Monday, January 27, 2020

Study On The Proctor And Gamble Company Management Essay

Study On The Proctor And Gamble Company Management Essay The Proctor and Gamble Company was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1837 by an English immigrant William Procter, and James Gamble, an immigrant from Ireland. Both men had arrived in Cincinnati separately and were forced to stop there to recuperate from illnesses while on their way to the West. Each independently decided to settle to found a business and Procter became a candle maker while Gamble became a soap maker. This was not coincidental as the raw material for both candles and soap was animal fat. Cincinnati, also popularly nicknamed Porkopolis was the countrys largest meatpacking center allowing for inexpensive access to animal fat. On a personal front, the two gentlemen married sisters and subsequently formed a partnership in 1837. Due to the abundant supply of raw material, many competitors entered the market and Proctor and Gamble (PG) had to differentiate itself by embarking on an aggressive investment strategy building a large factory in the 1850s despite rumours of the imp ending civil war. Response to the Civil War and effects of their response During the Civil War, PG focused on operating day and night to supply the Union armies, and by the wars end sales had more than quintupled to over USD 1 million. When soldiers returned home carrying high quality products, distinguished by their unique characteristic moon- and- stars packaging, PG quickly developed a national reputation. As a result, their rapid growth and a series of innovations in their internal processes such as human resource management, RD, distribution, marketing, and organizational design soon followed. Growth through the Years using different organizational structures From inception, PG focused on product innovation, branded goods, research and development, direct distribution and sales and as the growth increased, diverging organizational structures and reward systems were introduced. In 1948, PG established its first international sales division to manage its rapidly growing foreign businesses. Over the next forty years, PG would steadily build its foreign presence, while carefully managing its United States (U.S.) operations. The two types of organizations, that is, the United States one and the European one, led to two distinctly different modes of organizational architectures. The United States, with a large homogenous market, lent itself to nationwide brand and product division management. Western Europe, on the other hand, which represented the larger share of PGs overseas division, was a heterogeneous market with different languages, cultures and laws and therefore adopted a decentralized hub and spoke model. In the United States, in 1954, PG created individual operating divisions to better manage growing product lines of products, supported by its own line and staff organizations. As a result, growth developed along two key dimensions: functions and brands. In 1987, the matrix reporting structure entered the scene, whereby functional leaders reported directly to their business leadership and also had a dotted line reporting relationship to their functional leadership. In Western Europe, geographic management was the original structure which developed along the three dimensions of country, function and brand. In this model country managers were responsible for profitability and market strategy, not brand managers. This and other effects led to silos and slow growth. By 1980s, PG attempted to shift focus from country management to product category management to promote cross- border cooperation across functions. Eventually, PG moved into the global market due to attractive expansion opportunities in Japan and developing markets and as a result, it reassessed its globalization model and opted to focus on the global matrix structure of categories and functions. This structure had several pitfalls and externally, competitors were catching up quickly challenging PGs first mover strategy and related advantages. PG had grown to be a USD 38 billion multinational consumer -products company, with over 50 categories, ranging from toilet paper to pharmaceuticals, with more than 300 brands. Competitors were steadily eating away market share. As a result in September 1998, PG announced a six year restructuring plan called Organization 2005. This new structure had adverse effects on PG sustainability and the scene in the case is set around the negative results of Organization 2005 resulting in the CEO Durk Jager, 17 months into his role as CEO, resigning and A.G Lafley taking over in June 2000 faced with the significant decision of whether to make a strong commitment to the Organization 2005 or dismantle. He also had to decide whether he created more value by splitting the company into sets of stand- alone businesses. Why did US organizational structure shift from Product grouping in the 1950s to a Matrix in 1980s? The United States had a large homogenous market which lent itself to nationwide brand and product division management. In 1954, PG created individual operating divisions to better manage growing lines of products, each with its own line and staff organizations. Specialization by product as described by Cole G.A is when grouping is arranged around specified products, with each group having its own specialist functions provided at the operational level. The advantages of product grouping are that it enables the companys major product groups to concentrate on their own priorities, within the total business plan. It also provides a mechanism for supplying the major groupings in the company with their own specialist resources and to develop their own preferred culture. In addition, it encourages the senior specialists at director level to focus on corporate issues, leaving production matters within product groups much more in the hands of senior managers involved. The main disadvantage of this kind of structure is that individual divisions may seek to promote their own objectives so forcefully as to endanger wider, corporate strategies. Thus the senior directors need to be capable of exercising sufficient control over corporate intentions, but without robbing the line manager of their motivation to obtain the optimum results for their divisions. According to Mullins, L.J. in Management and Organizational Behavior, the Line and staff organization structure is concerned with concerned with different functions which are to be undertaken. It provides a means of maximizing on the utility of specialists while maintaining the concept of line authority. Line organization relates to those functions concerned with specific responsibility for achieving the objectives of the organization and to those people in the direct chain of command. Staff organization relates to the provision of specialist and support functions for the line organization and creates an advisory relationship. Within this model, PG US developed along two key dimensions: functions and brands. Brand managers bore responsibility for profitability and could focus on matching company strategy with product category dynamics. Brand managers competed in the same marketplace but also shared access to strong divisional functions which in turn transferred best practices and talent across many brands, fostering leading edge competences in RD, manufacturing and market research in a rapidly developing consumer products industry. For instance, the invention of fluoride toothpaste in 1955 was a key result of this structure. In 1987, the United States PG made a historic shift away from the 56 year old competitive brand management system, to a matrix system whereby brand would now be managed as components of category portfolios by category general managers. The reason for this shift in structure was because product categories were beginning to require more differentiated functional activities but at the same time, PG US needed to retain functional strengths. As a result, a matrix reporting structure was set up whereby functional leaders reported directly to their business leadership and also had a dotted line reporting relationship to their functional leadership. Thus 39 US category business units were created, with each category business unit having its own sales, product development, manufacturing and finance functions. Mullins, L.J. describes a matrix organization as a combination of functional departments which provide a stable base for specialized activities and a permanent location for staff members and units that integrate various activities of different functional departments on any of the following bases: project, product, geographical or systems basis. He goes on to add that matrix structures offer the advantages of flexibility, greater security and control of project or product information and opportunities for staff development if management implement the structure effectively. The potential problem areas, as seen later in the PG case, include the fact that a matrix structure can result in a more complex structure. By using two methods of grouping it sacrifices unity of command and may cause problems of co-ordination. There may also be a problem of defining the extent of the product (project) managers authority over staff from other departments and of gaining support of other functional managers. Why did the European organizational structure shift from Geographic grouping in 1950s to Category management in 1980s? In Europe, the PG organization developed along three dimensions: country, function and brand. This model was established to tailor products and processes to local tastes and norms. This resulted in a portfolio of self sufficient subsidiaries led by country general managers (GMs) who adapted PG technology and marketing expertise to local markets. These were called mini-U.Ss in each country as new product technologies were sourced from U.S. RD labs in Cincinnati, qualified, tested and adapted by local research and development (RD) and manufacturing organizations in each country. In 1963, a European Technical Centre (ETC) was created and housed in Brussels and it developed products and manufacturing processed that country managers could choose to adapt to and launch in their countries. Country managers, not brand managers, had responsibility for profitability and market strategy, while the Brussels regional headquarters was very hands-off, serving mostly legal, tax accounting and public relations entity. Geographically based structures, according to Cole, have key advantages of widely spread markets can be catered for, local knowledge of customers, labor market and distribution can be utilized as seen in PG Europe. However, the key disadvantages as with any attempts at decentralization are associated with the inevitable tension that develops between Head office and the regions concerning priorities for action and priorities for scarce company resources. In addition, geographical based cultures and focus may veer away from the overall company strategy, culture and increase costs. The main reason why geographic grouping did not work positively for PG in Europe was that it resulted in innovations and brands taking unnecessarily long to globalize. For instance, Pampers, was launched in US in 1961, Germany in 1973 and France not until 1978. In addition, functional organizations became embedded in company silos and worse still, European corporate functions were also completely disconnected from the US operation. To cap it all, focus on product categories and brands was fragmented by country, virtually precluding region- wide category or branding strategies. This led to unstandardized and subscale manufacturing operations in each country which were expensive and unreliable. Products were tweaked unnecessarily, creating pack size and formulation variations that added no value to maintain and reinvented the wheel with each new product initiative. Thus in early 1980s, Europe attempted to promote cross border co-operation across functions and to shift focus from country management to product category management. Why were the 2 structures integrated into a global cube in the 1990s? The two main PG structures: U.S matrix structure and Western European category management structure were integrated in the 1990s into a global cube due to the several reasons. Attractive expansion opportunities in Japan and the developing markets led PG to question its globalization model, particularly in anticipation of the new challenge of appealing to more diverse consumer tastes, cultures, preferences and income levels. This was demonstrated by the fact that in Europe, increased focus on cross border category management had proven successful. However, corporate function in Brussels still lacked direct control of country functional activities. PG was also seeking positive results in the area of innovation such that the creation of global technical centers in different regions could have core competencies in a specific product category. PG also sought tremendous top-line and bottom-line improvements such as creation of powerful and independent global functions promoted to the pooling of knowledge, transfer of best practices, elimination of intra-regional redundancies and standardization of activities. It was also seeking integration of manufacturing, purchasing, distribution and engineering into one global product supply function which managed the supply chain from beginning to end. PG achieved this specific integration in 1987. In the new global cube, PG was also seeking massive savings which could b e achieved by regionally managed product- supply groups consolidating country manufacturing plants and distribution centers into higher scale regional facilities. PG also sought a stronger global sales organization with regional leadership so as to develop closer global relationship. One key result of this specific objective was the Customer Business Development (CBD) function which developed closer relationship with bug customers such as the one unprecedented step of co-locating with Wal-Mart in Bentonville, Arkansas to pursue joint strategic planning. Coupled with early supply chain initiatives, this undertaking allowed PG to be a first mover in electronic integration with customers, leading to disproportionate share growth with mass discounters. Finally, significant initial standardization in Information Technology (IT) systems was made possible by a globally managed IT organization. By 1997, financial and accounting information storage had been consolidated at three global data storage centers. PG was also seeking global category management whereby it aimed at developing close relationships. This occurred with strong global Research Development (RD) product category organizations, helping to standardize and accelerate global product launches. As a result, PG started migrating to a global matrix structure of categories and functions. The global cube entailed Europes country functions being consolidated into continental functions characterized by dotted-line reporting through functional leadership with direct reporting through the regional business managers. Global functional senior vice presidencies were created to manage functions across all regions. Then in 1989, to better co-ordinate category and branding strategies worldwide, PG created global category presidencies reporting directly to the CEO. All country category GMs had dotted- line reporting to their global country president, however, career progression and promotion remained in the hands of regional line management. Some additional key results included a much reduced duration to globalize a new initiative. For instance, by the early 1990s, it took only four years, on average to globalize a new initiative. This advance allowed PG to quickly inject new technologies into recently acquired beauty care products like Pantene, Olay and Old Spice. For example, two-in-one shampoo and conditioner technology was developed at the Sharon Woods beauty-care global technical center in Cincinnati in mid-1980s. The hair care global category president then achieved its roll out globally under the Pantene brand name with consistent worldwide marketing message and identity. In just over a decade, increased global focus on product categories helped PGs beauty care division to grow from USD 600 million to a highly strategic USD 7 billion business. What are the key distinguishing features of Organization 2005? Organization 2005 was a six -year restructuring plan announced by PG in September 1998. The companys objectives were to achieve a USD 900 million in annual after- tax cost savings by 2004 after spending USD 1.9 billion over the five years. This was to be achieved by specific features and actions of the Organization 2005. The first part called for voluntary separations of 15,000 employees by 2001, of which almost 10,500 (70%) were overseas staff. Forty five percent of all job separations would result from global product- supply consolidations and a quarter from exploitation of scale benefits arising from more standardized business processes. The plan sought to eliminate six management layers, from 13 to 7. The second part called for dismantling the matrix organizational structure and replacing it with an amalgam of interdependent organizations which were: Global Business Units (GBUs) with primary responsibility for the product and whose teams were compensated on profitability. Market Development Organizations (MDOs) with primary responsibility for markets and whose teams were compensated based on sales growth. Global Business Services (GBSs) which was a unit responsible for managing internal business processes and whose teams were compensated on cost management. This radical new design was aimed at improving the speed with which PG innovated and globalized its innovations. In detail the GBUs were responsible for product development, brand design, business strategy and new business development. Each operated autonomously focusing on different product categories. In total, there were seven GBUs with complete profit responsibility and benchmarked against focused product category competitors. Each GBU was led by a president, who reported directly to the CEO and was a member of the global leadership council that determined overall company strategy. At GBU level, Vice Presidents of Marketing, RD, Product supply, New Business Development and support functions such as IT implementation reported to the GBU president. To ensure that RD division of different GBUs would share technological innovations, a technology council composed of all GBU RD VPS would be formed to share and cross pollinate ideas. The intention of this structure was to increase agility and reduce costs through accelerated global standardization of manufacturing processes and better co-ordination of marketing activities. Global standardization of processes which were on different platforms would eliminate the lengthy process of obtaining launch approval from regional managers and result in systematically faster global rollouts of innovations and new brands. MDOs were designed to take responsibility for tailoring PG programs to local markets and using their knowledge of local consumers and retailers to help PG develop market strategies to guide the entire business. Customer Business Development functions previously dispersed among various business units would be consolidated regionally and converted into line functions in each MDO. There were seven MDOs with each being led by a president who reported directly to the CEO and, like the GBU president, sat on the global leadership council. GBS was the third leg of the Organization 2005 with the responsibility to standardize, consolidate, streamline and strengthen business processes and IT platforms across GBUs and MDOs globally. The aim was to centralize responsibility for managing these processes which could lead to economies of scale while allowing the other two GBUs and MDOs to focus on core competencies. This structure was focused on specialization.GBS was organized as a cost center with the head of GBS reporting directly to the CEO but was not a member of the global leadership council. Routine and HR policies were also to be impacted in Organization 2005. Many decisions were to be made by individuals rather than committees so that routine business tasks that had taken months would now be accomplished in days. Budgeting was streamlined, integrating separate marketing, payroll, and initiative budgets into a single business planning process. It was also to overhaul its incentive system while maintaining the promote- from- within policy PG increased its performance based portion of compensation and extended its stock option compensation formerly limited to 9,000 employees to 100,000 employees. Why did PG adopt this structure? PG adopted the structure of Organization 2005 due to key challenges and problem occurring in the Global Matrix during 1995-1998. Firstly, the matrix structure had never been symmetrical as the function retained a high degree of de-facto control because it determined career paths and promotion for its employees. Unfortunately, each function had determined its own power base and strategic agenda rather than co-operating with other functions and business units to win in the market place. The initial tension caused by functional conflict had served as an effective system of checks and balances but eventually led to poor strategic alignment throughout PG causing its position to begin to weaken in the global market as managers were focused on their particular countries rather than these global functional conflicts. This was because their focus was based on aiming for their own maximization of particular parameters rather than an optimal tradeoff. Secondly, the matrix structure had also not fully resolved the tension between regional and product category management. Regional managers still had sole responsibility for financial results and thus it was they who ultimately chose whether or not to launch initiatives made available by global category managers. RD divisions struggled hard to globalize new technological and brand innovations quickly but had to obtain agreement from regional managers, sometimes country managers and these managers would sometimes hesitate even if it made sense for PG strategically because it could weaken their upcoming profit and loss statement. As a result, the companys track record of being a global leader in innovation and brands stagnated and was slipping behind some of its more focused rivals. For instance, Cover Girl, a U.S. cosmetics brand that PG had acquired in 1989 had still not been globalized in 1997 compared to Maybelline, acquired by LOreal in 1996, was globalized in just a few years and well on its way to becoming a global billion-dollar brand. Thirdly, competitors were catching up quickly. PG had always been a first mover in supply chain consolidations and integration with customers, but by the latter half of the decade, over 200 vendors had opened embassies to Wal-Mart in Bentonville. Share price consequently dropped by 3.3% since 1993 and the sales growth slowed down to 2.6% in 1997 and 1998 by contrast to 8.5% on average in the 1980s. Lastly, the defining question was whether the global matrix cube was internally coherent or scalable over the long term. Full accountability for results could not really by assigned to regional profit centers because they couldnt fully manage functional strategy and resource allocation. This resulted in a culture of risk aversion and avoidance of failure. With over 100 profit centers, it seemed like there were too many cooks in the kitchen meaning too many managers making decisions that were moving the company away from its intended objectives. Should Lafley make a strong commitment to keeping Organization 2005 or should he plan to dismantle the structure? A.G. Lafley should consider dismantling the structure after a careful analysis of the previous structures of Proctor and Gamble and a thorough assessment of the negative adverse effects of Organization 2005 so as to develop a more effective global structure. The main objective that the previous CEO, Durk Jager had was to use Organization 2005 to change PGs risk averse regionally managed structure so that it could launch new blockbuster brands based on new technologies rather than incremental improvements of existing products. He also frequently scrutinized PGs RD portfolio and personally stewarded new technologies through the pipeline that he thought were promising. Initially, in October 1999, fiscal first quarter results were promising indicating an immediate acceleration in business performance, with sales up by 5% over the previous year which was a marked improvement over the 2.6 % annual revenue growth over the last two years. Core net earnings fell short of long term goals but made a respectable increase of 10 %. This resulted in PGs stock price appreciating significantly. When the next quarterly report came out on 30 January 2000, the stock price reached an all-time high of USD 118.38 and sales had grown by an impressive 7% and core net earnings increased by 13%. Tables turned on 7 March 2000, when PG gave a profit warning due to external factors such as increased raw material costs, delays in FDA approvals and intense competition. With 50 new products in the pipeline, the situation was expected to reverse. However, on 25 April 2000, when results were announced, core net earnings had dropped 18 % while sales increased 6 % despite a 2% hit from fluctuations in exchange rate. The stock price lost 10 % of its value. The last straw was on 8 June 2000, when fourth quarter profits were flat compared to the expectations of 15 17 % increase. PG lowered its future quarterly sales growth estimates to 2 3 %, casting doubt on whether Organization 2005 was even lifting the top line. Market research companies confirmed PGs poor competitive position citing loss of U.S. market share in 16 out of 30 categories since the preceding year. PG stock finally fell to USD 57 after the announcement and was the worst performing component of the Dow over the previous six months. Conclusion In conclusion, Lafley, bearing in mind the past performance and stiff competitive arena, should dismantle Organization 2005 for the above reasons as well as for the sagging employee morale due to the substantial job reductions.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Introducing Constance Essay

In Ann-Marie MacDonald’s Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), the audience is swept into the playful subconscious of the protagonist, Constance Ledbelly. Before she speaks, her imaginative nature is introduced by way of Act I, The Prologue. The chorus enters giving an intriguing monologue in which the first stages of an exciting transformation begin to unfold. The Prologue is so useful in that it gives indications of plot, theme, conflict and so on. All of which carry a heavy dramatic significance. However, Ann-Marie Macdonald suggests that the biggest use of The Prologue is in developing the character of Constance. The chorus begins by asking â€Å"What’s alchemy? The hoax of charlatans?† (5) In other words, is alchemy a transformation of base metals into gold, or just the trick of a fraud or phony? Can such transformation exist, not just in the mind, but also in reality? Such a statement indicates that there shall be a changing of sorts. This change is seen literally as Constance’s fountain pen is later transformed to solid gold. But this change is also seen as a transformation of character. From something plain, to something miraculous. Constance begins as a flighty, insecure, and somewhat foolish daydreamer. Some might call her a push-over. She is full of eccentricities and is not taken too seriously, dressed in her frumpy clothes. However, later after her encounters with Desdemona and Juliet, she becomes strong and opinionated. She opens herself to the possibility of embarrassment and mochary by speaking her mind, and interfering where she deems fit. The Prologue gives the audience a clue of the changes Constance will endure. Thus setting up her character. In The Prologue the chorus speaks of opposites coming together. He mentions the ‘merging of unconscious selves’ and the ‘marriage of true minds.'(6) These unconscious selves perhaps are actually Desdemona and Juliet living within Constance’s unconscious. They are parts of her. Desdemona represents the driven and somewhat violent side, and Juliet is the hopeless romantic side of Constance. These two selves are about to be brought together and made aware to Constance for the first time. â€Å"Unite these lurking shards of  broken glass into a mirror that reflects one soul.† (6) The chorus says to bring together these two sides of Constance in a way that she will see they are her own within herself. Two references are made to the Philosopher’s Stone in The Prologue. This is yet another indication of change. The Philosopher’s Stone was once believed to turn other metals into gold. The chorus announces the Gustav Manuscript as the key to Constance’s Philosopher’s Stone. â€Å"Here is the key to her Philosopher’s Stone – the psychic altar that will alter fate.† (6) Constance uses the manuscript, and her forced exploration of two of Shakespeare’s plays, (Othello, Romeo and Juliet), to discover herself. The manuscript and the events in it lead to Constance’s journey of self discovery. She accepts her likeness to the characters of Desdemona and Juliet. She realizes that the three of them are all one in the same. Gemini is the sign of twins and is often associated with split personalities. Also having two different sides to one. After removing the discard items from the wastebasket and replacing them on Constance’s desk, the chorus says, â€Å"Swift Mercury, that changing element, portrayed as Gemini, hermaphrodite and twin, now steers the stars of Constance Ledbelly, and offers her a double-edged re-birthday.† (6) Another tease that Constance’s two sides that will soon come together, and be revealed to her. Act I, The Prologue is full of dramatic significance. However it seems to be directly related to the characterization of Constance Ledbelly. By toying with the use of metaphors and clever wit, Ann-Marie MacDonald fully succeeds in her use of The Prologue to set up the main character of her play.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Crime Scene Sketching

Crime Scene Sketching The effect of modern media on crime scene investigation has led most people to believe that crimes are relatively easy to solve and may only take a day or two to complete. In actuality crime scene investigation is a lengthy process in which investigators can spend years investigating one crime. The components of crime scene investigation themselves can be rigorous and demanding depending on the circumstance.A vital piece of crime scene investigation is crime scene sketching; a tool that seems to be less in the forefront of modern television shows, perhaps because this is a less effective way to portray the gore that attracts the audience to most of these shows in comparison to crime scene photography that is often highlighted in shows like CSI. Crime scene sketching however is a critical part of crime scene investigation.Crime scene sketching in comparison to crime scene photography can capture a â€Å"bird’s eye† view of the crime scene, can show relativity between items and can offer a â€Å"whole crime scene picture† instead of being in fragmented pieces or from one particular angle like photographs. Crime scene sketching has been a long standing process in investigations and is a technique that has an abundance of benefits. It is a permanent record that provides supplemental information that is not easily accomplished with the exclusive use of crime scene photographs and notes.A crime scene sketch depicts the overall layout of a location and the relationship of evidentiary items to the surroundings. It can show the path a suspect or victim took and the distances involved. It can be used when questioning suspects and witnesses. During trial, the crime scene diagram correlates the testimony of witnesses and serves as a tool for relaying reference and orientation points to the prosecutor, judge and jury. A crime scene sketch is a rough drawing/scale model drawing composed by an investigating officer at the crime scene .The crime scene sketch is a simple line drawing that indicates the position of the body in relation to fixed and significant items in the scene (ex: a door, table or window)(Garrett). It is usually in addition to an officer’s written report and photographs. The crime scene sketch is an amazing visual aid, and because officers can choose which items to include in the sketch it can eliminate unnecessary items that photographs can’t like clutter or items that are unrelated, it also can highlight the significance of important items like the closeness between the victim and the murder weapon or unusual blood spatter. DOJ Wisconsin) It has been well established in court that a well drawn diagram is an aid to the judge, jury and witnesses in visualizing the crime scene. Their admissibility usually lies in their relevance and accuracy. This type of evidence may be referred to as illustrative or demonstrative evidence. (DOJ Wisconsin) Even poorly drawn sketches have been admit ted into evidence, as long as they are shown to be fair representations of the scene and it's surroundings. There are four types of crime scene sketches used in investigations; Overview sketches consist of a bird’s-eye-view or floor plan sketch of the scene.This is the most common type of sketch and consists of items on the horizontal plane. An elevation sketch portrays a vertical plane rather than a horizontal plane. Examples include bloodstain patterns on vertical surfaces such as walls or cabinetry and bullet holes through windows. Exploded view or cross-projection sketches consist of a combination of the first two sketches. It is similar to a floor plan except the walls have been laid out flat and objects on them have been shown in their relative positions.Perspective sketches depict the scene or item of interest in three dimensions. It is the most difficult sketch to create and requires some artistic skill. (Gerber, 216) When an investigating officer begins his sketch he must have paper (typically graph paper to include proper measurements to scale, but blank paper is often used), a pencil and eraser, a ruler or straight edge and a steel tape usually 100’ ft. It is also extremely beneficial to have a compass to determine true North.Measurements are an important part of the crime scene sketch, something that photographs cannot do. In photographs angles can make objects appear closer or further apart than they are in actuality. Drawing things to scale is not always necessary, although it is valuable to do so. Drawing sketches to scale avoids a distorted view of the scene; measurements must be reduced in proportion so that they bear correct relationship to each other; however, in drawing sketches not to scale Sketch can be accomplished more quickly than a scaled diagram.Items are placed in the diagram based on approximation by the investigator drawing the scene. This type of diagram may provide a distorted view of the scene. Correct proportions and relationships between objects may not be maintained. Measurements are recorded on the sketch or in a chart. This rough sketch may be used to complete a scaled diagram later. These diagrams should be clearly marked as not to scale. (Garrett) All measurements are taken from a fixed point, a door or window, stairs or a chimney. They should be exact and taken with a steel tape or ruler.Usually one investigator takes the sketch while another officer takes measurements and while investigators can often estimate relative distances or positions in rough sketches; measurements are taken for exact locations. In situations where no measurement instruments are available investigators can use pace measurements but these are not exact and are often less reliable and credible. (Hess and Orthmann) A crime scene drawing is one of the simplest and most effective ways to show measurements, these measurements are important because they show relativity and distance between significant items.The inv estigator has five ways to show these measurements in a crime scene drawing. These measurement techniques include: Straight-line in which two measurements are made, one from each side of the object, to a fixed point in the diagram. This method is usually used to mark positions of furniture or evidence against a wall like blood spatter. The second method an investigator can use is the rectangular coordinates or perpendicular distance method in which two measurements are taken at right angles of an item to the nearest two permanent objects, often walls.This method is usually the best way to mark the location of a body or other significant evidence. The polar coordinates or triangulation method is done by using a compass and a protractor, the investigator locates two fixed points and transfers this information to the sketch. Measurements are then taken from these two fixed points to the object, forming a triangle, where these two points intersect is the exact location of the object. Th e fourth method used for finding measurements is the base line method; this method is used for a scene that doesn’t have a straight perimeter like a large wooded area or a river.In the baseline method a straight line is drawn through the scene and each end is located and measured. A starting point is designated (ex: the north side of the river is determined the starting point) and the base line is then used as a reference for all of the other measurements. The final technique for measurements is the two fixed point method where an investigator takes two straight line measurements to two fixed points within the scene. In this method no right angle is required, but the two points used should not be close together.In a professional and legally correct crime scene sketch an officer will include a title block, this title block includes: the name and title of the investigator who drew the sketch, the date and time that the sketch was made, the classification of the crime (homicide, burglary etc. ), the identification of the victim if known, the agency’s case number, any names of persons assisting in taking measurements, the location of the location sketched, and the reference points included in the legend such as compass directions.Several CAD based programs are commercially available that can be used to create a professional and accurate crime scene diagram. With laptops becoming more common, these types of programs can be used at the scene to record measurements and generate sketches. These diagrams can also be generated back at the office using rough sketch(es) created at the scene. Portable devices now exist that can perform a 360 ° scan of a crime scene in as little as 20 minutes, capturing millions of measurements of all objects visible to the scanner. Dozens of high-resolution images are captured automatically.The device requires only the space needed by a standard photographer’s tripod. The data generated can be used to find the distan ce between any two points in the scene, to view the scene from any vantage point (including directly overhead), and to create a full-color, 3D model for investigative and courtroom purposes. (DOJ Wisconsin) With the benefits of crime scene sketching and the advancement of technology, crime scene sketching is more than ever being helpful in investigations and court. The benefit of crime scene sketching will continue to develop as more ways of crime scene sketching becomes available.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

The Greatest Source Of Risk - 930 Words

Response Speed Is Critical when Responding to Cyberthreats In the very early days of the internet, a hacker was most likely a lone wolf. He might be an unhappy customer, a disgruntled employee or a tech-savvy youth who just wanted to see if he could breach a target s defenses. Occasionally, a hacker might aspire to more devious crimes, including identity theft, blackmail, theft of trade secrets, exposure of personal information or monetary theft. These types of hackers were annoying, unnerving and potentially dangerous, but they seldom caused widespread damages or serious financial losses. Today, however, cybersecurity professionals face an entirely new group of hackers and an escalating number of attacks — and security strategies and tools have not been able to keep pace. The Modern Hackers The greatest source of risk comes from well-financed, sophisticated hackers who are often connected to a government that sanctions and supports their activities. These groups constantly refine their already impressive skills, and they are patient as well as persistent. They know how to circumvent defenses that rely on signatures or pattern matching, and they are adept at launching attacks that may take months to achieve fruition. For example, sophisticated hackers may launch an upstream attack aimed at companies that make the products that others use for security, including SSL certificates and other digital credentials. These credentials are then used to steal money,Show MoreRelatedEssay on code galore caselet758 Words   |  4 Pagesaccess it can be solved by using biometric security or face recognition methods as access methods that would make the data highly secure but since the company has cash crunch they can opt for access rights and permissions to the required users. 2 The source code from Skyhaven that is to be merged with the one from Codegalore is dispersed on workstations and servers alike. 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