Censorship, Freedom of the Press, Karl Marx and The Catholic Church free essay sample

This paper examines the relationship between the First Amendment right and the concepts of Freedom of the Press and Censorship. This paper takes a look at what is protected by the First Amendment. It also looks at how the courts have ruled in a number of important cases. The paper identifies Congressional opinion and actions. It then takes a philosophical look at the issue. Karl Marx wrote extensively on Freedom of the Press and it looks at his position on the issue. His viewpoint is then contrasted with that of the Roman Catholic Church on these issues, through a study of how censorship has been applied throughout the Churchs history. The freedom of religion, speech, and of the press, as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution, are basic rights enjoyed by American citizens, however the precise definitions and limitations are vague. Various challenges and court rulings have extended the definition of speech to include verbal communication as well as non-verbal communication, such as artistic or physical expression, and symbolic gesture. We will write a custom essay sample on Censorship, Freedom of the Press, Karl Marx and The Catholic Church or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As the courts have broadened the definitions and protections under the freedom of speech, so have they imposed limitations or exclusions, such as defamation, obscenity, sedition, causing panic, incitement to crime and fighting words.

Macroeconomics Collapse of the United States Housing Market

Introduction Economic recession is a cycle in business in which there is relatively lower economic activities in the business market. Such was the experience that the economy of the United States faced in the year 2009 following the crisis that was realized in the housing market.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Macroeconomics: Collapse of the United States Housing Market specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Though a recovery has since been realized, macroeconomic factors have been players in the housing bubble and the realized recovery. This paper seeks to discuss the macroeconomics of the United State’s economy. The paper will look into circumstances that led to the collapse of the United States housing market, classifications of macroeconomic indicators and possible steps towards economic recovery of the United States. Factors that led to the Collapse of Housing Market The collapse of the housing market was considerably a culmination of factors that had accumulated in a system for a long period of time. One of the causes of the crisis was identified to be the policies that were over time adopted by the country’s policy makers. Government policies made over the last three decades in the mortgage sector had, for instance, been geared towards pushing financial institutions towards increasing the level of financing to the general public. These policies thus pushed the institutions to offering loans to individuals who even failed to meet required credit worthiness levels. Legislations such as the â€Å"community reinvestment act† of the year 1977, for example, called for financial institutions to make lending advances to the communities in which they operated. The consequence of the legislation was that if an individual applied for a loan then the institution could have no option but to comply with the application or risk being accused of violating the country’s constit ution.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This move thus forced banks and other financial institutions to offer risky lending. The result was an increased borrowing that was invested in the housing sector. This eventually had a destabilizing effect on the market owing to the market forces of demand and supply (Gordon, 2008). The Federal Reserve was equally accused of fuelling the eventuality of the collapse in the market through steps towards destabilization of the housing market. Though the move might not have been direct or intentional, it played a role to the change in demand in the housing market. In a move that was viewed as a step towards stabilization of the economy, the public was to be empowered into investments through lowered rates. The reduced rates also contributed to people’s motivation into taking loans which were directed towards the housing market. This is particularly because the loans were made affordable to an increased majority that had previously feared the previously high rates (Murphy, 2008). The capitalistic system of the American economy is also a factor towards the crisis that was realized in the housing market. The fact that money value as well as the flow of capital is determined by the Federal Reserve rather that the market demand and supply for money also pushed the responsibility to the hands of the federal government and the Federal Reserve for the crash in the market. Since the Federal Reserve determines the flow of capital in the economy and even the money value, inaccurate decisions over these issues will bear consequences to the economy in terms of monetary value which translates to economic instability. The policies and legislations that led to increased lending were not out of credit worthiness considerations but due to pressure on the demand in the housing sector. Consequently there was inflation in the value of the houses.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Macroeconomics: Collapse of the United States Housing Market specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The price of the subprime loans that were pumped into the market also led to increased rates on repayments that put burden on individual investors. People could then not pay for the loans leading to repossessions and a final collapse in the real estate value and the ultimate collapse of the housing market. The collapse of the market was thus due to economic policies that destabilized the market forces in the sector leading to its fall (BBC, 2007). Macroeconomic indicators Macroeconomics deals with the totality of an economy in terms of its performance and even behavior and structures among other aspects. Macroeconomic indicators can be classified into three categories. The first classification is the leading macroeconomic indicators which are defined as preliminary variabl es that foresee an occurrence in an economy. They point out to an occurrence that is not yet realized but is imminent. They are identified as the â€Å"variables that predicts or lead to† (McEachem, 2005, p. 432) economic changes. Though the leading indicators are a hint of what could happen in the economy, they cannot offer exact illustration of what will occur but rather offer a probabilistic forecast that could at the same time be wrong. A reduced rate of turnover in an industry can, for example, be an indicator of initial stages of recession in an economy. A change into improvement in the rate and volume of sales would on the contrary indicate a turn into economic recovery (McEachem, 2005). Another class of indicators is the coincident macroeconomic indicators. Coincident indicators are those variables that identify the extremes of an economy. They identify the economy’s best and worst performance in terms of period and even properties.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Considerations of factors such a â€Å"total employment and personal income† (McEachem, 2005, p. 432) are examples of coincident indicators. Lagging indicators are on the other hand variables that show effects of economic changes and are identified after these changes have occurred. Such indicators include factors such as interest rates and considerations of unemployment in an economy in terms of time period (Elwell, 2011). Possible Steps towards Economic Recovery The economic recession as realized by the United States in the year 2007 to the year 2009 are significantly blamed on economic policies that drove the housing market to its inflation and subsequent collapse. Necessary counter measures to this inflation, which I would adopt if I were the president, are monetary together with fiscal policies. Monetary policies such as increasing the lending rates as well as restricting regulations on bank lending are some of the measures that I would enact to reduce the money flow int o the economy. Among the fiscal policies that I would adopt is the federal investment into the housing sector in order to save the American citizens from losing their houses to financial institutions in the form of repossessions. Conclusion The performance and state of economies are cyclic with recession and recovery sessions. Though it can at times be abrupt and inevitable, there exist indicators that can predict economic cycles. Necessary policies can also be adopted to prevent or control unfavorable economic periods. References BBC. (2007). The downturn in facts and figures. Retrieved from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7073131.stm Elwell, C. (2011). Economic Recovery: Sustaining U. S. Economic Growth in a Post-Crisis Economy. Darby, Pennsylvania: DIANE Publishing. Gordon, R. (2008). Did liberals cause the subprime crisis? Retrieved from: https://prospect.org/article/did-liberals-cause-sub-prime-crisis McEachem, W. (2005). Economics With Infotrac: A Contemporary Introductio n. New York, NY: Cengage Learning. Murphy, R. (2008). Did the Fed cause the housing bubble? Retrieved from: https://mises.org/library/did-fed-cause-housing-bubble This essay on Macroeconomics: Collapse of the United States Housing Market was written and submitted by user Ronan Ross to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Organ donations essays

Organ donations essays Specific Purpose: To persuade my audiences to donate their organs and tissues when they die and act upon their decision to become organ donors. A. How do you feel when there is something that you really want but you cant have? What if you couldnt live without it? Well, I know my aunt who has liver cancer desperately wants a new liver but she cant have one until someone donates a liver to give to her. Her name went on a waiting list and she waited for a miracle. She finally got one when a liver match was donated by a women in a fatal car accident. The women who died gave my aunt the gift of life but not everyone is always so lucky. B. Someone you know could be on an organ transplant list. The number of people on the waiting list of organ donations is growing each day. The time is now for everyone to come together. Dennis OLeary M.D., president of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization, said, The challenge today is to make the gift of life available to all who need it. C. Today, I am going to talk to you about organ donations, how you can become an organ donor and finally how your family and the organ donor recipient benefit from you organ donation. A. First Im going to talk to you about organ donations and how important they really are. 1. Organ donation is also known as Giving the Gift of Life. One single donor can save or help up to 50 lives. Just imagine giving the miracle of life to 50 different people, its amazing. More than 85,000 people in the United States now are waiting life-saving transplants and over 6,000 people die each year while waiting for the organs to become available. a. From an article in the Pharma Business Week said that 6,455 people became deceased organ donors in the United States in 2003. This was an increase by 4.3% in the past years and it was the highest increase in donors since...

How modern portfolio theory can be used to manage the portfolio of Essay

How modern portfolio theory can be used to manage the portfolio of your own_ - Essay Example The pros barely edged the DJIA by a margin of 51 to 49 contests† (Investor Home, 2011). An investor simply parking their money in the Dow would have beaten the specific picks of the professionals about half the time, even without transaction costs or taxes. Even worse, later research found that the pros got a break due to the announcement effect of the stock (Liang, 1996). When the pros made an announcement, others invested naively, but these stocks later reversed quite quickly: When taking this into account, the pros did not beat the dartboard! And in the last year of the contest, the readers won slightly (Jasen, 2002). All of this seems to sink the idea of portfolio analysis: If the best pros in the world using the best techniques can't beat random chance, how can anyone? But modern portfolio tools have given investors, particularly newer ones, skills for constructing an asset portfolio that will beat out mutual funds and naive investment. The Failure of Mutual Funds It's not just professionals that struggle to create value. Mutual funds are also very bad at generating growth, and they have the advantage not only of many investors and many analysts but also time and a diverse portfolio! â€Å"By and large, what you're going to find is that very, very few active funds consistently match the performance of the various indexes over the long-term, much less beat them... Finding a fund that consistently beat its index is like looking for a needle in a haystack† (Distad, 2009). Distad's data shows that very few funds beat out the market over time. Further, he notes that many of these actively managed funds are highly unreliable in terms of their fidelity. 80% had performance history only going back a year, out of a random sample of almost 3500 funds! Investors need to construct their own portfolio, not just rely on mutual funds that have had a mixed record of success and have certainly suffered after events like Enron, WorldCom and the 2008 collapse. A ssets Chosen I chose two assets: Whole Foods (WFMI) and Nintendo (NTDOY.PK). I wanted to pick two assets, one of which was more of a growth asset and another which was an asset that produced products I was familiar with and that I knew something about the likely market response to. The goal for both was risk control first and growth second: That is, I wanted there to be a steadiness to the line, whether it was going horizontally or sloping upwards. I selected based off of a visual analysis of both companies over five years, then used iQfront's analysis to see what the statistics were, and was pleasantly surprised. Modern portfolio theory emphasizes that risk has to be measured based on the variance of the stock (Goetzmann, 2011). Indeed, the core idea is that a tangency line can be created that has a riskless asset used as a baseline for comparison where both risk-averse and risk-accepting investors could invest comfortably, a perfect middle ground (Goetzmann, 2011). But finding tha t perfect portfolio is difficult, because â€Å"a major difficulty in estimating an efficient frontier accurately is that errors grow as the number of assets increase. You cannot just dump all the means, std's and correlations for the world's assets into an optimizer and turn the crank† (Goetzmann, 2011). We will return to why analyzing risk this way is compelling since other forms of risk are so appallingly inaccurately determined (Danielsson, 2009). In any respect, while growth is easy to measure (just look at how it's

Risk management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Risk management - Essay Example Banks therefore, make investments in various areas in order to be able to reduce the adversity risks due to price movements in a security it trades in simply by taking a position that will offset the related security. The Bank of England has played a very pivotal role in the economic development of the country primarily, by diversifying risks for all the economic agents. As with any other bank, the greatest financial risk it faced was the interest rate risk. During the last financial crisis i.e. the financial crisis of the year 2007, banks were able to employ certain strategies before and after the crisis which were geared towards mitigating them from such risks brought about by the crisis (Dietrich, 2006). The Bank of England was among those banks which were affected by this crisis and had to therefore apply a risk management theory such as the Forward Trade Agreement before and after the crisis to mitigate itself from the various forms of interest rate exposure. This is because, fl uctuations in its interest rate had the capability of altering its interest income and value thus, making the management of interest rate risk using hedging methods vital to its success. The Asset and Liability Committee of the Bank of England as the body tasked with ensuring that interest rates are properly maintained and managed to avoid any interest rate risk exposures before and after the financial crisis, applied the following strategies to hedge out the risk. Hedging strategies/methods used a. The use of interest rate swaps Interest rate swaps refers to a type of highly popular instrument as a liquid financial derivative that is used by two parties in the exchange of interest rate cash flows. The two parties agree exchange the cash flows of the interest rate basing their agreement on a specified notional amount obtained from a rate that is fixed to a floating rate or even vice versa. The same can also be from a floating rate to any other rate. A clear understanding of how the Bank of England used it would be to consider the two parties agreeing to pay a rate fixed or floating, denominated in the pound to the other party. The rate was then multiplied by a notional principal amount in the US$. The outcome was given an appropriate accrual value for the day count convention. If both the legs featured in similar currency, the notional amount was typically not exchanged between the parties but, instead used to calculate the cash flow sizes to be exchanged (Dietrich, 2006). The notional amount was exchanged if the legs appeared in different currencies. A more common interest rate swap in use has been the LIBOR. With the LIBOR there is a ‘payer’ and a ‘receiver’. One party pays the LIBOR plus a trade percentage plus the rate offered by the other party in this kind of trade activity. Since interest rate swaps are over-the-counter (OTC) instruments, the various varieties the bank could have used include: floating for floating rate swap wi th different currencies, the floating for floating rate swap with similar currencies, and the fixed for fixed rate swaps. Regardless of the changes in the LIBOR rates in future, the rolling deposit value will always equal the notional amount at the reset date. b. Used of forward derivatives The bank also used derivatives during the period to manage the risks. A particular one used was the forward contracts. In the management

Strategic Operational And Tactical Level Information Technology Essay

Strategic Operational And Tactical Level Information Technology Essay It is the combination of Information Technology and people using it to carry out operations and management. In a large sense it is frequently used with in people to process data and technology. It is also refer to Information and Communication Technology (ICT), which is used in organization, where people work with this to support business processes. There is a clear different between information system, ICT and business process. IT is completely different from information system, information system consist of ICT component. Information system helps to control the performance of business process. Information system is a special type of work system, which produces products or services for customer, where human and machines perform work using ICT and resources. Information system purpose is to process information. Information system is a system which represents data and process as a form of social memory. Information system supports human decision making and action. What is the role of Information Systems in todays competitive business environment on Strategic, Operational and Tactical level? Strategic Level: IS (Information system) supports business processes and operations: IS helps managers to execute their daily activities and functions properly, for example, in bank, creation of accounts, statement generation etc take place; and IS helps managers control such activities with greater accuracy and in a timely manner with the help of software. IS supports decision making for managers and employees: IS takes data as input and then processes it to generate information; simply defined as Input Æ’Â ¨ Process Æ’Â ¨ Information. This information is used by the managers for the improvement of their organizations, for example, existing historical data about customers in bank can be analyzed by IS and important information can be generated like bad customers and good customers, etc. This information can be used by managers while deciding whether to approve loan for new customers or not IS supports in making strategic decision for competitive advantage: By analyzing data collected from different sources, IS can provide valuable information such as which items to launch in which location; so that the company can have advantage over their competitors using this information. IS can also help business houses; in carrying out their business processes differently than their competitors. Operational Level: IS promises Operational excellence: In order to achieve higher profitability, businesses improve their operations efficiency. Managers make use of IS in business operations to achieve higher levels of productivity and efficiency. An excellent example is the use of the RetailLink system at Wal-Mart; this system digitally links every one of the Wal-Marts stores with its suppliers; the supplier is monitoring the items and as soon as an item is purchased, the supplier knows that a replacement must be shipped to the shelf. IS helps create new products, business models and services: In firms, Information system is a crucial tool in creating new services and products and new business models. Business models describe how the companies produce, deliver and sells a product or service to be successful. An example is Apple Inc; it transformed an old business model which was based on its iPod technology platform that included iPod, iPhone and the iTunes music service. IS helps monitor increase Supplier/Customer intimacy: When a customer is served well by a business, he usually responds by returning and purchasing more from the business; this raises the profits and revenues of the business. The more the business engages its suppliers, the better the suppliers are able to provide vital inputs; which in turn lowers costs. An example is the high-end hotel, Manhattans The Mandarin Oriental and other such high-end hotels; they illustrate the use of IS and technology to achieve better customer intimacy. They track guests preferences using computers, such as their preferred television programs, check-in times and room temperatures. Tactical Level: IS helps making better decisions: Many managers operate in an information bank and they never have the relevant information at the right moment to make a learned decision; poor outcomes like these loose customers and raise costs. Managers can use real time data while making decisions; IS allow managers to use real-time data from the marketplace while making decisions. An example is the Verizon Corporation, which uses a Web-based digital dashboard that gives managers accurate real-time information on customer complains and network performances. By using this information, managers can rapidly inform customers of the repair work, assign repair resources to the involved areas, and restore service promptly. Competitive advantage: When the firms achieve the business objectives, for example, customer intimacy, operational excellence, improved decision making, new services, products and business models, than it is most like that they have achieved a competitive advantage already. Accomplishing these things finer than their objects, responding to suppliers and customers in real time, charging less for premium products all add up to higher sales and profits. An example is the Toyota Production System which mainly focuses on organizing work to make continuous improvements, eliminating waste; Toyota Production System is based on what the customers actually ordered. How are Information Systems transforming the functional areas of organizations? Computers are used for almost any task. We check email with it, watch media, bank and more. Information is the life of organization, damaged or lost data can cause financial loss, law suits, etc. Information system contains hardware, software, data, applications, communication and people. It helps an organization to manage and secure its critical corporate, customer and employee data. Information system improves work process and gives lot of other benefits. An example is the Transaction Processing System (TPS) which is used in one functional area of a business; it process routine transactions more accurately and efficiently. TPS has many sub-species which are directly linked to their respective functional areas, for example, there is Finance and Accounting Systems for the functional areas of accounts and finance, Human Resource System for the Human Resource area, etc. Information System is different form other system because its purpose is to monitor and document the operations of other systems, we can also call it target system. For example, production activities would be the target system for a production scheduling information system, human resources would be the target system of a human resource information system. Every reactive system has a sub system called Information system, whose purpose is to monitor and control system. Task 2 There are many, many types of Information systems, but the most common ones are these: Transaction Processing System (TPS); Decision Support System (DSS); Management Information System (MIS); Office Automation System (OAS); Executive Information System (EIS) and Data Warehouses (DW). Transaction Processing System (TPS): TPS is a basic business system and it handles the tracking and processing of transactions. A transaction is simply an event which is of interest to the organization, for example, a railway booking system in which Booking, Cancellation, etc are all transactions; or a sale at a store. TPS is very useful and has many functions and it Serves the most elementary day-to-day activities of an organization. Is very often crucial to the survival of the organization Usually has high volumes of output and input Needs to be fault-tolerant Supports the operational level of the business Supplies data for higher-level management decisions Can have strategic consequences, for example, airline reservation system Deals with well-structured processes. A Transaction processing system has many sub-species, some of which are: Sales and Marketing Systems: These are systems that support the sales and marketing functions by easing the movement of services and goods from producers to customers. For example, a Stores sale system would automatically record and total purchase transactions and print out a packing list; this would improve customer service and maintain customer data. Manufacturing and Production systems: These systems supply data to operate, control and monitor the production processes, such as shipping, receiving, purchasing, scheduling, engineering, resource management, quality control, etc. For example, a system in factory that measures samples of products and gets information from that; then statistically analyses the samples and shows when the operators should take corrective action. Human Resource System: These systems deal with performance evaluation, compensation, placement, career development and recruitment of the firms employees. Examples of HRS include training and skills, applicant tracking, personnel record keeping, positions, benefits. Finance Accounting System: These systems maintain records which concern the flow of funds in the firm and they also produce financial statements, such as income statements and balance sheets. E.g for General Ledger; Budgeting, Billing: Cost Accounting, Accounts Payable/ Receivable; Funds management systems, payroll. These systems were among the earliest to be computerized. Examples of Financial systems are loan management, cash management, securities trading and check processing. Management Information Systems (MIS): They assist lower management in problem solving and making decisions. MIS usually takes data from the transaction processing system and summarizes it into a series of management reports which are to be used by the middle management and operational supervisors. MIS is a set of information processing functions and queries should be handled by it as quickly as they arrive. Database is an important element of MIS. MIS simply provides managers with feedback on daily operations; it also provides information and support for effective decision making. An example of MIS is an annual budgeting system. Decision Support System (DSS): DSS provides information, models or analysis tools to the senior managers and strategic management staff to help them make decisions. DSS are used for support of unstructured decisions and they are for analytical work mainly, for example, creating of what-if models using spreadsheets databases. An example job for a Decision Support System would be a 6 year operating plan. Office Automation Systems (OAS): They are used to improve the productivity of employees who need to process data information for reducing paper warfare. For example, Microsoft Office XP improves the productivity of employees working in an office or system that allow employees to work from home or whilst on the move. OAS software tools are often integrated and are designed for easy operations (for example, a graph from a spreadsheet can be imported in the Word Processor). Executive Information System (EIS): Also known as Executive Support System (ESS) and it provides information to the executives in a readily accessible, interactive format. EIS (or ESS) usually allow summary of the entire organization and also allows drilling down to specific levels of detail. EIS also use data which is produced by ground level Transaction Processing System so the executives can gain an overview of the entire organization. EIS require extensive staff to operate and are very expensive to run and are used by top level (strategic) management. Data Warehouses System: A Data Warehouse is a place where data is stored analysis, security and archival purposes. A data warehouse is usually either a single computer or a giant computer system formed by tying many computers together. Besides storing large amount of data, they must also possess the systems in place that would make it easy to access the data and use in day-to-day operations. It is also sometimes referred to be a major role player in DSS, or Decision Support System. How you identify the major support systems, and relate them to managerial functions? Support systems are Office Automation, Decisions Support Systems, Management Information system and TPS. Management Information system (MIS) generally takes the data from TPS (Transaction processing system) and summarizes it into a series of management reports, which are used by operational supervisors and also by the middle management. Decision-Support Systems are designed to help management make decisions, when there is uncertainty about the possible outcome. DSS gather relevant information with the help of tools and techniques and analyze the options and alternatives. DSS often create what-if models with the use of databases and spreadsheets. Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) helps business create and share information. This helps employees who creates and shares knowledge and expertise, which is shared in organization to create further commercial opportunities. KMS allows efficient categorization and distribution of knowledge. For example knowledge might be in word documents, spreadsheets, power point or internet etc, to share KMS would use collaboration system like intranet. Transaction Processing Systems (TPS) process routine transaction accurately and efficiently; and businesses may have many TPS, for example Invoices are sent to customers using the Billing systems Systems that calculate monthly and weekly payroll and tax payments Calculations of raw materials using Production and purchasing systems Using Stock control systems to process of all movement within the businesses Office Automation Systems (OAP) improves the productivity of the employees that process data information. For example, Microsoft Office XP improves productivity of employees that work in an office or system that enable employees to work on the move or from home. Task 3 Describe the tools and techniques provided by the Information Systems department and its relationship with end-users to solve the specific problems? The Information system department provides many different tools and techniques to solve problems and the main ones are: Data Warehouses: Their main purpose is to establish a data storehouse that makes operational data accessible in a form which is readily acceptable for analytical processing activities like Decision Support or EIS. Data Warehouses have many different characteristics such as Organization (data are organized), Time Variant (data kept for 5-10 years so it can be used for forecasting and comparisons), Non-Volatility (data are not updated once it has been entered in the warehouse), Consistency (data are coded in a consistent manner) and Client/Server (the data warehouse provides the end user an easy access to the data by using the clients/servers). How it solves problems: The Data in the warehouses is organized for less confusion; The Data is stored for a long time, allows for forecasts and comparisons; Takes raw data and codes it in a consistent matter for easy analysis Provides the end user an easy access to its data The data warehouse uses a relational structure The data are located in one place, allows data to be reached quickly Web browsers can be used to allow end users to reach data easily Data Mining: the process of analyzing data from different views and then summarizing it into useful information. Such information could be used to cut costs, raise revenue or both. For years, companies have used very powerful computers to sift through large volumes of supermarket scanner data and analyze market research reports. Data Mining is currently being used in areas like Retailing and Sales, Banking, Insurance, Airlines, Health Care, Computer Software Hardware, etc. How it solves problems: Data mining automates the process of discovering predictive information in very large databases; Data mining tools identify previous hidden patterns in just one step Can operate on unprocessed or even unstructured information. Text Web Mining: Text mining is the application of data mining to less structured text files. Web Mining are mining tools which can be used to analyze large amounts of data on the Web (like what customers are doing on the Internet). How it solves problems: Groups documents by common themes, making them easier to locate sort Finds the hidden content of documents and also additional useful relationships Geographic Information System (GIS): this is a computer-based system which is used for capturing, checking, storing, manipulating, integrating and displaying data using digitalized maps. How it solves problems: Every digital object or record has an identified geographical location Branch performances can be monitored, analyzed and compared Volume and traffic patterns of business activities can be monitored Geographical area served by each Bank branch can be observed, to plan if new banks are needed or not. Data Visualization: This is the presentation of data by technologies like digital images, graphical user interface, 3-d presentations and animations, geographical information systems, virtual reality, multidimensional graphs tables. How it solves problems: Presents many different kinds of data into a common, understandable way for better more accurate analysis; reduces errors too. On-Line Analytic Processing: this is the technology that allows users of multidimensional databases to generate on-line comparative summaries of data and other analytical enquiries; OLAP can also be integrated into corporate databases systems. How it solves problems: OLAP facilities allow managers and analysts to monitor the performance of the business or market. The end-results of OLAP technologies can be very simple (frequency tables, etc) to make the data much easier to understand and analyze. How the Executives may use any alternative data/ information processing techniques to support the decision making This is a crucial step in making an effective decision. The more good options that you consider, the more inclusive your final decision will be. You force yourself to reach deeper and you look at problems via different angles, when you generate alternatives. By using the mindset there must be other solutions out there, you have more chance to make the best possible decision. If you havent got other reasonable alternatives, then theres not much of a decision to make! Below is a summary of some of the important techniques and tools to help teams develop good alternatives. Generating Ideas Brainstorming is possibly the most well known method for generating ideas. Reverse Brainstorming works in the same manner. But, it works by asking people to brainstorm of how to achieve the opposite result from the one required, and then simply reversing those actions. The Charette Procedure is a systematic process and it gathers and develops ideas from many stakeholders. Crawford Slip Writing Technique generates ideas from a large number of people. This method is extremely effective and ensures that ideas from everyone are heard and weighed equally irrespective of the persons power in the organization. Explore the Alternatives You need to evaluate the risks and implications of each choice once you are completely satisfied that you have a good selection of realistic alternatives. Risk Theres almost always some degree of uncertainty in decision making process that may lead to risks, inevitably. You can determine if the risk is manageable of not simply by evaluating the risks involved with the options. Risk Analysis allows you to look at risks impartially. It assess threats and evaluates the probability of events taking place using a structured approach their management costs. Implications You can consider the potential consequences of each of your options Six Thinking Hats, after viewing the alternatives from 6 different perspectives, you can assess the consequences of a decision. Impact Analysis, useful technique for brainstorming the unexpected outcomes that could mount from a decision. Choose the Best Alternative After assessing the different alternatives, the following step is choosing between them. The choice could be very obvious, but if it is not, then the tools below will help: Grid Analysis (or decision matrix), is a very useful tool for this type of evaluation. It helps bring different factors in the process of decision making in a reliable way, therefore this tool is invaluable. Paired Comparison Analysis help decide the importance of differing factors and helps you compare factors that are unlike and decide which ones should influence your decision the most. Decision Trees are useful in deciding between options. These bring the probability of project failure/success in the decision making process and help you lay out the various options available to you. Task 4 Information systems are made out of components that can be assembled in many different con ¬Ã‚ gurations resulting in a variety of information systems and applications, much as construction materials can be assembled to build different homes. The size and cost of a home depend on the purpose of the building, the availability of money, and constraints such as ecological and environmental legal requirements. Just as there are many different types of houses, so there are many different types of information systems. We classify houses as single-family homes, apartments, townhouses, and cottages. Similarly, it is useful to classify information systems into groups that share similar characteristics. A classi ¬Ã‚ cation such as this may help in identifying systems, analyzing them, planning new Information Systems Con ¬Ã‚ gurations Organizations are made up of components such as divisions, departments, and work units, organized in hierarchical levels. For example, most organizations have functional departments, such as production and accounting, which report to plant management, which report to a division head. The divisions report to the corporate headquarters. Although some organizations have restructured themselves in innovative ways, such as those based on cross-functional teams, today the vast majority of organizations still have a traditional hierarchical structure. Thus, we can  ¬Ã‚ nd information systems built for headquarters, for divisions, for the functional departments, for operating units, and even for individual employees. Such systems can stand alone, but usually they are interconnected. Typical information systems that follow the organizational structure are functional (departmental), enterprise-wide, and inter-organizational. These systems are organized in a hierarchy in which each higher-le vel system consists of several (even many) systems from the level below it. A departmental system supports the functional areas in each company. At a higher level, the enterprise-wide system supports the entire company, and inter-organizational systems connect different companies. The major functional information systems are organized around the traditional departments- Finance IS Finance IS Accounting IS Accounting IS Human Resources Human Resources Corporate a System Electronic Market Electronic Market Corporate B System Marketing IS Marketing IS Production IS Production IS Administrative IS Administrative IS Corporate C System

Hawk Roosting Aniela Baseley 13 FO The poem is written by poet Ted Hughes. In his life time Hughes has published many poems about nature and animals. :: English Literature

Hawk Roosting Aniela Baseley 13 FO The poem is written by poet Ted Hughes. In his life time Hughes has published many poems about nature and animals. The poem is written by poet Ted Hughes. In his life time Hughes has published many poems about nature and animals. The poem has six stanzas, all written in the first person, with no discernable rhyming scheme. The poem represents a hawk, as it roosts on a tree top, watching over the world and contemplating life. This hawk sees itself, as the centre of the world and the best of creation. He believes he controls the world, bringing death to anything below him that dares to question his authority. The poem shows the reader that nature isn’t always beautiful, and the hawk is a metaphor of humans, because humans dominate the world, as does this hawk. The poem is written with a chilling attitude to power. In the first stanza, the hawk is perched on top of a tree, awaiting nightfall. We know this because the hawk is ‘Roosting.’ His arrogance is already clear, â€Å" Inaction, no falsifying dream† this indicates to the reader, that even when the hawk is sleeping, he does not dream ‘needless’ dreams. The hawk just has focus on killing. Alliteration is then used â€Å"hooked head,† this extenuates the line with a sound, as well as the hawks egoism and obsession with itself. â€Å" I sit on top of the wood, my eyes closed,† conveys a sense of forceful peace, as if the hawk holds so much power that it is fearless, and can roost confidently without being hunted. The second stanza also shows the hawks great egoism, as he believes everything is created for him. The high trees, which he roosts on, are convenient to give him a good view of the world. The air allows him to float while searching, and the sun allows him to lock on to the prey, the earth is facing upwards for his inspection. The attitude here makes the hawk appear to be royal or God like. For example, he is like a king inspecting his subjects; the rodents he hunts have no other purpose but to serve him a feed. He rules as a dictator, by force. The hawk in the third stanza sees himself as the centre of creation, â€Å"It took the whole of creation, to produce my foot, my each feather.† At the same time, he is saying that he rules creation with his foot.