Need for Organizational Change Management at Kmart Assignment

Need for Organizational Change Management at Kmart - Assignment Example The annual sales thus achieved were in excess of $10 million. Even during periods of financial depressions and wars, this chain of retail stores stood out as a successful player by virtue of its ability to offer products at affordable prices. What is more, unlike other organizations it helped people sustain their families by offering them jobs. Despite the fact that prices have undergone numerous changes with the passing years, Kmart’s business philosophy remained the same – the company strongly believed that the best way to retain customers is by offering them â€Å"products they need at prices they can afford† (Sears Holdings Corporation-a, 2010). Over the decades Kmart has earned endless accolades that have augmented its position in the global retail sector, and during 1976 it created history â€Å"by opening 271 Kmart stores in one year, becoming the first-ever retailer to launch 17 million square feet of sales space in a single year† (Sears Holdings C orporation-a, 2010). However, the picture at Kmart has not been rosy all through. At the beginning of 2002, â€Å"the company filed for bankruptcy after its debt spiralled to more than $10 billion† (Kelly, 2004), and it has been reported that in the next two years the company had closed nearly 600 stores and laid off nearly 59000 employees. This incident helped Kmart make history yet again because the company had almost â€Å"$17.0 billion in assets at the time of their filing, making it the largest retailer the United States had ever seen declare bankruptcy† (Cole, 2002, p.2). In order to survive the financial plights, Kmart merged with Sears Roebuck in November 2004 following a deal worth $11 billion. Although the company is performing well and trying its best to â€Å"create long-term value in a deliberate and logical fashion, while remaining cognizant of the risks and challenges† (Sears Holdings Corporation-b, 2010), problems that still exist are pushing Kma rt to the back foot.  Ã‚  

Technology Evaluation and Recommendation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Technology Evaluation and Recommendation - Essay Example Threats on their part can take up multiple flavors ranging from sabotage, deliberate espionage, leakage, or information extortion. As is evident with the virility of information technology as the contemporary means of capturing and storing information, it is important that access control systems should exist to protect information and information technology systems. Access control is one of the most sensitive aspects when it comes to computer and computer systems’ security. Access control refers to any mechanism that controls or provides a form of verification to guarantee information’s protection from inappropriate access or unauthorized use. Collectively, access control methods serve two purposes; controlling modification, and controlling the disclosure of information from threats. In computer security, a threat is any agent that may breach the confidentiality or interfere with the integrity of information or information systems. Threats on their part can take up multiple flavors ranging from sabotage, deliberate espionage, leakage, or information extortion. As is evident with the virility of information technology as the contemporary means of capturing and storing information, it is important that access control systems should exist to protect information and information technology systems. Social engineering occurs when a user is manipulated to trick a person into weakening a component of the system itself. One of the biggest dilemmas with social engineering is the fact that a hacker can obtain critical information via personnel relationships. This can be chaotic and cause many in adverse issues. Another method that plagues the dilemma of social engineering is pretexting. Pretexting occurs when a hacker calls an IT personnel for instance and give scenarios that will allow a hacker to have a perception for hacking. Another risk that seems to be prevalent in user domain accounts that correlated with human mistakes is the fact that it

Informed Consent in Treatment

Informed Consent in Treatment Danelle J. Hollenbeck Introduction Informed consent is an ethical idea or concept which clients must understand and agree to prior to receiving an assessment, treatment, etc. This paper explores informed consent in treatment and confidentiality. It explores why it is important to acquire informed consent and maintain confidentiality when providing treatment. Due to restrictions in length of the paper, I will not focus on informed consent involving minors or the incapacitated. Informed Consent in Treatment Informed consent is an ethical and legal design to ensure clients are provided with knowledge and information about the treatment in which they are seeking, thus decide whether or not they want to participate in the treatment when the consent has been given to them and is worded in language that is easy to understand (Fishers, 2013, p.12). Standard in informed consent would be the nature of all information that is included in the procedures and steps that must be taken to protect the rights of children and adults with impairments, thus not able to provide consent (Fishers, 2013, p.12). It is important that a practitioner receives informed consent for evaluations, assessments, and treatment, except when mandated by law (â€Å"APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, â€Å"n.d.). Practitioners using the services of an interpreter must obtain informed consent from the client in order to use that interpreter, which ensures on behalf of the client that confidentiality is maintained. It is also imperative that practitioners inform (whilst obtaining informed consent) they inform clients as early as possible about fees involved, limits of confidentiality, and involvement of third parties (â€Å"APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, â€Å"n.d.). Where I work we have a packet in which the first 4 sheets are consent to share information and include consent to share data to NTDMS, two charities we work in partnership with and would be providing services to clients, and social services. There is also a form they sign which states t hat information obtained in this assessment is confidential unless they are at risk to themselves or others, or have put a child at-risk. Informed consent also includes identifying a person’s professional identity, explaining the risks, and the client’s ability to discontinue treatment at any time. According to Hudgins, et al (2013) â€Å"informed consent also includes the notice that is  required by federal or state laws, professional ethical codes, or both, concerning the patient rights†Ã‚  (pg.11). this is very important to have so people entering into treatment know what their rights  are. Effective ways to ensure the ethical standards are being met is to put informed consent in the  patient handbook (Hudgins et al, 2013, p 8). The most powerful tool in compliance and ensuring  ethical standards is to create a pathway into the informed consent process which exists right at  the beginning. HIPAA patient material that is required and Part 2 can be included in the patient  handbook, along with the â€Å"Mental Health Bill of Rights† that may be required by state statute  Hudgins et al, 2013, pg. 8). Informed consent, as with any medical procedure, should be revisited  and documented. The practitioner has a duty to ensure the client is involved in ethical decisions  about his or her care. The process of securing informed consent involves patient education by the  practitioner (Rock Hoebeke, 2014, pg. 4). Each patient is expected to be the guardian of their  own body, as long as they are of sound mind. A patient of sound mind may choose not to go  ahead with treatment, even if it is life-saving (Rock Hoebeke, 2014, pg. 2). American law does  not permit the practitioner to have personal judgment over the client (Rock Hoebeke, 2014, pg.  2), nor permit the practitioner to assert personal judgment over the client. According to Rock   Hoebeke, â€Å"Respect for human dignity requires the recognition of specific patient rights,  particularly, the right of self-determination. Self-determination, also known as autonomy, is the  philosophical basis for informed consent in health care. Patients have the moral and legal right to  determine what will b e done with their own person; to be given accurate, complete, and  understandable information in a manner that facilitates an informed judgment; to be assisted with  weighing the benefits, burdens, and available options in their treatment, including the choice of  no treatment; to accept, refuse, or terminate treatment without deceit, undue influence, duress,  coercion, or penalty† (2014). It is therefore imperative each person entering into treatment has  the means allowed to accept or deny treatment by under which the means they understand it. Another point to consider regarding informed consent is that although a practitioner  may appoint a receptionist or nurse to obtain the written informed consent, it is legally and  ethically the practitioner’s sole responsibility to ensure his or her client has been educated in  regards to assessment and treatment. This cannot be delegated to a latter employee (Hock   Roebeke, 2014, pg. 3). Ethically and legally reliability getting informed consent lies within  the practitioner providing treatment, which includes also the risks and benefits of the treatment. Although delegation clearly is appointed at the pathway of treatment when doing an assessment,  the practitioner does so at the sole discretion that they are doing so risking liability. Those who  have been delegated this work should be properly trained as outlined in Standards 2.05 (â€Å"APA  Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, â€Å"n.d.) which states those who are  delegated work have been properly trained (apa.org). Therefore the person witnessing the  signature is knowledgeable and looks for clues to determine if the person is lucid and  comprehends the informed consent. This can cause further ethical and legal  situations if each person providing informed written consent is not coherent. Finally, spontaneously signing the form by a patient should not be allowed. It is  imperative that each patient reads and understands the forms they are signing. Signing without  reading has been a habitual practice (Rock Hoebeke, 2014, p. 4). The receptionist, nurse, or  other point of contact before seeing the practitioner is the advocate of the patient, thus should  assess the patient’s understanding of treatment. In practice, I have taken clients into a private  room and read to them the informed consent forms to make sure they understand what they are  signing. I already employ all of these methods in my daily practice setting now when undertaking  first contact, initial assessments, etc. I plan to use the Ethics Code and guidelines in the same  manner in which I was trained. Because I am providing a service to people I must ensure they  understand the service they are receiving. If they are not able to read or write, I will read it for  them in a private setting, or if they require an interpreter I will employ Standard 2.05 (â€Å"APA  Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, â€Å"n.d.) and hire a trained interpreter. It  is imperative I follow the Ethics Code in strict line with my work so that I am not  jeopardizing my clients or also myself. References APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://memforms.apa.org/apa/cli/interest/ethics1.cfm#10_01 Fisher,C.B. (2013).Decoding the ethics code: A practical guide for psychologists: includes the 2010 APA amendments to the ethics code(3rded.). Los Angeles [etc.: SAGE. Hudgins, PhD,C., Rose, PhD,S., Fifield,P., Arnault,S. (2013).Navigating the Legal and Ethical Foundations of Informed Consent and Confidentiality in Integrated Primary Care(Vol. 31). Retrieved from American Psychological Association website: http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.lib.kaplan.edu/eds/detail/ Rock,M., Hoebeke,R. (2014). Informed consent: whose duty to inform?MedSurgNursing,23(3), 4. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.lib.kaplan.edu

Internet Scams Essay -- Computer Fraud Fraudulent

Internet Scams From the comfort of an internet user’s own home they truly have the world at their finger tips. They have access to a Global Market place through the internet. Cyberspace offers unlimited options for quick and easy ways to shop, find investment opportunities, communicate, and much more. Unfortunately however, in today’s world fraudsters also find the internet to be a quick and easy way to fool and rob unsuspecting surfers with false advertising and false promises. The fraudsters target those who do not know how to determine the validity of online offers and sales. According to the National Fraud Information Center (NFC) there were 36,802 complaints of internet fraud in 2002, and the complaints increased to 37,183 in 2003 (Internet Scams). This growing problem affects internet users everywhere, who can lose hundreds of dollars to these cunning, ruthless scam artists. According to the NFC undelivered or misrepresented goods or services from auction websites made up 89% of scam complaints in 2003 (Internet Scams). In his article entitled â€Å"Sleaze Bay,† David Freedman explains why auction websites are so appealing for fraudsters: â€Å"As is true of much of the Web, the characteristics that make auction sites so appealing—anonymity, speed, low overhead, access to millions of people, lack of outside regulation, an ability to interact from a great distance—are the very same characteristics that make rip-offs so easy† (1). According to Freedman, sites such as E-bay may be subject to shill bidding; a practice against E-bay rules that is often illegal. Shill bidding involves a seller, their friends, family, or other sellers bidding to entice other bidders to join and raise their profits. This is based on the idea that â€Å"†¦bi... ...ainst internet fraud. Works Cited Fleitas, Amy. Internet Spam Spawns Scams. Bankrate, Inc. 22, Apr. 2004 http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/advice/20021025b.asp Freedman, David. â€Å"Sleaze Bay.† Forbes. (2000) : 5 pgs. 22 Apr. 2004 http://www.forbes.com/asap/2000/1127/134.html FTC Names Its Dirty Dozen. Federal Trade Commission. 22 Apr. 2004 http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/doznalrt.htm Hendersen, Les. Pyramid Schemes. 22 Apr. 2004 http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Crimes/Delivered/pyramids.htm Internet Scams. National Fraud Information Center. 22 Apr. 2004 http://www.fraud.org/2003internetscams.pdf Lanford, Jim and Audri. Internet ScamBusters. 22 Apr. 2004 http://www.scambusters.org/index.html Online Shopping. Office of Fair Trading. 22 Apr. 2004 http://www.oft.gov.uk/Consumer/Your+Rights+When+Shopping+From+Home/Online+shopping.htm

TOK wok

TOK Writing Assignment â€Å"When the only tool you have is a hammer, all problems begin to resemble nails. † (Abraham Maslow) How might this apply to ways of knowing, as tools, in the pursuit of knowledge? Ways of knowing embody memory, language, emotion, intuition, sense perception, reason, imagination, and faith, which take part in the process of acquiring knowledge. For instance, language can be considered as a means of exchanging the knowledge with each other and emotion is a way to express our personal feelings and convey the message to other people.We are able to use hese ways of knowing as a tool to obtain knowledge, therefore understanding the world around us. Speaking of tool, the quote above might suggests that if we only have a hammer, thus it becomes the only way to solve all the problems, which means all the problems are naturally seemed as nails in our mind, even if they are essentially not. In this case, the hammer impacts the viewpoint towards all the problems . That being said, we are likely to determine the things around us, even the world, based on the tool we are holding.This concept provides an idea that if ways of nowing is conceived as a tool, like a hammer, it will affect how we evaluate the problem first, consequently impacting the way we solve the problems and even shaping the way in which we think about the world around us. Sense perception, one way of knowing, is defined as a mechanism by how we obtain knowledge on stimulation of senses. In simple terms, we use senses to look and feel, in order to understand the world.Seeing and hearing are two common materials contributing to sense perception, which play a significant role in impacting how we think about the world. An example of it happened to me, which made me strongly feel the power of sense perception on the view towards the world. Since now I am studying in Canada, a multi-culture country, my friends at school are from all over the world, who have different skin and hair color. It is easy to see people of different nationalities, while I am walking on the street.In stark contrast, it is rare to find people with different hair color in the country where I come from, especially the time when my great grandmother grew up. By chance, I showed my great grandmother the photos of my riends here; she was totally shocked by all kinds of different hair color she saw. She sat stunned for a while and said, â€Å"Oh, how come they don't have black hair! They look completely different from us. Unbelievable, can't imagine, that's not true†¦ This is the first time, my great grandmother actually saw people in different hair color and she was shocked by that, even doubted herself at the first few seconds. It is because she thought that everyone in the world had black hair and yellow skin, more interestingly, she has never even thought about other countries in her realm of knowledge. However, for a ninety-eight-year-old person in China, what she saw every day we re people with black hair and everything she heard was about the xanthoderm. It is not surprising that she naturally had this viewpoint of the world according to what she saw and heard.This simple example demonstrates the idea that sense perception, as a way of knowing, has the ability to influence how we look the problem, in this case, the world, and then drawing a conclusion of the problem. Not only the sense perception as a way ot knowing can steer the pursuit ot knowledge, faith also shows its strong effect on it. With regard to faith, it reminds me of a poem I read in my English class. The poem â€Å"Limbo†, wrote by Seamus Heaney, portrays a depressive story that a Catholic mother attempted to kill her baby by putting him in the sea in 1970s.The reason why she did that is because this is an illegitimate infant and she thinks it is the right thing to do based on her strong Catholic faith. In comparison to the Buddhism, they would never put it in the same way, because kil ling a baby regardless of if the baby is an illegitimate or not can be considered as a sin according to their faith. Catholicism and Buddhism both believe in different faith, which leads two completely opposite Judgments towards the same thing.In other words, different faiths allow people to Judge differently as they look from the different angles towards one thing, in the second place, leading to make different decisions. Simply put, the concept that ways of knowing could shape the way we estimate problems and coming up with different ways to solve them is verified by this example. Nevertheless, there is a common counterclaim states that the way we solve a problem is based on the problem itself, furthermore how we look t the problems does not change the essential meaning or property of the problems.Although it might be true, during the process of estimating a problem and solving it, we unconsciously interpret the problems in our own unique way. Hence when we convey those problems o r ideas to other people by languages, what they acquire is the personal viewpoint towards those problems, not the problem itself, which means we indirectly change the property of the problems when we deliver them by using the tool we has. This implicates language, another way of knowing, is able to shape ow we look and interpret things around us.As a foreign student, English is my second language which I am using as a tool to exchange ideas with other people now. I always find that it is really hard for me to translate Chinese directly into English, vice versa. It is because the way we compose a sentence, the structure of the sentence and the order of the sentence constituents are all different. For instance, when we describe an object, we chronically put all the adjectives in front of the object; however, English-speakers prefer to describe an object following with a subordinate lause, which means the important part of the object is actually appearing after it.As I have been speaki ng mandarin for almost sixteen years, an entrenched idea exerts a great impact on me as I unconsciously value the things with the description in front of them more than those having the description after them at the time I see or hear them. Since I habitually pay more attention to that, I would somehow miss the part where my Canadian friends are trying to emphasize by using the way they describe a thing, which leads to misunderstandings or estimating things differently.However, ccording to my situation now, living in an English-speaking country, I should drop my mandarin hammer and pick up the English hammer, in order to nail the right thing with the right tool. All in all, the idea that ways of knowing have the ability to impact how we formulate ideas, derive conclusions, and thus gaining knowledge has been demonstrated by exploring different ways of knowing such as sense perception, faith, and language. Throughout my essay, we are able to conclude we use different ways of knowing as tools to seek the treasure of knowledge and allowing these tools to decide what (1243) kind ot treasure we are going to tind

Nice Guys Always Finish Last

Nice guys is a term in the popular culture and general public discourse describing a male, young or adult, with friendly yet unassertive personality traits in the context of a relationship with a woman. Nice guy is said to be who puts their interest aside and out others first, avoids confrontation, does favors, gives emotional support, tried to stay out of trouble and generally be nice towards women. Although many people would agree with the generalization of â€Å"nice guys always finish last† I would disagree and side with nice guys because bad guys may get the girls and sleep around but in the end of the day they end up with the nice guy. There is a discrepancy between preference and the actual action of women in choices in men. They say that they want â€Å"nice guys† but in reality, they go for â€Å"bad boys† or â€Å"jerks† in the end. Stephan Desrochers claims, in a 1995 article in the journal Sex Roles, that many â€Å"sensitive† men, based on personal experience, do not believe women actually want â€Å"nice guys†. Desrochers, 1995). And Urbaniak & Kilmann write that, â€Å"Although women often portray themselves as wanting to date kind, sensitive, and emotionally expressive men, the nice guy stereotype contends that, when actually presented with a choice between such a ‘nice guy' and an unkind, insensitive, emotionally-c losed, ‘macho man' or ‘jerk,' they invariably reject the nice guy in favor of his ‘so-called' macho competitor. † (Urbaniak & Kilmann, 2003). They all both say that what they want and what they actually do is totally different. Women say they want â€Å"nice guys† but they want nice guys to be attractive, well built but those guys are either taken or jerks. Then they go for the jerks, who are attractive and challenge themselves to make them to become nice guys but that rarely happens. Nice guys do not always finish last. The difference is how one defines or take word â€Å"last† as. Bad boys or jerks do always get the girls because they know the game and most of them are attractive in different ways but when one looks at long-term, many can see that women tend to choose nice guys. Herold and Milhausen claim that â€Å"while ‘nice guys' may not be competitive in terms of numbers of sexual partners, they tend to be more successful with respect to longer-term, committed relationships. † (Herold & Milhausen, 1999). No women wants to be treated badly or be used and that what bad boys or jerks do. Thats is why they prefer nice guys and be will to go out on second date or go in a relationship with them. McDaniel constructed vignettes of dates with a stereotypical â€Å"nice guy† vs. a stereotypical â€Å"fun/sexy guy,† and attempted to make them both sound positive. Participants reported a greater likelihood of wanting a second date with the â€Å"nice guy† rather than with the â€Å"fun/sexy guy. † (McDaniel, 2005). People may think that nice guys finish last but for to them the â€Å"last† is the goal for the women. The women may take a detour but most of them reach the goal to the nice guy. It is like the story of the rabbit and the tortoise, the rabbit is the jerk and tortoise the nice guy. My best friend is a bad boy who gets all the girls he wants and I was always the nice guy. He always told me to be like him but I could not and never be someone who I am not and comfortable with. I always thought that generalization was true until recently but not anymore. It took me three years but I am finally in a relationship and I am happy. From past to present, the women's preference has not changed and that means something. Women do and always will desire nice guys because they care and think about them. Thats is what women is looking for at the end of the day. Nice guys does not finish, they finish first.