Hafford furniture Essay Example for Free

Hafford furniture Essay A Crisis at Hafford Furniture: Cloud Computing Case study MMBA 507 Student ID: 300333323 PROBLEM DESCRIPTION Hafford Furniture was a furniture manufacturer since 1970, supplying to furniture retailers, wholesalers and occasionally one-time bulk purchasers across the United States. Hafford relied on a Business Information System (BIS) to handle all the internal business processes. The BIS was seamlessly connected to a VAN-based EDI system, which served as the customer’s interface for making orders. In 2008, Hafford’s entire IT infrastructure and data storage were destroyed by a massive hurricane. Hafford was able to restore the company data with its disaster recovery plan, but not all its IT function. In March 2009, VP of IT proposed in a management meeting to adopt SaaS cloud solution to restore the IT function. Hafford could access to the same BIS without having to worry about the cost to rebuild another IT data centre. He projected that the IT staff strength could be halved, as the cloud vendor would take care of the management of the software’s platform and its infrastructure. The next day, the president of Hafford ignored the internal decision-making protocol and contracted their disaster recovery vendor, PFI Services for that same cloud service. In January 2010, Hafford was faced with appalling sales report for the year before, mostly caused by bottlenecks in the ordering system supported by PFI. Not only was the cloud capability insufficient, PFI was also filing for bankruptcy and undergoing liquidation. Hafford once again fell into a desperate situation. REVIEW OF KEY ISSUES Management issues Lack of Corporate governance The weak corporate governance in Hafford is especially notable in the fundamental change process. While there was an internal policy for creating a fundamental change in Hafford (Fig 1), Feckle, the President, had ignored it by entering into a cloud contract without consulting any of his top management, just one day after the premature proposal was shared with him. It was extremely risky to make such a significant business decision without sufficient knowledge in the service that he engaged. To make a well-informed decision, Feckle should have adhered to the corporate policy and trusted the IT professionals to evaluate and recommend a suitable vendor. Figure 1 Fundamental change policy 2. Failure to think critically during decision-making It is understood that Hafford used to adopt a VAN-based EDI-system specifically due to its security, despite it being slower and more costly. In Norris’ proposal for using cloud, he altered the company’s priority by pushing for an internet-based EDI-system, without providing solid justification. Questions like â€Å"will the internet-based EDI change the business in any way?† or â€Å"will it compromise customers’ security? † were not asked. The management seemed to have accepted this change too easily, without understanding its impacts. This concern should have been analysed more thoroughly before concluding to transit to an internet-based EDI-system. 3. Poor understanding of business needs The IT obj ective was not fully aligned with the business objectives. For example, in 2009, while the company was expecting a 30-35% increase in sales due to the efforts in a series of product improvements, the IT team was preparing a cloud proposal to the company basing only on the old IT functions. It had missed out on considering how it could support an explosive sales surge. Furthermore, Hafford was switching its VAN-based EDI to an internet-based EDI, which could potentially allow Hafford to widen its reach to attract a new group of SME customers. This could play a part in increasing their sales. However, Hafford did not foresee these changes, likely due to lack of communication between departments within Hafford. IT issues 1. Lack of thorough analysis in cloud computing The IT team failed to conduct due diligence in exploring all possible solutions that could meet its needs. While cloud offered great advantages for the company, it might have been too hasty to consider only private cloud as the final solution. In fact, public, private or hybrid cloud offered different potentials and could achieve the goal within competitive cost as well. The IT team should also have analysed each cloud model against its business needs before determining if software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS) or a combination of services would work best. 2. Lack of on-going management While cloud is said to be flexible, it demands some level of active management to harness the most of it after implementation. The IT team should be able to react quickly to resolve problems like the order bottleneck or a data lock-in. Besides, the IT team should have been more vigilant in ensuring business continuity for the company. RECOMMENDATION The key failure observed in the case was the lack of understanding in cloud computing and the lack of communication in the company. Like any other business decisions, the management should have exercised prudence by developing clear objectives and analysing the opportunities and threats before arriving at its conclusion. In this section, a recommended methodology to approach Hafford’s IT restoral problem is presented. Step 1. To develop business objectives The most important step is to approach a business problem with a clear business objective. It will be necessary for the management to look at the restoral of the IT centre as a collaborative business problem. Communication within the organisation is crucial in aligning all the stakeholders’ goals. With effective teamwork, the IT will appreciate the business values better and be able to analyse the suitability of various options. Step 2. To compare various viable options The IT team should research on what the available solutions are, before zeroing into a particular infrastructure option. While the restoral of a physical data centre may be expensive, there may be payment structures that could help reduce the impact. On the other hand, cloud computing may appear cheaper but it inextricably exposes users to a range of risks, especially in the aspect of security. Also, there are hybrid options that can minimise risk while offering cost benefit. In short, the IT team should fully understand the merits and shortcomings of the following options before selecting the IT infrastructure. 1. Public cloud 2. Hybrid cloud 3. Private cloud 4. Public cloud – Physical data centre 5. Physical data centre Step 3. To choose the suitable cloud service model There are three common service models in cloud computing. It is important to evaluate each model’s attributes and determine which cloud model would be more suitable for the business needs. 1. Software as a service (SaaS) To understand threats and opportunities of cloud computing Cloud computing offers the following powerful advantages but also opens a gateway to a wide range of threats. 1. Elasticity Usage-based pricing model, charging users only for the capacity used Scalability in terms of network and speed depending on demand 2. Simplicity Setting up and maintaining a data centre can take significant manpower. Cloud computing offers convenient and economical business solutions to clients, while taking advantage of the economy of scale by taking care of one specialised area in bulk. 3. Cost-efficiency No capital cost required. Companies benefit from the transference of risk (of over-provisioning and under-provisioning) of investing in a private data centre. While accepting these benefits from cloud, users should also exercise due diligence by being aware of all the possible problems cloud computing brings. Some of the crucial problems are outlined as follows. 1. Business continuity There is always a risk with placing valuable business information with a single third party. As such, the best way to go about is to even out the risk by employing multiple cloud providers and devising a business continuity strategy should any of them fail. Data lock-in It would be risky for a company to be unable to easily extract their data and programmes from one cloud provider to another due to compatibility issues of the programme and data from one cloud provider. In order to mitigate this risk, SaaS developer could use standardised API so that the business can remain flexible and mobile. 3. Data security While most cloud providers invest a considerable amount of attention on managing security, users should assess the security standards adopted by the cloud provider against their requirements before engaging it. 4. Insufficient capacity Although it is said that cloud is scalable, in rare occasions, businesses may experience traffic surges beyond what their contracted cloud can offer. Hence, it is important to strategize carefully before deciding on the cloud service. Step 5. Choosing the cloud vendor After thorough analysis and establishing a clear description for the cloud service needed, the user will have to evaluate the following factors to arrive at the most suitable vendor. 1. Pricing structure While cloud vendors typically follow a pay-as-you-use pricing model, pricing structure varies. For example, Google AppEngine charges users by the cycles used while AWS charges by the hour for the number of instances the user occupied. 2. Security Users need to look at a cloud service’s physical as well as network security. This refers to the physical location the cloud provider houses its equipment and network security measures like firewall and data encryption. Also, a cloud provider should be compliant to government standards specific to your business. In the case of Hafford Furniture, it was an auditing requirement for Hafford to ensure the cloud vendor is compliant with Statement on Auditing Standard No.70. 3. Other factors A clean record does not promise anything, it would be beneficial to also look at the vendor’s track record against available benchmark systems. Also, it would be helpful to have a vendor that can provide reasonably good service. Hence, it is important to know about the extent of customer support services, the setting up process and the ser vicing response and resolution time. Step 6. Engagement of cloud vendor and getting started During cloud rollout, especially from a different sort of data management, it would be common to face various teething problems. Cloud vendor should try to achieve seamless implementation, and companies might need to prepare their staff and/or customers should it affect their routine jobs significantly. Step 7. On-going active management of the cloud service Internal IT team should be continuously vigilant towards possible threats to ensure that the cloud service adopted by the company is safe and secure. Active backups of data must not be neglected. Also, internal feedback reviews could help the IT team understand the possible difficulties faced by the users, and also stay up to date with the company’s business initiatives.

Computer Crime Essay -- Technology

The introduction of computers in to the modern household has brought with it new moral issues. In the last 10 years computers have become increasingly cheaper to buy, due to huge technological advances and fierce competition, driving prices down. It the wake of the computer revolution the internet has followed quickly, becoming faster, cheaper and more accessible. With these technological advances the world has become increasingly smaller enabling piracy and file sharing to become common practice. Society now has many new issues to work through, from invasion of privacy to the copying of movies and hacking. To define exactly what computer ethics is a difficult task due to it being tied to an evolving technology, the field changes whenever the technology changes. Computer ethics did not truly exist as an ethical discipline until the 1970’s. Walter Maner was the first to use such a term stating it as â€Å"ethical problems aggravated, transformed or created by computer technology† [Maner, 1978]. While new ethical problems have arisen he also stated that old or existing problems have been made worse due to the expansion of information technology. Since then, several people have had different views on what computer ethics actually is. In 1985 Deborah Johnson wrote a book entitled Computer ethics. It defined computer ethics as the study that â€Å"pose new versions of standard moral problems and moral dilemmas, exacerbating the old problems, and forcing us to apply ordinary moral norms in uncharted realms† [Johnson, 1985]. Johnson was similar to that of Maner however; she did not believe computers created new ethical issues. Instead, recommending computers solely altered the existing issues by giving them a â€Å"twist†. The best defini... ...arter Kit in Computer Ethics, Helvetia Press (published in cooperation with the National Information and Resource Center for Teaching Philosophy). [Originally self-published by Maner in 1978.] Moor, James H. (1985) "What Is Computer Ethics?" In Bynum, Terrell Ward, ed. (1985) Computers and Ethics, Blackwell, 266-75. [Published as the October 1985 issue of Metaphilosophy.] Spafford, Eugene, et al. (1989) Computer Viruses: Dealing with Electronic Vandalism and Programmed Threats, ADAPSO. Tavani, Herman T. (1999) "Privacy On-Line," Computers and Society, Vol. 29, No. 4, 11-19. TechWeb. (April 15, 2004) "Average PC plauged with 28 pieces of Spyware" (CMP), Avaliable: http://www.techweb.com/wire/26804582 (Acessed: September 17, 2005) Webster's New Millenniumâ„ ¢ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.6) Copyright  © 2003-2005 Lexico Publishing Group, LLC

Controlling Pollution Through Taxation And Pollution Licenses Environmental Sciences Essay

It is presently really popular to recommend revenue enhancement and pollution licences as policy step to command pollution. However, both of these attacks bring with them significant troubles and, hence, should non be adopted † . How far do you hold with this statement? Let me get down by giving my ain definition of Environmental Management. Put merely, Environmental Management involves the development of schemes with the ultimate aim of modulating the impact of human activities ( those of industries and persons ) on the environment utilizing scientific discipline, policy and socio economic applications. It focuses on allowing engineering to germinate continuously while guaranting at the same clip that its inauspicious impact on natural ecosystems is increasingly limited or even eliminated ( where possible ) . The cardinal sentence here is â€Å" allowing engineering to germinate while guaranting at the same clip that its inauspicious impact on natural ecosystems is increasingly limited or even eliminated † . The environmental director appreciates the cardinal function that industries and their assorted engineerings play in the development of society and hence is non needfully against industrial activities. But he is besides cognizant of the effects and deduction of some of these engineerings on the environment: pollution. He hence is an advocator of the acceptance of environmentally friendly activities alongside economic and industrial activities. This is my attitude sing the topic of pollution control particularly in industries. The relevancy of this point will go clearer as one proceed in this topic of whether or non policy steps like revenue enhancement and pollution licenses be adopted. Taxs on pollution and pollution licences are pollution control steps which are aimed at industries, houses or companies whose activities pollute the environment. They are economic instruments whose underlining rule is that of cost internalisation, what is now known as the â€Å" Polluter Pays Principle † PPP adopted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD ) in 1972 ( Turner, 1992 ) . The basic thought behind this rule is that pollution of the environment has a cost which can be translated to a market monetary value and this cost should be paid for merely like other goods and services. In this instance pollution includes any activity that involves the use or consequences in the debasement of environmental resources. So a production procedure which has for case involved the use or debasement of environmental resources should reflect the cost on the environment in its overall cost. More by and large, the market monetary value of a good or service shoul d include and therefore reflect the cost of that good or service on the environment. By puting monetary value tickets on the environment ( including its waste assimilation capacity ) issues like pollution can be integrated into the economic domain and defilers can be therefore made to internalize the cost for fouling the environment. In kernel, because the external societal costs of environmental pollution are paid by the polluting agent ( industries, in this instance ) this internalizes those outwardnesss into market determinations. As before stated pollution revenue enhancements and pollution licences are economic instruments which follow the Polluter Pays Principle, wherein defilers are made to pay for fouling. In the system of Pollution revenue enhancement which is called a Charge policy, houses are given the freedom to bring forth as much pollution as they want but are required to pay a certain charge per unit of pollution. While the system of Pollution licences besides called movable discharge license, involves belongings rights which consists of a license to breathe pollutants. Each license entitles its holders to breathe as much pollution as is specified in the right. So if for illustration a defiler has bought 20 licenses, the defiler will be entitled to dispatch a upper limit of 20 units of the designated type of wastewater within a defined period of clip. What is alone about pollution licenses is that it is designed to work in a more decentralised manner i.e. the licenses are movable, they can be bough t and sold among participators in the license market, at whatever monetary value is agreed upon by the participants themselves. In both instances defilers are allowed to foul at a certain monetary value. Possibly the first inquiry that would come to mind so is ; how can the cost of pollution be accurately determined? Particularly when you have to see the multiplied and associated effects environmental pollution incidents normally convey? Or sing that different pollutants come with different economical costs? No uncertainty the complex nature and workings of the environment makes happening a monetary value for environmental pollution rather a complicated undertaking. Be that as it may, a sensible attack would be to get at an estimation that considers the cost of redress, compensation costs and other associated costs. Although an empirical appraisal of the harm impacts and their pecuniary equivalents will be far from exact, it will at least give something to work with and this is what the defiler pays rule does. Furthermore in my ain sentiment, the more of import inquiry should be ; how effectual is this rule as a pollution control step? The Pollution of Surface Waters Act ( PSWA ) enacted by the Dutch authorities in 1970, which placed pollution charges on emanations into Dutch waterways is possibly one of the best arrows to the efficaciousness of this attack as a pollution control step ( Field, 2002 ) . The consequence of this policy was that Industry was forced to cut down its one-year organic emanation from 33.0 million PE in 1969 to 8.8 million PE in 1990. Pollution was reduced by 70 % in a infinite of 20 old ages. Quite effectual you will hold. By puting monetary value on pollution which once was free, industry was made to plan engineerings that produced less pollution. No 1 would hold thought that to be possible. The success of this policy-approach in the above mentioned instance is that Industry was motivated to develop better environmentally friendly practises without the governments holding to follow a command-and-control scheme. The Polluter Pays Principle therefore is an economic inducement based attack wh ich can efficaciously actuate industries to come up with better environmentally friendly practises. It acts as an inducement to introduce. With the debut of pollution charges houses will hold the inducement to seek for ways to cut down their pollution emanations, possibly by modifying their production procedure, altering fuel input or adding certain intervention installations. Interestingly economic theories tend to back up this thought in some ways. Economic theoretical accounts suggests that there is an optimal degree of pollution where the fringy cost of cut downing pollution is equal to the fringy cost of the harm caused by such pollution. Puting charges on pollution would at least make an inducement for houses to cut down their pollution to this degree. Figure 1 Cost-Benefit Model ( Turner, 1992 ) The above diagram shows cost and benefits of fouling for a house that has to pay pollution charges per unit pollution, but its activity or production procedure entails production of waste ( pollution ) . Q represents its degree of activity and W represents the attach toing waste ( pollution ) . Qa represents the point below which waste generated can be assimilated by the Earth, therefore doing pollution of impermanent consequence. Any activity beyond Qb will bring forth waste that is beyond the assimilative capacity of the Earth. The Fringy Net Polluting Benefit ( MNPB ) is the benefit derived from altering its degree of activity by one unit while the Marginal External Cost is the value of harm done by the pollution produced alongside the activity. By holding to pay charges on pollution the house will be forced to be given towards Qa as it will non desire to pay so much. But for pollution charges the house would progressively be given towards Qb and likely travel on fouling beyond th e assimilative capacity of the Earth Wb. For optimum operation it has to work at a point of minimal pollution cost and maximal benefit. This is the point where MNPB and MEC meet i.e point X, known as the economic optimal degree of pollution. In kernel therefore the PPP tends to checkmate houses from runing with high pollution degrees. In add-on pollution charges are non based on a zero emanation mark as this is non even executable. Harmonizing to the theoretical account, there are degrees at which pollution is really acceptable. The pollution control policy is determined around this â€Å" socially acceptable † degree and related ambient quality provinces. Puting a general monetary value for all pollution will efficaciously ensue in any mark for the entire burden from all houses being achieved at the lowest possible sum of wastewater costs. The deduction therefore is that it will be possible to accomplish pollution control ( really touchable control since it covers a big spectrum of participants ) utilizing this policy. And in add-on to accomplishing pollution limits the policy tends to counterbalance the public assistance that was lost due to the pollution. Possibly it is of import at this point to observe that pollution every bit far as economic sciences is concerned occurs when physical pollution has res ulted in loss of public assistance. In other words they pay harm costs in add-on to command costs. Lets non bury besides that the policy is a cost allotment rule that raises money for authorities. With this money authorities can advance greenish enterprises or more environmentally friendly engineerings ( and this is really cardinal to long term pollution decrease ) . Firms will by and large be forced to be more cautious in their activities as they know that they will be apt for any injury they might do. So why should n't the policy be adopted? Granted that there are some troubles and disadvantages with the policy but what is the overall cost compared with the overall benefit? There is the statement that portion of the pollution charges are pushed to clients who end up paying. In other words its non wholly the defiler who pays. Well, that ‘s true but we will hold to be reminded that pollution revenue enhancements really returns the market system to the Pareto efficiency so that although few may profit no 1 is worse off. Ordinary revenue enhancement tends to falsify the market and displacements it off from the Pareto solution but pollution revenue enhancement does the antonym. So its bad on one side but good on the other. It is true besides that monetary value may travel up with such policy and this will hold a negative consequence on the hapless but on the other manus that will be a good development for markets with more environmentally friendly merchandises as their merchandises will sell better. That being said I do ubt that competitory force per unit area will let houses to increase monetary value without believing twice. One existent trouble with this policy I will acknowledge is the issue of pollution for which there was no cognition of inauspicious impact at the clip of happening. Bing a pupil of environmental engineering and direction I am cognizant that the consequence of certain actions particularly those that trade with chemicals can take clip to be known. Take for case the instance of CFC ‘s whose inauspicious consequence where merely discovered old ages after their industry. Even the ardent conservationists will hold that it is unjust to keep histrions apt for pollution caused at the clip when injury was non recognized. This I agree is one really cardinal trouble with the policy. Another trouble would be accurate and right designation of the defiler since there can be complications. On the whole I do back up the acceptance of pollution licenses and pollution revenue enhancements where it is deemed executable. There is ground to believe that it is possible to cut down emanations to a degree that is acceptable for the environment. What is required is the motive. Up until late, houses had cultivated an attitude of being less concerned about the impact of their activities on the environment even when and where it was non needfully expensive to be more cautious. Economic instruments like pollution licenses and revenue enhancements will decidedly be utile in commanding pollution by obliging houses to be cautious about their activities.

Reading Culture 5th Edition By Diana George And John Trimbur

The book Reading Culture 8th Edition by Diana George and John Trimbur is a wonderful assemblage of different contexts for critical reading and thinking. As one skims through the first chapter of this book, almost immediately does it intrigue the reader to continue to progress through the argumentative essays, visual illustrations, and notable references one is so familiar with. The authors expressed their several definitions on the word â€Å"culture† and how it was used differently as time passed by. The authors also expressed their thoughts on digital communication and presented arguments from various writers who depict the pros and cons of this new cyber age of connectivity and interactivity. Forty-eight pages of academically- acclaimed arguments, illustrations, and essay examples help the reader understand what culture is and their composition course better. Most Americans are not aware of the many definitions the word culture has had over its course of existence in the English language. Some associate their knowledge of culture with one of Beethoven s classic symphonies or with a beautiful painting by Picasso. These same individuals most often classify their ideal of culture in two classes- high and low culture. As the authors state, â€Å"a cultured person is someone who has achieved a certain level of refinement and Hernandez, J. Page 2/Summary #1 January 29, 2016 What interests one living in the 21st century is how the two terms in which culture is used are ongoing in a