Friday, November 8, 2019

Management Strategic Example

Management Strategic Example Management Strategic – Coursework Example Investigate the possible vision and mission ments of the company. A possible mission ment of the company is â€Å"to maximise shareholder valueby manufacturing and distributing automobiles that cater to a variety of consumer needs and wants globally with the option of providing financing to both distributors and consumers.† A possible vision statement is â€Å"to be a consistently profitable automaker that assures customers of best-in-class but affordable vehicles.†Analyse if the mission and vision are good and aligned to its goals and objectives. The mission statement is good because it focuses on what Ford aims to achieve through its day-to-day activities, that is to give maximal returns to its owners by performing its core business of making and selling vehicles to different consumer segments globally. The vision statement is also good because it shows the company’s aspirations for the future: to give its customers the best vehicles as per the standards at tha t moment in time and to remain profitable while doing so. If you are the CEO of the company, develop your own version of a better vision and mission, by incorporating the theories you learn in class. Vision: To consistently be a profitable company that guarantees world class products and services. Mission: To manufacture, distribute and sell a broad-category of energy-efficient vehicles, with the option of providing financing to our customers, while ensuring that we consistently deliver maximal value to our stakeholders. Discuss the current strategies of the company highlighted in the article.Ford is pursuing three-pronged strategy: entry into the alternative-fuel vehicle (AFV) market, market penetration in the small and medium-sized car segment and divestment. Increased participation in the AFV market is vital because it allows Ford to: fulfil the increasing consumer and federal government demand for green energy and environmental sustainability, and to develop new competencies tha t could be leveraged to produce more fuel efficient vehicles. With consumers at its key markets going through an economic squeeze the small and medium-sized car segment has become one of the biggest segment of the auto market (Badal, 2011). For this reason it is only prudent that Ford leverages its brand strength to gain market share in this growing market segment. Finally, Ford is in financial trouble and divesting from businesses where it sees little potential for future growth will not only help improve its books but also enable it restructure its business.ReferencesBadal, A. (2011). Ford Motor Company - 2009. Strategic Management: Concept and Cases (13th ed., pp. 95–102). Harlow: Pearson Education.

Ethical Dilemma in Healthcare Administration

Ethical Dilemma in Healthcare Administration Introduction Healthcare administration faces ethical dilemma in providing prime health services and maintaining the economic status of the healthcare system concurrently. The administration must stringently balance health services and economic issues that are intrinsic to the healthcare system. Advertising We will write a custom article sample on Ethical Dilemma in Healthcare Administration specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Hornbeak explains that, health care administrators have critical role â€Å"†¦in overseeing the moral conduct and missions of their institutions while at the same time maintaining the economic viability of those institutions, but these two major functions can clash and create dilemmas that complicate the practice of health administration† (2011, p. 1). The ethical issue regarding economic viability of health care institutions elicits ethical dilemma where two views arise. The first view questions how he alth care institutions can ethically concentrate the administrative functions on the issues of health only and remain economically viable and sustainable at the same time. The second view ethically doubts the administrative capacity to juggle both health care and economic issues, without compromising the primary role of offering quality health care in the society. Therefore, how does the health care administration resolve the ethical dilemma amidst demands of quality health care and economic constraints? Ethical dilemma Health care systems have a noble responsibility of ensuring that they provide quality health care services that are affordable and accessible to all people. Other responsibilities such as integration of business practices into the system seem to have encumbrance effect that would lead to compromised health care services. The integration of business practices into the health care system has elicited ethical concerns that have resulted into ethical dilemma in the adm inistrative responsibilities. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) â€Å"expanded its patient rights standards to include requirements for assuring that hospital business practices would be ethical in 1995† (Laura, Cherry, Darragh, 2009, p.1). JCAHO established ‘patient rights and organization ethics’ that classified two types of ethics involved in health care administration; clinical and business ethics. Clinical ethics govern the relationship between healthcare and patients while business ethics deal with the relationship between health care and its suppliers.Advertising Looking for article on ethics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Currently, the health care system is struggling to resolve the ethical dilemma that threatens to stall provision of quality health services and sustainable utilization of health care resources. Ethical concerns root for the dist inction and separation of clinical ethics and business ethics in order to avoid complications of the responsibilities in the health care system. Laura, Cherry and Darragh argue that, â€Å"while marketing and admission practices are seen as issues related to ‘business’ they can lead to unneeded admissions or demand for unneeded services, both of which can unnecessarily expose the patient to the risk of side effects or complications† (2009, p. 2). Without clinical and business ethics to streamline the relationship between essential and non-essential health care services, the business aspect would take precedence since profits is the ultimate objective. On the other extreme, stringent clinical ethics may render health care system economically unviable resulting into poor healthcare services. Therefore, health care systems have great challenge of resolving the ethical dilemma that threatens the quality provision of services and sustainability of resources. Health Care Ethics Historically, healthcare system has been focusing on the clinical ethics while neglecting the importance of business ethics. By doing this, the healthcare system erred because â€Å"†¦it sought to deal with specific clinical ethical issues before assessing the ethical organization life and ethical infrastructure of the whole system which has affected the resolution of the ethical dilemma† (Silva, 1998, p.26). Clinical ethics govern the relationship between the healthcare system and the patient by ensuring that health professionals do not comprise the quality of health services that patients receive. According to healthcare professional ethics, the primary goal of any health institutions is provision of quality, affordable, and accessible health care services that improve health standards of the people. However, integration of business ethics into the healthcare system is a threat to clinical ethics. Although the primary goal of the health care system is pro vision of quality services, it is impossible to sustain the use of available resources without venturing into business. Advertising We will write a custom article sample on Ethical Dilemma in Healthcare Administration specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Health institutions are in strategic position to conduct lucrative businesses aimed at improving the quality of services they offer to patients. Faced with this truth, healthcare administrators have a challenge of balancing the clinical and business ethics because there is tendency to neglect clinical ethics and concentrate on the business ethics. Healthcare institutions have become business oriented in the United States since â€Å"†¦health care organizational culture has shifted from a service oriented one to a monetary oriented one characterized by product lines, stocks, profits, competition, megamergers and, ultimately, survival† (Silva, 1998, p. 3). The survival of the health care system may entail increasing the costs of services, falsifying diagnoses, admitting or discharging patients unprofessionally with the prime objective of earning profits. Solution to Ethical Dilemma To address the ethical dilemma in the healthcare system involving clinical and business ethics, the administration should focus its attention on building cultural and ethical infrastructure to regulate all activities in a health organization. In addition, the administration should instill ethical principles to healthcare professionals at all levels of the organization through education and strong leadership that advocates for the postulated ethics. Silva argues that, â€Å"in any attempt to change the values of an organization †¦ the contents of the existing organizational culture must be dealt with directly for positive change to occur† (1998, p. 4). Therefore, the issue of clinical and business ethics calls for cultural and ethical infrastructure for it to hav e a lasting solution. The resolution of the ethical dilemma requires an overhaul of organizational culture and ethics. Change in cultural and ethical infrastructure is imperative as it provides professional environment where ethics guide all healthcare practices. Advertising Looking for article on ethics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Corporate leadership is not enough to transform cultural and ethical infrastructure because â€Å"not only the leaders but also the followers must ascribe to common, sound, and shared ethical values, just as unethical leadership can taint followers, morally tainted followers can impede or stop the goals of ethical leaders† (Laura, Cherry, Darragh, 2009, p. 7). Therefore, transformation of the cultural and ethical infrastructure needs concerted efforts of both the administrative and health professionals. Conclusion The ethical dilemma in the administration of healthcare system is affecting the delivery of quality services and sustainability of the health resources available. The healthcare system administrators face the challenge of striking a balance between clinical ethics that seek to provide standard services to the patients and business ethics that take care of the sustainability of health resources. Since both clinical and business ethics are critical in the healthcar e system, cultural and ethical infrastructure is essential for the resolution of the long-standing ethical dilemma and the realization of defined administrative roles. References Hornbeak, J. (2011). Health Administration Ethics. Spring Journal, 12, 1-10 Laura, J., Cherry, N., Darragh, M. (2009). Organizational Ethics and Health Care: Expanding Bioethics to the Institutional Arena. National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature, 9(5), 1-14. Silva, M. (1998). Organizational and Administrative Ethics in Health Care: An Ethics Gap. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 16, 1-11.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

The Views of the Man Who Ended the Cold War essays

The Views of the Man Who Ended the Cold War essays The Views of the Man Who Ended the Cold War Gail Sheehy. The Man Who Changed the World- The Lives of Mikhail S. Gorbachev. Mikhail Gorbachev. Perestroika- New Thinking for Our Country and the World. The two books that I am critiquing are about Mikhail Gorbachev and his political policies. The first book is called The Man Who Changed the World- The lives of Mikhail S. Gorbachev by Gail Sheehy. The second is Perestroika- New Thinking for Our Country and the World by Mikhail Gorbachev. Gail Sheehys book is a biography of Gorbachev from birth until present times, and it really helps in understanding the second book, Perestroika, which is about Gorbachevs political policies that turned the Soviet Union upside down. These books complement each other very well. The Man Who Changed the World is a well-covered look at Gorbachevs life- his roots, his early life, and how he rose into power. It gives some reasoning as to why he is not the typical Russian Communist Party leader. The most startling fact I discovered about Gorbachev is that he is not technically Russian. Both sets of his grandparents were Ukrainian Cossacks. Cossacks were much like the pilgrims were to early America. The Cossacks were groups of people who had escaped from oppressive conditions and migrated north in search of religious and political freedoms. Gorbachev had rebel blood from the very beginning- and was far from the typical submissive Russian peasant farmer. These people formed their own towns and tried to become self-sufficient in Russias mother-land in the south. He was born in 1931, during the heart of the Great Depression, and during some of the worst times that Russia was to experience. Stalin was basically creating a state sponsored famine with the way he was managing the countrys food supply, and the strict rules the people had to abide by. He would take all of their food away for the slightest becau...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Summary of Homers Iliad Book XXIII

Summary of Homer's Iliad Book XXIII Achilles orders the Myrmidons to drive their chariots in battle formation, and they go three times around the body of Patroclus. Then they have a funeral feast. When Achilles falls asleep, the ghost of Patroclus tells him to hurry up and bury him, but also to make sure their bones are interred in the same urn. The next morning Agamemnon orders the troops to get timber. The Myrmidons cover Patroclus with locks of hair. Achilles cuts one long lock he had been growing for a river god back home, but since he will be dying soon, he cuts it for Patroclus, instead, and places it in his hands. After the men have brought the lumber, they go off to prepare a meal while the chief mourners deal with the pyre cutting piece on fat from sacrificed animals to cover the body. Various animals, including two of Patroclus dogs, and stallions, honey, oil, and the 12 young Trojans are killed and added to the pile. Achilles has to plead with the gods for adequate wind for the pyre, but he gets it and the fire doesnt die down until morning. They douse the fire with wine and then Achilles picks out Patroclus bones and puts them in a golden urn, with a protective layer of fat. Achilles faces the army in a circle and says its time for funeral games. The first game has the most elaborate prizes and is for chariot racing. Achilles says he will not compete because his horses are immortal, and so the competition would not be fair. The contenders are Eumelus, Diomedes, Menelaus, Antilochus, and Meriones. The other men make bets. Diomedes wins, but there is debate over second place because Antilochus fouled Menelaus. The next event is boxing. Epeus and Euryalus fight, with Epeus winning. Wrestling is the third event. Fairly typical, the prizes are a tripod worth 12 oxen for first prize, and a woman worth 4 oxen for the loser. Telamons son Ajax and Odysseus fight, but the result is a stalemate and Achilles tells them to share. The next event is a footrace. Oileus son Ajax, Odysseus, and Antilochus contend. Odysseus is behind, but a quick prayer to Athena brings him to first place, with Antilochus in third. The next contest is for the armor Patroclus had taken from Sarpedon. The fighters are to be in full battle gear and first wound wins. Telamons son Ajax fights with Diomedes. Again, there is a draw, although Achilles gives Diomedes the long sword. The next contest is to see who can throw a lump of pig iron the farthest. The prize is enough iron to last a long time making weapons and chariot wheels. Polypoetes, Leonteus, Telamons son Ajax, and Epeus throw it. Polypoetes wins. Iron is also the prize for an archery contest. Teucer and Meriones compete. Teucer forgets to invoke Apollo, so he misses. Meriones makes appropriate promises and wins. Achilles then sets up more prizes for spear throwing. Agamemnon and Meriones stand, but Achilles tells Agamemnon to sit down because there would be no contest since no one is better than he is. He can just take the first prize. Agamemnon gives the prize to his herald. Major Characters in Book XXIII Achilles: Best warrior and most heroic of the Greeks. After Agamemnon stole his war prize, Briseis, Achilles sat out the war until his beloved comrade Patroclus was killed. Although he knows his death is imminent, Achilles is determined to kill as many Trojans as possible, including Hector whom he blames for Patroclus death.Myrmidons: Achilles troops. Their name means ants and they were called Myrmidons because it is said that they were originally ants.Ajax: The son of Telamon and Periboea, this Ajax is the one most people refer to when talking about Ajax. He was one of the foremost fighters in the Trojan War.Ajax: Of Locris, son of Oileus. Bound by the Oath of Tyndareus and one of the Argonauts, he was in the belly of the Trojan Horse.Antilochus: A son of Nestor.Epeus: A son of Panopeus. A champion boxer.Euryalus: A son of King Mecisteus. Under Diomedes and Sthenelus.Odysseus: From Ithaca. One of the leaders of the Greeks who will vie with Ajax for the status of most worthy after Ac hilles. Patroclus: Loyal friend and companion of Achilles in the Trojan War. The son of Menoetius.Menelaus: Helens Greek husband. Menelaus is not considered a good fighter.Meriones: Son of Molus, a Cretan and the charioteer of Idomeneus.Teucer: A half-brother of Ajax and a son of Telamon.Polypoetes: Son of Pirithous. Co-commands the Lapiths.Sarpedon: King of Lycia, son of Zeus.Agamemnon: Lead king of the Greek forces, the brother of Menelaus.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

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

Determinism - Essay Example Free Will, Soft Determinism, (In)compatibilism Some of the eternal normative questions such as that of morality too have shaped the major arguments of compatibilism. The problem is that without free will, it is believed that there cannot be any morality among the human beings. The issue is ultimately about human choice. The starting point of the debate is not that what the choice must be. On the other hand, the question here is about whether human beings have the choice of choice at all, especially in their crucial actions with regards to life struggles. Pippin proposes that â€Å"freedom is understood by Hegel to involve a certain sort of self-relation and a certain sort of relation to others; it is constituted by being in a certain self-regarding and a certain sort of ‘mutually recognizing’ state. This state of self-consciousness and socially mediated self-reflection, defined in a highly elaborate systematic way as a ‘rational’ self- and other-relation, c ounts as being free† (p. 194). It means that free will is not only constituted with relations to one’s self but also in relations to other as well. Free will, in other words, is constituted by a dialectical relationship between the individual and the society. Here, in Hegel, the conflict between free will and determinism progressively blurs. One of the most important questions that need to be addressed reflexively is the problems of whether determinism is inconsistent with free will. But, one could argue that there is no given inconsistency as such between determinism and free will based on his/her lived in experiences alone. If the actions of a person are completely determined by rational factors, we must be in a position to correctly predict that person’s future course of action as well. No determinists have ever come up with a mechanism to do so whatever determinism they preach in theory. According to Steward, â€Å"it appears that it is a matter of luck in s ome sense that we ever manage to decide things, but this luck does not appear to prevent those decisions we do manage to make from having been truly up to us. And this means that we must be cautious, in turn, about the demands we impose on the libertarian. In particular, we must not insist that the libertarian story entail that luck be entirely absent from the arena of action† (p. 169). The dialectics between chance and necessity of course have a crucial role in understanding the interactions between free will and determinism. God or the ultimate determinism must itself be seen as an expression of the free will of the universe. Pippin suggests that â€Å"treating Geist itself as a kind of norm; a collective institution whereby we (remaining the natural organisms we ontologically are) hold each other to a responsiveness to and directedness by reason, and thereby realize spirit as ‘freedom† (p. 204). It is the universal and human beings’ hold with it determin es our free expression of the will. The free will does not exist independently. It materializes itself only in the given conditions. To argue that human beings are completely governed by their decisions is completely wrong. Even our own decisions do not determine our own behavior or a particular course of action. It is one of the strongest assertions of Steward is that â€Å"decisiveness is an executive virtue we do not all possess – so vacillation – even vacillation that is ultimately fatal to treasured aims - does not constitute the sort of behaviour we cannot make

Nazism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Nazism - Research Paper Example The acceptance of the German public of Hitler and his government though irrational, was not unexplainable. The horrific actions of the Third Reich are well documented. The end result of the Nazi’s evil ideologies included the occupation of most European nations and the ‘final solution,’ the annihilation of over six million Jews. During this the rise of Nazism, the ethnic and romantic ideals of ‘Blood and Fatherland’ gained impetus. According to this notion, German blood and the German fatherland were holy and those ethnic minorities within the country that did not belong to the German race were seen as contaminating German blood and tarnishing the German fatherland. This stream of thought brought to bear an enormous influence on the Nazi ideology, which viewed â€Å"the spilling of blood as part of a holy crusade† (Baigent, Leigh & Lincoln, 1991: 189). In his rise to power, Hitler garnered support by holding rallies but his oratories were hardl y credible or persuasive on an intellectual level. Usually, his speeches were predictable, repetitious and lacked substantive arguments. The influence of minds was spawned by the delivery of the speeches which possessed energy and a hypnotic, rhythmic pulse to them.

Friday, November 1, 2019

Doppelganger Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Doppelganger - Essay Example The objective shall be met by the aid of the salient delivery techniques employed by the director to effectively bring out the themes. The prestige adequately covers the theme of sacrifice that goes into deception; the kind of deception that is good enough to generate the perception that what is achieved is actually magical and cannot be replicated by someone else without the knowledge, skills and experience of the magician. A peculiar characteristic of this sacrifice is that in most instances, it is often disguised because its discovery could be fatal to the discovery of the truth thus unmasking the fact that no magic is performed. Two examples stand out to demonstrate sacrifice. One is in the characters of Borden and Chung Ling Soo. In order to perform the magic trick of entering one point and exiting the other instantaneously, Borden cleverly uses a twin brother to accomplish the same. However, great sacrifice is what makes the achievement a reality. Borden has to conceal at all costs that he has a twin brother and make sure that the status quo remains hidden for life (McGowen, 2012, p. 112). This demonstrates how far he is willing to go just to deceive his audiences. Borden cannot even reveal his twin brother to his wife Sarah who is forced into taking her own life when she suspects that she has been dealing with two men believing them to be one. Further, sacrifice is still demonstrated when Borden’s two fingers get shot off during a magic activity that goes awry. Instead of stopping bullets as originally intended, he ends up with two fingers chopped. The negative development puts the secret of his t win brother in jeopardy as the brother will be conspicuously distinguishable from him with all fingers intact. The only solution is to chop of the fingers of the other brother so that they all look the same. Perhaps, this example best demonstrates how far in the domain of sacrifice a magician can go to capture and retain audience for