Case Study Analysis – Abc, Inc. - 1632 Words

Case Study Analysis – ABC, Inc. COMM 215 Instructor B. Massis May 27, 2013 Introduction As a new worker you have finally landed that dream job, now what? You are excited about the possibilities awaiting you at your new dream job. As you prepare for your first day, you are told you will have to attend new hire orientation. Suddenly, the butterflies in your stomach return as you anticipate what to expect next. Then you ask yourself, â€Å"What is new hire orientation and what does it mean for me?† The goal of any successful onboarding program is to ensure that the investment in a new employee pays off by creating a sense of connection between the new worker and the organization. But what happens when company representatives lack†¦show more content†¦Initially, Monica contacts Carl about the key items needed for orientation and he assures her that everything is good to go. This could not have been further from the truth. At this point, he is not aware of the problems he will face in his new endeavor. Carl’s lack of experience is clearly exh ibited when his assurance has not been tested. The next key problem that arises for Carl is when he checks the new trainee files and discovers that they are incomplete. All the new recruits have gone through the interview process and filled out their paperwork. Unfortunately, the paperwork is incomplete and missing lots of valuable data. To make matters worse, some files are missing transcripts, and no one has completed the required drug screens. Problems only get worse for Carl when he discovers that only three copies of the employee manuals exist. Of the three manuals that exist, they are all missing several pages. Unfortunately, he needs fifteen complete copies. As if the previous issues alone are not bad enough, Carl also learns that the training room he plans to use for orientation has been booked by another individual for the entire month of June. At this point, he is faced with a serious dilemma, and his lack of experience reveals that he does not realize the severi ty of his problem. Namely, he lacks leadership because he failed to prepare and assumed that his first project would go smoothly. Next, heShow MoreRelatedAbc, Inc. Case Study Analysis781 Words   |  4 PagesCOMM 215 July 20, 2005 ABC, Inc. Case Study Analysis Case Study Background In April, Carl Robins, a new recruiter for ABC, Inc, with only six months experience, successfully hired 15 new employees. The new trainees were hired to work for Monica Carrolls, the Operations Supervisor. Carl Robins scheduled a new hire orientation to take place June 15 with the intent of having all the new hires working by July. On May 15, Monica Carrolls contacted Carl about coordinating many issues for the newRead MoreAbc Inc. Case Study Analysis1430 Words   |  6 PagesCase Study Analysis This is a case study analysis of the hiring process conducted by new recruiter Carl Robins. The ABC Inc employee encountered several problems while attempting to complete the hiring process of 15 new employees. Problems include poor time management, lack of attention to detail, and poor communication. Improvements to be made are weekly meetings between key office personnel and implementing a training program for all employees regardless of position. Background New campusRead MoreEssay on ABC, Inc. Case Study Analysis1023 Words   |  5 PagesABC, Inc. Case Study Analysis Problem At the beginning of April, Carl Robbins was hired at ABC, INC. as a new recruiter. He successfully hired several employees, even though he was fairly new at his job. This was his first recruitment effort that turned out quite well. After this, the Operations Supervisor, Monica Carrolls, tasked Carl to recruit 15 new employees to begin working at ABC in July. So Carl scheduled an orientation to take place for the 15 employees on June 15th. Monica contactedRead More ABC, Inc. Case Study Analysis Essay527 Words   |  3 Pages  ABC, Inc. Case Study Analysis †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Introduction A number of problems were made during the recent hiring process. This case Study is an attempt to identify and recommend ways to improve this process. From the information that has been obtained, I believe that a lack of employee experience and a lack of prior planning and follow up resulted in a failure to accomplish all the tasks necessary to hire the new employees in a timely fashion. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Background Carol RobinsRead MoreAbc Inc Case Study Analysis1457 Words   |  6 PagesABC, Inc.’s new campus recruiter Carl Robins has found himself to have over looked some important details of his new hires orientation. If he can’t resolve these issues in a timely manner, Carl will not be able to hold orientation June15, like Monica wants. The deadline is closing in and there are some problems that need quick solving, since Carl is new to his position, he is still worried that he may not have the answers to fix the issues at hand. Seems Carl may not have been as organized as heRead MoreEssay Abc Inc. Case Study for Student Analysis1126 Words   |  5 PagesABC Inc. Case Study Ryan Fagen University of Phoenix COM215 [ May 14, 2010 ] Michael Millis ABC Inc. Case Study for Student Analysis Even though postponing the orientation will allow the recruiting department the time to obtain all the necessary documents, receive the results from all drug screens, ensure all training materials are in hand, and the onsite training room would be available reducing any additional costs to the company, the issues can be overcome and with some adjustmentsRead MoreCase Study for Student Analysis: Carl Robins Essay examples979 Words   |  4 PagesCase Study page 1 Case Study: Carl Robins Latisha Dow COMM/215 Essentials of College Writing Gayle Thomas February 14, 2011 Case Study Page 2 My consulting company has been hired by ABC, Inc. to evaluate some problems involving management. Once the analysis is complete it will identify and recommend ways to improve the hiring process of ABC, Inc. During the recent hiring process several problems became apparent. Once my company gathered information from ABC, IncRead MoreQuantitative Techniques in Statistics1862 Words   |  7 PagesMemo-Quantitative Techniques/Statistics The plant opening is only a few months away and the Board of Directors for ABC Complete Kitchens, Inc. is interested in learning more about what you recommend for plant productivity analysis. Specifically, the board members want you to identify and describe the tools and techniques that are available that will help the plants executive team better conduct statistical analyses for plant productivity evaluation. Be sure to define the management information systemsRead MoreRecruitment Process For Recruiting New Trainees For Abc, Inc.1434 Words   |  6 Pagesn this case study analysis of Carl Robins a number of problems related with the recruiting process transpired. To obtain a clear understanding of what went wrong and the best way to solve these problems, a case study analysis is the most effective method to identify and recommend ways to improve this process for recruiting new trainees for ABC, Inc. Carl’s mishaps were caused by a lack of organization, planning, and scheduling, and there is a good chance the training will not be able to happen asRead MoreEssay about ABC, Inc. Case Study1674 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿ABC, Inc. Case Study Charles Ramsey Comm/215 Sept. 29, 2014 Margaret Mehl ABC, Inc. Case Study Introduction Hiring 15 new employees in early April as part of his first recruitment effort, Carl Robins is the new campus recruiter for ABC, Inc. Hired to work for Monica Carrolls, Operations Supervisor, these new potential employees require training on company policy, being oriented to the organization, and screened for drugs. Carl himself is behind on their training, has not completed all the

Sex Trafficking And Sexual Trafficking - 1413 Words

People that were involved with sex trafficking in Europe tell their stories because these people describe vulnerability, trafficker tactics, and violence to prevent other people from being put in these situation. Europe could be considered a strong hold for sex trafficking in the world. The narratives of Kevin Bales book â€Å"To Plead Our Own Cause†, speak a lot about the way people (mostly women) are forced or tricked into sex trafficking. Bales also writes about the vulnerability of the people forced into sex trafficking, and the violence associated with sex trafficking. I believe that Kevin Bales focused on these topics in sex trafficking in Europe because there is a lot to be learned from these cases. Studying this region of the world has†¦show more content†¦In most of these cases the people being trafficked are very vulnerability to people they learn to trust. For example, Maria, was trafficked to Italy, France, and Netherlands by a man named Damir. He was what looked to be a young rich man that walked into her father’s shop looking for young women to be models. Damir wanted to hire Maria as a model but said it would require her to travel around Europe and would require her parents to sign off on it. So her parents did reluctantly, and she did go with Damir to Bari in southern Italy. So they arrive in Bari with a few other women and then they are forced into sex trafficking from there. She was vulnerable to this because she was chasing a dream of hers to become a model and travel the world. Chasing her dream put her in the worst possible situation and abused. â€Å"We pray that young men and women who are tempted by people who are the lowest animal’s to smuggle them to the west will find it and listen to what we suffered†(Maria 52). The next narrative that is an example of this is Adelina’s. Adelina was from Albania and was thirteen when she was forced into sex trafficking. Adelina’s mother left her fa ther before being forced into trafficking. While traveling to Her mother’s new husband home, Adelina’s mother fell of the side of a mountain and was injured. The mother lived but their family had no income and no place to live. So they bounce

The Filipino Face of Jesus free essay sample

And I am a Catholic. How does my nationality affect my knowledge of Jesus? There are times that the Filipino heritage is taken for granted and what has taken the center stage is the Catholic faith. I find nothing wrong with it. As a matter of fact being Catholic makes me more proud. I may have inherited and learned the teachings of the Church about Jesus, yet, my own cultural heritage as a Filipino adds color and meaning to my Catholic faith. Let me focus my reflection on the characteristics of faith in Jesus presented by The Catechism for Filipino Catholics (CFC). First, Filipinos are family-oriented. We Filipinos draw our sense of self-identity from our families. Our families provide us with a sense of security, stability, and belongingness. â€Å"Hindi siya iba sa atin. † Christ is our â€Å"kapatid†, and because of this, we deem ourselves worthy to call God â€Å"Ama Namin† and our Lady as â€Å"Mahal na Ina†. We will write a custom essay sample on The Filipino Face of Jesus or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Second, Filipinos are meal-oriented. For us Filipinos, our â€Å"salo-salo† is more than just nourishment of the body. We strengthen our relationships by sharing a meal. The Filipino â€Å"handaan† is an expression of our good will. The Eucharist is our â€Å"salo-salo†, our family reunion. Christ is our â€Å"tinapay ng buhay†, the Host that throws a â€Å"piging† as a sign of his gracious love- love that sustains us, love that makes us one as God’s people. Third, Filipinos are kundiman-oriented. The â€Å"Kundiman† is a sad love song. We are naturally attracted to those who are â€Å"kawawa† or â€Å"kinakawawa†. We are also very patient and forgiving â€Å"alang-alang sa pinagsamahan†. We are willing to suffer for the sake of others. Christ is the God who keeps on loving us to the point of suffering and death. â€Å"Pinagmalasakitan tayo. † In him we find someone who understands our struggles and heartaches for he himself has been through it all. Fourth, Filipinos are bayani-oriented. We look up to heroes. We admire people who give up their lives for our sake. We do not want sad endings to our stories. Perhaps we endure suffering because we there is someone who is willing to sacrifice on our behalf to defend us from oppressors and get us out of our misery. Jesus is our â€Å"Cristo Rey†, the king who is â€Å"tagapagtanggol ng inaapi†, â€Å"kampeon ng masa†. He is the defender of the poor and the oppressed. As king, he assures us that things will go well since he has already triumphed over evil. Lastly, Filipinos are spirit-oriented. For us Filipinos, the â€Å"supernatural† is natural. We are likely to believe in the existence of the invisible and the mysterious. It is easy for us to accept Jesus as miracle-worker. Jesus is the â€Å"mapaghimala†, the â€Å"makapangyarihan sa lahat† who can exorcize demons, heal diseases, control nature.

Project Governance

Abstract Project governance has become popular in the workplaces, as it addresses lack of accountability in project performance. Project governance is mostly associated with information technology projects; project–based firm develop as a result of management. Today, due to the advancing technology, many firms rely on projects in order to be innovative.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Project Governance specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Flexibility is therefore needed in order to allow firms to combine skills and capabilities. This paper elaborates more on project governance, its importance, challenges, and different mechanisms associated with project governance. The paper further elaborates project governance structure in detail and the role of the steering committee and that of the project manager. This research aims at conveying an understanding on the importance of effective project governance, whi ch will contribute to the success of a project other than a failure. Every firm should incorporate project governance, as it assists in monitoring and making firm decisions. Indeed, firms that do not have project governance are mostly associated with fraud and mal-practice. Project Governance Project governance can be described as a framework in which decisions regarding projects are made. According to Renz (2007, p19), â€Å"project governance is a process-oriented system by which projects are strategically directed, intergratively managed, and holistically controlled, in an entrepreneurial and ethically reflected way, appropriate to the singular, time-wise limited, interdisciplinary and complex context.† Normally, management is effective in developing projects that represent organizational structure. Project governance contributes towards solving information and knowledge issues, as it proposes towards the system of strategically directing and controlling projects that invo lve operational and governance level. In addition, project governance provides a structure that aids in meeting objectives of the project, how to obtain the objectives, and how to monitor performance in the place of work (Turner, 2007, p.104). The level of governance must be clearly defined, which is the managerial level that controls the resources in a project. Therefore, the absence of governance in any organization can be interpreted as mismanagement that is equal to fraud. Moreover, good project governance includes an effective mode of communication and an effective assignment of duties and responsibilities.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Project Governance Mechanisms Project governance is associated with an organization process of sharing decisions concerning projects and monitoring those projects. According to (Vallabhaneni, 2009, n.d), â€Å"project governance mechanisms include establishing a project steering committee and project oversight board and conducting a project management audit.† This committee reviews an organization’s functions, but focuses on a specific project at a time. It reviews the scope, impact, funding, challenges, costs, benefits, progress and solves problems that are related to the project. Most development organizations have adopted project governance; however, effective project governance is important, as it is associated with several mechanisms. These mechanisms encourage behavior that should be consistent with an organization’s values, norms, and strategy and mission (PM4DEV, 2008, p.108). The main objective of project governance is to establish effective levels of authority and decision-making, whereby, people and policies are involved in order to provide a framework for decision-making. The roles and responsibilities for the employees involved in a project are defined, and their level of in teraction and co-ordination are considered. An organization management team is held responsible for implementing and supporting a governance structure before the project starts. It is important for management to document the roles and responsibilities; this project governance document should assist in the definition of the decision-making structure, role, and duties of the stakeholders, and the processes involved in the project. According to PM4DEV (2008, p109), some organizations have a standing project governance, which means that the committee overseas all projects, thus defining the decision making structure. According to Nickerson Zenger (2004 p7), markets, authority based hierarchies and consensus based hierarchies are the mechanisms of project governance. Further, they explain how they relate to decision rights, communication channels, and incentives to motivate search in an organization.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Project Governance specific ally for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the market mechanism, a manager decides on how to create knowledge and the best way of utilizing the knowledge and when to disperse the knowledge. Therefore, marketing governance determines the search for valuable information. Due to the prices present in a market, incentives are provided in order to motivate the search for the needed solutions. Each problem requires a solution, which is yielded from a decision made, thus leading to a marketable solution that will be of benefit to an organization. Nickerson Zenger (2004 p7) state that â€Å"markets provide high-powered incentive that motivate actor to pursue trials that expand their knowledge or the sale of products and services based on that knowledge.† The sharing of knowledge on a particular project requires a common language, which is used to communicate; however, markets do not provide strong incentive that formulates a common language. The aut hor further explains that markets have failed as project governance mechanisms, since problems have become more complex. Markets are seen to discourage information sharing rather that a promoter in knowledge sharing; indeed, markets incentives only benefit an individual, other that majority of people. In addition, market incentives do not work towards implementing a common language that would ensure effective sharing of information. However, markets are efficient in finding solutions to organizational problems, but they fail due to ineffective knowledge sharing method. Authority–based hierarchy is a key to decision making and aids in transfer of knowledge. Therefore, in problem solving, authority is necessary in managing of knowledge sharing. In addition, employees grant a manager the authority he needs, and as a result, they attain their wages. Therefore, the knowledge employees receive at the workplace earn them wages for their performance. Authority does not automatically imply presence of expertise; therefore, in case authority is exercised in absence of knowledge, the authority is ineffective. However, authority-based hierarchy is effective when searching for solutions to organizational problems (Nickerson Zenger, 2004, p.9).Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Consensus–based hierarchy supports knowledge transfer within the organization by educating each other on the knowledge acquired, thus forming a clear direction on the choice of project and how to solve the associated problems. In addition, the control and monitoring mechanisms, include tools that support the planning and implementation of projects, and monitor thee activities to ensure that the initial project objectives are met (Robinson H, et al, 2010 p76). Project governance involves major decision-making, whereby, a project manager has to make some key decisions that pertain to the project. Nevertheless, those issues that the project manager cannot handle may be referred to the project board. Moreover, project governance may impact positively on customers and suppliers in that, a customer is required to be more involved in the project, thus accepting project ownership. When organizations face an increase in capital works, there is need to increase resourcing in the suppli er on business. Decision-making Effective project governance yields to quality decision making, as the project decisions are aligned with the organizational objectives. In addition, proper allocation of resources is ensured across all project; the presence of an effective project governance results to stable and clear decisions. Nevertheless, when a project is in its initiation stage, it requires project governance that will assist is overseeing and controlling the project. Managers should be able to asses the project progress, but ineffective decision-making may lead to failure of the project. According to Kerzner Sponholtz (2011, p.19), â€Å"governance relates to decisions that define expectations, accountability, responsibility, granting of power, and verifying of performance.† Therefore, governance allows effective and efficient decisions to take place in a project. However, due to the large committees involved in project governance, decision-making appears to be slow, as every member wants his /her interests to be considered. Dynamics of Leadership Behavior A leader’s presence is important in any business; therefore, when a firm is dealing with project, it is important for them to acknowledge a project manager that will oversee the process of the project from its initiation stage to its final stage. Leadership in a project is very important, as a certain type of leadership style could lead to either the success or failure of a project. However, culture, customs, and the nature of project may influence the management style used. Autocratic style of leadership involves decision-making process only among the senior management; as a result, the employees are expected to abide by the management decisions. Communication channel follows a downward approach, whereby, orders and instructions are passed from the top leaders to the subordinates. This style of leadership is advantageous as the direction of a project remains constant and decisions are similar, thus portraying a well-managed project (PM4DEV, 2008 p107). The paternalistic style of leadership involves a manager making decision with the employee’s interests in mind, rather than giving all the attention to the project only. The manager takes the initiative of explaining all the decisions regarding the project to the employees. There is the presence of employee motivation in this type of leadership as opposed to autocratic style. This type of leadership creates a sense of loyalty from the employees as their social needs are met. However, the employees assigned to the project may become more dependants on their manager, such that, in case the manager makes wrong decisions, they completely loose faith in him. The democratic style of leadership involves both the leader and the employees in that, the employees take part in decision-making process. Where quality decisions are required, the style of leadership is effective, since employees, opinions are inclusive. Lai ssez-faire requires the manager’s role to be marginal, such that employees have specific areas in which they manage within the project. The communication channel is equal in both sides; however, not much is communicated, thus resulting to poor management of the project. This results from staff lack of direction and focus; hence, the project image is affected. Organizational Structure According to Robinson et al (2010 p75), â€Å"an effective organizational structure defines the reporting structure, lines of accountability, project manager’s role, and responsibilities within a project team.† Therefore, there is need for a good governance structure and mechanisms that is used for making decisions and reporting on project plans among others. To enhance effective project delivery through accountability, strategic goals should be clear to the senior management; thus, they are capable of overseeing project programmes, hence being in a position of managing projects ris k before they affect the capability of the project. At the project level, departmental priorities must be understood, thus making it easier for the staff to identify and manage risks. A project team needs clear definition of their role and responsibilities and a vision. A reporting structure in any organization elaborates how power and control run throughout the organization. Therefore, the reporting structure provides a clear accountability and decision-making. An organizational structure may consist of co-ordinate work streams and the project team reporting to a team manager while he reports to the project board or the project steering committee. A complex organizational structure may make the process of decision making difficult and long. A reliable approval system ensures that there is a good coordination between different project teams within the organization. Moreover, the control and monitoring mechanism spot arising risks and find mitigating measures before they completely c orrupt the project. According to Robinson et al. (2010, p89), project controls keep the project according to plan, regarding time and within the budget. Each project needs an appropriate level of control, as too much control may be unmanageable, while minimal control yields to high costs to the project. Therefore, a control system should be simple and robust; that will ensure that project developments align with the organizational objectives. Project Governance Structure Project governance structure entails a framework that is used to govern a particular project; it includes â€Å"a number of committees and their roles with agreed responsibilities and decision-making rules† (Muller, 2009). Any changes in budgets or schedules are represented to the project governance structure body, such as the project steering committee, which plays a vital role in the planning and directing the project. The project governance structure needs the project steering committee in order to survive in terms of sufficient budget to deliverables. The project steering committee makes vital decisions concerning the governance structure and includes senior managers who monitor and give strategic direction to the team involved in the project, as well as to the stakeholders. The committee also gives recommendations pertaining to the project and holds discussions on strategies and arising opportunities for the project. They also review and approve project development strategies and resolve conflicts between stakeholders. An effective project governance structure is very important in an organization; however, leaders of a project may determine the effectiveness of a project governance structure. Realistic expectations should be set regarding the project governance, since these expectations determine its success. The project steering group should develop collaboration with the project manager in order to ensure that the project objectives are clear to both parties, which would result t o the success of the project. When both parties embrace flexibility and solidarity and ensure that there are proper communication channels, there is a high possibility for a project to prosper. Nevertheless, the steering committee expects the project manager to follow the project’s methodology in a rigorous and flexible manner. Both parties should be flexible, and open communication and mutual understanding should be their key goals. Therefore, a project manager should be given authority to handle the daily arising issues regarding the project, without necessarily having to involve the steering committee (Muller, 2009, p.78). However, when a project gets too difficult, trust in the manager’s competence is normally lost; therefore the steering committee may decide to replace the project manager. In some cases, the two parties fail to communicate through video conferencing or via traveling as a measure of reducing cost, however, they agree on communicating only when crit ical issues arises. Therefore, communication between the two parties is reduced and this could lead to loss of clarity of the project’s objective. Hence, effective working relationships may be lost and this could be the downfall of the project. Communication is a vital factor when dealing with any business; lack of effective communication could lead to misaligning of the organization’s objectives by the project manager, thus resulting to failure in projects. Therefore, there should be a clear exchange of information between both parties. It is however important for the project manager to understand the steering committee requirements towards the project, including its objectives, priorities and specifications. Incase of any danger, a project manager should alert the committee on time, so that the problem can be attended to as fast as possible (Muller, 2009 p80). An example of a governance structure (Treasury board of Canada secretariat, 2008) Challenges associated wit h project governance According to World Bank (2009, p.40), project governance is usually associated with frequent changes in the project team, which could interfere with the accomplishment of the project. Lack of resources and frequent reliance on advisers for decision-making results in the organization spending a lot of money. Due to an effective delegation of power, decision-making takes longer as all the decisions have to be referred to the senior management. Poor management of resources may also arise from interference from external advisers due to the big size of the project committee; indeed, it is often impossible to organize a meeting that each member will be present in. According to Garland (2009, p.113), organizations are faced with different challenges when implementing project governance framework. When implementing new project governance, some changes are evident in the organization. The project governance has the duty of ensuring that project deliveries are on time, th us strengthening the relationship. Nevertheless, an organization may be reluctant to delegate full authority to the project board, due to fear of not receiving all the information concerning the project. Recommendation For any organization to achieve an effective project governance structure, the management must ensure that there is accountability for the success of the project. A project with a clear understanding of who assumes responsibility for its success has a clear leadership, however, when a project does not have a clear accountability for its success, there is no clear guidance to attain solutions for difficult situations. Secondly, the â€Å"assets delivered by the project meet the service delivery needs of the organisation,† to meet its value for money (Garland, 2009). Failure to meet these needs deems the project as a failure, since service delivery ownership determine the project ownership. Thirdly, there should be a separation of stakeholder management from the decision-making activities. Large committees may fail to make quick decisions, but politics are involved, in that, some stakeholders may feel that their needs were not met. Therefore, any induced mechanism must meet the needs of the stakeholders. Fourthly, project governance should be separated from organizational governance structures. Project governance is mainly established with an aim of providing a framework for the project. Since projects need flexible and quick decisions, project governance ensures that key decision makers are placed in a forum, thus ensuring a quick decision making process, one that is not associated with hierarchies. Conclusion Introducing project governance in an organization will probably cause some changes; hence, it is important for the management to identify those areas that will be greatly affected by project governance in order to induce methods that can manage such areas, so that they may result to success. After introducing project governance, it i s important to introduce mechanisms that will contribute to accountability and transparency. Governance is a solution for organizations, but it requires the support of the organization’s executives. Nevertheless, lack of effective project governance may lead to a project failure, hence, loss of incentives that were allocated to such a project. Therefore, effective governance should ensure that projects deliver the intended value that is expected from them. When an appropriate framework is put in place, it will ensure that money is saved, as it is only used as budgeted. In addition, good project governance includes an effective mode of communication and an effective assignment of duties and responsibilities. Therefore, an organization management team should be responsible when implementing and supporting a governance structure before a project begins. References Garland, R., 2009. Project Governance: A Practical Guide to Effective Project Decision Making. London: Kogan Page Pu blishers. Kerzner, H. and Sponholtz, J. 2011. Project Management Metrics, KPIs, and Dashboards: A Guide to Measuring and Monitoring Project Performance. NJ: John Wiley and Sons Publisher. Muller, R., 2009. Project Governance; Fundamentals of project management. Surrey: Gower Publishing, Ltd. Nickerson, J. Zenger, T. 2004. Organization Science; A Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm; the Problem-Solving Perspective. Web. PM4DEV. 2008. Fundamentals of Project Management. NY: Lulu.com Publisher. Renz, P., 2007. Project governance: implementing corporate governance and business ethics in nonprofit organizations. Berlin: Springer Publishers. Robinson, H. et al. 2010. Governance and Knowledge Management for Public-Private Partnerships. NJ: John Wiley and Sons Publisher. Treasury board of Canada secretariat. 2008. Project Organization; Project governance. Web. Turner, R., 2007. Gower handbook of project management. 4th edition. Surrey: Gower Publishing Ltd. Vallabhaneni, D., 2009. Whatâ€⠄¢s Your MBA IQ? A Manager’s Career Development Tool. NJ: John Wiley and Sons Publisher. World Bank. 2009. Attracting investors to African public-private partnerships: a project preparation guide. Washington DC: World Bank Publications. This assessment on Project Governance was written and submitted by user Mikayla Cline to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Gears essays

Gears essays One of the burning questions that are on everyones mind these days is, How many different types of gears are there and what are they used for. I understand, this question has kept me awake most nights as well. Well put your mind at ease, because I am going to tell you all about several gears and their uses. Gears are used in all most every type of machinery that we use today. A gear is a device consisting of two mechanisms linked together. This combination creates a force or drive that can move an object (Candelora, par.1). One of the most common types of gear used is the Spur gear. This gear consist of two wheels with teeth or pegged, that when turned the teeth make contact therefore turning the wheels and creating a drive or force. These wheels are mounted on two parallel shafts; one wheel is always larger than the other and rotates at a slower pace than the smaller wheel. The force or drive created is used turn a corresponding gear or move an object (Candelora par. 3). Spur gears are used primarily in clocks, but also in oscillating sprinklers; wind up alarm clocks, and washing machines. Although useful, the main flaw in spur gears is the teeth are straight and when the teeth come in contact with each other they make a loud clicking sound, like the sound heard in some traditional clocks. This clicking also creates stress on the teeth of the gear and can cause them to break. To improve upon the design of the spur gear, helical gears were introduced.(Nice par. 7) A helical gear works on the same principle as the spur gear. The difference is the teeth are cut diagonally across the gear and these gears can be mounted on perpendicular shafts. In the Helical gear, these angular teeth help relieve some of the stress on the teeth, by gradually spreading the pressure of contact over the tooth. (Nice par. 5) This helps reduce the s ...

11 Writing Exercises to Inspire You and Strengthen Your Writing

11 Writing Exercises to Inspire You and Strengthen Your Writing 11 Writing Exercises to Inspire You and Strengthen Your Writing 11 Writing Exercises to Inspire You and Strengthen Your Writing By Ali Hale Whether you’re writing just for fun, for school, or with professional goals in mind, these exercises can all help you to improve your writing. Some will give you inspiration, others will help you avoid editing as you write, and many of them will help you pay closer attention to your word choices. I hope you’ll enjoy giving them a go! #1: Cover Your Screen While You Write If you find yourself doing more editing than actual writing, then try covering up (or, on a laptop, turning down) your screen while you draft. If, like me, you can touch-type – try closing your eyes instead. I find it surprisingly relaxing! (Though I tend to stop every sentence or two to make sure I’ve hit the keys I thought I was hitting) At first, it might seem odd not to be able to see the words that you’re typing – but you might well find that you write faster and express your thoughts more freely this way. #2: Set a Daily Writing Goal and Track Your Progress Writing, as most other crafts, only gets better with practice. If you want to improve, therefore, you will need to write pretty much every single day. The best strategy to achieve this objective is to set a goal of how many words you want to write per day, and then to track your progress over time. A simple notebook or spreadsheet should be enough for you to record your daily statistics. The Prolifiko blog has a great piece with more tips to set writing goals and resolutions and to make sure you achieve them. #3: Use a Writing Prompt to Get You Going If you want to write, but you don’t know what you want to write, try using a writing prompt. This could be anything from a story scenario (â€Å"write about someone who gets caught in a lie†) to a blog post title (â€Å"Ten Things I Wish I Could Tell My 15-Year-Old Self†). Here are a couple of sources of prompts to keep you busy for a while: 25 creative writing prompts, a list of prompts you can use to start writing a simple story or even a novel. 365 Creative Writing Prompts, from Think Written – a mixed bag of prompts, with some for stories and some for poems; many would also work for blogging. Even if you’re working on a longer piece, like a novel, prompts can be helpful. A line of dialogue, for instance, might give you just the inspiration you need for your next scene. #4: Don’t Start at the Beginning Start at the End There’s no writing rule that says you need to begin at the beginning. In fact, many writers find it more effective to start at the end. You can do this in a couple of different ways: Start your story (or blog post, etc) close to the chronological end – e.g. you might begin with â€Å"As I stared down the mountain, I couldn’t believe I was actually here† You can then jump back in time and narrate the events that led up to that point. Write the end of your blog post (or story, etc) first. Once you’ve written your concluding paragraphs or final scenes, you’ll know what you’re leading up to. If you prefer not to write it out in full, you could make notes. #5: Rewrite a Masterpiece or a Famous Story Choose a famous masterpiece or classic novel (like Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice or Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet) and write your own version. This is a great exercise because you can do it at almost any level: you could write a short story for children, or you could write a whole novel or screenplay. (Bridget Jones’s Diary, for instance, borrowed heavily from Pride and Prejudice; the children’s movie Gnomeo and Juliet is based, as you might guess, on Romeo and Juliet.) You can do this with fairytales, too, like the story of Cinderella or Little Red Riding Hood. You might decide to bring the stories into the modern world – or you might switch to a completely different genre, like a Western version of Little Red Riding Hood or a sci-fi version of Cinderella. Hopefully, you’ll think of some interesting ways to present an old story in a new way – great practice for avoiding clichà ©s and stereotypes in your own writing. #6: Create a Found Poem from Your Spam Folder A â€Å"found poem† is one created from text that already exists – and some writers enjoy repurposing spam emails for this! Check your spam folder. I’m sure that, like mine, it’s full of emails with some strange wording and dubious promises like: I did not need to find a winning product. he gave it to me Just drinking 1 cup of this delicious hot beverage in the morning sets you up to burn more fat than 45 exhausting minutes on the treadmill. Hello %E-mail_address%, I know your very love Engineer Jobs and want have T-Shirt for Engineer Jobs. It is vital  to have a telephone system that has all the specific functions (All of these are taken verbatim from my own spam folder) Could you pick out a few lines (they don’t have to be consecutive ones) to create your own found poem? Feel free to add some words if needed. There are some wonderfully odd examples here. #7: Write Something Inspired By a Piece of Writing, Music or Art Inspiration can come in all sorts of ways – but if you’re struggling to find an idea, try turning to other people’s creative works.  In my blogging, I’ve often been inspired by other people’s post structures, by an idea of theirs that I want to take further – or even by something they’ve written that I disagree with. You can use music and art in a similar way: they can be particularly potent sources of ideas for stories. If you have a favourite song or artist, what in their work speaks to you? How could you craft a story using some of those themes or thoughts? Alternatively, look through some photos of artworks, and choose one or more to use as the basis for a story. #8: Interview Your Novel’s Characters This is a fun exercise that a lot of writers use to dig into who their characters are: the character interview. You can work through a pre-set list of questions, or you can come up with your own in advance, or you can just start typing and go with the flow! You might do this essentially like a character questionnaire or checklist, or you might want to write it more like a mini-story, with you as the author inviting your character to sit down and talk. Depending on the sort of fiction you write, the setting for your interview could be almost anything – perhaps you’re enjoying a casual chat over coffee and cake with your character, or maybe you’re interviewing them as a journalist, or even in court. Or, if you’re into rather darker fiction, you might be conducting an interrogation However you do this, it’s a great exercise to have fun with, and you might discover a whole backstory to your character that you’d never thought about before. #9: Use the Alphabet This is a fun exercise that can work for almost any type of writing: craft a piece where each sentence starts with the next letter of the alphabet. Here’s the start of one to show you what I mean: At six oclock, Josie woke up. Before shed even opened her eyes, she knew what had woken her: she could hear it, just like shed heard it every Friday morning for months. Cliff, her neighbour, was out  in his garden. Despite all the times shed gone round and asked him, through gritted teeth, to please wait until at least seven, he was mowing the blasted lawn again. â€Å"Excuse me!† she called, over the fence. For a moment, she thought he hadn’t heard her over the sound of the mower. (Yes, it’s tricky once you get to X! You might find this list helpful, or you might choose to use a sentence-starting word that merely contains an X.) #10: Write with a Sentence Length Limit in Place Can you limit every sentence you write to ten words? (Or fewer!) This might be tricky. It’s a great exercise for bloggers and online marketers, though. Short snappy sentences and paragraphs work well online. You might want to draft as normal, then edit ruthlessly. Or you could count the words as you type. Whatever works for you! (Yes, the sentences in this section are ten words max) #11: Write Without Using Any Adverbs This is a common exercise advised for fiction writers: write a whole scene without using a single adverb. Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives and adverbs. They often (though not always) end with –ly. Here are a few sentences with the adverbs indicated in bold: The girl walked quickly to school. (â€Å"Quickly† is modifying the verb â€Å"walked†.) Slowly, the fairly tall man stood.   (â€Å"Slowly† is modifying the verb â€Å"stood†, and â€Å"fairly† is modifying the adjective â€Å"tall†) On the bus, the baby cried dismayingly loudly. (â€Å"Dismayingly† is modifying the adverb â€Å"loudly†, and â€Å"loudly† is modifying the verb â€Å"cried†.) Writing without adverbs forces you to write crisper, clearer (and shorter!) sentences, which often have more impact. In particular, you’ll find yourself choosing stronger verbs. All of these sentences could replace â€Å"The girl walked quickly to school† – and each has a slightly different nuance: The girl strode to school. The girl hurried to school. The girl power-walked to school. Of course, adverbs aren’t bad in themselves – so I don’t recommend avoiding them in all your writing! This exercise can help you, though, to be more aware of when you’re using adverbs unnecessarily. Pick one of the above  exercises to try out during your writing time this week. (If you’re feeling up for it, pick two and combine them – how about rewriting a classic without using any adverbs?) Have fun! Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:4 Types of Gerunds and Gerund Phrases60 Synonyms for â€Å"Trip†6 Foreign Expressions You Should Know

THE FINANCIAL RATIO ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

THE FINANCIAL RATIO ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENT - Essay Example The values projected by current ratio of Wiman company postulate that it is able to meet its financial obligations. However, its ability is limited to some percentage; for instance in the year 2012, it was only able to meet 8% of its total debts and obligations The analysis reveals that the company is making loses apart from the year 2011. This could be as a result of more money paid out as dividend and recurrent expenditure. Decisively, the company is not generating sufficient income. Between the financial year 2010 and 2013, the fixed asset turnover ratio has been constantly improving a clear indication that the company is using its internal resources effectively. However, a slight decrease has been recorded in the year 2013. In year 2011, the company paid only 15% of its total income as dividend. However, the percentage has been steadily increasing with up to 131% in the year 2013. While a higher percentage of dividend may look good, it is unsustainable and that is why market prospects my get scared form investing in the

What is the significance of 'participatory culture' to contemporary Essay

What is the significance of 'participatory culture' to contemporary graphic design practice - Essay Example Nonetheless, this kind of participation fails to enable the recipient to change the final appearance of the data, or to customize it according to their needs. In the recent past, however, there has been a significant concern among designers to create more interactive graphical interfaces for maximum gains. Otherwise referred to as co-creation, the future of technologies is likely to shift more in the direction of ensuring a greater level of participation by receivers in a way that will make modern technologies virtually owned by end-users. Since the beginning of the 21st century, and the rapid growth of Internet technologies around the world, there has been a need to create graphic designs that are flexible and more responsive to end-users (Barnes, 2013). Designers and instructors are working around the clock to achieve a complete integration of graphic design and other disciplines such as business. In all of these relationships, there are high chances that the technology trends will continue to evolve, as will the present-day socio-economic, cultural, environmental, and political forces into a more participatory operational context. The current world is witnessing a situation whereby graphical designs and or objects are no longer the ultimate consequence of design practice (Denning, 2013). Neuhauser et al (2009) have noted that, even though, posters, billboards, print media and navigational technologies are still commonly used among graphic designers, designers are more concerned with generating services, graphical e xperiences, and information that engage the end-user more than ever before. The rush towards a more participatory project designs based on users’ tastes and preferences is becoming more and more intensified by each passing day. Designers are increasingly seeing the need to create ‘users’ in the current technology era in order to facilitate more human-machine interactions as a way of enhancing efficiency

Doctoral Program in Organizational Management Essay Example for Free

Doctoral Program in Organizational Management Essay I believe that education and educating is a never ending knowledge sharing process. Every moment is a moment of truth to gain experience. I have had the opportunity of learning many key aspects of management in my graduation. My passion towards gaining expertise in organizational management and leadership increased in my previous academics. To learn indepth with more focus on my core areas of interest, I prefer to be with the industry and academic experts of well known institutions, who not only cement my concepts but open these theoretical ideas in practical means of implementation Organizational management is an unique area of academics and management field where we need to educate upon the practical experience of many business cases in real life. A doctoral program will open up many wakes of dimensions which otherwise cannot be shared. The doctoral program will provide me with time, space and expertise to explore the intricacies in drawing the excellence in the field. Using these resources I would like to investigate acceptable scholarly methodology to address applied and practical problems. My future Scholarly endeavors would address needs identified by problematic conditions in the field; and conversely, would be guided to research-based best practices. University of Phoenix is a pioneer in management education imparting competence among the management students before real time work experience in business environment. Thus Phoenix creates sets the ideology of students towards leading an organization right from the academics. Phoenix offers flexibility in the scheduling the learning hours and the learning centers at the reach of the students which provides ample opportunity to learn and leverage to the career path.

19th Century Theories in Dostoevskys Crime and Punishment Essay

19th Century Theories in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment "I teach you the Superman. Man is something that has to be surpassed. What have you done to surpass him?" These words said by Friedrich Nietzsche encompass the theories present in Dostoevsky's nineteenth century novel, Crime and Punishment. Fyodor Dostoevsky, living a life of suffering himself, created the character of Raskolnikov with the preconceptions of his own sorrowful and struggling life. Throughout his exile in Siberia from 1849-1859, his sentiments of suffering, sorrow, and the common man surfaced and heightened, inspiring him to begin writing Crime and Punishment in 1859. The main motif in this novel is that of suffering. It is apparent that all characters, major and minor, experience some sort of internal or external affliction. The overall theme of the work is that all mortal men suffer, and that salvation can not be obtained unless this anguish is present. Dostoevsky's protagonist, Raskolnikov, must evolve and realize this fact to overcome his conflicts and reach the salvation of peace and tranquillity. Volumes and volumes of critique can be written on where this suffering originated, but Dostoevsky's main concentration and focus is not where, but why suffering must exist and how this suffering can be overcome. This is seen from the fact that throughout the six sections of the novel, only one section is focused on the origin of the torment - the Crime, and the remaining five sections are concentrated on Raskolnikov's path to overcoming this anguish - the Punishment. By focusing solely on the punishment, the internal an... ... all serve a justified purpose in benefiting his moral and rational states. He overcomes the common man through the salvation he obtains from this linear evolution of trials. He suffers not from Marxist classes, but from internal struggle, excluding him as a member of the proletariat, or common man. Though not physically or emotionally fit to survive, his confession becomes his salvation, his survival, and his disclaimer in the Darwin theory of surviving. The common man may survive because he is fit to survive, but Raskolnikov survives because he chooses to survive. Unlike Freud's theory that the everyday man lives his life through his ego, Raskolnikov makes his decisions based on his superego, doing things not just because it would be rational, but because that it the way it should be done. So then, "Is Raskolnikov a Superman?" Yes.

In the Mood for Love Essay

The quote by the author Drucker is a prime example of how non-verbal communication is most of the time more important than the actual answer itself. Body language is an essential element of everyday interaction amongst people. Based on simple hand gestures or a flicker of a smile, one can instantly change the syntax or structural meaning of a sentence. This change could turn a negative sentence into a positive outcome. Throughout the history of cinema body language is a tool that is applied to every movie. Movies by their very nature started of as any elaborate ploy on body language. The silent film era relies on nonverbal communication that is accompanied by visual elements and implanting a specific score in order to suspend disbelief that the audience is sitting an in a dark room watching various shades of light and color onto a screen. The movie In the Mood for Love directed by Kar Wai Wong is a prime example of how the characterization and plot of a movie doesn’t need to revolve around the construction of dialogue between the protagonist and other characters in the movie. To start off I would like to say the cinematographer Christopher Doyle and Pin Bing Lee did a great job in presenting a somewhat stale plot line into a visual masterpiece. There are many examples, of how the cinematography of this movie enables the audience to visualize the budding of a love that happened out of pain, spite, and loneliness. I would like to analyze the cinematography of a scene in order to bring more clarity to how body language is more important. The first scene I would like to examine is in the first act of the movie. Keep in mind during this scene there is no dialogue just a musical score. The faces of the two adulteresses remain obscured throughout the scene. Fade from black no picture in your minds eye the wife Su Li-Zhen is in her apartment with her husband while everyone is playing Mahjong. She takes the chair behind her husband and sits there. When she leaves for a brief instance to let another woman by which is the wife of Mr. Chow. Chow then proceeds to take his queue and exit the room looking troubled and deep in thought walks by and slightly grazes Mrs. Li-Zhen. Li-Zhen then goes to sit down next to her husband and puts her arm on his shoulder. This scene is jam-packed full of visual elements that make this scene very compelling and drives the movie forward with such palpable tension. First, the wife of Mr. Chow is dressed in a vibrant red dress that really pops out from all the dull whites and browns that are present in on the screen. This vibrancy of color and by the nature of all the skin that is revealed above her neck alludes to a characterization that is more sexual, more â€Å"desirable† in comparison to Mrs. Li-Zhen. She is wearing a dull white dressed that is cut in a more traditional and plain way. By the nature of the fabric and patterns on the dress it looks like she is blending in more than standing out. This direct comparison is between the mise en scene of the costuming foreshadows that the wife Mrs. Li-Zhen will become less desirable over time and this will present the problem of some kind of cheating. Also during this scene the very body language present between the two women towards Mr. Li-Zhen is very different. The wife of this man is sitting behind her husband she seems reluctant in showing her affections towards him. She doesn’t really act like they are together she only looks over his shoulder. The camera movement at this scene is very important when the wife walks into the room the camera pans out back to the doorway. Then, The adulteress wife walks from off the screen through the doorway. At this point the camera pans in. The woman in red then proceeds to walk in between the married couple sitting down, and drapes her arms across Mr. Chows back. Mrs. Li-Zhen gets up puts on an insincere smile and backs against the wall. The woman in red seems to push the faithful wife away. This scene is a metaphor down to a tee of what is happening to the Li-Zhen and Chows relationship. The initial distance between the first married couple shows that there is some discontent or rift between them. This body language is very subtle but its possible to see that they aren’t not entirely happy with each other. It’s not until she has her back against a wall and sees the discontent on Mr. Chow’s face do you really see the wife really warm up to her husband. The camera movement during this scene further supports my points on the relationship between the two couples. When the camera pans out it is signifying that even though Mrs. Li-Zhen is getting closer in reality she is quite distant from her husband. This distance is growing and impossible to reverse in this instance. This distance created by turning the shot from a medium, shot to a wide angle. Which sets up the next camera movement where Mrs. Chow comes from off the screen and the camera moves in and follows her as she makes her way towards MR. Li-Zhen. This shows that the there is a shift of desire going from the faithful wife to the new fling. This sexual shift is subtle but very evident once the adulteress pushes the faithful wife. The score during this scene is also very prominent during the entire movie. It is present every time we she a slight shift of the relationship status between the two couples. At first the music indicates that the physical, mental, and sexual attraction between the original couple is shifts towards a more negative outcome. During this scene the music is indicating that the once happy couples are now beginning to shift towards separation. The music cues as Mrs. Li-Zhen walks into the shot from off the screen. The tone and tempo of this piece directly correlates to the overall plot line of the film, and is key to this scene as well. The tone of the piece is a somber one; very little percussion is used in the score. There is a very prominent violin that is playing over other various strings. The tempo of this particular piece starts with slow staccato or â€Å"plucky strings† they start slow and there is able time between the notes to hears brief instance of silent. Then piece revs up to have a very mellow violin playing on top. The use of the tone in the piece reflects on the mood of the entire film and distress of the two that are faithful initially. The tempo of this piece shows that at first everything stress there is some kind of hidden element going on and then it quickens. The heartbreak comes, and now they have to live with it. As the movie progresses however the music becomes an indicator that new found couple having difficultly letting go, but they are making progress towards becoming whole again. When talking about this scene in particular the use of this music directly correlates to the action of what is going on in the scene. At the beginning of the piece the wife is walking into the room. This plucky string part signifies that there will be tension going on between Mrs. Li-Zhen and her husband. The violin is cued in as the camera movement stops and the adulteress wife walks onto the screen. The music is indicating that this woman spells trouble and she is bringing to the movie. Also, as the violin is playing the husband walks out of the room right after a brief pause between the violins solo. You hear a few plucks and silence of the violin at this instance. The silence of the violin signifies that he is not a problem but instead also in trouble from what is happening around him. He exits and the film cuts to the Li-Zhens being more affectionate, yet the sad music is still playing. This foreshadows that no matter what the relationship between these two couples is doomed even though the wife either remains ignorant or refuses to let go. At, which we find out later in the movie she tries to resist letting go the man she married because she cares so deeply for him. For example the original faithful protagonists are eating at a restaurant and both are trying to emulate the other’s old significant other. This movie very eloquently uses subtle metaphor through body language. The visual elements and the musical score help to strengthen the lack of dialogue in order to tell this story in a more compelling way. Body language is a necessary tool to understand in order to have a more in depth understanding of the characterization of the actors in well done films. Without strong body language is possible to sends confusing signals to everyone around you whether it be in the movies or in real life.

Children’s Functional Health Pattern Assessment Essay

The U.S. health care delivery system has gone through enormous and transformational changes in the past two decades. The traditional hospital-centered health care delivery is no longer able to support the expanded demands of health care services, especially outside hospitals. In the same token, the traditional role of a nurse as bedside direct caregiver is insufficient to meet the accelerating needs of nurses in other areas, such as health promotion and disease prevention, case management, leadership and research. As a result of that, preparation of the entry-level of professional nurses requires a broader competencies so that nurses are educationally prepared to function with more independence in delivering diversified care. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) recognized the Bachelor of Science degree in nursing as the minimum educational requirement for professional nursing practice (AACN, 2000). There are significant differences between associate degree nursing programs and baccalaureate degree nursing programs. The baccalaureate program not only include all of curriculum in the associate degree programs, but also provides in-depth study in physical and social sciences, nursing research, leadership and management, community and public health nursing, patient education, and the humanities (Johnston, 2009). The broader and more in-depth education enhance professional development and critical thinking. The baccalaureate graduate is prepared to better understand many issues in culture, society, economy and politics. Such skills are essential for today’s nursing professionals. In clinical practice, associate degree nurses provide bedside care in less complex situation while baccalaureate degree nurses design and manage a comprehensive plan of care. They understand more in patient’s signs and symptoms, supervise other nursing personnel, support staff, and guide patients through the complicated health care resources in a community, and educate patients on health care options and advanced directives . Over the past several years, researchers and policymakers have identified that educational preparation does make a huge difference in how nurses practice. Johnson’s (1988) meta-analysis indicated that there were  significant differences between professional (baccalaureate degree) and technical (associate degree and diploma) nurses on measures of nurse performance. Measures included communication skills, knowledge, problem-solving, and professional role. Pardue (1987) investigated the differences in critical thinking ability and decision-making skills among 121 associate degree, diploma, baccalaureate, and master’s prepared nurses. Results indicated that nurses with master’s and baccalaureate degrees had the highest scores in critical thinking ability. In my hospital the ICU nurses are BSN’s, and they are responsible for patient education in addition to providing bedside care. An example of a patient care situation that was positively affected by having a BSN nurse available, recently occurred at the department where I work. A 37 year-old lady who is a post-liver transplant patient was admitted to the ICU for organ rejection and severe anemia. The medication compliance issue was brought up by the resident doctors. The ICU nurse provided medication reconciliation and discovered that patient often missed Prednisone. The nurse therefore spent more time on educating post-transplant immunosuppressant medications and reinforcing the importance to be compliant with medication regimen. The patient finally confessed that Prednisone made her gain lots of weight, which was the main reason why she did not take this medication. The nurse researched clinical evidence based on patient’s primary diagnosis and corresponded medical treatment options. She realized that patient has a diagnosis of recurrent autoimmune hepatitis and Prednisone is one of medications that treat autoimmune disease. The ICU nurse called out a meeting with the multidisciplinary team included the transplant social worker, pharmacist, nutritionist, nurse practitioners and surgeons. Patient and her care giver husband were also invited to the discussion of the plan for her care. Because of the shared decision making, the transplant team agreed to lower her Prednisone dose to the minimum and add a small dose of diuretic to avoid water retention caused by Prednisone. Through social worker’s help, patient agreed to take Prednisone every day and her husband promised to remind her to take the medication. Nutritionist provided consultation in fluid and salt restriction. This example demonstrated that the baccalaureate degree nurse was well prepared to understand the pathophysiology and disease process. She conducted research study and obtained the best available evidence in reference to patient’s care. Finally she used her coordination and collaboration skills and gathered a meeting of the multidisciplinary team and patient’s family. She also demonstrated a strong leadership skill in case management. She placed patient at the center of the care and approached to a shared decision-making. Without any doubt, her performance is a result of the educational preparation she received from the baccalaureate nursing program. If this case was handled by an associated degree nurse, her educational skill sets might not have prepare her to fulfill the task. References ————————————————- American Association of College of Nursing (2000). The baccalaureate degree in nursing as minimal preparation for professional practice. Retrieved from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/publications/position/bacc-degree-prep ————————————————- Johnson, J. H. (1988). Differences in the performance of baccalaureate, associate degree, and diploma nurses: A meta-analysis. Research in Nursing & Health, 11, 183 – 197. DOI: 10.1002/nur.4770110307 ————————————————- Johnston, K. A. (2009). The importance of the baccalaureate degree in nursing education. Retrieved from http://www.peoriamagazines.com/ibi/2009/apr/importance-baccalaureate-degree-nursing-education ————————————————- Pardue, S. F. (1987). Decision-making skills and critical thinking ability among associate degree, diploma, baccalaureate, and master’s-prepared nurses. Journal of Nursing Education, 26, 354-61.

Free Essays on History Of Coca-Cola

The History of Coca-Cola The Coca-Cola company started out as an insignificant one man business and over the last one hundred and ten years it has grown into one of the largest companies in the world. The first operator of the company was Dr. John Pemberton and the current operator is Roberto Goizueta. Without societies help, Coca-Cola could not have become over a 50 billion dollar business. Coca-Cola was invented by Dr. John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist. He concocted the formula in a three legged brass kettle in his backyard on May 8, 1886. He mixed a combination of lime, cinnamon, coca leaves, and the seeds of a Brazilian shrub to make the fabulous beverage(Things go better with Coke 14). Coca-Cola debuted in Atlanta’s largest pharmacy, Jacob’s Pharmacy, as a five cent non-carbonated beverage. Later on, the carbonated water was added to the syrup to make the beverage that we know today as Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola was originally used as a nerve and brain tonic and a medical elixir. Coca-Cola was named by Frank Robinson, one of Pemberton’s close friends, he also penned the famous Coca-Cola logo in unique script. Dr. John Pemberton sold a portion of the Coca-Cola company to Asa Candler, after Pemberton’s death the remainder was sold to Candler. Pemberton was forced to sell because he was in a state of poor health and was in debt. He had paid $76.96 for advertising, but he only made $50.00 in profits. Candler acquired the whole company for $2,300(Coca-Cola multiple pages). Candler achieved a lot during his time as owner of the company. On January 31, 1893, the famous Coca-Cola formula was patented. He also opened the first syrup manufacturing plant in 1884. His great achievement was large scale bottling of Coca-Cola in 1899. In 1915, The Root Glass Company made the contour bottle for the Coca-Cola company. Candler aggressively advertised Coca-Cola in newspapers and on billboards. I... Free Essays on History Of Coca-Cola Free Essays on History Of Coca-Cola The History of Coca-Cola The Coca-Cola company started out as an insignificant one man business and over the last one hundred and ten years it has grown into one of the largest companies in the world. The first operator of the company was Dr. John Pemberton and the current operator is Roberto Goizueta. Without societies help, Coca-Cola could not have become over a 50 billion dollar business. Coca-Cola was invented by Dr. John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist. He concocted the formula in a three legged brass kettle in his backyard on May 8, 1886. He mixed a combination of lime, cinnamon, coca leaves, and the seeds of a Brazilian shrub to make the fabulous beverage(Things go better with Coke 14). Coca-Cola debuted in Atlanta’s largest pharmacy, Jacob’s Pharmacy, as a five cent non-carbonated beverage. Later on, the carbonated water was added to the syrup to make the beverage that we know today as Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola was originally used as a nerve and brain tonic and a medical elixir. Coca-Cola was named by Frank Robinson, one of Pemberton’s close friends, he also penned the famous Coca-Cola logo in unique script. Dr. John Pemberton sold a portion of the Coca-Cola company to Asa Candler, after Pemberton’s death the remainder was sold to Candler. Pemberton was forced to sell because he was in a state of poor health and was in debt. He had paid $76.96 for advertising, but he only made $50.00 in profits. Candler acquired the whole company for $2,300(Coca-Cola multiple pages). Candler achieved a lot during his time as owner of the company. On January 31, 1893, the famous Coca-Cola formula was patented. He also opened the first syrup manufacturing plant in 1884. His great achievement was large scale bottling of Coca-Cola in 1899. In 1915, The Root Glass Company made the contour bottle for the Coca-Cola company. Candler aggressively advertised Coca-Cola in newspapers and on billboards. I...

Illustrator Maurice Sendak Career Biography

Author/Illustrator Maurice Sendak Career Biography Who would have thought that Maurice Sendak would become one of the most influential, and controversial, creators of childrens books in the twentieth century? Maurice Sendak was born on June 10, 1928, in Brooklyn, New York and died on May 8, 2012. He was the youngest of three children, each born five years apart. His Jewish family had immigrated to the United States from Poland before World War I and were to lose many of their relatives to the Holocaust during World War II. His father was a wonderful storyteller, and Maurice grew up enjoying his fathers imaginative tales and gaining a lifelong appreciation for books. Sendaks early years were influenced by his sickliness, his hatred of school, and the war. From an early age, he knew he wanted to be an illustrator. While still attending high school, he became an illustrator for All-American Comics. Sendak subsequently worked as a window dresser for F.A.O. Schwartz, a well-known toy store in New York City. How did he then get involved in illustrating and writing and illustrating childrens books? Maurice Sendak, Author, and Illustrator of Childrens Books Sendak began to illustrate childrens books after meeting Ursula Nordstrom, a childrens book editor at Harper and Brothers. The first was The Wonderful Farm by Marcel Ayme, which was published in 1951 when Sendak was 23 years old. By the time he was 34, Sendak had written and illustrated seven books and illustrated 43 others. A Caldecott Medal and Controversy With the publication of Where the Wild Things Are in 1963 for which Sendak won the 1964 Caldecott Medal, Maurice Sendaks work earned both acclaim and controversy. Sendak addressed some of the complaints about the scary aspects of his book in his Caldecott Medal acceptance speech, saying: â€Å"Certainly, we want to protect our children from new and painful experiences that are beyond their emotional comprehension and that intensify anxiety; and to a point we can prevent premature exposure to such experiences. That is obvious. But what is just as obvious-and what is too often overlooked is the fact that from their earliest years children live on familiar terms with disrupting emotions, that fear and anxiety are an intrinsic part of their everyday lives, that they continually cope with frustration as best they can. And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is the best means they have for taming Wild Things. As he went on to create other popular books and characters, there seemed to be two schools of thought. Some people felt that his stories were too dark and disturbing for children. The majority view was that Sendak, through his work, had pioneered a completely new way of writing and illustrating for, and about, children. Both Sendaks stories and some of his illustrations were subject to controversy. For example, the nude little boy in Sendaks picture book In the Night Kitchen was one of the reasons the book was 21st among the 100 most frequently challenged books of the 1990s and 24th among the 100 most frequently challenged books of the 2000s. Maurice Sendak’s Impact In his book, Angels and Wild Things: The Archetypal Poetics of Maurice Sendak, John Cech, Professor of English at the University of Florida and a past president of the Childrens Literature Association, wrote: Indeed, without Sendak, an enormous void would exist in contemporary American (and, for that matter, international) childrens books. One can only try to imagine what the landscape of childrens literature would be like without Sendaks fantasies and the characters and places visited in them. These fantasies essentially broke through the relatively unperturbed surfaces of postwar American childrens literature, sending his children - Rosie, Max, Mickey, Jennie, Ida - on journeys into regions of the psyche that childrens books had not dared visit before. That these journeys have been embraced by countless other childrens authors and their audiences since Sendaks seminal works is apparent when you look at the childrens books presently being published. Maurice Sendak Honored Starting with the first book he illustrated (The Wonderful Farm by Marcel Ayme) in 1951, Maurice Sendak illustrated or wrote and illustrated more than 90 books. The list of awards presented to him is too long to include in full. Sendak received the 1964 Randolph Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild Things Are and the Hans Christian Andersen International Medal in 1970 for his body of childrens books. He was the recipient of the American Book Award in 1982 for Outside Over There. In 1983, Maurice Sendak received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for his contributions to childrens literature. In 1996, Sendak was honored by the President of the United States with the National Medal of Arts. In 2003, Maurice Sendak and Austrian author Christine Noestlinger shared the first Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for Literature. Sources Cech, John. Angels and Wild Things: The Archetypal Poetics of Maurice Sendak. Pennsylvania State Univ Press, 1996Lanes, Selma G. The Art of Maurice Sendak. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1980Sendak, Maurice. Caldecott Co.: Notes on Books Pictures. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1988.

Integrating Ethics into Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Integrating Ethics into Practice - Essay Example The two concepts keep me in my toes as a business professional. Going concern keeps my eyes set on the ultimate goal as a professional to always keep the business functional and viable. All other concepts will become nil if the business will stop its going concern. Costs tests my acumen as a business professional because it determines how well I keep this within a controllable limit to keep the business operational and profitable and sustain it as a going concern business. The 11 FASB concepts which are money measurement, Entity, Going concern, Cost, Dual aspect, Accounting period, Conservation, Realization, Matching, Consistency and Materiality sets the guidelines of the ethical practice of an accounting professional and a business person. This serves as the standards of the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) whereby financial statements that are prepared by a business should conform

Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 66

Leadership - Essay Example The poor organizational culture is among the key factors that contribute to the consistent failure of the team. On the contrary, the junior varsity team shows commitment to excellence owing to the ability of every team member to commit to the aspiration of the team coupled with their discipline and respect for each other. The existence of two teams each with a set of unique yet contradictory values shows a disjointed organizational structure with an equally uncoordinated organizational culture. Lack of effective leadership and models of communication within the organization is responsible for such a culture (Schein, 2010). Coach P is not yet in the â€Å"sweet pot† that Zenger and Folkman describe in their book. The two explain that in order for leaders to reach the sweet pot, they must enjoy success, have constant engagements, enjoy love from the firm and learn new skills happily from their daily experiences. Such are not the case at the Army Crew as the Varsity team does not enjoy and Coach P is always a frustrated coach owing to the team’s poor performance. Coach P can reach the sweet pot in his current organization. However, he must work hard in order to achieve that. Firstly, coach P must align his core competencies to the dictates of his team. This will enhance efficiency since ever undertaking will have a desirable result. Additionally, he must examine his passion and ensure that he stays happy at the organization. His attitude influences the outcome of the team (Zenger & Folkman,

Equities and Fixed Income Investments Assignment

Equities and Fixed Income Investments - Assignment Example While the analysis of the free cash flow will indicate if the company enjoys an unobstructed flow of cash. The analysis of the free cash flow to equity will indicate if the company is in a position to service the equity holders after clearing all the expenses, reinvestment and repayment of debt. The analysis of the EBITDA indicates the cash flow from the operations (Hatten and Ruhland, 2005). The cash flow from the operations will indicate if able to optimize its operational performance. With the increase in the efficiency of the operations the cash flow of the firm will increase. Table 1: Tabulation of different ratios    2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 Gearing ratio 0.95 0.91 0.90 0.90 0.90 EBITDA 492.2 469.8 497.7 507.4 451 FCFE N/A -86.8 -89.9 -376.6 -162.1 FCFF N/A 252,286.60 239,185.37 220,906.19 2,284,070.11 Source: (Severn Trent Annual Report, 2013) Fig 1: Gearing ratio Source: (Severn Trent Annual Report, 2013) The gearing ratio increased considerably in the last 5 years. This in dicates that Severn Trent increasingly resorted to debt financing. The increase in the debt financing puts Severn Trent in a risky state, since higher the debt, higher the chance of insolvency, if the company is not able to finance the debt with the revenue (Jang and Namkung, 2009). This also indicates that the company has already resorted to huge amount of debt financing Severn Trent is in a highly leveraged position due to the presence of significant percentage of debt in its capital structure. Being in a highly leveraged position indicates that the company has a strong credit score otherwise the investors would not have taken Severn Trent into confidence (Kutner, Nachtsheim and Neter, 2004.). The highly leveraged position of Severn Trent also puts enormous pressure on the company to finance the debts. Fig 2: EBITDA Source: (Severn Trent Annual Report, 2013) The EBITDA does not indicate a linear increasing trend or decreasing trend. It is a mixed trend of intermittent ups and down s. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization are highest in year 2010, while it is lowest in the year 2009. The increasing trend in the EBITDA is an indication that the company is in a position to finance the interest payments quite efficiently (Miravete, 2003). Although the previous graphs already indicate that the company is already in a highly leveraged state. This means that although the EBITDA shows an increasing trend but the highly leveraged position of the company are putting severe pressure on the EBITDA due to the need to clear the interest payments (Pinhanez, 2001). Fig 3: FCFE Source: (Severn Trent Annual Report, 2013) The free cash flow to equity showing a constant negative trend for the past 4 years, which is a cause of concern. The negative value of the ratio indicates that the company has been suffering cash crunch for the past 4 years. This clearly indicates that the company faced trouble trying to clear the dividend for the equity holders (Stumpf , Dunbar and Mullen, 2001). This is because of the reason that the equity holders are paid only after clearing the expenses for reinvestment and debt repayment. The negative ratio of the free cash flow to the equity shareholders is a clear sign of the fact that the expense due to the reinvestment

Healthcare Industry In Malaysia

Healthcare Industry In Malaysia Healthcare industry in Malaysia is divided into private and public sectors. Malaysian society places importance on the expansion and development of healthcare industry. With a rising and aging population in Malaysia, the Government wishes to improve many areas in healthcare industry including the refurbishment of existing hospitals, building and equipping new hospitals, expansion in polyclinics, and improvements in training and expansion of telehealth. Telehealth is the delivery and communicate of health-related services and information via telecommunications. It could be as simple as two healthcare professionals discussing patients condition over the telephone. It also may as sophisticated as doing robotic surgery between facilities at different country. Over last few years, we have increased our efforts to improve the telehealth systems. Besides that, telehealth also will help in access to specialty services for rural patients and allows the patient to stay in their own community rather than traveling. This is parallel with our mission and objective of deliver quality healthcare services to our customers efficiently. Political factors include government regulations and legal issues. It defines both formal and informal rules which a hospital must operate. Some examples of political issue are tax policy, employment laws and medical tourism. Medical tourism in Malaysia ranks among the best in the world and most private hospitals in the country have internationally recognized quality and standards in medical tourism. In our country, the growth rate of medical tourism is growing rapidly because of low-cost advantage and the improvement of new high-quality healthcare service providers compare to some foreign hospital. The healthcare sector in Malaysia is highly regulated by the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act and regulatory approval is required to set up a private hospital. It regulates all private healthcare facilities and services in our country. Under this act, we must get the approval before a new private healthcare facility can be established. Government set the strict rules on the quality of care and safety on patient to ensure that fairness and honesty in providing health care to patients. The objectives of the rules are same with our objective of to provide quality healthcare service with fairness, honesty and sincerity for patients. Political and government rules may affect any business either positively or negatively. So, the changing of government rule or regulation in healthcare industry may cause some threats on KPJ as we are part of it. Actually, it is considered as a threat for KPJ as it may require us to change our business strategy due to changing of regulations. It may affect negatively on the entire industry as well as KPJ healthcare. In budget 2012, government has assigned around RM15 billion for operating expenditure. Simultaneously, they allocated RM1.8 billion for development expenditure. With the allocation financial support by government, the health industry in our country will be enjoying the benefits. Therefore, our healthcare industry will become energetic by improving the facility or equipment within hospitals. Eventually it will increase the level of customer satisfaction as we can provide better quality healthcare services and our profitability will be improved. Economic Economic conditions for a country are mainly influenced by political and government policies. This mean that any decision made by government will indirectly affect the economic conditions of the whole country. The economic growth in Malaysia has dropped significantly and KPJ should be aware of this factor. This is because economic condition will affect KPJ in terms of operation and profitability. Customer disposable income and purchasing power will decrease as economic is not performing well. During economic crisis, inevitably most of the customer may try to cut down some expenses on healthcare such as medical checkup. Instead of choosing a best healthcare provider, customer now which is price sensitive will more prefer on public hospital that able to provide services to customer with lower price. Therefore, it is important for KPJ in setting an appropriate and lower price to gain market share. During the economy crisis, it is usual for the KPJs shareholder to divest their entire share because they may refuse to take any risk of losing their money. When there is having substantial shareholder divesting their share, KPJ may lack of capital available to expand the business and it will difficult for KPJ to invest in new technologies which can help to treat patients. Due to insufficient of capital, KPJ may losses competitive advantages compared to competitors. In order to gain a competitive advantage that could gain a confidence to all the investors, KPJ need to evaluate the cost and benefit for all the expenses and to cut down the unnecessary overhead and expenses such as personnel cost at the same time, which could result in layoffs. However, layoff employee will lead healthcare professionals who are already lack of time to do their work to be overworked since they will be expected to do more work compared to before. Therefore, healthcare professionals will spend less of time and care for more patients than ever. Due to this, healthcare professionals may become negligent in some important part and medical error, which can result in an increase in malpractice lawsuits. Inflation in Malaysia is affecting the overall cost for KPJ. This is because inflation will push up the material price and also price of buying the medical equipment. Other than that, employees for KPJ will try to negotiate for higher salary. All these factors will increase the cost of KPJ in running their business activities. Therefore, KPJ profit margin will be lower as KPJ needs to generate more income in paying additional expense. Competitive Rivalry Previously, private practice was just in general practice and there are only have limited number of specialists. But over the years, there have some changes in healthcare industry structure. Not like previously which hospitality business is mainly from governmental hospital. Today, there is increasingly growing of profit oriented private hospitals. There are a few private hospital which opens in major town and cities in our country. Growth in the industry and increasing number of competitors will inevitably increase the competition for KPJ. However, due to the limitation of 20km distance requirement between private hospitals recommended by Ministry of Health, direct competition among private healthcare groups is becoming not so significant. Thus, even though there are numbers of private healthcare groups competing each other in Malaysia, the rivalry among existing firms is considered medium. Although 20 km zoning is restricting the competition, rivalry is still remains important factors to be considered by KPJ. This is because aggressive expansion and competition from existing players such as Parkway and Columbia Asia may hurt KPJ by affecting profitability and also the market share for KPJ. Therefore, it is important for KPJ to develop a better strategy to gain more competitive advantages against rivals. It is lack of differentiation of KPJ because KPJ and others hospital is providing similar treatment or services to patient. This will be a threat for KPJ as low differentiation cause patient to have low switching cost. Patient may easily switch to others hospital which they want or they feel confidence with it. Nevertheless, low differentiation also means patient will be more priorities on the price of the treatment or services. There will be creating the price competition among existing rivals to attract customers. Therefore, setting lower price on the services provided might earn better competitive advantages against rivals. Moreover, customer service is also an important area which KPJ competing with rivals. Customers will be more prefer to a hospital which able to provide better quality and customer services. Hospital which able to provide speedy and innovative methods in fulfilling customer needs will be the sources of competitive advantages. Besides that, technology for healthcare industry is also the factor which KPJ need to consider. This is because of medical advances and specialty services have been driving a strong trend towards private hospitals specializations with more of the industry players are developing a significant competition for niche areas of expertise such as coronary care, eye surgery, mental health care and maternity admissions. It is will be good if KPJ developing a niche areas which distinguish itself with other existing competitors. As KPJ can build up a good reputation in particular area, customer loyalty can be retained and hence KPJ might not need to lower down the cost to attract customer. Last but not least, intensity of competition between KPJ and others hospital will affecting the profitability and market share of KPJ. Therefore, KPJ should develop and identify a good strategy in order to create sustainable competitive advantage in order to compete with existing rivals. Social Nowadays, awareness of social on healthcare is raised compared to past as a result of the rising in income and education level of citizens. This will lead to the increases in the demand of good quality healthcare services provided. This will enhanced the development of healthcare industry and therefore increase our industry profitability as well as our KPJ profitability. Hence, our KPJ mission of provide quality healthcare services to customer may be achieved with the development of healthcare industry. As there are more and more people having the high level of education, they will more concern on the issues of their body health as they have more knowledge. They also will try to accept the treatment for their healthcare problem as fast as possible due to the awareness on health issue. For example, they will constantly go to hospital either by themselves or bring their family for body check to ensure that they are under a health condition. Besides that, the increases in the income level of society will make them move toward good quality of healthcare services provided. The stable of economic growth in the country will enhanced the income level of society. That will enable them feel more affordable to spend in private healthcare services which are able to provide more quality healthcare services compare to public healthcare services and this directly drive the society move to private healthcare services. Increases in the percentage of getting some disease in the society also have impact on the development of healthcare services. Drug abuse and drug addiction issues are posing a big problem in Malaysia, there are increases in abuse of a drug called Ecstasy by Chinese teenagers and youths and this will lead to the increases of HIV/AIDS in the country. The increases of the number of foreign workers that come from rural areas or poor countries will bring diseases like tuberculosis, bride flu or dengue fever to Malaysia. Then, stressful lifestyle like the pressures arise in the work place will cause high-blood pressure and the risk of getting hearth attack will increases. Besides, the bad habit in the consumption of foods such as alcohol and tobacco will increase the risk of chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. The recent reports of National Health and Morbidity survey show that 15% of Malaysians are obese which increases 1% from year 2006 to 2010. A lmost half of adult Malaysians are overweight. Besides that, breast cancer is one of the main reasons of death in Malaysia as it is common type of diseases among women according to the National Cancer Registry Malaysia, 2002. These factors will give positive impact to the healthcare sector in Malaysia. Furthermore, growing in ageing population in Malaysia also will help in drive the healthcare sector in Malaysia. Malaysias population grow at 2% p.a. and the percentage of the population over 65 years old is expected to rise from 5% to 8% from 2010-2020 regarding to Global Demographics. The growing of older proportion in the population means that there will be increase in age-related disorders like Alzheimers, high blood pressure and heart-related ailment which require long term treatment and rehabilitation Reasonably, all these factors can be considered as big opportunities of expansion for healthcare industries such as KPJ which has the mission of provide quality healthcare services to customer. In order to achieve the mission, KPJ with its goal of providing healthcare services with fairness, honesty and sincerity should be done so that they can expand their services more widely as demand of quality healthcare services seen to be increases in future. Technology Technologicalfactor is very important for all type of business, including our healthcare industries. Greater awareness about the technology will help KPJ improve theirefficiency of business operation and quick response to the changing environment.Healthcare industry needs technology to help them carry out their operation activities more efficiently and effectively. Advancement in IT is enabling KPJ to improve the quality of medical activities provided by them. Healthcare industry need to make a lot of medical records about their patients information.Ifit is done by paper record, there are not much storage place to store all the information and will increase the rate of missing important information. To resolve this problem KPJ has adopted the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) to reduce the administrative work and error. This is a digital record which can help KPJ to hold all the detail information about their patients and patients medical history in the system. When a patient enters this system, information can be easily searched by the officer compared to paper work. KPJ will then be more efficient in making the diagnostic and therapeutic decision to reduce the unnecessary work and wasted time. Properly managing the patients medical history is very important.If a mistake occurs, it will lead KPJ to make wrong decision in medical treatment for th e patient.It may also threaten the life of their patient. Other than that, KPJ needs the IT system to help them to enhance in the internal process by establishing an internal network system. IT can act as a mechanism of communication between nurse, doctor and other people who are qualified to access the information system to get the necessary information and information is always updated by using internet. These also help to improve activities of exchanged information between stakeholders. For example, announcement make by internal hierarchy can be quickly received by worker within KPJ by using the internal network system. In addition, doctors can easily place their orders to the nurse, the nurse can then respond quickly to the order and without error due to written order being clearer than oral order. KPJ required a lot of medical facilities to help them in the process of providing the medical services, the required facilities include MRI scanner, CT Scanning. Without the high technology medical facilities, KPJ may not be able to provide a good care service to patient, because recently medical service has become more reliant on the technology. A good medical facility may help to reduce the time of medical treatment. Technology factor plays an important role in the healthcare industry.So, KPJ should invest more in the RD to enhance their medical skill and also help them easily change the administrative work to reduce the mistake and error occur that will affect the reputation of their company. Porter five forces Threat of new entrants The threat of new entrants is the possibility that a new firm will enter the industry. It is a threat for existing business as new entrants will affect the business and inevitably cause existing business to lose profit or market share. Nowadays, there are many potential investors trying to invest in healthcare service, thus, causing existing business intheindustrytoface the threat of the new entry.Inorder to exclude new competitors, it needs to create a barrier to the entry. However, KPJ may not have to face the new competitor come in because it is hard for a new healthcare business to enter the industry due to the high initial cost. Before starting the healthcare business, it requires to do necessary research, intensive planning and require a huge amount of initial capital to purchase the facilities, research and development, specialist equipment in order to operate the business. Besides that, to be a medical tourism hub Malaysia has to set a goal requiring all the institutions to u se medical devices and procedures. Comparing the other industry and healthcare industry, normally the barriers to enter in healthcare industry are quite high.Itis because of restrictions by government policy. From the past to the present, all the private medical facilities in Malaysia need to get approval to be granted under the Private Health Facilities and Services Act 1998 before they can be established and must be compliant to a regulatory body working closely with the Ministry of Health who monitors, regulates and coordinates these hospitals. Moreover, it is heavily government regulated, which is zoning for healthcare industry. The act requires having a minimum distance of 20km between the existing healthcare industries. This means that when one decides to open a new healthcare business, it must make sure there are no other healthcare businesses within the 20 km area. Some more, to prevent the new competitor to enter the market, government restrict the hospital to acquire the healthcare technology, without the sp ecialist equipment that is hard for the private healthcare to survive in the future. Shortage of doctors is also a factor which is creating the high barriers of entry. When potential competitors come in, they must make sure they have enough medical practitioner and doctor to carry the routine task. This is because if they dont have all those qualified staff, they might face difficulties in providing services to patients. Moreover, potential customer will only choose to go for a hospital which has specialist in particular areas. Therefore, shortage of specialist doctors will also cause that hospital to lose marketshare. Difficulty in securing private specialists will be the barrier for entry to all the new competitors. As the supply of private specialist is limited, hospital groups with a strong reputation will have better advantage in attracting potential specialist against the new hospital. Record of patient is a valuable asset for the healthcare industry it can create a barrier to entry. KPJ have records of patients who have come before and maintained the medical records in one system.This system enables the doctors to have knowledge of their patients medical history. Because all the patients records are already exists in the hospital, therefore, it will cause inconvenient for patients to regurgitate their medical history to a new doctor. Therefore, it will be hard for the new entrant to compete with the existing healthcare industry. Threat of substitute Threat of substitute means that consumer are available to buy another product or service that can provide similar benefit to replace our industrys product. Product demand will be affected by price change of substitute product and service. Therefore, threat of substitute for healthcare industry is considered to be low. The threat of substitute for private healthcare provider will be the non-profit healthcare provider. Private health care is normally charge higher medical fees compared to public hospital. Because of this, some people might not be able to pay for the expensive fees. KPJ is a private healthcare provider that provides a lot of medical service and use medical facilities to enhance their medical skill. Purchases of the medical facilities are considered very expensive because it is high technology equipment designed by professional person and to develop it will use many resources to carry out the necessary research and development activities. For non-profit healthcare provider, most of the funds is come from sponsor, therefore it may be lack of capital to acquire the facilities and equipment. Private healthcare as a profit-oriented company will be easier in raising capital, so private healthcare service will have better competitive advantages against non-profit organization as they is own ing the higher technology equipment and medical facilities. Second threat for KPJ is the Public healthcare provider which is supported by government. People often choose the private healthcare providereven when the service provided will be more expensive is because the services providedis more efficient than public where patient needs to wait for a long time. Private industry is more focused on efficiency and effectiveness todeliver the service to customer, so private healthcare provider will employ more doctors and nurses to carry out the service that are of quality. Another substitute for private healthcare could be the acupuncture, massage and spa, many old people are more reliant on and believed in this traditional service, but it is lacking of proves by science and not so safe. Many traditional servicesare promoted as an entertainment service rather than serious medical service that is provided in legal healthcare company. Sometimes the services provided can be illegal and may be a threat to the patients health. For nowadaysmany people are knowledgeable, they will refuse the traditional medical and chose the more scientific service and that relates to high technology, so the threat for this traditional services is considered low. In healthcare industry, technology acts as a strong substitute to their service, such as e-health. E-health brings a lot of convenient to the patient that are busy and people that lack easy access to hospital; they will be helped by telemedicine. For example,the success story of e-farmasi in Malaysia, computerizing Medical Claims in Korea, and others. Due to insufficient development, this threat to hospital will be low. Therefore, threat of substitute on the private healthcare will be very low. But KPJ still need to plan out the strategies to face the threat of substitute due to economic and environment change that will affect the profit of KPJ. Bargaining Power of Buyers Customer is one of the sources of profit for a business. It is important for a business to understand what customer needs, and their position in bargaining with our business. Bargaining power of customers is considered to be high for healthcare industry. This is because there is having many medical centers in Malaysia. Customer will have the freedom to choose whatever healthcare company and doctors which they feel confidence with. High power of customer will be a threat for the business as it will be increase competitive intensity in the industry. Most of the hospital in Malaysia is providing similar treatment or services to the patient. This means that it will have a low differentiation between hospitals. Therefore, switching cost for customer will be low and hence customer can easily switch between alternatives healthcare company to get a better deal. Buyers income is also the factors which affecting the bargaining power of buyers. If their income is low, probably they will be more preferred on public hospital as public hospital will able to provide services to patient with lower prices. However, if some of the customer who is having higher income, they tend to be low price sensitive. They will more prefer on the best healthcare providers which can deliver better services to them instead of looking at the price. This group of customer will switch to other healthcare providers when they not satisfy with the services provided. Since KPJ is providing healthcare services to people who are struggling with life-threatening diseases, reputation for KPJ will be an important factor to be considered. In addition, buyers is now aware of alternative supplier and information of healthcare is freely available for the public, therefore KPJ need take care their performance and also quality which deliver to patients. Once patients recognize that KPJ performance is not good or poor quality of services, it will cause patient to switch to other healthcare providers which is more reputable in terms of quality and performance. Availability of substitute for healthcare industry will affect customer power in bargaining with KPJ. As there are having substitutes which is public healthcare, acupuncture, massage and spa. Customer may try to switch for substitute as this will be their alternative methods if they dont want to go for private hospital. Therefore, in order to protect against substitute, it is important for KPJ creating and highlight the value and let customers to know the differences between their services and the others. Bargaining power of supplier Suppliers is playing an important roles in a business. They is the person who supplying all the materials, services and things which required by an industry. KPJ is relying on many different types of supplier which support biotechnology development, drugs development, supplying medical equipment, and also specialist doctor. Suppliers who supply medical equipment are considered as important suppliers for KPJ. Medical equipment is indispensable as KPJ is using all the medical equipment in their daily job activities. However, technology advancement has made a lot of changes for medical equipment. There are a lot of new and updated medical equipment which come with better features. All these latest equipment will helps KPJ to improve their efficiency and effectiveness in carry out their routine job. However, there are having limited sources of supplier in supplying all these medical equipment, which creating limited opportunities for KPJ to buy the equipment. There are many buyers for all those medical equipments but only a few dominant suppliers. Due to this, suppliers may have substantial amount of power in negotiating with KPJ in terms of pricing and supply conditions. Supplier may set higher price but there is no room for KPJ to negotiate with suppliers. Medical practitioner is also one of the suppliers for KPJ. KPJ needs qualified nurses and specialist doctors to treat their patients. Therefore, bargaining power of medical practitioner is considered high. Having a group of qualified employees will be the sources of competitive advantage for KPJ against competitor. However, there is shortage of specialist doctors in Malaysia. This will cause the competition among hospital in employing qualified specialist. Most of hospital will try their best to award the specialist by offering higher salary, bonuses. If KPJ choose not to be competitive against the competitors, medical practitioner will search other healthcare industry to work. Hence, specialists doctors will be in the best position in negotiate the working conditions and also the pay structures. In terms of drugs development, KPJ is rely on a few supplier which provide them with specialized tools, materials, and equipment that they need to develop their products. Special tools to develop the drugs will be quite technical and lack of substitute products. This mean it will be high switching cost for KPJ to use another suppliers. If suppliers stop supplying, KPJ will face difficulties in their development progress. Therefore, supplier for all those special tools, materials will carry a higher power in negotiate a better price or delivery conditions. Overall, the supplier power is considered to be high as KPJ is relying on a few major suppliers to supply the things which KPJ needed in their daily job. Therefore, it is important for KPJ to maintain a good relationship with all suppliers to ensure the business process goes smoothly. Factor conditions Basic factor for KPJ is capital availability, KPJ has enough profit to contribute for their capital for internationalize or globalize their business. KPJ earned its  ¬Ã‚ rst annual billion-ringgit turnover in year 2007, with revenue totalling RM1.11 billion in that year. KPJ continued in achieve their new revenuerecords in subsequent years. Which are rising to RM1.27 billion, RM1.46 billion and RM1.65 billion in year 2008, 2009 and 2010respectively. KPJ achieved a new recordin 2011 with total revenue of RM1.91 billion and pre-tax pro ¬Ã‚ t of RM204.60 million. In basic factors for medical tourism of KPJ, medical tourism products are better to located in warm, pleasant environments like Malaysia. Therefore, the basic factorswhich include ideal climatic conditions, natural resources and geographic location, are an advantage for medical tourism in KPJ especially for those visitors from colder climates. In addition to these basic factors, there are advanced factors about skill labour In our country.KPJ healthcare had 750 medical consultants, which equals to a 7% share of private doctors in Malaysia and 47% of the countrys medical personnel and professional.This is because of the better paid of salary. Another advanced factor is KPJ are driven by innovation and technological advancement.There is a strong regulatory and hospital and healthcare infrastructure in KPJ. KPJ continues to invest in the latest equipment with state of-the-art medical technology.This type of technology will help in provide positive patient experience as well as to enhance medical and surgical outcomes. Last advanced factor is we are assisted in the development of medical tourism. These include the world-wide web resources for the communication and marketing of the medical tourism product internationally. In terms of quality, it can be said that there is just little difference in the medical tourism services offered in the advanced western countries and those in the eastern or developing countries like KPJ in Malaysia. But the attractive work conditions and higher salary has helped to staff ourKPJ hospitals with well-qualified people. Therefore, the quality of such healthcare services are equivalent and the services may better compare to the hospitals in developed countries. Demand conditions Demand conditions are one of the important factors for KPJ in order to gain competitive advantage within the industry. Demands in home country enable KPJ has a better understanding in the needs and desires of the customers thus can response faster to take advantage before the foreign competitors. Therefore, KPJ need to continue to improve competitiveness through innovation and high quality services. Malaysia is one of the fastest-growing nations in Asia although our country has a small population of only 29m.Malaysias population has grew from 23.5m to 29m from 2000-2010 with a CAGR of 2.2%. KPJ need to increases the quality of services provide like shorten the waiting time for patients, provide comfortable place for patients to stay like hygiene condition to meet the increases in demand. Besides that, KPJ need to continue to invest in the latest equipment with state of-the-art medical technology in its effort to provide positive patient experience as well as to enhance medical and surgical outcomes in order to retain as well as attract more customers and strong the position of KPJ in private healthcare industry. Then, the development of health tourism is contributing to curative services by private healthcare services providers. For instance, 450,000 foreign patients obtained treatment from private hospitals for various illnesses as well as utilized diagnostic and therapeut