Managing Virtual Teams.A Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Managing Virtual Teams.A Case Study - Essay Example Running a virtual company can be a rewarding experience for everyone involved. The employees are given greater freedom to complete their work task based on their own schedule. In general each employee has greater flexibility over their daily routine. Employees that telecommute get a change to spend more family time due to the fact that their homes become their home offices. It is very important you trained your employees to learn how to manage their time adequately. Telecommuting requires self-discipline in order to be able to meet the work deadlines of the job. In the news media business information travels fast, thus companies need employees that can stay on top of the latest trends. In order to manager a virtual staff you need to keep the lines of communication open. I recommend that you switch your cellular phone provider or change the plan in order to give all employees phones with unlimited minutes. The employees need to stay united and being able to call each other for support in work related matters should be encouraged. As part of their home office equipment each employees must have a printer, fax machine, copier, digital camera, desktop or laptop computer, and broadband internet access. All the materials must be provided by the company since moving to a virtual environment should not cost the employees any out of pocket expenses.

Management Theories and Philosophies Assignment

Management Theories and Philosophies - Assignment Example This research will begin with the statement that the Management Theory and Philosophy is referred to an independent forum that pays attention to the essential philosophical matters of management in terms of both theories as well as practice. Management includes planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling. The fundamental theories which are used in today’s management are the Classical theory and the Human Relation theory. The Classical Approach acknowledges the main part of management thought, which depends on the principle that employees do only have physical and economic needs; and the requirement for the satisfaction of job and social needs either is unimportant or does not subsist. It defines the homogenous facts on the administration of organizations. This approach supports decision making, high interest of labor and profit maximization. The analysis will focus on the contribution of various authors such as Frederick Winslow Taylor, Henri Fayol and Max W eber who have applied these theories in various disciplines. The classical approach includes Scientific Management, Administrative Management, and the Bureaucratic management. On the other hand, the Human Relation Approach focuses on the people and human being’s behavior. It refers to an organizational tool that assists in efficiency thinking and rationalization. It goes further than physical contributions in order to include cognitive, emotional, and creative aspects of workers. Employees communicate opinions, suggestions, feelings, and complaints to boost production and satisfaction.

Quality-of-Life: Patients with Common Dermatological Disease

Quality-of-Life: Patients with Common Dermatological Disease Skin diseases are frequent in all over the world. Approximately 30% of Americans had at least one skin condition that leads to further medical examination (1). Patients with skin disease have experienced various problems including emotional, financial, psychological and social issues which can affect their quality of life (QoL) (2). Skin diseases are responsible for the majority of morbidity due to the presence of physical symptoms. Some studies reported that itching and fatigue are the main complaint in patients with skin diseases; moreover, compared with the normal people, these patients had a lower psychosocial wellbeing which it depended on disease-severity and duration, disease-related quality of life, and presence of physical symptoms such as itch, pain and fatigue (3-4). It also reported that some skin diseases can cause higher degree of disability in comparison with many chronic diseases (5). For instance patients who suffered from psoriasis reported fatigue, stigmatization, and loss of physical function, lack of self confidence, impaired daily and social function and limitations in social contacts (6). Some studies suggested that that eczema and psoriasis have a lower mental health compare patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and psychiatric patients had better functioning compared to patients with skin disorders, also the harmful effects of psoriasis on QOL were comparable to that seen in breast cancer, arthritis, hypertension, diabetes, and mood disorders (7-8). The World Health Organization defines QOL as â€Å"individuals’ expectation of their position in life, in the context of the cultural and value system in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns† (9). It is very difficult to achieve QOL in patients with skin diseases. This may be due to the patients worrying about their unhandsome appearance in confronting people and so, what they think about their skin. Therefore, it is very important for clinicians or dermatologists to improve the QOL in these patients by concentrating on patients symptoms and appearance. Assessing QOL provides more accurate information about patients needs and helps dermatologist to decide better about patients treatment. So, it improves better patients service and QOL (10). Because QOL shows a very important aspect in physical and mental health, this review was aimed on evaluating the impacts of QOL of patients on various skin diseases including psoriasis, vitiligo, acne vulgaris, atopic dermatitis and seborrheic dermatitis and also, how much these diseases affected QOL and what factors may be associated with a worse QOL. ACNE VULGARIS: Acne vulgaris is the probably most prevalent skin disease in adolescents and especially during puberty. Approximately all of men and women experienced at least one acne lesions during their lifetime (11). In some studies has reported that this skin disorder, affecting almost 80% of individuals who aged from 11 to 30 years. 17However, this rate varied between 41.7% -93.3% in different countries with populations aged 12 to 18 years (12-13). Also, it has reported that acne and actinic keratosis represented the two most common presentations in dermatologists office visits, with both conditions resulting in 5.2 million visits and 15% of total visits yearly in United States (14). QoL issues have been well-known in acne vulgaris. One of the most important in adolescence is a good appearance. It affected self-worth and self confidence. Acne vulgaris may cause some morbidity in many teenage patients such as low self-esteem, social isolation, and depression and suicidal ideation (15-18). There are some validated criteria for evaluating and identifying individuals with acne vulgaris include the Acne Disability Index (ADI), Cardiff Acne Disability Index (CADI), and the Acne-QoL index (19). It is worth mentioning that CADI and acne-Qol were Simpler and more rapidly used than the ADI index (19). Of note, physical morbidity and decreased social functioning in adulthood may be the complications of acne vulgaris that had happened in adolescents (20). Verhoeven et al.(3) suggested in his study that patients with skin diseases in experienced a lower psychosocial well-being compare to the normal population and several of these patients was at risk of developing severe mood disorders such as depression. Also, the psychosocial problems were more frequent in patient with chronic skin disease. Also, Patients who suffered from acne vulgaris have worse mental health and anxiety and depression status than individuals with asthma, epilepsy, diabetes, CVD, back pain, or arthritis (2, 21). About the half of adolescent patients accepted acne as a disease, but 86% think that treatment is necessary to improve their appearance (12). This is the reason that subjects with worse symptoms and QoL condition should be treated by the physician or dermatologist with more aggressive or systemic treatments such as corticosteroids(22). In some cases, referral for further evaluation by a psychologist is recommended (23). Effective treatments may be useful to reach the optimum QoL burden of this common disease. ATOPIC DERMATITIS: It is reported that the atopic dermatitis causes most physician office visit and outpatient hospital visits in United States (14). Atopic dermatitis (AD) describes an inflammatory, chronically relapsing skin condition that, along with asthma and allergic rhinitis, is part of the atopic triad (24). The condition gives rise to itching and severely dry skin, and is characterized by an allergic predisposition, pruritus, erythema, oozing, crusting, excoriations, lichenification, sensitivity to allergens/ irritants and susceptibility to secondary infections (24) Atopic dermatitis typically appears in early childhood, and patients may experience periodic flare-ups throughout adulthood (25). A worldwide study found that AD affects approximately 5% to 20% of children at ages 6 – 7 and 13–14 years, with the prevalence being highest in developed countries (26). Other estimates of prevalence in children fall within this range. The prevalence of AD in Canada was estimated to be 8.5% for children aged 6 – 7 years, and 9.4% for children aged 13–14 years (26). Approximately 10% of cases are considered to be severe, with approximately half the remaining cases being considered moderate and half being considered mild. Incidence and severity are approximately equal among males and females (24). Evidence suggests that the prevalence of AD in Western nations is increasing. Parents report that their children with AD experience sleep disturbance, and are more clingy, frustrated, and irritable (27-29). Studies have found a correlation between AD and attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (30-32). Infants with AD are also found to be at greater risk for development of mental health problems by age 10 years. The prevalence and burden of AD in teenagers is less well understood. Adolescents with AD are at significant risk of impaired QoL similar to that of acne vulgaris, including predisposition to depression, impaired social interaction with members of the opposite sex, and sexual functioning.54 Using Skindex-Teen, adolescents with AD generally experienced similar impairment in QoL as those with acne (33). Indices to accurately measure QoL in pediatric patients with AD are highly relevant to clinical practice and research. To more completely gauge the comprehensive burden of disease, the clinician should aim to objectively review QoL and physical impairment (34-35). Patients with severe QoL impairment caused by AD may be in greater need of aggressive treatment strategies to minimize comorbidities and the longterm psychosocial effects of their disease. It is critical to involve both the caregiver and patient in these treatment strategies. . 1.Johnson M-LT. Defining the Burden of Skin Disease in the United States[mdash]A Historical Perspective. J Investig Dermatol Symp Proc. 2004;9(2):108-10. 2.Brown MM, Chamlin SL, Smidt AC. Quality of life in pediatric dermatology. Dermatologic clinics. 2013;31(2):211-21. 3.Verhoeven EWM, Kraaimaat FW, Van De Kerkhof PCM, Van Weel C, Duller P, Van Der Valk PGM, et al. Psychosocial well-being of patients with skin diseases in general practice. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. 2007;21(5):662-8. 4.Verhoeven E, Kraaimaat F, Van De Kerkhof P, Van Weel C, Duller P, Van Der Valk P, et al. Prevalence of physical symptoms of itch, pain and fatigue in patients with skin diseases in general practice. British Journal of Dermatology. 2007;156(6):1346-9. 5.Walker S, Shah M, Hubbard V, Pradhan H, Ghimire M. Skin disease is common in rural Nepal: results of a point prevalence study. British Journal of Dermatology. 2008;158(2):334-8. 6.Spilker B. Quality of life and pharmacoeconomics in clinical trials. 1996. 7.Sprangers MAG, de Regt EB, Andries F, van Agt HME, Bijl RV, de Boer JB, et al. Which chronic conditions are associated with better or poorer quality of life? Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. 2000;53(9):895-907. 8.Rapp SR, Feldman SR, Exum ML, Fleischer Jr AB, Reboussin DM. Psoriasis causes as much disability as other major medical diseases. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 1999;41(3):401-7. 9.WHOQOL Measuring Quality of Life, Geneva Switzerland: Division of Mental Health and Prevention of Substance Abuse, World Health Organization. 1997. 10.David S, Ahmed Z, Salek M, Finlay A. Does enough quality of lifeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ related discussion occur during dermatology outpatient consultations? British Journal of Dermatology. 2005;153(5):997-1000. 11.Bickers DR, Lim HW, Margolis D, Weinstock MA, Goodman C, Faulkner E, et al. The burden of skin diseases: 2004: A joint project of the American Academy of Dermatology Association and the Society for Investigative Dermatology. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 2006;55(3):490-500. 12.Uslu G, Ã…Å ¾endur N, Uslu M, Ã…Å ¾avk E, Karaman G, Eskin M. Acne: prevalence, perceptions and effects on psychological health among adolescents in Aydin, Turkey. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. 2008;22(4):462-9. 13.Gollnick H, Cunliffe W, Berson D, Dreno B, Finlay A, Leyden JJ, et al. Management of Acne. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. [doi: 10.1067/mjd.2003.618]. 2003;49(1):S1-S37. 14.Kalia S, Haiducu ML. The Burden of Skin Disease in the United States and Canada. Dermatologic clinics. [doi: 10.1016/j.det.2011.09.004]. 2012 30(1):5-18. 15.Smithard A, Glazebrook C, Williams H. Acne prevalence, knowledge about acne and psychological morbidity in midà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ adolescence: a communityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ based study. British Journal of Dermatology. 2001;145(2):274-9. 16.Rapp D, Brenes G, Feldman S, Fleischer A, Graham G, Dailey M, et al. Anger and acne: implications for quality of life, patient satisfaction and clinical care. British Journal of Dermatology. 2004;151(1):183-9. 17.Krejci-Manwaring J, Kerchner K, Feldman SR, Rapp DA, Rapp SR. Social sensitivity and acne: the role of personality in negative social consequences and quality of life. The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine. 2006;36(1):121-30. 18.Magin P, Pond C, Smith W, Goode S. Acnes relationship with psychiatric and psychological morbidity: results of a schoolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ based cohort study of adolescents. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. 2010;24(1):58-64. 19.Walker N, Lewis-Jones MS. Quality of life and acne in Scottish adolescent schoolchildren: use of the Childrens Dermatology Life Quality Index © (CDLQI) and the Cardiff Acne Disability Index © (CADI). Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. 2006;20(1):45-50. 20.Brown BC, McKenna SP, Siddhi K, McGrouther DA, Bayat A. The hidden cost of skin scars: quality of life after skin scarring. Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive Aesthetic Surgery. 2008;61(9):1049-58. 21.Niemeier V, Kupfer J, Gieler U. Acne vulgaris – Psychosomatic aspects. JDDG: Journal der Deutschen Dermatologischen Gesellschaft. 2006;4(12):1027-36. 22.Finlay AY. The burden of skin disease: quality of life, economic aspects and social issues. Clinical Medicine. 2009 December 1, 2009;9(6):592-4. 23.Gupta MA, Gupta AK. The use of antidepressant drugs in dermatology. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. 2001;15(6):512-8. 24.Barbeau M, Bpharm HL. Burden of Atopic dermatitis in Canada. International Journal of Dermatology. 2006;45(1):31-6. 25.Knoell KA, Greer KE. Atopic Dermatitis. Pediatrics in Review. 1999 February 1, 1999;20(2):46-52. 26.Williams H, Robertson C, Stewart A, Aà ¯t-Khaled N, Anabwani G, Anderson R, et al. Worldwide variations in the prevalence of symptoms of atopic eczema in the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood. Journal of allergy and clinical immunology. 1999;103(1):125-38. 27.Schmitt J, Chen CM, Apfelbacher C, Romanos M, Lehmann I, Herbarth O, et al. Infant eczema, infant sleeping problems, and mental health at 10 years of age: the prospective birth cohort study LISAplus. Allergy. 2011;66(3):404-11. 28.Chamlin SL, Frieden IJ, Williams ML, Chren M-M. Effects of atopic dermatitis on young American children and their families. Pediatrics. 2004;114(3):607-11. 29.Chamlin SL, Mattson CL, Frieden IJ, Williams ML, Mancini AJ, Cella D, et al. The price of pruritus: sleep disturbance and cosleeping in atopic dermatitis. Archives of pediatrics adolescent medicine. 2005;159(8):745-50. 30.Romanos M, Gerlach M, Warnke A, Schmitt J. Association of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and atopic eczema modified by sleep disturbance in a large population-based sample. Journal of epidemiology and community health. 2010;64(3):269-73. 31.Schmitt J, Romanos M. Lack of studies investigating the association of childhood eczema, sleeping problems, and attentionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Pediatric Allergy and Immunology. 2009;20(3):299-300. 32.Harari M, Dreiher J, Czarnowicki T, Ruzicka T, Ingber AS. 75: a new metric for assessing treatment outcomes in atopic dermatitis. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2011. 33.Smidt AC, Lai J-S, Cella D, Patel S, Mancini AJ, Chamlin SL. Development and validation of Skindex-Teen, a quality-of-life instrument for adolescents with skin disease. Archives of dermatology. 2010;146(8):865-9. 34.Charman CR, Venn AJ, Williams H, Bigby M. Measuring atopic eczema severity visually: which variables are most important to patients? Archives of dermatology. 2005;141(9):1146-51. 35.Charman C, Chambers C, Williams H. Measuring atopic dermatitis severity in randomized controlled clinical trials: what exactly are we measuring? Journal of Investigative Dermatology. 2003;120(6):932-41.

Rekindle Dynamics Essay -- Emergency Management

There are few natural phenomena with the scope and complexity of a forest fire (Van Wagner [1]). Rekindles or reignitions that reburn an area over which a previous fire has passed but leaving fuel that later ignites due to latent heat, sparks, or embers (NWCG [2]) is an amazing part of that phenomena. For instance fuel complexes that exhibit heavy fuel loads and deep organic layers. Namely under the decomposing leaf litter there are a compact organic horizon in which the ground or subsurface fires will remain burning slowly (Lourenà §o and Rainha [3]). Near rivers, peat bogs, old forests, and large decaying logs are prone to such fire persistence. As a result of the dryness left after the passage of the main fire front. Especially in major dry spells or droughts (Henderson and Muraro [4], Alexander [5]). Such underground burning in a smouldering stage can erupt into flames when it gets the surface exposing this heated fuel to air (6). Throughout the summer of 2010, Portugal had 14,551 primary wildfires. 17.2% of them rekindled in an additional 2,497 fires, leading to a total of 17,048 which accounted for 95% of the total annual burnt area of 132,241 ha (Pacheco [7]). These figures might be worse. Several authors suggest that the amount of rekindled forest fires is higher than the officially reported (Lourenà §o and Rainha [3], ANIF [8]). Expert-judgment elicitation in our interviews points to the double. Even assuming that the available information is correct, there are too many rekindles (Beighley and Hyde [9]). This is a concerning situation that has gotten worse over the years (ANIF [8]), and results from ineffective mop-up operations (Lourenà §o and Rainha [3], ANIF [8], Beighley and Hyde [9], ISA [10], Lourenà §o [11], Murdock... .... 387-395, 2005. [17] AFN, I., Monitorizaà §Ãƒ £o e Avaliaà §Ãƒ £o do Plano Nacional de Defesa da Floresta Contra Incà ªndios, 2009/2010 - Relatà ³rio Final Preliminar, Autoridade Florestal Nacional, 2011. [18] Fernandes, P. M., â€Å"Forest fires in Galicia (Spain): The outcome of unbalanced fire management,† Journal of Forest Economics, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 155-157, 2008. [19] Resoluà §Ãƒ £o do Conselho de Ministros n. º 65/2006, PNDFCI, 2006. [20] Oliveira, T., "Relatà ³rio da visita ao Chile," Protecà §Ãƒ £o Florestal, grupo Portucel Soporcel, 2011. [21] Ahrens, M., Brush, Grass, and Forest Fires, 0877650357, National Fire Protection Association, Fire Analysis and Research Division, 2010. [22] Pacheco, A. P., Oliveira, T., & Claro, J., "Simulation analysis of the impact of ignitions, rekindles and false alarms on the performance of forest fire suppression," FEUP, University of Porto, 2012.

Philippines Airlines Case Essay

Philippines airlines started its history on March 15, 1941 on a small twin-engine Beech Model 18 flying 212 of pure skies from Manila to Baguio with a full load of five passengers. Upon the outbreak of the pacific war, PAL’s two aircraft were pressed into service with the US army Air Corps. Post-war operations began on February 14, 1946 with five ex-military Douglas DC-35. In July, the airline chartered DC-4s to carry American service men home to Oakland, making PAL the first airline to cross the Pacific. Regular DC-4s service to San Francisco began in December 1946. In May 1947, PAL opened a route to Europe. By 1952, the international route network covered two-thirds of the wold, and the government became the majority stockholder. At present, PAL uses the most advance technology in the local airline industry. Technical centers were constructed to perform ground handling for other airlines and contract work for the states and Philippine Military services. Computerized reservations systems link most PAL sales outlets: 103 in the Philippines and 56 worldwide. The PAL Data Center at the Manila Domestic Airport is the core of the most extensive computer system in the Philippines today. A massive refleeting program was introduced to be able to cope with the standards of the industry. Indeed, this program paved the way for the problems they are facing right now. Closure Philippine Airlines (PAL) is facing its worst crisis. Foremost in the company’s mind is how can it possibly overcome problems created by the economic turmoil that has been bagging the Asian region since July 1997- a situation few quarters were able to predict. What do they do in times of decreasing demand for air travel, poor revenues, increasing operational cost, and when credit to cover financial obligations is almost non-existent? The main reason why PAL suffered financial problems was because of the massive refleeting modernization program, which was funded through loans made from local and international creditors. It has reached a point where it can no longer keep up with its obligations. Then, the labor unrest come into force because of the need to downsize manpower as a solution to its financial problems. The pilots rejected a scheme to retire 200 colleagues using a provision in their CBA which would not give them enough monetary benefit that will compensate their year of service with the company. The  ground employees protested the manner by which the management implemented a retrenchment program on their ranks as a result of the 22-day pilots strike. The downsizing was a bitter pill to swallow. Chain of Events Prior to the Closure June 1998 The 620 PAL pilots went on strike paralyzing PAL’s operations. 1,800 ground employees were retrenched. July 1998 Philippine Air Lines Employee Association (PALEA) went on strike to demand the reinstatement of the retrenched members who they claimed were dismissed by violating their CBA provisions. September 1998 Lucio Tan gave out a proposal to PALEA officers, the acceptance of which will ensure the survical of PAL. PALEA officers accepted the proposal. Members of PALEA rejected the proposal and demanded a retraction from the officers. Officers retracted on a condition that a referendum is held on the proposals. Referendum under the sponsorship of DOLE was held. â€Å"NO† votes prevailed. Closure becomes reality. Management side (Interview) The closure was done because the company is on the brink of bankruptcy. It was due to the unforeseen economic crisis. There is no problem with the management and labor. The management then gave a proposal to avoid the closure of the company. Labor side (source from Newspapers) They are afraid that the management can easily fire them without the CBA. They are also worried about the recognition of the labor union even if the CBA is suspended. Another referendum was made and the â€Å"YES† votes prevailed which means that they agreed to the proposal of Mr. Lucio Tan maybe because of limited options they have. REACTION (Written by a PAL employee) The upheavals in PAL can best described as â€Å"Bad Luck†. After 57 years in existence, who would have say that management expertise is lacking, maybe inappropriate to the call of the times but never lacking. The labor unions have enjoyed the rights since day one of their foundation but again due to the call of the times, they have just ask for more. Each one has its own reasons for being so the collapse of the enterprise come to fore and closure was inevitable. The Yes or No vote. Both are evil but we chose the lesser evil- Why Yes? 1. Yes means reopening of the airline, a must for national interest as well as individual worker’s interest. The industry is vital to national trade and tourism. Its absence could slow down the Philippine economy further. While it’s true that there maybe other airlines, PAL has the edge in facilities, human resources, and worldwide recognition. 2. The suspension of CBA can still be questioned in court for its legality and can be pursued by the union. 3. There are labor laws to protect the workers. Effects of the Closure in the Economy The economy then was in recession so the people did not consider air travel. Many PAL workers went home jobless. GNP drops because of low productivity. Business opportunities were cancelled or delayed due to lack of Air Transportation. Re-opening Pal opened its door when all the problems were partially solved. Owner Lucio Tan infused capital to the wingless airline, which was not enough for its continued survival. Selling of some assets were considered to pay creditors. It lessened flight destinations to be able to lower operation cost. A possible management turnover might happen for the survival. Rehabilitation Plan The plan was mainly to infuse capital to PAL airlines. Possible investors were invited for the infusion of the capital. Selling percentage of ownership were also considered. Foreign investors such as Cathay Pacific, Northwest were thinking of possible investment to the said airline. A $150 million capital infusion was planned but the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) did not approve it last December 1998. Selling of shares  worth $11.916 million in abacus international, one of the biggest international computer reservation systems in the world was considered to raise cash for operations. A new rehabilitation plan worth $200 million is set to be submitted on March 15, 1999 for the approval by the SEC.

Case Study About Frauds in Information System Essay

1. Compose a summary of the case. Include how the fraud was perpetrated, the characteristics of the perpetrator(s) who committed the fraud, the role the auditor(s) had in the case, and the direct and indirect effects the incident had on the organization’s stakeholders (customers, vendors, employees, executive committee, and board of directors). Comerica is being sued by Experi- Metal’s for a $560,000 phishing attack to their bank account. Experi- Metal, a custom auto- parts maker, was hit by phishing criminals in January 2009. The fraud was perpetrated when the bank’s vice president received a phishing email telling him to fill out online paperwork to perform scheduled maintenance. The e-mail appeared to have been sent from the bank. The email was sent from phishing criminals) Once the president sent over his credentials the attack was started. Experi- Metal accused Comerica of failing to take immediate action that could have eliminated some of the loss. The bank processed over a million dollars in wires from the companies account. The attack was done in a matter of hours. Criminals tried to move millions of dollars to an Eastern Europe account. Comerica learned of the attack within four hours of the fraud. J.P. Morgan Chase contacted Comerica to report suspicious activity in the account. The criminals were funding money into the Chase Accounts to move it overseas to Russia and Estonia. Comerica shut down the scam but it was after the business lost money. Comerica shut down the account but still processed 15 wires after finding out about the scam. Comerica filed suit against the bank for the phishing attack and to try to recoup some of the money that was paid out through the phishing attack. The characteristics of the perpetrator are usually people from abroad and the emails have spelling errors. The attacks come from abroad and the emails will contain misspelled and transposed letters. The attackers send out thousands of emails trying to get an individual to respond. The emails are intended to trick users into clicking on the link and entering their personal information. The email will impersonate a company such as a bank. The email will state there is a problem and need the individual to verify their information. It will include a cause of action prompting the user to respond or delete. The direct and indirect effects on the organization’s stakeholders were the bottom line would be understated because of the lost of money. â€Å"Phishing scams deceive you into revealing your personal, banking, or financial information through links in email that refer your browser to a look- alike fake website that requests your personal, banking and/ or financial†.(Roddel, 2008, pg. 93) The board of directors would need to put something in place with the bank to make sure this doesn’t happen again. This is a lack of internal controls because the vice president should have verified the email before providing his credentials. The direct impact is to cripple the company and its availability of funds, breach confidentiality, and safety. Phishing has a negative impact on a company’s revenue which is a direct impact on the stakeholders. The direct effect could include legal fees, and additional marketing expense to recapture lost revenues. An organization should communicate with its stakeholders when a phishing attack happens to eliminate the stakeholders losing confidence in the organization. An indirect effect to stakeholders is responding to media inquiries, and delivering messages to parties affected. 2. Suggest the fraud classification(s) the case can be categorized into (based on the data processing model). Include your rationale for the classification. â€Å"By far the most common form of corporate identity theft used by fraudsters is ‘phishing’. Phishing involves fraudsters sending e-mails under the guise of a bank or other reputable company, which appear authentic, to customers or users of that particular company. The emails invite them to log on to the company’s website and verify their account details, including their personal identification details† (Simmons & Simmons, 2003, pg. 8). The controller of Experi-Metal’s received an email that appeared to be urgent. The email stated the bank needed to carry out scheduled maintenance on its banking software. It instructed the controller to log in to the website via the link in the email. The email appeared to come from Comerica’s online banking site. The site asked the controller to enter a security code. The website was fraudulent and was used to get the information to process the fraudulent wires. 3. Suggest the type of controls that may have been in place at the time of the violation. The goal of any organization is to prevent or limit the impact of phishing attacks. The company probably had an in house phishing plan in place. Corporate organizations have policies and procedures to help deter phishing attacks. This should have included training of employees to avoid a phishing attack. The controls in place at Experi-Metal probably included a preventive plan that consisted of employee training and e-mail filters. There needs to be more effective controls in place to prevent this from happening in the future. The controller should never have given his personal information out online without verifying through the bank. Management has to be made aware of the types of phishing attacks through education and an effective policy needs to be in place to cover these types of attacks. The system did not fail it was the actions of the controller which led to the phishing attack. 4. Recommend two (2) types of controls that could be implemented to prevent fraud in the future and additional steps management can take to mitigate losses. â€Å"Avoid emailing personal and financial information. If you get an unexpected email from a company or government agency asking for your personal information, contact the company or agency cited in the email, using a telephone number you know to be genuine, or start a new Internet session and type in the Web address that you know is correct† (McMillian, 2006, pg. 160). A variety of efforts aim to deter phishing through law enforcement, and automated detection. One thing that should be stressed at Experi- Metal is never follow links in an email claiming to be from a bank. Bank institutions never ask you to verify your online banking username and password. The controller should have contacted the bank and verified the information before he entered the code. The motto is trust no email or web site. The business should have in place controls to keep this from happening going forward. Second, Experi- Metal should install a good Anti-virus and firewall protection software and adjust the settings to tighten up web security. Any customer or business that has an excessive amount of wires the bank should place a stop on the account and it needs to be verified before anymore wires are processed. Experi-Metal could have positive pay on the account and this would eliminate any wires from being processed without their approval. Additional employee training should be offered to help employee’s be able to notice fraudulent emails. An individual should never respond to any emails asking for personal information. The bank should follow policy to protect and inform customers about fraudulent activity. 5. Judge the punishment of the crime (was it appropriate, too lenient, or too harsh) and whether the punishment would serve as a deterrent to similar acts in the future. The court ruled in favor of Experi- Metal in the case. Comerica was held liable for over half a million dollars stolen from Experi-Metal. The punishment was not hard because Comerica failed to act in good faith when it processed over 100 wire transfers in a few hours. The bank should have stopped the wire transfers and contacted the company. A customer is holding a bank responsible to keep their money safe. Most of the money was recovered but the judge ruled in favor of Experi-Metal based on the fact the bank did not respond quick enough in stopping the wire transfers. Banks are doing a better job at spotting fraud because of this case but there is still room for improvement. This was a major case because it put pressure on banks to strengthen their security posture. The judge is holding the banks responsible to the safe keeping of a company’s money.