Strategic Management and Information Systems

Strategic Management and Information Systems Now this is the time of modern technology which is the based on Information System it should be use in strategically. Strategic management is a level of managerial activity under setting goals and over Tactics. Strategic management provides overall direction to the enterprise and is closely related to the field of Organization Studies. In the field of business administration it is useful to talk about strategic align men between the organization and its environment or strategic consistency. According to Arieu (2007), there is strategic consistency when the actions of an organization are consistent with the expectations of management, and these in turn are with the market and the context. Strategic management is an ongoing process that evaluates and controls the business and the industries in which the company is involved; assesses its competitors and sets goals and strategies to meet all existing and potential competitors; and then reassesses each strategy annually or quarterly [i.e. regularly] to determine how it has been implemented and whether it has succeeded or needs replacement by a new strategy to meet changed circumstances, new technology, new competitors, a new economic environment., or a new social, financial, or political environment. Marketing action plan Placement and execution of required resources are financial, manpower, operational support, time, technology support Operating with a change in methods or with alteration in structure Distributing the specific tasks with responsibility or moulding specific jobs to individuals or teams. The process should be managed by a responsible team. This is to keep direct watch on result, comparison for betterment and best practices, cultivating the effectiveness of processes, calibrating and reducing the variations and setting the process as required. Introducing certain programs involves acquiring the requisition of resources: a necessity for developing the process, training documentation, process testing, and immolation with (and/or conversion from) difficult processes. As and when the strategy implementation processes, there have been so many problems arising such as human relations, the employee-communication. Such a time, marketing strategy is the biggest implementation problem usually involves, with emphasis on the appropriate timing of new products. An organization, with an effective management, should try to implement its plans without signalling this fact to its competitors.[3] In general terms, there are two main approaches, which are opposite but complement each other in some ways, to strategic management: The Industrial Organizational Approach based on economic theory deals with issues like competitive rivalry, resource allocation, economies of scale assumptions rationality, self discipline behaviour, profit maximization The Sociological Approach deals primarily with human interactions Information- and technology-driven strategy Peter Drucker had theorized the rise of the knowledge worker back in the 1950s. He described how fewer workers would be doing physical labour, and more would be applying their minds. In 1984, John Nesbitt theorized that the future would be driven largely by information: companies that managed information well could obtain an advantage, however the profitability of what he calls the information float (information that the company had and others desired) would all but disappear as inexpensive computers made information more accessible. Daniel Bell (1985) examined the sociological consequences of information technology, while Gloria Schuck and Shoshana Zuboff looked at psychological factors. Zuboff, in her five year study of eight pioneering corporations made the important distinction between automating technologies and info mating technologies. She studied the effect that both had on individual workers, managers, and organizational structures. She largely confirmed Peter Druckers predictions three decades earlier, about the importance of flexible decentralized structure, work teams, knowledge sharing, and the central role of the knowledge worker. Zuboff also detected a new basis for managerial authority, based not on position or hierarchy, but on knowledge (also predicted by Drucker) which she called participative management. In 1990, Peter Senge, who had collaborated with Arie de Geus at Dutch Shell, borrowed de Geus notion of the learning organization, expanded it, and popularized it. The underlying theory is that a companys ability to gather, analyze, and use information is a necessary requirement for business success in the information age. (See organizational learning.) In order to do this, Senge claimed that an organization would need to be structured such that:[75] People can continuously expand their capacity to learn and be productive, New patterns of thinking are nurtured, Collective aspirations are encouraged, and People are encouraged to see the whole picture together. Senge identified five disciplines of a learning organization. They are: Personal responsibility, self reliance, and mastery We accept that we are the masters of our own destiny. We make decisions and live with the consequences of them. When a problem needs to be fixed, or an opportunity exploited, we take the initiative to learn the required skills to get it done. Mental models We need to explore our personal mental models to understand the subtle effect they have on our behaviour. Shared vision The vision of where we want to be in the future is discussed and communicated to all. It provides guidance and energy for the journey ahead. Team learning We learn together in teams. This involves a shift from a spirit of advocacy to a spirit of enquiry. Systems thinking We look at the whole rather than the parts. This is what Senge calls the Fifth discipline. It is the glue that integrates the other four into a coherent strategy. For an alternative approach to the learning organization, see Garratt, B. (1987). Thomas A. Stewart, for example, uses the term intellectual capital to describe the investment an organization makes in knowledge. It is composed of human capital (the knowledge inside the heads of employees), customer capital (the knowledge inside the heads of customers that decide to buy from you), and structural capital (the knowledge that resides in the company itself). Manuel Castells, describes a network society characterized by: globalization, organizations structured as a network, instability of employment, and a social divide between those with access to information technology and those without. Geoffrey Moore (1991) and R. Frank and P. Cook[85] also detected a shift in the nature of competition. In industries with high technology content, technical standards become established and this gives the dominant firm a near monopoly. The same is true of networked industries in which interoperability requires compatibility between users. An example is word processor documents. Once a product has gained market dominance, other products, even far superior products, cannot compete. Moore showed how firms could attain this enviable position by using E.M. Rogers five stage adoption process and focusing on one group of customers at a time, using each group as a base for marketing to the next group. The most difficult step is making the transition between visionaries and pragmatists (See Crossing the Chasm). If successful a firm can create a bandwagon effect in which the momentum builds and your product becomes a de facto standard. Evans and Wurster describe how industries with a high information component are being transformed.[86] They cite Encartas demolition of the Encyclopedia Britannica (whose sales have plummeted 80% since their peak of $650 million in 1990). Encartas reign was speculated to be short-lived, eclipsed by collaborative encyclopedias like Wikipedia that can operate at very low marginal costs. Encartas service was subsequently turned into an on-line service and dropped at the end of 2009. Evans also mentions the music industry which is desperately looking for a new business model. The upstart information savvy firms, unburdened by cumbersome physical assets, are changing the competitive landscape, redefining market segments, and disintermediating some channels. One manifestation of this is personalized marketing. Information technology allows marketers to treat each individual as its own market, a market of one. Traditional ideas of market segments will no longer be relevant if personalized marketing is successful. The technology sector has provided some strategies directly. For example, from the software development industry agile software development provides a model for shared development processes. Access to information systems have allowed senior managers to take a much more comprehensive view of strategic management than ever before. The most notable of the comprehensive systems is the balanced scorecard approach developed in the early 1990s by Drs. Robert S. Kaplan (Harvard Business School) and David Norton (Kaplan, R. and Norton, D. 1992). It measures several factors financial, marketing, production, organizational development, and new product development in order to achieve a balanced perspective. Knowledge-driven strategy Most current approaches to business strategy focus on the mechanics of management e.g., Druckers operational strategies and as such are not true business strategy. In a post-industrial world these operationally focused business strategies hinge on conventional sources of advantage have essentially been eliminated: Scale used to be very important. But now, with access to capital and a global marketplace, scale is achievable by multiple organizations simultaneously. In many cases, it can literally be rented. Process improvement or best practices were once a favored source of advantage, but they were at best temporary, as they could be copied and adapted by competitors. Owning the customer had always been thought of as an important form of competitive advantage. Now, however, customer loyalty is far less important and difficult to maintain as new brands and products emerge all the time. In such a world, differentiation, as elicudated by Michael Porter, Botten and McManus is the only way to maintain economic or market superiority (i.e., comparative advantage) over competitors. A company must OWN the thing that differentiates it from competitors. Without IP ownership and protection, any product, process or scale advantage can be compromised or entirely lost. Competitors can copy them without fear of economic or legal consequences, thereby eliminating the advantage. (For an explanation and elucidation of the post-industrial worldview, see George Ritzer and Daniel Bell.) The psychology of strategic management Several psychologists have conducted studies to determine the psychological patterns involved in strategic management. Typically senior managers have been asked how they go about making strategic decisions. A 1938 treatise by Chester Barnard, that was based on his own experience as a business executive, sees the process as informal, intuitive, non-routinized, and involving primarily oral, 2-way communications. Bernard says The process is the sensing of the organization as a whole and the total situation relevant to it. It transcends the capacity of merely intellectual methods, and the techniques of discriminating the factors of the situation. The terms pertinent to it are feeling, judgement, sense, proportion, balance, appropriateness. It is a matter of art rather than science. In 1973, Henry Mintzberg found that senior managers typically deal with unpredictable situations so they strategize in ad hoc, flexible, dynamic, and implicit ways. . He says, The job breeds adaptive information-manipulators who prefer the live concrete situation. The manager works in an environment of stimulous-response, and he develops in his work a clear preference for live action.[88] In 1982, John Kotter studied the daily activities of 15 executives and concluded that they spent most of their time developing and working a network of relationships from which they gained general insights and specific details to be used in making strategic decisions. They tended to use mental road maps rather than systematic planning techniques.[89] Daniel Isenbergs 1984 study of senior managers found that their decisions were highly intuitive. Executives often sensed what they were going to do before they could explain why.[90] He claimed in 1986 that one of the reasons for this is the complexity of strategic decisions and the resultant information uncertainty.[91] Shoshana Zuboff (1988) claims that information technology is widening the divide between senior managers (who typically make strategic decisions) and operational level managers (who typically make routine decisions). She claims that prior to the widespread use of computer systems, managers, even at the most senior level, engaged in both strategic decisions and routine administration, but as computers facilitated (She called it deskilled) routine processes, these activities were moved further down the hierarchy, leaving senior management free for strategic decions making. In 1977, Abraham Zaleznik identified a difference between leaders and managers. He describes leadershipleaders as visionaries who inspire. They care about substance. Whereas managers are claimed to care about process, plans, and form.[92] He also claimed in 1989 that the rise of the manager was the main factor that caused the decline of American business in the 1970s and 80s.The main difference between leader and manager is that, leader has followers and manager has subordinates. In capitalistic society leaders make decisions and manager usually follow or execute.[93] Lack of leadership is most damaging at the level of strategic management where it can paralyze an entire organization.[94] According to Corner, Kinichi, and Keats,[95] strategic decision making in organizations occurs at two levels: individual and aggregate. They have developed a model of parallel strategic decision making. The model identifies two parallel processes both of which involve getting attention, encoding information, storage and retrieval of information, strategic choice, strategic outcome, and feedback. The individual and organizational processes are not independent however. They interact at each stage of the process. References David, F Strategic Management, Columbus:Merrill Publishing Company, 1989 Lamb, Robert, Boyden Competitive strategic management, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1984 Sweet, Franklyn H. Strategic Planning A Conceptual Study, Bureau of Business Research, The University of Texas, 1964 Chandler, Alfred Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the history of industrial enterprise, Doubleday, New York, 1962.

Introduction for a Chemistry Essay

The average University student has many tasks to accomplish and much studying to do while combating the onslaught of sleep. Students at the University of the West Indies Mona are no different and recommended amongst themselves a highly rated and popular health supplement â€Å"Yeast-Vite† [8]. Yeast-Vite is a health supplement pill which helps people fight fatigue and improve alertness. The active ingredients in Yeast-Vite are caffeine, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B3. The other ingredients are: dried yeast, lactose, powdered cloves, colouring E124, E104, E132, colloidal anhydrous silica, maize starch, and microcrystalline cellulose. [1] Yeast-Vite is a good energy supplier when taken according to the directions. The Manufacturer recommends taking 12 pills in a day [1] to eliminate fatigue and improve concentration. The â€Å"alert† effect can be attributed to Caffeine, a major compound that has been proven to stimulate the central nervous system, heart, muscles, and blood pressure control centres [2]. Each pill contains 50mg of Caffeine according to the label created by the manufacturer. The following structure represents that of caffeine. Though effective, research has shown that the intake of more than 300mg of Caffeine on a daily basis is harmful to the body. Symptoms such as caffeinism, insomnia, irritability, palpitations, Nervous symptoms, upset stomach etc. are experienced and consuming more than 500mg may cause death.[3] Theoretically, the recommended dosage of Yeast-Vite tablets daily can create such harm, since the suggested daily dosage of up to 12 tablets[1] adds up to 600mg –if caffeine content of 50mg per tablet holds true. A problem exists. The recommended daily dosage of Yeast-Vite contained too much caffeine for the human body. It was hypothesized that the caffeine concentration in Yeast-Vite pills could cause negative health effects and that the manufacturer’s idea of the caffeine content may be inaccurate. Three analytical chemistry students decided to test the hypothesis, and over a four week period, conducted the determination of the caffeine content of Yeast-Vite pills using High Performance Liquid Chromatography. The researchers expected the actual caffeine content of pills to be 10mg more/less than 50mg of caffeine and also that Vitamins B1, B2 and B3 could cause significant interference. The analysis was conducted entirely as a group by dissolving pills in water, preparing calibration standards, and determining the concentration of caffeine in the pills via external calibration and standard addition (single spike). High performance liquid chromatography was chosen as the analytical method because caffeine did not fit the criteria for analysis by Gas Chromatography and Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy i.e. caffeine’s volatility was negligible and it had no metal ions.

It’s anti-life Essay

Now I’m not going to delve into the argument of whether an unborn fetus is life because that’s a complete and utter waste of time. But I do want to know if life is as valuable as everybody claims. Do you really think about how valuable the life of a beggar is when you meet him or her down the street? Do you value the life of a murderer when you’re facing him at gunpoint? Do you value the life of a corrupt government official when he is using his power for profit? The truth is we only value life when the absence of life is there. The rest of the time we don’t really give a crap about it. We waste life, we self-destruct, we kill, we steal and yet when we see a loved one die or when we find out we’re dying we start valuing life. Isn’t that simply hypocrisy? The truth is, the only life that’s valuable to us is our own life and the lives of those who are close to us. You people rant about how important human life is yet when exposed in our vulnerable state all you see is a facade of hypocrisy to shield your irrational beliefs. You brag about valuing the human life yet all you really care about is your own selfish life. It isn’t life that’s important to humans. What’s important is the â€Å"person† inside each and every human being. You can tell me that the reason why some people don’t care about life is because there is good and there is evil when it comes to people. If that is so then that means that life is also either good or bad. And when it comes to human nature, people almost never put any value into anything that is bad. Euthanasia is defined as the practice of ending a life prematurely in order to end pain and suffering. The process is also sometimes called Mercy Killing. Euthanasia can fall into several categories. Voluntary Euthanasia is carried out with the permission of the person whose life is taken. Involuntary euthanasia is carried out without permission, such as in the case of a criminal execution. The moral and social questions surrounding these practices are the most active fields of research in Bioethics today. Many Supreme Court cases, such as Gonzales v. Oregon and Baxter vs. Montana, also surround this issue. Voluntary euthanasia is typically performed when a person is suffering from a terminal illness and is in great pain. When the patient performs this procedure with the help of a doctor, the term assisted suicide is often used. This practice is legal in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg. It is also legal in the state of Oregon, Washington and Montana. Passive euthanasia is carried out by terminating a medication that is keeping a patient alive or not performing a life-saving procedure. Active euthanasia involves the administration of a lethal drug or otherwise actively ending the life. These two types of procedures carry different moral and social issues. Euthanasia Debate Controversy There is a lot of controversy surrounding the issue of euthanasia and whether or not it should be legal. From a legal standpoint, the Encyclopedia of American Law categorizes mercy killing as a class of criminal homicide. Judicially, not all homicide is illegal. Killing is seen as excusable when used as a criminal punishment, but inexcusable when carried out for any other reason. In most nations, euthanasia is considered criminal homicide: however, in the jurisdictions mentioned above, it is placed on the other side of the table with criminal punishment. Arguments regarding the euthanasia debate often depend on the method used to take the life of the patient. The Oregon Death with Dignity Act made it legal for residents to request a lethal injection from a doctor. This is seen in other jurisdictions as being a criminal form of homicide. However, passive euthanasia through denial of drugs or procedures is considered to be legal in almost all jurisdictions. Those who argue for euthanasia feel that there is no difference. Those who are against it disagree. Euthanasia and Religion Many arguments also hinge on religious beliefs. Many Christians believe that taking a life, for any reason, is interfering with God’s plan and is comparable to murder. The most conservative of Christians are against even passive euthanasia. Some religious people do take the other side of the argument and believe that the drugs to end suffering early are God-given and should be used. One of the main groups of people who are involved with the euthanasia debate is physicians. One survey in the United States recorded the opinions of over 10,000 medical doctors and found that sixteen percent would consider stopping a life-maintaining therapy at the recommendation of family or the patient. Fifty five percent would never do such. The study also found that 46 percent of doctors believe that physician assisted suicide should be allowed in some cases. The controversy surrounding euthanasia involves many aspects of religion, medical and social sciences. As this is one of the most studied fields of bioethics, one can rest assured that more studies will be performed to learn more about this issue and how to best address it. Firstly, I disagree with your definition of euthanasia. Euthanasia is the putting to death, by painless method, of a terminally-ill or severely debilitated person through the omission (intentionally withholding a life-saving medical procedure, also known as passive euthanasia) or commission of an act (active euthanasia), as defined by the leanlegal dictionary online. I also find your first point confusing; in what way does the legalisation of euthanasia affect the close family ties in Filipinos? I, being a Filipino, can relate, and I fail to see your point. Secondly, define what you mean by â€Å"the doctor’s ethics†? In a case to case basis, a doctor will not be performing euthanasia if he/she is against it, therefore it is a fallacy to generalise to all doctors. Lastly, euthanasia is against the constitution, that is why the topic is should it be legalised. Saying it is currently not legal is restating the topic, no relevance. Now for my arguments. Firstly, the financial costs of keeping a person on a life support machine are enormous, not to mention hospital bills and 24-hour medical care. 80% of the Filipinos live in poverty, how many people can afford this? What happens then if the family cannot afford keeping the relative on life support? Do they get arrested? Secondly, the emotional distress that is caused by seeing your loved one in a vegetative state for an extended period of time while doctors continually tell you that there is no hope for recovery is potentially traumatizing. Some people who consider this as suffering for the vegetable loved one will want euthanasia, but they haven’t the option. Legalising this will not force everyone to take this course, but rather only provide an option. Lastly, the medical facilities and time that is devoted towards the vegetative patient with low chances of recovery could be spent helping someone else in greater need. Already in the Philippines we have a shortage of medical personnel and equipment, this additional burden will only cause more damage.

No Child Left Behind - 1538 Words

We all have heard the key to success is education. However, in the United States, that key to success is far fetched. America as a whole needs many improvements. While America will never be a perfect society as I dream, America needs to take a step forward to improving the country for all. A better education system will be a step toward improving the United States. The education system in America continues to fail our children and falls behind compared to other countries. Children today are tomorrow’s future. They are the next innovators, scientist, doctors, etc. However, the only way children can grow to make the future a better place is if they receive a world class education. It takes a team effort and collaboration of teachers,†¦show more content†¦States and districts will continue to focus on the achievement gap by identifying and intervening in schools that are persistently failing to close those gaps. States and districts have the flexibility to determine appropriate improvements and support options for their school (A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 2010). The blueprint ask states and districts to develop meaningful ways of measuring teacher and principal effectiveness to provide better support to their students and parents. Also, enhance the profession through recognizing and rewarding excellence, and ensure that every classroom has a great teacher and every school has a great principal (A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 2010). However, the Obama administration attempt to â€Å"reform† NCLB failed to address many of the laws fundamental flaws (Schaeffer, 2012). Since the Obama administration has failed to address the fundamental flaws of the law, the school system is still suffering. A recent survey on teachers’ reaction to the NCLB act focuses on three aspects of NCLB that are particularly relevant 1) the testing requirements and the rules 2) the sanctions imposed on schools that fail to meet the requirements and 3) the requirement that all teachers of core academic subjects be highly qualified in their areas of teaching assignment. Overall,Show MoreRelatedNo Child Left Behind958 Words   |  4 Pages Good intentions are no excuse to continue a fail policy. Since the No Child left Behind Act (NCLB) became in effect, teachers have been restricted to teach in a certain way. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 8, 2002, which was a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. President Bush once said; â€Å"education is the gateway to a hopeful future for America’s children. America relies on good teachersRead MoreThe No Child Left Behind1974 Words   |  8 Pagesorder to improve education in America, we have to go to the root of our problem in the school system and find better ways to enforce new rules and regulations that wouldn’t be detrimental to both students, schools, and educators alike. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is having a negative effect on our education system because it reduces the choices of schools for parents, and the distribution of qualified teachers. It also has a negative impact on the amount that kids are able to learn in schoolRead MoreNo Child Left Behind2277 Words   |  10 PagesIn the case of No Child Left Behind (N CLB), is politics the enemy of problem solving? By examining selected political controversies surrounding NCLB, it will be demonstrated that politics is the enemy. Since NCLB’s enactment, vast amounts of research literature and news stories have been published on its effects, which demonstrates the impact and debate generated by this law. The major goals of this bipartisan legislation were to improve student performance through standardized testing by usingRead More No Child Left Behind1472 Words   |  6 Pagesgone into many wars. Not just physical wars that I am considered about but also wars on education. The nation could destroy its own glory and way of the source of great future that it rely on by initiating a war on the minds of the children. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is a federal education policy that was developed in 2001. (Lagana-Riordan and Aguilar 135). NCLB is a program designed to minimize the differences in the level of education that white or rich people get to poor African-American, HispanicRead MoreNo Child Left Behind555 Words   |  2 Pagesschools and their mission to build the mind and character of every child, from every background in every part of America.† Pr. George W. Bush. The No Child Left Behind Act has plenty of advantages such as: helping students with disabilities, guiding teachers and parents so that they can help the child, and push the child to succeed. Students with language disabilities will be at a disadvantage in reading. The No Child Left Behind has provides students with tutors and extra help with homework. PresidentRead MoreNo Child Left Behind Act1621 Words   |  7 Pages The support for the No Child Left Behind Act plummeted down shortly after the act passed. Many people supported the act at first simply because they supported the goals of the act, once they saw the results, their opinions changed. One of the biggest arguments towards No Child Left Behind is that it is unfair. People believed the resources of difference schools were unequal, and thought the Title 1 funding that the schools received should go to ensuring all schools had equal resources. Many peopleRead MoreThe No Child Left Behind Act1670 Words   |  7 PagesKentucky-SW 630 Abstract This literature review seeks to explore the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015), a bipartisan reauthorization and revision to the No Child Left Behind Act (2002). The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the first law passed in fourteen years to address Reneeded changes to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Considered progressive and innovative at the time of its passage, NCLB was the most dramatic and aggressive legislation enacted in decades and afforded theRead MoreNo Child Left Behind Essays1062 Words   |  5 Pages LITERATURE REVIEW Rushton talks about the funding for the No Child Left Behind is being held back if the students don’t do well on the standardized tests. So if the students don’t do well on the testing the teachers are being affected in the way of how much they are getting paid, also affects the school districts funding. This is encouraging the teachers not to teach the way they should, but they are teaching in the way of let’s just make the students do well on the standardized tests. In thisRead MoreEssay On No Child Left Behind1333 Words   |  6 PagesHook: â€Å"I used to love teaching,† said Steve Eklund, a retired California teacher. â€Å"Four words drove me into retirement—No Child Left Behind. I could no longer tend to the needs and wants of my students. All I was supposed to do was to get them ready to take tests.† Intro (with thesis): The surviving NCLB mindset of standardized tests being an accurate measure of a students achievement is a problem because it affects our student’s education and increases performance pressure on teachers. WhatRead MoreNo Child Left Behind Act1418 Words   |  6 Pagessystematic oppression. The flowing water of oppression floods poor schools; drowning students with dreams, and giving no mercy. The only ones safe from the water are the privileged, who are oblivious to the fact that it exists. George Bush s No Child Left Behind Act, which passed in 2002, mandated annual standardized testing in math and reading. If schools received insufficient scores, they were punished or shut down. This fueled the construed concept that a school is only doing well if the students