Taking a Stance on Capital Punishment Essay Example for Free

Taking a Stance on Capital Punishment Essay Who are we to decide who should live and who should die? Who are we to decide that the punishment should not fit the crime? Who are we to consider mercy for the merciless? These are just a few questions I would love to be able to ask someone like Carrie Marie Scott, Janna Bruce, or Sheila Whalen but I can not, they all were murdered by Stephen Peter Morin. Stephen was one of the â€Å"botched† executions by lethal injection. It took the technicians almost 45 minutes to find a suitable vein to administer the sentence. I wonder how long it took his three victims to die as he raped and tortured them in a van he sound proofed. As for the time he suffered on the table getting needles stuck in him, I hope it does not happen to anyone that did not torture and kill three innocent people. Where is the humanity for the victims? Then there is the botched execution of John Wayne Gacy. This man tortured and killed over 25 people after his first conviction of child molestation in 1968; yet it is inhumane that his execution took 18 minutes longer to complete than normal because of a clogged IV tube? Perhaps we should ask the family of his victims if it took longer than 18 minutes for them to get over the death of their loved ones. Where is the humanity for the victims? What of the Hodges family? Richard Hodges and his 75 year old mother Mildred were both murdered by suffocation by Bert Leroy Hunter and Tomas Ervin. On December 15th, 1988; Hunter and Ervin broke into the Hodges’ family home at gun point to rob them. The Hodges’ were bound with duct tape and had plastic bags put over their heads causing them to suffocate. Death by suffocation can take upwards of eight minutes to happen; try holding your breath for a minute and you will realize the agony of this death. When hunter was executed his body convulsed violently; but this is the inhumane aspect of this entire ordeal. I feel that I would be cheating the family if I did not mention that this crime was committed after Hunter got out of jail for his first conviction of murder and in jail is where he met his accomplice Ervin. Where is the humanity for the victims? What is a lethal injection? It is a very basic process where Sodium Thiopental is used to put the person to sleep, then Pancuronium is administered to paralyze the muscles, and Potassium Chloride is used to stop the heart; if this is not given the person would die of asphyxiation from the Pancuronium. The person has an IV in both arms although one is only used as a backup in case the main fails. The person on the execution table will always have one right that he or she did not allow their victim to have; the right to die with their dignity. When you look at the very basic facts of this, that no one should take a life; everything is very simple. When people say that â€Å"this poor person died on the execution table in a horrible way;† it is really easy to take a stance and say that it is wrong. The problem is that this is a heavily flawed perspective based on initial reactions without digging further and finding the details about how the ended up on that execution table in the first place. It all comes down to protecting the ones we are supposed to protect; the people who do NOT break the law and their rights have far been overlooked for rights of the ones who victimized them. So you ask for a stance and I will take one: Killing people is wrong, but the people who have killed people should not have a voice in their treatment of way they die; their victims did not. I support lethal injection and capital punishment. So long as people are willing to kill other people in cold blood; I am willing to see them off to their demise and not stand in the way.

Importance of Trees Essay Example for Free

Importance of Trees Essay Trees are the largest and longest living organisms on earth. To grow tall the tree has become a miracle of engineering and a complex chemical factory. It is able to take water and salts out of the earth and lift them up to the leaves, sometimes over 400 ft above. By means of photosynthesis the leaves combine the water and salts with carbon dioxide from the air to produce the nutrients which feed the tree. In this process, as well as wood, trees create many chemicals, seeds and fruit of great utility to man. Trees also remove carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, from the air. Trees are of continued importance to the environment. Tropical rain forests have of particular significance; although they now occupy less than 6 per cent of the land surface of the earth they probable sustain more than half of the biological species on the planet. Notwithstanding the debt we owe to trees, their emotive power, and their importance to other forms of life, the forested area of the earth is steadily being depleted. This is leading to the degradation of the environment and the extinction of many species. There is now a real danger that in the not very distant future man will destroy a large proportion of the present population of species on earth, create an uninhabitable environment, and then die out himself. If this happens it will not be the first time that a large proportion of the species on the earth have been extinguished. Trees are our best friends. They play a very important role in our life. We can not live without them. They give us timber, paper and firewood. Timber is used in making houses, train compartments, big boxes, tools etc. Without paper life may be difficult for us. Paper is necessary for study and writing. People in villages use firewood to cook meals. They use wood to build houses, huts, carts and agriculture tools. Trees also give us food, gum and medicine. They also add to the beauty of life. Gardens can not be charming without them. We need them for oxygen and good health. Trees also help to control pollution: They absorb carbon dioxide. They improve our environment. They cause rainfall and protect water resources under the ground. They prevent floods and droughts. Therefore, we should try our best to grow more trees. Govt. and social welfare societies should start a movement. There should be awards for those persons who grow more trees. The Importance of Your Trees Trees are natures air conditioners. In one year the average tree inhales 26 pounds of carbon dioxide, the amount emitted by a car on an 11,000 mile trip.

Enablers and Inhibitors to Knowledge Management

Enablers and Inhibitors to Knowledge Management Enabling organizations to capture, share, and apply collective experience and know-how of people is emerging as fundamental to competing in the knowledge economy. There is a growing recognition in the business community about the importance of knowledge management. As a result, there is growing enthusiasm and activity centered on knowledge management. Some organizations have taken initiatives to understand and manage this critical resource. But, in spite of these initiatives, several organizations particularly the Small and Medium Enterprises still have not approached knowledge management activity formally or deliberately. The cause for this sluggishness towards knowledge management could be that most organizations are still struggling to comprehend the knowledge management concept. The reason for this confusion may be attributed to a gap between the emerging concept of knowledge management and the lack of understanding about it. To bridge the gap, the fundamental issue of identifyin g salient characteristics of knowledge management phenomena needs to be addressed. The key thesis is that enablers of the knowledge management paradigm often unravel inhibitors in adapting and evolving knowledge management systems for business environments that are characterized by high uncertainty and radical discontinuous change. This paper thus, explores by presenting a hierarchical model the enablers, inhibitors and identifies critical success factors necessary for a successful knowledge management initiative. The paper uses the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method to ascertain the relative importance of the influential factors towards a successful Knowledge Management implementation. Keywords: Knowledge Management Systems, Critical Success Factors, Analytic Hierarchy Process 1. Introduction The information era has caused enterprises to realize the shift from resource economy of controlling land, machines, factories, raw materials, and labor forces to the knowledge economy of creating business value through utilization of intangible knowledge. This has caused knowledge management to be of crucial importance and it has grabbed peoples attention and generated significant discussions both in the academia and industry. The true creation of business value today mainly comes from knowledge and its management. Knowledge is critical in obtaining competitive advantage within an enterprise (Sang and Hong, 2002), enterprises should consider the knowledge to be a critical resource and leverage it judiciously (Gupta et al., 2000; Liebowitz, 2003). To facilitate the knowledge accumulation process, enterprises must encourage employees to share their experience and knowledge with others meanwhile accumulating their knowledge as an organizational asset. Therefore, the activities of knowledge management should enable the creation, communication, and application of knowledge; and they should drive the capability of creating and retaining a greater value onto the core business competencies (Tiwana, 2001). However, there are concerns about enablers and inhibitors to implementing knowledge management for enterprises. In the process of carrying out knowledge management, organizations face varying conditions of corporate culture, workflow processes, and integration of all the employees knowledge. They also need strong support from top management, because it is possible that during the process they will encounter resistance from employees. Organizations also need to increase the usage of information technology in order to help the problem regarding the flow of information. Wong, (2005) suggest the need for a more systematic and deliberate study on the critical success factors (CSFs) for implementing knowledge management is crucial. Organizations need to be cognizant and aware of the factors that will influence the success of a knowledge management initiative. Ignorance and oversight of the necessary important factors will likely hinder an organizations effort to realize its full benefit. Wong, (2005) also indicate that previous studies of critical success factors (CSFs) for knowledge management implementation have been heavily focused on large companies. This is because most of the early adopters and superior performers of knowledge management were in fact large and multinational corporations. As such, existing factors are mainly large companies oriented, thereby reflecting their situations and needs. Directly applying these factors into the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) environment may not be sufficient without an understanding of their very own and specific conditions. Previous studies fall short of studying and identifying the CSFs from the SMEs perspective. They have not considered the features, characteristics and situations of smaller firms. Nor have they explored other factors, which could potentially be more important for SMEs when accomplishing knowledge management. This paper evolves a model for critical success factors for knowledge management implementations in small medium enterprises (SMEs) based on a questionnaire survey. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) framework has been developed for finding the importance of the influential factors. AHP is an effective quantitative tool that helps to prioritize problems, issues or variables based on relevant criteria and alternatives. The applicability and usefulness of the AHP approach as a multi-criteria decision-making tool is well acknowledged in the management literature. The present work has adopted this tool for segregating a few critical aspects of knowledge management implementation from the inconsequential many, so that organizations could focus only on those dimensions that are crucial for their success instead of spending a large quantity of time, effort and resources in mindlessly concentrating on peripheral issues. Hence the objectives of this paper are two-fold: To identify the criteria for the AHP model with respect to issues relating to critical success factors for knowledge management implementations in SMEs To present an AHP framework for absolute measurement of priorities in order to critically evaluate the issues relating to critical success factors for knowledge management implementations in SMEs. 2. Review of Literature 2.1 Enablers to Knowledge Management As organizations embark into managing their knowledge they need to be clear of the factors that influence knowledge management, which are known as knowledge management enablers. Enablers are the driving force in carrying out knowledge management, they do not just generate knowledge in the organization by stimulating the creation of knowledge, but they also motivate the employees to share their knowledge and experiences with one another, allowing organizational knowledge to grow concurrently and systematically (Ichijo et al., 1998; Stonehouse and Pemberton, 1999). Knowledge management enablers are the mechanism for the organization to develop its knowledge and also stimulate an environment within the organization for the creation and protection of knowledge. They are also the necessary building blocks in the improvement of the effectiveness of activities for knowledge management (Ichijo et al., 1998; Stonehouse and Pemberton, 1999). Knowledge management enablers include the methods of knowledge management, organizational structure, corporate culture, information technology, people, and strategies, etc. (Bennett and Gabriel, 1999; Zack, 1999; Davenport, 1997; Long, 1997). A study by Yu et al. (2007) identified a set of critical enablers such as knowledge management team activity, learning orientation, knowledge management system quality, and knowledge management reward for developing organizational capabilities of knowledge management. These critical enablers have a significant, positive influence on knowledge management performance. Research done by Yeh et al. (2006) concludes that strategy and leadership, corporate culture, people, and information technology are four of the enablers in knowledge management. They found that for the strategy and leadership enabler the most important part is to obtain the support of the top managers. For the corporate culture enabler, the important part is the forming of a culture of sharing but needs to be supplemented by information technology. For the people enabler, other than the training courses, the channels of learning and the incentive program for the employees are also key factors. As for the information technology enabler, the speedy search of knowledge for its re-use is becoming more and more important. In practice they discovered that the establishment of a dedicated unit is also a key enabler, and this enabler mainly plays the role of furthering knowledge management, taking communication, and coordinating with other departments as its duty. 2.2 Inhibitors to Knowledge Management The biggest inhibitor to knowledge management implementation arises from unwillingness of people to systematically organize their knowledge. Since, this cannot be solved with technology, different kinds of work are needed. Examples include the promotion of knowledge management amongst people, or requiring top management to give their people pressure to implement knowledge management (Yeh et al., 2006). Chatzoglou and Diamantidis (2009) conducted research that focused on the IT impact on firms non-financial IT risk. Their results indicate that IT risk factors affect mainly coordination and partially information ability but not productivity. Furthermore, the most significant risk factors affecting business performance are management ability, information integrity, controllability and exclusivity. Lin et al. (2005) suggest inhibitors in implementing the knowledge management arise out of strategic, perception, planning and implementation issues. The results of their research reveal that: From the strategic aspect, the upper management should address the enterprises strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats, and then formulate a suitable knowledge management strategy. Furthermore, they should be equipped with information about the activities and performance throughout the organization. From the perception aspect, the critical task of the top managers is to identify the core knowledge required to maintain competitive advantage. Employees and top managers work together for a common goal; thus, employee efforts can guarantee a successful implementation of the knowledge management. Therefore, an organization should provide suitable training and resources to the employees, and use information technology to provide a friendly repository to standardize and store knowledge. The organization should also establish an atmosphere emphasizing knowledge sharing and innovation and encouraging employees to form such a culture through a reward system. From the planning aspect, the action plan should include schedule, people involved and resources required, although it is difficult to transfer the necessary knowledge to the knowledge management plan due to non-standardization. Employees orientation toward knowledge management, including the awareness of the importance and benefits of knowledge management and IT skills for knowledge management process, should be completely addressed. Knowledge-oriented employee assessments can also fail if they are not linked closely to existing incentive systems. The company should take steps to build up the trust of the knowledge owners by associating knowledge sharing to pay and incentives. From the implementation aspect, a robust set of metrics that evaluates the value of the knowledge management after implementation will need to be developed. It is essential that the top managers instill in the employees the importance and benefits of knowledge management. Employees often fear that if they pass on their knowledge to others, they will endanger their own position, authority, even power in the organization. Training and communication are essential to calm down employees fears of change, and perhaps to help them to enjoy new ways of working with their colleagues. Thus, firms need to create the right circumstance around the organization, primarily in the areas of knowledge management activities and culture. Jennex and Zakharova (2005) suggest a holistic approach that addresses critical elements such as an effective technological infrastructure; integrating the technology infrastructure into everyday processes; having an enterprise-wide knowledge structure or taxonomy; a knowledge management strategy; knowledge management metrics of success and identification of inhibitors of knowledge usage. Lang (2001) identified several inhibitors to knowledge creation and utilization in organizations. First, there may be inadequate care of those organizational relationships that promote knowledge creation. Second, there may be insufficient linkage between knowledge management and corporate strategy. Thirdly, inaccurate valuation of the contribution that knowledge makes to organizations profits renders the value of knowledge management ambiguous. Fourthly, there may be a pervasive lack of holism in knowledge management efforts. Finally perhaps not something ordinarily considered a problem for managers to deal with -poor verbal skills may hinder the actual processes of knowledge creation. Plessis, (2007) feel that the management of the inhibitors to knowledge management would need to be a mix of cultural, organizational, process, management and technology initiatives. The challenge is to select and combine the methods and approaches available, and harness them to address the organizations business needs. 2.3 Critical Success Factors for Knowledge Management Generic critical success factors exist for knowledge management; however, each organizational environment and culture is unique and presents unique critical success factors. Co-creation with all relevant stakeholders is extremely important on this road to understand the organizational culture and idiosyncrasies well before embarking on a knowledge management journey, as far as possible. Critical success factors specific to an environment are, however, often only identified once the journey has started, and it is thus important for a knowledge management strategy to be flexible to take these factors into account. The end state will be different than the original strategy and roadmap for an organizational knowledge management implementation due to these unique critical success factors. Adaptability and flexibility to take unique critical success factors into account will therefore be a critical success factor in itself (Plessis , 2007). As asserted by Frey (2001), although large organizations have led the way in introducing and implementing knowledge management, it is increasingly important for small businesses to manage their collective intellect. Okunoye and Karsten (2002) stated that knowledge management has indeed become the underlying sources for successful organizations regardless of their size and geographical locations. Therefore, a better understanding of the CSFs for implementing it in SMEs is needed in order to ensure the success of their efforts. Wong, (2005) has grouped the critical success factors into a number of generic factors such as management leadership and support, culture, technology, strategy, measurement, roles and responsibilities, etc. These are common in knowledge management efforts and therefore, they are also believed to be applicable to SMEs. He suggests that one should also consider the needs and situations of SMEs when developing CSFs for them. Wong, (2005) proposes a comprehensive model for implementing knowledge management in SMEs. They are: management leadership and support; culture; IT; strategy and purpose; measurement; organizational infrastructure; processes and activities; motivational aids; resources; training and education; and HRM. Recently (He and Wei, 2009) discussed that Knowledge Management System users beliefs are contextually differentiated, and a distinction between knowledge contribution and knowledge-seeking behaviors and an adequate emphasis on their variance in terms of user belief is needed. Yang et al. (2009) identified crucial knowledge management enablers and examined their impacts on organizational performance. Chen et al. (2009) proposed an approach of measuring a technology universitys knowledge management performance from competitive perspective. Their approach integrates analytical network process with balanced scorecard that contains four perspectives, including customer perspective, internal business perspective, innovation and learning perspective, and financial perspective. Chang et al. (2009) investigates the key factors for knowledge management in the national government of Taiwan. Their study relied on two distinctive dimensions: core KM processes (organizational missions and values, IT applications, documentation, process management, and human resource) and KM performance (knowledge capture and transformation, business performance, and knowledge sharing and value addition). Wen (2009) developed an AHP model for the measurement of the effectiveness of Knowledge Management in Taiwanese high-tech enterprises. Thus, what emerges from the review of literature is the following: There are both enablers and inhibitors to knowledge management implementations in SMEs. Both enablers and inhibitors may be classified essentially into three broad categories technical, human, and financial. Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for knowledge management implementations are different for SMEs from that of large organizations. Critical Success Factors (CSFs) also depend on the management of the enablers and the inhibitors. Thus, it is beneficial for the SME to build a framework that would be used to prioritize the enablers and inhibitors towards a successful knowledge management initiative. For this reason we propose the AHP framework to prioritize influential factors contributing to a SMEs initiative towards the implementation of knowledge management. 3. Framework for Knowledge Management implementation Any successful managerial implementation requires management of enablers and the inhibitors. Similarly, in case of knowledge management it is important to have the information about the influential factors (enablers and inhibitors) for the successful implementation of knowledge management. Not all of the influential factors are equally important for the successful knowledge management. For this reason we have used the AHP framework for finding the importance of the influential factors. AHP has been widely used as an analytical tool for decisions related to knowledge management. Recent work by Wen (2009) in presenting an effectiveness measurement model for knowledge management using AHP is a contribution in this direction. In AHP the complex decision is structured into a hierarchy descending from an overall objective to various influential factors, sub-factors, and so on, until the lowest level. The objective or the overall goal of the decision is represented at the top level of the hierarchy. The factors and sub-factors contributing to the decision are represented at the intermediate levels. Finally, the decision alternatives or selection choices are laid down at the last level of the hierarchy. According to Saaty (2000), a hierarchy can be constructed by creative thinking, recollection, and using peoples perspectives. It should be noted that there is no set procedures for generating the levels to be included in the hierarchy. The structure of the hierarchy depends upon the nature or type of managerial decisions. Also, the number of the levels in a hierarchy depends on the complexity of the problem being analyzed and the degree of detail of the problem that an analyst requires to solve. As such, the h ierarchy representation of a system may vary from one person to another. In the present study the influential factors are determined via widespread investigations and consultations with various experts, and owner/managers of SMEs. Synthesizing the literature review from (Chang et al., 2009; Chatzoglou, and Diamantidis, 2009; Chen et al. 2009; He and Wei, 2009; Lai et al., 2009; Wen, 2009; Yang et al., 2009), the opinions of the experts and owner/managers are employed to obtain the two main factors: enablers and inhibitors. From these factors, 6 influential sub-factors for the successful implementation of knowledge management are briefly described as follows (refer to Figure 1 for complete hierarchical structure): Enablers (C1): This factor includes three sub-factors, C11: technical; C12: human; C13: financial. Inhibitors (C2): This factor includes three sub-factors, C21: technical; C22: human; C23: financial. According to the AHP methodology, weights (priorities) can be determined using a pair-wise comparison within each pair of factors. To determine the relative weights, owner/managers can be asked to make pair-wise comparisons using a 1-9 preference scale (Saaty, 2000). However, in the present study for the pair-wise comparison, we have relied on actual data, that is, the data extracted from the questionnaire survey. The advantage of using actual data (quantitative data) over preference scale for pair-wise comparison eliminates the need for consistency checks (Saaty, 2000). Technical Human Financial Enablers Inhibitors Successful Knowledge Management Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Figure 1: Framework for Successful Knowledge Management Implementation 4. Methodology Data Source: The research used both secondary and primary data. An extensive literature survey was undertaken, which helped in framing the questionnaire for the primary data collection. The focus of the study was on primary data. Research approach: The survey method was used for the study. Our primary data has been gathered using questionnaire technique. Our target population is all small firms in the National Capital Territory of Delhi (India) with turnover ranging from Rs. 50 million to Rs. 250 million and employment levels between 15 and 50 employees. Specifically, we are targeting the owners or top managers at these firms. For the purposes of this research, we used a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire included 60 questions in two sections such as: [A] Enablers to Knowledge Management [B] Inhibitors to Knowledge Management Contact Method: The questionnaires were sent via email and were telephonically followed up. Sample Size: Amongst the 4263 companies (as per Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Prowess database) that belonged to the criteria in the entire country, 1039 such companies were located in the National Capital Region of Delhi, which included New Delhi, Delhi, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad and NOIDA. Due care has been taken to include only those companies that made the sample more representative thus, e-mail questionnaires were sent to 500 amongst these 1039 companies. 119 responses were received that formed the sample for the study. This is a 23.8% response rate, which is acceptable. Data Analysis: The data so collected were analyzed with the AHP techniques to arrive at weights (priorities). The following procedure has been adopted on the collected questionnaire survey data for pair-wise comparison of AHP. Firstly, we calculated the average value of 119 responses (preferences based on 5- point Likert scale) obtained for each question. These average values were calculated to describe the central location of an entire distribution of responses. Then for every said category we calculated the Composite Preference Value (out of 5) using the following relation: Composite Preference Value (CPF) = (Corrected Value à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Maximum Value) x 5 where, Calculated value = sum of the average values for the questions considered in a category. Maximum value = sum of the highest possible values that a respondent can choose for the questions considered in a category. 5. Research Findings The pair-wise comparison matrices showing the measure of each factors relative importance with respect to the overall objective of successful knowledge management is summarized in Table 1. For the pair-wise comparison of the factors and sub factors, we relied on inputs obtained from the survey. We consider two critical factors important for successful knowledge management: enablers and inhibitors. From the pair wise comparison the picture emerges that for successful knowledge management, enablers (50.86%) are marginally important over inhibitors (49.14%). The difference of relative importance being marginal suggests that enablers are important and inhibitors cannot be ignored. Thus it is important to harness the enablers about knowledge management and its associated benefits amongst owner/managers without loosing sight about the inhibitors for a successful knowledge management. Based on investigations and consultations with various experts and owner/managers of SMEs these critical factors (enablers and inhibitors) were further decomposed into three sub factors, namely, technical, human and financial for capturing reality (see Figure 1 for complete hierarchical structure). On pair-wise comparison of technical, human and financial sub factors corresponding to enablers; technical (37.07%) dominates the other sub factors, i.e. human (36.26%) and financial (26.67%). It implies that owner/managers of SMEs consider investments in technology as the ultimate solution to all problems. It may be noted that when the same technical, human and financial sub factors are compared pair-wise corresponding to inhibitors, financial sub factor (38.36%) dominates the other sub factors, technical (31.64%) and human (30.01%). The result suggests that financial considerations are predominant inhibitor towards embarking into knowledge management implementations. In what follows next, we use the bottom up approach to get the global relevance of technical, human and financial aspects towards successful knowledge management. Towards this we multiply the local relevance of technical, human and financial sub factors corresponding to their parent factors with the local relevance of the parent factors corresponding to overall objective, i.e. successful knowledge management. Finally, the obtained relevances of technical, human and financial aspects corresponding to the critical factors, i.e. enablers and inhibitors are added to get the global relevance. The results obtained for the global relevance of technical, human and financial aspects incorporating relevance of the critical factors, i.e. enablers and inhibitors; technical (34.40%) is most important followed by human (33.19%) and financial (32.41%). Owner/managers of SMEs need to prioritize their efforts towards successful knowledge management in terms of technical, human and financial aspects necessarily in that order: The owner/mangers of SMEs should work out strategies for successful knowledge management by optimizing the enablers aspect of technical sub factor while mitigating the inhibitors emerging out of the same sub factor. The owner/managers may focus on process improvement, system improvement, and business intelligence development on a priority basis. Simultaneously they should keep a watch on damage to knowledge infrastructure, copyright/patent infringement and data pilferage and theft. In terms of human sub factor the owner/managers should make necessary efforts to enhance employee competencies, satisfaction, and retention. At the same time they should endeavor to reduce employee turnover, corporate espionage and withdrawal of efforts on the part of the employees. Regarding financial sub factor the owner/managers should try their best to enhance return on investments on building knowledge infrastructure and promoting knowledge management practices while keeping operational costs under control. 6. Conclusion We have developed a hierarchical model for the implementation of successful knowledge management. In the proposed model, first we identified the influencing factors and sub factors for the implementation of successful knowledge management. For this we relied on critical literature review and opinion of experts, and owner/managers of SMEs. Survey has been conducted for getting responses of owner/managers towards the influential factors and sub-factors with a view to successfully implement knowledge management. Finally, these responses have been collated to find the composite preference value (CPF) used as weights for the pair-wise comparison of the factors and sub-factors in AHP. Based on the AHP results, we conclude the following for successful knowledge management in SMEs: Managing enablers and inhibitors are critical success factors for knowledge management in SMEs. Owner/managers need to harness the enablers but not be complacent towards inhibitors. Owner/managers consider technology implementation as a major enabler towards successful knowledge management. Owner/managers consider financial considerations as a major inhibitor towards successful knowledge management. Owner/managers need to prioritize their efforts towards successful knowledge management in terms of technical, human and financial aspects necessarily in that order The key thesis is that enablers of the knowledge management paradigm often unravel inhibitors in adapting and evolving knowledge management systems for business environments that are characterized by high uncertainty and radical discontinuous change. Specifically, the study identified the critical success factors as: process improvement, system improvement, and business intelligence, enhancing employee competencies, satisfaction, and retention, return on investments on building knowledge infrastructure. The study also identified that success cannot be achieved unless damage to knowledge infrastructure is prevented, copyright/patent infringement and data pilferage and theft is stopped, employee turnover, corporate espionage and withdrawal of efforts on the part of employees is reduced, and operational costs are under control. In the present study the model considered influential factors such as enablers and inhibitors. The subject of knowledge management being vast, many other factors may influence knowledge management besides the ones considered in the present study. Future research may be directed towards identifying several other influential factors with a view to identifying a comprehensive list of critical success factors for knowledge management. Also the present work has considered only the top down approach. Clear identification of influencing factors would need to consider a bottom up approach as well.

Partial Birth Abortion :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Partial Birth Abortion In the continuing debates on the legality and morality of abortion, "partial birth" abortions have become a hot topic. What exactly is a partial birth abortion? Nebraska state legislation defines it as "an abortion procedure in which the person performing the abortion partially delivers a living unborn child before killing the unborn child and completing delivery" (1). While this definition may be fine for legal purposes, it still does not address the actual procedures; we still do not know what an actual partial birth abortion procedure entails. The most common procedure is called Intact Dilation and Evacuation, or D&E. D&E involves dismembering the fetus inside the uterine cavity and then pulling it out through the already dilated cervix (1) . Another less common, but more controversial method is the dilation and extraction method, or D&X. This procedure requires a woman to take medication several days in advance to dilate the cervix. Once the cervix has dilated, she returns to complete the procedure. When she returns, the physician turns the fetus around in the uterus so that it is positioned feet first, and then delivers the fetus until only the head remains inside the mother's body. At this point, the physician punctures the base if the skull and suctions out the contents of the fetus' head, causing the skull to collapse. The dead fetus is then removed from the woman's body (2). In each case the head (or more) is left inside the woman's body because in order for a birth to have occurred under common law the head of the f etus must leave the mother's body. Under the current interpretation of the United States Constitution, a person must be born in order to be protected by the government, so by leaving the head in the mother's body the procedure is considered to be legally viable (1). Proponents of a ban on partial birth abortions cite what they see as the extreme cruelty of the procedures as violating the constitutional rights of the fetus. They believe that birth should be defined as occurring as soon as any part of the fetus' torso above the navel is visible, or when any of the fetus' body has left the mother (1). Many argue that since the fetus in undoubtedly alive during the procedure, the issue of whether or not an actual birth has occurred should be of little consequence (3).

Sexual Predators :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Sexual Predators Childhood is supposed to be a time of discovery and play, not abuse. Was there ever such a world? Sexual predators have been lurking this planet for decades; now they're being marked for life because of there actions. Neighbors and the home towns of sexual predators are being alerted of their crimes and whereabouts by local police. Such towns have responded by putting up signs in their town, "CHILD MOLESTER TWO DOORS DOWN" (Popkin, pg 73). Others responded by burning or flooding their new neighbors out (Popkin). What did these convicted criminals do to deserve such punishment? They violated the most precious living creature on this planet, a child. Communities definitely have a right to know that a dangerous child molester is moving to their town. Child molesters have been convicted, charged and sentenced for their crimes for many years. Maybe people already have one as their next door neighbor. Do people really know the people they live by so well, that they would leave their own child with them? Also, if they had a legal right to, would they check out their neighbor's history at the police office, or trust them? In the summer of 1994, seven-year-old Megan Kanka was kidnapped, raped, then killed by convicted child molester Jesse Timmendequas. Her story started many parents to question the safety of their own children. The outraged community was never informed that Timmendequas and two other convicted child abusers had moved in across the street from Megan (Megan Kanka). Megan's death lit her parents' fires to do something about notifying communities of convicted child molesters. They began to lobby for "Megan's Law", a law that would require immediate community notification of convicted child abusers, who were living in their area (Popkin). Some critics contend that the law is unconstitutional because it adds additional punishment to offenders (Megan's Unfinished Legacy). Other critics say that it would drive predators into hiding and away from seeking counsel. Child molester Scott Murphy said, "Without counseling, you're the same person when you go to jail as when you get out"(Popkin, pg.73). Before the passing of the law, a group of offenders appealed the judges' ruling that the notification was unconstitutional because it's intended to protect children, not further punish criminals (Megan's Unfinished Legacy). The law was passed. The biggest problem that police officers face is determining which released sex offenders are the most dangerous.

Essay --

There are numerous diverse courses for people to be well versed and trained with respect to particular data and capabilities they need for do the task which are responsible. These approaches include classroom statements with course readings, Pcs, handheld mechanisms, and other electronic approach. In recent years developer try to developed a new training method which is able to create basic work environment for employee. By rapidly moving social order where there is an incredible arrangement of accessible data and information, embracing and applying data at the correct time and opportune spot is required to fundamental productivity in both school and business settings. Augmented Reality (AR) is one technology that breathtakingly moves the area and timing of training. Augmented Reality (AR) is an influential user interface which is consolidating in to the reality and can be in the Pc created data ideal model improving a user's recognition environment. There are many type of VR with different user interfaces and present reality in a characteristic manner, concurrently utilizes the Pc to investigate identified data and to communicate with Pc created virtual objects. 1.1 Problem statement In many training environment using the augmented reality is common and now days many research are done or on-going to develop and improving this area. (Stytz, 2006) The current technology in augmented reality still not in perfect status the reason behind of this idea is lake of connectivity and sensory experience provided by the real world. In other hand the lack of collaborative and situation awareness and the coordination between trainers are another issue in this technology. To Provide better understanding for user of the environment training,... ...s dynamic diversion based learning in science (Klopfer, 2008; Squire & Jan, 2007). AR is additionally thought to help enhancing spatial capacity and mental revolution (Dà ¼nser, Steinbà ¼gl, Kaufmann, & Glà ¼ck, 2006). AR preparing is imperative in situations where the true, physical planet experience is important, e.g. in military operations (Brown, 2006) and in fragile medicinal operations (Yeo et al.,2011) AR system and provisions have been produced and connected to numerous instructive fields, for example AR science, science, math, and history in K-12 trainings and mechanical designing in higher training. moderately not many studies have been defeated the selection and the convenience of AR system and advancements in streamlined preparing. Both military preparing and fabricate in maintenance lives up to expectations are the main pertinent territories of AR to data.

The present situation in iraq

The Iraq's general condition, including economic and political condition is bad[1]. During the years Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, there was a great dramatic fall of its economy. It was mainly due to the war Hussein aggressively started against Kuwait.   When US and British troops motivated in invading Iraq, which soon caused his defeat, its economic condition became even poorer. Sending powerful armed forces to fully disarm the Iraqi President Hussein was a big historical success but its remnants were a nightmare. The damage caused by the war made the entire population suffer. Everyone faced the same very difficult conditions. Lots of resources, agricultural and other land areas have been damaged.Recently, it appeared on the news[2] that there is a vague clue of reconciliation in Iraq. It says, â€Å"Leaders of the main factions have haggled over issues behind closed doors and urged Parliament to pass some conciliatory measures.† Although there is a temporary ceasefire, st ill the Iraqi leaders, as well as their supporters in the greater Middle East, have so many unfinished settlements on peace agreement.Seeing the present situation in Iraq, the answer to the question regarding new opportunities in the country is indistinguishable.By year 2006, Iraq is fourth[3] on the rank of the greatest oil reserves in the world. While, the current state of DWI is in Syria and in China, having oil reserves of 2.5 billion barrels and 18.3 billion barrels, respectively.[4] In comparison, Iraq has 115 billion barrels of oil deposit. With this much amount of difference, it is very tempting to venture any oil business in the area. It’s clear to have a predictable rise on the DWI revenue if it would have its development in Iraq. This would also give out opportunities to workers to have better compensation. However attempting to expand market share in Iraq would be too risky. Sending groups of people to work for the company in a particular chaotic place is very une thical.This is the primary reason United States law and U.N Sanctions barred any entry of business in Iraq. If DWI would insist to put in their business in the country, they would have to seek support from the US government first. Another option would be to have dealings with country’s parliament. Even if DWI would have settled with the US government or the parliament issues of Iraq, there is still no guarantee of a long-term settlement because the situation among them is even not fixed yet. Lots of deliberation is still going on among Iraqi leaders, and also between the Iraqi leaders and the US government as well. Thus any business dealings with the country these days are still unreliable. The best suggestion would be to wait for the time when there would be a secured peace in Iraq.References:Kjeilen, Tore. (Copyright 1996-2008). Looklex Encyclopedia. â€Å"Iraq: The Iraqi Republic†.Retrieved April 07, 2008 fromhttp://i-cias.com/e.o/iraq.htm.Mahdi, Kamil A. (2003). Ir aq's Economic Predicament. United Kingdom: Ithaca Press.Nafzinger, Wayne E., Frances Stewart, and Raimo Vayrynen.(2002).War, Hunger, andDisplacement: The Origins of Humanitarian Emergencies  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   New York: Oxford Press.[1] Kjeilen, Tore, â€Å"Iraq: The Iraqi Republic†, Looklex Encyclopedia,http://i-cias.com/e.o/iraq.htm, Accessed 07 April 2008. [2] Taken from â€Å"Overview: The Iraq War† The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/ref/timestopics/topics_iraq.html#1, Accessed 08 April 2008. [3] Based from â€Å"Greatest Oil Reserves by Country, 2006†, HighBeam Research, LLC.  © Copyright 2005, http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0872964.html, Accessed 08 April 2008. [4] Mentioned in â€Å"Syria:Energy and power†, http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Syria-ENERGY-AND-POWER.html, Accessed 08 April 2008.