Business Continuity Essays (Examples)

Business Continuity Plan (U.S. VISIT-DHS)

Internal Key Personnel and Backups

The aim of this business continuity is to guarantee continuous business operations of the US_VISIT (DHS) whenever disasters strike. Through this business continuity plan, the company has higher chances of prevailing during the disasters or financial crisis. In times of crisis or emergency within operations, the following key personnel would retain their positions within the company. This indicates that they are extensive vital to the operations and role executions in meeting goals and objectives of the organization. Internal key personnel include

Chief of Staff

National Protection & Programs Director

Inspector General

General Counsel

Chief Financial Officer

U.S Secret Service

Health Affairs Director

Domestic Nuclear Detection Director

Backups

Deputy Secretary

Executive Secretariat

Military Advisor

Science & Technology Director

These departmental offices are critical aspect of the organization. In case stated personnel are on vacation or held somewhere during daily operations, their…

Protection for employees

If employees adhere to the rules of the acceptable use policy, there are less liable to questionable issues. This also prevents them from engaging in hazardous internet issues, for instance, they are less likely to disclose their contacts to crackers using social engineering approaches. Moreover, ABBA should settle on using universal guidelines and principles with respect to network security, it risk assessment, risk analysis, and risk management. In this respect, regulatory compliance is a vital aspect influencing the creation of business continuity approach (Frank, 2006).

Furthermore, while Business Continuity or Disaster ecovery regulations may be insignificant in some business incidents, companies should be aware of legislation regulating data integrity, availability and compliance. This helps the company in setting up a Business Continuity strategy. The following is a universal disaster preparedness principle for a company facing network security issues with respect to it risk assessment, analysis and management…

Business Auditing and Testing

Business Auditing

Testing and auditing is an essential of a business plan. Business plan is a blueprint followed in the successful launch or re launch an operation. It conveys the business prospects, growth and describes the product market. Business and auditing plan helps in preparedness of emergencies as a safety precaution for the continuity of a business. This planning ensures that services of a business continue when there are significant disruptions or when a disaster strikes. In some places, the business continuity plan is a policy requirement. The management should be well trained to help them to adapt to the change of circumstances. It helps the managers to determine a safe way to work during emergencies.

Business continuity plan is a document that having procedures on what to implement when things go wrong. Formation should consider the term; like long-term or short-term, and, part time or…

This approach to creating cyclically-based strategies has helped to alleviate the time constraints on companies over time when it comes to managing the process of education and gaining senior management commitment. The smaller incremental gains made in these smaller organizations have actually proven to be more effective at deterring potential threats as knowledge is accumulated over time and change is gradual (Botha, Von Solms, 2004). The studies that are the theoretical foundation of Business continuity planning Methodology (Lindstrom, Samuelsson, Hagerfors, 2010) illustrate what a critical role senior management has in promoting and financing ongoing education of business continuity from the standpoint of IT security and lifecycle planning. The maturity model shown in Figure 1 explains the progression of business continuity from the studies conducted and concludes that ongoing training, a commitment to changing the culture of an organization to support IT security, as a strategic threat is essential. The model…

Business Continuity Interview Analysis

This report presents the results of an interview conducted on February 24, 2012 with a medical office manager. More specifically, the office is a small joint practice of two Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) otolaryngologists. The interviewer inquired into the types of preparations, contingencies, and planning necessary for business continuity in the event of a major catastrophe that destroyed the office or that rendered it completely unusable for any extended period of time. For the purpose of this interview, the interviewer asked about a major flood disaster that physically destroyed the office and that rendered the immediate vicinity off-limits to anybody besides emergency rescue personnel and law enforcement.

General Situational Overview of Major Potential Business Continuity Concerns

The office manager indicated that the following major concerns were already part of the office's contingency planning and business continuity planning: (1) Emergency employee communications "cascade" identifying specific individuals…

A consistent method of communication must alert employees to any variations to the existing plan during the emergency that may need to take place, as every emergency is different. The absence of cellular phone or computer communication during some emergencies means that emergency communications equipment such as radio systems, public address systems, or portable radio may be necessary to notify employees of the emergency, to keep them informed, and for contacting local authorities, "such as law enforcement officials, private sector charitable groups, and the fire department" ("Section 10: Emergency Preparedness," 2006, Occupational Safety & Health Administration). The methods of should also have an auxiliary power supply if electricity is affected by the disaster.

Organizational communication is always improved when there is a clear chain of command so that employees know beforehand who has the authority for making decisions and whom to turn to for emergency update. However, the chief emergency…

Disaster Planning

Business Continuity & Disaster ecovery Planning models

Business continuity and disaster planning

The goal of business continuity planning is to ensure that during an unexpected event, the business is able to run as smoothly as possible. These unexpected events may run the gamut from "the failure of a supplier of goods or services or delayed deliveries" due to extreme weather to a security breach of the computer systems to a national attack or major disaster (BIA, 2012, FEMA) "A business impact analysis (BIA) predicts the consequences of disruption of a business function and process and gathers information needed to develop recovery strategies" (BIA, 2012, FEMA). To conduct a BIA, the organization should first determine the potential timing of a disaster, or to "identify [the] point in time when interruption would have greater impact" followed by the "duration of the interruption or point in time when the operational and/or…

Assurance

Models of business continuity and disaster recovery are important for the sustainability of a company, mainly because they shield a company from the many foreseeable and unforeseeable misfortunes that may affect the operation of a business. The business continuity plan refers to a road map used for the continuation of operations in the company during hostile conditions. A disaster recovery plan refers to a set of procedures set forth to protect or recover the business infrastructure in the occurrence of a disaster. This report compares the models in relation to the establishment and sustainability of a business after the occurrence of a disaster (Ward & Abreu, 2013).

Business continuity plan

This plan identifies a company's exposure to external and internal threats. It also creates soft and hard assets in order to provide effective recovery options for the company. They do this while still maintaining the value system integrity and…

As a result the revenue generated from the business is mainly in the form of commission for them. In case of the web sites operated by United Airlines themselves, the services are owned by them and therefore, the revenue is direct. (Abdollahi & Leimstoll, 2011)

Another model used is the advertising business model. According to this model, the UAL provides advertisement to the companies. These companies then broadcast the advertisements on their website. According to this model, the revenue is commission based and the commission is based on the contract. (Abdollahi & Leimstoll, 2011)

The aforementioned business models can be used together. The advertisement model would work as an attracting force that increases the flow of the customers whereas the brokerage model will be applied to the websites that are either company owned or third party operated. (Abdollahi & Leimstoll, 2011)

System Development Life Cycle

System development life cycle (SDLC)…

Jet Blue Airways

Theoretical Framework to Crisis Management Approach in Business Continuity

Jet Blue Airways Valentine's Day crisis 2007

Jet Blue Airways BCM

Crisis management

Stakeholder Analysis

Invocation and escalation

Management and recovery

Closure and review

Enterprise Management

Jet Blue Airways

Business continuity management (BCM) is defined by the Business Continuity Institute as 'holistic management process that identifies potential impacts that threaten an organization and provides a framework for building resilience and capability for an effective response that safeguards the interests of its key stakeholders, reputation, brand and value creating activities' (The Business Continuity Institute, 2007).

The impact of the 9/11 attacks has left companies with the compulsion to deal with the aftereffects and ever since, BCM has gained increased popularity. 9/11 was basically a crisis in the external environment that had wide ranging consequences for the business organisations. It has emerged as a discipline in organisational studies that is…

Business Continuity Planning, Collaboration, and Training Help Private Agencies Prepare for Events Affecting Critical Infrastructure

A business continuity plan is a response plan that sets out how an organization or institution will continue operations after a disruption. Business continuity planning, therefore, is the process of identifying both the external and internal threats that may affect these organizations and institutions, and setting out a detailed plan of how they will operate following the unexpected events, as well as how they expect to resume business in the shortest time possible. According to Fulmer (2005), 93% of organizations that experience a disaster without a business continuity plan fail within five years, while 50% of those that lose critical business functions for over ten days after various forms of disasters fail to recover. Thus, it is imperative that both public and private agencies prepare adequately for events that may affect critical infrastructure, which are…

Business Continuity Planning

Incident Handling

Incident response refers to an organized approach used to manage and address the security breach aftermath of the attack. The goal of incident response is to limit the damages to the network infrastructures as well as reducing costs and time employed for recovery of critical data. The paper does not suggest that the organization should shut down the network systems because they may lose a substantial market values by implementing this tactic. Moreover, shutting down the network system may hinder a full investigation of the cause of the incidents.

The following steps should be employed for the incident response. First, the organization should coordinate an IT team who will be in charge of updating the security measures to respond to network and computer security incidents correctly and quickly. The next stage is to identify where the incident has occurred. Typically, the IT team should identify…

component of effective incident handling is a security management team that is engaged in constant preparation and network scanning for such a breach. "Once your security team declares there has been a breach, it should inform the incident management team, and it should assemble within minutes" (Schilling, 2013, p.3). The team should then conduct "network forensics, systems forensics and malware analysis" to understand the extent of the threat and "by reviewing network and security event logs, a forensic analyst can determine which computer systems are likely compromised" (Schilling 2013, p.3). There may not be a need to shut down the entire system; the question is the extent to which the threat can be isolated and contained. "Once an infected system is recovered for analysis, the forensics analysts will examine the system to retrieve the files that are responsible for the threat activity. These files are normally hiding some type of…

Business Continuity and Service estoration

The business continuity planning is the identification of potential external and internal threats that can lead to the disruption of the business process, which can lead to a loss of business infrastructures. In other words, the business continuity plan is the response of hazard that threats an organizational business process. The disruption of business operations can be predictable or unpredictable. However, the power outage and the minor network failures are minor problems that can disrupt business operations. However, a real disaster that can disrupt business activities is cyber attacks, flood, and theft of sensitive data. Business organizations can suffer unanticipated losses because of natural disasters, however, the goal of business continuity plan is to assist in recovery in the critical business process.

In the contemporary business environment, disasters are inevitable, and vary in magnitude and types. Disasters are defined as the abrupt destruction of business…

usiness Continuity

The process of business continuity planning entails development of a practical strategy for corporations to prepare themselves for, and keep up their operations, following a crisis or disaster. usiness continuity plans (CPs) aid organizations in identifying and preventing risks wherever possible, preparing for risks they are unable to control and responding and recovering in the event a crisis or incident does occur. Preparation of a plan for business continuity will facilitate quick business recovery in the event of a disaster/crisis. One cannot predict all sorts of incidents that pose threats to businesses. However, one can formulate a plan covering an array of incidents (natural disasters, staffing issues, computer/technological issues, etc.). (Queens Land Government, 2015) In every instance, companies cannot flourish without proper planning, monitoring, and resource management.

The organization -- First Class Cleaning and Sanitation Services -- offers general cleaning services to businesses as well as homes. It…

DHS

Introductions and Business Continuity Planning Strategy

Department of Homeland Security: Continuity Plans

Continuity planning is an essential component of the Department of Homeland Security.

Annual Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continuity planning exercises "test the readiness and capabilities of federal departments and agencies -- coordinating with the White House -- to execute their Continuity of Operations (COOP) plans" (Continuity plans, 2009, DHS). Additional exercises may be necessary in the wake of new threats or challenges faced by DHS. A critical component of the yearly exercise, called Eagle Horizon, simulates the need for federal departments and agencies to relocate during a national emergency to ensure the seamless performance of government functions. Contingency exercises test the "alert, notification, and deployment procedures as well as interagency continuity communications" (Continuity plans, 2009, DHS).

The Department of Homeland Security works in conjunction with a variety of federal agencies, such as FEMA, to engage in…

Strategic Plan for Google

The following is an outline of the strategic plan for Google that provides insights into the organizational activities, competitiveness, and performance.

Executive summary of the business plan of Google

Google

The mission statement of Google

Corporate Culture of Google

Historical Development, Performance, and esults of Google

Management and the Leadership Structure of Google

Situational Analysis of Google (SWOT) Analysis

Strengths of Google

Weaknesses of Google

Opportunities of the Company

Threats Facing the Performance and Competitiveness of Google

Market esearch of Google

Competition and Competitiveness of Google

Clients or Customers Utilizing the Services Provided by Google

Other factors that affect the performance and the competitiveness of the company

Marketing Goals of Google

Consumer Awareness

Market Share of Google

Diversification Strategies Adopted by Google

Channels of Distribution Used by the Company

6. Service Development Within Google

Description of Services offered by the Company

Pricing Strategies Adopted by the…

The cheese plant is dedicated to agricultural product production processes utilizing mostly raw materials produced on its own farms. Generally, the individual farms each maintain several hundred heads of cattle capable of producing sufficient raw materials (such as fresh milk) to sustain McCadum Cheese Plant operations.

Apparent McCadum Cheese Plant Inventory Needs:

In general, production that is dependent on the availability of raw materials from its farm network. It would not be practical or efficient to ensure business continuity primarily through large inventory because of the perishable nature of the product and of its component ingredients. The sheer volumes at issue would also be a prohibitive concern even apart from perishability issue; for example, the plant uses 35,000 pounds of fresh milk in each production run.

Apparent McCadum Cheese Plant Inventory Status:

The McCadum Cheese Plant business ensures business continuity by using a well-coordinated but geographically decentralized supply for its…

Threats due to weather include floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and blizzards. Planning for weather events should be very realistic in nature. Major weather events usually occur in 25, 50 and 100-year cycles. Disease outbreaks are also a big threat. A potential flu pandemic could be detrimental to many businesses. For example, the bird flu pandemic scenarios that are floating around are being modeled on the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. That global outbreak killed 500,000 people in the United States and more than 20 million people worldwide. Since that time there have been two other smaller scale flu pandemics, each that killed hundreds of thousands of people. The flu is just one disease that can cause a business disaster situation around the world (Business Continuity during a Disaster, 2008).

ecent years have also shown that terrorism threats are a real possibility that needs to be considered. Terrorism is a great…

Change Management Audit

While technology and information systems are there in order to make management much more efficient, these systems may also expose an organizations to various risks which might often be serious in nature. These risks increase when changes are brought about in an existing system. In order to minimize such risks it is important that organizations have a change management plan, which is duly audited and tested for compliance before change is implemented.

With the advent and progress in the field of Information Technology, the corporate sector across the globe has increased the incorporation of technology in business practices greatly over the years. Besides assisting in communication and production related tasks, Management Information Systems and knowledge managements are important and integral part of organizational management that play a vital role in ensuring efficiency and quality management. That said, the rapid progressions in technology mean that the preceding technologies…

Business Function and Criticality Matrix Worksheet

Organization: Homeland Security

Business Function

Business Process

Criticality

Operations

Communications

Mission-Critical

Operations

Security

Mission-Critical

Operations

Critical Equipment Needs

Mission-Critical

Administration

Critical Staffing and Assignments

Mission-Critical

Administration

Interdepartmental Liaison

Mission-Critical

Communications

High Level (Pentagon, CIA, FBI, President)

Mission-Critical

Finance

Discretionary Funding

Mission-Critical

Marketing

External Media Liaison

Vital

Operations

Supplies needed for Critical Operations

Vital

Communications

2nd Tier

Vital

Human Resources

Payroll

Important

Marketing

External non-critical communications (Web site, etc.)

Minor

Finance

Accounts Payable

Minor

Operations

All other supply requests

Minor

Operations

Regulatory Issues

Minor

Operations

Non-Critical Equipment

Minor

Justifications:

1. Unlike a manufacturing or service company, many of the regular business processes can be put off a few days in the event of a critical issue.

2. Critical issues for Homeland Security are those that will likely affect most of the country (Natural or man-made disasters, attacks, etc.).

3. Critical issues focus on allowing the…

This means that you must continually monitor and communicate about possible changes, pertaining to the overall scope of the threat. Once this occurs, is when an entity will have an effective security procedure that will adapt to the various changes that are taking place.

This is significant, because this information can be used to corroborate the overall nature of security threats that could be faced by the SME. Where, this information is useful in helping to identify and address possible operational considerations that must be taken into account. As a result, this will help to provide not only a glimpse of possible security challenges that will be faced, but it will also help to establish an effective IT security protocol.

When you compare this with the previous source, this information can be used to highlight specific security threats that the company we are examining could face. Where, it discusses the…

Independent dealers must sign a contract that sets forth the manner in which they will operate their rental centers. Often a small business owner will supplement their income be adding U-Hauls to their market mix. Independent contractors earn a commission on their sales.

Each division of AMERCO has it own president. All of them must report to a Board of Directors. The Chairman of the Board and overall President is Edward Shoen, descendent of the original founders of the company. Many members of the Shoen family still control much of the company (Google Finance). Little information is available about the company, aside from their financial statements. Although they have a Board of Directors, the company continues to operate as a family-style operation, with the family members occupying many positions in upper management. The company structure is simple and little is available beyond basic information.

Purchasing Contract Analysis and the UCC…

The grand jury returned a 112-count indictment against Steve Warshak, company president; his mother, Harriet Warshak; general counsel Paul Kellogg; and former employees Charles Clarke Jr., Steven Pugh and Amar Chavan. A company called TCI Media, which was allegedly used to launder money, was also part of the indictment. The charges include 77 counts of money laundering, 12 counts of mail fraud and four counts of bank fraud (Berkeley president, others indicted for fraud, 2006).

After the Grand Jury indictments were handed down The U.S. Attorney's Office in Cincinnati filed a new complaint against Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals that included the freezing of various assets worth almost $2 million. The complaint alleged that Berkeley owner Steven Warshak and others participated in a complex, large scale mail and wire fraud operation. This amounted to another felony charge being added to the long list that had already been handed down. The frozen assets…

Offered under the same roof are "consultative, diagnostic, and treatment services" which are stated to be provided "by board-certified practitioners in the fields of pulmonary medicine, otolarngology, family medicine and more." (2006)

Smith reports that the laboratories experiencing the most dramatic growth are two which are located the "farthest from the Hillsboro flagship" as they are located in two areas that were "formerly underserved." (2006) Smith additionally reports that the demand is stronger in the areas where the two fastest growing centers are located which supplies "plenty of fuel for expansion."

Smith states that the Sleep Health & Wellness NW is attempting to "fill a gap so that patients who previously were overlooked or not being reached or who fell through the cracks no longer are," she says. "We have no plans to open centers in areas where there are already quality sleep services programs. We only want to go…

Business Impact Analysis

The heart of any major business, beyond its human capital, is usually its technological resources and status. A business that relies on internet access and an arsenal of computer hardware and software must collect and harness the necessary knowledge, people and tools to manage this technology in an efficient yet effective way. Doing otherwise can expose trade secrets and customer data. Loss of productivity can also be exceedingly damaging.

Mission Critical Functions

As it relates to technology, there are three major functions that are mission critical. The first, and most important, is the network itself. If the network goes down, any networking and Internet functions will grind to a halt. Having such a happenstance drag on for a considerable amount of time can cause massive amounts of damage in terms of client deliverables not being provided and necessary administration work not getting done. It is true that…

The consequences of even a few dissatisfied customers can be enormous: "Dissatisfied customers turn to competitors; loyal customers spend more, refer new clients, and are less costly to do business with" (Arendt & Harris, 1998, p. 27). The authors point out that because it costs about five times more to gain a new customer than to keep an existing one, and since dissatisfied customers tell at least twice as many friends about bad experiences than they tell about good ones, it is clearly to the small business owner or manager's advantage to seek high levels of customer satisfaction and retention.

According to Gebhardt and Townsend (1990), although the notion that little things can add up to have an enormous positive effect has gained wide acceptance, many companies continue to remain sluggish in their response to the reality that little things can also have an immensely negative impact on a company's…

BIA

Stakeholder Analysis

Business Impact Assessment and disaster management

A business impact assessment (BIA) is designed to evaluate the impact of a disaster upon the functioning of the organization and ideally, determine ways for the organization to remain operational, even during the stressors of a full-blown attack on its informational systems or a widespread catastrophe like a national disaster. "BIA report quantifies the importance of business components and suggests appropriate fund allocation for measures to protect them. The possibilities of failures are likely to be assessed in terms of their impacts on safety, finances, marketing, legal compliance, and quality assurance. Where possible, impact is expressed monetarily for purposes of comparison. For example, a business may spend three times as much on marketing in the wake of a disaster to rebuild customer confidence" than it did before the catastrophe (BIA, 2013, Search Storage). Another definition of a BIA is "to identify…

Risk Citeia

ID NO.

Chosen Business: City estauant

Befoe discussing what the coe activities the company undetakes to achieve its opeational objectives, it is vital to highlight these opeational objectives. The following section gives a bief oveview of these objectives:

OPERATIONAL OBJECTIVES

The stategic objective of Taste Inn is to become the most liked band among its customes, a financially and opeationally stong company in the eyes of its investos, and a competitive paticipant in the food and hospitality industy of Austalia. The majo opeational objectives of the company include:

A stong custome base:

The most impotant opeational objective of the company is to stengthen its custome base by attacting moe and moe customes towads its poduct offeings. It aims to build a stong public image in the eyes of its customes and the society in which it opeates.

Become a financially and opeationally stong copoation:

The second most impotant…

Globalization on Small Entrepreneurial Businesses in the UK

Ten Positive Effects of Globalization on U.K. Businesses

Globalization has had both positive and negative effects on United Kingdom businesses. The positive effects of globalization have been found in the research in this present study to include the following positive effects of Globalization on UK businesses:

(1) Globalization broadens the access of goods and services enabling consumers and companies the ability to acquire a wider range of goods and services;

(2) Better access to external finance and enhancement of worldwide financial markets;

(3) Increase in international travel and tourism creating more opportunities for entrepreneurial businesses.

(4) Higher trade exposure and FDI inflows result in creation of new business opportunities and increasing entrepreneurial activity. (Colantone and Sleuwaegen, 2007)

(5) Intensified import competition and access to cheaper intermediate goods and wider final product markets due to more openness in trade.

(6) Immigration associated with…

SAFETY

Importance of Multilateral Continuity Planning

Safety- Importance of Multilateral Continuity Planning

Many business entities are joining the corporate world for immense investments. These pertains business operations that are effectively run through hierarchical systems in various managerial departments for the achievement of optimized business operations. This, therefore, calls for the best managerial methodologies in the business, human resource and disaster management. The later is the most essential in managing a business as it sometimes replicates unexpected situations that implicate diversely to the organization's stakeholders, the community as well as other business partners. In my organization, the notion of having unexpected outcomes, has been curbed by initiating proper disaster management methods use of multilateral continuity planning models.

It is important for business-oriented firms to strategize continuity planning methods, though, it is usually perceived as a counter-productive process (Hiles 2011). The practice not only oversees organizational, structural continuity, but also on the…

Then, another, and probably the most obvious, application of operations management is that of achieving cost reductions. ichard Stylves offers the most conclusive example of Henry Ford, who sought to integrate assembly lines using the most cost effective commodities, including labor force. The aim of operations management is then that of reducing expenditure and increasing operational efficiency. Its applications are present at all organizational levels, from resource allocation to product distribution. Amazon.com has successfully integrated these principles by establishing its warehouses in adequately chosen locations which allow it to efficiently and automatically distribute its products to worldwide consumers.

Carter McNamara agrees with most of the previous findings, but his article is more of a generalist one, in which the author simply states that operations management has applications in "purchasing, control and coordinating function of management, product and service management, quality management, inventory management, logistics and transportation management, facilities management, configuration…

Operations

Outline the major risks associated with maintaining continuity of operations in the event of an environmental catastrophe.

The Chief Operating Officer

erwick Hospital System

Risks Linked to Environmental Disaster

The erwick Hospital System identified some susceptibilities common to hospitals in Louisiana that experienced the Rita and Katrina calamities. For minimizing the harm, we may suffer in case an environmental disaster strikes, I have encapsulated within this memo a few potential risks linked to environmental calamities, and an operations continuity plan for coping with such a situation.

The erwick Hospital System represents a healthcare facility/hospital situated in Illinois State's downtown Chicago area. The main division of the organization comprises of medical labs, 5 operation theatres, and 673 hospital beds. The campus also holds seven smaller satellite structures, which include the nursing home, outpatient doctors' offices for outpatient access/visits and hospice.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) defines an emergency as any…

Transformational Leadership

The data set in the scholarly sphere that pertains to transformation leadership and what goes into the practice thereof is quite voluminous and massive. As such, pinning down one theorist or idea is not the easiest thing to do when trying to select something to focus on for a report like this. However, the author of this report chose the work that is cited in this report because making the changes needed for a firm are important but maintaining business operations and continuity as the changes are made is even more important. Indeed, making needed changes will pale in comparison to if those changes wreak havoc and cause a slow-down (or dead-stop) with the operations and efficacy of a firm. While improving and evolving a business and its processes is important, it is even more important to maintain business continuity and cohesion at all times regardless of what…

Strategic Planning in IT

IT Impact on Service Industry Performance

Cooperative Competitive

Competitive Advantage

Implementation of IT Innovations

1992 U.S. VALUE-ADDED AND EMPLOYMENT BY INDUSTRY

AVERAGE ANNUAL GROTH IN GDP PER HOUR,

MAJOR SECTORS OF THE U.S. ECONOMY

Management TASKS IN BUREAUCRACY VS ADHOCRACY ORGANIZATIONS

This paper addresses the following problem statement: "ithout information technology (IT), a business will not be able to compete globally in any industry, nor in any market it wants to enter. It will not be able to effectively and efficiently optimize its success."

In order to evaluate this statement, a number of issues were examined. The rapid pace of technological change and the effects of technology revolution have launched the world into an era of organizations that are experiencing extraordinary growth in both the development and the dissemination of information and communications technologies. This paper reviews the current literature on the subject of the integration…

Global usiness Cultural Analysis: Singapore

The objective of this study is to answer the questions how the major elements and dimension of culture including religion, ethics, values, attitudes, manners, customs, social structures, and organizations integrated in Singapore by local conducting business. As well, this work will answer how these elements and dimensions compare with United States culture and business. Finally, this work will examine the implications for United States businesses that wish to conduct business in Singapore.

The work of Abeysinghe and Choy (2009) reports that the economy in Singapore has been undergone a transformation that has turned it into "…an Asian powerhouse…" due to the "far-sighted economic policies. The economy of Singapore is proof of the outcome of a market-driven economy taking place during fast development of high per capita income, and an environment free of corruption in which the workforce is both motivated and educated. The financial infrastructure…

SDLC Documentation

There are several important types of documentation that should be created and updated as part of a fluid and proper systems development life cycle. The types are all quite different and they are also quite individually important. This report will go into the different types that should exist, what each type covers, why they are each important and the overall update and creation process that should be followed. While some may view documentation as bureaucratic and unnecessary, it is vital that it present and update as having data that is out of date or only in the heads of people that can leave at any time is a disaster waiting to happen if someone not informed on the cycle is put in a position to make important adjustments or decisions.

Analysis

The first types of documentation would be the bill of materials and the build plan. The bill…

Student Business Plan -- MKG Lawn Care

Strengths of the MKG Lawn Care Business Plan:

MKG provides various kinds of lawn care services to every type of household individuals. Having a large number of potential customers is a big strength of MKG Lawn Care. A customer is believed to be the sole source of earning for any kind of business. A large target market for MKG Lawn Care means a greater potential for its business expansion.

Quality:

The second core strength of MKG Lawn Care is its supreme quality services. MKG Lawn Care believes on the significance of Total Quality Management for a business organization. Supreme quality of services is a big strength because it is the first preference of quality conscious consumers.

In its business plan, MKG Lawn Care wants to provide its customers the "Value" for their money. The quality in this service organization can be measured in…

Forming a Partnership

ole of Agency Business Association

Agency refers to the capacity or ability of the agent to act on behalf of a business association or partnership. Agencies perform or execute numerous roles in relation to authority from the business association. The first notable role of the agency is ensuring effective and efficient contractual situations concerning the business association. Agency ensures that the contracts of the business associations are in line with the laws governing business organizations. Agency also promotes the interests of the business associations by marketing products and services of the entity. This indicates that agencies perform the role of marketing or promoting business activities thus conducting transactions on behalf of the business entity. Agency also identifies the problems facing the entity and act towards executing the solution (Mann & oberts, 2008).

The role of agency in business association focuses on contractual, noncontractual, and quasi-contractual with respect…

isk Management in Family Owned Businesses

A family business can be simply described as "any business in which a majority of the ownership or control lies within a family, and in which two or more family members are directly involved" (Bowman-Upton, 1991). In other words, it is a multifaceted, twofold structure consisting of the family and the business meaning that the involved members are both the part of a job system and of a family system (Bowman-Upton, 1991).

Most families seek stability, intimacy, a sense of community, and belonging through the family business (Hess, 2006). On the other hand, whenever family and business are mentioned together, a majority of people think of continuous conflict, competition and contention (Crenshaw, 2005). However, "successful family businesses do not let the family destroy the business or the business destroy the family" (Hess, 2006).

The family-owned businesses are the backbone of the world financial system.…

Financial Perspective

The material in this module tells us that many companies place disproportionate emphasis on the financial perspective at the expense of the other three perspectives. Give an example of an organization with which you are familiar from either previous coursework, the news, or personal experience where this has been the case. What were the results of this focus on the financial perspective on customers and other stakeholders? Be as specific as you can and give concrete examples.

An over-emphasis on financial metrics is indeed a bad idea because it can lead to ignorance or ambivalence towards other parts of the business equation that should absolutely be taken seriously and actually end up affecting the financial bottom line even if the connection is not obvious. Customers that feel the dollars and cents are focused on too much would go to firms that focus more on customer service and contributions…

Government in Continuity Planning

Since the 1950s, continuity planning has been a major part of U.S. government policy. This is because there were concerns that some kind of nuclear attack or natural disaster could have an adverse impact on entire regions of the country. When this happens the odds increase that there could be various forms of lawlessness in these areas. To mitigate these kinds of situations, continuity planning was created to ensure that vital resources and personnel are dispatched to these kinds of areas. (Daleo, 2009, pp. 919 -- 925) ("Continuity Guidance Circular," 2009)

After September 11th, is when these ideas were once again revisited. In this case, National Security Presidential Directive-51 (NSPD-51) and Homeland Security Presidential Directive-20 (HSPD-20) were enacted to provide a strategy for dealing with disasters. Taking the lead in this area is the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA). They have created the Continuity Guidance Circular.…

" Nevertheless, the research to date indicates that participative management techniques can provide a major return on the investment. According to Angermeier, Dunford and Boss (2009, p. 127), "Employee perceptions of the extent to which their work climate is participative rather than authoritarian have important implications for critical work attitudes and behavior."

The research to date has confirmed that employees in highly participative work environments outperformed their counterparts in nonparticipative management organizations (Angermeier et al. 2009). For example, a study by Angermeier and his associates found that employees working in participative management settings provided 14% better customer service, committed 26% fewer clinical errors, demonstrated 79% lower burnout, and were 61% less likely to leave the organization than employees in more authoritarian work environment. According to Angermeier et al. (2009, p. 128), "These findings suggest that participative management initiatives have a significant impact on the commitment and productivity of individual employees."…

Under such high-pressure conditions, anticipated merger synergies are difficult to achieve in the short-term. And reconfiguring the entire it infrastructure to effectively and efficiently support new business strategies does not get any easier (alter 134).

The misalignment of business strategy and it strategy has been recognized as a major hindrance to the successful exploitation of competitive advantage in the financial services sector. (atkins, 1992). Pressure on management to focus on both sides of the cost-income equation has become a priority item on the agenda for most CEOs and CIOs. Some observers have argued that business strategy has both an external view that determines the firm's position in the market and an internal view that determines how processes, people, and structures will perform. In this conceptualization, it strategy should have the same external and internal components, although it has traditionally focused only on the internal it infrastructure -- the processes, the…

By implementing almost the same strategy for half a century the brand is emphasizing continuity.

Another trait that the marketing campaign around Jack Daniel's is trying to emphasize consists in returning to the roots, relating to the beginning of the brand. This also shows strength and trust in the brand.

The company's marketing department understands that if anything were to change regarding the Jack Daniel's brand, it would mean that the company itself does not trust the product has the capability to handle the changes in the alcoholic beverages worldwide market.

ven so, this strategy is understood in different manners by consumers belonging to different countries, and therefore, to different cultures. In Britain, customers appreciate the small-town story, less touched by industrialization and globalization. In China and India, however, younger customers do not appreciate these images because they do not represent an evolution for them.

ven so, the marketing strategy…

Healthcare

We can compare the healthcare workplace to what is seen by a person when he/she looks through a kaleidoscope: since there are numerous different patterns that appear as the moments pass by. The shortage of nurses which has been publicized widely and the high turnover rates amongst the nurses are some of the unwanted patterns which have occurred. The dependence of healthcare institutions on the nurse-managers for the retention and recruitment of nurses is steadily increasing (Contino, 2004).

There are a number of routes through which the critical care nurses have become the leaders. Most of these routes don't have any educational or managerial training as a part of the process. There is a need for effective strategies for the care leaders who provide critical care in order to inspire the staff and manage the departmental operations in an effective manner to get positive results. One of the strategies…

The Advantages, Disadvantages and disappointments

The advantages of ubbermaid being ISO certified are quiet many, as per the global market trend, customers demand quality products and to keep up with the stiff competition it makes ubbermaid products marketable and competitive beyond the borders and be generally acceptable in any market as the consumers are assured of quality which translates into having a bigger market margin against competitors who are not ISO certified.

The system assures the company of consistency in its day-to-day operations hence less time is spent in correcting defects which can be massive and costly when not detected in good time it is therefore accost cutting tool in the long run.

The certification brings superiority even in the markets where it is not emphasized and in itself is a marketing tool for the company and can help in market penetration and an easy tool for gaining access and…

Experimental esearch Methods in Business

Experimental esearch Methods

The author provides a survey of the literature illustrating applied experimental research methods in cross-sections of business and organization types. The advantages and disadvantages of the experimental research methods are discussed for each of the examples provided which run the gamut from depression-era agricultural economics to research conducted for the National Science Institute. While the article focuses on business research methods, the range of examples from multiple disciplines serves to demonstrate the adaptability of various methods to distinct contexts, the importance of thoughtfully developed research questions, and perceptions in the field regarding scientific rigor. The article is intended to guide students in their exploration of the breadth and depth of experimental research methods and to convey a sense of the challenges of applied scientific inquiry.

Introduction

The study of business topics has not always been inherently scientific. Certainly the work of Max…

Financial continuity Strategies for NGO Boards
Non-governmental organizations are often caught up in financial woes that make it difficult for their operation despite having a strong mission program. Discussed are professional financial continuity strategies for NGO boards to control the financial performance of their organizations in a timely manner. Firstly, ensuring an effective operation of the board. Their functions are executed through complementary and supervisory operations, and legal obligations on their performance in the organizations structure (Finkler et al., 2016). The board’s primary role is to represent the interests of the stakeholders and those of the organization. Their functions include administration of the organization, financial oversight, and making decisions on policy.
Their governance responsibilities includes approval of annual budgets, preparation of business plans, policy formulation and implementation, strategic planning, and other administrative controls. Internal controls should be exercised not give room for fraudulent activities. Boards should ensure the organization abides…

Contingency Planning

Information Security contingency plans are very important for firms operating in today's world, where cyber security is a top issue a result of business's technological and digital dependence. This paper will discuss the planning steps, possible recovery options, and recommended testing requirements needed to support a successful business contingency/continuity of operations environment. Included will be recommendations for a proposed 24-month cycle business contingency testing plan, what should be tested and how the test should be conducted. Critical corporate assets will be ranked with the type of testing (i.e. plan reviews, tabletop exercises and backup recovery tests). Costs associated with the recommended testing process will also be taken into consideration, including personnel, equipment and production costs.

Planning Steps

Step 1 is to examine the organization of the IS department. An IS department should be organized in order to guard against an attack, blackout or any other natural or man-made…

Team Building

The author of this brief response has been asked to offer some words about team building. Specifically, there will be some discussion about what happens with violated expectations on a cross-cultural team due to the existence of different cultural rules and norms. While a "violation" may be a big deal to some people in some cultures and less of an issue in other cultures, these violated expectations must be dealt with so as to retain and preserve the continuity and performance of the team. Along the way, the author of this report will offer some detailed examples of what can lead to these violated expectations where not everyone involved feels that a rule was broken. While expectations and norms may vary from culture to culture, there needs to be a single and unified protocol that everyone in the team should follow irrespective of the contrary norms that may…

Nancy is a junior majoring in business. During spring semester of her sophomore year, she began attending meetings of the local gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender student group, primarily because she was feeling lonely and wanted talk further about her sexual feelings. ince high school, she had been quite certain that she was a lesbian, but had been reluctant to come out or to talk with anyone else about it. he had dated boys in high school, thinking that maybe she would become more interested, but she did not. ince coming to college, she had avoided the social scene for the most part. At one of the meetings in the spring, she met a young woman from the community, and they talked alone a few times. They stayed in touch over the summer, and Nancy looked forward to pursuing the relationship when she returned in the fall. Nancy and Jill…

Company Critical Elements

Business Continuity is a vibrant industry dedicated to identifying, prioritizing and safeguarding critical business functions. From small businesses such as neighborhood bakeries to business titans such as Microsoft, each entity that can name, rate and guarantee the continued functionality of its required systems can survive in crisis. As the following analysis shows, the critical processes of all modern businesses fall into common basic categories that are vital to survival.

The Bakery

A bakery has several critical functions, some common to all businesses and some unique. "Agility Recovery" generally identifies "business critical functions" as those that: "(1) are most sensitive to downtime; (2) fulfill legal or financial obligations to maintain cash flow; (3) play a key role in maintaining your business' market share and reputation; (4) safeguard an irreplaceable asset" (Agility Recovery, 2010, p. 1). Simplifying the process somewhat for small businesses, CSO defines critical areas as those…

Threat Identification

The threats

How the threats are detected

Ever since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, businesses have had to critically rethink on the level of adequacy of their disaster recovery arrangements in relation to their business continuity plans as noted by Lam (2002,p.19). The September 11, 2001 tragedy effectively highlighted the importance for organizations to continue with their commercial operations even under the most exceptional of circumstance. My business which has a considerable e-commerce operation is particularly vulnerable to the IT related threats. It is therefore crucial that these threats be identified and eliminated or mitigated before they result to loss of revenue.

In my business, I face several threats. However, the ones that I consider most dominant are technology threats and information threats. These threats can cause a major disruption to the to business continuity planning (BCP) cycle. Technology threats include natural disasters like fire and flooding,…

Option 2

Cloud storage and other online solutions offer the reassurance of a remote backup strategy that complements your local backup strategy. This is a burgeoning market and backup options and pricing vary. Depending on the storage and user needs, these service cost nearly $120 to $700 per year. Using web-based storage services to back up what you don't feel comfortable storing locally will also help to keep costs lowered.

Providers include Carbonite, Amazon S3, DropBox and Mozy. In addition to basic backup services, many offer various bells and whistles, including the option to access data from mobile devices, backup multiple PCs from one account, and share large files with teams. Another increasingly popular option is to build your own personal cloud with the help of a wireless network and sturdy storage devices currently available in the market.

Option 3

If a server is being used in this business to…

Alcan's continued revenue growth is the result of the combined success of increasing sales in four main business units, in addition to growth through acquisition. The cumulative effects of these two factors have served to create a profitable business and one where a highly decentralized organizational structure dominates (Chang, Wang, 2011). The catalyst of the organization becoming so decentralized is the continued revenue gains made across four businesses, each competing in market areas that face heavy pricing and commodity-like market conditions. Despite the heavily process-centric based approaches the industry takes to supply chain management, production and distribution, Alcan has been also able to profitably grow sales in the more mature markets they compete in. The senior management and IT departments credit the highly decentralized nature of the enterprise-wide systems that run the company.

During the time period of the case, Alcan generated $23.6B in sales in 2006, and has 68,000…

Emergency Planning

Disasters that can critically compromise the accessibility of knowledge include floods, fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, employee sabotage, computer viruses, and theft. The effects of disasters can lengthen even after the restructure of physical damage. Simply, the earlier a business recovers from a disaster; it will experience lesser wide-ranging continuing effects of the disaster. Not only the thrashing of sales during a disaster is destructive for the company, "the loss of customers, vendors, inventory and employee records extend recovery times from weeks and months to years" (Carlson & Parker, 1998). However, if a company has a premeditated disaster recovery plan (DP), it can reduce the nuisance of a disaster, whereas inappropriate preparations can result in a business experiencing liquidation of its bank accounts (Carlson & Parker, 1998).

In the Information Technology industry, Disaster ecovery (D) security issues occur repeatedly. The critical security measures in the environment are frequently covered by…

crisis, risk, and security all play a role and are linked within an organizational context. It is also important to examine the role gaming and simulation play within this phenomena. In the past, risk was established as an idea that generated academic interest not just in social sciences but in pure sciences. It also has become subject to overzealous social and political controversy. isk management has then become the main source of debate as well as theory development (Borodzicz, 2005) As risk can appear within anything from public safety, to transportation, and health, businesses must learn an effective way to manage it. Security management however, has less developed theories and debates but still plays a vital role is lessening risk and increase proper risk management. It is then crucial to understand how both play roles in the stability and safety of any organization.

In John Adam's isk at the beginning…

According to Derek later, a further reason for a basic unwillingness to place a large amount of emphasis upon disaster recovery planning is because disastrous events are regarded as large unlikely. Business owners therefore tend to view such planning as less important than other business functions, such as new product promotion and investment. later however further emphasizes the importance of recognizing that businesses are not only affected by large-scale disasters, but also by smaller-scale problems such as malfunctioning computers or viruses. An adequate business continuity and disaster plan is therefore indeed important in order to ensure that the business can continue functioning regardless of whatever mishaps may occur.

Computer security issues as well as risk analysis and business continuity and disaster planning are integrated business issues in today's workplace environment. Most businesses today function on the basis of computers and programming. These machines and programs form the lifeblood of the…

The first time that they attempted to build this system they did not follow the life cycle plan and the system ended up failing. Developing a new claims payment system that will talk to and be user friendly with the customer service management system would help to speed up efficiency and enhance quality of all departments within the organization. This streamlining would help the company as a whole to reduce costs and ultimately become more competitive and successful within the insurance market.

Being able to answer the following question is vital to any business. How would your organization continue to deliver mission-critical services if normal business operations were interrupted? Being able to quickly resume functioning enough to continue delivering the services that are critical to a company's mission are very important. When normal business operations are interrupted, an organization should use its business continuity plan to prevent disruption in the…