The Ghost of Hamlet-Act I, Scene 5 Analysis essays

The Ghost of Hamlet-Act I, Scene 5 Analysis expositions One of the principal implies that something is spoiled in the province of Denmark is the point at which the watcher of Shakespeares disaster of Hamlet recognizes the presence of Old Hamlet, frequenting the palace around evening time. Villas father, strolling the balustrades, looks as he did when he lived, however he is inspired by just once concern presently vengeance. At the point when the previous ruler is at long last ready to hold nothing back from Young Hamlet, Old Hamlet tells his child that he is a soul originated from limbo. During the day he should consume quick in fires,Till the foul violations done in my long periods of nature/Are scorched and cleansed away while during the night he strolls, hungry for vengeance. The explanation the previous lord is committed to limbo is on the grounds that he kicked the bucket without making a full admission of his wrongdoings, as is expected of all trusting Christians. While he was resting in his plantation, his sibling poured poison in his ear, killing him while he dozed. To prod his child onto retribution his homicide, the phantom plays upon Hamlets effectively solid abhorrence of his uncle. The phantom makes reference to the debased idea of the union of the apparently ethical Gertrude and Claudius, and considers Claudius that perverted, that defile brute. The phantom harps upon the licentiousness of the sovereigns activity, and furthermore suggests that Claudius is abhorrent to turn a powerless willed lady to a tumbling off from a more noteworthy man to a lesser man. Hamlet hence is doubly persuaded, the phantom suggests, as his dads child and furthermore as somebody who ought to shield his mom from Claudius and from herself. The profoundly explicit nature of how Hamlets father met his death loans believability to the phantoms claims. All things considered, the apparition doesn't just advise Hamlet to Revenge his foul and most unnatural homicide, yet discloses to Hamlet a methods for homicide that nobody would probably induce from the conditions, except if he was a living or dead witne... <!

Chapter Columbia

Columbia Company, which fabricates machine instruments, had the accompanying exchanges identified with plant resources in 2014. Resource An: On June 2, 2014, Columbia bought a stepping machine at a retail cost of $12,000. Columbia paid 6% deals charge on this buy. Columbia paid a contractual worker $2,800 for an uncommonly wired stage for the machine, to guarantee noninterrupted capacity to the machine. Columbia appraises the machine will have a 4-year helpful life, with a rescue estimation of $2,000 toward the finish of 4 years. The machine was placed into utilization on July 1, 2014.Asset B: On January 1, 2014, Columbia, Inc. igned a fixed-value contract for development of a distribution center office at an expense of $1,000,000. It was assessed that the undertaking will be finished by December 31, 2014. On March 1, 2014, to back the development cost, Columbia acquired $1,000,000 payable April 1, 2015, or more enthusiasm at the pace of 10%. During 2014, Columbia gained store and gr ound installments totaling $750,000 under the agreement; the weighted-normal measure of gathered uses was $400,000 for the year.The overabundance acquired assets were put resources into momentary protections, from which Columbia acknowledged speculation income of $13,000. The distribution center was ompleted on December 1, 2014, at which time Columbia made the last installment to the contractual worker. Columbia evaluates the distribution center will have a 25-year helpful life, with a rescue estimation of $20,000. Columbia utilizes straight-line devaluation and utilizes the â€Å"half-year† show in representing halfway year deterioration. Columbia's monetary year finishes on December 31 . Guidelines (an) At what sum should Columbia record the procurement cost of the machine? b) What measure of promoted intrigue should Columbia remember for the expense of the distribution center? (c) On July 1, 2016, Columbia chooses to re-appropriate its stepping activity to Medek, Inc. As a major aspect of this arrangement, Columbia sells the machine (and the stage) to Medek, Inc. for $7,000. What is the effect of this removal on Columbia's 2016 pay before charges? Arrangement (a) Historical expense is estimated by the money or money proportional cost of acquiring the benefit and carrying it to the area and condition for its planned use.For Columbia, this is: Price $12,000 Tax 720 Platform 2,800 Total $15,520 Since Columbia has remarkable obligation brought about explicitly for the development venture, in a sum more prominent than the weighted-normal aggregated uses of $400,000, the loan fee of 10% is utilized for capitalization purposes. Capitalization endless supply of the venture at December 31, 2014. Consequently, the avoidable premium is $40,000, which is not exactly the real interest.The venture income ot is unimportant to the inquiry tended to in this issue in light of the fact that such premium earned on the unexpended bit of the credit isn't to be counterbala nced against the sum qualified for capitalization. (c) The salary impact is an increase or misfortune, dictated by contrasting the book estimation of the advantage for the removal esteem: Cost $1 5,520 Less: Accumulated deterioration 6,760* Book estimation of machine and stage 8,760 Less: Cash got for machine and stage 7,000 Loss before annual assessments $ 1,760 hyear $1,690 2014. entire year 3,380 2015. 2016. ? h year 1,690

Move-in Advice

Move-in Advice It’s officially the week of move-in! Move-in went fairly smooth for me, so here are a few tips that helped me while I was preparing for my move, and will hopefully help you transition smoothly as well! Storage bins are life savers I packed various different sizes and colors of storage bins so I knew exactly which bin was for what. There’s no need to go overboard, but when you have a desk, shelves, and space underneath your bed, bins can really help when organizing everything. Don’t remove the tags for anything until you actually use it Sometimes, when you’re buying things for college that you “need,” you quickly realize that you either don’t need it or you simply don’t have enough space for it. Once you’re in your room, you’ll get a better idea of what you need and what you don’t so it’s just a better idea to save tags/receipts. You don’t need to pack essentials in bulk, you can always buy them on campus When I moved in, I brought 2 of almost everything. The extra things I brought took up a lot more space than I thought they would. So, I realized that there’s no need to pack in bulk unless you know you absolutely wont be able to find it at the Walmart near campus/Walgreens on campus. Bring a door stop Moving everything into your room will be a lot easier if you don’t have to constantly worry about the door shutting behind you. It will also keep your room cooler and less stuffy while you’re moving everything. When you pack your clothes, pack them on the hanger I brought a large luggage bag and placed my clothes (on their hangers) in my bag. Doing this saved me about an hour since everything was ready to hang up. Tape your drawers shut If you’re planning on bringing plastic storage drawers with you (to store snacks, school stuff, etc.), pack your belongings inside them and then place small pieces of tape on the sides of each drawer so the stuff inside won’t fall out. Keep a positive mentality! If you are relaxed and prepared, there’s nothing to worry about. It might take a while to get things set up and you might have forgotten a thing or two but everything will be okay. This is a difficult transition for your family, too, so it’s extremely important to be patient with them as well. Nisha Class of 2022 The first time I visited Illinois, I knew that it was the school for me! I am on the pre-med track, majoring in Psychology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Leadership Styles And Leadership Skills - 887 Words

Leadership is a concept that people cannot grab. People assume that when you become a manager or a supervisor you are anointed with leadership skills. John Maxwell, who has worked with numerous Fortune 500 companies and has sold more than 25 million books thinks this about leadership â€Å"Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.† (Maxwell, 1998) This leadership paper will cover examples from my personal experience while evaluating the examples and if they were effective or appropriate. It will also cover the leadership style that I most identify with and use an example to illustrate. The majority of my life I have been employed by horrible people with worse leadership skills. The owner/manager of the company had a regressive way of leadership now that I can reflect on the behavior not being in such a toxic environment. Rue describes their directive leadership skills with the autocratic style correctly â€Å"focus primarily on successfully performing the work.† (Rue, 2014, p. 282) The autocratic style was exactly their approach. I was not aware there were even words already out there to describe this behavior besides the derogatory ones that my coworkers and I would call them. A brief example of such wrong leadership ability was one employee forgot to put some plaques on the truck. At this point in the season, which was over halfway finished, has not happened yet. This problem happened before in seasons past, and we haveShow MoreRelatedLeadership Styles And Leadership Skills1256 Words   |  6 PagesAccording to our textbook, â€Å"leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes† (Daft, 2014, pg. 5). In another word, leadership is not defined by what one individual does, but as the ability to form an alliance, motivate, empowered, coach, and to build relationship with others. Leadership is a set of skills that leaders can practice over time. In addition, ther e are different leadership perspectives one can developRead MoreLeadership Styles Of Leadership Skills Essay1052 Words   |  5 PagesDuring the course of Tiger Leadership we learned about different leadership styles. We also learned what it take to be a leader within our communities, work force, and organizations. It takes a lot to be a leader. The one thing that we learned is that leadership is learned and not born into it. Every leader has the potential to improve their leadership style to benefit everyone else. When someone goes out of their way to make sure the job gets done and has compassion for their fellow team memberRead MoreLeadership Styles : Leadership And Management Skills1018 Words   |  5 Pagescontinue to occur in nursing as well as the health care industry. As the profession continues to grow, it will become increasingly important for the nurse to develop skills in both leadership and management roles (Marquis, B. L., Huston, C. J., 2017). For optimal functiona lity, a great leader most possess both leadership and management skills. Gadner (1990) asserted that integrated leader-managers possess six distinguishing traits. These include. 1) They think long term. 2) They look outward, towardRead MoreLeadership Skills And Styles Of Dr. Brown1991 Words   |  8 PagesElementary School. Dr. Brown holds BA in Philosophy, M. Ed. in Special Education and PhD in Educational Leadership and possesses 15 years of experience in administering urban school districts. Moreover, Dr. Brown has a passion for students, families and staff. The principal believes in authenticity, commitment, fairness, tenacity, playfulness and vision as the fundamental hallmarks of leadership. In his current position, he shapes the vision of academic success and instructional competence for studentsRead MoreLeadership Traits, Skills, And Style Questionnaires2656 Words   |  11 Pageshave decided to use the leadership trait, skills and style questionnaires. For this questionna ire, I asked 5 different people that know me in different contexts in life, such as personal, school, and work environments. For the majority, I rated myself higher on the traits than my fellow colleagues. On some of the traits however, I was rated higher than what I thought. Overall, I averaged a 4/5 which means that everyone agreed with the traits that were given. For the style questionnaire, I found outRead MoreMy Leadership Style : Leadership, The Skills Model And Motivations, And The Path Goal Theory2295 Words   |  10 PagesLeadership is a part of every social relationship, even in ways we do not stop to consider. Each individual sees leadership through a different lens and from a different perspective. My personal leadership style is something I constantly work to improve. The specific situation I am in directs how I take action in my leadership role. Throughout this paper, I will address how my leadership style relates to the trait approach, authentic leadership, the skill s model and motivations, and the path-goalRead MoreEffectiveness Of Leadership Skills Styles At Team Level Management Position3100 Words   |  13 Pagesdependent on a variety of factors such as leader-follower relations, leadership styles and situational factors (Reynolds Rogers, 2003). An effective leader should also be flexible, innovative and wisely use his/her power statics to improve organizational performance (Crutchfield Roughton, 2013; Davidson, 2012; Norton, 2010). Based on these concepts, this report aims to explore the effectiveness of leadership skills styles at team level management position in maximizing team performance in RealRead MoreWhat Kind Of Marketing Skills And What Types Of Leadership Styles That Angela3206 Words   |  13 PagesBritish brand, however, after she took office, Burberry becomes a luxury brand and to apprehend the youth market. To investigate what kind of marketing skills and what types of leadership styles that Angela used to let Burberry makes revive. Key word: Tannenbaum Schmidt Leadership Continuum Model, Margerison McCann Team Wheel, and leadership style 2. Introduction To face of financial crisis and global economic recession, some of luxury brands are still worth unabated. Successful luxuryRead MoreDifferent Definitions Of Leadership, Skills, And Behavioral Styles That Set Me Apart From Everyone Else?1336 Words   |  6 Pagesdetermining whether to keep it up or improve on the said skills. With different definitions of leadership, different people also view my leadership skills differently. This is simply because I possess certain traits, skills and behavioral styles that set me apart from everyone else. Having completed the three surveys which includes; Five-Factor Trait Model, Skills inventory and Situational leadership surveys, a friend completed the Behavioral Style Questionnaire. Five- Factor Trait Model After I completedRead MoreAnalysis of Leadership Theories958 Words   |  4 PagesLeadership Theories Analysis Leadership theories These leadership theories are grouped in trait theories, behavioral theories, contingency theories, and power and influence theories. Trait theories focus on the traits and skills that successful leaders must have. Initially, these theories state that these skills are innate, but research shows that individuals can also develop such skills and become leaders. Behavioral theories focus on other issues, like the behavior of leaders within their teams

Charles Darwin s Theory Of Natural Selection - 1408 Words

Over time, different species learn to adapt to their living environment in order to survive. If a genetic change of a characteristic is passed down through generations, a formation of a new species occurs (G, Linstead et. al., 2012). A variation to the characteristic of an individual can increase its survival and this provides more opportunities to reproduce. When the individual reproduces, the offspring benefit in result of the heritable genes and eventually through generations, the variants will be spread throughout the entire population (Montgomery, 2009). Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection can be supported through both fossils and homologous structures. A technique that supports Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection is fossils. A fossil is the remnant or imprint of a previous animal embedded in rock and preserved in petrified form (J, Castro, 2013). Fossils are used and are still important today as they demonstrate the different types of species of animals and plants that were on the earth at various times in the past. This assists palaeontologists, who study the fossils hominid, learn about the creatures that once lived on the earth. This includes the human ancestors and their relatives, and how they have developed over time (G, Linstead et. al., 2012). There are various ways in which fossils support Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Fossils provide a way for palaeontologists to reconstruct the creatures, plants and humans of the past. ItShow MoreRelatedCharles Darwin And Darwin s Theory Of Natural Selection1489 Words   |  6 Pagesbaffled to discover that this species has been completely altered. This outcome is a direct result of a ubiquitous phenomenon theorized by none other than Charles Darwin, a prestigious naturalist and biologist. This venerable man was able to unveil many revelations regarding variability through the development of his theory of natural selection (Darwin and Huxley xii). Having an inherent adoration toward nature as a young child likely provided a significant incentive. Though Darwin’s thesis is not immaculateRead MoreCharles Darwin s Theory Of Natural Selection1399 Words   |  6 Pages(thoughtco). Charles Darwin’s theory clearly state that evolution occurs by natural selection. Darwin published a book in 1859 on the origin of species. In the book Darwin talks about the philosophy of natural selection. Natural selection is when a group of species show variation in their physical characters. This is because of the difference in their gene. Charles Darwin proposed that natural selection acts to preserve accumulate minor advantageous ge netic mutations (Darwin’s-theory-of-evolution)Read MoreCharles Darwin s Theory Of Natural Selection Essay1707 Words   |  7 PagesWhen Charles Darwin first developed his theory of Natural selection, he discovered that â€Å"Individuals in populations vary their â€Å"heritable† traits† (Leicht and McAllister, 2006. p. 157). And that â€Å"if a particular inherited trait confers a higher likelihood of survival and reproduction, individuals with that trait will leave more offspring than other individuals in the population† (Leicht and McAllister, 2006. p.157). With this in mind, during project 3 we took pooled data of the entire class in orderRead MoreCharles Darwin s Theory Of Natural Selection2372 Words   |  10 PagesCharles Darwin in his theory of natural selection said â€Å" the fittest of the fittest will survive,† and year after year China has proven they are the fittest by climbing the economic ladder, as Mark Schwartz Vice Chairman of G oldman Sachs and Chairman of Golden Sachs Asia Pacific, claims in his speech â€Å"China’s Economic Success and Opportunities,† â€Å"China is coming out of a period of rapid growth almost ten percent over the last thirty (30) years. In 2013 China’s gross domestic product (GDP) was 9Read MoreCharles Darwin s Theory Of Evolution And Natural Selection2114 Words   |  9 PagesCharles Darwin Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England, on February 12, 1809. He died on April 19, 1882 in Kent, England (Biography.com Editors). Charles Darwin brought many revolutionary visions to the world of science, including evolution. Charles Darwin was an English naturalist and geologist. He is best known for his theory of evolution, and natural selection. Darwin learned most of his information on the Voyage of the Beagle, and from this trip he wrote a book, Of the Origin of SpeciesRead MoreCharles Darwin s Theory Of Evolution And Natural Selection1535 Words   |  7 PagesCharles Robert Darwin was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is based on a mechanism that he titled natural selection. Natural selection is, as defined by Darwin in his book On the Origin of Species, the method of being naturally selected for a better chance of survival in an environment. Evolution itself is the process by which organisms develop and adapt over generations. â€Å"†¦ it follows that any being, if it vary however slightly in any mannerRead MoreHow Did Thomas Malthus Inspire Charles Darwin s Theory Of Natural Selection? Essay1014 Words   |  5 PagesMalthus inspire Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection? Define natural selection. Thomas Malthus stated that the human population would eventually decrease significantly. His reasoning was that there would be a scarcity of food and other vital resources, leaving only the fittest of the species to survive. These â€Å"fittest† of the species would then pass on their traits to their offspring. Darwin used this is a firm foundation for his natural selection theory. Natural selection is the idea thatRead MoreEvolution Is The Biological Ideal For The History Of Life On Earth814 Words   |  4 Pagesof life on Earth. (Evolution fact and theory). It is the process by which an organism becomes more refined over time and in response to its environment. Evolution is about how we evolved; how Neanderthals and cave men evolved into Homo sapiens much like what we are today. It’s about how creatures evolved over time, dinosaurs becoming extinct through natural selection and how sharks have been alive for over 400 million years; it’s all about how natural s election chooses the best qualities and how theyRead MoreThe Theory Of Science And Technology1454 Words   |  6 Pageslive in today. Charles Robert Darwin was an English geologist and naturalist, best known for his significant addition to the science of evolution. He had a theory that all species have inherited traits over time from common ancestors, and in a partnership with Alfred Russel Wallace introduced his scientific theory that this pattern of evolution resulted from an action that he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the natural selection involved in selectiveRead MoreThe Scientific Theory Of Science And Technology1449 Words   |  6 Pageslive in today. Charles Robert Darwin was an English geologist and naturalist, best known for his significant addition to the science of evolution. He had a theory that all species have inherited traits over time from common ancestors, and in a partnership with Alfred Russel Wallace int roduced his scientific theory that this pattern of evolution resulted from an action that he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the natural selection involved in selective

Outsourcing Trends Health Services Professionals Free Essays

string(108) " quality and bring the programs under local control to align the program with their own mission and values\." [pic] MGT 6220 – Health Care Human Resource Management Outsourcing Trends – Health Services Professionals Fall 2012 Research Paper Anthony Edens Thomas Grumley Outsourcing Trends – Health Services Professionals In today’s healthcare environment, hospitals are facing increasing pressure to reduce costs, increase efficiency and improve the quality of patient care. Although some of the details of the impending changes may not be perfectly defined, the industry is certain that changes are inevitable. Going forward, there will be an increased focus on quality; penalties for re-admissions, medical errors and hospital acquired infections (Buser, 2010). We will write a custom essay sample on Outsourcing Trends: Health Services Professionals or any similar topic only for you Order Now Several factors, such as aging populations, new treatments, low patient financial responsibility and misalignment of incentives have forced the Government to reconsider current Medicare reimbursement arrangements (Kaplan, Porter, 2011). For example, fee for service, which reimburses providers and hospitals based on the procedure performed, are not based on the desired outcome which should be good patient health. Therefore, the incentive for the provider could be to perform more of the higher reimbursement procedures and not to focus on decreasing the costs of business. Unfortunately, this has lead to a cycle of increasing costs for the government and payers, who are now looking for ways to decrease reimbursement and align incentives with quality while reducing re-admissions. Decreasing reimbursement will force hospitals that are not currently focused on cost control to rethink the existing strategies. In light of this, hospitals will need to concentrate on expense control, staffing productivity and service line efficiency. Crucially, hospitals will need to focus on effective alignment with physician practices and hospitalists. One consideration that continues to arise is whether to outsource certain functions from an employment model to one involving outsourcing, and one which will be discussed at length in the following pages. The current climate is signaling a clear increase in the trend to outsource a multitude of functions, for both large and small hospitals. In Modern Healthcare’s 33rd Annual Outsourcing Survey, 42 firms reported a 14% increase in the number of healthcare clients from 2009 to 2010. The following year’s survey, reported that among the top 20 outsourcing firms there was a reported 13. 1% growth from 2010 to 2011. The top 5 services which are currently outsourced are laundry, housekeeping, clinical/diagnostic equipment maintenance, hospital based emergency departments and food services (Kutscher, 2012). Additionally, the outsourcing of back office functions continues to increase. For example, firms providing accounts receivable functions reported a 21% increase in 2010 and firms providing medical record services reported a 6% increase in 2010 and an 8% increase in 2011 (Kutscher, 2012; Daly, 2011). Also related to the back office functions is effective revenue cycle management. When considering the tightening of the current and future reimbursement environment, the ability for a hospital to successfully collect monies owed and to reduce bad debt will be crucial. For example, in May of 2011, Conifer, a subsidiary of for-profit hospital chain Tenet Healthcare Corp. , Dallas announced that it closed on a deal to provide revenue management services to 56 hospitals (Kutscher, 2012). Another area of explosive growth is in the IT sector. Part of the reason is that there is a federal mandate which requires hospitals and physician practices to show â€Å"meaningful use† of electronic records. Not only are there financial incentives for implementing electronic health records early, there are financial penalties for those that have not implemented a system over the next few years. Robust growth can also be seen among the firms that provide diagnostic equipment maintenance. In Modern Healthcare’s 33rd Annual Outsourcing Survey, these firms saw 12. 6% growth from 2009 to 2010 and the following year’s survey showed a 16. % increase. This is due to the fact the medical equipment is growing increasingly more complex and that specialized firms are able to adhere to strict maintenance schedules, provide detailed documentation and track repair costs. One of the largest areas of growth is in the outsourcing of anesthesia services. From 2009 to 2010, the growth among survey respondents was 147% to a total of 2 22 contracts. One of the reasons for this is that anesthesia services can operate as a self contained unit within a hospital. This works more efficiently than if each physician would bring in their own team by providing both consistency and cost effectiveness. However, there are concerns regarding outsourcing hospital services. Reasons for hesitation among hospital executives can be corporate culture, patient privacy and regulatory compliance. There are definite security and compliance concerns related to the outsourcing of electronic medical records. For instance, while Indian insurance and pharmaceutical companies have had success, gaining market share from U. S hospitals may prove to be difficult. As soon as it leaves the confines of the U. S. , it’s not subject to the same rigorous laws as we are,† says George Conklin, chief information officer of Christus Health (Sharma, 2010). Here, we are going to focus on outsourcing the hospitalist and revenue cycle functions and show some of the advantages and limitations of each. The number of hospitals that have hospitalist programs continues to gro w, and today 2/3rd of all hospitals use a hospitalist program. Additionally, the demand for these providers currently outweighs the supply with a total of 31,000 covering the country’s demand of 40,000 (Buser, 2010). One of the reasons for this increasing demand is it allows those physicians with busy outpatient practices to concentrate on those practices and for the providers in the hospitalists programs to concentrate on the inpatients. Additionally, hospitalists can focus their attention to the details of inpatient management due to their more consistent practice patterns and expertise which all helps to reduce average length of stay and increase patient health and satisfaction. Hospitals can choose from either employing and managing the group of hospitalists directly or using a 3rd party vendor such as TeamHealth or EmCare to outsource the service. For instance, a hospital may choose to employ a group of hospitalists directly if it’s looking to ensure quality and bring the programs under local control to align the program with their own mission and values. You read "Outsourcing Trends: Health Services Professionals" in category "Papers" However, crucial to the success of this is effective leadership and expertise. In some instances, employing hospitalists directly may require abundant investment in IT systems and other tools which will require large amounts of capital dollars that some smaller hospitals may not have access to. In these instances a hospital may choose to outsource this function to take advantage of the large economies of scale and expertise a large vendor may be able to offer. For instance, in the article â€Å"Hospital Medicine’s Management Shuffle† by Bonnie Darves, Martin Buser, MPH, who is the co-founder of the hospitalist consulting firm Hospitalist Management Resources LLC, attributes the decisions to outsource to rapid growth of programs in which the hospital did not have the proper infrastructure and financial support to carry on with the program. Additionally, by outsourcing the practice the hospital reduces its regulatory risks as well as administrative and recruiting burdens. For example, in 2007 Hospital Specialists of Georgia, turned over management services to Cogent, a prominent and large vendor of hospitalist programs. At the time the group was handling a third of the medical center’s admissions and could not increase that without support. Without available capital, the company was not able to meet the growing demands of IT, especially as quality and performance measurement started to become more prevalent. (Darves, 2007). Using a 3rd party vendor whose expertise lies in focus and efficiency, and especially when combined with firms who bundle ED and hospitalist services, hospitals can reduce patient wait times and reduce the number of patients who leave the ER prior to triage or treatment. Ultimately this acts to increase the overall volumes of the hospital. Additionally, for 2012, CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) created two new critical measurements which measure, in minutes, the time from ED arrival to ED departure for patients admitted from the ED to the facility and from the admit decision time to the time of departure from the ED for patients admitted to inpatient status. Improving these times has a multitude of positive effects on the facility. For example, this can reduce the ED length of stay, increase the ED capacity, improve the admission process and ultimately improve the patient outcome. Conversely, some may argue that quality and alignment with the hospital are better achieved when providers are employed directly. For example, Kadlec Medical Center of Richland Washington decided that in 2006 it would discontinue its arrangement with a large vendor and bring its program in-house. The hospital wanted more control over the number of hospitalists as well as the scope and quality of services (Darves, 2007). However, the data suggests that quality does not suffer when outsourcing a hospitalist program. This is why we recommend outsourcing in the case of a hospitalist program. In a 2009 survey released by the Medical Group Management Association, the data shows that a hospitalist from a large vendor sees, on average, more than 19% more patients per day than a hospitalist employed by the hospital. Patrick Hays FACHE and C. Thomas Smith explain in their article â€Å"Why the Independent Hospitalist Practice is here to Stay,† that this does not imply an adverse effect on the quality of the healthcare, and is instead the result of a focused effort where other hospital assignments are not competing for attention. An increase in focus and expertise can lead to early detection and better diagnosis of disease which ultimately leads to less expensive and less complex treatments, and importantly, to fewer re-admissions. Outsourcing the hospitalist practice is also cost effective. A 3rd party hospitalist vendor can usually integrate its existing software with the hospitals and reduce training and orientation costs that could come with having to learn a new EMR system. In addition to IT and recruiting costs, there can also be costs associated with billing, accounting, legal, regulatory, marketing and quality control. Should a hospital choose to employ the physicians and experience rapid growth without the proper infrastructure, these costs can quickly deteriorate the earnings of the group. Regulatory and legal costs can be especially problematic. For instance, Stark and Anti-Kickback Laws limit what a hospital can pay to an employed physician and require that each contract be put under scrutiny to ensure fair market value scrutiny to guarantee there are no conflicts of interest between the physician, hospital and patient. To make certain a hospital is not violating these serious and complex laws, it would need to employ and increase its legal department’s infrastructure to include a department specifically designated to physician contracts, a cost many small hospitals may not be able to afford. With so many reasons for a hospital to use a 3rd party vendor, hospitals may become increasingly interested in avoiding the employment model. John Donahue, CEO of Cogent HMG expects a â€Å"dramatic ramp up of hospitalist consolidation† in the coming years because of the new quality requirements the government is demanding the hospitals meet. The large hospitalist companies already have effective ways to measure this as well as reduce length of stay and complications resulting from hospital stays (Robeznieks, 2012). Another step firms are taking to convince hospital executives that outsourcing is the right choice is using local contractors and simultaneously offering a national support model. For example, Radisphere, an Ohio based radiology outsourcing firm, uses local radiologists who work with a network of offsite subspecialists offering continuous access to consultations. In summary, outsourcing hospitalist services can provide hospitals, large and small, a cost effective and efficient means to provide quality patient care. With an ever increasing focus on quality, using a group focused physicians with hospital expertise who do not have competing private practices can increase patient satisfaction, increase hospital capacity and volumes all while helping the hospital achieve its goals while creating and maintaining a good quality reputation in the community. Let us not forget, however, that the presence of Human Resources should be critical in this decision. The head of Human Resources needs to understand the dynamics of the business and the challenges that lay ahead should the company choose to outsource an existing function or in-source a function currently delegated to a 3rd party firm. For instance, if a decision is made to outsource an existing department there will need to be a roadmap for the existing employees. Ask questions such as, â€Å"Will there be a severance package or can these employees be transitioned or transferred to open positions in other areas of the company? Furthermore, there needs to be discussions regarding the reliability of the outsourcing firm and a contingency plan should the firm go out of business or discontinue the relationship. Are there alternative companies that could provide similar services if this situation were to arise? Will the chosen firm be able to meet the projected volume needs to the hospital? Additionally, even if the hospitalist function is outsourced, communication from management and H R will remain important so that those in these new positions still feel supported and motivated. HR needs to work closely with the firm providing the services so that boundaries, objectives and targets are clear. In a situation where an outsourced function is brought in-house, HR needs to ensure that the current management infrastructure can accommodate the new positions. Especially in the case of employing hospitalists, contracts as well as compensation and benefit packages need to be created. Another example of where opportunities lie for outsourcing departments is in office functions such as revenue cycle management. In recent years, hospitals have steadily warmed to the idea of outsourcing functions which were previously kept in-house, such as business processes and information technology. However, a host of factors–including the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the faltering economy and the increasing emphasis on quality and performance improvement–have pushed that trend into overdrive (McKinney, 2010). In order to remain competitive and stay afloat, hospitals and other healthcare organizations are desperately looking deeper into business functions to determine the areas that may be better off outside the walls. Faced with a potential flood of new patients and lean budgets, hospitals are carefully considering each department to determine which functions can be turned over to contractors, and more areas are fair game than ever before†, says Reggie Hill, a partner at Waller Lansden Dortch Davis, Nashville (McKinney, 2010). Although housekeeping, food services, and diagnostic equipment maintenance are among the most common outsourced services, revenue cycle management is becoming increasingly popular. Because of the perception that there will continue to be cuts in reimbursement and new reimbursement models, hospitals are looking for ways to cut expenses and maximize revenue,† Hill says. â€Å"If an outsourcing agreement looks like it will accomplish those goals, it’s going to be something a hospital will want to take advantage of. † In particular, there has been continued growth in the number of organizations that are seeking out revenue-cycle management services, Hill says. â€Å"There are vendors that have shown they can add value, and more hospitals are giving it a try† (McKinney, 2010). Although more organizations are looking into the use of a vendor, it is important to consider all variables before determining the best option. Outsourcing the revenue cycle function does not fit all business models. Factors such as practice size, legal compliance, training ability, cost savings, quality, and efficiency should be studied carefully in order to realize the maximum return on investment. Companies that fit the outsourcing model and execute the transition properly can realize the greatest rewards. Conversely, outsourcing may be the downfall of an organization if these factors are not considered. When a company commits to outsourcing, cost savings tend to dominate and labor rates are a large contributing factor. In search of satisfaction, many companies are looking to offshore vendors. Offshore outsourcing companies might save hospitals even more money in labor costs because employees in countries such as India often work for much less money than U. S. staffers (Mantone, 2003). Managing a department outside of the organization’s walls has its other cost saving advantages. Having fewer internal employees reduces the need for back office space which will generate savings in rent. With a billing service, billing and collection activities occur off-site and therefore it may be possible for a hospital to reduce its current overhead costs or convert existing office space to a revenue generation, patient services area (Schechter, 2000). Furthermore, cost savings with outsourcing may also be realized in more subtle ways such as an adaptation of superior processes. The demand for standardization in revenue cycle management is on the rise. Despite growth in the industry, the floundering economy has made some providers skittish about first-time outsourcing deals†, Zambuto says. Another motivating factor that is convincing many to take the plunge is the need for standardization, he says. Outsourcing to a vendor can help ensure processes are done the same way each time at every location, which reduces the probability of errors, he says (McKinney, 2010). With this standardization comes an increased revenue flow. Many companies are careless with collections and spend unnecessary time, money, and resources on correcting mistakes. Re-billing and managing overpayments can become costly due to the increased hours of operation and additional wages paid to employees working these claims. If the billing can be done quickly and accurately the first time, these costs will not have to be wasted in order to generate the same amount of revenue. For example, Marshall McHenry, MD, a Cincinnati internist, chose to outsource billing when he started his own private practice. â€Å"He pays an outside billing service 6% of collections or about $20,000 to $22,000 annually, he said. In contrast, an in-house biller would have cost $30,000, including benefits, and a billing system would have cost several thousand, if not tens of thousands of dollars, Dr. McHenry estimates. Also, had he hired a biller, he would have had to factor in training and vacation time, and figure out how to avoid down time that could have seriously hurt his practice† (Chin, 2003). Additionally, this higher level of quality requires ongoing employee training which may become not only time consuming, but expensive. The billing service is responsible for hiring, training and supervising staff. They also are responsible for coverage when any of their employees are out of the office. And they are responsible for acquiring and maintaining all necessary computer software and hardware as well as addressing other technology-related issues (Schechter, 2000). The relief of these burdens will allow management to focus more on its core competencies. Typically, a revenue-cycle outsourcing firm takes over some or all of a hospital’s business office functions, which can include everything from patient registration, accounts receivable, billing and coding. They consolidate those functions into larger offices that serve many providers. The end result, outsourcing companies say, is a more efficient model that leaves more operating revenue for hospitals. Those types of business arrangements will likely continue as cash-strapped hospitals see the potential for big savings, says Dean William Harvey, a partner at the law firm Vinson Elkins in Dallas (McKinney, 2010). Richard Garnick, chairman and CEO of Anthelio Healthcare Solutions, credits the â€Å"incredible† cost pressures on hospitals for the growth in his company’s revenue-cycle management services. In the case of federal healthcare programs, Garnick has seen his client hospitals grow increasingly concerned that possible across-the-board cuts to Medicare and Medicaid could push them into the red. Those concerns have led some of Garnick’s core clients at community hospitals to replace their in-house back office staff with his employees to reduce the cost of those functions by 30% to 35%. â€Å"That gap will potentially allow that hospital to survive,† he says about one recent client (Daly, 2011). Success with outsourcing has also been achieved by Marc D. Grobman, DO, a solo internist at Internal Medicine and Primary Care in Wilmington, DE when he chose to use Health Care Practice Management Inc. as a billing service. He says he is getting 98% of money due compared with 75% when he was part of the hospital network. â€Å"At first using a billing service was a virtual necessity. Now I see no reason to bring it in-house because it’s working out so well,† Dr. Grobman says. He also thinks he gets more expert billers through outsourcing, which in turn means he leaves less money on the table. Dr. McHenry contends that he gets about 10% more — $35,000 to $40,000 a year — than he would have had he hired someone to handle billing. Because it’s a specialized skill, it can be hard to find good billers in the local labor pool, he added (Stevens, 2007). On the contrary, outsourcing does have its drawbacks, and most notably, a reduced sense of control is inevitable. Outsourcing firms are responsible for these functions which prevents the hospital from easily maintaining close management of operations. â€Å"The downside is you can lose control,† said Louis Korman, MD, one of Dr. Weinstein’s partners. â€Å"You can be taken. There are a lot of people who think that doctors’ practices are just money mills they can take advantage of† (Chin, 2003). Additionally, an absence of direct management may result in poor customer service. Third party billing firms may be required to deal with patients directly and it is difficult for the hospital or physician practice to monitor this interaction closely. Many physicians believe that they are able to maintain better relationships with patients when billing functions are kept in-house. Without this strong patient – provider relationship, a healthcare organization may not be able to survive. Moreover, a third party revenue cycle management firm may not hold the same work ethics as the healthcare entity which may result in subpar performance. A vital piece to the success of any billing department is legal compliance and these performance standards must be met. But revenue management outsourcing has its share of pitfalls, most notably legal compliance, he adds. Providers need to be confident in a contractor’s ability to manage the billing requirements of Medicare and other programs, while successfully complying with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (McKinney, 2010). Dissatisfaction with an outsourcer’s performance led Detroit Medical Center in February to sue to dissolve a 10-year, $300 million contract with Provider HealthNet Services, Dallas. Detroit Medical said the outsourced operation failed to achieve timely completion of medical records and had not delivered on a plan to train employees and organize the department for computerized records. Provider HealthNet said uncooperative and obstructive action by Detroit Medical officials caused the performance problems (Morrissey, 2003). A company’s decision whether or not to outsource a department will inevitably require the presence of Human Resources. One advantage of outsourcing the revenue cycle management team is the distance that it creates between management and the frontline employees. In some cases, this disconnect is desired by the hospital because it relieves the duty of having to deal with employee issues. If an employee of a hospital is not performing, the management team will have to carefully follow HR policies and document progression of failing performance before termination may occur. This can not only be time consuming, but it can hinder productivity until the change may be made. Utilizing a vendor will allow the hospital to simply request that a replacement be made for a certain employee without having to follow any HR policies. â€Å"While the net cost of farming out billing is unknowable, Dr. Schwartz does believe that whatever it is, it’s worth the peace of mind it gives him. † An outsource service insulates us from the kinds of problems that could get us into financial trouble,† he says. There are some advantages† to not having him on staff, Dr. Weinstein said. â€Å"The biggest one is that if he’s not doing a good job, I don’t have to worry about firing him. I just have to say to the company, ‘Hey, this guy is not doing a good job. I want somebody else. ‘ They have to worry about firing him, and firing high-level people is not easy to do† (Stevens, 2007). Although some hospitals may find this Ã¢â‚¬Ë œpeace of mind’ to be worth a potential added cost, there are some disadvantages that an HR department may face with outsourcing a business function. Whenever a hospital chooses to outsource a department or other function, it will unavoidably have to endure a layoff of some magnitude. A layoff or employee termination will most certainly involve a strong HR presence. No matter the level of expertise of the HR department, this process is never easy to manage. In some cases, a layoff may be necessary involving employees who have been part of an organization for years. Relationships have developed between the employees and management team which can make this event even more difficult. However, if the business decision to outsource is made, many times a layoff is most likely unavoidable. Additionally, this will create a loss of jobs in the community. â€Å"Also it can be a â€Å"hard sell† because outsourcing hospitals are â€Å"taking jobs from the local community and putting them elsewhere,† Johnston says. â€Å"It’s not that big of a deal when the office has 10 people,† he says. â€Å"But when there are 100, 200 people in the office it becomes a big deal† (Mantone, 2003). This event can also create a negative image for the hospital which may not be beneficial for its reputation. This challenge must be closely managed by the HR department. In conclusion, outsourcing can be an effective way to increase the efficiency and lower the costs of an organization. In the case of using a 3rd party hospitalist firm, it uses a focused group of physicians who not only help to decrease costs but improve patient care and decrease re-admissions. Also, with improved patient care there comes a decrease in the average length of stay which is obviously great for the patient but also enables the hospital to increase its capacity for additional patient services. It can be advantageous to a hospital to use a 3rd party outsourcing firm so long as the goals and expectations are clearly outlined and defined within the contract terms with the firm providing these services. Another example of an opportunity to take advantage of the focus of a 3rd party firm is in the realm of the revenue cycle function. Advantages such as decreased overhead costs, increased expertise and augmented standardization are ways in which a hospital can improve its overall collections, decrease its net accounts receivable days and lower the amount of money spent to do so. Outsourcing does not necessarily imply going overseas, as mentioned in the hospitalist example above, patient care mostly depends on human interaction in most services and so the local community economy remains intact. In the end, HR needs to be well versed in the goals of the company and be able to contribute to the decision by offering perspective on future labor needs, compensation and benefit costs or savings and strategic alignment with the hospital’s strategies and mission. â€Å"References† Buser, M. , (2010, December). Hospitalist Programs in the Age of Healthcare Reform. Journal of Healthcare Management, 55:6, 378-380. Chin, T. , (2003, August 11). The Doctor is Outsourcing: To Hire or Not to Hire. American Medical News, Retrieved November 15, 2012 from http://www. ama-assn. org/amednews/2003/08/11/bisa0811. htm Daly, R. , (2011, September 5). Under Pressure. Modern Healthcare, Vol. 41 Issue 36, S1-S4. Darves, B. , (2007, May). Hospital Medicine’s Management Shuffle. Today’s Hospitalist. Retrieved November 10, 2012 from http://www. todayshospitalist. com/index. php? b=articles_readcnt=64. html Hays, P. , Smith, C. Thomas. , (2010, October). Why the Independent Hospitalist Practice is here to Stay. Physician Future. Retrieved November 18, 2012 from http://www. physicianfuture. com/news/physician-news/why-the-independent-hospitalist-practice-is-here-to-stay. html Kaplan, R. , Porter, M. , (2011, September). How to Solve the Cost Crisis in Health Care. Harvard Business Review, 48-49. Kutscher, B. , (2012, September 3). Expertise on Call. Modern Healthcare, Vol. 42 Issue 36, 20-27. Mantone, J. , (2003, November 24). Letting Someone Else Do It Better. Modern Healthcare, Vol. 33 Issue 47, S10 McKinney, M. , (2010, September 20). Outsourcing Sees Stimulus Effect: Health Reform, Ailing Economy Prompt a Closer Look at Use of Contractors. Modern Healthcare, Vol. 40 Issue 38, pS1-S5, 5p. Morrissey, J. , (2003, May 12). Not Paying Off: Baylor, EDS Terminate Revenue Management Deal. Modern Healthcare, Vol. 33 Issue 19, p3, 1/2p. Robeznieks, A. , (2012, April 2). Partnering up: As Consolidation Begins to Sweep through Healthcare, Hospitalists Expect to See the Trend Accelerate in their Sector. Modern Healthcare, Vol. 42, Issue 14. Schechter, K. , (2000, July 24). Compare Costs, Benefits of Billing Service vs. In-House. American Medical News, Retrieved from http://www. ama-assn. org/amednews/2000/07/24/bica0724. htm Sharma, A. , Worthen, B. , (2010, November). Qualms Arise Over Outsourcing of Electronic Medical Records. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 29, 2012 from http://online. wsj. com/article/SB10001424052748704865104575588252907738276. html Stevens, L. , (2007, April 16). The Ins and Outs of Billing: Pros and Cons of Outsourcing. American Medical News, Retrieved November 15, 2012 from http://www. ama-assn. org/amednews/2007/04/16/bisa0416. htm How to cite Outsourcing Trends: Health Services Professionals, Papers

The possession of knowledge carries an ethical responsibility Essay Example For Students

The possession of knowledge carries an ethical responsibility Essay Now there are types of art that aim to educated the views which could be interoperated as being for the greater good. The concepts of cubism and surrealism, allows for individual interpretation of everyday objects, however one could argue that it is teaching false information to the viewer. To what extent does distortion of information acceptable? When talking about ethical responsibility, there should be no question as to if distortion is acceptable, however it is acceptable in the arts. We will write a custom essay on The possession of knowledge carries an ethical responsibility specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now As well as there being ethical implications in the natural sciences and the arts, there are also going to be ethical implications in the human sciences. Experiments such as the Stanford prison experiment, and the Little Albert experiment both have moral and ethical implications yet they were still conducted. When is ethical responsibility acceptably neglected in order to obtain certain knowledge? Taking the Stanford prison experiment as an example, the lack of distance between the psychologist and his experiment, caused there to be a mix up in the ethical morality of the experiment. The Distance should have provided the psychologist with the ability to see what the prisoners and the prison guards where actually doing and act accordingly, yet seen from the point of utilitarianism, the suffering that a small groups of people had to endure was for the greater good of the human population and the academic world. This experiment also falls under the Deontological Theories, which mainly has to do with following the set rules. On the contrary the participants of the Stanford Experiment did not break any rules specific to the experiment, however the experiment as a whole crossed a multitude of other morals. Another example of ethical responsibility, in a more applicable situation, take an innocent bystander who just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, can either chose to testify as witness, or not. This brings up the question of: can a person become a victim of knowledge? And can knowledge be a burden? In the case of a witness, both of the Ethical theories mentioned previously apply, however the choice of which to follow is in the individuals’ own hands. The examples given before are not so much used in every day life. An example that relates closely to students such as me, is when taking a test do you allow a friend to copy off of your test, or do you cover you paper so that you are the only one that can see your answers? It is a question of which ethical theory the individual chooses (as stated before) do you help a friend and run the risk of getting caught by the teacher, or do you leave your friend to try and figure it out by him or her self, and run the risk of them failing? From the claims and counterclaims that have been looked at through out the essay. It is clear that it depends on two things; the individual, and the situation presented. To answer the question: how can we determine when ethical responsibility affects the ability to obtain knowledge? We must keep in mind that it is individualized yet there may be certain social expectations in specific situations.

Japan is More a Producer of Finished Goods Than a Supplier of Raw Materials †Economics Essay

Japan is More a Producer of Finished Goods Than a Supplier of Raw Materials – Economics Essay Free Online Research Papers Title: Japan is more a producer of finished goods than a supplier of raw materials. Japan has historically been a resource-poor country. It lacks the petroleum, copper or tantalums that have enriched Saudi Arabia, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Though there were significant deposits of silver in Japan, they have since been exhausted.) As a result, the production of raw materials has not been an economic option for the Japanese. Since the Treaty of Kanagawa in 1854, Japan has sought to industrialize to keep up with the Western nations that it feared were coming to dominate East Asia. Industrialization means the building of factories and related externalities in order to produce finished products. Following World War II, Japan sought to bolster its war-torn economy with labor-intensive, value-added products such as steel and cargo ships. As we can see today, Japan has made the leap to high technology goods such as computers, televisions, and cell phones. These are all value-added finished goods that are in great demand around the world because of their high quality and sophisticated design. Research Papers on Japan is More a Producer of Finished Goods Than a Supplier of Raw Materials - Economics EssayDefinition of Export QuotasRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaTwilight of the UAWAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2PETSTEL analysis of IndiaBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever Product

How To Use Angular Quotation Marks in Spanish

How To Use Angular Quotation Marks in Spanish Spanish sometimes uses angular quotation marks ( « and  ») - often known as chevrons or guillemets or comillas franceses  and comillas angulares in Spanish - interchangeably with and in the same way as regular double quotation marks. In general, they are used much more in Spain than in Latin America, possibly because guillemets are commonly used in various non-English European languages such as ​​French. In all Spanish, however, quote marks of either the angular or regular variety are used much as they are in English, most often to quote from someones speech or writing or to call attention to words that are given a special or ironic use. The Difference in Punctuation The main difference between Spanish usage and that of American English is that added commas and periods in Spanish go outside the quotation marks, while in American English they go inside the quotation marks. A pair of examples shows how these marks are used: Ninguna mente extraordinaria est exenta de un toque de demencia, dijo Aristà ³teles. /  «Ninguna mente extraordinaria est exenta de un toque de demencia », dijo Aristà ³teles.No extraordinary mind is free of a touch of insanity, Aristotle said.Tengo una hija. Tiene cuatro patas y maulla. / Tengo una  «hija ». Tiene cuatro patas y maulla.I have one daughter. She has four legs and meows. If you have a quotation within the words that are enclosed by angular quote marks, use the standard double quotation marks:  «Ãƒâ€°l me dijo, Estoy muy feliz ». He told me, I am very happy. Long (Em) Dashes and Paragraph Spacing Keep in mind that it is common when printing dialogue in Spanish to dispense with quote marks entirely and use a long dash (- ), sometimes known as an em dash or raya in Spanish, to indicate the beginning and end of the quotation or a change in speaker. It isnt necessary - although its often done - to start a new paragraph for a change of speaker, as is usually done in English. No dash is needed at the end of a quotation if it is at the end of a paragraph. Different usages are illustrated in the following three example pairs: -  ¡Cuidado!- grità ³.Careful! he shouted.-  ¿Cà ³mo ests? - Muy bien, gracias.How are you?Excellent, thank you.- Si quieres tener amigos- me decà ­a mi madre- , sà © un amigo.If you want to have friends, my mother told me, be a friend. In each of these cases, Spanish grammar dictates that the punctuation still belongs outside of the quotation signifier, except in the case that the sentence begins with a punctuation mark such as  ¡Cuidado! or  ¿Cà ³mo ests?.

Turner Construction Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Turner Construction Company - Essay Example Turner Construction It was founded in the year 1902 by Henry Chandlee Turner with a start-up capital of $25,000 in New York City and one of its first jobs was to build a concrete vault for the Thrift bank in Brooklyn, value of which was only $600. From those humble beginnings, it started carrying out large scale projects both in the private and government sector throughout America, only pausing during the World Wars, when it diverted its focus in the construction of military camps and other government buildings. Tuner and his family members as well as representatives managed the company for close to 90 years, until 1999, when it was acquired by the German construction company HOCHTIEF Germany for $370 million. With the takeover by Hochtief AG, Turner Construction Company got access to majority of Hochtief’s operations in geographical territories like United Kingdom, Australia, etc., as well as to the clients in the heavy construction field. Thus, it is operating as the subsidiary of HOCHTIEF in o ver 40 countries, employing around â€Å"6,000 internal employees and tens of thousands of subcontractors working on up to 1,500 job sites at any given time in 30 states and multiple countries.† (Whitney 2007).... That is, according to some experts, construction industry comes under the manufacturing sector. As Valence (2010) states, as the construction industry provides services like management, coordination and other finances related activities, it has to be classified as a service industry. However, he (2010) further adds that as it also develops and delivers products like buildings and structures, it can be constituted under the manufacturing sector. Langford and Male (2008) validates this confusion by stating that although it is commonly known as a service industry, it is a misnomer to classify so because it comes up physical products in the form of constructions. However at the same time Langford and Male (2008) provides a balanced stance by stating that given the nature and diversity of activities carried out in the construction industry, it can be classified both as a service as well as manufacturing industry. When the service and manufacturing aspect of Turner is focused, it seems tha t Turner Constructions views itself as the service industry. Because, it is stated to offer â€Å"a broad range of construction services, including general contracting, construction management, project management, design-build, multiple building programs, maintenance services, planning and preconstruction and feasibility studies.† (morgan.experience.com). Although, it offers all the above services to clients in all sectors, however, starting from the recessionary period in 2008, it has restricted itself to focusing on certain sectors. That is, the Turner Construction â€Å"learned a tough lesson in diversification during the late 1980s and 1990s, when commercial contractors suffered from the overbuilding in that sector.† (Wood 2011). So, in

Character of Jason Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 9

Character of Jason - Essay Example AS the paper highlights the patient was advised to undergo chemotherapy which can assist in eliminating the cancer cells, also, Burkitt’s lymphoma responds quickly to radiation and chemotherapy especially if the patient is still young. In a span of two years, the patient’s life was filled with emotional moments as he struggles with anxiety, sadness, anger, and depression , shock and disbelief which are not uncommon for young patients who have cancer. According to Astin, Shapito and Eisenberg ( 2003) cancer as well as the treatments prescribed greatly affects the patients: From this paper it is clear that since the character was just a young child, his main concern was fear of death. His energy levels had been adversely affected by chemotherapy. The patient experienced severe weight loss, vomiting, diarrhea, hair loss, and the depression of the immune system. For a child, this is a harrowing experience since the treatment itself seems like the disease. It is painful and depressing. Nevertheless, the American Cancer Society in the online article Children Diagnosed With Cancer: Dealing With Diagnosis recommends some guidelines that would help a child patient cope with cancer. The suggestions were specifically suited for children ages 6-12 : It is therefore crucial for parents to be honest in dealing with their child about the nature of the disease. The child must be fully informed about his/her situation and must not feel isolated from any information regarding his health. It was also suggested that the patient record his feelings or thoughts through writing or drawing.  

Implementing an Attendance System in 3AAA

Implementing an Attendance System in 3AAA Henry Brown Carry out a systems investigation on implementing an attendance system in 3AAA: Brief: Pyus Pyxidis have taken on a project to investigate the possible attendance systems to be used by 3AAA academy staff. The investigation should allow myself as an employee of PP, to research possible service providers, programs and ways of implementing a new attendance system for 3AAA. What is currently used?      Ã‚   Before starting my research into different products and services I needed to first find out what current media/service is used by 3AAA to conduct their attendance checks for pupils in their colleges across the country. The use of a hard copy may also limit the speed of passing the information along to the next representative in the company which you may not get with an online based system. When researching the new alternative I shall keep in mind the simplicity factor as well as the effective layout used. End User Investigation: The first stage to my investigation was to interview Andrew Maddison, the Leading Member in I.T. at 3AAA. I approached the interview in an organised way by using a question sheet which was prepared earlier. I highlighted important questions to ask Andrew so that I could make the most of my time with him. Fig.1. shows an image of the first page of the completed question paper. Below is a manuscript of the interview paper. Q: What would be your most valued feature in your current of documenting attendances? A:Needs to be simple and easy to understand. Keep the current format. Q: How much time is required to input your data into the document? A: Around 20 minutes. However, data has to sit around for up to 4 days before it is sent away to head office. Due to this no immediate action can be taken if there is a problem. Q: Does the time taken need to be addressed and or shortened? A: This could be dealt with by bringing in an online system. Possibly cloud based. This could be used with many different administrative rights to allow the right people to view the data. This could be achieved by using an independent online service. Conclusion: There was a lot of useful information gathered from the interview. Some of the main points drawn suggested that a cloud based service may be the best way to go with the project. This would also aid product function and efficiency in communication as well as speed and ease of implementation across the whole of 3AAA. Investigation of Services: This section of the investigation focuses on the service that would best suit the project. I will take into consideration price, ease of use and reliability of the service. In this section I looked at 5 of the top cloud based services which all had their positives and negatives. I worked the 5 down into the two best services to further compare which will aid in choosing the best option. The two options which I narrowed down where Microsofts Azure service and Amazons AWS. Microsoft Azure: Positives: Negatives: -Control: MA allows you to have access and Active Directory on the service. This allows more freedom and control. The service also allows for multiple administrative users who can all create amendments and have an input into the system. -The long-term trajectory is not very clear. There are possibilities of Microsoft not fully committing to the service down the road. -Platforms: Rival platforms and operating systems are supported on this system. -Microsoft are not innovators in the industry for this service. -Lifespan: Annual upgrades are in effect and will allow the service to work and run for a prolonged amount of time. The system should be supported for the next 10 years if not longer. -Open source applications do not have the same amount of support as Microsoft applications which can make it difficult in fault finding. Pricing: Microsoft Azure has been the cheapest option with both quoted prices being lower than AWS. The drop in prices over a two-year period shows how Microsoft are finding more efficient and cost effect ways to run their service. Amazon AWS: Positives Negatives -Features: The service offers very similar things to Microsoft Azure. -Outages: This service has a history of outages and can be unreliable. -Scalable: The service will allow for expansion very easily as it is like paying for water or gas. The Service can expand with the businesss needs. Speed: The download speeds from the service can sometimes be slow unless extra amounts are paid. -Costs: Can eliminate large IT overheads and be more cost effective by using this service. Transactions: These can become expensive and the user may even need to pay for activity as well as additional storage. Pricing: Conclusion: After an in-depth comparison of the two services I have decided to choose Microsoft Azure as my service provider for this investigation. I have based my choice on both features of Azure, the cost and the prospect of prolonged support. Azure offers a more competitive pricing package as well as offering better support for the site. The uptime and SLA packages are far superior to AWS making MS AZURE the right choice for the Register platform. MoSCoW Method: The MoSCoW method is a prioritisation technique used in business, project, web, analysis and a much larger array of management. The Method is very effective at helping the project leaders/managers in prioritising the most important factors. The work of prioritising the most important sections will help in the success of the project. For example if the priority of a project is to create a simple and effective design of a website that chooses function over aesthetic, then this can be easily highlighted in the MoSCoW method to make it easier to follow. So the project would show Must have: A well-functioning engine on the website to insure that the system functions to a high standard. Should have: A budget of  £200,000 or less. Could have: Offline features. Wont have: An instant messaging service. E.g. This method is good for working with time constraints as it allows the project manage to pick the most important aspects which MUST be completed. This then allows for other important but not as pivotal factors to be added to the other sections such as SHOULD and COULD. Many projects will say that they would like to have at least 60% effort put into the project as a minimum. (Even if time and resources are short the effort cannot drop below 60%) As the scale moves down to lesser priorities then 100% effort would be needed to achieve the lower options. Fig.7 (2017). 4.bp.blogspot.com. Retrieved 17 January 2017 (M) Must Have: These will be the fundamental requirements needed to ensure that the project can be a success. These areas have been highlighted by the client as important and integral functions. Priority Requirements Specification 1 Simple and easy to use Keep design simple yet still stylish as well as keep the tools/buttons as clear as possible. 2 Permissions for different staff This is to prevent unauthorised access to certain files, settings and other areas which can be effected. 3 Encryption and Security SSL level encryption will be used to protect the students data and the system will be locked down to prevent an unauthorised access or hacking. 4 Homepage and Dashboard This will be used to make it easier to navigate the website and improve the function (S) Should Have: These requirements are not as important or as critical as the ones previous. They are still an important part of the project however they are not critical. Due to tight time frames Should specifications can be held back till another time or fit in after the Must have been completed. Priority Requirements Specification 1 The budget of the project should be  £200,000 Keep costs down where possible and meet deadlines to ensure no further costs are added due to delays. (Client specified to keep below  £200,000 if possible) 2 The project will have a 6 month timeline The client needs the system to be up and running by the end of August 2017. 3 The system will use both off the shelf products and custom made services The blend of custom and off the shelf will ensure that the system will suit the specific needs of the client as well as help to keep the cost down at the same time. 4 Colour coding system will be used for present, Absent and Late etc. This will show an easy to understand visual representation as well as written e.g. P,A and L will be used to represent the different options as well as the colours. (C) Could Have: Requirements in this section are to be done if the right resources are available and if the client decides for more options. These are not as important as the other two sections above and are only to be attempted once the two previous sections have been completed. Priority Requirements Specification 1 Vibrant colour scheme Colour scheme will make it easier to navigate and add a more aesthetic feel to the site. 2 Colour coding Colour coding within the register itself will make it easier to read and understand. 3 Dropdown menus This would make it easier to navigate the site and reach the different areas faster. 4 Flag inactive users The administrator can be informed of inactivity of users. (W) Wont Have: This requirement is something that is not necessarily needed for this project and will ultimately be decided by the client stakeholders in the future to see if it is needed in an extension of the same project. Priority Requirements Specification 1 Instant messaging service This is an expensive and time consuming service to create and set up. 3AAA already have ways of communicating so this wont be needed. Lifecycle: I have chosen to use the Agile Lifecycle model for this investigation as it has many useful features which would insure a successful implementation of the service to 3AAA. This project would need a tailored plan to correctly implement successfully, the iteration feature in this lifecycle model would allow for safe checks and various demo releases to be tested before the system in launched. Fig.6. shows a detailed diagram of the Agile Lifecycle Model with the relevant sections and detailed iterations. The Agile development cycle would work extremely well to meet the needs of the project. The multiple iterations of the cycle will allow the development process to be as effective as possible. The cycle will be very effective for the projects timescale of 6 months as it allows the developers plenty of time and iterations to get the system working as effectively as possible. The agile cycle allows the project managers to break the project down itself into smaller and more manageable areas. This works hand in hand with the MoSCoW project and will make the project more scalable to the team creating it. The different sections of the MoSCoW theory will work very well with the cycles iterations to ensure each stage Must, Should, Could etc. are completed in the correct order and to a level which will meet the clients expectations. Design Function: I have designed the website to run on an array of Internet Browsers however I have used screenshots from Google Chrome as the service works best on the specific browser. Below are a series of screenshots from the Beta copy of the proposed Attendance System. Login Prompt: This would be the primary interface for the users to gain access to the service. The 3AAA member of staff would simply need to search for https://www.3aaa.co.uk/login/attendance-register in their browser to reach this page. The member of staff would use a unique login name such as J_Smith for example to login. The password would be customisable by the user to best insure security for that users online profile. (The password change feature can be found in the settings tab on the drop down menu at the top of the page.) Particular members of staff would have Admin rights to the service to allow for editing, new menus and features to be added. This means that the webpage can be maintained correctly and work as it should. Staff with Administrative rights will have a slightly different colour scheme to indicate the users rights on the page so that it would be easily to identify the different users. For example, an Administrative user would have a red band at the top of the page just above the drop down menu. Overview: Once the user has successfully gained access to the service they would usually navigate from the home page to the Register area via the drop down menu. Once in the Register area the page will default to the Overview section. The Overview section shows a detailed overview of the students in the staff members selected class. The data provided is the students ID number, Name, Days present as well as a chart to the far right showing how many days absent, present and if they were present in the Am and or PM sessions. Register: This section allows the staff member to input the data to the online system. It is easy to follow and use as the user can simply place a Y to present a tick and an N to show a cross in the wanted box. This service allows a real time update to 3AAAs records which will be stored on Microsoft Azure protected servers. The live update allows 3AAA staff members to receive updates from all of the colleges across the UK at the same time to keep their records up to date. Report: The Report section shows a detailed report of a specifically chosen learner from the academy/college. A full term for the learner can be viewed and displayed with further options to edit from certain staff members. This section shows a column with how many days have been missed by the pupil as well as days present. Different students can be selected easily and various information can be seen about the learner such as guardians, student ID numbers and DOB. Student List: This section shows the current pupils of the staff member. Much like the report section, details and information about students are displayed. Information about students can be altered in the Edit tab as well as new students can be added through this feature. Other sections are available such as Download, Comments and Edit, however they are relevant to this investigation and a normal feature which is seen on many different sites. Conclusion: The Beta is still a work in progress however I believe I have achieved the desired design, functional and usability features requested by 3AAA. I have followed a 3AAA colour scheme to fit in with other websites and products promoted by the company. The prototype/demo of the online system can be seen above. Below is a further update to the online system after the Agile cycle was followed again. The project was cycled another three times to refine the sites functionality and aesthetics. The site has maintained many of the positive aspects of the beta and prototype however the site has been created to appear more user friendly and more professional. See shots of the site below. Mobile Access: The site can also be accessed via mobile devices. This is to make the function and use as simple as possible for the users and students. The teachers can use this feature too however it is primarily created so that the students can access it whilst in break out rooms or when they are first entering the college so that the register times are as accurate as physically possible. This will allow for reports to be sent back to head office as soon as possible so that there are no delays.   The mobile site uses a very similar layout to the browser version however it is slightly adapted to best fit the mobile browsers and thus make the function and design more accessible to the users and students. Below is screenshots from a mobile device showing the site loaded into a browser. Implementation: In this section I will look at the ways I can implement this service across the company. I must investigate the ways 3AAA currently distribute data and follow a similar path. Due to fact I have based the attendance system on a cloud based service there will be no need for software packs to distributed around which many attendance systems are based on. This process can be fairly expensive and the problem of 3AAAs hardware in their sites could cause a problem. The auditing process would also be very lengthy. This confirms that the cloud based platform may be the best way to go for the system. The service is well looked after by Microsoft as it is part of package. Another added perk in the service is that more server space can be purchased easily if the site ever needed expanding. Conclusion: This concludes this investigation into a new attendance system for 3AAA. I have covered the customers requirements, researched a service provider, developed a function able webpage to use as an attendance system and described the implementation procedure I plan to follow. The system has been designed to make the day to day function of signing in/marking the register easier for both the teachers and students. The website can be reached by both computer and mobile devices to make it as simple as possible for the students to access the site to sign in and use it. The register will be implemented gradually by using both Medias at the same time to ensure that it is working correctly before finishing with the paper and pen copies. This will ensure that accurate registers are still sent to head office and the users and students can be integrated into the system effectively. 3aaa have over 50+ academy sites around the UK with thousands of learners who attend on a frequent basis. This means that the system must be as full proof as possible to ensure an effective transition in the academies. The ease of use of having the system on the students mobile devices will ensure that the sign in process is as accurate as possible due to the speed in which the students can access the site through a mobile web page and log on. This process will allow for an accurate time stamp as the learners arrive to site as opposed to waiting until they were behind their desks to log on to the desktop site which would not be until after college had started at around 9:15 and would give a false reading. The system would also have all the information needed for students to contact the academy and individuals inside the academy. The students can use options on the site to report illness or and general absences. This can also be done through their mobile devices as well as a desktop browser. This will allow for staff at the college to know if a learner will be attending or not as soon as possible and will avoid any delays for 3aaa. Reference Screenshots: References: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6730-best-time-and-attendance-systems.html https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/services/sql-database/ https://www.syntaxismyui.com/taking-attendance-with-xamarin-beacons-and-microsoft-azure/ https://xamarin.com/ http://www.slideshare.net/kcsq8/kuwait-computer-servicesibatimeattendancebrochureen https://xamarin.com/download http://npifinancial.com/blog/pros-and-cons-digging-into-amazon-web-services/ http://geekswithblogs.net/hroggero/archive/2015/08/12/sample-pricing-comparison-2-amazon-aws-and-microsoft-azure.aspx Www.Google.com www.3aaa.co.uk  Ã‚  

Case Study of “Bookoff, Amazon Japan, and the Japanese Retail Bookselling Industry”

Case Study of â€Å"Bookoff, Amazon Japan, and the Japanese Retail Bookselling Industry† 1. The reasons for the profitability of large Japanese retail booksellers relatively poor and their scale relatively small. One reason for this is that there is no significant industry consolidation has occurred, so there is no dominant bookseller, because there is a unique formal institution which is price-fixing system that makes it illegal for larger and potentially more efficient competitors to use price competition to drive out small competitors. Laws have allowed publishers to fix the price of new books, music, and newspapers in the bookselling industry, this means retailers are unable to compete on price. For a long time, sales has been in stagnation, even worse, the steady increase of costs over time has reduced the profitability of both large chains and small stores. Also because of the undifferentiated book in multiple book stores, the only way to compete is on price, but this is illegal, and also the entry to this industry is low, small entrants can enter this industry easily ,this lead to the scale relatively small. . The benefits for individual companies and the industry to participate in Saihan system and the costs. Under Saihan system, for individual companies, they sell books, musics, magazines at fixed price, the competition is not fierce and they can almost earn average profit of this industry, because there is no need to compete on price, this can make them more cautious of their diversity of products, so they w ould provide as more product as they can, which could increase customer loyalty if customers could always find what they want. Another benefit is that Saihan system encourages new tittles to publish, this enables individual company to bring many new books in their stores to attract customer. While the costs of this system for individual companies are becoming bigger, they have to spend large amount of money to process the new titles while they are making less profit on them. Because of fixed price, all the stores are providing undifferentiated books and also the less competition makes individual companies much less efficient. As the industry is under price fixing system, first benefit is that this system combined with Consignment sale system which allows retailers and wholesalers to return unsold books to the publisher free of charge, leading publishers and wholesalers prefer to supply larger retailers first, which drives small retailers out of business. Another benefit is that this system maintains market stability, the price is not volatile and the industry can grow steadily. On the other hand, costs are, as the industry entry is not high, many small book stores being set up in Japan, with the large number of stores, every company is earning lower profit but they can not compete on price. Because of the rigidity of price, customer would like to buy cheaper imported books and CDs and also buy second-hand books, online books, and also rental books instead of buying a new book, these substitutes are now threatening the industry and also hamper the growth of the industry. . Industry-, resource-, and institutional based views to explain the success of Bookoff and Amazon Japan. †¢ Industry-based view From industry-based view, rivalry among competitor in Japanese industry is characterized by large numbers of relatively small booksellers, as they are all selling products at the same prices, the rivals in the industry are similar in size, influence and product offering, so the competition with this saturated industry is vigorous. As the entry barriers of this industry is relatively low, some incumbents enjoys economies of scales, only large retailers are earning higher profits, small operations are being driven out of this industry, the profitability of the industry is not so attractive, so, potential entrants are few. In the area of book distribution channel, the competition is very low, as Nippon Shuppan Hanbai and Tohan control between 70% and 90% of the book wholesale market. They prefer to supply larger retailers first, because they don’t need to worry much about returned books under Consignment Sale System. So the small number of suppliers and they provide the newest and most popular books shape the strong bargaining power The buyers of this industry now can choose to use internet to entertain, this causes the overall drop in book sales in Japan, and the number of retailers in the industry is very big, so they can choose between different stores without any switching costs, and they are all facing undifferentiated books, so the bargaining powers of buyers in the industry is very enhanced. The substitutes are posing big threat of this industry, e-book and cell phone novel are convenient and less expensive compared to existing hard copy books and customers virtually incur no costs when switching from hard copy books to e-books, cell phone novels. So the substitutes are a big threat for this industry. For Bookoff, the strategy Bookoff deployed is low-cost leadership, it uses a loophole in the Saihan system to offer lower prices by opening used-book stores, because used books are an exemption to the Saihan system. Bookoff uses its new technologies to clean book covers and grind down dog-eared pages to make a used book look practically new, and the rehabilitated books are at new book quality, so, it offers the same value of a product at a lower price compared with its rivals, the technology it is using is an entry barrier for other competitors and potential entrants. While the suppliers of Bookoff are those used book holders, their bargaining power is much lower since it buys books form the suppliers at 10% of its list price. In addition, Bookoff focuses on the used book and differentiates itself by shaping the new recycle industry, the students can feel frugal and environmentally conscious without suffering a drop-off in the quality of books when buying new-used ones, and new-used book store such as Bookoff is also an acceptable compromise for the still image-conscious, but increasingly thrifty, Japanese consumer. For Amazon Japan, first, it uses product differentiation strategy to provide a wide variety of products besides book. It offers music, DVDs, videos, software, gaming and even kitchen appliances. By offering the wide range of products, Amazon Japan differentiates itself by offering larger selection of products. Also, it differs itself by allowing customers to read excerpts and passages from books before they purchase them. Low cost leadership strategy is also deployed to compete with existing competitors by offering free shipping which put Amazon on par with its bricks and mortar competitors but give it an advantage over other online stores. †¢ Resource-based view. Bookoff has several new technologies as tangible resource and has intangible resource as reputation for offering new used books. These new technologies can add value to those used books, Boooff can clean book covers and grind down dog-eared pages to make a used book look practically new. And the value-adding activity is very firm-specific, so, the technology resource is vey valuable. As Bookoff’s new valuable technology is a rare resource and capability, other competitor has no access to it, so it has the potential to provide continue competitive advantage. And because the new championed technology probably has been registered as patent by Bookoff, the imitation of this capability is almost impossible. The organization of Bookoff is unlike most bureaucracy-laden Japanese companies, it franchises all its stores, and the owners and employees are encouraged to act like entrepreneurs, and this feature of organization of Boooff gives its competitive advantage that its competitors don’t have. For Amazon Japan, when the bookselling activity is not value-adding in Japan, it turns to offer a wide variety of products besides books such as electronics, toys, and sporting good, etc. Because of this innovation resource, Amazon Japan always keeps increasing its product lineup to provide value to consumers. Another question is that this innovation of Amazon Japan is not rare, it can be easily imitated by its competitors, and thus, this competitive advantage is just contemporary for Amazon Japan, but other competitors can only imitate its product line, they probably are not as innovative as Amazon Japan. †¢ Institution-based view Institution is the humanly devised constraints that structure human interaction, the institution in Japan is quite unique compared with that in American. The Saihan system, a formal institution, this law prevents these bookseller competing on price. For Bookoff, this institution doesn’t constrain its competitive advantage, it uses low-cost leadership to compete with its competitors, there is a loophole in the Saihan system, because it is a used-book stores, so, it is an exemption to the Saihan system, then, it can lower its prices which can be much lower than its competitors. Further more, it accommodate to the changed informal institution in Japan that the Japanese consumer’s image-conscious, but thrifty culture, and it also cater for the Japanese young people’s taste that it is new-used book stores, the young generation are much more environmentally conscious. For Amazon Japan, it uses a clever methods to bypass the Saihan system to offer free shipping to customers which put its products at lower prices than its competitors that do not offer this service, and its also opened Amazon Marketpalce, this allows Amazon to indirectly sell books and music at prices below Saihan-mandated prices as third-party uses, where those third-party users are not bound by Saihan system. In addition, Amazon uses a points system for customers to accumulate points to redeem for a gift certificate, this also by pass the Saihan system to lower the price of its products. Because of the informal institution of Japan, people in Japan are fear of fraud to use credit care for online purchase, in order to cater for this unique culture, Amazon Japan started a service to allow its customer to make payments at any convenience stores and ATMs throughout the country, enabling customers to avoid the risk of online fraud. And Amazon Japan also accommodate the Japanese customers’ tradition of standing and reading to provide â€Å"look inside† option to allow customer to read excerpts and passages from books before they purchase them. 4. What will happen if the Saihan system dissolves? After the dissolve of Saihan system, all the competitors in Japan can then compete on price, a lot of small stores will not hold because they lack economies of scale and will be driven out of the bookselling industry, the industry structure will have fundamental change. The competition will be fierce, significant industry consolidation will occur and the industry will probably be dominant by giant companies. The suppliers’ competition will also be intensified, so, it will be important to have good supplier intimacy, buyer will have access to much lower prices of books. 5. If I were a board member of Barnes& Noble or Borders, I would approve a proposal to open a series of book stores in Japan, because the success of Amazon Japan and Bookoff has indicated that Saihan system can be easily by-passed, we can follow the success of Amazon Japan to offer free shipping and provide a wide selection for our customers, because the capabilities Amazon Japan are not hard to imitate, we have our own human resources to even build even better facilities than Amazon Japan, based on out resources in American, I believe we can success in Japan, if the Saihan System dissolves, we can still proceed to Japanese market, because after Saihan System dissolves, the competition in Japan will be very fierce, a lot of small operation will be driven out of business, we can then buy these small business and integrate them into our business operation. And we have economies of scale, we believe we can offer lower prices if price war begins in Japan. References 1. Peng, M (2009) Bookof f, Amazon, and the Japanese retail bookselling industy, Global Strategy, 2e, 387-395.