Informative Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Informative Research Paper - Essay Example It seems that solar energy is more potential as compared to other renewable energy sources, because it is easily and freely available and causes less harm to the environment. In the words of Daniel Lincot, the chairman of the five-day European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference held in Valencia, solar energy can meet the energy demand of the whole world, for it is a â€Å"renewable, safe, and clean source† of energy (qtd. in Hill). This paper will suggest solar energy as the most potential alternative renewable energy source currently available, for its potential features such as infinitely free energy, no greenhouse gases, saving eco-systems, and off-the-grid energy generation. Solar Energy The most potential feature of solar energy, according to Kamat, is that it is an infinitely free energy; and this would not usually incur any additional expenses other than the initial installation and maintenance costs (2834). As compared to conventional power generation, solar energy p roduction does not require expensive raw materials such as coal, and it requires a significantly lower labor force. Solar energy generation has advantages of direct and indirect costs. To illustrate, since sun and the solar semi-conductors can do the whole work, it would trim down labor costs to a great extent. In addition, no raw materials are to be extracted and refined for the production of solar power, and hence there are no indirect costs involved. Desideri finds solar energy as the most accessible renewable energy as compared to other energy, because it is more available and free, â€Å"and it is considered such as one of the greatest technological potential areas† (298). Sunlight is distributed almost equally all across the globe although there are some seasonal and territorial variations in the availability of sunlight; it also adds to the potentiality of this renewable energy. Another notable feature of solar energy is that there are no greenhouse gases emitted durin g the solar power generation process, and therefore it contributes little to environmental issues such as global warming or climate change. In addition, solar energy does not produce any smoke or chemical byproduct that is toxic to humans. Thomas also points out how a solar thermal or photovoltaic system avoids greenhouse gas emissions (28). It is clear that today nations strive to eliminate greenhouse gases and other toxic emission so as to promote the concept of sustainable development. In this context, this green energy technology would assist governments in cutting down their environmental intervention costs and promoting environmental sustainability significantly. Furthermore, since solar energy is free from environmentally harmful emissions, solar power plants can be established in any region where high intensity sunlight is available. The United States Environmental Protection Agency proposes solar energy as the most substantial choice: Solar energy is considered environmenta lly friendly because the sun is a natural energy source that does not require the burning of fossil fuels and the associated air emissions. In addition, it is considered renewable since the energy produced from the sun does not deplete any natural resources, and will never run out†¦ Certain additional features allow the end user to continue to operate even when the sun is not shining (EPA). Finally, developing more solar energy is a better way for organizations to demonstrate their corporate social responsibility, which is a central aspect of

IT management Practices in Organisations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

IT management Practices in Organisations - Essay Example The underdeveloped system saps the managers’ ability to make informed decisions while planning for the IT, and the plans most turn out to be impracticable. â€Å"Deficiency in executing the plan formulated has led to a disjoint mode of implementation of technology† (Misra, 2006, p. 49). The system and organizational culture in SMEs is in the nascent stage and is not strong enough to address the loopholes in the organization and integration of IT in the work setup. Organizations take time to develop. In the start, one individual may represent one whole department because of human resource constraints imposed to minimize the expenditures and make the business profitable. Strategies entrepreneurs commonly adopt to limit the expenditure include but are not limited to increased manual work to save the expenditure of purchasing machines, overloading of work on the employees, more working hours, and reduced benefits for the organizational personnel. SMEs that do invest in mach ines do not have an efficient repair and maintenance system in place to ensure that the machines are fully functional all the time. A small dysfunction may take days to be fixed, which not only distorts the process of communication and drawing of information using technology, but also serves as a disincentive for the organizational personnel to rely on the use of technology to accomplish their daily tasks. As a result, there occurs a shift from machine work to the manual work, that in effect lowers the efficiency of the system as well as increases the work-load upon the employees further. Like all employees down the line, leaders are no less affected by the lack of planning and organization. Although leaders are primarily responsible for decision making as well as the planning and organization of IT, yet they are not able to achieve their optimal potential in leadership because of the resource constraints imposed by the owners of SMEs. Involvement of the CEO and the external IT expe rtise has a major influence on the success of IT management in SMEs (Thong et al., 1997). Unfortunately, most of the entrepreneurs/owners of SMEs are just rich enough to establish a new firm, and may not necessarily be qualified enough to lead the companies themselves. Like all other areas of IT management, controlling of IT is no less complicated in SMEs because of the aforementioned reasons. However, it is not appropriate to conclude that IT management in SMEs is absolutely inexistent. Although management of IT in SMEs is not comparable to that in large enterprises, yet various studies have concluded that there has occurred immense improvement in management of human resources as well as IT over the years (Suraweera, Cragg, & Mills, 2010, p. 1). Q. 2: Answer Before identifying the important practices in each of the four areas of IT management, it is customary to briefly discuss the concept of IT management as it helps in understanding the role of different departments in addition t o the IT department in the IT management. IT management is a very broad topic that covers activities that include but are not limited to the management of IT resource as a weapon of attaining competitive advantage, management of the resources of IT like the technical infrastructure and the organizational personnel, and establishment and accurate functioning of the information systems (Luftman, 2004). In the