High-tech crime (computer crime) Essay

High-tech crime (computer crime) is the use of technology to commit a crime. It is the biggest tech related threat to the society. According to the 2011 Norton Cybercrime Report, in 2010 more than 430 million adults were victimized at a cost of US$388-billion in direct and indirect losses from computer crime world wide. The direct financial losses from cybercrime stood at US$114 billion, while US$274 billion was the value of time that victims spent in solving the crimes [1]. High-tech crimes include identity theft, cyber-stalking, hacking confidential systems, pyramid schemes, planting harmful viruses, and many others. Identity theft is a form of fraud in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person’s identity. There are five types of identity theft criminal, financial, medical, child, and identity cloning. Criminal identity theft is when a criminal identifies himself as another person when the police arrest him. Not only does the criminal escape, but also he victim may encounter problems for months and even years because of the incorrect criminal records. Financial identity theft is using another person’s identity credit, goods, and services. Medical Identity theft is using a person’s name or insurance information to get medical services/goods or just to make false claims. Child identity theft on the other hand is using a child’s Security Number for personal gains. Identity cloning on the other hand is to assume the identity of another person for daily life. Cyber-bullying is the use of modern technology (mostly the internet) to harm people on purpose. New bullying statistics revealed that around half of teens with Internet access have been the victims of cyber bullying [2]. Cyber-bullying can lead to depression and even suicide. Unlike physical bullying, cyber-bullies can remain anonymous and the bullying can continue all day every day. Many think cyber-bullying only happens to children, but it also happens to adults, which is known as cyber-stalking. Cyber-stalking includes making threats, gathering information about the victim, encouraging others to harass, false accusations, requesting minors for sex, false victimization, and ordering good/services in the victim’s name. Hacking is when a person accesses a computer or a network without the owner’s consent. The most common hacker targets are government agencies, business networks, bank security systems, insurance providers, and hospital networks. Some hack personal/organization computers to plant harmful viruses that can destroy entire systems. While some hack private computers to obtain personal information such as pictures and credit card number. Others hack bank security systems to illegally obtain money (also known as defrauding). Other reasons for hacking are creating public attention for oneself, illegal subscription, and altering or obtaining classified information. And even though security systems are being improved, so is hacking. Other major high tech-crimes include drug trafficking, cyber terrorism, and cyber warfare. Drug dealers are taking advantage of the Internet and other technologies to sell illegal drugs. And the lack of face-to-face communication causes an increase of Internet drug trade. Cyber terrorism is the act of terrorism through the use of cyberspace. Cyber warfare, which is considered one of the most controversial and threatening high-tech crimes, is the act of sabotage and espionage through politically motivated hacking. These examples and many more are the reason why high-tech crime is the biggest threat to society when it comes to technology. Sources: 1. 1. http://business.financialpost.com/2011/09/07/cyber-crime-cost-canadians-5-5-billion-in-2010-study-finds/ 1. 2. http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber-bullying-statistics.html

Typology of Phraseological Units in English

Typology of phraseological units in English Difference in terminology (â€Å"set-phrases†, â€Å"idioms† and â€Å"word-equivalents† [1]) reflects certain differences in the main criteria used to distinguish types of phraseological units and free word-groups. The term â€Å"set phrase† implies that the basic criterion of differentiation is stability of the lexical components and grammatical structure of word-groups. There is a certain divergence of opinion as to the essential features of phraseological units as distinguished from other word-groups and the nature of phrases that can be properly termed â€Å"phraseological units†.The habitual terms â€Å"set-phrases†, â€Å"idioms†, â€Å"word-equivalents† are sometimes treated differently by different linguists. However these terms reflect to certain extend the main debatable points of phraseology which centre in the divergent views concerning the nature and essential features of phraseological units as distinguished from the so-called free word-groups [2, p. 100]. The term â€Å"set expression† implies that the basic criterion of differentiation is stability of the lexical components and grammatical structure of word-groups.The term â€Å"word-equivalent† stresses not only semantic but also functional inseparability of certain word-groups, their aptness to function in speech as single words. The term â€Å"idioms† generally implies that the essential feature of the linguistic units under consideration is idiomaticity or lack of motivation. Uriel Weinreich expresses his view that an idiom is a complex phrase, the meaning of which cannot be derived from the meanings of its elements. He developed a more truthful supposition, claiming that an idiom is a subset of a phraseological unit.Ray Jackendoff and Charles Fillmore offered a fairly broad definition of the idiom, which, in Fillmore’s words, reads as follows: â€Å"†¦an idi omatic expression or construction is something a language user could fail to know while knowing everything else in the language†. Chafe also lists four features of idioms that make them anomalies in the traditional language unit paradigm: non-compositionality, transformational defectiveness, ungrammaticality and frequency asymmetry [6, p. 1-3].The term â€Å"idiom†, both in this country and abroad, is mostly applied to phraseological units with completely transferred meanings, that is, to the ones in which the meaning of the whole unit does not correspond to the current meanings of the components. According to the type of meaning phraseological units may be classified into: †¢Idioms; †¢Semi-idioms; †¢Phraseomatic units (after Ryzhkova). Idioms are phraseological units with a transferred meaning. They can be completely or partially transferred (red tape [3, p. 740]). Semi-idioms are phraseological units with two phraseosemantic meanings: terminological and transferred (chain reaction [3, p. 10], to lay down the arms [3, p. 33]). Phraseomatic units are not transferred at all. Their meanings are literal. Other types of phraseological units are also distinguished: †¢Phrases with a unique combination of components (born companion [3, p. 138]); †¢Phrases with a descriptive meaning; †¢Phrases with phraseomatic and bound meaning (to pay attention to [3, p. 40]); †¢Set expressions (cliches) (the beginning of the end [3, p. 59]); †¢Preposition-noun phrases (for good [3, p. 311], at least [3, p. 414]); †¢Terminological expressions (general ticket [3, p. 755], civil war [3, p. 121]) (after Ryzhkova).Semantic complexity is one of the most essential qualities of phraseological units. It’s resulted from the complicated interaction of the component meanings (meaning of prototype, of semantic structure etc. ). All these components are organized into a multilevel structure [4]. Idioms contain all information in co mpressed form. This quality is typical of idioms, it makes them very capacious units (idiom is a compressed text). An idiom can provide such a bright explanation of an object that can be better than a sentence. We can compare idioms with fables (the Prodigal son [3, p. 571]).Idioms based on cultural components are not motivated (the good Samaritan [5], Lot’s wife [5], the Troy horse [5]). Phraseological meaning contains background information. It covers only the most essential features of the object it nominates. It corresponds to the basic concept, to semantic nucleus of the unit. It is the invariant of information conveyed by semantically complicated word combinations and which is not derived from the lexical meanings of the conjoined lexical components [4]. According to the class the word-combination belongs to, we single out: †¢idiomatic meaning; idiophraseomatic meaning; †¢phraseomatic meaning (after Ryzhkova). The information conveyed by phraseological units i s thoroughly organized and is very complicated. It is characterized by: 1) multilevel structure; 2) structure of a field (nucleus + periphery); 3) block-schema (after Ryzhkova). It contains 3 macro-components which correspond to a certain type of information they convey: †¢the grammatical block; †¢the phraseological meaning proper; †¢motivational macro-component (phraseological imagery; the inner form of the phraseological unit; motivation) (after Ryzhkova).Phraseological unit is a non-motivated word-group that cannot be freely made up in speech but is reproduced as a ready made unit. Reproducibility is regular use of phraseological units in speech as single unchangeable collocations. Idiomaticity is the quality of phraseological unit, when the meaning of the whole is not deducible from the sum of the meanings of the parts. Stability of a phraseological unit implies that it exists as a ready-made linguistic unit which does not allow of any variability of its lexical c omponents of grammatical structure.

(history 24) summerize Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

(history 24) summerize - Essay Example Such incidences have been responsible the creation of security agencies like Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) which were mandated to infringe into the liberty of the citizens at the discretion of the president. The strongest part of the highlighted chapters under study in this book gives evidence of much power for the executive to warrant uncensored arrests and prosecution of people. The Vietnam War attracted discontent among many citizens as far as the taxpayer’s money wastage is concerned. In a bid to stay on course, the government resorted to police to consistently suppress the dissidents. It can be noted that United States under the leadership of president bush continued to hide behind terrorism to violate the rights of innocent citizens of Muslim faith (Kolin 43-66). It is equally evident that despite its global campaign for democracy, United States even under the administration of Obama has significantly violated foreign po licies by attack in other countries for vested interested like was the case of Iraq and the alleged measures against terrorist entities. The highlighted reading from pages 124-147 expresses the increasing conduct of United States to become a police state. The threat of terrorism attack and other socio-economic vulnerability perceived to be eminent from external aggression by the United States is responsible for its increased surveillance of internal territories and foreign lands. Their evident disregard of the judicial system as far human rights is concerned (McCoy 135-151). Taking the case of terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, several Muslims were deported and arrests carried out in full glare of various civil rights institutions under the supervision of the government (Kolin 126-9). The foreign policy of United States is a tool that is left for the executive to manipulate to their

Bombing of Dresden in WWII Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Bombing of Dresden in WWII - Essay Example It also, in the long run at least, exposed the fact that the Allied forces culminated WWII using the very tactics that they had once condemned. An analysis of whether the bombing of Dresden was "justified" needs to start with an examination of whether the whole concept of "area bombing" was justified. Area bombing was first suggested by Charles Portal, of the British Air Staff, in 1941. The destruction of whole cities was thought to be an effective manner of quickly breaking civilian morale. Among cities that had been attacked since 1942 included Bremen, Frankfurt and Cologne. One method to effectively destroy large cities was the dropping of bombs filled with highly flammable materials such as magnesium, phosphorus and petroleum jelly - the so-called incendiary bomb. The area would catch fire, hot air rose rapidly and colder air form outside created gale force winds that would literally suck people into the flames. The justification for such tactics, both in general, and in particular with Dresden, was based upon a kind of moral relativism in which a country involved in a Total War against an implacable enemy would adopt any tactics necessary in order to win. The same 'morality' was involved in the decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan with Atomic weapons. Within the general milieu of WWII the bombing of Dresden was no different from any of these other firebombing campaigns. The military justification for the bombing was formulated as early as January, 1945 in the following memo: Dresden, the seventh largest city in Germany and not much smaller than Manchester, is also far the largest unbombed built-up the enemy has got. In the midst of winter with refugees pouring westwards and troops to be rested, roofs are at a premium. The intentions of the attack are to hit the enemy where he will feel it most, behind an already partially collapsed front, to prevent the use of the city in the way of further advance, and incidentally to show the Russians when they arrive what Bomber Command can do. (Royal, 1945) A close reading of this memo is revealing. The opening sentence seems to be trying to provide a reason for the bombing through stressing the fact that Dresden is not much smaller than Manchester, and that it is one of the last German cities that had not been bombed. As a city it represents a place that, the memo admits "refugees" are flocking towards as they fled the rapidly advancing Russians. The fact that soldiers may be going there too seems almost an afterthought. The triptych of reasons for the coming bombing seems almost light-hearted in the manner in which it moves from one motivation to another. The last one, that the bombing will show the Russians what the combined British and US air forces are capable of (as if they didn't already know) seems utterly callous, and makes Dresden merely a pawn in one of the precursors to the coming Cold War. This memo seems to be searching for a motivation rather than providing a balanced analysis of whether Dresden should be bombed or not. As such, it would seem to suggest that the actual people who undertook the bombing, the RAF, had little justification themselves. In his autobiography, written after WWII was over, Arthur Harris provided both a specific and general explanation for the bomb

Site-directed mutagenesis of gene sequences in cells of plants, Essay

Site-directed mutagenesis of gene sequences in cells of plants, insects and animals can be achieved in situ used engineered zinc - Essay Example The ability to generate new DNA molecules and the process of inserting it into the genome to correct the diseases are the biomedical research nowadays. This type of modification of the cellular phenotype has become the back bone for the biomedical research. Knowing the position and the reading frame of the genes will help us to identify the nonsense mutants by the ochre suppressors. These non sense mutants are highlighted and this will help us for an efficient screening for silent mutants. The small oligonucleotides containing 7 nucleotides in length can be used to form stable duplexes with the single stranded DNA. (Jensen et al. 2011). These duplexes are stable even with a mismatch. This led to the introduction of oligonucleotide mutagenesis. The emergence of site directed mutagenesis as an analytical tool in the in the year 1985 was a mile stone in the field of molecular biology. (Herzog and Zolotukhin 2010). Site directed mutagenesis is widely used for the study of the protein fun ctions. The mutation at a defined site of the DNA leads to the change of an amino acid specific to a protein and this leads to the alteration of the protein molecules. Two methods of site directed mutagenesis can be used. The first one is overlapping method and the second one is called as whole round second round PCR. They create modified DNA sequences that are used to study the importance of the specific residues in protein structure and function. Protein engineering and altered protein substrate activity can be achieved using Site directed mutagenesis. PCR based Site directed mutagenesis is the most common method where the desired mutation is carried in one of the primer and annealed to the site of interest. Two cycles of PCR are carried out for insertion of mutation. (Lloyd 2005). Fig 1: Methods available to site specifically modify a genome target. (Herzog and Zolotukhin 2010). Zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) is a dimeric protein with each monomer having a zinc finger array (contains three or four zinc fingers). They are artificial restriction enzymes that have a lot of application in plants and animals. These zinc fingers (Cys 2 Hys 2) are arranged in the ? ? ? – fold ( beta- beta- alpha folding ) which is coordinated by the Zn+ ion and has the non specific cleavage site. (Gupta et al. 2011).These zinc finger arrays are bound to the cleavage site of the type II restriction endonuclease enzyme, Fok I. Fok l is responsible for the cleavage function of the Type II endonuclease. (Gupta et al. 2011).The dimerization of the cleavage domain is much essential for the enzyme activity. If the zinc finger array is engineered to bind to some specific site of the genome, then Fok l will perform the cutting action at that site. This double stranded break can be utilized for the site directed mutagenesis for protein engineering. This break is then repaired by using either homologous recombination (HR) or non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) technique. The HR requires ext ensive homology between the strands whereas NHEJ does not require any homology and the repair at the targeted site usually results in the mutation. (Herzog and Zolotukhin 2010). Because of this reason NHEJ is used in the site directed mutagenesis associated with the ZFNs. ZFN mediated gene modification will produce cell lines to contain biallelic knock outs. If ZFN targeted gene modificat

Personal statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 16

Personal Statement Example That is why I am coming forth before your kind admissions committee now. I have been an emergency room nurse for the past 4 years and I hold certificates in BLS, ACLS, TNCC, and PALS. I am also an active member of the Sigma Theta Tau nursing society. It is my belief that I have presented more than enough evidence that I should easily qualify for a student slot in your good universitys nurse practitoner program which I plan to study simultaneously with my doctorate courses in nursing. I never believe in doing something halfway, that is why I am trying to hit two birds with one stone by applying for admittance to your university for both programs. It will not be difficult for me to achieve the success that I have in mind for my nurse practitioner and graduate school program because I come from a family of nurses. We all have answered the call to take care of others in the best way that we can. But in order to continue doing so, I must sharpen, hone, and update my skills in the nursing care profession. I am hoping that your kind university will be the one to assist me in achieving that

Royal Mail Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Royal Mail - Assignment Example Concept of Diversity Management 7 5.1. Royal Mail’s Action to Maintain gender Balance 8 6. Concept of a Competency Framework 8 6.1. Five Competencies of a successful Royal Mail Manager: 8 7. References 10 1. Introduction Global business management is a dynamic process at it always changing with the time. By virtue of global business management organizations across the world are now able to operate in more than one country and able to expand their product and service services to the people across the globe. The global business management process is enterprising as a business leader carries out new innovations for the benefit of the end users. With that they are able to exploit the market as well as able to bring down the production cost to ensure more operating profit for the organizations. According to Adekola & Sergi(2012), globalization was started more than 3000 years ago as the roots of it went back to the formation of state communities in the European countries way back i n the fourteenth century. The rapid expansion was started from the seventeenth century onwards. (Adekola & Sergi, 2012, p.1). In this discussion our main focus is on the management strategies taken by the Royal Mail Chief Executive in order to change to outlooks as well as functioning process of the organization when everyone was considering that Royal Mail might not be able to regain its market position. 2. Definition of Leadership Leadership characteristics of Royal Mail Chief Executive: 2.1. Leadership: Definition and characteristics: The success of any organization has been always dependent on how good the top management is on their decision making, strategy development, motivating people and overall management of the organization itself. According to Dubrin(2012), leadership can be defined as a the principal dynamic force which motivates and coordinates the people of any organization to achieve its objective. (Dubrin, 2012, p.4) According to Weth (2007), leaders have to tolerat e a certain amount of chaos in the organization and also have to effectively solve those. On the other hand, managers are there to ensure that there are stability and control in the organization or in different departments. (Weth, 2007, p.5). According to Gosling, Sutherland, Jones (2012); there are few important theories which are essential in order to understand the specific traits or characteristics that a leader should have. Some of the key theories are trait theories, behaviorist theories, Situational leadership, transformational and contingency theory. According to them, there are several leadership traits which are associated with particular skills. Adapting to the situation, Assertiveness, Decisive, cooperative, energetic, result orientation is few traits to name about (Gosling, Sutherland, Jones, 2012, pp.18-20). 2.2. Leadership characteristics of Royal Mail Chief Executive: Moya Greene was appointed as the CEO of Royal Mail in the year 2010. Before taking the charge of Roy al Mail she has been in charge at Canada Post since 2005. She was the first lady to get appointed in the top most position of Royal Mail. (BBC News, 2010). When she took charge of the organization, Britain’s centuries-old state-owned postal service was over-involved in trouble: it faced a rapid de-growth revenue from letters, a large deficit in pension ; opposition to government proposal for privatization from the staff union, and a most importantly unworkable regulatory framework that prevented the business

Report of a company from the air - freight sector Essay

Report of a company from the air - freight sector - Essay Example This is done to understand how organizations will perform in their near futures and the steps that can be taken in order to improve. Thus, the report suggests that despite the decline in the organization’s revenue due to the fall in their volume, they still have high potential to perform well in the future. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Business environment 4 PEST Analysis 4 Political 4 Economic 5 Social 6 Technology 6 Porter’s Five Forces 6 Rivalry within the industry 7 Bargaining power of the customers 7 Bargaining power of the suppliers 8 Threat of new entrant 8 Threat of Substitute 8 Assessment of DHL 8 Assets of DHL 8 Strengths and Weaknesses 9 Customers Segmentation 10 Conclusion 11 Reference List 12 Introduction Today the performance of an organization is not only dependent on the internal factors within the organization, but also on the external factors that continuously affect the internal operations. In this context, DHL has been considered in this rep ort, on which the analysis will be conducted and recommendations will be made regarding the performance of their business. DHL is a segment of Deutsche Post DHL, a logistic company based in Germany that provides international express mail service. Deutsche Post is the world leading logistic company with major international presence. They are the global market leader in air and sea mail. The organization was originally founded in the year 1969 to distribute documents between Honolulu and San Francisco; however, the organization managed to expand their services throughout the world. Inter-continental and offshore deliveries were the main interest of the organization. The organization served many other countries, not served by any other air-freight organizations, such as, North Korea, Vietnam, China, Iran, Iraq, Eastern Bloc and Soviet Union (Zetes, n.d.). In order to conduct the performance analysis of the organization along with PEST analysis, Porter’s five forces, SWOT analys is as well as segmentation and targeting strategy of the organization, based on which the business performance will be discussed. Business environment PEST Analysis Political Air freight or air cargo is regulated by the policies established in the year 1994 in the Chicago Conference. When the policy was established, the air cargo industry was in its infancy and the agreements were mainly related to the limitation on foreign ownership and airline destination. These regulations were seen to affect the carrier operations such as, restriction towards the ground handling services and diversification of the ancillary functions related to air cargo. These restrictions had limited the ways of conducting business. In order to keep pace with the economic expansion and global trade, both the international and national regulatory frameworks related to air cargo were made more liberal. For instance, in US, the deregulation in air cargo not only liberalised the licensing of the carriers, but also opened domestic routes to encourage full competition. The common aviation area of Europe was decided, which allowed the carriers to operate in European Union. These reforms had considerable impact in the air cargo industry by open up skies, providing them additional trading and access opportunities. However, the liberalisation was taking place at a slower pace for South East Asia. In 2002, Memorandum of

Video games Essay Example for Free

Video games Essay This is very useful as it tells the staff in GAME quickly and efficiently about the availability of software in the shop. It allows them to inform questioning customers. GENERAL SECURITY Â  CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) this device is used to monitor everything that is happening. They are based everywhere in the company, in every department. This device can pick out things like thieves who are stealing merchandise to finding out what caused a certain accidental incident in another part of the company. Â  Login Systems a login system is a security lock that allows only authorised people to access computers. A username would be asked for followed by a password confirmation. This is a simple method to keep out people from accessing files on computers that are important. These are on all the computers in the company. Â  Keypad- this device is used in GAME to restrict areas that are only allowed for people that are authorised personnel. The person would have to key in a password to gain access to the restricted area. All the departments have areas that are restricted. Â  Norton Anti-Virus this program scans the computers for viruses and removes them. This is very useful if you are connected to the internet a lot where a lot of viruses try to attack you. Â  Norton Internet Security this program gives you extra protection from internet abusers. This allows you to enforce parental control, intrusion detection, privacy control, ad blocking, AntiSpam and a personal firewall to keep out intruders. DEPARTMENT SPECIFICS This section is on the specific hardware, software and security used in each department. SALES DEPARTMENT This is the Hardware and Software used specifically in the Sales Department. Hardware Input. These are the input devices used only in the sales department. Barcode Reader The barcode reader in the EPOS system scans the barcode on the items and keeps track of what items are being taken out and being returned. This also lets the company know whether they are running out of any specific items. They can also in the future use the information they obtained from the EPOS system and evaluate whether they should stock up on more items or less. Â  Magnetic Strip Reader This device is like a barcode reader but it has some advantages. It can hold more information and it also has more security. In a barcode you could find out the code on the barcode because of the numerals under it, but in a magnetic stripe you have to pass it through its reader to obtain its code. In the GAME industry they accept credit cards that have a magnetic strip. They also let people register for a GAME card, which also has a magnetic strip. Hardware Output These are the output devices used only in the Sales department. Â  Receipt Printers These printers print out the item that was purchased and include other details such as the date it was purchased, etc. These receipts are extremely useful, as they will allow the customers to return goods that do not satisfy them or is faulty. A unique system of GAME allows the customer to return goods that do not agree with them as long as they still have their receipt. Software Application These are the application software only used in the Sales department. Â  MS Publisher this program allows the Sales department to create sophisticated marketing products. Products like posters, leaflets and other paper-based marketing goods. Â  MS Excel this program allows the sales department to produce a database on their customers. The reward card scheme allows GAME to keep a record of their customers and their history with GAME. GAME can use their database to find out what each customer has bought and returned. They can find out what each customer likes and dislikes. They can use this information to improve on what they need to do to make GAME a better service to the customers. Security These are ways security is handled only in the sales department. Â  Security Guards security guards are used in the sales department to guard retail shops from vandals, thieves and troublemakers. They are trained professionals that can handle all different situations. Â  Sensor Barrier this device is used in the sales department in the retail outlets. People have to go through it whenever they want to enter or leave the shop. If it rings then that means the culprit that caused it has an item that has not been bought but in fact is being stolen. It is very useful in cutting down shop robbery. Â  Finance Supervisor these are people who have been hired to watch over the people who are involved in the transactions of the money belonging to GAME. So if a worker is seen to be trying to steal some of the companys money, then the supervisor would report the culprit for arrest. PURCHASING DEPARTMENT This is the Hardware and Software used in the Purchasing Department. Hardware Input These are the input devices used only in the Purchasing department. Â  Barcode Reader The barcode reader in the purchasing department is used to key in all the items that are being bought in and out of the retailer. It helps it to determine how much of each product is in stock. Hardware Output. These are the output devices used only in the Purchasing department. Ordering Software this software is used to buy products from different manufacturers. Whenever the company is low on a product the ordering software would purchase more of that same product to restock. Security The purchasing department uses only the security stated in the general security section. FINANCE DEPARTMENT This is the Hardware and Software used in the Finance Department. Software Application These are the application software only used in the Sales department. Â  BACS (Bankers Automated Clearing Syst.

Delivery of Customer Service Excellence within UK universities Essay Example for Free

Delivery of Customer Service Excellence within UK universities Essay There has been continuous increase in the number of people pursuing higher education. This has been contributed to by the changing society that requires one to continuously update and keep up with the education standards. As the demand of education increases, there is an increase in demand for higher education in the face of decreasing government funding (White, 2007, p.67). The decrease in government funding in many countries has resulted to self-sponsorship among most of the students. With the students, being self-sponsored there is need for amore market driven stress on focus on the customers’ needs and in this case, the students are the customers. As the number of students with the objective of going to universities increase so does the application of marketing in the field of higher education (Lomas, 2007, p.456). The marketing of university services has necessitated the change in the relationship of the students and the university to have a customer provider relation. The treatment of students as customers has been at an increase due to the increase in number of universities. The increase in number of universities increases competition-necessitating need for customer service among the universities to increase the number of student’s enrollment rate. To establish if the students are customers one has to determine the services provided by universities and the consumers of the products or services provided. According to Martinez (2013, p.56), education provision can be classified as a service, which can be separated into service delivery and service content. Whereby service, content cannot be negotiated with the students but service deliver is negotiable. Simple the content covered in the classrooms is not determined by the students but the way in which this content is delivered can be negotiable. The customers of the service provided by the universities are students. The service delivered in this case refers to the standard way in which education is applied or impacted on the students. The quality of service is determined by the standards applied in an institution, the equipment’s applied, technology, materials, instructor, and the timing in which this education takes place. The two types of service provided by the universities attract different consumers. The service content attracts customers that are external to the institution who include private and public employers and the society. The students are described as the service consumers since they are partners with the institutions and are the main consumers of the services provided by universities. Universities can also be described as service providers since it cannot be classified as service provider since they do not manufacture any of their final products instead they offers good that are not physically visible. Having classified the services provided by universities it could be established that there are several types of consumers of the universities products. The main customers are however, the students who are directly affected by the quality of services provided. Secondly, there are external consumers who are affected by the services provided in a secondary level. Having established students as consumers then universities should strive to always satisfy customer’s needs. In addition, universities should be improved by comparing them with the service provision industry, as an ever-increasing competition forces to do so. Trends in the universities also draw it closer to customer-oriented service industries. Students   want to be involved in the decision making process of the universities more than depending on the market forces, this qualifies   the students to be the customers since the articulation of their opinions increases or decreases the royalty and retention rate of the universities customers. In some countries like UK and Austral, universities senior management and government agencies insist on the need to consider students as the customers. This is evident in Oxford University where the satisfaction of the students is a paramount objective for the institution. This is justified by the fact that the marketing department of the university has students suggestion cites where they collect the needs and wants of the students. This opinion is however, not supported by the academic staff that states that recognition of students as customers decreases the quality of education since the needs of the students are not in all cases right like the expectation in businesses(Lomas, 2007, p.34). Governments all over the world and particularly the UK government have been seen to put in place mechanisms for assessing the quality of the services provided by universities. This assessment is meant to allow the government to identify areas that need improvement. The government also puts in place measures that drive up the quality of education and provide enough information about the universities that will help students determine on what institution is proper or the best among the many provided. Government makes reforms at universities to change the perception of universities into business –like organizations (Lomas, 2007, p.54). According to Pittman (p. 342), the relationship between the student and the universities are special unlike most of the service industries. The recognition of universities as service providers, in one way or another the market forces lead into the treatment of the institutions as businesses. The treatment of universities as businesses has been evident in the running of Cambridge university and other leading universities in the UK that engage in marketing strategies aimed at pleasing the students in the universities. This therefore includes the marketing strategies used by businesses. The business focus is the satisfaction or meeting customer needs and similarly universities should focus on meeting the students’ needs to survive in the market. Students attend universities with different objectives including, pursuit of their person interest, desire to gain qualifications, prepare for academic and research careers and preparation for the world of work. These needs are sufficiently provided by most of the universities however, the students choose the universities that provide these services with a more customer centric culture. The universities are now under pressure to make the students feel as the kings and at the same time not deteriorate their standards of their curriculums or standards. This calls for the universities to differentiate themselves and creating a customer oriented relation with the students to increase the enrollments and retention rate. Customer Relationship Management Theory Customer relationship management is an important aspect of any business. It is the process of obtaining, retaining an increase the market share, or customer base of a business. It includes the management of off-line and in-line relationships with consumers. Customer relationship management requires the running of business in a customer centric approach that considers the customers first. Universities have increased in number necessitating the need of marketing activities that differentiate each university and increase their competitive advantage. The ever-increasing competition levels have brought about changes in the dynamics of the education business particularly in the university level. The customers of universities have continuously been enlightened and choose the best among the universities. This has increased the need and importance of a customer centric culture that strives to understand the customer’s needs. Universities have understood the need to invest in new technologies to allow them to gain advantage in the competition by exploiting their brand value, customer base, and investments in infrastructure in order to increase the number of enrollments, as their direct link to the customer satisfaction and profitability (Martinez, 2013, p.56). Customer relationship management allows the universities to analyze their consumers at different levels to allow the detection of their needs, preferences, potential areas that require improvement and after this, the universities are able to establish or implement the necessary actions to achieve customer satisfaction. Universities engage in every year orientation for the students to display the facilities in the institutions. This is evident in Manchester University, Liverpool and Cambridge that allow the interested students to view the facilities and from their judgment choose a university that best suits their needs. Achievement of customer satisfaction is a core objective to many businesses as it increases the competitive advantage and thus increasing profitability of the organization. The increase in number of universities increases the bargaining power of the consumers who in this case are the students. Today students want to enroll in universities with better services, lower fees, good infrastructure, skilled tutors, and access to various services within an institution. This pressures the universities to look for new ways that are going to satisfy these needs and ways to keep the students and the rest of the customers satisfied before any other institution does (West, Ford, Ibrahim, 2010, pg.89). According to Bay, Darlenen, Daniel, Harold (p. 15), students are the purchasers of the service provides and therefore the customers of some of the campus services and the facilities, which are provided at a price. Students have to pay for the education provided at full price in order to benefit. The service provider determines the standards of the service though the services provided at aimed at satisfying the customers. This is similar with the universities who are expected to determine the needs of the customers but at the same time ensure that they satisfy the customer’s needs. Students can also be seen as clients of the campus facilities such as libraries, administrative services, and computer laboratories. Students could use these services as free of charge but since they are charged this makes the students the clients of the universities. These universities have a responsibility to the students Total Quality Management According to total quality, management customers are the people to whom an organization sells its services or products. This makes the students and in some cases the parents, private and public institution, and the government the customers of the universities. TQM model identifies students as stakeholders in educational decisions. They are however, not the only stakeholders and at times, the needs of the students come second to those of the society. Under the TQM, frame work the students create a market force under which the universities have to adopt to survive in the market (White Naomi, 2007, p. 600). The TQM model states that quality starts and ends with the customer, this is because of the increased competition in the market that has necessitated the focus on the customer to gain a competitive advantage. According to the concept, the satisfaction of internal customers leads to the satisfaction of the external customers and consequently every customer both the external and internal are satisfied. The theory states that several factors including, customer expectation, company operations, and the employees responsible for delivering the services to the customer bring about customer satisfaction. The creation of a customer centric culture is of great importance to an organization. This creates satisfaction among the consumers and the customers increasing their royalty and increases the retention rate of customers. Focus on customers increases the advertisement of a product by the word of mouth of the satisfied clients reducing the operation cost and increasing the number of consumers. Concentration on consumers is the best tactic or weapon against competitors since the customers are the final determinants in the existence of an organization (George David, 2007, p.970). Universities are businesses that should re-orient the services rendered so to keep the customers satisfied. In the past universities were not treated as businesses since there were countable universities and the number of students were minimal and there were no competition. Currently the market is flooded with universities, which increases the need of the perception of the customer as the king and always right. With the increased number of universities the buyers of universities services are fewer and this increases the need for quality services   which is dependent on the extent that   an university is able to meet and exceed the customers’ requirements (King, 2001, p.190). Total quality, management recognizes the student’s perception of quality change as they progress from one stage to another. This allows the institutions to continuously update their services to meet the customers’ needs and expectations in every level, Needs of the customers in universities consist of the minimum necessary human elements that must be rendered to retain the customers in this case the student. If the students’ needs are not met then they are likely to discontinue their education in one university and continue in another that meets its needs. Universities are defined to be successful if the student enrollment and retention rate is high compared to the rest in the market. Total quality, management programs are also seen to be successful if they facilitate customer retention and enrollment in universities. Needs and want satisfaction in universities is therefore structured towards the basics of performance, providing what the students want and what they are unable to survive without (White Naomi, 2007, p. 600). Ways in Which Expectations Can Be Managed and Service Excellence Achieved Universities can use different mechanisms to improve their service excellence. The first strategy on improving service excellence is the determination of the superior services they offer. The service must identify and target customers segments according to the type of services attributes that they must demand. Universities must identify group or students with similar expectations in terms of what aspects are associated with the excellence in service. The universities should continuously find the proper trade- off between inferior performance for one attribute with superior performance for another (Bay, Darlene, Daniel Harold, 2001, p.16), The customers themselves best understand their needs. Expectations can be managed if the service providers are able to understand the needs of the customers. In universities, the students are the main consumers of the services offered. Universities should identify the students’ needs by encouraging feedback on the services provided. This allows the meeting of their needs and consequently increasing the customer royalty and the enrollment rate. The second strategy is the employee management system that allows ensures that the employees treat the customers are content. Universities should ensure that their employees meet the needs of the customers and have a customer centric culture. In the case of universities the academic personnel should ensure the student’s needs are met and also that the services rendered are of quality (Lomas Laurie, 2007, p.35) The third element is benchmarking the service provided and the services provided by other universities. This allows the universities to identify the areas that need improving and the areas that are outstanding. This allows the universities to merge or close up the gap between them and their competitors. Benchmarking also gives new ideas of products or the services that the competitors are offering. This increases the products offered and the quality of service (West, Ford, Ibrahim, 2010, pg.89). The fourth element is continuous improvement of the services and products offered by institutions. The continuous improvement of services reduces the chances of products becoming obsolete. University students needs keep changing with periods, change in equipment infrastructure, and the time. This necessitates the universities to update their services continuously so at to increase customer satisfaction and maintain customer royalty. The last step is being of conscious of bad service delivery. Looking at the past bad experiences allows and institutions to learn what are being done wrong. Continuous review of past mistakes allow the correction of the poor standard services previously provided and introduction of new services that meet the customers need. The last is the implementation of technology to improve customer satisfaction and in meeting the customer needs. The increased perception of students as customers has increased the enrollment in most universities. This is because of the students feeling that their needs are catered for. This has been evident with the increased enrollments in the oxford university. Conclusion The focus on customers is a core objective for any business. Universities are classified as service delivery business with the students being the major customers. The identification of the customer needs is a relevant and important factor in the satisfaction of customer needs. In universities and higher education institutions students are classified as customers since they are the purchasers of the services provided by the institutions. Universities are obliged to provide quality services to the students. There has been increased number of universities with time, which has increased the competition among the universities to gain competitive advantage. The increased competition has necessitated the need for a customer centric culture to gain more customers. References Bay, D.   Daniel, H. 2001. â€Å"The Student Is Not the Customer-An Alternative Perspective†, Journal of Marketing for Higher Education Vol.11, No. 1, pp.1-19 Biswas, S. 2011. Relationship marketing: concepts, theories and cases. New Dehli, India, PHI Learning. George, D. 2007. â€Å"Market Overreach: The Student As Customer†, The Journal of Socio-Economics, Vol.36, pp.965-977 HErnon, P., Whitman, J. R. 2000. Delivering satisfaction and service quality: a customer-based approach for libraries. Chicago, American Library Association. Hess, E. D. 2011. Growing an entrepreneurial business: concepts and cases. Stanford, California, Stanford Business Books. King, S.P. 2001. â€Å"The Funding of Higher Education in Australia: Overview and Alternatives†, The Australian Economic Review, Vol.34, No.2, pp.190-194 Lomas, L. 2007. â€Å"Are Students Customers? Perceptions of Academic Staff†, Quality in Higher Education, Vol.13, No.1, April, pp.32-43 Martinez, M. 2013. Creating a service culture in higher education administration. West, D. C., Ford, J. B., Ibrahim, E. 2010. Strategic marketing: creating competitive advantage. Oxford, Oxford University Press. White, N, R. 2007. â€Å"The Customer Is Always Right? Student Discourse About Higher Education In Australia†, High Education, Vol.54, pp.593-604.

Reason Of Adopting Interpretivism Approach Psychology Essay

Reason Of Adopting Interpretivism Approach Psychology Essay Cooper and Emory 1995 cited Saunders, 2007 defines research as to provide information systems to solve the problem query. Research methods, will help to achieve research objectives, is also very important to explore the ways of solving the research problem. Saunders, etc., (2007) referred that research method is a process of directing how the theory should be taken. Here, mostly observation and questionnaire survey and interviews, are used in related to the statistical and non statistical analysis. When the definition emphasizes the systems approach of research (Cooper and Emory University, 1995, cited Saunders, etc., 2007) suggested that the research study is based on a rational manner with the overall flow of logic and not just researcher belief. The collected data can help researchers to obtain answers to research questions. Organization of Research Methodology is given below: Research Philosophy Research Approach -Research Method Research strategy Research Sample Research Ethics Figure: Research Process the Onion Metaphor: Saunders et al (2007) p101 In this research study, among three philosophies such as: positivism, interpretivism and realism, the researcher will use the interpretivism philosophy. In this dissertation, there is utilized the inductive approach. In relation to this research study, there will be used the qualitative method of research. Both of primary and secondary data collection method will be used in this research. Here, for conducting this research, the researcher used the questionnaire and sent a set of questionnaire via email to the HR manager of the Radisson hotel. 3.2 Research Philosophy There is needed to contain the clear idea about the philosophy of research study for the purpose of achieving the objectives of this dissertation. Saunders refers that significant assumptions are contained by the philosophy of research which described about the way of viewing the world by the researcher and these assumptions can be used for the purpose of underpinning the strategy of research (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 110). Schutt 2006 cited in Saunders, 2007 mention that if the researcher investigates the social world it is possible that researcher own assumptions also shaped the investigation that how the business world can be the best examine that is the research philosophy. This sometimes refers that the way how researcher views the world. Saunders et al (2007) also argue that before investigating the questions your research raise, it is important to clarify your philosophy you adopt (Schutt 2006 cited in Saunders et al., 2007 ) mention five philosophy of social world positivism, post positivism, inter subjective agreement, Interpretive and constructivism. Although Saunders et al (2007) categorized these into three main philosophies, positivism, Interpretive and realism. By investigating, one can get significant information about customer relationship management (CRM) and its related software, and how it can work in the organization, if one considers the global hotel business, such as Hilton, IBIS, Holiday Inn, Travelodge etc which are the orders of limit their consumer life period . Here the above mentioned research philosophies are discussed in detail below: Positivism: Positivism can be termed as the natural scientists philosophical stance (Saunders et al., 2009, p.113). it is also referred as the methodology which is structured highly due to which it is possible to replicate and there can be created the law like generalizations results. In relation to the law like generalizations, it has been meant by the author that the researcher conducts the research study with same topic where same conclusion can be occurred. Interpretivism: Epistemology is referred by the interpretivism philosophy which indicates that the researcher should know about the differences among human in terms of their roles as the social actors (Saunders et al., 2009, p.116). this philosophy of research has the main conception of interpreting the human social roles by the researcher in relation to the set of meaning of the research study. In addition, two traditions such as: phenomenology and symbolic interactionism is the main source of interpetivism. Phenomenology can be defined as the way of making sense among human throughout the world. symbolic interactionism refers that the human involves the continual process by which social world is interpreted surrounded people where the researcher interpreted other peoples action with whom the researcher interacted and it can be focused towards the adjustment with our own meaning and actions. Moreover, it has been stated by Saunders (2009) that signifcance of interpretivistic philosophy focused towa rds research willingness for adopting the empathetic stance. One challenge is existed that which is entering to the social world in relation to the subject of research and understandng about the research world from the research perspective. At the end, Smith (2002) concludes that the situation of business is not only complex but also appeared as the unique. They contains the function of the specifc set of circumstances and also individuals. In this research study, interpretivism philosophy will be applied by the researcher. Realism: Realism refers to the reality, the meaning of which is indicated towards the sense of showing the truthness of reality: an existence independent of the human mind is having by the objects (Ester-smith, 2004). In addition realism can be divided into two division such as: direct realism and critical realism. Direct realism refers that you get those things what are seen by you, from this perspective the world is portrayed by our experiences achieving through sense. It has been argued by the critical realists that our experience is the sensatios. Reason of Adopting Interpretivism Approach: An interpretivism approach will be followed by this study. For this research study, it is appropriate because a phenomenon such as: specific issue about CRM is explained by the researcher on the basis of the already established research and literature. Moreover, qualitative research is used on this research study which is related with the interpetivism approach. 3.3 Research Approach: In accordance with Saunders (2009), two general ways are there to approach the problem of research for example: deductive and inductive approach. Now, the details of these two approaches are discussed below: Deductive Approach: The deductive approach can be relied towards the thinking by logical way and theory is used there for drawing the conclusion. On the other hand, deductive approach indicates that the main source of conducting research study is using theories which are already establishied and also using model by using which there are develloped the proposition and after that there are tested the proposition by empirical studies. There is used the deductive approach while a theory is developed and also developed hypothesis on the basis of already established facts and theories at the specific field, because of which a research strategy is designed by the researcher and also a theoretical proposition is tested through the researcher. Inductive Approach: In inductive approach, empirical study is the main orgin of conducting research study and existing theories are used for conducting these empirical studies. The main starting point of inductive approach is the data collection and the formulation of theory from the results. Nevertheless, in case quantitative studies, inductive approach can be used. On the other hand, there has the main difference among the deductive and inductive approach which is that deductive approach first use a theory and then practice it and inductive approach first collect the data and then formulate the theory that mean practice to theory. Reasons for Using Inductive Approach: In this dissertation, there is utilized the inductive approach because the inductive approach involves beginning with a set of empirical observations, seeking patterns in those observations, and then theorizing about those patterns and the deductive approach involves beginning with a theory, developing hypotheses from that theory, and then collecting and analyzing data to test those hypotheses. In case of this research study, collected data will be analyzed through empirical observation and applying these observation for establishing theories of CRM. 3.4 Research Method: The method of research can be classified into two types such as: qualitative and quantitative method. Both of these methods are described below: Qualitative research: It is possible to find out the reason or purpose for making research study through the qualitative research where there is not used the method in relation to the unstructured information that can be conducted by the analysis on the time of research course. Various ways are there by which there can be conducted the qualitative research. Such as: feedback norms, videos, emails and the interview transcripts. In the qualitative research, there is included the basic feature of theoretical concept where this type of research study is not related with the statistics and number in terms of the domain of the qualitative research. It can be defined as the enquiry method by which there are dealing the academic things disciplines by explaining the social sciences in the research market field and along with other context (Bryman 2008). The main purpose to conduct the research of qualitative and along with using this research form study through the researcher is getting knowledge on the human beha vior and different issue that can be occurred in terms of the human behavior nature. there can be also investigated the motives and purposes by this research study which can be applied in order to making decision while it cant be connected with the incidental values. In hence, qualitative research has the smaller context but for the purpose of doing this kind of research study, greater focus value should be given by the researcher or larger sampling should be adopted by him or her. There can be produced the information through applying this research method and in order to drawing the general conclusion, hypothesis should be made by the researcher in case of the research study and after that quantitative method is used by the researcher to test the hypothesis validity. Quantitative research: In order to gathering information and data, there can be used the quantitative method of research study. This kind of research method is mainly depended on the numerical data or statistical data and it is possible to measure this form of data easily. In this research method, there are used some research techniques such as: Graphs, tables and statistics by which there can be interpreted the gathered data and information by the researcher in the research study and it is considered as the major difference among the qualitative and quantitative research. In order to making scientific research, both techniques of research for example: qualitative and quantitative or either qualitative or quantitative can be used and biology, physics are the example of scientific research. There are existed the controversies on the using of both of these methods in research study and along with there is also consisted of the ideology in the research techniques forms in case of some certain fields for example: psychology, social anthropology and sociology. Each researcher has the different way of thinking due to which various forms of research methods are used by several researchers. In case of certain matters, there can be produced the information through applying this kind of research study and in order to making the genera l conclusion, hypothesis should be made by the researcher in terms of research study and then quantitative method can be used by the researcher to test the hypothesis validity. Reasons for Using Qualitative Method: In relation to this research study, there will be used the qualitative method of research because of some reasons. This research study is mainly theoretical based where at first theory is formulated and after that the theory is established by analysing collected data. There will not be used any kinds of numerical data or statistics but for interpreting qualitative data, graphs and charts are used by the researcher. 3.5 Research Type: Generally, every one seeks information in different ways. Researchers are also trying to use logical approach to search. Another way, the system can be determined the exact sciences and appropriate topics in any information of search. This is the main point of the survey is to identify, understand the establishment plan, we will try to follow the amount of information owned a large sort of subjects can communicate. In addition, the technology is not a prerequisite to any study; we can use it whenever we need. Survey methodology, we can be divided into different groups: Social Research : Here, the researcher used the social research. For this type of survey research, we follow the theory of scientific information and to disclose more details of the relevant the environment and its past history. In addition, the classification can be divided into academics and non academics, or to maintain the type of application structure or process. The Procedures are as follows: (Ravarini, A., 2002) Types of Research: The purpose of the research process is mainly aimed to create new knowledge .The research in the process have three types. These three types of study are: to explore research and constructive research and empirical studies in the final. Here empirical studies will be conducted by the researcher because numerical terms will be used to interpret and analyze the collected data. 3.6 Data collection Method Primary research: In case of primary research methods, data is not engaged in obtaining from the current literature. It can be gathered by the field research. In particular, the use of primary information is related with the investigating and conducting interview. Main equipments to perform the research are described below: 3.6.1 Face to face interviews: In the face to face interview, interviewer can give answer straightforwardly to the question of the researcher, which usually involves maintaining the sequence of question. There may be short answer questions. In most cases, the answer is incomplete, or the like yes or no. 3.6.2 On-line survey: Online survey is considered as the most commonly used survey which is conducted through the internet. This can be conducted via email by sending questionnaire. 3.6.3 Telephone interview: This is equivalent to other interviews; the questions that asked are almost same for interviewees, and often short. 3.6.4 Questionnaire: Some of the questionnaires are distributed via online such as using: email. Here, for conducting this research, the researcher used the questionnaire and sent a set of questionnaire via email to the HR manager of the Radisson hotel. In this research study, for collecting data face to face interview, online survey and telephone interview will not be used. 3.7 Secondary research : In case of secondary research, information is used for conducting research studies that have been already used, and this information is already available in the literature which can be gathering through other researchers. Secondary research is considered as the data collection methods. This form of study is considered the most significant research because it is used for comparison and analysis. This type of source of research data can be printed resources, examples are: journals, newspapers, Trade magazines, books, electronic, along with the source such as: software package, or on-line service. It is very much needed to take care about that the original source can get credit when secondary sources are used by the researcher (WL Newman (1991). 3.8 Time Horizon: For every research types, the frame of time is considered as the most significant for majority of the researcher. Hence, there is needed for understanding that the research refers to something where time is needed and it will not be the same time period for one research type as comparison other type of research. Two types of studies have been identified by the Saunders (2009) such as: cross sectional studies and longitudinal studies. It has been meant by the cross sectional studies that the study conducted on the certain phenomenon or phenomena in a specific period of time. It is common to use these types of studies in research project where a time constraint is there and there is designed the research with the snapshot forms. In case of longitudinal studies, opportunity is having by the researcher for the purpose of investigating if any changes or developments are there for a specific period of time. In comparison with the cross sectional studies, a phenomenon about various occasions are studied by the longitudinal studies; after that there is designed the research with the form of diary. In this study, there is used the cross sectional approach with the time constraint and the study about the specific phenomenon in a specific period of time. 3.9 Sampling: After conducting the interview through the researcher, there is conducted a survey for the purpose of finding out customer relationship management (CRM) strategy allows the organization for achieving the competitive advantage with the retention of customer by meeting the customers demand. Because of time limitation, 50 peoples are taken by the researcher as a sample size from the perspective of the analysis of data and finding easily. Managers of the hotels are the respondents who participated on the survey. 3.10 Ethics: In order to conducting the research study, there should be maintained some ethical issues by the researcher. Such as: information disclosed and security concern. Not all companies share their private information to other persons due to privacy. Along with this, some respondents dont want to disclose their feedbacks due to security reasons. On that case, the researcher should have to confirm the respondents their opinion will not be provided to any third parties. In addition, the researcher should handle all the respondents without any biasness so that all respondents feel free to give their feedback without any hesitation. 4.00 Design of the Research Questionnaire: Question 1: How CRM can be defined from the perspective of the hotel business? Question 2: How CRM contributes to gain competitive advantage by the hotel business? Question 3: Is your organization considered CRM as a strategy of business? Question 4: What is the relationship between customer and the strategy of CRM? Question 5: How the strategy of CRM of the hotel business can be differed with each other? Question 6: What is the contribution of CRM strategy in the customer retention and satisfaction in the company? Question 7: Through which way customer conflicts can be handled by the company?

Media opinions on free speech and censorship :: essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Media Opinions Have you seen today’s headlines? Yesterday’s paper looked more like an opinion page than news. Nicholas Von Hoffman wrote, â€Å"Butchers make sausage. Newspapers make public affairs. Has that hunger driven the media out of control?† (Nachman 26). The media manipulates the facts of the news to fit their own agendas and I think it needs to stop.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the beginning ages of our country, the people of our nation made laws that they thought would be just and good for the nation. Of the press they made the familiar and oh so controversial: â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (United States Constitution 1789). But where do we cut the line? There our newspapers, television shows, and radio broadcasts constantly molding the facts and telling one side stories so they can get the attention of the people and manipulate them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The media simply does what it wants to do. They do not have to tell the exact facts, and misquoting a person is not uncommon. John Silber, a critic of the media in 1988 said: â€Å"The reporter’s work should be like a pane of glass, perfectly clear and unspotted, through which the reader might view the important events of the day. Today, the practice of â€Å"personal† journalism in news reporting has persistently sacrificed objectivity for entertainment and the personal gratification and presumably the greater popularity of the reporter. The pane of glass is dirtied and distorted.† â€Å"Too often we see and read, not what happened or what was said, but the personal views of the fourth estate† (Orr 66).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I think that if the media does not stop reporting their wonderful, biased, and profit motivated opinion in our news, we will soon have to initiate a censorship program. A good definition of Censorship is â€Å"[The] Policy of restricting the public expression of ideas, opinions, conceptions, and impulses, which are believed to have the capacity to undermine the governing authority or the social and moral order which authority considers itself bound to protect† (Abraham 357).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We shouldn’t have to censor; the media should be able to just put out the facts, right? But so far we still hang in the limbo between fact and opinion. The Idea is for the media to police the government, but as Lisa Orr said, â€Å"Nobody checks the checker† (63).

The Wilderness in Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing, Mary Austin’s Land of Li

The Wilderness in Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing, Mary Austin’s Land of Little Rain, and Gary Snyder’s The Practice of the Wild Journeys into the wilderness test far more than the physical boundaries of the human traveler. Twentieth century wilderness authors move beyond the traditional travel-tour approach where nature is an external diversion from everyday life. Instead, nature becomes a catalyst for knowing our internal wilderness and our universal connections to all living things. In Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing, Mary Austin’s Land of Little Rain, and Gary Snyder’s The Practice of the Wild, â€Å"nature† mirrors each narrator: what the narrators ultimately discover in the wilderness reflects what needs they bring to it. Their points of view, expectations, and awareness all determine their experiences of the wild and â€Å"self.† Ultimately, however, each work reveals that the experience of nature need not be restricted only to â€Å"self-discovery,† but may well expand to an understanding of the spiritual â€Å"family self.† Atwood’s psychological novel describes the return journey by its narrator from a self-centered, urban existence to the Canadian wilderness of her youth, where she finds the meaning of family and her role in it. Though not overtly psychological, Mary Austin’s intense devotion to the life and people of her desert community suggests these have become replacements for her own, unsuccessful attempts at conventional family life. Finally, Gary Snyder’s kinship with nature exemplifies a life integrated in all aspects—a union that merges the practical, psychological, and spiritual into what may be called the â€Å"cosmic† family. Birth of Family Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing describes the heroine/narrator’s phy... ...our experiences: the progress of our consciousness. This progress resolves issues of the self and one’s individual past, heals our psychic pain, and releases us from powerlessness and fear. By accepting the wilderness in ourselves we will understand the wilderness in each other and our connectedness. Nature functions as catalyst, as guide, as test, as teacher. Then opening the spiritual window to grace, we ultimately realize the possibility of being fully human. References Atwood, Margaret. Surfacing (New York: Fawcett Crest, 1972). Austin, Mary. Stories from the Country of Lost Borders. Ed. Marjorie Pryse (New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 1987). Pryse, Marjorie. "Introduction" to Stories from the Country of Lost Borders by Mary Austin. (New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 1987). Snyder, Gary. The Practice of the Wild (San Francisco: North Point Press, 1990).

Looming Economic Crisis in United States

On January 21st and 22nd 2008, world financial markets crashed amidst the fears of American economy slowly are gradually moving toward recession. The emerging markets world over corrected almost 20 to 30 percent while the developed financial markets of Europe and American corrected over 10-15 percent. At present the DOW is 20 percent below its July top a signal that financial markets are entering a bear phase. (Landler & Timmons 2008) The paper will try to shed light on what is looming large on American economy, what are the policy or market failures which are taking the economy into recession, How the present Bush plan of stimulus will impact the scenario in future and will it be good enough to bring the economy back on track. Main contributors to the slowdown of the economy American economy is hit by numerous factors at the same time – growth slowdown, increasing unemployment numbers, falling retail sales, increasing trade deficit, weakness of dollars, emergence of Euro, housing crisis and failure of financial markets. (Landler & Timmons 2008) Housing Market – The housing market has been slowing down for an year now and most presidential candidates are suggesting ways on how American economy can come out this mess. The slowdown in the housing market is due to high default rate on mortgages especially sub-prime mortgages. During the credit expansion time post first Bush tax cuts banks and financial institutions lowered their vigilance on credit rating and in quest to expand market end up giving housing mortgages to shady borrowers. Another reason why this happened was – money was easy to come and housing market was on uptrend so in case of failure of installment and foreclosure the banks and financial institutes were able to get the money back through increased price of the houses. But after the slowing down of housing markets real estate rates have fallen 5-10 percent in last year only and according to UBS it is expected go down by 15-20 percent more in coming year. Increasing National Debt – the present national debt is around 9 trillion dollars which accounts for almost 65 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. Such high level of national debt increases the interests on payments significantly and reduces the elbow space of the government in tinkering with the fiscal policy. In the past America able to finance its debt by weakening the dollar but now with emergence of Euro it has become increasing difficult to export the national debt to foreign institutions and countries which in past are happy to maintain huge dollar reserves. (Kjeldsen, 2002) Increasing Trade Deficit – The profitability of American companies have grown over the past half a decade but the trade deficit hasn’t come down. The main reason for it is off-shoring and outsourcing. American companies are making the most of low cost manufacturing and services in countries like China and India to boost their bottomline. Low level of saving rates – In response to the main reason for credit card default rate one women respondent on CNBC summed up the saving rate of Americans – â€Å"we all like to buy things, we all love to travel and we don’t want to wait for it†. This culture of plastic money spending today paying later has brought down saving rates to alarming levels and it can significantly hamper the investment in the economy. Increasing inequality among Americans – the last tax cuts provided immense benefits to the rich Americans and increased the income gap between the rich nation and poor nation. Hurricane Katrina exposed the underbelly of this growing inequality in the country and it will take years of corrective actions. Financial Markets crash – America is financial market sensitive country by that it means that the wealth effect among American can be reflected by the state of the financial markets as more than 80 percent of the population invest in the financial markets. This has let the consumer sentiments down which is resulting in lowering retail sales and subsequently lowering employment generation. (Landler & Timmons 2008) President Bush Stimulus Plan President Bush has passed the stimulus plan of 168 billion into law, the stimulus plan will ensure money in the hand of real consumers in short time which will help in keeping the economy afloat by not letting the demand go drastically down. In the long run along with the tax cuts and stimulus plan the economy will able to get new investments which can bolster production and employment opportunities. The stimulus package will start providing tax cuts after May and before that it provide a one time rebate of 600 dollars for the individual and 1200 for couple and an additional 300 dollar each for a child in the family.   (MSNBC, 2008) The stimulus plan may be a step in right direction but the challenges the economy is facing are fundamental one. With high oil prices and fears of inflation the tax cuts may end up fuelling the inflation in the economy resulting in more import of cheap products from countries like China which is maintaining fixed exchange rates. Conclusion At present the economy is looking down the barrel and there is a very slim chance that it will escape recession and more importantly a growth slowing down in next 2-3 years. America is fast graying and productivity going down with increasing health costs, the times seems to be certainly tough in future. The one ray of hope is creating of jobs by investing in new technologies which America is historically good at. References Kjeldsen-Kragh, Soeren. (2002)   International Economics. Copenhagen, , DNK: Copenhagen Business School Press, 2002. Mark Landler and Heather Timmons (2008) Stocks Plunge Worldwide on Fears of a U.S. Recession. Retrieved on 17th Feb from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/business/22stox-web.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin MSNBC (2008) Bush signs stimulus package into law. Retrieved on 17th Feb from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23143814 http://www.trb.org/publications/millennium/00138.pdf   

Family Therapy Model Essay

Family therapy models of psychotherapy can be divided into three classifications—ahistorical, historical, and experiential (Griffin & Greene, 1998, p. 3). The ahistorical classification includes structural family therapy, strategic family therapy, behavioral family therapy, psychoeducational family therapy, and communication models (Griffin & Greene, 1998, p. 3). The historical classification includes object relations theory and Bowen systems theory (Griffin & Greene, 1998, p. 3). The experiential classification contains only one model—the experiential family therapy model (Griffin & Greene, 1998, p. 3). While the historical models focus on changing the family’s patterns of interaction as a means of removing the presenting problems, the historical models are rooted in psychoanalysis, with a longer therapy intervention in which the therapist is less involved than in the other classifications (Griffin & Greene, 1998, p. 3). Experiential models, on the other hand, are more concerned with the patient’s growth, a process of both experiencing and monitoring internal problems, and the patient’s self-identity development within the family context (Griffin & Greene, 1998, p. 3). The history of the models and the therapist’s role in each differs, so given the size limitations of this paper, a separate history on each is not feasible. Each theory has its own major contributors. Among the ahistorical models, structural family theory, for example, was influenced by Gregory Bateson, who focused on verbal and nonverbal communication; the Palo Alto Team, which developed the concept of â€Å"family homeostasis;† and Salvador Minuchin, who saw families as functioning to socialize children and facilitate the mutual support of married couples, suffering problems when boundaries were either too porous or too rigid (Werner-Wilson, n.d., pp. 2-4). Of the historical models, object relations theory was influenced by Melanie Klein and later by Otto Kernberg, who focused on drives and the consolidation of Freudian and non-Freudian object  relations theory, respectively (Griffin & Greene, 1998, p. 3; Tribich, 1981, p. 27). In the experiential model, Whitaker redefined symptoms as â€Å"attempts at growth† and used modeling to offer â€Å"fantasy alternatives to actual stressors† (Griffin & Greene, 1998, p. 12). Three of the five key concepts of family therapy models are embodied in Schutz’s Fundamental Interpersonal Relationship Orientation, or FIRO model—inclusion, control, and affection (Hafner & Ross, 1989, p. 974). Parr (2000, p. 256) refers to the affection concept as â€Å"intimacy† when she states, â€Å"The family FIRO model hypothesizes a paradigmatic view of the family’s relationship organization around the three interrelated core needs of inclusion, control, and intimacy.† Inclusion involves a feeling of belonging within the family context, and it requires a sense of connectedness, a shared belief system, and an organized structure that the family incorporates to handle issues of roles and boundaries (Parr, 2000, p. 255). The concept of control involves the way the family interacts in terms of power and influence, as when these are used to resolve conflict in the areas of â€Å"discipline, role negotiations, and problem solving† (Parr, 2000, p. 256). The affection or intimacy concept demonstrates the family members’ needs for interactions that allow them to be open with each other about their feelings and areas of vulnerability (Parr, 2000, p. 256). Another key concept is communication theory. There are varied types of communication theory, but the one that is most appropriate to family therapy is family communication patterns theory, which serves as a model of family communication based on relational connections among communication behaviors (Fitzpatrick, 2004, p. 175). Finally, the concept of networks is an integral part of the family therapy approach. Networks provide support during family therapy when the family itself is under stress. As Goldenberg and Goldenberg (p. 12) point out, â€Å"The support of a network of friends, extended family, clergy, neighbors, employers, and fellow employees and the availability of community resources often contribute to family recovery,† and â€Å"even chaotic, disorganized, abusive, and multi-problem families have resources.† An evaluation of family therapy from the Christian perspective reveals that it is compatible with Christian principles. Because it is a mode of therapy predicated mainly on understanding the dynamics of family life and helping family members to change their dysfunctional behavior, there is little in family therapy that  runs at cross-purposes with Christian thinking. Inclusion, control, and affection are all Christian concepts as well. Everyone is included in the group of those eligible to be Christians, and one only needs to choose to belong. Control of one’s actions is integral to the Christian perspective, with manifestations of a lack of control being regarded as problems. Affection is a hallmark of Christianity, and Jesus displayed genuine affection to people, urging his disciples to do the same. Communication theory is more than relevant to Christianity, as evidenced by the vast amount of communication that takes place in the Bible and the many interactions that are recorded there to help believers understand both desirable and undesirable forms of communication. Moreover, Christianity is a community-oriented religion in many ways, urging believers to help those in need and to love others, so its precepts fit neatly into the concept of the support network, as well. Jesus traveled about the countryside, as did His disciples, taking help to people in various towns along the way, and there is a palpable sense of community in the Christian way of life, which considers other people’s feelings, welfare, and interests as well as one’s own. Finally, there is in Christianity a strong family model, as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are essentially a divine family unit, and thus family therapy models are intrinsically structured to relate to the Christian model. References Fitzpatrick, M.A. (2004). Family Communication Patterns Theory: Observations on its Development and Application. The Journal of Family Communication, 4(3/4), 167-179. EBSCO Host. Goldenberg, H., Goldenberg, I. (2007). Family Therapy: An Overview. Florence, KY: Brooks Cole. Griffin, W.A., Greene, S.M. (1998). Models of Family Therapy: The Essential Guide. New York: Routledge. Hafner, R.J., Ross, M.W. (1989). The FIRO Model of Family Therapy: Implications of Factor Analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 45(6), 974-979. Klein, M., Tribich, D. (1981). Kernberg’s Object-Relations Theory: A Critical Evaluation. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 62, 27-43. Retrieved on March 25, 2010 from: http://www.pep-web.org/document.php?id=IJP.062.0027A Werner-Wilson, R.J. (n.d.). Family Therapy Theory. Retrieved on March 25, 2010 from: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~hd_fs.511/lecture/Sourcebook20.ppt

Advertising to children Essay

Over the last few decades advertising has altered the lives of many and in particular children. Children are susceptible to what they see and are more prone to act on a whim. This research paper will analyse advertising which is aimed at children and will test the following thesis statement – Thesis – Advertising misleads children in purchasing goods which they do not need. When you think about this, it may not seem that true. You could argue that you don’t know anyone whose fashion or style is influenced by Hollywood’s stars. But, you know you’ve seen people wearing Sean John or JLo brand clothing. Celebrities also influence fashion much more generally. â€Å"Most fashion trends were either started or influenced by the big stars,† says Ramon. Another key component of child intended marketing is the music industry. Stephen Kiehl of the Baltimore Sun says, â€Å"You could be forgiven for confusing the Number 1 song in the U. S. last week with a commercial. † The journalist also mentions that some musical artists are even paid to advertise specific products in their songs. A recent example of this is Petey Pablo’s song â€Å"Freak-a-Leak† in which the lyrics include, â€Å"Now I got to give a shout out to Seagram’s gin. Cause I’m drinkin’ it and they payin’ me for it. † According to the San Francisco marketing company, Agenda Inc. , â€Å"59 brands have been mentioned 645 times in the songs that have made it into the top 20 this year. † Another large reservoir of advertising aimed at children is oddly enough, school. â€Å"‘Looking right’ which really means ‘fitting in’, is very important for young teenagers,† says LaRue- Robinson, a middle school guidance counselor in Forestville, Md. With students caring about how their peers are dressed, moms are beginning to worry; â€Å"It’s gotten really bad now with†¦ Tiny Teddies and Cheezels give a balance diet to children (Houlihan, 2005). On the other hand, some advertisements using prize to deceive children to buy their products. The video (Buy me that, too! 1992) explained how the television advertising deceptive children. From the Cereal Giveaways advertising, children can get a complete set of baseball cards easily (Buy me that, too! 1992. But the presenter said 73 boxes to get a good chance only, this result in expenditure increasing for parents (Buy me that, too! 1992). Therefore, television advertising directed at children is not fair, people can not allow deceptive advertising continue to misleading children, it should be forbid. Some people argue that if government do not allowed manufacturers to promote their products on children television, this will lead to destroy of the children’s product industry. This point of view is biased. Word-of-mouth is influencing children buying power. Harry Potter novel now is popular around the world, but the success is not from television advertising, the books themselves became successful are because of word-of-mouth between children (Blades, Gunter & Oates cited in Proctor &Richards, 2002). Without television advertising, children’s product has been successful in society, Harry Potter gives manufacturers an example that how to achieve success without to promote on children television. Moreover, television advertising is not only method for manufacturers to promote their products. According to the Australia Film Commission report (AFC, 2005), it is estimated the total advertising expenditure with Commercial Economic Advisory Service of Australia (CEASA). Television advertising is not the most important channel for manufacturers in Australia, newspapers is the first choice for manufacturers to promote their products. Also, from the study, manufacturers like to choose radio, magazines and other channels to promote their products (AFC, 2005). Furthermore, 78% of children and adolescents who use the internet do so at home (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003). Internet has become an efficiency way for manufacturers to promote their goods. From the word-of-mouth advertising and study from AFC, people can find the answer easily that forbid the manufacturers to advertise on television will not destroy the children’s product industry. To escape advertising is nearly impossible; brand logos are everywhere. Even in outer space you can’t escape it. In 1993 Schwarzenegger’s underrated and misunderstood classic, (my opinion, I’ll admit it! ) Last Action Hero had it’s logo painted on a satellite for a large fee, and will circle our planet for the next few thousand years. The soldiers fighting in Iraq, even as I write this, are carrying advertisements; the M-16A2 has a Colt logo stamped into its side, a reminder of who makes that quality weapon. Even in the remotest regions of our world artifacts with recognizable logos are found thanks to care packages. (The Gods Must be Crazy is a wonderful movie on this subject. ) Why do we tolerate such invasions to our lives? Largely because these sorts of advertisements slip under our radar, but also for identification purposes; if you came to my house and saw my entertainment centre, you might know what the DVD player, stereo and the television are, but if you are not familiar with gaming systems, you would have trouble distinguishing the X-Box from the Playstation 2 or the Gamecube. So that type of brand labelling does serve a purpose other than advertising in some cases. There are exceptions to the rule of slapping a logo on everything that we purchase, and a clear boundary that corporations will not cross; furniture. A simple scan of the room I’m in shows that that my furniture has nothing denoting where it came from, although I do know that the mattress does have a manufacturer’s tag on it, my sheets cover it. Out of sight, out of mind. Advertising is becoming more and more a part of our society. The film Minority Report features a scene where advertising is everywhere, and customized to the person. This could be construed as an invasion of privacy, as every purchase of the individual is scrutinized and advertising is personally tailored to that person. This type of information gathering is already being tested in seemingly innocent places. Search for a book on amazon.com and you will get recommendations for other products that you may also be interested in based on your search. (Houlihan, 2005, pg76) Advertisers are also starting to work under our radar. On the Internet, advertisers used to use tracking cookies to find out the places you went, what you purchased online and other information. Soon the pop up ad appeared to annoy just about everyone who saw them. Pop ups were preceded by E-junk mail, dubbed Spam. The problem has moved on to what have been dubbed ‘Spybots’ programs that integrate into your browser program and report back the web activity to it’s source. Gator is the most infamous of these. The answer to the thesis statement based on this research paper is yes. To sum up, it is clearly shows that public should outlaw all advertisements that target innocent children. As this is good for children’s health and controls the increasing childhood obesity, and also is of great benefit to the relationship between children and parents. Parents are no longer afraid that children are influenced by unhealthy content of advertisements. Nowadays, more and more countries, like many European Union countries, implement a ban on children’s advertising. Children are a country’s future, protecting their wellbeing and healthy life is the most important responsibility not only for their parents but also for the whole society. References Derived from esbco host – The university of Winnipeg http://libproxy. uwinnipeg. ca/login? URL=http://search. ebscohost. com/login. asp? profile=web CNN. com Health America Australia Film Commission, 2005, what Australians are watching, [Online], Available: http://www. afc. gov. au/gtp/wftvisadrevenue. html [November 24, 2008] Baker, F. 2004, TV-Toy Ad analysis Worksheet, [Online], Available:http://medialit. med. sc. edu/toyadanalysisworksheet. htm [November, 24, 2005]

Communication Methods Essay

Drugs are constantly under scrutiny from various organizations. The removal of medication is costly in product and reputation. However, it is important that withdrawal of a drug, which may affect the safety of patient’s withdrawal from the market, is imperative. Usually this prompts unexpected adverse effects that were not detected during clinical trials and apparent from surveillance of the data from the patient community. The scenario outlined involves the removal of medication from the shelves of hospitals, drugstores, and individuals home. It is imperative that communication reaches the masses in a concise and timely manner. The different types of communication are verbal, non-verbal, written and visual. Verbal communication simply involves face-to-face communication with another or group of people or communication over the telephone. For verbal communication, success requires the sender and receiver obtain what is required to make communication effective. When communicating verbally tone, dialect, and language are important factors (Cheesboro, O’Connor, Rios, 2010). Non-Verbal communication involves communicating without words. Non-Verbal communication ultimately ties in with verbal communication, without even speaking your body language, eye contact, posture, and facial expressions are all communicating. Cultures also exist with non-verbal communication. Cultural difference exist in the way people greet each other, what gestures mean, how far or how close to stand when interacting with someone and so forth (Cheesboro, O’Connor, & Rios 2010). Written communication involves writing letters and emails. Written communication skills are just as important as verbal communication skills. Last, there is visual communication and the portrayal is through some form of visual aid such as; signs, drawings, power points, graphs and many others. When using visual communication verbal and written communication may be involved (Chessbor , O’Connor, & Rios, 2010). Communication has advantages and disadvantages and traditional communication is still the number one form of communication to use if clarity is a primary factor. Traditional communication usually includes face to face or over the phone. When communicating face to face you always receives the opportunity to interact in a back and forth discussion. The use of non -verbal’s, facials and gestures maybe an advantage to some and a disadvantage to others. Disadvantages of traditional communication can be that conflict can be more intense and difficult to diffuse. Electronic communication is more prevalent but it still has its pros and cons. Many companies depend on electronic communication because information delivery occurs within different locations. There are also people that travel on their job and have no choice but to communicate through electronics. Not only is electronic communication fast and convenient it is the source of communication which allows for the responses and flexibility in replying. Despite the many advantages of electronic technology in the workplace, there are potential disadvantages including, the possibility of decreases patient safety, and breach of confidentiality (Broussard 2013). Many caregivers or physicians have mobile devices usually supplied by their organization. The concern with phones at one’s use at all time is the employee focus on sending a text or responding to an email versus delivery the appropriate care to the patient. Confidentiality concerns can come about form a simple phone conversation where names may not be spoken, but enough patient history and information is more than enough details. There is also the use of language. Being precise and complete is necessary when sending any form of electronic message (Cheesboro, O’Connor, & Rios, 2010). Remembering basic grammar and formatting can go completely wrong. A professional email can become very unprofessional fast especially if the sender fails to review it prior to pressing send. With this concern comes the major issue of decrease in patient safety, possible violation of the HIPPA, patient safety, and breach of confidentiality.. Social media plays a major part in daily life for most people. Many advantages and disadvantages come along with using social media especially in a health care setting. First, the use of social media depends on the organization. Not every health organization is equipped or in need of the use of social media. However, when an organization does choose to use social media advantages can be the use of improved communication. Employees and others can discuss post and view new ideas and plans for the company (Society for Human Resources, 2012). There is an opportunity to gain more clients and reach a wider range of people especially if the organization is worldwide. Marketing opportunities are everywhere on social networks. Disadvantages can be employees misusing the social network. Potentially results in negative comments from employees  about the company or potential legal consequences if employees use these sites to view objectionable, illicit or offensive material (Society for Human Resources 2012). Technology is not perfect and is still prone to malfunctions. There is also the possibility of virus’ or hackers to come about when organizations are using social media. When a health organization uses social media it is important to have basic rules and regulation set in place to help ensure efficiency versus misuse. In the health care world, patient confidentiality is a primary concern. HIPPA is what help to protect patient’s personal medical information. Electronic and social media communication use in health care communication enforces patient security and adherence to Joint Commission guidelines and rules. Maintaining confidentiality, however, is becoming more difficult. It was easy to ensure the protection of individual privacy when files are in paper folders. It was not a perfect method, but it worked because information is powerful and it must be available for all to review. Information systems and other technology now allow instant retrieval of medical information, along with widening access for a greater number of people (McCall, 2000). The use of electronic and social media communication will ultimately affect HIPPA, because these forms of technology evolve in the health care world the HIPPA law must also transform and change continuously protect patients (McCall, 2000). The HIPPA law is in place to protect patients and although communicating through social media or any other form of electronics. The use of these forms of communication does put the exposure of private information risks. However, it is important for every health care organization to have their own set of rules and regulations to help prevent exposures. Each entity engaged in electronic transmission of health information must assess potential risks and vulnerabilities to the individual electronic health data. Organizations must develop, implement, maintain, and document appropriate security measures based on the risk assessment (Peterson 2001). In conclusion, health care and communication go hand in hand. Traditional communication is still at the forefront in health care when it comes to efficient communication. Electronic communication is very convenient and necessary when it comes to many different job types. Lastly, social media helps to market and bring in new ideas to the health care field. Overall, Traditional, Electronic, and social media will  continue to play a part in health care communication. As health care evolves communication, as well privacy and security methods must evolve as well. References Broussard, B. S., & Broussard, A. B. (2013). Using Electronic Communication Safely in Health Care Settings. Nursing For Women’s Health, 17(1), 59-62. doi:10.1111/1751-486X.12007. Retrieved from http://www.EBSCOhost.com Cheesboro, O’Connor, Rios. (2010) Communicating in the workplace. New York, New York: Pearson Education. McCall, M. (2000). HIPPA regulations:Challenges for perspective leaders. Surgical Services Management, 6(10), 18. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/237194292?accountid=458 Petersen, C. (2001). How private is private? HIPPA. SSM, 7(6), 49. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/237195101?accountid=458 Society For Human Resources, 2012. Social Media:What are the advantages and disadvantages of social networking sites? What should we include in a policy? Retrieved from http://www.societforhumanresources.org