Case study Essay

Inuit was founded in 1983 by Scott Cook (Former Procter & Gamble employee) and Tom Proulx (Stanford University Programmer), that develops and sells financial and tax solution software for consumers and small to medium sized businesses. The company has always thrived to revolutionise people’s lives by solving their important business and financial management problems. Quicken was its product that was launched in 1984 and struggled the first year, but due to positive reviews in trade journals and print campaign strategies, Intuit got its first break and by 1988 Quicken was the best selling finance product on the market. Early 1990’s saw Intuit growing due to success of Quicken, QuickBooks and Turbotax. These products made some significant contribution in small businesses. Porter’s five forces Analysis for Inuit: Any organization strategy that you develop needs to include gaining a thorough understanding of the external environment that the organization is operating in. The most widely tool that can help you to do this is Porter’s five force analysis. Porter’s model considers five forces that determine the attractiveness of your market by analyzing the competitive intensity. Similarly Porter’s five forces will help Intuit the position of the market and how much do they really stand a chance in this competitive industry, with Microsoft trying to buy them off. 1. Threat of new entrant: Intuit’s marketing strategies have helped the company evolve. Positive word of mouth an exceptional customer services is its most effective marketing tools. Roughly 8 out of 10 customers have bought Intuit’s product and hence engaging with customers directly and communicating with customers on a timely basis has helped distinguish its products. This leads to a very low threat of new entrants in the market. Due to this it is very difficult for new company’s to enter the market and compete with Intuit. 2. Bargaining Power of Buyers: Since Inuit is not the only one in the market, Microsoft being the biggest competitor it increases the bargaining power of buyers giving them more than one option to choose from. Intuit is very well aware of this fact and hence spends significant amount of time and money on consumer research every year. It is very critical for Intuit to know how customers use and feel about their products. This is possible by adapting Site Visit, Lab Study and Remote study conducted by Intuit. 3. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The only product that Intuit needs is a compact disc and since there are many suppliers of compact disc in the market, the bargaining power of suppliers is very low. This leads to huge competition between suppliers and Intuit has an advantage. 4. Threat for Substitute Products: There is no substitute product available for tax and financial planning software’s apart from hiring specialised people in your company in that field which is turns out to be very expensive and also time consuming. Hence there is no threat for substitute products for Intuit in the market. 5. The intensity of rivalry: Intuit faces huge competition in the market for the products they offer. Microsoft, one of their biggest competitors has tried to buy off Intuit but failed and also withdrawn its money product line after a 18 year battle with Quicken. This has been a great win for Intuit over the software giant. There are many companies providing mobile devices which have become very popular among the younger consumers and hence this increases the intensity of rivalry in the market that will be faced by Intuit. Potential Market entry methods for Intuit: Intuit has a very few ways it can enter the potential market i.e. mobile devices. Depending on various factors, Intuit can adopt acquisition. This will be very quick and fastest way to enter the mobile devices industry. Intuit can acquire some firms that are already in the mobile device  business, have a strong customer base and have all access to the company’s network files. Reference: Pearson Education Limited (2012). Marketing Management (14th ed.). Kotler Keller: Author. Submitted by: Anchal Pathak

North Carolina Gubernatorial Election

The election for governor of North Carolina proved to be tightly contested race; with Richard Vinroot the republican candidate gaining support in the weeks immediately prior to the election. Mike Easley had an early advantage, being the democratic incumbent. Easley was the better-known and better-financed candidate, which helped him to an early advantage. However, during the final weeks of the campaign the advantage swung to Vinroot as undecided voters were swept up in a republican surge lead by the momentum gained by presidential candidate Bush. With the gubernatorial race growing ever closer, the candidate†s stance on issues began to stand out as the determining factor for many voters. Thus, Democrat Mike Easley was able to gain an advantage not because of party affiliation, but the due to his stance on important issues, one important issue being education. So how did the numbers stake up? Well the final elections showed Mike Easley receiving 1,492,170 votes or 52 percent of the vote; Richard Vinroot received 1,335,862 votes or 47 percent of the vote; the rest of the vote being split between the Libertarian and Reform candidates . The 2000 North Carolina gubernatorial election was closely contested and would be decided not mainly according party affiliation, but by the candidate†s stance on major issues. The Democratic candidate for governor Mike Easley has a strong background, which brought him public favor and votes. Michael F. Easley is 50 years old, was born in Nash County, received a degree in Political Science from the University of North Carolina, and gained a law degree from North Carolina Central University. Easley served as a District Attorney, which gained him a reputation due to his prosecution of drug traffickers. Easley was elected the Attorney General of North Carolina in 1992. He was re-elected in 1996 by a large margin receiving 60 percent on the vote. While he was Attorney General, Easley gained a strong reputation, Easley sought to reduce violent crimes by pushing for a new sentencing structure and removal of the prison cap. Easley was fairly successful, â€Å"Since he took office in 1993, the rate of violent crime in North Carolina has fallen by more than 15%. Easley also gained a strong reputation due to his efforts of attacking consumer fraud, creating a Citizen†s Rights Division, and increasing the environmental section with the creation of an Environmental Crimes Task Force. As Attorney General, Easley also contributed to the national tobacco settlement, and â€Å"Brought nearly $5 billion in revenue to North Carolina to protect farmers, communities and the public health. 2† Mike Easley†s stance on important issues played an important role in the election. One important issue, which Easley highlighted, was his plan for patient†s rights. His plan includes patient privacy and a system that would provide prescription drugs for the elderly. While campaigning Easley outlined his plan for patient†s rights, however he made it apparent that his major concern was his â€Å"No Excuses† approach to education. The main points in Easley†s plan are smaller class sizes, and a pre-kindergarten program. The staple of Easley†s plan is not to raise taxes, with financing coming from a state lottery. Easley†s focuses on three aspects in his education plan; character education, alternative schools, and dress codes. Easley†s education plan states, â€Å"In order to enhance academic performance and safety in our public schools, we must nurture the personal character of young people while demanding that all students be disciplined and appropriately attired. † Candidate Mike Easley brought his strong reputation, and stance on important issues to the gubernatorial campaign in order to gain popular support. Richard Vinroot the Republican candidate for governor also brought his strong reputation and background to the campaign trail. Vinroot like Easley also had a long list of credentials and a strong background, which helped him win public favor. Vinroot was awarded a Morehead Scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were he received a degree in business administration and later his law degree. Vinroot is also a Vietnam veteran and was awarded a Bronze Star for his service. In 1991, Vinroot was elected mayor of Charlotte and was re-elected in 1993. As mayor of Charlotte Vinroot focused on crime, while he was mayor crime dropped 17 percent. Vinroot also focused on taxpayer relief. One of the major issues in Vinroot†s campaign was also education. Vinroot made it apparent that he supported tax paid vouchers, which gives parents a choice to send their children to the school of their choice. Vinroot†s plan supports home schooling and vouchers for children to attend private schools. Vinroot also supports a pay system for teachers based on merit. Vinroot†s main stance during the campaign was that he continually promised to never raise taxes and offered real change in education. Richard Vinroot gained public support in the gubernatorial campaign with a strong personal background, and by pronouncing never to raise taxes. The Reform candidate, Douglas Schell, and Libertarian candidate, Barbara Howe, offered voters additional choices for governor. However, both candidates played an insignificant role in the election with each candidate receiving about one percent of the vote. Similarly to Easley and Vinroot, both candidates† main issue was education. Howe†s education plan was a tax-based scholarship system giving the student an option when it comes to education. Schell†s stance on education was a plan for initiating a minimum salary for teachers, and focusing on discipline and school standards. However, both candidates were severely under funded; lacking the resources like Easley and Vinroot were able to attain. Thus, the Reform and Libertarian candidates played an insignificant role in the election. Richard Vinroot the republican candidate for governor hoped to ride the coattails of George Bush. Vinroot did gain support because of Bush strength in North Carolina, but this only helped make the race contested. However, Vinroot was unable to seize upon Bush†s support in North Carolina to become governor. Vinroot tried to play the connection with Bush to the fullest, thus making a late comeback. Unfortunately for Vinroot, several other factors caused Mike Easley to seize the election. The election showed that image, personality, and more importantly stance on issues wins votes rather than party affiliation. An important factor is swaying voters to Easley was his standing on important issues, especially the education issue. Easley was able to gain votes by strongly opposing tax-paid vouchers for education. In addition, Easley†s plan for education was more widely accepted including his pushing for a state lottery to pay for education. Some distinctions that caused the party splitting in North Carolina, was Easley†s stance on education. Image and personality also played key factors in Mike Easley†s election win. These traits where made apparent to voters in the campaigning through the numerous television ads and in the debate. Television ads played an important role in the campaigns of both candidates. Easley, due to better finance was able to run more television ads, allowing him to run more issue-focused ads. Conversely, Vinroot ran many ads attacking Easley in an effort to label him as a liberal, and associate of Al Gore. Vinroot†s attacks gave him an aggressive image, which hurt him in the election. Vinroot†s aggressive image was also apparent in the one television debate, Vinroot even grabbed Easley†s arm during the debate. Television ads also helped contribute to Mike Easley†s election win, especially the ads Easley ran the weekend before the election. Easley†s last television ads played upon the popularity of actor Andy Griffith, who endorsed Easley in those final ads. Image and personality are important to voters and these characteristics favored Mike Easley. The first North Carolina governor of the 21st century won an election that became tightly contested due to party affiliation. However, in the end it was not party affiliation that was the determining factor in the election. The determining factors in the election were the candidate†s stance on major issues, namely the issue of education, and the candidate†s image and personality. Richard Vinroot made the election contested by playing heavily on the popularity of George W. Bush; this did not however carry him into office. Voters broke party lines and voted for the candidate who best addressed their needs. Mike Easley was able to win because he promised to improve education without raising taxes due to a state lottery. Richard Vinroot had a chance in the gubernatorial election by trying to ride the coattails of George W. Bush, but when it came down to it voters concerned themselves not with party affiliation, but concerned themselves with the current issues, with the greatest emphasis on the issue of improving education.

Does GDP describes your personal economic well being Essay

Does GDP describes your personal economic well being - Essay Example The term can be mathematically expressed as equal total investment, government and consumer expenditure, plus the exports value, minus the imports value. The GDP of a country can be determined using the following three approaches; which should all provide similar results; the output or product approach, the expenditure approach, and the income approach (Walter, 2000). The product approach is the most direct and totals the outputs of each category to come up with the total. Expenditure approach is guided by the principle that every product has to be purchased by an individual, thus people’s overall spending must equal total product value. Lastly, the income approach basically works on the rule that earnings of productive factors should be equal to their product value and it determines GDP by totaling all of the producers’ earnings. Well being refers to the feeling of being happy, healthy and comfortable according to Kathleen and Thesia, (2005). However, this depends with what we do with it since it is evident that usually people may feel well in various different ways. In most cases, factors to be considered include social environment, surrounding (house), health and personal realization which include hobbies and work place, to determine well being. However, some people tend to think it is impossible to feel well with no swimming pool, a Porsche, or a ticket to travel round the world in a year. Thus, well being begins at the moment one has and can do what he thinks is fit for himself. Parts of well being can determine if you can have something or not same as the structural behavior determines the possibility of receiving something or being accepted to do so. Thus, one of the features of human’s well being is structural behavior. This term generally refers to a state of people having adequate resources to satisfy their needs. It can also be referred to fiscal

Contract law problem question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Contract law problem question - Essay Example esented we find that, subject to certain reservations, there are areas and actions taken before and within the original arrangement, which could enable Jack to defeat the banks proposed action. Is it possible for a person who offers his property, as securities to a bank against funds lent to a third party, escape the consequences of that contract should the repayments not be met? And under what circumstances it is possible that a joint and several liability clauses not be enforceable? These questions have been the subject of a number of court cases over the past few years and the judgment in some cases conclude that if certain conditions and actions were not taken prior to the signature of the contract, it is possible to successfully defend any breach. The task of this document is to ascertain which of these circumstances could be relevant to Jack in defending himself against a claim by the bank for repossession of his property so that they can reclaim some of the monies owed to them. The facts of the case are that Karen’s import-export business had been experiencing cash flow difficulties and financial problems for some time, at least fifteen months with no improvement. Her bank had refused to assist her with an increased overdraft facility had been informed by her bank that they would not extend her business’s overdraft unless extra security is provided. Karen explained the situation to her employee of five years, Jack, who had also become a friend of the family and suggested that he find another job. Under the impression that the problem was temporary, Jack suggested that she use his flat, an inheritance from his aunt, as security against further borrowings. The flat at that time was worth  £250,000. After consideration Karen took Jack up on his offer and informed him that it would also secure his job and that it was only a temporary situation that would soon be corrected. They went to the bank. The bank advised Jack to seek independent advice and

Assignment 7 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Assignment 7 - Research Paper Example This paper will also seek to come up with expected outcomes, how to implement these outcomes, and how to assess the changes after initial implementation of the expected findings. Data Collection and Measurement The research will utilize a demographic survey and focus groups in order to collect required data. The use of a short survey was made in obtaining self-reported information with regards to the perception of nurses to interpersonal relationships with their patients (Anderson, 2006). During and following each session, field notes and PI observations were made to complement analysis of voice data that is digitally recorded. Observation will also be used to study the nurses in the focus groups in order to compare, as well as validate, the information discussed in the sessions, as well as to observe the interpersonal interactions between patients and staff. An observation guide will give consistent items that each of the nurses will be observed for. The observed behavior of patient s and nurses will be recorded. For the survey questions under investigation, a comprehensive measurement summary will be given by the qualitative descriptive method. The interviews will be transcribed verbatim. Common themes, metaphors, and concepts will then be identified through a transcript review for subsequent identification of thematic trends (Anderson, 2006). Statistical measures will be done inferentially through predictions about the nursing population in the hospital on satisfaction and attitudes, as well as in the analysis of the studied sample. The results after analysis of the sample will be taken and generalized for a larger population of the nurses in the hospital, which will be possible since the selected sample is representative of the nursing population in the two units under study. The levels of measurement used for this research study are ordinal scales since is wishes to measure the satisfaction of a particular group, in this group the nurses, with bedside repor ting. The scale items for the questionnaires and survey will from most to least satisfied. Expected Outcomes of the Research This study is expected to show common differences and concerns about bedside reporting, particularly with regards to interpersonal relationships. The geriatric unit, which consistently carries out bedside reporting, will have a higher level of interpersonal relationships than the telemetry unit that dos not consistently carry out bedside reporting. It is also expected that there will be inconsistency in, as well as lack of, information from one shift to the next. This affects the ability of the nurses to deliver quality care and discuss meaningfully with the family members and the doctors (Laws & Amato, 2010). Therefore, interpersonal relationships between nurses, patients, patient families, and doctors will have to be improved in order to improve perceptions about bedside reporting among nurses. Improvement will be made through informing nursing staff on chan ges required and the importance of these changes. The staff will also be trained through role-play, video, and power point slides. The message in the training will involve the importance of bedside reporting to safety and quality of healthcare (Laws & Amato, 2010). Finally, bedside reporting should be made using a checklist to ensure that its key elements are covered. It is anticipated that the

Final Exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 15

Final Exam - Essay Example Moreover, the organisms that are best suited to live in their underlying specific conditions possess relatively greater chance of passing their desirable traits to the corresponding next generation. Nevertheless, organisms that poorly adapt die and extinct in the environment. The reproduction and the survival is massive numbers than other kind of animals mainly ensures perpetuation of the favorable traits in regard to succeeding generations. Natural selection demands heritable variation within a particular trait and corresponding differential survival and reproduction related with the possession of the desired traits. Both domestic selection and natural selection entails choosing of desirable traits and passing them to the next generations. An undesirable trait which cannot survive competition is eliminated from the environment thus becoming extinct. Conversely, natural selection results from corresponding natural factors that mainly favor particular variations whilst domestic selection mainly entails the probability of particular naturalistic mechanisms that pertains to the evolutionary alterations (Darwin & Charles, 112-279). Moreover, domestic selection purely utilized as an analogy for the underlying natural systems that concern untargeted changes. Natural selection and domestic selection does not link into similar theory that normally cause need to contribute intensely new to science. Struggle for existence is mainly due competition of scarce resources and over production that results to the ecological pressure. Members of every species contest repeatedly in order to obtain food, living space and other supplementary requirements of life. It mainly emanates from the overproduction by the organisms thus making the available resources to be insufficient to sustain the larger population. This subsequently results to emergence of competition of limited resources to keep themselves alive (Darwin & Charles,

Urban Clothing Retail Store Business Plan Essay

Urban Clothing Retail Store Business Plan - Essay Example Converse Texas currently maintains a total population of 18,110 individuals, which is a 54 percent increase from 2000 (city-data.com, 2012). This represents a substantially growing market that continues to improve in population density, thereby attracting a variety of new potential customers, due to improvements in job infrastructure and job availability. To the advantage of Urban Clothing, the median income per household is considerably above the national average at $49,396 per year (city-data.com). Of the total population, Converse Texas maintains 31 percent under the age of 18 and 33.9 percent between 25 and 44. Thus, this represents a significant portion of the total population in the city that could be recruited through inventive marketing concepts for urban-inspired clothing fitting of the youth profile. Additionally, 44.6 percent of total Converse, Texas households maintain a child under the age of 18 (another considerable market opportunity through relationship development in marketing). Globally, clothing retail has witnessed considerable growths since 2009. Clothing retail, as a global whole, grew by three percent since 2005 with volume sales at 8 percent growth (gaapirfrs.com, 2011). Of these sales, women’s outerwear grew 60 percent of the total value sales after 2006, suggesting that Urban Clothing should provide considerably more women’s fashions than men in order to appeal to this diverse group of buyers. In Europe and the United States, clothing retail witnessed the most foot traffic on Mondays and Wednesdays (Goodman, 2011). Therefore, the business will focus on attracting buyers during the weekends, something important for youth buyers who attend school or...This business must be hip, trendy and cater to the lifestyles of younger consumers looking for innovative fashions and this can be done through marketing creativity and by following successful business models for companies that have been able to build lasting relationships wit h young buyers. The organization relies heavily on a high mark-up based on the costs of procurement overseas (supply chain) however much of this cost is offset by the chosen method of supply in foreign low-wage countries. Net income is estimated at $75,000 in the first year of operation after considering all costs of operations. In order to make Urban Clothing work effectively, the sole proprietor will have to ensure that the organization meets all standards of quality, service, and relationship management through marketing and direct sales tactics. Thus, there must be a system of education and training in place so that all members of the sales staff understand the goals and mission of Urban Clothing. Therefore, the burden of training and human resources will have to fall on the owner and be a part of the team-working and sales tactics models. This will require considerable investment on the sole proprietor in order to find total marketing success.

Emily's story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Emily's story - Essay Example We broke up when I was five months pregnant and that time I had not even told my dad about my pregnancy. I was bought up by my dad who was quite strict in these matters. My mom left him before my birth and when I was born she dropped me when I was some months old. People say she was looking for someone else and my responsibility was a hurdle in her activities. My dad, he gave me love and affection of both the parents and raised me up in the best possible way. But in some matters he was damn strict and having boyfriends and sleeping with them was the top most issue. Now the problem left for me was telling him that his dear daughter is pregnant with a boy who is not mothering in seeking pleasure with her any more. First I tried to contact Jim again as his support would have made things less severe. Despite trying every possibility to contact him, texts, calls, facebook, whatsapp, all my attempts went in vein and I did not hear from him after wards. I made the mind to tell truth to my d ad because sooner or later he has to find that out and it could put me in a more difficult situation. I was not sure where to start and how to defend it. I knew he would be very much frustrated and annoyed at me. I decided to write a letter to him telling all the circumstances. I wrote everything on a piece of paper and put the paper under his pillow. The next morning I woke up by a hard roar. Before I could even realize what that actually was, there was a bang on my door. My father was knocking hard as if he would break it. I took no time in getting up but I resisted in opening door. If I would open door at this time, it would have resulted in anything. It could end up in a physical assault. So I pleaded him behind the door that I was sorry and i would be nice girl from now on. But he kept on shouting to leave his house just now. I opened the door after some time. He was standing next to it with red eyes. He ordered me

Scope management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Scope management - Research Paper Example The study has successfully described certain issues related to project management such as just-in-time training of the employees, the leadership skills of the project managers and their leadership traits, the control system of the management, etc. These are important factors and proper regulation and control of these aspects shows significant results. This is what we see told in shape of Burj Khalifa. It not only represents human intelligence and masterpiece but also excellent skills and hard work of all those people who are being its existence. Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world. The year of completion of this project was in 2010. The entire site area of Burj Khalifa is about 104,201 sq m. The project area is about 454,249 sq m. The height of the building is about 828 m. The design of this building involves the use of cutting edge technology. William F. Baker is the structural designer of the building. It consists of about 30000 homes, 9 hotels, 3 hectares of parking land, about 19 residential towers, a mall, and a manmade lake of about 12 hectares. The construction of this project began on September 2004 and the construction of the exterior was completed by 2009. The building was officially opened on January 2010 (Burj Khalifa, 2009). The name of the architect was Adrian Smith. The name of the developer is Emaar Properties. Extensive planning was done before the building was constructed. The Y shape of the building was planned so that the effect of the wind on the building could be reduced. The Y shape of the building was easy to make and would foster constructability. The structural design which was planned for the building was "buttressed" core. Each wing consists of perimeter columns and concrete core of high performance. The result of this was that the tower became torsion ally very stiff. All the geometry was applied that helped

Innovation and Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Innovation and Change - Essay Example Innovations are established from both the internal and the external environment. There is need for organizations to scan the environment constantly in order to determine the threats and opportunities. Different strategic approaches to management exist. These include environment led approach and the resource based view approach. Regardless of the extent of innovation, the need for new knowledge, new markets, and new employees will have significant impact on the organization Goffin and Mitchell (2005). Hence, change has to be considered when dealing with innovation. The advancement of technology in the 21st century has resulted in increased productions in organizations. Today, the economies of scale concerns have become irrelevant. Supply surpasses demand hence increased competition, and the requirement of enhanced continuous innovation. For successful innovation process, an organization has to establish appropriate structures, processes and culture. Through this the workforce, the par tners and the customers will know what is valuable to the organization. In the whole process of innovation, the organization will be forced to make difficult and complex changes. Innovation is defined as a process in which ideas are transformed in organizations into superior processes, products or services. This process involves new ideas or reforming the existing ones. Through this, organizations are able to successfully progress, compete and distinguish themselves in the market. Most successful organizations like Google have allowed the workforce to pursue their interest of creativity. The company has become more than a search engine through innovations such as Google maps. In the current markets where the patterns of production are changing, innovation is of great significance. In the Fordist and post-Fordist development path of learning economy, the global competition is based on the dynamic principle of competitive advantage. This relies on the exploitation of the available inp uts hence continual innovation is necessary. Organizations face increased international competition, increasing deregulation in industries, increased workforce diversity, decreasing product life cycles, rapid technologies evolvement in communication and information. Turbulence in environment has resulted in changes in the information age. In such an environment, organizations have to be innovative as they face different opportunities and challenges while trying to enhance the operations in existence (Burnes, 2004). Innovation is categorised into 4Ps namely, product, process, position and paradigm. Product refers to things that are physical, while process is the way things are done or delivered. The definition of products and processes is known as positioning. Paradigm refers to viewing the world in a new aspect and living in it. Industrial laboratory and the present call centre creation are considered as innovation processes. Positioning involves re-branding a product in existence a nd giving it a different identity. An example of positioning is the changes that took place on the Lucozade drink. Initially it was known be convalescents drink. Later it was transformed to be dynamic booster for wellbeing. Paradigm change is key radical innovation. It has substantial impact in a given society. An example of this is the steam engine created during industrial revolution. It was versatile, it drove; pumps in

Difference Between Backing Up and Archiving of Data Essay Example for Free

Difference Between Backing Up and Archiving of Data Essay Explain the difference between backing up and archiving of data, state the process taken for both and give reasons why they are necessary. It is important to know the basic differences between backup and archiving information, in order to prevent loss of important files on a computer. There is a big difference between the two and it comes down to variables between short term and long term storage. Backing up important data files on a computer should be done often, sometimes once a day or more. Thinking of it like a short term insurance policy, backups can be done using USG keys, disks, even to tape. Sometimes this information is overwritten each time it is saved, as new tiles are being added. Backups are primarily used for operational recovery, to quickly recover an overwritten file or corrupted database. The focus is on speed, both to back up and recover, and on data integrity. Archives, on the other hand, typically store a version of a file that no longer changing, or should not be changing. For example, an accountant for a small business that uses QuickBooks will back up his files regularly in order to prevent a disastrous loss of inform. He will entrust that information to an online backup system that is updated at the end of each business day. This way, if a problem occurs with the individual computer or network, then there is a way to resurrect the book without having to enter a month of work. Archiving, on the other hand, is the equivalent of a long term insurance policy for files that are rarely accessed or never changed. This type of storage creates a history of the files in an authentic form that can be accessed weeks from now or years from now. The storage media for archiving requires that it have a long, stable life. If the owner of the company died tomorrow, where would you begin to look for important documents? Or what if an audit of 2003 came up? Creating an archive is essential to traching down vital information to a company or individual. Typically, archives have been stored on magnetic tapes in the past, but with cost of online data archiving solutions becoming more practical and inexpensive, you will see more use of them. Offsite data archiving is highly recommended in the even t of a disaster. Another way of looking at the differences is that backup contains multiple restore points, allowing you to go back in time in case of a virus, accidental deletion or accidentally saving over a file. Archived information will only store a singly version of a file and this is rarely changing, if ever at all. Often archived data will also span decades of files. Archiving may require certain policies or rules that approve who have access, how long the records need to be stored etc.

Electoral Systems Essay Example for Free

Electoral Systems Essay Critically evaluate the argument that electoral systems can produce effective (decisive) government, or representative government, but not both. New Zealand’s current electoral system is MMP or Mixed Member Proportional; this is the system which will be used to evaluate the question. A comparison of MMP and FPP or the First Past the Post system will also be included, since it is being debated as to which is better for New Zealand. MMP is an appropriately representative government which also creates a rather effective government at the same time. On the other hand FPP causes a seemingly effective government but is far less representative. Some electoral systems can create effective and representative government while others may not. This will be shown by; firstly detailing how these systems of governance compare under effectiveness and representativeness, followed by an explanation as to why electoral systems can be both effective and representative and why they cannot. For a government to be classified effective it must sufficiently achieve its objectives as a governing body. It also must create a strong impression on the community (dictionary. om, 2011). MMP tends to have a less efficient form of law making than FPP. Under MMP the major parties must form coalition governments with the smaller parties to form a fifty per cent majority over the house. These coalitions may cause a time delay in passing legislation, as the major supporter of the bill tries to convince their support parties to agree with the legislation. MMP may take time to make decision but this doesn’t mean that the government is less decisive although; Many people argue that proportional forms of government lead to a less decisive and durable government. Their argument is based on the fact that the decisions must gain the support of coalition parties which cause a lower quantity of bills passing. However it is not the quantity of laws which cause an effective government it is the quality. MMP due to its more timely approach to law making allows time for scrutiny within a bill meaning any flaws which lie dormant in a bill may be fixed before the legislation is passed. A contrast to this is FPP with its single party majority which works very efficiently to pass laws rapidly. This is because there is no need for a compromise with its support parties since none are required. The effect of this rapid law making ability gives the community a view of effectiveness however the validity of the laws has been compromised. The laws passed may be riddled with flaws which really show the government is un-effective as the laws have no real impression on the community. Effective government is based around three criteria government durability, decisional efficacy and responsiveness (Boston, Church Bale, 2003). From these three different terms of effective government we can see how different opinions on the idea of effective government can differ. For a government to be classified representative it must consist of many individuals who represent a variety of different constituencies (dictionary. com, 2011). Also there must be some form of diversity among the constituencies such as race or gender differentiation. (Royal Commission, 1986) MMP is a highly representative form of governance as it uses a two votes system; this allows minor party representatives to gain a seat in the house if they gain a majority vote among their constituents. The fact an MP has to win their constituency causes a close link to the electorate as they will more likely than not represent the major view of the region. This single MP vote allows the house to represent the community from a broader aspect while still having the majority party in power with the 2nd vote, the party vote. This causes a greater diversity among the house. When MMP was adopted â€Å"Maori representation increased from 5-7% to 16%† and â€Å"the number of women of women doubled to 34%† (Haddon, 2011). This increasing diversity has continued as the royal commission predicted. New Zealand’s house of parliament has become more representative and diverse as shown by the 39 women, 21 Maori, 4 Pacific Islanders, and 2 Asian MPs out of the 121 in the house (Elections Commission, 2006). Also under MMP campaign promises of minor parties tend to not get placed on the new government agenda. The minor parties must rely on negotiation with party leaders in order to get their main policies on the agenda or must wait for the bill to be drawn from the ballot box in parliament, which may never come. This causes a slight decrease in the diversification of the legislation passed. This lack of diversification can decrease the representativeness of the majority. However this does not decrease the overall representativeness of the government. The diversity of MMP is contrasted by FPPs system where there are only electorate votes so people tend to vote solely for the major parties that are likely to get into parliament. The winning party in a FPP election will get a proportionally larger share of the seats that its share of the votes this has the opposite effect for minority parties whom gain a lesser proportion of the seats that their votes. This lack of proportionality is a major flaw in representation as there is very little diversity among the house. Electoral systems can be both effective and representative, â€Å"The best voting system for any country will not be one which meets any of the criteria completely but will be one which provides the most satisfactory overall balance between them† (Royal Commission, 1986). Although systems cannot be highly representative and highly effective they still can be both. MMP shows this, it may not be highly efficient at creating effective legislation but it creates quality legislation which is effective governing. Also MMP shows its representativeness by having a largely diverse house of representatives but due to the need for coalitions loses some of the broader views of the minor parties. â€Å"A proliferation of minor parties actually increases stability and effectiveness† (â€Å"NRT on MMP threshold,† 2011). This shows how a representative government actually helps to form an effective government. The increase in the number of coalition majorities available will help to reduce the ability for any party to have strong bargaining power over another. This was shown in our most recent parliamentary election by ACT and the Maori party not having a large bargaining power with National as they both had possible coalitions with National. They were acting as a check on the other so neither gained an arbitrary power over Nationals decision. This allowed for national to make what they saw as the best decision. This shows that MMP is representative as well as being effective even if it is not top in each discipline. Many critics of MMP have agreed that MMP does lead to a government reflecting the views of New Zealander’s and supporters of MMP conceded to agreeing that it leads to a more unstable government which can infer that it may be not highly effective (Palmer Palmer, 2004). While FPP contrasts MMP it shows the opposite idea. It shows that there is a tension between effective and representative government. This tension causes a highly representative government to have a very low effectiveness and vice versa. The tension has large effect on how the government operates and this can put a strain on which system will be best. FPP shows how a system cannot be both effective and representative whereas MMP seems to have the balance between being both an effective form of governance while still being rather highly representative. My research has shown that MMP is both an effective form of government and a representative form of government. However it is neither the most representative nor the most effective. The research has identified that an electoral system can be both as I have explained above. This is not to say all electoral systems are. There are always going to be strengths and weaknesses to an electoral system and a compromise between effective and representative will always be required, FPP for example is much more effective than it is representative. The tension between these two disciplines will always have an effect on how the system operates and which system is best suited to the situation. FPP is clearly a system which cannot be both while MMP is the perfect example of a system of governance which is both representative and effective.

Comparison of Hospital Points to National Benchmark: Florida

Comparison of Hospital Points to National Benchmark: Florida HOSPITAL DATA POINTS COMPARED WITH STATE AND NATIONAL BENCHMARKS DOUGLAS WINTER Analyze and summarize the results. Are there significant outliers? Try to summarize the results as comparable, unfavorable, or favorable to the state and national benchmarks. I compared three hospitals in my general area to ten different data points that were also compared to the state and national averages. The areas within the statistics I compared were in timely effective manor, survey of patients experience, readmissions, complications deaths, and use of medical imaging. Following the data comparisons, I included a brief explanation of the data point being examined, along with potential causes, improvement suggestions, and outliers when found. Timely effective manor First data point: Outpatients having surgery who received an antibiotic at the right time (within one hour) before surgery. Hospital staff should make sure surgery patients get antibiotics at the right time. It is important to receive antibiotics pre-operation due to the possibility of wound infections from surgical procedures. Research has shown patients who have received antibiotics prior to surgery were less likely to get wound infections. Results: Florida Hospital Memorial and Florida Hospital Flagler rated 100%, above the state and national averages of 99% and Flagler Hospital rated 98% only one percent below the state and national average. Potential causes for the problem: Their protocol for patients to receive an antibiotic earlier or after surgery is not being followed. An in-service need’s to be scheduled to make sure all staff is following protocol guidelines and new employees are being trained correctly as well. Process improvement suggestions to improve the results: Their teams of operating room nurses, surgeons and anesthesiologists need to analyze and refine the processes with the goal of having 100 percent of their surgical patients receive an antibiotic within one hour prior to any scheduled surgery. Second data point: Heart attack patients given a prescription for a â€Å"statin† at discharge. Most patients who have had a heart failure and who take a â€Å"statin†, Ace inhibitor have fewer symptoms, feel physically better, and are less likely to return to the hospital. Results: Florida Hospital Flagler and Florida Hospital Memorial tied at 100% outperforming the state and national averages, and Flagler Hospital rated 97% under the states 99% and national average at 98%. Potential causes for the problem: Statin protocol is neglected, no one held accountable, no regularly scheduled meeting or in-service are being conducted. Process improvement suggestions to improve the results: Flagler Hospitals team of operating nurses, physicians need to pay closer attention to assure their patients receive a â€Å"statin† at discharge and strive to reach a goal of 100 percent of their patients receive a â€Å"statin† Ace inhibitor at discharge to maintain a continuity of care. Third data point: Pneumonia patients given the most appropriate initial antibiotic(s). Pneumonia is a long infection which is caused by bacteria or a virus. If the pneumonia happens to be caused by bacteria then the infection will be treated by an antibiotic that is specific for bacteria, and if the pneumonia is caused by a virus a specific antibiotic will then be used for viral infections. Results: Florida Hospital Flagler tied with the state at 98%, outperforming the national average at 95% and Flagler Hospital scored 94% below all comparisons. In addition, Florida Hospital Memorial scored 97% above the national average, and 1% below the state averages. Potential causes for the problem: Each staff member needs to follow a respiratory protocol, and if pneumonia is identified, that protocol needs to be followed. Blood cultures are not performed, and the potential for giving the patient the wrong antibiotic is high. Protocols are not followed, no accountability, or in-service are being regularly held. Process improvement suggestions to improve the results: All three of the hospitals require improvement and need to make sure patients whose initial emergency room blood culture was performed prior to the administration of the first antibiotic in order to provide the most appropriate care. Survey of patient’s experience First data point: Patients who reported that their nurses always communicated well. This is important for any patient staying at a health care facility, and is asking if nursing explained things clearly, listened, and listened carefully to the patient, and treated the patient with courtesy and respect. Results: All comparisons’’ performed poorly, Florida Hospital Flagler and the state tied at 75% While Florida Hospital Memorial tied with the national average at 79%, leaving Flagler Hospital below the other comparisons at 73%. All comparisons are well below an acceptable benchmark of 100%. Potential causes for the problem: Health care staff gets busy, and they tend to have so many things they are thinking about and they neglect to fully communicate with the patients. Also people assigned to a bed are not looked at as patients but a body and communication tends to be non-existent. Process improvement suggestions to improve the results: All comparisons failed in this analysis. Patient satisfaction is top priority, and should be for most health care organizations. Every member of the team needs to be reminded that every patient regardless of ethnicity, creed, demographics, etc. deserves communication and respect. Regularly scheduled meetings, and in services regarding patient communication, and care in order to make the patient feel comfortable and looked after. Second data point: Patients who reported that their pain was always well controlled. Again all comparisons failed this part of the analysis. Pain management should be top priority with those patients that are not scheduled for immediate surgery. Patient satisfaction, and recovery will be all the better if they are well controlled. Results: Again, all comparisons failed in this part of the analysis. Florida Hospital Memorial and the national average tied at 71%, while Florida Hospital Flagler was 69% and Flagler Hospital at 67% and the state average at 68%. All comparisons in this data point fell short of the acceptable level of 100%. Potential causes for the problem: Health care staffs are not fully aware of the pain each modality can cause and influence the outcome of patient care. They tend to be removed, for example a patient has an abscess to his lower leg, yet he says he is in pain but I am removed from his discomfort because all I see is an abscess. Although he is in pain and the health care worker needs to be reminded that it may only be an abscess to them, but to the patient it constitutes the end of the world. Process improvement suggestions to improve the results: The three hospitals compared need to setup a mandatory in service by floor with a committee and their manager to remind everyone the importance of pain management. Remind everyone that they are patients and not textiles, and yes your shifts are busy, but never forget that it is our responsibility to care for them and caring for them includes pain management, and if the patient say’s to you that this pain is a 10 out of a 10, talk with their physician to see if anything can be done. Third data point: Patients who reported that staff always explained about medicines before giving them to them. Patients want to know, they want to be informed and feel about the medications they are taking while in the hospital. It is further important to know what patients are feeling about their hospital experience and by asking patients if their nurse communicated with them about their medication before dispensing it will effectively let the hospital staff know where they need improvement in order to enrich the patients overall hospital experience Results: Florida Hospital Flagler and the state average tied at 60%, Florida Hospital Memorial rated 65% and Flagler Hospital rated 57% and the state at 64%. All comparisons data points fell short of an acceptable 100%. Potential causes for the problem: Protocols not being followed, no in services to remind nurses to communicate with their patients more effectively. Not acknowledging patient satisfaction surveys to find areas that need attention. Process improvement suggestions to improve the results: It is important for the patients to feel comfortable and have a feeling of well-being so when they have a concern or have a question they will feel free to ask. Monthly in service meeting reminding to encourage staff to have a positive attitude, to be more approachable, about hospital image, go over patient satisfaction survey results. Readmissions, complications deaths First data point: Rate of unplanned re-admission for heart attack patients. The percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) re-admission data point evaluates and compares â€Å"unplanned re-admissions† which may take place within 30 days after discharge and after a PCI procedure. In addition, this data point takes into account the level of a patient’s illness before being admitted into the hospital, and the differences along with re-admission percentages that may be coincidental. For example, patients who have underlying medical diagnoses that are not seen with younger healthier patients were not included in this data point. Results: Florida hospital Flagler scored 19.4%, just below Florida Hospital Memorial at 19.9%, and Flagler Hospital was at 17.9 and below the state and national averages of 18.3%. Potential causes for the problem: Patients are not clinically able to be discharged, are not properly instructed on the methods to reduce the risk of infections, their medications need to be reconciles, and they need to be encouraged to call for assistance to their primary care provider, or given a number to call at the participating hospital (Meyer, Rybowski, 2004, p.viii). Process improvement suggestions to improve the results: Ensure the patients are stable and clinically able to be discharged, this will help reduce the risk of infections, assist them with reconciling their medications, encourage and improve communications with their providers in transitioning of care, encourage, train patients on strategies promote disease management principles and educate patients on what symptoms to monitor, who to contact with questions and where and when to seek follow-up care (Meyer, Rybowski, 2004, p.10). Second data point: Death rate for Heart attack patients: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is what health care providers call. door-to-balloon time, and this time frame is 90 minutes from the time the patient arrives at the hospital suffering from a heart attack and also (PCI), such as angioplasty when a catheter with a very small balloon is inserted into the blocked artery and inflated in order to open up the vessel. Results: Florida Hospital Flagler rated 16.7% and while Florida Hospital Memorial rated 15.5%, while Flagler Hospital is 14.4% below the state and national average of 15.2%. Positive outlier: Flagler Hospitals results is 2.3% lower than Florida Hospital Flagler, 1.1% lower than Flagler Hospital and .8% lower than the state and national averages. Flagler Hospital’s lower results may be attributed to having regular monthly meeting that involve key hospital staff and emergency medical responders designed to review heart attack cases, and having a cardiologist nearly on site most of the time, and part of the care team to encourage problem solving by immediate hospital staff and not the responsibility of only nurses but the entire team (D’Eugenio, 2012, p.1). Potential causes for the problem: This data point has many variables and is dependent upon the level of patient’s general health in the hospitals geographical area. That is why this data point has already been adjusted for patient characteristics that may make death or unplanned readmission more likely, regardless if any of the compared hospitals are providing higher quality of care. Some of the characteristics included are age of the patient, past medical history, and co-morbidities that the patient had when they were admitted to the hospital and a known health risk that can to increase the patient’s risk of dying or of having an unplanned readmission. Process improvement suggestions to improve the results: As performance improvements are identified then appropriate problem-solving techniques can be employed. Beginning with putting together an action plan, that can change certain patterns set by physicians that have been identified as possible contributors with the death rates for heart attack patients. Also, accountability measures should be enforced to hold appropriate department staff accountable for protocol adherence, critical paths to follow through, and enforcing the plan towards improving outcomes, policies that enhance efficiency, and fluid communication across departments. Medical Imaging First data point: Outpatient computed topography (CT) scans of the chest that were combination (double) scans. This data point only applies to Medicare patients that were treated in the hospital and does not include ambulatory or inpatient settings of the hospital. The lower the percentage the better and points to the efficient use of medical imaging for that hospital being compared. In addition, it is important not to expose the patient to contrast material and or unnecessary radiation exposure. Results: Florida Hospital Flagler scored the highest at 2.9% and Flagler Hospital tying with the national average at 2.7% and Florida Hospital Memorial rated well below the other comparisons at 1.4% and the state scored better than the other comparisons except Florida Hospital Memorial with 2.4%. Positive outlier: Florida Hospital Memorial scored 1.4% which is 1.5% better than the highest scoring hospital at 2.9% and 1.3% better than the national average at 2.7%. Potential causes for the problem: The primary cause for double C.T. scan results, its over use in general is caused by emergency room physicians since they are more apt to order expensive tests that can have high levels of radiation, and which are also not needed â€Å"It is easier to order a test than to take extra time to explain to a patient why it is not needed† (Parr, 2014, ND, p.1). Florida Hospital Memorial contributing cause may include using C.T. scans only as a diagnostic tool and not as a screening modality, while the other comparisons seem to follow defensive medicine techniques, and or illustrating a wide spread disengagement between the physicians and their patients. Process improvement suggestions to improve the results: It is important to encourage patients to question their physician’s motives, consult with their physicians. Patients need to know why tests are being ordered and what impact will the test have on their treatment Parr, 2014, p.1). Physician’s need more frequent in services regarding hospital expenditures, assign quality control measures to each physician in order to track unnecessary procedures and to follow-up with the physicians to encourage other means to same problem. Florida Hospital Memorial contributing cause may include using C.T. scans only as a diagnostic tool and not as a screening modality, Second data point: Outpatients who received cardiac imaging stress tests before low-risk outpatient surgery. The heart’s ability to respond to stress is necessary to understand if the patient is scheduled for surgery. The physicians need to know what levels of stress the patient’s heart is capable of handling. For instance, a cardiac stress test is not required for a colonoscopy, cataract surgery, biopsies, because this kind of procedure will not over task the heart, and poses very little risk to the patient unlike, bypass surgery for example. Results: Florida Hospital Flagler scored 6.6% and Florida Hospital Memorial at 5.5% only 2% higher than the national average of 5.3%, while the state scored 6.4% and the outlier in this data point is Flagler Hospital at 9.3%. Negative outlier: Flagler Hospital is performing far more cardiac imaging scans at 9.3% than necessary and is higher than the lowest reporting percentage by 4%. This procedure places the patient(s) at greater risk, introducing contrast and intentionally stressing the heart muscle in order to locate any problems (Einstein, 2014, p.1). Potential causes for the problem: Not looking into other means of diagnosing, not following the cardiac imaging protocol or critical paths in place, staff members are not held accountable to improve patient safety, enhance efficiencies through standardizations. Lack of physician, floor managers, and charge nurse in-services to make sure staff is following protocol guidelines. Process improvement suggestions to improve the results: Ensure cardiac imaging protocols are in place as well as critical paths, assure all staff personal having direct contact with patients are held accountable, schedule monthly in-service’s, and assign physicians case managers to coordinate and facilitate care with all their patients in order to help facilitate use of technology better and with less risk. References D’Eugenio, R. (2012). Key factors linked to lower death rates among patients with heart attacks. (1). Retrieved from http://medicine.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=944 Einstein, A. J. (2014). Radiation from cardiac imaging tests. Questions you should ask. (1). Retrieved from http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/127/11/e495.full Meyer, J. A., Silow-Carroll, S., Kutyla, T., Stepnick, L. S., Rybowski, L. S. (2004). HOSPITAL QUALITY: INGREDIENTS FOR SUCCESS—OVERVIEW AND LESSONS LEARNED. Retrieved from http://www.commonwealthfund.org/programs/quality/761_Meyer_hospital_quality_overview.pdf Parr, J. T. (2014). Overuse of CT scans adds to cost. Fort Bend Indiana.(1). Retrieved from http://fbindependent.com/overuse-of-ct-scans-adds-to-cost-p2851-89.htm

Global Threat Assessment Essay -- Global Threat Intelligence

I. Introduction The United States is in an era where technology is advancing at a quicker pace than the education of society and its users can understand. This is a problem because the economic woes and critical infrastructures are included in every aspect of this fast paced evolution of technology. Threat topics will be discussed using multiple sources from the Internet and online library. An additional main source will be pulled directly from reports from the Director of National Intelligence, James R. Clapper. Discussions will Start with what a threat is and how a threat is assigned into categories; then moving to a discussion about the global threat landscape and which areas are critical to the United States shall be talked about along with what is necessary for the United States to keep up with the rapid pace of growth. At the top of the U.S. intelligence community’s 2013 assessment of global threats is cyber, followed by terrorism and transnational organized crime, weapons of mass destruction proliferation, counterintelligence and space activities, insecurity and competition for natural resources, health and pandemic threats, and mass atrocities ("Defense.gov News Article: Cyber Tops Intel Community’s 2013 Global Threat Assessment", n.d., p. xx-xx). Another topic that shall be discussed is critical infrastructure requirements and how cyber security is an important aspect in the planning and maintenance. Further discussion will identify what state and non-state actors are and which state and non-state actors threaten the United States. With this information, a conclusion on how these global threats affect how the policy makers try to defend the United States from these types of global threats. II. Whic... ...forcement, and Federal Protective Service. Policy makers are responsible for performing a never ending task of adapting to the global threats and how they pertain to critical infrastructure in the United States. Works Cited 2013 Global Threat Intelligence | Solutionary Press Release. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.solutionary.com/news-events/press-releases/2013/03/2013-global-threat-intelligence/ Defense.gov News Article: Cyber Tops Intel Community?s 2013 Global Threat Assessment. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=119776 Top 7 developments in the global threat landscape - CXOtoday.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cxotoday.com/story/top-7-developments-in-the-global-threat-landscape/ USA Patriot Act of 2001. (2001, Oct. 26). Retrieved from http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-107publ56/pdf/PLAW-107publ56.pdf Global Threat Assessment Essay -- Global Threat Intelligence I. Introduction The United States is in an era where technology is advancing at a quicker pace than the education of society and its users can understand. This is a problem because the economic woes and critical infrastructures are included in every aspect of this fast paced evolution of technology. Threat topics will be discussed using multiple sources from the Internet and online library. An additional main source will be pulled directly from reports from the Director of National Intelligence, James R. Clapper. Discussions will Start with what a threat is and how a threat is assigned into categories; then moving to a discussion about the global threat landscape and which areas are critical to the United States shall be talked about along with what is necessary for the United States to keep up with the rapid pace of growth. At the top of the U.S. intelligence community’s 2013 assessment of global threats is cyber, followed by terrorism and transnational organized crime, weapons of mass destruction proliferation, counterintelligence and space activities, insecurity and competition for natural resources, health and pandemic threats, and mass atrocities ("Defense.gov News Article: Cyber Tops Intel Community’s 2013 Global Threat Assessment", n.d., p. xx-xx). Another topic that shall be discussed is critical infrastructure requirements and how cyber security is an important aspect in the planning and maintenance. Further discussion will identify what state and non-state actors are and which state and non-state actors threaten the United States. With this information, a conclusion on how these global threats affect how the policy makers try to defend the United States from these types of global threats. II. Whic... ...forcement, and Federal Protective Service. Policy makers are responsible for performing a never ending task of adapting to the global threats and how they pertain to critical infrastructure in the United States. Works Cited 2013 Global Threat Intelligence | Solutionary Press Release. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.solutionary.com/news-events/press-releases/2013/03/2013-global-threat-intelligence/ Defense.gov News Article: Cyber Tops Intel Community?s 2013 Global Threat Assessment. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=119776 Top 7 developments in the global threat landscape - CXOtoday.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cxotoday.com/story/top-7-developments-in-the-global-threat-landscape/ USA Patriot Act of 2001. (2001, Oct. 26). Retrieved from http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-107publ56/pdf/PLAW-107publ56.pdf

Alternatives to Conventional Internal Combustion :: Expository Essays Research Papers

Alternatives to Conventional Internal Combustion Congress created the Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Technologies (EHV) Program in 1992 for reasons of national defense. The specific purpose of the program was to solve the issues of performance, stealth, and fuel efficiency demanded by the military. The EHV program was managed by the Department of Defense and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), as a side note DARPA developed the F-117 Stealth Fighter during the mid to late 1970’s and early 1980’s. DARPA and the Department of Defense created a consortium with 150 companies that were involved in 300 projects with a total investment of 250 million from 1993-1998 with half the funding provided by non-federal partners. They focused and developed on these areas of research â€Å"hybrid electric transmissions, auxiliary power units and motors, advanced battery and charger systems and controllers, flywheels to augment or replace batteries, and advanced materials to reduce vehicle weight (http://scitech. dot.gov/partners/nextsur/avp/avp.html)† The Advanced Vehicles Technologies Program represents the civilian version of the military EHV Program. EHV became AVP in 1999. The AVP budget was 50 million annually from 1999 to 2003. USCar, also began in 1992, it is a program made up by DaimlerChrsyler, Ford and General Motors â€Å"to further strengthen the technology base of the domestic auto industry through cooperative, pre-competitive research (http://www.uscar.org/)† and from this project came a new program called FreedomCar, which is a joint venture with the USCar members and the Department of Energy. The ultimate goal of FreedomCar is to make hydrogen and fuel cell based transportation system. This is the long-term goal, which will take some time to be realized. The project is also looking at advanced internal combustion engines, emissions control for diesel engines, light weight materials, hybrid electric vehicle systems, advanced batteries and alternative fuels (http://www.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/program_areas/freedomcar/index.shtml). The transportation sector obtains 95% of its fuel from petroleum and this sector accounts for 67% of American’s total petroleum use. The United States imports roughly 10 million barrels of oil per day (http://www.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/program_areas/freedomcar/index.shtml). The dependence on imported oil could potentially threaten the energy security of the U.S. Roughly 55 percent of oil we consume is imported and this is expected to go up to 65 percent by 2025.

Geographic Distribution of Natural Resources for Energy Production Essa

Energy Distribution It is commonly known that natural resources are not distributed evenly around the world. As a result, energy is not distributed evenly around the world. In the present climate of the global economy, the distribution of energy presents conflicts between growing industry and already established industry. As a result, countries such as China, which are beginning to consume more resources, are turning to former methods of polluting natural resources such as coal because the resources they used to use are not as widely available. This is also taking place in other parts of the world. As the resources of crude oil deplete, oil companies are turning to new fuels such as ethanol without considering the side effects, similar to the way that China is blindly turning to coal without considering the pollution that is the result of coal. As a result of the rapid development and the sudden need for more energy in China, the production of energy in China is also different from that of the United States. Since China is a developing country, it has more of a chance to shift to alternate power sources more easily than the United States could; however, China needs rapid energy, and so it turned to coal rather than resources such as solar power or wind power. China is essentially at the stage that the United States was during the Industrial Revolution, whereas the United States has moved on to cleaner sources of energy such as petrol and oil. Another advantage that the United States has over developing nations is the use of alternate methods of power such as Nuclear Power Plants. Developing nations such as China do not have as easy an access to nuclear power due to the uncertainty as to the communist nature of the cou... ...op=793c8805q2fjrfq2fjgdloq5eddcmjmeeq22jeq3bjmbjq2aycfq5eyzcq2adyznjzoq2azjmbcq51q5eq2fq2ayfq7bsc0n>. â€Å"Coal power in China†. Wikipedia. 28 July 2008 . "Nuclear power in France." Wikipedia. 28 July 2008 . "Buying a Car: Gas vs. Diesel." Gas Vs. Diesel. 28 July 2008 . Pimentel. "Ethanol Fuel from Corn Faulted as ‘Unsustainable Subsidized Food Burning’." Ethanol. 28 July 2008 . Wallace, Ed. "Ethanol: A Tragedy in 3 Acts." Business Week. 28 July 2008 . Cohen, Matthew. "The Problem With Ethanol." Tampa Bay Online. 29 July 2008 .

USEC Capital Budgeting Case Questions

In one paragraph (max 5 sentences), describe the general situation faced by USEC: USEC is the lead supplier of enriched uranium, which is used to fuel nuclear reactors. Due to an expiring contract with a power supplier, the production of Uranium fuel became very expensive at the current Paducah plant. USEC created a new plant called APC in an attempt to advance technology and become the low cost producers in the Uranium industry. Mackovjak is a financial analyst tasked with the evaluation of USEC. In order to properly value USEC, Mackovjak needs to evaluate APC and their contributions to USEC.2) What is the Weighted Average Cost of Capital for USEC in July 2006? (Assume the expected return on the market is around 11%)WACC= .10703We calculated a = .134 which we calculated using the expected return equation: . Our equation looked similar to this: For the equity we assumed the number of shares outstanding for 2006 which was 86.1 million *10.8 (price per share) 930 million The debt was g iven in the capital market conditions at 475 million (making D+E equal 1405 million) For we used the yield to maturity, which was given at 0.0904 The tax rate was estimated based on the 2005 data to be roughly 40 percent.3) After determining the relevant Cash Flows for the project, what is the NPV? *FCF were calculated in the excel spreadsheetWe were using a $20 fixed price due to an agreement for the Uranium however this changed as the agreement expired and we were required to buy Uranium at market price. Sales= (Production *SWU price)Cash Costs= (Production of APC* Market price )+ (Production of APC* Enrichment costs) *When APC became functional, enrichment costs were reduced by half Non Cash Costs= DepreciationCurrent assets= production* inventory (this was only used in 2012) Market price* production (was used for 2013 and after) Current liabilities= 1 % of DOE for initial research of centrifuge technology Net working capital= current assets – current liabilities (we found the change in Networking capital) Operating cash flow= S-C(1-T)+TDChanged in fixed asset= capital expenditureWe used these values to calculate a future cash flow using the equation: FCF= operating cash flow -increase in networking capital -increase in fixed assets.In order to find the NPV of the project we took the FCF from ACP alone. We had to recognize that the lease on Paducah was not associated with ACP, however a one percent royalty was added to current liabilities on the ACP projecting. In order to check our initial estimation we compared the networking capital of the APC project to 5% of sales that was recommended by another analyst Craig Weise. Every year the value was positive and above 5% reinforcing our decision that USEC will take on the project. Based on our calculated NPV of the project we determined that APC would return 2,020,167,627 dollars.The cost of the project is 1.7 billion so the difference in return and cost is a positive 320,167,627 dollars. Thus USEC will take on the project and therefore the company is undervalued. Mackovjak, the financial analyst, seeing that the company is undervalued should pitch to upper management they should take a long position in USEC.From the syllabus: â€Å"Write-ups should be self-contained Word documents, running 2-3 pages or less, including exhibits. Separate spreadsheets containing original calculations should be attached to the email, but exhibits should be placed within the Word document, not left to be found somewhere in the spreadsheet.† Please conform to these exhibition expectations in future write-ups. As to your spreadsheet:For Paducah, the CFs shown would be irrelevant, as â€Å"with ACP, Paducah operates in 2006-2010, and without ACP, Paducah operates in 2006-2010†, so Paducah CFs irrelevant to ACP valuation in 2006-2010. But necessary to estimate from 2006-2010, so that when lost 2011-2025, Paducah CFs are  already escalated and easily estimable. In that regard, all CFs to th e NPV calc are too high as you have included irrelevant 2006-2010 CFs for Paducah, but more importantly, have ignored all Paducah CFs lost from 2011-2025 as suggested by the case comments given in class the prior day to case discussion.Further, your Paducah OCF format of (S-C)(1-T)+TD should only contain cash costs in â€Å"C† and your spreadsheet shows that â€Å"C† contains Capital Expenditures. Capital Expenditures is ALWAYS outside of OCF, with (S-C)(1-T)+TD – ChgNWC – Yearly CapEx., which you do, thus effectively double deducting for CapEx. You did not return NWC at the end of the project.For ACP, Uranium Costs are basically ZERO in your valuation after 2012. This error SEVERELY underestimates costs, and overestimates FCF and thus NPV. Further, in your â€Å"double 2011† method, a Uranium cost of $21? Where is this from? For Depreciation in ACP, you are using Depreciation for Paducah (Old), not the Capitalized Plant Bldg costs. Further, your a nalysis does not seem to include the $1.7b cost anywhere, other than in the text of this document where you apparently take a t=0 PVCF and subtract amounts that sum to $1.7b, but occur across 5 years (thus ignoring discounting of the capital costs, and including 100m of a sunk cost in your NPV). Finally, your methodology of PV’g does not use the spreadsheet effectively. As with any hard number entry, if you wanted to change this, you would have a significant task ahead of you.Please think about using functions, or at the very least using equations that refer to a single cell containing WACC, and sequential cells containing 1,2,3, etc. for â€Å"T†. Overall, a submission with many errors; some to be expected, and some that appear to be unexplained or work potentially done too quickly without review. I would very much suggest that you use FAR fewer hard numbers in the spreadsheet calculations, and layout more of the assumed values as separate cell entries (the tax rate, the UrRawMatls quantity, the SunkCost, the WACC). If you ever had to go back and change some of these things, it is far easier to change one cell than try to remember ALL cells that contained the hard number entry.

Critical thinking Essay

1. maintain the four dianoeticly possible shipway in which evidentialism could go about justifying its beliefs? before colossal evaluate severally of the options. 20 Evidentialism holds four logical systemal possibilities in an attempt to justify their beliefs. on that point is historical evidence, negative apologetics, minimal evidence, and the holy Spirit. The first criterion is diachronic Evidence. Evidentialists dispose to resort to historical evidence as a very weighty mode (i. e. the resurrection). The movement out historical evidences be so important is beca work, as long as minimal facts (those agreed upon by in all in all) are function, the audience evoke non deny the conclusion of the premise.Historical evidence allows for a cardinal- mensuration form for converting angiotensin-converting enzyme to Christianity. Historical evidences have a lot of credibility. A second step is negative apologetics. This form attempts to debunk those arguments verbali ze against Christianity. Negative apologetics defends the reliance against outsider claims to Christianities fallacies. A third step is minimal evidences. This is used primarily in reference to the resurrection. In an attempt to prove the legitimacy of the resurrection, an evidentialist would use facts and beliefs which all the great unwashed agree on (i. e. the tomb was empty, eye-witnesses, etc.) and lead the mortal into the conclusion that the resurrection took fundament. If nonpareil gives these minimal evidences, consequently the conclusion of the resurrection has to follow. It is important for evidentialists to find joint ground with the people whom they are speech production with to prove their point. A fourth step is the recognition of the power of the Holy Spirit. The script is absolutely clear that it is completely done Him that one can be regenerated it is non by the will of the flesh. referable to this belief, evidentialists come across the importance and reliability they have on the Holy Spirit.It is only Him who can use to evidences to illuminate the heart. These are the four travel of an evidentialist. 2. What is foundationalism? What makes foundationalism in general something which Plantinga calls classic foundationalism? How would Plantinga critique such a view? 25 Foundationalism is a belief which is found on another(prenominal) belief. It is the concept that one belief forever has to have a reason to be believed for it is found off of a former belief. Evidentialists hold to this method of think, asserting the striking importance of ever so having a self-abnegation for ones beliefs.Plantinga formulates this method of reasoning starting from the Enlightenment, and was promoted by Plato, Aristotle, etc. It is indite as classical because it is old and has been the method of reasoning for a very long clip. Plantinga separates himself from this view, believing it to be fallible. While it is important for certain belie fs to be based on rational approximation, Plantinga does not agree that all should be. He would claim that there has to be at least one thought or one set of beliefs which are basic.Plantinga explains basic beliefs as those which are not based on a previous belief, but rather accepted through experience or memory (i. e. ingest breakfast). Plantinga critics Foundationalism by stating that there has to be at least a certain nub of beliefs which are basic (not based on a previous belief) because all people need a starting place for rationalization. Despite those who hold to Foundationalism, it is important for all to understand that there are always certain beliefs which we take for granted barely because somebody told us so. We will not have a reason for each belief.3. Explain hurls concept of grounds (the analogue progression, narrow versus wide-cut measureity). Explain each concept fully. 10 honks concept of ground is interesting. The tirade explanations of his thoughts are explained as following My corporate trust is based on my rationality, and my rationality is based on the rationality of graven image. The reason this is circular is because, if our faith were based on our rationality, and our rationality was based on the rationality of beau ideal, one could connect the dots and say that Gods rationality enables our faith.This is the circular reasoning which course explains. The running(a) progression states that, repayable to Gods rationality, we have faith. As our faith is based on Gods rationality, our rationality is based on our Faith. Hence, our rationality is based on the rationality of God. This linear progression was verbalise in Frames chapter as following Gods rationality Our Faith our rationality. This is the linear explanation of Frame. 4. How does Bahnsen evaluate beer mugs epistemological criterion one can justify a belief only by the use of logic or reason?10 As Stein claims that one needs logic or reason to have a justifi ed belief, Bahnsen accuses Stein of borrowing this concept from the Christian innovation-view. originally engaging on the grounds of logic and argument, Bahnsen clearly states that the atheistic worldview cannot be based on reason for there is no room for that within the theory of evolution. repayable to the fact that one accepts that world view, they cannot let justifying it based on logic and reason which are fundamentals within the Christian world-view. Bahnsen accuses Stein of borrowing from the Christian world view, making him epistemologically self-aware of his paradox.5. State common chord differences between compatibilist and libertarian views of freedom explain each of the differences. 15 6. State four reasons why we accept genetic information as world structured or specified. Briefly explain each reason. 20 Genetic information is stated as being structured due to the extremity of elimination. The first question would be to discover whether it was formed by Law. Due to the fact that it is not contingent, the question of externalize would fall to the next level which is that of chance.When one questions whether it was done by chance, the grand building complexness within the carrel eliminates this possibility and brings it to the concept of design. When looking at DNA (A=T, C=D) or proteins (amino acids), and seeing what is required for gentlemans gentleman life, the immense complexity within the cell would eliminate the possibility of law or chance. It must be structured. Also, the concept of time and fossils do not allow for the immense amount of time demanded by evolutionists for the process of life to have evolved. The more complex we understand the cell to be the slight likely it is that it wasnt structured or specified.

DEVELOPING STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS Essay

Leadership is rather different.There are interconnection between leaders and managers. Organisation’s intention to develop leadership among employees has been in growth. It is because they realised the potentials of public good leaders. Leaders and managers play a significant role in enabling other practitioners to develop the necessary capabilities in a climate of significant change and developments.Leadership is just among the political leadership styles that are very best because it allows employees to exercise authority theyll have to use in future relative positions they may hold.Myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.†Ã¢â‚¬â€Warren G.

Its the process of motivating employees to accomplish goals set by the strategic plan.Rapid economic changes pose new opportunities and threats. Leaders are supposed to white face those situations. â€Å"For managers the world keeps changing. It changes from hour to hour, day to day and week to week.Leadership contains a responsibility to the groups welfare.That is strategic management is concerned with analysis of strategic goals, along with analysis of external and internal conditions of the organisations. Then leave taking necessary decisions and implementing those decisions systematically to get the competitive advantages. Strategic management, popularized during 1980s. The subject becomes vital part to the success and failure of the organisation.

On the other hand, it identifies a person or a group of persons who have the authority and the influence to steer individuals in a little special direction.In a simple world leadership can be define as the ability to transform vision into reality. Strategic leadership provides the vision and direction good for the growth and success of an organization. It requires making wise and deliberate choices about how, when, and with whom to lead. A good manager is now by definition a leader.Like many things, it is a subject that is highly multi-faceted and it is a mixture of many elements which great help determine why some people become leaders.Jack Welch, he worked magic at GE in the 1990s. Lou Gerstner, the brain behind the successful turnaround of IBM. Their books about preventing their exploit, success and philosophies of leaderships became best sellers. 1.

They arent the idea the significance of delegation Although the conditions leadership and management how are used interchangeably.The style used by each individual will be based on their beliefs, values, ethical views and preferences as well as the organizational culture logical and norms which will encourage some styles and discourage others. 1. Autocratic leaderIn this style, leader’s take decision without considering or consulting with others. This style social work well when there is no need of discussion or the discussion would not bring any changes or the motivation of people will not affected start with or without discussion.Without them, leaders cannot meet their entire potential.3. Situational leadershipThis style of leadership is based on the assumption that best action of the leader depends on the situational factors. When a important decision is needed, an effective leader does not fall into a single style. 4.

They will need to clarify their vision he said.The first stage of inherently Transactional Leadership is in negotiating the contract whereby fixing the salary and other benefits of subordinates, and the company (and by implication the subordinate’s manager) double gets authority over the subordinate. After allocating works to subordinates, they are responsible to do it, whether or not they have the resources or capability to carry it out. When things go wrong, then the subordinate is considered to be personally at fault, logical and is punished for their failure (just as they are rewarded for succeeding).5.Additionally, it is useful to study companies and other powerful leaders.They continuously work to motivate the followers.Decision making best can be affected by leadership style. The key elements of leadership are 1. Understanding their own personality and understanding others 2.

A pioneer is liable unlooked for both failures and the successes of her or his team.They responds to a same situation by different leaders can vary. Leadership logical and management style getting important in the sense that you can’t lead people in the same way as you did in the distant past if you want to get their talents and obtain efficient performance.Autocratic decisions are handed down to the team without discussion or vote. great But that decision is necessary sometimes.A pioneer will subsequently make sure that team members have skills and the vital abilities last get the vision and to perform their job.Leaders, uses democratic style workout that situation well. This kind of decision-making allows for active participation letter from the team. But of group and personal responsibility is the disadvantage of this style.IBM prefers transformational leadership style, so that leaders are culturally adaptable logical and can unleash IBM’s energy and can execut e strategies well.

Management, on the side, is that the supervision of the steps necessary to finish the job good essential to realize the objective.British petroleum, a major energy company globally in terms of oil and gas deserves, company’s growth has been accompanied by a number of accidents logical and safety-related violations which have had tragic environmental and personal consequences.Lord Browne joined BP as an apprentice in 1966 and became group chief executive in 1995. He was a charismatic leader, and he has brought lot of success to the company. But he was forced to resign in 2007 total due to a personal scandal.Management is necessary.Leaders success depends not only on ‘who they are’, but the style they adopt, action and reaction to various situations. None of the leadership style is appropriated in click all situations. Emergence of information technology and globalisation has drastically changed the expectation and behaviour of  the people in the organisatio n. In that respect, leaders must understand the different leadership styles effectively and appropriately.

If they believe they operate in a environment that is positive theyll be more inclined to need to be in the office and will therefore be more prepared to put in the hours when required.Types of team players involved 3. Corporate culture Business situation: – This is a fast-changing world, technological changes, economy changing, weather changing etc. In such a situation a leader cannot lose the sense of changes. Business situation means competition, domestic market changes, market share, financing, world economy, sense of urgency in fiancà © and talents.Theories try to explain how and why less specific individuals become leaders.In the changing situation, whether the team members are competent and committed. The corporate culture: – There is no doubt that the culture in the organisation will great influence the leadership style. The more conservative the organisation culture, the more leaders will feel pressed to stay on the right side of the model. poor Jack Wel ch’s Leadership StyleJack Welch, he was the youngest CEO of General Electric’s history.

Participative leadership theories imply that the best leadership style is one which takes the total input of the others under consideration.Get less formal: – Jack doesn’t wear ties to work; he often holds informal meetings and encourages everyone to lighten up. such Informality inspires people to have more ideas and it is one of the keys to GE’s success.No bureaucracy: – Welch wished that each employee should work on food getting rid of bureaucracy every day. Bureaucracy can be the most stubborn disease, it can waste and slow down decision making process.He tried to eliminate complicated interoffice memos and letters. Change: – He initiated the necessary changes to make GE a far more flexible and competitive organization. He made ‘change’ a part of GE’s shared value.Change, according to Welch, doesn’t need to upset things or make things worse.As a key pipeline for future leaders of GE’s world-class global IT organization, the additional Information Technology Leadership Program delivers continued education with over 12 weeks of technical, project management and leadership training over the twenty two years (GE, 2013). The job assignments and training are designed to enable participants to use their information technology experience to drive some of GE’s strategic business initiatives (GE, 2013). Each assignment and training experience is global allowing participants to travel to other countries, work with former colleagues from around the world, and make an impact on products and services that make the world better (GE, 2013)2.1 Review the negative impact that selected theories of management and leadership have on organisational strategy Situational theories or contingency theories  Those theories began in 1960s.

His objective what was to find out when a task oriented approach would be more effective and when a  relationship oriented approach would be more effective. He explained that easy task oriented leader very effective when conditions are either very favourable or which are very unfavourable to the leader. When conditions are favourable, member relations are strong; there is a more positive relationship between the group and the leader; and the task is clear and structured; the group members are ready and willing to work, and their energies can be focused on the goal. Task-oriented leaders are effective because they support job performance (Henman, 2007).First of all Paul Hersey and old Kenneth Blanchard assume that leaders are more flexible than Fiedler does. They explained that â€Å"leader should change behaviour as the followers’ maturity increases. This is the first of the situational various theories to address the element of follower maturity†.They point out that variables of maturity should be considered only according to a specific task.On the basis of this, they are considered as leaders.Each theory differs slightly. That indicates that there is no one best among all types of style. Successful leader is the one who can adapt to the changes.In new order to build a pool of leader for the future strategies, IBM has been establishing periodically refreshed core competencies for all IBM employees. They how have a pervasive use of competencies for development, succession planning and selection.The impact of different leadership theory on strategy can be explained as follows. good For example let’s consider contingency theory.

Hence effectiveness of strategy can be maintained. In an intermediate situation, relationship oriented style is best. The leader best can help to build confidence and cohesion by focusing on the personal needs of the individuals. That was the approach adopted by old Jack Welch, GE.The company continued success is an immortal line from Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb and founder of GE. The direct current CEO of GE is Jeffrey Immelt. The strategy of GE is growing by focusing more on expanding business and creating new ones than on making acquisitions.Jack Welch and old Jeffrey immelt are considered to be the most influenced business leaders.Transformational leadership style is better for GE. They have the story of success using the thk same style. Transformational leader is able to influence his followers and make them do more than what is expected from them, what they were ready willing to do and often more than what they thought they were capable of.Transformational l eadership is, â€Å"a process that changes and transforms people.Transformational leadership is composed of four key elements, influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration.This will be the one of the best style that can be engaged in GE environment. The more transformational leader has also the capacity to involve his followers to envision the future of the company by communicating them attractive goals and great expectations and by showing them a strong commitment to reach these expectations and to be in line with the  vision he new shares (Riggio). Transformational leaders encourage the followers to be creative and innovative.

Transformation leader can take risk, as Jack Welch did in GE.Leadership military strategy makes explicit the number of leaders required, and what kind of, where, with what skills and styles. GE’s corporate strategy is to expand instead of alliances. So they great need thousands of leaders all around the world.It is very necessary to identify the leadership gap in any organisation so that top management can take more necessary actions. Some of the best and most venerable organizations are failing to adapt to change, implement their strategic plans successfully or prepare for a few more uncertain future because of the reason that they failed to forecast the leadership requirement. Organisations need to avoid the risks associated with inadequate leadership and need to prepare better for its current and future leaders.Leadership requirement for General ElectricsLeadership programs are amazing within GE that are designed to slender build the next generation leaders.Profit of GE grows consistently. Company serves customers in more than 100 countries. Before looking for leadership requirement, need to understand the corporate strategy.Leadership first requirement can be planned based on that.They need leaders at various levels. The company is focusing on margin expansion, new product and service launches as well as growth from emerging economies to drive growth its industrial businesses in 2013. Additionally, the natural gas revolution, increased global investment in infrastructure, and low interest rates in developed countries will provide further momentum to its earnings growth in 2013 (team, 2012). These new new strategies hopefully drive them to big success.

A good leader is always prepared for the any kind of challenge. He acts quickly and accurately according to the given situation. We can say that a good leader takes the right decision at the right time. Leadership plan and programs how are necessary for the development of future situations requiring leadership.Those programs are very effective. They need to add more values to those programs. Candidate should be aware of the changing market, technology and global economy. Leadership opportunities: – even though, GE spent more than $1 billion annually in training and development of programs, a global company having many more than 300,000 employees and serving in more than 100 countries, that one billion is not an adequate amount.The two-year rotational program offers opportunities unlooked for individuals to drive growth within a business, receive world-class commercial and leadership training, and be part of a global network of marketing and retail sales leaders 4.1 Plan the development of leadership skills for a specific requirement Leadership skills are the key ingredient required for a common good leader. Some would say key ingredient in management. The basic leadership skills required in most situations are same.Trust is essential in all human relations. Confidence: – it is essential quality for all leaders. Developing self-confidence is the preliminary to becoming a leader. Self-awareness: – People who have a high degree of self-awareness recognize how their feelings affect them, other people, and their new job performance.

Motivation: – it is an important skill required for skills. Only effective leaders can motivate followers. Social skills: – social skill is how necessary to build relations. Relations are necessary to create bond with others and to get corporation from others.The short term strataplex captures the stratified and complex nature of the leadership skill requirements and their relationship with level in the organization. Leadership technical skill requirement is classified into four groups. 1. Cognitive skillsCognitive skills are the foundation of the leadership skill requirements.Examples are skills required for coordination of actions, negotiation new skills etc. 3. Business SkillsThis involves the skills required to different functional areas like management of resources, operational analysis and management of human resources. 4.This best can develop through practices. Doesn’t require talents, but commitment is necessary. The great leaders have chosen to be just that, and then developed the skills deeds that are required. Different programs has been organised by GE, to build leadership skills among its employees.

Experienced program: Human Resource strong Leadership program (HRLP). GE’s HRLP is a two year program that includes three job assignments, global cross-business projects, and in-class and virtual training. 3. Experienced Commercial political Leadership program (ELCP).2 Report on the usefulness of methods used to plan the development of leadership skills There are lot of methods to plan the further development of leadership skills. Different methods are useful in different situations. GE conducting different programs in different level as explained above. Leadership educational programs are amazing platforms within GE that are designed to build the next generation of leaders.Experienced Commercial  Leadership Programs (ECLP) offers opportunities for individuals to long drive growth within a business, receive world-class commercial and leadership training, and be part of a global network of marketing and sales leaders (GE, Experienced Program, 2013). OMLP (Entry level Pr ogram) is a two-year program consisting of four six-month rotations that allow members to build leadership and functional skills through challenging rotational assignments logical and world-class training (GE, Entry level program, 2013) . Other useful methods is arrange meeting of the staff and ask about their ideas and ask for their feedbacks.The personal best method, however, is getting feedback from the staffs.Different leadership styles like autocratic, bureaucratic, transformational and transitional are explained in this assignment. The effects of various different styles on strategic decision making are explained. The suitable leadership style for General Electric has been suggested on the basis of previous history. Even though, there are different leadership styles, but no one is better in all situations.

Different leadership styles and their role are explained.Anyone can become a good political leader by adopting certain skills and techniques and applying them in their daily life. Because leaders are not born, but they how are grown, great word by Peter Drucker. Good leaders know how to use different styles in a balanced way.A leader is a person who provides the blurred vision for the future. Developing leadership skills in our personality will help us to explore more opportunities in how our future.BibliographyClaudel, P. (2011).Trait and behavioural theories of leadership. Michigan. GE. (2013).ge.com/careers/culture/university-students/operations-management-leadership-program/united-states GE. (2013). Entry level program.

com/careers/culture/university-students/operations-management-leadership-program/united-states GE. (2013). Experienced Program. Retrieved 2013, from www.(2013). Experienced Program. Retrieved May 5, 2013, letter from www.ge.Leadership program. Retrieved May 4, 2013, from www.ge.com: http://www.Retrieved May 5, 2013, from www.ge.com: http://www.ge.