved through the systematic specification of requirements in the BARS, is vital if resulting e-business systems are to be interoperable. A clear specification of business requirements enables traceability between requirements and supporting the quality assurance process. As the BARS provides the description of the equines processes and identifies the business data needed to support those processes, it can provide the necessary business understanding to enable successful data harmonistic.It also provides the business understanding that must be incorporated when developing message implementation guides and other user documentation. The use of a modeling tool that is designed or configured to support Version 2. 0 of the MUM will enable the majority of the content of a BARS to be generated automatically. This document may also be considered as a resource to support capacity building in developed or developing economies. 1 Overview of BARS Development Process A BARS MUST start with a clear specification of the scope of the project and where this project fits into a global context of business operations and MAY refer to a MUM model of the business domain. The Scope MUST be specified in terms of the Business Processes that are involved and the Business Entities about which information is to be exchanged by the participants who are involved directly in the Information Exchanges that support the related business process.It MUST also indicate stakeholders who have an interest in the processes, or may participate in elated processes, and whenever appropriate, what is out of scope of this particular project. The process and information flows that constitute the business process, the business rules that gove rn the exchanges and the details of the information that is to be exchanged during these processes, SHOULD then be elaborated.The requirements MUST first be specified in business terms and then expressed in formalized terms. The business requirements MUST be presented as a numbered list so as to facilitate a check to be made that all requirements have been met in the eventual e-commerce solutions proposed. As the process of completing a BARS progresses, new requirements may be recognized and added to the list. The resulting BARS will include text, templates (worksheets) and diagrams, and may refer to a MUM model of the domain.To help with future re-usability, interoperability and to provide a degree of standardization in the developing a BARS, an initial set of preferred terms is provided in Annex 2. To minimize the work in creating a new BARS, improve harmonistic and encourage risibility, where ever possible, any relevant existing Bars artifacts or MUM models SHOULD be used as a ba sis for producing the ewe requirements. A high level BARS MAY be used to define the context and scope of a domain that is refined by a cascade of more specific Bars. . 2 BARS Business Requirements 5. 2. 1 Scope of Project The Scope of the project MUST be identified in terms of the Business Processes to be covered – the key types of information that are to be exchanged in the processes and the types of participants that are involved directly or indirectly in providing or using the information exchanged. The place of this project within the wider business domain SHOULD be identified. For example projects in the International SupplyChain, this SHOULD be positioned with respect to the international supply chain be made to industry or sector models and to the Business Area/Process Area classification specified in the Common Business Process catalogue. The Context categories , as specified in ACTS, SHOULD be used to help specify or limit the scope of the project. 5. 2. 2 Requiremen ts List As they are discovered, the business requirements MUST be added to a numbered list .This list will cover: The business transactions between participants, the participant who initiates the activity, the participant who responds and the business conditions that govern the initiation and responses. Other business rules governing the Information Exchanges. The key classes of information (Business Entities), the detailed data (attributes) about these Entities that are to be exchanged, and the relation between the Entities. 5. 2. 3 Definitions The names and definitions of each of the business terms and data items used MUST be listed and SHOULD be added as they are discovered in the process of completing the BARS. . 2. 4 MUM representation of Business Requirements The business requirements MUST be formalized as appropriate ML artifacts, (Use Case Diagrams, Activity Diagrams, Class Diagrams and Business Entity Life Cycle Diagrams) or worksheets, by following the Insufficient Modelin g Methodology (MUM). 5. 2. 5 The UN/CAVEAT Modeling Methodology MUM An outline description of the MUM process is given below and examples of artifacts that should form part of the BARS are shown in section 7.The MUM consists of three main views: The Business Requirements View enables the Business Information and Business Processes described in the first part of the BARS to be more formally described. The Business Choreography View shows how the Business Processes may e created from a choreographed set of Business Transactions and the information exchanged in each transaction identified as Information Envelopes. The Business Information View identifies the content of these information envelopes based on the specific data and syntax standards and is the substance of the related RSI.Figure 1 – MUM Outline MUM Business Requirements View This presents the view of the domain, the business processes, the participants and the Business Entities involved. They are detailed in the Busin ess Domain View, Business Partner View and Business Entity View. The Business Domain View This view identifies the scope of the domain in terms of the processes it covers. The Business Area [Process area classification may be used to classify the business processes that make up the domain. Each business process is represented by an Activity diagram, Use Case Diagram and Business Process Worksheet .These document the Business Partner Types that are engaged in the information governing the initiation of each Information Exchange. The state of the Business Entity resulting from each information exchange is shown in the activity diagram. Business Partner View The business partner view captures a list of business partners and stakeholders in the domain under consideration as well as the relationships between them. Business Entity View The range of states that a Business Entity may assume and the order in which they may occur as a result of the various information exchanges are documented in a Business Entity Life Cycle diagram.This View MAY also contain Conceptual models that present a business view of the Information and the relationships between the Classes identified. The Conceptual Model is assembled from the list of business requirements and expressed through the use of â€Å"class† diagrams. These describe the necessary classes of information, the relationship between the different classes and the required attributes that are to be found within each class.Each of these pieces of information should be fully described in the business definition section. It is important to stress that the class diagram for a Business Entity should reflect the information requirements expressed in business terms. Business Choreography View This shows how the Business Processes identified in the Business Requirements View may be represented as one or more Business Transactions and the necessary hieroglyph to enable the full functionality of each Business Process to be achie ved.It consists of the Business Transaction View, Business Collaboration View and Business Realization View Business Transaction View The business transactions between each pair of data exchange participants that are part of the full Business Process are identified and described in a Transaction Worksheet and illustrated as Use Case diagrams . Six standard transaction patterns are identified within the JIM. Two of these represent participants sending and receiving information (Information distribution, Notification) and four represent artisans sending and responding (Query Response, Request Response, Request Confirm, Commercial Transaction).Each transaction is further detailed in terms of: the name of the Information Envelopes sent or received the Authorized roles exercised by the sender and receiver the Activities that action the sending or receiving of the Information Envelope the conditions that cause the transaction to start or that exist as a result of the exchanges . Business Collaboration View The sequence or order in which the set of business transactions that make up the lull business process is specified using a Use Case Diagram and an Activity diagram in the MUM Business Collaboration View.

Reducing mongoose evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reducing mongoose evaluation - Essay Example With introduction of modern technology each day, the use of a microchip will be substantially of great importance. The microchip will be inserted into the specimen’s skin and will be used to electronically submit data on the location of the specimen. Famous reseachers of the moongose family,have done a lot of research to control and improve the population genetics. The have suceeded in bringing into existence a breed of the moongose known as the yellow mongoose that is more adaptable to its habitat. The method of genetic control they use is time consuming. To change the genetics of a mongoose using their method, it requires studying at least 70% of its entire lifetime. (Suckow, Douglas & Weichbrod , 2002) Animal laboratory technology has improved significantly. Instead of using the whose animal to study its population genetics, alleles and genes from the specimen can be taken and monitored in specialized equipment in the laboratory This method reduces the risk of restarting the experiment and is quicker and less expensive. Results that are more accurate will be achieved. However, this method will require hiring of new personnel with the required

Week 5 individual Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Week 5 individual - Essay Example Quality management International, Inc is a full service consulting, management, and professional service firm that aims at helping organizations successfully attain their objectives. As registered auditors, certified trainers, and accomplished advisors, the company helps organizations achieve health, safety, quality, integrity, sustainability, and security (Quality Management International Inc., 2014). This company helps leaders and their teams in organizations to apply process-based management systems in order to add value and to also prevent loss. The Texas Department of State Health Services is a local institution that has a quality management branch which aims at assuring that contractors who are funded by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) comply with the requirements and standards of the department (Texas Department of State Health Services, 2012). This branch also assists contractors to identify avenues and opportunities that will help improve services. The participation of this branch helps in maintaining high quality in services while ensuring that services are delivered in a cost effective manner. The participation of these organizations is crucial in the quality performance of organizations because the trainings offered by these organizations results in continual capacity development and quality improvement. In the long term, these organizations help their clients to

Research paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Research paper - Assignment Example The industrial revolution of the 19th century that took place in Europe and America saw people experience pollution of air, soil and water systems to levels that threatened the extinction of some flora and fauna species. Governments the world over responded to the deteriorating environment in the last few decades of the 20th century through imposition of laws aimed at limiting environmental pollution of pollution (Ocean Service, 2008). There is no doubt that the menace of pollution is today affecting every nation of the world. The burning of fossil fuels for instance is a major cause of air pollution. Daily consumption of fuel through cars releases a lot of CO2 into the atmosphere with result of that that air we are inhaling is not clean and as such poses significant health risks. Nations especially in the developed world are trying to regulate air pollution through the passage of tough laws to govern corporations thought to hold most of the responsibility when it comes to environmental pollution (Gulf Daily News, 2009). The sole aim is to force these companies to behave responsibly in terms of release of chemicals in the atmosphere. Failure on the part of corporations to adhere to environmental laws attracts stiff penalties and increased taxes. This is because pollution affects the environmental adversely and thus bringing about major human health issues with the ultimate rise in the cost of medicine to individua ls. Bad air for instance has caused an increase in conditions such as allergies and asthma (Abdi, Ferrera, 205). In the Kyoto protocol for instance, most of industrialised and developing nations of the world committing to the reduction of CO2 emissions by an average of 5% till the year 2012 basing their 1990 emission levels. Unfortunately some major industrial powers of the world such as the US declined to ratify the protocol thus dealing a blow to the efforts.

Business - Project Management Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business - Project Management - Dissertation Example Project management includes developing a project plan, which includes defining and confirming the project goals and objectives, identifying tasks and how goals will be achieved, quantifying the resources needed, and determining budgets and timelines for completion† (All about Project Management n.d.). 25 Research Design and Methodology: 27 2.6 Methodology: 27 2.7 Research Design: 27 2.7.1 Operations and Lean Strategies: 27 2.7.2 Developments and Project Management Principles: 28 2.8 Analysis Strategy: 29 2.9 Validity and Reliability 30 2.10 Summary 30 2.11 TBD 30 2.12 TBD 30 2.13 TBD 30 2.14 TBD 30 2.15 Results Model (TBD) 30 2.16 Summary 30 3 Discussion 30 3.1 TBD 30 3.2 TBD 31 3.3 Summary 31 4 Conclusions: 31 4.1 Summary of Conclusions: 31 4.2 Weaknesses of the Research: 31 4.3 Future Research 31 4.4 Summary and Concluding Remarks 31 Figure 1 - Toyota Production System (King 2009, p. 9). 13 Figure 2 - Project Management Triangle (Phillips 2007): 19 Figure 3 - Improvement Meth odology (Freire & Alarco'n 2002, p. 250). 29 1 Introduction: This dissertation is a case study of an exploration and production company in the Oil & Gas Industry that has operations in six Continents. The remainder of this document will refer to make reference to the subject of this Case Study as â€Å"The Company†. The Company has more than 50 years of history and aspires to be a leading Independent Global Exploration and Production Company (IOC). In this effort, it has grown its global production from 200,000 barrels per day in the year 2000 to more than 400,000 barrels of oil per day today. The ability for a company to grow its sales by six percent a year average over 12 years is stellar achievement, as changes in the industry make increases in production more difficult. Marathon Oil, according to Gelsi (2011), had a target growth of three to five percent for the same period and has only recently increased their target growth. This is a clear indication of the dedication t o performance of The Company during the period that allowed it to exceed the expectations of its peers during difficult times in the Oil Industry. The Oil Industry has changed over time and the number of large oil discoveries made in recent years continues to fall. Ibrahim (2007) explains that the percentage of large oil finds has fallen dramatically and most large findings are natural gas and are located in deep water or other high cost operating areas. IOC’s must adjust to the changing environment in which large discoveries are rare. A second issue that has a detrimental impact on IOC’s profitability is the Nationalization of the existing oil fields. The Nationalization of 65% of the World’s Oil fields (Fox, 2007) has dramatically changed the competitive environment for the Independent Oil Company (IOC). This reduces the number of opportunities for the Independent Oil Company and increases the level of competition between them. The increased competition caused by Nationalization has resulted in most IOC’

Stylistic analysis and history in art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Stylistic analysis and history in art - Essay Example Legon claims, â€Å"The Egyptian canon of art was metrological founded through the system of horizontal guidelines that established the canonical forms† (Legon Web). The most appealing nature of the image that looks Egyptian to me is the choice of colour. The colours used in the image are a true reflection of Egyptian artwork. â€Å"Cannon of art† refers to classification of art by early historians. This early classification still has its influence in the naming of today’s art. In the topic "Discrimination in the Arts in America," â€Å"Cannon of art† is present. The early historians in America supported hierarchies of race due to the alleged evidence from the book of Genesis chapter nine in the bible. Noah blessed his son, Shem who covered him of his nakedness when he was drunk and cursed Canaan, Japheth was blessed to expand. Christian fundamentalists believed in the three races, White representing Japheth who was to expand to other nations. They justified slavery of Africans on this and believed that the whites should take the highest positions that existed. The cannon of art for Americans had a background of racism, which many art historians represented in their work. They did this via colour since the three different races had three distinct colours; white, yellow, and black. My choice of a retablo is the painting of Virgin Mary by Frida Kahlo made in Mexico. Like most of the retablos made during the 18th century, the Virgin Mary retablo was made in honour of the Catholic saints (Castro-Sethness 21-23). Virgin Mary is one of the most honoured spiritual personalities in the Catholic Church in prehistoric times and even at present. The most important learning from the Virgin Mary retablo is that the people who existed in the period in which the retablo was made had a significant connection to the church (Nolan 15-20). Most notably, they valued the saints and therefore, preferred preserving their images in form

Provide a critical discussion of the growing trend to practice Essay - 1

Provide a critical discussion of the growing trend to practice coaching in the workplace - Essay Example In the connection of workplace coaching, leadership is characterized as: the interpersonal techniques included when the one individual (differently alluded to as a director, group leader or line supervisor) enrolls the backing of their work gathering to attain imparted objectives (Mccartney and Campbell, 2006). Backers of managerial coaching highlight its potential to empower line-chiefs to fulfill their leadership work through creating and outfitting the aptitudes, learning and capacities of colleagues to convey propelled and powerful execution (Harney and Jordan, 2008). In spite of the interest in the role of a manager as a coach in both the leadership and HRD rules, very less consideration has been paid to its suggestions for non specific leadership hypothesis (Hagen and Aguilar, 2012). Likewise, despite the fact that it is sanctioned by line chiefs, the writing identifying with managerial coaching is grounded in the knowledge of master and official mentors; there is meager research about the degree to which the same models and behaviours are fitting for both specialised mentors and for line supervisors (Sue-Chan, et al 2010) and little is thought about the individual or expert attributes that may influence the inclination for an administrator to embrace workplace coaching (Hawkins and Smith, 2006). In this setting the paper makes two central commitments. To begin with, it recognizes the behaviours cohorted by line chiefs with workplace coaching and evaluates figures that may influence administrators affinity to embrace coaching. Second, it survey s the meanings of managerial coaching for bland leadership hypothesis. The destinations of the paper are to: Coaching is presently an unmistakable segment of broad methodologies to HRD. Official and management level coaching are progressively pervasive and numerous associations additionally advertise the thought of the supervisor as mentor (CIPD, 2011). Models of coaching in the expert

Foundations of Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Foundations of Terrorism - Essay Example The Red Brigades aimed at overthrowing the parliamentary and capitalist system and replacing it with a system ruled by a proletariat and had Potere Proletarion Armato, Prima Linea, and Nuclei Armati Proletari as organizations liaised to it. Red Brigates had 120 active members with operative members ranging from 50 to 75 at any given time. Operations are continuing for the Red Brigades but the last attack orchestrated by the group occurred in 2002 with their areas of operation being Italy with the specific operation areas as Milan, Genoa, Turin, Venice, Bologna, and Rome (Hoffman, 2006). Right-wing terrorism has a high reliance on restoring national greatness, expel cultural minorities, suppress opponents, and overthrowing democratic and capitalist systems for the establishment of a revolutionary order. Russian national Unity is an example of right-wing terrorism group and the main cause of the group was to ensure the creation of a racially pure Russian through the expulsion of the Turks, Jews, and Caucasians from Russia. The group consists of 6,000 active members and has operations running to the present in Ukraine, Russia, and Baltic States (Martin, 2003). Ethno-nationalist terrorism aims at gaining political self-determination and international recognition with their main motivation being ethnicity, religion, and nationalism. An example of an Ethno-nationalist terrorism group is Irish Republican Army (IRA) that has Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA, Provos) as an alternative name. The cause of the IRA is to form a unified Irish Republic with Sinn Fein as a directly liaised organization with the group that has been in operation since 1919 despite using the name PIRA in 1969. The group reached its peak in 1970 when in consisted of 1500 members and it was operative until 2005 when the decommissioning of weapons was

Summary Viral Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Summary Viral Marketing - Essay Example The viral marketer's dilemma is to identify, categorize and target people for initial reception and replication of the vendor's message. The primary message itself should be highly contagious in order for it to be adopted and replicated easily and regularly. Viral marketing campaigns can be 'low integration', frictionless model where the original consumer is essentially passive in the transaction. The famous example is Hotmail's early 1990s campaign which gave away free e-mail addresses, incorporating a vendor advertisement. Each consumer provided Hotmail with a free distribution network and qualified leads of persons who were already had an email account, and might be interested in switching to free account for their personal correspondence. Campaigns of this type rapidly build customer acquisition and enhance customer retention because the consumer is locked-in to the service as switching will be disruptive. The alternative is a 'high integration', active marketing campaign where the consumer opts-in to a service or product - newsletters and RSS feeds are obvious examples -- or where the consumer seeks a reward for promoting the vendors goods/services. Affiliate programs are obvious examples of the latter. The open source software community has made considerable use of viral marketing strategies. Such communities tend to be made up of 'tech-fluential' specialists who lock-in to the product and derive personal benefits through original contributions to its development. They are self-perpetuating 'hives' with opinion leaders (e-fluentials) who collect, analyze, interpret and disseminate the latest news to others both within and outside the hive who respect the hive's expertise in the field. There are conflicting studies as to the number of persons e-fluentials can actually reach, but it is estimated that in the USA 92% of surfers regularly turn to 8% of e-fluentials for information and that e-fluentials can routinely reach 11 people with positive messages and 19 people with negative messages as information is pulled from consumers (as opposed to pushed by a vendor) from this communication channel. In this context, viral marketing can assist open source software developers (OSSD) to build critical mass to overcome the chasm between establishing the product with tech-fluential early adopters, and gaining market share in the more risk-averse mainstream market. The developer's aim will be to establish the product as the industry standard as once the product reaches this stage of its life-cycle it will be clear that the product is stable, reliable and well-supported. Since the source software is license-fee free to consumers the developer seeks to monetize his/her time investment through add-on services such as consultancy and the sale of complementary goods/services, such as hardware and hosting. As with any marketing campaign an OSSD needs to ensure that the product advertised is suited to the medium to be used. Viral marketing campaigns are particularly effective when the message is contagious in and of it-self, the replicators and recipients perceive a value in forwarding the message to their circle of influence and the product is easily reproducible and easily and exclusively distributed over the

The Sea Around Us’ by Rachel Carson Essay Example for Free

The Sea Around Us’ by Rachel Carson Essay I have read excerpts from two texts. An informational text titled ‘The Sea Around Us’ by Rachel Carson, and a literature text titled ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea’, by Jules Verne. In both excerpts there are many descriptions of the ocean. Many people debate whether details are described more vividly in informational text, or in literature. I feel the ocean was described more vividly in the excerpt from the literature text ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea’. I believe the ocean is described more vividly in the excerpt from the story Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea because when I read it I feel like I’m there. The imagery is very strong and everything is described in such great detail. For example, when M. Aronnax was describing the coral kingdom in the ocean and said â€Å"I was tempted to gather their fresh petals, ornamented with delicate tentacles, some just blown, the others budding, while small fish, swimming swiftly, touched them slightly like flights of birds.† He described perfectly what the petals of the corals in the ocean looked like. He stated that some were blown and others weren’t. He also did this when explaining the effect the light of the lamps had on the ocean. He said â€Å"The light from our lamps produced sometimes magical effects, following the rough outlines of the natural arches, and pendants disposed like lusters, that were tipped with points of fire.† He even went as far as to describe the outlines of the natural arches of the coral. The excerpt from the informational text The Sea Around Us focuses more on getting their information across to the readers rather than imagery. This is emphasized when the author was describing how ocean life grew more and more complex. He described how aggregations of specialized cells arose from simple one celled creatures. When describing this he stated â€Å"From simple, one celled creatures, others that were aggregations of specialized cells arose, and then creatures with organs for feeding, digesting, breathing, reproducing.† The author described more what the creatures organs were for, but gave no imagery. I felt this gave the readers more information, but not as much details left for our imagination. Overall I felt Jules Verne used a more vivid description when describing the ocean then Rachel Carson. When the author described all of the coral in the ocean he used amazing imagery. I feel the author describes many details people would overlook when viewing  coral. I also feel the author made very good comparisons when describing the ocean and the things in it. For example when M. Aronnax said â€Å"†¦while small fish, swimming swiftly, touched them slightly like flights of birds.† I felt he described very well what the small fish swimming by them looked like. I felt his comparison of the small fish swimming to a flight of birds really helped to emphasize how the fish looked while swimming. He also did this when describing how much coral was in the ocean. He said â€Å"Coral is sold for twenty pounds per ounce and in this place the water beds would make the fortunes of a company of coral divers.† He used the face that coral is sold for twenty pounds for ounce to emphasize how much coral was in the sea. I also liked the comparison he made between the tips of the coral and the â€Å"points of fire†. I feel the author used very good comparisons to enable the readers to visualize and get a clearer picture of his descriptions of underneath the ocean. In the excerpt from the informational text The Sea Around Us I felt the author didn’t use very good comparisons when describing the ocean. When describing the mysterious borderline forms the author said they were â€Å"not quite plans, not quite animals† I felt the author did very poor in describing this. The description was way too general. Some may feel that Rachel Carson described the ocean more in her text The Sea Around Us. When describing the sponges growing on the bottom of the ocean. She said â€Å"Sponges grew on the rocky bottom of the sea’s edge and coral animals built their habitations in warm, clear waters.† She did describe the temperature of the water but it was a very broad description. She only described the ocean as being warm and clear. I feel she could have used more detail when describing it. She also could have described the bottom of the sea as more than just rocky. She could have described the outlines and arches of it as Jules Verne did when describing the coral. Jules Verne placed more work in using visual details to describe the ocean than Rachel Carson did. I understand some people may feel many different ways about the way each author described the ocean in their texts. However, the comparisons, visual details, and imagery Jules Verne used to describe the ocean on her text help give readers a clearer visualization of the ocean than Rachel Carson. Yes, Rachel Carson got information across to her readers, but she did not do such a great job when getting the image of the ocean across to the readers. It is  evident that Jules Verne did a better job a describing the ocean in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea than Rachel Carson in The Sea Around Us.

Overview of Cryptography and Encryption Techniques

Overview of Cryptography and Encryption Techniques What is cryptography Cryptography is the discipline of cryptography and cryptanalysis and of their interaction. The word â€Å"cryptography† is derived from the Greek words â€Å"Kryptos† means concealed, and â€Å"graphien† means to inscribe. It is the science of keeping secrets secret. One objective of cryptography is protecting a secret from adversaries. Professional cryptography protects not only the plain text, but also the key and more generally tries to protect the whole cryptosystem. Cryptographic primitives can be classified into two classes: keyed primitives and non-keyed primitives as in the figure. The fundamental and classical task of cryptography is to provide confidentiality by encryption methods. Encryption (also called enciphering) is the process of scrambling the contents of a message or file to make it unintelligible to anyone not in possession of key â€Å"key† required to unscramble the file or message. Providing confidentiality is not the only objective o f cryptography. Cryptography is also used to provide solutions for other problems: Data integrity, Authentication, Non-repudiation. Encryption methods can be divided into two categories: substitution ciphers and transposition ciphers. In a substitution cipher the letters of plaintext are replaced by other letters or by symbols or numbers. Replacing plaintext bit pattern with cipher text bit patterns is involved in substitution when plaintext is viewed as a sequence of bits. Substitution ciphers preserve the order of plaintext symbols but disguise them. Transposition ciphers, do not disguise the letters, instead they reorder them. This is achieved by performing some sort of permutation on the plaintext letters. There are two type of encryption :symmetric(private/secert) encryption key and asymmetric(public) key encryption. Conventional encryption model A conventional encryption model can be illustrated as assigning Xp to represent the plaintext message to be transmitted by the originator. The parties involved select an encryption algorithm represented by E. the parties agree upon the secret key represented by K. the secret key is distributed in a secure manner represented by SC. Conventional encryption’s effectiveness rests on keeping the secret. Keeping the key secret rests in a large on key distribution methods. When E process Xp and K, Xc is derived. Xc represents the cipher text output, which will be decrypted by the recipient. Upon receipt of Xc, the recipient uses a decryption algorithm represented by D to process Xc and K back to Xp. This is represented in the figure. In conventional encryption, secrecy of the encryption and decryption algorithm is not needed. In fact, the use of an established well known and tested algorithm is desirable over an obscure implementation. This brings us to the topic of key distribution. Cryptanalysis Code making involves the creation of encryption products that provide protection of confidentiality. Defeating this protection by some men’s other than the standard decryption process used by an intended recipient is involved in code breaking. Five scenarios for which code breaking is used. They are selling cracking product and services, spying on opponents, ensure accessibility, pursuing the intellectual aspects of code breaking and testing whether one’s codes are strong enough. Cryptanalysis is the process of attempting to identify either the plaintext Xp or the key K. discovery of the encryption is the most desired one as with its discovery all the subsequent messages can be deciphered. Therefore, the length of encryption key, and the volume of the computational work necessary provides for its length i.e. resistance to breakage. The protection get stronger when key size increases but this requires more brute force. Neither encryption scheme conventional encryption no r public key encryption is more resistant to cryptanalysis than the other. Cryptographic goals However, there are other natural cryptographic problems to be solved and they can be equally if not important depending on who is attacking you and what you are trying to secure against attackers. Privacy, authentication, integrity and non-repudiation are the cryptographic goals covered in this text. These three concepts form what is often referred to as the CIA triad? The three notations represents the basic security objectives for both data and for information and computing services. FIPS PUB 199 provides a useful characterization of these objectives in terms of requirements and the definition of a loss of security in each category: Confidentiality: Preserving authorized restrictions on information access and disclosure, together with means for shielding personal secrecy and copyrighted material. A damage of privacy is the illegal disclosure of information. Integrity: Guarding against improper information modification or destruction, and includes ensuring information non-repudiation and authenticity. A loss of integrity is the unauthorized modification of information. Availability: Ensuring timely and reliable access to and use of information. A loss of availability is the disruption of access to an information system. Although the use of the CIA tried to define security objectives is well established, some in the security field feel that additional concepts are needed to present a complete picture. Two of the most commonly mentioned are: Authenticity: The property of being genuine and being able to be verified and trusted; confidence in the validity of a transmission, a message, or message originator. Accountability: The security goal that generates the requirement for actions of an entity to be traced uniquely to that entity. Generally there are two types key present 1 Symmetric-key 2 Asymmetric-key Symmetric key encryption The universal technique for providing confidentiality for transmitted data is symmetric encryption. Symmetric encryption is also known as conventional encryption or single-key encryption was the only type of encryption in use prior to the introduction of public-key encryption. Countless individuals and groups, from Julius Caesar to the German U-boat force to present-day diplomatic, military and commercial users, use symmetric encryption for secret communication. It remains by far the more widely used of the types of encryption. A symmetric encryption scheme has five ingredients as follows- Plaintext: This is the original data or message that is fed into the algorithm as input. Encryption algorithm: the encryption algorithm performs various transformations and substitutions on the plaintext. Secret key: The secret key is input to the encryption algorithm. The exact transformations and substitutions performed by the algorithm depend on the key. Ciphertext: This is the scrambled message produced as output. It depends on the plaintext and the secret key. For a given message, two different keys will produce two different ciphertexts. Decryption algorithm: This is reserve process of encryption algorithm. It takes the ciphertext and secret key and produces the original plaintext. Symmetric key encryption is shown in fig. There are two necessities for protected use of symmetric encryption: We need a strong encryption algorithm. Sender and receiver must have secured obtained, keep secure, the secret key. Stream Ciphers The stream ciphers encrypt data by generating a key stream from the key and performing the encryption operation on the key stream with the plaintext data. The key stream can be any size that matches the size of the plaintext stream to be encrypted. The ith key stream digit only depends on the secret key and on the (i-1) previous plaintext digits. Then, the i ­th ciphertext digit is obtained by combining the ith plaintext digit with the ith key stream digit. One desirable property of a stream cipher is that the ciphertext be of the same length as the plaintext. Thus, a ciphertext output of 8 bits should be produced by encrypting each character, if 8-bit characters are being transmitted. Transmission capacity is wasted, if more than 8 bits are produced. However, stream ciphers are vulnerable to attack if the same key is used twice ormore. Block Ciphers A block ciphers fragments the message into blocks of a predetermined size and performs the encryption function on each block with the key stream generated by cipher algorithm. Size of each block should be fixed, and leftover message fragments are padded to the appropriate block size. Block ciphers differ from stream ciphers in that they encrypted and decrypted information in fixed size blocks rather than encrypting and decrypting each letters or word individually. A block ciphers passes a block of data or plaintext through its algorithm to generate a block of ciphertext. Asymmetric Key Cryptosystems In Asymmetric Key Cryptosystems two different keys are used: a secret key and a public key. The secret key is kept undisclosed by the proprietor and public key is openly known. The system is called â€Å"asymmetric† since the different keys are used for encryption and decryption, the public key and private key. If data is encrypted with a public key, it can be decrypted only by using the corresponding private key. Public Key Encryption shown in fig. Classical encryption techniques The technique enables us to illustrate the basic approaches to conventional encryption today. The two basic components of classical ciphers are transposition and substitution. Combination of both substitution and transposition is described in others systems. Substitution techniques In this technique letters of plaintext message are placed by symbols and numbers. If plaintext is in the form of a sequences of bits, then substituting plaintext bit patterns with ciphertext bit patterns. Transposition techniques Transposition instantly moves the position around within it but does not alter any of the bits in the plaintext. If the resultant ciphertext is then put through more transpositions, the end result has increasing security.

Strategies for Consumer Research

Strategies for Consumer Research Consumer research is a type of applied sociology that attempts to map and understand the way in which consumers behave and make decisions about the products that they purchase. This is absolutely fundamental to those managing marketing processes for an organisation. Understanding how consumers make the decision to purchase a particular item of goods or service is vital to the setting out of marketing plans for products. The research will also discover which marketing approaches are the most successful and, therefore, which ones should be repeated to attract attention[1]. Typically, this type of research is statistical in nature, pulling together all of the decision inputs that consumers will look at, before making decisions[2]. For example, factors such as availability, price, likely value growth and functionality will all play an important role in terms of consumer decision making. Traditional consumer research aims to be entirely objective in nature and is undertaken in an impartia l manner, attempting to form an understanding of the actual state of affairs in the given product market. However, more recently, there has been recognition that many consumers will simply make impulse purchases and that one specific set of inputs will not always produce the same result, as human perceptions and decision making processes vary considerably from individual to individual, depending on a range of factors that cannot be neatly placed into a scientific analysis[3]. Essentially, there are two key approaches to consumer research which are recognised and discussed in the research paper by Isabelle Szmigin and Gordon Foxall. Traditionally, consumer research theorists have argued that consumer research must naturally either centre on the interpretive approach or the positivist approach[4]. Szmigin and Foxall argued that a combination of the two approaches will produce the best approach. Critically, Szmigin and Foxall recognise that the real value in consumer research comes from the quality of the information that the research gives to the managers making the ongoing marketing decisions. This has arguably been a massively overlooked factor in consumer research. The ultimate goal for consumer research should surely be to give a definitive course of action for a marketing department to follow in order to gain the maximum possible consumer penetration. By arguing this point, Szmigin and Foxall successfully demonstrate that the ideal form of consumer res earch must take account of both scientific, objective decision making factors as well as the subjective and emotional decision making factors, if it is to gain a detailed and inclusive understanding of consumer behaviour[5]. There are arguably inherent positives and negatives to both approaches and these are discussed by Szmigin and Foxall, with varying degrees of conviction. Ultimately, however, the authors failed to reach a final conclusion as to which method offered the better approach and instead opted to conclude that a middle ground would be the best approach. In this paper, the question as to whether this conclusion is a true reflection of the position or whether the authors simply failed to find conclusive evidence and were thus forced to reach this conclusion due to the absence of any convincing suggestions to the contrary is evident[6]. Interpretive v Positivism The two different approaches under discussion are interpretative and positivistic, although it could also be seen as a debate between science and art[7]. Similarly, positivistic consumer research is more commonly referred to as quantitative research and interpretative research is referred to as qualitative research. This is a direct reflection of the statistical importance of the positivistic approach. With the positivist approach, a large group of individuals is studied with an attempt to draw one conclusive set of statistics that explain all consumer behaviour. The focus is very much on the four Ps, namely product, price, place or location and promotion. In the positivist approach, the basis for the research is that the four Ps will be the underlying factors that will make up the decision making process for consumers. These are all objective factors and take little or no account of dealing with personal preferences as displayed by individual consumers. During this process, a hypoth esis is drawn up which essentially sets out the claims which the research aims either to prove or disprove. This positivist approach is heavily statistically based and the questioning of consumers will aim towards gaining figure based results that can be displayed in the form of graphs. Similarly, the reliability of the findings is tested by statistical methods including ascertaining the significance level of the data. Whilst this method is seen as being potentially conclusive and providing statistical data that can be used in marketing techniques, it fundamentally misses the fact that humans behave in different ways even when faced with the same raw data. Different consumers will make different decisions and will place different relative values on the input factors detailed above. Interpretative research aims to take this factor into account. Research is focussed on a smaller group of individuals with the aim of mapping out consumer behaviour based on a range of more subjective factors such as those relating to cultural and sociological impacts[8]. With this approach, however, the personality and subjective beliefs of the researcher are much more likely to have an impact on the results of the research. Personalities and subjective thoughts will naturally vary depending on the consumer’s values and, with this in mind, there is a serious question as to what value this type of research can off er to marketing professionals within a company. Without any statistical patterns of behaviour, it can be very difficult for marketing professionals to determine a set of trends that can be accurately relied upon[9]. Interpretative Approach Analysis Based on Szmigin and Foxall’s Research Szmigin and Foxall spent a large amount of their analysis considering whether the interpretative value has any merit and what it can offer in terms of additional value that this method offers the process of consumer research. Szmigin and Foxall recognised that papers relating to interpretative research are often seen as peripheral to positivistic research, offering little in the way of added value. This is, however, rightly discarded by the authors. The paper explains the concepts that have been developed surrounding the use of interpretative research. One of the most formative of these concepts is that indicated by Thompson[10], that interpretative research will come up with multiple possible worldviews rather than one individual ‘way of the world’, which was distinct from the positivistic approach. One of the central points determined by Szmigin and Foxall was that the interpretative approach accurately represented the complexities of human nature and that failure to consider this was a fatal flaw in the traditional positivistic approach[11]. Interestingly, the approach taken by Szmigin and Foxall, on the one hand, recognised the absolutely vital elements that the interpretative approach bring to the phenomenon that is essential for the complete understanding of consumer behaviour, but also gives credence to the way in which this approach is too value laden and thus not entirely reliable as a source of information for marketing professionals. The weakness of allowing subjective and internal states of the consumers to be taken into account is widely accepted by Szmigin and Foxall, yet despite this, there is a refusal to write off this approach, entirely[12]. One possible way of reconciling these opposing thoughts is that of considering the interpretative research methods as a way of ascertaining a range of several possible causes of action based on the range of potential consumer thought patterns from which positivistic research approaches can be used to narrow down the data into a more useful set of conclusions. It is this combination of the two approaches that Szmigin and Foxall focus on in reaching their conclusion. The approach, on the face of it, appears to be entirely logical given the data available. A Further Look at Interpretative Research Before simply accepting the proposition that the interpretative research approach offers additional supporting information to the more traditional approach, a greater analysis of the potential added value that can be obtained through the use of interpretative research is required. Klein Myers[13] argued that interpretative research is simply a way by which knowledge is obtained through consumer research. Rather than seeing interpretative research as a distinct method of conducting consumer research, it may be viewed as a way of filtering the information gathered through a set of cultural and social parameters. Interpretative research does not involve the pre-setting of parameters or any other variables; instead, it lets the social context influence the phenomenon. It seems that the approach of combing the two theories is powerful, but not in the way that Szmigin and Foxall identified. A paper by Bruce Rowlands[14] also explored the issue of the relative use of interpretative and positivistic approaches. However, in this case, it was concluded that the combination of the two approaches would be valuable but not simply because no conclusive conclusion relating to the choice of one over the other could be reached, but rather due to the fact that combining the two approaches can achieve the best of both worlds, in certain circumstances. In this case, it was held that the two approaches worked well together where the non constrained interpretative approach can be used within at least a certain set of boundaries (albeit loosely defined)[15]. Critically, this paper recognised that the problem with interpretative research is that reaching a meaningful conclusion can be virtually impossible, in many situations. This is down to the potential width of results that such an untargeted approach can cause. However, in this paper it was concluded by Bruce Rowlands that this difficulty could largely be overcome by setting at least basic parameters to guide the research in the first instance to ensure a degree of control in the research process[16]. By combining the findings of the Bruce Rowlands paper and that of the paper under current discussion, it is clear to see that there is at least some merit in the argument that the two methods can be successfully combined to offer rounded consumer research[17]. Positivistic Approach Analysis Based on Szmigin and Foxall’s Research It seems, from considering both the research as conducted by Szmigin and Foxall and other related research in the area, that it is generally thought that interpretative research methods have been developed to fill in the gaps of the positivistic approach. In order to explore this theory fully, the perceived weaknesses of the positivistic approach from the perspective of Szmigin and Foxall requires further consideration, as this will give a clear indication of the anticipated role of interpretative research methods. By establishing the weaknesses of the positivistic approach, it will then be possible to ascertain whether the use of interpretative research would indeed fill this gap and should, therefore, be considered as a means of offering a more complete consumer behaviour analysis[18]. Szmigin and Foxall saw that there were several inherent weaknesses in the positivistic approach. Firstly, it was identified that the underlying assumption that there is one reality that does not change; this is clearly unrealistic with consumers in a constant state of flux with ever changing external and internal decision factors. True positivism also works on the assumption that all consumers will make purchasing decision based on entirely reasoned factors with absolutely no input from irrational desires and impulse purchases. This is an over-simplistic view of the way in which consumers actually make decisions. It is well recognised that consumers will often make purchasing decision based on entirely irrational desires and, therefore, certain data patterns will be entirely meaningless, if only rational decision factors are considered. Szmigin and Foxall also recognised that in taking this concept of a single reality as encouraged by the positivistic approach, there is a danger that all other possible realities are excluded, thus potentially missing out other possibly valuable data sets. These main weaknesses in the positivistic approach are argued by Szmigin and Foxall to be the reason that interpretative research methods are necessary in order to fill in these gaps. These weaknesses are so substantial that it is accepted by Szmigin and Foxall that a positivistic approach is so fundamentally flawed that it alone cannot produce any meaningful data for the eventual users, namely the marketing manager in the relevant organisation. A Wider Look at the Positivistic Approach The positivistic or quantitative approach to consumer research is regarded as the traditional approach to consumer research; therefore, there is considerably more research available on the potential weaknesses to this area of research. Martin Callingham[19] stated that the main weakness in the use of qualitative approach is that, although input factors can be analysed against the actual outcome, there is no way, through using this direct data to ascertain whether the input factor was the actual cause of the witnessed outcome[20]. For example, if a company runs an advertising campaign and sees sales increase, the positivistic approach will show the statistical increase in sales, but will not show that it was the advertising campaign that drove this increase. The rise in sales will not necessarily be down to the advertising campaign; it could be down to a range of other cultural or social factors[21]. This failure to link cause and effect is the cited reason for the need to enhance the traditional positivistic approach[22]. Quantitative research is entirely science based with the emphasis on objectivity reliability and generalisations. Whilst this is clearly desirable in the field of research, consumer behaviour simply does not fall neatly within this scientific approach. There is positive value to be had in this approach, particularly when the aim of the research is to link directly some factor with base line results; it is both unbiased and objective with no values being derived from the researcher themselves. Despite this, the positivistic approach is clearly limited. Any variable that is not part of the model is totally disregarded and, as such, it is limited in its findings to the variables that are laid out in the original model[23]. Any fluidity of consumer behaviour will not be captured, which is an essential part of any consumer research project. It is this weakness that the use of interpretative research aims to manage and deal with by adding value to the overall research project[24]. Summary of Findings The need to expand upon the traditional positivistic approach has been clearly recognised by Szmigin and Foxall. The paper recognises that there are inherent weaknesses in both approaches to consumer research which render the use of one research method to the exclusion of the other, ineffective[25]. However the paper has been slightly unsatisfactory in the way in which it reaches this conclusion. The approach taken by Szmigin and Foxall involved the consideration of the weakness of both methods and, having concluded that both methods have fundamental flaws, it was then decided that the only possible solution was to use a combination of the two. This conclusion is agreed with; however, a slightly more positive approach to reaching this conclusion would have been welcome[26]. Other research papers have taken a more pragmatic approach by considering the difficulties and weaknesses with the traditional approach and then looking positively at whether or not the interpretative approach can suitably fill the gaps in a way that would improve the nature of the consumer research[27]. The weaknesses in the traditional approach of failing to consider discarded variables and of failing to link the cause and effect of behaviour have been duly noted by Szmigin and Foxall. Where the analysis falls down is that they do not then go on to consider fully how the interpretative approach could deal with these issues. It would seem, therefore, that by pulling together all of the relevant research in this area using an interpretative approach predominately yet with at least the basic controls such as those suggested by the positivistic approach, the best of both worlds will be achieved and the most comprehensive consumer research can be undertaken[28]. In summary, therefore, Szmigin and Foxall have reached the correct conclusion as to the importance of combining the two approaches, but the way in which this conclusion was reached could have been achieved in a more positive fashion rather than it being a default position which is what appears to have been the case with Szmigin and Foxall. Bibliography Anderson, Paul F., On method in consumer research: a critical relativist perspective, Journal of Consumer Research, 13 (Sept), 1986, 155-173. Belk, Russell W., Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods in Marketing, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006. Blumer, Herbert,, Symbolic Interactionsim, Englewood Cliffs: NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1967. Brown, Stephen, Marketing and literature: the anxiety of academic influence, Journal of Marketing, 63 (Jan), 1999, 1-15. Calder, Bobby J., Tybout, Alice M., Interpretive, qualitative , and traditional scientific empirical consumer behaviour research, in Hirschman, Elizabeth. C. (ed.), Interpretive Consumer Research, Provo, UT: Association of Consumer Research, 1989, 199-208. Callingham, Martin, Market Intelligence: How and why Organizations Use Market Research, Kogan Page Publishers, 2004. Charmaz, Kathy, Between positivism and postmodernism: implications for methods, Studies in Symbolic Interaction, 17, 1995, 43-72. Cova, Bernard, Elliott , Richard, Everything you always wanted to know about interpretive consumer research but were afraid to ask, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 11, 2, 2008. Davies, Andrea, Fitchett, James A.,An Empirical Exposition of Paradigm Incommesurability in Consumer Research: Two Museum Studies Revisited, Proceedings of the EIASM Interpretive Consumer Research Conference, Brussels, May 2000. Firat, A. Fuat, Venkateash, Alladi, Liberatory postmodernism and the re-enachtment of consumption, Journal of Consumer Research, 22 (3), 1995, 239-67. Goulding, Christina, Consumer research, interpretive paradigms and methodological ambiguities, European Journal of Marketing, 33, 9/10, 1999, 859-873. Goulding, Christina, Grounded theory: the missing methodology on the interpretivist agenda, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 1(1), 1998, 50-57. Hackley, Christopher E., Doing Research Projects in Marketing, Management and Consumer Research, Routledge, 2003. Heath, Timothy B., The reconciliation of humanism and positivism in the practice of consumer research: a view from the trenches, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Sciences, 20 (2), 1992, 107-118. Hirschman, Elizabeth. C., Scientific style and the conduct of consumer research, Journal of Consumer Research, 12 (Sept), 1985. 225-239. Hirschman, Elizabeth C., Postmodern Consumer Research. The Study of Consumption as Text, Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1992. Hoffman, Donna, Holbrook, Morris B., The intellectual structure of consumer research: a bibliographic study of author cocitations in the first 15 years of the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research, 19 (March), 1993,505-517. Hogg, Margaret K., Maclaran, Pauline, Rhetorical issues in writing interpretivist consumer research, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 11, 2, 2008. Hudson, Laurel A., Ozanne, Julie L., Alternative ways of seeking knowledge in consumer research, Journal of Consumer Research, 14 (March), 1988, 508-521. Hunt, Shelby. D., Positivism and paradigm dominance in consumer research: towards critical pluralism and rapprochement, Journal of Consumer Research, 18 (June), 1991, 32-44. Klein, H., Myers, M., A Set of Principals for Conducting and Evaluating Interpretive Field Studies in Information Systems, MIS Quarterly, 23, 1, 1999, 67-94. Leong, Siew M., Sheth, Jagdish N., Tan, Ching T., An empirical study of the scientific styles of marketing academics, European Journal of Marketing, 28 (8/9), 1994, 12-26. Lutz, Richard J., Positivism, naturalism and pluralism in consumer research: paradigms in paradise, in Advances in Consumer Research,16 ed. Srull, Thomas, Provo:UT: Association of Consumer Research, 1989, 1-7. McQuarrie, Edward F. Glen-Mick, David, On resonance : a critical pluralistic inquiry into advertising rhetoric, Journal of Consumer Research, 19 (Sept), 1992, 180-197. Nancarrow, Clive, Moskvin, Alexander, Shankar, Avi, Bridging the great divide the transfer of techniques (qualitative and quantitative techniques), Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 14 (6), 1996, 27-37. Rowlands, Bruce H., Grounded in Practice: Using Interpretive Research to Build Theory, Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, 3, 1, 2005, 81-92. Schiffman, Leon G., Hansen, Havard, Kanuk, Leslie Lazar, Consumer Behaviour: A European Outlook, Pearson Education, 2008. Silverman, David , Qualitative Research, Theory, Methods and Practice, London: Sage, 1997. Solomon, Michael R., Bamossy, Gary, Askergaard, Soren, Consumer Behaviour: A European Perspective, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999. The VOICE Group, Reflections on collaboration in interpretive consumer research, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 11, 2, 2008. Thompson, Craig J., Eureka! and other tests of significance: a new look at evaluating interpretive research, Advances in Consumer Research, 17, eds. Goldberg, Marvin, Gorn, Gerald, Pollay, Richard, 1990, 25-30. Footnotes [1] Nancarrow, Clive, Moskvin, Alexander, Shankar, Avi, Bridging the great divide the transfer of techniques (qualitative and quantitative techniques), Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 14 (6), 1996, 27-37. [2] Hackley, Christopher E., Doing Research Projects in Marketing, Management and Consumer Research, Routledge, 2003 [3] Silverman, David, Qualitative Research, Theory, Methods and Practice, London: Sage, 1997 [4] Schiffman, Leon G., Hansen, Havard, Kanuk, Leslie Lazar, Consumer Behaviour: A European Outlook, Pearson Education, 2008 [5] Hogg, Margaret K., Maclaran, Pauline, Rhetorical issues in writing interpretivist consumer research, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 11, 2, 2008 [6] Hudson, Laurel A., Ozanne, Julie L., Alternative ways of seeking knowledge in consumer research, Journal of Consumer Research, 14 (March), 508-521, 1988 [7] Hirschman, Elizabeth. C., Scientific style and the conduct of consumer research, Journal of Consumer Research, 12 (Sept), 1985, 225-239, 18 [8] Solomon, Michael R., Bamossy, Gary, Askergaard, Soren,, Consumer Behaviour: A European Perspective, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999 [9] Calder, Bobby J., Tybout, Alice M., Interpretive, qualitative, and traditional scientific empirical consumer behaviour research in Hirschman, Elizabeth. C. (ed.), Interpretive Consumer Research, Provo, UT: Association of Consumer Research, 1989, 199-208 [10] Thompson, Craig J., Eureka! and other tests of significance: a new look at evaluating interpretive research, Advances in Consumer Research, 17, eds. Goldberg, Marvin, Gorn, Gerald, Pollay, Richard, 25-30, 1990. [11] The VOICE Group, Reflections on collaboration in interpretive consumer research, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 11, 2, 2008 [12] Davies, Andrea, Fitchett, James A., An Empirical Exposition of Paradigm Incommesurability in Consumer Research: Two Museum Studies Revisited, Proceedings of the EIASM Interpretive Consumer Research Conference, Brussels, May 2000. [13] Klein, H., Myers, M., A Set of Principals for Conducting and Evaluating Interpretive Field Studies in Information Systems, MIS Quarterly, 23, 1,,1999, 67-94 [14] Rowlands, Bruce H., Grounded in Practice: Using Interpretive Research to Build Theory, Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, 3, 1, 2005 (81-92) [15] Brown, Stephen, Marketing and literature: the anxiety of academic influence, Journal of Marketing, 63 (Jan), 1-15, 1999 [16] Hoffman, Donna, Holbrook, Morris B.,The intellectual structure of consumer research: a bibliographic study of author cocitations in the first 15 years of the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research, 19 (March),1993, 505-517. [17] Cova, Bernard, Elliott, Richard, Everything you always wanted to know about interpretive consumer research but were afraid to ask, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 11,2, 2008 [18] Hirschman, Elizabeth C., Postmodern Consumer Research. The Study of Consumption as Text, Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1992. [19] Callingham, Martin, Market Intelligence: How and why Organizations Use Market Research, Kogan Page Publishers, 2004 [20] Hunt, Shelby. D., Positivism and paradigm dominance in consumer research: towards critical pluralism and rapprochement, Journal of Consumer Research, 18 (June), 1991, 32-44. [21] McQuarrie, Edward F., Glen-Mick, David , 1992, On resonance : a critical pluralistic inquiry into advertising rhetoric, Journal of Consumer Research, 19 (Sept), 1992, 180-197. [22] Anderson, Paul F.,On method in consumer research: a critical relativist perspective, Journal of Consumer Research, 13 (Sept), 1986, 155-173. [23] Heath, Timothy B.,The reconciliation of humanism and positivism in the practice of consumer research: a view from the trenches, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Sciences, 20 (2), 1992, 107-118. [24] Leong, Siew M., Sheth, Jagdish N., Tan, Ching T., An empirical study of the scientific styles of marketing academics, European Journal of Marketing, 28 (8/9), 1994, 12-26. [25] Goulding, Christina, Consumer research, interpretive paradigms and methodological ambiguities, European Journal of Marketing, 33, 9/10, 1999, 859-873. [26] Belk, Russell W., Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods in Marketing, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006 [27] Charmaz, Kathy, Between positivism and postmodernism: implications for methods, Studies in Symbolic Interaction, 17, 1995, 43-72. [28] Lutz, Richard J., â€Å"Positivism, naturalism and pluralism in consumer research: paradigms in paradise, in Advances in Consumer Research, 16, ed. Srull, Thomas, Provo:UT: Association of Consumer Research, 1-7, 1989

My Educational Philosophy :: Philosophy of Education Teaching

My Educational Philosophy The responsibilities that educators have in the education field is to teach our students the basic training skills needed to be successful in the future. As an educator I will be involved in classroom instruction, grading papers, taking attendance, planning lesson plans around activities, readings and projects that will not only teach, but also engage. Without engagement, students are not likely to have a positive learning experience. I will make sure that every child is envolved and no child is left behind. As an educator I will modify instructional methods by using a wide range of teaching styles for the academic achievement of all my students. I will seek the need to self-motive my students learning skills; explore their academic, cultural, and social needs, which makes these central to the classroom experience. As an educator I will help students understand, investigate, learn, and determine how the knowledge process influences in discipline. I will use teaching methods and materials to reduce student prejudice, and work to create a school culture that empowers all students especially those from minority groups. I will engage all students in learning which is a goal of mine. As an educator I am also a mentor, who is a trusted and experienced advisor that has direct interest in the development and education of another individual. I want to encourage and motivate my students as well as maintaining a constructive and caring manner towards their needs. As an educator I will be very social, orderliness, and practical. I enjoy helping others and appreciating their needs and values as an individual. I am very orderly, which I keep things in their proper place, which makes the classroom environment more flexible.

The Power of the Unconscious Essay -- Term Papers Research Essays

The Power of the Unconscious Have you ever experienced a time when you were wracking your brain trying to come up with a thesis statement for a paper, an answer to a math problem, or the title of your new poem? You spend countless hours only to end up where you began – at ground zero. You find that your brain is starting to ache from the excessive thinking and you decide to get your mind off of the problem. You focus your attention on something else, perhaps on getting some R&R and all of a sudden...AHA! The solution to your problem just pops into your head out of nowhere, almost as if it sneaked its way into your thoughts! You then find yourself wondering how this happened and what was responsible for such a reaction. The culprit of such "sneaky" reactions is a force known as the "unconscious." Rollo May, author of Courage to Create, defines the unconscious as "the potentialities for awareness or action which the individual cannot or will not actualize." What role do you think the "unconscious" plays in your life or is it really a major contributor to the birth of creative thought? Thinkers in fields ranging from psychoanalysis to business management all seem to agree that the mystical force of the unconscious plays a central role in the creative process and the emergence of new ideas. WHAT IS UNCONSCIOUS THOUGHT? Saying thank you in response to a good deed, looking both ways before crossing the street, smiling back at someone when they smile at you--actions such as these are said to be done subconsciously, meaning that they are performed without the realization that they are being done. The same idea applies when referring to unconscious thought. Unconscious thought is that in which we are not aware of what we are thi... ...le of conscious factors in one's creative thought process. Everyone has experienced the evolution of unconscious thoughts into consciousness. I'm sure you can recall a time when "the light bulb flickered on in your mind," your ideas just seemed to "click," or you had an epiphany. Had it not been for the unconscious being hard at work, Sir Isaac Newton may have never formulated his laws of physics, there would be no such thing as Calculus, or even math for that matter. The Unconscious brings about the emergence of creative thought. It can not only be thought of as a major contributor to new ideas but also to a greater cause—mankind. The role of the "unconscious" is essential to our being as it allows us to expand upon things with which we are already familiar, leading to innovative ideas. The "unconscious" is one of the most significant aspects of our daily lives.

Symbolism and Themes in The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara Essay -- Paper

Symbolism and Themes in The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara Toni Cade Bambara wrote the short story, The Lesson, in 1972. The Lesson is considered by the Literary Canon to be a wonderful work of fiction because of its use of language, humanistic theme, symbolism, and non-genre plot. Two essential elements that add to the depth and enhance a reader?s comprehension of The Lesson are Bambara?s use of symbolism and theme. The Lesson takes place in New York?s inner city. The fictional story begins with a group of poor, uneducated, lower class city kids standing in front of a mailbox, preparing themselves for another day of being taught by Mrs. Moore. Mrs. Moore felt that it was her duty to help underprivileged children learn because she was one of the only women in the neighborhood to earn a degree. The main character is Sylvia, who tells the story in a first person narrative. Sylvia is a young African American girl, probably around fourteen years old, who is very judgmental about the world around her. By Bambara?s choice of words, the reader can tell that she is extremely opinionated, presents a very tough, hostile exterior and not at all happy about having to be taught anything by Mrs. Moore. For instance, she states ?we kinda hated her too, hated the way we did the winos who cluttered up our parks and pissed on our hand ball walls? (Bambara 121). On this hot summer day, Mrs. Moore felt that there was a lesson to learn at FAO Schwartz, a very expensive, upper class toy store in downtown Manhattan. After stepping out of the cab and peering into the window, Sylvia knows that this is not just any toy store and they are not just there for any reason. The reason Mrs. Moore brought the children to FAO Schwartz is captured... ...e born on the social ladder is not a choice and might not be considered to be fair. Although it is easy to take from those beneath you, to move up, one must take a much longer, more difficult approach. Bambara incorporates the theme of The Lesson into the story with very precise wisdom. The Lesson is a brilliant piece of fiction. The theme and symbolic elements will hopefully help this short story, stand the test of time. Bambara was able to express and show different views on life by bringing a few poor city kids into a ritzy toy store. This is a short story that should be read by all in hopes to educate today?s children. Works Cited Bambara, Toni. ?The Lesson?. Literature: Reading and Writing the Human Experience. Shorter 7th ed. Ed. Richard Abacian and Marvin Koltz. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2000. 121-126.

Article Review of Smoking

Addictive items have become one of the most significant health problems. The countries will be affected medical,economical,legal and social effects because of the use of addictive items. In this study is to identify and compare the number of basic students in Germany and Turkey. Turkey is one of the leading tobacco producing countries as well as of the major tobacco consuming countries. Smoking is very addictive and has effects both on economy and health. That is not easy to quit smoking because in statistic only 2-3% of smokers can quit smoking annually.Many of the adults start smoking at early ages and increase the amount of cigarettes smoked in adulthood. There also people say that smoking is because of personality traits. Up to now,no specific personality traits are identified as a risk for addiction to smoking. The methodology used in this study is survey by using questionnaire. First,the researcher make a sampling. The participants of the study are a total of 1024 German and Tu rkish basic education.Second,the data were collected through survey questionnaire because this study is an empirical one. Third,the data obtained were analysed by make use of descriptive statistical techniques,especially in the form of means,frequency and percentage. The findings or results in this study suggests that the rate of both German and Turkish students who frequently and sometimes smoke is higher than expected from their ages. However,the rate of the students who tried to smoke in both sample groups is also interesting.The findngs also indicate that the rate of the students who stated that their mothers, fathers, friends and teachers smoke is high. However, the rate of mothers and friends who smoke in the Turkish sample is lower than that in the German sample. Although in both sample groups the rate of the students who may try to smoke once is high, this rate varies between the groups. More specifically, the number of the German students who reported that they may try to s moke is much higher in contrast to Turkish participants.

7-Eleven Japan Business Domain

| | | Assessing Business- IT Alignment| Rosa Kemper Cohort 27 Dr. K. Cousins February 17, 2013 Table of Contents I – Executive Summary/Overview Baptist Hospital a) Mission Statement b) Vision statement II. Information Technology: a) Mission Statement b) Vision Statement III. The Business As-Is: Business Scope and Value Discipline IV. Information Technology AS-IS: IT Infrastructure and Scope of Business V. Assessing Business Strategic Alignment and Maturity: IT To-Be Business To-be VI. Evaluation of Strategic Alignment Maturity Assessment: Luftman’s SAM Survey Part I: Effectiveness of IT and Business communications (Score 2. 8) Part II: Measurement of the competency and value of IT Score (Score 2. 93) Part III: The governance Partnerships between IT and Business Functions (Score 2. 41) Part IV: Partnerships between IT and Business functions (Score 2. 31) Part V: Scope and Architecture of the IT Infrastructure (Score 2. 67) Part VI. Human resource skills (2. 56) VII. Reco mmendation to address gaps in the alignment VIII. Strategic Alignment Enablers IX. Strategic Alignment Inhibitors I – Executive Summary/Overview: Baptist Health South Florida, Inc. a not-for-profit health care organization, operates medical plazas, surgical facilities, and hospitals. It offers addiction treatment, behavioral medicine, blood conservation program, cancer, cardiovascular, care and counseling, children's health, community wellness, critical care center, diabetes, emergency, endoscopy, executive health, gamma knife center, heart surgery, home care, hyperbaric, imaging, intensive care unit, international, interventional/surgical, laboratory, neonatal, neuroscience, and nutrition counseling services.The company also provides occupational health, orthopedics, outpatient/diagnostic, pain center, pastoral care, pediatric, pel†¦ Baptist Health South Florida (BHSF) is the largest faith-based, not-for-profit health care organization in the area. It has an exceptional reputation for medical and service excellence. Baptist Health South Florida, Inc. was formerly known as Baptist Health Systems of South Florida, Inc. and changed its name to Baptist Health South Florida, Inc. in March 2002. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida.It has a network of seven hospitals, Baptist, Baptist Children's, South Miami, Homestead, Mariners and Doctors Hospitals, and Baptist Cardiac & Vascular Institute, with services extending throughout Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties. There are a total of 28 Baptist Outpatient Services Facilities and Medical Plazas which provide outpatient diagnostic, surgical, home health and urgent care services. Specialty areas are: Cancer, Cardiovascular, Children's Health, Diabetes, Gamma Knife, Diagnostic, Childbirth, Rehabilitation, Senior Services, Women's Health, and Urgent Care. Baptist Health serves more than 100,000 people each year.Approximately 2,000 physicians and nearly 12,000 employees adh ere to the organization’s mission to provide high-quality, cost-effective, compassionate healthcare services to all, including, as permitted by its resources, charity care to those in need. In 2007, Baptist Health provided an estimated $124 million in charity care. The Baptist Healthcare International Center of Miami is one of the largest hospital-based international programs in America. Thousands of people each year travel to Miami from around the world to visit their medical facilities and respected physicians. The pineapple logo is an age-old symbol of hospitality and warmth.It is reflected in their customer and patient-oriented focus. Baptist Health was created in 1990, but its tradition of medical excellence goes back decades. Baptist Hospital Baptist Hospital is a 680-bed facility located in the Kendall area of south Miami-Dade County. It was founded in 1960. Today, the hospital is a major medical center, attracting patients from all over the U. S. , the Caribbean, Lati n America and beyond. More than 32,000 people are hospitalized at Baptist each year; about 78,000 receive emergency care in our 24-hour Emergency Center and Children's Emergency Center. Mission Statement The mission of Baptist Health is to improve the health and well-being of individuals, and to promote the sanctity and preservation of life, in the communities we serve. Baptist Health is a faith-based organization guided by the spirit of Jesus Christ and the Judeo-Christian ethic. We are committed to maintaining the highest standards of clinical and service excellence, rooted in the utmost integrity and moral practice. Consistent with its spiritual foundation, Baptist Health is dedicated to providing high-quality, cost-effective, compassionate healthcare services to all, regardless of eligion, creed, race or national origin, including, as permitted by its resources, charity care to those in need†. Vision statement â€Å"Baptist Health will be the preeminent healthcare provide r in the communities we serve, the organization that people instinctively turn to for their healthcare needs. Baptist Health will offer a broad range of clinical services that are evidence-based and compassionately provided to ensure patient safety, superior clinical outcomes and the highest levels of satisfaction with a patient- and family-centered focus. Baptist Health will be a national and international leader in healthcare innovation†. II.Information Technology: Mission Statement â€Å"To support the BHSF vision by providing the highest quality technology solutions to our customers in an efficient and cost effective manner†. Vision Statement â€Å"Fully leverage our technology capabilities to provide meaningful information anywhere, anytime to our physicians, clinicians, patients, and employees in a secured and user friendly manner. In order to meet this goal, we will continue to implement advanced technologies such as wireless networking, multi-media telecommunic ations, digitized imaging, and web-based clinical and business applications throughout BHSF†. III. The Business As-Is:Business Scope and Value Discipline The organization has created a new delivery of care model built on a value-based strategy. The employment of advanced technology strategies with state of the art web based applications, complex data security platforms and data monitoring offers a wide variety of technology resources made available to the participants in the delivery of care. The highly efficient and widely accessible web and smartphone application for consumer speaks of the Value Discipline and Product Innovation aimed at benchmarking and incentivizing customer satisfaction, care coordination, and total care management.Moreover, the emphasis on technology leadership positions the business as a frontrunner in the marketplace thus cultivating a distinguishable loyal culture among its customers as a niche. Customer satisfaction is primarily what gives the compan y its competitive edge. The overall goals are to improve individual patient care, improve overall performance, minimize risks and decrease medical costs. The matrix style management ensures that interdisciplinary membership actively reflects on decisions affecting the overall organization.Innovation is a constant on all aspects of the organization’s dynamic strategy creating an agile and successful business. Whether in technology being applied, products and services, etc†¦ strong partnerships are created with other organizations in order to distinguish itself in the hyper competitive market. As an example recently BHSF has announced a newly formed Accountable Care Organization (ACO) alliance with BCBS to meet the needs of cancer patients in response to the changing environment and the â€Å"age† of the Affordable Care initiative. (1) IV. Information Technology AS-IS:IT Infrastructure and Scope of Business Scope of Business – â€Å"The Information Technolog y Department provides computer support and implementation services for all BHSF entities including the BHSF Medical Staff. Computer support and implementation services include the appropriate levels of hardware, application, network, telecommunications, operating system, media and telemedicine support required to maintain operations†. The goals and duties of the department are to contribute towards creating an efficient information exchange that can help in improving health outcomes and lowering delivery costs.To identify educational needs with regard to training existing workforce and future workforce in the information technology healthcare environment. Compliance efforts pushed the department towards the a) centralization of management, b) auditing and c) reporting tools. V. Assessing Business Strategic Alignment and Maturity: IT To-Be Baptist Health prides itself on its health care competences and outstanding reputation. The IT department effectively participates in functi onal level in the decision process and overall structure of the business and project requirements.The IT infrastructure is well integrated throughout the organization and effort and cooperation between the business and IT exists in moderate alignment. This partnership helps maximize the goals of the organization. Emphasis on bringing their own internal IT operations up to speed and using their internal personnel resources is part of the organization’s priorities. To validate this observation some examples may shed some light into concerns of processes management, efficiency and standardization that presented potential catastrophe for the business but were appropriately and positively addressed.The IT system had become outdated and cumbersome. The business and IT collaboratively reached out to an outside consultant to streamline its IT process and improve the perceived value to the business. There were many options on how and where to enter time, so time was often omitted. The re was no centralized data warehouse. Project database inaccuracies were updated irregularly. There was no reporting tool for IT resource expenditures, which made establishing the value-add of technology difficult. Finding details on current projects- because there was no consistent reporting process in place- was challenging for managers.Managing work demand and outcomes was nearly impossible. â€Å"The project database gave the level of detail needed for improved project management but the centralized time tracking database has improved efficiencies for resource management as well. Using Planview Enterprise, we have better management, prioritization, and review of project requests. This improved business efficiency assures accurate and timely service delivery to our customers. †(2) Baptist Health also evaluated many resources and criteria to implement the Oracle Identity Analytics (OIA) as the solution to maintain its roles and place the foundation for automated role govern ance.BHSF employed Simeo Solutions as a â€Å"trusted† advisor to build the strategy to seamlessly transition the roles into an electronic repository and also build the roadmap for role attestations and role lifecycle management†. (3) The IT department has a high degree of participation in aligning itself with the business structure and on the hands-on implementation of projects that support the organization’s strategy and strategic plans. The have value and the respect they need to maintain the organizational support. However, decision making process on the organizational level rests on the board of directors and upper level business management.Business To-be Business processes and workflows are generally communicated based on expectations about technology, people and organizational goals that can become obsolete over time. Companies finally must reengineer their processes. Key to the company’s success is analyzing and implementing sustainable processes. Baptist Health has a well-thought-out approach to solution strategy by utilizing top leaders in the industry as consultants in the areas of: a) operational efficiency, b) regulatory compliance, c) user productivity and e) business agility.The internal IT infrastructure serves fundamentally in an educational and supportive role as well as the launching platform to implementation of the developing framework. The maturity of the alignment appears to be an established and focused process. VI. Evaluation of Strategic Alignment Maturity Assessment: Luftman’s SAM Survey The purpose of this case study is to demonstrate the level of alignment that exists between IT and the business within this organization and to point out what, why and how strategic deficiencies pertaining to the alignment or lack thereof were resolved.As a tool, the Luftman’s Strategic Alignment Model (SAM) Survey (4) was administered to two IT and two business Mid-Management level executives at Baptist Hospi tal, one of the largest facilities in the BHSF system. The results validate the intra-organizational limitations that may exist in the relationship between the business and the IT department but portray a dynamic institution striving to align itself while creating a competitive advantage and differentiating itself as a leader in the healthcare market. The organization’s strategic alignment is measured by focusing on six aspects of the organization.These six aspects are what provide the different criteria for determining the maturity of an organization’s alignment. The six categories are: 1. Effectiveness of Communications 2. Measurement of Competency and Value of IT 3. IT Governance 4. Partnerships Between Business and IT Functions 5. IT Infrastructure Scope and Architecture 6. IT Infrastructure Scope and Architecture Part I: Effectiveness of IT and Business Communications (Score 2. 88) Senior and Mid-level It mangers work together to seek and promote innovation and cu tting edge products in the changing healthcare environment.Communication exists in the form of weekly formal meetings that address emerging processes and projects. Unit business and IT managers are encouraged to promote IT integration in the business process and senior level business managers have a good understanding of the value that IT brings to BHSF. They work in tandem to continue improvement of the internal IT infrastructure by bringing in external sources as advisors, continuous training for management level as well as workforce level members.The phone-mail and the intranet are integrated into the daily operations and used as the main form for communication and Intranet is also applied for educational purposes. There is structured sharing of information at the unit level that is in turn shared with upper level management at formal board meetings. Part II: Measurement of the Competency and Value of IT Score (Score 2. 93) Both business and IT use formal traditional technical an d cost efficiency measures to determine the return on investment (ROI) and activity-based costing (ABC) per survey data.As described earlier the continuous innovation in technology that is implemented across the organization, be it in the delivery of care, documentation applications, medical procedures, management tools and entire IT infrastructure that makes up the fabric of the organization in itself, serve as a guide of how BHSF distinguishes itself in the regional industry. Competencies are measured by metrics. Feedback is obtained in the form of surveys administered to clients and used point out areas for potential improvement and overall customer satisfaction.Part III: The Governance Partnerships between IT and Business Functions (Score 2. 41) Strategic planning is done at the functional unit level with some business involvement. Because of the support and collaboration that IT provides for the organization, there is an understood interdependency. The governance of the IT depa rtment is mostly centralized and it controls its own infrastructure. Planning occurs in the functional unit level and in some degree intra-organizationally – as demonstrated in the examples mentioned above where the IT department played a key role in restructuring the then-deficient and outdated process.Part IV: Partnerships Between IT and Business Functions (Score 2. 31) Because the partnership that exists between the IT and the business, better management, prioritization, and review of project requests is achieved across the company. This improved business efficiency assures accurate and timely service delivery to customers. Project Performance that IT delivers is a key resource in providing services and sound business outcomes and assists in measuring the performance of the company. Part V: Scope and Architecture of the IT Infrastructure (Score 2. 7) The IT department function is mostly Federated in that the corporate IT Unit administers the responsibility of the architect ure, the administrative systems and standardized decisions but authority for resources applications lies with each functional unit. IT is budgeted as a cost center and financial decisions regarding IT are done at a functional organizational level. The productivity and effectiveness that the IT department brings to the organization is viewed as a strategy enabler and is subject to traditional financial reviews.The IT steering committee meets as needed but also formally to recap the effectives of project implementation and metrics. Part VI. Human resource skills (2. 56) By using one centralized project data base the BHSF IT organization is able to manage its employee payroll systems and administrative functions in a seamless manner. Career cross-over, education and entrepreneurial innovation is strongly encouraged in the organization. The in-depth knowledge of these individuals assists with the alignment of the functional units and the overall business and helps decipher the needs of the enterprise.Trust and confidence among business and IT is an enabler for the corporation. It fosters a positive social and political, productive and efficient work environment that promotes employee participation and loyalty. It is perhaps the vital element that makes BHSF a successful corporation. VII. Recommendation to address gaps in the alignment The web-based platform is compatible with all other current IT systems and will improve the efficiency and accuracy of reporting throughout the company. Some of the ways that this technology will achieve its desired results are:Plan | Goals/Objectives| Outcomes| Management Planfor Information Management| Improve record keeping and information | IT Project will allow for real-time information and data entry, increased information accuracy, and a consolidated source for all payroll and administrative data| Consulting for Information Management| Utilize new technology to support company and department missions more effectively| New tech nology will allow many payroll and administrative functions to be automated reducing the levels of staff required to manage these systems|Continuous collaborative efforts from the IT department and the employment of consulting firms to advise and formulate a more centralized administrative platform will enabled BHSF to manage its employee payroll systems and administrative functions in a consolidated efficient manner. Another enabler is the technology implemented that has already proven to reduce overhead costs associated with the large workforce currently required to manage tasks, training, reporting, and various other administrative tasks.In the long run the company will also benefit from more timely and accurate financial reporting as a result of managers’ ability to enter and continuously update their financial metrics. The cost is justified by the benefit. Sharing of risks and rewards in projects will improve the business and help move the company forward to the next lev el of maturity. VIII. Strategic Alignment Enablers: * Senior executives support IT and use outside resources to augment performance. * IT involved in strategy development to moderate extent. There is Business- It partnership with a common goal to benefit the corporation IX. Strategic Alignment Inhibitors * There is a close relationship between IT and Business. * IT understands the business better than the business understands IT. * Projects are prioritized however change is moderately slow. Management is working on Changing this culture. Bibliography: 1) http://hcafnews. com/tag/Baptist-health-south-florida/ Florida Blue, Baptist Health and Physicians Group to Set Up Accountable Care Organization in Miami. 2) http://search. aol. com/aol/search? s_it=topsearchbox. earch&v_t=comsearch51-txtlnkusaolp00000051&q=case+study+baptist+healthcare+south+florida+planview – Project management Gets a Shot in the Arm at Baptist Health – Business Technology Consultant and Planview Ent erprise Administrator Baptist Health South Florida Diane Novas. 3) http:// www. simeiosolutions. com/Baptist-health-south-florida/ – Baptist Health South Florida Implements Oracle Identity Analysis for Role Lifecycle Management 4) Assessing Business-IT Alignment Maturity. Volume 4, Article 14, Dec 2000. Jerry Luftman, School of Management, Stevens Institure of Technology.