An Entrepreneur's Journey Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

An Entrepreneur's Journey - Assignment Example Both her personal and business life need maximum and equal attention. Simi will have a difficult time during the transition as first she has to find an appropriate house for the family, and one that she can afford. Her husband is dealing with the housing issue, but it has an effect on the family and their finances. In addition, she has her children’s education to worry about, as the move to Lagos will necessitate them to change school. Finding this a good school for the kids to settle is another challenge. The moving process will have a huge effect on the family as it involves many changes to their personal and professional lives. The children will have to change schools and the environment they have been used to. Simi and her husband will also have to adapt to the new personal and business environment they will now be exposed to (Davis and Spence 5). The move to Nigeria presents a new challenge to the survival of the business, which is only 2 years old. Simi had to put in measures that will ensure the survival of the business even without his husband’s presence throughout the year. She has to have a strategic plan on the sustainability of the business in both the long-term and short-term. To safeguard the survival of the business, Simi has taken several steps. The first step has been to ensure that she will find time to take care of the business by being there for 4 months in a year. This will give her the opportunity to deal with the company issues and assess the progress in her absence. In addition, she will keep constant communication with Feyi to help her in the day-to-day running of the business. Simi and Feyi have hired a marketing consultant to help them articulate the story to the media and public in general. This is a step to help the business gain more recognition and extend its outreach to more potential clients. This will help grow the business and ensure its

Multiple topics outlined Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Multiple topics outlined - Essay Example Another approach of usability design or experience design needs a mental attitude and it is commonly known as subjective, post-positivist and experientialist approach. The author focused on the dichotomy of objective and subjective approaches. The book is basically about the emotional designs. This is the fourth book by Norman on the topic about everyday things. The other three books are not related to the theme of this book, but all these are only used to understand the feelings of the author. The book contains the chapter on â€Å"Personal Reflections†; this is called the refresher of book. Cognition is rutted concept with related to emotions. The manifestation of two in the functionality or behavior describes the good product that means the good design of the product with including the effectiveness of the product as well. According to the previous concepts of Norman’s focus was on usability and the behavioral manifestation, and his new changed concepts presented in this book are related to the effectiveness of the product rather than the design. The brief description about three main characteristics of the effective, behavioral and cognitive components are presented here in the paper. Three different aspects related to the design of the product are shown here. The three aspects of products design are named as visceral design, behavioral design and the cognitive or reflective design. The visceral design is about the outer most appearance of the product. This may be in the type of sight, sound, smell or feel etc. The immediate and effective response, emotions about the designed product is the core of this aspect of design. The behavioral aspect is about the pleasure and effectiveness of use. The response from visceral aspect is very important for behavioral aspect. The bad or geed response reflects the performance of the product. The

Studying the Bible in context Essay Example for Free

Studying the Bible in context Essay 1, a. In helping readers to understand the various meanings of passages in the scripture, and for purposes of categorizing the bible literature in various narratives, the bible authors have develop various techniques which include the use of exegesis, which is essentially a systematic process that is used by an author in order to arrive at a coherent and reasonable meaning of a certain passage in the bible. This technique helps a reader to know the historic setting and the original meaning that the passage gave to the original recipients of the message. The rhetorical and progression devices have also been applied. In a rhetoric device, the author puts a lot of emphasis on a point that a leader is intended to grasp, while the progression device creates a story by developing events from the background to the climax of the story. All these are meant to helps readers to understand the context clearly. The paradox technique has been applied where two contradictory statements are used for instance, when Jesus stated that whoever wants to save their life must lose it. These and many other techniques have been applied to help understand and categorize bible literature as well as making the bile interesting to read. In the interpretation of bible narratives, it is important to be cautious by ensuring that an alert and careful reading of the text is done to avoid misinterpretation. A reader is supposed to visualize the whole story, and look for the literal meaning of words in order to attain the correct meaning. 1, b. Genesis chapter 17 talks about the appearance of God to Abraham when he was 99 years old. It was at this time when God renewed his covenant with Abraham and made renewed his promises to him including the promise of a son and that Abraham would become a father of a great nation. God also that, Abraham and all his descendants must be circumcised. From a theological perspective, (2006) stated that, the appearance of God this time was in the person of Christ Jesus. Where God told Abraham that he was â€Å"the Almighty,† this was meant to portray the real character and nature of God, by the use of the name Elshadai. Various scholars have however given different meanings to the name Shadily including an all-sufficient God, abundantly, one who pours out blessings, one who is rich among other meanings. By God asking that Abraham appear before him blameless, it shows how God would want the people to appear before him wholly and with total commitment. God appeared to reaffirm the covenant he had made with Abraham close to 25 years ago, and proved that he was faithful to whatever promises he makes to the human nature. God made a change of names for both Abraham and Sara as a way of encouraging their faith and to show that he would indeed make a father and a mother of a great nation. Abraham was in turn supposed to get circumcised and to circumcise all his descendants, this portrays the need for Christians to make sacrifices and to keep holy if they are to realize the promises of God. 1, c. Theologians have argued that, just like other historical books, the book of Acts is predominantly descriptive other than normative. The argument is that most of the events that have been explained in the book of Acts may not necessarily take place today and that some of the things which happened to people during the time of writing the book of Act, may not happen today. Acts 5 explains the story of Sapphira and Ananias and how they were struck down to death because of lying to God, this however does not mean that if Christian lie to God today the same punishment will be applicable to them. If Acts would be viewed as normative, does it mean that Christians should take the example of Acts 8: 16? which stated that leaders were then elected by way of ballots, the statement is therefore better viewed in the descriptive manner other than in the normative form. Acts 28: 36 talks about the early Pentecostals who were snake handlers, if Christians were to view this statement as normative, it would therefore mean that such snake handling actions are justified. Theologians have approached the book of Acts from the literal meaning, they have interpreted word to word, and passage to passage, and have then applied the teachings to the modern time in order to determine whether the book should be viewed as normative or descriptive. The literal approach is good as it helps leaders to first understand the meaning of a passage in the scripture and then look at the applicability of the context in the present time. 2, a. Theologians have stated that, the gospels are to be accepted as the reliable historical source that explains about the birth and life of Jesus Christ. The gospels consist of four books in the new testament which are Luke, Matthew, John and Mark. The gospels are also referred to as the good news books, they talk about the birth and life of Jesus. The scholars of the new testament have agreed that, the gospels cannot be said to be biographies, because they are not presented in a way that a biography is set in the modern time, theologians have also stated that, the gospels only focus a little on any issues that are of significance to the theological studies. It is therefore proper to take the gospels as history. 2, b. Parables are interpreted as the allegories. Theologians have stated that, there is need to search into the hidden meaning that is to be found behind the words in a certain parable, so that a person may be able to get the right meaning of the passage and the intended teaching of the parable. This technique of interpretation has been referred to as the hardening theory. The first principle in the interpretation of parables states that, the parables should be looked at by the setting of the good example shown from Jesus life. This sets the point of view from which parables should be approached. Another principle states that, parables should be approached from the scenery point of view, where the interpretation should not be done on word to word or from line to line, but rather by looking at the whole story after which a reader can then be in a position to derive the hidden meaning. 2, c. Luke 16: 19-31 is a bible parable which tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man lived in luxury while on earth while at the same time Lazarus lived in poverty and much suffering. When the two died Lazarus went to heaven where he rested in the chest of Abraham, while the rich man was tormented in hell. The rich man cried for help but could not be assisted because his time of repentance had gone. This parable explains what happened during that time, and closely relates the story to the events in the present day. In the interpretation of the parable, the rich Christians are supposed to take care of their poor brothers. When the rich man requested that Lazarus be sent on earth to warn his brothers, Abraham stated that, those who could not listen to Moses and Isaac would never listen to Lazarus if he was to come today to give a warning. This relates to the Christians who hear the word of God but do not pay any keen attention to it. The parable has therefore set the biblical teaching on the way of life which should be adopted by Christians. 3, a. The bible scholars have argued that, the moral standards of God did not change even after he gave the law to Moses. The Mosaic law is clearly studied as it states the laws that were given to the Israelites and the standards which God set for the Israelites to observe. The Mosaic law was delivered to the Israelites through Moses. The new covenant that was given to Abraham did not negate the moral standards that had been set earlier in the Mosaic law (Galatians 3:18-21). The only difference is that, in the mosaic covenant, the faithfulness of both parties was required where man was to be faithful to God and would in turn receive receive the promises of God, this is called a bilateral covenant, the Abraham covenant has only God who has promised to be faithful in fulfilling his promises, and is therefore called a unilateral covenant. The new covenant had Paul, James and Jesus emphasizing that Christians should keep and observe the whole law. Christians have therefore been urged to observe the Abraham law that has similar moral standards set by God in the Mosaic law. 3, b. Exodus 22:18, expresses how a witch and a sorcerer is viewed in the kingdom of God. The witch and the sorcerers may be representing all the evil people in the community who are not valued in the eye of God and in the Christian community, as their ambition is to confuse the faithful and to cause problems in the society. The meaning of exodus is not that the faithful should kill the witch and the sorcerer, but rather, they should pray for them and help them to repent and change their ways. 4, a. The epistles are the letters that were written to various individuals in the early church and their authorship is acknowledged to Paul. The epistles begin by mentioning the name Paul in their first wording. The epistles are to be read historically in that, they give a lot of descriptive details about the way the early church lived and how the church was conducted. On the bigger part, the epistles mostly have the theological studies, where the letters that were written to the various churches and to the various individuals addressed specific situations such as, a social wrong that needed people to correct or a poor interpretation of the scripture that needed to be corrected. The letters would also be written where there was a misunderstanding in the early church that needed to be resolved. The epistles contain a lot of theology that require proper interpretation, but at the same time of of the interpretations goes back to the historical settings in the church. 4,b. Collosians 1:13 can be interpretation from the historical sense in that, it takes about it talks a bout a historical past where human beings were living in the darkness, this period can be explained by looking at how it looked like, before human beings got to the grace period when Jesus Christ brought salvation. From the theological point, the verse calls for a lot of theological interpretation where the statement addresses the way in which Christians should live in the life of Christ Jesus. 4, c. Romans 14 together with 1 Corinthians 8, talks about the issue of Christian faith. Paul expressed to the Christians that, they had the liberty to eat anything including the food that was offered to the idols. In stating this, Paul explained that there was only one God and therefore, a Christian who examines their heart and felt it right to eat such food did not commit any sins. Drinking of wine is also not prohibited in the teaching of Paul and he even stated that a little wine for the stomach was good. Christians should always inquire into their conscience and mind to determine whether their faith allows them to do certain action. However, where an act done by a strong believer may ,mislead a weaker believer, it is good for the strong believer to avoid the action.

The Dutch Disease: Lessons from Norway

The Dutch Disease: Lessons from Norway Methodology This research has exploratory and its empirical object is the Dutch Disease healing process by other countries and through this information offer solutions for Nigeria. The methodology used is the case study and development analysis of the strategies used by other countries for the neutralization of the Dutch Disease. The study consists in a research approach method which is characterized by describing the case of an event and its implications. There are several types of case studies, but here is one exploratory case study in order to create a better conceptual definition and understanding of the cure of Dutch Disease. A literature search was performed from a review, using secondary data analysis. Studies on secondary sources involve bibliographic books and research already done on the subject under study. We selected some expert authors on the subject related to this step. We chose to work with significant authors on the subject for further study each of them. This analysis was organized into three chronological poles, as advocated by Bardin (2004): pre-analysis, material exploration and treatment of results, inference and interpretation. The first phase is characterized as the organizational phase and has three missions: the choice of documents to be submitted to analysis, the formulation of hypotheses and objectives and the development of indicators to substantiate the final interpretation. (Bardin, 2004 p.89). Finally, it was done the treatment and interpretation of the results obtained, in which the raw results are treated in order to be meaningful and valid. (Bardin, 2004, p.95). Thus found significant results that indicate how to neutralize the Dutch in Nigeria, as proposed for the work. Bardin (2004) points out, however, that the results obtained may have a different outcome to the goal initially presented, serving as a basis for further analysis arranged around new theoretical dimensions, or practiced thanks to different techniques. Finally, a conclusion is made about the Dutch Disease by the authors of this work, assessing all the information collected and selected. Norway Norway for decades was the poorest country of the Scandinavian region. However, in the recent economic history the country has been distinguished from the others presenting higher GDP growth compared to the rest of Europe and other developed countries such as United States, as presented in the graph below. This turn of events is conventionally attributed to Norway’s oil discovery in 1969 and subsequent extraction from 1971. In 2012, the petroleum sector represented more than 23 per cent of the country’s total value creation. The revenues from the petroleum sector constitute 30 percent of the state revenues. Today Norway is the 7th largest exporter of oil and the 3rd largest producer of gas in the world. With per capita GDP around $100,000, the Norwegian lifestyle has become such that the work week averages less than 33 hours, one of the lowest in the world, and while unemployment is low, there is large underemployment, made possible by benefits. GDP Growth Source: OECD (2015) However, it is insufficient in explaining the Norwegian economic growth pointing to oil revenues as it was previously explained in detail about the negative relationship between resource wealth and wealth caused by the economic illness of Dutch Disease. In fact, Norway have managed successfully its oil wealth and avoided falling into trap of natural curse. Larsen (2004) explains the change in the speed of growth in the decade after starting the exploration of oil was consistent with symptoms of Dutch Disease, however, continued growing over the two subsequent decades. This is an evidence of an escape from Resource Curse; thus, Norway did not experience retardation from mid-70s to mid-90s. Mehlum, Moene and Torvik (2006) pointed to Norway and other few countries as the only ones that were able to counteract the resource curse and the rent-seeking activities that are usually associated with it. Fosu (2012, pg. 45) argued that Norway escaped from Dutch Disease for several reasons: Norway has a history of natural resource management and integration with other industries through various linkages; The institutions already were developed to handle shocks to the economy such as large changes in terms of trades; The revenues from oil extraction were gradually separated from spending these rents by establishing a buffer fund that helped to stabilize the economy; According these rents from oil exportation became more significant, the buffer fund became larger and a new fiscal policy was implemented in 2001; This fund invested abroad and the returns are used to finance public expenditure with less deadweight loss. In 1996 the Norwegian government signed the Petroleum Act which constitutes the legal basis for the regulation of petroleum sector. In principle, it stated the rent from oil and gas belongs to the Norwegian people through their government. Gylfason (2001) describes that as the Norwegian government has high interest in controlling the oil sector, has decided to expropriate the oil and gas rent through taxes and fees. The State awards a small fee to domestic and foreign oil companies and receives roughly 40 percent of all produced through direct partnership with licensees, taxes and fees that corresponded to about 80 of the resource rent since 1980. Bresser-Pereira (2008) in its paper about a Ricardian approach of Dutch Disease describes that the severity of the natural curse varies according to the difference between the exchange rate equilibrium of the â€Å"market rate† and the â€Å"industrial rate†. The author points to the management of exchange rate through export tax on the commodities as the principal instrument for neutralization of Dutch Disease. Furthermore, the author argues that the resources from tax created to neutralize the natural curse should not be invested in the country but in international fund; therefore, the inflow of resources does not entail the revaluation of the local currency. Bresser-Pereira (2008) explains that Norway by imposing a tax on commodities adjusted the exchange rate equilibrium bringing it to the same level of tradable sector exchange rate equilibrium; thus, neutralizing the Dutch Disease. Moreover, the new â€Å"adjusted† exchange rate will be more beneficial than the previous one; thus, the country will have a structural current account surplus. Gylfason (2001) also describes the oil revenues are deposited in the Norwegian Petroleum Fund allowed to invest only in foreign securities for the benefit of the current and future Norwegians generations. Only the real rate return of these assets is transferred to the annual State budget, according to the fiscal guideline, the government deficit cannot exceed 4 percent of the assets. This is also important to shield the domestic economy from mismanagement, waste and overinvestment. Larsen (2004) defines this shield important because protects the economy from excessive demand and real appreciation when at full capacity, therefore, reduce loss of competitiveness. It is also beneficial when it is not at full capacity to allow some increases in aggregate demand. Fosu (2012) described the two functions of this fund. The first is to secure that oil windfall is not consumed, but converted into financial wealth. The second is to separate these revenues from the domestic spending that would not vary according to the oil price fluctuation (fiscal policy). The idea is to have a stable spending of the oil revenues without interfere in the industry sector structure. Additionally, it helps to shield the non-oil economy from shocks in the oil sector, which can put pressure on the exchange rate. Brahmbhatt, Canuto, and Vostroknutova (2010) discuss solutions for solving the natural resource issue. They argue that fiscal policy is the most important instrument because can make the increase in wealth permanent as the same time as it can constrain the spending effect to reduce volatility. Spending policies toward tradable sector (including imports) and general policies toward improving productivity of private firms help to reduce the negative impacts. Additionally, the government can encourage demand for imports to reduce demand pressure on the non-tradable sector while mitigates pressure on exchange rate appreciation and other adverse effects of natural resource windfall. In the case of Norway we can see in graph below the country has stimulated improvements in the manufacturing sector that has increased its participation in the economy by 5% of GDP while the energy sector has fallen about 10 percent and non-tradable sector remained stable. We can infer that has an effort from the government to push the manufacturing sector through investment in education, business regulations, or reducing trade barriers and bureaucracy. Brahmbhatt et al. (2010) describes that these reforms have the aim of promoting foreign direct investment and create conditions for learning by doing. The exchange rate is impacted by the size of the non-oil budget deficit, or spending revenues as illustrated by Aamodt (2014). In short term oil and gas companies purchases NOK and the Norges Bank’s exchange transactions have influence on the krone exchange rate. Conversely, in long term is the size of non-oil deficit that affects the Norway’s exchange rate. The revenues from oil do not have an impact by the fact that all government revenues from oil are accrued directly in foreign currency. But the government appreciates NOK when sells foreign currency to buy NOK in an amount equivalent to the budget deficit. In other words the breakdown of the government’s net cash flow from oil sector into foreign exchange revenues resulting from oil and gas companies has no influence on the krone exchange rate. With the Petroleum Fund the government isolates the effects of oil shocks and the oil price fluctuations on Norwegian economy because the entry of money into the economy is controlled and planned according to the need of the country. The State can make long term plan regarded to its domestic spending and; consequently; maintain the krone exchange rate and inflation stable even when the oil demand decreases. Other factors were important to neutralize the resource curse in Norway as stated by Gylfason (2001). The author explains that Norway has a centralized wage formation system to limit general wage increases at the magnitude of productivity increases in manufacturing sector. This is possible because the trade unions are large coalitions of employers and employees that are able to consider aggregate interests instead of special ones. Additionally, both parts use a neutral agency to compute productivity increases in the manufacturing sector, institutionalize this information as ceilings of general wage increases. Therefore; the country’s centralized wage negotiation system contributes to prevent fast appreciation of salaries in different sectors. Larsen (2004) argues that income coordination is important as the public sector limited wage increases to the productivity growth in the internationally competing industrial sector. In other words, this income coordination neutralized the impact of externality in the manufacturing sector avoiding high inequalities between tradable sector and resource sector. This is an important factor for the neutralization of Dutch Disease as reduces the labor shift between the two sectors. The graph below shows the wage evolution in Norway since 2002 in which we can see that gap between oil sector and the others never exceeded 2 per cent in this period. Institutional quality is considered by Mehlum et al. (2006) as an important element to reduce the effects of Dutch Disease as natural resource abundance stimulates the shift from production rent-seeking to the activities related to resource extraction. The authors associate the lack of natural curse with the existence of efficient, bureaucratic and transparent government. They presented a model in which shows the negative effect of resource abundance on growth vanishes in countries with high institutional quality like Norway. The quality of institutions is also related to the corruption perception index as a measure of rent-seeking. Gylfason (2001) found a relation between natural resources wealth and increase in corruption and; consequently; decrease the per capita growth. In Norway’s case, the author showed that since oil was discovered, the corruption has declined and country’s GDP growth was stable during the last three decades. The graphs below shows Norway keeps a high level of freedom of corruption placed between 10 less corrupted countries of the world while economic growth spurted since the oil descovery, especially after 2000. Finally, the public expenditure on education in Norway did not decrease after oil descovery. According to OECD, Norway has an incredible 100% literacy rate and is third country which invests more in education, what proves the government decisions are not oriented to favor natural resource extraction instead of other tradable goods production. Gylfason (2000, p. 4) in its studies about the correlation between natural resources, education and economic development showed that countries with natural resources wealth invest less in education and; consequently; has a poor economic performance. Nevertheless, the author mentions that Norway is one of the few exceptions: â€Å"The Norwegians show no signs of neglecting education, on the contrary, as the proportion of each cohort attending colleges and universities in Norway rose from 26 percent in 1980 to 62% in 1997†.

Disneyland Essay examples -- Disney Amusement Parks essays research pa

Disneyland   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The greatest place on the face of the earth is Disneyland. Nowhere else has the magic that a day at Disneyland possesses. From my childhood to my adulthood, I have never experienced a day at Disneyland that didn't put enough joy in my heart to far exceed the admission price. Rides, shops, shows, and characters. These are just a few of the many great aspects of a wonderful place called Disneyland.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Disneyland has always been a very special place to me. My parents took my family there for the first time when I was about three. To this day I still remember shaking Mickey Mouse's hand, giving Goofy a hug, and meeting all of the rest of my favorite Disney characters. It was a truly euphoric experience to meet stars of all my favorite cartoons that I so loyall...

Surrogacy is Morally Wrong Essay -- Surrogacy Is Immoral

In this paper, I argue that if the debate about the morality of surrogacy is couched in terms of respect due to other human beings and the paramount importance of their intimate relationships with one another, then it may be shown that most ordinary instances of surrogacy are morally wrong. Human flourishing cannot be separated from one’s relationships with others and any circumstance which is destructive of such relationships must be considered immoral. The surrogate, unless she is treated as an object or merely as a means to an end, is intimately involved in the relationships between the child and its putative parents and important relationships become ambiguous and so harmed. Furthermore, if this view if rejected, then the feminist argument that surrogacy always involves the exploitation of the surrogate renders it immoral. The debate about surrogacy revolves around the following issues: (a) whether it is in the interests of the child involved or in the interests of society; or (b) whether it is exploitative of the birth mother or in the interests of women, as a whole. In considering the issues under (a) it is often argued that children are at risk of harm from having socially constructed family relationships rather than natural ones. Many commentators have likened the experience of children and birth mothers in surrogacy arrangements to children and relinquishing mothers in adoption, and point to the potential psychological and social harm that may result. (1) One argument against surrogacy therefore revolves around the relationships which are involved. Although talk of interests seems to couch the debate in utilitarian terms (2) it is not the only way in which the arguments about surrogacy may be seen. Another way of seei... ...s the potential for depersonalisation strong, quoting the case of a woman who said of her sister (in an a case of altruistic surrogacy), "We are just using Jacki as a suitcase really, an incubator to carry it. At the end of the day it’s our child". Rowland, R. Op. Cit., 164 (17) Ibid., 164-166 (18) Szikla, C. "Surrogacy, Why Women Lose",http://www.readings.com.au:8080/~wise/RT2.htm, 3-6 (19) Another solution is to say that this dichotomy does not hold and that there is nothing wrong with a mà ©nage à   trois (or à   quatre, if both sperm and ovum are donated). This solution, however, changes our conceptions of marriage and radically alters the context in which the problem is being discussed in this paper. (20) See Mitchell, J.D. "In Vitro fertilisation: The Major Issues - A Comment", Journal of Medical Ethics, Vol. 9, 1983, 196-199, who makes a similar point.

Critical Infrastructure Protection Essay

The mission of the Department of Homeland Security is stop acts of terrorist within the United States, not have the United States be vulnerable to terrorist attacks, and reduce the damage to the United States if there would be a terrorist attack. Since this department inception in 2003, the Department of Homeland Security has a component in place to support its mission and has been a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community. In July of 2005, the DHS was reorganized and called the Second Stage Review or â€Å"2SR†. The former Secretary of DHS, Michael Chertoff, began a strengthened office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) and made the Assistant Secretary for Information Analysis the Chief Executive Officer for that department. He also tasked I&A with ensuring that intelligence is coordinated, fused, and analyzed within the Department to provide a common operational picture; provide a primary connection between DHS and the IC as a whole; and to act as a primary source of infor mation for state, local and private sector partners. The Homeland Security Act of 2002, assigned the original DHS intelligence component—the Directorate of Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection—with responsibility to receive, analyze, and integrate law enforcement and intelligence information in order to— â€Å"(A) identify and assess the nature and scope of terrorist threats to the homeland; (B) detect and identify threats of terrorism against the United States; and (C) understand such threats in light of actual and potential vulnerabilities of the homeland.† Congress also made information sharing a top priority of the new DHS intelligence organization, requiring it â€Å"to disseminate, as appropriate, information analyzed by the Department within the Department, to other agencies of the Federal government with responsibilities related to homeland security, and to agencies of State and local government and private sector entities, with such responsibilities in  order to assist in the deterr ence, prevention, preemption of, or response to, terrorist attacks against the United States (Randol, 2010)†. A critical infrastructure is defined as any facility, system, or function which provides the foundation for national security, governance, economic vitality, reputation, and way of life. In short, critical infrastructure is by definition essential for the survival of the nation. The US Patriot Act defines it as â€Å"systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matters.† FEMA defines critical infrastructure as â€Å"personnel, physical assets, and communication (cyber) systems that must be intact and operational 24x7x365 in order to ensure survivability, continuity of operations, and mission success, or in other words, the essential people, equipment, and systems needed to deter or mitigate the catastrophic results of disasters.† Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) consists of all proactive activities to protect indispensable people, physical assets, and systems (especially communications or cyber systems) which are guided by a systematic and reliable decision making process which assists leaders to determine exactly what needs protection, where, and how. It is proactive in the same sense that mitigation in emergency management is proactive and goes beyond normal security, defensive postures. The basic steps of CIP consist of: identifying the critical infrastructures, determining the threats against those infrastructures, analyzing the vulnerabilities of threatened infrastructures, assessing the risks of degradation or loss of a critical infrastructure, and applying countermeasures where risk is unacceptable (â€Å"The Safety†, 2014). Within the Department of Defense, a streamlined command and control structure and growth of the cyber force in size and skills, including offensive capabilities, are required to effectively operate as well as to provide some deterrent to attack. Meanwhile, legal code for cybersecurity has not kept pace with technological developments. Comprehensive cybersecurity legislation is required—beginning with mandatory participation of critical infrastructure owners and operators in federal information-sharing programs in a way that incorporates appropriate safeguards for industry liability and citizen privacy—in order to completely  bridge the current public-private division of responsibilities for collective defense. Cybersecurity has grown to be a key issue for the administration and indeed for the nation in the last several years even though concern for the integrity of Critical Infrastructure (CI) functions was evident in the 1990s. For CI, which includes a range of sensitive data and performs valuable functions that support the health, safety, and economic vitality of our modern nation, the growth of networked connections in cyberspace has meant the introduction of new threat vectors to systems that were not des igned to securely connect to today’s Internet. Because improving the cybersecurity of CI encompasses such a large body of work, widely distributed across government and private sector entities, unity of effort is difficult to achieve. President Obama admits that â€Å"when it comes to cybersecurity, federal agencies have overlapping missions and don’t coordinate and communicate nearly as well as they should – with each other or with the private sector (La Bash and Landis, 2013)† The vulnerabilities that should concern IS professionals who protect the U.S.’s critical infrastructure is not having a system that would advise them of current, present, and future vulnerabilities. A system of this would be able to advise you of early indicators of vulnerability In order to accomplish this task, a survey of all operations should be undertaken. The survey should include: General Administrative Information, Management Awareness and Control Programs, Identification of Hazards/Potential rises; and Business Characterization. The ultimate benefits to be gained from this type of survey are in terms of identifying areas in need of attention, establishing a list of potential crisis situations, determining what commitments your organization is comfortable with and documenting current efforts. Once the survey program has been developed and implemented, it must be evaluated and kept up-to-date. This can be accomplished by reviewing actual responses and by conducting a detailed audit of each element of the business. The survey program is the initial step, toward reducing vulnerability. Next, you must organize the operation. The management chain is critical to this process. You must ensure that all levels of management become part of the program. (Sikich, 1998). Make a senior manager directly responsible to top management and the board of directors. The formal assignment of a senior manager to the position of â€Å"Crisis Management Programs, Director,† or some other appropriate title, can accomplish the initial portion of this item. Set aside specific time for reports on crisis management preparedness issues. This can be accomplished by preparing an agenda for senior staff and board of director meetings that includes a discussion of crisis management preparedness as a mandatory item. You have to give it more than lip service though. Also, you must make the discussion substantive. Provide more than the dull and tiring statistics on reportable accidents, etc. Communicate compliance through all levels of the organization through company policy and procedures. This can be accomplished through formal adoption of policy at the highest levels of the company. The Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, was introduced last June by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and revised in December by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. It calls for the formation of a National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications (NCCC) within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that would be responsible for protecting both federal computer networks and critical infrastructure owned by the private sector against cyber attacks. Although the White House already has broad wartime powers, making aspects of the proposed act redundant, opposition to the bill has centered on its provision to give the federal government the authority to define what is meant by â€Å"critical infrastructure.† According to the bill the government can â€Å"take measures to protect any computer system whose destruction or disruption of reliable operation would cause national or regional catastrophic effects.† This could include cutting off the system from the Internet. Owners of facilities labeled as critical infrastructure would be notified as soon as this designation is made. An owner could appeal this designation but, as the bill is currently written, the government would make the final decision to disconnect, which is not subject to judicial review (Greenemeier, 2011). References Greenemeier, L. (2011). What is the Best Way to Protect U.S. Critical Infrastructure from a Cyber Attack? Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com La Bash, M. and Landis, C. (2013, August). Legal, Policy, and Organizational Impedients to the Protection of Critical Infrastructure from Cyber Threats. Retrieved from http://www.cmu.edu/mits/files/mits2-paths.com Randol, M. (2010, March). The Department of Homeland Security Intelligence Enterprise: Oper- Rational Overview and Oversight Challenges for Congress. Retrieved from http://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R40602.pdf Sikich, G. (1998). Critical InfrastructureVulnerability. Retrieved from http://www.disaster-resource.com The Safety and Security of Critical Infrastructure. (2014, January). Retrieved from http://www.drtomoconnor.com/3430/3430lecto1a.htm