STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS Essay

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS - Essay Example In the contemporary business world, it is almost impossible to ignore the importance of information systems in strategic management. Organisations today require information systems to remain relevant in the business world since they provide strategic opportunities (Daniels 1998, p. 167). Different departments in organisations are now relying on information systems to enhance efficiency and improve business effectiveness. The managerial tasks in the business world today have become complex and this means that the information systems that are used also have to change to meet the demands of an organisation. As such, it has become a necessity for organisations to engage in strategic management of IS (Daniels 1998, p. 170). This paper provides a critical analysis of the role that porter’s strategic advantage competitive theory play in the development of strategic management of IS. In addition, this paper also looks at the significance of studying and reviewing porter’s competitive advantage since it can be used as a model for strategic management of IS. To this end, three important research questions and problems have been identified with regard to the study of strategic management of IS. On the other hand, a literature review related to the topic at hand is important in providing empirical evidence on the key issues that the topic discusses. The key findings identified in this paper are derived from researches in an attempt to understand their implication in the strategic management of IS. Other than the key findings, this paper also looks at the limitations associated with this study, and presents recommendation for further research on the same topic. The conclusion in this paper draws attention to a summary of the key points mentioned and described in this study. This topic brings attention of readers to the importance of information systems in an organisational set up, and how it has evolved over the years. Information

U.S. history between the end of the World War II (1945) and the Assignment

U.S. history between the end of the World War II (1945) and the present - Assignment Example McCann contends that the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 showed that American citizens were no longer secure and safe1. According to McCann, assaults on the US amounted to thirty-seven between the end of the Cold War and 2006. Critics have argued that Clinton and Bush’s administrations failed blatantly to confront the attacks from terrorists2. It has been perceived that the intelligence agents in the United States expressed a lot of laxity in preventing US from terrorism since 19453. Nations have an international obligation to prevent terrorism within and outside their boundaries4. The international community has established crime law to endeavor to deal with the conduct of the non-state terrorist actors5. In this respect, states should not breach their primary obligation to punish, as well as, prevent acts of terrorism. Evidently, the video shows that the impact of the terrorist attacks was tremendous and resulted in death of many people. In essence, terrorism is an issue that has tormented the United States since 1945 to the

Impossible To Have Objective Knowledge Philosophy Essay

Impossible To Have Objective Knowledge Philosophy Essay As humans we live with the inescapable notion of our own consciousness, burdened with the endless pursuit of knowledge, we eternally accumulate a careful conglomeration of facts and experiences that shape our very being. Imprisoned within our own cultural paradigms we fear our own subjectivities, entirely aware that our language, values and beliefs impact our every choice. We do not live in a social vacuum; instead, we roam free in a stimulating and subjective society. The acquisition of knowledge, or justified true belief as here defined, is learned through our tainted sensory experiences; whether auditory, visually or kinaesthetically. However, there remains the belief that certain areas of knowledge can remain immune to our polluting paradigms, areas of knowledge that do not evoke truth in their subjectivity but tell the truth in their objectivity. We often deem subjective knowledge hot and impulsive, wrought with emotion and bias, its validity tarnished by its opinionated and unb alanced nature. Objective knowledge is logical, considered, proven and factual, based in the realms of reasoning; science and maths. But to what extent is mathematical and scientific knowledge actually objective? And does subjective knowledge really hold any lesser value than its idolised counterpart or are we just afraid of own cultural paradigms? What can be less open to interpretation and more immutable than maths? Mathematics is the science of rigorous proof and the art of drawing coherent conclusions entirely independent of interpretation; we assume this to be the epitome of objective knowledge. Maths indubitable nature affords it enormous practical value, we are certain that 2 + 2 = 4 and that any circles circumference, no matter how big, when divided by its diameter equates to pi. Such facts rest undeniable and eternal, maths gives us non-trivial, substantial knowledge that rests true outside of experience. However, a question remains as to where maths exists? Is it, discovered or invented? The discovery theorem indicates a Platonic view of maths, somewhere in a metaphysical realm, the perfect forms of a circle and pi reside and mathematicians, by solving problems, are discovering an entity that already exists separate from our reality. If humans werent actively doing maths would maths exist at all? And can discoveries a ctually be made about mental fictions or is maths a human construction? J. S. Mill argues that mathematics exists in the eye of the beholder and that mathematical truths are empirical generalisations based on a vast number of experiences  [1]  . It does appear that Maths is not a universal language; mathematicians struggle to talk to non-specialists about their work because maths like all other knowledge can be culturally variable, subject to correction and change. Mathematicians form epistemic communities; the Romans, for example, had no concept of zero, Egyptian multiplication involved repeated doubling of numbers and in West Africa only subtraction was used to express numbers (not 2+2 but 6 -2 = 4). Hence, maths, as a human endeavour is susceptible to varying mental interpretation, so to what extent are we mentally selecting particular kinds of experience and deeming them to be important? We reached our modern, established perspective of maths through communication and collaboration, so it seems that although the numbers and patterns themselves ar e objective, the learning and advancement of maths is more inter-subjective; common ideas shared and amalgamated. Science too, provides us with a framework for objective knowledge; science appears indisputable because it is based on observation and fact. Culturally, we deem something scientifically proven to equate to the absolute truth. We believe our scientific account of the universe to be true and dismiss the hocus pocus of alternative medicine, creationism and the paranormal. Science is about how the world works; there being only once correct explanation for any phenomenon. Simultaneous discovery, like the discovery of DNA initially by Watson and Crick shortly followed by Franklin and Klug demonstrate the solidity and objectivity of science. If we could rewind the history of science, developments and discoveries may have occurred differently and by different scientists but the outcomes would be very similar. Gravity would still give weight to objects, causing them to fall towards the ground and cells would still be the smallest unit of life. However, the practice of science, as a human endeavour is founded in uncertainty, each time we learn something new with the astonishment comes the realisation that we were wrong before, David Bohm said, The notion of the absolute truth is shown to be in poor correspondence with the actual development of science. Scientific truths are better regarded as relationships that hold in some limited domain. Hence, the indisputability of science is based in observation and fact but observation and fact are dependent on the theory we choose to believe. What we see depends on how we choose to look at it and as humans we cannot observe the world purely and unhindered. Instead we see and structure things around our own cultural paradigms. Our science is based on a Westernised view that progress and objectivity are best reached through classification and explanation but does this render it useless? Of course not, science is there to be used but it is not there to tell us how things are. Science is not powerful because it is true: it is true because it is powerful  [2]  . But is truth synonymous with objectivity? Or can we harness our subjective and emotional human natures to further enhance our knowledge? Montaigne claimed, to understand via the heart is not to understand and through our quest to objectify knowledge we ignore our most basic emotional instincts. A scientific definition of emotion is the modification of neural activity that animates and focuses mental activity but is this not missing the vital essence of what it is to feel an emotion? This description of emotion is like describing art as a collection of blobs on canvas or defining poetry as words in short lines. Some knowledge demands subjectivity and complexity, notions of good and beauty, for example. In many ways formal knowledge of maths, philosophy and geography are a means to satisfy the highest and noblest human impulse and self-actualisation; the arts. Often human truths cannot be expressed using the language of rationality; it seems the artist attempt to address these truths w hile embracing their own creative process. Indeed art is a personal creation and contains the opinions of the artist but with science the feelings of the scientist are neglected from the final understanding of the process. Does this make science better than the arts? It would if science and the arts were investigating the same truths; science is obsessed with knowledge of the universe whereas art lends itself to knowledge of humanity. Iris Murdoch famously in The Sovereignity of the Good suggests that appreciation of the arts allows us to transcend the problems of rationality and empiricism that plague the human condition. Murdoch believes there to be some sort of objective good but sees that the means of achieving this end is to open our consciousness towards art thus directing our being towards unselfishness, objectivity and realism. The very nature of art as an ephemeral entity; forever transforming and evolving, transports us away from the comfort of our own subjectivities and plunges us into alternative human truths. No one is suggesting the lines and colours reveal truths in themselves; as Margaret Atwood said, context is all. To read WH Audens Sonnets entitled, In Time of War, is not to gain facts or objective truths about the Japanese occupation of China in 1938 but instead to bask in the literature, meaning and beauty of poetry. Audens words speak a deep and vitally human truth so by trying to reduce this art to a series of concrete facts are we not diminishing it? Of course the sky didnt throb like a feverish forehead and obviously the Japanese soldiers were not bound like the heiress in her mothers womb. It is more the penetrating insights, the deep sense of social awareness and contextual relevance that afford poetry and the arts as a whole the ability to bestow knowledge about humanity during the most turbulent and controversial eras. If anything, art is a continuous cultural narrative, evolving and translating the daily events that form our history. The search for certainty, objectivity and absolute truth lends itself to the study of history, for what could be more certain than that which has already happened? As G.R Elton suggests, the study of history is concerned with a subject matter more objective and independent than that of the natural sciences, and we often acknowledge the apparent immutability and un-changeability of the past. But as Napoleon argued, what is history but a fable agreed upon? From the age of eleven, during history classes we are indoctrinated into the significance of bias and the vigilance required to exercise caution around historical opinion. It is almost impossible to expect any human historian to escape their own paradigms and write free from influence. We are forever imposing our own values and moralities onto the past; my own essay on the reputation of Queen Marie-Antoinette during the French Revolution was largely angled around my own prejudices against misogyny and patriarchy. Perhaps more than an ything, history is a social construct, facts about the past that are interpreted in the present. However, the selective and human nature of history does not deem it twisted or useless or fabricated, by removing the judgemental and interpretational aspects of history we are left with fragmented and scattered etchings of the past. The historian herself is aware of her bias and thus seeks a convergence of evidence in a hope that further analysis and reasoning will transform such etchings into an original, insightful and beautiful picture.

Why Launch An Advertising Campaign :: essays research papers

Why Launch An Advertising Campaign To start off, when your company is just becoming established in the British market, consumers will have no knowledge of your product, we must encourage or persuade the consumer to buy your product. To make customers aware of the product we must advertise. Large scale advertising mainly consists of advertising on TV, Radio, newspapers and other large scale media. This ensures that advertising reaches the largest amount of people in the shortest amount of time. It is likely that the consumer will be more interested in the product if they hear of on a national level such as TV or Radio. We must watch out for other companies in Britain that sell a similar product or overseas companies that sell in Britain so Pakanawa can analyse the British marketing strategy and improve upon it. Market Segmentation is also another factor to take notice of. Market segmentation helps to differentiate products for different age groups. For most product, there are segments of the market that you need to specifically advertise to. Fore example, different methods of advertising would be needed if you were to advertise to parents than to the children. For a lot of products their are a lot of age groups that you need to advertise for and these must be taken into consideration. We must analyse the different market segments that are applicable to Pakanawa and investigate how we can exploit these different market segments. An ad campaign is a very sensible idea because no-one will know about our products without the use of advertising. This means that we must concentrate on a good ad campaign so people will know about our products. Approximate prices are shown below for large scale advertising: TV  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Price agreed with company (500,000 + ) Radio   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (250,000 + ) Newspaper lineage ad  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  250 Newspaper full page  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  700-900 Cinema booklets  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  650.00 per cinema Flyers 0.08 per flyer As is shown above, advertising is very expensive when done on a large scale so to justify any form of large scale advertising it must be proven to be effective. At Pakanawaâ„ ¢ we must consider all angles of the media and come to a conclusion about advertising. What sort of advertising should you use? By far the most far reaching of these strategies is Television advertising. A large amount of people watch TV and this type of advertising will reach many social groups. Although this type of advertising is very expensive and even more so during peak times, TV advertising should be seen by the masses and encouraging a lot of new customers, so in time, TV advertising will pay for itself.

Office Management – Assessment 1

Levels of Decision Making Overview Strategic decision making is when decisions are made to determine the long term direction of an organisation at the highest level within the organisation. According to Gregory Hamel (Hamel, G. 2008) (Small business, 2012) Strategic decision making is an on-going process that involves creating strategies to achieve goals and altering strategies based on observed outcomes. Operational decision making is a short term decision made within an organisation which involves the day to day running of the organisation. These short term decisions are usually made by the office manager.According to Npower (Business Case Studies) Often these decisions are administrative in nature and can be implemented quickly and tend to carry a little risk and are smaller scale, but are never the less important choices that people have to make to fulfil their role. Strategic Decision Implementing that laptops are to be used by partners while out of the office would be a strateg ic decision. There are lots of problems with the partners being out of the office and with the use of laptops as communication tools this will provide a direct link between the office staff and the partners.I believe that this is a strategic decision as with the right planning and overseeing the development this could really be a step forward for Classic Interiors because work can be exchanged between partners and the office and messages can be passed on effectively meaning that there won’t be a build-up of work or office staff with no work and communication between everyone will be made a lot easier. Operational Decision Stipulating a lunch time for each staff member would be an organisational decision. The current system for lunch time is not convenient as the employees get to decide when they go as long as one of them is in the office.I believe this is an operational decision because if affects the day to day running of the organisation. If the administrators were set a lu nch hour each they would have to stick to it and get used to working alongside the time set. Role of Office Manager Operational Planning Process As the office manager my role in establishing a new routine for lunch hour would be to organise a meeting to communicate the proposed changes with administrators and gain their views. Then I would create a plan to put forward to the administrators and partners.When a decision has been reached and the new plan is put into action I would have to oversee the progress of the plan gathering feedback at every opportunity. Issues There is increased frustration between partners and administrators due to the partners carrying out task they believe the administrators could be doing which would free up more time for the partners. The solution to this would be to for all administrators to be trained how to use the specialist interior design software, this would enable them to alleviate the work load from the partners and feel more involved in the desig n side of their work.This would likely be time consuming to train the administrators but the overall outcome would be beneficial to the company. The relationship between partners and the administrators is suffering due to the partners being out of the office as communication is often via short telephone messages and emails which has led to information being mis-communicated. The solution would be to introduce the use of PDA’s (Personal digital Assistants) for partners to be able to communicate with administrators.This would enable the administrators to contact the partners if a problem arises while carrying out work so that no mistakes are made and also they would be able to check their diaries to make appointments without the chance of double booking. Instant messaging could also help with communication as they are received instantly and can be replied to in seconds. Financial Planning and Budgetary Control Financial Planning According to Jim Priebe (ehow) A financial plan i s like a blue print. It is a description of what you want to achieve and the tools you need to achieve it.Financial planning is the process of asking questions to ensure that you manage your risk against unexpected events. Managers need to be able to exercise control over the organisation that they manage to make sure that financial plans are being achieved both for the long term and the short term. Benefits of financial planning are: 1 Reducing the risk of a financial crisis. 2 Allows you to understand how each financial decision made affects other areas of finance. Barriers of financial planning are: 1 It can be time consuming 2 Can be costly as will involve accountants. Budgetary ControlBudgetary control is precise control of an organisations operations through establishment of standards and targets concerning income and expenditure. Continuous monitoring is required to be effective. Benefits of budgetary control are: 1 Coordinates activities across departments. 2 Provides a reco rd of organisational activities. Barriers of budgetary control are: 1 Budgets can demotivate staff. 2 May cause competition for resources. Effective Delegation Delegation is the distribution of tasks by the office manager. Giving responsibilities to employees to carry out the work but the work will remain liable to the office manager.When delegation is carried out properly very good results and high productivity can be achieved. The Process of Delegation Delegation can be very difficult. The process of delegation is: 1 Define the task 2 Select the Individual 3 Explain what must be achieved (clear instructions) 4 Discuss requirement to completion 5 Agree a deadline 6 Be there for support 7 Always give feedback Benefits Time management would be a benefit of delegation as this would allow partners to delegate work so that they have a more manageable work load.Delegating tasks will motivate staff and increase productivity. Barriers Forcing someone to do a task that they don’t wan t to or are not capable of would be a barrier, this can be seen in the case study when Izzy asked one of the administrators to just follow what had been done before. This lead to the administrator getting upset and Izzy feeling unable to approach anyone else. This could have been avoided by management setting out a procedure for staff to follow and allocating the task to someone suitable.Confusion about who is ultimately responsible for tasks is a barrier to effective delegation, this can be seen in the case study as partners are frustrated because they believe that administration is responsible for some of their tasks. This can be corrected by training administrators to make the delegation process easier. Leadership Models I think Tomi uses democratic leadership. As Tomi involves the staff in the decision making process of meeting times and encouraged staff to offer their opinions which made the administrators feel like what they said mattered.I believe Izzi uses Autocratic Leaders hip. When Izzi was in charge she would decide the times of meetings even when it was inconvenient to the others meaning work started to suffer which she then thought they could not manage and devised a new procedure which is hopeless but Izzi cannot see this. Staff find it difficult to communicate with her. Autocratic Leadership works where there is no need for input on the decisions and Democratic leadership works when a leader seeks help and guidance from staff to make decisions.Democratic leadership The impact of this leadership style is that it gives staff a voice and they are able to communicate better with management. Democratic leadership style encourages better cooperation and motivates staff because they feel well informed in everything that affects their work. Autocratic Leadership The impact of this leadership style is that it fails to motivate staff and they feel forced to do things managements way although It is not always the best way and staff become stressed being pu shed.Autocratic leadership style encourages no communication between staff and management as management make all the decisions based on what they feel is best for the organisation. References Hamel, G. (2008) ‘What is strategic Decision Making’ http://smallbusiness. chron. com/strategic-decision-making-23782. html Npower. ‘Developing people through decision making’ http://businesscasestudies. co. uk/npower/developing-people-through-decision-making/tactical-decisions. html Priebe, J. ‘What is the purpose of Financial Planning’ http://www. ehow. com/info_7755005_purpose-financial-plan. html

100 Years

100 years from now, many dimensions of human life will change dramatically. Science, medicine, and government will certainly change, and confidently for the better. The Homo sapiens species will advance and how things are now will be ancient history only to be taught through text in school, with many details of previous life long forgotten. The United Nations will develop a way to eradicate war and dispute through a full proof â€Å"Universal Problem Resolution Plan†. Therefore the world will finally be at peace, work as one, and the once poverty-stricken will flourish and starvation will lie in the individuals will to eat, not the â€Å"cards they’re dealt†. With war and fighting in the past the world will place all the dollars once used in military and armed forces into healthcare research and education. Doctors will have fashioned and perfected organ growth and the diseases we now fear such as A. I. D. S and Cancer will be thought of as a common cold due to easily accessible vaccines and remedies. Life will be different, but my outlook and attitude towards life will remain the same. I would wake up every morning happy that God gave me another day with my family and friends. I would wake up ready to make a difference and play my part in this world. I would not be raised from sleep by an alarm clock, but rather a microchip implanted behind my ear that told my brains receptors it was time to get up. The chip would also have my itinerary for the day and any important events I had planned. Prior to going to bed I would fill out what I wanted the chip to remind me on my phone and simply hold the phone beside my head so the chip could scan the information, store it, and later activate at the given time. Phones would still be referred to as phones but the technology that followed them would be phenomenal. To answer a call, you simply say â€Å"answer† or whatever you have programmed as your command to connect. The phone would then bring up a holographic display of the caller so interaction as well as speaking would take place. By the time I was awake and teeth had been cleaned to spec, I would go to my virtual wardrobe selector (VWS) and decide what to wear. The touch screen display allows me to choose what I would like to wear and delivers it to me with a solar powered track system. At this point 95% of the worlds power supply is solar and wind derived. Upon leaving the house, I would scan my thumb and the house would be locked and secure until I returned with virtually no way for trespassing or criminal mischief. Once I got in my car and turned on the ignition, powered by voice activation, along with everything else, I could drive to work myself (manually) or have the car drive itself there. The vehicle would be able to do this using satellite navigation, traffic and pedestrian observation sensors, and lightweight magnets in the body and the road. Traffic accidents and deaths would reduce by 200% after this technology was perfected. Although everyday life would be much easier, work would be intense as ever and the demand for good jobs would be outrageous. As a well renowned and highly sought after attorney I would have no problem with work, but still worked hard to keep my clients and those within my firm satisfied and content. Life would definitely be different, but still crazy. To keep from losing my sanity in the â€Å"once crazy, and still crazy† world I would surround myself with the ones who love me and love them just as much. I would continue to have faith in the Lord throughout my life and place nothing above him and his word. Technology would be great and the safety that came with it would allow most humans to live past 100 years old. In fact, I am 118.