The Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting At The Shepherd Of The...

The Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, otherwise simply known as the â€Å"Golden Key Group AA meeting,† that I attended was held on Saturday, November 8th, in Whittier, California, at the Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran church. To be more exact, it was held in a classroom located at the back of the church property, far from the twinkling, multicolored lights of the chapel in the front. The classroom was overfilled, with many people standing outside, leaning their heads in to listen. Chairs were offered to women and those who were ill, and one woman cradled her infant daughter, walking back and forth down the external hall. The huddled masses of people were squeezed together in a room with dim fluorescent lighting, with a great deal of them clutching onto Starbucks cups and thumbing their key chains, anxious to leave. The smell of cheap perfume and cologne wafted into the air, covering the unmistakable hints of vodka, beer, tequila. The mood was overwhelmingly reverent, and I couldn’t decide if it was more out of fear or genuine respect. Greetings were exchanged between regulars, cigarettes were smoked and crushed and smoked again, and a small box of cookies remained on the table, unopened. No one wanted cookies. Everyone wanted a drink. To put it frankly, the scene was depressing, and on more than a few levels. For me, it was the fact that I’d attended AA meetings in my youth with my father, who was an alcoholic. The overwhelming emptiness of the scene reminded me of those times,

American Culture And Business Culture - 1719 Words

Introduction This report consists of the issues on whether it can or cannot be argued that culture shapes the way business is done in a country. The country that is focused in this report is America. It also discusses on the major distinguishing features of American culture and business culture in comparison to current Australian culture. The impact that culture has on business performance is also taken into consideration and how this affects the performance of the staff members and their work. In addition, this report also includes concepts where Australia as a country could maybe adopt ways of American business culture or develop on the existing culture. The purpose of this report is to develop a fair understanding on various cultures†¦show more content†¦Exactly as Cultures far and wide have affected American society, today American society impacts the world. As the third largest nation on the planet with a population of more than 315 Million, the United States is the most socially va ried nation on the planet. Australian society then again is altogether different to that of American society. For example, Australians are not as devoted as Americans. A portion of the patriotism could be ascribed to the noteworthy exhibit of American accomplishments that incorporates landing on the moon, taking a heading part in stopping Nazi Germany, designing the web and winning 30% of Nobel prizes. Then again, in Australia patriotism is been considered as a negative idea in a few viewpoints. However, Australians demonstrate their appreciation by directing ANZAC days for officers and many others. A standout amongst the most vital distinction that I have generally perceived is the society contrast in Universities. Australian colleges are more subject to government for examination subsidizing, which has delivered as learned society characterized by promotion as opposed to interest. Additionally, of course, few individuals inside the colleges see any issues with Australia s intelligent surroundings as helping the poor rankings. For example, when clarifying Australia s low positioning in 2014, University of Melbourne vice-chancellor Glyn Davis credited them to the cuts on government financing. The

Res 351 Free Essays

Preparing to Conduct Business Research: Part 3 RES/351 February 20, 2012 Age discrimination is existent. Older employees are defined as members of the â€Å"mature† generation (58 or more years old); younger employees are members of three generations—the Baby Boom (post World War II or 38 – 57 year olds), Generation X (23 – 37 year olds), and Generation Y (18 – 22 year olds). The key to a company’s future success will be its adaptability – its capacity to deploy resources quickly to seize competitive opportunities and to draw from a labor pool that features a mix of multi-skilled, full-time workers, and specifically-skilled, contingent employees who contribute on a part-time or temporary basis† (Hall and Mirvis, 1998). We will write a custom essay sample on Res 351 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Research is conducted when individuals or businesses want to find out the connection, if any, between two or more things. This paper will discuss, â€Å"Will hiring younger employees to take the place of older employees increase the productivity of a business? We will be discussing the different aspects of finding a solution to this very question. We are going to focus on four areas within our research. They will be broken down by significance, scope, magnitude, and feasibility of finding a solution to our question. We will discuss how using these different aspects of our research will help us determine the purpose of conducting our research. Working in businesses in which you have to make life changing decisions can be stressful. Factors to consider with this topic are age, experience, knowledge, and productivity. The final solution will impact current employees and potential new hires; therefore, businesses need to be fair in the decision(s) being made and make sure it is in the best interest of all parties involved. Businesses must examine every aspect of a situation to avoid discrimination lawsuits, loss of business, or an increase in employee turnover. Overall, happy employees will produce an efficient workflow and exhibit a more positive attitude toward the company as well. â€Å"The two criteria to judge feasibility are cost required and value to be attained† (Wikipedia. com). Many solutions can be prepared for various situations within a business environment. However, each solution needs to be logical and suitable for the situation. Businesses should test possible solutions to see which one will be the most beneficial by using feasibility studies. â€Å"Feasibility studies aim to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and weaknesses of the existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats as presented by the environment, the resources required to carry through, and ultimately the prospects for success† (Wikipedia. om). The magnitude of finding a solution to the issue of whether or not hiring younger employees will increase productivity is very high. The business needs to continue to make a profit in this economy and if hiring young people is the solution, it is imperative that we make sure the solution is found. This task should not be difficult, however, as long as the decision making process is followed. We created resear ch questions, a hypothesis, decided on what the variables are, and considered the ethical complications. Following legal guidelines and the process of finding the solution will help us get to the right answer. The magnitude of finding the right answer is enormous since our business depends on it. Older workers are often liable to encounter difficulties in employment and occupation because of prejudices about their capacities and willingness to learn, a tendency to discount their experiences, and market pressures to hire younger workers who are often cheaper to employ. To increase productivity and eliminate discrimination when it comes to younger employees versus older employees, the following measures could be taken to have a more productive workplace: (1) Set up a policy establishing clear procedures on non-discrimination and equal opportunities; and communicate it amongst all employees, (2) Provide training at all levels of the organization, in particular for those involved in recruitment and selection, as well as supervisors and managers, to help raise awareness and encourage people to take action against discrimination, (3) Set measurable goals and specific time frames to achieve objectives, (4) Modify work organization and distribution of tasks as necessary to avoid negative effects on the treatment and advancement of particular groups of workers, and (5) Address complaints, handle appeals and provide recourse to employees in cases where discrimination is identified. To determine whether hiring younger versus older employees increase productivity in the workplace, there are a few questions that need to be researched in order to analyze the situation. (1) If we hire younger employees, will this be an open opportunity for a lawsuit for age discrimination? (2) Will productivity increase, decrease, or stay the same with younger employees? (3) Will it be cost effective to hire younger people who may be entitled to more compensation? The employer who would decide to replace older workers with younger workers to increase productivity, with the thought younger people are more energetic, therefore could work faster than older people. The younger employees may be easier to train and retain information better than older employees. They may also look at the younger employees as being more comfortable with new and advanced technology. There are four variables to consider when it comes to making a decision about hiring the younger versus older employee. The variables are the independent variable, dependant variable, confounding variable, and the intervening variable. The independent variable is hiring younger employees to replace older employees. The dependent variable is the increase in productivity. The confounding variable is younger employees have fresh ideas. Lastly, the intervening variable is training the new employees. The research design that best suites how the information was researched was the Quasi-Experimental research. With using this particular research for our topic, the quasi-experiment treats a given situation as an experiment, even though it is not wholly by design. The independent variable may not be manipulated by the researcher, treatment and control groups may not be randomized or matched, or there may be no control group. The researcher is limited in what he or she can say conclusively. The significant element of quasi-experiments is the measure of the dependent variable, which it allows for comparison. Some data is quite straightforward, but other measures, such as level of self-confidence in writing ability, increase in creativity or in reading comprehension are obviously subjective. In such cases, uasi-experimentation often involves a number of strategies to compare subjectivity, such as rating data, testing, surveying, and content analysis (Colorado State University. edu). One type of instrument that would be very useful in our research would be interviews. Interviews are a systematic way of communicating through talking and listening. â€Å"Through the knowledge of conversation â€Å"(KMExecutive, 2010), data can be collected on what new younger employees can bring to the organization, and how they feel they would better benefit the company over an experienced older employee. Within the interview, the interviewer and interviewee are able to become involved with talking about their views, and their perception and interpretation of the situation. With the use of interviews in the survey method, we can initially get some very valuable information necessary for finding the key to hiring new younger employees within the company to help boost productivity, without causing any legal issues or moral falls with the older employees. In the interview section of the survey, we will be able to find out from the new potential employees what they want to bring to the table to boost our needs. Also, by doing one-on-one interviews with the older employees, we will be able to find out what areas have become complacent and what areas do not need to be touched. This will allow for us to find out if we need to hire new employees, for which section(s), and which ones we are able to leave alone. This will definitely eliminate the unnecessary desire for older employees of these areas to retaliate against the company. Another instrument type we could use would be experiments. It would definitely benefit the organization to see if the new younger employees were able to provide the company with more production, especially if there is training involved. We would take the experimental variable (the younger verses the older) and put them to work side by side to see which one is more productive. This will give us an idea if we need to train more, or reconsider hiring new and getting rid of the old. By developing the constants, the researchers can evaluate the effect of the changes to the production quality and quantity. We would be able to test the effectiveness, appeal, and sales of various products that the organization is planning on developing or selling. WE can divide the population into two groups, the younger group and the older group. In order to help solve the issue of whether or not hiring younger employees will increase the productivity in the workplace, we must take some samples. Samples help to determine which decision is the best. The type of sampling that will best suit this issue is probability, or random sampling. This will avoid any bias on the company’s part. This ensures that the participants will be random and of all ages. Survey questionnaires will be used as a sampling frame within a 30 day period. Each person randomly selected will have to complete the survey questionnaire which will contain all of the information needed to make an informed decision. The sampling size will be determined by the amount of employees of the organization. While we cannot sample everyone we do want to give the issue a fair sampling size. We will want to sample the majority of them, around 75%. Therefore, if there are 20 employees, 15 will be sampled by using the survey questionnaire. â€Å"A statistical test provides a mechanism for making quantitative decisions about a process or processes. The intent is to determine whether there is enough evidence to â€Å"reject† a conjecture or hypothesis about the process; the conjecture is called the null hypothesis† (itl. nist. gov). â€Å"A set of data can only reject a null hypothesis or fail to reject it. For example, if comparison of two groups (e. g. : treatment, no treatment) reveals no statistically significant difference between the two, it does not mean that there is no difference in reality. It only means that there is not enough evidence to reject the null hypothesis (in other words, the experiment fails to reject the null hypothesis)† (wikipedia. com). Based the types of instruments used such as experiments and interviews, to collect data pertaining to our topic of choice, the best statistical test to use would be the t-test. â€Å"The t-test assesses whether the means of two groups are statistically different from each other (socialresearchmethods. net). With our topic comparing the productivity among older employees versus younger employees, we can better determine if age does or does not play a significant factor in current or future workflow processes and the implementation of new creative ideas. The results will be displayed as â€Å"the actual difference between two means in relation to the variation in the data (expressed as the standard deviation of the difference between the means)† (biology. ed. ac. uk). In this case, the two means are the older employees and younger employees; the variation in the data would be the productivity of the workflow, whether it would increase, decrease, or remain the same. Everyone who wants to work should be able to and no one deserves to be judged by their age or any other factor that does not relate to their productivity (nytimes. com/2009). Considerations that should be taken into account  when it  involves hiring a younger versus older employee are discrimination and stereotyping. The repercussions of age-based communication and productivity can be devastating to older employees; this could lead to a decline in their self esteem and mental well-being. Discriminating against older employees could also lead to lawsuits; which eventually has a bad look on the employers. The steps in performing any type of research is crucial for finding the right answer to any situation that may arise. With the issue of determining whether or not hiring younger employees to increase productivity, there is no answer. The quality of work and range of experience of one individual versus the next can make or break the moral of the employees in the workplace (Stanford). Therefore, changes in the workplace can be beneficial to the business as long as the basis does not conflict with business ethics. The significance of finding a solution is going to help eliminate the chances of having a lawsuit because of age discrimination. It will allow us to continue to grow as a business instead of losing business, and will help in decreasing employee turnover. Part of the significance is to create a happy work environment with a more productive workflow. The Scope of finding a solution is the investigation into what will happen and the plan of action to make it happen. Within the scope we can determine what the negatives and positives will come of the solution. Magnitude will allow the company to continue to grow by increasing the productivity, and if this can be done with younger employees, then we need to make the changes the right way to incorporate this for our organization. This will possibly be a significant change, so we need to be prepared to make adjustments so we do not lose any productivity in the process of making the change. The last part of our discussion takes us into the feasibility of finding the correct solutions to our issue. Here we discussed five ways to make this happen, such as create a policy for this type of situation, provide training for all levels to discourage discrimination, set goals to achieve objectives, make modifications to avoid negative effects of each group being changed, and address any complaints of discrimination that may have been founded earlier. Understanding our research process will help us determine the correct way to make the needed changes within the organization without the possibility of having severe repercussions. As an organization, it is important to do the needed research that will be certain to create more jobs in the future, and possibly prevent any lawsuits or discrimination acts in the process. References Hall, Douglas T. and Philip H. Mirvis (1998). â€Å"Increasing the value of older workers: Flexible employment and lifelong learning. † In James A. Auerbach (ed. ), Through a Glass Darkly: Building the New Workplace for the 21st Century. NPA Report #289. Washington D. C. : National Policy Association. Retrieved from: http://www. zurichna. com/NR/rdonlyres/AEFC0FF5-EE0B-4765-B5D4-F640D99E1412/0/Designingtheworkplacefortheagingworkforce. pdf Retrieved from: http://www. ilo. org/empent/areas/business-helpdesk/faqs/WCMS_DOC_ENT_HLP_BDE_FAQ_EN/lang–en/index. html Retrieved from: http://writing. colostate. edu/guides/research/experiment/pop3e. cfm Retrieved from: http://www. socialresearchmethods. net/kb/quasnegd. php Retrieved from: http://www. experiment-resources. com/randomization. html#ixzz1m8h0k9Zh Retrieved from: http://ibpsychology. wetpaint. com/page/Non-experimental+Research+Methods Schindler, D. C. (20011). Business Research Methods (11th ed. ). In a. P. D Cooper. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Trochim, W. M. (2006, October 20). Introduction to Evalution. Retrieved February 10, 2012, from Research Methods Knowledge Base: http://www. socialresearchmethods. net/kb/intreval. php Trochim, W. M. (2006, October 20). Types of Surveys. Retrieved February 10, 2012, from Research Methods Knowledge Base: http://www. socialresearchmethods. net/kb/survtype. php Survey. (2012). Retrieved from http://www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/survey KMExecutive. (2010). The Knowledge Management Executive. Retrieved from http://kmexecutive. logspot. com/2010/03/gathering-company-knowledge. html 7. 1. 3. What are statistical tests? (2003 – 2010). Retrieved from http://www. itl. nist. gov/div898/handbook/prc/section1/prc13. htm The T-Test. (2006). Retrieved from http://www. socialresearchmethods. net/kb/stat_t. php Null hypothesis. (2012). Retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Null_hypothesis Student’s t-test. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. biology. ed. ac. uk/research/groups/jdeacon/statistics/tress4a. html Learning Team Log Group: Team ASubmission Date: 2/20/12 Course: RES 351 Meeting Type: In-Person E-mail Internet Chat Teleconference XOther Team Forum Student Name (printed) |X = Participated |  x | | |  x | |  x |  x | |Learning Objectives and Assigned Tasks |Activities and Outcomes | | |Combine the three parts of the Preparing to Conduct Business | | |Research assignment to develop a cohesive research proposal of no more than 2,450 words. | |Include the following elements: | | |Research problem and purpose | | |Significance, scope, magnitude, and feasibility of finding a solution to the issue, opportunity, or problem | | |Research question, hypothesis, and variables | | |Research design | |Instrument you developed or selected | | |Sampling method | | |Overall data analysis approach | | |Result reportin g | | |Ethical considerations | | |   | | |Discuss the overall data analysis approach and result reporting: | | |Which statistical test will be used and why? | | |How will the results be displayed? | |Using the T-test | | |Actual difference between two means | | |   | | |Completing the team log | | |Develop or select the instruments your team will use to collect data. | | |Interview instrument. | | |Talking and listening | | |Different views on situations | | |Experiment instrument. | |Working side by side | | |Comparing productivity between young and old employees | |   |Describe how you will sample the population: | | |What is the appropriate sampling method? | | |What sampling frame will be used? | | |What is the appropriate sampling size? | | |How will the sample size be determined? | | | | |Probability and random sampling | | |Using survey questionnaires | | |All age groups | | |30 days for sampling | | |75% of the employees | | |   | Students’ Responsibility: Participation in Learning Team activities is an important factor in determining each student’s final course grade. Team members should work together to complete this form and submit it at the workshop following the team meeting. The log should provide details regarding the meeting, the attendance/participation of members, the results and actions of the team, and reflections regarding how the team process might be improved. Plus/Delta Exercise: What went well? What didn’t go well? What will we do differently next time? Everyone in our group works hard in participating within the week. The only problem we run into is if there is a situation that prohibits a person from completing their assigned tasks on time, but for this group, it hasn’t hurt us because we keep in constant communication about those issues, and we work around them. For this group, there isn’t anything that we can do different, we keep everyone informed throughout the week of what is going on, when we need help someone always steps up to provide assistance, and the tasks are laid out so that it is very clear as to what each participant has to accomplish and when it needs to be in. Overall this group has been great, and has taken every opportunity to progress in a great team effort. How to cite Res 351, Essay examples

Benefits of Social Networks Use in Business-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the the benefits and drawbacks of Social Networks use in Business. Answer: Introduction Social networks are a system of social connections and individual relations. It is the process of increasing business connections by building new networks through social media websites. Various organisations use social networks for business transactions, to increase the speed and security of the communications. There are numerous gigantic brands such as Pepsi, Adidas, and Dominos, who have used social networks to their advantages and get success. The small and medium enterprises are still sceptical regarding the use of social media. Social media has several disadvantages along with the benefits. The risks of social networking include cyber bullying, online harassment, and cyber crimes. The report will discuss regarding benefits and drawbacks of using social networking in a corporation. Project Objective The objective of this report is to ascertain the benefits and drawbacks of social networks use in businesses. In modern times, various giant companies use social networks to increase the efficiency and security of their communications. The social networks are the significantly great place to market their products. The social network provides a significantly larger audience to appeal their products. The usage of social networks has various disadvantages as well. Project Scope The report will discuss regarding the advantages and disadvantages of adopting a social network system in the organisation. Further, the report will analyse the perspective of various companies in order to ascertain the benefits and drawbacks of using the social network in the organisation. The project will discuss the theories of various market experts to ascertain the rewards and shortcomings of using social networks. Literature review Social networks are an internet based platform to help people communicate with their friends, family, colleagues, and customers. Various organisation uses social networks in order to communicate with their employees. There are several other uses of social media, such as getting customers feedback, product marketing, market research and worldwide reach. Role of Social Networking The use of Social networks in organisations has been increased rapidly in past decade. The companies could use social networks in collecting data from customers, brand marketing, creating new contacts and communicating in the workplace. Social media help companies connecting with their customers. The organisation could get direct feedback from their customers regarding their products or services. The use of social networks is cheaper than using another medium of communication. The companies can approach a wide range of audience with the use of social media (Cheung Lee 2010). According to Holly Paquette, a professor at the University of Rhode Island, many corporations use social networks in marketing their businesses. The cost of advertising on social media is significantly cheaper than comparing to other mediums of advertisings, such as television, radios or billboards. By advertising to a larger audience, an organisation could significantly increase their sales. Social networks increase the companys engagement with their customers. The customers can give their queries or provide their feedback, directly to the corporation. Social networks help corporation in enhancing their business outside their domestic country. The company can market their products or services easily in the foreign markets, with the help of social networks. The organisation could increase their foreign contacts with the use of social media. The corporations could conduct market research with the social networks to recognise their brand's reputation in the market or the requirements of their customers. Following are some ways in which an organisation can use the social network in business (Aral, Dellarocas Godes 2013): Increase the efficiency of targeting customers Expansion of customers Instantaneous feedback from consumers Cost efficient Help in creating better customer relationship Building brand awareness and increase the exposure of company Benefits of Social Networks In modern time, a company can benefit heavily from adopting a social network strategy for their organisation. For sustaining grow of an enterprise in the future, implementing social network policy in business is essential. The advantages of adopting a social network policy include cost reduction, expansion of companys audience, better marketing exposure, faster growth, quality communication and instant feedback (Woodcock, Green Starkey 2011). Marketing According to the research conducted by Brennan (2014), Social media is an essential part of every company marketing policy. More than 90 percent of market experts have claimed that social media expands the exposure of an organisation. The use of social network strategy significantly reduced the time and resources spent by companies on marketing. Following are the benefits of marketing a company on social networks: Expansion of Brand Awareness: Using a social network marketing policy can increase the business visibility in the market. The social networks assist companies in engaging with a wide-ranging audience. It is easy for an organisation to market their products in various countries. Increase in Inbound Traffic: If a company did not imply a social media strategy, the inbound traffic is restricted to its usual consumers. The organisation can in increase its audience by marketing their products online. Improved Customer Satisfaction: Social networks provide the customers a place for communication and interacting with the company. Customers can directly post their feedback or quarry on organisations website and the enterprises can get a better knowledge of their customers requirements. Cost-Effective: The companies can significantly reduce their cost of marketing by adopting social network strategy. Most of the social networks are free and many have comparatively lowered costs related to other marketing strategies. The research of Manthiou (2012) proved that various companies have used the social networks to their marketing advantages. The organisation, such as Pampers, Netflix, Old spice, Staples and many others, uses their social media posts to market their products online. These companies get involved in popular culture news and use them to market their product online. Wendys, a popular American fast food chain, uses the social media to post funny things which create a popular image of the brand in the customer's mind. Communication An organisation can increase the efficiency and security of communication, between employees, clients, and suppliers, by adopting a social network method for communication. The companies can implement both internal and external communication platforms. There are several advantages of using the social network for communication such as (Sarker, Ahuja, Sarker Kirkeby 2011): The employees can discuss ideas, post quarries and share news regarding their tasks. The social networks allow employees to easily collaborate on business projects. Social networks assist in faster decision-making between employees because it is easier for them to give feedback or ask a quarry. The companies can introduce self-help groups in employees to reduce their work stress and motivate them to share their problems. It helps the company in building a strong culture at the workplace. Social networks help in widen an organisations business contacts. The companies can increase their communication and networking with their suppliers or business partners. Implementing social network policy increases the reputation of an organisation. The enterprise can increase its connections and find new business opportunities for the organisation. Better communication with customers increases the brand loyalty of the company. Social networks assist in market research, implementing campaigns and straight communication with interested persons. The organisation can evaluate their place in the market and create future strategies by analysing their customers. There are several new applications that companies used to increase their workplace communication. The application such as Slack, Socialcast, and Yammer help increase the efficiency and security of internal communication. The communication softwares provides facilities such as team collaboration, easy file sharing and group chat to increase the productivity of employees (Lanubile, Ebert, Prikladnicki Vizcaino 2010). Increase in Sales The organisation can significantly enhance their market share by approaching to a newer audience. New customers can find a companys products by searching for similar things. The use of social networks gives a company truly global approach in the market. The customers in different countries can easily find and buy products of companies, this approach helps in enhancing sales of the organisation. With the increase in ecommerce websites, companies can easily import or export products from various countries. Traditionally, the organisation has local customers and to increase their sales they have to open new outlets, but with the help of social networks, one shop can sell its products worldwide (Stephen Galak 2012). The online shopping market is booming with giant players such as Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Alibaba. A research conducted by Robischon (2017) provided that Amazon is one of the largest electronic commerce or online shopping company in the world. The company had revenue of US$135.98 billion in 2016 and on a peak day the company sold more than 26 million items. The social networks provide customers the facility to order from their home and choose from a vast variety of items. Research Online platforms enhance communication between the company and its customers, helping them in creating better products according to customers requirements. The research of Bryman (2015) showed that the organisation can engage with their audience and improve their relationship by using social networks. The market research helps companies to know their worth in the market and the desires of consumers. The employees of an organisation can post their ideas and quarries online which assist the company in creating the better working environment. Drawbacks of Using Social Networks For the past decade, the social networks have grown rapidly in the daily activities of organisation and individuals. The companies use social networks for various purposes such as marketing, research, online sales, and communication. The social networks have numerous benefits but there are several drawbacks as well. The disadvantages of social networks include cyber crimes, hacking, security issues, false advertising and daily monitoring (Belbey 2015). The companies should analyse these drawbacks while adopting a social network strategy. Hacking Hacking is the process of obtaining unauthorised access to information in a computer or system. Many people hack the systems of large organisation in order to collect sensitive data for their advantages. The paper of Collins (2008) discusses that using social networks increases the chances of hacking in an organisation. The companies have to pay high amounts to get firewalls or security to avoid hacking, which are not benefitial for organisation. In past few years, many popular companies have become the victim of hacking such as Yahoo, Ashley Madison, Sony, HBO, Home Depot, JP Morgan, eBay and many other companies. Ashley Madison suffered huge losses due to the hacking of their user's profiles. The significant loss is suffered by HBO after leaking of their hit popular series episodes Game of Thrones on the internet. The hackers leak the sensitive data of the company and their users on the internet, such as passwords, bank information, and personal data (Groden 2015). Inside Risks The companies have to check their social media accounts many times in a day because dissatisfied consumers or workers can post deleterious comments that are not always removable. There is a risk of human error as well. The organisations have to invest addition costs for securing their data. According to Rosenblatt (2015), the inside risk on social networks is high because unlike hacking it is done by inside persons. The attack on Morgan Stanley was a good example of inside attack on the company. According to cyber security expert Lucas Zaichkowsky, there is a high probability of insider attacks happening and there is nothing that companies could do to stop such attacks. Clear Strategy The companies are required to create clear and strong social networks strategies. Not having a clear policy for marketing or social networks could decrease the benefits of an enterprise. The strategy should cover all the aspect of the business and must approach to a larger audience. The cost of hiring an outside expert for creating strategies could be significantly high. The social network strategy impacts the reputation of a company online and one mistake could reduce the status of the company. The giant players such as Coca-Cola have made a mistake in their social network strategy. The company tweets a photo of snow covered Russian map, omitting Kaliningrad. The Russian gets angry and poured the Coca-Cola soft drink in the toilets with Ban Coca-Cola hash tag. Seoul Secret, a beauty products enterprise, runs a campaign saying White makes you win, causing social media backlash on the company (Friedman 2016). Cost In order to secure their social media accounts, companies have to invest heavily on firewalls and security software. The cost of this software is high and the company has to keep them updated along with new updates. An average company spends around $15 million for security against cyber crime. According to Gartner, the worldwide spending on cube security reach around $90 billion in 2017 and it will estimate to be around $113 billion on 2020 (Muresan 2017). Time Waste The employees of the company could use their social networks to engage in their personal life instead of working in the office. The social networks are addicting, and they could reduce the productivity of employees. According to a survey by Mangus (2014), more than 89 percent employees admitted wasting their time by using social media at the workplace. Harassment The increase in the use of social media enhances the cyber bullying and harassment between the employees. Many workers have reported by claiming that they have been harassed or bullied on the social networks of their company by their colleagues. The harassment raises the concern such as depression, suicide, a decrease in companys reputation and unhealthy environment at the workplace (Van Laer 2014). Conclusion The above report concluded that in the modern time's companies have to use Social Networks in order to a competitor in the market. The social networks provide several benefits to the organisations, such as marketing, research, feedback, and increase in sales. But along with the advantages, there are numerous drawbacks as well. The companies put themselves at security risk by using social networks. The disadvantages of social networks include hacking, data leaks, cyber crimes, harassment, and bullying. The strategy of a company should be clear regarding the use of social networks and collective measures should be taken to save their data and clients from cyber-attacks. References Aral, S., Dellarocas, C., Godes, D. (2013). Introduction to the special issuesocial media and business transformation: a framework for research.Information Systems Research,24(1), 3-13. Australian business and social media. (2016).Platform Communications. Retrieved from https://platformcommunications.com.au/australian-business-social-media-haves-nots/ Belbey, J. (2015). Protect your firm from the 12 risks of Social Media. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/joannabelbey/2015/05/21/protect-your-firm-from-the-13-risks-of-social-media/#66117ec6331e Benefits of social networking for a brand. (2013).Ironpaper. Retrieved from https://www.ironpaper.com/current/2013/05/benefits-of-social-networking-for-a-brand/#.WZVmzFUjHIU Brennan, R. (2014).Business-to-business Marketing(pp. 83-86). Springer New York. Bryman, A. (2015).Social research methods. Oxford university press. Cheung, C. M., Lee, M. K. (2010). A theoretical model of intentional social action in online social networks.Decision support systems,49(1), 24-30. Collins, B. (2008). Privacy and Security issues in Social Networking. Fast Company. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/1030397/privacy-and-security-issues-social-networking Friedman, L. (2016). 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