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Quiz-1
Written: May 20, 2015 6:38 AM – May 20, 2015 6:40 AM
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Question 1 1 / 1 point
Which of the following is defined as the ability of customers to drive down the price of goods and services?
A) supplier power
B) buyer power or the bargaining power of customers
C) rivalry among competitors
D) threat of price reduction
View FeedbackQuestion 2 1 / 1 point
Are there any direct variables that have no effect on a business’ competitive position?
A) yes
B) No
View FeedbackQuestion 3 1 / 1 point
Which of the following are components of an information system? (select all that apply)
A) data
B) hardware
C) people
D) process
E) software
View FeedbackQuestion 4 1 / 1 point
According to the Five Forces Model developed by Harvard Business professor Michael Porter, all of the following are major factors that determine a company’s standing in an industry, except for which one?
A) Threat of entry of new competitors
B) Political and/or economic factors
C) Bargaining power of suppliers
D) Threat of substitute products/services
View FeedbackQuestion 5 1 / 1 point
True or false: Early research could not draw any connections between IT and profitability, but later research has shown that the impact can be positive.
True
False
View FeedbackQuestion 6 1 / 1 point
Web 2.0 is exemplified by which of the following? (select all that apply)
A) blogging
B) online purchasing
C) social networking
D) interactive comments
View FeedbackQuestion 7 1 / 1 point
In a business like Walmart, which of the following groups of variables has the most impact on their competitive position?
A) customers, suppliers, government regulations, location
B) suppliers, customers, location, employees
C) location, environmental concerns, suppliers, technology
D) suppliers, location, technology, competition
View FeedbackQuestion 8 1 / 1 point
Which use of the Internet could have a negative impact on a company’s competitive position?
A) allowing potential customers to learn about the company’s products and services
B) providing an easy method to facilitate product orders to flow to the suppliers
C) allowing potential customers to find possible substitute products
D) allowing a company to monitor patent infringement by other companies
View FeedbackQuestion 9 1 / 1 point
Of the following, which factor is least crucial to the ability of a company to maintain its competitive position?
A) emerging new technologies that create new products or create efficiencies
B) patent infringements
C) employees’ benefits
D) new international markets
View FeedbackQuestion 10 1 / 1 point
Which of the following is defined as a series of activities undertaken by the company to produce a product or service?
business processes
value chain
strategic direction
competitive advantage
View FeedbackQuestion 11 1 / 1 point
Which of the following statements are true of Decision Support Systems (DSS)? (select all that apply)
A) A decision support system (DSS) is an information system built to help an organization make a specific decision or set of decisions.
B) DSSs are used only at the executive level and are used to make all strategic decisions.
C) DSSs are designed to take inputs regarding a known (or partially-known) decision-making process and provide the information necessary to make a decision.
D) DSSs can exist at different levels of decision-making with the organization, from the CEO to the first-level managers.
View FeedbackQuestion 12 1 / 1 point
Which of the following groups of variables are all direct variables?
A) customers, suppliers, government regulations, technology
B) suppliers, time, politics, owners.
C) supplier, customers, employees, location
D) employees, location, technology, organizational components
View FeedbackQuestion 13 1 / 1 point
Strategic issues related to business processes and the value chain are addressed at which organizational level?
corporate level
business unit level
functional level
strategic level
View FeedbackQuestion 14 1 / 1 point
Which of the following are the two primary methods for obtaining competitive advantage described by Michael Porter? (select the two that apply)
A) advantage of bringing new products to market
B) cost advantage
C) differentiation advantage
D) value chain creation
View FeedbackQuestion 15 1 / 1 point
Highly qualified vendors, consultants, and ITdepartments are the most important elements for the successful implementation of enterprisetechnologies.
True
False
View FeedbackQuestion 16 1 / 1 point
Which of the following are Porter’s three generic strategies? (select all that apply)
A) cost leadership
B) differentiation
C) focus
D) competitive advantage
View FeedbackQuestion 17 1 / 1 point
Which of the following is exemplified by customers finding a different way to get the product or service?
A) customer disloyalty
B) threat of substitute product or services
C) rivalry among competitors
D) barriers to entry
View FeedbackQuestion 18 1 / 1 point
True or False: According to Michael Porter, the Internet has the effect of lowering overall profitability.
True
False
View FeedbackQuestion 19 1 / 1 point
A strategic information system is one that attempts to do one or more of the following: (select all that apply)
A) help an organization focus on a specific market segment
B) deliver a product or a service at a lower cost
C) enable innovation
D) deliver a product or service that is differentiated
View FeedbackQuestion 20 1 / 1 point
True or False: The data show that IT has reduced the differences among companies.
True
False
The Impact of Ethnicity on Justice
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The Impact of Ethnicity on Justice
Justice system should be the most equal and fair system, however, it has had its criticism over the years. Researchers have often pointed out the link that exist between the justice system and ethnicity in America. There has been various research that have been conducted that indicates often when passing judgments or in determination of cases, ethnicity has had quite a huge impact. In America, minority groups or rather ethnicities have often felt that the justice system is often not fair to them and it seems to favor the whites. The minority groups include African American, Latinos, and Asian Americans. In looking at the justice system, we will look at police policies, court judgements and the prison system so as to understand the correlation that exists between the criminal justice system and the link to ethnicity.
Police and law enforcers encompass the justice system therefore a look into their policies and how they affect ethnicity is important. For years’ police brutality has been documented and often police are seen to be harsher to people of color than whites. According to an analysis on FBI data, it was found that police are more likely to shoot people of color. In 2012, 31% accounted for police killing of black people which is a huge number. Racism has often been blamed on why police tend to use more force towards the blacks as compared to whites as well as existence of stereotypes such as African Americans are more likely to be criminals (Chaney, pg. 480-505). A good example is a video recorded in Spring Valley High, South Carolina showing how police brutally dragged a female student across the classroom sparking outrage. The action taken by Deputy Ben Fields was unreasonable in the sense that he had to apply the use of physical force on the minor creating a traumatic experience both to the student and other school mates. It is likely that if the student was white such an action would not have been taken against them.
For years, racial profiling has existed in our justice system and the minority groups have been affected. Often, the stereotypes that have been created against these groups is what has constantly led to the failing of the judicial system. African Americans have often suffered wrong convictions and arrests in large numbers. This has been contributed by policies in place that seem to target the minor ethnic groups. The first policy that I believe has an effect on our justice system is the stop and search policy by the law enforcers. Police officers are mandated to ensure that there are law and order. One way police officers get to do this is through police stop and searches. There have always been controversies as to what extent the police can stop and search people. This controversy has often been linked to police racial discrimination as often people of color are stopped and searched. There is enough evidence a person of color is likely to be stopped and searched as compared to a white person (Bowling, pg. 509-535). The issue is not the law, but rather it’s execution.
The law enforcers have managed to misuse the powers bestowed upon them which is to protect its citizens. People of color have been victims of forceful searches where they are even pinned down on the ground just for a search. It is because of this that often we have seen people of color being shot just in the cold for being suspected to own a gun yet they do not have these guns. An example of such a case is Oscar Grant age 22, who was killed in New Year’s eve. He was coming back from a night out with his friends when they were asked to stop for a search, they complied however Oscar was shot from the back by the police officers. This was despite the fact that he was unnamed and his hands were raised. There have been so many cases related to this or where a civilian is stopped by police and as they try to get an identification from the pocket or car, they are shot and police defend themselves often stating they thought the victims were pulling out guns. We do not disagree that stop and searches have helped in reducing and preventing crimes, however people of color seem targeted.
People of color are not often able to fight cases with the police officers in court. This has largely been contributed by the blue wall of silence. Blue Wall of Silence is often defined as an unwritten code whereby police officers cannot report other fellow police officers on their misconducts when questioned about incidences involving their fellow colleagues. According to a report by Christopher commission of the LAPD, they found that most officers observed code of silence as a way of shielding their colleagues. The code of silence was actually strongest in crime hotspots and dangerous neighborhoods. Most cops are often afraid of telling on each other because there is high likelihood that one’s career may end if they do so. Most officers even go ahead and lie in court a term known as “testilying”. During the trial of Officer Francis Livoti for the negligent homicide of Anthony Baez, the judge said he could not find him guilty as most officers had committed perjury (Kleining, pg. 219-234). Because of lack of evidence most cases on police brutality are not often won and these officers may just be slapped with a transfer instead of a termination letter.
People of color have also been victims to the judicial system. Cases of people of color seem to be mishandled and quick judgments passed at times. Let’s use the Central Park Five example as this is what is being talked on most discussions when it comes to discussion on the justice system and ethnicity. Central Park five was a case on five teenagers who were accused of raping a jogger. These children were threatened into confessing to these crimes and years later it was found that they were innocent as the person who had committed that crime had come forward. According to a research by the Innovations for Poverty Actions, 40% of people who were incarcerated were African Americans and the African American male were seven times more likely to be incarcerated as compared to the whites. The incarceration rates for the Latinos was also significantly high thus one wonders if there is discrimination I the judicial system.
The United States judicial system has had a long standing principle that defendants should not be treated with contempt or differently because of their ethnicity and this is codified in the US constitution, 14th amendment “Equal Protection.” However, the matter of equality has been questioned through the analysis of sentencing as well as conviction rates by ethnicity. There is researcher who have defended the sentencing gap as not an issue but rather other factors come into play including education level, income and other factors that may not be easy to observe. Although this may be true there is evidence that race has been used especially in sentencing. People of color often get harsher penalties as compared to the whites. Whites were likely to receive a larger sentence reduction in a case as compared to the Latinos or the blacks because of cooperation with the police (Jordan, pg. 185-201). It has also been hypothesized that people of color are likely to be jailed before their trials thus resulting in them getting harsh sentences. Another aspect of race a sentencing is that a black or Latino is likely to receive harsher sentences if a victim to a crime was white as compared to a reverse scenario. The best example is a case in Florida under judge Sherwood who was overseeing a case with two suspects both of whom pleaded guilty to the same crime in the same circumstances. Most would think sentencing would be same or close but the black defendant was sentenced for 26 years in jail while the white defendant was sentenced for two years’ time served. The Sarasota Herald Tribune in 2016 had a series of articles titled “Bias on the Bench” with the aim that they would highlight the racial disparity when it came to sentencing and people of color are the most affected (Sarasota Herald Tribune).
In a nutshell, there has often been statistics that will purport that crime rate is higher among African Americans, they are most likely to be violent and are most likely to possess firearms. These statistics have often generated a certain stereotype among individuals where we tend to believe that all African Americans are violent. It is such thinking that has contributed to the police brutality that is often encountered by African Americans especially the male. The number of African American men that have been killed by the police simply because they were mistaken to be criminals or thought to be carrying a weapon are staggering high. This has been fueled by the arguments made by Otto that are biased that begins to associate violence to genetics or wants to associate lower IQ to race. The criminal justice system often gets to award longer and harsher sentences to the black Americans as compared to the whites who may have committed the same crime. Huge criminal justice need to be done in order to ensure that racism does not have its place in administration of justice and that every person is treated equally.
Works Cited
Bias on the Bench: Sarasota Herald-Tribune Media Group: Bias on the bench. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://projects.heraldtribune.com/bias/.
Bowling, Ben, and Coretta Phillips. “Disproportionate and discriminatory: reviewing the evidence on police stop and search.” The Modern Law Review 70.6 (2007): 936-961.
Chaney, Cassandra, and Ray V. Robertson. “Racism and police brutality in America.” Journal of African American Studies 17.4 (2013): 480-505.
Jordan, Kareem L., and Tina L. Freiburger. “Examining the impact of race and ethnicity on the sentencing of juveniles in the adult court.” Criminal Justice Policy Review 21.2 (2010): 185-201.
Kleinig, John. Police violence and the loyal code of silence. Violence and police culture. 2000 219-234.
The impact of enlargement on European Union decision making
The impact of enlargement on European Union decision making
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Impact of enlargement of European Union on decision making
Since its inception, the European Union has been growing significantly in membership with some of its new members coming from different economic and political blocs. Guided by the Copenhagen criteria of joining it, most countries have progressively become members through the signing of various treaties (Thomson 2011). The current composition of the European Union is twenty eight countries (28) as opposed to a lesser number before the year 2004, when it had only eighteen members (18) members. The number was even smaller in the previous years. The increment in size and numbers occurred as a result of the acquisition of some countries that formerly belonged to the eastern bloc making it the largest historical increment ever in European Union (Steunenberg 2004). The countries that joined the European union in the year 2004 through the signed treaty include; HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus” o “Cyprus” Cyprus, HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_Republic” o “Czech Republic” Czech Republic, HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonia” o “Estonia” Estonia, HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungary” o “Hungary” Hungary, HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latvia” o “Latvia” Latvia, HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuania” o “Lithuania” Lithuania, HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malta” o “Malta” Malta, HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poland” o “Poland” Poland, HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovakia” o “Slovakia” Slovakia and HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenia” o “Slovenia” Slovenia. In the year 2007, two more countries joined the union, and these are the Bulgaria and the Romania whose attempt to join in the year 2003 was unsuccessful. All these accessions were guided by the treaty of accession signed in the year 2003 which also led to an increment in the number of treaties signed since its formation (Thomson 2011)
The increment in member countries did not only mean changes in the numerical aspect but also had gross implications to the various aspects of the union. The impact felt due to the increment in membership included the economic and budgetary aspect of European Union, its powers and regulations, obligations to the new states as well as the process of decision making and policy formulation in all its organs. Owing to the accession of new states, its constitution changed in order to accommodate the new nations in accordance to its guiding principle of respect to the governance of sovereign member states (Steunenberg 2004). According to Steunenberg (2004), the increment led to increased inputs in the different components of the European Union. As a result of this, the process of decision making had to undergo changes due to the considerations of the many and different views from each sovereign state. The accession of the new members led to changes in the various organs including the council of the presidents’ composition as well as council of representatives from each state that affects decision making since each view counts. This was as a result of the increased representation of each member state in the bodies of the union after being given its rights to be a member.
Steunenberg (2004) argues that the increment in membership increased democracy in decision making as opposed to the years before the accession of the new members. It resulted into increased number of voters as well as a wide range distribution thus achieving democracy. The process could delay for a longer time in order to factor in the views of the new members who appeared to be against the new decision. According to Thomson (2011), the joining of the European Union by new members created more political demands as a result of in cooperation of the diversified political backgrounds of the new members. The process of making political decisions was affected too, due to the different political arguments both in number and orientations. The ideologies from each new member were different, and a consensus had to be reached while making a political decision, uniform for all the countries (Thomson 2011).
Before the joining of the other countries, decisions on power sharing could be reached in an easier way. With accession of the new members who had an equal chance in power sharing, the decisions on how to share the power of each entity in the European Union changed. It came as a result of according each new member of the union a chance to share power based on the signed treaty of accession (Thomson 2011). Decisions on other parts of union’s pillars were grossly affected. In the European Community pillar, where issues concerning key aspects as trade and industrialization, environment, European Union citizenship, as well as nuclear weapons, took in the consideration of the new members backgrounds. On the common foreign and security policy pillar, the various member state security agencies had to be well represented to ensure uniformity and common applications of the policies related to it (Thomson 2011).
In his observations, Steunenberg (2004) notes that the numbers and levels of consultations in the process of decision making have increased. There are also an increased number of proposals from the different members on different issues dealt with at the European Union. Each proposal as well as the consultations takes relatively some time for it to be considered. As a result; more time is needed to make a decision as opposed to before the new memberships. That has led to the reduction of flexibility in decision making as well as policy formulation causing most the policies intended to end in a deadlock due to lack of common agreement on the proposed decision or change of a policy. It has also reduced the efficiency and effectiveness at which decisions are made owing to the time consumed as well as the bureaucracies that have to be met before a decision goes through (Steunenberg 2004).
Currently, the principal of unanimity applies in decision making as opposed to before the accession of new members. Previously, the members were few, and decision could be made based on consideration of each member’s opinion. When the numbers increased, the opinions increased, and decision making occurs through a simple majority vote (Wallace, Pollack &Young 2010). In turn, this has reduced the powers of cartels that could influence decision making and given a chance to each country for equal participation in the making of decisions that affect its citizens. The inclusion of each new member in the process of voting has curbed the making of decision oriented to one state’s interests as before and instead embraced the formulation of decisions and policies that have no deviations from the voter preferences (Wallace, Pollack & Young 2010)
Due to the increase in membership, the power of decision making of each member reduces since each decision relies fully on what the other members bind in the European Union. As a result of this, the policies of the affected member country remain inflexible hence affecting negatively its citizens whenever they need to change them. It has also limited the member countries autonomy in policy and decision making as well as leading to alteration of already existing policies in order to meet the requirements by the European Union as per the Copenhagen criteria of 1993 (Thomson 2004). The relationships between countries that are members and those which are non members may are affected owing to the enactment of new policies as well as modification of the previous ones concerned with bilateral ties between these countries. The promotion of free trade between members affects trade decisions between countries that have policies on controlled trade.
Due the challenges posed by the gross national products (GNP), the decisions on economic policies are affected. It is because most of the countries that recently joined the European Union have small gross national products compared to the old members of this union. As a result, some of the economic decisions may harm the members with small gross national products or vice versa (Wallace, Pollack & Young 2010).
Though most of the processes used in decision making and policy formulations before and after the accession of new members into the European Union, some of them remain the same. These include decisions on membership where each sovereign state wishing to be a member must meet the required changes in its policies to suit the prescribed ones by the union. The procedures are too involved in the cessation of being a member to apply to all the countries. The European Union’s bodies which include the HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Parliament” o “European Parliament” European Parliament, the HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_the_European_Union” o “Council of the European Union” Council of the European Union, the HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Commission” o “European Commission” European Commission, the HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Council” o “European Council” European Council, the HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Central_Bank” o “European Central Bank” European Central Bank, the HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_Justice_of_the_European_Union” o “Court of Justice of the European Union” Court of Justice of the European Union and the HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Court_of_Auditors” o “European Court of Auditors” European Court of Auditors remain relevant in decision making. Their decisions are in respect to the sovereignty of the member states although the member states may alter their decisions to meet the requirements of the union (Steunenberg 2004)
References
Steunenberg. B (2004).Widening the European Union: Politics of Institutional Change and Reform. London; UK: Routledge.
Thomson R. (2011). Resolving controversy in the European Union: legislative decision before and after enlargement. Cambridge; UK: Cambridge University.
Wallace H., Pollack M.A & Young A.R (2010).Policy-making in the European Union. Oxford; UK: Oxford University.
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