Monday, September 30, 2019

Understanding Leadership

Idyllically, our society has today become a society of institutions. Apparently, they need to be led in an organized way, lest everyone fails, now and the time to come. When our organization fails to be effective and responsible, there are terrible things that are likely to fill the void. In this case, performing, responsible management is the alternative to tyranny and our protection against bad leadership. Managing with courage enables the leader to be enthusiastic and focused in his dealings, hence leading people in the right direction. In most cases, when management fails, totalitarianism prevails. The Drucker article by Peter F. Drucker gathers series information about leadership and management. From the article and in juxtaposition of my personal experience, I feel it wise to share the various ways through which I can exercise leadership in our society today in order to lead people to the direct path. Nevertheless, in leadership, there are a lot that one may encounter that can either weaken or strengthen him as a leader. All in all, by the end of the day, ultimate measure must be attained that the society can appreciate.My Strength in Relation to LeadershipAs a leader, I must admit that I have good and admirable communication skills. This is awfully important when it comes to leadership because those in employment inherently need to understand the nature of task you are giving them. I set my goals appropriately and allow the people I lead to set theirs too. By the end of the day, they have to be met however difficult the situation may be. In so doing, I speak clearly when talking to someone, and in cases where I have to address them on media, I ensure that the electronic me ssages are not vague. Proper communication ensures that none of the information is left out and the recipients act on them accordingly. On the same plinth, I am a leader who possesses good social skills. A leader is someone who needs to regularly meet strangers in order to discuss business. In so doing, one must be able to socialize without any discrimination. Likewise, while talking to the employees, one should be outgoing and so that you can be liked by the workers. I am a leader who exercises social skills adequately in order to accommodate everyone. My skills come as a no surprise, but it is seen in every aspect of my communication. On the same pedigree, I posses high listening skills, I speak comfortably about the products sold and the business at large. This puts me in high possession in case of competition, because of the high standards of decorum that I posses. I love the fact that I am a leader who is confident, determined and work with others as a team. In my leadership, I am able to push through the drawbacks that may affect the business with a lot of confidence. I am much determined that in so doing, I must achieve positive result. While dealing with the setbacks affecting the business, there are a lot of huddles that comes on the way, however, I remain steadfast to ensure that I push through to win by the end of the day. In addition, I involve other stakeholders in decision making and solving of problems that affect the business. I am a leader who is flexible and ever ready to change with the changes, as long as they lead the business towards the right direction. I am a leader who goes with priority. Prioritization is hugely important, and often, when lacking, it holds people back. I look at what is most important to the business at the very particular time. When that that thing is not well done, it gives me space to explore on my creativity and efficiency. Through prioritization, the team is well led because every worker knows what to do at an appropriate time. In the same connection, I keep to my words. This comes in the sense that when I promise to do something to the employees, I have to accomplish it despite the huddles met on the way. Some of the promises that I ensure that are taken care of include, the end year party, additional training to the employees to help them gain much experience, granting more vocational time to them and I ensure that I follow through no matter what. I came to realize that this does not only build trust, but also increases the level of productivity, motivation and engagement.Values that Shape my Leadership SkillsI am a loyal and respectful leader. In the first case, I respect myself and my job too. On the other hand, I ensure that the workers are treated with demureness in every realm. High standards of ethical values are maintained at work place in every circumstance. Development of greater employee loyalty and respect lead to respect among the employees and the employer. Another aspect of my value that helps me move to greater heights is the aspect of fair dealing. I have the history of fair and just connections with the employees. I ensure that the employee who deserves promotion is promoted without fear or favor. On the same line, when it comes to motivating the workers, I do it diligently so that none of them feels left out. I come to learn that when an employee is motivated, he gets the intrinsic drive to do the work and the morale is boosted in order to give outstanding outcome. I am someone who bases his decisions on values, and not beliefs. For example, when situations arise at work place, I have to deal with it head on until I arrive at a decision on what to do. I do not use beliefs to formulate responses. I use substantial values to formulate my responses, and the method has always given me the best solutions. On the same pedigree, I stimulate visions and inspire others. My job creates vision and inspires others to make their visions a reality. They get passion and interest in whatever thing they do because of the zeal and zest they get from me. As a leader, I focus less on numbers, and more values of building a team that brings positive results.What I can Contribute as far as Leadership is ConcernedThis question stern leads to some useful questions that a leader should ask him. Contributions a leader makes should be geared towards the success of the organization. They can either be short, medium or long term contributions. Moving in that line helps the leader to stay focused in his plans. Remarkable leaders think about their contribution, and how their leadership is making a difference to people, products, processes, Customers, and the community at large. As per my case, I am a leader who is a connector. I focus to connect the employees, colleagues, superiors, and the clients. I foster the work done by these parties with a lot of collaborations. I also display genuine considerations for the respect and openness. In so doing, I fully understand the concern of others and in case there is any that requires my attention, I effusively react to it on time so that none can feel offended. As a leader, I am an implementer. In this case, I do planning on time, I discipline those who go contrary to the organization's expectations or those who do not follow the ethos, pathjos and the logos of the company. I also measure the work to be done by every individual and monitor how the work is being done. In so doing, no of the stone remain unturned. Most importantly, I ensure that the organization's resources are well kept and are used for the benefit of the organization and not any other purpose. Depending on the management level, I implement the set goals and ensure that they are in constant line with the strategy set. Interestingly, I give reward to the employees who adhere to the rules set and those who do their work diligently without getting into problems with others. Such acts makes the organization lively in most of the time, hence makes people to work in unison. My third profile is that I am a resolute leader. This is one of the most parts that fail many leaders. It sometimes becomes awfully difficult to make decision concerning the organization. Some might be affecting the welfare of the workers; others might be for the rank adjustments, among many others. Making such decision may affect people in series of ways, nonetheless, the have to be made for the progress of the organization. While making such decision, I become agile and independent and I display great aplomb concerning the very decision. I put into action what is necessary and priority to the organization at that particular time. Despite the interruptions and ambiguities that characterizes such decisions; I remain steadfast to ensure that they are implemented. It is important to remain focused on what is essential and to avoid unnecessary disruption when faced with challenges regarding such hard decisions. I ensure that the energy I spend to influence and convince people point out to the direction I want them to go. I am a visionary leader. I exercise my vision starting from the short, medium and long term objectives. I also look at the in-depth in which the objectives are to achieved and plan for the appropriate pedagogical approach to realize them. When I realize that an approach to be implemented might not work to bring success, I swiftly pull out and employ an appropriate pedagogy. In the same pedigree, I am accurately study the environment under which some things can best work out, and help my workers to anticipate on what is coming and develop sound strategy for copying what can bring success. As a visionary leader, I innovate and seize profitable business opportunities that are not identified by others and venture into them. In so doing, I have the ability to forgo networks and partnership and even influence from other people that can make me not realize what is beneficial to the organization. While taking business, my communications are imbued with my vision because I have the talent to inspire and motivate other with my ideas.Areas to work on in respect of LeadershipBeing a leader is not easy, and it frequently requires time and patience to master the role. At the core, all that most workers want is someone to guide them rather than boss them around. If your intentions and motives are in your company and team's best interests, you're unlikely to fail. There are so many things that as a leader you should put into consideration for the things to work out properly. As a leader, one should try and work on excessive connectivity. Constant connectivity allows the managers to provide feedback on the go. It also helps them to manage workers across all the working zones. The only problem associated with it is that it can always lead to an always –connected, omnipresent approach of leadership, which may disgust many employees, hence making them not to work meticulously. A leader should not be stagnant. It is always important to lead a team that grows. In this dictum, growth starts with the leader himself. This is realized in his ideas, action plans, and how he implements the plans. A stagnant leader is an egocentric leader. He is adamant to the progress of the company, hence unyielding any fruit. It is easy for the company to lose credibility if there is no continued innovation. A leader who does not remind the organization of its purpose does not motivate the team hence losing focus. On the same plinth, a leader should not need to be liked. Leaders are first people and it is natural that they want to be liked. Instead of a leader trying to be well liked among the employees, they should seek to be understood and respected. Similarly, respect is two way traffic, you first respect the workers is when they retaliate. Proper communication with everyone at work place keeps the members in the loop about the reasons behind the decision made. Most importantly, a leader should not be hypocritical in nature. He should do what he says and reverse the same. Hypocrites in most cases lead the business to failure.Short, Medium and Long Term Leadership Plans in LeadershipIn order to be successful in any ordeal, it is pivotal to plan appropriately. Taking charge of the future should be done strategically. One needs well kept records of measurable milestones and goals. In the same line, one needs to upgrade the skills and update the knowledge and information on frequent basis to en sure that they are attained as planned. As a leader, I have my short, medium and long term plans that help me in leading the team. As short term plan requires, I am inherently curtained that the company rules and regulations are followed because through them, the medium plans are achieved. On the same note, I ensure that promotions are done appropriately so that the company can be led into the right directions. The medium plans include developing a larger and more professional network with other related companies so as to expand business territory. The long term plans on the other hand is to ensure that the organization is autonomous and can support workers from and outside the nation. The plans are implemented one after the other to ensure that all are attained. Innately, I have to remain a leader of the people at all cost. I have to ensure that I maintain the highest standards to leadership skills and avoid anything that can paint my leadership blue. In order to construct my leadership skills and learning opportunities, I ensure that I am ready to learn from others. I also organize for conferences where we meet as managers to learn from one another. Most importantly, I give social support to the society in order to maintain good relationship with them in most cases. This is achieved by creating job opportunities to the society within the premise, and also relaxing the prices of the commodities so that everyone gets serviced by the end of the day.ConclusionFrom the analysis made, series of conclusion can be arrived at. It is important to note that The Drucker article by Peter F. Drucker gathers series information about leadership and management. It explains ways in which one can becomes a successful leader in the society. Borrowing my skills from the article, I have learned that a leader is nurtured and through the process, he should become a responsible person in the society. My leadership skills have taught me a lot in life and have taken me to high platforms to negotiate businesses for the betterment of the organization I lead. That which crowns all is that a leader should be humble. Humility is a very important aspect that all leaders should posses.?

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Crime in the Information Age Essay

It’s not difficult to gauge what the popular notions of crime in the United States are. Engage in any polite conversation over dinner or cocktails and one is likely to hear similar themes: â€Å"crime is out of control, it’s just not the same world we grew up in, it’s not safe to walk down the street anymore, it’s a mean world out there,† etc. The underlying theme that can be drawn from these notions is fear. There is a widespread conception that crime is a rampant problem in this country and that violent crime and others are on the rise. However, these beliefs are not supported at all by the facts, even those put forth by our own law enforcement agencies. So why then, are most Americans so concerned with the threat of violent crime in particular? While the answer to this question is a complex one involving many contributors, the focus of this essay is concerned with the impact of popular media on these perceptions, because the media, it would seem, is one of the most influential contributors to the social construction of crime in this country. The coverage of crime, and particularly violent crime, in the news media has increased in frequency of coverage and sensationalized reporting despite statistical proof that violent crime has been decreasing for many years. This phenomenon is of great concern because how we arrive at our perceptions of our world should be critically examined so policy solutions react to truth not manipulated reality. As of 2001 homicides made up one to two-tenths of one percent of all arrests, yet made up 27-29% of crime coverage on the nightly news (Dorfman and Schiraldi). Still one of the most shocking statistics from Dorfman and Schiraldi’s study states that, â€Å"Crime coverage has increased while real crime rates have fallen. While homicide coverage was increasing on the network news by 473% from 1990 to 1998, homicide arrests dropped 32. 9% from 1990 to 1998. We can see one indication of the effects of this unrealistic reporting in 1994 when, for example, in a Washington Post/ABC poll respondents named crime as their number one concern (far more than any other issue) with 65 percent of those who responded as such saying that they learned about this issue from the media (Jackson and Naureckas). The fact is, however, that violent crime has been on the decrease for roughly thirteen years and is estimated to be at a roughly thirty year low (U. S. Department of Justice). The following g raph rom the Department of Justice shows a dramatic decrease in the rates of violent crime beginning in the early nineties: ? The National Criminal Victimization Survey, which is conducted differently than the more common Uniform Crime Reports, shows a decrease in violent as well as property crimes in the United States for more than a decade (qtd. in Torny 118). The evidence seems to be overwhelming; no matter what the method used for measuring crime rates there is an obvious decrease in crime, especially with respect to violent crime in the United States. These are just a couple of the statistics researchers and academics have compiled over recent years addressing the discrepancy between media coverage of crime and actual crime statistics. So in light of these multiple studies using different methods, how and why is it that media coverage of violent crime has grown exponentially? Surette explains that crime is both an individual and cultural product (237). There is a correlation between media consumption and support for more harsh criminal justice policies and perceptions of the â€Å"mean-world view† (Surette 196). This supports the theory that the more news a person consumes, particularly television news, the less they know about the actual state of the world. Surette explains that while the media certainly does have an impact it is not the only factor in creating this culture of the fear of crime and impacts those who live in a more isolated environment and consume higher levels of media (200). He also notes that research suggests that those who watch a good deal of television have trouble differentiating between the television world and the real world (204). The media has a â€Å"relationship with fear† that can correlate with fear fore some viewers (Surette 206). One example of this â€Å"relationship with fear† that the media seems to have can be found in a 1994 article in â€Å"US News and World Report† where the authors, despite noting briefly that violent crime by all statistical accounts is actually down, names the previous year as â€Å"the scariest year in American history† seeming to assert that the numbers don’t matter (Jackson and Naureckas). The article also makes a good point about the contradiction between perceptions of crime and the reality of crime: â€Å"the drumbeat of news coverage [that] has made it seem that America is in the midst of its worst epidemic of violence ever. That sense is not supported by the numbers† (Jackson and Naureckas). Throughout the rest of the article similar contradictions abound and it is difficult to tell exactly what conclusion should be drawn from it. The causes of crime, as with most crime reporting, are not dealt with in the article while â€Å"random violence† is examined closely (Jackson and Naureckas). Most violent crime is perpetrated by someone whom the victim knows yet the theme of â€Å"random violence receives much more attention in the media (Jackson and Naureckas). The US News piece illustrates how the media engages in a form of â€Å"doublethink† where despite knowledge of factual evidence indicating a decrease in crime they continue to put forth images that depict violent crime as an epidemic and continue to support perceptions of fear, distrust, and cynicism. This fear mongering often plays into preconceived notions of crime and violence such as racism, ageism, and classism held by some. A 2001 study by Dorfman and Schiraldi found that crimes against African Americans were underrepresented in reporting and overrepresented as perpetrators, white victims tended to receive more lengthy coverage as well. In Los Angeles television news African Americans were 22% more likely to be shown on TV committing violent crimes than non-violent ones despite the fact that arrest reports indicate that African Americans in Los Angeles commit both types of crime almost equally (Dorfman and Schiraldi). The study also shows how youths are also disproportionately covered: 7 out of 10 local TV news stories dealing with violent crime in California had youths as the perpetrators despite the fact that youths commit only 14. 4% of violent crime in that state. Furthermore, half of the stories dealing with minors for any reason involved violence even though only 2% (though due to unreported crimes the actual number may be higher) of California youths have been victims or perpetrators of violent crime (Drofman and Schiraldi). The study also found by looking at news reports over the last decade that in Hawaii there has bee a 30 fold increase in the number of youth crime stories despite a steady decrease in youth crime over that same time period. This increased focus on youth crimes has led to increased support for treating juvenile offenders as adults and, especially in instances of more serious crimes, applying the same retributive punishments previously not applied to young offenders (Glassner 73). These findings show how not only are the media’s sensationalized reporting of crime contributing to a false sense or reality for many people, but are also einforcing stereotypes and bigotry. Utilizing these preconceived ideas also intensifies the impact of fear based coverage. This sense of fear that the media is able to conjure up in certain situations can easily be manipulated by politicians and policymakers looking to gain some support. According to Glassner, the more fearful people are of crime the more likely they are to support more punitive justice systems instead of rehabilitation programs. This is especially true with respect to juvenile offenders (72). Glassner further argues that it is interesting that as we cut into funding for educational, medical, and antipoverty programs we begin to grow more concerned about crime and there seems to be what he calls â€Å"unacknowledged guilt† about why crime now seems inevitable (72). While the media is often the target of criticism and blame it has been argued that largely the media mirrors public opinion and can be controlled by it (Gans 76). There is evidence however that particularly brutal crimes or large amounts of coverage of crime can shift public opinion somewhat. For example, polls show an increase in support for the death penalty following news of horrifying crimes (Gans 76). Gans believes that despite the fact that the news media is often thought of as having more power than it actually does it may have long-term effects on public opinion (88). So, even though the media of course cannot shift public opinion overnight in the long run a shift in coverage of sensationalized crime coverage can have long lasting effects of the political climate around crime policy. If the tone of the media is largely controlled by previously held notions of media consumers then how might the news media correct the public when it’s beliefs are erroneous? Chiricos examines the effect of â€Å"moral panics† which something or someone becomes defined as a threat to societal values or norms (2). Moral panics are signaled by a rapid increase in the volume of media reporting and are often followed by political action as the public feels that â€Å"something must be done† (Chiricos 60). Every so often crime and violence becomes the subject of a moral panic in America. Chiricos examines two moral panics occurring in the early to mid nineties: crack cocaine and violent crime. Both of these stories where covered in much the same way: as inner-city problems leaving the ghettos and threatening the middle-class way of life (63). When this issue was framed as a direct threat to suburban America a moral panic followed. When crime was confined to urban areas and â€Å"ghettos† there was little to worry about until the perception became that crack and violence was spreading into areas that were considered to be â€Å"safe†. During this time 49 percent of Americans then said that crime was the most important issue facing the country compared to only 9 percent before the moral panic began to set in (Chiricos 64). The panic was further compounded by reports that these issues were spreading to children which Chiricos notes is a common component of the rise of a moral panic (65). The reaction to these panics was unsurprising. Panics are viewed as sudden problems and treated with fundamentally inappropriate solutions such as sending more people to prison and building more of them (Chiricos 67). Following moral panics, according to Chiricos, â€Å"commands† are issued by the public (71). The policy ramifications from these moral panics included 9. 7 billion dollars for more prisons, California’s three strikes program, and various repressive laws aimed at adults and children alike in many states (Chiricos 71). These examinations of the media’s relationship with public opinion point out how in this age of information the media is an important factor in how we carry out our democracy and decide what issues are important. If this has become the case than there are serious concerns for how the media is serving democracy. Lawrence sees the media as an arena where problems are constructed and there is constant struggle between elites, groups, and the public seek to define and address problems (3). What constitutes a problem is socially constructed. This is also true of crime problems. Lawrence is concerned with how problems are socially constructed in the media because when something is defined as a problem facing the country power is conferred upon the social institutions we would likely look to deal with it (5). So, in the arena of the media if crime is framed by elites as stemming from the degradation of society or loss of opportunities for many people then programs and institutions organized for supporting the poor and communities will be empowered. However, the usual winners in this clash of frames typically define crime as an epidemic problem fueled by a justice system which is too soft on criminals. With this frame politicians must appear â€Å"tough on crime† and power is given to more punitive crime control policies and the prison-industrial complex flourishes as more and more money is spent on warehousing offenders. This further disempowers social welfare institutions as money spent on police and prisons cannot be spent on education, healthcare, or welfare programs. This struggle to define problems can be looked at as a clash of differing realities where vastly different takes on issues exist but one is adopted by the media and then disseminated to the public (Lawrence 5). Lawrence says that the prevailing reality held by the most successful definers typically comes from officials within the government (5). There exists a close relationship between government officials and the news media. They are the primary definers and therefore the strongest factor in how we construct the reality of crime (Lawrence 5). This is unhealthy because, with the issue of crime in particular, officials are quick to define crime as an epidemic issue filled with fearful imagery and then act against criminals in draconian ways. When they construct a reality where they are needed to protect their constituents justice in harmed for the sake of political capital. This manipulation of reality and fear for the sake of power is addressed by Entman but with respect to the war on terror instead of crime and justice. He argues that the elite exert control by hegemony and indexing (4). Hegemony refers to the way officials release only information that supports the narrow reality that they seek to perpetuate and indexing is how the media reflect this narrow debate among elites quite closely (Entman 5). With this control over public perception it is relatively easy for officials to frame issues such as crime or terrorism. When they win the battle to define a problem obvious remedies arise. If terrorism is framed as an attack on our way of life rather than a consequence of our projection of power across the globe then it follows that the remedy is defense and war. Similarly, if elites succeed in defining crime not as a consequence of lost economic opportunities but as a result of naturally deviant personalities then the reaction that follows is to lock up these defective personalities and isolate them from the rest of â€Å"normal† society. The way in which we think about various issues and problems directly affects how we deal with them. Most in society would say that the solution to problems is obvious because it is. What is missed however is the fact that how we think about problems can completely shift the ways in which we deal with them. In order to change policy then the first step is to change the perceptions and the reality surrounding it for officials and the public alike. Lakoff tells us that if we can reframe issues we can create social change (XV). When we change the way the public sees the world, largely through the media, and alter that perceived reality we can change the policies that follow. So why then does the media seem to be so concerned with violent crime and creating feelings of fear and anxiety in its consumers? The reason seems to be sensationalized journalism meant to increase viewership and a system where officials control our perceptions through the media. It needs to be understood that passive consumption of the media is unhealthy and we should think critically about how reality is constructed by elites and the media because, that subjective reality directly affects the solutions that are used to deal with our problems. While so many people are given the impression that crime is rampant the underreported fact is that crime has been decreasing for many years. In order for there to be rational crime control policy in the United States we need to have accurate information about the reality of crime in this country. In order for this to happen the media must provide an accurate depiction of crime that is constructed by a fair debate in the public arena of the media. There is a lot at stake in how we perceive the world around us and how we think about crime and punishment.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Law for business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Law for business - Essay Example If the representations are received late, the director may instead ask that the said representations be read during the meeting. He may also be allowed to speak in the meeting on his protest against the intention to remove him as director. These are all provided for in Sections 168 (entitled Resolution to remove director) and 169 (entitled Director’s right to protest against removal) of the Companies Act 2006 (Companies Act 2006). Going to Cretins Ltd. (or Cretins for short), the plan of Joan and Mike to remove Phillip out as a director of the company will depend on its membership structure. Whatever it is, the process will have to be in accordance with the afore-cited Sections 168 and 169 of the Companies Act 2006. If the only three directors, Phillip, Joan and Mike, are also the only members or shareholders of Cretins and they own the same number of shares, the process will be very simple. Since it will be a concerted effort of Joan and Mike, all they have to do is first requisition for a general meeting of the members where they will submit a resolution to remove Phillip. Pursuant to the procedural due process mechanism set out in Section 169, Phillip has to be served with a notice of the intended resolution to remove him. Phillip is entitled to submit written representations to protest against his removal. During the said meeting, Phillip is likewise entitled to speak out. At any rate, all these remedies available to Phillip will become moot and academic because Joan and Mike will ultimately vote for his removal as is their plan. The requirement of the law is an ordinary resolution which means that the vote of the members needed for the subject removal is a simple majority (THE FREE LIBRARY BY FARLEX). As stated, the circumstances in the preceding paragraph are on the assumption that Joan, Mike and Phillip have the same number of

Argentinian Financial Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Argentinian Financial Crisis - Essay Example Three years after the fiasco, Argentina's economy is growing steadily. The growth is still under 10%, but there is growth and a growing sense of safety and responsibility from the government, creating a very positive outlook for Argentina to emerge in years to come as a dominant presence in Latin America. Globalization is a series of links that a country has with foreign countries. Globalization in essence links a country's economy to other economies so that there is a web of interdependence throughout all linked economies thereby creating a global economy. In a recent report in Latin Business Chronicle (LBC), Argentina was ranked as the 'least-globalise' country in Latin America (Bamrud, 2005). LBC utilized 6 factors to measure each country's level of globalization. These factors included: This is an important Index that LBC created in that it allows investors, and other interested parties an opportunity to view Argentina in an extremely objective light. Remittances, money sent back home by family members working abroad, is an area that is steadily growing for Argentina. A report prepared by the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF) states, 'remittances area sign of family values, a part of human nature. They are a form of helping one's family. Remittances increase both the income of the recipient and the foreign exchange reserves of the recipient's country. "If remittances are invested, they contribute to output growth, and if they are consumed, then also they generate positive multiplier effects," notes economist, Dilip Ratha in Global Development Finance 2003, a World Bank publication ("Role of Remittances", 2003). By using this 6-step process to cull globalization indexes, one can get a larger view of the financial status of Argentina. LBC report states that Argentina has the lowest import rates in Latin America, it has a low export rate, foreign investment is low (1.2% of GDP) and it has one of the lowest remittance rates in the region as well. Even tourism levels are down (Bamrud, 2005). While Argentina is not facing imminent meltdown, it is still toddling its way back from its financial disaster 3 years ago. However, its economy is rallying. According to the U.S. Department of State's website, Argentina had an annual real growth rate of +9% in 2004, and their GDP stands at $150.0 billion. To give a bit more background, globalization is supposed to help keep countries in line and disciplined because if they have solid economic practices, the assumption is that government will be favoured by foreign investment. If the government does not practice sound economic policies, the reverse is supposed to be true - monies will either not be invested, or will be pulled from that country (Blustein, 2003). This did not happen in Argentina in the years leading up to the crisis, in fact, due to inflated expectations and selective reporting of the country's true financial state, globalization helped to create the massive Argentine downfall. II. What Happened

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Staff Training Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Staff Training Strategy - Essay Example The essay "Staff Training Strategy" talks about the problems of making the employees work as a team by analyzing the strategy of pairing young people with old employees in order to make sure that they learn from each other as Generation Gap plays an important role in determining the relationship of the teams. Gen Yers are found to be attention seeking and more technology-oriented people, whereas older people tend to be technology avert who try to do things manually. A disagreement was caused by an older employee’s reluctance to use the new payroll system. However, in the end, the dispute was resolved, but what we can learn from the situation is that by pairing up older and young people, there are chances of disputes which are more dangerous than the one which occurred over the new technology. Hence, the company should look into its policy of pairing the different employees. The strategy that the company can use to solve this problem is by conducting personality interview. They can assess the personality types and preferences of its different employees and then can make teams of people who seem similarly, All though there will still be some disputes and disagreements, they would not be as grave as the one in the case. The company can also take an initiative of the teaching of teaching new technology to the older staff. This would bridge the gap between the older and younger population in the organization. By becoming more technology aware, the older people in the organization would also be more productive.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Written Grammar assisgnment-Rhetoric Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Written Grammar assisgnment-Rhetoric - Assignment Example Isn’t it the students who are the future of the workplace? Our society has become highly dependent on mobile technology (Vess, 2013). This triggers the argument, ‘is mobile technology in schools productive or a hindrance?’ It is true that if mobile devices are improperly used, they can be hazardous in school (Chadband, 2012). However, BYOT/BYOD is already an integral part of a students’ life that it would be ineffective to throw out mobile devices completely. In fact, throwing out mobile devices would have a negative impact on students in school causing them to rebel and hence hindering effective performance. If the present workforce is an indication of the future, then today’s students’ need the freedom to work with their own mobile devices (Vess, 2013). As the number of students using mobile technology increases in school districts, it is up to the school administrators to deliver and offer training programs for teachers in the use of mobile devices (Schaffhauser, 2014). In conclusion, BYOT/BYOD in schools is inevitable. Mobile technology and devices are already a part of a student’s lifestyle, and developing their technological skills within a school setting will prepare them for the workplace and even put them in leadership positions. Therefore, the aim for schools now, is to embrace and integrate new ways of teaching using mobile technologies and devices. Schaffhauser, D. (2014). Report: Most Schools delivering BYOD programs, training teachers in mobile device usage. Retrieved Jan 2, 2015 from http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/03/27/report-most-schools-delivering-byod-programs-training-teachers-in-mobile-devices-usage.aspx Vess, B. (2013). Mobile Devices in the Classroom: The Argument for BYOD Implementation. Retrieved Jan 2, 2015 from

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Mandating Nurse-Patient Ratio Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mandating Nurse-Patient Ratio - Assignment Example Comprehensive studies undertaken by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) confirms that there is a relationship between nurse staffing and health care outcomes (Kane et al., 2007). An increase in the nurse staffing leads to a reduction in the prevalence and mortality rates caused by treatable diseases. At the local level, nurses should be encouraged to use the reward power when lobbying for support from the legislators. The candidates should only be assured of votes if they offer their support to the health issue (Abood, 2007). The hospitals should be required to establish nurse controlled staffing committees. This creates the strategies necessary for matching the patient population with the available staffing. The results from such committee are presented to the legislative members to provide them with the real problem for support. At the state level, nurses should be involved in the sponsoring of the annual state legislative days to arrest the attention of legislato rs and influential leaders. The legislative days will be characterized by fellowships and internships that offer information on the importance of maintaining suitable nursing ratios for effective health care delivery. These workshops will bring nurses together and raise awareness on the current health care issues. Once the nurses are made aware of the situation, they can identify the pros and cons of the necessary solutions to the problem. Awareness will also motivate individual nurses to attract the involvement.

Monday, September 23, 2019

Business Employment Law (R. Williams Construction Co. v. OSHRC) Assignment

Business Employment Law (R. Williams Construction Co. v. OSHRC) - Assignment Example In September 2002, Jose Aguiniga, an employee of Williams was killed when an underground system he was cleaning caved-in at the Santa Ynez worksite. Subsequently the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) received the information and immediately embarked on the site assessment (Silverstein, 2008). As the consequence of that assessment, the Commission served citations on the construction company claiming violations of the Act. The respondent acted by filing with the Commission, their contest against the findings. In January 2004, the Commission heard the case in Santa Barbara, California. The legal issue in Williams was whether the respondent violated the safety standards under Section 651-678 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1970, which if proven, would be the cause in fact of the injury upon the employees (Walsh, 2012). The regulator alleged that Williams had violated the safety standards leading to the loss of life of one employee and serious injury upon the person of another. First, Williams breached the OSH Act 1970 by digging a narrow and poorly maintained trench measuring 12 feet deep at the construction site. Although the upper walls of the trench were slanting outwards, the deeper, lower part was not properly reinforced to avoid a possible cave-in. Second, Williams failed to remind its employees about the safety measures they should observe while working on the site. The employees who were injured had been regularly doing a clean-up of the submersible pump placed on the floor of trench without any significant protective gear or knowledge (Walsh, 2012). Williams was unsuccessful in its claims that every employee was supposed to observe their own safety in the workplace because its behavior was negligent. The company’s leadership failed to demonstrate the behavior of a reasonable person acting under similar circumstances. Williams was negligent in its deployment of employees in risky working conditions, with clear

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Wrongful Convictions Essay Example for Free

Wrongful Convictions Essay Causes of Wrongful Convictions There are three main causes of wrongful convictions in the United States. This leads to wrongful punishment and causes turmoil for everyone involved. It then creates multiple feelings on everyone’s behalf, therefore; leaving no choice but to choose sides. Should capital punishment be enforced or not enforced. To what extent do you believe the death penalty should be improvised? Wrongful convictions are sought out by lawyers and police to determine if a criminal is guilty. Evidence and DNA is all part of the investigation that leads to an arrest. Once evidence is presented, the jury will then deliberate on what information and the evidence that was given. A verdict will be handed down at that time. Based on what the crime is, what type of punishment is given for the crime. The first cause is based on what evidence is provided. Is it true and accurate, or presentable in court. Drug dealers, child molesters and robberies are all a major crime. These all have particular sentences in place for the crimes they commit. Murderers are looked at in a different way. Honest attorneys present all evidence and information that has been gathered for the case. This in turn could determine the conviction. DNA plays an important role in this evidence if it is acceptable . Today the accusation is the evidence. Thus, the criminal element itself has a big say in who goes to prison. Weak and fabricated evidence is seldom looked at in the eyes of the court. Approximately one case in twenty will go to trial. This effect will cause numerous criminals to walk freely as they choose. The pros are being convicted and tried for the crime and the cons are being offered a simple way out. The effects of this cause is being set free to commit another crime. There is not enough evidence to convict a criminal Plea bargaining is a second major cause of wrongful conviction. Plea bargains are created by fictional crimes in place of real ones. The prosecutors would begin to see a way to game the Wrongful Convictions 3 system back to a conviction Without plea bargaining the case goes unconvincing. This in turn undermines police investigative work. Police evidence is seldom used in the courtroom. Prosecutors have found that they can coerce a plea and elevate their conviction rate by raising the number of serious charges being thrown at a defendant. By releasing criminals known to be guilty, turns the justice system into a lottery for police, prosecutors and criminals alike. The effect of this cause is usually when the defendant gets a smaller or reduced sentence for the crime that has been committed and tried in court. Depending on the crime committed, the pros are convicted, time served and released. The cons are the criminal has enough time to plan and convey another crime. Carrying out another crime only leads to another plea deal to stay out of prison. This will continue to be a pattern of criminal acts. The effects are criminals walk with little or no punishment granted. Evidence is most generally not all that strong of a case. The third cause is the new deal made its own contribution to wrongful convictions. Statutory and enforcement authorities were combined to help regulate police vast discretions. A cooperative â€Å"offender† may get off with a civil penalty, whereas a person who sticks up for their rights may receive a criminal indictment. An asset-freeze is also associated with this new deal. Created to keep drug dealers and mobsters from returning to the neighborhood, local residents have unanimously voted to have a neighborhood watch group. Resident’s properties and or property that has been seized during the investigation will be returned after the deal has been finalized. Residents feel they are personally violated, and are living in fear that these criminals will come back repeatedly. For this cause there are pros, protecting civilians from future harm. The effect of this cause is that the cons are still out there on the streets, however; the evidence is not convincing enough to put the criminal away. These causes have put authorities such as police and attorneys on edge. Causing them to doubt the outcome of all the existing crimes that are happening. Wondering why they are taking Wrongful Convictions 4 such a risk capturing these criminals and watching them all be released back on the streets. Due to the evidence provided they should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. A jury can determine when a witness is giving false information and when they are telling the truth. Weak and fabricated evidence is often tested in court. Therefore; some criminals are wrongfully convicted. Given a plea or plea deal or even a new deal could lead to the conviction of an innocent situation In conclusion wrongful convictions are subject to many decisions. Not only by a judge or jury but by the evidence that is provided in court. Given the facts we will spend vast energies in freeing a few innocent people. We must gird for battle and restore the lost law. The law must be put back in congress where under the system it must reside forever. Giving hope to those who were wrongfully convicted and setting them free. I believe we should stick to the theory innocent until proven guilty. Evidence should be provided and proved to be legitimate before being presented to the courts. If the evidence is true and accurate there should not be any pleas or plea bargains offered. Deals should not even be allowed in a courthouse. If the information is not accurate, why waste tax payer’s money to try and convict an innocent person and send them to prison? We spend more time and money trying to convince the world that wrongful convictions are happening everywhere. As I stated earlier DNA has become a worldwide piece of evidence to link to a crime scene investigation. Wrongful convictions are being overturned as we speak. They may not be criminals but are victims in a wrongful conviction. If I am a robber have valid proof I done the robbery. If I molested a child ,again have valid proof . (DNA) If I am a murderer, then yes I should receive the death penalty. I do not deserve to live if I take another life. Then again have solid proof that I am the one who committed this crime. As I do not wish to be â€Å"Wrongfully Convicted†

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Binge Drinking Essay Example for Free

Binge Drinking Essay Binge drinking usually refers to drinking lots of alcohol in a short space of time or drinking with the intention to get drunk. Researchers define binge drinking as consuming eight or more units in a single session for men and six or more for women. Due to the long-term effects of alcohol misuse, binge drinking is considered to be a major public health issue. Binge drinking has become more popular in several countries worldwide, and overlaps somewhat with social drinking since it is often done in groups. Many young people make binge drinking a habit due to them not having anything to do. Lots of young people buy cheap alcohol and drink to excess. They drink large amounts of alcohol to become extremely intoxicated over a short period of time. It is understood that student drinkers choose to engage in this behaviour as a means of fitting in with what is considered a social norm. The high levels of binge drinking among young people and the adverse consequences which includes increased risk of alcoholism as an adult and liver disease make binge drinking a major public health issue. Being associated with certain groups, especially in the college setting influences young adults and their decision to engage in binge drinking. Young people are confronted with social pressures involving binge drinking and if ignored, risk being isolated from others. The main cause of death among adolescents as a result of binge drinking is road traffic accidents; a third of all fatal road traffic accidents among 15-to 20-year-olds are associated with drinking alcohol. Violence and suicide are also common causes of death associated with binge drinking among adolescents. The suicide risk in adolescents is more than 4 times higher among binge drinkers than non-binge drinking adolescents. Binge drinking can also result in unwanted pregnancy in young people and a higher rate of sexually transmitted diseases. Female binge drinkers are three times more likely to be victims of sexual assault too; research shows that 50% of adolescent girls reporting sexual assault were under the influence o f alcohol or another psychotropic substance at the time. Culture as well as peer pressure play an important role in driving binge drinking. Reasons for binge drinking in young people include it being fun for the drinker, making the person feel more sociable, helping the person to feel happier and more relaxed and to forget their problems. While  it may seem like a fairly harmless pastime, binge drinking has health and well-being implications that make it far from safe. Binge drinking is more common in men than it is in women. Approximately 50% of men and 39% of women binge drink. Acute intoxication, such as binge drinking, and alcoholism are known huge factors for suicide. Binge drinking is also associated with an increased risk of unplanned sex, unprotected sex, unplanned pregnancies, and an increased risk of catching HIV. 10% of women and 19% of men have reported being assaulted as a result of alcohol. Males who drink more than 35 units of alcohol per week report being physically hurt as a result of alcohol, and 15% report physically h urting others as a result of their drinking. Almost 16% of binge drinkers report being taken advantage of sexually and 8% report taking advantage of another person sexually as a result of alcohol within a 1 year period. Heavy drinkers cause approximately 183,000 rapes and sexual assaults, 197,000 robberies, 661,000 aggravated assaults, and 1.7 million simple assaults each year. Binge drinking can also cause adverse effects on the body such as ischaemic heart disease. The most common risk of consuming massive quantities of alcohol in a short period of time is a dangerously high blood alcohol level. The result is called alcohol poisoning (overdose), which can be fatal. Choking on (or inhalation of) vomit is also a potential cause of death, as are injuries from falls, fights, etc†¦ Another common risk of alcohol is a blackout which makes the victim unable to create memories after the event which can cause shame, guilt and embarrassment. Binge drinking is also associated with strokes and sudden death. Binge drinking increases the risk of stroke by 10 times. In countries where binge drinking is commonplace, rates of sudden death on the weekend in young adults and middle aged people increase signific antly. The government are adding a minimum price of 45 pence for every unit of alcohol to prevent young people and adults from purchasing alcohol, although many have argued that this is not a good idea and will not make a difference to binge drinking because they believe that people with the intention of drinking a large amount of alcohol will do no matter the price. Some researchers believe that rising the legal drinking age and screening brief interventions by healthcare providers are the most effective means of reducing morbidity and mortality rates associated with binge drinking. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that increasing the cost of alcohol or the excise taxes,  restricting the number of stores who may obtain a license to sell liquor (reducing outlet density), and implementing stricter law enforcement of underage drinking laws. There are also a number of individual counselling approaches, such as motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioural approac hes, which have been shown to reduce drinking among heavy drinking college students. Binge drinking costs the UK economy approximately  £20 billion a year; 17 million working days are estimated to be lost due to hangovers and drink-related illness each year. The cost of binge drinking to employers is estimated to be  £6.4 billion and the cost per year of alcohol harm is estimated to cost the National Health Service  £2.7 billion. Due to the risks especially in adolescents, of cognitive impairments and possible irreversible brain damage associated with binge drinking, urgent action has been recommended. There is some evidence that interventions by employers such as, health and life-style checks, psychosocial skills training and peer referral, can reduce the level of binge drinking. Increasing public information and awareness regarding the risks of binge drinking, conducting interviews in emergency departments of young people suspected of harmful drinking patterns and trying to persuade them to accept individual counselling in youth addiction counselling services are effective strategies for reducing the harm of binge drinking. Increasing public information and awareness regarding the risks of binge drinking, conducting interviews in emergency departments of young people suspected of harmful drinking patterns and trying to persuade them to accept individual counselling in youth addiction counselling services are effective strategies for reducing the harm of binge drinking.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Importance Of Strategic Management Commerce Essay

Importance Of Strategic Management Commerce Essay Strategic management is a combination of art and science for formulation, implementation evaluation of decisions that enables an organization to achieve its goals objectives. Firstly, it assesses its competition in a market and then sets goals strategies to meet its competitors. Secondly, managers carry strategies to achieve the best performance of their company. An organization has an advantage if their profit rate is higher than their competitors. 1.3 Value of Strategic Management: Value of strategic planning is obvious. The companies which plan strategically have a better financial position in a society than those organizations that dont. In todays world, Strategic planning is not only applied in the private sector but also in government owned firms which include government departments, hospitals educational institutions. For example, increasing costs of university education, competition from different universities offering good education in less price reduction in student loans by banks student education funds by government etc and this had led many education providers to research and assess their universitys aspirations to find out a market niche in which they can prosper and after planning they can apply their strategies if set goals are achieved then its an effective strategy. 2.0 Importance of Strategic Management: The importance of strategic management is discussed as follows: Strategies make a difference in the performance of an organization. It helps managers to overcome challenging situations to cope with uncertain environments. It indicates the need of changing making alteration in an organization (new ways of thinking applying latest precautionary measures) Many organizations are made up of different divisions and departments that requires coordination with each other, else there should be no focus on achieving goals of an organization. Its useful for both profit based non-profit based organization. 3.0 Components of Mission Statement: Mission statement is the statement of the role by which an organization intends to serve its stakeholders. It describes why an organization is operating and thus provides a framework within which strategies are formulated. It describes what the organization does (i.e., present capabilities), who all it serves (i.e., stakeholders) and what makes an organization unique (i.e., reason for existence). Once the mission statement is formulated, it serves the organization in long run, but it may become ambiguous with organizational growth and innovations. In todays dynamic and competitive environment, mission may need to be redefined. However, care must be taken that the redefined mission statement should have original fundamentals/components. Mission statement has three main components-a statement of mission or vision of the company, a statement of the core values that shape the acts and behaviour of the employees, and a statement of the goals and objectives. 3.1 Features of a Mission Statement: Some of its main points are discussed below: Mission must be feasible and attainable. It should be possible to achieve it. Mission should be clear enough so that any action can be taken. It should be inspiring for the management, staff and society at large. It should be precise enough, i.e., it should be neither too broad nor too narrow. It should be unique and distinctive to leave an impact in everyones mind. It should be analytical,i.e., it should analyze the key components of the strategy. It should be credible, i.e., all stakeholders should be able to believe it. 4.0 The Individual Steps in the Strategic Management Process: There are 8 steps of strategic management process which are shown in the form of diagram and also these are explained below: Figure 1: C:UsersacerDesktopSM.jpg Step 1: It includes the Mission Statement, also it includes its features which have been discussed above in Components of Mission Statement. Step 2: This step of strategic process is complete when management has an accurate grasp of what is taking place in its environment and is aware of important trends that might affect its operations. This awareness is aided by environmental scanning activities and competitive intelligence Step 3: After analyzing and learning about the environment, management needs to evaluate what it has learned in terms of opportunities (strategic) that the organization can exploit and threats that the organization faces. In the simplest way, opportunities are positive external environmental factors and threats are negative ones. Keeping in mind that same environment can can present opportunities to one organization and pose threats to another in the same or a similar industry because of their different resources or a different focus. Step 4: In this step,we move from looking outside the organization to look inside..Thats we evaluate the organizations internal resources..This step forces management to recognize that every organization no matter how large and powerful, is constrained in some way by its resources and the skills it has available. Step 5: Internal Resources or things that the organization does well are its strengths. And these strengths represent the unique skills or resources that can determine the organisations competitive edge are its Core competences. And when an organization lacks certain resources we label its weakness Step 6: It includes the analysis and counter checking of Mission Statement. Step 7-How to Formulate Strategies: Strategies need to be set for all levels in the organization. Management needs to develop and evaluate alternative strategies and then select a set that is compatible at each level and will allow the organization to best capitalize on its resources and the opportunities available in the environment. Step 8-Implementation of Strategies: The last step of strategic management process is Implementation. No matter how good a strategic plan is, it cannot succeed it its not implemented properly. Top management leadership is a necessary ingredient in a successful strategy. And finally results must be evaluated. 4.1 Strategic Management Avoiding Pit falls In strategic Management, a word SMARTER is used. Smarter is an acronym that can help organizations avoid a major pitfall in the development and implementation of strategic plans: Specific Measurable Acceptable Realistic Timeframe Extending Rewarding. 4.2 Advantages Of Strategic Management: The advantages and benefits of undertaking Strategic Management in a systematic way include helping an organization to: Clearly define its purpose Establish realistic goals and objectives consistent with its mission Ensure the effective use of resources by focusing on key priorities Establish an mechanism for informed change when needed The Individual Steps in a Strategic Management Process: 5.0 SWOT Analysis: A combination of external internal factors which results in an evaluation of opportunities that are provided by an organization. SWOT is an acronym of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats. Basically SWOT Analysis is done frequently in order to identify a strategic position that an organization can achieve easily to carefully evaluate the companys position as compared to its competitors. When SWOT analysis is done, the organization reviews its mission objectives. Also opportunities provided by an organization are reviewed, either its mission objectives are truly existent or not, they require any modifications or not, and where any other changes are needed. On the other hand, if no changes are obligatory, management is ready to actually formulate strategies. Conclusion This assignment provides an overview of strategic management and strategy. Ideas about strategy span many centuries, and modern understanding of strategy borrows from ancient strategies as well as classic military strategies. We should now understand that there are numerous ways to conceptualize the idea of strategy and that effective strategic management is needed to ensure the long-term success of firms. The study of strategic management provides tools to effectively manage organizations, but it also involves the art of knowing how and when to apply creative thinking. Knowledge of both the art and the science of strategic management is needed to help guide organizations as their strategies emerge and evolve over time. Such tools will also help us effectively chart a course for our career as well as to understand the effective strategic management of the organizations for which we will work.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Crime And Punishment - Style Essay -- essays research papers fc

Chose a character who might-- on the basis of the character’s actions alone-- be considered evil or immoral. Explain both how and why the presentation of the character makes us react more sympathetically than we otherwise might. In Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, the character of Raskolnikov is one who may be considered evil or immoral for his actions, however his portrayal by the author is one that instills sympathy in the reader for the character due to his motives and personal, internal consequences he suffers for his crime of murder. There is considerable evidence supporting the view that Raskolnikov wants his theory surrounding the murder to be proven wrong, to get caught, and to be punished. This tells the reader that deep down, Raskolnikov knows in his heart what is wrong and right, and that he wants to be brought back down off his pedestal and enter back in to normal human society. Raskolnikov’s theory of the "superman" who is above all societal constraints and able to stamp out the weak and detrimental people in society for the common good, is one that is obviously skewed. This prompts Raskolnikov to doubt his reasoning for and consequent execution of the crime. He knows that his theory is wrong, but he has been created by the society in which he lives, which allows him to conjure up wild fantasies and delusions of grandeur. The sympathy Dostoyevsky enforces upon the reader for Raskolnikov is held by the overwhelming signs pointing towards the notion that he knows that he is wrong in his doings. The first indication of Raskolnikov’s need for punishment for his crime appears in his preparation for the crime itself. It is by no means meticulous. To be sure no one will suspect him, he rehearses the crime, counts the steps to Alyona’s house, and even devises a noose to carry his axe. Yet as incredible as it may seem, he makes only the most elementary plans for securing the axe and returning it unseen. Everything rests upon Natasya’s absence from the kitchen at the precise moment he needs it. Obviously, Raskolnikov is attempting to set himself for failure in this crime so that he may be caught and brought back down and in to society again. The reader may also feel sympathy because Raskolnikov is looking for a way out of his destitute condition. And while his methods are not those of a normal person, the intention prevail... ...p;quot;louse" can affect him so severely, there must be more to life and the human condition than a neatly thought-out theory. He does not know what it is, but intuitively feels that by suffering punishment he may discover it. All his inner conflict surrounding the crime and its consequences, as well as the way he treats himself in order to return to society, instill sympathy in the reader for him. The society that created Raskolnikov and his mental condition ironically is the same one that he longs to once again be a part of, and one able to forgive and sympathize with a creature born out of its own flaws. Dostoyevsky instills sympathy for his character through blame on society. He does not hope to condone his character’s actions, only to shift responsibility for Raskolnikov’s mental state on the society that for so long put him down and allowed theories and ideas of getting out of destitution to run rampant in his mind. The irony comes when that same society accepts and understands his cause for wanting to again be normal and function as an effective person. Works Cited Dostoyevsky, Fydor. Crime and Punishment. Wordsworth Editions Limited. Ware, Hertfordshire. 1993.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Wilderness and Adventure Education Essay -- Education

There are two different parts of the Wilderness Sports and Adventure Education model. The Wilderness sports part of it includes the students participating in various activities such as canoeing, rock climbing and hiking. They are not traditional sports because the athletic ability of the student is not as important as it would be in traditional physical education activity. For example, a child may not be able to kick a soccer ball very well or throw a softball accurately but they would be able to hike up a mountain. Not all schools are able to do these activities because they are lacking the recourses or money. However all schools can participate the in the Adventure Education part of the model. The reason being is because they don’t need the equipment to go canoeing or the environment to have the trails to go hiking. All the teacher needs to participate in Adventure education is a few obstacles to help students with different skills and the student’s cooperation. The Wilderness Sports teaching model is unique from other teaching models. Not every school has the resources or the time in the curriculum to provide students with the opportunity to perform the Wilderness Sports such as cycling, hiking or rock climbing. This gives the chance for the school to come up with extra-curricular activities for the students that otherwise wouldn’t be able to do during the school day. A great extra-curricular activity would be mountain biking. Biking is a great way to stay in shape and go for an adventure at the same time. It also provides bonding time with the teacher and the student which is very important. â€Å"We began taking rides together. The students would show me new trails, and I would show them the ones I was familiar with. The bike rid... ...o it is only done by people who want to participate so they already have something in common. In Adventure Education the team has to work together so the students can make friends that way. This is a teaching model that all physical education teachers should try to incorporate into the curriculum. Works Cited Darst, Paul W., and Robert P. Pangrazi. Dynamic Physical Education for Secondary School Students. San Francisco: Pearson Education, 2002 McCracken, Bane. It's Not Just Gym Anymore Teaching Secondary School Students How to Be Active for Life. Champaign: Human Kinetics, 2001 Cummiskey, Matthew. "The New PE Homepage." The New PE Homepage. West Chester University. Web. 03 Apr. 2012. . "Welcome to Project Adventure, Leaders In Adventure and Experience-based Learning." Project Adventure. Web. 03 Apr. 2012. .

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Business Accounting (Gbb/Gcb 1013)

Business Accounting (Gbb/Gcb 1013) Semester January 2013 Title:   Lecturer: Hezlina Bt M Hashim Group Members: No. | Name| Student Id| 1| | | 2| | | 3| | | 4| | | 5| | | Date Received: Introduction: Charitable organizations are NGOs whose purpose of existence is to benefit the public. The mission of a charitable non-profit expresses the particular way in which the organization will fulfil its public benefit purpose.The board members of a non-profit organization entrusted with the supervision of the board members who have a legal obligation to ensure that the non-profit organization uses the funds to fulfil its mission. QUESTION: Better Days Ahead, a charitable organization, has a standing agreement with First National Bank. The agreement allows Better Days Ahead to overdraw its cash balance at the bank when donations are running low. In the past, Better Days Ahead managed funds wisely, and rarely used this privilege.Jacob Henson has recently become the president of Better Days. To expand operations, Henson acquired office equipment and spent large amounts on fundraising. During Henson’s presidency, Better Days Ahead has maintained a negative bank balance of approximately $10,000. 1. – What is the ethical issue in the situation? The issue in this situation is the investment policy. Managers of non-profit organizations must ensure that investments are consistent with the values nd principles set to achieve the stated objectives to guide activities, and ethical behaviour of its employees, volunteers and board members. The lack of an ethical base as a result of the lack of creation and monitoring of ethical standards has the potential to lead to a lack of success in the organization. However the fulfilment of the ethical standards of the institution by the leader and employees, since success is reflected in the work to be carried out, ensuring the objectives and goals to reach.Better Days Ahead, as a charitable organization, it is not normal to maintain a negative bank account as it has no benefits arise from its operations, but since the president of the organization is carrying out his work according to the duties of his job and the agreements with the bank, then it is acting properly and not against any ethics or agreements. 2. State why you approve or disapprove of Henson’s management of Better Days Ahead’s funds. I would approve of his management of the fund as he is taking out a loan in order to improve the fundraising ability of his charitable organization.Since any charity relies on fundraising in order to increase their operating funds and potential, the usage of a loan during a â€Å"slow time† in order to increase this fundraising potential of the organization seems to outweigh the impact that the negative bank balance might show due to the loan. Certain company have to do this in order to maintain current condition. What has been done by Better Days Ahead is good to their company and will benefit them more. CONCLUSION As the conclusion, we can see from above statement, there are still many ways to improve the productivity of the company although the company is doing charitable work.As a mana ger or even worker, they have to implement the way of ethics in doing business of work. Some of the company already implement company policy to smoothing the way of work. To disregard company policy is unethical because it has the potential to harm the company and other employees. To me, unethical behaviours can damage a company's credibility, causing the business to lose customers and ultimately shut down. However, business owners and their management teams can work with employees to prevent unethical behaviours. In this case, the situation that they are acing is still ethical as they have to maintain their current status as charitable company. INTRODUCTION There are many different forms of business organizations. They are sole proprietorship, partnership, and corporation. A sole proprietorship consists of one individual doing business. Sole proprietorship are the most numerous form of business organization in Malaysia, however they account for little in the way of aggregate busine ss receipts. There are no forms you need to fill out to start this type of business. This is the easiest form of business to set up, and the easiest to dissolve.The purpose of most organization or business is mainly to earn profit. It is usually called as profit oriented business. So, it is actually a profit business or other organization whose primary goal is making money, as opposed to a non-profit organization which focuses a goal such as helping the community and is concerned with money only as much as necessary to keep the organization operating. This includes anything from retail stores to restaurants to insurance companies to real estate companies. Question: You are opening Quail Creek Pet Kennel.Your purpose is to earn profit and you organize as proprietorship. 1. Make a detailed of 5 factors you must consider to establish the business. There are many factors that must be considered in order to start a business. Five of them are listed below: Types of business and a proper p lan The first thing to be always decided upon is the type of business we want to do. Before selecting on any type, we should always do a thorough background check on the idea, such as the current trends. For example, people in Malaysia like to take cats and kittens as their own pet. It has even become a trend.After that is done, a proper road-map should be planned for the road ahead detailing the various costs involved, growth plans, and operating ratio. A thought out plan should also enable us to get a start-up loan from the bank quickly if we want to get capital from bank. Capital The next factor that we need to consider is the money or capital. Usually, small businesses starts with small amount of capital which means only small amount of profit will be earned. While arranging the capital, we should always keep a little margin for the initial running cost and the loan repayment interest.The latter can be avoided, if you can arrange the capital from the family or friends. We can al so obtain capital by taking a loan from banks. But, as our business has unlimited liability it is too risky if the business failed. Pet kennel or care taking business doesn’t usually need much capital. Marketing Another of the many factors to consider when starting the business is the market you enter and how to reach out and inform people about our business. We also need to segment the market in order to satisfy everyone. For example, Malays usually keep cats as their pet and Chinese or Indians usually take care of dogs.We can give pamphlets and distribute it from house to house. The pamphlets should contain the details and information. This doesn’t cost much as it’s just photocopy. Besides that, we should be very friendly while interacting with customers to maintain our pubic relation. If we have workers, they should be trained to be persuasive and friendly or maybe talkative. Equipment needed In order to start this kind of business, we need to determine what equipment we need. Firstly, we may need cat cages, dog kennels, cat and dog food, and other things.We also need to decide from where we can get these things and decide which supplier to get these things. The prices of these equipments also need to be considered. Cheap price usually means low quality products and expensive products usually are more quality. Location The next important factor that we need to consider is the location of the business. It is appropriate for us to locate our business near neighborhoods where many people live. We can buy or rent a shop lot or even an empty house and it must be located where people can see and know about it.We shouldn’t choose a place far away from people’s houses. But renting a house can annoy or disturb the next door neighbors with the smell of animals and their noises. This is unethical and can ruin our reputation as a business. So it is better if we rent a shop lot in areas where as we can’t afford to buy it. 2. Ide ntify 5 or more transactions that your business will undertake to open and operate the Kennel. a) Debit cash credit capital. * This is important to open the business where the owner puts the capital in the business.This can be said as the initial capital to open and help the owner to operate the business. b) Debit purchases cash credit. * The owner uses some cash to buy equipments from the suppliers as the stocks for his pet kennel business. c) Debit accounts receivables credit service revenue. * The customer now is paying on credit for the service. d) Debit maintenance expense credit cash * The owner spends some cash to repair the broken dog kennel. e) Credit accounts receivables debit cash * The customer on credit pays the remaining balances owed. f) Debit medication expense credit cash While taking care of the dogs, one of them was injured and need to be treated in the animal clinic. 3. income statement The Quail Pet Kenner income statement, statement of owner’s equity, an d balance sheet at the end of the first month of operation. Quail Creek Pet Kennel Income Statement For the Month Ended January 31,2013 Revenue : Service3000 Expenses: Maintenance200 Medication430 Rent1700 Advertising 560 2890 Net Income 110 Quail Creek Pet Kennel Statement of Owner’s Equity For the Month Ended January 31,2013 Quail Creek Pet Kennel, capital, January 1,2013 30000Add : Investment by owner 0 Net Income 110 Subtotal30110 Less: Withdrawal by owner 750 Quail Creek Pet Kennel, capital, January 31,201329360 Quail Creek Pet Kennel Balance Sheet January 31,2013 AssetsLiabilities Cash21360Account Payable 9800 Furniture 9800Owner Equity Equipment 8000Capital 29360 Total Assets39160Total Liabilities and Equity 39160 Evaluation of Business Since the business has just started up on its first month of operations, the figures of our accounts have shown good progress and shows that the business might be a success is the coming years.However, we have to determine whether or no t to continue the business with a few calculations that could be done for the business. First of all, we use the current ratio of the business where the we divide the Current Asset of the business with the current liabilities. This is to measure the business’s current ability to pay off all the liabilities of the business where the higher the ratio, the higher the probability of the business to have enough sufficiency to maintain its business operations. The calculations are as follows: Current Assets = 21360Current Liabilities 9800 = 2. 1786 Since the Current ratio is above 1, the business could have a higher possibility of continuing running with lower risk of failing in the business line. This shows that the business can continue to run and succeed in the future as the business holds a small amount of risk. Another way of determining whether or not the business the business is by the Acid-Test ratio which determines the ability of the business to pay all current liabilitie s if they came due immediately. The calculation is as follows:Cash + Short term investment + Net current receivables = 21360 Current liabilities 9800 = 2. 1786 Again, the Acid-test ratio indicates that the ratio of the business is above 1. This shows that the business does have the ability to pay all current liabilities if they came due immediately. This also shows that the business can run very smoothly and efficiently in the coming months and years to come and could be a good business to continue on investing and serving.The final way to determine whether or not the business should continue its operations after evaluating its first month of operation is by using the Debt Ratio. This calculation is done to determine the financial risk of the business. The calculation of the Debt Ratio is as follows: Total liabilities = 9800 Total Assets 21360 = 0. 459 Since the Debt Ratio is below 1, the business shows a good ratio and record that if the business continues its operations, it has a low financial risk and can be a very good business to invest into.In conclusion, after analyzing all of the probabilities, and calculating all of the results of the business’s first month operations, we can conclude that the business of the Quail Creek Pet Kennel should be continued and can be a success in the future as all the facts shows a positive outcome for the business. Conclusion From the first question, we can conclude that there are still many ways to improve the companies productivity even though the company is doing charitable work. As either a manager or an employee, the way of ethics have o be implemented in doing business of any sorts. A few of other companies or businesses have started to implement company policies of work ethics in order to improve the quality and efficiency as well as effectiveness of the work. To disregard company policy is unethical because it has the potential to harm the company and other employees of the company. An unethical behavior of an employee can ruin a company’s reputation as well as credibility in the eyes of the stakeholders as well as potential investors, which could cause the company to stop operations.The business owners as well as their management teams can find a way to prevent their employees from making unethical decisions or behaviors in the company. From the final question, we can conclude that Quail Creek Pet Kennel has a higher possibility of continuing its operations. This is based on a thorough calculation of assets and liabilities of the business which has only been operating for 1 month and the results of the calculations done have shown positive outcomes for the business.This has made us conclude that the business has a very good potential of expanding in the future, and has a probability of opening more branches nationwide and can project a very high success rate if the business continues its operations for the years to come. In conclusion, ethics for a business is not something th at has to be put aside in any kind of business that we are operating. This also implies to charity work. Finally, a a charity-based business is not an excuse to not succeed in the business world as any kind of business can prove to be a success if we run it efficiently and effectively.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Aristotle as a Critic

ARISTOTLE AS A CRITIC. Aristotle (384-322 B. C. E. ), the son of a physician, was the student of Plato from approximately 367 B. C. until his mentor's death in 348/347. After carrying on philosophical and scientific investigations elsewhere in the Greek world and serving as the tutor to Alexander the Great, he returned to Athens in 335 B. C. E. to found the Lyceum, a major philosophical center, which he used as his base for prolific investigations into many areas of philosophy.Aristotle is a towering figure in ancient Greek philosophy, making contributions to logic, metaphysics, mathematics, physics, biology, botany, ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine, dance and theatre. As a prolific writer and polymath, Aristotle radically transformed most, if not all, areas of knowledge he touched. It is no wonder that Aquinas referred to him simply as â€Å"The Philosopher. † In his lifetime, Aristotle wrote as many as 200 treatises, of which only 31 survive.Unfortunately for us, thes e works are in the form of lecture notes and draft manuscripts never intended for general readership, so they do not demonstrate his reputed polished prose style which attracted many great followers, including the Roman Cicero. Aristotle was the first to classify areas of human knowledge into distinct disciplines such as mathematics, biology, and ethics. Some of these classifications are still used today. [There has been long speculation that the original Poetics comprised two books, our extant Poetics and a lost second book that supposedly dealt with comedy and catharsis.No firm evidence for the existence of this second book has been adduced. Our (knowledge of the text of the Poetics depends principally on a manuscript of the tenth or eleventh century and a second manuscript dating from the fourteenth century. ] (not to write in notes)*. Aristotle could be considered the first popular literary critic. Unlike Plato, who all but condemned written verse, Aristotle breaks it down and a nalyses it so as to separate the good from the bad. On a number of subjects Aristotle developed positions that significantly differed from those of his teacher.We very clearly note this profound difference of opinion with Plato and, indeed, observe the overt correction of his erstwhile master in Aristotle's literary and aesthetic theories. Aristotelian aesthetics directly contradicts Plato's negative view of art by establishing a potent intellectual role. The principal source of our knowledge of Aristotle's aesthetic and literary theory is the Poetics, but important supplementary information is found in other treatises, chiefly the Rhetoric, the Politics, and the Nicomachean Ethics.Aristotle's main contribution to criticism may well be the idea that poetry is after all an art with an object of its own, that it can be rationally understood and reduced to an intelligible set of rules (that is, it is an â€Å"art,† according to the definition in the Ethics). The main concern of the rules of the Poetics, however, is not with the composition of literary works; it is rather with their critical evaluation. Consequently, criticism can be a science, and not a mass of random principles and intuitions. Aristotle speaks of the educative value of visual, musical and verbal arts.Both the Rhetoric and the Poetics can be considered –to be expansions of this view. We might say that Aristotle sets literature free from Plato's radical moralism and didacticism, while he still expects it to be conformable to a moral understanding of the world. For him, literature is a rational and beneficial activity, and not an irrational and dangerous one, as it was for Plato. Aristotle? s approach to literature is mainly philosophical: he is more concerned with the nature and the structure of poetry than with its origin.The origins of poetry had been grounded on the instinct of imitation which is natural to man. The first poetical works were spontaneous improvisations. The origins of the different genres is justified by Aristotle thus: â€Å"Poetry soon branched into two channels, according to the temperaments of individual poets. The more serious-minded among them represented noble actions and the doings of noble persons, while the more trivial wrote about the meaner sort of people; thus, while the one type wrote hymns and anegyrics, these others began by writing invectives. (Poetics II). † The development goes through serious or comic epic poems such as those written by Homer to comedy and tragedy; â€Å"these new forms were both grander and more highly regarded than the earlier† (Poetics II). Aristotle does not, however, decide on whether tragedy (and by implication, literature) has already developed as far as it can; but he does assert that it has come to a standstill.Aristotle makes a brief outline of the history of tragedy: â€Å"At first the poets had used the tetrameter because they were writing satyr-poetry, which was more closely rel ated to the dance; but once dialogue had been introduced, by its very nature it hit upon the right measure, for the iambic is of all measures the one best suited to speech . . . . Another change was the increased number of episodes, or acts. (Poetics II). † Aristotle also deals briefly with the rise of comedy: â€Å"the early history of comedy. . . s obscure, because it was not taken seriously. Comedy had already acquired certain clear-cut forms before there is any mention of those who are named as its poets. Nor is it known who introduced masks, or prologues, or a plurality of actors, and other things of that kind. Of Athenian poets Crates was the first to discard the lampoon pattern and to adopt stories and plots of a more general nature. (Poetics II). † The work of Aristotle as a whole may be considered to be an attempt to develop a structural and metalinguistic approach to literature.Although it preserves a concern with valuation, its main thrust is towards the defi nition of theoretical possibilities and general laws. Some critics have spoken of Aristotle's sin of omission in relationship with lyric poetry and the inspirational element in literature. This is a fact. But it does not seem so important when we look at what Aristotle does say and the principles he establishes. We can barely recognize the aspect of criticism after Aristotle's work, if we compare it to its previous state. His is the most important single contribution to criticism in the whole history of the discipline.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Glass Menagerie Essay Essay

Have you ever read the book The Glass Menagerie and seen the movie? There are more similarities between the book and the movie version than there are differences. The movie does have some small differences but the movie script is almost identical to the script of the play. They both have the same setting and all the scenes take place in the apartment of the Wingfields. All the characters also remain the same consisting of only Amanda Wingfield, her children Tom and Laura, and Jim O’Connor (the gentleman caller). There were many technological aspects of the play and the movie that were different. Some things that were done in the movie could not be done in the play. For example, in the movie, you can see the scene from different views and different frames. Also, in the movie, the actor’s backs could be towards the audience, but actors can’t do that on stage in a play. Lastly, in the movie, music was played in the background during the scenes, which is something that wasn’t done in the play. Some of Laura’s features that are in the play are also different in the movie. Laura had a brace on her leg during high school because of a disability but the brace was no longer on during the movie. In the movie, Laura seemed like a normal person and you would probably not even be able to tell there was anything wrong with her if her family didn’t show such and exaggeration of her being a cripple. Amanda also acts like she was still young expecting gentleman callers at any moment and in the movie the actress that plays Amanda seems way to old, I would have used someone a bit younger. When Jim comes over, Amanda flirts with him like she is the one trying to marry him instead of Laura. Tom also seems different in the movie. In the movie he is kind of creepy and it seems like he does not care much for his family and is just waiting for the chance to leave. In the play he seems like a good person who wants to do the best for his family but wants to get out. Similarities are more common between the play and movie. As I mentioned before, the scripts are almost identical to one another and there are only a few sections in which the movie strays from what is written in the book. Most of the characters, with the exception of Amanda, follow the personalities that are described in the play. The apartment is also set up  the same way as it was in the play. Even outside the apartment was the same with the dance hall in the alley and the fire escape. The story lines of both the play and movie were also the same. The movie differs little from the book with the exception of the differences above. In comparing the play, The Glass Menagerie, to the movie, they are very similar in most ways. The differences lie in the personalities of the characters themselves and how they are portrayed. It seems like when creating the movie they chose to stick as close to the play as possible.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Accountable Care Organizations, Bundled Payments, and Health Reform Essay

With the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) in March 2010, health care reform has become the law. The legislation will extend health care coverage to more citizens, stabilize health insurance markets, enhance regulation and consumer protection, and improve the affordability and quality of health care in the United States. Changes in payment system of health care proposed by PPACA have led to the development of Accountable Care Organization (ACO). This paper will address how ACOs and the bundled payments system will impact the future of health care. See more: Strategic Management Process Essay The ACO is a health care organization which provides accountability for quality, cost, and care for medical beneficiaries with single entity providers that are responsible for delivering care. The ACO-model builds on the Medicare Physician Group Practice Demonstration and the Medicare Health Care Quality Demonstration, established by the Medicare Prescription Drugs Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003. Under the Affordable Care Act, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) released new rules that benefit doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers of better care for Medicare patients through ACOs on March 31, 2011(U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2001). According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) administrator Donald Berwick, MD, â€Å"An ACO will be rewarded for providing better care and investing in the health and lives of patients. ACOs are not just a new way to pay for care but a new model for the organization and delivery of care† (Penton Media., 2011). The new model, which is called the â€Å"Pioneer Accountable Care Organization,† is to improve the quality of care for Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) beneficiaries  (Medicare Parts A and B) and reduce unnecessary costs through establishing a shared savings program, which promotes accountability for Medicare FFS beneficiaries. It requires coordinating care for services provided under Medicare FFS and encourages investments in infrastructure, and it redesigns care processes. Regarding the differences, the Pioneer ACO payment model incorporates a population-based payment in the third year of the ACO’s Participation Agreement. This population-based payment will replace fifty percent of the FFS payments (McDermott & Emery, 2011). The Pioneer ACO model is estimated to save Medicare as much as $430 million over three years by coordinating with private payers to reduce costs for Medicare beneficiaries and improve health outcomes. An ACO may engage in either a Shared Savings Program or in the Pioneer ACO model. In addition, the Pioneer ACO model is separated from the Medicare Shared Savings Program for Medicare beneficiaries by the Advance Payment Initiative (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Center, 2011). ACOs require the ability to manage cost and quality for patients across the continued extent of care and across different associational settings. They also require the capability to plan budgets and resources needed to allocate payments, and the commensurable size of primary care providers for Medicare patients’ populations assigned to the ACOs (at least 5,000 Medicare or 15,000 commercial patients). According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, doctors Shortell and Casalino recommend a three-tiered system of qualification for ACOs (Shortell, S. and Casalino, L., 2010). The tiers will be based on the degree of financial risk acceptable for ACOs and the degree of financial rewards that can be completed by performance targets. In the first tier, ACOs will receive FFS payment with shared savings for providing quality care at lower than the expenditure targets. In the second tier, ACOs will receive bundled payments and episode of care based payments for managing costs and achieving benchmarks. They will be accountable for care that meets these criteria. In the third tier, ACOs will receive partial and global capitation payments. Under a three tiered structure, ACO providers will submit a three-year plan to the HHS or CMS for achieving qualification status at the varied levels. The U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the â€Å"Bundling Payment for Care Improvement Initiative† to coordinate payments for services delivered across an episode of care, such as a cardiac bypass or a hip replacement, on August 23, 2011 (Vendome Group, LLC, 2011). The definition of bundled payments refers to a single payment for all care related to an entire treatment or condition. Bundled payments, also called episode-base payments or case-rate payments are considered as a mechanism for improving both cost and quality, such as currently exist with Geisinger Proven Care and the Prometheus Payment system (Dark,Cedric., 2011). Bundled Payments do benefit physicians and hospitals if patients complete their medical treatments within a certain time period because it will save the physicians and hospitals additional costs. However, it is a disadvantage for physicians and hospitals if the treatment takes longer than the traditional time because it will cost more money to care for patients. Unfortunately, its emphasis is less about improving care and more about reducing the financing for medical care (Gorman Health Group Blog, 2011). This means hospitals, physicians, and other practitioners will have to take their own approach to improving the delivery of healthcare, which should benefit Medicare patients. The goal of the initiative is to increase efficiency of care, improve quality of care, and lower costs. This initiative consists of four different bundled payment models. The first three bundled payment models are retrospective payment arrangements based on patients’ historical data. However, the fourth model is proposed for the future. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) make a single bundled payment to the hospital for all services during inpatient stays for hospitals, physicians, and other medical professional specialists. In the first model, the episode of care is the length of time the inpatient stays in the acute care hospital. Medicare pays the hospital a discounted payment based on the payment rates established under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS), which starts at zero percent for the first six months and then rises to a minimum of two percent in the third year, based on the IPPS. Physicians are paid under the Medicare Physician  Fee Schedule. Hospitals and physicians are to share in any costs. This model benefits Medicare patients by reducing their costs, but not hospitals and physicians because they must share in any expenditures. The second model, which is also based on IPPS, is different from the first model because it includes inpatient and post-acute care from either 30 or 90 days following discharge. This bundled payment includes physicians’ services, post-acute care, readmissions, and other related services, which can be clinical laboratory services, medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, other supplies, and Part B drugs. The minimum discount is three percent for the first 30 to 90 days after discharge and two percent for more than 90 days. The Medicare enrollee is to share the costs if the total payments are less than the target price. However, the provider will be responsible for payment coverage if the total payments exceed the target costs. This model uses an incentive discount for Medicare patients to spend less time in rehabilitation versus the first model which has no early rehabilitation discount. However, this model does not give an advantage to hospitals and physicians because it encourages Medicare patients to leave medical services sooner. The third model begins at discharge from an acute facility if less than 30 days are spent in rehabilitation. These bundled payments are the same as the second model with the exception of a discounted rate, which Medicare enrollees are required to set up instead of CMS, since CMS has not indicated an expected discount for medical service (Becker, Epstein & Green, P.C, 2011). In the fourth model, which is the only perspective model, hospitals will receive a single bundled payment from CMS that covers all medical services by hospital, physicians, and other medical professional specialists. The minimum discount will be three percent of the estimated total costs for the episode care (Proskauer Rose, 2011). The bundled payments are more hospital-centric than ACOs’ program. However, ACOs’ focus will be on how hospitals and physicians will share reimbursements in a post-fee-for-service payment system. Therefore, Medicare beneficiaries will benefit the most but hospitals and physicians will not. Future ACOs include: Integrated Delivery Systems, Multispecialty Group Practice (MSGP), Hospital Medical Staff Organization (HMSO), Physician-Hospital Organizations (PHO), Interdependent Practice Organization (IPO), and the Health Plan Provider Organization or Network (Charles DeShazer, 2011). However, most physicians work in very small practices that would not likely have the resources to develop the capacities to be an ACO. In an ACO-based health care organization, these small practices would either merge into new or already existing specialty group practice, or would engage in an ACO that facilitates clinical integration among small practices. Many physicians may still prefer smaller practices, and under comprehensive healthcare reform may continue to exist. In ACOs completely based on the quality and cost of care, the market may decide whether virtually integrated systems can succeed in competition with systems where physicians are merged into large group practices. Moreover, specialist physicians are creating medium sized or even larger single specialized groups. However, a single specialty group cannot serve as an ACO for full patients care but can be an essential element of an ACO or can be a crucial source of medical care through referrals. In Integrated delivery systems (IDS), medical care is coordinated and reimbursed within the system to make patient care more efficient while improving access to and the quality of the care received. Some examples are: Cleveland Clinic, Henry Ford Health System, Mayo Clinic, Scott & White Clinic, and so on. However, a recent report indicates that challenges may still remain. IDS face lack of compensation from health insurance providers for care coordination services as well as difficulties in finding specialty care, such as mental health care and changes in management and physician cultures in adopting the new organization (United States Government Accountability Office, 2011). The promising advantages of the multispecialty group practice (MSGP) model were recognized in 1932. As stated in the Physician’s Advocate(2008), â€Å"These advantages include having the resources to redesign care processes, take advantage of economies of scale to implement electronic medical records, form health care teams, obtain database feedback on performance gaps, and make the changes needed to improve care† (Physician’s Advocate, 2008). Some evidence indicates that multispecialty group practices do make the most of recommended care management processes like electronic information technology, as well as sharing in quality improvement medical services. Therefore, MSGPs provide better quality care for preventive measures involving screening tests and diabetes management than smaller forms of practices. Moreover, studies also indicate lower Medicare spending on patients related to multispecialty or hospital associated groups than other patients. However, it is unlikely that MSGPs will become the major organization form in the United States health care system since it is so expensive to implement. HMSO, more than 800,000 physicians that currently practice in the United States are members of hospital medical staffs (Carroll, 2011). The hospital medical staff organization can serve as ACOs for either inpatient or outpatient care. Studies indicate that most physicians have primary relationships with a single hospital to form a stronger partnership entity between physicians and their primary hospital (Fisher and et al., 2006). Hospitals have resources to support adopting electronic medical records (EMR), provide performance and accountability data, and assist quality improvement support for physicians. Bundled payments for specific medical conditions or episodes of sickness, such as a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), hip or knee replacement (Massachusetts Medical Society, 2008) will provide incentives for hospitals and physicians to work together to reduce Medicare costs (Welch, WP and ME Miller, 1994). This model will have future advantages for chronic illness treatment as we ll as episodes of care since physicians and hospitals work together closely to monitor patients’ long term care. However, the HMSOs encounter challenges including leadership of the diverse cultures of hospitals and physicians and legal restrictions to obtain sharing (Primary Care Associates., 2008). An alternative of the MSGP model is the PHO. Hospitals and physicians work together to ensure cost-effective and steady system delivery of medical services and the provisions of the health care services to the patients. There are approximately one thousand PHOs in the United States and most are managed organizations with the goals of achieving and managing the quality  and cost of care (Nixon Peabody LLP., 2010). Under the Affordable Care Act, the contracting PHO model can emerge into an entity that will manage the quality and cost of care. Without meeting the needs of all physicians, this model has the advantage and the incentive of improving performance. With the HMSOs, the hospital will provide resources for EMR, performance reporting, quality improvement, and process management support. However, PHOs must be clinically integrated to avoid anti-trust laws (Casalino, Lawrence P., 2006). A fifth model is the Interdependent Practice Organization (IPO), which is an advancement for those physicians who practice in small organizations or who do not wish to be part of larger organizations for delivering care. The interdependent practice organization is based on an association of physicians in numerous independent practices. IPOs are capable of providing high quality, better care, although most of these organizations are loosely organized (Rittenhouse and et al., 2004). The future IPO model requires strong leadership, administration, and enough patients across individual practices to support financing of technology infrastructure and management systems. IPO models might be attractive to physicians practicing in rural areas. With given sufficient incentives, existing IPOs can became independent organizations by strengthening their management structure and developing a solid shared culture of performance improvement. These requirements are challenges since IPOs are composed of many small practices. The last model, the Health Plan-Provider Organization or Network (HPPO/HPPN) is similar to the IPO. It is based on an association of independent physician practices. The health plan will be the major financial assets to encourage a more cost-effective health care delivery system. Many have capabilities in disease management, electronic information technology implementation, and quality improvement entities that can be used effectively in collaboration with physicians. Some physician practices may participate with health plans rather than local hospitals. Health plans can be part of a smaller physician’s practice and become the unit of accountability of performance. However, the success of this model will depend on an individual physician’s leadership (Shortell and et al., 2008). The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released final rules and new opportunities for financial support for doctors, hospitals, and health care providers to work together to improve the care of Medicare patients by adopting ACOs on October 20, 2011. The new rules provide for a new voluntary Medicare Shared Savings Program. Providers will be able to participate in an ACO and share in the savings with Medicare. ACOs will reward providers for reducing the costs and meeting quality measures, such as reducing hospital readmissions or emergency room visits. Providers will begin to share in savings based on how they perform in thirty-three quality measurements in the second and third performance years. Medicare beneficiaries will be a part of the ACO system when they form. Moreover, community health centers and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) will be allowed to participate in the ACO programs (Galewitz, Phil and Jenny Gold., 2011). To appeal to providers, CMS will provide physician-owned and rural providers early access to the expected saving of up to $170 million dollars, so providers can start ACOs right away. At the same time, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice issued the entire final rules that will allow providers to participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program. In addition, the final rules will no longer require a mandatory antitrust review for collaborations as a condition of entry into Shared Saving Program (Department of Justice, 2011). Electronic health record (EHR) usage is no longer a condition of participation to prompt more RHCs and other programs to join (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Center, 2011). Moreover, CMS will assist agencies in monitoring the care and quality of performance of ACOs. The program will save up to $940 million dollars over four years (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2001). Patients or Medicare beneficiaries are encouraged to select an ACO as their medical center. ACOs can be used for result-based payments, public report purposes, and claim-based payments which retrospectively allow patients to join who have not adopted ACOs. This advances patients’ choices and encourages ACOs to coordinate their patients’ care to treat patients equally. Because physicians are not required to be part of ACOs, physicians  can still be paid with the Shared Saving Programs used by Medicare, Medicaid, and other commercial health plans. They also can be eligible to achieve quality-based rewards. In addition, physicians and hospitals that are part of ACOs can have both obtainable rewards for improving quality and controlling costs; however, there is more inevitable risk. Furthermore, bundled payments for certain services and procedures, using a combination of capitation, result-based payments, and readmissions, gain sharing between physicians and hospitals tha t can be adopted within ACOs. Physicians also can benefit from the assistance that ACOs can provide with electronic health records and with implementation of established processes to improve quality and efficiency. Health reform will be needed in laws and regulations for the Stark law, anti-kickback statuses, fraud and abuse, anti-trusts, scope of practices, and the corporate practice of medicine. However, the final rules were relaxed and established waivers for the physicians’ self-referral law, the federal anti-kickback status, and certain penalties to encourage the participation in the Medicare Shared Saving Program and the Advance Payment Initiative (FierceHealthcare, 2011). Therefore, more medical providers will be regulated by the programs. In the past, healthcare leadership has relied on organizational structure to deliver higher quality at lower costs, which has not succeeded in improving neither efficiency nor performance. In fact, they have increased the problems that they intended to address. Neither diagnostic related groups (DRG) nor Health Managed Organizations created a shared achievement for all parties. Provider profit motivation lacked the pressure of medical beneficiaries to protect quality while minimizing costs. While each DRG and resource based relative-value unit encouraged providers to focus on provision without interventions, HMOs and other managed providers encouraged providers to minimize intervention, regardless of whether managing could delay the quality or completeness of patient care (Numberof, 2011). Ignoring the minimal role that patient demand plays in driving market completion among providers, the current and past medical health care system has decreased accountability for quality of medical care. ACOs were established to fix the inadequate accountability for wasteful  spending and quality of patient care. The PPACA provisions are consumer based solutions; however, they do not allow patients to have fully informed choices about their coverage and medical care (Numberof, 2011). Employers, who contract with insurers, apply with providers; therefore, accomplishment is limited. However, many physicians are reluctant to assume accountability for patient outcomes, since they admit that outcome is directly under the behavioral control of the patient. Furthermore, it seems that provider contracts could be integrated to a successful ACO in a shared savings program; providers continue to receive funding for each service they perform. Even with the possibility of a bonus from shared-savings, maintaining the FFS system boosts providers into continuing delivering an excess of services. In addition, ACOs, which are a single untested model, are largely hospital based. Eligibility requirements are larger and more involved for ACO organizations. Larger organizations are able to consolidate their markets; however, this consolidation may result in less competition. Therefore, large delivery organizations may become too big to fail but will increase advantages for patients. Without competition, the organizations might have little incentive to reduce the costs or improve quality of medical care. Enduring health reform has to cover the uninsured without exception or conditions. As Victor Fuchs, professor at Stanford University mentions â€Å"It [Enduring health reform] must improve efficiency in medical practice by providing physicians with the information, infrastructure, and incentive they need to deliver cost effective care† (Fuchs, 2010). Information will come from the electronic health records, a process that will be amped up by the HITECH Act, which is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Leyva, Carlos and Deborah Leyva, 2009). Electronic health records will benefit providers with more accurate real-time data on patients as well as provide analyses on drug responses and provide support to improve the quality of medical care. Health information Exchange (HIE) can enhance information from a wide databases and allow that information to be shared through various technology by providers. This allows related patient information to be shared withi n EMR with the provider who needs that information (Southern New Hampshire Health System, 2011). Furthermore, the  Patients Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) will offer physicians and patients new information of varied medical technology. Atul Grover, chief advocacy officer for the Association of American Medical Colleges, notes â€Å"It will be an evidence synthesis that really considers different populations and different diseases and tries to get more information to clinicians as they go about doing their daily work† (Marathon Medical Communications, Inc, 2010). The integration of the PCORI will enhance information so that physicians and patients can choose the appropriate test and treatment based on the patients’ condition. Moreover, infrastructure reform will enhance horizontal collocation within providers and monitor patients consistently. Health care reform strengthens greater integration through the redesign of delivery systems such as medical homes and ACOs for physicians. Recent studies suggest that better coordination of care can reduce readmission rates for major chronic sicknesses (Hernandez, AF, 2011). In addition, the PPACA will give incentives for hospitals to support proven practices that essentially reduce their rates (Foster, 2010). Likewise, the PPACA’s pilot program involving bundling payments will bring physicians and hospitals an incentive to allocate care for patients with chronic illnesses. Most essentially, PPACA admits that health reform that brings ACOs as the delivery system is an ongoing process requiring continuous adjustment. The PCORI will develop new medical tests, drugs, and other treatment that will provide continuously updated information for physicians and patients. Over the next decade, similarly, the Innovation Center in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid will be establishing and evaluating new policies and programs that will enhance the quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries and reduce costs. PPACA not only will expand health care coverage to millions of Americans but also will enact many policies to reduce the amount of costs for health care by bringing ACOs as the delivery system, which will reduce the costs of health care over time. By enacting ACOs as a Primary Care Provider (PCP), PPACA provides the most effective medical care support possible. Moreover, by adopting the bundled payment approach, physicians, hospitals, and other providers will be able to reduce the costs for Medicare beneficiaries.  Therefore, the public should embrace the new health care proposal to reduce their costs and improve the quality of their medical care. References Becker, Epstein & Green, P.C (2011) â€Å"HEALTH REFORM: CMS Innovation Center Announces Four Models in Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Initiative,† Retrieved from http://www.ebglaw.com/showclientalert.aspx?Show=14876 Carroll, Aaron. (2011, June 3). â€Å"Meme-busting: Doctors are all leaving Canada to practice in the U.S.,† Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/meme-busting-doctors-are-all-leaving-canada-to-practice-in-the-us/2011/06/03/AGVdAuHH_blog.html Casalino, Lawrence P. (2006) â€Å"The Federal Trade Commission, Clinical Integration, and the Organization of Physician Practice,† Journal of Health Policy, Politics, and Law, Retrieved from http://www.ftc.gov/os/comments/aco/2006jhppl.pdf Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Center (2011) â€Å"Pioneer ACO Application,† Retrieved from http://innovations.cms.gov/areas-of-focus/seamless-and-coordinated-care-models/pioneer-aco-application/index.html Center for Med icare and Medicaid Innovation Center (2011) â€Å"final ACO rule,† Retrieved from http://www.cms.gov/aco/downloads/Appendix-ACO-Table.pdf Department of Justice, the Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (2011) â€Å"Background Documents,† Retrieved from http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/health_care/276458.pdf DeShazer, Charles. (2011) â€Å"Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Tutorial,† Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/cdeshazer/accountable-care-organization-aco-tutorial Dark, Cedric (2011) â€Å"Quality over Quantity: Reforming Payment,† Retrieved from http://www.policyprescriptions.org/?p=2066 FierceHealthcare, (2011) â€Å"CMS, OIG to relax self-referral, anti-kickback laws with ACO waivers,† Retrieved from http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/cms-oig-relax-self-referral-anti-kickback-laws-aco-waivers/2011-10-21 Foster, David. (2010) â€Å"Healthcare Reform: Pending Changes to Reimbursement for 30-Day Readmission,† Retrieved from http://thomsonreuters.com/content/healthcare/pdf/pending_changes_reimbursements Fuchs, Victor (2010) â€Å"Health Care Reform,† Retrieved from http://siepr.stanford.edu/system/files/shared/Health_care_document.pdf