Ethics Essay

In comparing the similarities and differences in ethical theories, the goals of each theory and the morals and values that can be observed in the process. While the following ethical theories appear similar on the surface virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethical will be discussed and their differences will be defined. Virtue Theory relates to the pursuit of excellence in everything you do. As one commercial put it, â€Å"Be all that you can be† (U. S. Army 1981). One must have the idea that if they want to maximize their greatest potential, they must work hard to produce it. To the Utilitarian this may appear selfish, but self-discipline and self-determination is key to achieving the goal. Oxford dictionary describes utilitarianism as one who practices the doctrine that produces the greatest happiness of the greatest number. For example, a busy mother gives great sacrifice of putting her needs aside to take care of her three children who are home sick with the flu. At this moment, the mother, who is also sick with a temperature of 102 F, is not practicing virtue theory because; the mother has currently put her needs aside. The mother is practicing patience and compassion to assure that her children get the care that they need. Boylan (page 171) describes Deontological ethics as a moral theory that emphasizes one’s duty to do a particular action just because it is right and not through any other sort of calculations. An example of this would include presenting an inventory sheet to authorities proving that fraudulent activity has occurred buy a company that has been charging customers extra for supplies. The distinct difference of these theories suggests that virtual theory focuses attention toward creating greatness within one’s self. Utilitarianism focuses attention by creating greatness toward the masses. Deontological ethics relates to doing what is right whether it be for one’s self or for the masses with the understanding that happiness is not the goal but a moral responsibility is. A personal experience explaining the relationship between virtue, values, and moral concepts includes a deontological experience that I had several years ago. One Friday afternoon I walked into a bank to cash a check in the amount of $527. 28. The teller cashed my check, but I did not bother to double check the money until I got home. After checking and double-checking the money that evening, I came to the realization that I had 627. 28 cash in my envelope. The teller accidently gave me an additional $100 dollar bill. I could not go back to the bank to address the problem because the bank had closed for the day. I could not with good conscious keep the money because my family has instilled strong morals and values of honesty, integrity, and dignity within me. The money must be returned for it is the morally right thing to do. Saturday morning I drove back to the bank and asked for the manager and explained what had happened. I handed over the entire envelope as it was presented to me and I explained that two very crisp one hundred dollar bills were so tightly stuck together that it appeared as one bill. The manager surprised at what had transpired the day before, thanked me for my honesty and determination to see that the money was returned. I told the manager that I appreciate her kind words but it was truly the right thing to do. Though comparing the similarities and differences with these moral standards, ethical theories along with morals and values can be observed in the process. While it is clear that these theories may appear similar in nature the following ethical theories, virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethical will be discussed and their differences will be defined.

Behavior Modification Research Paper Essay

Abstract Reinforcing positive behavior is critical in many aspects. It helps parents, school teachers and managers seek positive behavioral responses from the subject whether it’s a child, adult or even an employee. â€Å"Reinforcement was first studied by Thorndike (1911), who illustrated that reinforcement is a process where the behavior is increased by the immediate consequence that follows. Thorndike placed a hungry cat in a cage and food outside the cage and the cat eventually learned to press the lever again and again to gain access to the food that was placed outside the cage. Thorndike called this â€Å"Law of Effect†, simply, because the cage-cat illustration showed how the animal learned (stimulus-response) through operant conditioning† (Thorndike 1911). Reinforcement can be either positive or negative (Miltenberger, 2011). Both have their own merits and demerits. Positive reinforcement is often considered as more desirable, especially, since the negative reinforcement cannot be sustained for too long and also it has chances of revoking resistance. Positive reinforcement through both primary and secondary methods helps win the respect and loyalty of the subject most of the times. Sustainable reinforcement is a mixture of the two types: positive and negative. For personal behavioral modification, people mostly choose to get positive stimuli. They do not like to be hurt or punished in order to perform a task. Likewise, I also chose the positive methods and would prefer that I am given appreciation at home, school and/or my workplace because that will help me to demonstrate increased productivity, dedication and commitment and it will also reduce the level of stress. These positive factors of reinforcement may include improving the work environment, improving timings and/or offering conveyance services. Introduction Behaviors are equally important at work as well as in our social lives. This is because positive behavior is connected to good performance and impact, and, negative behavior is connected to negative impact. During evaluation periods, employers review positive behavior from their employees and they focus on both positive and negative behavioral types when they looking to hire new employees. Behavior is a response that can be reinforced. Reinforcement concept of psychology helps find what reinforces positive  behavior and which activities reinforce negative behavior. There are both positive and negative reinforces and there are benefits and consequences for both behavior type. In the workplace, the Manager is not only required to find the factors that help in reinforcing positive behavior, but, also to assess the comparative success of these factors in different work and home environments as well. A detailed analysis of reinforcement literature will assist in effectively modifying th e behavior. Literature Review B.F. Skinner used the reinforcement theory to positively encourage the mouse to find a way out and get cheese and today, Managers make use of reinforcement theories to motivate employees. Reinforcing positive behavior allows the managers to determine what can be expected from their employee(s). Daymut (2009) says that positive reinforcement helps in homes, schools, offices and almost anywhere. Reinforcement is supportive in increasing the chances of certain behavioral response. The probability of behavior can be increased by increasing the stimulus to which the individual or employee responds. The primary reinforcers are physical stimuli and the appreciation and non-monetary rewards are the secondary reinforcing agents. Punishment serves as negative reinforcers while gratitude serves as positive reinforcers. People are inclined to different reinforcing factors based on their personality-type, the kind of environment they were brought up in and the things that are inculcated into their minds. The pleasure-pain principle suggests that some people are motivated better when they find pleasure in doing something, while, others may not indulge into an activity unless they find pain by not doing them. For example, getting ill due to over-eating and excessive weight gain is a negative reinforcing factor that will help an individual adopt a routine of healthy (adequate) eating choices and light exercising such as walking, etc. Reinforcement works differently in different environments. Some environments are better suitable for the positive reinforcement while the others are better for the negative reinforcement. However, in most of cases the positive reinforcement is considered more effective and useful (DeLeon, Neidert, Anders, and Rodriguez, 2001). The reinforcement of behavior is backed by some needs that can be personal, social or organizational. People even use these strategies for helping people with psychological problems since they are not able to  show response in normal conditions without induced stimuli. The stimuli in positive method should be such that they can be easily arranged as required. On the other hand, the negative factors should also not be too critical to result into a rebellious behavior of the subject. The common examples of positive stimulus or positive reinforcement includes but not limited to; offering gifts to children on getting good grades, paying extra amount for labor projects that were completed on time and/or increasing the salary of an employee or even promoting him/her. The example of negative reinforcement or negative stimuli includes but not limited to; punishing a child for not completing homework, asking an employee to sit late in office for not meeting sales target, etc. The type of reinforcement should not be selected based on the choices of manager, but, these choices should be made based on the behavior. Negative reinforcement should not be used unless the positive reinforcement factors have failed (Cosgrave, 2007). Positive behavior of an employee is desired not only to make the system efficient, but, also to get the job merely done in the first place. While reinforcing a behavior, the management of a company or the parents at home or the teachers at schools should be confident that the reinforcement agent will be effective in the long term. For example, it is not possible to promote an employee every time he completes a project or give gifts to the successful child every time he passes the exam and/or give the child candy every time he/she finishes his work on time. Secondary stimuli, making the contribution known and setting higher and more respectable targets can also serve as reinforcing factors that may be guaranteed in the long run. DeLeon, Neidert, Anders andRodriguez (2001) say that the positive reinforcement is very effective and has found to be helpful especially when positive behavior is to be evoked in the children with autism and other psychological diseases. Tuten et al (2014) say that friendly enforcement techniques are helpful for professionals as well as nonprofessionals. Treatment B.F. Skinners and many others have found that positive reinforcement is effective in evoking positive psychological behavior. Skinner described positive reinforcement in his mice study and it was a success. My clients (investors) believe in me, value and appreciate me, but, sometimes they try to assign me to tasks that are not related to my skills, and, I think they  tend to do this based on their perception of my capabilities and behavior. Sometimes, the work pressure is very high because I am given many tasks that are mandatory and need to be completed in a very short time frame and this make me feel stressed at work because (sometimes) because I work from home-all alone in the State of Georgia and the physical aspects of my job is located in other states (D.C.-Maryland area) and I have to rely on others to perform certain assignments in short time-frame. Therefore I suggest how reinforcement can be used in treating issues I face: Positive Reinforcement: I am requesting that my c ompany provide me with an office space in Maryland-DC area where I can travel to every other month. Also, my working hours should remain the same with some flexibility. Further, my company should allow me to hire a part-time assistant to help take care of some of the footwork, i.e., post court notices on doors, file legal paperwork in the courts, etc. Next, I perform better between the hours of 6am to 3:30pm and I would like to keep that schedule, if I can have an assistant. Therefore, I believe that if I am afforded the opportunity to work during those times that suit me then my performance will be 110% better. Negative Reinforcement: The management can announce that my salary will be deducted if I do not work for set number of hours every day. Also they can penalize me if for not completing my projects by its deadline dates which in return can also affect other projects in the company and lead to legal problems and loss of money. The negative reinforcement should be given only once in a while and it should not be introduced unnecessarily. What I wrote above is a good example of what I do as a Property Manager and I’ve described it in a way that would benefit me if I worked for an Employer. I am self-employed and my job can be stressful at times, so I hire local contractors in D.C.-Maryland area to help me achieve 20% of my work goals to reduce some of my stress. I think positive reinforcement is not only beneficial towards work-related behavior changes, but I would also suggest that people use positive reinforcement strategies to modify their own personal behavior as well. I would like to suggest that all of us should help others adopt these strategies, too. Conclusion Without controlling behavior, a person cannot successfully perform the routine tasks of life. It is sometimes not possible for an individual to  control his behavior and feel motivated. In such situations, external motivation factors are required that can be either appreciation or consequences for negative behavior. These positive and negative reinforcement factors should be used strategically because there are merits and demerits of each. I will prefer positive reinforcement because this will help me in feeling motivated and engaged. The negative reinforcement is connected to unpleasant feelings of shame and insult that will not be beneficial in the long run. Both individuals and organizations can use a combination of the two methods to get a positive outcome. References 1. Miltenberger, R.G., (2011). Behavior Modification: Principles and Procedures. 5th Ed. 2. Thorndike, E.L. (1911). Animal Intelligence: Experimental Studies. NewYork:Macmillan 3. Cosgrave, G., (2007), â€Å"Negative Reinforcement†, Retrieved from: http://www.educateautism.com/behavioural-principles/negative-reinforcement.html#.U4XAT2dZrIU 4. Daymut, J. A., (2009), â€Å"Positive Reinforcement: A Behavior-Management Strategy†, Retrieved from: http://www.superduperinc.com/handouts/pdf/238_PositiveReinforcement.pdf 5. DeLeon, I. G., Neidert, P. L., Anders, B. M., Rodriguez, C. V., (2001), â€Å"Choices between positive and negative reinforcement during treatment for escape-maintained behaviour†, Journal of Applied Behaviour Analysis, 34(4):521-525 6. Tuten, L. M., Jones, H. E., Schaeffer, C. M., Stitzer, M. L., (2014), â€Å"Reinforcement-Based Treatment for Substance Use Disorders: A Comprehensive Behavioural Approach†, ISBN: 978-1-4338-1024-4

Social mechanism, class or money in Washington square

The novel consists of four main characters; Dr. Sloper, a rich doctor and brilliant professional who was married to an heiress who died of complications of child birth. He has Catherine has his only living child, another major character who has fallen in love with Morris Townsend, yet another major character. Morris has wasted his inheritance for traveling and is putting up with her sister Mrs. Montgomery. Mrs. Montgomery is poor, a window with five children. Sloper pays her a visit to discuss her brother Morris, and she is persuaded by him to admit that Morris takes money from her, returns very little and makes her suffer.Morris is handsome and tall and attracted to Catherine, but Lavinia Penniman, another major character, lazy and a soap operas fun, tries to manipulate and lead their relationship into romantic melodrama. Sloper refuses to allow the relationship between her daughter and Morris to survive. He even withdraws her to New York for twelve months. Catherine does not accept to end her love with Morris and her father announces that she would withdraw financial support if they marry. He rejects Morris on the basics of him being after Catherine’s money and poor background.After return from the exile, Catherine convinces Morris that her father would not accept, and Morris withdraws. Catherine is devastated by this and as a result she is unwilling to be married afterwards. The damage is too much that she finally rejects the proposal by Morris, who resurfaces after the death of her father Sloper, who has left reduced amount of money for fear that Morris would return. Issues of social class, relationships and finances are brought out in this book. Sloper means to stop the relationship between her daughter and Morris, but only that love was stronger that it does not end.He feels that Morris is after her daughter’s finances and considers her poor background. Athough she can’t avoid sympathy for her own daughter, one can deduce that he feel s it unfair for her to have been married by a poor man. This can be perceived as to be what is happening between the rich and the poor. One can almost see the judgment in the sentences mentioned that social class and the financial stature marry. Catherine is torn between pleasing her father, and her fiancà ©. She finally chooses her fiancà ©.One can feel that because of money, Sloper causes Mrs. Montgomery, who is poor; to admit what is false thus the ‘rich misleading the poor’ concept comes into play. One can add that the rich and the poor may interact on the basis of money acting as an exchange to various favors. Although the rich are largely not willing to let such interactions as marriage to occur between their high social class and the poor low social class, they can make efforts to relate with the poor using their social wellbeing and money-such an unfair play.Fears of certain interaction by the rich, who worry for their daughters like in this case, sometimes ma ke them to suffer. They find themselves torn between the world of the rich and that of poor people. Social disparities are largely influenced by the way of life of people, and this may be determined by how rich or poor a person could be. Sometimes, the poor who must live find themselves having no options than to choose what is available for their survival or benefits.

Service operations management- Discussion Question Assignment

Service operations management- Discussion Question - Assignment Example The primary strategy adopted by the Walt Disney Corporation is global. The focus of the Walt Disney Company is not only in the United States market, but also internationally. Thus the amusement parts of the company are located in three separate continents. The stores of the company are located in the United States, Portugal, United Kingdom, Italy, France and Spain. The licensed shops for the corporation are located in almost all countries around the globe. The approaches that drive global expansion efforts include; direct investments, foreign outsourcing, and also licensing. The international expansion has been very effective in several aspects. Financially, the measure has reduces operation costs (Bhasin, 2013). This is because, increasing salary in the United States, initiated the move of foreign outsourcing. Thus many production centers are based in Asian countries, due to the minimal production expenses involved. To ensure effective international distribution, the country has authorized licensees, with the main objective of reselling the services and products. This is significant to the company due to minimal investments

Business Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business Environment - Essay Example There are two distinct types of Business Environment (Kew and Stredwick 2005). a) Internal environment b) External environment The internal environment includes money, machinery, man, material and management, which are usually based under business control and the changes upon the performance of the enterprise or organizations. The external environment consists of factors that are beyond the manipulation of the enterprise and entails the governmental and legal factors, political factors, socio-cultural factors among other factors. External environment could be micro or operating environment or macro or general environment. Scenario 1 Working for Stepping Stones education publishing LTD involves the need to expound on the economic chapter of the Business Environment. Task 1; Book Chapter: Any ultimate decision that is made by a manager must always involve price and output. The price –output decisions are surrounded by three factors. These factors include cost, demand and market structure (Henry 2008). Market structure refers to competitive environment whereby any enterprise manages and dictates on how cost and demand should be featured in decision making. Although various firms operate within different market structures, there are five basic market structures namely: monopoly, duopoly, oligopoly, monopolistic and perfect competition. A market operates under perfect competition if it persuades numerous firms, freedom of entry and exit, homogenous output and perfect information. A market economy has competition between huge numbers of buyers and sellers who search for a chance to buy and sell goods and services (Kapstein 1996). Competition among sellers dictates that prices will always be on the lower side and that of the buyers dictates that prices will never be very low hence making a major impact on the market equilibrium. The element price is very essential in the market. Its prime purpose is to ensure that there is a clarification in the economic market . In addition, price contributes to market analysis with regard to the demand curve (Krugman 1996). A demand curve is the relationship between the price of the good and the amount or quantity the consumer is able or willing to part with in regard to its purchase in a specified period of time with consideration to income, tastes and prices of similar goods. The graph above explains the Supply /Demand curve in relation to production of Oil in Libya. In essence, the demand for crude oil increases when the price is low causing the supply for the product to decrease. According to Kew and Stredwick 2005 argues that pure monopoly ensures that there is the only one supplier in the market, there is no close replacement to the output good plus no threat of competition. Monopoly means that there is only one firm that is ruling the market. This kind of domination is not competitive because it is the only supplier in the market hence it as a downward sloping demand curve as it has the freedom to choose its prices and quality in the market. Duopoly is a market dominated by two firms, which are large enough to influence prices in the market. In addition, oligopoly is dominated by a small number of firms, which are large enough to manipulate prices in the market. A market structure that is monopolistic constitutes of several producers with various real or perceived difference in products. A perfect competiti

Controversial analysis about the consumption of luxury brand Essay

Controversial analysis about the consumption of luxury brand - Essay Example Two of these factors namely the increased adaptation of the western lifestyle among the China population and especially the youth and the increase in consumer buying power within this population, are considered the driving force behind the obsession with luxury brands. Luxury is a subjective concept which is ever evolving. However, to most of us, luxury is basically an inessential but desirable things or a state of obscene comfort or indulgence. In this regard, one can looks at luxury brands as any other product whose only difference from its counterpart is only in its extra premium that is not backed by obvious functional advantages. However, consumers are always willing to pay the premium simply because of a set of unique characteristics, recognizable, reputation, or exclusivity of the luxury brand. The irony of these features working for a luxury brand is that majority of them vary across culture and therefore societies, something that can essentially be blamed on varying consumer attitudes and belief. This particular characteristic of luxury market exposes it main contradiction because it exposes the greatest level of hedonistic and irrational that consumption can ever get. In this paper I will be exploring the contradiction and ironies of the phenomenal surge in luxury market in China. In doing so, I will use an interview that I have conducted to a Chinese youth by the name Crystal. This will complement the tomes of literature on this topic that are available and that I will be heavily relying on to navigating this topic. Chinese are paying attention to luxury brand, a phenomenon that is raising the overall price of the luxury brand without necessarily adding any functional advantage on them as would be expected. They also cut across various retail sectors that include; footwear, jewellery, perfume, liquor, automobile, cosmetics, and fashion wear and accessories. One thing that one notes about

Information Systems Service Management (final exam sheet ) Assignment

Information Systems Service Management (final exam sheet ) - Assignment Example -Service Portfolio Management refers to the process applied in assembling the initial service design package for every service along with its maintenance details throughout the service life cycle. On the other hand, Service Catalog management refers to the process of consistent documentation of information regarding all the services agreed to all authorized users or persons. This process begins by conceptual approval, which is used to build a service based on the set of approved design requirements. It is then followed by a plan for the release. The plan entails establishment of the fight group of people, products, process and performance. The third stage in this process is to build the Release based on the design and plan requirements. Test stage then follows. Test involves examining the Release to determine if it meets the targeted Design and Plan requirements. Based on the attestations that all the requirements have been satisfied the Approve stage is initiated. This approves the promotion of the service to production. The Deploy stage then takes place on the basis of the agreed schedule. Lastly, it is a review and close of the Release if successful. The business value of Service Transition is that it improves the quality of the process applied in implementation of a change. This is through ensuring that the targeted changes go hand in hand with the predefined business

The Diversification of the American Families Essay - 1

The Diversification of the American Families - Essay Example The research team is composed of Alvin and Heidi Toffler and they end at a conclusion that neither of these changes is bad and such conclusions they arrive at through the historical view of some vital changes in family (Alvin and Heidi 2000 pg 594). How is America Diversifying? The article starts by mentioning that the American population is not dying given that it is diversifying. The diversification is though not quite evident to the American citizens hence some unwarranted uncertainty. The diversification of the American population is taking place right from the population itself, the children and the society. The diversification is taking place due to the changing trends in the society such as divorce, remarriage and new family lifestyles, which creates a new family from the other each time such facts are adhered to appropriately. Through fracturing, the existing families are actually taking a completely new form, which is more diversified due to the revolutionary changes from a shift in energy, technology, work, economics and communications. Technology has created some way in which some aspects in the society are viewed, the majority of the Americans have high value for work due to changes in lifestyles minimizing the room for the traditional aspects of the family as it existed before. It is quite easy to detect that the world is changing rapidly depending on the nature of the aspect discussed above. The American family has diversified from the traditional family to the nuclear family through evolution from the first wave family to the third wave family and today we have the wave family, which is a kind of family, which is quite hard to define as it happens in the single life situation (Alvin and Heidi 2000 pg 594-95). The Americans through their government have diversified the general industry to incorporate all the citizens in terms of all the aspects.  

Internet is good for human life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Internet is good for human life - Essay Example Only because of internet, we are able to interconnect communication entities and information systems all over the world. Internet has made it possible to pass on a vast range of information and services such as electronic mails. A network connects computers and other devices through communication channels. Network allows communication between users and it facilitates sharing of resources among users. With the help of computer networks information and resources can shared among users who are interconnected. Internet is a very convenient tool for the computer users. Through internet, one can interact with whomsoever him want provided that other person have internet connection. It is very easy to use and an encyclopedia of information. To be connected it is very easy, a broadband connection or USB modem is enough for user. With the help of internet one can get all the things in a remote place also. Rural and urban divide has diminished because of internet. Acohill has aptly pointed out the dynamics of internet. He says â€Å"in rural communities, the Internet has broken the chains of rural isolation and dramatically improved the quality of life in areas like shopping† (1999). Internet has brought the world at a click away from one’s computer. One can transfer money online, reserve a flight ticket online and could easily get information about developments taking place all over the world. Social networking services like Facebook, Twitter has really altered modes of human interactions. Above main factor, which has contributed in spread of Internet, is its affordability. To get internet connection is very cheap. Benefits are hundred times more than the cost and because of it, use of Internet has spread like wildfire. Latest data of internet users shows around 28.7% people use internet all over the world. Between 2000 to 2010 internet users all over the world have been increased by 444.8%. Growing use of Internet

Low risk 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Low risk 1 - Essay Example If his right to grant remission in such cases were despised, the guilt would remain entirely unforgiven.   This means the Pope has no power to remit sins. Only God can remit sins. What the Pope can do here is only to declare to a person that God has remitted their sins. Therefore, when the pope offers the sacrament of penance, he does not effect the penance himself, but lets the penitent know that God has remitted their guilt. This shows it is only God, who has the power to remove a person’s sins. The Pope has no power to remove sin. What the Pope can do in this case, is only offer the sacrament of penance, after a person humbles and accepts their sins before the pope. However, the real penance comes from God. Canon law, including the penitential laws only applies to the living and not the dead. Therefore, the dead souls in the purgatory are not under the judgement of penitential canons. This means the Pope has no power to remit the penalties owed by the souls in the purgatory, since the penitential laws do not apply to them. Either way, in case the souls in the purgatory have any remorse, this is outside the power of the pope, and there is nothing he can do. This means when a person dies, they are released from penalties. The canon law then no longer holds them. The dead, by virtue of being dead are entitled to freedom from all penalties, and this release from penalties is owed to God, and not to the Pope. Therefore, the Pope has no power to free the dead from their penalties, as God is responsible for

The Implementation of K+12 Essay Example for Free

The Implementation of K+12 Essay The current System of Education in the Philippines is in the brink of extinction, for a new Education System is being proposed. The existing system of 6 years in Elementary, and 4 years in Secondary before entering Tertiary is being challenged. In fact, a major reform in the Education System is on the horizon, and this shall radically change the way Filipinos are educated. Many queries arise because of the new system. Students, parents and even educators doubt the effectiveness of the K+12. Contrarily, the Department of Education does not want to be stopped and is determined to pursue the program. On a reform as massive as this, it is expected that the opinions of the people are divided; after all, it depends in the K+12 on how the Education of the country will progress. It is proper then that the public be educated about the issue. Parents must know about this because in it depends the Education of their child; students must know about this because in it depends the way on how they would be educated; and educators must know about this because in it depends how they’ll educated the students. The purpose of this essay is straightforward: to inform the public about the issue and present my arguments regarding the K+12. I will embark upon the effectiveness of the implementation of K+12, not necessarily the effectiveness of K+12 as a system. In Education lies the future of a society; it is appropriate then that the students be educated properly, because their individual as well as societal growth depends in it. (MJ Flores)

Case Study Summary of Zara and Oxford Industries Essay Example for Free

Case Study Summary of Zara and Oxford Industries Essay Zara specializes in inexpensive fashions for women and men between the ages of 16 and 35. In keeping with the spirit of that demographic, Zara moves quickly. Like many apparel retailers, it has two seasons—fall/winter and spring/summer—but selections change frequently within those periods. Items spend no more than two weeks on the shelf before making way for new merchandise, and stores are replenished twice a week. With annual growth of around 20 percent in both sales and number of stores, Zara was finding that strategy increasingly difficult to execute. Part of the Inditex group of fashion distributors, it currently has more than 1,100 stores in 68 countries. With so much volume flowing through the supply chain, the company could no longer rely on guesswork by store managers as to how much product it needed to replenish at each location. In the summer of 2005, Zara heard about research being done on mathematical models for retailing, by professors Jeremie Gallien of the MIT Sloan School of Management and Felipe Caro of the UCLA Anderson School of Management. They were invited to Zara’s headquarters in La Coruna, Spain. The focus was on making better stock-allocation decisions for Zara’s growing network of stores. A prototype of the resulting model was implemented between March and July of the following year, as part of a six-month internship at Zara by MIT graduate student Juan Correa. Between August and December, researchers ran a live pilot involving distribution of a dozen products to Zara’s stores worldwide. An identical selection of products was dispatched to stores under the old process, for purposes of comparison. The mathematical model drew on historical sales data plus available stock in the warehouses to come up with a final number for each store. Gallien says the task was exceedingly complex. Each store carries several thousand items in up to eight sizes, with exact quantities to be determined for twice-weekly shipments. Through use of the model, computers could take over the basic number crunching, with humans left to make adjustments based on exceptions such as bad weather or unexpected disruptions in the sales channel. The emphasis on fast turnaround motivates consumers to purchase items on the spot. Unlike in many clothing stores, where seasonal lines remain on the shelves for weeks or months, a particular style in a Zara store can disappear within a week. Zara speeds up its supply chain by strategically selecting and locating suppliers. A â€Å"proximity model† judges not only their geographic placement, but their ability to respond quickly to production orders. About half of the retailer’s production meets the proximity threshold, mostly coming from suppliers in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. From a geographic standpoint, nearly 65 percent of production is sourced in Europe. Zara also buys from suppliers in Asia, but because of the need for speed, their number is â€Å"considerably less† than the industry’s average. The model has yielded additional benefits. Product now spends more time on the sales floor, and less in a back room or warehouse. With a reduction in misallocated inventory, there are fewer returns to the warehouse and transfers between stores. And, as Zara’s distribution network continues to grow, the retailer won’t need to expand its warehouse team as fast as the old process required. Summary of Oxford Industries Oxford Industries began in 1942 as a domestic manufacturer of basic, button-down shirts for mid-level retailers, particularly department stores. In recent years, however, the company has shifted its business model to focus on apparel design and marketing, with third-party producers handling manufacturing. As part of this transformation, the Atlanta-based company embraced a brand-focused business strategy. In 2003, Oxford acquired the island-inspired Tommy Bahama operations, followed by the 2004 acquisition of Ben Sherman—a well-known London-based brand made famous by the popularity of its shirts among British rock stars. Oxford’s legacy business units, Lanier Clothes and Oxford Apparel, also evolved. As one of the leading suppliers of men’s tailored clothing to retailers, Lanier Clothes designs and markets suits, sports coats, suit separates and dress slacks. While continuing to sell these under private labels, it also has licensed a number of well-known brands, including Geoffrey Beene, Kenneth Cole and Dockers. These products span a wide price range and are sold at national chains, department stores, specialty stores and discount retailers throughout the United States. Oxford Apparel’s products range from dress shirts and western wear to suit separates and golf apparel, designed mostly for private-label customers like Lands’ End, Federated Department Stores and Men’s Wearhouse. Oxford Industries also sells through 55 of its own stores. In the late 1980s, early in its transformation process and prior to the acquisition of Tommy Bahama and Ben Sherman, Oxford realized that it needed to bring its business divisions up to speed with more robust information technology. After completing the implementation of a company-wide enterprise resource planning system, the company contracted with an independent consulting firm to determine where it should invest time and money to further increase operational efficiencies and performance. The result of that in-depth study ultimately led to Oxford Industries’ decision to implement two solutions from JDA Software: Demand Planning and Master Planning. With so many possible permutations of size, style and color for each of its products, improving forecast accuracy was critical. Prior to implementing JDA Demand, Oxford relied on its retail customers’ demand forecasts for its private-label products, as well as information provided by the company’s own sales associates. If too much or too little product was created based on the retailer’s or the sales associates’ forecast, both Oxford Industries and that customer paid the price via lost sales or markdowns. JDA Demand enabled the company to better understand consumers’ evolving requirements and current trends, along with historical buying patterns, resulting in the ability to create more accurate forecasts and synchronize demand for replenished product with sources of supply. Oxford Industries can now compare its forecasts with those of its retail customers to ensure that the right amount of product is manufactured, leading to improved collaboration and service levels with its trading partners. The implementation of JDA Master Planning leveraged the solutions automated functionality to compile product information and production constraints to generate weekly sourcing and inventory plans from style to the SKU level. The solution also simultaneously considered factory capacities including special features, raw-material availability, and manufacturing and customer lead-times. Since Master Planning generated a first version of the supply plan by noon each Monday, Oxford Industries’ planners had four and a half days to resolve any issues to accommodate unplanned demand, which translated to an 85-percent improvement in planning efficiency. Although the company’s sourcing model has since shifted from a typical manufacturing process to more of a purchase process, manufacturing and customer lead-times, SKU-level decisions and some capacity constraints still need to be factored into the supply planning process. Master Planning provides the tools to let managers manage instead of serving as data-entry technicians.

Availability Of Educational Facilities

Availability Of Educational Facilities The concept of quality in every field is a complex concept. It is complex in nature, elements, components, and every respect. Quality is the most honorable but the slipperiest term in the field of education. Sometimes it is used in evaluative sense, for example as scale of goodness. Sometimes it is implied to seek some distinguishing characteristics. The quality in education refers to the standard of management, educational facilities, curriculum, methods of teaching, students, exanimation system, teaching staff etc. The quality of education is poor at all levels in developing and under developed countries, Iqbal (1987) stated that Students in developing countries have a mean level of achievement below that in industrial countries and their performance shows a much greater variation around the mean. According to a report of the World Bank (1999), the main ways in which governments can help to improve the quality of education are setting standards, supporting inputs to improve, achievements, adopting flexible strategies for the acquisition and use of inputs, and monitoring performance. Generally the spaces are not taken because of the weight of the existing education speeding and management practices. Learning requires five inputs: the students learning capacity and motivation, the subject to be learned, teacher who has good knowledge of subject can teach that subject, time for learning and tools for teaching and learning. Historical Background: Pakistan appeared on the map of the world on 14th of August 1947 and inherited its system of education from British colonial era. There were two types of educationalinstitutions which were working at the time of independence insub-continent, i.e. DeniMadaris and Formal Schools set-up by the BritishGovernment. The National Education Policy (1998) presents statistically the picture of educational institutes of that time. For example, Pakistan inherited two Universities,2,900 primary schools in East Pakistan and 5,500 primary schools in West Pakistan outof 39,000 primary schools which were present at that time in the Subcontinent.Moreover, the new-born country inherited 83 colleges, 3 engineering colleges and 71Agriculture/Technical institutions. India received the lions share of the financial and military resources. But to make matters worse India received the bulk of the skilled manpower because most of the industry and commercial institutions were on the Indianside of the border (Govt. of Pakistan, 1998). After the emergence of Pakistan the firstthing felt was to develop the system of education for an independent and sovereignIslamic state. Research Questions: Q1. Why do not people send their children in Schools? Q2. Why people are unable to bear the dues of schools? Q3. Why are facilities not fully available in Pakistani Schools? Q4. How can we increase the literacy rate of people in Pakistan? Significance of the Research: Public Schools: â‚ ¬Ã‚  Public schools have large, spacious and according to standard school buildings. â‚ ¬Ã‚  Teachers are permanent, highly qualified and trained. All facilities including building, hall, library, furniture and utilities like electricity, water supply, and gas etc are provided and financed by government. â‚ ¬Ã‚  Education is totally free up to matriculation level. Public schools enroll the majority of students belonging to middle and lower middle class families. Education is better at secondary level than private schools. Public schools have larger class size. Physical Facilities: The internal efficiency of an education system is related to the improvement of modern facilities, because physical facilities at school level had a very positive impact on the performance of the students. There is a vital role of academic institutions, qualified staff, and facilities which were helpful in the uplift of the child. EDO (Executive District Officer) and DEO (District Education Officer) must ensure the provision of physical facilities to the schools in theirrespective districts for the improvement of quality education at primary level in the country. Facilities in Schools: The number of rooms depends on the facilities provided in the school. Normally each section of the class should have a separate room.We can divide the schoolrooms in to the following three categories: 1. Instruction Room, the classrooms and laboratories. 2. Non-instruction rooms, as headmasters office clerks office, staff-room, library room etc 3. Miscellaneous room as tuck shop, store, water rooms etc. Playgrounds are necessary for out-door activates. In Pakistan the necessity of grounds is even more apparent as most of the school buildings are outdated and in hygienic. This deficiency could only be compensated with the playgrounds. Each classroom should have sufficient number of desks or benches for the students. The arrangement of the desks should be such that light be cost on them form the left. A good library is a necessity in a school. No school can function successfully without a well-equipped library. It is necessary both for teachers and taught. Every teacher should devote enough time in studying he various books to elaborate his lessons and also increase his general knowledge. Extra reading is very useful for children also. Library books are more interesting and attractive but they are as useful as textbooks as for as learning is concerned. The library books elaborate the lessons of the textbooks. Without library facilities, the textbooks become dry and difficult. The science laboratory should be adequately equipped with the modern scientific equipment and chemicals that are needed at the secondary stage. Preliminary Literature Review: IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION: Education is a powerful catalyzing agent, which provides mental, physical, ideological and moral training to individuals, so as to enable them to have fullconsciousness of their mission, of their purpose in life and to equip them to achievethat purpose. It is an instrument for the spiritual development as well as the materialfulfillment of human beings. With in the context of Islamic perception, education isan instrument for developing the attitudes of individuals in accordance with the valueof righteousness to help build a sound Islamic society (Govt. of Pakistan, 1998). Education plays an important role in human resource development. It raises the productivity, efficiency of individuals and produce skilled manpower that is capable ofleading the economic development. Importance of Education for human resourcedevelopment does not need any justification and clarification. The developed countriesattach highest priority to education; same is the case with the developing countries.The constitution of Pakistan accepts education as one of the fundamental rights of acitizen as well as constitutional commitment of the government accepts to provideaccess to education to every citizen (Govt. of Pakistan, 2000). EDUCATION SYSTEM IN PAKISTAN: The education system in Pakistan consisted of a number of stages, primary, middle secondary, higher secondary/intermediate, and college and university levels. These categories overlap and so does the administration of institutions overlap in each category. For example, there are schools/colleges offering education from nursery to degree level (class XIV), even to masters level. Principals of such colleges areresponsible for over all administration of the colleges. But staff of that college/schoolmay be under the directorate of schools or colleges for the purpose of transfers,promotions and posting etc. The structure of formal education system in Pakistan canbe summarized as following. Level Schooling Age 1. Primary Five years 5-9 years 2. Middle Three 10-13 3. Secondary Two 14-15 4. Higher Secondary/Intermediate Two 16-17 5. Higher (College) Two 18-19 6. Higher (University) Two to Five 20 and above Objectives of Education: The National Association of Secondary School Principals identified following goals for secondary education.  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  All youth need to develop salable skills and those understandings and attitudes that make the worker an intelligent and productive participant in economic life.  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  All youth need to develop and maintain good health and physical fitness.  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  All youth need to understand the rights and duties of the citizen of a democratic society and to be diligent and competent in the performance of their obligations as members of the community and citizens of the state and nation.  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  All youth need to understand the methods of science, the influence of science on human life, and the main scientific facts concerning the nature of the world and of man.  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  All youth need opportunities to develop their capacities to appreciate beauty in literature, art, music and nature.  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  All youth need to develop respect for other persons to grow in their insight into ethical values and principles, and to be able to live and work cooperative with others. Methodology: The major purpose of the study was to compare the quality of education in Public and Private secondary schools of Pakistan. For this, survey was conducted to get the opinions of the respondents. Hence, the nature of study was descriptive type. Following methods and procedures wereadopted to conduct this proposed research. POPULATION: All the schools in public and private sector of Pakistan, their heads, secondary school teachers and students constituted the population of thestudy. SAMPLE: Random sampling technique is used and description of sample is as follow. Sample of Schools: Total two hundred and sixteen secondary schools in public and private sector (twenty- four secondary schools from each sample district) were randomly selected.The proportion of public sector schools and private sector schools, boys and girlsschools was fifty- fifty. Sample of Heads: All the heads of already sampled 216 secondary schools of public and private sector (the proportion of public sector schools and private sector schools, boys andgirls schools was equal) included in sample. Sample of Teachers: One thousand and eighty teachers teaching secondary classes (120 teachers from each sample district) were randomly selected in which proportion of male femaleteachers was fifty fifty. In such a way that from each sample district, the proportion ofthe public and private and male and female teachers are equal. Sample of Students: Four thousand three hundred and twenty students (480 students from each sampled district) were randomly selected in which proportion of male female studentswas fifty fifty. In such a way that from each sample district the proportion of thepublic and private and male and female students were equal. Conclusion: The study revealed that private sector schools had actually less number of students and teachers at secondary level as compared to public sector schools. With respect to ownership of building almost 98% public sector schools had their own buildings while majority of private schools were running in rented buildings. In public schools, studentteacher ratio was higher than private schools.The quality of education is the most burning issue of the day. Administration is considered to be the most important ingredient of any organization, for it serves as the asset for the most previous assets of the nations which are educational institutions. The entire study reveals that heads of private sector secondary schools are better than heads of public sector secondary schools regarding involvement of other staff in decision making, keeping themselves as a part of team while leading them and carrying out the tasks in a well organized fashion.

Saddam Hussein :: essays research papers

Saddam Hussein   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Middle East is an extremely volatile region of the world, and much of the current instability may be due to one man, Saddam Hussein. During the last few years, under Hussein's direction, Iraq has gone from being an oil rich country to a country that is suffering major embargoes and is low on supplies. Iraqi leaders are trying to leave as they realize how power can corrupt a man. If Hussein stays in power, the future looks bleak for the Gulf region.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Iraq used to be a prosperous country. Oil was the main source of income for the area. During the Iran-Iraq War (Gulf War 1), which was from September 1980 to August 1988, Iraq went from being a wealthy country to a very poor country, nearly over night. Hussein had used all energy available in that war, and he came out of it losing over 1/3 of the entire male population of Iraq (Allman 61). Saddam feels that is actions were justified because he believes the Iran-Iraq war was a conspiracy by the US, Britain, and Israel to undermine Iraq (Kondrache 11). This leads people of the world to believe that this is a man who will stop at nothing to achieve what he wants. He was willing to risk his whole nation for a more money. High financial priorities? Survey says â€Å"yes† .   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The basis on which Hussein is in power is controversial. He was not elected to his position, he took it. There was a military coup in 1968 that led him and his Ba'ath party to power. He was not elected, as until last year, there had not been an election since the coup (Cooperman 49). This says that Hussein has been a tyrant from the start, and his need for power is incredible. He wants complete domination of the Middle East, if not the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Iraq is now a country struggling to survive. It is in the midst of an embargo, and the people are suffering. Death rates are up, and the amount of food available is declining. Saddam is displaced from his people, though. He is not feeling the same effects as they are.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Pursian Gulf War erupted in 1990 with Hussein ordering an invasion of neighboring Kuwait, on the grounds that Kuwait was stealing oil from in Iraqi oil field. The US became involved in this war for the next year, and they successfully pushed Iraq out of Kuwait. Iraq, however, feels that it won this war. The leaders of Iraq were still in power after the war ended, so the

Motives of Adolf Hitler in Audens Epitaph on a Tyrant and September 1,

Adolf Hitler was a very powerful man, and had a disturbing vision of how the world should be. W.H. Auden was interested in Adolf Hitler, and this interest can be seen in Auden’s poetry. September 1, 1939 and Epitaph on a Tyrant are two poems in which Auden scrutinizes Hitler’s actions. Auden uses symbolism in these two poems to illustrate the different aspects of Hitler’s life and actions. To begin with, Epitaph on a Tyrant personified Hitler’s obsession with â€Å"perfection of a kind.† The obsession with â€Å"perfection† that Hitler held and the dream of a world where blonde hair and blue eyes ruled upset Auden. To attempt genocide on all non-Aryan races was an atrocity and Epitaph on a Tyrant embodied Auden’s emotions of the ethnic cleansing at the hands of the Nazis. Auden empathized with homosexuals, Jews, gypsies, and other minority groups who were the scapegoats of World War II. Auden himself was a homosexual, and for this reason felt saddened that Hitler would persecute people like him based on their sexual orientation. Hitler controlled ever facet of Germany, exemplifying a judge, demanding order in Hitler’s court. The power that Hitler had was astounding and was accurately portrayed during Epitaph on a Tyrant. Hitler’s power knew no bounds and â€Å"when he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter.† Fear is instilled upon not only Germany’s citizens, but also in its government, when even the senators cannot oppose Hitler. They laugh not because Hitler is funny, but because they fear for their lives. There was only one god during the Third Reich, and that god was Hitler, worshipped by all. When Hitler laughs, everyone else does as well, because upsetting a god like Hitler was a very unpleasant scene. Epitaph on a Tyrant... ...eptember 1, 1939 shows that â€Å"What huge imago made / A psychopathic god.† The parenting that Hitler had led to his aggression and Auden demonstrates this through the symbolism in his poetry. The symbolism that was used throughout Epitaph on a Tyrant and September 1, 1939 illustrate the many aspects of Adolf Hitler’s life and actions. The insights made by Auden on Hitler were numerous, and the examples given previously are few of many. Auden’s sympathy with those who were persecuted by the leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party extended to his poetry. In Auden’s poetry, Auden gave reasons for why the Chancellor of Germany during the time of World War II was the way he was. The unspeakable crimes that Hitler committed drove Auden to delve into all aspects of Adolf’s life, searching for the truth of what made Germany’s only human God so terribly inhuman.

The Physics of Efficient Running Essay -- physics run running

Running is a natural form of human locomotion. To many, running is an essential aspect of most sports and is also a simple way that requires little to get exercise anywhere. But because many people have adapted to improper forms of running over time, numerous physical injuries are the results. With the help of understanding the physics behind running, people can learn to run in such a way that expends less energy from the body. Keeping physics in mind may also lead to less injuries and effortless running. Remember, physics can be very helpful when running! External Forces When Running According to mechanical physics, a force is an effect that may cause a body to accelerate. Also as stated in Isaac Newton’s second law of motion, force is a vector quantity (has magnitude and direction) that is proportional to the product of the mass of a body and its acceleration. F = ma : where F is force; m is the mass of the body; and a is the acceleration due to that particular force When running, there are four important external forces that definitely affect the kinetics of running: drag force, gravity, normal force, and friction. Drag Force Due to the interaction with air on Earth, runners experience a resistive force against the airflow. This is called the drag force, or air resistance. The equation for this drag force is given as : Drag Force = 1/2pvvAD where p is the density of the fluid (in runner’s case: air); v is the velocity of the runner; A is the cross-sectional area perpendicular to the runner’s velocity; and D is the dimensionless quantity called the drag coefficient. The drag force is always working against the forward motion of a runner, trying to move them in the negative horizon... ...energy. -Second, hip rotation also helps the runner to have a more natural and smoother run and again reduces the energy required to move the runner’s center of mass. -Finally, the pelvic rotation decreases the impact at contact with the running path felt by the runner. Bibliography Dreyer, Danny and Katherine Dreyer. ChiRunning: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running. Simon & Schuster. New York, NY. 2004 Dumont, Aaron and Chris Waltham. â€Å"Walking.† Physics Teacher. Sept. 1997. Vol. 35 Issue 6, p. 372. Inman, Verne T., Henry J. Ralston, and Frank Todd. Human Walking. Williams & Wilkins. Baltimore, MD. 1981 Watkins, James. An Introduction to Mechanics of Human Movement. MTP Press Limited. Lancaster, England. 1983. Zatsiorsky, Vladimir M. Kinetics of Human Motion. Sheridan Books. Champaign, IL. 2002.

Anthem – Ayn Rand

Anthem by Ayn Rand is a disturbing book. It is disturbing in the sense that it opens the reader eyes to a world without individuals. A world without the notion of me, my, I, but only with us, we, ours. This world is one of a collectivist society. Collectivism is based on principals of the â€Å"common good. † Everyone pitched in towards this common good, but in order to do that society could not have any out-liers. Thus, individual rights were taken away. This story is one of hope that shows that no matter the situation the human spirit will continue to fight for itself. There are many strong quotes in this book that further the image of the collective society and show how one young man, Equality 7-2521 fights in his own mind against what society tells him. These images connect the book with outside ideas by not only telling the reader what happens when collectivism goes to far, but by showing the reader what a collective society would look like. One such quote is â€Å"The only thing which taught us joy were the power we created in our wires, and The Golden One. This passage is very significant. The reason being Equality 7-2521 realizes that he does not find joy in society. He finds that he has received joy by his own doing and the choice he has to love one other person. It says in the book that it was considered a sin to look at a person of the opposite sex, but when Equality sees the Golden One he can not help himself. He starts to think that society is wrong. Equality does not understand how society could find the relationship he has with The Golden One sinful. It was one of those â€Å"if this is wrong, I don't want to be right† moments. Equality starts forming his own opinions about life apart from society's opinions. He comes to this realization by remembering how unhappy his childhood was because when he went to school he was whipped for being smarter than the others, and he recalled he had never been truly happy†¦ until now. He sees the connection between breaking the law, and finding happiness and realizes that maybe society isn't as omnipotent as he was taught it was. He found joy in his wires. Like a father beaming with pride for his son , Equality found an inner-joy from his creation that he had never felt before. His life up until this point had been full of oppression, and of being punished for qualities that would be praised in a normal society such as being smart, and handsome. Equality's glass box and wires are something he decided society could not take away from him not matter what. This is the first time Equality had felt true independent and he is not about to give it up. This is the first time he has gone against the grain. He chose to make the wire. He made it all by himself, not him along with 99 other people. This is the first thread of individualism that he lets shine through. It is crucially important because in order for change to occur Equality must separate himself from society completely. If Equality kept depending on society like he was then his life would simply drudge on, and his thirst for something new and exciting would never be quenched. This joy he has found in the Golden One and in his wires will drive him to take a huge leap of faith, and not be afraid to try to make it on his own. They give him the security he needs to trust in himself. The society that Equality lives in is a collectivist society. In collectivism one gives up their rights as an individual for the good of the whole. That sounds innocent enough, but when Ayn Rand takes it to an extreme it seems horrible. At one point in the novel Similarity 5-0306 states, â€Å"Men have no cause to exist save in toiling for other men. † The quote taps into the very root of collectivism and could not be clearer. The people of this society had been taught that theme from a very young age. They were taught that they were worth nothing unless â€Å"brother men† needed them. They had no right to exist on their own, that right was taken away the second it became a collectivist society. The reader saw this quote come to life through the everyday life of Equality 7-2521. He is a street sweeper who goes along everyday, all day and cleans the streets for the other people. He picks up all the trash on the streets in front of other people's businesses. And in return, all of the street sweepers are provided with food, clothes, and other necessities. Another huge point is that the society does not use money. This means they have a direct service for service system. Which means that if one wanted clothes in the society, they would need to perform a service for the tailor. Likewise, if the tailor wanted a clean street he would need to make togas for the street sweepers. Everyone is so dependent on each other that they know they can not survive in this society on their own. â€Å"The glass box in our arms, is like a living heart that gives us strength. We have lied to ourselves. We have not built the box for the good of our brothers. † This quote gives us an idea of where Equality got his courage. It took so much courage for him to break out of the detention center and go to the House of the Scholars. It took courage for him to leave into the uncharted forest, determined to find someplace he could call home. This quote is when Equality realizes that the wires he made are more than raw materials, and more then an invention, they are worth his life. They have become not only a beating heart but his heart. He knows that this is what he was living for, this forbidden something that he cannot name yet-Independence. By the rejection of his box, society pushed Equality to do what he has secretly always wanted to do†¦ leave. All of these quotes show the principals of collectivism, which was the main theme running throughout Anthem. Ayn Rand drives in the point that collectivism, although seemingly innocent squashes out any room for development in a society. She also shows the reader how the human spirit is not easily overcome.

Different Contexts In Communication Essay

†¢Social – When in a social environment you are more than likely around people who know your personality and how you communicate, if that is with jokey sarcasm, dramatic actions, being load, quietly thoughtful or any other way in which you may use your communicational skills. Because of the friendship you will have with these people and the want they feel to spend social time with you, they will understand your ways, accept them, and that is how you are able to be yourself in a comfortable relaxed atmosphere. †¢Professional – Meetings, talking with other parents/members of staff/students/outside agencies. All require professionalism; the way in which you conduct yourself should be with a friendly, but not formal attitude. Respect, listening, interest and understanding should be shown by you in body language, questions, answers and possible solutions. In some of these meetings important issues can irises and it is important that no matter what the subject is you take a high interest at getting any issues dealt with, but always keeping the situation calm and none threatening. Sarcasm, inappropriate jokes and other behaviours should be left to use in your social time; this is not the place for informal attitudes, a professional stance is required, with a level amount of understanding and respect. †¢Cultural – If a meeting has been arranged with people of a different culture if possible a little research into acceptable communicational behaviour would help, but being careful not to assume a stereotype attitude. If there is going to be a language barrier, provisions should be made. In some cultures they have very different ideas on what is offensive and polite. For example shaking hands to me is a polite way to say hello and introducing yourself, but there are cultures that find this rude, along with eye contact, (which is a big way to show you are listening in our culture) also the way in which you may be dressed could cause affence. When any of these skills in which you should conduct yourself in are crossed, this could leave the other member in your party feeling offended, unable to have the confidence to express what they are feeling and lose the trust to be able to come to you with a problem again.

The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 11

Arizona was as hot and barren a state as Elena had imagined. She and Damon drove directly to the Juniper Resort, and Elena was depressed, if not surprised, to see that Matt was not checked in. â€Å"It can't have taken him longer than us to get here,† she said, as soon as they'd been shown up to their rooms. â€Å"Unless – oh, God, Damon! Unless Shinichi caught him somehow.† Damon sat down on a bed and regarded Elena grimly. â€Å"I guess I hoped I wouldn't have to tell you this – that the jerk would at least have the courtesy to tell you himself. But I've been tracking his aura ever since he left us. It's been getting steadily farther away – in the direction of Fell's Church.† Sometimes, really bad news takes a while to sink in. â€Å"You mean,† Elena said, â€Å"that he's not going to show up here at all?† â€Å"I mean that, as the crow flies, it wasn't all that far from where we got the cars to Fell's Church. He went in that direction. And he didn't come back.† â€Å"But why?† Elena demanded, as if logic could somehow conquer fact. â€Å"Why would he go off and leave me? Especially, why would he go to Fell's Church, where they're looking for him?† â€Å"As for why he'd leave: I think he got the wrong idea about you and me – or maybe the right idea a little early† – Damon raised his eyebrows at Elena and she threw a pillow at him – â€Å"and decided to let us have some privacy. As for why Fell's Church†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Damon shrugged. â€Å"Look, you've known the guy longer than I have. But even I can tell he's the Galahad type. The parfait gentil knight, sans peur et sans reproche. If I had to say I'd say he went to meet Caroline's charges.† â€Å"Oh, no,† Elena said, going to the door as a knock sounded. â€Å"Not after I told him and told him – â€Å" â€Å"Oh, yes,† Damon said, assuming a slight crouching position. â€Å"Even with your sage advice ringing in his ears – â€Å" The door opened. It was Bonnie. Bonnie, with her petite frame, her curly strawberry hair, her wide, soulful brown eyes. Elena, in a state to disbelieve the evidence of her own eyes, and still not through with the argument with Damon, shut the door on her. â€Å"Matt's going to get lynched,† Elena almost screamed, vaguely annoyed that some knocking was going on somewhere. Damon uncrouched. He passed Elena on the way to the door, said, â€Å"I think you'd better sit down,† and then sat her down by putting her in a chair and holding her there until she stopped trying to get up again. Then he opened the door. This time it was Meredith knocking. Tall and willowy, with her hair falling in dark clouds around her shoulders, Meredith radiated the intention to go on knocking until the door stayed open. Something happened inside Elena, and she found that she could get her mind around more than one subject at once. It was Meredith. And Bonnie. In Sedona, Arizona! Elena leaped up from the chair where Damon had put her and flung her arms around Meredith, saying incoherently, â€Å"You came! You came! You knew I couldn't call you, so you came!† Bonnie edged around the embrace and said to Damon in an undertone, â€Å"Is she back to kissing everyone she meets?† â€Å"Unfortunately,† Damon said, â€Å"no. But be prepared to be squeezed to death.† Elena turned on him. â€Å"I heard that! Oh, Bonnie! I just can't believe you two are really here. I wanted to talk to you so much!† Meanwhile, she was hugging Bonnie, and Bonnie was hugging her, and Meredith was hugging both of them. Subtle velociraptor sisterhood signals were being passed from one to another at the same time – an arched eyebrow here, a slight nod there, a frown and shrug ending with a sigh. Damon didn't know it, but he had just been accused, tried, acquitted, and restored to duty – with the conclusion that extra surveillance was necessary in the future. Elena snapped out of it first. â€Å"You must have met with Matt – he had to tell you about this place.† â€Å"He did, and then he sold the Prius and we sort of packed on the run and got plane tickets here and we've been waiting – we didn't want to miss you!† Bonnie said breathlessly. â€Å"I don't suppose that would have been just about two days ago that you bought your tickets here,† Damon asked the ceiling wearily as he lounged with an elbow on Elena's chair. â€Å"Let me see – † Bonnie began, but Meredith said flatly, â€Å"Yes it was. What? It made something happen to you?† â€Å"We were trying to keep things slightly ambiguous for the enemy,† Damon said. â€Å"But as it turns out, it probably didn't matter.† No, Elena thought, because Shinichi can reach inside your brain whenever he wants and try to take away your memories and all you can do is try to fight him off. â€Å"But it does mean that Elena and I should start off right away.† Damon continued. â€Å"I have to do an errand first. Elena should pack. Take as little as you can, just the absolute essentials – but include food for two or three days.† â€Å"You said†¦starting now?† Bonnie breathed, and then she sat down abruptly on the floor. â€Å"It makes sense, if we've already lost the element of surprise,† Damon replied. â€Å"I can't believe you two came to say good-bye to me while Matt watches over the town,† Elena said. â€Å"That is so sweet!† She smiled radiantly before adding, in her own mind, And so dumb! â€Å"Well – â€Å" â€Å"Well, I still have an errand,† Damon said, waving without turning around. â€Å"Let's say we'll leave here in half an hour.† â€Å"Stingy,† Bonnie complained, when the door was safely shut behind him. â€Å"That might have only given us a few minutes to talk before we start.† â€Å"I can pack in less than five minutes,† Elena said sadly, and then got tangled up in Bonnie's previous sentence. â€Å"‘Before we start'?† â€Å"I can't pack just essentials at all,† Meredith was fretting quietly. â€Å"I couldn't store everything on my mobile, and I have no idea when I'll be able to recharge the batteries. I've got a suitcase of stuff on paper!† Elena was looking back and forth at them nervously. â€Å"Um, I'm pretty sure I'm the one who's supposed to be packing,† she said. â€Å"Because I'm the only one going†¦right?† Another look back and forth. â€Å"As if we would let you set off into some other universe without us!† Bonnie said. â€Å"You need us!† â€Å"Not another universe; only another dimension,† Meredith said. â€Å"But the same principle applies.† â€Å"But – I can't let you come with me!† â€Å"Of course you can't. I'm older than you,† Meredith said. â€Å"You don't ‘let' me do anything. But the truth is that we have a mission. We want to find Shinichi's or Misao's star ball if we can. If we could do that we think we could stop most of the stuff going on in Fell's Church immediately.† â€Å"Star ball?† Elena said blankly, while somewhere in the depths of her mind, an uneasy image stirred. â€Å"I'll explain later.† Elena was shaking her head. â€Å"But – you left Matt to deal with whatever supernatural stuff is going on? When he's a fugitive and has to hide from the police?† â€Å"Elena, even the police are scared of Fell's Church now – and frankly, if they put him in custody in Ridgemont it might be the safest place for him. But they're not going to do that. He's working with Mrs. Flowers and they're good together; they're a solid team.† Meredith stopped to take a breath, and seemed to be considering how to say something. Bonnie said it for her in a very small voice. â€Å"And I was no good, Elena. I'd started – well, I started to get hysterical and see and hear things that weren't there – or at least to imagine them and maybe even make them come true. I was scaring myself out of my mind, and I think I actually was putting people in danger. Matt's too practical to do that.† She dabbed at her eyes. â€Å"I know the Dark Dimension is pretty bad, but at least I won't be able to put houses full of innocent people in danger.† Meredith nodded. â€Å"It was all†¦going bad with Bonnie there. Even if we hadn't wanted to come with you I would have had to get her out. I don't want to be overly dramatic, but I believe that the demons there were after her. And that since Stefan's gone, Damon may be the only one who can keep them away. Or maybe you can help her, Elena?† Meredith†¦overly dramatic? But Elena could see the fine tremors running under Meredith's skin, and the light sheen of perspiration on Bonnie's forehead that was dampening her curls. Meredith touched Elena's wrist. â€Å"We haven't just gone AWOL or anything. Fell's Church is a war zone now; it's true, but we didn't leave Matt without allies. Like Dr. Alpert – she's logical – she's the best country doctor there is – and she might even convince somebody that Shinichi and the malach are real. But besides all that, the parents have taken over. Parents and psychiatrists and newshounds. And they make it almost impossible to work openly anyway. Matt's not at any disadvantage.† â€Å"But – in just a week – â€Å" â€Å"Take a look at this week's Sunday paper.† Elena took the Ridgemont Times from Meredith. It was the biggest paper in the area of Fell's Church. A banner headline read: POSSESSION IN THE 21ST CENTURY? Under the headline were many lines of gray print, but what really caught the eye was a photo of a three-way fight between girls, all of whom seemed to be undergoing seizures or contortions impossible to the human body. The expressions of two of the girls were simply those of pain and terror, but it was the third girl who froze the blood in Elena's veins. Her body was humped so that her face was upside down, and she was looking directly at the camera with her lips skinned back from her teeth. Her eyes – there was just no other way to put it – were demonic. They weren't rolled back in her head or malformed or anything. They weren't glowing eerily red. It was all in the expression. Elena had never seen eyes that made her sick to her stomach before. Bonnie said quietly, â€Å"Do you ever sort of slip and get that feeling like, ‘Oh, whoops, there goes the whole universe'?† â€Å"Constantly, since meeting Stefan,† Meredith said. â€Å"No offense meant, Elena. But the point is that all this has happened in just a couple of days; from the minute the adults who knew that there was something really going on got together.† Meredith sighed and ran fingers with perfectly manicured nails through her hair before continuing. â€Å"Those girls are what Bonnie calls possessed in the modern sense. Or maybe they're possessed by Misao – female kitsune are supposed to do that. But if we could just find these things called star balls – or even one – we could force them to clean all this up.† Elena put the newspaper down so she wouldn't have to see those upside-down eyes staring into hers. â€Å"And while all this is happening, what is your boyfriend doing during the crisis?† For the first time, Meredith looked genuinely relieved. â€Å"He may be on his way as we speak. I've written to him about everything that's happening, and he was actually the one who said to get Bonnie out.† She flashed a glance of apology at Bonnie, who simply lifted her hands and face to the heavens. â€Å"And as soon as he's finished with his work on some island called Shinmei no Uma, he's coming to Fell's Church. This kind of thing is Alaric's specialty, and he doesn't get spooked easily. So even if we're gone for weeks, Matt will have a backup.† Elena threw her own hands up in a gesture similar to Bonnie's. â€Å"There's just one thing you'd better know before we start. I can't help Bonnie. If you're counting on me to do any of the things I did when we fought Shinichi and Misao last time – well, I can't. I've tried over and over, as hard as I could, to do all my wings attacks. But nothing has ever come of it.† Meredith said slowly, â€Å"Well, then, maybe Damon knows something – â€Å" â€Å"Maybe he does, but, Meredith, don't push him right now. Not right this minute. What he knows for certain is that Shinichi can reach in and take his memories – and who knows, maybe even possess him again – â€Å" â€Å"That lying kitsune!† Bonnie spat out, sounding almost proprietory. As if, Elena thought, Damon was her boyfriend. â€Å"Shinichi swore he wouldn't – â€Å" â€Å"And he swore he'd leave Fell's Church alone, too. The only reason I have any faith at all in the clues that Misao gave me about the fox key, is that she was taunting me. She never thought we'd do a deal, and so she wasn't trying to lie or be too clever – I think.† â€Å"Well, that's why we're here with you, to get Stefan out,† Bonnie said. â€Å"And if we're lucky, to find the star balls that will let us control Shinichi. Right?† â€Å"Right!† Elena said fervently. â€Å"Right,† Meredith said solemnly. Bonnie nodded. â€Å"Velociraptor sisterhood forever!† They laid their right hands over one another's quickly, forming a three-spoked wheel. It reminded Elena of the days when there were four spokes. â€Å"And what about Caroline?† she asked. Bonnie and Meredith consulted each other with their eyes. Then Meredith shook her head. â€Å"You don't want to know. Really,† she said. â€Å"I can take it. Really,† Elena said in almost a whisper. â€Å"Meredith, I've been dead, remember? Twice.† Meredith was still shaking her head. â€Å"If you can't look at that picture, you shouldn't hear about Caroline. We went to see her twice – â€Å" â€Å"You went to see her twice,† Bonnie interrupted. â€Å"The second time I fainted and you left me by the door.† â€Å"And I realized I could have lost you for good, and I've apologized – † Meredith broke off when Bonnie put a hand on her arm and gave her a little push. â€Å"Anyway, it wasn't exactly a visit,† Meredith said. â€Å"I went running into Caroline's room ahead of her mom and found her inside her nest – never mind what that is – eating something. When she saw me, she just giggled and went on eating.† â€Å"And?† Elena said, when the tension got to be too much for her. â€Å"What was it?† â€Å"I think,† Meredith said bleakly, â€Å"that it was worms and slugs. She would stretch them up and up and they'd squirm before she bit them. But that wasn't the worst. Look, you had to have been here to appreciate it, but she just smirked at me, and said in this thick voice, ‘Have a bite?' and suddenly my mouth was filled with this wriggling mass – and it was going down my throat. So I was sick, right there on her carpet. Caroline just started laughing, and I ran down again and picked Bonnie up and ran out and we never went back. But†¦halfway down the path to the house, I realized Bonnie was suffocating. She had the – the worms and things – in her mouth and her nose. I know CPR; I managed to get most of them out before she woke up vomiting. But – â€Å" â€Å"It was an experience I would really rather not have again.† The very lack of expression in Bonnie's voice said more than any tone of horror could. Meredith said, â€Å"I've heard that Caroline's parents have moved out of that house, and I can't say I blame them. Caroline's over eighteen. All I can add is that everybody's sort of praying that somehow the werewolf blood will win out in her, because that seems at least to be less horrible than the malach or the – the demonic. But if it doesn't win out†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena rested her chin on her knees. â€Å"And Mrs. Flowers can deal with this?† â€Å"Better than Bonnie can. Mrs. Flowers is glad to have Matt around; like I said, they're a solid team. And now that she has finally spoken to the human race of the twenty-first century, I think she likes it. And she's been practicing the craft constantly.† â€Å"The craft? Oh – â€Å" â€Å"Yeah, that's what she calls witchcraft. I have no idea whether she's any good at it or not, because I don't have anything to compare her to – or with – â€Å" â€Å"Her poultices work like magic!† Bonnie said firmly just as Elena said, â€Å"Her bath salts certainly work.† Meredith smiled faintly. â€Å"Too bad she isn't here instead of us.† Elena shook her head. Now that she had reconnected with Bonnie and Meredith she knew she could never go into the Darkness without them. They were more than her hands; they were so much more to her†¦and here they were, each prepared to risk their life for Stefan and for Fell's Church. At that moment, the door to the room opened. Damon walked in, carrying a couple of brown paper bags in one hand. â€Å"So everybody's said bye-bye nicely?† he asked. He seemed to have trouble looking at either of the two visitors, so he stared particularly hard at Elena. â€Å"Well – not really. Not as such,† Elena said. She wondered if Damon was capable of throwing Meredith out a fifth-story window. Best to break it easily to him, by degrees†¦. â€Å"Because we're going with you,† Meredith said, and Bonnie said, â€Å"We forgot to pack, though.† Elena slid quickly so that she was between Damon and the others. But Damon just stared at the floor. â€Å"It's a bad idea,† he said very softly. â€Å"A very, very, very bad idea.† â€Å"Damon, don't Influence them! Please!† Elena waved both hands at him in a gesture of urgency, and Damon raised one of his hands in a gesture of negation – and somehow their hands brushed each other's – and tangled. Electric shock. But a nice one, Elena thought – although she didn't really have time to think it. She and Damon were both trying desperately to get their hands back to themselves, but didn't seem to be able to. Little shockwaves were running from Elena's palm all through her body. Finally, the disentanglement worked and then they both turned, in guilty unison, to look at Bonnie and Meredith, who were staring at them with enormous eyes. Suspicious eyes. Eyes that belonged in faces saying â€Å"Aha! What have we here?† There was a long moment when no one moved or spoke. Then Damon said seriously, â€Å"This isn't some kind of pleasure trip. We're going because there's no other choice.† â€Å"Not alone, you're not,† Meredith said in a neutral tone. â€Å"If Elena goes, we all go.† â€Å"We know it's a bad place,† Bonnie said, â€Å"but we are definitely going with you.† â€Å"Besides, we have our own agenda,† Meredith added. â€Å"A way to cleanse Fell's Church of the harm Shinichi has done – and is still doing.† Damon shook his head. â€Å"You don't understand. You won't like it,† he said tightly. He nodded at her mobile. â€Å"No electric power in there. Even owning one of those is a crime. And the punishment for just about any crime is torture and death.† He took a step toward her. Meredith refused to back away, her dark gaze fixed on his. â€Å"Look, you don't even realize what you have to do just to get in,† Damon said bleakly. â€Å"First, you need a vampire – and you're lucky to have one. Then you'll have to do all sorts of things you won't like – â€Å" â€Å"If Elena can do it, we can do it,† Meredith interrupted quietly. â€Å"I don't want either of you to get hurt. I'm going in because it's for Stefan,† Elena said hastily, speaking partly to her friends and partly to the innermost core of her being, which the shockwaves and pulses of electricity had reached at last. Such a strange, melting, throbbing sweetness for something that had started out as a shock. Such a fierce shock for simply touching another person's hand†¦. Elena manged to tear her eyes away from Damon's face and tune back into the argument that was going on. â€Å"You're going in for Stefan, yes,† Meredith was saying to her, â€Å"and we're going in with you.† â€Å"I'm telling you, you won't like it. You'll live to regret it – if you live, that is,† Damon was saying flatly, his expression dark. Bonnie simply gazed up at Damon with her brown eyes wide and pleading in her small heart-shaped face. Her hands were clasped together at the base of her throat. She looked like a picture on a Hallmark card, Elena thought. And those eyes were worth a thousand logical arguments. Finally, Damon looked back at Elena. â€Å"You're probably taking them to their deaths, you know. You, I could probably protect. But you and Stefan, and your two little teenage girlfriends†¦ I can't.† Hearing it put that way was a shock. Elena hadn't quite thought of it like that. But she could see the determined set of Meredith's jaw and the way Bonnie had gone up a little on her toes to try to look bigger. â€Å"I think it's already been decided,† she said quietly, aware that her voice shook. There was a long moment as she stared into Damon's dark eyes, and then suddenly he flashed his 250-kilowatt smile at all of them, shut it off almost before it had begun, and said, â€Å"I see. Well, in that case, I have another errand. I may not be back for quite a while, so feel free to use the room – â€Å" â€Å"Elena should come to our room,† Meredith said. â€Å"I have a lot of material to show her. And if we can't take much with us, we'll have to go over it all tonight – â€Å" â€Å"Then let's say we meet back here at dawn,† Damon said. â€Å"We'll set off for the Demon Gate from here. And remember – don't bring money; it isn't any good there. And this is not a vacation – but you'll get that idea soon enough.† With a graceful, ironic gesture, he handed Elena her bag. â€Å"The Demon Gate?† Bonnie said as they went to the elevator. Her voice shook. â€Å"Hush,† said Meredith. â€Å"It's only a name.† Elena wished she didn't know so well when Meredith was lying.

Business Continuity Plan as a Part of Risk Management

Celem niniejszej pracy jest zaprezentowanie roli i znaczenia Planu Ciaglosci Funkcjonowania Przedsiebiorstwa w calosciowym procesie zarzadzania ryzykiem w firmie oraz przedstawienie przykladowej tresci takiego planu.Rozdzial pierwszy zawiera ogolne wprowadzenie do zagadnienia zarzadzania ryzykiem. Przedstawia on definicje ryzyka w sensie, w jakim jest ono rozumiane w niniejszej pracy. Ponadto, znajduje sie w nim opis wielorakich zagroSen, ktore sa zwiazane z funkcjonowaniem przedsiebiorstwa, a takSe lista metod sluSacych do pomiaru ryzyka oraz opis przykladowych postaw, jakie sa przybierane wobec zagroSen. W rozdziale drugim zaprezentowano pojecie Zarzadzania Ciagloscia Funkcjonowania Przedsiebiorstwa. Znajduje sie tu charakterystyka ewolucji tego zagadnienia oraz wyjasnienie, dlaczego Plan Ciaglosci FunkcjonowaniaPrzedsiebiorstwa jest dokumentem o ogromnym znaczeniu dla firmy i jej interesariuszy. Ponadto, w rozdziale tym poddano dyskusji pewne szeroko rozpowszechnione mity dotyczac e Zarzadzania Ciagloscia Fukncjonowania Przedsiebiorstwa. Ta czesc pracy konczy sie opisem Analizy Wplywu na Przedsiebiorstwo jako glownego narzedzia, ktorym posluguje sie opisywany typ zarzadzania. W rozdziale trzecim przedstawiono rezultaty dokonanej przez autorke analizy roSnych Planow Ciaglosci Funkcjonowania Przedsiebiorstwa i ich szablonow.To studium bylo podstawa do zaprezentowania przykladowej struktury Planu oraz opisu najczesciej spotykanych w nim bledow. Ostatni rozdzial zawiera takSe charakterystyke faz wprowadzania i testowania Planu, ktore sa rownie waSne jak etap jego przygotowania. Wspolczesne przedsiebiorstwa nie moga sobie pozwolic na postawe reaktywna wobec realnych zagroSen, gdyS wydarzenia bedace w stanie zaklocic ich funkcjonowanie sa liczne i moga zaistniec zarowno w wewnetrznym, jak i zawnetrznym srodowisku firmy. Profesjonalnie przygotowany i skrupulatnie 5 aktualniany Plan Ciaglosci Funkcjonowania Przedsiebiorstwa cechuje postawe proaktywna. Jest nie tylko ogromnie pomocny w przezwycieSaniu trudnosci, ale dla interesariuszy firmy stanowi takSe dowod jej wiarygodnosci. MoSna wiec oczekiwac, Se coraz wiecej przedsiebiorstw bedzie sie staralo zdobyc ten nieoceniony atut. 6 ABSTRACT The aim of this thesis is to present the role and significance of a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) in the holistic process of a company’s Risk Management, and to provide a characteristic of exemplary BCP contents. The first chapter contains a general introduction into Risk Management.It delivers the definition of risk as it is understood in the context of the present thesis. Moreover, there is a description of multiple risks which are relevant to a company’s activity, as well as a list of the risk measurement methods and an account of exemplary attitudes towards threats. The second chapter presents the question of Business Continuity Management (BCM). It characterizes the evolution of this concept and explains the reasons why the BCP is a documen t of utmost importance to the company and its stakeholders. What is more, certain wide-spread myths concerning BCM are also disputed there.This part of the thesis ends with a description of Business Impact Analysis as the main tool of Business Continuity Management. The third chapter provides the results of the author’s analysis of various Business Continuity Plans and their templates. That study has been the basis for the presentation of an exemplary structure of a Business Continuity Plan, as well as for the description of the most frequent mistakes which occur in BCPs. The last chapter also contains a characterization of implementation and testing phases which are as significant as the preparation of a Business Continuity Plan.Modern companies cannot afford a reactive stance towards possible threats as the dangers which may disrupt their functioning are multiple and come both from the inner and outer environment. A professionally prepared and carefully updated Business Con tinuity Plan characterizes a proactive attitude. Not only does it significantly help to overcome difficulties, but it is also a convincing proof of the firm’s reliability to all its stakeholders. Therefore, it may be expected that more and more companies will attempt to acquire this invaluable asset. 7 INTRODUCTIONThe present thesis is the result of the author’s interest in various aspects of Risk Management, especially in the procedures which are applied by companies in case their functioning is faced with a serious threat. The most effective method used by business units is called Business Continuity Management (BCM) and focuses on the preparation and implementation of a Business Continuity Plan (BCP). The aim of this thesis is to present the role and significance of a Business Continuity Plan in the holistic process of a company’s Risk Management, and to characterize the contents of an exemplary Plan.The first chapter contains a general introduction into Risk Management and includes, inter alia, a description of multiple threats which are relevant to the company’s activity and a list of risk measurement methods. The second chapter discusses the concept of Business Continuity Management, explains the importance of Business Continuity Plan and characterizes the steps which lead to the development and implementation of this document. In the third chapter, there is a description of the contents which should be included in a Business Continuity Plan.That presentation is based on the author’s analysis of various BCPs and their templates. The exemplary materials enclosed in appendices have been provided by Punk, Ziegel & Company, Business Link, London Borough and Wallsal Council. All the translations which are enclosed in the present thesis have been made by the author. The references have been edited in accordance with the traditional Footnote/Endnote System. 8 CHAPTER 1 RISK MANAGEMENT This chapter contains an introduction into the nature and types of risk, as well as a description of the methods by which risk is assessed and managed.All these issues are inseparably connected with the concept of Business Continuity Plan, which aims at making provisions for the whole spectrum of present and future threats that may put a company's proper activity into danger. When a company decides to prepare and implement such a plan, it has to carry out a complex and accurate analysis of all the factors which may influence its operation, so that even the least expected dangers are taken into consideration. The first phase of drafting a BCP requires the recognition of existing and prospective risks, evaluation of their possible impacts and assumption of particular attitudes towards them.These vital steps are covered by Risk Management, which helps to organize the findings and solutions in a logical way. The proactive nature and principles of this comprehensive process will be presented and explained in the following chapte r. 1. 1. The Definition of Risk Risk and uncertainty are inseparable parts of every aspect of life. As Jan Mikolaj writes, â€Å"risk is connected with human activity, while uncertainty applies to the environment. †1 When these terms are used in the scientific context, they must be precisely defined.Some of the authors of economic and financial literature do not stress the difference between them. For example, Allan Willet states that â€Å"risk is objective uncertainty of the occurrence of an undesirable event. †2 In his opinion, â€Å"risk changes in accordance with uncertainty, not with probability level. †3 Similarly, Joseph Sinkey defines risk as â€Å"uncertainty connected with some occurrence or profit 1 2 Jan Mikolaj, Risk Management, (RVS FSI ZU, Zilina 2001), p. 17. Allan Willet, The Economic Theory of Risk Insurance, (Philadelphia 1951), p. . 9 in the future. †4 Frank Reilly thinks that â€Å"risk is the uncertainty that the investment may not bring the expected return. †5 However, the prevailing trend in modern professional literature is to differentiate between them. According to the Dictionary of Economic and Financial Terminology by Bernard and Colli, risk is â€Å"the probability of incurring losses by a business unit as a consequence of making a certain economic decision by this unit. The probability results from the uncertainty of the future. 6 The same source states further that â€Å"the concept of uncertainty is used in the situation when calculus of probability cannot be applied, whereas the term risk concerns recurrent events which possibility of occurrence can be calculated using the calculus of possibility. †7 Similar classification is introduced by Frank Knight. In his opinion, risk is a â€Å"measurable uncertainty,†8 while â€Å"immeasurable uncertainty†9 is uncertainty sense stricto. According to Irving Pfeffer, â€Å"risk is the combination of hazard and is measurable by pr obability mathematics, whereas uncertainty is measured by the level of confidence.Risk is a state of the world while uncertainty is a state of mind. †10 To summarize, risk means â€Å"a condition in which there exists a possibility of deviation from an outcome that is expected or hoped for. †11 Risk â€Å"can be expressed as a probability, ranging from 0 to 100 percent. †12 What is important, although not often mentioned in professional literature, there is not only the negative aspect of risk, but also the positive one. Thus, it is a possibility of loss as well as gain. 3 4 ibid. Joseph Sinkey, Commercial Bank Financial Management, (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co. 1992), p. 391. 5 Frank Reilly, Investments, The Dryden Press, (London: Intenational Edition, Collins, 1988), p. 463 6 Bernard and Colli, Slownik ekonomiczny i finansowy, (Wydawnictwo â€Å"KsiaSnica†, 1995), p. 156. 7 ibid. , p. 157. 8 Frank Knight, Risk, Uncertainty and Profit, (Boston: Univ ersity of Boston Press, 1921), p. 233. 9 ibid. 10 Irving Pfeffer, Insurance and Economic Theory, (Illinois: Irvin Inc. Homewood, 1956), p. 42. 11 Reto Gallati, Risk Management and Capital Adequacy, (New York: Mc Graw Hill, 2003), p. 7. 12 ibid. , p. 8. 10 1. 2. Risk in Business ActivityThe volume and diversity of risk obviously depend on a company’s type and branch of economy, but risk as such is a phenomenon which accompanies in its versatile forms any kind and field of business activity. It may come from the external environment of a company as well as from the internal one. For some entrepreneurs, risk is a necessary evil, whereas for others it is an additional motivation, if not the main one. Whatever the point of view is, if a given business activity is to succeed, it is essential to recognize what are the kinds of possible risk, asses their possible impact and acknowledge ways of reacting towards them.Such identification will considerably help in developing a suitable a ttitude, which allows minimizing a potential loss and maximizing a gain. 1. 2. 1. Types of Risk Types of risk which threaten a company’s activity are complex and numerous. Classifications of risk provided by professional literature differ with regard to the assumed criteria. The following comprehensive categorization is based mainly on the division presented in the book Risk Management in Emerging Markets.How to Survive and Prosper by Carl Olsson13: †¢ business risk (also called strategic risk) concerns potential results of inappropriate strategies, inadequate allocation of resources and changes in economic or competitive environment; †¢ market risk is associated with potential results of changes in market prices. It can be divided into: – interest rate risk, –foreign exchange risk, – commodity price risk, Carl Olsson, Risk Management in Emerging Markets. How to Survive and Prosper, (London, Pearson Education United, 2002), pp. 35-36. 13 11 shar es price risk; †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ credit risk means that a debtor may not pay in due time; industry risk regards operating in a particular industry; liquidity risk applies to inability to pay debts because of the lack of available funds; operational risk means potential results of actions by people, processes, and infrastructure; accounting risk concerns a possibility of financial accounts not being in accordance with the reality; reputation risk regards the results of changes in a company’s reputation; country risk is associated with effects which the mother ountry’s and foreign countries’ economic policies may have over the company; sovereign risk applies to lending money to the government or a party guaranteed by the government; political risk means results of changes in political environment; legal/regulatory risk is associated with the consequences of non-compliance with legal or regulatory requirements; environmental/ecological risk applies to the changes in natural environment which affect a company; systemic risk concerns small events which may produce much larges results than expected; technological risk is associated with the consequences of bringing new technology products to the market and introducing new IT systems; natural risk concerns natural and space disasters. All these risks usually appear simultaneously and their effects are synergic. Therefore, none of them should be ignored when considering the company’s situation. After realizing the large number and complex nature of different types of risk involved in all aspects of business activity, a logical step is to try to estimate their potential impact and results. 12 1. 2. 2. Methods of Risk Evaluation An assessment of a particular risk, both internally- and externally-driven, allows taking an appropriate attitude towards it.As Andrzej Stanislaw Barczak writes, such a measu rement involves both subjective and objective elements. 14 The subjective component consists in assuming a priori particular stipulations of a given evaluation tactic, as well as interpreting obtained results in a specific way. The objective constituent derives from the common agreement of the business circle on the methods widely applied to the assessment of risk. Two main types of risk measurement tactics are quantitative risk assessment and qualitative risk assessment. 1. 2. 2. 1. Quantitative Risk Assessment The main conception of quantitative risk assessment is to determine the cost of a given unwelcome occurrence, i. e. o calculate how big the loss would be if an adverse event happened. As it is pointed out in The Security Risk Management Guide, â€Å"it is important to quantify the real possibility of a risk and how much damage, in monetary terms, the threat may cause in order to be able to know how much can be spent to protect against the potential consequence of the threat . †15 This method involves: †¢ evaluation of assets (determining the overall value of a company’s assets, the immediate financial impact of losing the asset and the indirect value of losing the asset); †¢ measurement of the Single Loss Expectancy (SLE), which means â€Å"the total amount of revenue that is lost from a single occurrence of the risk. 16 It is calculated by â€Å"multiplying the asset value by the exposure factor (EF). The 14 Andrzej Stanislaw Barczak, Ryzyko – kategoria obiektywna czy subiektywna? , (Poznan: WSB, 2000), s. 30. 15 Microsoft, The Security Risk Management Guide, (Microsoft Corporation, 2004), p. 19. 16 ibid. , p. 18. 13 exposure factor represents the percentage of loss that a realized threat could have on a certain asset. †17 †¢ assessment of the Annual Rate of Occurrence (ARO), which is â€Å"the number of times that one can reasonably expect the risk to occur during one year. †18 This step is very diffi cult; it bases on historical data and previous experiences, and requires consultation with experts. calculation of the Annual Loss Expectancy (ALE), which stands for â€Å"the total amount of money that an organization will lose in one year if nothing is done to mitigate the risk. †19 This figure is established by multiplying the SLE and the ARO. †¢ valuation of the Cost of Controls (ROSI), i. e. establishing â€Å"accurate estimates on how much acquiring, testing, deploying, operating, and maintaining each control would cost. â€Å"20 It is estimated by using the following equation: (ALE before control) – (ALE after control) – (annual cost of control) = ROSI Although quantitative risk analysis provides clearly defined goals and results, all of the involved calculations are based on subjective estimates, which may prove inaccurate. Moreover, the whole process can be long and costly. 1. 2. 2. 2. Qualitative Risk AssessmentIn opposition to the quantitative method, qualitative risk assessment does not â€Å"assign hard financial values to assets, expected losses, and cost of controls†21 but instead, 17 18 ibid. , p. 19. ibid. , p. 19. 19 ibid. , p. 19. 20 ibid. , p. 19. 21 ibid. , p. 20. 14 â€Å"calculates relative values. †22 It involves distribution of questionnaires among people in the company who have relevant skills and knowledge, and workshops. The questionnaires are designed to discover what assets and controls are already deployed, and the information gathered can be very helpful during the workshops that follow. In the workshops participants identify assets and estimate their relative values.Next they try to figure out what threats each asset may be facing, and then they try to imagine what types of vulnerabilities those threats might exploit in the future. The information security experts and the system administrators typically come up with controls to mitigate the risks for the group to consider and the approx imate cost of each control. Finally, the results are presented to management for consideration during a cost-benefit analysis. 23 This tactic does not require a lot of time and it is not a big burden for the people involved. What is more, the results of the implemented solutions are quickly visible. However, the estimated figures are often perceived as too vague.These two presented approaches are often used together in order to obtain the most comprehensive information about a potential threat. Although scientific methods of risk assessment are helpful in estimating the possible impact which particular occurrences may have on the company’s activity, it is essential to remember that none of the methods can be perceived as 100% trustworthy and absolutely infallible. However, even if it is impossible to predict all threats and provide for all undesirable events, the significance of risk evaluation tactics combined with human knowledge, experience, imagination and intuition canno t be questioned. 1. 3. Risk Management in Business ActivityThe fact that the phenomenon called risk is measurable and its occurrence may be predicted means that it is also possible to take preventive measures and proactive attitude towards it. As Reto Gallati stresses, â€Å"the term Risk Management is a recent creation, but the actual practice of risk management is as old as civilization itself. †24 In everyday life, people face risk in a varying degree all the time and they manage it in a natural way so as to minimize undesired impact and render possible profits. 22 23 ibid. , p. 20. ibid. , p. 20. 15 Certain individuals even enjoy plunging into extraordinarily dangerous situations in order to check how they will cope in difficult moments.However, Andrew Holmes notices that â€Å"at the individual level, if a person takes a risk and fails to manage it properly, the damage is limited to him, and maybe his near relatives,†25 while â€Å"the management of risk for orga nizations is not as simple. †26 As it was presented in the part 1. 2. 1, the company is a subject to various and multiple threats. Holmes stresses that â€Å"ultimately, all risks have a financial impact. †27 The complexity of the required actions aimed at coping with the risk means that â€Å"within the modern corporation, risk management must encapsulate managing strategic, business, operational, and technical risks, rather than those associated with pure finance such as credit, interest rate, and currency risk. †28 Nowadays, Risk Management is not an extra feature added to a company’s basic activity, but â€Å"an essential skill of all modern corporations. †29 All usiness units should realize its great importance, because it is essential not only for their success but simply survival. According to Holmes, a company’s attitude towards the risk depends on its risk sophistication, which can be divided into five stages30: †¢ at the lowest level of sophistication (reactive stance), risks are dealt with only when they turn into live issues or when crisis strikes. There is no effort to recognize and measure possible risks in advance. †¢ At a slightly more sophisticated stage, a company understands the importance of risk management and takes the trouble to identify and manage threats more actively. It tends to seek out the best practice and views adverse events in a wide context. At the next level, there are organizations which acknowledge the need to manage risks throughout the organization and usually develop some form of 24 25 Reto Gallati, Risk Management and Capital Adequacy, (New York: McGraw Hill, 2003), p 11. Andrew Holmes, Risk Management (Oxford: Capstone Publishing, 2002), p. 2. 26 ibid. 27 ibid. 28 ibid. 29 ibid. 30 ibid. , p. 8. 16 risk management framework to ensure consistency of approach. †¢ At the following stage, a company understands the link between risk and reward. It is aware that for eve ry risk there is an associated opportunity which can be exploited. Such a business unit is often a market leader and is willing to take risks to achieve its strategic objectives. At the ultimate level of risk sophistication, there are organizations which integrate risk management with the goal of enhancing shareholder value. Thus, they shift the responsibility for risk management away from the traditional areas of audit and compliance to everyone within the organization. Of course, the active process of Risk Management requires commitment and focus as it means following a deliberate set of actions which are designed to identify, quantify, manage and then monitor the events or actions that could lead to financial loss. Often, there is too little data about a given risk, and therefore, this kind of management may involve a large degree of judgment and assumptions concerning the future. 1 Yet, all the effort is worthwhile as â€Å"successful organizations tend to be excellent risk man agers, not only because they understand the risks they face, but also because of how they manage them. Conversely, those organizations that are poor at risk management spend no time scanning the risk horizon, instead leaving their futures to fate. This invariably means shocks, falling market share, takeovers and missed opportunities. †32 As Holmes reflects, â€Å"risk management is both an art and a science, and being successful depends on how well the two are kept in balance. †33 1. 3. 1. Methods of Risk Management John Holliwell, the managing director of Smith Williamson Consultancy, once said, â€Å"There is nothing wrong with risk.It is the lifeblood of business and the test of entrepreneurs and managers. What matters is how you handle risk and the culture in 31 32 ibid. ibid. 17 which you operate. ’’34 A similar thought is expressed by Clifford Tijok, â€Å"Entrepreneurial behaviour demonstrated in real life entails, i. a. , the ability to enter int o calculated risk, so that return-driven opportunities can be pursued and the ability to identify the relevant risks associated with these opportunities and the decision on appropriate behaviour to address these risks. †35 When a company decides on its risk management techniques, it usually analyses the following features: Table 1. Factors influencing the type of risk management framework required by the organization36ors the type of risk managementframework required by an organizatio FACTORS INFLUENCING RISK MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENT DIMENSIONS TO CONSIDER Strategy risk appetite of owners/risk managers industry geographical coverage aggressive or conservative risk taking or risk averse sunrise or sunset industry; primary, manufacturing, service sector local, national, regional or global is the company critically dependent on critical success factors one or two factors which require close management? volatility is the environment likely to change significantly or unpredictability ? monopoly, few or limited number of osition in industry players, or free market with many players and no barriers to entry is the area of operations highly controlled by regulatory environment legislation and/or regulatory bodies? are regulators intrusive or hands off? 33 34 ibid. ibid. , p. 2. 35 Clifford Tijok, Risk Management in Finance, (Lehrverangstaltung, 2005), p. 8. 36 Carl Olsson, Risk Management in Emerging Markets†¦ pp. 110-111. 18 is deregulation occurring or the level of regulation increasing? management style centralized or decentralized adequate or inadequate people and resources technology resources, financial position – adequate funds available, highly or lowly geared. tatus/ownership Organizational culture Public or privately owned Is the culture strong or weak? are they simple and predictable or nature of risks faced complex/ unpredictable? is the size of risks manageable or is catastrophic risk a cause for concern? Such an analysis leads to adopting one of the main risk management techniques, as presented by Cliff Tijok37: †¢ †¢ †¢ risk limitation – a company establishes its range of tolerance towards a given risk and constantly monitors whether the limits are not breached; risk avoidance – a company chooses the least risky option or none of them; risk transfer – a company reduces or completely transfers specific risks by hedging against a risk (i. e. , obtaining insurance) or diversification.Whatever the approach is, managing risks â€Å"takes a degree of courage and requires the organization to take responsibility for its actions. †38 It is a continuous process, which is â€Å"based on a distinct philosophy and follows a well-defined sequence of steps. †39 After the application of the methods and rules provided by risk management, the obtained data are organized in a clear and logical way. This is the basis which allows the company to go one level up and prepare action schedul es that will be used in case a recognized danger occurs. An essential part of such planning is encompassed by Business Continuity Management and will be discussed in the next chapter. 37 38 Cliff Tijok, Risk Management†¦ pp. 12-13. Andrew Holmes, Risk Management†¦ p. 2. 39 Reto Gallati, Risk Management†¦ p. 11. 19 CHAPTER 2 BUSINESS CONTINUITY MANAGEMENT This chapter provides information on what is Business Continuity Management, when it appeared in the history of management, what purposes it serves and how it should be organized and introduced into a company’s activity. Moreover, it contains a description of the steps which lead to the preparation of a Business Continuity Plan and of the implementation process that follows. Business Continuity Management forms an integral part of Risk Management. It met with particularly deep interest in the 1990s as the result of the frenzy which concerned the year 2000.At that time, there were many anticipated business conti nuity problems, implicated by the date change in computer systems. Business Continuity Management became even a bigger focus of attention in 2001, after the terrorist attack in New York. As Michael Gallagher observes, that huge calamity â€Å"increased awareness of business interruption issues, resulted in a better understanding of critical processes and vulnerabilities and improved co-operation and collaboration between public and private sectors on emergency management questions. †40 Lyndon Bird adds that â€Å"‘business today has far more economic interdependency between regions than ever before. There are often global consequences when risk becomes reality. 41 Yet, at the same time â€Å"there is a growing awareness of what business continuity really is about and why it is so important to both businesses and individuals. †42 8 2. 1. The Concept of Business Continuity Management Business Continuity Management (also called BCM) is defined by the Business Conti nuity Institute as â€Å"a holistic management process which identifies potential Michael Gallagher, Business Continuity Management, (Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited, 2003), p. 7 41 Lyndon Byrd, â€Å"Business Continuity Management in a shrinking world,† Business Continuity & Risk Management (a supplement distributed in The Times), July 26 2006, p. 2 40 20 mpacts that threaten an organization and provides a framework for building resilience and the capability for an effective response that safeguards the interests of its key stakeholders, reputation, brand and value creating activities. † Its main purpose is to enable the company’s regular functioning, even though everyday operations are disrupted. As Lorraine Lane observes, â€Å"organizations must be capable of withstanding the shocks that can so easily distract management from their primary purpose of meeting and beating their ‘normal’ operational goals. †43 BCM appears as the solutio n that is exactly needed to guarantee such stability to the business. Obviously, BCM looks different in various companies as each organization is a unique system of multiple factors and interdependencies.Dr David Smith explains that â€Å"because of its all-embracing nature, the way BCM is carried out will inevitably be dependent upon, and must reflect, the nature, scale and complexity of an organization’s risk profile, risk appetite and the environment in which it operates. †44 Gallagher supports this view by stating that â€Å"the plan must fit comfortably with the culture and management style of the organization. For example, the type of plan that suits a financial institution would be totally inappropriate in a radio or television broadcasting organization. †45 It is also very important to acknowledge that the company’s BCM must be continuously revised and tested, in order to stay valid and fulfill its tasks. As Dr Smith emphasizes, â€Å"BCM is, by necessity, a dynamic, proactive and ongoing process. It must be kept up-to-date and fit-for-purpose to be effective. 46 Maintaining the validity of proper plans and policies is actually more difficult than establishing them, but this is what constitutes the point of developing BCM by a business. On the following page, there is an approximate structure of steps involved in Business Continuity Management, which is focused on planning. 42 43 ibid. â€Å"Corporate resilience: the new regime,† Business Continuity & Risk Management,†¦, p. 11 44 David Smith, â€Å"Business continuity and crisis management,† Management Quarterly, July 2003, p. 27 45 Michael Gallagher, Business Continuity Management,†¦, p. 43 46 ibid. 21 Scheme 2. 1. Procedures involved in Business Continuity Management47 INPUTS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. scope definition desired objectives policies and standards inventory – information, technology, people management commitment financeANALYSIS ASSET ASS ESSMENT BUSINESS IMPACT ANALYSIS TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS 1. analyze BIA and Asset Assessment 2. list technical strategies based on the analysis of each asset and business process in scope 3. document drawbacks and advantages of each listed strategy 1. identify and quantify asset needs 2. document ownership 3. assign weight based on importance 4. assess exposure 5. identify access control and other preventive measures 1. rate processes based on criticality 2. identify dependencies 3. identify custodian 4. identify threats and consequences 5. identify safeguards needed/possible 6. list critical resource requirement 7. quantify acceptable owntime and and losses DEVELOPMENT 1. 2. 3. define continuity goals and chosen strategy in the form of a plan acquire resources needed for preparing and implementing the continuity plan test the plan RESULTS 1. 2. 3. 4. preventive control Business Continuity Plan continuity team training plan for team 47 Padmavathy Ramesh, Business Continuity Planning, (Tata Consultancy services, 2002), p. 28 22 2. 1. 1 The Evolution of BCM As Halls observes, â€Å"Business Continuity Management is a relatively modern idea. Its first mentions can be found in the 1980s, although it was only in the very late 1990s that it became a more widespread as a business discipline. 48 In fact, Business Continuity Management is â€Å"the outcome of a process that started in the early 1970s as computer Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP) and then moved through an era where the emphasis was on business continuity planning rather than on management. †49 In that time, computer managers were responsible for DRP. Soon, they realized that â€Å"the concentration of systems and data in itself created new risks; computer operations management introduced formal procedures governing issues such as backup and recovery, access restrictions, physical security, resilience measures such as alternative power supply, and change control. †50 In 1970s, if a big probl em appeared, the tolerated downtime was not measured in hours, but days. Therefore, â€Å"the cost of back-up computers sitting idle in an alternative location waiting for a disaster to happen was prohibitive. However, for some companies, data safety was a priority; no matter at what cost it would be obtained. As Gallagher points out, â€Å"organizations such as banks were in a more vulnerable position and invested considerable resources in installing and testing computers at alternative sites. Back-up tapes or disks were increasingly stored at protected locations well away from the computer centre. †51 Later, in the 1980s, commercial recovery sites offering services started to appear, often on a shared basis. â€Å"This was the start of the sophisticated recovery centers that operate today,†52 notes Gallagher. However, they all concerned mainly IT: â€Å"The disaster recovery plans documented the actions required to safeguard and restore computer operations.These co vered computer processing, computer applications, telecommunications services and data after a disruptive event. The objectives were to 48 49 Michael Halls, â€Å"What is Business Continuity Management? † †¦ Michael Gallagher, Business Continuity Management,†¦, p. 6 50 ibid. 51 ibid. 52 ibid. 23 prevent or at least minimize the impact that such an event would have on the business. †53 Such plans were far from being perfect as â€Å"they were more concerned with, for example, restoring a company’s financial systems to an operational state than with worrying about whether there would be accommodation available to allow the staff of the finance department actually to use the systems. 54 Not much attention was paid to implementing BCL into every aspect of the company’s activity. In 1990s, a significant change in the IT environment took place and the movement from DRP to Business Continuity Planning became considerably quicker. Gallagher confirms tha t â€Å"throughout this decade, and into the 2000s, there were significant changes in the IT approach to DRP/BCP and in what constituted acceptable downtime. The emphasis moved from being mainly on IT to an approach that considered all aspects of an organization’s business and relationships. †55 It is only then that â€Å"BCP has become BCM with the emphasis on management – not just planning.This encompasses the emphasis on risk management and the measures to be taken to reduce risk. BCM is no longer regarded as a project – it is now a program, emphasizing that it is a continuous process rather than a task with a defined enddate. †56 The next step is to make managers of all companies aware of the importance of BCM as â€Å"the increased recognition of BCM means that a greater budget allocation may be available to it. More significantly, the message preached by business continuity practitioners for years that business continuity principles should b e an integrated part of the business planning process may be heard. † 57 2. 1. 2 The Significance of BCMThanks to proper Business Continuity Management, a company has a professional plan which allows acting as quickly and efficiently as possible in case a dangerous 53 54 ibid. ibid. 55 ibid. 56 ibid. 57 ibid. 24 event happens, because â€Å"BCM not only aims to provide continuity in customer service at a minimum acceptable level, it also aims to limit the impact on the financial position of an organization by ensuring that its critical functions continue to operate during a crisis and that the remainder are recovered in a controlled manner. †58 Therefore, when a BCP is applied, there are no chaotic, haphazard attempts to minimize the losses as clear and logical procedures have been devised earlier and communicated to the staff.As Mel Gosling notices, â€Å"decisions made in the first few hours of an event that causes serious disruption to an organization’s opera tions are critical, and actions undertaken in the first few days will have a significant financial impact†59 and â€Å"a company that has an effective and well-tested Business Continuity Plan is more likely to take the right decisions in the first few hours and to subsequently undertake the best actions to limit the impact on its financial position. It has a better chance of incurring significantly less additional expenditure at the time of a disruption. †60 Moreover, â€Å"one of the benefits that implementing business continuity management brings to a firm, which is not immediately apparent, is an understanding of what the business does and what is important to it. †61 In this way, a company can analyze its allocation of resources and improve it, as well as â€Å"find out what is critical and of value, and what can be outsourced or left undone. †62 Besides, certain companies, e. g. , financial institutions, are legally obliged to develop BCM and maintain an effective business continuity plan.It is also becoming increasingly common that businesses require from their suppliers to be presented with their BCM plans. This facilitates the process of assessing the supplier’s infallibility and constitutes an element of developing a sound business relationship. Mel Gosling, â€Å"Why invest in business continuity,† 1 February 2007, . 59 ibid. 60 ibid. 61 ibid. 62 ibid. 62 ibid. 58 25 The investment into Business Continuity Management is beneficial not only in the matter of a business being prepared for multiple diverse crises. It also adds significantly to the company’s reputation and brand image by â€Å"demonstrating effective and efficient governance to the media, markets and stakeholders. 63 Moreover, it enhances the competitive advantage of the business, because to some investors and customers it may be a vital factor in deciding to which company they should entrust their capital. Osborne explains it as follows, à ¢â‚¬Å"To a firm’s shareholders it’s part of investor relations – you are showing your commitment to keeping their investment safe. To a firm’s staff it is labour relations – you are showing your willingness to protect the livelihood of your staff. †64 Furthermore, he stresses that â€Å"it’s customer relations too – you’re demonstrating your commitment to providing a service for them even in the most extreme of circumstances. †65 Last but not least, devising professional plans and keeping them updated increases the company’s credibility in the eyes of nsurers and auditors because they are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of BCM. As Osborne observes, â€Å"Five years ago, auditors simply would have said to their clients, do you have a plan in place? A couple of years ago, they would have wanted to inspect it, to see if every contingency was covered and how practical it appeared to be. Nowadays, they will ask how it worked in practice. When it was last tested and what were the results? †66 What is more, â€Å"insurers like to see evidence that all reasonable steps have been taken to understand the past accident record and that actions have been put in place to prevent them from happening again. 67 This is confirmed by Gosling, who states that â€Å"insurance companies themselves are now starting to realize the opportunities that business continuity provides for loss reduction, and it is becoming increasingly common for a condition of insurance cover to be the existence of a business 63 64 David Smith, â€Å"Business continuity and crisis management,† †¦ p. 27 Ask the panel of business continuity experts,† †¦ 65 ibid. 66 ibid. 67 â€Å"Pro-active Risk Management: Avoiding catastrophe. † Business Continuity & Risk Management,†¦, p. 14 26 continuity plan. †68 All in all, devising and implementing an effective BCM plans brings ve rsatile advantages to a company, while the failure to do so â€Å"means taking an unnecessary risk with an organization’s future and profitability. †69 2. 1. 4 Continuity Culture in a Company A vital step in forming Business Continuity Management in a company is to instill a proper attitude in the staff.Michael Gallagher believes that â€Å"it is about creating a continuity culture in the organization. This can be at least as important as producing the actual plans. †70 He also states that â€Å"for BCM to work, it must be driven from the top. â€Å"71 Therefore, senior managers must understand that BCM is â€Å"not just another expense but also a significant resource,’ 72 as Mike Osborne assures. However, the amount of data that has to be taken into consideration while developing preventive measures is overwhelming. Lane points out that â€Å"while responsibility for corporate resilience sits firmly with the executive board, the skills and experience required to combat the growing list of disruptive threats exists throughout the organization. 73 Thus, in large companies, it is a wise move to appoint a full-time Business Continuity Manager, whose tasks are to accumulate the relevant knowledge from all departments and co-ordinate proper procedures, as well as devise professional plans and keep them updated. Smaller businesses may use the services offered by consulting companies. The staff’s awareness of specific procedures ready to be applied in case of any foreseeable disaster enhances their efficiency and identification with the company. Instructing them of the specific plans encourages them to pay bigger attention to the safety issues, which significantly contributes to the BCM process. 68 69Mel Gosling, â€Å"Why invest in business continuity,† †¦ ibid. 70 Michael Gallagher, Business Continuity Management,†¦, p. XI 71 ibid. 72 â€Å"Ask the panel of business continuity experts,† Business Continu ity & Risk Management,†¦, p. 12 73 David Smith, â€Å"Business continuity and crisis management† †¦ p. 27 27 Gallagher explains that â€Å"if the business continuity culture is sufficiently developed, the continuity considerations will be a natural part of the development of the plans. †74 2. 2 BCM and the Company’s Size For the definite majority of large corporations, BCM is a regular part of their activity but, as Gallagher states, â€Å"there is a feeling that it is not a matter of concern to the smaller business. 75 This happens because â€Å"a lot of the emphasis in the business continuity press, and in business continuity material generally, relates to large organizations and to the financial services industry. †76 While â€Å"for the largest corporations and those with enormous sums of money at stake, the complexity of planning is breathtaking,†77 â€Å"small and medium-sized enterprises tend to get ignored when talking about bus iness continuity planning. The planning is more prosaic. The challenges are fewer. And most importantly, their budgets are smaller. †78 Another problem is the fact that â€Å"smaller companies are typically less aware of the correct procedures than larger firms where systems have been developed. 79 The managers of small and medium-sized businesses simply tend to think that their company’s size is a kind of safeguard against a disaster, or that potential recovery will be quick and simple, so â€Å"the process of developing a plan is perceived as too complicated, involving excessive costs and management time. †80 However, Mike Osborne emphasizes that â€Å"the issue for small to medium sized businesses is that they often do not have the inherent resilience that say, a UK multinational has. †81 He warns the managers against an illusive safety feeling as â€Å"smaller firms often trade from a single location and do not benefit from vast armies of support sta ff and Michael Gallagher, Business Continuity Management,†¦, p. 88 Michael Gallagher, Business Continuity Management,†¦, p. 28 76 ibid. 7 Michael Halls, â€Å"What is Business Continuity Management? † Business Continuity & Risk Management,†¦, p. 3 78 Michael Halls, â€Å"Small is still beautiful (but riskier too),† Business Continuity & Risk Management,†¦, p. 10 79 ibid. 80 â€Å"It’s never too late to plan for the future,† Business Continuity & Risk Management,†¦, p. 15 75 74 28 specialists who can react to and recover from an incident. If they are hit by a disaster, the impact is greater then it would be the case in a larger organization. †82 This view is supported by Gallagher, who states, â€Å"Small businesses should remember that their biggest threats do not come from high profile incidents such as earthquakes or terrorist bombs.It is the dozens of relatively minor issues such as prolonged power outages or computer ne twork failures that may cause the problems. The vast majority of problems are caused by people or process failures. †83 He points out that â€Å"this is where the effort and investment should be concentrated. Because of size, the process is simpler and the cost will be proportionally less than for larger organizations. The consequences of not having a plan are, however, likely to be disastrous. †84 Therefore, as Michael Halls stresses, â€Å"Business Continuity Management is a must for companies of all sizes. A small firm that loses its data will go out of business just as surely as a larger one. †85 2. 3 BCM in Relation to InsuranceSome managers wonder why they should engage themselves into Business Continuity Management while their company is insured. To them, devising a BCM plan seems to be an unnecessary waste of time and money, because they think that risks are looked after by the insurers and thus, there is no need to worry. But these are absolutely false c onclusions. As Mark Baylis emphasizes, â€Å"insuring the risk is not the answer, because it is better for the business that the problem does not happen at all. † 86 This view is supported by Gallagher, who states that â€Å"insurance is simply a necessary part of the total business protection and recovery plan – but it is only a part. 87 Although it is true that insurance provides financial aid in case a disaster strikes, the money may 81 82 ibid. ibid. 83 Michael Gallagher, Business Continuity Management,†¦, p. 28 84 ibid. 85 Michael Halls, â€Å"Small is still beautiful (but riskier too),† †¦ 86 Mark Baylis, â€Å"Weak links in the supply chain,† Business Continuity & Risk Management,†¦, p. 11 87 Michael Gallagher, Business Continuity Management,†¦, p. 33 29 arrive after quite a long period. Moreover, â€Å"insurance for loss of profits, or for increased cost of working, will cover only a defined period – which in practice may prove to be inadequate. †88 Besides, â€Å"proving loss of profits can be very difficult.The outcome may be based on historical performance and may not take account of recent market developments. †89 It is also very important to notice that insurance will not â€Å"keep customers supplied or guarantee that market share will be recovered,†90 nor will it â€Å"protect the organization’s reputation and image. †91 Last but not least, as it was mentioned in the previous paragraph, there may be a situation when the insurer refuses to provide a cover unless the company devises a BCM, because nowadays businesses are required to act more actively in protecting themselves from various possible risks. Therefore, it is vital for a firm to have efficient Business Continuity Management in order to obtain insurance on favourable terms.To sum up, managers must remember that â€Å"insurance is reactive – while it has its place, the whole protection proce ss must be more proactive and BCM is the key. †92 2. 4 Business Impact Analysis Business Impact Analysis (also known as BIA) is the most important tool of Business Continuity Management. Gallagher defines it as â€Å"a management-level analysis that identifies the impacts of losing company resources. It measures the effect of resource loss and escalating losses over time in order to provide senior management with reliable data upon which to base decisions on risk mitigation and continuity planning. †93 The BIA process â€Å"identifies and ranks the business processes, 88 89 ibid. , p. 34 ibid. 90 ibid. 91 ibid. 92 ibid. 93 ibid. , p. 146 30 criticalities and dependencies. 94 It is closely related to risk analysis, which was discussed in the previous chapter, therefore, it may base on the materials that have already been gathered during the general Risk Management process in the company. The method by which BIA is carried out â€Å"depends on the nature of the organiza tion – size, structure, local or international, etc. †95 Generally, in order to maximize the efficiency of a BIA processes, standardized questionnaires should be used. They should contain questions which are formed in such a way as to provide information that concerns the following issues: †¢ †¢ the nature of given problems; the impact of the problems, which should be presented from different perspectives, e. g. the company’s reputation, costs involved, loss of future business, etc. †¢ †¢ †¢ the influence that may be caused by the problems at different times of the day, week, month and year; the kind of resilience that may be currently provided in a quick and easy way; the recovery from the addressed problems (time needed for recovery, priorities for resumption, duration of backlog, additional costs, insurance cover); †¢ †¢ the available workarounds and the way they operate; the continuity and recovery requirements, e. g. , acco mmodation, computer systems, etc. 96 After the questionnaires have been filled in, the Business Continuity Manager prepares a comprehensive report which presents the company’s Business Impact Analysis. The report is composed of the following parts: 1. Introduction 2. Executive Summary 3. Background to Study 94 95 ibd. , p. 47 ibid. 96 cf. Michael Gallagher, Business Continuity Management,†¦, p. 57 31 4. Current State Assessment 5. Threats and Vulnerabilities 6. Critical Business Functions/Operations 7. Business Impacts – Operational and Financial 8. Potential Strategies 9. Recommendations 10. Conclusion 11.Appendices97 Thanks to the logical and substantial structure, the report fully represents the current standing of the company, clearly indicates its weak points and realistically describes possible procedures. Business Continuity Management is an extremely important process, which not only enables the assumption of proper attitudes towards multiple threats that endanger a firm’s functioning, but it also significantly deepens the understanding of the business and improves the staff’s morale. Proper implementation of BCM in a company leads to the creation of a Business Continuity Plan, which will be discussed in detail in the following chapter. 32 CHAPTER 3BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLAN In the previous chapters, the importance of Business Continuity Management was explained and it was stated that devising a Business Continuity Plan is one of the main tasks of this type of management. This chapter provides information on how to construct, implement and test a Business Continuity Plan. Moreover, it contains a description of the most frequent mistakes that appear while drafting a BCP and advises how to avoid them. The exemplary plans and templates on which the analysis is based are attached as Appendices B, C, D, E and F at the end of the present thesis. 3. 1 The Structure of an Exemplary Business Continuity PlanBusiness Continuity Plan s vary in length and are divided into different parts, which mostly depends on the size and type of a company. However, certain sections are vital and thus common for all the plans. They should be organized in such a way as to enable quick access to the required information. These crucial parts will be successively discussed herein. 3. 1. 1 Front Page and Introduction On the front page of a Business Continuity Plan, there should be written the name of the company, the issue date and a distinct lettering stating BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLAN. Moreover, if the Plan is confidential, it should be indicated on the front page as well. Optional elements inserted here may include contact details for feedback, references, the revision date, etc.These components are followed by an introduction, which consists of a distribution list (copy number, name and location) and a table of contents. 97 cf. Michael Gallagher, Business Continuity Management,†¦, p. 57 33 3. 1. 2 Aim This section should con tain the description of the purpose for which the Plan has been created. It usually gives examples of possible disasters and explains the objectives which the plan is intended to meet in case of a calamity. What is more, a company which wishes to convey an especially powerful message concerning its reliability may include in this part a summary of the extensive works and professional researches which have been involved in the development of the Plan. 3. 1. 3 Critical Functions ChecklistCritical Functions are these activities without which the company would not be able to perform. In order to prepare a Critical Functions Checklist, the following steps should be completed: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ the identification of Critical Functions, e. g. , sales and distribution; the description of the Functions in terms of the impact which may be caused by their interruption in the first 24 h, 48 h, one week and two weeks; the prioritization of the Functions; the ascription of a reasonable timeframe within which the recovery is possible; the determination of resources which will be necessary in the recovery process, such as: a) the staff – the required number of people, their knowledge and skills; b) alternative location – e. g. the staff working at home or provisional premises; together with necessary equipment like computers, cars; c) data – information and documents, e. g. , insurance certificate, service, customers and suppliers details; d) communications – all ways in which customers, suppliers, the staff and media can be contacted in case of disaster. 34 Such a Checklist allows ensuring that â€Å"critical tasks are completed on time and according to a pre-agreed priority schedule. It may also be used to provide a handover document between different shifts in the recovery process. †98 3. 1. 4 Risk Analysis Table This part should contain a table comprising a list of dangers which may interrupt and threaten the activi ty of the company.The matrix presented below may be used to ascribe values to the particular risks with regard to the likelihood of their occurrence and their potential impact. Table 3. 1. 4 Risk Matrix LIKELIHOOD NEGLIGIBLE CATASTROPHIC RARE UNLIKELY POSSIBLE PROBABLE M M M L L H H M L L VH VH H M L VH VH H M L VH VH H M L IMPACT SIGNIFICANT MODERATE MINOR INSIGNIFICANT Legend: L – low, M- medium, H – high, VH – very high Moreover, there may be also attached a list of possible losses, endangered people and equipment, as well as the actions which had to be taken in case a particular risk occurs. 98 Appendix D, p. 77. 35 3. 1. 4 Emergency Response Checklist Such a Checklist greatly facilitates the performance of people involved in fighting a potential adverse event.It also acts a concise register of actions that were taken after the disaster happened. It should be later analyzed, developed and improved. It is preferable that tasks to be completed are organized in the form of a table, together with a column in which the date of termination will be written down. The actions may be listed as follows: †¢ during the first 24 h a) to establish the Actions and Expenses Log, which is a more detailed and comprehensive version of the Emergency Response Checklist; b) to contact emergency services; c) to identify and approximately assess the damage which has been incurred by the staff, equipment, buildings, data, etc. d) to determine the critical functions which have been interrupted; e) to decide on the steps that need to be taken within the recovery process, which is based on the Critical Function Checklist; f) to contact the staff, customers, suppliers, insurers, relevant authorities and other stakeholders in order to assure them that the situation is under control; g) to issue a special PR statement to the media. †¢ daily within the recovery period a) to update the Actions and Expenses Log; b) to provide valid information to the staff, cu stomers, suppliers, insurers, relevant authorities and other stakeholders, as well as the media; †¢ after the recovery period a) to interview the staff with respect to their welfare needs; b) to analyze the Emergency Response Checklist and Actions and Expenses Log in order to introduce possible improvements into the Business Continuity Plan. 36As it can be seen, the response to the crisis should focus on its effects, not on the causes. The reasons of the adverse event should be identified as quickly as possible, but a comprehensive analysis of them must not be performed before the main steps of the recovery process have been taken. 3. 1. 5 Roles and Responsibilities This section should contain information and contact details regarding the people who are responsible for the shape and content of the Business Continuity Plan (e. g. , Business Continuity Manager, the BCM Team). Moreover, there may be included a list of duties which are ascribed to the particular staff members in ca se an adverse event happens.Last but not least, it is necessary to indicate the names and contact details of the co-ordinators of the recovery process, help-line numbers (possibly, with pre-recorded messages) and location of meeting rooms and the Business Recovery Command Centre, together with maps. 3. 1. 6 Contact List In this part, there should be listed the following contact details: †¢ staff members (divided in respect to the departments) and their next of kin a) name, b) address, c) work telephone number, d) home telephone number, e) mobile telephone number, f) e-mail address; †¢ key suppliers a) name, b) provided goods, c) address, d) telephone/fax number, 37 e) e-mail address; †¢ key customers a) name, b) service/good used, c) address, d) telephone/fax number, e) e-mail address; †¢ mergency services (ambulance, fire service, flood line, hospitals, police) a) address, b) telephone number; †¢ utilities (water, telecommunication, gas and electricity comp anies) a) name, b) telephone number, c) e-mail address; †¢ insurers and banks a) name, b) address, c) telephone/fax number, d) e-mail address; †¢ authorities a) name b) address c) telephone/fax number; †¢ media a) name, b