Has Technology Made Life Easier or Harder Essay

Has Technology Made Life Easier or Harder - Essay Example This paper will be committed to outlining how technology has made life easier from the perspective of a business executive, stay at home parent, and a high school student. To begin with, technology has made the life of a business executive easier through innovation. For a company to have a competitive edge in business, it has to be innovative. Necessity is the driving force for every organization since every business executive wants his business to be among the best. Technology has enhanced innovation since it provides business executives with a wide range of information that they can use to invent an idea. Innovation is a symbol of growth that pulls customers toward an organization and gratitude to technology; this has become easy for most business executives. It is through efficient innovation streaming from technology that business executives are able to maintain a competitive edge for their organizations (Business Technology Office 1-6). Additionally, technology has made the life of a business executive easier through effective marketing. Marketing is a business strategy used by an organization to make the consumers aware of its products and services. It is through marketing that consumers become aware of an organizations existence and become interested in its services. It is important that a business executive invests time and finances to upgrade its advertising strategies. Technology has made the marketing strategies of a business executive easier since an organization can subscribe online to a marketing agency. In addition, the business executive can open a blog site where he can post articles with key words and upon search by the consumers; they can access the organization products. Technology has made it cheaper to market since all a business executive need is access to the internet and a computer to use to post his articles. It is indeed evident that technology has made the marketing life of a business executive easier (Business Technology Office 1-6) . Technology has also made the life of a business executive easier through quick access to information. Knowledge is essential to a business executive since one has to keep abreast with recent information. Technology has made this possible enabling a business executive to have fast access to information via technological devices. This information is essential in planning and in implementing strategies to give the business executive a competitive edge. Information accessed through technological devices is credible and up to date and is from scholars who might not be accessed in local libraries. Easy access to credible relevant information with the help of technology has made the life of a business executive easier (Business Technology Office 1-6). Moreover, technology has made the life of a business executive easier by giving him higher revenues at minimum cost. This is achieved in a variety of diverse ways. To begin with, technology has made communication for the business executive cheaper, cutting on communication cost. Prior to technology the business executive had to either go personally to his business colleagues or send letters that may delay in arrival. With technology, the business executive just sends an electronic mail that is delivered immediately and urgent meetings can be convened with no difficulty. This reduction in communication costs translates to higher revenues since the business executive will in turn invest the saved cost in his business. The increased revenues which is the main goal as

Decision support systems Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Decision support systems - Article Example Almost 2.8 people have been left homeless and 2.3 million are without food. The direct damage caused by the earthquake is estimated to be about US$2.3 billion. Private housing suffered the maximum damage to the extent of about US$1.03 billion. Of the total housing stock, 84 percent was damaged or destroyed in AJK and 36 percent was damaged or destroyed in NWFP. The transport, education, and agriculture and livestock sectors suffered damages to the extent of US$340 million, US$335 million, and US$218 million, respectively. The cost of reconstruction and restoration of services is estimated to be US$3.5 billion, with housing reconstruction accounting almost UD$1.6 billion. Reconstruction: In the short term, in addition to addressing the immediate sheltering needs of the affected population, the Government should begin preparing for the longer reconstruction phase. With the onset of winter, reconstruction activities could be reduced to a minimum, particularly in areas above the snowline. During this time, it will be important to undertake the following activities in preparation for reconstruction: (i) determine losses for establishing a baseline and eligibility levels; (ii) undertake seismic and soil investigations, particularly in the most affected areas; (iii) conduct training for safe construction techniques; (iv) disseminate information on available assistance packages and seismic-resistant designs; and (v) establish property rights. The reconstruction effort for permanent housing would predominantly begin in the spring with the provision of hazard-resistant housing for affected population through cash grants for basic housing assistance, beneficiary identification with compensation levels, and urban planning and development initiatives. Livelihood: The livelihood support strategy should also seek to rejuvenate economic activity in affected areas through reviving small businesses and trades, livestock and agriculture, and creating employment opportunities for those who are now permanently disabled. A short term option would be providing cash grants to affected families in the form of a monthly support of a recurrent, fixed amount. In addition, cash for work programs may be effective in generating temporary employment for those who are able and willing to work at an appropriate wage. Agriculture and Livestock: In the medium term support would be needed for replanting fruit trees, rebuilding terraces, replenishment of livestock inventory, rehabilitation of productive infrastructure, and reconstruction of laboratories, offices of extension and research for agriculture, livestock, and irrigation departments. Over the longer term the focus should be on restoring livestock inventories and rehabilitation of terraces and soil conservation infrastructure that have been severely damaged. It is necessary to reestablish the agricultural sector in a sustainable manner through strengthening institutional capacities and providing support services. Health: The reconstruction

Management and Organisational Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Management and Organisational Behaviour - Essay Example Change strategy: For any form of organisational change to be successful, it requires motivation for change, a clear vision, political support, a phased transition, and sustenance of momentum (Cummings & Worley, 1995). Peter Meyers did not involve existing management team either in the decision or in the process. He did not even take their suggestion on any of the decisions related to the new product development. Secondly, his decision to select ingredients from cheaper providers resulted in low-quality production as well as issues in operations such as increased wastage, re-work, and spoilage in equipment; this was completely against its high-quality products with attractive packaging sold at affordable prices made from reasonably good quality raw materials. The transition of introducing new products was not phased and not tuned with existing product-quality; moreover, the new products were made from low-quality material, which further affected brand image of J.J.Meyers Co. The metho dology adopted for cutting costs actually increased costs as well as caused huge losses in the form of wastage, rework and unusable machinery, equipment and materials. In addition, low-quality products lowered sales of other products of J.J. ... Political support, as coined by Cummings and Worley (2008) is about power, trust, and ownership. When people are empowered to make critical decisions, they develop ownership towards their responsibilities. In the case of J.J. Meyers, power was exercised by some at the top in the form of abuse, ranting, cursing, and showing authority. For change to be effective power must be shifted across management levels, which did not happen at J.J. Meyers; instead, all power and authority was concentrated at one or two points. When power was shifted, it was done to replace people with inappropriate experience. In total, power was not aligned in the right manner and credible managers were not empowered at all. Leadership: Peter Meyers taking over as the CEO itself was a huge change at J.J.Meyers Co because of his leadership style. Leadership plays more crucial role in the success of an organisation than any other aspect. During any change, the actual struggle of management comes in the form of rec overy, revitalization and recommitment (Bunker & Wakefield, 2005). This means leadership is equally important for the business as much as the change is. Only with effective leadership, change can be introduced in a manner that will sustain the business and improve employees’ enthusiasm and commitment. Peter’s actions and decisions were mostly against effective leadership because his actions did not encourage employee involvement; his actions lacked compassion but depicted greed; his actions failed to recognize employees’ commitment and credibility in multiple ways. Peter did not consult the key members of the business that possessed good experience and had high commitment towards the company. Both head

The Statement of Principles terminated on 30 June 2013. The UK Essay

The Statement of Principles terminated on 30 June 2013. The UK Government has proposed a new programme, including a new mechanis - Essay Example The fishing industry offers employment to around 250,000 people in Indonesia and thus, with this tsunami there were a number of people that lost their jobs3. Tsunami not only has resulted in the death of local people in Indonesia, but there were a number of tourists from different parts of the world especially from Europe that came under the fire as well. Around 9,000 foreign tourists were dead in this flood, and most of these tourists were from European countries4. However, there is little that the government can do in such a catastrophic situation. Although there are certain techniques and strategies that the government can take in order to reduce the impact of these floods such as Stormguard Flood-plan can be implemented in order to be better prepared for such situations as well as to reduce the impact of such disasters5. Similarly, there have been floods in United Kingdom as well. Although the disasters were not as high as Indian Ocean tsunami but still a large number of people l ost their lives. North Sea flood is the worst flood that has occurred in United Kingdom6. North Sea flood occurred on 31st January, 1953 and a number of areas were affected including Belgium, Scotland, Netherlands and England7. The causalities because of the North Sea flood were equaled to 2,142 including 354 people that lost their lives in United Kingdom alone8. ... Thus, it badly affected the economic situation of the country. The damage estimated was around  ?5,000 which if compared in today’s monetary terms would be equal to ?740,00010. The London School Of Economics has announced and warned about flood risk in Britain. According to the research conducted by the school Britain is a highly risky area because of the changes in climate along with the continuous development in floodplains for both residential as well as commercial properties. Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy and the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment have conducted research and published the paper. They have also been consulted by the British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)11. Therefore, this paper has raised concerns and risks for people that are buying and investing properties. In order to overcome this issue and concerns of the public, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) along with the natio nal government has come up with the Memorandum Of Understanding (MoU) which is known as Flood Re. This Memorandum Of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the government, and the carriers and on the basis of this MoU, a non-profit or a not-for-profit flood fund has been developed12. Association Of British Insurers (ABI) is an important company in the insurance industry as it has more than 90% of the market share in the United Kingdom insurance market13. The basic idea of this Flood Re is to offer a cap flood insurance premium for the property owners. This insurance premium will be according to the value of the properties. Moreover, this fund will offer insurance to people that are at a higher risk for flood

Brief history of the industrial revolution in America Essay

Brief history of the industrial revolution in America - Essay Example One of the events that shaped America history is the 15th amendment that prohibited discrimination or denying the right to vote by American on the excuse of race or colour (Berkin, Miller, Cherny, and Gormly, 78). This event happened after the whites had passed a legislation that disallowed people of black origin not to vote in elections. Black human rights activists, who put pressure on the government to amend the legislation opposed this move. As a follow up to the 15th amendment, a 19th one was made on the constitution that allowed women to vote in national and local elections. These amendments were made under the congressional reconstruction, which saw the southern states divided into military districts. Under this period, Andrew Johnson was impeached for violating the tenure of office act by removing Staton but the main reason was his defiance for reconstruction of the congress; 18th amendment was also enacted in 1930’s , and it banned production and sale of alcohol in Un ited States of America. Although this amendment received huge support from the masses, there were not enough police officers to enact it, and therefore the leaker takers found a way to brew their own beer. With time, the authorities found out that prohibition of production and sale of alcohol contributed a lot to law breaking, this led to the abolishment of the regulation. During the period from 1877 to 1913, United States grew in terms of industrialization to become the leading industrial nation with well-organised railroads, labour and industries; the income of non-farm workers grew by about 75 per cent by 1900 and grew further by 33 per cent by 1918. The first industrial revolution that occurred in America saw production move from artisan to factories, while the second revolution saw the expansion of the factories to in terms of size, coordination and organisation to industry level, which was facilitated by advancements in technology and improvements in transport

Long Term Decisions Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Long Term Decisions - Research Paper Example This infrastructure is what fast tracts quick growth of business developments in the country and creates a workable business environment. This makes the country a good investment hub as it has the appropriate infrastructure for business development. The government’s involvement also leads to improvement in the infrastructure institutionally. This is where the government regulates performance of business to curb transaction vices such as corruption and fraud. Consumers would have to bear a heavy burden of high prices facilitated by calculated behind the scene moves by some unscrupulous traders who want fleece consumers of their hard-earned coin if price setting is left to the forces of demand and supply. The government comes in to set price controls in order to make the goods affordable to low income earners enable the manufacturers get the right return on their investment. The government’s main role is to control and maintain this balance. Other cases of government†™s involvement in the market system are the high investment projects. These are investment projects that need huge capital for them to pick up and that the country must have. The government has to take up the task since to private investors lack the financial muscle to undertake it. Such projects include electricity generation and distribution for the entire country, harbors and airports of international stature e.t.c On the other hand, government’s involvement in business is discouraged considering its drawbacks such as the cumbersome procedures encountered due to the bureaucracy in formation of the business. This leads to market inefficiencies due to the time and money wasted in boardroom meetings to come up with the right policies and structures to legitimize every business transaction such as licensing, leasing, taxation, e.t.c leading to delay in decision making thus the industry is unable to take advantage of emerging opportunities due to its rigidity. The civil serva nts who lack incentives from the government such as good salaries and allowances also lead to inefficiency in the market system. This is because they are not well motivated. Due to their low salaries, they, together with board members who are regulators of the system, engage in corruption and fraud to make an extra coin. This is common in tax officials who will opt to take huge tax bribes to wipe off a tax offender’s record instead of enforcing the set laws. Too much involvement of the government in the market system may lead to miscommunication in the industry. These is because the participants feel the government is too strict or firm thus fear to pass across information that may be vital for the smooth running and operations of businesses in the market process. This eventually leads to turbulent effects in the market such as deflation, inflation, and economic depressions. Such tides are usually very unconducive for business performance as it wrecks its environment. The USA is the leading world economy. As such, the government intervenes in the market process to ensure that this remains so and that the USA citizens enjoy the best there is to offer. The government intervenes to regulate FDI investments. This is because it wants to ensure that the country owns a major stake or controllable share in the establishment. The USA has the largest market in the world and many businesses seek to share part of it. The country has a mixed economy.

HSBC Risk Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

HSBC Risk Management - Essay Example The problem is that profit, the measure of reward, requires, as a minimum, a pencil, the back of an envelope, and some degree of skill in arithmetic calculations. HSBC is the world's largest banking group operating on the global scale. HSBC is considered the 4th largest financial institution of the world with $2,348.98 billion of assets. Also, HSBC is the largest bank with market value of $180.81 billion and the most profitable bank with $19.13 billion2. For this financial group, risk management is crucial to forecast and predict possible market changes and economic fluctuations. Similar to HSBC, MNCs face financial problems and need risk management techniques to avoid profit loss and sustain market growth. For both types of corporations, the first principle of sound financial systems is to lend money only to those who do not need the money. This may sound contradictory to the intent of banking, but it is not. Banking is a business where the banker takes the savings of a number of individuals and lends the money to others. Those whose savings are being redirected to others as loans do not know, or care, that this is happening3. All they care about is the timely payment of interest and the right to withdraw money at one hundred cents on every dollar. Bankers are lenders not of personal or bank funds, but the funds of depositors. Bankers are, in effect, borrowers. HSBC Bankers borrow money from depositors and pay them interest. They take the money and lend it out to others at a higher rate of interest. What bankers expect from borrowers is what depositors expect from bankers. Depositors, borrowers, and bankers function in a system where repayment is in terms of one hundred cents for every dollar deposited or borrowed. Depositors expect one hundred cents on every dollar that bankers have borrowed from them4. For bankers to honor their obligations to depositors, bankers must expect one hundred cents returned on every dollar that they have lent to borrowers. From the bankers' perspective, a deposit is a liability on the books because they "owe" this to depositors at the time when depositors desire to withdraw money. A loan t o a borrower is an asset from the perspective of a banker because its interest represents income and its repayment represents cash flow into the bank. To maintain a balance between assets and liabilities, a dollar's worth of assets and a dollar's worth of liabilities must be in terms of one hundred cents on the dollar5. "What If" analysis is part of risk management for HSBC and MNCs. "What If" analysis consists of looking not only at the most likely, from which one derives a measure of reward, but also certain unlikely cases where the events of business life do not follow the most likely script. The measure of reward diminishes with respect to the measure of reward for the most likely case. At some point, the measure of reward becomes the measure of risk. A measure of risk is a low degree of reward that is insufficient either to meet expenses or to provide a minimum return on investment. Risk, in a business environment, can be looked upon as an unsatisfactory level of reward where t he wisdom of proceeding with the project must be questioned6. In viewing loan applications or proposals, bankers focus on the prospects of repayment. This is because loans are made when it is perceived that the borrower does not need the money. In other words, loans are made wh