Credibility and Uses of Psychological Experimental Evidence

Credibility and Uses of Psychological Experimental Evidence Abstract Experimental psychology is the aspect of psychological science that explores the human mind and its perceptions and behaviors through experimental methodologies and subsequent interpretation of the obtained results. Again, â€Å"evidence-based practice in psychology is the integration of the best available research with clinical expertise in the context of patient characteristics, culture, and preferences† (American Psychologist, 2006). This definition is in line with the one advocated by the Institute of Medicine (2001) that says, â€Å"Evidence-based practice is the integration of best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values† (Sackett, Straus, Richardson, Rosenberg, Haynes, 2000, p. 147). Experimental psychological research makes use of controlled conditions in experiments to conclude about the validity of a hypothesis and evidence-based practice in psychology constitutes a large part of it. This essay attempts to discuss the various experimental evidences used in psychology and form an opinion on the usefulness and credibility of those evidences. How Good is Psychological Experimental Evidence Evidences from experimental psychology are of interest to researchers working on human behavior, brain mechanics, neurology, and so on; regardless of where these are performed either within the laboratory or outside of it, human beings form the major part of the experiment. The primary goals of experimental psychological research are to be most cost effective, improve quality and increase accountability. However, the psychological community—including both scientists and practitioners—is concerned that evidence-based practice initiatives not be misused as a justification for inappropriately restricting access to care and choice of treatments (American Psychologist, 2006). Experimental psychology and its psychological approaches broadly deal with psychoanalysis, behaviorism, and cognitive psychology. Since psychoanalysis explores the mind and explains its behavior, it is of prime importance; that said, it has been argued that psychoanalysis is overrated, as it is only able to explain the behavior after it has occurred and not make any helpful advance predictions. Behaviorism explains a wide range of behaviors from language usage to moral values using the principles of behavior shaping, generalization, reinforcement etc. Behaviorists were able to come up with moderately consistent predictions but absolute predictions for individuals was not possible. Cognitive psychology, on the other hand, follows a very scientific approach to explain primarily non-discernable mental processes through experiments and models. The empirical approach to psychology is questioned by the advocates of the humanistic approach who lay emphasis on individual conscious experience and disregard experimental evidence. They stress on subjective perception and understanding rather than objective reality. The argument put forward by the humanists says that human behavior is the sum of one’s feelings and aura, and is shaped by the perception and understanding of one’s environment. Thus, humanists contend the experimentalists on the premise that a perspective of the whole person is important to settle on any outcome; one should look through the ‘observer’ lens as well as the ‘observed’ lens. The humanists are advocates of free will and reject determinism; they do not support scientific approach and are not concerned with predictions and control over human behavior. The right of the individual to control and dissect one’s own behavior is endorsed by humanists. In ‘Psychology as a Means of Promoting Human Welfare’, Miller criticizes the controlling view of psychology, suggesting that â€Å"understanding should be the main goal of the subject as a science, as he asks, who will do the controlling and whose interests will be served by it? â€Å" (Miller, 1969). Psychological experimental evidence can be valid in evidence based practice as it gives a data point on the theories that are being explored. It is about integrating individual clinical expertise and the best external evidence (Sackett, Straus, Richardson, Rosenberg, Haynes, 1996). Thus the external evidence provided by scientific approach like statistical methods is helpful in making deductions that in turn assist in forming the foundation for evidence based medicine. An experiment by Cathy Faulkner, to substantiate the use of confidence intervals for estimation is a case in point. In her study, she â€Å"asked a group of leading clinical researchers to think of a clinical trial that they have designed and then to think of the most central question in the trial. 81% of the respondents thought that it was – is there an effect? Then she asked them to rate the importance of three possible questions: 1) is there an effect? (2) How large is the effect, and (3) how clinically imp ortant is the effect? Given those prompts her expert respondents rated all three as highly important. In other words, their first response was influenced by their automatic dichotomous thinking but when prompted they immediately recognized that a trial psychological therapy is only useful if it tells us how large an effect the therapy is likely to give and how clinically important that is. So, estimation, meaning confidence intervals, is what we need for fullest information about the size of an effect and the best basis for assessing its clinical importance† (Cumming, 2012). The value of experimental evidence lies in the fact that it is able to provide a basis for future research and enable replication of the same, wherein a number of psychologists, after skillful experimentation would come up with similar answers. For example, in experiments on effects of drug habits, the experimental results would almost always validate stress as a consequence of drug abuse. Thus by replication of results and consequent corroboration of facts, a theory is likely to gain acceptance. Nonetheless, the limitations of the empirical approach following a specific scientific methodology are many: Since psychology deals mostly with humans, and no two human conditions can be the same, the results are never absolute. Moreover, human behavior changes with time and so would the results of experiments. In establishing causes for incidents, psychologists take the deterministic view and discount the peripheral variables that influence human behavior and ones they have no control over. Also the range of paradigms in psychology makes it difficult to advocate a universal law for any occurrence/observation. Again, since most of the parameters are unobservable, like memory, and some immeasurable, testability becomes an issue in such experiments. â€Å"Whenever psychologists involved in research or practice move from observations to inferences and generalizations, there are inherent risks of idiosyncratic interpretations, overgeneralizations, confirmatory biases, and similar errors in judgment† (Dawes, Faust, Meehl, 2002). Objectivity is almost impossible in some cases. Thus, integral to use of psychological experimental evidence and â€Å"clinical expertise is an awareness of the limits of one’s knowledge and skills and attention to the heuristics and biases— both cognitive and affective—that can affect clinical judgment† (American Psychologist, 2006). Judgmental errors and volatility of psychological experimentation is exhibited clearly in the 1971 Stanford prison experiment led by researcher Phillip Zimbardo, held in the basement of the psychology building at Stanford University. The objective of this experiment was to test a hypothesis on prison behavior, how captivity influences and changes an individual’s response and behavior. Zimbardo and his team wanted to find out if the cause of abusive behavior in prisons was the inherent personality traits of the prison officials. The participants of the prison simulation experiment, including Zimbardo himself got so engrossed in the characters they were playing (after sessions of de-individualization, disorientation and de-personalization) that it turned dangerous for the them and they were forced to stop it after 6 days. However, it was concluded that the situation is the biggest influence on a person’s behavior rather than the individual’s character. The Stanford prison experiment was an eye opener for ethical issues regarding psychological experiments using living subjects. It led to creation of better safeguards for the participants and meticulous scrutiny before embarking on experiments. It became imperative to demonstrate the necessity of the experiment and show how it would contribute to the advancement of psychology, and also provide clear option of opting out of the set up if it gets uncomfortable for the subject. Concerns on informed consent have also been dealt with to uphold the safety and health of subjects. Several other pioneering experiments like Stanley Milgram’s Obedience to authority experiment in 1974, Ivan Pavlov’s classical Conditioning experiment way back in 1903, Henry Harlow’s Emotional Attachment in rhesus monkeys have employed living subjects; the answerability thus automatically escalates when using such participants. In conclusion, it is clear that psychological experimental evidence plays an integral part in the progress of psychology; however, the researcher needs to strike a balance and critically decide on the need for empirical approach in preference to humanistic approach. Studies designed to investigate the credibility of psychological theories and explain certain behavior patterns by isolating situational controls using living subjects (human or animal) need to be handled with utmost care and precaution. The researcher should be in a position to adequately address any ethical issues that might arise out of the experimental set up. It is to be borne in mind that humans are prone to error and judgment might be prejudiced in some cases; it is important to be prepared for these contingencies. To tackle the concerns from humanists and warrant the use of experimental evidence, Slife and Williams (1995)have suggested: †¢ We need to try at least to strive for scientific methods because we need a rigorous discipline. If we abandon our search for unified methods, well lose a sense of what psychology is. †¢ We need to keep trying to develop scientific methods that are suitable to studying human behavior it may be that the methods adopted by the natural sciences are not appropriate for us. References American Psychologist, Vol 61(4), May-Jun 2006, 271-285. Cumming, G. (2012, June). Australian Psychological Society. Retrieved December 4, 2014, from http://www.psychology.org.au/inpsych/2012/june/cumming/ Dawes, R. M., Faust, D., Meehl, P. E. (2002). Clinical versus actuarial judgment. In T. Gilovich D. Griffin (Eds.), Heuristics and biases: The psychology of intuitive judgment (pp. 716 –729). New York: Cambridge University Press. Institute of Medicine. (2001).Crossing the quality chasm: A new health system for the 21st century. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Miller, George A. Psychology as a means of promoting human welfare. American Psychologist, Vol 24(12), Dec 1969, 1063-1075. Sackett, D. L., Straus, S. E., Richardson, W. S., Rosenberg, W., Haynes, R. B. (2000). Evidence based medicine: How to practice and teach EBM (2nd ed.). London: Churchill Livingstone. Sackett, D. L., Rosenberg, W. M., Gray, J. A., Haynes, R. B., Richardson, W. S. (1996). Evidence based medicine: What it is and what it isn’t. British Medical Journal, 312, 71–72.

The Lost Symbol Chapter 33-36

CHAPTER 33 Systems security specialist Mark Zoubianis was sinking deeper into his futon and scowling at the information on his laptop screen. What the hell kind of address is this? His best hacking tools were entirely ineffective at breaking into the document or at unmasking Trish's mysterious IP address. Ten minutes had passed, and Zoubianis's program was still pounding away in vain at the network firewalls. They showed little hope of penetration. No wonder they're overpaying me. He was about to retool and try a different approach when his phone rang. Trish, for Christ's sake, I said I'd call you. He muted the football game and answered. â€Å"Yeah?† â€Å"Is this Mark Zoubianis?† a man asked. â€Å"At 357 Kingston Drive in Washington?† Zoubianis could hear other muffled conversations in the background. A telemarketer during the play-offs? Are they insane? â€Å"Let me guess, I won a week in Anguilla?† â€Å"No,† the voice replied with no trace of humor. â€Å"This is systems security for the Central Intelligence Agency. We would like to know why you are attempting to hack one of our classified databases?† Three stories above the Capitol Building's subbasement, in the wide-open spaces of the visitor center, security guard Nunez locked the main entry doors as he did every night at this time. As he headed back across the expansive marble floors, he thought of the man in the army-surplus jacket with the tattoos. I let him in. Nunez wondered if he would have a job tomorrow. As he headed toward the escalator, a sudden pounding on the outside doors caused him to turn. He squinted back toward the main entrance and saw an elderly African American man outside, rapping on the glass with his open palm and motioning to be let in. Nunez shook his head and pointed to his watch. The man pounded again and stepped into the light. He was immaculately dressed in a blue suit and had close-cropped graying hair. Nunez's pulse quickened. Holy shit. Even at a distance, Nunez now recognized who this man was. He hurried back to the entrance and unlocked the door. â€Å"I'm sorry, sir. Please, please come in.† Warren Bellamy–Architect of the Capitol–stepped across the threshold and thanked Nunez with a polite nod. Bellamy was lithe and slender, with an erect posture and piercing gaze that exuded the confidence of a man in full control of his surroundings. For the last twenty-five years, Bellamy had served as the supervisor of the U.S. Capitol. â€Å"May I help you, sir?† Nunez asked. â€Å"Thank you, yes.† Bellamy enunciated his words with crisp precision. As a northeastern Ivy League graduate, his diction was so exacting he sounded almost British. â€Å"I've just learned that you had an incident here this evening.† He looked deeply concerned. â€Å"Yes, sir. It was–â€Å" â€Å"Where's Chief Anderson?† â€Å"Downstairs with Director Sato from the CIA's Office of Security.† Bellamy's eyes widened with concern. â€Å"The CIA is here?† â€Å"Yes, sir. Director Sato arrived almost immediately after the incident.† â€Å"Why?† Bellamy demanded. Nunez shrugged. As if I was going to ask? Bellamy strode directly toward the escalators. â€Å"Where are they?† â€Å"They just went to the lower levels.† Nunez hastened after him. Bellamy glanced back with a look of concern. â€Å"Downstairs? Why?† â€Å"I don't really know–I just heard it on my radio.† Bellamy was moving faster now. â€Å"Take me to them right away.† â€Å"Yes, sir.† As the two men hurried across the open expanse, Nunez caught a glimpse of a large golden ring on Bellamy's finger. Nunez pulled out his radio. â€Å"I'll alert the chief that you're coming down.† â€Å"No.† Bellamy's eyes flashed dangerously. â€Å"I'd prefer to be unannounced.† Nunez had made some big mistakes tonight, but failing to alert Chief Anderson that the Architect was now in the building would be his last. â€Å"Sir?† he said, uneasy. â€Å"I think Chief Anderson would prefer–â€Å" â€Å"You are aware that I employ Mr. Anderson?† Bellamy said. Nunez nodded. â€Å"Then I think he would prefer you obey my wishes.† CHAPTER 34 Trish Dunne entered the SMSC lobby and looked up with surprise. The guest waiting here looked nothing like the usual bookish, flannel-clad doctors who entered this building–those of anthropology, oceanography, geology, and other scientific fields. Quite to the contrary, Dr. Abaddon looked almost aristocratic in his impeccably tailored suit. He was tall, with a broad torso, well-tanned face, and perfectly combed blond hair that gave Trish the impression he was more accustomed to luxuries than to laboratories. â€Å"Dr. Abaddon, I presume?† Trish said, extending her hand. The man looked uncertain, but he took Trish's plump hand in his broad palm. â€Å"I'm sorry. And you are?† â€Å"Trish Dunne,† she replied. â€Å"I'm Katherine's assistant. She asked me to escort you back to her lab.† â€Å"Oh, I see.† The man smiled now. â€Å"Very nice to meet you, Trish. My apologies if I seemed confused. I was under the impression Katherine was here alone this evening.† He motioned down the hall. â€Å"But I'm all yours. Lead the way.† Despite the man's quick recovery, Trish had seen the flash of disappointment in his eyes. She now suspected the motive for Katherine's secrecy earlier about Dr. Abaddon. A budding romance, maybe? Katherine never discussed her social life, but her visitor was attractive and well-groomed, and although younger than Katherine, he clearly came from her world of wealth and privilege. Nonetheless, whatever Dr. Abaddon had imagined tonight's visit might entail, Trish's presence did not seem to be part of his plan. At the lobby's security checkpoint, a lone guard quickly pulled off his headphones, and Trish could hear the Redskins game blaring. The guard put Dr. Abaddon through the usual visitor routine of metal detectors and temporary security badges. â€Å"Who's winning?† Dr. Abaddon said affably as he emptied his pockets of a cell phone, some keys, and a cigarette lighter. â€Å"Skins by three,† the guard said, sounding eager to get back. â€Å"Helluva game.† â€Å"Mr. Solomon will be arriving shortly,† Trish told the guard. â€Å"Would you please send him back to the lab once he arrives?† â€Å"Will do.† The guard gave an appreciative wink as they passed through. â€Å"Thanks for the heads- up. I'll look busy.† Trish's comment had been not only for the benefit of the guard but also to remind Dr. Abaddon that Trish was not the only one intruding on his private evening here with Katherine. â€Å"So how do you know Katherine?† Trish asked, glancing up at the mysterious guest. Dr. Abaddon chuckled. â€Å"Oh, it's a long story. We've been working on something together.† Understood, Trish thought. None of my business. â€Å"This is an amazing facility,† Abaddon said, glancing around as they moved down the massive corridor. â€Å"I've never actually been here.† His airy tone was becoming more genial with every step, and Trish noticed he was actively taking it all in. In the bright lights of the hallway, she also noticed that his face looked like he had a fake tan. Odd. Nonetheless, as they navigated the deserted corridors, Trish gave him a general synopsis of the SMSC's purpose and function, including the various pods and their contents. The visitor looked impressed. â€Å"Sounds like this place has a treasure trove of priceless artifacts. I would have expected guards posted everywhere.† â€Å"No need,† Trish said, motioning to the row of fish-eye lenses lining the ceiling high above. â€Å"Security here is automated. Every inch of this corridor is recorded twenty-four/seven, and this corridor is the spine of the facility. It's impossible to access any of the rooms off this corridor without a key card and PIN number.† â€Å"Efficient use of cameras.† â€Å"Knock on wood, we've never had a theft. Then again, this is not the kind of museum anyone would rob–there's not much call on the black market for extinct flowers, Inuit kayaks, or giant squid carcasses.† Dr. Abaddon chuckled. â€Å"I suppose you're right.† â€Å"Our biggest security threat is rodents and insects.† Trish explained how the building prevented insect infestations by freezing all SMSC refuse and also by an architectural feature called a â€Å"dead zone†Ã¢â‚¬â€œan inhospitable compartment between double walls, which surrounded the entire building like a sheath. â€Å"Incredible,† Abaddon said. â€Å"So, where is Katherine and Peter's lab?† â€Å"Pod Five,† Trish said. â€Å"It's all the way at the end of this hallway.† Abaddon halted suddenly, spinning to his right, toward a small window. â€Å"My word! Will you look at that!† Trish laughed. â€Å"Yeah, that's Pod Three. They call it Wet Pod.† â€Å"Wet?† Abaddon said, face pressed to the glass. â€Å"There are over three thousand gallons of liquid ethanol in there. Remember the giant squid carcass I mentioned earlier?† â€Å"That's the squid?!† Dr. Abaddon turned from the window momentarily, his eyes wide. â€Å"It's huge!† â€Å"A female Architeuthis,† Trish said. â€Å"She's over forty feet.† Dr. Abaddon, apparently enraptured by the sight of the squid, seemed unable to pull his eyes away from the glass. For a moment, the grown man reminded Trish of a little boy at a pet-store window, wishing he could go in and see a puppy. Five seconds later, he was still staring longingly through the window. â€Å"Okay, okay,† Trish finally said, laughing as she inserted her key card and typed her PIN number. â€Å"Come on. I'll show you the squid.† As Mal'akh stepped into the dimly lit world of Pod 3, he scanned the walls for security cameras. Katherine's pudgy little assistant began rattling on about the specimens in this room. Mal'akh tuned her out. He had no interest whatsoever in giant squids. His only interest was in using this dark, private space to solve an unexpected problem. CHAPTER 35 The wooden stairs descending to the Capitol's subbasement were as steep and shallow as any stairs Langdon had ever traversed. His breathing was faster now, and his lungs felt tight. The air down here was cold and damp, and Langdon couldn't help but flash on a similar set of stairs he had taken a few years back into the Vatican's Necropolis. The City of the Dead. Ahead of him, Anderson led the way with his flashlight. Behind Langdon, Sato followed closely, her tiny hands occasionally pressing into Langdon's back. I'm going as fast as I can. Langdon inhaled deeply, trying to ignore the cramped walls on either side of him. There was barely room for his shoulders on this staircase, and his daybag now scraped down the sidewall. â€Å"Maybe you should leave your bag above,† Sato offered behind him. â€Å"I'm fine,† Langdon replied, having no intention of letting it out of his sight. He pictured Peter's little package and could not begin to imagine how it might relate to anything in the subbasement of the U.S. Capitol. â€Å"Just a few more steps,† Anderson said. â€Å"Almost there.† The group had descended into darkness, moving beyond the reach of the staircase's lone lightbulb. When Langdon stepped off the final wooden tread, he could feel that the floor beneath his feet was dirt. Journey to the center of the Earth. Sato stepped down behind him. Anderson now raised his beam, examining their surroundings. The subbasement was less of a basement than it was an ultranarrow corridor that ran perpendicular to the stairs. Anderson shone his light left and then right, and Langdon could see the passage was only about fifty feet long and lined on both sides with small wooden doors. The doors abutted one another so closely that the rooms behind them could not have been more than ten feet wide. ACME Storage meets the Catacombs of Domatilla, Langdon thought as Anderson consulted the blueprint. The tiny section depicting the subbasement was marked with an X to show the location of SBB13. Langdon couldn't help but notice that the layout was identical to a fourteen-tomb mausoleum–seven vaults facing seven vaults–with one removed to accommodate the stairs they had just descended. Thirteen in all. He suspected America's â€Å"thirteen† conspiracy theorists would have a field day if they knew there were exactly thirteen storage rooms buried beneath the U.S. Capitol. Some found it suspicious that the Great Seal of the United States had thirteen stars, thirteen arrows, thirteen pyramid steps, thirteen shield stripes, thirteen olive leaves, thirteen olives, thirteen letters in annuit coeptis, thirteen letters in e pluribus unum, and on and on. â€Å"It does look abandoned,† Anderson said, shining the beam into the chamber directly in front of them. The heavy wooden door was wide open. The shaft of light illuminated a narrow stone chamber–about ten feet wide by some thirty feet deep–like a dead-end hallway to nowhere. The chamber contained nothing more than a couple of old collapsed wooden boxes and some crumpled packing paper. Anderson shone his light on a copper plate mounted on the door. The plate was covered with verdigris, but the old marking was legible: SBB IV â€Å"SBB Four,† Anderson said. â€Å"Which one is SBB Thirteen?† Sato asked, faint wisps of steam curling out of her mouth in the cold subterranean air. Anderson turned the beam toward the south end of the corridor. â€Å"Down there.† Langdon peered down the narrow passage and shivered, feeling a light sweat despite the cold. As they moved through the phalanx of doorways, all of the rooms looked the same, doors ajar, apparently abandoned long ago. When they reached the end of the line, Anderson turned to his right, raising the beam to peer into room SBB13. The flashlight beam, however, was impeded by a heavy wooden door. Unlike the others, the door to SBB13 was closed. This final door looked exactly like the others–heavy hinges, iron handle, and a copper number plate encrusted with green. The seven characters on the number plate were the same characters on Peter's palm upstairs. SBB XIII Please tell me the door is locked, Langdon thought. Sato spoke without hesitation. â€Å"Try the door.† The police chief looked uneasy, but he reached out, grasped the heavy iron handle, and pushed down on it. The handle didn't budge. He shone the light now, illuminating a heavy, old- fashioned lock plate and keyhole. â€Å"Try the master key,† Sato said. Anderson produced the main key from the entry door upstairs, but it was not even close to fitting. â€Å"Am I mistaken,† Sato said, her tone sarcastic, â€Å"or shouldn't Security have access to every corner of a building in case of emergency?† Anderson exhaled and looked back at Sato. â€Å"Ma'am, my men are checking for a secondary key, but–â€Å" â€Å"Shoot the lock,† she said, nodding toward the key plate beneath the lever. Langdon's pulse leaped. Anderson cleared his throat, sounding uneasy. â€Å"Ma'am, I'm waiting for news on a secondary key. I am not sure I'm comfortable blasting our way into–â€Å" â€Å"Perhaps you'd be more comfortable in prison for obstructing a CIA investigation?† Anderson looked incredulous. After a long beat, he reluctantly handed the light to Sato and unsnapped his holster. â€Å"Wait!† Langdon said, no longer able to stand idly by. â€Å"Think about it. Peter gave up his right hand rather than reveal whatever might be behind this door. Are you sure we want to do this? Unlocking this door is essentially complying with the demands of a terrorist.† â€Å"Do you want to get Peter Solomon back?† Sato asked. â€Å"Of course, but–â€Å" â€Å"Then I suggest you do exactly what his captor is requesting.† â€Å"Unlock an ancient portal? You think this is the portal?† Sato shone the light in Langdon's face. â€Å"Professor, I have no idea what the hell this is. Whether it's a storage unit or the secret entrance to an ancient pyramid, I intend to open it. Do I make myself clear?† Langdon squinted into the light and finally nodded. Sato lowered the beam and redirected it at the door's antique key plate. â€Å"Chief? Go ahead.† Still looking averse to the plan, Anderson extracted his sidearm very, very slowly, gazing down at it with uncertainty. â€Å"Oh, for God's sake!† Sato's tiny hands shot out, and she grabbed the weapon from him. She stuffed the flashlight into his now empty palm. â€Å"Shine the damned light.† She handled the gun with the confidence of someone who had trained with weapons, wasting no time turning off the pistol's safety, cocking the weapon, and aiming at the lock. â€Å"Wait!† Langdon yelled, but he was too late. The gun roared three times. Langdon's eardrums felt like they had exploded. Is she insane?! The gunshots in the tiny space had been deafening. Anderson also looked shaken, his hand wavering a bit as he shone the flashlight on the bullet- riddled door. The lock mechanism was now in tatters, the wood surrounding it entirely pulverized. The lock had released, the door now having fallen ajar. Sato extended the pistol and pressed the tip of the barrel against the door, giving it a push. The door swung fully into the blackness beyond. Langdon peered in but could see nothing in the darkness. What in the world is that smell? An unusual, fetid odor wafted out of the darkness. Anderson stepped into the doorway and shone the light on the floor, tracing carefully down the length of the barren dirt floor. This room was like the others–a long, narrow space. The sidewalls were rugged stone, giving the room the feel of an ancient prison cell. But that smell . . . â€Å"There's nothing here,† Anderson said, moving the beam farther down the chamber floor. Finally, as the beam reached the end of the floor, he raised it up to illuminate the chamber's farthest wall. â€Å"My God . . . !† Anderson shouted. Everyone saw it and jumped back. Langdon stared in disbelief at the deepest recess of the chamber. To his horror, something was staring back. CHAPTER 36 â€Å"What in God's name . . . ?† At the threshold of SBB13, Anderson fumbled with his light and retreated a step. Langdon also recoiled, as did Sato, who looked startled for the first time all night. Sato aimed the gun at the back wall and motioned for Anderson to shine the light again. Anderson raised the light. The beam was dim by the time it reached the far wall, but the light was enough to illuminate the shape of a pallid and ghostly face, staring back at them through lifeless sockets. A human skull. The skull sat atop a rickety wooden desk positioned against the rear wall of the chamber. Two human leg bones sat beside the skull, along with a collection of other items that were meticulously arranged on the desk in shrinelike fashion–an antique hourglass, a crystal flask, a candle, two saucers of pale powder, and a sheet of paper. Propped against the wall beside the desk stood the fearsome shape of a long scythe, its curved blade as familiar as that of the grim reaper. Sato stepped into the room. â€Å"Well, now . . . it appears Peter Solomon keeps more secrets than I imagined.† Anderson nodded, inching after her. â€Å"Talk about skeletons in your closet.† He raised the light and surveyed the rest of the empty chamber. â€Å"And that smell?† he added, crinkling his nose. â€Å"What is it?† â€Å"Sulfur,† Langdon replied evenly behind them. â€Å"There should be two saucers on the desk. The saucer on the right will contain salt. And the other sulfur.† Sato wheeled in disbelief. â€Å"How the hell would you know that?!† â€Å"Because, ma'am, there are rooms exactly like this all over the world.† One story above the subbasement, Capitol security guard Nunez escorted the Architect of the Capitol, Warren Bellamy, down the long hallway that ran the length of the eastern basement. Nunez could have sworn that he had just heard three gunshots down here, muffled and underground. There's no way. â€Å"Subbasement door is open,† Bellamy said, squinting down the hallway at a door that stood ajar in the distance. Strange evening indeed, Nunez thought. Nobody goes down there. â€Å"I'll be glad to find out what's going on,† he said, reaching for his radio. â€Å"Go back to your duties,† Bellamy said. â€Å"I'm fine from here.† Nunez shifted uneasily. â€Å"You sure?† Warren Bellamy stopped, placing a firm hand on Nunez's shoulder. â€Å"Son, I've worked here for twenty-five years. I think I can find my way.†

Computerized Auditing Essay

With the introduction of computers, conventional accounting systems and methods using papers, pens and abacuses have undergone drastic changes, therefore exerting a great impact on internal control and audit trails in following audit procedures. Also, the introduction of computer has brought an immense increase in the availability of electronic resources. My topic is entitled auditing in a Computerized Information System (CIS). One purpose why this topic is included in auditing is due to the rampant changes that are happening in our society. We could say that every day, everything around us is going through the† process of evolution†. Example, the government structure, educational structure, social structure, technological structure, economic structure and others are going into extensive and widespread changes. Work nowadays involve the usage of computer, hence, the need for computerized information system in auditing erupted. Around the world, computer plays an important role in the development of one’s country. That is why, here in the Philippines, we are trying to muddle through by with the drastic and radical changes in order to be globally competitive. In fact, technology experts stated that when it comes to new enhancement and improvement of technology, the Philippines is not far behind, but rather one of the fastest country to acclimatize and adopt in this unbelievable wave of changes. With the rapid progress in technology in recent years, computer information systems have become feasible and practicable, perhaps essential, for use even in small scale business operations. Almost all entities now use computers to some extent in their accounting systems. The widespread use of computers has offered new opportunities for professional accountants and had also created some challenging and exigent problems to auditors. Additionally, in auditing, the need for computer is now more important and significant because of the increasing and growing demand of auditing. Without computer, then auditing would not be able to deal with this growing demand. Ever imagine, conducting an audit without the usage of computer, isn’t it that it will be very difficult for the auditor because we all know, we human beings are immersed and innate with errors. Incorporating CIS in auditing is tough. This is because; there are technical and methodological matters that an auditor doesn’t have any idea with, for instance, the software, such as operating program, utility program, etc. Auditors do not have any idea of these things, that’s why auditor tries to broaden their knowledge in order to be competitive. The result of that leads to the flourishing of auditing. Time and time again, auditing will continue to evolve. Having said all that, this topic contains a lot of different things which cannot be found in normal manual auditing. The overall objective and scope of an audit does not change in a CIS environment. However, the use of a computer changes the processing, storage and communication of financial information and may affect the accounting and internal control systems employed by the entity. Accordingly, a CIS environment may affect: a. ) the procedures followed by the auditors in obtaining a sufficient understanding of the accounting and internal control systems; b. ) the consideration of inherent risk and control risk through which the auditors arrive at the risk assessment; and c. ) the auditors’ design and performance of tests of control and substantive procedures appropriate to meet the audit objective. Anyways, regardless of the extent of computerization or the methods of data processing being used, the establishment and implementation of appropriate internal control systems rests with the management and those charged with governance. The auditor’s responsibility is to obtain an understanding of the entity’s internal control system to be able to assess control risk and determine the nature, timing and extent of tests to be performed. Before tackling the important details of my topic, let us first define what is meant by Auditing and Computerized Information System (CIS). So, what is auditing? PSA 200 defines auditing by stating the objective of a financial statement audit, that is, to enable the auditor to express an opinion whether the financial statements are prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework. A more comprehensive definition of auditing is given by the American Accounting Association: â€Å"auditing is a systematic process of objectively obtaining and evaluating evidence regarding assertions about economic actions and events to ascertain the degree of correspondence between these assertions and established criteria and communicating the results to interested users. On the other hand, computerized information system pertains to the usage of computer to develop and collate the information derived in an audit for the need of the auditor and third parties related. Another definition of Computerized Information System (CIS) includes, is often a track within the computer science field studying computers and algorithmic processes, including their principles and doctrine, their software & hardware designs, their applications, and their impact on the general public. (http://www. quora. om/Information-Systems) I would just like to give a brief history of Auditing in a CIS Environment. It began as Electronic Data Process (EDP) Auditing and developed largely as a result of the rise in technology in accounting systems, the need for IT control, and the impact of computers on the ability to perform attestation services. The last few years have been an exciting time in the world of CIS auditing as a result of the accounting scandals and increased regulation. CIS auditing has had a relatively short yet rich history when compared to auditing as a whole and remains an ever changing field. The introduction of computer technology into accounting systems changed the way data was stored, retrieved and controlled. It is believed that the first use of a computerized accounting system was at General Electric in 1954. During the time period of 1954 to the mid-1960s, the auditing profession was still auditing around the computer. At this time only mainframe computers were used and few people had the skills and abilities to program computers. This began to change in the mid-1960s with the introduction of new, smaller and less expensive machines. This increased the use of computers in businesses and with it came the need for auditors to become familiar with EDP concepts in business. Along with the increase in computer use, came the rise of different types of accounting systems. The industry soon realized that they needed to develop their own software and the first of the generalized audit software (GAS) was developed. In 1968, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) had the Big Eight (now the Big Four) accounting firms participate in the development of EDP auditing. The result of this was the release of Auditing & EDP. The book included how to document EDP audits and examples of how to process internal control reviews. Around this time EDP auditors formed the Electronic Data Processing Auditors Association (EDPAA). The goal of the association was to produce guidelines, procedures and standards for EDP audits. In 1977, the first edition of Control Objectives was published. This publication is now known as Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (CobiT). CobiT is the set of generally accepted IT control objectives for IT auditors. In 1994, EDPAA changed its name to Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA). The period from the late 1960s through today has seen rapid changes in technology from the microcomputer and networking to the internet and with these changes came some major events that change IT auditing forever. The formation and rise in popularity of the Internet and E-commerce have had significant influences on the growth of IT audit. The Internet influences the lives of most of the world and is a place of increased business, entertainment and crime. IT auditing helps organizations and individuals on the Internet find security while helping commerce and communications to flourish. (www. trustsoft. com/pp_ha_1. php) In terms of needed skills and competence of the auditor; he/she should have sufficient knowledge of the CIS to plan, direct, supervise and review the work performed. The auditor should consider whether specialized CIS skills are needed in an audit. These may be needed to a. ) obtain sufficient understanding of the accounting and internal control systems of the CIS environment, b. determine the effect of CIS environment on the assessment of related risks, c. ) design and perform appropriate tests of control and substantive procedures. In planning the portions of the audit which may be affected due to client’s CIS environment, the auditor should acquire an understanding of the implication and complexity of the CIS activities and the availability of data for use in the audit. Such matter that needed understanding are the following; a. ) the significance and intricacy of computer processing in each significant accounting application, b. the organizational structure of the client and the extent of concentration or distribution of computer processing throughout the entity, c. ) the availability of data (e. g. source document, computer files). Computerized information systems have essential and vital characteristics that distinguish them from manual processing system. These are the following: a. ) lack of visible transaction trails, b. ) consistency of performance, c. ) concentration of duties, d. ) ease of access to data and computer programs, e. ) vulnerability of data and program storage media, f. Systems generated transactions and g. ) Potential for increased management supervision. As regards to lack of visible transaction trails, in manual system, it is normally possible to follow a transaction through the system; by examining source documents, entity’s records, and financial reports. In a CIS environment, data can be entered directly and unswervingly into the computer system devoid of supporting documents. Furthermore, records and files may not be printed and cannot be read without using the computer. The absence of these visible documents supporting the processing of transactions makes the examination of evidence more difficult. In relation to the consistency of performance, CIS performs functions exactly as programmed. If the computer is programmed to perform a specific data processing task, it will never get tired of performing the assigned task in exactly the same manner. Because of this capability of the computer to process transactions uniformly, clerical errors that are normally associated with manual processing are eliminated. On the other hand, an incorrect program could be very devastating because it will result to consistently erroneous data processing. Third, concentration of duties, in here proper segregation of duties is an essential characteristic of a sound internal control system. However, because of the ability of the computer to process data efficiently, there are functions that are normally segregated in manual processing that are combined in a CIS environment. As a particular example, in manual processing the function of recording cash disbursements is incompatible with the responsibility for reconciling cash disbursement. Since one of these functions serves as a check upon the other, assigning both functions to one employee would enable and permit that employee to commit and conceal errors and irregularities. A properly programmed computer, on the other hand, has no tendency or motivation to commit irregularities or conceal its errors. Hence what appears to be an incompatible combination of functions may be combined in a CIS environment without weakening and dwindling the internal control provided suitable and appropriate compensating controls are put in place. Fourth, ease of access to data and computer programs, in a CIS environment, data and computer programs may be accessed and altered by unauthorized persons leaving no visible and detectible evidence. It is important, therefore, that proper and appropriate controls are incorporated in the system to limit the access to data files and programs only to authorized personnel. Fifth, vulnerability of data and program storage media, in a manual system the records are written in ink and substantial paper. The only way to lose the information is to lose or destroy the physical records. The situation is completely different in a CIS environment. The information on the computer can be easily changed, leaving no trace of the original content. This change could happen inadvertently and huge amount of information can be quickly lost. Another, systems generated transactions; certain transactions may be initiated by the CIS itself without the need for an input document. For example, interest may be calculated and charged automatically to customers’ account balances on the basis of pre-authorized terms contained in a computer program. Lastly, potential for augmented management supervision, CIS can offer management a variety of analytical tools that may be used to review and supervise the operation of the entity. The availability of these tools may enhance the entire internal control structure. There are certain advantages and disadvantages in using computer in the conduct of audit. Take note that the characteristics of computer information system already tackled above pertains to some advantages and disadvantages of CIS. Advantages of it includes, it avoids computational errors commonly done by human; eases up and alleviate the work of auditor especially when it comes to timeliness; faster and efficient in processing of information; generation and creation of accounting documents like invoices, cheques and statement of account are automatic; more timely information can be produced; With the larger reductions in the cost of hardware and software and availability of user-friendly accounting software package, it is relatively cheaper like maintaining a manual accounting system; no more manual processing of the data hence all data are automatically been posted to the various ledgers/accounts and others . On the other hand, the disadvantages of CIS are the following: it removes part of the audit trail; subject to manipulation especially to unauthorized personnel; the need for back-up files, could result into more cost, especially if computer is susceptible to power interruption and from infectious softwar e; danger of computer fraud if proper level of control and security whether internal and external are not properly been instituted and others.

Business Plan - Mirza Enterprises Ltd - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2502 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? Contents Executive Summary Company Mission Goals and Objectives Values Ownership and Location Services Expertise Market Research Consulting à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Background Business Market Statistics Competition What this means for MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD Operational Strategies Finance Target Market Marketing Pricing Sales Management and Personnel . Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Business Plan Mirza Enterprises Ltd" essay for you Create order Executive Summary MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD has been set up to provide project management services to businesses around the UK. The Company was the idea of Mr Asmat Kamal and was incorporated on the 19th of June 2014. Companies House UK have allocated company number 9092523 to MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD located at 79 SELBOURNE ROAD, LUTON, ENGLAND, LU4 8LR. The company aims to serve the smaller businesses in the UK to manage business contracts and projects in order to maximise their productivity and minimise loss and risks. The reason for choosing the SME sector is because they make up a considerable population of the private sector and they are the least targeted customer for this type of service. As larger businesses focus on making larger customers with larger contracts, MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD will look to revel in providing its service to the niche SME market. MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD is ideally located in Luton which is not quite in London but not too far. This means that the business is in an ideal l ocation to physically reach the majority of businesses located in London and the South East of England and can also access businesses further north. The Internet provides the ideal opportunity to provide remote services which MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD will capitalise on and use to its benefit. The Company has a good opportunity to set up and flourish as a contract management consultancy in the UK. Company MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD is registered in the UK as a private limited company with 100 shares in total, all owned by Mr Asmat Kamal of 79 Selbourne Road, Luton, LU4 8LR. Mission MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD was set up with the following aims: To secure the financial future of Mr Asmat Kamal To make good use of the directorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s education and experience by providing high quality project management services to his customers. To be an integral part of the economy through the creation of business and jobs within the UK. Goals and Objectives The goals of the business are to: Be financially stable. Be a well-known service provider. Provide professional and quality services. Be a top employer. Have stable and solid business assets. Be an integral part of the community and economy. In order to achieve these goals, MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD will aim to achieve the following objectives: Try and keep out of debt where possible and return any loans at the earliest. Invest into responsible advertising and diligent marketing. Insert quality control and effective KPIà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s within the business Keep customers at top priority. Retain customers while making new ones. Employ after a thorough recruitment process. Provide a welcoming, motivating and inspiring work environment. Treat employees and customers fairly. Make financially sound decisions through thorough research. Save liquid assets and invest into solid long term profitable business assets. Do charitable work in the community Provide training opportunities for students and graduates to help the economy. Keep in line with legislation. Values MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD aims to promote the following values: Ethics à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Respect à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Responsibility Integrity à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Trust à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Commitment Passion à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Teamwork à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Expertise Quality à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Value à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Customer Focus Innovation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Sustainability à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Success Ownership and Location Mr Asmat Kamal set up the business after attaining the degree of Master of Sciences in Engineering Business Management from the University of Bedfordshire, as he wanted to provide his services to businesses in the UK while being financially stable and secure, and to assist the UK economy through the creation of business and jobs. Mr Kamal owns all of the 100 shares of the business and will be the sole director of the business. MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD has been set up to begin operating from 79 SELBOURNE ROAD, LUTON, ENGLAND, LU4 8LR which is the home address of the director so as to save on finances until the need for a relocation to a bigger premise is realised. Until then, this location is perfect as the director will be working at different hours of the day to suit the business, and its will save him the time for journeys to and from work. When the company is more stable and office is running smoothly, business hours will be 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Some employees may be expected to work outside these hours to accommodate the needs of the business and its customers. Services MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD will provide the following services to businesses: Understanding the outcome that the customer wants to achieve through consultation. Setting out a proposal incorporating time and resources required to complete the project. Agreeing a timescale and cost for the work on hand. Managing a team to complete the project. Negotiating contracts on behalf of customer for the procurement of related products and services. Ensuring effectiveness and time management of project. Constantly checking and controlling quality to ensure high standards. Managing the financial budget relating to the specific project. Updating managers and decision makers regarding progress or stagnation of the project. Ensuring the project is completed within the time frame and budget to the right quality and being available for support after project completion and hand-off. Expertise A companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s expertise comes from the expertise of its employees. Currently MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD employs only Mr Kamal who is able to provide project management services in the following fields: Financial Analysis Information Systems Business Communication Data Analysis Risk and Quality management Marketing Engineering Operational Management People Management Market Research Since MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD will be a B2B contract management consultancy firm, the company has put in a little research as to the back ground of consulting and where it is at today, as well as the business market statistics in the UK. Consulting à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Background Consultants are used for a variety of reasons of which the main ones are to: Gain specialist, one off advice and guidance Gain a trained, professional workforce to complete a specific project (or for a specific time frame) The idea of consulting grew when businesses realised that they did not need to train an employee to do a specific job when they could à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"rentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ the services of a trained professional to work for a period of time saving them the time, effort and cost of training and management. This idea spread far and wide and today; Plunkett Research estimates $431 billion revenue from the consulting industry around the globe in 2014. Consulting has come a long way since it first started in the 1890s in the US. Today consultants cover a range of different topics and assist customers in a vast amount of work. Where previously consultants were only à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"consultedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, now consultants work alongside the customer as part of their business for the duration of the project or contract. Consultants are now making between  £350 a day to  £5000 a day depending on their experience, are of expertise and the size of the firm that they work fo r. The Consulting industry seems to have bright prospects for the future as it continues to evolve with the times and the requirements of its vast number and type of customers. Although the global recession of 2008 saw many businesses and industries, decline, the consulting industry only saw the slowing down in growth, yet the industry continued to grow in the face of such adversity. In 2011, this industry grew by 5% and the major difference seen since the recession is that the ratio of fees charged between the public and private sectors, changed from 70:30 in favour of the public sector to 80:20 in favour of the private sector. This means that the consulting industry within the public sector has seen a steep decline whereas; the same in the private sector has seen a steep incline. Further reduction of the consulting industry in the public sector is expected, whereas the opposite is expected of the industry in the private sector. This leaves plenty of opportunity for new business es to fill up the void that the public sector consultancies will leave. The new trends that are affecting consultants are: The Internet à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" consultants can now provide services further away from home, through the use of remote service provision and video conferencing that has been made possible by the Internet. Technology à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Consultants are now being expected to bring their own technology so as to minimise the time spent on learning the technology used by the customer business in order to get a job done. The consultant, bring their own technology, gets the job done, and if needs be gets the customerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s employees trained on his technology so that at the end of the day the customer has profited by having better trained employees. Business Market Statistics MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD is a B2B service provision firm and in order to best assess the business prospects, the company needs to assess its prospective customers. The internet has provided a vast range of information with regards to business statistics in the UK. Some of these statistics that are relevant to MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD are listed below. At the start of 2013: Over 4.9 million businesses made up the population of private sector businesses in the UK. This is a growth of 102,000 businesses since the same time in 2012. The highest growth had been noticed in the number of non-employing businesses, which had grown by 127, 000 since the beginning of 2012, whereas the number of employing businesses fell by 26,000 since 2012. 99.9% of private sector businesses were SMEs, out of which 62.6% were sole proprietorships and 8.9% were simple partnerships. SMEà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s accounted for 59.3% of private sector employment and 48.1% of private sector turnover. Of 4.88million SMEà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s only 30,685 employed between 50-249 employees, whereas over 3.68 million businesses only employed their director(s)/owner(s) The largest numbers of businesses in the UK are registered in London followed by the South East of England. *SMEs are defined as those businesses with less than 250 employees. Competition A quick search on yell.com shows that there are approximately 30 other registered project management service providers within a 12 mile radius of MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD. The following are some of these other businesses. The above businesses are not classed as direct competitors as they all provide different expertise, have different amount of available resources and target different customers to MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD. After seeing the magnitude of businesses in the UK and the size of the unserved customer, this number of possible competitors in the market should not affect the growth of MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD, or the potential customer that it can attract. What this means for MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD is affected by the above statistics as follows: MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD is in a well growing industry (The SME Consulting industry) The company has a good opportunity to target the growing private sector especially the majority SME businesses. A major focus on businesses employing less than 50 employees will provide MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD with the majority of SME business market who are the least targeted by consultancies as they have so far been seen as the most elusive customers. A low number of competitors means that MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD has a higher chance of success. Operational Strategies The following are some of the start-up strategies used by the business. As is the norm, these strategies are likely to change as per the requirements of the business at the time. Finance The director has arranged for a sum of  £50,000 which will be used as start-up funds or capital to assist the business set-up. These funds will be used diligently so as to allow the business to be financially independent and stable as soon as possible. Finances will then be invested into fixed company assets after advice has been sought and the company has researched the pros and cons of every investment. Target Market MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD will target the SME industry within the private sector, particularly focusing on businesses that have 0-49 employees as this is the least targeted sector and makes up the majority of the SME industry within the private sector. This niche target market will give the company an edge over its competitors. Marketing MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD will gain visibility through the following channels: Company Website Registering with business directories Registering on online classified websites Putting out posters and flyers Setting up business accounts on social media Spreading the word through WOM advertising starting with personal, social and professional contacts of the director. Other ongoing marketing strategies will include: Registering with Trade Bodies Using merchandise to promote the business Personal selling at business events Using online marketing tools such as SEO to generate web traffic Putting adverts on other high traffic websites (pay per click) Using billboard and other in-transit advertising Pricing MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD will adopt an economic pricing strategy that will ensure that the company can attract the smaller businesses that it is wishing to target. If need be, a penetrative pricing strategy can be used to gain a good initial customer base so as to help the business off to a good start. The price of services will depend on the type of service, they length of service and the amount of manpower and other resources needed to provide the service. Since services will be tailored to the needs of the customers, so will the price of services. MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD will accept different payment methods so as to eliminate this being a barrier to gaining customers. The company will aim to initially accept cheques and direct credits into the company business account, and will then set up online payment options with companies such as PayPal so as to be able to accept a wider variety of payment methods such as debit and credit card payments. Payments such as direct debits will also be arranged through the business bank. Sales MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD aims to gain enough sales so as to keep the company from making a loss within the first 2 years, after which the business will test its sales so as to maximise on the potential of the business and maximise profits. In so saying, the company will initially not take risks lightly and will look to eliminate risk as much as possible. Sales targets will be set in the near future, in collaboration with the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s financial advisor so as to better be able to achieve the goal of a second year profit. Management and Personnel In order to achieve sales, the company needs manpower. Currently MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD employs only Mr Kamal who is the sole director of the business. Mr Kamal will be managing all aspects of the business including, service provision, sales, administration and the recruitment of other employees, until he has found other competent professionals to do the work. Mr Kamal is an experienced contract manager himself, and will be providing his services on behalf of the Company alongside other employees when they are recruited. MIRZA ENTERPRISES LTD aims to have recruited a sales person, a service person and an administrator within the first year of business.