Cloning Process Essays - Cloning, Molecular Biology, Genetics

Cloning Process Cloning is the process of creating a genetic duplicate of an individual. Since the February 1997 announcement of the birth of Dolly, a sheep cloned by Ian Wilmut, cloning research has increased greatly. Cloning humans now has become a much greater possibility in society than it was years ago. Scientist are on the edge of a huge breakthrough with human cloning, and society will ask it's self if this should be allowed or not. Many arguments can be made for and against human cloning. Proponents of human cloning may argue that it is just a logical and inevitable advance in science technology. It is, however , risky for human subjects. At the present time, most of the general public is against cloning. Within a few years time, the medical possibilities of human cloning may be attractive enough to change the publics opinion. Reasearchers on human cloning would involve huge risks for the initial clones, because any experiments in human cloning would eventually have to be tested on humans. Human cloning is unethical because of the risks that this practice involves greatly outweigh the bebefits. The technique that produced Dolly the sheep was successful in only 1 of 277 attempts. If this was attempted in humans, it would risk miscarriages in the mother and severe developmental problems in the child. The actual risks of physical harm to the cloned child cannot be certain without conducting experiments on human beings. This itself is unethical because no one knows what will happen and the child is in danger because noone knows what is going to happen, the child could be born disabled and/or have developmental diffuculties. As of now human cloning doesn't seem like a great possibility because of the risk involved and how the general public would react. Some time in the future, maybe the advances in medical technology will allow cloning with no possible risk.

How the Internet Fuels Terrorism

How the Internet Fuels Terrorism Free Online Research Papers The First Amendment is the bedrock of the United States, and without adherence to First Amendment rights and privileges, America will suffer. The Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act (FISA) was first enacted in 1978 and subsequently modified extensively with the USA Patriot Act of 2001. After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, the federal government ramped up its security investigations to gather intelligence on foreign terrorist groups seeking to destroy the spread of democracy. The proliferation of satellite communications is allowing these terrorist groups to exchange information and coordinate attacks on their â€Å"enemies.† Introduction The First Amendment’s protection of free speech is the United States’ bedrock and is being threatened by the internet explosion that is being misused by global terrorists. The explosion in technology over the last two decades laid the framework for interconnectivity opening communication channels twenty-four hours per day, 365 days per year to every corner of the world. Internet connections can be achieved with satellite technology through out the globe allowing entrepreneurs to maintain continuous trade, medical professionals to collaborate cures, academics to correlate research, law enforcement to snoop on every human being and terrorists to plot world destruction. With any good technology, there are always those schemers trying to make illicit profits or to cause harm to settle personal vendettas or advance personal goals. In particular, the United States has taken up radical Islamists as its twenty-first century enemy. The U.S. government has reorganized nation al security to battle the terrorists until financial ruin or victory is achieved over the terrorists. To battle terrorists, America primarily uses the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act (FISA) first enacted in 1978 and subsequently modified extensively with the USA Patriot Act of 2001 (law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sec_50_00001801-000-.html). After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, the federal government ramped up its security investigations to gather intelligence on foreign terrorist groups seeking to destroy the spread of democracy. The proliferation of satellite communications allows terrorist groups to exchange information and coordinate attacks on their â€Å"enemies.† FISA provisions of court ordered warrants by Supreme Court nominees and the Constitution are now being ignored for the sake of fighting the global war on terror. Freedom of Speech When the founding fathers began writing the constitution of the USA it focused on individual rights and responsibilities. The first known formalization of the concept of free speech recorded is the appearance of Sir Thomas More before King Henry VIII in 1523 (Freedom of Speech, 2007). Since free speech has been a governmental concept for only the last six centuries, continued prescription is inevitable. With today’s litigious society, limits and expanses of free speech will be continually challenged. The United Nations in 1948 attempted to universalize the right to free speech without fear of incarceration (Freedom of Speech, 2007). Certain speech that is intended to incite a riot or violence is generally restricted as the public need to peace and tranquility takes the forefront. Referencing Wikipedia, one must note that many countries are listed for their advances in declarations of rights to free speech, but it is quite notable that Middle Eastern countries are missing . This paper will attempt to bring to the forefront the immense challenge of encouraging technology deployment while maintaining a vigilant watch on terrorists that seek to do harm to America and its many freedom partners. Regulations That Promote Free Speech The Constitution and its Bill of Rights are the foundation of the Freedom of Speech. Our judicial system continually referees challenges to the First Amendment. Landmark cases that limit free speech are noteworthy and somewhat numerous: 1) Miller test for obscenity, 2) Copyright protections, 3) Roth versus the United States, and 4) the Pruneyard Case. Freedom of speech in the U.S. generally allows anyone to say anything, print any publication, or broadcast any media without censorship only to defend its permissibility and its innocence after the fact. Larry Flint is one of those willing to challenge all boundaries of obscenity and be very willing to suffer the consequences. Flint could definitely be called a First Amendment martyr. With so many means of media and communication, many federal agencies come into the foray to protect free speech. Besides federal, common and case law, the United States takes to heart international law such as the United Nations Universal Declaratio n of Human Rights. Article 19 of that UN declaration states, everyone has the right to opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media, regardless of frontiers (Freedom of Speech, 2007). The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with its traditional challenge of reigning in unruly broadcasters and publishers must now face the perils of unfettered internet access. The internet opens up so many means of communicating – both beneficial and harmful. Specifically the FCC utilizes post facto sanctions to punish media providers that violate community standards definitions of obscenity or indecency. Since internet transmissions can come from anywhere in the world into every living room in the world, the FCC has an almost insurmountable challenge to protect the new digital age of communication while building â€Å"firewalls† to protect against terrorism. Protecting Internet Free Speech The First Amendment will always take the form of granite for America with the judicial system continuing to define the crystals that form the rock. Public action groups such as www.savetheinternet.com and www.MoveOn.org serve as citizen referees to maintain the internet and other public venues available to all to express opinions openly. A recent victory for these groups was the defeat of Senator Ted Stevens’ H.R. 5252 Telco bill that was seen as very pro-industry and anti-public in nature (Huge Victory†¦, 2007). The bill and the subsequent fight to defeat featured the concept of net neutrality. Net neutrality focuses on the process design of the internet and not the content; passage of the Stevens’ bill would have allowed internet providers to price web content according to a scale that would have left public non-corporate content at hit 1,000,000 plus. Most call the processing system of the internet, the pipes (internet backbone on servers, fiber optic netwo rks and web portals). Supporters of net neutrality stress that the pipe owners maintain a reasonable separation so content will not be slanted too far left or right. Traditional media such as newspapers definitely show political leanings by their editorials, and the internet serves as the virtual scales of justice. While net neutrality focused on the backbone, other groups trying to protect the internet are the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT). One example of federal law protecting internet content was the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that offers protection to intellectual property (Free Speech, 2006). Such property takes the form of something as simple as clipart: ?. One well established protection for reporters that allows anonymous sources to remain anonymous is being afforded via internet bloggers for the most part. These attempts to extend free speech protections to the digital world closely track laws and regulations in the traditional beacons of transparency: vagueness, overbreadth, and prior restraint. With the internet being the most participatory form of mass speech yet developed, the right to free speech will be tested until t he end of time. Invasions of Privacy Big brother is watching. George Orwell would love to rewrite his classic book, 1984, based on such organizations as the Army Web Risk Assessment Cell (AWRAC) (Reed, 2007). AWARAC operates automated surveillance of troops’ blogs and web content to control careless or possible malicious release of secret data. In the meantime AWARAC can scan soldier’s complaints. Many soldiers typically disagree at one time or another about command’s direction, but the internet allows a bon fire of unlimited blogging that could lead to detrimental troop morale. This example portrays the possibility of common citizen monitoring very plausible. Of course, it is not illegal to search the internet for say military complaints randomly, but if the government sets up digital programs to monitor all lanes of free speech that leaders find displeasing, an invasion of privacy is inevitable. The internet has given birth to the newest crime category and venue of today: cyber crime and internet terrorism. These new crime areas threaten aviation, financial security, national security, identities and national defense. Committing criminal or forbidden acts can take the simple form of posting a blog where an Army unit is traveling. Travel fears should ripple when someone hacks into the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control server to change location displays of various aircraft in order that several horrendous crashes occur simultaneously. The question remains, if individuals knowingly or innocently violate laws and regulations, does that give the government carte blanche to monitor all internet transmissions? This appears to violate the innate right of Americans to say and print almost anything to only suffer consequences later. To battle these new crime channels, governments must tune traditional intelligence gathering and sharing paradigms. To establish and adjudicate security clearances for all levels of government is essentially unachievable. To fight these new breeds of terrorists, all levels of government must be keen to threats, vigilantly share information with other agencies and in turn receive valuable intelligence to shift resources in preparation for upcoming attacks. Intelligence officers today need to be master surfers as well as master data analysts. When all sects of society join together and the federal government sharpens their intelligence frameworks, homeland security can be continuously improved. Global Internet Technologies To imagine that America’s homeland security can be threatened by something as simple as a bicycle powered generator and a 30-inch dish with a $150 laptop changes all preconceived ideas of typical criminal backrooms. Simple technology is being developed to spread educational opportunities throughout the world, but that same capability can easily deliver Al Qaeda’s next operation order to attack a U.S. Embassy in Tanzania. Communication has always been vital to the battlefield, but with instantaneous messaging, Osama Bin Laden could direct a strike against any target at any time with a $100 GPS that is accurate to within 100 feet. Various groups will continue the development of simple and easy to use computing technologies, and this information sharing may help inform diverse groups to understand others so they are not feared or hated. One such foundation is One Laptop Per Child which deploys laptops to impoverished children (Hilton, 2006). These laptops do not have much software but come with wireless network connectivity. Network connections take the form of existing cellular telephone networks, long-range microwave and satellite fed networks. Besides expansion of educational opportunities, this technology explosion opens up new venues for holding national elections, agricultural trading, medical treatment extension, and banking. Internet Technologies Used by Terrorist Originally hackers were very annoying to the point that computers were corrupted requiring operating systems to be reinstalled. Bruce Berkowitz stated in 2001, â€Å"the real threat is not the hackers you see; it’s the ones you don’t.† Now those same hackers are being hired by terrorists to look for data to discover vulnerabilities of their enemies to cause havoc. The simplest method to battle an electronic enemy is to develop advanced technology continuously: firewalls, encryption programs, and training vigilant users. This technology of course has to be home grown. Traditional national security intelligence efforts are known for their reports and briefs and now need to be known for their internet savvy. If the federal government can attract young techies with the glamour to be the next 007, our intelligence efforts will be back at the forefront. As vast and diverse illicit uses of the internet become evermore prevalent, the costs to society to counter cyberterrorism will impact the free flow of information. Intelligence agencies must reform around internet connectivity to analyze potential enemies as well as serving as the microscope to dissect who and what is being planned. Some of the many ways the internet can be used by terrorists are psychological warfare, propaganda, fundraising, recruitment, data mining, and coordination of actions. Foreign Terrorist Organizations designated under the U.S. Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 almost all unanimously maintained websites by year 2000 (Weimann, 2004). These organizations employ webmasters that change internet protocol (IP) addresses almost daily and upload and remove websites as quick as a mouse click. The first avenue of eight different ways to use the internet by terrorists is psychological warfare. All modern armies use some psychological warfare. Terrorist are very good at disinformation causing fear and panic with fake attacks. This method draws eerie similarities to Orson Well’s War of the World’s infamous radio show nearly effecting pandemonium. Information is powerful, and terrorists who learn how and when to spread disinformation may cause almost as much damage as rockets. The USA’s most wanted terrorist organization, Al Qaeda, wages continuous fake attacks on the US, like white envelopes with white powder. These attacks typically cause some level of alarm that impacts the stock and bond markets, but principally diverts intelligence resources away from a possible another September 11, 2001. The second focus area, publicity and propaganda, are used by terrorists to gain public awareness and empathy for their cause and financial support. One key area that is always stressed is the perils faced by their captured comrades. Those prisoners are touted as being religious zealots not terrorists. Religious groups should have a free reign to practice their religion, but when that practice takes the form of collaborated Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), those groups must be controlled. Terrorists claim that their point of view will not be heard without explosions, that their way of life is being attacked by the West, and that their espousing of sovereignty is their sole goal. All of these goals gel easily around the internet’s free, unfettered and uncensored communication. It is strange to think that the internet is the ultimate symbol of a free world but is also a terrorist’s greatest weapon. The third area that terrorists focus on is data mining. This area is exploited by all parties – good and bad. When one thinks that there are over a billion pages of information on the internet, it is easy to see that this is much more valuable than all the South African diamond mines together. A simple Yahoo search on the term â€Å"internet terrorism† yields over 24 million hits. Since the internet grows by the nanosecond, information analyzing is becoming infinite. Terrorists form such organizations as the Muslim Hackers Club who disseminates sensitive or classified information such as Secret Service radio frequencies, electronic virus tutorials, and building blueprints (Weimann, 2004). When the US discovered Al Qaeda with U.S. dam drawings, the Army Corps of Engineers stop posting engineering project designs as a part of contract solicitations. These contract packages are now only available on a bona fide need to know. A real security challenge remains to pro tect key infrastructure sites around the world, and this increasing effort to protect will no doubt close venues to public access in the future. How is all of this paid for? Fundraising on the internet becomes a very economical means. Howard Dean displayed in the 2004 US Presidential election that raising funds on the internet is very viable. Terrorist publish overseas account numbers for sympathizers to make deposits. Many groups that appear to be legitimate non-profits are in fact fronts for jihadist groups. One uncanny example is that of Sami Hussayen who was a doctoral candidate in computer science supported by the National Security Agency. He was found to be creating websites that disseminated radical jihadist messages. Supporters of various terrorists are recruited and mobilized easily through the web and its many tangles. The perils of internet cookies tastes bitter when one is considered to be targeted for donations or moral support because of their perusing of terrorist websites. Principally the internet is used to sway sympathizers to join the militias based on their anti-American propaganda and religious decrees. Al Qaeda is the principal group using the internet to stage recruitment campaigns. The internet is also used to invoke public displays of support as demonstrated by the world wide collective protest to the arrest of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdist terrorist group, Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) (Weimann, 2004). The internet perfectly enables Al Qaeda and Hamas to form loose coalitions of terrorism organizations. Since these organizations are constantly being hunted by the western world, a traditional hierarchical structure is not easily maintained. The internet lends itself to horizontally organized groups dispersed all over the world. Bombs are being built by these groups with online assembly manuals, and the terror cells are formed lightening quick and text message operation orders are issued to place and detonate those bombs. The seventh area terrorists are using the internet is information sharing – collaboration. Three scary publications found on the internet are 1) The Terrorist’s Handbook, 2) The Anarchist Cookbook and 3) The Mujahadeen Poisons Handbook. Of course the best of those 3 manuals along with other terrorist publications are collated into The Encyclopedia of Jihad (Weimann, 2004). Information on the internet with evil purposes is not solely privileged for Jihadist groups but also inspires individuals to formulate individual evil. Many other examples in the free world display the unpredictable consequences of having such malevolence information available freely on the internet. The eighth portal that the internet opens to terrorists is the planning and coordination efforts that can be conducted virtually. Planners of September 11, 2001 used public free email accounts to transmit cryptic messages from public internet terminals. Graphic files are used frequently with operation orders embedded behind the graphics for concealment. Anti-terrorist organizations have focused their efforts normally on cyber terrorism and not the routine transmission of complex encrypted email messages containing the next 9-1-1. When the battle begins on the many ways that terrorists use the internet, democracy may be dealt blows with losses of privacy. Terrorists are starting to finance their campaigns by conducting cyber crimes, e.g. brokering stolen corporate secrets. Gabriel Weimann stated in 2004, â€Å"It is a paradox: those movements who criticize Western technology and modernity are using the West’s most advanced communication technology, the Internet, to spread their message.† As this digital cat and mouse continue their chase, the U. S. Government must balance their aggression against sacred freedoms. Counter Internet Terrorism FISA, Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act, first enacted in 1978 as a reaction to the new cold war, started with good intentions, but have gone awry in recent years. FISA is the federal government’s most lethal homeland operation platform available to fight terrorism in general. Along with FISA, the more recent USA Patriot Act added complimentary defensive postures. Besides laws, our government uses Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening Systems (CAPPS II), Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC), the Defense Advanced Projects Administration (DARPA), Terrorist Information Awareness (TIA), and the Privacy and Civil Liberties Board (PCLB) (Steinberg, Graham Eggers, 2003). These modern efforts to secure our national security are force multipliers to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). If all of these national laws, regulations and agencies are worked in concert, all Americans will be safer. FISA details procedures for electronic and physical surveillance and gathering of foreign intelligence information that is between foreign powers. This intelligence gathering should be for the sake of finding terrorist cells that intend harm on America or Americans living abroad. FISA’s very secret court that approves almost baseless warrants to perform physical searches or electronic surveillance programs started being used extensively in year 2000 under President Clinton and even more frequently under the Bush Administration. This secret court is comprised of 11 judges appointed by the Supreme Court Chief Justice and is housed in the Department of Justices. Troubling concerns became public in recent years that the President of the United States conducted electronic surveillance specifically without FISA warrants in the name of fighting the Global War on Terror. FISA was significantly revised with the USA Patriot Act of 2001 to allow intelligence gathering activities on foreign groups that may or may not be backed by a foreign government. The USA Patriot Act approved by Congress as a result of the tragedy of September 11, 2001 was the greatest step-change that the Federal Government has promulgated to protect America while threatening our freedoms commonly called privacy rights. Privacy rights are definitely going to be violated as the Patriot Act is utilized, but it is the terrorist that the wire taps, data mining, and various cyber probes were supposed to target. The Patriot Act is supposed to be used to find foreign threats that generally reside within the United States. Common reactions leading to the Patriot Act were to never allow terrorist to be trained to fly planes in the U.S., travel around the country freely or violate VISA requirements. One overarching goal of the Patriot Act is to coalesce local, state and federal law enforcement agencies into a homogenous intelligence gathering and sharing team to stop terrorists. CAPPS II is being tested by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), an agency formed as a result of 9-11-01 (Steinberg, Graham Eggers, 2003). TSA intends to scan all commercial airliner passenger manifests looking for potential terrorists. TTIC a creation of 2003 vintage by the George W. Bush administration offers another very pervasive avenue into our everyday lives (Steinberg, Graham Eggers, 2003). TTIC seeks to coordinate information sharing between various intelligence gathering agencies. The goal of TTIC is not to gather more information, but rather to facilitate the collaboration of intelligence agencies to gain analytical synergies. Successful collaboration could lead to protections for critical infrastructure such as agriculture, transportation, water resources, and energy. DARPA sponsors research into data mining techniques and pattern recognition technologies that could develop new tools to discover terrorist plots or battlefield plans by the enemy. One s uch program to mine data is TIA (Steinberg, Graham Eggers, 2003). TIA is designed to detect terrorist groups planning attacks against America. TIA serves as the ultimate blender to integrate various technologies to provide tools to authorized intelligence and law enforcement agencies to gather critical data to detect terrorists. To possibly balance the three above intelligence agencies, the five-member Privacy and Civil Liberties Board has secretly operated for almost a year and will make its first report to Congress soon (Yen, 2007). The Board was intended to be a watchdog over the various FISA and Patriot Act reforms to determine if they have caused unruly invasions into private lives. The Board has looked at international financial transaction monitoring, warrant less eavesdropping, and the Homeland Security Department’s no-fly lists. The Board was tasked with looking at how the various oversight activities were conducted so that national security validated warrants and searches without warrants did not cause irreparable harm to America. Citizen Protections from Counter Terrorism Activities FISA courts were set up to serve the President while providing some means of protection for our citizen liberties. One really has to wonder why President Bush avoids the court formed to protect America. In 2000, Judge Lambert discovered that the FBI was misleading the court on the purpose of national security wiretaps. As a result of this court’s actions, tremendously needed wiretaps of Al Qaeda suspects were shut down. Immediate search and seizures in the name of foreign terrorist surveillance can be made without a warrant, but must be certified by the Attorney General after the fact. Domestically, the FISA court serves as the principal gatekeeper, but internationally the young Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime (CECC) steps into the foray to offer some common sense (Cybercrime Hacking, 2007). Anytime a process is validated by several countries, it should offer greater individual freedom protections. Only time will tell if this international intelligence gathering venue truly gets to the source quicker and more efficiently while avoiding violations of citizen’s personal life. Since all of these information gathering methods involve some form of communication, it must be obvious to realize that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) must play a key role in protecting constitutional freedoms. A crucial supporting cast to the FCC is the Homeland Security Policy Council (HSPC, 2007). HSPC was formed in late 2001 to strengthen measures to protect U.S. telecommunications, broadcast and communications infrastructure. HSPC was also tasked with being the emergency coordination agency in the event of terrorist attacks on communication systems, providing the means of last resort for first responders to effectively communicate. It is essential that the FCC plays a key role in terrorism awareness as that agency is able to reserve vital frequencies for communication. National disasters such as Hurricane Katrina clearly displayed the importance of interoperability. Besides government sponsored internet protectors, grass roots organizations such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF) maintain websites devoted to uncovering enemies of the internet (Enemies of the internet, 2006). As of November 2006 RSF listed 13 blacklisted countries. RSF has organized online coordinated protests to show worldwide support to maintain a free open internet. A free uncensored internet will keep bloggers posting their complaints about countries that are traditional human rights violators, e.g. China, Iran and North Korea. It will certainly be very interesting to watch whether penetrating U.S. intelligence activities could actually plop America on the predator of freedoms list. Global War on Terror (GWOT) Over $700 billion spent in the last four years and no closer to finding Osama bin Laden or weapons of mass destruction (WMD) makes every taxpayer cringe at the thought of continuing the fight for years to come. The answer to this world dilemma will come from innovative novel solutions. One such potential solution is allowing young scientists to craft means to destroy satellites virtually or physically. The Air Force Research Laboratory in New Mexico houses one such simple group formed to achieve those results. The group is named Space Countermeasures Hands On Program or Space CHOP (Shachtman, 2007). For example this group may go to the neighborhood electronic store to build simple devices that block vital satellite signals. Discovering these vulnerabilities along with hacking in their free time, define the next defensive front that must be armed and ready to protect national assets. For the free world to achieve a semblance of terrorism control, it is simple to see that to be able to fight modern terrorists, one must think and act like one. When someone considers that an individual can peddle an exercise bike to generate electricity to connect to the World Wide Web to transmit a lethal operational order that releases deadly attacks on trains in Spain, advances in counter-terrorism are critical. Instant messaging becomes a normal means of communication for battlefield commanders via PDA’s linked to satellite or cellular systems. Information is available to understand the issues; one such web page by the Counterproliferation Center of the U.S. Air Force lists 28 pages of links (GWOT, 2007). One day, counter terrorism classes may become as common as First Aid classes. Sacrifices for Security Intelligence gathering will not subside anytime soon, so the question must be answered how America will maintain privacy for every citizen and organization. Discussions are really just beginning to start with the apparently never ending GWOT. The public has only learned within the last year or so that the President of the United States authorized search and seizures without warrants to gain information about potential foreign terrorists. Regulations to protect us also offer invasions into every personal life. FISA, CIA, FBI, and our military are intended to make peace, but they also offer chaos. Becoming a better and stronger nation must be the goal of our leaders for all facets of life: education, economics, medical care, safety and democracy. Democracy is what sets America apart with its unlimited entrepreneurial spirit. This spirit in a sense makes close bedfellows with internet hackers. Hopefully each reader can see that creating an atmosphere that allows some harmless hacking actually presents opportunities to build new firewalls from terrorists. The key to fighting today’s and tomorrow’s radical terrorists lies within the internet. Sophisticated terrorists are the norm, and America must develop a new army of cyber warriors. Do you feel the calling? References Attacking Terrorist Networks at Home and Abroad, The White House, Washington, accessed February 20, 2007. Becker, Gary S., Why a Crash Wouldn’t Cripple The Economy, Hoover Digest No. 4, Hoover Institution, 1997. Berkowitz, Bruce, Fixing U.S. Intelligence, Hoover Institution, March 19, 2001. Berkowitz, Bruce, Preparing for the Computer Wars, Hoover Institution, August 13, 2001. Censorship Fears over New Online Ethics Commission, Reporters Without Borders, February 16, 2007. Cybercrime and Hacking, Computer World, IDG News, August 04, 2006. Enemies of the Internet Named, BBC News, London, November 7, 2006. FCC To Study ISP Business Practices, Stars and Stripes Volume 4, Number 346, Department of the Defense(DOD), 2007. 50 USC 1801, , law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sec_50_00001801-000-.html, accessed April 21, 2007. Flexible Deployment Assistance Guide 2nd Edition, Packet Mode Communications, Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act – CALEA, August 2001. For $150, Third-World Laptop Stirs Big Debate, New York Times, November 11, 2006. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, Wikipedia, accessed February 4, 2007. Free Expression, Center For Democracy Technology(CDT), 2007. Free Speech, Electronic Privacy Information Center, 2007. Freedom of Speech, Wikipedia.org, 2007. Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), U.S. Air Force Counterproliferation Center(USAFCC), accessed February 21, 2007. Glusing, Jens, Rao, Padma Himar Schmundt, The Dirt Road to the Information Superhighway, Spiegel Online, June 01, 2006. Goodman, Seymour Sofaer, Abraham, The Transnational Dimension of Cyber Crime and Terrorism, Hoover Institution, 2007. Help Us Protect Free Speech Online, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), 2007. Homeland Security Policy Council, Federal Communications Commission, Washington, accessed February 21, 2007. Huge Victory for Real People as Telco Bill Dies, savetheinternet.com, 2006. Lame Duck Alert: Don’t Let Senators Sell Us Out, savetheinternet.com, 2006. Lawmakers: Abuses Could Lead to Cuts in FBI Power, Associated Press, Stars and Stripes Volume 4, Number 343, Department of the Defense (DOD), 2007. Nakashima, Ellen, Business transactions rely on flawed terror watch list, Washington Post, Stars and Stripes, March 28, 2007. O’Brien, Teri, Did the FISA Court Stop Us From Connecting the Dots?, Free Republic, January 3, 2006. Privacy Technology: Internet Free Speech, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 2007. Reed, Fred, Troops’ Blogs Under Scrutiny, Washington Times, February 17, 2007. Shachtman, Noah, The Satellite Hackers, Popular Mechanics, February 2007. Sniffen, Michael J., FBI chief defends bureau’s authority to spy, Associated Press, Stars and Stripes, March 28, 2007. Steinberg, James B., Graham, Mary, Eggers, Andrew, Building Intelligence to Fight Terrorism, The Brookings Institution, September 2003. Swartz, Jon, Terrorists’ use of Internet spreads, USATODAY.com, February 20, 2005. Weimann, Gabriel, www.terror.net: How Modern Terrorism Uses the Internet, United States Institute of Peace (USIP), March, 2004. Yen, Hope, Board OKs eavesdropping, financial tracking, The Associated Press (AP), Washington, March 7, 2007. Research Papers on How the Internet Fuels TerrorismThe Effects of Illegal Immigration19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraTwilight of the UAWNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceGenetic EngineeringDefinition of Export QuotasAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2Relationship between Media Coverage and Social andBringing Democracy to AfricaQuebec and Canada

Do economist matter Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Do economist matter - Assignment Example He points out that the public is uneducated in economic theories. Moreover, people and institutions of influence tend to muddle up these economic laws in order to server their own vested interest. Ultimately, the public is not only uneducated, they are also miseducated in the theories of economics and even refuse to be educated in these areas. In addition, even economists themselves rarely adhere to the economic theories that they themselves preach as they take into account external factors such as family security, pride, and societal acceptance. As such, economists end up sending messages that the public would be more comfortable to hear. This dilemma is further aggravated by the fact that economic theories have been, and may be, tested out on very limited platforms. Thus, economists usually have their hands tied and their tongues curled in defense of economic theories that may or may not work. Overall, Stigler illustrates that economists are almost always torn between being an academic who incessantly explains theories to an unaccepting public and an implementor whose proposals are periodically squashed by an unbelieving society. Either way, an economist’s quest for popularity and for influence will, in Stigler’s view, most likely lead him to parallel

Critical Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Critical Reflection - Essay Example During the second seminar, members of the forum discussed debated on several issues that face if not the society, the issues face humanity. Some of the common issues debated during this case include; the aspect of sexual desire, social isolation, anger as an aspect of motivations, personality disorder and the aspect of being sadistic. Other debated topics included sexuality, fantasy, characters of the perpetrators, actions and victim’s psychological features. However, the main topic of the seminar was sexual offending and sexual homicide. During the first seminar discussion, it was revealed that violent crime entails a crime whereby the offender threatens or uses violence upon an individual. In most cases, violent crimes entail crimes whereby the main objective is violent act. Alternatively, violent crimes include the types of crimes, which are committed with weapons. The seminar revealed that violent crimes are always seen as negative and unnecessary. Most of the members drew a conclusion that violent crimes always turn out as bad, dangerous and ugly towards fellow human beings. However, it was also discussed that violent crimes can be ambiguous along with power dimensions which mostly results in ineffectiveness and weakness. Some members of the seminar however were of the opinion that acts of violence remain a successful aspect of social positioning. In response to the aspect of media perceptions of violence, the discussion generally established that there are three different fundamentally spheres of media communication which generally interact the aspect of violent crime. The three aspects include the entertainment aspect, online and news. Further discussions revealed that the three spheres are subdivided into media sub-spheres, which include television, radio, films and the internet. These forms of media and sub-media aspects play an essential role in interacting with a near inexhaustible crime numbers as well as crime control activities

Introduction Of KFC In Mauritius

Introduction Of KFC In Mauritius The necessity for all human being is eating which is observably a daily action. For eating at restaurants, it depend on an individuals reason and is intentionally or instinctively assess by a multifarious set of attributes ahead before choosing a restaurant. Thus, this study is to investigate how much service quality has an impact on customer satisfaction and retention especially in our Mauritian context at KFC. As there is a casual inter-relationship between customer satisfaction and service quality, this study aims to find out the effectiveness of the service dimensions of service quality which leads to customer satisfaction and finally to retention at KFC. An individual feeling of pleasure and disappointment is known as satisfaction and the customer satisfaction is very important for any organization. All the main aspects will be analyzed and recommendations will be drawn out for better improvement. Company Background History Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) was founded by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1952 and its primary focus is fried chicken. KFC also offers grilled and roasted chicken products, wraps, salads, sandwiches and desserts as well beef based products outside the USA. Although the death of Sanders in 1980, he remains a vital part of the firms branding and advertisements, and Colonel Sanders or The Colonel is a metonym for the company itself. In 1991, the abbreviated form of its name KFC was adopted by the company. The Present KFC operates more than 5,200 restaurants in the United States and more than 15,000 units around the world. In 109 countries and territories around the world, KFC daily serves more than 12 million customers. KFC is world famous for its Original Recipe fried chicken, made up of 11 herbs and spices secretly blended together. Colonel Harland Sanders perfected more than a half century ago. Based on the Fortune 500 List, KFC is ranked on 239 positions with revenues in excess of $11 billion in 2008. Introduction of KFC in Mauritius With time, consumers were more demanding for large variety of food and then, the first KFC outlet was launched in Mauritius-1983. Pick N Eat is the company which operates the KFC franchise in Mauritius. KFC has carved a solid reputation as a quick service restaurant which provides quality products and service. Across our island, 18 outlets are spread out and 10,000 customers daily are enjoying their finger-linking favorites in the consumer-friendly environment. Background of the program In the fierce competition, the market trend has changed noticeably from agricultural to service market. The service sector especially fast food industry is in a rapid growth and gain a sustainable position in the market due to lack of time to prepare food and dual income families. All of the fast food businesses are trying their best to improve their service quality in order to make customer satisfied and return back to them again. They are concentrating more on service quality in order to meet the needs and expectations of the customer. The more satisfied the customers are, the more likely they are to return to the restaurant. The fast food industry has undoubtedly not been free from either augmented competition or from increasing customer expectations regarding quality. In the fast food industry, the perceived quality holds a great importance to create a retention effect for customers. So the fact is that when the service providers are able to satisfy its customers with good manage rial arrangement, the foods quality provided, have efficient staff, then a positive outcome is seen in customers retention in a particular restaurant. Problem Statement Service quality is a vital strategy for any restaurants, success and repeat business and it has long been defined by adopting a rather more customer-oriented view and not by the restaurateur-oriented (Saleh and Ryan, 1991). Customer is the key role in any business, without any customer it is difficult to do business. It is necessary to work closely with your customer. As customers can also create your business, thus, customer is the major part of business and also in the market. Business runs through customer, without the customer there is no business. Due to the increasing competition with other restaurants and quality-conscious customers, it is vital to carry out this research. There is a need for further improvement in order to face the competitors and meet the increasing customers expectation concerning quality. Based on the actual service quality performance of KFC, it is important to identify if customers are satisfied with the current situation and are likely to retain at KFC or switch to other competitors. Also, to find out the factors of service quality that leads to customer satisfaction and retention. From the above reasons, it is important that the service performance meets or exceeds customers and their expectation, the customer will be satisfied. Service quality is an antecedent of customer satisfaction. Therefore, this warrants a study to assess the customers expectation and perception, examine its discrepancy gaps and the service quality dimensions that influence customer satisfaction and retention. Research Objectives -To determine customers expectation and perception level towards service quality. -To identify the discrepancy gap between customers expectation and perception level towards service quality. -To identify the SERVQUAL dimensions which have an influence on customer satisfaction and retention? Research Questions -What is customers expectation and perception towards service quality? -What is the discrepancy gap exist between customers expectation and perception towards service quality? -What are the SERVQUAL dimensions which have an influence on customer satisfaction and retention? Aims of the study This study is to find out whether the service dimensions have an impact on customer satisfaction and retention at KFC by using the SERVQUAL Model by Parasuraman, Zenithaml, and Berry (1988). It will also explore the service aspects that affect and influence customer satisfaction and retention. Significance of the study This study will act as a practical guideline for KFC, especially for the management and the front line employees which may increased a higher level of customer satisfaction in the near future. The results of this quantitative assessment of service quality may provide some insights into how customers rate the service and assessed customer satisfaction at KFC. The outcomes will utilize as a basis to improve their existing service quality or to develop a new one in order to meet with the customers needs and satisfy them. Furthermore it will help KFC managers to know if they are providing services according to the norms established by customers. The management will be able to come up with a strategy for upgrading their service quality which will definitely lead to customer satisfaction and retention. All these views of customers will help KFC to remedy problems if there are and maintain their service quality. Phases of the discussion Introduction In the first chapter, the problem area is discussed with a deeper understanding regarding the research. The problem discussion ends with a research objectives and questions. In the end of this chapter, the contributions of this research are also presented. Literature Review In the literature review, the service qualitys impact on customer satisfaction and retention is discussed with the following purposes of assessing customers expectation, customers and employees perception, identifying their gaps and the influencing service quality aspects. Research Methodology ************************************* Analysis ************************************************* Conclusion and Recommendation ******************************************************** Conclusion The first chapter provided us a background to the outline of the dissertation. It contained the research context, which is, identify the problems, and establish its aims and its objectives, set out the research questions and finally present the outline of the study. Chapter 2- LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This chapter will give an overview of literature and models that presented by writers and journalists. It will support the research objective presented in the previous chapter. The chapter will elaborate the concepts of service, service quality, customer satisfaction, customer retention, service quality dimensions, the gaps and others. 2.2 Fast Food Industry The fast food industry is also known as Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) and has been serving delicious food for as long as people lived on. The fast food generally refers to the food served to customers in form of packaged for takeout or on the spot with minimum preparation time. The Mauritian fast food industry was primarily started with the famous dholl-puri and is still in great demand. But, due to globalization, the fast food industry has gradually breakthrough the Mauritian lifestyle. The consumer demand has evolved as they demand for a variety of food in a comfortable, stylish place and for busy people a quick bite at all times of the day. Today, these products form part of the Mauritian lifestyle and culture. People look for the convenience in order to improve their lives and productivity. Recent studies have shown that one out of every two-and-a-half-meal today is eaten away from home (Kara et al 1997). The fast food industry is not without its challenges. There is an increased focus on the quality of food served in the fast food restaurants. But, in this fierce competition of today, the right marketing approach and application of service quality is vital to compete with competitors as well as retain customers. The fast food industry is large and diverse in itself with lots of opportunities that challenge is being answered with new offerings and strategies to lure consumer back in. In the new emerging fast food industry, KFC is expanding in accordance with the customers demand despite the environmental problems and provide its potential to give a meal in a pleasant atmosphere. Jang Namkung (2009) proposed three factors: service and product quality as well as the atmospherics element are considered as the main restaurant attributes affecting the perceived quality of customers experiences at a restaurant. The total dining experience in a restaurant is comprised of not only food itself, but also the atmosphere (physical aspects) and the service provided. Thus, the fast food industry is based on the principles of quality food served fast and requires fast-reaction solutions to customers needs if they want to satisfy and retain customers. 2.3 Service There are many definitions concerning the concept of service by researchers. The term service was describe by the author Gronroos (1983) as: An activity or series of activities of more or less intangibles nature that normally, but not necessarily, take place in interactions between the customer and service employees and/or physical resources or goods and / or systems of service provider, which are provided as solutions to customer problems. Another definition was given by the author (Payne, 1993) said that service is Any primary or complementary activity that does not directly. Produce a physical product that is, the non-goods part of the transaction between customer and provider. Whereas Kotler et. al. (1999) is of opinion the service is regarded as any activity or benefit that one party offers to another which is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything, and it may or may not be tied to a physical product. Normally, lots of people are involved in a s ervice process and it is tough to do an analysis of service or to duplicate the same service exactly. In today market, products heavily rely on its service to acquire competitive advantage and to satisfy customers needs. Each authors mentions service as an exchange between the service provider and customers as well as its intangibility nature. The most vital point is simply the participation of the customer in the service process. KFC provides quality product and service with full customers interaction. 2.4 Service Quality In the service industry, service quality has become a crucial tool. Practitioners are more interested in the concept of service quality which has an advantageous effect on the outcome performance for the company. Service quality is a critical element of customer perceptions as well as in determining customer satisfaction. Various experts have defined service quality differently. Parasuraman et al. (1985) proposed a formal definition of service quality as the degree and direction of discrepancy between customers service perception and expectation. Satisfaction occurs when the expectations meet or exceed the performance level whereas customer dissatisfaction occurs when the expectation is below the perceived quality. Asubonteng et al. (1996) defines service quality as the extent to which a service meets customers need and expectation. Hooley, Saunders and Piercy (2004) A prime factor in differentiating the product or service from that of competitors is quality. Quality concerns the fit ness for purpose of a product or service. For manufactured products that can include the durability, appearance or grade of the product while in services it often comes down to the tangible elements of the services, the reliability and responsiveness of the service provider, the assurance provided of the value of service and empathy, or caring attention, received. According to these authors, the service quality is normally the customer perceptions and the organizations activities together with delivering quality service that matched to customer expectations on a consistent basis. Service quality is a key survival of all restaurants as it is the most powerful competitive weapon that can be used against competitors and to attract as well as to retain customers. These authors highlights that two main factors affect the quality of a services, that is, expected service and perceived service. 2.5 SERVQUAL Approach The SERVQUAL framework has come up for the purpose to improve service quality in services and retailing organizations as it has suggest that customer satisfaction is based on multiple factors rather than one. The SERVQUAL method was developed by Parasuraman et al. in 1988 as a technique used to perform a gap analysis of an organizations service quality performance against customer service quality needs. Parasuraman et al. (1988) came up with five dimensions (grouped with 22 attributes) to measure service quality which is responsiveness, assurance, tangibility, empathy and reliability. The SERVQUAL instrument is regarded as a reliable method of measuring service quality (explore customers expectation and perceptions), which in turn leads to a measurement of customer satisfaction. Internationally, KFC already have a service quality assurance team for regular surveys with a theory known as CHAMPS (consist of cleanliness, hospitality, accuracy, maintenance, the standard of product quality plus service speed). This is to evaluate the customers experience whether they are satisfied or not with the products and services. In Mauritius, KFC has already executed the theory of service quality and conduct survey concerning the services. Thus, in the study, the SERVQUAL method will be used for further research work. 2.5.1 SERVQUAL Dimensions In 1985, Parasuraman et al. has identified ten determinants for measuring service quality which are as follows: responsiveness, reliability, access, competence, courtesy, credibility, communication, security, tangibility and understanding or knowing the customer. Later, in 1998, Parasuraman et al. refined the model to the useful acronym RATER:- Reliability It is defined as the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately or delivering on its promises (Zeithaml et al., 2006, p. 117). It is one of the most important service components for customers as it implies doing it right the first time. The service organizations need to keep its promise and maintain an error free record. The reliability factors are efficiency in the billing system, consistency in serving customers, and the staff performs tasks that have been promised to guests and well trained staff. For the food beverage industry, reliability can be interpreted to mean fresh food delivered at the correct temperature and accurately the first time (Andaleeb Conway, 2006). In the Mauritian context, KFC has its own training center recognized by the franchisor for their staff. The chicken is prepared on the spot and they make sure that the service delivery is consistent and timely. The most significant policy of KFC is evaluating the customers experience with its service, whether they are satisfied or not. They can also put their comments and suggestions for further improvements of the products and services of KFC. Assurance Assurance is defined as the employees knowledge and courtesy and the service providers ability to inspire trust and confidence (Zeithaml et al., 2006, p. 119). The assurance factors are staffs knowledge about the menu, safety, security, trustworthy and friendly staff. Customers are more likely to use tangible evidence to assess the assurance dimension such as awards or special certificates which give a new customer confidence. KFC has achieved National Quality Awards and have a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) program is implemented in order to identify, evaluate and control any physical and environmental hazards in the work place. And the logo of HACCP is visible in every restaurant as an assurance dimension. Tangibility Tangible is defined as the physical facilities, equipment, staff appearance and others. In accordance with the author, Zeithamal et al. (2006) this dimension is comprised to the current appearance and shape of the cutlery, the restaurants interiors decor, silverwares and the uniform of the staff, the layout and appearance of the menu list, restaurant signage and advertising campaign. Tangibles are used by firms to convey image and signal quality (Zeithaml et al., 2006). Customers use this dimension to evaluate the quality. KFC has its own evidence of its service in terms of products, packaging, printed and visual marketing materials, websites, and staff appearance, virtual evidence of handling queries and feedback through Facebook and other online services. Empathy Empathy is the extent to which caring individualized service is given to a customer. The customer is treated as a king. Many small companies use this ability to provide customized services as a competitive advantage over the larger firms (Zeithaml et al., 2006). The empathy components are willingness to handle requests, give individualized attention to customers, and show enthusiasm to serve and to answer to all queries accurately. Empathy may be important to ensure customer loyalty as the server knows how the customer likes his or her food prepared. In return, the customer is easily approach and spell out their needs to the service provider. If a company looks its customer as an individual, as result, the company will come out as a winner. KFC take care of each individual customer by providing the meal according to the customer requirement. Such as, a meal can be upgraded by adding cheese, pineapple, tomato, plain or spicy chicken as per the customers taste. Before launching a new product, KFC take care of its customers opinion into consideration through Facebook and keep continuous communication with the customer through regular survey. Responsiveness Responsiveness is defined as the willingness to help customers and provide prompt service (Zeithaml et al., 2006, p. 117). The responsiveness factors are short waiting period for the service delivery, attend complaints quickly, availability of staff when needed and restaurants action upon customer suggestions. In order to be responsive, a service provider has to determine how long it would take to get answer or to solve a problem. To be successful, companies need to look at responsiveness from the view point of the customer rather than the companys perspective (Zeithaml et al., 2006). This dimension captures the notion of flexibility and ability to customize the service according to the customer needs. KFC handle complaints quickly especially through Facebook and the staff are willing to help customer as well as keeping in mind for short waiting period in service delivery. 2.5.2 Service Quality Gaps Model In 1990, Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Berry have developed a survey instrument to measure the gap between customers expectation for excellence and their perception of actual service delivered. The SERVQUAL model uses the terms that describe one or more determinants of a quality service encounter. Gronroos (1982), Lewis and Booms (1983); Parasuraman et al. (1985) have the same opinion that the most frequently used approach to measure service quality is SERVQUAL to compare the customers expectation prior to the service encounter and their perception after the actual service delivery. Basically, there are seven principal gaps in the service qualitys concept, out of which Gap 1, Gap 5 and Gap 6 are more associated with the external customers as they have a direct relationship with customers. Figure 2.1: SERVQUAL or Gaps Model (Zeithaml Parasuaman Berry 1988 Gap 1: Management perceptions of consumer expectations and Customers expectations and It is the knowledge gap which portrays the difference between the management beliefs about customers, expectations and what customers actually need and expect. This gap happens when there is insufficient flow of communication upwards, lack of marketing research orientation and too many level of management. Gap 2: Management perceptions of consumer expectations v/s service specifications It is a policy gap where a difference occurs between management perceptions regarding customers expectations and service specifications are set for service delivery. The reasons for this gap are unfeasibility, inadequate commitment to service quality and task standardization as well as an absence of goal setting. Gap 3: Service quality specifications opposite service delivery It is the difference between the service specifications and the service delivery teams actual performance on these specifications. The gap is a result of poor employee-job fit, lack of perceived control and lack of teamwork. Gap 4: Service delivery v/s external communication to customers The communication gap is the difference between what the company communicates and what is actually delivers to the customer. It is due to inadequate horizontal communications and propensity to over- promise. Gap 5: The discrepancy gap between customers expectations and customers perceptions of the service delivered It is the difference between what has actually delivered and what customers feel they have received. Customer expectations are influenced by the extent of personal needs, past service experiences and word of mouth recommendation. The difference occurs when customers are influenced and service provider has shortfalls. Gap 6: The discrepancy gap between customer expectations from the service provider and employees perceptions of consumers expectations The service quality gap is what the customers expect to receive and their perception of the service that is actually delivered. There is a difference in the understanding of customer expectations by front-line service provider. Gap 7: The discrepancy gap between employees perceptions and management perceptions of consumers expectations This gap is mainly an internal difference in the organization such as differences in understanding of customer expectations between management and employees. 2.6 Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is the heart of marketing. Customer satisfaction is the customers evaluation of the service or product against if their needs and expectations are meant. For any restaurant, customer satisfaction is more important as it forms a part of marketing. In past years, customer satisfaction was not that important but today it is the most important issue in term of the most reliable feedback for a restaurants excellency. Richard L. Oliver (1997, P.13) define customer satisfaction as Satisfaction is the consumers fulfillment response. It is a judgment that a product or service feature, or the product or service itself, provides a pleasurable level of consumption-related fulfillment. Customers satisfaction is highly influenced by their characteristics, their emotional responses and their perceptions of equity. As Kotler (2000, p.36) defined that satisfaction is a persons feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a products perceived performance (or ou tcome) in relation to his or her expectation. If the performance didnt meet the expectation of the customer, then dissatisfaction will occur. If the performance exceeds the customers expectation, then satisfaction will occur. If the performance exceeds more than expected, then the customer will delighted. In the context of customer satisfaction, Johnston and Clark (2005) have describe it as Service as the combination of outcomes and experience delivered to and receives by a customer. Customers therefore judge the quality of the service on the experience as well as the outcome. Due to current competitive edge, customers are abreast with the fact of product quality and every service provider is interested to satisfy customers needs and wants. All of three authors explain customer satisfaction as a bunch of desired expectations of a customer that has been fulfilled by the service provider. But, Richard L. Olivers definition is more applicable in this research work which emphasis that satisfaction is based upon service itself. KFC take care for its customer satisfaction by providing an online questionnaire on its website regarding customer satisfaction. 2.7 Customer Retention Lovelock (2004) illustrates importance of customer retention The hardest part of a business is customer retention. If a company does not retain its customers, inevitably it will fail. Marketing essentially means keeping customer loyalty. In order to have a good lifetime value of customers, an organization needs to have good strategies to retain them and arouse loyalty within them for lifetime. Laura Lake (2010) defined Customer retention is not only a cost effective and profitable strategy, but in todays business world its necessary. This is especially true when you remember that 80% of your sales come from 20% of your customer and clients In the starting point of a business, customer retention is very important as the cost involved in attracting new customers are five times higher than retaining an existing one. Hill and Alexander (2006) defined It is becoming accepted that there is a strong link between customer satisfaction, customer retention and profitability. By fulfilling cust omer expectation, an organization provides all service according to the customers preferences and in return, the customer is loyal to the organization. It makes profit for the organization and organization has to retain by providing continuous good services, better customer satisfaction and that will be profitability for the organization. So, organization has to make strong relation with customers as high rates of customer retention are a competitive weapon against its competitors. By having a questionnaire always on the website, KFC is trying to take care of that small segment of customers who are satisfied or dissatisfied with its service quality. In this way, KFC tries to retain those happy customers than losing them. 2.8 Customers expectations and perceptions 2.8.1 Customers expectations Customer expectations are increasing day by day and demanding for quality products and services; therefore expectations play an important role in the formation of customer satisfaction. The term expectations really matters to companies because they want to know what customers expectations are. According to Oliver (1981) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ expectations are consumer-defined probabilities of the occurrence of positive and negative events if the consumer engages in some behavior. Customers form their expectations from their past experience, friends advice, and marketers and competitors information and promises. Organizations in order to keep expectations from rising, they have to perform services properly from the first time (Parasuraman et al. 1988). There is tendency that if a service is not delivered as promised, thus the customers expectations are likely to rise in the next encounter. Expectations serve as reference points in customers assessment of performance (Cronin Taylor, 1992). Th e purpose of trying to understand customers expectations is trying to ensure that service can be designed and delivered in order to meet those expectations. If the operation meets the expectations, or indeed exceeds them, then customers are satisfied with the service. If they are satisfied they are more likely to become valuable customers who not only use the service again, but are positively disposed towards it and may even recommend it to other Johnston and Clark (2005). Therefore, the perceived service quality is viewed as the difference between consumers perceptions and expectations for the service provided. 2.8.2 Customers perceptions Mc Kenna (2000) is of opinion that perception is a vital process in a persons life where he or she has to manage and interpret a situation or an event to define a particular respond. Service firms must understand the concept of service quality from the point of view of the customer, not from the view point of the service firm or service provider. Besides, customer perceives services in the response to quality pertaining to the service and the extent to which they are satisfied with the overall service with their experiences (Zeithaml and Bitner 2003). The customer satisfaction is determined by the customers perceptions and expectations of the service quality. Customer perceives services in terms of the quality of the service and how satisfied they are overall with their experience. The customers perception varies from customer to customer and each one has different beliefs towards the services that play a crucial role in determining customer satisfaction. Therefore, customer percepti on and customer satisfaction are very closely linked together, because if the perceived service is close to customers expectations it leads to satisfaction. Satisfied customers provide recommendations; maintain loyalty towards the company and customers in turn are more likely to pay price premiums (Reichheld, 1996). As such, perceived service quality is a key component of customer satisfaction. 2.9 Relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction A great emphasis need to be heightened on service quality and customer satisfaction. In old times, customers were not concerned about quality and their satisfaction does not have such importance. But, today,

Human Resource Mangement Essay -- Personnel Management

Human Resource Mangement Describe and critically evaluate the key factors that shape the role and practices of the HR/Personnel function within an organisation with which you are familiar. On the basis of your analysis identify the main HR challenges currently facing this organisation. Relate your analysis to appropriate literature. Introduction People are an important and expensive resource to a business. This asset has the capacity to be highly productive and generate revenue for the firm, but it also requires much attention and maintenance. When the direct costs of employment are added to the indirect costs of recruitment and selection, training and development, the organisation's investment in an average full-time employee can exceed  £100,000 in a short space of time. Therefore one of the fundamental factors is how to attract the right employee and retain their services, gaining efficiency throughout. Before answering the first part of the question â€Å"Describe and critically evaluate the key factors that shape the role and practices of the HR/Personnel function within an organisation with which you are familiar†, the differences between HRM and the older style ‘Personnel Management’ requires defining. Human Resource Management HRM can be defined as any part of the management structure that relates to people at work. It involves everything from recruitment to training to performance appraisal and overall employee welfare. HRM is originally an American management term that has taken over from the more restrictive 'Personnel Management', and denotes a more proactive and business-focused role, with an emphasis on good communication and staff commitment, more flexible work practices, and performance-related reward systems. http://www.leavingcert.net/. Once considered a more peripheral activity, HRM has now moved to the core of the business. The author’s own perspective of this assignment is delivered from within the steel industry. An employee in middle management with a history of working from grass roots to Manufacturing Manager over a 10 year period within the Basic Oxygen Steel making plant (BOS). A plant where the iron from the Blast furnace iron is refined and then re-alloyed to be supplied at the correct time temperature and specification to the Continuously Cast plant (CONCAST) where semi-finished products are ... ...emphasis on good communication and staff commitment, more flexible work practices, and performance-related reward systems as opposed to Personnel Management These philosophies are carried out by the first line management, which begs the question, â€Å"Have the lesser experienced plant personnel carried out a process that has inherently been carried out by trained professional HR managers and got the numbers wrong, furthermore, was it implemented correctly? Overall because of the reduction in numbers within the HR department, Plant managers and Line managers are now carrying out many tasks and the HR department have a significantly lesser role in the organisation. With no forecast of any change in philosophy and increase in expenditure then the situation is unlikely to change. The input of an active Trade Union and informed official needs to be considered, there is a definite need for both and the HRM department must ensure that a relationship continues. Bibliography: Human resource Management, A Contemporary Perspective, 2nd Edition, 1997. Ian Beardwell and Len Holden. Human Resource Management, ‘Rhetoric’ and Realities’. Karen Legge http://www.leavingcert.net/

“Demon in the Freezer” A Book Report Essay

â€Å"Demon in the Freezer† by popular virus expert Richard Preston is the third book in his ‘trilogy of death.’ After zooming in on the dangers of Ebola virus in his best-selling book â€Å"The Hot Zone,† and bioengineered monkey pox in â€Å"The Cobra Event,† Preston shifts the focus to the lurking threat posed by the deadly smallpox virus in the event that it becomes the new weapon of choice among terrorists dabbling in chemical warfare.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The book is premised on an alarming but very real possibility – the vulnerability of America and the rest of the world to biological weapons at the hands of terrorists.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It all begins on the events of September 27, 2001, a Thursday, nearly three weeks after the terror attacks on the Twin Towers of the New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Photo retoucher Robert Stevens begins to feel unwell and suffers from flu-like symptoms after he takes his family hiking in North Carolina. He starts to vomit profusely and soon develops a high fever, convulsions, and slips into a coma before succumbing to a fatal breathing arrest. Medical experts diagnose the cause of death as inhalation anthrax, alerting Army officials into action. More poisoned letters are discovered and the victims are rushed into bivouac units, forcing authorities to confront the worst – could the anthrax, non-communicable and treatable with early diagnosis, be laced with something far more deadly – the fatal smallpox virus?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   After narrating the anthrax attacks on Sen. Tom Deschle’s office in October 2001, Preston makes a temporal jump (one of several in fact) to cover a smallpox outbreak in Germany back in 1970, courtesy of the man Peter Los, who in his youth has gone traipsing halfway around the world in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan in pursuit of the hippie ideals of the ‘60s. Preston then proceeds to describe the prehistoric origins of smallpox as far as the early river valley civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Then he propels back to the ‘70s as he retells the smallpox eradication campaign led by medical doctor Donald Ainslie (DA) Henderson, then director of the World Health Organization’s Smallpox Eradication Unit from its inception (1966) to 1977, just before the last known reported case occurred.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Henderson is passionate about getting rid of the virus: â€Å"What we need to do is create a general moral climate where smallpox is considered too morally reprehensible to be used as a weapon. That would make the possession of smallpox in a laboratory, anywhere, effectively a crime against humanity. The likelihood that it would be used as a weapon is diminished by a global commitment to destroy it. How much it is diminished I don’t know. But it adds a level of safety (Preston, 2002, p. 54).â€Å"   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A Soviet epidemiologist also deserves credit for jump-starting the modern effort to eradicate smallpox – Viktor Zhdanov – who called for its global eradication at the 1958 World Health Assembly annual meeting. This was subsequently endorsed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965 in a political move to improve American-Soviet relations, and D.A. Henderson found himself heading the World Health Organization’s new Smallpox Eradication Unit. And the rest of the eradication campaign became one of the greatest feats in public health history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Preston now turns to an examination of the Soviet biological weapons program in 1989, after Soviet biologist Vladimir Pasechnik defected to Britain and confirmed that the USSR had biological missiles targeted at the United States. This infuriated then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and US President George Bush, who confronted Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. In response, Gorbachev allowed a small, secret team of weapons inspectors to tour the Soviet’s bio-warfare facilities for their Biopreparat program. These American and British inspectors were alarmed by what they discovered: Russian scientists were testing and experimenting with smallpox at their bioweapons facility at the Vector virology complex in Siberia, in violation of the WHO rules. This was denied by Soviet authorities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For top UDAMRIID scientist Peter Jahrling, the demon in the freezer has been set loose, with illegal stocks of the smallpox virus in possession of rogue states like Iraq and North Korea almost a certainty. The thought of biologists in secret labs creating new strains of the virus into a ‘superpox’ variant resistant to all vaccines is enough to sent chills down virologists’ spines. Jahrling is leading a team of scientists in controversial experiments with live smallpox to develop vaccines and help counter what the bioterrorists might be cooking up.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The author views the subject of bioterrorism as a very real, urgent and alarming threat to national security, and the fate of humanity on the whole, given today’s mobile world where a smallpox outbreak could spread as fast as wildfire across countries all over the globe.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Following the events after 9/11 and the anthrax terror, Preston highlights the new world order: the urgency to safeguard civilization from these new menaces. Smallpox is recognized as the new supreme bioterror menace, given the disease’s potential to cause human agony, its capability for fast and easy transmission, and ultimately its lethal character. Anthrax pales in comparison as direct contact is unnecessary for smallpox to spread – all it takes is for the virus to travel through a ventilation system. Immunity from the disease through vaccines introduced decades ago effectively vanishes, and if released in today’s very mobile world, it would easily overwhelm mankind in dreadful waves. Preston succinctly captures the menace of smallpox, without resorting to hyperbole: â€Å"Smallpox is explosively contagious, and it travels through the air. Virus particles in the mouth become airborne when the host talks. If you inhale a single particle of smallpox, you can come down with the disease†¦ Then the illness hits with a spike of fever, a backache, and vomiting, and a bit later tiny red spots appear all over the body. The spots turn into blisters, called pustules, and the pustules enlarge, filling with pressurized opalescent pus. The eruption of pustules is sometimes called the splitting of the dermis. The skin doesn’t break, but splits horizontally, tearing away from its underlayers. The pustules become hard, bloated sacs the size of peas, encasing the body with pus, and the skin resembles a cobbled stone street. †¦The pain of the splitting is extraordinary. People lose the ability to speak, and their eyes can squeeze shut with pustules, but they remain alert. Death comes with a breathing arrest or a heart attack or shock or an immune-system storm, though exactly how smallpox kills a person is not known (Preston, 2002, p. 44).†   Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The sociological consequences on account of the issue of bioterrorism are manifold and far-reaching. There is of course the issue of power relations among nations, particularly in the case of the arms race between the United States and the USSR during the Cold War which brought to the fore the threat of nuclear annihilation and bio-chemical warfare. Though the Soviet bloc has crumbled, other rogue states, e.g. North Korea, Cuba and Iran, are more than ready to threaten and challenge the United States for military supremacy, and might even be developing new weapons of mass destruction no longer limited to nuclear warheads but utilizing as well deadly pathogens and viral strains.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Preston spends much time in the book discussing current efforts of the American scientific community to research smallpox in the hope of better combating bioterrorism. It is important to note, as Preston does, that the people leading the fight to destroy smallpox, though well-trained, was still mostly a ragtag group of scientists and medical doctors with the firm conviction that smallpox could indeed, and should be annihilated from the face of the planet.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Perhaps his discussion of the current research on smallpox would prove more relevant as he provides a detailed description and analysis of the conflicts and controversies surrounding the project – from securing approval and the go-ahead signal from top government officials to the personal conflicts and issues the personalities involved in the research have had to face. The primary concern centers on the perceived lax security at the two worldwide biomedical installations, one in Atlanta and the other at Siberia, and their conviction on the very real threat of bioterrorism which could strike anytime and claim so many lives, given the state of unpreparedness to counter such an attack.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Preston successfully connects the past (the impetus for eradication of the disease) to the future (current concerns on how to counter the virus). As situated within the new-world context of post 9/11, there is a pressing need for vaccine stockpiling, long advocated by top government virologist Peter Jahrling who had initially feared the lacing of the mailed anthrax spores with smallpox. He comes into conflict with D. A. Henderson, the current head of the Office of Public Health Preparedness, as he argues for the development of an antiviral agent for those who cannot receive the smallpox vaccine. Henderson thinks that Jahrling’s experimentation with smallpox in laboratory monkeys is a largely futile step in the wrong direction. The dean of John Hopkins School of Public Health Al Sommer has joined the fray, believing that Jahrling’s work provides an impetus for other countries to conduct their on experiments on smallpox, thereby â€Å"We could start an arms race over smallpox†¦ (Sommers as quoted by Preston, 2002).†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   More disturbing is the revelation of the creation of a genetically engineered mousepox virus to which mousepox-resistant rodents are highly susceptible, intensifying the fear that unscrupulous scientists might have already created a ‘smallpox supervirus’ immune to current vaccines. Preston (2002) leaves us with this dire warning: â€Å"The main thing that stands between the human species and the creation of a supervirus is a sense of responsibility among individual biologists†¦The international community of physicists came of age in a burst of light over the sand of Trinity in New Mexico. The biologists have not yet experienced their Trinity.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The book’s main strength is that is a well-researched piece, and Richard Preston has proven himself a skillful writer with his vivid narration and matter-of-fact style allowing him to dispense with hyperbole.   The book succeeds in frightening its readers as it covers many interesting episodes. Although some may find the message of â€Å"Demon in the Freezer† grim and uncomfortable it nonetheless awakens readers to the true significance of chillingly real concepts, i.e. â€Å"weapons of mass destruction† and â€Å"bioterrorism.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the weak side, the temporal jumps in the narration give one the feeling of a disjointed read, as the two stories on anthrax and smallpox do not quite flow as smoothly and coherently as one might wish – the author fails to weave the story in such a way that there is an effectively riveting and seamless momentum – though each part is fascinating. At some point, there is also too much details to grasp and absorb, and to that extent the reader have to grapple with information overload, halting the usually rapid fire story-telling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The main bias of the author is that he is of course writing from the American perspective, as the USA proves to be the eminent target of terror attacks. Thus, â€Å"Demon in the Freezer† appears to be an attempt to inform and warn Americans of the dangers they are currently facing from the threat of bioterrorism, and to some extent to influence authorities and make them realize the horrors – a global viral epidemic which could wipe out the world’s population – which might arise from inaction on the part of government and the scientific community:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"A vaccine-resistant smallpox would be everyone’s worst nightmare come true†¦ We could be left trying to fight a genetically engineered virus with a vaccine that had been invented in 1796 (Preston, 2002).†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   General Russell had this to add: â€Å"If smallpox really got going, people should be most concerned about a lack of effective leadership on the part of their government (quoted by Preston, 2002, p. 60).â€Å"   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On a happy note, â€Å"Demon in the Freezer† provided the timely opportunity for me to get acquainted with the issue of bioterrorism and its related concepts – biological warfare, weapons of mass destruction, etc., which are obviously pressing concerns for humanity burdened with the threat of nuclear destruction and annihilation in a not-so-distant future. However, this remains to be the only experience I have so far with the issue of bioterrorism and specifically smallpox and anthrax, for that matter.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In terms of the need for further research, I think it should focus more on determining and mapping out the states which really have illegal strains of smallpox virus in their possession, in order to effectively prepare for any possible worse-case scenarios in the advent of a smallpox terror attack. Aside from smallpox, it might prove helpful in the long-run if scientists also map out other possible biological agents which might pose future threats to human security, and to explore the possibility of developing vaccines and other counter-measures. All of these proposed researches need to be conducted in the most stringent, up-to-standard manner possible, with adequate empirical grounding and in the most morally and ethically acceptable ways.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I think in many ways (though it might be indirect), the reviewed work does relate to Sociology, with the latter in turn covering a wide array of fields involving human interaction and dynamics in the context of groups and societies. Political institutions and the ensuing dynamics and power relations governing these are discussed by Preston in the book, together with the issue of ethics in research, i.e. the controversy surrounding experiments with smallpox and other viral agents.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Perhaps it would prove useful if material from the book would be incorporated into class lectures, particularly the ethical aspects of research and experimentation with life –threatening organisms, the actual existence and lingering threat of biological warfare and terrorism, and how it is being met by existing social institutions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Overall, I did found â€Å"Demon in the Freezer† an interesting read, though at times I had to really struggle with understanding all the concepts and trains of thought Preston had introduced in his narratives. It was informative at the same time, though at some point you would really realize how frighteningly real is the scenario the author is trying to relay to his audience. Reference: Preston, Richard (2002). â€Å"Demon in the Freezer.† New York: Random House.