Starbucks for or Against the War in Iraq Essay Example for Free

Starbucks for or Against the War in Iraq Essay Although it is unclear as to whether or not Starbucks ever actually refused to donate coffee to US troops fighting overseas or not, if they did it was not because â€Å"they don’t support the war or anyone in it† as the original message sent out by Sgt. Howard C. Wright claims. The Starbucks company policy regarding donations has strict guidelines regarding beneficiaries that must fall under their definition of a â€Å"public charity,† which the Military does not. Also, according to the Starbucks website, the company has not at any time taken a stand for or against the Iraq War; although they have stated that they support the men and women fighting for their country in the United States Military and the British Royal Marines. United States Marine Sgt. Howard C. Wright, who wrote the original email sent out in May of 2004, sent out another email approximately 5 months later recanting his previous statement and apologizing. The original email was sent out by Sgt. Howard C. Wright of the United States Marines after hearing by word of mouth that Starbucks did not support the war or the people fighting it. Sgt. Wright, it seems, sent the email out after hearing the story from a friend, who heard it from a friend, and then speaking to the Marine who had supposedly contacted Starbucks before first doing any research into the matter. Sgt. Wright has since received many copies of Starbucks’ policy regarding the issue to help and resolve any misconceptions there may have been. In typical rumor fashion, neither party is able to supply a copy of the original request sent by Sgt. Wright’s fellow Marine, nor a copy of the response to the request sent out by Starbucks. Since there is no written proof that this truly ever happened many have dismissed the allegation as being false and moved on. Although Starbucks made sure to post an article on the company website in January of 2005, and then update it in May of 2012, denying the allegations and confirming the fact that employees are able, and do in fact, send their weekly free coffee to the troops, bad press always travels faster and farther than good press. This leads into the fact that there are going to be people that will continue to boycott Starbucks based on the original rumor simply because they will not believe the subsequent email sent out by Sgt. Wright recanting his original statement. Even though Starbucks has a strict policy on the donation of goods only to â€Å"public charities† I believe it would be in their best interest to donate coffee to the United States Military and do it on a large enough scale to get media attention. This may put quite a dent into their earnings for the year but in turn would create a plethora of new customers because people support businesses that support our troops. January 11, 2005 and May 2012. Starbucks Support of the Troops/Military [Updated May 2012]. Retrieved February 25th, 2013. URL: http://news.starbucks.com/about+starbucks/myths+facts/militarydonations.htm August 8, 2004 and February 10, 2013. G. I. Joe. Retrieved February 25, 2013. URL: http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/starbucks.asp

Emerging Workplace Trends that Challenge the Organization

Emerging Workplace Trends that Challenge the Organization The role of the Human Resource Professional is evolving with the change in competitive market environment and the realization that Human Resource Management must play a more strategic role in the success of an organization. Organizations that do not put their emphasis on attracting and retaining talents may find themselves in dire consequences, as their competitors may be outplaying them in the strategic employment of their human resources. With the increase in competition, locally or globally, organizations must become more adaptable, resilient, agile, and customer-focused to succeed. And within this change in environment, the HR professional has to evolve to become a strategic partner, an employee sponsor or advocate, and a change mentor within the organization. In order to succeed, HR must be a business driven function with a thorough understanding of the organizations big picture and be able to influence key decisions and policies. In general, the focus of todays HR Manager is on strategic personnel retention and talents development. HR professionals will be coaches, counselors, mentors, and succession planners to help motivate organizations members and their loyalty. The HR manager will also promote and fight for values, ethics, beliefs, and spirituality within their organizations, especially in the management of workplace diversity. This paper will highlight on how a HR professional can meet the challenges and Trend of HR Professional, how to motivate employees through gain-sharing and executive information system through proper planning, organizing, leading and controlling their human resources. II. Review of Literature and Studies Organizations have entered a new era characterized by rapid, dramatic and turbulent changes. The accelerated pace of change has transformed how work is performed by employees in diverse organizations. Change has truly become an inherent and integral part of organizational life. Several emerging trends are impacting organizational life. Of these emerging trends, five will be examined: globalization, diversity, flexibility, technology, and networks. These five emerging trends create tensions for organizational leaders and employees as they go through waves of changes in their organizations. These tensions present opportunities as well as threats, and if these tensions are not managed well, they will result in dysfunctional and dire organizational outcomes at the end of any change process. Globalization To stay competitive, more organizations are embracing offshore outsourcing. Many functions are being shifted to India, the Philippines, Malaysia, and other countries for their low labor costs, high levels of workforce education, and technological advantages. According to the 2002-2003 Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Workplace Forecast, companies such as Ford, General Motors, and Nestle employ more people outside of their headquarters countries than within those countries. Almost any company, whether in manufacturing or services, can find some part of its work that can be done off site. Forrester Research projects that 3.3 million U.S. service- and knowledge-based jobs will be shipped overseas by the year 2015, 70 percent of which will move to India. Communication and information sharing are occurring across the globe in multiple languages and multiple cultures. Global competition and global cooperation coexist in the new world economy. One major consequence of globalization is greater mobility in international capital and labor markets. This creates a global marketplace where there is more opportunity, because there are more potential customers. However, there is also more competition, as local companies have to compete with foreign companies for customers. According to Dani Rodrik, professor of international political economy at Harvards Kennedy School of Government, the processes associated with the global integration of markets for goods, services, and capital have created two sources of tensions. First, reduced barriers to trade and investment accentuate the asymmetries between groups that can cross international borders, and those that cannot. In the first category are owners of capital, highly skilled workers, and many professionals. Unskilled and semiskilled workers and most middle managers belong in the second category. Second, globalization engenders conflicts within and between nations over domestic norms and the social institutions that embody them. As the technology for manufactured goods becomes standardized and diffused internationally, nations with very different sets of values, norms, institutions, and collective preferences begin to compete head on in markets for similar goods. Trade becomes contentious when it unleashes forces that undermine the norms implicit in local or domestic workplace practices. Diversity According to Thomas (1992), dimensions of workplace diversity include, but are not limited to: age, ethnicity, ancestry, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, religious beliefs, parental status, and work experience. The future success of any organizations relies on the ability to manage a diverse body of talent that can bring innovative ideas, perspectives and views to their work. The challenge and problems faced of workplace diversity can be turned into a strategic organizational asset if an organization is able to capitalize on this melting pot of diverse talents. With the mixture of talents of diverse cultural backgrounds, genders, ages and lifestyles, an organization can respond to business opportunities more rapidly and creatively, especially in the global arena (Cox, 1993), which must be one of the important organizational goals to be attained. More importantly, if the organizational environment does not support diversity broadly, one risks losing talent to competitors. This is especially true for multinational companies (MNCs) who have operations on a global scale and employ people of different countries, ethical and cultural backgrounds. Thus, a HR professional needs to be mindful and may employ a Think Global, Act Local approach in most circumstances. The challenge of workplace diversity is also prevalent amongst Singapores Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). With a population of only four million people and the nations strive towards high technology and knowledge-based economy; foreign talents are lured to share their expertise in these areas. Thus, many local HR professional have to undergo cultural-based Human Resource Management training to further their abilities to motivate a group of professional that are highly qualified but culturally diverse. Furthermore, the HR professional must assure the local professionals that these foreign talents are not a threat to their career advancement (Toh, 1993). In many ways, the effectiveness of workpla ce diversity management is dependent on the skilful balancing act of the HR Professional. One of the main reasons for ineffective workplace diversity management is the predisposition to pigeonhole employees, placing them in a different silo based on their diversity profile (Thomas, 1992). In the real world, diversity cannot be easily categorized and those organizations that respond to human complexity by leveraging the talents of a broad workforce will be the most effective in growing their businesses and their customer base. In order to effectively manage workplace diversity, Cox (1993) suggests that a HR Profesional needs to change from an ethnocentric view (our way is the best way) to a culturally relative perspective (lets take the best of a variety of ways). This shift in philosophy has to be ingrained in the managerial framework of the HR Manager in his/her planning, organizing, leading and controlling of organizational resources. Flexibility Globalization and diversity trends are forcing organizations to become more flexible and adaptable. To be able to function globally and to embrace diversity, HR Professional in organizations have to become more flexible and develop a wider repertoire of skills and strategies in working with diverse groups of people in the workplace as well as in the marketplace. The response to increased diversity has, in many cases, been increased organizational flexibility. Some organizations allow workers to have very different work arrangements (e.g. flex-time) and payment schedules. Some organizations (and workers) have found it convenient to treat some workers as independent consultants rather than employees. In certain occupations, advances in communication and information technologies have enabled telecommuting -working at home via computer. One consequence of this is the blurring of boundaries between work and home, and where and when work occurs. The benefits of greater flexibility may be countered by the negative consequences of working 24/7 including higher stress and burnout. The response to increased competition, however, has resulted in a tension generated by the demands to be flexible and yet maintain some stability as changes are implemented in organizations. To stay competitive, organizations are constantly changing and restructuring to increase flexibility and decrease costs. Business process reengineering, business process out-sourcing, job redesign, and other approaches to optimize business processes have been implemented to increase operational and process efficiency while reducing the costs of doing business. Changes in business and operational processes need time to stabilize for employees to learn the new processes, become familiar with them, and be able to operate effectively and efficiently. Yet, competitive pressures can cause organizations to go through a series of changes without giving employees adequate time for learning and training, and for the benefits of the change to be fully realized in the organization. This tension is well-captured by Columbia Business School professor Eric Abrahamson in his book, Change Without Pain (2004) in which he discussed how organizations can go through change overload and how employees can experience change fatigue and burnout. Professor Abrahamson proposes creative recombination as an alternative approach to the highly destructive, destabilizing and painful changes caused by creative destruction. Technology A Human Resource Management System (HRMS, EHRMS), Human Resource Information System (HRIS), HR Technology or also called HR modules, or simply Payroll, refers to the systems and processes at the intersection between human resource management (HRM) and information technology. It merges HRM as a discipline and in particular its basic HR activities and processes with the information technology field, whereas the programming of data processing systems evolved into standardized routines and packages of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. On the whole, these ERP systems have their origin on software that integrates information from different applications into one universal database. The linkage of its financial and human resource modules through one database is the most important distinction to the individually and proprietary developed predecessors, which makes this software application both rigid and flexible. The function of Human Resources departments is generally administrative and not common to all organizations. Organizations may have formalized selection, evaluation, and payroll processes. Efficient and effective management of Human Capital has progressed to an increasingly imperative and complex process. The HR function consists of tracking existing employee data which traditionally includes personal histories, skills, capabilities, accomplishments and salary. To reduce the manual workload of these administrative activities, organizations began to electronically automate many of these processes by introducing specialized Human Resource Management Systems. HR executives rely on internal or external IT professionals to develop and maintain an integrated HRMS. Before the client-server architecture evolved in the late 1980s, many HR automation processes were relegated to mainframe computers that could handle large amounts of data transactions. In consequence of the low capital investmen t necessary to buy or program proprietary software, these internally-developed HRMS were unlimited to organizations that possessed a large amount of capital. The advent of client-server, Application Service Provider, and Software as a Service or SaaS Human Resource Management Systems enabled increasingly higher administrative control of such systems. Currently Human Resource Management Systems encompass: 1. Payroll 2. Work Time 3. Benefits Administration 4. HR management Information system 5. Recruiting 6. Training/Learning Management System 7. Performance Record 8. Employee Self-Service The payroll module automates the pay process by gathering data on employee time and attendance, calculating various deductions and taxes, and generating periodic pay cheques and employee tax reports. Data is generally fed from the human resources and time keeping modules to calculate automatic deposit and manual cheque writing capabilities. This module can encompass all employee-related transactions as well as integrate with existing financial management systems. The work time gathers standardized time and work related efforts. The most advanced modules provide broad flexibility in data collection methods, labor distribution capabilities and data analysis features was outdated. Cost analysis and efficiency metrics are the primary functions. The benefits administration module provides a system for organizations to administer and track employee participation in benefits programs. These typically encompass insurance, compensation, profit sharing and retirement. The HR management module is a component covering many other HR aspects from application to retirement. The system records basic demographic and address data, selection, training and development, capabilities and skills management, compensation planning records and other related activities. Leading edge systems provide the ability to read applications and enter relevant data to applicable database fields, notify employers and provide position management and position control not in use. Human resource management function involves the recruitment, placement, evaluation, compensation and development of the employees of an organization. Initially, businesses used computer based information systems to: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ produce pay checks and payroll reports; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ maintain personnel records; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ pursue Talent Management. Online recruiting has become one of the primary methods employed by HR departments to garner potential candidates for available positions within an organization. Talent Management systems typically encompass: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ analyzing personnel usage within an organization; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ identifying potential applicants; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ recruiting through company-facing listings; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ recruiting through online recruiting sites or publications that market to both recruiters and applicants. The significant cost incurred in maintaining an organized recruitment effort, cross-posting within and across general or industry-specific job boards and maintaining a competitive exposure of availabilities has given rise to the development of a dedicated Applicant Tracking System, or ATS, module. The training module provides a system for organizations to administer and track employee training and development efforts. The system, normally called a Learning Management System if a stand alone product, allows HR to track education, qualifications and skills of the employees, as well as outlining what training courses, books, CDs, web based learning or materials are available to develop which skills. Courses can then be offered in date specific sessions, with delegates and training resources being mapped and managed within the same system. Sophisticated LMS allow managers to approve training, budgets and calendars alongside performance management and appraisal metrics. The Employee Self-Service module allows employees to query HR related data and perform some HR transactions over the system. Employees may query their attendance record from the system without asking the information from HR personnel. The module also lets supervisors approve O.T. requests from their subordinates through the system without overloading the task on HR department. Many organizations have gone beyond the traditional functions and developed human resource management information systems, which support recruitment, selection, hiring, job placement, performance appraisals, employee benefit analysis, health, safety and security, while others integrate an outsourced Applicant Tracking System that encompasses a subset of the above. Networks Organizations that flatten tend to encourage horizontal communication among workers. Rather than working through the organizational hierarchy, it is often faster for workers who need to coordinate with each other simply to communicate directly. Such organizations are highly networked. Another meaning of networked organizations refers to their relations to other organizations. Organizations that have downsized to just their core competencies must then outsource all the functions that used to be done inhouse. To avoid losing time and effort managing contracts with suppliers, organizations have learned to develop close ties to their suppliers so that social mechanisms of coordination replace legal mechanisms, which are slow and costly. In many industries, such as the garment industry in Italy, strong relationships have developed between manufacturers and suppliers (and other manufacturers), so that considerable work is done without a contract and without even working out a firm price. For these networked organizations to work, high trust and social capital between organizations are key elements. Networked organizations are particularly important in industries with complex products where technologies and customer needs change rapidly, such as in high technology industries. Close ties among a set of companies enables them to work with each other in ways that are faster than arms-length contracts would permit, and yet retains the flexibility of being able to drop the relationship if needed (as opposed to performing the function in-house). The trend towards networked organizations and structures create a new tension between interdependence and independence. The forces of aggregation and disaggregation throw up new challenges for organizations, for example, the use of independent contractors, joint ventures, strategic partnerships and alliances even with competitors. One advantage of networks is that organizations have greater flexibility and thus they can become more competitive in the global marketplace. Another advantage is that organizations do not require that many resources such as employee benefits, office space, and financing for new business ventures. On the other hand, networks have distinct disadvantages. Organizations may find it more difficult to control quality of goods or services as they now have to depend on their partners in the networks to deliver the quality that is desired. Legal and contracting expertise as well as negotiation expertise will also be important for networks. Alternative forms of control may need to be developed to control quality. Alternative mechanisms for coordination may also need to be developed to manage the growing constellation and sometimes tenuous nature of other partner organizations in the network. All the five trends produce result in greater organizational or system complexity for HR Professional in organizations. The tensions produced by these trends cannot be solved. They have to be managed. Effective approaches in organizational change will involve not one strategy but many alternatives and will require leaders and employees to develop greater resilience in confronting these tensions. III. Reaction True enough that the HR Professional is phasing a lot changes and trend that encouraged huge change in any organization. HR Professional must accept this trend in able to for them to grasp in never ending change. This 5 trend are now being embrace by many organizations. Globalization trend, may organization specially here in the Philippines are using outsourcing instead of hiring a HR Professional. Example: Instead of hiring Payroll and Time Keeper, may company are using electronic time captured device that allow the outsourcing company to time and payroll. This trend are creating advantages and this advantages Advantages: There will be no HR professional will focusing this area, there are strategic allocations for HR Professionals and HR professional will be focusing on Human Development. In the contrary it also has disadvantages: since time keeping and payroll are being done by the outsource company there would be a possible problem when it comes to employee satisfaction, Time keeping problems such us: failure to finger scan, un computed time, wrong computation due to time discrepancies and not all organization can embraces this trend . Diversity trend May organization here in the Philippines are owned by Koreans, Japanese, American and other foreign investor. This could be one factor that added cultural diversity in industries. Local plus foreign differences that could be resulted in a mixed local-foreign diversity. For instance an organization made of ilocano, batangeà ±o and manileà ±o could create cultural and social diversity. HR Professionals must learn how to adopt the differences because they are mainly the model in accepting diversity thus it must be reflected by HR Professional because they are creating human development that include diversity acceptance. Flexibility Because of Globalization and Diversity may HR Professional are now flexible. They can easily adopt changes. This characteristic must be posses by all HR Professional to become more successful to handle big responsibility. Technology evolution of technology is very fast. It changes the way of life. HRIS is one of the products of technology; before we are doing 201 file (we will need a lot of folders, paper and other staff) but because of HRIS we can make this thing eliminated. We can now create paperless 201 file and also we can now file are absences, leaves, overtime online. But the problem is, not all company can buy this thing. They still using traditional method and this really affect HR professional because they are being left behind. The role of the HR Professional must parallel the needs of the changing organization. Successful organizations are becoming more adaptable, resilient, quick to change directions, and customer-centered. Within this environment, the HR professional must learn how to manage effectively through planning, organizing, leading and controlling the human resource and be knowledgeable of emerging trends in training. I.V Reference 1. SHRM Workplace Forecast: A Strategic Outlook 2000-2003. Alexandria: Society for Human Resource Management. 2. Earley, P.C., Soon Ang, and Joo-Seng Tan. CQ: Developing Cultural Intelligence in the Workplace. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2005. 3. John M. Ivancevich.: Human Resources Management. Mc Graw-Hill International, 2007 This paper will highlight on how a HR manager can meet the challenges of workplace diversity, how to motivate employees through gain-sharing and executive information system through proper planning, organizing, leading and controlling their human

England :: essays research papers

History of England The Ice Age ended about 8000 BC, during which the Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons lived in Great Britain. Because of the melting ice the water level rose and the English Channel was created, making Great Britain an island. The Middle Stone Age passed in this new forest and swamp, followed by the New Stone Age when the practice of farming began. During this period a lot of new people came to Britain. By 2500 BC the Beaker people had moved there. They were named after their pottery, and noted for their bronze tools and huge stone monuments, like Stonehenge. These Monuments prove they had an excellent economic organization as well as their technical skill and ability. Around 1000 BC the Celts took over the British Isles, they also took over most of western Europe. Because of their iron plows, iron weapons, and horse-drawn chariots, they were able to take over the inhabitants of the islands. Their priests dominated their society. King Alfred became king of Wessex in one of England's darkest hours. The Danes, viking forces that had raided the English coasts in the 8th century, planned to take over England. All that stood in their way were Wessex and Alfred. After Alfred's victory at Edington in 878 AD he made the Danish king Guthrum accept baptism and a division of England took place. The two parts were Wessex and Danelaw. By creating a navy, reorganizing the militia, allowing warriors to switch between farming and fighting, and building forts, Alfred was able to take over London and begin to take over tthe Danish. The battel to take over the Danish was completed by Alfred's son, Edward the Elder, and by his grandson Athelstan. Athelstan won a battle at Brunanburth in 937 AD and most of the rest of the century was peaceful. Saint Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury was able to restore the Church. The conquest of the Danelaw meant the creation of unified government for all of England. Despite this the Danish invasions came again during Ethelred II's reign. In 1154 Henry II took the throne. During his reign he strengthened the government, developed the common law, created the grand jury, and attempted to reduce the jurisdiction of church courts. He was opposed by Thomas Becket, his former chancellor, who King Henry had made archbishop. His anger at Becket led to his murder. His empire included half of France and lordship over Ireland and Scotland.

Humans are a Cancer of the Earth Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Arg

Humans are a Cancer of the Earth Earth has undeniably suffered a rapid deterioration in health over the past few centuries. The symptoms of her illness, including global warming, water pollution, and deforestation, are ever-increasing and cannot be ignored. Dr. William Hern believes he has discovered the culprit behind this malady: Homo ecophagus, a newly-coined label for the present day humans that are devouring the environment in cancer-like fashion (Dr. William Hern, p. 8). His diagnosis involves drawing parallels between a malignant neoplasm and humans. My immediate reaction after reading this thesis was to reject a proposal that so debased the human race and exacted such a harsh blow to every human's ego. Upon further consideration, however, Hern's reasoning becomes less blatantly offensive and more plausible. Although his argument and its correlating implications contain some contradictions, his overall points appear regrettably compelling and difficult to refute. By medical definition, a malignant neoplasm is diagnosed on the basis of four main qualities: unrestrained growth, consumption of surrounding tissues, spreading to satellite regions and de-differentiation of cells. According to Dr. Hern, the human population reflects each of these characteristics in some way. He anchors his argument by systematically linking each of these four cancer indicators to the effect of humans on their environment. A summary of his points include the following: 1) Unrestrained Growth: Over the past two thousand years, the entire human population has displayed J-shaped growth, a model that demonstrates no leveling of growth rate in the proximate future (Southwick, 159). Through estimates of agricultural and energy resource cons... ...ntel's argument against the invincibility of the tech fix is thus more persuasive than Hern's perspective on the matter. This weakness in Hern's argument, however, does not rob his argument of its validity. The value of Hern's thesis lies in its capacity to clarify an otherwise vague concept - the scope of human damage to Earth - to the identifiable destructive properties of cancer. If nothing else, such a stinging view of human beings serves as a sharp warning, a red flag to call our attention to our destructive methods. Â   REFERENCES: Hern, Dr. Warren. "Why Are There So Many of Us?" http://www.drhern.com/fulltext/why/paper.html Southwick, Charles H., Ch. 15 from "Global Ecology in Human Perspective" Oxford Univ. Press, 1996, pp. 159-182. Pimentel, David. "Impact of Population Growth on Food Supplies and Environment." http://www.dieoff.org/page57.htm

Common Vulnerabilities Facing IT Managers Essay examples -- Informatio

Vulnerabilities are like a thorn in the side of every single organization doing business today. In the IT world vulnerabilities are bugs or flaws, a weakness, or an exposure of an application, system, device, or service which could lead to a failure of confidentiality, integrity, or availability (Liu & Zhang, 2011). They are to companies today what the black plague was to Europe in the 1300’s. It doesn’t even matter if the organization is connected to the internet or not it’s still vulnerable to some type of attack. Regardless of what a company actually produces and what its mission statement states their number one internal concern is â€Å"vulnerability†. How do IT Departments and IT Managers combat these threats? Every company has some type of Cyber Security team or department. Cyber security is defined by the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team as protecting that information by preventing, detecting, and responding to attacks (McDo well & Householder, 2009). Every year companies spend billions upon billions of dollars in cyber security assessing and combating possible vulnerabilities of their organization's hardware and software systems, transmission media, local area networks, wide area networks, enterprise networks, Intranets, and Internet. This paper will evaluate 3 company’s networks and assess their vulnerabilities. Company A Weebles, Inc has several hundred employees in their main office and two hundred at the shipping plant just a few miles away. The LAN or Local Area Network uses 100 gb/1000gb connectivity speeds over Ethernet circuits. Local Area Networks cover small geographical locations and enable individual computers to communicate with each other to share information (Pang, 2011). The Wid... ... external IP address. Works Cited Liu, Q., & Zhang, Y. (2011, March). VRSS: A new system for rating and scoring vulnerabilities. Computer Communications, 34(3), 264-273. Retrieved June 08, 2011, from Computers & Applied Sciences Complete. McDowell, M., & Householder, A. (2009, May 6). Cyber Security Tip ST04-001. In US-CERT. Retrieved June 08, 2011, from CSEC610 9041 Webliography. Valacich, J, & Schneider, C. (2012). Information Systems Today: Managing in the Digital World 5th Edition. (pp. 12-37). Pearson. ISBN-13: 978-0-13-706699-5. UMUC. (2011). Custom Textbook for CSEC 610 (pp. 1-13). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 978-0-470-92331-3. Pang, L. (2011). The vulnerability of information systems in CSEC610. Course module 2 posted in University of Maryland University College CSEC 610 9041 online classroom, archived at: http://webtycho.umuc.edu

Competitive Rivalry

Competitive Rivalry * Industry dominance by few large firms The car automobile industry -There are various competitors in this market but the dominant ones include General Motors, Volkswagen, Chrysler, Ford, and Honda etc. Entry barriers prevent other entrants and pricing is mostly by competition and mutual understanding between top manufacturers. * Huge setup cost and complete resource ownership * Prices remain stable if a  firm reduces product price others follow suit and cut down their price as well,   if a firm increases product price, others do not increase their price. oyota focusing on continuously finding ways to reduce production costs. The company also optimized its processes to accelerate the various phases of production — from initial design to production — so that it could introduce new models faster than its competitors. Seek less expensive ways to produce desirable products -BMW Group and the Toyota Motor Corporation announced a collaborative effort a imed at developing new products and advanced-powertrain technologies. Toyota also has an agreement with Ford to develop hybrid systems for light trucks and sport utility vehicles. Threat of substitute products * There are a lot of substitutes in the automobile industry. When the price of the vehicles rises, the substitutes will emerge, there are many types of equipment that can take the place of vehicles, such bus, subway, bicycle and even walking. The Hybrid Synergy Drive also must be evaluated using Porter's model factor for threat of substitute products.Other companies could potentially enter the hybrid market by developing a similar drive and neutralizing Toyota's advantage. In fact, Nissan and Honda have developed similar technologies for their sedan models. However, Toyota continues to dominate the market for hybrid vehicles because Honda and Nissan do not have a significant impact on the market yet. In the future, Toyota may lose their competitive advantage if hybrid vehicles take a bigger market share in the automotive industry.However, currently Toyota is adding Sport Utility Vehicles (Toyota Highlander) to their line of vehicles using the HSD. By being the first to add SUV's to the hybrid market, they have currently protected their competitive advantage from substitute products. Bargaining power of Suppliers Toyota Production System which developed a network of suppliers who would supply the right quality, quantity at a point just in time for Toyota to use in building its cars. This reflects weak bargaining power on the part of the suppliers in terms of our model.

My Favorite Book Essay

Although Great Britain and the U.S. have the English language in common, they are two unique nations with different cultures, government systems, and traditions. Holidays and celebrations also vary between the two countries. Even Christmas and other Christian holidays, although celebrated by both countries, have some key differences. New Year * New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are celebrated by both Great Britain and the U.S. on December 31 and January 1 every year. According to ProjectBritain.com, it wasn’t until 2000 that fireworks were used in Great Britain to celebrate the holiday, although this tradition has been long-established in the U.S. In the U.S., 10 seconds before midnight, a countdown from 10 to one takes place, and it’s traditional to kiss loved ones at midnight. In Great Britain, at the stroke of midnight, it’s traditional to open the back door, letting the old year out, and to ask the first dark-haired man who’s spotted to bring salt, coal, and bread through the front door. These represent, respectively, money, warmth and food, meaning that the new year will bring a sufficient amount of these. In both countries, a New Year parade takes place on New Year’s Day: the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California in the U.S. and the New Year’s Day Parade in London, England, which starts when the famous Big Ben clock strikes noon. Easter The Christian holiday of Easter is celebrated by both Americans and British by decorating eggs, visits from the Easter Bunny and egg hunts. Great Britain has additional, popular Easter customs, such as egg rolling: rolling hard-boiled eggs down hills in a competition. Autumn Holidays * The differences between American and British holidays is especially evident during the autumn, although both countries celebrate Halloween in the same way, by dressing up in costumes, bobbing for apples, and going trick-or-treating. Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated in Great Britain. Americans observe this holiday with a great feast on the fourth Thursday of November. The British celebrate Guy Fawkes Day on November 5 in remembrance of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605, a plan by Guy Fawkes and others to blow up the Houses of Parliament to protest the fact that King James didn’t change Queen Elizabeth I’s anti-Catholic laws. Today the holiday is commemorated by fireworks and burning Guy Fawkes effigies on bonfires. Christmas and Boxing Day * According to LearnEnglish.de, the British place less importance on Christmas Eve than other countries. Instead, they pay more attention to Christmas Day and Boxing Day. In both the U.S. and Britain, Santa or Father Christmas comes at night; American children leave milk and cookies for him, whereas British children leave mince pies and sherry or milk. Some traditional British Christmas Eve activities include singing Christmas carols, attending midnight church services, and going out to a pub. In the U.S., Christmas Eve is celebrated in many ways, such as by opening one present each, singing Christmas carols, attending midnight mass, or eating a special dinner. In both countries, Christmas Day is celebrated by opening presents in the morning and eating a turkey dinner, although other entrees are also popular in the U.S., such as crown roast. In Britain, it’s traditional for Queen Elizabeth to broadcast a message on Christmas Day. Boxing Day, which is celebrated on December 26 in Britain, is the time to give gifts to friends, servants, and tradespeople. It has become a big shopping holiday in Britain, similar to Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, in the U.S. Boxing Day isn’t observed by Americans. Holy Cross (Khachverats)Observed on:September13 The Armenian Church celebrates this holiday on the Sunday nearest September 14, which is devoted to the Holy Cross (Surb Khach). This holiday also serves as a memorial to those who have passed away.| Holy Translators Day (Targmanchats ton)Observed on: October 13 This holiday is dedicated to the creators of Armenian alphabet Mesrop Mashtots and Sahak Partev, Translators and Interpreters of the Bible. The Armenian alphabet was invented in order to translate the Bible into Armenian and paved the way for the first Golden Age of Armenia. Over the centuries, Armenian writers, philosophers, mathematicians, and scientists, have taken inspiration from the Holy Translators’ legacy to achieve excellence in scholarship, creativity, and world acclaim in spite of long periods of devastation, attack, conquest and subjugation. | Purification (Trndez) Observed on: February 14 According to religious custom this holiday is connected with the idea of coming forward to the Lord with fire, after 40 days of his birth. The Armenian Church celebrates it on February 14th – 40 days after January 6th, from which it derives the religious name: coming forward to the Lord. The main ceremony of it is a bonfire, symbolizing the coming of spring. The Transfiguration (Vardavar (The feast of water)) Observed on: July 19 In the traditional Armenian range of holidays, the Transfiguration is the major summer holiday and is celebrated 14 weeks after Easter. In pre-Christian Armenia this holiday was associated with the pagan goddess Anahit, to whose heathen temple the young and the old went on pilgrimage. The word Vardavar has two meanings: â€Å"the flaming of the rose and â€Å"to sprinkle with water. According to legend, the goddess Astghik spread love through the Armenian land by sprinkling rosy water and presenting roses. The god Vahagn kept and protected that love, constantly fighting against evil. This feast was transformed after the adoption of Christianity. On Vardavar in modern times, everybody pours water on one another, starting in the early morning; no one is allowed to feel offended or displeased by mischief on that day.