paul essays

paul essays Me and Literature Parm Hothi Although I have been reading books from a very early age, the first book I really liked was a kids story book that was printed in India. We lived in a small town near Los Angles called Riverside. Since we had no South Asian grocery store or even a little shop in the town, my dad would especially ask my uncle in Vancouver to send us Indian books because he liked reading. This one time with some of my dads novels came a wonderful little color filled book with strange pictures within . My dad handed it to me said dont lose it (not his exact I went to an elementary school called Cameno Real elementary and I was the only Indian in the entire school. None of the kids even understood who I was so they just assumed that I was a weird Mexican. Everyday I would come home and read that same book. I had other books but I didnt find the warmth and friendliness in those books that I found in this particular one. This book gave me a sense belonging and it evoked and showed a lot of sentiments. The book was about a boy who couldnt go to school because he had to go work in the fields with his dad. Later I realized that the books was to teach us not to take the privileges we have for granted. Even though the story was too complex for me at that age, the illustrations in the book were the ones that attracted me. I use to imagine my self in the field and all the kids in the pictures that looked like me was an astounding thought. I believe because of my dads efforts I have started a serious interest in India generally and modern Indian novels specifically. Since I started watching a lot of Indian movie it has become easier for me to make sense of the allusions in the novels. I have read several modern Indian fiction first editions. My interest coincided ...

Organizations as Organisms

Organizations as Organisms Free Online Research Papers Organizations are not just a working machine that functions for its own benefit without regard to the environment, but should be viewed as living systems that are comprised of smaller units that work inter-dependently to create a whole organism, or in other words, an organization. The military and the orchestra are two examples of distinct entities that can be viewed as an â€Å"open system† that is distinctive in that in order to survive, it must depend on its environment and interact with its own sub systems or units in order to survive. Sub units can be seen as aspects of an organization that contribute to its working parts. When looking to the environment for survival, resources that are deemed necessary, such as money, people, or the community, we see this as an open system since an organization’s interactions with its sub units will depend on its survival. This paper intends to provide that organizations, such as the military and the orchestra are different organi zation, but relate in that they can relate as a living system and both depend on its environment for survival while at the same time prove its distinct difference prove productive on how they obtain their needed resources. The military is considered a basic-economic system, an â€Å"Eco system† comprised of different basic units with its own labor source that works towards the overall goal of creating a military â€Å"aggregate soldier† that can exceed the addition of all subunits to create a bigger entity that impacts the world. The military is a unique organism but at the same time, its size and force can work against it. The military unit is a continuous force of input and output that drives on the economic resources it needs to produce its domestic product, a ready military force. This constant need can sometimes create a burden because our society allows a voluntary source; by creating a constitutional duty that is seen vital, the military mandates a period of time for people to serve to help produce that economic resource. The military relies on the external economic environment to provide resources to create its domestic product and depending upon the stability of the environm ent, the military’s performance may be hindered due to reduce combat capability as well as the member’s personal consumer society. In order for the military to be a true productive force, the ingrained economic laws in which society follow that govern life and activity are used by each unit to determine the effectiveness each subunit can provide. Labor efficiency is done by upgrading logistical and technical equipment capability, ensuring every member is qualified, raising economic awareness to reduce waste, fostering cohesion and teamwork, as well as investigating other national and foreign units to develop a cohesive, economically sound team (Federov, 2001). Like the military, the orchestra can also be system a similar organism with subunits that comprise the unit as a whole. It has complex interdependent subsystems that cause the orchestra to rely on its economic environment for its survival. An orchestra runs like an organization in terms distinct job function boundaries, the orchestra itself, staff, board members, and volunteers. These systems may be broken down further by departments within each job function. The orchestra relies heavily on the external environment for income through ticket sales and contributions to support the orchestra’s â€Å"personnel intensive† asset needs. To help the support the orchestra, marketing advertises concerts to generate income as well through record sales. To promote the environment’s love for music, members are reaching out to their community with music education in hopes that the community will provide inputs. Another issue is not in the form of economic need, but a pers on’s quality of life that music brings. It is an intangible asset to consider in terms of the impact on the community, the community’s economy and the value added. Measuring an intangible asset is hard, but looking at the community as a whole and the stability of an orchestra’s economic input-process-output stability can give a better indication Roelofs, 2005). The military and an orchestra are similar in terms of a living system in that they both have relationships with its smaller units and is an integrated whole. The military is a single whole process where each military member creates a unit that in turn produces a systemic effect. These individual units build and each section produces an effect that when in combination, creates a military force that can create a large labor force in a limited space. Relationships are formed through cohesiveness, a common sense of duty, and an understanding of economic expectation of labor outputs. The orchestra also consists of systems and subsystems that work to create the orchestra as a whole. Subsystems consist of board members that work to obtain contributions for the orchestra, staff, volunteers, and the musicians themselves. Both the military and the orchestra are seen as a whole unit as the military impacts the entire globe. The military combat warring nations to protect communities and ser ve as ambassadors to other nations to build friendships and strengthen units to ensure longevity. The orchestra work to provide music to communities to build a sense of pride and unity and establish themselves with people. Every system has its autonomy and function; managers work through systematic processes within its own logic and how the organization reacts to situations. By treating organizations as a living system, managers cooperate and try to build partnership for sustainability (Capra, 1996). Looking at an orchestra and the military in terms of a systems approach, there are some important differences in the way it functions for the environment. Both parties function in that they each are developed through sub units with its own interdepartmental system and how they work to support the overall whole unit, but one can look at the orchestra as its own subunit of the organization whereas the military is still just considered the whole of an organization. With an orchestra, one can be found in almost every community and each one works to support itself to provide music to the community and the various programs it provides. Each organization may run a little differently, budgets and contributions will vary and each orchestra’s depth will vary; its output will be based on what their own individual organization wants to deliver. With the military, the sub units as a whole works towards a common goal set by the organization. Its living systems are predetermined on how they will exist and to what function. The goal is a two-fold process, how do we become the best technologically and maintain the skill set needed through the economic boundaries set forth and how do we create a sustaining mindset within thousands of individuals to understand we are a living system as one? Each organization is common in that they require an open system of resources for sustenance but each is different in their output. All things can be considered living systems, take TUIU for example. TUIU can be looked at as a whole unit because it is a university organization with different subunits that make up the sum of the whole part. Like a human body, students are like cells that create different organs and tissue. The tissue can be seen as the classes offered to the cells, like food to exist within the subunit. The organs are each department of the university that takes in all the cells and refers it to various parts for answers and needed functions. The whole university functions as the brain, which needs all parts to help function. TUIU becomes a social system when students come together for a common purpose and have mutual interaction and focuses on the basic principles of what they are trying to accomplish. If students fail to interact, processes begin to dissect. As we discussed living systems in comparison to the orchestra and the military, how could we put this in terms for a new organizational member? An organization is considered a living system when you look at the autonomy each department has is accomplishing the processes to reach goals. Managers take in the logic and emotions of the organization’s mission and implement ways to influence its employees to create ways to make processes better, faster, and cheaper as a way to empower them and be committed to the organization by cultivating what is important to them (Capra,1996). Even though many see an organization as a living system, how can we relate it to a machine? Organizations are a relationship that persists over time, as does a well-running machine. Members that work machines (inter-departments) must anticipate changes that a machine may need as the environment changes since information is the food that drives it. The levers (people) take signals from the environment and bring the data forward to modify the organization’s actions. For example, your organization is marketing a new shoe. You decide to do a marketing analysis through random cities that are selling the shoe (feedback loop) and your levers (people in the organization) are providing the feedback signals to the machine (inter-departments) to determine the changes needed to modify in relation to the change in environment to market new changes to the shoe (Flower, 1995). The military and the orchestra are but two examples on how anyone can break down an organization in a living system, a whole unit with sub units that relate and interconnect in order to support being a whole unit. The wholeness of a unit comes from its social system, the community or ecosystems. The military is unique in that it survives not only on the technology and economic resources it is given, but the global need for protection and people who feels it’s their constitutional duty to serve those people. The orchestra is also unique in that its survival completely rest on their community. Music is a way to bring communities together but its resources must come from those same people to survive; inter-departments work together in order to support the orchestra as a whole. Another concept viewed is how an organization or an organism can function as a machine. The environment acts as the feedback loop and uses the organization’s levers to provide signal for change. The environment is the driver of change and organisms, us, must learn from our past in order to adapt to the changing environment and function as a whole unit. References Capra, F. (N.D.) Living Systems. The Light Party. Retrieved May 18, 2009, from lightparty.com/Visionary/LivingSystems.html Fedorov, G.S. (2001) The Military Unit as Part of the Armed Forces Economic System . Military Thought . July. Retrieved May 18, 2009, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JAP/is_4_10/ai_78839805/ Flower, J. (1995) The Structure Of Organized Change: A conversation with Kevin Kelly. The Healthcare Forum Journal, vol. 38, no. 1, January/February 1995. Retrieved May 18, 2009, from well.com/user/bbear/kellyart.html Roelofs, L. (N.D.) Organizational Change: Open System Concepts. Symphony Orchestra Institute. Retrieved May 18, 2009, from soi.org/reading/change/concepts.shtml Research Papers on Organizations as OrganismsOpen Architechture a white paperBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfGenetic EngineeringAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeDefinition of Export QuotasIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalThe Project Managment Office SystemInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2

Public and Humanitarian International Law Essay

Public and Humanitarian International Law - Essay Example Not everyone believes this to be true. This paper shall now assess the following statement: public international law is nothing more than a reflection of what powerful states choose to do. It shall review the claim that international law is based on not what the international community wants, but what the powerful nations want. This thesis shall be evaluated in this discussion via theories and discussion by experts and scholars in international law. This paper is being undertaken in order to provide a comprehensive and academic discussion of the subject matter. Discussion International laws are ideally implemented based on principles and mandates which are formulated by its member nations. These mandates are voted on and ratified by member states and later implemented to govern international transactions and relations. In the actual setting, these laws in relation to political processes may often be considered irreconcilable and conflicting with each other. For the most part, dominan t states may not want to use the different processes available under international laws; they may sometimes consider turning to politics instead1. However, the international systems seem to dissociate itself from power and domination. Based on the principle of sovereignty, the international laws are distancing itself from the more dominant applications of power and of political might. However since international laws always need power in order to enforce its policies, on its own, these laws seem to be powerless in most situations2. It is in unable to control power states based on its own standing, therefore it seems to depend on the application of the balance of power. In other words, in instances â€Å"when there is neither community of interests nor balance of power, there is no international law†3. Consequently, international law sometimes appears as a beacon of equality where justice prevails and power plays are consigned to the realm of politics where the more cutthroat relations prevail. This difference in application finds its best expression in the designated roles of law and politics in the early 19th century in the era of the Concert of Europe. In its interaction with weaker countries, the Concert carried out its processes via political, not so much in the legal processes4. This mutual exclusion is sometimes utilized to define the contemporary relations in international and the United States. The US, which is disinclined to ratify treaties and is more inclined to be relieved of international legal processes, often appears as a â€Å"lawless hegemon, however in spite of that, international law among the rest of states seems to flourish on its way to realizing the values of the international community†5. Moreover, the laws and political power seems to function in differing plains. As a result, international law appears idealized and the realists and critical legal scholars have accepted the fact that the laws are shaped and dictated by po wer6. Many scholars have even accepted the fact that the history of international laws marks milestones of power dominance. This paper shall proceed to evaluate whether or not the power displays in the international realm impact on the application of international laws. The international processes of dominant states straddles two policies, that of instrumentalization and withdrawal. The orientations of these two policies are different from each other as they move in two

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT TERM PAPER Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 10000 words

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT TERM PAPER - Essay Example Although external factors have played a very crucial role in the current situation of GM Europe, still, the internal strengths of the company like recognition, state support, global operations, U.S. leadership and many others are making the company capable to avoid the threats of closure. The report also shows that the current opportunities in European market such as demands of fuel-efficient, small cars and green cars are some of the unexplored opportunities for GM Europe. The internal and external factor analysis shows that company is less responding to threats and opportunities than its average ability however, it is efficiently responding towards its strengths and weaknesses. The SPACE analysis shows that in consideration to the current position of GM Europe, company should adopt conservative strategies such as product development, market penetration. Such strategies will help the company to remain consistent in its revenues and to grow its market shares. During the last year, GM Europe has been planning different strategies however, finally in February 2010; the restructuring plan of the company has been announced. The report critically analyses all different alternatives presented by GM Europe throughout the year. Finally, selling the percentage of Opel Shares, downsizing, bottom cost cutting, development of green and fuel efficient cars have been considered as the most appropriate strategies for GM Europe. This report also shows the three years projections of GM Europe and it has been highlighted that in 2010 revenues of the company will go in negative, however, breakeven profit is expected in 2011 and positive profit is expected in 2012. The market shares of the company will also grow during this period and costs such as manufacturing costs, fuel costs will be reduced because they are the major parts of restructuring plan. Therefore, GM Europe survival is

Responsibilities of sports engineers Essay Example for Free

Responsibilities of sports engineers Essay Sports is something that attracts every person in this world towards itself. Sports has become a very common field that everybody has interested in. People are gaining more and more interest in different sports from all over the world. And that is why sports engineering is gaining significance and recognition. It is a special field of engineering, which involves everything from the development to the testing of the different sports equipment. The discipline includes numerous activities and everything related to sports and sports equipment. The sports engineers have several responsibilities that are discussed here at length. The very first responsibility of a sports engineer is the designing of the sports equipment. With the development of different sports and an increase in their popularity, people are eager to make use of the best of the sports equipment. And this is where the sports engineers can contribute by developing new equipment that would help the athletes perform better. Sports engineers are also responsible for carrying out a complete lab and experimental testing of the sports equipment, athletes and the interaction between them. This is one of the most important parts of the job of a sports engineer because it is not possible to make use of anything without testing the equipment and the nature of interactions the users would have with the equipment. The sports engineers not only carry out laboratory testing but are also required to test the performance of the athletes and different devices in the field, i. e. the environment of the sports. Field testing needs to be completely accurate so that there is no scope of mistakes and the athletes are prepared to use their equipment in the real conditions and situations. Computational modeling has been used only for scientific purposes till now. Computational modeling approach is usually employed in physics and other scientific applications, whether it is fluid dynamics or any other experiment. Sports engineers are also making use of this technique and approach for determining the forces acting upon the working of the equipment and for stimulating its working before actually developing them. Sports engineers also need to continuously work with the different government bodies and the authorities for making sure that the rules are adhered to and everything is carried out within the pre-defined guidelines. Sports engineers also have to work with the athletes to regularly keep a track and improve the performance of the different athletes in different fields. They need to find out new ways and measures for enhancing the performance of the sportsmen. Thus, we see that sports engineers are extremely important people and they need to carry out all of their responsibilities sincerely for the development of different sports and for the betterment of the athletes. Reference link: http://classof1. com/homework-help/engineering-homework-help.

production and cost curve :: essays research papers

Production/Cost Curves   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Every company has some kind of Revenue and they all have costs that are associated with running the company. It is also true that if a company wants to increase their Revenue, their costs will increase too. It is every company’s goal to maximize revenue and either through Production or Services, and minimize cost. These things are easy to figure out, but actually identifying the production and figuring out how it will increase or decrease with change is very difficult.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Fred Meyer our output like in all grocery stores, is not a product but the amount of items we sell. Sales is what drives the company, it is the source for our Revenue. Similar to manufacturing companies where they have numbers that tell them how much they produced, we have numbers that tells us how much we have sold. Every department has a goal that they have to reach. They have to sell their products to come to that number. The number varies daily, and managers expect from every department that they will sell more products compared to last year.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For departments to achieve that, managers have to look at the output level and decide how they can increase profit. It will be very difficult for them to do that because if they want to increase the production/output which is sales in my situation, they would incur costs. So if managers decide to try and sell more products, they could hire more employees to persuade customers to buy more products. We can see that when we go to â€Å"Circuit City† and â€Å"Best Buy†, they have employees just standing around and not doing anything, but once a customer shows up, they are all over them. So for managers in my Home-electronic department they could hire more employees to sell more products. That concept would not be very efficient after a certain number of employees are hired. If we h ire 10 more employee, than a lot of them would just stand around and be in the way of customers and even each other. This situation could be a bottleneck for people that are trying to get something done. Graph A could best describe this example. This graph shows you what happens to the output when more labor is added. The output will slowly level off and then start to decline. If the managers want to maximize the output they would have to look at the max point on the graph to get the highest output with the lowest labor force.

Walmart’s Key HR Functions Underperforming

Introduction The success of any organization depends on its strategic asset, the human capital. As pointed out by Lawler (1996), organization’s competitive advantage comes from its human capital. Efficient management of this resource can bring significant benefits to the company. It should be remembered that motivation is the epicenter of performance and an important factor ensuring the success of a company. Improving workplace productivity however remains a major challenge in most companies. In this regard, this study explores the human resource management approach at Wal-Mart. It identifies the ways in which two HR functions (employee motivation and employee performance practices) are underperforming. This includes a brief account of how the functions operate within the organization, how they are applied and what the outcomes for the business are given that they are underperforming. The paper evaluates why these particular functions are considered to be underperforming using Herzbergâ₠¬â„¢s motivator Hygiene Theory. Further the paper makes some recommendations for improvement of these HRM practices and the benefits to the company. What is human resource management? Human resource management encompasses all activities associated with management of the human capital and in ways towards achieving the corporate goal or objective. In any organization, the human resource department plays a crucial role. Not only are HR managers required to recruit and train employees, but they also have the obligation of motivating and engaging the workforce. Understanding what motivates the employee and ensuring good employee employment practices is key for talent retention and performance (Lockwood et al. 2010). Regardless of the economic environment, it is imperative for companies to create an engaged and motivated workforce. Underperformance in the workplace has recently been a major concern in Wal-Mart stores. According to a new research report by Wolfe research, an equities research firm, Wal-Mart has been underperforming over the past years. The firm lowered Wal-Mart from a â€Å"market perform† rating to an â€Å"underperform† rating (Covert, 20 14). Failure by Wal-Mart has been attributed to their poor employment practices especially low wages and lack of rewards. Whereas Wal-Mart may not be the only big store chain criticized for its poor employment practices and policies, it has come to the spotlight owing to its aggressive policies and low cost strategy which undermines the effort made by employees. Just last year, a lawsuit was filed against Wal-Mart by the international Labour Rights Fund for requiring overtime, denying minimum wage and punishing union activity (Covert 2012). This is clearly a violation of worker’s rights. Wal-Mart which was initially a corporate fortress seems to be headed to a downfall. Even its operations in the US indicate the possibility of a failure in the giant retailer. More recently, Wal-Mart warned its investors that its comparable store sales may be slightly negative after the third quarter. This is also evident in the huge layoff of 2300 workers at Sam’s club, one of its stores. The layoff was attributed to their poor performance. Whereas Wal-Mart still remains the corporate fortress in the retail sector due to its massive size, its underperformance in the US and emerging markets indicate the possibility of a failure in the near future. Walmart’s bad business practices Wal-Mart has on several accounts been criticized for poor wages. Why should employees suffer in one of the giant retail stores that make billions of profit annuallyWal-Mart is ranked among the best 100 corporations by Forbes magazine yet most of its employees take on average less than $250 a week. Full-time employees are paid between $6 and $7.50 an hour. A further a third of the employees who are part-time are limited to working up to 28 hours a week and are not eligible for benefits. Such pay scale places them and their families below the poverty line. The lack of rewards demotivates and discourages them from performing well. Perhaps Wal-Marts bad business practices are more evident with the Rana Plaza tragedy which led to the loss of over 1000 lives. The tragedy exposed some of the profound flaws in the industry. Rana Plaza produced private garments for some of the giant retailers including Wal-Mart. Evidence provided by the Bangladesh center for Worker Solidarity showed that Wal- Mart had been producing its garments in Ether Tex factory situated on the 5th floor of the building (Steven 2013). Some documents were found in the rubble detailing purchase orders for certain garments which were to be delivered to Wal-Mart. Further, at the time of the tragedy, Wal-Mart was already listed in Ether Tex’s website as one of the main customer. Although Wal-Mart denied knowledge of their operations at the factory building, it announced its plans to put in place new safety measures at some of their factories in Bangladesh. The corporate fortress, however, promised to stop production if urgent safety problems were uncovered at some of its factories. The company further assured the Bangladeshi government of their support and commitment towards improving workplace safety. But the company stopped short of committing to these improvements and distanced itself from the Rana Plaza tragedy. This is a clear example of bad business practice. Why these particular functions are considered to be underperforming Last year, Wal-Mart reported $11 billion in net income yet it has not been able to remedy some of its questionable workplace practices. Wal-Mart has been filed in over 5,000 lawsuits for poor employment practices such as inadequate health care, wage law violations, worker exploitation and their anti-union retailer stance. Wal-Mart anti-union stance can be seen in their recent threat to close one of its stores in Quebec after workers successfully unionized. Citing ‘economic reasons’; Wal-Mart announced their plans on shutting the store. However, this argument was rejected by Quebec’s labor relations and Wal-Mart’s firings found illegal. Further, the move to extend operations to overseas markets including setting up factories in emerging markets such as Bangladesh and China was driven by the desire to take advantage of cheap labour. For example, Wal-Mart pays much less its employees in China compared to those in the US and the UK. A further criticism has been the lack of employment benefits. Part-time employees are limited to working up to 28 hours a week and are not eligible for benefits. While, workers who are eligible for benefits pay way over the odds to get health insurance and other benefits. The company has often come under criticism for not providing employees with affordable access to health care and employees are overburdened. For example, in 1999, 36% of the total costs were paid by the employees. In 2001, there was a 42% rise in employee burden. The health of its employees has been deteriorating at a faster rate. According to the company’s internal memo discovered by New York Times, Wal-Mart workers were sicker compared to the national population. This begs the question: Why can’t such a giant corporation provide its workers medical retirement benefits given the huge profits that they makeThis question was once raised by one of Wal-Mart’s managers only to be fired by the CEO and reasons of disloyalty cit ed as the reason for being quitted. (Jordan 2008). As Michael Porter (1980) once pointed out that a company would rely on three basic competitive strategies to maintain their edge in the market: differentiation, cost leadership, and focus strategy. Wal-Mart has obviously taken the cost-leadership strategy by reducing the cost of recruitment, providing low pay, no rewards, requiring overtime, and cheap children labors. It currently faces a barrage of lawsuits for extensive violations of labour laws. Wal-Mart also faces law suits for extensive violations of state regulations that require time for breaks and meals. In some instances, minors are forced to work late for the performance appraising. Outcomes for business Wal-Mart may be headed for a downfall. Its customer service is already low and their low-cost strategy has led to many cut offs of employees. Since recession, Wal-Mart has been cutting down on their staff. Without enough manpower for their retail operations and with workers on site underpaid, its merchandize remains stacked on pallets in warehouses instead of the shelves where customers can reach them. What then is the value of offering lower prices if the products are not accessible to the customers? Further, the check-out lines are painfully long and there seems to be a decline in the overall customer shopping experience. Customer shopping experience has been deteriorating due to the longer checkout lines, disorganization and less staff help. Last year, the giant retailer was placed last among in the American Customer Satisfaction Index, a six year in a row in which Wal-Mart has taken the last spot (Ungar 2013). Lessons must be learnt from the experience of the other low end retail ers. McDonald’s earnings have fallen significantly due to their poor terms of employment. Similarly, Wal-Mart needs to consider the potential upside of their aggressive policies. Despite the poor employment practices, Wal-Mart still remains among the leading retail giants. Its remains ahead of its competitors such as Target and JC penny. However, Wal-Mart faces a threat from Costco, its primary competitor. Costco has been experiencing a fairly healthy 8% growth in annual sales (Ungar 2013). In fact, a significant number of customers are moving to this retailer for their shopping experience. Could this be attributed to the good employment practices at CostcoUnlike Wal-Mart, employees at Costco get a decent living and are paid in excess of the minimum wage. Given the aggressive HR policies employed by Wal-Mart, it begs the question: what then is the role of HR managers in this companySince, as HR professionals, they are required to put in place strategies oriented towards the e mployees. To some point, however, employees seem to be encouraged to think of themselves as ‘servant leaders’. For example, employees are called â€Å"associates† showing that the company values their contribution. Such kinds of HR policies are employed in most of the best performing companies. These policies and practices serve to motivate employees to increase their performance and can aid in developing good corporate culture. However, employees may not feel appreciated if they are paid less than minimum wages and denied rewards and opportunities for professional growth. There seem to be no opportunities for enhancement and professional growth. Wal-Mart does very little training and developments of its human resources and as such, opportunities for enhancement of professions especially for women are limited. In fact, several claims have been filed against Wal-Mart for discriminating against women in terms of employment positions and the lack of opportunities fo r advancement. Improving employee motivation and employment practices at Wal-Mart As HR professionals continue to seek bright, talented and highly engaged workforce, motivational theories can provide insights on how Wal-Mart can improve employee motivation and engagement. Several motivational theories have been suggested including the Expectancy Theory, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory, Herzberg’s motivator Hygiene Theory, Goal Setting Theory, and Equity theory (Lockwood et al. 2010) Herzberg’s motivator Hygiene Theory is perhaps more applicable to the case of Wal-Mart. The theory suggests that two main factors must be met for employees to become satisfied with work. These are: the hygiene factors and motivator factors. The hygiene factors include meeting the basic needs such as adequate pay, comfortable working environment, effective supervision and good relationships with the core workers. On the other hand, motivation factors include advancement and professional growth, and rewards or opportunities for recognition (lockwood et al. 2010) W al-Mart needs to consider applying the two-factor theory of motivation if they are to improve on the performance of their employees. They need to revamp their policies, increase the salary of their employees, and the safety and security of the employees. Further, they need to consider motivators that are intrinsic to the job which include providing rewards for achievement and increasing their growth opportunities. Pundits, policymakers and activists outraged by the company’s low wages have been calling for protests. According to Robert Reich, a professor at U.C. Berkeley, Walmart’s net income is estimated at $17 billion meaning that they can easily afford to give its workers a small pay-rise (Atner 2013). The Chancellor professor of public policy has in fact urged shoppers to boycott Wal-Mart since they do not want to share even a little bit of their income with their employees (Atner 2013). Conclusion In today’s highly competitive marketplace, motivation of employees and employing the best employment practices is key to success. Underperformance in the workplace has recently been a major concern in Wal-Mart stores. Several lawsuits have been filed against Wal-Mart for violation of worker’s rights including low wages, lack of employment benefits, being required to work overtime and denied to participate in union activity. Bad employment practices are clearly evident in Wal-Mart. This has affects employee productivity as it demoralizes and demotivates them. Wal-Mart needs to consider applying the two-factor theory of motivation if they are to improve on the performance of their employees. Incentives are key to maintaining a motivated workforce and ensuring business success. Appraising and offering hardworking employee with incentives will motivate them to go the extra mile of putting the company first. Employee valuations need to be implemented and growth opportunities made plenty. HR managers at walmart need to understand the benefits of employee motivation and engagement. By sharing their profit, employees will feel appreciated and more passionate about their work. Ultimately, this will result in improved performance and greater customer satisfaction Reference Ciura, B., 2014. Is Wal-Mart’s empire about to failViewed on 29th March 2014. Available from http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/02/01/is-wal-marts-empire-about-to-fall.aspx Covert, B., 2014. Walmart’s labor practices backfire. Viewed on 29th March 2014. Available from http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/02/10/3271221/walmart-downgraded-understaffing/ Gusdorf, M.L. and Reed, S.M., 2009. The role of mission and values in strategic human resource management. Society for Human Resource Management. Jordan, T., 2014. The good, the bad and Wal-Mart. Workplacefairness Lockwood, N., Anderson, C., Fiester, M. and Samers, K., 2010. ‘Motivation in today’s workplace: the link to performance’. Research Quarterly. The Society for Human Resource Management Rasouli, R., 2013. ‘Modelling the impact of HRM practices on knowledge workers’ job satisfaction and intention to stay: re-examining the Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivationâ₠¬â„¢. World of Sciences Journal Steven, G., 2013. As firms line up on factories, Wal-Mart plans solo effort. Viewed on 29th March 2013. available from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/business/six-retailers-join-bangladesh-factory-pact.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Thomasson, E., 2014. Bangladesh factory inspections highlight safety risks as anniversary of Rana Plaza tragedy looms. Retail & Marketing. Ungar, R., 2013. Wal-Mart pays workers poorly and sinks while Costco pays workers well and sails-proof that you get what you pay for. {Viewed on 30th March 2014} available fromhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2013/04/17/walmart-pays-workers-poorly-and-sinks-while-costco-pays-workers-well-and-sails-proof-that-you-get-what-you-pay-for/

Pasadena Foursquare Church Kitchen Renovation Project Essay

1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose of Risk Management 1.1.1 Knowing and Controlling Risks to Project Assets The process of Risk Management instituted tothe Project with knowledge and control over the risk position of the project. Not all identified risks can be removed. The likelihood of surpassing requirements can be traded off against the risk of surpassing the budget constraints. Risk Management is a process used to balance the project risk position across all project resource areas, controlling the distribution and magnitude of the identified risks against the cost constraints while obtaining the best possible confidence in achieving high project performance return. 1.2 Risk Management is a Project Team Effort 1.2.1 Integral Part of Project Implementation It is intended that Risk Management be an essential element in the Project Manager’s tool kit. This involves considering risk at the very beginning of the project conceptualization. The key features of risk management (RM) activity within the project are: 1.Managed risks are essential elements of the project management control process 2.Cognizant personnel accept the time imposed to develop and maintain the risk list 3.Project Management Team plans the effort and the Project Manager takes ownership of the plan 4.Risk status reports are integral to the project review process 5.Effective metrics are identified and delivered per the plan to all stakeholders These activities require require commitment from the project manager, and the Risk Representative. 1.2.2 A Team Effort Risk Management is a team effort. The project Risk Representative is the coordinator of the risk management activity. All members of the project team have important roles in identifying, assessing, and tracking risk, and in identifying the possible approaches to dealing with risks that are  necessary for the project to make good risk decisions. Risk decisions are supported by analyses and recommendations from the project team, but are ultimately made by the Project Manager in the same manner as all cost, schedule and performance impact decisions are made. 1.2.3 Integrated Risk View The Risk List developed and managed through the RM Process is a composite of the risks being managed by all elements of the project. It includes in one place the management view for risks from independent assessments, reviews, QA inspections, principles and policy, risk reviews, and residual risks from all project actions. Only in this way can it be managed as a comprehensive assessment of the liens on all project resource reserves, which allows optimized decisions to use these reserves to mitigate risks. 2. OBJECTIVES 2.1 Objectives of Risk Management The overall objective of Risk Management is to identify and assess the risks to achieving project success, and to balance the mitigation of these risks (and hence the additional cost) against the acceptance and control of these risks (and hence a possible higher degree of project performance objectives). To further these objectives, the Project Management process involves identifying risks to the success the project, understanding the nature of these risks, individually and in total, and acting to control their impact on the success of the project. 3. RISK MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW 3.1 Definitions 3.1.1Risk Risk is defined as: The combination of the likelihood of occurrence of an undesirable event and the consequence of the occurrence. This combination results in a risk severity, which is:  A measure of the risk magnitude. The higher risks dictate greater attention and urgency for action to mitigate. Risk severity is also influenced by the urgency of applying effective mitigations. Primary Risk is: A risk which rates high on the severity scale – generally high levels of  likelihood and consequence A specific risk to a project, identified in this process as a risk item, has four components, namely the undesirable event the likelihood of occurrence the severity of the consequences of the occurrence the timeframe in which mitigation decisions are required Residual Risk is: An accepted performance or safety risk, which remains after all possible or practical measures have been taken to reduce the severity. The term is especially used in identifying the risk remaining from all discrepancies dispositioned as â€Å"Use As Is† or â€Å"Repair† and accepted single failure points, or other decisions made which leave less than complete closure. The project risk position is defined as: The aggregate of the assessments of the individual risk items for the project, including the decisions made to mitigate, accept and control, or take additional risk. It is a goal that this risk position be measurable relative to project reserves. 3.1.2Risk Management In this context, risk management is defined as: An organized means of planning the risk management activity (Planning), identifying and measuring risks relevant to the Project (Identification and Assessment), identifying, selecting and implementing measures for controlling these risks so as to control the project risk position (Decision-Making), and tracking the decisions made and the evolving risk status (Tracking). Project reserves can be identified in different ways and are managed by a number of effective tools and methods. The Risk Management methodology looks at two aspects of the Project risk position – the risk to resource reserves and the measure of the project success criteria. The Risk Management methodology is based on the project risk position, which is the understanding of the â€Å"knowable† risk, while acknowledging that there are inherent â€Å"unknown† risk possibilities in any project, and must be acknowledged when judging adequacy of the reserves. 3.1.3 Significant Risk A significant risk is a risk considered by the Project Manager to require  focused attention by the Project Management Team on a regular basis. This group is largely but not necessarily identically the group of yellow and red risks in the 5X5 risk matrix, although some green risks may be included if their mitigation time frame is near-term. These are also generally the risks which are reported at the regular monthly status reviews. The Significant Risk List (SRL) is the subset of all the project isks which are significant risks. Not all risks in the project risk are significant risks, but all risks should be rated according to the 5X5 matrix 3.2 Consequence Categories of Risk Risk consequences are assessed against three fundamental categories – called consequence categories 1.The threat to achieving schedule 2.The threat to achieving Scope or Project Performance Success Criteria 3. The threat to the project budget These categories may be expanded or added-to – for instance, impact on facilities, or church activities ..etc. 3.3 The 5X5 Matrix This project has adapted the 5X5 Risk Matrix, which defines the criteria for assessing risk likelihood and consequence for both project and implementation risk. Primary risks are generally considered to be those in the red zone of the 5X5 matrix. 3.4 The Elements of the Risk Management Process The Activities of the Risk Management Process for this project are described as: 1.Identifying and characterizing risks 2.Prioritizing or ranking risks 3.Developing potential project responses to risks 4.Making decisions utilizing existing resources to restructure the program to reduce the potential effect of the risks 5.Tracking the evolving risk exposure and iterating the above actions as needed 6.Developing a plan for the above activities throughout the project life-cycle Each element of the Risk Management process requires interactions among the project team, and the process provides methodology and tools to enable effective communication and documentation. The Figure Below shows a process flow for the activity of risk management in the process. 3.5 Risk Management in the Project Life-Cycle The figure above shows the periods of activity, and generally the times of inputs/outputs of the Risk Management Process, within the project life-cycle. Each Risk Management element extends through the entire life-cycle, and the majority of effort shifts from planning through identification and assessment, decision making, to tracking as the project risk position changes and evolves. While the risk management process is serial, there is significant iteration and updating as the project progresses and matures and thus the identified risks change, are realized or retired, and new risks arise. As risk matures, probability of occurrence and/or impact will change. Risks can reduce to the level of insignificance, where they are retired, or can increase to point of occurrence, or realization. Also, new risks can and will be identified throughout the project life-cycle. The Risk Management process considers and responds to all of these outcomes by returning to earlier activities for reconsideration and update. The project’s Risk Management process can change significantly for operations, since more of the risk attention will be associated with human factors, and an update to the RM Plan may be needed. 4. THE RISK MANAGEMENT PROCESS IN PLANNING 4.1 Understanding Risk in the Planning/ Proposal Phase The Project Management Team works to define the requirements and time frames of the project. The pre-project activity involves concept defininition and exploratation with decisions made in the Project team as to the scope and budget with which the â€Å"Plan & Design† Stage Begins. In the Plan & Design Stage Each Project Task is analyzed by the Project Team and â€Å"Make Or Buy† Decisions are Madke based on the availibillity of Qualified Volunteers in the church community. Buy Decisions are made for each outstanding activity. Rough Designs are formulated by the project team calling on Subject Matter Experts as required. Rough Order of Magnitude estimations are made on the cost of each task. RFPs are released to potential contract or volunteer candidates. Proposals are received and Reviewed by the Project Team. The Designs are finalized, Schedules and budgets made and the Work Break down sturcture and Gant Charts are updated with the project â€Å"Base Line† is  established. It is at this point that the Risk List is established by the Project Team, Pulling inforomation from contractors, Subject Matter Experts and the Experience and judgement of the Project Team. The Risk List can then be used to identify the most attractive of a number of options in contractor selection, Design Changes, Scope Schedule, Buget Needs. In addition to performance and needed resources, risk should be a major consideration in justifying the chosen options. This requires specific identification of the apparent risks in each option – mitigating them if possible in the process of maturing each option The relative weights of the risks combine with the weights of the performance and resource assessments in selecting the option to go forward. Fig 4-1 Accounting for Risk in Project Formulation 4.2 Using Risk in Establishing Reserves In establishing the budget reserves for the project to be confirmed at the â€Å"Permitting† Phase, risks are used to define the risk exposure of the budget. Rrisks that are identified in the Planning Phase can be assessed for the potential cost, should they occur. This requires quantification of the risk consequence (in $) and the risk likelihood. 4.5The Preliminary Risk Management Plan At the end if Planning Phase, Preliminary RM Plan is drafted. The plan will consist of all of the Risks associated with the poject and a specific plan for controlling Each SRL risk identified 5. RISK MANAGEMENT IN IMPLEMENTATION 5.1 Risk Management Planning The SRL will be reviewed and updated weekly by the Project Management Team. Montly Status will be reported to all of the stakeholders. New Risks will probably imerge as the project progresses. Oportunity will be made to the Project Management Team Includint the Projec QA representative to add new risks the project Risk List. 5.1.1 Risk Mitigations The following subjects are considered when documenting Risk Mitigations. a)Map the project success criteria and project objectives into an overall  approach to risk Reflecting the prioritization of performance of project objectives and constraints, and weights the emphasis on the following: avoiding risk, by minimizing risk through redesign, alternative developments, parallel developments, large margins, additional equipment to buffer constrained schedules, etc.; accepting risk, by developing contingency plans and margin management criteria for exercising those plans, and/or allowing descope/ reduction in Project Performance return to trade against cost, schedule, and other resources; or taking risk, by finding and incorporating high potential performance/cost/schedule benefits with acceptable additional risk to reserves or margins. . 5.2 Risk Identification and Assessment 5.2.1 Identification and Assessment Requirements The requirements in identification and assessment are to identify the risk items, to describe them sufficiently to allow assessment and decision-making, to identify practical mitigation approaches, and to develop the Significant Risk List (SRL), which is a list of the identified risks to the project and their decision-enabling data 5.2.2 Risk Description Effective risk descriptions identify the root source of the risk concern (the Risk Condition), the event that is feared (Risk Event), and the risk Consequence to the project. The format is generally: â€Å"Because of (the condition giving risk to the risk), it is possible that (such and such event) will occur, with the consequence that (describe the impact – e.g. delivery â€Å"n† weeks late, loss of â€Å"xyz† performance capability, need to build another component, etc.)† Another, less favored, descriptive format sometimes used is: â€Å"If (such and such an event) occurs due to (the condition that †¦), then (describe the impact†¦)† Sometimes there will be further words needed to describe the uncertainty, explain why the condition is present, and what other factors are need to be considered and why. 5.2.3 Inputs When the pre-formulation or early formulation phase feasibility demonstration and scope definition results have been approved, the required inputs for Risk Identification can be assembled. The information needed for identifying and assessing risk include at least preliminary versions of: Requirements and Project Success Criteria Project Management Plan Project Requirements Risk Management Plan Staffing Plan/ key personnel Schedule/ Schedule drivers Budget/ budget drivers 5.2.4 Identifying Risk Items 5.2.4.1 Risk Identification Methodology The first step in developing the risk list is generally a brain-storming activity where potential risk items are identified by the key project personnel. These risks are characterized by two parameters – the likelihood of an adverse event and the consequences of that event. Whenever a potential risk is submitted for consideration, it is accompanied by estimates of these two parameters. The risks are identified by the â€Å"experts† in the specific subject of the risk item – that is, the key personnel submit candidate risks in their project areas of expertise. Risks may be suggested in areas outside their expertise, but they should be then presented to the expert in that area for concurrence. As these risk items are characterized, other data are needed which are described below. The mechanism for obtaining these submissions will vary. The brain-storming may occur as a group, or by e-mail, or separately in one-to-one discussions. The submissions should be â€Å"standardized† to remove very disparate interpretations of the rules before the first group consideration takes place. The following characteristics should be observed in the process. The candidate risks submitted by the team should be inclusive – if the item might be a risk, input it. The Project Manager will work with the submitter to delete inappropriate risks or modify the assessment as needed. They should have a common basis for interpretations. This is accomplished by the Project Manager iterating with the specific group members The Project Manager may use team discussion to assess the risk list, and remove differences of understanding. 5.2.4.2 Resources for Identifying Potential Risks a)External Resources Risks to the project may be identified through experiences of other projects, or the Construction industry in general b)Internal Resources Sources and resources available within Church Comunity or within the project management team which are used to develop inputs to the Risk Identification and Assessment element include: Expert Judgment The RM risk identification and assessment process relies heavily on the expert judgment of the project implementers and their peers Schedule, WBS, Work Agreement Assessments One can systematically examine the planned work and identify uncertainties to which the project has high sensitivity, which can result in risk items to be assessed. Technical, and Design Organization Assessments Functional Block Diagrams, Requirements Flow-Down, Fault Trees, etc. are all systematic organizations of the planned product which can be examined comprehensively for risk items. Review Board Reports Review Board reports include recommendations and issues, as well as RFAs. Review Board can also consist of members or contracting companies. Residual Risk Residual risks, which are identified in many activities within the project as unavoidable risk remaining after all reasonable actions have been taken, should be carried in the risk data base. They should be considered for inclusions in the SRL if applicable, such that they would be reported at monthly and quarterly management reviews as accepted risk. Early in the project design activity, decisions such as allowing selected single failure points or marginal design against worst case possibilities may be made with due consideration of the risk taken. These considerations should be retained in the residual risk descriptions and rationales. 5.2.4.3 Categories of Risk Categorization can be used to allow the aggregation of subsets of risks, and so provide insight into major risk areas in the project. Risk Source Categories A useful set of risk source categories identifies areas of the project where potential risk might reside – for example performance, cost, Or schedule, constraints within which the project must work, to be considered. Other risk source categorizations which might provide insight include: The project systems or subsystem area in which the risk is manifested, The WBS element primarily involved,  Technology areas (if breaking technolgy is used with appliances etc..) Risk Source Categorization is optional. 5.2.4.4 Risk Status Risk status is the process for configuration management of the risks, and also an indicator to external reviewers of the projects plans to deal with each risk.. For Risks that have been dispositioned, there are status classifications definitions are shown in the table below. –RESEARCH – A research category is assigned when more knowledge is required about the risk or the mitigation options. The objective is to move to mitigate, watch, or accept as soon as possible –ACCEPT – A risk is accepted if there are no practical mitigations identified. Depending on the severity of the risk, it may be needed to justify acceptance to the CMC as a Primary Risk. The risk is tracked for changes as the project matures –MITIGATE – A risk is in the mitigate category if there are funded actions under way to reduce the risk. This may have future decision milestones, or milestones where the mitigation risk reductions may be claimed -WATCH – A risk in the watch category has known future points of change, and requires tracking and possible future reassessments. Candidate mitigation options may be carried, and the risk may be re-categorized as the project evolves. 5.2.5 Risk Item Descriptors The draft SRL should list each identified risk item, and for each item should  include as a minimum: Description of the adverse event (Condition, event, consequence) Context of the Risk (If warranted) Categorization in the categories chosen Implementation Risk Assessment -Consequence -Likelihood of occurrence Project Risk Assessment -Consequence -Likelihood of occurrence (If quantified assessment is used) -Level of impact on resources (technical, cost and schedule) -WBS elements primarily affected -Task/ schedule elements primarily affected Mitigation Options – Description of potential mitigation for consideration – Costs of identified mitigation options Timeframe – Urgency of decisions for mitigation effectiveness Time window of potential occurrence – if applicable Resulting reductions in risk likelihood and impact if mitigation option is implemented Project personnel who are identifying risk items will record as much of this as is available at the time a risk is input to the project. Recording the likelihood and consequence descriptors require that the thought processes of risk assessment (described below) be gone through, and in general a first cut at each can be entered with the other data. Risk Description Data Timeframe Implementation (Schedule Or Cost) Risk Project Scope Risk Mitigation Data Risk No. Title Description Impact Near-term, mid-term, or far-term ImplementationConsequence (Cost to recover) Likelihood (implementation) Risk Cost Project Consequence (loss of performance) Likelihood (Project) Mitigation Options Mit. Cost Risk Reduction Figure 5‑ Sample Risk Identification and Assessment Data Sheet Risk Number:An ID number which can be used to find data in a data base. The number can be indexed to indicate updates Title:A short reference for reports, etc.  Description:Text describing the condition or root cause, the feared event, and the consequence. (additional columns can be added here to denote classification schemes to be used. Some risk managers add a time-frame classification to highlight near-term risks from long-term risks. Impact:Text that describes the change to the project due to the event described above. For implementation impact, the description might indicate what would be necessary to recover. For a Project risk, the description might indicate the reduction in project capability to return Project results. Implementation Consequence: A measure against the 5X5 assessment criteria (qualitative) or in resources expenditures (e.g. $) as a result of the impact described to get back on track. Implementation Likelihood: A measure against the 5X5 assessment criteria (qualitative) or in percent (quantitative) of the described consequence being realized. Risk Cost:For quantitative assessment, the product of the consequence in resource measure and the probability (e.g. $) Project Consequence: A measure against the 5X5 assessment criteria of the degradation of Project return due to the event occurring. Project Likelihood: A measure against the 5X5 assessment  criteria (qualitative) or in percent (quantitative) of the described consequence being realized. Mitigation Options:A description of one (or more) possible approaches to mitigating the risk Mitigation Cost:An estimate of the cost in project resources to implement the mitigation Risk Reduction:A description of the effect of the mitigation on the original risk assessments 5.2.6 Risk Item Assessment 5.2.6.1 Qualitative Assessment Qualitative Risk Assessment is the assignment of adjective ratings to the degree of significance of either likelihood or consequence of occurrence. Criteria like â€Å"High, Medium, and Low† are generally used. Scales can have fewer gradations (i.e. high and low) or more (e.g. very high, high, significant, moderate, and low). Definition of these levels is essential, and some iteration and discussion will be needed before the team understands a common distinction between assessed levels. Consequence of Occurrence LevelProject Risk Level Definitions Very HighProject failure HighSignificant reduction in project return ModerateModerate reduction in project return LowSmall reduction in project return Very LowMinimal (or no) impact to project LevelImplementation Risk Level Definition Very HighOverrun budget and contingency, cannot meet schedule with current resources HighConsume all contingency, budget or schedule ModerateSignificant reduction in contingency or schedule slack LowSmall reduction in contingency or schedule slack Very LowMinimal reduction in contingency or schedule slack The advantage of this qualitative approach is that, while subjective, the project team can quickly get in tune with the distinction between levels by working through a number of risks together, and can then assess their own risks fairly consistently. The disadvantage is that the system does not straightforwardly allow â€Å"adding-up† or otherwise aggregating the total risk. Rather, a risk distribution is used to display the project risk position,  as will be seen below.

Medical Decision-Making Essays

Medical Decision-Making Essays Medical Decision-Making Paper Medical Decision-Making Paper The foundation of every successful medical care is an exceptional quality of medical decisions. Yet currently, the delivery of quality patient-focused care is becoming a considerable challenge among citizens, policy-makers, health providers and researchers. The major reason of this setback is due to the fact that the science of medical care is presently advancing at a very hasty pace. Rapid development of new experiments and treatments, latest information regarding disease genetics and biology, and the shift from mostly severe to mainly chronic diseases is an entirely critical contributing factor. When patients get sick, they occasionally confront treatment decisions that can be terrifying and confusing. Consequently, medical practitioners are the ones who commonly formulate medical decisions for the patients, and several patients still favor this approach. However, to attain quality in medical decision-making, patients must involve themselves not only through the acceptance of notification that the decision matches their preferences and values significantly but as well as indisputable involvement. Shared Decision-Making Within the patient-medical partnership, the expressions â€Å"informed decision-making† and â€Å"shared decision-making† are the most popular terms used to embody decision-making process. Nevertheless, shared decision-making goes beyond informed decision-making, since the latter merely refers to the general procedure of gathering significant information equally from the patient’s medical doctor as well as from other sources, with or without explanation of personal values (Kaplan, 2004, p. 1). Shared decision-making, on the other hand, is described as a specific procedure of decision-making by the medical expert and patient in which the latter: (1) is aware of the preventive service, including the alternatives, benefits, risk, and uncertainties; (2) understands the seriousness or danger of the condition or illness to be avoided; (3) has engaged in decision-making at a level at which he or she comfortably feels and desires; and (4) has evaluated his or her values concerning the impending harms and benefits attached with the medical service (Kaplan, 2004, p. 1). Medical practice points out that patient opinion is frequently less essential in treatment decisions. However, devoid of the patient’s opinion, quality medical decisions are evidently unattainable. Overview of Current Scenario Although majority of patients still supports the practice of doctors exclusively formulating medical decisions for them, nevertheless there is a growing consensus that patients should be more involved in their personal health care (BMJ Publishing, 2001). Views on ethics, political trends, and research on health services have all contributed in influencing the prevailing idea. Patients are becoming much less inclined than before to leave medical decisions exclusively to the professionals. Nevertheless, notwithstanding the appeal of shared decision-making, an extensive research is still needed before it can be deployed in everyday clinical practice. Interest groups, such as the public, policy-makers, health providers and researchers must further ascertain the effectiveness of the interventions in terms of health care costs, patient outcome, and patient satisfaction (Kaplan, 2004, p. 2). Studies are as well indispensable in dealing with complex problems germane to patient inclination and the cognitive qualifications of patient partakers. Likewise, feasibility studies to establish if and how shared decision-making can find a place in everyday clinical care. How to Improve Medical Decision-Making One medical response can never be right for all patients. It is important therefore for interest groups to develop a distinctive approach in structuring information that is required to make informed options in health. In structuring medical decisions, the public, policy-makers, health providers and researchers must combine two very essential and diverse bodies of research. Firstly, a systematic evaluation of the data and science must be conducted by them in order to gather the most up to date impartial information on a specified clinical condition (Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making, 2008). Secondly, they must carry out focus groups to draw together preferences and perspectives of patients concerning these clinical conditions. Accordingly, the interest groups must organize forums in order to discuss theoretical and practical challenges, present medical information and bring out alternatives (SMDM, 2007). Interest groups must then bring this information together and develop specialized up to date collective decision-making programs that consist of highly developed and impartial scientific information in conjunction with the pronouncement of actual patients, explaining their decisions based on individual principles and preferences (Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making, 2008). It is crucial to make the latest medical information accessible to people in order for them to make use of it. By providing this unique structuring of information, a more efficient and effective physician-patient discussion is created. Moreover, patients are positioned at the center of the health care decisions that they confront. Accordingly, it is significant that interested citizens, policy-makers, health providers and researchers must help in evaluating and developing procedures that would facilitate the involvement of patients in decision-making in relation to their medical care. A growing body of investigation confirms that things work out better when patients are well acquainted and essentially take part in deciding how they are going to deal with or treat their health conditions. Well-informed patients feel better regarding the decision process and their decisions are more expected to be consistent with their concerns, values and preferences. Consequently, these patients are more expected to continue the required treatment schedules, and they frequently end up with superior health after treatment (Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making, 2008). In addition, there are evidences that the intensifying participation of patients in their health care produces better health results, presenting a practical justification for what may have been an expected transfer in social control and power (BMJ Publishing, 2001). At present, the Society for Medical Decision Making or SMDM is continually advancing health outcomes through the development of sensible systematic approaches to policy-formation in health care and medical decision making by providing an educational discussion that educates and connects the public, policy-makers, health providers and researchers (Society for Medical Decision Making, 2007). Its members work in government agencies, foundations, corporations, corporations, universities, and hospitals worldwide. By being associated to the health care endeavor in various ways, SMDM expects to have an encouraging impact on medical decision-making. Conclusion Time and again, medical decisions that best serve a particular patient considerably depends on the latter’s own principles and preferences. In similar situation, the treatment that may be essential for one patient may not be essential for another. Instead of entirely entrusting every decision to the medical practitioners, it is more valuable for patients to thoroughly understand their medical alternatives, as well as be aware why it is in their interest to fully involve themselves in decision-making. In clinical health care, shared medical decision-making is a significant innovative model. It provides unbiased evidence concerning patients’ harms and benefits concerning medical interventions, in addition to superior quality of decision-making. Undoubtedly, the combination of patient perspectives and medical evidence can generate an accurately informed decision in medical care. References BMJ Publishing. (2001, September 15). Engaging patients in medical decision making. Retrieved January 16, 2009, from bmj. com/cgi/content/extract/323/7313/584 Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making. (2008). Medical Decisions. Retrieved January 16, 2009, from informedmedicaldecisions. org/shared_decision_overview. htm Kaplan, R. M. (2004). Shared Medical Decision Making. The Community Guide. Retrieved January 16, 2009, from http://thecommunityguide. org/cancer/idm/KAPLAN-consent. pdf SMDM. (2007). SMDM Interest Groups. Retrieved January 16, 2009, from smdm. org/interest_groups. shtml Society for Medical Decision Making. (2007). Welcome to SMDM. Retrieved January 16, 2009, from smdm. org/#

English Composition Writing Tips How to Make Yours Paper Truly Awesome

English Composition Writing Tips How to Make Yours Paper Truly Awesome English Composition Writing Tips: How to Make Yours Paper Truly Awesome Would you like to upgrade your English composition writing skills? If so, this composition writing guide can help. Before you begin to write the paper there is some work you will need to do ahead of time to make the process run smoothly. Begin with reading the assignment. I know that is stating the obvious, but we thought we should throw it out there as there are a great deal of assignments where this critical step is missed. Necessary Writing Exercises to Perform Beforehand Next, you can get out a notebook and begin writing. Not the actual composition, but just your thoughts about the paper. Think of it as a diary, it is for your eyes only, so write whatever you want. This is like a warm up before the big game because it gets your mind â€Å"worked out†. It also helps to spur ideas because you are writing without the constraints and requirements of the assignment in mind.   This is also a good time to try out a web diagram or cluster bubble where you place your topic or main idea in a circle in center of the paper and draw lines out to other bubbles and write ideas or observations. Later you can go back and connect related ideas with other lines or â€Å"webs†. Critical Elements: The Thesis and Outline The final thing you should do before you begin the actual writing is to draft an outline and write your thesis. This is where your diary writing will come in handy.   Use the main ideas and topic to fashion the outline. By this stage of the process you should have an idea of your thesis because you can not start writing without it. Your thesis is generally a summation of the point your essay is trying to make. The thesis should be specific and make a good topic for a discussion, in other words, an undecided issue or even a controversial point. Make Your Case Reread your thesis and consider the argument for your thesis. You will need to write about 5 paragraphs for each point your thesis makes. This is not a hard and fast rule, but a general guideline. You will need about 5 paragraphs to â€Å"prove† your thesis argument. Support Your Case Next consider your main points. You will need to substantiate your main points by using reasoning and proof. Proof may include the actions of the characters who are the subject of your book. Reasoning is your thought process or logic regarding how you formulated your main points. Remember, your thesis is your argument and you are trying to get the reader to see things your way.   If you come to this stage of writing and find that your thesis is too weak, stop and reformulate it. It is central to your essay so there must be a strong argument that you can back up. Rough Draft Revision Have someone read the rough draft and give feedback. You will need a fresh pair of eyes to see elements you may have missed. It is also a good idea to wait at least one day between the rough draft and revision, to give your mind time to marinate in the subject. This of course can only be done if time permits. Be open to making changes and consider the feedback given. Be sure to remove redundant sentences, clarify any confusing pieces and even consider eliminating the weakest points from the essay so it will be succinct and strong. Proofreading This goes without saying, but the final step should be proofreading the paper. You might also have another student proofread the paper and in exchange proofread theirs. As the saying goes, â€Å"Two heads are better than one†.

International Marketing Plan Of An Australian Brand Case Study

International Marketing Plan Of An Australian Brand - Case Study Example Penfolds Grange is basically a red wine that is manufactured totally in Australia and has been a leading brand in the Australian as well as the international market since its inception in 1951, ever since then it has won over 50 gold medals in vintage wine competitions and has been a major influence in the international arena as well. It is made from 2 kinds of grapes: the Shiraz and the cabernet sauvignon, the Shiraz being the major component where as the cabernet sauvignon is only used in small portions.Product Description: Penfolds is one of the major labels in the Australian wine industry and is a major exporter to a multitude of companies in the world; it has been one of the best red wine brands ever since its inception in 1951 and has been a major award winner in its category. The relative advantage of this brand is that it is made from an unusual blend of grapes that are specially grown at the company’s vineyards and hence is a unique red wine and has been able to set s tandards of its own. Since Penfolds is a major brand, it is exported to various countries in the world, the country that has been chosen for the purpose of this paper is the United Kingdom which is a major wine consumer nation and wine is a commodity which can be categorized as a house hold item which is consumed on a regular basis. Since wine is consumed on a nation wide basis, penfolds would be tried by consumers more often than not and hence it is very compatible with the tastes of the people in the country.on the country. There would not be any major limitations to the product because it is a widely acceptable product in the target market but the only issue that the product will have to over come is that there would be competition and it should implement strategies so that it is able to over come this major obstacle. There are no limitations as such to the product because it comes in various shapes and sizes and hence it can very easily be picked off the shelf by people with var ious purchasing power. Environmental Scan: The general dynamics of the country at hand have to be studied in order to truly understand the country and also to devise a plan to cater to the market. The essentials that need to be studied while scanning the environment are the family structure, education within the country, social organizations, religion, the diet and in this case it is extremely important to know the climatic conditions and it is extremely important that days of festivity have been pin pointed because these are the days when people would be more inclined to consume red wine and it is extremely important that once these days have been identified they are utilized to the maximum. The literacy rate in the United Kingdom is 99% and that is basically due to a public sector educational system which disseminates free education to all and this has been one of the plus points of the British economy for a very long time now, the ability of the consumers to think rationally will definitely influence th e decision to choose Penfolds because customers can then be made to think rationally by effective advertising. Diet and nutrition in the UK is of the optimum level and malnutrition or what so ever of that had

Auditing and why independence is important Essay

Auditing and why independence is important - Essay Example Carey, P. & Simnett, R. (2001) stated that in auditing theory and practice, independence is a matter of intellectual honesty. Auditors are expected to be unbiased and impartial with respect to financial statements and other information they audit. They are expected to be fair to both the companies and executives who issue financial information and to the outside persons who use it. Independence is important enough to stand alone as a concept. The public will grant social recognition of professional status to auditors only so long as they are perceived to be independent. The notion of individual independence is more specific in the conduct of each audit engagements. In essence, an individual auditor must not subordinate his or her judgment to others and must stay away from influences that might bias judgment.3 Loebbecke, A. (2000) argued that actual threats have to be considered on the situations that might be perceived as threats by a reasonable and informed observer. Where such threats exist, the auditor must put in place safeguards that eliminate them or reduce them to clearly insignificant levels. Safeguards apply at three levels: safeguards in the work environment, safeguards that increase the risk of detection, and specific safeguards to deal with particular cases. If he is unable to implement fully adequate safeguards, the auditor must not carry out the work. Gupta, K., (2006) mentioned that ethical guidance based on this framework includes examples of threats that might arise and appropriate safeguards to deal with them. But these are illustrative and not comprehensive. The auditor must be able to demonstrate that, in the particular circumstances under consideration, the fundamental principles had in fact been observed - a far more rigorous test of compliance. The framework approach is considered the most appropriate to adopt as: The aim of good guidance should be proactive, i.e. to require the auditor to identify and address risks, not merely passively obeying the letter of the code. A set of principles supported by reasoned guidance avoids the argument that any course of conduct that is not specifically prohibited is permissible, encouraging a search for ways around the rules. The approach recognizes the reality that the auditor is not wholly independent of his client, but that the threats to independence must be managed to clearly insignificant levels. Although the basic principles of auditor independence are straightforward they may need to be applied to an almost infinite number of circumstances. The detailed rules-based approach will have to be incomprehensibly complex to cope with all possible circumstances, or will be a blunt instrument, sometimes imposing inappropriate solutions or completely missing the problem. The business environment and structure of audit firms and their clients are continually evolving particularly in an international context. Clients and shareholders are generally allowed to choose the auditors to perform other work if they believe it is most efficient for them to do so, where adequate safeguards can be put in place. Nonetheless, where adequate s