General Mills Financial Analysis Essay

From ready-to-eat cereal to convenient meals to wholesome snacks, General Mills is one of the biggest food products manufacturers and competes in growing food categories that are on-trend with consumer tastes around the world. The company markets many well-known brands, such as Haagen Daazs, Yoplait, Betty Crocker, Totinos, and Cheerios, among others. Main rivals include Kellogg, Kraft, Conagra Foods, and Sara Lee. General Mills sells its products in three segments: U.S. retail (63% of net sales), International (25% of net sales), and Bakeries and Foodservices (12% of net sales). In addition, General Mills sells cereals and ice cream through its Cereal Partners Worldwide and Haagen Daazs Japan joint ventures. General Mills continues building its presence in developed markets and increasing presence in emerging markets worldwide by investing in established brands while also developing new products. The company’s goal is to generate balanced, long term growth. Profitable perform ance through the past years General Mills has shown a strong profitable performance during the past years. The company has achieved during the last 3 years an average RoE of 28% supported by strong efficiency, financial leverage, and a moderate profitability ratio given the nature of the business. This has resulted in a positive trend of the share price that delivered 3 year returns of 44% from 2009. The upward trend in RoE that peaked in 2011 reaching 30.6% reversed in 2012 that closed with a RoE of 24.5%. The RoE drop of c. 600 bps in 2012 compared to 2011 is explained by a reduction in profitability that was affected by high input-cost inflation primarily in food ingredients and energy that was not fully transferred to customers (370 bps Gross Profit Margin drop). Performance was also affected by restructuring actions (60 bps impact on profitability) taken to improve organizational effectiveness to drive future growth. General Mills managed to continue improving efficiency as the increase in sales (3 Years CAGR of 6.7%) outpaced the average assets growth (3 Years CAGR of 5.8%), reachin g in 2012 the highest efficiency ratio (83.8%) of the past 3 years. Efficiency improvement was primarily supported by inventory reduction efforts that, coupled with increase in accounts payable derived from shifts in timing of payments, reduced the cash conversion cycle to 43 days. It is worth noting that during fiscal 2012 the balance sheet had an important growth as a result of the acquisition of the international Yoplait business, including goodwill and other intangible assets of $2.3 bn USD. Sales growth also benefited from the acquisition and will be discussed in the next section. General Mills runs a leveraged operation where, in average, the total assets are 3 times shareholders equity. Leverage ratio has decreased since 2010 as retained earnings have increased at a faster pace than assets driven by strong business performance. A slight revamp in the leverage ratio during fiscal 2012 was mainly driven by an increase in other comprehensive losses related to pensions and postemployment activity, and foreign currency translation that offset retained earnings for the same period. Sustainable growth while generating strong levels of cash flows General Mills has shown a strong, sustainable growth throughout the last years. Net sales increase has been driven by a moderate average growth in the US Retail segment (3.8%), coupled with the expansion in the International business (13.4%). The big year on year increase of 12% in fiscal 2012 is driven by the acquisition of the international Yoplait yogurt business that contributed 7 points of sales growth, while underlying business grew 5%. It is important to note that sales growth has been mainly driven by volume growth with a slight component of net price increase and a favorable mix. Segment Operating Profit has also maintained a sustainable growth. The slowdown during fiscal 2012 and drop of Gross Profit Margin is driven by high input-cost inflation as previously mentioned. Despite high costs, the company managed to increase segment operating profit to exceed $3bn for the first time in the company’s history. General Mills has managed to generate strong levels of cash flowacross the years. Over the most recent 5 years, the company operations have generated almost $10bn USD in cash. A significant portion of this cash has been returned to stockholders through dividends and shares repurchase. In addition, this cash is used to fund Capital expenditure. In the most recent year, the company operations generated $2.4bn of cash compared to $1.5bn in the prior year. The major increase is driven by a favorable change in working capital supported by inventory reduction efforts, prepaid expenses, and other current assets. Cash used by investing activities had a significant increase in fiscal 2012 that is mainly explained by the acquisition of international Yoplait ($1bn USD). General Mills invested in fiscal 2012 c. $700m USD in land, buildings and equipment, similar to previous years. Cash used by financing activities includes a constant payment of dividends and purchase of treasury stock in the last years. In addition, General Mills has been actively managing their cost of funds by issuing / pre-paying long term debt and commercial paper as convenient. General Mills performance has outpaced main competitors in the recent years General Mills strong performance is accentuated when benchmarked against Kellog Co, another of the key food producers. Both companies present similar profitability with General Mills having a lower gross profit margin compensated by lower marketing investment and general expenses. Nevertheless, General Mills has managed to grow sales and has delivered higher returns at a faster pace than Kellog. In addition, General Mills produces higher levels of free cash flow and has grown dividends per share faster. Finally, Kellog has a heavy debt load while General Mills has lower leverage ratio. Solid position to face a challenging, uncertain future In a nutshell, General Mills has shown a strong performance in the recent years and has outperformed his competitors mainly in compound growth rates and value creation. A challenging future lies ahead with uncertain economic environment and increase in commodity costs. Pricing strategy to maintain margin while not impacting market share will play a key variable in the company’s performance. Strong brands, innovations, expansion in diversified markets, and solid cash position and moderate leverage should support General Mills to face these challenges and continue creating value in the following years.

Scientific Method Research

This hypothesis will require research proving or disproving the question of mental illness causing a person's chance of becoming homeless to increase. I will first locate an area with a high volume of homeless individuals, as this research will include all genders and races. The participants of this study will include individuals who has suffered from any type of mental illness or had to undergo any form of psychiatric treatment. The next step would be to collect actual information showing current homeless rates and if at all possible, records indicating mental illness.I will also collect information from local homeless shelters and single-room housing programs in order to determine the availability of resources to the homeless. Food banks or kitchens will also be a great research aid, as these institutions provide free meals at no charge to these individuals, and lastly, make an attempt to gather information from a face to face conversation with people who are actually living on the streets. This method would probably be the most difficult, but if there is a hot meal involved, a survey, or form of questionnaire can be administered prior to receiving a meal with minimal force used to complete.To maximize participation, incentives such as gift cards or even a free night stay at a local motel may suffice. After my critical data is collected, I will create individual files with information consisting of dates of contact, as well as all pertinent information collected via questionnaires or face to face interviews in order to form tables and spreadsheets, showing common traits shared amongst these homeless individuals, then generate a separate table showing personnel suffering from mental illness. It is at this point in which these findings will be compared and thoroughly analyzed.This information will be presented in charts or graphs to show certain similarities between all variables. Research findings should be accurate and valid, if not, a new hypothesis concerni ng the issue of homelessness will be generated and studied again. However, if findings are true, this information may become beneficial to local community activist who serve the homeless population, as well as the mentally ill, and may provide the mental health professionals a clearer understanding of the relationship between mental illness and homelessness.This may lead to the question, how money who is mentally incapacitated can learn to sustain a healthy career and provide a living for themselves, or a family without medical attention. Ultimately, this information can be used to improve local programs within the community, or even inform congressmen to take better action responding more appropriately to the needs of the homeless population who are mentally ill. References Campaign for Mental Healthcare [http://www. Calypsos. Org/publications/access/homelessness. HTML] Corporation for Supportive Housing [http://www. Cash. Org/index. CFML? Obfuscation=page. Vicarage;paged

Natural Health Through Natural Medicine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Natural Health Through Natural Medicine - Essay Example Within minutes her ankle swelled up to the size of a basketball and she was in great pain. There was no hospital within miles , but their local guide brought a healer from the village nearby. The healer messaged Jessica's foot with some juniper oil for ten minutes, all the while mumbling a chant. At the end of ten minutes, when the healer asked her to get up and walk, Jessica was more astonished than everybody else to find that she could walk comfortably without pain. Within a day her foot was perfectly normal, and she could continue her trek to the Kedar ranges. The same injury would have cost Jessica much more time and money, besides causing her possible reaction to drugs if she had had recourse to Modern medicine. Natural medicine or Alternate medicine is the need of the hour rather than the impersonal, expensive, technology- dependant Modern medicine with its side effects.. Natural medicine is general term used for a range of unconventional medicines using natural substances and energy fields such as Reiki, Yoga, Homeopathy , Ayurveda, Chinese medicine and many others which assist the body to heal itself. Throughout history the art of healing has been practiced by all cultures. Plants and plant products have been used by the native American healers with great success. The Indian medicine system of Ayurveda, the traditional Chinese system of medicine, the Druids of Europe, all used plants and plant products effectively. Unlike the modern Western medicine or Allopathy which only treats the body, natural medicine systems treat the whole body, mind and the spirit .Natural medicine tries to restore the harmony in body, mind and spirit. The proponents of modern Western medicine say that modern medicine uses the latest in technology for the diagnosis and treatment of the disorder. They say that X-rays, MRI, CT scan and other procedures are followed by the practitioners of modern medicine makes it more scientific. But it is a well known fact that even a simple headache is diagnosed only after a number of tests have been done. Even after that, the patient only experiences temporary relief as lot of pain killers and anti- inflammatory drugs are pumped into her. While it is a good thing for the hospitals and the pharmaceutical companies, the patient will be losing valuable time and money. The conventional doctor treats the condition, not the patient. All patients with headache are the same to him. Since he does not have enough time, he follows a set pattern and suggests the same set of tests whether they are required or not. He uses drugs which suppress the body's natural immune responses .Painkillers can be addictive a nd all modern medicines have side effects. The same condition is treated quite differently by a healer or a shaman. An acupuncturist would be using the body itself to heal itself, which would take a fraction of the time and money conventional medicine does. Modern medicine is all about evidence- based medicine. It does not accept anything without so called scientific evidence. But there is no real evidence to show that eye drops prevent loss of vision in patients of glaucoma, nor is there any evidence that cholesterol can be controlled by certain drugs. On the other hand, the Silva Mind Control method has shown that vision can be improved

Individual Design report -Technology Integration Coursework

Individual Design report -Technology Integration - Coursework Example The artefact itself will be the size of an average human torso, which will be placed on a square platform and will be encased in a glass box of about six feet height and three feet width on all sides. Glass panels on all sides will be electric blue in colour and embedded with LED lightning streaks panelled on the sides and back, which can play different patterns of lightning on predetermined intervals or through sensor detection as people pass by and on-off switch will be controlled both through pre-programmed computer system within the platform of the artefact. The front side will be plain glass with no embellishments to afford a clear view. The female form will be rendered in very light cream colour to allow better transparency. The artefact will be facing the sidewalk or road so that it receives maximum view. The female has a cigarette packet in her left hand and a lighted cigarette between the fingers of her right hand. Every time she brings the cigarette to her mouth and takes a drag, the tip will glow and her lungs will be displayed. As she takes out the cigarette from her mouth and brings the hand down, her lungs will darken and the light will fade out. An audio will play, â€Å"Puffing out Your Lungs?† and simultaneously the lightning streaks will illuminate, playing different patterns on all sides and, at the same time, the words of the audio will appear on the front panel. Once the entire series of action is completed, it will repeat only when a passerby approaches within the radius of five metres, or again at a predetermined interval as per the computer programme. When placed on busy roadsides and other areas in future, the artefact will cater for appropriate changes depending on the locations where these will be placed and will also introduce sensors and other appropriate systems for vehicles passing by. During the intervals between the actions, the system will play some mild music. Evaluation: The main objective of this project is to attract the attention of the public to the health hazards of behaviours such as smoking. The glasswork of the design and the lighting effects are intended for attracting and engaging the public who are the audience for this campaign. LED embedding in glass panels is a rather recently developed technology that has immense potential in attracting attention. The technology involves the use of a â€Å"sustainable active glass system,† which can diffuse an array of vibrant colour lights emanating from LEDs and can be operated through electronic programming (LED in Glass 2011:2). The following diagram will illustrate the system: (LED in Glass 2011) This system allows the emission of light from several multicoloured LED strips through glass edges and the light gets â€Å"refracted out of the front and back† (2). The same technology will be used for the burning tip of the cigarette, which will be triggered on the movement of the arm. This technology offers immense possibility of alig ning a wide range of design, colour and light features into glass and can be highly appealing to the audience, especially during night times. The lightning streaks will be in deep orange colour that will enable visibility from distance and also catch the immediate attraction of public. The system will operate through electronic programming of a suitable type that is user friendly and cost effective. In addition, technologies such as cloud computing will be used for enabling easy access and operational efficiency of the

Economics thoughts and history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economics thoughts and history - Essay Example and real median family income seem to go in different directions, productivity soaring up, with a cumulative change rate of over 300%, while the real median family income going down from 150-100% (Economic Policy Institute, 2012). This situation can be explained using a neo classical framework. The high levels of productivity in relation to lower real income values for median families can have tremendous effects both in the long and short run. In the short run, the middle class, which consists of the majority of citizens, will not have enough income to cater for savings. They will be less motivated to work since they do not feel the impact of their efforts at a national level. In the long run, the demonization of these people would mean productivity is affected. Using the labor theory, the situation captured by the graph has a lot of implications on labor from the middle class in America. In as much as the middle class contributes their labor to the national growth of the economy, they do not reap the benefits. More people will be less motivated to work, making labor a rare factor of production. The cost of labor is bound to increase in the long run. From a Keynesian perspective, the government needs to provide motivation to the middle class by ensuring they also benefit from the increase I productivity. The government can do this by investing in infrastructure and other fixed capital expenditure as well as changing tax laws to reduce the pain felt by middle class families. This will lead to increased productivity and real median family income in the long run. Using the institutional methodology, the situation portrayed in the graph can be remedied by changing institutions that serve the middle class. The cost of services and goods ought to be reduced so as to increase the amount of disposable income among the middle class. The theory of marginal productivity of distribution has various economical assumptions, most of which have highly been criticized. One of

The Virgin Komi Forests Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Virgin Komi Forests - Essay Example However, there are a number of threats to the Forests, including illegal logging and gold-mining, which could cause irreversible damage to the area and the loss of species. This paper aims to illustrate the natural diversity of the area to convince you to provide money for the support of conservation programs in the Virgin Komi Forests. The Diversity of Life As previously mentioned, the Virgin Komi Forests are an incredibly large virgin forest, and encompass a number of important and iconic species. The grey wolf (Canis lupus) inhabits the area, and was once the world’s most widely distributed mammal but is now extinct in a number of areas. Most significantly, the grey wolf used to inhabit a huge amount of territory in Europe, and thus a safe ecological zone within Europe may be of great benefit in protecting this species. The wolverine (Gulo gulo) is also present in the Virgin Komi Forests. Although the wolverine is classified as ‘least concern’ by the IUCN Red L ist, this may be in part due to the fact that it is still common in North America. In Europe, however, trapping and habitat fragmentation have reduced the range of the wolverine and they are now absent in many of the areas in which they were once present. Again, a European protection area for this animal may be of great benefit (Bobretsov & Yakushev, 2008). Although these species are important, there are a number of further species which are classified as rare or endangered by the IUCN Red List. The Ural Mountain anemone species Anemone uralensis is also under threat in the area, mostly because of flooding and human agricultural efforts. The artic sorrel plant is also declining in the area, in part because of its use in Russian soups and in part because of the changing environment of the Forests. The Ecology of the Forests The aforementioned wolverine and grey wolf are just two of the important animals in the area, both of which have been greatly affected by the habitat fragmentatio n common in other parts of Europe. Protection of the Virgin Komi Forests should, therefore, not just focus on saving this creatures but the habitat in which they live, including a number of tree species which are necessary for their livelihood. The black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) is an example of a bird species in the area. These birds rely on tree species in the Virgin Komi Forests, such as the fir (Abies sibirica) and the Siberian larch (Larix sibirica) for their nesting sites and food (Kuuluvainen, Syrjanen & Kalliola, 1998). The black woodpecker also plays an additional ecological role, in that they abandon the holes they have made in the tree bark, which can then become important nesting sites for the smaller birds in the area. The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) is also found in the Virgin Komi Forests. Beaver species are often important keystone species within their environment for a number of reasons. Firstly, beavers are involved in the creation of wetlands which can he lp to increase biodiversity, as well as providing a suitable habitat for other species. Beavers are also involved in tree coppicing, which again alters the natural habitat and provides tree cover for other species. Finally, beavers also play in important role in protecting fish species because their dams trap sediment and improve water quality (Gawthrop, 1999). Although the Eurasian beaver is of

Had I Been White Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Had I Been White - Essay Example Diouna, a young Senegalese woman was working as a laundress for the Pouchet family stationed in Dakar. When the family decided to take a holiday in France, they took Diouna along with them on the mistaken assumption by Diouana that she has been employed as a governess to the children of the couple. The French couple took advantage of the innocence and the lack of literacy of the black girl that made her lose all her hopes and dreams in coming to France. The scheming way of Madame Pouchet in taking Diouna to France was clearly demonstrated in the story. â€Å"In France when she hired a maid not only was the salary higher, but the maid demanded a day off to boot† (770). This was always the dilemma of Madame Pouchet whenever they had their holiday in France. â€Å"She had conceived a plan for her next vacation† (770). Her plan was to hire an African girl because she knew that â€Å"for three thousand francs a month, any young African girl would have followed her to the en d of the earth† (770). Madame Pouchet was set to put up her plan to success by praising the beauty of living in France and by showering Diouana with things such as old clothes and shoes that she knows would be of great necessity on the impoverished condition of Diouana and her family. Diouana fantasizes France as the land where her hope of becoming rich will come true. All she could think of was the â€Å"beauty, richness, and the joy of living† (770) in France. For Diouana getting rich would mean the â€Å"freedom to go where she wished, without having to work like a beast of burden† (770). This was the set of mind of Diouana that even an advice from Tive Correa, an old sailor who spent twenty years of his life in France, â€Å"For Diouana, he predicted nothing but misfortune† (772), was not given any consideration or thought. The youth should listen to the wisdom of experience of the old generation because they have been exposed to the realities of life and they are no longer blinded by their dreams. The courage of Tive Correa to counter the defense of Monsiuer Pouchet: â€Å"Certainly. What young African doesn’t dream of going to France?† (772) when the former announced that they did not force Diouana to come with them, was a manifestation of how knowledgeable he was on the real life of the Africans far from their native land. Diouana should have been more sensible when Tive Correa related how young Africans â€Å"confuse living in France with being a servant in France† (772). It should have been an eye opener for Diouna when Tive Correa relates that in Casamance, â€Å"we say that the darkness pursues the butterfly† (772) and not â€Å"the light attracts the butterfly† (772). Realization on her real life in France dawned upon Diouana: â€Å"Sold, sold. Bought, bought. They’ve bought me. For three thousand francs I do all this work. They lured me, tied me to them, and I’m stuck her e like a slave† (775). There is nothing more crushing to the spirit of one who is dreaming of a good life than knowing that he was deceived. Deceived up to the extent of losing one’s identity – â€Å"The neighbors would say: ‘It’s the Pouchets’ black girl . . .’ She wasn’t ‘the African girl’ in her own right, but theirs. And that hurt† (775). It was a very sad state for a person to feel so alone, far from the family who would protect and love and feeling that all hopes are shattered. These conditions usually lead to self-incrimination and will lead to getting angry with oneself and blaming yourself for all the misfortunes. â€Å"Her ignorance made her mute. It was infuriating.†(775). The deception of Madame Pouchet was unmasked by Diouana and she detest being lured by her employers. Madame Pouchet’

College Math Problem Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

College - Math Problem Example Hi! It is simple, though unusual. Vectors differ from many other mathematical notions because a vector is determined by both numerical value and vector's direction. So, vector is not only a number. You can imagine a vector as an arrow of certain length. Exactly! You can compare it with buses that have the same route but go in the opposite direction. If you stand at a bus stop waiting for the bus to go to the nearby town, it does not help you if exactly the same minute the bus leaves the town of your destination and heads the other way. Although it is the same bus, you can not ride it as it goes in the different direction. The straight-line movement of the bus can be characterized by a vector. To determine whether it is better to use elimination or substitution method to solve a system of equations, first of all, it is advisable to examine closely the coefficients in the equations of the original system. If the coefficients before one of the variables in two of the equations are the same, but have the opposite sign (or have the same sign - then one of the equations should be simply multiplied by -1) then it would be more practical to use the elimination method. This method is also handy for solving bigger systems that contain three or more variables.

Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps (1935) Essay Example for Free

Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps (1935) Essay Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film The 39 Steps, is today regarded as among the best of his career, and possibly his best film before he left Britain for Hollywood in 1939. Its history was somewhat tortuous and unconventional, reflecting Hitchcock’s own unconventional working style and eccentric personality, and it became an archetype of how Hitchcock worked with actors and screenwriting collaborators alike. Based on an adventure novel by British-born lawyer and government official John Buchan, the story of an innocent man wrongly accused of murder and embroiled in an espionage plot (which he ultimately foils) bore little resemblance to its source. As was Hitchcock’s practice, he selected a literary source and adapted it freely, adding elements of what he considered a good film – in particular, romantic, frequently sexual subplots and devices intended to keep both the audience and characters within the film off-balance. After completing The Man Who Knew Too Much, Hitchcock discovered his gift for making mystery thrillers and selected as his next project Buchan’s novel, which he had read in his youth along with the author’s other adventure tales. First, Hitchcock had to transform the book into a screenplay, though this involved not merely translating the story – which was really a male-oriented thriller without a heroine or any hint of romance – into a more complex and interesting vehicle, complete with the romantic interest that the era’s audiences expected. Using the novel only loosely, Hitchcock’s main method for creating screenplays was to act as a sort of informal story editor, collaborating with others who would contribute a wide range of ideas and keeping those he found suitable to the story. He also used Plotto, a compendium of interchangeable master plots, into which he freely inserted elements he liked. Film historian Patrick McGilligan comments, â€Å"Never mind that sometimes the inserts were implausible. ‘I’m not concerned with plausibility,’ Hitchcock liked to boast. . . . ‘Must a picture be logical, when life is not? ’† (McGilligan, 2003, p. 158) For this film, Hitchcock chose an informal group of collaborators whom he dubbed the â€Å"Cromwell Road Group;† Buchan was not among them, as Hitchcock preferred. Finding fidelity to literary sources confining, Hitchcock had previously adapted both novels and plays but resented authors’ intrusions into his work, particularly in the case of the latter. Says McGilligan, â€Å"Novelists never claimed the same control over film adaptations as playwrights – and Hitchcock was through with plays, for the time being. . . . Hitchcock had more power now, and he preferred the freedom of working with novels† (McGilligan, 2003, p. 170). His group included writers Alma and Charles Bennett, as well as humorist Ian Hay – the only collaborators credited for the screenplay, though only for â€Å"continuity† in Alma Bennett’s case (McGilligan, 2003, p. 172). From them he fielded ideas about how to flesh out the thin plot and develop its themes. In this early phase, Hitchcock began developing the film’s themes and motifs. Most importantly, he chose to sexualize what film historian Thomas Leitch calls â€Å"Buchan’s adventure yarn for grownup boys† (Leitch, 2002, p. 333) by adding two romantic subplots, neither of which appeared in the novel. The first involves Pamela (Madeleine Carroll), who at first tells the police about protagonist Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) but ultimately falls in love with him, after he convinces her of his innocence. The second concerns the loveless marriage between the Scottish farm couple who hide Hannay during his pursuit; this part, borrowed from a contemporary novel called The Shulamite (McGilligan, 2003, p. 171), offered a counterpoint between the love developing between Hannay and Pamela. Hitchcock often offered contrasts as part of his motifs; for example, in this film he contrasts brunette actress Lucie Mannheim’s mysterious spy character (whose stabbing death is wrongly blamed on Hannay) against blonde Madeleine Carroll, the film’s virtuous heroine. Here, these characters obviously symbolize darkness and light, evil and good. Another contrast he explores is the disparity between appearance and reality, which persists throughout the entire film. Hannay is pursued by the British police and must assume false identities throughout his travels, while also encountering members of the spy ring who pursue him while keeping their own identities secret. Another key Hitchcock motif involved the use of handcuffs, since Hannay and Pamela are handcuffed together for a portion of the film. Reappearing in subsequent films, the handcuffs are thought to have a strong sexual connotation. Film scholar Slavoj Zizek writes that the handcuffs motif is sexual but also used â€Å"to put the love couple to the test . . . [by] maturing [them] through a series of ordeals† (Zizek, 1992, p. 4). Indeed, Hannay and Pamela move from mistrust and betrayal to trust and eventually love. Also, he uses the â€Å"double chase† motif, in which the protagonist is pursued (often under the assumption of guilt) but also pursues the agent of his misfortune, who can also release him from his predicament. (This appeared in Buchan’s novel but also recurs in numerous Hitchcock films, such as Saboteur and North by Northwest. ) Hannay flees from the authorities but is also pursuing the spies responsible for the murder for which he is wrongly accused. Incorporated with this is what film historians dub â€Å"the MacGuffin,† an unseen or little-seen object that matters vastly more to the film’s characters than to the audience. This device serves primarily as a catalyst for the film’s action (in this case, a set of plans for fighter planes). To a lesser extent, Hitchcock shows a prescient warning about the dangers of fascism. The spy ring hails from an unnamed nation, but, given Hitchcock’s own liberal sentiments (and the more leftist leanings of co-producer Ivan Montagu), the film functions as a warning against Hitler. Scholar Ina Rae Hark cites the conclusion, where Mr. Memory’s audience rises to its feet and helps apprehend the spy who shoots the vaudeville performer. Hark claims that â€Å"only after the citizens’ liberation from the social codes of spectatorship that the . . . guardians of democracy can eliminate the external threat† (Boyd, 1995, p. 100). Even before shooting began in January 1935, Hitchcock faced issues with even getting the film made. When Gaumont-British studio chief Michael Balcon took an extended leave of absence to visit the United States, he left control to board member, C. M. Woolf, who had a clear personal and artistic antipathy toward Hitchcock. A financier and film distributor with decidedly conservative tastes (he favored light comedies and lowbrow adventures, which were safe and profitable), Woolf disdained anything â€Å"artistic† and tried to block the film’s production, trying to assign Hitchcock (who relished his creative freedom) to another, less adventurous project. However, co-producer Ivan Montagu managed to stall this until Balcon returned and overruled Woolf’s decision, allowing work on The 39 Steps to proceed and rescuing the film from oblivion (Chandler, 2005, pp.96-97). Another issue involved Hitchcock’s famously brusque treatment of actors, which he considered merely a method for preparing them to assume their roles. According to McGilligan, â€Å"Adopting an attitude toward his actors that the story took toward their characters: it was a Hitchcock strategy rarely expounded upon; perhaps it was subconscious, but it was effective. . . . The iron fist was always there, lurking in reserve† (McGilligan, 2003, p. 174). This film provides a fairly illustrative example of how Hitchcock achieved this. As his second choice for the female lead, Hitchcock hired Madeleine Carroll, whose looks and onscreen charm matched those of start Robert Donat, though he was initially uncertain about her acting ability, which he had previously considered lacking. On the first day of filming, Hitchcock handcuffed Donat and Carroll together, as was required in the script, but claimed to have misplaced the key, leaving his lead performers shacked together for an uncomfortable length of time. Donat apparently accepted it, though Carroll grew annoyed and eventually let down his cool, dignified exterior in order to convey her character’s discomfort and initial disdain for Hannay. Hitchcock began shooting the film in January 1935, making certain to hire the right personnel to realize his vision and, more importantly, follow his specifications (as past crew members had sometimes failed to do). In particular, he chose longtime acquaintance Bernard Knowles as cinematographer, because Knowles specialized in creating the kind of atmospheric lighting The 39 Steps would need as a mystery thriller, and because he would comply with Hitchcock’s precise instructions, as other cinematographers had failed to do in the past (McGilligan, 2003, p. 172). Due to a relatively slim budget of less than sixty thousand pounds, a figure that would pale in comparison to the large budgets he received in Hollywood, Hitchcock shot the film mainly at Gaumont’s Lime Grove studios in London, with two brief forays into Scotland to shot location scenes. He finished in less than four months, and the film was released in Britain in June 1935 and in the United States on 1 August (Leitch, 2002, p. 331). The film’s trailers left much to the imagination, not hinting at the story to come. The original focuses only on the initial performance of â€Å"Mr. Memory,† the vaudeville performer who, in the end, reveals that the Thirty-nine Steps are actually a spy ring (in the presence of numerous witnesses and the authorities), resulting in his on-stage murder; it shows nothing of the plot or subsequent action. A later one is shorter and more sensationalistic, showing Pamela’s betrayal of Hannay to the police, a bit of his chase, and Hannay asking Mr. Memory â€Å"What are the Thirty-nine Steps? † This one promises â€Å"MURDER! MYSTERY!! TREACHERY!!! ROMANCE!!!! † (Alfred Hitchcock’s Trailers) Hitchcock himself promoted the film by suggesting that filmgoers see it â€Å"at least three times, in order to pick out all the details and the intention behind them, and in order to get deeper into things† (Spoto, 1992, p. 46). The 39 Steps was instantly successful on both sides of the Atlantic and considered by some contemporary critics to be Hitchcock’s best work to date (McGilligan, 2002, p. 175). It certainly furthered Hollywood studios’ interest in the director; apparently, American studios had courted Hitchcock prior to the film’s release, but offers appeared in greater numbers after mid-1935. Gaumont-British director Michael Balcon fended off most of them, aiming to keep Hitchcock within his fold as long as possibly. However, lured by larger budgets and promises of the creative freedom he prized, Hitchcock left for the United States in 1939. Today, the film is still highly-regarded, though perhaps less so in light of Hitchcock’s Hollywood films, made between 1940 and 1976. Critics maintain that it is the best of his career’s British years. Film scholar Donald Spoto comments: â€Å"Some critics have dismissed the film as little more than a pleasant diversion . . . but a merely pleasant diversion does not continually generate fresh interest and disclose new richness after multiple viewings and the passage of decades. The 39 Steps . . . improves with age and familiarity† (Spoto, 1992, p. 42). The 39 Steps remains in various ways an example of how Alfred Hitchcock’s creative process. Beginning with a literary work as his inspiration, he transformed it significantly by working loosely with a group of collaborators who supplied ideas that helped him reshape the story into a film that reflected his own favorite themes and sensibilities. He inserted his own themes into the story, particularly the romantic/sexual subplots, and used his somewhat harsh style of shaping actors’ performances. Audiences’ and critics’ opinions of the film have remained high for the last seven decades, giving it even greater stature within the body of the master filmmaker’s work. REFERENCES Anonymous (2006).Alfred Hitchcock’s Trailers. Retrieved 16 May 2006 at http://www. sensesofcinema. com/contents/05/35/hitchcocks_trailers. html. Boyd. D. (1995). Perspectives on Alfred Hitchcock. New York: G. K. Hall. Chandler, C. (2005). It’s Only a Movie. New York: Simon and Schuster. Leitch, T. (2002). The Encyclopedia of Alfred Hitchcock. New York: Facts on File. McGilligan, P. (2003). Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light. New York: ReganBooks. Spoto, D. (1992). The Art of Alfred Hitchcock. New York: Anchor. Zizek, S. , ed. (1992). Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Lacan (But Were Afraid to Ask Hitchcock). London: Verso.

ERP implementation and significance in banking industry

ERP implementation and significance in banking industry The Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (i.e., simply ICICI bank of India) is Indias 2nd largest bank (first being State Bank of India SBI) currently with total assets of value more than 3,634 billion which approximately amounts to US $ 81 billion. For the financial year ended 31st March 2010; the Net Operable Profit After Tax was found to be 40.238 billion which is approximately US $ 898 million. To achieve such a financially high value, the bank needed to have a huge network. Today, its network is one of the biggest networks in the country having 2528 corporate branches and about 6000 ATM centers across the country. It is currently present in 19 countries. Besides India (where it originated); the bank has subsidiaries in USA, UK, Singapore, Bahrain, Hong Kong etc. and representative offices in UAE, China, South Africa, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia etc. The company is focussing on more and more growth and further expecting to expand its market structure. The firm i.e., ICICI Bank in the current scenario; offers an enormous wide range of banking products and various financial services to a large number of corporate and retail customers through a variety of delivery channels and through its specialised subsidiaries in the areas of investment banking, venture capital and insurance sectors. The bank today had multiple number of rewards and its innovative solutions has conquered the minds of customers and managed to win over their hearts. The companys network is the biggest and it had more than 15 million customers by the current year. The growth achieved by the company in the recent few years is noteworthy. ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES As a firm grows, it has certain challenges to face and its profitability totally depends on how it uses various available resources to safeguard itself. The best way to avoid competitors and rivalry firms from sidelining you is to continuously upgrade yourself with latest technology and market trends. The main objective of ICICI bank was to have a universal bank which can provide required value to customers with financial solutions. High technology was required and at the same time, it was necessary to have a proper framework to avoid risks associated. Since, there were various applications involved; the level of vulnerabilities needed to be checked and minimized. Key Business drivers These factors govern the way the firm should manage its business. ICICI bank was established when the economic concepts of liberalizations and globalizations just started in India. Before the arrival of ICICI bank, the banking sector was under control of several state owned and foreign owned banks. But with the arrivals of economic trend like liberalization globalization; Reserve Bank of India (then, apex bank of the nation) had paved the way for private banks to come in. The state owned banks had huge network but no or little innovation involved (focus on service) while reverse was the case with foreign banks. State owned banks focussed on only poor people and gave only simple interface without provoding any special features while foreign banks targetted individuals or corporations with high net worth. So, the only opportunity possible for ICICI bank to grab market share was to target middle class on a larger scale and that too by innovations. Doing this analysis, ICICI Bank decided to position itself as a technology savvy customer friendly bank. Problems with the existing system The existing system had many applications running simultaneously to satisfy the requirements of the customers. But those applications had several vulnerabilities and their weaknesses needed to be addressed before it gets exploited by the customers and competitors. Pravin Vohra, Group CTO, ICICI bank was tensed by the speed of online transactions and he points out that the applications arent centralized enough that makes security testing of applications a highly time consuming task. He wanted to search for proper vendor to organize the given set of applications so that all the security tests can be covered as soon as possible. The main problem was that ICICI had poor risk management and they badly needed some framework to help them assess risk. Secondly the database used in the system wasnt centralized and hence the main task in front of the industry was to have centralized database so that data access becomes simple process. Expectations from the technology Now, the challenge in front of ICICI bank was to have proper framework so that all the weaknesses are corrected at the lowest possible costs. As per words of Chandra Kochar, executive director of ICICI bank; Our objective of creating a universal bank providing end to end financial services clearly required solutions which were based on new generation technology, offered end to end functionality and were highly flexible and scalable. The main problem in the existing system was risk associated with all the applications and most of the applications at that time; needed to be tested continuously so, the bank required a software to manage the testing of all applications autonomously so that the time is not wasted in manually searching for faults and available recovery solutions. To manage proper assessment of risk associated with applications, ICICI needed to have the technology which can test applications and correct problems if possible. In order to penetrate into the market, the bank needed to have the necessary technology to make system strong and to ensure smooth flow of information within the system. The other requirements from the software in India were to have open systems approach, future proof excellent technology and best of breed retail etc. ICICI wanted to achieve economies of scale. Further more, ICICI wanted to have a centralized database to support all applications going on and needed a solution which can boost up its infrastructure in friendly manner. IMPLEMENTING THE ERP TECHNOLOGY ICICI bank had positioned itself as a technology focussed industry. Most of its plants facilities were on the verge of automation and this was mandatory to achieve customer satisfaction and to rival the foreign firms. Selecting the vendor The company had some requirements in front of them and their job was to analyze which vendor would satisfy their requirements. So, they went through brochures of various Application developers and studied software requirements. After studying various features offered by different vendors they decided to shortlist 2 vendors Finacle Core Banking Solution by Infosys and SAP by IBM. ICICI then finalized Fiancle Core Banking solution because it was segmented for financial institutions only. They took Finacle because of its specificity made it suitable for banks, secondly Finacles future proof technology, and extensive corporate banking features, scalable architecture, best of breed retail made it a technology worth selecting. Some of the key technological features offered by Infosys Finacle were: Advizor Helps Banks to deliver services through a self service channel Alerts Provides banks with the capability to alert end users about updates and new services Consumer Relationship Management CRM is a modular, multi lingual application to help bank to have centralized database containing all the customer information want. Core Banking CBS addresses various strategic and key technological processes taking place in a bank. It checks faults associated and corrects them. Direct banking This marketing tool helps banks to directly acquire, track and service customers. E banking Provides high flexibility for customization and robust security features Mobile banking Empowers banking transactions on mobile channels like SMS or GPRS Wealth Management Modular and integrated investment management system for specific purpose Operational data store Data warehouse centralized and secured. Treasury Finacle is an integrated treasury solution covering the entire deal lifecycle for broad range of trading and capital markets products. The major advantage was that Finacle offered so many features at comparative lesser costs compared to other similar technolnogical products. Keeping these many wide and industrial applicable features in mind, the technological software solution used was Finacle and the vendor was Infosys. Problems faced during the beginning The implementation of any technology cannot be successful right from the beginning as risks are involved. The 1st step involved is to make this technological change understandable by humans and hence the challenge was in front of ICICI was to ensure proper training to their employees. For that purpose, special officials were employed. Training were given to employees right from the day when technology was deployed. This was a key step in maintaing vendor relationships. Integrating this technological change with the existing system is the major hurdle which is to be overcomed. The biggest challenge which Finacle had was to ensure Straight Through Processing (known as STP in corporate segment) of various financial transactions. With the ICICI group having many companies under its huge corporate umbrella. Finacle had to integrate with various corporate wide applications like Credit Card, M banking, mutual funds, brokerage, call center and other applications taking place simultaneously. ICICI bank went with a phase of organic and inorganic growth to expand market share. First it bought out Bank of Madurai and then had a reverse merger with parent firm i.e., ICICI limited. Therefore, managing with the technology change was a hurdle for the bank. To overcome this obstacle, ICICI decided to have a strategic partnership with the software vendor i.e., Infosys. That strategic partnership started in 1994 and that close collaboration in 1997 led to many innovations. Getting the benefits during the end Once the problems with the implementation are identifed and corrected via proper planning toolkits, the success and benefits are guaranteed. The major advantage with Finacle was that it was a scalable and open system architecture and this made it a successful implementation. In 2000 only 400, 000 transactions while this figure was more than 2 million in 2005 years so, popularity of the bank drastically increased in only 4 years. The risks associated with people, process and technology was managed and this made ICICI a profitable firm. In 1997, ICICI was the first bank to ensure electronic banking. This made ICICI establish itself as the leader in the e commerce segment. The main advantage of using Finacle was that only 25 % routine transaction take place through branches and remaining through various delivery channels. http://www.infosys.com/finacle/Images/icici_cs_img1.gif Fig: Finacle offering various services in ICICI. Thus, the use of Finacle has helped ICICI in cutting costs and time and managing automatically various transactions that take place on a day to day basis. As shown above, ICICI managed to penetrate into various market segments by the enormous features offered by Fiancle. Today, most of the transactions take place at the bank center by its various distribution channels and not at the branches. CONCLUSIONS After studying the given case, it can be understood that what role the technological advances play in growt A powerful of a bank. A highly scalable and flexible technology platform is essential for organizations to manage growth and compete successfully. Such a software is Finacle. Fiancle, a leading IT Core Banking Solution has helped ICICI achieving its objectives across the network. Though ICICI faced certain problems and challenges in the beginning, they managed to win in the end. Thus, investing in technology helped ICICI get rich dividends. The bank has successfully used the Finacle and has managed to successfully deploy the solution in the areas of core banking, consumer driven e-banking (Electronic B 2 C segment), direct banking, corporate e-banking (Electronic B 2 B segment) and Customer Relationship Management. Thus, Finacle guaranteed flexibility to achieve proper segmentation. This helped ICICI in growing its market and having some edge over the competition. because of its high trust on technology, ICICI Bank is recognized as a leader in the region and has won a large number of awards worldwide for its technology-driven initiatives. The bank has used core technology as a strategic differentiator, thus redefining the rules of banking in India and additionally also showing how technology can do some good in transforming a banks business.

Discussion on the Problems of Quantum Theory :: Physics Essays

Discussion on the Problems of Quantum Theory The early 1930s gave us quantum theory, and along with that came many new physical and philosophical arguments. Many problems exist in quantum physics, and many brilliant scientists have spent their lives trying to understand. Heisenberg gave us The Uncertainty Principle, the idea that nothing is certain, just within a probability of certain. It also questioned the scientific method of observation, arguing that no measurement can show an object’s true nature. This brought the idea of quanta, different states, and the question of objects existing in more than one state, or having a dual nature. Scientists, physicists and mathematicians alike have all pondered and questioned these theories for many years and yet there are still problems left unresolved. One of the problems with quantum theory and The Heisenberg Uncertainty principle is the reliance on probabilities. This is to say that nothing can be exactly predicted, just predicted within a certain probability. This implies that nothing can be certain; that there is an uncertainty associated with every statement, even those we consider facts. â€Å"This uncertainty leads to many strange things. For example, in a Quantum Mechanical world, I cannot predict where a particle will be with 100 % certainty. I can only speak in terms of probabilities. For example, I can say that an atom will be at some location with a 99 % probability, but there will be a 1 % probability it will be somewhere else (in fact, there will be a small but finite probabilty that it will be found across the Universe). This is strange† (Heisenberg). This problem is especially troubling at the microscopic level because there still are many uncertainties involved. Scientific technologies have not yet bec ome omniscient. There are still limitations to what can be observed and measured. â€Å"It is important to understand that this is not simply a philosophical question or a rhetorical debate. In QM one often must model systems as the superposition of two or more possible outcomes. Superpositions can produce interference effects and thus are experimentally distinguishable from mixed states. How does a superposition of different possibilities resolve itself into some particular observation?† (Quantum Measurement). This measurement brings up another issue with quantum theory. There was a great debate among scientists as to whether it was possible to measure things without changing them.

Comparing A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie :: essays research papers

“A Streetcar Named Desire'; and “The Glass Menageries were written by Tennessee William in the late Thirties, where the depression made countless of people struggled in poverty. Both of the plays used the typical American family during the Thirties as the background setting. There were many similarities between the plays: including characters and events. Did Tennessee William write the same play twice? Or, did the plays each hold a different meaning underneath?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before analyzing the two plays, we must first analyze the characters. Blanche Dubois in “A Streetcar Named Desire'; and Laura Wingfield in “The Glass Menageries'; have a lot of similarities throughout the two plays. Blanche and Laura are both living in a separate world from other people. Blanch is living in a world of fantasies, while Laura is living in her world with all the glass Menagerie. Blanche seeks for desires and fantasies only because she feels she murdered her husband. Laura lives in her world of glass animals only because of a disease that gives her a slight physical defect. They are mentally and physically crippled, and they want to use illusions to deceive other people. In P.117 Blanch said “I don’t want realism. I want magic! Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don’t tell truth, I tell what ought to be truth.'; Laura does the same thing, where she deceives her mother. She lies to her mother about going to the Business Collage, just like Blanche lies to everyone else about her past.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In “The Glass Menagerie'; the unicorn represents Laura. She is different from all the others, and she would not be able to fit in with the others. She is too sensitive and shy, a very fragile being. Blanche in the play does not fit in with the rest of the people in the community either. She cannot tolerate the way husbands treat their wives in New Orleans, and she is shocked when Stella goes back with Standley after the Polka Night. The same thing happens to Eunice(Stella’s neighbor) a few scene after. In P. 63 Stella tells Blanche “You are making much too much fuss about this.'; And later says “it wasn’t anything as serious as you seem to take it.'; Blanche will never understand how, or why Stella would go back to Stanley because she doesn’t fit into their community, just like Laura will never fit into hers either.

In my opinion, this was the first interesting part of the story. It :: Free Essay Writer

In my opinion, this was the first interesting part of the story. It encouraged me to read on. This was the first person vs. person conflict in the story. The conflict was between Burris and Miss Caroline. Also, this passage contained foreshadowing. To Kill a Mocking Bird Miss Caroline said, â€Å"Sit down please, Burris,† and the moment she said it I knew she had made a serious mistake. The boy’s condescension flashed to anger. â€Å"You try and make me, missus† (pg 27). In my opinion, this was the first interesting part of the story. It encouraged me to read on. This was the first ‘person vs. person’ conflict in the story. The conflict was between Burris and Miss Caroline. Also, this passage contained foreshadowing. When Jean Louis thought, â€Å"and the moment she said it I knew she had made a serious mistake†, she was foreshadowing the tantrum that Burris would go on. According to Miss Stephanie, Boo was sitting in the living room cutting some items from The Maycomb Tribune to paste in his scrapbook. His father entered the room. As Mr. Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities (pg 11). This was terribly shocking. It revealed Arthur’s (Boo Radley’s) character immediately. It seemed that he became ruthless, violent, and heartless when he joined the gang. I think he was turning evil. All of his love for everything was slowly turning into hatred. The old house was the same, droopy and sick, but as we stared down the street we thought we saw an inside shutter move. Flick. A tiny, almost invisible movement and the house was very still (pg 15). I can see the plot structure developing from this passage. It really kept me in suspense. In my opinion, this passage implies that Boo Radley saw the three boys execute their little stunt. Usually, no one would be concerned if some one were to touch his or her house. However, Boo Radley was a very violent person and had been locked up in his house for years. Therefore, I think the three boys will have a conflict with Boo Radley eventually. â€Å"I’m goin’ after them ’em,† he said. I sat upright. â€Å"You can’t. I won’t let you.† (pg 56). This passage reveals the characters of both

Asi Questions Essay

The Interview Format – Does It Have to be an Interview? This is perhaps the most often asked question regarding the ASI. In the search for faster and easier methods of collecting data many clinicians and researchers have asked for a self-administered (either by computer or paper and pencil) version of the instrument. We have not sanctioned the use of a self-administered version for several reasons. First, we have tested the reliability and validity of the severity ratings by having raters use just the information that has been collected on the form – without the interview. This has resulted in very poor estimates of problem severity and essentially no concurrent reliability. Second, we have been sensitive to problems of illiteracy among segments of the substance abusing population. Even among the literate there are problems of attention, interest and comprehension that are especially relevant to this population. Finally, since the instrument is often used as part of the initial clinical evaluation, it has been our philosophy that it is important to have interpersonal contact for at least one part of that initial evaluation. We see this as simply being polite and supportive to a patient with problems. We have seen no convincing demonstration that the interview format produces worse (less reliable or valid) information than other methods of administration and we have found that particularly among some segments of the substance abusing population (eg. the psychiatrically ill, elderly, confused and physically sick) the interview format may be the only viable method for insuring understanding of the questions asked. Particularly in the clinical situation, the general demeanor or â€Å"feel† of a patient is poorly captured without person-to-person contact and this can be an important additional source of information for clinical staff. There are of course many useful, valid and reliable self-administered instruments appropriate for the substance abuse population. For example, we have routinely used selfadministered questionnaires and other instruments with very satisfactory results (eg. Beck Depression Inventory, MAST, SCL-90, etc.) but these are usually very focussed instruments that have achieved validity and consistency by asking numerous questions related to a single theme (eg. depression, alcohol abuse, etc.). The ASI is purposely broadly focussed for the purposes outlined above, and we have not been successful in creating a viable self-administered instrument that can efficiently collect the range of information sought by the ASI. Thus, it should be clear that at this writing there is no reliable or valid version of the ASI that is self-administered and there is currently no plan for developing this format for the instrument. We would of course be persuaded by comparative data from a reliable, valid and useful self-administered version of the ASI and this is an open invitation to interested parties. Role of the Interviewer – What are the qualifications needed for an ASI interviewer? Having indicated the importance of the interview process it follows that the most important part of the ASI is the interviewer who collects the information. The interviewer is not simply the recorder of a series of subjective statements. The interviewer is responsible for the integrity of the information collected and must be willing to repeat, paraphrase and probe until he/she is satisfied that the patient understands the question and that the answer reflects the best judgment of the patient, consistent with the intent of the question. It must be emphasized that the interviewer must understand the intent of each question. This is very important since despite the range of situations and unusual answers that we have described in the manual, a new exception or previously unheard of situation occurs virtually each week. Thus, ASI interviewers should not expect to find answers in the workbook to all of the unusual situations that they will encounter in using the ASI. Instead it will be critical for the interviewer to understand the intent of the question, to probe for the most complete information available from the patient and then to record the most appropriate answer, including a comment. There is a very basic set of personal qualities necessary for becoming a proficient interviewer. First, the prospective interviewer must be personable and supportive – capable of forming good rapport with a range of patients who may be difficult. It is no secret that many individuals have negative feelings about substance abusers and these feelings are revealed to the patients very quickly, thereby compromising any form of rapport. Second, the interviewer must be able to help the patient separate the problem areas and to examine them individually using the questions provided. Equally important qualities in the prospective interviewer are the basic intelligence to understand the intent of the questions in the interview and the commitment to collecting the information in a responsible manner. There are no clear-cut educational or background characteristics that have been reliably associated with the ability to perform a proficient ASI interview. We have trained a wide range of people to administer the ASI, including receptionists, college students, police/probation officers, physicians, professional interviewers and even a research psychologist!! There have been people from each of these groups who were simply unsuited to performing interviews and were excluded during training (perhaps 10% of all those trained) or on subsequent reliability checks. Reasons for exclusion were usually because they simply couldn’t form reasonable rapport with the patients, they were not sensitive to lack of understanding or distrust in the patient, they were not able to effectively probe initially confused answers with supplemental clarifying questions or they simply didn’t agree with the approach of the ASI (examining problems individually rather than as a function of substance abuse). With regard to assisting the interviewer in checking for understanding and consistency during the interview, there are many reliability checks buil t into the ASI. They are discussed in some detail in the workbook and they have been used effectively to insure the quality and consistency of the collected data. Severity Ratings – How important and useful are they? It is noteworthy that the severity ratings were historically the last items to be included on the ASI. They were considered to be interesting but non-essential items that were a summary convenience for people who wished a quick general profile of a patient’s problem status. They were only provided for clinical convenience and never intended for research use. It was surprising and interesting for us to find that when interviewers were trained comparably and appropriately, these severity estimates were reliable and valid across a range of patient types and interviewer types. Further, they remain a useful clinical summary that we continue to use regularly – but only for initial treatment planning and referral. A Note on â€Å"Severity† – It should be noted that much of the reason for the reliability and validity of these severity ratings is the structured interview format and the strict (some would say arbitrary) definition of severity that we have adopted: ie.†need for additional treatment.† Many users of the ASI have selected the instrument exclusively for research purposes and these ratings have never been used for this purpose – especially as outcome measures. Other users do not agree with our definition of severity. Still others do not have the time or inclination to check and recheck severity estimates among their various interviewers. For all of these potential users the severity ratings would not be useful or worth the investment of man-hours required to train reliability. Even for those with primary clinical uses, these ratings are not essential and are perhaps the most vulnerable of all the ASI items to the influences of poor interviewing skills, patient misrepresentation or lack of comprehension and even the surroundings under which the interview is conducted. Therefore, it is entirely acceptable to train ASI interviewers and to use the ASI without referral to the severity ratings. Composite Scores – What are they for, why were they constructed this way and what are the norms? Users familiar with earlier editions of the ASI know there is a separate manual designed to describe their use and to show how to calculate them (See Composite Scores from the Addiction Severity Index – McGahan et al. 1986). The composite scores have been developed from combinations of items in each problem area that are capable of showing change (ie. based on the prior thirty day period, not lifetime) and that offer the most internally consistent estimate of problem status. The complicated formulas used in the calculation of these composites are necessary to insure equal weighting of all items in the composite. These composites have been very useful to researchers as mathematically sound measures of change in problem status but have had almost no value to clinicians as indications of current status in a problem area. This is due to the failure on our part to develop and publish normative values for representative groups of substance abuse patients (eg. methadone maintained males, cocaine dependent females in drug free treatment, etc.). At the risk of being defensive, our primary interest was measuring change among our local patients and not comparing the current problem status of various patient groups across the country. Further, we simply did not foresee the range of interest that has been shown in the instrument. A Note on â€Å"Norms† for the Composite Scores – At this writing, we are collecting ASI data from a variety of patient sampl es across the country. These samples will be used to convert the composite raw scores into T-scores with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10 (as MMPI and SCL-90 scores are presented). Our intention is to publish these â€Å"normative data† and to circulate copies of the tables to all individuals who have sent to us for ASI packets. We will also provide programs written in Basic, Lotus 123 ® or Excel ®to calculate these composite scores and to convert existing composite scores into Tscores. In this way we hope to make up for the lack of standardization that has been a problem with the composite scores to this time. Appropriate Populations – Can I use the ASI with samples of Substance Abusing Prisoners or Psychiatrically Ill Substance Abusers? Because the ASI has been shown to be reliable and valid among substance abusers applying for treatment, many workers in related fields have used the ASI with substance abusing samples from their populations. For example, the ASI has been used at the time of incarceration and/or parole/probation to evaluate substance abuse and other problems in criminal populations. In addition, because of the widespread substance abuse among mentally ill and homeless populations, the ASI has also been used among these groups. While we have collaborated with many workers on the use of the instrument with these populations; it should be clear that there are no reliability or validity studies of the instrument in these populations. This of course does not mean that the ASI is necessarily invalid with these groups, only that its test parameters have not been established. In fact, workers from these fields have turned to the ASI because they felt that no other suitable instrument was available. In cases where this is true, it is likely that the ASI would be a better choice than creating a totally new instrument. However, it is important to note circumstances that are likely to reduce the value of data from the ASI among these groups. For example, when used with a treatment seeking sample and an independent, trained interviewer, there is less reason for a potential substance abuser to misrepresent (even under these circumstances it still happens). In circumstances where individuals are being â€Å"evaluated for probation/parole or jail† there is obviously much more likelihood of misrepresentation. Similarly, when the ASI is used with psychiatrically ill substance abusers who are not necessarily seeking (and possibly avoiding) treatment, there is often reason to suspect denial, confusion and misrepresentation. Again, there is currently no suitabl e alternative instrument or procedure available that will insure valid, accurate responses under these conditions. The consistency checks built into the ASI may even be of some benefit in these circumstances. However, it is important to realize the limits of the instrument. Regardless, systematic tests of the reliability and validity of the ASI in populations of substance abusers within the criminal justice system and within the mental health system are necessary but have not been done and this is an open invitation to interested parties. A Special Note on Adolescent Populations – Despite the fact that we have repeatedly published warnings for potential users of the ASI regarding the lack of reliability, validity and utility of the instrument with adolescent populations there remain instances where the ASI has been used in this inappropriate manner. Again, the ASI is not appropriate for adolescents due to its underlying assumptions regarding self-sufficiency and because it simply does not address issues (eg. school, peer relations, family problems from the perspective of the adolescent, etc.) that are critical to an evaluation of adolescent problems. At this writing, there are two versions of the ASI that have been developed for adolescent populations and have shown at least initial evidence of reliability and validity in this population. A third instrument is not in the same format as the ASI but has shown excellent reliability and validity. Interested readers may contact these individuals directly for more information about these instruments. Kathy Meyers, Research Department, Carrier Foundation, Belle Meade, New Jersey â€Å"Carrier – Addiction Severity Index† or Yifrah Kaminer, Adolescent Chemical Dependency Program, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. â€Å"Teen – Addiction Severity Index† or Al Friedman, Adolescent Substance Abuse Program, Department of Psychiatry, Philadelphia Psychiatric Center, Phila., Pa. â€Å"Adolescent Drug and Alcohol Diagnostic Assessment† ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FOR THE ASI Can I ask additional questions and/or delete some of the curr ent items? As indicated above, the ASI was designed to capture the minimum information necessary to evaluate the nature and severity of patients’ treatment problems at treatment admission and at follow-up. For this reason, we have always encouraged the addition of particular questions and/or additional instruments in the course of evaluating patients. In our own work we have routinely used the MAST, an AIDS questionnaire, additional family background questions and some self-administered psychological tests. We do not endorse the elimination or substitution of items currently on the ASI. Again, the ASI items (regardless of whether they are good or bad for particular individual needs) have been tested for reliability and validity as individual items and as part of the composite and/or severity scores. The elimination or substitution of existing items could significantly reduce the reliability and comparability of these ASI scores. It is possible to eliminate whole sections (problem areas) of the ASI if particular problems are not applicable for specific populations or the focus of specific treatment interventions. In the current version of the ASI and in this workbook, we have included a set of additional items and instruments that have been developed by us and others over the past ten years, to add information in areas that are now inadequately covered by the existing ASI questions. The items themselves are presented on the latest version of the form (See Appendix 1) and the specific instructions for asking these questions and for interpreting the answers are discussed in each of the problem areas in the Specific Instructions part of the workbook. It should be clear that we have not used these items in the calculation of the composite scores or in the determination of severity estimates. Obviously, the use of additional information for these purposes would alter the reliability and validity of the ASI and reduce the comparability of the resulting scores across sites and time points. Thus it is important to stress that the use of earlier ASI versions will still provide comparable data on the composite scores and on the majority of items, since they have not been changed or eliminated, only supplemented in the current version. In addition to these items, there has also been significant work over the past ten years in the development of general and specialized information collection interviews and questionnaires for substance abusers. Some of these instruments bear special note in that they can be used instead of or in addition to the ASI to provide enhanced or specialized information. Some of the more widely used and better validated instruments are presented below but the interested reader is advised to consult the tests and measurements literature for additional information.

First Impressions of George and Lennie

Lennie and George are like chalk and cheese in appearance. George is ‘small and quick’ ‘every part of him was defined’ while Lennie, Georges faithful friend, is a ‘huge man’ ‘sloping shoulders and walked heavily’. This match of appearance can be very helpful as Lennie is big and can look after George physically. They both still had things in common though ‘both were dressed in denim trousers and denim coats’ ‘both wore black shapeless hats’. They were both dressed like this because they on their way to a ranch, to work as a farm labourer and they were living the lives of drifters.George is quick-witted and particular, this becomes apparent when he says ‘Don’t seem to be running, though. You never oughter drink water when it ain’t running, Lennie,’ this suggest that he knows how to look after himself and he knows what is best for him, and the way he says Lennie at the end tells the reader that he is looking out for Lennie and trying to keep him safe too. Lennie is slow and dim-witted we know this because when he talks is he uses monosyllabic words for example, ‘long, big, drink’ this suggest he is uneducated and has a mental age of around 5 years old.George is also very forgetful ‘you forgot that awready, did you? ’ this is another sign of him acting younger than he is and it shows that he needs someone to look out for him. There is another side of George though this is shown when he tries to deceive George by saying ‘Ain’t a thing in my pocket’ this shows he can be quite sly and deceiving. It is clear that Lennie has no sense at all and George has to watch over him constantly.The very first time the men are described it tells us that there is a clear leader ‘they had walked single file down the path, and even in the open’ this shows us that Lennie follows George and sees him as a good example. Lennie is constantly always looking out for George ‘aw, Lennie! I ain’t taking it away jus for meanness, that mouse ain’t fresh’. George always does what he thinks is best for Lennie even if Lennie does not agree. ‘you get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out. ’ It becomes clear the George would much prefer not to be with Lennie as he always fantasises about if he was on his own he would do much better for imself and he wouldn’t constantly be dragged down by Lennie, but even though he says all of it, we can tell that secretly George wants Lennie to stay with him ‘cause I want you to stay with me’ this says that even though Lennie depends on George, George still needs Lennie so he isn’t alone and doesn’t suffer from loneliness and has someone he can talk to. We know that in previous work that Lennie has mess it up for George and they both got run out of weed ‘and we got to sneak out in the dar k and get outta the country’ this tells the reader that in the upcoming work job It may not be all that simple.Also George tells Lennie that if he gets into trouble at the ranch to come back to the brush and wait for him, this is foreshadowing the future and telling us that George most definitely get into trouble. George and Lennie both are ambitious though and both dream of having the American dream together, but George is more realistic and knows if he carries on with Lennie that the dream will never come true, but he doesn’t tell Lennie this, and keeps him happy by letting him think that one day they will have a place of their own.

Discretionary Use Of Police Authority

Police officers enjoy the much-envied monopoly of instruments of force. Only a state armed force has recognized legal rights to wage violence against the citizenry and employ all manner of force in the name of maintaining law and order. A look at a number of police actions leaves a doubt whether all might be provided for by the law. The police are permitted to use a certain level of force in enforcing the law and while making arrests and maintaining order.The force used in this case is supposed to be reasonable; this reasonableness is not measurable and is at the discretion of the police or to a large extent to the court of law. In their day to day activities, police follow scripted rules and guidelines, guided by the law and their professional ethics, but rarely is all that they do contained in the written codes. Majority of what they go through depends on their personal intuition and judgment of what is right.They are supposed to make a split judgment on the most appropriate decisi on in a certain situation, whereas such a provision may not be provided in the rules. The legality of such decisions sometimes is in question. It is not possible for the law to contain all the likely scenarios that the police can come across. The unpredictable nature of their work makes it hard to do that and it is only through effective training and a high level of discipline that proper judgment and sound decisions can be made; even in an extremely uncertain environment.This however is an ideal situation and most of the time police officers have been noted to go to the extreme ends and making unreasonable decisions that are inconsistent with the publics’ expectations. In carrying out their duties, the police sometimes seem to be following their own discreet codes, codes that cannot be fathomed by civilians. Their rules are paternalistic in nature and may not be in line with the spirit of democracy. This and more is what this paper hopes to look at. It will scrutinize the po lice use of discretionary authority and note whether sometimes this authority is extremely and unreasonably overstretched.Discretion can simply be referred to as that power or freedom accorded to individuals, or the police for that matter, to make judgment or decisions that they think are appropriate to a certain situation. It is the judgment of police on how to bridge the gap that exists between what the stipulations in the law contain and the challenges on the ground (Seumas M. , et al, 2006). The laws governing the police forces are not specific and should under no certain terms be specific. They leave gaps and spaces that can only be filled through individual intuition.Most of these laws are said to be ambiguous and clearly requiring the reasoning of a well trained police officer to enforce (M. L. Dantzker, 2005. ). While it is prudent to say that almost all state or public departments and agencies use discretionary powers, it is in the policing agencies that they are most often applied and with major consequences. It is the legislature that determines the nature of laws that exist in a certain region, but it is up to the people on the ground, who are the police officers, that determine how those legislations are to be enforced and in what manner.The law sometimes is strict on certain issues but it is up to the law enforcement agents in touch with the public to make it more flexible while at the same time making it less or more punitive depending on the situation. Question stands on whether such discretion cannot be abused. For example whereas the law categorically prohibits the arresting of individual on mere suspicion with no form of evidence, the police in most case will arrest people and claim it is on ‘reasonable grounds of suspicion’. This suspicion is based on subjective judgments of a person’s behavior at the moment.Some officers are trained to believe that if one moves away hastily after seeing the police, he or she is likely t o be guilty of something. This is what some would call ‘behaving in a suspicious manner’. This might not be true as there is no law against hastening ones pace upon coming across the police officers, but the forces discretionary powers allow them to hold such person and search him or her. â€Å"Reasonable suspicion† becomes an ambiguous term that is hard to define or quantify. It is not measurable and at the same time not disputable.Interestingly though, contrary to what one would expect, discretionary powers in the police force decrease as one goes up the ladder while increasing down the cadre and hierarchy. This is because the officers up in hierarchy rarely come face to face with the public. Theirs is mostly limited to the boardroom meetings, strategy laying and maybe dealing with the ever-inquisitive media. This is not to mean that they top chiefs do not possess discretionary powers. On the contrary they do, but it is the lower ranking officers that have more opportunities of exercising this authority due to their daily contacts with the pubic.This discretionary authority turns them into policy makers, only this time it is at the ground or street level. This is because the most important decisions are made at the point of contact or encounter. It is here that the police officers make the most vital decisions regarding the step to take after a wrong has been committed. Depending on the weight of the crime, the officer on the ground will know what action to take. He might decide to warn, book or jail depending on the gravity of the situation. This may not be what the law has provided for.It is these powers to make such discretions that raise tension and discontent from the public, as they lead to discriminate and disproportionate application of laws. The general characteristic of discretionary authority is that in one way or another it has to be applied selectively. The prejudices that are held by the society have also been imported into the police force and must in a way impede upon the judgment of the police officers especially when they are exercising their discretionary authority.To most people in today’s world, where vehicles are prevalently used as the single most preferred means of mobility. Peoples’ contact with the government is through the police. Interactions with the citizenry is most likely to be with the traffic police officers, and it is them that are likely to make decisions based on their own judgments. This most likely emanates from the fact that most of the traffic offenses committed by motorists are but of small consequence, they are minor and one can escape with a verbal warning.The traffic laws prohibit over speeding or any other reckless driving that might be injurious or inconveniencing to other motorists. The patrol officers are always on the look out for such characters and can flag down any motorist they suspect is under the influence of alcohol. Police here use their discret ionary authority in making the kind of decision to be taken upon a motorist who commits such an offense. A traffic offense that is not serious would carry a number of penalties ranging from citing, booking or ticketing in accordance with the dominant traffic policy.Most people would like the law enforcement officers make lenient decisions in regard to such minor offenses and make hard stances on the major crimes such as kidnappings and bank robberies. More police discretionary powers should be extended towards passing lenient judgments on traffic offences rather than creating friction on their relationship with the motorists (Peak, K. J. , 2006). Most police agents have strict laws and policies in relation to traffic rules and tend to have punitive attitudes towards these offenses.Most traffic officers end up citing motorists rather than letting them go off with verbal warnings. This is the ethical and professional dilemma facing most police officers, their discretionary authority n ot withstanding, even where the law is very clear on traffic offenses and the nature of penalties imposed. This how the law is, it is supposed to be comprehensive and touching on almost everything. However, the scarce resources allocated may not cater for this. The meager financial resources cannot facilitate the strict following of the law to the letter.If all the provisions of the law are strictly adhered to, the courts would be clogged with cases and jails would be overcrowded. It is hence important that the police officers use their discretionary powers to sort these people out (Seumas M. , et al, 2006). As mentioned before, due to the subjective nature of the police duties, selective application of discretionary powers is probable and very common. Racial, religious, gender and ethnic profiling becomes real. For the traffic police officers, it is very likely to let of an elderly person off with over speeding than with a teenager or a middle age.This is because it is not common t o see aged people over speeding; the officers will tend to believe that there has to be a reason for such an action. The provisions of the law on over speeding not withstanding, most police officers are bound to make the same decision. A study of police application of discretionary powers also would reveal that it all depends on the behaviors and attitude of the subject under consideration. For those who are very confrontational and rude when addressed by police officers over their mistakes, they might not enjoy any leniency.Those who are orderly and remorseful of their actions are likely to receive a lighter treatment. Police discretionary powers are likely to be applied favorably mostly when the subject displays a sign of respect. These powers may also be extended to the unpopular laws in the society. Police would shun taking action against offenders of some minor offences. This is if there has been a public uproar against such laws. They would not want to be dragged into a row, a nd hence opt to turn a blind away to such offenders.There are exceptions however to this; no matter how unpopular some of these laws might be, discretionary powers might have applied harshly. The issue of police discretionary powers is dogged with controversy. There are those who claim that these powers are okay as they give the police an opportunity to apply their own judgment in meting out justice rather than waiting for the strenuous and elaborate process of the law. It gives the law a human face and gives the police a chance to act with compassion. The police sometimes are faced with situations where if they strictly adhere to the laws, catastrophes might happen.A police arresting a driver for over speeding might result to a implication if for example such a driver was rushing a patient to hospital. It is important that discretionary powers be extended to allow police officers make decisions that are appropriate to a specific situation at hand rather than blanket application of the law just because the stipulations state so. This leniency in the discretionary powers is also a kind of public relations. As afore mentioned, contact of the public and the police in today’s world is mostly limited to the traffic.Most people’s attitudes and perceptions of the police might to a great extent be shaped by this limited interaction. Any harshness towards motorists may be interpreted to mean that the police are all harsh and inconsiderate. The law contains a mesh of provisions that cannot all be applied, as most likely they would turn the citizens into slaves of rules. Discretionary powers are hence important to sort these laws out and enable the police to make the best decisions possible at that instance depending on the prevailing circumstances (John Blackler, Seumas Miller, 2005).However, opposition to discretion emanates to the discriminate application of justice. As said before, it is a highly subjective practice that embodies the incorporation of pe rsonal and emotional values. Issues such as racism, ethnics and other discrimination based on creed, socio-economic statues and gender will come into play. Personal prejudices might have an upper hand when a police officer is making the decision in regard to who will get what punishment, who will get a booking and who is to be released. A motorist may get away with over speeding, or driving under the influence just because he or she looks innocent or is remorseful.Police have been known to apply leniency to people who look remorseful after giving them a stern warning and arresting those that they think are disrespectful and self-righteous. This however should not be a criterion to be used while deciding who is to booked and who is to be let go. The law is clear on this and should be applied non-selectively. Allowing the use of discretionary powers by police officers is jut but breeding ground for corruption and bribery. Police officers are likely to take in bribes from criminals or petty offenders so that they may look the other way and apply discretionary powers.It may also lead to a breeding ground for more hardened offenders. A motorist who has escaped once with an over speeding offense may make it a habit of repeating the same mistake and preying on officer’s leniency. People might not be vigilant enough in regard to the petty offenses because there will be a likelihood of them getting away with such mistakes. A high number of people would be in favor of controlling the use of police discretionary authority, mostly as it is likely to be abused by police officers.This emanates from the image that most people have of the police; an image imparted through their interactions with the police, who most of the time are found to hostile and unreasonable. The police are not trained in psychiatry and should not base an individual’s guilt on ones behavior, remorse or lack of it thereof. It should be left to the court or tribunals to pass a verdict. If t he law states that a certain offense is finable then be it and this fine should be applied across the board and not selectively. The police are governed and bound by the law and all its comprehensive principles.The law is dynamic but it is also very clear on many issues. It is predictable and outcomes in many cases are certain. The same case should apply to the police force; their decisions should be predictable and consistent. The police force is in the executive arm of the government, its function is to implement the laws passed by the legislature, allowing it to make decision regarding the law is superseding the authority and can be a recipe for chaos. Unlimited use of police discretionary powers can to a greater extent be said to be undermining democracy.Laws under the tenets of democracy are a preserve of the legislature which is just but a of group of individuals representing the citizenry, who are democratically elected. The police represent the executive and in most cases wi ll be furthering the sitting government’s interests. They do not consult before passing the extra judicial pronouncements. The public has no room to scrutinize these decisions. Had there been an opportunity to review some of these discretionary powers, the system could work out efficiently (John Kleinig, 1996).However, as much as the public may wish to demonize the use of discretionary authority by the police, they are more than necessary. The law, despite being broad, is not comprehensive; it does not provide solutions to all the possible case scenarios likely to be faced by the police. Discretionary powers by the police come into play to bridge the gap between what the stipulations contain and what the situation on the ground is. The bone of contention is the likelihood of these powers being abused and applied selectively to favor a certain group of individuals over others. There is no provision in the law on how these powers are to be utilized.They are mainly subjective an d depend on a specific officer’s personality and orientation towards many issues in life. It would also depend on the nature of the mood of an officer at the time of the incident. It is unpredictable and lacks in consistency. It is apparent though that these discretionary powers cannot be done away with completely, effort hence should be geared towards curtailing them to a level that is acceptable to the public. Police should be well trained to ensure that their use of discretionary authority does not deviate from the law and is not applied discriminately. References John Kleinig, 1996. The ethics of policing. Cambridge University Press. John Blackler, Seumas Miller, 2005. Ethical issues in policing. Ash gate publishing Ltd. Seumas Miller, John Blackler, Andrew Alexandra, 2006. Police ethics. Waterside Press. Peak, K.J., 2006. Policing America: Methods, Issues, and Challenges. 5th Edition. Pearson Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ. M.L. Dantzker, 2005.Understanding today’s Police. Criminal Justice Press.

Information security authentication program for Moonshine Mining Essay

Moonshine mining deals with the mining business related to diamond, sapphire, gold etc. Moonshine mining maintains all its intellectual properties and other important documents in 3 internal servers in Perth head office. This information is very confidential to the moon shining. This information should be available only to the internal moon shining employees and other authorized personnel’s. Moonshine has identified the potential risk for the information assets through the risk assessment procedure. To overcome these risks, proper authentication and other security procedures must be implemented in the organization. Each and every method has its own disadvantages and advantages, the proper investigation and study must be performed to choose the best fit method for the organization. Introduction Computer security must be an integral part of the organization. Computer Security is the protection afforded to an automated information system in order to attain the applicable objectives of preserving the integrity, availability and confidentiality of information system resources. Through the selection and application of appropriate safeguards, security helps the organization’s mission by protecting its physical and financial resources, reputation, legal position, employees, and other tangible and intangible assets (NIST 2006). Many organizations are spending millions of dollars in computer security. Computer security policies and goals should be inline with the organization mission and policies. Computer security should be very cost effective. Specialized teams must be formed in the organization for monitoring and controlling the computer security policies and procedures. Basic Security policies should be followed in Moonshine Company Computer security policies must be accessible by everyone in the organization. Each and every single personnel in the organization is responsible for implementing and maintaining the computer security. User support must be provided for solving various problems related to computer security. Help desks are needed to be created for this type of support. Additional support can be any helpline and online chat. Software support should be available in the organization. Various restrictions are needed to be imposed on the usage of several kind of software in the organization. Licensed and authenticated software are recommended for trouble free working environment. Backup plan should be implemented and followed carefully for restoration if disaster or unrecoverable errors caused. Media should be properly maintained and periodic assessments are to be needed. Login information should be kept secret and several log records are to be assed for detecting unauthorized user access. Basic security features like firewall, antivirus software are to be made ready in the system. Integrity checks and other checks are to be performed frequently. Documentation and maintenance are the important activities needed to be done regarding computer security. Authentication Authentication is very important for maintaining the computer security. Each and every personnel must be authenticated for accessing the information resources. There are many types of authentication methods. It can be broadly classified into two categories, Biometric authentication and Non Biometric authentication. The authentication must be implemented with the proper security algorithm to avoid intrusions. Many authentication schemes are developed over the years. Several hashing and other schemes are combined to make the better authentication protocol. Privacy through Biometric Authentication It is based on identifying the person based on their personal and behavioral traits. There are several biometric authentication methods like finger print recognition, face recognition, iris recognition. Some the distinct advantages of biometric method are users need not required to remember password/codes, permanent characteristics and ease of use. Finger print authentication: Finger print authentication is the basic biometric authentication method. The patterns available on ridges and valleys of person’s finger are unique for every individual (Harris D. 2000). Several algorithms are available in the market to uniquely identify the persons based on the patterns. The finger print authentication can be implemented in moon mining company with a very small amount of investment. The cost of installing devices and other software required for finger print authentication would be very minimal when compared to other biometric authentication methods. When compared to non biometric methods the database size would be litter larger for biometrics methods. Since the numbers of users in the moon mining company is very less the biometrics method can be easily implemented without any trouble. Finger print authentication method is not very much suitable for moon shine mining company because in the mining company the person works with lot of dusts and smoke. Some readers might not recognize the dirty and dusted hands. Since it is a mining company persons may have some cuts in their hand so the readers may not work properly in those situations. Most of the time users might wear gloves in their hand, they might feel uneasy to remove for each and every time for the authentication. Face recognition Face recognition is another basic biometric authentication method. In this method, the persons face is captured using camera or infrared waves and it is authenticated with the existing database. The spatial geometry in the face is analyzed to uniquely identify the face. The face can be easily recognizes with change of facial expressions or change of hair style etc. The advantages of face recognition it is the contact free process. The database should be maintained with facial information of the users. The change in the face is very minimal. The moon mining company can prefer this method of authentication. The cost of implementation is also not so high. Some of the disadvantages include detecting the face mask and low light environment (Vijayan 2009). Since it is a mining company it would operate in low light areas, so proper methods must be chosen to avoid low light environment problems. People from some ethnic groups and nationalities won’t expose the face to outer world. In those situations the face recognition it is not possible to implement. Iris Recognition Iris recognition is one of the latest methods of biometric authentication. The colored area that surrounds pupil is used for the identification of the persons (Daouk 2006). Every people have unique color pattern. It is also a non contact method of authentication. The cost of implementation is little high when compared to other methods. It is very fast and robust. The latest iris technologies are very powerful in recognizing the patterns even though they are covered with the contact lenses and glasses. Iris based authentication is recommended if the moon mining company wants high end solution for the biometric authentication and ready for little high investment. Digital Signatures A digital signature is an automated method of verifying our usual handwritten signatures. The various features like speed, pressure, nodes etc are verified for authentication. This method is based on behavioral aspect of the person. It is simple method for authentication. It has many disadvantages like it can be imitated by others easily; signature is tending to change slowly by time. It’s not so safe to go with this type of authentication method. Privacy through Non Biometric Authentication The non biometric method for authentication is very common in the organization. It is simple and easy to implement. No extra infrastructure is required to implement these authentication methods. It is very cost effective method. RFID Authentication method The privacy can be provided by ensuring the proper authentication mechanism in practice. Several authentication protocols are used in existence systems. The authentication will be performed in the readers and authentication parameters and value are stored in the RFID tags. The RFID readers would be available in each and every computers of the moon shining company. One of the common practices is store common password in all the RFID tags to be used. Whenever the tag is read if the password matches the other processing is done else the tag would be neglected. Another method for authentication is to assign store all the RFID tags unique number in database, when the tag is detected the number is cross checked with the database for authentication. Despite the numerous benefits of RFID systems, it has few pitfalls and some common problems. The main security threat in the RFID system is the privacy security breaches. All the information is stored in the RFID tags. The RFID tags can also be read by others who have the RFID readers. The data can be read and modified in the tags by any one using the RFID readers (Moscatiell 2007). The RFID systems may be collapsed if several RFID tags are processed together. The RFID tags can communicate only to one RFID reader at instance. If two RFID readers are accessing a single tag, there may be a junk or collapse in the system. Other Radio signal interference can violate some of the properties of the RFID systems. Some other security threats also exist for the RFID systems. Device Based Authentication: In this device based authentication, some special secure devices are used to generate the passcodes. These passcodes are verified for authorizing the persons. One of the famous devices is RSA based secureId device. It uses public key encryption for generating the passcode. Each and every user will have a small hand held device to generate the passcodes. These passcode are verified using the security algorithms for authentication. This method of authentication is also suggested for moon mining company. Conclusion All the organization should follow the tight computer security principles and policies. The basic security features must be installed in each and every computer system in the organization. All the users must be educated about the computer security principles and various threat regarding. The company can also go for the third parties for implementation and maintenance of computer security in the organization. This would help the organization to have the better security. Dedicated teams must be available for performing and monitoring all the computer security activities. The organization will be in trouble if the computer security practices are not followed in the organization.