Was the Settlement at BNR Fair an Example of the Topic Business Essays by

Was the Settlement at BNR Fair? In 2002, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNR) settled a $2.2 million case that EEOC filed against the railway company for genetically testing its employees without consent. While BNR admitted to so doing, the company stressed that it did not do anything wrong. (Schafer, 2001) Need essay sample on "Was the Settlement at BNR Fair?" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed BNR started genetically testing employees after a maintenance worker made compensation claims against the company for allegedly acquiring carpal tunnel syndrome through his job. According to Schafer (2001), the worker initially refused a blood testing but was threatened to be fired by the company. It was the workers wife, a nurse, who discovered that the company had been genetically testing employees without their knowledge. The million-dollar settlement brought closure to the genetic testing of BNR employees, with assurance from BNR that the occurrences of the case will not be taken against any employee. BNR carried out genetic testing to employees who are making medical claims to prove, with proper medical examination, the viability of the claims and to protect itself from probable workplace health-related lawsuits that may arise from the growing cases. Most claims filed were related to carpal tunnel syndrome. Scientists, however, are on a dispute whether genetic testing is the right way to prove the viability of such medical claims. With the case ending with about 36 employees bagging a total of $2.2 million worth of settlement from BNR (Duke L. s fairness remains to be a debatable topic. Two sides of the coin The question on fairness has two sides. The first side is if the settlement was fair to BNR, or the employers in general. The second side is if the settlement is fair to the employees, or the workforce in general. Whether it is fair for BNR and employers is a question of the purpose of genetic testing. The EEOC-BNR case was grounded on The Americans with Disabilities Act. Apart from this, imposing against genetic testing in the workplace can be taken in three other standpoints according to the law, according to Duke L. & Tech (2002): the prohibition of the constitution against illegal searches and seizure, the Title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964, and state legislations across the country against discriminating employees on the basis of genetic test results. If the company genetically tests employees or applicants before they are hired or promoted, the company has a liability against the law. Likewise, if the company carries out a genetic testing without the knowledge of employees, whether it is to prove the viability of a medical condition or some other reasons, the company shall be answerable to the court. On the other hand, a company may be right to utilize genetic testing to help employees or to protect the company, such as to certify a medical condition that an employee is filing for the sake of financial claims, though the company has to have consent from the employees being tested to do so. However, if the company uses the result of genetic testing to prove that the employee contracted his medical condition genetically, and not from the workplace, to protect itself from financial or judicial liability, the employer is on the wrong light. On the side of the employees, it is a question of whether they consent the test or not. If they are genetically tested against their will, then it is not fair for them. Being genetically tested should be a free-will activity, as the results will reveal sensitive information about the person who was tested. Skene (n.d.) affirms this by saying that the regulation of genetic testing may be patterned with other regulations on privacy and protection of personal information. Therefore, genetically testing someone requires that persons consent, and if given the result of the genetic test must be kept confidential. The BNR Dispute With the dispute filed against BNR, growing medical claims is the reason given by the company in carrying out genetic tests to employees without permission. The results of the genetic tests were teamed with medical examinations to prove the existence of carpal tunnel syndrome on employees who claimed of acquiring the deformity in the workplace. According to Duke L. rather, it is testing employees who otherwise may have refused a genetic testing if they had known that is what the company doctor is taking their bloods for. Byravan and Matlaw (2005) argue that privacy should be a first consideration when speaking about genetic testing. A genetic makeup can make or break livesfor example, an insurance company who gets hold of a persons genetic test results may play things safely and deny a person long-term health insurance coverage citing other bases, with the person not knowing that he is being denied coverage because the insurance company got a copy of her genetic records. In the same way, employers may use a leak in genetic records as a basis of hiring applicants or not. With blurry legislations regarding the protection of the confidentiality of genetic resultsultimately affecting physical privacymany people will think twice about giving in to genetic testing. This will make it difficult for medical professionals to help patients fight diseases they have a genetic history of, as well as treat the patients properly by use of analyzing patients genetic makeup. The pros and cons of genetic testing for em ployees are all too sensitive. Issues of physical privacy as well as the medical necessity of genetic testing bother them. With the employees of BNRs right to refuse genetic testing, as BNR performed the test without letting them know, the company breached the employees trust. On another standpoint, Duke L. & Tech. (2002) reports many sources affirming that the BNR employees gave a non-deliberate consent in an "invasive procedure" after filing medical claims for carpal tunnel syndrome. Was the settlement fair? The settlement is fair for BNR and the employees. Because BNR broke the trust and the right to privacy and confidentiality of employees, they served right in paying the multi-million dollar settlement since the case is no longer why they are testing their employees genetically but how they are carrying out the tests. The genetic tests of BNR employees were done without their knowledge, and they did not have a chance to decline being tested. They also did not have any control on the information that the company got out of the genetic test results. The decision whether the results of genetic makeup of employees will be used for pre-judgment in health insurance coverage or the corporate advancement of employees was left exclusively to BNR. With the results out of the employees control, it would have been easy for BNR or a third party inside the company to divulge the employees genetic records. While it would have been fair for the company, to protect its financial and judicial interest, it did its course the wrong way by doing the test against the employees knowledge and will. Given the foregoing, it is right to conclude that the BNR settlement has been fair. Conclusion If BNR has consent on the tests it did to its employees, the case would have been lighter for the company. The case likely ended in another way that a $2.2 million settlement. It would have been easier for BNR to say that the move is for the positive interest of both the employees and the company. On the standpoint that BNR employees gave non-deliberate consent for invasive procedure such as genetic testing, as this is one way to prove the feasibility of their claimed medical condition, the company still should have required employees to sign a paper admitting their consent to a genetic testing. This way, BNR has a tangible evidence that they are authorized to carry out a genetic test on their employees. On the argument that the genetic tests were done privately because employees may refuse, BNR and employers should keep in mind that when talking about genetic testing, it is a personal decision of the person being tested. After all, proper medical examination sans genetic testing is enough to prove if an ailment the employee is claiming was acquired in the office. Works Cited Schafer, S. (2001). Railroad agrees to stop gene-testing workers. Retrieved June 8, 2006, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A34877-2001Apr18?language=printer Duke L. s coin toss. Retrieved June 8, 2006, from http://www.law.duke.edu/journals/dltr/articles/2002dltr0015.html Skene, L. (n.d.). Genetic testing and privacy rights.

Songhai Empire Essay Example

Songhai Empire Essay Example Songhai Empire Paper Songhai Empire Paper Beffa 4 The Songhai Empire Alex Beffa Global History April 9, 2012 Beffa 3 The Songhai, also known as the Songhay, was not only the last, but also the largest and greatest empire of western Africa between 1000 and 1600 ce. i The previous empire was the Mali empire. Songhai was just a client state at the port of Gao, which was a major trading port for trans-Saharan trade especially since it is located on the Niger river. When the Mali empire started to decline in the 14 th century, the Songhai king declared independence. i The Songhai empire was the most thriving west African empire for many reasons but major ones are: the kings Sunni Ali and Muhammad Ture as well as the conquering of the city of Timbuktu. Sunni Ali became ruler in 1464. He did not waste any time waiting to begin expanding. Shortly after coming to power, he went to conquer the great trading port of Timbuktu from the Tuareg raiders. After Timbuktu was his, Sunni Alis armies went south to the port of Jenne. In 1480, he attacked the Mossi states south of the Niger river. He had a strong military background which helped him become one of the best conquerers and leaders in African empire history until this point. His best asset was his naval skills which is mostly likely why he typically conquered ports along the Niger river. One of his major advancements was the the creation of a bureaucracy. This allowed the Songhai to be a more centralized empire than the previous empires of Ghana and Mali. To help get the Muslim support, Sunni Ali claimed to be a Muslim, though he never truly left the old traditional religions supposedly due to the belief that it was the source of his supernatural powers in battle. In 1492, after a successful conquest, according to some oral traditions, Sunni Ali drowned while crossing the Niger river. Still others refuse to accept this theory, insisting that he died in battle. His reign was from 1464-1492. When Sunni Ali died, one of his sons named Sunni Barou took over. iii Unfortunately, unlike his father, Sunni Barou did not claim to be Muslim but rather embraced the old tradition. This did not go over very well with the Muslim community in the empire. Not long after taking the throne, Sunni Barou was overthrown by a very faithful muslim named Muhammad Ture. Born around 1440, he was a very ruthless Beffa 4 killer. He even want so far as to eliminate the rest of Sunni Alis family members. As for his way of governing, the Islamic religion played a big role. He believed that the spread of islam was very important for two reasons. One, he was a devout muslim and felt that everyone should be. And second, he saw Islam as a way to unify the empire. He organized his own bureaucracy with 10 providences and an administrator for each. This allowed him to rule very effectively over a vast empire. To lower chances of a rebellion, Muhammad Ture would not allow the kings of the conquered to keep their power but instead he would replace them with members of his own family. In 1495, Muhammad decided to make a pilgrimage to Mecca. Unlike other rulers, he was able to leave for long periods of time due to how incredibly stable his government was. After his journey, he felt the need to expand the empire. When Sunni Ali had died, a good number of the states Sunni Ali had conquered had declared independence. It was up to muhammad to reassert the Songhai’s control over these territories. He had no problem with going on an almost continuous military conquest for close to two decades. Like Sunni Ali, Muhammad Ture also expanded the navy. After a military life like that, he was lucky to be around to experience old age. In 1528 Muhammad was so well aged that he had lost the drive to continue the conquests. Also he began to go blind, so his son Farimundyo Musa took over. Farimundyo Musa changed his name to Askia Musa which is where the Askia dynasty comes from. Askia Musa was assassinated in 1531 by one of his brothers. Since Muhammad Ture was Islamic and education is a big part of Islam, Muhammad obviously supported education. The University of Timbuktu was one of the first universities in all of Africa. It attracted many scholars, mainly Islamic. Trade helped bring prosperity to the Songhai Empire as well as these other advances. iv Timbuktu was not only, a major trading spot, but also an educational capital. It had a big effect on the Songhai empire. By conquering this major port early on in the Songhai empires life, it established a sort of foundation. By controlling this port along with a few other key cities, they basically dominated the trans-Saharan trade. Timbuktu Beffa 3 was founded by nomads of the Tuareg in the early 12 th century. In its early days, Timbuktu was thought to be inferior to other major trading ports for trans-Saharan trade such as the cities of Ghana or Walata because they were more impressive. It did not take long to change peoples minds. Timbuktu and its sister city Jenne, which was also soon conquered by the Songhai, were in much better position to the gold field than Walata. Another factor in the rise of timbuktu was the nomad arabs that had been raiding caravans along the western routes. In turn, more people had been taking the eastern routes through Timbuktu. Finally, probably the most signif icant reason timbuktu was such a major port, Timbuktu was on a point where three major trans-Saharan routes went: the Mauritanian, Taghaza salt road, and the route to In Salah by way of Arawan. Two of the most important major imports and exports of the Songhai empire were salt and gold, but other items included slaves, ivory, cotton fabrics, grains, and ostrich feathers. vi To Timbuktu in particular, the major ones were gold, salt, slaves, and kola nuts. The salt came from the salt mines in the Sahara. The gold came from Bure, Bambuk, and Akan. The others, kola nuts and slaves were kinda of wide spread, coming from several p laces and in demand at many more. Naturally as a major trading port, Timbuktu had cultural diffusion. Islamic ideas were passed around especially when Muhammad Ture was in power. vii In 1591 a Moroccan force overthrew the last king of the Songhai empire, thus ending the reign of the greatest western African empire between 1100 and 1600. viii They took the capital at Gao and then moved on to timbuktu. ix It would make sense that trade would be the Songhais forte since when the Mali empire was still in power, the Songhai was a major trading spot at the city of Gao. And the big emphasis on having a great navy would also make sense considering they are located on the Niger river. The major reasons for such an enormous and thriving empire were the well-organized government, combined with outstanding kings, and never having a financial crisis since they conquered cities like Timbuktu and Jenne right from the beginning. Beffa 4 Bibliography Fritze, Ronald. Timbuktu. In World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2004-. Accessed April 16, 2012. http://ancienthistory. abc-clio. com/. Insoll, Timothy A. â€Å"Trade Empire. † Archeaology 53, no. 6 (november 2000): 48 MAS Ultra-School Edition, Ebscohost (accessed February 5, 2012). Page, Willie F. Encyclopedia of African History and Culture. USA: A Learning Source Book, 2001 William, Oscar. â€Å"Songhai Empire. † In World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABCCLIO, 2004-. Accessed February 5, 2012. http://ancienthistory. abcclio. com/search/display/601432? terms=songhai World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, s. v. â€Å"Africa, 3000 BCE-1500 BCE,† ac cessed February 4, 2012. http://ancienthistory. abcclio. com/search/display/588506? terms=medieval+africa+songhai World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, s. v. Askia dynasty, accessed April 16, 2012. http://ancienthistory. bc-clio. com/. World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, s. v. Muhammad Ture, accessed April 15, 2012. http://ancienthistory. abc-clio. com/. World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, s. v. Sunni Ali, accessed April 8, http://ancienthistory. abc-clio. com/. 2012. i Oscar William. â€Å"Songhai Empire. † In World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC- CLIO, 2004-. Accessed February 5 , 2012. http://ancienthistory. abc-clio. com/search/display/601432? terms=songhai ii World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, s. v. Sunni Ali, accessed April 15, 2012. http://ancienthistory. abc-clio. om/. iii World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, s. v. Sunni Ali,† iv World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, s. v. Muhammad Ture, accessed April 15, 2012. http://ancienthistory. abc-clio. com/. v Ronald Fritze. Timbuktu. In World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2004-. Accessed April 16, 2012. http://ancienthistory. abc-clio. com/. vi World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, s. v. Muhammad Ture,† vii Fritze viii World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, s. v. Askia dynasty, accessed April 16, 2012. http://ancienthistory. abc-clio. com/. ix Fritze

Has neoliberalism impacted men and women differently Essay

Has neoliberalism impacted men and women differently - Essay Example The emergence of neoliberalism and the globalization however, also brought forward the different social and political inequalities. The changing social order which took place as a result of the neoliberalism is believed to have taken the women out of the family equation and has placed her in the midst of crisis. What is so important with the neoliberalism is that it pushes the regulation of a society out of the hands of government and places it in the hands of market with the belief that the social equality and justice will be restored. Due to the market driven social, political and economic policies, the overall labor force has became more mobile and women are now being considered as the vital part of the overall labor force of any country. The question of whether this shift towards the neoliberalism has affected men and women equally or in different manner therefore is a valid question which this paper will attempt to explore. A quicker look at the definition of neoliberalism shall be a starting point to discuss the issue of how the neoliberalism has actually affected men and women. ... Though the notion of poor gets poorer and rich gets richer has been highlighted what is also significant to note that the above definition has highlighted the issue of economic policies which are relatively free from the influence of State. Neoliberalism in this regard therefore is a completely new philosophy outlining the lesser role of State and therefore greater power to be given to the market forces. Thus the ultimate goal of neoliberalism is to expand and intensify the markets to such level that every transaction takes place based on the market forces. The ultimate objective of neoliberalism therefore is to envisage a world where every aspect of life is governed by the markets. One of the aims of the neoliberalism therefore are to convert most of the social acts and relations according to the market transactions thus allowing competition to take place between each being. Economic rationality therefore is considered as the driving philosophy behind the regulation of a perfect soc iety. This also means that the overall social relations, gender specific roles as well as the position of man and woman radically altered as a result of this shift towards the more market oriented society based on the notion of economic rationality. Since economic competition served as the guiding principle therefore the maximization of the neoliberalism’s ideology. It is in this wake the sex or gender specific roles have reversed also due to the increasing emphasis on the competition and market driven social relations. The basic ideology of liberalism is based on the liberty and freedom and thus this very fact outline the disappearance of the social relations which might result into any kind of handicap between the social relations and compromise the liberty

Segmentation and Possible Target Markets Case Study - 1

Segmentation and Possible Target Markets - Case Study Example This is because both of these drinks initially originated from the United States hence the people identify with the brand. Behavioral aspects of the people of the United States also determine the marketing segment. The people constantly enjoy a soft drink as compared to the other part of the world where beverages like tea possess more popularity. Hence, the United States is a market segment for coke and diet coke based on geographic, psychographic and behavioral patterns (D’Altorio, 2010). The product coke targets towards the whole population in the market. However, Coca-Cola Company takes exceptional effort to ensure that various age groups associated with this brand. As a result, teenagers become a market segment for the Coca-Cola Company. Teenagers are a notorious market segment that proves hard to impress various times. However, Coca-Cola takes up the challenge to identify their brand with the young generation since teenagers constantly consume soft drinks. Teenagers provi de a good market segment since they are an ideal target for both coke and diet coke. While Coke aims at the general teenage population, diet coke appeals easily to teenage girls who are health conscious and prefer to consume a low-calorie soft drink. Coca-cola targets the teenage population by placing their products in school vending machines. In addition, the social media plays a crucial role in ensuring the brand advertises itself to teenagers through popular sites such as facebook and twitter. One of the advertisements by coca cola targeting teenager is the global ad campaign that uses the love of music by teenagers to appeal to them (Chapman, 2011).Women in the United States are a market segment specifically due to their consumption of Diet Coke. Since the release of the product in 1982, diet coke receives appraisal and acceptance in the United States market as a feminine drink. This is because the drink attracted more female customers than it did male customers.  

Security Issues Concerned With E Commerce Information Technology Essay

Security Issues Concerned With E Commerce Information Technology Essay Rapid advancements in technology is allowing everyone to send and receive information from anywhere in the world. Initially people used to share information but slowly this technology started emerging to business areas such as marketing, buying and selling, is called E-commerce. In which all the business transactions are made online. E-commerce is providing many comforts to everyone at the same time there is a chance of misusing the technology. In this essay, E-commerce is discussed in detail about the security issues associated with that. Familiarity with securities increases the benefits of E-commerce to a maximum extent.   INTRODUCTION E-commerce is a type of business model for a small or larger business that enables a firm or individual to conduct business using electronic media such as internet. It can be divided into four major areas based on type of business and the parties involved in business. They are business to business, business to consumer, consumer to consumer and consumer to business. This essay explains about E-commerce, importance of E-commerce, latest applications, advantages and draw backs. This is also explains in detail about current security issues, E-commerce threats, risks and privacy issues related to various areas of e commerce. IMPORTANCE OF E-COMMERCE: In e-commerce, time plays a vital role in both the businesses and consumers. From the business point of view, with less time spent during each transaction, more transaction can be attained on the same day. As for the consumer, they will save up more time during their transaction. Because of this, Ecommerce steps in and replaced the traditional commerce method where a single transaction can cost both parties a lot of valuable time. For example, a banking transaction can be completed through the Internet within a few minutes compared to the traditional banking method which may take up to hours. This fact clearly proves that Ecommerce is beneficial to both business and consumer wise as payment and documentations can be completed with greater efficiency. APPLICATIONS OF E-COMMERCE: Now a days development of E-commerce applications is taking place rapidly. This is mainly due to the increased  number of internet users  and awareness of technology in people. Many people using internet to shop online, make bills payment and  money transfers  etc. ADVANTAGES OF E-COMMERCE APPLICATIONS: People paying more attention to do electronic transaction using internet because, they can do these from any place in the world at any time they wish. This is saving lot of time and effort and providing comfort.   The other important advantage of e commerce is the cheapest means of doing business. From the buyers perspective also ecommerce offers a lot of real advantages. Reduction in buyers sorting out time. Better buyer decisions Less time is spent in resolving invoice and order discrepancies. Increased opportunities for buying alternative products. DIS ADVANTAGES OF E-COMMERCE: However there are several benefits of E-commerce applications, there are few limitations and risks involved in using those applications. The main disadvantage of E-commerce is the lack of a business model, lack of trust and key public infrastructure, slow navigation on the Internet, the high risk of buying unsatisfactory products, and most of all lack of security. It has a great impact on traditional business system. For example,  telephone bill payment  in traditional method was expensive and time consuming than the recent online payment. Of course, the recent online payment system is cost effective but, cant provide employment in the transportation system like traditional payment method. So the major disadvantage of E-commerce applications is, it perpetuates unemployment. In some way it can provide employment to few people like  data base administrator,  internet security providers  etc. where as privacy, security, payment, identity, contract comes under drawbacks of the e- commerce. SECURITY ISSUES CONCERNED WITH E-COMMERCE: In spite of its advantages and limitations E-commerce has got some security issues in practical. E-commerce  security is nothing but preventing loss and protecting the areas financially and informational from unauthorized access, use or destruction.   Due the rapid developments in science and technology, risks involved in use of technology and the security measures to avoid the organizational and individual losses are changing day to day.  Ã‚  There are two types of important cryptography we follow for secured E-commerce transactions. Symmetric (private-key) cryptography:  This is an  encryption system  in which sender and receiver possess the same key. The key used to encrypt a message is also used to decrypt the encrypted message from the sender. Asymmetric (public-key) cryptography:  Ã‚  In this method the actual message is encoded and decoded using two different mathematically related keys, one of them is called public key and the other is called private key. To provide the maximum security using cryptography we target the following five areas: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Integrity 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Non-repudiation 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Authenticity 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Confidentiality 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Privacy INTEGRITY: Integrity is nothing but message must not be altered or tampered with. There are several chances for damage of  data integrity  in the E-commerce area. Errors could take place when entering data manually. Errors may occur when data is being transmitted from one computer to another. Data could be modified or theft because of software  bugs  or  viruses. Data could be lost due to the unexpected hardware damages like server or disk crashes. There is possibility of data loss due to the  natural disasters  like  fire accidents. There are many ways to minimize these threats to data integrity. We can maintain the  Back up  of our data efficiently by updating regularly.  Ã‚  Modern technology provides us various security mechanisms to controlling access to data.  Ã‚  We can improve the data integrity through designing  user interfaces  that prevent the input of invalid data, for example menu driven applications which allow user to choose particular they are looking for.  Ã‚  We can use the  error detection  and correction software when transmitting data to develop integrity.   NONREPUDIATION: Prevention against any one party from reneging on an agreement after the fact.  For E-commerce and other electronic transactions, including ATMs (cash machines), all parties to a transaction must be confident that the transaction is secure; that the parties are who they say they are (authentication), and that the transaction is verified as final. Systems must ensure that a party cannot subsequently repudiate (reject) a transaction. To protect and ensure digital trust, the parties to such systems may employ  Digital Signatures, which will not only validate the sender, but will also time stamp the transaction, so it cannot be claimed subsequently that the transaction was not authorized or not valid etc. AUTHENTICATION: In E-commerce, authentication is a process through seller validates the information provided by the buyer like credit card information. In this  process verification of both the cardholders identity and the payment cards details are checked. In E-commerce transactions sellers must be very careful and responsible to provide good payment authentication services. A well developed and implemented transaction authentication process will decrease the number of customer disputes and charged-back transactions. If the E-commerce website do not have the good authentication system could lead a great loss of both data and money.     CONFIDENTIALITY: Confidentiality is protecting our data from unauthorized users. That means whatever the data or information shared by the merchant and the customers should be accessed by those two parties only. No other should be able to access such data. To maximize the confidentiality we must follow good  encryption and decryption methods, proper authentication and authorization procedures. We must use good antivirus or software error detections system. PRIVACY: Privacy is a major concern in E-commerce area which tells the E-commerce user how long his or her personal information is going to be stored in web site owners database, how safely they delete such personal information and what are the legal actions will be taken if the ecommerce website is misused. In online transactions, the website owner or service provider will have the ability to keep a record of all the purchases made by a consumer. Each E-commerce website has its own privacy policy, as per the needs of the organization.  Ã‚  So the customers must go through the privacy policy before they utilize E-commerce website for online shopping. Otherwise the customers have to phase big problem as the seller has the legal rights to take an action on customer for misusing their website. To get rid of this problem now a days we are able to use many tools like filtering website with low privacy ratings In the e-commerce security, some of the issues to be considered in this issue they are digital signatures, certificates, secure socket layers, firewalls. I will explain each and every concept with detail explanation. Digital signature is an electronic signature that can be used to authenticate the identity of the sender of a message or the signer of a document, and possibly to ensure that the original content of the message or document that has been sent is unchanged. A digital signature can be used with any kind of message, whether it is encrypted  or not, simply so that the receiver can be sure of the senders identity and that the message arrived intact. Digital certificate is an electronic credit card that establishes your credentials when doing business or other transactions on the Web. It is issued by a certification authority (CA). It contains your name, a serial number, expiration dates, a copy of the certificate holders  public key  (used for encrypting messages and  digital signatures), and the digital signature of the certificate-issuing authority so that a recipient can verify that the certificate is real. Some digital certificates conform to a standard, X.509. Digital certificates can be kept in registries so that authenticating users can look up other users public keys. In Security socket layer, Information sent over the Internet commonly uses the set of rules called TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol). The information is broken into packets, numbered sequentially, and an error control attached. SSL uses PKI and digital certificates to ensure privacy and authentication. The procedure is something like this: the client sends a message to the server, which replies with a digital certificate. Using PKI, server and client agree to create session keys, which are symmetrical secret keys specially created for that particular transmission. Once the session keys are agreed, communication continues with these session keys and the digital certificates. Some of the protecting networks are fire wall and proxy servers. Fire wall is to protect a server, a network and an individual PC from attack by viruses and hackers. Equally important is protection from malice or carelessness within the system, and many companies use the Kerberos protocol, which uses symmetric secret key cryptography to restrict access to authorized employees where as proxy servers (proxies) is a  server  (a computer system or an application program) that acts as a go-between for requests from  clients  seeking resources from other servers. A client connects to the proxy server, requesting some service, such as a file, connection, web page, or other resource, available from a different server. E-COMMERCE SECURITY THREATS: However we follow security measures, there are is a chance of threats in several ways. We can classify such threats in to four types. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Intellectual property  threats:  Ã‚  Some browsers use the information personally from a website without permission of the website owner. For example, music downloads, software pirating  etc. To get rid of this problem website owners have to use secured authentication system 2.  Ã‚  Client computer threats:  Ã‚  Sometimes client computers may impose for electronic threats like  Trojan horse, viruses. Which enters the client computer without users knowledge, steal the data and destroy or crash the client computer. To avoid these types of threats we need to use good antivirus system which should be updated regularly. The website owners should implement a strong privacy policy.   3.  Ã‚  Communication channel threats: As internet allows anyone to send and receive information through many networks. Data may be stolen, modified by unauthorized users of hackers. Hackers can develop software to steal the user Identification and pass words as well. Spoofing is another major threat while data is being transmitted electronically.  Denial of service  is also one of communication channel threat, where hackers sends unlimited number of requests to the target server, which big number of requests may not be handled by the server. Obviously the genuine user will find websites of that server are always busy.  Ã‚   We can overcome the communication channel threats using public key encryption and private key encryption.  Ã‚  We can also use proper protocols to get rid of communication channel threats. Digital signatures are another way we can follow to minimize these kinds of threats. Where the actual message which we need to send is decrypted and bound with senders private key and a signature is added to that will be send to the receiver. The receiver uses senders public key and signature for decryption to see the actual message. 4.  Ã‚  Server threats: Denial of service is a major threat for the servers, where hackers generate a program which sends many requests from the client side that cannot be handled by the server. Spamming  is another important threat for the servers. To protect our server from the above threats we can use authentication for web access, digital signatures and firewalls. Firewalls check the incoming requests packets and if anything which does not match with the server related data, they simply reject those requests. Some of the tools to achieve the security they are encryption, firewalls, security tools, access controls, proxy systems, authentication and intrusion detection. HOW TO DEVELOP AN E-COMMERCE SECURITY PLAN: Perform a risk assessment Develop a security policy Develop an implementation plan Create a security organization Perform a security audit Firstly, security plan starts with risk assessment which means an assessment of the risks and points of vulnerability. Secondly, security policy is a set of statements prioritizing the information risks, identifying acceptable risk targets and identifying the mechanisms for achieving these targets where as in the implementation plan it will take to achieve the security plan goals. Thirdly, security organization educates and train users, keeps management ware of security threats and breakdown, and maintains the tools chosen to implement security. Lastly, security audit involves the routine review of access logs. MANAGING RISK IN E-COMMERCE: To be able to manage the risk in E-commerce first step is identify the risk factor whether it is intellectual property threat, communication channel threat, client computer threat  Ã‚  Ã‚  or server threat. Then we take a counter action against the relevant risk as explained above. If we dont do this regularly, E-commerce may mislead the customer because of the data stealing of modification. Customers and the website owners may lose valuable account numbers; pass words and other personal information. As E-commerce is worldwide, it could lead for the global loss for both customers and sellers. CONCLUSION E-commerce is a type of business model for a small or larger business that enables a firm or individual to conduct business using electronic media such as internet. In e-commerce, time plays a vital role in both the businesses and consumers. E-commerce  security is nothing but preventing loss and protecting the areas financially and informational from unauthorized access, use or destruction.  Due the rapid developments in science and technology, risks involved in use of technology and the security measures to avoid the organizational and individual losses are changing day to day.  In the e-commerce security, some of the issues to be considered in this issue they are digital signatures, certificates, secure socket layers, firewalls. To develop a security plan five major steps have to be considered they are risk assessment, developing security policy, implementation plan, create a security organization and performing a security audit. To reduce the risk from the Trojans, worms ev ery one should implement the security plan.

Online Reservation

Introduction of online reservation system Hotel Reservation System is an easy-to-use reservation management software that can manage your hotel or motel, Ideal for reservations, Hotels and guest houses, Affordable – no cost per booking charges, Easy To Use, Track Customers and avoid Double Bookings, Analyze Reservation Patterns,Automatic Calculations, Reporting System, Multi-users and rights managements, RoomTypes Rooms managements and RatePlan managements. Hotel reservation software with a difference. The ideal alternative to manually tracking customers. No longer is there a need to keep mounds of paper or lose customer details. Hotel Reservation is a reservation software system designed to simplify the booking process and allow you to get on with running your business. Enter the computer age and reap the benefits of automating the reservation process. Track customers and more importantly help keep the repeat customers. You can analyze reservation trends and work towards your future needs. Rearrange reservations and allocate rooms without an eraser in sight! Managing repeat customers and recording customer preferences helps you to retain your customers. Make your customers feel unique and special by recording personal notes. Welcome them with their nickname at the door! Following the long term trends is important in your hotel. Hotel Reservation makes this easy with our reporting system. With just one click you can analyze trends. Monitor the performance of your promotions and advertising quickly and easily. Each time you make a reservation, the room status is updated and the customer details are added to your hotel database. Conceptual Framework of the Study Figure1, shows the paradigm of the study that online reservation is must for the INN to gain higher-level of competitiveness among its competutor Input Process Output Provide faster, more Accessible & to lessen failures in room reservation. Gain higher level Competitiveness. INN Service Query Customer Information Inn Reservation Online Reservation System Figure 1. paradigm of the study RBC INN Provide faster, more Accessible & less effort in INN room reservation. http://www. oppapers. com/essays/Online-Reservation-System/632909 http://www. fileguru. com/Hotel-Reservation-System/info http://www. scribd. com/doc/19244137/Online-Hotel-Management-Syst em Online Reservation Introduction of online reservation system Hotel Reservation System is an easy-to-use reservation management software that can manage your hotel or motel, Ideal for reservations, Hotels and guest houses, Affordable – no cost per booking charges, Easy To Use, Track Customers and avoid Double Bookings, Analyze Reservation Patterns,Automatic Calculations, Reporting System, Multi-users and rights managements, RoomTypes Rooms managements and RatePlan managements. Hotel reservation software with a difference. The ideal alternative to manually tracking customers. No longer is there a need to keep mounds of paper or lose customer details. Hotel Reservation is a reservation software system designed to simplify the booking process and allow you to get on with running your business. Enter the computer age and reap the benefits of automating the reservation process. Track customers and more importantly help keep the repeat customers. You can analyze reservation trends and work towards your future needs. Rearrange reservations and allocate rooms without an eraser in sight! Managing repeat customers and recording customer preferences helps you to retain your customers. Make your customers feel unique and special by recording personal notes. Welcome them with their nickname at the door! Following the long term trends is important in your hotel. Hotel Reservation makes this easy with our reporting system. With just one click you can analyze trends. Monitor the performance of your promotions and advertising quickly and easily. Each time you make a reservation, the room status is updated and the customer details are added to your hotel database. Conceptual Framework of the Study Figure1, shows the paradigm of the study that online reservation is must for the INN to gain higher-level of competitiveness among its competutor Input Process Output Provide faster, more Accessible & to lessen failures in room reservation. Gain higher level Competitiveness. INN Service Query Customer Information Inn Reservation Online Reservation System Figure 1. paradigm of the study RBC INN Provide faster, more Accessible & less effort in INN room reservation. http://www. oppapers. com/essays/Online-Reservation-System/632909 http://www. fileguru. com/Hotel-Reservation-System/info http://www. scribd. com/doc/19244137/Online-Hotel-Management-Syst em

Labor Relations Project and Presentation Essay

Labor Relations is a very delicate part of a business that should be properly reviewed and studied before implementing or changing a businesses conduct. Happy Trails is a medium-sized company that is trying to minimize cost to continue to serve its tenants with a cost effective service. Unfortunately cost has to be reviewed in all possible ways and strategies. We will be covering a few of the advantages and disadvantages of unionizing. A recommendation will be given to help guide Happy Trails. A review will also be conducted of the issues a union might raise during the organizing effort. The steps that should be covered by the LPN’s will also be presented. We will then present the labor practice that the LPN’s should avoid. We will then advise the independent living home management on what we feel they should do. We will cover the arguments and defense the hospital will rise to the unions organizing issues. Then we will take a look at what the company must do if they resist unionization. We will then see what unfair labor practices need to be avoided by management. We will finalize this paper by reviewing what activities Happy Trail management should and should not engage in. Advantages & Disadvantages The advisement to unionize, or not, is a complicated stance. There are advantages and disadvantages on both sides of the decision. With a decision to unionize, the LPNs would be protected and guaranteed wages and certain work conditions. On the other hand, Unionizing immediately creates an adverse relationship between members and the employer sometimes out weighing the benefits. In the event that a group of employees has a community of interests coupled with concerns about their treatment as an employee by an employer for any reason, the employees have the right under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2007). Recommendation In this case, the recommendation for the LPN’s would be to unionize. This would protect them from being over (or under) worked, insure that proper wages and entitlements were established, as well as make sure Happy Trails was not expecting or giving RN level care through the lesser qualified LPNs. Steps to Unionize For the group of LPN’s at Happy Trails, the first step would be to contact the local healthcare union representative mentioned in the overview. This would be a perfect starting resource for information, questions and answers. This is also the step in which the union should become clear about what issues are important and expected to be addressed by the collective bargaining. For the LPN’s at Happy Trails, their issues should be concentrated on wages, minimum hours worked, overtime terms, benefits, as well as clearly understanding the scope of their expected duties. Secondly, the LPN’s would need to decide to join an already established industry union, or to create a union of their own. In either case, a sufficient number of authorization cards (or petition signatures) must be acquired, and the union must be voted in during a union representation election, or by asking the employer to voluntarily recognize the union. The National Labor Relations Board supervises and the union election, and certifies the results (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2007). The last step is to win a strong union contract. The LPNs in this case would need to negotiate wages paid, overtime payment terms, benefits, and minimum expected hours worked. Any union is only as valuable as the contract agreed upon. Unfair Labor Practices that should be Avoided by the LPNs Generally, most unfair labor practices are committed by the union or the employer. The only unfair labor practice the LPNs should avoid is to not try to coerce their fellow workers to join the union. Should Happy Trails Oppose Unionization? Although unionization of groups like nurses is typically non-traditional, over the past 10 years there have been many registered nurses’ groups that have unionized across the country because of the demand for their employment and the shortage of nurses. Because of the need to have every American be able to afford healthcare, licensed practical nurses are in demand more because of their lower wages. Happy Trails should not oppose unionization. There are many other healthcare facilities in the area who are working with unions Happy Trails would benefit by negotiating with a union also. Because of the unhappy nurses at Happy Trails, trying to block unionization would probably be the worse step for the organization take. Employees may feel that management’s trying to manipulate them and this can decrease employee morale. The nurses may go to any of the other facilities to seek work and representation by the union for better working conditions. If Happy Trails loses more nurses, it may be hard to recruit new workers. Steps to Resist Unionization Tactics and strategies must be implemented in order to resist unionization. One strategy that has been used in the past is to hire consulting firms, also known as union busters (Bennett-Alexander & Hartmann, 2007). These firms use methods that discourage employees from voting to have union representation. This strategy is a costly one and should only be used if basic steps are not working. One important step to avoiding unionization is through employee relations (Thomas & Associates, 2009). Employee relations programs have the employees best interest in mind. An effective program will help employee/employer communication, which can help resolve any issues or dissatisfaction. If step one does not stop union organizing, the next step is to prevent the union from gaining employee support. Throughout this step the company should inform the LPN’s of the cons of signing a union authorization card. If the employees are informed and feel valuable to the company they will be less likely to sign a union card. Information can be provided through meetings, letters, and bulletin boards. If an election campaign begins because 30 percent of employees signed cards, the next step is to resolve any employee issues and to legally convince employees that their best interests are served by rejecting the union. Happy Trails would need to build a strong campaign and reinforce the value of the existing benefits and the excellent working conditions. Arguments against Unionization by Happy Trails Arguments Happy Trails can use against unionization include the following: †¢ Funding the workers’ salary if a union exists †¢ Relationships between employee and employer may be threatened with a union †¢ Union dues paid by employees is taken from their paycheck †¢ The union cannot guarantee anything What unfair labor practices need to be avoided by management? a) Management should not try to control or interfere with union affairs. They should not try to get their favorite/certain candidate to be elected to the union office. b) Management should not discriminate against employees who join or is in favor of brining in a union. They should not discriminate against employees â€Å"who exercise their rights under the law (e.g., terminating, demoting, or giving poor working schedules to such employees).† (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2007, pg 666) c) Management should not interfere, threaten or restrain their employees from exercising their rights under the labor law legislation, for example, they should not tell employees that they are not allowed to have unions or they will be punished or terminated if they do bring a union). d) Management should not refuse to bargain with the union. And they should not refuse to bargain in good faith. †¢ Happy Trails’ management team may engage in any number of activities during the unionization. Which of the following would you advise? Explain why or why not? Activities during Unionization Promote LPNs, offer bonuses, and place some into leadership and management roles. Unionization can be a long process but is quite beneficial for the LPN’s. Unions are typically formed because employees are unhappy with their pay, working conditions, or poor benefits. For that reason the activity management should engage in is to actively promote LPN’s, offer bonuses, and place some into leadership and management roles. This is the best tactic to use and could benefit Happy Trails as well as the LPN’s. However, the company has to make sure the tactics do not interfere with the employees’ efforts to unionize. Raises and opportunities must be given to everyone, not just union supporters; otherwise the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) could view the act as illegal and as unfair labor practices. As long as the employer bargains in good faith no law has been broken. Tell employees salary increases must cease to finance the collective bargaining agreement. This option is not viable therefore I do not recommend it. Utilizing scare tactics and threatening to cease salary increases will do more harm than good. Strikes could occur, which would have a negative impact on the company. The LPN’s shouldn’t feel like they are being punished for going with the union. Explain current employee benefits to the LPN’s, comparing them to union promises. Though this option is informative it is timely. There are cons to being in a union such as dues and possible strikes. Providing information to employees could sway their decision especially if they are not familiar with the union practices. However, overall the union has benefited employees, which is why this method could be more wasteful than effective. Most union members have better benefits and pay than non-union members. The LPN’s are aware of the superior wages and benefits other LPN’s in the areas have received therefore there is not much to explain. Threaten to close facility due to union campaign Being that Happy Trails is a health care facility, closing the facility would not be practical. It would also be considered discrimination against employees if they closed the facility down due to the union campaign. The NLRA does not allow discrimination against employees for participating in union activities. By staying open, they have the upper hand and it would give them more opportunity to explain the disadvantages of a union to their employees. Assist in circulation of antiunion petitions. During a unionizing campaign an employer cannot assist in antiunion petitions. Assisting in this activity could be considered interference by the employer. Participating in these activities is illegal and viewed as unfair labor practices. Counter union exaggerated claims on flyers. We recommend the management not to send the flyers with exaggerated counter offers to union claims. The management is not supposed to â€Å"promise wage increases or other benefits if employees don’t join the union.† (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2007, pg 673) And they are not supposed to e-mail, post or circulate any intimidating letters or leaflets (flyers). The management can however give pay raises or benefits, but they have to give them all across the boards, not only to the union supporters. However, this tactic is limited if the management decides to do this after the union has applied for the certificate or has given notice to the management to bargain its first agreement. Tell employees they do not need to talk to union organizers, that they may vote against the union, and that the independent living home does not welcome the union. We recommend the management to talk with the employees, and tell them that they have the option to join the union, but it’s not mandatory for them to join. They can also tell the employees that the independent living home does not welcome the union, but if the employees vote for the union, the management will follow the good faith bargaining agreement. Solicit employees to request the return of their authorization cards. We would recommend the management not to ask employees to return the authorization cards (badges) that mean you are letting them go. Employers can not threaten to fire, lay-off or terminate employees for supporting or joining a union. Tell employees they may be replaced if they vote for the union. We would recommend the management not to tell employees that they will be replaced if they vote for the union. That would mean the management is threatening the employees. Management can’t threaten to fire, lay-off or terminate employees for supporting or joining a union. Appeal to the employees to defeat the union. We would recommend the management to talk with the employees and tell them not to vote in favor of the union. The independent living home will do everything possible to raise the wages and benefits as much as possible if the union is defeated. The management has to be careful not to negatively influence the employees against the union. The management can also tell the employees, that if the union is organized, we will treat the collective bargaining process with full faith and not follow any unfair labor practices. The management also can state that we will follow exactly what the law requires. Statistics for union members in United States and California (Statistics, 2013): [pic] Conclusion When making huge changes that change an employees, benefits, pay, rights, and responsibilities it is very important and should be done very carefully. A company must remember how important these changes are to people and what issues could be created if the employees feel they are not being taken into consideration. When an employee feels violated they can go to extreme measure like becoming part of a union. A union can become a huge burden for a company and cost employees money. Many of the reasons why employees look at unions can usually be avoided and handled in house. Employees should also remember that a union cost money and they should search for a union that is worth their money. Unfortunately sometimes employees end up loosing more than winning when they become part of a union. If the people in the union are not doing their job and looking out for all employees then they might just be spending their money and not getting what they deserve. References: Bennett-Alexander, D. D., & Hartman, L. P. (2007). Employment law for business (5th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill. Ch. 14-Labor Law. Pg. 666 & 673. Labor Union Statistics. Retrieved on February 17, 2013. http://www.bls.gov/ro9/unionca.htm Thomas & Associates (2009). Avoiding Unions. Retrieved February 18, 2013 from http://www.employersattorneys.com/employment-law/California-employer-how-to-