Thursday, October 31, 2019
Movie review 2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
2 - Movie Review Example It represents crime scenes. The director presents this perception when Paul’s wife and daughter are killed and raped respectively, his boss sends him specifically to New York to fight crime (Brian and Winner, 2003). The role race plays in the film is evident when Kersey kills more black muggers with the intent of increasing the number of the white muggers. Race is used to indicate that most for the criminals in the setting were of the black origin and this necessitated the discriminative killing (Brian and Winner, 2003). Gender plays a significant role of indicating that the muggers targeted women in their criminal activities. This is evident from the killing of Kersey’s wife, rape of Kersey’s daughter and the killing of a young woman at the parking garage. In essence, gender is used to show that, women fall victims of the muggers’ criminal activities. Gender is represented as an indicator of the safety loophole. This implies that women needed more safety measures than their male counterparts (Brian and Winner, 2003). Class plays a key role of enhancing criminal activities. It is represented by drug barons who engage in a fierce competition in selling hard drugs such as cocaine. They kill each other’s accomplices. For instance, Zacharias gang competes with brothers Jack and Romero’s gang. This is an elite class but grossly involved in criminal activities. This leaves the society a rotten and unsafe place for peaceful dwelling (Brian and Winner, 2003). The film reflects the political situation of the society. There is no political willingness to solve the problems facing the subjects. The coordination between the police and the Kersey indicates a rotten political set up. The film reflects the aspects of racism in fighting crime and this extends to the broader perspective of a racist political milieu existing tin the society (Brian and Winner,
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Security Essentials DB 4.3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Security Essentials DB 4.3 - Essay Example The world today faces many types of crimes in this age of the computer. The number of hackers driven by the urge to steal and embezzle funds is on the rise. In addition, computer crimes get more sophisticated with hackers working in organized groups to steal credit information, military secrets, funds and information pertaining to personal identity. Due to the prevalence of such crimes, IT security professionals spend much time dealing with the criminal aspects of the legislation than civil issues. Civil laws have limited connection to the security profession. It is because many civil cases concern intellectual property laws, which include trade secrets, trademarks, patents and copyrights. In several instances, these civil laws serve to protect the value of the corporation and other professional may handle them. The aspects governed by the civil laws were vital before the computer age. However, they do not engage security experts intensely in the contemporary issues facing firms today. Therefore, the criminal aspects of the law directly touch on the security profession in the modern word of
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Applying Cue Utilization Theory
Applying Cue Utilization Theory Evaluating Website Quality: Applying Cue Utilization Theory to WebQual Abstract      Cue Utilization Theory is applied to examine the relative importance of each of the WebQual dimensions (Informational Fit-to-Task, Tailored Information, Trust, Response Time, Ease of Understanding, Intuitive Operations, Visual Appeal, Innovativeness, Emotional Appeal, Consistent Image, On-line Completeness, and Relative Advantage) in determining consumers evaluation of website quality. Two studies have been designed for this task. Study 1 qualifies how subjects rate the predictive value (PV) and confidence value (CV) of each dimension. An analysis of these results provides an ability to fit the WebQual dimensions to a 22 model showing the relative magnitude that each dimension has on consumers evaluation of website quality. Study 2 is designed to test the viability of the model via a set of proposed hypotheses. The results from this research will contribute to the field by providing a model that developers can utilize to focus on those characteristics most determi nistic of overall website quality. 1. Introduction      In the last ten years, online shopping has become a prevalent part of the average consumers shopping experience. The consumer now has the ability to purchase virtually anything online; ranging from small-ticket items such as a rubber-band ball to bigticket items like vacation homes. With this increase in the online consumers purchasing power and propensity to purchase online, retailers have become increasingly willing to develop their e-commerce presence. Moreover, this explosion of Internet activity has prompted businesses to demand that website developers understand the qualities of a website that serve to facilitate the shopping experience for e-commerce consumers. At the same time, this growth of e-commerce has provided a virtual plethora of new options for crimes of opportunity such as identity theft. The online shopper has to worry not only about finding the perfect product, but they also have to evaluate the website to determine if they are willing to make a purchase from this site.      Valacich, Parboteeah and Wells [1] developed the Online Consumers Hierarchy of Needs to delineate the needs of the online consumer. Their model showed that certain fundamental needs exist that the online consumer must have met before they are willing to utilize a website. These fundamental needs are then further broken down into the specific website characteristic categories of Functional Convenience, Representational Delight and Structural Firmness. Functional Convenience is the category allowing the consumer to accomplish the task-athand easily and includes attributes, such as ease of ordering and tracking. Representational Delight is characterized by those dimensions that make the site visually appealing, such as graphics and sizing. Structural Firmness consists of fundamental qualities such as response time and security. Using this Hierarchy of Needs, a consumer interested in online banking would need to have their basic need for each of these characteristics met before they would be willing to use the website.      This Hierarchy of Needs model shows those characteristics that are necessary for a consumer to utilize a website, and further elaborates by showing which characteristics are most important depending on if the consumer is visiting the website for business, pleasure or a combination of the two [1]. Knowing these characteristics is important for development of the website, but also implies that the consumers level of confidence in evaluating these characteristics of a website is of particular importance to their overall assessment of a given websites quality. Traditional marketing literature suggests that when people make assessments of quality, they tend to use informational cues that are not only predictive, but also easy to assess. This is known as the Cue Utilization Theory [2], and has been paramount in evaluating consumers perceptions of product quality.      This research project elaborates on consumers inability to evaluate all relevant cues during the online shopping experience. A model is developed using Cue Utilization Theory [2] and WebQual [3] to show the attributes of a website that are the most determinant of how a consumer will react to the website. This model will provide a deeper understanding of the evaluation of existing and proposed websites with respect to consumers confidence in evaluating the cues communicated by the website. 2. Cue Utilization Theory      Richardson, Dick and Jain [2] employed Cue Utilization Theory in their research to determine how consumers viewed store brand quality vs. nationally branded merchandise. According to this theory, â€Å" products consist of an array of cues that serve as surrogate indicators of quality to shoppers†[2]. This theory purports that cues are evoked by the two separate dimensions of predictive and confidence values. The predictive value (PV) is â€Å" the degree to which consumers associate a given cue with product quality†[2]. Confidence value (CV) is â€Å" the degree to which consumers have confidence in their ability to use and judge that cue accurately†[2].      Further, based on relative differences in PV and CV, cues can be broken down into the distinct areas of extrinsic and intrinsic. The American Heritage dictionary describes intrinsic as, â€Å"Of or relating to the essential nature of a thing; inherent†[4] and extrinsic as, â€Å"not forming an essential or inherent part of a thing; extraneous.†[5] From this definition, an intrinsic attribute would be one that would fundamentally alter the focal object (e.g., product) if it was changed or absent and, per Cue Utilization Theory, would possess an inherently high degree of PV. Alternatively, an extrinsic attribute would be one that would not alter the fundamental nature of the focal object in its absence but might alter a consumers reaction or perceptions of the object. Per Cue Utilization theory, an extrinsic cue would typically have higher degrees of CV compared to PV.      For example, when looking at a video card on an e-commerce website it could be said that the product price is an example of an extrinsic attribute of the video card. While the video cards dimensions and material composition of the video card serve as intrinsic indicators. Further, you could postulate that the average consumer has a higher CV in their ability to judge the quality of the card based on the price rather than the material composition. Though the consumer knows that the dimensions and material composition of the card are important, they will tend to rely on price as an informational cue, as that is the cue that they feel the most comfortable evaluating.      When considering the quality of a website there are a myriad of dimensions that the consumer mustevaluate to determine if they intend to perform a transaction on this website. From the Valacich et al [1] article the consumers basic needs in terms of Structural Firmness, Functional Convenience and Representational Delight must all be met before the consumer will consider doing business. To determine if these needs are being met the consumer will evaluate the cues they perceive as being exhibited from the website. These cues can be further broken down into components by utilizing the WebQual model [3]. 3. WebQual      WebQual consists of 12 dimensions: Informational Fit-to-Task, Tailored Information, Trust, Response Time, Ease of Understanding, Intuitive Operations, Visual Appeal, Innovativeness, Emotional Appeal, Consistent Image, On-line Completeness, and Relative Advantage. Each of these dimensions is shown to have strong measurement validity in regards to the consumers evaluation of overall website quality [3].      Information fit-to-task is an amalgamation of information quality and functional fit-to-task [3]. In component form, information quality refers to the datas appropriateness for use or ability to meet the users needs [6]. Functional Fit-to-Task can be represented as the degree the technology assists the user at a given task [7]. Drawing these two components back together as a whole and relating them to cyberspace lends credence to the definition that information fit-to-task is assisting the user in their desired task by presenting relevant/appropriate information. Loiacono, Chen, and Goodhue [8] define this as â€Å"The information provided meets task needs and improves performance†.      The ability for consumers to tailor the information displayed on a website to meet their needs is the basic form of Tailored Information. Tailored Information is further characterized by Ghose and Dou [9] as the interactivity of the website, and represents the consumers ability to modify information presented on the website. Recent research suggests that website interactivity will lead consumers to be more positive in their evaluation of websites [9]. This concept has also been operationalized as the ability to personalize information between the consumer and the website [8,10]      Trust, in relation to websites, is defined in an extremely simple form as consumers confidence that any information entered into the website will remain confidential and that said information will be transmitted and stored in a secure fashion [8]. Furthermore, trust is having faith that the information presented on the website is true and accurate [11,12]. Lack of Trust has been cited as one of the main hindrances to completion of e-commerce transactions [14,11,15]      Response Time (aka. download time or download delay) is defined by Rose and Straub [16] as â€Å" the time it takes for a web client to fully receive, process, and display files†(p. 56), and is ranked as one of the largest impediments to electronic commerce in their research. Additional research has reinforced that Response Time can be an impediment to e-Commerce, and that is it also strongly associated with web site success [17,18]      The consumers ease in comprehending the website is the Ease of Understanding. Loiacono et al. [8] describe this in terms of a websites ease of reading and the understandability of said website. This would include things like presenting the information in a manner which is easy for the consumer to assimilate, and in a fashion such that the consumer can quickly navigate to the desired information.      Intuitive Operations deals with the usability of a website, and includes items such as navigability, link placement, operation, and changing the color of visited links [19]. Intuitive Operations could be thought of as making the webpage easy to navigate, and providing intuitive options for available tasks [8]      Visual Appeal is how aesthetically pleasing the website is to the consumer. Determining what is aesthetically pleasing is complicated though; it ranges from the overall complexity of the website [20] and the layout of the interface [21] to how many ads and graphics are appropriate on a given page[22]      Innovativeness is â€Å"The creativity and uniqueness of a site design†[8]. This could include concepts such as a website having a new way of presenting its merchandise (e.g. Woot.com) or a website attempting to tailor the information to consumer preferences (e.g. Amazon.com)      Emotional Appeal can be elicited in many forms and can be thought of as the consumers intensity of involvement given the emotions that the website elicits [8]. This is often seen in the form of testimonials presented on the website, but can also be observed by simple things such as a consumers reaction to a Valentines Day card.      Loiacono et al. [8] articulate Consistent Image as the websites ability to project a company image that is compatible with the company image shown in other forms of media channels. For instance, a traditional brick-and-mortal store would want to ensure that their website was displaying a compatible image so that they could capitalize on synergies created by marketing in multiple channels such as cost savings, market extension and improved Trus [23].      Presenting all the information required for the tasks that the website is designed for would be considered On-line Completeness. This would include tasks such as the ability to complete an online transaction on e-commerce sites. A bank for instance would want ubiquitous account access using all available channels, and the information presented in each of these channels has to be on the same update cycle as to present the customer the same information regardless of channel [6].      Relative Advantage is gaining a competitive advantage by being able to do something better than the competition. This could come in the form of providing better interaction with the customer through the website [8], being able to provide more accurate and timely data through your website than the competition [6] or being able to price products lower than the competition because of reduced prices in your supply chain. Each of these dimensions is then tied back into the consumers intention to use/reuse the site. Trust and Response Time, being key indicators, are directly linked to the consumers intention to use the site. Common sense would tell us that consumers are not going to shop on a site that does not respond rapidly to requests. Likewise, if users dont trust the site to keep their information secure, they are not likely to supply the information in the first place. The remaining dimensions are all fully mediated by Usefulness, Ease of Use and Entertainment. Usefulness mediates Informational Fit-to-Task, Tailored Information, Online Completeness and Relative Advantage. Additionally, Ease of Use is partially mediated by Usefulness. Ease of Use mediates Ease of Understanding and Intuitive Operations. Finally, Entertainment mediates Visual Appeal, Innovativeness, Emotional Appeal and Consistent Image (See WebQual model in Figure 1).      Consumers do not just browse a site and evaluate each of these individual traits though. Consumers instead tend to examine a website using those cues that they feel confident in their ability to evaluate successfully. To understand this issue further, WebQual needs to be combined with Cue Utilization Theory to explain the extrinsic/intrinsic nature of each of these dimensions. 4. Cue Utilization/WebQual Conceptual Model      As Valacich et al [1] point out; consumers must have their basic level of needs met before any of the other elements of the website can become relevant to the consumers experience. To validate that these basic needs have been met, the consumer will evaluate those features that they believe to be highly predictive of the quality of the website. This evaluation will then be indicative of their willingness to continue to use the website.      Both extrinsic and intrinsic cues serve a function in the consumers overall evaluation of the quality of a website, which means that such cues possess varying degrees of PV and CV. Literature has shown that consumers tend to use a combination of both extrinsic and intrinsic cues when evaluating the quality of a product [2]. An argument can be made about the extrinsic versus intrinsic nature of each of the dimensions in the WebQual model.      Intrinsic cues are those cues that are inherent to a website. Conceptually they are the cues that when changed fundamentally alter a characteristic of the website (e.g. Visual Appeal). Consumers tend to see these cues as being highly predictive of quality [2]. At the same time, consumers may or may not have a high degree of confidence in their ability to evaluate these intrinsic cues because these cues are often difficult to differentiate. Thus, assuming a Cue Utilization Theory perspective, a website characteristic that is perceived to be an intrinsic cue would have an inherently high degree of PV. Yet, the power of an intrinsic cue for assessments of quality will depend on the CV of the cue, with higher levels of CV being optimal.      Extrinsic cues are those cues that are used to evaluate a website but are not an inherent part of the website (e.g. Response Time). Consumers tend to have a lot of confidence in their ability to evaluate these cues in regards to assessment of quality [2]. On [the other hand, consumers typically do not rate these cues as being highly predictive (as compared to intrinsic cues) of the overall quality of the website. Considering extrinsic cues from a Cue Utilization Theory perspective, a website characteristic that is perceived to be an extrinsic cue would have an inherently high degree of CV.      Shown in Table 1 is a 22 matrix representing how each of the combinations of CV and PV will influence consumers willingness to perform tasks on a given website. As shown, characteristics with high CV and high PV are believed to have the largest effect on consumers perceptions of website quality. Those with low CV and PV would have a small to none existent effect, and those high on one dimension but low on the other would have a moderate effect. Next, we will posit about how varying degrees of cue PVs and CVs, respectively, will affect consumer perceptions of overall website quality.      Relative Advantage is often considered an important aspect of websites as discussed previously. However, from a Cue Utilization Theory perspective the consumer may experience, at most, only a vague feeling about the Relative Advantage of the website. As such they would not place much value in their confidence in assessing this characteristic, which would result in a low CV. Along the same lines the average consumer would also not really take Relative Advantage into consideration when they were performing tasks, implying a relatively low level of PV. Thus, website characteristics that fall into the quadrant in the model with low levels of both PV and CV would have a small impact on consumers willingness to perform tasks on a website. H1: A website characteristic with low CV low PV will produce a small to none existent effect on the consumers perception of website quality.      A characteristic such as Trust is highly predictive of consumers willingness to use a website, but the average consumer may not have much confidence in their ability to evaluate this characteristic. Trust in an online medium has been shown to be an attribute that is hard for the consumer to evaluate and in some cases to even define. Cue Utilization Theory suggests that though this characteristic is highly predictive of website quality, consumers lack of confidence in evaluating the characteristic may inhibit their ability to use the characteristic to assess the quality of the website. Moreover, dimensions in this quadrant, high PV/Low CV, have been shown to be relatively intrinsic to the website [2], and will have a moderate effect on the consumers evaluation of the websites quality. H2a: A website characteristic with low CV high PV will produce a moderate effect on consumers perception of website quality.      One could reason that Response Time is a good example of an extrinsic attribute because it is not part of the inherent composition of the website. Rather, Response Time could be considered extrinsic because it can vary without changing anything about the content of the website. Rose and Straub [16] have shown in their research that consumers tend to attribute lack of responsiveness to extrinsic factors such as the overall speed of the internet, their own internet connection being slow, or other factors. In general, consumers seem to be willing to give the website the benefit of the doubt when slow response times are encountered, and as such, Response Time could be considered extrinsic to the website because it doesnt fundamental change the consumers perception of the website when it is altered. Based on Cue Utilization theory attributes with a low PV and high CV (such as Response Time) will only have a moderate influence on the consumers evaluations of website qua lity, and those dimensions belonging to this quadrant would be extrinsic to the website [2]. H2b: A website characteristic with high CV low PV will produce a moderate effect on consumers perception of website quality.      Cue Utilization Theory suggests that those characteristics with High CV and PV are the most highly predictive of consumers perception of website quality. Visual Appeal could be considered an intrinsic attribute because it is a characteristic inherent to the website that consumers are confident in using to evaluate website quality. One could further speculate that Visual Appeal is intrinsic to the website because if the Visual Appeal of the website was changed it would alter the inherent nature of the website. Lindgaard, Fernandes, Dudek, and Browà ± [24] have shown in their research that consumers form opinions about websites within the first 50 milliseconds (ms) of exposure. Furthermore, this initial perception of websites is almost entirely based on Visual Appeal; this was shown by correlating the ratings between 50 ms and 500 ms. However, though this attribute is intrinsic it shows an optimally high level of CV and PV thus placing it firmly into the high impac t quadrant. Dimensions in this quadrant would exhibit the optimal balance between PV and CV (i.e., an optimal intrinsic cue), and as such this quadrant of the table is hypothesized to have the largest impact on the consumers evaluation of the websites quality. H3: A website characteristic with high CV high PV will produce the largest effect on consumers perception of website quality. 5. Research Method      To test these hypotheses two empirical studies will be administered. Study 1 is designed to determine where each of the WebQual dimensions fit into the 22 model shown in Table 1. Furthermore, this study is designed to determine if a significant difference can be perceived to exist between each of the dimensions when rank ordered by PV and CV. Study 2 will test the hypotheses by collecting data on each of these dimensions using a sample website, and comparing actual results to those found in the first study. 5.1 Study 1      This study will focus on determining the CV and PV for each of the 12 dimensions of website quality, and determining if there is a significant difference between adjacent dimensions when rank ordered. 5.1.1 Subjects. Approximately 500 subjects will be recruited from an introductory Information Systems class held on campus at a large Northwestern University. Additionally, approximately 125 subjects will also be recruited from a distance education class offered by the same university. Subjects physically present on campus will complete the survey during their regular lecture times, and the distance education participants will have one week to complete the survey on their own personal computer. All data for Study 1 will be collected during the fall of 2009. Subjects will be given course credit for completing the survey, and no other incentives will be provided. 5.1.2 Survey Procedure. The survey is broken into two sections, one for CV and one for PV. In the CV section subjects are presented with a scenario about shopping on the Internet and asked about their confidence in assessing each of the 12 WebQual dimensions when shopping on the Internet for a product (e.g. Amazon.com) or Service (e.g. Bank of America). For this series of questions, the subjects will be required to rate each of the 12 WebQual dimensions on a 10-point likert-type scale with Confident/Not Confident being the top and bottom end of the scale. Finally, the subjects are asked to rank order the dimensions from the ones they have the highest confidence in assessing to the ones they have the least confidence in assessing.      The second section is designed to measure the PV of each of the 12 dimensions. Subjects are put in a hypothetical situation where they are in charge of designing a website for their employer. The first step towards designing the website is to decide the relative importance of each of the twelve dimensions in regards to consumers evaluation of the overall website quality. For this series of questions, the subjects will be required to rate each of the 12 dimensions on a 10-point likert-type scale with Important/Not Important being the top and bottom end of the scale. The subjects are then asked to rank order each of the 12 dimensions with respect to how predictive of website quality the subject believes each dimension to be. 5.1.3 Data Analysis. Aggregating the results of this data collection will allow each of the dimensions to be mapped to a CV and PV scale. Based on the relative PV and CV scores, each of the dimensions will be integrated into the 22 matrix shown in Table 1. Furthermore, the relative magnitude of each dimension will indicate the relative effect each dimension will have on the overall rating of website quality. 5.2 Study 2      This study will utilize subjects from an introductory Information Systems class taught in the fall of 2009. Approximately 500 students will participate. This study will focus on first determining the overall quality attributed to a website by the subjects, and secondly how the subjects rate each of the twelve WebQual dimensions for each website. Using regression analysis, we should then be able to show that the model accurately predicts the website quality based on the rating of each of the 12 dimensions.      Furthermore, the pattern of results from this study will examine how well the WebQual dimensions fit to the quadrant they were assigned in Study 1, and that the model developed in Study 1 is predictive of the responses received in Study 2. Those dimensions that serve as the highest-level indicators of website quality should be rated the highest by the subjects, and those that are the lowest should be rated likewise. Ideally, this study should provide significant support for each of the proposed hypotheses, and indicate which of the dimensions should be of highest consideration when constructing a high quality website. Initial data for both of these studies should be ready to share at the conference, should the paper be accepted. 6. Discussion and Potential Contribution      As shown in the model, the most important considerations when developing a website are those attributes that reside in the high CV and high PV quadrant. Online businesses should pay particular attention to the characteristics in this quadrant, as the consumer will tend to utilize these dimensions the most when determining the overall quality of the website. All businesses seeking to perform transactions within the e-commerce channel should pay heed to these recommendations, but online retailers need to pay particular attention, as this is the primary channel through which they produce revenue.      Of secondary importance to consumers are the Low CV/High PV and High CV/Low PV quadrants. If an online business seeks to capitalize on one of the dimensions within these quadrants, they need to pay particular attention to how they will nudge the consumer into using these dimensions for evaluation of website quality. This could potentially be accomplished through educational campaigns or marketing literature. Finally, the low CV/Low PV quadrant is of limited value to the online retailer, and should be removed from consideration when developing a website. This article seeks to contribute to the field by providing a model that can be used to enable web developers to effectively predict the overall quality of a website based on its design. In following this model, the developer will need to pay particular attention to those attributes that are highly predictive, from the consumers viewpoint, of overall website quality, and as such, the website should be designed in a fashion that encourages the consumer to conduct transactions. Additionally, the consumer will be motivated to perform future transactions from this website because they are familiar with the layout and possess a high confidence in the overall quality of the website. 7. Limitations and Future Research      The primary limitation of this model is that it is an untested conceptual model. The assumptions contained herein are as of yet ungrounded in solid empirical evidence; furthermore, this model was designed around e-commerce websites designed to sell products to end consumers.      Future research could delve into decomposing those elements that are the most highly predictive of website quality. This research could take each dimension and decompose them to their base elements to discover what it is about the dimension that makes it highly predictive of website quality. Additionally, the extrinsic/intrinsic nature of each of the dimensions could be explored to determine how a company can best capitalize on these dimensions when trying to sell the consumer on the quality of their website. Either of these approaches could prove invaluable to the field, as they will begin to give the developer a specific set of principles to follow when developing a high quality website. 8. Conclusion      Cue Utilization Theory is a concept that has been used in marketing for years to determine why consumers react differently to a given product. The author of this article has overlaid Cue Utilization theory upon WebQual to design a model that is predictive of the dimensions serving to form the consumers overall feel for the quality of a website. Using this model, website designers will be able to build a website that consumers will be more confident in assessing the quality of, and as such, the consumer will gain confidence in performing transactions on this website. 9. References J.S. Valacich, D.V. Parboteeah, and J.D. Wells, â€Å"The online consumers hierarchy of needs,†Commun. ACM, Vol. 50, No. 9, pp. 84-90, 2007. P.S. Richardson, A.S. Dick, and A.K. Jain, â€Å"Extrinsic and intrinsic cue effects on perceptions of store brand quality.,†Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58, No. 4, p. 28, Oct. 1994. E.T. Loiacono, R.T. Watson, and D.L. Goodhue, â€Å"WebQual: An Instrument for Consumer Evaluation of Web Sites.,†International Journal of Electronic Commerce, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 51-87, Spring. 2007. â€Å"intrinsic,†The American Heritage ® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. â€Å"extrinsic,†The American Heritage ® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. C. Cappiello, C. Francalanci, and B. Pernici, â€Å"Time-Related Factors of Data Quality in Multichannel Information Systems.,†Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 71-91, Winter. 2003. D.L. Goodhue and R.L. Thompson, â€Å"Task-Technology Fit and Individual Performance.,†MIS Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 213-236, Jun. 1995. E.T. Loiacono, D. Chen, and D.L. Goodhue, â€Å"WebQual TM Revisited: Predicting the Intent to Reuse a Web Site,†AMCIS 2002 Proceedings, p. Paper 46, 2002. S. Ghose and W. Dou, â€Å"Interactive Functions and Their Impacts on the Appeal of Internet Presence Sites.,†Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 38, No. 2, pp. 29-43, Mar. 1998. R.T. Rust and K.N. Lemon, â€Å"E-Service and the Consumer.,†International Journal of Electronic Commerce, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 85-101, Spring. 2001. D.H. McKnight, V. Choudhury, and C. Kacmar, â€Å"Developing and Validating Trust Measures for e-Commerce: An Integrative Typology.,†Information Systems Research, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 334-359, 2002. R. Pennington, H.D. Wilcox, and V. Grover, â€Å"The Role of System Trust in Business-to-Consumer Transactions.,†Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 197-226, Winter. 2003. J. Kim, J
Friday, October 25, 2019
PULLMAN Essay -- essays research papers
The Town of Pullman: Success or Failure? The invention of the railroad was probably the most important occurrence in the nineteenth century. The United States became a unified front and interstate travel become safe, cheap and efficient. Industries related to the railroad began to prosper, fueling much of the American economy. Entrepreneurs quickly began to take advantage of this boom and thus â€Å"American Big Business†was born. George Pullman was one of the many prominent tycoons of this â€Å"Railroad Era†. Through the use of his talented ingenuity and high organizational skills, he acquired a vast fortune and immense power. George Pullman is most notably credited for the creation of the Pullman Sleeping Car. Its invention enhanced the pleasure of railroad travel by making it more comfortable, clean and exciting. As George Pullman’s invention gained quick public approval, his company began to expand at an enormous rate. This presented a great deal of proble ms to Pullman. â€Å"The company wanted to increase efficiency and economy in servicing and providing cars by spreading facilities. He [Pullman] wanted several hundred acres adjacent to railroad and water transportation.†In 1868, Pullman decided on the Calumet region in southern Chicago. Pullman selected the Calumet region because it offered â€Å"cheap land, low taxes, and excellent transportation.†Few people knew his second and main intention was to build a model town adjacent to the new factory, which he hoped would improve his business enterprise. Pullman was deeply troubled by the social problems of the mid- nineteenth century. He believed that they were the root of the labor unrest his company was experiencing. â€Å"The period showed a dramatic intensification in the numbers of the urban poor, as people with little capital and few useful skills came to the cities in search for employment.†Living conditions were terrible and congestion, dirt, and poor s anitation were held responsible for diseases. Crime, prostitution and violence were blamed on poor housing while alcoholism became synonymous with the slum. Many attributed the poverty and the poor living conditions of the working class to â€Å"the lack of such virtues such as frugality, industriousness and temperateness.†It was believed that the general solution to the problem of the workingman and his family was to elevate their character. Through Pullman’s experience ... ...n social planning and happiness for the individual. A town is recognized for the individuals who live in it, not the business it seems to incorporate. Pullman had a disillusioned, egotistical regard for his workers. When asked about his intentions on building the model town, he commented: â€Å"Capital will not invest in sentiment, nor for sentimental considerations for the laboring class. But let it once be proved that enterprises of this kind are safe and profitable and we shall see great manufacturing corporations developing similar enterprises and thus a new era will be introduced in the history of labor.†Pullman never seemed to grasp how a workingman’s happiness must be fulfilled on a much deeper level than his mere physical settings. The leisurely enjoyment of oneself as well as an overall establishment of identity was the key. When Pullman planned his model town, it was a dream which he envisioned for himself. A dream which would increase his wealth, improve his business and make him renowned. In his heart, he might have never intentionally wanted to socially deprive his work force; it just so happened that the planning of the town did not take this into proper consideration.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
The Different Motivational Theories
This model, namely expectancy theory, suggests that individuals, acting through self-interest, adopt courses of action perceived as maximizing the probability of desirable outcomes for themselves. This desire to maximize self-interest provides aspiring leaders with unique opportunities to assume leadership roles by simultaneously meeting both follower needs and organizational requirements. We intend to explicitly link expectancy theory and leadership concepts to demonstrate that leader interactions with followers permit the establishment of highly motivational working environments. In so doing, individuals acquire the means to transcend their traditional roles of supervisor, manager, or follower, and realize their potentials as leaders. In order to remain competitive at home or within the global market, we must stop relegating in our minds the functions of leadership to the office of the president or CEO of the organization. Instead, we must come to view the leadership role as part of every employee's job, at all levels of the organization. (Isaac, Zerbe & Pitt, 2001, p. 212) Since its origins in the 1960s Equity Theory held forth the promise of helping to explain how employees respond to situations in which they perceive they are being rewarded more or less favorably in comparison to a referent doing similar work. Shortly after its inception, Weick (1966) deemed it to be one of the most useful existing organizational behavior theories. Subsequent reviews concluded that the empirical evidence supporting Equity Theory was generally strong, especially with regards to how workers respond to under-reward situations. Equity Theory proposed that subjects respond to under-reward situations in various ways in an attempt to bring their equity ratio back into balance. For example, subjects may choose a behavioral response to help reduce their feelings of inequity. They may respond in such ways as reducing their inputs (i. e. , not put forth as much effort) or increasing their outcomes (i. e. , ask for a raise). Subjects may instead use a cognitive response to reduce feelings of inequity such as selecting another person to use as their referent. Ultimately the subject may choose to exit the situation by deciding to transfer or quit the organization. Allen & White, 2002) Although previous Equity Theory research has concluded that under-rewarded subjects generally respond in a manner that is consistent with classic Equity Theory, it is not easy to predict which option they will select to bring their equity ratio into balance. This lack of specificity regarding what responses individuals experiencing inequity are likely to have is a serious shortcoming of the original Equity Theory. As such, the original Equity Theory eventually fell out of favor due in part to this inability to predict exactly how individuals would respond to an under-reward situation (e. . , lower their inputs, attempt to raise their outcomes, cognitively justifying the situation, decide to leave the organization). This lack of predictive ability of Equity Theory makes it much less useful to practitioners such as managers and human resource professionals who would greatly benefit if they could accurately predict the reactions that their employees would have to different inequitable situations. Accordingly, research on the topic of Equity Theory moved off in another direction. Inspired by legal research, the procedural justice stream of research began to focus more on the processes and procedures of how pay and recognition are determined, rather than the reactions that individuals have to them. Equity Theory research became less popular and eventually withered away. (Allen & White, 2002) While changing organizational culture is not an easy process, it can be accomplished by emphasizing a commitment to the individual employee. Despite the literature's heavy emphasis on the private sector, many of the elements of Theory Z can be found in public organizations. This article describes one city's effort to change culture by emphasizing fair treatment of organizational members, employee involvement, two-way communication, employees' personal development and recognition and camaraderie. During the past decade, organizations in the American society have faced great uncertainty. The challenge of meeting the increasing competition of the Japanese and Western Europeans in the international marketplace, massive reordering of corporations through leveraged acquisitions and consolidations, and rapidly changing technology have impacted organizational life in the private sector. Public sector organizations have faced the effects of the new federalism, the Tax Reform Act of 1986, taxpayer revolts, and numerous other events and actions which have caused disruption. These demands on American organizations, especially those coming from foreign competition, have forced leaders to question their management abilities and their organizations' commitment to excel. As part of this introspection, an examination of the underlying values, beliefs, and attitudes of organizations has been undertaken, especially in the popular, non-academic literature (Watson & Burkhalter, 1992) Job Design for service employees has been categorized as a â€Å"production line†approach or an â€Å"empowerment†approach (Bowen & Lawler, 1992). The production line approach, as its name implies, is based on a Tayloristic view. It is based on four tenets  simple tasks, clear division of labor, substitution of equipment and systems for employees, and little decision-making discretion of employees. This design seeks to gain customer satisfaction through efficiency, consistency, and low costs. It is imperative with the production line job design that IT is installed as a part of that design so as to facilitate matching it to the service encounters anticipated. The number and nature of the options from which the employee chooses should then be limited to matching the constraints on their decision-making authority. Any access to additional information would not only be of no use; it would actually deter efficiency. For example, if all hamburgers are prepared to the same degree of doneness, giving a customer encounter person the option of asking a customer how he/she would like the meat cooked would slow down the process. In fast food, cash registers (which also communicate orders to the backroom) prompt order-takers through the decisions that are allowable. Thus, the more standardized the service the more easily circumscribed technologically it can be(5) because the reality of the encounter is simple and presumed to be more easily captured than encounters in which provided services are customized and the outcome of any one such encounter is variable. The more circumscribed technologically the service is, the more efficiently the service can be performed but the more dependent upon the circumscribing technology customer encounter service personnel become. Mechling & Little, 2000, p. 65) The Two-factor Theory, or Motivation and Hygiene Theory, purports to differentiate between intrinsic and extrinsic aspects of the job. The authors referred to the intrinsic factors as content or motivators, and they include: achievement, advancement, the work itself, responsibility, and recognition. The extrinsic factors were referred to as hygiene has and included: company policy and administration, technical supervision, working conditions, salary, and interpersonal supervision. (Maidani, 1991) the applicability of Herzberg's Two-factor Theory of job Satisfaction among public and private sector employees. The study, therefore was designed to investigate the job content (motivators or intrinsic) and job context (hygiene or extrinsic) factors contributing to job satisfaction among those employees. Furthermore, the study attempted to determine whether using this instrument would yield the same results as those of Herzberg et al. (1959) using the critical incidents techniques. Hypothesis 1 was supported. Significant differences were found due to the fact that the satisfied group values motivator significantly more than the dissatisfied group. A t-value of 1. 98 indicated that a significant difference existed between the two groups. Hypothesis 2 was not supported. No significant differences were found between the satisfied and dissatisfied employees relating to value placed on hygiene factors. Hypothesis 3 was not supported as no significant differences were found between private and public sector employees on the value placed on motivator factors. (Maidani, 1991) The expectancy theory – formulated by Edward C Tolman in the 1930s – (whereby behavior rests on the instinctive tendency for individuals to balance the value of expected benefits against the expenditure of energy) falls into the same ‘stimulus-response' approach to motivation. It demonstrates that an individual's strength of motivation can be affected by the expectations of outcomes from certain actions and further strengthened by the individuals preferred outcome, as demonstrated by Victor H. Vroom in the 1960s. Individuals are consciously self-interested in the outcomes of their actions. For example, a worker may put in extra time and effort to a project and expect to be paid more money. That is his desired reward and what he expects. If he does not receive, what he expects his motivational level will fall dramatically. Elton Mayo, in the Hawthorne experiments concluded that individuals adjusted their motivational levels to fit in with the group. The individual values the approval and acceptance of others and will conform to the groups motivational standards in order to ‘fit in'. One important point about expectancy theory is that individual perceptions can be very different, and the motivation and behavior of individuals will vary considerably. It pays, therefore, in external stimuli to bear in mind that: 1. he routes to desired outcomes for individuals and teams are clear; and 2. individuals perceive the rewards or punishments in different ways according to their own values. There is a great need to treat people as individuals but as the 50:50 rule also indicates, other motivational factors should always be set in the context of the individual's managed environment. Leaders have a vital role to play in creating a motivational environment in which their team members can excel by in turn using the motivation within themselves. To be able to do this, we as leaders need to begin by looking at ourselves and getting our contribution right before we can criticize others. (Thomas, 2004, p. 61) Process models are based on the important insight that responses to (persuasive) messages do not only take the form of controlled, capacity-intensive cognitive processes, or only the form of simple automatic processes involving little working memory. Message processing may be dominated by either form, or it may blend the two, depending on our ability and motivation to think about the substance of a message. Affective processes appear to (a) influence levels of motivation and ability to process in a thoughtful manner, (b) guide the retrieval of information from memory, and (c) provide cues to simple responses (Babrow, 1993, p. 111) Dialectical perspectives on communication also embody multiple- process theory. Of course, dialectical analyses of one sort or another have been discussed for centuries (see Adler, 1952). As numerous dialectical thinkers have pointed out, however, several themes are consistent in these writings; these themes exemplify some of the most desirable potentialities of multiple- process theory. The most elemental theme in dialectical thinking is that of opposition; â€Å"dialectic either begins or ends with some sort of intellectual conflict, or develops and resolves around such oppositions†( Adler, 1952 , p. 350). Dialectical opposites are â€Å"mutually conditioning†(the occurrence, existence, or meaning of one pole is conditioned by its opposite) and at the same time â€Å"mutually excluding†. For instance, sound presupposes but also excludes silence, and so too for amity and enmity, motion and stillness. (Babrow, 1993, p. 15) All of these theories thrive on the perception of the individual working to better themselves in some way. They differ in their methods, some look at how the individual will work for recognition, advancement, or just for encouragement. All of these methods are effective means of making individuals and groups work more efficiently. However, it is important to point out that each method does not work for the same situation. One must be able to differentiate between the theories in order to determine the best means.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Contract and Chicago Medical School Essay
Facts: In December 1973 Robert Steinberg, the plaintiff, applied for admissions to the Chicago Medical School. He paid an application fee of $15, but his application was rejected. After being rejected he filed against the school, claiming that they did not evaluate his application according to the academic entrance criteria printed in the school’s bulletin. Steinberg argues that the school based its decision primarily on nonacademic consideration such as family connections between the applicant and his family to donate large sums of money to the school. Steinberg assets that by evaluating his application to these unpublished criteria, the school breached the contract it had created when it accepted his application fee. The trail court granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss, and Steinberg appealed. Issue: What is a contract? Rules: Mutual Assent- the parties to a contract must by show of words or condut that they have agreed to enter a contract. The usual method of mutual assent is by offering and acceptance. Consideration- each party to a contract must intentionally exchange a legal benefit or incur a legal deteriment as an inducement to the other party to make a renturn change. THIS FOR THAT basically. Legality of subject matter- the purpose of a contract must be not criminal, tortuous, or otherwise against public policy Capacity- the parties to a contract must have mental understanding of what they are entering into. Application: The contract that Steinberg and Chicago Medical School entered into meets the four requirements for a contractual contract. Therefore it is binding and legally enforceable. Conclusion: The court agreed with Steinberg’s position and that both parties did indeed enter a enforceable contract and under this contract by accepting the application fee the school must evaluate give him valuable consideration and his application evaluation was to be based on the criteria stated in the school’s bulletin. Steinberg accepted the school’s promises in good faith and he was.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Clinical Sexual Misconduct
Clinical Sexual Misconduct Free Online Research Papers Sexual misconduct is a term for variety different sexual acts. This is a problem that lies in clinical, legal, and ethical judgment of a person. One of the many types of misconduct occurs in professional relationships. When a physician advances sexual acts upon a client or patient this constitutes as sexual misconduct. This type of behavior is obviously wrong and unacceptable. In the case outlined in the text concerning a dentist’s inappropriate sexual contact; there was evidence that while under dental care the practitioner engaged in physical and sexual relationship with five different patients. This type of thing happens more than some may think. In this case there was an obvious wrong due to the ages of the patients. The dentist advanced to patients from age seven to fifteen (Pozgar, 269). This would not only constitute as misconduct, but also a statutory case. Transference and counter transference is one of most important aspects of treatment between patient and practitioner. Transference is defined as the redirection of feelings and desires and especially of those unconsciously retained from childhood toward a new object (Merriam-Webster). Counter transference is when a practitioner has complex feelings toward the patient (Merriam-Webster). In a clinical setting we do not always notice these occurrences. Sigmund Freud coined the term in 1910 in The Future Prospects of Psycho-Analytic Therapy. The term later expanded to include unconscious hostile and/or erotic feelings toward a patient that interferes with the treatment and or professional relationship. Counter transference can be the feelings that a provider shows toward his or her patient, and also includes cases where the therapist takes on the suffering and pain of his/her patient. An example of this would be a patient that was a victim of a rape. We as their provider while lis tening to their situation would put ourselves in their shoes and feel the pain and the torture that the patient felt. Training, knowledge, and their education give physicians a sense of power. Patients come to their physicians fearful and vulnerable. Secrets are revealed, clothes are removed, and skin is touched. Physicians are trusted to serve their patient’s best interests. Physicians may use these events to further scar a person for nothing more than their own personal pleasure. Sexual misconduct by physicians can create a false sense of security that is ultimately detrimental to the patient. This can scar a patient from ever trusting a healthcare provider of any kind. Not to mention that this goes against any health care professionals ethics and oaths (such as the Hippocratic Oath). In 1990 the American Medical Association (AMA) council on ethical and judicial affairs released their report Sexual misconduct in the practice of medicine. The AMA Council decided that sexual contact or a romantic relationship conducted while in the care of a physician is unethical. A romantic relationship with a former patient may be considered unethical, but this would depend on the circumstances. Sexual misconduct is also discussed in medical training programs. Reporting these offenders is an important responsibility that should be upheld. Most physicians agree that sexual relationships should not be part of the physicians of this may be an inappropriate joke or a comment about a woman’s tight clothing. These things seem like they are harmless, but still are considered inappropriate. If the comment has no diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, it should not be stated. Some actions that should be avoided include hugging, romantic kissing, touching any sexualized body part for any purpose other than examination or treatment. Discounting or offering medical-related services or prescriptions in exchange for sex is unacceptable. The AMA states that a physicians ethical duties include terminating the physician-patient relationship before initiating a dating, romantic, or sexual relationship with the patient. A relationship with a former patient is unethical if it uses or exploits trust, knowledge, emotions, or influence derived from the previous professional relationship. The AMA does not address the appropriate length of time between the termination of the physician-patient relationship and the initiation of a romantic or sexual relationship. Regardless of the conduct or consent of a patient, the physician is felt to be in the more powerful position in the relationship and thus responsible for even consensual boundary violations. A physician within the facility that I work for is the prime example of this. I will refer to this physician as Dr. Jones for confidentiality reasons. Dr. Jones had a lucrative practice. He was one of two specialists in his area of expertise in a wide area. He was very good at his job and he was liked personally by everyone that I would speak with. Mr. Jones had a professional patient relationship with Mrs. Doe. Ms. Doe’s medical problems were under control but she did need to come back and follow up with the single physician often. There was a point when they started chatting at the visits about their personal lives. That turned in to emails and then phone conversations; then a mutual kiss. After the kiss the physician thought that it would be a good idea to refer to another physician. Over about a year and a half the relationship was consensual as they mutually conducted a sexual relationship. Mrs. Doe was married. The physician however; was a single man. There relationship went on for about six months or so and then Mr. Doe, Ms. Doe’s husband, learned of the affair and made Mrs. Doe report Dr. Jones to th e State Medical Board. Most people would look at this as two consensual people entering into a relationship; there was enough emails and correspondence produced to prove that Mrs. Doe entered into this relationship willingly; so what is the problem? They are both consenting adults. She was the married party she was the one in the wrong right? Wrong! Physicians are held to a higher professional standard. As soon as he started to experience those feelings he should have referred her to another physician. Not after he had already crossed the ethical line. That is why his license is now suspended for a minimum of six months and he is required to do all types of ethics training. Just goes to show you that this type of thing happens and is taken very seriously. When in doubt refer the patient. I hold a medical license in the State of Ohio that I worked very hard for. I can see very easily how things like this can happen. I have been on both sides of this example. As a massage therapist I take the sexual jokes of friends and my friends friends’. I will say that it is a fine line when you are working with people’s bodies. I constantly ask questions and explain my procedures very clearly before a session takes place. I have had to refer a patient to another therapist because the lines of professional and personal seemed to be a bit blurry and not even on a sexual level on a personal one. I have been in situations that a client was looking for more than a therapeutic relationship and I had to end the session. These types of things do happen but my medical license, my integrity, and name are not worth the risk. References Pozar, George D. (2010). Legal and Ethical Issues for Healthcare Professionals. 2nd ed. Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Sudbury. transference. (2010). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved February 1, 2010, from merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transference countertransference. (2010). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved February 1, 2010, from merriam-webster.com/dictionary/countertransference .. Retrieved February 1, 2010, from http://classics.mit.edu/Hippocrates/hippooath.html .. Retrieved February 1, 2010, from ama-assn.org/ .. Retrieved February 1, 2010, from ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/medical-ethics/code-medical-ethics/opinion814.shtml .. Retrieved February 1, 2010, from med.ohio.gov/ Research Papers on Clinical Sexual MisconductArguments for Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS)The Fifth HorsemanThree Concepts of PsychodynamicCapital PunishmentInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesGenetic EngineeringPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andAnalysis Of A Cosmetics Advertisement
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