Sunday, September 15, 2019
A Disappointing Holiday
The cool breeze swept through my hair, making me shiver with excitement. I arched my neck to take full view of the breathtaking beauty of Eiffel Tower, which towered above me like some iron giant. It was such a lovely day. The melodious chime of the twittering birds filled me with glee. The sun too, it seemed, was in a playful mood, playing hide and seek behind the fluffy clouds. ââ¬Å"Trrring trrring! â⬠The telephone rang all of a sudden; bringing me out of the scenic beauties my mind was roaming in. ââ¬Å"Helloâ⬠I said. ââ¬Å"Oh! Hello Ferva beta! I have some good news for you! â⬠It was my uncle. Yes, yes! I am listening! â⬠I replied enthusiastically. ââ¬Å"Well! Your tickets have been confirmed for day after tomorrow. â⬠ââ¬Å"Oh really! â⬠ââ¬Å"Yes. Now be ready beta. Donââ¬â¢t miss out anything and take care! Goodbye! â⬠ââ¬Å"Goodbye uncle! â⬠I replied, bringing our conversation to an end. I breathed deeply, thinking of th e adventures in store for me. Ever since my uncle had invited me to visit his family in Paris during my holidays, I had been simply restless. I had been surfing the Net since the past few days for the best tourist locations, and had even set out a travel plan.I was to travel to Paris and visit the monumental beauties of France. Switzerlandââ¬â¢s picturesque locations would be my next destination, where I would scale the snowy Alps; move on to Holland and witness the magnificent windmills; a day or two in Italy, and then back to Paris. It was all perfectly planned! These vacations would be the best ones I ever had! The next day was spent fidgeting around endlessly. My mother gave me a box of chocolates as a token of love, and my sister just couldnââ¬â¢t stop reading out her endless wish list! My father was to drive me to the airport, and I counted each passing second in wait. Honk, honk! â⬠ââ¬Å"Finally,â⬠I cried, and headed straight towards the staircase in full s peed. I really couldnââ¬â¢t believe it! My dream vacation was at last going to come true! Once again my mind wandered to the lush green valleys of Europe and Iâ⬠¦ ââ¬Å"Ouch! â⬠A sharp cry of pain left my mouth as I found myself sprawled on the concrete steps. In my haste, I had hurt myself. The car that was to take me to the airport took me to the hospital instead. This was the most devastating moment for me. I could not help thinking that my flight was leaving without me, my dream had shattered within the blink of an eye.At the hospital, what I thought was a sprain turned out to be a fracture, and I was strictly restricted to six weeks of complete bed rest. A pall of gloom hung over me as I heard my mother call my uncle to inform him of the accident. I was brought home, and though my fracture had healed to a certain extent, my misery never left me. ââ¬Å"Oh, come on! â⬠said my sister, ââ¬Å"my shopping list can wait until next time! â⬠she added cheerful ly. But I could only answer her with a wry smile. It just seemed impossible for me to come to terms with the fact that my plans could fail.And it was in this time of disappointment that I even complained to Allah. once when I was crying silently over how my hopes had been shattered, my mother came up to me and holding my hand said. ââ¬Å"Beta, I know that you have been let down but you must learn that this is part of life. â⬠She paused to take a breath. ââ¬Å"Always remember, God never harms his creations. In fact, there is always betterment behind every decision. â⬠The calm words of my mother made me realise that no matter how much we plan, the ultimate power is God. This moment of truth made me feel better than before.
Saturday, September 14, 2019
Supply Network Design
Supply Network Design The Supply Network Perspective: A supply network perspective means setting an operation in the context of all the operations with which it interacts, some of which are its suppliers and its customers. Materials, parts, other information, ideas and sometimes people all flow through the network of customer-supplier relationships formed by all these operations. On its supply side an operation has its suppliers of parts, or information, or services. These suppliers themselves : have their own suppliers who in turn could also have suppliers, and so on.On the demand side the operation has customers. These customers might not be the final consumers of the operation's products or services; they might have their own set of customers. â⬠¢On the supply side is a group of operations that directly supply the operation; these are often called first-tier suppliers. They are supplied by second-tier suppliers. However, some second-tier suppliers may also supply an operation directly, thus missing out a link in the network. Similarly, on the demand side of the network, ââ¬Ëfirst-tier' customers are the main customer group for the operation.These in turn supply ââ¬Ësecond-tier' customers, although again the operation may at times supply second-tier customers directly. The suppliers and customers who have direct contact with an operation are called its immediate supply network, whereas all the operations which form the network of suppliers' suppliers and customersââ¬Ë customers, etc. , are called the total supply network. Homeware manufacturer supplies some of its basic products to wholesalers which supply retail outlets. However, it also supplies some retailers directly with ââ¬Ëmade-to-order' products.Along with the flow of goods in the network from suppliers to customers, each link in the network will feed back orders and information to its suppliers. When stocks run low, the retailers will place orders with the wholesaler or directly with the manufacturer. The wholesaler will likewise place orders with the manufacturer, which will in turn place orders with its suppliers, which will replenish their own stocks from their suppliers. It is a two-way process with goods flowing one way and information flowing the other. It is not only manufacturers that are part of a supply network.The second (service) operation, an operation which manages an enclosed shopping mall, also has suppliers and customers that themselves have their own suppliers and customers. Figure 6. 2 shows the supply network for an operation which manages an enclosed shopping mall. Why consider the whole supply network? â⬠¢There are three important reasons for taking a supply network perspective: â⬠¢It helps an understanding of competitiveness. Immediate customers and immediate suppliers, quite understandably, are the main concern to competitively minded companies.Yet sometimes they need to look beyond these immediate contacts to understand why custo mers and suppliers act as they do. Any operation has only two options if it wants to understand its ultimate customers' needs at the end of the network. It can rely on all the intermediate customers and customers' customers, etc. , which form the links in the network between the company and its end-customers. Alternatively, it can look beyond its immediate customer and suppliers. Relying on one's immediate network is seen as putting too much faith in someone else's judgment of things which are central to an organization's own competitive health. It helps identify significant links in the network. The key to understanding supply networks lies in identifying the parts of the network which contribute to those performance objectives valued by end-customers. Any analysis of networks must start, therefore, by understanding the downstream end of the network. After this, the upstream parts of the network which contribute most to end-customer service will need to be identified. But they will not be equally significant. For example, the important end-customers for domestic plumbing parts and appliances are the installers and service companies that deal directly with domestic consumers.They are supplied by ââ¬Ëstock holders' which must have all parts in stock and deliver them fast. Suppliers of parts to the stock holders can best contribute to their end-customers' competitiveness partly by offering a short delivery lead time but mainly through dependable delivery. The key players in this example are the stock holders. The best way of winning end-customer business in this case is to give the stock holder prompt delivery which helps keep costs down while providing high availability of parts. â⬠¢It helps focus on long-term issues. There are times when circumstances render parts of a supply network weaker than its adjacent links.A major machine breakdown, for example, or a labour dispute might disrupt a whole network. Should its immediate customers and suppliers explo it the weakness to enhance their own competitive position, or should they tolerate the problems, and hope the customer or supplier will eventually recover? A long-term supply-network view would be to weigh the relative advantages to be gained from assisting or replacing the weak link. Design decisions in supply networks â⬠¢The supply-network view is useful because it prompts three particularly important design decisions.These are the most strategic of all the design decisions treated in this part of the book. It is necessary to understand them at this point, however, because, as well as having a particularly significant impact on the strategy of the organization, they set the context in which all other process design decisions are made. The three decisions are: â⬠¢1- How should the network be configured? This means, first, how can an operation influence the shape which the network might take? Second, how much of the network should the operation own? This may be called the ou tsourcing, vertical integration or do-or-buy decision. 2- Where should each part of the network be located? If the home ware company builds a new factory, should it be close to its suppliers or close to its customers, or somewhere in between? This decision is called the operations location decision. â⬠¢3-What physical capacity should each part of the network have? How large should the home war factory be? Should it expand in large-capacity steps or small ones? These types of decisions are called long-term capacity management decisions. â⬠¢Note that all three of these decisions rely on assumptions regarding the level of future demand. The supplement to this chapter explores forecasting in more detailDeciding whether to outsource â⬠¢Although the effect of outsourcing on the operation's performance objective is important, there are other factors that companies take into account when deciding if outsourcing an activity is a sensible option. For example, if an activity has lo ng-term strategic importance to a company, it is unlikely to outsource it. For example, a retailer might choose to keep the design and development of its web site in-house even though specialists could perform the activity at less cost because it plans to move into web-based retailing at some point in the future.Nor would a company usually outsource an activity where it had specialized skills or knowledge. For example, a company making laser printers may have built up specialized knowledge in the production of sophisticated laser drives. â⬠¢This capability may allow it to introduce product or process innovations in the future. It would be foolish to ââ¬Ëgive away' such capability. After these two more strategic factors have been considered the company's operations performance can be taken into account.Obviously if its operations performance is already too superior to any potential supplier, it would be unlikely to outsource the activity. But also even if its performance was c urrently below that of potential suppliers, it may not outsource the activity if it feels that it could significantly improve its performance. Figure 6. 3 illustrates this decision logic. Outsourcing and offshoring â⬠¢Two supply network strategies that are often confused are those of outsourcing and off-shoring Outsourcing means deciding to buy-in products or services rather than perform the activities in-house.Off-shoring means obtaining products and services from operations that are based outside one's own country. Of course, one may both outsource and offshore as illustrated in Figure 6. 4. Offshoring is very closely related to outsourcing and the motives for each may be similar. Offshoring to a lower-cost region of the world is usually done to reduce an operationââ¬â¢s overall costs as is outsourcing to a supplier that has greater expertise or scale or both. Critical commentary â⬠¢In many Instances there has been fierce opposition to companies outsourcing some off the ir processes.Trade unions often point out that the only reason that outsourcing companies can do the job at lower cost is that they either reduce salaries or reduce working conditions, or both. Furthermore, they say, flexibility is only achieved by reducing job security. Employees who were once part of a large and secure corporation could find themselves as far less secure employees of a less benevolent employer with a philosophy of permanent cost-cutting. Even some proponents of outsourcing are quick to point out the problems.There can be significant obstacles, including understandable resistance from staff who find themselves ââ¬Ëoutsourced'. Some companies have also been guilty of ââ¬Ëoutsourcing a Problem' . In other words, having failed to manage a process well themselves, they ship it out rather than face up to why the process was problematic in the first place. There is also evidence that, although long-term costs can be brought down when a process is outsourced, there may be an initial period when costs rise as both sides learn how to manage the new arrangement. The Location of capacity It was reputedly Lord Sieff, one-time boss of Marks and Spencer, the UK-based retail organization, who said, ââ¬ËThere are three important things in retailing ââ¬â location, location and location', and any retailing operation knows exactly what he meant. Get the location wrong and it can have a significant impact on profits, or service. For example, misallocating a fire service station can slow down the average journey time of the fire crews in getting to the fires; â⬠¢locating a factory where there is difficulty attracting labour with appropriate skills will affect the effectiveness of the factory's operations.Location decisions will usually have an effect on an operation's costs as well as its ability to serve its customers (and therefore its revenues). Also, location decisions, once taken, are difficult to undo. The costs of moving an operation can b e hugely expensive and the risks of inconveniencing customers very high. No operation wants to move very often. â⬠¢Reasons for location decisions Not all operations can logically justify their location. Some are where they are for historical reasons. Yet even the operations that are ââ¬Ëthere because they're there' are implicitly making a decision not to move.Presumably their assumption is that the cost and disruption involved in changing location would outweigh any potential benefits of a new location. Two stimuli often cause organizations to change locations: changes in demand for their goods and services, and changes in supply of their inputs. Changes in demand A change in location may be prompted by customer demand shifting. For example, as garment manufacture moved to Asia, suppliers of zips, threads, etc. started to follow them. Changes in the volume of demand can also prompt relocation.To meet higher demand, an operation could expand its existing site, or choose a larg er site in another location, or keep its existing location and find a second location for an additional operation; the last two options will involve a location decision. High-visibility operations may not have the choice of expanding on the same site to meet rising demand. A dry cleaning service may attract only marginally more business by expanding an existing site because it offers a local, and therefore convenient, service. Finding a new location for an additional operation is probably its only option for expansion.Changes in supply. The other stimulus for relocation is changes in the cost, or availability, of the supply of inputs to the operation. For example, a mining or oil company will need to relocate as the minerals it is extracting become depleted. A manufacturing company might choose to relocate its operations to a part of the world where labour costs are low, because the equivalent resources (people) in its original location have become relatively expensive. Sometimes a business might choose to relocate to release funds if the value of the land it occupies is worth more than an alternative, equally good, location.The objectives of the location decision â⬠¢The aim of the location decision is to achieve an appropriate balance between three related objectives: â⬠¢The Spatially variable costs the operation (spatially variable means that something changes with geographical location); â⬠¢the service the operation is able to provide to its customers; â⬠¢the revenue potential of the operation. â⬠¢In for-profit organizations the last two objectives are related. The assumption is that the better the service the operation can provide to its customers, the better will be its potential to attract custom and therefore generate revenue.In not-for-profit organizations, revenue potential might not be a relevant objective and so cost and customer service are often taken as the twin objectives of location. In making decisions about where to locate an operation, operations managers are concerned with minimizing spatially variable costs and maximizing revenue and customer service. Location affects both of these but not equally for all types of operation. For example, with most products, customers may not care very much where they were made. Location is unlikely to affect the operation's revenues significantly.However the costs of the operation will probably be very greatly affected by location. Services, on the other hand, often have both costs and revenues affected by location. The location decision for any operation is determined by the relative strength of supply-side and demand-side factors (see Fig. 6. 5). Location techniques Although operations managers must exercise considerable judgement in the choice of alterative locations, there are some systematic and quantitative techniques which can help the decision process.We describe two here ââ¬â the weighted-score method and the centre-of-gravity method. â⬠¢Weighted- score method The procedure involves, first of dl, identifying the criteria which will be used to evaluate the various locations. Second, it involves establishing the relative importance of each criterion and giving weighting factors to them. Third, it means raring each location according to each criterion. The scale of the score is arbitrary. In our example we shall use 0 to 100, where 0 represents the worst possible score and 100 the best. Worked example An Irish company which prints and makes specialist packaging materials for the pharmaceutical industry has decided to build a new factory somewhere in the Benelux countries so as to provide a speedy service for its customers in continental Europe. In order to choose a site it has decided to evaluate all options against a number of criteria, as follows: â⬠¢the cost of the site; â⬠¢the rate of local property taxation; â⬠¢the availability of suitable skills in the local labour force; â⬠¢the site's access to the motorwa y network; â⬠¢the site's access to the airport; the potential of the site for future expansion. After consultation with its property agents the company identifies three sites which seem to be broadly acceptable. These are known as sites A, B and C. The company also investigates each site and draws up the weighted-score table shown in Table 6. 2. It is important to remember that the scores shown in Table 6. 2 are those which the manager has given as an indication of how each site meets the company's needs specifically. Nothing is necessarily being implied regarding any intrinsic worth of the locations. Likewise, the weightings are an indication of how important the company finds each criterion in the circumstances it finds itself. The ââ¬Ëvalue' of a site for each criterion is then calculated by multiplying. its score by the weightings for each criterion. â⬠¢ â⬠¢For location A, its score for the ââ¬Ëcost-of-site' criterion is 80 and the weighting of this criterion i s 4, so its value is â⬠¢80 X 4 = 320. All these values are then summed for each site to obtain its total weighted score. â⬠¢ â⬠¢Table 6. 2 indicates that location C has the highest total weighted score and therefore would be the preferred choice.It is interesting to note, however, that location C has the lowest score on what is, by the company's own choice, the most important criterion ââ¬â cost of the site. The high total weighted score which location C achieves in other criteria, however, outweighs this deficiency. If, on examination of this table, a company cannot accept what appears to be an inconsistency, then either the weights which have been given to each criterion, or the scores that have been allocated, do not truly 1 reflect the company's preference. ?
Friday, September 13, 2019
A Journal Report of the Asia-Pacific Business Region(APBR) and the Essay - 1
A Journal Report of the Asia-Pacific Business Region(APBR) and the analysis of countries in APBR - Essay Example Military rulers are not given to granting favors to democratically elected governments: China needs energy from Australia at least as much as this southern continent values the business value of this trade. Similarly, Chinese producers, with their great penchant for achieving rapid top-line growth, are under greater pressures to hold their shares of Australian demand for their goods, than the domestic compulsion to reign in inflation ââ¬Ëdown underââ¬â¢. Australiaââ¬â¢s special relationship with the United States in this connection, should also serve to protect ideological integrity. Many goods produced in China depend on American branding, and it is therefore premature to conclude that courtesy to a visiting spiritual leader would blow the lid off inflation in Australia! The politics of democracy is so fundamentally different from the tyranny of military dictatorship that economic relationships between countries and blocs which follow one or the other extremes of representation of their respective citizens that trade links should strictly adhere to the principles of professional business management. The industrial, commercial, and financial fronts of Australia (Nolan, 1996), the United States, and other like-minded countries are of dimensions which Beijing can neither deny nor sacrifice at the alter of its maniacal annexation of Lhasa. The amazing and dominating growth of trade between Japan and Australia, to which Appendix 1 refers, has occurred specifically during an age when democracy has replaced an executive monarchy in that country. The autonomy which the Dalai Lama seeks within the embrace of Chinese national union is an excellent model for many agrarian communities in ruled by the Beijing of today. Just as the Balkanization of the erstwhile Soviet bloc has helped rather than hurt the economy of the United States, so the extension of freedom throughout the APBR makes excellent business sense for Australia. The Parliamentary rebuff
Thursday, September 12, 2019
Chronic Open-Angle Versus Acute Close-Angle Glaucoma Assignment
Chronic Open-Angle Versus Acute Close-Angle Glaucoma - Assignment Example Chronic open-angle glaucoma has been described as the most common in human. The occurrence of the condition has been linked to dysfunctional drainage channels that hinder the normal elimination of fluid from the eye (Simon & Zieve, 2012). Failure to remove fluids from the eye at a normal rate leads to increase in intraocular pressure (IOP). Symptoms of the conditions are mostly experiences at a later stage as the condition progresses. They include a gradual decrease of vision from the sides of the eye and decrease of straight ahead vision (Simon & Zieve, 2012). In the absence of treatment, blindness occurs to the affected individual. The assessment of this condition is mainly done by checking IOP using a procedure known as tonometry (Simon & Zieve, 2012). The other procedure of assessment is to measure cornea thickness to known about the progression of the condition. Another form of assessment is through checking the damage of the optic nerve using magnifying lens instrument. The tes t is also done in the visual field to understand the level of impairment. On the other hand, acute closed-angle glaucoma is a common problem in human. It occurs when the outer iris get in touch with the trabecular meshwork leading to temporary or permanent closure (Khondkaryan & Francis, 2013). There are various symptoms of the condition. They include blurred vision, painful red eye, headache, nausea, and sometimes vomiting (Khondkaryan & Francis, 2013). The assessment of the condition is done through various ways. First, there is an examination of visual acuity as it is mainly decreased after getting the condition. Secondly, the examination is done in the eye and may indicate red with a vascular blockage, corneal swelling, and dilated the unresponsive pupil (Khondkaryan & Francis, 2013). The examination is also done on IOP. The presence of the
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
A Canticle for Leibowitz Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Essay Example While Millerââ¬â¢s text presents a compelling narrative, it is perhaps most relevant in terms of the metaphorical critique it holds for contemporary life and the potentials of future existence. This response essay considers many of these elements and meditates on potential solutions to some of the most pressing challenges. There are a number of considerations related to Millerââ¬â¢s notion that religious inspiration can create a culture-saving alternative community. One first considers the nature of religious inspiration. In the text what largely appears to have occurred is that religion has rejected the location of what it once readily embraced ââ¬â namely simplification. In these regards, one considers the churchââ¬â¢s position in the Medieval Period as readily embracing a rejection of knowledge for more faith based modes of understanding; these modes of understanding created institutions that largely rejected scientific inquiry, particularly when it conflicted with re ligious doctrine. In this sense the nature of ââ¬Ëreligious inspirationââ¬â¢ would be recognized as actually rejecting knowledge. Still, in the Medieval period through the Renaissance and even into the contemporary world religion has operated to stringently retain its own culture in the face of scientific and ethical challenges from the outside world. It seems the notion of ââ¬Ëreligious inspirationââ¬â¢ as a culture-saving operation is perhaps best exemplified in the university system. In these regards, to a large extent the university system and the professors working therein constitute a culture that is partly in opposition to pervading trends of society. That is, the university system embraces concepts and values that reject the simple pursuit of profit for the pursuit of knowledge for the sake of knowledge. This is slightly a religious concept as, at least in Western society, the fundamental driving impact of change and development are profit incentives. Ultimately, then this attests to the nature of religious inspiration as a culture-saving entity. One considers whether Americans are tempted towards oversimplification. Particularly in regards to the aforementioned university establishment there is the consideration that much of mainstream society is opposed to intellectualism. Rather than holding intellectuals or scientists in ultimate esteem, society more readily embraces athletes or popular entertainers. Within mainstream media television programs, films, and popular novels project a culture that rejects intellectualism and positions intelligence or knowledge as counter to natural living. Newspapers and television news oftentimes are targeted towards the lowest common denominator. The cumulative recognition of these trends is that American society largely tempts its citizens towards oversimplification. Within the text the nuclear weapons engineer that founds the monastic order to preserve knowledge is later carved in a statue with a wry smi le. To an extent this can be viewed as a metaphor on society as entirely ironic. That is, we all act like we know what weââ¬â¢re doing, but none of us really have any idea. To an extent it appears that this notion is correct in that much of what is termed functioning in society is based on the blind embrace of pervading cultural standards that the majority of us do not understand. Still, one considers that existentialism positions meaning as a personal choice. In these regards, there is self-reflexivity and authenticity in the way that humans go about living their lives. The question of meaning and understanding is related to questions of control and directing natural forces. The text asks, ââ¬Å"Who will govern the use of power to control natural
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Outline and discuss the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) as means of Essay - 3
Outline and discuss the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) as means of valuing securities and their risk. What are the drawbacks - Essay Example Some other financial experts like Lintner and Mossini also explained and purified CAPM and its interpretation in later years (Gassen, and Sellhorn, 2006). Capital Asset Pricing Model Being a quantitative tool for computing the yield of a security, CAPM is used for pricing the financial asset through mathematical calculations (Fields and Vincent, 2001). There are three main components of CAPM model which are stated as follows: Rf = Risk-free rate Beta = Risk of individual security with respect to market Rm ââ¬â Rf = Market Risk Premium Risk-free Rate Risk free rate is considered as the rate at which the investor does not face any risk yet he obtains a specified return. This risk-free return can be obtained by investing in government securities which are considered are risk free. However, the term risk-free is referred to only the risk related to default risk. Since governments are considered as the ones which are not supposed to face default risk, therefore, their securities are c onsidered as risk-free securities (Babu, 2012). Beta Beta is the factor which indicates the risk of a particular security associated with the overall market risk (Vishwanath, 2007). ... This is the risk which is beyond the control of an investor as well as the corporations whose securities are being traded in the capital market. This risk is called as the overall market risk such that the whole market is exposed to that risk and bears its consequences (Berk and DeMarzo, 2010). On the contrary, unsystematic risk is the risk related to a specific security such as downfall in the earnings, or slow growth, heavy fine etc. This is the risk which does not affect the market and can be eliminated through diversification by adding more securities in the portfolio. Market does not reward unsystematic risk of a particular because this risk can be eliminated through diversification. But it does reward the systematic risk as this risk is faced by every security simultaneously in the whole market (Watson and Head, 2009). In a more concise manner, beta is the measure of systematic risk of the individual security with respect to market risk. In other words, it tells how much volati le an individual security is with the market volatility. Beta of the overall market is 1. So if the beta of the individual security exceeds 1, it means that the security is having more risk as compared to market risk. On the contrary, if the beta is less than 1, it means that the security is having less volatility as compared to market risk. A risk taker invests in those securities which have a beta of greater than 1 whereas a risk averse investor tends to remain at a safe side and invest in those securities which have a beta lower than 1. Market Risk Premium Market risk premium is actually the difference between the overall market return and the risk free return (Brigham and Ehrhardt, 2010). In other words, it is actually the excess return that market provides above the
Teaching IT Ethics in Arabic Countries Approaches and Attitudes Research Paper
Teaching IT Ethics in Arabic Countries Approaches and Attitudes - Research Paper Example Thus maintaining ethical codes of conduct for the uses of computers or information systems has become a necessary aspect in every institutional organization. This study focuses on the ethical measures reflected in the information technology within organizations in the Arab countries particularly highlighting the region of Saudi Arabia. It considers certain literature reviews as well as focused on some of the companies to unlearn the present scenario of ethical practices in information technology uses, and hence conducted a detailed analysis on the ethical structure of information systems in Saudi Arabian organizations. Keywords: Computers, Information technology, Ethics, Business organizations List of Abbreviations: IT: Information Technology NCS: National Computer Systems Introduction: à à à à à à In the current global scenario, information technology can be found to have advanced to a great extent. Companies require performing under different rules and policies (Northcu tt, 2004, p.4). With greater advancements, the use of computers and the IT systems have become very uncomplicated and easy for the users to exchange information. However, attitudes towards the ethical issues have been found to alter amongst the users in the modern organizations and several unethical practices are being prevalent. Often acquaintances may create circumstances where a person tends to get influenced to follow unethical practices. IT proficient organizational members are capable of controlling information systems and hence can manipulate the system procedures. To put a control on such issues, several institutions in developed countries are endorsing ethical codes that the professionals are required to follow. The absence of ethical codes in computers and IT reflects the threats of the users getting involved in ââ¬Å"privacy and software piracyâ⬠(Information Resources Management Association, 1994, p.428). The ethical codes in computers and information technology ad minister and control the use of computers, networks and information systems. The ethical issues that generally arise in this respect include unlawful use of computers, theft in computer software, hardware or other process systems, privacy issues as well as use of any material that may be unacceptable in the organizational culture. Thus, organizations need to focus on the codes of ethics to control these measures (Shelly, Cashman, Gunter & Gunter, 2007, p.484). The study has taken into consideration certain literature reviews and a few companies in the region of Saudi Arabia have been taken as case studies reflecting the ethical practices in business organizations on the use of computers and information technology. à Research Framework: à à à à à à To study the ethical codes maintained in organizations in Saudi Arabia in the context of the use of computers and IT, this report focuses on certain theoretical study work based on the institutional theories on IT and organiz ational learning to provide with a fundamental understanding on the ethical issues related to information systems. Moreover, the research focuses on some of the selected organizations from Saudi Arabia to reflect on the current scenario of ethical practices in Saudi Arabia. The use of IT has developed largely in a short period of time spreading across the globe in different regions providing high quality services to its users. The broadening of the information syste
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