Green Mountain Resort (Dis)Solves the Turnover Problem

CSU-Global Campus Organizational Innovation and Change 1. Which of the six change images discussed in this chapter can be identified in the assumptions about managing turnover that were held by Gunter: In the beginning Gunter was taking more of an image of change as a Director as he identified turnover as a problem and attempted to problem solve around this issue. As the story progressed Gunter’s He also became a mentor for began to change with the help of the consultant to more of a Coaching role as his resort became the training ground that other resorts looked for when hiring associates. He also became a mentor for others who were seeking training in providing excellent service in the hospitality industry The hospitality literature: The literature played a role of navigator as it identified turnover as a chronic problem that the industry endures and made several suggestions on how one can help reduce the effects. The consultant: The consultant played the role of the interpreter as he was able to interpret the problem of turnover and how he was able to change the perspective of Gunter in a way that dissolved the problem. Instead of a problem turnover instead, became a way that the resort could use as a way to recruit talent. . How did these assumptions influence prescriptions for dealing with â€Å"the turnover problem†? Each of these assumptions influenced prescriptions for dealing with turnover. For example, Gunter only seemed to make the problem worse when he played the Director when he attempted to solve turnover as a problem, however, when he changed his p erspective he ultimately became the coach and turned the problem into an advantage. The hospitality literature was the navigator as it defined turnover as a problem that was considered chronic and something that must be endured in the industry. It’s prescription for dealing with the problem included streamlining training, simplifying jobs and making the HR process more efficient. (Palmer, 2009). The consultant role of interpreter actually helped Gunter view turnover as an opportunity he could benefit from by dissolving it as a problem and seeing its positive effects to the organization. 3. Choose another change image and apply it to â€Å"the turnover problem. † To what new insights does it lead? Another change image to apply to the turnover problem could be to try to avoid the problem all together by offering less services, outsourcing some work i. . reservations and to hire contract workers for tasks that required physical presence. The new insight would lead to the need for fewer workers needed to be employed physically on the property and acknowledge contractual ties which includes the foreseen departure and therefore could have allowed the organization to strategically plan for new recruits. Although this new insight may have helped deal with turnover it would have created a new problem of delivering top class service to its guests and could have the potential to negatively affect the organization. 4. What conclusions do you draw from this about the statement at the start of the chapter that â€Å"if we only draw upon one particular frame, then this will take us away from thinking about what is going on from an alternative perspective†? The conclusion that I draw from the statement at the beginning of the chapter of â€Å"if we only draw upon one particular frame, then this will take us away from thinking about what is going on from an alternative perspective† is that we get different suggestions on solving a problem or even identifying a situation as a problem depending on the perspective that we take. It is also helpful to get others opinion to your current perspective to understand if there is a different approach one should take when dealing with the situation. In this case study it was interesting to see how the owner, literature surrounding the industry and an individual with no experience in the industry all had different perspectives of how to deal with turnover. Reference Palmer, I. D. (2009). Managing Organizational Change: A Multiple Perspectives Approach . Boston: Mc Graw Hill . Green Mountain Resort (Dis)Solves the Turnover Problem CSU-Global Campus Organizational Innovation and Change 1. Which of the six change images discussed in this chapter can be identified in the assumptions about managing turnover that were held by Gunter: In the beginning Gunter was taking more of an image of change as a Director as he identified turnover as a problem and attempted to problem solve around this issue. As the story progressed Gunter’s He also became a mentor for began to change with the help of the consultant to more of a Coaching role as his resort became the training ground that other resorts looked for when hiring associates. He also became a mentor for others who were seeking training in providing excellent service in the hospitality industry The hospitality literature: The literature played a role of navigator as it identified turnover as a chronic problem that the industry endures and made several suggestions on how one can help reduce the effects. The consultant: The consultant played the role of the interpreter as he was able to interpret the problem of turnover and how he was able to change the perspective of Gunter in a way that dissolved the problem. Instead of a problem turnover instead, became a way that the resort could use as a way to recruit talent. . How did these assumptions influence prescriptions for dealing with â€Å"the turnover problem†? Each of these assumptions influenced prescriptions for dealing with turnover. For example, Gunter only seemed to make the problem worse when he played the Director when he attempted to solve turnover as a problem, however, when he changed his p erspective he ultimately became the coach and turned the problem into an advantage. The hospitality literature was the navigator as it defined turnover as a problem that was considered chronic and something that must be endured in the industry. It’s prescription for dealing with the problem included streamlining training, simplifying jobs and making the HR process more efficient. (Palmer, 2009). The consultant role of interpreter actually helped Gunter view turnover as an opportunity he could benefit from by dissolving it as a problem and seeing its positive effects to the organization. 3. Choose another change image and apply it to â€Å"the turnover problem. † To what new insights does it lead? Another change image to apply to the turnover problem could be to try to avoid the problem all together by offering less services, outsourcing some work i. . reservations and to hire contract workers for tasks that required physical presence. The new insight would lead to the need for fewer workers needed to be employed physically on the property and acknowledge contractual ties which includes the foreseen departure and therefore could have allowed the organization to strategically plan for new recruits. Although this new insight may have helped deal with turnover it would have created a new problem of delivering top class service to its guests and could have the potential to negatively affect the organization. 4. What conclusions do you draw from this about the statement at the start of the chapter that â€Å"if we only draw upon one particular frame, then this will take us away from thinking about what is going on from an alternative perspective†? The conclusion that I draw from the statement at the beginning of the chapter of â€Å"if we only draw upon one particular frame, then this will take us away from thinking about what is going on from an alternative perspective† is that we get different suggestions on solving a problem or even identifying a situation as a problem depending on the perspective that we take. It is also helpful to get others opinion to your current perspective to understand if there is a different approach one should take when dealing with the situation. In this case study it was interesting to see how the owner, literature surrounding the industry and an individual with no experience in the industry all had different perspectives of how to deal with turnover. Reference Palmer, I. D. (2009). Managing Organizational Change: A Multiple Perspectives Approach . Boston: Mc Graw Hill .

Descartes ; Hume’s Theory on Knowledge

Knowledge is the things that one has taken into itself and made the decision to believe that it is true. This leads to the question, what makes certain obtained pieces of knowledge true? Descartes would doubt everything until he came to an absolute and undeniable truth. If he had any reason to doubt something, it could not be true knowledge. Descartes then discovered one thing that he could not doubt and that is â€Å"I think, therefore I am. † He says that if he can think, then he knows that he exists. I agree and disagree with Rene Descartes theory of how we have knowledge.Just because you have doubt about something does not necessarily mean there is no knowledge of it. What one may doubt, another person may have knowledge of. So is that person’s knowledge false? I say no. There are many situations like that. One may doubt the existence of God, but I do not doubt it. Since we all have our own beliefs, it does not mean one is wrong. So I do not agree with him saying th ere is no knowledge of things that he has the slightest doubt about. I do agree with his famous line â€Å"I think, therefore I am. † If one has the brain activity to think, then yes they do exist and that is certain.Since I am thinking, then I do have knowledge that I certainly exist. On the other hand, if one is in a coma then I still do believe that they exist. If you are living, breathing and your heart is beating then you without doubt exist even though you are not really thinking. One in a coma does have the ability to think once out of the coma so therefore they still exist. Hume was an empiricist and he believed that all knowledge comes through experience. If you want to know anything about what the world is like, you have to go out and explore; you cannot simply sit, think really hard and hope to come up with knowledge.He believed, along with the fact that knowledge is learned through experience, that a person's experiences are nothing more than the subjects of his o r her own perception. The knowledge of anything comes from the way it is observed through the five senses. Hume began to differentiate between feelings and thoughts. Feelings are only impressions made upon the body, and thoughts arrive from impressions; meaning you cannot have feelings on things you have not experienced. I do agree that one can gain knowledge through experiences, but also through being taught what we learn in school.In order for us to be taught things in school one had to experience the scientific study, math equation or whatever the material consisted of. People did not just come up with these facts on his/her own. They spent a lot of time researching and experiencing them to gain knowledge about whatever they learned. We do gain knowledge from things we experience on our own as well. The saying â€Å"People learn from their mistakes† is the perfect example. A child touches a hot stove and burns their hand, in doing so; they learn not to touch it because the y will remember what happened. In this case, they do learn from an experience.

Sci/256 Week 2 Discussion Question

Identify a natural ecosystem in which you live or one near to where you live? How does this ecosystem support you? At what trophic level are you? Why? An ecosystem (2011), according to Merriam Webster Learners Dictionary, is everything that exists in a particular environment. An ecosystem includes living things, such as plants and animals, and things that are not living, such as rocks, soil, sunlight, and water. One such example of a natural ecosystem is the George Mitchell Nature Preserve in Creekside Village in the Woodlands, TX. Thewoodlandstx. com (2011) website illustrates that the George Mitchell Nature Preserve is part of the Montgomery County Spring Creek Greenway, which will connect and protect up to 12,000 acres of forest on both sides of Spring Creek. The Mitchell Preserve covers nearly 1,700 acres, and opened on October 19th, 2007. The natural ecosystem of this nature preserve can support humans in many ways. For example, the Spring Creek watershed currently contains tens of thousands of acres of bottomland hardwood forest and various edible plants. It also provides homes to wildlife, creates recreation opportunities such as hiking and biking trails, reducing flooding, and improving air quality (Montgomery County Precinct 3, 2011). Not to mention, the preserve increases real estate values and community pride, reduces pollution, and lowers air temperature. Second, wildlife in the nature preserve offers many to take the chance to bird watch. The forests along Spring Creek provide a crucial stopover point for migratory songbirds, where they can rest and refuel after crossing the Gulf of Mexico on their annual spring migration from Central and South America (Montgomery County Precinct 3, 2011). Many species of fish live in the lake year-round including catfish, crappie, and bass. White bass migrate through during springtime, and all are available for fishing. Last, the preserve offers an exceptional educational benefit. Several elementary, middle, and high schools have taken field trips learning about Spring Creek, the preserve, nature, and the benefits it has to offer to the public. A trophic level (2011) according to Encyclopedia Britannica, is a step in the nutritive series, or food chain, in the ecosystem. We as humans eat plants and animals, also considered omnivores. This in terms puts us at the third trophic level. However, several humans who are vegan would be considered second trophic level consumers because they eat only produce. Though it may sound simple, the food chains and food webs are often complex and difficult to analyze. The ecosystem is natural and living. As humans, we are as very much a part of the ecosystem as plants and animals, along with other organisms and bacteria. Although we expend plants and animals as third trophic level consumers and depend on them for survival, we must also take into consideration that the first, second, and fourth trophic level consumers also rely on the ecosystem for survival as well. Thus meaning ecosystems are essential for all life on earth. References Ecosystem. ( 2011). In Merriam Webster Learners Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www. learnersdictionary. com/search/ecosystem Montgomery County Precinct 3. (2011). Spring Creek Greenway. Retrieved from http://www. springcreekgreenway. org/the_creek. htm Thewoodlandstx. com. (2011). The Woodlands TX. Retrieved from http://www. thewoodlandstx. com/parks/george-mitchell-nature-preserve. php Trophic Level. ( 2011). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/606492/trophic-level

Business Intelligence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Intelligence - Essay Example Additionally, the applications of business intelligence contain the tasks of query and reporting, decision support systems, statistical analysis, online analytical processing (OLAP), forecasting, and data mining (Webopedia, 2011) and (Rossetti, 2006). This paper provides the answers of questions like that why or why not business intelligence is critical for organizations? This paper will outline the issues and challenges that organizations can face in implementing BI. This paper will also discuss the difference between knowledge management and BI. Business Intelligence: A tool for organization’s survival Business intelligence tools have become one of the most important organizations’ resources. Additionally, these tools are utilized in data mining and operations. In this scenario, operational business intelligence is utilized to run the business activities more competently and achieve maximum return on investment. Thus, business intelligence methods and tools facilitate the organizations in making efficient use of assets, cutting costs, and making use of all the business prospects. On the other hand, in data mining, business intelligence is used to leverage enormous quantities of data for determining the best performance areas or out-of-the-box investigations. This kind of solutions could be easy or complex, however depending on the BI tool utilized. In addition, business intelligence tools help the organizations to gain a competitive edge because of their dashboard capabilities. Moreover, an organization must recognize that BI is not simply a charting or visual display of data. However, they can be helpful when an organization wants to incorporates data from numerous sources (D'Souza, 2011). Challenges in implementing business intelligence While adopting BI technology for their business an organization can face following challenges: (Computerworld Custom Publishing, 2003) and (MAIA Intelligence Blog, 2011) Failure to distinguish BI systems and pr ojects as cross-organizational company initiatives, as well as considering them different from distinctive standalone solutions. Unengaged company sponsors (or sponsors who take pleasure in small or no authority in the corporation). Engaged or reluctant business representatives. Lack of capable as well as existing staff, or sub-optimal staff use No software release idea (having no enhanced and improved iterative development technique). No use of WBS (work breakdown structure) and no methodology for application of the new BI technology. No company analysis or unavailability of standardization actions for the BI technology application. No approval of the influence of dirty data on business productivity. Not recognizing the need and utilization of meta-data. Extra dependence on disparate techniques and tools BI is difference from Knowledge Management Normally, knowledge management is referred as a methodical procedure of discovering, selecting, classifying distilling and presenting dat a and information in a form that is easy to understand for an employee and lies in a precise area of interest. Additionally, the specific knowledge management tasks facilitate organizations to pay their attention on storing, acquiring and utilizing knowledge for similar things such as problem solving, strategic planning, dynamic learning and decision making (Herschel, 2008). In addition, bus

Critical sumamries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Critical sumamries - Essay Example The kings ruled the dynasty with the principles of All-Under-Heaven, which implied a common civilized world. It is evident that people could acquire cultures. The Confucian teachings have several assertions on the ability of an individual to transform to a civilized being. The section provides a brief history to illustrate the idea of state identity as well as ethnicity. It explains that Zhou and other kings used to rule the dynasty and overcome state and ethnic boundaries. The section relates to others by describing one of the ancient Chinese territories. The Zhou dynasty is similar to other territories in the chapter such as the Tang dynasty (Ebrey, 55). The section corresponds to the main concept of the chapter by explaining practices of the ancient Chinese. The concept of state and ethnic identity in the ancient Chinese territories relates to the current ethnic classifications of the Chinese. It is common for the Chinese as well as other people to identify with their ethnic groups and regional

In Shawshank Redemption movie, King explores the idea of Karma that Essay

In Shawshank Redemption movie, King explores the idea of Karma that is, the idea that what goes around comes around, or as the - Essay Example The guards would beat them up and damage their cells and later ask them to do the entire repair (The Shawshank Redemption). Apart from being beaten, these prisoners had to do everything. When prisoners are beaten senselessly, it proves to other inmates that they do not have to respect one another. Beating up the prisoners also hurts them both physically and mentally. The warden went as far as supporting behavior that was not called for in the prison. However, the guards and the warden failed to recognize that one may not play with Karma. As it is known that â€Å"we reap what we sow,† this is what the warden and the guards had sowed and it was clearly coming back to them. As opposed to the fellow inmates, Andy possessed a sense of self-worth. Some of the other inmates tried to rape him and beat him up, but he managed to withstand all those harsh treatments even though he suffered lacerations and bruises (The Shawshank Redemption). He managed to quietly befriend Red and his tea m of friends. Once they became friends, they formed a dreadful group that always stuck together. There is a lot of prison violence and conflict throughout the movie (The Shawshank Redemption). The worst conflict was when the warden ordered the murder of Tommy who had information that would prove that Andy was innocent. Andy had not been doing the taxes of the warden. When Andy was informed of what the warden did, he got emotional. Andy decided to plan his escape that would set him free and give him a chance to expose the evil warden and the guards. In the Shawshank prison, the warden permitted the guards to torture and even to murder their prisoners. As a warden, he has the responsibility of bringing justice, but when he discovered that he had the opportunity to free Andy from wrongful accusation, he destroyed the evidence that would set Andy free. Apparently, the evidence that he destroyed was the murder of a man by the name of Tommy. When Andy discovered that he had nothing left t o prove his innocence, he became devastated. Karma became quite significant when Andy managed to escape from the prison. Andy wrote a letter to the local newspapers that described how immorally the convicts were treated and even beaten to death in the prison (The Shawshank Redemption). The journalists and the police turned up within some minutes once the information had been read and revealed. This shocked the warden and he got scared and later committed suicide. In the beginning of the movie, the warden displayed the characters of Christian men. He ensured that the Shawshank prisoners had the Bibles, and he familiarized the prisoners with his favorite Bible verse, â€Å"Salvation Lies Within.† The warden and Andy both had conversations regarding this Bible verse; however, Andy disrupted the conversation in an encouraging manner. When the warden discovered that Andy had been concealing in the Bible the tool which assisted him to flee, his jaw dropped. No one knows how people may react to what they are told and how the precise opposite may set them free. The film depicts that everyone gets what he deserves. The warden and the guards received their punishment just like they mistreated the inmates (The Shawshank Redemption). People may dance through life doing evil things to others and even mistreating others, and they may think that they may have a smooth life. Andy was an innocent man who was convicted for a crime that he did not commit. This subjected him to a life that he did not deserve.

UNDERSTANDING WORK & ORGANISATIONS,Is bureaucracy and scientific Essay

UNDERSTANDING WORK & ORGANISATIONS,Is bureaucracy and scientific management are old fashioned - Essay Example Since the Weberian bureaucratic model tends to incorporate higher forms of formalization and immense standardization of procedures, certain sectors can`t sustain without applying the central ideals proclaimed by the model (Farazmand 2009 p. 61). For instance, the institutions like the military, police or even hospitals still tend to apply weberian rules to the organization since the performance of these institutes would be direly affected in absence of these rote procedures. Therefore, the proposition that the classical model of bureaucracy presented by Max Weber has now gone extinct is a mere exaggeration since most of the ideals of the model are still being applied to orthodox government organizations and even in a few large organizations. However, since innovation and technology also tend to dictate the rules of management in the present century; most of the private organizations and the multinational firm have shifted away from the Weberian model of management where they tend to minimize the role of hierarchy and strict application of rules in favor of employee employment and generation of newer ideas by giving a richer experience at the workplace. However, even in the most advanced and progressive organizations, a few set of rule enacted by Weber`s model of bureaucracy are applied. Therefore, the classical model of bureaucracy, with a few moderations is still applied in a few orthodox organizations whereas the progressive organizations tend to minimize the effect of weberian rules and regulations (Clegg & Harris 2011 p.14). Bureaucracy, as a system of rules and procedures, doesn’t ideally suit the needs of the highly unpredictable and ever-changing market which then dictates the kind of management model an organization undertakes (Selden 1997 p. 19). The contemporary organizations feel that applying bureaucratic model would equate welcoming red-tapism and alienations amongst the personnel of

Critical thinking Mo Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Critical thinking Mo - Coursework Example Some of the banks that have been affected by the uncertainty in the oil industry are those from the European Union, America and from the oil producing countries, however, banks in the United Arab Emirates have remained relatively stable especially in the bleak outlook of oil industry of 2011. Revising down of the economic outlook of the growth of OPEC countries from 3.7 to 3.6 was an ill advised idea, this is because that made the stakeholders get an escape path from being innovative and implementing structures that would have ensured that the growth rate is maintained even in the reduction of global demand for oil and oil products. Looking for other ways to diversify risk and cushion the economies would have produced better results than just revising down forecasts for growth. Investments in the oil industry are a key in ensuring stability in oil production and the $300 billion the OPEC member states have set aside for upstream investment in the oil industry is a right step in the right direction. Ensuring constant supply of oil and maintaining a reserve potential will enable the OPEC countries to be able to regulate prices from rising too high or going down too low. The idea of United Arab Emirates bank having weathered the economic crisis of the euro zone that happened in 2011 being solely dependent on internal structures to manage their risk preparedness is far-fetched and cannot be solely relied on to explain the stability. This is because the country, which exports second hand goods to Africa, has a significant part of its economy being driven by these exports; banks’ diversifying their products to this sector was also a contributing factor that made them more stable amidst the euro zone crisis. However, internal structures are needed in the banking industry of the oil producing countries especially those that have no other source of revenue to drive their economy and failure to this may

Fire Protection Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Fire Protection - Research Paper Example To understand fire, there is need to analyze the paradigms, which revolve around the origin of fire in eth living world, and the significance of fire to the human race. It is important however to note that these different paradigms are different and coherent on their own, but significantly insufficient on their own self. Thus, fire may assume many definitions, which is only suitable for the specific discipline framed by the condition outside the phenomenon (Fire Research Report). Such broad definitions introduce questions relating to the real fundamentals of fire, and the characteristics that people should undertake to control and use it. This paper seeks to define and analyze the fire problem, explore some of the potential solutions to the problem, and review the first steps that will initiate the solution to the problem. Introduction Fire is among the fundamental basics in the world, both for personal and industrial use. The phenomenon is commonplace and among the elements that sus tain humans in earth. Picture a world with no fire, which means there would be no cooking and other necessary processes that result from combustion or burning. Fire has numerous definitions depending on the discipline of concern. Essentially, fire is the process of burning or combustion in which chemical combination of components with oxygen takes place to produce light, smoke, and heat. However, it is common for most disciplines to have their own definition that conforms to their condition frame that lie outside the fire itself, and which seemingly poses no intrinsic intellectual identity. Such a wide and varying definition of eth phenomenon raises certain questions, which include the real fundamentals of fire and the characteristics that people should undertake to use and control it (Pyne 271). Such founding concerns seemed like illogical arguments in the initial studies on fire and its management. Then, fire was simply there, flaring and smoldering across the earth, and there was need to determine its direction, its fierce, and its speed, and subsequently devise means to stop its spread. With time, other questions emerged, especially concerning economical and ecological, though with reference to the conception that fire was embedded in physical sciences. Fire had similar impacts to the society and biota as windstorms and floods did, yet this did not provide an answer to the question of fire management. To understand fire and perhaps achieve a viable fire protection strategy, there is need to understand the three paradigms of fire: physical, cultural, and biological. Nevertheless, here is a discussion on the basics of fire (Coon 127). The Triangle of Fire Fire requires three elements to initiate. This essentially refers to the triangle of fire. If any of the elements is missing, then fire will not ignite, or if already burning, will quench the flames. These three elements are fuel, oxygen, and heat. Fire needs some consumable elements to ignite or to continu e burning. This consumable material or element is the fuel, which may be a gas, a liquid, or a solid. Furthermore, fire requires oxygen to burn. Removing oxygen from the fire will put off the flames. In technical terms, this is what experts call ‘quenching’ a fire. In atmospheres with less than 16% of oxygen, fires will not burn or combust (Coon 164). Heat refers to the energy that the fire requires to burn, without which the flames dies. The fire triangle simply shows the elements that must be present before a fire starts. Fig 1: The

Edgar Degas Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Edgar Degas - Research Paper Example Moreover, being a romantic and lively creative person, he also drew the exotic pictures of women, which maintain perpetual captivation and unabated fascination in it. It is therefore his work experience splendid acknowledgement and admiration. Though, he could not earn fame in the beginning, and had to make hard efforts to win the attention of the art-lovers, yet he left his contemporary artists far behind by dint of his intelligent creativity and superb imagination. Consequently, his paintings are still making business in almost all parts of the globe. Aspects of Degass work - mainly, his ballet paintings from the 1880s - have long been popular with a broad audience; too much so for their own good. (artchive.com) The bath and combing oil paintings of women, produced by Degas, remind the literary viewers the most glamorous character of Belinda and her dressing room created by famous English poet of Classical Era Alexander Pope in his wonderful poem Rape of the Lock. Belinda is viewed as the most glamorous character ever created in the history of Continental Literature. Being the lover of art, I also appreciate the paintings created by Degas related to the bath and toilette, where he has skillfully drawn every crease of the body while drawing the sketch of the woman after bath. The color combination of the landscape is very close to natural beauty. The picture also reveals deep observation of this proficient artist, who has included everything that essential in a fashionable toilette of the ladies belonging to elite stratum of socie ty. It is therefore the future artists imitate his style and try to make portraits and drawings in the same lines adopted by

Reactive Attachment Disorder and Attachment Therapy Essay Example for Free

Reactive Attachment Disorder and Attachment Therapy Essay Reactive Attachment Disorder and Attachment Therapy University of New York in Prague Reactive Attachment Disorder and Attachment Therapy Introduction There has been growing attention on attachment theory and its impacts on later behavioral outcomes. Several research have found an association between attachment insecurity and personality disorders due to inconsistent and unstable sense of self; and association between insecure attachment and physical illness due to susceptibility to stress. Although it has various implications on sense of integrated personality and psychological well-being, the only pathology that is officially related to attachment is Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) of infancy or early childhood which is counted as very rare disorder in Diagnostic Statistical Manuel. There has been a wide range of debates on RAD with regard to its difficulties in diagnosing, validity of its subtypes, its susceptibility of being confused with other disorders, its relation with attachment theory and its treatment methods. In my opinion, RAD has not given much attention and has not been studied much due to these complications. In this paper, my attempt is to discuss these issues about RAD and its treatment models by providing with some empirical findings. Reactive Attachment Disorder can historically be traced on the studies with institutionalized children who were deprived from secure attachment and who had multiple caregivers. In very young institutionalized children who experienced social deprivation, Tizard and Rees (1975) identified two types of disorders. The first one was socially indiscriminate/ disinhibited type, in which children displayed nonselective preferences of using adults as seeking comfort and tendency to go with the strangers who offered them comfort. In the second type, children were relatively socially withdrawn/ inhibited, who showed limited social responsiveness, little positive affect and failure to seek comfort when needed. Later, these behavioral patterns with the requirement of signs result from pathogenic care were described as reactive attachment disorder. Zeanah Gleason, 2010) Attachment Theory suggests that infants are evolutionarily primed to form close, enduring, dependent bond on a primary caregiver. The fulfillment of their physiological needs require close physical contact (Carlson, Sampson Sroufe, 2003). In Diagnostic Statistical Manuel, the only pathology that is officially related to attachment is Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) of infancy or early childhood. The diagnostic criteria for RAD include: disturbed and developmentally inappropriate social relatedness prior to age five, pathogenic care such as persistent disregard of the childs basic emotional and physical needs and repeated changes of primary caregiver that prevents development of stable attachment, and these disturbances are not better accounted for pervasive developmental disorders or developmental delay (DSM-IV-TR, 2007). Two types of RAD behaviors have been classified: Inhibited type refers to emotionally withdrawn children who show limited social responsiveness, ambivalent or contradictory responses, little positive affect and a failure to seek comfort when they feel distressed. These behavior patterns are believed to be related with experiences with caregivers who do not provide emotional support and comfort when needed. Secondly, disinhibited type refers to children who have diffuse attachment and who show accessive and inappropriate familiarity with strangers. These behaviors are resulting from experiences with caregivers who are not very responsive but can provide some affection. (Haugaard and Hazan, 2004) Some studies demonstrated that children with RAD might display inhibited behavioral patterns, disinhibited behavioral patterns and both inhibited and disinhibited behavioral patterns (Smyke, Dumitrescu ; Zeanah, 2002). However there is a disagreement in subclassification of RAD. Some other studies based on the follow-up studies of children placed in adoptive homes showed that inhibited types were nonexistent whereas disinhibited types were much higher (Chisholm, 1998). These findings have raised the question that inhibited and disinhibited types might have different clinical entities. Mary Margaret Gleason and her collegues (2011) examined inconsistent findings and validity of the two types of RAD. The construct validity of two types of RAD was examined by comparing the caregiving quality, a putative risk factor for each type of RAD, and attachment security. In existing literature, attachment security is found as inconsistently linked to indiscriminately social/disinhibited RAD and more consistently linked with emotionally withdrawn/inhibited RAD. They predicted that each type of RAD would show stability over time. The results supported the validity of these two types. Signs of inhibited RAD were distinct from the disinhibited type; and they were associated with poor caregiving quality (Gleason, Fox, Drury, Smyke, Egger, Nelson, Gregas ; Zeanah, 2011). There has been an implicit assumption that RAD is caused by attachment deficit; however, this assumption may have blocked the research. There are some difficulties in diagnosing RAD due to complications of assessing attachment. The assessment may be derived from the observations of relationship between child and caregiver. It also may focus on the behavioral outcomes of children (Lyons T. Hardy, 2007). Minnis et. al. (2006) proposed that RAD is construed in intersubjectivity. RAD has raised various questions since there is not a single explanation of the behaviors of children that are afflicted of the disorder. In the DSM-IV classification, diagnostic requirement of grossly pathogenic care does not explain the aspects of social, emotional and physical maltreatment. Children who experienced grossly pathogenic care may display aggressiveness, indiscriminate friendliness, social withdrawal and poor emotional regulation. However, these behaviors can also be observed in some other disorders such as Conduct disorder, ADHD and autism. Therefore, presuming attachment as a core etiology may be misleading. They offer, instead, intersubjectivity- the infants brain development is supported by the responses of parents or caregivers. Since this process is always active, an infant will always be affected by other persons actions and the other persons rejection will have a negative impact on the infant. Although there are some overlaps between intersubjectivity and attachment, intersubjectivity processes are active in all interaction including low affect. Children who have never experienced intersubjectivity will not have the capacity of removing early false relationship and they may be condemned to seek it throughout their life (Minnis,Marwick, Arthur McLaughlin, 2006). Through the active process of intersubjectivity, caregivers neglect in the early ages will have a negative effect on the infant. Similar to this claim, Corbin (2007) states that pathological caregiving characteristic of RAD does its harm through the ruptures and developmental difficulties in the early ages (Minnis et al. , 2006). Liggan and Kay (1999) found that early pre-symbolic memory is an enduring implicit memory that depends on â€Å"whose existence is inferred from observable influence on emotional behaviors related to early attachment experiences†. Implicit memory is an unconscious memory that has the potential to influence the storage of long-term memory. These findings have implication on RAD since early experiences would form prototypes, schemes that affect interpretation of subsequent experiences. Therefore the information stored is not available in conscious reflection and thought. This may explain the insufficient researches on the effectiveness of some treatment strategies with children with RAD. Nevertheless, some studies showed that attachment therapy and clinical intervention have led to significant improvement on children with RAD. Even though there are some different perspectives on etiology of RAD and presentation of the symptoms, it is largely influenced by early emotional and social deficiencies. Treatment of RAD focuses on enhancing current attachment relationship, creating new attachment relationships and reducing problematic symptoms. Barth et al. (2005) examined the rationale of the development of attachment-based therapies in the treatment of RAD. The findings supported that early anxious attachment is not a direct cause of psychopathology but it is an initiator of pathways associated with later pathology (Sroufe et al. , 1999). Some therapists point out that early frustration of being rejected and helplessness lead pessimistic view of the world and sociopaths such as serial killers may have attachment disorders (Thomas 1997). Although some studies found that most of the adopted children do not have insecure attachment (Singer et al. 1985; Juffer;Rosenboom, 1997), Barth et. al. argue that these studies are characteristically short-term and mostly based on children in non-adoptive families. RAD is considered as very uncommon disorder by American Psychiatric Association 2000,p. 129), however, it is thought that there may be one million children, half of all adopted children, diagnosed with RAD in USA. (Werner-Wilson; Davenport, 2003). Millward et al. (2006) examined 100 children in foster care in Scotland. They predicted that there would be higher symptom scores for RAD in children in care compared with general population controls and that high symptom scores for RAD would be associated with other psychiatric disorders. Parents and carers took RAD Scale. As they predicted, children living in care had higher rates of mental health problems including RAD. They were more likely to have anxiety, depression, conduct disorder and hyperactivity (Millward, Kennedy, Towlson ; Minnis, 2006). Attachment based therapies regard the child as a focus of clinical intervention. In this perspective, the purpose of the treatment of RAD is helping the children to release anger resulting from their early negative experiences and teaching the child that new parents can be trusted as caregivers. Wimmer et al. (2009) investigated the effectiveness of attachment therapy in treating adopted children diagnosed with RAD. Adopted parents often face with the lack of affection of their adopted children. They feel that they are unable to contact with the child to establish reciprocal emotional relationship. Attachment therapy aims to provide some improvement in their relationship with their child. Based on the presumption that adopted children may have insecure attachment due to early experiences of deprivation, attachment theory has been developed to improve childs trust in the adoptive parents. Moreover development in childs social and emotional functioning and teaching effective parenting techniques are promises of attachment therapy (Wimmer, Vonk ; Bordnick, 2009). In order to investigate the effectiveness of attachment therapy, they gathered data from 24 children who were adopted and who had been treated with attachment therapy for three years.

Prejudice Examples Prejudice Essay Example for Free

Prejudice Examples Prejudice Essay Prejudice means pre-judging, and is defined as having a bad opinion of a group without sufficient evidence, by thinking of that group in terms of unverified stereotypes. Prejudice is a preconceived judgment or opinion. Strictly speaking, prejudice can also be favoring a group without justifiable grounds or sufficient knowledge. But the most common definition of prejudice is an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, group, or race. 2. Why are people prejudiced against others? Some factors are: ignorance, fear of someone different, low self-esteem, insecurity, a need to feel superior, or negative personal experiences with individuals from that group. Some people are prejudiced because they have a need to protect and maintain their self-image. Some people have the need to express their identity by excluding others. It makes them feel good to put others down through name calling, such as nigger, honky, kike, chink, faggot. Prejudice is learned behavior and is usually passed down to people from their family or is derived from their friends. 3. Most psychologists have long believed that fear is a prelude to hatred. 4. Some common types of prejudice: a) misogyny Hatred of, or hostility toward women (As an example of how pervasive male dominance has been in human history, the word for hatred of men (misandry) is still not a common word, in fact most dictionaries do not even include it. ) b) xenophobia fear or dislike of strangers or the unknown, often used to describe nationalistic political beliefs and movements c) homophobia fear of homosexuals, or people thought to be lesbian, gay, or bisexual. d) anti-semitism hatred of Jews. e) racism a form of discrimination based on race, especially the belief that one race is superior to another. Racism may be expressed individually and consciously, through explicit thoughts, feelings, or acts, or socially and unconsciously, through institutions that promote inequality between races. f) bigotry the intolerance and prejudice of a bigot, that is, a prejudiced person who is intolerant of any opinions differing from their own 5. Recent experiments were conducted at Dartmouth College with the help of brain-imaging equipment and some undergraduates. They found that racial prejudice makes you stupider. According to their findings, the more biased people are, the more their brain power is taxed by contact with someone of another race, as they struggle not to say or do anything offensive. The effect is so strong, that even a five minute conversation with a black person left some of the white subjects unable to perform well on a test of cognitive ability PREJUDICE (ITS FUNCTIONS) As an attitude, prejudice can function as a schema for organizing information about members of a group Information that is consistent with our prejudices (rather than inconsistent). Tends to receive more attention, is rehearsed more frequently, is more likely to be remembered Even though prejudice can be positive or negative, lets focus on the negative Prejudice involves negative feelings when they are in the presence of,or even think about, members of the group Prejudice often involves stereotypes, suggesting that all members of a group behave in certain ways and have certain characteristics Therefore, prejudice has both cognitive and affective components Affective component is the positive or negative attitude/feeling Cognitive component contains stereotypes. Origins of Prejudice Direct intergroup conflict Social learning Social categorization: Us vs. them Cognitive sources: stereotypes, illusory correlations, outgroup homogeneity Direct Intergroup Conflict This research is based on , or lead to, realistic conflict theory Idea is that real disparities or competition between groups leads to hostility (negative prejudice). Even perceived threats (relative deprivation) can lead to prejudice Think about strife existing between early Mormons and other groups. Can partly be explained in terms of realistic conflict theory, accounted for in terms of real deprivation or perceived deprivation. Some would argue that this theory applies to increasing prejudice (and discrimination) currently prevalent here in Utah Robbers Cave study (Sherif et al. , 1961) Rattlers and Eagles in separate cabins formed close attachments to others in own group (Week 1) Groups brought into competition with one another (Week 2) Groups developed strong prejudices Superordinate goals introduced (e. g. , fixing bus) (Week 3) Conflict reduced. Hovland Sears (1940) correlation between economic conditions and racial violence Most of 4761 lynchings in US between 1882 and 1930 occurred in the South, and most victims were African Americans Farm value of cotton and per-acre value of cotton each year was strongly correlated with the number of lynchings in each year Again, think about realistic conflict notion in light of current levels of prejudice (and discrimination in the U. S. ). As economic conditions worsen, prejudice and discrimination are on the rise. Social learning as source of prejudice. Children acquire negative attitudes toward various social groups through direct and vicarious learning experiences Parents, teachers, friends, the mass media all play roles in the development of prejudice Consider how minority groups or the two genders have been portrayed in the media Some even argue that we are born with a bias to perceive dark stimuli as more fearful than lighter stimuli (shown with babies and toddlers using neutral stimuli) Social categorization as source of Prejudice: Us vs. Them People tend to view us in favorable terms and them more negatively Ingroup-outgroup distinction affects attribution. We tend to attribute desirable behaviors of ingroup members to stable internal causes, but tend to attribute desirable behaviors of outgroup members to unstable or to external causes- sometimes called theultimate attribution error How does social categorization result in prejudice? Tajfel (1982) proposes that that individuals seek to enhance their self-esteem by identifying with social groups. This is successful to the extent that persons perceive their group(s) as somehow superior to other group(s) Basking in reflected glory (BIRGing) Chap. 3. Even if there is an inferior ingroup member, this leads to considerable derogation so as to preserve value of the group Cutting off reflected failure (CORFing) Chap. 3 Branscombes research in Chap. 5 This notion of social categorization bears on Tajfel and Turners Social Identity Theory, which predicts, among other things: higher ingroup favoritism when self-esteem threatened on a situational basis heightened levels of ingroup favoritism when the group is really small (a minority) heightened levels of ingroup favoritism when one feels a marginal member of group. PREJUDICE EXAMPLES Prejudice has been defined as an outlook towards a community or an individual, based solely upon a preconceived idea or preference and devoid of any objectivity and reasoning. The examples mentioned in this article will help the reader in understanding prejudice in a better way. Prejudice is described as a preconceived notion harbored against a particular group or a person based on the nationality, race, caste, color, sex, sexual preferences, creed or other personal preferences. The concept has been debated ferociously by psychologists and social researchers. Some have called it a personality trait or habit, while others have described it merely as an emotion. Studies and experiments which have been conducted in this regard, go on to prove that more often than not, prejudice comes about due to conformity to social norms. In this regard, the words antipathy and discrimination are closely linked with prejudice. Though prejudice may not always be negative, over the last century, prejudice and discrimination have been spoken of in the same breath. This has led to a negative connotation of prejudice. Examples of Prejudice # 1: If someone is walking in a secluded area in the night, and a group of senior citizens who are walking with canes in hand, come from the opposite side, the person will not feel threatened. However, if instead of senior citizens, three teenagers dressed in jeans and t-shirts with lots of metal chains around their neck are approaching from the other side, the person might feel threatened a bit, even without any kind of provocation from their end. # 2: It is a general perception that people with mental illnesses are prone to violence. This perception has developed from the stereotypes portrayed in movies or written about in books, wherein a mentally ill person becomes violent and goes on a rampage. Although, there are a few isolated cases of mentally ill people, who have a tendency towards violence, yet, if we look at the statistics, they show that mentally ill people are no more violence prone than the normal people. # 3: Human beings are categorized into a number of races, based on their geographical location, physical characteristics, culture, language and history. It is a social concept, not biological. For example, in America, there are Caucasians, African-Americans, Asians etc who differ from each other physically. However, being different no way makes a race superior or inferior to another. Yet, there are certain people who think, believe and act in ways that suggest that their race is superior to others. Racists as they are referred to, are prejudiced and if you look at history, they have even resorted to violence against the races they considered inferior. # 4: Gender discrimination, whether at the workplace or at home is another commonly observed prejudice that exists in todays society. An organization which hires more male candidates and rejects women (or vice versa), due to their gender, is said to be prejudiced. One more example is of an organization where women are hired equally, but not given top jobs. Such organizations are practicing gender discrimination too. # 5: Instances of prejudices based on religion are found all over the world. Although, most religions preach tolerance and acceptance of other religions, yet, fanatics are found everywhere. Usually, it is seen that people who believe more in following the rituals and religious practices, rather than taking religion as a means to reach God, are more likely to engage in discrimination and prejudice against people who follow a religious belief other than theirs. # 6: People belonging to one nation may sometimes discriminate against those that belong to some other country. This is especially true in case of a war or other conflicts between the two countries. In such circumstances, people belonging to the other country, with whom one is in conflict with, are considered outsiders and may even have to face hostility, especially if they happen to stay in the your country. Looking at the various prejudice examples, it can be concluded that we are prejudiced against people, when we assume that they have certain characteristics. These assumptions develop when we do not have direct contact with them or we fear them due to they being a minority and different from us. Some might also be passed on from one generation to another such as those against women. Since prejudices are so widespread, in order to combat them, understanding their nature is very important. By spreading the message of brotherhood, developing understanding in people, educating people, making them aware, and promoting inter-group dialog, small steps towards a more tolerant and egalitarian society can be taken. Read more at Buzzle: http://www. buzzle. com/articles/prejudice-examples. html Prejudice derives from Prejudge, which is to judge someone or something without out all the available facts. Some times this can be good and some times not so :- Example One. He was prejudiced to give her the job solely on her looks. Great you think she got the job! but what about her qualifications? Example Two The guy suffered from racial prejudice and so didnt let the man into his house to fix the boiler. The guy lost out just cause he didnt like the colour of his skin and is now sat in a cold house. Example Three The jury were prejudiced towards the defendant because they already knew he was guilty of other crimes, but were not pertaining to the case in hand. The mans past had nothing to do with what he was standing trail for but the jurors had already a predetermined what type of man he was. A: The word prejudice, meaning literally pre-judgment, is defined as having a preconceived opinion about something or someone. It has acquired its current popular definition, of bias against a particular group of people, during the civil rights movement of the mid-20th century. Under that latter definition, here are three examples of prejudice: * Asking to be seated (or re-seated) in a restaurant or theater, away from a group whose ethnic or religious heritage frightens or offends you; this could be anything from Italian businessmen (might be mobsters) to a Middle Eastern family (could be terrorists). * Seeking out a male auto mechanic, under the belief that a female mechanic would be less qualified; or hiring a female kindergarten teacher, thinking that a male teacher wouldnt be as compassionate. * Denying a gay couple the right to rent an apartment. But its important to keep in mind that 1) everyone has prejudices, and 2) not all prejudices are negative. For example, you may decide to see a new movie because you heard that one of your favorite actors is starring in it; this is an example of positive prejudice, or prejudice forsomething. Prejudice Each of us is unique with our own talents and skills and experiences to offer. There are many ways that people can be different from you: * moral or spiritual beliefs * cultural background * intellectual strengths and weaknesses (e. g. being better at languages or math) * social skills and preferences (e. g. being shy instead of outgoing) * tastes, interests and hobbies (e. g. liking sports or music) * physical features (e. g. sex, size, skin colour, body shape) * sexual and/or gender orientation or preferences. While we all benefit by being surrounded by people with different beliefs, skills and experiences, these differences can sometimes cause people to be targets of hatred and prejudice. To understand what prejudice is, its important to be able to define words like stereotypes and discrimination. Prejudice can have some serious effects, but there are many things you can do to recognize and reduce prejudice in your own life. If you have more questions about prejudice and discrimination, talk to a trusted adult (like a parent, relative or teacher) or call Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868. Looking for something specific? Go straight there. * Definitions and examples * The effects of prejudice * What you can do about prejudice Definitions and examples Stereotypes are generalizations When we assume that people of shared physical, religious, cultural or other characteristics have certain behavioural attributes, this is called a stereotype. Some examples of stereotypes are: * Men are more adventurous than women * Women are more emotional than men * Aboriginal people are all alcoholics * Gay men are all effeminate Prejudice is a belief. Prejudice is often based on stereotypes. It divides people into inferior and superior groups based on what one person thinks about another person or group. Some examples of prejudice are: * Racism or Anti-Semitism believing that race, skin colour or culture makes certain people inferior (e. g. believing that whites are superior to people of colour or people who practice Judaism) * Classism believing that certain economic classes are superior (e. g. the rich are superior to the poor). * Sexism believing that sex and gender determine status (e.g. boys and men are superior to girls and women) * Lookism believing that appearance and looks determine status (e. g. unattractive people are inferior to attractive people) * Homophobia/Heterosexism believing that sexual or gender orientation makes one group inferior (e. g. heterosexual people are superior to homosexual people) * Ableism believing that physical and/or mental ability makes one group superior (e. g. that differently abled people are inferior to typically abled people). * Ageism believing that age determines status (e. g.adults are superior to young people and the elderly) Discrimination is an action When people act based on their prejudices, they are discriminating against others. Some examples of discrimination include * A rich-looking person getting served before a poorer-looking person at a restaurant * A woman getting turned down for a job promotion in favour of a man * A police officer keeping a closer watch on a black teenager than a white teenager hanging out in front of a store * An woman in her 30s getting treated better than a woman in her 70s by a store? Staff The effects of prejudice Prejudice and discrimination are harmful behaviours that limit the opportunities of certain groups of people by reducing or withholding access to people defined as inferior and by increasing or extending access to people defined as superior. Some of the opportunities that prejudice and discrimination limit include: * approval and popularity * rights and privileges * power * knowledge * employment * promotion. Prejudice and discrimination also leave people open to a variety of social risks including: * victimization (violence, abuse, theft and bullying) * suspicion (blame or assumed guilt for crimes and harmful actions) * rejection, alienation and isolation (which all can lead to low self-esteem, self-hatred and self-destruction) * exploitation and oppression One of the worst things about prejudices is that over time people may come to believe what they hear and may start to believe that they are superior/inferior. This can lead to: * emotional suffering * reduced self-esteem * sense of futility or lack of control * blaming victims * losing hope in the future * fear/mistrust of others * lack of respect for authority What you can do about prejudice There are many ways that you can help reduce prejudice and discrimination. Here are just a few suggestions: * refuse to laugh at racist or sexist jokes * refuse to be allowed to jump ahead in a line-up and point out that people who have been waiting longer have a right to be served first * refuse to see movies, read books, play video games or participate in actives that promote violence or discrimination against certain groups * confront your friends or peers who express prejudiced or discriminatory beliefs * support associations or organizations whose mission is to help address the roots or effects of prejudice * confront prejudice in schools by working with a diverse group of people * confront prejudice at work by refusing to work in an environment that supports discriminatory policies or practices. If you have more questions about prejudice or discrimination, talk to a trusted adult like a parent, relative, teacher or religious leader, or call Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868 and talk to one of our professional counsellors. BEYOND PREJUDICE REDUCING YOUR PREJUDICIAL BEHAVIORReducing prejudices needs to be more than an organizational goal; it needs to be a personal goal for each of us. The following list contains things we can do as individuals to help reduce prejudices within ourselves and in those around us. 1. Acknowledge that you have learned prejudicial information about other people. Without this acknowledgment nothing can change. Only through an acknowledgment of the prejudicial learnings can the misinformation be openly discussed and dealt with in a way which is likely to bring about change. It is clear that if we can’t talk about it, we surely can’t change it. 2. Confront without guilt or blame the stereotypes that you have learned. Guilt for having learned information is not really appropriate. It would have been difficult or nearly impossible to avoid learning this information. You probably learned it before you were able to think about the information critically. To focus on either blame or guilt distracts one from the need for change. It also focuses ones attention from the present into the past and leaves one feeling helpless or powerless to make any changes. 3. Enter a supportive group or a supportive relationship for making the needed changes. We tend to change our interpersonal behaviors and beliefs most effectively in an interpersonal context. Another person or other people can help us to test new learnings, gain new information, hold us to our insights and our commitments. They can do all this while providing us with support as we try new ideas, behaviors and beliefs. 4. Make a commitment to change and make a commitment to a process of change. The commitment made to others is a stronger commitment than the one made alone or to oneself. The commitment should be to working on a change process. Simply making a commitment to change is not as likely to result in the modification of behavior as a commitment to change that includes a commitment to a process. It is most effective to make an agreement to meet regularly with someone to discuss how you are both changing. Mutual commitments are both powerful and healthy. In this way, people approach the process as equals and are more likely to adhere to the process of changing. Keeping these commitments in a log, along with notes on the actions that one has taken, is a helpful way of sharing and supporting each other in a process of mutual prejudice reduction. 5. Become aware of your own self-talk about other groups of people. Becoming aware of ones own self-talk is critical in the process of changing the early stereotyped beliefs that one has learned. Talk about where those messages came from and the messages limiting effect with a person who will be accepting and non-judgmental. Knowing what those messages are is critical to changing them and replacing them with positive messages. 6. Challenge the irrationality of the prejudicial thoughts or self-talk statements. Get information to disprove each prejudicial thought. Most general statements about a population of people are untrue. One only needs to look more closely to see that almost any statement about them will fall apart under examination. Take the time to examine and challenge the thoughts that limit or devalue other people. 7. Increase your exposure to or contact with those who belong to the group(s) toward which you have learned some prejudicial stereotypes. Misconceptions remain effective only when you avoid contact with those about whom you have misconceptions. It is always helpful to increase your exposure to people that belong to the group about which you have stereotyped thoughts. When you are doing this, besure that you are not making contact in a way which will only affirm your stereotypedbeliefs. In finding people who are representative of this group, you might ask yourself, Is this the method I would want someone to use who wanted to learn about people of my nationality, race, age, religious belief, or culture? As you enter this process, keep in mind the tremendous diversity within any group. 8. Thought-stopping is a valuable process for changing ones self-talk about others. It is often helpful to have a pleasant image to focus upon to use as an abrupt interruption to your thoughts whenever you discover that you have started to think stereotypical thoughts about a member of another group. If you plan what image to focus upon and shift to that image very suddenly each time you think the stereotyped thought, it weakens the stereotyped thought. Your replacement image might be of something strongly positive about this group of people or about the absolute absurdity of the stereotype you learned. In building these images, it might be helpful to try making generalized statements about all the people who might be seen as like you in some aspect. Experience the difficulty in this process. 9. Make use of the Premack Principle, a small rule that has power for change. Making something one does often or something one likes to do contingent upon doing ones positive practice is one of the most effective ways of ensuring it gets done. For example, one might agree to meet with or report to ones partner each week before taking out the trash or filling the car with gas or some other task. Tying the two tasks together in an agreement is an effective way of making and keeping a commitment. One might also use this principle in changing ones self talk. To do this, one might agree to say an affirming statement about a group of people every time he or she sees a member of that group. 10. Learn how other groups see your own identity group. Learn from those in other groups how your own group is seen. This may take time because one needs to develop a trusting relationship. When their stereotypes about your own group are shared, don’t defend or deny them; instead, hear them as being as likely and as valid as your own stereotypes about other groups. Let yourself understand and accept how this view might be shared and believed by those who don’t have your experience. 11. Feeling good about ourselves is important in being able to accept people who are different from us. We need to develop a strong sense of security. People need to feel secure enough to be self-critical and to accept and learn from critical feedback by others. Those who are unable to accept critical feedback often project blame onto those who are different from themselves. 12. Accepting indecision is an important learning style. We need to develop an acceptance within ourselves for indecision. To be undecided is not only acceptable, but often desirable over having fast answers before all the needed information is available. To be in a position of not knowing and not reaching a conclusion is a valid position. This often requires a sense of self-acceptance and personal security. The need to have a correct answer quickly and not accepting the uncertainty of not knowing is strongly associated with being prejudiced. 13. Developing empathy skills is an effective way of increasing our acceptance of others. The ability to empathize with others is a teachable skill and is highly related to tolerance. There is no other skill that has been so clearly shown as being related to acceptance of others. The work of Gerard Egan, George Gazda, Norman Kagan and others is important here. Some of these peoples books are very usable. 14. Develop listening skills so that we can really hear other people. We need to develop listening skills and an appreciation for listening to other people. 15. Develop an appreciation for the complexities of the universe. Knowing that one truth does not preclude another is an important concept. We need to develop and nurture our own appreciation for the complexities of theuniverse. Our ability to accept contradictory truths is related to our tolerance for others. It is important to accept that there are truths that, I won’t understand. It is also important to recognize that what may appear to be conflicting and contradictory at first glance are not always so. One example of this is, I am like all other humans, while at the same time, I am like no other human. 16. Developing our own ability to experience caring about other people Is not only important for them, but allows us to be touch with our own connectedness and adds meaning to our lives. We need to show caring, even for those people who are unable to return the caring at this time. Because our lives are interconnected, the world is simply too small for us to not care anymore. 17. Learning about other groups is an important way to develop understanding. We need to learn about those groups we might feel prejudice toward. It is helpful to read about these groups in books the members of the groups have written, and its also helpful to go out of our way to visit with members of these groups. 18. Valuing diversity in human appearance and in nature is important. Diversity is the reality of nature and the strength of a species. We need to think and behave in ways which value and learn from diversity. This is not only in the area of racial diversity, but also in diverse ways of thinking, problem-solving and the many other ways in which people differ that affect human interactions. We cannot expect ourselves or others to value one type of diversity and reject others. 19. Seeking self-understanding increases the ability to accept oneself and others. We need to personally value and seek self-understanding. Those who are self-aware and self-critical are less likely to blame others. They know their own shortcomings and capabilities and have the self-esteem to accept responsibility for their behaviors. 20. Responding to prejudicial jokes is critical if we are to stand for something and identify ourselves. Initially, we need to respond to prejudicial jokes in a way that clearly communicates two things: 1) That we do not believe the person intended to harm others. 2) That we personally find meaning in the joke that is harmful. It is nearly impossible to make general statements about prejudicial jokes, but it is helpful to speak up and it is helpful not to read intent into a situation where it may not exist. A response is needed when the joke is at the expense of any group. It is this type of humor which is harmful. Initially it is most effective to use a minimal non-response. That means that we make it clear that we do not appreciate the humor or find it funny, but we do not alienate the person or lose our position for future influence by overreacting. If the other person’s prejudicial joke telling continues, it is appropriate to continue protesting the jokes and making the protests stronger. I know one person who starts by simply saying he does not find the joke humorous. 21. Responding to negative terms about groups of people helps us to know what we stand for and helps others to know us as well. We need to respond to static terms or names for other groups of people in ways which show that we feel that the use of these terms is inappropriate. (This should be the response when the term is at the expense of any group. Its the process which is harmful. ) It is most effective to use a minimal non-response. We are of little value in helping another person to reduce their prejudice if we reject or define them as a worthless bigot. 22. Research your investments so that you are only investing in firms with strong policies of affirmative action and respect for human rights. Many of us may have our savings in tax shelters which may not be socially responsible. I discovered that while one state university had mission statements about both education and health, it invested much of the employees retirement funds in the tobacco industry. I suggest that you check your investments in The Better World Investment Guide| What Is Prejudice? Prejudice is a baseless and usually negative attitude toward members of a group. Common features of prejudice include negative feelings, stereotyped beliefs, and a tendency to discriminate against members of the group. While specific definitions of prejudice given by social scientists often differ, most agree that it involves prejudgments (usually negative) about members of a group. Types of PrejudicePrejudice can be based upon a number of factors including sex, race, age, sexual orientations, nationality, socioeconomic status and religion. Some of the most well-known types of prejudice include: * Racism * Sexism * Classicism * Homophobia * Nationalism * Religious prejudice * AgismPrejudice and StereotypingWhen prejudice occurs, stereotyping and discrimination may also result. In many cases, prejudices are based upon stereotypes. A stereotype is a simplified assumption about a group based on prior assumptions. Stereotypes can be both positive (women are warm and nurturing) or negative (teenagers are lazy). Stereotypes can lead to faulty beliefs, but they can also result in both prejudice and discrimination. According to psychologist Gordon Allport, prejudice and stereo types emerge in part as a result of normal human thinking. In order to make sense of the world around us, it is important to sort informati.

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) Design

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) Design Introduction Objective The goal of a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is to achieve reusable assets in an agile manner that is aligned with the business needs of the organization. The SOA Reference Architecture provides guidelines for making architectural and implementation decisions. To that end it serves as a blueprint for creating or evaluating a solution architecture for different groups within the organization. In addition it provides insight and patterns for integrating the different elements of an SOA as illustrated by the different layers of an SOA. An SOA Reference Architecture is designed to answer some of the key questions and issues encountered while developing a solution such as: What are the aspects of an SOA as expressed in terms of layers that need to be considered when designing solutions based on SOA principles? What are the building blocks needed to include in each layer of a solution? What are some of the key architectural decisions that need to be made when designing a a solution that is based on SOA? Which roles in a project would benefit from using these principles and guidelines? To answer these questions this document provides the following: Establishes a common vocabulary and set of definitions for services and SOA. Identifies the different functions of an SOA implementation and define their interactions with each other and with functions outside the scope of the Rufus platform. Provides SOA guiding principles. Defines consistent design and implementation across services. Shows when and where to use SOA technologies. Supports SOA governance. Provides an architectural based design methodology. Overview This document presents the layers, building blocks, architectural and design decisions, patterns, options and the separation of concerns needed to design or evaluate an SOA architecture. The architecture consists of multiple components which are divided into the following categories: Quality of Service (QoS) Security Consumer Business Process Integration Services Information Infrastructure Governance Monitoring Management Center of Excellence (COE) Design Time Elements Component View Design Time Elements Design-Time Activities are the technical activities, guidelines, and deliverables that allow for everyday development within the SOA and Integration Architecture. Including: Service Modeling and Design Canonical Data Modeling Policy Specification Service Assembly Service Testing Service Identification Service Lifecycle Management Service Modeling and Design Services must be modeled and designed to support an extensible plug-and-play model by being: Reusable So that other Services leverage an existing Service. Composable So that a Service can leverage other Services. Interoperable So that Services can work with each other. Discoverable To support location independence. To enable the above qualities, each Service (except for Data and Utility Services) needs to have: A well-defined Service Contract To enable loose couple by hiding low-level implementation details from Service Consumers. SOAP-based Web Services achieve this by specifying a WSDL interface with XML-based document exchange. RESTful Web Services define a contract with HTTP input parameters and JSON/XML-based responses. Coarse-grained So that operations have enough data to carry out all tasks in a stateless manner. Stateless operations Statelessness (i.e., not maintaining state between invocations) enables a Service to be reused in many contexts. A way to handle Exceptions to notify its caller if there are problems carrying out an operation. To ensure that each type of Shared Service is designed and implemented in a uniform manner, a SOA Governance team should create SOA Best Practices documents for: Service Design, Web Service Design, and XML Message Design in Designers Guides (i.e., working agreements). Topics would include: Service Specification and Design Interface (including Canonical Data model for messages see section 3.5.2) Policies (see section 3.5.3) SLAs (Service Level Agreements) A description of what the Service does A description of the Services operations. Best practices for each type of Shared Service (Business, Common, Data, Integration, and Utility). Examples showing the difference between Service-Oriented Design and Object Oriented Design. How to develop a SOAP Web Service (and handle Exceptions). How to develop a RESTful Web Service (and handle Exceptions). Canonical Data Modeling (XML) Many organizations have several autonomous packaged and custom developments that have evolved independently of one another. Many times, each system has become a system with its own implementation methodology, culture, processes, business rules, and vocabulary. Many companies face the problem of using the business data to enable applications to communicate in a distributed systems environment. Organizations design Canonical Data Models (CDM) to help analyze the message exchange within the organization and with their trading partners. Data is embedded in the basic architecture of any organization. To develop the CDM, an organization must inventory business concepts and map the vocabulary into fundamental business concepts. The CDM provides a framework for integrating the disparate terms for each line of business. The CDM is a catalog of neutral terms defined in an XML Schema, including: Entities in the business domain (e.g., Order, Customer, etc.) Agreed-upon data structures so that a domain element has a single, common definition. Formatting rules. A CDM defines an organizations data in motion the XML messages exchanged between: Services within an enterprise. An enterprise and its external trading partners. Many industries have an industry standard (e.g., ACORD, for Insurance, or EDRM for e-Discovery) to define core concepts and define data exchanged between companies. A Canonical Data Model provides the following benefits: An enterprise can easily exchange data with its business partners. An enterprise can adopt a single approach to exchanging data across all services the enterprise. The canonical model helps define the interface for each Service (thus hiding the structure of the physical data in the database). Changes to the canonical data model are required only when an entirely new business concept arises. Policy Specification Policies provide service-level meta-data to Web Services consumers. Specifying these policies is an important step in Web Service design, and this is accomplished by attaching policy expressions to the WSDL. Specifically, these policies include: Security: Transport Protocol Algorithm (RSA, etc.). Messages Authentication/Authorization Level of Service (e.g., Silver, Gold, Platinum, etc.). For example, a Platinum customers requests execute on best-provisioned server for better performance (but also at a higher price). Performance For example, send notifications if performance for a particular service dips below the promised SLA. Auditing For example, begin auditing when a particular service consumer invokes an operation on a Service. Service Assembly A Business Analyst first develops a Business Process Diagram (using BPMN Business Process Modeling Notation) to model a business process at a business/requirements level. Then, designers and developers create a runtime model in either BPEL (Business Process Execution Language) or JBI (Java Business Integration) to: Assemble existing Shared Services into a Business Process Enable a BPMS product and/or ESB can run the business process. Designers use MEPs (Message-Exchange Patterns) to model the runtime characteristics of a business process. Typical MEPs include: Pipes and Filters Content-based Router Recipient List Wire Tap Dynamic Router These patterns are gaining in popularity and many of the newer ESB and BPMS products support executable MEP models. Please see the following for further information: Enterprise Integration Patterns Home Page Enterprise Integration Patterns, Gregor Hohpe, Bobby Woolf, et al. Service Testing Most Shared Services will be implemented as Web Services, and it is important to take a Test-Driven Development (TDD) approach to Web Services development because: Designers and developers need early feedback on the design, functionality, usability, and performance of each Web Service. QA personnel need to be able to test Web Services. Overall quality is very important because each Web Service could be used by multiple consumers. Service Testing includes: Inspecting Web Services: Documentation Generating HTML documentation from the Web Service interface. Debugging Show SOAP/HTTP requests that are sent received over the wire. Invoking Web Services: Generating Web Services requests from WSDL to set the Web Service. Simulating/Mocking Web Services Generating Unit Tests based on the Web Service interface. Functional/Performance Testing Web Services Simulating load conditions. Reporting on performance under load conditions. Commercial products include: Eviware soapUI Pro iTKO LISA Open Source products include: Eviware soapUI Community Edition WebInject PushToTest TestMaker Points to Ponder (for Evaluation) Does the product support both SOAP and RESTful Web Services? How? Does the product enable you to view SOAP/HTTP messages over the wire? Does the product have a good/usable Web UI to make it easy to test? Can a QA/Tester use the product without developer intervention? What level of SOAP, WSDL, and HTTP does the product support? Does the product support an Agile/TDD approach with Unit Tests and Mocking? Does the product generate Unit Tests to support Continuous Integration? Can the product simulate load conditions and report on performance/scalability? How much setup is involved? How does the licensing work? Service Identification Service Identification is one of the key steps in designing a Service-Oriented solution because it defines and identifies high-level Business Services by using the following the following approaches: Top Down: Analyze and model business processes. Design new Services that enable the tasks and activities in the business processes. Bottom Up: Service-enable existing and applications systems. Create business processes from the Services. Middle Out: Analyze and model business processes. Catalog existing applications and services. Determine which can be Service-enabled. Create Service Adapters. Map tasks and activities from the business processes to existing Services. Create new Services to fill in the gaps. A Middle-out approach is recommend because it takes the best parts of the other approaches: The bottom-up approach creates isolated silos that dont align with the business. The top-down approach takes a long time, and the enterprise cant wait for every business process to be defined in order to begin designing and developing Services. A compromise approach takes into account the need for timeliness, but also instills enough discipline to design Business Services that match up with the goals and objectives from the Business Architecture by: Taking a first cut at the Business Services from Marketing materials and meetings with the CMO and other business stakeholders. Starting with only a few Business Processes. Driving toward a thin/vertical slice of functionality based on the business processes. Service Lifecycle Management Service implementations are software like any other software module or application. As such, they go through a similar lifecycle. The service lifecycle is depicted in the following diagram. The lifecycle starts with Service Identification. Services are part of more general business processes. As such, new services are usually identified by the design of a new business process. This is not the only way that new services are identified however. Sometimes services are identified as part of portfolio management. This involves analyzing the requirements for a service across the breadth of the enterprise. The level of analysis required for this type of identification is difficult to gauge and therefore CIBER does not recommend using portfolio management for service discovery at this time. Once a service has been identified, it follows an iterative development process. Iterative processes use the feedback from subsequent phases to make corrections in previous phases based on lesson learned or issues that may crop up. Services are part of a greater distributed system however and any changes made can have an impact on other development efforts. Therefore it is important to be mindful of the effect change can have even during development of a service. The Service Specification and Design phase produces at a minimum the specification for the service interface. This interface specification includes the semantics and data that the service supports. This represents the contract between the service and its consumers. Diligence should be applied to the design of this interface as changes to the interface have the greatest impact to subsequent phases. Changes to the service interface can impact both clients that may be developed in parallel, implementation of the service, as well as test plans that have been implemented to test the service. This does not mean that a service interface must never be changed once it is designed. Designs are not perfect and in todays IT environment it is not always possible to take the time required to produce an interface definition that is ideal. Therefore it is prudent to put processes in place that take into account that service interfaces may change. Whenever implementing a service take into account tha t the interface may change to the extent possible to minimize the impact of that change. This also applies to the implementers of consumers of the service. In some cases, consumers may want to wait until the service has been through some number of rounds of testing before starting their implementation. This allows for some experience to be developed with using the service thereby (hopefully) minimizing the possibility of change to the interface. Once the service has been designed it proceeds to the Service Implementation phase. In this phase the service will be developed based upon architectural standards developed by the university OIT group. Any issues encountered trying to implement the design of the service should be fed back to the designer in order to refine the design if necessary. Finally, service need to be tested before being deployed into production use. Testing of services involves four primary areas of focus: Security testing is essential to assess the risk of a service with regard to vulnerability, data privacy and data integrity. Tests need to be developed to test boundary conditions which can assess the robustness of the service handling inputs outside the range of anticipated values. Tests should also be created that ensure the service performs as expected based on the roles as defined within the system. Type of Testing Description Functional This area of testing focuses on ensuring the service performs its function according to the requirement of the business process it support. Automated test suites should be developed to perform regression testing to quickly verify functionality during the life cycle changes that may occur. Performance This area of testing focuses on performance characteristics of the service including measurement of time to perform the service and load testing of the service. The output from this type of testing forms the basis of understanding how to configure and deploy the service in a production environment. Interoperability This area of testing ensures the service adheres to its service specification. Early identification of interoperability issues is key to integration of the service through exposure to university partners and clients. This type of testing is especially important when the service interacts with multiple data sources and/or systems. Security Security testing is essential to assess the risk of a service with regard to vulnerability, data privacy and data integrity. Tests need to be developed to test boundary conditions which can assess the robustness of the service handling inputs outside the range of anticipated values. Tests should also be created that ensure the service performs as expected based on the roles as defined within the system. Regression One of the more important types of testing related to usage of services is regression testing. The more applications that depend on a given service, the more impact a change to that service can have on the environment. As such, when changes are made to services, regression testing must be undertaken to ensure that the service not only supports new or updated functions but all other functions upon which the service relies. Table 1 Service Testing Types Once the service is ready it is deployed into production use. At this point the service enters the maintenance cycle as opposed to the development cycle. Services in production sometimes require change. The change may be due to a defect in the system or a request to add more functionality to the service. It is important to understand how this change should be handled based on its nature. Defects that are a result of a fault in the underlying implementation of the service and do not change the behavior of the service may be handled by a Defect Remediation process. In this case it is desirable to apply a fix as quickly as possible to the existing service as it may be affecting multiple university processes and causing a disruption to the universities ability to perform its function. Changes that modify the behavior of an existing service or its interface are best handled by identifying a new service or a separate version of the service. In this scenario versions are really new services that are separate from the original. Taking this route minimizes impact on consumers using the original service but can cause a proliferation of services within the enterprise. This may not always be desirable however and some effort should be put into defining conditions under which an existing service in production may be modified (for instance, only one business consumer is affected and the change is well understood). This should be documented so that everyone understands the conditions and ensure that changes are handled in a consistent manner. Service Withdrawal is the final step of the lifecycle. Eventually services will start ballooning (especially when changing production services leads to the creation of new services) and some services will stop being used. Removing service can be problematic as a service may support multiple business process owned by different colleges and departments. A procedure needs to be adopted to define and orderly withdrawal of services from the system. Such a procedure may start with deprecating the service (with a note explaining why and some suggestion as to another service to replace it). Secondly, services can be monitored for use and the consumers identified. Finally, if the service is still being used the consumers should be contacted to discuss a solution. This should result in establishing a schedule for the consumers to switch over to another service so that the service may be withdrawn. Consumers of a deprecated service may not have incentive to change. Making changes requires effort and possibly some risk to the consumer. This needs to be recognized when seeking collaboration from consumers to switch over to another service. In this case it will be necessary to be creative in coming up with a common understanding of the benefit of switching to a newer service so the deprecated one may be withdrawn. Center of Excellence (COE) An online community to: Impart the SOA Vision. Educate IT and business staff on SOA. Communicate SOA best practices. Gain feedback on how to adapt the SOA Governance process and overall SOA program. Provide support advice for new and ongoing SOA implementations. Provide SOA Resources: Books Web Sites Industry Standards Quality of Service Logging Most applications and systems use some form of logging that stores messages to a persistent medium (DBMS, file, etc.). Logging provides the following benefits: Troubleshooting Applications log errors upon failure, and system personnel use this information to repair the problem. Reviewing System personnel examine log messages to check for problems. Auditing Security personnel can review log messages to see what actions a user performed in the system. Debugging Developers generate log messages to debug their programs. Identity Management Identity Management is the ability to identify a requestors (person or system) true identity and relationships between people and organizations (groups). The current policies and level of enforcement are expected to continue into Managed Services by using Microsofts Active Directory as the source for identity management. Confidentiality Confidentiality assures that during transport of the data it was never visible, accessible or viewed other than by authorized recipients. There currently is no Smart Energy or Smart Grid requirement to secure messages for Confidentiality. Authentication Authentication is also done within Microsofts Active Directory and adds authorization policies to the verified identity. Authorization Authorization is currently done at the application level. Within Managed Services (stage MS3) authorization will be performed to determine whether the requestor (person, application, service) is authorized to access the requested service, data and even the Managed Data Repository. Integrity / Non-repudiation Integrity requires that during transport and even as read by the sender there were no unauthorized modifications of the content of the message. Non-repudiation assures the sending service that the receiving service has received the intended message. Current Smart Energy and Smart Grid projected needs do not require message Integrity, but for sensitive messages (time, confidentiality, event, or priority) there is Non-repudiation. Consumers Service Consumers are the end consumer/user of the services provided by an enterprise. The consumer has the flexibility to process and display useful and relevant information provided by Services. Service Consumers access Services through a consistent interface (or contract) exposed by that Service. Service Consumers can be: User Interfaces B2B Applications Business Processes User Interaction Users can access enterprise services through variety of mechanisms, including Portals, web sites, or PDAs. A web site provides a web-based interface to enable users to perform daily, job-related tasks. A web site leverage the services created provided the organization, as a part of SOA implementation, and do not contain any business logic themselves. The site seamlessly integrates with back-end services (using SOAP/WSDL, REST/JSON) and business processes. The site can be secured by global security policies, but also can include role based authentication that limits access to only relevant information making it easier to manage. A Portal is a web site that enables users to access highly personalized information and services. It can increase the productivity and effectiveness of employees within an organization through a consolidated view of available services and information. Typically the site is highly interactive, allowing the user to run a wide variety of tools and functions such as, global search queries, and custom dashboard and advanced business intelligence tools. Portals provide a unified entry point to the organization and provide common look and feel all across applications. Portals form the front end for business processes and custom applications created as composite applications. The site can also be utilized to mash-up other applications or services from 3rd party sites. Wikis, Blogs, RSS feeds, and content can all be made available within the site. A PDA enables mobile users to access enterprise services. Like sites and portals, a PDA has no business logic of its own, but it allows the end user to interact with back-end services by seamlessly accessing the Web Services exposed by an enterprise. However, a PDAs interface and functionality is much more limited than that of a web site because of display and memory constraints. B2B Applications An organization normally collaborates with external business partners such as suppliers and customers to achieve its business objectives. An external partners B2B application (e.g., a web site or portal) will invoke a Web Service exposed by an enterprise, which in turn executes business functionality on behalf of the client. Business Processes A Business Process codifies and streamlines the rules, practices, and business s activities in an enterprise. Business analysts create Business Process Diagrams using the industry-standard Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) to document a set of coordinated tasks and activities that lead to an organizational goal. You can think of a business process as a graphical representation of a Use Case (RUP) or User Epic (Agile / Scrum) in that it shows normal and alternate flows along with exceptions encountered during processing. In SOA, a business process coordinates the business services (see section 3.2.1) developed by an enterprise. SOA architects and developers derive business services from the tasks and decision points in a business process diagram. Business logic is used to form business flows as parallel tasks or sequential tasks based on business rules, policies, and other business requirements. Examples of Business Processes include: Purchasing a product Time Entry / Approval Billing Service Provisioning For information on tools and products, please the Workflow / Orchestration section (3.4.5). Collaboration Services Presentation Services Presentation Services define a common set of services to manage interaction with users or trading partners (to the extent this second interaction is needed). Presentation services are provided by: web servers, portal servers, and application servers that provide the capability to quickly create the front end of business processes and composite applications to respond to changes in user needs through channels, portals, rich clients, and other mechanisms. Presentation services integrate with other foundational services, such as security (e.g., single sign-on). Users can access enterprise services through variety of mechanisms, including Portals, web sites, or PDAs. A web site provides a web-based interface to enable users to perform daily, job-related tasks. A web site leverage the services created provided the organization, as a part of SOA implementation, and do not contain any business logic themselves. The site seamlessly integrates with back-end services (using SOAP/WSDL, REST/JSON) and business processes. The site can be secured by global security policies, but also can include role based authentication that limits access to only relevant information making it easier to manage. A Portal is a web site that enables users to access highly personalized information and services. It can increase the productivity and effectiveness of employees within an organization through a consolidated view of available services and information. Typically the site is highly interactive, allowing the user to run a wide variety of tools and functions such as, global search queries, and custom dashboard and advanced business intelligence tools. Portals provide a unified entry point to the organization and provide common look and feel all across applications. Portals form the front end for business processes and custom applications created as composite applications. The site can also be utilized to mash-up other applications or services from 3rd party sites. Wikis, Blogs, RSS feeds, and content can all be made available within the site. A PDA enables mobile users to access enterprise services. Like sites and portals, a PDA has no business logic of its own, but it allows the end user to interact with back-end services by seamlessly accessing the Web Services exposed by an enterprise. However, a PDAs interface and functionality is much more limited than that of a web site because of display and memory constraints. BI / Reporting BI (Business Intelligence) / Reporting provides a high-level view of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to business stakeholders to enable them to make decisions and manage the business. Examples of KPIs include: Efficiency of business processes. Job Costing. New customers acquired. Sales information by demographic (age, ethnicity, geographic region, etc.). Churn / turnover of accounts by demographic. A BI product uses the information stored in a Data Warehouse to present it to the user. A BI tool (such as Business Objects) uses Key Performance Indicators (KPIs e.g., sales conversion rate, in-force polices, market penetration, for example) to report on data, identify trends, perform data analysis, etc. to enable business users to make decisions and operate the business as efficiently as possible while advancing a business strategy. BI increases business agility and shortens timeframes for decision-making. It gives companies the ability to identify and anticipate opportunities represented by seemingly unrelated events. It is a key enabler of strategic and tactical decision making. Commercial products include: IBM COGNOS MicroStrategy O