Monday, December 30, 2019

Business Essays - nCipher Management Customer - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 12 Words: 3688 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? nCipher Management Customer 1 Introduction 1.1 Background nCipher is a well recognised and respected leader in providing encryption and key management solutions to public and private enterprises and institutions world wide. nCipher help the customers à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" many of whom are among the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s most security conscious organisations à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" to protect and secure their most sensitive information so as to achieve regulatory compliance, manage risk and stave off increasingly sophisticated attacks and threats. In so doing nCipher delivers the level of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“next generation controlà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  for data protection that is essential in the modern world. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Business Essays nCipher Management Customer" essay for you Create order nCipherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s customers range from the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s top three pharmaceutical companies, four out of five of the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s largest energy companies, more than half of the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ten major aerospace and defence companies as well as nine out of ten of the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s largest banks. nCipher remains focused on further enhancing the performance and ease of deployment of key Authority, based on an increasing knowledge base of customer usage patterns and deployment scenarios. In addition nCipher are working hard to extend the range of third party products and system platforms that can be managed by key Authority. nCipher believe that these and other investments will position key Authority as one of the most comprehensive general purpose key management solutions on the market. 1.2 Companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s objectives and Operations nCipher remains concentrated on the application of cryptography to the real-world problems of identifying people and protecting their data, their business and the transactions, which occur between them. It operates and sells security products through a comprehensive network in the UK, Europe, Asia-Pacific Rim and the US. nCipher was named as a leader in the database encryption market by Forrester Research in its report entitled à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The Forrester Wave: Database Encryption Solutions, Q3, 2005à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . Identity Management of nCipher is the user management and provision enables clients to automate activities associated with user systems and digital identities, credentials and entitlements. Data protection suite gives security professionals the ability to secure information at the application, database, file or document level, providing defence in depth across multiple locations. Enterprise Key Management is nCipher delivers this to drive lower operational co sts and increased accountability by unifying and automating this critical aspect of security management. Cryptographic hardware platforms allow organizations to go beyond software based security techniques to secure encryption and signing keys, protect sensitive application code, prove the authenticity of documents and accelerate SSL operations. Symptoms, Problems and Issues 2005 witnessed a high increase in demand of data protection products and services. Several companies, including ChoicePoint, LexisNexis and Time Warner, announced their requirement for enhanced data protection. Due to Data Protection Act 1998 and the increasingly competitive market of on-line services, the industry of data protection will keep the emerging trend for years. As seen above, the operations of the company can serve the requirements of the market, ensuring the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s profitability. Mission of current nCipher The Board believes that the prospects for the core business of the Group in high end encryption hardware remain strong and continue to provide a solid foundation for future growth. The acquisition of the NeoScale product line strengthens the position in the rapidly evolving encryption market and gives us enhanced access to the storage security market. This, together with the emerging position in enterprise key management as well as now successfully established professional services team, is expected to deliver solid growth during 2008 and provide a stable platform for achieving the longer term aims. 1.3 nCipher classify as SME The definition of an SME used by the South West Ventures Fund is a business or company which has fewer than 250 employees and either an annual turnover not exceeding  £24 million or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding  £16 million; moreover 25% or more of the capital or the voting rights are not owned by one enterprise, or jointly by several enterprises falling outside this definition of an SME. nCipher was founded in Cambridge, UK, by Alex Dr. Nicko van Someren. Currently average Number of Employees (exc. directors) 2007 of nCipher is 193, and currently revenue of nCipher in 2007 increased by 14.8% to 24.2 m compared with 21.1 m last year. This has been achieved despite the impact of the weaker US dollar on nCipher revenue. At constant currency rates revenues would have increased by 20%. As part of a planned succession, nCipher co-founders Alex and Dr Nicko van Someren both stepped down from the Board on 31 December 2007, having retired from their resp ective positions as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer. The Board would like to pay tribute to the major contribution that both Alex and Nicko have made to the successful development of the Group over the past 11 years. Impartment Events On 18 November 2005, the company completed the acquisition of preference shares of Abridean (US) Inc, representing a 61.3% voting interest. It will help nCipher deliver a broader portfolio of security solutions to customers. Following the end of 2005, the company received an Offer for the entire Ordinary share capital of nCipher at 300 pence per Ordinary share from SafeNet, Inc. The Board unanimously recommended this Offer. The offer would be made in 2006. The definition of an SME used by the South West Ventures Fund is a business or company which has fewer than 250 employees and either an annual turnover not exceeding  £24 million or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding  £16 million; moreover 25% or more of the capital or the voting rights are not owned by one enterprise, or jointly by several enterprises falling outside this definition of an SME. 2 Strategies 2.1 Market environment 2007 saw many high profile organisations suffer the fall out from unintentional loss or disclosure of confidential personal data. A major US retail chain reported the largest single loss of consumer data with some 45.6m credit and debit card records stolen from its payment processing and data storage systems, and the UK government revealed the loss of 25m child benefit records by HMRC, to name but two examples. Many of these customers have long embraced the power of cryptography and encryption, which they view as a strategic technology. Driven by compliance with privacy legislation, many newly regulated markets such as traditional retail, online merchants, healthcare and education present substantial new opportunities for nCipher. During the early development of nCipher, it followed the pattern of the wheel of retailing nCipher delivered the industrys first secure cryptographic accelerator nCipher completed IPO and was listed on the London Stock Exchange. nCipherà ¢ â‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s key management solutions now provide a unifying force to encryption policies and deliver a tangible return on investment by automating what would otherwise represent an unacceptable burden of manual processes. The inherent flexibility of nCipherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s key management architecture enables it to tightly integrate with the embedded encryption functionality found in a host of third party products. By working closely with their technology partners nCipher assure the customers that as their needs evolve and as compliance requirements mature nCipherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s key management products will help address their continuing deployment challenges. nCipher continuously invests in the evolution of its product portfolio to ensure that the highest levels of compatibility and technical standards are maintained. As previously announced, nCipher will continue to increase the investment in research and development. 2.2 Market orientation The mission-critical role that nCipherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s products play for many of customers requires us to provide a high quality, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“round the clockà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  global support and maintenance service. As the Groupà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ s product portfolio has expanded to include more complex software-oriented solutions, the opportunity has also arisen to provide a range of configuration, customisation, implementation and contract development services. In the past, nCipher has delivered professional services through a number of partnerships around the world with organisations that are specialists within their respective fields. nCipher have recently established an in-house professional services capability to supplement these external resources and to provide technical services for which nCipher is uniquely qualified. nCipher expect this part of business to continue to grow and become a valuable contributor to revenue in due course. The marketing theories will be used in this essay include: the wheel of retailing, the big middle theory, product lifecycle, retail lifecycle, targeting, segmenting and positioning, and other branding-related theories. This report will be concentrate on few main areas including: Retail change, product and retail lifecycle, positioning and other branding-related issues. It attempts to answer the following questions: What factors made Gap success, How Gap evolved from a small company to a multi-national retailing institution, and What caused Gapà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s fail? With the increased globalisation affect and the improvement of peopleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s living standards. The fasting changing fashion market make the cloth industry life cycle become much shorter. Products quickly enter into the decline stage after their introduction Therefore, it is suggested that companies in this highly competitive industries with relatively short product life cycle can be revitalised only by product differentiatio n and market segmentation, these are the main challenges that nCipher faces up to. (Value based management.net, 2007) nChipher has been criticised for its fail to keep à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"in contactà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ with fashion trends and other innovative competitors, this has resulted in fail to retain or acquire customers. (Newman, 2003) nCipher is a world leader in IT security, specialising in data encryption, helping to protect critical enterprise data for customers who are among the worlds most security-conscious organisations. By delivering solutions in the fields of credential management, data protection, enterprise key management and cryptographic hardware, nCipher enables businesses to control who can access sensitive data, to protect that data whether in transit or at rest, and to achieve compliance with the growing number of legaland privacy-driven regulations. As currently research (e.g., Liu 2005; Verhees and Meulenberg 2004) shown, compared with larger firms, SMEs t end to be more reluctant to adopt a marketing approach mainly because of a lack of resources and skills. In particular, since SMEs usually lack marketing specialists and their owners managers are usually the sole decision makers, the choice to adopt a marketing approach relies on what they think marketing is and their expectancies about the consequences of the adoption of such an approach in their organizations. Probably a more comprehensive and precise way to analyse the nCipherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s current issue is by examining the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Big Middleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  theory. The Big Middle theory, shows below, is defined as the market space in which the largest retailers compete in the long run, because there is where the largest number of potential customers reside. (Levy, 2005) According to this concept, a retailer exists in one of the four segments: Innovative, Low-Price, Big Middle and In-Trouble. Retailers tend to start within either Innovative or Low-Price segments . The Innovative ones target at quality-conscious market, in which they provide premium products and services, such as Dixon. The Low-Price retailers, such as PC world, target at price-conscious market, in which they provide economical and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Value-for-moneyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  products and services. 2.3 Market segmentation Primary reporting format à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" business segments The Group operates in a single reportable business segment: the development and resale of internet security products, services and technologies. Secondary reporting format à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" geographical segments For management purposes, the Group is currently organised into three geographical areas à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Asia; Europe, Middle East and Africa; and North and South America. These geographical segments are the basis on which the Group reports its primary segment information. Goodwill has been allocated to the single business segment of the Group. The Group tests goodwill annually for impairment or more frequently if there are indications that goodwill might be impaired. The Group prepares cash flow forecasts derived from the most recent financial budgets approved by management for the next five years and extrapolates cash flows for the following seven years based on an estimated growth rate of 9%. The Directors consider that this rate does not exceed the average long term growth rate for the relevant markets. The Group operates in a single reportable business segment: the development and resale of internet security products, services and technologies. However, for internal management reporting purposes, revenue and cost of sales are split between products and services. Accordingly, turnover and gross profit are reported below (see analysis by type) as if the Group has two classes of business. Below gross profit there is no split between products and services for internal reporting purposes, and accordingly no further analysis is disclosed. For management purposes, the Group is currently organised into three geographical areas à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Asia; Europe, Middle East and Africa; and North and South America.These geographical segments are the basis on which the Group reports its primary segment information. The following table provides an analysis of the Groupà ƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s revenue and result by geographical region, irrespective of the origin of the goods/services. Marketing as an essential ingredient in strategic planning, indeed the 4Ps concept, as first envisaged by McCarthy (1960), was intended to serve as a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“convenience descriptionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  of the total marketing activity. Marketing needs to be considered, also, from the corporate level (Assael, 1985). Frantz (1978) suggests a capsule description of the small business marketing strategy development process, namely appreciation of small businesses limitations; identification of target market(s); and development of a marketing mix. He further proposes that small firms should adopt the overall marketing orientation, use low cost marketing research methods, and utilize personal selling activities to market their products. nCipherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s business strategy remains unchanged: to exploit its strong reputation and market share in the encryption hard ware market (clearly underlined by the OFTà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s earlier ruling) to develop a portfolio of complete solutions for enterprise data protection requirements, encompassing management of the identity of authorised data users and protection of the sensitive data itself, whilst in transit and at rest. A report from Forrester Research, Inc2. Highlights the need for companies to make it a priority to protect data, no matter where it may reside. Business and security pressures are forcing the industry to adopt a more à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“data-centricà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  approach in which information classification and encryption become central components of IT security. The market orientation characterized by Narver and Slater (1990) consists of a customer orientation, competitor orientation, inter functional coordination, long-term horizon and profit emphasis. The key to achieving organizational goals is to be more effective than competitors in integrating marketing activities towar ds determining and satisfy the needs and wants of target markets. The management team identified two long-term goals for nCipher; profitability and high growth. The marked increase in profits this year has clearly demonstrated the commitment to the first of these priorities. Achieving high growth demands that the team aggressively pursue potential opportunities, whether through organic growth or through acquisitions and joint ventures in closely aligned markets and technologies. The nCipher Board believes that good growth opportunities exist within the markets in which nCipher operates and the Board intends to work towards maximizing shareholder value in nCipher by focusing on additional growth opportunities and driving further operational improvements in the business. nCipherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s strategy remains focused on expanding from the current business of selling cryptographic key management products, towards broader solutions that protect critical enterprise data. Th e team believe that with this strategy nCipher is well-positioned to exploit a number of high-growth market developments within the broad IT security arena and this gives the Board confidence in the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s future as an independent entity. 2.4 nCipher Strategy Since its founding in 1996, nCipher has focused exclusively on enabling its customers to address the challenges associated with deploying encryption and other security technologies based on cryptography. Through nCipher extensive engagements with some of the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s most security conscious organisations in the banking and government sectors, nCipher has established an enviable reputation and valuable core expertise. This positions the Company well to respond to a rapidly evolving market and to build on its leadership position as an enabling force within the industry. nCipherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s strategy remains unchanged. The company management team are exploiting the position as globally respected experts in the deployment and use of encryption to protect critical enterprise data. nCipher offer an increasingly broad range of solutions to control who can access sensitive data, to protect that data whether in transit or at rest, and to achieve compliance with the growing number of legal-and privacy-driven regulations. As previously announced, during the first half of 2007 nCipher have taken steps to increase investment in Research and Development still further, and the impact of this will begin to be felt in the second half of the year. Such investment is intended to enable us to develop new solutions to meet customersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ requirements for credential management and data protection, whilst continuing to evolve existing products for enterprise key management and cryptographic hardware still further. nCipher continuously invests in the evolution of its product portfolio to ensure that the highest levels of compatibility and technical standards are maintained. nCipher products undergoing validation for Common Criteria security approval nCipherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s family of industry-leading nShieldà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ HSMs has begun the process of Common Criteria evaluation. nCipher keyAuthority gains integration support for I BM System i (AS/400) Taking advantage of encryption has always been a particular challenge on platforms such as System I where there has been a reliance on manual techniques for the management of cryptographic keys. Professional services The mission-critical role that nCipherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s products play for many of the customers requires us to provide a high quality, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"round the clockà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, global support and maintenance service. As the Companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s product portfolio has expanded to include more complex software-oriented solutions there has been a growing opportunity to provide a range of configuration, customisation, and contract development services. Geographic focus On a geographic basis, nCipher are investing in carefully targeted expansion on a global scale. In North America nCipher are focused on strategic growth initiatives, including expanding the sales presence, leveraging the former NeoScale channels as well as existing partnerships and other business development opportunities. nCipherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s keyAuthority product delivers automated, scalable and highly available key management services for encryption and other cryptographic functions across the enterprise. nCipherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s enterprise key management solution addresses some of the fundamental deployment challenges that arise as organisations seek to protect sensitive information as it is stored and processed. nCipherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s keyAuthority replaces error prone manual key management processes, reducing cost, complexity and therefore risk. nCipher now consider that the global commercial opportunity directly related to the Groupà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s experti se and technologies is both more substantial and growing more rapidly than has previously been predicted, nCipher have, therefore, set ourselves the target to double sales over the next three years and are making significant additional investment this year to improve all aspects of business. nCipher will invest only in the right mix of products and services -those with the highest potential return on investment and will have the sales and marketing structure and skills in place to maximise sales. 3. Strengths and Weaknesses 3.1 Strengths 3.2Weaknesses SMEs have unique characteristics that differentiate them from conventional marketing in large organisations (e.g. Carson, 1990). These characteristics may be determined by the inherent characteristics and behaviours of entrepreneur or owner/manager; and they may be determined by the inherent size and stage of development of the enterprise. Such limitations can be summarized as: limited resources (such as finance, time, and marketing knowledge); lack of specialist expertise (owner-managers tend to be generalists rather than specialists); and limited impact in the marketplace. The stages/growth model suggests that any model of small firm marketing must take into account the stage of development of the business. (Carson, 1985; Tyebjee et al., 1983) This provides a useful framework, and also a starting point, for further analysis. However, there are two major assumptions for the stages/growth model: a necessary change in the business and marketing practices of the owner or the enter prise to enable the progression of the business from one stage to the next; and the awareness, aptitude and ability of the owner manager to deal with the different problems encountered at each of the stages. The major contribution of the management function approach is the acknowledgement of marketing as both an important function and an essential concept in small firm growth and survival. However, putting marketing solely as a business function is criticised vigorously by Baker (1985a) and King (1985). Moreover, owner-managers simplify and misconceive marketing as the 4Ps only (Carson, 1993). This may be due to the difficulties in understanding and implementing marketing (Baker and Hart, 1989). According to some researchers (King, 1985; Scase and Goffee, 1980), managers, including owner managers, do not perceive marketing as a means of solving their everyday business problem. Ames (1970) and Brooksbank et al. (1992b) Market risk The Group and Companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s activities expose it primarily to the financial risks of exchange rates but comments are also made below on interest rate management. The Groupà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s exposure, primarily based on US dollars, comes from its US based subsidiary and also an element of trading in US dollars in the Asia Pacific region. As currently research (e.g., Liu 2005; Verhees and Meulenberg 2004) shown, compared with larger firms, SMEs tend to be more reluctant to adopt a marketing approach mainly because of a lack of resources and skills. In particular, since SMEs usually lack marketing specialists and their owners managers are usually the sole decision makers, the choice to adopt a marketing approach relies on what they think marketing is and their expectancies about the consequences of the adoption of such an approach in their organizations. 4. Recommendation Due to the limitations which are mentioned before, the network working approach can help SMEs to solve those kind problems. Networking occurs as a natural and inherent entrepreneurial activity. An SME owner-managers personal contact network will be represented by people who can help the entrepreneur in arriving at decisions for the wellbeing of the enterprise. The network approach and various theoretical concepts related to it have sometimes been referred to as an emerging, postmodern paradigm in inter organizational exchange and industrial marketing research (cf. Cova, 1994; Johanson and Mattsson, 1994). Network theory differs considerably from traditional North-American marketing theory originally based on microeconomics and consumer marketing research. The empirical study highlighted that there is considerably more communication between the SME owner/manager and his/her competitors than is widely reported in the literature. Owner/managers may communicate with competing firms and often are quite supportive of each other. Indeed, many owner/managers claimed to know their competitors personally, and would have no hesitation in contacting them for help or advice.

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Standardized Testing and Teacher Cheating - 1640 Words

In the contemporary American education system high-stakes standardized testing has resulted in a focus on extensive test preparation, as well as a large increase in the numbers of teachers cheating by alternating their students test scores. Both these phenomena are a direct consequence of the incentives and punishments directly linked to standardized test results. Many teachers have taken acceptable measures in improving their students’ scores, such as simply â€Å"teaching to the test†, and taking class time to teach test taking techniques and procedures often resulting in a significant loss in time for other important standards and benchmarks that are not tested on. Taking a deontologist stance, one would propose that the teachers are†¦show more content†¦Also, these methods of test score fluctuation results in a false impression of the schools educational quality. Many parents seek to send their children to a highly ranked school district – often judged by standardized test scores – however, when educators partake in test day activities that raise their reputation as a â€Å"great teacher†, they are misrepresenting the true value of their classroom, and parents are sending their children into a classroom with high expectations in mind, and are ultimately being misled and deceived. This cycle also results in honest schools and districts loosing high performing students to these cheating misrepresented schools, causing the authentic schools test scores to lower, and for its funding to eventually be cut. There are several courses of actions that would result in a level playing field for districts. One view states that all teachers should instruct and prepare the students by the standard benchmarks, and rest assure that come test day they will succeed to the best of their ability, and it will be an accurate representation of their teaching abilities. This method assumes that the standardized test is an ultimate accurate representation of the material a student should have mastered. Another method that could be defended by utilitarianism is that all educators should do everything they can to help the student achieve a high test score; resulting in higher funding for all schoolShow MoreRelatedStandardized Testing Is A Common Routine Part Of Their School Year1202 Words   |  5 Pagesof all ages across the United States, standardized testing has become a common routine part of their school year. Many laws have been passed over the years, requiring countless standardized tests throughout a student’s educational career for every student.This educational norm has been implemented for the past eighty years for the purpose of allowing comparisons to be made among schools in regards to student achievement, ensuring accountability for teachers, and informing instruction for educators;Read More The Disadvantages Of Standardized Testing Essay examples1702 Words   |  7 PagesStandardized tests must be improved. Instead of traditional standardized testing, random testing should be put in place and tests themselves should be reconstructed to promote fairness, reduce errors and and more accurately assess student’s knowledge. Testing should be done to random groups of students on random dates throughout the year. There will be a large enough group of students to give a good idea of how well material is being taught but a small enough group that not everyone needs to takeRead MoreWhy Americas Educational System is Failing1123 Words   |  5 Pagesemphasis on st andardized testing and not individual student achievement. Although the United States uses standardized testing as a crutch, it is not an effective measure of a student’s ability, a teacher’s competency, or a school’s proficiency. Cheating can be a common routine in a classroom—from copying work on homework to copying answers on a test. â€Å"Cheating by teachers and administrators on standardized tests is rare, and not a reason to stop testing Americas children† (Standardized Tests). Read MoreThe Flaws of Standardized Testing Essays1416 Words   |  6 PagesIt is the one time of year when it seems all teachers, administrators, and even students are stressed. Parents are enforcing their kids to get to bed at a decent time, eat a healthy breakfast, and to not forget their number two pencils. It is TCAP testing time. Standardized testing has been a norm for over seventy-five years in almost every first- world country. From state regulated tests, to the â€Å"college-worthy† ACT and SAT, standardized tests have become a dreaded rite of passage for every studentRead MoreEthical Issues of Standarized Testing 1322 Words   |  6 PagesIn the contemporary American education system, high risk standardized testing has resulted in a monumental shift in the classroom to a focus on extensive test preparation, as well as a large influx of instructors cheating and alternating their students tests; both can be seen as a direct consequence of the heightened incentives and punishments placed upon teachers. Many teachers have taken acceptable measures in improving their students’ scores, such as simply â€Å"teaching to the test†, and takingRead MoreStandardized Testing1272 Words   |  6 PagesSynthesis Essay on Standardized Testing Standardized testing in the United States started in the mid- 1800’s (Standardized Tests - ProCon.org). This kind of testing was originally created to measure students’ performance and progress in school (Standardized Tests - ProCon.org). In recent years, the public school system has relied heavily on the information this test provides, in doing so creating controversy. Other than being a student myself, and participating in multiple standardized exams such asRead MoreThe Education System Of The United States1174 Words   |  5 Pagesuse of Federal funding creates high stake environments, that effect students and teachers differently. With these high expectations for standardizing test scores, teachers are promised large bonus incentives in return. In 2009, schools were given the option to apply for funding by The Race to the Top Fund, and these expectations cause teachers and students to have high stress and anxiety in standardized school testing. The new expectation s from federal funding change the educational curriculum, inducesRead MorePros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1647 Words   |  7 PagesTherefore , standardized testing was made to see how much intelligence a person has on a topic .However standardized tests don’t measure how people learn in a classroom . standardized testing is not a good way to test students because tests don’t measure an individual intelligence , tests should not be used to determine funding for school , the teachers cheat on the tests to protect the students ,and its ethically wrong to give a lot of standardized tests to kids . Teachers should takeRead MoreThe Existing Ethical Issues of American Standardized Testing1746 Words   |  7 PagesAfter the implementation of the â€Å"No Child Left Behind Act† high risk standardized testing has become a pressure cooker of corruption in the United States due to often unrealistic expectations, abundant incentives, and harsh punishments placed upon educators and administrators, overall resulting in the essential need for reform. The concept that every student’s academic ability can be assessed by a single universal exam is a misguided notion. A large majority of educators are subject to severe punishmentsRead MoreThe Culture of Testing Essays862 Words   |  4 Pagesstudent body? Students should not be evaluated using standardized testing because they do not effectively measure a student’s complete academic capability. These tests limit the amount of true knowledge an individual can express in one sitting. Through the system of standardized testing, certain attributes cannot be accounted for. Multiple attributes such as â€Å"self-discipline† and â€Å"leadership† are disregarded in the creation of standardized tests (Harris et al. 1). These valuable traits are not

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Medea Reflectiv Statement Free Essays

Ana Maksimovic IB English 11/ 3 Per. Ms Bachmann 03/11/2012 335 Words Reflective Statement Medea has lot information that is often not conspicuous to the reader. In Medea the place and time play a big role. We will write a custom essay sample on Medea Reflectiv Statement or any similar topic only for you Order Now The place matters because of the events that happen. The events are related to Gods and gods were mainly famous in Greece. If you would change the place the meaning of gods would lose its importance. Time is always relevant because the play was written a long time ago and it shows how life was back then. Nowadays the country people live in is owned by the state; however this was not always the case. Back in the time there were individual kings who had the power over their whole land/country. Hard to understand was when the characters in the play referred to goddesses. If someone doesn’t know what the God stands for it was a bit confusing. Also easy for me to understand was the role of women. Not that I understand that they don’t have the same right but if you compare the equality between women and men now it is easy follow the concept how it was in Greece a long time ago. Definitely the role of women can still be related to nowadays even if the equality between men and women got better; it is still not on the same level even if it should. Also the fact that the children stay with their mom when the dad leaves kind of reminds me of today in the society. A really big connection between today and Medea is that men had the power over a country. They used to own their own country but that hasn’t changed that much because most presidents are still male. The technique of using the voice of the population during speeches or just conflicts is very interesting. This kind of technique shows you what the other people think and it also makes the conflict more clear and understanding. Also the way Euripides uses the dramatic irony gives the whole play the final touch. How to cite Medea Reflectiv Statement, Essay examples

Friday, December 6, 2019

Enhancement Of Leadership In SMEs Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Enhancement Of Leadership In SMEs. Answer: Introduction The enhancement of leadership in SMEs is built on the personal involvement of the managers and the owners and that they should be passionate about their business, making use of the approach called, tough love. A tough love generally describes the situation when the leaders should not be tolerating people who are not equipped in contributing to the business success. On the contrary, a leaders should be prepared in looking after the people with issues, so long as the action of the employees would not be killing the business. The leaders or the managers should be able to recruit an enhanced workforce having a better work ethic and then enhancing the workforce through proper training, pathways of career and apprenticeships (Romanowska, Larsson Theorell, 2014).. Summary As per the findings of the researcher, it can be stated that communication is one of the essential parts of enhancement in leadership in SMEs. For a leader, communication is generally stated to be an association and inspiration and not just a diffusion of the information. Communication is stated to be complex for structuring configuration and implementing strategy. It is often been stated to be the most challenging skills as it is easy to say but while doing it does not seem that easy. A leader who does not communicate with their employees on regular basis generally jeopardizes the overall process. Sharing of information is stated to be a critical factor. A leader needs to communicate clearly on the strategies of the organization, direction and speed along with the outcomes. However, other important things include the way the leaders actually communicate and the manner they present themselves to their subordinates, like humbly, confidently and passionately. As an effective leader it is important to inspire others through the actions and words and leaders should have the habit of listening and observing before they speak anything to anyone. Communication has the ability to guide and convince along with inspiring others. A leader must be willing to disclose more of him, letting others see the soul. If he restrains himself, he will be undermining his effectiveness as a leader with his followers should be drifting towards the sidelines. Leadership in SMEs is stated to be one of the awkward domains as it needs one to participate as a leader and boss at the same time. Formalized sort of leadership in SMES requires being concerned along with working towards the vision designated for tomorrow (Arend, 2014). However, it can be concluded that even the leaders of SMEs required a dependable and talented bunch of people that believes in the organizational values and is eager in defending them. The way a company would be performing in the short and long-term can rest on the SME individuals that requires the decisions to be taken in care along with proper understanding, particularly when the organization is experiencing growth. It can also be concluded that the job outline of a leader in SME might come packed with concern and work for many things like allocation of resources, talent, finances and engagement. Once these SMEs are able to recognize their style of leadership, and are much willing to acclimatize and evolving with t he job issues, enabling much consistency driving of a business that can be heartily educative, satisfying and knowledgeable. In a SME it is the people who are the business, so recruiting of right people becomes an imperative factor. However, it has been seen and can be concluded that SMEs often work with restricted financial resources and limited material and one in four of the businesses highlight the fact that recruiting of skilled staff as one of the barriers to development. Moreover, it has also been seen that the strictness of the leaders, especially in SMEs is not always good for the employees and the organization. Employees tend to go into a shell and do not always express themselves for the betterment of the organization. As per the survey being conducted by the researcher, it can be concluded that employees want their leaders to be open in conversation and the way he feels about going along with the business (Winit et al., 2017). It is important for the leaders to set themselves as examples so that the employees are able to look up to them and idolize them for a better show. It can also be concluded that the environment of SMEs differ from that of the bigger organizations and as such, various departments need to be positioned on the factors of training and sustaining provision. Any sort of program that is to be targeted at the SMEs requires flexibility, having a stronger practical foundation, coming from a realistic source and having a assessable impact within the organization. The SME leaders needs to be motivated in participating through the process of recognition and making use of their existing skills along with the experience element. The provision of leadership development for SMEs needs to frame upon the present skills and preparing the present managers for the improvement of the next generation of leaders. The main emphasis should always be on the development of the skill factor like time management along with strategic thinking where the delivery of training should be elastic and informal (Leitch, McMullan Harrison, 2013). For employees it is important that their leaders give them suggestions from time to time. It is important for the leaders to get involved with his employees and provide them suggestion on regular basis so that his employees understand the importance and attention the leader provides on the work proceedings in SMEs. SMEs have the ability in nurturing the talent that is based on the growth factor through encouraging of the creativity along with learning by its employees. It has been found that SMEs would be providing it employees with many opportunities for stepping out of their regular jobs in developing the skills of the leadership, not through attending workshops and seminars, but through fostering of the development of collaboration across the various departments, disciplines and functions in which the invention of the idea is the main schedule. SMEs often find themselves in situations where they lack any sort of financial resources and they become generally unenthusiastic to invest in those sort of projects unless they are having any sort of lucid understanding of the advantages. Successful leadership development programs need to be an integral part of the SMEs. For such programs to be thriving, the SMEs need to persuade attendance of their employees to attend such programs. Certain quick win rudiment has the aptitude in showcasing direct benefit of the agenda along with the commitment of low finance. It is, therefore preferable for the SME leaders to go for programs that are of low cost or even free , during the preliminary stages, even that becomes a matter of self-funding. Recommendations: Nature and Shape of changes in leadership as organization matures: The nature of the effectual leadership is generally fluid, based on the size and transition period of the organization. The things that can be attained through the process of inspiration along with the factor of charisma of the individual leader at the stage of entrepreneurial of the growth of SME would be formalizing in gaining the strategic focus (M. Stoffers et al., 2014). It is important for the SME leaders along with the other people responsible for the management of people in SMEs need considering the sort of leadership style their organization requires at every stage of transition (Arham, 2014). Furthermore, other factors are also to be considered like the capacity of the SME to support the leadership. It is important to understand the true meaning of leadership in the context of the organization. No right no wrong in leadership style: Effective leaders of the SMEs state that leading others has been a balancing act. Various contexts would be requiring them for applying of the various styles of leadership, and it is an essential factor for taking in the standpoint of the business and that of the people in making a decision that does not hamper long-term presentation (Suriyankietkaew Avery, 2014). Effective leaders under all circumstances would be taking in every possible opportunity in stepping back and facilitating their people in taking the lead. SME leaders need to think in creative manner about practices of people management: It is significant in learning from the experiences of the other people, not all the accessible practices of people management needs to be simulated. SMEs need to avoid structuring of the empires of the corporate world and using the solutions of the innovative people management for retaining the suppleness of their organizations (DeKrey Portugal, 2014).. Certain factors that need to be taken into consideration are the present barriers to alertness in the organization. It is important for the leaders in identifying the key or important influencers in the business who have the ability in overcoming the challenges or the barriers. SME leaders should not be having all the answers: Taking the nature of leadership on whole, the responsibility of the individual or the team at the organization top develops, needing application of various skills. During the initial stages of growth of the SMEs or during the crisis hours, it is easier with those having the responsibility of the formal leadership in adopting the hands-on approach, mainly if they are proverbial with the task at hand. However, it needs to be understood that one of the important roles of leadership or leaders is in transferring knowledge and growing leaders within the boundaries of the organization, needing a bigger emphasis on the empowerment factor. In this the factors that are required to be considered are the skill-set required at the top of the organization and the ways those skills can be urbanized from the outside of the organization. SME leaders do not know what they do not know: The findings have been showing that with the growth of the organization, the leaders have been discovering fresh challenges or issues of the leadership along with the management of people that they might not have experienced before. It is significant in considering the external standards of the business and learning from other SMEs that are performing better in understanding the leadership style and the particular organization (Laforet, 2013). The factors that are required to consider are the opportunities available for gaining the perception of what the other companies are being doing. It is also important to identify or recognize the challenges instead of learning about the quick fixes. Limitations of Study: All research has its own limitations. The capability of the study to recognize its limitations is part of the research undertakings strength. There have been various limitations with due regards to what has been accumulated, evaluated, accessible and discussed within this study. These sorts of limitations have been recognized in this part. The study has been relying on the self-reported data from the single sneaks. The informants within this study might be exaggerating their assessment of the behavior of leaders along with the performance of the organization. According to the current literature review, the self-assessment of the behavior of leaders generally tends to be more exaggerated than the other relevant sources. This study has been much generalized though SMEs does boast of various sub-categories. An in-depth analysis of the other industries along with the major differences between those sub-categories existing within the industries in respect to the behavior of the leadership along with the performance of the organization might be able to provide an opportunity for the purpose of future research. Another limitation of this research study has been the time factor and the cost factor. Due to limitation in time the research could not be conducted in-depth and moreover the cost factor played its role in limiting the research work of the researcher. If the time and cost factor would have been dealt with the research would have been more fruitful, enabling the researcher to take more time and look for other factors in evaluating the enhancement of leadership in SMEs. SMEs have been encouraging and rewarding the risk factor by its employees while undertaking such major projects. SMEs are required to reevaluate the conventional approach in development of talent where a company has been recognizing a pool of leaders who would come well in future is basically being driven by the trait theory. It signifies the fact that if the organizational leaders or management people are being able to recognize people having skills of inherent leadership, one can even guide them into the roles of the leaders. Directions for Future Research: The research findings of this particular research study would be offering various opportunities for the purpose of future research. It has been hoped that despite the limitations, the study findings would be able to indicate directions for additional research study. The key suggestion for the future research crops up from the improvement of the proposed framework for the organizational accomplishment of SMEs. Other future possibilities of research might arise from the study limitations as has been formerly been conversed. A longitudinal study would be enabling a bigger understanding of the process of entrepreneurial along with leadership as it could be measuring the effects of the leadership along with the improvement of the entrepreneurial ventures during certain times. Thus, it can be stated it would be providing key information about the possible variations in the performance as an organization makes its move through the various phases. It is also being recommended that the exploration of the applicability by the future research of the framework of entrepreneurial success within the context of various industries and country, especially in case of another developing nation. The findings of such research would be further testing the applicability theory of John Kotter. Another thing that can be recommended for future research work is considering exploration of the leaders of SME from the perspectives of the managers. A comparative analysis of the efficient leadership between the results accessed from the leaders themselves along with the perception of the employees might manufacture a better understanding of the ways the SMEs could perform which can be further improved or developed. Finally, an examination of the behavior of leadership as the factor stage has the ability to augment and develop a healthier understanding of the factorial possessions of the leadership on the performance of the organizations. In this study, it has been found that certain factors like motivation, communication along with idealized influence have been professed to be accomplished more than some of the other factors by the SME leaders. Therefore, a detailed study at the extent of the factor could offer empirical findings with the implications for detailed leadership that is to be offered for the development if the entrepreneurship within the country. References: Arend, R. J. (2014). Entrepreneurship and dynamic capabilities: how firm age and size affect the capability enhancementSME performancerelationship.Small Business Economics,42(1), 33-57. Arham, A. (2014). The relationship between leadership behaviour, entrepreneurial orientation and organisational performance in Malaysian small and medium enterprises. DeKrey, S. J., Portugal, E. J. (2014). Strategic sensemaking: Challenges faced by a new leader of an SME.Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences,150, 56-65. Laforet, S. (2013). Organizational innovation outcomes in SMEs: Effects of age, size, and sector.Journal of World business,48(4), 490-502. Leitch, C. M., McMullan, C., Harrison, R. T. (2013). The development of entrepreneurial leadership: The role of human, social and institutional capital.British Journal of Management,24(3), 347-366. Stoffers, J., IJM Van der Heijden, B., LA Notelaers, G. (2014). Towards a moderated mediation model of innovative work behaviour enhancement.Journal of organizational change management,27(4), 642-659. Romanowska, J., Larsson, G., Theorell, T. (2014). An art-based leadership intervention for enhancement of self-awareness, humility, and leader performance.Journal of Personnel Psychology. Suriyankietkaew, S., Avery, G. C. (2014). Leadership practices influencing stakeholder satisfaction in Thai SMEs.Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration,6(3), 247-261. Winit, W., Winit, W., Kantabutra, S., Kantabutra, S. (2017). Sustaining Thai SMEs through perceived benefits and happiness.Management Research Review,40(5), 556-577.