W3HIAEffective project management in an organizational context Assignment

W3HIAEffective project management in an organizational context - Assignment Example 4. Outline Methods That You Would Consider In Building an Effective Project Team 6 References 7 Q.1. Evaluate How the Different Project Interface (I.E., With Rest of the Organisation and With the Outside World) Are Different When Managing A Virtual Project Team Compared To Managing A ‘Collocated’ Project Team Project management is regarded as one of the crucial activities of an organisation which tends to plan, organize and execute available resources towards the attainment of organisational targets. This particular approach can also be seen in Starbucks Corporation wherein the company develops both virtual and collocated teams for ensuring smooth conduct of effective project management related practices within the organisation. However, the organisation has the need to develop different strategies in order to maintain the two aforementioned teams. In managing virtual project team, the organisation needs to manage goals, build effectual communication and keep people moti vated in a diverse way. Setting clear goals is important in managing virtual teams for the purpose of facilitating the teams to clarify any sort of doubt. Additionally, proper communication is also a key variable which can be used in managing virtual teams in the context of project management. ... The company manages these teams through analyzing their daily activities (Trautsch, 2003). Q. 2. Synthesize Views from Your Wider Academic Reading on How You Might Best Communicate and Coordinate Your Virtual Project Team As mentioned in the above discussion, proper communication is one of the vital variables which is quite useful in managing a virtual project team effectively. It can be affirmed in this similar concern that proper communication can be possible with the adherence of certain useful approaches in dealing with virtual project team. One of the approaches is the implementation of electronic communication which includes e-mail and telecommunication among others. Through this approach, the organisation needs to interact periodically with virtual team members which will ensure building proper communication. Furthermore, the approach of communication will also include building greater relationship of trust with the virtual team members along with clearly stating them about th e expectations of the organisation. Apart from this, the organisation will also need to adopt effective communication techniques that involve less time. Coordination is a problem in virtual project team as the team is not located close to the organisation on a regular basis. In order to strengthen this aspect, the organisation needs to design its project clearly and precisely. It is also important that virtual team understands what the actual needs of the project and how to proceed for the same. This will ensure forming greater coordination amid every member of the virtual project teams (Witthaus & et. al., 2008). Q.3. Comment in Your Paper on the Relevance of the Problems and Suggestions Shown On Page 232. Show How Your Wider

Promote good practice in handling information Essay Example for Free

Promote good practice in handling information Essay 1.1 Organisations that handle confidential health and social care information have to ensure that it is held securely and shared appropriately. A number of laws, principles and obligations govern how organisations should handle this information. The Health and Social Care Act 2012 gave us powers to advise organisations on how to handle confidential information securely. The Data Protection Act 1998 is a piece of legislation which defines the law on processing data of people living within the United Kingdom. One of the central codes of practice in health and social care has been provided by the GSCC and it sets standards of practice and behavior for staff working in that field, including standards for handling information and maintaining confidentiality This covers eight principles under which personal data must be protected and collected. DPA says that service user information must be confidential and can only be accessed with their consent. Service users must know what records are being kept and why the data is kept. Freedom of Information Act 2000: The Freedom of Information Act gives individuals the right to ask organisations all the information they have about them. 1.2 The 8 Principles of the Data Protection Act 1998 states the personal data must be: used fairly and lawfully  used for limited, specifically stated purposes  used in a way that is adequate, relevant and not excessive  accurate  kept for no longer than is absolutely necessary  handled according to people’s data protection rights  kept safe and secure  not transferred outside the UK without adequate protection  the six main points set out by GSCC (general social care council) are: 1. Protect the rights and promote the interests of service users and carers. 2. Strive to establish and maintain the trust and confidence of service users and carers. 3. Promote the independence of service users while protecting them as far as possible from danger or harm. 4. Respect the rights of service users while seeking to ensure that their behaviour does not harm themselves or other people. 5. Uphold public trust and confidence in social care services. 6. Be accountable for the quality of your work and take responsibility for maintaining and improving your knowledge and skills. . 2.1 Manual systems relate to paper records, such as Paper or card health records, case notes, care plans, staff files, assessment records, reports, computer print-outs and administrative records. Also Imaging records such as X-rays, CCTV film and photographs. These are required to be out of general view when in use and locked away when not in use or attended in lockable filing cabinets, draws, or locked rooms. We need to ensure only the appropriate individuals have access to these records and that confidentiality is kept at all times. Electronic systems relate to databases, emails and other stored information such as external hard drive, USB memory stick, CD or DVD. These should be protected by adequate virus software and passwords. Files that are confidential should be password protected and not accessible to unauthorised individuals. Information pertaining to individuals should only be shared on a ‘need to know’ basis. 3.1 When supporting others to understand the need for keeping information secure, I would explain the importance of confidentiality and give a summary of the Data Protection Act 1998. I would then explain which information that individual would be able to have access to, and give any guidance needed to enable them to complete records as necessary. 3.2 To support others to understand and contribute to records, I would assist them in completing all necessary records and ensure they understand what is expected of them. I would ensure that I set a good example when completing records, in the production and maintenance of records. Also by raising awareness of the consequences of records that are out of date, incomplete or inaccurate.

The Unreality of MTVs The Real World Essay -- Media Television MTV Re

The Unreality of MTV's The Real World   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"This is the true story, of seven strangers, picked to live in a house, and have their lives taped, to find out what happens when people stop being polite, and start getting real†(MTV). This marks the beginning of MTV’s reality show, The Real World. The show takes 7 strangers, puts them in a trendy luxurious home, taping them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for about 4 months. The cameras capture petty arguments, late night hook ups, and pure laziness. How could this not be real? There are not many people that can live in an expensive home while laying around all day, and partying all night with little work involved. The Real World is a display of 18-24 year olds, typecasted to have their most extreme stereotypical qualities blown out of proportion for the world to see.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Real World gives the viewer a false outlook on life. Sure there are a select few that have the opportunity to live lavishly with little to no responsibilities, but that is a small percentage. The show depicts the cast lounging around in their up scale home all day, then going out to amazing night clubs drinking enormous amounts of alcohol through out the night. Many of the cast members wake up in the afternoon hours only to repeat this process. In reality the world does not work like this. Many people have to work one to three jobs just to get by leaving no room for lounging and bar hopping.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The show is geared towards teens and college students, filling their heads with false outlooks on life. Not only does it depict laziness, it is a good display of immoral behavior.â€Å"Advertising and movies send kids the message that smoking and drinking make a person sexy or cool and that everyone does it†(AAP). In almost every episode there are hook ups, or confessions of wanting to sleep with a roommate. The show puts all 18-24 year olds in the â€Å"party† category, even though not everyone is like that. Stereotypically, young adults are supposed to be lazy, party animals unsure about their future. I feel there are many more young adults taking the academic route, trying to make a good future for themselves.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The majority of The Real World cast members are put into a mold. The producers will not admit doing this, but the cast members turn into characters throughout the show. If you look at past seasons there is always the gay person, ethn... ...ws. How real can you get when you are not even seeing their whole stay. Many of the episodes are different scenes just blended together, you could be watching a scene from the first two weeks of their stay along with one from the last two weeks of their stay and not even know it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Real World is not a good learning tool unless you are wanting to know how to stereotype people. This show will fill your head false preconceptions of a group of individuals. There are already enough discriminatory problems in the world today, why make it worse? If you want to know how to be lazy all day and party all night, watch The Real World. If you want to fill your head with false hopes and dreams of living in luxury with out working a real job, watch The Real World. Do you want your children thinking it is ok to party or hook up with random people? The Real World needs to start putting real people on their shows and stop creating characters based on how society views a group of people. Works Cited Berkowitz, Carol. American Academy of Pediatrics: Dedicated to the Health of all Children.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  American Academy of Pediatrics. 8 Dec. 2004 MTV Networks. The Real World. 8 Dec. 2004

Corporation and Profit Retention Essay

Sole Proprietorship: This is by far the most common form of business. It is the most common because it is the easiest to form. In order to create this type of business one simply has to â€Å"hang their shingle out† and let the commerce commence. However with such limited oversight also comes unlimited liability. Liability- Liability exposure with sole proprietorships is a huge draw back.. The owner and the business, legally, are one and the same. This leaves all the owners property ( and the business assets since they are one and the same) at risk. Income Tax- There are no real tax advantages at this level. It is known as a â€Å"pass through† entity. The income that is generated passes through the business to the owner. Taxes are paid at the individual level. Longevity- Unless the owners will provides specific direction in the contrary, the business is directly linked to the owners health. Since the owner and the business are legally indistinguishable from one another when the owner dies the business also dies. Control- Unlimited control is another attractive quality of Sole Proprietorships. Since legally there is no separation you may do with the company as you see fit. From what services are offered to what the logo looks like all decisions are the owners to make. Profit Retention- Since the owners efforts alone are responsible for the amount of profit generated, they keep it all. After the employees ( if any ) are paid what is left is the owner’s. Because they have total control, they may reinvest it in the company or they make take it all out. Location- Since there is no legal paperwork filed with any state agency, moving locations is as simple as driving to another state and setting up shop. That being said if you required state license in the original state, you would need the equivalent in the new location. Convenience/Burden- There are no legal documents that need to be filed with any state agency. Owner and company are indivisible so there is no paper work saying otherwise. At the most you may need to file a Doing Business As (D.B.A. ) with your local tax office to allow you to open a bank in the company’s name. General Partnership: This type of company is usually formed when two or more individuals with different skill sets get together. Each participant brings with them their own experience and skills in order to create a new venture. While the liabilities are not bore alone, the partners are not sheltered from them. Liability- While they are split in a predetermined percentage, the liabilities of a General partnership are unlimited. There is nothing that is off the table including your personal assets. Income Tax- There is no real tax shelter provided at this level. Income that is generated is â€Å"passed through† to the partners. They will pay taxes at the individual level. There are however, various tax forms that need to be filled out. Longevity- When a partner dies the partnership ceases to exist. The partners may not pass on the original partnership agreement to their heirs. There may be a buy/sell clause in the articles of partnership. Control- Complete control is given up to a vote of the general partners. If there is no consensus made, the articles of partnership should dictate how the disagreement is handled. Profit Retention- After the business debts are paid, the partners split the net profit. The articles of partnership will usually dictate the percentages, and if no mention is made it is assumed it is split evenly. Location- The fact that a partnership is not it’s own legal entity makes it relatively easy to move. If there is a market in a new location there is very little that prohibits moving. Convenience/Burden- While no state/federal documents are required, you will need an â€Å"Articles of Partnership† drawn up. This will act as the bylaws/charter for decisions and operations moving forward. There are a few tax forms that need to be completed by the partners at the appropriate time. Limited Partnership: This type of business is used more as an investment vehicle than a job or career. It allows an investment to be made and fostered from a distance. If you are the limited partner though, you may not have a hand in the day-to-day activities or management. Liability- As a limited partner your investment is your only liability. That being said your stake in the partnership is an asset that personal creditors may come after. Tax- As a limited partner your revenue from the company is federally taxed at the personal level. There are various situations to avoid taxation as a corporation. General partners must pay self employment tax. Longevity-A limited partnership is sometimes used as an estate planning tool. Therefore the continuity from generation to generation is very customizable. The limited partner may die and this will have very little impact on the business. Control- As a limited partner you have no say in the management or daily activities of the business. You may not bind the partnership to anything as a limited Partner. A general partner runs the daily operations and makes the management decisions. Profit Retention- If you are a limited partner you are entitled to the agreed upon amount of profit only after the general partner is paid. As a limited partner you have very little influence over the amount of profit generated. Location- Limited partnerships can change locations but it is inconvenient and could be considerably more expensive. Some states mandate the filing of tax forms for limited partnerships, not to mention some states have state income taxes. Convenience/ Burden- Articles of Partnership are needed. There are some states witch require registering limited partnerships, and strict attention should be paid to the activities witch the IRS considers â€Å"corporate.† C Corporations: C Corporations are a legal entity unto themselves. They shield the share holders, board members, and employees from liabilities. They have the ability to raise capital by selling portions of the company, and huge tax loopholes to shelter revenue. With all the loopholes however are huge tax burdens, often over 30% of the net. Liability- A corporation is a legal â€Å"being†. It can be sued, or bring legal action against someone. Therefore it provides a large umbrella for its owners and employee’s alike. When malfeasance occurs it will absorb the effects. Income Tax- Being it’s own legal entity is not cheap. The state that the business is located in could very well impose taxes, as well as the federal corporate tax rate witch is the highest in the world. Couple this with the fact that the employees that work there are then taxed again at the individual level, and you see how quickly things add up. Longevity- Corporations have the potential to last forever. Due to the fact that authority is so decentralized, one person getting ill or leaving the company is no more than a bump in the road. You could pass on your shares or stake in a company through proper estate planning. Control- If you were to incorporate your business it could be set up so that your family always had a seat on the board or always had voting rights at a shareholders meetings. However, especially in a public company, you must act in the best interest of the shareholders. No one person runs a corporation alone, there are shareholders, and usually board members. Authority being so decentralized makes complete autonomy very rare. Profit Retention- As there are many owners there are also many hands in the pot. The fact is that each shareholder is entitled to a portion of the company’s profit in direct relation to how much of the company they own. In closely held corporations this could be 3-4 individuals, but in a multi-national company this could be millions of people. Location- The federal government does not create any corporations. This is done at the state level. For a corporation to go from one state to another they would have to file as a foreign corporation. This can get expensive and legally â€Å"sticky† when deal with different state laws and agencies. Convenience/Burden- To incorporate a business is relatively easy. The challenge and burden comes in keeping it running and staying on the proper side of legal. It must file it’s own tax returns, contend with state and local laws, maintain the strictest accounting practices, conduct annual shareholders meetings, all while turning a profit for its shareholders. No small task. S Corporations- S Corporations are a legal entity. They offer a legal umbrella to their employees and owners as well. They have the ability to raise capital by selling off small pieces of themselves as stock. The S corporation has to follow the same strict accounting and reporting procedures as corporations, however their income is not taxed the same. Liability- An S corporation is a legal â€Å"being†. Therefore it provides a large umbrella of protection for its owners and employee’s alike. When malfeasance occurs it will absorb the effects. Income Tax- An S corporation is a specialized tax situation. It has most of the reporting and recording requirements of a C corp. but allows for the â€Å"pass through† of revenue to the individuals. The company The S corp. designation is however for federal purpose’s only, the state the company is in will certainly have it’s own laws. Longevity- S Corporations have the potential to last forever. Due to the fact that authority is so decentralized, one person getting ill or leaving the company is no more than a bump in the road. You could pass on your shares or stake in a company through proper estate planning. You could also have a seat on the board reserved for your family/heirs. Control- The fact is when a S Corporation is formed the corporation has to do what is best for itself. A lot like an autonomous person, it must continue to look out for its own survival. Normally one person does not dictate the course of a Corporation, there are several in charge of this. Profit Retention- Since there is no one individual at the pinnacle the profits are distributed through out. If there is a board of directors, share holders, stock owners, all of these individuals are entitled to a portion of the profits. Location- The federal government does not create any corporations. This is done at the state level. For a corporation to go from one state to another they would have to file as a foreign corporation. This can get expensive and legally â€Å"sticky† when deal with different state laws and agencies. Couple this with the fact that states deal with S corporations wildly different, from treating them like the federal government to not recognizing them at all. Convenience/Burden- To incorporate a business is relatively easy, although the fee’s can add up. S corporations must avoid several pitfalls so as they are not taxed like C corp.’s. This and the fact that the accounting is so stringent, they may not have over 100 share holders that meet once a year, and the laws so wildly differ from state to state make the burden factor high indeed. Limited Liability Company- With the protection of a corporation and the flexibility of a Sole Proprietorship, the LLC has become extremely popular since it’s recent creation. However they are not a vehicle for taking a company public, capital can be difficult to raise because the members will have to guarantee the loans, and the members must take care not to intermingle funds. Liability- The LLC, like a corporation, is it’s own legal â€Å"being†. It provides an umbrella for it’s members to operate under and not fear liability claims against themselves personally. Income Tax- LLC’s are in the unique position of deciding how they want to be taxed on a yearly basis. Most of the time LLC’s can function like other forms of small business. The income will pass through to the members who will then pay at the individual level. It does however have the option of paying at the corporate level so as to lower the tax bracket. (This is because the highest individual tax rate is higher than the corporate tax rate.) Longevity- If a member of an LLC dies or retires action will be determined by the operating agreement. This could include a buy/sell clause for the heirs, a transfer of ownership, or whatever state law dictates. In most cases Control- The fact that an LLC could be run by just one person means that he /she could have just as much control as a sole proprietor. The catch is with the finance’s. The finance’s must be maintained â€Å" at arms length† to maintain the corporate veil of protection. So long as this is done, the majority member/owner of the LLC has complete control. Profit Retention- The profits generated by the business flow to the members. The amount is in direct correlation with the amount of ownership each member holds. Location- All 50 states allow LLC’s now but the law varies wildly. Some states still want an ad run in the paper when a business is formed and others require a single 1 page form. To move from state to state can be done but the local laws might be prohibitive. Convenience/Burden- The LLC doesn’t require anywhere near the amount of accounting as a corporation. The articles of organization needs to be filed to create it and then the operating agreement dictates how it’s run.

Types of Risk

Introduction Long ago people viewed â€Å"risk† as the inevitability of chance which occurred beyond the control of humans. In today’s world the concept of â€Å"risk† has turned into riches, as risky ventures have become the norm in the business world. â€Å"Risk† therefore applies to decisions that can have a bad or good outcome. The different types of â€Å"risk† can include financial, legal, ethical, information technology, or even human resource since it can exist everywhere and at any time in our lives.When we eat, we encounter the risk of food poisoning, to cross the road we run the risk of being hit by a passing motor car or even when we drive, we can increase the risk of an accident. If no risk is done then, no breakthrough can be expected. Whether it is in your career, financially, or in your business. Once you fail to take a risk then you will suffer the consequences of making significant gains, which means that you run the risk of a poss ible loss. What is Risk? According to Mortimer (2005 p. 5) â€Å"risk† is any uncertainty about a future event which might threaten an organization’s ability to accomplish its mission. Which means that it can be the chance of something happening that will have a negative impact on an organization. It is the possibility of suffering a loss that is loss of quality income, loss of profit, loss of success or even loss of life. It means therefore that change involves â€Å"risk†, but once the set program has been attained or has achieved total success â€Å"risk† vanishes.It is therefore of great importance that the management of risk be well managed. â€Å"Risk management† was engineered into dealing with the possibility that some future event might cause harm. It includes strategies and techniques for recognizing and confronting treats of risk and provided an environment for proactive decision making for the proactive decision making, for the purpose of: * â€Å"What can go wrong† * â€Å"What will we do† * â€Å"How will or can it be resolved†. Success in business to a certain degree requires owners or managers to take â€Å"risk†.Most successful businesses are managed by people who know when or how to push forward and when or how to hold back, when to sell and when to stand firm. According to Yusof (2007) p. 1. â€Å"Risk is an undeniable reality of doing business today, whether globally or locally. Although failure is in a way linked to â€Å"risk†, the successful business person should not fear â€Å"risk† but strives to understand it, to manage it, or even try to take advantage of it. In that way the business person would be able to calculate the risk before taking it.Unfortunately the world of business now is exposed to more risk, such as high interest rate, inflation, recession, high exchange rates, even political and cultural risk to name a few. Therefore it takes a great deal o f expertise to effectively manage risk in business. Financial Risk Financial Risk is associated with the use of debt financing by firms or companies, since the presence of debt involves legal and mandatory obligations to make specified payments at specified time period. There is a risk that the earnings of the firm may not be sufficient to meet these obligations towards the creditors.In case of the shareholders, the financial risks occur because it is not only the mandatory nature of debt obligations but also the property of ‘prior payments’ of these obligations. In short, the use of debt by the firm causes variability of return for both creditors and shareholders. Financial risk is usually measured by the debt/equity ratio of the firm: the higher the ratio, the greater the variability of the return and the higher the financial risk. Financial risk also involves liquidity risk, maturity risk, interest rate risk and inflation risk.Liquidity refers to situations wherein i t may not be possible to dispose or sell the assets or it maybe possible to sell only at great inconvenience of cost in terms of money and time. The greater the uncertainty about true elements, price concession, and transaction cost; the greater the liquidity risk. Liquidity Risk has a different connotation from the point of view of banks and financial institutions. In this context liquidity risk refers to their inability to meet the liability towards depositors when they want to withdraw their deposits.Maturity risks arise when the term of maturity of the security happens to be longer. Since foreseeing, forecasting and envisioning the environment, conditions and situations become more and more difficult as we go more and more into the future. The longer term investment involves risk, the longer the term of maturity the greater the risk. Interest Rates Risks are the variability in the returns on security due to changes in the level of the market interest rates, or it is the loss of principal of a fixed term security due to an increase in the general level of interest rates.When interest rates raise the value or market price of the security drops or vice versa. The degree of interest rate is directly related to the length of time to maturity of the security. If the term to maturity is long then the market value of the security may fluctuate widely. Inflation Risk is the risk that the real return on security may be less than the nominal return. In case of fixed income security, since payments in term foreign dollars are fixed. The value of the payments in real term declines as the level of commodity prices increases.Inflation risk is also known as purchasing power risk as there is always a chance that the purchasing power of invested money will decline, or that the real return will decline due to inflation. Legal Risk Most legal risk arise from the possibility that a counterparty is not legally permitted or able to enter into a transaction. Legal risk is the ris k that legal actions will impair the value of investment or it may be a risk from uncertainty due to legal actions or uncertainty in the applicability or interpretation of contracts, laws or regulations.This can cause a particular problem for companies who choose to transact business with other overseas businesses. Not only are they exposed to uncertainty relating to the laws of multiple jurisdictions, but they also face uncertainty as to which jurisdiction will have authority over any particular legal issue. This risk can be reduced by the company hiring experience corporate lawyers. Ethical Risk Ethical risks concern the impact that the business has on shareholders at the local, national and global levels.In some cases these risks can influence the organization’s intangible assets such as the human capital, the business reputation and its clientele. Some of the factors impinging ethical risks are: * The establishment of codes of conduct * Adherence to the code * Programme t o improve performance * Good internal communication * Clearly defined mechanisms to encourage employees to respect possible violation. As the evolution of new devices in the field of information technology there is also an increased tendency for hackers to try to infiltrate company’s network.The company can also face risk associated with theft or release of personal data such as employees’ social security numbers and bank account numbers. A part of this risk can be reduced by installing firewall software and additional access codes. Human Resource Risk Another type of risk is human resource, this is most important within the company as companies demand skilled labours to work with the job market. Companies suffer or run the risk of hiring workers who are paid as qualified and skilled workers, when they are not.Other risks would include labour fluctuation and also a rise in the labour cost, which may result in strikes and lock-outs by trade unions and negligence. Compan ies can reduce the risk by providing incentives to the workers and also offer educational grants for workers to upgrade their careers. Political Risk Finally, the political risk can be describes as the type of risk has to do with the political decision making process within the environment for business. The lack of transparency and accountability in a political system whereby decisions which impact businesses can change dramatically due to political or social instability.The immediate resignation of the Prime Minister of Jamaica- Hon. Bruce Golding is an ideal example of political risk. Safety Risk When running a small company, every move a business owner or employee makes is a source of risk. In any case where high risk is involved, it's prudent to consult a lawyer or other professional who can advise you on how to protect your business. If an owner runs a factory or other job site that requires workers to use machinery, equipment or vehicles in the course of business, workplace sa fety is a matter of utmost importance and a key source of risk.For this reason, they must follow guidelines set by Safety & Health Administration. In addition to workplace safety concerns involving physical injury, health issues also pose a risk to some businesses, particularly medical offices and hospitals. Employees must observe strict rule and regulation to protect the public and themselves from health-related threats. Conflicts between employees are also a main source of risk for small businesses that employ workers. Risks include claims of discrimination (including sex, race, age and discrimination based on disabilities) and harassment from other employees.These issues could lead to expensive lawsuits for the business. The company must comply with rules set by government agencies like the Ministry of Labour and ensure that it follows proper procedures in all instances and with any situation involving these issues. Sources of Risk For companies that serve certain types of goods to the public, like food and skincare products, product quality is a major concern and a high source of business risk. Some products have the potential of harming the consumer if the company doesn't take proper steps to meet quality standards.Negligence involving the products of these items could lead to legal issues and damage the company's reputation Bibliography Al, M. A. (2004). Hanbook of Management 3rd Edition. London : Pearson Education . Bhole, L. (2004). Financial Institutions and Markets 4th Edition. New Delhi, India : Tata McCraw Hill. Mortimer, D. , S. Mortimer (2005) Quality and Risk Management. Cambridge University Press, London, England Yusof, Y. (2007). Managing Financial Risk. United Kingdom: Author House .

treaty of versallies essays

treaty of versallies essays The Treaty of Versailles: Defeated by Wilson? Many different opinions exists on whether or not the defeat of The Treaty of Paris was in part, due to Wilsons persuasions. Well, it can definitely be stated that Wilson was stubborn and inept, but the question is did these qualities have anything to do with the defeat of the treaty. Seeing that the League of Nations is a major article in the Treaty, I must comment on it in order to support the facts. Wilson felt ardently about the league and would stop at nothing to have it a part of the Treaty. He even sacrificed some of his other points in order to keep it intact. This is an excellent example of his stubbornness. His ineptitude was clearly shown when he failed to bring proper representation with him in negotiating and signing the treaty. Leaving the republicans at home, showed that he didnt want to bring anyone who might disagree with his demands. After returning to America, the Lodge Reservations were worked into the treaty. Wilson had such a strong resentment for Lodge, that he asked all democrats to vote against the new treaty. They did, and because of Wilsons stubbornness the Treaty was never ratified. In addition to the before stated views, there is documented proof of Wilsons extreme stubbornness. On Sep. 5th, Wilson states, When you read Article X, therefore, you will see that it is nothing but the inevitable, logical center of the whole system of the Covenant of the League of Nations, and I stand for it absolutely. If it should ever in any important respect be impaired, I would feel like asking the Secretary of War to get the boys who went across the water to fight,... and I would stand up before them and say, Boys, I told you before you went across the seas that this was a war against wars, and I did my best to fulfill the promise, but I am obliged to come to you in mortification and shame and say I have not been able to fulfill the promise...

Us vs. Eu Monetary Policy Essay Example

Us vs. Eu Monetary Policy Essay Example Us vs. Eu Monetary Policy Essay Us vs. Eu Monetary Policy Essay Introduction Today I would like to briefly compare monetary policy in the euro area and in the US. Of course there are differences between the two areas, but there are also important similarities. This comparison can help us understand the reasons behind their differences and may provide some useful insights into the institutional implications for euro area monetary policy in the future. I will structure my remarks around three themes: the policy goals of the two monetary unions, their organization, and the monetary policy decision-making process in each system. Goals and philosophy Let’s begin by comparing the goals or mandates of the Eurosystem and the Federal Reserve System. In Europe the primary focus of monetary policy is to maintain price stability. In contrast, the Fed has multiple objectives for monetary policy. Their goals are to achieve maximum employment, stable prices and moderate long-term interest rates. An important explanation for their different mandates can be found by looking at their economic histories. In Europe, monetary union is the most recent step in an ongoing process of political and economic integration. The hyperinflation experienced in the first half of last century in some European countries, in particular in Germany, has played an important role in ensuring that European monetary policy is focussed on price stability. Their experiences in Europe contrasts with those in the US. A key US event that commentators frequently refer to is the Great Depression. Monetary policy is often blamed for adding to the severity of the Great Depression in the US. That is a reason why employment and interest rate objectives remain in the Fed’s mandate, and why policy makers there react so quickly to signs of slowing economic growth. Under normal circumstances, policy makers on both sides of the Atlantic are likely to take similar decisions. However, around the time that the economic cycle is changing and growth is slowing rapidly, you might see different decisions being taken in Frankfurt and in Washington. In addition to the influence of history, the Eurosystem’s mandate reflects academic insights from the last 20 years or so. This research tends to support the view that monetary policy should only focus on price stability. Other central banks around the world that have reviewed their mandates in recent years have tended to move towards having price stability as their sole objective. Similar proposals have also been made regarding the Fed. If the Fed’s mandate were to change in the future, it is expect it to also be in the direction of a more explicit focus on price stability. Organization of the two monetary unions A second area in which their different histories have played a role is in the way in which the Eurosystem and Fed are organized. While the Fed was created ‘from scratch’ by the Federal government for a single country, the Eurosystem was established when twelve sovereign states voluntarily gave up their monetary autonomy. This is reflected in the fact that the Eurosystem is some ways more decentralised than the Fed. Greater decentralisation is consistent with the EU-wide principle of subsidiarity, under which decisions are taken at the country or regional level where possible. This greater degree of decentralisation is apparent in areas such as monetary policy decision-making and operation, banking supervision and statistics. However, the Fed can also be considered decentralised in other areas. In fact, when you exclude staff working on tasks unrelated to the monetary union, both systems have roughly the same number of employees. Clearly, this does not tell us much about the potential for efficiency gains, except that it is around the same in both systems. The European monetary union is made up of sovereign countries. That means that it is not politically or publicly acceptable to carry out all central banking tasks at the ECB. Their preference for subsidiarity also implies that there are limits to potential efficiency gains within the system. The pace of further centralisation is linked to the speed of further political integration in Europe. As long as there is no federal European state, It is expected that providing an independent view on national and euro area economic developments, within the context of area wide monetary policy, will be a key task for the Dutch central bank. Tasks related to financial stability and banking supervision will also remain part of their core business. In order to carry out these tasks effectively, they have to remain closely connected to the formation of monetary policy. We also have an important role in explaining policy ecisions to their citizens. Given the language, cultural and historical differences between countries, we should not underestimate the importance or difficulty of this task and the role of national central banks in carrying it out. These factors help explain the inclusion of national central bank governors in the ECB Governing Council, which brings me to my third theme. Decision-making in the two monetary unions The final area of comparison between the Fed and the Eurosystem I want to make concerns the process of monetary policy decision making. Both areas include representation from regions as well as from the centre. But, it is clear that in this area the US also has a more centralised system than the euro area. Washington-based board members form a majority on the committee that makes US monetary policy decisions. In contrast, the ECB Executive Board members form a minority in the ECB Governing Council. In both monetary unions, all decision makers, whether regional or not, are expected to make their decisions on the basis of prospects for the whole monetary union. This area wide approach is strengthened in Europe by ensuring that Council members are prohibited from taking instructions in their decision making. At the same time, national or European bodies are not allowed to put pressure on Council members. These provisions reinforce the fact that we are in the ECB Council on a personal basis, and not to represent national or other interests. In a few years, the size of the euro area will probably increase significantly. As you will all be aware, European history also lies behind their desire for enlargement. Most accession countries have announced that they want to join the euro area shortly after entry into the EU. Whether they should join the euro area so quickly is a point we could debate another day. Regardless of their views on that issue, the fact remains that we have to be prepared for a substantial enlargement of the Eurosystem in the next five to ten years. Consistent with the provisions in the Nice Treaty, the ECB Council is preparing its proposals on changes to voting procedures to accommodate enlargement. The reason for considering a change is to guard against the perception that their decision making could become inefficient, and that it could potentially be dominated by governors from small countries. In making changes, we must find a solution that retains the supranational character of decision making and does not renationalise monetary policy. This implies that the governors of all the national central banks should continue to be treated equally. At the same time, the Council must represent the Eurosystem as a whole, and be seen to do so – implying that it must not become too centralised. A solution that meets these criteria could involve some form of rotating membership for the governors of the national central banks, so as to limit the number of voting governors. This could be a variation on the Fed system, albeit more decentralised. Concluding remarks Differences in mandates between the Fed and the Eurosystem are important in understanding their respective decisions, and this is often forgotten. In addition, comparing the two systems sheds some light on where each institution may head in the future. Regarding their mandates, it seems that any changes in this area are likely to be in the direction of the Fed moving closer to where we and other central banks are, rather than the reverse. For organisation and decision making, the future is more difficult to predict. Any changes here need to take account of the political realities of monetary union between sovereign countries. Euro area monetary policy is supranational, so decision making has to be based on the euro area as a whole, and not individual countries. At the same time, the euro area consists of independent countries. That implies that there is a limit to how far the Eurosystem can centralise in advance of any political union. This reality has to be clearly reflected in their decision-making body.

How Planet Hunters Search for New Planets

How Planet Hunters Search for New Planets The modern age of astronomy has brought a new set of scientists to our attention: the planet hunters. These people, often working in teams using ground-based and space-based telescopes are turning up planets by the dozens out there in the galaxy. In return, those newly found worlds are expanding our understanding of how worlds form around other stars and how many extrasolar planets, often referred to as exoplanets, exist in the Milky Way galaxy. The Hunt for Other Worlds around the Sun Searching for planets began in our own solar system, with the discovery of worlds beyond the familiar naked-eye planets of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Uranus and Neptune were found in the 1800s, and Pluto wasnt discovered until the early years of the 20th century. These days, the hunt is on for other dwarf planets out in the far reaches of the solar system. One team, led by astronomer Mike Brown of CalTech continually looks for worlds in the Kuiper Belt (a distant realm of the solar system), and have notched their belts with a number of claims. So far, they have found the world Eris (which is larger than Pluto), Haumea, Sedna, and dozens of other trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). Their hunt for a Planet X sparked worldwide attention, but as of mid-2017, nothing has been seen.   Looking for Exoplanets The search for worlds around other stars began in 1988 when astronomers found hints of planets around two stars and a pulsar. The first confirmed exoplanet around a main-sequence star occurred in 1995 when astronomers Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz of the University of Geneva announced the discovery of a planet around the star 51 Pegasi. Their find was proof that planets orbited sun-like stars in the galaxy. After that, the hunt was on, and astronomers began finding more planets. They used several methods, including the radial velocity technique. It looks for the wobble in a stars spectrum, induced by the slight gravitational tug of a planet as it orbits the star. They also used the dimming of starlight produced when a planet eclipses its star.   A number of groups have been involved in surveying stars to find their planets. At last count, 45 ground-based planet-hunting projects have found more than 450 worlds. One of them, the Probing Lensing Anomalies Network, which has merged with another network called MicroFUN Collaboration, looks for gravitational lensing anomalies. These happen when stars are lensed by massive bodies (such as other stars)   or planets. Another group of astronomers formed a group called the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE), which used ground based instruments to look for stars, as well. Planet Hunting Enters the Space Age Hunting for planets around other stars is a painstaking process. It doesnt help that Earths atmosphere makes the view of such tiny objects very difficult to obtain. Stars are large and bright; planets are small and dim. They can get lost in the glow of starlight, so direct images are incredibly tough to obtain, especially from the ground. So, space-based observations provide a better view and allow instruments and cameras to make the painstaking measurements involved in modern planet-hunting.   Hubble Space Telescope has made many stellar observations and  has been used to image planets around other stars, as has the Spitzer Space Telescope. By far the most productive planet hunter has been the Kepler Telescope. It was launched in 2009 and spent several years searching out planets in a small area of the sky in the direction of the constellations Cygnus, Lyra, and Draco. It found thousands of planet candidates before it ran into difficulties with its stabilization gyros. It now hunts for planets in other areas of the sky, and the Kepler database of confirmed planets contains more than 4,000 worlds. Based on Kepler discoveries, which were aimed mostly at trying to find Earth-size planets, it has been estimated that nearly every Sun-like star in the galaxy (plus many other types of stars) has at least one planet. Kepler also found many other larger planets, often referred to as super Jupiters and Hot Jupiters and Super Neptunes.   Beyond Kepler While Kepler has been one of the most productive planet-hunting scopes in history, it will eventually stop working. At that point, other missions will take over, including the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which will be launched in 2018, and the James Webb Space Telescope, which will also head to space in 2018. After that, the Planetary Transits and Oscillations of Stars mission (PLATO), being built by the European Space Agency, will begin its hunt sometime in the 2020s, followed by WFIRST (the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope), which will hunt for planets and search for dark matter, beginning sometime in the mid 2020s.   Each planet hunting mission, whether from the ground or in space, is crewed by teams of astronomers who are experts at the search for planets. Not only will they look for planets, but eventually, they hope to use their telescopes and spacecraft to get data that will reveal the conditions on those planets. The hope is to look for worlds that, like Earth, could support life.

Technologies Used by Law Enforcement Research Paper

Technologies Used by Law Enforcement - Research Paper Example But whether or not this potential is fully recognized, and at what speed, is not an inevitable conclusion. Groundwork on this subject propose what if its incorporation is not correctly supervised, some features of information technology may meet with confrontation among officers and other staff, mainly when such technology is seen as unjustly invasive or technically unwieldy. Furthermore, questions about security cost, and privacy need to be addressed as well. (Reichert, 2001) Due to the speed and velocity of advances in this field of information technology in current years, sovereign studies on the collision of information technology on policing are also of our concern. It seems predominantly significant, in this regard, to evaluate the experiences of some of the founders of information technology in the field of policing. (Reichert, 2001) Description of some technologies used by law enforcement agencies is given below: 1. Crime mapping During the last decade, computer crime mapping has become an important tool for law enforcement firms. Innovations in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and computer technology have corresponded with practical and theoretical advancements in crime investigation, analysis and prevention. Mapping software, desktop computers, and GIS now present mapping and analysis of data capacities beyond what was probable with mainframe desktop computers as lately as the early 90s. Crime mapping is an affordable and inexpensive technology for tiny and even controlled budget police sections. The advancements needed by community police departments want that these sections integrate a spatial, geographic, or local emphasis, and focus on the significance of incorporating crime mapping techniques into departmental analysis, management, and practices of enforcement. (Reichert, 2001) 2. Integration of Information Technology Information technology integration is as famous as crime mapping. Innovations in information technology assure privacy and information will be shared among all the key elements of the system of criminal justice, taking into account prosecutors, law enforcement, public and private defenders, corrections, federal courts, probation, parole, appellate courts, and state trial. A fully incorporated information system, though, needs cautious planning and organization among the agencies to make sure that technological faults do not take place; as Chief Justice Ronald M. George, California Supreme Court, puts it â€Å"Towel of Babel†. (Reichert, 2001) 3. Database for Fingerprints According to recent news, in Columbus, Ohio, Columbus Police can receive instant information about a suspect’s identity without having to go back to files and papers. With just a fast imprint of an individual’s two fingers on handheld equipment, now police can get access to all personal databases via the fingerprint database system. Police is quite contended with this new t echnology as it saves up time and energy to travel to the downtown booking station. Naturally, it is used to check the right identity of a person who does not a proper ID or have a fake one and uses a fake name. Columbia Police Department alone comprises of 250,000 entries. Any fingerprint which matches an identity gives person’s name, gender, date of birth and race. The cost of these devices have dropped drastically from $100 to $5 and they take good advantage of swiftly growing biometrics industry which

Ethics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Ethics - Research Paper Example Staubus provides a good discussion on the misstatement of financial data and information and their effects on the companys performance exposure. The article focuses ont he relationships which are being violated by such ethical misconducts in the financial reporting. The paper provides insight on the duties, reponsibilities and expectations of the related parties or stakeholders of the organization. This paper aims to reflect on the past and current events of fraudulent or unethical reporting systems. The article focuses on the role of ethical behaviors and corporate governance issues and forms an opinion that ethics is an important part in earnings management and overcoming the barriers of fraudulent financial reporting. This article provides the basic discussion on ethics and its role in the accounting field. The article provides the means of ethics, the role of institutions and education in maintaining ethical behavior and the impact of ethical values on society. The aim of IFAC is to provide guidance and set standards for professional accountants. This paper provides the guidelines of ethical behavior and the standards set for them to follow. The ethical behaviors are, hence, understood by reading these

Analysis of Across the Universe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analysis of Across the Universe - Essay Example The aesthetic regime can be seen in creating scenes that just seem to be there to add to the feeling of the film, without adding much or any information, and sometimes lacking in any dialog, such as the scenes of swimming, or the scenes of the carnival. They most likely are not even real, just there to imply drug trips. It is irrelevant to argue whether or not â€Å"Across the Universe† is art because it is a representation of reality, as Arnheim's perspective of cinema fits well with this movie because it is not an actual representation of reality at all. Big blue men dance at the carnival, imaginary joints produce real smoke, and giant creatures flail about. However, in adding elements such as those, one could argue that the character of certain objects are not strengthened but destroyed in a very informal manner. This is only done to further enhance our perceptions of certain aspects of the movie, such as raw feelings that have no actual, physical equivalent. While watching â€Å"Across the Universe†, it is easy to have more faith in Bergson's ideas of movements in cinema. Throughout the movie there seems to be this phenomenon of moving continuity, everything constantly flowing and changing, yet remaining the same. This perception of movement fits this particular movie more than the more concrete, or grounded view of Deleuze. The sensory-motor schema is frequently thrown out throughout the course of this, movie. Indeed, as quoted in the notes, the characters do seem to go off on a trip, to wonder about.

Risk identification is an underdeveloped art Discuss and include an Essay - 1

Risk identification is an underdeveloped art Discuss and include an overview of risk identification aids and techniques in yo - Essay Example Risk management is the concept that allows the management to look after future uncertainties like that of high inflation, volatility of market, recession, change in market demand, competitors, change in regulations, etc. Therefore it becomes a responsibility of the management to analyze and identify such risks. Otherwise, they may lead to financial turmoil and create issues like liquidity or even bankruptcy (Georges, 2013). Under the financial markets where uncertainties are high and investors expect to receive good returns, a diversified portfolio is maintained by the financial institutions. This is done in order to minimize the exposure to the risk by making investments in both equity funds and fixed deposits. It can also be said that risk management is the mitigation of the uncertainties, hence, allowing better decision making and prediction regarding the future outcome (Alexander, 2001). Risk Identification Risk management is part of the regular management processes and responsib ilities in the organization. It is an ongoing process that continues throughout the life of the project. It is often seen that entities face issues in locating and identifying the risks that may hamper their project or investment. Risk management is the two-step process. ... Other than few general terms of risk, they find it hard to locate the barriers that might hamper the success of their project or entity as a whole. Like risk management, risk identification is also a complete process and different methods or techniques can be used for successful identification (H. & J., 1999). With proper management, it is probable that most of the associated risks can be identified. Before discussion of the risk identification techniques or methods it is important to discuss its purpose, scope and process. Risk identification process Risk identification is a deliberate and a systematic process to identify and document the potential key risks that the organization as a whole might face. The objective is to understand what would be at stake. The risk identification process should cover all the risks irrespective of whether they are in control of the organization or not (Lubka, 2002). It is a diverse process and requires inputs from all the stakeholders of the organiza tion, whether internal or external. Following briefly highlights the risk identification process: Risk identification usually starts before the project is initiated and the number of risks increase as the project matures through the lifecycle (Merna & Al-Thani, 2005). Identification can be of both, operational risks that are associated with the organization as a whole or project risks specific to the project. Methods that the management would be using to identify the risks and set of different sources that would be used to gather the information. It is important that set of risk identification tools and techniques is used Identified risks must be documented and the probability of occurrence of such event evaluated in order to analyze the resources that would be

Rise of the Strategic Bomber Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Rise of the Strategic Bomber - Research Paper Example It had the capacity to destroy even the cities, harbors and other industries. It was strong enough to completely destroy the target area. When compared to a normal bomber, strategic bomber had the ability to transform the fertile place to a place where no habitat can exist. Strategic bombers were larger aircrafts which carried more bombs and weapons. The smaller fighter planes and jet bombers carried only the normal bombs that could move away the enemies. Strategic bombers were invented to destroy the enemies. They were specially designed aircrafts that were used by almost all the countries during the war period. (Quanback, 1976).The severity of World War led to the development of such machines. Bombers were the important component of any country’s military troop. (Boot, 2006). They satisfied the requisites of the military troops and hence they became an essential part of any war. Since then the strategic bombers have gone through tremendous improvement and it has spread to almost all the countries. The First World War led to the invention of these bombers since the soldiers alone could not manage in the war front. A special machine that could control the enemies was in need of the hour. Most of the European and Russian countries made use of the se bombers. Iraq was one of the countries which faced several attacks from the American nation. (MacIssac, 1976). These countries made the best use of such strategic bombers which in turn contributed to the development of these aircrafts. Post First World War, the bombers went through a drastic improvement. Till then the bombers were simple aircraft which carried bombs. These aircrafts were smaller in size and carried only a limited number of bombs. The engineers then designed aircrafts that carried more number of bombs and the size of the aircraft was considerably bigger. Cold war affected the development of these strategic bombers. During the beginning of Cold

Risk identification is an underdeveloped art Discuss and include an Essay - 1

Risk identification is an underdeveloped art Discuss and include an overview of risk identification aids and techniques in yo - Essay Example Risk management is the concept that allows the management to look after future uncertainties like that of high inflation, volatility of market, recession, change in market demand, competitors, change in regulations, etc. Therefore it becomes a responsibility of the management to analyze and identify such risks. Otherwise, they may lead to financial turmoil and create issues like liquidity or even bankruptcy (Georges, 2013). Under the financial markets where uncertainties are high and investors expect to receive good returns, a diversified portfolio is maintained by the financial institutions. This is done in order to minimize the exposure to the risk by making investments in both equity funds and fixed deposits. It can also be said that risk management is the mitigation of the uncertainties, hence, allowing better decision making and prediction regarding the future outcome (Alexander, 2001). Risk Identification Risk management is part of the regular management processes and responsib ilities in the organization. It is an ongoing process that continues throughout the life of the project. It is often seen that entities face issues in locating and identifying the risks that may hamper their project or investment. Risk management is the two-step process. ... Other than few general terms of risk, they find it hard to locate the barriers that might hamper the success of their project or entity as a whole. Like risk management, risk identification is also a complete process and different methods or techniques can be used for successful identification (H. & J., 1999). With proper management, it is probable that most of the associated risks can be identified. Before discussion of the risk identification techniques or methods it is important to discuss its purpose, scope and process. Risk identification process Risk identification is a deliberate and a systematic process to identify and document the potential key risks that the organization as a whole might face. The objective is to understand what would be at stake. The risk identification process should cover all the risks irrespective of whether they are in control of the organization or not (Lubka, 2002). It is a diverse process and requires inputs from all the stakeholders of the organiza tion, whether internal or external. Following briefly highlights the risk identification process: Risk identification usually starts before the project is initiated and the number of risks increase as the project matures through the lifecycle (Merna & Al-Thani, 2005). Identification can be of both, operational risks that are associated with the organization as a whole or project risks specific to the project. Methods that the management would be using to identify the risks and set of different sources that would be used to gather the information. It is important that set of risk identification tools and techniques is used Identified risks must be documented and the probability of occurrence of such event evaluated in order to analyze the resources that would be

International human resources management 'Hilton Hotel' Essay

International human resources management 'Hilton Hotel' - Essay Example They use a number of mixed models in their management, which include: - 1. Harvard model developed by David Guest (1987,1989,1986b, 1991) this model four policies are defined and are applied in this hotel they include; - a) Strategic integration - Hilton hotel integrates human resource management issues into its various strategic plans that are aimed at more developed and improved services. b) High commitment to pursue agreed goals- the hotel demonstrates very high commitment to its effort of achieving set goals this are shown by both the employees and the management itself. c) High quality of goods and services provided which include management of employees and investment in high quality employees. d) Functional flexibility with capacity to manage various innovations. 2. The matching model of Human Resource Management Fiedler (1964) asserted that the human resource systems and the organization structure should be managed in a way that is congruent with organizational Strategy and that the strategic human resource concepts and tools needed are fundamentally different from the stock in the trade of the traditional personnel administrator. This is exactly what Hilton hotel practice; its managers are committed in weighing human resource issues with the same level of attention as they give to other functions, for example, finance marketing and production. The model is highly achieved in this London branch of the Hilton hotels (Fox, 1973) The hotel integrates business and human resource strategies which yield better results, set business targets are thus achieved and the best human resource strategies applied It has adopted a very coherent approach for provision of mutually supporting and integrated human resource policies and... The employees of Conrad hotel undergo training regularly, their own training manager conducts this in their boardroom and at times they attend various seminars and workshops in the neighboring cities, countriesÐ ± and continents. Besides, they invite expatriates to come and train their employees. To meet the daily recruitment needs at Conrad hotel the personnel and Training manager uses Hcareers a site that offers the excellent tool for attracting the right candidates. The website recruitment ensures speed in recruitment. The manager normally uses the external recruitment sources for supervisory and management positions. The approach in customer skills is applied and candidates from reputable sources are recruited. These give a perfect solution to everyday recruitment needs at the Conrad HotelÃ'Ž The mode of recruiting workers at this hotel is purely through merit where applications are invited from any potential applicant in the nay corner of the globe. A panel of officials goes t hrough the application letters who later shortlist the successful candidates for the interview. Selection is based on the interview results where the best candidate is picked. He goes through massive training until he becomes well equipped in laying out duties. The current staffing trend is not geographically well spread because most of the employees of the senior management level i.e. Accountants, Marketing managers, human resource manager, and personnel manager among others are from a given particular region. (Thomas & Walker, 1993)

Environmental Analysis Paper Essay Example for Free

Environmental Analysis Paper Essay Hospitality is one of those lines of business paths that are widespread. In Australia, Brisbane hotel provides a broad assortment of properties-budget, trade, tourist, lavishness, bed and breakfasts and apartments lodging. Moreover, Holiday City Brisbane hotels offer comfort, excellence and enormous worth for the money, perfect for leisure time and commerce travelers. This paper seeks to examine the environmental analysis of Brisbane hotel in Australia. (Higham, 2005, p. 98) 1. Industry Analysis On the foundation analysis unaccompanied, Brisbane market appears to be a suitable market for an augment in lodging supply. On the other hand there are a number of other considerations such as access to capital, augmented building and labour outlay. (Addis, 2006, p. 103) Brisbane is situated on the eastern coast; it is the capital of Queensland-Australia’s head of state tourist area. It is Australia’ best ever growing city region in South East Queensland and occupies 1,140 square kilometers. (King, 1997, p. 88) For a property shareholder, a significant indicator of hotel viability will be value versus building cost. Hotel values have not kept rate with the enlargement in building costs. See more: how to write an analysis of a research paper Hotel values sky rocketed in 1997 before moribund to a cyclical low of $161K per room in 2001. Building costs on the other hand have augmented each year, moribund only marginally in 2001 in reaction to the worldwide financial downturn. (Garling, 1991, p. 100) The low point of hotel values were 62 per cent of building costs and even as they have augmented by around 10 per cent per annum over the last five years double the rate of building costs, the expansion gap is still 20 per cent at present. This gap will differ across the cities of Australia. (Kohen, 1995, p. 90) The porter’s five forces model is a straightforward tool that supports premeditated understanding where authority lies in an industry situation. It also helps to comprehend both the strength of Brisbane existing cutthroat position, and the potency of a position Brisbane is in search to move into. Regardless of the fact that the five force structure focuses on commerce concerns rather than community policy, it also emphasizes comprehensive rivalry for value to a certain extent than just competition amongst existing rivals. (Freeland, 1968, p. 115) The innovative cutthroat forces model as projected by Porter acknowledged five forces which would impact on an organization’s performance in a cutthroat market. These include the following: (Swaffer, 2002, p. 102) i) The Degree of Rivalry The degree of rivalry, which is the most noticeable of the five forces in the hotel industry, helps decide the extent to which the value fashioned by a business will be dissolute through head to head contest. (Cunill, 2006, p. 78) Perth has overtaken Brisbane as Australia’s number one hotel bazaar after having strengthened its bazaar leader position all through each quarter during 2007 to record the uppermost Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) expansion, highest ADR expansion and uppermost tenancy result (82. 5%) for the full year. (Richards, 2006, p. 120) Hotel section analysis in the three main markets of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane reveal that 5-star hotels are driving the sturdy bazaar performance. All the three cities recorded twofold figure RevPAR expansion during 2007 which is higher than the lower-tier segments. (Jamieson, 2006, p. 115) ii) The Threat of Entry Both the prospective and obtainable competitors influence standard business productivity. The threat of new entrants is frequently based on the bazaar entry barriers. They can take varied forms and are used to avert an influx of firms into a business at any time profits attuned for the cost of capital goes up above zero. (Higham, 2005, p. 104) The most widespread forms of entry barriers include: economies of scale, cost of entrance such as investment into expertise; distribution channels such as ease of admission for competitors; cost compensation not connected to the size of the corporation and government legislation. (Swaffer, 2002, p. 105) In a cutthroat market, all firms fabricate a standardized product. This means the goods presented by a variety of sellers are mainly identical. Since competition is based exclusively on the price, and the merchandise is homogenous, it then follows that buyers will buy from whoever’s product is cheapest, and this is also applicable in the hotel industry in the sense that tourist will choose to check inn to a hotel which they are comfortable with the price; therefore each producers is requisite to take up the least-cost method of fabrication and all surplus profits and losses will in the long run be abolished by entrance to, or exit from the business. (Addis, 2006, p. 108) Australia is in threat of becoming a lattice exporter of tourists in 2008 as strong expansion in outbound travel outpaces inbound tourist arrivals. The recently released Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Overseas Arrivals and Departures data reveals that arrivals have exposed some revival in the primary two months of 2008 (up 1. 7%), outbound travel has augmented by a staggering 14. 5%. (King, 1997, p. 94) The major competitor of Brisbane hotel is Sydney. However this was in the past. Sydney attracts a broad range of commerce events, and these proceedings tend to be larger than regular. Whereas the National Business Events Study (NBES) establish that New South Wales hosted 27 percent of the entire meetings in Australia in 2003, this represented 40 percent of the entire delegates. In terms of standard occasion size, Sydney hosted the biggest proceedings (roughly 162 delegates per event), followed by the Gold Coast (102), Melbourne (96), Adelaide (92), the ACT (89) and Perth (80). (Jamieson, 2006, p. 123) Nevertheless, this position is being windswept as other States are attracting an escalating percentage of intercontinental trade proceedings delegates. Queensland is to some extent differently positioned. Because of its chief coastal resort cities, it has key conference amenities at Cairns and the Gold Coast, as well as Brisbane. When these three locations are taken jointly, it reveals that in the mid-nineties they jointly held only about half as numerous meetings as Sydney. Ever since, their position has augmented considerably and in the epoch 2003-2005 they held about as several meetings as did Sydney. (Swaffer, 2002, p. 110) iii) The Threat of Substitutes A threat from substitutes exists if there are substitute products with inferior prices of improved performance parameters for the equivalent function. They could potentially draw a momentous proportion of bazaar volume and for this reason reduce the possible sales volume for existing troupe. This category also relates to balancing products. The threat of substitution is also influenced by switching costs such as retraining, retooling and redesigning that are incurred when a consumer switches to a dissimilar kind of product or service. (Higham, 2005, p. 111) Brisbane hotel faces the barricade of cost of setting up such as renting or owning building and licensing faced by new-fangled entrant. Even though firms in a monopolistically cutthroat market do face a low barrier to entry, the firms vend differentiated products, therefore causing new-fangled firms harder to be recognized. For example; Pier Nine Oyster Bar and Seafood Gril in Brisbane is a well-liked seafood restaurant. It then follows that a new seafood restaurant may have intricacy attracting clientele because of Pier’s recognized reputation. (Addis, 2006, p. 114) iv) Buyer Power Buyer power is one of the two level forces that control the misappropriation of the value fashioned by Brisbane hotel industry. The most imperative determinants of buyer power are the size and the attention of clientele. Other factors are the degree to which the buyers are well-versed and the attention of the competitors. (Jamieson, 2006, p. 130) Brisbane hotels come in all the shapes and sizes one would expect from Australia’s third biggest city-the enormous names like Hilton, Marriott and Sheraton are all there, all along with loads of self-governing establishments which vary from extremely quirky to absolute dirty. Similar to any bed where you relax your head, you acquire what you disburse for. Moreover, at the cheaper end of the range, a flawlessly contented room in an essential visitor hotel in the heart of the city like the Nomads will place you back about $80 a night at reserve rates, whereas a two bedroom suite in the historical 5 star Conrad Treasury Casino will cost you roughly $220 if you are looking less than two weeks ahead-which is fairly of high-quality for a five star hotel. (King, 1997, p. 101) v) Supplier Power This is a reflect icon of the buyer power. As an end result, the examination of supplier power characteristically focuses primary on the relative size and attention of suppliers comparative to commerce involvement in the inputs supplied. (Garling, 1991, p. 107) The aptitude to charge clientele different prices in line with differenced in the value fashioned for each of those buyers more often than not indicates that the bazaar is characterized by high dealer power and at the same occasion by low buyer power. (Kohen, 1995, p. 97) Brisbane hotel is an outstanding example to other main hotel markets in the steady preamble of new supply, as opposed to gesticulate of new-fangled hotel developments flooding the bazaar once the market conditions become encouraging. A slow but stable flow of new stockpile goes a long way towards sustainably increasing the market without causing occupancies and revenues to fall. (Cunill, 2006, p. 91) 2. External Stakeholders and Broad Environment External stakeholders These encompass real land agents, state visitor offices, developers, financiers, body business service providers, hotels with a strata title attention and administration human rights brokers. (Swaffer, 2002, p. 118) The assortment of community schemes is echoed in the range of lawmaking schemes that subsist across Australia. One of the basic differences across jurisdictions is the terms and lawful jargon used to explain key features in Brisbane hotel. This difficulty poses realistic problems for stakeholders in general and for practitioners who are required to function athwart state boundaries. (King, 1997, p. 117) Broad Environment This consists of four significant factors such as current social forces, global economic forces, global political forces and technological innovations. (Garling, 1991, p. 114) i) Current social forces Given that travel was a requirement for numerous workers at the turn of the century, it then follows that homosexuality action in countryside contexts and urban public spaces was inextricably associated. The features of superior population areas, clear in Brisbane hotel and larger local areas were also noticeable in lesser urban settlements. (Higham, 2005, p. 116) ii) Global economic forces Australia’s four principal city lodging markets enjoyed a record year of tenancy levels in 2007, with the outlook for 2008 being evenly as optimistic in spite of far from ideal national and worldwide market circumstances. (Kohen, 1995, p. 101) Australia Bureau of statistics (ABS) data released for the full year 2007 shows that for the initial time the internal city hotel bazaar of Brisbane has achieved tenancy levels over 80% averaged all through the year. This performance underscores Australia’s confrontation to the universal monetary slowdown as trade travel remains burly. High occupancies are also a side-effect of the capital boom, which is supporting Brisbane hotel markets as local centres for these resource-based state economies. (Addis, 2006, p. 122) With continuous expansion in accommodation demand, thanks to affluent economic environment and sturdy market essentials, Australia’s chief city markets of Brisbane will see occupancies linger high and proceeds increase. (Garling, 1991, p. 119) The majority multicultural cities are Melbourne and Sydney. Both cities are well-known for the diversity and quality of universal foods available in their many restaurants, and Melbourne particularly promoted itself as a hub for the arts therefore posing a threat for Brisbane hotel in Australia. (Jamieson, 2006, p. 134) iii) Technological innovations True commerce innovation does take place through a variety of mechanisms such as commerce strategy, organization practices, procedure alteration, and assets investment in new-fangled plant and equipment. To be familiar with this, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) by now has events of technological innovation. (Cunill, 2006, p. 103) iv) Global political forces The worldwide hotel business recorded optimistic growth in standard daily rate and proceeds per obtainable room for the month of July 2008; this is according to the statistics from Smith Travel Research (STR). Moreover, fashion hotels are an element of a speedy development in the market for lavishness recognized customer products. This was incorporated prior to the political situation that arose in Australia. (Higham, 2005, p. 121) 3. Factors that Influence the Sector’s demand and cost structures i) Technological innovation This has debatably been the leading factor in determining fiscal services of Brisbane hotel in the past two decades. Systems for dealing out, communicating and sturdy information are an indispensable element of the infrastructure sustaining fiscal activities. (Kohen, 1995, p. 112) Technology has connected markets around the globe and opened cross-border delivery of both wholesale and retail fiscal products. This has created a competitive advantage to Brisbane hotel in Australia. (Freeland, 1968, p. 119) ii) International Integration This has resulted prior to technological advances and as a result there has been a rising tendency towards international integration amongst financial markets. In numerous areas of the Australian bazaar, predominantly those connected with across-the-board funding, international markets have replaced home markets as the main source of finance. A result of globalization is that competition between fiscal service providers occurs internationally to a certain extent than at the state or local level. Globalization has spawned a production of institutional shareholders who control huge portfolios and have particular loyalty to products and state marketplace thus boosting Brisbane hotel financial status. (Swaffer, 2002, p. 125) iii) Changing customer needs Markets developments have also been fashioned by changing customer needs. In Australia, the most clear of these has been the enlargement of enforced superannuation and the accompanying enlargement in the finance administration business. This has resulted to Brisbane hotel modifying their products and services so as to satisfy the customer since the customer is the king. (Freeland, 1968, p. 121) iv) New Entrants These factors have encouraged new-fangled entrants and innovative ways of doing business. For instance, unlike a decade ago, hotels and construction societies are at present extremely aware of the competition that they face from securitizes. This has made Brisbane hotel and other industries formulate strategies of dealing with new entrants. (King, 1997, p. 126) 4. Strategic Issues facing Organizations in hotel sector i) Location Brisbane is a low-lying terrain mass positioned in a floodplain. Nevertheless, this has worked to the benefit of the hotel. Brisbane is located along the Brisbane River and is neighboring to the Great Dividing Range and the Moreton Bay. This has generated a lot of income since it serves as a tourist attraction base. (Garling, 1991, p. 122) ii) Climate Geologically, Brisbane hotel is situated contentedly in the State’s Southeast corner, at the oceanfront of the Pacific Ocean to the east. Because of this, it then follows that many inhabitants and vacationers from Melbourne and Sydney come over and expend winter in Brisbane thus boosting the hotel’s revenue. (Higham, 2005, p. 128) iii) Events and Festivals Several events and festivals have also boost up tourism in Brisbane hotel. For instance; Brisbane River Festival is usually held in the middle of September every year. In addition to this, Brisbane is becoming a well-liked sports destination in all of Australia and not just in Queensland. It has previously hosted the Commonwealth Games and Rugby World Cup and still hosted a number of events for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. This has generated a lot of income for the Brisbane hotel. Moreover, Brisbane is proposing to support and hold the 2024 Olympics. This will generate the country lots and lots of revenue. (Jamieson, 2006, p. 136) Conclusion The event trade in Australia continues to thrive and events are more and more viewed as vehicles for the facilitation of local growth. Regions may be fashioned for various reasons, counting economic purposes, and debatably such economic purpose will decide the most suitable set of local restrictions, the types of local organizations that will be established and the kinds of local policies and programs that will be implemented. Moreover, technological innovation, international integration, changing customer needs and new entrants have contributed towards the hotel formulating strategies in order to satisfy their customers and as a result Brisbane hotel has maintained a competitive edge thus earning profitable foreign exchange from the tourists.

The Vietnam War: Defeating the US

The Vietnam War: Defeating the US Why did the Vietnam war happen? Why didnt we just back down?. I think that he United States could have won this war, with a mixture of better weapons usage, better moves, and better support from their home country, this could also have even been prevented. Before the war, Vietnam was a disputed territory. Many countries countrys in the past had taken Vietnam over, and after World War II, Vietnam was in the hands of France. Clearly, the Vietnamese wanted their own country, and their long history of being a colony prompted the oppressed people to fight for their independence in the French Indochina war. Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the Communist party, organized the Vietnamese independence movement, Viet Minh. Asked for support from America first, since that leader didnt want to use communism to free his people. The United States looked helping Ho Chi Minh gain his independence from France as a move against their own allies, they declined. It was only after Russia and China offered to help that Ho Chi Minh adopted communist ideals and wanted to make all of Vietnam communist. The Vietnam war started because communism was going to expand into Korea and eventually into other countrys. America didnt want that. If the United States had looked past its alliances and not helped another country gain its independence like we had gained ours so many years ago, this war would have been completely avoided. Unfortunately for the families of over 58, 000 soldiers, it wasnt. this began as early as 1954, the United States started sending financial and military aid to South Vietnam, hoping to stop the spread of communism. The flow of military advisors from 700 to over 14,000 built up steadily through John F Kennedys presidency, and after he was assassinated, Johnson escalated the war to the point of no return. American people were so scared of communism that they were willing to do anything to stop communism where it started. The people of the United States let Johnson build up a huge force in Vietnam, and he was also almost unanimously backed by congress. By the end of the war, Johnson was so ashamed that he didnt even try to run for reelection. If the Americans would have stopped and thought about wh at they were getting themselves into and not jumping right into it, we would be ok. In 1964, the event that all war hawks wanted happened. In the Gulf of Ton kin, several Viet Cong torpedo boats reportedly fired on a U.S. vessel. Even though the American ship sustained no damages, Johnson drafted the Gulf of Ton kin Resolution, which authorized him to use any force necessary to beat back the North Vietnamese. Congress never declared war or even directly authorized troops, but Johnson somehow got to declare it. Early in the War At first, Johnson didnt let the problem go into the air, because he was hoping to destroy Viet Cong. He used planes such as the B-52 bomber and the F-4 Phantom to try to win the war as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the United States air power had many shortcomings. The F-4 Phantom was the latest and best technology out there during Vietnam War. Manufactured by McDonnell-Douglas, this plane was capable of multiple roles, as a dogfighter, bomber, recon, and support aircraft. But, the F-4 had its some problems. First, the engineers who desi gned it did not mount any type of gun on the F-4A through the F-4D, thinking that the Phantoms frightening compliment of missiles could take out any enemy threat. This wasnt the smarted move. Not having a gun made the dog-fighting role of the Phantom extremely hard, because the AIM-9 and AIM-7 missiles were not as effective at closer ranges against the enemy MIGs. Only after almost 2 years was the F-4E Phantom fitted with a 6-barrell gatling gun. Also, many pilots were not trained very well, only having 6 weeks of training as opposed to the normal 1-year. The B-52 Stratofortress was the largest bomber ever made at that time. We should have used it wisely There were also negative sides to the use of the B-52. During World War II, the allies could depend on destroying the industry of their enemy, eventually destroying its fighting power. The VC did not count on industry and big guns, but guerrilla tactics and small arms weapons. The U.S. also thought by using a lot of bombs and by using napalm, the enemy would be scared and finally give up. Both of tactics proved to be wrong. The bombings got the enemy angry and brought the North Vietnamese closer together, instead of its actual goal. Napalm was also bad mistake. By using a flammable jelly which consisted of gasoline and some other chemical to make it think, they burned up all of North Vietnam, the United States not only killed more people than enemies, but also made people think was this the right thing to do? Anything that Napalm touched burned for up to a week. Another type of bomb was dropped by the B-52s, this one containing a large amount of the deadly gas, Agent Orange. Millions of acres of jungle were destroyed and even more fields and paddies were poisoned. South Vietnamese farmers complained about the effect Agent Orange had on their rice paddies. Agent Orange was supposed to eliminate the Viet Cong s advantages of there hiding places, but it only turned the people we were fighting for against us even more. Agent Orange also hurt us to, many of the Veterans ended up getting sick, like cancer and other deadly sicknesses. The use of Agent Orange was perhaps one of the worst mistakes made in Vietnam. If we just thought ahead, and figuring out the consequences of using weapons such as napalm and Agent Orange, the U.S. could have won the Vietnam War, mostly through the use of air power. During the Vietnam War we dropped more bombs than in any other war, this would make you think that we should win because its easy. Sadly, ethical problems and lack of planning made it impossible to settle the war in the air, making the U.S. invade with ground forces. President Johnson chose General William C. Westmoreland to command the land forces. Westmoreland commanded over 500,300 troops at the high point of the war, and was still unable to defeat the Viet Cong. But there were many factors that contributed to our shocking defeat on the ground in Vietnam. The first and foremost was the difference in tactics. The Viet Cong was ruthless soldiers, who, even though sometimes poorly trained, fought with a lot of drive and pride. The Viet Cong used something called guerrilla tactics. They would get children, to join use babys as bait for booby traps, and other unethical things. These were a few deaths that the U.S. soldiers had. Also on the tactics side, the entire U.S. consisted of sea rch and destroy missions. Search and destroy missions involved a group patrol, (usually 15-30 soldiers), going out of the home territory and finding and killing the enemy. Unfortunately, the booby traps placed by the Viet Cong and the fact that they knew the land meant that they could hide well. They took advantage of that and so U.S. soldiers died a lot from that. If the United States only thought about what they were getting them selves into and realized the consequences then they would have probably not gotten involved. Either way I do believe that if we didnt help out the other country that, they would try to get back at us in a some way. But the amount of people that died, and the amount that got sick was really just unnecessary. But since we did get involved we should have just stuck with fighting in the air. That was our strength at the time and we should have taken advantage of it. Compassion in Medicine | Reflective Essay Compassion in Medicine | Reflective Essay Advancements in medical technology have given rise to medicalization, a process where ‘non-medical’ problems have become understood and treated as ‘medical’ issues.1 This potentially objectifies humans, leading to â€Å"deindividuation†2, where doctors identify patients by their disease or procedure. The distancing of doctor-patient relationships have been worsened by limited doctor-patient interactions.3 Humanization of medicine is critical to ensure patients receive adequate care because they are reliant on the doctors competence and good will.4 This is where the BH1002 module contributes to my development as a good doctor. It increases my awareness of patients’ needs and the complexities of the healthcare system. The essence of this module is encapsulated in three learning points: a) Professionalism; b) Communication in Doctor-patient relationships; and c) Patient safety. My role as a future doctor is to heal. Professionalism exemplifies the contract between society and medicine as it is the foundation of doctor-patient trust.5 In the BH1002 tutorials, I was exposed to three fundamental principles of professionalism, namely, the primacy of patient welfare, patient autonomy and social justice. Professionalism requires honesty with patients, empowering them to make informed medical decisions; it requires trust and having patients’ interests at heart; it involves equal distribution of healthcare resources to all patients.5 In my opinion, medical professionalism involves demonstrating humility and compassion. Modern medicine has established a culture defined by entitlement and conceit, and humility indicates weakness or false modesty.6 Having the confidence to tackle my insecurities is paramount to my development as a doctor. However, I am aware that self-confidence can develop into overconfidence as my level of clinical knowledge and skills increases. It can cause me to overestimate my capabilities, breeding incompetency and arrogance. As a future doctor, I strive to remain grounded and be accountable for my blunders. I will avoid finger-pointing when mistakes occur. Being humble makes me mindful of the limits of my knowledge, allowing me to recognize opportunities for improvement. I will consider things from my patient’s perspective, prioritizing the well-being of my patients. Humility and confidence are not mutually exclusive.7 To strike a balance, I will constantly evaluate myself in clinical encounters. Through introspection, I can work towards being a more gracious person. I understand that when I am tired, I may have a temporary lapse in humility and be rude to someone. In response, I will take time to apologize sincerely, fostering better work dynamics in the medical setting. Compassion is an important aspect of medical professionalism. It involves both empathy and the desire to improve the current situation. The Society for General Internal Medicine describes empathy as â€Å"the act of correctly acknowledging the emotional state of another without experiencing that state oneself.†8 In this module, I was taught to strive for detachment with my patients to ensure that my feelings do not hinder the quality of care I provide.8 Nonetheless, it is essential to be sufficiently vulnerable to my patient’s suffering. When my attention is focused on my patients, they will be able to feel that I care. In contrast, being emotionally-detached could be interpreted as being indifferent, increasing their suffering due to the lack of understanding. A study on the effect of forty seconds of compassion on patient anxiety noted, â€Å"The enhanced compassion segment was †¦ effective in decreasing viewers anxiety†9. Compassion builds trust between the doctor and patients, encouraging them to recall and disclose significant details about their conditions.8 Increased awareness of the patient’s situation allows for more accurate diagnosis and effective personalization of treatments, improving the quality of care.8 Patient satisfaction is increased, enhancing the doctor-patient relationship. I strive to exhibit medical professionalism by being compassionate. As a future doctor, I am responsible for the welfare of my patients. Having compassion will make me attentive to their needs. I can understand the situation from their perspective, and think about how I can ease their suffering. Consequently, my patients will not have to face their difficulties alone. The doctor-patient relationship is a keystone of care. Built on trust and compliance, it exists when a doctor serves a patient’s medical needs, providing support and healing.10 There were two key reasons taught on why effective communication is crucial: a) provision of quality care; and b) medicine adherence. I believe patients benefit most when there is mutual trust and respect – doctors set aside time to listen to their patients; patients provide information about their medical condition to the best of their ability and comply with prescriptions. This can only be achieved with effective communication. In the provision of better healthcare, it is important to focus on the medical interview between the doctor and patient. This is the main medium through which doctors gather information about the patient, make diagnoses and develop the doctor-patient relationship.3 During the tutorials, I was introduced to a famous painting, The Doctor by Fildes. The painting exemplifies the qualities of an ideal doctor. Despite the inadequacy of medical technology, and thus inability to save the patient, he remains by the patient’s bedside, providing reassurance through his presence. This is a huge contrast with the modern physician, who, because of the large number of patients to see every day11, is often unable to set aside time to stay by the patient’s side. In his book, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, Gawande laments the deterioration of care in the medical setting. He attributes it to the shift in focus to curing diseases quickly using modern technology, highlighting that â€Å"fast, solution-oriented care accounts for approximately one-quarter of Medicare expenditures†11. Moreover, the time spent on write-ups is threefold the time spent in direct contact with the patient12. This means that little time is spent on communication with the patient. For this reason, patients feel neglected and even more miserable when doctors are unable to listen to their emotional needs and address their concerns. What I wanted †¦ was a doctor †¦ who understood that a conversation was as important as a prescription; a doctor to whom healing mattered as much as state-of-the-art surgery did. What I was looking for †¦ was a doctor who is able to slow down, aware of the dividends not just for patients but for herself and for the system.11 In the introduction to the course, I was taught that doctors have an ethical obligation to prioritize the best interests of the patient. This means alleviating their suffering and minimizing patient dissatisfaction. When doctors take the time to listen carefully, the quality of information obtained increases, enabling a more accurate diagnosis to be made.3 In mastering communication skills, I can clearly explain my patient’s situation, preventing misunderstandings that may occur due to the lack of understanding of â€Å"basic health ideas, medical terms or medical information†13. I can provide emotional reassurance to those involved, facilitating the process of healing and enhancing the doctor-patient relationship. Medicine adherence refers to whether patients follow the agreed recommendations and whether they take their medication for the entire duration.14 Effective communication is the major determinant of compliance.15 Doctors struggle with communicating information effectively, as seen in a study that reported, â€Å"40-80 percent of the medical information patients receive is forgotten immediately and nearly half of the information retained is incorrect†15. In this module, I was taught the teach-back method to improve medicine adherence, which relies heavily on communicating information to patients in a way that is easily understood. In teach-back, patients are asked to describe the information taught. This involves them in prescription decisions and serves as confirmation that they understand what has been explained, such as the prescribed dosage of their medication. Patients can then make informed decisions regarding their use of medicines. By engaging patients in their care, they are more likely to comply with the prescriptions, leading to a higher quality of life and higher satisfaction.14 As a future doctor, I strongly believe that patients have a right to make decisions in regard to their health. This means that if patients refuse to take the prescribed treatment, that choice must be an informed one; if they accept the recommendation, I am responsible for facilitating the appropriate adherence to optimize the efficacy of treatment and reduce risk of side effects. Using what I learnt, as well as the â€Å"SPIKES† model detailed in WHO Multi-professional Patient Safety Curriculum Guide16, I will provide uninterrupted time for patients to share their concerns and ask questions about their conditions. This will help me understand my patients’ beliefs and assure them that I am listening. After which, I will provide the necessary information, in a comprehensive manner, using the teach-back method to check their understanding. This will facilitate shared-decision making, where patients can effectively voice concerns about aspects of the treatment they disagree with. This allows me to tackle the issue of limited health literacy of patients and negotiate a treatment they are agreeable with. A large proportion of the BH1002 module was spent discussing patient safety. I was exposed to the idea of human limits and reasons why healthcare systems fail. My greatest takeaway was being constantly reminded that doctors are not infallible. In fact, great doctors are people who expect errors to occur and take measures to prevent them before these errors can happen. Humans have limitations that can predispose them to error. Through the lectures, I learnt about memory constraints, confirmation bias in perception and selective vision. The recalled memory is reconstructed, changing according to what we perceive; we tend to seek evidence to support our decisions, even if the decision may not be correct; we do not notice when something unexpected enters our field of vision, especially when we are focused on something else. These cause difficulty multi-tasking and recalling detailed information quickly15, creating room for error. Now that I am aware of these limits, I will put in greater effort to reduce the impact human limits have on my patients’ health. I will use writing aids, noting important information immediately, reducing the reliance on human memory. This also removes the uncertainty that I could have remembered the wrong details. I believe this habit needs to be cultivated while I am a medical student. Therefore, I have begun with the lectures I attend, jotting down points raised by lecturers and reviewing them for greater understanding of the content taught. To reduce the risk of confirmation bias, I will make sure to gather information from reliable sources, analyze the data carefully before reaching a conclusion, instead of drawing a conclusion before finding evidence that tally with my opinion. In a medical practice study conducted in 2000, To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System, it is emphasized that to assure patients that they are safe from accidental injury, concerted effort by all professionals is required to â€Å"break down traditional clinical boundaries, the culture of blame, and systematically design safety into processes of care†.17 There are several reasons why healthcare systems fail. First would be the traditional intolerance for error in the medical setting. Doctors are held personally accountable even if the error was systems-based and beyond their control. The medical culture of blaming encourages doctors to underreport errors out of fear of disciplinary measures.18 The BH1002 module taught the importance of sharing the burden of guilt. If a doctor makes a mistake, sharing creates opportunities for everyone to review the problem objectively. Improvements can then be made to existing systems to prevent a repeat of the same mistake. I learnt about the â€Å"Swiss cheese model of system accidents†. This model compares the different levels on which mistakes occur with slices of cheese. Each slice represents a layer of defense against potential errors. In the real world, each slice has holes in different places, each representing a loophole. A catastrophe will occur when the holes align to permit an opportunity for accidents, directly bringing patients in contact with hazards.19 These lapses in defense arise from two types of errors. Active errors are unsafe behaviors committed by people that lead directly to a given error. Latent errors are errors that remain dormant in the system until ‘triggered’ by other events. These occur further away from the action itself, such as flaws in the healthcare organization or faults in the equipment used. Active errors are often unpredictable whereas latent errors can be prevented. The persons-approach, which focuses solely on active errors and individual blame, is therefore of limited benefit because it deals with errors only after they occur. In contrast, the systems-approach revolves around the idea that errors are to be expected and designs a resilient system to reduce the risk of incidence of error before it happens. The systems-approach is important to my development as a good doctor. It reminds me of the need to adhere to standard operating procedures in the medical setting. Simple practices such as hand hygiene can reduce the risk of spreading infections among patients. I understand that patient handovers are an integral part of the healthcare system. There are an average of 50-100 steps between the doctor’s decision to order a medicine and the delivery of the medicine to the patient, causing an overall 39% chance of error.20 I will do my part by making my case notes comprehensible and legible to prevent miscommunication between doctors. I will clarify expectations before undertaking any tasks and consult my superiors should I be unsure of any issues. When reporting critical laboratory results, I will use the read-back method, noting and correcting any discrepancies to ensure the relayed information is accurate. This will reduce the risk of harm brought to the patient. The healthcare environment is a very complicated one. In the beginning, I was fearful of the rigid and complicated hierarchies that exist. The BH1002 module has equipped me with the necessary knowledge of what it takes to be a good doctor, as well as how I can understand my patients better and ensure their safety. I believe being accountable for my actions is the best way to exhibit professionalism and help people. I look forward to overcoming the trials I will face as a doctor. I hope to become a doctor who can serve my patients and peers well, by providing quality care and becoming a pillar of support.