Contemporary Issues in Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Contemporary Issues in Business - Essay Example In fact, planning is not about predicting the future, but preparing for it disregarding the fact of which future will eventually come true (Wade, 2012, p.31). Therefore, scenario planning is about trying to formulate plans that are addressing the what-if scenarios in the future (Hill and Jones, 2009, p.26). It is therefore easy to understand that scenario planning is a used tool for flexible long-term plans, which also allows decision makers to understand the nature and impact of uncertainties that affect the world (Northumbria University, 2014). This technically does not mean forecasting the future, but eventually preparing for the future to come based on the possible scenarios to take place. After all, scenarios are considered to be as strong supports for strategic planning (Zahradnickova and Vacik, 2014, p.665). The reason why there is a need to prepare for the future with various plans addressing the what-if concerns is due to the fact that the business environment is affected by many forces. This leads to the point that in the actual business, scenario planning is considered as an analytical tool that allows the business people to prepare things in the future, because it allows them to develop a framework that can lead them further to develop visions for the future as they analyse the environmental forces in the environment that can hinder growth. In the business environment, an organisation is faced with various forces such as politics, economics, social, economics, technological and legal concerns. These are important factors that could substantially affect the business outcomes. In the first place, there are various cases by which the success of an organisation depends on the prevailing legal concerns in an organisation. On the other hand, the success of a certain brand for instance ma y depend on the prevailing social trend that people accept in the society.

Managing the Transition to Higher Education Essay

Managing the Transition to Higher Education - Essay Example The secondary goal is to increase the degree completion rate of students in urban areas. Students are helped to be more efficient in their college experience so they can complete their degree as quickly as possible to assume family and job obligations. Some schools have instituted joint marketing procedures to entice high school students who are deeply interested in an undergraduate degree. (Rivard, 2001) Advanced technologies encompassing the internet and online databases have been utilized to promote teaching and learning on campus. The very nature of technology requires colleges and universities to make rapid decisions with flexibility. Students are more adept with the internet use for their academic and social relationships. In general, universities have already made substantial commitments to ubiquitous computing facilities which allow the development of a common database for institutional use and sharing with other universities. The technologically advanced institutions can share the lessons learned, and solutions with universities that are still establishing their academic computing program. (Rivard, 2000) The quality assessment of teaching and learning effectiveness is directly linked to state funding.

Online Patient Appointment Reservation System

Online Patient Appointment Reservation System Online Patient Appointment Reservation System Literature Review Definitions Health informatics or medical informatics is the intersection of information science, computer science, and health care. It deals with the resources, devices, and methods required for optimizing the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information in health and biomedicine. Health informatics tools include not only computers but also clinical guidelines, formal medical terminologies, and information and communication systems [1]. Subdomains of (bio) medical or health care informatics include: clinical informatics, nursing informatics, imaging informatics, consumer health informatics, public health informatics, dental informatics, clinical research informatics, bioinformatics, veterinary informatics, pharmacy informatics and healthcare management informatics. Health Information System The earliest use of computation for medicine was for dental projects in the 1950s at the United States National Bureau of Standards by Robert Ledley. The next step in the mid 1950s were the development of expert systems such as MYCIN and INTERNIST-I. In 1961, a major career change occurred when Morris F. Collen, abruptly went from medical practice into medical computing. The primary goal was to develop a comprehensive health care information system to provide an integrated, continuing patient medical record [2]; Dr. Sidney Garfield decided In 1965, the National Library of Medicine started to use MEDLINE and MEDLARS. At this time, Neil Pappalardo, Curtis Marble, and Robert Greenes developed MUMPS (Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System) in Octo Barnetts Laboratory of Computer Science at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. In the 1970s and 1980s it was the most commonly used programming language for clinical applications. The MUMPS operating system was used to support MUMPS language specifications. As of 2004, a descendent of this system is being used in the United States Veterans Affairs hospital sys tem. The VA has the largest enterprise-wide health information system that includes an electronic medical record, known as the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture or VistA. A graphical user interface known as the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) allows health care providers to review and update a patients electronic medical record at any of the VAs over 1,000 health care facilities. In the 1970s a growing number of commercial vendors began to market practice management and electronic medical records systems. Although many products exist only a small number of health practitioners use fully featured electronic health care records systems. Homer R. Warner, one of the Fathers of Medical Informatics, founded the Department of Medical Informatics at the University of Utah in 1968, and the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) has an award named after him on application of informatics to medicine [3]. The US HIPAA of 1996, regulating privacy and medical record transmission, created the impetus for large numbers of physicians to move towards using (Electronic Medical Record) EMR software, primarily for the purpose of secure medical billing. The US is making progress towards a standardized health information infrastructure. In 2004 the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) formed the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT) [4], headed by David J. Brailer, M.D., Ph.D. The mission of this office is widespread adoption of interoperable electronic health records (EHRs) in the US within 10 years. See quality improvement organizations for more information on federal initiatives in this area. Brailer resigned from the post in April, 2006 [5]. The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT), a private nonprofit group, was funded in 2005 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop a set of standards for electronic health records (EHR) and supporting networks, and certify vendors who meet them. In July, 2006 CCHIT released its first list of 22 certified ambulatory EHR products, in two different announcements. [6] [7]. In Hong Kong a computerized patient record system called the Clinical Management System (CMS) has been developed by the Hospital Authority since 1994. This system has been deployed at all the sites of the Authority (40 hospitals and 120 clinics), and is used by all 30,000 clinical staff on a daily basis, with a daily transaction of up to 2 millions. The comprehensive records of 7 million patients are available on-line in the Electronic Patient Record (ePR), with data integrated from all sites. Since 2004 radiology image viewing has been added to the ePR, with radio graphy images from any HA site being available as part of the ePR. Pekka Loula and Jaakkola Hannu discussed the concept of virtual hospital and telemedicine as a part of daily hospital operations [8]. The concept of the virtual hospital is analyzed by using business, application and technology point of views. In 2005, Byeong-il Lee, Jeong Min Ham, Ki soo Park, Su-Ho Ok, Jong Min Kim and Heoug Kook Choi, [9] Proposed a system for patient scheduling in a department of nuclear medicine. Regarding Ambulatory Care, N.H. Lovell, K. Balakrishnamoorthy, D. Le and J. Paleologos from Australia developed a user friendly, database-driven system accessible via internet, which replaced the current paper-based system [10]. Some Japanese researchers: Kabushiki Kaish, Kosaku Hideki, Kurihara Tsuyoshi and Suzuye Takehiko [11] developed an integrated system containing medical information providing system, hospital reception method, medical information database and patient terminal for reception of ho spital. Vipool K. Goradia, M.D. found that the documentation affects patient care, physician efficiency, and ultimately affects the accuracy of coding [12]. Bibliography [1] http://en.wikipedia.org [2] Collen MF, HEALTH CARE INFORMATION SYSTEMS A Personal Historical Review, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program Oakland, California, ACM 1987. [3] Hall of Fame of Utah Technology Council, retrieved March 17, 2008 [4] US Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT) [5] http://www.linuxmednews.org Linux Medical News [6] Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (July 18, 2006): CCHIT Announces First Certified Electronic Health Record Products Retrieved July 26, 2006. [7] Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (July 31, 2006):CCHIT Announces Additional Certified Electronic Health Record Products Retrieved July 31, 2006 [8] Loula Pekka, Jaakkola Hannu, Managing a Virtual Hospital, IEMC 96, IEEE 1996. [9] Byeong-il Lee, Jeong Min Ham, Ki SOO Park, Su-Ho Ok, Jong Min Kim, Heoug Kook Choi, Development of the Investigation Scheduling System Using Mobile Phone Utilization of the Department of Nuclear Medicine 2005, IEEE. [10] N.H. Lovell, K. Balakrishnamoorthy, D. Le, J. Paleologos ,Design of an internet-enabled hospital in the home information system for Ambulatory Care, Proceeding of the 23rd Annual EMBS International Conference 2001. [11] Kabushiki Kaish, Kosaku Hideki, Kurihara Tsuyoshi and Suzuye Takehiko, Medical information providing system, medical information providing method, hospital reception method, medical information database, and patient terminal for reception of hospital. [12] Vipool K. Goradia, M.D., Electronic Medical Records for the Arthroscopic Surgeon, Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery, Vol 22, No 2 (February), 2006: pp 219-224.

The Civil Rights Movement (1955- 1965) Essay -- Black struggle for civi

Civil Rights Movement in the United States, was a political, legal, and social struggle to gain full citizenship rights for African Americans and to achieve racial equality. The civil rights movement was a challenge to segregation, the system of laws and customs separating blacks and whites. During the civil rights movement, individuals and organizations challenged segregation and discrimination with a variety of activities, including protest marches, boycotts, and refusal to abide by segregation laws. Some believe that the movement began with the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and ended with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, there is still however some debate about when it began and whether it has ended yet. The civil rights movement has also been called the Black Freedom Movement, the Negro Revolution, and the Second Reconstruction. Segregation was an attempt by white Southerners to separate the races in every sphere of life and to achieve supremacy over blacks. Segregation was often called the Jim Crow system. Segregation became common in Southern states following the end of Reconstruction in 1877. By 1877 the Democratic Party had gained control of government in the Southern states, and these Southern Democrats wanted to reverse black advances made during Reconstruction. To that end, they began to pass local and state laws that specified certain places ?For Whites Only? and others for ?Colored.? Blacks had separate schools, transportation, restaurants, and parks, many of which were poorly funded and inferior to those of whites. Over 75 years, Jim Crow signs went up to separate the races in every possible place. The system of segregation also included the denial of voting rights, known as disfranchisement. Between 1890 and 1910 all Southern states passed laws imposing requirements for voting that were used to prevent blacks from voting, These requirements included: the ability to read and write, which disqualified the many blacks who had not had access to education; property ownership, something few blacks were able to acquire; and paying a poll tax, which was too great a burden on most Southern blacks, who were very poor. Because blacks could not vote, they were virtually powerless to prevent whites from segregating all aspects of Southern life. Conditions for blacks in Northern states were somewhat better, up to 1910 only 10 percent of bl... ...y?s administration and the Congress to pass the civil rights legislation proposed by Kennedy by planning a march in Washington for August 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered a moving address to an audience of more than 200,000 civil rights supporters. His ?I Have a Dream? speech . Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963,and the new president, Lyndon Johnson pushed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through Congress. It prohibited segregation in public accommodations and discrimination in education and employment. After the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the focus of the civil rights movement began to change. Martin Luther King, Jr., began to focus on poverty and racial inequality in the North. In 1965 he joined protests against school discrimination in Chicago and the following year he led marches against housing discrimination in the same city. For many activists the civil rights movement ended in 1968 with the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. Others said it was over after the Selma march, because after Selma the movement stopped achieving major change. Some, especially blacks, argue that the movement is not over yet because the goal of full equality has not been achieved.

Boeing’s Strategy

The Capital Assets Price Model (CAPM), is a model for pricing an individual security or a portfolio. Its basic function is to describe the relationship between risk and expected return, which is often used to estimate a cost of equity (Wikipedia, 2009). It serves as a model for determining the discount rate which is used in calculating net present value. The CAPM says that the expected return of a security or a portfolio equals the rate on a risk-free security plus a risk premium. The formula is: R = Rf + *(E(Rm)-Rf) Rf = Risk free rate of return, usually U. S. treasury bonds ( ) ? = Beta for a company E(Rm) = Expected return of the market (commercial airlines market) E(Rm)-Rf = Sometimes referred to as the risk premium The beta and risk-free rate should be selected as required according to the Boeing 7E7 case study. For the CAPM the risk free rate of return for a given period is taken to be the return on government bonds over the period. The risk free rate of return at the time of this case was 4. 56% (Bruner, p. 239, 2007). At the time of the case, four main estimatesof equity market risk premiums (EMRP) were: 6. 4% = Geometric mean over T-bills 4. 7% = Geometric mean over T-bonds 8. 4% = Arithmetic mean over T-bills . 4% = Arithmetic mean over T-bonds For the purpose of analysis we will use 6. 4% EMRP, thus (E(Rm)-Rf) = 6. 4 %. () The cost of equity is determined by the company’s levered Beta (). This is calculated according to the ‘Hamada equation’: ? l = ? u (1+(1-T)(D/E)) ?l = company’s levered Beta ?u = company’s unlevered beta (It is a beta assuming the firm is completely equity financed, which reflects pure business risk) T = effective marginal tax rate D/E = market-value debt/equity ratios Exhibit 10 provided seven different betas that can be used for the capital assets price model and discount rate calculation. The project of building airplanes is a long-term venture with the life span more than five years. Boeing created a sales and cash flow forecast for the next 30 years, based on Exhibit 8. This is why for the calculation we use the Beta calculated over the longer period of time. Out of the three Betas calculated for the period of time 5 years, (1. 05, 0. 80, 1. 00), we take 0. 80, the figure calculated against the S&P 500 index. It uses the weighted market value, which can actually reflect the importance of company’s securities in the market shares and the boarder market changes (Wikipedia, 2009). 0. 8 = ? u (1+(1-0. 5)*0. 525) Beta Asset = 0. 6 (overall risk of airplane industry) Total beta for Boeing equals to weighted beta from commercial business plus weighted beta for defense business. Beta = (%commercial)* Beta Commercial + (%defense )* Beta Defense. The average unlevered Beta for defense business among Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon is 0. 28 = (0. 28+0. 24 +0. 31)/3. () Exhibit 1 shows commercial business generated $28,387 million in revenue and the defense systems segment generated $24,957 in revenue in 2002. Thus the weight of commercial business is 53% and the weight of defense systems business is 47%. In addition, commercial business generated $9,726 million in identifiable assets and the defense systems segment generated $12,753 in identifiable assets in 2002. Thus the weight of commercial business is 43% and the weight of defense systems business is 57%. 0. 6 = 53%*Beta Commercial +47%*0. 28 Beta Commercial = 0. 88 0. 6 = 43%*Beta Commercial +57%*0. 28 Beta Commercial = 1. 02 There are two betas (0. 88, 1. 02) calculated for the risk of this industry, we choose the larger figure 1. 02. This indicates the larger discount rate for the project evaluation thus it could provide the more pessimistic scenario. The larger the discount rate from the CAPM, the more inflation we assume in our projection. Calculation of CAMP: R = 4. 56 +6. 4*1. 02=11. 08% The appropriate required rate of the return for evaluation the 7E7 project is 11. 08%. In EHHIBIT 10, it shows market-value debt/equity ratios, so it assumes that this ratio reflects the Boeing’s capital structure and using only debt and equity as finance the 7E7 commercial aircraft project in this case. There are two formulas to calculate the weight of debt and equity as show below: Debt/Equity=0. 525 (D/E=0. 525) Debt+Equity=1 (D+E=1); D=1-E Using the second formula substituting back into the first equation and the result is 1-E/E=0. 525, so through calculating this equation, it can indicate that E is 0. 656 and D is 1-0. 656=0. 344. The Boeing’s capital structure is that the weight of debt is 34. 4% and the weight of equity is 65. 6%. From this case, it gives a well-known formula how to finance Boeing’s weighted-average cost of capital (WACC), it shows below: WACC= (percent Debt) (Pretax cost of debt capital) (1- Marginal effective corporate tax rate) + (percent Equity) (Cost of equity capital) In previous calculation, it already know the percent Debt is 34. %, percent Equity is 65. 6%, Cost of equity capital is 11. 088% and in this case gives Marginal effective corporate tax rate is 35%. So it only just to calculate cost of Debt. The cost debt is the interest rate or yield that a firm must pay on its bonds. In this case, it uses weighted average yield to maturity to calculate cost of debt. Through the for m of EXHIBIT 11 and using two column debt amount and yield to maturity to finance cost of debt is 5. 286%, however, the appropriate cost of debt is the after-tax cost of debt, so the final cost of debt is 5. 86%*(1-35%)=3. 436%. All of variables is known, so it can calculate WACC=34. 4%*3. 436+65. 6%*11. 088%=8. 46%. The IRR which is consistent with ‘base case’ assumption was 15. 7% in the EXHIBIT 9 of case study. In this case, it shows that IRR (15. 7) is greater than WACC (8. 46%), so the 7E7 commercial aircraft project is quite attractive for Boeing. In the ENHIBIT 9, it indicates that the unit volume for the first 20 years will only be 1500 with 0% price premium above expected minimum price, under this worse circumstance, IRR still have 10. % which is still greater than WACC (8. 46%). Obviously, developing of the 7E7 commercial aircraft project is acceptable. The IRR is expected to be 15. 7%, while WACC is estimated to be 8. 46%, leaving a difference of 7. 24%. This excess will add value to Boeing’s stock and the company will believe that developing of the 7E7 commercial aircraft project is a worthy investment. In the EXHIBIT 9, there is another factor development costs which influence on the IRR of the 7E7 commercial aircraft project. Developmental cost could make or break the IRR of the aircraft. Boeing company could consider how to control the cost of development, if the company cannot control the developmental costs, the result is that the delivery delays and the company will give discounts to consumers, this will lead to IRR goes down. The Boeing use of composite material could change the manufacturing process, the machinery and the labor skills, so Boeing should recognize that the 7E7 project maybe have the potential for product cost and price inaccuracies and Boeing’s managers should concern how to reduce the development costs. Under the worst condition, from the form of EXHIBIT 9, it shows that development costs is $10,000,000,000 with cost of goods sold as a percentage of sales is 84%, that is IRR is 8. 6% still higher than WACC (8. 46%). Therefore, developing the 7E7 commercial aircraft project is an attractive project. From WACC this perspective to consider whether the 7E7 project is economically attractive or not, the WACC calculates an overall return that a corporate exist assets and business in order to increase or maintain the current value of current stock. In this case, it knows that Boeing’s stock price closed at $36. 41 and from the definition of WACC, it can understand that the Boeing must earn at least 8. 46% return from this 7E7 project in order to maintain this stock price. It also indicate that discount rate for this company is 11. 088%, compare with WACC 8. 46%, it means that the company under the safety circumstance to calculate net present value. In the previous calculation, cost of equity is 11. 088% and it can compute NPV is $2546. 74. The NPV is greater than zero, so the 7E7 commercial aircraft project is a profitable investment.

Blue Ocean Martix – Genentech

WK3Assgn2ANeddermeyer General Discussion a. Create a â€Å"measurement matrix† in Excel that identifies, categorizes, and ranks as many relevant performance measurements as you think are important to your chosen company's business strategy. b. Write a one- to two-paragraph summary of why you think these are the important measurement criteria and why you've ranked them in the order you have. Categries| Rank| Quality| 1 – High Prority| People| 2- Medium Priority| Safety| 3 – Low Priority| Growth|   | Measurement| Category| Rank/Priority| Employee Satisfaction| People| 1| Workplace Safety/Injury incidence| Safety| 1|Number of current patents| Growth| 2| Medications in the pipeline| Growth| 1| Excess Medications in warehouse| Growth| 1| Employee Attrition rate| People| 1| FDA Approvals for indications| Growth| 1| FDA denials for indications| Growth| 1| Sales| Growth| 1| Customer feedback| Quality| 1| Effectiveness of treatments| Quality| 1| Sustained customer base (%loyal customers)| Quality| 1| Waste of supplies| Quality| 1| Research & Development products| Growth| 1| % of market share| Growth| 1| % of staff Qualitifcations completed| Safety| 1| Successful regulatory surveys| Quality| 1| Net income| Growth| 1| Revenue| Growth| 1|Ranking in industry| Growth| 1| Litigation volume| Growth| 2| Project timelines for product development| Growth| 1| Timeline for drug manufacturing| Growth| 1| Operating Margin| Growth| 1| Workman Compensation cases opened/closed| Safety| 1| Identification of metrics is a fundamental component of measuring the effectiveness of a business plan or a strategic plan. Metrics help organizations understand the current business climate, the competitive positioning and assists in planning. I did not realize the level of difficulty in the selection of metric until thinking about which metrics would be important to the business I selected.Genentech Inc is Biotechnology Company comprised of scientific professionals, sale staff, researchers, administrative staff and educators. Patents and exclusivity of the manufacturing of the medications, large volume drug sales, and a robust research/development program drives the company to succeed. In addition to the aforementioned metrics, I also selected workplace safety and injury rates as additional metrics because of the potential lost revenue from having to retain placement staff or costs associated with payments to injured staff.Much of my selection was based on some of the categories indicated in Hess’ description of worthwhile metrics. I struggled with the prioritization portion of this assignment as I felt most of the metrics needed to be identified as a high priority performance indicator. Reference Attaway, F. (2012). Organic growth interview. Obtained from Walden University Coursework. Schulz, W. C. (2007), Towards a More Precise SWOT Analysis: SCOT Analysis & Competitive Potential, Unpublished Teaching Note. (5p) Hess, E. D. (2007). The road to or ganic growth: How great companies consistently grow marketshare from within. New York: McGraw-Hill.