Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle Robert Craven and Stuart Chambers ‘Warwick Castle – the finest mediaeval castle in England. ‘ INTRODUCTION The Stratford-on-Avon and District Hotels and Caterers Association (SCATA) publishes a brochure which has described the Castle as follows; â€Å"This magnificent ancient Castle, situated at the very centre of England, is a treasure house of great beauty and splendid, rare quality collections of pictures, furniture, furnishings and an outstanding collection of arms and armour which bear witness to the power and influence of the Earls of Warwick down through the centuries.The beautiful grounds landscaped by Capability Brown, where peacocks roam freely, are a delight in all seasons. . . Excellent catering facilities are available all year round to suit every pocket and disposition, as well as several gift shops† Warwick Castle is less than two hours by road from London with easy access from all major cities by motorway, road and rail. This e xcellent infrastructure allows the area to be part of the itinerary of any visitor to the UK.The County of Warwickshire is lyrically described in the SCATA brochure: â€Å"Stratford-an-Avon and Shakespeare's Country. When you think of England, and the very best of England, you are probably thinking about this fascinating region. Here in this most English of English landscapes, the broad rolling sweep of the Cotswolds, the classic half-timbered villages of the Vale of Evesham and leafy Warwickshire, there is an unparalleled variety of attractions.The birthplace of the world's greatest dramatist, William Shakespeare; the finest mediaeval Castle and most-visited stately home at Warwick; England's most magnificent palace at Blenheim; and the world's most famous theatre in Stratford† THE CASTLE The Castle is part of the Tussauds Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pearson plc, which also owns the Financial Times Group and Royal Doulton among other varied interests.The Tussauds Gro up runs entertainment centres that include: Madame Tussauds, the famous waxworks in Baker Street, London; the London Planetarium and Laserium; the Royalty and Empire Exhibition at Windsor; Alton Towers, the UK's only world-rated leisure park; and Chessington World of Adventures and Zoo. The Castle's General Manager, Martin Westwood, works in the stately home, from a majestic suite of offices overlooking the grounds.He is enthusiastic about the Castle both as a building steeped in history and as a business. In the relaxed atmosphere of his office, where he is surrounded by portraits and old paintings of the Castle, he refers to it as ‘a brand leader' in stately homes for it is in the top five most visited historic sites that charge entry fees (see Table 1).Table 1 Historic sites attracting more than 300,000 paid admissions 1 Tower of London 2 Roman Baths and Pump Room, Bath 3 State Apartments, Windsor 4 Stonehenge, Wiltshire 5 Warwick Castle 6 Shakespeare's Birthplace, Stratfor d 7 Leeds Castle, Kent 8 Hampton Court Palace, near London 9 Tower Bridge, London 10 Blenheim Palace, Wood stock, Oxford 11 Beaulieu, Hampshire 12 Cutty Sark, Greenwich, London 13 St George's Chapel, Windsor 14 Anne Hathaway's Cottage, Stratford 15 HMS Victory, Portsmouth 16 Mary Rose, Portsmouth 17 Royal Pavilion, Brighton 18 Chatsworth House, Derbyshire 19 Hever Castle, Kent 20 Fountains Abbey, North Yorks.Paid admissions (000s) 2298 950 855 703 685 604 540 525 528 517 493 411 372 365 340 333 314 306 303 300 As you pass through the ticket office from the large car park you catch your first view of the Castle. The view truly takes your breath away and fully warrants the description given by Sir Walter Scott in 1828: ‘the most noble sight in England'. MARKETING Marketing Manager, Sarah Montgomery, is another enthusiast of the outstanding beauty of the Castle.Discussing the marketing of the business she considers that the Castle's unique selling point must be that carried on al l the promotional material: ‘Warwick Castle – the finest mediaeval castle in England. ‘ But she does not discount the Castle's unique state of preservation, the breadth of attractions it offers, its location on the banks of the River Avon or its thousand-year span of history. In the year 1068 the first castle was built at Warwick and since that time it slowly developed into a mighty stronghold and later a grand mansion befitting the station of a high ranking nobleman. . In November 1978 the present Earl sold Warwick Castle and its contents to Madame Tussauds of London. The Castle's marketing team recognised that the Castle attracted a diverse audience, each segment of which wanted different things from a visit. So in targeting audiences the team had to decide whether it was trying to sell the Castle aspect, the stately home aspect or the gardens. It was felt that all three areas attracted different audiences and conjured up different expectations.Research had esta blished that from the public's point of view ‘castles' were not associated with grounds and formal gardens, and neither were they associated with the notion of being someone's home. On the other hand, stately homes were associated with grounds and gardens but were felt to be formal and museum-like, with ropes keeping the public away from the interesting areas. So, was the ‘most visited Stately Home in Britain' really a castle, or was the Castle also a stately home? This conundrum had to be solved.The Castle management has a deliberate policy of charging one overall admission charge for all areas of the Castle and Grounds open to visitors. In the past they had considered charging separate admission prices for the Castle and the Grounds but this, it was felt, would confuse the customer. (See Figure 1 for price and attraction details. ) The Castle regularly has detailed market research questionnaires compiled by an outside company. Sarah said that market research is taken v ery seriously by the team: â€Å"On average, overseas visitors represent 42 per cent of the total.Twenty-five per cent of our customers seem to come in groups of greater than 20 and these groups are predominantly from overseas. On the other hand, 58 per cent of visitors come from the UK, of which roughly half come from within a 100 km radius of the site. Another interesting point is that 25 per cent of all customers are repeat visitors which we feel reflects the popularity of the Castle. With UK visitors 33 per cent are repeats. Of the nonlocals, that is UK residents from outside the 100 km radius, 78 per cent stay overnight in the area and the remainder have travelled over 100 km to visit the area for the day.With the recent opening of the M 40 motorway into London (approximately180 km} it is felt that travel time may be a more important factor to consider than distance travelled in kilometres† Figure 1 Admission Rates and attractions at Warwick Castle The data are collected over a period of days, and the market research reports sent to Sarah include not only the profile of visitors but what parts of the Castle they visit. The popularity of various parts of the complex varies according to how busy the site is. For instance, on a quiet day 87 per cent might visit the Private Apartments, but on a busy day this igure drops to 68 per cent. Likewise, during one such busy period, the visitors to the Woodland Gardens increased from 17 per cent to 20 per cent, to the Mound from 46 per cent to 52 per cent, and to the River Island from 34 per cent to 40 per cent. On average, visitors stayed on the site for three hours. Coach parties tended to visit for three hours, probably because the Castle was part of a full-day, tightly scheduled excursion that included other nearby tourist attractions. Competition for the paying tourists' disposable cash was quite fierce in the area, it was felt.Other sites competing for the ‘leisure pound' were the Black Country Muse um, Drayton Manor (Adventure) Park, West Midlands Safari Park, Cadbury World, Blenheim Palace, Alton Towers Theme Park, Ironbridge, Stratford’s Shakespeare and Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. In the Undercroft Restaurant marketing researchers overheard an elderly professor in conversation with a friend he had encountered in the Castle grounds: â€Å"I came early in the morning to avoid the rush. Any major historic tourist site is going to be heaving by midday in the summer and personally I hate all the queuing and tourists with cameras and all that.I got here at about 10 a. m. when the place opened this morning. I was able to enjoy the pure magic of the building with relatively few other people around. By lunch-time the queues were what I felt to be unreasonably long, but it is August and this must surely be their peak time here. I do wonder, for instance, should they not encourage more visitors out of season and what about allowing people to visit early morning or in the ev ening to avoid the lunch-time crush? † MANAGING DEMAND Warwick Castle brochures show a wide variety of activities that supplement turnover outside the peak season.According to Sarah, this literature was intended ‘to push up the shoulders of demand': Every Friday and Saturday evening the Undercroft provides the setting for splendid five-course mediaeval banquets recreating the eve of the Battle of Agincourt. . A special events calendar has been published (see Figure 2). The Warwick Arts Festival uses the Castle as a venue in the evenings for a week in July. Exclusive tours of the Castle, and separately of the Gardens, are run by experts for pre-booked groups.These are available during the periods October to March, and March to November respectively, except during school half-term holidays and bank holidays. †¢ †¢ As a profit centre for the Pearson Group, the Castle is given targets that increase at a rate exceeding inflation. From these, prices are derived based on product developments, the prices that competitors are charging and known external factors that may affect demand (such as exchange rates and elections! ). The Castle expected between 700,000 and 800,000 visitors in the next year and profit projections were made based on these estimates.All catering facilities are run by the Castle, recognising franchising to another company would result in lost control and reduce potential to participate in profitable activities. Martin Westwood commented on fluctuations in demand: â€Å"Staffing varies relatively little with demand. It is felt that once the basic positions around the Castle are attended by staff, there is little that an additional staff member can provide. Winter weekends attract more visitors than winter weekdays, such that Saturday and Sunday combined turnover is the same as the other five days of the week put together.In summer things are more even, a Saturday or a Sunday being equivalent to two weekdays, although Sunday is usually busier than Saturday† Figure 2 Warwick castle Special Events Calendar BUSINESS OBJECTIVES Martin is clear that the Castle's prime objective is ‘to achieve growth in earnings per share for its shareholders'. At the same time he emphasizes the sense of responsibility the management feels ‘as custodians of this precious monument' to work within it and use integrity and sensitivity at all times. Hence all signs, directions and facilities take a very low profile. Flashing neon lights are not the order of the day!Sarah Montgomery commented on the need to underplay the commercial side of the organisation: â€Å"Coca-Cola have offered us a sponsorship deal. They will give us money for a particular project which will increase our revenue and also the number of visitors we are getting. The problem is that Coke is the epitome of youth and fizz while the Castle's target market is adults ABC 1, average age somewhere around 45! So how do we pull this deal together? â⠂¬  It is the ‘integrity' of the business in which the management take pride. It is not any business site but a very special building that is loved and cherished by the staff.Their constant concern is how to run a business from the Castle without destroying the charm and romance of the buildings, and without covering it with obtrusive signs and facilities. All staff are very polite and courteous and, though they are available to the public, tend not to interfere with the customers' visit. In fact they blend in with visitors as they wear little that suggests they are actually staff. And when the Castle is relatively empty of visitors it has a really enchanting atmosphere. PERFORMANCE Evaluation of the performance of the business has difficulties.On the one hand, queues are an obvious problem (see Table 2) but then the customers do not seem to mind too much! Above all, the business is going from strength to strength, and achieving healthy profit performance. So, while the criti cisms have to be noted, management has been achieving the high returns and growth that the shareholders require. Table 2 Observations of queuing and flow, Tuesday afternoon Queue to Private Apartments (number of people) 1. 00pm 130 1. 20 147 1. 40 128 2. 00 153 2. 20 132 2. 40 119 3. 00 137 Flow through doors to Private Apartments (number of people) 1. 00-1. 20 104 1. 20-1. 40 113 1. 40-2. 0 107 Flow from Private Apartments and State Rooms (number of people) 1. 00-1. 20 127 1. 20-1. 40 117 1. 40-2. 00 121 Queue to Rampart Walk 0-20 people at anyone time Number of people entering Rampart Walk 1. 40-1. 50 174 Queue at top of ramparts to get down (number of people) 6 minutes 63 Martin Westwood was defensive on the question of queues: â€Å"What popular tourist attraction doesn't have queues, and in any case, the queues here move pretty quickly. If we get queues for one part of the Castle we simply put out a sign suggesting people move on to the next attraction, although, to be frank, that doesn't really work.You see, the trouble is, that once people see a queue they don't want to miss out so they still join on the end of it. Our marketing questionnaires (see Appendix 1) suggest that we've got the operation about right, but there's always room for some improvement† The Professor in the Undercroft Restaurant had raised several issues connected with this: â€Å"The Castle really is in a unique condition of preservation. It's truly marvellous but I wouldn't seriously consider visiting it in the peak season. I just happen to be in the area because we're going over to Stratford tonight to see Twelfth Night at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.I'm really looking forward to it! I wonder why they don't have off-peak rates for those not visiting around midday and maybe open earlier and close later. I would be more than happy to spend more time on the site if it weren't for all the other tourists everywhere. And another thing, couldn't they do a package deal with the th eatre at Stratford? I'm sure a lot of visitors here also go there. In fact, I would pay a premium price to have the Castle almost to myself. For instance, I'd find it simply delightful to sip a Pimms or a gin and tonic in the grounds as the sun went down.I know that I am rambling but I am sure there's a way to re-jig the prices so that the site basically generates more income throughout the year. And even if you say they do things out of season I've not heard about them, so what's the use of publicity if it doesn't reach the people that want to spend money? † Sarah Montgomery, mindful of the need to keep a close eye on customers' diverse requirements, often talked to individuals at the exit. A transcript of one such encounter is reproduced in Appendix 2.APPENDIX 1 MARKETING QUESTIONNAIRE OF RANDOM SAMPLE OF PEOPLE LEAVING WARWICK CASTLE Age range 0-5 6-15 16-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56-65 66+ 7 37 27 25 34 17 20 33 Area of origination Local (within 100 km) UK (outside 100 km) Euro pe (excl. UK) USA/Canada S. America Australia Africa Asia Other/unspecified Length of stay in area Day trip 1-3 days 4-7 days 8+ days Method of transport Coach trip Own transport Hire car Public transport Other (bicycles etc. ) 37 27 25 47 3 11 5 14 2 96 50 13 5 96 74 31 20 12 Did you find that you had to queue very much? Yes 186 No 12 No comment 2 Did you feel that the queues were the same as other large tourist sites?Same 190 Better 4 Worse 6 Did you visit†¦? State Rooms and Great Hall The Private Apartments The Watergate (Ghost) Tower The Armory The Dungeon The Torture Chamber The Gatehouse and Barbican 191 190 31 104 193 183 87 Guy's Tower, the Rampart Walk and Clarence Tower The Victorian Rose Garden The Peacock Gardens The Conservatory The River Island Foxes Study and Cedar Walk Pageant Field The Mound Refreshment Stall Stables Restaurant and Tearoom Undercroft Restaurant The Bookshop Did you.. .? Bring your own picnic Did you see the Red Knight Did you buy a brochure How long have you spent at the Castle? hours Is this your first visit? Yes No Would you visit again? Yes No Maybe Don't know 186 103 117 102 57 31 101 54 118 52 71 62 32 81 99 5 67 75 37 16 148 52 144 31 23 2 APPENDIX 2 TRANSCRIPT OF A CONVERSATION WITH A VISITOR Christabelle Trymko, Oldbury-on-Severn, Gloucester ‘We got here at about midday. We came up for the day from Gloucestershire. It was quite a good trip and the kids behaved themselves in the car. We had heard a lot about the Castle from some friends who have just moved up to Stratford, which is just down the road from Warwick. ‘The Castle's in superb condition!You don't know what it's going to be like until you get past the ticket office and it really is amazing. It has been kept in impeccable condition, and the gardens are beautiful as well as being far less crowded than the Castle. ‘There were too many people in and around the Castle. The queues were an irritation but I parked my husband in the queue and too k the kids elsewhere until he was near the front and then we joined him. I think a few people got upset because we seemed to be pushing in, but I'm not prepared to wait with three children in long queues in the sun.Mind you, it's nothing like the queues at Madame Tussauds in London, they really are crazy. ‘I didn't realise quite how big the grounds were. If I had known I think we would have spent longer at Warwick Castle and made a full day of it. We should have come here at about ten and then spent the whole day here. That way the queues inside the Castle would have been shorter for us. The grounds are lovely and they've got special picnic areas which I thought was a nice idea. (I wish we'd brought a picnic. ) Mind you, it does seem to be more than a bit light on entertainment for the kids. Nicky loved the man with the wonderful moustache dressed up in full Crusader uniform on the horse. He was very good with the kids. Nicky also liked the waxworks in the Private Apartments p lace. The queue wound its way up, down and around the place but apart from mild feelings of claustrophobia (that's my problem, I suppose) it went at about the right speed and I guess it lasted a bit under an hour. Oh yes, the Rampart Walk, they ought to warn you about just how many stairs you have to climb. I mean, I know there is a sign but you don't take it seriously, do you!You go up and up and then there's that great spiral staircase up the inside of that tower, I won't do that again in a rush! But it was worth it for the view. ‘All in all it was a good day. More interesting than the average castle and not full of the usual touristoriented rubbish associated with tourist attractions. The commercial side is very much underplayed and I like that. You don't feel obliged to buy ice creams and tee-shirts and pencils and tea towels. Maybe some of the signs were a bit too discreet – we had to ask where the toilets were – but it makes a pleasant change. Also I like t he one price for everything. At other places, I object to paying an admission charge and then paying on top of that for particular attractions. You always feel mean if you don't pay up, and then you also feel that you might be missing something. No, I'd recommend the place and it's so much less hassle than the tourist places in London which you almost feel obliged to visit every so often. ‘ This case is from: Cases in Operations Management (Second edition) Johnston, Chambers, Harland, Harrison, Slack, FT Prentice Hall 1997

Insigh Paper “Story of Earth” Essay

The Earth is said to be â€Å"the only home to life in the universe† but five billion years ago there was no signal of the planet that we can call it home. Instead there was only a new star and a cloud of dust in our solar system. Over billions of years, a series of violent changes led to the formation of our world and, eventually, the creation of life. As stated in the movie 4500 million years ago the earth looks like hell than home. Also, we can definitely see it as a â€Å"boiling ball of liquid rock or an endless ocean of lava† because the sun was only 22,000 kilometers away from our planet. As time goes by, Meteorite starts showering the planet and brings water 3, 900 million years ago. Then, 3,800 million years ago the molten rocks burst in the earth’s crust and rises up which forms a volcanic islands which may eventually became the first continent. Might as in this year, it begins to make the earth a planet that we can live but the atmosphere was toxic and meteorite dissolves and transport carbon, proteins, amino acids from space to the ocean. Microscopic organisms are also found and the first sign of life is called the single cell bacteria which is the chemicals under water. Furthermore, 3,500 million years ago Astrometalites was also found it is also called as â€Å"the most important element† because it helps in the photosynthesis process. Afterwards, 1,500 million years ago the earth is no longer a living planet. There were no complex life, plant, dinosaur and even humans. At this time, the earth was also called as the blue ball that has scattered volcanic islands. Then, the oldest known supercontinent was introduced it was called Rodinia. It was formed about 1100 million years ago and broke apart 750 million years ago. Also, in this year, the day was counted only 18 hours. 750 million years ago, the heat in the earth’s crust was said the reason why the supercontinent split into pieces. About 650 million years ago, it was the longest and coldest period of ice age ever to grief the earth and about 3 kilometers of ice was suppressing the earth so that the scientists call the earth as a â€Å"snow ball†. As the time passed by, the ice is also melted. And 540 million years ago, the primitive bacteria evolve into plants and something else. Trilobites are distance relatives of insects and even scorpions. Nomolicarius(sir I’m not so sure of the spelling) was also found in that era. It was 60 meters long and has a large eyes, sharp teeth and grasping limbs. Picaia(sir I’m not so sure of the spelling) a organism that has a 5 centimeters long and may also be evolving into spine. As conclusion, the earth created by dust and rocks at the universe. Also it was surpass different cycle. As the time passed by, a boiling ball of rock with an endless ocean of lava. Then it became a blue ball and finally an earth surrounded by ice.

Is It Time to Revive Nuclear Power? Essay

1. Many professors, scientists, researchers, and even governments, have been debating over the issue on the use of nuclear power as a main energy source. In Taking Sides, two authors who are highly narrow-minded state their debates on this critical issue. Allison MacFarlane, author of â€Å"Nuclear Power: Panacea for Future Energy Needs?†, believes that nuclear power should be revived. She argues that nuclear power will provide sufficient energy, while at the same time reducing carbon dioxide emissions. On the other hand, professor Kristin Shrader-Frechette, author of â€Å"Five Myths About Nuclear Energy†, argues that nuclear power is too expensive and unsafe for the environment, when there are renewable energy sources that are better for the environment and economy. I agree with Shrader-Frechette because she proves the five myths about nuclear energy wrong using extremely valid arguments, which exist to prove that nuclear power is not the best option for an energy sou rce in our society. Background 2. In â€Å"Small Recactors Make a Bid to Revive Nuclear Power†, the Obama Administration and the Energy Department are working on making America the leader in advanced nuclear technology and manufacturing (Biello 2012). They are considering switching the large reactors, which are currently the predominant technology, to small reactors, which will save money. These reactors would contain enough power to power more than 200,000 U.S. homes for a year (Biello 2012). This strategy will cause less nuclear waste and will increase safety issues as well. In another article, â€Å"Time to revive, not kill, the nuclear age†, it is stated that a world without nuclear power would be less secure. Neither fossil fuels nor renewable resources will be able to replace the 14 percent of global electricity generated by nuclear reactors (Financial Times 2011). This article sides with MacFarlane by saying the Chernobyl accident was bad, but since then things have improved. The majority of the existing reactors were built a long time ago, and the ones that were recently built, have many more safety features, such as passive cooling systems to prevent overheating, which will greatly reduce safety risks. It is agreed that there is much more research needed, but reviving nuclear power is necessary in order for energy security. Argument For Nuclear Power 3. Allison MacFarlane argues that nuclear power is necessary and that it is nowhere near as bad as everyone thinks, and that it is actually very efficient. She believes that nuclear reactors do not emit carbon dioxide, and that this is a major advancement in technology. She states that there are two pathways for handling the spent nuclear fuel generated by power reactors: the open cycle and closed cycle. The costs associated with the construction of new nuclear reactors may be the main reason for the inhibiting of the global expansion of nuclear power. She says that although nuclear power can be our main source of power, and very efficient, it will take many years before a considerable number of new plants are licensed and built. 4. Allison MacFarlane argues that nuclear reactors do not emit carbon dioxide to produce electricity because their fuel is uranium-based. Nuclear power saved about 13 percent of annual emissions of Carbon dioxide, meaning that by 2050 emissions could be reduced by 15-25 percent. Since the Chernobyl accident in 1986, the overall global safety record has been good, even though there have been some problems. The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty guarantees that countries that do not have nuclear weapons are allowed nuclear energy technology, which is a great form of security for these countries. The open and closed cycles have been effective so far in containing the nuclear waste, and hopefully will continue in the future. 5. Although nuclear power does not emit carbon dioxide directly, nuclear power is not emission free. Carbon dioxide is emitted during nuclear power production, during the mining, milling, and fuel fabrication processes. No countries have opened a high-level nuclear waste disposal facility, so all of the nuclear waste is currently sitting in storage facilities. If nuclear power expands, these high-level wastes will increase. A catastrophic nuclear accident could result in compensation costs of hundreds of billions of dollars, and currently 236 of the 436 operating reactors are not even covered by liability conventions. Nuclear power is very expensive compared to other power sources, which is the biggest issue standing in the way of reviving nuclear power. Argument Against Nuclear Power 6. Kristin Shrader-Frechette argues that nuclear power is clearly not the best option as a power source for many reasons. She busts the five myths about nuclear power believed by many people. She gives valid reasons to support her position opposing nuclear power. She talks about how nuclear power is unclean, expensive, unnecessary to address climate change, unsafe, and how it will increase the proliferation of weapons. 7. This whole argument, in my opinion, is strengths, minus a few minor points. Although MacFarlane states that nuclear reactors do not emit carbon dioxide, Shrader-Frechette argues that the nuclear fuel cycle has eight other stages that do release greenhouse gases. Nuclear power generates at least 33 grams of carbon-equivalent emissions for each kilowatt-hour of electricity produced. Nuclear wastes are stored at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain, which poses severe problems for the future. As high-level radioactive wastes increase, the availability of storage space decreases, and exposure rises. Exposure to nuclear waste can likely cause fatal cancer, which risks are very high for. 8. The weaknesses of Shrader-Frechette’s argument are very scarce in my opinion. She discusses the emissions of carbon dioxide, stating that they are much higher than most people think, but MacFarlane stated that they are working on reducing them, and it will take many years before anything is set in stone. Per kilowatt-hour, Shrader-Frechette states that atomic energy produces only one-seventh the greenhouse emissions of coal. She believes nuclear power is not clean, however this statistic is in favor of reviving nuclear power by stating an opposing fact. Weighing the Arguments 9. I agree with Kristin Shrader-Frechette in just about every aspect. She gives amazing facts and statistics to support her argument against the revival of nuclear power. The five myths supporting nuclear power are all false. Nuclear power is not clean due to the greenhouse gas emissions during the nuclear fuel cycle. The government is providing way too much money to fund nuclear power, when there are cheaper, safer energy sources to fund. Also, nuclear energy will definitely increase the use and proliferation of weapons around the world, which I believe will lead to more war. Conclusion 10. I sided with Kristin Shrader-Frechette because of her brilliant proof of her argument, which proved the five myths about nuclear energy wrong. Allison MacFarlane argued that nuclear power should be revived because carbon dioxide emissions are reduced, safety has improved since the last major incident, and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty provides more security for nuclear power. Shrader-Frechette argued that there are more carbon dioxide emissions from the nuclear fuel cycle, the government is spending too much money funding nuclear power when they should be funding wind or solar power since they are cheaper and safer, and the use and proliferation of weapons will increase. Both authors have sound arguments; however I feel that Shrader-Frechette’s is more valid and will make the economy and environment better in the end. Bibliography Biello, D. (2012). Small reactors make a bid to revive nuclear power. Scientific American, Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=small-reactors-bid-to-revive-nuclear-power. Financial Times. (2011). Time to revive, not kill, the nuclear age. Financial Times, Retrieved from http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/f0321fb4-6e9a-11e0-a13b-00144feabdc0.html. MacFarlane, A. (2012). Nuclear power: A panacea for future energy needs?. In T. A. Easton & T. College (Eds.), Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Science, Technology, and Society (pp. 82-88). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Shrader-Frechette, K. (2012). Five myths about nuclear energy. In T. A. Easton & T. College (Eds.), Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Science, Technology, and Society (pp. 89-94). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Modern Age Europe 1348-1789 Phase Definition 2 Essay

Modern Age Europe 1348-1789 Phase Definition 2 - Essay Example This led to agricultural and industrial expansions in the west during the 18th century (Donald, Ozment & Turner 464). Slave ships were the main mode of transport for slaves from the shipment area along the coasts into Europe and the Americas. The slaves were tied together in the large ships to avoid escaping. This was quite inhuman and some slaves ended up dying in the ships due to inhumane treatment. They were deprived of food and lived in pathetic conditions whereby there was overcrowding in the ships. Many of the slaves died as a result of this. Plantations are large estates whereby a single type of crop is grown. Plantations mainly concentrate on growth of cash crops such as coffee, tea, pyrethrum, cotton and tobacco. In Europe and the Americas, the slaves were used to provide labor in these plantations. Most of the slaves came from Africa although there were others from Asia (Donald, Ozment & Turner 466). Asiento is the permission that was given to countries by Spain, to sell pe ople who would become laborers in these countries. The Sugar Act (1764) was a taxation measure put in place by the British so as to increase funds for supporting the colonies. The act was passed during the reign of George Grenville. The motive behind the measure was to maximize earning of revenue from imports that went into the colonies from Britain. Anybody who violated this taxation measure by evasion of payment or any other way was tried in a court of law. This move ensured that people paid the taxes. The Stamp Act (1765) was a tax measure passed by Parliament. The main objective of taxation was to collect money for use in the colonies. The act involved taxation on all documents dealing with issues of law as well as documents like daily newspapers. Several critics of the act, such as Sons of Liberty, led to its review in 1766. This move was meant to make the act favorable for the people living in the colonies. Charles Townshend (1725-1767) was a chancellor and finance minister in Britain. He is remembered for his efforts, to have parliament sign some acts, for enhancing colonial trade. His relentless efforts did not see the light of the day for some time, but eventually, the British parliament signed some of the acts that he proposed. Intolerable acts refer to drastic measures that were taken by the Parliament in order to deal with the people living in the colonies. One of the measures was closure of the Boston port. This hindered transport in the area to a great extent. The other drastic measures were the moves by parliament to have troops living in private households and the reorganizing of the Massachusetts’ governance structures (Donald, Ozment & Turner 476). George III (1760-1820) was a Briton who served the British government during the period preceding independence and thereafter. He was accused of being an accomplice of the British Parliament in denying people in the colonies their civil liberties between 1763 and 1776. He did not show any ef forts to include the Whig families in his leadership, although the families had served the government for a long time. The First Continental Congress was one of the meetings by committees which were opposed to the British policies and systems of governance. The committee meeting was held in Philadelphia in the year 1774. Its sole aim was to ask and convince the Parliament to go back to restoration of self-rule and stop supervising the activities of the colonies directly (Donald, Ozment & Turner 483). The Treaty of Paris refers to an agreement that was made by key leaders of countries in Europe and America after many years of war. This peace treaty was signed in Paris, France in 1783 (Donald, Ozment &

Fair and Equitable Compensation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fair and Equitable Compensation - Essay Example â€Å"Fair and Equitable Treatment† is a standard originated from the 1948 Havana Charter for an International Trade Organization. It provided that foreign investments should be given just and equitable treatment through the promotion of bilateral or multilateral agreements on certain measures and in the treatment for an enterprise, skill, capital, arts and technology coming from a member country to another (Yannaca-Small, C., n.d). Today, the definition of the treatment is not as far from its instigation when applied to the standard in the workplace. Simply put, it is a standard that makes sure every establishment should facilitate an equal distribution of skills, arts, technology with regard to the need of an employee to be able to do a job well. Also, it determines the right of each company to determine just terms of admission and ownership of investment or compensation for every employee. A personal consideration of fair and equitable compensation could be seen in two pers pectives- the employer’s and the employee’s. A part of its provisions for employees would be to grant them at least a minimum wage which is set by a state’s government. This depends on the type and level of job one is hired to do. Also, it entitles an employee to have a chance to advance in their chosen position through job evaluation done by one’s direct boss, to know whether they are performing under or over the expectations of a certain job description. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) also sets the criteria for an employee’s benefit of getting an overtime pay. The only exemption to this would be a modified employee’s salary level based on the nature of work done that should be stated in the contract signed by the employee (Compensation and Benefits Policy, n.d.). This holds that full-time employees should receive extra payment for work done outside office hours while non-regular employees do not receive an overtime pay. Salary apprais al is another thing that is included in the fair and equitable compensation for employees. This should be done through annual performance review to regulate whether a certain employee should be considered an asset that lawfully deserves to be rewarded. Benefits, aside from salary appraisal should be granted for regular employees such as life insurance, accident insurance, flexible spending accounts, dependent care assistance, sick leaves, vacation leaves, bereavement leaves and etc, depending on the company (Compensation and Benefits Policy, n.d.). On the other hand, as fair and equitable compensation protects the rights of employees, it also provides guidelines of employers’ rights to be compensated justly, though not monetarily but through a measure of service and integrity. Some of which would be the right to demand for the agreed services expected from an employee at a certain time range per day, to call employee’s attention and push them to perform under their aut hority. Another would be to demand and at the same time punish an employee through expulsion or dismissal for disobedience to carry out work instructions and company rules, inability to display good behavior in the workplace, inconsistency, lack of loyalty and integrity, disclosure of confidential documents, theft of company property and etc (Employee & Employer Rights | Most Recent Publications, n.d.). Indeed, both parties deserve to have rights that are

Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 7

Research Proposal Example The results in this research will be very useful in improving various businesses across the world. The research shall identify the various factors that make leadership the main tool in implementing business strategies. The paper shall highlight the type of leadership important in promoting business strategies in order to maximize production Leadership is very important in strategic management. The leadership organization is very broad and does not only include a single executive. It comprises of an effective team that offers the way for the organization. The team should posses certain leadership traits such as honesty, trustworthy, risk taker, innovative. With the traits in place, the team could lead the organization in implementing certain strategies. The study will find the specific role that the leadership has to play in implementing these strategies. The study is very important in spreading the awareness message of the importance of leadership in any organization. In addition, the primordial importance of the study is to provide necessary leadership information to the leaders of various businesses. The information may include their specific roles in implementing various strategies that are important in their organization. In the end, it would assist in improving the leadership skills of these leaders. Thus, the study would be an important tool in improving the production level of various businesses. The study will be the basis of identifying various tools in strategic management. The tools will be important in implementing different strategies in the organization. Furthermore, it would help business develop the important phases used during implementation of the strategies. The study aims at identifying the role of management or leadership in the implementation of strategies. The study shall show the importance of leaders when it comes to formulation of strategies. The strategies are the backbone for any

Search activities of Google tools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Search activities of Google tools - Essay Example AltaVista, yahoo and lot other search engines. I was not sure about my required information; I was searching for information on American heart Association and I was not sure about its web address. So I written the American heart Association in the Google and then pressed the search button. I could not believe the results were so much accurate and exactly those I was expecting. You can see Google search engine provides Full details of searched items. It was not only showing exact web sites but also the main contents of that web site. The value of Google in all the search engine is more because its speed is very fast and its results are also effective than other search engines. It searches exactly that information that we want. It takes very short time as compare to other search engines. So Google is more Efficient than others. See the picture when ever we start search with Google scholar; it gives details of the writers of research papers on the lefts side. We can find the writers of specified research papers. Google Scholar is used to find out Journals and research papers. Google Scholars searches the papers and journals from all the libraries and it also give an option to find the required journal or paper through Web Search. In this way we can find the research paper about which we have no information through Web Search after knowing its details from Google Scholar. If we take part D as which tool is best for search then we can say Google the best tool among all other tools as we have studied deeply about it. It is fast it is more accurate and it give exact results. The most useful part of search activity of Google is advanced search. Through advanced search we can find exact phrase that matches our criteria. If you are a teacher then this advanced search Activity of Google gives you facility to check your student’s assignments against plagiarism. You can advance your search with the help of this

L-6 vertebrae Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

L-6 vertebrae - Case Study Example This paper discusses the problems caused by L-6 vertebrae and their solutions. Six lumbar vertebras can occur at any age on anybody. It has no known cure because doctors have not gotten its causative diseases. This means that this abnormality has different effects on people depending on a number of factors. Some of the factors are; age, physical activity that an individual engages in, historical body health among others. Many doctors have suggested that most of the back pains on people with L-6 lumbar vertebra as appearing because of this abnormality. Some of the spinal diseases have been associated with this disorder among the victims (Sellone & Long, 2007). People with complex physical exercise have trouble when they turn to the sides. They may also develop tumors that reduce their efficiency in physical exercise. Old people with this L-6 lumbar vertebra have problems that are more serious because of their inflexible bodies. It is a healthy practice for any human being to have physical exercise to remain fit. However, for old people it is hard for them to re main fit due to lack of exercise or very small exercise if any. Parts of the vertebral column where the L6 lumbar vertebra meets the L5 vertebra also has been reported to develop some diseases due to the friction that may occur sometimes as a result of inadequate cerebrospinal fluid (Weaver & Poloso, 2005). This phenomenon is often seen when the L6 lumbar develops at older ages of life. The logic underlying this phenomenon is that, normal body metabolism enables it to produce just enough cerebrospinal fluid for its normal functioning. Additional joint between L6-L5 lumbar vertebrae calls for extra cerebrospinal fluid. It takes time for the body to adjust to new metabolism. Sometimes it may not adjust at all, imposing serious health problems to the victim (Sellone & Long, 2007). Nevertheless, to some people, this abnormality has no demerits at all;

Haematology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Haematology - Essay Example Once these mechanisms fail and the cells reproduce without control, cancers are the resultant to a deadly organism as a whole. (Mutimer, 2000, p. 59) Proliferation can be understood by two characteristics 1) Cell growth and 2) Cell division. Both occur as a result by increment in number of cells. Proliferation, as appropriated within the study of cancer, refers to an autonomous process of growth and spread, internally driven but externally controlled. Danger arises when the controls fail and the natural proliferation of cells produces excessive reproduction. Young, immature (unspecialised) cells take on individual characteristics and reach their mature (specialised) form and function". (Cancer2006) Dr. Anderson describes that "correct differentiation of embryonic cells is essential in order to structure the cells associated with the complex environment of embryo. Failing to replicate the full range of normal developmental signals is likely to have disastrous consequences. Providing some but not all of the factors required for embryonic stem cell differentiation could readily generate cells that appear to be normal (based on the limited knowledge scientists have of what constitutes a "normal cell type") but are in fact quite abnormal". (Condic, 2002) Maureen (2002) in her article further talks about differentiation in terms of differentiated cells that transplant incompletely while runni

A report on Building the Emotional Intelligence of Groups Essay

A report on Building the Emotional Intelligence of Groups - Essay Example Individuals belonging to a group need to understand both the other people in the group but also how they themselves are perceived. If this kind of input is short-circuited, a group will fail and the dynamics will be off-putting. Every group is different and every individual who is part of a group has their own style and personality. But research has indicated that several things are required for a group to work well. One of the most important of these elements is trust. People in the groups need to know that they can count on the other members. They need to feel comfortable. If this isn't the case, the group can quickly degenerate. Building the kind of rapport that engenders trust is a key aspect of emotional intelligence and is not to be taken lightly. Another important element is identity. It is hard for members to feel much attachment to the group if they do not all share something in common. Finally, a third element vital the building of a successful group is a sense of efficacy.

Organizational Changes within the National Health Service Essay Example for Free

Organizational Changes within the National Health Service Essay 1. Discuss and debate the organizational changes within the National Health Service and examine how these have influenced care delivery. At the start of the NHS, a mediation model of management subsisted where the role of the manager facilitated health care professionals to care for the patient. Medical staffs were extremely influential and controlling in determining the shape of the service, at the same time as managers were imprudent and focused on managing internal organizational issues (Harrison et al. 1992). After the 1979 general election, there was originally little change to the National Health Service (Klein 1983). Though, poor economic growth, together with growing public expenditure, slowly brought about changes. Influenced by the New Right ideologies, a more interventionist, practical, style of management in the health service emerged. This efficiently changed the role of managers from one of imprudent scapegoats for existing problems, to agents of the government (Flynn 1992). Managers became the means by which government control over NHS spending was increased (Harrison and Pollitt 1994). The impulsion for this change arose from the 1983 Griffiths report (NHS Executive 1983), an assessment by the government health advisor, Sir Roy Griffiths. Within this report, four specific problem areas were recognized: the limited management influence over the clinical professions; a managerial stress on reactivity to problems; the significance placed on managing the status quo; and a culture of producer, not consumer, orientation (Harrison et al. 1992). The power of the Griffiths Report (op. cit.) was to challenge and limit medicines sovereignty in the health service, and over health care resources. certainly, nurses were simply referred to twice throughout the document. Through its attention on organizational dynamics and not structure, the Griffiths Report proposed main change to the health service. General Managers were initiated at all levels of the NHS. In spite of Griffiths original intention that it was simply cultural adjustment that was required, there were instantaneous and considerable structural and organizational changes in the health service (Robinson et al. 1989). Post-Griffiths there were escalating demands for value for money in the health service (DoH 1989). Efforts to extend managerial control over professional autonomy and behavior so continued throughout this intense period of change, and terminated with the NHS and Community Care Act (DoH 1990). From the re-organizations that taken place during this period, the NHS was rationalized to conform more intimately to the model of free enterprise in the private sector. This reformation was shaped by the belief that greater competence could be stimulated through the formation of an internal and competitive market. The belief that the health service was a distinguishing organization was disputed. The principles of economic rationality linked with business organizations were applied extensive to the operation of health service. The services requisite were determined, negotiated, and agreed by purchasers and providers through a funding and constricting mechanism. In this, trust hospitals and Directly Managed Units supplied health care provision for District and General Practitioner fund holders. There has since been a further shift in the purchaser base from health authorities to local commissioning through primary care groups and, more lately, through the Shifting the Balance of Power: The Next Steps policy document (DoH 2001b), to Primary Care Trusts. Through such recognized relationships, purchasers have turn out to be commissioners of services and the idea of the internal market has become the managed market that recognizes the more long-term planning of services that is required. Rhetoric of organization and health improvement underpins service agreements now made. The NHS is not simply a technical institution for the delivery of care, but as well a political institution where the practice of health care and the roles of health care practitioners imitate the authority base within society. The hospital organizational structure is an influential determinant of social identity, and thus affects health care roles and responsibilities. Though, through the health care reforms the medical staff and, to a lesser degree the managers, appeared to be defense from the introduction of general management into the health service. This has resulted in health service delivery remaining stoutly located within a medical model, and medical domination unchallenged (Mechanic 1991). It is the less authoritative occupational groups, including nursing, that have felt the major impact of such reforms. The NHS organizational changes aimed to convey leadership, value for money, and professional responsibility to managers at all level of the health service. These alterations were intended to reverse the organizational inertia that was limiting growth and efficiency in the system. Though originally aiming a positive impact on the service, these radical ideologies led to tension at the manager-health care professional boundary (Owens and Glennerster 1990). The prologue of the internal market in the NHS meant to present a more neutral and competent way of allocating resources, through rationalization and depersonalization. The new era of managerially claimed to be a changing force opposing customary health professional power (Newman and Clarke 1994), and persuasive professionals to offer to organizational objectives (Macara 1996). The contradictory models of health care held by managers and health care workers improved ambiguity over areas of responsibility and decision making, somewhat than clarity as anticipated (Owens and Glennerster 1990). The contending ideologies and tribalism between the health care groups were more unequivocally revealed. The introduction of markets to health care exposed a dichotomy for health care professionals. Medical and nursing staffs were requisite to report to better managerial officials, yet reveal professional commitment to a collegial peer group. This was challenging, mainly for medical staff that understood medical influence and the independence of medical practice, but did not recognize managerial ability. In many of the commentaries addressing this, the majority pragmatic resolution to addressing this situation was to distinguish that professional independence exists but together with, and limited, by managerial and decision-making control. The Griffiths Report (NHS Management Executive 1983) considered the doctor as the natural manager and endeavored to engage medicine with the general management culture through the resource management inventiveness. This requisite medicine to clinch the managerial values of collaboration, team work and collective attainment through the configuration of clinical management teams: the clinical directorate. On the contrary such working attitudes were in direct contrast to medicines principles of maximizing rather than optimizing, and of autonomy not interdependence. It is fascinating that even in todays health care environment; there have been sustained observations that medical staffs do not supervise resources or clinical staff in an idealistic way. in spite of this, there has been little effort to undertake a methodical and broad review of the organization of medical work. This is in direct distinction to the experience of nurses, whose working practices and standards persist to be cr itiqued by all. Early on attempts made by managers to bound medical authority led to doctors adopting countervailing practices so as to remain independent and avoid organizational authority. Such practices, taken to keep their clinical independence, included unrestricted behaviors in admitting patients or deciding on explicit patient treatments (Harrison and Bruscini 1995). These behaviors rendered it hard for managers to intrude on medical practice, and therefore restricted the impact of the health care reforms. Immediately post-Griffiths there was some proof that introduction of general managers had, to a small extent, influenced medical practices. Green and Armstrong (1993) undertook a study on bed management in nine London hospitals. In this study, it was established how the work of managerial bed managers was capable to influence throughput of patients, admission and operating lists, thereby ultimately affecting the work of medicine. however, attempts made by managers to organize medicine were self-limiting. Health care managers were not a colossal, ideologically homogeneous group and lacked a strong consistent power base (Harrison and Pollitt 1994). Managers did not fulfill their remit of exigent the medical position in the health service and evade the responsibility for implementing repulsive and difficult decisions (Harrison and Pollitt op. cit.). The management capability of medicine persists to be challenged by government initiatives including the overture of clinical governance (DoH 1997). In this, the Chief Executives of trusts are held responsible for the quality of clinical care delivered by the whole workforce. An optimistic impact of this transform may be to provide opportunity for an incorporated organization with all team members, representing an interdependent admiration of health care (Marnoch and Ross 1998). on the other hand, it might be viewed as simply a structural change to increase the recognized ability of the Chief Executive over the traditional authority of medical staff: a further effort to make in-roads into the medical power base. Current years have demonstrated sustained commitment from the government towards modernizing health care (DoH 2000b). This has integrated challenging conventional working patterns and clinical roles across clinical specialties and disciplines. certainly medicine has received improved public and government scrutiny over current years. This has resulted in a shift of approach from within and outside the medical profession. The accomplishment of challenging the agenda for change in health care will be part-determined by medicines capability to further flex its own boundaries, and respond to the developing proficiency of others. 2. Identify and critically explore the changing role of the nurse, within the multi disciplinary team, examining legal, ethical and professional implications. The impact on nurses of the post-Griffiths health service configuration has not been so inconsequential. Empirical work has demonstrated that execution of the Griffiths recommendations led to the removal of the nursing management structure. This efficiently limited senior nurses to simply operational roles (Keen and Malby 1992). The implementation of the clinical directorate structure, with consultants having managerial accountability over nursing, further reduced nursings capability to effect change. Prior to 1984, budgetary control for nursing place with the profession. The 1984 reorganization distant nursing from nursings own control and placed it decisively under the new general managers (Robinson and Strong 1987, p. 5). As the notions of cost inhibition and erudite consumers were promoted, audit and accounting practices assumed a significant position in the health service. It was nurses who, encompassing a considerable percentage of the total workforce and linked staffing budget, found themselves targets for public and government analysis. Nursing maintained some strategic management functions within the new management structures, but these tasks were mostly limited to areas within the professional nursing domain. Nurses have been seen as pricey and potentially upsetting factors of production: channels through which costs can be lessened and administration functions can be absorbed (Ackroyd 1996). Caught in the crossfire of managerial changes that were originally targeted at medicine, nursing has been placed subordinate to management (Robinson and Strong 1987). In spite of debates on the impact of health care changes, there is consent on one issue. The structural and organizational changes in the NHS since 1991 have re-fashioned unit management teams and unit management responsibilities. This has resulted in the improved involvement of these teams in the stipulation of the service. It has required a diverse way of thinking about health care and new relationships between clinicians and managers to be developed (Owens and Glennerster 1990). The nineties are set to become a vital period in changing the ways in which health care is delivered, not just in terms of the potential re-demarcation of occupational boundaries between health care occupations, but as well in terms of the broader political, economic and organizational changes presently taking place in the NHS. It is asserted that traditional demarcations between doctors and nurses, seen as based on ever more unsustainable distinctions between cure and care, are becoming blurred and that the new nursing causes a threat to the supremacy of the medical profession within health care (Beardshaw and Robinson 1990). though, there is an element of wishful thinking about this and, indeed, Beardshaw and Robinson (1990) rage their optimism with an identification of the continued reality of medical dominance. They see the threat to medical supremacy as one of the most problematical aspects of the new nursing, largely as claims to a unique therapeutic role for nursing must essentially involve a reassessment of patient care relative to cure. In Beardshaw and Robinsons view, the degree to which doctors will be willing to exchange their conventional handmaidens for true clinical partners, or even substitutes, is one of the most significant questions posed by the new nursing. In the wake of the Cumberlege Report on Community Nursing (DHSS 1986) and World Health Organization directions concerning precautionary health care, there appeared the very real view of the substitution of nurses for doctors in definite clinical areas-particularly primary care in the community, through nurses creating a central role in health encouragement, screening, counseling and routine treatment work in some GP practices (Beardshaw and Robinson 1990). Though, a current evaluation of the impact of present reforms in the NHS on the role of the nurse in primary care is more distrustful concerning the future shape of the community nursing role. If the way to determine the extent of nurses challenge to medicine is in terms of the conflict it provokes, then there positively is proof of medical resistance to recent developments in nursing. Doctors reaction to the Cumberlege Report on neighborhood nursing (DHSS 1986), which suggested the appointment of nurse practitioners, revealed that there were doctors who strongly resisted the initiative of nurses acting autonomously (Delamothe 1988). On the other hand, the General Medical Services Committee and the Royal College of Nursing agreed that decisions concerning appropriate treatment are in practice not always made by the patients general practitioner and recognized that nurses working in the community are effectively prescribes of treatment (British Medical Journal 1988:226). Discussions relating to the proper arrangements desired to hold the prescription of drugs by nurses are taking place, on the grounds that nurse prescribing raises issues linking to the legal and professional status of both the nursing and the medical professions (British Medical Journal 1988:226). This suggests that renegotiations relating to the spheres of competence of doctors and nurses are on the agenda. None the less, the General Medical Council (1992) Guidelines remain indistinct on nurse prescribing and other forms of delegation of tasks under medical privilege to nurses, stating that it has no desire to hold back delegation, but warning that doctors must be satisfied concerning the competence of the person to whom they are delegated, and insisting that doctors should retain eventual responsibility for the patients, as improper delegation renders a doctor liable to disciplinary proceedings. Renegotiations around the division of responsibilities between doctors and nurses are taking place very carefully and to a large extent on a rather extemporized basis, given the volume of letters requesting advice and clarification received from GPs by the General Medical Council. The focus in much of the nursing literature seems to be on the challenge of the new nursing to the old nursing posed by nursing reform, somewhat than on the challenge to medicine. One doctor (Mitchell 1984) has complained in the pages of the British Medical Journal that doctors have not been told what the nursing process is about. Paradoxically, the nursing process is in fact derived from the work of an American doctor, Lawrence Weed, who pioneered the problem-oriented record for hospitals in 1969. This changed the way in which patient information was collected and stored by instituting one single record to which all health professionals given. Though the nursing process, which was part of this innovation, crossed the Atlantic to Britain, the problem-oriented record did not. Mitchell (1984) has argued that the medical profession must oppose the nursing process and give it a rough ride on the grounds that medical knowledge should precede nursing plans to remedy the deficiencies of living activities which are, he insists, consequential upon the cause and clinical course of disease. He also accuses nurses of enabling a pernicious dichotomy between cure and care, relegating the doctor to disease and inspiring the nurse to the holistic care of the individual, and suspects that the nursing process is less a system of rationalizing the delivery of care than a means of elevating nurses status and securing autonomy from medical supremacy.

Street Gangs Essay Example for Free

Street Gangs Essay Another risk factor involves domestic violence at home for these young people. If they aren’t getting enough attention and instead been getting enough beating from their families, these young people would rather be with guys from the gang rather than stay at home. More and more of these youths are being driven away from their families and towards the company of strangers because of the violence that they experience from their own families (Parco, 2008). If they are unable to feel safe at home, then surely they would feel safer anywhere else. Another risk factor would be the media that glorifies violence. Everywhere you turn, you see advertisements and movies about people killing other people, or people stealing from other people and getting away with it. If these are the things that the youth are being exposed to, then there is the likelihood of them wanting to be just like these hoodlums, these crooks who earn big money from doing bad things (Killian, 2007). With the existence of these factors, concerned individuals, especially the parents should be able to see the signs of their children possibly joining these gangs. But another risk factor arises when the parents are in denial of the gang problem. If they don’t give much attention and focus to it, then their children may likely be the next gang members. If these parents neglect the signs, they would often overlook anything that may be odd or weird with their children’s actions. Its better to be mindful of these hints, or else these children may all end up in gangs and be involved in gang related troubles. Another risk factor would involve the community. This is about the lack of adequate community youth support systems, which is essential in addressing the needs of the youth so that they won’t go towards the way of the gangs. Without adequate community support, more and more young people would opt to join gangs as they have no other means of recreation in their spare time. With much unsupervised time, the more these youth would be involved in petty crimes that could be blown to unmanageable proportions. It is best that these risk factors be properly interpreted and addressed if we wouldn’t want our children to join these street gangs. This is because there is always danger associated with being a member of these gangs. No matter what benefit a member gets from joining, there is always a corresponding danger with his association to these people. Gangs often have access to firearms and illicit drugs, thus exposing the young ones to the dangers of both elements. Fights between rival gangs are not limited to fistfights, but instead they can get seriously hurt or killed because of the guns that some of them posses (ClevelandClinic. org, 2008). Gangs view schools as a negative element, so they may influence their members not to go to school, thus hampering education for them. With police records filing up for the members of the gang, the more their future become blurred. These police records limit future employment opportunities for these people, leaving them with minimum wage earning jobs that they can work into. Gang wars and fights between members of gangs also put their families and friends in danger, as they often become an easy target for their enemies. There are several signs that parents and concerned people can look into in order to know whether one is a member of a gang or not. This includes a sudden decline in the academic performance of the child, as well as an increasing disinterest in school. Another sign is the withdrawal of the person from their usual family activities. They can also be heard using unknown vocabulary and peculiar clothing style or choice. They could also have a sudden change in friends and usual company. Weird hand signs are also evident, as well as having a new nickname. These people also tend to develop bad attitude towards other people especially to the family and authorities. Aside from staying out later than usual, they also tend to require more privacy for themselves even in their homes with their families (Boone, 2007). The information regarding gangs can be put to good use by deciding what approach would be more applicable to a person who may be associated to a certain gang. This could also be used to plan an intervention measure in order to save someone from the harshness of the gang world. References: Boone, D. (2007). Why Do Kids Join Street Gangs. Retrieved September 9, 2008, from http://www. gwcinc. com/Why%20Do%20Kids%20Join%20Street%20Gangs. html ClevelandClinic. org. (2008). Gangs and Violence Retrieved September 9, 2008, from http://my. clevelandclinic.org/healthy_living/violence/hic_Gangs_and_Violence. aspx FocusAS. com. (2007). Why Do Young People Join Gangs? Retrieved September 9, 2008, from http://www. focusas. com/Gangs. html Killian, J. (2007). Why do kids join gangs? Retrieved September 9, 2008, from http://www. news-record. com/content/2007/08/26/article/why_do_kids_join_gangs Parco, B. (2008). Lack of affection, attention, fun push youth to join gangs Retrieved September 9, 2008, from http://globalnation. inquirer. net/cebudailynews/news/view/20080316-125016/Lack-of-affection-attention-fun-push-youth-to-join-gangs

An RSA-Type OTP Generator

An RSA-Type OTP Generator An RSA-Type OTP Generator Aiswarya Vinayachandran,  Sivasankar M Abstract Simple and secure authentication protocols are in great demand due to the ever expanding use of internet for financial and message communications. Multifactor authentication, in particular 2Factor Authentication (2FA) is preferred to static passwords-only authentication. One Time Passwords (OTPs) play a vital role in the construction of 2FA protocols. In this paper, an efficient OTP generation algorithm, based on RSA scheme is discussed. Implementation and computational issues related to the algorithm are also discussed. Keywords: Authentication, RSA, One Time Password, LFSR, Primitive Element 1. Introduction These days, almost all our day to day activities, starting from buying vegetables to booking a movie ticket depend on internet. As highly private data is being communicated between the server and the client, secure protocols are required for protecting these transactions from attackers. Over the years, we realized that encryption methods alone are not sufficient to secure online transactions. Hence evolved the idea of sending some message each time personally to the user and prompting him to send back the message along with his/her password to complete the transaction. This provides a second layer of security and strength to the existing concept of static passwords. In this paper, we present a way to generate OTPs, based on RSA type exponentiation. This research paper is organised as: Section 2 explains authentication process; Section 3 briefly discusses the conventional way of OTP generation; Section 4 is the proposed algorithm; Section 5 discusses about the randomness in the generation of the OTPs; Section 6 analyses the operational complexity and security of the proposed algorithm; Section 7 gives some concluding remarks. 2. Authentication Authentication is the process of identifying the legitimate user [1]. The identity is proven by various cryptographic methods where the user has to enter some input to the system. This can range from simply entering a password to more complicated security mechanisms like biometrics, strings displayed by tokens, key encryptions. Based on this input, the system will identify and authenticate the person. After authentication, comes authorization, where the system identifies the various privileges available to the user. Only authorized users can get access to the data as not all the users will have the same privileges. Some users will be allowed to only read the data while some users will be allowed to read as well as modify it. 2.1. Message Authentication Message authentication is used to check if the received message has been tampered in the middle of the communication channel. Message authentication is used to protect the integrity of the message wherein the receiver should be notified if any bits in the message are modified, removed or extra bits are added during the communication. This is achieved by sending a message digest – usually hash of the message will be the digest – together with the message. If the receiver also is obtaining the same digest over the received message then he/she can be sure of the integrity of the message. 2.2. Entity Authentication Entity authentication is the process in which an entity (machine/human) in a distributed network will get belief on another entity (machine/human) based on a key already established between them. The idea is that the key is kept secret and only the two genuine communicating entities know the secret key. Machine authentication is achieved through the verification of digital credentials or digital certificates. Digital Credentials are like a machine provided ID and password or a digital certificated issued by a Certifying Authority (CA). It is like a digital passport that provides trusted identification. Digital Signature is a mathematical technique used to validate the authenticity of a digital document, software or a message. It is used to identify whether a communication is impersonalized. Human based authentication relies on at least one of the three key factors: something the user knows (a password or an answer to a security question), something the user possesses (an object for authentication, say smart card), and something the user is (behavioural or physiological characteristics of the individual say, finger print and retina scanning). 3. Conventional OTP Generators OTP is an authentication technique, which comes in the second layer of authentication protocols after static passwords. An OTP is valid only for a single transaction. Even if an attacker succeeds in decrypting the password of a user, he/she has to get the OTP generated to validate the transaction. Since OTP is based on randomness/collision resistance, it is very difficult to guess an OTP. Even if the attacker succeeds in acquiring an OTP, he may not be able to predict the next OTP. OTP generation is based on hashing algorithms. Hashing is an irreversible process, i.e. for an input we can get the output, but with the obtained output we cannot get back the input. Even if an attacker obtains many OTPs, it is of no use as he/she cannot find a pattern to guess the seed used to generate the OTPs. An OTP is valid for a limited time, generally two to fifteen minutes based on the web site’s restrictions. Also in online transactions, while entering an OTP, a user is allowed to make errors only a limited number of times, say twice or thrice, which again adds to its security. A most common way of generating a sequence of OTPs[2] is described in Algorithm 1. Algorithm 1: Conventional OTP Generation Algorithm Note that the weakness of the OTP mechanism lies on the channel used to send the OTP and the security of the device to which the OTP is send. It will be advisable to secure the device with some biometric credentials making it totally safe. 4 Proposed RSA type OTP Generating Algorithm After the invention of public key cryptography, encrypted communication reached the next level. In general, public key cryptography relies on some hard mathematical problems like Integer Factorisation Problem (IFP), Discrete Logarithm Problem (DLP) [3]. As our proposed OTP generation is based on RSA crypto-system, we briefly do a recap of RSA encryption [4]. 4.1 The RSA Algorithm The Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) algorithm is one of the popular and secure publickey encryption methods. The security of the algorithm relies on the fact that there is no efficient way to factor very large numbers. Using an encryption key (e, N), the algorithm is as follows: Choose two very large prime numbers, p and q; Set N equal to p.q. Choose any large integer, d, such that gcd(d, à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¦(N) ) = 1. Find e such that e.d = 1 (mod à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¦(N)); The encryption key (e,n) is made public. The decryption key d is kept private by the user. Represent the message as an integer between 0 and (N-1). Encrypt the message by raising it to the eth power mod n. The result is the cipher text C. To decrypt the cipher text message C, raise it to the power d mod n 4.2 Proposed OTP Generation Technique: Our proposed algorithm is based on RSA encryption/decryption process and is described in Algorithm 2 below. Algorithm 2: Proposed Algorithm The above procedure can be represented by a schematic diagram as in Fig.1. Fig. 1. Architecture of the Proposed Model 4.3. A Comment on the Selection of N and the Possible Number of OTPs Present day OTPs are of generally 6 digits in length. Hence they can range from 000000 to 999999, totalling to 10,00,000. This is so, as we have 10 choices (numbers 0 to 9) for every digit and hence 10.10.10.10.10.10 = 106 = 10,00,000. If we incorporate a module to condition that the first two most significant digits should be non zero, even then 9.9.10.10.10.10 = 8,10,000 OTPs are available. In our proposed algorithm, if we require 6 digit OTPs, we can select N close to the integer 999999. For example a choice of 991 . 997 = 988027 will be sufficient for our implementation. As the number of bits used to represent a 6 digit decimal number is approximately 20 bits (log2 999999 =19.93156713), we need to select a 20 bit RSA number for our algorithm. Note that, a 20 bit RSA crypto system can be easily broken by the present day computers when e and N are known outside. But here as the attacker does not know N and a, he/she cannot guess the next OTP, which is some random number that lies b etween 1 and N-1.The only information that the attacker can get is the current OTP, which is some 6 digit number. 5. Randomness in the Generation of the OTPs from ZN* Considering the demand for OTPs and the computational expenses of different exponential algorithms, it is advisable to follow a systematic approach for the selection of the random number aà ¯Ã†â€™Ã… ½ {1, 2,†¦ ,N–1} .We propose two convincing methods for the selection of a. 5.1. Linear Feedback Shift Registers (LFSRs): LFSR is a mechanism for generating random numbers based on the initial seed given to it. So if we start with a non-zero 20 bit string, the LFSR can generate all the other 220–1 20-bit strings. We refer to [5] for some basic facts about LFSR. An LFSR of length L consists of L stages 0,1 , †¦ , L-1, each capable of storing one bit and having one input and output and a clock which controls the movement of data. During each unit of time the following operations are performed; (i) the content of stage 0 is output and forms part of the output sequence; (ii) the content of stage i is moved to stage i 1 for each i, 1 ≠¤ i ≠¤ L – 1; (iii) the new content of stage L – 1 is the feedback bit s which is calculated by adding together modulo 2 the previous contents of a fixed subset of stages 0,1, †¦ , L – 1. We note that for an n-bit LFSR connectionpolynomials are available, where à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¦ is the Euler’s totient function. So, for a six digit OTP, i.e. for a 20 bit string, we have = 24,000 choices. With each connection polynomial, we can generate all the 20-bit strings in different random ways. Since we have 24,000choices, we can assign a single connection polynomial for a single customer, and OTPs generated for each customer will be in entirely different pattern. 5.2 Primitive Roots: Another mechanism for generating 6 digit random numbers is by using the concept of primitive roots.We refer [6] for the concepts related to cyclic groups and generators/primitive elements..Let p be a prime number. Consider Zp*. Let gà ¯Ã†â€™Ã… ½ ZP*. As i vary from 0 to p–1, by computing gi mod p, we can generate all elements in Zp*. Here g is called the primitive root/generator of Zp*. As we have selected an RSA number N, which is not a prime number, to follow this kind of random number generation, we can N as a prime number very close to 999999. For example, N = p = 999983 will be sufficient. It is a known result that, if g is a primitive root, then gi is also a primitive root if gcd (i,à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¦(p))=1. Hence we are available with à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¦(à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¦(p)) generators [6]. Hence if N = 999983 (a six digit prime), we have à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¦(à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¦(999983)) =493584 generators which means we have sufficiently large number of primitive roots at our disposal. 6. Computational Complexity and Security of the Proposed Algorithm The proposed algorithm is an RSA-type algorithm which uses modular exponentiation for its computation. The modular exponentiation operation generally consumes a considerable amount of time for large operands as it consists of a series of square-and-multiply operations under a modular value. For a particular user, e will be fixed. Hence the time complexity for ae (mod N) is O(log2e). As RSA is a widely implemented cryptosystem, improvements in modular exponentiation algorithms are evolving very frequently [7]. Though the proposed algorithm uses the concept of RSA with a 20-bit modular (where as the current standard is 256 to 512 bits), since a, e, N are not known publicly we achieve security through obscurity. 7. Conclusions and Future Works In this paper, we have proposed a new method to generate OTPs and discussed the possible ways of implementing it practically. There may exist other novel methods with less time complexity. Incorporating new methods we can design more efficient algorithm for generating OTPs. The possibility of generating alphanumeric OTPs will be also explored, in future. References [1]Bruce Schneier, â€Å"Applied Cryptographyâ€Å", Wiley Publications, 2002. [2] L. Lamport, â€Å"Password authentication with insecure communication,† Communications of the ACM,vol.24,no.11, pp.770-772,1981. [3] Neal Koblitz, â€Å"Towards a Quarter Century of Public Key Cryptography†, A Special Issue of Designs, codes and Cryptography, Vol. 19, No. 2/3, Springer, 2000. [4] Rivest R. L. ,Shamir A.,Adleman L., â€Å"A Method for Obtaining Digital Signatures and Public-key Cryptosystems†, Communications of the ACM, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 120-126, 1978. [5] Alfred, J., Van Menezes Paul, C., Oorschot, S., Vanstone, A. â€Å"Handbook of Applied Cryptography† , CRC Press LCC (1996) [6] James K Strayer, â€Å"Elementary Number Theory† ,Waveland Press, 2001. [7] Gueron, Shay and Krasnov, Vlad , â€Å" Software Implementation of Modular Exponentiation, Using Advanced Vector Instructions Architectures† , LNCS Vol. 7369, pp.119-135, Springer, 2012.

Red Badge Of Courage :: Essays Papers

Red Badge Of Courage Throughout the story many settings appear, the most important one is the battlefield. The time is 1862, which is the period of the Civil War. The story begins at dawn on a cold morning when the army rests by campfires on some hills. As a tall soldier, who later becomes known as Jim Conklin, washes his shirt at the river, he hears a rumor. He rushes to tell his comrades that the regiment will move the following day. When the loud soldier, Wilson, hears this rumor, he argues with Jim that it is a lie. While this argument is taking place, the youthful soldier and main character in the story, Henry Fleming, is listening attentively. He then thinks what his reaction to fighting in battle will be. A flashback to when he first enlisted against his mother’s wishes occurs. He remembers fantasies of glorious and bloody wars of times past. Henry thinks that war is a courageous adventure. This transports us to a different setting at his farmhouse. During this time, the people live a simple life mostly based on agriculture. The youth also recalls his mother’s lecture before departing. â€Å"She could . . . give him many hundreds of reasons why he was vastly more important on the farm than on the field of battle† (p. 4). His mother warns him about taking care of himself and staying away from bad companions. His mother’s character symbolizes many different concepts. Because of the era in which the story takes place, one can imagine that this woman is uneducated. Her farming lifestyle implies that she is a hard-worker, especially since no father-figure is present in the household. This image also sets an earthy, or realistic, tone contrasting with Henry’s fantasizing. Her simple actions, such as knitting him socks, and farewell speech show her motherly love, which represents motherhood. In this mental setting, one learns of Henry’s emotions about his mother and his views about war. He struggles with the idea of what his reaction will be to a real battle. The notion that he might run penetrates his thoughts. Running would prove that he is not courageous or heroic and that his fantasies of triumph in war are just fantasies. The more he imagines himself fighting, the more he â€Å". . . failed in an effort to see himself standing stoutly in the midst of them,† them being the threats of the future attacks (p.

Cutting the OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) :: essays research papers

CUTTING THE OSINT The main problem with cutting back or eliminating any intelligence gathering discipline is the possible problem of the loss of information that can be utilized to derive intelligence. All information that can be collected should be gathered, processed, and disseminated to the all-source fusion agency in order to completely draw the best picture of an investigated situation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the latter half of the twentieth century a burst of electronic technology occurred and developed an astounding amount of information via the Internet that is growing with more information by the minute. Most of the information that is publicly available is gathered by a resource known as open-source intelligence (OSINT). Due to budget cutting and having to eliminate one â€Å"INT†, the OSINT must be considered for the following reasons. One of the main problems with OSINT is that there is so much information; it is sometimes difficult to figure out what to collect and what not to collect. An analyst trying to scan through the tons of data in order to find quality information for a request can spend hours trapped in research. Albeit, the Internet is not the only tool available to an OSINT analyst, the majority of other information can be found somewhere on the world-wide-web via electronic city maps, business web sites, etc. This leads to the next point of availability to everyone. The analysts from the other disciplines; HUMINT, SIGINT, IMINT, and MASINT, most certainly have the Internet available. Many times there is not a need to put in a request for an OSINT analyst to research out information that is readily available to an analyst. The time that it takes an analyst from the HUMINT, SIGINT, IMINT, MASINT, or an all-source fusion agency to put in a request to an OSINT analyst and place a product on pause is not practical. Time could be better spent conducting the research within the INT or all-source fusion entity and thus bringing a more favorable result in the information found. Many times information disseminated from other INTs to an all-source fusion agency can be the wrong information, or the consumer could also be asking the wrong request for information from the OSINT analyst. If each analyst conducts the research, there is no doubt as to whether the question is answered correctly or not. This can eliminate the process of having to conduct double work on the same request and save more time and money overall.

Compare & Contrast 3 Essays -- essays research papers

The three essays, "Thank God For The Atom Bomb" by Paul Fussel, "Democracy" by Carl Becker, and "Chief Seattle: Letter to President Pierce, 1855" are three different rhetorical modes of writing that exposits theoretical, personal reasoning on the realities of certain controversial historical topics. The main focus of the essays are in proving a steadfast view of an ambiguous subject through sarcastic criticism of opposing ideas and by applying clever use of irony; the authors’ sentiments vary from imperialistic to anti-imperialistic, and from attesting to detesting a past event."Thank God For The Atom Bomb" is a straightforward imperialistic literature which analyzes cause and effect to justify the use of the Atomic bomb during World War 2. The author continuously criticizes the evil of the Japanese in an attempt to convince the reader why the "Japs" deserved what they got. He sites a Japanese pilot saying, "All Japanese must become soldiers and die for the Emperor" to prove his point that the general mentality of the enemy was just that –"implacable, treacherous, barbaric"(p460), and savage. He consistently acknowledges his up-close experience with the war to inform the reader that he has sufficient basis for his analysis. But to reinforce his authenticity that his view is not just possessed by himself, he borrows many statements and examples used by others who share his ideas. The U.S. war committee already drew out plans for a full-scale coastal assault and that was about to take action anytime; if the bomb was not to be dropped, an armed invasion on the mainland would call for a hellish massacre of unpredictable proportions on both the American and Japanese side. He noted a British observer saying "But for the atomic bombs, ... they would have annihilated the lot of us"(p457). Just preventing an anticipated one million American casualties was sufficient cause for the Nagasaki bomb that "led to peace"(p459).The effect of the bomb should be obvious that "the killing was all going to be over, and peace was actually going to be the state of things"(p462). Though not a very compassionate statement, it is true to the fact that the war was over and the killing has come to an end; the reason being that the Japanese has already been killed. "We were going... ...an’s dreams are hidden from us"(p409) concludes the sarcasm in referring to the white man’s destructive motives as his endeavorous dream, something obscured from his inferior red counterpart.These three pieces of literature are exclusively fanatical essays preaching the oblivious existence of ethical errors in people and in the general society through different expository styles. All three rationalizes on ego superiority, the foundation of imperialism. Yet their philosophies are not exactly conforming with one another. It can be derived from "Democracy" that the author dislikes people for labeling any fascist government as democratic - thus a superior state - to justify for unrelated wars or revolutions (i.e. the Nazi imperialism); while "Thank God For The Atom Bomb" attests American righteous-superiority during the Pacific Wars and criticizes people who thinks his ideas imperialistic. Chief Seattle who detested against imperialism, can no d oubt be seen as also possessing self superiority for it can be judged that he believes the red man to be superior, at least from a moral point of view. Therefore concludes the similarities and differences of the essays.

Online Privacy as a Corporate Social Responsibility- an Empirical Study

Business Ethics: A European Review Volume 20 Number 1 January 2011 Online privacy as a corporate social responsibility: an empirical study Irene Pollach Aarhus School of Business, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark Information technology and the Internet have added a new stakeholder concern to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda: online privacy. While theory suggests that online privacy is a CSR, only very few studies in the business ethics literature have connected these two.Based on a study of CSR disclosures, this article contributes to the existing literature by exploring whether and how the largest IT companies embrace online privacy as a CSR. The ? ndings indicate that only a small proportion of the companies have comprehensive privacy programs, although more than half of them voice moral or relational motives for addressing online privacy. The privacy measures they have taken are primarily compliance measures, while measures that stimulate a stakeholder dialogu e are rare.Overall, a wide variety of approaches to addressing privacy was found, which suggests that no institutionalization of privacy practices has taken place as yet. The study therefore indicates that online privacy is rather new on the CSR agenda, currently playing only a minor role. Introduction Since the 1990s, companies striving to be good corporate citizens have had to devise strategies to address issues such as pollution, energy use, waste production, animal testing, child labor, sweatshops, workforce diversity, or advertising to children.It has become a de-facto standard for very large corporations to publish social reports documenting how they address these issues in the marketplace, the workplace, the supply chain, and the community in order to ful? ll their role as good corporate citizens (Snider et al. 2003). The advent of the Internet has not only revolutionized many business models but has also rede? ned what it means to be a good corporate citizen (Post 2000), as most of the above issues are of little relevance to companies dealing with data and technology.One issue of public concern that has become highly relevant for IT companies is online privacy (De George 2000, Johnson 2006). doi: 10. 1111/j. 1467-8608. 2010. 01611. x Information privacy denotes an individual’s right to decide what information is made available to others (Westin 1967). Privacy is thus guaranteed only if individuals know that data are collected about them and if they have control over this data collection and the subsequent use of the data (Foxman & Kilcoyne 1993, Caudill & Murphy 2000). In the United States, privacy-related legislation exists only for health care, ? ancial services, and children on the Internet (Bowie & Jamal 2006), while many aspects of data collection and user control in electronic commerce are still unregulated (Fernback & Papacharissi 2007). Countries of the European Union, meanwhile, protect privacy more strictly (Baumer et al. 2004), which has proven to be a hurdle for US technology companies operating in Europe. In 2008, for example, technology giant Google encountered problems in several European countries with its data handling practices (O’Brien 2008).Despite legislative efforts in Europe, data privacy violations have occurred in a number of 88 r 2010 The Author Business Ethics: A European Review r 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. , 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main St, Malden, MA 02148, USA Business Ethics: A European Review Volume 20 Number 1 January 2011 large organizations, including, for example, the largest German bank, DeutscheBank (Neate 2009), or T-Mobile UK (Wray 2009). The problems with privacy legislation are that it is dif? ult to identify violations of these laws and that the law may lag behind what is technologically feasible. For the above reasons, global companies have some discretion over how much privacy they grant users and how much they reveal about their data handlin g practices to their users. This discretion adds extra complexity to the moral issue of whether companies take advantage of their powerful position by collecting and using data from users to further their own business interests, for example by sending out unsolicited promotional e-mails or selling user data (Pollach 2005).The discretion companies can exercise when it comes to information privacy and the ethical implications of this discretion entail that information privacy is a question of corporate morality. While theoretical work on corporate social responsibility (CSR) suggests that privacy could be a meaningful addition to a corporate CSR program, little is known about corporate practices. This paper therefore sets out to explore whether and how companies whose core business is based on data and technology are embracing information privacy as a CSR. The ? dings suggest that information privacy is emerging as an element of CSR programs, but that there is a great deal of variety regarding the adoption of privacy as a CSR. The paper ? rst discusses the moral issues behind information privacy on the Internet, reviews the literature on corporate responses to people’s privacy concerns, and then looks at the literature on privacy as a CSR. After describing the sample and the methodology underlying this study, the results are presented and their implications are discussed. The ethics of information privacyThe very core of electronic and mobile commerce revolves around technology, digitization, and the exchange of information, which poses a number of ethical problems (Zonghao 2001). A particular challenge to information handling in electronic commerce is the trade-off between collecting data for the sake of transparency and not collecting data for the sake of privacy (Introna & Pouloudi 1999). Another challenge is the trade-off between collecting data for the sake of pro? ts and not collecting data for the sake of privacy.As commercial transactions on the I nternet or through mobile phones are commonly based on credit-card payments and the shipment of goods to the buyer’s home address, the balance is tipped towards the need for disclosure rather than the safeguard of privacy. However, companies collect not only personally identifying information (PII) from transactions but also collect PII when users register themselves, use online services, participate in sweepstakes or surveys, or send inquiries to the company. In addition to PII, companies collect anonymous click-stream 1/2 data and compile anonymous user pro? es when Internet users navigate the companies’ websites (Kelly & Rowland 2000). Through the collection of IP addresses, PII can also be combined with anonymous click-stream data in order to obtain very comprehensive user pro? les (Payne & Trumbach 2009). The easier access to and increased mobility of data have made information a commodity that is bought and sold by data brokers (Spinello 1998). It is therefore al so possible for companies to buy datasets of user information from data brokers and merge them with the data they have collected themselves.Companies may use the data they collect from customers and visitors on their websites merely to execute transactions, recognize users when they return to the site, and improve their website design based on users’ interests. But companies may equally use such data for purposes other than those they were collected for. For example, they may target banner ads at users, harass users with unsolicited commercial e-mails, or share this information with third parties (Han & Maclaurin 2002). A growing body of literature documents people’s concerns about privacy violations in online transactions (e. . Culnan & Armstrong 1999, Phelps et al. 2000, Sheehan 2002, Norberg & Horne 2007, Norberg et al. 2007). Essentially, these concerns stem from the imbalance in power between companies as data collectors and users as data providers. While companie s have superior knowledge of what user data are collected and how they are r 2010 The Author Business Ethics: A European Review r 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 89 Business Ethics: A European Review Volume 20 Number 1 January 2011 handled, users may not even be aware that data are collected, let alone that they are combined into user pro? les. hus not suited to enhance user privacy or engender trust among Internet users. Corporate response to privacy At the turn of the century, some companies began to introduce chief privacy of? cers (Awazu & Desouza 2004). Their tasks include gathering information about social and legal aspects of privacy, devising the company’s privacy strategy, disseminating information about corporate data handling practices to internal and external stakeholders, and representing the company’s commitment to privacy (Kayworth et al. 2005). Another corporate response to information privacy is privacy policies posted on commercial websites (Sama & Sho af 2002).The original idea behind privacy policies on websites was that companies would disclose how they handle the data they collect from users, while users would carefully read through the explanation of the company’s data handling practices, understand their consequences, and then make an informed decision about divulging personal data or not (Ciocchetti 2007). In reality, privacy policies contain legalese, tech-speak, and other obfuscating language patterns that obscure questionable data handling practices (Pollach 2005, Fernback & Papacharissi 2007).Internet users have been found not to read privacy policies for the above reasons (Milne & Culnan 2004). Privacy policies are sometimes supplemented with privacy seals awarded by private-sector institutions (e. g. BBBOnline, TRUSTe, WebTrust) or accounting ? rms. These seals indicate that companies comply with responsible standards of data handling, as de? ned by the awarding institution (Smith & Rupp 2004). Consumers still have to read and understand the privacy policy, as the seal alone does not guarantee that the data handling practices of the company comply with an individual’s privacy preferences (Rifon et al. 2005).The problem with privacy seals is also that they do not effectively protect users from privacy breaches. The sealawarding institution may not know about a privacy breach or, if it does learn about it, can only revoke the seal, but has no means to help people regain lost privacy (Shapiro & Baker 2001). These measures are Information privacy as a CSR Carroll (1979) categorized corporate social responsibilities into economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities, arguing that making a pro? t is the quintessential responsibility of companies, together with their adherence to legal regulations. According to this classi? ation, information privacy can be categorized as an ethical responsibility, given that legislation is insuf? cient to govern corporate decision making i n all areas of data handling. This is elaborated on by Mintzberg (1983), who suggested that areas where CSR comes into play are those ‘where existing legislation needs compliance with its spirit as well as its letter [and] where the corporation can fool its customers or suppliers or the government through its superior knowledge’ (p. 12). If a company decides to address information privacy, it may not just do so because privacy is an ethical corporate responsibility. Rather, Aguilera et al. 2007) argue that companies accept responsibility for social issues for three different reasons: (1) moral reasons determined by morality-driven values; (2) relational reasons driven by the company’s concern about stakeholder relationships; and (3) instrumental reasons driven by corporate self-interest. Moral motives are enacted particularly by individuals with organizational decision-making power who have strong morality-based values. Relational motives are grounded in a compan y’s desire to promote and balance stakeholder interests, thereby building trust, maximizing stakeholder wealth, and gaining social legitimacy (Aguilera et al. 007). Instrumental approaches are self-interest driven, seeking to achieve greater competitiveness and protecting the corporate reputation (Aguilera et al. 2007). The latter approach corresponds to Jones’ (1995) argument that companies that manage to earn the trust of their stakeholders will be able to secure a competitive advantage through savings on monitoring costs, bonding costs, transaction costs, and search costs arising from managing the various corporate stakeholder groups. Instrumental motives 90 r 2010 The Author Business Ethics: A European Review r 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.Business Ethics: A European Review Volume 20 Number 1 January 2011 can also be driven by the desire to preempt costly government regulations (Aguilera et al. 2007). The strategy literature follows the instrumental approach to CS R, arguing that companies to which a particular responsibility is highly relevant can bene? t from integrating this responsibility into their overall strategies. Burke & Logsdon (1996) list the following conditions in order for CSR to bring strategic advantages to the ? rm: the chosen CSR issue is central to the company’s mission, is voluntarily embraced, brings bene? s to both the ? rm and to the public at large, is addressed in a proactive manner, and is visible to external stakeholders. It has also been argued that CSR initiatives can bring sustainable competitive advantages in the form of a ? rst-mover advantage (Lieberman & Montgomery 1998). However, for this advantage to emerge, the company must not only be the ? rst one to address a particular CSR comprehensively but must also continuously seek to enhance what it has achieved in order to secure this advantage (Tetrault Sirsly & Lamertz 2008).The strategy literature therefore suggests that companies in the information t echnology industry could bene? t from embracing online privacy as a CSR, especially if they make this commitment visible to external audiences. Although theory suggests that privacy could be a relevant CSR theme for particular companies, very few empirical studies have addressed the link between information privacy and CSR. They include Sharfman et al. ’s (2000) survey among managers on how important they consider a number of social issues, including the protection of privacy.However, in the exploratory factor analysis they conducted, privacy was eliminated from further analyses. Fukukawa & Moon (2004) included information privacy as an indicator of CSR in their study of CSR activities reported by companies in Japan. In addition, Chaudhri’s (2006) case study of global citizenship at Hewlett-Packard mentions privacy as one area the company has included in its CSR agenda. In previous theoretical work, Carroll (1998) has highlighted the protection of online privacy rights as one area where the law lags behind ethical thinking and morality comes into play.Finally, Post (2000) examined the changing role of corporate citizenship in the 21st century and pointed to customer privacy as a new issue of CSR. To date, there is no article that empirically studies in what ways information privacy is actually addressed as a CSR. Research design This study explores whether and how companies are embracing online privacy as a social responsibility, focusing on what measures they claim to have taken and how they communicate these to their external stakeholders in their CSR disclosures.In view of the lack of previous research in this area, this study is exploratory in nature. Accordingly, its goal is to identify the variety of corporate practices rather than to compare and contrast companies. The starting point for the analysis are the three processes of CSR included in Basu & Palazzo’s (2008) process model of sense-making: (1) the reasons a company states for engaging in speci? c CSR activities, (2) the kind of behavior a company displays to live up to its CSR commitments, and (3) the way in which a company regards its relationships with its stakeholders.This section ? rst describes the sample and the data and then goes on to explain the methodology that was applied to analyze the data. Sample The sample consists of the largest companies from IT-related industries, as they are most closely intertwined with information through the hardware, software, or services they provide. To them, information privacy could be a meaningful strategic element of their CSR programs in two different ways. First, they may embrace privacy as a social responsibility in the way they collect and use data.Second, technology does not just violate privacy, it can also enhance privacy. Accordingly, IT companies may engage in corporate social innovation and develop privacy-enhancing products or commit themselves to educating consumers about privacy protection. Clea rly, other large companies, such as retailers, operate online as well, but were not considered for this study, as data and information are not at the core of their activities. Large companies were chosen, as these companies are believed to serve as lead innovators in their industries. All IT-related companies from Europe 2010 The Author Business Ethics: A European Review r 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 91 Business Ethics: A European Review Volume 20 Number 1 January 2011 and the United States listed among the Fortune Global 500 and the ? rst 1,000 companies of the Forbes 2000 company rankings were included in the sample. Neither of the two rankings includes ‘information technology’ as an industry. Rather, both include a number of industries that deal with information and technology. These include Computer and Data Services, Computer Software, Computers & Of? e Equipment, Network and Other Communications Equipment, and Telecommunications from the Fortune Global 500 list and Software & Services, Technology Hardware & Equipment, and Telecommunications Services from the Forbes 2000 list. A few IT companies listed in these two rankings could not be included in the analysis, as they had been acquired by another company since the publication of the rankings. Also, the two rankings overlap to a substantial extent, so that the ? nal sample amounted to a total of 95 IT companies. On each company’s website, the CSR section was accessed.If there was no such section, sections dedicated to the company background, mission and values, or ethics were accessed. The goal was to download all texts pertaining at least loosely to CSR and, if available, the latest CSR report. An important criterion was that privacy-related information was collected only if it was framed as a CSR issue. Privacy policies, which are a standard element of every commercial website, were not collected, as their existence alone does not represent a commitment to social responsibility. Of the 95 companies in the initial sample, 30 companies mention privacy in their CSR discourse.The analysis is thus based on these companies (see Appendix A). Their texts range from 21 to 2,367 words in length. Methods This exploratory study draws on both a positivist approach and a constructivist approach in order to look at the data as holistically as possible (cf. Jick 1979). When studying textual data, the fundamental difference between the two traditions is that the positivist tradition sees language as a transmitter of information, while the social constructionist tradition holds that people consciously and unconsciously create social realities when they use language. Accordingly, the textual data were ? st studied using quantitative content analysis, which systematically records the frequency of particular content features. Because of its quantitative, systematic nature, content analysis de-contextualizes the words from the discourse that is examined and therefore has no mean s to interpret its ? ndings within a wider context. The ? ndings of the content analysis were therefore combined with a discourse analysis and are presented together. The combination of content analysis and discourse analysis has also been suggested by researchers in linguistics (van Dijk 1985, Herring 2004), sociology (Markoff et al. 974), and information systems (Trauth & Jessup 2000). In this study, the results of both analyses together provide a much richer picture of corporate practices than one analysis alone could furnish. This is important, given the absence of previous research on privacy and CSR. Content analysis systematically condenses texts into content categories by applying a coding scheme that produces quantitative indices of textual content (Krippendorff 1980, Weber 1985, Kolbe & Burnett 1991, Neuendorf 2002).The content analysis conducted as part of this study records in a systematic and exhaustive manner which companies in the sample have implemented which measure s to improve user privacy. The approach chosen for this analysis uses factual codes, which capture precisely de? ned facts, as opposed to thematic codes, which capture themes addressed in a prede? ned textual unit (Kelle & Laurie 1995). The factual codes pertain to privacy measures companies have actually taken, but exclude those that companies plan to implement in the future.With no existing coding scheme available, a preliminary coding scheme was developed from the data by examining the texts in the sample inductively (cf. Strauss & Corbin 1990) for measures that companies have taken to secure user privacy. Overall, 41 different measures were identi? ed. The measures were recorded dichotomously as being either present (1) or absent (0). They are listed in Table 2 together with the results. The qualitative approach chosen here was discourse analysis, following a social constructionist tradition, which views discourse as a social action that is shaped by and shapes the context in wh ich it occurs (van Dijk 1997a).Discourse analysis is a 92 r 2010 The Author Business Ethics: A European Review r 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Business Ethics: A European Review Volume 20 Number 1 January 2011 method of textual analysis that focuses on how and why language is used in a particular way (van Dijk 1997b). It is based on the premise that people intentionally and unintentionally construct social realities when they engage in discourse. They use language in their roles as members of particular social groups, professions, institutions, or communities but also construct such roles when they use language in social situations (van Dijk 1997a).Similarly, organizational texts can be constructive and constitutive of realities just like text or speech of individuals (Fairclough 2005). Discourse analysis typically pays attention to language features such as repetitions, pronouns, passive voice, nominalizations, modal verbs, agent–patient relations in sentences, and attitudi nal lexis in order to study the roles assigned to the participants in the discourse, the power relations between them, and the foregrounding or the backgrounding of concepts and events.The discourse analysis conducted here examines how companies present themselves as responsible companies when it comes to privacy and data handling. Basu & Palazzo’s (2008) process model of CSR has guided the analysis and therefore also provides the structure of the results section. Accordingly, the results section starts with the companies’ reasons for including privacy in their CSR programs, then presents privacy measures companies have taken as part of their CSR initiatives, and ultimately studies the relationships with the various stakeholders that are affected by the company’s privacy practices.The reasons for including privacy and the stakeholder relationships are analyzed in the form of a discourse analysis. The analysis of the privacy measures is based on a content analysi s, but enhanced with qualitative insights, as needed. Aguilera et al. ’s (2007) classi? cation of moral, relational, and instrumental CSR motives. Table 1 shows this categorization together with the text passages where these motives were expressed.The moral motives found include the understanding that Internet users have privacy rights, which the company wants to observe, and the acknowledgement that the company has the responsibility to protect the data they gather from Internet users. Relational motives include the recognition that customers have a desire for privacy, which the company seeks to meet, and the expectation that privacy protection will help the company win customers’ trust. Ultimately, one company expects to bene? t from its privacy program in that it expects to gain a reputational advantage from privacy protection. CSR behaviorThe content analysis revealed 41 different measures companies had taken to support user privacy (see Table 2). They have been gr ouped into four categories, which are discussed below. One company has implemented 19 of these measures, and nine companies have implemented eight, nine, or 10 different measures. At the other end of the spectrum, there are two companies that have not implemented a single measure, but still talk about privacy in the context of CSR. Further, eight companies have implemented one or two measures, and nine companies have implemented between three and seven measures.Most commonly, a measure was taken by only one company (19 measures) or two companies (six measures). The measure taken most frequently was taken by 15 companies. Thus, there is a broad variety in how companies address privacy. It is also worth noting that it is not necessarily the biggest companies in the industry that have taken lead roles in protecting user privacy. When ranking all companies according to their ranks on the Forbes 2000 and the Fortune Global 500 lists, one can see that the company with the highest number o f privacy measures ranks among the top three on both the Forbes and the Fortune list.The other two companies among the top three in the Fortune and Forbes rankings have implemented only one and three measures, respectively. The three companies Results Reasons for privacy as CSR The texts were examined for indications of why the companies include privacy in their CSR programs. Only 13 companies voiced their motivation for engaging in privacy protection, presenting different reasons why they engage in CSR. The communicated motives have been grouped according to r 2010 The Author Business Ethics: A European Review r 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 3 Business Ethics: A European Review Volume 20 Number 1 January 2011 †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Table 1: Communicated motives for corporate privacy programs Motive Moral Explanation Three companies acknowledge that people have a right to privacy Quotations ‘To us, the right to privacy includes the right of individuals to have a voice in the use and dissemination of their personal information. ‘A person has the right to control what information about him or her is collected and to determine how that information is used. ’ ‘Con? dentiality and security of consumer data . . . are areas safeguarded by PT in order to respect the freedom and basic rights of each individual’ ‘We feel a strong responsibility to help ensure a safer, more enjoyable Internet, while addressing the challenges to privacy and security posed by today’s new media. ’ ‘Companies have a responsibility to ensure that the information they hold about their customers and employees is protected, stored, transferred, and used i n a responsible manner. ‘Microsoft takes seriously its responsibility to help address the security and privacy challenges of the information-based society, from viruses and spyware to spam and online identity theft. ’ ‘Respect for privacy is part of our commitment to observe high standards of integrity and ethical conduct in all our operations’ ‘Protecting our customers’ privacy is a priority. We understand and respect your desire to protect your personal information. ’ ‘The protection of personal information is a very high expectation among our customers, and to meet it, we . . .. ‘Externally, Sabre is committed to building customer relationships based on trust, and that includes recognizing the importance of protecting personal information. ’ ‘Consumer trust and con? dence is critical to Cisco’s business and to any technology and Internet-related business; as a result, the industry must protect citizensà ¢â‚¬â„¢ privacy. ’ ‘[We] have to acquire a ‘license to operate’ by conducting our business in a decent and responsible way. ’ ‘Security and reliability form the basis of Telekom Austria Group’s stable and successful customer relationships.The Group therefore gives top priority to protecting the integrity and con? dentiality of sensitive data. ’ ‘Main opportunities: Enhance customer and employee trust, . . . support brand/reputation. ’ Four companies hold that they have a responsibility to protect the data they gather from Internet users Relational Two companies recognize that customers have a desire for privacy that needs to be met Four companies view privacy protection as a means to winning customer trust InstrumentalOne company states that it expects to gain a reputational advantage from its privacy program †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. that have implemented the second highest number of privacy measures occupy ranks #77, #87, and #173 on the Fortune Global 500 list and ranks #49, #518, and #782 on the Forbes 2000 list, which indicates that it is not necessarily the biggest companies in the IT industries that embrace information privacy.An investigation of the relationship between the number of measures taken and length of the privacy text on the corporate website revealed a correlation of 0. 77. This suggests that text length is an indicator of how important the issue is to a company. At the same time, it also shows that the companies generally do not talk at length about privacy without having taken relevant measures. One category of measures pertains to the companies’ internal affairs. They address processes, employee conduct, and, to a small extent, suppliers.The measures mentioned most frequently are the 94 r 2010 The Author Business Ethics: A European Review r 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Business Ethics: A European Review Volume 20 Number 1 January 2011 †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Table 2: The content of corporate privacy programs Internal Physical protection of data Procedural/administrative protection of data Electronic/technical protection of data Privacy policy Privacy is part of the code of conduct Privacy of? e(r) Privacy board/working group Employee training Disciplinary action for employee misconduct Privacy newsletter for employees Employee monitoring Privacy included in employment contract Onl ine resources for employees Ethics hotline for privacy questions Internal privacy campaign Limited employee access to data Online reporting of privacy incidents Regular review of systems and processes Regular review of privacy policy Binding third parties to privacy agreements Reviewing third-party privacy practices Privacy newsletter for customers Guidance/information for consumers Resources for parental control & child safety Privacy e-mail address Integrating privacy into product development Privacy blog Involving stakeholders in design of privacy policy Supporting IS education at schools and universities Publishing privacy research papers Supporting law making Supporting industry self-regulation Working with industry Working with governments Working with NGOs, think tanks Political action committee (PAC) Compliance with laws Exceeding laws Compliance with Safe Harbor Compliance with GRI Privacy seal 6 2 3 15 8 7 3 9 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 5 3 5 2 1 10 5 2 8 1 1 1 1 2 1 5 6 10 1 11 1 4 1 4 79 External 30 Collaborations 25 Compliance 21 †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. existence of a privacy policy and privacy training, privacy being part of the code of conduct, privacy of? cers, physical data protection, and regular review of systems and processes. All other measures taken internally were taken by one, two, or three companies each, for example measures encouraging employees to report privacy violations and to comply with relevant guidelines. Two different measures pertaining to suppliers or other third parties were identi? ed, namely that the company reviews privacy practices of those partners and that these outsiders are bound to a privacy agreement.The second category of measures contains those directed towards external stakeholders. They include r 2010 The Author Business Ethics: A European Review r 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 95 Business Ethics: A European Review Volume 20 Number 1 January 2011 primarily guidance for consumers regarding Internet privacy. Five companies take measures that address parents’ concerns about their children’s privacy. In addition to providing information, companies also solicit consumer feedback on privacy matters. Two companies highlight that they have an e-mail address to which people can send privacy concerns and inquiries, and one company involves stakeholders in the design of its privacy policy.The inclusion of privacy considerations in product development was embraced by eight companies. Another group of measures pertain to the participation in industry initiatives and collaborations. Ten companies mention a variety of privacy forums, centers, associations, think tanks, and institutes in which they are involved, in cluding for example, the Electronic Privacy Group, the European Privacy Of? cers Forum, or the Liberty Alliance. Some of them also state that they cooperate with other companies and governments. However, the nature of this cooperation remains unclear, and in some places, the cooperating institutions are not even mentioned.Ultimately, a few US companies express their views on privacy legislation. As part of the measures they have taken, three companies take an active stance for either privacy legislation or self-regulation. Both of these viewpoints are visions at this point, as there is neither privacy legislation nor a functioning model of self-regulation in the United States. The two viewpoints are as follows: ‘We also believe that governments must ? nd improved ways to enforce laws against data breach, misuse and fraud, and help consumers pursue those who mishandle their personal information. . . . HP was one of the ? rst companies to embrace the idea of a comprehensive U. S . privacy law. ‘Because disparate and multiple privacy rules place a heavy burden on global companies, we support a model of industry self-regulation (as opposed to government intervention) in which innovative tools give consumers greater choice in both protecting their personal data and understanding how it may be collected and used. ’ they comply with all relevant privacy laws. As compliance with laws is a legal rather than an ethical responsibility according to Carroll’s (1979) classi? cation of corporate responsibilities, only going beyond the law can qualify as a CSR initiative. Dressing up a legal responsibility as an ethical responsibility casts doubt over the sincerity of these efforts.In fact, one of these 11 companies has implemented no other privacy measure apart from legal compliance. There is only one company that vows to exceed legal requirements: ‘HP is pioneering an approach to the protection and responsible use of personal information. This effort goes beyond compliance with the law. ’ Only a minority of companies have adopted the privacy standards of outside organizations, such as GRI or privacy seal programs. Stakeholder relationships The measures identi? ed above relate to a number of internal and external stakeholder groups, including employees, consumers, parents, industry, suppliers, governments, advocacy groups, and the community at large.However, the analysis of the measures does not reveal anything about the relationships with stakeholders, and in some cases, the stakeholder group to which a particular measure was addressed was not even mentioned. This section therefore focuses speci? cally on the stakeholder groups to which the companies express some form of consideration. This could be in the form of protection measures, information provision, cooperation, or merely by expressing an awareness of their stakes in privacy. In addition to an account of these overt commitments to stakeholders, a discourse analysis is used to uncover discursively constructed relationships with stakeholders. Table 3 lists the various stakeholder groups identi? d, together with their stake in privacy, the number of companies that made a commitment toward each stakeholder group, and an example of such a commitment. This table is different from the results presented in Table 2 in that it was not concrete actions that guided this analysis, but the awareness of stakeholder concerns. We ? nd that companies recognize primarily the stakes of their customers and employees, who exercise a direct and economic in? uence on the company and can therefore be labeled Even companies that do not take a stance on the legislation vs. self-regulation debate emphasize compliance with legislation. Eleven companies state that 96 2010 The Author Business Ethics: A European Review r 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Business Ethics: A European Review Volume 20 Number 1 January 2011 †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Table 3: Addressing stakeholder concerns Stakeholder GroupStake # Primary Customers/ Protection of 25 Users their data Employees Suppliers/ Vendors Training Guidelines 14 6 Example ‘In order to help our customers address these issues, we have begun to develop guidance documents to help customers understand which parts of our technology may have privacy applications. ‘We work hard to ensure that Sun employees have the information they need to apply our privacy protection standards in their work. ’ ‘When it is necessary for business reasons to share a person’s information with third parties such as network service providers and marketing campaign partners, we work together to ensure that we main tain the highest privacy standards. ’ ‘We met with government of? cials and regulators in all regions to understand their concerns and initiatives and to help them fully appreciate the potential implications for privacy of new technologies. ’ ‘We are working with other industry participants . . . to develop solutions that help us reach both of these objectives. ‘In 2007, we formed our Stakeholder Advisory Council (SAC) comprising respected experts from a variety of nongovernmental organizations. ’ ‘Symantec is committed to helping parents keep their kids cybersafe. We believe that in the same way that we educate our children about the risks of drugs, smoking, or violence, it is critical that we educate them about the importance of safe computing. ’ ‘We tap this internal resource to offer programs that bene? t our local schools and communities. We are also in the process of implementing an employee-led education program. †™ Secondary Government Industry Advocacy groups Parents Compliance with laws; expertise in data handling Cooperation Cooperation 6 6 3 Protection of 5 their children’s data Expertise 1 Schools/ communities †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. ‘primary stakeholders’ according to Ansoff (1965). However, there are also companies that talk about privacy in a CSR context, but do not voice a commitment to these two primary stakeholder groups. Of the 30 companies, ? ve do not state that they do anything to improve the privacy situation of their customers and 16 do not make such a commitment toward their employees. Suppliers, who are also primary stakeholders, are addressed to a smaller extent. We can also see that the companies in the sample largely neglect their secondary stakeholders, i. e. those groups who do not directly in? uence a company’s core business (Ansoff 1965).Only a maximum of six companies interact with each secondary stakeholder group, such as parents or governments. On the surface, all companies studied engage in a discourse characterized by care and concern for privacy. In particular, emotion-laden words like help, understand, respect, concern, and safe abound across all texts studied. For example: ‘Protecting our customers’ privacy is a priority. We understand and respect your desire to protect your personal information. ’ ‘And as the 24 A 7 demands of the Internet Age threaten to overwhelm customers with complexity, they need trusted and reliable companies to help them make sense of technology and put it to use to make their lives better. ’The tone becomes even more concerned when companies address their relationship with parents and children: ‘We understand the responsibility and concern of parents who worry about their children’s exposure to inappropriate content and potentially dangerous interactions on the Web. ’ ‘Protecting our children . . . We believe that in the same way that we educate our children about the risks of drugs, smoking, or violence, it is critical r 2010 The Author Business Ethics: A European Review r 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 97 Business Ethics: A European Review Volume 20 Number 1 January 2011 that we educate them about the importance of safe computing. ’ In the second example, the pronoun ‘we/our’ adds to the concerned tone by promoting a sense of collegiality and shared affection.The same is also achieved in other places, when companies use this inclusive form of ‘we’ to reduce the distance between themselves and their outside stakeholders: ‘Our individual sensitivities about how our information is tr eated . . . are not uniform’ or ‘Sun is committed to investigating and addressing the privacy challenges . . . associated with our increasingly digital way of life. ’ In such statements, companies reduce the power distance between themselves and their stakeholders. The inclusive ‘we’ is also an indicator of positive politeness (Brown & Levinson 1987), indicating how writers conceptualize their audiences and what kind of distance writers create between themselves and their audience.While some companies use the inclusive ‘we,’ others talk about companies in general, e. g. ‘all businesses are responsible for . . . ,’ which includes themselves only implicitly and distances themselves from these events. Mostly, though, companies make themselves the causal agents: ‘we must address these concerns by helping to protect . . .. ’ Notably, one company draws its audiences into the discourse by always addressing them directl y, e. g. ‘We understand and respect your desire to protect . . .. ’ All together, the different voices present in these texts suggest that companies have different levels of self-awareness and different understandings of their role in this process.Less variety exists in the distance to the audience, which is – apart from one exception – not explicitly present in the discourse. This suggests that companies do not consider their CSR activities to be dialogic in nature. Another kind of discourse is found in 10 of the companies’ texts studied. This discourse reveals that some companies are actually interested in ? nding a balance between users’ privacy interests and their own business interests rather than protecting privacy unconditionally. They seek to achieve a balance between customers’ privacy interests and ‘business priorities,’ ‘business requirements,’ ‘business needs,’ their ‘values,â₠¬â„¢ or their ‘ability . . . to reap the bene? ts of online interactions. Business interests are also communicated implicitly: ‘our goal is simple: to balance the interests and concerns of our customers’ private information with their interest in receiving quality service and information about useful new products. ’ Alternatively, one company mentions only one weight of the balance, without saying what the other weight is: ‘that we are striking the right balance for our customers’ and ‘to reach balanced results. ’ The discourse of balance is a manifestation of the companies’ power, given that it is they who decide when this balance is reached. Interestingly, this kind of discourse has nothing to do with the motivations they express.Two companies, for example, have voiced moral motives, but also engage in this discourse of balance, as does the one company that has indicated an instrumental motive. It is also worth noting that not a single European company in the sample engages in this discourse of balance. Discussion The literature review has highlighted that users are concerned about privacy and that companies do not respond in a manner that eases stakeholder concerns. The companies chosen for this study are all active in the hardware, software, or telecommunications industries, in which data play a crucial role. Thus, information privacy, and in particular online privacy, is a central issue in their business conduct.The content analysis has revealed that only a small proportion of the largest IT companies comprehensively address privacy as a social responsibility. In the sample, we ? nd both companies that have taken a number of relevant actions to address user privacy and companies that have only taken one or two concrete measures, but nevertheless present privacy as part of their CSR program. A substantial proportion of the measures they have taken fall into the area of compliance and employee condu ct (e. g. guidelines, policies, monitoring, and reporting), while measures that stimulate a stakeholder dialogue or represent corporate social innovation are found less frequently.Further, some companies reveal that they seek to strike a balance between their own business interests and their stakeholders’ privacy needs. The sample even contains companies that 98 r 2010 The Author Business Ethics: A European Review r 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Business Ethics: A European Review Volume 20 Number 1 January 2011 voice moral motives for framing online privacy as a CSR, while at the same time indicating that they are interested in striking a balance between users’ privacy interests and their own business interests. We have also seen that some of the privacy measures are actually intended to ful? ll legal responsibilities rather than ethical ones.Thus, some companies in the sample voice concerns and a commitment to help, but do not take privacy to the level of an ethical responsibility (cf. Carroll 1991). At the same time, companies load their privacy discourse with emotive terms suggesting concern, commitment, and a desire to help. While this kind of language is typical of CSR messages and can almost be expected (cf. Pollach 2003), it is still in contrast to the results of the content analysis, which has shown that comprehensive privacy programs are for the most part non-existent. The ? ndings also indicate that companies have chosen a wide variety of approaches to information privacy. In fact, many of the different measures denti? ed were taken by one, two, or three companies only. Thus, little mimicry and no institutionalized practices have emerged yet. In uncertain environments, companies have a tendency to model themselves after other companies that are more successful or more respected. This mimicry leads to institutionalized practices that help companies to obtain legitimacy (DiMaggio & Powell 1983). The environment in which the sample compan ies operate can be characterized as uncertain, as there is no comprehensive privacy legislation as yet and privacy is, to some extent, at each company’s discretion. For mimicry behavior to occur, it must be clear to the ? m that adopting a certain practice brings competitive advantages (DiMaggio & Powell 1983). In the case of privacy, an institutionalization of voluntary privacy practices could mean that privacy regulation is preempted. However, as not every company in the sample, and maybe in the industry as a whole, is pro self-regulation, some companies may decide not to adopt privacy practices voluntarily, despite the fact that they care about user privacy. Privacy may be on its way to mature from the ethics/compliance focus to a more responsive, proactive focus, but at the moment, it plays a minor role as a CSR. This point is also re? ected in the ? nding that companies address primarily consumer oncerns and step up employee training, while all other stakeholder groups i n privacy play a subordinate role. Companies may not have recognized the bene? ts to be gained from engaging with secondary stakeholder groups, e. g. from cooperating with industry partners. At the same time, companies may have been too occupied with implementing privacy standards internally, so that their privacy efforts do not involve secondary stakeholders as yet. These internal compliance measures are clearly the sine qua non for a company’s external privacy activities, such as participation in industry initiatives. This study is not without limitations. One clear limitation is that the data stem from corporate selfreports, which are problematic (cf.Podsakoff & Organ 1986) in that they are based on what the company reveals rather than what is actually true. This could mean that companies overstate their activities. At the same time, companies may not have mentioned the particular measures they have taken, because they did not consider them important enough. Also, the samp le size could have been larger, but the small sample size also serves to illustrate that privacy is just about to begin to play a role in CSR programs of technology-oriented companies. 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