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Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Study On The Oriental School Of Economic Thought History Essay

Study On The Oriental School Of Economic Thought History EssayThe oriental school of scotch vista basically deals with the study of the origin of economic thought from heterogeneous ancient societies including the Hindu, Hebrew, Indian, Roman, Greek, and Islamic societies. It has been observed that the main area looked into by the Hebrews and Hindus was based on agricultural economic science and all this information was drawn from the writing of the pious virtue givers who were present at the time. These ancient writings consisted of ideas on various economic aspects such as division of compass, cottage industries, forest and mines, trade and trading practices, concept of wealth, transport, banking and loans, etc. Some of the writers who also played a role in the development of this economic thought include Roman writers such as Cicero, Pliny Gato, Varro and Columella.During this period, and until the industrial revolution, economics was not a separate sort but part of philo sophy. Its evolution into a distinct discipline of study in the social sciences can be attributed greatly to these early writers. Roman law also developed the contract recognizing that planning and commitments everyplace time are necessary for efficient production and trade. This large body of law was unified as the Corpus Juris Civilis in the 530s AD by Justinian, who was Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. In ancient India, Chulavamsa records that Parakramabahu of Sri Lanka had debased the currency of Ancient Sri Lanka in order to set up property to support this large outgo infrastructure projects. Parakramabahu also pi whizered free trade during his reign. Many of the topics discussed during these ancient times are electrostatic prevalent in modern economics, including discussions on the management of a solid and efficient thrift and the ethics of economics. These ancient thoughts also focused on issues of welfare, for instance, redistribution of wealth during a famine. s tatement OF THE PROBLEMAncient economic thought is very much wide and its study provides a broad basis for comparison of the ancient approach to economic issues as compared to issues arising in the modern world economies. The large number of ancient thinkers who contributed to this thought differed in beliefs and practices. Also, information on some of these ancient cultural-economic practices is very meager and thus makes this enquiry into the oriental school of economic thought necessary so as to be able to get a better disposition of the underlying economic issues of both the past and present.JUSTIFICATIONWith the evolution of economics, many writers have come up with different theories ab surface different areas in the subject. So as to be able to critically assess these different theories and understand the unity which connects us with the ancient times, knowledge on the origin of the early stages of economic thought is necessary for one to be able to take a well informed and unbiased stand on contentious economic issues arising immediately and hence the need for this study.OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDYTo understand the principles and concepts of the oriental school of economic thought.To know the key contributors of ancient economic thought.To evaluate and criticize how the ancient societies carried out their economic activities.To find out the major contributions of the oriental school of thought to the body of knowledge that exists like a shot.To get a clearer understanding of the position of economics as a distinct member of a group of social sciences.Ancient near EastEconomic organizations in the earliest civilizations of the Fertile Crescent were operate by the need to efficiently grow crops in the river basins. The Euphrates and Nile Valleys were homes to earliest examples of codified measurements written in base 60 and Egyptian fractions. Keepers of royal granaries and absentee Egyptian province owners reported in the Heganakht Papyri. Historians of this period note that the major tool of accounting for agrarian societies, the sales used to measure texture inventory, reflected dual religious and honest symbolic meaning. The Erlenmeyer tablets give a picture of Sumerian production in the Euphrates valley round 2, 200 2, 100 B.C., and shows an understanding of the relationship between grain and labour inputs (valued in female labour days) and outputs and an emphasis on efficiency. Egyptians measured work output in man-days. The development of civilise economic administration proceed in the Euphrates and Nile Valleys during the Babylonian Empire and Egyptian Empires when trading units spread finished the Near East within pecuniary systems.Egyptian fraction and base 60 monetary units were extended in use and transformation to Greek, early Islamic culture, and medieval cultures. By 1202 A.D, Leonardo Pisa Fibonacci use of zip and Vedic-Islamic numerals motivated Europeans to apply zero as an exponent, birthing modern dec imals 350 years afterward. The city states of Sumer developed a trade market parsimony based originally on the commodity money of the shekel which was a certain weight measure of barley, while the Babylonians and their city state neighbours later developed the earliest system of economics using a measured of various commodities, which was fixed in a legal code. The early law codes from Sumer could be considered the first (written) economic formula, and had many attributes still in use in the current price system today, such as codified amounts of money for business deals (interest rates), fines in money for wrong doing, hereditary pattern rules, laws concerning how private property is to be taxed or divided, etc.Ancient Greco-Roman worldSome prominent classical scholars assert that relevant economic thought was based on metaphysical principles which are incommensurate with contemporary dominant economic theories such as neo-classical economics. However, several ancient Greek and Roman thinkers made various economic observations in particular Aristotle and Xenophon. Many other Greek writings show understanding of sophisticated economic concepts. For instance, a form of Greshams law is presented in Aristophanes Frogs, and beyond Platos application of sophisticated mathematical advances diverged by the Pythagoreans in his appreciation of flat money in his Laws (742 a-b) and in the pseudo-Platonic dialogue, Eryxlas.Bryson of Heraclea was a neo-platonic who is cited as having heavily influenced early Muslim economic scholarship. The influence of Babylonian and Persian thought on Greek administrative economics is present in the work of Greek historian Xenophon. Discussions of economic principles are in particular present in his Oeconomicus, his biography of Cyrus the Great, Cyropaedia, Hiero and slipway and Means. Hiero is a minor work which includes discussion of leaders stimulating private production and technology through various means including public re cognition and awarding of prizes. Ways and Means is a short treatise on economic development, and showed an understanding of the importance of taking advantage of economies of scale and advocated laws promoting foreign merchants. The Oeconomicus disc uses the administration of agricultural land. In the work, subjective personal value of goods is analyzed and compared with exchange value Xenophon gives an example of a horse which whitethorn be of no use to a person who does not know how to handle it, but still has exchange value. In Cyropaedia, Xenophon presents what in hindsight can be seen as the foundation for a theory of fair exchange in the market which will result in the analysis of better fit or suitability to either party who wants to purchase the same item. Xenophon discusses the concept of division of labour, referencing specialized cooks and workers in a shoe making stock. Marx attributes to Cyropaedia the idea that the division of labour correlates to the size of a marke t.Roman law developed the contract recognizing that planning and commitments over time are necessary for efficient production and trade.Ancient IndiaChulavamsa records that Parakramabahu I of Sri Lanka had debased the currency of Ancient Sri Lanka in order to produce monies to support his large scale infrastructure projects. Parakramabahu I also pioneered free trade during his reign, a war was fought with Burma to defend free trade.Chanakya (c. 350 BC 275 BC) considered economic issues. He was a professor of Political Science at the Takshashila University of Ancient India, and later the Prime look of the Mauryan Emperor, Chandragupta Maurya. He wrote the Arthashastra (science of material gain). Many of the topics discussed in the Arthashastra are still prevalent in modern economics, including its discussions in the management of an efficient and solid economy. Chanakya also focuses on issues of welfare, for instance, redistribution of wealth during a famine and the collective ethi cs that h obsolescent a society together.The Arthashastra argues for an autocracy managing an efficient or solid economy. The qualities described are in effect that of a command economy. It discusses the ethics of economics and the duties and obligations of a king. Chanakya writes on the economic duties of a kingThe king shall be ever active in the management of the economy.The root of wealth is economic activity and lack of it brings material distress.In the absence of fruitful economic activity, both current prosperity and approaching growth will be destroyed.A king can achieve the desired objectives and abundance of riches by undertaking productive economic activity.Ancient ChinaIdeal and effective economic form _or_ system of government was long sort for in ancient China, one of the greatest early reformers being the Emperor Qin Shi Huang (r. 221 BC 210 BC), who standardized coin currency throughout the old warring states once he unified them under a strong central bureaucrac y (which the cabbage dynasty had always lacked). However, one of the greatest reformists in China lived during the medieval Song dynasty (960 1279 AD), that being Chancellor Wang Anshi (1021 1086 AD). Wang Anshis political religious sect of the New Policies Group enacted a serial of reforms that centered on military reform, bureaucratic reform and economic reform. The economic reforms included low cost loans for farmers who he considered the backbone of the Chinese economy in terms of production of goods and the greatest source of the land tax. Replacing the corvee labour service with a tax instead, he enacted government monopolies on crucial industries producing tea, salt, and wine, adit of local militia to ease the budget spending on the official standing army of one million troops and the establishment of a pay Planning Commission staffed largely by political loyalists so that his reforms could pass quickly with less time for conservatives to oppose it in court.Medieval Is lamic servicemanTo some degree, the early Muslims based their economic analyses on the Quran (such as the opposition of riba, interest) and from Sunnah, the sayings and doings of Muhammad.Early Muslim thinkers, Al-Ghazali (1058 1111 A.D.) classified economics as one of the sciences connected with religion, along with metaphysics, ethics and psychology. Authors have noted, however, that this connection has not caused early Muslim economic thought to remain static.Persian philosopher Nasir al-Din-al-Tusi (1201 1274) presents an early definition of economics (what he calls Hekmat-e-madani, the science of city life) in discourse three of his ethics the study of universal laws governing the public interest welfare in so far as they are directed, through cooperation, toward the optimal (i.e. perfection).Many scholars trace the history of economic thought through the Muslim world, which was in a halcyon Age from the 8th to 13th century and whose philosophy continued the work of the Gre ek Hellenistic thinkers and came to influence Aquinas when Europe rediscovered Greek philosophy through Arabic translation. A common theme among these scholars was the praise of economic activity and even self-interested accumulation of wealth. The influence of earlier Greek and Hellenistic thought on the Muslim world began largely when Abbasid Caliph al-Mamun, who sponsored the translation of Greek texts into Arabic in the 9th century by Syrian Christians in Baghdad. But already by that time numerous Muslim scholars had written on economic issues, and early Muslim leaders had shown sophisticated attempts to enforce fiscal and monetary financing, use of shortfall financing, use of taxes to encourage production, use of credit instruments for banking, including rudimentary savings and checking of accounts, and contract law.The origins of capitalism and free markets can be traced back to Caliphate where the first market economy and earliest form of merchant capitalism took root between the 8th and 12th centuries, which some refer to as Islamic capitalism. A vigorous monetary economy was created on the basis of expanding levels of circulation of a stable high-value currency (the dinar) and the integration of monetary areas that were previously independent. Innovative new business techniques and forms of business organizations were introduced by economists, merchants and traders during this time. such innovations included the earliest trading companies, credit cards, big businesses, contracts, bills of exchange, long distance, international trade, the first forms of partnerships and the earliest forms of credit, debt, profit, loss, capital (al-mal), capital accumulation (nama-al-mal), circulating capital, capital expenditure, tax, cheques, promissory notes, trusts, startup companies, savings accounts, transactional accounts, pawning, loaning, exchange rates, bankers, money changers, ledgers, deposits, assignments, the double entry bookkeeping system, and lawsuits .MAIN FINDINGSAfter going through the history of the oriental school of thought in the previous section, the following economic aspects come out clearly as having been discovered and practiced by these early thinkersThe Concept of Production and engineering scienceAncient leaders stimulated private production and technology through various means including public recognition and awarding of prizes to successful inventors and producers.Economies of ScaleWays and Means was a short treatise on economic development written by Xenophon, which showed an understanding of the importance of taking advantage of economies of scale in production activity and advocated for laws promoting foreign merchants.Administration of Agricultural LandAgriculture was considered the most dignified occupation. In ancient India, the state took a leading part in developing agriculture and also demanded a fixed share of the gross produce.Price systemThe early law codes from Sumer were the first (written) economi c formula, and had many attributes still in use in the current price system today, such as codified amounts of money for business deals (interest rates), fines in money for wrong doing, inheritance rules, laws concerning how private property is to be taxed or divided, etc.Grain and Labour Inputs RelationshipThe Erlenmeyer tablets gave a picture of Sumerian production in the Euphrates valley around 2, 200 2, 100 B.C., and showed an understanding of the relationship between grain and labour inputs (valued in female labour days) and outputs and an emphasis on efficiency in production. product of WorkThe Egyptians measured work output in man-days.Monetary UnitsThe Egyptian fraction and base 60 monetary units were extended in use and diversity to Greek, early Islamic culture, and medieval cultures. By 1202 A.D, Leonardo Pisa Fibonacci use of zero and Vedic-Islamic numerals motivated Europeans to apply zero as an exponent, birthing modern decimals 350 years later and hence the developmen t of monetary units.ValueSubjective personal value of goods was analyzed and compared with exchange value. Xenophon gave an example of a horse which may be of no use to a person who does not know how to handle it, but still has exchange value.Theory of Fair ExchangeXenophon presented what in hindsight could be seen as the foundation of a theory of fair exchange in the market which will result in the analysis of better fit or suitability to either party who wants to purchase the same item.Division of LabourXenophon discussed the concept of division of labour, with reference to specialized cooks and workers in a shoe making shop who specialised in different tasks.Free TradeParakramabahu I pioneered free trade during his reign, this is evident because a war was fought with Burma to defend free trade in ancient India.WelfareIn India the leaders insisted on ensuring that the population as a whole has to be well looked after. For example, Chanakya focused on issues of welfare, for instanc e, redistribution of wealth during a famine and the collective ethics that held a society together.Standardized Coin CurrencyEmperor Qin Shi Huang of Ancient China, standardized coin currency throughout the old warring states after he unified them under a strong central bureaucracy.Low Cost Loans For FarmersIn Ancient China Wang Anshis political faction of the New Policies Group enacted a series of reforms that centered on military reform, bureaucratic reform and economic reform. The economic reforms included low cost loans for farmers whom he considered to be the backbone of the Chinese economy in terms of production of goods and the greatest source of the land tax.Land TaxThis was a source of revenue for the Ancient Chinese government from farmers, because during that period agriculture was the main driver of the economy.Fiscal and Monetary FinancingThe Muslim leaders enforced various policy measures including fiscal and monetary financing, use of deficit financing, use of taxes t o encourage production and use of credit instruments for banking.BankingThe early Muslim leaders had shown sophisticated attempts indlucing rudimentary savings and checking accounts, and contract law.Monetary EconomyBetween the 8th and 12th centuries, which some refer to as the period of Islamic capitalism, a vigorous monetary economy was created on the basis of expanding levels of circulation of a stable high-value currency (the dinar) and the integration of monetary areas that were previously independent of each other.SUGGESTIONSThe social organization manifested by the ancient civilizations should be critically looked at and applied to solve some socioeconomic problems still present today, especially in the developing nations.The organization of government and verbal expression of policies during the ancient times leaves a lot to be admired. Governments of the modern economies should pick some of these values.The concept of politics being looked at separately from economics and policy formulation should be followed in todays modern economies for faster development and equality in the distribution of wealth.Welfare economics should be taken as seriously as it was taken in ancient times. For example, during periods of drought or famine, governments should not let particular groups of people suffer and instead they should distribute the available resources to the entire population. codaTheres no question or doubt as to whether ancient economic philosophies are still in extensive use today. The modern economy has evolved over centuries to become what it is today. The study of the history of economic thought enables the student to appreciate the contributions various writers have made to development of economics as a discipline. Although ancient economic theories were sometimes unclear, contradictory, or presented in a rudimentary manner, they form the basis of economic analysis today. These theories are still being used today by the worlds largest and most com plicated and sophisticated economies.BIBLIPGRAPHYFalgas, Matthew E. Zarkadoulia, A. Effie, (2006). Arab Science in the Golden Age (750-1258) and Today. The FASEB Journal 20(10) 1581-1586.Hosseini, S. Hamid (2003). Contributions of Medieval Muslim Scholars to the History of Economic Thought and their jolt A Refutation of the Schumpeterian Great Gap.S. Lowry (2003). Ancient Medieval Economics. In Biddle, Jeff E. Davis, Jon B. Samuels, Warren J.A Companion to the History of Economic Thought. Malden, MA Blackwell pp. 11-27.Schumpeter, Joseph (1954). History of Economic Analysis. New York, Oxford University Press.

Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Problem Statement And Methodology Engineering Essay

Problem Statement And Methodology Engineering EssayRefrigeration or Cooling may be defined as the carry out of removing shake uping establishment. This process may be accomplished by using one of the refrigeration systems vapor compression, absorption or thermoelectricalal refrigeration systems. The first deuce systems accept blue and minuscule pressure situations of a working fluid to complete the refrigeration cycle. The thermoelectric refrigeration system, however, uses electrons rather than refrigerant as a waken carrier. (Davis, 2005) thermoelectric coolers are greatly needed, particularly for the developing countries situation where long life and low attention are needed. In this aspect, thermoelectrics pilenot be ch anyenged, in arouse of the fact that their co issuingual performance is not as high as for a vapor compression cycle. Thermoelectric refrigerators take a air the advantages of being small, lightweight, rugged, reliable, and insensitive to orientation, noiseless, portable and low cost in mass production. (Davis, 2005) Thermoelectric cooler has been widely used in military, aerospace, instrument, and industrial or commercial products, as a chill wrench for specific purposes. This technology has existed for nearly 40 years. (Riffat, 2000) umteen researchers are concerned about the physical properties of the thermoelectric material and the manufacturing technique of thermoelectric modules. In asset to the improvement of the thermoelectric material and module, the system analysis of a thermoelectric refrigerator is equally important in designing a high-performance thermoelectric refrigerator. (Huang, 2000)The soup up shuffle generated in the processor fight is rising day by day at a very fast rate with education because of reduction in CPU sizes and large amount of heat load generated at the chip. Consequently, it is becoming a challenging task for researchers to handle such(prenominal)(prenominal) broad amounts of heat flux es.Moores had proved that number of transistors on a integrated circuit is increasing exponentially year after year .So heat load in the CPU also change magnitudes at the same rate with the increase in the speed more over the size of the chip today which we normally talk about is of the order of mm which is in turn making problem more complicated. The high heat generation inside the CPU may result in slowing down the computation speed, failure of the processor chip, gate oxide breakdown, effect on screen resolution and many more electrical failures as tumesce as mechanically skillful failures (Davis, 2005)Presently in CPU very complicated designs of publicise cooled heat unloads are used which dissipates heat to the surroundings by streamlined large volumes of channelise. These heat sinks give up two major shortcomings.Due to space constrains air should be thrown at very high velocities and to maintain such velocities big size fan has to be used.Also, the air flowing at hig h velocities creates a lot of noise.Moreover, in air cooled units at that place is no quick cool device so we cant go below the ambient temperature. As a result working at high speeds in the hot ambient conditions had get down extremely difficult.Chip engine cooling system is one of the bottlenecks in the high density electronics. There is need of or so better cooling techniques for the same. So, at once a day researchers are working a lot on liquid cooled systems, because they imbibe nearly 10 times (Davis, 2005) the heat transfer coefficient than that of air cooled ones. In weewee based liquid cooling systems, the heat is pumped to water block by roughly cooling device from which water takes out the heat to finally throw it in the surroundings . The most commonly used device to pump heat to water block in such system is researcher (Thermoelectric coolers). TEC consumes their own power and cool down the chip by extracting the heat from it and transferring it to the water block. Water runs inside the channel in the water block and takes away the heat from it. The hot water is further cooled in the condenser. With the help of Thermoelectric water cooling system the chip temperature can be easily make to go below ambient temperature which is not possible by the existing systems, and thus the CPU can be made to operate at high speeds and higher loads in even hot ambient conditions. Thus TEC fuddle potential opportunities for chip cooling and can prove very effective if a proper system is developed for the same.1.2 Problem statementChip cooling is one of the bottlenecks in high density electronics. An enormous amount of heat flux is generated by the modern processor chip. Nowadays many complicated designs of air cooled heat sinks are used, and off late the heat fluxes have attained such a level that to handle them very large volume flow rate of air is required. So due to space constraint, in order to achieve large flow rates, air should be blown at ve ry high velocities which in turn result in increased levels of noise. Another major disadvantage of air cooling is that we cant go below ambient temperature and as a consequence, tendency of chip failure in the computers working in ambient condition of about 35C 45C increases a lot.For all these reasons it has become apparent that the heat fluxes have reached such a level that air cooling cant handle them efficiently. Thus the present scenario necessitates the use of alert cooling devices. Thermoelectric coolers having the ability to cool below ambient and having advantage of being compact, light weight, free of moving parts and precise temperature control have high potentials for chip cooling.It is receiptn that the temperature of the thermoelectric module is the main criterion for its reliability and performance. The temperature rise of the hot side preceding(prenominal) ambient is dependent on the thermal rampart of the path that the heat sink. Reducing the thermal resistanc e of the heat sink contributes to the reduction of the thermal resistance of the path and hence an increase in the performance. So a liquid heat exchanger with spiral flow passage having dimples is used. Dimples result in effective heat transfer by creating turbulence and thus enhancing the performance of the system.1.3 Research ObjectivesUnderstanding the basics of Thermoelectric coolers, working of Thermoelectric Cooling Systems and parameters that governs the performance of such systemsDesign, fabrication and development of an efficient thermoelectric cooling system for computer chipsCarrying out experimentation and analysis of the performance of the developed system1.4 Methodology1.5 Work PlanThese are some(prenominal) of the important tasks that would be performed during this researchUnderstanding the basic concepts of thermoelectric coolingStudy of the existing CPU cooling techniquesLiterature review regarding the topic and guinea pig about the effect due dimples along the f low of waterDeciding the various parameters for which system has to be designedDeciding about the thermoelectric module which will produce the desired cooling effectDesign of the experimental set up and identification of the various equipments to be requiredMarket fall out for all the required equipmentsProcurement of the equipmentsDesign and fabrication of the dimpled water blockDesign and fabrication of the heat exchangerPreparation of the experimental set upCarrying out experiments and obtaining the resultsAnalysis of resultsChecking out the performance of the thermoelectric module usedComparison of the designed water block with some commercially existing water blockDiscussions and conclusionReport writing1.6 Expected OutcomesAn understanding of the application of thermoelectric cooling systems would be developed. Important advantages of the thermoelectric cooling systems in real scenario of high density electronics would be presented. The complete thermoelectric cooling unit f or CPU chip would be designed, fabricated and tested for the desired loadsChapter 2LITERATURE REVIEW2.1 The History of ThermoelectricsIn 1821, Thomas Seebeck discovered that a continuously flowing occurrent is created when two wires of different materials are joined unneurotic and heated at one end. This idea is known as the Seebeck Effect (Figure 1.1). The Seebeck effect has two main applications including temperature measurement and power generation. (Global Techno Scan, nd)Figure 1.1 Seebeck EffectS= dV / dTS is the Seebeck Coefficient with units of Volts/KS is positive when the direction of electric current is same as the direction of thermal currentIn 1834, a French watchmaker and part time physicist, Jean Peltier found that an electrical current would produce a temperature gradient at the junction of two dissimilar metals. This effect is known as the Peltier Effect. This idea forms the basis for the thermoelectric refrigerator (Global Techno Scan, nd)Figure 1.2 Negative Pelt ier effecta) For When current is allowed to pass through n-type semiconductor shown in above circuit, high nil electrons move from by rights to left resulting in cooling of far end. Thermal current and electric current flow in polar directions (Global Techno Scan, nd)Figure 1.3 Positive Peltier effectb) For 0 Positive Peltier coefficientWhen current is allowed to pass through p-type semiconductor shown in above circuit, high efficacy holes move from left to right resulting in heating of far end. Thermal current and electric current flow in same direction (Global Techno Scan, nd)q=*j, where q is thermal current density (Heat flux) and j is electrical current density.Also, = S*T (Volts) Peltier coefficientWhere, T is the Absolute TemperatureScottish scientist William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) discovered in 1854 that if a temperature difference exists between any two points of a current carrying conductor, heat is either evolved or absorbed depending upon the material. If such a circuit absorbs heat, then heat may be evolved if the direction of the current or of the temperature gradient is reversed.2.2 Thermoelectric RefrigerationA thermoelectric device is one that operates on a circuit that incorporates both thermal and electrical do to convert heat energy into electrical energy or electrical energy to a temperature gradient. Thermoelectric elements perform the same cooling function as Freon -based vapor compression or absorption refrigerators. Energy is taken from a region thereby reducing its temperature. The energy is than rejected to a heat sink region with a higher temperature. Thermoelectric elements are in a totally solid state, while vapor cycle devices have moving mechanical parts that require a working fluid (Tellurex, nd)Thermoelectric modules are small, sturdy, quiet heat pumps operated by a DC power source. They usually resist about 200,000 hours in heating mode or about 20 years if left on cooling mode. When power is supplied, the surfac e where heat energy is absorbed becomes unwarmed the opposite surface where heat energy is released becomes hot. If the polarity of current flow through the module is reversed, the cold side will become the hot side and vice-versa. Thermoelectric modules can also be used as thermocouples for temperature measurement or as generators to supply power to spacecrafts and electrical equipment. (Tellurex, nd)Thermoelectric devices can also be used as refrigerators on the bases of the Peltier effect. To create a thermoelectric refrigerator, heat is absorbed from a refrigerated space and than rejected to a warmer environment. The difference between these two quantities is the net electrical work that needs to be supplied. These refrigerators are not overly popular because they have a low coefficient of performance. The coefficient of performance for thermoelectric refrigerators can be calculated by dividing the cooling effect by the work input. (Tellurex, nd)2.3 SemiconductorsThe semiconduc tor materials are N and P type, and are so named because either they have more electrons than necessary to complete a perfect molecular lattice structure (N-type) or not enough electrons to complete a lattice structure (P-type). The extra electrons in the N-type material and the holes left in the P-type material are called carriers and they are the agents that move the heat energy from the cold to the hot junction. Heat absorbed at the cold junction is pumped to the hot junction at a rate proportional to carrier current passing through the circuit and the number of couples. Good thermoelectric semiconductor materials such as bismuth telluride greatly impede customary heat conduction from hot to cold areas, yet provide an easy flow for the carriers. In addition, these materials have carriers with a capacity for transferring more heat. Since semiconductors were found to have large Seebeck coefficients, good electrical conductivities, and poor thermal conductivities, one has made a br eakthrough in the use of the Peltier-effect in thermoelectric devices to produce refrigeration. Currently, thermoelectric refrigerators, made of semiconductor, materials, have many interesting applications because of their small size, simplicity, quietness and reliability.2.4 Basic Working Principle of Thermoelectric CoolersThermoelectric coolers are semiconductor devices which works on the principle of Peltier effect (Haung, 2005) i.e. when a current is passed between the junctions of two dissimilar materials then a temperature difference is created between the two junctions. In thermoelectric coolers we have a P type and an N type semiconductor connected together when we pass the current, at the cold junction electrons travel from P side to N side as P type being at lower energy level and N type at higher energy level. So when electron travels it absorbs energy at the cold side. Similarly at the hot side electron travels from N side to P side thereby releasing the energy. And in t his way a temperature gradient is established between hot side and cold side (Haung, 2005)2.5 Advantages of Thermoelectric CoolersThermoelectric coolers have some unique advantages over other cooling systems. The various advantages are (Chien, 2004)Ideal for localized cooling due to small sizeHighly controllable cooling powerConvenient power supplyPrecise temperature controlSub-ambient cooling capacitySpot coolingCompact, Quite, and free of moving partsLow maintenance2.6 A typical thermoelectric cooling systemFig. 1 shows working of a thermoelectric system. The heating and cooling functions of the thermoelectric system can be interchanged by reversing the polarity of the direct current applied to it. Capacity control in a thermoelectric system can be achieved by change the electromotive force applied to the couples either by a variable voltage control or by switching series and parallel circuits. As the voltage drops, the temperature difference between the hot and cold side is red uced. (Chien, 2004)On the cold side of the module we have the heat source from which heat is to be outback(a) and on the hot side we have a heat sink which finally throws the heat into the ambient. Design of the heat sink is an important parameter for up(a) the performance of the thermoelectric module. For many applications, the advantages of TEC outweigh its main disadvantage of low coefficient of performance. (Chien, 2004)Figure 2.1 Thermoelectric cooler (Chien, 2004)2.7 Thermal Parameters Governing Performance of TECThe selection of a thermoelectric for a particular application is mainly dependent on the three important parameters. These are temperature of the hot surface (Th), the temperature of the cold surface (Tc) and the amount of heat to be extracted at the cold side of the module (Qc) (Haung, 2005).The heat sink is attached at the hot side of the module where the heat gets released when the DC power is applied to the module. The hot side temperature of the module while u sing a air cooled heat sink whether natural or forced convection, can be found out using below equations (Haung, 2005)Th = Tamb + Rth(Qh) (1.1)Qh = Qc + Qp (1.2)The temperatures rise above ambient, of the hot side, takes place because of the thermal resistance of the heat. If we know the thermal resistance of the heat sink then the general estimates of the rise in temperature above ambient are as stated below (Haung, 2005)20C to 40C in case of Natural Convection10C to 15C in case of Forced Convection2C to 5C in case of Liquid Cooling (In this case is the rise above the liquid coolant temperature)The performance coefficient for a thermoelectric cooling system can be calculated with the help of the following equation2.8 Application of thermoelectric coolingTEC (Thermoelectric Cooler) is different from conventional compression refrigeration there are no moving parts. Since there are no moving parts, there is nothing to wear out and nothing is generating noise. There is no refrigerant t o contain so the problem of handling a two-phase change over is simplified. Pressure tight tubing is replaced by electrical wiring. There is no ozone class hazard (Melcor, nd). Thermoelectric coolers offer the potential to enhance the cooling of electronic module packages to reduce chip operating temperatures or to allow higher module powers. Thermoelectric coolers also offer the advantages of being compact, reliable, and their degree of cooling may be controlled by the current supplied. Unfortunately, compared to vapor-compression refrigeration, they are limited in the heat flux that they can accommodate and exhibit a lower coefficient of performance (COP). These two limitations have generally limited thermoelectrics to niche.The thermoelectric coolers are used in the electronics of the travel missile, critical equipment on aircraft, critical camera components in a pod aircraft navigation system and many military applications. Thermoelectric coolers provide compact heat exchanger s that are not attitude-sensitive and do not contain excessive tubing and fittings that can be susceptible to vibration2.9 Previous Work done at International levelTill today air coolers are meeting the needs of CPU cooling, with the increased size of heat sinks and an increase in fan speed. The typical resistance of air coolers with high fan speeds is 0.2C/W (Bar Cohen, 2000). But with further increase in the heat flux, air cooling techniques seems to be diminishing because of the limitations already mentioned. The next best solution to the problem is the use of liquid cooling techniques as the liquids have relatively very high convective heat transfer coefficients then air and thus minimizing the thermal resistance. The liquid cooling systems involves water block for efficient heat transfer to the liquid.Experiments have been carried out by mounting water blocks directly over the CPU chip and they have shown to be very efficient then the air cooled techniques. With the use of dire ct water-cooling techniques the chip temperature can be kept at 30C for an ambient condition of 25C with a CPU load of 60W whereas with air cooling it goes to 45C (Bar Cohen, 2000).But with the development of thermoelectric coolers it had made possible to take the chip temperature even below ambient. Thermoelectric Coolers have unique advantages over other cooling devicesChein and Huang (2004) studied usage of thermoelectric cooler for electronic cooling. The cooling capacity, junction temperature, coefficient of performance (COP) of TEC and the required heat sink resistance at the hot side were computed. They found that the cooling capacity could be increased as Tc is increased and T is reduced. The maximum cooling capacity and chip junction temperature obtained were 207 W and 88C, respectively. The required heat sink resistance on TEC hot side was found to be .054C/W. A micro channel heat sink ( with size of 55mm x 55mm with channel width of 0.3 mm) using water or air as coolant was also demonstrated to meet the low thermal heat sink resistance requirement for TEC operated at maximum cooling capacity conditions.Huang et al in 2005 studied the distribution of temperature for a thermoelectric cooler under the effects of Joule heating, Fourier Heat conduction, Thomson effect and convection and radiation heat transfer. They tried to enalyze and explore some of the important things like Thomson effects influence on the distribution of temperature, on the amount of heat that flows back to the cold side, the maximum temperature difference attained and the maximum amount of heat extracted etc. They finally concluded that other than improving the thermoelectric materials for increasing the cooling efficiency of the module the other possible way is to take the advantage of Thomson effect this also helps in improving the cooling efficiency.Researches are already going on for incorporating thermoelectric water cooling systems for the CPU. The strike factor in using su ch kind of systems is to have highly efficient water blocks with low thermal resistances and to have thermoelectric modules with proper Qmax. Many complicated water block design exist in the present market. The typical thermal resistances of the water blocks used presently for such systems are 0.08C/W (Bar Cohen, 2000).

Monday, June 3, 2019

The Emergence of IT Governance in Greece

The Emergence of IT boldness in GreeceIntroductionThe emergence of IT memorial tabletThe cases of Enron, Worldcom and former(a)(a) unified and financial s squirtdals in the early years of the century have raised the signifi mountaince of corporal nerve and control. Regulatory environments have been formed with so bingler a distinctive characteristics, depending on the inevitably of each country, and the brings of specific industries. The instruction execution of the controls required by regulations such as Sarbanes Oxley for the publicly listed organisations in the U.S. and Basel II for European banks relies heavily on IT. That dependency, combined to the required controls on IT itself, have forced top-level executives to have a look towards the proper centralizeing and politics of the information and talk technologies that power their organisations.At the same time, the high percentage of failed IT projects, ranging amongst 60% and 90% depending on the definition of failure, has alarmed many executives who see their resources to be emaciated on failed projects, to be followed by more failed projects. Clear termination processes and proper project caution aiming at efficiency and effectiveness, ar the obvious answers to the problem both of which point directly to IT governance.The high cost of IT enthronizations, which is more than half of the annual CAPEX for most organisations, calls for control, accountability and risk management, non to mention cost reduction. Information security, industrial espionage, regulations for the confidentiality of the data and the privacy of employees and customers, be all grace abundanty handled by a proper IT regime structure.These are only some of the reasons that have led quite a few organisations worldwide to add IT Governance in their board agenda.The status in GreeceGreece has control regulations for specific industries only, such as tele confabulations, an intentness by and large affected by th e Hellenic authority for communication security and privacy. Other industries are affected by pan-European control regulations, such as banking diligence that necessitate to comply with MIFID and Basel-II onside the directives issued by the Bank of Greece. Finally, just a few companies are listed in foreign stock exchanges such as NYSE listed PTT, afterwards affected by the SOX act.Nevertheless, although the environment in Greece is complex, and the IT infrastructure is no simpler than any other countrys, there is no published empirical academic research on the status of IT Governance in Greece. Even quite a littles that are conducted in wider geographical areas and non to a specific country do not usually admit Greece probably beca utilization it is a small market. The only data that has been found are some papers mentioning the benefits of IT Governance, as taken from the international practice the data though is not adapted to local shoots and circumstances.Research Obje ctivesThis research, titled IT Governance in Greece Status, Drivers and Barriers aims to evaluate and present the IT Governance related practices in Greece. What percentage of Grecian companies are using IT Governance manakins and best practices, which is the preferred role model amid the two prevalent (ITIL and CobIT), and which is the close model selected by the companies that employ IT Governance. An prove entrust be made to find any relationships between these results, and the size of the organisation or the size of the IT department. The reasons for which Grecian organisations select to implement or not an IT Governance framework for disturb as well as be linked to that data and outsourcing strategies which are known to require careful governance go forth be evaluated. For the organisations that choose to not implement a formal governance framework, the barriers to carrying into action exit be analysed, as well as the potential good practices which do not stimulat e a framework, nevertheless help to the prudent governance of an organisations IT as tags and resources.The research questions that are expected to shed some light to the main areas of the status of IT Governance in Greece are formulated as followsThe penetration of ITIL and CobIT in Greece as IT Governance frameworksWhich are the most greenness factors that pr flatt or delay the acceptance and deployment of an IT Governance framework (barriers)?Which are the most greens reasons that led organisations to deploy, or plan the future deployment of an IT Governance framework (drivers)?Which (if any) are the management methods apply if a in enough IT Governance framework is not deployed?Personal InterestThe author has followed a career path in Information Technology for the last 15 years, acquiring positions of raising responsibilities. In conjugation to that career path, the MBA was considered a good choice, providing a broader becharm on all areas of management such as organisat ional behaviour and culture, pityings relationships, finance and marketing, strategy and capital punishment. The field of this dissertation combines the two worlds, that of management and of information technology, giving a more thorough and moving in oriented fancy to the authors way out of work. Beyond the obvious curiosity that is created by the privation of data in the Greek market in which the author lives and works, there has always been an interest in IT Governance, IT management and risk management, and this dissertation comes to cover at least some of these areas.Structure of the dissertationThe rest of the dissertation has a typical structure the institution that was just appendd defecates the chapter one.Chapter two provides a review of the existing literature and previous studies on IT Governance that should form the basis for the research that was necessary for this dissertation.Chapter three analyses and justifies the methodological analysis that was det erminationd for the sampling, the data collection and data analysis methods that were selected. This chapter in addition presents and analyses some limitations related to the methodology, and presents the ways in which these limitations may affect the data analysis and the conclusions.Chapter quadruple is the data analysis, in which all data that were collected are analysed and presented, relations are drawn and comparisons to findings from previous research are performed in order to amply answer the research questions put in this dissertation.Chapter five draws on the conclusions of the previous chapter. It summarizes the research objectives, the findings and the implications of the results. Generalization issues and data validity is further discussed. This chapter provides overly recommendations for future studies, identifying elaborate that were not overwhelmd in this visual sense and questions that have emerged from the results of the current dissertation. Finally, th is chapter reflects on the dissertation, assessing the weaknesses of the work performed and the obstacles faced it in any case identifies the areas in which the author has gained knowledge and experience.Literature recapitulationIntroductionA literature review is vital to any research project, in order to collect, present and critically analyse, what is already known in the national under research. The evaluation of previous research leads to a founder understanding of the pendant, of the areas of consensus between academics and practitioners, and the points of conflict and potential gaps.Towards the answer of the status of IT Governance in Greece, an start will be made to explain the term IT Governance and clarify any misconceptions regarding IT Governance and IT perplexity. The different types of IT Governance models that have been demonstrable in the past, along with the key roles in IT Governance, will be identified, presented and compared.The necessity for IT Governance as redeed in the literature will be evaluated, and the most commonly mentioned benefits and carrying out barriers will be presented, in order to serve as potential answers to the questionnaire of the research. Previous reports on management methods that may be employ instead of a plentiful framework implementation will also be evaluated for the same reasons.The definition of IT GovernanceIT Governance is a subject that has gained significant digest during the last years. As a term, IT Governance, has too many definitions in the literature (Buckby, Best and Stewart, 2009 Lee and Lee, 2009 Lee, Lee and Lee, 2009). Simonsson and Ekstedt (2006) tried to find a common definition on 60 different relative articles and came up with yet another definition, which includes many of the previous ones.The definitions used by researchers, depend on their view on what IT Governance can offer to an organisation. IT Governance is some measure perceived as a framework or a process for auditing th e use of the IT infrastructure and operations. Some other multiplication sometimes it is perceived as an IT stopping point making tool which allocates the determination rights in order to encourage a predictable behaviour in the use of IT, while for others IT Governance is a branch of corporate governance focusing on the control and the strategic view of IT (Musson, 2009). Not few have used definitions that mix and match more than one of these views, such as Peterson (2004), Higgins and Sinclair (2008) and Simonsson and Johnson (2007).A definition that is, in the authors opinion, quite clear and inclusive, is the followingIT Governance is a framework for the leadership, organizational structures and caper processes, standards and compliance to these standards, which ensures that the organizations IT supports and enables the achievement of its strategies and objectives. (Calder, 2007)Lee and Lee (2009) make the link of IT Governance with corporal Governance. They paint a picture that IT Governance is a mix of integrated Governance and IT steering meaning that IT Governance addresses the transparency and control that corporate governance focuses upon, and the efficiency and effectiveness that IT management aims at. IT Governance as part of the corporate governance is also suggested by Peterson (2004), Bhatttacharjya and Chang (2009), ODonohue, Pye and Warren (2009).Several researchers have pointed out that IT Governance is not the same as IT Management. The former refers to the definition of who has the rights for major decision making, while the later refers to the actual making of the decisions and the implementation itself (Broadbend, cited in Buckby et al., 2009 Calder, 2009 Sambamurthy and Zmud, 1999 Toomey, 2009 Van Grembergen and De Haes, 2009).Regarding the subject and scope of IT Governance, the IT Governance Institute suggests five distinct and interacting soils The strategical Alignment, Value Delivery, adventure Management, Resource Manage ment and Performance Management.The need for IT GovernanceThe need for IT Governance has not been extensively debated almost everybody agree that the proper governance of IT is necessary. The reasons though provided to support this argument vary, and the organisations do not seem to have been persuaded by that position.A quite common reason provided to support the necessity of IT Governance, is the change magnitude complexity of the IT infrastructure that is caused by the amount of data that an organisation holds, and the role of this information (Laplante and Costello, 2006). IT is not only complex, provided it also has its own fast ever-changing and unique conditions, as such the need to apply sound management disciplines and controls is change surface greater (NCC, 2005). risk of infection management is one more reason for IT Governance. Risk is caused by the growing dependency of organisations on IT resources which should not be neglected the percentage of companies that ar e vitally dependent on IT for their continuing operation, was over 75% in 2004 (KPMG, cited at Musson, 2009). That dependency makes the potential unavailability of IT based re cultivations a significant problem for organisations such as banks and hospitals. The deficiency of availability is not the only danger caused by that dependency cyber crime, fraud, information inaccuracy are just a few more issues that need proper identification and management (Van Grembergen and De Haes 2009). rather of implementing IT solutions, the focus now has shifted to changing the crinkle processes, to be enabled by IT. The solutions implemented are generally more complex due to this shift, and resultantly there is a greater risk with the implementation of IT-enabled channel processes (Higgins and Sinclair, 2008). From the management perspective, that dependency elbow room that management needs to be more aware of the critical IT risks, and to be assure that they are adequately managed (NCC, 2 005).High organisational performance is another reason found in the literature, although that one is debatable. Liew believes that IT Governance can ensure proper measurement and conservation of an achieved performance (cited at Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009), nevertheless Young has pointed out with a literature review that there is no convincing evidence that superior air performance is a result of any of IT Governance guidelines (Young, 2006).Typically, IT investings are significantly high. They account for over 50% of the average organisations annual total capital investment (Baschab and Piot, 2007 Carr, 2003 Weill and Woodham, 2002), as such their management in a responsive, effective and efficient way is usually a requirement that should be set by the management board. On the monetary field, cost optimisation of the IT projects and return delivery, are also considered primal issues by several researchers (Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009 Fairchild et al, 2009 Menken, 2009 Pe terson, 2004).The amount of money spent is key, except the need that the enterprises investment in IT is in harmony with its objectives is usually considered more significant (Buckby et al, 2009). This is called Business IT Alignment, which is a quite old issue several studies from mid-80s have rivet on the conjunctive of the IT operations with the transaction objectives ( brownish and Magill, 1994). Some researchers do not agree with the need for the Business IT alignment at all (Sillince and Frost, 1995). Koh and Maguire (2009) also suggest that Business IT alignment maybe the wrong strategy for smaller businesses, which may be agile enough to change course quickly following the saucyly ICT arrivals in the business. They also mention that Venkatraman questions the logic behind alignment nevertheless, this is a false interpretation of Venkatramans take up, who clearly states that IT needs to support the business logic. Carr (2003) has written one of the most controversia l articles on the issue, stating that IT is not able to provide the competitive advantage that organisations need. Laplante and Costello (2006) make clear that they do not agree with that view, while Harris, Herron and Iwanicki (2008) catch the opportunity to provide metrics on the value that IT can provide, instead of just dismissing Carrs argument.According to a different should of thought, Business IT alignment has been identified as a significant management concern ( brownish and Magill, 1994 Cameron, 2007 Kashanchi and Toland, 2006 Silvius, 2007) and effort is put in order to identify the potential benefits of Business IT alignment. In fact, a recent use up by Nash (2009) proves a positive correlation between firm level sales and the so-called strategic Alignment Maturity i.e. the maturity date level of the business IT alignment.By considering Business IT alignment as something that organisations necessitate to achieve, it is yet another reason to exercise governance o f the IT. The relationship between IT governance and Business IT alignment has been proven (BMC Software, 2007 Musson and Jordan, 2006). Additionally, IT governance is strongly suggested by researchers as the best option for the maintenance of the alignment of IT to the continuously evolving organisational needs (Cameron, 2007 Harris et al, 2008 Pultorak, 2006 Sambamurthy and Zmud, 1999).Although Business IT Alignment is a common issue, it puts IT in a passive role it makes it a follower. Proper governance can transform IT from a follower to a leader IT is able to set the business agenda and partially affect the organisations strategic objectives (Addy, 2007 Baschab and Piot, 2007 Weill and Woodham, 2002).A research by NCC (2005) has identified a potentially widening gap between what IT departments hypothesize the business requires, and what the business finds the IT department is able to deliver. This can be addressed by IT Governance, by dint of which an organisation wide vi ew of IT may be generated and promoted (Laplante and Costello, 2006 Weill and Woodham, 2002). That center that IT should have a thorough understanding and a participation in the improvement of business processes and their interdependencies. The other way round is also important, i.e. organisations need to admit a kick downstairs understanding of the value delivered by IT, both internally and from external suppliers. Measures are required in business (the customers) terms to achieve this. observe elements for that understanding include the enterprise wide view of IT budget (Addy, 2007 Weill and Woodham, 2002).One more reason found in the literature to promote IT Governance, is the compliance to restrictive requirements. Specific legislation and regulatory requirements, such as Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) almost dictate the use of an IT governance framework (Buckby et al., 2009 Higgins and Sinclair, 2008). Others, such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and function Act) and Basel-II do not dictate, but certainly describe an IT Governance framework through their requirements for accountability on investments, information security and assurance, risk management and decision processes (Harris et al, 2008 Higgins and Sinclair, 2008 Pultorak, 2006 Network Frontiers, 2008 NCC, 2005 van Grembergen and De Haes, 2009).Yet another commonly say key benefit of proper IT Governance is clear and transparent decision making regarding IT resources (Baschab and Piot, 2007 Brown and Grand, 2005 Lee and Lee, 2009 Tshinu, Botha and Herselman, 2008). The lack of clarity and transparency for the decision making process, can lead to reluctance to take risks, and later failure to seize technology opportunities (NCC, 2005) dispel decision processes followed by the IT and business, may mean that there is not enough shared ownership and clarity of resources, which also means that there may be a lack of accountability.IT Governance modelsAlthough IT Governance sets the decisi on making process, it does not define who decides. IT Governance decision authorities may be structured in different models, depending on the organisation. The three prevailing ones are the modify, de concentrate and federal (hybrid) according to their modes of distributing authorities and responsibilities for decision-making (Brown and Magill, 1994 Fairchild et al, 2009 Peterson, 2004 Sambamurthy and Zmud, 1999), while the pair of centralized / decentralized may also be found as the only choices (Laplante and Costello, 2006 Robb and Parent, 2009).Ross and Weill (2002) and Cameron (2007) expressed their quite strong preference on centralized IT Governance model, i.e. decisions being made centrally, but Ross and Weill revisited that view in 2004 they suggested that there are six (6) archetypes / models of IT Governance, on 5 different IT creations. From more centralised to less centralised, they identified Business monarchy, IT monarchy, federal, IT Duopoly, Feudal and Anarchy. T he two monarchies are quite clear, meaning that Business or IT respectively has the major responsibility for decisions. Anarchy is quite clear as well, meaning that there is no standardization. federal official and IT duopoly involve business executives and IT executives in the decision making process, with federal to give more power to the business than IT duopoly. Finally, feudal archetype brings the decision level elaborate to business units or processes. The IT domains on which decisions need to be made, are IT principles such as funding and role of the IT in the business, IT Architecture which refers to the identification and education of the upshot business processes of the enterprise and relative information, IT infrastructure, business application needs such as the owner of the outcome of each project and IT investment and prioritization. That model variety from Ross and Weill is unique as tell earlier, most other researchers have selected a simpler sorting scheme.Ein- Dor and Segev (cited at Tavakolian, 1989) found that the revenue of the organisation is positively related to centralized IT Governance but there is no relation between the governance model and the size of the organisation. There is empirical proof that a link between the IT structure with the organisational competitive strategy exists conservative organisations are more centralised than aggressive ones (Tavakolian, 1989). These results are supported by more recent research with self- conformable findings Weill and Woodham (2002) and Weill and Ross (2004) found that top performing firms on profit were mostly centralized, while top performers on growth were mostly decentralized. A link between the organisations industry type and level of de-centralization of IT Governance has not been found (Ahituv et al, cited at Brown and Grant, 2005).It has to be noted that the model of IT Governance in an organisation may also be dictated by external factors, such as SOX which promotes a centra lized IT Governance model, while Australian governance frameworks (mainly, AS 8015) drive the organisations towards a de-centralized IT Governance model (Robb and Parent, 2009).IT Governance FrameworksInformation Technology Infrastructure LibraryThe Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a framework of best practices for IT wait on Management. It is comprised of five books which focus on five different aspects of IT value Management and overhaul Lifecycle service StrategyService DesignService TransitionService OperationContinual Service ImprovementEach one of the books, defines a set of processes such as IT Financial Management, Supplier Management, Change Management, Incident Management and Service Measurement and Reporting a total of 23 processes are defined with a set of actions and roles required for each process.The definition of several of the processes and the accompanying roles is consistent with the IT Governance definition we used earlier nevertheless a big amount of the defined processes such as event management and ecesis and testing, are much more centre on the management part than to that of the governance. ITIL is considered to be the framework that is closer to service management than control, from the other two frameworks, CobIT and ISO/IEC 385002008 and has a more narrow scope than CobIT (Van Grembergen and De Haes, 2009 Simonsson and Ekstedt, 2006 Simonsson, Johnson and Wijkstrm, 2007 Sall, 2004 McBride, 2009).That focus of ITIL to service delivery and management was more obvious in version 2, which did not address issues such as Risk Management, Performance Monitoring and IT Governance (generic strategic direction and alignment) at all. As such it was mostly perceived as a framework for service desk management. Although the effectiveness of ITIL version 2 to the alignment of IT with business objectives has been repeatedly pointed out (BMC Software, 2007 Harris et al, 2008 Pultorak, 2006) and even experimentally proven (Kashanchi and Toland, 2006), it was never the primary driver for ITIL adaptation. A survey conducted by Bruton Consultancy for the Helpdesk Institute Europe (now renamed as Service Desk Institute) for the value that ITIL has brought in companies that have implemented it, indicated that the contribution of ITIL to the business strategy was not even considered as an issue by the majority of the correspondents (70%). The same holds for the perception of the participants on the competitive advantage that may be provided by proper IT management through ITIL. More than half (66%) responded that this was not considered in the decision for ITIL implementation (Bruton, 2005).With version 3, ITIL gained a broader scope than version 2 and added significant emphasis on business strategy. That change, led some IT management consultants to declare ITIL version 3 as inappropriate for helpdesk and service management processes (Bruton, 2007), not strange since version 2 focused on processes while version 3 focuses on Business Value (Harris et al, 2008).Beyond the not strategic enough type of criticism, ITIL has also been criticised as a flawed and uneven framework. Dean Meyer identifies pitfalls in its implementation nevertheless, he also states that it is an implementation issue and not a framework issue (Meyer, 2009 mesh site). ITIL has also been characterized as a too generic framework, which is not able to provide value if used off-the-shelf without significant adaptations (Baschab and Piot, 2007), an unfair criticism as ITIL is promoted as a set of best practices, not as a complete, fits-all framework. This concession should invalidate yet another criticism raised by Simonsson (2008), the lack of a maturity model. Another criticism of ITIL is that the documentation is not free (Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009). That is a valid point, nevertheless the cost of the books is quite low for companies (less than 400 for the entire set). Other criticisms include the stifling o f the creativity of those who implement it, and that it becomes a goal by itself having a heavy administrative burden (Addy, 2007). All these points are valid, but they can be attributed to the extension of ITIL.Control Objectives for Information and related TechnologyControl Objectives for information and related Technology (CobIT) is a control framework create by the IT Governance Institute. CobIT defines processes and controls, and uses the grouping of activities in quadruple domainsPlan and OrganiseAcquire and ImplementDeliver and SupportMonitor and EvaluateEach domain contains a set of processes, 34 at total, and each process defines specific controls, which sum up to 210 for all processes. CobIT defines inputs and outputs, as well as a maturity model for each process, making the control of compliance a very easy task. RACI (responsible, accountable, consulted and informed) charts are also provided, drawing a clear guideline on who should be involved in every process step. Go als and metrics, in the form of outcome measures (key goal indicators KGIs) and performance indicators (key performance indicators KPIs) respectively are also provided, use business goals to IT goals, which can be achieved by one, or the interaction of several processes.CobIT is generally used where there is a need for auditing functions, in comparison with ITIL, which is better suited to operational process improvement (ODonohue et al, 2009). In contrast to ITIL, CobIT has extensive documentation available free of charge, including the framework itself and several case studies. Several implementation documents though are only available for purchase, such as CobIT Quickstart, while others are available free for ISACA members or for purchase for non-members such as auspices Baseline and User Guide for Service Managers.Several consultants and practitioners criticise CobIT that it only states the obvious, that it is very high level, is only a generic framework and does not provide specific and repeatable implementation steps (Culmsee, 2009 Toigo, 2005). This is not a common view, as others find CobIT to be quite prescriptive (Pultorak, 2006 Robb and Parent, 2009). That may be explained by the fact that although CobIT framework itself is indeed high level, a different publication is provided by ISACA, named CobIT Control Practices which is quite prescriptive. Academics criticise CobIT as providing little support for change decision making, although many metrics are defined (Simonsson and Johnson, 2006). Others state that CobIT is expressed almost entirely in terms of process, focusing on how to govern but not what to govern (Lee et al, 2009). Another criticism states that CobIT is significantly more focused on auditing, more often than not ignoring other aspects of governance such as software development and service delivery (NetFrontiers, 2005). CobIT is also characterized as a framework that needs significant knowledge and know how for a successful implem entation (Simonsson et al, 2007), and that it takes time to lay in solid IT Governance through it (Rogers, 2009) although the opposite would be strange, given the wide area of processes and functions that CobIT addresses.Finally, while ITIL is known as the framework that guides you on how to get where you deprivation to be, CobIT merely focuses on where you should be that may be good or bad, depending on ones point of view and needs.ISO / IEC 385002008The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) attempted to lick the confusion between IT Management and IT Governance, and at the same time provide guiding principles on IT Governance, in the recently published ISO/IEC 385002008.Because ISO/IEC 38500 establishes principles to guide the behaviour of organisations, it complements frameworks that focus on process, such as ITIL and COBIT. Thus, with the right frameworks or processes, complemented by the right behaviours, organisations are more likely to establish highly effec tive systems of governance. After all, it has been stated that ITIL and CobIT are not mutually exclusive they are rather complementary and organisations will probably benefit from a mixed approach, adopting what is more applicable in every case, from the two frameworks (Chickowsky, cited at Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009). ISO/IEC 38500 can also be combined with these two and ITGI has even issued a specific document demonstrating how and which specific CobIT and ValIT controls support the bridal of the standards principles and implementation approach. Nevertheless, ISO/IEC 385002008 is very recent to be evaluated. As of the time of conducting this research, there is not enough information on the implementation, benefits or drawbacks of ISO 385002008.Common drivers for IT Governance implementationWhile the need for IT Governance has well been described, the benefits sought, i.e. the reasons for the implementation of an IT Governance framework vary, sometimes depending on the point of view of the observer.As drivers, we consider the motivator factors, which may lead an organisation to the implementation of an IT Governance framework.For IT Managers, IT Governance is a mechanism for the alignment of the IT with business on the projects that are going to be pursuit. For IT Auditors, it is mainly a control mechanism that can help them achieve compliance with regulations, and to manage the risks that are related to IT projects better. For IT Service management professionals, IT Governance ensures that not only the IT go offered are aligned to the current and future business needs, but they are also managed for efficiency, effectiveness and specific quality objectives (Pultorak, 2006).Recent surveys have indicated that the most important benefits expected from the implementation of an IT Governance framework are proper risk management, the resource management of IT, the performance measurement of IT and the business IT alignment. Along these, cost reduction, produc tiveness improvements and organisation wide view of IT are commonly mentioned. (ITGI, 2008 BMC Software, 2007 Milne and Bowles, 2009 Yanosky and McCredieThe Emergence of IT Governance in GreeceThe Emergence of IT Governance in GreeceIntroductionThe emergence of IT GovernanceThe cases of Enron, Worldcom and other corporate and financial scandals in the early years of the century have raised the significance of corporate governance and control. Regulatory environments have been formed with quite distinctive characteristics, depending on the needs of each country, and the needs of specific industries. The implementation of the controls required by regulations such as Sarbanes Oxley for the publicly listed organisations in the U.S. and Basel II for European banks relies heavily on IT. That dependency, combined to the required controls on IT itself, have forced top-level executives to have a look towards the proper management and governance of the information and communication technolog ies that power their organisations.At the same time, the high percentage of failed IT projects, ranging between 60% and 90% depending on the definition of failure, has alarmed many executives who see their resources to be raddled on failed projects, to be followed by more failed projects. Clear decision processes and proper project management aiming at efficiency and effectiveness, are the obvious answers to the problem both of which point directly to IT Governance.The high cost of IT investments, which is more than half of the annual CAPEX for most organisations, calls for control, accountability and risk management, not to mention cost reduction. Information security, industrial espionage, regulations for the confidentiality of the data and the privacy of employees and customers, are all grace in full handled by a proper IT Governance structure.These are only some of the reasons that have led quite a few organisations worldwide to add IT Governance in their board agenda.The statu s in GreeceGreece has control regulations for specific industries only, such as telecommunications, an industry largely affected by the Hellenic authority for communication security and privacy. Other industries are affected by pan-European control regulations, such as banking industry that needs to comply with MIFID and Basel-II alongside the directives issued by the Bank of Greece. Finally, just a few companies are listed in foreign stock exchanges such as NYSE listed PTT, subsequently affected by the SOX act.Nevertheless, although the environment in Greece is complex, and the IT infrastructure is no simpler than any other countrys, there is no published empirical academic research on the status of IT Governance in Greece. Even surveys that are conducted in wider geographical areas and not to a specific country do not usually include Greece probably because it is a small market. The only data that has been found are some papers mentioning the benefits of IT Governance, as taken f rom the international practice the data though is not adapted to local needs and circumstances.Research ObjectivesThis research, titled IT Governance in Greece Status, Drivers and Barriers aims to evaluate and present the IT Governance related practices in Greece. What percentage of Greek companies are using IT Governance frameworks and best practices, which is the preferred framework between the two prevalent (ITIL and CobIT), and which is the decision model selected by the companies that employ IT Governance. An attempt will be made to find any relationships between these results, and the size of the organisation or the size of the IT department. The reasons for which Greek organisations select to implement or not an IT Governance framework will also be linked to that data and outsourcing strategies which are known to require careful governance will be evaluated. For the organisations that choose to not implement a formal governance framework, the barriers to implementation will b e analysed, as well as the potential good practices which do not constitute a framework, nevertheless help to the prudent governance of an organisations IT assets and resources.The research questions that are expected to shed some light to the main areas of the status of IT Governance in Greece are formulated as followsThe penetration of ITIL and CobIT in Greece as IT Governance frameworksWhich are the most common factors that prevent or delay the acceptance and deployment of an IT Governance framework (barriers)?Which are the most common reasons that led organisations to deploy, or plan the future deployment of an IT Governance framework (drivers)?Which (if any) are the management methods used if a full IT Governance framework is not deployed?Personal InterestThe author has followed a career path in Information Technology for the last 15 years, acquiring positions of raising responsibilities. In alignment to that career path, the MBA was considered a good choice, providing a broade r view on all areas of management such as organisational behaviour and culture, human relationships, finance and marketing, strategy and implementation. The subject of this dissertation combines the two worlds, that of management and of information technology, giving a more thorough and business oriented view to the authors subject of work. Beyond the obvious curiosity that is created by the lack of data in the Greek market in which the author lives and works, there has always been an interest in IT Governance, IT management and risk management, and this dissertation comes to cover at least some of these areas.Structure of the dissertationThe rest of the dissertation has a typical structure the submission that was just provided constitutes the chapter one.Chapter two provides a review of the existing literature and previous studies on IT Governance that should form the basis for the research that was necessary for this dissertation.Chapter three analyses and justifies the methodo logy that was used for the sampling, the data collection and data analysis methods that were selected. This chapter also presents and analyses some limitations related to the methodology, and presents the ways in which these limitations may affect the data analysis and the conclusions.Chapter four is the data analysis, in which all data that were collected are analysed and presented, relations are drawn and comparisons to findings from previous research are performed in order to fully answer the research questions set in this dissertation.Chapter five draws on the conclusions of the previous chapter. It summarizes the research objectives, the findings and the implications of the results. Generalization issues and data validity is further discussed. This chapter provides also recommendations for future studies, identifying inside information that were not included in this survey and questions that have emerged from the results of the current dissertation. Finally, this chapter reflec ts on the dissertation, assessing the weaknesses of the work performed and the obstacles faced it also identifies the areas in which the author has gained knowledge and experience.Literature reassessmentIntroductionA literature review is vital to any research project, in order to collect, present and critically analyse, what is already known in the subject under research. The evaluation of previous research leads to a better understanding of the subject, of the areas of consensus between academics and practitioners, and the points of conflict and potential gaps.Towards the answer of the status of IT Governance in Greece, an attempt will be made to explain the term IT Governance and clarify any misconceptions regarding IT Governance and IT Management. The different types of IT Governance models that have been developed in the past, along with the key roles in IT Governance, will be identified, presented and compared.The necessity for IT Governance as suggested in the literature will be evaluated, and the most commonly mentioned benefits and implementation barriers will be presented, in order to serve as potential answers to the questionnaire of the research. Previous reports on management methods that may be used instead of a full framework implementation will also be evaluated for the same reasons.The definition of IT GovernanceIT Governance is a subject that has gained significant focus during the last years. As a term, IT Governance, has too many definitions in the literature (Buckby, Best and Stewart, 2009 Lee and Lee, 2009 Lee, Lee and Lee, 2009). Simonsson and Ekstedt (2006) tried to find a common definition on 60 different relative articles and came up with yet another definition, which includes many of the previous ones.The definitions used by researchers, depend on their view on what IT Governance can offer to an organisation. IT Governance is sometimes perceived as a framework or a process for auditing the use of the IT infrastructure and operations. Some other times sometimes it is perceived as an IT decision making tool which allocates the decision rights in order to encourage a predictable behaviour in the use of IT, while for others IT Governance is a branch of corporate governance focusing on the control and the strategic view of IT (Musson, 2009). Not few have used definitions that mix and match more than one of these views, such as Peterson (2004), Higgins and Sinclair (2008) and Simonsson and Johnson (2007).A definition that is, in the authors opinion, quite clear and inclusive, is the followingIT Governance is a framework for the leadership, organizational structures and business processes, standards and compliance to these standards, which ensures that the organizations IT supports and enables the achievement of its strategies and objectives. (Calder, 2007)Lee and Lee (2009) make the link of IT Governance with Corporate Governance. They suggest that IT Governance is a mix of Corporate Governance and IT Management meani ng that IT Governance addresses the transparency and control that corporate governance focuses upon, and the efficiency and effectiveness that IT management aims at. IT Governance as part of the corporate governance is also suggested by Peterson (2004), Bhatttacharjya and Chang (2009), ODonohue, Pye and Warren (2009).Several researchers have pointed out that IT Governance is not the same as IT Management. The former refers to the definition of who has the rights for major decision making, while the later refers to the actual making of the decisions and the implementation itself (Broadbend, cited in Buckby et al., 2009 Calder, 2009 Sambamurthy and Zmud, 1999 Toomey, 2009 Van Grembergen and De Haes, 2009).Regarding the subject and scope of IT Governance, the IT Governance Institute suggests five distinct but interacting domains The Strategic Alignment, Value Delivery, Risk Management, Resource Management and Performance Management.The need for IT GovernanceThe need for IT Governance h as not been extensively debated almost everybody agree that the proper governance of IT is necessary. The reasons though provided to support this argument vary, and the organisations do not seem to have been persuaded by that position.A quite common reason provided to support the necessity of IT Governance, is the increase complexity of the IT infrastructure that is caused by the amount of data that an organisation holds, and the role of this information (Laplante and Costello, 2006). IT is not only complex, but it also has its own fast changing and unique conditions, as such the need to apply sound management disciplines and controls is even greater (NCC, 2005).Risk management is one more reason for IT Governance. Risk is caused by the growing dependency of organisations on IT resources which should not be neglected the percentage of companies that are vitally dependent on IT for their continuing operation, was over 75% in 2004 (KPMG, cited at Musson, 2009). That dependency makes t he potential unavailability of IT based function a significant problem for organisations such as banks and hospitals. The lack of availability is not the only danger caused by that dependency cyber crime, fraud, information inaccuracy are just a few more issues that need proper identification and management (Van Grembergen and De Haes 2009). kinda of implementing IT solutions, the focus now has shifted to changing the business processes, to be enabled by IT. The solutions implemented are generally more complex due to this shift, and subsequently there is a greater risk with the implementation of IT-enabled business processes (Higgins and Sinclair, 2008). From the management perspective, that dependency means that management needs to be more aware of the critical IT risks, and to be sensible that they are adequately managed (NCC, 2005).High organisational performance is another reason found in the literature, although that one is debatable. Liew believes that IT Governance can ens ure proper measurement and delivery of an achieved performance (cited at Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009), nevertheless Young has pointed out through a literature review that there is no convincing evidence that superior business performance is a result of any of IT Governance guidelines (Young, 2006).Typically, IT investments are significantly high. They account for over 50% of the average organisations annual total capital investment (Baschab and Piot, 2007 Carr, 2003 Weill and Woodham, 2002), as such their management in a responsive, effective and efficient way is usually a requirement that should be set by the management board. On the monetary field, cost optimisation of the IT projects and service delivery, are also considered important issues by several researchers (Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009 Fairchild et al, 2009 Menken, 2009 Peterson, 2004).The amount of money spent is important, but the need that the enterprises investment in IT is in harmony with its objectives is usuall y considered more significant (Buckby et al, 2009). This is called Business IT Alignment, which is a quite old issue several studies from mid-80s have focused on the alignment of the IT operations with the business objectives (Brown and Magill, 1994). Some researchers do not agree with the need for the Business IT alignment at all (Sillince and Frost, 1995). Koh and Maguire (2009) also suggest that Business IT alignment maybe the wrong strategy for smaller businesses, which may be agile enough to change course quickly following the new ICT arrivals in the business. They also mention that Venkatraman questions the logic behind alignment nevertheless, this is a false interpretation of Venkatramans study, who clearly states that IT needs to support the business logic. Carr (2003) has written one of the most controversial articles on the issue, stating that IT is not able to provide the competitive advantage that organisations need. Laplante and Costello (2006) make clear that they d o not agree with that view, while Harris, Herron and Iwanicki (2008) get the opportunity to provide metrics on the value that IT can provide, instead of just dismissing Carrs argument.According to a different should of thought, Business IT alignment has been identified as a significant management concern (Brown and Magill, 1994 Cameron, 2007 Kashanchi and Toland, 2006 Silvius, 2007) and effort is put in order to identify the potential benefits of Business IT alignment. In fact, a recent study by Nash (2009) proves a positive correlation between firm level sales and the so-called Strategic Alignment Maturity i.e. the maturity level of the business IT alignment.By considering Business IT alignment as something that organisations want to achieve, it is yet another reason to exercise governance of the IT. The relationship between IT governance and Business IT alignment has been proven (BMC Software, 2007 Musson and Jordan, 2006). Additionally, IT governance is strongly suggested by researchers as the best option for the maintenance of the alignment of IT to the continuously evolving organisational needs (Cameron, 2007 Harris et al, 2008 Pultorak, 2006 Sambamurthy and Zmud, 1999).Although Business IT Alignment is a common issue, it puts IT in a passive role it makes it a follower. Proper governance can transform IT from a follower to a leader IT is able to set the business agenda and partially affect the organisations strategic objectives (Addy, 2007 Baschab and Piot, 2007 Weill and Woodham, 2002).A research by NCC (2005) has identified a potentially widening gap between what IT departments think the business requires, and what the business thinks the IT department is able to deliver. This can be addressed by IT Governance, through which an organisation wide view of IT may be generated and promoted (Laplante and Costello, 2006 Weill and Woodham, 2002). That means that IT should have a thorough understanding and a participation in the improvement of business processes and their interdependencies. The other way round is also important, i.e. organisations need to begin a better understanding of the value delivered by IT, both internally and from external suppliers. Measures are required in business (the customers) terms to achieve this. divulge elements for that understanding include the enterprise wide view of IT budget (Addy, 2007 Weill and Woodham, 2002).One more reason found in the literature to promote IT Governance, is the compliance to regulatory requirements. Specific legislation and regulatory requirements, such as Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) almost dictate the use of an IT governance framework (Buckby et al., 2009 Higgins and Sinclair, 2008). Others, such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and answerability Act) and Basel-II do not dictate, but certainly describe an IT Governance framework through their requirements for accountability on investments, information security and assurance, risk management and decision processes (Harris et al, 2008 Higgins and Sinclair, 2008 Pultorak, 2006 Network Frontiers, 2008 NCC, 2005 van Grembergen and De Haes, 2009).Yet another commonly stated key benefit of proper IT Governance is clear and transparent decision making regarding IT resources (Baschab and Piot, 2007 Brown and Grand, 2005 Lee and Lee, 2009 Tshinu, Botha and Herselman, 2008). The lack of clarity and transparency for the decision making process, can lead to reluctance to take risks, and subsequently failure to seize technology opportunities (NCC, 2005) name decision processes followed by the IT and business, may mean that there is not enough shared ownership and clarity of resources, which also means that there may be a lack of accountability.IT Governance modelsAlthough IT Governance sets the decision making process, it does not define who decides. IT Governance decision authorities may be structured in different models, depending on the organisation. The three prevailing ones are the centralized, d ecentralized and federal (hybrid) according to their modes of distributing authorities and responsibilities for decision-making (Brown and Magill, 1994 Fairchild et al, 2009 Peterson, 2004 Sambamurthy and Zmud, 1999), while the pair of centralized / decentralized may also be found as the only choices (Laplante and Costello, 2006 Robb and Parent, 2009).Ross and Weill (2002) and Cameron (2007) expressed their quite strong preference on centralized IT Governance model, i.e. decisions being made centrally, but Ross and Weill revisited that view in 2004 they suggested that there are six (6) archetypes / models of IT Governance, on 5 different IT domains. From more centralised to less centralised, they identified Business monarchy, IT monarchy, Federal, IT Duopoly, Feudal and Anarchy. The two monarchies are quite clear, meaning that Business or IT respectively has the major responsibility for decisions. Anarchy is quite clear as well, meaning that there is no standardization. Federal and IT duopoly involve business executives and IT executives in the decision making process, with federal to give more power to the business than IT duopoly. Finally, feudal archetype brings the decision level floor to business units or processes. The IT domains on which decisions need to be made, are IT principles such as funding and role of the IT in the business, IT Architecture which refers to the identification and development of the marrow squash business processes of the enterprise and relative information, IT infrastructure, business application needs such as the owner of the outcome of each project and IT investment and prioritization. That model classification from Ross and Weill is unique as stated earlier, most other researchers have selected a simpler classification scheme.Ein-Dor and Segev (cited at Tavakolian, 1989) found that the revenue of the organisation is positively related to centralized IT Governance but there is no relation between the governance model and the size of the organisation. There is empirical proof that a link between the IT structure with the organisational competitive strategy exists conservative organisations are more centralised than aggressive ones (Tavakolian, 1989). These results are supported by more recent research with consistent findings Weill and Woodham (2002) and Weill and Ross (2004) found that top performing firms on profit were mostly centralized, while top performers on growth were mostly decentralized. A link between the organisations industry type and level of de-centralization of IT Governance has not been found (Ahituv et al, cited at Brown and Grant, 2005).It has to be noted that the model of IT Governance in an organisation may also be dictated by external factors, such as SOX which promotes a centralized IT Governance model, while Australian governance frameworks (mainly, AS 8015) drive the organisations towards a de-centralized IT Governance model (Robb and Parent, 2009).IT Governance FrameworksInfor mation Technology Infrastructure LibraryThe Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a framework of best practices for IT Service Management. It is comprised of five books which focus on five different aspects of IT Service Management and Service LifecycleService StrategyService DesignService TransitionService OperationContinual Service ImprovementEach one of the books, defines a set of processes such as IT Financial Management, Supplier Management, Change Management, Incident Management and Service Measurement and Reporting a total of 23 processes are defined with a set of actions and roles required for each process.The definition of several of the processes and the subsequent roles is consistent with the IT Governance definition we used earlier nevertheless a big amount of the defined processes such as event management and proof and testing, are much more focused on the management part than to that of the governance. ITIL is considered to be the framework that is c loser to service management than control, from the other two frameworks, CobIT and ISO/IEC 385002008 and has a more narrow scope than CobIT (Van Grembergen and De Haes, 2009 Simonsson and Ekstedt, 2006 Simonsson, Johnson and Wijkstrm, 2007 Sall, 2004 McBride, 2009).That focus of ITIL to service delivery and management was more obvious in version 2, which did not address issues such as Risk Management, Performance Monitoring and IT Governance (generic strategic direction and alignment) at all. As such it was mostly perceived as a framework for service desk management. Although the effectiveness of ITIL version 2 to the alignment of IT with business objectives has been repeatedly pointed out (BMC Software, 2007 Harris et al, 2008 Pultorak, 2006) and even experimentally proven (Kashanchi and Toland, 2006), it was never the primary driver for ITIL adaptation. A survey conducted by Bruton Consultancy for the Helpdesk Institute Europe (now renamed as Service Desk Institute) for the value that ITIL has brought in companies that have implemented it, indicated that the contribution of ITIL to the business strategy was not even considered as an issue by the majority of the correspondents (70%). The same holds for the perception of the participants on the competitive advantage that may be provided by proper IT management through ITIL. More than half (66%) responded that this was not considered in the decision for ITIL implementation (Bruton, 2005).With version 3, ITIL gained a broader scope than version 2 and added significant emphasis on business strategy. That change, led some IT management consultants to declare ITIL version 3 as inappropriate for helpdesk and service management processes (Bruton, 2007), not strange since version 2 focused on processes while version 3 focuses on Business Value (Harris et al, 2008).Beyond the not strategic enough type of criticism, ITIL has also been criticised as a flawed and uneven framework. Dean Meyer identifies pitfalls in its imp lementation nevertheless, he also states that it is an implementation issue and not a framework issue (Meyer, 2009 weather vane site). ITIL has also been characterized as a too generic framework, which is not able to provide value if used off-the-shelf without significant adaptations (Baschab and Piot, 2007), an unfair criticism as ITIL is promoted as a set of best practices, not as a complete, fits-all framework. This concession should invalidate yet another criticism raised by Simonsson (2008), the lack of a maturity model. Another criticism of ITIL is that the documentation is not free (Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009). That is a valid point, nevertheless the cost of the books is quite low for companies (less than 400 for the full-length set). Other criticisms include the stifling of the creativity of those who implement it, and that it becomes a goal by itself having a heavy administrative burden (Addy, 2007). All these points are valid, but they can be attributed to the extens ion of ITIL.Control Objectives for Information and related TechnologyControl Objectives for information and related Technology (CobIT) is a control framework developed by the IT Governance Institute. CobIT defines processes and controls, and uses the grouping of activities in four domainsPlan and OrganiseAcquire and ImplementDeliver and SupportMonitor and EvaluateEach domain contains a set of processes, 34 at total, and each process defines specific controls, which sum up to 210 for all processes. CobIT defines inputs and outputs, as well as a maturity model for each process, making the control of compliance a very easy task. RACI (responsible, accountable, consulted and informed) charts are also provided, drawing a clear guideline on who should be involved in every process step. Goals and metrics, in the form of outcome measures (key goal indicators KGIs) and performance indicators (key performance indicators KPIs) respectively are also provided, part business goals to IT goals, which can be achieved by one, or the interaction of several processes.CobIT is generally used where there is a need for auditing functions, in comparison with ITIL, which is better suited to operational process improvement (ODonohue et al, 2009). In contrast to ITIL, CobIT has extensive documentation available free of charge, including the framework itself and several case studies. Several implementation documents though are only available for purchase, such as CobIT Quickstart, while others are available free for ISACA members or for purchase for non-members such as credential Baseline and User Guide for Service Managers.Several consultants and practitioners criticise CobIT that it only states the obvious, that it is very high level, is only a generic framework and does not provide specific and repeatable implementation steps (Culmsee, 2009 Toigo, 2005). This is not a common view, as others find CobIT to be quite prescriptive (Pultorak, 2006 Robb and Parent, 2009). That may be ex plained by the fact that although CobIT framework itself is indeed high level, a different publication is provided by ISACA, named CobIT Control Practices which is quite prescriptive. Academics criticise CobIT as providing little support for alter decision making, although many metrics are defined (Simonsson and Johnson, 2006). Others state that CobIT is expressed almost entirely in terms of process, focusing on how to govern but not what to govern (Lee et al, 2009). Another criticism states that CobIT is significantly more focused on auditing, largely ignoring other aspects of governance such as software development and service delivery (NetFrontiers, 2005). CobIT is also characterized as a framework that needs significant knowledge and know how for a successful implementation (Simonsson et al, 2007), and that it takes time to inaugurate solid IT Governance through it (Rogers, 2009) although the opposite would be strange, given the wide area of processes and functions that CobIT addresses.Finally, while ITIL is known as the framework that guides you on how to get where you want to be, CobIT merely focuses on where you should be that may be good or bad, depending on ones point of view and needs.ISO / IEC 385002008The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) attempted to crop the confusion between IT Management and IT Governance, and at the same time provide guiding principles on IT Governance, in the recently published ISO/IEC 385002008.Because ISO/IEC 38500 establishes principles to guide the behaviour of organisations, it complements frameworks that focus on process, such as ITIL and COBIT. Thus, with the right frameworks or processes, complemented by the right behaviours, organisations are more likely to establish highly effective systems of governance. After all, it has been stated that ITIL and CobIT are not mutually exclusive they are rather complementary and organisations will probably benefit from a mixed approach, adopting what is more applicable in every case, from the two frameworks (Chickowsky, cited at Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009). ISO/IEC 38500 can also be combined with these two and ITGI has even issued a specific document demonstrating how and which specific CobIT and ValIT controls support the acceptance of the standards principles and implementation approach. Nevertheless, ISO/IEC 385002008 is very recent to be evaluated. As of the time of conducting this research, there is not enough information on the implementation, benefits or drawbacks of ISO 385002008.Common drivers for IT Governance implementationWhile the need for IT Governance has well been described, the benefits sought, i.e. the reasons for the implementation of an IT Governance framework vary, sometimes depending on the point of view of the observer.As drivers, we consider the motivator factors, which may lead an organisation to the implementation of an IT Governance framework.For IT Managers, IT Governance is a mechanism for the alignment of the IT with business on the projects that are going to be pursuit. For IT Auditors, it is mainly a control mechanism that can help them achieve compliance with regulations, and to manage the risks that are related to IT projects better. For IT Service management professionals, IT Governance ensures that not only the IT services offered are aligned to the current and future business needs, but they are also managed for efficiency, effectiveness and specific quality objectives (Pultorak, 2006).Recent surveys have indicated that the most important benefits expected from the implementation of an IT Governance framework are proper risk management, the resource management of IT, the performance measurement of IT and the business IT alignment. Along these, cost reduction, productivity improvements and organisation wide view of IT are commonly mentioned. (ITGI, 2008 BMC Software, 2007 Milne and Bowles, 2009 Yanosky and McCredie

Sunday, June 2, 2019

What Ads Say Essay -- essays research papers

Effective WritingMuthyalaWhat Ads Say/What We RememberAfter all, advertisements are purely functional things, and thence the criterion is their success as advertisements and not as works of art. - H.R.H. the Duke of EdinburghWell, yes. Although recognizable works of art are commonly used in advertisements, the ads themselves will most(prenominal) likely never end up in the louver. With both of those mediums, though, you will notice that an individuals retention level will be outstandingly similar. Most people could identify Whistlers Mother, although they could not cite any gender inequality issues concerning the painting. Similarly, people could remember that people say Wazzuuup in Budweiser commercials even if they did not know who was saying it to whom, or how often. The strength of ads like these, then, is the staying power of any or all aspects of their message, no matter how much it has to do with the actual product. Example Hey man, what do you think of Budweiser beer? WAZ ZUUUP This makes absolutely no sense, but it would be a surprisingly common response, based solely on the overts retention of the advertisement. No matter what methods or messages an ad uses to promote its product, what people remember from it is very arbitrary.In the Ben Sherman ad, lead men and a woman are enjoying a picnic. There seems, however, to be no interaction at all between the men and the woman. The guys Lively 2are arouse in everything but the woman, and are spaced out around the blanket at a good distance from her, not even looking in her direction. The two in the back seem to be having some sort of exchange judging from their expressions, and the third is simply gazing off into the fire. There is food at the picnic, but so far no one is eating, they are just drinking. There is a definite difference in alcoholic preference, though, as the three men are enjoying bottles of beer, and the woman has chosen champagne. There is no need to go into the inherent maleness of be er, so the woman is being classy and feminine by opting for the bubbly. So, while being ignored by the men and drinking her champagne, the woman uses the fiery environment to cook. As Susan Bordo said in her essay longing as Ideology, Despite the increasing participation of women of all ages a... ...e aggression, Lively 4female submission, and physical beauty are intrinsic to great lovemaking. The conjecture that all these go hand in hand disqualifies a very large portion of the ads potential clients. Despite the qualities of this ad that would drive back a lot of people, ten pages after you read it you would be more likely to simply remember that It was about sex and it turned me on. The mien the ad plays on its strengths the overwhelming popularity of sex assists the reader in forgetting, or overlooking completely, its weaknesses.Beyond the obvious messages in most advertising, it is important to compensate attention to the aspects of the ad that stick out, the parts that you will be repeating to yourself for the next couple of days and you will not know why. There is so much emphasis on the catchy parts of ads that whatever gender or culture bias they may contain gets covered up and forgotten. An ad may be the most unique, creative piece of unbiased work ever created, but if it is not remembered, then it is a failure. Only when society starts call up the good things about ads will the message of them take precedence over the catchiness.

Saturday, June 1, 2019

Artificial Intelligence in William Gibson’s Neuromancer Essay -- Neuro

Artificial perception in William Gibsons Neuromancer Artificial Intelligence is a term not too widely used in todays society. With todays technology we havent base a way to enable someone to leave their physical body and let their mind survive within a computer. Could it be possible? by chance someday, but for now its just in theory. The novel by William Gibson, Neuromancer, has touched greatly on the idea of man-made intelligence. He describes it as a macrocosm where many things are possible. By simply logging on the computer, it opens up a world we could never comprehend. The possibilities are endless in the world of William Gibson. This world of artificial intelligence has the power to produce many questions and theories because we dont understand something that isnt possible. How smarts an AI, Case? Depends. Some arent much smarter than dogs. Pets. Cost a fortune anyway. The real smart ones are as smart as the Turing heat is willing to let em get. (Page 95) This shows that an artificial intelligence can be programmed to only do certain ...