Ethics in Organizations

In decision-making, one is expected to do a brief analysis of the existing situation, consider the possible outcome and then come up with an applicable solution to address the situation. Usually, the solution ought to be ethical and acceptable in the society. Using the AAAA Consulting current situation in the workplace and the relationship between the management and the workers, there are various facts that can be identified. To begin with, there is corruption in the top management. They give promotions to some of the employees for a couple of reasons not clearly known to other employees. This is unethical because it poses many questions to the other employees. It also tends to demoralize and send a big negative signal to them. This affects their morale of working due to the poor management techniques.

Thus, the management neglects the welfare of employees. The company does not care about the employees, and this can be clearly supported by the fact that the top senior managers are so strict and not understanding on every word on the employees. There is a restraint of the rights and freedom of the employees. Female employees are sexually harassed, and they are expected to remain dumb concerning this behavior. Their freedom of expression is concealed, and this is contradicting to the code of conduct in business and society that entitles each individual the right to pour their hearts out as this will enable the management take necessary course of action to improve on the working relationship among the employees. There is favoritism in the organization. The project managers give out the best projects to their best preferred. This is unethical as management ought to view human resource factor as unique and should be treated equally to motivate them give out the best in the organization as they viewed as profit center.

However, there are also various ethical issues involved. Good code of conduct is portrayed in some of the workers. Debbie takes it as her obligation to report Susan’s remarks concerning how Bob sexually harassed her, who is a top manager in the company. Motivation to employees is evident although it is not up to the optimum level. The top management promises to promote Debbie to a senior project manager if things go well in the next few years. This makes her work harder to attain her promotion. The engagement of the court of law to distinguish between men and women’s perception when it comes to matters of sexual harassment is ethical. This helps to address conflicts relating to the issue and to ensure equality between the two genders. Stakeholders are Debbie who has worked for the past three years in the company, Jessica who has all along received promotions on unfair and unethical terms, Susan who has been sexually abused by a top manager and Bob, who is a manager in the company.

Available alternatives would be involvement of a court of law to sort out the issue between Bob and Susan, Debbie to report of the mismanagement in the company to the Ministry of Trade citing the case of Jessica as an example. Susan could also look for a job in an alternative company. The court probably would order Bob to be fired or sentenced jail due to harassing Susan sexually whereas Susan would gain out of the order on Bob, as she would have her peace of mind during work as her rights would be provided. However, having been friends with Bob would make her feel guilty if she made him lose his job, as well as being sentenced to jail if the court was to take such an action.

By Debbie reporting to the Ministry of Trade, the management team would probably be fired and replaced with others and maybe out of this she would have had a promotion. The management would also be retained, but under some warning and this would probably make Debbi either fired or demoted instead. By Susan, looking for another job elsewhere, labor turnover index in the company would rise thus increasing recruitment and selection costs searching for a person to fit her shoes in the company. She would probably also suffer from unemployment, as she would not secure one immediately. She would attain satisfaction with the organization where she would secure a job.

The best outcome with each of the above alternatives would be Bob being fired out of his unethical practices and Susan retaining the job, replacement of the team management and promotion of Debbie and Susan securing a new satisfying job elsewhere respectively. The worst outcome would be Bob being sentenced to jail, the corrupt management team being retained and Susan being unlucky to secure a job elsewhere respectively. With good decision-making tactics, personal decision-making is advocated. Reporting to the Ministry of Trade would suit best as the involved parties would do thorough investigations concerning the company and would get to know even the petty issues eating into the company. It does not matter whether one loses or retains a job opportunity, but the aim should be to set good strategic working conditions at work for the coming generations.

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Retirement Proposal

Re: Management Challenges in Privately and Publicly Owned Organizations
Introduction
Early retirement is a scheme that offers employees financial benefits to leave a company. Such a scheme could be a company’s strategy to lower labor costs without having to lay off its employees. Though this move may be welcome by some employees, especially those that have served for long periods owing to the big incentives that come with it, early retirement poses several challenges to the management of the company. This memo brings to your attention to the management challenges associated with early retirement and the use of various theories of effective management in countering these challenges. In addition, the paper explores the challenges of privatization and how the private and public sectors handle these challenges.

Organization Management Challenges Brought By Early Retirement
The first major problem occurs when employees that are hard to replace opt to leave the company through early retirement. Mostly, these are the best qualified and experienced employees, having served for several. They are responsible for the results of the firm and their absence is bound to be felt almost immediately. This problem can be solved by the application of Fredrick Taylor’s theory of scientific management. The theory is aimed at improving labor efficiency by rewarding employees financially based on their skills, experience, and input. The theory also emphasizes the importance of continuously teaching employees new ideas. Using this theory, employees will be trained to fill in the vacant posts, and offered competitive rates for motivation.

The second challenge is that older employees may feel that the move is directly aimed at forcing them to retire against their wishes. Workers’ productivity is enhanced when it is clear to them that their efforts do not go unappreciated, involved, and considered important. Hence the use of Mayo’s behavioral theory of management will help solve this issue if it is explained to the older employees that they are indispensable and that early retirement is based on an individual’s choice and not mandatory.

The third challenge that may result from early retirement is a break in the chain of command due to possible retirement of top and middle level managers. This problem can be solved by implementing Henry Fayol’s Administrative management theory that advocates for unity of command, personal discipline, initiative, responsibility and respect for authority. A sense of ‘unity of direction’ should also be impacted on the employees.

Lastly, there is fear of general decline of performance of the organization as a result of this restructuring. This can be alleviated by application of Max Weber’s Bureaucratic theory of management. The leadership should assert its power to form a functioning administration based on division of labor, selection based on technical expertise, management by rules and following formal and impersonal relations with the new employees.

Challenges That May Arise From Privatization of the Agency
The process of de-nationalizing government-owned organizations and selling them to private entities, otherwise referred to as privatization poses numerous challenge to both private and public sectors. One of the challenges of privatization to the private sector is lack of or poor internal controls. Thus, privatized firms may not be able to function well in situations that require strict internal control systems. The other challenge faced in private sector due to privatization is lack of cost saving. However, to ensure privatization benefits the private sector, the stakeholders should properly manage markets, policies, and local political interests. Thus, the challenges to the private sector may be summarized as costs management, market structuring, and the management of political interests. The political interests in public organizations pose a rather serious challenge to the private sector after privatization. Strong public support for government control and labor unions associated with large organizations pose challenges to the private sector after privatization. That is, the private sector is not able to provide low-cost goods and services. Thus, they compare unfavourably with the public sector.

Although both sectors face privatization challenges, research shows that incentives and the structures of the markets are two crucial factors affecting how the sectors face manage these challenges and their dynamics. Due to lack of incentives in the private sectors, managers are forced to benchmark costs and production practices besides consideration for other innovative ways to increase efficacy. In fact, in some cases, the use of mixed production between the public and private sectors is applied. To handle privatization challenges, private sector stakeholders also sign inter-municipal cooperation to gain economies of scale.

Conclusion
Privatization poses numerous challenges to both the private and the public sector. However, research and practices show that the private sector faces tougher challenges compared to the public sector. Among these challenges are interest groups, market structure and management, and cost management. Notably, the private sector has also been noted to be unable to produce lower-cost services and goods. Furthermore, public sector players have a better understanding of the management of public goods and their delivery into markets. Private players must therefore incorporate the interests of the public and political groups and other interests in establishing competition and price policies. However, the concerns for interest groups must be counterbalanced with cost-saving and profitability concerns. Thus, in addition to price reduction for clients, private sector players must save costs in managing markets, contracts, nested interests.
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Running Head: MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES IN ORGANIZATIONS 5

Strategy Development Worksheet

This worksheet will help you develop strategies for your HCO.

Answer these questions first.

What are the distinctive competencies of your HCO? What do you do well that makes you different from other HCOs?
_unlike other children hospitals, The ICU at Joe Dimaggio Children’s hospital is staffed 24hours a day with intensivists who are fellowship-trained and board certified pediatric critical care. Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital has a core group of nurses who specialize in the bedside care and management of infants and children with cardiac problems. Our nurses maintain their competencies in cardiovascular disease and physiology by taking continuing education courses. Joe Dimaggio Hospital maintains the core philosophy of patient- and family-centered care. Here, we strive to make both our patients and their families feel at ease. Parents are encouraged to stay at their child’s bedside and during procedures whenever possible, which helps to alleviate any anxiety the child may be feeling. Moreover, this openness empowers the entire family by providing them with firsthand information about care.

What market segment(s) should you select to match your organization’s skills and resources, and your constituents’ needs in those segments?
Joe Dimaggio Hospital can target both teenagers and kids. These two market segments have different needs. Children can be targeted using toys and play rooms. these rooms give the patients opportunities to socialize with others in a pain-free environment. The hospitals teen room has video games, computers, foosball, air hockey and other activities.
Geodemographics segmentation can be used to create profiles for different zip codes.

Do you have the skills/resources to pursue several segments or should you concentrate on one segment? Is the revenue potential from that segment large enough to sustain your organization and allow for growth?
Teen and children resources exist to target the kids and teens. the hospital can manage to concentrate on both segments since resources to target these two markets already exist. Enough revenue exists to open sub-branches at different zip codes. However research should be conducted to ensure that the expansion into sub-branches will be profitable
Now develop your positioning statement.

Distinct competencies:
Pediatricians, nurses and other care givers.
Care-givers have up-to-date information since they keep studying to stay updated.
Existence of rooms dedicated to teens and kids

Patient/client segments sought
Demographic segmentation that targets kids and teenagers differently.
Geodemographic segmentation that targets patients at different zipcodes.

Services to be offered
pediatric specialties, child-life program, family and patient-centered care.

Need/demand for services
Teenagers in today’s generation are digital, provision of computers to entertain them is vital. There is also a need to reach patients in different geographical areas so as to expand business.

Revenues-generating potential
By targeting kids and teenagers the hospital is likely to increase customer/patient base. Patients who have been visiting that hospital will also be retained since they will be satisfied with services being offered

Growth potential
The hospital has the potential to expand into sub-branches at different zip-codes

Next develop two possible strategies each for growth, stability, or retrenchment for your HCO.

Growth (add or expand spectrum of programs)

Growth: Alternative Strategy 1 – ____ Market Penetration

Pros
1_ markets existing products within the same market it has been using
2_increased profits3_increased customer base
Cons
1_It involves lowering of prices
2_Does not guarantee growth3__Is expensive because it involves advertising

Growth: Alternative Strategy 2 – __Market expansion
Pros
1__reduces competition
2___finds new uses of existing resource 3__increases sales and profits
Cons
1_Inreased prices for patients
2_market monopoly for the hospital. 3__Expensive in terms of time

Stability (keep same programs while improving on effectiveness and efficiency)

Stability: Alternative Strategy 1 – _ serve the same markets with the same product
Pros
1_ growth targets remain modest
2_its a defensive strategy 3___ company maintains a status quo
Cons
1__business can be threatened with external change
2_Business risks competition 3 There is little or no growth

Stability: Alternative Strategy 2 – __ pursue the same objectives with a strategic thrust on incremental improvement of functional performances
Pros
1_Business is not involved in any risks
2_Business operates in safe environments 3__No capital is required
Cons
1_Does not allow for innovativeness
2_Can cause a business to lack a competitive advantage 3___In most cases organizations are constrained by regulations

Retrenchment (major reduction or elimination in existing programs or locations)

Retrenchment: Alternative Strategy 1 – Cost cutting
Pros
1__Reduces on unnecessary expenses
2__Restore performance3__Saves up money for the business
Cons
1__If not preceded carefully can cause departments that need funds to be affected negatively
2_Slow business due to lack of resources 3_Can cause business to lose to competitors who have not cut on expenses

Retrenchment: Alternative Strategy 2 – ____ Restructuring
1___ refocusing on its primary business
2 organization focuses on more familiar business
3 It protects earnings of the business
Cons
1_does not allow for diversification of work
2___Leads to monotony of work 3__Increases competition

Recommended overall strategies for your programs.

Based on the alternatives considered in the above section, recommend at least two overall strategies. Explain for each strategy why it is the best alternative. Establish 2-3 goals for each strategy.

1 Strategy:__Market penetration

Justification:__Increase customer base for an organization

Goal 1. _Be innovative in business ideas
Goal 2. _Invest in business promotion
Goal 3. _Attract more customers

2 Strategy:__Market expansion

Justification: Increases the market share of an organization leading to an increase in profits

Goal 1. __Merge with other businesses that may help increase the organizations competitive advantage
Goal 2. _ Invest in expanding the business
Goal 3. _Take risks

3 Strategy:__Defensive strategy
Justification: Protects the organization from losing customers

Goal 1. _Ensure that organizations goals and strategies are retained
Goal 2. Avoid competition
Goal 3. _Ensure profits remain as they are or they increase

References
Brown, M. (1992). Health care management: Strategy, structure, and process. Gaithersburg, Md: Aspen Publishers.
Schulz, R., & Johnson, A. C. (2003). Management of hospitals and health services: Strategic issues and performance. Washington, D.C: Beard Books
Shortell, S. M., Morrison, E. M., & Friedman, B. (1990). Strategic choices for America’s hospitals: Managing change in turbulent times. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Operations and productivity

Introduction
Operations management is a combination of managerial activities that enable an organization to transform inputs into finished products and services (Petersen, Aase, & Heiser, 2010, p. 405). Organizations adopt different strategies to manufacture products or services. The generic manufacturing strategies include caretaker, marketer, reorganizer, and innovator strategies. Organizations that adopt a caretaker strategy aim at manufacturing products or services at low costs and establishing reliable delivery systems. A marketer strategy is used when an organization is facing stiff competition. In such a case, the organization will manufacture high quality products that meet the customers’ specifications. A reorganizer manufacturing strategy enables an organization to improve the quality of output and reduce the delivery lead-time (Walters, 1999, p. 248)

A reorganizer strategy will lead to the introduction of new production processes, which in turn lead to new products or services for the consumers. The innovator manufacturing strategy aims at outperforming competition by improving the quality of products and services offered to consumers. In addition, the innovator strategy aims at enhancing the performance of an organization’s products in the market. The manufacturing strategy that an organization adopts influences the nature of activities in the production process. The manufacturing strategy will influence the kind of inputs that are introduced to the production process, and the subsequent process of transforming the inputs into finished products (Walters, 1999, p. 248). Operations managers oversee the production process and ensure that organizations achieve their goals in terms of quantity, quality, and deliver of outputs.
An organization’s productivity is indicated by how it utilizes resources to produce output.

Productivity is described as the ratio of output to input. The basis inputs that are used to estimate an organization’s productivity level are raw materials, capital, and labor. One major challenge in estimating an organization’s productivity is the influence of external factors on the production process. Changes in the political, economic, and social environment may affect the level of output in an organization. This implies that a decrease in an organization’s productivity does not always represent misuse of underutilization of resources (Stainer, 1997, p. 224). Operations management influences different aspects of the production process and other aspects in an organization. This study analyzes the role of effective operations management practices in an organization’s productivity. In addition, the study gives recommendations on how organizations can improve their operations management approaches to achieve higher levels of productivity.

The Developments in Operations Management
Operations management has been evolving over the years as more researchers introduce new theories and practices in the field. From its origin, operations management has been associated with manufacturing management. Many past researchers in the field of operations management have analyzed the efficiency of the practices and procedures followed when manufacturing. Operations management in organizations that provide services to consumers has not received much attention until now when the boundaries between tangible goods and services are blurring. In the current market situation, organizations provide a combination of products and services (Correa et al., 2007, p. 445). Another development in the field of operations management is the inclusion of marketing decisions. Marketing decisions in operations management are analyzed in terms of their contribution to strategic planning and implementing as well as operations technology.

Current studies in operations management have focused on the significance of human resource management practices to the production process. Operations managers bear the responsibility of transforming inputs into outputs that meet the needs of consumers. Operations managers integrate systems and resources in the production process to achieve the desired results. Human resources are the primary asset in any organization. Human resources play an important role of planning, implementing, and controlling activities in the production process. Thus, the practices that an organization adopts in managing its human resources will influence the quality of output and the efficiency of the production process (Birdi et al., 2008, p. 467).

Operations and Productivity
Birdi et al (2008, p. 472) indicate that the nature of operations in an organization influences its performance and the quality of its products. Effective operations management leads to high quality products and high levels of organizational performance. Effective operations management is not only important to an organization’s performance but also to its competitiveness. In addition, effective operations management has an effect on an organization’s productivity. Birdi et al (2008, p. 473) continue to indicate that operations management practices enhance the performance and competitiveness of an organization through an integrated manufacturing approach. An integrated manufacturing approach combines several managerial strategies to achieve production efficiency. The strategies include total quality management, advanced technology, and just-in-time approach to inventory control. Birdi et al (2008, p. 473) argue that each of these strategies influences productivity and contributes significantly to the overall impact of operations management on organizational performance.

Total quality management ensures that an organization does not waste resources and inputs in repetitive production processes. This is because an organization will produce high quality output in the first production process. Organizations that do not integrate quality control in the production process are likely to use waste resources in producing goods or services that do not satisfy customers (Birdi et al., 2008, p. 473). Another benefit of integrating quality control into the production process is that an organization increases its level of sales revenues. Consequently, an organization can lower its prices and get repeat orders from its customer. The just-in-time system ensures that an organization’s capital is not held up in unsold products, unused raw materials, or work in progress. Consequently, an organization minimizes its material and inventory costs. In addition, the just-in-time system can help an organization to improve the quality and attractiveness of its products. This is because finished products are not tied up in storage facilities where they are prone to damage (Birdi et al., 2008, p. 474).

Integrating advanced manufacturing technology into the production process enables an organization to speed up the production process. Large amounts of output can be produced within a short period when using advanced production technology. In addition, investing in advanced technology for production enables an organization to save on labor costs. Some of the processes in the production process are automated with advanced technology and thus, the need to hire employees to control such processes is eliminated (Birdi et al., 2008, p. 474). Advanced technology does not always lead to the replacement of employee with machines. Some forms of technology such as information technology enable employees to increase their efficiency in performing their duties. Combining the just-in-time system, advanced technology, and total quality management leads to lean production. Lean production eliminates wastes, saves costs, and ensures that products are delivered to customers at the right time. Organizations can improve the efficiency and performance of their production systems easily under a lean production strategy (Birdi et al., 2008, p. 474).

Productivity measures the performance of an organization (Rao & Miller, 2004, p. 776). Thus, managers and business can determine if an organization’s performance is declining or improving by analyzing the trend of its productivity level. Productivity and operations management are interrelated. Birdi et al (2008, p. 472) indicate the effectiveness of an organization’s strategies in operations management will determine its productivity. The level of productivity will be high if the operations management strategies are effective. Rao and Miller (2004, p. 766) on the other hand argue that an organization’s productivity level will influence the decisions made by managers. The managerial decisions in this case include decisions on how to improve the production process. Since productivity is a reliable indicator of an organization’s performance, managers recognize the need to manage productivity effectively and maintain an upward trend in productivity levels (Rao & Miller, 2004, p. 776).

Organizations face various obstacles in their efforts to improve productivity levels. One major obstacle is that managers do not use proper measurement programs to evaluate when an organization’s performance is improving, stagnant or declining. Consequently, the results of the productivity evaluations are inaccurate. Improper measurement programs or systems cannot give the actual picture of an organization’s productivity. As a result, managers are unaware of any underlying issues or problems that have an effect on the organization’s productivity. Thus, managers do not understand how an organization’s productivity can be improved. Another obstacle to productivity improvement is failure by top managers in organizations to allocate sufficient human resources to productivity. This means that productivity improvement is left in the hands of a few managers (Rao & Miller, 2004, p. 776).

The approach to allocating human resources to productivity improvement could be because of the top managers’ level of understanding of productivity. If top managers have inaccurate information on an organization productivity level and any underlying problems, they are likely to allocate fewer human resources to handle productivity issues. Misterek, Dooley, and Anderson (1992, p. 29) emphasize that traditional measures of productivity as a measure of organizational performance are inaccurate. The traditional measures of productivity emphasize on the physical output from a production process. The traditional measures do not account for any changes in quality, competitiveness, and performance of an organization’s products. In additional, traditional measures of productivity are sensitive to cost structures. Consequently, they will underestimate the productivity of organizations with large fixed costs (Misterek, Dooley, & Anderson, 1992, p. 29).

Another limitation of using traditional measures of productivity is that they cannot estimate an organization’s future competitiveness. Changes in the products mix and output composition will affect the estimate of an organization’s performance when using traditional measures (Misterek, Dooley, & Anderson, 1992, p. 29). The shortcomings of traditional measures of productivity imply that managers are likely to get the wrong estimates of productivity. Consequently, they will make the wrong decisions in an attempt to improve operations management or fail to make any such decisions under the assumption that organizational productivity is at the optimal level. Rao and Miller (2004, p. 766) suggest that organizations should use expert systems applications and decision support systems to improve their estimation and interpretation of productivity levels.

Stainer (1992, p. 224) indicates that operations managers should use productivity measures that will yield the most relevant information. The authors argue that with the rapid changes in production technology and inflation, traditional measures are only reliable in making short-term decisions on operations. Stainer (1992, p. 224) recommends that organizations should consider total productivity measure that incorporate replacement cost capital as an input. Total productivity is the ultimate goal of the decisions made in operations management. However, many managers are reluctant to use total productivity to measure organization performance. The managers argue that the estimating total productivity is a complex process. Stainer (1992, p. 224) argues that organizations can estimate the impact of inputs to outputs if they adopt the total productivity framework as a measure of organizational performance.

Operations managers make better strategic decisions on the production process when considering total productivity relatively to considering the productivity of a single input (Stainer, 1992, p. 224). Operations managers face the challenge of enhancing customer perceived value though lower prices and high quality products while reducing real costs of production. However, exploiting total productivity can enable organizations to reduce costs and improve customer perceived values simultaneously. Operations managers have a significant role to play in ensuring that their organizations implement the total productivity approach. Operations managers should be committed to the continuous improvement of their organizations’ total productivity and ensure that the approach is communicated to all individuals. Operations managers should recognize that improvements on total productivity are based on continuous evaluation, planning, and measurement of the overall effectiveness of all processes and individuals (Stainer, 1992, p. 224).

Continuous feedback is important to improving an organization’s total productivity. The feedback influences operations managers’ decisions on inputs and resources that will be utilized in subsequent production processes (Stainer, 1992, p. 224). Skilton and Dooley (2002, p. 887) analyze the role of innovation in improving an organization’s productivity. The authors indicate that operations managers can improve productivity through continuous innovations. However, Skilton and Dooley (2002, p. 887) indicate that innovation can only improve productivity in when product and process technology is mature. The relationship between innovations as an operations strategy and productivity improvement is weak when technology is still developing. The level and nature of technological knowledge in an organization influences the kind of operations learning that takes place in the organization (Skilton & Dooley, 2002, p. 887).

Improving Operations Management
From the discussion in the previous section, it is evident that operations management has a significant role to play in an organization’s level of productivity. The literatures reviewed above indicate that organizations can achieve higher levels of productivity by improving their operations. Organizations recognize the importance of effective strategies of operations management. Gupta and Galloway (2003, p. 131) indicate that some of the strategies that organizations utilize to improve their operations include expanding the range of products and their quality. Other strategies of improving operations include improving the quality of human resources and assessing the level of inventories to ensure there are no excess inventories. One of the measures of an organization’s efficiency in operations is its level of costs. Proper management of costs will lead to higher productivity levels. Gupta and Galloway (2003, p. 131) suggest that organizations should utilize activity-based costing systems to eliminate the shortcomings of traditional cost accounting systems.
Traditional cost accounting systems consider the financial aspects of the production process.

Activity-based cost accounting systems integrate financial and non-financial data when estimating costs. Traditional methods of estimating productions costs list all cost factors and assign them to various forms of output. Activity-based costing considers processes and workflows in the production to identify all the activities that have cost implications. Operations managers can make better strategic decision with accurate information on production costs (Gupta & Galloway 2003, p. 131). Grunberg (2003, p. 91) outlines that many organizations review their operations in terms of costs and wastes. Organizations seek to identify the departments or processes that pay the highest costs. Operations improvement involves measuring and monitoring processes and resources in production. Measuring and monitoring resources involves ensuring an organization utilizes all the resources to the optimum (Grunberg, 2003, p. 91).

Grunberg (2003, p. 91) suggests that utilizing human resources to the maximum is important to improving operations. Labor is an important input in any production process. The productivity of labor depends on how it is utilized in an organization. Grunberg (2003, p. 91) argues that organizations should ensure that their employees stay motivated and satisfied at all times. The level of employee productivity is high when employees are satisfied and motivated. Some of the strategies of keeping employees motivated include competitive reward and compensation schemes, open communication, effective task allocation strategies, occupation safety, and health. Organizations should ensure that production equipment and machinery are maintained in good condition to avoid interruptions in the production process due to technical breakdown. Grunberg (2003, p. 91) continues to indicate that investing in advance can help in improving an organization’s efficiency in utilizing its resources and raw materials.

The efficient utilization of resources enables organization to minimize wastes and costs (Grunberg 2003, p. 92). For instance, organizations can avoid losing their most productive employees by ensuring that they are motivated and satisfied. Over-utilizing resources may lead to breakdowns. Apart from improving the utilizing resources, organizations that intend to improve their operations should consider the efficiency of all processes necessary to transform inputs to outputs. The control of processes involves reducing lead times, ensuring that there is a smooth flow of materials, and controlling the level of stock of materials and finished products. Other processes in production that require control include integration of activities, transport, production design and layout, and monitoring the cycle time (Grunberg, 2003, p. 92). Overall control of the production process is also necessary to improve productivity. Overall control involves planning the entire production process, financing, administration, and total quality management. Operations managers bear the responsibilities of managing suppliers and ensuring that customers are satisfied. Thus, operations managers have to schedule the production process in a way that the final output meets the requirements of customers (Grunberg, 2003, p. 92).

Organizations can improve their productivity by outsourcing or subcontracting some of their processes. Organizations can outsource their non-core activities so that all the available resources are focused on the core production processes. Standardization and product development are also important to the process of improving productivity. Thus, operations managers have to ensure that suppliers provide raw materials that meet the set standards. Information and knowledge is important to operations managers. Operations managers can access knowledge from internal and external sources. Information in this case includes current information on the organization’s level of productivity. Operations managers may also access knowledge of how to improve productivity. Effective knowledge management can help manager to improve productivity by sharing knowledge on production with all individuals in the organization (Grunberg, 2003, p. 92).

Grunberg (2003, p. 93) argues that it is important for managers to evaluate various methods or strategies of improving productivity to determine their effectiveness. Evaluation is necessary is to identify the productivity improvement strategies that fit an organization or a particular situation. This implies that improvement strategies may have different outcomes in different organization or in different situations. Gupta and Boyd (2008, p. 991) indicate that organizations can improve their productivity by implementing philosophies of operations management. The philosophies include lean manufacturing, just in time, total quality management, and the theory of constraints. The authors argue that implementing these philosophies can improve productivity if operations managers combine all philosophies as opposed to focusing on one philosophy. A comprehensive approach to implementing the philosophies of operations management will lead to high level of productivity (Gupta and Boyd, 2008, p. 991).

Gupta and Boyd (2008, p. 991) continue to indicate that operations managers have to work with cross-functional teams and decision-making processes to improve their outcomes of operations management. The authors that it is important for the operations strategy to be consistent with the business unit strategy and other strategies in the organization that include marketing and managing human resources. Gupta and Boyd (2008, p. 995) advocate for the theory of constraints as an operations management philosophies arguing that it can help an organization to make money now and in future without interfering with the satisfaction of employees and customers. Many authors emphasize on the importance of managing costs and wastes as a way of improving productivity. Gupta and Boyd (2008, p. 995) have a different perspective and argue that organizations should focus on increasing throughput instead of focusing on minimizing costs and wastes. Organizations can increase their throughput by expanding their operations to new markets, expanding their range of products, and increasing their sales of existing products.

Gupta and Boyd (2008, p. 995) argue that organizations should identify the resources that limit their production processes. Identifying the most limiting factors to achieving high levels of productivity enables an organization to determine the most appropriate strategic direction to take. In most cases, the most limiting factors are expensive and scarce resources that are necessary to the production process. Huckman and Zinner (2007) analyze focus as a strategy in operations management and discover that focusing on a particular task or activity enables organizations to achieve high levels of output and productivity. Focus on a particular task can occur at a departmental or firm level based on an organization’s operations. Departmental focus sometimes acts as a substitute to focus at the firm level. Focus allows organizations to enjoy the benefits of division of labor. In this case, resources are allocated to one activity in the production process and this ensures that they are utilized optimally. At the organizational or firm level, an organization may decide to focus on one product or service instead of offering its customers a wide range of products. However, Huckman and Zinner (2007) note that there is no significant difference in the increase in productivity from firm-level focus and division of labor approaches. This means that organization cans choose any of the two strategies to improve productivity.

Conclusion
Operations managers combine different strategies to ensure that inputs are transformed into output efficiently. The manufacturing approach that an organization adopts depends on the resources available and the kind of output that an organization desires to get from its production processes. Operations management has evolved to include organizations in the services industry, human resource management practices, and marketing decisions. The nature of an organization’s operations management influences its level of productivity. Some of the strategies in operations management such as just in time production, investments in advanced production technology, and total quality management improve an organization’s productivity. These strategies ensure that organizations save on costs and eliminate wastes. The approach used to measure productivity in organization has an influence on the results obtained and the subsequent strategic decisions.

Utilizing total productivity measures and continuous feedback on productivity enables organization to improve their productivity levels. Activity-based cost accounting and management systems can help an organization to improve operations management. Continuous measurement and evaluation of production resources enables organizations to eliminate wastes. Organizations can improve their productivity by ensuring that their resources are utilized efficiently and monitoring the processes involved in the output production. Other strategies that can enable an organization to improve its operations management include subcontracting or outsourcing, standardization, product development, focus, and knowledge management. In addition, organizations can improve their outcomes in operations management by implementing the philosophies of operations management such as total quality management, the theory of constraints, and lean manufacturing among others. Operations management strategies should be in line with other organization strategies such as human resource management and marketing for an organization to achieve high productivity levels.

References
Birdi, K., Clegg, C., Patterson, M., Robinson, A., Stride, C., Wall, T., & Wood, S, J. (2008). The Impact of Human Resource and Operational Management Practices on Company Productivity: A Longitudinal Study, Personnel Psychology, 61, 467-501
Correa, H, L., Ellram, L, M., Scavarda, A, J., & Cooper, M, C. (2007). An Operations Management View of the Services and Goods Offering Mix. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 27(5), 444-463
Grunberg, T. (2003). A Review of Improvement Methods in Manufacturing Operations. Work Study, 52 (2), 89-93
Gupta, M, C., & Boyd, L, H. (2008). Theory of Constraints: A Theory for Operations Management. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 28(10), 991-1012
Gupta, M., & Galloway, K. (2003). Activity-based Costing/ Management and Its Implications for Operations Management. Technovation, 23, 131-138
Huckman, R, S., & Zinner, D, E. (2007). Does Focus Improve Operational Performance/ Lessons from the Management of Clinical Trials? Strategic Management Journal, 29, 173-193
Misterek, S., Dooley, K., & Anderson, J. (1992). Productivity as a Performance Measure. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 12(1), 29
Petersen, C, G., Aase, G, R., & Heiser, D, R. (2010). Journal Ranking Analyses of Operations Management Research. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 31(4), 405-422
Rao, M., & Miller, D, M. (2004). Expert Systems Applications for Productivity Analysis. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 104(9), 776-785
Skilton, P, F., & Dooley, K. (2002). Technological Knowledge Maturity, Innovation and Productivity. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 22(8), 887-901
Stainer, A. (1997). Capital Input and Total Productivity Management. Management Decision, 35(3), 224-232
Walters, D. (1999). Marketing and Operations Management: An Integrated Approach to New Ways of Delivering Value. Management Decision, 37(3), 248-258

Operations and Productivity 8

Memorandum on Culture change

There is an immediate need for the existing production culture within the organization to be altered. This change mainly concerns the production of plastics within the organization which need to immediately be upgraded. The upgrading requires that the human resource should have greater information concerning this innovation.

The main reasoning behind the required changes include the fact that the former production systems are darned to be obsolete within the next ten years. The organization has therefore decided to come up with a new strategy to upgrade the production system. This will inevitably affect the work force and the employees as the knowledge used previously has also been darned obsolete. The management has as a result decided to take a vigorous change in the hiring system so that the people hired beginning this month will have the required knowledge. The category of people hired will need to have undertaken some training in the recent requirements. This will, in turn, require all the human resource to enroll for studies on the use of the new systems the company wishes to install. This has been deemed as a mandatory measure by the management for all the workers who wish to continue working for the organization.

The changes will, however, have a positive impact on the organization as production will be improved. The company will also make more profits and this will result to the rise in the compensation of the workers. The company vision will also be raised to ensuring that the company provides the best plastic solutions to the customers in the 21st century.
For more information all the workers are informed of a Town Hall Meeting where the CEO and the management board will explain more concerning this change.

Memorandum On Culture Change 3

Change in an Organization

Part A
One significant change that was not handled well in my organization is reorganization of departments. The management team decided to change the structure of departments by dividing the employees in each department into teams. The management team made all the decisions on members and leaders of each team. Prior to this change, each department had a manager and all employees reported directly to their respective department manager. Some of the department managers were given new roles as team leaders while some employees were promoted to be team leaders. The management team did not communicate the intended change to employees and department managers. In addition, the management team did not give the employees and the department managers a chance to express their views on the planned change. The change was announced in one meeting and every individual in the organization was expected to adjust to the new organizational structure.

The management team aimed at encouraging teamwork, which would enhance organizational performance. However, there was strong resistance from employees and department managers. The resistance delayed the implementation process. The management team was unwilling to listen to the views of employees and managers on the operations of the new teams. In addition, the roles of the new team leaders were vague. Although the change was implemented according to the instructions of the management team, the employees took a lot of time to adjust to the new structure. The change was and is still a major cause of conflicts between the management and employees, and among employees. In addition, there is no significant improvement in organizational performance.

Part B
The introduction of a new computer system in my organization was handled well. The previous computer system was outdated and very inefficient. The management team held a meeting with the information technology department to discuss the most appropriate computer system that would increase efficiency. The management team informed the rest of the departments of the planned change. The employees would air their views of the change through their team leaders. The new computer system was implemented in phases and the employees had enough time to learn each application before a new application was introduced. The information technology personnel assisted employees in understanding and using the new computer system. Thus, any complications with the new system were handled in good time. The new computer system has improved organizational efficiency and the feedback from employees indicates that they prefer the new system to the old system.

The difference between the two change processes is communication and participation or involvement of employees. In the first change process, the management team did not communicate the planned change. The management team did not incorporate the opinions of employees in the change process. In addition, the employees did not have time to evaluate the planned change and prepare for any consequences that it would have on their positions in the organization. In the second change process, the management involved the information technology department in the planning and implementation stages.

The employees were aware of the planned change and the spaced implementation process enabled them to adjust to the new system easily. Consequently, minimal resistance characterized the second change process and the management achieved its goal of increased efficiency. The first change process can be termed as unsuccessful because there is no significant change in organizational performance even after introducing new teams. Instead, the approach used to introduce and implement new working teams has led to internal conflicts.

Organizational Change 1

Risk Management in Criminal Justice

Introduction
Risk management is a process that consists of of essential managerial functions such as planning, organizing, and leading. Risks management is very critical to the security and safety of any organization. It is a significant process because it ensures that security controls and expenditure in the organization are relative to the actual risks to which the organization is exposed. Risk is defined as the improbability of financial loss, the probability that a loss will occur, or variations between real and anticipated results. In essence, risk goes beyond the question of effectiveness and practice.

Essentially, risk management is diverse activities carried out to control strategic and operational risks in an organization. Risk management ensures that an organization is protected from risks and the effects of risks (Szabo, 2012, p. 776).
Justice and security organizations must perform risk analysis since it is a critical component of management. The Risk management process is made up of two essential elements: risk financing and risk control. Risk financing entails varying methods which agencies can choose to use when settling potential losses. Risk control in an organization is contained by the influence of administrators, agency personnel, supervisors, and trainers. Risk management in justice and security organizations involves controlling risks that are inherent in performing criminal justice functions. These functions may end up producing net outcome of managing legal responsibility. Legal responsibility is a permanent enduring duty of criminal justice administrators and line personnel (Ross, 2013, p. 101-102). The paper will address the role, nature, and importance of organizational risk management in justice and security organizations.

The actual meaning of risk management in the justice and security organizations is being proactive. When establishing the probabilities of risks in an organization, one has to remember that probability is just an art and nothing will be 100 percent secure. Risk management enhances the wellbeing of police officers and citizens. It will also increase the quality of services being offered by the relevant bodies to the public. Furthermore, risk management in the justice and security organizations will enhance financial management of the costs that are associated with liability incidents that come out from liability claims or litigations. Good risk management is more of an investment in success in the organization (Denney, 2005, p. 125).

Justice and security organizations are supposed to evaluate the vulnerabilities within the organization if any because it will facilitate the determination any weakness. It will also help the organization to identify possible threats and control security liability. Justice and security organizations are held responsible more swiftly than any other organization in a society because they are constantly dealing with high risk incidents that affect the lives of all citizens. Balancing both justice and security is an essential insight of criminal justice. This is because it will act as a guide to the administration when making decisions on the operation of justice and security. Such a balance will also ensure that all enacted laws are evenhanded for the benefit of every person in the nation (Denney, 2005, p. 125).

Planning for risk and identifying resources
Risk planning is a constant process of developing structured and inclusive approach to risk management. Within the justice and security organizations, there is a sensitive climate of fright amongst the public due to media and political curiosity in crime. The fright of crime is known to overshadow the genuine experience of crime. In this regard, risk relates to the likelihood of being entangled in the criminal justice system and the likelihood of being a victim of crime. Successful planning helps to uphold a rational system that can support the provision justice and security as well as sustainable security institutions.

Justice and security organizations have developed a risk management framework that considers risk management principles, understands organizations and their contexts, and one that allocates adequate time and resources to function. Justice and security organizations have established risk identification methods and risk awareness that requires organizational employees to be aware of what constitutes a risk. The risk identification methods also allow key stakeholders to be sensitive to specific events that may perhaps affect the organization positively or negatively. Justice and security organizations operate under a risk contingency planning. This plan puts forces on employees to reflect in advance for a course of action in the event that risk takes place (Leonard & DSMC, n.d, p. 135).

How justice and security organizations manage risk
The practice of risk management enhances systematic approach in decision making within the justice and security organizations. Justice and security organizations have premeditated strategies that deal with the risks being faced by citizens. They have built capabilities that mitigate risk through deterrence, protection, response, and revival activities. Through operational planning, justice and security organizations are able to ascertain scenarios that are expected to impinge on the organizations, the nature of consequences, forms of risks that necessitate attention, actions designed for a particular risk, and the type of resources needed to combat risks. Justice and security organizations operate under the principle of unit of effort. This principle ensures that security and justice organizations promote incorporation and harmonization with units that share the task of managing risks.

Risk management efforts are synchronized and incorporated amongst all partners, which share risk management tasks. Justice and security organizations have modified their methods of risk dissemination in such a way that it fits their mission using principle of customization. Customization principle ensures that risk management approach is properly administered. It also ensures that it uses accessible information to alleviate risks in the organization. With this in place, risk management efforts become timely, systematic, and structured based. These organizations must adopt sorts of functions that allows information to cascade up by offering leadership management with better ways of viewing risks in order to promote improved trade-off decisions and augment application of forethought. Justice and security organizations carry out risk identification, which will help to test and analyze uncertain ways that may threaten the security of the organization (Leonard & DSMC, n.d, p. 136).

Costs associated with risk management
The challenges that affect justice and security organizations while addressing risk management are related to technological, operational, or compliance risks. Moving to a lasting strategic model for risk management from a tactical stopgap is quite expensive and time consuming. For these organizations to be effective, they have to change the model. Risk management is faced with the challenge of cascading new governance structure to each level of management within an organization. Clear management and requirements of the global standards hinders the effectiveness of risk management in justice and security organizations. Lack of well-designed procedure in the risk management process does not present suitable solutions to inner problems, which will affect the decision-making system. Furthermore, risk management in an organization is affected by rule and regulations non-compliance by employees of the organization.

Consequences of failing to manage risk
Risk management is charged with the responsible of ensuring that justice and security organizations takes risks that are suppose to take. Risk managers have to monitor persistently risks in order to meet up organizational objectives. Justice and security organizations call for assurance of appropriate controls once significant risks are identified. In order to make sure that the right decisions are in use, organizations must carry out risk management activities that provide extra structured information to help in decision-making. Failure to sufficiently manage risk in justice and security organization is catastrophic and may lead to ineffective operations inside the organization. Failing to manage risks in justice and security organizations will lead to unproductive way handling strategies. This will not deliver what was needed in the organization. Furthermore, failing to manage risks leads to loss of credibility of the organization.

The Benefits of properly performed risk analysis
The success of every risk analysis in any undertaking depends on the role of management in the organization. Management has to support risk mitigation all levels of the organization. Management must delineate the purpose and scope of risk analysis. Risk analysis in security organizations is carried out to settle on vulnerabilities and threats that are facing the organization and the likelihood and impact of these threats and vulnerabilities. Properly performed risk analysis highlights the current security position of the organization. In essence, it shows the real state of security in the organization but not what management perceives to be. With a properly performed risk analysis, the organization will be able to highlight areas where greater or lesser security is needed.

Properly performed risk analysis will enable the management to pull together facts required for the development and justification of gainful countermeasures. Furthermore, properly performed risk analysis increases security awareness through assessment. The assessment will highlight strengths and weaknesses of the security profile at every organizational level. This will allow the management to make tighter security in the organization. Well-defined risk management will reduce the likelihood of the risk occurring and incorporate plans for stabilization and revitalization to make sure that there is permanence of justice and security as well as effective reputation of management (Broder & Tucker, 2011, p. 5).

Conclusion
The purpose of risk management is to ensure that risk transparent in an organization is transparent. Once a risk is transparent, security within any organization, including criminal justice is capable of providing higher quality of security through security plans as well as planned responses. There is a risk in nearly everything, identifying the risk in advance is equal to winning half of the battle. There is no way that human life can be replaced and with this in mind, law enforcers must track risks that involve saving lives. A Justice and security organization that evaluates and reacts to its risks protects itself from bad risk consequences. It will also position itself to take advantage of security opportunities that may arise. Risk management in justice and security organizations consists of controlling risks that are intrinsic to performance of criminal justice functions that may end up influencing the management of legal responsibility. Risk management is therefore critical to justice and security organizations.

References
Broder, J. F., & Tucker, G. (2011). Risk Analysis and the Security Survey. Burlington: Elsevier Science.
Denney, D. (2005). Risk and society. London: SAGE Publications.
Leonard, J., & Defense Systems Management College (DSMC). (n.d). Systems engineering fundamentals: supplementary text. Darby, PA: DIANE Publishing.
Ross, D. L. (2013). Civil liability in criminal justice. Waltham, MA: Anderson Pub.
Szabo, A. (2012). Risk Management: An Integrated Approach to Risk Management and Assessment. Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Science Series, 21(2), 776-781.

RISK MANAGEMENT IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE 6

Running Head: RISK MANAGEMENT IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE 1

How can managers influence motivation in teamwork?

Introduction
Managers are facilitators and team players and therefore teams give management the efficient and sentimental means to supervise and encourage teamwork. Nevertheless, teams do not often work efficiently, they have to be premeditated, supervised, and reinforced for finest performance. This is where the ideas of management and dedication have insinuations. Management behavior, along with other aspects, unquestionably influences teams’ approach to work, and team management style is one of the main aspects that build or ruin a team’s achievement.

Synopsis of the problem
Just as several teams are enthusiastic to attain vast success throughout all development endeavors and tasks, other teams might continue unmotivated and shuffle modestly, inaudibly, and unassumingly toward the accomplishment of the task. Having this in mind, two opposing questions have always been posed when appraising motivators and drivers of personality and team functioning. The ringing questions are:
How can managers influence motivation in teamwork?
Can managers motivate teams to function effectively?
How do managers build an atmosphere favorable to exceptional team peak and synergy individual performance? (Scholtes, 1998).

Suitability of the research
Through the study and application of incentive and motivation, the manager understands the importance of teamwork. To promote motivation within all team members on an assignment, the manager should take the time to comprehend how each person is motivated. Understanding what motivates team members will offer the manager the aptitude to link individuals to the setting, assignments, tasks, and goals that promote individual motivation. The manager should shun using an extensive application of motivation to every team member based exclusively on the perception of the manager. Taking the time to work with all members in order to comprehend individual work drivers allow the managers to discover basic human wants and personal motivators.

In order to influence team members, managers must build a fair environment that makes team members feel aggravated to finish the necessary tasks. Team members should feel that they are valued, they are actually part of the team, and they are being heard. Creating conducive environment involves fundamental skills that help the managers earn respect of the team members.
Inspiring the performance of team member needs the manager to connect many diverse interpersonal skills. The intensity of passion applied toward teamwork efforts has a direct influence on the outcomes of an assignment. Since motivation can enthuse, hearten, and excite individuals to attain common objectives through teamwork, the managers need to understand that it is their best interest to coerce toward accomplishment of an assignment through the formation and preservation of a stirring atmosphere for every team member.

Academic issues that underpin the research question
Some managers rely on existing work relationships that have gradually developed through hallway conversation and face-to-face contact that offers a project manager the opportunity to understand a variety of individuals’ drives and reward preferences. With limited involvement and minimal personal exposure with virtual team members, a project manager may begin to generalize or make assumptions on the needs and directions of the virtual team.

A manager may simply be trapped through the introduction faults while preparing and motivating team setting. Managers may frequently start project efforts with the intention of offering a motivating setting; nevertheless, they might fall short by executing common motivational errors. These common management mistakes as well as possible strategies to overcome the motivational gaps need to be explored (Flannes and Levin, 2005).
A project manager has the ability to rely on the natural leadership tendencies of individuals who are motivated by power. The project manager can exude confidence in and seek assistance from power-driven individuals by assigning tasks to focus on reviewing alternatives, overcoming risks, and steering other team members toward common project consistent objectives.

Work Cited
Flannes, Steven and Levin, Ginger. “Essential people skills for project managers.” Vienna, VA: Management Concepts, Inc., 2005. Print
Scholtes, Peter . The leader’s handbook: Making things happen, getting things done. New York: McGraw-Hill,1998. Print

Surname 4

Disaster Response Time

Disasters have negatively affected many people since the beginning of human existence. Archeological discoveries have shown that ancient human beings faced the same risks that modern men are facing (Coppola, 2011, p. 2). Modern people still die due to starvation, just like the people in the Mayan Empire, who died due to famine in the 9th century. Early history has also illustrated incidences of systematic disaster response. In response to disasters, societies have endeavored to reduce the time of exposure to the aftermath of these disasters by formulating disaster response policies, which assist in coping with the aftermath. This has lead to the emergence of disaster management and response. Disaster response involves taking measures to reinstate order immediately after a disaster has taken place. Disasters act as the definitive test for emergency response capability.

No one knows when disaster strikes; thus, the best way to avert disaster is to formulate an appropriate disaster response plan. Disaster response is essential because it offers relief to the affected individuals. Survival becomes challenging when people are injured, or when the country’s economy is affected. The problem of disaster management should be addressed since disasters bring death, miseries, and destruction of both humans and properties. The government should evaluate its disaster management plan to ensure that its system is adequately prepared to cope with any disaster that may strike within the country’s borders. The losses that Americans underwent during the 9/11 revealed both the magnitude of the terrorist threat and the proportionate need to prepare for impending disasters (Abou-bakr, 2013, p. 16). Thus, it is essential for the government agencies to form disaster response teams to handle disasters.

Natural disasters inculcate trauma to children and youth in the affected areas. They demoralize children’s sense of security and belongingness. Violent floods, earthquakes and wildfires often affect the whole region and the community around. Natural disasters devastate local response capacity, and seriously affect the social and economic development of a region (Protecting Persons Affected by Natural Disasters, 2006). The local people lose jobs while most of the buildings collapse, living many people with no place to stay. Governments are faced with new challenges of attending to the affected citizens. Disasters also affect the external community. In 2010, an earthquake hit Haiti, where approximately 3 million people lost their properties while others were displaced by the tremor. The country had to appeal for humanitarian aid from other countries to reclaim the lives of the affected population.

Despite creation of various disaster management plans, the battle for disaster response is far from being won due to various obstacles that impede effective application of disaster management policies. No disaster resembles the other. It is extremely difficult to react to an emergency without a well-reviewed plan. In the case of Hurricane Katrina, the spirit of preparation, readiness and professionalism was required to spread from military to other agencies that were charged with disaster response (Farrell, 2005). However, this did not happen.

Sometimes the government may be faced by financial strains, and when a disaster occurs, the disaster management body may fail to react on time due to lack of funds. Lack of proper communication between the disaster management teams and the government may hinder immediate response. Natural disasters are quite numerous at societal level, where technologically superior societies are well placed to handle them, but some societies are not technologically advanced to handle such disasters.

References
Abou-bakr, A. J. (2013). Managing disasters through public-private partnerships. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Coppola, D. P. (2011). Introduction to International Disaster Management. Burlington: Elsevier Science.
Farrell,Lawrence P.,,Jr. (2005). Preparation is key to disaster response. National Defense, 90(624), 6. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/213307494?accountid=1611
Protecting Persons Affected by Natural Disasters: IASC Operational Guidelines on Human Rights and Natural Disasters (November 2006). Brookings. Retrived on 19 October 2013 from http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2006/11/natural-disasters

DISASTER RESPONSE TIME 2

Running Head: DISASTER RESPONSE TIME 1

The use of layers and standards in the development and management of networks

The use of layer and standards simplifies the development and management of networks in several ways. First, the adopting of layering leads to a better interoperability amongst the devices arising from diverse manufacturers. Layering also improves the interoperability between various generations of similar devices from the same manufacturer. The use of layers also paves way for a more accurate recognition as well as delineation processes, tasks, and methodology. With this in place, there will be a clear definition of what has to be done and also how it should be done. When the network components are standardized, the development and management of the networks will realize multi-vendor development. Layering also brings clear and precise marking out of responsibilities and as a result, there will be simplified development and management of networks.

The use of layer and standards in the development and management of networks prevents any change in one layer from affecting the other layers. This will help out to speed up any technology development in the network system. With the adopting of standardized and layered networking system, there will be improved flow as well as back up for any communication linking diverse systems and protocols. The use of layers and standards simplifies the networking systems by enabling workloads to be consistently distributed. This will mean that numerous actions can be carried out concurrently and at the end it will reduce the time that is taken to build up, clear up, and optimize new technologies geared up for production execution. Nevertheless, the use of layer and standards in the development and management will simplify the development and management by directing messages to the exact destination.

Media Access Control its important
Media Access Control is defined as the need of controlling when computers transmit. Medium access control (MAC) protocol is a standard for wireless LANs; it is also widely used in almost all test beds and simulations for the research in wireless mobile multi-hop ad hoc networks. However, this protocol was not designed for multi-hop networks. Media Access Control is important when more than a few computers carve up similar communication circuit since it trims down the likelihood of two computers sending out data simultaneously.

Media Access Control can also become important when a number of computers share similar communication circuit for example point-to-point configuration or multipoint configuration. Point to point configuration has a half duplex line that is in dire need of computers to take turns. The multipoint configuration enables numerous computers share one circuit. Media Access Control ensures that at one point or another, no two computers tries to send out data at the same time. It also ensures that if they do, there is a way of sorting out the problem. Media Access Control is significant in Local Area Networks.

Conditions under which media access control is unimportant
When there are point-to-point full duplex configurations, the Media Access Control becomes redundant. This is because during point to point configurations, only two computers exist on the circuit and as a result, the full duplex will allow any computer of the computer to send out data at anytime.

Parts of TCP/IP and their work
TCP/IP has two parts that consisting of TCP and IP. TCP is a connection-oriented protocol accountable for a consistent delivery of data linking different applications. This ensures that the data that has been sent by the source machine reaches the destination machine in good shape. TCP links the application layer to the network layer and it carries out packetizing. This means that it breaks the data into very small packets. It also numbers them to ensure to ensure that each packet is delivered. TCP puts data in a proper order at its destination. What is more, TCP facilitates the sending of messages starting on source to the destination machines. This will maintain connection status that will in turn ensure that there is error-free delivery. It will also check for any unlawful alteration of packet data.

IP is defined as a network layer protocol. It deals mainly with addressing and routing of the system. An IP part contains software that allows messages to be used at each of the intervening computers en-route to the final destination. The main work of IP is to handle data exchange in several computers. This can be done by use of small data packets called datagrams. In so doing, they determine the best route delivery. IP do not handle delivery verification like TCP and it is only concerned with sending and receiving data.

Dynamic addressing
Through dynamic addressing, servers are used to provide a network layer address to every computer whenever the computer connects to the network. As an alternative to providing a network layer address within a configuration file, dynamic addressing has a special software package that instructs it to contact bootp severs via data link layer address. Such messages ensure that the servers consign any requesting computer an exceptional network layer address. The server in return will run a parallel bootp software package that act in response to then requests. It also sends a message that goes back to the client thus giving the network layer address.

Benefits and problems
The bootp server can be configured in such a way that it can dole out the network Layer address to the computer every time there is a need for an address. The bootp server can also let out the address to the computer. It does so by picking in the network layer address that is available in the midst of approved addresses. Letting out addresses can take place as long as the computer has a connection to the network for a specific time frame. Dynamic addressing to a great extent makes simpler network management in the so called non-dial-up networks. Dynamic addressing makes changes only to the bootp server leaving out other computers.

Address resolution
The first discrepancy involving a native linker and a locator is the nature of the output files that they create. The native linker creates a file on the disk drive of the host system that is read by a part of the operating system called loader whenever the user requests to run the program. The loader find memory into which to load the program copies the program from the disk into the memory and may then do various other processing before starting the program. This calls for address resolution.

Address resolution can therefore be defined as a mechanism that is used to bind a high-level protocol address like IP to a low level hardware address like Ethernet address. In summary, the translation from a computer’s protocol address to an equivalent hardware address is known as address resolution. Address resolution is local to a particular physical network. A physical network component can resolve an address only for other components on the same physical network.
One computer can resolve the address of another computer only if both computers attach to the same physical network. Address resolution has three techniques for resolving protocol addresses.

The techniques are Table lookup, Closed-form computation, and Message exchange. In Table lookup technique, bindings are stored in memory with addresses as keys. Software looks up protocol addresses to find hardware addresses. In closed-form computation technique, the protocol address assigned to a computer is based on the computer’s hardware address. A hardware address is computed from the protocol address. In message exchange technique, computers exchange messages across a network to resolve an address. A computer needing an address resolution sends a request. The destination responds with the hardware address. Address resolution is performed at each step along path through Internet and it has two basic algorithms of direct mapping and dynamic binding. Each choice depends on type of hardware.

The difference between decentralized routing and centralized routing
In centralized routing, routing is done at the center with the use of centralized database. This means that the routing table is held in reserve to a particular central node that can be conferred with when other nodes are making a routing decision. In decentralized routing, each and every node upholds a different routing table. On the other hand, decentralized routing can be recognized as totally opaque. This is so because there is a constraint on impairments that do not play any role as far as routing in the domains is concerned. Whenever there is failure and there is need for quick restoration, decentralized routing system is able to sustain the task of demanding computation of reviving paths for every failed light-path.

While routing is performed by the use of a centralized database in centralized routing, routing is achieved by use of distributed database in centralized routing. This simply means that a central node is in a position to keep the routing table in a centralized model, whereas every node is keeping a routing table in the decentralized model.
For the reason that information do not change so often, it is believed that the information is fitting to be gathered in the centralized database. The pre-calculations required when restoring data takes advantage of the global information accessible in a centralized database. But on the contrast to a decentralized routing system, centralized system cannot be counted to acquire the accountability of requesting to the on-demand computation of revival paths. This is possible for every light path that may have failed when there was unexpected failure. The centralized routing model is vastly constant with the obtainable distributed routing philosophy of the internet.

Three types of dynamic routing
The three types of Dynamic Routing protocols are: Distance Vector Routing Protocols, Link State Routing Protocols, and Path Vector Routing Protocols.
Distance Vector Routing Protocols
Distance Vector Routing Protocols are the oldest routing protocols. They are based on the Bellman-Ford algorithm. In this scheme, routers learn routes to all the other routers from their neighboring routers that are located at fixed intervals. They advertise this information to other routers on their interface. As a packet moves from one router to another, its distance gets increased. The most common problems of Distance Vector Routing Protocols are slow convergence and routing loops. Routing loops occur as a result of slow convergence leading to inconsistent route entries in the routing tables of the routers. Convergence is the updating of the routing table of each router in the network.

Link State Routing Protocols
In Path Vector Routing Protocols, routers do not exchange periodic routes as Distance Vector Routing Protocols. But instead, they exchange the status of routers, links, and their addresses. When a link goes down or a new link comes up, a link state update is immediately flooded into the network and each router adds the new link states to their database. The routers in Path Vector Routing Protocols maintain a complete map of network connectivity within an area using first hand information from all sources.

Path Vector Routing Protocols
A Path Vector Routing Protocols is more recent concept compared to both a distance vector protocol and the link state routing protocol. The entire idea of Path Vector Routing Protocols is often tightly coupled to BGP. Path vector routing protocols convey complete path information to reach a destination node. These protocols can adapt dynamically to topological changes like link failures but usually do not convey any explicit notification of which links failed. In a path vector, a node doe not just receive the distance vector for a particular destination from its neighbor but a node receives the distance as well as the entire path to the destination from its neighbor.

The differences between connectionless and connection-oriented routing
Communication between computers can be arranged in one the two ways: connectionless and connection-oriented. Connection-oriented services use acknowledgements as well as flow control to create reliable session. Connection services are used to send data with no acknowledgements of flow control. And this can lead to considering them as unreliable. In a connectionless routing, no connection is made before data is transmitted. When compared to connection oriented routing connectionless routing is a simple error control. Connection-oriented requires connection to be made prior to sending any data. This means that error control is highly structured in connection-oriented routing.

Connection oriented network is sometimes referred to us switched network and connectionless network is often referred to us router based networks. Connection-oriented establishes a logical connection between the two communicating end points before being able to transfer data. It then can provide reliable and ordered delivery, flow and congestion control. Connectionless service does not need to set up a connection and can send data right away; conversely, it does not offer any of the functions provided by the connection-oriented model. TCP is an example of a connection-oriented routing protocol whereas UDP is an example of connectionless routing protocol. Connection-oriented modeled after the telephone system it acts like a tube: the sender pushes objects (bits) in at one end, and the receiver takes them out at the other end Connection-less modeled after the postal system each message (letter) is routed through the system independent of all the others.

Four pieces of information that a computer using TCP/IP need in order to send messages using TCP/IP.
The four pieces of information that a computer using a TCP/IP need in order to send message using TCP/IP are unique IP address, DNS server IP address, subnet mask, and gateway IP address.
Unique IP address
An IP address identifies an attachment point to Internet. Approximately, by likeness to a street address, IP address points out a location with no specific details. In numerous circumstances, an address may it be both physical and Internet can be connected to a person. Given that residential Internet services are at all times given by commercial Internet Service Providers, they contain billing information for each and every customer that uses the residential internet services. When residential Internet services providers chose to maintain a database that can link billing information to the Internet addresses that they offer to particular customers, they can map out back from address to personal identity.

Subnet mask
Subnet masks are important to computer using TCP/IP because they are in a position to determine the portion of destination IP address packet that is addressing a certain company or organization. Subnetting process works by finding the number of bits that are required to meet a given requirement.
DNS server IP address
DNS is the abbreviation of Domain Name System. It is the protocol that usually provides the framework that is used for web browsing. The main function of DNS is to act in response to a reservation for a given domain name. This calls for the exact location on the precise web hosting server where the domain name and web site are located.
Gateway IP address
Different networks connected through gateways. All gateways trying to find best paths to forward all packets.

Final Review 12