An objective or goal is a personal or organizational desired end point in development.

It is usually endeavoured to be reached in finite time by setting deadlines Goal setting Goal Setting involves setting specific, measurable and time targeted objectives. In an organisational or business context, it may be an effective tool for making progress by ensuring that participants are clearly aware of what is expected from them, if an objective is to be achieved. On a personal level, Goal setting is a process that allows people to specify then work towards their own objectives most commonly with financial or career-based goals. Goal setting is a major component of Personal development literature. The business technique of Management by objectives uses the principle of goal setting. In business, goal setting has the advantages of encouraging participants to put in substantial effort; and, because every member is aware of what is expected of him or her (high role perception), little room is left of inadequate effort going unnoticed. To be most effective goals should be tangible, specific, realistic and have a time targeted for completion. There must be realistic plans to achieve the intended goal. For example, setting a goal to go to Mars on a shoe string budget is not a realistic goal while setting a goal to go to Hawaii as a backpacker is a possible goal with possible, realistic plans. One drawback of goal setting is that implicit learning may be impended. This is because goal setting may encourage simple focus on an outcome without openness to exploration, understanding or growth. "Goals provide a sense of direction and purpose" (Goldstein, 1993, p.96). Locke et al. (1981) examined the behavioral effects of goal-setting, concluding that 90% of laboratory and field studies involving specific and challenging goals led to higher performance than easy or no goals. === The Common Criteria (CC) is an international standard (ISO/IEC 15408) for computer security. Unlike standards such as FIPS 140, Common Criteria does not provide a list of security requirements to be satisfied. Instead, it describes a framework in which users can specify their security requirements, developers can make claims about the security attributes of their products, and evaluators can determine if products actually meet their claims. In other words, Common Criteria provides assurance that the process of specifying, developing, and evaluating a computer security product has been conducted in a rigorous manner. Key Concepts Common Criteria defines a number of key concepts:

A Protection Profile (PP) is a document, typically created by a user or user community, which identifies security requirements relevant to that user. A PP effectively defines a class of security devices (for example, smartcards used to provide digital signatures).

A Security Target (ST) is a document, typically created by a system developer, that identifies the security capabilities of a particular product and which therefore forms the basis for evaluating that product. Optionally, an ST may claim conformance to one or more PPs; if so the evaluation will examine these claims. The Target Of Evaluation (TOE) is simply the product described in the ST, about which the security claims are made. Security Functional Requirements (SFRs) are descriptions of individual security functions which may be provided by a product. CC presents a standard catalogue of such functions, which are selected by the user or developer when writing STs and PPs. For instance, an SFR may state how a user acting a particular role might be authenticated. Although Common Criteria does not prescribe any SFRs to be included in an ST, it identifies dependencies where the correct operation of one function (such as the ability to limit access according to roles) is dependent on another (such as the ability to identify individual roles). Security Assurance Requirements are descriptions of the measures taken during development of the product to assure compliance with the claimed security functionality (for instance, requiring that all source code is kept in a change management system, or that full functional testing is performed). Again, Common Criteria provides a catalogue of these, which are selected when writing a PP or ST. An Evaluation Assurance Level ( EAL) is a package of Assurance requirements which covers the complete development of a product, with a given level of strictness. Common Criteria lists seven levels, with EAL 1 being the most basic (and therefore cheapest to implement and evaluate) and EAL 7 being the most stringent (and most expensive). Normally, an ST or PP author will not select Assurance requirements individually but choose one of these packages, possibly 'augmenting' requirements in a few areas with requirements from a higher level. Higher EAL levels do not necessarily imply "better security", they only mean that the claimed security assurance of the TOE has been more extensively validated.

So far, most PPs and most evaluated STs/certified products have been for IT components (e.g., firewalls, operating systems, smart cards). Common Criteria certification is sometimes specified for IT procurement. Other standards containing, e.g, interoperation, system management, user training, supplement CC and other product standards. Examples include the ISO 17799 (Or more properly BS 7799-2, which is now ISO/IEC 27001) or the German IT-Grundschutzhandbuch. Details of cryptographic implementation within the TOE are outside the scope of the CC. Instead, national standards, like FIPS 140-2 give the specifications for cryptographic modules, and various standards specify the cryptographic algorithms in use. ==

Examples of some basic financial concepts The activity of finance is the application of a set of techniques that individuals and organizations (entities) use to manage their financial affairs, particularly the differences between income and expenditure and the risks of their investments.

An entity whose income exceeds its expenditure can lend or invest the excess income. On the other hand, an entity whose income is less than its expenditure can raise capital by borrowing or selling equity claims, decreasing its expenses, or increasing its income. The lender can find a borrower, a financial intermediary, such as a bank or buy notes or bonds in the bond market. The lender receives interest, the borrower pays a higher interest than the lender receives, and the financial intermediary pockets the difference. A bank aggregates the activities of many borrowers and lenders. A bank accepts deposits from lenders, on which it pays interest. The bank then lends these deposits to borrowers. Banks allow borrowers and lenders of different sizes to coordinate their activity. Banks are thus compensators of money flows in space since they allow different lenders and borrowers to meet, and in time, since every borrower will eventually pay back. A specific example of corporate finance is the sale of stock by a company to institutional investors like investment banks, who in turn generally sell it to the public. The stock gives whoever owns it part ownership in that company. If you buy one share of XYZ inc, and they have 100 shares available, you are 1/100 owner of that company. You own 1/100 of anything on the asset side of the balance sheet. Of course, in return for the stock, the company receives cash, which it uses to expand its business in a process called "equity financing". Equity financing mixed with the sale of bonds (or any other debt financing) is called the company's capital structure. Finance is used by individuals (personal finance), by governments (public finance), by businesses (corporate finance), etc., as well as by a wide variety of organizations including schools and non-profit organizations. In general, the goals of each of the above activities are achieved through the use of appropriate financial instruments, with consideration to their institutional setting. Personal finance Questions in personal finance revolve around

How much money will be needed by an individual (or by a family) at various points in the future? Where will this money come from (e.g. savings or borrowing)? How can people protect themselves against unforeseen events in their lives, and risk in financial markets? How can family assets be best transferred across generations (bequests and inheritance)? How do taxes (tax subsidies or penalties) affect personal financial decisions?

Personal financial decisions may involve paying for education, financing durable goods such as real estate and cars, buying insurance, e.g. health and property insurance, investing and saving for retirement. Business finance In the case of a company, managerial finance or corporate finance is the task of providing the funds for the corporations' activities. It generally involves balancing risk and profitability. Long term funds would be provided by ownership equity and long-term credit, often in the form of bonds. These decisions lead to the company's capital structure. Short term funding or working capital is mostly provided by banks extending a line of credit.

On the bond market, borrowers package their debt in the form of bonds. The borrower receives the money it borrows by selling the bond, which includes a promise to repay the value of the bond with interest. The purchaser of a bond can resell the bond, so the actual recipient of interest payments can change over time. Bonds allow lenders to recoup the value of their loan by simply selling the bond. Another business decision concerning finance is investment, or fund management. An investment is an acquisition of an asset in the hopes that it will maintain or increase its value. In investment management - in choosing a portfolio - one has to decide what, how much and when to invest. In doing so, one needs to

Identify relevant objectives and constraints: institution or individual - goals - time horizon - risk aversion - tax considerations Identify the appropriate strategy: active vs passive - hedging strategy Measure the portfolio performance

Financial management is duplicate with the financial function of the Accounting profession. However, Financial Accounting is more concerned with the reporting of historical financial information, while the financial decision is directed toward the future of the firm. Funding or financing is to provide capital (funds), which means money for a project, a person, a business or any other private or public institutions. Those funds can be allocated for either short term or long term purposes. The health fund is a new way of funding private healthcare centers. Sources of funding Among the main sources of funding, there are:

savings credit donations, subsidies, grants taxes