Adverse Events in Healthcare Essay Example

Adverse Events in Healthcare Essay Example Adverse Events in Healthcare Paper Adverse Events in Healthcare Paper Health care is an important aspect for every body and how it is managed has to be for the betterment of the society. Health care management thus means how the health facilities which include the hospitals, doctors nursing staff and the patients are handled pertaining health aspect. Patient safety is very important in the medical field. Adverse events can result in harmful effect on a patient. This is an area of concern in many nations that improving safety and quality in health care has become a priority in many hospitals. In the medicine field, when surgery or chemotherapy is done it can always result in adverse event on the patient. Discussion No one desires to cause it. It is usually quite harmful. An adverse event can be caused incorrect dosage of drugs. There are also times when the dosage is unsuitable. All these can be termed as a medical error. Sometimes it can be termed as a side effect. This is especially when the effect is judged as a therapeutic or secondary. When it results from treatment, it can be termed as iatrogenic. They may occur when treatment is discontinued. Sometimes it occurs when the treatment is increasing or when it is starting. (Gawande, and Thomas, 1999) Adverse event’s risk can be increased by using drugs that are contradicting. Sometimes doctors can have a negative prognosis of a disease because the patient has complications resulting from adverse event. This means that the patient will not react positively to the drugs given. A patient that is affected by adverse event has symptoms like weight gain or loss. One of the harmful effects is whereby the mortality of the patient is affected. There can be fluctuations in the patients enzymes. When the physiological, macroscopic and microscopic levels of pathogens are checked in a patient with adverse effect it will always show drastic changes. Some patients become totally functionless. Â  All these changes may be irreversible or reversible. Such a patients susceptibility to foods, chemicals or procedures may be decreased or increased. It is usually not the initial patients condition but it is something that results from medical intervention. Adverse events on a patient are usually unintentional. When it results from healthcare management it is referred to as an injury that is iatrogenic. It is good to note that these adverse effects are preventable especially if they result from management error. This issue has raised a concern on the patients safety in many countries. (Brennan and Laird 1991) These events are common to women who are delivering through caesarean. They occur while the patients are in the theatre. In this case we find that there are various causes to adverse event occurring in theatres during operations. It has been noted that the doctors dealing with this section are usually tired because of increase in the number of complications during delivery. Some of them just work 24 hours increasing adverse event occurrence. Some of the surgeons are found to be quite inexperienced in the work which influences too. The doctors can have work and also family related stress which affects their performance. There is so much technological advancement and at times they simply don’t have knowledge in the equipment being used. (Aiken, Silber, 2003) We also find that these events also occur in the patient care process by a nurse administering an under dose or an over dose of drugs on the patient. Research shows that some health professional may have so many patients to deal with till they affect his or her efficiency. There needs to be improvement in the patient care delivery. Patients always need attention in hospital to ensure there well being. Routine checks on the patients have to be done in good time. The people carrying out the patient care need to record how the patient is faring on There are incidences when the medial practitioner or professional is employed not on merit but due to other factors. This will always lead to an increase in the occurrence of adverse events in hospitals. There are simple things in hospitals like the filling system that can affect occurrence of adverse events. In hospitals sometimes the management fails to make important decisions very fast. Such delays affect the degree of adverse events occurring in hospitals. The management in hospitals need to be organized and do first things first. This will help in improving the quality and safety in the health care delivery by the professionals Recommendations and conclusion Adverse events in the health care sector may not be eliminated but they can be minimized. One of the ways is to carry out management development. This is where the doctors learn as they continue with their duties. It can be done formally and informally. Both ways are important and can lead to minimizing adverse events. There should be seminars and workshops where the health professionals are taught. This helps the professionals to acquire and up date their skills in relation to technological advancement. Surveillance in the organizations should be encouraged since this can help minimize adverse events occurring. The managers in hospitals that are simply lax in doing their work have to be done away with. The health professionals have to be assessed frequently. Those that are underperforming should be spotted and the necessary measures taken. This can help to prevent further harm on the patients by these professionals. (Bates, 2001) Managers in hospitals should ensure that the professional are enough considering the number of patients they speculate to have. They then have to carry out planning on who has to be on duty at what time. Reference: Aiken, L. Silber, J. (2003) Educational levels of hospital nurses and surgical patient Mortality; Jama; 290; 1615-1620 Brennan, T. and Laird N. (1991) Incidence of adverse events negligence in hospitalized Patients; North England Journal of Medicine; 321: 340-6 Bates, D. (2001) Reducing the frequency of Errors in Medicine Using Information Technology; Jamia; 8; 289-305 Gawande, A. and Thomas J. (1999) The incidence and nature of surgical adverse events in Colorado and Utah in 1992; Surgery; 116; 56-6

Exploding Mentos Drink

Exploding Mentos Drink A friend sent me a link to a Wired how-to project called The Manhattan Project in which you freeze a Mentos candy into an ice cube and place it in a carbonated drink. When the ice cube melts, the wax surrounding the candy will be exposed and the drink should erupt. Does it work? Lets find out. Exploding Mentos Drink Ingredients The drink in the original recipe called for whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters (basically a Manhattan plus diet cola), but you can make a rum and coke or whatever you like or just try the non-alcoholic version using two ingredients: diet colaa Mentosâ„ ¢ candy Make the Exploding Drink Ill tell you right up front: a drink with soda and Mentos wont explode unless it is in an enclosed container. Exploding drinks make messes, plus they tend to spray out shards of glass, so its a good thing this drink isnt so violent. Erupting is more what youre looking for here. If you want to cause an unexpected eruption, freeze a single Mentos candy into the well of an ice cube tray. Youll get the best results if you wait until the ice is almost frozen and then add a Mentos candy to each cube so that its near the surface of the ice. You dont want to soak the candy in cold water or its coating will dissolve. If that happens, all youll get when you mix it with diet cola is candy-flavored cola. The premise is that the Mentos will become exposed as the ice cube melts. When the wax coating of the candy reacts with the diet soda, the drink will fizz and bubble like the classic Mentos and diet soda fountain. If youre doing the project on-purpose or else dont mind getting caught dropping a Mentos into someones carbonated drink, you can simply plop the candy in the soda no ice cube needed. How the Mentos in Ice Cubes Trick Works Among other things, the gum arabic that coats a Mentos candy lowers the surface tension of the soda, allowing carbon dioxide bubbles to rise and expand more easily. The candy coating traps the gas, forming bubbles and foam. When I tried this project, I didnt get a spectacular eruption, but you can expect somewhat better results if you use a narrow glass for your drink. Except that the Mentos flavors the drink, I dont think someone with a Mentos-laced ice cube would notice much happening or suffer from an out-of-control foaming drink. The project is still pretty fun.

Corporate law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Corporate law - Essay Example The aspects that Corporation Law takes care of in relation to the activities of the companies are its formation and operations including fundraising and activities of the officer’s involved1. The Corporations Act already defines remuneration in Section 9 noting it to be â€Å"any benefit that is given to an officer or employee of a corporation is remuneration if and only if the benefit, were it received by a director of the corporation, would be remuneration of the director for the purposes of an accounting standard that deals with disclosure in companies’ financial reports of information about directors’ remuneration†1. This discussion intends to recognize the laws relating to director’s remuneration particularly in Australia. Moreover, the effectiveness of these laws safeguarding shareholders’ interests will also be determined in the discussion. Legal Issues Prevalent to Laws of Directors’ Remuneration There had been a public enquiry that was conducted by the Productivity Commission of Australia for the purpose of regulating the framework of the directors’ remuneration for the companies falling under the purview of Corporations Act. The commission was specifically requested to consider a few points namely; The Australian trend followed with respect to the remuneration of directors along with executives The strength of the regulatory framework in practice over the transparency, responsibility as well as oversight of the remuneration practices of the executives and directors The role of various bodies like the retail and institutional shareholders in various aspects of the remuneration practices like setting, development, reporting and consideration The possibility of mechanisms that would be helpful to enhance the alignment of the boards’ and executives’ interests with the broader community The strength of effects of the responses received internationally about the various issues of remunera tion that tend to arise out of the financial crisis globally2. There were certain changes brought about in the Corporations Act with regards to the remuneration of executives and directors especially in Australia. These changes were passed through the Corporation Amendment Bill 2011. The changes include the following points: The ‘No Vacancy’ Rule: This change was set with intent to be applicable for public companies following a board limit less than the higher limit specified in their organizational constitution4. Proxy Voting: This is set for all the companies. According to this, the proxy holders shall have to direct every alternative as directed for all the resolutions4. The ‘Two Strike Rule’: This sets for the listed companies which signifies that any vote for the directors in order to compete for re–election shall be needed in case a board proceeds with proposal for remuneration even after obtaining 25 percent or more vote at two successive gene ral meetings conducted annually4. Remuneration Consultants: This is for the companies that tend to disclose every detail in the report in connection with the remuneration provided by the company to the directors4. Voting by Key Management Personnel (KMP): This affirms that KMP as well as their close associates would be prohibited from partaking in the non-binding votes particularly in the case of listed

Qatar Islamic Insurance Company Research Proposal

Qatar Islamic Insurance Company - Research Proposal Example Price/ Earnings Ratio: The P/E ratio determine the amount investors are willing to pay for every Qatari Riyal. The P/E ratio of the company and that of the industry are 16.67 and 20.14, which shows that company’s earnings per QAR with respect to rest of the industry is QAR 3.47 higher. Hence, the company has sufficient prospect of growth.Price/ Book value: This ratio represents a comparative measurement and relationship between market price of the stock and its book value. Essentially, it represents the proportion of company’s net assets that is accessible to the shareholders with respect to aggregate sale value of its stock. The benchmark for P/B ratio is 1 and any stock value less than that expresses undervaluation. The P/B ratio of the company and that of the industry shows that both the stocks are overvalued, while that of the industry is higher. The P/B ratio of the company illustrates that in case of solvency of Qatar Islamic Insurance Company, the stock will be v alued at 3.84 times of net asset value of the company (Alexander 105-150).Price/ Cash flow ratio: It represents the stock price with respect to cash flow per share. The P/CF ratio is an important indicator of the valuation of stock. While a single-digit value is considered as under-valuation, high values shows potential over valuation. The respective P/CF ratios for QIIC and the industry are 38.17 and 63.79. This implies that both have the propensity towards over valuation. Dividend yield can be defined as return on investment per share.

Sports Development Essay Example for Free

Sports Development Essay The main aim of sports development is to provide links/opportunities for young people to progress along the sports development continuum (player pathway). The continuum produces the following pyramid model: Foundation This level provides the base of the pyramid. During this stage there should be more participants learning/experiencing basic sporting skills. Examples of activities which contribute to this stage are: Primary PE lessons, Top Play activities (sports development), multi sports sessions (sports centres). The acquisition of good exercise/skill habits provides a basis for personal development and future participation in the sport of their choice. Participation This stage is when children begin to participate in specific activity on a regular basis for enjoyment purposes. Sports development contributes significantly to this stage with its community tops programme (after school coaching), school festivals, multi skills clubs and providing club/school links. Sports clubs become important at this stage as they make the link to the next stage of development. Performance During this stage young people begin to concentrate on sport specific skills and begin to develop talent in specific sports. Quality coaching is an essential part of player development at this level and the following schemes contribute to this: Organised by sports development-coaching weeks, Shropshire youth games. Other: Active sports, club activity. Excellence. The excellence stage provides the peak of the pyramid, and demonstrates the level where individuals reach sporting excellence. Obviously the pyramid narrows here as the number of players will reduce at this stage. Governing bodies of sport are responsible for development at this level as players pass from county to regional to national squads. Football Football starts with participation, Participation for exaple could be done at school in pe lessons, junior football clubs and just generally playing with family or friends. Then you have to move on to foundation. This could be like 7 aside or 11 aside games. You need to move out of the playground and into the football clubs. Foundation is a very basic understanding of the game. Then you would move onto performance. Performace is a higher level than foundation, it meens you are begining to work on specfic areas of your game and working towards sports excellence. This would meen you would play for a club and participate in games and train regulary. Excellence is what all sporting performars wish to achieve, it is the meens to have the ability to perform better than just a performace level witch sets u apart from the rest of your competetors. You no you have achieved sporting excellence when you get offerd a chance to play with your national or local clubs e. g. England u18s and leeds united u18s Participation Foundation Performance Excellence John aged 10 John aged 12 Decides he trains whith his Wants to take local under13 Part in fooball junior football So he starts club e. g. cliffton Playing with rangers. His freinds in The school yard.

Global Music :: Art

Global Music The global perspective of music: we live in an increasingly smaller â€Å"global village.† With advance in worldwide transportation and communication and with increasingly mobile societies, it seems not only appropriate but also necessary to develop a global perspective of music. A global perspective of music is a sense of the lifestyles, traditions, values and the music of several nations and cultures throughout the world. An awareness of the diversity within our national boundaries that has contributed significantly and beneficially to the cultural richness of our land. The diversity of musical styles that exist in the United States includes Western European â€Å"classical† music (art music) and a number of â€Å"popular† music styles derived largely from Western European ways of making music. These styles include pop, folk, country, and rock. Other styles, including jazz, blues, and various ethnic music, are the result of a blending of cultures and traditions. All these styles constitute an important part of music in American society, styles that constitute â€Å"American music.† The ethnic diversity: part of the cultural richness of our nation is derived from its ethnic diversity and its large number of ethnic groups. Immigrant groups may have partially assimilated into the mainstream of our society while retaining the songs, dances, instruments, languages (at least accent and inflection), fashion, food, and lifestyles of their native cultures. In many cases, the merging of cultural traditions has formed new styles and modes of behavior. For example, jazz evolved in the early twentieth century. Music is vocal or instrumental sounds having melody, rhythm, or harmony. Also, music is sound that you want to hear as music, sound that is not organized in some fashion typically cannot be called music. Yet the roar of a waterfall, the sound of rain falling on a tent or the chirping of birds can sense but as pleasing, and these perhaps as musical, sounds. In fact, the sounds of birds, water, and whales and other sounds of nature have been taped and used in â€Å"organized† music. Conversely, all sorts of drum, cymbals, and gongs; harsh dissonant harmonics; and abstract, totally unsingable melodies have been organized into music. Artistic qualities of Music: music maybe folk art, high art, or at any place in this continuum. Much music has attributes of both. High art includes the classical music of the Western European cultivated tradition. It also includes the classical music of other cultures.

Paradise Lost – What Do We Learn About Satan’s Character from Line 84 To Line 191?

Milton's portrait of Satan has fascinated critics since Paradise Losts first publication, leading some in the romantic period to claim that Satan is, in fact, the heroic protagonist of the whole work. Certainly Milton's description of Satan has greatly influenced the devil's image in western art and literature since the book's publication. From lines 84 to 191 in Paradise Lost Book 1, we are introduced to the character of Satan, who has just been hurled from heaven, ‘because he trusted to have equalled the Most High'. As a reader, one first meets a stunned Satan, chained down to the fiery lake of hell, surrounded by his co-conspirators. From lines 84 to 127, where Satan is speaking to his good friend, ‘Beelzebub', Milton presents him as being nostalgic about heaven, ‘Myriads, though bright†¦ ‘ – something one sees significantly for the first and last time throughout the poem. Satan's great yearning for heaven is brief, and when finally suppressed, Milton offers a fine and revealing example of Satan's rhetoric and quick-moving contradictions, as he instantly expresses excuses for his failure. Firstly, he declares that ‘Till then who knew, the force of those dire arms? ‘ explaining how they were unaware of Gods powers before testing him. This is supportive evidence, backing up the suggestion that Satan is the supposed ‘Father Of Lies', as he is seen to be directly manipulating the truth. He manages to make ‘He with his thunder' sound as though God had taken unfair advantage by using an illegal weapon. Moreover, he never refers to God by his name, but as ‘He', ‘The potent victor', or ‘Our grand foe'. He makes a virtue out of his unwillingness to ‘Repent or change' – the very unwillingness which imprisons him eternally in the hell of himself. Much of what Satan says makes him sound grand and admirable because of the rhetorical force with which it is expressed, however when studied more closely it is seen to be more hollow, and even absurd. Satan claims that in the war against God, ‘He shook his throne', and that the battle was ‘dubious' – that it could have gone either way. This is obviously untrue, and again contributes to the image of him being a rather desperate liar. Satan's remarkably obvious sense of optimism becomes greatly evident towards the end of his speech, where he describes all the positive things that have been the outcome of their war. Firstly he boasts of how they have now gained experience of Gods power – ‘through experience of this great event', and then he persuades himself they have learnt a lesson from defeat, and ‘in foresight much advanced', will do better next time in the ‘eternal war'. In my opinion however, Satan's brave face is merely superficial. Beneath, he is racked with ‘deep despair', his essential spiritual condition. His ‘public face', is that of supreme dissembler, and it is impossible to know the extent to which he is deceived by his own rhetoric. This idea, creates effects of sympathy towards Satan's character as it almost suggests that he is hopeless and possibly even doomed. Throughout this particular speech, Milton in my opinion, indirectly forces juxtaposing emotions upon his readers in relation to the character of Satan – being that of sympathy Vs admiration. The feeling of sympathy, as he seems so determined to be a successful leader, however it is clear that he does not really know himself where he is leading to. Even though one might feel this pity, the admiration of his great courage to rebel against authority makes Satan more appealing and likable as a rebel. From lines 128 – 55, Beelzebub, the born second-in-command replies to Satan beginning by being sycophantic towards him, and then continuing the myth that their rebellion had ‘endangered' god. In contrast to Milton's confident and optimistic portrayal of Satan, he presents Beelzebub in a much dimmer light – portraying him as being heavily depressed through the repetitive use of emotive language, using words such as ‘destruction', ‘misery', pain' and ‘fire'. This key difference in character highlights the extent of Satan's sheer optimism in their situation, making him appear plausible for his determination and great courage, of which he appears to possess over the other rebel angel. Following Beelzebub's pessimistic and sorrowful reply, Satan forcefully attacks him with a powerful and persuasive speech, desperately hoping to uplift his despair. From comments such as, ‘to be weak is miserable', one learns that Satan is determined to scotch such defeatist talk and to abolish any sense of weakness. Although Satan shows signs of great commitment in his ambition to ‘pervert' God's providence, I think that he knows in his heart that he is on a hiding to nothing and the worst he can do is cause God temporary inconvenience. Words such as ‘disturb' and ‘perhaps grieve' illustrate Satan's rather poor plans to merely ‘irritate' God, with his language generally lacking the vigour one would expect from Satan. Although Satan lacks in the quality of his plans, he does successfully manage to in-force a sense of time and place – as well as a feeling of unity, for example through ‘Our enemy', ‘Our Own loss'. The effect of this is that it brings the rebels closer together reminding them that they have each-other, and therefore have a side. This shows us that Satan has great leadership skills, in that he holds the situation together and persuades his friends to follow his plans. Overall, I believe that from lines 84 to 191, Milton offers his readers an extremely complex and diverse view of Satan's character, indicating rather important aspects that his personality appears to dominate. As the image created is rather dependable, my personal attitude towards him so far is greatly ambiguous, feeling both attraction, and repulsion – many people, it is relevant to add feel the same about snakes. The most notable aspects that have so far had effect shaping my view of his personality are his sheer courage and energy – that he appears to have on such an enormous scale. However, when analysing the value of these qualities in themselves one is forced to question their significance. In actual fact, when studying all major aspects of Satan's character so far – the discussion of him rapidly turns into a series of endless questions, which I hope will soon be answered as the poem develops.

Hr Scorecard

International Bulletin of Business Administration ISSN: 1451-243X Issue 4 (2009)  © EuroJournals, Inc. 2009 http://www. eurojournals. com/IBBA. htm The Application of Human Resource Scorecard: A Case Study of Public Hospitals in NTT Province, Indonesia Riana Sitawati Accounting Department, STIE Dharmaputra Sodikin Manaf Accounting Department, STIE Dharmaputra Endah Winarti Accounting Department, STIE Dharmaputra Abstract Together with regional autonomy development, regional performance management becomes one of the most important factors to be considered. Regional public hospital becomes a regional government asset that should manage itself therefore it can prepare transparent performance measurement report for the benefit of the hospital itself and also the society or other interest parties. However, as a service organization, human resource competency becomes key factor in a public hospital that also needs to be improved. For achieving this aim, then this paper describes human resources performance measurement steps for the hospital particularly regional public hospital which consisted of preparing Activity Value Chain, Job Description, Job Specification, Job Performance Standard, and Job Performance Scorecard. Those steps had been implemented in public hospitals in NTT province, Indonesia. In the end, hopefully it can provide alternative standard for measuring a whole organization performance. Keywords: Public hospital, performance measurement, Activity Value Chain, Job Description, Job Specification, Job Performance Standard, Job Performance Scorecard, East Nusa Tenggara Province 1. Introduction The early years of the 21st century are proving to be a period of profound transition business world. This transition is being driven by a number of key trends including: global interdependence; diverse, diffuse, and asymmetrical security threats; rapidly evolving science and technology; dramatic shifts in the age and composition of population; important quality of life issues; the changing nature of our economy; and evolving government structures and concepts. These trends also contribute to a huge, longer-range fiscal and budgetary challenge around the world. Given these trends and long-range fiscal challenges, we are now seeing increased attention to strategic human capital management (U. S. General Accounting Office, 2002). While human capital is the foundation for creating value in the new economy, human assets are the least understood by business leaders and therefore the least effectively managed. Furthermore, there is exceptional about human resource function, which is that is less prepared than many other functions (such as finance or information system) to quantify its impact on business performance (Yeung & Berman, 1997). Since the Indonesian government determined regulation about regional autonomy in 2002, there were efforts to arrange specific policies for government owned institution in each Indonesian region. Those specific policies also included performance measurement area that the government institutions in local region can manage their own performance report but still have obligation to report their performance condition to central government. That independent performance management is based on Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia (Indonesian Regulation) no. 17 / 2003 that applies the implementation refers to the activity area of the government institution activity. Refers to the regional public hospital that also becomes regional government institution, this institution also has obligation to prepare an independent performance report system. In fact, there are not many public hospitals that had implemented performance measurement report system refers to Indonesian generally accepted accounting principle. This caused by the bureaucracy culture in Indonesia that can not be removed easily particularly in government institution environment and lack of skilled human resources that has sufficient knowledge to make a good financial report. Although there are many problems resulted in preparing an independent public hospital, but it will be better if the public officer that works at Health Department, Regional Government, or Public Hospital begins to take real steps in improving financial system at public hospital. It becomes more important refers to Indonesian bad economic condition after multi dimension crisis so that public hospital should find its own core business rather than depend on government budget (Subanegara, 2005). This condition had been applied at developed countries which have their own business unit, such as laundry facility that are provided for general society with tariff that relatively the same with market price. Moreover, the hospitals also have specific pavilion for sound patient where room price and medical service are based on higher tariff compared with regular class so there is subsidy for the poor patient. As a public institution, main goal of public hospital is to provide medical service to local patient particularly the poor ones. Therefore, profit is clearly not the main goal of public hospital. With such character, it is not surprising that there are so many public hospitals that complain about their lost in operating activities because of their social responsibility service. Based on the above factors, we can see the importance of good measurement management system for regional public hospital. Until recently, public hospital only depends on central government or local government funding and management system without tries to find out any efforts to be more independent. This opinion should be changed therefore hospital can produce its own performance measurement report that still can support its social service function which always become its main mission. Refers to this condition, then it is necessary to understand how to arrange a good performance report therefore the hospital knows for sure its own advantages and disadvantages as a foundation to decide strategic action in order to manage better and more professional public hospital financial and non financial aspect. Therefore a performance measurement that is capable to measure not only financial but also non financial aspect will be more supportive. 2. Problem Statement Although the application of a complete Balanced Scorecard as one of Strategic Management Accounting performance tools had produced enormous studies and practices, but there is still lack of focus on its application at Indonesian public sector. This also occurs especially in an organization which provides service such as medical organizations which have social responsibility and see human resources as the main organization asset. That background inspires author to describe author’s experience related with human resource performance measurement at Indonesian public hospitals. 3. Theoretical Background 3. 1. Performance Measurement Performance can be considered as a â€Å"relative and culture-specific concept†, one of those â€Å"suitcase words in which everyone places the concepts that suit them, letting the context take care of the definition†(Lebas, Euske, 2002). We could use the same words to describe performance measurement. Different people give different meanings to performance measurement. Adams, Kennerley and Neely defined performance measurement as â€Å"the process of quantifying the efficiency and effectiveness of past action† (Neely, Adams, Kennerley, 2002). The author considers this definition clear and meaningful. We can argue that quantifying only the efficiency and the effectiveness dimensions of the action could be too limiting. We can argue that performance measurement doesn’t mean only quantifying but also comparing to a reference. But we should agree that the definition they gave sounds quite linear, appropriate, reasonable and useful. As it happens with other processes, the purpose of performance measurement is not univocal. Performance measurement is a sort of primary process: it can be considered as a basic element of larger and different processes like: †¢ internal performance evaluation †¢ external performance assessment †¢ performance management So the aims of performance measurement could be quite different. In the past decade performance measurement has been a topic that has received growing attention in the Public Sector. To encourage a performance-driven culture, a lot of public organizations have adopted a performance measurement system to measure, assess, report their performance and compare it with the performance of other organizations (performance evaluation and benchmarking). Just few of them have adopted it to manage their performance (performance management). For the author the difference between the two approaches is a fundamental issue to point out. In the former, measures are used to evaluate ex-post, at the end of a period of time, what has been done during the period and whether the desired outcomes have been achieved at the end. Here the purpose of measuring is to help to make a judgment about the performance of the organization at the end of a period. In the latter, measures are used to manage the performance within the period, identify issues and problems before correction becomes difficult or impossible and support decision-making processes in order to really achieve the desired outcomes at the end of the period. The purpose of measuring is to help people, accountable for performance, to make the right decisions within the period of time used as the reference. Both in the Private and Public Sector, using performance measurement just for evaluation s â€Å"one of the main barriers that people need to overcome if the organization wants to move from measurement set to judge to measurement consciously adopted to support decision making process†(Bocci 2004). If we talk about performance measurement just in terms of reviewing and assessing, we can not inspire people and align them with the strategy and t he overall goals of the organization. People will not understand the needs of measuring their performance and will consider measures used to find fault and punish someone (Kaydos, 1998): any performance measurement system we try to implement will be boycotted in some way. Performance evaluation is important but it does not tell us the true and complete story. That is why organizations should focus on adopting performance management systems. If organizations continue to use measurement just for assessing their performance, they can not achieve the consensus that allows them to effectively manage their performance. 3. 2. The Balanced Scorecard Application in Public Sector The Balanced Scorecard method (Kaplan & Norton, 1992) forms a conceptual measurement model for assessing an organization’s performance. This model complements financial measures of past performance with measures of drivers of future performance (Gaspersz, 2002). Unlike other accounting models, the Balanced Scorecard incorporates valuation of organization’ intangible and intellectual assets such as (Walker & MacDonald, 2001): †¢ High – quality products and services †¢ Motivated and skilled employees †¢ Responsive internal processes †¢ Innovation & productivity The original Balanced Scorecard model developed by Kaplan and Norton can be seen at the following figure. Figure 3. 1: Balanced Scorecard FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE VISION & STRATEGY INTERNAL BUS. PROCESS PERSP. LEARNING & GROWTH PERSPECTIVE (Source: Niven, 2005) As mentioned above, Kaplan and Norton introduced 4 perspectives from a company activities that can be evaluated by management as follows : 1. Financial Perspective : how we can satisfy stakeholder? 2. Customer Perspective : how we can satisfy customer? 3. Internal Business Perspective : what processes that we should offer in order to achieve company success? . Learning and Growth Perspective : how we can maintain ability to face company changes? The BSC concept is not only applicable to private sector but also public sector including public health sector. Indonesian economic system that experiences disaster recently is mostly caused by government system mismanagement that usually known as KKN (Corruption, Collusion, and Nepotism). Therefore it needs a performance measurement tool for its public organization to im prove economic system condition. Based on the different character between private sector and public sector, we can compare the 4 perspectives of Balanced Scorecard as follows. Figure 3. 2: Balanced Scorecard Perspectives: A Comparation Between Private Sector and Public Sector Perspective Financial/Operational Efficiency Customer Learning and Growth Private Sector How we can give value to the stakeholder? How customer will evaluate our performance? Can we continue to improve and create value to the customer, stakeholder, employee, management and organization? What should we proposed from our process and product? Internal Process and Product Public Sector How we can give value to the society and tax payer? How public service user evaluate our performance? Can we continue to improve and create value to the society/tax payer, public officer, public organization, and stakeholder? Does the implemented development program can bring results refers to the expectation? (Source: Gasperz, 2002) Those differences in balanced scorecard perspectives between private sector and public sector encourages us to modify the implementation of balanced scorecard at public sector. This modification is necessary because of the following reasons: 1. Main focus of public sector is the society and certain interest groups while main focus of private sector is customer and stakeholder. 2. Main goal of public sector is not to maximize financial result but the balanced budget responsibility through service to stakeholder refers to its vision and mission. 3. Defining indicators and target in customer perspective needs high concern as consequency of public sector role and needs clear definition and strategic result. 3. 3. Human Resources Scorecard The Human Resource Scorecard approach used slightly modifies the initial Balanced Scorecard model, which at the time was most commonly used at the corporate level. However, the approach remains focused on long-term strategies and clear connections to business outcomes. The Human Resource Balanced Scorecard can be classified into four perspectives (Walker & MacDonald, 2001): a. Strategic Perspective This perspective measures company success in achieving 5 strategic thrusts (talent, leadership, customer service and support, organizational integration, and Human Resource Capability). . Operations Perspective This perspective measures Human Resource success in operational excellence. The focus here is primarily in three areas: staffing, technology, and Human Resource processes and transactions. c. Customer Perspective This perspective measures how Human Resource is viewed by company key customer segment. Survey results are used to track customer perception of se rvice as well as assessing overall employee engagement, competitive capability, and links to productivity. d. Financial Perspective This perspective measures how Human Resource adds measurable financial value to the organization, including measures of ROI in training, technology, staffing, risk management, and cost of service delivery. Many leading organizations use their performance management systems as a key tool for aligning institutional, unit, and employee performance; achieving results; accelerating change; managing the organization on a day-to-day basis; and facilitating communication throughout the year so that discussion about individual and organizational performance are integrated and ongoing (U. S. General Accounting Office, 2000). We also can see some examples of previous research studies in Human Resource in the following table: Table 3. 1: Summary of Major Research Studies in HR – Organizational Performance Relationships Research Studies MacDuffie & Krafcik (1992) Methodology Studied 70 automotive assembly plants representing 24 companies and 17 countries worldwide Key Findings †¢ Manufacturing facilities with â€Å"lean production systems† are much higher in both productivity and quality than those with â€Å"mass production systems† (Productivity: 22 hours vs. 0 hours in producing a car; Quality 0. 5 defects vs. 0. 8 defects per 100 vehicles). †¢ While the HR strategy of a mass production system is used to create a highly specialized and deskilled work-force that supports a large-scale production process, the HR strategy of a lean production system aims to create a skilled, motivated, and flexible workforce that can continuously solve prob lems. The success of a â€Å"lean production system† critically depends on such â€Å"highcommitment† human resource policies as the decentralization of production responsibilities, broad job classification, multiskilling practices, profit/gain sharing, a reciprocal psychological commitment between firm and employees, employment security, and a reduction of status barrier. Studies that demonstrate business impact by adopting the following highperformance work practices are summarized: †¢ Employee involvement in decision making. Compensation (profit/gain sharing) †¢ Training programs †¢ Constellation of high-performance work practices †¢ Contradictory to traditional strategy literature, these five companies are neither in the right industry (based on Porter’s industry structure analysis) nor are they market leaders in these industries (based on Boston Consulting Group’s learning curve). †¢ Instead, these companies share a set of hi gh commitment work practices such as employment security, selectivity in recruiting, high wages, incentive pay, employee ownership, information sharing, participation and empowerment, teams and job redesign, cross-training, etc. Empirically identified two distinct HR configurations: control and commitment systems. †¢ Control systems aim to reduce direct labor costs, or improve efficiency by enforcing employee compliance with specified rules and procedures and basing employee rewards on some measurable output criteria. †¢ Commitment systems aim to shape desired employee behaviors and attitudes by forging psychological links between organizational and employee goals. †¢ The mills with commitment systems had higher productivity, lower scrap rates, and lower employee turnover than those with control systems. Based on his sample, Huselid found that if firms increase their highperformance work practices by one standard deviation (SD), their turnover would be reduced by 7. 0 5%, productivity increased by 16%. †¢ In terms of financial impact, a one-SD increase in high-performance work practices leads to a $27,044 increase in sales, an $18,641 increase in market value, and a $3,814 increase in profit. †¢ Developed an overall HR Quality Index based on the aggregate ratings of all HR activities adopted by a firm. †¢ Based on the HR Quality Index, firms are grouped into four categories based on their percentile (i. . , bottom 25%, second 25%, third 25%, and top 25%). †¢ Firms that score higher in the HR Quality Index consistently outperform firms with a lower index in four financial measures: market/book value ratio, productivity (i. e. , sales/employees), market value, and sales. U. S. Department of Labor (1993) Summarized all major research studies regarding the HR-firm performance relationship Pfeffer (1994) Identified the five topperforming firms (based on percentage of stock returns) between 1972 and 1992 and assessed their common Arthur (1994) Conducted a survey research from 30 U. S. steel minimills Huselid (1995) Utilized both survey research and financial data of 968 firms Ostroff (1995) Conducted a survey research jointly sponsored by Society of Human Resource Management and CCH Incorporated (Source: Yeung and Berman, 1997) 4. The Case Study Application of Balanced Scorecard is a new progress in Indonesia particularly in public sector as there is no standard for measuring public sector performance until recently. Moreover as a fact, most of Indonesian public hospital administration and financial activities has not applied generally accepted accounting principle which is main accounting system (Alkatiri&Setiyono, 2001). Therefore author’s experience in building a performance measurement system in 3 (three) Nusa Tenggara Province public hospitals will be described at the following case study. In general, road map for measuring the performance is: Figure 4. 1: Roadmap for Performance Measurement ROADMAP OF HOSPITAL PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT & DEVELOPING UNIT PERFORMANCE SCORECARD MEASURES MEASURABLE THEORY OF PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT W EIGHT RELIABLE SCORECARD UNIT TRANSPARENT TARGET (Source: Ferdinand, 2003) Figure 4. 1 above shows that theory of performance measurement such as Balanced Scorecard (BSC) provides 3 standards in making indicators, which are measurable, reliable, and transparent. Measurable means the indicators should be a matter of quantitative, not abstract. Reliable means the indicators can be trusted. Transparent means the indicators should be socialized to all parties. Then after determining the indicators, we should pay attention to the measures (indicators), weight of each indicators, and target that should be achieved. In the end, it will produce scorecard for each hospital unit. Detail steps of producing this scorecard can be followed at the following sections. 4. 1. Preparing Activity Value Chain The initial step in making performance measurement standard should begin from preparing activity chain for each staff. In order to make it, we should know our Achievement Generating Factor which is the main task of a job position. In order to make clear description, the example of activity value chain can be seen on the Appendix-Figure 1 for Head of Medical Committee. The activity details that belong to the Activity Value Chain are all activities that are done regularly. For example, routine activity for a lecturer is teaching a class. But the lecturer also has supporting activity such as giving suggestion to his/her students if they are experiencing problems in their study. This different type of activity should be clearly understand in defining activity value chain as a first step before move further to other steps. . 2. Preparing Job Description After determining routine activities in value chain, the following step is making job description. Job description is a description of a job that should be completed by a person in certain position. The example for this Job Description can be seen on the Appendix-Figure 2. In order to formulate good job description, we should pay attention to these factors: 1. Job a ssignment should be detail and concrete. 2. State the assignment in information type so it can be implemented and evaluated. The presented information can be input information or output information. . Determine Information Source that we use to state information type of a conducted assignment. This information source can be officer with whom we cooperate, and what form we use to state the information. 4. Determine the time frame and the person who should implement the informed assignment. 5. Decide how information distribution is implemented. Information distribution can be done by assigning person / department that receives the information and time schedule when the information should be delivered. 6. We also need to determine success measurement criteria for implemented task. . It is our obligation to determine development requirement to be completed by the implementer person so they can do their job competently. 8. It is also suggested that we determine responsibility person for fixed asset whether in unit or monetary form so all staffs feel responsible. Job Description can be implemented if the people who sit on certain position fulfill the required specification. Therefore a job description will be more meaningful if continued by job specification for potential candidate of a position. 4. 3. Preparing Job Specification Job specification is a criteria or requirement for a certain position. There are 2 main classification in Job Specification which are: (See Appendix-Figure 3) a. Initial Requirement It is organization demand to the position holder candidate. b. Development Support After someone fulfills the requirement to sit on a position, then it becomes organization responsibility to develop this position holder. The development support can be in the form of training and education therefore the position holder can be developed and succeed in doing his/her job now or in the future. 4. 4. Preparing Job Performance Standard The previous Job Description will be more meaningful if management has certain scoring tool that can be used as performance measurement for a position holder. In order to have that scoring tool, then it needs to develope a standard which called Job Performance Standard. In making Job Performance Standard, we will determine performance score criteria. The common score standard is as follows: Performance Criteria Very Good Good Average Bad Very Bad Code VG G A B VB Score 5 4 3 2 1 Job Performance Standard consists of: (See Appendix-Figure 4) a. Performance Criteria Scorecard . Job Description c. Performance Indicator d. Performance Criteria e. Target Description By having Job Performance Standard, then it will decrease job evaluator subjectivity so that the evaluated staff and the evaluator person have the same guidance in understanding the performance. Performance Indicator or Performance Measures aims to determine success criteria of a job that bein g implemented by a position holder. This Performance Indicator/Measures can be measured from 2 aspects which are Lagging Indicator and Leading Indicator. a. LAG Performance Indicator is a Final Result Indicator of an activity. For example, Lag Performance Indicator for a Salesman activity: recording sales to achieve target is recording accuracy and timeliness. b. LEAD Performance Indicator or Process Performance Indicator is indicator for supposedto-be-done activity. If this activity can be done, then the Lag Indicator tends to be achieved. As an example for the salesman above, in order to make recording sales activity run well, then it needs some activities such as: (1) Checking data and report completeness and (2) Preparing supporting facility and information to make report. 4. 5. Preparing Job Performance Scorecard Job Performance Scorecard is an achieved performance result of a staff in certain period. From Job Description, Job Specification and Job Performance Standard, then it can produce Design of Management Performance Scorecard that can be used as a tool to measure organization managerial performance. Therefore the organization has a measurement tool that can be used as a guidance to measure overall organization performance. The scorecard can be seen at the Appendix-Figure 5. As a performance report, this Job Performance Scorecard should be published regularly as a complement of hospital financial report. This report can be foundation for management to make decision on what they should do related to their staff performance. Therefore this scorecard should be applied to all management levels from operational level until strategic level so it might run well. 5. Conclusion It is not surprising that Indonesian public hospital still provide minimum medical service with minimum funding support from the government. However, Public Hospital as a public service institution needs a condusive human resource performance measurement system to determine its worker ffectiveness and efficiency weaknesses so it can achieve good corporate governance in the future. Balanced Scorecard has provided a foundation for both private and public sector to measure both sector performances. This foundation can be used by Indonesian public sector particularly regional hospital to improve its performance so in the end it might produce scorecard report regularly that is reliable. All steps from making Activity Value Chain, Job Description, Job Specification, Job Performance Standard, and Job Performance Scorecard can be easily followed as a standard for implementing the BSC into the public health sector. However, this paper is only limited on success story at three Indonesian public hospitals in Nusa Tenggara Province. Therefore future research should be more generalized to other public hospitals or other public sectors in Indonesia. Bibliography [1] [2] [3] Alkatiri, A. & Setiyono, V. (2001). Manajemen & Akuntansi Rumah Sakit. Fa. Sinar Bahagia, Jakarta. Bocci, F. (2004). Defining Performance Measurement. A Comment. PMA Newsletter Vol 3 Issue 1/2 September, pp. 20. Ferdinand, A. (2003) Module for Performance Monitoring: Supervisory Monitoring Scorecard. Training for Hospital Performance Management at East Nusa Tenggara Regional Public Hospitals, a joint programme between EPOS Health Consultant Germany, East Nusa Tenggara Health Department, and AGF Consulting Indonesia Gaspersz, V. (2002). Balanced Scorecard dengan Six Sigma untuk Organisasi Bisnis dan Pemerintah. PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, Jakarta, Chapter 1. Kaplan, R. S. and Norton, D. P. (1992). Translating Strategy into Action: the Balance Scorecard. Harvard Business School Press, Boston. Kaydos, W. (1998). Operational Performance Measurement: Increasing Total Productivity. CRC Press, pp. 98. Lebas, M. & Euske, K. (2002). A Conceptual and Operational Delineation of Performance in Business Performance Measurement: Theory and Practice. Neely, Andy Editor, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Neely, A. , Adams, C. , and Kennerley, M. (2002). The Performance Prism: The Scorecard for Measuring and Managing Business Success. Financial Times Prentice Hall, London 2002 Niven, P. R. (2005). Balanced Scorecard Diagnostics: Maintaining Maximum Performance. John Wiley&Sons, Inc. Subanegara, H. P. (2005). Diamond Head Drill & Kepemimpinan Dalam Manajemen Rumah Sakit. Penerbit Andi, Yogyakarta. Sugiri, S. (1992). Pengantar Akuntansi, Edisi Revisi. AMP YKPN, Yogyakarta. Undang-Undang RI No. 17 Tahun 2003 Tentang Keuangan Negara. BP Cipta Jaya, Jakarta. U. S. General Accounting Office, Human Capital: Key Principles From Nine Private Sector Organizations, GAO/GGD-00-28. Washington, DC. : Jan. 31, 2000 U. S. General Accounting Office, Managing for Results: Using Strategic Human Capital Management to Drive Transformational Change, GAO-02-940T. Washington, DC. : July 15, 2002 Walker, G. & MacDonald, J. R. (2001). Designing and Implementing an HR Scorecard. Human Resource Management, Winter; 40, 4; pp. 365-377. Yeung, A. K. & Berman, B. (1997). Adding Value Through Human Resources Reorienting Human Resource Measurement to Drive Business Performance. Human Resource Management, Fall; 36, 3 : p. 321-335 [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] Appendix Figure 1: Activity Value Chain Name of Position : HEAD OF MEDICAL COMMITTEE Main Goal of Position : Achieve optimum Medical Service Coordination in accordance with medical science and technology and medical profession ethic. VALUE CHAIN DIAGRAM ACTIVITY DETAIL JOB CHARACTERISTIC Head of Medical Committee 1 8 2 3 4 7 6 5 1. Make Medical Committee plan 2. Make Committee and Team, and ascertain duty implementation of Committee and Team 3. Ascertain duty implementation of SMF (Functional Medical Staff) refers to service standard 4. Coordinate SMF education and training 5. Coordinate research and development for SMF medical area 6. Approve Credit Proposal and make DP3 for Head of SMF 7. Make report and conduct evaluation on Medical Committee activities AT AT AT AT AT AT AT Note: AT = Routine Accountability Figure 2: Job Description Division Position Main Activity Make Medical Committee plan : Medical Committee : Head of Medical Committee Job Characteristic AT Information Type Input : Director SK PHO IDI Information Source Person Format †¢ Director †¢ Minister of Health †¢ IDI/ Professional Organisation Relevant person †¢ Letter †¢ Book †¢ Book Head of Medical Committee Annually †¢ Director †¢ Head of SMF On December Job Implementer Time Result Distribution Person Time Success Criteria †¢ †¢ Plan finishing time accuracy (POA) Plan content completeness (POA) Make Committee and Team, and ascertain duty implementation of Committee and Team AT Ascertain duty implementation of SMF (Functional Medical Staff) refers to service standard AT Coordinate SMF education and training AT Coordinate research and development for SMF medical area AT Approve Credit Proposal and make DP3 for Head of SMF AT Make report and conduct evaluation on Medical Committee activities AT uput : POA of Medical Committee Input : POA of Medical Committee Ouput : †¢ Committee SK †¢ Committee Activity Report Input : POA of Medical Committee Ouput : Service Standard Compliance Report Input : POA of Medical Committee Ouput : Activity report of SMF Education and training Input : POA of Medical Committee Ouput : Activity report of SMF Research and Development Input : †¢ Keppres (President Desicion) †¢ SK of Menpan Ouput : †¢ DP3 of SMF Head †¢ Promotion proposal Input : †¢ SK Director †¢ POA Committee Medis Ouput : †¢ Activity report and evaluation of Medical Committee Book Director Letter Head of Medical Committee Annually †¢ Director †¢ Head of SMF On December †¢ Relevant Person Letter Book Activity report time accuracy Director Book Head of Medical Committee Annually †¢ Director †¢ Head of SMF Relevant Person End of January at following year †¢ Reporting time accuracy Form Director Book Head of Medical Committee Annually †¢ Director †¢ Head of SMF Relevant Person End of January at following year †¢ Activity report time accuracy Form Director Book Head of Medical Committee Annually Director †¢ Head of SMF Relevant Person End of January at following year †¢ Activity report time accuracy Form President Menpan Letter Head of Medical Committee Docume nt †¢ Letter †¢ Book Head of Medical Committee 1 month ahead Semi annually †¢ Director 1 month ahead †¢ Arrangement time accuracy Relevant Person †¢ Director †¢ Director Annually †¢ Director †¢ Reporting time a ccuracy Relevant Person Head of SMF Form Figure 3: Job Specification Position : Head Of Medical Commitee Initial Requirement 1. S1/General Practitioner 2. Has 2 years experience at the relevant area Technical Competency 1. Medical basic skill 2. Ability to supervise medical committee task 3. Ability to make decision Managerial Development Competency Support 1. Ability to lead medical 1. Advance study committee S2/Specialist 2. Ability to make plan 2. Training of and policy in regards hospital with medical operational committee task management 3. Ability to make report 3. Training of and evaluation arranging job performance measurement Job Description 1. Make Medical Committee plan 2. Make Committee and Team, and ascertain duty implementation of Committee and Team 3. Ascertain duty implementation of SMF (Staf Medis Fungsional/Functional Medical Staff) refers to service standard 4. Coordinate SMF education and training 5. Coordinate research and development for SMF medical area 6. Approve Credit Proposal and make job performance measurement for Head of SMF 7. Make report and conduct evaluation on Medical Committee activities Figure 4: Job Performance Standard Position : Head of Medical Committee Very Good Score = 5 100% complete 100% from target 100% from target 100% from target 100% from target 100% from target 100% from target Very Good Score = 5 100% complete 100% from target Always Available 100% complete 100% complete 100% from target 100% complete 100% from target 100% complete Date 5 of the following month Good Score = 4 90 – 99% 90 – 99% from target 90 – 99% from target 90 – 99% from target 90 – 99% from target 90 – 99% from target 90 – 99% from target Good Score = 4 90 – 99% 90 – 99% from target 90 – 99% 90 – 99% 90 – 99% from target 90 – 99% 90 – 99% from target 90 – 99% Date 6-9 of the following month Average Score = 3 80-90% 80 – 90% from target 80 – 90% from target 80 – 90% from target 80 – 90% from target 80 – 90% from target 80 – 90% from target Average Score = 3 80-90% 80 – 90% from target Sometimes unavailable 80-90% 80-90% 80 – 90% from target 80-90% 80 – 90% from target 80-90% Date 10 of the following month Bad Score = 2 70-79% 75 – 80% target 75 – 80% target 75 – 80% target 75 – 80% target 75 – 80% target 75 – 80% target Bad Score = 2 70-79% 75 – 80% target 70-79% 70-79% 75 – 80% target 70-79% 75 – 80% target 70-79% Date 11-15 of the following month Very Bad Score = 1

International Business and Saudi Arabia

International Business and Saudi Arabia One international company that has remained on the successful path is Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart had set out different strategies that enabled it to succeed in numerous fronts. For instance, the company has edged its competitors by producing several brands of all its products.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on International Business and Saudi Arabia specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As a result, customers have been able to choose products from a wide range of substitutes hence satisfying their needs. This strategy has attracted and maintained customers in the premises as there are minimal chances of missing to purchase a product (What makes Wal-Mart successful?, 2013). A customer who wants to purchase a luxury watch has varieties like Omega, Rolex, Rado, and Cartier. From this scenario, a customer can choose a watch from the different brands of watches. In addition, Wal-Mart has adopted the cost-cutting strategy in order to off er consumers products of low prices as compared to their competitors in the market. The Company’s ability to provide customers with low prices has made it realize the value for their money. The move has also made the company gain massive buying power. The low costs have made Wal-Mart gain competitive advantage over its competitors. The cutting of costs on products has also assisted the company to save on expenses. Moreover, its employees think outside the box on service provision to customers. The culture has facilitated the building of strong relations between customers and employees. Organizations that have adopted this culture have realized success in their operations.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The logistics and distribution networks at Wal-Mart have been strong. The Company has ensured that it brings its products close to the customers as possible. The Company believes that effective management and strong creative decisions are the essential cornerstones it requires in strengthening its foundation and place as a chief actor in the business environment (What makes Wal-Mart successful?, 2013). A clear supply chain strategy improves customer service, increases profits, and continues to minimize the reduced costs of production and operation. According to Hill McKaig (2012), a right logistic strategy facilitates achievement of business goals by engaging the management team in meeting the strategic objectives of a firm. In free trade, participants are able to export or import products without tariffs. The idea where participating countries do not meet extra costs when receiving or sending products to their members has numerous benefits. Increased free trade has enhanced customer satisfaction. The globalized market increases stiff competition among the member countries hence lowering the final consumer prices (Edge, n.d.). Addition ally, the free trade increases innovations and competition among companies hence improving their innovative ideas. Companies have to create comparative advantage over their competitors by coming up with new products in their fields. From this perspective, consumers continue to get better products all the time. Free trade has also increased efficiency and production levels of countries.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on International Business and Saudi Arabia specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For example, countries specialize on producing products in areas where they enjoy comparative advantage instead of focusing on areas where they have little competitive advantage. When the production level of a country increases, its efficiency also increases through purchase of cheaper resources from other member nations. The continued free trade increases the economy of participating nations, as they are able to export and import large volumes of products at reduced costs (Edge, n.d.). When this trend increases, the productivity goes up thereby raising the wages and salaries that employees in these countries receive. For instance, when US lowered its trade restrictions, the GDP went up since consumers are able to purchase quality products at cheaper rates than before. This reveals that consumers’ expendable income increases with continuous trend of free trade. Moreover, free trade is beneficial as it reduces poverty and assures nations gains in foreign exchange. Countries that buy products from other nations using cash clearly send non-interest IOUs in exchange for the real products. For example, Japan can purchase steel from UK at the present market value. Later, UK can use the Japan’s funds to purchase vehicles from Japan at the future market price. Again, nations that open their borders to free trade increase their income levels.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More An example is in 1990 when developing nations that removed trade restrictions across their borders realized income growth three folds than the countries that continued to lay restrictions. Additionally, the trade minimizes conflicts world over since participating members learn to understand, appreciate, and respect the cultures of their partners. The mutual respect that exists among nations minimizes chances of the countries from going to war with each other. Even though the trade increases unemployment and stiff competition to some level, the benefits that accompany the entire processes are greater than the demerits (Edge, n.d.). Saudi Aramco has been operating in Saudi Arabia since 1933 as a global petroleum and chemical enterprise. The Company has been producing, refining, distributing, and marketing petroleum products. In a bid to expand its presence in the global market, the company ought to consider some factors that may assist its smooth operations in the global and dynamic m arket. First, the company should study the business environment in order to understand the legal conditions in other nations since business laws and regulations differ across nations. Saudi Aramco should prefer business environments that levy low business fees as a way of reducing costs and enhancing growth. This factor assists in preventing scenarios where excess fee and regulatory fees can bog down the services of the oil producing company. The management at Saudi Aramco can visit The World Bank’s website to put side-by-side regulations that exist in over 170 nations (Lister, 2011). The Company should also lay out a strategic plan of how it intends to operate in the global arena. Saudi Aramco Company should minimize risks and enhance success by choosing foreign nations that have favorable business environments and a few legal restrictions since many legal restrictions imply high regulatory fees and massive taxes that can derail the establishment of the company in the global markets. Saudi Aramco Company has to screen its distributors and suppliers before going global in order enhance success in its operations in the international market. The Company must carry out a vivid analysis of its supply and delivery chains to be certain that they treat employees fairly, use proper health and safety standards, and use non-toxic manufacturing options. This move can assist Saudi Aramco Company to save on billions of Riyal that could have risen from rejected goods due to unsafe practices of the foreign producers. In addition, Saudi Aramco Company should understand the global shipping logistics as a way of avoiding delays and unnecessary costs. The management at the company must understand how they will move their products from one point to another in order to record success. The Company will be able to understand the custom laws and associated costs from all their shipping points (Lister, 2011). The firm can minimize risks by approaching freight-forwarder companie s since they specialize on logistics in the global commerce. These companies can help Saudi Aramco Company to plan on its shipping needs and evaluate the shipping prerequisites for the target countries for business. Saudi Aramco Company should choose a country that has less global shipping requirements, as this will cut the overall costs of delivering products to their destined locations. The reduced costs also lower the final prices of the products hence enabling Saudi Aramco Company to gain competitive advantage over its competitors in the foreign market. Moreover, the company ought to understand the languages and cultural practices of the countries in which it plans to set its branches (Lister, 2011). It can be a suicidal move if the company can ignore these factors and decides to go global. The business may fail to develop connections that can be beneficial in long-term perspectives. Saudi Aramco Company can overcome this factor by employing foreign consultants in all its branch es in the foreign nations. The foreign consultant will minimize risks by assisting with diplomatic needs that local Saudis cannot solve. Alternatively, Saudi Aramco Company can train its all-time managers and consultants on how to approach the foreign market by learning the foreign languages and cultures. In this situation, the Saudi Aramco Company should hire a foreign consultant to assist in the services of language translation and diplomatic needs since the other option of training staff to understand the language and culture of the foreign countries is expensive and even delays the entire process of going global. Saudi Aramco Company should consider countries that have simple cultures, which are easy to understand and hire foreign consultants who are natives of these nations. References Edge, K. (n.d.). Free trade and protection: advantages and disadvantages of free trade. NSW HSC Online. Hill, C. W., McKaig, T. (2012). Global Business Today (3rd ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Ryers on. Lister, J. (2011, August 5). What Should a Company Consider Before Going Global?. eHow | How to Videos, Articles More Discover the expert in you. Web. What makes Wal-Mart successful?. (2013, May 21). HubPages. Web.

Why Choose a Single-Sex School

Why Choose a Single-Sex School No single educational environment is right for every student. From varying learning styles to different interests, education has become an incredibly diverse and customized experience for students. For some children, the best learning environment is one that removes students of the opposite gender from the equation.  Research has shown that single-sex education offers benefits for both girls and boys. While it has long been known that girls do better academically in all-girls’ environments, more recent research has shown that boys may fare even better than girls in single-sex classrooms. The research fairly overwhelmingly and  consistently points to the advantages of single-sex schools. For example, a study at Stetson University  in Florida showed that among fourth graders at a public elementary school in the state, 37% of boys reached proficiency levels in co-ed classes, while 86% of boys in single-sex classrooms did (the boys in the study were matched so that they were statistically equivalent). While 59% of girls reached a proficient level in co-ed classrooms, 75% did when they were only with girls. This type of research has been carried out and substantiated among students of different economic, ethnic, and racial backgrounds in many different industrialized countries around the world. Part of the magic of single-sex schools is that the teaching methods can be adjusted to the students. Well-trained teachers at girls’ and boys’ single-sex schools can take advantage of the specific ways in which girls and boys learn. For example, boys often need a higher level of activity, while girls might need more reassurance that they have something to offer to the classroom discussion. In a typical co-ed classroom, it is difficult for one teacher to use these specific strategies for all the students. Here are some other advantages of single-sex schools: Girls Gain Greater Confidence CRC Health studies show that one-quarter of the female members of Congress and one-third of the female board members of Fortune 100 companies attended girls’ schools. This staggering statistic might be in part because girls in single-sex schools learn to feel confident about their ideas, and they more readily jump into class discussions when they are not self-conscious. In a girls’ school, students are not worried about what boys will think about them, and they shed the traditional idea that girls should be demure or quiet. Boys and Girls Feel Comfortable in Non-traditional Subjects Boys in boys’ schools feel comfortable in areas that they learn to avoid in co-ed schools, such as literature, writing, and foreign languages. Many boys’ schools emphasize these subjects, and the teachers in these schools are able to plan the curriculum so that the themes in the books the boys read are geared towards their concerns and interests, as opposed to the usual â€Å"girl-centered† books in many co-ed schools. For example, boys may read stories about boys coming of age, such as Homer’s The Odyssey, and the students’ analyses of these works can be centered on boys’ concerns. Girls in girls’ schools, on the other hand, tend to feel more comfortable in areas that they traditionally shy away from, such as math and science. In all-female schools, they can have female role models who enjoy these subjects, and they are encouraged to be interested in these areas without competition from boys. Students Unlearn Gender Stereotypes In boys’ schools, boys fill every role- whether it’s a traditional role such as captain of the basketball team or whether it’s an untraditional role such as the editor of the yearbook. There are no stereotypes about which types of roles boys should fill. Similarly, in a girls’ school, girls are the head of every sport and organization and can comfortably take on such untraditional roles as head of the student body or head of the physics club. In this way, students in these schools unlearn traditional stereotypes and do not tend to think of roles in terms of gender. Single-Sex Classrooms Often have Better Discipline While sometimes all-girls’ and all-boys’ classrooms have a certain relaxed quality borne of freedom to express themselves, single-sex classrooms have been shown overall to have fewer discipline problems, particularly for boys. Students are no longer busy impressing or competing against the opposite sex but can get down to the true business of learning. Many parents who attended co-ed schools may feel uncomfortable at first exploring the single-sex school option for their children, but there is no doubt that many students learn better in these types of schools.

Business Models and Planning Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Models and Planning - Case Study Example The restaurants are intended to serve medium and high income community. It fits into the busy lives of the community by offering quick foods at premium prices. It will be open on weekends and late night. The primary target for RFD is the medium and high income earners. This group includes household that have an average annual income of above $50000 and reside in urban neighborhoods (Lassiter & Roberts, 1998). It is assumed that this group has a high propensity to consume desserts and other services offered by the restaurant. The target market resides in multiunit houses in uptown areas. Such populations are in California, Texas, New York City and several other Cities and States in the country. Most Dessert users are aged between 25-54. The group is comprised of people who are working and attend outside events such as parties, dinners and theaters. As such, they have a sizeable amount of disposable income and are willing to consume if they come across an RFD restaurant. People attending night events are highly likely to enter a restaurant for refreshments. The restaurant will differentiate itself from others based on human resource, quality, and service. The restaurant will ensure that its staff are trained in specific products and services offered by the restaurant. All workers are required to pursue further studies on baking, pastry, and hospitality. Also, staff members are given a chance to practice their skills. Quality is emphasized in the restaurant. The restaurant specializes in making desserts. As such, efforts are concentrated towards ensuring the best desserts. Unlike other restaurants, RFD desserts are not frozen for future sales. The desserts are prepared daily to enhance their freshness and hence customer satisfaction (Lassiter & Roberts, 1998). RFD also offers customized services to its regular customers. In fact, the restaurant stores data relating to its loyal customers. Thus, loyal customers can enjoy

Essay on Tar Baby-cl Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

On Tar Baby-cl - Essay Example In the book, â€Å"Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome†, the author came up with three patterns of behaviors where the community was highly affected. In the post slavery era, a majority of the Black Americans had developed vacant esteem, ever present anger and racist socialization. Toni Morrison uses some key characters to demonstrate the racist socialization behavior in the novel. (Morrison, T. 2014) In Toni Morrison’s novel, there are a number of instances where the issue of racist socialization emerges. However, the most captivating scenario involves the protagonist in the novel. Jadine faces an internal conflict involving her race. Jadine had already abandoned her culture and heritage and accepted a new one. It is the decision that haunts her as the lead character tries to wrestle the guilty consciences from her. Ghosts visit Jadine during the night that tried top pursued her to stick with her former heritage and culture. Toni Morrison uses some of the characters to bring out the issue of racial segregation between Black and White Americans. The author unearths some of the stereotypes held by both races in the society. In the American society, people have preconceived opinions about Blacks and Whites. The differences between Whites and Blacks emerge in the house occupied by both races. For instance, the Ondine Childs treat the Black community with a lot of contemptâ₠¬â„¢s. They despise them because they believe they are superior to them. Conversely, he boasts that he is the only real Negro in Philadelphia (Morrison, p.284).On the other hand, Childs believe that they are better than the rest of the people in the community. The class thinks it is the most powerful because of they are diligent and hard working. The Childs despise the Dominique Blacks whom they regard to be inundated. Their contempt and hatred make the unable to know the names of the servant. For instance, they refer to Thà ©rà ¨se as a thief. The act demonstrates that the Child