Asset Management and Its Importance to the Transportation Sector
The Definition of Asset Management
In order to fully understand the rest of the discussion in this paper, one must first understand what asset management really is. Depending on the source that is asked the question, there are several different definitions of asset management. Several will be presented here for consideration. Asset management has been defined by some as "A systematic process of maintaining, upgrading, and operating physical assets cost- effectively. It combines engineering principles with sound business practices and economic theory, and it provides tools to facilitate a more organized, logical approach to decision-making" (Hamilton, 2001, p.2).
However, there are more specific ways to define asset management as well. The focus of this paper is on asset management in transportation, and The Federal Highway Administration Office of Asset Management defines asset management as: "A business process and decision-making framework that covers an extended…...
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Works Cited
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). (1997). "21st Century Asset Management, Executive Summary." Prepared by the Center for Infrastructure and Transportation Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA.
Bittner, Jason & Thimm, Wesley. (2002). Transportation asset management web site: final report. Midwest regional university transportation center. College of engineering. Department of civil and environmental engineering. University of Wisconsin, Madison. http://www.mrutc.org/research/website/Asset%20Management%20Website%20Report.pdf
Federal Highway Administration. (2005). FHWA White Paper: Federal lands highway and asset management. United States Department of Transportation. / infrastructure/asstmgmt/amppflh.htmhttp://www.fhwa.dot.gov
Ethical Situations in Asset Management Service
Ethical situations that arise with asset management services
Ethical issues in business (or corporate ethics) are ethics in the form of application or professional ethics that usually evaluate the principles of ethics and the troubles associated with ethics and morals that develop in the environment of a business. This is applicable to all the components of a business and its conduct and it is very essential for all the entire staff in an organization. Ethics of business include both descriptive and normative dimensions. This specific area is normative. Academicians that seek to gain knowledge on the behavior by implementing descriptive methods in their course. The amount and range of issues in business ethics describe the link between non-economic issues and profit maximizing. Many started gaining interest in the ethics of business rapidly from 1980 to 1990. This was true in academia and corporations. For instance, currently…...
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Reference
Buckman, J.M., & International Association of Fire Chiefs. (2006). Chief Fire officer's desk reference. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Hoffman, W.M. (2007). The ethics of accounting and finance: Trust, responsibility, and control: from the Tenth National Conference on Business Ethics. Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Quorum Books.
Nash, L.L. (2008). Good intentions aside: A manager's guide to resolving ethical problems. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press.
Preston, N. (2009). Ethics for the public sector: Education and training. Annandale, N.S.W: Federation Press.
information technology) has opened the door for opportunities and risks. Organizations are increasingly facing competitions in the contemporary business market environment and to achieve competitive market advantages, many organizations are increasingly using EP (Enterprise resource planning) to decline costs and offer quality products at cheaper prices. EP is a business integration software assisting organizations to collect, manage, store as welling as interpreting data of business activities. (Vasilec, Avdejenkov, & Sosunov, 2009). Essentially, EP integrates core of business process using a real-time database system to achieve business functions such as asset management, purchase orders, production, track business resources and share data across various departments. Assets are very critical for organizational efficiency because assets assist organizations to generate revenues to enhance stakeholder's value. However, effective asset management is very critical for organizational efficiency. To manage organizational assets, increasing number of medium and large organizations are using asset management system integrated in…...
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Reference
Chisholm, M. (2004). How to Build a Business Rules Engine. Morgan Kaufman Publishers.
Infor (2012).Infor EAM User's Guide. Infor.
Oracle (2013). Oracle Enterprise Asset Management. Oracle Inc.
Smaizys, A. & Vasilecas, O. (2009). Business Rules Based Agile ERP Systems Development. Informatica, 20(3): 439-460.
GIS Systems: Asset Management
A Geographical Information System (GIS) is not simply a useful tool to find one's place geographically. The best way to think of GIS as it is used in finance is as a kind of a 'smart map' that can link multiple databases and show the relationships between different bits of information (Armstrong 2008). These smart maps offer windows into the information resources of the database when users submit queries, and engage in the analysis and editing of the information (Armstrong 2008). This makes GIS a powerful business intelligence and knowledge management tool. GIS technology enables financial professionals to graphically visualize patterns, relationships and trends in the marketplace (Armstrong 2008). GIS technology is an acknowledgement of how the presentation of information affects how the mind can process information. The same data can look very different and yield different patterns than it would if it were presented in a…...
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References
Armstrong, K. (2008). Using GIS technology for document and asset management.
Ethics and egulation in the Professional Asset Management Industry
Asset management is an operation that involves the diligent management of the investor's funds in a professional way. The asset manager thus is an agent hired to do the job on account of his or her peculiar financial ability. Professional firms that are into asset management thus have duties not only to the investors, but also to the stock market, the financial and government bodies in keeping their activities above board. The managers are often entrusted with the task of dealing with billions of dollars or assets of like proportions. It is when dealing with such a huge cash flow that there comes the problem of ethical dilemmas. The unethical models of behavior has brought forth many regulations and guidelines that have been issued by the government and the financial agencies -- these form the laws and other than that the managers…...
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References
Bines, Harvey E; Thel, Steve. (2004) "Investment Management Law and Regulation"
Aspen Publishers.
Boatright, John R. (2010) "Finance Ethics: Critical Issues in Theory and Practice"
Asset Allocation and Industry Sectors:
There are several economic concepts that affect an individual's daily finances and investments such as asset allocation and industry sectors. Asset allocation is primarily described as the manner with which an individual divides his assets among various asset categories like cash, bonds, stocks, and real estate. This fundamental principle also refers to an investment strategy with which an investor can lessen risks through diversification. One of the major goals of asset allocation is that it seeks to balance risk and reward through distributing a portfolio's assets based on a person's goals, investment horizon, and risk tolerance. Notably, the process of determining which combination of assets to retain in a portfolio is usually a very personal one ("Beginner's Guide to Asset Allocation," 2009).
The other common financial term or concept is industry sector where the two words have been used interchangeably to refer to a group of companies.…...
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References:
"Beginners' Guide to Asset Allocation, Diversification, and Rebalancing." (2009, August 28).
Asset- Liability Management (banking)
The business system that enables a company to collect, maintain and manage a complete list of all the components possessed by the company is known as asset management. The main objective of the asset management is to enable the company to manage the financial facets of the ownership, estimation of the costs of ownership, record of items on hand, spare parts, replacements, depreciations, maintenance and insurance. (Asset management: www.infobeagle.com) The concept of asset-liability management has different meaning in different fields. Normally the banks and insurance companies employ accrual accounting for practically all their assets and liabilities. They are required to take on the liabilities and to invest on the assets and by so doing the reorganize the assets and liabilities from the hidden potential risks involved. (Asset Liability Management: Contingency Analysis) The objective of the Asset Liability Management Resources is to entail analysis, instruction and guidance in…...
The vision Oracle has is one of unifying all of their enterprise applications into their Fusion architecture and creating a single unifying Service oriented Architecture (SOA) was first announced in 2006 (Krill, 13). Since that time Oracle has continually strived to create an SOA in Fusion that would appeal to its corporate customers. The proposed Fusion SOA platform has been designed to be robust and scalable enough to encompass enterprise-level applications including Enterprise esource Planning (EP) applications while also being flexible enough to provide for individualized application development. There are critics of SOA in general and Fusion specifically, with industry analysts considering it too difficult to create a process-centric model that allows for pervasive, in-depth applications necessary for mission-critical business while at the same time allowing for significant scalability (Handy, 2005). Despite these concerns however Fusion continues to gain market acceptance and provide Oracle with a path to the fulfillment…...
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References
Oracle
Alex Handy. 2005. Oracle Fusion: The 'Frankenstein' of SOA? Software Development Times, October 15, 6
Paul Krill. 2006. Oracle Does SOA. InfoWorld, August 14, 11-13
Please see Appendix a for a give year ratio analysis of Starbucks Corporation illustrating the significant effect the recession is having on gross margins. Yet despite this pressure, Starbucks continues to be successful in keeping its gross margins above industry average at 9.67% for the latest fiscal year. Also noteworthy about their financial performance is the increase in evenue Per Employee from $53,864 in 2004 to $59,156. This speaks to the fact that Starbucks is being successful with their long-term strategy of delivering exceptional customer experiences, so much so that there is greater levels of repurchase of drinks and food even in a recession (Churchill, 2008). All of these factors point to the critical need for managing customer experiences more closely than ever, with a strong orientation towards giving customers and opportunity to have their voices heard on potential new products. Starbucks has excelled in the area of social…...
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References
Bernoff, J., & Li, C.. (2008). Harnessing the Power of the Oh-So-Social Web. MIT Sloan Management Review, 49(3), 36-42.
Chris Churchill. (15 July 2008). Starbucks competitors get jitters: Local coffeehouses, facing woes of their own, cast wary eye on chain's recent closings. McClatchy - Tribune Business News
Fridell, G. (2009). The Co-Operative and the Corporation: Competing Visions of the Future of Fair Trade. Journal of Business Ethics: Supplement, 86, 81-95.
Burt Helm. (2007, April). SAVING STARBUCKS' SOUL: Chairman Howard Schultz is on a mission to take his company back to its roots. Oh, yeah -- he also wants to triple sales in five years. Business Week,(4029), 56.
Management Technologies in American Corporations
An exploration of knowledge organizations and their management of information using both the Internet and digital means
This paper will explore the pros and cons of both, and make recommendations for implementing them into companies, both large and small, and finally show real-world examples of these technologies in use in some of the most prominent American companies today.
Today, we live in a very complex world. Technology is proliferating at an exponential pace, and we are constantly bombarded with new technologies and ways of accessing information. Some of us find it very hard to keep up with all these technologies in our own homes (some of us may not even know how to use the internet). But these problems are much more problematic for businesses.
hile we might be able to still operate, and live our everyday lives despite our lack of technical knowledge, companies and organizations simply…...
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Works Cited
Holt, DH 1997, Management Principles and Practices, Prentice-Hall, Sydney.
Aldrich, Douglass. 1999. Mastering the Digital Marketplace. John Wiley, New York.
Asset misappropriation schemes are frauds in which the perpetrators use trickery or deceit in order to steal or misuse the resources within an organization. When asset misappropriation occurs the specific assets of the organization are taken directly for the benefit the specific person who is committing the fraud. People who are in a position to commit asset misappropriation related crimes cane be employees within an organization, vendors or customers of an organization, or it could also be people who are totally unrelated to the victim organization. A distinguishing element when it comes to asset misappropriation is the fact that the assets belonging to the organization are taken through deceitful or trickery means rather than through force. The actual act of asset theft concealment and conversion should all be present. Asset misappropriation is a major problem in organizations all over the world. esearch suggests that organizations loose almost 7% of their…...
Asset Protection
When an emergency situation arises, quick action is imperative in order to protect assets and minimize losses. A security supervisor bears the burden of ensuring that a disaster management plan is effectively carried out, but he or she cannot act alone. The supervisor must coordinate with state and federal agencies that become involved in larger disasters. Special events may also necessitate coordination and collaboration with other groups that are involved in the organization and administration of the event (Innace, 2008). Security directors can effectively manage emergencies by developing a plan ahead of time in conjunction with others that may be involved in the case of such an emergency. They should also implement the incident command system and media relations.
In preparation for an emergency, the security supervisor should identify priorities including minimizing the number of victims and extent of harm that comes to them and protection of the business assets…...
Hill, D.W. (2008). Security and Medical Response. In S.J. Davies & C.A. Hertig (Eds), Security Supervision and Management (3rd ed.) (303-307). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Innace, C. (2008). Supervising During Special Events. In S.J. Davies & C.A. Hertig (Eds), Security Supervision and Management (3rd ed.) (293-302). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
(Building and Maintaining a Diverse Workforce)
Agencies are required to develop a good understanding of their individual strengths and weaknesses so as to plan their programs to their best advantage. An agency acquires this information by evaluating the views of the employees on diversity issues. Analysis of the trends and projections of the workforce in determination of the skills gaps and necessitates and devising successive planning strategies are crucial moves for agency strategic and business planning. Such efforts facilitate the managers with the required facts so as to be aware of the assignment of resources and the making the necessary planning for the future work of the organization and the points of concentration of their energy to produce a high performance organization. (Building and Maintaining a Diverse Workforce)
The successful managers understand the necessary skills for producing a successful diverse workforce. Firstly they should be aware of the discrimination and its…...
Green, Kelli A; L. pez, Mayra; Wysocki, Allen; Kepner, Karl. "Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges, and the Required Managerial Tools" University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Retrieved at Accessed on 15 January, 2005http://www.minoritygraduate.com/feature27.asp.
S. DHS "Strategic Plan," 2008, http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/strategicplan/) ealistically acts of terrorism, domestic or foreign are exceedingly rare, though slightly more common than they have been in the past and at least marginally more violent in nature, they occur very, very rarely. (Lewis, 2000, p. 201) Though maintaining serious preparedness the mitigation of natural disasters, most which cannot be avoided is an issue needed to be addressed almost yearly, on both small and large scales, across the nation and is much more likely to directly effect people and resources on an intimate level and should be the Emergency Management system's first and primary concern! Though worst possible case scenarios, regarding the use of WMDs is important it is not where all the resources should go.
(5. In the course, you have been introduced to the various responsibilities of different levels of government in the homeland security effort. What level of government do you…...
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References
Daniels, R.S. (2007). Revitalizing Emergency Management after Katrina: A Recent Survey of Emergency Managers Urges Improved Response, Planning, and Leadership and a Reinvigorated FEMA -- the Federal Government Has Responded by Making Most of the Recommended Changes. The Public Manager, 36(3), 16.
Department of Homeland Security Website www.dhs.gov
Depoorter, B. (2006). Horizontal Political Externalities: The Supply and Demand of Disaster Management. Duke Law Journal, 56(1), 101.
Hulnick, a.S. (2004). Keeping Us Safe: Secret Intelligence and Homeland Security. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Management Approach That Offers the Best Outcomes
for Knowledge Development
Understanding business, and what that process contains, is extremely complex. It takes years of study and focus to gain even a rudimentary idea of all a company has to do to remain viable. A company has to have employees who understand their jobs, clear work goals for all concerned in the business, accounting practices that tell the actual financial workings of the company and keep government agencies happy, along with many other processes among the strata. Threads run through all of the working practices of an organization which tend to bind it together. These can be tangible communication channels (email, phone lines, other forms of information technology), or they can be intangible. These intangible communication lines are another layer of complexity which the organizations managers have to control and mold. How people deal with one another is the way an organization actually…...
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Works Cited
Cohen, Debra J. "Knowledge Development -- Future Focus: Emerging Issues -- in Human Resource Management." HR Magazine (2003). Web.
de Dreu, Carsten K.W., and Evert van de Vliert. Using Conflict in Organizations. New York: Sage Publications, 1997. Print.
Fischler, Michael L. "From Crisis to Growth…Race, Culture, Ethnicity, Conflict and Change." Education 124.2 (2003): 396-398. Print.
Capital Intensity and Competitive Pressures: Why Robust Financial Metrics are Crucial for Sustaining Competitive Advantage
In highly competitive environments characterized by high capital intensity, the effective use of robust financial metrics becomes imperative for organizations to maintain a competitive edge. This essay explores the importance of financial metrics in such demanding circumstances, drawing insights from established research and industry perspectives.
Defining Capital Intensity and Competitive Pressure
Capital intensity refers to the proportion of fixed assets, such as machinery and equipment, employed in a company's operations relative to its overall assets. High capital intensity typically indicates significant upfront investment requirements and long-term operational expenses.....
Key insights can be gained from existing literature on AI in construction management by analyzing the various applications, benefits, challenges, and future trends associated with the integration of AI technologies in the construction industry. Several studies have highlighted the potential of AI to revolutionize construction management practices and improve project efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and safety.
One key insight from the literature is the role of AI in enhancing project planning and scheduling. AI technologies such as machine learning algorithms and predictive analytics can analyze historical data, identify patterns, and make accurate predictions about project timelines and resource requirements. This can help....
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