The Great Gatsby Wealth And Happiness - 1291 Words

A philosopher named Democritus once said, â€Å"Happiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold, happiness dwells in the soul.† Throughout the ages, wealth and riches have always seemed to catch the eyes of men. Numerous people believe even today that money is the source of happiness. As seen in The Great Gatsby, wealth and happiness are two major themes portrayed over and over again by Fitzgerald’s characters. Many of the characters in the story gain wealth believing that with riches, they can soon gain happiness. Yet time and time again the characters find themselves forlorn and empty, seeking out alcohol and secret lovers to fill the vacant space where happiness should be. Even with all their money, they seem to never achieve true†¦show more content†¦Gatsby is introduced immediately as a mystery, a rich mystery. Every weekend he throws lavish parties full of guests, yet seems to remain empty and morose to the reader. What else could Gatsby possibly wa nt within all his riches? Jay Gatsby, just like the rest of the numerous characters in the story, has a gaping empty hole in his life, a hole where happiness should be held. After looking closely at Gatsby’s life, the question must be asked. Can money actually bring happiness? Or the opposite side of that, can money destroy a person’s happiness? Many people see money as an equal to contentment. They believe that if all they have is wealth and riches, they will be totally and completely happily satisfied in their lives, that they can buy their own happiness. This common belief is false. True happiness cannot be bought, like many things sold to men. True happiness has no price. It is a state of mind that one must have. Jay Gatsby is a prime example of this. Gatsby’s life is a life full of fortune, parties, and people. Yet the man is still unhappy and is often seen in the beginning of the book looking empty and alone. â€Å"Something in his leisurely movements and the secure position of his feet upon the lawn suggested that it was Mr. Gatsby himself...I decided to call to him...But I didn’t call to him, for he gave a sudden imitationShow MoreRelated6. The Value/Danger Of Wealth. These Few Words By John1254 Words   |  6 Pages6. The value/danger of wealth These few words by John Chrysostom â€Å"Nothing is more fallacious than wealth. It is hostile comrade, a domestic enemy.† after reading The Great Gatsby. During Twenties, the nation’s wealth doubled. Was wealth the greatest â€Å"happiness† to pursue? The impact of wealth can display one’s true identity. In The Great Gatsby, wealth directly reflected the success of a person, but the pursuit of opulence twisted foundation of the American dream by resulting in greedinessRead MoreMisconceptions Of The American Dream1190 Words   |  5 Pagesthat they find happiness. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. While wealth is often equated with happiness and security; however, The Great Gatsby and Into the Wild illustrate that searching for happiness through the acquisition of material wealth is chasing an illusion, because amorality and corruption often follow wealth. Jay Gatsby, Chris McCandless, and Tom Buchanan exemplify the misconceptions of the A merican Dream, because they are unhappy despite their material wealth. Gatsby’s searchesRead MoreF. Scott Fitzgerald s The Great Gatsby1367 Words   |  6 Pageswith happiness and success, is deceiving because it doesn t necessarily breed enjoyment at all. Lorraine Hansberry s A Raisin in the Sun and F. Scott Fitzgerald s The Great Gatsby examine the difference between wealth and appreciation of life. Lorraine Hansberry explains this with Walter, a negro father in a poor family who seeks more money than is realistic to bring happiness into the family. Fitzgerald uses the character Jay Gatsby to show that wealth doesn t imply success or happiness. BothRead MoreThe Great Gatsby and the American Dream Essay933 Words   |  4 PagesWealth, material possessions, and power are the core principles of The American Dream. Pursuit of a better life led countless numbers of foreign immigrants to America desiring their chance at the vast opportunity. Reaching the American Dream is not always reaching true happiness. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Grea t Gatsby, Jay Gatsby achieves the American Dream, but his unrealistic faiths in money and life’s possibilities twist his dreams and life into useless life based on lies. Jay Gatsby believesRead MoreThe Great Gatsby Character Analysis888 Words   |  4 PagesThe Betrayal of Wealth in The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1923. The book was later converted into a movie. The overall plot of the movie remained the same, but many details were changed or completely left out in the film production. â€Å"Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all of the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.† (Fitzgerald pg.1) Throughout the novel many different symbols and moods are createdRead MoreThe Great Gatsby : Themes Of Wealth, Dreams, Time And The Pursuit Of The American Dream873 Words   |  4 PagesThemes of Wealth, Dreams, time and the pursuit of the American dream in The Great Gatsby The American dream is a common idea in America that all individuals are equal and can achieve their dreams and ambitions are by working hard. The American dream also enshrines the idea that regardless of social class and financial status, any individual who is hardworking and persevering can achieve anything. The pursuit of this dream has led many to success and many also to failure as a lot of people go to allRead MoreF. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby Essay1459 Words   |  6 PagesThe Great Gatsby, a highly acclaim American novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, entails the demise of the American dream by means of drawing a parallel between Jay Gatsby, a character whom covers his inner qualities with the idealistic characteristics of the rich during the Roaring Twenties in order to obtain the affection go the beloved and deeply flawed Daisy. Regrettably, throughout his conquest for Daisy’s affection, Gatsby falsely presumes that through his accumulation of wealth he will be able toRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald1143 Words   |  5 Pages Leveque AP Literature 23 September 2014 Money or Happiness Money is not the only factor involved in gaining social status and happiness. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is set in 1922, a time of social climbers and the need for money to have a sense of happiness and security in society. The common characterization throughout the novel portrays the common idea that money is a main priority, even before the character’s happiness. For example, the security of marrying into money and socialRead MoreThe Collapse of Dreams in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby783 Words   |  4 Pages  Ã‚  Ã‚   The novel, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is about the American Dream, and the downfall of those who attempt to reach its illusionary goals. In the Great Gatsby the dream is that through wealth and power, one can acquire happiness. To get this happiness, Jay Gatsby must reach into the past and relive an old dream. In order to achieve his dream, he must have wealth and power.    Jay Gatsby is one character that longs for the past. He devotes most of his adult likeRead MoreThe Great Gatsby- Do S Really Love Cars and Money?1223 Words   |  5 PagesThe Great Gatsby- Do s really love cars and money? In F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby, Gatsby attempts to be obtain his American dream with conspicuous consumption. Fitzgerald uses symbols of conspicuous consumption in money, cars and houses to show that the American dream of wealth and possessions doesnt necessarily ensure happiness. The concept of conspicuous consumption is greatly exemplified in The Great Gatsby, by all of the characters being in possession of excessive amounts

a Few Good Men in Relation with Organizational Behaviour

A FEW GOOD MEN (1992) (Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore) Table of Contents Introduction 5 Section 1.0 Movie in Relation with Organizational Behaviour 1.1 Milgram Experiment 7 1.2 Principles of Delegation of Authority 9 1.3 Flaws of Leadership 11 Section 2.0 Movie Analysis 2.1 Character Analysis 14 2.1.1 Lt.Daniel Kaffee 14 2.1.2 Col. Nathan R. Jessep 15 2.1.3 Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway 16 2.2 Dialogue Analysis 17 Section 3.0 Conclusion 3.1 Summary 19 3.2 Bibliography 20 Introduction†¦show more content†¦This shows that there was a lot of influence of the authority and people were even afraid of talking anything against them. Although people wish to do something different but they end up following the instruction given by authority figures. 1.2 Principles of Delegation Of Authority According to Koontz et al authority is delegated when decision Ââ€"making power is vested in a superior by a subordinate. Delegation of authority is not an option it is a necessity for an organizational hierarchy so that only one person is not responsible for handling all the things. The principle of scalar chain: There is a proper scalar chain between the officers, as the job of each and every officer is clearly defined. As we can see that Col. Mathew Andrew Markinson had to report to Col. Nathan R. Jassep and then Pfc. Downey and Pfc. Louden Dowry had to report to their senior officers (Col. Jessep and Col. Mathew). However in the movie, it is not clearly defined that who has to report whom but still it is clear by watching the movie that there was a proper scalar chain. Each and every Marine working at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, knew whom they had to report to and what are their duties and responsibilities. They even knew that if they broke the rules they would have to face a lot of negative consequences (for example, CODE RED) The principle of unity of command: The unity of command can also be seen in the movie as allShow MoreRelatedAnswer to Term Paper of Organizational Behaviour1328 Words   |  6 PagesExamination Paper of Organizational Behaviour IIBM Institute of Business Management Examination Paper SubjectCode-B105 Organizational Behaviour Section A: Objective Type Short Questions (30 marks) ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · This section consists of Multiple Choice and short notes type questions Answer all the questions. Part one carries 1 mark each and part two carries 5 marks each. MM.100 Part A:Multiple Choices:1. Which of the following is not comes under Maslow‟s needs theory? 1. Social needs 2. Affiliation needsRead MoreChallenges for Women in Leadership Roles1121 Words   |  5 Pagesmean? What does cultural fit connote in this organisation? Does the concept of cultural fit perpetuate homogeneity and with it exclusion of women? In other words the existing culture in many traditional organisations perpetuates the view that only men are in a position and have the time and lifestyle to accommodate the work requirement of the organisation. This is the continuation of a historical model that was created at a time when women didn’t work outside the home and had very little rightsRead MoreComparison Of Herrmann Brain Dominance Indicator1203 Words   |  5 Pages Leadership and Gender Herrmann Brain Dominance Indicator Executive Summary: This journal seeks to discuss recent identifications and explanations of gender differences in leadership, behaviour effectiveness in organizations. The models are reviewed based on their contribution and arguments, contextual issues of international and national as well, stereotype and perception of superior and subordinate roles are reviewed and discussed. 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The focus of these debates on sameness versus difference can obscure the array of causal factors that can produce differences or similarities. Whether men and women behave differently in leadership roles is a much-debated question. Although there is general agreement that women face more barriers to becoming leaders than men do, especially for leader roles thatRead MoreStudy on Organizational Structure and Leadership Style of Biocon Limited6451 Words   |  26 PagesStudy on Organizational structure and Leadership style of Biocon Limited Contents Introduction of Biocon 2 Introduction to Organisational structures 3 Introduction to Leadership styles 4 Article Reviews 5 Organizational Structure Literature 5 1. Innovations in Organizational structure 5 2. Exploring the relationship between organization structure and perceived innovation in the Manufacturing Sector in India 6 3. Organization Design 7 Leadership Literature 11 1. 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It help us to gain a greater understanding of those factors that influence individual and group dynamics in an organizational setting so that individuals and the groups and organizations to which they belong may become more efficient and effective. The factors that may influence organizational includes individuals and group behaviour. Quite some of the research on organizational behavior is ultimately aimed at providing human resource management professionals with the information and tools theyRead MoreA Guide For Conducting Business Essay1687 Words   |  7 PagesPorter (2004) emphasizes that a person s perception of the world around him/her is deeply entrenched in the system of symbols that his or her culture uses to make sense of the world. Introduction I think that the Japanese culture is one of the very few cultures left that is its own entity. They re just so traditional and so specific in their ways. It s kind of untouched, it s not Americanized.-Toni Collette Due to the development in science and technology we find Japan to be a place much soughtRead MoreGender and Leadership: Literature Review5185 Words   |  21 Pagesother hand literature also exists on what leaders actually do, the former are prescriptive and the latter are descriptive (Bratton et al; 2005). Leadership style is a relatively consistent set of behaviours that characterise a leader (DuBrin; 1995). The main leadership theories encompass the trait, behaviour, contingency, power influence, and gender influence and exchange leadership perspectives. This paper focuses on transformational leadership and thus will detail the theory underpinning

Campose coffee shop report Free Essays

A survey of customer satisfaction witticisms Cafe © The purpose of this survey Is to measure customer satisfaction with Campus Cafe ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s. This study not for commercial purposes and is conducted by a group of OUTS students as part of study for a Marketing Research assignment. We would like to receive your feedback, comments and suggestions about Campus Cafe ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s customer offerings. We will write a custom essay sample on Campose coffee shop report or any similar topic only for you Order Now Please take few minutes to answer the following questions. This survey ensures your identity remains anonymous as we respect your privacy. General questions: . Have you ever been to Broadway Campus Cafe? Please tick one Yes continue to the next question No – Thank you for your time! 2. How often do you drink coffee alone? Please tick one Daily Couple times a week Once a week Couple times a month Monthly 3. What are the reasons for your visit to Broadway Campus Cafe? Please tick one Enjoy with yourself Enjoy with your work partners Enjoy with your friends Enjoy with your family Others 4. What Is your favorite coffee? Please tick one Long black Espresso Machismo Original late Original cappuccino Reallocating Special flavor coffee Campus Cafe. Please use the scale below to rate your level of agreement for each statement Campus always provides me high quality coffee. I strongly believe that the quality of coffee served in Campus is good. The quality of coffees served at Campus is of superior quality. 6. Now we are interested in your opinions about the range of coffee served at Broadway Campus Cafe. (Please use the scale below to rate your level of agreement for each statement) Campus serves a variety of different coffees I find that there is a wide range of coffees available at Campus Cafe There is a vast election of choice for coffees at Campus cafe 7. Now we are interested in your opinion about the price of coffeepot Broadway Campus Cafe. (Please use the scale below to rate your level of agreement for each statement) Campus Cafe © offers low priced coffee. I find that Campus Cafe © offers coffee at cheap prices. Coffee available at Campus Cafe © is available at reduced prices 10. Now we are interested in your opinions about the speed of services at Broadway I find that the Campus Coffees offers quick service. Campus Coffees has a fast speed of service. Campus Coffees is swift Speed of service offered at 1 1 . Now we are interested in your opinion about the ease of awareness of promotional information about Broadway Campus Cafe. (Please use the scale below to rate your level of agreement for each statement) I find it is easy to discover promotional information about Campus Coffees I need to ask staff about promotions at Campus Cafe. Finding information about promotions is not hard at Campus Coffees. The Broadway Campus Cafe © store is clean. Whenever I visit Campus Coffees, I find that the store is spotless. Campus Cafe © store at Broadway is hygienic. 3. Now we are interested in your opinion about the friendliness of Staff at Broadway I find the staff are very courteous at Campus Cafe ©. Customer service is always friendly at Campus Cafe ©. Campus Coffees offers welcoming customer service. 14. Now we are interested in your opinion about the quality of music played at I like the music at Campus Cafe ©. Campus Cafe © plays enjoyable music. The music played at Campus Cafe © is pleasant. 15. Now we are interested in your opinion about the location at Broadway Campus Cafe © (please use the scale below to rate your level of agreement for each statement) Campus Cafe © is located in a prime area close to amenities I find that the location of Campus Coffee is convenient Campus Cafe © is in an easy-to- find location 16. Now we are interested in your opinion about the intention to revisit. (Please use the scale below to rate your level of agreement for each statement) I will definitely make purchases at Campus in the future. Campus Cafe © is my first choice when I want to buy a cup of coffee. I intend to revisit Campus Coffees again. How to cite Campose coffee shop report, Papers

Fundamental Passive Design Principles Construction Essay Example For Students

Fundamental Passive Design Principles Construction Essay The edifice and building sector is a cardinal sector for sustainable development. The building, usage and destruction of edifices generate significant societal and economic benefits to society. Construction engineerings have improved the edifices we work or live in and supply benefits for the environment and the edifice proprietors. Rather than building edifices for peculiar climes, engineering has lead us in the manner of bring forthing energy efficient edifices and supplying inactive designs for sustainable houses. This enables us to pull strings the clime we live in and utilize these methods to profit or edifices or places respects to the environment. Given that an mean house lasts for more than 60 old ages, supplying inactive design rules for builders or refinishers, the integrating of inactive design is a wise investing pick as portion of future-proofing your place and doing it execute more sustainably as it can efficaciously react to a site s prevalent climatic conditions. The study discusses the inactive design rules and associated information that can better family comfort, liveability and nest eggs in each of the different clime zones. It presents a sum-up of inactive design constructs and benefits that can be used to help in planing a new house, or changing or buying an bing house. 2.0 FUNDAMENTAL PASSIVE DESIGN PRINCIPLES Passive design is a cardinal characteristic of a sustainable house. There are six design rules that are employed in the design to accomplish sustainability these are discussed in order of precedence ; orientation, airing, shadowing, insularity, thermic mass and stuffs ( J.W. 1975 ) . Outline1 Page 1 of 92 2.2.13 Openings4 2.2.25 Cross airing6 Page 2 of 97 2.2.38 Roof infinite and coloring material9 2.2.410 Cathedral ceilings11 Page 3 of 912 Page 4 of 913 2.6.114 Windows/glass15 2.6.216 Skylights17 2.6.318 Solar arbors19 Page 5 of 920 Page 6 of 921 Page 7 of 922 Page 8 of 923 Page 9 of 9 Page 1 of 9 2.1- ORIENTATION House orientation is the most cardinal inactive design rule as it significantly affects the house s comfort and energy public presentation. See how the program interacts with the site, as good orientation increases the benefits of solar entree, chilling zephyrs, summer shading and air current protection. ( J.W. 1975 ) If possible, its recommended houses are to be orientated so their western side blocks out the heat from the low summer Sun, and their south-western side acts as a buffer against western air currents. As a general regulation, window country on the north-facing wall should be 10-25 per centum of the floor country of the room so that the room can derive suited entree to winter Sun . ( J.W. 1975 ) The southern side of the houses should usually be shaded, as this can supply some livable out-of-door infinite in summer. However it should besides be recognised that this infinite can on occasion acquire cool on winter yearss, so plan this infinite for flexible usage. In Tropical climatic zones, the noon summer Sun strikes the southern face of the house, while midday winter Sun is toward the North. 2.2- VENTILATION Throughout Australia s summer, the ultimate place comfort purpose is to populate in a house so good ventilated and shaded that it would be like sitting under a big tree on a hot twenty-four hours where the zephyr can go through unhampered. Such a construct can be incorporated into a house through using the design characteristics presented below: 2.2.1 Openings As Windowss and door gaps receive zephyrs, the more flexible the opening the better its possible for airing ( J.W. 1975 ) . Louvers and awning Windowss can direct the zephyr down into the living infinite of a room. They need non wholly be glass, as lumber louvres provide shadiness every bit good as zephyr ( preferred to take from plantation lumbers ) . 2.2.2 Cross airing Once the zephyr is inside the house it should be able to flux through to the other side every bit uninterrupted as possible. Careful planning of suites is required such as ( wherever possible ) two Windowss in each sleeping room to supply better cross airing. Try to turn up doors next to each other as this can besides help with cross airing. As air moves upward when heated, adjustable transoms or blowholes are recommended over internal door gaps to take the hot air roll uping at ceiling degree in summer ( Milne Geoff.2005 ) . They besides need to be able to be closed to cut down heat loss in winter. Vents located in level ceilings in the hallway and kitchen can supply an extra advantage, every bit long as the roof is adequately ventilated. This allows the heat gathered at ceiling degree to be expelled up into the roof infinite. Ceiling blowholes in Sub-tropical climes besides need to be sealed in winter to maintain the heat in. ( Claudia. 2004 ) Page 2 of 9 2.2.3 Roof infinite and coloring material Effective roof airing can take this heat build up through gaps in the roof s eaves and the arrangement of ridge blowholes. The ridge can be vented in a figure of ways. The first is a short gable at the ridge providing required weathering protection and lasting airing. The clearstory design besides offers an option for ridge venting . ( Milne Geoff.2005 ) . The openable venting country can be greatly increased, though the gap should non be located towards the summer Sun as that could let unwanted solar addition. A solution to this job when utilizing metal deck roofing is to merely supply a 2nd tegument of sheeting at the ridge, near plenty to the chief roof to forestall rain come ining yet sufficient to let heated air inside to get away. A light-coloured roof is besides a good advantage. As a bitumen route readily absorbs heat because of its coloring material, a dark roof does the same. A light-coloured roof can reflect unwanted heat before it even gets into the roof infinite. Whilst it is wrong to propose that all roofs should be white, those with a light-coloured roof will cut down the warming capacity of their place s roof infinite, and thereby potentially heightening comfort degrees and understating energy demands. 2.2.4 Cathedral ceilings Cathedral ceilings are angled, with ceiling sheets fixed to the bottom of balks or scissor trusses. They are ideal in hot climes if they are designed decently. Unwanted heat from the habitable countries rises off from the house as it warms the air and accumulates at the highest point of the ceiling. If the warmed air is non allowed to get away it will finally make full the room, so it is indispensable to let go of the heat gathered at the ridge, either into a ventilated roof infinite or straight outside through wall gaps placed merely below the highest portion of the ceiling . ( Milne Geoff.2005 ) . Cathedral ceilings frequently have small or no roof infinite that would usually help to cut down heat flows between the roof and the ceiling, so it is besides of import to supply good roof and ceiling insularity. Student EssayHomeowners besides have peace of head given that their place has greater energy efficiencies, it will hold a lower nursery gas part through the decrease in combustion of fossil fuels for electricity coevals as it performs more responsively to its predominating clime. 4.0 OTHER FEATURES OF SUSTAINABLE HOUSING DESIGN Sustainable engineering adjustments, such as solar hot H2O systems, rainwater armored combat vehicles and solar energy supply, can significantly complement a passively designed house. All of these characteristics are recommended to be included as portion of an incorporate design response as they can jointly better the efficiencies and public presentation of a more sustainable house. Page 6 of 9 A more sustainable place can integrate a scope of characteristics to account for energy and H2O supply and ingestion, handiness, grey-water and black-water systems, stormwater direction ( understating cut and make full on-site to keep natural drainage forms and detainment basins ) , and forestalling dirt erosion/sediment and alimentary run-off to our waterways, and biodiversity ( through keeping important trees ) ( Salmon, C. 1999 ) . 5.0 Decision The study reveals how cardinal inactive designs provide us with techniques and methods that promote a sustainable house, uncovering such things as airing, shadowing, insularity, thermic mass and stuffs all play a portion in a sustainable place. Besides foregrounding the benefits of sustainable place, going cost-efficient over clip through one-year operational nest eggs, and hence are more low-cost in the longer-term. Besides uncovering through benefits of inactive designs improved comfort and energy efficiency can be obtained by integrating inactive design rules. The study provides methods and techniques for builders and refinishers on bring forthing energy efficient and sustainable edifices. The benefits for proprietors of places with inactive design include lower energy costs and deriving a greater enjoyment of the clime they live in when compared with occupants of conventional houses. 6.0 RECOMMENDATIONS Passive design is a cardinal component of sustainable edifice. It aims to maximize comfort for people populating in a place while understating energy usage and other impacts on the environment. This means doing the most of free, natural beginnings of energy, such as the Sun and the air current, to supply warming, chilling, and airing to lend to responsible energy usage. These recommendations explore thoughts, solutions and benefits to passive design when sing building in a peculiar clime. Reveals house orientation is the most cardinal inactive design rule as it significantly affects the house s comfort and energy public presentation. Integrating insularity designs can help to cut down the effects of these utmost temperatures as it provides greater comfort degrees Supplying appropriate usage of thermic mass throughout your place can do a large difference to comfort and warming and chilling measures. Geting a scope of energy-efficient stuffs can be used to help thermic comfort and natural lighting. Incorporate inactive design elements into a new or bing house which creates a more comfy place to populate in, save on operating costs, every bit good as cut down energy demand and nursery gas emanations. Page 7 of 9 7.0 REFERENECES Canadian Architects: Measures of sustainability. n.d. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.canadianarchitect.com/ ( accessed April 7, 2008 ) CSIRO: CSIRO s Global Warming Predictions. n.d A hypertext transfer protocol: //HYPERLINK hypertext transfer protocol: //www.dar.csiro.au/ www.dar.csiro.au/ ( accessed April 11,2008 ) . Drysdale, J.W. 1975. Planing houses for Australian climes. Australian capital: Australian Government Publishing service EBOB. Energy efficient behaviour in office edifices. n.d. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.ebob.pro.com ( accessed April 8,2008 ) . Kruse, Claudia. 2004. IIGCC Briefing Note ; Climate Change and the Construction Sector. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.iigcc.org/ ( accessed April 7, 2008 ) . Milne Geoff.2005. Australia s usher to environmentally sustainable places. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.greenhouse.gov.au/ ( accessed April 8, 2008 ) . Reep.org. Renewable energy A ; energy efficiency partnership. n.d. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.reeep.org/ ( accessed March 29,2008 ) . Salmon, C. 1999. Architectural designs for tropical parts. New York: Wiley Smart Housing Cost-efficiency Booklet: n.d. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.housing.qld.gov.au/ ( accessed April 11,2008 ) . Smart Housing design aims: n.d. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.housing.qld.gov.au/ ( accessed April 11,2008 ) . Sustainable Housing Fact Sheet: n.d. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.epa.qld.gov.au/ ( accessed April 12,2008 ) . The Climate group. n.d. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.theclimategroup.org/ ( accessed April 9, 2008 ) . Urge-Vorsatz, D. , and A. Novikova.2008.Potentials and cost of C dioxide extenuation in the universe edifices. Energy Policy 36 ( 2 ) : 642-661. Science Direct. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.sciencedirect.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/ Page 8 of 9 ( accessed March 15, 2008 ) . Window Energy Rating System. n.d. hypertext transfer protocol: //HYPERLINK hypertext transfer protocol: //www.wers.net/ www.wers.net/ ( accessed April 9,2008 ) . Wong, N.H and S.Li. 2007. Building and environment 42 ( 3 ) : 1395-1405. Science Direct. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.sciencedirect.com.dbqw.lis.curtin.edu.au/ ( accessed March 14, 2008 ) . Ymparisto , 2006. Energy subsidies for little houses. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.ymparisto.fi/ ( accessed April 9,2008 ) . Your place: design for clime. n.d. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.yourhome.gov.au/ ( accessed March 13, 2008 ) . Page 9 of 9 EXECTUTIVE SUMMARY Passive design is design that does non necessitate mechanical warming or chilling. Rather than building for a peculiar clime it s concerned about doing the most of local conditions to do your place or building comfy, low-cost and sustainable. The study discusses facets of inactive design. The six design rules are employed in the design to accomplish sustainability these are discussed in order of precedence ; orientation, airing, shadowing, insularity, thermic mass and stuffs. In which all these facets play a function in bring forthing a sustainable and cost effectual building over the long tally. These rules discussed uncover the benefits of inactive design demoing that the incorporation of inactive design elements into a new or bing house can make a more comfy place to populate in, salvage on its operating costs, every bit good as cut down its energy demand and nursery gas emanations. The study concludes that the benefits for proprietors of places with inactive design include lower energy costs and deriving a greater enjoyment of the clime they live in. The chief recommendations that were explored throughout the study is it reveals house orientation is the most cardinal inactive design rule as it significantly affects the comfort in a house and energy public presentation. Integrating insularity designs can help to cut down the effects of these utmost temperatures as it provides greater comfort degrees. Supplying appropriate usage of thermic mass throughout your place can do a large difference to comfort and warming and chilling measures. Geting a scope of energy-efficient stuffs can be used to help thermic comfort and natural lighting. Incorporate inactive design elements into a new or bing house which creates a more comfy place to populate in, salvage on its operating costs, every bit good as cut down its energy demand and nursery gas emanations. ( I )

Science Is A Creature That Continues To Evolve At A Much Higher Rate T

Science is a creature that continues to evolve at a much higher rate than the beings thatgave it birth. The transformation time from tree-shrew, to ape, to human far exceeds the timefrom analytical engine, to calculator, to computer. But science, in the past, has always remaineddistant. It has allowed for advances in production, transportation, and even entertainment, butnever in history will science be able to so deeply affect our lives as genetic engineering willundoubtedly do. With the birth of this new technology, scientific extremists and anti-technologists have risen in arms to block its budding future. Spreading fear by misinterpretationof facts, they promote their hidden agendas in the halls of the United States congress. Geneticengineering is a safe and powerful tool that will yield unprecedented results, specifically in thefield of medicine. It will usher in a world where gene defects, bacterial disease, and even agingare a thing of the past. By understanding genetic engine ering and its history, discovering itspossibilities, and answering the moral and safety questions it brings forth, the blanket of fearcovering this remarkable technical miracle can be lifted. The first step to understanding genetic engineering, and embracing its possibilities forsociety, is to obtain a rough knowledge base of its history and method. The basis for altering theevolutionary process is dependant on the understanding of how individuals pass oncharacteristics to their offspring. Genetics achieved its first foothold on the secrets of nature'sevolutionary process when an Austrian monk named Gregor Mendel developed the first "laws ofheredity." Using these laws, scientists studied the characteristics of organisms for most of the next one hundred years following Mendel's discovery. These early studies concluded that eachorganism has two sets of character determinants, or genes (Stableford 16). For instance, inregards to eye color, a child could receive one set of genes from hi s father that were encoded oneblue, and the other brown. The same child could also receive two brown genes from his mother. The conclusion for this inheritance would be the child has a three in four chance of havingbrown eyes, and a one in three chance of having blue eyes (Stableford 16). Genes are transmitted through chromosomes which reside in the nucleus of every livingorganism's cells. Each chromosome is made up of fine strands of deoxyribonucleic acids, orDNA. The information carried on the DNA determines the cells function within the organism. Sex cells are the only cells that contain a complete DNA map of the organism, therefore, "thestructure of a DNA molecule or combination of DNA molecules determines the shape, form, and function of the [organism's] offspring " (Lewin 1). DNA discovery is attributed to the researchof three scientists, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, and James Dewey Watson in 1951. Theywere all later accredited with the Nobel Price in physiology and medicin e in 1962 (Lewin 1). "The new science of genetic engineering aims to take a dramatic short cut in the slow process of evolution" (Stableford 25). In essence, scientists aim to remove one gene from anorganism's DNA, and place it into the DNA of another organism. This would create a new DNAstrand, full of new encoded instructions; a strand that would have taken Mother Nature millionsof years of natural selection to develop. Isolating and removing a desired gene from a DNAstrand involves many different tools. DNA can be broken up by exposing it to ultra-high-frequency sound waves, but this is an extremely inaccurate way of isolating a desirable DNA section (Stableford 26). A more accurate way of DNA splicing is the use of "restrictionenzymes, which are produced by various species of bacteria" (Clarke 1). The restrictionenzymes cut the DNA strand at a particular location called a nucleotide base, which makes up aDNA molecule. Now that the desired portion of the DNA is cut out, it can be joined to another strand of DNA by using enzymes called ligases. The final important step in the creation of anew DNA strand is giving it the ability to self-replicate. This can be accomplished by usingspecial pieces of DNA, called vectors, that permit the generation of multiple copies of a totalDNA strand and fusing it to the newly created DNA structure. Another newly developed method, called polymerase chain reaction, allows for faster replication of DNA strands and doesnot require

Rabies

Rabies It took a while to write Nice JobWhat is Rabies? Who gets Rabies? Rabies is a viral disease of humans and other mammals. It is most common in carnivores. The word rabies comes from the word 'hydrophobia', fear of water. Rabies is a potentially deadly disease.There are many things you can do to prevent yourself from meeting rabies. The most important thing to do, is to be certain your pets have updated vaccinations. Your pets can first get their vaccinations when they are three months old. After that booster vaccinations must be given every one to three years according to your state and city laws. It also depends on the type of vaccination.Most people associate rabies with dogs, cats, raccoons, skunks, wolves, etc. The most common animals to have rabies are dogs, cats, and raccoons. Rabies cases in cats have outnumbered all other domestic animals every year since 1988.Oral Rabies Vaccine (ORV) bait stationThere was fifty-three percents increase in cat rabies between 1991-1992. Most of the cases with cats have been unvaccinated strays.Even if your pets do not go outside, they should still be vaccinated. You cannot tell if you pet will accidentally get out or an infected animal will get in. Avoid close contact with any wild animal. Never feed, handle, pet, or take any wild animals in. Rabid animals will usually act in an abnormal way, have a foamy saliva around the mouth, and show a loss of hair or fur. If the animal is nocturnal, it may be out during the day. Rabid animals are usually very outgoing and aggressive.To keep wildlife away from your home avoid leaving pet food outside, and keep the lids on trash cans secure, or store them inside a garage or shed. You can prevent wildlife from your entering...

Disneyland and history of it Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Disneyland and history of it - Essay Example This is by bringing into reality wild visions not only of the then period but also of the future as cited by Walt’s statement in Tomorrowland concerning scientists’ victory in unveiling more about space specifically to bring fame to America (Van 85). This is because during then there was no resemblance of such kind of structure capable of granting both parents and children chance to have fun as well as reviewing great visions of the state’s great men. Walt in his quest to actualize what for long had envisioned concerning a place where both parents and children could have fun, descended numerous letters coming from people who wished to come and visit his Disney Studio (Shaffer 30). Hence, dawning unto him that the studio had little space to accommodate numerous people during recreation whom he could not block their requests but look for other means. This encompassed fostering ideas on how to have a large space besides those he had already provided personally. In a ddition, Walt thought he could reach those ends due to the challenges he had earlier encountered and even managed to emerge triumphantly besides motivated by his father as a role model (Shaffer 30). Walt also visited other parks to get inspiration as well as document what he liked and thought would attract numerous people who would double once they enjoy for the first time especially from global states. Some of these parks, which he visited included Greenfield village, Tivoli Gardens, Fairyland and playland, hence Walt devising the name for his park to be Disneyland Park (Shaffer 30). Do you think that visitors to the Paris Park today come away with what Walt Disney intended? No. Since, the number of people visiting the place is far beyond what any other similar funny place in the region receives. Hence, aligning well with the founder’s intention of availing a funny place in Europe, this will be also successful like similar ventures in both Florida and California. In his init ial intention concerning the placement of the structure, it was in such a way it was at the center of the continent to serve its fun enthusiasts with convenience, which is evident today (Sehlinger 13). Studies so far conducted concerning the park cite the place is a â€Å"world-within-world† such that when somebody is inside cannot exactly tell whether he or she is in France besides being a happy place (Sehlinger 13). Therefore, I do not think visitors to the place, which receives high number of them, come away with what the founder anticipated to turn out during its operation period. What do you see when you consider Disneyland's version of history? I see immense courage and determination for a greater dreamer who contrary to numerous people who choose to let their visions die themselves managed to devote oneself into his goal’s realization. This is to the extent of even soliciting for help from financiers though some turned him down but he did not give up and contend what he thought for long was too big for its realization in a real world. Based on my opinion, his actualized vision as Walt stated acts as an exemplary to the naive and adventurous that can surpass even greater than what he has so far done. If you think that visitors really do learn something about what made America great, try and explain what

Not sure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Not sure - Essay Example This entails display of excellent characters thus, promoting human virtues. Confucians have an optimistic view of humankind. They believe in the possibility of the ordinary man to become awe- inspiring and thus, man is teachable, perfectible, and improvable. This is achievable through personal as well as communal endeavors and is possible by self-creation and self-cultivation. Moreover, it focuses on cultivation of virtues such as ren, yi and li (Juergensmeyer, 70). Ren advocates for humaneness and altruism for people in the society, yi advocates for moral disposition to shun evil and righteousness while li advocates for the propriety and norms on human behavior in a society. On proper governance, it advices a person who wants to rule to first rule or govern himself before governing others (Haynes, 14). Therefore, for one to become a good leader, he should understand the principles and values for governing as this would provide him with the knowledge necessary for ruling others. Both Taoists and Confucians promote human virtues for honesty and naturalness for a successful life (Juergensmeyer, 70). They promote such values since they make life more comfortable and facilitate peaceful coexistence. However, Taoists disagree with the notion of governance through the establishment of laws and regulations. It sees the laws and regulations as a means of promoting rebellion and restricting the way man should live on earth (Haynes, 12). Conversely, Confucians accept the issue of governance, but on condition that the ruler first rules himself before ruling others. Taoists and Confucians have positive implications on human life and proper governance in that they facilitate the establishment of virtues and understanding the principles of proper governance. "Life and works of Confucius, by Prospero Intorcetta, 1687 Retrieved from Dec, 10, 2012 from http://members.tripod.com/~laotzu_2doagod.html Confucian temple in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China 2) Tariki refers to the power or authority of Amitabha Budha, which is other power. However, jiriki refers to self-power and ability of a person achieve liberation or reach enlightenment. It advocates for one to experience own truth and not rely on others’ experience for truth. The age of mappo refers to the age or period of degeneration of Buddha’s regulations and laws. It is believed to refer to the current or modern age in human history. Shinran Buddhism believes that recitation of Amitabha Buddha supports faith, as well as birth within paradise of Pure Land to attain enlightenment (Naberman, 113). It was among the largest schools of thoughts of Buddhism in Japan until the demise of the founder, Shinran. Pure Land of Honen Buddhism believes in tariki. According to the believers, repeated chanting the phrase namu amida butsu, otherwise regarded as Homage to Amitabha Buddha results in enlightenment (Naberman, 115). This enabled it become very popular within Japan. Nichiren Daishonin introdu ced Nichiren Budhism and entails mediation that employs a repeated phrase of mantra known as namu myo renge kyo. It is a form of salutation to Lotus Sutra for happiness, enlightenment, and

Children who are affected and impacted by their parents with aids Essay

Children who are affected and impacted by their parents with aids - Essay Example Children are at risk of mental, physical and psychological trauma, growing up with the scars of AIDS resultant mutilated life. There is the horrifying problem of children getting AIDS due to the parental ailment. That apart, assuming that these children were born before the parents were afflicted, this will not allow them off the hook and for the rest of their lives, they usually are troubled with the resultant trauma, if not by regular AIDS itself, and for a child, both are equally terrifying. Despite the publicity and literature, surprisingly there is a lack of knowledge about the fatal disease, its transmission and preventive measures. This happens perhaps mainly due to the stigma attached to HIV. People still hesitate to openly discuss the implications and policies; their rights and the help on hand. Usually the subject is avoided, especially in the presence of children. If children are below the understandable age, any way it is not easy for them to know, other than that their parents are suffering and dying and the future is bleak for them. If they are adolescents or old enough to understand the implications, their suffering is all the more acute. It is extremely difficult for children to watch the parents suffer from AIDS and the connected 'opportunistic' illnesses, like serious, incurable infections. It is mentally debilitating for them to see the difficult times that the parents are going through. to see the agony of approaching death, and to watch the parents who were their security in their short lives, losing their strength and nearing the death's door with every passing minute is psychologically horrendous for the innocent lives. According to a 1986 survey by CDC 28,098 cases were reported and 15,757 were dead by December 18, 1986. According to Public Health Service, two million people in US are infected, but are asymptomatic. CDC projected in 1986 that 270,000 cases in US by 1991. 79% of them came from families in which one or both parents were afflicted. 88% were children under 5 out of which 20% were white, 57% were black, and 22% were Hispanic and 55% of them were male children. (All figures based on http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-925/aids.htm) Children, unlike other social segments, lack cohesion, grouping, militancy, united fight and lobbying. They simply resign themselves to reality and wither away and hence, the need for their protection is on the society and government. This is a sacred and bounden duty and immense responsibility. "According to the UN definition, which includes children that have lost either their mother or both parents before the age of 15, the epidemic is already thought to have created 14m orphans ," (Elbe, 2003, p.54). After a few years, the real horror of the problem struck the world, when an extensive survey was taken and the unimaginable figures came out. "In the year 2000, UNAIDS Report gave the figure as 34.75 million children below the age of fifteen who have been orphaned because of AIDS" (Smith, 2003, pp. 108-9). AIDS still remains the same life threatening and devastating disease with a connected stigma. It becomes extremely difficult when the individual/s hit by AIDS belong to a family with children. Sometimes, children are already affected. But sometimes the earlier children might not have been affected and will survive their parents. It is difficult to presume the reaction and questions from a child's standpoint, watching one or both

Vacation Industry Case Study Of Cyprus Tourism Essay

Vacation Industry Case Study Of Cyprus Tourism Essay Cyprus is an island in the Mediterranean Sea in the south of Turkey. Cyprus has a warm and dry with little rainfall climate which is a typical Mediterranean climate and this climate makes Cyprus very popular as tourist destination. The official languages of Cyprus are Turkish and Greek, while English is widely spoken by both sides. You can get to Cyprus by boat or plane. Charter flights are frequent scheduled from England and other European countries to Cyprus. Cyprus provides a wide range of accommodation in all areas of the island. Its accommodation covers all types of guests and all budgets ranging from luxury hotels, holiday villages, apartments to rent and camping. If somebody wants to explore the island, a car hire is needed. Cyprus has many things to offer to tourists, while Cyprus is known for its sandy beaches with the amazing water sports, rugged mountains, impressive ancient structures, churches and museums which make it a perfect holiday destination. There are also various recreation and sports activities available such as diving, golfing and carting. In Cyprus you can experience in bird watching, turtle watching and hiking and for those people who love the lucky games there are many casinos in the island. The travel adventurers can discover all over the island attractive beaches, ancient ruins, mountain peaks and vineyards that has olive trees all over. In Paphos you can go to Roman Mosaics, the Tombs of the Kings, the Byzantine Museum and Kato Paphos Archeological Park. Nicosia has the Cyprus Museum, Limassol boasts of its Lambouri Winery, Kolossi Castle and its Limassol Castle and Galatex. Avios Ioannis has the Turkish Ethnographic Museum, among others. Larnaka is a harbor with huge palm trees, cafes and taverns and also houses the international airport of Cyprus. In Larnaka you can visit Byzantine Museum, agios Lazaros Church, the District Archeological museum, the Pierides Museum etc. During the Kataklysmos feast which is celebrated all over Cyprus everyone can gather the shores of Larnaka, dancing, singing, driknking, eating and enjoying water sports. Lemesos is famous for the industrial center and port and wine industry. During September the wine lovers can enjoy the wine festival where the food and wine is served free. Witness the grand Lenten carnival when bands, decorated floats and dancing mark the celebration of this carnival. Tourists can enjoy the beaches, sea foods, visiting the museums and relax in the gardens. Paphos was the capital of the island in Roman times. Paphos has become a popular seaside resort with a large population. The Ktima section of the city is the main residential area, while Kato Paphos is the playground of holidaymakers, built around the medieval port with its numerous luxury hotels, taverns and entertainment venue. You can visit the Acropolis with its complex ancient buildings, including a Roman Odeon which is used for summer orchestral and stage performances as well as the Tombs of the Kings which is located 2km northwest of Paphos harbour towards the Coral Bay. Paphos is also known for its Mosaics floors in a series of ancient Roman noblemenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s villas and every visitor must see it. An excursion to the baths of Aphrodite is something that all the visitors should see because it is a visit to the natural grotto on the Akamas Peninsula where legend has it that the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, used to take her baths. Anyone cannot describe the beauty of Cyprus with words because every corner of this place is worth seeing. Assess the impact (positive and negative) of your visit on the environment. The quality of the environment, natural and man-made is essential to tourism. Many of the environmental impacts are connected with the structure of the general infrastructure such as roads and airports, and of tourism facilities such as resorts, hotels, shops, restaurants, golf courses and marinas. These negative impacts of tourism can cause damage to the environmental resources on which it depends. Alternatively, tourism has the potential to create positive effects on the environment by helping to environmental protection and maintenance and this is a method to raise awareness of environmental principles and it can serve as tool to finance protection of natural areas and increase their economic importance. When the level of visitor use is greater than the environmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ability to manage with this use negative impacts arise from tourism. When conventional tourism is uncontrolled poses possible threats to many natural areas. It can lead to impacts such as: soil erosion, natural habitat loss, increased pollution, discharges into the sea, heightened vulnerability to forest fires and increased pressure on endangered species. It frequently puts a strain on water resources, and it can force local populations to compete for the use of critical resources. The negative impacts of my visit in Cyprus are: The depletion of natural resources: this means that the tourism development can put pressure on natural resources when the consumption in areas is increased and the resources are already scarce. For example, with my visit on the island I cause problem because of my depletion of water resources such as my needs of water for washing and bath, my use of the swimming pool and other uses. The consequences are the water shortages and degradation of water supplies, as well as generating a bigger volume of waste water. Cyprus is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and is well known that in such dry regions, the water scarcity is greater because of the hot climate and the tourists tend to consume more water in their holidays than do at home. Another negative impact of my visit was the use of local resources such as energy, food, and other raw materials that previously was in short supply. Usually in high season the exploitation of these resources is greater than other periods because of the bi g number of visitors. The destination managers try to cover this high demand of local resources in order to meet the high expectations that tourists usually have for proper heating or cooling, hot water etc. Pollution: tourism can cause the same forms of pollution as any other industry, such forms are: solid waste and littering, air emissions, releases of sewage, noise, oil and chemicals, even architectural and visual pollution. My impact in the air pollution was my transportation by air and the excursions with the car. The air pollution that caused from the transportation of tourists has negative impact on the global level, especially from CO2 emissions related to the use of energy for the transportation which contributes to severe local air pollution. Noise pollution caused by cars, buses, airplanes, jet skis etc. Additionally to causing annoyance and stress to humans, it causes distress to wildlife and can cause animals to alter their natural activity. Another negative impact in which and me as tourist contribute to its increase is the Solid Waste. The tourism industry produces enormous quantities of waste products. Airlines, hotels, attractions and other businesses that serve tourist s throw away tons of garbage a year. Some other physical impacts that caused from tourist activities (including myself as a tourist) are: trampling, in cases that tourists using the same trail over and over again trample the vegetation and soil, finally causing damage that lead to loss of biodiversity. Anchoring and other marine activities, in marine areas many tourist activities occur around fragile systems. Anchoring, scuba diving, yachting and cruising are some of the activities that can cause degradation of marine ecosystems such as coral reefs. Change of ecosystems by tourist activities, habitat can be degraded by tourism leisure activities. For example, tourists by watching the wildlife can cause stress for the animals and alter their natural behavior when tourists come too close. The positive impacts of my visit in Cyprus are: Financial contributions such as: -Direct financial contribution is the revenue from park-entrance fees and similar sources which are allocated specifically to pay for the protection and management of environmentally sensitive areas. -Contributions to government revenues are the money that I paid to rent recreation equipment. This money can provide governments with the funds needed to manage natural resources. Describe two actions that individuals could take in the future to maintain the sustainability of this environment. The anxiety for our environment no longer remains in the realm of sustainability projects. It is a real-time that individuals, locals and tourists should start concern about all this thing that destroy our environment: changing seasons, expanding deserts, global warming, depleting forests and ice at the poles and increasing sea levels, climatic aberration, melting glaciers, suffocating pollution and food shortage are clear manifestations of an environment that is leaded into a global catastrophe. Small changes can bring a positive impact, and we may still be able to leave a cleaner, habitable planet for our children. Here are two actions that individuals, locals and tourist can take in the future in order to maintain the sustainability of the environment: Use less electricity: Lots of fossil fuels are burned to generate electricity. This is like a chain: the more we use, the more we burn, the more we pollute the environment. A simple act is to switch off the lights and electrical appliances when are not needed and by doing this we can save huge amounts of energy. Many people can construct their houses, hotels etc. in a way that even more daylight can be used instead of using light bulbs. Use public transport or bicycles: We are all well informed about the fuel crisis which is caused by an ever-increasing number of gas-guzzling automobiles being acquired by millions of people. To make matters worse even food crops are being used to produce biofuels so that people can drive their cars. A good solution is that any individual, local and tourist can use more often the public transport because ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s healthier and environment friendly. First, you will have to walk a distance to use the public transport and second fewer vehicles will be on the road. In fact this will also reduce the frequency of traffic jams. Describe two actions that destination managers could take in the future to maintain the sustainability of this environment. The development of tourism is well-matched with environmental protection through proper planning and controlled development and tourist management. Destination managers need to develop appropriate protection policies and strategies to efficiently manage tourism. Tourism managers must think the needs of an area and its residents, and determine the physical and social carrying capacities of a destination. Two actions that destination managers could take in order to maintain the sustainability of the environment are: Legislation and regulation: government by establishing rules and regulations such as fees, laws etc. can help control negative impacts. It is possible to regulate development and mandate environmentally pleasing building design. Government can also control pollution problems and cleanliness of public areas. Laws can be obtained that control certain types of tourist actions, such as over-collecting. In some cases, establishing protected areas may reduce the negative natural resource impacts of tourism. Alternative tourism can be developed to meet the needs of certain groups of people, allowing them to experience the natural and cultural wealth of regions. It is also positive for economic development in countryside areas, or in environmentally fragile areas that cannot support major change. Alternative tourism is basically the antithesis of mass tourism. Alternative tourism results in fewer severe impacts while still providing positive economic effects. Numerous types of tourism are considered alternative: biotourism, nature or environmental tourism, farm and ranch tourism, scientific tourism, special interest tourism, village tourism etc. One new trend in environmentally alternative tourism development has emerged: ecotourism and it is concerned with gaining the economic advantages of tourism development and minimal environmental impact.

XFL †What the Hell? Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Sports paperes

XFL – What the Hell? Vince McMahon is at it again. Vince McMahon, the head of the World Wrestling Federation, is trying to work his marketing wizardry by establishing a new professional football league, the XFL. This extreme football league with all-access media coverage, hard-hitting action, and fast-paced wide-open offense is supposed to be the next great entertainment frenzy. I, for one, think this league will be flop after a season or two for many reasons such as lack of fan interest, poor quality players, and lack of real football. Vince McMahon’s WWF is a multi-million dollar corporation and has been wildly successful in capturing the sports entertainment market. â€Å"Monday Night Raw,† the weekly soap opera on TNN, is one of the three most watched cable shows each week. In addition, the WWF has weekly wrestling shows on UPN and MTV. Personally, I am caught up in the phenomenon. I set aside my Monday evenings to watch Monday Night Football and professional wrestling. I enjoy attempting to figure out the storylines before they unfold and attempt to guess the action that may happen in the next segment. Surprisingly, many Americans share my point of view and enjoy this sort of entertainment. The WWF’s core market personality is an American male, between the ages of 12-35, very similar to professional football. The WWF provides high flying action, crushing hits, and exciting finishes; not much different than the NFL. Vince McMahon is attempting to extend the short NFL season and capture America’s passion for football while marketing more of his merchandise - not the best business idea in my view. The XFL is to begin play the week after the Super Bowl, Saturday, February 3, 2001. The league will be comprise... ...e McMahon will spend millions of dollars in a campaign to draw fan interest and support and very little return on investment will occur. Yes, the first season may be successful with the â€Å"all-access† view of football and little outside sporting competition. However, America will soon recognize that the XFL games have poor quality talent and that it is just Vince McMahon and Dick Ebersol trying to make a few extra bucks at the expense of the American public. I believe that this league will fold after its second season. As an accountant and an economist, I wish Vince and Dick the best of luck in marketing this gem. I hope they are able to make the XFL profitable and possibly change the face of competitive sports with the flare the WWF provides. However, they will have to do so without one avid football and professional wrestling fan supporting their endeavor, ME!

Discuss How the Concepts of ‘Race’ and ‘Ethnicity’ Essay

Australia is known for its multicultural society, but race and ethnicity are a huge factor of persistent racism and inequality in this country. The driving force behind this is the strong belief that some of the population still hold against people who appear different to themselves. To gain a clear understanding of this sensitive topic one must look at the origins, forms and effects of racism. This essay will look at how the concepts of ‘race’ and ‘ethnicity’ perpetuate inequality in our society, a brief history of Australia in relation to racism and how people experience these inequalities today in a society that we call multicultural. Modern Australia was established as a ‘region of recent settlement’ in 1788 which was a small part of a larger process of European colonisation (Bessant & Watts, 2002, p. 219). They had a set of ideas, values and beliefs and assumed that aborigines had no system of land ownership, agriculture, animal husbandry. Indigenous people have been in Australia for more than 100,000 years (Bessant & Watts, 2002, p. 222). The White Australia Policy in the 20th century encouraged immigration only from Britain, but didn’t allow ‘Asians’ and ‘Non-whites (Economou N, 1998, p.363). By 1950’s people from all countries were allowed to migrate into Australia to help post war reconstruction. The colonial immigration saw a mass migration of European people mostly from Britain to Australia. It is said that between 1788 and 1852 approximately 170,000 people moved to Australia, and the gold rush era after 1851 made it a highly desirable country for migrating (Bessant & Watts, 2002, p. 231). By end of World War two, as war forced Australia to get closer to other countries, which resulted in the first significant weakening of the policy in 1951. Later in the 1950s and 1960s other parts of the White Australia Policy were gradually dismantled. By the 1970s the federal government had removed all racial restrictions from its immigration law (Bessant & Watts, 2002). Various writers have contradictory approaches and ways of looking at racism, making it a complex topic. It takes many different forms, ranging from physical violence to derogatory language. A person or group’s belief that their race is superior or inferior, or their moral and social traits are predetermined, based on biological differences can be termed ’racism’. A group of people sharing the same skin colour, same values, coming from the similar backgrounds may constitute as ’race’. One of the most common forms of racism found today is Institutional Racism, which stems from established corporations, and other powerful forces in society, thus making it hard to question and faces less public condemnation. Examples include housing, employment, businesses, education, religion and media (Healey, 2002). Typically, the basis of this type of discrimination is from irrational fear of people at the receiving end who belong to a different culture or ‘race’. Although, there have been ongoing debates about racism all around us for centuries, it is an assault on human rights as it methodically refuses people of different caste, colour, race, sex or their country of origin basic values underlined by Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which states that human rights are everyone’s birthright and apply to all without difference (Healey, 2002). Common perception of shared origins, culture, lifestyle and traditions amongst a group of people or society is the universal definition of ethnicity (Bessant & Watts, 2002). People can share the same nationality but have different ethnicities. A few writers have put forward fascinating explanations of ethnicity. Edward Shils in his ‘primordial approach’ argues that he believes everyone has a primordial attachment to their motherland, people and religion which brings out strong emotional ties by socialising, which further gives rise to the need to have a separate identity and belonging. Then the ‘Mobilisationist Approach’ suggests that nothing is predictable or normal about ethnicity. Rather, ethnic identities come into sight and are toughened in political contexts where groups struggle to get access to inadequate and valued resources (Van Krieken et al, 2000, p. 519). The basis of ethnocentrism is a conscious or unconscious belief that one’s ethnic group, culture, religion, custom or behaviour is superior to another ethnic group. Politicians boast that Australia is a multicultural, open and classless society. Despite the well known image of Australia’s everyone have â€Å"a fair go†, the country is still full of both institutional and popular racism. Education has always been very important when it comes to moving up in class and has been very liberating in Australian society. However, indigenous and ethnic groups have been somewhat disadvantaged in opportunities to acquire education. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics only five Indigenous Australians per 1,000 obtain tertiary qualification, compared to 70-80 per 1,000 for Anglo Australians. In the 1990s welfare, health care and education support for Aborigines accounted only to 2% of total budget outlay (ABS 2000:21). In order to receive an education a person requires an income, but to get an income one needs a job, and a job is challenging to find without an appropriate level of education. Therefore an individual’s chance of education is influenced by the socio-economic status of one’s parents which is a cyclic social inequality hard to break. Migrants and their children often find it challenging to adjust to the Australian school system as they often come from countries that have a poor education system, and even if they have tertiary qualifications they mostly are not recognised, resulting in them taking lower paid and lower status jobs. Working class children often attend schools in working class suburbs where pupils are directed into working-class jobs. A high number of students leave school early and the expectation that they will attend university is low. In comparison, upper-class children attend private schools, and the expectation that they will attend university is high. Migrants and ethnic groups are often at a lower end of the socioeconomic scale (Aspin, 1996, p. 87) Migrants arrive with little money and few skills. Already at a disadvantage with language barriers, migrants and ethnic groups are also faced with racism and discrimination in their search for employment. In 1996, One Nation political party leader Pauline Hanson made a speech that claimed that Australia was being overwhelmed by ‘Asians’ and feared that Asians were taking over jobs. The fact is that Asians at the time only accounted for 5% of total population and ‘there is little evidence to support the claim that high rates of immigration ‘cause’ unemployment or ‘cause’ Australians to lose their jobs’ (Bessant, 2002, p. 219). Indigenous people had a 24. 3% unemployment rate according to 1996 census (ABS 2000:23). Indigenous people are usually poorer than most non-indigenous Australians and receive a lower income on average than the total population. The household income for Aborigines in 1994 was $158 compared to $310 for white Australians (ABS 2000C:23) This also reflects the fact the there is a higher reliance by the Aboriginal population on social security payments (ABS 1996b: 122-4) Socioeconomic status is a major determinant of inequality as it influences access an individual has to the economic resources of a society. L. J. Aspin (1996) explains that white Australian-born males have a better chance of obtaining access to the resources of society. Inequality is also reflected in the differential access to housing and health services. For people who are paying rent and on a low income, it is almost impossible to save for a deposit on a house at the same time. Aborigines and migrants suffer discrimination in rental accommodation, where landlords preferring a two-parent, white, Anglo-Saxon families. Only 10% of Aborigines own housing compared to 70% of white Australia population (Aspin, 1996, p. 87). Most Aborigines live in rural and provincial Australia (Bessant, 2002, p. 226) far from big cities where there are more jobs, higher paid jobs, better education, better housing, good water and sanitation services, hospital medical services and other community amenities. Some ethnic backgrounds are still not accepted in our society and are treated differently and unequally. We see and hear about them on a day to day basis. In recent months the Indian community in Australia, especially students have become a vulnerable target for attacks, whether racist or not. On 31 May 2009 in Melbourne, about 5000 students marched through the streets of Melbourne protesting against these attacks on Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi students. 25-year-old Sravan Kumar Theerthala was in a serious condition in intensive care after being stabbed in the head with a screwdriver one week earlier (Bolton & Peterson, 2009). In an article in The Age newspaper on February 19 Victorian police claimed that these attacks are not racially motivated, but opportunistic where Indian students are â€Å"over representing themselves as victims† and can be looked upon as soft targets. The police also advised them â€Å"not to speak in their native language loudly† or display signs of wealth. Attacks on Indians aren’t the only allegation Australia has faced over the years. It seems that anyone in power, including police, politicians or the media has had the tendency to somehow flare these attacks. In the Herald Sun on 11 June 2009, 3AW’s Neil Mitchell said: â€Å"Australians are also bashed and die in India, which does not provoke parades of chanting ocker backpackers in the streets of Mumbai†. In 2007, the then immigration minister Kevin Andrews referred to the Sudanese community when he said â€Å"Some groups don’t seem to be settling and adjusting into the Australian way of life as quickly as we would hope. † A spate of violent attacks were then unleashed against Sudanese migrants, and one was bashed to death by a group of white men (Bolton & Peterson, 2009). As Australia continues to argue that it is a just, tolerant, open and classless society, there is still evidence of race and inequality among us and affecting the many lives of migrants and Indigenous people. It is interesting to note that the very determinants of class – power, money, education, family background, occupation, health and general way of life are also the same factors where others experience inequalities. Race and ethnicity perpetuate inequality, and in any country including Australia, one would find that there are always some people with very strong values of racism, and media outlets which help in manipulating the views of general public. There still needs to be a massive drive by communities and governments on racism and inequality and it will be long before we will be a â€Å"happy multicultural Australia†. Bibliography Aspin, L J 1996, ‘Social stratification and inequality’, Focus on Australian society, 2nd edn, Longman, Melbourne. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2009, Australian Bureau of Statistics, viewed 28 November 2009, < http://www. abs. gov. au/ >. Bessant, J & Watts, R 2002, ‘Neighbours and nations: ethnic identity and multiculturalism’, Sociology Australia, 2nd edn, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, NSW. Bolton, S & Peterson, C 2009, Indian students speak: Stop the racist attacks! , viewed 28 November 2009, < http://www.greenleft. org. au/2009/798/41083>. Economou, N 1998, ‘The Politics of Citizenship: identity, ethnicity and race’, in Alan Fenna, Introduction to Australian Public Policy, Vol 1, Addison Wesley Longman, Melbourne. Healey, J 2002, ‘Racism: Beyond Tolerance, A Fair Go’, Racism in Australia, Vol 180, The Spinney Press, Rozelle, NSW. Van Krieken, R, Smith, P, Hobbis, D & McDonald, K 2000, ‘Migration, ethnicity and Australian Aboriginality’, Sociology: themes and perspectives, 2nd edn, Pearson Education, Frenchs Forest, NSW.

Control Systems – Rendell Company Report

T6Rendell Company * Divisional controllers report to general managers from 1985 onwards * 7 Distinct business units with their own profits, sales * 1980 corporate controllers responsible for 1) financial accounting 2) internal auditing 3) analysis of capital budget * Reports went directly to top management from divisions * Mr.Hodgkin wanted to play a more active role in establishing budgets and analyasing performance (would personally review budgets and study divisional performance and hired analysts to help) * Divisional managers discussed their budget with top management with divisional controller present * Divisional controllers primary responsibility was to divisional managers as opposed to corporate controllers so Bevins thought he wasn’t getting enough clear info on performance of units * Harrigan: Divisional controllers shouldn’t be â€Å"front office spies† if they want to have good working relationships with managers and help them with the control functi ons * Corporate controllers shouldn’t put divisional controllers in awkward positions regarding more data/opinions on financials. Questions: 1. What is the organizational philosophy of Martex with respect to the controller function? What do you think of it? Should Rendell adopt this philosophy? * Divisional controllers report to corporate controllers Responsible for establishing cost and profit standards and ensure follow through * Not intended to take initiative away from DMs * More formal line relationships as controllers work physically separate from division managers * Set of formal policies, goals, practices that employees (managers) are aware of before beginning in the orgnization * Accounting system controlled by controller division so systems are not tailored to each BU * Divisional managers at Martex like this system because it gives them an unbiased partner with relevant information, controller can do better analysis and there is little argument about cost reports I think this model works for Martex because of the existing culture that has been developed around this model.People in the organization are comfortable with this type of hierarchy. At Rendell the firm culture gives more power to divisional managers and gives them dedicated staff working under them. The feelings towards corporate are more adversarial so any change in the controller function will feel like a corporate spy as opposed to better communication. This philosophy will not work with Rendell’s culture. It will lead to more reliance on informal organization and poorer communication with corporate. 2. Who should the divisional controllers report to in the Rendell Company? Divisional controllers should report to both management and corporate controllers while ensuring DM are aware of this responsibility. 3.What should the relationship be between the corporate controller and the divisional controllers. DC should report to CC to the extent that it ensures corporate directive s are implemented properly without harming DCs and DMs. DCs should communicate that corporate initiatives are being followed/met within their divisions. 4. Would you recommend major changes in the basic responsibilities of either the corporate controller or the divisional controller? Divisional controllers need to play a stronger role as opposed to being a staff like assistant to DMs. However, having them as a direct report to CCs would conflict with the existing culture between DMs and DCs.

Andrew Johnsons Presidential essays

Andrew Johnson's Presidential essays Andrew Johnson became president in 1829. He became a Greenville alderman along with a tanner and a plaster. Andrew Johnson was the first president to be impeached, and he became chief exeutive upon the assisination of Abraham Lincoln. At the end of the Civil War, Johnson inherited a wartime dispute between Lincoln and congress over how to treat the South after the war. A lot of Republicans in congress opposed Johnson's views, but the senate failed, by one vote, to remove Johnson from office. Throughout his life and his presidentcy, Johnson aroused either strong support or fierce dislike. Some people view him as an unfit leader who was to generous to the southerners after the war. Some people also portrayed him as a leader of universal vision who accurately saw the harsh treatment of the southern states would increase divisions in the Union. Scholars believe Johnson's acquittal in the impeachment trial preserved the independance of the presidency. In 1835, the voters elected him to the Tennessee House of Representive. He opposed a bill for state assistance in the construction of railroads because he feared dishonesty, and waistful spending. Many northerners questioned Johnson's plan, especially after the begining of 1866. They doubted the fitness of the southern states because of reports of violence against blacks and their white supporters, the passing of laws unfair to blacks, and the frequent election of former Confederate leaders. When congress met in December 1865, they rejected plan and would not seat newly elected southern congressmen, and some congressman criticized Johnson's plan. His impeachment had long been a goal of the radicals. On Feburary 24,1868 the House of Representitves voted 126 to 47 to impeach Johnson. On March 5,1868 the senate organized itself as a court to hear the impeachment. At the trial on March 13,1868 the galleries buzzed with spectators. ...

Corporate And Social Responsibility In Ship Management Case Study

Corporate And Social Responsibility In Ship Management - Case Study Example All managers undertake the same basic functions to obtain results by establishing an environment of effective and efficient performance from individuals working together in groups. This is the same with ship management business managers. Their social responsibilities mirror their company's ideology and ethics directed to professional client service and association, of mutual interest. In the 1990s, and at the turn of the century, a galaxy of developments was witnessed around the globe, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, where globalization took many developing countries by storm. China, India, and Vietnam, to name a few, benefited through FDI. The development of infrastructure, imports and exports have led to frantic activities in all major ports around Asia. Be it sea or airports, the movement of cargo in and out has made officials and workers work round the clock to clear backlogs. As huge ships ferry bulk cargo from and to different ports around the globe, the need to establish alternate points to ease the congestion has come under the scanner. As the major ports in China and India work overtime, their respective governments have been busy studying the feasibility of expanding port operations to smaller ports around the country. Ship business managers take pride in keeping their fleet operational at all times. When they come across ports ill-equipped to han dle large ships, they need to supplement that sector with smaller ships. This is a critical area of operations, which lie squarely on their shoulder. In times of contingencies, ship business managers must be there to handle client grievance. In short, ship business managers are the front-line PR of shipping companies.

Improving Interactive Play for students with Autism Essay

Improving Interactive Play for students with Autism - Essay Example The conversation could have been a casual one as the only thing important in these students would have been relating to their initiating powers. This would help to increase the overall initiating power of these students and thus help them to interact with each other easily without any conflict. Lastly the students could have been rewarded in accordance to their particular needs with the things that they desire the most (Mastropieri & Scruggs 2010) After the intervention program the students can be allowed to settle with each other so that they can get to interact amongst each other without anyone prompting or reinforcing them. The students would be put in a friendly environment so that they can easily interact with each other and play accordingly. It is very important for an adult to supervise these students in according to their particular needs. It is very important for the students to be given a chance to interact with each other freely without any particular set of rewards or perks (Mastropieri & Scruggs

LITERTURE REVIEW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

LITERTURE REVIEW - Essay Example Of all the industries, sectors that require professionals to continuously interact with non-professionals need effective communicators. Industries like hospitality, media, medical, legal and other service sectors need people not only with strong professional backgrounds, but also excellent communication skills. Nursing is a profession where nurses are required to not only assist the doctor in his work, but also ally the fears and apprehensions of the patient and his relatives. Nurses in hospitals become the primary care-givers and spend considerable time with the patients. They would very frequently find themselves in a position where they are the bridge between the specialist doctor and the patient. Thus, their role extends to that of an effective communicator. Various researchers have highlighted the importance of effective communication by nurses in their works. "Effective communication is a fundamental element of nursing care that is integral to the provision of quality patient care." (Ravert et al. 1997, Wilkinson et al. 1999, Bowles et al. cited in McGilton, 2005). By going through the literature available in various nursing journals, it would be easy to narrow down to the topic of my dissertation. Although a lot of research has been done in the field of effective communication as an integral part of the nursing profession, there are many grey areas even today. A lot needs to be done to achieve cent percent efficiency in the field. Surveys, trainings, evaluations, further research would provide a means to fill the lacunae in this field. Process of Literature Search The literature search was carried out through online medical/nursing journals .These have given a wide and varied range of literature on the subject. This literature review has used the results of studies and experiments carried out across the globe. The literature review includes research papers from Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, Canada; University of Alberta, Canada; Griffith University, Australia; Communication Disability Center, University of Queensland, Australia; and The Martlets Hospice, Hove, UK. These papers were downloaded from such vastly spread out sources so that there would be very little scope for bias and the review would be a well-balanced one. Under the keyword "effective communication", the review includes topics ranging from complex continuing care facility, palliative nursing, factors that influence communication between people with communication disability and their healthcare providers in hospitals, effective communication as a core competency for collabora tive practice among nurses to effective parent-nurse communication. These articles have been published over a period of nine years from 2001 to 2009.Thus, they include the latest research in the field of effective communication between nurses and patients and ways and means of achieving it. Also, these articles are themselves very well-researched and offer excellent secondary sources of reference. Findings The research studies definitely show that there is a lot of scope for further research and recommendations in the field of effective communication among nurses. The studies covered parent-nurse interactions and patient-nurse interactions under various circumstances and illnesses. The first paper

Determinisms Relation to Free

Determinisms Relation to Free Will Essay The stereotypical definition of determinism, to the layman, goes something like this: All events are predetermined so we have no free will. Actually, this is more or less the definition of hard determinism. Determinism, however, according to professor of philosophy Sandra LaFave, can co-exist with free will in the form of soft determinism, the philosophical theory that all events indeed have causes but that humans can still act voluntarily. Soft determinism provides a more widely-acceptable definition of determinism that agrees more with common usage of the words free will and cause. Hard determinism states that all events have causes and that we cannot be free as a result. Soft determinism, however, responds to this pessimistic conclusion by asserting that we can indeed have free will and still exist by the deterministic model in which all events have causes. Hard determinism correlates cause with force or compulsion and free with total control, whereas soft determinism correlates free with voluntary or not forced. Thus soft determinisms definitions of words more strongly agree with average, everyday usage. If I were forced to open my safe of personal savings at gunpoint, for example, soft determinism would suggest that I am not acting freely in this situation as I am being coerced by an external force to do something I otherwise wouldnt. If I were to open the safe voluntarily (no one is forcing me), then I am exerting my free will. This distinction may seem obvious, but its validity proves why we cant support hard determinism hard determinism would suggest that both actions are not done out of free will since both actions have causes. Therefore, our usage of the word free will cannot co-exist with hard determinism, but only soft determinism. In conclusion, determinism can co-exist with free will in an effective manner. I must admit, however, that soft determinisms validity rests on an agreement with what cause and free will, as defined above, mean. Still, hard determinism also relies on its own definitions of cause and free will, so this linguistic criticism does not undermine soft determinisms validity. Still, many more arguments regarding determinism and free will exist that are beyond the scope of my knowledge.

The Emergence of IT Governance in Greece

The Emergence of IT Governance in Greece Introduction The emergence of IT Governance The cases of Enron, Worldcom and other corporate and financial scandals in the early years of the century have raised the significance of corporate governance and control. Regulatory environments have been formed with quite distinctive characteristics, depending on the needs of each country, and the needs of specific industries. The implementation of the controls required by regulations such as Sarbanes Oxley for the publicly listed organisations in the U.S. and Basel II for European banks relies heavily on IT. That dependency, combined to the required controls on IT itself, have forced top-level executives to have a look towards the proper management and governance of the information and communication technologies that power their organisations. At the same time, the high percentage of failed IT projects, ranging between 60% and 90% depending on the definition of failure, has alarmed many executives who see their resources to be wasted on failed projects, to be followed by more failed projects. Clear decision processes and proper project management aiming at efficiency and effectiveness, are the obvious answers to the problem; both of which point directly to IT Governance. The high cost of IT investments, which is more than half of the annual CAPEX for most organisations, calls for control, accountability and risk management, not to mention cost reduction. Information security, industrial espionage, regulations for the confidentiality of the data and the privacy of employees and customers, are all gracefully handled by a proper IT Governance structure. These are only some of the reasons that have led quite a few organisations worldwide to add IT Governance in their board agenda. The status in Greece Greece has control regulations for specific industries only, such as telecommunications, an industry largely affected by the Hellenic authority for communication security and privacy. Other industries are affected by pan-European control regulations, such as banking industry that needs to comply with MIFID and Basel-II alongside the directives issued by the Bank of Greece. Finally, just a few companies are listed in foreign stock exchanges such as NYSE listed PTT, subsequently affected by the SOX act. Nevertheless, although the environment in Greece is complex, and the IT infrastructure is no simpler than any other countrys, there is no published empirical academic research on the status of IT Governance in Greece. Even surveys that are conducted in wider geographical areas and not to a specific country do not usually include Greece; probably because it is a small market. The only data that has been found are some papers mentioning the benefits of IT Governance, as taken from the international practice; the data though is not adapted to local needs and circumstances. Research Objectives This research, titled IT Governance in Greece: Status, Drivers and Barriers aims to evaluate and present the IT Governance related practices in Greece. What percentage of Greek companies are using IT Governance frameworks and best practices, which is the preferred framework between the two prevalent (ITIL and CobIT), and which is the decision model selected by the companies that employ IT Governance. An attempt will be made to find any relationships between these results, and the size of the organisation or the size of the IT department. The reasons for which Greek organisations select to implement or not an IT Governance framework will also be linked to that data and outsourcing strategies which are known to require careful governance will be evaluated. For the organisations that choose to not implement a formal governance framework, the barriers to implementation will be analysed, as well as the potential good practices which do not constitute a framework, nevertheless help to the prudent governance of an organisations IT assets and resources. The research questions that are expected to shed some light to the main areas of the status of IT Governance in Greece are formulated as follows: The penetration of ITIL and CobIT in Greece as IT Governance frameworks Which are the most common factors that prevent or delay the acceptance and deployment of an IT Governance framework (barriers)? Which are the most common reasons that led organisations to deploy, or plan the future deployment of an IT Governance framework (drivers)? Which (if any) are the management methods used if a full IT Governance framework is not deployed? Personal Interest The author has followed a career path in Information Technology for the last 15 years, acquiring positions of raising responsibilities. In alignment to that career path, the MBA was considered a good choice, providing a broader view on all areas of management such as organisational behaviour and culture, human relationships, finance and marketing, strategy and implementation. The subject of this dissertation combines the two worlds, that of management and of information technology, giving a more thorough and business oriented view to the authors subject of work. Beyond the obvious curiosity that is created by the lack of data in the Greek market in which the author lives and works, there has always been an interest in IT Governance, IT management and risk management, and this dissertation comes to cover at least some of these areas. Structure of the dissertation The rest of the dissertation has a typical structure the introduction that was just provided constitutes the chapter one. Chapter two provides a review of the existing literature and previous studies on IT Governance; that should form the basis for the research that was necessary for this dissertation. Chapter three analyses and justifies the methodology that was used for the sampling, the data collection and data analysis methods that were selected. This chapter also presents and analyses some limitations related to the methodology, and presents the ways in which these limitations may affect the data analysis and the conclusions. Chapter four is the data analysis, in which all data that were collected are analysed and presented, relations are drawn and comparisons to findings from previous research are performed in order to fully answer the research questions set in this dissertation. Chapter five draws on the conclusions of the previous chapter. It summarizes the research objectives, the findings and the implications of the results. Generalization issues and data validity is further discussed. This chapter provides also recommendations for future studies, identifying details that were not included in this survey and questions that have emerged from the results of the current dissertation. Finally, this chapter reflects on the dissertation, assessing the weaknesses of the work performed and the obstacles faced; it also identifies the areas in which the author has gained knowledge and experience. Literature Review Introduction A literature review is vital to any research project, in order to collect, present and critically analyse, what is already known in the subject under research. The evaluation of previous research leads to a better understanding of the subject, of the areas of consensus between academics and practitioners, and the points of conflict and potential gaps. Towards the answer of the status of IT Governance in Greece, an attempt will be made to explain the term IT Governance and clarify any misconceptions regarding IT Governance and IT Management. The different types of IT Governance models that have been developed in the past, along with the key roles in IT Governance, will be identified, presented and compared. The necessity for IT Governance as suggested in the literature will be evaluated, and the most commonly mentioned benefits and implementation barriers will be presented, in order to serve as potential answers to the questionnaire of the research. Previous reports on management methods that may be used instead of a full framework implementation will also be evaluated for the same reasons. The definition of IT Governance IT Governance is a subject that has gained significant focus during the last years. As a term, IT Governance, has too many definitions in the literature (Buckby, Best and Stewart, 2009; Lee and Lee, 2009; Lee, Lee and Lee, 2009). Simonsson and Ekstedt (2006) tried to find a common definition on 60 different relative articles; and came up with yet another definition, which includes many of the previous ones. The definitions used by researchers, depend on their view on what IT Governance can offer to an organisation. IT Governance is sometimes perceived as a framework or a process for auditing the use of the IT infrastructure and operations. Some other times sometimes it is perceived as an IT decision making tool which allocates the decision rights in order to encourage a predictable behaviour in the use of IT, while for others IT Governance is a branch of corporate governance focusing on the control and the strategic view of IT (Musson, 2009). Not few have used definitions that mix and match more than one of these views, such as Peterson (2004), Higgins and Sinclair (2008) and Simonsson and Johnson (2007). A definition that is, in the authors opinion, quite clear and inclusive, is the following: IT Governance is a framework for the leadership, organizational structures and business processes, standards and compliance to these standards, which ensures that the organizations IT supports and enables the achievement of its strategies and objectives. (Calder, 2007) Lee and Lee (2009) make the link of IT Governance with Corporate Governance. They suggest that IT Governance is a mix of Corporate Governance and IT Management; meaning that IT Governance addresses the transparency and control that corporate governance focuses upon, and the efficiency and effectiveness that IT management aims at. IT Governance as part of the corporate governance is also suggested by Peterson (2004), Bhatttacharjya and Chang (2009), ODonohue, Pye and Warren (2009). Several researchers have pointed out that IT Governance is not the same as IT Management. The former refers to the definition of who has the rights for major decision making, while the later refers to the actual making of the decisions and the implementation itself (Broadbend, cited in Buckby et al., 2009; Calder, 2009; Sambamurthy and Zmud, 1999; Toomey, 2009; Van Grembergen and De Haes, 2009). Regarding the subject and scope of IT Governance, the IT Governance Institute suggests five distinct but interacting domains: The Strategic Alignment, Value Delivery, Risk Management, Resource Management and Performance Management. The need for IT Governance The need for IT Governance has not been extensively debated; almost everybody agree that the proper governance of IT is necessary. The reasons though provided to support this argument vary, and the organisations do not seem to have been persuaded by that position. A quite common reason provided to support the necessity of IT Governance, is the increased complexity of the IT infrastructure that is caused by the amount of data that an organisation holds, and the role of this information (Laplante and Costello, 2006). IT is not only complex, but it also has its own fast changing and unique conditions, as such the need to apply sound management disciplines and controls is even greater (NCC, 2005). Risk management is one more reason for IT Governance. Risk is caused by the growing dependency of organisations on IT resources which should not be neglected; the percentage of companies that are vitally dependent on IT for their continuing operation, was over 75% in 2004 (KPMG, cited at Musson, 2009). That dependency makes the potential unavailability of IT based services a significant problem for organisations such as banks and hospitals. The lack of availability is not the only danger caused by that dependency; cyber crime, fraud, information inaccuracy are just a few more issues that need proper identification and management (Van Grembergen and De Haes 2009). Instead of implementing IT solutions, the focus now has shifted to changing the business processes, to be enabled by IT. The solutions implemented are generally more complex due to this shift, and subsequently there is a greater risk with the implementation of IT-enabled business processes (Higgins and Sinclair, 2008). From the management perspective, that dependency means that management needs to be more aware of the critical IT risks, and to be assured that they are adequately managed (NCC, 2005). High organisational performance is another reason found in the literature, although that one is debatable. Liew believes that IT Governance can ensure proper measurement and preservation of an achieved performance (cited at Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009), nevertheless Young has pointed out through a literature review that there is no convincing evidence that superior business performance is a result of any of IT Governance guidelines (Young, 2006). Typically, IT investments are significantly high. They account for over 50% of the average organisations annual total capital investment (Baschab and Piot, 2007; Carr, 2003; Weill and Woodham, 2002), as such their management in a responsive, effective and efficient way is usually a requirement that should be set by the management board. On the monetary field, cost optimisation of the IT projects and service delivery, are also considered important issues by several researchers (Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009; Fairchild et al, 2009; Menken, 2009; Peterson, 2004). The amount of money spent is important, but the need that the enterprises investment in IT is in harmony with its objectives is usually considered more significant (Buckby et al, 2009). This is called Business IT Alignment, which is a quite old issue; several studies from mid-80s have focused on the alignment of the IT operations with the business objectives (Brown and Magill, 1994). Some researchers do not agree with the need for the Business IT alignment at all (Sillince and Frost, 1995). Koh and Maguire (2009) also suggest that Business IT alignment maybe the wrong strategy for smaller businesses, which may be agile enough to change course quickly following the new ICT arrivals in the business. They also mention that Venkatraman questions the logic behind alignment; nevertheless, this is a false interpretation of Venkatramans study, who clearly states that IT needs to support the business logic. Carr (2003) has written one of the most controversial articles on the issue, statin g that IT is not able to provide the competitive advantage that organisations need. Laplante and Costello (2006) make clear that they do not agree with that view, while Harris, Herron and Iwanicki (2008) get the opportunity to provide metrics on the value that IT can provide, instead of just dismissing Carrs argument. According to a different should of thought, Business IT alignment has been identified as a significant management concern (Brown and Magill, 1994; Cameron, 2007; Kashanchi and Toland, 2006; Silvius, 2007) and effort is put in order to identify the potential benefits of Business IT alignment. In fact, a recent study by Nash (2009) proves a positive correlation between firm level sales and the so-called Strategic Alignment Maturity; i.e. the maturity level of the business IT alignment. By considering Business IT alignment as something that organisations want to achieve, it is yet another reason to exercise governance of the IT. The relationship between IT governance and Business IT alignment has been proven (BMC Software, 2007; Musson and Jordan, 2006). Additionally, IT governance is strongly suggested by researchers as the best option for the maintenance of the alignment of IT to the continuously evolving organisational needs (Cameron, 2007; Harris et al, 2008; Pultorak, 2006; Sambamurthy and Zmud, 1999). Although Business IT Alignment is a common issue, it puts IT in a passive role; it makes it a follower. Proper governance can transform IT from a follower to a leader; IT is able to set the business agenda and partially affect the organisations strategic objectives (Addy, 2007; Baschab and Piot, 2007; Weill and Woodham, 2002). A research by NCC (2005) has identified a potentially widening gap between what IT departments think the business requires, and what the business thinks the IT department is able to deliver. This can be addressed by IT Governance, through which an organisation wide view of IT may be generated and promoted (Laplante and Costello, 2006; Weill and Woodham, 2002). That means that IT should have a thorough understanding and a participation in the improvement of business processes and their interdependencies. The other way round is also important, i.e. organisations need to obtain a better understanding of the value delivered by IT, both internally and from external suppliers. Measures are required in business (the customers) terms to achieve this. Key elements for that understanding include the enterprise wide view of IT budget (Addy, 2007; Weill and Woodham, 2002). One more reason found in the literature to promote IT Governance, is the compliance to regulatory requirements. Specific legislation and regulatory requirements, such as Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) almost dictate the use of an IT governance framework (Buckby et al., 2009; Higgins and Sinclair, 2008). Others, such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and Basel-II do not dictate, but certainly describe an IT Governance framework through their requirements for accountability on investments, information security and assurance, risk management and decision processes (Harris et al, 2008; Higgins and Sinclair, 2008; Pultorak, 2006; Network Frontiers, 2008; NCC, 2005; van Grembergen and De Haes, 2009). Yet another commonly stated key benefit of proper IT Governance is clear and transparent decision making regarding IT resources (Baschab and Piot, 2007; Brown and Grand, 2005; Lee and Lee, 2009; Tshinu, Botha and Herselman, 2008). The lack of clarity and transparency for the decision making process, can lead to reluctance to take risks, and subsequently failure to seize technology opportunities (NCC, 2005) Separate decision processes followed by the IT and business, may mean that there is not enough shared ownership and clarity of resources, which also means that there may be a lack of accountability. IT Governance models Although IT Governance sets the decision making process, it does not define who decides. IT Governance decision authorities may be structured in different models, depending on the organisation. The three prevailing ones are the centralized, decentralized and federal (hybrid) according to their modes of distributing authorities and responsibilities for decision-making (Brown and Magill, 1994; Fairchild et al, 2009; Peterson, 2004; Sambamurthy and Zmud, 1999), while the pair of centralized / decentralized may also be found as the only choices (Laplante and Costello, 2006; Robb and Parent, 2009). Ross and Weill (2002) and Cameron (2007) expressed their quite strong preference on centralized IT Governance model, i.e. decisions being made centrally, but Ross and Weill revisited that view in 2004; they suggested that there are six (6) archetypes / models of IT Governance, on 5 different IT domains. From more centralised to less centralised, they identified Business monarchy, IT monarchy, Federal, IT Duopoly, Feudal and Anarchy. The two monarchies are quite clear, meaning that Business or IT respectively has the major responsibility for decisions. Anarchy is quite clear as well, meaning that there is no standardization. Federal and IT duopoly involve business executives and IT executives in the decision making process, with federal to give more power to the business than IT duopoly. Finally, feudal archetype brings the decision level down to business units or processes. The IT domains on which decisions need to be made, are IT principles such as funding and role of the IT in the business, IT Architecture which refers to the identification and development of the core business processes of the enterprise and relative information, IT infrastructure, business application needs such as the owner of the outcome of each project and IT investment and prioritization. That model classification from Ross and Weill is unique; as stated earlier, most other researchers have selected a simpler classification scheme. Ein-Dor and Segev (cited at Tavakolian, 1989) found that the revenue of the organisation is positively related to centralized IT Governance but there is no relation between the governance model and the size of the organisation. There is empirical proof that a link between the IT structure with the organisational competitive strategy exists; conservative organisations are more centralised than aggressive ones (Tavakolian, 1989). These results are supported by more recent research with consistent findings; Weill and Woodham (2002) and Weill and Ross (2004) found that top performing firms on profit were mostly centralized, while top performers on growth were mostly decentralized. A link between the organisations industry type and level of de-centralization of IT Governance has not been found (Ahituv et al, cited at Brown and Grant, 2005). It has to be noted that the model of IT Governance in an organisation may also be dictated by external factors, such as SOX which promotes a centralized IT Governance model, while Australian governance frameworks (mainly, AS 8015) drive the organisations towards a de-centralized IT Governance model (Robb and Parent, 2009). IT Governance Frameworks Information Technology Infrastructure Library The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a framework of best practices for IT Service Management. It is comprised of five books which focus on five different aspects of IT Service Management and Service Lifecycle: Service Strategy Service Design Service Transition Service Operation Continual Service Improvement Each one of the books, defines a set of processes such as IT Financial Management, Supplier Management, Change Management, Incident Management and Service Measurement and Reporting; a total of 23 processes are defined with a set of actions and roles required for each process. The definition of several of the processes and the subsequent roles is consistent with the IT Governance definition we used earlier; nevertheless a big amount of the defined processes such as event management and validation and testing, are much more focused on the management part than to that of the governance. ITIL is considered to be the framework that is closer to service management than control, from the other two frameworks, CobIT and ISO/IEC 38500:2008 and has a more narrow scope than CobIT (Van Grembergen and De Haes, 2009; Simonsson and Ekstedt, 2006; Simonsson, Johnson and Wijkstrà ¶m, 2007; Sallà ©, 2004; McBride, 2009). That focus of ITIL to service delivery and management was more obvious in version 2, which did not address issues such as Risk Management, Performance Monitoring and IT Governance (generic strategic direction and alignment) at all. As such it was mostly perceived as a framework for service desk management. Although the effectiveness of ITIL version 2 to the alignment of IT with business objectives has been repeatedly pointed out (BMC Software, 2007; Harris et al, 2008; Pultorak, 2006) and even experimentally proven (Kashanchi and Toland, 2006), it was never the primary driver for ITIL adaptation. A survey conducted by Bruton Consultancy for the Helpdesk Institute Europe (now renamed as Service Desk Institute) for the value that ITIL has brought in companies that have implemented it, indicated that the contribution of ITIL to the business strategy was not even considered as an issue by the majority of the correspondents (70%). The same holds for the perception of the participants on t he competitive advantage that may be provided by proper IT management through ITIL. More than half (66%) responded that this was not considered in the decision for ITIL implementation (Bruton, 2005). With version 3, ITIL gained a broader scope than version 2 and added significant emphasis on business strategy. That change, led some IT management consultants to declare ITIL version 3 as inappropriate for helpdesk and service management processes (Bruton, 2007), not strange since version 2 focused on processes while version 3 focuses on Business Value (Harris et al, 2008). Beyond the not strategic enough type of criticism, ITIL has also been criticised as a flawed and uneven framework. Dean Meyer identifies pitfalls in its implementation; nevertheless, he also states that it is an implementation issue and not a framework issue (Meyer, 2009 web site). ITIL has also been characterized as a too generic framework, which is not able to provide value if used off-the-shelf without significant adaptations (Baschab and Piot, 2007), an unfair criticism as ITIL is promoted as a set of best practices, not as a complete, fits-all framework. This concession should invalidate yet another criticism raised by Simonsson (2008), the lack of a maturity model. Another criticism of ITIL is that the documentation is not free (Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009). That is a valid point, nevertheless the cost of the books is quite low for companies (less than  £400 for the whole set). Other criticisms include the stifling of the creativity of those who implement it, and that it b ecomes a goal by itself having a heavy administrative burden (Addy, 2007). All these points are valid, but they can be attributed to the extension of ITIL. Control Objectives for Information and related Technology Control Objectives for information and related Technology (CobIT) is a control framework developed by the IT Governance Institute. CobIT defines processes and controls, and uses the grouping of activities in four domains: Plan and Organise Acquire and Implement Deliver and Support Monitor and Evaluate Each domain contains a set of processes, 34 at total, and each process defines specific controls, which sum up to 210 for all processes. CobIT defines inputs and outputs, as well as a maturity model for each process, making the control of compliance a very easy task. RACI (responsible, accountable, consulted and informed) charts are also provided, drawing a clear guideline on who should be involved in every process step. Goals and metrics, in the form of outcome measures (key goal indicators KGIs) and performance indicators (key performance indicators KPIs) respectively are also provided, mapping business goals to IT goals, which can be achieved by one, or the interaction of several processes. CobIT is generally used where there is a need for auditing functions, in comparison with ITIL, which is better suited to operational process improvement (ODonohue et al, 2009). In contrast to ITIL, CobIT has extensive documentation available free of charge, including the framework itself and several case studies. Several implementation documents though are only available for purchase, such as CobIT Quickstart, while others are available free for ISACA members or for purchase for non-members such as Security Baseline and User Guide for Service Managers. Several consultants and practitioners criticise CobIT that it only states the obvious, that it is very high level, is only a generic framework and does not provide specific and repeatable implementation steps (Culmsee, 2009; Toigo, 2005). This is not a common view, as others find CobIT to be quite prescriptive (Pultorak, 2006; Robb and Parent, 2009). That may be explained by the fact that although CobIT framework itself is indeed high level, a different publication is provided by ISACA, named CobIT Control Practices which is quite prescriptive. Academics criticise CobIT as providing little support for improved decision making, although many metrics are defined (Simonsson and Johnson, 2006). Others state that CobIT is expressed almost entirely in terms of process, focusing on how to govern but not what to govern (Lee et al, 2009). Another criticism states that CobIT is significantly more focused on auditing, largely ignoring other aspects of governance such as software development an d service delivery (NetFrontiers, 2005). CobIT is also characterized as a framework that needs significant knowledge and know how for a successful implementation (Simonsson et al, 2007), and that it takes time to introduce solid IT Governance through it (Rogers, 2009); although the opposite would be strange, given the wide area of processes and functions that CobIT addresses. Finally, while ITIL is known as the framework that guides you on how to get where you want to be, CobIT merely focuses on where you should be; that may be good or bad, depending on ones point of view and needs. ISO / IEC 38500:2008 The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) attempted to solve the confusion between IT Management and IT Governance, and at the same time provide guiding principles on IT Governance, in the recently published ISO/IEC 38500:2008. Because ISO/IEC 38500 establishes principles to guide the behaviour of organisations, it complements frameworks that focus on process, such as ITIL and COBIT. Thus, with the right frameworks or processes, complemented by the right behaviours, organisations are more likely to establish highly effective systems of governance. After all, it has been stated that ITIL and CobIT are not mutually exclusive; they are rather complementary and organisations will probably benefit from a mixed approach, adopting what is more applicable in every case, from the two frameworks (Chickowsky, cited at Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009). ISO/IEC 38500 can also be combined with these two and ITGI has even issued a specific document demonstrating how and which specific CobIT and ValIT controls support the adoption of the standards principles and implementation approach. Nevertheless, ISO/IEC 38500:2008 is very recent to be evaluated. As of the time of conducting this research, there is not enough information on the implementation, benefits or drawbacks of ISO 38500:2008. Common drivers for IT Governance implementation While the need for IT Governance has well been described, the benefits sought, i.e. the reasons for the implementation of an IT Governance framework vary, sometimes depending on the point of view of the observer. As drivers, we consider the motivator factors, which may lead an organisation to the implementation of an IT Governance framework. For IT Managers, IT Governance is a mechanism for the alignment of the IT with business on the projects that are going to be pursuit. For IT Auditors, it is mainly a control mechanism that can help them achieve compliance with regulations, and to manage the risks that are related to IT projects better. For IT Service management professionals, IT Governance ensures that not only the IT services offered are aligned to the current and future business needs, but they are also managed for efficiency, effectiveness and specific quality objectives (Pultorak, 2006). Recent surveys have indicated that the most important benefits expected from the implementation of an IT Governance framework are proper risk management, the resource management of IT, the performance measurement of IT and the business IT alignment. Along these, cost reduction, productivity improvements and organisation wide view of IT are commonly mentioned. (ITGI, 2008; BMC Software, 2007; Milne and Bowles, 2009; Yanosky and McCredie The Emergence of IT Governance in Greece The Emergence of IT Governance in Greece Introduction The emergence of IT Governance The cases of Enron, Worldcom and other corporate and financial scandals in the early years of the century have raised the significance of corporate governance and control. Regulatory environments have been formed with quite distinctive characteristics, depending on the needs of each country, and the needs of specific industries. The implementation of the controls required by regulations such as Sarbanes Oxley for the publicly listed organisations in the U.S. and Basel II for European banks relies heavily on IT. That dependency, combined to the required controls on IT itself, have forced top-level executives to have a look towards the proper management and governance of the information and communication technologies that power their organisations. At the same time, the high percentage of failed IT projects, ranging between 60% and 90% depending on the definition of failure, has alarmed many executives who see their resources to be wasted on failed projects, to be followed by more failed projects. Clear decision processes and proper project management aiming at efficiency and effectiveness, are the obvious answers to the problem; both of which point directly to IT Governance. The high cost of IT investments, which is more than half of the annual CAPEX for most organisations, calls for control, accountability and risk management, not to mention cost reduction. Information security, industrial espionage, regulations for the confidentiality of the data and the privacy of employees and customers, are all gracefully handled by a proper IT Governance structure. These are only some of the reasons that have led quite a few organisations worldwide to add IT Governance in their board agenda. The status in Greece Greece has control regulations for specific industries only, such as telecommunications, an industry largely affected by the Hellenic authority for communication security and privacy. Other industries are affected by pan-European control regulations, such as banking industry that needs to comply with MIFID and Basel-II alongside the directives issued by the Bank of Greece. Finally, just a few companies are listed in foreign stock exchanges such as NYSE listed PTT, subsequently affected by the SOX act. Nevertheless, although the environment in Greece is complex, and the IT infrastructure is no simpler than any other countrys, there is no published empirical academic research on the status of IT Governance in Greece. Even surveys that are conducted in wider geographical areas and not to a specific country do not usually include Greece; probably because it is a small market. The only data that has been found are some papers mentioning the benefits of IT Governance, as taken from the international practice; the data though is not adapted to local needs and circumstances. Research Objectives This research, titled IT Governance in Greece: Status, Drivers and Barriers aims to evaluate and present the IT Governance related practices in Greece. What percentage of Greek companies are using IT Governance frameworks and best practices, which is the preferred framework between the two prevalent (ITIL and CobIT), and which is the decision model selected by the companies that employ IT Governance. An attempt will be made to find any relationships between these results, and the size of the organisation or the size of the IT department. The reasons for which Greek organisations select to implement or not an IT Governance framework will also be linked to that data and outsourcing strategies which are known to require careful governance will be evaluated. For the organisations that choose to not implement a formal governance framework, the barriers to implementation will be analysed, as well as the potential good practices which do not constitute a framework, nevertheless help to the prudent governance of an organisations IT assets and resources. The research questions that are expected to shed some light to the main areas of the status of IT Governance in Greece are formulated as follows: The penetration of ITIL and CobIT in Greece as IT Governance frameworks Which are the most common factors that prevent or delay the acceptance and deployment of an IT Governance framework (barriers)? Which are the most common reasons that led organisations to deploy, or plan the future deployment of an IT Governance framework (drivers)? Which (if any) are the management methods used if a full IT Governance framework is not deployed? Personal Interest The author has followed a career path in Information Technology for the last 15 years, acquiring positions of raising responsibilities. In alignment to that career path, the MBA was considered a good choice, providing a broader view on all areas of management such as organisational behaviour and culture, human relationships, finance and marketing, strategy and implementation. The subject of this dissertation combines the two worlds, that of management and of information technology, giving a more thorough and business oriented view to the authors subject of work. Beyond the obvious curiosity that is created by the lack of data in the Greek market in which the author lives and works, there has always been an interest in IT Governance, IT management and risk management, and this dissertation comes to cover at least some of these areas. Structure of the dissertation The rest of the dissertation has a typical structure the introduction that was just provided constitutes the chapter one. Chapter two provides a review of the existing literature and previous studies on IT Governance; that should form the basis for the research that was necessary for this dissertation. Chapter three analyses and justifies the methodology that was used for the sampling, the data collection and data analysis methods that were selected. This chapter also presents and analyses some limitations related to the methodology, and presents the ways in which these limitations may affect the data analysis and the conclusions. Chapter four is the data analysis, in which all data that were collected are analysed and presented, relations are drawn and comparisons to findings from previous research are performed in order to fully answer the research questions set in this dissertation. Chapter five draws on the conclusions of the previous chapter. It summarizes the research objectives, the findings and the implications of the results. Generalization issues and data validity is further discussed. This chapter provides also recommendations for future studies, identifying details that were not included in this survey and questions that have emerged from the results of the current dissertation. Finally, this chapter reflects on the dissertation, assessing the weaknesses of the work performed and the obstacles faced; it also identifies the areas in which the author has gained knowledge and experience. Literature Review Introduction A literature review is vital to any research project, in order to collect, present and critically analyse, what is already known in the subject under research. The evaluation of previous research leads to a better understanding of the subject, of the areas of consensus between academics and practitioners, and the points of conflict and potential gaps. Towards the answer of the status of IT Governance in Greece, an attempt will be made to explain the term IT Governance and clarify any misconceptions regarding IT Governance and IT Management. The different types of IT Governance models that have been developed in the past, along with the key roles in IT Governance, will be identified, presented and compared. The necessity for IT Governance as suggested in the literature will be evaluated, and the most commonly mentioned benefits and implementation barriers will be presented, in order to serve as potential answers to the questionnaire of the research. Previous reports on management methods that may be used instead of a full framework implementation will also be evaluated for the same reasons. The definition of IT Governance IT Governance is a subject that has gained significant focus during the last years. As a term, IT Governance, has too many definitions in the literature (Buckby, Best and Stewart, 2009; Lee and Lee, 2009; Lee, Lee and Lee, 2009). Simonsson and Ekstedt (2006) tried to find a common definition on 60 different relative articles; and came up with yet another definition, which includes many of the previous ones. The definitions used by researchers, depend on their view on what IT Governance can offer to an organisation. IT Governance is sometimes perceived as a framework or a process for auditing the use of the IT infrastructure and operations. Some other times sometimes it is perceived as an IT decision making tool which allocates the decision rights in order to encourage a predictable behaviour in the use of IT, while for others IT Governance is a branch of corporate governance focusing on the control and the strategic view of IT (Musson, 2009). Not few have used definitions that mix and match more than one of these views, such as Peterson (2004), Higgins and Sinclair (2008) and Simonsson and Johnson (2007). A definition that is, in the authors opinion, quite clear and inclusive, is the following: IT Governance is a framework for the leadership, organizational structures and business processes, standards and compliance to these standards, which ensures that the organizations IT supports and enables the achievement of its strategies and objectives. (Calder, 2007) Lee and Lee (2009) make the link of IT Governance with Corporate Governance. They suggest that IT Governance is a mix of Corporate Governance and IT Management; meaning that IT Governance addresses the transparency and control that corporate governance focuses upon, and the efficiency and effectiveness that IT management aims at. IT Governance as part of the corporate governance is also suggested by Peterson (2004), Bhatttacharjya and Chang (2009), ODonohue, Pye and Warren (2009). Several researchers have pointed out that IT Governance is not the same as IT Management. The former refers to the definition of who has the rights for major decision making, while the later refers to the actual making of the decisions and the implementation itself (Broadbend, cited in Buckby et al., 2009; Calder, 2009; Sambamurthy and Zmud, 1999; Toomey, 2009; Van Grembergen and De Haes, 2009). Regarding the subject and scope of IT Governance, the IT Governance Institute suggests five distinct but interacting domains: The Strategic Alignment, Value Delivery, Risk Management, Resource Management and Performance Management. The need for IT Governance The need for IT Governance has not been extensively debated; almost everybody agree that the proper governance of IT is necessary. The reasons though provided to support this argument vary, and the organisations do not seem to have been persuaded by that position. A quite common reason provided to support the necessity of IT Governance, is the increased complexity of the IT infrastructure that is caused by the amount of data that an organisation holds, and the role of this information (Laplante and Costello, 2006). IT is not only complex, but it also has its own fast changing and unique conditions, as such the need to apply sound management disciplines and controls is even greater (NCC, 2005). Risk management is one more reason for IT Governance. Risk is caused by the growing dependency of organisations on IT resources which should not be neglected; the percentage of companies that are vitally dependent on IT for their continuing operation, was over 75% in 2004 (KPMG, cited at Musson, 2009). That dependency makes the potential unavailability of IT based services a significant problem for organisations such as banks and hospitals. The lack of availability is not the only danger caused by that dependency; cyber crime, fraud, information inaccuracy are just a few more issues that need proper identification and management (Van Grembergen and De Haes 2009). Instead of implementing IT solutions, the focus now has shifted to changing the business processes, to be enabled by IT. The solutions implemented are generally more complex due to this shift, and subsequently there is a greater risk with the implementation of IT-enabled business processes (Higgins and Sinclair, 2008). From the management perspective, that dependency means that management needs to be more aware of the critical IT risks, and to be assured that they are adequately managed (NCC, 2005). High organisational performance is another reason found in the literature, although that one is debatable. Liew believes that IT Governance can ensure proper measurement and preservation of an achieved performance (cited at Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009), nevertheless Young has pointed out through a literature review that there is no convincing evidence that superior business performance is a result of any of IT Governance guidelines (Young, 2006). Typically, IT investments are significantly high. They account for over 50% of the average organisations annual total capital investment (Baschab and Piot, 2007; Carr, 2003; Weill and Woodham, 2002), as such their management in a responsive, effective and efficient way is usually a requirement that should be set by the management board. On the monetary field, cost optimisation of the IT projects and service delivery, are also considered important issues by several researchers (Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009; Fairchild et al, 2009; Menken, 2009; Peterson, 2004). The amount of money spent is important, but the need that the enterprises investment in IT is in harmony with its objectives is usually considered more significant (Buckby et al, 2009). This is called Business IT Alignment, which is a quite old issue; several studies from mid-80s have focused on the alignment of the IT operations with the business objectives (Brown and Magill, 1994). Some researchers do not agree with the need for the Business IT alignment at all (Sillince and Frost, 1995). Koh and Maguire (2009) also suggest that Business IT alignment maybe the wrong strategy for smaller businesses, which may be agile enough to change course quickly following the new ICT arrivals in the business. They also mention that Venkatraman questions the logic behind alignment; nevertheless, this is a false interpretation of Venkatramans study, who clearly states that IT needs to support the business logic. Carr (2003) has written one of the most controversial articles on the issue, statin g that IT is not able to provide the competitive advantage that organisations need. Laplante and Costello (2006) make clear that they do not agree with that view, while Harris, Herron and Iwanicki (2008) get the opportunity to provide metrics on the value that IT can provide, instead of just dismissing Carrs argument. According to a different should of thought, Business IT alignment has been identified as a significant management concern (Brown and Magill, 1994; Cameron, 2007; Kashanchi and Toland, 2006; Silvius, 2007) and effort is put in order to identify the potential benefits of Business IT alignment. In fact, a recent study by Nash (2009) proves a positive correlation between firm level sales and the so-called Strategic Alignment Maturity; i.e. the maturity level of the business IT alignment. By considering Business IT alignment as something that organisations want to achieve, it is yet another reason to exercise governance of the IT. The relationship between IT governance and Business IT alignment has been proven (BMC Software, 2007; Musson and Jordan, 2006). Additionally, IT governance is strongly suggested by researchers as the best option for the maintenance of the alignment of IT to the continuously evolving organisational needs (Cameron, 2007; Harris et al, 2008; Pultorak, 2006; Sambamurthy and Zmud, 1999). Although Business IT Alignment is a common issue, it puts IT in a passive role; it makes it a follower. Proper governance can transform IT from a follower to a leader; IT is able to set the business agenda and partially affect the organisations strategic objectives (Addy, 2007; Baschab and Piot, 2007; Weill and Woodham, 2002). A research by NCC (2005) has identified a potentially widening gap between what IT departments think the business requires, and what the business thinks the IT department is able to deliver. This can be addressed by IT Governance, through which an organisation wide view of IT may be generated and promoted (Laplante and Costello, 2006; Weill and Woodham, 2002). That means that IT should have a thorough understanding and a participation in the improvement of business processes and their interdependencies. The other way round is also important, i.e. organisations need to obtain a better understanding of the value delivered by IT, both internally and from external suppliers. Measures are required in business (the customers) terms to achieve this. Key elements for that understanding include the enterprise wide view of IT budget (Addy, 2007; Weill and Woodham, 2002). One more reason found in the literature to promote IT Governance, is the compliance to regulatory requirements. Specific legislation and regulatory requirements, such as Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) almost dictate the use of an IT governance framework (Buckby et al., 2009; Higgins and Sinclair, 2008). Others, such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and Basel-II do not dictate, but certainly describe an IT Governance framework through their requirements for accountability on investments, information security and assurance, risk management and decision processes (Harris et al, 2008; Higgins and Sinclair, 2008; Pultorak, 2006; Network Frontiers, 2008; NCC, 2005; van Grembergen and De Haes, 2009). Yet another commonly stated key benefit of proper IT Governance is clear and transparent decision making regarding IT resources (Baschab and Piot, 2007; Brown and Grand, 2005; Lee and Lee, 2009; Tshinu, Botha and Herselman, 2008). The lack of clarity and transparency for the decision making process, can lead to reluctance to take risks, and subsequently failure to seize technology opportunities (NCC, 2005) Separate decision processes followed by the IT and business, may mean that there is not enough shared ownership and clarity of resources, which also means that there may be a lack of accountability. IT Governance models Although IT Governance sets the decision making process, it does not define who decides. IT Governance decision authorities may be structured in different models, depending on the organisation. The three prevailing ones are the centralized, decentralized and federal (hybrid) according to their modes of distributing authorities and responsibilities for decision-making (Brown and Magill, 1994; Fairchild et al, 2009; Peterson, 2004; Sambamurthy and Zmud, 1999), while the pair of centralized / decentralized may also be found as the only choices (Laplante and Costello, 2006; Robb and Parent, 2009). Ross and Weill (2002) and Cameron (2007) expressed their quite strong preference on centralized IT Governance model, i.e. decisions being made centrally, but Ross and Weill revisited that view in 2004; they suggested that there are six (6) archetypes / models of IT Governance, on 5 different IT domains. From more centralised to less centralised, they identified Business monarchy, IT monarchy, Federal, IT Duopoly, Feudal and Anarchy. The two monarchies are quite clear, meaning that Business or IT respectively has the major responsibility for decisions. Anarchy is quite clear as well, meaning that there is no standardization. Federal and IT duopoly involve business executives and IT executives in the decision making process, with federal to give more power to the business than IT duopoly. Finally, feudal archetype brings the decision level down to business units or processes. The IT domains on which decisions need to be made, are IT principles such as funding and role of the IT in the business, IT Architecture which refers to the identification and development of the core business processes of the enterprise and relative information, IT infrastructure, business application needs such as the owner of the outcome of each project and IT investment and prioritization. That model classification from Ross and Weill is unique; as stated earlier, most other researchers have selected a simpler classification scheme. Ein-Dor and Segev (cited at Tavakolian, 1989) found that the revenue of the organisation is positively related to centralized IT Governance but there is no relation between the governance model and the size of the organisation. There is empirical proof that a link between the IT structure with the organisational competitive strategy exists; conservative organisations are more centralised than aggressive ones (Tavakolian, 1989). These results are supported by more recent research with consistent findings; Weill and Woodham (2002) and Weill and Ross (2004) found that top performing firms on profit were mostly centralized, while top performers on growth were mostly decentralized. A link between the organisations industry type and level of de-centralization of IT Governance has not been found (Ahituv et al, cited at Brown and Grant, 2005). It has to be noted that the model of IT Governance in an organisation may also be dictated by external factors, such as SOX which promotes a centralized IT Governance model, while Australian governance frameworks (mainly, AS 8015) drive the organisations towards a de-centralized IT Governance model (Robb and Parent, 2009). IT Governance Frameworks Information Technology Infrastructure Library The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a framework of best practices for IT Service Management. It is comprised of five books which focus on five different aspects of IT Service Management and Service Lifecycle: Service Strategy Service Design Service Transition Service Operation Continual Service Improvement Each one of the books, defines a set of processes such as IT Financial Management, Supplier Management, Change Management, Incident Management and Service Measurement and Reporting; a total of 23 processes are defined with a set of actions and roles required for each process. The definition of several of the processes and the subsequent roles is consistent with the IT Governance definition we used earlier; nevertheless a big amount of the defined processes such as event management and validation and testing, are much more focused on the management part than to that of the governance. ITIL is considered to be the framework that is closer to service management than control, from the other two frameworks, CobIT and ISO/IEC 38500:2008 and has a more narrow scope than CobIT (Van Grembergen and De Haes, 2009; Simonsson and Ekstedt, 2006; Simonsson, Johnson and Wijkstrà ¶m, 2007; Sallà ©, 2004; McBride, 2009). That focus of ITIL to service delivery and management was more obvious in version 2, which did not address issues such as Risk Management, Performance Monitoring and IT Governance (generic strategic direction and alignment) at all. As such it was mostly perceived as a framework for service desk management. Although the effectiveness of ITIL version 2 to the alignment of IT with business objectives has been repeatedly pointed out (BMC Software, 2007; Harris et al, 2008; Pultorak, 2006) and even experimentally proven (Kashanchi and Toland, 2006), it was never the primary driver for ITIL adaptation. A survey conducted by Bruton Consultancy for the Helpdesk Institute Europe (now renamed as Service Desk Institute) for the value that ITIL has brought in companies that have implemented it, indicated that the contribution of ITIL to the business strategy was not even considered as an issue by the majority of the correspondents (70%). The same holds for the perception of the participants on t he competitive advantage that may be provided by proper IT management through ITIL. More than half (66%) responded that this was not considered in the decision for ITIL implementation (Bruton, 2005). With version 3, ITIL gained a broader scope than version 2 and added significant emphasis on business strategy. That change, led some IT management consultants to declare ITIL version 3 as inappropriate for helpdesk and service management processes (Bruton, 2007), not strange since version 2 focused on processes while version 3 focuses on Business Value (Harris et al, 2008). Beyond the not strategic enough type of criticism, ITIL has also been criticised as a flawed and uneven framework. Dean Meyer identifies pitfalls in its implementation; nevertheless, he also states that it is an implementation issue and not a framework issue (Meyer, 2009 web site). ITIL has also been characterized as a too generic framework, which is not able to provide value if used off-the-shelf without significant adaptations (Baschab and Piot, 2007), an unfair criticism as ITIL is promoted as a set of best practices, not as a complete, fits-all framework. This concession should invalidate yet another criticism raised by Simonsson (2008), the lack of a maturity model. Another criticism of ITIL is that the documentation is not free (Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009). That is a valid point, nevertheless the cost of the books is quite low for companies (less than  £400 for the whole set). Other criticisms include the stifling of the creativity of those who implement it, and that it b ecomes a goal by itself having a heavy administrative burden (Addy, 2007). All these points are valid, but they can be attributed to the extension of ITIL. Control Objectives for Information and related Technology Control Objectives for information and related Technology (CobIT) is a control framework developed by the IT Governance Institute. CobIT defines processes and controls, and uses the grouping of activities in four domains: Plan and Organise Acquire and Implement Deliver and Support Monitor and Evaluate Each domain contains a set of processes, 34 at total, and each process defines specific controls, which sum up to 210 for all processes. CobIT defines inputs and outputs, as well as a maturity model for each process, making the control of compliance a very easy task. RACI (responsible, accountable, consulted and informed) charts are also provided, drawing a clear guideline on who should be involved in every process step. Goals and metrics, in the form of outcome measures (key goal indicators KGIs) and performance indicators (key performance indicators KPIs) respectively are also provided, mapping business goals to IT goals, which can be achieved by one, or the interaction of several processes. CobIT is generally used where there is a need for auditing functions, in comparison with ITIL, which is better suited to operational process improvement (ODonohue et al, 2009). In contrast to ITIL, CobIT has extensive documentation available free of charge, including the framework itself and several case studies. Several implementation documents though are only available for purchase, such as CobIT Quickstart, while others are available free for ISACA members or for purchase for non-members such as Security Baseline and User Guide for Service Managers. Several consultants and practitioners criticise CobIT that it only states the obvious, that it is very high level, is only a generic framework and does not provide specific and repeatable implementation steps (Culmsee, 2009; Toigo, 2005). This is not a common view, as others find CobIT to be quite prescriptive (Pultorak, 2006; Robb and Parent, 2009). That may be explained by the fact that although CobIT framework itself is indeed high level, a different publication is provided by ISACA, named CobIT Control Practices which is quite prescriptive. Academics criticise CobIT as providing little support for improved decision making, although many metrics are defined (Simonsson and Johnson, 2006). Others state that CobIT is expressed almost entirely in terms of process, focusing on how to govern but not what to govern (Lee et al, 2009). Another criticism states that CobIT is significantly more focused on auditing, largely ignoring other aspects of governance such as software development an d service delivery (NetFrontiers, 2005). CobIT is also characterized as a framework that needs significant knowledge and know how for a successful implementation (Simonsson et al, 2007), and that it takes time to introduce solid IT Governance through it (Rogers, 2009); although the opposite would be strange, given the wide area of processes and functions that CobIT addresses. Finally, while ITIL is known as the framework that guides you on how to get where you want to be, CobIT merely focuses on where you should be; that may be good or bad, depending on ones point of view and needs. ISO / IEC 38500:2008 The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) attempted to solve the confusion between IT Management and IT Governance, and at the same time provide guiding principles on IT Governance, in the recently published ISO/IEC 38500:2008. Because ISO/IEC 38500 establishes principles to guide the behaviour of organisations, it complements frameworks that focus on process, such as ITIL and COBIT. Thus, with the right frameworks or processes, complemented by the right behaviours, organisations are more likely to establish highly effective systems of governance. After all, it has been stated that ITIL and CobIT are not mutually exclusive; they are rather complementary and organisations will probably benefit from a mixed approach, adopting what is more applicable in every case, from the two frameworks (Chickowsky, cited at Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009). ISO/IEC 38500 can also be combined with these two and ITGI has even issued a specific document demonstrating how and which specific CobIT and ValIT controls support the adoption of the standards principles and implementation approach. Nevertheless, ISO/IEC 38500:2008 is very recent to be evaluated. As of the time of conducting this research, there is not enough information on the implementation, benefits or drawbacks of ISO 38500:2008. Common drivers for IT Governance implementation While the need for IT Governance has well been described, the benefits sought, i.e. the reasons for the implementation of an IT Governance framework vary, sometimes depending on the point of view of the observer. As drivers, we consider the motivator factors, which may lead an organisation to the implementation of an IT Governance framework. For IT Managers, IT Governance is a mechanism for the alignment of the IT with business on the projects that are going to be pursuit. For IT Auditors, it is mainly a control mechanism that can help them achieve compliance with regulations, and to manage the risks that are related to IT projects better. For IT Service management professionals, IT Governance ensures that not only the IT services offered are aligned to the current and future business needs, but they are also managed for efficiency, effectiveness and specific quality objectives (Pultorak, 2006). Recent surveys have indicated that the most important benefits expected from the implementation of an IT Governance framework are proper risk management, the resource management of IT, the performance measurement of IT and the business IT alignment. Along these, cost reduction, productivity improvements and organisation wide view of IT are commonly mentioned. (ITGI, 2008; BMC Software, 2007; Milne and Bowles, 2009; Yanosky and McCredie