Innovation And Managing Innovation

Innovation And Managing Innovation There are different types of innovation. Joseph Tidd and John Bessant describe in their books four broad categories of innovation. (Tidd Bessant, 2009) Following these categories are referred as the 4Ps of innovation: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ product innovation changes in the things (products/services) which an organization offers à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ process innovation changes in the ways in which they are created and delivered à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ position innovation changes in the context in which the products/services are introduced à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ paradigm innovation changes in the underlying mental models which frame what the organization does For example, the new version of a car, a new bank account offer and a new home personnel computer are all examples of a product innovation. In comparison to a product innovation a change in the production process and machines used to manufacture the car or the home computer these examples are process innovations. Similar the example of the new bank account offer if this came up by changing procedures and sequencing in the bank office. Characteristic for services is the merge of a process and product innovation. For example a new weekend trip package could be combination of both types of innovations. The third type is the position innovation. In this context an innovation changes the perception of the customer through repositioning of the established product or process. For example, to use shower gel also to wash and clean clothes is a good example of a position innovation. Sometimes innovation opportunities emerge when people start to think outside the box. A very good example of a paradigm innovation is Henry Ford. He fundamentally changed the way of transportation people. He archived this neither by inventing the motor car (Invention of the motor car was 1999) nor because he changed the way of manufacture and produce an automobile (also the inventor of the conveyer production). His idea was to change the underlying model for the automobile production in this time. He changed the perspective of producing automobiles from handmade specialist product to a few wealthy customers to a mass product with a price a normal household could afford. The ensuing shift from craft to mass production was nothing short of a revolution in the way cars (and later countless other products and services) were created and delivered. This example shows that a paradigm innovation also requires intensive product and process innovation for example, in component design, in mach inery building, in the layout of the factory and in the social system around which work was organized. (Edelhoff, 2009) Not only Henry Ford changed an industry. In the last decades the shift to low-cost airlines and the increasing numbers of goods sold in the internet are recent examples of paradigm innovation changes in mental models. From Incremental to Radical Innovation Every Innovation is new, but the question is how new. So we can divide innovations between incremental and radical. (doing the same, better à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..) For example, a new version of a car model is incremental while coming up with a completely new electric driven concept car which is made out of new light weight carbon fibre is radical. Similarly, further development of the accuracy and speed of a saw mill is not the same as replacing it with a computer-controlled laser cutting process. This example shows there are degrees of new innovation, running from minor, incremental improvements to radical changes which changes the way things are done and we use them. These changes are often present to a particular industry, but sometimes they are so radical and extensive that they are able to change the core of society. The major steps in todays communication and information technology have affected almost every person on this planet and will continue to gain importance. Figure : Dimension of innovation from incremental to radical from component- to system level Mapping Innovation Space In the figure below each of the 4Ps of innovation can take place along an axis. Hence the blue circle indicates the potential innovation space within a business can operate, the innovation is able to run from incremental to radical change. Whether the innovation utilizes all the space is a question of the innovation strategy. The way day-to-day change is approached within an organization differs from the approach how to handle a radical step change in products or processes. Here it is essential to keep in mind that the perceived stage of novelty is the important part and that this novelty is in the perspective of the observer. For example, in a giant, technologically advanced organization like Volkswagen or Siemens the tracking of goods from suppliers by RFID and GPS is used and implemented in day to day business while such an expensive process might be totally new and innovative for a small car dealership or food processor. (Kern, 2006) Figure : Innovation space Sustaining or Disruptive Quite a lot of innovations involve a discontinuous shift but very few bring something completely new which changes a market conditions dramatically. Most of them usually are incremental. In recent time lean thinking came up in the production and service sector, which underlines the huge possibilities of continue improvements within a firm. (Kohlstedde, 2007) However this continues improvement idea is hampered through the new approach of the platform concept or robust design. This idea bases on the development of a future general design which will dominate the market as well as used by the competitor. A good example for such a robust design is the Walkman originally developed by Sony. This first design of a portable cassette and radio player system dominated the market for the whole product lifetime of cassettes. Also car makers tend to change their development process from each single model to a platform strategy. (Wallentowitz, Freialdenhove, Olschewski, 2009) The Volkswagen AG int roduced platforms which are used for different brands of the company group. This not only saves costs but also helps them to dominate the market with faster model updates and exchanges. The platform and robust design strategy of firms is a powerful way of recover the high initial investments such as Research and Development as well as market analysis. The Challenge of Discontinues improvement The common innovation process happens in a set frame, following certain rules and ways of thinking. This game played by competitors is to innovate by doing what has been done before like product- or process innovations or even position- and paradigm innovations, but doing it better. In this competition of playing the same game some firms manage to do better than others and can gain a competitive advantage through these innovations, but the set of the game is accepted and do not change. Very rare something happens that breaks up this framework and changes how the game is played. This will not happen every day but when this arises the rules and boundaries of a market change rapidly. This will result in upcoming new opportunities and challenge the existing players in their way of working, thinking and doing business. A discontinues improvement occurs out of a technological and conditions stable market, where is a long period of continuous improvements and variations around a basic product or service. The strategy, before the discontinues improvement was, doing what we do, but better. When such an innovation happens one or more of the basic conditions like technology, markets, social, regulatory etc. change rapidly. Now the time of doing different begins and the rules of the game change so the opportunity space for new innovations appears. Such a rapid technology change is happening right now with the development of LEDs in the light market. From the invention of the originally light bulb in the late nineteenth century by Edison and Swan the light market gets more and more restricted by the government. Furthermore the development of the LED light was a major step for the whole market and will influence our daily life in the future. With this upcoming technology new enterprises emerge in the market as well as the inventor Shuji Nakamura with the company Nichia Corporation. This discontinues improvement faces the market dominating companies very hard. Either they adapt to the new light technology or they will lose market share very rapidly. In the process the underlying rules of the game change and a new opportunity space for innovation opens up. Do different conditions of this kind occur, for example, when radical change takes place along the technological frontier or when completely new markets emerge. An emerging example of this could be the replacement of the incandescent light bulb originally developed in the late nineteenth century by Edison and Swan (amongst others). This may be replaced by the solid state white light emitting diode technology patented by Nichia Chemical. This technology is 85% more energy efficient, has 16 times the life of a conventional bulb, is brighter, is more flexible in application and is likely to be subject to the scale economies associated with electronic component production. In their pioneering work on this theme Abernathy and Utterback developed a model describing the pattern in terms of three distinct phases. Initially, under discontinuous conditions, there is what they term a fluid phase during which there is high uncertainty along two dimensions: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The target what will the new configuration be and who will want it? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The technical how will we harness new technological knowledge to create and deliver this? No one knows what the right configuration of technological means and market needs will be and so there is extensive experimentation (accompanied by many failures) and fast learning by a range of players including many new entrepreneurial businesses. Gradually these experiments begin to converge around what they call a dominant design something which begins to set up the rules of the game. This represents a convergence around the most popular (importantly not necessarily the most technologically sophisticated or elegant) solution to the emerging configuration. At this point a bandwagon begins to roll and innovation options become increasingly channeled around a core set of possibilities what Dosi calls a technological trajectory.38 It becomes increasingly difficult to explore outside this space because entrepreneurial interest and the resources which that brings increasingly focus on possibilities within the dominant design corridor. This can apply to products or processes; in both cases the key characteristics become stabilized and experimentation moves to getting the bugs out and refining the dominant design. For example, the nineteenth-century chemical industry moved from making soda ash (an essential ingredient in making soap, glass and a host of other products) from the earliest days where it was produced by burning vegetable matter through to a sophisticated chemical reaction which was carried out on a batch process (the Leblanc process) which was one of the drivers of the Industrial Revolution. This process dominated for nearly a century but was in turn replaced by a new generation of continuous processes which used electrolytic techniques and which originated in Belgium where they were developed by the Solvay brothers. Moving to the Leblanc process or the Solvay process did not happen overnight; it took decades of work to refine and improve each process, and to fully understand the chemistry and engineering required to get consistent high quality and output. The same pattern can be seen in products. For example, the original design for a camera is something which goes back to the early nineteenth century and as a visit to any science museum will show involved all sorts of ingenious solutions. The dominant design gradually emerged with an architecture which we would recognize shutter and lens arrangement, focusing principles, back plate for film or plates, etc. But this design was then modified still further for example, with different lenses, motorized drives, flash technology and, in the case of George Eastmans work, to creating a simple and relatively idiot-proof model camera (the Box Brownie) which opened up photography to a mass market. More recent development has seen a similar fluid phase around digital imaging devices. The period in which the dominant design emerges and emphasis shifts to imitation and development around it is termed the transitional phase in the Abernathy and Utterback model. Activities move from radical concept development to more focused efforts geared around product differentiation and to delivering it reliably, cheaply, with higher quality, extended functionality, etc. As the concept matures still further so incremental innovation becomes more significant and emphasis shifts to factors like cost which means efforts within the industries which grow up around these product areas tend to focus increasingly on rationalization, on scale economies and on process innovation to drive out cost and improve productivity. Product innovation is increasingly about differentiation through customization to meet the particular needs of specific users. Abernathy and Utterback term this the specific phase.* Finally the stage is set for change the scope for innovation becomes smaller and smaller whilst outside for example, in the laboratories and imaginations of research scientists new possibilities are emerging. Eventually a new technology emerges which has the potential to challenge all the by now well-established rules and the game is disrupted. In the camera case, for example, this is happening with the advent of digital photography which is having an impact on cameras and the overall service package around how we get, keep and share our photographs. In our chemical case this is happening with biotechnology and the emergence of the possibility of no longer needing giant chemical plants but instead moving to small-scale operations using live organisms genetically engineered to produce what we need. Table 1.2 sets out the main elements of this model. Although originally developed for manufactured products the model also works for services for example the early days of Internet banking were characterized by a typically fluid phase with many options and models being offered. This gradually moved to a transitional phase, build- ing a dominant design consensus on the package of services offered, the levels and nature of security and privacy support, the interactivity of website, etc. The field has now become mature with much of the competition shifting to marginal issues like relative interest rates. The pattern can be seen in many studies and its implications for innovation management are important. In particular it helps us understand why established organizations often find it hard to deal with discontinuous change. Organizations build capabilities around a particular trajectory and those who may be strong in the later (specific) phase of an established trajectory often find it hard to move into the new one. (The example of the firms which successfully exploited the transistor in the early 1950s is a good case in point many were new ventures, sometimes started by enthusiasts in their garage, yet they rose to challenge major players in the electronics industry like Raytheon.39) This is partly a consequence of sunk costs and commitments to existing technologies and markets and partly because of psychological and institutional barriers. 40 They may respond but in slow fashion and they may make the mistake of giving responsibility for the new development to those whose current activities would be threatened by a shift.41 Importantly, the fluid or ferment phase is characterized by co-existence of old and new technologies and by rapid improvements of both.41,42 (It is here that the so-called TABLE sailing ship effect can often be observed, in which a mature technology accelerates in its rate of improvement as a response to a competing new alternative as was the case with the development of sailing ships in competition with newly emerging steamship technology.43,44 Whilst some research suggests existing incumbents do badly, we need to be careful here. Not all existing players do badly many of them are able to build on the new trajectory and deploy/leverage their accumulated knowledge, networks, skills and financial assets to enhance their competence through building on the new opportunity. 42à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   Equally whilst it is true that new entrants often small entrepreneurial firms play a strong role in this early phase we should not forget that we see only the successful players. We need to remember that there is a strong ecological pressure on new entrants which means only the fittest or luckiest survive. It is more helpful to suggest that there is something about the ways in which innovation is managed under these conditions which poses problems. Good practice of the steady-state kind described above is helpful in the mature phase but can actively militate against the entry and success in the fluid phase of a new technology.46 How do enterprises pick up signals about changes if they take place in areas where they dont normally do research? How do they understand the needs of a market which doesnt exist yet but which will shape the eventual package which becomes the dominant design? If they talk to their existing customers the likelihood is that those customers will tend to ask for more of the same, so which new users should they talk to and how do they find them? The challenge seems to be to develop ways of managing innovation not only under steady-state but also under the highly uncertain, rapidly evolving and changing conditions which result from a dislocation or discontinuity. The kinds of organizational behaviour needed here will include things like agility, flexibility, the ability to learn fast, the lack of preconceptions about the ways in which things might evolve, etc. and these are often associated with new small firms. There are ways in which large and established players can also exhibit this kind of behaviour but it does often conflict with their normal ways of thinking and working. Extensive studies have shown the power of shifting technological boundaries in creating and transforming industry structures for example, in the case of the typewriter, the computer and the automobile. Such transformations happen relatively often no industry is immune (see Box 1.3 for an example). Worryingly the source of the technology which destabilizes an industry often comes from outside that industry. So even those large incumbent firms which take time and resources to carry out research to try and stay abreast of developments in their field may find that they are wrong-footed by the entry of something which has been developed in a different field. The massive changes in insurance and financial services which have characterized the shift to online and telephone provision were largely developed by IT professionals often working outside the original industry.6 In extreme cases we find what is often termed the not invented here NIH effect, where a firm finds out about a technology but decides against following it up because it does not fit with their perception of the industry or the likely rate and direction of its technological development. Famous examples of this include Kodaks rejection of the Polaroid process or Western Unions dismissal of Bells telephone invention. In a famous memo dated 1876 the board commented, this telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.

Country Music Essay

Country music is one form of music that has both an extensive history and also has a prominent place in the public consciousness right now. It is one of the most interesting types of music because of the fact that many people completely misunderstand where it came from and its roots. Though much of the history country music can be traced to many southern venues, it has since grown to be a much more â€Å"national† type of phenomenon, with influence stretching from Bakersfield, California to the Atlantic coast of the United States. Performers now come from all over the world to take part in the country music phenomenon and in recent years the, country music has gained a much more mainstream following than it had in the past. By both celebrating its roots and being willing to branch out to reach new listeners, country music as a whole has positioned itself for much greater success in the future, as well. In order to truly understand the origins of country music, one has to look as far back as the turn of the twentieth century. Though country did not truly get its start until later, the groundwork for the industry was being laid by musicians who probably did not even know what country music was. Old jazz musicians and church gospel singers provided the original motivation for what would become the country music movement. Singers would later draw influences from those old styles in order to develop the characteristic country sound that is so popular and prevalent in today’s music world. Country officially got its start in 1921 in Bristol, Tennessee. Before that time, people had been singing songs in order to pass down stories and to fill the idle time, but there had never been an organized country music industry. According to Roughstock’s History of Country Music, â€Å"Although musicians had been recording fiddle tunes (known as Old Time Music at that time) in the southern Appalachians for several years, It wasn’t until August 1, 1927 in Bristol, Tennessee, that Country Music really began. There, on that day, Ralph Peer signed Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family to recording contracts for Victor Records† (Roughstock). Those two popular acts laid the framework for country to come, and they are both remembered for their innovation and their ability to connect with singers of that time. Over the course of time, country music has seen many different movements that have all helped to shape the sound that is prevalent today. The Bluegrass movement, headed up by the famous Bill Monroe of Kentucky was a type of music where people relied heavily on the banjo, the acoustic guitar, and the mandolin. Before Monroe starting experimenting with these instruments, people had never thought to use the guitar as a lead instrument before. This Bluegrass sound would prove to be a characterizing sound and it has influenced many of today’s most popular singers, including women like Allison Krause. According to Jeri Rowe of The News and Record, the Bill Monroe movement is something that almost all of the famous musicians have felt over the course of time. According to Rowe, â€Å"Ask anyone familiar with bluegrass music and they’ll probably have a Bill Monroe moment† (Rowe, 1996). Other movements have become popular in country music, including the innovations that came along with the Bakersfield sound. Though country music had long had its roots in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, young people out in California changed the way that people thought about the country music industry by expanding the sound to include something of an â€Å"Outlaw† movement (Encyclopedia of Country Music). Among those people who led this popular movement were Merle Haggard, who became a spokesperson for the common man during his time. His songs like â€Å"Long Haired Country Boy† and â€Å"Okie from Muskogee† made him famous. Another famed musician that was a part of the progressive country movement, as it came to be called, was Willie Nelson. Nelson is known as a popular singer and songwriter today and he has worked alongside dozens of extremely popular musicians during his career. He sang songs like â€Å"Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain† and â€Å"Mommas, Don’t Let your Babies Grow up to be Cowboys† that were able to really connect to fans on a very personal level. One of the unique things about the country music industry is that all of these different movements have helped to create the sound that characterizes country music today. Starting with the Outlaw movement, the Bluegrass movement, and things like the Nashville sound, people have begun to combine all of these different elements to create a very real sound of today. The Nashville sound is something that came about, as one might guess, in the heart of country music located in Nashville. This came about when Roy Acuff made the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville a popular thing. It started out as just one of the many barn shows that played country music across the powerful radio airwaves. Over time, the Grand Ole Opry became much more than that. It came to characterize the Nashville sound, which was a new sound that included things like the old steel guitar and drums in the background. The Nashville sound changed the way people felt about country music, as musicians like Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs brought their unique methods to Nashville and gained popularity. All in all, the Nashville sound represented a brand new vision for country music, where people could experiment with different things on the highest level at the Grand Ole Opry. The Opry gave legitimacy to these acts and people began to quickly respond to the new techniques and new sounds that they were hearing up on the stage (Hemphill). Today, the country music world has moved even more into the mainstream than it was in the past. It is safe to say that widespread radio is what helped country music take off and now people are enjoying it in different ways. When things like TNN and CMT came about, country music was put on television for the world to see. Though this made some people in the country music world mad because the networks opted for the new styles and neglected some of the older heroes of country music, it helped the industry at large. People could not watch country music as much as they wanted and they could begin to put faces with the voices that they had heard on the radio. The innovation of music on television really helped the country music industry as much as it helped all of the other music industries. More records are sold today than ever before, as people like George Strait have sold hundreds of millions of records. Strait owns the record for most number one hits for a singer, while the South Carolina-based group Alabama owns the record for most number one hits for a group. Other acts that have become popular today are people like Garth Brooks, who helped change the way country music was looked at in a sense of live performances. Brooks turned the country music world into something of a rock show and made the shows more appealing to younger people. In the past, country music had been looked at as something that was a little bit boring when seen in concert. People went to see country music shows because they liked the sound of the music, not because they wanted to be entertained. This all changed when Brooks came about in the late 1980s. He added things like lights and great technology to his shows. The sound was impressive and finally the country music world was able to compete with the rock world at least on some level. This was a very important change for country music and predictably, more and more artists starting picking up where Brooks left off. It is fair to say that the country music world has not been completely embraced by the media at large, but the media has at least picked up on the national importance of some of the acts. In the past, the country music world might have been pushed off to the side with the rock and roll world taking center stage a little bit more. People are now coming to realize that rock and country are much more inter-connected than they might have originally imagined and that country music deserves to be recognized for its huge following. With country music selling at high rates in record stores and television channels getting great ratings, there is no choice in the national media but to pick up on the new and changing times, even if they do not totally believe everything that is being said. There is some perception out there that country music is a music based in the south and for southern people, though evidence has been provided to the contrary. One media controversy worth remembering happened with the popular group The Dixie Chicks, who were ostracized by the media and the mainstream country music world for their comments about President George W. Bush. Their political talk earned them a place on the proverbial country music blacklist. A Gazette Newspaper article speaks to the fact that the controversy may have been overblown by some media outlets, as country music singers are certainly not the first musicians to speak out in a political way. In fact, music has always been an avenue for this type of free speech. That article says, â€Å"Even entertainers have a right to say whatever they want to about U. S. foreign policy and politics – and in fact, many have been doing so for decades, getting rich and famous while thumbing their noses at the nation that makes them so† (Gazette). One of the concerns of many country musicians today is that the media is willing to give time to the current stars, but no one will recognize the people who laid the framework for the country music movement. One People Magazine article quotes popular country music star Alan Jackson talking about living legend George Jones and how no one is willing to recognize him. The article writes, â€Å"Jackson spokeswoman Kay West said Alan was inspired by a visit to Jones earlier this year in the hospital after Jones was involved in a near-fatal car wreck. â€Å"Alan said that had George Jones died there, there would have been a 10-minute tribute to him on the show,† West said. â€Å"But he lived, and they wouldn’t give him three minutes† (People). All in all, country music seems to be growing at a faster rate than it ever has. Helped along by more coverage in the media and the fact that more and more types of musicians are currently getting involved in country music, the industry has taken off at a higher degree than most might have imagined in the past. Though the roots of country music are strong and many people seek to preserve and celebrate those roots, there is no denying that the industry in branching out in a desire to incorporate new fans and new acts alike going into the future. With that in mind, the future of the industry is strong and as stable as it can possibly be. Works Cited Hemphill, Paul. The Nashville Sound. 30 September 2005. Everthemore Press. Kingsbury, Paul. The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Oxford: 2004. People Magazine. Country Music Controversy. 2008. < http://www. people. com/people/article/0,,616549,00. html> Roughstock’s History of Country Music. The Beginnings. < http://www. roughstock. com/history/begin. html> Rowe, Jeri. The News and Record. 12 September 1996. BILL MONROE’S INFLUENCE FELT BY MUSICIANS IN THE TRIAD; AREA BLUEGRASS FANS REMEMBER BILL MONROE, THE â€Å"FATHER OF BLUEGRASS MUSIC. † The Gazette. 7 May 2003. Whistling Dixie Freedom of speech not at issue in country music controversy.

Scientific Method and Criminal Investigator

Methods Used as a Criminal Investigator Cynthia Scaff Kaplan University CJ210: Crime Scene Investigation Professor Post March 26th, 2013 Unit-5 Methods Used as a Criminal Investigator Throughout its history, criminal investigation has been built upon a methodological foundation that has become increasingly refined and reliant on science. Moreover, a good investigator often adopts a particular mindset when approaching criminal investigations. Among the most effective approaches to investigation involves the use of the scientific method, which is simply a time-tested means of gathering reliable facts.Gathering information is the key to all good investigations, and so understanding the three sources of information is of great concern to any investigator. All of these items add up to a well-rounded and thorough investigation, and thus they will all be addressed herein. First, an exposition on the methods of inquiry are in order. The two overarching methods of inquiry are 1) those that re construct and examine past events and 2) those that discover or generate new information (Osterburg & Ward, 2010). These two are actually interrelated, and there is a good deal of overlap between them.Any number of disciplines in both the hard and soft sciences can be employed in the service of an investigation, including those, which would not necessarily seem related to a police investigation, like entomology, meteorology, etc. Thus, understanding the behavior of insects that inhabit a body or the effects of weather on a body might provide crucial details about the precise date and time of a murder, for example. In fact, a wide array of disciplines is often applied to a complex investigation when used in conjunction, can provide a great deal of information about a case.As well as utilizing the methods of inquiry, the best criminal detectives also generally approach a case with a particular mindset. In essence, the investigative mindset is part schema (innate perspective based on a broad knowledge of the world) and part active thought process. What it amounts to is an open-mindedness and (preferably unbiased) skepticism that allows the investigator to remain open to anything unusual in a case or anything that leads to a better understanding of the facts and circumstances—evidence—related to or surrounding a case (Osterburg & Ward, 2010).The investigator with this mindset will therefore approach a case looking for evidence that seems contrary to how things should be according to his or her knowledge about the world and understanding of how things generally go under normal circumstances. She is also looking for information that fits what is already known about the case, but the investigator must be careful here not to come at it with preconceived notions about the guilt or innocence of anyone directly involved in or a tangential to the case.For the gathering of evidence, the best approach is usually the application of the scientific method, define d as such: â€Å"a method of investigation in which a problem is first identified and observations, experiments, or other relevant data are then used to construct or test hypotheses that purport to solve it (Scientific method, 2009). † The problem to be identified in this case is the investigator’s hypothesis about what took place at the crime scene and who was involved in it. Ergo, a good investigator moves from inductive reasoning—guesswork, hunches, suspicions, etc. toward deductive reasoning, which is the use of specific data applied to the situation to see if everything fits with what she believes to have happened. In Osterburg and Ward’s Criminal Investigation, the authors give an example in which a woman was murdered in her apartment in conjunction with a romantic dinner. Going on a hunch, the investigator suspects an ex-boyfriend to be the culprit. He then gathers data to see if his suspicions are reinforced by the facts available to him (Osterbur g & Ward, 2010).There are three sources of evidence that an investigator may draw from. The first of these is people. The relevant sources here are all of the people directly connected to a case (witnesses, suspects and of course surviving victims) and friends, relatives and various associates of suspects and victims (Osterburg & Ward, 2010). Although people can be open and helpful in a case, some of them may lie; distort facts or even refuse to cooperate altogether, creating a conflict for the investigator.Witnesses may also be confused about what they actually observed as memory is not always reliable and can even be biased by personal, professional or societal schemas. Learning how to get people to cooperate with police and sorting out lies, half-truths, mistakes or previously overlooked information is essential to criminal investigation. Ongoing surveillance of the people involved may also shed light on a case. The second source for investigators to consider is physical evidence .In police work, the two main disciplines employed in the examination of this data are forensic medicine and criminalistics. The condition, location and position of human remains; materials and fibers located at the crime scene; the trajectory of bullets and the type of bullets used; the pattern or spatter of blood; impressions made by fingerprints, shoes or tires; the presence of contraband (such as illegal drugs or drug paraphernalia or illegal weapons)—these are all types of physical evidence that might be used to reconstruct a crime or other past event (Osterburg & Ward, 2010).In considering this evidence, the investigator will ask herself questions related to the crime, such as: What is this item doing here? Why is the blood pattern directed this way? Does this evidence support or contradict my hypothesis about a suspect? And so on. Finally, records and documents are a prime source of evidence for most investigations. Although technically records are physical evidence, t hey are a special form of physical evidence, in that they are in widespread use and are used, stored and accessed both privately and professionally specifically for their informational value.It is no wonder then that they often contain or form important, highly specific evidence for an investigator. Documents such as a driver’s license, social security card or state ID card will help the police identify an unknown murder victim, for example. Criminal records of a murder victim may also provide clues about the nature of his murder, such as whether or not he was involved in the illegal drug trade, which may lead to a suspect. Phone records may even indicate that two people have been in contact when one or both have denied that they know each other (Osterburg & Ward, 2010).Records may be stored as a hard copy on paper, plastic or some other medium, or they may be stored digitally, as on a computer hard drive or CD. In the end, it is apparent that science and a scientific perspec tive are highly important to police investigations. The two methods of inquiry provide a basis for understand what happened and how it happened. Encountering an investigation with the proper mindset will offer a higher success rate. In addition, of course, the application of the scientific method is indispensable, as is understanding and exploiting the three sources of evidence.With a strong foundation in these principles, a criminal investigator is well on her way towards making headway in an investigation. References Osterburg,  J. W. , & Ward,  R. H. (2010). Criminal investigation: A method for reconstructing the past. Albany, NY: LexisNexis/Anderson Pub Scientific method. (2009). Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Retrieved March 29, 2013, from Dictionary. com website: http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/scientific method

Argumentative Essay about Why I Chose MBA

Attaining personal goal is one of the most exciting things that an individual can ever dream of. Imagine of owning a car a massionate, a big business, being wealthy and even having a beautiful wife or hand some partner. (Weaver, 1997) All these really make us have self satisfaction. The choice lies solely on ones perspective and interests. At times, achieving these goals relies on the decision that one makes. Taking the situation of the current technological arena, most people tend to relies on being self reliant and neglect further education. They venture into personal or family business. Some resort to utilize their talents such as sports, technical aspects such as computer wizardry of which gives them satisfaction. Why then did I decide to pursue a degree in MBA? In deed, various reasons clicked in my mind that made me in landing in this field. Firstly, MBA is an acronym of masters in Business Administration. It entails the managerial aspect and skills that are impacted on the learners on how to manage and control resources. Education is the pillar in the development of a given state. The knowledge when properly disseminated changes the perspective of viewing ideas and gives one a wider perspective in dealing with various situations. Having a dream of making a lot of money to take care of my family, I needed some stringent skills that would make me realize my dream. Jungian personality self assessment test has played a vital role in my career decision making. Having undergone the test, I discovered I am the type of person who is resorted as being social and stickler to rules outgoing, argumentative and, a natural leader. This made me realize I can fit in the social environment more sore where I would mingle with other staff and lead them. However some of Jungian principles differ with my opinion of which I could not manage. For instance my traits could fit in being a police officer which I could imagine of. My category ENTJ to some extent specifies what I should do to enhance good rapport with other workers. (Robbin P. 2009) Cooperate organization requires soft skills such as ability to learn different behaviors’ of employees. In my self evaluation, I realized I have developed leadership skills that my colleagues admired. Most of them tell me that, I posses the ability of being diligent, social person and, ability to organize small groups. These personalities required to be natured so that I could fully acquire them. (Weaver, 1997) Character behavioral formation is an aspect that is acquired through practice of some norms and application of knowledge. Though it is argued that some people naturally have traits such as organization skills, further education is required to enhance these skills. Consequently the contemporary society is virtually filled with business activities, such as financial institutions, on profit organizations, industries and government agencies. The current global scenario has exposed itself where, companies are collapsing due to mismanagement. In addition, workers are falling out because, they lack motivation from managers. This calls for urgent solution to be undertaken to avoid worsening the situation. (Brown, 2002)As an inspiring leader, I needed further level of education especially the one that highlights the stringent issues that we are currently facing. We need competent leaders that would manage resources wisely and ensure business sector flourish well. It is with no doubt that this encouraged me to pursue an MBA. At times many people take higher degree for the purpose of pride, peer pressure or as a requirement by the job description. It is not motivation that makes such individuals to pursue such courses, but the external demanding forces. This leads to the situations that we observe in our management boards today. Having a monologue with myself, I found out the intrinsic motivation that I had and, purpose is different from what the majority perceive. I realized that this could perhaps change the business arena. I strongly believe the passion that I have, and the enthusiasm to see better results and improvement in the people’s living standard would be of great importance to the society. Behavioral management has proved to be a challenging aspect in current business world. (Robbin P. 2009)This is exhibited especially in the cooperate world where most of the individuals who are capable of attaining their very best, but are only limited by motivational boundaries. Having realized this and the character that I have developed over the past years as an individual who is self motivated, I find this to be a chance to impact that knowledge to the cooperate world and improve the efficiency. (Brown, 2002)Fear to motivate the juniors by the managers is common because, they fear that they me be toppled over, However, this is a wrong perspective as it would not only see the whole organization fail but also, the manager as a person to be seen as failure Having also acquired the managerial skills, I can also be in a position to develop personal knowledge on how to manage my business. It is a challenge to many individuals to manage business. This leads to the collapse of many businesses because of lack of knowledge. The skills that I would acquire in my MBA would assist me organize my business and realize very high profits. This would make me achieve my goals of attaining a lot of money that would sustain my family. My outgoing character would add as an added advantage where I would be opportunistic and maximize any business chances that come to my way. The Jungian principle also describes me as a person who practices competency. This is a vital instrument more so in a business environment, where quality work is deserved for better growth. I believe wherever I would work, quality would be my principle. This is in line with the studies from MBA where quality is one of the key principles for acquiring more clients. In conclusion, the 16 test from Jungian test have had an impact in my decision to undertake an MBA. In addition, studying MBA would further empower me to achieve my goals faster and live a happy life. Personally, the areas that are my weaknesses such as being overambitious would be corrected through change of behavior and further training. References Brown, D. (2002). Career choice and development. New York: Willey Company Robbins .P, S. (2009). Self assessment. U. S. A: Pearson princetone Hall Weaver, R. (1997). Manage as facilitators. USA: Berret koehler publisher