Financial Statement Review

Financial Statement Review University of Phoenix ACC/561 Financial Statement Review Introduction Financial statements play a significant role in each and every type of business. The financial statements provide a wealth of information to auditors, creditors, investors, suppliers and other important venues that need access to this type of information. This paper will discuss four different types of financial statements and how they are utilized by vendors, creditors and others. The four financial statements that will be reviewed are the income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statements and statement of retained earnings.Income Statement Beginning with the income statement, the information provided includes the amount of revenue that the company earns over a certain period of time. The period of time is usually a year or some a portion of a year. An income statement reveals the net worth or loss of a company reporting on the costs and expenses associated with the revenue earnings. Balance Sheet The balance sheet is a snapshot which examines the business. This statement records assets, liabilities and the equity of a company at a particular point in time.The equation used for the balance sheet is assets = liabilities + shareholdersequity. Assets are those things that the company actually owns or controls. The liabilities are represented by the debt or financing that was taken out to acquire those assets. Equity is that money that has been provided by people or stockholders to keep the business afloat. Statement of Cash Flows The statement of cash flows statements reports over a period of time and covers cash inflows and outflows. Generally the statement of cash flows refers to the day to day operations or operating cash flows, cash from investing and cash from financing.It is difficult for a company to manipulate the cash flow and therefore is a very important financial statement. Statement of Retained Earnings The statement of retained earnings reports on cha nges in retained earnings for a specific period. The statement of retained earnings reconciles the beginning and ending retained earnings for that period and will include net income from other statements. It is an inclusion to either the balance sheet or the income statement and not a stand-alone financial statement. Importance of Financial Statements Financial statements have a significant impact on the successfulness of a company.Depending on whether you’re an investor, creditor or manager, the information that is most crucial will depend on who you are. An investor is concerned with the bottom line and the overall value and growth of a company. A company’s earnings and revenue can be compared to the stock price. As an investor the balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flows is important. Investors will review the information and determine if the company overcame any obstacles and if there is still room for growth. They will also review the net income / loss and the history over previous years to determine any growth or potential for growth.As a creditor, information that is important is the current amount of debt and the amount of cash that is available to pay back that debt. The statement that would be most beneficial would be the balance sheet. The balance sheet contains all of the assets to include cash and cash equivalents and current liabilities as well. It is important to know the current ratio for a creditor to determine the worthiness of the company and the ability to pay both short term and long term debts. A manager is going to be concerned with all statements.When questions are asked by investors and creditors it usually falls back on the manager. It is important for a manager to know the financial position of an organization as it relates to them. Conclusion It is clear that all financial statements play an important role within an organization. The information needed is dependent on who is reviewing the information . The information needs to be reported accurately and efficiently and will cover a specific point in time or a certain period. References Kimmel, Paul D. (2009) Accounting: Tools for Business Decision Making (3rd ed). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

FDI Report: the Case of Nissan in the UK

Direct investment among the richest countries has been one of the eminent features of the world economy since the mid-1980s. Within this broad trend, Europe features prominently as both a home and host to multinational enterprises (MNEs). Not only did many Japanese and American firms invest massively, but even the most somnolent European firms appeared to awake to the need to look beyond their own national borders. (Thomsen and Woolcock, 1993) In narrow terms, FDI is simply all capital transferred between a firm and its new or established foreign affiliates. In its broadest sense, FDI represents competition: among workers, governments, firms, markets and even economic systems. (ibid) The main objective of this report is to illustrate the motives in relation to firm`s desire to locate some production or other activities in a foreign country. In order to do so, several theories that seek to explain why FDI takes place will be discussed, such as Dunning`s Eclectic Paradigm, Vernon`s Life Cycle model, the Knickerbocker Model and others. Moreover, to evaluate the rationale for FDI, references will be made to the case study of Nissan`s automotive investment in North-East England. Theoretical background The most commonly seen forms of FDI can be determined as: †¢ Merges and Acqusitions; †¢ Privatisation-related investment; †¢ New forms of investment (joint ventures, strategic alliances, licensing and other partnership agreements); †¢ Greenfield investment (a new operation); †¢ Brownfield investment (expansions or re-investment in existing foreign affiliates). (Hill, 2007) One of the first theories explaining multinational firms was created by Hymer (1959). He develops a specific – advantages theory which states that firms need to have internal – specific advantages over domestic rivals, in particular economies of scale and superior product technology, in order to invest in that country. Thereafter, Knickerbocker (1973) emphasise oligopolistic rivalry as an explanation for FDI, with firms investing in each other`s home markets to gain first mover advantages, leading to a follow-the-leader pattern of international investment to reduce risks in an uncertain oligopolistic environment. Furthermore, Vernon`s (1966; 1979) product life-cycle theory explains the shift from export to direct investment in developed and developing countries. Rivalistic firm behaviour drives firms in developed countries to locate lower value added or mature activities in low cost developing countries so that the firm can move up the product cycle and focuse on developing new products therefore sustaining the competibility. Thereafter, the internalisation theory was developed in order to understand why firms invest abroad instead of exporting or licensing to domestic firms. It argues that high transaction cost, such as enforcing contracts, maintaining quality, and keeping proprietary rights over technical and marketing knowledge, may justify direct ovnership (internalisation) of overseas activities. This theory has been expanded to include the transaction costs of political intervention and trade barriers. (Loewendahl, 2001) However, several theoretical studies have started to incorporate the insight from different perspectives into their own disciplines and are acknowledging the important contributions that different approaches can make to each other. (ibid) Dunning has brought together the main principles of there theories and developed Eclectic, also knows as Ownership-Location-Internalisation, paradigm, that clearly identifies these three areas of possible advantage for FDI to take place. (Dunning and Lundan, 2008) Although academically it is still under discussion, most countries seem convinced that inward FDI is benefical for their local economies. (Oxelheim and Ghauri, 2004) The study of Nissan`s automotive investment is a case in point, which will be explained in the following section. Nissan case study A company of Nissan`s automotive investment in North-East England is examined in more detail as: †¢ Nissan succeeded in its demands for a single union plant, which was highly controversial, unprecedented in the UK motor industry, and set the stage for the further investment of Honda and Toyota. †¢ It was the single lagrest investment in the UK at the time of severe industrial decline and the investment represented a turning point for the North-East region development. †¢ The investment signalled the revival of the UK car industry and the emergence of Japan as a major new investor in the UK. The success of Japanese auto manufacturers was compouned by the oil crises in the 1970s, which led to demand for small cars, of which Japan was the lowest cost and most efficient producer (Moore, 1994). Japan`s share of world car production increased from just 1% in 1960 to 27% in 1985. Furthermore, in 1996 Nissan`s share of the world passenger car production, at 5.8%, was the sixth highest in the world and exceeded that of Renault, Rover and Alfa Romeo combined. (Sadler, 1992) With rapid growth at home and abroad, Nissan began overseas production as early as 1962, setting-up in Thailand – the first overseas investment by a Japanese automobile company. By 1990, Nissan had 11 overseas production bases and Nissan UK was established in 1984. (Loewendahl, 2001) In spite of Nissan`s global consolidation in the automotive industry, its financial crisis lead to a strategic partnership between Nissan and Renault in March 1999. This partnership was beneficial for both parties due to the strategic fit between the two companies: †¢ Geogrphic fit: Nissan has a strong presence in Asia-Pacific and North America while Renault is strong in Europe and ahs plants in Latin America. †¢ Business strengths: Nissan is strong in manufacturing capability, product technology, and its supplier technology base, while Renault is strong in management, product planning and product design capabilities. †¢ Product range: Nissan is strong in light trucks and sport utility vehicles (although Nissan`s product portfolio covers nearly all segments), while Renault is strong in passenger cars. Nissan`s major FDI strategy for setting-up production in the European economic community (EEC) was market-seeking, and the UK was Nissan`s largest market in Europe, accounting for one third of Nissan`s sales in Europe in 1982. (Loewendahl, 2001) The economic conditions in several UK regions provided an environment suited to Nissan. While industrial relations in the UK in the early 1980s were not perfect (as far as Nissan was concerned), the Thatcher government promised radical changes. Nissan considered conditions in the North-East to be particulary favourable for establishing a single union and introducing new work practices, because Sunderland would provide an acquiescent workforce that has no tradition of automobile production, in region of high unemployment. (McRae, 1997) The domestic environment in the UK was considered less hostile than in the other major EEC countries and Nissan`s productivity advantage would be most apparent in the British market. In addition, the English language, competitive production cost and availability of government grants were also important. Also factors like Japanese financial services in London, similar commercial and legal systems, low taxes and cultural proximity (Morris, 1988), with a shared interest in gardens, rugby, golf and tea, playing a role in the decision-making of Nissan and other Japanese MNCs (Loewendahl, 2001). With reference to the terminology of Dunning`s eclectic paradigm, there was a high correspondence between the ownership advantages of Nissan and the location advantages of the UK. The UK was also able to meet the requriments of Nissan`s market seeking FDI strategy and project specific needs, as well as Nissan would satisfy the requirements of the UK`s inward investment-led industrial and regional policy. (ibid) Therefore, it can be said that Nissan and the follow-on investment of Honda and Toyota have prevented the collapse of the British car industry and Nissan is propping-up the North-East manufacturing economy. For instance, between 1986 and the end of 1999 the FDI coming from Nissan, Toyota and Honda reached  £4 billion in the UK. In other words, these three MNCs accounted for 80% of the increase in the UK car manufacturing output from 1991 to 1999. Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK is responsible for supplying the European market and managing its supply-chain, nevertheless, it does not have control over strategic activities including research and development, planning or co-ordinating the global network of operations. These activities remain in Japan, with Nissan`s European operations co-ordinated from Brussels. It can be outlined that Nissan (also mentioning Toyota and Honda) have made a positive contribution to the economy of the UK in terms of export, suppliers and job creation. It also applies to Japanese inward investment in other sectors of the economy. However, according to theoretical and empirical research, this particular picture of Japanese investment is shadowed when, for instance, the emphasis is put on the type of jobs being created. While Nissan has been at the centre of new training initiatives in the North-East, the jobs are not high skilled and are characterised by highly intensive work organisation. (Loewendahl, 2001) Conclusion To sum up, the most commonly seen motives for companies to become MNCs and invest in other countries are related to the business perspectives of merges and acquisitions, therefore accessing a foreign market, as well as the benefits of lower wages or more favourable government policies. In long term perspective of attracting FDI, especially from Japanese investors in the UK, a potential threat can be identified in relation to joining the Euro-zone. Japanese companies have invested in the UK in order to serve the European market, and what matters most are currency fluctuations within Europe, not with the dollar and the Yen. With Japanese companies like Nissan concentraiting production in one location and exporting to the rest of the European market, the importance of currency stability is increased. (Loewendahl, 2001) However, a pre-condition for further investment in the UK by Nissan and other Japanese companies may, therefore, be that the UK remains at the heart of economic and political integration in Europe.

Best Practices for Social Science Writing Essay Example for Free

Best Practices for Social Science Writing Essay Practices (24) , social science (10) company About StudyMoose Contact Careers Help Center Donate a Paper Legal Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Complaints When social scientists write their research papers, they usually discuss the methods that they employed in gathering and analyzing their data and the results that they were able to generate using these methods. They however seldom concentrate on the writing process itself (Cuba, 1997). Writing in the field of social science requires the use of insight and research to better understand and make concrete observations and findings about the various behavioral elements. There are many methods of conducting social science studies namely through observations, interviews, surveys and case studies. However, when one starts writing the research paper that would embody these pertinent findings, the writer usually faces the challenges that many social science writers encounter. These problems include the complexities of achieving clarity, the potential for committing biases, writing in the first-person perspective, the use of quotations and in-text citations to support the analysis, and formatting styles particular to the field of social sciences. When writing one’s own research paper, it is important for a scholar in the field of social science to have a grasp of the basic writing techniques peculiar to social science in order to produce an academic paper that is relevant, informative and worth reading. The prevalence of search engines and the use of the World Wide Web have made it easier for scholars nowadays to conduct their studies and research with ease and in an expeditious manner. The libraries and other academic centers which make available to the public the latest references has also contributed to a great extent to achieving academic quality of various writings. Complexities in Achieving Clarity Like any other field of study, effective writing requires constant practice. This entails continuous process of writing, editing and rewriting ideas and use of words to convey these thoughts clearly to the intended audience (Cuba, 1997). Oftentimes, students of social science put off writing their research paper until they have completed doing all their research and compiled their bibliography. This practice however sometimes leads to insufficient time in writing the paper itself. In order to achieve clarity when writing a social science research paper, Hult (1996) enumerated the two components that must be considered: rhetorical question and organization. The components of a rhetorical situation include 1) the writer’s purpose; 2) the writer’s persona; 3) the potential readers or audience; 4) the subject matter and; 5) the appropriate language or tone (Hult, 1996). In starting the research write-up, the writer must determine the purpose of his paper and he must be able to define it clearly throughout the entire paper. The purpose need not be complex. A simple purpose will do so long as the readers can have a grasp of what the research is all about. Writers in the field of social science must also avoid writing in the first-person persona as this will affect the objectivity of their research. Identifying the intended audience will also help the writer in deciding what specific issues to discuss and what areas to avoid. For example, a person writing in the field of political science will have to consider political analysts as his potential readers. The subject matter is the most important aspect of the rhetorical situation (Hult, 1996). A writer must carefully select his thesis statement and decide from the materials gathered what facts must be included as well as those which need not be discussed. Furthermore, the research writer might also consider providing a glossary of terms when writing on a technical subject in order to make it easier for the readers to understand the language and tone of the research paper. Omitting Biases and Avoiding First Person Writing Style It is not uncommon practice in the field of social science to write using the first person persona. Writing from the first person perspective however indicates subjectivity in arriving at one’s own research findings and this in turn diminishes the objectivity of the research. In order to be more persuasive, the writer must couch his paper from a third person perspective so as to avoid the impression that he is impelled more by his own biases rather than reporting the facts gathered from relevant data. Omitting biases should be the foremost consideration of every social science writer because this field requires objectiveness and keen understanding of the facts and data. Unlike writers in the field of literature who have unbridled discretion to unleash their feelings and emotions in their papers, social science writers are bound by their duty to report the facts as they appear and not as they think it should be. The field of social science is primarily detail-oriented and must be supported by relevant, empirical, and reliable facts. In order to avoid biases, the writer must always dwell on the facts gathered and must use relevant sources to support his findings. Primary and secondary sources play an important role in the persuasiveness of one’s research work because the extent of the credibility of a research paper is to a great extent determined by the depth of research done by the researcher to support his study. The writer must also avoid labeling his chosen population or individual participants to avoid offending the readers. When dealing with a particular ethnic group or race, it is advisable to call them as they would like to be called. In order to avoid language biases, use the terminology applicable in the research itself. For example, when reporting on a study conducted on two types of participants, it is advisable to describe them according to how they were classified in the given study provided the labels are in themselves not offensive per se. Minimizing the Use of Quotations A writer’s source material must be in the form of paraphrases and summaries. However, paraphrased materials must still be properly documented either through in-text citations or footnotes or endnotes. Hult (1996) added that putting source material in your own words will improve the flow of your paper since the paraphrased style will blend with your own writing style and will thus contribute to its consistency. Minimize the use of direct quotations. The use of too many direct quotations distracts the reader and it also minimizes coherence of the writing style. It also leaves the impression that the writer knows little about his topic and is in fact relying heavily on what others have come up with (Hult, 1996). What the writer can do is paraphrase or summarize the portion of the materials used and document it properly. If using direct quotes cannot be avoided, the following principles are helpful in incorporating them smoothly in the research paper. First, when using quotations with four lines or less in length, enclose them with quotation marks and incorporate them in the text. Second, quotes should be introduced using the verb tense which is consistent with the tense of the quoted material. Third, change the capital letter to lower case and vice versa, within the quote if necessary. Fourth, enclosed in brackets the letter or words inserted inside the quoted material to separate them from the quoted material itself. Fifth, use ellipsis to signal that a material has been omitted from the quote. Sixth, punctuate the direct quote as it appears from the original. Seventh, a period or a comma which is part of the quote should be placed inside the quotation marks. Eighth, use a colon to introduce a quote which is more than one sentence or if the introductory material prior to the quoted portion is too long. Ninth, use a comma for short quotes (Hult, 1996). Using In-text Citations to Support Analysis A researcher who intends to make use on in-text citation in his write-up should keep in mind the American Psychological Association (APA) style which requires the use of past tense or present perfect tense when referring to earlier research materials. For example, it is incorrect to say â€Å"Smith (2008) states that†¦Ã¢â‚¬  when referring to Smith’s research findings. Instead, the researcher must employ the past or present perfect tense; hence, the in-text citation should appear like this: â€Å"Smith (2008) stated/has stated that†¦Ã¢â‚¬  In-text citations must follow the author-date format under the APA citation style, e. g. , (Smith, 2008) and a complete documentation of the source must appear in the reference list. Electronic sources are cited in the same manner as citing a printed document, e. g. , (Purdue University Online Writing Lab, 2008). For sources with no date available, place â€Å"n. d. † (meaning â€Å"no date†) after the author’s last name, e. g. , (Smith, n. d. ). Formatting Expectations A writer must see to it that his paper is professional in appearance. This is not to say however that attention to format should be every social science writer’s foremost consideration. It is also equally important to confer with your instructor as to what should be the appropriate format style for the particular paper. When preparing the paper, it is best to be conservative when it comes to formatting style rather than be ostentatious and vulgar, thus making the paper look less serious and informal. Hence, margin must not be justified on both side of the page but only on the left side only. The American Psychological Association (APA) is the most commonly used citation style format in the field of social sciences. The guidelines provided under the APA provides a useful tool in writing research papers, using in-text citations and reference page and using footnotes or endnotes. Under the APA formatting style, page headers are required to be placed in the upper right-hand of every page. This page header must contain the first two to three words of the title followed by the page number. The title page should already show include the page header. A running head must also appear on the first line of the title page flush-left. On the upper half of the page, centered, the full title of the paper, the name of the writer and university or affiliation must be indicated (Purdue University Online Writing Lab, 2008). Research papers are normally comprised of the title page, the abstract (if appropriate), the main body, the references, and the appendixes (if appropriate). The abstract need not be written for short research papers but for published research reports, an abstract is always required regardless of the length of the paper (Hult, 1996). Appendix may be used to include raw data and other information that need not appear in the main body but is likewise important in the research paper. It is located after the reference page and is labeled sequentially in letters. The reference page must include all the sources used in the research paper. The sources must be in alphabetical order by author’s last name and need not be numbered. Conclusion Writing is a necessary aspect of social research (Cuba, 1997). A good research means that the writer gave great effort in collecting and organizing his data as well as in organizing his findings in a coherent and scholarly manner suitable to the academic community he intends to present his study to. In preparing the research paper, every writer in the field of social science must consider the pertinent style guides applicable. The writing process is an analytic strategy that can only be improved through practice. This necessarily means that every social science researcher preparing his paper must open to revisions. The first draft must not be the final paper. Every writer must be also be willing to take constructive criticism from his colleagues because all too often, a writer cannot see the errors of his own work unless others point them out. Letting others read your research paper will help you in assessing some of the loopholes in your own arguments. Writing in the field of social sciences is an important aspect of the research itself because the manner in which a given study is presented contributes to the persuasiveness of the one’s findings and output. As such, it is important to be familiar with the writing techniques, styles, and formats applicable in your field of research so as to avoid mistakes and errors in presenting your research. The APA citation format style is a helpful tool in the social sciences and every scholar in this field must familiarize himself this formatting to avoid the inconvenience of revising and rewriting the research paper. The social science paper must be formal as to its structure and form and the writer must avoid using first person persona that is usually employed in the literary field. The sentences must be well-crafted and concise and must clearly reflect in a coherent and thorough manner the findings of the researcher without the need of extravagant words or details. Social science research writing is a challenging task for every writer. It requires practice and hard work just like collecting the data itself. It is an inevitable part of every researcher’s academic life and it cannot be avoided. Hence, every researcher must be familiar with the format and style peculiar to this field in order to increase the success of one’s research paper. References Cuba, Lee (1997). Short Guide to Writing About Social Science (4th Ed. ). Addison-United States: Wesley Educational Publishers Inc. Gerring, John, Yesnowitz, Joshua & Bird, Stephen (2004). General Advice on Social Science Writing. Retrieved August 1, 2008 from http://people. bu. edu/jgerring/documents/Adviceonessaywriting. pdf Hult, Christine (1996). Researching and Writing in the Social Sciences. Boston, Allyn and Bacon. Hess, Diana (2007). From Banished to Brother Outsider, Miss Navajo to An Inconvenient Truth: Documentary Films as Perspective-Laden Narratives. Social Education 71 (4), 194-199. McDonald, Susan, MD. Social Science Writing Guide. Retrieved August 1, 2008 from http://www. emayzine. com/lectures/writing. htm Mullen, Carol (2006). Best Writing Practices for Graduate Students: Reducing the Discomfort of the Blank Screen. Retrieved August 1, 2008 from http://cnx. org/content/m14054/latest/ Przeworski, Adam and Salomon, Frank (1995). The Art of Writing Proposals: Some Candid Suggestions to Social Science Research Council Competitions. Social Science Research Council. Retrieved August 1, 2008 from http://fellowships. ssrc. org/art_of_writing_proposals/ Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) (19 June 2008). APA Formatting and Style Guide. Retrieved August 2, 2008 from http://owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/resource/560/01/http://Web address for OWL resource. Watts, Michael. The Holy Grail: In Pursuit of the Dissertation Proposal. Institute of International Studies. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved August 1, 2008 from http://globetrotter. berkeley. edu/DissPropWorkshop/process/InPursuitofPhD. pdf Best Practices for Social Science Writing. (2016, Aug 01). We have essays on the following topics that may be of interest to you

Financial Intermediaries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial Intermediaries - Essay Example An understanding of Financial Institution A financial intermediary can be defined as an institution that acts as the middleman between investors and firms raising funds. (Investopedia, 2012) Several types of financial intermediaries such as Banks, Insurance companies, building societies, pension funds, credit unions etc functions in an economy. The function of a financial intermediary is of prime importance in economic growth as it brings in contact two parties i.e. one having a surplus of funds who is looking for a venture to invest in so to earn a return on the money, and the second type which is looking to borrow funds. Since in the real world, it is rare that the demand of lender and borrower reconcile and thus a financial intermediary comes into play. A financial intermediary, such as banks, acquires funds from the lenders and subsequently lends them to the borrowers according to their desire rates. In this particular exercise the financial intermediary takes into consideration various needs of the lender and borrower such as maturity (which means the duration or term for which the lender wants to lend and the borrower wants to acquire) and rate of return/cost of debt (the lender wants to maximize the return, whereas the borrower wants to minimize the cost). ... In addition, the financial intermediary also offers risk aversion which assists the parties involved in spreading out and reducing the risk. Common Functions of Financial Institutions There are three main ways in which capital is transferred between savers and the one who needs it. In the first procedure, the saver directly receives stocks or bonds which a business sells. This transaction is done in the absence of any financial institution. The business in order to get the money it needs, provide savers with its securities. The second way is indirect way, which includes an investment banking house such as Merill Lynch, which underwrites the issue. Underwriter here plays the role of a middleman and guarantees the issuance of securities. The stocks or bonds of the company are sold to the investment bank, which in turn sells these same securities to the savers. In such transaction, the business’s securities and the savers money is only passing through the investment banking house . It should be noted that in this particular transaction that the investment bank buys the securities and held them for a particular period of time. By doing so the investment bank is taking a risk that it may not be able to resale these securities in the future for as much amount as it paid. This transaction is termed as a primary market transaction. The third way is an indirect way in which transfer is made through a financial intermediary such as bank or mutual fund. In this case, by exchanging its own security, the intermediary obtains funds from the saver. After acquiring the funds, the intermediary purchases businesses’ security with the money it obtained from the saver. For example, a bank

Memorandum of Law Paper - Should men get paternity leave from work Essay

Memorandum of Law Paper - Should men get paternity leave from work - Essay Example Nonetheless, the giving men paternity leave should be considered necessary and healthy for the growth of the child at his or her earlier stages of growth as well as for the wife. Different nations often have different laws and regulations managing the paternity leave. Most countries offer paid parental leave that is immensely considered maternity leave. However, this kind of leave is only for employees who have worked in their current job or with their current employers for a certain period of time that is either specified by different labour laws or different company policies and regulations. The national laws usually vary significantly depending on the politics governing each jurisdiction. Before analysing the benefits of paternity leave either to the mother or the father, it is vital to analyse the existing child care policies (Einarsdo?ttir 85). Constitutionally, there are three vital child care policies that include the parental leave policies, child care policies, and early chi ldhood policies. The parental leave policies often assist the employed parents prior to giving birth. These policies require that the parents remain home for a period that they are able to take good care for the child once he or she is born. The main advantage of these policies is that they allow parents (who in most cases, is the mother) to prepare psychologically and materially for the coming of the child. Otherwise, they may be caught unaware, and such may lead to complications in many different ways. The child care policies targets at assisting parents in the non parental child care (Valdimarsdo?ttir 55). These policies are vital in subsidizing any type of care the parent may be will to select or rather public parenting programs. However, it should be noted that the child care programs serve the working and the non working parents. Finally, there are the early childhood benefits (English 23). These are new policies that have been initiated to support parents in all their day to day child care. In the United States, the government offers the early childhood benefits in the form of cash grants that aim at covering the costs for caring for infants and or toddlers. The United States among other countries including Liberia, Swaziland, and Papua New Guinea are the only states in the entire globe that do not have national laws mandating paid time off for the parents expecting or having new born. However, in the United States, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) provides up to twelve weeks of potentially unpaid but job protected leave. This kind of leave also engulfs the parental leave, and it is usually provided to all American workers (Einarsdo?ttir 57). Therefore, provided that the provides unpaid leaves, men should be allowed parental leave to help in early childhood caring since the employer is not bound to any liability of time wastage or paying an employee for the time he never worked. It should be noted that the state of California never mandat es paid family leaves including parental leave for the same sex partners. Except of the above tensioned countries, many countries often offer more than ten paid weeks of maternity leave. Nearly 163 countries constitutionally give women paid maternity leave and the same leave should be given to men. It is necessary to note that parental leave is essential for both parents

Response paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Response paper - Essay Example These include India and China such that they can implement cleaner energy sources which other developed states are using. Clean energy sources include natural gas and nuclear, which are currently in use in rich states though they have taken long to reach at this development stage, a trend that started with coal. This is because as states become richer, they start focusing on how to limit emissions of obnoxious air pollutants as well as cleaning water for their respective citizens. Consequently, this prompts to the hypothesis people result to using cleaner sources of energy as their wealth continues to grow though they consume more energy. Despite this argument holding to be true among certain states, the notion of allowing individual states to pollute environment while trying to grow their economies is impractical. I do not agree that individual states should continue to pollute environment as long as their economies are growing. This is because through their respective authorities t hese states can adopt clean, cheap and even efficient energy sources, which are friendly to the environment like producer gas instead of coal or other related fuels whose emissions result to Greenhouse Gases. These states can also come up with effective processes meant to lessen usage of traditional fuels and reduce on their effluents, which in most cases end up disposed in water bodies. Therefore, they do not have any viable reason to support their claims towards contributing to environmental degradation in the name of enhancing or stabilizing their economies to equal those of developed states. Intentional pollution by these states while stabilizing their economies will only result to worse incidences that endanger their citizens’ lives besides prompting regimes to incur unnecessary expenses. This is evident in China where over the recent years and even up to date the state records high levels of both air and water pollutions. The latter is due to uncontrolled and careless r elease of obnoxious effluents from industries that channel their waste into water bodies especially in Beijing. Recently, environmental studies have confirmed all 37 Beijing Rivers their levels of contamination are beyond acceptable limits in terms of contamination. Consequently, this endangers lives of approximately 70 million people who depend on these rivers for water, which comprise the region’s five major water systems. Based on this rate of pollution, by allowing states to contaminate environment while trying to ensure intensive industrialization only results to pulling them downwards economically. This is because these states end up spending much money through their respective authorities in clean water bodies to obtain safe water for their desperate citizens. Colossal amount of money used to remove debris and other contaminants from these rivers regimes, could have avoided them earlier by not allowing intentional pollution. Water pollution in China has not only yielde d to making water unsafe for people but also aquatic life forms where the country currently experiences mass dying of fish in rivers. This is because of obnoxious pollutants from both industries and residential areas thrown in rivers. Similar losses incurred by the state though on the part of motorists were evident during the last concluded Olympics where the government

Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Movie Review Example For that reason, people need to come up with solutions for this crisis. In this essay, I shall try to review the solutions given in the documentary. First, we shall tackle water wastage. It is a miracle that people can take up to one hour in the shower. This is a clear wastage of water. People need to take shorter showers or better yet resort to baths, which would require the use of less water. The film also talks about the pollution of fresh water sources that prevent the use of water. An example of such pollution involves the use of the herbicide Atrazine. This herbicide is still used in the United States of America, despite being banned in countries such as Switzerland. The herbicide is so toxic that it decreases fertility in human males by reducing their sperm count and also causes prostrate and breast cancer. Therefore to solve this problem, the state needs to ban the use of all toxic chemicals that pollute our fresh water reservoirs. The next documentary that I shall review is called â€Å"The Intersection Between Justice and Sustainability: Voices and Views from South Phoenix†. This documentary mainly involves interviews carried out on the residents of South Phoenix. In this essay, I shall reflect on the actions taken by community leaders profiled in the film to address the 10 sustainability principles. In every city, social inequality, marginalization, and containment are some of common injustices experienced. One of these community leaders is Steve Brittle the founder of Don’t Waste Arizona. This is a non-profit environmental organization that was formed to protect, conserve, and preserve human and natural environment. One of the main problems that Phoenix faces comes from Innovative Waste Utilization. This company is located in a neighborhood mainly comprising of African American and Latino families and poses great hazard to these families. Furthermore, this waste facility planned to

Social Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Social Science - Essay Example The average teenager of the 21st century has turned sexually active much earlier than his predecessors. Premarital sex, it would seem, is increasingly a way of life for youth; even if it comes with the risk of pregnancy, abortion, AIDS, sexual diseases and mental conflicts. How does it begin and how does it end? Pre-marital sex in the far distant past was defined as sex with one person, which ultimately resulted in marriage. In today’s context however, premarital sex leads to month long relationships. Sex with many men/women before finally finding someone to ‘settle down with’ is the norm. Alcohol and drugs are some factors for sex that takes place on campus. There are other reasons too. The peer pressure to indulge in premarital sex is one. And then there is the internet, supplying our teenage world with all the sexual material it needs. Pornography, chat rooms, and a zillion other sites are distributing sex freely. Porn is easily accessible these days with the Internet, the Cyber cafes and the VCD parlors doing brisk business with pirated CDs. A random survey of ten of these parlors revealed that most of the business in some of the shops comes from the porn CDs’ rather than the regular movie CDs. Judging then from the popular sentiments, today’s youth believes that premarital sex is not a crime. Technology has brought in a sexual revolution. The Internet helps access so much of material on sex. All for free. This I think has contributed to the sexual awareness. There is also a lot of misinformation around.   Sex is one of the most powerful forces in our lives and we repress it at our own cost. If you let people do what they want to do, they will have sex. Period. The only exception is if people have a biological problem or have been thoroughly brainwashed, to withhold sex until marriage. Premarital sex is a huge problem in society today; the numbers are staggering.

Leadership Factors that are Needed to Deliver Organizational Success Research Paper

Leadership Factors that are Needed to Deliver Organizational Success - Research Paper Example Several qualities of the leaders like participatory nature, communicating ability and transparency make them front runners of the developmental process and they help the organization in keeping the efforts of the total team united and coherent which in turn would lead to highest quality output. Several theories also explain the way in which leaders aid in organizational success by dealing with odd situations and by providing contingency planning and strategic management. The successful leadership examples like Bill Gates of Microsoft Corporation and Donald John Trump of Trump illustrate that the leadership is an integrated process of leading from the front, dynamism, motivation, confidence, risk-bearing ability and participatory teamwork and hence they could make their organizations superior in the World and they become inspiring persons for the young people who would become leaders of the organizations in the future. Leadership is a vital component that decides the success of any organization. Leadership is nothing but the process of making a forward leap in decision making and guiding the other members of the team towards fulfilling the objectives of the organization or mission (Grey, 2009). The main factor that helps the organization through leadership is the infusion of the element of motivation in the minds of the team members because of which all the members would work with the highest level of energy and enthusiasm leading to the higher level of organizational efficiency. Leadership, in general, contributes to the success of an organization by making the team members more confident about the tasks performed in their jobs (Malphurs, 2006). This makes them more understandable with a higher level of clarity about the direction of operation of work for attaining the maximum productivity of the goods and services. Leadership also ensures a higher level of quality in the final products as it allows more free flow of information among the members and tries to minimize the element of error (Thompson and McHugh, 2009).

Efficiency in a Unit of a District Health Authority Essay

Efficiency in a Unit of a District Health Authority - Essay Example Also, managers will have a hard job ÃŽ ¿f finding out how to improve things. Good communication ensures that people are all aiming and working towards one common goal. By communicating effectively the management can explain objectives and employees have the chance to share their views. There are many ways that managers can communicate with the staff it can be written or verbal. There is a lack ÃŽ ¿f formality with staff and the workplace is ÃŽ ¿f a relaxed atmosphere. There is not a lot ÃŽ ¿f organisational structure evident this is apparent as the dietary department is run by a team and there is no manager, however, there is a senior nurse. Nurses had to help with administrative duties to help clear the backlog. They were doing the job ÃŽ ¿f the receptionist; the receptionist was not carrying out their duties. There are a mixture ÃŽ ¿f views on how the department should be run. It is good to have a mixture ÃŽ ¿f views however this can cause conflict and also shows lack ÃŽ ¿f direction. When employees have different views they will priories differently. With a proper organisation, chart introduced it would help to overcome the informality within the department as it would clearly state the different staff levels and make objectives become unified. Authority will then flow through the hierarchy. Hierarchies can motivate staff. Maslow’s hierarchy ÃŽ ¿f needs show that different things motivate people and that they have needs to be satisfied. Employees must be satisfied to work properly. He also theorized that a person could not recognise or pursue the next higher need in the hierarchy unit her or his recognized need was substantially or completely satisfied, a concept called Prepotency. According to various works of literature on motivation, it suggests that individuals often have problems consistently articulating what they want from a job and this would have been no different in the case ÃŽ ¿f East Neasden’s clinical staff. Therefore, a problem could be that the non- clinical staff such the general manager ignored that these members ÃŽ ¿f staff said that they want, instead of telling them what he ( the new general manager) wants, based on what managers believe most people want under the circumstances.  Ã‚  

Personal Action Plan Essay Example for Free

Personal Action Plan Essay My life has been an unusual life; I have chosen to leave my culture and explore many others’ cultures to find myself and who I am. I have been able to have this life’s experience because I live in a country that is accepting of diverse individuals. But, I have to live with the negative aspects of not living by the status-quo; by the way I chose to represent myself to the world. To make a long story short, I am tall, scary, and I chose to dress and conduct myself as a hip-hop urban individual and that comes with consequences; so I consider every situation that I find myself in a scenario that I would make someone feel uncomfortable. But, I will make my scenario out of my comfort zone, just being in public. 1. When in public, I observe older individuals uncomfortable around me, and thy tend to hold their purses or bags close to their bodies; immigrants tend to be uncomfortable around me due the negative stereotypes given to white men, but some are very true! And most white individuals treat me as if were sell-out or I am trying to be black. 2. Most situations are out of my comfort zone due to the ignorance of others; I always what to be respectful of others and not be as ignorant as others, so I always let them have the ‘upper-hand’ to keep the civility in the situation. 3. The main thing that I have learned from others’ negativity is that I can only control how I act, and only I can make others’ perception of me change for the better. 4. The types of things I notice about people are just as I stated before, I observe older individuals uncomfortable around me, and thy tend to hold their purses or bags close to their bodies; immigrants tend to be uncomfortable around me due the negative stereotypes given to white men, but some are very true! And most white individuals treat me as if were sell-out or I am trying to be black. 5. I do observe social-conscious individuals; they tend to find themselves loving everyone and after they talk to me for a while, I believe they find their minds change for least a day. 6. The social inequality I observe on a daily system is how individuals with money have such a distain for individuals who are homeless; when I find an individual warming up to me, they will make an insensitive remark about someone else. 7. My comfort level has change over the years due to my relationship I have with myself; I know who I am, who I care about, and I find that the good I do in my life comes out in my personality, and others will notice by my actions. 8. My life’s experience has shown me to be more socially conscious due to pit-falls I have had in my life. I have been at the very top and been brought to the very bottom, and the individuals at the top have the most work to do on their souls. 9. The traits that I exhibit in public are: To be humble at all times; to be tolerant of other’s; and not judge a book by it’s cover. 10. I feel the only trait of intolerance that I need to work on is my inability to forgive individuals who have gone astray and choose to steal and do wrong.

Cross-cultural Training for Expatriate Managers Essay Example for Free

Cross-cultural Training for Expatriate Managers Essay The emergence theories of charismatic and transformational leadership have formed our understanding of these topics in the past decade. While the terms charisma and transformational leadership have often been interchanged, Bass (1990) clarifies that charisma forms a part of transformational leadership. Within Bass’s approach, transformational leadership includes charisma (providing a vision and a sense of mission and raising follower’s self-expectations), intellectual stimulations (assisting employees emphasize rational solutions and challenge old assumptions), and individualized consideration (developing employees and coaching). Furthermore, Bass (1990) emphasized that transformational leadership also goes beyond transactional leadership (or contingent reward such as the exchange of rewards for efforts) in elevating leaders and helping followers achieve higher levels of organizational functioning. Hence with an increased level of interest in conceptual framework of transformational leadership, several studies have documented the benefits and importance of changing leadership styles. Koh et al. (1995) study show that there is a significant correlation between transformational leadership facets and organizational functioning. In fact, the study shows that subordinates’ satisfaction with their supervisors is associated with the extent which supervisors manifest transformational leadership. In addition, several researches suggest the importance of transformational leadership as a precursor to some aspects of financial performance (Howell and Frost 1989, Howell and Avolio 1993). Ultimately, the significance of transformational leadership in an organization cannot be adequately understood without comprehending how changing leadership styles is both possible and likely to result in changes in subordinates’ perceptions, attitudes, or performance. Barling et al.’s (1996) research suggests that an effective training program on developing transformational leadership at different organizational levels can increase an employee’s morale, commitment, and overall performance. Barling et al.’s (1996) study also extends prior researches (Kirkpatrick and Locke 1996, Howell and Frost 1989) suggesting that there is strong positive correlation between transformational leadership, commitment, and financial performance. In line with this, the case of United Motors Company (UMC) suggests developing the company culture to better respond to the market needs. As such, one of the goals of H. Arthur Grommet was to develop and to hone leadership skills at different managerial levels. Because Mr. Grommet had inherited the most conservative and bureaucratic management in the industry, he organized a management traineeship program wherein management trainees were recruited from top business schools in the US, and selection from internal management to participate in the training program was also done. The program, â€Å"LeaderMex† was then developed with the mission to identify, train, and monitor UMC’s managers who have strong performance records and the desire to work for their new subsidiary in Mexico. The high-profile program indicates that participants will assume positions with high responsibility and is a â€Å"fast-track† program in identifying potential leaders within the company. Individuals who qualify for the program are expatriated to Mexico and undergo rotations within at least two corporate divisions from three to five years. After which, the employees are promoted to higher positions after two years upon return to the US. While the LeaderMex program is aimed at identifying internal leaders within the company, Human Resources has noted numerous problems that have faced by expatriate managers. At the start, there was no human relations program in place. Managers undergo a three day seminar on labor law and complete a language course before going to Mexico. However, as human relations realize that language alone is not a barrier, the organization recognized the need for a specific training on cultural awareness and the effect of cultural differences on employee attitudes and performance. In response to the problems, a â€Å"cultural awareness† training program has been developed for managers prior to their relocation and assignment to Mexico. A series of trainings were developed for managers to understand how to work in different cultural environment and in how to handle human relations problems that may arise in the course of operations in Mexico. Top management has recommended the following goals for the training program design: (1) introducing managers to the cultural differences between the United States and Mexico, (2) presenting some typical problems American managers face in that company as well as solutions to the problems, and (3) reducing the amount of time needed to adapt to managing in Mexico. Top management has assigned the Human Resources staff members, and possibly using the services of external consultant, in conducting the training program. The value of the â€Å"cultural awareness† program in this case cannot be overemphasized. UMC’s move to set-up a subsidiary in Mexico only presents the increased internationalization and interpersonal cross-cultural contact within the company. In an effort to regain competitiveness in the global automotive industry, the need for UMC to develop the requisite skills in its employees to work within diverse cultures has become an important component in its strategy. Moreover, as UMC has created the LeaderMex program to expatriate leaders in order to build and integrate the technology and culture of the new subsidiary, UMC must provide support functions for expatriate leaders in the new subsidiary. As such, a number of studies advocate cross-cultural training as a means of facilitating the expatriate’s ability to adjust to the new environment (Brislin 1981; Landis and Brislin 1983; Mendenhall and Oddou 1986; Tung, 1987). The need for the support structures in training for the expatriate program can be seen in the cost of an expatriate assignment. According to the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) survey in 2002, a three year expatriate assignment for an employee with a $75,000 to $100,000 base salary costs an employer $1 million total. Moreover, the cost of a poor staffing decision could range from $200,000 to $1.2 million (the figure only includes identifiable costs associated with compensation, training, development, etc.), and the rate of expatriate failures[1] ranges from 10% to 45%. The cost of an expatriate assignment, therefore, demonstrates how measurement and evaluation of the assignments are crucial for companies. Ultimately, the lack of necessary preparation, HR assistance and appropriate support for repatriation is the culprit for expatriates’ failure. In fact, the lack of understanding on the different dimensions of national culture in Mexico can lead to expatriates failures. Hostede (1993) identified the five dimensions of national culture as follows: (1) individualism-collectivism[2], (2) uncertainty avoidance[3], (3) masculinity-feminity[4], (4) power distance[5], and (5) time orientation[6]. Awareness of these dimensions will help develop cross-cultural preparation programs that include meaningful information regarding the culture the expatriates will find themselves working in. In addition, Minehan (2004) suggests that US expatriates in Mexico should understand cultural dimensions in four aspects. First, American assignees need a real understanding of the relationship between the two nations, Mexico and the U.S. In most cases Mexican colleagues will have a lot more knowledge of the U.S. than vice versa. Second, Americans are perceived to be arrogant and inflexible. For Mexicans, relationships are paramount. People in Mexico obey people, not rules. In the US, people obey rules, not people. Third, language proficiency may not necessarily be a requirement in conducting business; nevertheless, proficiency in Spanish can help assignees forge and develop interpersonal relationships. Speaking the language goes a long way in helping the expatriate gain respect among colleagues. Fourth, crime rates is a serious issue in Mexico, and expatriates must be willing to adapt to whatever security measures are required to keep them safe. Understanding these key aspects of Mexico’s culture and history can go a long way in establishing good working relationships in the new environment. While the content of the training program should highlight and assess the US expatriates understanding of Mexican culture and history, the training program should undergo different phases in the process. Noe (2002) suggest that the training program should have three phases: Phase 1 involves the pre-departure training, Phase 2 involves the on-site training, and Phase 3 is on the repatriation training. The pre-departure training should involve employees learning the language and an orientation in the new country’s culture and customs. Noe (2002) suggest that the type of training most suitable would be language training, cultural awareness and sensitivity training, and daily living training. Language training can be conducted in a classroom type setting, videos, or an interactive learning through conversations. Cultural awareness and sensitivity training aims to familiarize expatriates with cultural attitudes, communication styles, and cultural assumptions of the community. It also introduces the expatriates on the core cultural values, bias, and stereotypes that visitors need to be aware of. Daily living training includes providing expatriates with information about schools, housing, recreation and sports, shopping, transportation, utilities, banking, and health care facilities in the country. The on-site training involves continued orientation to the host country and its customs and cultures through formal programs or through a mentoring relationship. The type of training suggested by the Bureau of National Affairs’ Human Resources Library includes continued language training, orientation, and mentoring. It is advisable that every employee sent overseas for training has a person who is responsible for well-being and is two levels above them in the corporation. That person is tasked with ensuring that the offshore employee is kept in the loop and comes home periodically for meetings or just to hang out. In addition, the continued orientation to the host country through a mentor both for the expatriate and his/her family is a must during the adjustment process. It is important to maintain an active communication and provide company newsletters to expatriates as well. The repatriation prepares employees for return to the home country. It aims to reduce stress level and anxiety when they return. It is important to continue mentoring in the process and to organize career planning discussions with the expatriate. Repatriation phase is important and valuable to the company as expatriates have been equip with a good understanding of the global marketplace having been immersed in the different market. Expatriates also bring a global vision to day-to-day company practices. More importantly, they can be crucial members of international task forces and if left â€Å"un-valued†, they can become significant assets to competitors. The three phases are important in the overall training-program design and maximizing the return on investment of training-program. Nonetheless, it is important to note that while the LeaderMex program goal is to improve its market position by integrating the new subsidiary to UMC’s, the key of ensuring a sound global business is building a solid infrastructure with local talent. In the end, outstanding global organizations will hire the outstanding local people in every business around the world. LeaderMex will ultimately play an important role in the initial stages of building a company in a foreign location, but in the long run, a qualified, well-trained group of local managers will be the key factor to success. And, the reason for the development local managers can be because of the high costs associated with sending parent country nationals to foreign country with a high failure rate. Other benefits of developing local talents include local manager’s knowledge of the local market and business practices, cultural preferences, and local connections (Hsieh and Lavoie 1999). References Barling, J, Weber, T, and Kelloway K. (1996). Effects of Transformational Leadership Training on Attitudinal and Financial Outcomes: a Field Experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology 81 (6): 827-832. Bass, BM (1990). From transactional to transformational leadership: Learning to share the vision. Organizational Dynamics, 18(3): 19-36. Bass, BM and Avolio, BJ (1990). Transformational leadership development: Manual for the multifactor leadership questionnaire. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press. The Bureau of National Affairs’Human Resources Library. (2000). Preparing Expatriates for Global Assignments. Corporate Leadership Council (1999). Effective Repatriation Strategies. Corporate Leadership Council (2001). Cultural Training for Expatriates. Hofstede, G. (1993). Cultural Constraints in Management Theories. Academy of Management Executive, 7, 81-94. Howell, JM and Frost PJ (1989). A laboratory study or charismatic leadership. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 43: 243-269. Hsieh, T. and Lavoie, J. (1999). Think global, hire local. McKinsey Quarterly. Joinson, C. (2002). Save thousands for expatriate. 47, 7. Kirkpatrick, SA, and Locke EA (1996). Direct and indirect effects of three core charismatic leadership components on performance and attitudes. Journal of Applied Psychology 81:36-51. Koh, WL, Steers, RM, and Terborg JR (1995). The effects of transformational leadership on teacher attitudes and student performance in Singapore. Journal of Organizational Behavior 16: 319-333. Mercer, W.M. (2000). Expatriates Risk Management Survey. Minehan, M. (2004). Prepping U.S. Employees for Mexican Success. SHRM Global Forum. Noe, R.A. (2002). Employee Training and Development. New York, NY: McGraw Hill. SwaakR.A. Expatriate Failures. Executive Placement International Human Resources. Tarelli, E. (2003). How to Transfer Responsibilities to Local Nationals. SHRM Global Forum. [1] Expatriate failure is defined as â€Å"employees who return home before completing their assignments† [2] Individualism-collectivism describes the degree to which people act as individuals rather than as members of a group. [3] Uncertainty avoidance refers to the degree to which people prefer structure rather than unstructured situations [4] Masculinity-feminity refers to the extent to which the culture values behavior considered traditionally masculine (competitiveness) or feminine (helpfulness) [5] Power distance refers to expectations for unequal distribution of power in a hierarchy [6] Time orientation refers to the degree to which a culture focuses on the future rather than the past and present.

Effectiveness Of Electronic Medication Administration Record System Information Technology Essay

Effectiveness Of Electronic Medication Administration Record System Information Technology Essay The report will highlight that to enhance technology in clinical setting is not easy. It required lot of support and resources. In-addition technology cannot be successful without well organized plan. It requires long term planning. This report will provide the overview of pilot implementation of electronic medication administration record (eMAR) system. Health care providers need to understand the importance of eMAR its role in improving patient care safety. This system will help to increase patient safety and have extremely positive impact on hospital reputation. It also helps to decrease medication errors and adverse drug reaction via safe medication administration. It also helps to save printing cost. Pilot implementation of the system assist in identifying issues related to medication administration error in hospital setting. Thus, help to understand how IT processes help to enhance safety. It further helps to understand analyze benefits of the system and how IT facilitates can reduce the chances of error by having robust computerized system. This paper helps to identify users anxiety to accept the IT systems and little modification in programming helps to get positive outcome. This paper investigates why IT systems are unsuccessful and suggest computer literacy and simple modification and technical support to users will help to expedite the process to achieve everlasting solutions to provide quality and safe care to the patients Introduction: The quality of patient care and safety is one of the most significant aspects of health care sector. Nursing and medical professionals face increased need of using information technology in day to day operations with an overall aim of improving the quality of care by increasing patients safety. Currently, hospitals facing patient safety issue related to medication administration. Numerous studies conducted to identify number of medication administration error. Stoppler (2006) pointed it as Approximately 1.3 million people are injured annually in the United States following so-called medication errors. Chiang (2008) supported this issue as Medication errors have been a major concern of patient safety initiatives for all health care systems of the world. Internationally health care facilities are struggling hard to increase patient safety via safe medication administration, because existing paper base medication administration record process is not safe and presented with large number of errors. Russo, (2007) stated that, current paper based medication administration record (MAR) is an inefficient process with no decisive workflow, that places needless stress on nursing staff and lead to illegible entries can resulted in medication administration errors. Therefore, to maintain the quality of drug dose administration and to prevent medication administration errors, electronic medication administration record (eMAR) system, is found to be significant. Few studies suggested that eMAR is a bedside medication administration recording tool providing new levels of recording medication administration activities by dropping error rates and making the administration of medications safer for patients. This report aims to outline the background to implement eMAR system, process of implementation, strength weakness of newly developed system and potential benefits on complete implementation to develop insights about newly developed electronic system for medication administrat ion record. Background: At my institution in 2006 during Joint Commission International Accreditation (JCIA) survey, auditors were not able to find out the administration record of one of the drug of a patient. This generated a thought to have electronic records for all the care provides to the patients. Malloch (2007) highlighted the need of electronic record as: Three specific applications within the electronic record-computerized physician order entry (CPOE), electronic medication administration records (eMAR), and clinical documentation-are impacting patient safety in numerous ways by decreasing incorrect and unnecessary treatments and medications, as well as improving the timeliness of careà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.The benefits from these 3 applications vary, depending on the implementation sequence; some organizations implement each application as separate initiatives, while other organizations have implemented all 3 applications simultaneously. (p. 159) Consequently our organization decided to initiate each application separately. CPOE for medication prescription, dispensation and medication order review had already been implemented in July 2005. Therefore higher management decided to design and develop in-house system of eMAR for safe medication administration as an initial step towards electronic patient record. The purpose was to eradicate manual MAR and replace with eMAR since current paper based MAR sheets had following subsequent issues: Manual administration record are more prone to error Prone to being lost as difficult to manage paper Utilizes large amount of paper Not meeting the JCIA requirement Administration record not available after discharge Data retrieval is difficult from paper based MAR Sheet Paper records are frequently lost unorganized Sloppily written record lead to legibility issues Mekhjian et al (2002) found that manual medication administration charting resulted in a transcription error rate of 11.3 percent whereas transcription errors were completely eliminated via eMAR. Further literature supports that the most common errors reported were administering drugs at the wrong time or neglecting to administer drugs at all. eMAR provided the framework for improvements in patient safety and in the timeliness of care. (Mekhjian, 2002). Bates Cullen (1995) suggested that 78% of errors leading to drug errors are due to inadequate information management system of eMAR. Furthermore, eMAR has gained a foothold in inpatient settings to support medication administration safety. It prevents paper records prone to being lost, incomplete, or misread. California Institute for Health Systems Performance report highlighted that upto 38% of inpatient medication errors occur at the administration stage (Miller et.al, 2001) Solution: Electronic Medication Administration Record System Safe medication administration is one of the most important elements of care. During hospitalization nurses are responsible to administered medication safely to the patients. This activity is performed multiple times in a day for an individual patient. It is a complex process therefore accurate documentation of the medication administration is extremely important. Jylha Saranto (2008) cited: The complexity of the medication management process exposes it to errors, and medication errors can occur at any point in the medication management process. A survey recently conducted in a Finnish hospital showed that more than half of reported adverse events (66%) were medication errors, most of them relating to documentation (33.6%) However, manual MAR had lot of issues related to patient safety and could lead to adverse drug events. Thus, organization decided implement for eMAR because it allows nurses to manage medication administration efficiently as it has the potential to make the administration of medication safer for the patients by reducing error rates (Westbrook, 2007). Therefore following steps were taken: eMAR task force developed to explore the need of technology including hardware software Group reviewed current medication administration process and developed flow diagram for expected system Visited different hospitals in USA to develop understanding of the system and its flow Conducted regular meeting with ISD for system design and development After having vigorous exercise team identified that eMAR could not be implemented completely without right patient identification and right drug identification. This system is heavily dependent on admission and pharmacy system. Therefore bar-coded wrist band bar-coding unit dose system would be pre- requisite. Consequently sub-group was developed to explore bar-coding system for different applications. The purpose to incorporating bar-coding in health care setting is to improve the quality of care by reducing medical error and by decreasing the cost of care for the patient. Thus, admission and pharmacy departments had been involved for bar-coding implementation. After multiple sitting and cost analysis, group decided to break eMAR implementation in 3 different phases Phase 1) Implementation of Barcodes: Patients Armbands for right patient identification for all the inpatients on arrival from admission department Bar-coded medication labels for identification of 5 rights include right patient, right drug, right time, right dose right route. Further pharmacy system generates medication administration schedule; this schedule will be foundation stone for eMAR. Phase 2) Medication Trolley Purchase new medication trolleys with Laptop having wireless connectivity barcode reader to view active drug list due at specific time, to follow 5 rights Phase 3) Online MAR Develop software of eMAR to eliminate manual MAR and initiate online entry after administration in computer to eradicate paper How this will work Nurse will identify the patient by scanning wrist band Nurse will then scan the Medication Cassette Bin of respective patient First RIGHT will be identified at this point Right Patient Nurse will then scan the Medication Labels Remaining four RIGHTS will be identified at this point Right Drug Right Dose Right Time Right Route Nurse Administer the Dose to the Patient After Administration, Nurse will put her Signature electronically into the system Thus above requirements were communicated to the senior management. Consequently due to lack of resources implementation of all above requirement were not possible at once because huge amount of money is required for barcode implantation in admission and pharmacy department and sophisticated medication trolley with laptop barcode reader. Therefore, team determined to implement eMAR successfully, with good outcome and within the resources provided, all above phases need to be implemented step by step. Thats why 3 sub-groups have been developed to initiate the work for each activity. Group 1 will work on Bar-coding planning and implementation. Group 2 will be responsible for purchasing of sophisticated medication trolley and group 3 will work on software development for electronic administration entry for medication. However, phase 3 of aforementioned plan was to be implemented first as it only required in-house software developments with no extra cost involvement and further built on existing CPOE system. Therefore, group 3 comprises of nursing and information system department (ISD) team work together to design and develop the system. ISD developed first template of eMAR in December 2006 and presented to nursing management team for feedback, they suggested few modifications. Modified version presented to them again for re-evaluation in February 2007. Afterward, pilot implementation was done in 5 beded cardiac step down unit in April 2007. Same was replicated in other cardiac stopdown units. Subsequently it was replicated in other units depending upon the availability of computers. Therefore, 06 desktop computers, 20 wall mounted computers in intensive care units, 2 mobile trolleys without medication bins 2 laptop mounted medication trolleys were provided in nursing units to cover 153 beds out of 520 beds. This covers 30% of total admitting patients. This phase will help to overcome issues of legibility, decrease chances of data lost as not need to manage paper since no paper is required. It helps to meet the JCIA requirement as data retrieval is easy and able to find out administration record. In-addition this will help to have ontime administration record and nurse need to sign the medication after administration and system will capture administration time which will further help to indentify wrong time administration, delayed administration and miss dose administration. Through this phase patient safety issue is still not resolved as identification of 5 rights is achieved manually because bar-coding is yet to be implemented. However, further implementation discontinued after July 2008 due to resource limitation for computerized laptop based eMAR trolley barcode implementation. In-addition few reservation for further implementation related to multiple frequent system breakdown and users resistance for further implementation was also highlighted. Therefore, eMAR task force re-collected to discuss and resolve above concerns to promote further. They identified following issues: Issues related to system functionality System performance/ shutdown issue. Issues related to limited hardware availability Training issue and computer literacy issues Users resistance as system force them for ontime documentation whereas paper base MAR have provision to sign the administration record as per their own accord On other hand group 1, barcode team implemented bar-coded armbands for all the inpatient. Now only medication label to be bar-coded is pending, for that label has been designed and approval has been taken from nursing users and pharmacy. Bar-coded label printer is to be purchased and pilot testing of barcode label needs to be carried out. Group 2 representatives explored different eMAR trolleys available in the market to identify the most suitable for our working environment. Our requirement is light weighted small trolley with 10 medication bin as 1 nurse is assign to 10 patients. Finally it was decided to purchase Atromick Medication Trolley. Purchase order was generated to have sample trolley to pilot. Trolley has been piloted successfully and received positive feedback from nursing users. Therefore, it was decided to purchase 72 more trolleys as required by nursing units. 46 trolleys will be purchase by October 2010 and remaining will be purchased in 2011. System feedback after pilot implementation Information technology seems to be more proficient and provide transparent alternative to manage issues/concerns smoothly. After pilot implementation of in-house developed eMAR software and Atromick medication trolley few strength and weaknesses were identified. We identified that most of the users in our hospital are not well computer literate. This lead to increase resistance and they prefer to use manual system. Another most important issue is lack of interest from some of the nursing managers. They even not agreed to initiate the pilot project and the main reasons were lack of staff, lack of computer literacy, lack of hardware availability on nursing floor and they felt it would increase staff workload. Their concerns were well taken and computer training had been provided to nursing staff before initiation and on regular basis as well. Moreover, extra computers have been provided on nursing floor before pilot implementation. Nursing director is working hard to increase number of staff but its difficult as currently nurses turnover rate in our organization is 17%. Lastly management group was explained that it definitely increase some workload initially but it save nurses time currently utilize on maintaining paper record and data retrieval as it will be more transparent. It also increases safety of the patient and their record and have ontime documentation of drug administration. Thus, pilot project has been put into practice for 30% of hospital beds. The pilot project helped us to be acquainted with the weaknesses of the system which includes: Lack of material resources human resources Gaps in software programming i.e. initially all the stat orders and single dose order automatically disappeared from the screen with drug stop time. This created frustration among users as they were not able to mark administration for pre post transfusion drugs, chemo therapy drug, pre post operative drugs. Another gap is related to infusion screen as nurses have to sign infusion record every hourly which increase their workload. Multiple time system got stuck/ slowdown/ non functional endorse resentence of users as they feel whole process is very slow Users highlighted that system is not user friendly On multiple occasion users identified that same drug appears twice on the screen. On investigation it was find out that its because physician enter new order for same drug without discontinuing the previous one. Therefore, modification is required in CPOE system. Unsatisfactory technical support Lack of training System usually found to be slow which lead to increase administration recording time Beside, this one of the most important issues is resistance from users side as it increases their workload as well as their accountability, because paper base system has provision to sign the administration record as per their own accord. Whereas, electronic system increase obligation for ontime documentation. Another most important weakness is related to patient safety issue as bar-coding system has not been initiated yet and users relays on manual identification of 5 rights. However, in conjunction with above resistance, users satisfaction survey conducted in July 2008 showed 79.9% satisfaction of users with the system. The results appear with positive feedback but they highlighted area for improvement. Their feedback enclosed request for multiple modification, for instance separate screen for cyctotoxic drug administration as this required to mark start and stop administration time with comments as these drugs administration time last for hour. Demand to generate multiple reports to view administration record, miss dose administration record, administration record of discharge patient, administration report of particular drug etc. Primarily system starts with single screen for all type of administration i.e. intravenous infusion, PRN and routine medication which overcrowd administration screen and create confusion. Therefore, requested to develop separate option for each. In-addition modification was requested for infusion screen as current option requi res to sign infusion every hourly. Survey also highlighted some of the strength of the system pointed out by users which include: System helps users to easily identify numbers of doses administered to particular patient for specific drug as data retrial is extremely easy, though sometimes it takes time due to slowness of the system but its faster than manual process as data retrieval is difficult with paper base system. In addition it helps users to identify miss doses, delayed administration and skipped administration. It decreases utilization of paper and save printing cost. It helps to identify reason for delayed miss dose administration Administration screen appears with current drug only i.e. due for administration for next dose time. System frequently update with changes in CPOE system and has good interface with pharmacy and admission system System is easy to operate and output (Administration reports) data from system is reliable and accessible System appears with detail information regarding drug including drug name, ID, required dose, dose time, route, frequency, star time and stop time, drug comments if any for safe administration. System is provided with dictionary based comments column for nurses to enter administration comments if any, in case of delayed, missed early administration. Paper base system utilizes nurses time to print medication label on drug review and then need to paste them in MAR sheet. This system omits all above and reviewed order in CPOE system automatically appears on eMAR screen for administration. Thus, many nurses found this system very effective the only concern is related to more time required at entry level. We identified that nurses with good computer skills are more positive towards IT systems. Chiang (2008) cited that Studies have shown that, for instance, nurses found that the IT system was good in aiding prevention of medication errorsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.but required a lot of time in operating the system. Potential benefits of the system after complete implementation eMAR system can improve the administration record and will able to provide accurate administration time of the drug. It advances patient safety by right patient and right drug identification via bar-coding system. To elevate further safety option has been developed in a manner to mark administration after actual drug administration to the patient as system is not provided with any go back to your old ways option, which will help to increase reliability. System has been provided with mandatory option to enter comments for delayed administration or miss administration which will help later to identify causes and corrective action can be taken to improve business. Besides the safety of patient and its data, other supplementary benefits are cost and saving of storage space. Currently our hospital utilize huge amount ($15857/annum) of money for storage space. Although, these potential benefits are currently not very visible but it will be apparent with complete computerization of patients record. In addition an electronic system gathers all at one wave length and has standardized practice. This will provide opportunity to have good interface with national and international systems later. To get most out of it nurses suggested to provide medication order review screen drug formulary on eMAR system to save nurses time for multiple login. Kuperman Gibson (2003) cited This technology can yield many significant benefits and is an important platform for future changes to the health care system. Conclusions Patient safety is our main objective while working in clinical setting. Therefore, technology needs to be adopted to enhance safety. This will help to progress further. We all need to work continue to enhance computerization and involve information communication technology in hospital setting. Our organization actually works hard to achieve eMAR to increase patient safety and by 2011 we will certainly achieve our target to reduce medication administration error. Above report shows that eMAR system helps to increase safety, decrease medication administration error and safe printing cost. On top of it system will avoid wrong time error and have ontime documentation.

Taj Mahal :: essays research papers

â€Å"Taj Mahal†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I think a gigantic funerary mosque of white marble, built in Agra by order of the Mogul emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, the Taj Mahal is the most perfect jewel of Moslem art in India and is one of the universally admired architectures of the world’s heritage. Not only see the beautiful Taj Mahal from the video, I also knew the history of itself and its country. A white marble tomb sums up many of the formal themes that have played through Islamic architecture. The video did talk a lot of how much Shah Jahan himself and his father loved art and made many gorgeous artworks. Taj Mahal’s refined style is a conspicuous contrast to the Hindu architecture of pre-Islamic India, with its thick walls, arches, and heavy supports. Even though Taj Mahal is the symbol of grief and sadness, it still has it beauty looks from marble and sand stone.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Taj Mahal stands in a formally laid-out walled garden; I think these trees and flowers made Taj Mahal even more beautiful and gave it a look of peacefulness. White marble and red sandstone are great materials to be used for symbol of eternal love. Everything seems to be in balance of itself. I think a long pool in front of Taj Mal does give many explanations or meaning of Taj Mahal. I think reflecting of Taj Mal in the long pool tells us that Shan Jahan would only love his wife, like the reflection that will only give the image of Taj Mahal, not anything else.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The lines, mostly curved, are in great harmony details. The color from both outside and inside could be changed as the light from the sun moves. The flowers and Koran written on the walls and the gate give people who visiting wondering of what is that means. As the visitors walked pass each area, I think they would imagine of what each areas mean from the story of Taj Mahal. From the video, I think some sights of Taj Mahal create sorrowing sights.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I think this architecture is beautiful artwork. I consider Taj Mahal as art because it combines many forms of art in one.

Space Station :: essays research papers

Social Import: The Cracks in the System An integral component to the infrastructure of government is law enforcement. In over two hundred years of prosperity, the United States has relied heavily upon the integrity of its law enforcement in maintaining order and securing the civil liberties of the American. The conduct and code of the police force in the United States has been exemplary, and has set the standards by which many nations have modeled their police departments after that of the U.S.. Disregarding the chain of the insidious debauchery during the 1920’s where prohibition resulted in prevalent organized crime and police corruption, law enforcement in America has maintained its scruples. However, as America enters into the new millennium, the integrity of the United States Law Enforcement is being compromised once again. With the recent outbursts of brutality and corruption within the urban areas of the United States, the civil liberties and public freedoms that this great nation was founded upon are being j eopardized as the citizens from the urban sectors to the suburban regions of America are being denied their rights.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Numerous incidents of police scandal have been recorded in several different cities throughout the United States. These incidents are becoming commonplace in the daily lives of many urban Americans. Police departments across the nation are becoming increasingly careless and apathetic in the preservation of integrity in their departments, but none have been as blatantly in violation of law enforcement codes as the Los Angeles Police Department. With its reputation in question for the better part of the 1990’s after recovering from the mishandling of the 1965 Watts Riots, the Los Angeles Police Department proved has proven itself guilty of violent brutality and devious corruption in the recent scandal; the largest scandal in the history of the department.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In an investigation conducted by a collaboration of agencies from the FBI to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s to the LAPD’s internal-affairs unit, investigators unraveled the cases of hundreds of wrong fully indicted victims. The evidence found in these investigations have led to the reversals of forty criminal convictions and hundreds of cases opened for review, including thousands of cases awaiting examination. In the ongoing process of apprehending of mischievous of the Los Angeles police officers, there have been four indicted officers, two others fired, twenty officers relieved of their duties, and scores of officers placed under suspicion. Space Station :: essays research papers Social Import: The Cracks in the System An integral component to the infrastructure of government is law enforcement. In over two hundred years of prosperity, the United States has relied heavily upon the integrity of its law enforcement in maintaining order and securing the civil liberties of the American. The conduct and code of the police force in the United States has been exemplary, and has set the standards by which many nations have modeled their police departments after that of the U.S.. Disregarding the chain of the insidious debauchery during the 1920’s where prohibition resulted in prevalent organized crime and police corruption, law enforcement in America has maintained its scruples. However, as America enters into the new millennium, the integrity of the United States Law Enforcement is being compromised once again. With the recent outbursts of brutality and corruption within the urban areas of the United States, the civil liberties and public freedoms that this great nation was founded upon are being j eopardized as the citizens from the urban sectors to the suburban regions of America are being denied their rights.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Numerous incidents of police scandal have been recorded in several different cities throughout the United States. These incidents are becoming commonplace in the daily lives of many urban Americans. Police departments across the nation are becoming increasingly careless and apathetic in the preservation of integrity in their departments, but none have been as blatantly in violation of law enforcement codes as the Los Angeles Police Department. With its reputation in question for the better part of the 1990’s after recovering from the mishandling of the 1965 Watts Riots, the Los Angeles Police Department proved has proven itself guilty of violent brutality and devious corruption in the recent scandal; the largest scandal in the history of the department.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In an investigation conducted by a collaboration of agencies from the FBI to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s to the LAPD’s internal-affairs unit, investigators unraveled the cases of hundreds of wrong fully indicted victims. The evidence found in these investigations have led to the reversals of forty criminal convictions and hundreds of cases opened for review, including thousands of cases awaiting examination. In the ongoing process of apprehending of mischievous of the Los Angeles police officers, there have been four indicted officers, two others fired, twenty officers relieved of their duties, and scores of officers placed under suspicion.

Influenced by Republicanism, but not a True Republican :: essays research papers fc

Influenced by Republicanism, but not a True Republican   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The philosophy of a republican form of government was certainly not a creation of James Madison and the Federalists. The idea of such a government has been around since the beginning of political philosophy. While the definition has changed over the centuries, certain constants continue to define a strictly republican regime. The goals and priorities of a republic are distinct yet dissimilar from those of James Madison’s philosophy. Generally, a republican government is defined as one which idealizes the public interests as the highest good and imposes a duty on each citizen to work toward the public interests before individual ones. Due to the influence of natural rights philosophers, Madison’s ideas are not strictly republican despite the fact that he considers them to be so.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Not long before Madison, a French philosopher named Montesquieu wrote several works about classical republicanism. One major claim he stood by was the age-old idea that â€Å"political virtue means self-renunciation†. In other words, the goal of politics is for individuals to devalue selfish interests and instead work to achieve the interests of the entire community. Montesquieu believed that a just government should ensure the interests of the public and pay little attention to the concerns of the individual. This type of virtue is similar to that of ancient philosophers Plato and Aristotle. While Madison strays from the goals of Montesquieu’s government, he adopts many of his ideas involving the creation of a just government that protects the public.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Montesquieu’s emphasis on the separation of government into three divisions is an idea that Madison adapted in the Constitution. In the â€Å"republican† government, checks and balances are necessary to keep the government working for the people instead of the reverse. The wisest of men are to represent the people’s interests and understand these interests to be those of the community as a whole. Madison may have adopted the separation of powers idea from philosophers such as Montesquieu and Locke, but there are several more prerequisites required to compose a truly republican government.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While the Anti-Federalists were not classical republicans either, they did make some valid arguments as to why the beliefs of the Federalists were not consistently republican. A core belief of the Anti-Federalists was the ideal of a small community whose representatives were directly involved with the people. This strong sense of community was believed to unite the people in common interests and therefore renunciate individuality.