Bible And Truth And Reconciliation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Book of scriptures And Truth And Reconciliation - Essay Example She later proceeded to get an advanced education in Instructional Design and figured out how to fill in as a Training and Development Specialist for Fortune 500 organizations for quite a while (Richardson, 23). Juliana Taimoorazy own one of a kind story as an evacuee has contributed in making her a solid chief and an enduring voice for Christians living in Iraq today. Having needed to escape Iran in 1989 because of the then strict oppression, she was snuck into Switzerland where she went through seven days in a cloister in Zurich after which was pirated again into Germany where she looked for strict haven. She later came to America as an exile in the December of 1990 in the wake of going through one year in Germany. Taimoorazy later went to Northeastern Illinois University and started tutoring youthful Christian ladies showing up in Chicago from evacuee camps in Turkey and Syria. This is the experience that drove her to the development of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, a phila nthropic association that helps out different U.S. substances in teaching Americans about the strict and ethnic purging happening to Christians in Iraq. The group†²s significant target has been in bringing issues to light, getting money related help and mentioning supplications for the Iraqi Christians (Richardson, 47). In the year 2006, Juliana made a pledge to turn into a more prominent voice and backer for the abused church in Iraq and outcasts who have since resettled in the United States. Through her association, which she framed in 2007, she has figured out how to help a huge number of uprooted Christians all through Iraq with food, haven, and medication. Through her activism and a few media appearances on Fox News, News Max, and other a few Christian radio projects, she has resolutely figured out how to advance the reason for the Assyrian Christians all through the world (Jackson and Claire, 24). Christian oppression has been a significant issue in the majority of th e Islamic states.â

Charles Manson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Charles Manson - Essay Example At once, she offered him to a server for a pitcher of brew. This server kept him until his uncle recovered him a couple of days after the fact. In 1939, his mom and uncle were tossed behind bars for ransacking a service station and Manson went to live with another auntie and uncle who were very strict. At the point when his mom was allowed parole three years after the fact, nonetheless, Manson came back to his mother’s side, where they moved from lodging to inn. Kathleen Maddox was continually endeavoring to dispose of Manson, as she was not a decent mother. In 1947, she endeavored to have him set in an encourage home, however she was unable to discover one accessible. This prompted Manson being put in Gibault School for Boys, where he remained for ten months before escaping to discover his mom once more. His mom, nonetheless, dismissed him and he was then all alone. The main wrongdoing that Manson submitted was the burglary of a supermarket. He did this so as to pay for a lodging. A progression of different thefts followed until he was gotten and sent to an adolescent place. He got away from this adolescent corridor after just a single day and after his recover, he got away from another adolescent lobby four days after the fact. This time, he got away with another kid and both of them submitted a progression of thefts on their way to the next boy’s uncle’s house. The burglaries and getaways proceeded for quite a long time, as Manson was sent to various adolescent bases on the nation, however none of them could hold him. He even was gotten with a taken vehicle that he had used to burglarize corner stores in Utah. It was at these adolescent communities that it was reasoned that Manson was forcefully introverted. The first occasion when that Manson was really viewed as a perilous guilty party was directly before a planned parole hearing in 1952 when he held a razorblade to another boy’s throat and sodomized him. After this, he was moved to the Federal Reformatory, which is the place increasingly perilous adolescent

Managing Financial Resources Example

Managing Financial Resources Example Managing Financial Resources â€" Coursework Example > 4.2 The relationship between care service delivered and ‘Costs and expenditure’114.4 The following are some ways through which CareTech PLC could improve the health and social care services through changes in its financial systems and processes13Conclusion: 13References: 15Introduction: Health and care organization could either be publicly or privately owned. Depending on the form of ownership, the organizations may attract revenue from various sources. While publicly owned health and care institutions may attract funding from the government, the privately owned organizations mainly attract funding from the services they offer to the patients or customers. Regardless of the source of income, prudent financial management is vital for these organizations in a bid to ensure they are able to run effectively and efficiently without having to run into financial difficulties. This would ensure they continue to give quality services to their customers at all times. In addition, where there is prudential management of financial resources, the organization can quickly recover from any financial shortfalls it may be encountering. This call for putting in place various financial management plicies including auditing and internal controls that will help the organization better manage its resources. In addition, this will prevent fraud from occurring. This paper looks at financial management at CareTech PLC within an aim of analyzing its strengths while suggesting areas of improvement. CareTech Holdings PLC1.1The principles of costing and business control systems that may be adopted in CareTech Holdings PLC CareTech ought to use the approved guidance which recommends the costing approaches to be used by health and care service providers. Thus, in their costing processes, CareTech ought to employ the following principles; Engagement of stakeholders- in its costing processes, CareTech should involve all the concerned stakeholders including those in the finance departme nt and other non â€"finance departments in a bid to ensure all input factors are considered in determining cost (Monitor (2013). The costing approach that CareTech chooses to adopt should be applied consistently within and across the organization to ensure consistency. The costing system at CareTech should ensure high level of data accuracy as accurate costing will depend on the quality of the underlying input data. There should be materiality in CareTech costing system implying that its costing efforts ought to focus on material costs and activity (Scott, S2014). CareTech ought to observe causality and objectivity in their costing activities. This would be for the purpose of eliminating or minimizing subjectivity in costing. CareTech ought to observe transparency in their costing activities. Furthermore, they should adhere to relevant accounting principles to ensure their costing is auditable. CareTech should also ensure it adopts business control systems that enable it carry out its strategy through efficiency obtainment and allocation of resources while minimizing chances of error and fraud. In this regard, CareTech should put in place the following business control systems; Budgetary controls with annual budgets that have realistic estimates of income and expenditure in a bid to ensure expenditures stick to the planed limitsThere should be bank and cash controls ensuring all money receipts are recorded and safeguard against theft or loss and appropriately bankedAdopt expenditure and purchasing controls with procedures for authorization and related controls for ensuring that only the required goods are ordered while purchases are sought at the best prices and all relevant transactions recorded to ensure transparency (Kevin, 2014)There should be payroll and personnel controls to ensure proper authorization of salary and related statutory payments including PAYE to safeguard against theft or fraud. 1.2 Information needed for managing financial resources for CareTech

Did Henry Ford Really Say History is Bunk

One of the best-known quotations of the inventor and entrepreneur Henry Ford is History is bunk: Oddly enough, he never said exactly that, but he did say something along those lines many times during his life. Ford used the word bunk associated with history first in print, during a 1916 interview with reporter Charles N. Wheeler for the Chicago Tribune. Say, what do I care about Napoleon? What do we care about what they did 500 or 1,000 years ago? I dont know whether Napoleon did or did not try to get across and I dont care. It means nothing to me. History is more or less bunk. Its tradition. We dont want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinkers dam is the history we make today. Spinning the Versions According to the historian Jessica Swigger, the reason there are so many versions of the statement floating around the internet is pure and simple politics. Ford spent years trying to reframe and clarify (that is to say, put the best spin on) the comment to himself and the rest of the world. In his own Reminiscences, written in 1919 and edited by E.G. Liebold, Ford wrote: Were going to start something! Im going to start up a museum and give people a true picture of the development of the country. Thats the only history that is worth observing, that you can preserve in itself. Were going to build a museum thats going to show industrial history, and it wont be bunk! Libel Suit By all accounts, Ford was a difficult, uneducated, and litigious fellow. In 1919, he sued the Chicago Tribune for libel for writing an an editorial in which the Tribune had called him an anarchist and ignorant idealist. The court records show that the defense attempted to use the quote as evidence against him. Counsel for the Tribune Elliot G. Stevenson: But history was bunk, and art was no good? That was your attitude in 1916?Henry Ford: I did not say it was bunk. It was bunk to me, but I did not say...Stevenson: [interrupting quickly] It was bunk to you?Ford: It was not much to me.Stevenson: What do you mean by that?Ford: Well, I havent very much use for it. I didnt need it very bad.Stevenson: What do you mean? Do you think we can provide for the future and care wisely with reference to the future in matters like preparation for defense, or anything of that sort, without knowing the history of what has happened in the past?Ford: When we got into the war, the past didnt amount to much. History didnt usually last a week.Stevenson: What do you mean, History didnt last a week?Ford: In the present war, airships and things we used were out of date in a week.Stevenson: What does that have to do with history? Many of the sources today interpret the meaning of the quote to show that Ford was an iconoclast who disdained the importance of the past. The court documents cited above suggest that he thought the lessons of history were outweighed by the innovations of the present-day. But there is evidence that at least his own personal industrial history was decidedly important to him. According to Butterfield, in his later life, Ford saved 14 million personal and business documents in his personal archives and had constructed over 100 buildings to house his Henry Ford Museum-Greenfield Village—Edison Institute complex at Dearborn. Sources: Butterfield R. 1965. Henry Ford, the Wayside Inn, and the Problem of History Is Bunk. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society 77:53-66.Swigger JI. 2014. History is Bunk: Assembling the Past at Henry Fords Greenfield Village. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.Upward GC. 1979. A Home for Our Heritage: The Building and Growth of Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum. Dearborn, Michigan: The Henry Ford Museum Press.Lockerby, P. 2011. Henry Ford—Quote: History is Bunk. Science 2.0 30 May.Wheeler, CN. 1916. Interview with Henry Ford. The Chicago Tribune, May 25, 1916, cited in Butterfield.

Helping ESL Students Understand and Participate in Small Talk

The ability to make small talk comfortably is one of the most desired objectives  of almost any English student. This is especially true for business English learners but applies to all. The function of small talk is the same the world over. However, which topics are appropriate for small talk can vary from culture to culture. This lesson plan focuses on helping students develop their small talk skills and addresses the issue of appropriate subjects. Difficulties in small talk skills can arise from a number of factors including grammar uncertainties, comprehension problems, lack of topic-specific vocabulary, and a general lack of confidence. The lesson introduces a discussion of appropriate small talk topics. Make sure to give students ample time to delve into the subjects if they seem particularly interested. Aim: Improving small talk skills Activity: Discussion of appropriate small talk subjects followed by a game to be played in small groups Level: Intermediate to Advanced Small Talk Lesson Outline Write Small Talk on the board. Brainstorm as a class to define small talk. Write examples on the board.Discuss the importance of small talk skills with the class.Divide students into groups of 3 - 5.Give students the small talk worksheet.Students begin by reviewing key functions and grammar by matching purpose,  expression, and form. Review as a class. Discuss any questions in usage.Ask students to discuss  whether the topics provided in the second section  are appropriate for making small talk. Students can also decide that some topics are appropriate in certain situations  but not in others.  Once students have discussed the various situations, solicit responses on the various subjects from the class as a whole. Make sure to ask for examples of comments on appropriate subjects, as well as  explanations for those topics which students feel are not appropriate. Feel free to let students debate their opinions to help develop  conversational skills.Have students get back into their groups and play the small talk game in the third section. Circulate around the room helping  students when they run into difficulties.Take notes on subjects that students find difficult. As a class,  brainstorm on appropriate comments. Understanding Forms Used in Small Talk Match the conversational purpose to the expression in the second column. Identify the appropriate grammar structure in the third column. Purpose Expression Structure Ask about experienceGive adviceMake a suggestionExpress an opinionImagine a situationProvide instructionsOffer somethingConfirm informationAsk for more detailsAgree or disagree Open the package. Fill out the Forms.Where can I find out more?Im afraid I dont see it that way.Have you ever visited Rome?Lets go for a walk.To me, that seems like a waste of time.You live in San Francisco, dont you?Would you like something to drink?If you were the boss, what would you do?You should visit Mt. Hood. Conditional formQuestion tagUse of some in questions rather than anyTo me, In my opinion, I thinkInformation questionModal verbs such as should, ought to, and had betterImperative formLets, Why dont you, How about Present perfect for experienceIm afraid I dont see / think / feel that way. Hit Your Small Talk Target Which Topics are  Appropriate? Which topics are appropriate for small talk discussions? For  topics which are appropriate, think of one interesting comment to make when the teacher calls on you. For topics which are not appropriate, explain why you believe they are not appropriate for small talk. The latest filmsThe One True Path to Eternal LifeThe local basketball teamCarsA product you would like to sell to everyoneThe Death PenaltyYour hometownHow much you makeYour last holidayYour favorite movie-starThe correct political partyThe weatherGardeningYour health problemsYour family Small Talk Game Throw one die to move forward from one subject to the next. When you get to the end, return to the beginning to start again. You have 30 seconds to make a comment about the suggested subject. If you dont, you lose your turn! Your best friendThe last film you sawPetsRock and rollA magazineLearning a languagePlaying tennisYour current jobAn interesting excursion nearbyThe InternetMarilyn MonroeKeeping healthyHuman cloningYour favorite foodFinding a job in your countryThe last book you readYour worst holidaySomething youve never done, but would like to doTeachers - what you likeTeachers - what you dont like

Pride and Prejudice Overview Free Essays

â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†, written in 1797 and first published in 1813 by Jane Austen, is known to many, as one of the greatest love stories of all time. It portrays the story of the beautiful, brilliant, and clever Elizabeth Bennet and the super wealthy, handsome, and prideful Fitzwilliam Darcy. The novel revolves around the idea of marrying for love, not only for riches, regardless of social pressure. We will write a custom essay sample on Pride and Prejudice Overview or any similar topic only for you Order Now Set in the country village of Longbourn in Hertfordshire, England, the Bennet family, more specifically, Mrs. Bennet, becomes desperate about the idea of marrying off at least one their five daughters. Finding her daughters’ partners became more of a â€Å"business† to her. She was really specific with what she wanted for her daughters since the Bennet girls couldn’t choose any random guy. It had to be a wealthy, powerful one, in order for their family to keep their social economic status intact and to gain pride among others. Characters Elizabeth Bennet- She is the main female character in this novel. She is beautiful, clever and knowledgeable. During the plot of the story, she finds herself overcoming her prejudice and falls in love with Mr. Darcy. Fitzwilliam Darcy- He is the main male character in the novel. He is egocentric, arrogant, handsome and extremely wealthy. During the novel, he manages to defeat his pride as he falls deeply in love with Elizabeth. Georgiana Darcy- She is Mr. Darcy’s youngest sister. She’s shy, charming, beautiful and full of skills. She idolizes and loves her brother Mr. Darcy. Jane Bennet- She is Elizabeth’s eldest sister. She’s the most beautiful of all the Bennet sisters. Jane finds herself falling in love with the handsome Mr. Bingley. Charles Bingley- He is Mr. Darcy’s best friend. He is humble and doesn’t pay much attention to social class differences. He falls in love with Jane Bennet. Caroline Bingley- She is Mr. Bingley’s sister. She had her own plans to get Mr. Darcy as her partner. As she senses the attraction between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, she tries her best to try and tear them apart. Mr. Bennet- He is the father of Elizabeth and the rest of her sisters. He has a sarcastic sense of humor which he uses to irritate his wife. Mrs. Bennet- She is the mother of the Bennet girls. She tries her best to get at least one of her daughters married. She’s got an absurd and annoying personality. George Wickham- A really handsome, gold-digger soldier. Some secrets about him get exposed to Elizabeth by Mr. Darcy. He then marries Lydia Bennet. Lydia Bennet- She is the youngest of the Bennet sisters. She represents the image of a classic teenager by her gossipy, selfish and immature personality. Later on the story he weds George Wickham. Mr. Collins- He is a not so smart, submissive and foolish church minister. Lady Catherine is his godmother. He intends to inherit the Bennet property unless he marries one of their daughters. Later on the story, as Elizabeth rejects him, he marries Charlotte Lucas. Charlotte Lucas- She is Elizabeth’s best friend. In marriage, she doesn’t seek for love as a primary source. She wants to finally get away from her parents home. She marries Mr. Collins. Lady Catherine De Bourgh- A rich duchess with an extremely arrogant and cocky personality. She Is Mr. Darcy’s aunt and Mr. Collins’ godmother. She attempts to order Elizabeth to deny Mr. Darcy’s proposal. Mr and Mrs. Gardiner- Mrs. Bennet’s brother and his wife. They both have a caring, lovable and empathic personality. Mary Bennet- She is the middle Bennet sister. She is really serious, intelligent and studious. Catherine Bennet- During the whole book she is mostly known as â€Å"kitty†. She is the fourth Bennet daughter. She is envious of Lydia and is often described as a childish and irresponsible girl. Book Story The book opens with Mr. Bennet hearing a rumor that a super wealthy and powerful man, named Charles Bingley was arriving in town, and renting a well- known mansion known to everyone around as the Netherfield Park. This action stirred every single family around, but especially the Bennet’s. Mrs. Bennet’s desire to get to visit Mr. Bingley was growing, she kept insisting to her husband to go and do so. Mr. Bennet went behind his wife’s back and visited the gentleman. After the visit, he told his wife and daughters. To his surprise, they were all extremely excited. Later on, they invited him for dinner, but he was called away to London. Thereafter, Mr. Bingley returned to his manor, but he didn’t go back all alone. He was accompanied by a super handsome man named Darcy and his siblings. A huge ball was taking place in the town of Meryton. Darcy, Bingley and his siblings attended the event as well as the Bennet family. There, they met and Bingley danced with Jane, the eldest of the sisters. Bingley seemed to be under a spell; as he was talking to Mr. Darcy, he was praising her beauty by telling him that she was the most beautiful creature that he had ever seen and suggested to Mr. Darcy to request a dance to Elizabeth. Darcy, with his ego, said she was not appealing enough for him to get allured. Elizabeth heard what he said and because of his judgmental comments, she loathed him. Darcy had a reputation of being arrogant and wealthier than Mr. Bingley. Elizabeth could clearly see that after his judgment regarding her beauty. Instead of getting mad, she found it very amusing. During the rest of the ball, she made Darcy look like a fool in front of her friends by joking about his remark. Caroline, Mr. Bingley’s sister, kindly invited Jane to visit them. Jane on her way to the Bingley’s property was caught in a cloudburst and became ill. Elizabeth heard the news and went to Netherfield to visit her sick sister. There, Darcy’s attraction towards Elizabeth began. Although, no one said it would be an easy path. Without him knowing, Caroline Bingley had her own personal plans with Darcy. Soon enough, Elizabeth obtained a marriage proposal from the heir to the Longbourn estate, and minister of a church, known as Mr. Collins. She refused his marriage offer and ran out of the Bennet property. Mrs. Bennet didn’t take the news very well and demanded that Elizabeth marry him. Otherwise, she would never address a word to her daughter for the rest of her life. Mrs. Bennet demanded her husband to order their Elizabeth to wed Mr. Collins. Mr. Bennet agreed with Elizabeth’s decision. He told Elizabeth not to marry the man and made sure she understood she had his approval and support of her choice. Elizabeth’s loathing for Mr. Darcy was confirmed when she and her family were introduced to the handsome and captivating George Wickham. He told Elizabeth he wanted to have a conversation with her, and she became aware of Darcy’s past choices. These were not good. He related how Mr. Darcy’s father treated him like a son until he died and how Darcy became jealous of his father’s relationship with Wickham. Furthermore, Mr. Darcy took away the property that Wickham was to inherit, thereby depriving him of a good and successful life. In honor of Jane Bennet, Mr. Bingley threw a ball in the Netherfield manor. Mr. Darcy asked Elizabeth to dance. Although shocked, she agreed. Mrs. Bennet implied to everyone at the ball that Bingley would soon to be engaged to Jane. Days after the event, the Bennet family, received the shocking news that the Bingley’s are called away to London without expecting to ever return. Jane, appalled because of the information received, goes to London to visit her aunt and uncle; she soon gets a letter from Mrs. Bingley regarding their friendship. Not long after Elizabeth’s rejection of Mr. Collins’ marriage proposal, her good friend Charlotte Lucas, greeted Lizzy excitedly, with the news of her engagement. Elizabeth was shocked to hear whom she was engaged to and, as a result, didn’t take the news well. Charlotte lets Elizabeth know she’s grateful to receive a proposal which will give her a comfortable and safe home. Charlotte asked Elizabeth to go and visit her at her new house in Kent. Elizabeth, Mr. Collins, and Charlotte are invited to Catherine de Bourgh’s magnificent house in Rosings Park. Mrs. Bourgh is Darcy’s and Collin’s very prosperous aunt. In fact, she expects Mr. Darcy to marry her daughter. There they meet with Mr. Darcy and his cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam, who was also visiting Mrs. Bourgh’s Rosings Park manor. On a visit to the church, Elizabeth shares a seat next to Mr. Fitzwilliam, while having a conversation; she’s been told the story of how Darcy managed to save a friend from a bad marriage. Of course, Elizabeth’s first thought was that it had to be her sister Jane’s marriage he was talking about. Meanwhile, Mr. Darcy had fallen in love with Elizabeth and proposed. Furious, she rejected him. She explained why. Mr. Darcy, not pleased with Elizabeth’s words, complained about how he had been nicer to Bingley than himself; they both left without saying a word. Later, Mr. Darcy dropped by Charlotte’s house, delivering Elizabeth a letter explaining everything. Meaning, what happened with Mr. Wickham, and what happened with Jane and Mr. Bingley. He apologized to Jane and Elizabeth, which caused Elizabeth to change her mind when it comes or Mr. Darcy. Months later, Elizabeth went and visited Mr. Darcy’s property with her aunt and uncle. A maid gave them a tour around the house and described Darcy as a kind and generous man. As they met with Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth was surprised by how kind he was acting. Elizabeth met Darcy’s sister Georgiana, she loved Elizabeth and Elizabeth loved her. Lizzy got a letter from home which informed that her sister Lydia was married to Mr. Wickham. She informed Mr. Darcy and quickly left. Lydia visited her family and told Elizabeth that Mr. Darcy was at her wedding. On the other hand, they let her know that Darcy was the one who made the wedding happen, but no one knew what the reason for his actions was. Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley returned to the Netherfield manor. Thereafter, both men showed up at the Bennet property. Mr. Bingley asked to speak with Jane alone. He proposed and she accepted. Moreover, furthermore, Lady Catherine showed up at Elizabeth’s house because of a rumor which said Elizabeth had intentions of marrying Mr. Darcy; she demanded her to promise not to do such a thing. She did no such promise and makes Lady Catherine exit her house. Mr. Darcy told Elizabeth he loves her, deeply, and proposed once again. Elizabeth confessed her love to Darcy and accepted. Mr. Darcy visited Longbourn and asked Mr. Bennet for his consent. Elizabeth had a small chat with her father, making him understand she was not marrying for money but for love. The members of the Bennet family never expected that to happen. They were shaking. Furthermore, she let them know how much Darcy was excited about their wedding. My thoughts about this book are that it is great for romance lovers. This book makes us look at some realities this world faces. This book takes place a long time ago; the world has changed immensely. However, some of the things we see in the book, are still seen it today’s world. Arranged marriages, judging a book by its cover, and marrying for money, are some examples. This makes us look at the bright side of what love can turn into. As well, it portrays the moral that class and reputation do not define a person. In the book, we can take a great example on how Mr. Darcy’s love for Elizabeth changed him to be a better person. He overcomes his reserved nature and narcissism in order to win Elizabeth’s hand in marriage. As for Elizabeth, the book set in a society where marrying for wealth and social status is more common than marrying for love and aptness, Elizabeth makes the strong choice to wait for love, even knowing it may never come. â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† display many kinds of marriages, but personally, I believe the reader is left with the idea that marriages of love, stability, and appropriateness are the kinds of marriages to be wished for. It exhibits how true love can fight the arrogance and discrimination which exists in our society and particularly between the members of diverse social classes. I enjoyed this book overall and totally recommend it. The plotline was perfect, interesting and pleasing. In general, the story exhibits many emotions and genres. Romance, tragedy, drama, and fiction are some of the genres displayed in the book. Personally, during the whole novel, the reader’s interest is kept and it manages to keep the reader hooked. On the whole, I loved â€Å"Pride and Prejudice.† How to cite Pride and Prejudice Overview, Papers

Does Television Make Children Violent free essay sample

Does Watching Television Cause Children to be Violent? In today society the television play’s a prominent role in the majority of all houses in the U. S. In fact, more than half of the homes in America have over three or more TVs. (†¦) Numerous studies have been conducted about whether or not television influences children to be violent and once all the studies have been completed, they have proven the same thing- violence on TV does impact children. The purpose of this research essay is to shed some light on: how much television a child watches, how much violence is in most TV shows, what the government is doing about restricting this type of exposure, as well as several other important topics for discussion. The role that television plays in civilization today cannot be stressed enough. The TV has become a central source of entertainment in most homes, as well as a source of information from around the world. Therefore, naturally people will spend a great deal of time in front of it, watching shows of their preference. When it comes to children, they are no different than the rest of a televisions audience. There are is a finite amount of shows, programs, and cartoons that are geared specifically towards younger children of all ages. Whatever age a child begins watching shows, that child becomes subject to all kinds of themes that parents may not be aware of. For example violence is the most frequent story topic of most television programs on the air today. According to a research article at Gonzaga. edu, â€Å"over half (55%) of the stories about youth referenced violence, and more than two thirds (68%) about violence concerned youth† (Rawlings). These numbers show that although children are more than likely to watch children shows, even those types of shows display violence in some of its many forms. So exactly how much television violence is a child subjected to when watching television? Well first it’s important to understand how much an average child in America watches TV. This information can be crucial when discovering the root cause in disobedience and academic failings. In an attempt to eliminate children from being exposed to: sexual content, graphic violence, and strong profanity in television programs; the government established The Parental Guidelines system on January 1, 1997. Although the concept of restricting what children watch seems like a sound argument, it is completely flawed when it is left up to the discretion of parents. This is due to the reality that not all parents are the same and not all of them utilize the TV Rating system is that has been established by Congress. Although most TVs, cables networks, and viewing programs provide accessibility to a parental restricting system that works hand in hand with The Parental Guidelines system, not everyone uses that either. So in short, if parents are given the necessary tools in order to protect their children from being exposed to an unrestricted amount of violence, and they’re not using them, this can lead to trouble down the line as a child gets older. A system can only succeed if it’s being implemented and used. However, kudos to the parents that are using the system and are actively monitoring what their younglings is being exposed to. As any parent would attest to, being a parent can become quite overwhelming at times. Using the television as a means of calming a child and keeping their attention is considered a blessing by so many, however, it is also important to use these commodities that are available to protect kids. On a global aspect, the United States of America is not the only country in the world where children are exposed to violence on TV. However, the difference between America and other countries is that America has statistics that prove our crime rates are the highest in the world. According to a congressional hearing that took place in 2004, â€Å"The U. S. has the highest homicide rate of all developed countries in the world. In fact, it is not higher by a small amount; it’s higher by five to twenty times more. † (Representatives). The US has a horrible reputation and for good reasoning too. The numbers of violence that occurs reflects the number of kids that are exposed to violent television shows. Due to the nature of this information, the US Government has taken an initiative for addressing these concerns. Violence on TV desensitizes people to reality and the consequences that follow. Although most people can determine what’s real from what’s not, the line that separates the two can become very thin in the eyes of a child. As a child becomes more exposed to examples of adult themes and violence they begin to grow accustom to it. Children are young and based upon their short life; they haven’t gained the necessary experience to know exactly what entails when someone commits the act of violence or other illegal acts. Video games and movies do an even better job of desensitizing children to violence due to the fact that video games are an interactive form of entertaining where one of the bestselling games of all time is a First Person Shooter where the majority of its players have been known to be under the age of 17. When it comes to movies being played on television, majority of profanity, sexual content, and violence is removed prior to the movie being aired. This type of censoring is a good thing for children because the exposure to adult themes is very limited. Limiting a child to these things can be viewed as either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on which side of the fence you are with it. When a person becomes desensitized to violence it tends to have a long term effect on how they view the world. The more a child is exposed to these things, the more likely they are to commit similar acts that they see every day on the TV. The concept of Monkey See, Monkey Do, plays a prominent role in this argument as humans naturally imitate one another. So what type of long term effects does an excessive amount of exposure to these things have on a child? The answer is simple: bad ones. Since today’s children are spending majority of their free time playing video games, watching movies, or TV; they are sacrificing other activities in their life as a result. According to the article â€Å"Television and Children† from the University of Michigan’s website, as a result of this sacrifice these activities â€Å"may replace activities that we know help with school performance, such as reading, doing homework, pursuing hobbies, and getting enough sleep† (Boyse). This quote basically states that hildren lose out on more activities in life and their school performance can definitely suffer too when a child spends more time watching TV. A simple equation can be created out of this concept and it goes as such: the more a child watches TV, the more they lose sleep and do worse in school, however, the gain that is acquired from watching more is that they are exposed to more violence and adult themes. It’s a simpl e case of this equals that. Also, this can probably shed some light on why so many kids are failing academically at the moment. According to the same article that was mentioned last, not only are children being subjected to more negativity, but they are also: spending less time interacting with family members, more likely to become obese, having behavior problems, becoming defiant, not participating with chores, and less physical activity. As for the physiological effects that children experience: having less empathy toward others, a perspective on violence that glamorizes it as a fun and effective way to get what they want without consequences (Boyse). According to Illinoi. du, another negative physiological effect that children have is that,†They may become more fearful of the world around them† (Anonymous). It would seem that these types of effects that a child experiences seem to have no bounds on all aspects of their life. Whether it’s becoming more aggressive towards others or fearing aggression from others, kids definitely deal with the effects of violence in several different ways. Let’s face it; violence is human nature that American society has deemed as wrong, immoral, and illegal. However, violence on television really is a reflection of the violence in society. As human beings, we have the instinctive nature to commit acts of anger and dominance since the age of a toddler. It is only when we begin to mature that we are taught that these things are wrong. However, suppressing this animalistic nature is a lifelong process that can easily be deterred from TV. When children are shown how to commit acts of violence at a young age, via one of the current forms of entertainment, their knowledge and experience is reduced the more they’re engaged with it. Depending on a family’s situation at home, a child can have more TV time than average. For instance: Single parents, parents with multiple kids, inactive parents, or parents that just don’t want to be involved with their kids; tend to rely on the TV to occupy and educate children on life. It’s an effective way to hook a kid’s attention, but it can become quite addicting for a child and difficult for them to let go of once they become attached to it. Furthermore, if a child is left in front of a TV for extended periods of time, then this form of media becomes an educator that teaches children about the world. The lessons that a kid can learn from a television are infinite. However, it is only natural to note that the more a child watches violence, the more they learn to accept that is a common. A counter argument for violence in television is that this form of media can express the impact that violence has on others. Although, not all violent shows demonstrate the full aspect of one’s consequences there can still be an interpretation of cause and effect. The argument that not all violent shows are bad can be viewed as negative and/or beneficial, depending on who’s discussing the topic. This argument is flawed because it has been repeatedly documented that when children watch acts of rage, aggression, or abuse on television; they have been known to experience surges of adrenaline and are more likely to resort to violent acts in order to get what they want. Once aggression settles in, it takes a child a long period of time before they begin to understand the scope of their actions. Another counter argument is that television simply doesn’t have the impact on children that everyone thinks. This argument is can be proven wrong with the shear amount of research that has been conducted to prove that it does. According to the article â€Å"Does TV Make Kids Killers†, â€Å"Research shows that television violence does increase levels of aggression, fear and desensitization among some who consume it. The strongest impacts are on the youngest viewers† (Hamilton). And also, â€Å"Social science research indicates that violent images are more likely to be imitated if they go unpunished, show little pain or suffering and involve attractive perpetrators† (Hamilton). These quotes are from an article that was written on a similar topic by a professor at Duke University. In his article Hamilton stresses the reality that kids do in fact become more violent by watching violence. This argument actually holds no weight, but it is been brought up by several agencies as to rather or not this issue needs to be dressed at all. We know that the US Government has conducted studies to prove that all of this information occurs every day, but the question remains- What can we do to stop children from being subjected to this type of misconstrued education? Well for starters, making sure people are informed is a good place to begin. The more parents, eachers, and even children are informed, the more we are able to identify it when it occurs. The Parental Guidance system is an effective and wonderful means for identifying shows that are inappropriate for kids at specific age groups. However, not many parents are informed of the importance of using this guidance system because they’re not aware of the effects that violence can actually have on kids. Everyone k nows that knowing is half the battle, so if a parent doesn’t know that their kid is at risk of growing up learning to behave in a number of ways regarding issues learned from television than these parents are uniformed. In conclusion, everyone plays a role in preventing this from happening, from the politicians to the entertainment officials, also the parents right on down to the children; everyone. That being said in most cases ignorance is bliss but when planning on becoming a parent it’s very important to educate yourself so that you can better help your children and the best way to do this is by becoming more educated on how the smallest thing like television can have lifelong affects on our children. With the information I have given you and all the recent studies it’s unlikely that things will ever change in the immediate future unless more parents start becoming more actively involved and giving their children other sources of entertainment. What it comes down to is this, if more families well better yet everyone is more aware and informed on the results and consequences, the better chances that all children will have a fighting chance at a good healthy life.

Electronic Medical Records

The cost of healthcare is a serious concern for many governments. The health burden seems to be on the rise despite advances in medical technologies. There are newer disease strains, increased virulence of some diseases, issues like drug resistance, and increased people mobility increasing the rate of spread of diseases.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Electronic Medical Records specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This is not to say that healthcare has not improved. Rather, it is the recognition that while there is improvement in healthcare standards, the cost is also on the increase. Cost management measure in healthcare includes expanding access to medical insurance such as Medicare and Medicaid. The long-term efficacy of public healthcare systems depends on increasing efficiency to keep the cost of healthcare affordable. IT is proving useful as a means of increasing efficiencies in most industries. IT is already in use in health facilities. In conventional health facilities, IT finds use in areas such as billing, procurement, pharmaceutical services, and patient registration. However, most conventional IT systems in Health institutions are not integrated. Even where integration exists, usually its aim is to streamline the business process. As such, there was a move to spread the benefits of IT in the management of health information retrieved from patients. This brought about the concept of Electronic Medical Records (EMR). The role of EMR is to make patient information available across the medical value chain to increase the efficiency of medical care. The term Electronic Health Record (EHR) sometimes replaces EMR in literature. Therefore, this paper uses them interchangeably. While EMR refers to the whole system comprising the hardware, software and the medical information in it, the information relating to a specific patient comprises the Personal Health Information (PHI) component of th e system. The law protects PHI to deter breaches of patient privacy by parties with access to the information. Structure of the Paper The goal of this paper is to explore the contemporary issues surrounding the implementation of an EMR system. Specifically, the paper examines the stakeholders in the EMR system and their impact on the system. Secondly, the paper looks at the benefits associated with the use of an EMR system.Advertising Looking for essay on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In addition, the paper examines some of the challenges and controversies EMR systems present. There is a brief look at the legal framework covering the use of EMR systems in America under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009. This discussion gives way to a look at the future of EMR. Stakeholders in th e EMR System It takes the effort and cooperation of a number of stakeholders to ensure the proper operation of the EMR system. As an IT-based platform, EMR relies on the expertise of IT professionals to operate. This category of stakeholders includes software designers, software vendors, IT administrators, and Hardware suppliers. Their role is to avail and manage the IT infrastructure on which the system operates. There are several classes of stakeholder under each category. For instance, there are commercial software developers and open source developers. The second category of stakeholders is those in the medical fraternity. They include the medical institutions using the EMR system. They also include the medical professionals who feed information into the system, or access the available information in order to provide care for the patients in the system. In addition, there are support professionals such as laboratory technicians, pharmacists, radiographers and others who provide specialized services in the medical institutions. This category of stakeholder represents the primary users of EMR systems and it is responsible for entering data into the EMR system. Patients form a very important category of stakeholders. They are the primary beneficiaries of the systems. They are also the source of information stored in the EMR systems. Apart from the benefits, patients stand to suffer from risks associated with the operations of the EMR such as wrong records leading to erroneous diagnosis, or breach of their privacy based on wrongful use of the information help in the EMR systems. Patients stand to suffer the most, or benefit the most from EMR systems. Their main concern is the privacy of the information they provide. This is the basis of the HIPAA and HITECH laws.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Electronic Medical Records specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Other stakeholders include regulator s such as health agencies, and researchers who use aggregated information from the EMR to improve the services offered. Researchers who take an interest in EMR systems come from the IT industry and those involved in epidemiology and public health. The federal government also forms part of this group of stakeholders considering it creates the rules that all other players live by. Insurance companies also are important stakeholders in the EMR industry because the operation of the industry affects their businesses. These stakeholders have legitimate claims to access data stored in the EMR systems. Justification of EMR Systems The justification for using EMR revolves around the efficiency of these systems and potential uses of electronic records as compared to paper records. Paper records still feature prominently in medical institutions as the means for gathering patient data. The transition to EMR is still underway, with a legal deadline set at 2015. Paper records are very easy and co nvenient to handle during data entry. However, information storage and retrieval of paper-based systems is very expensive and inefficient. Paper records create serious logistical challenges that compromise the quality of healthcare. The difficulties of information sharing between institutions make paper records almost useless when it comes to determining a patient’s medical history. EMR on the other hand makes storage and retrieval easy, and reduces duplication of effort. From the level of providing national healthcare, EMR promises to help cut the overall cost associated with health records. By using IT based systems, the need for warehouses to hold patient records disappears. Instead, medical institutions can use general IT silos, constructed for the storage and retrieval of digital information. The health facility does not need to build its own data warehouse because of the availability of space in commercial data warehouses at competitive rates. In addition to these, the availability of information about a patient from multiple points eliminates the need for duplicate tests because each medical caregiver can refer to test results and treatment history indicated in the PHR of a patient. These records are available with the EMR infrastructure. EMR also assists in increasing the efficiency of the entire healthcare value chain. Within the health facilities, the trend is to integrate the EMR system in use with the business systems such as medical supply order processing systems, and billing systems to increase the efficiency of the medical value chain.Advertising Looking for essay on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Secondly, financiers such as insurance companies, can access better information regarding healthcare. This makes it possible for them to offer competitive premium rates based on the data. This is simply another benefit to the medical care value chain. All the stakeholders experience certain advantages derived from the benefits of EMR. Benefits of EMR Apart from the fundamental justification of EMR, there is a need to explore the specific benefits of the EMR systems in more detail. This section discusses the benefits of the EMR to various stakeholders. Patients Patients are the primary beneficiaries of EMR. Most of the advantages stemming from the use of EMR lead to better care for patients. The first advantage that patients get from EMR is that they have more control over their medical information. By using PHR access portals, a patient can add supplementary information to their health record thereby making a permanent entry to the EMR. This control assures the patient that a physic ian taking care of him or her has access to all the important information. EMR systems trace the source of information in it. This enables physicians and other medical professionals to separate information provided by medical professionals, from that given by the patient. The second benefit patients derive from EMR is that they are at a lower risk of wrong diagnosis. This means that a patient can get accurate treatment of ailments simply because the caregiver has access to the patient’s full medical history. Better care means that the patient can recover faster and resume a productive life quicker. The costs of care also diminish because a patient does not have to spend their health cover on repeat tests after moving from one jurisdiction to another. All healthcare providers with access to the EMR have the same record to work from regarding a specific patient. There is no need to create duplicate files about the same patient. EMR also provides physicians and other healthcare providers with several benefits. First, post-entry data management tasks reduce dramatically for the medical professionals. There is no need to spend time classifying paper records and sending them to warehouses. In addition, the process of retrieving information does not involve lengthy searches in a warehouse. Electronic systems make it very easy to access the records of a specific patient. A healthcare professional can view all the tests undertaken and results posted from the comfort of a consultation room, and without waiting for them to come from a warehouse. They can also determine the best course of medical action to take very fast because there is no need to generate a new medical history. Secondly, healthcare providers also enjoy the benefit of reduced risk of making the wrong diagnosis because of the availability of the medical history of any patient they are treating. It also eases referrals to specialists who can then determine treatment and other medical interventions n ecessary for a given patient based on the physicians entry on the EMR. The specialist can view the full history of a patient’s condition without necessarily consulting with all the medical caregivers who have previously attended to the patient. The overall work rate of a physician working with EMR increases because of the ease with which patient records are available. To healthcare institutions, EMR also posts several benefits. The entire institution stands the chance of increasing its overall efficiency by using EMR. In a healthcare facility, paperwork constitutes a critical component of service provision. A healthcare institution can eliminate a layer of overheads related to managing paper records simply by installing an EMR system. This cuts costs and increases the workflow rate in the entire medical institution. For smaller practices, using EMR can increase patient confidence because of the integration with the overall healthcare system. A patient can enjoy personalized s ervice with the assurance that their medical records will be accessible at any other health facility they will visit in the future. Secondly, fewer medical errors by caregivers mean fewer cases of legal action or loss of practice license. This advantage reduces further the overheads a health facility incurs related to legal suits arising from negligence or medical errors caused by poor information. This also creates the added benefit of increasing patient confidence in the institution. Another benefit health a facility derives from an EMR is that it can do away with warehouses used to store medical records in paper format. These warehouses can be quite large because of the amount of paperwork medical records tend to generate. There is a legal requirement to store paper records for at least seven years after their creation. The warehouses also need staff to maintain them. By eliminating paper records, health facilities no longer need to pay salaries of the staff involved in managing paper records. Regulators derive several benefits from EMR. For the purposes of this paper, regulators refer to state and federal authorities active in the health sector. One area where regulators find benefits from the EMR is in the matter of epidemiology. Through the data provided from the EMR, agencies involved in the protection of public health can detect the spread of diseases and other health conditions. This enables them to develop responses that inform the quality of healthcare in their jurisdiction. Similarly, the federal government is in a position to make better healthcare choices based on the data collected through the EMR. Reduction in healthcare costs makes it possible for the federal government to improve the quality and range of services offered to the public based on the benefits derived from EMR systems. In total, EMR leads to a reduced health burden because of efficient care and lower cost of care. This advantage increases the overall productivity of the workforce , and frees resources for use in other areas of the economy. Researchers are very critical in healthcare delivery. Within healthcare, there are several categories of researchers tackling various components of healthcare research. Researchers involved in healthcare issues do not only include medical researchers. There are other categories such as IT researchers and workflow research specialists. The most significant benefit researchers derive from EMR is that it makes available high quality data. Researchers with access to EMR can use very clear data in standard formats to pursue their research needs. Unlike in the past when they had to collect data from various repositories, EMR is one large data pool where researchers can collect data quickly and in highly usable formats. The integrity of the data is also very high. Researchers also enjoy the ease and speed of access to the data. They no longer need to deal with multiple authorities in order to access data. Since it is possible to aggregate electronic data, manipulating it is also very easy, which increases the range and quality of information researchers derive from EMR. It was almost impossible to remove identifying details in paper records to make it easy to use in research. However, with EMR, it is possible to get the information relating to medical histories and treatment regimes without including the personally identifiable patient information. This also reduces the anxiety patients previously felt when researchers perused their data. The final categories of stakeholders who benefit from EMR are other providers of healthcare support services such as insurance agencies and software vendors. Insurance companies are very important partners in healthcare financing. These companies use the data from EMR to calculate premiums. EMR reduces the cost of healthcare by reducing duplicate costs such as repeated medical tests when previous records are not available. In addition, EMR eliminates the time and effort pr eviously used to collect, store and retrieve medical records. This translates to reduced cost of medical insurance and increased quality of the services offered. Other stakeholders who provide support for healthcare also glean many benefits from EMR. For instance, software vendors and hardware providers in the health sector are in business because of the need to install and maintain EMR systems in health facilities. Secondly, better records make it possible for pharmaceutical companies to determine the efficacy of drugs they provide. This is important when carrying out research regarding drug resistance, and when examining potential side effects of recently introduced drugs. These records provide all round benefits for anyone who needs information to provide better services in the healthcare setting. Controversy Surrounding EMR While there are glowing benefits of using an EMR, a number of practical problems accompany the use of EMR. Physicians suffer the brunt of these problems beca use they are the primary data entry professionals in the EMR systems. The first category of problems they encounter relate to usability. Secondly, there are concerns about the overall effectiveness of EMR systems in cost savings for medical institutions. Thirdly, data security is of great concern to patients and finally, there are a number of hardware and software challenges dogging the use of EMR systems. Usability EMR systems have several documented usability problems. These problems come from the fact that there is no general standard when it comes to EMR design. Different software development firms adopt different system design standards for their systems. This results in a situation where there are numerous interfaces for EMR software developed by different companies. The difference in interface layout design is reducing the efficiency of physicians. Physicians have to learn to use different EMR systems in the different facilities where they work. For instance, a physician base d in one medical facility uses the EMR system in that facility to enter patient data. However, when that physician goes to another medical facility either as a consultant or as a supporting physician, chances are that the second facility uses a different EMR system. This makes it necessary for this physician to learn how to use several EMR systems in order to be effective in each health facility that they visit. It is normal for physicians to use several EMR systems depending on the number of healthcare facilities that they work in. This situation is reducing the quality of user experience with EMR systems from the physician’s point of view. In addition to reducing the quality of their experience, it obviously takes a lot of learning to become proficient in the use of several distinct EMR systems. Learning to use different EMR systems is making it very difficult for physicians to operate the systems as efficiently as expected. The systems tend to be complicated with different layout design, menu arrangement, naming protocols, and different data entry procedures. Another well-documented problem is system access. Physicians are suffering from â€Å"password fatigue†. In each facility a physician visits, he needs a password to access the EMR system there. In addition, each time a physician moves from the consultation room to the examination room, he must log out from the previous location and login in the new location. As if this is not enough, many facilities require physicians to change their passwords on a regular basis. Worse still, the passwords settings of some EMR systems require a combination of letters in both upper and lower case, and numbers. This makes access very difficult for physicians. Cost Savings In theory, IT increases operational efficiency, which should result in decreased overheads. Many sectors report gains in efficiency due to the adoption of IT based systems. In fact, even health facilities have seen savings and gains in eff iciency because of the adoption of IT in the procurement of medical supplies and billing. However, IT also comes with costs, which may wipe out any gain in efficiency. There is a lively debate relating to the potential of EMR to cut down healthcare costs. In large facilities, it seems that IT brings in large gains because of the historical operational inefficiencies associated with large medical facilities. Large institutions benefit from the economies of scale, which IT harnesses. However, for smaller practices, the use of EMR systems creates an additional layer of overheads. The cost of installation and maintenance of EMR for small practices can wipe out the benefits it promises. In fact, some researchers have shown that adoption of EMR by small practices can result in increased overheads . It does not always bring about a reduction in operating costs. While EMR systems bring about cost savings that accrued from management of paper records such as warehousing costs, the EMR system s also come with an additional layer of costs. There are hardware and software costs, and the cost associated with maintaining IT staff in the organization. Therefore, it is not always true for every organization that introduces EMR will see savings in their overall costs. On another front, IT systems work at their optimum once there is widespread adoption and use of the systems. The barriers physicians face while using EMR systems is reducing the overall benefits of the systems. For instance, the time it takes to enter data into the EMR is longer than the time it takes for a physician to create a paper record. The experience of a patient getting attention from a physician who is not fluent in the use of EMR systems may be worse than their experience when using the physician uses paper. Security Concerns With the expansion of interconnection of IT based communication platforms in the last two decades, information security has taken center stage as the most significant threat to IT. Individuals and corporations alike need constant assurance that their information will be safe in the long term. With EMR systems, a very large network of people can access the information stored in the system. Any physician with access to the EMR can access data relating to any patient. In addition, there are IT specialists, regulators, and insurance service providers with access to these systems. The numbers of potential people who can access the health records of an individual makes patients feel unsafe to have their PHR stored in EMR systems. That said, there is another layer of threat from cyber criminals. The motive of cyber criminals may by terrorism, criminal intent, or mischief. Whatever the case, patients are wary of the potential outcome of unauthorized access to their health records. Privacy is also a matter of concern for many patients. Different people have different views on privacy, with some regarding privacy as something very important. Other people may not attach a lot of weight to the privacy of the information they provide as long as no one uses it to harm them. EMR complicates the arrangements that previously existed, which assured patients of confidentiality of their personal information under client-doctor privilege. EMR allows anyone with access to the system to access this information. To increase information security, database management technology is advancing. Information silos are taking on data encryption to deter unauthorized access. Such a measure works well for unauthorized users, but it does not prevent leaks from those with authorization to access the EMR. Other data protection measures include the use of passwords, and tracking the users who access data in the EMR. Tracking users do not work in situations where unauthorized persons use the accounts of authorized persons to access patient information in the EMR. Password based systems lack authentication capabilities. Therefore, it is possible to gain access to a physicianâ €™s account in the EMR after obtaining the physician’s password through phising. This demonstrates that there are still serious concerns relating to privacy and information security plaguing the use of EMR systems. Software and Hardware Issues EMR software comes in various forms. The most common form of EMR software is commercial software where the medical facility buys EMR software from a vendor under a license allowing for institution-wide use. Commercial software comes with technical support and at times, the software development company provides training for staff and other EMR users to improve uptake. EMR software is useful only if the users are competent in its operations. Depending on their needs, medical institutions can choose from several commercial EMR software options. Each institution chooses the software that it feels meets its needs in the best way. Apart from commercial software, open source software is also available for facilities that cannot afford comm ercial software, or are not ready or willing to pay for commercial software. Open source software depends on volunteer software developers who keep improving the quality of the software. Usually, a central committee moderates the development of the software and releases improvements over time. Open source software can be a great place to start from because of the lower upfront obligations. That said, open source software frequently lacks dedicated support. The most common type of support available for open source software is through user forums. Through these online forums, users share experiences and potential fixes to glitches in the software. The third type of EMR software is available under the arrangement called Software as a Service (SaaS). This version refers to a system where the software development company retains all rights to the software and does not sell the software as a product to users. Rather they give users a license to use the software for a period. The software remains in the provider’s server and the users access the software on demand. The advantage of SaaS is that the developers can keep adding to the functionality of the service without the need to send copies of updates to the users. This makes SaaS a very reliable way of providing services. Difficulties associated with the use of SaaS include data management and transition to new platforms. Data storage is easier for the institution because the software development company invests in storage hence client health facilities do not need their own data silos. It also protects the medical institutions from local threats such as the crushing of servers, destruction of data silos, and local sabotage. The software development companies can afford to implement higher-level security protocols for the data in their silos. However, the issue of access is still very thorny. Storing patient data in a third-party information warehouse exposes the data to information security threats. It is a lso very difficult to move data to a new data warehouse if the storage facility is not under the control of the health institution. Other software related issues affecting the operation of EMR is data entry capabilities. The latest technologies supporting data query are still insufficient for Natural Language Processing (NLP). NLP refers to the capacity of software to aggregate data related to the same subject but expressed in different phrases. The most developed technologies in this regard utilize keyword search algorithms. Keyword based systems cannot decode contextual meanings when aggregating data. Different physicians use different expressions to refer to the similar conditions. In addition, the medical vocabulary used for similar medical conditions tend to be diverse. The main limitation that this brings about is that it makes data aggregation very difficult. It limits the usability of the data collected in the EMR. One of the ways of overcoming this challenge is by using ele ctronic data collection forms with standardized vocabulary. This option is useful for medical services such as laboratory tests, and for diagnosis. However, the conclusions from these processes cannot fit on a form-based system. A minor issue with huge consequence that also fits in this category of problems is the use of different spellings to refer to the same conditions. The spelling problems arise because of the differences in regional spelling standards, or simply wrong spelling of medical terms based on subjective mistakes. This also complicates the usefulness of EMR systems. Legal Framework for EMR The two main laws surrounding the use of an EMR is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009. These laws define the legally accepted use of medical information and address the rights and liabilities of various stakeholders. In particular, these laws look at the parties involved in conveying health Information and seek to deter the misuse of health information. HIPAA sought to establish limits surrounding the transmission of â€Å"individually identifiable health information†. HIPAA served to reduce the risk of unauthorized information sharing by determining parties with a legal right to access medical records and the penalties for disclosing medical information. Parties with access to personalized medical information include healthcare providers, healthcare funders, and regulatory agencies. Information meant for wider audiences such as researchers, by law, cannot include individually identifiable information. The law requires the removal of all information such as names of patients and the identity of their employers before transmission. Some reviewers of the implementation of these laws felt that medical practitioners were more cautious about sharing information than these laws required . The explanation for this phenomenon is that there is an increase in the number of cases against medical practitioners. The professionals in the field feel that it is better to be stricter than required instead of dealing with a case in court. The Future of EMR It is difficult to imagine a future without EMR systems. While EMR is responsible for a new set of issues, its benefits, and potential, make EMR a necessary part of the future of medical services. The implementation of EMR led to the realization of other potential benefits that a medical facility could derive from it. These benefits outline the future of EMR. The first element is that there will be increasing pressure from healthcare institutions to have EMR systems that improve a physician’s workflow. This is indeed the first advantage that EMR promised in addition to availing the information needed to treat a patient on-demand. A physician’s workflow is a very important business element in the provision of health services. Reducing the work processes a physician undertakes to deliver healthcare, or improving the turnaround, makes physicians more efficient. In terms of resource commitment, a physician who concentrates on the highest value work makes more money for the healthcare facility than the one who handles other mundane tasks that reduce the effective high value time the physician spends waiting for the completion of processes. Future EMR will strive towards improving physician workflow. The essential element of the workflow is the need to have faster, yet safer means of accessing data from different points in the healthcare value chain. There are movements towards e-medicine where a physician is able to treat a patient using virtual contact. In the conceptualization of these systems, an experienced surgeon can supervise a surgery remotely, while specialists can render views on MRI scans and other tests from remote locations. The ability to do this without incurring travel costs will improve physician workflow leading to incr eased profitability for healthcare institutions. Secondly, EMR systems will tend towards greater integration with other electronic systems to improve efficiency. This will take place at various levels. One of the major problems bedeviling EMR is information security. The use of complex passwords is cumbersome especially if there is need to log in at different locations within the same facility. The simplicity of a password based security system explains its current widespread use, not just in EMR, but also across the entire IT industry. The problem with passwords is that there are no means of authenticating a login if a user gives a correct password, even if they are not the ones authorized to use that password. Already, there are many options available for better authentication based on biometrics. The options here include fingerprint scanning, iris scanning, facial recognition, speech pattern recognition, and hand dimension recognition (CITE). These technologies require an additio nal investment in IT infrastructure. In addition, they can only provide security if they are available at all possible access points. It is possible to implement such systems within a closed facility, but it would be very difficult to support remote login. However, with improving technologies, the standardization of security systems will make it possible for EMR systems to implement these security measures. For instance, most of the latest laptops come with a camera as a standard feature. This hardware can form the basis of a face recognition based security option for EHR. There will be an increase in the standardization of EMR systems based on consumer needs. As software developers understand user needs better, they will be a convergence of systems to make it easier for physicians to interact with different EMR systems. In part, this will reduce the current problems physicians face when they move from one facility another with different EMR systems. It is also likely that there wil l be an increasing degree of compatibility between EMR systems to reduce the problems associated with the use of different EMR systems. In the last few years, mobile web is proving to be a serious competitor to traditional computer-based access to the internet. With the advent of smart phones, EMR systems will find their way to mobile devices . Physicians will have the option of accessing EMR systems using applications on their mobile devices. EMR for mobile devices will require different software platforms from those used for computer based access. Its benefits will include round-the-clock access. Physicians will be able to attend to emergencies faster because they will not need to have access to a computer to attend to a patient remotely. Their phones will be sufficient for this role. One of the benefits some healthcare facilities are enjoying from EMR is integration with billing systems and even drug supply. This kind of integration will increase. In the near future, EMR will hav e full integration with e-commerce systems such that after treatment, a patient will be able to pay for services automatically. EMR systems will also include communication integration options reminding a patient of their annual checkups and upcoming appointments either by email or via short messaging to their phones. Patients with electronic health devices such as pace setters, electric wheelchairs, hearing aids, blood sugar monitors among others, will have real time data relating to their health status fed into the EMR automatically. Such devices, in conjunction with mobile communication devices can collect and relay data directly to the EMR. Such systems can then alert a patient to see a physician, and in cases of managed care, the caregivers would have alerts sent to them to check on their patients. These technological possibilities point to multiple futures in the use of EMR. Some of these ideas are already past the research stage, and are simply awaiting commercialization. They will improve the functionality of EMR and will improve the quality of healthcare. Works Cited Akhtar, Saeed. Epidemiologic Measures of Association. Karachi: Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Aga Khan University, 2008. Print. Bauer, M and R Nay. â€Å"Factors Associated with Constructive Nursing Staff-Family Relationships in Care of Older Adults in the Institutional Setting. A Systematic Review.† International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare (2008): 23-45. Print. Dube, Line, Carmen Berner and Vital Roy. â€Å"Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case – Part A.† International Journal of Case Studies in Management 7.2 (2009): 1-13. Print. Engelbrecht, Rolf. Connecting Medical Informatics and Bio-informatics: Proceedings of MIE2005 : The 14th International Congress of the European Federation for Medical Informatics. Amsterdam: IOS Press, 2005. Print Guerra, Antony. â€Å"EMR Problems Hurt Doctor Efficiency , AMA Says.† 1 July 2011. Information Week. Web. Hersh, William R. â€Å"The Electronic Medical Record: Promises and Problems.† Journal of the American Society on Information Science (1995): 772-776. Print. HHS. â€Å"Health Information Privacy.† 2012. US Department of Health and Human Services. Web. Hoadley, Jack. â€Å"Cost Containment Strategies for Prescription Drugs: Assessing the Evidence in Literature.† March 2005. AMCP.ORG. Web. Jacobs, Philip, John Rapoport and Egon Jonsson. Cost Containment and Efficiency in National Health Systems: A Global Comparison. Weinheim: Wiley Verlag, 2009. Print. Jeffrey, Mark and Joseph F Norton. â€Å"MCDM, Inc. (A) IT Strategy Sychronization.† Kellog School of Management (2006): 1-9. Print. Miller, Eula and Lucy Webb. â€Å"Active Listening and Attending: Communication Skills and the Healthcare Environement.† Webb, Lucy. Nursing: Communication Skills for Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. 52-72. Print. Niles, Nancy J. Basics of the U.S. Healthcare System. Sadbury, MA: Jones Bartlett Learning, 2010. Print. Smelcer, John B, Hal Miller-Jacobs and Lyle Kantrovich. â€Å"Usability of Electronic Medical Records.† Journal of Usability Studies (2009): 70-84. Print. Ulmer, Cheryl. Future Directions for the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Washington DC: National Academies Press, 2010. Print. This essay on Electronic Medical Records was written and submitted by user Braden Olsen to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here. Electronic medical records

Impact of globalization on manufacturing in the U.S Essay Example

Impact of globalization on manufacturing in the U.S Essay Example Impact of globalization on manufacturing in the U.S Essay Impact of globalization on manufacturing in the U.S Essay Globalization owes its origin to at least the late 1980s. During this period, new nations were entering into manufacturing, which was in some logic the weakest connection in the U.S. series of science, development, manufacturing, and sale of goods and services. However, for some nations such as Japan, lower wages firstly made it possible to exploit this relative U.S. weakness. Nevertheless, Japan swiftly developed other diverse advantages articulated on improved manufacturing methods (Benjamin Perry, 2003).Impact on labor marketGlobalization stimulates extensively differing views and projections, varying from rosy portrayal of a supple, worldwide borderless labor market to awful situations of severe polarization between labor market winners as well as losers. First, let us examine globalization impact on careers (labor) and its subsequent consequences on manufacturing. With reduced trade barriers, new international market crop up as well as advanced information and communication tec hnologies, the job market was tremendously affected. Globalization has had an astonishing effect on working-class citizens in the United States, chiefly through the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs brought about by outsourcing, with limited benefits to society (Benjamin Perry, 2003).The key motivation for the outsourcing of jobs was to cut the extremely high labor costs that are thought to diminish revenue. Employers are reluctant to hire workers due to high cost of employee benefits, competitive wages, and skyrocketing health-care premiums hence they consider outsourcing the work to be cheap (Bardhan Kroll, 2003). In essence, it is more economical for an American firm to hire a computer programmer in India who would be eager to perform the work for about one-fifth the pay of an American employee with a degree, whose starting salary would be about $50,000-$70,000 (Benjamin Perry, 2003). This leads Americans to be more uncertain about their job security since they cannot comp ete with their foreign counterparts that perform the same quantity of work for considerably less pay.Studies show that an estimated more than 2 million workers in the United States have lost their jobs in the last several years due to business closures in addition to layoffs (Bardhan Kroll, 2003), (Benjamin and Perry 2003). Whereas higher productivity and new management and hiring practices are associated with loss of jobs, a number of companies are increasingly transferring their businesses to other countries with cheap cost of wages as opposed United States. Manufacturing industry has suffered largely in terms of job losses, involving mostly blue-collar workers. It is however acknowledged that many of white-collar jobs are going to China (for manufacturing) (Benjamin and Perry 2003).In the case of working Americans, they have been negatively affected by the colossal increase in foreign trade. There has been loss of well-paying manufacturing jobs, important downward pressure on wa ges as well as increased disparity. The doubling of trade as a share of the economy over the last 25 years was accompanied by a substantial trade deficit, directly displacing several million jobs (Benjamin Perry, 2003).Majority of the jobs were in the manufacturing region, which incorporated millions of union jobs that were well paying compared with average wages (Bardhan Kroll, 2003). Within a period of five years from 2000 to 2005, there was decline as well as disappearance of more than three million manufacturing jobs. It is estimate that at least 30 percent of the decline was due to the rise in the manufactured goods trade deficit (Bardhan Kroll, 2003).With U.S. multinational corporations being occupied on both sides of the international trade, almost 50% of all U.S.-owned manufacturing production is now situated in foreign countries, thus an imperative part of the manufacturing job loss has been due to most of U.S. firms exporting back to the U.S. or producing abroad what th ey once produced locally (Benjamin Perry, 2003).The loss of manufacturing jobs as result of globalization saw wage losses for displaced workers, majority of whom never regained their former wage levels even after acquiring new employment. Globalization had also the effect of increasing world production capacity, which had had the effect of lowering the prices of traded goods, the consequence of which saw workers pay being reduced to reflect the value of goods produced (Bardhan Kroll, 2003). Employers to oppose wage increments for the manufacturing employees used the direct foreign threat.Similarly, the flow of investment in plant and equipment and technology oversaw increase in foreign productivity in sectors that used to be U.S. export strongholds, resulting in declining terms of trade and hence declining real income growth.Last but not the least, as foreign trade drove workers out of manufacturing into poorly paid service jobs; the new supply of workers competing for the same jo bs orchestrated lowering of wages of similarly skilled service workers. What does it imply? It implies that throwing the American workers into competition with production derived from low-wage countries, both those workers engaged directly in import-competing sectors as well as all employees economy-wide who have similar expertise and qualifications will have their wages squeezed. In fact, whereas trade flows with low-wage nations have increased, the distribution of income and wealth in the U.S. has grown more and more unequal (Benjamin Perry, 2003).Impact on input versus outputInternational Trade is increasingly imperative in the global economy and to the United States in particular.   During the last 15 years, global sells abroad have more than tripled and have accounted for more than a third of global economic growth. In deviation from the previous decades, when industrialized economies dictated global trade flows, there has been an increase in developing economies’ sha re of global exports by just over a quarter in the late 1990s to 41 percent by 2004 (Bardhan Kroll, 2003).Increased participation in international trade by the developing world is a crucial force behind what many refer to as â€Å"globalization†. Actually more than 50 percent of US trade presently carried out with developing countries, up from just over a third in the late 1980s.In US economy, manufacturing is the most trade-engaged sector accounting for 60% of the country’s exports and 80% of imports. Globalization has had an important impact on U.S. manufactures, as manufactured products accounts for 75 percent of worldwide trade (Bhagwati Marvin, 1994).Following vigorous intensification of both U.S. manufactured exports and imports at some stage in the mid 1990s; a noteworthy departure has taken place.   Ever since 1998, U.S. sells abroad have grown by just 3 percent per-year (Bardhan Kroll, 2003).   The country’s share of world exports fell from 13 pe rcent in 1998 to just 9 percent in 2004 – the lowly allocation dating 17 years back.   Happening correspondingly, imports grew by 8% per-year and the manufactured trade shortfall increased from -240 billion to -603 billion by 2005 (Bhagwati Marvin, 1994).Whereas a variety of the latest import surge has been as a result of the strong U.S. economy (especially since mid-2003) the truth remains that today, trade ins account for over a 35 percent of manufactured products consumed in the United States – an increase from 25 percent in 1992 and just 15% a 10 years earlier (Bhagwati Marvin, 1994).   A 66 percent of the increase in manufactured imports since 1998 originated from the developing world, and half of that has came from China alone.This rise in import penetration and loss of export competitiveness has had a significant impact on the current state manufacturing (Bhagwati Marvin, 1994).   While in general, manufacturing production has improved from the 2001 dec line, currently positioning at 6 percent above its pre-recession high, in addition to manufacturing employment increasing moderately subsequent to bottoming out earlier in 2004, the present manufacturing resurgence has developed half as fast as the recoveries following the preceding four declines (Bhagwati Marvin, 1994).Of eminent concern is the loss of market share both at home and abroad in recent years by the Unite States manufacturing. While some articulate this market share loss to be because of the inevitable bad trade policy as well as globalization, to others this serves as a pointer to the fact that   in a time of severe global competition, changes in a country’s competitiveness have much larger effects at present than they had in previous decades.Consider dollar value for instance. After sustaining stability for the better part of a decade, its value increased by 28 percent through the period running from 1996 to 2002. Dollar value increase led to imports being c ompetitive in the US market, whereas concurrently it made U.S. exports more costly in markets overseas.   It was during this period that, the rise in import penetration as well as the loss of global export share abroad was most significant.In a period of elevated international competition, US manufacturers have crucially been burdened by high structural non-production costs. Over the last decade, U.S. manufacturers have increased their productivity by over half, more than 150 percent the pace of their major trading partners.   Conversely, much of these efficiency gains have been offset by rising non-production costs at home. As per a research carried out several years ago by the NAM’s Manufacturing Institute, which compared non-production costs on U.S. manufacturers to their nine major trading competitors:The findings indicated that Corporate Taxes on U.S. manufacturers were 16% high than those of their major trading partners. Benefit costs  Ã‚   36% higher, Regulatory burden 85% higher and Litigation  Ã‚  Ã‚   250% higher. Summed up, these excessive non-production costs add 22% to the cost of manufacturing in the U.S. and put U.S. manufacturers at the same level with Germany as most expensive place to produce in the world (Benjamin Perry, 2003).   Moreover, the recent rise in natural gas prices in US has only exaggerated the problem. If US could exclude those excessive costs, it would actually be a lower-cost place to manufacturer than most of their industrialized competitors (Broda David, 2006).Outsourcing has seen the elimination of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the United States within the manufacturing industry. Outsourcing not only benefited US corporations, but also minimized the benefit to society (Broda David, 2006).To offer an anecdote to this observation that outsourcing only benefits corporations while, only minimizing the benefit to society, Tyco Corporation, recently relocated to a location in Texas.   Two of the major gr ounds for their relocation were due to the fact of lower labor costs as well as cheaper manufacturing costs (Broda David, 2006).   This was due to the comparatively close proximity to Mexico.Tyco perhaps took advantage of the great number of immigrants that move to Texas, who can work for comparatively low pay, which would facilitate raise, their bottom line. In so doing the company laid-off more than two hundred employees, some of this had been with the company for almost thirty-five years who had been making close to $22 per hour. The net effect was that these employees had to look for fresh employments, in lower-paying positions that maybe paid half as much, as well as they lost all of their seniority (Broda David, 2006).ConclusionEven though there has been decline in jobs as well as universal interest within the manufacturing sector, outsourcing has had its benefits within the United States (Mandel, 2004).   Sadly, it has been a consequence of just corporate welfare.   O utsourcing has absolutely maintained costs low because of cheap input costs, which drips downward to the end user in low-priced products.   In addition, with productivity rising from annually, corporations have been capable to raise their bottom lines while avoiding price surges (Mandel, 2004).   Regrettably, corporate profits are escalating, save for there are no new jobs being created- jobs relocated to other countries are not being replaced.If blue collar, working-class citizens as well as the jobless workers who experience no job intensification are losing out, in that case who is winning the battle?   Fine, additional productivity as well as lesser-input expenses decode to higher wealth. Businesses with their continually increasing profit limits; consumers, who experience near to the ground cost of goods.   Furthermore, with no job growth in the current economy, there is really no new job industry to lead the way in creating new jobs. Too many U.S. jobs are being outsou rced, and without the innovation of new industries, â€Å"job growth will stay sluggish, demand will eventually sag, and†¦incomes will be driven down under the continued pressure of competition from China, India, and other low-wage countries† (Mandel, 2004). However, with the innovation of new upcoming technologies there can be an explosive surge in employment and enormous potential for the economy.

Human Resources Policies and Management Research Paper

Human Resources Policies and Management - Research Paper Example The problem, however, is that most MNCs still view the two factors as competing and therefore end up sacrificing one for the other instead of using one to enhance the other. Investigations into the HR policies of American MNCs like GE have shown that most of them are still caught up between using systems and going with people (Brewster, Wood, and Brookes, 2008:329). As a result, they suppress one – most often people – and create systems that end up failing due to poor staff development in regional units. Based on past and current research, it is safe to infer that MNCs should approach glocalisation with seriousness because it is a major challenge. The process is time and labour intensive, and a majority of MNCs are still not ready to plunge in the uncertain area of replication. More studies show that MNCs should take their time to plan the whole process discretely because the concept tends to be different from the practical aspect of it. HR experts argue that while some HR policies are not fit across different regions, some are (Kaynak and Fulmer, 2013:23). If successfully replicated, they can help exploit economies of scope and scale – providing uniform platforms, increased knowledge sharing among staff, informal beliefs and lower redundancies. An example of such practices is official job orientation for new workers or salary surveys employed in determining external equity. Although they may need to be adapted to suit each culture, such policies are a replication of a particular practice if the central principles are still applied.

Russia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Russia - Essay Example The Prime Minister heads the government, which the president appoints but at the parliaments approval. The crafty use of democratization agenda in the post-Cold War world has evoked a backlash against the whole notion of the expected transition to democracy. Democratization is also in question here as the ground reality has prompted rethinking because much of the post-Soviet region appears trapped between authoritarian past and a murky future. The experts use the term of managed democracy for the Russian system of government. The rise of political authoritarianism or managed democracy is an object of fascination for the West. The geopolitical realities such as Russian oil and gas reserves make sure that these Western interests remain engaged in evolution of the Russian democracy. It is hard to conclude whether Russia is still a democracy or not. But one thing is certain that it represents a unique version of democracy which is considerably

The Merger of LINKdotNET and Mobilink

The Merger of LINKdotNET and Mobilink On daily basis we face several problems and we take certain steps or decisions to resolve those problems. Some decisions are proved to be good and useful and some result in loss however, the skill of problem solving and decision making power improves with the passage of time. Similarly in organizations, management has to take several decisions to resolve different problems in order to have smooth functionality of daily operations and above all for a continuous stream of profits. There are different models available in the literature for resolving the problems and making the decisions. This document is aimed to understand the decision making and problem solving tools and techniques. In this document identification of the problem in a renowned organization operating in Pakistan is done and analysis of the decisions taken to resolve that problem is conducted. The models used for decision making in response to the problem faced by the organization are also discussed along with the limita tions and shortcomings of those models. In the end a personal evaluation is done that explored skills gained by me personally after completing this brief research study on a particular organization (Simon, 1956). Company Overview Mobilink Infinity and LINKdotNET Mobilink is the leading telecommunication service provider operating in Pakistan. It is subsidiary of Orascom Telecom that is an Egyptian company. Mobilink is serving Pakistani market since 1994 and as per the latest report from PTA (Pakistan Telecommunication Authority) Mobilink is a market leader with a market share of 31% (www.pta.gov.pk, 2010). Mobilink was only providing voice services to its customers before October 2008, when it launched Mobilink Infinity a WiMAX broadband service in one city Karachi. With high quality services and competitive pricing plans, Mobilink Infinity gained a subscriber base of more than 20,000 (www.mobilinkinfinity.com, 2010). Mobilink Infinity was being operated as a separate unit named Broad Band Unit. The major strength of the organization is its quality customer services which have set new benchmarks in Pakistan and set the new trends which were never practices before. Mobilinks broadband unit continued the same practice and delivered the service s with the same quality customer services, that is the reason that company was able to get a major market share just in one city (www.mobilinkinfinity.com, 2010). Another subsidiary of Orascom Telecom for providing broadband services in different countries is LINKdotNET. LINkdotNET commenced its operation in Pakistan by acquiring two already existing Internet Service Providers (ISPs) named as World Online (WOL) Telecom Limited and Dancom Online. LINKdotNET merged the resources of these two companies and by putting in more investment launched its operations officially on 02 February, 2008. LINKdotNET was offering its services in more than 130 cities in Pakistan and in two years this company raised its customer base up to 35,000. LINKdotNET provided services for both home and commercial users and was the second largest broadband service provider in Pakistan after PTCL (Pakistan Telecommunication Limited) (www.link.net.pk , 2010). The company got a tremendous response from the customers after its launch, but the poor management and lack of managerial skills the company failed to deliver the services as they promised. The result was that in the fi rst year of its operations the company gained a very bad reputation in the market and customers started to leave to the other service providers. However, in corporate sector LINKdotNET was still the major broadband service provider (www.link.net.pk , 2010). Background of the Problem To cater to the needs of the Broadband Internet market Orascom Telecom was operating two of its subsidiaries in Pakistan, one with the name of Mobilink Broadband Business Unit (BBU) which was mainly catering to the needs of WiMAX Internet users and was operating only in Karachi, and other was LINKdotNET with was operating in DSL, Dialup and Corporate Business Solutions for data and internet market with its operation in all major cities in Pakistan. Both of the companies were serving the same market, which was broadband internet market, to the users of same profile and almost same geographical regions. Both of the companies were independent and there was no coordination in any department, both of the companies had their separate departments, same target market and were treating each other as competitors, while both companies belonged to same parent company. This situation was causing different problems to the parent company such as confusion in the minds of consumer; high operational cost, and high marketing costs, diagram below will help understand the scenario of that time. Orascom Telecom Subsidiaries Source: (Author, 2010) Problem Identification By looking at the above diagram we it has been made clear the two companies were working in one market serving same kind of customer and with same organizational structure, at the time where competition was intense in the market, and due to increase in the operating costs and shrinking margins the profitability of the company was going down, and such structure was creating following problems for the organization. Presence of identical departments were creating increased human resource costs Marketing costs were high because of the separate marketing departments were targeting same customers and were virtually acting as competitors. Business operation costs were high because of separate network management, separate network procurement, and separate inventory management. Ambiguity in the mind of employees and consumers, who were confused about the status of both of subsidiaries, resulting in damage of brand in the eyes of customers. Managerial Decision Making Models Application In the below lines author will explore the current theories on different decision making models developed by management commentators and then author will explore the decision making process adopted by the management of Orascom Telecom, then this decision making process will be critically analyzed on managerial decision making models. Author will see which model was applies how the application of that model helped the management to make best possible decision regarding the problem identified earlier. Decision Making Models There are two decision making models that are widely used my managers in making their decision regarding their day to day business problems, one is rational decision making model and other is non-rationale decision making model (Bazerman Max, 1994). Rationale Model Rationale decision making is one the best known and most used approach, this model revolves around the thinking process and which is also called cognitive process, this model involves several steps which are explained below, there are several pros and cons of this model which are also described in below lines, this model focuses on problem solving where problem is already identified and clear in the minds of management (Bazerman Max, 1994). Rationale Decision Making Steps Source : (Author, 2010) As described in diagram above rationale decision making involves fives steps, the first step is to identify the problem, this step involves the careful analysis of the situation presented to the organization and then by this analysis the actual problem which is the cause of this situation is identified. Second step is to set the criteria for desired results required, this criteria is set to achieve the minimization of unwanted situation or elimination of them, this step is also called benchmarking of results (Gelatt, 1991). The thirds step is to find all possible solutions of the problem, this step involves the collection of all possible solutions to get rid of the current problem, this step is followed by the fourth step that is examining each of the decision option on the pre defined criteria of desired results. The final step is to identify the best possible solution to the problem and then apply that decision, and by doing this ration decision making process ends (John, 2001). Pros and Cons of Model This model supposes, before the application of the solution, that there is one best solution and hence adapts the perfectionist approach, more over critical evaluation of each and every option delays the decision making which some time cause the loses to business where external environment is turbulent (Graham, 1993). This model also take this assumption that every effect of every option can be predicted without having it tested in reality, and consequences and future implications of each decision related option are left on the discretion of decision maker (Simon, 1956). Rationale decision making requires the decision to be dependent upon the cognitive abilities and imagination of the decision maker, more over this model also require the extended time and information for the decision to be made (Bazerman Max, 1994). Non-Rationale Model Non-rationale models are the second widely used decision making models, in below lines author shall explore the main characteristics of these models. Non-Rationale Models Source: (Author, 2010) Satisficing Decision Making This is one the approaches adapted as non-rationale decision making, this approach aims for satisfying solution for the problem, rather than going for the most optimized approach, this approach is used when lengthy procedures of decision making like information needs, and evaluation of alternatives are to be avoided (Gelatt, 1991). Incremental Decision Making This decision making is required when problem at hand requires quick decision making, in this case managers make rather small responses to the problem and instead of completely eliminating it they reduce it to minimum level (John, 2001). Garbage-Can Decision Making This approach is used when the problem is clearly defined or the managers do not know what to do, this method uses trial and error approach and different solutions are tested on the basis of randomness, this approach is also used where there is emergency situation and management was not prepared to handle such situation (John, 2001). Approach Solution Employed by Orascom Telecom In below lines author will critically explore the decision making approach employed by Orascom Telecom the cater to the problem presented earlier, the problem faced by the organization was not urgent and turbulent in nature, rather its nature was more of strategic, for this kind of problem, rationale decision making is best to utilize, as the company had the time and information resources required to make such decision making, they logically opted for this and decision was made by using rationale decision making, in below lines we shall see that what decision was made how it was made by using said model. To explore this author will take step-by-step approach and will see that how each step was applied. Identification of Problem During the time in which both of the subsidiaries of Orascom Telecom were operating separately in the same market, management started to identify the problem that their profitability was decreasing due to increase in operating costs. At the same time the competition level in market was at its peak, prices were going down because of heavy competition and so was profit margins, the only way to increase or sustain profitability was to reduce costs. But Orascom Telecom was operating at redundant hierarchy by deploying two separate companies in the same market . In this scenario to sustain profitability was a challenge that management had face and to deal with they had no other option but to review their strategic business management in the broadband industry of Pakistan . Criteria Setting for Result Since Orascom Telecoms profitability was decreasing because of the high operating costs involved the criteria set for results was to increase profitability by reducing costs. Management had a clear understanding that business was growing at time as so was growing the market, but at the other hand competition was also increasing because of the entrance of new player in broadband internet market. So there was no chance of increasing profitability by increasing price and customer base. So the criteria set by the management to increase profitability by reducing costs was well justified and was based on rationality. List of Solutions At that time management of organization had two solutions to cater with this problem, the first one was to examine the profitability and operations of each of subsidiary and then close the operations of one subsidiary with less customer base and profitability. By doing this management can hand over one business to the other one and then get rid of unnecessary costs. The other solution that management was looking at to merge the operations of both of the subsidiaries and then form a new organization under the umbrella of their already well established GSM brand name Mobilink, since both the subsidiaries had same organizational structure and operational departments merger of both can be done without much disturbance in daily business operations. Examination of Each Solution Management of Orascom Telecom examined both of the solutions and their careful examination revealed following shortcomings and advantages of both of the solutions. The first which was to close the business of one unit and continue with the other one was not good for the overall image of the organization, this could have brought the negative messages for the consumer and could have hurt the brand image, the other short coming was the Mobilink BBU has the license of operating in WiMAX business and LINKdotNET had the license of operating in DSL and other high end technologies, and Orascom Telecom wanted to remain in both of the markets. So the closing of one operation would have resulted in loss of licenses and getting out of the business, however this solution could have reduced their operating costs and increase their profitability but with the above mentioned risks. Other solution which was merger of both of the unit into one consolidated unit was also expected to reduce costs by creating synergies and single operations at every department level by eliminating duel use of resources and duel costs, along with meeting the predefined selection criteria this solution also had certain benefits like merging both of the units and then re-launching operation with a big-bang was expected to bring a positive message to the potential customers that a large operator has merged their different operations and now they are in position to serve them even better. The other benefit that this solution could bring is the use of licenses of both of the subsidiaries and empowering the organization to use the full ground to play on. By employing this solution company could play in WiMAX market as well as DSL and other high end technology markets. Selection of Best Solution After the examination of the above mentioned solution choices, management decided to go for the second option and Mobilink BBU and LINKdotNET were merged for Mobilink Infinity in June 2009. After the merger, all relevant departments were merges and single point resources utilization and synergies with their GSM side of business were made possible, yes solution also resulted in layoffs but the number of employees losing jobs were less than the number could have been in case of selection of option one. Mobilink Infinity was launched to provide WiMAX and all other services that both of the organization were offering to both corporate and residential clients, that decision was able to achieve the desired results also came with the benefits of increased brand image, more clarity in employees and consumer perception of the company, so far it has been observed that companys business is growing and their profitability is increasing, and this decision is turning out to be successful one. Limitations of Process Employed Orascom Telecom employed the solution by opting for rationale decision making process, this decision turned out to be a successful decision but there are some limitations that needed to be taken care of and author have identified, by taking care of such limitations this decision could have been executed well and results could have been more fruitful, below author have discussed few limitations that are inherent in the decision (Bazerman Max, 1994). As rationale decision making is a lengthy process so it took a long time for management to complete this process, the evaluation of each option took more than a year and at the same time marketing of both subsidiaries were kept on hold, however the business didnt stop and they were selling to their customers but without marketing support (Gelatt, 1991). That time the competition in market was intense and there needed the full marketing support for any organization to win the market share, but the decision to hold all marketing activities for both of the subsidiaries and then taking one year to reach on any conclusion badly affected the business, the competition kept on building their brands, new comer were also aggressive that is why their business went down rapidly during the decision making process. Since this decision was made in the Egypt head quarters and same decision making process was in use to globally merge their broadband entities with their GSM entities, this factor also played its role in making this happen in a long time. The overall time taken by this decision was more than expected and suggested, that caused the business to miss some opportunities in the market that competition grabbed (Gelatt, 1991). Another shortcoming that author have observed with this methodology that this model is a step by step process and management cannot jump on to any other step without completing the previous one, even they know what is required and what is to be achieved and how it can be achieved they have to follow all the necessary procedures that again result in more time consuming. Since Orascom Telecom is a large organization, and they cannot afford their business to hold at any stage that is why they were unable to explore more options as solutions and only stick to two decision related options mentioned earlier, there could have been other option instead of closing and merging the business, but their evaluation stage would have cost them more loss in business that is why they were sticking to only two solutions to the defined problem (John, 2001). Another limitation with the model employed by Orascom Telecom was that this model does not support the creative decisions, since the result area is already defined and business managers are bounded with their rationality, they tend to seek and explore the decision that makes common sense and could be sold to management, to achieve the desired result of a problem there are always some run of the mill solution that pop-up in managers mind, and by following this rationale model, and in try to be rationale managers tend to ignore the creative ideas to problems that in one look may not make sense but after careful examination could have benefitted the organization more than the usual solutions(John, 2001). So there is a inherent limitation in rationale decision making model that is leads the manager to only stick to their rationale and make the decision that are acceptable in masses and ignore the creative options that come into mind, another reason of ignoring creative decision is that rationale model is already and lengthy process to follow and managers tend to stay away from creative process because such ideas would require them to evaluate and predict their implications, and this again will result in extended time taken in decision making and managers have the pressure to make the decision on time so that problem can be rectified in due time (Graham, 1993). How to Company Could Avoid Limitations As author mentioned above that decision making process took more than a year to get reached on, organization had to suffer their valuable opportunities that could have been exploited otherwise, and the solution to this limitation, in author point of view is that they should have employed the parallel analysis techniques, instead of deploying all the resources to one step at one time, they could have increased the number of managers working on the this problem and then ask them to parallel on each step, in this way the amount of time consumed in making decision could be reduced to few months. This could have also achieved by employing dedicated resources to this situation and realizing the fact the competitive environment in Pakistan in different from the competitive environment in Egypt and by using dedicated resources in Pakistan and by doing parallel analysis and execution of the process they could have achieved the desired results in minimum time(Graham, 1993). Another problem with the approach employed by the organization was to keep everything on hold for the period of decision making, while the external competitive environment was turbulent and competitive, their decision to hold all marketing activities for the period of transition was not effective, by doing this they lost the market opportunities and they position as leading telecom player was compromised. In order to avoid such situation they should have keep on giving marketing support to their products and by the time of reaching to any solution and actually launching the new entity formed they would have not missed the market (John, 2001). How this Module Affected My Decision Making Participation is this module has positively affected my problem solving and decision making abilities, as student of management and in daily life, on work or otherwise, we daily face different problems with different level of complexities, some problem are of critical nature and some are not that important, for some problems immediate decision making is required and for some problems we need a complex decision making for which time is also required, we also face the situations where we even dont know what the actual problem is, and all this happens on continues basis and in regular intervals. This module has transformed the way I used to look at the different situations, it has also taught me that there is a solution to every problem no matter how complex it may seem in first time, after going through this module I have learned that how a complex situation can be turned into a favorable situation by carefully analyzing it, how to find the actual problem by doing root cause analysis, and not to judge any situation on its face view. I have also learned that after finding the actual problem what approached that I can employee as road map to finding the solution to my problem, I have gone through various exercise that have taught me that how I can find solution and answer to various problem on my professional life and how I can use different decision making model on my working and then in my personal life. I have also came to know that which model of decision making and problem solving best suits the different situation, how to handle problems which are of immediate nature, how to solve problem which have long term affect, by going through this module I am confident on my decision making and problem solving abilities and I can use them in my professional and personal life. Conclusion This paper was aimed to explore the various decision making models and their applications by analyzing a real time problem case study that author have made on Pakistans leading telecom company Mobilink which is a subsidiary of one the largest telecom operators in the world Orascom Telecom. In this paper, author have examined real time problem which the organization had to face, while operating broadband industry of Pakistan and being a market leader they were running two of their subsidiaries with different names and operations but in the same market, and that dual operation was badly hitting their profitability. To cater to this problem organization then employed the rationale decision making model and after going through the process of decision making, they decided to merge the operations of both of the organization, later on author has examined the limitations in the study and then discussed the steps that can be taken to avoid such shortcomings. Later in this paper author have discussed that how participation in this module have affected his decision making and problem solving abilities and how author can use the knowledge and experience gained from this module in his personal and professional life.