Potentially Unethical

What is potentially unethical about the situation described in the Daryl scenario is the choice of not informing my superior of the shenanigans my peer, Daryl, is committing. That, basically, is the theft of company time, company equipment and company staff for his own personal benefit. The very fact that I would be fully aware of his deliberate underhanded actions, and that I would continue to be silent about it, I think, would make me almost as culpable as him. Close to a co-conspirator, but not quite.Although, I would not be actually participating in this disreputable manner, I would by virtue of not saying anything would make me, at the very least, tacitly giving approval. And, if my boss were to find out in the future for some reason or other that I was fully aware and said nothing, it would not be unfair to say an outright dismissal might be appropriate in the eyes of my employer. At the very least, I would appear to be a not too trustworthy or dependable employee.To know somet hing and not say something because perhaps one did not wish to, but into anyone else’s business is one thing. But to not say something for self serving reasons is another. If I were to keep my mouth shut so that I may do the same thing as Daryl i. e. use company property, use company time and use company personnel for reasons that have nothing to do with the company, is to use an unprofessional word: scandalous.This kind of behavior is outright theft. True, one may feel a bit like a tattletale if one were to choose to inform their higher-uppers. But so what? Better to be that than to be the kind of employee no employer desires to have. And besides that, it would all be Daryl’s fault if he did get busted. After all, he would be the one committing this devious behavior. That does not seem like the kind of person that has any company loyalty.

Speaking Out About Malt

Speaking Out about Malt Case 8. 3 Page 404-405, Moral Issues in Business The case of Whitewater Brewing and Mary Davis touches upon several views and moral issues that are not specifically black or white. Case 8. 3 specifically deals with a business called Whitewater Brewing Co. Whitewater Brewing, as its name sounds, is a manufacturer of alcoholic refreshments, selling its brands to various consumers. The article in particular focuses upon a specific Whitewater product, Rafter. Rafter is being targeted to match other similar products that are bottled in a 40 ounce size. The unfortunate part is that these 40 ounce size refreshments are not only popular with inner-city teenagers but in the area where Whitewater sells these 40 ounce products there is already a community alcohol related problem. Whitewater is not in foreign territory, numerous other companies already have sold similar products in the same area targeting the same clientele. More importantly due to its popularity this product produces good revenue for Whitewater. Enter into this scenario an employee of Whitewater Brewing Co. , Mary Davis, an Associate Vice President. Mary has decided to further her education and is attending a course at an outside school, with her husband who was pursuing his MBA. My intention is to try to determine whether or not Mary or Whitewater were following any ethical practices, determine why they made the choices they did, and to attempt to determine if there is any validity to their reasoning. Mary begins working on a term project studying the making of wine and beer. Research shows Mary that several companies’ market products that are high alcohol based and sold at a very low price point, and not considered a premium product, strictly to satisfy a specific market niche. As Mary’s investigations continue she begins to insert her own feelings and viewpoints into her findings and her paper become a reflection of her personal viewpoints, and not necessarily those of her employer. For the opposite side of the case Whitewater Brewing is basically working like it should; trying to maximize profits for its shareholders marketing products to satisfy consumer needs. In this case, that need is a malt liquor sold in 40 ounce containers and targeted to specific customers. This is nothing new, as other businesses are already in this market. The one caveat here is that none of the companies markets their malt liquors under their name; almost to distance themselves from the negative social implications resulting from the sales of malt liquors, specifically to this target audience. Separately and apart neither Mary Davis or Whitewater marketing products would have been a â€Å"Case 6. 3† were it not for the fact Mary Davis IS an employee of Whitewater. More so it never would have bubbled to the surface had Mary Davis done what she did; which was to ultimately write an article for a paper discussing her personal views on malt liquors wherein she states, again her views, as to the social responsibilities of businesses that produce malt liquors. In stating her personal opinions Mary now has pitted herself again the views of the business. Because Mary’s article is viewed negatively by Whitewater, the CEO of Whitewater fears the article will have a negative impact to profits and to the product(s) they sell. They also feel this could lead to legislation that would ultimately result is direct product loss and loss of revenue. These would be fairly legitimate concerns for any business, in my opinion. So if a socially responsible company produces bad products are they bad? One can argue especially in the case of liquor manufacturers that there is heavy investment to provide a product that is intended for good use and that they aggressively help to pass legislation helping to address those who use their products in a negative manner. So morally and ethically Whitewater, in my opinion, is doing what they are intended to do. Specifically they are trying to make money, and to do so in an ethical manner. No company can be wholly responsible, in every circumstance (but in a specific few), for the immoral or unethical behavior of others utilizing their products. Ralph Jenkins, CEO of Whitewater, writes to Mary Davis to express the company’s views on her behavior and to ask her to first clear all further comments (regarding her personal views on liquor production) with the business. Mary feels this to be an invasion of her right to free speech. Additionally Mary informs Ralph Jenkins that she seeks to pursue her article further and even speak at an engagement about her views (personal ones). Mr. Jenkins remains adamant that Mary adhere to his requests further escalating things to state she can either comply or resign. So does Davis have a moral right to free speech in the workplace, or can Whitewater determine the extent to her ‘free’ speech? Also what would Davis’s best path ethical path be? The second is the easiest to answer so I will do that now. Davis could simply put resign, enabling her to champion her beliefs and become a martyr for her cause, as it were. As for the first question the answer is not a simple clear cut one, and ultimately will be an individual one. Currently there is already legal precedent that allows companies to require employees not to â€Å"act or speak disloyally†. Take the following case: In Korb v. Raytheon, 574 N. E. 2d 370, 410 Mass. 581 (1991), Raytheon terminated Lawrence Korb after receiving complaints of his public involvement in an anti-nuclear proliferation nonprofit known as the Committee for National Security (CNS) and his advocacy of reduced defense spending. On February 26, 1986 The Washington Post ran an article describing Korb's speech at a press conference held the day prior as â€Å"critical of increased defense spending. † Following the publication of the article, several military officials â€Å"expressed their disapproval† of Korb's comments. [77] Despite writing a letter of retraction which ran in The Washington Post, Raytheon terminated Korb's position after it continued to receive â€Å"Navy, Air Force, and Armed Services Committee objections. [78] In adjudicating Korb's claim of wrongful discharge, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts found â€Å"no public policy prohibiting an employer from discharging an ineffective at-will employee. † His claim under the State Civil Rights Act was dismissed as well. In affirming the lower court’s decision to dismiss, Justice Abrams wrote: â€Å"Although Korb has a secured right to speak out on matters of public concern, and he has a right to express view s with which Raytheon disagrees, he has no right to do so at Raytheon's expense. [79] The above article shows one perspective of the courts on this matter. Furthermore Mary Davis needed to be sure her personal opinions could withstand the scrutiny of being challenged for slander, unless there was very strong specific data supporting her views. Despite Mary’s strong personal views, even if validated, she is in conflict by the very nature of working for Whitewater and having such strong personal views. She may have morally sound arguments about liquor products but she is ethically wrong then for working in the liquor industry. My view is that Mary’s intent, though ethically sound, is still less ethical than that of Whitewater. Mary attempts to peanut butter spread the first amendment right to free speech across the board, when in fact Whitewater too has rights and expectations within the first amendment. While Mary is entitled to do as she chooses outside of work; there are limitations when her choices can have specific negative impacts to her employer. And for these impacts she can be held accountable legally, despite her moral righteousness. In conclusion there is no clear path to moral righteousness and ethical behavior. What I feel is important is that in the end we can do either in a manner that withstands legal implication (much of it already established) and exercise our own personal moral conviction in a manner that does not leave us conflicted. QUESTIONS FROM THE BOOK. 1. Do you think Mary Davis acted irresponsibly or disloyally? I don’t believe at the time Mary Davis intended to act irresponsibly or disloyally; however Mary should have thought more about the big picture and talked with her management first about her intentions. This is a particularly tough issue; as this does touch upon the right to free speech. Depending upon what sort of agreement the company has with Mary would speak volumes as to her ‘rights’ outside of work and expectations as to how she is expected portray her company. Mary also should have known that media sensationalism is what they are in business for. Her views were liable for their interpretation and hence liable to be misconstrued or mis-utilized; as they were. Does Whitewater have a legitimate concern about her speaking out on this issue? Mary’s concern is legitimate; of that there is no doubt. However as an emissary of her company she is responsible both inside work and outside work to present an image of her company that is positive. Or she could choose to work elsewhere. If Mary were to choose her moral high ground and leave the company she would be commended for her actions that follow her beliefs. Does the company have a right to abridge her freedom of expression? The company does have some right to abridge her freedom; particularly if they have a company handbook which specifies their expectations (within reason). Mary’s views and activities outside of work have no real concern to her company; but ethically Mary is working in an industry where serving liquor is the nature of business. These companies often display and rely on laws and policies to inflict rules regarding consumption and abuse. That individuals abuse their products is really not completely their fault. Ethically they are trying to be responsible and they are after all in the business to sell and make a profit. 2. Is your answer to question 1 affected by whether you agree or disagree with the views Mary Davis expressed? I think for the zealots on either side of the spectrum individual views would impact whether they agreed or disagreed with Mary Davis. However, it is my belief that you need not side nor disagree with Mary to realize that her behavior and that of Whitewater brewing are dealing with ethical grey matter. The company has rights as much as Mary does; and each can make choices that would resolve this conflict. Mary can leave Whitewater and then no longer be under their scrutiny or Whitewater can have specific policies on expected behavior that reflects the company position. Communication is at the core of the problem. If either side had communicated among themselves could have avoided this situation; and who knows; perhaps Whitewater being community responsible may have given Mary a different tact to utilize that would have made her and Whitewater happy. 3. Should there be any limits on an employee’s freedom of expression? If not, why? If so, under what circumstances is a company justified in restricting an employee’s right to speak out? This is a tenuous issue as there are already many amendments to current laws of free speech. I understand that businesses have a right to ensure viability and employee comments can adversely affect them. I think so long as there is clear communication up front about business policies regarding this and that they are communicated regularly and clearly then it becomes a buyer/employee beware situation. Again within reason individuals should still be able to express themselves; particularly when there is no direct verbiage that is specific about a business. I am an opponent to a business screening by Facebook etc as what a person does on their time does not necessarily prove they would be bad at work. Statistics aside we all know you can make data to support whatever view you want today. The bigger question is the legal one; and companies basically in my opinion wield a heavy sword (meaning they have deep pockets for legal issues) to drive their views and challenge you to dispute them. So one question we should be asking is once hired by a business â€Å"Are you now their property which can be used in any way, and discarded when no longer needed? † After all, today one can be dismissed without cause, employee at will. Take for instance the following article:http://www. bs2. com/freespch. htm The First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution establishes freedom of speech in the USA. There are several major limitations on this freedom: Only the government is prohibited from restricting speech. Private corporations are free to censor speech of their employees. Freedom of speech is not absolute, even when government regulation or law is concerned. For  example, freedom of speech does not give one the right to commit perjury. See the beginning of my essay on infotorts for more examples. Since 1977, the U. S. Supreme Court has retreated from protecting freedom of speech even for government employees, as explained in my separate essay. Fundamentally, an at-will employee in the USA can be terminated at any time, and for any reason – or  no  reason  at  all – and the courts will not intervene to protect the ex-employee from allegedly unfair treatment by the employer. Courts have repeatedly recognized that â€Å"any  reason† includes a â€Å"morally  wrong† or â€Å"morally  reprehensible† reason. I  have briefly discussed the history of at-will employment in the USA and criticism of this doctrine in a separate essay. The combination of: o legal protection for freedom of speech of employees of for-profit and non-profit corporations and other non-governmental employers, and the freedom of employers to terminate employment at any time, for any reason means that employees in private industry have no legal rights to freedom of speech. (end of art icle) The case presentation doesn’t specify whether the newspaper article identified Mary Davis as an employee of Whitewater. Is that a relevant issue? Whether Mary Davis was identified or not is not necessarily relevant. Once stated, today there should be an assumption that someone, anyone, can ultimately determine ownership. This is especially true if the information is anything but verbal and has been recorded in any way, manner, or form. Does it matter what position in the company Mary Davis holds? To a degree the fact that Mary Davis is high up in the corporate chain bears a more significant impact. In a higher position Mary is more an emissary of the business and as such expected more to promote the business image. However despite her position as an employee of a business she is bound to the requirements of that business, especially once specified to her. Or she can choose to follow her conscience and resign. . What do you think Mary Davis ought to do? Clearly Mary Davis should resign; or fold to the demands of her boss and refrain while employed by Whitewater from expressing her personal views on any liquor related issues. What moral considerations should she weigh? Mary simply needs to weigh what is important to her; her work, money, job and family stability or her moral considerations and the poss ibility that she would need to shift employment in order to not have direct involvement in an industry she believes to be practicing unethical behavior. Does she have conflicting obligations? Mary does have conflicting obligations. If so what are they? They are her obligations to survival, money, job stability, employment, etc. On the other side is her obligation to her conscience and her moral beliefs, particularly the one that is contrary to the production and sale of malt liquor to individuals (specific individuals). 5. Is the company right to be worried about what Mary Davis writes or says, or is the board of directors exaggerating the potential harm to Whitewater of her discussing these issues? The company is totally right to be worried about Mary Davis. There is many a story about David and Goliath where a single individual toppled a business based upon their personal beliefs. 6. Assume a CEO like Ralph Jenkins is legitimately worried that an employee is making damaging statements about the company. How should the CEO handle the situation? My opinion is that the CEO would need to sit with the employee and state the business doctrine as it were. Next would be to ask open ended questions to see if there was an option where both needs could be met satisfactorily without any negative repercussions to either party involved. Is discharge or some sort of discipline called for? Initially, discharge or discipline may not be called for; unless policies had been clearly stated beforehand. Should the company adopt a formal policy regarding employee speech? All companies should have formal policies regarding employee speech. Moreover these should be communicated in plain simple language and reiterated yearly to ensure everyone remains cognizant of the policies. If so, what policy would you recommend? I recommend a policy that is developed with the individuals at all levels of the business to ensure varied concerns are addressed and the needs of the business (their viewpoint) is clearly understood. Works Cited Customer, A. â€Å"Amazon. com: Moral Issues in Business (9780495007173): William H. Shaw, Vincent Barry: Books. † Amazon. com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & More. Web. 16 Jan. 2012. . â€Å"First Amendment to the United States Constitution. † Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 16 Jan. 2012. . â€Å"Freedom of Speech. † Dr. R. Standler's Professional Homepage. Web. 16 Jan. 2012. ;http://www. rbs2. com/freespch. htm;.

Candide Essay

Some might say Voltaire portrays women as objects of desire and is capitalizing on the subject but to get his point across using satire, some people will have to get offended. In Candide, Voltaire is critiquing and satirizing sexism. An example of how sexism and rape were satirized and critiqued in chapter 11 on pg 40 â€Å"I was beauty and grace itself, and I was a virgin. I was not so for long; that flower that had been reserved for the handsome Prince of Massa-Carrara was ravished from me by the pirate captain. Indeed My Lady the Princess of Palastrina and I had to be very strong to endure all we underwent until we arrived in Morocco. But let’s get on; these things are so common that they are not worth speaking of. † Rape is a very sensitive subject. The old woman talked about the incident in a nonchalant tone and said that it was so common that it was not worth talking about. Voltaire did this to satirize what were becoming society’s â€Å"normal† views on such brutal acts. He was letting us know that rape was such a frequent thing in the time period in which he lived, that it was being viewed by society as â€Å"normal â€Å". In order to understand the book properly, it is important to recognize that Voltaire was attempting to portray the problems within society such as sexism, by using satire to help the people this era realize what they were doing was wrong. Candide Essay Some might say Voltaire portrays women as objects of desire and is capitalizing on the subject but to get his point across using satire, some people will have to get offended. In Candide, Voltaire is critiquing and satirizing sexism. An example of how sexism and rape were satirized and critiqued in chapter 11 on pg 40 â€Å"I was beauty and grace itself, and I was a virgin. I was not so for long; that flower that had been reserved for the handsome Prince of Massa-Carrara was ravished from me by the pirate captain. Indeed My Lady the Princess of Palastrina and I had to be very strong to endure all we underwent until we arrived in Morocco. But let’s get on; these things are so common that they are not worth speaking of. † Rape is a very sensitive subject. The old woman talked about the incident in a nonchalant tone and said that it was so common that it was not worth talking about. Voltaire did this to satirize what were becoming society’s â€Å"normal† views on such brutal acts. He was letting us know that rape was such a frequent thing in the time period in which he lived, that it was being viewed by society as â€Å"normal â€Å". In order to understand the book properly, it is important to recognize that Voltaire was attempting to portray the problems within society such as sexism, by using satire to help the people this era realize what they were doing was wrong.

Household Economics and Class (responses) Assignment

Household Economics and Class (responses) - Assignment Example The working woman can easily do her maternity and baby care with much less struggle and depression. Feminine mystique was one time a big barrier in the improvement of class and income in the sense that many women were convinced to accept their position as it was. Now, most women have little to worry about when worrying about their places in the society. This proves to be a major breakthrough in the household economies since the woman can now serve in the capacity of the husband and can be a major force in the decision making process of the family. Friedan proposes that for the society to erode the feminine mystique even further, women should be exposed to an educational program that benefits the women satisfactorily. (Friedan 271) Women who initially were not free to discuss any issues far from their house, husbands and kids can now freely discuss other issues. The media can advise families on tips of â€Å"How to make your marriage happier† and books have since been published addressing similar issues. In comparison to the early and mid 18th century when any attempts by women to speak out were strongly discouraged by the experts, now, the women are free to dialogue. This proves that they have attracted attention and thus, respect. Respect comes with class. It is therefore true that household economies, income and class have changed with

Exam Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Exam - Assignment Example Another error parents make is they get mad at their children. Scaring the children by yelling them is the opposite of giving into their demands. This is coercive and worsen the children’s behavior because they will do the same annoying thing again when the yelling dad is not around. â€Å"Goodness of Fit† means being able to productively fit with the environment. A centered, well-adjusted person has the goodness of fit. Parents can have this skill by looking at their children and environment as they are and not as they want them to be. If they choose the latter, they will always be fighting with reality. They need to adjust according to the personality of their child. Parents can contribute in the same context by creating the good fit of environment for their child. If their child is interested in reading comics then encouragement from parents about comics will help boost the child’s self-esteem. But if they create an environment where the child finds it difficult to adjust with an adverse environment (different than his own personality), then it will create problems for the family. The early years of childhood are extremely important for children’s developmental trajectories. Parents can have several roles during this phase of their child’s development. As mentors the parents can teach their children the necessary skills of survival. They teach to stay away from fire and other harmful objects. As guardians, parents can give the sense of comfort and protection to children. And as playmates, parents can give their children the playful company they deserve. When these roles are played effectively it contributes in the healthy development of children. The focus is not only parent’s responsibility to play these roles. Parents also need to be psychologically healthy to have the positive impact on children’s developmental trajectories. If a parent is depressed, it will have a negative impact on the children. Each family

CITIZENSHIP ANALYSIS OF UNEMPLOYMENT LEVELS IN UK, EUROPE, AND THE Essay

CITIZENSHIP ANALYSIS OF UNEMPLOYMENT LEVELS IN UK, EUROPE, AND THE WORLD - Essay Example e first time (4.1 per cent in Wales, 4.7 per cent in the U.K).4 Manufacturing plays a more prominent role in the Welsh economy than it does in the U.K economy as a whole; it accounts for 27.8 per cent of Welsh GDP compared to 20.8 per cent of U.K GDP.5 Secretary of State for Wales, Peter Hain said on 22nd March 2006: â€Å"There are 118,000 more people in jobs in Wales since 1997; the unemployment level is almost 40 per cent lower than in 1997; and the 34 per cent growth in exports between 1999 and 2005 has outperformed the U.K average of 25.6 per cent.†6 Comparative unemployment levels in Europe and the World Western Europe: The Welsh unemployment rate of 4.1 was lower only to Switzerland’s 3.8. Next came Norway and Ireland, both 4.2, followed by U.K 4.7, Luxembourg 4.9, Denmark 5.5, Sweden 6, the Netherlands 6.5, and Portugal 7.3. Italy and Finland both 7.9, Belgium 8.4, France 10, Spain 10.1, Greece 10.8 and Germany 11.6. Real Wage Unemployment (labour market fails to respond to demand): Governments combat it by reducing trade union powers, increasing companies’ abilities to change wages, and encouraging short- term contracts. Frictional Unemployment (ncomplete information in the labour market): Governments increasing knowledge of vacancies through ‘job centres’, and increasing the incentive to search for jobs (e.g. by reducing unemployment benefits; lowering taxes on wages). Geographical unemployment (inability of people to relocate from areas of low demand for labour to areas of high demand): Governments provide regional incentives for new businesses to locate in high unemployment areas, and reduce barriers to free movement of workers. Structural unemployment (inability of workers to change the kind of job they do {e.g. from IT to engineering}): Governments by provide incentives to retrain, and reduce geographical immobility (facilitating workers movement to areas where their skills are in high demand).9 In the United Kingdom during the

Individual Work on Study Techniques - learning styles Assignment

Individual Work on Study Techniques - learning styles - Assignment Example I am aware that each learner has a different learning style that depends on his or her earlier years of socialisation. I am a Chinese family whereby close social relationships are valued, respect for senior is critical, and thus my preferred learning style is listening. The course has introduced me to critical thinking skills and problem-solving skills that are associated with subjects such as mathematics and thus I will be capable of handling difficult situations in my workplace (Reid 2005, p 71). The crucial aspects of my personal life are the ability to remain calm and concentrate on my studies in order to meet my learning goals (Haggar 2011, p 19). I am self-driven and capable of setting realistic and attainable goals that will enable me attain personal fulfillment and gain more opportunities in my career life. The academic studies have enabled me gain self-awareness and evaluate my strengths and weaknesses during learning in order to select the best learning styles that will enable me meet my goals (Allen, Scheve and Nieter 2010 p 123). I have active listening skills and excellent communication skills that enable me absorb critical information during lecturers and interact with peers during group discussions. I am capable of managing my time wisely and allocate enough time towards my study and personal activities. I can prioritise my tasks and prepare work schedules thus ensuring timely accomplishment of all assignments (Dunn and Griggs 1995, p 63). My ability to build rapport and good interpersonal skills have enabled me attain cooperative learning skills that are essential in team learning activities. In this case, I am able to participate effectively in problem-solving sessions with my peers and solve complex case problems that require use of critical analysis and different perspectives (Streeter 2005, p 106). I am inspired my future dreams of becoming of transforming my society and

This paper will apply project management skills to Brown Educational Case Study

This paper will apply project management skills to Brown Educational Gaming studio Ltd - Case Study Example Also, we will discuss the process of exploring the model, arriving at recommended actions and implementing these actions within the culture of the organization. "Brown Educational Gaming Company (BEG) is a UK-based educational gaming company specialising in young children's educational games. The company has operated from the start through projects, starting with the development of two major and highly successful games. Now there are many more; no-one quite know how many projects are taking place at BEG at present if the truth be known. BEG has just completed their fourth year of operation. The company has received a large influx of capital for growth by issuing stock privately through an investment bank. The return on investment for the 2006 and 2007 was 80% per year and for 2007-08 will be 25%. Parents and grandparents of young children have been buying BEG products almost as fast as they are developed. Every member of the 56-person firm is enthusiastic and looking forward to helping the firm grow to be the largest and best educational gaming company in the world. The founder of the firm, Sally Peters, has been awarded the accolade of The Guardian Business Woman of the Year 2007 for her ability to develop an organizational culture in which all stakeholders are committed to innovation, continuous improvement and organizational learning. Last year, the 10 top managers of B... This year the same 10 managers had a weekend away in a 4 star hotel in Barcelona, to formulate next year's strategic plan, using the same strategic plan. Most executives seem to have a consensus of where the firm should go in the intermediate and long-term, but there is little consensus on how this should be accomplished. Peters, now Managing Director of BEG feels she may be losing control. The frequency of conflicts seems to be increasing. Some individuals are always requested for any new project created. When resource conflicts occur among projects, each project managers believes his or her project is most important. More projects are not meeting deadlines and are coming in over budget. Yesterday's management meeting revealed some top BEG talent have been working on an international business game for college students. This project does not fit the organization's vision or market niche. At times it seems everyone is doing what they like. Somehow more focus is needed to ensure everyo ne agrees on how strategy should be implemented, given the resources available to the organization. Yesterday's meeting alarmed Peters. These emerging problems are coming at a bad time. Next week BEG is increasing the size of the organization, the number of new products and its marketing effort. Fifteen new people will join BEG next month. Peters is concerned that policies be in place that will ensure that the new people are used most productively. An additional potential problem looms on the horizon. Other gaming companies have noticed the success of BEG; recently one rival company tried to hire a key product development employee away from BEG. Peters wants BEG to be ready to meet any potential competition head on and to discourage any new entries

NewCorp Scenarios Legal Brief Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

NewCorp Scenarios Legal Brief - Research Paper Example However, this is not outlined in the employment documents (Lambert, 2005). Therefore, this gave pat no reason to drop in his performance. He should have tried all the best to ensure the performance in the institution was maintained at high levels. The employer and the institution are not directly involved in family issues and this is not a reason for the drop in performance. Therefore, it was in his interests to ensure the family issues and moving to another city does not affect his performance at work. However, he left this to affect his performance at work, which was detrimental to his career. According to statutory laws, an employer has the legal rights to hire a worker depending on his or her qualifications. Similarly, the same institution or employer has the rights to terminate the worker without satisfactory results. Therefore, an employee has to make sure he or she is giving satisfactory results in the institution. Apparently, performance is the only indicator that can be used in justifying an employee’s worth in the institution. Therefore, when an employee is not giving satisfactory results, he is at the helm of disqualification and termination. Since this is an independent entity, it has its rights of disqualifying employees that are not beneficial to the institution. This states the reason behind the pat’s disqualification at the work place. This is clearly indicated in the signed documents, where an employee is terminated when there is unsatisfactory performance. As such, the institution acted upon its jurisdiction to terminate pat, the reason being that Pat’s performance was not pleasing the institution. Though Pat’s termination at his work place could be justified according to the jurisdiction of the institution, there are several points that should be considered. First, the notice of termination was minute. He was given a short notice of termination, which was not well received by Pat. Secondly, the institution should h ave given Pat more time to work on his performance. Giving Pat more time should have prepared him to work on his performance in the institution. This would have improved on his performance. However, it seems the institution had already made a decision to terminate him. Apparently, the institution should have used Pat’s historical performance at the institution and given him another chance. Consequentially, some institutions do not believe in second chances, which ruined his career. Similarly, Pat’s views at the school board meeting should not be used as a scapegoat for disqualification. Second Case Relationships at the work place are highly opposed by many institutions as they constantly affect the work of the employees. In this case, it is evidently seen that the two employees were affected by their relationship at the work place. To begin with, the employer has to be skeptical about the work relationships. Most employers are not for the idea of dating at the work pla ce. As such, they give stringent punishment to any employees that are found dating at the work place. Though it is hard to control human emotions, relationships at the work place are not accepted by the employers and the institution. Therefore, it was in the jurisdiction of the employer and institution to make a succinct control measure against such relationships in the institution. This would have lessened the outcome as Paula and Sam would have avoided such a scenario.

Headhunters in Personnel Staffing Industry Dissertation

Headhunters in Personnel Staffing Industry - Dissertation Example Some businesses may require few replacements, and thus the cost of entering into such agreements is high when the commission charges are low. Further, signing written agreements to recruit workers with certain qualities comes as a contractual obligation that must be fulfilled. However, there are instances where headhunters may not find the ideal candidates, which puts their competitiveness at risk or risk legal action from employers. Employers also benefit from â€Å"gentlemen’s agreements†. There are instances where headhunters save businesses in dire need of employees. In these situations, the employers need urgent solutions that are easily found through â€Å"gentlemen’s agreements†. Designing and signing of a legal contract would be time wasting for both parties. In normal practice, headhunters may lure employees from competitors. Such actions cannot be easily put in legal terms. Thus, requiring headhunters to sign a written contract is detrimental to the personnel staffing industry.   An agreement between headhunters and businesses should be treated as a legal contract. Headhunters and employers would then be in a binding agreement. In addition, headhunters should clearly outline their charges and the modalities of their operations. Recruiting agencies are crucial in an enabling the meeting of employers and prospecting employees. For example, in the case, Cantell, et al. V. Hill Holliday Connors Cosmopulos, Inc., the recruiter enabled Hill Holiday to meet Nancy Lehrer, whom it employed later. Though there was no signed agreement, headhunters enabled Hill Holiday to secure an employee; thus, they ought to pay a commission since it is the only way recruiters make money (Conklin 25). I believe that the agreement between the plaintiff and the defendant in the case could be strengthened by clear guidelines in regard to the operations of the recruiter. In such a case, an employer can know that it owes headhunters for any communicati on it makes with their referral. Thus, the industry can continue surviving with its current simplicity.

IT technical support Essay Example for Free

IT technical support Essay External would mean that the company would send you to perhaps a training course which would perhaps cost a bit more then internal training. Internal training would mean that you would train within the company. The amount of training that the IT Technical has done would depend on the organisation hence the better the company the better the IT Technical support will be. Budget A good company with loads of money would be able to employ more technicians which may not be the case for a charity where they are on a low budget where they may only have a few employees. The more employees you would have, the more efficient your company would be which wouldnt be the case for a charity. An example of a company that would have a huge budget would be Microsoft. They have many employees and are able to expand in certain things as in the amount of computers. A charity like Oxfam would not be able to expand which would mean they would only have a few computers and employees. Overall a bigger budget would mean more and better things as in training, computers and more for the IT Technical Support. Type of Organisation. The policies and procedures would depend on the type of organisation as in if it was a company like Microsoft they would have very high and clear policies and procedures. If it was a charity, the policies and procedures would be much more simple meaning they would not have as many targets as a large company would have. This would be because the bigger organisations would have more employees hence they would get through things much faster. This would mean that the IT Technical Support would be depend on the organisation as in Microsoft would have a big team whilst a charity like Oxfam would not. Company Culture This would depend on the employees. A company like Microsoft, Cisco and IBM would have a professional work culture because they would usually work in a team meaning a lot of cooperation would be needed as well as patients. If the staff relationships were good this would mean that they would be very professional meaning they would be able to do their work. This would mean that Microsoft, Cisco, IBM IT Technical Support would be very efficient as in the amount of work completed perhaps because they are company orientated. Work pressure This would depend on the type of company it is. If it is a very big company like Microsoft the work pressure would have very high standards because of all the deadlines that the staffs have to meet. The work pressure of the company would be able to tell whether the staffs are capable of performing the task as in if they can handle it. If they cannot then they would not be needed especially if they work for a company like Microsoft where all the policies and procedures are at a high standard. Overall it would mean that a large company would have a restricted time limit and a charity would have a longer amount of time. This would mean that the IT Technical Support would have to meet the deadlines. User IT expertise This would vary because at Microsoft the user IT expertise would be at a very high standard because they are trained to be very computer literate especially with the training that the company has therefore would depend on the training. For example a charity would not be that focused on the user IT expertise. It would depend if the user is well ne through the right educated meaning that they should have gone through the right procedures which would be linked to the amount of knowledge they have in order to work in a big company. This is needed so that the IT Technical Support knows what they are doing. Other factors Other factors would include Security as in which type of antivirus that the company would use, this would be mainly because of malicious threats also to prevent certain faults. A big company like Microsoft would use an antivirus that cannot be penetrated. A charity may use a normal one such as Norton or one that is better. Fire walls are used in order to stop fraud. Another factor would include the confidentiality; this would consist of the privacy of files that would be restricted to certain staff. The confidentiality would mean the clients files as in their history, Address, Phone number, Date of Birth, account number, Age ECT. This would mean that they would have the data protection act in use where if in breach they would be sued for this. This would keep the IT Technical support on task which would mean that they would not be able to show files or share. Confidentiality is a major thing for a company where they protect certain things from people, it may either be encrypted. Task 3 (M2) Produce appropriate support material that will guide users in relation to a specific area of expertise a) Produce support material that will guide the employees at Cranks Ltd in relation to an appropriate specific area of expertise. This support material can be for one of the following or choose your own. The procedure chosen should not be trivial and the support material should be in depth and cover every aspect of the procedure for everyone concerned   Procedure for advising the staff that the Operating System will be getting updated Tuesday 13th January I will be producing support material that will guide the employees at Cranks Ltd in relation to the system getting updated. The support material that I will be providing will be in depth so that the staff will be able to understand it. The support material will be a letter and an email and a meeting will be held so that the staff will be well informed and aware of what is going to happen. A letter will be produced which will be sent to the staff of Cranks Ltd twice, a week before the Operating system gets updated and then two days left to the system getting updated. The email sent to the staff would contain exactly the same information as the letter. A meeting will be held for the IT Technical Support which would insure that the staffs are well prepared. The meeting will be held before the letter is sent out to the staff. The meeting will be a week before the operating system will get updated where an email will be sent to the staff informing them of the meeting. In this meeting I will be telling the staff what is actually going to happen and what needs to get updated. Notifying the employees at the meeting The Operating system will be implemented on the 13th January. The primary reason we are updating the operating system is so that it can perform tasks efficiently and allows you to get through more tasks throughout the day. This operating system features a friendly user interface. The operating system will have everything the previous operating system had but with a couple more features and it works more productively. The Operating system package has been ordered to be sent to us on the 9th January so that everything is all set up for when the engineers come in to install the operating system. The engineers will be coming in on the 13th January 2009 for the whole day so that everything is set up correctly meaning functioning to the standard. The staff will have to make sure that everything is saved which also includes them having a back up file as an added security measurement. The staff will find using this system is no different from the other therefore know training will be needed. The area will be restricted until the engineers have completed the update therefore you will not be able to go into the area. Once the operating system is updated everything will commence as normal on the following day where you would continue on the tasks that you would usually do. The procedure was explained during the meeting but as an extra measurement it will be shown on this letter which will be sent to the staff twice. Letter Dear IT Technical Support Staff I am producing this letter as a guide to you in relation to the system getting updated on Tuesday 13th January 2009 for the whole day. This letter will consist of the procedure that will have to be taken before the Operating system will get updated. Procedure The Operating system will be implemented on the 13th January. The primary reason we are updating the operating system is so that it can perform tasks efficiently and allows you to get through more tasks throughout the day. This operating system features a friendly user interface. The operating system will have everything the previous operating system had but with a couple more features and it works more productively. The Operating system package has been ordered to be sent to us on the 9th January so that everything is all set up for when the engineers come in to install the operating system. The engineers will be coming in on the 13th January 2009 for the whole day so that everything is set up correctly meaning functioning to the standard. The staff will have to make sure that everything is saved which also includes them having a back up file as an added security measurement. The staff will find using this system is no different from the other therefore know training will be needed. The area will be restricted until the engineers have completed the update therefore you will not be able to go into the area. Once the operating system is updated everything will commence as normal on the following day where you would continue on the tasks that you would usually do. Yours sincerely A. Gooman Azhar Gooman Email Dear IT Technical Support Staff I am producing this email as a guide to you in relation to the system getting updated on Tuesday 13th January 2009 for the whole day. This email will consist of what is happening and when also the procedure that will have to be taken before the Operating system will get updated. Procedure The Operating system will be implemented on the 13th January. The primary reason we are updating the operating system is so that it can perform tasks efficiently and allows you to get through more tasks throughout the day. This operating system features a friendly user interface. The operating system will have everything the previous operating system had but with a couple more features and it works more productively. The Operating system package has been ordered to be sent to us on the 9th January so that everything is all set up for when the engineers come in to install the operating system. The engineers will be coming in on the 13th January 2009 for the whole day so that everything is set up correctly meaning functioning to the standard. The staff will have to make sure that everything is saved which also includes them having a back up file as an added security measurement. The staff will find using this system is no different from the other therefore know training will be needed. The area will be restricted until the engineers have completed the update therefore you will not be able to go into the area. Once the operating system is updated everything will commence as normal on the following day where you would continue on the tasks that you would usually do. Yours sincerely A. Gooman Azhar Gooman Task 4 (M3) Explain the advantages and disadvantages to users and organisations of outsourcing the provision of technical support. Cranks Ltd are considering outsourcing their IT technical support. This is to be a confidential report as this matter is very sensitive as if they outsource the Technical Support the staff in that area would be redeployed (employed elsewhere) or made redundant. a) Explain the advantages and disadvantages for the staff at Cranks Ltd of outsourcing IT technical support. There are many advantages for the staff at Cranks Ltd of outsourcing IT technical support Advantages: Outsourcing the staff would allow the business to be able to save on expenses if the IT Technical Support has outsourced such as certain equipment, software and maintenance of which the IT technical support would deal with. Once you have outsourced IT technical support there would be enough time to complete other tasks of yours. The technical support would have very good user IT expertise meaning that they are very knowledgeable in solving problems therefore would be able to work professionally especially in a team or as an individual. The company itself would have to pay a sum of money for outsourcing but once paid there will be no other expense as in equipment, software and more. Another advantage would be that the customer satisfaction would be improved drastically this is because of the efficiency that the technical support performs at. If outsourced abroad this would mean that they would learn the companys culture and perhaps would have the ability to learn different languages. One of the most major disadvantages is that you will not have that much control over what happens once outsourced therefore things could change as in your first purpose of outsourcing the IT technical support, this would perhaps cause an interruption as in to the clients if the task is out of sight once outsourced. The clients will then end up leaving because of the quality of service. If you wanted to promote a technician you wouldnt be able to because there would be none at the company At times there may be a communication barrier between you and the selected vendor therefore may become a slow process and wouldnt be that efficient. The chosen vendors may have other plans to the selected outsourced department in this case would be the IT Technical support. b) Explain the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing IT technical support for the Cranks Ltd Organisation (Business) Advantages Outsourcing the business would be a great way of helping it to grow in reputation which would then lead onto more clients. Once done the company would be able to have time on focusing on different factors which would also help it grow. The expenses would be reduced. The company would become very efficient meaning that it would be on task. The business would be able to save on expenses such as certain equipment, software and maintenance. Outsourcing the business would lead to an increase in quality which would mean that the reputation would increase which then makes the company money and perhaps even a bit of profit from the work produced. Another advantage would be that if outsourced abroad to somewhere like India, there would be a time zone difference as in night there and day here this would mean that the work would be done with much efficiency. lastly you would be handing most of the responsibility to the outsourced Disadvantages: There are many disadvantages towards outsourcing IT technical support for Cranks Ltd Organisation. One of them would be that there would be hidden costs which would mean that it would be expensive because you would be signing a contract and if abroad there would be more complications towards the cost. At times things could go wrong as in you would have to do a lot of research before outsourcing, this would mean choosing a good partner so that there are no complications as in deliveries and other factors. One of the major disadvantages of this would be that once the business has outsourced the confidential data would be in risk of exposure. Once the company has outsourced the employees are at risk of losing their jobs. The quality of the company might not be as it was because of the change and perhaps the way it will be managed and organised would be different. An outsourced company would perhaps lead away from customer focus this is because you will be more focused on the needs of other things. There may be a communication barrier. Lastly you will not have any control over the management. Lastly the vendor may be contracted to a multiple amount of other businesses therefore be more interested in the others. BIBLIOGRAPGHY http://jobs. lovetoknow. com/Pros_and_Cons_of_Outsourcing http://www. flatworldsolutions. com/articles/advantages-disadvantages-outsourcing. php http://ezinearticles. com/? The-Advantages-and-Disadvantages-of-Outsourcingid=1401755 http://www. ipmaxx. com/article. aspx? id=203958 http://cathlawson. com/2008/02/26/the-pros-and-cons-of-outsourcing/ http://www. bizhelp24. com/small-business-portal/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-small-business-outsourcing-3. html.

Science Research Paper Essay Example for Free

Science Research Paper Essay ANALYSIS: What would happen if the experiment was repeated by baking the bread at high temperatures again before starting the experiment? The experiment can be repeated using different types of food like biscuits or cooked rice. It is observed that the 1st bread slice with a few drops of water and kept in the dark space had started to grow mold the fastest. The 5th bread slice that was kept in the refrigerator took the longest for the mold to appear. CONCLUSION: The hypothesis that bread mold will grow faster in warm and damp environment is proven to be true. Mold will grow fast on bread in humid and warm conditions. Bread should be kept in dark, dry and cool places for it to last longer. Bread can also last longer if stored in the fridge or in airtight containers. Mold is an annoyance when it comes to storing food, but it has its usefulness too. Molds help in the decomposing process of decaying animals and plants. Penicillium is used in pharmaceutical work to produce medicine. RESEARCH TEMPERATURE Definition: Temperature is the difference between hot and cold. It is measured on a standard scale. It is a numeric measurement of hotness and coldness. The measurement is based on a flow of heat between two connected objects. One of the most common scales of temperature is Celsius. Low Temperature storage Low Temperature storage (LTS) is what refrigeration and freezing is called. LTS is very effective in slowing the process of spoilage. It also allows longer storage. Refrigeration doesnt cause change to the food but does allow microorganisms to form after a while. Freezing can cause chemical change if the food has not yet been frozen and it goes into the freezer before being treated. After it has been treated it is called quick freezing. Freezing the food before the food has been treated is called slow freezing. Slow freezing causes the substance to leak fluids. Kelvin Kelvin is a fundamental physical quality that is based on the position above or below 273.16K. It is called the triple point of water. Kelvin is the temperature at which water, ice, and water vapor coexist together. Zero degree k is the absolute lowest temperature at which no energy motion of molecules is made. Kelvin is named after William Thompson, Lord Kelvin a British physicist. He introduced this absolute thermodynamic scale in 1848. There are some limits as to how low the temperature can get, but as far as scientists know there isnt a limit as to how high it can get. The lowest temperature that is known is ?273.15 C. MOLD GROWTH Definition Mold is a multi-celled woolly growth made up of microscopic spore colonies, that lives off of dead matter, and form when contact is made with sufficient food. After landing mold attacks its â€Å"prey† with a coating of slime that helps break the food down into small partials. Mold absorbs water and eats carbohydrates such as sugars and fats. There are approximately one hundred thousand known species of mold and scientists think that there are as many  as two hundred thousand. Four main types Penicillium Penicillium is most of the blue and green molds. This particular group of molds contains an antibiotic drug, the same drug that is found in Penicillin. In fact it is what lead to the production of Penicillin. The drug found in it is so strong that inhaling it can cause severe damage to the lung. Rhizopus Rhizopus is a type of bread mold. It is mainly the black molds. They have single tube like hyphea structures instead of many web-like structures. They are widely distributed instead of grouped together like most other molds. Aspergillius Aspergillius are the green colored molds. There are about eighty forms of Aspergillius and over half of them are hazardous and can cause respiratory disorders. Aspergillius is one of the only types of molds that completely smothers its food. Mucon Mucon is the group of white molds. There are over three hundred fifty forms of mold that fit into this group. One of the most commonly seen molds from this group is Mucor mucedo, which is a pin mold. MOLD RELATED PROBLEMS Allergic Disorders Allergic disorders may result from an immune mechanism shut down. Antibiotics can medicate them, immediate types are more life threatening than others and can cause systematic shock. Allergies can result in hives or angioedema, a delayed reaction is a generalized rash. Harmful pathogens Pathogens can harm the human body in many ways. One is through the manufacturing of toxic products (toxins) that are produced by living organisms, either exotoxins or endotoxins. Exotoxins are released onto the surrounding area and contain extremely potential protein compounds that demonstrate selectivity with regards to the site and mode of the attack. Endotoxins are only released when the organism that produced it is broken up and only then is it harmful if eaten. Defense Against In order to defend themselves from this harm, humans and animals have developed a set of complex defense mechanisms, the most common of these systems defend the bodies eternal and external surfaces. Controlling In spite of defense efforts bacterial infections are often harmful or even fatal. Therefore finding other defense methods is critically important to maintaining good health. SUMMARY Mold spores are reproductive structures of filamentous fungi (molds). A single microscopic mold filament, called a hypha, forms a mat that is called a mycelium. Mycelia are visible without a microscope. Molds are very common organisms and can be found where there is moisture, oxygen, and food they need. Molds can be seen on bread, cheese, or fruit. Hot spots of mold growth can be found in basements and bathrooms (especially shower stalls), house plants, and even air conditioners. Molds grow on fallen leaves, rotting logs, certain grasses, and weeds. They also can be found in barns, dairies, bakeries, and greenhouses. The mold mycelium produces reproductive branches above the surface of the mold. These branches carry spores called conidia that function in distribution of mold by air, water, and animals. Among different molds, sporesemployed in asexual reproductionvary in size, shape, and color. Each spore can germinate to start a new mold, which in turn produces million of spores. Spores are very tough structures: they are resistant to drying, freezing, heating, and some chemicals. The majority of the mold spores are disseminated by air. A sample of air may contain up to 2  million spores per cubic meter, but on average, about 10,000 spores inhabit one cubic meter of air. The amount of mold spores in the air in some areas is greater than the amount of pollen. Certain types of mold spores can cause various allergic reactions in humans, such as irritations of the eyes, nose, and throat. About 20 to 30 percent of the population develops allergic responses after exposure to these mold spores. The most common allergenic spores in the United States are Alternaria cladosporium, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Mucor, Rhizopus, and Penicillium. In some people, exposure to mold spores leads to asthma (Madigan, 2009). Some mold spores, if they reach lungs, can cause infections called mycoses. Systemic mycoses are the most serious category of mold infection. The host becomes infected by inhaling spores that germinate in the lungs. In the United States, two of the most common mold infections of that type are coccidioidomycosis, caused by Coccidioides immitis, and histoplasmosis, caused by Histoplasma capsulatum. Mild coccidioidomycosis may go unnoticed or produce symptoms similar to those of pneumonia or tuberculosis (Madigan, 2009). The human immune system normally destroys mold spores and neutralizes mold infections. In a small number of cases, however, more serious coccidioidomycosis develops and lesions of the skin, bones, joints, internal organs, and brain (meningitis) occur. Progressive histoplasmosis symptoms include lung cavities, sputum production, night sweats, and weight loss (Madigan, 2009). The weather and mold-spore distribution are closely related. Spore count is usually higher in temperate and tropical regions than in the polar and northern regions. In colder climates, molds are present in the air during the period between late winter and late fall. In warmer climates, mold spores are found throughout the year. It is likely that warmer temperatures due to global warming will result in an increase and even abundance of mold spores and, therefore, in considerable increase of allergic reactions. Repeated exposure to a massive amount of mold spores (100 million per cubic meter) can cause serious allergy-related health problems, including chills, fever, dry cough, breathlessness, weight loss, and even permanent lung damage. Global warming is believed to be a major factor in the explosion of mold-related asthma and mold infections (Beggs, 2004). For instance, the causative agent of coccidioidomycosis can be found in geographical areas with high summer temperatures and mild winters. In the southwestern regions of the United  States, where this climate prevails, an estimated 80 percent of inhabitants are currently infected. Infectious disease specialists suggest that global warming will cause the further expansion of the geographic ranges of coccidioidomycosis infection. Scientists predict that climate change could also increase the spread of histoplasmosis, which at present afflicts about 500,000 people annually. Another example of mold-spore infection spreading as a result of climate change is the infection caused by Cryptococcus gattii. Though previously it was only seen in Australia and other subtropical regions, this mold is spreading in Canadas Vancouver Island and the Pacific Northwest. It can cause serious human infection of the lungs and brain. In addition, molds are the cause of numerous plant diseases. The increase of plant fungal diseases due to global warming may have a negative impact on plants ability to take up carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas, thereby increasing the CO2 concentration of the atmosphere and contributing to further warming. Managing mold plant infections may also require pesticides whose production consumes fossil fuels and generates even more CO2 emissions. There is another indirect relationship between mold spores and climate change. In nature, many molds are capable of decomposing woody plants such as trees. Cellulose and lignin in these trees are the biological molecules most resistant to decomposition. Molds, however, use cellulose and lignin from woody plants as their source of energy and carbon, and they release CO2 in the process. Trees function as carbon sinks, retaining carbon for the duration of their lives and sequestering it from the atmosphere. As global climate change increases the amount of mold spores and, eventually, molds, the CO2 released by decomposition of woody plants by those molds will also increase. Eliminating mold spores is impractical. Therefore, the only solution to keep molds under control is to control global warming.

Effect of Organisational Culture on Information Technology

Effect of Organisational Culture on Information Technology The Effect of Organizational Culture on Information Technology/Business Strategic alignment in Saudi Firms Abstract This research effort is intended to study the dynamic relationship between the IT Strategy and the overall Business Strategy in Saudi Firms. IT strategies perceived to be developed in isolation, meaning that such strategies are put forward by IT managers without any involvement of top business managers. The IT manager may be oblivious or he/she may not have a clear idea of the business strategy leading to a strategic diversion where all important technical investments decisions are made by the IT director alone. The researcher recognized some major factors that influence alignment including Organizational Culture; therefore the researcher investigated the current organizational Culture at large selected Saudi firms. In addition, perceptions of Information Technology Value and utilization in the targeted companies was identified and analyzed through set of questionnaires and interviews in order to help the researcher to establish the relationship between Information Technology and Organizational Culture, since it would be a valuable part of forming the proposed strategic alignment model. The Saudi firms, where questionnaires have been distributed, and interviews have been conducted are SABB (Saudi British Bank), Saudi Airlines, AL-Marai, and AlTawniah. The researcher is aiming to collect further data from previous Strategic Alignment Models, and collect more information through additional interviews and questionnaires in order to interpret and validate the findings of the first stage that will lead to the design of the final stage of the Strategic Alignment Model. All data will be combined to give the base for a Strategic Alignment Model. This new model will be a practical one that should fit the Saudi environment. 1. Introduction Strategic alignment has become one of the most important topics for researchers in all industries. Its main objective is to establish and arrange a relationship between business and IT strategies. From a competitive advantage point of view, organizations with such alignment will have edge over others. 2. Context of the Research In the last few decades, the gap between business strategy of organizations and their IT strategy has been noticed by researchers and practitioners across the globe. Numerous research articles have been written to indicate this fact and to highlight the importance of bridging the gap between IT strategy and business strategy of organizations, to achieve coordinated results and efficiency for the enterprise. MIS professional, researchers have understood the significance of the issue which exists at global level [1]. Figure (1) summarizes the Information System/Business relationship which can be described as ‘Interdependent; where any changes in the IS (Software, Hardware, Database and Telecommunication devices will have an impact on the Business and vice versa; any change in the business (Strategy, Rules and Procedures) will have its impact on the Information Systems function of the organization [2]. FIG01-07Since Information systems and organizations influence each another. On the one hand, information systems must be aligned with the organization to provide information that is important to different groups according to the organization need. On the other hand, the organization must be aware of and open itself to the influences of information systems in order to benefit from new technologies [3]. Figure 1: The interdependence between organizations and information systems (Laudon Laudon, 2006) The interaction between information technology and organizations is very complex and is influenced by a great many mediating factors, including the organizations structure, standard operating procedures, politics, culture, surrounding environment, and management decisions as shown in figure (2). One mediating factor was selected by the researcher, which is the organizational culture, and the purpose of this selection will be discussed in a later section. Managers must be aware that information systems can markedly alter life in the organization. They cannot successfully design new systems or understand existing systems without understanding organizations. Managers decide what systems will be built, what they will do, how they will be implemented. Sometimes, however, the outcomes are the result of pure chance and of both good and bad luck [2]. 3. Original Work in Strategic Alignment Strategic Alignment is defined as the process of creating and managing a business driven IT organization, for which the main focus is implementing information oriented Solutions, that is most important to meeting the business goals, objectives, and strategies of the enterprise [4]. In order to make organizations successful, it is important for all parts of the organization to move in the same strategic direction. Of particular importance is that the business strategy and the IT strategy are complementary. If they are trying to move the organization in different directions the risk of failure may increase. Given the high level of resources invested in IT by most organizations it is important for it to be used as a strategic resource to contribute towards the achievement of business objectives. The strategic alignment would measure the relationship between an organizations IT function and its business objectives. The degree to which alignment is present in an organization will depend o n many factors. These factors will include the knowledge of the subject by management, the organizational infrastructure and culture, the nature of the business, the technology in use, and the ability of the organization to manage change. It is very important to realize that Strategic alignment is a process and not a project. Also Alignment issues should be considered at all levels of the organization, meaning that the occurrence of alignment at one level does not guarantee alignment at another [5]. 3.1 Strategic Alignment Models Alignment models show the relationship between the various domains (Business: mission, vision, objectives and tactics and Technical: processes, skills and knowledge) that influence alignment, which is dynamic with a strategy or technology decision impacting on one or more of the other domains. The alignment model within an organization must be continually reviewed due to the ongoing change in the internal and external environments. Corrective action must be taken to realign the organization when necessary. Many managers do not realize that a decision imposed on one domain may impact on one or more of the other domains [6]. Different people depending on their experience and background will have different strengths in each domain. An IT professional would likely have strengths in IT strategy or infrastructure while a business manager would likely have strengths in business strategy or organizational infrastructure. This could lead to problems if communication channels are not strong an d management processes are not in place to facilitate alignment. There are number of models which were designed to attempt to come up with such an alignment. Some of the most important models are the following: A. Strategic Alignment Model (Henderson and Venkatramon, 1993) The model has four domains or variables: business strategy, IT strategy, organizational infrastructure and IT infrastructure [7]. Butler and Fitzgerlad defined the context of the business strategy domain as business scope which refers to â€Å"the decisions that determine where the enterprise will compete†; distinctive competencies which â€Å"pertains to the areas that determine how the business will compete in delivering its products and services† and business governance which concerns â€Å"the choices that enterprises make when competing in the market place, e.g., whether alliances are entered into or not†. While administrative infrastructure refers to â€Å"the roles, responsibilities, and authority structure†; the business processes are â€Å"the manner in which key business functions are carried out† and skills refer to â€Å"the knowledge and competencies of organizational actors. In the context of IT strategy define technology scope as â€Å"the specific types of technology that are considered to be critical to the organization†; systemic competencies refer to â€Å"the salient characteristics and technological strengths of the IT systems† and IT governance as â€Å"issues refers to the manner in which IT systems are developed†. On the other hand, The IT architecture as â€Å"the policies and decisions made in regard to the integration of application systems, systems software, and hardware into cohesive platforms that are captured by the IT architecture dimension†; The processes are referred to as â€Å" how IT systems are planned, developed, implemented, and operated† and the skills dimension is captured by â€Å"the experience, competencies, commitments, values, and norms of the participants in the planning, development, implementation, and operation processes† [8]. B. Top-Down Alignment Model The theory consist of an input-process-output model, seven constructs, six Causal relationships and six hypotheses as shown in figure 4 The input-output-process model provides the initial bases for the theory. The Seven constructs are: the external environment, the internal environment, Planning resources, the planning process, the strategic information systems plan, the implementation of the strategic information systems plan, and the alignment of the strategic information systems plan with the organizations Business plan. These seven constructs exhibit causal relationships among each other illustrated through hypotheses [9]. 4. Knowledge Gap Based on the above, and through screening some of the existing strategic alignment models in the literature review, the researcher figured out that to achieve such an alignment there is a need to consider and integrate the following points: 1. Most of staff, if not all, is unaware of business goals, especially in the environment of Saudi Arabia [10]. 2. Important technical investments decisions are made by the IT manager alone [11]. 3. No relationship exists (Gap) between Business strategy and IT strategy [12]. 4. A lot of factors are not taken into consideration when forming strategic alignment, such as Structure, Culture, politics, and others [13]. 5. Strategic alignment models discussed only top management level and discarded other levels [14]. 6. Previous strategic alignment models are hard to be understood and implemented in reality [15]. The models discussed in the literature review may have achieved one or two of the above six points, however, there is no existing model that has achieved the above six points altogether. Based on the above, I have selected Strategic Alignment as a starting and a centre area of my research that the researcher is building on to fulfill the other points mentioned. The model that the researcher is aiming to establish, differs from the existing ones in that it will meet the requirements and challenges of the Saudi environment taking into consideration the 6 above points. 5. Research Aims Significance * To bridge the gap between Business Strategy and Information Technology Strategy through developing and designing a simple Strategic Alignment Model, that includes the essence of the major research works in addition to other strategic alignment theories available * To highlight the role of socio-cultural aspects as a critical success factor for successful IT implementation, which were not taken into consideration in the past * To measure the contribution of such a model to business performance. * To encourage Saudi Firms to use such a model to gain competitive competition. * To reduce the associated costs of implementing Information Systems in Organization 6. Research methods The researcher has used the mixed research methodology. Mixed research involves the mixing of quantitative and qualitative methods or paradigm characteristics within a stage of the study or across two of the stages of the research process. It collects data either sequentially of simultaneously to best understand research problems [16]. Advantages of using mixed research includes: the major goal for researcher who design and conduct mixed research is to follow the fundamental principle of mixed research, in other words, the researcher should mix quantitative and qualitative research methods, procedures, and paradigm characteristics in a way that the resulting mixture or combination has complementary strengths and non-overlapping weaknesses. When different approaches are used to focus on the same phenomenon, while providing the same result, is a strong evidence for the result. Other important reason for doing mixed research are to complement one set of results with another, to expand a set of results, or to discover something that would have been missed if only a quantitative or a qualitative approach had been used[17]. Questionnaire One of the most widely used research techniques can be defined as collecting data through written questions [17]. There are a number of different ways in which questionnaires can be administered; for example: posted to the intended respondents or administered over the telephone or face-to-face. A questionnaire design provides a quantitative description of trends, attitudes, or opinions of a population by studying a sample of that population. From sample results, the researcher generalizes or makes claims about a population [18]. Interviews Interviews are considered to be the main tool of the qualitative researcher for data collection [18]. Additionally, since the interpretive stance is also being followed, interviews are viewed to be the main and appropriate source from where data has been collected. According to Walsham, interviews allow the best access to the interpretations that the participants have regarding the actions and events, which have or are taking place and the views and aspirations of themselves and other participants. An added benefit is that it allows researchers to step back and examine the interpretations of their fellow participants in some detail, and this is an advantage that other methods may not allow [18]. Data analysis Data gathered will be analyzed through frequency distributions. These will give way to reviewing the data categories and the number of referrals in each category. With relation to data analysis, the indicators that will be used in evaluating the study include the age of the respondent; the social status; the educational attainment of the respondents; the occupation of the respondents and their length of stay in the company they belong to [19]. The research has involved 4 large organizations, SABB (Saudi British Bank), Saudi Airlines, AL-Marai, and AlTawniah, where interviews have been conducted with CIOs and CEOs to have a clear idea about the companys business strategy. Also, other interviews will take place with IT directors to investigate about the Information Technology (IT) strategy and its relationship with the business strategy. In addition,2 sets of questionnaires were distributed among different levels of the organizations to come up with the types of organizational culture and the use of Information technology in those organizations. At the end, data were collected and analyzed through using SPSS software. 7. Expected Research Outcomes The results from this research are anticipated to be of great help to top managers, strategic planners, IT managers, and other work force in Saudi environment, and will contribute to the following factors: * Increasing the awareness of the importance of Strategic Alignment Model Concept. * Selling the quick wins, by having strategic alignment achieved effectively. * Showing the importance of the use of Information Technology in organizations * Identifying the organizational culture as a major factor of achieving strategic alignment. * Encouraging decision makers and top management to apply and implement strategic alignment throughout the organization. * Highlighting the weaknesses of previous strategic alignment models and the lessons learned, which would help other researchers for future work 8. Indicative Thesis Structure The thesis will contain seven chapters (tentative): Chapter 1: Introduction: Presents an overview about the research subject. It shows the importance of strategic alignment in all sectors, followed by bridging the gap between business strategy and IT strategy, and the factors that affect strategic alignment. The research aims and significance then was explained followed by a brief discussion of the research methodology, research framework, then prospected research contribution was mentioned. Chapter 2: Literature Review: Provides the literature review for this research. It begins with explaining Business strategy, Business planning and its tools, followed by a discussion of IT strategy, IT planning, and its tools. Then a discussion of strategic alignment was presented. And ended with an overview of previous strategic alignment models. Chapter 3: Research design and methodology: Describes the research design and methodology conducted in this study. It starts with discussing the research general strategy, methodology and the reasons for selecting the methods of data collection. Followed that is a detailed explanation of the quantitative and qualitative methods, were a detailed description of the design of the research instruments was presented. Chapter 4: Developing the Parameters of the Strategic Alignment Model: Presents the need for a strategic alignment Model that can bridge the gap through identifying 3 parameters: Organizational Culture, Business strategy and its domains, and IT strategy and its domains Chapter 5: Questionnaires Analysis: Discusses and examines the data collected through the questionnaires for both, identifying the organizational culture, and the use of IT in the 4 Saudi firms Chapter 6: Interviews Analysis: Talks about and analyses the data collected through the interviews in the 4 Saudi firms. Chapter 7: Conclusion and Recommendations: Proposes the new strategic alignment model, and concludes the study and gives recommendations and future directions. 9. Training Undertaken * Using electronic library resources in Sep-2006. * Stage I part A on 30/Aug/2006. * Stage I part B on 31/Aug/2006. * Stage II Part A (presentation) on 26/Jul/2007. * Stage II Part B (Academic writing) on 26/Jul/2007. 10. Review of the research Undertaken * Wrote 2 chapters of the thesis (Introduction, Overview and Background about Business Strategy, IT Strategy, and Previous Strategic Alignment Models). * Completed of first level of data gathering (questionnaires Interviews). * Passed the ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) Foundation Certificate. * Published two conference papers. * Presented posters at the ARU 1st 2nd Annual Research Student Conference 11. Action Plan The necessary steps for completion of the research are as follows: 1. Type of organizational culture and Information Technology use was investigated by the researcher through questionnaires(phase 1) 2. Interviews with CEOs and IT managers were conducted in terms of Business strategy and IT strategy existence(phase 1) 3. Data analysis was carried out, which involved performing statistical analysis (SPSS) into the gathered data. 4. Distributing mores questionnaires and conducting further interviews to in order to establish a relationship between Organization Culture and Strategic alignment and show its important effect on the selected Saudi firms 5. All data from the (phase1) and (phase 2) will be combined and linked together to give the base for designing the Strategic Alignment Model. 6. Design the proposed Strategic Alignment Model 7. Writing up of the PhD thesis and preparation for the oral exam. 8. The plan of work also includes writing and submitting papers, attending conferences related to the study and presenting the work. Gantt chart The following chart depicts the action plan of the project and the time expectations for each step in details and it is as follows: Years 2007 2008 2009 2010 Tasks 2 4 6 8 10 12 2 4 6 8 10 12 2 4 6 8 10 12 2 4 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 References [1] David W. Nickles, IT-BUSINESS ALIGNMENT: WHAT WE KNOW THAT WE STILL DONT KNOW, Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference of the Southern Association for Information Systems, 2005 [2] Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon, Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 9th Edition, Prentice Hall, 2006 [3] McNurlin, B.C., and Spargue, R.S., Information Systems Management in Practice, 6th Edition, Prentice Hall, 2002 [4] Raymond Pap, Introduction to Strategic Alignment, Idea Group Inc, 2001 [5] Yolanda E. Chan, Why havent we mastered Alignment? The importance of the informal organization structure, MIS Quarterly Excusive, 2002 [6] Allen, D. and Wilson, T., â€Å"Vertical trust/mistrust during information strategy formation, International Journal of Information Management, 2003 [7] Henderson, J.C. and Venkatraman, N., â€Å"Aligning business and IT strategies†, in Luftman, J.F. (Ed.), Competing in the Information Age: Strategic Alignment in Practice, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, 1996 [8] Butler, T. and Fitzgerlad, B., â€Å"Enterprise Transformation and the Alignment of Business and Information Technology Strategies: Lessons from Practice, 1998 [9] Ruohoueu Parnisto, Proceedings of the First European Doctoral Seminar on Strategic Information Management, Turku centre for computer Science, 1996 [10] Hatem Tamimi, Ala M. Abu-Samaha Sufian Yousef ,Perceptions of Information Technology/Information Systems Value/ Utilisation in Saudi Organisations Proceedings of the ECIME conference, France, pp 1 12, September 20 21, 2007 [11] Bassellier, G. and Benbasat, I. (Business Competence of Information Technology Professionals: Conceptual development and influence on IT-business partnerships), MIS Quarterly 28(4): 673-694, 2004. [13] Baker, E.H. Leading Alignment, CIO Insight 1(45) 19-20, October 15, 2004. [14] Benbya, H. and McKelvey, B. (2006). Using Coevolutionary and Complexity Theories to Improve IS Alignment: A multi-level approach, Journal of Information Technology 21(4): 284-298 [15] Chan, Y.E., Sabherwal, R. and Thatcher, J.B. Antecedents and Outcomes of Strategic IS Alignment: An Empirical Investigation, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management 51(3): 27-47, 2006. [16] Creswell, JW, Research design: qualitative and quantitative approaches, Sage, Thousand Oaks, California, 1994 [17] Tashakkori and Teddlie, Mixed methods in social behavioral Research, Sage Publications, Inc, 2002 [18] Denzin and Lincoln, the Landscape of Qualitative Research, Sage Publications, Inc, 2003 [19] Walsham, Interpretive case studies in IS Research: Nature and Method, European Journal of Information Systems, 1995 Publications 1. Hatem Tamimi, The Effect of Organizational Culture on Information Technology/Business Strategic alignment in Saudi Firms, 1st Annual Research Student Conference, ARU, Cambridge,2006 2. Hatem Tamimi, Ala M. Abu-Samaha Sufian Yousef ,Perceptions of Information Technology/Information Systems Value/ Utilisation in Saudi Organisations Proceedings of the ECIME conference, France, pp 1 12, September 20 21, 2007 3. Hatem Tamimi, The status of IS Planning in Saudi Firms, 2nd Annual Research Student Conference, ARU, Cambridge,2007 4. Hatem Tamimi, Strategic IS Plans; do they exist in Saudi Firms?, IACeT2008,The International Arab Conference on e-Technology, Arab Open University, Amman-Jordan, October 15-16, 2008 Appendix A The Designed Questionnaire Survey On Strategic Information System Planning Assessment in Saudi companies. The objective of this survey is to investigate how Saudi managers use Information Technology (computer-based information, software, database, networks, communication, and other devices) to support their Strategic Planning. Your assistance in providing information regarding how often you use IT systems, the reasons for using these systems, and whether these systems satisfy your informational needs will be greatly appreciated. This survey is conducted under the direction of Mr Mike Smith, Department of Information Technology, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, UK. All responses are confidential and will remain anonymous. The success of this study depends on the completeness and the quality of information you provide. We ask you to be as thorough and free as possible in answering the questions in this. Thank you for your time and cooperation! NOTE: Please answer this questionnaire only if you are a user of Information Technology (computer-based information, software, database, networks, communication, and other devices). If you are not a user of Information Technology would you ask a manager in your corporation who is to complete this questionnaire. I. PERSONAL BACKGROUND 1. Organisation name: 2.Sex (M/F): 3. Age: 4. Education: Please choice highest degree attained (Please choice one): A. High school graduate or less B. Baccalaureate Degree C. Masters Degree D. Doctorate 5. Please indicate (how many) college (University) level courses you have completed in Information Technology (Information Systems, Computer Science, Programming, Networks or Communication). (Please choice one): 0 1 2 3 4 ≠¥5 II. PRESENT JOB RESPONSIBILITIES 6. Functional area (Please choice one) : A. Accounting B. Finance C. Marketing D. Manufacturing E. Research and Development F. Personnel G. Corporate Administration H. Information Systems I. Other (Please specify): 7. A. Management Level (Please choice One): 1. First Line Supervisor or Manager 2. Mid-level Manager (Supervising other managers) 3. Executive (Top) Level Manager (Vice president, President, Chairman of the Board of Directors etc. B. Job Title: III. USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (PC, Software, Databases, Networks, Internet, and other devices): 8. Managers perform a number of Planning roles. For each of the following roles, please indicate the value of IT. (Please choice a number for each role): Decision roles Of Great Value Of Moderate Value No Value At All Does Not Apply Choice A. Capitalist (Identifies and initiates changes) 5 4 3 2 1 0 B. Trouble Handler (Handles important and unexpected troubles) 5 4 3 2 1 0 C. Resource Allocation (Approves and allocates all organisational resources 5 4 3 2 1 0 D. Negotiator (Represents the organisation at major negotiations 5 4 3 2 1 0 1. Planning consists of several steps. For each of the following steps, please indicate the value of IT. (Please choice a number for each step) : Decision steps Of Great Value Of Moderate Value No Value At All Choice A. Identifying problems or issues 5 4 3 2 1 B. Generating alternative courses of action 5 4 3 2 1 C. Evaluating the out comes of each alternative 5 4 3 2 1 D. Ranking the alternatives and choosing one 5 4 3 2 1 E. Implementing the chosen alternative 5 4 3 2 1 2. As a Planner you may use both IT-based and non IT-based in decision making. The percent of IT you use for supporting the following Planning tasks is: (Please choice a number) Decisions >80% 61% to 80% 41% to 60% 21% to 40% None Choice A. Long Term (Strategic) Planning 5 4 3 2 1 0 B. Mid-Term (Tactical) Planning 5 4 3 2 1 0 C. Short Term (Operational) Planning 5 4 3 2 1 0 3. Managers have a mental model (i.e., an image, idea, or conceptualization of the organisation) which they use for planning, controlling and operating purposes. How helpful is the Information Technology Systems (IT) you are presently using in forming or revising the mental model of your corporation? (Please choice a number): Very Helpful Moderately Not Helpful Helpful At All 5 4 3 2 1 12. How valuable is the information the existing IT provides to your mental model in guiding your planning, controlling and operating decisions? (Please choice a number): Of Great Value Of Moderate Value Of No Value At All 5 4 3 2 1 13. Overall, how important is IT for Planning that are critical to the success and effectiveness of your managerial duties? (Please choice a number): Very Important Moderately Important Not Important At All 5 4 3 2 1 Iv. SOURCES AND TOOLS USED TO OBTAIN IT-BASED INFORMATION 14. You obtain the IT-based you use for Planning mainly (Please choice one): A. By yourself B. Through a designated person C. Through a request to an information systems group D. Other (Please specify): 15. Please indicate, on the average, how many hours per week you actually use a personal computer (PC) or a terminal to obtain computer-based information which is essential for the performance of your duties. (Please choice one): A. >16 hours B. 9 -16 hours C. 5 -8 hours D. 1 -4 hours E. 16. Please indicate the average number of hours per week use each of the following hardware pieces: A. I dont use any hardware pieces. Yes/No? Hours/week hours B. 1. Stand-alone personal computer (PC) hours 2. PC or other terminal connected to an internet hours 3. PC or other terminal connected to an â€Å"On-line† distributed computer system hours 4. PC or other terminal connected to a Local Area Network (LAN) hours 5. Other (Please specify) : hours 17. Please indi Effect of Organisational Culture on Information Technology Effect of Organisational Culture on Information Technology The Effect of Organizational Culture on Information Technology/Business Strategic alignment in Saudi Firms Abstract This research effort is intended to study the dynamic relationship between the IT Strategy and the overall Business Strategy in Saudi Firms. IT strategies perceived to be developed in isolation, meaning that such strategies are put forward by IT managers without any involvement of top business managers. The IT manager may be oblivious or he/she may not have a clear idea of the business strategy leading to a strategic diversion where all important technical investments decisions are made by the IT director alone. The researcher recognized some major factors that influence alignment including Organizational Culture; therefore the researcher investigated the current organizational Culture at large selected Saudi firms. In addition, perceptions of Information Technology Value and utilization in the targeted companies was identified and analyzed through set of questionnaires and interviews in order to help the researcher to establish the relationship between Information Technology and Organizational Culture, since it would be a valuable part of forming the proposed strategic alignment model. The Saudi firms, where questionnaires have been distributed, and interviews have been conducted are SABB (Saudi British Bank), Saudi Airlines, AL-Marai, and AlTawniah. The researcher is aiming to collect further data from previous Strategic Alignment Models, and collect more information through additional interviews and questionnaires in order to interpret and validate the findings of the first stage that will lead to the design of the final stage of the Strategic Alignment Model. All data will be combined to give the base for a Strategic Alignment Model. This new model will be a practical one that should fit the Saudi environment. 1. Introduction Strategic alignment has become one of the most important topics for researchers in all industries. Its main objective is to establish and arrange a relationship between business and IT strategies. From a competitive advantage point of view, organizations with such alignment will have edge over others. 2. Context of the Research In the last few decades, the gap between business strategy of organizations and their IT strategy has been noticed by researchers and practitioners across the globe. Numerous research articles have been written to indicate this fact and to highlight the importance of bridging the gap between IT strategy and business strategy of organizations, to achieve coordinated results and efficiency for the enterprise. MIS professional, researchers have understood the significance of the issue which exists at global level [1]. Figure (1) summarizes the Information System/Business relationship which can be described as ‘Interdependent; where any changes in the IS (Software, Hardware, Database and Telecommunication devices will have an impact on the Business and vice versa; any change in the business (Strategy, Rules and Procedures) will have its impact on the Information Systems function of the organization [2]. FIG01-07Since Information systems and organizations influence each another. On the one hand, information systems must be aligned with the organization to provide information that is important to different groups according to the organization need. On the other hand, the organization must be aware of and open itself to the influences of information systems in order to benefit from new technologies [3]. Figure 1: The interdependence between organizations and information systems (Laudon Laudon, 2006) The interaction between information technology and organizations is very complex and is influenced by a great many mediating factors, including the organizations structure, standard operating procedures, politics, culture, surrounding environment, and management decisions as shown in figure (2). One mediating factor was selected by the researcher, which is the organizational culture, and the purpose of this selection will be discussed in a later section. Managers must be aware that information systems can markedly alter life in the organization. They cannot successfully design new systems or understand existing systems without understanding organizations. Managers decide what systems will be built, what they will do, how they will be implemented. Sometimes, however, the outcomes are the result of pure chance and of both good and bad luck [2]. 3. Original Work in Strategic Alignment Strategic Alignment is defined as the process of creating and managing a business driven IT organization, for which the main focus is implementing information oriented Solutions, that is most important to meeting the business goals, objectives, and strategies of the enterprise [4]. In order to make organizations successful, it is important for all parts of the organization to move in the same strategic direction. Of particular importance is that the business strategy and the IT strategy are complementary. If they are trying to move the organization in different directions the risk of failure may increase. Given the high level of resources invested in IT by most organizations it is important for it to be used as a strategic resource to contribute towards the achievement of business objectives. The strategic alignment would measure the relationship between an organizations IT function and its business objectives. The degree to which alignment is present in an organization will depend o n many factors. These factors will include the knowledge of the subject by management, the organizational infrastructure and culture, the nature of the business, the technology in use, and the ability of the organization to manage change. It is very important to realize that Strategic alignment is a process and not a project. Also Alignment issues should be considered at all levels of the organization, meaning that the occurrence of alignment at one level does not guarantee alignment at another [5]. 3.1 Strategic Alignment Models Alignment models show the relationship between the various domains (Business: mission, vision, objectives and tactics and Technical: processes, skills and knowledge) that influence alignment, which is dynamic with a strategy or technology decision impacting on one or more of the other domains. The alignment model within an organization must be continually reviewed due to the ongoing change in the internal and external environments. Corrective action must be taken to realign the organization when necessary. Many managers do not realize that a decision imposed on one domain may impact on one or more of the other domains [6]. Different people depending on their experience and background will have different strengths in each domain. An IT professional would likely have strengths in IT strategy or infrastructure while a business manager would likely have strengths in business strategy or organizational infrastructure. This could lead to problems if communication channels are not strong an d management processes are not in place to facilitate alignment. There are number of models which were designed to attempt to come up with such an alignment. Some of the most important models are the following: A. Strategic Alignment Model (Henderson and Venkatramon, 1993) The model has four domains or variables: business strategy, IT strategy, organizational infrastructure and IT infrastructure [7]. Butler and Fitzgerlad defined the context of the business strategy domain as business scope which refers to â€Å"the decisions that determine where the enterprise will compete†; distinctive competencies which â€Å"pertains to the areas that determine how the business will compete in delivering its products and services† and business governance which concerns â€Å"the choices that enterprises make when competing in the market place, e.g., whether alliances are entered into or not†. While administrative infrastructure refers to â€Å"the roles, responsibilities, and authority structure†; the business processes are â€Å"the manner in which key business functions are carried out† and skills refer to â€Å"the knowledge and competencies of organizational actors. In the context of IT strategy define technology scope as â€Å"the specific types of technology that are considered to be critical to the organization†; systemic competencies refer to â€Å"the salient characteristics and technological strengths of the IT systems† and IT governance as â€Å"issues refers to the manner in which IT systems are developed†. On the other hand, The IT architecture as â€Å"the policies and decisions made in regard to the integration of application systems, systems software, and hardware into cohesive platforms that are captured by the IT architecture dimension†; The processes are referred to as â€Å" how IT systems are planned, developed, implemented, and operated† and the skills dimension is captured by â€Å"the experience, competencies, commitments, values, and norms of the participants in the planning, development, implementation, and operation processes† [8]. B. Top-Down Alignment Model The theory consist of an input-process-output model, seven constructs, six Causal relationships and six hypotheses as shown in figure 4 The input-output-process model provides the initial bases for the theory. The Seven constructs are: the external environment, the internal environment, Planning resources, the planning process, the strategic information systems plan, the implementation of the strategic information systems plan, and the alignment of the strategic information systems plan with the organizations Business plan. These seven constructs exhibit causal relationships among each other illustrated through hypotheses [9]. 4. Knowledge Gap Based on the above, and through screening some of the existing strategic alignment models in the literature review, the researcher figured out that to achieve such an alignment there is a need to consider and integrate the following points: 1. Most of staff, if not all, is unaware of business goals, especially in the environment of Saudi Arabia [10]. 2. Important technical investments decisions are made by the IT manager alone [11]. 3. No relationship exists (Gap) between Business strategy and IT strategy [12]. 4. A lot of factors are not taken into consideration when forming strategic alignment, such as Structure, Culture, politics, and others [13]. 5. Strategic alignment models discussed only top management level and discarded other levels [14]. 6. Previous strategic alignment models are hard to be understood and implemented in reality [15]. The models discussed in the literature review may have achieved one or two of the above six points, however, there is no existing model that has achieved the above six points altogether. Based on the above, I have selected Strategic Alignment as a starting and a centre area of my research that the researcher is building on to fulfill the other points mentioned. The model that the researcher is aiming to establish, differs from the existing ones in that it will meet the requirements and challenges of the Saudi environment taking into consideration the 6 above points. 5. Research Aims Significance * To bridge the gap between Business Strategy and Information Technology Strategy through developing and designing a simple Strategic Alignment Model, that includes the essence of the major research works in addition to other strategic alignment theories available * To highlight the role of socio-cultural aspects as a critical success factor for successful IT implementation, which were not taken into consideration in the past * To measure the contribution of such a model to business performance. * To encourage Saudi Firms to use such a model to gain competitive competition. * To reduce the associated costs of implementing Information Systems in Organization 6. Research methods The researcher has used the mixed research methodology. Mixed research involves the mixing of quantitative and qualitative methods or paradigm characteristics within a stage of the study or across two of the stages of the research process. It collects data either sequentially of simultaneously to best understand research problems [16]. Advantages of using mixed research includes: the major goal for researcher who design and conduct mixed research is to follow the fundamental principle of mixed research, in other words, the researcher should mix quantitative and qualitative research methods, procedures, and paradigm characteristics in a way that the resulting mixture or combination has complementary strengths and non-overlapping weaknesses. When different approaches are used to focus on the same phenomenon, while providing the same result, is a strong evidence for the result. Other important reason for doing mixed research are to complement one set of results with another, to expand a set of results, or to discover something that would have been missed if only a quantitative or a qualitative approach had been used[17]. Questionnaire One of the most widely used research techniques can be defined as collecting data through written questions [17]. There are a number of different ways in which questionnaires can be administered; for example: posted to the intended respondents or administered over the telephone or face-to-face. A questionnaire design provides a quantitative description of trends, attitudes, or opinions of a population by studying a sample of that population. From sample results, the researcher generalizes or makes claims about a population [18]. Interviews Interviews are considered to be the main tool of the qualitative researcher for data collection [18]. Additionally, since the interpretive stance is also being followed, interviews are viewed to be the main and appropriate source from where data has been collected. According to Walsham, interviews allow the best access to the interpretations that the participants have regarding the actions and events, which have or are taking place and the views and aspirations of themselves and other participants. An added benefit is that it allows researchers to step back and examine the interpretations of their fellow participants in some detail, and this is an advantage that other methods may not allow [18]. Data analysis Data gathered will be analyzed through frequency distributions. These will give way to reviewing the data categories and the number of referrals in each category. With relation to data analysis, the indicators that will be used in evaluating the study include the age of the respondent; the social status; the educational attainment of the respondents; the occupation of the respondents and their length of stay in the company they belong to [19]. The research has involved 4 large organizations, SABB (Saudi British Bank), Saudi Airlines, AL-Marai, and AlTawniah, where interviews have been conducted with CIOs and CEOs to have a clear idea about the companys business strategy. Also, other interviews will take place with IT directors to investigate about the Information Technology (IT) strategy and its relationship with the business strategy. In addition,2 sets of questionnaires were distributed among different levels of the organizations to come up with the types of organizational culture and the use of Information technology in those organizations. At the end, data were collected and analyzed through using SPSS software. 7. Expected Research Outcomes The results from this research are anticipated to be of great help to top managers, strategic planners, IT managers, and other work force in Saudi environment, and will contribute to the following factors: * Increasing the awareness of the importance of Strategic Alignment Model Concept. * Selling the quick wins, by having strategic alignment achieved effectively. * Showing the importance of the use of Information Technology in organizations * Identifying the organizational culture as a major factor of achieving strategic alignment. * Encouraging decision makers and top management to apply and implement strategic alignment throughout the organization. * Highlighting the weaknesses of previous strategic alignment models and the lessons learned, which would help other researchers for future work 8. Indicative Thesis Structure The thesis will contain seven chapters (tentative): Chapter 1: Introduction: Presents an overview about the research subject. It shows the importance of strategic alignment in all sectors, followed by bridging the gap between business strategy and IT strategy, and the factors that affect strategic alignment. The research aims and significance then was explained followed by a brief discussion of the research methodology, research framework, then prospected research contribution was mentioned. Chapter 2: Literature Review: Provides the literature review for this research. It begins with explaining Business strategy, Business planning and its tools, followed by a discussion of IT strategy, IT planning, and its tools. Then a discussion of strategic alignment was presented. And ended with an overview of previous strategic alignment models. Chapter 3: Research design and methodology: Describes the research design and methodology conducted in this study. It starts with discussing the research general strategy, methodology and the reasons for selecting the methods of data collection. Followed that is a detailed explanation of the quantitative and qualitative methods, were a detailed description of the design of the research instruments was presented. Chapter 4: Developing the Parameters of the Strategic Alignment Model: Presents the need for a strategic alignment Model that can bridge the gap through identifying 3 parameters: Organizational Culture, Business strategy and its domains, and IT strategy and its domains Chapter 5: Questionnaires Analysis: Discusses and examines the data collected through the questionnaires for both, identifying the organizational culture, and the use of IT in the 4 Saudi firms Chapter 6: Interviews Analysis: Talks about and analyses the data collected through the interviews in the 4 Saudi firms. Chapter 7: Conclusion and Recommendations: Proposes the new strategic alignment model, and concludes the study and gives recommendations and future directions. 9. Training Undertaken * Using electronic library resources in Sep-2006. * Stage I part A on 30/Aug/2006. * Stage I part B on 31/Aug/2006. * Stage II Part A (presentation) on 26/Jul/2007. * Stage II Part B (Academic writing) on 26/Jul/2007. 10. Review of the research Undertaken * Wrote 2 chapters of the thesis (Introduction, Overview and Background about Business Strategy, IT Strategy, and Previous Strategic Alignment Models). * Completed of first level of data gathering (questionnaires Interviews). * Passed the ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) Foundation Certificate. * Published two conference papers. * Presented posters at the ARU 1st 2nd Annual Research Student Conference 11. Action Plan The necessary steps for completion of the research are as follows: 1. Type of organizational culture and Information Technology use was investigated by the researcher through questionnaires(phase 1) 2. Interviews with CEOs and IT managers were conducted in terms of Business strategy and IT strategy existence(phase 1) 3. Data analysis was carried out, which involved performing statistical analysis (SPSS) into the gathered data. 4. Distributing mores questionnaires and conducting further interviews to in order to establish a relationship between Organization Culture and Strategic alignment and show its important effect on the selected Saudi firms 5. All data from the (phase1) and (phase 2) will be combined and linked together to give the base for designing the Strategic Alignment Model. 6. Design the proposed Strategic Alignment Model 7. Writing up of the PhD thesis and preparation for the oral exam. 8. The plan of work also includes writing and submitting papers, attending conferences related to the study and presenting the work. Gantt chart The following chart depicts the action plan of the project and the time expectations for each step in details and it is as follows: Years 2007 2008 2009 2010 Tasks 2 4 6 8 10 12 2 4 6 8 10 12 2 4 6 8 10 12 2 4 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 References [1] David W. Nickles, IT-BUSINESS ALIGNMENT: WHAT WE KNOW THAT WE STILL DONT KNOW, Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference of the Southern Association for Information Systems, 2005 [2] Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon, Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 9th Edition, Prentice Hall, 2006 [3] McNurlin, B.C., and Spargue, R.S., Information Systems Management in Practice, 6th Edition, Prentice Hall, 2002 [4] Raymond Pap, Introduction to Strategic Alignment, Idea Group Inc, 2001 [5] Yolanda E. Chan, Why havent we mastered Alignment? The importance of the informal organization structure, MIS Quarterly Excusive, 2002 [6] Allen, D. and Wilson, T., â€Å"Vertical trust/mistrust during information strategy formation, International Journal of Information Management, 2003 [7] Henderson, J.C. and Venkatraman, N., â€Å"Aligning business and IT strategies†, in Luftman, J.F. (Ed.), Competing in the Information Age: Strategic Alignment in Practice, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, 1996 [8] Butler, T. and Fitzgerlad, B., â€Å"Enterprise Transformation and the Alignment of Business and Information Technology Strategies: Lessons from Practice, 1998 [9] Ruohoueu Parnisto, Proceedings of the First European Doctoral Seminar on Strategic Information Management, Turku centre for computer Science, 1996 [10] Hatem Tamimi, Ala M. Abu-Samaha Sufian Yousef ,Perceptions of Information Technology/Information Systems Value/ Utilisation in Saudi Organisations Proceedings of the ECIME conference, France, pp 1 12, September 20 21, 2007 [11] Bassellier, G. and Benbasat, I. (Business Competence of Information Technology Professionals: Conceptual development and influence on IT-business partnerships), MIS Quarterly 28(4): 673-694, 2004. [13] Baker, E.H. Leading Alignment, CIO Insight 1(45) 19-20, October 15, 2004. [14] Benbya, H. and McKelvey, B. (2006). Using Coevolutionary and Complexity Theories to Improve IS Alignment: A multi-level approach, Journal of Information Technology 21(4): 284-298 [15] Chan, Y.E., Sabherwal, R. and Thatcher, J.B. Antecedents and Outcomes of Strategic IS Alignment: An Empirical Investigation, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management 51(3): 27-47, 2006. [16] Creswell, JW, Research design: qualitative and quantitative approaches, Sage, Thousand Oaks, California, 1994 [17] Tashakkori and Teddlie, Mixed methods in social behavioral Research, Sage Publications, Inc, 2002 [18] Denzin and Lincoln, the Landscape of Qualitative Research, Sage Publications, Inc, 2003 [19] Walsham, Interpretive case studies in IS Research: Nature and Method, European Journal of Information Systems, 1995 Publications 1. Hatem Tamimi, The Effect of Organizational Culture on Information Technology/Business Strategic alignment in Saudi Firms, 1st Annual Research Student Conference, ARU, Cambridge,2006 2. Hatem Tamimi, Ala M. Abu-Samaha Sufian Yousef ,Perceptions of Information Technology/Information Systems Value/ Utilisation in Saudi Organisations Proceedings of the ECIME conference, France, pp 1 12, September 20 21, 2007 3. Hatem Tamimi, The status of IS Planning in Saudi Firms, 2nd Annual Research Student Conference, ARU, Cambridge,2007 4. Hatem Tamimi, Strategic IS Plans; do they exist in Saudi Firms?, IACeT2008,The International Arab Conference on e-Technology, Arab Open University, Amman-Jordan, October 15-16, 2008 Appendix A The Designed Questionnaire Survey On Strategic Information System Planning Assessment in Saudi companies. The objective of this survey is to investigate how Saudi managers use Information Technology (computer-based information, software, database, networks, communication, and other devices) to support their Strategic Planning. Your assistance in providing information regarding how often you use IT systems, the reasons for using these systems, and whether these systems satisfy your informational needs will be greatly appreciated. This survey is conducted under the direction of Mr Mike Smith, Department of Information Technology, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, UK. All responses are confidential and will remain anonymous. The success of this study depends on the completeness and the quality of information you provide. We ask you to be as thorough and free as possible in answering the questions in this. Thank you for your time and cooperation! NOTE: Please answer this questionnaire only if you are a user of Information Technology (computer-based information, software, database, networks, communication, and other devices). If you are not a user of Information Technology would you ask a manager in your corporation who is to complete this questionnaire. I. PERSONAL BACKGROUND 1. Organisation name: 2.Sex (M/F): 3. Age: 4. Education: Please choice highest degree attained (Please choice one): A. High school graduate or less B. Baccalaureate Degree C. Masters Degree D. Doctorate 5. Please indicate (how many) college (University) level courses you have completed in Information Technology (Information Systems, Computer Science, Programming, Networks or Communication). (Please choice one): 0 1 2 3 4 ≠¥5 II. PRESENT JOB RESPONSIBILITIES 6. Functional area (Please choice one) : A. Accounting B. Finance C. Marketing D. Manufacturing E. Research and Development F. Personnel G. Corporate Administration H. Information Systems I. Other (Please specify): 7. A. Management Level (Please choice One): 1. First Line Supervisor or Manager 2. Mid-level Manager (Supervising other managers) 3. Executive (Top) Level Manager (Vice president, President, Chairman of the Board of Directors etc. B. Job Title: III. USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (PC, Software, Databases, Networks, Internet, and other devices): 8. Managers perform a number of Planning roles. For each of the following roles, please indicate the value of IT. (Please choice a number for each role): Decision roles Of Great Value Of Moderate Value No Value At All Does Not Apply Choice A. Capitalist (Identifies and initiates changes) 5 4 3 2 1 0 B. Trouble Handler (Handles important and unexpected troubles) 5 4 3 2 1 0 C. Resource Allocation (Approves and allocates all organisational resources 5 4 3 2 1 0 D. Negotiator (Represents the organisation at major negotiations 5 4 3 2 1 0 1. Planning consists of several steps. For each of the following steps, please indicate the value of IT. (Please choice a number for each step) : Decision steps Of Great Value Of Moderate Value No Value At All Choice A. Identifying problems or issues 5 4 3 2 1 B. Generating alternative courses of action 5 4 3 2 1 C. Evaluating the out comes of each alternative 5 4 3 2 1 D. Ranking the alternatives and choosing one 5 4 3 2 1 E. Implementing the chosen alternative 5 4 3 2 1 2. As a Planner you may use both IT-based and non IT-based in decision making. The percent of IT you use for supporting the following Planning tasks is: (Please choice a number) Decisions >80% 61% to 80% 41% to 60% 21% to 40% None Choice A. Long Term (Strategic) Planning 5 4 3 2 1 0 B. Mid-Term (Tactical) Planning 5 4 3 2 1 0 C. Short Term (Operational) Planning 5 4 3 2 1 0 3. Managers have a mental model (i.e., an image, idea, or conceptualization of the organisation) which they use for planning, controlling and operating purposes. How helpful is the Information Technology Systems (IT) you are presently using in forming or revising the mental model of your corporation? (Please choice a number): Very Helpful Moderately Not Helpful Helpful At All 5 4 3 2 1 12. How valuable is the information the existing IT provides to your mental model in guiding your planning, controlling and operating decisions? (Please choice a number): Of Great Value Of Moderate Value Of No Value At All 5 4 3 2 1 13. Overall, how important is IT for Planning that are critical to the success and effectiveness of your managerial duties? (Please choice a number): Very Important Moderately Important Not Important At All 5 4 3 2 1 Iv. SOURCES AND TOOLS USED TO OBTAIN IT-BASED INFORMATION 14. You obtain the IT-based you use for Planning mainly (Please choice one): A. By yourself B. Through a designated person C. Through a request to an information systems group D. Other (Please specify): 15. Please indicate, on the average, how many hours per week you actually use a personal computer (PC) or a terminal to obtain computer-based information which is essential for the performance of your duties. (Please choice one): A. >16 hours B. 9 -16 hours C. 5 -8 hours D. 1 -4 hours E. 16. Please indicate the average number of hours per week use each of the following hardware pieces: A. I dont use any hardware pieces. Yes/No? Hours/week hours B. 1. Stand-alone personal computer (PC) hours 2. PC or other terminal connected to an internet hours 3. PC or other terminal connected to an â€Å"On-line† distributed computer system hours 4. PC or other terminal connected to a Local Area Network (LAN) hours 5. Other (Please specify) : hours 17. Please indi