Author: Michael D. S. Harris File Type: pdf In orderto maximizeIT resources andjustify IT expenditures, CIOs and other IT managers must be able to identify meaningful metrics and explain them in a way that management can understand. The Business Value of IT Managing Risks, Optimizing Performance, and Measuring Results solves this problem by providing practical answers to these questions ullWhat does IT contribute to the business? llWhy should we care about IT governance? llHow can we best measure IT performance? llHow do we mitigate the risks associated with change? lulLeading consultants Michael D. Harris, David E. Herron, and Stasia Iwanicki share their real-world experiences to explain how you can demonstrate ITs value, and potentially find extra value you didnt know your IT organization creates. They also show how to apply risk management to process improvement and avoid unintended consequences of process improvement programs. The text provides the understanding required todiscover the processes necessary to prioritize yourorganizations IT activities. identify alternative measurement frameworks, andevaluate the best approaches to outsourcing. Many IT organizations have successfully implemented the techniques described in this book to increase their business value. This work identifies the organizational and cultural obstacles you need to remove to get started along the same path.**

Author: Roy W. Perrett File Type: pdf p paranoindent1 margin 0.5em Contrary to popular Western belief, classical Indian philosophy was not indistinguishable from Indian religion as even a cursory glance at the first three volumes of this series will demonstrate. But religious concerns did motivate the work of many Indian philosophers (as they did too the work of many of the great Western philosophers), and there definitely is something that can be described as Indian philosophy of religion, i.e. philosophy of Indian religions (Matilal 1982, Perrett 1989). However, important differences between the major Indian religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism) mean that the shape of Indian philosophy of religion is often significantly different from that of Western philosophy of religion.p paraindent5 margin 0.5em One fundamental difference is that theism is not central to all the Indian religions in the way it is to the Western religions. While there certainly were classical Indian philosophers who were staunch monotheists (e.g. the Visistadvaitins, the Dvaitins, the Saiva Siddhantins), overall this was not the dominant trend. In the first place, Buddhism and Jainism are both non-theistic religions. Then within Hinduism orthodoxy is traditionally determined by an acknowledgment of the authority of the Vedas, not a belief in God. Hence among the orthodox Hindu philosophical schools Samkhya and Mimamsa are both atheistic, Advaita is ultimately non-theistic, and Yoga and Nyaya-Vaisesika are minimally theistic in the sense that they allow only significantly attenuated powers to God. Two implications of this for Indian philosophy of religion are evident. First, Indian philosophy of religion is much less centered on philosophical theology than is Western philosophy of religion. Second, even when the Indians engage in philosophical theology, it often has a rather different flavor (Pereira 1976).p paraindent5 margin 0.5em Consider, for instance, Indian discussions of the problem of evil (Herman 1976, Matilal 1982). The theistic problem of evil is how to reconcile the existence of evil with the existence of an omnipotent and benevolent God. Jaina and Buddhist atheists appealed to the existence of evil as an atheological argument, but Indian theists responded by limiting Gods powers, holding that even God is constrained by individuals own karma. Nor did they accept that the existence of evil in the world showed that the world is not Gods creation. The world is Godsfont face=segoeuililafontor divine play (Sax 1995), a creation with no purpose, and hence something for which God bears no moral responsibility.p paraindent5 margin 0.5em On the other hand, Indian theists were not always persuaded of the soundnessa id=pxivaof the natural theologians arguments for the existence of God (Smart 1964). The philosophical theologian Ramanuja, for instance, criticized teleological arguments for Gods existence, basing belief in God instead on the authority of scripture. Part of his motivation was to retain a proper creaturely dependence salvation should rest solely with God, and not with human reasoning. Nyaya-Vaisesika, however, has a long tradition of natural theology, including elaborate causal and cosmological arguments for the existence of God (Bhattacharya 1961, Chemparathy 1972, Vattanky 1984 and 1993). But the God (font face=segoeuiIsvarafont) of the Naiyayikas has distinctly attenuated powers he does not, for instance, create the worldfont face=segoeuiex nihilofont, though he is the author of the Vedas. Yoga has an even thinner conception of Godfont face=segoeuiIsvarafontis nothing but a self (font face=segoeuipurusafont) that has never been confused with nature (font face=segoeuiprakrtifont), and his only role is as a meditative focus for thefont face=segoeuiyoginfont.p paraindent5 margin 0.5em Other Hindu philosophers effectively manage without God altogether. Classical Samkhya is atheistic, and Mimamsa even more aggressively so. The Advaitin monists hold thatfont face=segoeuiBrahmanfontis ultimately non-personal, while the Kasmir Saivite monists identify the God Siva with our true self (font face=segoeuiatmanfont), thus dissolving the usual theistic gap between God and his creation.p paraindent5 margin 0.5em All of these schools, however, acknowledge the authority of some kind of revelation. For the Hindu philosophers, it is the Vedas. Consequently non-theistic Hindu philosophers like the Mimamsakas and the Advaitins deny that the Vedas are authored by God, claiming instead that they are eternal and authorless (font face=segoeuiapaureseyafont). The Mimamsakas go even further, arguing that the Vedas are purely injunctive and that all apparently declarative sentences in the scriptures are in reality merely declamatory.p paraindent5 margin 0.5em The Buddhist and Jaina philosophers entirely reject the authority of the Vedas, but they accept the authority of their own scriptures authored by (highly developed) humans. In Jainism thespan text-indent 3.5emscriptures are the products of the totally omniscentspanspan text-indent 3.5emspanfont face=segoeuispan text-indent 3.5emtirthahkarasspanfontspan text-indent 3.5em, whose omniscience guarantees the reliability of the scriptures in much the same way as Gods omniscience guarantees the reliability of the Vedas for some Hindu theists. The Buddhist position is a bit more complicated the scriptures are the word of the Buddha but the Buddhas omniscience is restricted to knowledge of all the truths necessary for salvation, and our ordinary human knowledge of the truth of the doctrines expressed in the Buddhist scriptures is based upon independent logical and empirical investigation.spanp paraindent5 margin 0.5em While there was thus considerable debate in the Indian tradition about the existence of God and about the nature of revelation, there was surprisingly little argument about a crucial background assumption shared by all Indian philosophers (save the Carvaka) a belief in the twin doctrines of rebirth and karma. (Strictly speaking, these two doctrines are logically distinct, but in the Indian context they are very much intertwined). Perhaps because of this consensus, Indian philosophical arguments for the truth of the doctrine of rebirth are not plentiful (Smart 1964, Hick 1975). Indian defenses of the law of karma are also scarce, though there was much discussion of its mechanisms (OFlaherty 1980, Reichenbach 1990).p paraindent5 margin 0.5em Finally, there was also much Indian discussion of various issues raised by particular features of Indian religion. These include the relation of orthodox Indian religion to religious imperatives, the relation of religion to politics, the meaning of ritual andfont face=segoeuimantrafont, the nature and cognitive significance of meditation (font face=segoeuidhyanafont) anda id=pxvadevotionalism (font face=segoeuibhaktifont). On all of these topics the Indian philosophers of religion had interesting and novel things to say.