The Importance of Networks in Organizational Learning

Health Systems Administration Essay Example

Health Systems Administration Essay Example Health Systems Administration Paper Health Systems Administration Paper Health care organizations operate to offer quality services at minimal costs. Excessive costs would work to increase the financial losses that such organizations face. Establishing effective strategies and reassessing the current approach would suffice in ensuring such costs are contained. New subsystems can be implemented to ensure sustainability of the current health care delivery market. Leadership is considered a very complex phenomenon that entails diversified roles. Leaders are expected to be in a capacity to influence and persuade for the benefit of an organization or a firm that a leader is working for. They create conducive environment where change can be incorporated and they can act as catalyst in the change process. Leaders can influence those under them to embrace change and this would translate to people accepting such a change. They are influential in the society. Leaders also perform the ‘representative’ role in organizations or whichever areas they are in. they represent the group fraternity where they lead and can be used to communicate the group’s interests, concerns or complain. Group’s members entrust their leaders to represent them to the larger societies (Ferrand P. 2006). In order to achieve their responsibilities or functions leaders ought to have in themselves and are in a position to inspire confidence. Strong self image works to positively affect one’s communication skills a very crucial aspect in leadership. To be able to persuade and influence the group members leaders must have a vision for the future and they must have solid belief in the organizational goals. Without these goals it would be hard for them to influence people. Internalizing such goals would work to motivate the leaders in their duties. Leaders ought to have the ability to coordinate activities in the group respectively and they should not coerce people to do things. Leaders can adopt different leadership styles depending on their personal interests or interests of the majority. They could opt for autocratic, bureaucratic participative, laissez-faire or paternalistic leadership (Silcox N. 2006). An autocratic leader offers close supervision to those under him or her. This kind of leadership does not allow for employees point of view as the leader gives the direction to be followed in a clear or precise conditions. Such kind of leadership offers little if any motivation for the employees. Employees feel alienated under such leadership as they are not included in running process of the group or organization. This kind of leadership sounds very exploitative as all decisions are one way. Bureaucratic leadership entails following to the letter the procedures, rules, and policies that have been set. It ensures minimal employee freedom as it works to ensure that accepted rules are followed. Institutions rules and policies are given priority in this arrangement (Silcox N, 2006). Participative leadership values group ideology and group contribution is highly appreciated and emphasized. Employees retention and motivation is greatly achieved as they are involved in the decision making of the greatly achieved as they are involved in the decision making of the organization. Employees feel that they are part and parcel of the organization since they are consulted on the organizations goals and objectives. The Laissez-faire leadership entails autonomous leadership where individuals are given the chance to lead themselves and only consult the leaders when need arises. There is little supervision and individuals are perceived to be self motivated and hence can perform duties on their own. However this kind of leadership leads to disorganization and chaos in the organization due to lack of effective leadership. Quality of output produced may be negatively affected. Â  Paternalistic leadership entails viewing the employees as inadequate and hence cannot be entrusted to make decisions. They become independent on the leader who acts like a dictator. To react to emergencies the employees have to want on their leaders who may be far causing delayed decision making. Their motivation is also negatively affected (Silcox N, 2006).

Case write up Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Case write up - Essay Example Key forces that affected FreshDirect are low entrant threat, powerful ability of buyers to force prices down, low bargaining power of suppliers, limited threat of substitute products and low intense rivalry. In addition, it has been affected by internet and other digital technology. The company use JIT production strategy to reduce in-process inventory and other costs, good supply chain management which provides direct link with producers, and total quality management system that scans quality. In addition, it has an appealing website that attracts more customers by providing complete information. It has a rating system that depicts the quality of each item. All of these ensure that the company offers low prices, has brand loyalty, profiles their customers, and has a fully organized system and steady expansion strategy thereby having a competitive advantage over their rivals. FreshDirect competed by making more order varieties that attract new customers and makes the loyal. They are highly innovative and are ahead of their competitors. They eliminated middlemen thus easily accessing suppliers and this has reduces overhead and personnel costs. Finally, they stock the right amount of products and have forced the prices to be low. FreshDirect may use strategies such as joint ventures, franchising and differentiation to craft a competitive advantage. It will be able to increase its values and market shares by making unique products. It can use innovation and corporate entrepreneurship to implement such

Clinical Trial CONSORT evaluation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Clinical Trial CONSORT evaluation - Assignment Example The author was also keen in providing a structured brief on the designs used, settings, number of participants, the intervention, measurements, limitations, results and conclusion. In fact the research was structured in a way that is very easy to read with objectives being very precise and prompt. However, it dint indicate in the abstract section the harm caused to anybody, funding and the registration of the research although they were reported in other sections The author did well in reporting the theoretical part of how Low back pain has been a significant condition worldwide due to its overall effect on work disability, absenteeism and the absolute cost on the victims. The statistical evidence in the theoretical review of the condition globally especially to the low month prevalence which was well reported to be 23.2% with a (standard error of the measurement being quoted at 2.9%) and higher in women and in patients aged between 40 and 80 years (Oliveira, Liebano, Costa, Rissato, & Costa, 2013). The scientific part was well reviewed with all implications of the process on the pain and non-biomechanical and biomechanical effects reported appropriately. The researchers did well in reporting the number of people involved in the study as well as the extended systematic review on changes in pain sensitivity following spinal manipulation. The readers from this review, gets to appreciate clearly the importance/need of this study to the said peo ple as well as the society by extension. He clearly reported how the process works basing his arguments on past studies to point to the rationale of the experiment. The author described well the trial design by indicating that they used a randomized controlled trial with a blinded assessor. He also discussed the software they used in the analysis to reduce statistical differences as windows excel and SPSS. Then he described eligibility

Qualitative Research Designs Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Qualitative Research Designs - Article Example The research design, furthermore, the research methodology utilizes the aspect of phenomenology to describe and examine situations as they consciously happen or experienced (Ekstedt, 2005). The research design is an appropriate design for studying the article on the â€Å"Lived Experiences of the Time Preceding Burnout.† This is because the research design enables the reader to examine situations and develop the relevant experiences from the study according to the experiences of the participants. Consequently, this enables the researcher to develop logical elucidation and the possible solutions to the experience of burnout. The use of phenomenology allows for studying the details of the study thus bringing the actual experiences of the study (Ekstedt, 2005). The other research design method, which could be employed by researches for this article could be grounded theory historical research design. This research methodology utilizes the use of data in order to examine experiences and provide viable solutions to the phenomenon on the study. The grounded theory research depends on collection of data on the phenomenon to be studied and enables the researcher to vitally analyze an experience, become part of the study and solution. The ground theory research allows the researcher to develop and collect sustainable data to provide solutions to situations within the social sphere (Ekstedt, 2005) Ekstedt, M., & Fagerberg, I. (2005). Lived experiences of the time preceding burnout. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 49(1), 59–67. Retrieved from:

Project Schedule And Budgeting

Project Schedule And Budgeting Project management provides an integrated framework for project organisation, planning and control which is designed to ensure the timely and cost effective productions of all products and services and maintain high quality standard of products and services to satisfy all stakeholders interest. A process approach to project management define step by step procedures that a project manager need to take to effectively manage the project and satisfy all stakeholders interest. For instance, the Risk Management Process will tell how to identify, analyse and monitor project risks more effectively. It also describes the roles and responsibilities of each team member, when taking part in project risk management. A process approach starts with initiations and then goes through planning, implementation, monitoring and control and then finalisation of the project. So a project has a life where it starts and then after a finite period of time it ends. Some projects are small that only matter from some hours whereas some last for years. Because need for specialisation, most of the projects needs multidisciplinary teams. These teams members are most of the time belong to the parent organisation but some of the work are being done by subcontractors, consultants or partners. Organisations that are involved in the projects are sometime find it very difficult to coordinate with each others and this is the big challenge for the project manager to cope with this problem. Time pressure , limited budgets , tight cash flows and uncertainty always require project manager to make trade-offs between these factors with the implicit goals of balancing risks and benefits. Skyscraper (Burj khalifa) World Tallest building in Dubai Burj khalifa is the world tallest building in Dubai with 164 floors. This is an iconic building with the end of the world architecture design and wonder of steel building. With 900 rooms and home of many indoor entertainments, this project was a big challenge. After 6 years, this dream comes true with the silver tower shaped stick standing in the heart of U.A.E. A Process Approach A process is a group of activities that are designed to transform an input into an output. This transformation consists of the data and information, decision making and implementation and control. Firstly, design of a process must address about the data. What can be the data resources, how the data should be collected, stored, retrieved and presented to decision makers. Secondly, the presentation required to decision makers should be clear and transparent. When a real problem is too complicated to solve or some information is missing, simplifying assumption are made and model is developed. Lastly, data and model integration should be used. Data from the database should be integrated with the help of model and then information generated from the model by using data of data based should be presented to the decision makers. A Project process have different stages involve in it.Those are (1) Initiation (2) planning and control (3) closure (2) 3.1 Initiation Every project has a start point. Before start of the project, interest of certain stakeholders is discussed and need for project is finalised. There will be a variety of ideas and opinions about the purpose and scope of the project, what the final product of the project will be, and how the project will be carried out. The Project Initiation Stage is concerned with taking these ideas and intentions and developing them into a formal, planned, resourced and funded project. Burj khalifa was decided by the ruler of Dubai Sheik Muhammad. It was just a theme in the mind of His Highness Mr.Muhammad.Later that theme was discussed and decided to build that building(project).Project is not started yet. But these are the interest of certain stakeholders (3) 3.2 Planning This stage starts with the handing over of project to the organisation or individual who will manage it. Step 1: Project Kick Off The project was kicked off with the handover of assignment to EMAAR (Abu Dahbis biggest construction Company) Step 2: Project Objective Scope In order to define a project in this way, it is first necessary to clearly and explicitly define what the project is intended to achieve and what its scope of interest will be. By defining this first, a benchmark is created for assessing the quality of what is actually produced at the end of the project. So this project was discussed with the members of the government to Dubai to the part of recognition of Dubai as an international business city. The Scope of the project was high as this was $1.5 billion and it was supposed to be an icon for Dubai. The objective of the project was to present Dubai as an international city in front of world. It is also necessary to develop a process by which the project objectives can be achieved. Work Breakdown Structure is a technique to draw the structure of the process that needs to be done in the project. A WBS diagram expresses the project scope in simple graphic terms. The diagram starts with a single box or other graphic at the top to represen t the entire project. The project is then divided into components, with related activities listed under them. Generally, the upper components are the deliverables and the lower level elements are the activities that create the deliverables. (4) (2) http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/pmbok.html (3) http://burj-khalifa.eu/featured/tall-order (4) htttp://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/2645.aspx Step 3: Project Schedule and Budgeting Project was scheduled to complete in 4 years but it finished in 6 years. Starting time was January 2004 and it was planned to finished in 2008.Its budget was $1.5 billion. There are different tools and technique that can be used to manage schedule and budgeting. One is Gantt chart that is around for many years. These are excellent models for scheduling and for budgeting, and for reporting and presenting and communicating project plans and progress easily and quickly, but as a rule Gantt Charts are not as good as a Critical Path Analysis Flow Diagram for identifying and showing interdependent factors, or for mapping a plan from and/or into all of its detailed causal or contributing elements. Critical Path Analysis is another technique that is being used for the scheduling of the project. This method calculates the minimum completion time for a project along with the possible start and finish times for the project activities. Indeed, many texts and managers regard critical path schedul ing as the only usable and practical scheduling procedure. Computer programs and algorithms for critical path scheduling are widely available and can efficiently handle projects with thousands of activities. (5) Step 4: Project Organization A South Korean company South Korean company, Samsung Engineering Construction, which also did work on the PETRONAS twin towers and Taipei 101. Step 5: Project Control Procedures Control of every stage of the process is important as this will affect the next stage. This process will typically involve carrying out a number of tasks and producing a number of products during the course of the project. The tasks produce the products. For clarity of purpose and for control reasons it is useful to arrange these tasks in a top down structure, which progressively specify the required work in more detail. Burj khalifa tower project was divided into several small chunks and then each stage was control with a different procedure. Step 6: Project Initiation Stage Assessment Initial stage also defines what resources and associated time commitment are required to carry out the project. The work breakdown structure provides a basis from which this estimation can be carried out. The resource and time commitment can be used to calculate an end date for the project and an estimate of its cost. Resources needed for Burj khalifa was important to manage the flow of work. Steel was used in a very big amount which was imported from India. As the land of Dubai is mostly sand and for the safety purpose, the basement was filled with the soil from other part of the world. The overall project schedule is not in detail to enable the allocation of actual resources to tasks, or to control progress. It is very important to produce a more detailed plan for these purposes. This detailed plan is only produced for the next stage of the project, usually covering an elapsed time of two to four months. (5)http://pmbook.ce.cmu.edu/10_Fundamental_Scheduling_Procedures.html The way the project is managed and executed is the key to its success. The involvement of the right people for data capture and decision making is also very important. It is necessary to recruit these people at the start of the project and to define the project organization structure. It is also necessary to establish the procedures that will be used by the people in the Project Organization Structure to carry out and control the project work. Step 7: Business Case Finally, in order to establish a resourced and funded project, it is necessary to establish a clear and convincing business case for the project. This business case should be reviewed, and hopefully accepted by management. The business case will identify the projected benefits of meeting the objectives of the project, and balance these against the costs and risks associated with realizing these benefits. The business case can also be used as a benchmark to compare against actual results, costs and benefits in order to assess the ultimate success of the project. The Project Initiation stage is described here as a sequence of steps. In reality, once the objective and scope have been defined, many of these steps occur in parallel, and the step products are developed iteratively, since there are many dependencies between the steps. It is necessary to plan the Project Initiation stage, albeit in an informal manner. Therefore it is important to create a Project Initiation Kick off Plan sch eduling the activities and resources. (6) 3.3 Execution During this stage of the project, the focus should be on carrying out the work planned for the stage there are many project management activities that need to be carried out in addition to the project work itself .These activities are arranged into a series of steps. A step to initiate the stage, steps that are carried out on an on-going basis throughout the stage, steps that are carried out at the end of the stage and a step that is only carried out in an exception situation. To control the follow of the process and to manage activities during the process stages, project manager should monitor and control project progress, through the use of regular checkpoints involving the project team and formal reviews with project board. Also, quality of the product and changes in the baselined products are also managed. There can be many issues that arose during the processes and those issues should be removed. The constructions of Burj Khalifa was not easy as the building moves on, the filling of concrete into the walls was a problem. The vertical method was used to put the concrete from the top. It was a risky as well as technical challenge. Also, the use of heavy machinery from the top and how to fix that machinery on the top was also an issue of safety. Several of the activities will result in changes to the stage schedule. The Stage Manager should ensure that these changes are made smoothly, and that these changes are communicated to all concerned. Any changes made to individual work assignments should be confirmed in the regular checkpoint meetings. If there as any issue arises during any stage then stage plan will be changed to manage that deviation. (6)http://dijest.com/tools/pmworkbench/pmtemplates/pmoredocs/pmprocess.htm 3.4 Monitoring and Control The documents of all the processed and stages should be managed and update regularly. Electronic and hardcopy file structures are set up to consistently maintain and administer project management and development products. All documentation procedures for the stage should be established and the team should understand what these are for, how they are used, and what their individual responsibilities are. Emaar establish a database for the Burj Khalifa project to monitor all the process and to discuss it with all the management involved in the process to show what is going on. This enables the project manager and other staff to communicate each other more precisely and take appropriate action if there is any deviation. The whole project was broken down into small projects and whole team was divided into small project teams who control these small projects. A Project Board of Burj Khalifa is the executive authority of a project. It authorizes the project to proceed, approve any change or if possible stop the project. It enters in to a contract with the Project Manager through the Project Initiation, Project and Stage Plans, to provide the executive support and resources required to execute a project which will deliver the specified products to schedule and budget. The Project Board should view the project as an investment intended to yield gain business benefits. Failure to achieve those benefits reflects as much upon the control exercised by the Project Board as it does on the execution of responsibilities by the Project Manager and Project Team. The Project Board meet at the end of each stage, including Project Initiation, to review the achievements of the concluded stage and authorize proceeding to the next. Project Manager schedule standing Project Board meetings at the beginning of the project. Confirm the logistics of the next mee ting, namely date, time and conference room. Also, project manager report to the Project Board the results of the Post Implementation Review.This assess the performance of the new system against the objectives planned. It also identifies and captures metrics and factors that will improve the development process.PERT analysis is used to monitor the activities along with Gantt chart and CPA (Critical Path analysis) 3.5 Project Closure Every project has a life. It starts and then after some time it ends. All good things must come to an end. Projects are designed to end at some point that is the nature of project work. Burj Khalifa project started in Jan 2004 and it finished in Jan 2010.To gain maximum benefit from a project, the project went through a formal close down.There may be some outstanding work that needs to be carried out on the products of the project.The project will have been using several lists and tracking mechanisms, such as the change request log and the issues log.These need to be formally closed.The members of the Project Organization will have learnt how to carry out this type of project better in the future, and will have a better idea of how long the various activities on this type of project will take to do.These learnings should be captured for future use.There will be a lot of information generated during a project, and this will have been stored with varying degrees of formality by the me mbers of the Project Organization.This information needs to be formally filed away for possible future use.By this time in the project,all project work should have been completed, and the products of the project should have been accepted by the customers.It is possible however, that the final products do not fully meet the original objectives and requirements.Before the project is completely finished, any outages in the products should be identified and evaluated.If it is decided that the outages need to be fixed, it will be necessary to set up a mechanism to carry this out.This may be by a new project,or a maintenance program.Make sure that the evaluation includes an evaluation against the Business Success Criteria that were defined during the Project Initiation Stage.However, it is also important to evaluate the overall quality of the final product in respect of its ability to meet current requirements.Review the changes that are recommended to the process used on the project. Exa mine each change and decide if it is likely to apply to future projects of this type.Change the standard process based on these reasons.(7) Project in which Scheduling is not important As all the projects have an integral part i.e. scheduling. Scheduling is an important part of any project as this break down the work in small chunks that are easy to manage. But there are some projects in which scheduling are not important. For example the project of US war with Afghanistan. War is started but there is not set schedule of procedding.Plans are changing within an hours or days but no clear schedule .There are no stages involve as everything happening as the change of weather. Although this project has a starting point and there will be an ending point but there is not set process for that. Work Breakdown Structure A challenging project is made manageable by first breaking it down into individual components in the work breakdown structure, or the WBS.This is a hierarchical structure that shows that main part and then its subparts.This is divided into small chunks that can easily be managed by the management as compared to whole big project. Such a structure defines tasks that can be completed independently of other tasks, facilitating resource allocation, assigning responsibilities to different people, and measurement and control of the project. Each organization uses its own terminology for Work Breakdown Structure components according to their own needs. For example, some organizations refer to different levels as main tasks, sub-tasks, and work packages, as shown below. Others use the different terms phases, entries, and activities. The WBS may be organized around deliverables or phases of the project life cycle. Higher levels in the structure generally are performed by groups. The lowest level in the hierarchy often comprises activities performed by individuals, though a WBS that emphasizes deliverables does not necessarily specify activities. (7) http://theconstructor.org/structures/burj-khalifa-dubai-opening-ceremony/1003/ The breaking down of a project into its component parts facilitates resource allocation and the assignment of individual responsibilities. Care should be taken to use a proper level of detail when creating the WBS. On the one extreme, a very high level of detail is likely to result in micro-management. On the other extreme, the tasks may become too large to manage effectively. Defining tasks so that their duration is between several days and a few months works well for most projects.(8) Below is the work breakdown structure used in construction and related to Burj khalifa 8 (8)http://www.netmba.com/operations/project/wbs/ (9)Case study about scope-cost-time integrated model with work breakdown structure http://cife.stanford.edu/online.publications/WP115.pdf Gantt charts Gantt Charts are very useful project management tools that is used mostly in scheduling and budgeting. The Gantt chart is named after US engineer and consultant Henry Gantt (1861-1919) who devised the technique in the 1910s. Gantt charts are excellent models for scheduling and for budgeting, and for reporting and presenting and communicating project plans and progress quickly. Gantt chart can be constructed by using MS Excel. Every activity has a separate bar. Create a time-line for the duration of the project.Colour can be used to show the time blocks to denote type of activity (for example, digging, piling, concreting, finishing, etc.). A Gantt chart can be used to keep track of progress for each activity and how the costs are running. In Burj khalifa project, Gantt chart helps to manage step by step activity. The time blocks around can be moved to report on actuals versus planned, and to re-schedule, and to create new plan updates. Costs columns can show plan and actuals and variances, and calculate whatever totals, averages, ratios, etc., that you need. Gantt Charts are probably the most flexible and useful of all project management tools, but remember they do not very easily or obviously show the im portance and inter-dependence of related parallel activities, and they wont obviously show the necessity to complete one task before another can begin. Project planning tools naturally become used also for subsequent project reporting, presentations, etc., and you will make life easier for everyone if you use formats that people recognize and find familiar. (10) Critical Path Analysis Critical path analysis / method are an effective way to analyse complex projects.CPA represents the critical set of activities to complete a project. Critical path helps us to focus on important activities which are critical to run the project. Once the critical activities are identified, we can devote good resources and prioritize the same accordingly. CPA also gives us a very good basis for scheduling and monitoring for progress.One of the most important thing it does is allows the project manager to concentrate on important activities. This method takes the longest time then the other methods. (10) http://www.businessballs.com/project.htm (11) Mind Mapping Case Study to Support Gantt chart method http://www.matchware.com/en/forms/mindview2%20case%20studies/case_history_form.pdf CPM models the activities and events of a project as a network. Activities are presented as nodes on the network and events that signify the beginning or ending of activities are presented with lines between the nodes. The above is an example of a CPM network diagram. (13) Success of Burj Khalifa Project Burj Khalifa was not just a project. Its a milestone in the history of Dubai which enhances the projection of Dubai in the modern world. As we land on Dubai airport, this tower welcomes you with its shinning image from Arabian Sea. Its a design of human intelligence which satisfied all its stakeholders with nothing below then positivity. As this is the tallest tower, the gravity was an issue which was solved with the design. The success of the project is that it is the only highest man made tower on the earth which was completed finally in 2010. Secondly, the world famous designer ARMANI opens its store in the tower. Also, the world famous business is going to open their offices in that tower. Summary Project management of a powerful field with its knowledge of managing from a small activity to massive project.This field is very interesting in the sense that it provides step by step approach to finish a particular job. I researched many case studies from a construction to the Deli Olympics, from Football World cup to Cricket World cup events. I did not mention these events in my assignments but I try to find similarities of managing these projects. Although there are not much difference between the methods used in these events but there are certain requirements that are required for a particular projects. I am working as a manager in a retain chain and I observe these methods of project in my work indirectly. I am very much interested in project manager in my future and I found these approaches useful for the implications of my job role. I understand from this module that as a project manager how can I initiate, plane, control, monitor and close my projects. Before this module, I was not aware of the role of project manager. I was taking this job as a normal person job that just purchases material and give it to employees and just look around. But after understanding this module and its different aspects, I come to the point that project management is an important field in every aspects of human life from inside a living house to an international consignment. The interest in this role to me is the different stages those are involved in this field. As a project manager the changes that I will make in my approach are Documents all the activities Work Break down into small chunks (12) Case Study of baking a loaf of bread to support Critical path analysis http://tutor2u.net/business/production/critical-path-analysis.htm (13)http://www.netmba.com/operations/project/cpm/ Manage each stage separately Communicate my plan with my staff effectively Evaluate each activity Monitor each activity Control of the workflow Reference http://www.gizmag.com/go/3555/picture/7485/ http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/pmbok.html http://burj-khalifa.eu/featured/tall-order http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/2645.aspx http://pmbook.ce.cmu.edu/10_Fundamental_Scheduling_Procedures.html http://dijest.com/tools/pmworkbench/pmtemplates/pmoredocs/pmprocess.htm http://theconstructor.org/structures/burj-khalifa-dubai-opening-ceremony/1003/ http://www.netmba.com/operations/project/wbs/ Case study about scope-cost-time integrated model with work breakdown structure http://cife.stanford.edu/online.publications/WP115.pdf http://www.businessballs.com/project.htm Mind Mapping Case Study http://www.matchware.com/en/forms/mindview2%20case%20studies/case_history_form.pdf Baking a Loaf of Bread Case Study http://tutor2u.net/business/production/critical-path-analysis.htm http://www.netmba.com/operations/project/cpm/

The Basics Of A Hard Drive :: essays research papers

The Basics of A Hard Drive   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I'm sure, by now you have used a computer be it to play games or write a paper. But do you know how a computer works and runs all the programs you what it to? Well if not I will tell you. To begin with I will explain a little about the history about the computers history. About 50 years or maybe a little longer someone came up with the thought that all the boring stuff like math could be automated so humans would not have to do it all. Hence the computer, as to who exactly I could not tell you. That person than began to work with his Idea and figured out that if he could turn a machine on and off at a specified time for a specified time he could in a way alter what it could do. To turn it on and off he came up with a very interesting way, he used a sheet that looked almost like a scantron sheet but with holes and those holes where used to turn it on and off. The holes represented 1s and the noholes 0s. the 1s turned it on an the 0s turned it off. With this knowledge he began to make little programs that could solve math problems. I guess he must have gotten bored with the math or something because he came up with a way to let him play tic-tack toe with the computer, which by the way was the first came ever to be created on the computer. Now there is one more thing you have to know about this computer, the computer was half the size of West High Schools gym. And it was thought that when it was ecomoical for people to own there own computer it would fill a decent size room. Could you imagine a computer filling up your entire living room, where wolud you put your TV? But with the invetion of keyboards and nanotechnology they reduced the size of the computer by nearly 200% and every year the keep getting smaller and smaller and it is estimated that nearly 85 to 90 percent of American homes have at least one computer in their home.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now that I have bored you to death with the history of computers here's the fun stuff.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Programs that let you play games and surf the net aren't just ideas put in a niffty little box and sold. They are ideas put on paper then translated into a really, really huge math problem that the computer can understand, after

Auerbach Enterprises Manufacturers Essay

In today’s very competitive business environment, it is imperative that organizations choose the most appropriate and effective overhead rate, particularly, because it guides management in its tasks of product pricing, job costing, and budgeting. Businesses can use the single company-wide method or can opt for the departmental method. Auerbach Enterprises manufactures air conditioners for many makes of both automobiles and trucks. The two main products are MaxiFlow and Alaska. Currently, the company uses a company-wide predetermined overhead (OH) rate but is considering using departmental OH rates in the upcoming year. Company-wide OH rates allocate expenses across the entire enterprise. This rate is figured by dividing the total cost of overhead by cost drivers common throughout each department. According to Schneider (2012), â€Å"Department OH rates are calculated for each separate department by dividing the total department overhead budgeted by the budgeted amount of comm on cost drivers within the department† (p. 3.3). Moreover, Auerbach Enterprises is trying to make a determination as to whether it would be more appropriate to use the company-wide predetermined overhead rates, or whether it would be more appropriate to switch to using departmental overhead rates. As such, this paper will be making calculations to determine the most appropriate overhead costing rate method; according to Brunton (1998): The easiest method is to apply the plant-wide, or blanket rate. Parts are valued at a proportionate share of indirect costs according to some predetermined base. One disadvantage of this method rises when production processes differ significantly for different parts.  Parts processed in departments that have low overhead expenses are valued and priced proportionately the same as parts produced in departments with high overhead expenses. A second disadvantage is that all parts do not necessarily carry a portion of indirect cost as part of their value because one base is used in the allocation process (p. 22). Further, a determination should be made concerning whether one product is affected more than the other by using departmental rates rather than a company-wide rate. Computation of departmental OH rates using machine hours as the cost driver. Department OH Costs / Machine Hours = Department OH Rate Radiator parts fabrication $80,000 /10,000 = 800% Radiator assembly, weld, and test 100,000 /20,000 = 500% Compressor parts fabrication 120,000 /5,000 = 2400% Compressor assembly and test 180,000 /45,000 = 400% Total 480,000 80,000 4100% Computation of company-wide overhead rate using machine hours as the cost driver. Company-wide OH cost = 480,000 Total machine hours =80,000 Company-wide OH rate 480,000/80,000 = 6.00 AUERBACH ENTERPRISES 4 Computation of the overhead costs per batch of MaxiFlow and Alaska assuming: (a) The company-wide rate (b) The departmental rates. Maxiflow 6.00 x 116 = 696Alaska 6 x 164 = 984 a) MaxiFlow 696/20 = 34.8Alaska 984/20 = 49.2 b) MaxiFlow 1246/20 = 62.3Alaska 954/20 = 47.7 Departmen MaxiFlow hours Department OH rate Department cost Radiator parts fabrication 28 x 8.00 = $ 224.00 Radiator assembly weld and test 30 x 5.00 = 150.00 Compressor parts fabrication 32 x 24.00 = 768.00 Compressor assembly and test 26 x 4.00 = 104.00 Total 116 41.00 1,246.00 Department Alaska hours Department OH rate Department cost Radiator parts fabrication 16 x 8.00 = $ 128.00 Radiator assembly weld and test 74 x 5.00 = 370.00 Compressor parts fabrication 8 x 24.00 = 192.00 Compressor assembly and test 6 x 4.00 = 264.00 Total 164 41.00 954.00 Computation of the OH costs per unit of MaxiFlow and Alaska assuming: (a) The company-wide rate & b) departmental rate. MaxiFlow Departmental Rate Company-wide Rate Direct materials $ 135.00 $ 135.00 Direct labor $ 75.00 $ 75.00 Overhead 62.30 34.80 Total unit costs 272.30 244.80 Alaska Departmental Rate Company-wide rate Direct materials $ 110.00 $ 110.00 Direct labor 95.00 95.00 Overhead 47.70 49.20 Total unit costs 252.70 254.20 Is one product affected more than the other by use of departmental rates rather than a company-wide rate? Why or why not? Indeed, the ability to remain competitive lies in how well a company implements cost-cutting solutions within its organization. Accordingly, based on the total unit cost, MaxiFlow appears to be affected more than Alaska by using the departmental rate. Using a company-wide OH rate is better suited for an enterprise that manufactures a single product. Since Auerbach has multiple departments and manufacturing sections, a more accurate overhead rate can be calculated using the departmental OH rate method. Additionally, it is very interesting, and no less compelling that company such as this uses machine hours instead of direct labor as the cost driver to assign overhead cost; this, in and of itself strongly suggest that it is a company which the majority of its manufacturing is done by machine and not by physical labor. This is expressed by Novin (1992) in the following excerpt; he states: Direct labor no longer may be the most effective base for applying factory overhead costs to various jobs and products. With today’s highly automated systems, labor-related costs constitute only a small portion of total manufacturing costs, and overhead costs now correlate more with factors such as machine hours and material quantities. Accordingly, many companies are beginning to identity application bases that better reflect the causes of overhead costs in their unique manufacturing environments (p. 40). Indeed, regardless of whether a company opts to use the company-wide overhead rate, or the departmental overhead rates, the effectiveness of those various systems, to a large extent, depends on the type of organization that utilizes them. This is expressed by Boer & Jeter (1993), wherein they state, â€Å"†¦manufacturing cost structures have been changing slowly over time, but sufficient variation across industries exists in the extent and nature of the changes to suggest that no single approach to structuring cost accounting systems is likely to be optimal for all industrial organizations or sectors† (pp. 5, 61). In  conclusion, Auerbach compiled planning information in an attempt to determine if it would be beneficial to change from a company-wide predetermined overhead rate to a departmental overhead rate. This is important because choosing the most appropriate rate helps management in the budgeting, job costing, and product pricing process. Essentially, it all amounts to the bottom line of a company choosing the method that provides the most accurate results for its business success. References Boer, G., & Jeter, D. (1993). What’s new about modern manufacturing? empirical evidence on manufacturing cost changes. Journal of Management Accounting Research, 5, 61. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/210171196?accountid=32521 Brunton, N. M. (1988). Evaluation of overhead allocations. Management Accounting, 70(1), 22. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/229737200?accountid=32521 Novin, A. M. (1992). Applying overhead: How to find the right bases and rates. Management Accounting, 73(9), 40. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/229742735?accountid=32521 Schneider, A. (2012). Managerial Accounting: Decision Making for the Service and Manufacturing Sectors. Bridgepoint Education: San Diego, CA.

Free Essays on The Sphinx

or less, stated that he believed that the survivors of the lost civilization of Atlantis had built the Sphinx as early as 10,500 BC. He also believed that the survivors had concealed beneath it a "Hall of Records" containing all the wisdom of their lost civilization and the true history of the human race (dreamscape.com/morgana/hancock.htm, 2001). All three of the sources that I acquired information from seem to be very credible. Sure, not all of t... Free Essays on The Sphinx Free Essays on The Sphinx The questions discussed in this paper are â€Å"when was the Great Sphinx built?† and also, â€Å"what kinds of kooky things have you heard about the Sphinx?† The biggest controversy surrounded the Sphinx is not the question why was it built, but instead the question when was it built. There are two different theories that answer this question and they both seem to be logical answers. The first is that it was built around the same time as the construction of the Pyramid of Khafre, around (1425 - 1417 BC) (http://interoz.com/egypt/sphinx.htm, 2001). This is the theory that most archaeologists adhere to because they believe the Sphinx represents the Sun god, the king as the god Horus, or a king in the leonine form of a god (Archaeology, September 1994). However a new, more intriguing theory is beginning to gain support among Egyptologists. The new theory states that the Sphinx is much older than what was previously thought. Perhaps being built up to 12,000 years ago. The evidence that this theory is based on is that the pattern of erosion is due mainly to a very large amount of water. This indicates that the Sphinx was carved at the end of the last Ice Age, when heavy rains last fell on the eastern Sahara (dreamscape.com/morgana /hancock.htm, 2001). The second question being asked was â€Å"what kinds of kooky things have you heard about the Sphinx?† The â€Å"kookiest† thing that I could find involved the late American psychic, Edgar Cayce. Cayce, in more words or less, stated that he believed that the survivors of the lost civilization of Atlantis had built the Sphinx as early as 10,500 BC. He also believed that the survivors had concealed beneath it a "Hall of Records" containing all the wisdom of their lost civilization and the true history of the human race (dreamscape.com/morgana/hancock.htm, 2001). All three of the sources that I acquired information from seem to be very credible. Sure, not all of t...

The Wave of New Women essays

The Wave of New Women essays In Ibsen's play A Doll's House today, one may find it hard to imagine how daring it seemed at the time. Its theme, the emancipation of a woman, makes it seem almost contemporary. Written during the Victorian era, the controversial play featuring a woman seeking individuality caused more trouble than any of Ibsen's other works. This play portrayed the role of women as the comforter, helper, and supporter of man, "A Doll's House" introduced woman as having her own purposes and goals in life that they would like to accomplish. Nora Helmer, the helpless wife, slowly changes through the play and eventually realizes that she must stop being her husbands doll and become an individual. Although Nora's relationship with her husband was to be expected during the time it was written, there were many clues that set off at the kind of marriage Nora and Torvald had. Throughout the play it was obvious that Torvald did love Nora, but only how a person would love a prized possession. She relied on him for everything, from movements to thoughts, much like a puppet who is dependent on its puppet master for all of its actions. He enjoyed how everything was perfect, how he could do anything with her and loved having his perfect wife in his perfect house with their perfect children, and he loved her as deeply as he could understand the world. Nora pretended that she needed Torvald to teach her every move in order to relearn the dance. This is obviously an act, and it shows how much of a doll to Torvald she is. After the dance lesson, he states "When I saw you turn and sway in the tarantellamy blood was pounding till I couldn't stand it" showing how he is more interested in Nora physically than emotionally. When Nora responds by saying "Go away, Torvald! Leave me alone. I don't want all this", Torvald asks "Aren't I your husband? In what he said, it demonstrates how he thinks Noras duties a...

Gameing as an education tool Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Gameing as an education tool - Coursework Example The results compared the findings obtained from analyzing data obtained from fourth-grade learners in two schools. Motion Math is designed to take the learner through three basic levels of fraction learning, with each level further subdivided into 24 sublevels. The levels represent the increasing difficulty of the game, and requires continuous attention to detail. Tests for differences in fraction knowledge for learners in the two schools (with one group in each school being introduced to Motion Math, and schools labeled A and B for ethical reasons) showed specific similarity in results. The layout involved creating two groups of students and comparing how they performed over three sets of tests (pre-test, mid-test, and post-test) administered before introducing the devices, in the middle of the week, and at the end of the week 9which also marked the end of the study period). The group that was introduced to Motion Math performed significantly better at the mid-test compared to the pre-test while the group that was not introduced to the app performed significantly better at the post-test than in the mid-test. For the Motion-Math group in each school, the results did not show significant improvement between the mid-test and posttest. On the other hand, the group that was not introduced to the app performed significantly better at the posttest than in the mid-test but did not have significant improvement in results between the pretest and the mid-test. There were short-term gains in using the app for teaching but both groups (the group that was introduced to the app and the one that was not) tended to have similar performances in the long-run. The two groups had different test trajectories motivated by the use of lack of use of the Motion Math app. The results for self-efficacy, self-ratings on fraction knowledge and fraction liking followed a similar trend as the performances,

Immigration Reform in the U.S. Concerning Illegal Aliens Research Paper

Immigration Reform in the U.S. Concerning Illegal Aliens - Research Paper Example Another study conducted in May 2006 by The New York Times and CBS News asked respondents, "How serious a problem do you think the issue of illegal immigration is for the country right now: very serious, somewhat serious, not too serious, or not at all serious" (p. 4). Fifty-nine percent of respondents felt illegal immigration was a very serious issue. Illegal immigration reform must include two basic methodologies to deter illegal immigrants: secure US borders so illegal aliens do not enter the country, and eliminate job prospects so that illegal aliens do not stay. This will radically limit the number of illegal immigrants arriving and staying in our country. The United States wants aliens to immigrate legally to augment a highly skilled workforce, for example research specialists, highly skilled technicians and educators. The United States also wants sources of cheap labor for non-skilled positions such as agriculture workers, housemaids and restaurant dishwashers. Many American business and government entities make the plea that illegal aliens work on jobs that legal migrants and U.S. citizens will not do. On the other hand, illegal alien employment remains a direct threat to U.S. national security, as well as internal security and order maintenance (Garcia 2005). fraudulently obtain identity documents, taxpayer identification numbers, social security numbers, or engage in identity theft in order to obtain a job from employment entities. In privately owned critical infrastructure, such as nuclear power plants or refineries, illegal alien terrorists working with false identities create a different threat level to the U.S. This threat has the potential to harm large numbers of people should an attack materialize (Carafano, Rosenzweig and Kochems 2005). No statute of limitations exists for illegal entry into the U.S. or visa overstays; it is a continuous criminal violation. The media and various special interest groups have not read the law, 1952 INA, 8 USC Section 1325, which makes illegal entry into the U.S. a crime. Visa overstays fall under the same law, because visiting aliens enter with no intention of departing and that is an illegal entry under the statute cited (material misrepresentation at entry). Gambrell (2003) provides an analysis of illegal aliens voting in U.S. elections, specifically focusing on Orange County, California. Again, to receive a voter registration card, the illegal alien must obtain a fraudulent identification to register. This is both a state and federal criminal offense. The media reports on various national and international groups attempting to interfere in our elective processes. If a foreign leader could persuade their citizens, in the U.S. illegally, to obtain voter registrations and vote for a particular candidate, the threat to the U.S. could be significant. The U.S. faces several public affairs challenges. The U.S. can do nothing, which is what is occurring now and is a