Management and Business

John Ottersbach Info I-303 Organizational Informatics June 17, 2009 Project # 4 This is the project report from evaluating the AgCredit mini-case (Textbook pages 131-134) 1. Synopsis This case focuses on an agriculture credit and loan company whose core competency is based around its customer knowledge. The organization’s IT structure and function does not suit the business well. The current setup is not enterprise architecture and staff issues are rampant. There has been a lot of preparatory work done in analyzing the situation and a new team was formed to chart a course of action to transform IT.With much of the information gathering completed, the team now must convince the business leadership of the changes and be brought on board. Communicating the goals and future plans to involve the business will be vital for the company’s IT to become effective. 2. Key Issues 1. The company’s executives are very busy with day to day operations and new initiatives. IT com petence has slipped over time and the structure was never aligned with organizational vision. 2. Although some backend tinkering has made company wide information accessible in some cases, the current systems are not compatible and interaction between them is poor. . IT does not have credibility within the lines of business. This is a know shortcoming and will be addressed in the reorganization of IT. 4. Business processes are not understood by IT staff and often the business itself lacks a thorough gasp on their processes. The interconnections of the processes are unclear to both sides of the organization also. 5. The divisions do not understand their role within the organization and they must figure out how they should support the enterprise. Aligning their individual goals with strategic drivers will need to be done.There are four business divisions within AgCredit. 6. The company’s strategic drivers are continuous growth, expanse of customer relationships, ability to spen d more time with the customers, ability to cross-sell services, and provide a consistent experience to the customer. 7. A CIO position was created to align IT and the business and to guide the IT transformation. The new CIO has run a successful campaign with e-business and comes to the position with fresh eyes, but a lack of formal technical experience. He is comfortable utilizing contractors and taking in multiple points of view. 8.No IT governance or architecture is currently in place. Rather a divisional structure has existed and enterprise vision is shallow. IT decisions are made to fulfill short-term needs and initiatives. IT function is viewed as a support service for the business. 9. Some of the IT staffing issues are: low morale, high job ambiguity, unqualified staff filling positions, technical skills lacking in some areas, no senior IT manager positions, and many unfilled job roles. Part of retooling the IT architecture must be to sort out these staffing needs. 10. An appl ication-centric attitude rules the company.This has led to four separate databases, one per division, and huge data untidiness and redundancy. 11. An SOA approach has been suggested based on organizational needs, to transform IT. Those needs include integrating technologies and platforms without replacement. Vendor choices will have to be narrowed and an approval process put in place backed with execution metrics and processes. 12. The next steps will be consolidating the customer data and strengthening its foundation. A single set of customer information is the expectation and this will also help build trust and credibility toward IT, within the organization. . Case Evaluation Strategy that was usedThis report looks at a â€Å"horizontal† slice of many interrelated issues (refer to Section 5 – later in the report – for further explanation of these issues). Mixing the details of the case with the general issues into a relevant and cogent analysis was the main co ncern and involved various methods. a. Setting the Context In order to formulate an organizational structure I role-played possible structures and looked for effective relationships. The case lent many good starting points and I just carried the ideas forward with an eye on the future. . Major Initiatives and Priorities of AgCredit After getting an idea of how the structure would look I applied knowledge from the other cases and best practices mentioned from the textbook to suggest a prioritization process for project selection. After developing textbook scenarios further for the new SOA model to test I looked at the possible outcomes and largest advantages. The recommendations are used in the answer section 4. c. Looking back Ideas for the capabilities and governance also came from the lectures, readings, and previous case work.Although the specifics are much different in that the standardization of equipment is not common between them, the cases all need better business-IT partner ships and oversight. Looking for what makes them similar and different gave a unique perspective to each case. 4. Discussion Questions The following are the answers to the discussion questions on page 134 of the textbook. Propose an organizational structure for the IT department that you feel would support the transformation of AgCredit into a processcentric organization. Recognition of business ownership will be vital to the organizational structure.Having the business sign on and join the conversation about IT and related projects will be instrumental. A steering committee will be need to be part of the approval process of all projects is needed to make sure an enterprise view is taken. The multidivisional committee will need to ensure all projects fit within a SOA framework. The CIO should be involved in the boardroom and have access to senior management, including the CEO. The CIO should hire senior management that can convey departmental and business objects and help guide IT e mployees.Account managers for each LOB that reside in the business but report to senior IT management should be installed. The entire IT staff will need to be reassessed to ensure the proper people are in the right job roles. The IT function will need to be brought in alignment with the enterprise vision. One option is to try to promote internally for vacant IT positions and insource the roles that cannot be filled. Insourcing will have the distinct advantage of training IT personnel while getting the job done as well. Outsourcing IT functions that are not core competencies can also be employed if desired.Outline a project selection process for AgCredit to ensure alignment with the enterprise business vision. As mentioned in the last question, a steering committee that represents many LOBs will need to be formed and giving decision making capabilities. The process should begin by examining how a project ties to the overall vision of the company. Next the committee members should out line how the project effects their division and could be used to meet departmental needs if possible. Additionally it will need to make sure it fits within the SOA and is not duplicated by other software nodes or current processes.If it is an enhancement or add-on to another project, communication with the end user to see potential benefits should begin. Making sure it can be modularized and standardized for the business will be vital for the organization’s architecture. Additionally making sure all project types are considered and funded through a tax upon all LOBs will be required to support SOA. How should Manley â€Å"make the case† for SOA to ensure that the executive team at AgCredit buys in? Manley will need to present the key strengths of SOA and make sure to focus on how it will support the company’s vision and goals. The transition will simplify the organization and speed up product implementation. * Current services and products will be available or m odified for usability. * It supports web services that align with continuous growth opportunities, expanded customer relationships, and ability to cross-sell between the divisions. * It will immediately offer up opportunities for the divisions both in terms of possible financial gains and stretching development dollars. * Existing services can be purchased and implemented quickly within the SOA.This increases our capabilities and ensures we stay caught up with the larger firms. In essence this can level the playing field providing valuable resources and systems. * Once the customer information is centralized, which is required for SOA, the savings from reducing database needs will be realized. * Having common processes will align the business as a whole and ensure value from increased communication and decreased uncertainty. * This kind of technology base may allow the way we work to change, for example working from home or on the road working through a VPN.What new internal IT capa bilities will have to be developed in order to create an IT department to support AgCredits future business architecture? The capabilities needed to support the SOA from the IT perspective are management tools, information management tools, Information delivery options, development cycles, and a customer service attitude toward the divisions. Role clarification will be important in setting up these capabilities. Management tools include visioning and business alignment processes, funding methods, measurement metrics and focus, and monitoring methods.Information management tools include collection activities, organize process including schemes and taxonomy, process modules to use the information, and maintenance procedures that support business functions. Development cycles must conform to SOA standards and guidelines, using compliant hardware and software to make systems that breakdown the functionality, and complaint with regulatory needs, including system proficiency in creating r eports for audit purposes. The customer service attitude will be needed to manage perceptions and keep close ties with the business.What aspects of IT governance do you think would be important in supporting this transformation? Before governance structures are formalized the enterprise and divisional vision and objectives should be outlined. With IT working alongside the business some guiding principles must be drafted up. This may involve setting up account managers within the LOB and forming a multidiscipline steering committee with considerable decision power. This steering committee should work closely with the CIO and have high level approval and corporate sponsorship.The governance system should focus on guiding the transformation process and keeping key issues in focus, such as sox and regulatory compliance. Stakeholder involvement in the steering committee will help the business and IT structures become partners and work together. It will ensure all voices are heard and con sidered in the decision making process. They should outline policy decisions that support the organization’s vision early on. 5. Issues I have Discussed I utilized the chart, Dr. Ramachandran offered, to find the connections between the subject matter we have studied and the case.My analysis follows: From Lecture 4 and the Textbook reading assignment pages 37 – 50. * In this case IT often takes a backseat to other business concerns. The CEO having to be approached on the weekend to look at IT issues shows a lack of perceived IT value. * The company has a reputation of customer knowledge and that has allowed for competitive advantage. * The CEO believes IT supports the business. This belief is reinforced with the way IT is set up to function and furthermore with its failure to meet the minimum standards of competency and credibility.The instinctual desire to outsource all of IT by Paul Manley is a good indicator of IT’s inability to deliver value to the business. * It commonly believed and accepted that IT and business are not aligned at a high level. The desire for the alignment exists and the CEO’s decision to promote a strong business head into the CIO position reflects this understanding. * IT possesses a low self worth due partly to poor organizational engagement and role ambiguity. Without high-quality, business-minded leadership the internal perspective of IT has suffered. OCBs are far less likely to occur in this weakened environment. Without a solid enterprise architecture in place IT lacks a unifying vision and single â€Å"brand†. This lack of oversight has not helped promote IT to the business. * With IT being viewed negatively at the executive level, as at the start of the case, IT is at a disadvantage when trying to return value to the organization. The increased bond between the CEO and CIO will dramatically increase a positive perspective for the IT transformation. * The competency and creditability of IT is st ill highly suspect. The new CIO has acknowledged and is addressing the deficiency.There is an understanding that it will take time and energy to change the perception of the company. This is a prerequisite to having the business units buying into and taking a chance on IT. * The structural changes of IT should address perceptual issues as well at technical ones. The SOA will ensure the business, through their active role as data owners, views IT as a partner rather than just a service for the business. * The perceptual challenge ahead will involve a lengthy temporal component, the organizations view will not shift overnight. IT will have to build confidence and show the business that it adds value.Additionally perceptions will need to be continually managed with IT’s rocky history. From Lecture 6 and the Textbook reading assignment pages 72 – 85. * A good exercise before starting the restructure or even the consolidation to a single customer service file would be to ge t with the business and develop a technology roadmap. The entire process does not need to be completed before beginning other initiatives but this will give the organization focus and set current expectations. This will involve the business greatly and will open the lines of communication for IT and business operations.Since a large part of a technology roadmap is how technology will be implemented to support the enterprise vision, strategy, and objectives this will help ensure the divisions are working toward organizational unification. * Once the enterprise and divisional vision and objectives are lined out the process can begin. Working alongside the business some guiding principles must be drafted up. This may involve setting up account managers within the LOB and forming a multidiscipline steering committee with considerable decision power. IT staffing cannot be done correctly until business needs are communicated.It will be important to make sure the guiding principles map to the vision. * The vision from the textbook would consist of: continuous growth, expanse of customer relationships, ability to spend more time with the customers, ability to cross-sell services, and provide a consistent experience to the customer. Additionally implementing an SOA environment would need to be considered in the process. * Taking an inventory should be split into two sections. The first is coming up with a classification schema, which should work well with planning the SOA objectives.The second is assigning a technology custodian which will help build credibility by increasing transparency of responsibility. * A gap analysis of the current technology to required technology will also need to be completed. This will help build the relationship to the business and show competency for IT if done well. The level of business involvement must be high so an opportunity to influence perception is created. After identifying the missing links a scan of the available technology wil l need to be undertaken. SOA design will play a vital role in deciding on which software and hardware need to be developed or purchased. In order to get from point A to point B, point B being an SOA for the company, a solid migration strategy must be created.This will affect the projects that have been put on hold within the organization and future projects as well. This will need input from the business since they will be severely impacted. The steering committee should be well established and able to make informed decisions on this type of endeavor. A governance body will need to be installed that oversees this process and its future revisions. From Lecture 7 and the Textbook reading assignment pages 98 – 126. In order to succeed in the organization vision AgCredit has an Information Management system needs to be instituted. This will be housing the single customer information file. Visioning exercises will help develop policies to support the IM. * The IM will be a great f irst step toward changing the culture to acceptance of IT function and the partnership role in the organization. A SOA will be supported by this move also and will bring the company focus together. * Shaping the culture to accept the responsibility and a steering committee’s authority will take time to develop especially with such a weak IT role in the current organization.Bring them on board will be vital to success though. With all of the expected growth and centralizing of information security policy will have to become standardized and thorough. If any of the IT functions get outsourced this move will help make the transition and usefulness operate more smoothly and efficiently. * The initial SOA will be created through a process that needs full organizational representation and support. The final acceptance will need to be at the senior level though. * Adjusting the perspective and culture toward acceptance will be instrumental to the initiatives success.Paul Manley will need to take an active role in convincing the business to sign on and support the initiative. 6. Organization Chart CEO Jim Finney CIO Paul Manley COO Steve Stewart Kate Longair Samantha Secord Dirk Schader 7. Further Issues From Lecture 2 and the Textbook reading assignment pages 14 – 25. * IT and the business are not aligned. The business is not even aware of how the different divisions come together to work for the organization. The business will have to sort itself out as well as build a partnership with IT. * They have begun to revisit the business model and are aware there is a lot of work to be done.Since the business is aligning itself that leaves IT in a good position to tie itself to all LOBs. Strategic themes have not been capitalized upon but with the SOA the chances of identifying and being able to act on them will be greater. Getting strong leadership in place within IT and partnering with IT will be a major task that needs to be undertaken. * The different pro ject types are currently not broken up and funded appropriately. The architecture projects seem to be falling behind and definitely not aligned with business strategy. The focus on all dimensions of IT strategy will need to be a priority for the new steering committee.Building these processes and methods alongside the business will ensure commitment and success. This has not been the case with AgCredit in the past but in order to get IT working for the company it will have to be adopted and maintained. * Account managers that report to the CIO or senior IT managers will need to be hired or found internally. IT and the business’s disconnect between must cease and they should unify. From Lecture 9 and the Textbook reading assignment pages 230 – 244. * IT has not kept pace with were it needs to be for the organization.They are not prepared to take on the expanded roles IT is expected to recently. The company will need to correct the IT organizational structure and then fi gure out what competencies they possess. They will need to chart the maturity and make sure they teach or hire staff that can fill the roles the company wants to keep internal. The notion of outsourcing all of IT was raised at the start of the case, but the executives need to get together and chart a course for the organization. After getting an idea of where they want to be they can actually start to consider what IT functions can be outsourced.Customer service functions and capabilities will need to remain in-house since this is the business’s competitive advantage in the environment. * The staffing issues in the company are a direct result of not realizing which IT functions the business needs to cultivate and rely on. There are too many functions for this company to be able to turn around perform well so something will have to give and other alternatives, either insourcing or outsourcing, need to be considered. Without knowing how the business divisions and processes fit together it will be hard to complete, but IT and the business need to work together to create a solution.

Can Marriage Be Saved Essay

Can Marriage Be Saved? Written by:Frank Furstenberg Summer 2005 I chose the article â€Å"Can Marriage Be Saved? † written by Frank Furstenberg. This article was found under the â€Å"topics for course papers† section of our syllabus, link number four. I felt that the article was very much true to life. I agree that marriage seems to last a lifetime for the more educated and wealthy. I see all too often young adults getting married just because they have become pregnant or for the wrong reasons. This theory rarely seems to work. This usually causes problems for the young family because neither person is ready to take on the major responsibility that having a family at such a young age brings. This relates very close to my life because I was married and had my first child at the age of 16. With the lack of education and work experience that I had, it made it almost impossible to support and provide for my child. Needless to say, I found myself divorced and a 16 year old single parent six months later. The struggles of being married without an education or a career are a huge strain on a relationship. It is almost unheard of to have the idea, 1960’s, type of lifestyle these days. It was very common for the woman to be the homemaker and the caregiver for the children during this time while the man worked and provided for his family. Now, it is almost forced upon most families to have a middle class lifestyle or above in order to live a comfortable life. With this being said, it is crucial for both parties of the marriage to obtain a higher education and to work full time. Adding a child to the mix of working, school and trying to find time to be a parent can be a disaster. No wonder most marriages end almost as soon as they begin. I believe the best way we can change these old habits is to set better examples for our children and instill high values in them to get a college degree and make sure they have a strong career path before tackling the challenge of marriage and having a family. I believe marriage has a much higher chance of success if you have your education and career in order first. Once you have a good balance of values in your life, then you should consider marriage and a family.

Reasons of Oslo Peace Process Failure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reasons of Oslo Peace Process Failure - Essay Example Or at least the bulk of the Western press, as well as many politics and political observers were tempted to foresee such a development – not surprisingly, the US President Clinton announced â€Å"a new era† for both the Middle East and the world (Selby, 2003, p.4). The Palestinians eventually conceded that the time has come to put the decades-long conflict and confrontation to an end; arguably having realised that lasting peace settlement and reconciliation are preferable to never-ending war, or due to the major setback suffered as a result of Arafat’s support for Iraq during the occupation of Kuwait and Operation Desert Storm, as the case might be. On the other hand, Israel’s decision to admit PLO as a legitimate peace partner could be attributed to a variety of reasons, most notably continued international pressure and the dramatic shift in policy during Rabin’s second term as Israeli Prime Minister (Mattar, 2005, p.66). However, both sides agreed a mutual recognition, series of measures to build trust and partnership in vital areas, including economic ones, as well as the establishment of Palestinian self-government in parts of Gaza strip and West bank (Selby, 2003; Mattar, 2005, p.66). Even though most observers considered the initial phases of Oslo Accord an unprecedented breakthrough, which was mainly due to the realised need and effort made by leaders from both sides to establish a long-lasting peace between the two nations, at the end of the day, the peace process has proved to be a failure (Brown, 2003, p. 7; Mattar, 2005, p.66). The fundamental goal of permanently appeasing the region wasn’t achieved, the creation of an independent Palestinian state failed as well, despite the transfer of control over the Gaza Strip and West Bank to autonomous Palestinian rule.

Management and Organizational Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Management and Organizational Theory - Essay Example The paper tells that current critical management studies have criticized traditional management with creating scientific or objective knowledge which is nothing more than elitist thinking institutionalized as wisdom The result of this is the elitist groups have managed to maintain a status quo that deprives and exploits members lower down an organization due to their class, gender and ethnicity. Many of the simplistic views on management needs revision and rather than applied mechanically, critical management needs to take a broader 360 view encompassing politics and ethical perspectives. Today's organizations and workplaces are a melting pot of ethnic and multi-culturally diverse set of individuals. More foreigners are employed in western businesses than ever before; young and old work together. People form a diverse backgrounds and skill sets now coordinate their work in order to arrive at the best solution for complicated problems. The merger of companies, threat of downsizing, an d rapidly changing work environments have tended to create a sense of unease about job security. Even then, employees demand more from the organization they're employed in, high expectations in terms of workplace treatment, greater respect for their individuality irrespective of their ethnic, gender, racial or family background or sexual orientation. The challenge then for companies is to develop more inclusive policies and procedures to embrace a wide variety of people while respecting their individuality. This model has largely been ignored by organizations which use their employees mechanically, expecting them to only produce. Up until the mid 20th Century, the organization was seen as a machine with characteristics such as a central authority, a hierarchy of power, divisions of expertise and specialisations, categories of labour and distinct sections between staff, management from lower paid workers. With the economic boom and moves towards globalisation, the internal culture of organizations changed with greater emphasis placed on the people instead of on the inner machinery of the organization. There was more focus on delegation of authority, employee self-rule, open dialogue where concerns of workers were shared with the authority. Much of this resulted from the development of new technologies. At the workplace, this meant requirement of new skill sets and specializations utilized in order to achieve organizational goals. People with expertise in various disciplines were sought and recruitment became selective. With more power to the labour force, the hierarchy of authority was forced to develop a more cooperative model of management. This in addition to the changing markets and branch diversification required management to be more adaptive. The existing scientific management model had inadequate concepts to cope with the rapidly changing work environment and there was a move towards changing the industry and discarding forms of scientific management. A s society grew modern, people started to develop social etiquette and became more morally conscious. Things that were considered normal a century ago began to be questioned. Child labour for example was outlawed. Customers demanded better quality products and attitudes in society changed. This spilled over into the workplace. Dictatorial methods of authority were no longer tolerated and generally people expected proper treatment.

Critical Perspective on Management and Leadership (Indians call Essay

Critical Perspective on Management and Leadership (Indians call centers) - Essay Example In many organizations, the issue of stress has recorded an escalating trend over the years. In this context, therefore, there is a dire need for managers and leaders to come up with effective mechanisms that can alleviate the causative agents of stress in the workplace. Stress has been linked with the ability to reduce job satisfaction, employee involvement and engagement in the workplace and most importantly derails the ability of the organizations to maintain an upward trend of job performance (Elliot, Herbane and Swartz, 2009). Putting this in perspective, it is warranted to argue that critical management and leadership cannot be alienated from the fact that, organizations need to perform their utmost best. In this context, therefore, this essay shall endeavor to highlight the Indian call centers and the repercussions of critical management in the workplace. The essay shall also scrutinize the contributions that critical leadership and management has imposed on the Indian call centers. The implications of critical management on leaders will also be a point that will be put under careful consideration. These two factors will be discussed under the theme of workplace bullying in the Indian call centers. ... To a great extent, the form of bullying that takes shape in this workplace has been accredited to the fact that, the employees have made great attempts to fit in the demanding conditions of the workplace. Workplace bullying according to Oade (2010) has been described as the negative implications that revolve around aggression and hostility in the workplace. If the bullying becomes extreme and persistence, there is a great likelihood that the entire process will be recurrent; thus, cause massive effects on the employees. One of the major reasons behind the predicaments in the workplace is that employees are continually subjected to circumstances in their environments that result into consistent exploitation in the workplace. Indian’s call centers are responsible for employment of a myriad number of people in Indian call centers. The Indian call centers serve a large clientele base, inclusive of the United States of America. Cruz and Noronha (2009) indicate that it is this fact that has led to outsourcing beings a major setback in the operations of the Indian all centers. The employees of Indian call center are not only faced with the challenge of handling Indian’s large clientele base, but also clients from other nations. In the perspective of the development of the country, this can be attributed to the solution towards development, but in the context of employee satisfaction, it can be argued that the workplace is a burden to almost all its employees. In terms of working hours, Cruz and Noronha (2009) argue that the employees in the call centers hardly have time for themselves. A case in point is when the management of the call centre made attempts to come up with

Emirates Airlines Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Emirates Airlines - Essay Example Emirates is one of the fastest growing airlines in the world and it has consistently posted an average of 20% growth in annual profit since 1985 (Plunkett, 2007). This research studies some key components of Emirates Airlines and how it relates to tourism and management. It examines the operational characteristics of the airline and how it aims at expanding its scope. The second section of the paper examines the financial performance of the airline and its implications. Finally, the paper examines the competitive situation of the airline and concludes on the findings. From the webpage of Emirates Airlines (Emirates Story, 2012), it started operating in October 1985. It aimed at providing high quality flight services to and from Dubai. The airline is mainly owned by the government of Dubai but it operates as an independent entity. Emirates has over 160 aircrafts and flies to over 100 destinations in 66 countries. A total of 40% of the flights are to or from Dubai. The growth in traffic for Emirates Airlines is characterized by the cumulative expansion of the airlines fleet. In 2001, there were just about 9 million passengers who flew on Emirates but by 2006, it had increased to 17.5 million (Graham et al, 2010). This is done through the offer of different classes of services that ensures that different people from different backgrounds are serviced by the airliner. Emirates flies to 111 cities and operates in five different global regions around the world (Emirates Routes, 2012). In each of these regions, Emirates Airlines provides various services that aim at meeting certain targets that are unique to the continent. In Africa, Emirates flies to 21 cities on the continent. Emirates flights to Africa was hinged on the expansion of business activities with Dubai. Since Dubai was set to become an international destination that links the developing world to Europe and North America. Due to the

The UK Corporate Governance Code operates on a comply or explain Essay

The UK Corporate Governance Code operates on a comply or explain basis. You are required to discuss whether this leads to better disclosure or allows companies to operate in any way they choose - Essay Example There are three main principles of ethics in an organization, which are namely; standardization, realistic and driven by business managers. The principle of standardization ensures that the business management formulates uniform policies that govern the entire business without fear or favor. The principle of realistic enables the business to see achievable goals. Meaning, they have to be realistic and genuine. Lastly, the top managers of the organization have to support the business. It is worth noting that ethical issues are responsibilities of all the stakeholders and shareholders (Brink 2011, p. 4) Ethical issues and corporate governance are very important tools of business operations. The following paragraphs will highlight the ethical issues that confront businesses. Fair working conditions; it is the right of the workers to enjoy good working conditions. This means that the conditions must be able to meet the value of service delivery. Unscrupulous employers overwork employees and pay them low salaries. This behavior is vanishing gradually because workers get information as their right day by day. It is because of this that the workers threaten to accuse employers shall they infringe their rights. Consequently, the employers have since become socially responsible (Jose 2008, p. 55). Lately, technology has become a requirement in organizations. Low technological advancement in an organization slows down productivity. Besides, it is unethical because without technology workers use a lot of physical effort. To cab this menace, the organizations have to improve and modernize corporate governance. They can do this through shareholders, stakeholders, and managers. It is socially responsible for the senior officers to form part of the activities (Prabakaran 2010, p. 30). Safety and health of workers is, and should remain a responsibility of all within the organization. It is socially irresponsible to overlook this matter. Some workers work from

Management Principles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Management Principles - Essay Example All managers are accountable for performing the four management functions namely, planning, organizing, leading and controlling work (Schermerhorn, 16). While planning involves objective and goal setting as well as designing methods or procedures to achieve the goals, organizing functions involve arranging tasks, people and other resources to achieve these goals. In order to achieve goals through people and by the use of available resources, managers must be able to effectively inspire their workforce in the right manner. All activities performed by the workforce need to be constantly monitored in order to ensure the tasks are being performed in the right manner. Moreover, managers need to monitor other resources for optimum output and for achieving the targeted performance. These core functions require specific skills and competencies, which managers need to learn by adopting specific behaviors and learning skills related to technical, human and interpersonal, concept and analytic a spects (Schermerhorn, 21-23). Management is greatly influenced by a variety of external and internal factors. External environmental factors that can impact organizational processes include competition, innovative products/services, governmental regulations etc.

Information Security Policy Document (ISPD) Assignment

Information Security Policy Document (ISPD) - Assignment Example Organizations are dependent on these digital communication channels for transferring and exchanging classified information such as confidential information, mission critical information and information that is published for the people. As information is a blood life of any organization, it is vital to protect information by implementing physical, logical and environmental controls. In the context of protecting information security, three fundamental factors must be considered to make use of digitized information in an effective manner i.e. Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability. As there is a requirement of protecting this digital information internally and externally, policy is a control that provides necessary steps, procedures and processes to protect information. These are also considered as high level statements derived from the board of the organization. â€Å"Information security policy is therefore considered an essential tool for information security management† (Ilvonen 2009). However, information security policy is customized by company to company and department to department. Different factor that may influence to tailor the policy includes organization size, dependence on information systems, regulatory compliance and information classification scheme. For addressing all issues related to information security via a single policy is not possible, however, to cover all aspects related to information security, a set of information security policy document focusing on different group of employees within the organization is more suitable. This paper will discuss different factors that must be taken in to account when constructing and maintaining an information security policy. However, there are many methods available for constructing an information security policy, the initial step before adopting any one of the methods is to identify the current maturity level of the policy construction process within the organization. The outputs will be either no information security policy development process in place or there is an extensive policy development process exists. As University of Wales has inaugurated a new bespoke digital forensic and information security laboratory, we will use a phased approach that will use a basic policy framework that will address key policies followed with the development of more policies. Likewise, the phased approach will also revise the existing policies that are already in place. In the current scenario there is no policy in place, as the laboratory is new. One key element for a policy development process is the process maturity level. For instance, a newly derived comprehensive and complex security policy cannot be successful because organizations need time for compliance. Common pitfalls for compliance are different organization cultures, lack of management buy-in, insufficient resources and many other factors. For a newly inaugurated forensic laboratory, the initial

The Plantation Mistress by Catherine Clinton Essay

The Plantation Mistress by Catherine Clinton - Essay Example This time marks one of the darkest periods in the history of America, therefore, confessions by these women in their diaries and memoirs represents real events concerning their tribulations. These women typify noteworthy character and mental toughness in that they are able to withstand the tribulations and tough times during that slavery period (Clinton 50). Clinton has illustrated many specifics in the Plantation Mistress. For example, the matter of cousin marriage has been described in detail. From early in life, cousins had a close association and relationship. This continued even after they separated geographically, and these close relationships continued throughout the life of the cousins. The principal reason for these close associations was that children within the plantations were isolated from the rest of the community, and as they were growing up, they did not meet other people apart from those in their kinship ties (Clinton, 67). This was the same with older ladies, who on ly associated closely with men that were closely related to them. These associations and marriage between cousins had its benefits as it ensured that property and wealth was retained within the family alliance. It further expanded kinship ties between closely related families. Therefore, characters that practiced this form of marriage impress me since they were involved in abnormal affairs, but these affairs were of benefit to them in the end. These characters viewed life as an experience of enriching oneself and ensuring that wealth is retained within the family tree. This may have been viewed as an abnormal thing by the surrounding society, but those who took part in marriage with their cousins did not mind what society did. Whatever they did, they did it to the benefit of their close family members (Gerster & Cords 78). Clinton covers another specific topic in child birth and rearing. Characters especially mothers in the novel greatly celebrated whenever children were born. All f amilies celebrated during this time period, but female babies were discriminated against greatly. Therefore, giving births to a female baby was a disappointment because Southerners who did not have sons were threatened with extinction in their inheritance and family name. Only sons were allowed to carry on with the family traditions and use the family name. However, some women in the novel did not allow to be discriminated by society by virtue of their giving birth to daughters only. These women soldered on despite the prejudicial treatment that they received from the surrounding society (Clinton, 89). Regardless of their mistreatment, these women still managed to raise their female babies until they grew up. To any reader, these women can be regarded as heroes since they managed to weather the storm of gender discrimination and go on with their lives. This is important because currently, gender discrimination is on the rise, and women empowerment by brave women has ensured that pre judicial treatment of women has been toned down. The women that Clinton describes in the novel who managed to soldier on despite the prejudicial society that surrounded them represent the present women who try to advocate for women empowerment so that gender balance is created (Gerster & Cords 84). In the Plantation Mistress, we learn that female education began to rise tremendously toward the end of the eighteenth century. From this, a new nation was born and Southerners and New Englanders promoted education of females in their respective

Eth125 Diversity Worksheet Essay Example for Free

Eth125 Diversity Worksheet Essay 1. What is diversity? Why is diversity valued? Diversity is having variety. Diversity is valued because there are all sorts of ethnic groups, races, household income ranges, etc. Diversity can be classified as basically what runs our countries economy in a way if you just think about it. All these races and ethnic groups with a various range of incomes and the more money made, the more money spent, which in return boosts our economy. 2. What is ethnocentrism? In what ways can ethnocentrism be detrimental to a society? Ethnocentrism is the belief in the superiority of the nation or group to which someone belongs. It can be detrimental to society because there are groups and people out there that don’t believe that the nation is superior and that everyone just needs to live their own lives not caring about anyone else. Some people have a negative attitude towards superiority in the nation and it’s government as a result of what our government does and what it doesn’t do also. Like people think the government is trying to take everyones homes away from them as a result of the government raising property taxes which is just plain stupid because there are so many low income families that can’t afford property taxes as it is and there’s going to end up being a lot of bank owned homes all over the U.S. if they keep raising taxes and what not. That’s the perspective I have on it. 3. Define emigration and immigration. Emigration is when someone intentionally moves from their home country to permanently settle in another. Immigration is when someone or a group of people move into another country or region to which they are not native in order to settle there. 4. What are some of the ways groups of people are identified? Ways groups are identified are race, ethnicity, religion and gender. 5. Why do people label and group other people? People label and group other people in order to give them a distinct identity in the society. Labeling can be both positive and negative to the individual that is being labeled. 6. Define culture. Is culture limited to racial and ethnic backgrounds? Explain. Culture is the behaviors and beliefs that are characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group. No, culture is not limited to racial and ethnic backgrounds as its a multi-layered property of our societies and people from other cultures are also influenced by the many groups of people that make up the country.

Market Analysis of Tesco

Market Analysis of Tesco Tesco is the worlds 3rd largest retailer and the UK retail sector leader. Its primary activity is based in the United Kingdom and the company is expanding into international markets, which are China, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Republic of Ireland, India, Japan, Malaysia, Poland, Slovakia, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, and the United States. The companys group sale in 2010 was  £62.5 billion in which the operational profit accounted for  £3.5 billion. Currently, the company finally becomes the most profitable online grocery retailer in the world, and more than half of the companys group selling space is outside the United Kingdom. The most attractive recent news about Tesco is its new CEO, Philip Clark, succeed Sir Terry as the retail giants boss on 2 March 2011. Within the same week, two pieces of news about Tescos further pushing forward in Southeast China and northern California were also announced respectively, which might lead to investors guess about whether this new boss, who was Tescos head of international and IT business, will take a more aggressive strategy for its international market. As we can see from the companys market performance, the future of its international expansion is still full of uncertainty. The core UK food retailing segment still keeps 30% market share, however, the sales growth rate fell to a historically low level. The Christmas sales, especially non-food sales, in UK and Europe were negatively impacted by the bad weather last winter. The expansion in US market, which is loss making, was suspended in the past year and now, as the company announced, is restarted. The companys ope ration and expansion is Asia seems promising, with high sales growth rates and fast new-stores-opening speed. The companys stock underperformed the FTSE 100 Index in the past year and keeps going down from the beginning of the year. In fact, all the five retailers we choose, most of which are the worlds largest, do not have satisfying stock performance recently. Bad news about the price rise from the suppliers side came this week bringing down the whole industrys price. The current price of Tesco goes lower than our estimates and hits the bottom of the year. From January 2011, the companys price decreased by a historically 10.58%. Investors worries about the current economic situation would be the main cause the sectors underperformance. We expect an underlying earnings growth and hence a price growth of Tesco in a long-term perspective based on our forecast. The value of company will go up with the recovery of the economy, which is the external factor, and the growing internal operational performance. Therefore, we recommend a short term hold and long term buy. Geographical Analysis Data source: Corporate Christmas sales reportThe latest supermarket giant Tescos 12-week total sales growth was 4.3% with the impressive double-digit growth in food segment. Giant player Tesco achieved positive strong performance in every business operation including food, non-food, and Tesco direct even though an unpleasant cold and wet weather especially adverse condition of snow over Christmas made things difficult not only for Tesco, but also its local crucial competitors like Sainsbury, Asda, and Morrison, Tescos operation and management were still well managed. It is undeniably that Tesco enjoyed an increase of like-for-like (LFL) sales compared to previous year; however, the rise in sales growth was inevitably suffering from the lift of petrol prices and the rise in VAT implying negative volumes if we assume progressive food inflation, which later may impede the stores growing space in the UK market. Yet, the true story that people have to eat and the evidence of the top-line growth grants the UK operators to provide both defensive and growth characteristics to have more rooms of new spaces, develop product mix, and enhance continuing productivity improvement. Hence, giant supermarket like Tesco cannot just stop expanding business and market share, and as an efficient strong retailer, growing the revenue cost-effectively and profitably is far more important than winning the highest market share, Europe: First time showing all positive LFL sales Tesco operates in the Republic of Ireland, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Turkey, listed in descending revenues according to 2010 Annual reports. Although the customer expenditure suffers heavily from the recession, we have seen a solid sign of recovery in sales and profits in Europe. Shown in the Q3 report, till 27th November 2010, the performance of Tesco improves with sales up by 7.6%; compared to 6.4% from Q2 figures (Actual rates Ex. Petrol). Like-for-like sales achieve a growth at 3.6% (Ex. Petrol), which is 0.5% more than the last quarter, probably because of a strong improvement in Hungary and Turkey. Particularly in the third quarter, all European businesses succeed in acquiring positive like-for-like sales for the first time in three years. Thus we expect a continuing increasing trend in this region as the economies are slowly improving. The main approach using by Tesco is to invest in new selling space. The company plans to double the space by 2014/15 to 4.1m sq meters. Part of the ambitious opening programme, Tesco has acquired 128 convenience stores in Czech Republic on 23rd December 2010, making the market share stable at 9%, which is the second position overall. Next we could expect this world leading retailer would push its plan further and expand its online models more in Europe. In the non-food sector, Tesco is leading the clothing market. Building on the FF brand, it opened up its own FF Blue and FF Basics in Central Europe. Tesco sold 68milions FF items in this area and the clothing sales of the Tesco increased by 12% in 2010. Like-for-like clothing sales are also up by 14%. US: When will Fresh Easy be profitable? One of the key decisions for Tescos new CEO, Mr Clarke, will be deciding whether to continue with the Fresh Easy chain, which made a loss of  £165m ($269m) last year. Fresh Easy is designed as a small and convenient fresh food seller and this is its fourth year in the US. This totally different business format was criticized for would not meet US consumes habits when it was launched. Anyway, we think Tesco was extremely unlucky to enter US market before its economy fell into the worst recession since the 1930s. The sales are growing at a promising rate over 38.5% in the third quarter 2010/11 which were mostly contributed from the Thanksgiving holiday. And during the Christmas and New Year holiday it grew up by 36.9%. However, Fresh Easy still made a loss of  £165m in 2009/2010 and a similar or larger loss would probably be made in 2010/2011. Tescos management predicts that it will reach profitability in 2012/2013. But this prediction is questionable since we did not see any signs that promise the profit. Even the US market leader, Wal-mart, had a historically rapid decrease in its sales growth rate in 2009/2010. The company mothballed 13 stores last year, primarily in Arizona and Nevada, hit by the US housing market downturn. The expansion of Fresh Easy was slow down in the last year, and under-utilised capacity still charged large amount of expenditure of the business. The latest news on Fresh Easys website said 10 new stores will be open before the end of April in northern California, which indicates the company starts to push ahead the expansion again. Asia: Key focus for the international expansion Tesco has its Asian business mainly in South Korea, Thailand, China, Malaysia, Japan and India with 1300 stores. Remarkable performance has been shown in the Asian markets driven by opening new stores and due to its constant progress for the growth of powerful brands in Asian markets. The profits in 2010/2011 have drastically increased by 24% with margin strengthening of 6.1%. The sales growth in the Asian Markets in the year 2010/2011 was 23.4%. This substantial growth was mainly due to the investments that were made during the recession period and are paying off as the economies of these nations are improving. Due to the unseasonably warm temperature in the Northern Asia, the LFL sales of Tesco have been 4.3% which is a little lower than 5% in second quarter. It has been able to grow its business by expanding its club card and other retail business in these nations. Amongst these countries, South Korea has turned out to be the most productive, with an organic sales growth of 23.3%, like for like sales of 3.2% and profits up 50.9%. China is considered as epoch-making opportunity for future. The performance of Tesco in other countries like Thailand, Malaysia and India has also been fairly good as the sales have increased in these countries in spite of the political uncertainty and sharp recession in 2009. Asian markets will continue to be key focus for the international expansion of Tesco as they offer a significant long term opportunity. Tesco plans to open new space of 4.9 m sq ft (excluding shopping malls) by next year and build 80 shopping malls by the end of 2015. While theJapan quake might suspend the companys expansion in Japan market which Tesco just entered 4 years ago and counts 5% of its Asian sales in 2010. Porters Five Forces Industry Competition Position Average Score: 3+ Threat of New Entrants 3+ High level of entry in retailing industry: although easy for independent retailers, quite difficult for big chain stores. Abundant capital needed for human resources and storage costs; long time devoted to establishing brand and relationship with suppliers. Power of Suppliers 2- Little power for retailing industry: presence of rich substitutes and suppliers; but suppliers may gain powers during special periods due to unexpected bad weather or new launching government policies. Power of buyers 2+ Although customers bargain power in the store is low, they can easily change among retailers to without any switch costs. The customer loyalty is low. The high price sensitive drives customers to seek for promotions and price reductions. Availability of Substitutes 4+ What one store offers you will likely find at another store. Retailers offering products that are unique have a distinct or absolute advantage over their competitors. Competitive of Rivalry 4+ Competition among the main players in retail industry is aggressive and rational. Promotional activity and new space expansion are growing at a historical rate to gain more market share. But the possibility of an irrational price war is low. *Scoring range 1-5 (high score is good) Plus = getting better; Minus = getting worse* SWOT A We expect the sales growth rate to go up based on the assumption that the worlds economy will recover in the near future, and the VAT and food price inflation will keep around current level. Cost of goods sold as a % of sales is decreasing during the last five years, so we estimate that the trend will continue in the future. On the other hand, Tesco provides more price reduction and promotion now, especially when the competition with Asda in terms of price is going on, so the decrease of cost of good sold rate will not be too large. Depreciation to sales is around 2% in past years. Since the expansion of the company is pushed forward in the US and Asian market, the fixed assets will grow up as well. We forecast the depreciation will go up with the expansion, too. And in 2010 year, some properties bought in the US were idle since the company suspended its expansion in the US market, so the depreciation to sales in 2010 will be higher than usual. Because selling is essential to retail industry and promotion reached in a historical high level as Wall Street Journal reported, we estimate SGA expense will increase as a percentage of sales. We forecast that the EBIT to sales will increase very slowly because of the growing depreciation cost and SGA expense. Therefore, the Net Margin may stay steady or go down marginally based on the increased interest expanse from the higher leverage level and the higher tax. The company expanded its assets significantly in 2008/09 and then suspended the expansion in 2009/10, especially in terms of current assets. According to the recent news, Tesco pushes further into China and US market this year, therefore, we expect the amount of assets will be enlarged. And non-current assets grow as a percentage of total assets. Working capital is calculated by current assets minus current liabilities. The change of working capital in future is at the historical average rate of 6.48%. Standard Ratios Residual Income Model We employ residual income model (RI) to value Tesco. With residual income model, the value of equity is forecasted to be approximately GBP 46 billion with the price target of GBP 5.77. The cost of equity is used in the model rather than the group WACC since we base on the net income. The cost of equity is derived from assessing the groups exposure by running the regression to obtain the groups beta. FTSE all share is used as a market proxy and US 3-month T-Bill yield is taken as risk-free rate in the regression. Our estimation of the groups cost of equity currently is 11.64%. The growth of income is assumed to be constant over the long period at 9.5%. However, the sensitivity analysis is provided for different percentages of cost of equity and growth rates. Discounted Cash Flow Model Using DCF model, we assume a terminal growth rate at 8% and cost of equity at 11.64%. Net debt will decrease based on Tescos current strategy to adjust its leverage, while net non-current assets will rapidly grow because of the international expansion strategy. Multiples Valuation Model There we use P/E as the multiple to estimate the prices of Tesco and its four peers. The expected earnings are obtained from Thomson One Banker. Expected earnings, expected value and number of shares outstanding are presented in millions. The expected value is calculated by timing peer average P/E with expected earnings

Use of Protease Inhibitors as Insecticides

Use of Protease Inhibitors as Insecticides The Plagues of Egypt are a well-known to many, to send a message to the Pharaoh, the eighth of which saw Moses have God send was a plague of locusts to destroy crops. Luckily those were mere allegorical stories. What is true is that crop yields for ancient societies have always been plagued pests destroying crops. Even in modern times pests are a major issue for farmers. Effective modern delivery methods of insecticides to fight pests such as chemical sprays like the infamous roundup by Monsanto have proven to be effective, but face issues such as potential poisons lingering in the environment, insects acquiring resistance to them over time, not being very specific in their targets often killing everything they are sprayed on, and tend to be quite toxic. A more effective method has been the use of biological pesticides, where plants in question generate toxins required to fight insects specifically without being toxic. One methods of delivery that has shown promise has been to use pr oteinase inhibitors. Proteases are found in almost all organisms playing important roles in biological processes by breaking down proteins via hydrolytic reactions (Lin et al., 2017). If proteases are overexpressed in a cell it can lead to many proteins being degraded needlessly affecting cell function (Lin et al., 2017). As a result, proteases need to be properly controlled and one of the most efficient ways to do so is with protease inhibitors. When proteinase inhibitors (PIs) bind to digestive enzymes it causes them to become unreactive (Broadway and Duffey, 1986). The pancreas would then have to secrete additional proteinases itself to fight the inhibition from inhibitors so that normal digestion can occur and prevent re-absorption of protease-inhibitor enzyme complex (Broadway and Duffey, 1986). If this process is left unhindered it would lead to loss of essential amino acids which could have be used to build more proteases (Broadway and Duffey, 1986). This loss of amino acids results in an amino ac id deficiency that leads to growth, development and survival issues of the organism (Fatemeh and Bandani, 2011). What makes proteinase inhibitors attractive for controlling pests is that they are encoded by single genes and are effective over wide ranges of pests, making them more practical than methods that rely on inhibiting complex pathways with similar targets (Fatemeh and Bandani, 2011). A substantial amount of development has gone towards finding suitable proteinase inhibitors for plants to express. Insects have also been found to be adapting against the use of protease inhibitors, with some being able to overexpress gut proteases or create new enzymes that are harder to inhibit (Nath et al., 2015). This only shows that the study of proteinase inhibitors still has a long ways to go and will require much more study. Some of the techniques studied in recent years to deter pests include use of trypsin inhibitor against lepidopteran larvae and serine proteinase inhibitors against mosquitos. It was believed that a trypsin inhibitor that was expressed in the germinating seed of Dolichos biflorus would be effective the gut proteins of P. brassicae and S. littoralis. To test this theory researchers extracted the PI from germinating various seed samples then sterilizing seeds in ethanol and water and growing them, collecting the plant seeds from flowering plants at different time intervals and then grinded them up into fine powder and processed it with acetone to get a crude extract (Nath et al., 2015). Researchers were able to measure and extract the amount of trypsin inhibitor in each seed from the crude extract via centrifugation and found that the more days after germination when they extracted the trypsin inhibitor the less the seed had (Nath et al., 2015). This decline coincided with noted decreases in soluble protein activity in the seeds after germination which could be attributed to degradation of proteins including inhibitors and proteases during germination (Nath et al., 2015). To measure trypsin inhibitor effectiveness against gut proteases of organisms, researchers also dissected the midgut of P. brassicae and S. littoralis and centrifuged it to isolate for a source of trypsin, which they found (Nath et al., 2015). To measure activity of inhibitor against gut proteases, researchers measured optical density after mixing inhibitor and gut proteases together (Nath et al., 2015). It was found in this study that all trypsin inhibitors extracted from seeds exhibited inhibitory response against P. brassicae, researchers then took the sample (HPK4) that showed highest inhibitory action and tested it against proteases of S. littoralis, and found that it also exhibited inhibitory activity making it ideal an ideal candidate for an insecticide (Nath et al., 2015). To test inhibitor ability as an insecticide researchers used cabbage leaf discs coated in trypsin inhibitor extracted from HPK4 seeds as it had the highest activity, and fed it to newly hat ched larvae for 5 days (Nath et al., 2015). The experiment measured the amount of the leaf disc eaten and fecal matter produced from larvae over the 5 day period using different concentrations of trypsin inhibitor ranging from 0.025mg to 2.5mg (Nath et al., 2015).ÂÂ   It was found that P. brassicae larvae were sensitive to inhibitor as they showed mortality rate ranging from 10% to 80% (at 0.025mg and 2.5mg concentration respectively) after 5 days of feeding (Nath et al., 2015). Larval fecal matter was also noted to having 38% less gut trypsin and other soluble proteins compared to fecal matter in control samples, and with less of cabbage leaf being eaten in all samples compared to control due to massive dying off of larvae (Nath et al., 2015).ÂÂ   Larval death could be attributed to lack of essential amino acids in insects body due to trypsin inhibitor (Nath et al., 2015). Reduced soluble protein in fecal matter was attributed to less intestinal aberration and the fact th at much less of the leaf was eaten overall (Nath et al., 2015).ÂÂ   Similar results were found in complementary study regarding the effects on S. littoralis, with low survival rates, reduced larval mass, and decreased soluble protein concentration in fecal matter compared to control (Nath et al., 2015). Overall researchers were able to conclude that the PIs (trypsin inhibitor in this case) from various germinating seed strains were able to inhibit gut proteinases of many lepidopteran larvae such as P. brassicae and S. littoralis (Nath et al., 2015).ÂÂ   It is worth noting that while this experiment used PIs as a spray over plants, researchers indicate that this holds promising future for crops to express higher levels of proteinase inhibitors naturally to fight pest populations in a way without spraying toxic pesticides (Nath et al., 2015). Another tested method to fight pests was with serine proteinase inhibitors. Mosquitoes are a major vector of disease carrying with them malaria, west nile virus, and etc, mosquitoes are found around the world and it has been reaffirmed many times that the best way to control mosquitos is through controlling populations (Soares, Soares Torquato, Alves Lemos, Tanaka, 2013).ÂÂ   This topic has been studied extensively and is known that the majority of digestive enzymes for mosquitoes are serine proteases (Soares, Soares Torquato, Alves Lemos, Tanaka, 2013). For this experiment researchers looked into Ae. aegypti a mosquito strain which is found commonly around the world (Soares, Soares Torquato, Alves Lemos, Tanaka, 2013). It was determined that mosquito larvae would be the ideal target for this protease inhibitors because they are aquatic and feed constantly which would give inhibitors the greatest chance to succeed in killing them as they are in early development (Soares, Soar es Torquato, Alves Lemos, Tanaka, 2013). To determine which serine proteases were present in mosquito larvae researchers performed a kinetic assay of larval midgut proteins and determined that the gut extract was a host to trypsin-like, elastase-like, and chymotrypsin-like enzymatic activities (Soares, Soares Torquato, Alves Lemos, Tanaka, 2013). Researchers then used a phage display system to select an inhibitor for all of these digestive proteases, finding that HiTI a trypsin inhibitor from the horn fly would suffice because of successful detection for HiTI on an active M13 phage as it was fused to coat one of the coat proteins (Soares, Soares Torquato, Alves Lemos, Tanaka, 2013).ÂÂ   Researchers then created aÂÂ   combinatorial HiTI inhibitor library and tested for their ability to inhibit the serine proteases in mosquito larvae and their ability to inhibit the trypsin-like, chymotrypsin-like and elastase-like proteases (Soares, Soares Torquato, Alves Lemos, Tanaka, 2013). Amino acid analysis of phagemid DNA indicated that for HiTI, the largest area for variation occurred in the P1 position of the enzyme (Soares, Soares Torquato, Alves Lemos, Tanaka, 2013). This was important because it appeared this position determined the specificity of the HiTI inhibitor, as it was found that if a basic amino acid was present in P1 it would inhibit trypsin, while chymotrypsin would be inhibited if hydrophobic amino acids was present, and if small aliphatic amino acids are present then elastase would be inhibited (Soares, Soares Torquato, Alves Lemos, Tanaka, 2013). Among the library created mutants that would inhibit one of the three noted above were found with majority of clones not being proteases (Soares, Soares Torquato, Alves Lemos, Tanaka, 2013). Researchers then proceeded to purify and clone the HiTI variants into a plamids which experessed in P.pastoris (Soares, Soares Torquato, Alves Lemos, Tanaka, 2013).It was found that the wild type HiTI was able to inhibit the trypsin-like enzymes but not the remaining two (Soares, Soares Torquato, Alves Lemos, Tanaka, 2013). Researchers were able to find 3 mutants that inhibited trypsin-like enzymes but did not inhibit elastase-like and chymotrypsin-like enzymatic reactions, two variants were found to inhibit chymotrypsin with high selectivity for bovine chymotrypsin, one of which (T23) was also found to be an inhibitor for elastase-like proteases as well reaffirming the researchers belief in specific selection by inhibitors for different proteases (Soares, Soares Torquato, Alves Lemos, Tanaka, 2013). The results of this research are promising because this study provides a better understanding of mosquito gut enzymes and provides a framework for insecticide development based on protease inhibitors for mosquitos. In conclusion, it was found that proteinase inhibitors are a viable methods for controlling pests whether it is controlling mosquito populations by feeding larvae serine proteinase inhibitor or coating crops with trypsin inhibitors and feeding it to pests. Much of the work currently has been formed around determining which proteinase inhibitors would match well with their intended target. In order to expand the scope and make proteinases a functional insecticide it would seem more work needs to be done around delivery systems, whether it be as a chemical insecticide spray or genetically altering plants to overexpress proteinase inhibitors. Over time as this field becomes more developed we can be able to determine the effects of these inhibitors on humans. The concept has been proven and more work is needed to make them viable, proteinase inhibitors have a strong future and once the kinks have been worked out then there is no doubt they will be massively successful in increasing crop yields and fighting off pests. References Dantzger, M., Vasconcelos, I. M., Scorsato, V., Aparicio, R., Marangoni, S., Macedo, M. L. R. (2013). Bowman-Birk proteinase inhibitor from Clitoria fairchildiana seeds: Isolation, biochemical properties and insecticidal potential. Phytochemistry, 118(August), 224-235. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.phytochem.2015.08.013 Lin, H., Lin, X., Zhu, J., Yu, X.-Q., Xia, X., Yao, F., You, M. (2017). Characterization and expression profiling of serine protease inhibitors in the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae). BMC Genomics, 18(1), 162. http://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-017-3583-z Nath, A. K., Kumari, R., Sharma, S., Sharma, H. (2015). Biological activity of Dolichos biflorus L. trypsin inhibitor against lepidopteran insect pests. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology, 53(September), 594-599. Soares, T. S., Soares Torquato, R. J., Alves Lemos, F. J., Tanaka, A. S. (2013). Selective inhibitors of digestive enzymes from Aedes aegypti larvae identified by phage display. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 43(1), 9-16. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibmb.2012.10.007 Broadway, R. M., Duffey, S. S. (1986). Plant proteinase inhibitors: Mechanism of action and effect on the growth and digestive physiology of larval Heliothis zea and Spodoptera exigua. Journal of Insect Physiology, 32(10), 827-833. http://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1910(86)90097-1 Saadati, F., Bandani, A. R. (2011). Effects of Serine Protease Inhibitors on Growth and Development and Digestive Serine Proteinases of the Sunn Pest, Eurygaster integriceps. Journal of Insect Science (Online), 11(72), 72. http://doi.org/10.1673/031.011.7201

Arthur Birling at the Beginning of Act One in An Inspector Calls Essay

Arthur Birling at the Beginning of Act One in An Inspector Calls JB Priestly wrote the play of ‘An Inspector Calls’ in 1945 but set the play in 1912, Edwardian Britain. The writer intentionally set the play in 1912 to make the audience aware of social conscience. Another reason why the play was set in 1912 was because, some of the historical events mentioned in the play, the audience would be familiar with as they would have lived through the time and would know the real results of how they ended and what the causes were because the era from which he set was very different to when he wrote the play. In the play, when these events are mentioned, Arthur Birling says the opposite to what actually happens such as when Birling said there would be no war, world war 1 started two years later and world war 2 ended in mid 1945; there were sturdy comparisons and discrimination between the upper and lower classes in the 1912 era but the class distinctions had significantly reduced in 1945 as a result of two world wars; the ruling classes saw no necessities in changing the status quo but in the time in which ‘An Inspector Calls’ was written, there was a great passion for social change in the classes and immediately after world war 2, Labours Clement Attlee won a landslide victory over the conservative Winston Churchill. The main events mentioned in the play are the world wars, would ‘never happen and the Titanic, which was ‘unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable’. One evening of happiness and bliss brings the Birling Family and Gerald Croft to distress and truth, as they are celebrating the engagement party of their Daughter Sheila to Gerald until an inspector calls regarding the death of a young girl who had poisoned ... ...himself he and his family have no part in the girl’s death and so it would be necessary for the inspector to leave but then finds out he and his family played the most important part in the girls death, and even after hearing that, he still tries to turn a blind eye. Some ideas and themes J B Priestly was trying to convey through the character of Arthur Birling were Cause and Effect and Social conscience. Clues, which are given in the play to the audience about the result of Arthur Birling as the play progresses, are all found with the language Birling uses to speak about himself. Also, His characteristics show that as the story progresses, when Birling is hit with a mistake he thinks he never made, he will face a major downfall in his position in the society, and will lose respect from family members employees and everyone else who has respected him.

Weltys Characterization in A Curtain of Green Essay -- A Curtain of Gr

Welty's Characterization in A Curtain of Green      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Myth, symbol, and allusion are not an uncommon characteristic in Eudora Welty's works. By using characters such as Odysseus and leaving hints of symbolism in works such as The Optimist's Daughter Welty places many questions in the minds of her readers. After a reader has pondered these questions a categorization of the story takes place in the readers mind. Although different readers have different interpretations of literature one collection of Welty's short stories can be classified into two categories. Katherine Anne Porter's introduction to Eudora Welty's A Curtain of Green explains the two categories:    as painters of the grotesque make only detailed reports of actual living types observed more keenly than the average eye is capable of observing, so Miss Welty's little human monsters are not really caricatures at all, but individuals exactly and clearly presented: which is perhaps a case against realism, if we cared to go into it. She does better on another level-for the important reason that the themes are richer-in such beautiful storiesLet me admit a deeply personal preference for this particular kind of story, where external act and the internal voiceless life of the human imagination almost meet and mingle on the mysterious threshold between dream and waking, on reality refusing to admit or confirm the existence of the other, yet both conspiring toward the same end. (xxi)    According to Porter the two categories found in A Curtain of Green are that of grotesque or monstrous and that of beauty or standing on the gateway between consciousness and unconsciousness. Acknowledging that there are two categories for Welty's stories Porter also address'... ...989): 59-70.    Boyce, Charles. Shakespeare A to Z . New York: Dell, 1990.    Brown, Alan. "Welty's A Curtain of Green." The Explicator 51.4 (1993) 242-44. Encarta Learning Zone. 1997-2000. Dionysus. 24 April 2000 <http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti=057f8000>    Hauser, Marianne. "A Curtain of Green" The New York Times. 17 April 2000. http://channel.nytimes.com/books/98/11/22/specials/welty-curtain.html    Mythology The Myth of the Phoenix. 17 April 2000. http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/1132/phoenixlhtm    Porter, Katherine Anne. Introduction. A Curtain of Green. By Eudora Welty. New York: Harvest, 1979.    Sykes, Dennis J. "Welty's 'The Worn Path.'" The Explicator 56.3 (1998): 151-53.    Welty, Eudora. The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty New York: Harvest, 1994.

An Exhibition of Portraits by Alice Neel Essay -- Art Appreciation

An Exhibition of Portraits by Alice Neel An exhibition of portraits of the family by Alice Neel, one of the finest painters of her generation, is at the Norton Museum of Art February 14 through March 29, 1998. Both critics and the subjects of her paintings have written of Neel's ability to portray the dynamics of relationships. Kinships focuses on particular family relationships: siblings, domestic pairs, parents and children, and members of her own family. The exhibition was organized by the Tacoma Art Museum, and is sponsored by The Elizabeth Norton Society. Born in 1900, Alice Neel worked as a figurative painter during the decades of WPA realism, postwar abstract expressionism, and 1970s minimalism. She persevered in her work despite a turbulent personal life that included a year of hospitalization after a nervous breakdown, the destruction in 1934 of over two hundred and fifty paintings and drawings, and little attention to her work until the 1960s. Her art demonstrates a vigorous working manner, an unsparing skill in observation and a generous tolerance for the unpredictability of human nature. Neel disliked being called a portraitist, but rather labeled herself as a "collector of souls." She believed that each person has an identity, an essential core of personality, and it was this that she sought to reveal in her paintings. She often captured aspects of relationships of which her subjects were not aware, and combined in her work her stringent analysis of their interactions with a broad acceptance of the depth of human emotions. She painted her subjects as distinct individuals, in the poses that were natural to them; poses that, in Neel's words, "involve ... all their character and social standing ... what the world has done to them, and their retaliation." The compositions, as well as the subjects' body language, of such works as The Black Spanish American Family or Annemarie and Georgia, allows the viewer to observe how family members draw together tenderly or reluctantly, look away, touch one another, draw back, or open up. The arms of the parents often encircle their children in Neel's paintings. The early Mother and Child, Havana, 1926, uses this pose to depict a simple, secure relationship. However, in later works, such as Mother and Child (Nancy and Olivia), 1967, the poses are more attuned to the ambivalent emotions present in... ...t on Neel's own art. No better evidence exists than her portraits of pregnant nudes. It was a subject she first approached in 1964, ultimately painting a total of seven such portraits, with Evans's being her last. The subject had a powerful resonance at a time when women were newly educating themselves about the form and function of their anatomies. The Boston Women's Health Book Collective published Our Bodies, Ourselves in 1973, while Adrienne Rich's classic Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution appeared in 1976. As opportunities for women widened dramatically, debate and discussion about their biological destinies and responsibilities intensified. Neel's paintings of pregnant women offered no clear opinions or solutions. But, in retrospect, as with all of Neel's best work, Margaret Evans Pregnant endures as both a portrait of a person and a picture of a time. Ann Temkin is the Muriel and Philip Berman curator of modern and contemporary art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She organized the Alice Neel exhibition that opens at the Whitney Museum of American Art next month and travels to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, February 18 through April 15, 2001.

John Stuart Mill Essay

Moral theories try to explain what distinguishes right actions from wrong ones. The theory of utilitarianism tries to do the same by incorporating several aspects that set up a moral standard to help investigate the balance between right and wrong. John Stuart Mill, a British philosopher of the 1800’s defends the utilitarian school of thought by pointing out what it is that makes utilitarianism the standard theory for morality. According to Utilitarianism as explained by Mill in his essay â€Å"In Defense of Utilitarianism† the fundamental principle of morality is the promotion of happiness on a scale that benefits an individual and the ones around him; also to promote pleasure and to prevent pain. Several major objections are raised towards the moral theory of utilitarianism some examples can be the idea that the theory asserts too much emphasis on pursuing pleasure which makes it â€Å"a doctrine worthy of swine† (â€Å"Defense†). Another objection is that in everyday circumstances it is impossible for humans to make a morally just decision (â€Å"Defense†). An additional counter-argument that struck me the most was the statement that utilitarianism sets standards that are deemed â€Å"too high for humanity† (â€Å"Defense†). What this objection projects are the predisposed and unwarranted capabilities of the human race. According to this statement humanity is made comparable to other (lower ranking) species that lack the intrinsic values that make us humans human; like thinking faculties that are much superior to other animals or the ability to have languages or develop intricate cultural systems, just to name few. Therefore, making this objection a weak one and one that displays an inferior and subjacent view towards the principle of morality. Mill on the other hand deduces the true motives of these objections and labels these ideas as being of such nature that promote actions in accordance with one obliging to a certain duty. If that is the case then individuals can be comprised of nothing but a niche in society. He argues that ethics holds the responsibility of outlining our duties, fulfilling them is dependent only on factors that promote the larger well being of a society. Mill states such objections as â€Å"misapprehensions† and transcribes an important point which nonetheless reconstructs and fabricates the idea of utilitarianism; he states â€Å"this affirms that the motive has nothing to do with the morality of the action, though much with the worth of the agent. † (â€Å"Defense†).

Enzymes in the Dairy Industry

Cherno Okafor Aida Stefani SBI4U Octover 20th, 2012 Assignment 1: Cellular Biology furthers technology-Enzymes in the Dairy Industry Since ancient times, enzymes have played an important role in food production. Especially in the diary industry, some enzymes are required for the production of cheese, yogurt, and other dairy products, while others are used in a more specialized fashion such as improving texture or flavour of the product. Enzymes are used to catalyze the desirable reactions in industrial processes. Today, enzyme applications in such processing get more difficulties because of the rare occurrence and high costs.The aim of using the microbial enzymes is to achieve this problem. Five of the more common types of microbial enzymes involved in the dairy industry involve: Rennet, Proteases, Lactase, Catalase, and Lipases. Milk contains proteins, especially caseins which maintain its liquid form. Proteases are enzymes that are added to milk during the process of cheese product ion, to hydrolize caseins, like kappa caseins, which stabilizes micelle formation and thus preventing milk coagulation. On the other hand, rennet and rennin are general terms for enzymes used to coagulate milk.The Chymosin enzyme which can be obtained from animal, microbial, or vegetable sources, is responsible for up to 70% of cheese production. It is now possible to produce chymosin in genetically modified fungi. These modified microorganisms contain the gene derived from the stomach of calves that is responsible for producing chymosin. When grown in a bioreactor, they release chymosin into the medium. Afterwards, the enzyme is extracted and purified, yielding a product that is 80%-90% pure. Natural rennin contains only 4%-8% active enzyme.Chymosin produced by genetically engineered microorganisms is now used to produce cheese in many different countries. Rennet (Chymosin) has owed to an increase in demand for cheese production worldwide. Rennin acts on milk in two stages, by enzy matic and by nonenzymatic action, resulting in the coagulation of milk. In the enzymatic phase, the resultant milk becomes a gel due to the influence of calcium ions and the temperature used in the process. Many microorganisms are known to produce rennet-like proteinases, as mentioned above, which can substitute the calf rennet.Good yields of milk-clotting protease may be obtained in a medium containing 4% potato starch, 3% soybean meal, and 10% barley. During growth, lipase is secreted together with the protease. Therefore, the lipase activity has to be destroyed by reducing the pH, before the preparation can be used as cheese rennet. Protease is another notable enzyme. Cow milk contains a number of different whey proteins such as lactoglobulin and lactalbumin. The denaturing of these whey proteins, using proteases as catalysts, results in a creamier yogurt product. The denaturing of whey proteins is also essential for cheese production.In addition, proteases reduce allergic proper ties of cow milk products for infants, which produce healthier milk for them. Lactease is a glycoside hydrolase enzyme that decomposes lactose into its constituent sugars of galactose and glucose. Lactose intolerant individuals can result from insufficient production of lactase enzyme in the small intestine. Feeding lactose-containing milk to lactose-intolerant individuals can result in discomforts such as: cramps, gas, dehydration, diarrhoea in the digestive tract upon ingestion of milk products, or maybe even death.Lactase provides relief for lactose and tolerant individuals because it can be used commercially to prepare lactose-free products, particularly milk by the process of hydrolysis of the lactase into glucose and galactose. In addition, lactase enzymes can be used in preparation of ice cream to make a creamier, sweeter-tasting product and improving digestibility. Finally, this reduces sandiness due to crystallization of lactose in concentrated preparations. Also, cheese ma nufactured from hydrolyzed milk ripens more quickly than the cheese manufactured from normal milk.Another problem presented by lactose is its low solubility. This prevents the use of concentrated whey syrups in many food processes as they have an unpleasant sandy texture and are readily prone to microbiological spoilage. Adding to this problem, the disposal of such waste whey is expensive due to its high biological oxygen demand. These problems may be overcome by hydrolysis of the lactose in whey; the product being about four times as sweet, much more soluble and capable of forming concentrated, microbiologically secure, syrups.Technologically, lactose crystallizes easily which sets limits to certain processes in the dairy industry, and the use of lactase to overcome this problem has not reached its fullest potential because of the associated high costs. Moreover, the main problem associated with discharging large quantities of cheese whey is that it pollutes the environment. But, t he discharged whey could be exploited as an alternate cheap source of lactose for the production of lactic acid by fermentation. In the production of cheese, hydrogen peroxide is a potent oxidizer and toxic to cells.Catalase enzymes are used are used instead of pasteurization, when making certain cheeses such as Swiss, in order to preserve natural milk enzymes that are beneficial to the end product and flavour development of the cheese. Due to pasteurization, these enzymes would be destroyed by the high heat. Therefore, Catalase enzymes are typically added to convert to the hydrogen peroxide to water and molecular oxygen which will enhance final production. Finally, there are the lipases in the dairy industry. Lipase enzymes are primarily used to break down milk fats and give characteristic flavours to cheeses.The flavours come from the three fatty acids produced when milk fats are hydrolyzed. Hydrolysis of shorter chains of fatty acids is preferable as it results in desirable taste s of many cheeses unlike the hydrolysis of longer chains of fatty acids which could result in soapiness or no flavour at all. It is notable to mention egg products. Many industrially produced cream products used dried egg powder instead of fresh eggs. The enzymes of lipase and glucose are implemented in order to preserve egg powder and maintain its colour.These enzymes are often produced with the assistance of genetically modified microorganisms. Genetically modified microorganisms result in better yields in simply systems. Several cheese making experiments have been carried out with recombinant chymosin and the general aspects of recombinant chymosin have been dealt with. Since most of the rennet (>90%) added to cheese milk is lost in the whey, immobilization would considerably extend its catalytic life. Several rennets have been immobilized, but their deficiency as milk coagulants has been questioned.So, there is a fairly general support for the view that immobilized enzymes canno t coagulate milk properly, owning to inaccessibility of the peptide bond of K-Casein, and that the apparent coagulating activity of immobilized rennets is due to leaching of the enzyme from the support. Different types of conventional cheeses have been successfully made by using recombinant rennet on an experimental scale. No major differences have been detected between cheeses made with recombinant chymosins or natural enzymes, regarding cheese yield, texture, smell, taste, and ripening.Cheese ripening is a complex process mediated by biochemical and biophysical changes during which a bland curd is developed into a mature cheese with characteristic flavour, texture, and aroma. The desirable attributes are produced by the partial and gradual breakdown of carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins during ripening, mediated by several agents (i) residual coagulants, (ii) starter bacteria and their enzymes, (iii) nonstarter bacteria and their enzymes, (iv) indigenous milk enzymes, especially proteinases, and (v) secondary inocula with their enzymes.Proteolysis occurs in all the cheese varieties and is a prerequisite for characteristic flavour development that can be regulated by proper use of the above agents. Cheese ripening is essentially an enzymatic process which can be accelerated by augmenting activity of the key enzymes. This has the advantage of initiating more specific action for flavour development compared to use of elevated temperatures that can result in accelerating undesirable nonspecific reactions, and consequently off flavour development.Enzymes may be added to develop specific flavours in cheeses, for example lipase addition for the development of Parmesan or Blue-type cheese flavours. The pathways leading to the formation of flavour compounds are largely unknown, and therefore the use of exogenous enzymes to accelerate ripening is mostly an empirical process. Moreover, there are Proteolytic enzymes of lactic acid and bacteria in fermented milk product s.This system is composed of proteinases which initially cleaves the milk protein to peptides; peptidases which cleave the peoptides to small peptides and amino acids; and transport system responsible for cellular uptake of small peptides and amino acids. Lactic acid bacteria have a complex proteolytic system capable of converting milk casein to the free amino acids and peptides necessary for their growth. These proteinases include extracellular proteinases, endopeptidases, aminopeptidases, tripeptidases, and proline-specific peptidases, which are all serine proteases.Aminopeptidases are important for the development of flavour in fermented milk products, since they are capable of releasing single amino acid residues from oligopeptides formed by extracellular proteinase activity. Nevertheless, the other minor enzymes having limited applications in dairy processing include: glucose oxidase, catalase, superoxide dismutase, sulphydryl oxidase, lactoperoxidase, and lysozymes. Glucose ox idase and catalase are often used together in selected foods for preservation. Superoxide dismutase is an antioxidant for foods and generates H2O2, but is more effective when catalase is present.Thermally induced generation of volatile sulphydryl groups is thought to be responsible for the cooked off-flavour in ultra high temperature processed milk. Use of sulphydryl oxidase under aseptic conditions can eliminate this defect. The natural inhibitory mechanism in raw milk is due to the presence of low levels of lactoperoxidase, which can be activated by the external addition of traces of H2O2  and thiocyanate. The societal impacts of some dairy enzymes are that chymosin, a high quality enzyme, is available at an attractive price.This helps assure available of extra cheeses at a reasonable cost. Due to the lipases, there is a wide variety of flavourful, high-quality cheeses. To sum up, I think that it is amazing that there is a wide variety of alternatives of dairy products as a resu lt of these enzymes that aid the dairy processes. The lactase enzymes can now help individuals enjoy the nutritional benefits and sensory pleasure of dairy products without gastrointestinal side effects by selecting lactose-free or lactose-low dairy products or by providing commercially available lactase to dairy products in the home.It is interesting how these enzymes sustain processes that enable higher yields, more enzyme production; and higher activity, more efficient, affective, dynamic enzymes. Bibliography Category. â€Å"Enzymes in the Dairy Industry – Uses for Enzymes in Food Preparation – Enzymes and Dairy Products. †Ã‚  About. com Biotech and Biomedical Pages. About. com, n. d. Web. 20 Oct. 2012.

Baltimore City Department of Social Services v Bouknight and Tarasoff v. Regents of University of California

The fields of social sciences and the legal system have become inextricably linked in response to the development of system processes to aid in problem solving. Each of the fields informs the other, utilizing their respective extensive expertise and knowledge-based literature to address the prevailing challenges in the society. In the desire to address the complex criminality and societal problems that beset the nation, the legal system and the practitioners of social sciences are inevitably linked so that the knowledge base and expertise of one can collaborate with the other and vice versa.The development of therapeutic jurisprudence became an imperative, each field having an impact on the other towards the creation of systemic processes to solve society’s problems. The civil liberties accorded under the Bill of Rights are safeguards against the vast powers of government. Their existence and observance ensure individuals from the undue governmental interference and interventi on. One of these privileges is the right against self-incrimination. In the cases of U. S. v. Doe, (465 U. S. 605) and Doe v. U. S. [487 U. S.201, 209 (1988)], the Court enumerated the three (3) requisites that should be present for the Fifth Amendment to apply, namely: a) â€Å"that the statement be testimonial; b) incriminating; and, c) compelled. † However, in the case of Baltimore City Department of Social Services v Bouknight, the defendant was ordered incarcerated for refusing to disclose the whereabouts of her child who was believed to be abused. The Court ruled that the privilege is inapplicable considering that what was demanded of Bouknight was not testimonial in character.Moreover, assuming that it was, the Court ruled that as between the individual right and public interest; the latter should prevail. The safety and well being of a child is a matter of public interest and therefore Bouknight can be compelled to disclose the necessary information. In the case of Ta rasoff v. Regents of University of California, the Court ruled that a therapist/physician can breach his duty of confidentiality with respect to matters disclosed by his patient in the course of treatment by warning the readily identifiable person of the peril or harm to his life.This duty to warn is countenanced by law or by the code of ethics of physicians. This ruling also serves as an exception to American negligence cases where special relationship of parties must be held to exist. Baltimore City Department of Social Services v Bouknight, 488 U. S. 1301 (1988) A three month old infant was admitted for treatment in a hospital. It became apparent that the mother, Jackie Bouknight may have maltreated the infant.Consequently, the Department of Social Services (DSS) petitioned the Court to declare the child as a â€Å"child in need of assistance† and grant it the power to put the child under foster care (Baltimore City Department of Social Services v Bouknight, 488 U. S. 1301 (1988). The Court granted relief and it was agreed upon by the parties that Bouknight shall have the custody of the child subject to the conditions of supervised parenting and an undertaking of non-infliction of bodily harm and punishment on the child. At first, Bouknight complied with the conditions but later on she became uncooperative and refused to produce her son to the DSS.The DSS in fear for the safety and well being of the child filed a case before the Court to compel Bouknight to produce her son. She failed to appear before the Court but was later on arrested. On her refusal to disclose the whereabouts of her son, she was found guilty of contempt and was ordered to be incarcerated until compliance with the order [In re Maurice, No. 50 (Dec. 19, 1988). 314 Md. 391, 550 A. 2d 1135]. On certiorari, the Court of Appeals of Maryland ruled that the incarceration of Bouknight was an infringement of her Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination.According to the Court, the p roduction of the son is testimonial in nature because by doing so, it only proves Bouknight’s â€Å"continuing control† over her son which may be utilized in a criminal proceeding. It ruled that there are acts of production deemed to have testimonial value citing the case of U. S. vs. Doe (Baltimore City Department of Social Services v Bouknight, 488 U. S. 1301 (1988). The U. S. Supreme Court granted the stay of DSS pending the filing of the requisite petition for certiorari.The grant of stay was based on the fact that even assuming that the act of production of the child is testimonial in character, many line of decisions of the Court are clear that as between the public need vis-a-vis a single claim of an individual on constitutional privilege, the former is upheld. In this particular case, the safety and interests of the abused child must be upheld over Bouknight’s assertion considering that, in the hierarchy of values, the safety and welfare of the child tak es precedence over other concerns (Baltimore City Department of Social Services v Bouknight, 488 U.S. 1301 (1988). Moreover, the information sought which is the whereabouts of the child is for the contempt charge and therefore civil in nature (Baltimore City Department of Social Services v Bouknight, 488 U. S. 1301 (1988). The Fifth Amendment: Right against Self-Incrimination The Fifth Amendment originated from England and derived from the Latin maxim â€Å"nemo tenetur seipsum accusare† meaning â€Å"no man is bound to accuse himself† (Levy, 1968). It was used in both the accusatorial and inquisitorial legal systems of England (Levy, 1968). In the U.S. , after the revolution the states ratified the Constitution with the inclusion of the privilege in the bill of rights. The original version of Madison was amended by the House to include â€Å"in any criminal case† (Schwartz, 1971). Thus, as it now stands, the Fifth Amendment provides, â€Å". . . nor shall be c ompelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself . . . † (U. S. Constitution, Bill of Rights). The primary purpose of its inclusion in the Bill of Rights is â€Å"to protect the innocent and to further the search for truth† [Ullmann v.United States, 350 U. S. 422 (1956)]. However, in subsequent line of decisions, the Court ruled that other privileges stated in the bill of Rights are more in the nature of adjuncts to the determination of truth such as the right to counsel or the safeguards afforded by the Fourth Amendment while the privilege against self-incrimination is primarily for â€Å"the preservation of the accusatorial system of criminal justice. † This maintains the integrity of the judicial system and protects the privacy of the individuals from government intrusion [Miranda v.Arizona, 384 U. S. 436, 460 (1966); Schmerber v. California, 384 U. S. 757, 760–765 (1966); California v. Byers, 402 U. S. 424, 448–58 (1971)]. The privi lege is a guarantee against compulsion for testimonial evidence which consequently will result in the imposition of criminal penalty on such person making testimony. The Court laid down the requirements necessary before a party can successfully invoke the protection of the privilege against self-incrimination. In the cases of U. S. v. Doe, (465 U. S. 605) and Doe v. U. S. [487 U. S.201, 209 (1988)], the Court enumerated the three (3) requisites that should be present for the Fifth Amendment to apply, namely: a) â€Å"that the statement be testimonial; b) incriminating; and, c) compelled. † According to the court, ‘testimonial’ refers to all communications whether express or implied which â€Å"relate to a factual assertion or disclose information† (Ashby, J. , 2006 citing Doe v. U. S. , 487 U. S. 201). The statements or communications made whether verbally or in writing fall within the privilege (Ashby, J. , 2006) and is not limited by the forum where it w as elicited, i. e.before the court, administrative proceedings or before the law enforcement office [Lefkowitz v. Turley, 414 U. S. 70 (1973)]. The second requirement, ‘incriminating’ refers to statements that can be used as a basis for a finding of criminal liability under a penal law or â€Å"provides a link to the chain of evidence for prosecution under a criminal statute† [United States v. Hubbell, 530 U. S. 27 (2000)]. The third requisite is the compulsion to give a statement. The Court explained that this requisite refers to â€Å"circumstances that deny the individual a free choice to admit, to deny, or to refuse to answer† (Ashby, J., 2006). Additionally, the Court ruled in the case of Fisher v. United States that these three requisites should all concur and be present so that the privilege can be successfully invoked [425 U. S. 391(1976)]. Legal and Ethical Issues and their Impact on Social Work Practice The main legal issue in the case of Baltimo re is whether the circumstances surrounding it would fall within the ambit of the privilege against self incrimination and consequently, Bouknight may successfully invoke it and prevent her from being compelled to produce or furnish the whereabouts of her son lest be incarcerated for contempt.The Supreme Court allowed the stay of the decision of the appellate court for overturning the ruling of the juvenile court and in finding that the compulsion for Bouknight to produce her son squarely fell within the privilege and therefore ordered her release (Alderman and Kennedy, 1992). The appellate court found that the act of production is testimonial and therefore its compulsion, is a violation of the privilege. Furthermore, the interest of the government in the safety of the son cannot outweigh the observance and respect for the privilege against self incrimination as provided in the Bill of Rights (Alderman and Kennedy, 1992).In other words, the three requisites concurred, i. e. the act of production or of furnishing information as to the whereabouts of her son are incriminating and testimonial in character; and, there was also compulsion because if she failed to disclose information sought she would be incarcerated for contempt as what had happened. The Supreme Court through Chief Justice Rehnquist predicated his discussion on three major points, namely: a) The Court of Appeals passed upon a controversy concerning the federal Constitution which logically can be properly resolved by the U. S.Supreme Court (California v. Riegler, 449 U. S. 1319); b) The act of production does not fall within the ambit of the privilege citing the cases of U. S. v. Doe, Fisher v. U. S. and Schmerber v. California. In these cases, the court ruled that the act of production of the documents is not ‘testimonial’ and therefore does not infringe upon the privilege considering that their existence and location are already known to the Government. In fact, responding to a subpoe na have been considered legal and acceptable even if compulsion is present [Fisher v. United States, 425 U.S. 391 (1976)]. Moreover, when an accused is required to furnish his handwriting sample, this had been held not to violate the privilege because it is not ‘testimonial’ but merely evidentiary United States v. Flanagan, 34 F. 3d 949 [10th Cir. 1994]). The third point c) is by using the balancing of interests test or balancing the public need vis-a-vis ensuring the individual’s constitutional civil liberties, public need prevailed considering that the disclosure of information was non-criminal and not directed at a particular group as was held in the case of California v.Byers, 402 U. S. 424 (1971) where the validity of a law requiring disclosure of the name and address at the scene of a vehicular accident. Similarly in the case of New York v. Quarles where the Fifth Amendment rights have to give way to a public safety exception and therefore in the case of Bo uknight, â€Å"the public safety exception to the Fifth Amendment was justified because its interest was in protecting children like Maurice, not in prosecuting† (Alderman and Kennedy, 1992).In sum, the privilege against self-incrimination is not an absolute right. Albeit the civil liberties accorded under the Bill of Rights safeguards undue government intervention and restraint to its power, there are instances when these rights would have to give way to compelling interests of the society that would warrant Government intervention and intrusion such in the case of protecting and ensuring the safety of infants or children from physical abuse.Once it has been established that a child is abused, it becomes the duty of the State to take over and protect. The judicial pronouncement in the case of Bouknight has a pervading and far reaching implication on social work practice. This gives the social workers a great burden and responsibility to follow up sharply abused children in f oster care or those released under an order of protective supervision. Admittedly, there is an apparent lack of strict protocols in the present system of child welfare agencies (Parks, 2005).A set of guidelines must be crafted to govern exigencies of missing children from foster care like supervised visits and court orders in cases of abduction like what have occurred in Maryland with â€Å"Ariel† who had been abducted by his mother Teresa B (Parks, 2005). Guidelines should also be drawn to address the coordinated efforts both with the law enforcement and child welfare personnel. Tarasoff v. Regents of University of California, 17 Cal. 3d 425 A graduate student from India, Prosenjit Poddar went to the University of California Berkeley to study naval architecture.It was there that he met Tatiana Tarasoff. A few kisses made him believe that they have a special relationship until Tarasoff bragged about her many relationships with other men. Poddar suffered depression until he so ught professional help from Dr. Moore, a psychologist of the University Health Service. He confided to the doctor that he intended to secure a gun and to kill Tarasoff. On the strength of a letter request of Dr. Moore, Poddar was taken by the campus police, however upon assurance that Poddar was reasonable he was released.Upon the return of the University Health psychiatrist from his vacation, he ordered the destruction of Dr. Moore’s letter and did not recommend any further action on Poddar’s case. When Tarasoff returned from her vacation, she was stabbed and killed by Poddar who at that time moved in with her brother already. The parents of Tarasoff sued the Regents of the University, its health personnel namely, Gold, Moore, Powelson, Yandell and the campus police namely, Atkinson, Beall, Brownrigg, Hallernan, and Teel for â€Å"failing to warn their daughter of an impending danger† (Tarasoff v.Regents of University of California, 17 Cal. 3d 425). At the lowe r court, the complaint was dismissed because there was no cause of action. According to the lower court, the defendants only had the duty to the patient and not to a third party. The dismissal was appealed to the Appeals Court but which only sustained the dismissal. Thus, it was elevated to the Supreme Court of California. The appealed decision in so far as the university police officers, Atkinson, Beall, Brownrigg, Hallernan, and Teel finding them not liable to the plaintiffs was affirmed.However, in so far as the therapists and the Regents of the university, the appealed decision was overturned for reception of evidence in accordance with the pronouncements of the Supreme Court (Tarasoff v. Regents of University of California, 17 Cal. 3d 425). In fine, the complainants averred four (4) causes of action, namely: a) â€Å"Failure to detain a dangerous patient; b) failure to warn on a dangerous patient; c) abandonment of a dangerous patient; and, d) breach of primary duty to patient and the public† (Tarasoff v.Regents of University of California, 17 Cal. 3d 425). Anent the first and fourth causes of action, the Supreme Court ruled that the defendants cannot be held liable because of a specific provision of the Government Code or Section 856 thereof which grants immunity to public employees from any resultant damage or injury from deciding whether or not to confine a person with mental ailment. This provision is also applicable to the therapists because the law also refers to those who are capable of recommending confinement.As regards the third cause of action, the government immunity includes the â€Å"award of exemplary damages resulting from a wrongful death† and therefore, defendants cannot be held liable (Tarasoff v. Regents of University of California, 17 Cal. 3d 425). Anent the second cause of action, the Supreme Court found defendants therapists and Regents of the University to have failed to comply with their duty to warn Tarasoff of the peril to her life.Albeit, the therapists had no direct relations with Tarasoff, they could have reasonably foreseen the danger and threat to her life as confided by their patient, Poddar. This is the point where the law establishes the duty of care on their part to warn Tarasoff. Their failure to warn her may reasonably concluded as a proximate cause of her death. The duty of confidentiality between patient and psychotherapist and the right to privacy of the patient cannot prevail over public interest or public safety. Moreover, there are clear provisions of laws, i.e. Section 1024 of the Evidence Code and Section 9 of the Principles of Medical Ethics of the American Medical Association which allows the physician to divulge matters confided to him in confidence when it is necessary for public welfare (Tarasoff v. Regents of University of California, 17 Cal. 3d 425). Confidentiality The effective therapeutic relationship between physician/psychiatrist and patient rests largely on tru st that matters confided by the patient during the treatment are kept in strictest confidence by the physician/psychiatrist.It is the ethical duty of the physician to observe privacy and confidentiality of his patients (Corbin, 2007). While it is also of public interest to ensure that treatment of those who are mentally ill by maintaining an atmosphere whereby they can have an open dialogue with their therapist and of safeguarding its confidential character; the same public interest calls for an imperative recognition of instances whereby disclosure of the confidential communications be revealed and be made to safeguard public safety and avert the threatened peril.In the instances, where the public safety is at risk, the therapist must disclose confidential information discreetly with due regard to protecting the privacy of his patient (Tarasoff v. Regents of University of California, 17 Cal. 3d 425). The parameters of confidentiality are defined by law and by the ethical code of co nduct for practitioners in the territorial jurisdiction. In the case of Tarasoff, the Evidence Code and the Principles of Medical Ethics of the American Medical Association provided specific and limited exceptions under which the confidentiality privilege can be breached, i.e. â€Å"if the psychotherapist has reasonable cause to believe that the patient is in such mental or emotional condition as to be dangerous to himself or to the person or property of another and that disclosure of the communication is necessary to prevent the threatened danger; unless he is required to do so by law or unless it becomes necessary in order to protect the welfare of the individual or of the community† (Tarasoff v. Regents of University of California, 17 Cal. 3d 425).It would be wise for the practitioners to familiarize themselves of the limits of confidentiality as provided under the laws considering that it may differ from state to state. The Tarasoff case provided a basis to guide a practi tioner in his professional dealings relative to the duty to warn others in cases of a specific threat of harm by his patient against others/another. Subsequent cases followed the consistent pattern of the jurisprudence laid down by the Supreme Court. In the case of David v.Lhim (1983), the plaintiff-administrator of the estate sued the psychiatrist who treated the son who killed his mother after he was released from the hospital. There was failure on the part of the psychiatrist who treated the son to warn the mother of the potential danger after her son confided his intentions of killing her (Corbin, 2007). In another case, Chrite v. U. S. (2003), the Veterans Administration was held liable for having failed to warn the intended victim of a patient of a threatened harm.Subsequent rulings of the court clarified and defined what constituted ‘threat’ as â€Å"imminent threat of serious danger to a readily identifiable victim† and â€Å"specific† (Corbin, 200 7). When there are no specific provisions of the law, Dickson (1998) proposes that the therapist/practitioner may be protected against lawsuits if he would consult and keenly document the case of the patient or comply with the â€Å"mandated reporting guidelines† required by some states.Reamer (2003) on the other hand, suggests that the therapist must have evidence that the patient is a threat to the safety of another; evidence of that the threat can be foreseen; threat is imminent and that the potential victim is identifiable. Legal and Ethical Implications and their Impact on Social Work Practice The duty of reasonable care to assist others in danger is a legal duty as well as a moral duty. However, American negligence law only recognizes it as a moral duty except when there exists a relationship between parties.In the case of Tarasoff, no special relationship existed between the therapist and Tarasoff; however the court has made an exception to this general rule (Bickel, 2 001). It declared that the therapist has the duty to care and to warn Tarasoff of the imminent harm on her life. This also includes the duty to control the conduct of his patient, Poddar. In the same breath, a doctor has the duty to warn his patient if he has a contagious disease (Saltzman and Furman, 1999).There is an affirmative duty for the therapist to advise and warn Tarasoff of the threat to her life although this meant breach of confidentiality with his patient Poddar. This finds basis both legally and ethically considering that the law and the code of ethics for doctors have recognized and provided specifically that doctors are bound to disclose relevant facts to others even if this violates confidentiality with their patients provided they are required by law or if it is required for public safety (Saltzman and Furman, 1999).This legal duty to warn applies when the threat is specific and imminent and where the victim is â€Å"readily identifiable† (Bickel, 2001). The courts also have recognized the difficulty in assessing and predicting circumstances that may lead to harm or violence and consequently, adhered to the ‘professional judgment rule’ whereby the therapist is not held liable for errors of judgments. Liability attaches only upon showing that the conduct of the therapist was not in accordance with the â€Å"accepted professional standards† (Bickel, 2001).There is an ambivalence that was created by the Tarasoff protective disclosure ruling with the practitioners (Kachigian and Felthous, 2004). Analogous cases and protective disclosure statutes in the different states were analyzed and it was discovered that there are no clear defined parameters of these duties. The therapist is required to a certain way betray his patient by disclosing matters which are protected by confidentiality.Considering the uncertainty brought about by the legal doctrine and court decisions, the undesirable consequence of which was deterrence f or therapists to accept â€Å"treatment potentially violent patients† (Merton, 1982). Moreover, therapists are more inclined to have their patients committed in an institution so that threats to the safety of potential victims can be averted. The Tarasoff protective disclosure was even extended recently to include even â€Å"communications made from a patient’s family member† as pronounced by the Court in the case of Ewing v. Goldstein (May and Ohlschlager, 2008).The dubious jurisprudential precedents by the courts in interpreting the protective disclosure statutes or its resort to common law instead of interpreting the statute left a vacuum in the definition of the duty to protect (Kachigian and Felthous, 2004). As a result, â€Å"clinicians must continue to rely on their clinical and ethical judgment, rather than statutory guidance, when considering potential protective disclosures or future drafts of protective disclosure statutes† (Kachigian and Felth ous, 2004). References Alderman, E. and Kennedy, C. (1992). In our defense: the bill of rights in action.First Avon Books edition. Ashby, J. (February 2006). Note declining to state a name in consideration of the fifth amendment’s self-incrimination clause and law enforcement databases after Hiibel. Michigan Law Review, No. 4, Vol. 104:779. Baltimore City Department of Social Services v Bouknight, 488 U. S. 1301 (1988). Bickel, R. Revisiting Tarasoff v. Regents of University of California: the scope of the psychotherapist’s duty to control dangerous students. Presented before the 22nd Annual Law and higher Education conference in Clearwater, Florida on 18-20 February 2001.California v. Byers, 402 U. S. 424, 448–58 (1971). Corbin, J. (Fall 2007). Confidentiality and the duty to warn: Ethical and legal implications for the therapeutic relationship. The New Social Worker, Vol. 14, No. 4. Dickson, D. T. (1998). Confidentiality and privacy in social work. New York: T he Free Press Doe v. U. S. , 487 U. S. 201, 209 (1988). Fisher v. United States, 425 U. S. 391 (1976). Kachigian, C. and Felthous, A. (September 2004). Court responses to Tarasoff statutes. Journal of American Academy of Psychiatry and Law Online, Vol. 23:263-273.Levy, L. (1968). Origins of the fifth amendment: The right against self-incrimination. May, S. and Ohlschlager, J. (2008). California alert! Tarasoff ruling expanded for clients who ‘go off. ’ ECounseling. American Association of Christian Counselors. Merton, V. (1982). Confidentiality and the dangerous patient: Implications of Tarasoff for Psychiatrists and lawyers. Emory Law Journal, Vol. 31:265. New York v. Quarles, 476 U. S. 649 (1984). Parks, A. (2008). Unless the Court of Appeals decision is reversed, MD children may not be. Daily Record The Baltimore.Reamer, F. (2003). Social work malpractice and liability. New York: Columbia University Press, 2nd ed. Saltzman, A. and Furman, D. (1999). Law in social wor k practice. Brooks Cole, 2nd edition. Schmerber v. California, 384 U. S. 757 (1966). Schwartz, B (December 1971). The bill of rights: A documentary history. Chelsea House Publishers with McGraw-Hill Education. Tarasoff v. Regents of University of California, 17 Cal. 3d 425. Ullmann v. United States, 350 U. S. 422 (1956). U. S. v. Doe, 465 U. S. 605. United States v. Hubbell, 530 U. S. 27 (2000).