Environmental Sciences: Air Pollution

Introduction:

“Air pollution is contamination of the indoor or outdoor environment by any chemical, physical or biological agent that modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere.” (WHO, n.d.) While it is good that the world is consistently advancing towards a technological innovation, there are several consequences that the environment is paying for these improvements. The increase on industrial machineries and equipment including the increase of vehicles used by the public or private sectors has affect the living situation in the developing cities because of limited access to clean air. “In 2019, World Health Organization (WHO) has considered air pollution as “the greatest environmental risk to health”. Not being aware of this is even greater risk. This blog post shines light on urban sources of air pollution and most common pollutants.” (Airqoon, 2022)

Main Topic:

“Natural sources of urban air pollution include volcanic eruptions, thunders, dust from the earth’s surface and naturally occurring particulate matter. Nevertheless, major factors that contribute to urban air pollution are anthropogenic activities, including transportation, domestic use of fossil fuels, industrialization, power generation, combustion and agriculture and beauty products.” (Airqoon, 2022)

It is true that in the urban city where I am situated has poor oxygen and the air is greatly polluted because of many factors especially because the city’s economy is developing. According to Airqoon (n.d.), the urban air pollution sources are as follows:

Transportation – because the number of vehicles operating in the urban areas are increasing, they have not only contributed to the traffic situation in the area but also to the air population. The use of vehicles, especially those that uses diesels or older models produces a great number of carbon gas into the air.

Domestic use of fossil fuels – the use of fossil fuels in the area is still occurring and is greatly contributing to the increase of air pollution.

Industrialization – because urban areas are developing cities, many industrial buildings are installed. These industrial buildings inject carbon gas into the open air which greatly affects the oxygen level of the area’s air space.

Power generation – “With increased population, there is an increased energy demand. To fulfill that demand, fossil fuels are tremendously being used to generate energy as they are cheap and readily. The coal powered power plants are a major source of urban air pollution.” (Airqoon, 2022)

Combustion and agriculture – “Combustion of material is an activity that releases toxic gases in the atmosphere and contributes to urban air pollution. Combustion releases CO₂ and incomplete combustion releases CO. Both of these gases lead to urban air pollution. Agriculture activities also release other gases in the atmosphere such as NO₂ and Methane (CH₄).” (Airqoon, 2022)

Beauty Products – “A recent study suggests that the use of beauty products also contributes to urban air pollution. Most of the cosmetics and perfumes contain VOCs, which are released during their use and contribute to urban air pollution. With more population, the use of these beauty products is increasing and so the pollution.” (Airqoon, 2022)

Indeed, the aforementioned factors are noticeably existing in the area where I am currently living. As compared to the rural areas, urban area’s way of living is challenging because of the lack of access to clean air which results to poor health caused by air pollution. The number of diseases driven by air pollution like cancer of the lungs has increased for urban areas. The living situation in the rural areas is by far different because there were limited job opportunities other than agricultural jobs but their health is likely higher than those who are living in the urban cities because they have clean air and have easy access to natural food like vegetables, fish and meat.

Conclusion:

To conclude this assignment, I believed that in order to protect the people residing in the urban cities from harm caused by air pollution, the government must establish and implement a policy that governs the industrial entities to use environment – friendly equipment in their production instead of using carbon emission - this will greatly decrease the air population in the area. In addition, vehicle modernization must be implemented to reduce the effects of carbon emission from vehicles whether from public or private sector. There are various vehicles in the market that is operated by electricity which does not produce carbon. It is important to understand that owning a luxurious car has a corresponding responsibility to the environment and to the health of the general public; therefore, choosing the right car to buy is very important. I would like to end this assignment by saying, we can still minimize this air pollution situation by planting more trees and rebuilding the forestry and be more responsible with our decisions especially when it affects the environment.

References:

World Health Organization (n.d.). Air Pollution. https://www.who.int/health-topics/air-pollution#tab=tab_1

Airqoon, (2022). Urban Air Pollution: Sources and Pollutants. Airqoon.com. https://www.airqoon.com/urban-air-pollution-sources-and-pollutants.html#:~:text=Nevertheless%2C%20major%20factors%20that%20contribute,and%20agriculture%20and%20beauty%20products.

 

Cyber Security in the Enterprise

Introduction:

In this paper, I will define and discuss what is cyber security in the enterprise and should be able to tackle who is responsible for cyber security within the enterprise. I will also define and discuss the information technology security, information security, and Enterprise security and what they meant to the business world today. In this paper, I will also discuss the role of the enterprise to cyber security.

 “Enterprise cybersecurity is everything that protects a company’s data, resources, and users/customers from cyberattacks. It includes protecting on-premise data, cloud-based data, and the large number of endpoints through which cyberattacks can come. It also includes analyzing data routes between devices, networks, and people, and making those as secure as possible.” (Data Dome, 2022)

Phishing, vishing and other cybersecurity threats are everywhere and can be accessed in just a click of your finger. Organizations must protect the data they have collected especially for information that are personal and confidential. Cyber thieves use various methods to hack the company’s system and steal data that they can use to do fraudulent transactions like cloning identity to steal money from your account. No organization should neglect cybersecurity in the enterprise.

“Hackers and fraudsters are always looking for unprotected targets, even if they’re small. So all companies need cybersecurity. But some industries are more vulnerable to cyberattacks than others.” (Data Dome, 2022)

 

Main Topic:

Information Technology (IT) Security is defined by Cisco (n.d.) as “a set of cybersecurity strategies that prevents unauthorized access to organizational assets such as computers, networks, and data. It maintains the integrity and confidentiality of sensitive information, blocking the access of sophisticated hackers.”

Hackers are becoming innovative nowadays, they have engaged into various activities to penetrate your systems. Some of the threats are ransomware, malware and viruses. There are several types of IT security some of these types are Network security, Internet security, Endpoint security, Cloud security, and Application security. These types of IT security are targeted by the hackers which will cost the company millions if hacking is successful.

“Information security refers to the processes and tools designed to protect sensitive business information from invasion, whereas IT security refers to securing digital data, through computer network security.” (Cisco, n.d.) Information Security as per aforementioned definition, it focuses on the data or sensitive information collected by the organization which includes customers’ private data which are protected by various laws. Information Security refers to protection of information collected by the organization to mitigate risks like cloning or identity thief. Imagine paying for credit card charges which you have never used but because someone else is using your identity or information to purchase anything they wanted, the bills will be our burden.

 “Enterprise security is the process of securing private data and information assets using solutions that can scale across dynamic and highly distributed environments.” (Cisco, n.d.) security management for an enterprise is critical as it will definitely impact not only the business but its stakeholders too. The organization must build a strong enterprise security to minimize these risks and to maintain relationship between the business, its clients, investors and customers.

Conclusion:

To conclude, cybersecurity is very important not only to the businesses but to each one of us. Everyone is at risk if we don’t take care of our personal data especially when using it over the internet. To answer who is responsible for cybersecurity in the enterprise, it is simple, an enterprise is composed of various departments who handles different concerns like IT related concern, customer service or even front line employees, thus, everyone in the enterprise is responsible and must be trained and informed about cybersecurity. Each individual must know what is cybersecurity, how to mitigate risks and how to report incidents related to cybersecurity. With this, the enterprise should be able to maintain good relationship with its client, investors, and customers. Therefore, business will be gaining more income and keep its employees for building trust and keeping the information secured. The role of business to cybersecurity is to ensure that not only the company’s network, tools and systems are protected from hackers or thief but also the information that they have collected from its investors, clients and customers.

References:

 Enterprise Cybersecurity: What It Is & Best Practices (2022). Data Dome. https://datadome.co/bot-management-protection/enterprise-security/

What Is IT Security? (n.d.). Cisco. https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/security/what-is-it-security.html

What is enterprise IT security? (n.d.). Cisco. https://www.appdynamics.com/topics/enterprise-security

Reaction Paper: The Equifax Data Breach

 Introduction

Equifax is a credit reporting company operates across the United States since 1899, its headquarter is located at Atlanta. The company stores sensitive personal data used to help companies in diverse industry to make decisions based on the reports and analytics that Equifax provides. It is their mission to help people live their financial best. (Equifax, n.d.)

This paper will answer the following questions; Which elements of this case might involve issues of legal compliance? Which elements illustrate acting legally but not ethically? What would acting ethically and with personal integrity in this situation look like? How do you think this breach will affect Equifax’s position relative to those of its competitors? How might it affect the future success of the company? Was it sufficient for Equifax to offer online privacy protection to those whose personal information was hacked? What else might it have done?

Apart from providing answers to the required questions, I will also provide conclusion based on my understanding about this week’s topic related to the issue that Equifax engaged into.

Main Topic

The elements of this case might involve issues but not limited to data privacy and the company’s failure to implement and invest in a secured system to protect the consumer’s personal identifiable information that they stored in their system. The risk of stolen identity which can be used for fraudulent transactions like taking out loans and abuse of credit cards are higher and the compony should be liable for that. Equifax failed to adhere to IT and legal ethics which cost the company and its consumers a huge amount of damage from the stolen data.

Another element would be the selling of stocks when the issue has been found internally to safe keep their investments but prior to publicly advise that there had been a breach of information in which they have projected that the stocks will definitely go down and that it will result to huge loss to its investors, executives and CEO.

Although, the company complied to its legal obligation to announce the security breach, it is obviously unethical and suspicious because they announce it at a later date. This only shows the public that the company have been keeping the issue behind the public which is unethical because it is the public’s personal information involved in the issue.

Being caught in the same situation is unimaginably terrible as thousands of personal information has been stolen but the company should have adhered to legal and ethical actions like informing the public about the breach and invest into technologies which will strengthen the security of the information that are safe and to retrieved those that are stolen. Providing compensation to the stolen data and consumers that their data has been used for fraud.

The fact that Equifax’s stock rapidly went down after the issue has been publicized, it is very evident that its competitors has gain more consumers and earned more because of this issue. The loss of its consumers and their trust are the biggest factors that the competitors had to take advantage in order to increase their profit and expand their consumers.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Equifax will definitely feel the impact of this issue in the future. The public may not focus on this issue in the next few years but definitely, they will remember why they shouldn’t trust their personal information to the company – it is very hard to rebuild the trust especially when you had experienced it or you had witnessed it happening to your friends and neighbors. The company offering online privacy protection to the information who were stolen and hacked is not enough to please these consumers. I thought it would be best that the company will compensate possible damages to the affected consumers and provides a strong promise to better their system by investing into technologies that provide strong security in terms of protecting its consumer’s personal identifiable information.

References:

Who we are (n.d.). Equifax. https://www.equifax.com/about-equifax/who-we-are/

Leopard, A. (2017). Legal Implications and Initial Takeaways from the Equifax Data Breach. Bradley. https://www.bradley.com/insights/publications/2017/09/legal-implications-and-initial-takeaways-from-the-equifax-data-breach

Bryars, M. et al, (2018). Business Ethics. OpenStax is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution License v4.0. ISBN-13: 978-1-947172-57-9. https://openstax.org/books/business-ethics/pages/1-2-ethics-and-profitability

 

Reaction Paper: “Tucked In, Tucked Out” Case Study

 Introduction:

According to SHRM (2017), “Dress codes are used to communicate to employees what the organization considers appropriate work attire. A dress code or appearance policy allows an employer to set expectations regarding the image it wants the company to convey. Dress codes can be formal or informal and might include the use of uniforms.”

In this paper, I will discuss how clothing preferences affects the relationships we form at work or in other business situation. I will also provide my personal opinion about workplace dress code and explain how far should employees go in setting dress and other behavior standard. To add, I will provide few reasons why these standards are important (or not) from an ethical perspective. Lastly, I will tackle how clothing might affect an international company’s approach to business ethics.

Main Topic:

In the modern world where fashion is becoming a trend and many clothing styles are released, I believe that this does not change how people perceives the appearance of an individual. The way how we dress up helps us present ourselves better, for example, in a business event, it would be appropriate to wear business suits whether a modern style or old-fashioned suit – so long that it will make you fit in to the event’s theme.

It is our right to choose our own fashion but it is very important that our choices are within the acceptable standard especially when at work. Presenting yourself in a way that your friends and colleague will respect you as one of the employees in the company is ethical because you are abiding to the policy imposed while making sure that we are not giving everyone an opportunity to discriminate you because of how you dress.

I am agreeing to the idea of imposing a specific dress code but not to the extent that a company will impose a specific uniform for its employee because it will limit the employee’s expression to fashion. Dress code is an important policy within the organization as it will help the organization minimize discrimination and sexual harassment issues. People are accustomed to perceived and judged an individual based on how s/he is dressed, for example, wearing a dress that perceives sexual attraction will definitely result to possible sexual harassment issues; therefore, dress code must be implemented.

Imposing a dress code policy within the organization is ethical because it will minimize the issues related to physical presentation without limiting the individual’s expression to art and fashion. It is ethical because it does not discriminate social status, gender expression and self-expression in terms of fashion preferences.

Conclusion:

To conclude this paper, clothing may greatly affect globally operating companies’ approach to business ethics because it would be better to implement a global standard policy specific to the way how their employees should present themselves. For example, a large corporation who operates multi-nation implements casual business attire to all of its employees regardless of the position. This policy will restrict liberated designs to avoid discrimination and harassment issues. Employees can still express their clothing preferences by choosing designs or style that are closely similar to casual business attire without flaunting their public parts to the general public.

References:

SHRM (2017). Managing Employee Dress and Appearance. Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). System ID: 285739810. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/employeedressandappearance.aspx

Byars, S. M., & Stanberry, K. (2019). Business ethics. OpenStax College and Rice University. Retrieved from:  https://opentextbc.ca/businessethicsopenstax/

What ethical issues arise when a company decides to build its business in the inner city versus building its business in the suburbs or country?

Depending on how the business is structured, it is very important that companies create an innovative proposal to avoid ethical issues. The most common ethical issues that may arise when a company – especially the giant corporations – build their business in the inner city are as follows:

Environmental issues – it is very important that the structure of the building is in adherence to environmental guidelines, most common are air pollution, solid waste management and many other effects.

Fair competition issues – this is when small entrepreneurs can no longer sustain and compete because large companies are dominating the area. This will create concerns on fairness from those small and start up entrepreneurs.

Because the company will resource talents from outside the city, it will not help the city’s employment rate and therefore, this will create ethical issues related to fair employment especially to those who will be affected and relocated by the construction of the business.

This will also cause an issue related to road and traffic management as their will now be an increase on vehicles running to and from the city. Sourcing talents outside the city will boost the number of vehicles traveling to and from the city which will affect the traffic and air pollution.

 

Proper Education: A powerful tool to address social dilemmas

 

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