Saturday, November 30, 2019

Sergio Marchionne’s Challenge at Chrysler free essay sample

1. Background Information Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne took over Chrysler operations in June 2009. Former CEO Robert Nardelli used buyouts and layoffs to cut departments which halted the company to only make Jeep Grand Cherokees and Chrysler 300 Sedan’s. 1.1 People / Key Players Sergio Marchionne – CEO of Fiat Robert Nardelli – Former CEO of Chrysler Cerberus – Capital Management Firm 1.2 Chronology of Key Relevant Events Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne took over Chrysler operations in June 2009. Fiat acquired Chrysler after two years of private-equity ownership under Cerberus Capital Management. Former Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli used buyouts and layoffs to cut departments. This caused capital spending to be slashed and the only new cars coming off the lines were Jeep Grand Cherokee and Chrysler 300 Sedan’s. Cerberus forgave $2 billion in loans. Chrysler will replace 33% of it s sales volume before 2013, less than half the industry’s average. 1.3 Key Facts Chrysler is operated by Fiat. Chrysler has only two models coming into the current market. We will write a custom essay sample on Sergio Marchionne’s Challenge at Chrysler or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Chrysler is only producing one-third the rate of Ford, Honda and the Korean automakers and less than half the industry. 1.4 Concepts The car industry is struggling. Fiat CEO took over a mess that will take years to overcome. Chrysler must push forward to get revenue rolling into the company. 1.5 Assumptions If former CEO Robert Nardelli would have not cut spending so drastically, the company would have goon bankrupt before the government could step in and /or  file Chapter 11. CEO Sergio Marchionne must find ways to bring in revenue. 1.6 Point of View This case is shown from the view point of the automobile industry. 2. Problem Statement CEO Sergio Marchionne took over operations in June 2009 only to find a mess. The company is currently only producing 33% of its sales volume; less than half the industry’s average. Within the 33% there are only two type of vehicles being produced; Jeep Grand Cherokee and Chrysler 300 Sedan’s. 3. Problem Causal Analysis 4. Management Theory, Process, or Approach When rebuilding a company such as Chrysler it would be best to use the Face Negotiation Theory. The Chrysler company will be able to use this theory to â€Å"save face.† The public image of the company is important and many factors would play into this theory. It will be the goal of CEO Sergio Marchionne to help in this matter. 5. Recommendations Increasing the sales volume for Chrysler can be accomplished by marketing the new products in a friendly and affordable manor. Introducing one new automobile a year for the next five years will increase productivity and should allow the company to show they are ready for the competitive market. Hiring suitable product engineers will lead to better design and innovation for the company to expand. 6. Assessment Marketing the â€Å"new† Chrysler is important to bring morale to the company. This is possible when working with the right team. In order to produce a new vehicle every year will be imperative to the company’s success. This may not be feasible if the company cannot hire the appropriate engineers. The CEO will need to be the driving force for the company to get started back in the right direction. 7. Implications If the company were to implement my recommendations it would allow for steady attainable growth. However, if the company were to not fully engage in these recommendations it might allow for the company to once again be in financial struggles. If however, the company was to fully engage in this practice; the sales and profits for the company would become greater. This would allow the company to embark upon more innovative ideas that would bring better profits.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Substrate Definition in Chemistry and Other Sciences

Substrate Definition in Chemistry and Other Sciences The definition of substrate depends on the context in which the word is used, particularly in the sciences. Definitions of Substrate Substrate (chemistry): A substrate is the medium in which a chemical reaction takes place or the reagent in a reaction that provides a surface for absorption. For example, in the fermentation of yeast, the substrate the yeast acts upon is sugar to produce carbon dioxide. In biochemistry, an enzyme substrate is the substance the enzyme acts upon. Sometimes the word substrate is also used as a synonym for the reactant, which is the molecule consumed in a chemical reaction. Substrate (biology): In biology, the substrate may be the surface on which an organism grows or is attached. For example, a microbiological medium may be considered a substrate. The substrate may also be the material at the bottom of a habitat, such as gravel at the base of an aquarium. Substrate may also refer to the surface on which an organism moves. Substrate (materials science): In this context, a substrate is a base on which a process occurs. For example, if gold is electroplated over silver, the silver is the substrate. Substrate (geology): In geology, substrate is underlying stratum.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Types of Feature Stories for Journalists

Types of Feature Stories for Journalists Just as there are different kinds of hard-news stories  in journalism, there are several types of feature stories. Often described as soft news, a feature story doesnt deliver the news directly, as a hard-news story does. A feature story, while containing elements of news, aims to humanize, add color, educate, entertain, and illuminate, says Media-Studies.ca. These stories often build on news that was reported in a previous news cycle. Examples of feature stories include news features, profiles, spot features, trend stories, and live-ins. Feature stories can be found in the main news section of a newspaper, especially if they profile a person or group currently in the news. But they are also likely to be found in sections farther back in the paper- in lifestyles, entertainment, sports, or business sections. They also can be found in other news formats, such as radio, television, and the Internet. News Feature The news feature is just what the name implies: a feature article that focuses on a topic in the news. News features are often published in the main news, or A section, or the local news, or B section, of a paper. These stories focus on hard-news topics but arent deadline stories. They bring a softer writing style to hard news. These articles often are people stories, focusing on individuals behind the news, and they often seek to humanize a set of statistics. A news feature could claim, for example, that a community is experiencing a methamphetamine epidemic. It would begin by citing facts such as  arrest statistics  from local, state, or federal authorities or treatment numbers from area hospitals and drug counselors. Then it might include quotes and information from people involved in different aspects of the story, such as police, emergency room doctors, drug counselors, and meth addicts. This kind of feature story focuses not on a single crime, drug-induced death, or meth-related arrest; instead, it briefly tells the story of one or more of the above-mentioned characters, such as recovering meth addicts. The news feature seeks to put a human face on a crime statistic to bring the story to life for readers and inform them of potential problems with the issue. Profile A profile is an article about an individual, such as a politician, celebrity, athlete, or CEO. Profiles seek to give readers behind-the-scenes looks at what a person is like, warts and all, behind the public persona. Profile articles provide background about the individual: education, life experiences, and challenges faced in getting where he or she is now, as well as basic information such as age, marital status, and family details, including the number of siblings and children. A profile can appear in any section of the paper, from the A section to the business section. For example, in 2016, The Orange County Register ran a feature story on Carl Karcher, the late founder of Carls Jr. The story, written by reporter Nancy Luna, described how Karcher started the fast-food restaurant, which specializes in hamburgers, on July 17, 1941, by selling 10-cent hot dogs, tamales, and chili dogs out of a cart on a street corner in Los Angeles, California. He financed a $326 food cart by mortgaging his Plymouth Super Deluxe for $311, Luna wrote. He paid the rest in cash. The remainder of the article told how Karcher rose from being a poor Ohio farm boy with an eighth-grade education to the owner of one of the most successful fast-food chains in the country. Karcher had passed away in 2008, so Luna interviewed a restaurant official to obtain background information. Spot Feature Spot features are feature stories produced on deadline that focus on a breaking news event. They are often used as sidebars to the mainbar, the deadline news story about an event. Suppose a tornado hits a community. The mainbar would focus on the five Ws and H of the story- the who, what, when, where, why, and how- including the number of casualties, the extent of damage, and rescue efforts. Complementing the mainbar, the paper might publish one or more spot features focusing on various aspects of the event. One story might describe the scene at an emergency shelter where displaced residents were housed. Another might reflect on past tornadoes that have devastated the community. Yet another might examine weather conditions that led to the storm. The paper could publish dozens of spot features depending on the severity of the event. While the main news story would be written in a hard-news style, the spot features would convey a softer feature style, focusing on the human toll of the tragedy. Trend The trend story would likely appear in the lifestyle, fashion, cooking, high-tech, or entertainment section. These stories explore trends such as a new look in womens fall fashions, a website or tech gadget that everyones going nuts over, an indie band attracting a cult following, or a show on an obscure cable channel thats suddenly hot. Trend stories take the pulse of the culture at the moment, looking at whats new, fresh, and exciting in art, fashion, film, music, high technology, cooking, and other areas. Trend stories are usually light, quick, easy-to-read pieces that capture the spirit of whatever trend is being discussed. Live-In The live-in is an in-depth, often magazine-length article that paints a picture of a particular place and the people who work or live there. Live-in stories might appear in the lifestyle section of the paper or in a magazine that the paper publishes occasionally, such as once a week or once a month. Live-ins have been written about homeless shelters, emergency rooms, battlefield encampments, cancer hospices, public schools, and police precincts. Live-in pieces are often a day-in-the-life or week-in-the-life stories that give readers a look at a place they probably wouldnt normally encounter. Reporters doing live-ins must spend a lot of time in the places theyre writing about, hence the name live-in. Thats how they get a sense of the places rhythm and atmosphere. Reporters have spent days, weeks, even months doing live-ins (some have been turned into books). The live-in in some ways is the ultimate feature story: an example of the reporter- and, then, the reader- becoming immersed in the topic. Though they might have different names, depending on the medium, these types of stories are just as likely to appear on a TV screen, radio station, or Internet website, serving readers, listeners, and viewers in much the same way as they do newspaper readers: by adding depth, humanity, color, and entertainment to the news of the day.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Conflict Resolution at General Hospital Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Conflict Resolution at General Hospital - Essay Example The General Hospital opened its doors in 1968 to provide quality medical care to the community around it and beyond. At first, gradual growth resulted to an increased number of patients and hospital activity in general. Recently, however, there was a sharp decline in patient occupancy from 90 percent to 60 percent. The hospital chief executive officer (CEO), Mike Hammer, believed that physicians played a significant role in this decline by having their allegiance to their profession rather than to the hospital. In his opinion, the physicians did not consider the economic repercussions of their medical practice; neither did they care about the situation in which they were placing the hospital. In this respect, the CEO used various conflict resolution techniques to solve the stalemate between the hospital and its employees, and among the employees. At first, the CEO attempted to communicate his concerns to physicians through Dr. Mark Williams, Director of Medicine, to no avail. Later on, he had to cut costs by computerization of hospital procedures resulting in firing of a highly efficient EKG reader, Dr. James Boyer, and replacing him with a non-satisfactory computerized EKG reading system. This infuriated the physicians as not only was one of them fired, but also the computerized system was implemented without their consent or consultation. Hammer refused to take responsibility and his Chief Operations Officer (COO), Marge Harding, who implemented the system without consultations, refused to attend meetings with physicians to avoid meeting them and explaining her policies. This is the first approach that the CEO took by organizing a meeting with the Director of Medicine who was in charge of the physicians. The intention was to have each party air its views on the situation at hand and come to an agreement that would be

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

The state of E-learning initiatives in Saudi Arabia Universities Essay

The state of E-learning initiatives in Saudi Arabia Universities - Essay Example This technology, popularly referred to as E Learning, has significantly contributed to the expansion of courses offered and, more importantly, has emerged as an efficient and effective quality education tool for students who want to pursue their education from home. Indeed, the use of the internet as a medium to impart knowledge has experienced unprecedented growth over the past years. The 21st century witnessed acceptance of the internet as the preferred medium of education and instruction in quite a few Western European and United States colleges and universities. Determined not to be left behind, Saudi universities and college took the initiative to implement E Learning technologies. They started off well and a number of colleges put in place courses with credits on the web and students had the facility to get information and also use the services of online tutorials to prepare for the exams. The practice of providing online course information for students has entrenched itself in the educational landscape and indeed, has taken root in countless universities and colleges around the world. Even so, the aforementioned constitutes a minor componential element of E Learning based approach to education. Accordingly, most Saudi colleges took the initiative and put in place the short term plan of posting information online and tying up with International partners and universities in the West to offer their online courses and degrees to the Middle East. The aim was to provide localised service.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Paul Lutus Advertising Essay Example for Free

Paul Lutus Advertising Essay In his article entitled Consumer Angst written in 2007, Paul Lutus claimed that â€Å"No matter how true any single advertisement is, modern advertising, taken as a whole, tells a lie — that you need the thing being advertised. † To explain his point, Paul Lutus further claims that valuable consumer goods need not be advertised because it is a necessity by itself and no promotion is needed for it to attract and obtain sales. Moreover, he explained that the quality of the product should speak for itself and there is no need to â€Å"waste company’s money asserting the obvious†. In his above-mentioned arguments, Paul Lutus obviously focuses only on one aspect of advertising which is to sell. He missed to appreciate the other function of advertising which is to inform. Advertising, as defined by Wikipedia. org, â€Å"is the form of communication whose purpose is to inform potential customers about products and services and how to obtain and use them†. The primary purpose of advertising is to create public awareness about a certain product or service that is being advertised. It aims to communicate to the intended audience that such a product or service exists. As Taflinger (1996) claims â€Å"the basic purpose of advertising is to identify and differentiate one product from another in order to persuade the consumer to buy that product in preference to another. † Advertising is usually used to create a unique image that will be identified to a product or service. The message that is being communicated usually highlights the best features of the product – its uniqueness, usability, best characteristics, etc. – that will customer’s attention to it. After providing information on the product or service features, advertising’s goal is to entice customers to try out the product. It is therefore safe to claim that the end-goal of any advertisement is to generate sales in terms of product or service. However, while it is true that every advertising campaign is aimed at generating revenue for the brand that is being advertised, it is not proper to claim that all advertisements are lies. Even premium brands such as Nike, Armani, Prada and others do advertise their products. These brands are sought after and have all proven to be of good quality. But these brands still invest on advertisement. Advertising has become an important part of today’s business. With new products sprouting like mushrooms everyday, competition has become stiff and advertising has taken a big role in allowing the product or service to compete in the market. In his article entitled â€Å"Educating the Consumer about Advertising: Some Issues† Stephen Gotlieb (1991) explains that advertising â€Å"promotes competition among producers of products and services, keeps prices low through the development of mass markets, encourages store owners to stock a variety of items, supports free expression by funding media sources, and spurs invention†. The more you are seen and understood by your customers, the bigger chance you have to stay in the mainstream. It is therefore important to get you message through, so that your product or service gets noticed. Or else, your offer will just perish. Also, with the competition getting tighter, advertisers today cannot afford to rely on false claims for their products of services. With a lot of other options available in the market, a single wrong claim will trigger the customer to try out other product. It is the role of advertising to entice customers and encourage them to try out the product. Once the customer is convinced with the advertising claim and decides to avail the product or service, it is now the role of the product to prove itself and embody what is being stated in the advertising claim. It is therefore crucial to communicate the message that best embodies the product. Once advertised, the product or service is already exposed to t he public eye and scrutiny. Unless the customer has already tried out the product or service, their perception of the product will depend on the advertisement. It will either make or break the future of the product or service depending on how you position the message about the product. Therefore, while an advertisement is typically used to create or alter the consumer’s perception of a product and induce them into buying it, it cannot be said that it is Always  a lie. For obvious reasons, advertisements only highlight the good side of the products or services. We cannot blame the advertisers to do this. While they are obviously banking on the good side of their offer, we cannot accuse them of telling us a lie. The beauty of advertising is it gives the customers the chance to evaluate the competing products or services even before purchasing it through the product claims.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Heart Of Darkness Response Assignment :: essays research papers

â€Å"They were dying slowly-it was clear. They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now, nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying confused in the greenish gloom†. (page 14 para. 3, line 1). The quote is coming from Marlow, upon arriving at the outer station, and first witnessing the devastation the Belgians have caused the native peoples. He is speaking about the black men, who have been enslaved, dying all around him. He can see the work they are being made to do, and finds it a great horror, similar, perhaps, to what hell must be like. This quote also shows Marlow’s first recognition to an epiphany, he will later realize, as imperialism. He says clearly, these men can not be viewed as criminals, for the only function they seemed to be carrying out was dying, and die they did, in great numbers, and at the hands of the â€Å"enlightened† Europeans. I believe his conscience was getting the better of him, first seeing the death, disease, starvation, and chaos all around, allusions of a modern day genocide, which righteous people can not stand to watch, but are helpless to do anything about it. Descriptions of Africans dying, or more precisely, being killed, are common stories surrounding imperialism. Heart of Darkness, finely details the worst kind of African imperialism, the Belgian kind. Millions of people, in what today is called the Congo, were forcefully enslaved, and then made to gather ivory tusks, and rubber plants, all the time being treated as animals, for the sole purpose of lining the pockets of the Belgian monarchy. These scenes shock the more caring, and kind hearted reader, in today’s world, and leave questions swirling in the mind about how atrocities, similar to the ones described in Heart of Darkness, could have been carried out, by a supposed more enlightened society. Surprisingly enough, European imperialists do not hold the sole rights to death and destruction. In fact, simply by reading a history book of the last 2000 years, the reader may come to the conclusion that imperialism was a natural part of empire expansion. Just look at the Egyptians , the Assyrians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Huns, the Moslems, the Christians, and finally the British. What did they all have in common, first they all conquered territory, and usually to do this they needed to kill indigenous people, so that they could use newly conquered land, for their needs.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Mis Five Forces Analysis

A Five Forces Analysis of Allscripts, An Electronic Health Records (EHR) technology company Robert A. Brinker GBA 530 – Management Information Systems Professor Billie Whitfield February 6, 2012 The purpose of this paper is to identify competitive forces at work based on Michael Porter’s Five Competitive Forces from his Competitive Analysis Model (McNurlin, 2009) and provide recommendations to Allscripts, an electronic health records (EHR) technology company, as to business technology related improvements.Reviewing the United States healthcare industry would be a massive undertaking, so I will narrow my analysis specifically to an industry that has great momentum, the Health Information Technology (HIT) industry. The healthcare industry was said to be in a makeover year in 2010. (PwC, 2010) â€Å"The U. S. health care sector includes more than 780,000 hospitals, doctor offices, emergency care units, nursing homes, and social services providers with combined annual reve nue of more than $2 trillion†. Hoovers, 2011) Many of these healthcare sector participants are very fragmented and information shared between them is either insufficient or non-existent. Most experts agree that the current spending on healthcare is unsustainable now representing 17. 3 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. Many factors are driving the high cost healthcare, but one thing is certain in that the delivery of healthcare hasn’t changed much over the last century at the patient and physician level. The delivery of healthcare is an antiquated paper driven process and in much need of modernization.The demand for HIT has been fueled by new Healthcare Reform legislation and incentives known as the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act or HITECH, passed by President Obama in 2009 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The intent of the HITECH Act is to promote the modernization of the healthcare sy stem to improve the quality of patient care and decrease overall costs by bringing technology to the practice of medicine. â€Å"More than $88. 6 billion was spent by healthcare providers in 2010 on developing nd implementing electronic health records (EHR), health Information exchanges (HIE), and other HIT initiatives†. (PwC, 2010) The HIT industry has incredible momentum and such high demand that HIT companies are entering the marketplace at an significant rate. Although this industry has become very competitive and saturated over the last 2 years, there are several prominent companies leading the EHR industry. Among them are Allscripts, GE Centricity, and eClinicalWorks, which have been researched for this paper. Below are specific areas where key competitive forces are at work relative to Porter’s Five Forces Competitive Analysis Model.Threat of new entrants Suppliers of EHR systems and software to hospitals and physician practices were initially few in number earl ier in the decade, but it has become a fiercely competitive industry. Privately owned small businesses now dominate the supply and demand for electronic medical records (EMRs) over the last several years. (Folino, 2009) As stated earlier government regulations have had a great impact on the threat of new entrants given the passing of new healthcare related regulations and proposed financial incentives issued to medical practices that implement EHR technology in their practices.Also, the increase in new entrants is certainly due to the low capital investments required to produce EHR products to the marketplace. In the past significant investments in large servers and data storage was required, which has been replaced in large part by internet based cloud technology. This trend is very likely to continue as cloud technology grows in acceptance and prices decrease. Threat of substitutes Overall, with demand for EHR systems growing it appears to be a very lucrative industry with substan tial growth potential.As with most technologies cost will begin to fall as more and more suppliers enter the marketplace. As the prices begin to fall more hospitals and physicians will find it more cost-effective to implement EHR, however as of now the cost to implement an EHR system is prohibitive for many, especially for small medical practices that dominate the healthcare landscape such as in New Jersey. As technology evolves through innovations such as cloud based technology and prices drop it can have a positive impact on substitute EHR products by improving affordability and ease of implementation.In short, there will be simple and lower costs alternatives available. Bargaining power of suppliers Supplier integration is becoming a trend in the EHR marketplace as well, such as a recent partnership between eClinicalWorks and Dell computers. Dave Garets, president and CEO of HIMSS Analytics, a Chicago based healthcare information technology company, is a healthcare analyst who ha s had 30 years of experience in the IT field. He said that â€Å"partnerships like the one between Dell and eClinicalWorks are strategic and a good idea for larger corporations. (Folino, 2009) These supplier integrations are important as most EHR systems are software based and of course need compatible hardware systems on which to execute the final EHR product to the end-user, the healthcare provider. Compatibility issues abound and have so far been a challenge, particularly with the iPad, a trendy device which is fast becoming the hardware tool of choice for many applications. Healthcare providers have to shop separately for EHR software offered by EHR vendors and the computer hardware, which is offered by computer companies. Bargaining power of buyersOf Porter’s Five Forces, this one is quite evident. There is a large concentration of buyers in the EHR market, such as medical groups, primary care and specialist practices, hospitals, etc. and they have a lot of EHR vendors to choose from. Although buyers are not tremendously educated they can be selective. GE Healthcare markets its Centricity EHR system using a brand message that says, â€Å"Build new standards of Excellence, by building new standards of efficiency. † (GE Healthcare, 2012) This messaging can help buyers perceive the value through increase excellence and efficiencies.Online demonstrations are also a critical aspect of EHR companies attracting buyers. Features such as ease of use and medical practice application can be realized online very easily. This can help healthcare providers determine if an EHR system is worth further exploration. Intensity of rivalry Growth in this industry is very likely to continue as the need for modernization of healthcare continues and the a tipping point is reached where the adoption of EHR systems becomes a must for physicians practices and hospital systems.Currently the adoption rate is low but federal incentives continue to fuel an intense rivalr y amongst competitors in the health information technology arena and the degree of differentiation among companies in this space appears to be minimal. â€Å"Regardless of HIT's potential advantages, clinicians in the country's many small primary care practices can be overwhelmed by it and will need to be convinced that EHRs are affordable, enhance efficiency, and improve care. Then, they will need extensive, ongoing support. (O’Malley, 2011) Lyons Advisors, LLC, an IT consultant also states that â€Å"IT professionals will be most effective if they are helped to understand how a medical practice is different from other worksites†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Lyons, 2011) It appears obvious to me that a clear differentiator for companies in the EHR market would be to increase the education, training, and ongoing support of healthcare providers through the implementation of the EHR system. This needs to be done so by IT professionals educated on the inner workings and needs of the medical community that are their customers.As a result of this review and research, I submit the following recommendations to Allscripts: †¢ Consider integration partnerships with hardware technology companies with tablet type computer products, as portability will be important for healthcare providers as they move throughout their practices, the hospitals, nursing homes etc. Once such partnership could be with Apple and compatibility with its iPad. This partnership would go far to elevate Allscripts as an innovator and differentiate itself from its rivals. Make online demos accessible to healthcare professionals so they experience the intuitiveness and application of the Allscripts EHR system to their practices. Online demos could be made available to healthcare providers through You Tube, company websites, medical society websites, etc. †¢ Differentiate and promote the Allscripts brand from competitors by educating IT staff on the medical and clinical needs of healthcare profess ionals, so that IT staff truly understands the specific needs of their customers relative to EHR application.This would bridge the gap that currently exists between the technology and real efficiencies and patient care improvements. It could also minimize likely decreases in revenue as their patient load decreases throughout the implementation phase. Allscripts is a leader in the health IT arena, but like most companies there is much room for improvement to stay competitive in a lucrative, but fiercely competitive marketplace. A marketplace that has a long future as the need for the modernization of the U. S. ealthcare system takes shape, as it is behind the curve compared to almost every other service industry. America and patients alike deserve healthcare that is cost-effective, efficient, and innovative. References McNurlin, B. C. , Sprague, R. H. , Jr. , & Bui, T. (2009). Information Systems Management in Practice (8th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Top health indu stry issues of 2011. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) at http://www. pwc. com accessed on January 30, 2012 View: Making over healthcare. 2010) Issue 14. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) at http://www. pwc. com accessed on January 30, 2012 Healthcare Industry Description. Hoovers. Retrieved at http://www. hoovers. com/industry/health-care/1374-1. html on September 18, 2011 Big Business Eyes EMR Industry. By Lauren Folino, Oct 6, 2009. Access at http://www. inc. com/news/articles/2009/10/emr. html on February 4, 2012 Introduction of an Electronic Medical Record System into Physician Practice Offices: Why Is It so #%! &-ing Hard for Everybody? —Part III.Joseph P. Lyons, MA, CPA,* and Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA. Information Systems (2011) Tapping the Unmet Potential of Health Information Technology O'Malley, Ann. The New England Journal of Medicine 364. A12 (Mar 24, 2011): 1090-1091 Allscripts corporate website, accessed at http://www. allscripts. com on February 3, 2012 eClinicalWorks corp orate website, accessed at http://www. eclinicalworks. com on February 3, 2012 GE Healthcare corporate website, accessed at http://www. gehealthcare. com on February 3, 2012

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Global war wine Essay

The global wine industry is being influenced by a number of factors including consumer demand and changes in the way wine is produced and sold. There has been a shift in the perception of wine in the past half-century as consumers and producers have migrated away from the Old World philosophies to the modern-thinking the New World has brought about. By the 1990’s the average consumer’s palate changed – especially here in the U.S. where consumers were more apt to look for the premium ($7-14) and super-premium ($14+) wines. By this time, there was a drop in consumption in countries that traditionally consumed a great deal (France, Italy, Spain, Argentina, and Chile) while demand in other countries increased (U.K., Canada, Belgium, and some Asian countries). Wine consumption was now becoming truly â€Å"global† and New World producers had the means to handle demand. Shipping overseas was now a cost-effective way to transport wine around the globe allowing consumers even more choices of quality wines. Therefore, one of the most important factors in how the wine industry is changing is in the education of the wine consumer. And consumers now can look at a bottle of wine and tell the type of wine and the region they came from along with the date bottled. 2. How did the French become the dominant competitors in the increasingly global wine industry for centuries? What sources of competitive advantage were they able to develop to support their exports? Where were they vulnerable? French wine producers became the dominant competitor as a result of four reasons. First, their geographic and climatic featuresplayed significant role. As France is in the middle of Europe culture with suitable climate and soilcondition for harvesting grape, had accrued first-mover advantage and established its place as thedominant competitor in the global wine industry. Second, they became the first high-quality winemarket and gained a lot experience. Especially, the negociantstraded wine between France and othercountries and this worked as word-of-mouth effect, increasing the reputation and dominance of Frenchwine. Third, they used the latest innovations such as mass production of glass bottles, the use of cork stoppers and pasteurization. These innovations increased the stability and longevity of wine whichallowed the transportation of wine to distant places, and birth of global wine market. Lastly, the government support made significant effect on the reputation and improvement of French wineindustry. The sources of competitive advantage that they were able to develop to support their exports is to keen to taste and tradition in the production of wine (strongly tight to the French culture), artistic and historical talent and expertise in wine making and well located as to the high demand markets such as England,.. The main vulnerable aspects of French wine industry were highly fragmented vineyard and wine production, increasing vineyard prices per acre, complex distribution and sales system, long multilevel value chain, risk of bad weather and disease; and poor roads and complex toll and tax system. Also, they lack of rational assessment of their place comparing to other countries and they do not have any marketing plan or strategy.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Virginia Hall Biography

Virginia Hall Biography Virginia Hall Goillot (born Virginia Hall, April 6, 1906 – July 8, 1982) was an American spy who worked with the British Special Operations Executive during World War II. Her effectiveness as a spy earned her the â€Å"honor† of being considered the most dangerous Allied spy by the Nazi German regime. Fast Facts: Virginia Hall Known For: Renowned spy who assisted the French Resistance during World War II, working for both British and American intelligence and becoming one of the Nazis most-wanted enemies.Born: April 6, 1906 in Baltimore, MarylandDied: July 8, 1982 in Rockville, MarylandSpouse: Paul Gaston Goillot (m. 1950)Honors: Member of the Order of the British Empire (1943), Distinguished Service Cross (1945), Croix de Guerre avec Palme Early Life and Education Virginia Hall was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Barbara and Edwin Hall. Her name, Virginia, was her mother’s middle name. As a young girl, she attended the all-girls preparatory school Roland Park Country School. She eventually attended Radcliffe College and then Barnard, the prestigious women’s college, studying foreign language including French, German, and Italian. With her parents’ support, Hall went to Europe to finish off her studies. She traveled extensively on the Continent, studying in Austria, France, and Germany in the late 1920s, with the goal of working in the diplomatic corps. In 1931, she began working at the American embassy in Warsaw, Poland, as a clerk for the Consular Service; this was intended to be a stepping stone for a full-fledged career in the Foreign Service. However, in 1932, Hall had a hunting accident that resulted in the partial amputation of her leg. Forced to adapt to life with a wooden leg she nicknamed â€Å"Cuthbert,† her traditional diplomatic career was over before it began. Hall resigned from the Department of State in 1939 and returned to Washington, D.C., where she attended graduate school at American University. Special Operations Executive In 1940, as World War II spread across Europe, Hall was in Paris. She had joined the Ambulance Service to help in the war effort in France, but she wound up in Vichy territory when France fell to the invading Nazis. Hall was able to leave France and get to London, where she volunteered for the Special Operations Executive, the British espionage organization. Using the cover of a reporter for the New York Post, Hall spent over a year in Vichy France, working to coordinate the activities of the French Resistance. In 1942, she worked alongside noted SOE operative Peter Churchill on a couple of missions, involving the delivery of money and agents to the French spy networks. Hall worked primarily in and around Toulouse and Lyon. Hall’s work was discreet, but she quickly got on the radar of the occupying Germans. Nicknamed â€Å"the limping lady,† she was deemed one of the regime’s most wanted. In 1942, Germany seized all of France, and Hall needed to escape quickly. She narrowly escaped Lyon by train, then hiked through the Pyrenees to make it to Spain. Throughout the ordeal, her sense of humor remained intact- she transmitted to her SOE handlers that she hoped â€Å"Cuthbert† wouldn’t give her trouble during her escape. She was briefly arrested for crossing into Spain illegally, but was released with the help of the American embassy. For about a year, she worked with the SOE based out of Madrid, then returned to London, where she was recognized with an honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire. Continuing Intelligence Career After completing her work with the SOE, Hall’s spy career wasn’t over. She joined the equivalent American organization, the Office of Strategic Services, Special Operations Branch, and requested a chance to return to France, still under Nazi occupation. Granting her request, the OSS sent her to Brittany, France, with a false identity and a code name. Over the course of the next year, Hall mapped out safe zones for supply drops and safe houses, worked with the major Operation Jedburgh, personally helped train Resistance fighters in guerilla warfare, and sent a constant stream of reporting back to Allied intelligence. Her work continued up until the very end of the war; Hall only ceased reporting once Allied forces caught up to her and her team in September 1945. Upon returning to the United State, Hall married Paul Goillot, a former OSS operative himself. The pair both transitioned into work at the Central Intelligence Agency, where Hall became an intelligence analyst, specializing in French parliamentary affairs. Both Hall and Goillot were assigned to the Special Activities Divison: the CIA division focused on covert operations. Retirement, Death, and Recognition After fifteen years at the CIA, Hall retired in 1966, moving with her husband to a Barnesville, Maryland, farm. She died sixteen years later at the age of 76 in Rockville, Maryland, and is buried nearby. During her life, Hall was awarded some of the most prestigious honors in the world. Not only was she made an honorary MBE, but she also received a Distinguished Service Cross, the only such award given to a woman in World War II, from the American government. The French, meanwhile, awarded her a Croix de Guerre to honor her work in occupied France. After her death, the honors continued: she was commemorated in 2006, on what would have been her 100th birthday, by the French and British ambassadors to the United States, and she was inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame in 2019. She remains one of the most effective and honored spies in American history. Sources Pearson, Judith L. The Wolves at the Door: The True Story of Americas Greatest Female Spy. Guilford, CT: The Lyons Press, 2005.Purnell, Sonia. A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of WWII’s Most Dangerous Spy, Virginia Hall. Hachette UK, 2019.â€Å"Virginia Hall: The Courage and Daring of ‘The Limping Lady’.† Central Intelligence Agency, 8 October 2015, https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2015-featured-story-archive/virginia-hall-the-courage-and-daring-of-the-limping-lady.html.

Monday, November 4, 2019

An Overview Of Student Affairs Professionals Education Essay

An Overview Of Student Affairs Professionals Education Essay Do you feel that the task is somewhat overwhelming or is it possible for student affairs professionals to take up this mantle of responsibility on a daily basis? What welcomes undergraduates to this agenda and what, perhaps, hinders their acceptance of this function of American higher education? Student affairs’ professionals do have the capacity to carry out their duties on a daily basis. However, it is imperative that these professionals are organized in their approach and appropriately trained. According to Colby, Ehrlich, Beaumont and Stephens (2003) student affairs professionals must make a â€Å"concerted effort to assist students from the very first time that they come in contact with the school† (pp.226-227). Professionals must make students aware of the extracurricular activities available to them and the ways in which they can get involved on campus and in the surrounding community. The first relationship that student affairs’ professional have with s tudents begins with campus tours. These tours often leave an important first impression with students. Beyond the first impression student affair professional must make a concerted effort to reach out to the students once they become a part of the University community. Reaching out to the students require several different elements including e-mails, telephone call and a personal letter. As it pertains to e-mails students should be sent e-mail correspondence a few days before the event actually occurs. Such correspondence allows them time to adjust their schedules, so they can attend a function. Likewise, a personal message is an important form of communication that can greatly assist students/confidence helping in becoming more involved in campus life. Other announcements should be placed on bulletin boards in dorms or other high-traffic areas. Although communicating with students in this manner does require a great deal of work, it is not an impossible endeavor. Undergraduates are welcomed to the agenda when they are encouraged by student affair professionals to get involved in campus activities and in community activities. According to Colby et al (2003) â€Å"community service projects are of particular importance in most campus organizations† (p.134). Some students may not be as familiar with the importance of community service and the vital role that volunteers play in the context of a community. Making students aware of this particular agenda is vitally important as it informs the way they react to opportunities associated with community service. To this end professional must be sure to inform students of the benefits associated with community service and other types of community involvement. Students, freshmen in particular have many issues that they face, for instance, adjusting to college life. In some ways, all of these new adjustments can prevent students from making the progress they need to make in becoming involved. In some instances, stu dents do not get involved in such things because they are not aware that certain activities are occurring. Student’s affairs professional cannot assume students will automatically get involved in other activities. In addition, depending on the size of the institution a student may be intimidated by all the activities and may not know where to start as it relates to involvement in activities. In the case of the student feeling intimidated, student affair professionals must make a concerted effort to engage students and assist them in understanding the importance of community and campus involvement.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

The Influence of Social Media on Activism and Revolution on the World Essay

The Influence of Social Media on Activism and Revolution on the World Stage - Essay Example Occupy Wall Street was a protest movement where individuals conducted a large-scale sit-in at a park near Wall Street. The widespread popularity of this movement was made possible through social media, most notably Facebook. In these regards, it’s noted that, â€Å"The best way to get people away from their computer is through the computer; you cant organize thousands of people in New York City without the web† (Kannally). Ultimately, then social media directed facilitated the Occupy Wall Street protest. Social media has also had a profound impact on revolution. Undoubtedly the most prominent recent example of this is through the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring revolts emerged in Tunisia when an individual committed suicide after an injustice was committed against him by the government. Rapidly individuals over social media were able to share their experiences of oppression and organize widespread revolts throughout the Middle East. It’s noted, â€Å"The movements throughout the Arab world appeared to have imbued social media with an irrevocable sense of legitimacy as a tool for fomenting change† (Killinger). In this way social media allowed forms of organization to occur in this region that previously had not been possible under the stringent governmental oppression.