Challenges In Human Resource Management Of 21st Century Business Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 14 Words: 4294 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? With the advent of the IT revolution all over the world and globalization being the new mantra across the corporate sector, the Human Resource Management practices and policies have undergone severe changes. The challenges that are faced by the HRM today are totally new to what has been few years ago. This paper highlights the importance of HRM in meeting the new challenges. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Challenges In Human Resource Management Of 21st Century Business Essay" essay for you Create order Our paper focuses on these challenges that are impacting the organizations all over the world. Challenges: Setting the uniform culture across the organization which has expanded all over the world HRM in defining the career progression and development for its employees HRM in handling the gender diversity and cultural differences Addressing the issue of employee turnover HRM and its role in implementation of the strategy with respect to the vision and mission of the organization Setting the Right Culture With most of the companies raring to expand in the international market, it has become a tough task to set the right culture within the organization. With the hiring of employees from the global workforce, there is always a threat of diffusion of cultures and thereby losing the homogeneity in the culture of the organization. The biggest challenge for an organization is preserving its culture or maintaining the right culture for the 21st century. Therefore Storey defines HRM with respect to this aspect as: a distinctive approach to employment management which seeks to achieve competitive advantage through the strategic deployment of a highly committed and capable workforce, using an integrated array of cultural, structural and personnel techniques. (Deanne N.Den Hartog, 2004). According to the HRM specialists a combination of High Performance work practices and High Involvement work practices improve the performance of the organization. To determine the right mix of High Performance Work Practices and High Involvement Work Practices the focus model of the organizational structure can be used (Exhibit 1). Exhibit 1: FOCUS Model on Organizational Culture (Deanne N.Den Hartog, 2004) The above model divides the organizational culture into two dimensions. Dimension 1 is based on the organizational focus. It varies between extreme poles of Internal to External. In internal focus of organization the stress is laid on organization, its internal processes and peoples skill sets and attitudes etc. In external focus of the organization the emphasis is laid on the relation of the organization with the external environment. Dimension 2 focuses on the amount of flexibility and control within the organization. Based on the above dimensions four orientations of the organization can be determined. They are: Support Orientation: The concepts like co-operation, trust, cohesion amongst the group members and colleagues and growth of an individual are given the ut most importance. For such kind of orientation of organization high performance work practices which aim to the development of an individual are needed. Innovative: This kind of orientation is characterized by self-motivated, accepting and willingness to accept change, creativity, and risk taking kind of environment. From the management perspective it needs employees who are self-motivated, who are willing to lead, and highly flexible. Therefore the work practices should be structured which emphasize flexibility, empowerment and openness Goal Orientation: This kind of orientation emphasizes on rationality, objectives, productivity and functionality. Most of the emphasis is on the efficiency and also the accomplishment of the associates or the employees. Rules: This orientation emphasizes more on the procedure, division of work. Most of these organizations have taller hierarchies. Compliance is given the utmost importance. Most of the practices in this organization tend to em phasize more on the following of the procedure because there is always a constant monitoring of the employees. The decision making in the organization is mostly centralized. Therefore the performance of these organizations is not high and there is a high delay in decision making. Therefore based on the kind of organization that is necessary the above model can be used to inculcate the culture within the organization. Relation between Culture, HRM Practices and Labor Productivity: In any organization especially when there is a high competition amongst the organizations in the world the role of culture and implementation of HRM practices have a direct impact on the labor productivity. Exhibit 2 clearly explains the role of culture and HRM practices in improving the labor productivity during the high competition in the market. Exhibit 2: Relation between Group Culture and the HRM intensity in improving the labor productivity. With the increase in competition in the market, the need for reducing the costs is more felt by the organizations. This can be done by improving the labor productivity. HRM intensity is the degree to which an organization adopts the HRM practices in improving the productivity of the organization. HRM intensity refers to the configuration of best practices that companies adopt across seven HR domains like: Selection, training, career development, rewards, appraisal, compensation, and employee participation. These practices are designed to manage the competencies and behaviors of employees to manage the competencies and behaviors of employees to maximize the labor productivity. But adoption of the new HRM practices is not very easy in an organization always. It is because the adoption of the new practices requires structural changes which may affect employee turnover, affect motivation, increase stress etc. due to the changes and approach. This is felt much more within the smaller or ganizations because these changes along with the above mentioned obstacles also demand grater time from the entrepreneur and also establishes new formal controls which might be undesirable. Even the financial costs associated with the changes might outweigh the benefits obtained from the system. So as to ensure the smooth changes in HRM practices the culture plays a major role. Role of Group Culture and Productivity: The various types of culture depending on the type of organization have already been explained by the FOCUS model. The organizations which face intense competition require support or innovative type of model. Both these cultures lay high emphasis on building the culture based on trust, co-operation and also willingness to change. If the culture of support and innovation can be developed within the organization then it has high impact on the productivity of the employees. Relation between Culture and Adoption of HRM practices: The group culture which emphasizes on interpersonal relationships will have positive effects on employees commitment and job satisfaction; will in turn lead to greater labor productivity (CARDON, 2010). When employees feel they are part of a team with common shared goals they develop a sense of mutual trust. Therefore the group culture plays a major role in reducing the co-ordination costs within the employees thereby increase productivity. Career Development Career development is one of the most important elements of developing the professional career of an employee in an organization. The main objective of career development is the professionalization of individuals and their personal careers. In an organization, employees career management is a very basic process related to planning of the human resources, and it puts more force to development programs. The main objectives of the career development are: Addressing the basic needs of the organization and develop the positive image for it. Identifying personal needs of individuals, with emphasis on intellectual and professional needs, for organizational progress. Identifying the indifferences or lack of motivation regarding career management Helping employees take the right decision for long term future and career growth. Super theory related to career development and management is as follows: Super theory takes into account the individual differences related to in terests, abilities, and personality. In an organization, the professional preferences and/or qualifications change with time, and helping employees choose the right career is a continuous process. In an organization, professional development passes through three stages: Orientation stage: In this stage one of the most important things is individual professional guidance. Information plays an important role in this stage because people want to take the right steps to meet their career objectives. Development stage: This stage creates the employment opportunity through mentoring in new programs, job rotation and many kinds of training programs. Evaluation stage: This stage involves self-evaluation or evaluation by others. The main objective of this stage is identification of the strengths and weaknesses of the person. The most important component in career management is right development activity related to human planning. Human career planning is the one of the best ways of an evaluation of employee performance. (Palade) Some of the problems that arise in career development are mentioned below. In an organization, planning career development is done by the human resource department of the company. The right strategies, plans and programs to development of the human resource within the company are very important. In an organization, many employees analyze their own interests and qualities. Self-evaluation is one of the most important starting points of career development. Self-evaluation must be followed by periodic evaluation of the employees performance in order to confirm their promotion. In an organization, individual career is affected by an array of subjective and objective factors. Some of the factors depend on the individual and many others depend on the social and economic environment. In an organization the subjective factors that directly affect the career of an individual are his or her attitude and personality. Subjecti ve factors also influence the personal opinion, which in turn, influences self-evaluation. Diversity Management Diversity in an organization can be defined as differences among individuals in terms of age, sex, ethnicity, values, culture, qualification, professional experience, income level, designation, knowledge, etc. These parameters can themselves be categorized into demographic, organizational and socio-cognitive factors leading to diversity. While the demographic factors include age and sex, the socio-cognitive factors include knowledge, values, religion, ethnicity and culture and the organizational factors include educational qualification, work experience, income and designation. All these sources of differences help in the human capital building of an organization. This in-depth classification of differences helps in understanding, appreciating and capitalizing the benefits of diversity. These, in turn, lead to a significant improvement in boss-subordinate relationship and processes related to managerial decision making, recruitment, training, motivation, appraisal, exit and othe r management functions. The three main strategic human resource management approaches followed by an organization are Individual control approach Group development approach Group management approach The individual control approach emphasizes on hiring the best talent from outside the organization and controlling their performance by means of strict adherence to processes, procedures, rules, etc. The group development approach, on the other hand, gives a lot of flexibility in decision making to employees who are internally developed for leadership roles. Lastly, the group management approach is a middle-of-the-ground approach where the advantages of both individual control and group development approaches are tried to be captured. All these three approaches face the need to manage different types of diversity and hence different organizations follow different diversity management techniques. (MartÃÆ'„ ±Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ´n-Alca ´zar, Romero-Ferna ´nde z, Sa ´nchez-Gardey) A case in point is the variation in diversity as companies expand. While domestic organizations are ethnocentric in terms of labour and customer base, multi-domestic and multinational firms are polycentric and try to localize their workforce and customer base according to the host country and global and transnational organizations are truly geocentric as they hire the best talent from across the globe to cater to a global customer base. Thus the diversity challenges facing an expand organization change with the organizations reach and so do the diversity management techniques. While the techniques may be different, the outcomes are universal. They include successful strategic alliances, capitalizing on synergies leading to competitive advantage and more number of resources for organizational learning. Singapore, which has realized the benefits from a diverse workforce, tries to enlarge its workforce through human capacity building programmes for wo men, youth, the disabled, the old and the unemployed as a policy. (Choy) One important aspect of diversity management is diversity training. This is an activity that some global conglomerates follow to ensure that its employees interact effectively with colleagues who are not similar to them in some way or the other. The skills and tactics taught to sensitize and control the behaviour of employees, with respect to diversity, will bear fruit only if they are supported by the culture, systems and policies of the organization. The outcome of such a corporate training activity should be aligned with the managerial goal of quality decision making. The diversity training offered by organizations is different from the diversity education offered by academic institutions. While diversity education focuses on the concepts and principles that justify egalitarianism, diversity training focuses on the skill sets required to tackle diversity issues. Corporates have progressively understood the importance of the top management being both educated and trained rather than just being trained to ensure long term and sustainable diversity management practices in the organization. (Johnson) Diversity management is also beyond the representation policies of the pre-1980s era which included well defined processes to recruit minorities, bringing them into the mainstream and getting along with them. Diversity management, on the other hand, focuses on achieving the right balance between integration and differentiation between different groups of individuals in order to meet the business objectives effectively. A case in point is the rise of women in the human resource management domain of European and American firms over the past one hundred years. In the early 1900s, HR was seen as a welfare function which meant taking care of people. Hence there was high representation of women with none of them being in high ranks as HR itself was a lackluster domain. This trend of h igh representation and low status continued even in the 1960s when HR became a predominantly administrative/legal compliance function. In the 1970s, when labour relations came to the forefront, men took the top HR jobs and the representation of women within HR plunged. This trend continued in the 1980s when introduction of scientific testing instruments changed the image of HR from a welfare function to a professional function, making HR more alluring to men. At this stage, women held a major chunk of HR roles but at lower ranks compared to their male counterparts. Also HR was a standalone function with no participation in strategy formulation of the organization. Change happened in the 1990s, especially in the European and American organizations, when the status of women in HR roles started surging with no compromise on representation. Around the same time, strategic integration of HR with the rest of the domains also started increasing. This escalation in womens status an d responsibilities which was earlier thought of to be impossible due to gap in their qualifications and work experience, sexual stereotyping of capability, horizontal segregation within functions and burden of families has now been made real by diversity management techniques, enabling social practices like paid maternity leave and childcare, rising gender egalitarianism in the society, external pressure from civil society and media for diversity in top management and the trend of increasingly more number of women getting educational qualifications as HR specialists. While the Equal Opportunities legislation of different countries has had limited impact due to inherent shortcomings, diversity management has risen not just as legal compliance but also as a competitive advantage to organizations across the globe. (Faugoo) Employee Turnover HRM is becoming complex field with time as earlier the employee was only concerned with his/her economic survival but now employees seek a more balanced work and family life. Career prospects and pay is increasingly becoming more important as we dont really see an employee sticking to one company for his life like the earlier days. Hence, it becomes imperative for a HR manager to consider several factors for management and understand the reasons for employee turnover. A manager needs to be aware of the reasons why an employee leaves a company and whether it could have been prevented. This study is increasingly becoming popular in research papers as the organizations are now realizing cost implications and the soft issues attached to employee turnover. A high turnover is expensive as the recruitment process has high cost involved with it. There are indirect costs as well involved with turnover like decrease in productivity and missed opportunities per se. One of the major issues companies face nowadays is the effect of personal turnover. It means that the employee voluntarily leaves the company. HRM plays a vital role in realizing the issue related for personal turnover and how it can be reduced. In the developed economies there attempts to reduce this factor by creating new practices to gain a strategic advantage in the market but the case in developing countries is a little different, the focus is not given to personal turnover which leads to inefficiencies and less productivity, hampering the organizational performance. The trend noticed in developing country is that they often realize the problems connected with personal turnover quite late (Sohail, Muneer, Tanveer, Tariq). Studies show that there are various HRM practices that influence an employees decision but not all practices have the same impact on job satisfaction or employee turnover. An interesting result of the research done by Viara (Slavianska, 2012) on employee turnover is that the diss atisfaction from various HR practices not necessarily leads to stimulation of personal turnover. On the contrary it is important to understand that personal dissatisfaction is the major reason for employees personal turnover. Employee turnover can also differ regionally. We see a peculiar trend in China; generally it is assumed that less pay leads to employee dissatisfaction, which in turn leads to turnover. In China, the employees who feel they get low salary with adverse working conditions dint have any turnover intentions (Wyld Maurin). The reason behind it was the good human resource practices of any organization, which made the employee more obliged and increased tolerance levels towards their organization. We will look at the below HRM practices and how they influence an employee turnover intention (Long, Perumal, Ajagbe): Compensation and benefits Training Performance management Career development Compensation and benefits: Compensation is an integra l part in understanding employee turnover. Compensation provided by the organization gives the employee a message on what management believes about the employee. An organization using strategic compensation with lead to more organizational effectiveness as the employees built a psychological contract with the employer and hence decreasing the employee turnover. Training: Training is a vital part for understanding the employee turnover. Training in an organization helps the employees to build their competencies and tells them that the company cares for them and is actively involved in helping the employees build their skills. Another advantage of training is that it helps employees meet organizational goals and objectives. It also ensures a satisfactory performance and provides employees with knowledge to help them perform higher tasks. Performance Management: It basically comprises of the performance reviews that take place in an organization. This play a vital role as t he performance appraisals rely on the performance reviews, which in turn affects the employees motivation and the intention to personal turnover. It is vital to share the review details with the employees so that it will result in high-level performance. Career development: Managers fail to understand that career development is a two way street. It is a managers responsibility to encourage employees, provide continuous assistance and provide feedback so that employees can take responsibility of their own careers in order to grow. Hence career development can be viewed as a dynamic process, which tries to meet the needs of organization, subordinates and managers. Retention: Employee retention is simply employee turnover from a different angle. We see a shift in balance of power from employer to employee. This shift is there because the organizations are now moving towards more efficient ways to manage and retaining an employee is highly cost effective. Studies show that i f an employee quits the job, its not mainly because of the pay he/she receives. The major reasons for personal turnover are environment, culture, recognition, policies of the organizations and the employee relation that is maintained by the organization. In order to retain the employees organizations needs to give more importance to employees career plans and recognize them as per merit. HRM and Strategy Business strategy is a series of systematic and related decisions that give a business a competitive advantage over other businesses (Schuler Jackson, Linking Competitive Strategies with Human Resource, 1987). In an article in Human Resource Planning, Schuler proposed that for successful implementation of different strategies, different set of HRM practices are needed (Schuler R. , 1987). HRM policies should thus vary across or within organizations depending on the type of strategy adopted. For e.g. during the growth stage of a product cycle, there is high need of technical skill and attracting talented employees is of the highest priority. Salaries for such high-skilled resource are already very attractive, and an organization needs to attract such talent by differentiating itself from competitors; and such differentiation can be created by non-traditional or innovative HRM practices. The same firm, when moves into the maturity stage, hiring of new talent does not form the cru x of strategy; the focus is more on retention of the internal talent. The immediate effect will be on the pay system, which should now be designed to retain employees, mostly depending on experience, job classification etc. Again during decline stage, to reduce work strength, strong performance appraisal system will be the key factor. These business characteristics of a strategy are indicators of employee characteristics essential for successful implementation of the strategy. Thus HRM practices should be aligned with business strategy and should vary with varying strategy. Feng-Hui Lee et al (Lee, Lee, Wu, 2010) proposed four hypotheses relating HRM practices, business strategy and firm performance. They are: HRM practices will be positively related to perceived firm performance. There is a close linkage between business strategies and HRM practices. Business strategies will be positively related to perceived firm performance. Integrating HRM practices with business strategies will be positively related to perceived firm performance (Lee, Lee, Wu, 2010) The study also identified six key HRM practices that are likely to be positively associated with organization performance, product cost, quality, and delivery, and production flexibility. The six practices are: Training and development Teamwork Compensation or incentive HR Planning Performance appraisal Employment security (Lee, Lee, Wu, 2010) Challenges: Firms have realized the importance of HRM and business alignment and have started to select manpower of varying characteristics but different HRM practices for different strategies. A significant implication of this is employees face ever-changing employee relationships; employees of a single firm are exposed to a varying set of HR practices during a single tenure of employment. Organizations having multiple businesses divisions face another major issue of trying to match HR with strategy. Different businesses i mply multiple HRM practices thus posing the challenge of making treating employees equitable across business divisions. Similar challenges exist within a division across organizational levels. According to Thompson (1967), effects of strategy for HRM practices will be stronger for higher level employees and weakens down the hierarchy, and especially weaker for non-management employees. Though it is inconclusive whether such small differences in HRM practices due to difference in organization levels impact effectiveness, it is important to note that high-performing technology firms or Japanese firms have fewer hierarchical differences (Schuler Jackson, Organizational Strategy and Organizational Level as Determinants of Human Resource Management Practices). HR Initiatives and Business Strategy an Indian Context: Most studies have been focused primarily on developed countries. The major HR initiatives of Indian firms to support innovation-oriented business strategy are: Lear ning and Development: This is the most prevalent initiative, supported with knowledge management initiatives. Most firms have a structured, mandatory training program for new recruits. Some firms offer company sponsored higher educational courses such as MBA. Employee Involvement: This is the second most adopted initiative. There are various forms of employee involvement that require employees to actively participate and contribute ideas for business improvement. Quality initiatives like kaizen, total quality management (TQM), problem solving teams, quality circles etc. are widely used as tools for employee engagement. Suggestion schemes, often incentivized, are a big initiative for many firms to promote employees to contribute their ideas. Performance management: The third most used HR initiative to support business strategy. Performance management includes performance appraisal, performance based promotion and pay, profit sharing, recognizing and rewarding of good performanc e, self-evaluation etc. Employee Welfare and Engagement: Employee welfare initiatives are taken to boost employee morale and commitment. Family is paramount in Indian scenario, and thus regular events and engagement activities are held to promote work-life balance and develop a bond between employees families and the company. (Cooke Saini, 2010) Areas for Improvement: HR department or personnel are perceived as not being sufficiently professional, being remote from business realities, lacking business understanding and slipping behind dynamic business needs. These act as a stumbling block for successful implementation of HRM practices. On the other hand, the entire blame cannot be put on HR department. Many HR initiatives are implemented without sufficient inputs from HR personnel, as line managers do not tend to give due importance to people management. Four areas have been identified for HR to improve on to provide better effective support to the firms business strate gy. Need for greater democracy and fairness in workplace management. This includes greater empowerment in making decisions, quicker and more transparent feedback, more communication, greater transparency in rewards etc. A better rewarding scheme. Performance based pay is preferred, with better incentives for good performance and suggestions. The third front is about job satisfaction through job enrichment. Job rotation or cross-functional responsibilities should be encouraged to understand the totality of the business unit and work better as a team. The fourth area, often given less attention than the above three, deals with better recruitment of creative or talented employees, provide better career development opportunities, and more effective deployment of talent.

The Civil Rights Movement and To Kill a Mockingbird

The beginning of the Civil Rights Movement era corresponds with the time that Harper Lee was writing about Scout Finch and her brother Jem. They live in the very state that events like the Montgomery Bus boycott would take place. The fictional town of Maycomb is in Alabama, the same state where Martin Luther King Jr. would rise to be the voice of African Americans aching for equality. The actual movement may have started in 1960 but that is the same year that To Kill a Mockingbird was published and huge events were rupturing the south, throughout the novel readers can see the attitude of a want and need for equality in characters and some events. The civil rights movement was introduced to national headlines in the 1950s and 60s†¦show more content†¦Later, due to the events of the boycott, Martin Luther King Jr. emerged and was the movement’s â€Å"most effective leader† (Clayborne Carson). He is known for his nonviolent tactics and his ‘I Have a Dreamâ⠂¬â„¢ speech. Martin Luther King Jr. was also a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and later became the president of the SCLC in 1957 following the Montgomery Bus Boycott. To Kill a Mockingbird was written and published in 1960, â€Å"in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement† (Carolyn Jones). This time was just a few years after events like the murder of Emmett Till, a fourteen year old boy accused of whistling at a white woman, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the ruling in Alabama that segregation on buses is unconstitutional happened (PBS African American World). This goes to show that the time period had some effect on Harper Lee at the time. To Kill a Mocking bird takes place in the fictional town of Maycomb deep in the south. This town â€Å"clings to its ideals, its traditions†¦ People, especially blacks and poor whites are †¦ expected to remain in their places† (Carolyn Jones). The town sticks to what it believes and that is that African Americans, and poor whites, are lower than all the others residing in this tired town. Throughout the novel the reader sees events that can be tied to things happening at the time Lee was writing. For instance, Tom Robinson, a black man, is accused andShow MoreRelatedCivil Rights Movement in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee1013 Words   |  4 PagesTo Kill a Mockingbird was a 1960’s novel written by the author Harper Lee from Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement which inspired the theme of her book; racism. The book is set in the 1930’s in Maycomb which is a very poor town. The book is written in the view of Jean-Louise ‘Scout’ Finch a 6 year old girl who is the son of lawyer Atticus Finch and has a brother called Jem. They are close neighbours to the dreaded Radley family and especially Boo Radley the son who they are terrified of. 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Healthcare And Coranare Heart Disease Essay Research free essay sample

Healthcare And Coranare Heart Disease Essay, Research Paper Coronary Heart disease is a disease where the coronary arterias that supply blood to the bosom become blocked. The obstruction is in the signifier of a blood coagulum that can barricade a per centum of all five arterias. Cholesterol deposits cause this obstruction. This fact has allowed physicians to find that diet has a important function in who develops this disease. People # 8217 ; s diets are affected by their economic category and by other societal factors. The hapless of our state by and large eat repasts that contain high fat and cholesterin. Their diet puts them at higher hazard. However, the hazard is non significantly higher because of the high sum of fleshy people in America, which span all economic groups. Exercise is another of import factor. The more exercising people get the lower the hazard of bosom disease. Part of the ground for this is the fact that people that exercise tend to hold more healthy life styles, which include lower degrees of intoxicant usage and lower fat diets. My stepfather had coronary bosom disease. He talked about it freely before he passed off. Over the class of 10 old ages he had two ternary beltway surgeries. He believed he contracted the disease due to hapless diet, smoke and a household history of the disease. Throughout the full clip his mentality remained really positive. There were several dramatic alterations that the disease caused. He quit smoke after the first bosom onslaught. On the first twelvemonth after surgery many things went on like they had before the surgery. Family activities didn t alteration much. The lone noticeable difference was the fact that he quit smoke. Each twelvemonth, 900,000 people in the United States have a bosom onslaught. Of these, approximately 225,000 dices, including 125,000 who die before of all time acquiring any medical attending. But progresss in intervention have meant that even more victims can last and travel on to populate normal, healthy lives ( www.intellihealth.com ) Even with these new interventions the disease is a slayer. Doctors have found ways to widen the life of people with the disease, but they have non found a manner to wholly bring around the disease. Once people contract Coronary Heart disease they finally die from holding it. When looked at across the population, Heart disease is perchance the most expensive disease. The AHA estimates the cost of cardiovascular diseases and shot in 1999 at $ 286.5 billion. This figure includes direct costs, which include the cost of doctors and other professionals, infirmary and nursing place services, the cost of medicines, place wellness and other medical durable goodss and lost productiveness ensuing from morbidity and mortality ( indirect costs ) . ( www.americanheart.org ) This immense cost is big fiscal load. A per centum of these costs could be avoided if Americans would take to populate more healthy life styles. Harmonizing to 1996 estimations 58,800,000 Americans has one or more signifiers of cardiovascular disease ( CVD ) . ( www.americanheart.org ) . This high figure of people with bosom disease is traveling to take to even higher cost in the hereafter. Furthermore, the ripening of the population is traveling to set a immense strain on the already overtaxed Med icare and Medicaid system. This disease is a slayer and there are a great figure of things that can be pointed to that cause it. Overall, we can better our odds of endurance by non smoking and populating healthy life styles. However, all of us will non be able to avoid the disease. The fact that so many people have the disease and the fact that so much money is spent on the disease has caused drug companies and private groups to do great promotions in the diagnosing and intervention of the disease. Coronary bosom disease has several degrees of badness. These changing degrees of badness have caused the development of several interventions for bosom disease. There are three chief types of intervention that go along with altering diet wonts and increased exercising. The three chief interventions are open-heart surgery, balloon angioplasty, and stinting, which can be subsequent to the angioplasty. Balloon angioplasty is the procedure of lapthroscopacly traveling into the venas and blow uping a little balloon to force open the obstructions. The usage of stentscan semen after this process. # 8221 ; Stents are scaffolding devices that maintain vessel patency after an interventional process, normally balloon angioplasty. Coronary stenting is now used in more than 50 % of patients undergoing nonsurgical myocardial revascularization. [ 1 ] It is considered a everyday adjunct to coronary angioplasty # 8221 ; ( Saunders ) . Doctors have several techniques that they use to find which process to utilize for intervention. One of the most common is the arteriogram. This process allows the physicians to find the degree of obstruction in the coronary arterias. Nurses besides perform some diagnostic processs. An echocardiogram is a procedure that images the bosom construction and the bloodflow through the valves. This process is an inevasive process that doesn t require any particular conditions. It is non possible to see the obstruction with this process ; nevertheless, it is possible to see the consequence of obstruction. Managed attention and other economic factors have caused patients to hold long holds in waiting for diagnostic trials to be run. One ground for this is that, Over the past two decennaries at that place has been an exponential addition in the usage of all cardiovascular diagnostic and curative processs, particularly coronary angiography. These trials represent a big cost to managed attention companies. Some believe that managed attention companies are more concerned with their net incomes. Net incomes are based on pricing, and pricing is in portion determined by benchmarks for certain processs. The undermentioned chart contains Benchmark monetary values, DRG Numberss, Average Length of Stay and cost information for several processs ( www.mecqa.com ) . Forte DRG Description ALOS Benchmark THORACIC Surgery 104 CARDIAC VALVE PROCEDURES W CARDIAC CATH 9.9 $ 29,857.84 THORACIC Surgery 105 CARDIAC VALVE PROCEDURES W/O CARDIAC CATH 7.9 $ 23,410.59 THORACIC Surgery 106 CORONARY BYPASS W CARDIAC CATH 9.10 $ 30,212.90 THORACIC Surgery 107 CORONARY BYPASS W/O CARDIAC CATH 9.50 $ 22,562.30 THORACIC Surgery 108 OTHER CARDIOTHORACIC PROCEDURES 8.60 $ 24,503.24 THORACIC Surgery 111 MAJOR CARDIOVASCULAR PROCEDURES W/O CC 5.1 $ 9,101.59 THORACIC SURGERY 110 MAJOR CARDIOVASCULAR PROCEDURES W CC 7.4 $ 17,015.00 Suppliers that are members in managed attention webs are held to the above monetary values. If the can execute the intervention for less than the benchmark they keep the difference as net income. If they are unable to supply the service for that monetary value, they must book a loss for that process. The monetary values are dictated by the webs non the infirmaries. So, in consequence, insurance companies determine what intervention we get. This job is of peculiar importance to the heart specialists, which are the primary doctors for bosom jobs. They have to give diagnostic trials and execute surgeries in conformity with insurance company s policies. In add-on the drugs they prescribe must be approved for payment. There are several drugs used in the intervention of bosom disease. Doctors prescribe Valium for relaxation, blood dilutants, and alkalizers, anti rejection drugs are used in some fortunes. All these drugs are used in add-on to any that are needed for station operative complications. All the processs and all of the interventions can assist us last a bosom onslaught. However, we must take personal duty for maintaining ourselves healthy. All bosom intervention plans recommend that tobacco users stop smoke. In add-on, they suggest that diet and exercising besides contribute to endurance of coronary bosom disease. It is widely accepted that a taking a healthy life style is good for us. These lifestyle picks can consequence how long we live, and if the right determinations are made we can widen our lives. It is known that smoke has a direct relationship to bosom disease. Some surveies indicate that smoking doubles person s opportunity of holding bosom disease. Exercise is a great manner to maintain a organic structure healthy. Exercise strengthens the bosom and allows it to work more easy. Exercise promotes the development of little blood vass in your bosom musculus, increasing blood flow to the musculus. It besides improves the strength ( AOL..HEART ) . A healthy diet is a really import emmet in maintaining a bosom healthy. Saturated fat and cholesterin can do obstruction in the arterias and lead to bosom disease. The phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables may assist your bosom, excessively. Recent epidemiological surveies suggest that a diet rich in fruits and veggies consequences in a lowered hazard of cardiovascular disease that can’t be attributed to major macronutrients or known vitamins and minerals ( www.mayohealth.org/index.html ) . Unfortunately, many Americans do non follow healthy life styles. Over 33 % of Americans are considered corpulent ( www.coloradohealthnet.org ) . This fleshiness leads to high cholesterin, increased blood force per unit area, and can even do diabetes. As a society is seems that Americans have decided to populate the manner they want and to hell with what is good for us. The American Heart Association provides adequate free information, which if used decently, could drastically cut down the sum of bosom disease in this state. They give dietetic recommendations and nutrition information on merely about every type of nutrient. They besides spend 10s of 1000s of dollars each twelvemonth seeking to assist people halt smoke. Presently, there are no speedy holes for bosom disease. The lone true hole is bar, and unluckily most people won t work that hard to forestall it. All it takes is taking to populate a healthy life style. Once that lifestyle becomes a portion of person s life it can take clasp. Once that lifestyle becomes rooted in the individual, they frequently wonder what all the dither was about when they were seeking to make up ones mind and alter. Once a lifestyle becomes accustomed, you don t feel as though it is a forfeit to eat healthy. You merely eat healthy and don T even feel like eating oily nutrients. The same goes with exercising. Once person takes the clip to acquire into an exercising regiment they seldomly give it up to travel back to being a couch murphy. In add-on to the private sector, the authorities besides offers a batch of services and resources for people willing to utilize them. They offer the Healthy Heart Book for Women to assist allow adult females cognize that they are non immune to bosom disease. They besides sponsor the National Heart Attack Alert Program. The National Heart Attack Alert Program ( NHAAP ) was launched in June 1991 and is the newest of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute # 8217 ; s ( NHLBI ) national instruction plans. The NHAAP has the overall ends of, foremost, cut downing morbidity and mortality from AMI through rapid designation and intervention and, 2nd, rising the potency for an improved quality of life for patients and household members ( www.nhlbi.nih.gov/index.htm ) . Part of the ground for the authorities s involvement in people wellness is because they pay the largest part of the national wellness measure. If the authorities can cut down bosom disease by 10 per centum they can salvag e one million millions. This fiscal motivation has generated a batch of valuable free information on bosom disease. You can happen everything from research at their web site to a formula for Chicken Ratatouille. When looking at how establishments operate, the service provided and costs for those services are at the top of the list. Many infirmaries are general infirmaries. These infirmaries must look at a really broad assortment of costs and payment methods. One method of payment that is going more popular is the DRG. The Social Security Amendments of 1983 eliminated the retrospective cost-plus fixed fee reimbursement for Medicare and Medicaid patients. Alternatively, a prospective payment system based on a fixed monetary value per diagnosis-related group ( DRG ) was established for inmate services. Basically, a infirmary was paid a pre-established monetary value for a patient # 8217 ; s hospitalization based on that patient # 8217 ; s diagnosing ( Heater ) . DRG s have changed how infirmaries do concern. These DRG s have forced infirmaries to find how much it will be for them to execute the processs. The infirmaries that do non be out processs have no information on which to establish pricing constructions. Furthermore, DRG s have spread from Medicare and Medicaid into the managed wellness industry. This rapid growing has forced even more infirmaries to standardise some interventions. This causes a batch of clash between the doctors and the managed wellness companies because the doctors do non like giving up control of their patient s intervention. Managed attention companies negotiate contracts with infirmaries for the monetary values of the DRG s. Once these monetary values are determined they are included in the contract. The infirmary is responsible for doing a net income at those monetary values. One infirmary was sued to let go of the monetary values it negotiated with a managed attention company. ( Tammelleom ) The infirmary was finally required to unwrap it monetary values. Employers # 8217 ; compulsion with cut downing wellness attention cost at the disbursal of medical quality has created a dysfunctional wellness attention market, a adviser warns ( Hofmann ) . This sentiment is what physicians play on when reasoning against managed attention and this is what patients scream when they feel that they need to pass more clip in the infirmary with a job. The existent job is that the medical system is so large that it is impossible to repair. At least it is impossible to repair in a manner that will do everyone happy. The mission stated on the home page of the Baptist Health System begins, The Baptist Health System is an establishment dedicated to the Christian mission of supplying quality wellness attention to all individuals seeking medical attention, hospitalization and other wellness related services ( www.baptisthealthsystem.org ) . This type of mission is the typical type of mission provided by most infirmaries. They don t seem to advert that they are in the concern of doing money. And they don t reference that we are going Numberss to them non patients. They are concerned with our satisfaction and with their mortality rates, but overall infirmaries are in concern to do money. Baptist infirmary in Nashville still chiefly operates under fee for service. Very few of the doctors in the infirmary are associated with HMO s. The infirmaries see that as being something that will inevitable alteration over clip. They are cognizant that the doctors are immune to the thought, nevertheless, with current industry tendencies they are cognizant that it is something that is on the skyline. Baptist Hospital is presently labeled as a non for net income entity. They are presently spread outing do to their high tenancy degree. They are involved in regular infirmary attention. They besides have walk in clinics and they besides go out to the populace and work in place wellness attention. Baptist is committed to preventative attention. They host free clinics and showings, in add-on, to categories and siminars. This intense educational attempt is nil less than a citywide run to recommend the bar of disease through healthy lifestyle wonts and the early sensing and intervention of unwellnesss. ( Internet ) They believe that preventive medical specialty is non merely cheaper but that it makes for better and happier patients. Overall, the medical system in America has a batch of jobs. However, I will accept those jobs, because I know that if something is incorrect with me I can travel hold it fixed. Peace of head carries a batch of weight when we consider what to make with this monster of a system we created. Some say shrink it and some say that we should make away with all insurance and that we should socialise medical specialty. While others believe that we should coerce everyone into an HMO. I do non feign to cognize the replies to these jobs. I do non believe that anyone has the right reply. Finally possibly we will hold a Utopian society that has no usage for hard currency, but right now we don t. And every bit long as there are different groups contending for net income there will be a great argument as to what to make with our medical system. Mentions Heater, Barbara The current health care environment: who is the client? Nursing Forum, July-Sep 1996 v31 n3 p16 ( 6 ) . Hofmann, Mark # 8216 ; Cost over quality # 8217 ; an expensive policy, Business Insurance, April 28, 1997 v31 n17 p49 ( 1 ) . Saunders, # 8220 ; The turning function of stents in coronary arteria disease. # 8221 ; , Patient Care, May 30, 1999 v33 i10 p43 Tammelleom, David, Public infirmary forced to unwrap pricing agreements with HMO. The Regan Report on Hospital Law, March 1997 v37 n10 p1 ( 1 ) . www.mecqa.com MECQA ( Medical Cost and Quality Assurance ) hypertext transfer protocol: //www.mayohealth.org/index.htm Mayo Clinic Health Oasis www.coloradohealthnet.org Colorado Health Net hypertext transfer protocol: //www.nhlbi.nih.gov/index.htm National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute www.ama-assn.org/med-sci/amapsite/index.htm American Medical Accredation Plan www.baptisthealthsystem.org Baptist Health System

The Adventures of Pinocchio Sample Essay Example For Students

The Adventures of Pinocchio Sample Essay During the Wars of Independence in 1848 and 1860 Collodi served as a voluntary with the Tuscan ground forces. His active involvement in political affairs may be seen in his earliest literary plants every bit good as in the initiation of the satirical newspaper Il Lampione. This newspaper was censored by order of the Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1849 but re-emerged in May 1860. Lorenzini had won fame every bit early as 1856 with his novel in vapore and had besides begun intense activity on other political newspapers such as Il Fanfulla ; at the same clip he was employed by the Censorship Commission for the Theatre. During this period he composed assorted satirical studies and narratives ( sometimes merely by collating earlier articles ) . including Macchiette ( 1880 ) . Occhi e nasi ( 1881 ) . Storie allegre ( 1887 ) . In 1875. he entered the sphere of children’s literature with Racconti delle destiny. a interlingual rendition of Gallic faery narratives by Perrault. We will write a custom essay on The Adventures of Pinocchio Sample specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now In 1876 Lorenzini wrote Giannettino ( inspired by Alessandro Luigi Parravicini’s Giannetto ) . the Minuzzolo. and Il viaggio per l’Italia di Giannettino. a series which explored the re-unification of Italy through the dry ideas and actions of the characterGiannettino. Lorenzini became fascinated by the thought of utilizing an good-humored. rascally character as a agency of showing his ain strong beliefs through fable. In 1880 he began composing Storia di United Nations burattino ( â€Å"The narrative of a marionette† ) . besides called Le avventure di Pinocchio. which was published hebdomadally in Il Giornale dei Bambini ( the first Italian newspaper for kids ) . Drumheadâ€Å"Lies are easy recognised. my male child. because there are two sorts. There are lies that have short legs. and lies that have long olfactory organs. † The ultimate narrative of mishap has been interpreted from Collodi’s original Italian narrative and re-released for kids ( and adults! ) to bask one time once more. Childs might be cognizant of the narrative of this small wooden male child via modern versions. but there is so much more to this narrative than the Disney portraiture. When this book landed in my letter box. I was so aroused I began reading it straight off and hardly put it down until it was finished. I love Collodi’s storytelling manner. I love the messages within each chapter. and I love that the characters are simpler and yet much more rounded than many modern fabricated characters. Did you know. for illustration. that the character of Jiminy Cricket is really The Talking Cricket and is introduced. communicates his message and is killed away within one little chapter? Such an little-seen character can hold such an impact on the narrative of a maestro storyteller. Each chapter is full of escapade and highlighted with a moral. The thaumaturgy happens when all of these combine to make a narrative with an overall message of heroic proportion – so much so that it has been told since 1881. This is a must-have add-on to any book aggregation. but be warned – by the clip the whole household has read it and re-read it and so read it clip and once more. it will be a well-worn spinal column glancing from your shelf. Perfection.

Babe essays

Babe essays Imagine youre a little girl in the 30s and 40s. What do you play? Dolls, house, cook with Mom? Not Babe Didrikson. As a little girl she was playing basketball, softball, baseball, and other sports. In her life she played basketball, baseball, softball, tennis, track and field, bowling, diving and swimming, pool and volleyball. People looked at her as a tomboy and unladylike. She didnt care. She once quoted, Before I was even into my teens I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up. My goal was to be the greatest athlete that ever lived. Born Mildred Ella, she was named Babe after hitting five home runs in one baseball game. A reporter once asked her, Is there anything you dont play? Yea, she replied, dolls. She was just a natural. She loved playing sports. She was, however, a very poor student. She only passed enough classes to play sports. She had short hair and wore clothes like boys. "As far as I can remember I played with boys rather than girls," she once told a reporter. She remembered the boys teasing her and testing her ability. Most girls liked her, but were sometimes afraid of her roughness. She played mainly basketball in her high school career. Her basketball team never lost when she played and she brought them to numerous state championships. After her junior year she dropped out and got a job in Dallas as a stenographer at the Employers Casualty Company which sponsored a basketball team named Dallas Golden Cyclones. She was selected all- American and led the Cyclones to a national title. In 1931 they won the national AAU championship. She scored 30 or more points in most games. After basketball season, she started track and field where she earned world, American, and Olympic records in five different events. She became a premier woman's track and field player in the nation! After her Golden Cyclone career she was in...

Business Algebra Discussion - Smart Custom Writing Samples

Business Algebra Discussion - Smart Custom Writing Industrial ecologyIntroduction Industrial ecology or what is currently referred to as green design seeks to address the waste management problem from within the processes of production that are responsible for generating hazardous waste rather than the character and location of the wastes and facilities as is the case in justice research and environmental equity.   This paper will look at the description of industrial ecology and argue about the concept’s strength in contributing to pollution prevention efforts and waste management as well as explore its political feasibility in the United States. INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY Industry ecology was convened as a colloquium in 1991 by the United States National Academy of Science. The aim of this colloquium was to exploit the new approaches emerging in industrial design of products and the processes involved and the implementation of manufacturing strategies that are sustainable.   This colloquium identified, the need for research as well as development to work in tandem with advances in technology in an effort to reduce the pollution perpetuated by industries’ production design which has also in the years been re-emphasized by engineering and scientific communities. This is in an effort to emulate the industrial ecology described in Type III. Both the government of America and that of Canada have in recent years been encouraging industries to engage in voluntary programs aimed at pollution preventing in an effort to reduce the hazardous waste as well as other contaminants that might harm the environment in the production stage rather than after the waste is generated consistent with industrial ecology. This is a management hierarchy that considers source reduction, alternative materials to phase out toxins, recycling and reuse as opposed to treatment and disposal. This view is also held by several other industry groups. The concept draws its structural analogy from the natural ecosystem in its effort to define the relationship between products by the industries, residue generation as well as the treatment of waste and disposal of the same. In this concept, internalization of pollution within the process of production is viewed as being a more effective method of production because of the environmental implications presented by uncontrolled emission as well as the economical inefficiencies presented by waste material disposal (Fletcher). The strength of Industry ecology in aspects of waste management is that it emphasizes on a more fundamental rethinking about the six elements of manufacturing. This includes the utilization of materials of desired properties during the formulation or extraction stages that are of the which contributing to overall industry environmental friendliness; adopting this concept also eliminates the need for storage and the long-term degradation of nonhazardous or hazardous feedstock materials by utilizing the philosophy of just-in-time raw materials; the process substitution employed also eliminates feedstock that may be toxic in nature; the engineering processes are controlled so as to assure a reliable and robust process: and also the considerations are made about the end-life of produced products to ensure their recyclability (Fletcher). The processing and manufacturing industries are always keen on improving their efficient use of economic resources. It therefore goes without saying that most industries are likely to adopt techniques and technologies that will enable it to conserve materials and also minimizes or avoid completely the need for waste management. Pollution control usually has many hidden costs associated with it. Prevention of pollution ultimately reduces or prevents these. Industry ecology identifies four incentives that would drive industries towards pollution prevention that the American and Canadian regulatory aspects apply. This includes the increase in the disposal costs; the prospect of incurring financial liabilities in implementing clean-up activities even in situations where the generator of waste might not be directly responsible for disposing waste improperly; waste disposal also presents liabilities by third-parties; there is also the risk of being adversely opposed by the public which is often unpredictable (Fletcher). Although measures of ensuring pollution preventions have always occupied center stage in politics especially around election periods, legislature passing to make some of the identified standards law, have often been missing. As it is, there has been a lack of regulation aimed in minimizing waste in the production process. The existing regulations allow most industries to rely on land-disposal as means of pollution control. This is attractive to industries as it presents a cheaper alternative of waste disposal. Unfortunately this method presents severe long-term environmental impacts than any other. In addition to this, production technologies that have been proven in the past are more likely to be adopted by industries as opposed to new alternatives aimed at reducing pollution. This problem is exacerbated as the adopted production processes mature, as many firms are less likely then to abandon them. Confidentiality presents an addition problem in that companies which develop ways of efficiently reducing waste are always reluctant to share this development with others. This is because such methods enable it to maintain a competitive advantage over its competitors. Confidentiality however still dogs the efforts of pollution prevention programs aimed at facilitating exchange of at least information on waste reduction at a generic level between corporate (Fletcher). Many groups including government environmental strategies as well as industry have in recent parts enthusiastically taken to pollution prevention debate.   The government of America In conjunction with the Canadian government has since 1972 showed their commitment to the virtual elimination of toxic substances that have persistently plagued the great lakes region. This bilateral agreement was amended in 1987 with the International Joint Commission (IJC) being mandates to support efforts to wipe out toxic substance use, manufacture and disposal.   Political will in pollution prevention policies in the United States can be traced to the â€Å"Pollution Prevention Act passed by Congress in 1990† (114). However, the Environmental Protection Agency is not empowered by the law to address the issue only providing legislative basis that provides for preferred environmental management hierarchy that is aimed at minimizing waste production as the priority and the disposal of product ion waste as a last result. A pollution prevention ethic is emphasized at the EPA especially when considering actions of enforcement.   However the federal government has not as yet initiated any program for waste exchange although a national private network, two programs that are state run as well as four private regional programs. Most industries still push for their companies to be recognized for conducting recycling off-site a trend referred to as green-washing by organizations such as Green Peace. On their part, environmentalists as well as relevant government officials are advocating adaption of industrial ecology concepts by companies by implementing recycling measures on-site in addition to source reduction of emissions as the key in prevention of pollution (Fletcher).   Conclusion Industrial ecology presents methods that are environmentally sound and contribute to waste management through the elimination or reduction of waste in the production process itself. This presents an economically and environmentally sensible method of pollution prevention. The government has been an advocate of this concept for a while now. However, it has lacked in regulation implementation to emphasis its views. As it is, the concept has not fully received the political backing it requires to be adopted on a holistic level relying instead on industry goodwill for its implementation in production processes. Works cited Fletcher, Thomas Hobbs. From Love Canal to environmental justice: the politics of hazardous waste on the Canada-U.S. border. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003.

National industrial policy in America Research Paper

National industrial policy in America - Research Paper Example U.S. government subsidies can also be found in such areas as defense, energy, transportation, and home construction.† (Reich, 1991). The National Industrial Policy in US have been one of the hot and happening topics in the recent time and is subjected to mixed reactions from different corner. This paper will discuss about the cons of the Industrial policies in America and is set to provide sources supporting it. Let us take the instance of Soviet Union. Industrial policies have been used elsewhere in the world and have proved unsuccessful. The fall of the former Soviet Republic stands proof to this. An industry definitely require motivation to build up which can be achieved only when there is a competition. Also, a competitive market can be measured well unlike other market. According to (Grahame 1989), â€Å"The competitiveness of an economy can be a rather elusive concept since there are a number of ways in which it can be defined and measured†. National industrial pol icy (NIP) has been defined in different ways by many scholars. For instance Johnson outlines that "Industrial policy means the initiation and coordination of governmental activities to leverage upward the productivity and competitiveness of the whole economy and of particular industries in it." (1984, p. 8) while others referring to it as the â€Å"†¦.relationship between business and government on a microeconomic level† (Wachter and Wachter 1981).

Reflection Paper 2 Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reflection 2 - Research Paper Example In my particular case, for the past ten years, I have worked as an Instructor and Instructor Trainer of Basic Life Support (BLS) among other courses for a company owned by Jose, RN-EMT, a Florida Region American Heart Association Community Training Center (CTC) Faculty Coordinator. Jose, RN-EMT continues to limit his communication process to utilizing email with Nurse Instructors. Indeed, this communication strategy is quite good but in order to promote effective communication, there is need for improvement of this system. For instance, verbal communication through telephones and video conferencing can also act as viable strategies that can improve the communication between the parties involved. As Nurse Instructors, I think there should be more open communication channels in order to operate effectively. This enables us to create mutual understanding with different people we will be dealing with in our operations. A critical analysis of Nancy Blake and Colleen Young (2013) article t itle â€Å"How to Be an Effective Charge Nurse: Excellent communication skills, flexibility, clinical competency, and ability to make quick decisions required† shows that there are various traits that an individual should possessed in order to be an effective charge nurse. Blake and Young (2013, p.1) affirms, â€Å"The role of a charge nurse is unpredictable. It requires a person with excellent communication skills who is flexible, clinically competent and able to make decisions quickly.† In most cases, charge nurses function as liaison between middle management, staff, physicians, patients and families among other groups. Charge nurses deal with different people in their tasks hence, the reason for them to possess effective communication and leadership skills. According to Blake and Young (2013, p.1), â€Å"An effective charge nurse needs to incorporate leadership and communication skills with conflict resolution, time management and organizational techniques, delega tion, mentorship, education, and role modelling to be successful.† These characteristics are very important in as far as the effectiveness of charge nurses in dispensing their duties is concerned. This notion is supported by Grossman and Valiga (2009), who state â€Å"Leadership and followership are two separate concepts that are complementary or reciprocal, not competitive†(p. 36).   This also goes hand in hand with the aspect of culture which shapes the behavior of the employees in each department. According to Hawkins & Kratsch (2004), each unit has a culture that shapes the behavior of the people working there.   It is therefore the role of the leader to foster this culture, thus positively influence the other members to improve their performance. Non verbal communication is also important in order Aspects such as body language, facial expressions as well as tone have an impact on the way communication is carried out. The article also states that charge nurses s hould be good in delegating certain tasks to their followers in order to achieve quality patient care. One important role played by the charge nurse is to solve conflicts among the followers. This is not a very simple task since it requires someone with good communication skills in order to create mutual understanding among the warring parties. Overall, Blake and Young

Understanding Three Psalms of the Old Testament Essay Example for Free

Understanding Three Psalms of the Old Testament Essay Psalm 78 and Psalm 89 are both referred to as â€Å"maskils. † According to Gordon Churchyard (2004), a maskil may be the name given to verses that teach their readers something of value. The Book of Psalms published by the International Bible Society in the United States, however, explains the word â€Å"maskil† as a literary or musical term (Psalm 78, 1984). The fact remains, though, that every psalm of the Old Testament is unique as a teaching tool of religion. Although neither Psalm 78 nor Psalm 89 have been written by David, and Bible commentators guess that Psalm 132 might have been written by Solomon, the regal heir of King David, all three psalms have an extraordinary message to convey to the believer who may be reminded of the duties of man toward God, and the latter’s promises made to man, through these psalms (Churchyard). Psalm 78 is said to have been written 720 years before the holy birth of Jesus Christ (Churchyard). This maskil of Asaph is a story about the Children of Israel from their experience of slavery under the mighty pharaoh of Egypt until their time under King David, the opposite of the pharaoh in God’s perspective. This psalm is a reminder to the Children of Israel that the God who saved them from the clutches of slavery is ever prepared to rescue them from all troubles, provided that their hearts are loyal to Him, and their spirits are faithful to Him. In the beginning of the psalm, Asaph relates that this reminder is most important for the future generations of Israel, who are expected to be more loyal and faithful to God than were their forefathers. As a matter of fact, their forefathers had proved to be quite disobedient to God. Despite the fact that He showed them miracle after miracle especially at the time of Moses, who was the chosen one of God to lead the Children of Israel out of the clutches of slavery, the Children of Israel expressed doubts in their beliefs about the faithful love of God. Whereas He continued to UNDERSTANDING THREE PSALMS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT Page # 2 shower His blessings upon them, they refused to believe in Him with the absolute faithfulness that should have appeared to them as a necessity given the extraordinary miracles they were being made to witness (Psalm 78). The Children of Israel kept on doubting the love and faithfulness of God even though He had, among other things, punished their enemies by turning their water into blood, and had helped out the Children of Israel in the desert by letting springs flow out of a rock. â€Å"In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;† reads the psalm, â€Å"in spite of His wonders, they did not believe. † The psalm reminds the reader that the consequences of unbelief could be fatal: â€Å"So He ended their days in futility/ and their years in terror. † The Children of Israel had also turned to idol worship despite the physical evidence of God’s care for them. So, God took revenge because He is a jealous God (Psalm 78). Psalm 78 also reminds the reader of the mercy of God when it reads: â€Å"Time after time He restrained His anger/ and did not stir up His full wrath. / He remembered that they were but flesh/ a passing breeze that does not return. † Even though God could have eradicated everybody who showed unfaithfulness to Him, He decided not to do so, seeing as the Children of Israel were not a threat to Him. Moreover, it can be understood from the psalm that God wanted the future generations of Israel to benefit from the teachings and miracles of the earlier generations. Thus, He replaced the pharaoh’s leadership over Israel with David’s godly leadership, once again, as a mercy to Israel. Psalm 78, therefore, ends on a hopeful note: â€Å"And David shepherded them with integrity of heart/ with skillful hands he led them† (Psalm 78). UNDERSTANDING THREE PSALMS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT Page # 3 Psalm 89 also brings King David to mind when the writer of the maskil reminds God of the covenant He had made with His servant, David. Bible commentators believe that this maskil was composed by three different people in three separate periods of time (Churchyard). All the same, the psalm serves as a teaching instrument of religion explaining that it is not God who breaks His promises, but man who refuses to keep His commands time after time (Psalm 89, 1984). God had promised David that He would take special care of His servant as well as his descendants who kept the law of the Lord. Thus, the psalm glorifies God for His covenant, and expresses that the only fortunate people are those that know how to glorify God. Besides, the heavens and everything on earth glorifies the Lord, and the angels too are busy praising Him. Everything is obedient to God. It is only man that has been given the right to oppose God’s law and commandments. Hence, one of the descendants of David, the â€Å"anointed one,† is being ridiculed by his enemies apparently because he has violated the decrees of God. Although the psalm does not provide any information about why the â€Å"anointed one† is being punished, it can be inferred that God is not quickly coming to his rescue because the man has disobeyed the Lord. After all, God had spoken about David: â€Å"If his sons forsake my law/ and do not follow my statutes,/ if they violate my decrees/ and fail to keep my commands,/ I will punish their sin with the rod,/ their iniquity with flogging†¦. (Psalm 89)† God remains faithful to His promise. He would not punish a descendent of David without a genuine reason. God is fair, which is the reason why the psalmist appeals to God toward the end of the maskil with a desperation that may only be reduced or eliminated by the loving mercy of UNDERSTANDING THREE PSALMS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT Page # 4 the Lord. Before praising God and ending the psalm with His praise, the psalmist once again reminds God about the faithfulness He showed toward His servant, David. He also refers to God’s â€Å"great former love† for David. Still, it is expected that God would not go against His promise made to David, which included punishment for his descendants that disobeyed the Lord. The psalmist insists, however, on being forgiven once and for all because he finds that God’s punishments are truly unbearable: â€Å"How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever? / How long will your wrath burn like fire? / Remember how fleeting is my life. / For what futility you have created all men! † The psalmist continues to remind God about his condition despite the fact that God is all-knowing at all times: â€Å"Remember, Lord, how your servant has been mocked,/ how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations,/ the taunts with which your enemies have mocked, O Lord,/ with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one† (Psalm 89). Psalm 89 ends with praise of God, informing the reader that the â€Å"anointed one† with his complaints and desperate pleas nevertheless understands that God must be praised despite the pain that the â€Å"anointed one† is suffering from. In other words, God punishes for a wise reason, and even if man does not fully understand his flaws it is important for him to praise God before He answers the prayers of the suffering man. God cannot be blamed for suffering. Rather, man must learn to glorify Him despite the suffering, and thereby open the channel of communication with God who is expected to sooner or later deliver the believer from suffering (Psalm 89). This is, indeed, the most important teaching of this psalm. Psalm 132 also acts as a reminder of the covenant that God made with His servant, David: â€Å"One of your own descendants/ I will place on your throne / if your sons keep my covenant/ UNDERSTANDING THREE PSALMS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT Page # 5 and the statutes I will teach them,/ then their sons will sit/ on your throne for ever and ever. † Another point of similarity between Psalm 89 and Psalm 132 is that both act as pleas for God’s mercy for the sake of David. Thus, Psalm 132 reads: â€Å"For the sake of David your servant,/ do not reject your anointed one. † Yet, this psalm does not offer any complaints or desperate pleas unto God. Rather, this is the â€Å"song of ascents† or the â€Å"song of climbing† that mostly serves to remind the reader of the special importance of Zion and of Israel as a whole in God’s plan (Psalm 132, 1984; Churchyard). The song of ascents discusses the temple of God that David had been planning to build, but which was only completed in Solomon’s time. More than four hundred years after Solomon, Ezra and Nehemiah rebuilt the temple of God, which is why Bible commentators believe that this psalm may have been written by Nehemiah or Ezra if not by Solomon (Churchyard). In any case, the psalm identifies Zion as the dwelling place of the God of Israel, a place of ultimate bliss on earth where abundance would replace poverty and the enemies of God would be crushed â€Å"with shame†. The psalmist agrees that the temple of God and Zion are the places where God must be sincerely worshipped. He invites God to His own dwelling place. Moreover, he prays for the sincere ones of God, His priests and His saints, who would all worship the Lord together in His dwelling place (Psalm 132). Although Psalm 132 does not make a complaint, the fact that it starts out with the remembrance of David, â€Å"O Lord, remember David/ and all the hardships he endured,† allows the reader to infer that David is acting as a spiritual intercessor of his people just as the Messiah is for the Christians. The song of ascents is essentially a song of worship, a reminder to God that UNDERSTANDING THREE PSALMS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT Page # 6 His people remember how to praise and worship Him. Furthermore, His people would like Him to answer their needs with the mention of one of His favorite chosen ones, David (Psalm 132). Thus, all three psalms serve their unique purposes: Psalm 78 as a reminder about the importance of faithfulness and obedience to God; Psalm 89 as a desperate plea made to God with His praise; and Psalm 132 as a reminder to God that His people remember how to worship Him, and still seek His special mercy that was previously shown to David. References Churchyard, Gordon. (2004). â€Å"Free Bible Commentary on Psalm 78, Psalm 89, Psalm 132 in Simple English. † Easy English. Available at http://www. easyenglish. info/. (22 April 2007). 2. â€Å"Psalm 78. † (1984). The Book of Psalms. Colorado Springs, CO: International Bible Society, p. 70-73. 3. â€Å"Psalm 89. † (1984). The Book of Psalms. Colorado Springs, CO: International Bible Society, p. 81-83. 4. â€Å"Psalm 132. † (1984). The Book of Psalms. Colorado Springs, CO: International Bible Society, p. 123-124.

Mythology In and Around Sophocles Antigone Essay -- Antigone essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚   How extensive and deep are the mythological roots in the Greek Sophoclean tragedy Antigone? Research indicates that both within the drama and around it there are numerous mythological influences. The use of mythological elements in Greek tragedy is very compatible with the Greeks’ sense of history surrounding a drama. Martin Heidegger in â€Å"The Ode on Man in Sophocles’ Antigone† comments on the Greek audience’s sense of history and a drama: Polis means, rather, the place, the there, wherein and as which historical being-there is. The polis is the historical place, the there in which, out of which, and for which history happens. To this place and scene of history belong the gods, the temples, the priests, the festivals, the games, the poets, the thinkers, the ruler, the council of elders, the assembly of the people, the army and the fleet. All this does not first belong to the polis, does not become political by entering into a relation with a statesman and a general and the business of the state. No, it is political, vile. at the site of history. . . . (91).    C. M. Bowra in â€Å"Sophocles’ Use of Mythology† gives the rationale behind the Attic dramatists’ preference for myths in their plays:    Myth provided the framework of drama, which illustrated in a highly concrete and cogent way some important crisis or problem, and that is why Greek tragedy can be called symbolical. The old stories are indeed told again for their own sake, and there is no lack of dramatic tension and human interest, but they also exemplify some far-reaching problem, which is admirably presented in this individual shape (31).    Antigone, the drama, begins with the main woman character and protagonist, Antigone, inviting Ismen... ...l Themes.† In Readings on Sophocles, edited by Don Nardo. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1997.    Segal, Charles Paul. â€Å"Sophocles’ Praise of Man and the Conflicts of the Antigone.† In Sophocles: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Thomas Woodard. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.    Sophocles. Antigone. Translated by R. C. Jebb. The Internet Classic Archive. no pag. http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/antigone.html    â€Å"Sophocles† In Literature of the Western World, edited by Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. NewYork: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1984.    Watling, E. F.. Introduction. In Sophocles: The Theban Plays, translated by E. F. Watling. New York: Penguin Books, 1974.    Woodard, Thomas. Sophocles: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Thomas Woodard. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.   

Panera Bread Essay

In this paper I will be discussing the company Panera Bread, its history, and how they decided on the business strategy that the company uses. I will also give a description of Panera’s strategic vision and how its stakeholders enable the success of Panera. Panera was built by Ron Shaich and originally started out in 1980 with a little store that used to be called the Cookie Jar. After three decades, a merger, and an acquisition later, Shaich’s empire turned into what we now know and love as Panera Bread. (Kowitt, 2012). Shaich started this bread empire when he was attending Clark University and was kicked out of a convenience store that didn’t cater to college students. So Shaich, who was the treasurer of the student body, decided that the college should make their own store, and that is exactly what they did. After running this store for the college, Shaich loved it so much that he decided to open his own store called the Cookie Jar, and in an effort to expand his offerings he became a licensee of the French bakery company, Au Bon Pain, whom later on merged with his company. Kowitt, 2012). Later Shaich stated that â€Å"[he] was worried because the French baked goods we sold at our half-a-dozen stores were becoming pedestrianized. We decided to use the croissant and bread as a platform to sell soups, salads, and sandwiches† (Kowitt, 2012). This is where they started becoming the store we are familiar with, however they had one more change to go through before they evolved into their current format. In 1993 Shaich purchased a small lunchtime soup, salad, and sandwich chain called St. Louis Bread Co. Shaich soon realized that this is where the gem of his business was located, so he changed the name to Panera, changed the environment to encourage people to gather, and sold off the other portions of his company such as Au Bon Pain. (Kowitt, 2012). This was the turning point for the company where Shaich decided to make the full business strategy for Panera to be that of the bakery cafe set up. With a vision of providing good quality breads and foods, with excellent customer service, this is key for while other companies have cut back due to the economy. Panera has continued their game plan to ensure the greatest experience for their customers. If you walk into other companies restaurants you will see longer lines, waits, and dirty tables due to those companies cutting back, whereas Panera continues to invest in labor in their cafes and the quality of their workers, as well as in the quality of their food. (â€Å"How panera bread,† 2010). This is their long term strategy and what I believe is the key to their success and the most important part of their strategy. They put emphasis on the quality of their food and the dining experience; this has really won over the customers that want a fast, clean, and healthy dining experience. This business plan of taking care of the customer first is due to the fact that the stockholders, and Shaich, who is the largest stockholder, allow Panera to remember that they started the company to provide quality service to customers, not to make money. Realizing that the stock price is a byproduct of them ensuring the customers are happy, and not the whole point of the company. A lot of companies think only of profits and hitting the bottom line, whereas Panera views their role as delivering a valued service to their customers. (Shaich, 2011). Shaich states that â€Å"We have to spend less time figuring out how to extract economic value from our stakeholders and more time creating what is valuable to them. Doing so is what ultimately creates long-term value† (Shaich, 2011). Arguing the fact that if you make sure the service you are providing is great then the customers will come, and your stock value will rise. Just like the old adage â€Å"if you build it they will come† this is the same thing, if you build a clean friendly restaurant with quality food, then the customers will come and spend money, and this is exactly what Panera has done and why they are so successful. My recommendation to Panera is to continue doing what they are doing, ensuring that the food and service quality at their restaurants stays at the high level that they already are. Never forgetting that this is what brings them long term profits, and to always keep that goal in view, instead of stripping down their services to create vast short term profits, but hurting customer loyalty and future sells. In conclusion we can see that Panera was able to start from a small little cookie store and transform into the huge restaurant chain it is today by focusing on taking care of their customers and not just looking at the bottom line of a balance sheet.

Marketing and Nike Essay

We can evaluate Nike’s core marketing strategy as related them to the relevant marketing theories. First of them is distribution theory. Nike distributes its products on different level basis. The high quality products are given to a certain distributers while the low price to be sold at highly discounted price at the retail stores such as Wal-Mart. Nike has also become the leader in the e-commerce by being the first to the market whit its e-commerce website. This program represents the first time a company has offered mass footwear through the internet and provides competitive advantages to Nike. One of the other theories is advertising and promotion. Nike makes contracts with some celebrity athletes which can take attention to their products such as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Maria Sharapova, Ronaldo. This has created a relatively high level of Nike’s awareness. Nike also employed a large amounts of advertisements. Their aggressive advertising campaigns, celebrity endorsements and quality products all enhance their brand and image. The other theory is price. The price is not effective on their strategy because Nike’s target market is based on the consumers who care more about the utility and quality of the product . This strategy focuses on the consumers who like Nike and pushes the products value to a higher level. Once the consumer develop the product intimacy, they come to associate their person with the products and will pay whatever price quoted on the products. Nike use vertical integration price strategy and they also engaged in various channel level operations both to control costs and influence the price function. And when we look at the market segmentation theory, we see that most of the consumer of Nike’s products is mainly athletic. Their segmentation market typically targets athletes, both women and men, from the age 15 to 35. Nike focuses on creating premium consumer experiences on product innovation, brand leadership and elevated retail presence. But Nike focuses on athlete more than any group of individuals. This strategy is especially successful because of its ability to reach a large number of athletes. Although Nike’s core marketing strategy had brings lot of positive directions to the company, but it will bring negative directions to Nike too. The mainly negative theory is the cost theory. Nike had incurred high costs in producing and promoting its products. The costs are increasing among handling inventory, designing, advertising and production. The inflation had also rised the costs. So Nike has increased the products prices and reduces its marketing budget. Nike had also employed child labor in Cambodia to reduce its production and labor costs. This affected brand image negatively and many people stop buying products from Nike. Furthermore, Nike has been using child labor in the production of its soccer balls in Pakistan. One of the Nike’s core marketing strategies is depend on a group of athletes to promote its products. Nike prefers to have high profile athletes as its endorsers, like Runner Steve Prefontaine, Michael Jordan and LeBron James. The action and attitude of Nike’s chosen spokespersons could bring the impacts on its promotional strategies. For instance, it will attract the athlete’s idolater to purchase the products if Nike using a popular athlete as endorser. On the other hand, if the athlete were caught in drug addicted or any immoral attitude, it will affect the customers not to buy Nike’s products, thus will affect Nike’s sales, revenue and profit. There is intense competition faced by Nike. Their competitors are Adidas, Reebok, Puma, and so forth, whilst competition is tighter with the coming of Adidas. More, the product line is slightly different between Nike and Adidas. Nike faces many risks when they use their core marketing strategies to achieve their goals and these risks can come from both internally and externally environment. The risks will have a negative influence about Nike’s future development. Nike needs to stay on the top of changes in consumer taste and preferences as evidenced by changes in fashion. So Nike face the risk that fashion trends may change so fast that Nike fails to follow. If Nike cannot follow the fitness trends in the market they will face risks of losing market shares. To compete with this risks and problems, Nike should position it as a trendsetter and not a trend follower and be responsible to their customers. The global trends are to be fashion and personality. So Nike change its marketing strategies and products design to become more fashion and focus on the youth consumers. It brings risks to Nike because in the traditional mind of customers, they consider Nike only sell the athletic products. The fashion or the changing style products is unimaginative for customers to purchase. Not all the customers can follow the changing of Nike. Therefore, Nike should analyse the market and customers’ preference as well as customers’ buying behavior from time to time. One of Major Nike’s marketing strategies is to expand to overseas and become the leader in the world. It also will bring risks to Nike when they expand their business globally. Currency exchange rate fluctuations can disrupt the business of the independent manufacturers that produce Nike products by making their purchase of raw materials more expensive and more difficult to finance. Besides that, the global economic recession influence the overall business operation in the outsourcing countries. 2) If you were Adidas, how would you compete with Nike? One difficulty most likely to be faced by Adidas is in its marketing, compared to its competitor Nike, Nike spends more money on advertising and promoting their products reputation. Adidas will have a hard time trying to compete with Nike in terms of advertising and promotion, considering Nike’s utilization of low labor cost of production, Nike can afford to spend so much money in creating awareness for their products and gaining consumers loyalty by utilizing celebrities. If I were Adidas I would invest more money on advertising and create innovative means of advertising their product, having consumers in mind and following the trends of technologies, for example, Adidas can collaborate with IT companies such as Samsung to create innovative means of advertising their products. Also a merger could be good for the Adidas, if the right strategy has chosen. For example; Adidas and Reebok joining up together as a merger would be a good deal for leading over Nike but the two companies have a bad reputation due to financial problems which almost led them to bankruptcy and since they are to work together.