Human Resource Issues - evaluate the scenarios provided Essay

Human Resource Issues - evaluate the scenarios provided - Essay Example Organizations which employ multidisciplinary team approach thrive well in the turbulent business environment because it guarantees quality service delivery. The desire by the firm’s administrator to embrace multidisciplinary team approach is appropriate because it ensures that the organization meet the varied and complex needs of the patients. In order to achieve this, the firm should pursue innovative research, which is relayed to the patient care technicians through in-house training. It is critical for the firm to employ interactive methods of training (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2012). According to Buchbinder and Shanks (2012), accurate and precise job descriptions are paramount for an organization personnel management. In order to realize this, an organization must undertake job analysis. In this scenario, the decision by the administrator to pursue job analysis is crucial. To realize effective results of job analysis, the administrator should undertake research on other job description resources, request existing employees to write their job duties, review the organization’s documents and interview individuals who occupy related positions in the organizations. The firm can attract new clients by offering health care services that are outstanding in the market. Therefore, the plans by the ambulatory care clinic to acquire new diagnostic imaging equipment shows firm’s commitment to quality service delivery. However, the acquisition of this equipment has far-reaching implications on human resource management. As such, it is important for the firm to consider availability of the right expertise to use the technology and the economic effects on the organization. The organization must also factor its business strategy when making the decision to acquire the equipment (Buchbinder & Shanks,

The Problem of Evil

The Problem of Evil The Problem of Evil Does such problem contradict the existence of God? Why does our world contain so much evil? Why does it contain any evil at all? These questions and many others, particularly the presence of evil, reflects the most persistent argument raised against theism. The problem of evil is usually seen as the problem of how the existence of God can be reconciled with the existence of evil in the world. The problem simply stems from basic beliefs or assumptions pertaining to the attributes of God: God is perfectly good, omniscient, and omnipotent. From this, such a God should want to prevent evil, yet much evil exists. There have been many proposed solutions to problem of evil, one being the free will defense/argument. According to this argument, God must allow His creatures to do evil sometimes in order to promote free will. So even if God wants to prevent evil, he cannot because free will is important. The free will defense successfully solves the problem. Some critics believe that this argument fails due to the fact that God could give us f ree will and still stop people from doing evil. But if that were the case, people would not really have free will; they would know they could not freely do anything they wanted. In this paper I will further explain the problem of evil and examine the concept of the free will argument. Furthermore, I will present J. L. Mackies argument regarding the issue, while exploring Alvin Plantingas defense. Despite Plantingas success and acceptance, his free will defense still presents a conflict between reasoning and the characteristics of God. The problem of evil arises because the concept of God seems to entail that there should be no evil in the world. The existence of evil seems to indicate that God is not preventing this evil. If such notion were true, why would not God step in to intervene? Many philosophers, particularly J.L. Mackie, details the problem of evil as a simple case of logical inconsistency, which arises from the attributes of God all being true at the same time. The religious believers assume that God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent, yet evil exist. Simply stated or broken down, the problem of evil claims that the following prepositions cannot be held consistently together: 1. God is omnipotent (all powerful) 2. God is omniscient (all knowing) 3. God is omnibenevolent (all good) 4. Evil exists If God has these features, then it follows that God can and should want to prevent evil. As Mackie states, â€Å"Good is opposed to evil, in such a way that a good things always eliminates evil as far as it can, and that there are no limits to what an omnipotent thing can do. From these it follows that a good, omnipotent thing eliminates evil completely, and then the propositions that a good, omnipotent thing exists, and the evil exists, are incompatible (174).† For sake of clarity, I will define the terms â€Å"good† and â€Å"evil†, as they will be used throughout this paper. Good is interpreted as anything in harmony with Gods character, will, and goal, whereas evil is any state or condition that is contrary to His character, will, and goal. Speaking in terms of evil, I will further examine two types of evil, as one will be introduced later on in the paper. Moral evil is evil that results from an act, or failure to act, by man. For instance, murder is an evil brought about by man and therefore it is a moral evil. On the contrary, natural evil arises through no fault by man. He has no control over natural evil and is completely powerless to prevent its occurrences. Examples of natural evils are sufferings caused by diseases or natural phenomena such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and tsunamis. The problem of evil can be distinguished between two types of philosophical aspects or challenges to faith in God: the evidential challenge and the logical challenge. The evidential challenge (also known as the inductive argument) seeks to show that the existence of evil counts against the probability of the truth of theism (defined as the belief in at least one deity). Philosophy William L. Rowe illustrates this challenge as such: 1. There exist instances of intense suffering which an omnipotent, omniscient being could have prevented without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse. 2. An omniscient, wholly good being would prevent the occurrence of any intense suffering it could, unless it could not do so without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse. 3. Therefore, there does not exist an omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good being (Rowe, 201) In these statements, Rowe suggests the inductive, probabilistic view of the evil argument justifies atheism (defined as either a rejection of theism or a position that deities do not exist). Evidential arguments claim that there is no good reason for Gods permission of evil. On the other hand, there is the logical challenge to belief in God, which says that it is both impossible and irrational to believe in the existence of a good, powerful God with the existence of evil in the world. A sample logical challenge would in the following form: 1. A good God would destroy evil. 2. An all-powerful God would destroy evil. 3. Evil is not destroyed. 4. Therefore, there cannot possibly be such a good and powerful God. The logical challenge attempts to demonstrate that the assumed propositions lead to a logical contradiction and cannot therefore all be correct. In his argument from evil, David Hume inquires about the existence of God, stating that the assumed God would not possibly allow evil to exist. He asks, â€Å"Is He willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then He is impotent. Is He able, but not willing? Then He is malevolent. Is He both able and willing? Whence then is evil (150)?† Being that there is more evil than good in the world, it is difficult to see how one can reconcile the existence of evil with the existence of an all-powerful, omnibenevolent God. So it seems that either God does not exist, or His characteristics are very different from what we think. It seems that either choice contradicts the traditional belief in God. However, the conclusion that were wrong about God follows only if God has no good reason for allowing evil. Perhaps if one can explain Gods reason for allo wing evil, then the belief in God may still be rational. There are many possible replies and solutions to the problem of evil, but I will only limit focus to one particular argument. The free will defense illustrates that God allows evil for the sake of human free will. Moreover, evil occurs because God does not want to compromise this free will be preventing evil. Speaking in terms of free will, what does it mean to necessarily be free or possess free will? As used in this paper, free will is identical to freedom of choice, or the ability to do or not to do something. The concept implies that an omnipotent God does not assert its power to intervene in choice. Gods creation of beings with considerable free will is something like the greatest gift that can be given, or in another sense, the greater good. He could not eliminate evil and suffering without eliminating the greater good of having created beings with free will. The argument simply says that God is not responsible for the evil that takes place, but rather, beings are at fault; at some point in life, a being will be faced with a situation that requires moral choice and the ability to act freely, and they may possibly choose evil (Cain). The argument gives the impression that God knows that evil occurs, God does not want evil to occur, and God has the ability to prevent evil, but evil still exists because God wants us to have free will. In Evil and Omnipotence, Mackie argues that the traditional conceived God cannot possibly exist with so much evil and suffering in the world. Thus, the problem of evil leads to a contradiction in at least one, if not all, of the attributes of God (that being omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent). In his essay, Mackie examines what he calls â€Å"so-called† solutions to the problem: evil being a necessary counterpart to good, the universe being better off with some evil, evil acting as a means to good, and evil being the result of human free will. For objective purposes of consistency, I will only touch basis on Mackies response to evil being the direct result of freedom. For Mackie, the existence of evil is logically incompatible with the existence of a Christian God. He maintains the idea that God granted free will, but then asks, â€Å"If God has made men such that in their free choices they sometimes prefer what is good and sometimes what is evil, why could He not h ave made men such that they always freely choose the good (Mackie, 178)?† Being all powerful, God could have created a world with both free will and no signs of evil. In other words, God could have created a world where man had the ability to choose between two actions (good or bad), but from his omnipotence, He would always see it that man choose what was right. It is obvious that such a world was not created, so what does this say in terms of Gods power? According to Mackie, Gods inability to offer this possibility is a rational contradiction and limits not only his power, but his goodness as well. Plantinga, in his response against Mackie, suggests that atheologicans (specifically Mackie) are wrong to believe that evil and God are incompatible. He argues that God, even being omnipotent, could not create a world with free beings that never chose evil. Furthermore, it is possible that even an omnibenevolent God would want to create a world that contains evil, only if such would bring moral goodness. God uses evil as a vehicle for bringing about the greater good. In efforts to refute the logical problem of evil, Plantinga tries to show that Mackies argument is not contradictory. In order to do so, he finds a statement that could make the claim a reasonable one and makes an addition of a necessarily true proposition to Mackies. He says that â€Å"The heart of the Free Will Defense is the claim that it is possible that God could not have created a universe containing moral good (or as much moral good as this world contains) without creating one that also contained moral evil. And if so, then it is possible that God has a good reason for creating a world containing evil (Plantinga, 190-191).† It is not to be taken in any way that Plantinga declares his proposition is true, but rather logically sound. The free will defense, in my opinion, is a partial success. Plantingas argument is a valid justification for Gods permission of evil, but he seems to speak only in terms of one nature of evil. Yes, the evil that exists around us is a consequence of the abuse of our freedom. Not all natures of evil, however, can be explained in this way. There is much evil that is not inflicted by man. Natural evils (as described earlier in the paper) or disasters, for instance, cause great destruction, but there is nothing that man could have done to prevent them. So if the blame does not fall on man, who can we hold accountable for such occurrences? Would it be safe and logical to say that God, being the Creator of all things (nature in particular), is to blame? Of course for Plantinga he would rely on Augustines perspective to say that these particular evils are a result on moral evil, relating the incidents of Adam and Eve and the concept of original sin. This response would probably be the safe way out, but again it does not necessarily pose a solution to the problem of natural evils. Not everyone hold the same beliefs or interpretations of Adam, Eve, and the forbidding fruit scenario. And at this rate of thinking, his argument would only hold strong for the theist himself. On another note, I believe that it is reasonable to say that it is better that the world contain beings with significant freedom than that it contains only automata. Evil can be seen as an instrument of God to correct, purify, and instruct (as a parent punishes his/her child). God is justified in permitting evil and suffering in terms of promoting character development; it seems that His goal would be to bring man to a point spiritual well-being and maturity. It is deemed necessary that man go through struggles in order to gain strength, a means of soul promoting, or to be conscious of certain emotions. For instance, in order for a person to know â€Å"hot†, they must inevitably know â€Å"cold†. Without being aware of the one, chances are you would not know how to distinguish between the two. In this case, in order for a person to possess happiness or feel sorrow, they must have been faced with a situation that evokes such feelings or emotions. Ultimately, perhaps God allows evil and suffering so that in the end, man will be born again and accept Gods grace and live by His word. In addition to this thought, a world without evil may not be a feasible world for those who possess free will. Everyone would always freely choose to do good acts because God would constitute everyone to do so. But if no one can choose otherwise, then no ability to choose really exists. Therefore, free will does not exist. When it comes to the problem of evil and Gods existence, there are many questions and concerns that come to mind. Firstly, it is written in the Book of Genesis that God created man in His image. But what exactly is Gods nature? Earlier in the paper, it was established that God, particularly the Christian God, is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all good. I take this as saying that God acts as an accomplice to evil because He knows what will happen before the action is done, and yet he does nothing to get involved. He is all powerful because â€Å"through Christ all things are possible†, or at least all things logically possible. He is also all good meaning He cannot sin nor do evil. Taking this into deliberation, man (being created in His image) has the ability to do wrong and create evil. Thus, we are not â€Å"all-good†. So does this fact alone contradict Gods omnibenevolence? Secondly, God granted free will, but has no means of intervening or preventing the consequenc es; if this was false, then evil would not exist. Does this inability take away from His omnipotence? In a sense, I think of it as a limitation on his power because He created something that He has no control over or at least it seems that He does not. Thirdly, it is argued that God cannot actualize a world with free will and no presence of evil. If this is true, then what do you consider heaven? Heaven is supposed to be a â€Å"perfect† world. I am sure that there is free will and absolutely no evil and suffering. Why could not have God create the physical world (in which we live) as such? In conclusion, the problem of evil exists because man believes in an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent creator. Many philosophers, such as Mackie, argue that if one abolishes God himself, or at least some of His attributes, then evil needs no explanation. In response, some philosophers offer justifications for God permitting evil. The most credible of these is the free will defense, which states that there are no contradictions in Gods attributes; He is capable of destroying evil, but not at the expense of taking away free will. In my paper, I have examined the problem of evil and the concept of the free will argument, using Mackie and Plantingas arguments on the subject. I have given reason to both accept and reject the notion that it can be logically established that the existence of both evil and God are not incompatible. Perhaps no one will really understand Gods reason for allowing some things to happen. More so, there is a possibility that such knowledge is beyond our means of reasoning at present. Bibliography Cain, James. Free Will and the Problem of Evil. Religious Studies: An International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion (2004): 437-456. Gale, Richard M. Freedom and the Free Will Defense. Social Theory and Practice: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal of Social Philosophy (1990): 397-42. Gillett, Grant. The Problem of Evil and the Problem of God. Journal of Applied Philosophy (2007): 435-438. Hume, David. The Argument from Evil. Pojman, Louis P. and Michael Rea. Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology. Belmont: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2008. 147-152. Mackie, J. L. Evil and Omnipotence. Pojman, Louis P. and Michael Rea. Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology. Belmont: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2008. 173-180. Plantinga, Alvin. The Free Will Defense. Pojman, Louis P. and Michael Rea. Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology. Belmont: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2008. 181-199. Schellenberg, J. L. The Atheists Free Will Offence. Internal Journal for Philosophy of Religion (2004): 1-15.

The Aral Sea Disaster Essay example -- Policies Environment Essays

The Aral Sea Disaster Abstract The Aral Sea and the entire Aral Sea basin area have achieved worldwide notoriety due to the environmental disaster. The example of the Aral Sea disaster has sent a signal to the entire international community demonstrating how fast and irrevocable the environmental system can be ruined if there is no long-term thinking and planning in place. This paper gives a broad overview of the policies that have resulted in dying of the forth-largest inland body of water. It concentrates on the policies and approaches of the international organizations towards the problem, describes examples of the projects and presents a conclusion on effectiveness of such policies. Introduction The Aral sea used to be the forth largest inland body of water. It had a fishing industry that employed 60,000 people and it attracted thousands of tourists. Today the Aral Sea is biologically dead and has shrunk by approximately 75-80% in volume and 50-60% in area. (See Attachment 1. The chronology of the desiccation of the Aral Sea). Fishing towns such as Muinak are now 60 kilometers inland. Approximately 75 million tons per year of toxic salt from the exposed seabed are blown over thousands of kilometers of inhabited land increasing the already high level of salinity and worsening the environmental situation. Where is the Aral Sea located? The Aral Sea is in the very heart of the Central Asia. Central Asia, an area of 1.7 millions km2 in total, lies in the middle of the Eurasian continent. It is at the crossroads of the old caravan routes that ran from Europe to Asia and the Middle East to the Far East. The whole region consists of vast deserts and semi-arid lands (See Attachment 2. Geographical ... .../aralsea/asa_dis.htm Operational Research http://www.msf.org/aralsea/op_res.htm Tuberculosis Pilot Program http://msf.org/aralsea/tb_pilot.htm 3. UNOPS web site http://unops.org/5 proin/5pi2001.html 4. International Aral Sea Rehabilitation Fund web site http://ifas-almaty.kz/ENG/Consequesnces.html 5. Soros Foundation ¡Ã‚ ¦s Office in Tashkent web site www.soros.org 6. German Remote Data Center Geographical location of the Aral Sea http://www.dfd.dlr.de/app/land/aralsee/aralregion.html Chronology of the desiccation of the Aral Sea http://www.dfd.dlf.de/app/land/aralsee/chronology.html Picture 1. Chronology of the dessication of the Aral Sea The series of images were derived by satellite remote sensing data and conventional data (WDB II for the mask of 1960, bathymetry for the year of 2010).

Compare Macbeth to a Film Adaptation Essay

In William Shakespeare’s â€Å"Macbeth† the audience witness’s one man’s overriding ambitions to his iconic fall. Shakespeare makes a point of showing the deterioration of the Macbeth that entered the stage in Act 1 and the Macbeth that dies in act 7, showing that even the deep morality and honesty of a man like a man can worsen into a man who is willing to kill his own King – a deadly sin in Shakespeare’s 17th century. Throughout my piece I shall make unifying links between the adaptation directed by Mark Brozel and the original text wrote by none other than Shakespeare. For the period of Act 1, Scene 2, Macbeth is hailed as the very heroic and brave â€Å"Worthy gentleman!† who â€Å"carved out his passage Till he faced the slave;† this suggests two points already, the fact that Macbeth is a graceful fighter who elegantly â€Å"carved† his way through the battle which also suggests that he is as much a perfectionist in the play as he is a cook in the adaptation. The perfection we see in the play is the perfection of murder, how he kills people so wonderfully and gracefully without any shame. Whereas the adaptation shows a more remorseful Macbeth, it pains him to kill animals inhumanely and uses a less murderous way when he has to, he cooks for perfection also, and before his breakdown at his restaurant he refuses to serve the food late when it was ready at the time, saying â€Å"you can’t keep perfection under the light†, only a perfectionist would inherit such a trait. Plus, he mentions that †the first rule in the kitchen is respect†. In Act 1 Scene 3, you begin to see Macbeth’s character really emerge. In the play Macbeth is intrigued by the witches, this highlights two point, he wants to know more â€Å"Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more† for the reason of asking more questions, because the idea has been proposed that he shall be king and Cawdor. However Joe Macbeth laughs at the idea of being the head chef at his Duncan’s restaurant, he finds it delusional and this is the main difference between the two. The Play’s Macbeth is already showing signs of being delusional from the â€Å"aside† side notes but the Macbeth of the adaptation is calmer, more collected. Macbeth battles with himself to then only later write Lady Macbeth a letter telling her all about what has happened. This is because Macbeth in the play is very insecure Macbeth; he is so overrun by the idea that he can be king he begins to speak to himself as â€Å"aside† followed by the quote of â€Å"Gl amis, and thane of Cawdor! The greatest is behind† showing his yearning for power and how his desires, in this case the desire to even have a chance of being king, suddenly take control of his actions and this becomes his tragic flaw. It prevents him from becoming aware of when to stop and think about the consequences; alternatively the Macbeth in the film is more aware of his actions, when forced to fire his two chefs he does so but his guilt consumes him, he realises the tragic outcome of his actions and how his two employees won’t be able to follow their dreams, so he all willingly gives them a large sum of money, this is something the play scripts Macbeth would never do, because he is unaware of the outcomes of his actions. The second point is how intrigued Macbeth is in the play when he is proposed with the idea of becoming the Thane of Cawdor and the King himself; he doesn’t plan the death of Duncan because, to build on my point earlier, he doesn’t want to kill Duncan, Duncan is aware of how morally wrong it is and the guilt that will live with him. He is just interested by the idea of being the King and Duncan just happens to be in his way. His motivation is fuelled by desire and ambition, however what you see in Joe Macbeth is different – Joe, when proposed with the idea of being head chef laughs, but soon gains interest later, but the interest is because he would get to kill Duncan and this is shown by the jealous looks given at the beginning of the play, his motivation is fuelled by jealousy. Joe Macbeth even before considering the idea of being head chef starts to plan Duncan’s murder, this is evident in the scene where Duncan takes Joe Macbeth aside and Joe tells Duncan â€Å"the chance of you being run over by a bus are zero† this shows that Joe has started considering the idea of it happening even before telling Lady Macbeth about the witches prophecies or taking into account the idea of being the head chef. In the play Macbeth seems to be in awe of King Duncan, Macbeth feels any work done on the request of or for Duncan is not work at all, but duty, Macbeth admires Duncan as a King and respects him as I quote â€Å"The service and the loyalty I owe In doing it pays itself. Your highness’ part Is to receive our duties, and our duties Are to your throne and state children and servant† (Act 1, Scene 4) Macbeth and Duncan have a respected relationship, one where they are grateful of each other and admire one another in the first Act, this makes the murder of Duncan even harder and that’s why he chooses to murder Duncan at night. His hand can commit the murder without his eye having to witness it. Somehow this will make the guilt and betrayal less. Macbeth changes throughout as his character develops, in comparison to the relationship between Duncan and Macbeth in the film adaptation is to a certain extent, unalike. When asked about a recipe of Duncan’s Macbeth replies with a jealous voice â€Å"yes, that’s mine† the relationship between Duncan and Joe Macbeth is strained. Joe knows he is the reason the restaurant is so successful and it pains him to lose credit where credit is due .Joe is envious of Duncan, this is confirmed through the first confrontation between the two and how Joe uses only â€Å"Duncan† as a greeting, to represent his cold emotionless feelings towards Duncan.

Is411 Study Guide

Study Guide IS 411 Security Policies and Implementation Issues A perfect policy will not prevent all threats. Key to determining if a business will implement any policy is cost. Policies support the risk assessment to reduce the cost by providing controls and procedures to manage the risk. A good policy includes support for incident handling. Pg 15 Policy may add complexity to a job but that is not important. Unmanageable complexity refers to how complex and realistic the project is. The ability of the organization to support the security policies will be an important topic.Pg 105 Who should review changes to a business process? Policy change control board, minimally you should include people from information security, compliance, audit, HR, leadership from other business units, and Project Managers (PMs). Pg 172 ————————————————- Policy – a document that states how the organization is to perform and conduct business functions and transactions with a desired outcome. Policy is based on a business requirement (such as legal or organizational) ————————————————- ———————————————— Standard – an established and proven norm or method, which can be a procedural standard or a technical standard implemented organization-wide ————————————————- ————————————————- Procedure – a written statement describing the steps required to implement a process. Procedures are technical steps taken to achieve policy go als (how-to document) ————————————————- ————————————————-Guideline – a parameter within which a policy, standard, or procedure is suggested but optionalpg 11-13 Resiliency is a term used in IT to indicate how quickly the IT infrastructure can recover. Pg 279. The Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is the measurement of how quickly individual business processes can be recovered. Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) is the maximum acceptable level of data loss from the point of the disaster. The RTO and RPO may not be the same value. Pg 287 Policies are the key to repeatable behavior.To achieve repeatable behavior you just measure both consistency and quality. Oversight phases to operational consistency: * Monitor * Measure * Review * Track * Improve pg 40 Find ways to mitigate risk through reward. Reward refers to how management reinforces the value of following policies. An organization should put in place both disciplinary actions for not following policies and recognition for adhering to policies. This could be as simple as noting the level of compliance to policies in the employee’s annual review. Pg 78 Domain | Key policies and controls|User | Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)E-mail policyPrivacy policy – covers physical securitySystem access policy – IDs & passwordsAuthorization – Role Base Access Control (RBAC)Authentication – most important| Workstation| Microsoft system center configuration manager: * Inventory – tracks LAN connections * Discovery – detects software and info installed for compliance * Patch – current patches installed * Help desk – remote access to diagnose, reconfigure, reset IDs * Log – extracts logs to central repository * Security – ensures use rs have limited rights, alerts added administer accounts| LAN| Hub – connects multiple devicesSwitch – can filter trafficRouter – connects LANs or LAN-WANFirewall – filters traffic in and out of LAN, commonly used to filter traffic from public internet WAN to private LANFlat network – has little or no control to limit network trafficSegmented – limits what and how computers are able to talk to each other by using switches, routers, firewalls, etc. | LAN-WAN| Generally, routers and firewalls are used to connect LAN-WAN. Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) provide a public-facing access to the organization, such as public websites. DMZ sits between two layers of firewalls to limit traffic between LAN-WAN| WAN| Unsecure public Internet. Virtual Private Network (VPN) secure and private encrypted tunnel. Firewalls have capability to create and maintain a VPN tunnel.Lower cost, save time for small to medium companies with VPN instead of leased line| Remote A ccess| Enhanced user domainRemote authentication – two factor * Something you know (id/password) * Something you have (secure token) * Something you are (biometric)VPN client communicates with VPN hardware for tunneling, client-to-site VPN:Maintains authentication, confidentiality, integrity and nonrepudiation. | System/Application| Application software is the heart of all business applications. Application transmits the transaction to server. Data Loss Protection (DLP) or Data Leakage Protection (DLP) refers to a program that reduces the likelihood of accidental or malicious loss of data. DLP involves inventory, perimeter (protected at endpoints) and encryption of mobile devices. Pg 67|Motivation – pride (work is important), self-interest (repeat behavior rewarded, most important pg 326), and success (winning, ethical, soft skills). Pg 91 Executive management support is critical in overcoming hindrances. A lack of support makes implementing security policies impossibl e. Listen to executive needs and address in policy. Pg 341 Security policies let your organization set rules to reduce risk to information assets. Pg 22. Three most common security controls are: * Physical – prevent access to device * Administrative – procedural control such as security awareness training * Technical – software such as antivirus, firewalls, and hardware pg 27Information System Security (ISS) is the act of protecting information and the systems that store and process it. Information Assurance (IA) focuses on protecting information during process and use. Security tenets known as the five pillars of the IA model: * Confidentiality * Integrity * Availability * Authentication * Nonrepudiation Policy must be clearly written. Unclear purpose refers to the clarity of value a project brings. In the case of security policies, it’s important to demonstrate how these policies will reduce risk. It’s equally important to demonstrate how the pol icies were derived in a way that keep the business cost and impact low. Pg 104 ———————————————— Head of information management is the single point of contact responsible for data quality within the enterprise. ————————————————- ————————————————- Data stewards are individuals responsible for data quality with a business unit. ————————————————- ————————————————- Data administrators execute policies and procedures such as backup, versio ning, up/down loading, and database administration. ————————————————- ————————————————-Data security administrators grant access rights and assess threats in IA programs. Pg 188 ————————————————- ————————————————- Information security officer identifies, develops and implements security policies. ————————————————- ———————————————à ¢â‚¬â€- Data owners approves access rights to information. ————————————————- ————————————————- Data manager responsible for procedures how data should be handled and classified. ————————————————- ————————————————-Data custodian individual responsible for day-to-day maintenance, grant access based on data owner, backups, and recover, maintain data center and applications. ————————————————- —————â₠¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- Data user end user of an application. ————————————————- ————————————————- Auditor are inter or external individual who assess the design and effectiveness of security policies. Pg 115 Separation of duty principle – responsibilities and privileges should be divided to prevent a person or a small group of collaborating people from inappropriately controlling multiple key aspects of a process and causing harm or loss. Pg 156Internal control principle – information security forms the core of an organization’s information internal control systems. Regulations mandate that internal control systems be in place and operating correctly. Organizations rely on technolo gy to maintain business records. It’s essential that such technology include internal control mechanisms. These maintain the integrity of the information and represent a true picture of the organization’s activities. Pg 155 Lines of defense in the service sector: 1. Business Unit (BU) deals with controlling risk daily, mitigate risk when possible. Develops long and short-term strategies, directly accountable. 2. Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program, team owns the risk process.Provides guidance to BU, aligns policies with company goals, oversight of risk committees and risk initiatives. 3. Independent auditor assures board and executive management the risk function is designed and working well. Pg 192 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects a person’s privacy. HIPAA defines someone’s health record as protected health information (PHI). HIPAA establishes how PHI can be collected, processed and disclosed and provides penaltie s for violations. Health care clearinghouses process and facilitate billing. Pg 50 Executive management is ultimately responsible for ensuring that data is protected.Information systems security organization enforces security policies at a program level. The team is accountable for identifying violations of policies. The front-line manager/supervisor enforces security policies at an employee level. Employees are responsible for understanding their roles and the security policies. They are accountable for following those policies. Employees can still be held liable for violations of the law. Employees can be prosecuted for illegal acts. Sampling of key roles to enforce security policies: * General counsel- enforces legal binding agreements * Executive management- implements enterprise risk management * Human resources- enforces disciplinary actions Information systems security organization- enforces polices at program level * Front-line manager/supervisor- enforces policies at employ ee level pg 366 A Privileged-level Access Agreement (PAA) is designed to heighten the awareness and accountability of those users who have administrative rights. Security Awareness Policy (SAP) laws can outline the frequency and target audience. Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) defines the intended uses of computer and networks. A good AUP should accompany security awareness training. Pg 220 Auditors are feared Contractors comply with the same security policies as any other employee (such as an AUP). There may be additional policy requirements on a contractor such as special non-disclosure agreement and deeper background checks. Pg 215Data Class| Class Description| Recovery Period| Examples| Critical| Data must be recovered immediately| 30 minutes| Website, customer records| Urgent| Data can be recovered later| 48 hrs| e-mail backups| Non-vital| Not vital for daily operations| 30 days| Historical records, archives pg 263| U. S. military classification – nation security information document EO 12356. * Top secret – grave damage to national security * Secret – serious damage to NS * Confidential – cause damage to NS * Sensitive but classified – confidential data under freedom of information act * Unclassified – available to the public A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) policy creates a plan to continue business after a disaster. Elements include key assumptions, accountabilities, frequency of testing and part includes BIA.Business Impact Analysis (BIA) purpose is to determine the impact to an organization in the event that key processes and technology are not available. Assets include critical resources, systems, facilities, personnel, and records. Pg 278 Desired results of the BIA include: * A list of critical processes and dependencies * A work flow of processes that include human req to recover key assets * Analysis of legal and regulatory requirements * A list of critical vendors and support agreements * An estimate of the maximum allowable downtime pg 286 Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) is the policies and documentation needed for an organization to recover its IT assets after a disaster (part of BCP). Pg 288Governance – requires a strong governance structure in place. This includes formal reporting to the board of directors. Most boards receive formal GLBA reporting through the audit committee. The head of information security usually writes this report each quarter. Pg 51 An Incident Response Team (IRT) is specialized group of people whose purpose is to respond to major incidents. The IRT is typically a cross-functional (different skills) team. Pg 297. Common IRT members include: * Information technology SMEs * Information security representative * HR * Legal * PR * Business continuity representative * Data owner * Management * Emergency services (normally outside agency i. e. olice) pg 302 Visa requires its merchants to report security incidents involving cardholder data. Visa classifies incid ents into the following categories: * Malicious code attacks * Denial of service (DOS) * Unauthorized access/theft * Network reconnaissance probe pg 299 Declare an incident, develop a response/procedure to control the incident. Before a response can be formulated, a discussion needs to be made. This involves whether to immediately pursue the attacker or protect the organization. Having a protocol in advance with management can establish priorities and expedite a decision. It is important to have a set of responses prepared in advance.Allowing the attacker to continue provides evidence on the attack. The most common response is to stop the attack as quickly as possible. Pg 309 How do you collect data? A trained specialist collects the information. A chain of custody is established and documented. Digital evidence, take a bit image of machines and calculate a hash value. The hash value is essentially a fingerprint of the image. IRT coordinator maintains evidence log and only copies ar e logged out for review. Pg 311 Why do policies fail? Without cohesive support from all levels of the organization, acceptance and enforcement will fail. Pg 19 Which law allows companies to monitor employees?The Electronic Communication Privacy Act (ECPA) gives employers the right to monitor employees in the ordinary course of business. Pg 356 Policy enforcement can be accomplished through automation or manual controls. Automated controls are cost efficient for large volumes of work that need to be performed consistently. A short list of several common automated controls: * Authentication methods * Authorization methods * Data encryption * Logging events * Data segmentation * Network segmentation pg 361 Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) is a free download that can query systems for common vulnerabilities. It starts by downloading an up to date XML file. This file includes known vulnerabilities and release patches. Pg 378Business Continuity Plan (BCP) sustain business durin g disaster Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) support strategic functions during disaster Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) plan to recover facility at alternate site during disaster Business Recovery Plan (BRP) recover operation immediately following disaster Occupant Emergency Plan (OEP) plan to minimize loss of life or injury and protect property from physical threat pg 292 Extra notes: There are two types of SAS 70 audits: * Type 1 – is basically a design review of controls. * Type II – includes type 1 and the controls are tested to see if they work. Pg 61 Governance, Risk management, and Compliance (GRC) and Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) both to control risk. ERM takes a broad look at risk, while GRC is technology focused.GRC top three best frameworks are ISO 27000 series, COBIT, COSO. Pg 197 Incident severity classification: * Severity 4 – small number of system probes or scans detected. An isolated instance of a virus. Event handled by automated controls. No unauthorized activity detected. * Severity 3 – significant probes or scans. Widespread virus activity. Event requires manual intervention. No unauthorized activity detected. * Severity 2 – DOS detected with limited impact. automated controls failed to prevent event. No unauthorized activity detected. * Severity 1 – successful penetration or DOS attack with significant disruption. Or unauthorized activity detected.Pg 308 To measure the effectiveness include IRT charter goals and analytics. Metrics are: * Number of incidents * Number of repeat incidents (signifies lack of training) * Time to contain per incident (every incident is diff, least important) * Financial impact to the organization (most important to management) Glossary terms Bolt-on refers to adding information security as a distinct layer of control after the fact. Business Impact Analysis (BIA) a formal analysis to determine the impact in the event key processes and technology are not available. Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) focuses on financial and risk management.Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT) framework that brings together business and control requirements with technical issues. Detective control is a manual control that identifies a behavior after it has happened. Federal Desktop Core Configuration (FDCC) a standard image mandated in any federal agency. Image locks down the operating system with specific security settings. Firecall-ID a process granting elevated rights temporarily to resolve a problem. Flat network has little or no controls to limit network traffic. Information Technology and Infrastructure Library a framework that contains comprehensive list of concepts, practices and processes for managing IT services. IRT coordinator documents all activities during an incident, official scribe.IRT manager makes all the final calls on how to respond, interface with management. Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA) also known as a confidentiality agreement. Octave is an acronym for Operationally Critical Threat, Asset, and Vulnerability Evaluation. ISS framework consisting of tools, techniques, and methods. Pretexting is when a hacker outlines a story in which the employee is asked to reveal information that weakens the security. Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) NIST spec for how security software products measure, evaluate and report compliance. Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system hardware and software that collects critical data to keep a facility operating.

The New Deal Essays - New Deal Agencies, Labour Economics, New Deal

The New Deal Essays - New Deal Agencies, Labour Economics, New Deal The New Deal During the 1930's, America witnessed a breakdown of the Democratic and free enterprise system as the US fell into the worst depression in history. The economic depression that beset the United States and other countries was unique in its severity and its consequences. At the depth of the depression, in 1933, one American worker in every four was out of a job. The great industrial slump continued throughout the 1930's, shaking the foundations of Western capitalism. The New Deal describes the program of US president Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1939 of relief, recovery, and reform. These new policies aimed to solve the economic problems created by the depression of the 1930's. When Roosevelt was nominated, he said, "I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people." The New Deal included federal action of unprecedented scope to stimulate industrial recovery, assist victims of the Depression, guarantee minimum living standards, and prevent future economic crises. Many economic, political, and social factors lead up to the New Deal. Staggering statistics, like a 25% unemployment rate, and the fact that 20% of NYC school children were under weight and malnourished, made it clear immediate action was necessary. In the first two years, the New Deal was concerned mainly with relief, setting up shelters and soup kitchens to feed the millions of unemployed. However as time progressed, the focus shifted towards recovery. In order to accomplish this monumental task, several agencies were created. The National Recovery Administration (NRA) was the keystone of the early new deal program launched by Roosevelt. It was created in June 1933 under the terms of the National Industrial Recovery Act. The NRA permitted businesses to draft "codes of fair competition," with presidential approval, that regulated prices, wages, working conditions, and credit terms. Businesses that complied with the codes were exempted from antitrust laws, and workers were given the right to organize unions and bargain collectively. After that, the government set up long-range goals which included permanent recovery, and a reform of current abuses. Particularly those that produced the boom-or-bust catastrophe. The NRA gave the President power to regulate interstate commerce. This power was originally given to Congress. While the NRA was effective, it was bringing America closer to socialism by giving the President unconstitutional powers. In May 1935 the US Supreme Court, in Schechter Poultry Corporation V. United States, unanimously declared the NRA unconstitutional on the grounds that the code-drafting process was unconstitutional. Another New Deal measure under Title II of the National Industrial Recovery Act of June 1933, the Public Works Administration (PWA), was designed to stimulate US industrial recovery by pumping federal funds into large-scale construction projects. The head of the PWA exercised extreme caution in allocating funds, and this did not stimulate the rapid revival of US industry that New Dealers had hoped for. The PWA spent $6 billion enabling building contractors to employ approximately 650,000 workers who might otherwise have been jobless. The PWA built everything from schools and libraries to roads and highways. The agency also financed the construction of cruisers, aircraft carriers, and destroyers for the navy. In addition, the New Deal program founded the Works Projects Administration in 1939. It was the most important New Deal work-relief agency. The WPA developed relief programs to preserve peoples skills and self-respect by providing useful work during a period of massive unemployment. From 1935 to 1943 the WPA provided approximately 8 million jobs at a cost of more than $11 billion. This funded the construction of thousands of public buildings and facilities. In addition, the WPA sponsored the Federal Theater Project, Federal Art Project, and Federal Writers' Project providing work for people in the arts. In 1943, after the onset of wartime prosperity, Roosevelt terminated the WPA. One of the most well known, The Social Security Act, created a system of old-age pensions and unemployment insurance, which is still around today. Social security consists of public programs to protect workers and their families from income losses associated with old age, illness, unemployment, or death. The Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) established a federal Minimum Wage and maximum-hours policy. The minimum wage, 25 cents per hour, applied to many workers engaged in interstate commerce. The law was intended to prevent

Journal Entry- coming to the new world essays

Journal Entry- coming to the new world essays Hello, my name is Thomas Moore. I am writing from the ship that has brought me to the new world. I am seventeen years old and soon I will find work to raise money for a room at an inn (if they have one) but until then, with no change in my pocket and no place to sleep I find my cubby hole of a room to be of greatest comfort. It is the year 1680 and I have presently finished the long journey from my home of England to Jamestown, Virginia. It was a fairly good trip, despite the many months it took, hardly comfortable and never easy, but bearable nonetheless. See I bartered my passage onto the ship with the first mate himself. I offered him my culinary services in exchange for any sort of stay on the ship. See, I was raised by my mother and she insisted on me knowing how to take care of myself, including doing my own cooking, so I have become quite a chef. And as this is a ship full of men, the first mate reluctantly took me aboard, casting me to an empty, abandoned room below deck. The three men I share this room with have become my closest company over the past months, though I couldnt call then my friends. We have decided that our sleeping quarters must have once been a bathroom for there is no other explanation for the smell. As for Virginia! What an incredible place. Perhaps it is because of my surroundings in England, or maybe because it is springtime, but I dont believe I have ever seen a more beautiful place. It is so uninhabited and primitive. And to think there could be gold lurking under every rock! That is the real reason I came to Virginia, gold and riches, although it was not by choice that I came. My father has fallen ill after losing his job and our only source of income. Now my mother is finding it difficult to pay the bills for the two room apartment we call home. It was supposed to be a temporary place but I doubt we will ever leave, after three years of living there. And we would like to conti...

Meaning and Family History of the Surname Estrada

Meaning and Family History of the Surname Estrada The toponymic surname Estrada originates from any of the many places in Spain and Portugal named Estrada, from Estrada, meaning road. Derived from the Latin stata, denoting a road or paved way, which in turn derives from sternere, to strew or cover. Estrada is the 52nd most common Hispanic surname. Surname Origin:  Spanish, Portuguese Alternate Surname Spellings:  DE ESTRADA, ESTRADO, ESTRADER Famous People With the Surname Erik Estrada – American actor of Puerto Rican descentToms Estrada Palma – First president of Cuba (1902–1906)Elise Estrada – Canadian pop-singer and actressJoseph Estrada – film actor, producer, former president of the Philippines Where Do People With the Estrada Surname Live? According to Public Profiler: World Names the majority of individuals with the Estrada surname live in Spain and Argentina, followed by concentrations in the United States, Canada, and France. Genealogy Resources for the Surname Estrada Family Crest - Its Not What You ThinkContrary to what you may hear, there is no such thing as an Estrada  family crest or coat of arms for the Estrada  surname.  Coats of arms are granted to individuals, not families, and may rightfully be used only by the uninterrupted male-line descendants of the person to whom the coat of arms was originally granted.   ESTRADA Family Genealogy ForumSearch this popular genealogy forum for the Estrada surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Estrada query. Source: Cottle, Basil.  Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Dorward, David.  Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998. Fucilla, Joseph.  Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges.  A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick.  Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Reaney, P.H.  A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997. Smith, Elsdon C.  American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.

UK Visa Regime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

UK Visa Regime - Essay Example reign tourists, the number of tourists originating from Europe was much higher when compared to the tourists coming from both the United States of America and Canada who make up only 3.5 million, while tourists from Europe total up to more than twenty one million. With reference to the writings by Lickorish and Middleton (2013), it is stated that domestic tourism is a major component of the United Kingdom’s tourism sector and it contributes the highest amount in terms of total revenue earned by the sector, the contribution by this sector stands at more than GBP 21 billion. The four top regions for domestic tourism include West Midlands, East of England, East of Midlands, and London. The peak of domestic tourism is usually during the summer periods, bank holidays, and in specific, the month of August is the busiest in terms of domestic tourism (Lickorish and Middleton, 2013). Other statistics about the tourism sector in the UK is that on average tourists spend GBP 580 per visit and the average duration of stay for each visitor is usually seven nights. Majority of the visitors come to UK for leisure and business purposes while a small number come for further their studies in the UK. Thirdly, majority of the tourists spend most on transport services, accommodation, and food and beverage services (Lickorish and Middleton, 2013). In regards to the tourists’ attraction sites, it is noted by Cook et al. (2009) that the tower of London is the most popular attraction site in the UK with visitors ranging between 2.5 and 2 million each year. Other attraction sites in the UK include amusement parks, Anglo-Saxon sites, aquariums, galleries, art museums, beaches, casinos, castles, and festivals that are usually held in the country, which attract a huge number of audiences both... According to Schengen Visa Services ( 2013), the UK’s tourism visa requirements and policies are complicated to a greater extent than its key rival in the international tourism industry. For example, despite the fact that the UK is a key member of the European Union, the UK operates only in the Common Travel Area alongside Ireland instead of the Schengen area where the majority of the majority of the European Union member countries operate. This, therefore, means that visitors from other countries apart from Ireland, which also operates in the Common Travel Area have to comply with some few UK’s stringent visa requirements before gaining access into the country such as limited duration of stay within the country. Because of the exclusion from operating within the Schengen area, the UK tourism sector fails to attract an additional number of tourists from the other EU member countries, who would have easily toured the country if there were giving the common access that is only shared with Ireland. However, it is important to note that the UK has exempted visitors from a few selected countries other than the EU member countries from its stringent Visa requirements but these exemptions only apply to visitors who intended to visit the country for a limited period of time i.e. six to nine months. Therefore, this explains why the majority of the UK’s tourists are largely drawn from the EU member countries as they are exempted to a greater extent the stringent visa requirements.

Internal Memorandum of Law Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Internal Memorandum of Law - Research Paper Example In order to file a case against the appeal to be filed by Debbie Evans and others, and to evaluate the opponent’s chances of success in this endeavor, the bigamy laws of Utah and other relevant legislation, as well as the decided case law, have to be examined. Debbie Evans wanted to marry a married man Aaron, with the consent of his wife, Barb Conway. They had applied for a marriage license, which was denied, and their plea in the trial court for being provided with such a license was rejected. They wanted to file an appeal in the upper court against this order, challenging the State’s power to interfere with their religious freedom and curtailing their right to polygamous marriage, which in accordance with their religious customs. The Mormon Church, openly promoted polygamy, until the year 1890, when it discontinued this practice. This volte-face was occasioned by Utah territory’s attempt to obtain statehood, and as Congress was insistent that the presence of anti-polygamy legislation was essential for admission into the Union. Since that point in time, the Mormon Church has desisted from actively supporting polygamy, amongst its members. In its efforts to prove that it is opposed to the practices of the 30,000 odd polygamists, who reside in various places in the West, the Mormon Church has resorted to the excommunication of its members who practice polygamy (Cosgrove - Mather, 2004). The state of Utah was witness to a polygamy case that attracted considerable attention. This was the case of State of Utah v. Green, wherein the defendant had maintained conjugal relations with several women and had thereby fathered 28 children (the State of Utah v. Thomas Arthur Green, 2004). His conviction by the lower court was upheld in the Supreme Court of Utah.

Consequences of high incarceration rate Term Paper

Consequences of high incarceration rate - Term Paper Example Research addressing the impact of parental incarceration on children has identified developmental, emotional, psychological, social, educational, and behavioral consequences for these children (Trice & Brewster, 2004). There is some consensus in the literature identifying some of the serious, detrimental consequences for children of all ages who experience parental incarceration. These issues must be identified and addressed as children of incarcerated parents are viewed as a unique, group with special service needs. Number of Incarcerated Parents The Bureau of Justice Statistics in an August 2000 special report identified a total of 1,284,894 prisoners of which, 721,500 were parents. Within this group of incarcerated parents, 46% resided with at least one minor child at the time of incarceration (Mumola, 2001). Of this group of parents incarcerated, 32% reported having more than one child less than 18 years of age (Mumola, 2001) and 37% reported living with their children in the mon th previous to their arrest (Mumola, 2001). In the same year, 2.1 percent of the 72 million minors in the United States in 1999 had a parent in prison, which represents almost 1.5 million children (Harrison & Beck, 2006). Fathers were less likely to report living with their children prior to incarceration than mother, (47% federal inmates versus 73%). Of fathers imprisoned in 1999, reported the child's mother was their primary caregiver 90% of the time where as only 28% of incarcerated mothers cited their child's father as the primary caretaker (Mumola, 2001). Imprisoned mothers identify grandparents and other family members as the primary caregivers of their children 79% of the time (Mumola, 2001). From 1991 to 1999 the proportion of prison inmates who were also parents increased by more than 250,000. The aforementioned rise in female prisoners has also exacerbated an increase in the number of mothers in prison (106% versus 58% rise in fathers). In 1999, it was estimated that 1.4 m illion children had an incarcerate father and 126,100 with incarcerated mother (Mumola, 2001). Johnston, (1995a) highlights that due to the prevalence of intergenerational crime and the risk for children within these families, it is necessary to address the problem within the context of the family as well as the individual. Impact of Parental Incarceration of Children It is clear that incarceration affects millions of families in the United States. The rise in incarceration rates for both men and women has definite consequences for their children. Whether it is the absence of a father or the incarceration of a mother who is most likely the primary caregiver prior to incarceration, there are considerable consequences for children (Mumola, 2001). Children of prisoners struggle with issues that impact their psychosocial development. The stigmatization of parental incarceration is an important issue addressed in the literature as well as the impact this may have on a child's their self- concept and identity development. The separation of a child from their parent due to incarceration may have differential and devastating effects. Kampfner (1995) outlines how maternal incarceration further stigmatizes children and prevents them from having their needs met. Being witness to a mother's

International Business (Globalization) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International Business (Globalization) - Essay Example International businesses are at present largely restricted to their where they originated from, only if we consider their overall business operations and activity; they stay heavily 'nationally rooted' and carry on to be multinational, to a certain extent than translational ,organizations . (Palmisano 2006) While full globalization in this organizational sense may not have occurred on a large scale, these large multinational corporations still have considerable economic and cultural power. Multinationals can impact upon communities in very diverse places. First, they look to establish or contract operations (production, service and sales) in countries and regions where they can exploit cheaper labour and resources. While this can mean additional wealth flowing into those communities, this form of 'globalization' entails significant inequalities. It can moreover, it may lead to outsized scale job loss in especially for those whose industries were in the past located. The wages paid in the recent settings can be nominal, and worker's privileges and conditions pitiable. For instance, a 1998 study of exceptional economic zones in China showed that manufacturers for organizations such as Ralph Lauren, Adidas and Nike were the ones paying low wages, to the extent of 13 cents per hour Second, multinationals continuously look new or else under-exploited markets. They look to increase sales - often by trying to create new needs among different target groups. One example here has been the activities of tobacco companies in southern countries. Another has been the development of the markets predominantly populated by children and young people. There is increasing evidence that this is having a deep effect; that our view of childhood (especially in northern and 'developed' countries) is increasingly the product of 'consumer-media' culture. Furthermore, that culture is underpinned in the sweated work of the 'mothered' children of the so-called 'Third World'. With the aid of various media, the commodity form has increasingly become central to the life of the young of the West, constructing their identities and relationships, their emotional and social worlds. Adults and schools have been negatively positioned in this matrix to the extent that youthful power and pleasure are constructed as that which happens elsewhere - away from adults and schools and mainly with the aid of commodities. Of course such commodification of everyday life is hardly new. Writers like Erich Fromm were commenting on the phenomenon in the early 1950s. However, there has been a significant acceleration and intensification (and globalization) with the rise of the brand (see below) and a heavier focus on seeking to condition children and young people to construct their identities around brands. Third, and linked to the above, we have seen the erosion of pubic space by corporate activities. Significant areas of leisure, for example, have moved from more associational forms like clubs to privatized, commercialized activity. For example, charts this with

Scholarship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Scholarship - Essay Example I love exploring new cultures and studying their ways which I am unaware of. To date, I have been to various countries and have frequently had interaction with culturally diverse people from different parts of the world. I love being in a multicultural society and that happens to be one of the many reasons why I am applying to the universities in UK. I chose the programme of Radiography Diagnostic Imagery because in addition to being a wonderful academic programme for laying the basis of a professional career, but also the university it is offered in is located in a city that is conventionally known for the cultural diversity of citizens. I foresee many advantages of pursuing this course specially in this university one of which is that I would have least inconvenience finding myself residence or becoming part of the mixed tapestry that constitutes culturally diverse population. It was right after I participated in the internship programme offered at the Medicare Hospital in Dubai, t hat I made up my mind to pursue my degree in Radiography Diagnostic Imagery. During my internship, I discovered a unique combination of art and science while technician skills were made use of to handle the technology. One thing that I particularly appreciate about this field of study is that the work is quite diverse in nature. I am fascinated by the mere thought of being called upon for the management of conventional radiography, ultrasound screening, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and radionuclide imaging and other areas that a Radiography Diagnostic Imagery Manager needs to take care of. Diversity in the areas of responsibility in this field motivates me to pay full heed to my studies and undertake the programme with full focus and attention. I specifically want to play key role in the diagnostic process, therefore, my interest is particularly in Radiography Diagnostic Imagery instead of Radiography and Oncology. To me, the ability to develop and analyze images that diagnose illnesses for patients is more of an emotionally satisfying factor than a scientific challenge. Although I greatly admire and acknowledge the value of providing the cancer patients with radiation treatment, yet the diagnostic side of work motivates me to adopt this as a profession. I think that this is one potential way of making my dream of helping people come true. I have always been an active participant in sports and all sorts of physical activities both within school and out of school. Throughout my years in school, I actively participated in quite a lot of physical activities that were arranged off and on in addition to the regular studies. Quite often, I have led the teams in football, badminton, and basketball. I generally manage to perform equally well in both individual and group activities, though teamwork is very motivating for me as I feel encouraged to become prominent with more effort and hard work. I love team work because it makes me feel like at home . I depend on others and they depend on me. Mutually, we develop a force that is irresistible and directed at the achievement of goals. Teamwork happens to be another factor that drives me towards this profession because the nature of work requires personnel to work in close collaboration and cooperation with one another. In diagnostics, I visualize myself as part of a team who work together to analyze the patient’s conditions to assess his/her diseases, develop a treatment plan and devise ways

Renaissance Period Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Renaissance Period - Essay Example Mother and child is a recurring image in all religions because this image is the most powerful visual sign that takes the beholder to the roots of his/her origin. The drawing, reliefs, and sculptures of mother and child by Michelangelo stand out among numerous works based on the same theme with their unconventional approach. Art critics† have observed, †Michelangelo reinforces the unity of mother and child through their shared nakedness,† referring to the drawing in which both Madonna and the child are depicted naked. The emotions that exude in all these works have been described as divine greatness and exalted grief. In the sculpture by Michelangelo, with the same theme, the mother looks down sadly as if she knows about the fate of her child. This was a departure from the earlier works on the same subject in which the mother invariably smiled upon the child. In â€Å"The Four Seasons†, it seems Vivaldi is painting with poetry and singing with the sounds of n ature. In the spring sonnet, we hear the birds, the streams, the wind, the thunderstorms, the rustling leaves and of course the silences in between. The rustic bagpipes are sounded then predicting the arrival of summer, the festive season. In the summer sonnet, the cuckoo’s voice is heard as a cool breeze that passes by over the scorching pines, sweltering men, and flocks and the blazing sun. The north wind indicates an upcoming season change again. Wiping away the anticipation of devastation, then, autumn arrives.

Scholarship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Scholarship - Essay Example I love exploring new cultures and studying their ways which I am unaware of. To date, I have been to various countries and have frequently had interaction with culturally diverse people from different parts of the world. I love being in a multicultural society and that happens to be one of the many reasons why I am applying to the universities in UK. I chose the programme of Radiography Diagnostic Imagery because in addition to being a wonderful academic programme for laying the basis of a professional career, but also the university it is offered in is located in a city that is conventionally known for the cultural diversity of citizens. I foresee many advantages of pursuing this course specially in this university one of which is that I would have least inconvenience finding myself residence or becoming part of the mixed tapestry that constitutes culturally diverse population. It was right after I participated in the internship programme offered at the Medicare Hospital in Dubai, t hat I made up my mind to pursue my degree in Radiography Diagnostic Imagery. During my internship, I discovered a unique combination of art and science while technician skills were made use of to handle the technology. One thing that I particularly appreciate about this field of study is that the work is quite diverse in nature. I am fascinated by the mere thought of being called upon for the management of conventional radiography, ultrasound screening, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and radionuclide imaging and other areas that a Radiography Diagnostic Imagery Manager needs to take care of. Diversity in the areas of responsibility in this field motivates me to pay full heed to my studies and undertake the programme with full focus and attention. I specifically want to play key role in the diagnostic process, therefore, my interest is particularly in Radiography Diagnostic Imagery instead of Radiography and Oncology. To me, the ability to develop and analyze images that diagnose illnesses for patients is more of an emotionally satisfying factor than a scientific challenge. Although I greatly admire and acknowledge the value of providing the cancer patients with radiation treatment, yet the diagnostic side of work motivates me to adopt this as a profession. I think that this is one potential way of making my dream of helping people come true. I have always been an active participant in sports and all sorts of physical activities both within school and out of school. Throughout my years in school, I actively participated in quite a lot of physical activities that were arranged off and on in addition to the regular studies. Quite often, I have led the teams in football, badminton, and basketball. I generally manage to perform equally well in both individual and group activities, though teamwork is very motivating for me as I feel encouraged to become prominent with more effort and hard work. I love team work because it makes me feel like at home . I depend on others and they depend on me. Mutually, we develop a force that is irresistible and directed at the achievement of goals. Teamwork happens to be another factor that drives me towards this profession because the nature of work requires personnel to work in close collaboration and cooperation with one another. In diagnostics, I visualize myself as part of a team who work together to analyze the patient’s conditions to assess his/her diseases, develop a treatment plan and devise ways

Medically fraigle Children in Foster Care Research Paper

Medically fraigle Children in Foster Care - Research Paper Example While some technological dependant children that are born with serious medical conditions require extensive specialized services such as bronchio pulmonary dysplasia requires oxygen support and breathing machines. Every year number of children enters into protective custodies like foster homes where they are given not only medical treatment but also love and support. These foster and adoptive homes are survivors for these medically fragile children who meet the needs of these children (RNformation, 2005). Thus in order to properly meet the needs of these children it is advisable that more and more foster and adoption homes should be opened so that their needs can be satisfied. Despite medical intervention services and various other technologies the aggregate number of children who are medically fragile is also increasing. As according to the 1989 finding, it is reported that approximately 10-15 % of the children in United States have chronic health conditions and 1 million of these children face disabling and costly conditions. Furthermore 17000 to 100,000 children are technological dependent (Cernoch, 1992). But there is a growing trend as now there are larger numbers of medically fragile ch ildren who avail the services of foster homes. All over the world this care has risen, as in 2005 there were 625 children in Washoe County’s Foster Care in the month of March but in April and May four children with Type 1 diabetes came into care (RNformation, 2005). Thus there is special need for more and more foster homes because they medically fragile children need these specialized services for their betterment and for their living. To cater to the needs of these medically fragile children intensive foster care, clinical services and other specialized programs should be initiated that would provide treatment services. These children exceptional needs should be well catered through

Credit Ratings Role in the Financial Crisis

Credit Ratings Role in the Financial Crisis The global financial systems institutional framework has been evolving over time.Every crisis has helped decipher a gap in the financial structure which is then fixed by the regulating authorities.It hasnt been very often that the regulators were able to identify the gaps before the market identified it.This does not serve the purpose of existence of regulatory authorities.In future the role of regulatory authorities should be pro active in nature rather than reactive mode of undertaking corrective actions. The subprime crisis which originated in the united states led to a global melt down which was severe.The mortgage market in the United States saw a tremendous growth in the initial years of the 21st century. Subprime borrowers started obtaining mortgages due to availability of cheap credit, lenient lending practices and appreciation in real estate values. These mortgages were inturn sold by the lenders to investment banks who packaged them into exotic securities and sold them to high risk taking investors seeking high returns. Investors had faith in these packaged securities primarily because of Credit Rating Agencies (CRA) ratings of these securities as investment grade. In 2007, the tide turned and credit became expensive. Home values dropped. Majority of the subprime buyers started defaulting their loan payments. The CRAs rapidly downgraded all the securities for which they had given favourable ratings. This dissertation is undertaken to understand the emergence of structured financial products, the rating process followed by the credit rating agencies for rating them and the mistakes done by the rating agencies, a major contributor to the subprime mess in the United States which had ripple effect across financial markets all over the world. Literature Review: The following research papers and articles have been referred and reviewed in order to gain indepth knowledge about the work done about the dissertation topic under consideration. This would facilitate a clear understanding of different view points to the issue and enable a comprehensive analysis of the topic. According to V.Gupta, R.K.Mittal K.Bhalla (2010), low interest rates, abundant liquidity and a chase for yield led to the emergence of sub prime lending which was given undue support by the credit rating agencies. Credit rating agencies gave investment grade ratings to securitization transactions based on subprime mortgage loans. The CRAs combined lower rated mortgage loans with equity to form mezzanine CDO enabling a higher credit rating. Also CRAs used the same risk metric for assessment of all instruments. The CRAs assigned supersafe, triple-A ratings to structured products that later turned out to be extremely risky, and in some cases worthless. This has been illustrated with few examples of downgrades.The paper concludes that The regulatory framework should also facilitate the conduct of stress tests by users on key model parameters, and provide for the disclosure by credit rating agencies of the economic assumptions underlying their rating of structured products. According to Katz and Salinas (2009), faulty credit ratings and the flawed rating process have been the key drivers to the financial crisis 2007-2008. While the easy availability of (what turned out to be flawed) ratings fueled the growth of thismarket, the subsequent downgrades in ratings accelerated the markets collapse.The paper suggests that While corporate debt ratings are based on publicly available, audited financial statements, structured debt ratings are based on nonpublic, nonstandard, unaudited information supplied by the originator or nominal issuer. Moreover, rating agencies had no obligation to perform due diligence to assess the accuracy of the information and often relied on representations and warranties from the issuers about the quality of the data, which later proved to be inadequate. The researchers note that the credit rating agencies have always been slow to react to market events and a few examples have been quoted.Few measures suggested by the researchers inc lude managing conflict of interest, better transparency, direct government oversight etc. According to Fender and Kiff (2004) , rating od collateralised debt obligations involves assumptions such as default probability, recovery rates and correlated defaults of pool assets. The research paper analyses one of the rating methodologies used which is termed as Binomial Expansion Technique.A comparative analysis of this method and Monte corlo Simulation is done. The paper elaborates the implications of usage of different techniques on the rating outcomes. It finally discusses how methodological differences might induce issuers to strategically select rating agencies to get CDOS rated. According to Barnett- Hart(2009), Collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) have been responsible for $542 billion in write-downs at financial institutions since the beginning of the credit crisis.The poor CDO performance has been attributed to inclusion of low quality collateral with exposure to U.S residential housing market.The role of CDO underwriters and credit rating agencies in the crisis have been discussed. The credit rating agencies failed to rate the performance of CDOS precisely due to over automation in rating methodologies and heavy reliance on input whose accuracy was not verified. The researcher concludes that by understanding the CDO market meltdown story more effective regulatory and economic policies and practices to prevent history from repeating itself in the future. According to Securities and Exchange commission(2008), few observations about credit rating agencies with respect to CDOS have been made.SEC claims that few credit rating agencies could not deal with the substantial increase in the number and complexity of the CDOS since 2002. Rating agencies failed to document significant steps in rating of CDOS including reasons behind deviation from the models. Also the internal audit procedure of rating agencies varied significantly.The report summarises the remedial actions that the Nationally Recognised Statistical Rating Organisations(NRSRO) would take after the SEC examined them and came up with issues to be looked into. Under the new law and rules, NRSROs are required to make certain public disclosures, make and retain certain records, furnish certain financial reports to the Commission, establish procedures to manage the handling of material non-public information and disclose and manage conflicts of interest. The Commissions rules addition ally prohibit an NRSRO from having certain conflicts of interest and engaging in certain unfair, abusive, or coercive practices. According to Partnoy (2008), Credit rating agencies have been the primary drivers of second level securitisation.Investors did not examine the underlying assets and depended on parameters set by rating agencies to assess the CDOS. If the Credit rating agencies had used reasonable and accurate models and assumptions , the CDO transactions would not have been problematic. The paper suggests some policy prescriptions which include elimination of explicit reliance on credit ratings and the claims made by rating agencies that the ratings are mere opinions should not be accepted any longer. The researcher suggests that rolling average of market measures is a much better representation of the instrument than the unchanged credit rating .Credit default swap spreads would provide a warning about the CDOs and their true performance in the market. According to M.K.Datar(2011), the role of CRAs in the crisis has attracted attention basically owing to the severe downgrades during the initial stages of the crisis. The conflict of interest in the payment model has been discussed and the author suggests that investor pay model should be adopted as the issuer pay model creates a bias as rating agencies might be prone to give good ratings because the issuers are paying for it.An alternative platform pay model has been suggested in the paper wherein an issuer approaches a clearing house (platform) with a preset fee to get a rating. The platform would get the ratings done from a pool of recognised CRAs. This process avoids direct contact between the issuer and the rating agency.The paper concludes that better disclosures by CRAs and their subsidiaries in respect of details of earning from rating and non-rating revenues, default and transition statistics would play a key role in improved governance in CRAs. Problem Definition: The dissertation work is undertaken to understand the reasons behind the emergence of the subprime crisis in late 2000s and the role of credit rating agencies in the crisis.The study is divided into two parts studying the pre crisis and post crisis situations and analysing the change in credit ratings of various complex instruments in response to the crisis. The objectives are briefly stated as below: Understand the evolution of structured financial products Understand the causes of subprime crisis Study the credit rating process for CDOS Study the factors that drove the rapid downgrade of CDOs in the initial meltdown stages Analyse the flaws in the rating process which led to failure in forecasting true performance. Suggestions and corrective action for facilitating accuracy in credit ratings of complex products. Research methodology: Research Design: The method adopted for research is causal research wherein the problem in question is understood and the degree of impact of the cause on the effect under study is analysed. The financial crisis that began in 2007 is studied and the contribution of credit ratings to the crisis is analysed. Credit ratings serve as the control group in this research. Finally suggestions for improvement in credit ratings and measures to be taken are proposed. Methods and Techniques of data collection and analysis: To achieve the research objectives, secondary data from reliable sources are being used. Thorough study of the existing literature is being done to understand different ideas and view points on the topic which would facilitate a comprehensive analysis of the issue. Methodology adopted for rating complex products by leading credit rating agencies has been studied in detail which includes statistical tools and financial models. Data sources: Data is being obtained from various secondary data sources for study and analysis. The major sources used for research are as follows: Credit Rating Agencies websites and reports Banking for International Settlements(BIS) working papers and reports Securities and Exchange Commission reports Journals and papers published on Credit ratings contribution to the Crisis. DRIVERS TO EMERGENCE OF FINANCIAL CRISIS 2007-2008: The financial crisis was fuelled right from the early 2000s through various factors , the most important of which is sub-prime lending. This inturn led to construction of CDOs at a later stage in order to transfer the concentrated risk of banks to the investors . Hence it is vital to get a clear idea about the emergence of sub prime lending and evolution of CDOs . Sub-Prime lending: The sub-prime mortgage market caters to customers who are unable to meet normal credit and/or documentation requirements for mortgages. Subprime lending is riskier than normal lending for the banks. Hence banks tend to charge a higher interest rate to compensate for the risk. Over the past decade, this mark-up over prime rates has been about 2%, making lending potentially very lucrative. Only by the mid-1990s did the subprime mortgage market begin to take off as a number of factors emerged which apparently mitigated the default risk on such loans and hence led to an increasing number of banks lending ever-larger amounts to this sector. Some important factors which contributed to a boom in subprime lending are discussed below. Introduction to Sub Prime Lending: Evolution of Structured Financial Products: Collateralised debt obligations have been one of the complex financial products which have been instrumental in driving the financial system into a crisis. The evolution of CDOs needs to be understood in order to study the emergence of the financial crisis. The basic principle behind a CDO involves re-packaging of fixed income securities and division of their cash flows according to a specified structure. A CDO is constructed by creating a brain-dead company, a special purpose entity (SPE) or structured investment vehicle (SIV), which buys assets and issues bonds backed by the assets cash flows. The bonds are divided into a number of tranches with different claims on the principal and interest generated by the CDOs assets. The mechanics of a typical CDO are illustrated in Diagram A.  [1]   In order to understand the sudden growth in the demand for CDOs which in turn led to the financial crisis , it is vital to list out the reasons behind the growth of CDOs which are as below. Rationale behind growth of CDOs: Securitisation has been a way that helped banks to bundle loans and sell it to investors or make it off-balance sheet items .Once these items are removed from the balance sheet the capital adequacy gets more space and hence banks make new loans and the process continues. This basically facilitates banks to free up cash and easily meet BASEL norms for capital adequacy. The second rationale is re-allocation of risk.CDOs helps banks reduce the concentration of risk and also create securities as per specific requirements and risk profiles of the investors. This facilitated institutional investors to purchase CDOs as they can invest only in highly rated investment grade securities. CDOs allowed these investors to gain exposure to assets that, on their own, had been too risky, while investors looking to take more risk and receive potentially higher returns could buy the most junior or equity CDO tranches.  [2]   These are the major reasons behind growth of CDOs . Banks only thought of their own benefits and growth and the aftermath of this action was left to the market to face in reality few years down the lane . The consequences of this act of the highly knowledgeable financial community has been faced by people across the globe. Credit Ratings and CDOs: An overview Investors invest in securities based on various criteria one such being reliable ratings given by well known credit rating agencies. Credit rating agencies(CRA) were basically formed to guide investors assess risk of fixed income securities. CRAs have played a major role in the growth of CDOs market as investors relied on the ratings given to these complex structures and based their investments majorly on these credit ratings. They used credit ratings in place of their due diligence for assessment of CDOs. Credit rating agencies are approved by Nationally recognised Statistical rating organisation(NRSRO) . There are three well known players in the U.S financial market which are Moodys Fitch Standard and Poors These three agencies rated CDOs and the fees generated by rating CDOs were quite high which led to record profits . The percentage of CDO deals that were rated by the credit rating agencies has been given in the below diagram. Source: UBS CDO research Note: The percentage total exceeds 100 as the same instruments have been rated by more than one agency. Revenue earned by the rating agencies has grown since 2002 which has been depicted in the diagram below: Source:thismatter.com/money According to Mark Adelson, current Chief Credit Officer at SP: The advent of CDOs in the mid-1980s was a watershed event for the evolution of rating definitions. Until the first CDOs, rating agencies were only producers of ratings; they were not consumers. With the arrival of CDOs, rating agencies made use of their previous ratings as ingredients for making new ratings à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" they had to eat their own cooking. For rating CDOs, the agencies used ratings as the primary basis for ascribing mathematical properties (e.g., default probabilities or expected losses) to bonds.  [3]   Credit rating agencies failed to examine the accuracy of the prior collateral ratings. They also used other rating agencies ratings as base for rating CDOS without verifying accuracy.To adjust for the shortcomings in other agencies ratings they used a system called notching where the rating would be decreased by one notch if the rating has been done by another rating agency. For example , if Moodys is rating a CDO which has a collateral rated BB+ by Fitch , Moodys would consider the rating as BB and plug it into their rating model. No analysis of accuracy had been done and it would be assumed that the notching would compensate for any errors in the rating done by Fitch. Figure below illustrates a comparison between the collateral ratings and the corresponding CDO ratings at the beginning and also the current scenario. This shows that the CRAs somehow gave huge amounts of AAA rated CDO securities from collateral with much lower ratings, reassuring the fact that that main reason why CDOs were so profitable in 2005-2007 is that it was possible to generate a high proportion of highly rated securities from lower quality assets. That practice backfired, resulting in massive downgrades of the CDO tranches as it became apparent that the rating agencies had been overly optimistic. While in 2005-2007, the initial ratings given to CDO tranches were on average better than the ratings of their underlying collateral assets, current CDO tranche ratings are worse than their associated collateral pool ratings which is an area that needs attention. The following figure shows the downgrades of CDOs over the years. The numbers on the y-axis correspond to the rating scale with lower numbers equal to higher-quality ratings (1=AAA, 22=D). An overview about the credit ratings and CDOs has been done. The following section elaborates the rating methodologies adopted by the rating agencies which have different variables considered for the purpose of rating the complex financial instruments and the assumptions behind them. CDO Rating Methodology: CDOs are based on portfolios of instruments combined together and not on a single loan. Rating these complex structures requires ascertaining a probability of default (PD) to each instrument in the portfolio and involves assumptions relating to recovery rates and default correlations. Thus it combines credit risk assessments of the individual assets and estimates about default correlations using credit risk modelling. There are two widely used methodologies for rating CDOs namely: Binomial expansion technique Monte Carlo Simulation Each method is discussed initially and then a comparison is done between the techniques and their impact on the ratings. Steps in the Rating Process: The reliability of a CDO rating depends on the agencys ability to assess the credit risk in the underlying asset pool and accurate modelling of the distribution of cash flows from the asset pool to different groups. All rating agencies generally follow a two stage rating process. In the first stage, analytical models are used to assess credit risk. The tools applied for analysing CDO pools differ according to the nature of underlying assets and are also based on the rating agencies. The second stage of the process comprises of structural analysis. This stage involves detailed modelling of cash flows, legal assessments and evaluations of third parties involved in the deal such as asset managers. The results of the cash flow analysis are used as input in the credit model in the form of adjustments in particular model assumptions. Finally, all information is aggregated and combined into a single, alphanumeric rating which is benchmarked to the historical performance of bonds. RATING METHODOLOGIES: The famous CDO rating methodology is based on Moodys quantitative approach for determining expected losses for CDO tranches which is called the binomial expansion technique (BET). BET was introduced in the year 1996 and is still used in CDO analysis along with a number of other new methodologies. The method relies on the use of diversity score (DS) which is used to map the underlying CDO portfolio with a hypothetical portfolio that consists of homogeneous assets equal to the diversity score. For calculating expected loss distributions a simpler hypothetical portfolio of homogeneous, uncorrelated securities is used in place of the original portfolio. As the number of assets in the hypothetical pool is assumed to equal the diversity score, it will be lower than the number of assets in the actual CDO portfolio to account for uncorrelatedness under the BET. Given the homogeneous nature of the hypothetical portfolio, the behaviour of the asset pool can be explained by DS+1 default scenarios with default occurring for 0 assets, 1 asset, DS assets, where the probability of each scenario is calculated using the binomial formula. After working out the cash flows and losses under each default scenario, the obtained output from the binomial distribution are converted into estimates of the portfolio and tranche loss distributions. An alternative method that is used in by three major rating agencies is Monte Carlo simulation technique which estimates the default properties of the underlying CDO asset pool based on repeated trials of random defaults with correlation structure that is assumed. In this process, default events are simulated within a credit risk model, where default occurs when the value of assets fall below that of its liabilities. The models main inputs are asset-level probabilities of default and pair-wise correlations of assets, which are converted into an estimate of the entire pools loss distribution. This distribution is used with other inputs, to determine the required subordination level (level of credit enhancement) for each CDO tranche, where desired tranche ratings are assumed constant or given.MC approaches give more accurate loss distribution estimates, they are computer intensive and take a long time to provide accurate results. Especially for cash flow CDOs it is very difficult to co nstruct an efficient MC simulation that accounts for all cash flow nuances .Sometimes it takes hours for an MC simulation to determine the subordination level for an AAA tranche and this can be complicated when further assumptions are made. In managed portfolios, the relative value of the simulation approachs asset-by-asset analysis is less while some of the BETs implicit simplifying assumptions (like equal position sizes) closely resemble typical covenants in managed deals. The choice of rating methodology basically considers a trade-off between accuracy and efficiency, and the result may differ for certain types of CDO structures. This is one of the reasons for Moodys to introduce a new Monte Carlo simulation-based method called CDOROM to rate static synthetic CDOs, while it continues to use the BET and its modifications for rating cash CDOs and managed structures.