Washing up liquid advert Essay Example

Washing up liquid advert Essay This essay is going to discuss the Fairy Aromatics washing up liquid advert. The advert is to promote the new fragrances and bottle shape that Fairy has recently introduced.  This advert does not have a narrative. Instead it just uses a series of bright, eye-catching images in modern colours to make you remember the advert, and hopefully the product too.  The advert is in three main parts, one to advertise each of the three new fragrances. The first part shows a woman with short hair in her early thirties falling back on to the petals of a giant pink flower, the same colour as the new spring fresh liquid. She breathes in the scent of the product with a relaxed and happy expression on her face, and then demonstrates the product by washing a plate, which comes out of the water sparkling and clean. The screen then cuts to the second character, a young man, who slides down a giant spiral apple. He also appears relaxed and happy, and is obviously having fun. There is then a special effect, as there is a cube rotation to link the end of this shot with the next. The last character is a young woman, this time with longer hair but approximately the same age, who is bathing under a giant lemon half. She massages her hair and appears relaxed and refreshed as she stands under the shower. At the end of the advert the screen is divided into thirds, each showing an object to represent on of the fragrances. Each third then goes through an open door rotation to reveal a bottle of the product in each of the fragrances corresponding with the object in the shot before. The shot at near the beginning of the advert where the first woman is washing up is quite realistic, although everything is very clean in comparison to how you would usually expect it to be. However, the rest of advert is quite surreal as it features people interacting with giant fruits and flowers. We will write a custom essay sample on Washing up liquid advert specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Washing up liquid advert specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Washing up liquid advert specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer There are three characters used in this advert, two women and one man, each one specifically endorsing one of the new fragrances on offer. We can see from the choice of characters that Fairy is trying to appeal to a larger target audience than before. Traditionally on the Fairy adverts we see a woman with a young child, who is probably slightly older than the characters used here. Now they have chosen to include a token man in the advert as well, showing that they are attempting to include men in their new target audience. They still however show a woman actually doing the washing up rather than a man, which is quite stereotypical. The fact that they show more women in the advert rather than men shows that they still want the product to appeal more to women, as usually it is still the woman that actually goes out shopping to buy household things like washing up liquid. The chosen characters in this advert are all being used as role models for the audience. The first woman in particular seems to be the perfect housewife. Her kitchen is spotlessly clean, and her hair and make-up is done beautifully, even though she has only been cooking the dinner. When she washes the plate, it requires no effort for them to become brilliantly clean and sparkling. She has the kind of stereotypical television lifestyle that many people would love to have. As people want to be like her, they will also want the things she has, like the washing up liquid. When she washes the plate, the light focuses on this rather than her, as it shows the wonderful result the product has achieved, and draws your attention to it. Throughout the shots she appears in, her facial expression always shows confidence and relaxation. When she falls back on to the flower she closes her eyes and her body language is open as her arms are held out away from her body. This shows her confidence, and also shows she is relaxed in this situation. Her expression also shows hints of luxury as she falls on to the petals. In this shot the light is focused on her face so these feelings are conveyed to the audience. The next shot, the close up on her face, helps to reinforce these messages. The next character, the man, also shows an expression of confidence and happiness. Again, his body language is open as he holds his arms up and out to the sides as he slides down the apple with the camera tracking him. As the shot changes from the first woman to him, the music also changes slightly, but not dramatically. A guitar is added into the instruments already used, which gives it a slightly more masculine sound to the melody. It also adds a more fresh sound to the music as the focus changes from the floral fragrance to the apple one. It is subtle but helps the scenes flow smoothly from one to another. To make the next transition smooth, a cube rotation is used to link to the next scene of the woman bathing under the lemon half. The camera starts focused on the lemon, but then tilts down to a medium shot of the womans face. She appears relaxed and refreshed as she massages her hair under the shower, and the light focuses on her face. The camera then cuts to a shot looking up at her from below. This makes her seem like a role model, as she appears higher up than the audience and you are looking up to her example and how relaxed and happy she looks from buying this product.  All three of the characters appear happy to be associated with the washing up liquid. The bright, modern colours used in the advert, with the young characters make the advert appealing to the younger audience. The advert attempts to make washing up seem cool at a time when there is so much competition with dishwashers.

Aramco Supply Chain Management Essays

Aramco Supply Chain Management Essays Aramco Supply Chain Management Essay Aramco Supply Chain Management Essay A Users Conference ID#: 2965 Improving Supply Chain Management through Real-Time Operations Monitoring Track: MES Topic: Enterprise Integration Presenter: Ramadan Fan Company: Saudi Aramco  © Copyright 2008, Saudi Aramco. All rights reserved. Agenda Saudi Aramco Overview Saudi Aramco Distribution Operations Supply Chain Management Challenges SIMATIC IT XHQ Implementation Enterprise Monitoring Solution Key Benefits Next Steps Page 2 Saudi Aramco Overview – Global Offices Saudi Petroleum Overseas Ltd. Ltd. Vela Marine Intl. , Ltd. Intl. , Ltd. Saudi Petroleum Intl. , Inc. Intl. , Aramco Overseas Company, AOC (BV) Company, Saudi Petroleum Ltd. Ltd. Aramco Services Company Saudi Aramco Headquarters Page 3 Saudi Aramco Overview – Upstream Downstream Gas Sales Grid Upstream Gas Plants Downstream Gas Plants OIL GAS Wells GOSPs Bulk Plants Refineries Crude Treatment Stabilizers Page 4 Crude Terminals Saudi Aramco Distribution Operations Responsible for domestic fuel distribution through its Bulk Plants and Air Fueling Operations Meet the Kingdom’s growing fuel demand in the most safe, reliable, and environment friendly manner Enhance customer satisfaction through world class services Page 5 Supply Chain Management Challenges Managing remote facilities scattered across the country Tracking product transfer via trucks, pipeline and marine Accessing different operation and business systems Generating operation reports in a timely manner Coordination between sending and receiving plants Responding quickly to customer complaints Page 6 SIMATIC IT XHQ Implementation Corporate strategy to standardize on a single Enterprise Monitoring Solution (EMS) Easy direct access to key operational data Common view of aggregated information Integrate real-time process data with business data Improve performance monitoring through KPI measures Replicate best practices across the enterprise Page 7 Enterprise Monitoring Solution – Distribution Operations SAP System HR LP Finance BW Non-SAP Applications LIMS SAIF Oracle Servers OSI PI Servers PQAS TIIS HCM PM OCRCS Terminal Management Systems Field Automation Lab Systems Siemens Honeywell Tank Gauging Test Instruments Page 8 Enterprise Monitoring Solution – Distribution Operations Site-Specific Dashboards Product Inventory Sales and Transfer Orders Truck Loading/Unloading Pipeline Shipping Quality Assurance Operations Compliance Data Source SAP-HCM, PI SAP-HCM TMS (Siemens/Honeywell) OSI PI PQAS * OCRCS * In-house developed application based on Oracle Page 9 Enterprise Monitoring Solution – Distribution Operations Common Dashboards Management Dashboard Maintenance Dashboard Equipment Dashboard Inspections Dashboard TI Dashboard Safety Dashboard Quality Dashboard Data Source SAP-HR, PM, Finance SAP-PM SAP-PM SAIF * TIIS * SAP-LP LIMS, PQAS * * In-house developed applications based on Oracle Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Enterprise Monitoring Solution – Key Benefits Empowered plants to make quick and informed decisions Enhanced Saudi Aramco customers relationship Graphically related daily operation to production targets Data transparency and sharing among plants Focus on problem areas with data views and drilldowns Page 21 Enterprise Monitoring Solution – Next Steps Visualization of full supply chain Dashboards for high management level Integration with SAP Portal Integration with GIS system Integration with planning and scheduling tools Page 22 Enterprise Monitoring Solution – Distribution Project Team Siemens Ahsan Yousufzai, Manager Ayman Al-Mutawa, Tech. Lead Zulfiqar Naushad, Consultant Ahmed Al-Sahaff, Team Lead Zubair Hassan, Team Lead Maher Al-Khaldi, Developer Asif Iqbal, Developer Faruk Bansir, Developer Saudi Aramco Ahmed Marzooq, IT Mohammed Shabeeb, IT Faris Omar, IT Ziyad Saleh, IT Ali Sallout , Distribution Ramadan Fan, Distribution Mohammed Hazmi, Distribution Murtaza Hussein, Distribution Khalid Khelaiwi, Distribution Khalid Zaid, Distribution Page 23 Closing Remarks â€Å"You can’t improve what you can’t measure† â€Å"Provide the right information, to the right person, at the right time† Page 24 Thank you For more information, please contact: ramadan. [emailprotected] com Page 25

The devestating effects of logging in the rainforest Research Paper

The devestating effects of logging in the rainforest - Research Paper Example Furthermore, according to the statistics, â€Å"more than 80 percent of the world’s ancient forests† (Tscharntke, 2007) have been destroyed due to the logging. This paper is a brief attempt to explore various dimensions devastating effects of logging in rainforests on various stakeholders. Discussion â€Å"Rainforests once covered more than 14 percent† (Bermingham, Dick & Moritz, 2005) of the total land on this planet; however, â€Å"today every second, the world is losing one and half acre of rainforests† (Bermingham, Dick & Moritz, 2005) and thus, it is left with less than 6 percent of rainforests. Research indicates that if this process continues then we are likely to run out of rainforests in the coming three decades (Tscharntke, 2007). Currently, almost a quarter of the western dugs are derived from rainforest ingredients. Furthermore, interesting is the fact that scientists believe that they have only checked less than a percent of the total species of rainforests, which means that with deforestation of rainforests, the world is losing the cure of many diseases (Bermingham, Dick & Moritz, 2005). Logging is most common in the developing and underdeveloped countries of the world where there are large reserves of rainforest. Quite understandably, considering the income levels of these countries, money becomes an urgent, unavoidable, and imperative need. On an average, a hectare of trees in rainforest can earn the loggers more than 40000 US dollars, which is nearly equal to a fortune for them. To make matters worst, most of the governments in these countries are also involved in these practices since they have no other way to earn foreign exchange. However, these governments fail to realize that the logs that they sell to countries like America and other European countries, they later spend more than half of the foreign exchange or export earnings to buy important wood products as pulp, paper and others from these very countries (L aurance & Peres, 2006). It is important to note that timber industry claims to be following â€Å"safe† logging practices, which include selective logging and full forest harvesting. Interestingly, both of them are not at all safe. Selective logging may refer to the process of choosing specific mature trees to harvest. Once the harvesting process is complete, a sapling is planted so that a new tree can grow. However, this never results in favorable results. In most rainforests, average size of trees is very high which blocks sunlight and nutrients for other small trees (Jepma, 1995). Furthermore, research indicates that removing one tree from a bunch of trees in a rainforest may result in the death of 17 more trees. This is true because trees develop a system of interdependence with each other especially in rainforests (Tscharntke et al., 2009). Full forest harvesting which refers to the process of harvesting the entire trees with its branches and leaves is an even dangerous method of logging. The nutrients taken from the soil are usually in the leaves and branches of the trees and taking them away leaves the forest with lesser chances to grow again. Furthermore, with direct exposure of sunlight in the gaps and empty spaces dries the soil and the soil loses precious nitrogen (Tscharntke, 2007). In the absence of rainforest trees, the balance of carbon dioxide is being disturbed since there

Nike Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nike - Essay Example I will further elaborate on the financial performance with the help of the following ratio analysis. For the ratio analysis, the figures have been taken from the 2008 and 2009 financial statements. The current Ratio evaluates the liquidity of the company. It represents a safety net for the creditors. Nike has improved its liquidity over the last year. It now holds $3 for every $1 of its short term debts as compared to $2.7 of last year. In comparison to the relevant industry, it is one of the most liquid companies’ (Bloomberg, 2010). The analysis further shows that Nike holds an excess of the working capital in current assets which should be invested in the marketable securities for generation of further income. The Quick Ratio is another measure of solvency and measures the liquidity of the company. This ratio removes the inventory and prepaid from the current assets as they are not as liquid as others. Nike has improved its liquidity position in the market with a ratio of 2.4 as compared to 2.1 in 2008. It now holds $2.4 for every dollar of short term obligations to the creditors. The analysis further shows that more than 50% of the assets are help up in the receivables and hence, the company depends on the collections for meeting of the obligations. Compared to the industry, Bloomberg again reflects on the liquidity position of the company as one of the better company’s income (Bloomberg, 2010). The Debt to Equity ratio indicates the strength of the balance sheet rather than the growth and earnings prospects. Nike has reduced its debt ratio from 6% to 5% in 2009. Even though, the company increased the lending but at the same time, it also increases its equity in the market. Nike has always maintained its strength in the balance sheet because of the less leverage. Nike generated $0.05 in addition to a dollar in equity. Industry comparison shows that the company is least risky but it must add on its debt more so that it can generate

Monsanto Issue in Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Monsanto Issue in Europe - Essay Example This article will also discuss the global effects of the use of Monsanto products on humans, other organisms, and the environment. It will also give us some of the precautions that users of Monsanto products should consider before consuming the modified foods. The agricultural modified products in Europe banned due to claims of poisoning individuals. Due to the harmful factors associated with GMOs, Europe has involved its funds in fighting against the spread of such variety in its locality. It has only approved two varieties of GMOs to trade in their states. Varieties of corn and potato are licensed for trade (Wesley, Spital, and Lane 2002, p.3). Due to pressure from anti- GMOs, the government renews its contracts with the Monsanto Company every year to ensure that products introduced in the market are legal. The restrictions on trade of modified varieties hence need to remove such restrictions for the need for agricultural produce got sustain the increasing populations. To increase the market knowledge about the existence of these foods, the Monsanto group can make use of new marketing strategies, which are more likely to be efficient when compared to the old methods of advertising. Some of the new methods may involve active participation of the consumer and the government. The use of the social sites like internet pages may help establish a greater connectivity with the constituents in the market and hence increase the trust by the consumers. Other methods may involve giving samples to customers and giving reward to its consumers. Consumers also need to get approval from the authorities showing how efficient the products may be and assuring its natives of secure commodities. The consumer attitude towards this foods results to the need for the government to protect its citizens from harmful products that may endanger their lives.

Concept of Organisational Misbehaviour: Analysis

Concept of Organisational Misbehaviour: Analysis Organisational Misbehavior Critically evaluate the argument that organisational misbehavior is a ‘normal’ feature of organisational life Introduction The notion of organisational misbehavior can be interpreted in a lot of ways based on different perspectives, different people, shifting situations, and by the changing level of awareness and understanding on the life of an organisation. There is a primary purpose of organisations in the context of fulfilling certain individual goals. Northcraft and Neale (1990, p.5) say that people come together and form organisations because organisations can accomplish things that are beyond the reach of individuals. They come together to accomplish what each individual cannot accomplish alone. The meaning of behavior in organisations according to Northcraft and Neale revolve around managing behavior to take advantage of the performance benefits of groups over individuals. This is where the concept of a good behavior and misbehavior takes shape. Organisational Behavior Organisational behavior is a multidisciplinary definition that illustrates a number of points (Gibson et al, 2000). Some of these points relate directly to the conduct of the organisation in society. First, it indicates that the behavior of people operate at individual, group, or organisational level. This suggests that when trying to study the organisational misbehavior in the perspective of being a normal part of organisational life, it must identify clearly the levels of analysis – individual, group, and the organisation being used. Second, there’s a distinctively humanistic orientation within the organisation behavior. People’s attitudes, perceptions, learning capabilities, and objectives are important to the organisation. They provide the rich mixture for their organisation’s culture and strategies to evolve and prosper. Thirdly, the external environment is seen as having significant impact on the organisational behavior. Finally, there’s also the application orientation which concerns providing useful answers to questions that arise in the context of managing the organisation. Misbehavior is often interpreted to mean ‘bad behavior’ or a deviation from the normal norms and ethics expected of individuals and organisations. To say that organisational behavior also involves other certain kinds of misbehavior still descends to the fact that any type of behavior can be either good or bad depending on the context that it is applied to in real life situations. When this type of behavior exists and eventually prevails in any organisational setup, it would likely grow into a certain stature of normalcy and seep into conventional wisdom. In order to understand why this argument seems to make sense in the framework of an organisation’s life, it is important to first identify the different compositions of an organisation, its objectives, culture, structure, and strategies. The complexities associated with these compositions have made it virtually impossible to model and envision a ‘perfect’ organisation. Organisations have had some bouts with internal and external conflicts in one way or another. Some have mastered the arts of deception and impropriety. It is unrealistic to say that organisational misbehavior is not part of organisational life either. People in the organisation may misbehave and some people may blame the entire organisation. Others may blame specific people (especially managers) when the real shortcoming came from the organisation’s policies. Other groups within the organisation or network may deviate from agreements and norms. The organisational culture may not also be up to the times and the current business strategies may not sit well with government regulation policies and industry norms. If these things do happen (and they happen a lot), it is not viable and healthy to draw the line between laying out unspoken rules in classifying organisational behavior to be good and a bad. People and Human Behavior People make up the internal social system of the organisation (Newstrom and Davis, 1997). This system consists of individuals and groups, and large groups as well as small ones. People are the living, thinking, and feeling beings who work in the organisation to achieve their objectives. An organisational structure is filled up with people who decide and deliver the goods for the organisation. Diversity presents a lot of challenges for management to handle. When people become members of an organisation whether in official, unofficial or informal capacity, they bring with them different educational background, talents, interests, and behavior that they eventually contribute for the success or failure of the organisation. The relationship among individuals and groups in an organisation create expectations for an individual’s behavior (Gibson et al, 2000, p. 7). An individual can be presented here as the organisation itself. These expectations result in certain leadership and foll ower roles that must be performed so that there will be some kind of order and system. Collective expectations can either conform or not to standard behavior. Collective misuse of resources interests, talents, expertise, and management strategies can constitute organisation misbehavior. Punch (1996, p.1) views these misconduct as harmful to the viability of the organisation and constitutes deviance by the organisation. To put it more bluntly, organisational misbehavior eventually boils down to the issue of profits and how it should be maximized. Money has always been a central issue in any organisation and it has often been used to measure the survivability of a business. Organisational goals always take into their mainstream policy the issue of financial and economic stability and prosperity. Punch (1996, p.214) strongly suggested that formal goals of the organisation thus constitute a ‘front’ for the real goals of management which is to provide a money machine for its owners and other insiders. If it is already common and normal for criminals to use any tool or weapon to perpetuate a crime, it would also seem normal for organisations to use the organisation itself to obtain money from ‘victims’ of its misbehavior. The ‘victims’ may actually be the customers or the members themselves. It is a prime example of what is called the â€Å"organisational weapon† – the organisation is for white-collar criminals as the gun or knife is for the common criminals (Wheeler and Rothman, 1982, cited in Punch, 1996). In short, an organisation is set up for the primary purpose of making a substantial amount of money in the form of a profit and improving the quality of life for the individual members of the organisation. Organisations have systems of authority, status, and power, and people in organisations have varying needs for each system. People need money and a sense of fulfillment. People also need power to impose their will to others. People want to attain a certain level of success as measured by their status and standing in the organisation. Taken as a whole, organisations follow certain types of ethical behavior and standards defined along its objectives and future goals. It is also believed that adherence to moral standards on the job can have positive outcomes on the organisation and society by promoting strong ethical behavior in any aspects of life (Mares, 2005). This strong behavior of one organisation can be used as a strong issue against another organisation which is considered to be ‘misbehaving’ just because it was not able to adhere to certain moral standards previously attained. Organisational Structure An organisational structure defines the formal relationship and use of people in organisations. According to Newstrom and Devis (1997), different jobs are required to accomplish all of an organisation’s activities. There are managers, employees, accountants, assemblers, and others who have to be related in some structural way so that their work can be effectively coordinated. How is the structure of the organisation related to the conduct of an organisation? According to Thompson (1997, p.588), structure is the means by which the organisation seeks to achieve its strategic objectives and implement strategies and strategic changes. Assuming that these strategies and changes are concerned with relating the organisation’s resources to its goals, will these resources be used in the proper way acceptable to all in the society? If change is necessary, it is correct to point out that resistance to change can constitute another concept of misbehavior. People confronting changes in their working environments often exhibit dysfunctional behaviors like aggression, projection, and avoidance (Hirschheim, 1995 p. 160). These types of behavioral patterns affect the overall behavior of the organisation. Another thing to consider in the organisational structure is the way decision making is delegated and observed. Thompson described the extent by which a decentralized and centralized setup of management decision making is vital in adapting to strategic change. In a centralized setup, organisational misbehavior is usually highlighted at the top management level because only a handful of people are empowered to do the decision making. A decentralized setup allows decisions to be made by most people who must implement change and usually allows the organisation a more collective approach to making decisions based on what is morally and ethically correct. This statement however, does not imply that a decentralized structure eliminates instances of misbehavior. It only lessens the probability. On the other hand, a decentralized setup could empower smaller groups within the organisation to abuse their power and open the possibility of misbehavior on a smaller scale. According to Tsahuridu, specialization and division of work that occurs in organizations may make people in organizations unable to see the illegality and immorality of certain actions. Each action is a part of a chain of actions, and even though each individual act may be legitimate and moral, all the actions linked together may constitute an illegal or immoral activity, which each individual participant may be ignorant of. Organisational Objectives and Culture Organisations must have objectives in order to exist. Objectives are always centered on what is basically ‘good’ for the organisation, whether the resulting action or consequences is ‘bad’. How is organisational objectives tied to organisational behavior? Profit and growth are means to other ends rather than objectives in themselves (Acoff, 1986, cited in Thompson, 1997). There is then a question of whether profit is the ultimate objective of profit seeking business organisations or whether it is merely a means to other ends, which themselves constitute the real objectives (Thompson, 1997, p.153). Organisational behavior can be better understood by assuming whether the real goal of the organisation is to maximize profit or to provide them with a good quality of life and better standard of living. Harris and Hartman (2002, p. 75) said that an organisation’s culture consists of the values, norms, and attitudes of the people who make up the organisation. Values show what is important; norms reveal expected behavior; attitudes show the mind-set of individuals. Organisational culture therefore tells people what is important in the organisation, how to behave, and how to see things. Culture is a part of organisational life that influences the behavior, attitudes, and overall effectiveness of members (Gibson et al, 2000). Managers are usually in the forefront of formulating organisational strategies and policies. Johnson and Scholes (1997, p.79-80) argued that in formulating policies, managers should regard experience (good or bad) as constraints on developments. They say that in order to develop the organisation to cope with today’s changing environments, they need to challenge the people around them and experiment with their different ideas and conflicting views in a pluralistic approach. The job of top management therefore is to create this sort of organisation by building teams that can work in such ways through the development of the everyday behavior and culture of the organisation. All of the issues related to the organisation in general have a tendency to influence and affect the behavior of the organisation. While it is safe to assume that the notion of misbehavior in the organisation tends to focus on the ‘wrong’ or ‘negative’ side of the organisation, it is preferred that misbehavior should be ‘corrected’ and dealt with by focusing on how to manage and institute reforms in the different aspects of the organisation. This is a tall and complex order. Organisational behavior is not only influenced by the different factors previously mentioned. Management policies have a tendency to adapt to changing situations in their environments. Some organisations’ strategies may take advantage of ‘weak’ government policies and regulations and find loopholes with which they can misbehave without being noticed. Other organisations’ strategies tend to focus on covering up unethical practices with good and conv incing arguments that their actions go against standard practices but at the same time, benefit a large segment of society. Punch (1996, p.1) described the behavior of today’s organisations as problematic and worrying. He reasons out that different kinds of organisational misbehavior are often caused by managers ‘lending’ themselves to deviant activities and the inability of government, business, and regulatory agencies to control effectively such misbehavior. He explains that this was largely because the subjects of business crime and corporate deviance have been sadly neglected by criminologists and crime-fighting bodies in favor of other areas such as street crimes, low-level law enforcement, and the prison system. Almost everyday, new types of organisation misbehavior are being uncovered and brought out into the open. As these corporate scandals and other forms of financial misconduct often perpetuated by top level management are exposed, more and more sophisticated strategies and techniques are slowly being uncovered. It is quite interesting to know that one kind of misbehavior can be linked to another form of misbehavior in another corporate partner within the network of organisations. Other sets of misbehavior can involve almost all levels of the organisational hierarchy. The realities faced by an organisation are different from others. Each organisation has an identity, an objective, a strategic plan, and differing sets of policies and regulations. Harris and Hartman (2002, p. 97) said this is because the underlying premise in the ideal culture is that the formal organisation’s norms and values are to be consistent with those of the various individuals and groups within the organisation. They say that the norms and values of individuals and groups of the organisation are hostile to formal organisational goals. This is especially true to members of top-level management and the rank and file members. Their hidden values may contradict the official policies of the organisation. Sometimes, the organisation may not value the potential contribution of its members. The need to create competitive advantage for profit and growth without the proper ethical system in place can lead to drastic steps and ethically questionable decisions and actions. Some m embers of the organisation may feel the need to make reforms while others may think taking radical steps will eventually spell success. Discontentment and trouble may brew over different ‘signals’ and messages that the inner structure of the organisation send out to the outside world. It is therefore evident that culture can become very counterproductive and the basis of confidence, cooperation, and adherence to standard norms and behavior can be damaging to the overall behavior of the organisation. This is the start of the decay of organisational values and norms and provides a fertile ground for breeding misconduct and misbehavior in any front of the organisation. Conclusions Misbehavior is a normal part of an organisation’s life. It is not a question of whether it exists or not. It tends to become an issue when organisations tolerate and do nothing to correct these deviances from normal behavior and when organisations formulate policies that sheer away from ethical standards that govern them. Why is it that organisational misbehaviors tend to exist even in model companies and organisations recognized for their professional excellence? There are different ways of understanding organisational misbehavior in the context of whether it is normal or not in an organisational life. If we try to look closely at the term ‘normal’ and ‘misbehavior,’ there are two things which would come into mind. First, nothing is perfect and it is perfectly normal for people to commit mistakes, either willingly or unwillingly. People can always create rules and policies to counter certain misconduct. Organisations can always innovate and deviate from these rules in order to attain their goals. In these instances, there is no such thing as a perfect law governing businesses and there is also no such thing as a perfect business strategy. In normal instances, mistakes are part of the learning process. As this cycle continues today, organisational misbehavior has already come to the point where people have already considered it part and parcel of their everyday life. It is part of the reality of life that has something to do with existence and how mankind adapts to ongoing changes. The only thing that people consider to be an issue in organisation misbehavior is the level or degree of how it affects society. Second, in order to survive, some organisations have to take the risk, whether this will put them in the burner for good or elevate their status in the business community. These risks are normally present in their business strategies, structure, objectives, and culture. They can follow the business rules by the book and end up earning nothing or they may deviate from certain rules and norms and reap profits. Again, it is normal for organisations to take risks and reap the benefits. All of the characteristics of an organisation are linked to one another to form their own identity and behavior. People are in a social structure within the organisation and are empowered to make good or bad decisions. The structure of the organisation limits or expands the power to make decisions. Bibliography Books Gibson, James et al. (2000).Organizations: Behavior, Structure, Processes. 3rd edition. McGraw-Hill, Manila. Harris, J and Hartman, S. (2002). Organizational Behavior. Haworth Press. New York. Hirschheim, R.A. (1995). Office Automation: A Social and Organizational Perspective. John Wiley. Oxford Johnson, Gerry and Scholes, Kevan. (1997). Exploring Corporate Strategy.Prentice Hall. UK Newstrom, John and Davis, Keith. (1997) Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work. McGraw-Hill. Northcraft, Gregory and Neale, Margaret.(1990).Organizational Behavior:A Management Challenge. Dryden Press, Florida. Punch, Maurice. (1996). Dirty Business: Exploring Corporate Misconduct. SAGE Publications, London. Thompson, John (1997).Strategic Management: Awareness and Change. 3rd Edition.International Thompson Business Press.Boston Journal Article Mares, Micheal (2005), â€Å"The Importance of Business Ethics†,Retrieved last February 26, 2005 from http://www.webcpa.com Tsuahurido, Eva, â€Å"Ethics and Integrity: What Australian Organizations Seek and Offer in Recruitment Advertisements†,Retrieved: March 3, 2005 from http://www.pamij.com/7_4/v7n4_tsahuridu.html

My Teaching Philosophy :: Education

My Teaching Philosophy Being an effective teacher is very important to me. I have had many teachers that I will never choose to model, but I also have those who were so wonderful that I will always hope to become like them. Every educator I have had has affected my life in some way and helped me to develop my ever changing philosophy of education. As I begin my journey into the world of art education, I will take all of my experiences with me as learning tools for the future to help me become an effective teacher. I will achieve my goal of becoming an effective teacher and positive role model by developing my views on the nature of students, the nature of knowledge, the purpose of a public education, curriculum and plans for my professional development. Taking a look at my views on the nature of students, I have come to realize many things. Children are born with a natural curiosity. They are excited by discovering new things. Every child is a blank canvas that is begging to be painted upon, desiring to be shown their world. However, a child’s learning ability relies on factors than a basic human instinct to learn. These two factors are heredity and environment. I believe in multiple intelligences and there is no standard to say one child is more intelligent than another, but due to genetics, some children naturally learn more quickly than others. This has been evident in my own life. An example is the students I observed for Education 210 were divided into groups according to their math abilities. This division was not to separate smart from unintelligent students, but to allow the students to learn at a level best for them. Each child learns at a different rate; some just catch on faster than others. I believe that environment has a much stronger effect on a students learning ability than heredity does. The child who is encouraged to learn is much more likely to succeed than one who is not encouraged.

Explain the Rationale for the Existence of Supplier Induced Demand in Health Care

EXPLAIN THE RATIONALE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF SUPPLIER INDUCED DEMAND IN HEALTH CARE AND EXPLORE THE EXTENT TO WHICH EMPIRICAL WORK HAS BEEN ABLE TO ESTABLISH ITS EXISTENCE Introduction: In the traditional market, consumers decide how much to consume and suppliers decide how much to supply and prices coordinate the decisions. For perfect competition it is assumed inter alia that there is: perfect information so that individuals are fully informed about prices, qualities etc; a lot of buyers and sellers; no single buyer or seller that has influence on the price. But health care market falls short of the perfect market paradigm as it is dogged by many phenomena that cause it to fail (Arrow 1963). One such phenomenon is supplier-induced demand (SID), whereby health care providers, usually physicians, exploit their information advantage over patients in order to induce patients to utilize more healthcare services than they would if they were accurately informed. The phenomenon of SID tends to take an important place within social debates because it has an impact on health care expenditures, health status and the allocation of income between patients and physicians (Labelle et al 1994). Therefore, it has attracted considerable attention in the health economics literature since Roemer (1961), who observed a positive correlation between the number of hospital beds available and their use leading to the observation, ‘a bed built is a bed filled’, sometimes referred to as Roemer’s Law. Although a variety of empirical tests of SID have been reported in literature, researchers disagree on the definition of and tests for SID. The validity of the results from the tests is controversial. Therefore there is no consensus on the development and implementation of public policy based on these results (Labelle et al 1994, p349). Indeed, Doessel (1995, p. 58) observed that this area of research can be described as a theoretical and empirical quagmire. After defining the terms, this essay is going to explore and explain the theoretical rationale, the empirical evidence and policy implications for the existence of SID. The argument will be summed up in the conclusion. Health Care Market and SID A market is a shorthand expression for the process by which households’ decisions about consumption of alternative goods, firms’ decisions about what and how to produce, and workers’ decisions about how much and for whom to work are all reconciled by adjustment of prices. Health care comprises services of health care professionals, which are addressed at health promotion, prevention of illnesses and injury, monitoring of health, maintenance of health, and treatment of disease, disorders, and injuries in order to obtain cure or, failing that, optimum comfort and function (quality of life) (Worldbank website). In health care market there is: a few buyers and sellers; asymmetry of information therefore violation of consumer sovereignty; allocation of resources by physicians and not price mechanism etc. Therefore patients face a dilemma in translating their desire for good health into a demand for medical care. This requires both information and medical knowledge, which they usually do not have. There is no definitive and widely accepted definition of SID. In literature, the definitions range from positive and value free (Fuchs 1978) to normative with negative connotations (Folland et al 2001, p. 04). McGuire (2000, p504) says that SID ‘exists when the physician influences a patient’s demand for care against the physician’s interpretation of the best interest of the patient’. Labelle et al (1994, p. 363) point out the need to incorporate in the definition of SID both the effectiveness of the agency relationship and the effectiveness of the induced services. This me ans that inducement can give rise to ‘good’ or ‘bad’ outcomes for patients depending on its clinical effectiveness, e. g. f a doctor persuades a patient to undertake more treatment where the patient would otherwise have opted for a less than clinically effective package of care. Rationale for the existence of SID: The theoretical analysis of SID is based upon the assumption that doctors maximise their utility subject to income and inducement. Dranove (1988, p 281) argues that under certain conditions the physician will have an incentive to recommend treatments whose costs outweigh their medical benefits. SID involves a shift of the demand curve, such that as supply ncreases, demand also increases (Fig. 1). In practice the exact demand curves themselves cannot be measured. Only the equilibrium points (A, B, C and D) of the overall market can be observed. If the supply of doctors increases from Q1 to Q2 (Fig. 1a), then the fee payable decreases from P1 to P2. But if SID exists (Fig. 1b), as the number of doctors increases from Q1 to Q2 the doctor would keep shifting the demand curve from D through to D3 in order to maintain or increase income. Fig. 1: Graphical representation of competing hypotheses The potential for SID to arise is shaped but not guaranteed by a number of characteristics of the health care market including: information gaps and asymmetries which encourage patients to seek medical advice and delegate decision-making to doctors; potential weaknesses in the agency relationship and the impact of clinical uncertainty on the decision making processes of doctors. Systems for financing, organising and paying for medical services also influence doctor and patient behaviour. The asymmetry of information between user and provider is the most fundamental peculiarity of health care, and the source of the most serious failures of market processes during resource allocation. Informational asymmetries may also invalidate the assumption of â€Å"consumer sovereignty† which underlies evaluative policy assessment in much of economics. Patients will often be relatively poorly informed compared with their doctor about their condition, treatment options, expected outcomes and likely costs. Unlike other professional services, information asymmetry is most pronounced in health care markets. Many researchers have tested the hypothesis that more knowledgeable patients should be resistant to SID and that they should therefore make less use of medical care. Surprisingly these studies have consistently found that knowledgeable patients frequently use more care [Bunker and Brown (1974); Hay and Leahy (1982) and Kenkel (1990)]. The institutional responses to information asymmetry are professionalisation, self-regulation, and the development of an agency relation between individual transactors and between the professions and society collectively. Agency relationship is formed whenever a principal (patient) delegates decision-making authority to another party, the agent (doctor). Ill-informed consumers are protected, by provider advice, from consumption of unnecessary or harmful services (inappropriate or poor quality) and also from failure to consume needed services. If this agency relationship were perfect, doctor would take on entirely the patient’s point of view and act as if he/she were the patient. All consumption choices made for the patient by the provider would be made so as to maximize the patient’s (and ultimately society’s) utility function. Health care providers do not always act as perfect agents for their patients. Their recommendations are sometimes influenced by self-interest, or the interest of the organization for which they work. This imperfect agency arises because the doctor (agent) performs a dual role — the same person who provides advice about a treatment usually provides and receives payment for that treatment. Hence, demand is no longer independent of supply; the agent can shift the demand curve to any position (Fig. 1b). The demand curve (Figure 1a), assumes that independent consumers of care are not directly influenced by suppliers in their decisions to use care, or alternatively that if such direct influence exists, its level is determined external to the market process itself. On the other hand, it has been shown that in spite of the presumed physician influence over the patient, the physician cannot predict the level of patient compliance (Goldberg et al 1998). Therefore it is doubtful how much influence the physician wields over the patient when it comes to SID. Traditionally doctors’ behaviour is controlled by a professional code- â€Å"Hippocratic oath†. Financial self-interest on the part of the physicians is only one of the causes of imperfect agency. Another very important cause is the failure of physicians to understand or accept patients’ preferences regarding the impact of health status on utility and provide this information to the patient (Labelle et al 1994). The target income theory posits that as the number of physicians has increased, they have induced additional demand to get a particular income, e. g. y increasing the volume and variety of tests and procedures. This is in contrast with conventional economics where increasing supply lowers the price for the consumer. The target income is determined by the local income distribution (Rizzo and Blumenthal, 1996). A professional service like Health care is inherently heterogeneous and nonretradable. A monopolistic competitor selling a nonretradable service set s a quantity to maximize profit and unless there is some cost to inducement, a physician or dental practitioner pursuing net income would induce demand to an infinite extent (Gaynor 1994). However, physicians prefer not to induce demand and only do so if they are compensated by adequate gains in income. The utility maximisation of physicians is limited by disutility of discretion, i. e. either the physician’s internal conscience (Evans 1974; Mcguire and Pauly 1991) or as a result of a reputation process by which doctors who excessively induce demand are punished through future reductions in true patient demand (Dranove 1988). SID can arise when clinical uncertainty causes provision of ‘unnecessary’ or ‘wasteful’ medical services even if doctors act in the perceived interests of their patients. If a doctor inadvertently underestimates a patient’s ability to pay for the cost of medical procedures, the level of care recommended might exceed that which the patient would have nominated. However, some analysts maintain that doctors’ responses to clinical uncertainty can give rise to SID fully consistent with the patient’s interests rather than self-interest (Richardson and Peacock 1999, p. 9) e. g. use of diagnostics in excess of ‘standard’ levels in the event of diagnostic uncertainty. Institutional and regulatory arrangements influence how medical markets work. They create incentives or disincentives for doctors (and patients) to behave in ways that could engender SID. For example, the cost-bearing and financing aspects of the doctor’s service are largely borne by third parties (i. e. governments and private insurers). As a consequence, typically neither the consumer nor the provider carefully considers the price or cost of the service supplied. This can influence the extent and form of SID. Other arrangements that can promote SID include: the system of payment for doctors (i. e. ee-for-service, capitation or salaried); the effect of medical indemnity arrangements on the adoption of ‘defensive medical practices’ by doctors; and the form of monitoring of doctor treatment practices. The link between physicians and pharmaceutical companies can also promote SID. Big pharmaceutical companies approach physicians and â€Å"ask† them to prescribe specific drugs to patients in exchange for a reward, such as free holidays. For example, in 2002 drug firms spent nearly $9. 4 billion on marketing to American doctors (The Economist 15th Feb. 2003). As a result, physicians are illing to prescribe extra medicines that are unnecessary and provide no benefit to the patient. Moreover, these drugs favoured by the physicians and produced by big companies might be more expensive than others with equivalent effectiveness However, one major criticism of the SID model is that it focuses on only one price– the nominal fee level–while ignoring access costs. If increased supply reduces travel time and office waits, the total cost of care has fallen even if fees remain constant. Secondly, the SID theory carries an implicit assumption that the extra services are unnecessary. An alternative view is that few situations in medicine are clear-cut and a broad range of indications is consistent with generally acceptable practice. Empirical evidence of SID Several indirect hypotheses and empirical tests have been carried out but due to the lack of a rigorous theoretical model and the presence of econometric and measurement problems, results concerning the existence of SID still remain controversial and inconclusive. SID is not easy to measure and interpret because of the difficulty of separating out induced from un-induced demand, supply changes from demand changes and SID from other factors influencing demand (e. . income, insurance coverage, health status). However, there is clear evidence that physicians who are paid on fee-for-service basis can adjust the number of services in response to limitations on the levels of fees (Rice, 1983), but such responses are not automatic and health economists don't have a good understanding of what contextual factors are i mportant in predicting such responses. Nevertheless, the potential for such responses means that inducement is an important factor to consider in policy development. To test for SID early studies looked at changes in utilisation compared to increases in physician/population ratio. The hypothesis underlying the tests is that, in response to an increase in the doctor/population ratio (i. e. competition), doctors will seek to induce demand or raise their fees so as to maintain their incomes. Cromwell and Mitchell (1986) demonstrated a significant demand inducement for surgical procedures with overall rates of surgery increase by about 0. 08% for each 1% increase in surgeon supply. Rice’s (1984) found that 10% decline in physician reimbursement led to a 6. 1% increase in intensity of medical services and a 2. 7% increase in intensity in surgical services. However, a similar study found mixed responses to fee changes across procedures (Labelle et al 1990). Another technique used for testing SID is to examine the effect of changes in doctor supply on doctor compared with patient initiated visits. Assumption here is that if SID exists, increases in doctor numbers would lead to an increase in doctor-initiated visits (that is, an income maintenance response test). Tussing and Wojtowycz (1986), using this technique, found that areas with more GPs were associated with much larger proportion of return visits arranged by doctor, i. e. a strong relationship to support SID. On the other hand, doing a similar experiment, Rossiter and Wilensky (1983) found only very small inducement effect. This approach to investigating the presence of SID effects (increasing physicians and increasing utilisation) fell somewhat out of favour when Dranove and Wehner (1994) found that, according to the standard methodology among SID theorists, an increase in the number of physicians resulted in an increase in childbirths. Recent studies have looked at physician behaviour in response to fee reduction, e. g. Yip (1998) found that physicians compensate for income losses due to public price reduction by increasing volume. Medicare fee cuts lead to increased amounts of heart surgery enabling physicians to recoup 70% of lost revenue. Gruber and Owings (1996) found that a 13% reduction in fertility rate in the US in 1970-1982 led to an increase in caesarean sections and reduction in the less profitable vaginal births. Between 1971-1981, the number of GPs per capita in Winnipeg, Canada increased by 56%. Remarkably, however, real gross income per physician remained virtually unchanged during the period. GPs simply increased the number of contacts with existing patients – so much so that their average revenue actually increased (Roch et al 1985). On the other hand, in Norway, Grytten and Sorensen (2001) compared a salaried group of physicians with another one that was compensated by fee for service. Neither of the two groups of physicians increased their output as a response to an increase in physician density. In UK, dentists are paid on a fixed fee-for-service basis. Supplier income can only be increased by increasing utilisation. Therefore, testing for the existence of SID in dentistry has involved looking for a positive correlation between dentist density and utilisation of dental care. Birch (1988) concluded that a positive correlation between the number of dentists per capita and the treatment content per visit provides sufficient (but not necessary) evidence for the existence of SID, in a fee-regulated market environment. Other researchers [Manning and Phelps (1979); Grytten et al (1990)]  found similar correlations. Sintonen and Maljanen (1995) found that individual and general inducement appeared to have considerable effect on utilisation, but no systematic connection with supply conditions (dentist/population ratio). This was interpreted to indicate that some dentists, regardless of the market situation, have adopted individual inducement. However, there are alternative explanations for a positive correlation between dentist density and the utilisation of medical services: permanent access demand on the market for medical services due to price regulation; demand decisions by rational patients (the opening of new practices, particularly in rural areas, reduces the average time and transport costs, and the average time spent in the waiting room also falls); reversed causality where physicians set up shop in high demand regions (Zweifel 1981 p216). Policy Implications of SID: SID is of great importance to the policy maker because it threatens the basic market paradigm and severely undermines economic recommendations about market policy. There are differing interpretations of policy significance of SID. According to Carlsen and Grytten (2000), policy makers can compute the socially optimal density of physicians without knowledge of SID. Yet most analysts look at SID from the perspective of manpower and reimbursement policy for purposes of cost containment. They do not consider its contribution to the health status of patients. The impact of SID on equity, distributional issues and the net social benefits is usually ignored (Labelle et al 1994). The issue of SID raises another major controversy of whether adequate control over resource allocation to and within healthcare is best achieved through the demand side or through regulatory controls on the supply side (Reinhardt 1989, p. 339). Indeed, due to problems with moral hazard and SID, insurers use demand-side incentives (e. g. co-insurance and deductibles), as well as supply-side incentives aimed at providers (e. g. aying physicians through salary or capitation). An example of policy implications of SID to manpower planning is when a government wishes to attract physicians to rural areas, and it does so by paying rural doctors more than those in urban areas. This could precipitate SID within urban practices, hence nullifying the government’s intention. Direct regulation of the supply of physicians—by mandating that all new graduates spend a c ertain number of years in rural communities, for example —might have some advantages, although this may well affect the number and quality of medical students. For facility planning purposes, Roemer’s Law has the fundamental implication that there is no external â€Å"demand† standard, based on observed utilisation, from which â€Å"needed† levels can be inferred. Providers will themselves determine use on the basis of available capacity inter alia. SID means increased demand by patients, which raises costs of care. If it exists, then the policy maker may wish to provide for control of supplier behaviour by mandating evidence-based medicine: cost-effectiveness evaluation of new interventions, medical audits etc, all of which encroach on clinical freedom. Use of provider payment mechanisms like salaries for doctors, global budgets, and case payments could help. However, Ferguson (2002) argues that overall, demand curve for medical care slopes downward, and that supplier-induced demand is overrated as a policy concern. Conclusion: This essay has explained the rationale for the existence of SID and has explored its policy implications and empirical evidence of its existence. There is arguably sufficient evidence to accept that SID can occur. Even Hippocrates himself realised that as in all things mercenary (in health care it is â€Å"fee-for-service†) there is no such thing as pure altruism. Indeed, the Hippocratic oath is an admission to the potential for pecuniary self-interest and abuse of sacred trust. Imperfect agency and clinical uncertainty are the main causes of SID. If SID is pervasive, there could be a variety of economy-wide impacts, e. g. it could increase health expenditure without a commensurate improvement in health outcomes. Therefore, it has important implications for the health policy process. Strong support for SID hypothesis was found in the UK dentistry. Otherwise, there is no robust evidence on the likely magnitude of SID. Although inconclusive, most studies suggest that where SID arises, it is small both in absolute terms and relative to other influences. However, it is still worth considering SID-attenuating arrangements say in the case of physician reimbursement policy. As there are a number of fundamental and seemingly irresolvable methodological and data problems associated with trying to assess SID, definitive evidence of its existence most likely will remain illusive. References: 1. Arrow, K. J. (1963). Uncertainty and the Welfare Economics of Medical Care. American Economic Review 53: 941-973. 2. Birch, S. (1988). The identification of supplier-inducement in a fixed price system of health care provision: The case of dentistry in the United Kingdom. Journal of Health Economics. 7:129–150. 3. Bunker, J. P. and Brown, B. W. (1974). The physician patient as an informed consumer of surgical services. New England Journal of Medicine 290: 1051-1055 4. Carlsen, F. and Grytten, J. (2000). Consumer satisfaction and supplier induced demand. Journal of Health Economics 19:731-753 5. Cromwell, J. and Mitchell J. (1986). Physician-Induced Demand for Surgery. Journal of Health Economics 5: 293-313. 6. Doessel, D. P. (1995). Commentary. In Harris, A. (ed), Economics and Health: 1994, Proceedings of the Sixteenth Australian Conference of Health Economists, School of Health Services Management, University of New South Wales, NSW. 7. Dranove, D. (1988). Demand inducement and the physician/patient relationship. Economic Inquiry 26:281-298 8. Dranove, D. and P. Wehner (1994): Physician-induced demand for childbirths Journal of Health Economics 13:61-73 9. Evans, R. G. (1974). Supplier induced demand; some empirical evidence & implications. In Perlman, M. (ed). The economics of health & medical care. London: Macmillan 10. Ferguson, B. S. (2002). Issues in the demand for medical care: can consumers and doctors be trusted to make the right choices? AIMS Health Care Reform Background Paper #5. Halifax: AIMS http://www. aims. ca/Publications/Demand/demand. pdf (accessed: 26th April 2004). 11. Folland, S. , Goodman, A. and Stano, M. (2001). The Economics of Health and Health Care. 3rd ed, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Prentice Hall 12. Fuchs, V. (1978). The supply of surgeons and the demand for operations. Journal of Human Resources, 13(supplement): 35–56. 13. Gaynor, M. (1994). Issues in the Industrial Organization of the Market for Physician Services. The Journal of Economics and Management Strategy 3(1): 211-255. 14. Goldberg, A. I. Cohen, G. and Rubin, A-H E. (1998). Physician Assessments of Patient Compliance with Medical Treatment. Social Science and Medicine 47(11): 1873-6) 15. Gruber, J. and Owings, M. (1996). Physician financial incentives and caesarean section delivery, RAND Journal of Economics 27(1): 99-123. 6. Grytten, J. and Sorensen, R. (2001). Type of contract and supplier-induced demand for primary physicians in Norway. Journal of Health Economics 20: 379-393. 17. Grytten, J. , Holst, D. and Laakf, P. (1990). Supplier Inducement: Its Effect on Dental Services in Norway; Journal of Health Economics 9: 483-491 18. Hay, J. and Leahy, M. (1982): Physician-induced demand: An empirical analysis of the consumer info rmation gap. Journal of Health Economics 1: 231-244. 19. Kenkel, D. (1990): Consumer health information and the demand for medical care. Review of Economics and Statistics 52: 587-595 20. Labelle, R. , Hurley, J. and Rice, T. (1990). Financial Incentives and Medical Practice: Evidence from Ontario on the Effect of Changes in Physician Fees on Medical Care Utilisation, Working Paper 90-4 Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis, MacMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario 21. Labelle, R. , Stoddart, G. and Rice, T. (1994), A Re-examination of the Meaning and Importance of Supplier-Induced Demand. Journal of Health Economics 13(3): 347-368. 22. Manning, W. G. , Jr. and Phelps, C. E. (1979). The demand for dental care. Bell Journal of Economics 10(2): 503–525. 23. McGuire, T. (2000 chapter 9). Physician agency. In Culyer, A. J. and Newhouse, J. P. (eds). Handbook of Health Economics, 1A, Elsevier: North Holland. 24. McGuire, T. G. , and Pauly, M. V. (1991). Physician Response to Fee Changes with Multiple Payers. Journal of Health Economics 10: 385-410. 25. Reinhardt, U. (1989). Economists in health care: saviours, or elephants in a porcelain shop? American Economic Review 79: 337-342. 26. Rice, T. (1983). The Impact of Changing Medicare Reimbursement Rates on Physician-induced Demand. Medical Care. 21(8): 803-815. 27. Rice, T. (1984). Physician-induced demand: New evidence from the Medicare program. Advances in Health Economics and Health Services Research 6:129-160 28. Richardson, J. and Peacock, S. (1999). Supplier-induced demand reconsidered. Working Paper 81, CHPE, Monash University. http://chpe. buseco. monash. edu. au/pubs/wp81. pdf (accessed: 27th April 2004). 29. Rizzo, J. A. and Blumenthal, D. A. (1996). Is the Target-Income Hypothesis an Economic Heresy? Medical Care Research and Review 53(3): 243–266. 30. Roch, D. Evans, R. G. and Pascoe, D. (1985). Manitoba and Medicare: 1971 to Present. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Manitoba Health. 31. Roemer, M. I. (1961). Bed supply and hospital utilisation: A national experiment, Hospitals. Journal of American Health Affairs 35:988–993 32. Rossiter, L. and Wilensky, G. , (1983). The Relative Importance of Physician-Induced Demand for Medical Care. Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly 61(2): 252-277. 33. Sintonen, H . and Maljanen, T. (1995). Explaining the Utilisation of Dental Care: Experiences from the Finnish Dental Market. Health Economics 4(6): 453-466. 34. Tussing, A. D. and Wojtowycz, M. (1986). Physician-induced Demand by Irish General Practitioners’. Economic and Social Review 14(3): 225-247 35. Worldbank website: http://www1. worldbank. org/hnp/hsd/HEGlossary. asp (accessed: 27th April 2004). 36. Yip, W. (1998). Physician Responses to Medical Fee Reductions: Changes in the Volume and Intensity of Supply of Coronary, Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) Surgeries in the Medicare and Private Sectors, Journal of Health Economics 17(6): 675-699 37. Zweifel, P. (1981 p245-267). Supplier Induced Demand in a Model of Physician Behaviour. In van der Gaag, J. and Perlman, M. (eds), Health, Economics and Health Economics. Amsterdam: North-Holland ———————– P- fees for ServiceQ- supply of doctors S- supply curve of servicesD- demand curve for services P2 P1 Q1 Q2 D C A S1 S P3 P1 P2 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 D D2 D1 D3 S1 S B (a) No SID(b) With SID D

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buy custom Small Team and Group Paper essay Modern work environment incorporates a great use of team work because of the higher level of effectiveness in performance that team work offers to the organisation compared with separate individual contributions. Team work has been given immense importance in research studies, such as by Tuckman in 1965 relating to the stages of team development and work. It is crucial to set targets of the team, organise teams, assign roles and measure performance of the team effort. The main reason behind using team work in organisations is to benefit from the different perspectives and insights that each member contributes to achieve the targets but working in a team is not an easy task at first. Business schools for this reason prepare their students to work in teams and learn to work out differences and make the best out of each others strengths. Working in teams has allowed our groups to achieve the target we were given quite effectively and successfully and we have found that working in a team is nothing like working individually on a project. But most useful thing that has come out of working in a team is to get a hint of how formal group work takes place in organisations which we all will be soon taking part in. Our team progressed which comprised of 5 members through the five stages of team development based on the team development theory of Tukman. The first stage of forming began as the group first assembled and sat down to discuss the presentation assigned. The topic and related information that each member had about it was jotted down. Each member was asked to self-evaluate themselves relating to the grasp of concepts and based on the strengths of each, the roles were assigned informally and tasks were distributed. The group members were asked to further explore the topic and bring back to the next meeting any disagreement or contribution they have. The next meeting was much more heated with several disagreements as members discovered some new ideas and strengths for which they required separate tasks to be assigned to them. It was then understood that in order to settle down the disagreements a strong leadership was required and the one with the most effective communication skills and leadership skills, based on previous personal experience in the school, one of the members was chosen to be leader. This was the second stage : storming, where arguments were settled. The leader allowed the group members to choose the sub topics themselvs, and a coordinator was chosen to transfer information and bridge all gaps among the group members and using minimum authority and avoiding strict control the members were requested to transform their ideas into writing and paper to bring to the next meeting. In the next meeting, the leader evaluated each members work, in the form of drafts of the subtopics of the presentation. He evaluated the actual strengths and weaknesses of each member based on their work. The member were clearly communicated the evaluation and based on the analysis of the drafts prepared by each member, they were assigned new tasks, that is the subtopics that they were found to be better at. This resolved all conflicts and the team came into harmony. This was the start of the third stage: norming. By the end of this meeting, the leader gave each member the sources to make use of for gathering the information and requested each to use others if necessary and complete the content required for the presentation. This marked the start of the fourth stage: performing. Members were asked to communicate with the coordinator, with each other and the leader at all times so as to help each other out, when needed. The leader communicated by now that these two essential components are to be kept intact and should be followed. Communication allowed social learning to take form among the members. During the perfuming stage, the members benefited from communities of practice theory of learning. Lastly, it requires a practice. The practice implies the performance to achieve the goals of the domain. This theory was largely depicted practically when the team started to function. The members communicated to each other, sought help from others whom they thought knew about something they didnt and had access to a source they required to use for preparing their part. Some people had difficulty using powerpoint, which was settled by others who had expertise in that area. This allowed social learning to cultivate among all members. 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When we began to prepare the report, the indiv idual reflections came in great use in producing a plagiarism free report and citation was also easily conducted. Being part of group work at three different areas, the group learned the successful traits of a leader, in terms of getting work done effectively from people to meet the deadline. The leaders job is not just to get the work done but to inspire the subordinates to do a work that is worth appreciating. Also, the team learned that through group work the importance of empowerment, and how well workers can work under decision making power vested on their hands and how well it eventually works out for the leader himself in the end. As the team progressed through stages namely: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning, a different form of group based learning and motivation took place which contributed towards the overall performance and accomplishment of the target assigned to the group. 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How to Answer These 5 Common (but tough) Interview Questions

How to Answer These 5 Common (but tough) Interview Questions Even the best job interviews sometimes have deer-in-headlight moments†¦the times when you get a question you can’t answer with a breezy, offhand response. While your brain reaches for a response that sounds coherent and hire-worthy, the pause can feel like an eternity. If you go into the interview extra-prepared to field some common questions, you can avoid that and come off as the smooth operator you know you can be. Also don’t forget to prepare for these hardest interview questions. You never know when you might get hit with these tough questions.1. â€Å"Tell me a little bit about yourself.†This is not an invitation to talk about your childhood hopes and dreams (unless you’re interviewing to be a cowboy astronaut) or a request to detail your square-dancing hobby. Remember what you’re there to talk about: you as the ideal candidate for this particular job. This question is a chance to give a quick outline of the elements of your education and career background that make you a super fit for this position.2. â€Å"What are your strengths?†Again, you need to target your response to the job for which you’re interviewing, but this one has the added sandtrap of testing your humility. If your answer makes you seem like a combination of Steve Jobs and Mother Theresa, dial it back a bit.Before your interview, come up with three qualities that make you look like a strong candidate for the role. Good answers: â€Å"I’m extremely organized;† â€Å"I work very well in a team-oriented environment;† or â€Å"I have a long track record of turning leads into sales.† Bad answers: â€Å"I’m one of the smartest people I know† or â€Å"I win at any cost.†3. â€Å"What are your weaknesses?†Similar to #2, this is a bit of a trap. The interviewer is not your therapist/clergyperson. Don’t confess to lifting office supplies from your last job or talk about your weakness for buying Precious Moments figurines from Amazon. Make sure that your response contains a little bit of spin (but not too much- again, the humility thing comes into play here).For example: a stated weakness could be that you try to take on everything at once. But as soon as you say that, acknowledge that you know the importance of delegating projects throughout the team and working together toward a common goal, so you will always strive to make that balance of your own hard work and looping other people in. Whatever you respond, be sure to flip the script and finish up with how it makes you a stronger candidate and how you know you can turn that into a productive quality for this position.4. â€Å"Why did you leave your last job?†Depending on how things went at your old place, you might be sorely tempted to be totally honest. However: bite your tongue. You will gain nothing from trash-talking your former colleagues and bosses- and things could get awkward very fast if your interviewer knows people at your last company. Instead, be as honest as you can while spinning it a little to emphasize your current opportunity: â€Å"I felt I’d grown as much as I could in my last role, and I think this job is a logical next step for me.†If you were fired from your last job, this makes things trickier, but not a lost cause. Never lie about it (as this is easily checked by the interviewer), but rather talk about the reasons your last job was not a good fit for your goals or what you learned from the difficult situation.5. â€Å"Aren’t you overqualified for this job?†In a complicated economy, sometimes we find ourselves applying for jobs that might be a step back, qualifications-wise. Maybe you wanted that reach-y dream job, but your mounting bills and frustrations mean you’re willing to be flexible and take a job that might be slightly lower in seniority or salary.If the interviewer asks you about being overqualified, emphasize t he reasons you want this job. They’re asking because they’re concerned you might not find the job challenging enough or that you will skip out as soon as another opportunity comes along. You can reassure them by talking about how this role is in line with what you like about your field, and how you see yourself growing in the role.You can also talk about how you understand that your resume may seem a few steps ahead of this particular role, but you’re interested in a permanent role at this company, and would like to bring your extensive experience to the job and make it your own.Preparation is your friend here. If you think ahead of time about questions that are almost guaranteed to come up, you’re more likely to avoid the awkward deer moment and keep the interview seamlessly moving forward.

Legal Handbook Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Legal Handbook - Essay Example e district of Arizona and the Cartwright School District 83 in Phoenix is to ensure that the learning of students is the primary focus of the their professional time. Secondly, the legislature stipulates that it is the responsibilities of the teachers to hold their students to strict account for any inappropriate behaviour. Thirdly, the legislation requires teachers to record and maintain the attendance records for students on a daily basis. Fifthly, the legislation delegates to teachers, the responsibility of making the decision as to whether to allow a student to proceed to the next grade in the case of a common school or to issue a pass or fail to the student in the case of a course in high school. However, decisions in this regard can be overturned by the procedures stipulated in section 15-342 under the Arizona state legislature. Lastly, the legislation stipulates that teachers have a duty to comply with all the rules and policies that have been developed by a school’s go verning body (Arizona State Legislature). The case of Spanierman versus Hughes was a federal court case in 2008 whereby Spanierman who was a teacher at the Emmett O’ Brien High School in Connecticut failed to overturn the decision by the school board not to renew her contract because of engaging in actions that are disruptive to school activities via her MySpace page (Neuburger, 2008). This case law affirm the fact that the failure of teachers to abide by the rules and policies can lead to detrimental consequences such as dismissal from work. According to Osborne and Russo (2011), teachers enjoy certain rights that include right to receive notice of termination and even right to a fair hearing when an issue arise. Secondly, under the bill of rights in the first amendment teachers have been... This essay stresses that the law in Arizona and in the Cartwright School District 83 in Phoenix limit the content or the subject that teachers can teach and/ or discuss in the class. The law stipulates that teachers should only present to the class contents that are relevant and even consistent with the responsibilities that have been stipulated for teachers and they should avoid introducing topics or subjects that have political or personal agendas in the classrooms. This paper declares that while deciding a case against academic freedom the court of law would normally take into consideration the experience, the grade level and even the age of the students involved in the case. In the case law Hardy versus the Jefferson Community College, 260 F.3d 671, the contract of a professor was not renewed because of a complain that was filed by an African American student who was protesting the professor’s use of the term â€Å"nigger† and â€Å"bitch† in the classroom. The introduction of such topics or discussions by the professor was a violation of academic freedom. The law in Arizona and in the Cartwright School District 83 in Phoenix accords teachers the right to freedom of association of which under the national constitution it is the first amendments, which accords the citizens of the state the right to peaceful assembly. The right to freedom of association therefore allows public school teachers in the Cartwright School Distric t 83 in Phoenix to join any labour or professional organization of their own choice, run for an elective public office, and even form association of their liking or profession.

Unit 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Unit 7 - Essay Example ith the baseline, I will be able to know the progress of the project and provide the manager with detailed, accurate data on the progress of the project. My plan will be to provide the manager with project progress report every Monday after the start of the project detailing the costs used for the week, the work done during the week, and the estimates of project progress for the coming week. The main tools that I will use in the course of reporting to the manager are interim and baseline plans basing on the data from the budget, cost, time, and duration estimates from the project plan. During the start of the financial year a new data management systems was being installed in the company and a colleague and I were tasked with the reporting of the progress of the project by the Management systems team to which I am the manager. Using baseline and interim plans, we were able to give weekly reports to the CEO over the six weeks duration of the project that was very successful. Every Monday morning, we ensured that we delivered a report to the CEO detailing finish date, work completed during the  previous week and present plans for undertaking in the coming week. The project was lauded by the CEO during the managers meeting after the system proved effective in managing the high data flow in the company. Problem solving skills are important for all team members because problem solving skills by all team members increases team productivity at the workplace, aids in avoiding recurrence of problems, and results in professional effectiveness (Butterfield, 2009). When each member has problem solving skills seeking alternative solution is easy, increases the ability to cooperate as a team for the achievement of set goals, aids in understanding the severity of a given problem, and evaluate strategies of using available resources as a team to resolve the problem. When problem solving skills is available on all members and not some it creates a conducive environment for