13 beneficios por entrar al Ejército de Estados Unidos

Entrar  en cualquiera de las ramas del Ejà ©rcito de los Estados Unidos lleva aparejado, ademà ¡s del sueldo, una serie de beneficios y, en ocasiones, incentivos suculentos. Este es un asunto de interà ©s para los latinos, nacidos ya en Estados Unidos o migrantes, porque cada vez mà ¡s un mayor nà ºmero se alista para a servir en cualquiera de las ramas del Ejà ©rcito de los Estados Unidos. En la actualidad son el 14 por ciento del total de militares en servicio activo, pero la cifra sube al 16 por ciento si se cuentan sà ³lo las nuevas incorporaciones. Y es que el Ejà ©rcito en todas sus ramas –Army (Tierra y Guardia Nacional), Navy (Marina), Air Force (Aire), Coast Guard (Guardia Costera) y Marine Corps (Marines)  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ parece  como una buena alternativa para labrarse un futuro. Las estadà ­sticas indican que esta opcià ³n resulta incluso un poco mà ¡s atractiva para las latinas que para los varones hispanos. En la actualidad. el Ejà ©rcito de Estados Unidos es el tercero mayor del mundo en cuanto a personal, solamente despuà ©s de los de China e India. Tiene un total 1.281.900 millones de soldados y oficiales en servicio activo y 801.200 en las 7 Reservas. A todos aplica una serie de beneficios y, en algunos casos, notables incentivos. 13 beneficios por ingresar al Ejà ©rcito de los Estados Unidos Los beneficios son para todos los miembros, aunque algunos especà ­ficos pueden variar segà ºn la rama en la que se ingresa y son los siguientes: 1. Educacià ³n. Existen varios caminos que permiten a los miembros del Ejà ©rcito cursar  estudios universitarios mientras forman parte activa del Army o incluso si se realizan dentro de los 10 aà ±os siguientes a la finalizacià ³n de la relacià ³n con el Ejà ©rcito.   Los programas que permiten esta educacià ³n son: GI Bill, Tuitition Assistance, College Reimbursement Plants e incluso la obtencià ³n de crà ©ditos universitarios por entrenamiento realizado en el Ejà ©rcito.   2. Vacaciones. Tanto soldados como oficiales pueden disfrutar cada aà ±o 30 dà ­as de vacaciones pagadas.   3. Promociones. Una vez que se està ¡ en el Ejà ©rcito es posible ascender de rango mediante promociones. Cuando mayor es el rango, mayor es el sueldo. Hay que tener en cuenta que cada una de las ramas militares tiene su propio sistema y que incluso se le puede llamar a los rangos de distinta manera. Sin embargo, el sueldo es igual para cada nivel, sin importa cà ³mo se le llame o si se trata de Marines, Marina (o naval), Aire, Guardia Costera o Tierra. 4. Seguro mà ©dico y dental. Està ¡ plenamente cubierto mientras se permanece en servicio activo. 5. Tiendas en las que no se pagan impuestos. Se llaman Commissaries o Exchanges. Existen tres tipos: AAFES, para Aire y Tierra, Nexcom para la Marina y el Marine Corps Exchange. Siempre supone un ahorro, particularmente con artà ­culos caros. 6. Actividades de Recreacià ³n, Moral y Bienestar. Es lo que se conoce como MWR, por sus siglas en inglà ©s. Son actividades que se brindan a los militares y a sus familias. Lo cierto es que son muy variadas y difieren notablemente entre las distintas bases y la rama del Ejà ©rcito en la que se sirve.   7. Inmigracià ³n. Servir en el Ejà ©rcito puede tener beneficios migratorios para la persona que se alista  y tambià ©n para sus familiares. Para el soldado u oficial, destacan la posibilidad de adquirir la ciudadanà ­a por naturalizacià ³n en condiciones ventajosas, si se trata de un residente permanente. Ademà ¡s, los familiares indocumentados de un ciudadano que sirve en el Ejà ©rcito podrà ­an beneficiarse del programa Parole in Place para obtener los papeles. Sin embargo, los migrantes indocumentados no deben, bajo ningà ºn concepto, buscar ingresar a una base militar. Se està ¡n dando casos de arrestos y los migrantes quedan a disposicià ³n de las autoridades migratorias. Tener siempre presente quà © extranjeros se pueden alistar  en el Ejà ©rcito y que el programa MAVNI para profesionales extranjeros presentes legalmente en Estados Unidos està ¡, en estos momentos, no activo. Ademà ¡s, en ningà ºn caso, los migrantes indocumentados pueden enrolarse en ninguna de las ramas militares de Estados Unidos. La excepcià ³n que existà ­a para los muchachos con DACA aprobado llega a su fin con la terminacià ³n del programa por orden ejecutiva del presidente Donald Trump. 8. Bono por firmar, que en la actualidad tiene un mà ¡ximo legal de $40.000. Es decir, en ningà ºn caso puede ser superior a esa cantidad. Los Marines y el Ejà ©rcito del Aire son los que menos incentivos al firmar ofrecen y, tambià ©n, los de menor monto. Sà ³lo el Ejà ©rcito de Tierra (Army) ha ofrecido incentivos por la cantidad mà ¡xima legal. Ademà ¡s, puede haber bonos complementarios. Por ejemplo, en el Ejà ©rcito de Tierra se podrà ­a calificar para un bono extra por un mà ¡ximo de $16.000 por incorporarse en menos de 30 dà ­as a partir de la fecha de enrolarse o un mà ¡ximo de $8,000 por incorporarse entre el dà ­a 31 y el dà ­a 60 despuà ©s de haber firmado. Una à ºltima palabra sobre este tema: si no se cumple todo el periodo para el que se firmà ³ es obligatorio devolver la cantidad que corresponda al tiempo no servido. 9. Pago de prà ©stamo  a estudiante. Todos los servicios excepto los Marines y la Guarda Costera brindan la posibilidad de pagar todo o parte de los prà ©stamos estudiantiles. 10. Rango avanzado, o Advance Enlistment Rank para las personas que tienen crà ©ditos universitarios o han participado en programas como Junior ROTC en High School. 11. Programa Buddy, cuando dos personas del mismo sexo se enrolan juntas se les puede prometer a travà ©s de este programa que estarà ¡n juntas durante el entrenamiento bà ¡sico. Incluso si posteriormente entrenan para el mismo trabajo, tambià ©n se harà ­a conjuntamente. 12. Programa Split Option en el caso de Guardia Nacional o Reserva, para alargar en el tiempo el entrenamiento bà ¡sico.   13. Otros beneficios, como bonos por incorporarse a la reserva, reenganche en ocupaciones especiales, alistarse tras acabar los estudios secundarios, comprometerse a servir en activo por dos aà ±os seguidos por otros dos aà ±os en la reserva, etc. Dà ³nde informarse sobre los beneficios por servir en el Ejà ©rcito Cuando una persona se alista por primera vez o repite firma un contrato con el Departamento de Defensa que se conoce como Form 4/1. Si ademà ¡s el alistamiento es para el servicio activo, se firmarà ¡, a mayores, otro contrato. Lo importante a destacar es que realmente no importa lo que haya prometido el reclutador, si no està ¡ en el contrato, no existe. La à ºnica excepcià ³n son los beneficios que se explicaron anteriormente que le corresponden a todas las personas por servir en el Ejà ©rcito: seguro mà ©dico, salario base, GI Bill, alimentos, etc. Pero en el contrato final con el Departamento de Defensa tienen que estar especificados todos los demà ¡s posibles incentivos,  que son opcionales.   Quà © beneficios no se tienen por alistarse en el Ejà ©rcito Es muy comà ºn creer los siguientes 2 errores: En primer lugar, que se puede elegir el servicio. Esto no es asà ­. Es cierto que se tendrà ¡n en cuenta las preferencias del soldado u oficial pero al final se acabarà ¡ en el servicio que decide el Ejà ©rcito. Y en segundo lugar, no es correcta la creencia de que los veteranos que en el pasado sirvieron en el Ejà ©rcito tienen cubierto al 100 por cien el seguro mà ©dico. Esto no es asà ­ aunque son muchos los reclutadores que asà ­ lo manifiestan.   A tener en cuenta sobre el Servicio Selectivo En la actualidad, servir en el Ejà ©rcito de los Estados Unidos es voluntario, es decir, no hay obligacià ³n de prestar el servicio militar.   Sin embargo, todos varones ciudadanos e inmigrantes entre los 18 y los 25 aà ±os de edad sà ­ que deben registrarse para el Servicio Selectivo. Esto afecta a grupos tan variados como los indocumentados presentes en Estados Unidos como a los ciudadanos estadounidenses que residen habitualmente en otro paà ­s.   Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal.

The Serial Killers Ted Bundy - 1438 Words

Ted Bundy, also known as the campus killer, is one of the United States top known serial killers. This twisted man assaulted and murdered many young girls during the 1970s. Bundy captured his victims by his charismatic and handsome and would win their trust by traits he had. He would act injured or as an authority figure before he murdered and assaulted his victims. After the girls died, Bundy would visit the bodies’ hours later and do sexual things to the corpse until animals would finish the girl completely. Twelve of his victims he beheaded and kept the heads in his freezers in his apartment as mementos. This sick guy never received help and he died in an electric chair since he killed so many young, innocent girls. November 24, 1946, Theodore Robert Cowell, later known as Ted Bundy, was born in the Elizabeth Lund Home for Unwed Mothers in Burlington, Vermont. Growing up Ted lived with his grandparents, Samuel and Eleanor Cowell, who told Ted that they were his parents and his mother was his sister. His real mother went by Louise, but his father is unknown. But his grandparents lied to Ted to prevent social sigma since having a child out of wedlock was deeply frowned upon. Bundy found his birth certificate himself in 1969 and had a lifelong resentment for his mother lying and not telling him. His grandfather was an insane man and his grandmother was very depressed, so his real mother took him with her to Tacoma, Washington. Louise met a hospital chef, Johnny CulpepperShow MoreRelatedTed Bundy : A Serial Killer Essay895 Words   |  4 PagesTed Bundy Theodore Robert Cowell, known as Ted Bundy, is one of the most famous serial killers in US history. He was born on November 24, 1946, to Eleanor Louise Cowell, known as Louise. Louise was ostracized by those around her because she was single and pregnant. Louise traveled from Philadelphia to a home for unwed mothers in Burlington, Vermont, to give birth to Ted. In 1950, Louise and Ted moved to Tacoma, Washington, to stay with her uncle Jack, a man of whose education and intelligence TedRead MoreSerial Killer : Ted Bundy1492 Words   |  6 Pagesa feared serial killer, Ted Bundy, disseminated terror throughout the United States. He was connected to at least thirty-six murders, although some believed he had committed more than one hundred murders. Bundy confessed to killing thirty women in seven states before his execution by electric chair on January 24, 1989. Ted Bundy appeared as a successful and an attractive gentleman, who seemed to have a lot going for him. Nevertheless, ingrai ned was the heart of a serial killer! Ted Bundy was a psychopath;Read MoreSerial Killers : Ted Bundy2109 Words   |  9 Pages Ted Bundy By Kim LaShomb Criminal Psychology Theodore Robert Cowell, aka â€Å"Ted Bundy† is one of the most well known serial killers in United States history. His reign of terror went on from 1974- 1978 when he was arrested and charged with numerous crimes. These crimes include first degree murder, kidnapping, rape, sodomy, unlawful sex with corpses, resisting arrest, and the list goes on from there. It was said that he had over 300 victims, but he wouldRead MoreTed Bundy : A Serial Killer2536 Words   |  11 PagesTed Bundy is one of the most famous serial killers in United States History. There are many theories behind what made him become a serial killer. Many believe he was born that way, with a darkness inside of him to which he could not control. Others believe he is a victim of circumstance and had no chance from the very beginning of life. Ted killed fourteen plus women and girls, his earliest victim thought to be when he was just fifteen years old, with only one known survivor. I believe Ted madeRead Mo reTed Bundy: Unlikely Serial Killer1415 Words   |  6 PagesTed Bundy: Unlikely Serial Killer Americans were shocked in the 1970s when authorities began reporting a string of disappearances of young women from Washington, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Florida and Oregon. The man behind these crimes was Theodore (Ted) Bundy. Many people still consider him to be one of the most notorious serial killers of all time and was once one of the FBI’s most wanted. He was officially tied to 36 murders, however he is believed to have committed more than one hundred. TheRead MoreTed Bundy : The American Serial Killer Essay2285 Words   |  10 PagesTed Bundy is known as the American serial killer, rapist, and a necrophilia (a person who has sex or is sexually attracted to the dead or a corpse) that murdered young women during the 1970s. He confessed to 30 homicides, committed in seven different states between 1974 and 1978. He has been connected to at least 36 murders, but is thought he could be responsible for about a hundred or more. Theodore Robert Bundy was born Theodore Robert Cowell born on November 24, 1946, in Burlington, VermontRead MorePersonality Analysis Of Serial Killer : Ted Bundy2153 Words   |  9 PagesPersonality Analysis of a Serial Killer: Ted Bundy Described as â€Å"THE execution† (Lyons Trei, 1989, p. Ia) serial killer and rapist Ted Bundy was put to death by the State of Florida at 7.16 A.M. January 24, 1989. During his life he had been convicted of the 1978 rape and murder of a 12 year old, Kimberly Leach in Lack City; and the death of Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman, sorority sisters at Florida State University. Just two days before his execution Bundy also admitted to killing a number ofRead More Ted Bundy was a brutal serial killer Essay611 Words   |  3 PagesFebruary, 1989 p. 44-51. Gerdes, Louise. Serial Killers. San Diego: Greenhaven Press Inc.2000. Knappaman, Edward W. Great American Trials. Detroit: New England Publishing, Associates, Inc. 1994. Ted Bundy was a brutal serial killer. He was also very charming and handsome to the ladies, which made it easier to prey on them. He admitted to killing over twenty people just before his execution. Many families were relieved when he was finally executed. Ted Bundy thought of himself as very smart, becauseRead MoreSerial Killers, Ted Bundy And John Wayne Gacy1588 Words   |  7 PagesKEISER UNIVERSITY Killer Stories H.H. Holmes, â€Å"Ted† Bundy John Wayne Gacy Faraz Garcia 10/16/2017 â€Æ' Abstract When you tell children scary stories they shouldn’t be able to come true but unfortunately for the people victimized by the vicious killers in this paper those horror stories did come true. Traveling and staying in a â€Å"Hotel† owned by a wealthy â€Å"doctor† got them tortured, experimented on and ultimately killed, helping a seemingly helpless man put things in his vehicle lead themRead MoreSearching for Answers to a Serial Killer, Ted Bundy Essay1162 Words   |  5 Pagestake you on a journey. You will learn who â€Å"Ted Bundy† is and why he chose to live a double life. Ted was a special individual who only killed women he had a soft spot for them. Ted Bundy was like a tiger in the wild and women was his prey. When he went out he always went for vulnerable women. Ted would sweet talk them until they trusted him then he would wait until their alone and he would kill them. In the following paragraphs you will learn about Ted Bundy’s past where he came from, what type of

Case Study Macys free essay sample

However, in the declining market for the department store industry, Macy’s consolidated stores, established a national department store and continues to make a steady profit. It is usually the time to divest, sale, or change product mix of a company when a company enters in a mature or declining phase in business. The marketing strategies used to do the analysis were the PEST and product life style. PEST examines the political, economic, social and technology of a firm to determine a company’s strengths, weaknesses and position in the industry. In the future, the Affordable Health Care Act will affect Macy’s in additional costs, which is political. The economic conditions will continue to be an issue as disposable income levels are not at the levels of 2006 prior to the recession. The social norm is to not like change. As Macy’s changes to improve sales, cut expenses and maintain its competitive advantage, some customers may not just care for it and shop online or in a discounted store. And, the technology for Macy’s to implement will be accepting debit cards from a hand held device vs. cash register, to be able o advertise as a customer walks in the door with their phone and in corporate user friendly replenish of inventory if an item is sold out. The product life cycle of the department store is mature and declining, due to declining sales. Furthermore, according to estimates, market share has eroded to 7 per cent, which is far below the 15 per cent desirable rate (Johnson, 2011, p. 3). Although, Macy’s during the declining phase has implemented strategies to maintain competitive advantage, create value for their customers and is staying afloat in the industry. In conclusion, the three marketing strategies Macy’s could use in the mature department industry are harvesting, defender and maintenance. The harvesting strategy requires raising prices and cutting costs. Defender strategy builds on what Macy’s has such as brand image, strong management team, competition being low to moderate and the stability of technology used. And, maintenance strategy is to maintain market share. Introduction The case study is Macy’s Department Store Repositioning. The key problem is that the traditional department stores sales and profits are declining, and the traditional department store is obsolete. Yet, Macy’s consolidated stores in an attempt to differentiate a new company from its competitors at the same time and remain a traditional department store. The marking strategies used to do the analysis was PEST and product life style. The solution presented is a combination of the defender, harvesting and maintenance strategies to create value and maintain a competitive advantage in a declining market of the traditional department store. Key Problem The key problem in the article, Macy’s Department Store Repositioning, is that Macy’s is that traditional store sales and profits are declining, and the traditional department store is obsolete. Yet, Macy’s consolidated stores in an attempt to differentiate a new company from its competitors at the same time and remain a traditional department store. The consolidation was completed two years prior to the economic recession of 2008. However, sales and profits had already begun to decline. The consolidation was done o establish Macy’s as â€Å"a national brand with national advertising, and lowered the cost structure considerably through volume purchasing and centralized administration (Johnson, 2011, p. 5)†. Analysis The marketing strategies used to do the analysis were PEST and product life style. PEST is the political, economic, social and technology economic environmental factors that affect the product or in the case the department st ore industry. The political analysis looked to the future and the additional health care costs that will be imposed on companies and fully implemented by 2014. The additional costs will be passed on to the consumer, and the amount will have an impact on the return on equity ratio, which is already below the industry desirable rate. The economic factors considered were the continued recession, increase in the coast of gas and cotton, the threat of substitutions and the life cycle of the department store industry. All the above economic factors will impact the cost of the products to the customers and further make the other stores appealing with less disposal income to spend on luxury items purchased in a department store. The other stores would be Wal-Mart, Target or other discounted stores. As with any change, change is hard to accept and customers will likely complain, find fault and decide not to shop at the department store. It is the social norm. However, once the regional company’s were converted to Macy’s, customers saw the price increases, which in turn caused them not to shop at Macy’s. Again, change and increase in cost are not easy for customers to accept or want to accept. Also, they can find similar products for less at discounted stores. Therefore, the threat of substitutions is very high. Lastly, technology is affecting the way stores do busy. Smart phones are allowing customers to shop with their phones inside stores; credit cards are accepted via phones vs. cash registers. Technology brings online shopping vs. in store shopping. And, advertising is popping up on smart phones as electronic messages as customers shop based on their location. Service is defiantly the key to keep a customer coming into a department store. The product life style of the department store is in the mature or declining phase of its product life style, because of the declining sales. Furthermore, according to estimates, market share has eroded away to 7 per cent, as of 2010, and is far below the desirable rate 15 per cent (Johnson, 2011, p. 3). Also, the brand image is being heavily relied upon and the bottom line is not showing significant increase in the years presented in the journal article. Macy’s is afloat due to a strong management team and the aggressiveness to deal with problems as they arise. For example, continuing to adjust its portfolio of stores, focusing on fashion, and developing private labels in bedding, outerwear, ‘tween’ clothing, increase national advertising and using celebrities. Additionally, Macy’s advertising is combining the national department store image with July 4 and the Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, which appeals to the American citizen. Solution The three marketing strategies for Macy’s to pursue are the harvesting, defender and maintenance strategies. As described in the text book, the harvesting strategy is to generate cash quickly by maximizing cash flow over a relatively short term (Walker amp; Mullins, 2014, p. 271). This is done by raising prices and/or reducing operating expenses. It was shown in Exhibit 2 that selling and general and administrative expenses ranged from a low of $8,062 million to $8,678 million. Those costs can be reduced by closing stores, reducing inventory levels, and modifying other expenses, thus increase the bottom line given that sales remain above $23,000 million. Also, given the strength of the name brand recognition, the existing marketing for any holiday and Macy’s are anchor stores in shopping malls; customers may not miss the extra advertising. The customers are attracted to the familiarity of the Macy’s for most of the household needs. The defender strategy should be used in a mature market by a leading company in the industry, which describes Macy’s situation in the department store industry (Walker amp; Mullins, 2014). The external factors influencing the strategy are industry and market, technology, competition, and business’s relative strengths. The industry is in mature stage, technology is stable with a few modifications, competition is small to moderate, and the strengths for Macy’s are in quality, marketing, sales, distribution and customer service. Lastly, due to the uncertain of future volume, the maintenance strategy should be implemented for the leading company, Macy’s, to maintain market share. The maintenance strategy would be implemented till the future becomes more predictable (Walker amp; Mullins, 2014). In general, customers associate price with quality. The higher the price for a product equates to a better product. For example, I expect the clothes I purchase at Macy’s to last longer than the clothes I buy at Target. Thus, spending a little more for a durable product is an option for customers. The defending strategy is an adequate plan to implement due to the established customer service offered by Macy’s, the brand image and the differentiation of products offered all in one location for the customer. Also, Macy’s dominant position in the industry is national and alluring to the customers. And, the maintenance strategy will allow Macy’s to maintain market share by continuing to increase sales, control expenses and maintain competitive advantage through strong customer service. Appendices PEST Analysis The PEST analysis was used to look at the environmental factors affecting Macy’s. PEST stands for the following: P is for political, E is for environmental, S is for social and T is for technology. The political analysis will perhaps become more of an issue for Macy’s as the Affordable Health Care Act is fully implemented by 2014. The above will mean additional health care costs to all employers, which will most likely be passed on to customers by price increases for merchandise. The return on equity (ROE) is a typical measure of profitability. As stated in the journal article, â€Å"In 2010, the ROE of the traditional department store industry was around 9 per cent-far lower than the 15 per cent range, which was considered desirable (Johnson, 2011)†. The economic factors to consider are: the continued recession, increase in the price of gas, cotton prices and threat of substitutions and the decline and/or maturity phase of the traditional department store industry. Exhibit 1 of selected financial data for years 2006-2010 for Macy’s, in the journal article, reflected revenue from $27. 0MM to $25. MM and low of $23. 0MM for 2009, gross margin fluctuated between $9. 0MM to $10. 0MM, other selling, general and administrative expenses were static at $8. 0MM, and net income was below $1. 0MM for all years except 2008, which was lt;$4. 8MMgt; (Johnson, 2011, p. 5). Also, exhibit 2, the sales industry segments in the retail sector from 1992 to 2006, in the journal article; reflect an increase in all the other categor ies presented category specialist stores, other general merchandise stores and electronic shopping and mail-order stores (Johnson, 2011, p. ). The inference from above is that consumers are not shopping in traditional department stores and look for substitutions to the shopping experience to fit the disposable income levels. Furthermore, the increase in gasoline effects costs related to delivery of merchandise, and the increase in cost of cotton effects costs related to clothing. This costs effect the bottom line and will further increase the cost of the product, which gets past to the customer. Therefore, the additional costs make the product more of a luxury item vs. need or a want that can be purchased at a lower end retail location. The social norms and patterns post consolidation have seen customers complaining that the quality and service has deteriorated, and the former regional chains found prices higher and reluctant to shop the new Macy’s (Johnson, 2011, p. 6). Addi tional problems post consolidation was the standardized merchandising strategy and the Everyday Value program. Macy’s found that they could not stock all the stores with the same products and those customers’ needs and preferences were different by location (Johnson, 2011, p. 7). Also, â€Å"Everyday Value program encountered problems, during the recession† (Johnson, 2011). Therefore, Macy’s abandoned the Everyday Value program and followed what the industry was doing with per cent off promotions. The interesting part of the PEST analysis was technology. In the journal article it mentioned that, The traditional department store contributed directly and indirectly to the adoption of numerous technological and managerial innovations such as credit purchases, inventory control, promotional techniques, store merchandising, hiring practices and data-processing procedures (Johnson, 2011, p. ). Today technology has improved issuing gift cards, just in time inventory controls, promotion techniques through the use of internet, e-mail or tests delivered to a smart phone, portable cash registers (phones) and collecting big data on customers to improve service for the customers. And, online shopping is trending to be the norm of many customers. However, in my opinion, there will be those trips to a department store for the shopping experience around special occasions. The question will be will the department stores still be around for those special occasions? Product Life Cycle The product life style has four stages which are the introduction, growth, maturity and decline. The first half of the 20th century the traditional department store was the dominant retail scene (Johnson, 2011, p. 1). Furthermore, it was designed to be a one stop shopping unique experience. The traditional department store had many departments and carried a wide variety of goods to satisfy the needs and wants of customers. However, the purchasing power held by the buyer is disposable income, which is effected by the economic environment. It was in the 1990s that â€Å"most analysts identified that traditional department store industry as being in the mature phase or even the decline phase, because of the decline in sales† (Johnson, 2011, p. 2). The Federated Group implemented the Macy’s store reposition in 2005-2006. Also, traditional market share was declining. The estimates for the traditional department store market share was 30 per cent in 1950s, 17 per cent in 1990 and to about 7 per cent in 2010 (Johnson, 2011, p. 3). It was still being discussed whether the repositioning was a bad move or was it a strategic move to improve sales and profit when the article was written. Given the above, it is possible that the traditional department is a dog vs. a cash cow, in terms of marketing, and it is time to divest the company or find a new market. References Johnson, H. H. (2011). Macys Department Store Repositioning. Richard Ivey School of Business The Univerisyt of Western Ontario, 1-8. Walker, J. O. , amp; Mullins, J. C. (2014). Marketing Strategy Eighth Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Lights cigarette. Inhales lustily Essay Example For Students

Lights cigarette. Inhales lustily Essay She is reluctant to continue our conversation. I dont want to lose my job, she murmurs into the phone. We are discussing an incredibly sensitive topic: smoking in the theatre. She is a nonsmoker and a playwright who makes her living in theatre administration, and she like a number of People I spoke with while preparing this article wishes to remain anonymous, fearing reprisal from directors, producers or bosses who would rather not bother with someone who is bothered by cigarette smoke. This is such a tough profession to get paid in that when you do have to raise this issue, youre taking a big risk, she says. One stage manager who is allergic to cigarette smoke but often spends his days painfully engulfed in it believes that complaining about smoking becomes a deeply personal thing. Its not about smoking, its about the smoker and your relationship with him or her. Thus, many nonsmokers working in the theatre choose to suffer in silence, breathing in the secondhand smoke that the Environmental Protection Agency declared a Class A carcinogen last year (meaning that someone elses smoke is as lethal to you as asbestos, radon, benzene and arsenic, all of which are illegal in the workplace). A symbol of something else   Worse still, some actors must become smokers for the rehearsal and run of a show when a playwright or a director demands it, all the while risking addiction. Theatre people are not alone in their discomfort and danger, of course every industry has a boss in a private office who smokes with the door open, thus rendering the nonsmoking outer office or public area a fantasy of local lawmakers. But the theatre is one place where cigarette smoke finds a peculiar justification in artistic expression; the cigarette is the theatres favorite prop, a shorthand for a vast array of emotions and behaviors that might otherwise require a little work on the part of playwrights, directors and actors. Alyssa Rallo, artistic director of the Column Theatre and Studio. in New York, believes that such shorthand is not only fraudulent, but also presents an ethical dilemma: Now that we know smoking is horrible for you, we cant as artists truthfully use it as a symbol something else. We are not treating cigarettes as a drug or as a killing substance, and thats a crime. Rallo has founded Actors Directors for Smokefree Theatre, Film and Television, whose goal is t o draw attention to the silent partnership between artists and tobacco conglomerates. Unlike television, where nobody lit up at the Cheers bar through an entire decade, there are no industry guidelines that limit or restrict smoking on stage. Of course, cigarettes pose no immediate harm to television or film audiences but can cause considerable problems for theatre audiences, especially in small venues. Stage actors have it worst of all, smoking or breathing others smoke, not just through a few takes, but night after night, matinee after matinee. Actors Equity Association, a union famous for fussing over the health and welfare of its largely unemployed membership, offers little comfort to the actor who does not wish to smoke. While there are guidelines for nudity, getting wet and walking on a raked stage, there is no such thing as a cigarette rider to the basic Equity contract, although the union is aggressively looking into the health problems associated with special effects smoke. We get letters   The use of fake (non-tobacco) cigarettes is not widespread, although the technology has been around for years and the simulation of smoking can be quite realistic, and relatively harmless. Miming smoking, or smoking an unlighted cigarette, is universally perceived as absurd much harder to pull off than collapsing in a drunken stupor or injecting heroin and the whole artifice of the stage is called to attention in the absence of smoke. .u656584bdb8fec80783e30f1965dbb20a , .u656584bdb8fec80783e30f1965dbb20a .postImageUrl , .u656584bdb8fec80783e30f1965dbb20a .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u656584bdb8fec80783e30f1965dbb20a , .u656584bdb8fec80783e30f1965dbb20a:hover , .u656584bdb8fec80783e30f1965dbb20a:visited , .u656584bdb8fec80783e30f1965dbb20a:active { border:0!important; } .u656584bdb8fec80783e30f1965dbb20a .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u656584bdb8fec80783e30f1965dbb20a { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u656584bdb8fec80783e30f1965dbb20a:active , .u656584bdb8fec80783e30f1965dbb20a:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u656584bdb8fec80783e30f1965dbb20a .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u656584bdb8fec80783e30f1965dbb20a .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u656584bdb8fec80783e30f1965dbb20a .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u656584bdb8fec80783e30f1965dbb20a .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u656584bdb8fec80783e30f1965dbb20a:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u656584bdb8fec80783e30f1965dbb20a .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u656584bdb8fec80783e30f1965dbb20a .u656584bdb8fec80783e30f1965dbb20a-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u656584bdb8fec80783e30f1965dbb20a:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Scenes from an Execution EssayLawmakers in many communities have stopped short of banning cigarette smoke from the stage (while forbidding it in all other public areas of the theatre building), but individuals have sometimes gone a lot further in attempting to discourage smoking in performance, a fact which makes many nonsmokers wary of being accused of artistic tampering or branded tobacco McCarthyists. Michael Wilson, associate director of Houstons Alley Theatre, remembers being approached prior to rehearsals for his production of Terrence McNallys Lips Together, Teeth Apart by a board member who said: |Well, Michael, in this production youre about to direct for us youre not going to have anyone smoke, are you? It was conveyed to me that this would make everyone happy, Wilson recalls. dont know how far they would have gone to enforce it. Wilson, a nonsmoker, ignored the board member but ultimately delivered a smoke-free production: It was the choice of the process rather than the dictate. The Alley usually receives a number of complaints for its productions which contain smoking, according to Wilson, and Susan Medak, managing director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre, acknowledges the same: It never fails that we get letters. When we did Caryl Churchills Mad Forest we actually had quite a few comments. Director Mark Wing-Davey felt strongly that the play, set in contemporary Romania, should include abundant cigarette smoke for the sake of realism. We worked on a ventilation system to move the smoke out of there, Medak says, but this was not sufficient: What I find is only a small percentage of the problem is people really smelling the smoke. It is the perception that is all. But what about the actors who have to smoke, or breathe in the immediate proximity of cigarettes? I dont believe that weve ever made anybody smoke, Medak says, but we do insist that they hold cigarettes and that they puff. In the case of Mad Forest, it was something we discussed with actors before th ey even auditioned. Such discussion is cheap currency to those nonsmokers who desire to make a living in the theatre and stay healthy while doing it. The allergic stage manager compares a smoke-filled theatre to riding the subway and listening to someones panhandling speech. Theres nowhere you can go. Its just not right that you can be trapped and forced into something like that. I think the theatre should be provocative; it should move you, it should make you angry, it should maybe make you run screaming from the theatre. But it should not endanger your health.

Sports clubs in the UK Essay Example

Sports clubs in the UK Essay Voluntary sports clubs have a big impact on the local community. There are about 150,000 voluntary sports clubs in the UK, 46% of which have been in existence for 30+ years. Between 12.5-14% of the population are members of a voluntary sports club. Voluntary sports clubs like Croygas make a substantial contribution to the community by providing the opportunities for social interaction both for volunteers and participants. They allow people in the local area to get together and socialize with each other which can have a successful impact on the community because people can make new friends and go out and enjoy themselves. This creates a friendly atmosphere within the voluntary clubs which is important because it will attract more people to come and play sports at the club. Croygas Sports Club has a massive impact on the community in that they believe in having the correct ethics and values that will allow everyone from all age, sex, and race to join the club. Voluntary sports clubs encourage members to show respect for each other, fair play, equal opportunity and they encourage members to enjoy themselves. This will have a positive impact on the community because people will be more encouraged to come and join these clubs that have equal opportunity for everyone. This could have a successful impact on the children that get bullied because of their race, religion etc. Croygas will give them the same opportunity as anyone else because they believe that it is important to give everyone equal opportunity to enjoy playing the sport that they love. We will write a custom essay sample on Sports clubs in the UK specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Sports clubs in the UK specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Sports clubs in the UK specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Croygas is a very successful club and it has a very high reputation for the level of football that is played. There are around about 40-50 adult members at the club, all of which play for the football and cricket teams at the club. Of these adult, a large majority of them use the bar area after matches to have a drink and socialise with other team members of the squads, and some of the squads arrange meals after the matches where they invite the players and their wives to come and dine with each other. More than half of these players have good access to the facility because they all live in the local area. Therefore they can get to the facility easily and they can use the facility as often as possible. Also because of the clubs friendly environment, they will come more often than not to meet new people and socialise. The club benefit financially from the amount of people using the bar. They will take in a lot of money from the public using the bar especially on match days when the bar area will be more packed out with players and their families. Also the amount of money that they receive from sponsorship and membership fees all adds up. This money believe it or not is of great benefit to the community, because with this money the club can refurbish parts of the club and improve the clubs grounds, changing rooms etc. The community will benefit from using a highly developed club and they will enjoy a club that is better decorated and looked after. Croygas is a very successful club, the football teams are doing very well in the top leagues at all age groups. And due to this success, parents have recognised this and feel that they should send their child to this club and therefore the Croygas now has a big youth setup. The improvement in the grounds and equipment and qualified coaches has been beneficial to the club, because it has seen an increase in the amount of players in the youth teams wanting to develop at the club. There are around 80-90 junior players currently playing football, cricket and badminton at this club. Thats about 160 parents that will some time visit the club and socialise. The fact that the parents come to the club and take their children is beneficial because it gives the parents an opportunity to meet the other parents of the squad. Also the children will develop new friends also and they too can learn to socialise as well as playing football. P2- Identify the funding, procedures and systems that are successfully used in voluntary sector sports clubs.  Voluntary sports clubs are funded in a number of ways. They receive annual subscription fees from players from the teams which help massively with the teams buying the equipment that they need. When I was a member at the club, because the pitches at Croygas arent not a good standard we had to hire pitches else where. Also we had to rent out the training facilities, pitches, buy corner flags and linesmen flags, and goal nets, kit and tracksuits. Match fees- People that play in the team matches have to pay a match fees, this is usually à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½5-à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½10 depending on the importance of the match or the club. The club will make a lot of money through this because they might have a lot of teams in the club like cricket teams, football teams etc and these teams are usually about a 15 man squad.  Grants from governing body such as F.A. will give money to these voluntary sports clubs in order to help the clubs with the funding. Because the government believes in giving opportunity to these clubs, they want to help them create the right conditions for people to use and enjoy using the clubs so the government is giving there full trust to these clubs to use the money wisely. The clubs will get sponsorship deals and the sponsorship companies in return will get advertisement from these clubs. Also lottery funding will help a club with major projects such as flood lighting on pitches, refurbish changing rooms etc. Also clubs set up fund raising events to help the club to raise money e.g. race nights, dinner dance, BBQs, quiz nights, fete, and club days such as 5-a-side football tournaments. These are to help out for projects that the club wants to do.  The government gives money to these voluntary sports clubs e.g. loans, grants. A club might decide to take out a loan from the government in order to cover for the costs of running the club, buying all the equipment, keeping the place neat and tidy etc. the club however will have to pay the government back and they can do this by paying it monthly or annually.

Kindergarten Bigger and Smaller Math Lesson Plan

Kindergarten Bigger and Smaller Math Lesson Plan Students will compare two objects and use the vocabulary bigger/smaller, taller/shorter, and more/less to describe their respective attributes. Class: Kindergarten Duration: 45 minutes each during two class periods Materials: Cereal (Cheerios or something else with similar pieces)Used pencils and/or crayonsManipulatives such as unifix cubes and/or Cuisenaire rodsPrepared booklets (see below)Pictures of cookies or fruit in various sizes Key Vocabulary: more than, less than, bigger, smaller, taller, shorter Objectives: Students will compare two objects and use the vocabulary bigger/smaller, taller/shorter, and more/less to describe their respective attributes. Standards Met:  K.MD.2. Directly compare two objects with a measurable attribute in common, to see which object has â€Å"more of†/â€Å"less of† the attribute, and describe the difference. For example, directly compare the heights of two children and describe one child as taller/shorter. Lesson Introduction If you want to bring in a large cookie or cake to divide among the class, they will be very engaged in the introduction! Otherwise, a picture will do the trick. Tell them the story of â€Å"You cut, you choose,† and how that is how many parents tell their children to divide things in half so no one gets a bigger slice. Why would you want a bigger slice of cookie or cake? Because then you get more! Step-by-Step Procedure On the first day of this lesson, show pictures to students of cookies or fruit. Which cookie would they want to eat, if this looks good to them? Why? Highlight the language of â€Å"bigger† and â€Å"smaller† - if something looks yummy, you’ll want the bigger portion, if it doesn’t look good, you’ll probably ask for the smaller portion. Write â€Å"bigger† and â€Å"smaller† on the board.Pull the unifix cubes out and let students make two lengths - one that is obviously bigger than the other. Write the words â€Å"longer† and â€Å"shorter† on the board and have students hold up their longer stack of cubes, then their shorter stack of cubes. Do this a couple of times until you are sure that they know the difference between longer and shorter.As a closing activity, have students draw two lines - one longer, and one shorter. If they want to get creative and make one tree that is bigger than another, that’s fine, but for some that don’t like to draw, they can use the simple lines to illustrate the concept.On the next day, review the pictures students did at the end of the day - hold a few good examples up, and review bigger, smaller, taller, shorter with the students. Call some student examples to the front of the classroom and ask who is â€Å"taller†. The teacher is taller than Sarah, for example. So that means that Sarah is what? Sarah must be â€Å"shorter† than the teacher. Write â€Å"taller† and â€Å"shorter† on the board.Hold out some Cheerios in one hand, and fewer pieces in the other. If you were hungry, which hand would you want?Pass out booklets to students. These can be made as easy as taking four pieces of paper and folding them in half and stapling them. On two facing pages, it should say â€Å"more† and â€Å"less†, then on two other pages â€Å"bigger† and â€Å"smaller† and so on, until you have filled the book. Students should take some time to draw pictures that represent these concepts. Pull students aside in small groups of three or four to write a sentence that describes their picture. Homework/Assessment: Have students and their parents add pictures to the booklet. Evaluation: The final booklet can be used to evaluate the understanding that the students have, and you can also discuss their pictures with them as you pull them in small groups.

Yamamoto LED Leasing & Production Company Ltd Research Paper

Yamamoto LED Leasing & Production Company Ltd - Research Paper Example We use chips which are imported from Japan, Taiwan, and US to ensure that we deliver incredibly high video performance for our customer’s events and exhibitions.Production & ServicesAs your trusted partner and client, we ensure that all your videos are delivered to your target customers effectively and efficiently. Every LED module is assembled according to the customer’s screen size requirements. Our production team is always committed to delivering superior quality video effects, to ensure that all your promotional events and exhibitions are well received by your target customers. Our LED Screens are suited for:1. Indoor or Outdoor Shopping Arcades2. Concerts and performances3. Stadiums4. Outdoor wall sides on buildings5. Big screen display for digital signageWe are equipped with 6mm LED display modules with 27,778dots/m2. The display modules are assembled using SM3528 LED chips, which ensure that they display vivid color with high contrast. Screen sizes can be customized to suit the various events requirements. The maximum viewing distance can be up to 18m, with 1600 viewing angles, making it suitable for all kind of outdoor/indoor events.The 360 circular display is another Hi resolution LED display for outdoor display advertisements. It supports HDMI, DVI, and VGA connection with HD video signals. It can show online TV programs, VCD, DVD or display video when connected with live CAM.

Wells Fargo Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Wells Fargo - Research Paper Example It was an unusual marriage, coupling a Charlotte-based stock that had funded the Sun Belt’s housing gurgle with a San Francisco-based stock that had mostly evaded it. As it is evident, a Birmingham, based construction comprehensive supply corporation seems to have played a major part in this merger. Wells Fargo and Wachovia didn’t have any clear leadership links at the time of their merger. Network diagrams of their boards and top executives show no knits. There are no personalitys with links in both companies. (Boards of directors of Wells Fargo & Wachovia, pre-merger) But that alters when you spread out the graph to include Vulcan Materials, a Birmingham founded concrete broker. On the Wells Fargo side, Donald B Rice, the chairman of Wells Fargo until 2007, sits on the Vulcan board, while Wachovia’s board comprised not one but two Vulcan Materials board members: Donald M James and John D Baker II. These three characters have extremely strong links to Vulcan Materials. Donald B Rice, the Wells Fargo director, has been a board member for almost twenty years, the second greatest spell of any board member. Donald M James is Vulcan’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, since 1996. John D Baker II is a comparative newcomer to the business, as the former CEO of Florida Rock Industries, which was acquired by Vulcan in 2007. The Vulcan-Florida Rock deal was huge enough to draw the interest of the Justice Department’s anti-trust division. Physically powerful links to Vulcan without a doubt connected the gap linking Wachovia and Wells Fargo, but is this enough to wind up that the corporation played a major part in the merger? Perhaps not. These board members recognized each other, so what? Commercial America’s societal networks are intense. But what ensued following the Wells Fargo-Wachovia merger puts forward

Cutting Edge Issues in Service Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Cutting Edge Issues in Service - Assignment Example Through the above activities the company tends to effectively communicate with their consumers in terms of offers and opportunities available (Perrys-a, 2012; Brink and Berndt, 2009, p.36-39). It is found from the above discussion that Perrys depends largely on the internet to help market its products and services to a larger consumer base in the United Kingdom market. Internet has emerged as one of the growing mediums for helping in the sale of automobile products to a larger consumer space in reflecting a rise of around 11 percent in automobile sales during 2010 as against 2009. On the contrary the sales in units through other mediums failed to reflect any such rise. With the help of the internet the automobile dealers can effectively communicate the different offerings and other value additions rendered in the automobiles to the consumers in an enhanced fashion. Along with internet the telephone communication also appears to have rendered high amount of effectiveness in the dealer ship functions related to sales of new and used cars to the consumers. In total the internet and telephone communication media has helped to increase the sales of automobiles by around 9 percent during the 2009 to 2010 period. Thus the automobile dealers tend to enhance their relationship with the consumers in an effective fashion with the help of internet and telecommunication media (Mintel Group Limited; Plunkett, 2006). Again the use of internet as a communication tool used by car dealerships helps in retaining a large pool of customers.

Rogers Communications Analysis

Rogers Communications Analysis Currently Rogers has competition with companies like Bell Canada, TELUS and Shaw Communications. There are also new providers in the industry that are offering products and services at low prices. Rogers is a company that has the best technology in comparison of other providers. It is the only company that operates on both GSM and HSPA technology. 1Rogers operates in three areas. The first one is Wireless, which includes wireless voice and data communications services. Rogers is Canadas largest wireless provider. The second one is Cable. Rogers is one of Canadas largest providers of cable television services as well as high-speed Internet access, telephony services and video retailing. The third and the last one is media, which includes radio and television broadcasting, televised shopping, magazines and trade publications, and sports entertainment. Its backbone is its distribution channels, which includes 3,600 Rogers-owned, dealers and retail outlets. Rogers provides valuable customer services to its customers. Its goal is to maximize its subscribers and become the best communication and media provider. There are 70 subscribers out of 100 (2010) in comparison of 25 per 100 (2000). Furthermore,  [2]  in the time of recession, Telecom industry is one of the industries that have been able to survive and make profit margins. Thus, Telecom industry is an industry where consumers go first which means that consumers would reduce their spending on other goods and services in comparison of telecom services. Therefore, if Rogers has brand image and the market is full of opportunities then why let new entrants capture the market share. The second issue that Rogers face is regarding its financial position. If we see the table below, companys sales growth in 2007 was 14.54% and cost of goods sold was $961 million. In 2008, sales growth reduced to 11.97% but cost of goods sold was more ($1303 million). If we see the last year that is 2009, sales growth was just 3.49% and cost of goods sold was $1380 million. This concludes that, if sales growth has been decreasing every year, cost of goods sold has not been decreasing with proportionate to sales growth. In other words, profit margin has been decreasing and companys operation is not able to increase its sales growth and minimize its cost of goods sold. Morever, if we see the debt to equity ratio, it is increasing every year. In 2007, it was 1:2.3. In 2008, it was 1:2.61 and in 2009 it was 1:2.98. This concludes that Rogers is using a lot of debt to finance its operations. But on the other side, Rogers has good return on assets of 8.67% in 2009 in comparison of 6.18% in 2008, which means Rogers is earning more money on less investment this year. In order to overcome current challenges, Rogers should use overall low cost provider strategy. Rogers should apply this strategy to solve its business and financial issues. The advantages of this strategy are customer satisfaction, moving towards its rivals, prevail market conditions and strengthen its market position. What else can Rogers do to maintain its market share and presence? Rogers can include features and services in packages that are essential to its consumers. It can find ways to achieve competitive advantage that would be hard for the current rivals and new entrants to match. Though the industry did have the slowest growth in 2009 from 2000, the analysis shows that there is a lot of room to grow. When Rogers would use lower pricing for its products and services then there would be less competition and more accessibility to local market that would increase its sales and revenues. By doing this, Rogers is completing its mission strategy, which is to add great value to its customers lives by offering new and reachable products and services. When companies raise prices of their products and services, they dont realize that by doing this they are far away from their customers but new entrants are putting themselves in their customers shoes. In other words, they are thinking like their customers. This is what Rogerss strategy should be, to think like its customers and add value to their lives. If Rogers would think like its customers then there would be brand loyalty and there is less risk of loosing its market share and presence. If customers would feel that Rogers has understood them, then they would definitely contract with Rogers. This would lead to Rogers implementing its financial strategy, which is to maximize profit and return on investments. In regards to reducing Rogerss cost of goods sold, Rogers should invest more money on new technologies to improve its companys operations. This would decrease its cost of goods sold and increase business efficiency. In addition, Rogers can outsource some of its operations as it has been doing with its physical IT infrastructure. Rogers has been outsourcing its physical IT infrastructure to IBM to make capital expenditure efficiencies. Rogers can do the same with some of its operations but one thing to consider is that Rogers should have strict quality standards for its products and services while outsourcing. Furthermore, cost of goods sold increases when there are high designs or services that is neither seen nor valued by customers. Rogers can simplify its products and services and reduce cost of goods sold. In conclusion, Rogers, to become the best telecom company in Canada should apply all the recommendations above. This would help Rogers to increase its subscribers and reduce its cost of goods sold. A) INDUSTRY INFORMATION: 1. What are the Industrys Dominant Economic Features? Market Size   [3]  In 2010, there are 70 wireless subscriptions for every 100 Canadians in comparison of 25 wireless subscriptions per 100 in 2000. Market Growth Rate (Product Life Cycle) Maturity. There is competition between different companies. Growth Cycle   [4]  Real gross domestic production increased from $25,559 million in 2007 to 26,775 million in 2009.   [5]  2009 and 2010 are the slowest years of production growth in two decades. Scope of Rivalry   [6]  Low barriers of entry. New entrants are providing same services that big players do at low prices. Type of Distribution Channels   [7]  Dealers, retail outlets and advertisement. Pace of technological change   [8]  Internet connection giving access to television entertainment. Level of Product Differentiation -Low. All companies offer same products or services. Ease of Entry Exit   [9]  Low barriers of entry due to deregulation of telecommunications service providers and advancement in telecommunication system. Industry Profitability   [10]  Profit margin has decreased to 12.8% in 2009 from 13 % in 2007. Summary- Telecommunication Industrys market size and real gross domestic production has increased but profit margin has decreased. There are low barriers of entry but competition is high. 2. Competitive Analysis Summary The 5 Forces Model The Rivalry among competing sellers in the Industry Intense. Companies try to attract customers with more discounts, promotions and benefits in comparison of their competitors. Firms in other industries offering substitute products Weak. Customers have no option or substitute for services offered by companies in telecommunication industry. The potential entry of new competitors -Weak. Low barriers of entry  [11]  due to deregulation of telecommunications service providers and advance in telecommunication system. Entrants enter the market but do not survive unless they offer low prices because companies ruling in telecommunication industry have brand equity and customer loyalty. The bargaining power of suppliers   [12]  Weak. Small Internet resellers get a very small share of the market, and their share has been declining in recent years. The bargaining power of buyers -Moderate. There are not many companies that offer all the products and services but still customers switch to rivals when they offer huge discounts and promotions. Summary- Suppliers share has been decreasing. There are no substitutes and buyers have very less options. There are low barriers of entry but competition is high too. 3.Drivers of Change Industry Growth Rate   [13]  Real gross domestic production increased from $25,559 million in 2007 to 26,775 million in 2009. Product Innovation   [14]  Smartphone, high speed Internet and digital TV. Technology Change   [15]  Fiber optics, improved computer technology and the Internet. Regulatory/Government Influence   [16]  Business rules are regularly changing which is giving small Internet providers access to the large companies networks. Summary- The main driver of change is the new technology introduced every time that excites customer to purchase products and services. 4.Competitive Position Quality of Services and Network Less More Few Many Coverage Who is favorably/ unfavorably positioned why? -Bell Canada occupies the most favorable position among the rivals because of being first Canadian telecom company and occupying more coverage. The closest competitor to Bell Canada is Rogers that offers large variety of products and services and has a wide geographical presence in the market of telecommunication industry.   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   5.Key Success Factors Technology Related   [17]  HSPA+ 21 Mbps wireless network and DOCSIS-3.0 50 Mbps high-speed Internet service. Organizational Capability   [18]  Knowledgeable staff that would develop newer, better, and faster ways to deliver what customers want, while also delivering attractive returns for shareholders. Distribution Channel   [19]  Diversified distribution channels such as dealers, retail outlets and advertisement. Other -Brand image. Widely recognized and accepted by customers. Summary- Key success factors in telecommunication industry are technology, well-trained staff, distribution channels and brand image. 6.Industry Attractiveness -The industry is at maturity level. There is a lot of room to grow and profits are high. Whenever, new technology is introduced, customer demand increases. Low barriers of entry makes it easy for new entrants to enter the industry but it is hard to survive unless they offer low prices because there are big players in the industry. There are no substitutes. Competition is intense as companies try to attract customers with more discounts, promotions and benefits in comparison of their competitors. B) COMPANY RESOURCES: AN INTERNAL ASSESSMENT 1. The Strategic-Making Process Vision Statement stated/implied   [20]  To grow in the business while taking care of corporate social responsibility. Mission Statement   [21]  To add great value to customers lives by offering new and reachable products and services. Strategic Objectives Business Maximize the number of subscribers and become Canadas best communication and media provider. Organizational   [22]  Achieve highest standards of business conduct among all employees. Financial Maximize profit and return on investments. Current Strategy-  [23]  Launched Long Term Evolution (LTE) so that customers can anywhere, anytime access to information, communications and entertainment. Strategic Performance Indicators Qualitative Measures-   [24]  High-quality network coverage. -Customer satisfaction. HSPA+ 21 Mbps wireless network and DOCSIS-3.0 50 Mbps high-speed Internet service. Quantitative Measures-   [25]  7% growth rate in Wireless Network and Cable Operations businesses in 2009.   [26]  1.5 million Smartphone customers in 2009. 2. Financial Analysis Conclusion- The Company has issue with its cost of goods sold. Comparing all years, sales growth is decreasing but cost of goods sold is increasing .If this continues then soon the company would loose its financial well -being. Therefore, the company should increase its sales growth but decrease its cost of goods sold. High debt to equity ratio indicates that the company is using a lot of debt to finance operations, which might be reason for company to have more earnings than it would have without debt. Rogers have 1: 2.98 in 2009.  [27]  Rogers has also generated a 29% increase in free cash flow growth in 2009. Return on assets provides information on how effectively company is utilizing its money to convert it into sales. Rogers has good return on assets of 8.67% in 2009 in comparison of 6.18% in 2008, which means Rogers is earning more money on less investment this year. In total asset turnover, the figure indicates how much is generated in sales from every dollar worth of assets. Rogers has 68.80% in 2009 in comparison of 69.9% in 2008.This means that Rogers has been less efficient at using its assets in generating sales this year. In current ratio, the conclusions cannot be drawn before considering other factors. However, when the current ratio is higher than 1, it is normally considered acceptable. It indicates how quickly current assets can be turned into cash. Rogers is in less good position by having 1:0.80 in 2009 in comparison of 1:0.84 last year. 3. The Company Value Chain Operations   [28]  Rogers is the only one operating on both GSM and HSPA technology.   [29]  Outsources its physical IT infrastructure to IBM to make capital expenditure efficiencies. Distribution   [30]  Powerful national product distribution network consisting of more than 3,600 Rogers-owned, dealer and retail outlets. Sales and Marketing   [31]  Activated 1.5 million Smartphone customers. Service   [32]  Created a dedicated team who would engage with customers looking for help in online forums and micro blogs.   [33]  Created the Rogers Customer Commitment to help customers understand what they can expect when they contract with Rogers. Summary- Rogers have the best technology, outsource, distribution network and customer service that makes its way to success. 4.Competitive Strength Assessment Model 5-8 KSFs weighted Conclusion- Bell and Rogers have close competition. TELUS and Shaw are behind Rogers. Bell has 10 rating for reputation image because of being the oldest and trusted company in Canada. Rogers is trying its best to grab Bells market presence and has been successful in doing that. In terms of technology, Rogers has 10 rating because it is the only one operating on both GSM and HSPA technology. 5. SWOT Analysis Internal (S)trengths -Brand recognition.   [34]  Powerful national product distribution network.   [35]  Dedicated team for customers. (W)eaknesses -Internal inefficiency that increased cost of goods sold. -Dependent on debt. External (T)hreats -Bell, TELUS and Shaw Communications.   [36]  New entrants are entering the market. (O)pportunities   [37]  Attract new clients.   [38]  $900 million total principal amount of 4.70% Senior Notes due in 2020. Summary- Rogers has internal strength in its brand recognition and distribution channels. Its weakness lies on increased cost of goods sold and debt. Competition is intense with current rivals and new entrants. Opportunities are bright with new and existing customers. 6. Strategic Issues that merit Managerial Attention Business Issue   [39]  Would it be a good strategy by Rogers to lower price of its products and services due to high competition from new entrants? Financial Issue -How should Rogers decrease their rising costs? 7. Criteria for Strategic Solution(s) Able to maintain high quality network coverage, HSPA+ 21 Mbps wireless network and DOCSIS-3.0 50 Mbps high-speed Internet service, 7 % growth rate in Wireless Network and Cable Operations businesses, 1.5 million Smartphone customers and reduce cost of goods sold. Work Cited Canadian Industrial Outlook. (Autumn 2010). Canadas Telecommunications Industry. The Conference Board of Canada Retrieved from http://www.conferenceboard.ca.ezproxy.lib.ryerson.ca/temp/f191b447-0cc1-43f8-89cd-a7d54518d917/11-146_CIOS-Telecom_Autumn10_WEB.pdf. Investor Relations. Rogers. Retrieved from http://www.rogers.com/web/Rogers.portal?_nfpb=true_pageLabel=IR_LANDING Corporate Social Responsibility. Rogers. Retrieved from http://your.rogers.com/aboutrogers/csr/overview.asp About Rogers. Rogers. Retrieved from https://www.rogers.com/web/Rogers.portal?_nfpb=true_pageLabel=about_landing PRNewswire. (October 6, 2010). Rogers Announces First Lte Technical Trial in Canada. Yahoo finance. Retrieved from http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Rogers-Announces-First-Lte-prnews-2287777662.html?x=0.v=62 Guides to Occupations. Working in the Telecommunication Workers Industry. Skilled Immigrant Infocentre. Retrieved from http://skilledimmigrants.vpl.ca/index.php/guides/industry/telecommunication_workers Defining Next. ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS INC. 2009 ANNUAL REPORT. Rogers. Retrieved from http://www.rogers.com/cms/investor_relations/pdfs/2009_Annual-Report.pdf Bringing Your World Together. ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS INC. 2008 ANNUAL REPORT. Rogers. Retrieved from http://www.rogers.com/cms/investor_relations/annual_html/2008/html/HTML2/default.htm The Americas Intelligence Wire. (Sep 22,2010). Rogers Communications Prices $900 Million Senior Notes Offering. Ryerson. Retrieved from http://galenet.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.ryerson.ca/servlet/BCRC?rsic=PKrcp=COvrsn=unknownlocID=rpu_mainsrchtp=cmpcc=1c=136mode=cste=72tbst=tsCMtab=2ccmp=Rogers+Communications+Inc.tcp=rogersn=25docNum=A237731531bConts=13119

Ironing out carbon - One mans solution to carbon sequestration Essay

â€Å"Ironing† out Carbon Dioxide   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Carbon Dioxide plays a key role in the atmosphere. This gas has properties that allow it to sustain and hold in heat, which in turn warms the planet (EIA, 2004). Carbon, the primary component of carbon dioxide; is also the essential molecule for life and is the most basic building block found in all organic compounds. Human activities been blamed for the disruption of the earth’s natural carbon cycles and according to some studies, carbon is being added to the atmosphere faster than the natural processes that sequestrate it. The massive carbon sinks that naturally regulated and fixated excess carbon dioxide have been destroyed as humans have deforested ancient forests for the sake of building their cities and supplying lands for agriculture. Research shows that there has been a consistent balance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for the past 10,000 years (Hamburg, Harris et al 1999); this balance has shifted rapidly in the last 150 years. The Problem   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Carbon dioxide, produced through combustion and oxidation has become a growing concern in today’s society. In industrialized countries greenhouse gases and the effects on our environment are becoming an issue that no longer can be ignored. Changes such as increasing temperatures, the melting of the Arctic ice cap, rising sea levels, and more violent weather activities (hurricanes, droughts, and hotter/longer summers) are becoming more and more evident with each decade. The rapid increase of carbon dioxide appears to be a key component of the in the development of these occurrences, however global warming has sparked much debate because the data that has been collected over the past century has conflicting trends (planktos.com, 2004). It is difficult to predict the behavior of the earth’s climate because it is ever changing and erratic, much to the chagrin of scientific modelers; the earth’s climate refuses to adhere to computer models.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Historically temperatures have fluctuated on the surface of the planet; however, with new technology and satellite data collection, conflicts in data have caused scientists to rethink their conclusions on the causes of these temperature fluctuations. What can be proven is that humans are affecting the planet in adverse ways. Mass deforestation, burning of f... ... Sources cited: â€Å"American Society of Limnology and Oceanography†. The Scientific and Policy Uncertainties Surrounding the Use of Ocean Fertilization to Transfer Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide to the Oceans. American Society of Limnology and Oceanography. http://www.aslo.org/meetings/carbon2001/chisholm/transcript2.html Caroline Dopyera, â€Å"The Iron Hypothesis† Earth, October 1996 Hamburg, Steven, Harris, Neil, et al. 1999: â€Å"How do we know that the Atmospheric Build-up of Greenhouse Gases is Due to Human Activity?† 20 October 2001 http://www.gcrio.org/ipcc/qa/05.htm Lawrence, Mark G. â€Å"Side effects of Oceanic Iron Fertilization† Science 20 September 2002 National Energy Information Center (NEIC),Energy Information Administration, â€Å"Greenhouse gases, climate change and energy† Publication EI-30 http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/ggccebro/chapter1.html PALMER, ALASDAIR. â€Å"FOCUS PLANKTON TO THE RESCUE: the man who says he can save the planet† The Sunday Telegraph [Sydney] 23 August 2003 United States, Department of Energy. Capturing and Sequestering Carbon Dioxide DOE Document PI -0001. November 2003 http://climatetechnology.gov/library/2003/currentactivities/sequester.htm

Personal & Societal Values Essay

When dealing with ethical decisions, it is very important that nurses maintain a nonjudgmental view. Each nurse comes into the career with their own set of personal values and beliefs. These may not coincide with the values and beliefs of patients and their families. Nurses must be aware of the values that patients and families possess in order to reach ethical decisions. Values are a learned trait throughout each individual’s life. Early on, influences come about from family. Over time, one will have experiences and possess influences brought about from society. Values come about from cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds. These are what affect our relationships with other people. Nurses need to be aware of their personal values. They must be aware of how they perceive life, health, illness, and death (Blais, 2011). This becomes increasingly important during end-of-life care and planning. Nurses need to maintain a biased attitude in order to have an effective working relationship with patients and their families. There will always be encounters with patients who hold different values and beliefs. When it comes to making ethical decisions, nurses need to have a reasonable thinking ability. Emotions and institutional policies should not be the basis of thought. A good decision is one that is made in the best interest of the patient and family. The patient’s well-being is most important. Autonomy of the patient is a factor also. The patient and family need to be allowed to be proactive in medical care decisions. Mutual respect must also be present. Being involved in ethical committees and nursing ethics groups can help nurses become more aware of their own personal values. Ethics committees help to balance reasonable treatment and guidance with the respect and dignity that comes as a right to all patients.

Using the Spanish Preposition Sobre

Using the Spanish Preposition Sobre Like many Spanish prepositions, sobre can be used in a variety of ways that dont seem to have any logical connection. One of the more common Spanish prepositions, sobre can be the equivalent of the English prepositions on, about, or over, among others. In some cases, it can help to know that sobre comes from the Latin super-, which, among other things, functioned as a preposition meaning above or beyond. But while a few of the uses of sobre have clearly related meanings, not all do. Be aware that sobre also can function as a masculine noun meaning envelope, packet, or, in informal usage, bed.) Most Common Ways in Which Sobre Is Used Nearly all the time, sobre is used in one of the following ways: Sobre as a Preposition of Location Sobre is often used to indicate that something is on top or or above something. In some such situations, sobre can be used more or less interchangeably with the preposition en. There usually isnt much significant difference, for example, between sobre la mesa and en la mesa, which both can be translated as on the table. Other times, over is a more suitable translation, such as when sobre means above. Coloca una pierna ​sobre el piso. (Place your knee on the floor.)La distribucià ³n correcta de la presià ³n del cuerpo sobre la silla es esencial para el confort. (The correct distribution of the bodys weight over the chair is essential for comfort.)Una lluvia de astillas volà ³ sobre el coche. (A shower of splinters flew onto the car.)Si pudieras volar sobre el ojo del huracn, al mirar hacia abajo verà ­as claramente la superficie del mar o la tierra. (If you could fly over the eye of the hurricane, upon looking down you would clearly see the surface of the sea or Earth.) Sobre Meaning ‘About,’ ‘Concerning,’ or ‘On the Subject Of’ When sobre is used to describe that something concerns or is about a subject, it functions in the same way that de can. In these situations, sobre is usually more formal than de. About is nearly always a good translation, although others such as of are possible. Ésta es la primera edicià ³n sobre un libro sobre nuestra mà ºsica popular. (This is the first edition of a book about our popular music.)Pelà © presenta documental sobre su vida en Nueva York. (Pelà © is presenting a documentary about his life in New York.) ¿Quà © piensas sobre el uso de los antibià ³ticos? (What do you think about using the antibiotics?) Using Sobre To Indicate Superiority or Influence Sobre often can translate over when it is used to indicate superiority in matters of influence or control. El uso del bus triunfa sobre el coche entre los universitarios. (Among university students, the use of buses triumphs over the use of cars.)La industria de salud posee una enorme influencia sobre las polà ­ticas de salud. (The health industry has a great influence over the politics of health.)Me es repugnante la dominacià ³n de un sexo sobre el otro. (The domination of one sex over the other is repugnant to me.) Sobre in Time Approximations Sobre is frequently used in time expressions to indicate that the time given is approximate. The English translations about or around are often used. Sobre is less commonly used in other types of approximations, such as for physical measurements. Sobre las seis de la tarde volvimos al hotel. (We are arriving at the hotel at about 6 in the evening.)Sobre 1940 el mercado de la ciencia ficcià ³n comenzà ³ a subir de nuevo. (Around 1940 the market for science fiction began to grow again.)La tormenta pasar sobre el mediodà ­a de este sbado. (The storm will pass through around noon on this Saturday.)Esperamos olas de sobre cuatro metros de altura. (We are hoping for waves about four meters high.) Sobre for Motion Around Sobre can be used to indicate rotation around an axis. About and around are the most common translations. El planeta gira sobre su eje una vez cada 58,7 dà ­as. (The planet rotates around its axis once each 58.7 days.)La Tierra rota sobre un eje imaginario que pasa a travà ©s de sus polos. (The Earth rotates about an imaginary axis which passes between its two poles.) Key Takeaways The Spanish preposition sobre is common, but it cant be translated by any single English preposition.One common meaning of sobre is to indicate that something is on top or above something else.Another common use of sobre is to indicate the subject that something else, such as a book, is about.

Sorry Quotes to Help You Say Sorry Like You Mean It

Sorry Quotes to Help You Say Sorry Like You Mean It Have you ever felt so sorry that you couldnt sleep? Have you experienced extreme guilt for unknowingly hurting someone? Guilt is a strong emotion, and it can cause feelings of worthlessness, shame, and depression. The only way around it is to make amends and apologize. Alexander Pope said, To err is human; to forgive, divine. It is natural for humans to make mistakes. You cannot wipe the tears with just words. However, if the intent is sincere, and the remorse heartfelt, some wounds can be healed. Remorse should precede the apology. And the apology should be accompanied by remedial action. If you have to apologize for something and you feel the remorse from the bottom of your heart, use these sorry quotes. Monica Lewinsky And I felt sorry, and I have felt bad about what happened. Dale Carnegie Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition, is not only a waste of energy but the worst habit you could possibly have. Bjork Football is a fertility festival. Eleven sperm trying to get into the egg. I feel sorry for the goalkeeper. Arthur Ransome Grab a chance and you wont be sorry for a might-have-been. Leon Czolgosz I am not sorry for my crime. Benjamin Disraeli Apologies only account for that which they do not alter. David Herbert Lawrence I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself. April Winchell I can wholeheartedly apologize for not being at all sorry. And it really is the least I can do. Angela Merkel I feel sorry sometimes for these sportsmen and women who put in just as much effort as the footballers. For example, athletes train at least as hard as footballers but have to be happy if they can earn enough to finance a decent education. Estelle Getty If love means never having to say youre sorry, then marriage means always having to say everything twice. Wayne Newton Theres no room in my life for feeling sorry for myself. Lord Charles Beresford Very sorry cant come. Lie follows by post. Aesop We would often be sorry if our wishes were gratified. Dan Heist When you realize youve made a mistake, make amends immediately. Its easier to eat crow while its still warm. Mignon McLaughlin True remorse is never just a regret over consequence; it is a regret over motive. Harriet Beecher Stowe The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and for deeds left undone. Edgar Watson Howe You can make up a quarrel, but it will always show where it was patched. Margaret Laurence In some families, please is described as the magic word. In our house, however, it was sorry. Robert Fulghum Play fair. Dont hit people. Say youre sorry when you hurt somebody. Edward N. Westcott If Ive done anything Im sorry for, Im willing to be forgiven. Mccain Edwin The words are all gone, the times been too long but its not too late to say Im sorry to a friend. Demi Moore The things two people do to each other they remember. If they stay together, its not because they forget; its because they forgive. Claire London I have learned that sometimes sorry is not enough. Sometimes you actually have to change. Gandhi The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. H. L. Mencken Wife: one who is sorry she did it, but would undoubtedly do it again. Robert Burns Im truly sorry mans dominion has broken Natures social union. Lionel Blue ï » ¿What would I have done if Id been put to the test? Would I have risked my own life for people I hardly knew? Probably, I would have looked the other way at best or become another apologist for evil at worst.

Processing-structure-property relationships in (TPE-E) nanocomposites Lab Report

Processing-structure-property relationships in (TPE-E) nanocomposites - Lab Report Example This area of research is extremely promising because such systems possess higher dispersion then conventional organolclays do. Also, it is worth mentioning that examples from both literature and experimentaly achieved data point out that alkyl-ammoniums used as organo-modifiers have limited applications for apolar polymers. Scheme 1: Alkyl-ammoniums used as organo-modifiers For such polymers interactions with clay is usually low and further entropic barriers prevent mixing of an inorganic clay with the desired polymer. In other words, alkyl chain-clay interactions are low. To overcome this organo-modifiers are used but, as our studies suggest, low thermostability (Changes in composition start to occur at approx. 2200C) of the produced modified clay will limit the scope of potential applications. 4.1 Modification of Clay As it was previously stated, it was necessary to modify Fluormica (Somasif ME 100) Prestine clay to increase its mixability with the polyester TPE. The employed type of clay is hydrophilic. This factor contributes to poor solubility in hydrophobic polymers. It terms of structure, Fluormica (Somasif ME 100) is made of layers which are held together by electrostatic forces. These layers carry the negative charge, while positively charged cations are shared equally between stacks of layers. This structure is not easy to brake, what is another factor to poor mixability. In order to modify the studied clay ion exchange reactions were used. The chemical formulation is Na0.66Mg2.68(Si3.98Al0.02)O10.02F1.96 [65] and the particle size is about 650 nm. (Cation Exchange Capacity is 100 mequiv/mol). Thus it can be presumed that cations such as Na+ and Mg2+ can be substituted by an alkyl-ammonium (Scheme 1) cations. Alkyl-ammoniums carry different hydrophobic groups consequently, producing various hydrophobicity. Hydrophobic chain makes the modified clay more compatible with the organic matrix. Employing different alkyl-ammoniums it will be possible to mak e the clay compatible with almost any required polymer. Moreover, treatment with described organic modifiers will separate clay plates. This will afford intercalated and exfoliated materials which can be used to produce nanoparticles. To describe the produced modified clay it is necessary to analyse Fourier transform infrared spectrosctrum(FT-IR) then move on to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) before finally commenting on thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) curves. 4.2 FT-IR The major peak for all the studied samples occurs at 902 cm-1 (Scheme 2). This wavelength can be associated only with carbon-oxygen-carbon symmetric stretch absorbtion. There is only one peak in this region there are no peaks formed by asymmetric carbon-oxygen-carbon absorbtion. The next major peak occurs at 2925 cm-1 but not for all studied entries. ME 100 and ME100 CC do not possess such peak. The formed peak is due to asymmetric stretch of CH2-O group. The described peaks prove the presence of specific bo nds in the molecule. Scheme 2: FT-IR spectrums of the modified clay samples. 4.3 XPS On the Schemes 3 and 4 ME 100 is the unmodified clay and all the entries from 2 to 8 present various modifications. It is seen that not all Na+ and Mg2+ are substituted by N+R4. In ME 75 Etho substitution is the most efficient and ME 100 CC shows only slight reduction on Na+ and Mg2+ quantity. No Sample Code O (%) C

Corporate Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 2

Corporate Strategy - Essay Example It is a fully owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. The music company operates globally and includes a roster inclusive of a broad range of artists, both international superstars and local artists (Sony Music Entertainment, 2011). Data revealed from the financial results of the company during the year 2010 suggest that there was a decrease in the operating revenue and sales figures by 6.7% in comparison to its performance of the previous year (y-o-y). The sales figure was hit during the year 2010 due to the decrease in the sale of devices and consumer products. However, it is also evident that the decrease in the sale of this segment was moderately offset by that of the segment of financial services of the company. Due to depreciation in the value of Yen against both US dollar and Euro, the sale of the Sony in Japan suffered the crisis. However, there was an increment in the operating profit of the company by 259.6 billion Yen (Sony News and Information, 2010). Sony Music has however effectively managed to come out of the crisis and during recent times, the company has ultimately surpassed Universal Music Group through market share in the overall US market. The market share of Sony Music in the overall album segment including albums equivalent to tracks stood at 29.35% as of the end of the week on April 24, 2011. According to Nielson SoundScan, this percentage figure is only a few points above that of the Universal Music Group that stood at 29.26% during the same period (Christman, 2011). The neck-to-neck percentage figure of the market share suggests that there prevails cutthroat competition in the music industry. Apart from the Universal Music Group, the biggest competitors of the Sony Music are EMI Group Limited and Warner Music Group Corp. In this industry, demand of the products or the music publications is driven by spending of the consumers. The companies’ profitability is dependent on promotion of new talent of music and also discovery of those talents. The companies in this industry operate through generation of revenue from its assets whose base is created by publications and recordings. Large companies in this industry such as that of Sony Music hold the advantage of both distribution and marketing. The smaller companies dwelling in this industry are generally referred to as ‘indies’ and these companies compete by concentrating on local artists and varieties of music (Christman, 2011). 2. Internal Resources and Culture Analysis 2.1 Financial Resources The music segment of Sony that comprises of operations of the US based Sony Music Entertainment (SME) and Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. (SMEJ) generated sales of 522.6 billion yen during the year 2010 that rose by 35% from the previous year’s performance. Simultaneously, the operating income also increased by 31.1% and rose to 36.5 billion yen from 27.8 billion yen during the past year of 2009. The increment figure of sales in the musi c segment has only been due to the fact that although the segment had begun its operation during the month of October 2008, the sales figure has been considered for the full year on a consolidated basis. Had the sales figure been considered otherwise, there would have been a decrement in sales by 5%. On the other hand, considering the operating inc

Criminology- To what extent are prison suicides in the UK a Essay

Criminology- To what extent are prison suicides in the UK a consequence of prisons being used to accommodate too many people with mental health problems - Essay Example Insufficient mental health treatment is provided by those in charge in the prisons. Extremely harsh, terrifying, and bleak facts are also revealed by a research study lately about the ten most horrific prisons of all times in the world according to which prisoners irrespective of their histories are kept unacceptably jam-packed like animals. The UK prisons are also teeming with psychopath prisoners to some extent who have severe mental health issues like major depression, anxiety, paranoia, and suicide idealization. Overcrowding is blamed for 37% rise in prison suicide among inmates living together in prison systems which have no good management (Woodward 2008). Concerning the alarming situation that as many as 9 out of 10 prisoners in UK are subjected to deal with the rough consequences of depression, paranoia, drug or alcohol abuse, anxiety, and personality disorders, the claim that the rough prison atmosphere in UK might be the reason behind growing number of suicides reported by prison officials starts appearing to be valid and acceptable. â€Å"More than two-thirds of all men, women and children in prison have two or more mental health problems such as depression and anxiety† (PRISON REFORM TRUST 2010). The incidence of mental or personality disorders is really not that common among the normal population and this frequency of ill mental health gives rise to prison suicides which are becoming more frequent in UK now than ever before. There definitely exists a connection between overcrowding in jails and suicide attempts by prisoners. Jails in UK are under pressure from overcrowding and more often than not, they cave in to this pr essure with the result that the statistical data revealed by prison officials identifies that â€Å"the number of prisoners who killed themselves in jail rose significantly in 2007† (BBC

The Role Of Security Management Essay Example for Free

The Role Of Security Management Essay ABSTRACT Personal information security is usually considered a technical discipline with much attention being focused on topics such as encryption, hacking, break-ins, and credit card theft. Security products such as anti-virus programs and personal firewall software, are now available for end-users to install on their computers to protect against threats endemic to networked computers. The behavioral aspects related to maintaining enterprise security have received little attention from researchers and practitioners. Using Q-sort analysis, this thesis used students as end-users in a graduate business management security course to investigate issues affecting selection of personal firewall software in organizations. Based on the Q-sort analysis of end-users in relation to seven variables identified from review of the information security literature, three distinct group characteristics emerged. Similarities and differences between groups are investigated and implications of these results to IT managers, vendors of security software and researchers in information security area are discussed. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my supervisor Professor ____________ for his great supervision and guidance throughout the duration of my thesis project. I would also like to thank all colleagues for their help and support. Finally, I wish to thank my family for their continued support throughout the thesis. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.3 TABLE OF CONTENTS†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..4 LIST OF ACRONYMS†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.5 CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦6 †¢ Statement of the Problem†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7 †¢ Research Question†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦8 †¢ Significance of the Research†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦9 †¢ Design and Methodology†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.10 Q-Sort Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.12 †¢ Organization of the Study†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦14 CHAPTER 2- LITERATURE REVIEW†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦14 CHAPTER 3 – RESEARCH QUESTION FINDINGS†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.18 Data Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..18 -Analysis of Results†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦26 -Limitations of the Study†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..29 Chapter 4- SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Summary†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦30 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.31 Recommendation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..33 REFERENCES†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..34 LIST OF ACRONYMS Operational definition of these variables as it relates to the study are provided: Performance [PERF] : Refers to how well the software operates under various conditions (such as high traffic, types of data, port scans, etc.) Ease-of-use [EOU]: Refers to usability of the product (such as screen design and layout, access to features using tabs, buttons, etc.) Updates [UPDTS]: Refers to product updates at regular intervals after product has been installed and used Features [FEATR] : Refers to the number of program options and features available in software Reports [RPORT]: Refers to Intrusion Reports and log files generated by the firewall software Cost [COST]: Refers to price paid for the product (either as shrink wrapped package or as a download) Configuration [CONFIG]: Refers to setup and configuration after product has been installed Support [SUPPRT]: Refers to availability of online help and technical support either by phone or e-mail Installation [INSTLL]: Refers to initial installation of the product. Chapter 1 – INTRODUCTION Security describes a process of protection from any harm. It also describes the countermeasures put in place by that process. Harm may indicate a loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Security management focuses on preventing harm resulting from both random acts of nature and intentional strategic actions (Schechter, 2004). Security is considered to be a very important issue while developing complex personal information systems (Mouratidis et al., 2002). Security is a major concern in todays digital era. The Internet offers a low cost, but insecure means of reaching people. Owing to the ubiquity of the Internet, it is difficult to control and trace intrusions or attacks by unauthorized people, hackers, etc. Electronic commerce applications need secure mechanisms for accurate user identification, accessing sensitive database, storing and transmitting sensitive information, etc. Personal identification numbers (PINs), passwords, smart cards and digital certificates are some of the means normally used for this purpose. However, these means do not really identify a person, but only knowledge of some data or belonging of some determined object (Sanchez-Reillo et al., 1999), e.g. public key infrastructure (PKI) cannot assure identity of the maker of a transaction, it can only identify the makers computer. An imposter can easily masquerade as a legitimate user and defraud the system. Information must be readily available in organizations for making decisions to support the organizational mission. Murphy, Boren, and Schlarman (2000) state that due to increased connectivity and the urgency to exchange information and data among partners, suppliers, and customers on a real time basis, the need to protect and secure computer resources is greater than ever. As a result, this has created the possibility of exposing sensitive corporate information to competitors as well as hackers who can now access organizational computer resources from remote sites. Statement of the Problem The potential loss of such information to an organization goes beyond financial losses and includes the possibility of corrupted data, denial of services to suppliers, business partners and customers, loss of customer confidence, and lost sales. Security in business processes (i.e., maintaining proper authentication, authorization, non-repudiation, and privacy) is critical to successful e-business operations. Enabling business functions over the Internet has been recognized as a major component for the success of businesses and, by mitigating risks in a cost-effective manner, security is now being viewed as a component of business operations (Deise, Nowikow, King, Wright, 2000). Decisions about information systems made by managers are vital to the success, and even survival, of a firm (Enns, Huff, Golden, 2003). Despite increased security threats, organizations have traditionally allocated very little of the total IT budget to information security. Forrester Research estimates that in Fortune 500 companies, the average amount of money as a percent of revenue that is spent on IT security is 0.0025 percent or slightly less than what they spend on coffee (Clarke, 2002). Organizations must evaluate and prioritize the optimum mix of products and services to be deployed for protecting confidentiality (maintaining privacy of information), integrity (maintaining information is not altered in transit), and availability (maintaining access to information and resources) of corporate assets. The decision to deploy certain technology is based on variables such as the organizational business model, level of risk, vulnerability, cost, and return on investment (Highland, 1993). There are several ways in which information can be protected. One method to safeguard information is by using controls. The concept of controls can be applied to financial auditing as well as technical computer security. General controls include personnel, physical and organizational controls as well as technical security services and mechanisms (Summers, 1997). Computer security controls can be hardware or software-based and may include biometric devices, anti-virus software, smart cards, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems that can be used to build the enterprise security infrastructure. Additionally, these controls may be preventive, detective, or corrective. Research Question This paper will focus on one such computer security control Personal Firewalls. Firewalls intercept traffic and make routing and redirection decisions based on policies. Some firewalls can also inspect packets and make transformation and security decisions; therefore, they are critical components in maintaining security in organizations. There are different types of firewalls, such as hardware, software, enterprise, and personal firewalls. Personal firewalls are client-based solutions that are installed on desktop/laptop computers and may be administered individually from a central location. Successful selection and adoption of firewalls (enterprise as well as personal) is based on various factors, some of which are technical while others may be behavioral. This exploratory study looks at the new genre of personal firewalls and, based on the review of the literature, attempts to answer the following research questions: 1) What are the factors that could result in successful selection of personal firewalls in organizations? 2) What are the empirical evidence to support deployment of firewall software? Significance of the Research The study hopes to shed light on behavioral aspects of information security, which may be tied to perceptions of end-users who may influence technology selection in their organization. This will provide empirical evidence to an area that has been identified as lacking in research (Dhillon Blackhouse, 2001 Troutt, 2002) and provide directions and guidance for future studies. Another significance of this study is to look at end-user perception is that it may affect how well the user does his or her part in staying vigilant to combat threats posted by hackers to organizational assets. The end-user may be a conduit to organizational data being compromised. Proper software selection as well as positive user attitude and motivation for using the software are therefore important to ensure ongoing use of personal firewall software. Kettinger and Lee (2002) address the fact that the proliferation of personal computing and individualized software, and popularity of the Internet in organizations have resulted in users playing an important role in driving IT implementation. Their study found that for users selecting their own IT applications (such as desktop software programs), there is greater user satisfaction after implementation. Grantham and Vaske (1985) also state that positive user attitudes are important predictors in continued system use. This is especially important for personal firewall use because computers are at risk at all times when connected to the Internet. In reference to software selection, Chiasson and Lovato (2001) emphasize: Understanding of how users form perceptions of software innovation would help software designers, implementers and users in their evaluation, selection, implementation and ongoing use of software. However, with the exception of some recent work, there is little research examining how a user forms his or her perceptions of innovation overtime (p. 16). The area of information security as it relates to maintaining confidentiality and integrity of data stored on personal computers can benefit from identification of factors that would make it possible to safeguard corporate assets that are at risk as a result of remote data access by employees. Software selection for deployment on company computers cuts across different user levels in terms of knowledge and level of expertise of the user. Selection of software therefore must be done to accommodate all types of users ranging from novices to experts. The latter category of users may have higher tacit knowledge of tasks to be able to compensate for the interface without realizing it (Gery, 1997). Organization of Study The purpose of this paper is to investigate self-referent perceptions of end-users, and use Q-Sort analysis to investigate factors affecting deployment of security firewall software in organizations. The paper is organized as follows: review of research on information security is presented to the reader along with extraction of variables from the literature that may determine firewall deployment in organizations; The Q-Sort Factor Analysis method used for the study is explained and the research design is provided; Along with data analysis, results of the study are then explained, which is followed by discussion and applications to practice. Due to the nature of research design used in this study, limitations are also explained. Research Design and Methodology Subjects in this exploratory research study were 31MBA students enrolled in a security and Control of Information Systems course. The students came from different backgrounds, such as finance, liberal arts, nursing, and computer science. From a business perspective, the course examined implications of information security risks faced by organizations. Although technical issues of security, such as authentication, authorization, and encryption that make electronic commerce sites successful in processing business transactions securely were also explored in the course, the primary focus in the course was from a business perspective. There was no structured lab work during class, but to gain a better understanding of security issues, students were expected to complete hands-on exercises outside class. During initial weeks, topics covered included the PWC model, TCP/IP vs. OSI models, network, e-mail, database security, digital certificates and signatures, risk assessment, and privacy issues. Also, during Week 5, students had been previously tested on the topics using short-answer type questions to determine learning competency of factual information and applications related to information security in organizations. The test score counted towards 15% of overall course grade. With coverage of the aforementioned topics, it was safe to assume that students had knowledge of current security issues facing organizations in todays economy. Because there is no consensus on the common body of knowledge acceptable for all security professionals, and since this was an exploratory study, the study was conducted in a controlled environment with ahomogenous population of students to minimize confounding by extraneous variables. Using MBA students as surrogates for professionals or executives in reference to use and evaluation of technology has also been found to be acceptable (Briggs, Balthazard, Dennis, 1996). The hands-on firewall assignment in this course covered installation, configuration, and use of one standard personal firewall software (ZoneAlarm). After students had a chance to use the software, they were asked to participate in the study. No class discussion was conducted on results of the firewall tests in case it affected students perceptions about the software, which could have influenced their response. Therefore, the data reflected individual student perception without class discussions. Students were given instructions to visit a Web site that explained the nature of the study and provided information on how the Q-sort statements should be sorted. This was important since students are more used to completing questionnaires in a survey format that use Likert scale, open-ended, or closeended questions (such as those used during end of term class evaluation of instruction), but may not be familiar with the peculiarities of the Q-sort procedure. To reduce data errors and extract usable data, instructions were presented in detail before the respondents were shown the statements for the study. Q-Sort Analysis Q-sort analysis uses a technique for studying human subjectivity (Stephenson, 1953; Brown, 1980; McKeown Thomas, 1988). It is useful in exploratory research and a well-developed theoretical literature guides and supports its users (Thomas Watson, 2002). Q-sort methodology is suited for small samples and relies on theories in the domain area being researched to develop items for analysis. A disadvantage of the Q-sort methodology is that it is not suitable for large samples, and it forces subjects to conform to certain expectations (such as fitting responses within a normal distribution). Brown (1986) suggests that 30 to 50 subjects are sufficient for studies investigating public opinion. Q-sort uses an ipsative (self-referenced) technique of sorting participants statements about subjective conditions. It is a variation of factor analysis technique that uses Q-methodology theory to analyze correlation measure (Brown, 1980). Respondents to Q-sort studies are required to sort statements into predefined normal distribution type scale in which a fixed number of items fall under each category. The rankings provide clusters of perceptions of individuals consensus and conflict, which can be used to place individuals with similar characteristics into groups for further study, hi the past, the Q-sort technique used index cards for sorting, but now Web-based data collection programs (such as WebQ) are common. Initially the statements are presented to respondents in random order, and each respondent organizes statements into predefined categories. To view entered data, the respondent also can update statement rankings to see where the statements fall under each category. One advantage of using the WebQ method is that data submission errors are reduced since the program verifies that the statements are sorted according to predefined requirements. Figure 1. WebQ questionnaire Adapted from: Brown, 1980. In this personal firewall study, the statements were to be classified by respondents as Most Important (+2), Important (+1), Neutral (O), Less Important (-1), and Least Important (-2). To provide a forced distribution that is expected in the Q-Sort methodology, respondents were given instructions to identify one statement as Most Important, two statements each as Important and Less Important, and three statements as Neutral. The instrument used is shown in Figure 1 Chapter 2-LITERATURE REVIEW In the area of information security, research has often lagged practice. Dhillon Blackhouse (2001) have stressed the need for more empirical research to develop key principles for the prevention of negative events and therefore to help in the management of security. Despite known vulnerabilities in applications and operating systems, companies continue to deploy software to stay competitive, and steps taken to secure products and services are knee-jerk reactions to media stories that are more reactive than proactive in nature. Most IT managers lack a coherent framework and concrete methodology for achieving enterprise security. A security plan that includes technology, personnel, and policies would be a much better approach to developing an enterprise security strategy. One such model is the Enterprise security Framework Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) model. The PWC model is comprehensive because it addresses the entire enterprise of security architecture. The model emphasizes information security strategies within the organization using a holistic rather than apiecemeal approach. The framework is based on four pillars: security vision and strategy, senior management commitment, information security management structure, and training and awareness. Within the pillars are decision drivers, development, and implementation phases. Firewalls are placed in the development phase since they are used to provide interpretation of corporate standards at the technical level. For a detailed discussion of the PWC model, the reader is referred to Murphy, Boren, and Schlarman (2000). Firewalls can be considered a last line of defense in protecting and securing information systems. Wood (1988) provided a context for information security systems planning and proposed that reactive and incremental improvement approaches to address security are harbingers of a more serious problem. Other factors identified in Woods model are the lack of top management support, information overload, insufficient staffing, and limited resources. Straub and Welke (1998) advocate using deterrence, prevention, detection, and recovery security action cycle to mitigate systems risk and use prioritized security controls. Data on computer crimes is often under-reported because companies are not willing to risk public embarrassment and bad publicity. Most companies choose to handle these incidents internally without keeping documentation or reporting to local, state or federal authorities (Saita, 2001). There is a need for unbiased empirical studies in the information security area that will provide insight into problems affecting todays technology dependent corporations and industries. With a strong need to collect and analyze computer security data, the CSI/FBI Computer Crime and security Survey is published yearly (see http:// www.gocsi.com). This study provides descriptive statistics but does not attempt to identify relationship between variables, as is expected in analytical surveys. Also, results reported in this annual survey have been identified by the publishers themselves to be potentially misleading due to the limited number of respondents and their accuracy as a result of anonymous nature of the surveys. These results have also been called into question because of lack of statistical or scholarly rigor and self-serving interest (Heiser, 2002). Despite these limitations, the CSI/FBI survey provides a useful role in comparison of yearly data for similar parameters. The area of human computer interface provides a link between the user and software applications. User satisfaction is a function of features, user interface, response time, reliability, installability, information, maintainability, and other factors.†If a products user interface catches a users attention and is simple to learn and use, and has the right price and features, then the product may gain competitive advantage (Torres, 2002, p. 15). The theory of user interface design and user involvement in completing task-based actions related to Internet and security software has been substantiated by two studies in which user interaction with peer-to-peer software (Good Kerkelberg, 2002), and PGP software (Whitten Tygar, 1999) were examined. Good and Krekelberg (peer-to-peer study) found that applications connecting to the Internet need better usability and software design to maintain integrity of information stored on a users computer. In this study, individuals assumed responsibility of keeping firewalls operational at all times. This contributed in large part to maintaining effective enterprise security. Whitten and Tygar (PGP study) found that user errors are a significant portion of computer security failures, and further concluded that user interfaces for security programs require a usability standard much different from other consumer software. (Although this study is not directly concerned with user satisfaction, but is more focused on factors that affect deployment rather than development of end-user software in a specific area, some factors may be directly tied to user satisfaction as will be shown by correlational analysis). Due to increasing mobile and off-site access by employees using cable modems, DSL connections, and wireless devices to access corporate resources, personal firewalls are a necessary component to maintain overall enterprise security in an organization. Because of the nature and availability of personal firewall software, most companies choose to acquire it rather than develop it in-house. Software acquisition that results in productivity gains and strategic advantage is of critical concern to organizations, and factors that relate to these benefits must be correctly identified and understood for software acquisition decisions (Nelson, Richmond, Seidmann, 1996). Purchase of commercial software includes identifying requirements, evaluating packages from different vendors, configuring, installing, and evaluating it either as server or client-based solution. This may further involve requirements acquisition that leads to product selection (Maiden, Ncube, Moore, 1997). As a method of selection, professionals in charge of evaluating personal firewall software could draft a feature requirements document, and evaluate vendor products by comparing available features as well as using demonstration versions of software. This would be followed by user experience with the software. As mentioned earlier, the need for user involvement in information systems has been considered an important mechanism for improving system quality and ensuring successful system implementation. It is further believed that the users satisfaction with a system leads to greater system usage (Baroudi, Olson, Ives, 1986). The requirements for software though must be as measurable as possible to enable product selection and may also use repertory grids in which stakeholders are asked for attributes applicable to a set of entities and values for cells in an entity-attribute matrix. This would produce representation of requirements in a standardized, quantifiable format amenable even to statistical analyses (Maiden, Ncube, Moore, 1997). In relation to the security area, Goodhue and Straub (1991) found company actions and individual awareness to be statistically significant in a study of perceptions of managers regarding controls installed in organizations. Chapter 3 – RESEARCH QUESTION FINDINGS Data Analysis Q-Sort analysis is a type of inverse factor analysis in which the cases (subjects) rather than statement variables (features) are clustered. As recommended by Brown (1980), a procedure that arranged statements based on responses of a single individual was used for data analysis. The responses involved statements of opinion (also called Q-sample) that individuals rank-ordered based on the feature requirements in personal firewall software. The arrayed items (Q-sort) from the respondents were correlated and factor-analyzed. The factors indicated clusters of subjects who had ranked the statement in the same fashion. Explanation of factors was then advanced in terms of commonly shared attitudes or perspectives. A review of security literature (Hazari, 2000; Northcutt, McLachlan, Novak, 2000; Scambray, McClure, Kurtz, 2001; Strassberg, Rollie, Gondek, 2002; Zwicky, Cooper, Chapman, Russell, 2000) was used to extract the following statement variables relating to requirements in persona l firewall software: performance, ease-of-use, updates, features, reports, cost, configuration, and support. Table 1. Participant ranked scores Variable Mean SD PERF 4.45 0.77 EOU 3.39 1.08 UPDTS 3.23 0.88 FEATR 3.03 0.93 RPORT 3.00 1.03 COST 2.97 1.20 CONFIG 2.55 0.85 SUPPRT 2.35 0.98 INSTLL 2.00 0.89 Prior to conducting the Q-sort analysis, ranked scores of all participants (before identifying factor groups) on each statement variable were calculated for preliminary descriptive statistics. These are shown in Table 1, where a mean score of 5 = Most Important and 0 = Least Important). Correlation between the nine feature variables shows a low level of correlation between statements. This indicates there is a high degree of independence between the statement categories as used in the analysis. This finding is important since it supports the assertion that the statements represent relatively independent factors obtained from the review of the literature. In the correlation matrix shown, Table 2 shows significant correlation (p 0.05) between cost and updates, cost and reports, ease-of-use and performance, ease-of-use and updates, and installation and support. Table 2. Correlation matrix between variables COST FEATR EOU PERF INSTLL UPDTS RPORT CONFIG SUPPRT COST 1.00 -0.21 0.27 0.18 -0.13 -0.43 -0.49 -0.08 -0.10 FEATR 1.00 -.29 0.35 -0.16 0.06 -0.17 -0.13 -0.25 EOU 1.00 0.44 0.00 -0.37 -0.27 -0.20 -0.04 PERF 1.00 -0.10 -0.11 -0.13 0.13 -0.14 INSTLL 1.00 -0.13 -0.04 0.18 -0.53 UPDTS 1.00 0.26 -0.15 0.17 RPORT 1.00 1.00 0.03 CONFIG -0.24 SUPPRT 1.00 As mentioned earlier, in Q-factor analysis, the correlation between subjects rather than variables are factored. The factors represent grouping of people with similar patterns of response during sorting (Brown, 1980; Thomas Watson, 2002). Following guidelines for Q-factor analysis, eight factors were initially identified with eigenvalues 1 (an eigenvalue is the amount of variance in the original variable associated with the factor). These factors and their percentage of variance are shown in Table 3. Table 3. Eigenvalues of unrelated factors Eigenvalues % Cumul.% 1 11.56 37.28 37.28 2 6.03 19.45 56.73 3 3.91 12.61 69.34 4 2.98 9.61 78.95 5 2.14 6.92 85.87 6 1.93 6.23 92.10 7 1.43 4.61 96.71 8 1.02 3.29 100.00 Factors selected were rotated to maximize the loading of each variable on one of the extracted factors while minimizing loading on all other factors. Factors selected for rotation are usually identified by taking those with eigenvalue greater than one (Kline, 1994). However, in this study, the more rigorous Kaiser rule of selecting factors whose eigenvalue is at or above the mean eigenvalue (in this case 3.85) was used. Factors 1,2, and 3, which represented almost 70% of total variance in data, were then subjected to principal component analysis with varimax rotation. Following rotation, a Factor Matrix indicating defining sort (i.e., respondents in agreement) identified three factor groups with similar pattern of responses. The correlation of individual respondents with factors is shown in Table 4 below. Table 4. Factor matrix of respondents (* indicates defining sort) Q-Sort 1 2 3 1 02386 -0.0398 0.8988 2 0.0227 0.1971 0.8158* 3 0.4975 -0.3790 0.5458 4 0.8575* -0.2912 0.0811 5 -0.2639 0.0196 0.7993* 6 -0.0614 0.7524* -0.2289 7 0.4014 -0.1587 0.4678* 8 0.1367 0.0728 0.9054* 9 0.5351 0.1183 0.6886* 10 0.5065 0.3263 01754 11 0.5351 0.3357 0.6886 12 0.8192* 0.7321* 0.1035 13 -0.6495* 0.3450 -0.0844 14 -0.0464 0.8598* 0.5845 15 0.6535 0.0127 0.3053 16 0.2052 0.2324 0.2452 17 -0.1340 0.4049 0.9512 18 0.7553* 0.5865 0.2987 19 0.2431 0.4049 0.6946 20 0.5983* 0.5865 -0.0334 21 0.4660 0.6533* 0.4573 22 0.5672* 0.1057 -0.3342 23 0.3501 -0.1001 0.8195 24 0.1008 0.9240* 0.0038 25 0.3329 0.0999 0.7194 26 0.2254 0.6545* 0.1329 27 0.7660* 0.1246 0.5677 28 -0.1210 -0.3611* 0.2308 29 0.3850 0.7032* 0.0144 30 0.4656 0.5605 -0.3196 31 -0.1987 0.8988* 0.2470 % explained variance 21 22 26 From Table 4 it can be observed that for Factor 1, respondents 4, 12, 13, 15, 18,20,22, and 27 were in agreement and are highly loaded on this factor. Similarly, respondents 6, 10, 14, 16, 21, 24, 26, 29, and 30 were in agreement in Factor 2, and respondents 5,7,8,9,11,17,19, and 23 were in agreement in Factor 3. The statements in which these three factor groups were ranked are shown in Table 5. Table 5. Ranked statement totals with each factor No. Statement Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 1 COST 0.31 5 0.91 2 -1.45 9 2 FEATR -0.45 7 0.10 5 0.70 2 3 EOU 0.91 2 0.63 3 -0.55 6 4 PERF 1.26 1 1.72 1 1.80 1 5 INSTLL -1.92 9 -0.31 6 -0.63 7 6 UPDTS 0.52 3 -0.54 7 0.61 3 7 RPORTS 0.03 6 -1.28 8 0.55 4 8 CONFIG -1.07 8 0.12 4 -0.17 5 9 SUPPRT 0.41 4 -1.34 9 -0.87 8 Table 6 shows correlation between the factors. Similar to the findings earlier about variable independence, the factor groups also show a high degree of independence. Table 6. Correlation between factors Factor 1 2 3 1 1.0000 0.3218 0.2970 2 0.3218 1.0000 0.2298 3 0.2970 0.2298 1.0000 The normalized factor scores for each factor were examined next. This provided ameasure of relative strength of importance attached by a factor to each statement on the scale used during sorting. Tables 7(a), 7(b), and 7(c) show these scores. Table 7(a). Normalized Factor 1 score No. Statement z-score 4 PERF 1.258 3 EOU 0.910 6 UPDTS 0.542 9 SUPPRT 0.409 1 COST 0.314 7 RPORT 0.032 2 FEATR -0.454 8 CONFIG -1.071 5I INSTLL -1.922 Table 7(b). Normalized Factor 2 score No. Statement z-score 4 PERF 1.717 1 COST 0.905 3 EOU 0.626 8 CONFIG 0.116 2 FEATR 0.102 5 INSTLL -0.313 6 UPDTS -0.535 7 RPORT -1.276 9I SUPPRT -1.343 Table 7(c). Normalized Factor 3 score No. Statement z-score 4 PERF 1.805 2 FEATR 0.702 6 UPDTS 0.606 7 RPORT 0.553 8 CONFIG -0.170 3 EOU -0.547 5 INSTLL -0.632 9 SUPPRT -0.872 1I COST -1.446 From the Table 7(a) it can be seen that adherents of Factor 1 feel strongly in favor of statement 4 (Performance) and oppose statements 8 and 5. This indicates for Factor 1 group, performance is preferred over initial installation, setup and configuration of the product. The results of Factor 2 group are consistent with Factor 1; that is, performance of the product is the highest rated criterion. Ease-of-use also rated highly in Factors 1 and 2. Perceived ease-of-use in an information systems product has been shown to play a critical role in predicting and determining a users decision to use the product (Hackbarth, Grover, Yi, 2003). The largest dissension between Factor 1 and 2 groups involved statements 9 (Availability of Online Help), 7 (Intrusion Reports generated), and 6 (Regular Product Updates). The results of Factor 3 are consistent with Factors 1 and 2 with Performance criteria once again being highly rated. The most dissension between Factors 2 and 3 involved statements 1 (Cost) and 3 (Ease-of-use). The most dissension between Factors 1 and 3 involved statements 1 (Cost), 3 (Ease-of-use), and 9 (Availability of Online Help). Analysis of Results The Q-sort analysis classified subjects into three groups. Eight subjects were classified under Factor 1, and 10 subjects each were included in Factors 2 and 3. There were three subjects in the study that were not distinguished in any group. These subjects were excluded from further analysis. The classification into factors gave a better idea of group characteristics. Since Factors 1 and 2 were similar and shown to include subjects who considered Performance, ease-of-use, and Availability of Online Help as the most important characteristics, this group can be considered to be comprised of non-technical users who place more emphasis on the product performing as expected in achieving goals for security. Factor 3 subjects emphasized technical characteristics and were more interested in number of features in the product, updates to the product on a regular basis, intrusion reports generated by personal firewalls, and setup/configuration of the product after installation. This group had c haracteristics of technical users. The normalized factor scores provided a measure of relative strength of importance attached by factors to each statement on the scale used during sorting. As mentioned earlier, adherents in Factor 1 felt strongly in favor of statement 4 (Performance) and opposed statements 8 (Setup/configuration) and 5 (Installation). The results of Factor 2 are consistent with Factor 1, that is, Performance of the product is the highest rated criterion. ease-of-use also rated highly in Factors 1 and 2. The largest dissension between Factor 1 and 2 groups involved statements 9 (Availability of Online Help), 7 (Intrusion Reports generated), and 6 (Regular Product Updates). The most dissension between Factors 2 and 3 involved Statements 1 (Cost) and 3 (Ease-of-use). Results of Factor 3 were consistent with Factors 1 and 2, with Performance criteria once again being highly rated. The largest dissension between Factors 1 and 3 involved statements 1 (Cost), 3 (Ease-of-use), and 9 (Availability of Online Help). Extreme differences between all factors appeared in Cost, Intrusion Reports generated, and Availability of Online Help. There was only one statement, Performance of the product, that showed consensus among all factors; that is, it did not distinguish between any pair of factors, which indicates Performance of the desktop firewall software is an agreed upon criterion irrespective of group characteristics. The managerial implications of this study can be assessed at the level of selecting appropriate software for use on computers in organizations to maintain security. There is evidence of user satisfaction being a useful measure of system success (Mahmood et al., 2000). While the end-user may not purchase individually preferred software for installation on company owned computers, the user can influence decisions for selection by making known to IS managers the features that would contribute to regular use of security software such as personal firewalls. Given access of these machines to corporate resources, appropriate and regular use of software would contribute to maintaining enterprise security. For technical professionals (e.g., programmers) who install firewalls on their desktop, programs could emphasize the statements that are defining characteristics shown in Factor 3. For an industry that has non-technical professionals (such as Factor 1 and 2), other non-technical characteristics of the product could be emphasized thus achieving maximum effectiveness in program deployment. Increased awareness should minimize user related faults, nullify these in theory, and maximize the efficiency of security techniques and procedures from the users point of view (Siponen, 2000). The results of this study could also benefit vendors who develop software for end-users. In this study it was found that performance of the software is the most important factor that affects selection of software, irrespective of group characteristics. Due to project deadlines and market competition, software is often shipped without being fully tested as secure, and standard industry practice is to release incremental service packs that address security issues in the product. In a case of security software, this may adversely affect the reputation of a vendor once its products have been shown to have high vulnerability to being compromised. The findings of this study could provide a better understanding of importance of personal firewall security software on organizational client computers. The decision to install an information system necessitates a choice of mechanisms to determine whether it is needed, and once implemented, whether it is functioning properly (Ives, Olson, Baroud i, 1983). More research needs to be done in the area of selection of software for implementation on users computers that are owned by corporations and given to employees for off-site work. This can include regular employees vs. contractors who may connect to employer and client networks from the same computer. If the findings are to have wider applicability, qualified industry professionals and security officers responsible for maintaining secure infrastructure in corporations should be included in the analysis. The study provides management and security professionals a basis for making decisions related to enterprise security. It provides personal firewall vendors an insight into feature requirements of the personal firewall market, and provides academic researchers interested in security, a more focused approach on various dimensions of security software from the behavioral perspective. Future studies could be industry and product specific in order to assess differences in selecting general- purpose software versus security specific products. In many cases, management has looked at the need for implementing information security programs and products as a necessary encumbrance, something akin to paying taxes or insurance premiums (Highland, 1993). But organizations are increasingly becoming aware of the potential for legal exposure via lawsuits, and are deploying countermeasures (such as personal firewalls) to reduce vulnerability and mitigate risk. The chief information security officer in todays organizations should have the responsibility of managing organizational risks by using empirical models and analysis to determine strategies for protecting corporate assets. Firewalls are the last line of defense in the corporate network and therefore play a critical role in information security. With personal firewalls being a new product genre, this study was conducted since there is no research available that specifically looks at determinants for selection of security software in a corporate environment to protect organizational assets. As the information security field evolves further, decisions for security software acquisitions need to be researched further. Selection and deployment of appropriate firewalls can make a significant difference in an organizations enterprise security strategy. It is therefore also important to understand the variables (as shown in this study) that may affect decisions to select and deploy personal firewall software in a corporate environment. Limitations of the Study Due to the exploratory nature of this study, there are several limitations. The sample used in the study comprised of all students enrolled in a security course at the same university, and was further limited to the firewall topic among a wide range of technical and behavioral information security topics. Students worked with only one type of firewall software and characteristics of this particular program may have heightened their awareness of certain strengths and weaknesses in the software. Since the purpose of information security implementation in an organization is to support business objectives of the organization, information security departments are sometimes placed under the chief financial officer recognizing the direct relationship between information assets and monetary assets. Software acquisition decisions may therefore be made by the finance department with limited input from the IT department. The purpose of this study was to explore an important topic for research on information security and determine operant subjectivity in a field where empirical research is severely lacking. The Q-sort technique itself is suitable for small sample populations (Thomas Watson, 2002), but the correlations obtained in smaller samples tend to have considerable standard errors (Kline, 1994). The exploratory nature of this study was not intended to prove some general proposition but to seek a better understanding of group characteristics that directly relate to maintaining a secure network environment (in this case by deploying personal firewalls to plug possible vulnerabilities that might exist in a network through use of computers by employees either on-site or at remote locations). The perceptions of end-users will therefore guide the selection and deployment of security technologies in an organization to provide a secure corporate environment. Chapter 4- SUMMARY and CONCLUSIONS Summary In the area of information security, research has often lagged practice. Dhillon Blackhouse (2001) have stressed the need for more empirical research to develop key principles for the prevention of negative events and therefore to help in the management of security. Despite known vulnerabilities in applications and operating systems, companies continue to deploy software to stay competitive, and steps taken to secure products and services are knee-jerk reactions to media stories that are more reactive than proactive in nature. Most IT managers lack a coherent framework and concrete methodology for achieving enterprise security. A security plan that includes technology, personnel, and policies would be a much better approach to developing an enterprise security strategy. One such model is the Enterprise security Framework Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) model. The PWC model is comprehensive because it addresses the entire enterprise of security architecture. The model emphasizes information security strategies within the organization using a holistic rather than apiecemeal approach. The framework is based on four pillars: security vision and strategy, senior management commitment, information security management structure, and training and awareness. Within the pillars are decision drivers, development, and implementation phases. Firewalls are placed in the development phase since they are used to provide interpretation of corporate standards at the technical level. For a detailed discussion of the PWC model, the reader is referred to Murphy, Boren, and Schlarman (2000). So it is important reason to look at end-user perception as it may affect how well the user does his or her part in staying vigilant to combat threats posted by hackers to organizational assets. The end-user may be a conduit to organizational data being compromised. Proper software selection as well as positive user attitude and motivation for using the software are therefore important to ensure ongoing use of personal firewall software. Kettinger and Lee (2002) address the fact that the proliferation of personal computing and individualized software, and popularity of the Internet in organizations have resulted in users playing an important role in driving IT implementation. Their study found that for users selecting their own IT applications (such as desktop software programs), there is greater user satisfaction after implementation. Grantham and Vaske (1985) also state that positive user attitudes are important predictors in continued system use. This is especially important for personal firewall use because computers are at risk at all times when connected to the Internet. In reference to software selection, Chiasson and Lovato (2001) emphasize: Understanding of how users form perceptions of software innovation would help software designers, implementers and users in their evaluation, selection, implementation and ongoing use of software. However, with the exception of some recent work, there is little research examining how a user forms his or her perceptions of innovation overtime (p. 16). The area of information security as it relates to maintaining confidentiality and integrity of data stored on personal computers can benefit from identification of factors that would make it possible to safeguard corporate assets that are at risk as a result of remote data access by employees. Software selection for deployment on company computers cuts across different user levels in terms of knowledge and level of expertise of the user. Selection of software therefore must be done to accommodate all types of users ranging from novices to experts. The latter category of users may have higher tacit knowledge of tasks to be able to compensate for the interface without realizing it (Gery, 1997). Conclusions In this study, Q-methodology was used to define participant viewpoints and perceptions, empirically place participants in groups, provide sharper insight into participant preferred directions, identify criteria that are important to participants, explicitly outline areas of consensus and conflicts, and investigate a contemporary problem relating to desktop firewalls by quantifying subjectivity. Similar to other IT areas, security software selection and deployment in todays environment faces many challenges, such as staying current with new threats, project deadlines, implementation issues, and support costs. Quality drives customer satisfaction and adoption of software. Human factors are important in contributing to successful software deployment in organizations, especially when it relates to desktop software applications. Organizations are now viewing security and controls as business enablers and desktop firewall technology plays a critical role in safeguarding corporate assets. In a fast-paced area where the new generation of applications and services are growing more complex each day, it is critical to understand characteristics that affect selection of end-user security products in enterprises. This study addresses a small but important area of safeguarding enterprise information security by using personal firewalls. As has been previously noted, limited research exists beyond the current study that explores behavioral aspects of information security. This study holds importance for professionals tasked with evaluating and selecting security products for company wide deployment. As the area of information security gains increased importance due to the strategic role of technology in organizations, and current events impact areas such as disaster recovery and enterprise continuity planning, a study of end-users to determine their perceptions about selection of technology controls in organizations is critical for protecting organizational assets. More research needs to be done in the area of perception of users towards other security software (such as anti-virus, intrusion detection, virtual private network software, and encryption products), and, due to varying security needs in different industries, studies could also be industry and product specific. While the findings should be considered preliminary, the results raise interesting observations about issues uncovered regarding security perceptions of feature requirements in personal firewalls. Information security is a dynamic area and, in this environment, this exploratory study contributes to evolving research by identifying variables from theoretical literature and using an empirical technique to study issues that affect safeguarding vital assets of an organization from internal and external threats. Recommendation It is recommended that in order to provide better evidence of factors that affect deployment of technology tools that create awareness of security issues and produce better informed employees, research into behavioral factors also needs to be conducted to gain insight into programs and processes that will lead to the development of a robust enterprise security strategy. Information security awareness research has been mostly descriptive and has not explored the possibilities offered by motivation/behavioral theories, or the related theory of planned behavior and the technology acceptance model, specifically in the information security domain (Mathieson, 1991 ; Siponen, 2000; Legris, Ingham, Collerette, 2003). Since security has been deployed at the perimeter of electronic network and on servers by system administrators, the area of information security has ignored users of information systems since software developers are far removed from how the user will interact with security software. Human compliance with information security rules require an understanding of how people work and think (Highland, 1993). Lane (1985) considers the human factor to be the first and most important component of security and a critical part of the risk analysis process. 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