The Use of Symbols to Ensure Confidential Communication :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Since the industrial revolution, communications technology has improved at an alarming rate. From the invention of the printing press to the rapidly expanding internet, it becomes easier to communicate with others every day. One downfall of this revolution is that it is much more difficult to keep confidential papers documents secure. In such a volatile environment a document can be stolen, scanned, and sent to the rest of the world within a span of five minutes. Once a person gets a hold of this information they can read it if it is in their own language or get it translated if it is in a foreign language. If a picture, symbol, or badge, is exploited in the same manner through the internet, it will not have such a crippling effect. Although viewers will be able to see the illustration, they will only derive from it whatever values or characteristics they associate the symbols with. However, the people who are affiliated with the image derive more important facts from it. The y might associate the illustration with historical meaning, personal stories, or how the image was created. Literate means of communication are imply universal understanding while symbols have the ability to convey different levels of meaning and comprehension to different groups of viewers. This dichotomy creates different niches for literate and visual means of communication to be used in. If material is meant to be understood universally and to convey the same meaning to all viewers than literate means of communication should be employed. If certain details are to be communicated to a select group of individuals, then symbols are a more effective way of ensuring secrecy. Symbols indicate the need for communication and yet conceal the details and innermost aspects of its contents (Religious). Unlike literature, symbols can be associated with various tangible or intangible objects to different people. This is because symbols are not comprehensible to the general public. I propose that symbols have four different levels of understanding while literate means on communication can only convey one level. The deeper connections associated with symbols cause informed viewers to experience a wide array of emotions when they see a symbol they are affiliated with. Organizations such as businesses, fraternities, and athletic clubs use symbols to invigorate their members with emotion that is not supposed to be acquired by the rest of society.

Mobile Knowledge Management: Systems and Policies

The terms knowledge and knowledge management are such broad topics that there have no common definitions. Knowledge is something that is believed and reliable, as distinguished from information which is a set of data   arranged in   meaningful patterns. Knowledge is information combined with experience, and reflection,   integrating thinking and feeling. Knowledge management refers to a set of practices to capture and disseminate know-how among organizations around the world (Denning, 1998) for reuse, learning and creating awareness across organizations (Wikipedia) . It is easier and faster to transfer information than knowledge from one individual to another.(Denning, 1998). Among the benefits of knowledge management practices are : increased ability to capture knowledge from outside organization and integrate knowledge from departments within the organization; improved skills and knowledge of workers; increased ability to adapt services to clients; define and provide new services to clients; improved worker efficiency and productivity; alleviated the impacts of worker departures (Pratt,   2006). Knowledge management particularly semantic web documents has been applied in integrating ecoinformatics resources and environmental data (Parr, et al., 2006). This was done using the tool ELVIS (Ecosystem Location Visualization and Information System) to construct food webs (Parr, et al., 2006). Other applications were in data warehousing of student data in higher education (Palmer, 2006) and knowledge management design team-based engineering (Reiner, 2006). The latter demonstrated the use of design history as a source of   insight for team design process. It proposed a modeling framework for collaborative and distributed knowledge management for design teams (Reiner, 2006) Advances in computer and information technologies have greatly enhanced knowledge management. Palmer (2006) employed e-mail and the web to get participants to access a questionnaire on improving data quality in a data warehousing   in a higher education setting . The use of metadata and end-user involvement were positively correlated with obtaining high-quality data in data warehousing. Today, mobility and transportability are the emerging as important considerations for sharing information and knowledge. With mobile phones and hand-held computers using wireless technologies, people are no longer tied down to work in a physical office with rigid working hours but can do things in the comfort of their homes or elsewhere in a virtual office. With the ease of sharing knowledge, abuses and infringement of intellectual properties were also made easier. Regulations within the organization and the national government in general are needed to safeguard the companies against these potential abuses. Policies are also needed for security and privacy and can   determine the success or failure of a web service (Bonatti, et al. 2006). Roman et al. (2006) proposed a   combined WSMO (Web Service Modeling Ontology) and WS-policy framework consisting of a set of specifications with heavy industrial backing. This framework combines a conceptual model (Web Service Modeling Ontology), a formal syntax and language (Web Service Modeling Language) and an execution environment (Web Service Execution Environment) (Roman et al., 2006). 2.   Complete Problem Statement and Goal The trend in knowledge management is headed towards the same direction as mobile entertainment. Entertainment equipment has gone down to the size of the i-pod and portability of the DVD complete with small screens and sound system. Although some of the features of the big system are conveniently packed into the miniature system, there will always be a trade-off between the capabilities of the big system and the portable small system. This proposed research will look at the plight of the small system, the size of the mobile phone or hand-held computers that rely on wireless technology. The goals are to optimize its use for the different knowledge management processes, and identify policies to safeguard its misuse especially the threat on knowledge security of the organization. The goals will be measured in terms of the number of process that the handheld devices can handle   compare with the host computer, number of times communications breakdown and their causes, frequency of security breakdown through the use of the mobile devices. Research question: â€Å"To what extent will mobile systems, the size of mobile phones and hand-held calculators, be utilized in knowledge management?† Hypotheses: Downsizing/outsourcing will be the trend in business which will require mobile systems for communication and knowledge management. Mobile systems will become more sophisticated and powerful to be able to perform tasks that are currently done by bigger systems. Security   systems of company knowledge (data) will evolve along with the development of mobile systems 3.   Relevance and significance More and more companies continue to invest in wireless e-mail, personal productivity applications, inventory management and sales automation. More than half   of 250 IT executives surveyed in October 2003 recognize the importance of wireless technologies in their organization’s overall goals and improve user satisfaction (Ware, 2004). Most common wireless devices include a combination of mobile phones (with or without web browsers/email), laptop computers with wireless modem   and PDA’s with wireless connectivity   and pocket PC’s (Ware, 2004). Among the different wireless applications that companies will continue to support in the future, email access tops the list followed by calendar/scheduling, web access, personal productivity (word processing, spreadsheets, presentation softwares), text messaging, real time inventory management, factory floor, transactions, global positioning system (GPS), human resources, finance/accounting, decision support, CRM, sales automation, wireless e-commerce, and procurement   (Ware, 2004). Overall 60% of those surveyed were positive that their wireless investment already paid for itself (Ware, 2004). The greatest benefits came from increased productivity, streamlined processes/greater efficiencies and improved user satisfaction (Ware, 2004). The challenges to wireless technologies are security, user support, privacy and budget restrictions (Ware, 2004). Downsizing can cut down the cost of doing knowledge management. Downsizing can be done through physical reduction in the size of the hardware (equipment), software that can be run on a hand-held computer or mobile phone set, or a networking system whereby the host computer does the data analysis and the final results downloadable to the mobile phones. Government and company policies are needed to safeguard against misuse, industrial espionage and other information security issues. 4.   Approach For Hypothesis No. 1: This will be a time series analysis, with years as independent variable, and numbers of companies undergoing downsizing/outsourcing and mobile devices as dependent variables. A survey will be done on the   internet and from published news reports such as CIO Reports regarding number of businesses which had undergone downsizing or outsourcing of their operations, during the past decade. This will be correlated with the number of mobile devices used by different companies during the same period. The time series plot of the data will show the trends in downsizing and/or outsourcing and number of mobile devices through the years. The years will be the independent variable while the number of companies and mobile devices will be the dependent variables. A correlation between the two dependent variables will be made. A significant positive correlation   and increasing trends in the graphs will support Hypothesis No.1. For Hypotheses No. 2 and 3: This study will identify two companies of different sizes (large and small in terms of facilities, number of staff, type and volume of business) that have a host computer, a local area network (either wired or WIFI) and broadband internet access, and staff who have their own or office-issued hand-held computers or mobile phones with wireless internet capabilities through the years. Questionnaires will be prepared and key management officers and office staff will be interviewed. Information to be gathered will include the company profile, the knowledge management system in place including softwares and consulting firms, knowledge management applications most frequently used, access security levels issued to different classes of office staff. The staff will be asked to enumerate the processes they could do or would want to do using their mobile units, from simple text messaging to internet browsing that help in the overall decision-making process in the company. The capabilities of their host computer will be tabulated side by side with the capabilities of their most common mobile device (brand, model, year acquired). Capabilities will be measured in terms of available memory and the number of tasks the device is capable of performing. This is again a time series data with year as independent variable and the number of features or tasks performed by the host computer and the mobile systems will be the dependent variables. If hypothesis no. 2 is correct we would expect an increasing number of tasks that can be performed by the mobile system. For hypothesis No. 3, the dependent variable will the frequency   of data security   breakdowns and the independent variable will the years the company has been in operation. Another indicator will be the number of regulations formulated to curb security problems (dependent variable) through the years. Company management will be asked regarding existing company policies, code of ethics, data security and standard operational procedures through the years from the time the company was established. They will be asked how frequent did they suffer breakdown in data security through their mobile devices through the years. They will also be asked to comment on the ideal design for their computer hardwares and softwares and features for the mobile equipment.   They will also be asked to comment of what kinds of government support and regulations are needed to curb piracy and infringement of their intellectual properties. This research will need the following resources: interviewers to interview at least three key company officers, two staff per office department (e.g. human resources, procurement, marketing, operations, etc.); a knowledge management or IT specialist to evaluate   knowledge management software system and how the ordinary staff can access to it using their mobile equipment. References: Bonatti, P.A., Ding, L., Finin, T. and Olmedilla, D. 2006. Proceedings of the 2nd International Semantic Web Policy Workshop (SWPW’06). 5th International Semantic Web Conference (ISWC). Athens, Georgia, USA. Nov. 5, 2006. Denning, S. What is knowledge management? Background paper to the World Development Report 1998. from Palmer, H. 2006. A data warehouse methodology and model for student data in higher education. PhD dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. UMI Number 3218332. 202pp. Parr, C.S., Parafiynyk, A., Sachs, J., Pan, R., Han, L., Ding, L., Finin, T., Wang, D. 2006. Using the semantic web to integrate ecoinformatics resources. American Association for Artficial Intelligence (www.aaai.org). Reiner, K.A. 2006. A framework for knowledge capture and a study of development metrics in collaborative engineering design. PhD Dissertation. Stanford University. UMI Microform 3219361.   258 p. Roman, D., Kopecky, J., Toma, I. and Fensel, D. 2006. Aligning WSMO and WS-Policy. Proceedings of the 2nd International Semantic Web Policy Workshop (SWPW’06). 5th International Semantic Web Conference (ISWC). Athens, Georgia, USA. Nov. 5, 2006. Ware, L.C. 2004. The payoff of wireless IT investments. C IO Research Reports. From Wikipedia. Knowledge management. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_management

HDFS Exam 3 Study Guide Essay - 2646 Words

Chapter 15: Parenting in Divorced Families and Remarried Families Chapter Outline DIVORCED PARENTS †¢ Know three reasons men and women want a divorce o Communication problems o Not compatible o Unhappiness The Grief Process †¢ Know the seven bullet points of how Emergy suggests parents manage their own anger o Accepting all their feeling about the divorce, writing about them or talking to friends or a therapist about them o Not responding to partners’ provocations o Maintaining a neutral, business-like approach to solcing problems, speaking only briefly o Deciding to focus on the most important issues and letting unimportant issues go o Being pleasant and emotionally neutral with spouse or partner when in the presence of the†¦show more content†¦o Because they are becoming increasingly independent of the family, kate adolescents seem less affected than younger children. o Boys appear to suffer more difficulties at the time of the divorce, and girls appear to have more prblemsShow MoreRelatedHdfs 145 Syllabus4333 Words   |  18 PagesHDFS 145 - The Individual, Marriage, and the Family Fall Semester, 2012 Instructor: Mrs. Joy Jacobs, CFCS, MAEd (â€Å"Mrs. J.†) E-mail address: jacobsj@msu.edu Please always use â€Å"HDFS 145 on the subject line when you e-mail. Office hours: Mrs. J. will be in the classroom one half hour before and will stay after class until all students are gone, or you may make an appointment with her. Go to this website: https://ntweb11.ais.msu.edu/aas/ Because of advising responsibilities, she is not available forRead MoreFamily Interaction Processes: Study Guide784 Words   |  4 PagesHDFS 2300: Family Interaction Processes Study Guide Exam II Communication and Conflict (Lecture; A S Ch. 9; Day Ch. 10; Tannen Book; The Break-Up clips) †¢ Define communication - why is it important to focus upon the shared meanings aspect of the communication process? †¢ Know bolded terms from A S Ch. 9 †¢ What are three assumptions describing family communication? †¢ Define messages, digital messages (content level), analogic messages (relationship level), metamessages, framing, congruentRead MoreHDFS 145 Final Study Guide3433 Words   |  14 Pagesï » ¿HDFS 145 Final Exam Study Guide EXAM 1 Family Types Single-parent and step-families Usually headed by mothers 85% Divorced/likely she has never been married Two-provider families (patriarchy – father runs) Traditional family Married couple, (father/mother and children) Family of procreation Father works, mother stays at home Married/Cohabitation couples who both work Over 50% of mothers with children under one year work at least part-time US Census definition of marriage Two or more