Business Mgt Essay Example for Free

Business Mgt Essay Part I. Assume you have taken over responsibility to play the lead Information Technology (IT) management role in Magnum Enterprises. Your boss, Rachel Heigl, is Magnum’s CIO. The IT management group is comprised of six people who you will be supervising. Ms. Heigl is an enlightened manager, and she believes that if you are to carry out your responsibilities effectively, you need to work with her in defining your IT management role. As a first step, she invites you to write a short statement where you describe what you see to be your role as head of the IT management effort at Magnum. Proper IT Management requires researching and discerning information technology as a company resource guiding both operational and crucial company capabilities. Using information technology to maximize satisfaction of the customer alongside productivity and profitability will ensure that our competiveness with other business stays at a maximum. In turn IT can make business processes more effective and efficient to provide said resources to customers. The lead IT shall ensure performance of the company through managing technology while encompassing priorities of the business into the role. Striving to be a partner with great initiative this business will discover its leader will have accomplished and achieved what they desired. My first role of business would be to establish the parameters and to understand the IT knowledge areas. These are made up of development processes; management challenges information technologies, business applications and foundation concepts. Concepts of the foundation are making sure the role of information systems paired with business and technical concepts are a familiarity with the end user. Familiarity of concepts in entry level information systems bind with a competitive strategy can lead to an overwhelming strategic advantage. Educating Magnum’s team upon the significance of information technology with the three roles that the business world performs in order to combine business management, software, and hardware capabilities. At the Management level, decision making would lead to significant improvements for IT utilization. Business operations see information systems as a huge support to review and collect data from financial operations, managing manufacturing processes that are very sophisticated, tracking company inventory, and productivity. The use of metrics paired with identifying trends to assist the company in making informed decisions faster to provide information about our competitors. IT  is used quite often to provide a strategic support advantage for the company. Automated inventory and ordering systems an assist with the savings costs. With this information we would need to review our mission statement that identifies the company’s functions, provides oversight on the overall goal, a sense of direction, and guides decision making. Investigating and development towards understanding how we generate money and ensuring a customer base for our company. Envisioning the business plan, mission, with current IT structure and the ability to communicate with senior leadership will guide me with necessary tools to assist the Chief Information Officer (CIO). To ensure a strategic IT plan is created in which will be shared and implemented with my team. Planning to have Magnum’s team familiar with data resource management capabilities, hardware, networks, telecommunications, and software within the company is the second area of information systems known as information technologies. In today’s society PDA’s (personal digital assistants; IE. Blackberry’s ETC.) Personal computers and network servers are integral computer hardware and are crucial in our business environment. Being extremely knowledgeable is vital to our team troubleshooting and resolving hardware issues instead of having to call anot her company for maintenance. We have the ability to break down our company’s software into two categories, application software and system software. Both types normally off the consumer shelf as commercial software instead of having an employee on the team write the software codes for these programs. I plan to ensure my teams are extremely familiar with all software programs and have a firm foundation when troubleshooting and resolving technical issues. Additionally, if not already formed, I will institute a configuration control board and implement test scenarios to ensure future hardware and software being purchased will not have compatibility issues. Also a part of information technologies is data resource management. This is essential in sustaining and maintaining our company. We will require a database management system of good quality that is capable of data consolidating into a database in turn can be accessed my several program applications. Within the past fifteen to twenty years networks and telecommunications software have played a vital role. To ensure the expansion and growth for Magnum Enterprises, we will need out network to be consistent, reliable, monetary sufficient. I would prepare the team to  either install or review and change as needed our network management system that assists with traffic management, capacity planning, network monitoring, and security in essence that our system will grow and change with modern day business culture and practices as the company expands. In order to have the most dependable and proven with the cost of it a ring network should be put into place. The next area, development processes, deals with designing, planning, identifying ideas, and implementing information systems to meet potential business opportunities. It is critical that we ensure our business management capabilities alongside our hardware and software are integrated successfully within our company. Basis within t he development process and depending upon the circumstance, there are a couple of processes we want our team to employ as resolving problems com along with our business systems. Those processes are considered or known as the prototyping approach and he systems development life-cycle. The synopsis of prototyping involves quickly developing or constructing test modules of a desired system in which we will engage when we cannot determine or classify the end user requirements. These systems would be used to assist our personnel with the capabilities to design or create an information system that will be intuitive and easy to navigate for consumers. Prototyping involves four steps with the first being investigation and analysis step. This step, requirements grouped and defined. Second, is the analysis and design step in which a model is developed and constructed to meet consumer business requirements. Next, in the design and implementation, this finalizes the model that was tested and begins the initial installation. The last step to this four step process is implementation and maintenance, which would consist of the business system being accepted, used, and maintained. Prototyping advantages are: decrease in the development time, development costs and requires user i nvolvement. This generates higher satisfaction results. I plan to employ this type of approach to small initiatives. The next area is business application for information systems. This will consist of being familiar with commerce and business applications for our employees and which are used within the company to make strategic leadership and management decisions. A few of the most used business applications within a majority of companies are accounting, human resource management, enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, customer relationship management, financial management,  and supply chain management. An Architectural picture of or IT business applications will ensure that I will have familiarity with all applications that we use. This approach will identify the current interrelationships, interfaces with customer, employees, business applications, and stake holders. We will then need to review the chart and see if there are any potential process improvements that we can make to integrate those systems cross functionally and keep operational costs to a minimum. The systems devel opment lifecycle employs the systems approach to create IT solutions. This lifecycle is often utilized for large applications and it is composed of five processes that I expect my team to know and become familiar when employing the systems development lifecycle: systems investigation, systems analysis, systems design, systems implementation and systems maintenance. The first process, systems investigation, involves project brainstorming, planning and performing a feasibility study. During the brainstorming and planning initiative, a project management implementation plan is created identifying the detailed steps that will be accomplished during the creation and development of the system. The feasibility study is critically important as this outlines all requirements for the system. It also explores four major areas, organizational, economic, technical, and operational feasibility, which determines if it’s worthwhile to invest in potential business ventures. In reviewing the organization’s feasibility, we need to determine if the system is in line with and supports our company’s strategic objectives. The economic feasibility identifies and evaluates the project’s tangible and intangible cost and benefits. Technical feasibility is assessed by confirming if the necessary hardware and software will be available or can be developed and tested before implementation. Operational feasibility is determined by the motivation, desire, willingness, and competence of the stakeholders (management, employees, customers and suppliers) to use and operate the proposed system. Systems Analysis consists of consolidating requirements and includes a detailed breakdown of the business needs and requirements of the organization. This starts with an organizational analysis from one of the business end users. This individual must be keenly aware of the organizational management structure, business requirements, and current IT systems operati ons and its proposed relationship with the newly created system. Some of the outputs generated from the systems analysis  include system flowcharts, data flow diagrams, and connectivity diagrams which aid in the development of the analysis report The next process, systems design, focuses on the design, process diagrams, business rules, and developing specifications for the hardware, software, data resources that will meet the proposed requirements for new business system. The three major outputs produced from the systems design phase are user data, interface, and process design. The fourth process of the systems development lifecycle is system implementation. This encompasses either acquiring the hardware or software or developing it from company resources and then testing the products in a test environment to see how well they operate and integrate with your existing IT architecture. If testing goes well, an implementation plan including training end users and developing system documentation will be accomplished prior to incorporating and execu ting this system within our IT architecture. The final process, systems maintenance consists of consistently monitoring and evaluating the newly implemented system. This also includes correcting errors and discrepancies not identified during the testing phase and continuously making system improvements, advancements and upgrades. The final area of information systems is management challenges. There are numerous challenges that our IT team may be faced with at Magnum Enterprises. One challenge is addressing our security concerns which involve several areas. For instance, our IT team needs be constantly vigilant and on the alert for potential competitors trying to or actually hacking into our systems to steal or damage our data. Additionally, we may also be challenged with setting up restrictions and locking down the network for personnel to only use the network and its software applications for official business. Ensuring that our software is controlled and that employees are not illegally making copies of software for personal use is another area of concern. Preventing virus attacks to our network and installing anti-virus software to diagnose and remove computer viruses is of utmost concern. Failure to maintain a secure network can potentially halt our business from being productive and resulting in thousands of dollars in lost revenue. Additional challenges the IT team may be faced with may involve expanding our infrastructure and network to address our growing business. Ensuring our network provides our employees accessibility to the data they need, wherever they require it, regardless of their location will test our innovativeness.  The company may not have a backup plan to allow it to operate effectively and efficiently in the event of a forced relocation. If that is the case, I will recommend to our management staff that we establish a continuity of operations plan enabling us to relocate with minimum impact to our business operations like a hot site for temporary functionality. In the dynamic world of IT we will always be faced with challenges, however, utilizing IT and being on the leading edge of new IT systems provides our business with many benefits and makes our organization more effective and efficient. For example, IT can be used to improve and promote new business processes such as creating an automated inventory system which will save money in additional labor costs. Another use of IT in making it more efficient and effective is that using certain software programs enables us to identify and target our top customers in terms of profitability to our business. In summary, IT enables our company to successfully plan, integrate, manage, and carry out strategies which lead to profit. Part II. Six months after you take over the lead IT management role at Magnum, the CIO, Ms. Rachel Heigl, is pleased with your work. She has just attended a meeting of Magnum’s executive committee (the committee comprised of the most senior managers of Magnum), where the CEO and Vice President of marketing have indicated that Magnum’s mediocre e-business capabilities must be strengthened. As CIO, Ms. Heigl is given primary responsibility in improving Magnum’s e-business performance. She in turn puts you in charge of a small task force comprised of representatives from the marketing, operations, finance, and legal departments. In order to advance and improve Magnum’s e-business performance operations, it’s vital I establish a cohesive team with representatives from the marketing, operations, finance, and legal departments. Their input and perspective is necessary and essential in developing a way ahead and strategic plan for the future of our e-busin ess department. Developing success with our e-business begins with marketing the company. Marketing is concerned with developing and creating an innovative plan so that the product or service can be promoted and sold. Promoting our products and services are key and critical in attracting new customers as well as maintaining our current customer base. It is important that I develop an understanding of the marketing role and how it can benefit  by using Information Technology systems. Marketing information systems support well established and e-commerce processes that sustain major elements within the marketing function and is described as a continuing and interacting structure of people, equipment and procedures to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate, and distribute pertinent, timely and accurate information for use by marketing decision makers to improve their marketing planning, implementation, and control. The major components of marketing information systems include interactive marketing, sales force automation, customer relationship management, sales management, product management, targeted marketing, and market research. Two of the seven components I will be discussing are interactive marketing and customer relationship management. In our environment today, marketing information systems aid marketing personnel in a variety of tasks associated with branding products and customer service initiatives. For instance, interactive marketing is largely dependent on utilizing the internet, which permits the business and its customers and potential customers to become partners in developing, socializing, acquiring and advancing products and services. With the IT department enabling this type of communication, the company benefits from generating new ideas for other products and services as well as establishing strong customer loyalty. Another area within the marketing information systems is C ustomer Relationship Management (CRM). This incorporates and automates many customer service processes. It consists of utilizing an IT framework to construct, automate, and integrate marketing processes with the company’s business operations. CRM is usually comprised of a software suite that allows a business to provide efficient, effective and reliable service to its customers. Additionally, CRM permits a company to identify and target their most important customers as well as facilitate real-time customization of products and services based on the customer’s wants and desires. Understanding the marketing department’s views and concerns enables the IT department to implement and install an IT infrastructure that will be capable of supporting various information technologies. Some of the benefits that can be obtained from the marketing department are: an opportunity to increase sales and revenue, a chance to touch new market areas, 24/7 accessibility for the customer, and more flexibility and convenie nce for the customers. The production and operations function is supported by  manufacturing information systems. Manufacturing information systems are designed to be used specifically in an operations and production environment. Different types of manufacturing information systems consist of computer integrated manufacturing (CIM), process control, machine control and robotics. CIM involves using computers to control the total manufacturing process, from design to distribution, to produce produces products of the highest caliber. Process control involves utilizing computers to oversee and control continuing physical processes. Machine control consists of using a computer based system to direct the actions of a machine. Robotics involves designing, constructing, and building machines that have the intelligence of a computer and human like physical capabilities. It’s key I understand how the operations representative depends on these information systems to operate effectively as well as their expec tations for these systems. Working together as a team will enable the IT and operations department to develop better ideas to increase the manufacturing and production process. Developing an understanding of all the accounting and financial based systems within our business and discussing these systems with the finance representative enables our IT and finance departments to plan effectively when troubleshooting and performing upgrades. These systems include but are not limited to order processing, inventory control, accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, general ledger, cash management, investment management, capital budgeting and financial planning. The success of these systems is integrally connected with its information technology and services. For example, the order processing system â€Å"captures and processes customer orders and produces data needed for sales analysis and inventory control and the accounts payable system keeps track of data concerning purchases from and payments to suppliers. Communicating with the finance representative is essential in setting up or modifying these systems to meet the needs of our business. Any interrupti on or degradation in service can lead to severe damage to the business and financial services that Magnum Enterprises relies on to function and operate. As with any business, competitors are always looking for an advantage to get them ahead in their particular discipline or industry. Unfortunately, being extremely aggressive and ambitious can sometimes cloud your decision making capabilities to the point that you may  be committing breaking privacy laws and monitoring and copyright violations. As the IT lead manager for Magnum Enterprises, I’m charged with ensuring our network infrastructure and IT systems are operating proficiently. However, when it comes to addressing privacy issues from an IT perspective, opinions and viewpoints from a legal expert are necessary. In regards to privacy, several websites accumulate usernames and passwords and personal information such as home addresses and phone numbers without authorization from users. Applying internet monitoring technology within the workplace raises concerns about where the boundaries lie between personal use and public resource use. Copyright concerns and violations has become an issue with the development of the Internet and upgrades to technology. Discussing these concerns with a legal expert and implementing and adhering to strict guidelines will help prevent our company from committing these violations. In addition to the goals of strengthening the capabilities of the e-business, attention must be paid to some key technical challenges. Overseeing secure information throughout our business is extremely difficult to implement and maintain successfully. Key technical issues that may be encountered when re-engineering our e-business include privacy and confidentiality, authenticity, data integrity, access control, availability and infrastructure. Privacy and confidentiality involves businesses protecting and securing personal information while being stored or t ransmitted through email. This can be accomplished by utilizing encryption devices or firewalls. Authentication is used to confirm an individual’s identity and during e-business transactions, the purchaser and buyer wants assurance that proper identity is established. A secure way to assist with confirming identity to both individuals is to utilize a virtual private network. Data integrity means the data is correct and has not been altered while being stored or transmitted. The use of firewalls assists in preventing unauthorized users and safeguarding data. Another way to ensure data integrity is through the use of antivirus software which also aids in keeping your data free from viruses. Access control exists when you’re authorizing certain individual’s permission to restricted systems or data. Several measures that can help with access control include firewalls, access privileges, passwords, digital certificates and virtual private networks. Availability is an issue when customers and employers need information  without any disruptions. Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) systems, data backups and the use of anti-virus software assist with ensuring data is always available. Our e-business infrastructure constantly needs to be monitored to ensure its meeting the needs of our business. An infrastructure that is unable to consistently support the network traffic load can potentially cost our company thousands of dollars in lost sales. If the network is continually slow, increasing the speed of the network backbone will assist in providing faster and reliable support for our customers. In addition to increasing the speed of the network backbone, implementing cross-functional enterprise systems will assist in improving critical business processes throughout Magnum enterprises. A final technical challenge is ensuring all of our systems are compatible and can operate on several different hardware platforms. By having this capabi lity, our operating costs from a technical refresh perspective will decrease. While strengthening capabilities and addressing technical issues, there are management challenges within the e-business that must be addressed. As discussed earlier, our team must be vigilant in addressing security challenges such as hacking into our systems, software theft, and protecting our software applications. In addition to security issues, there are ethical concerns that must be addressed. Privacy has always been a serious and contentious issue amongst employers and employees. For instance, computer monitoring is considered by many personnel to be an infringement on the employee’s privacy and shouldn’t be allowed. However, employers argue that since the computer is a company owned resource, they should be allowed to monitor the work of their employer. In reality, many employers are concerned as to whether or not the employee is actually working and producing or just goofing off and surfing the internet. Utilizing IT equipment at work has been mentioned to cause a variety of health issues which management must address. For example, if your job consists of being in front of a computer all day, some of the health problems you may experience damage to the neck and arm muscles, eye strain, carpal tunnel syndrome, job stress, poor posture and poor circulation. Resolutions to some of these health concerns can be through the science of ergonomics. The objective of ergonomics is to devise and create safe health work conditions with the goal of decreasing health issues and increasing employee morale and work productivity. If  Magnum Enterprises has customers internationally, they also may be faced with political, geo-economic and cultural challenges. From a political concern, there are countries that have restrictions regulating or denying the transfer of data across their borders which can potentially result in customers or businesses from having to pay import or export fees. Geo-economic concerns involve issues such as identifying and locating personnel with IT skills to work at remote sites and communicating with personnel across all 24 time zones. Cultural challenges â€Å"include differences in languages, cultural interests, religions, customs, social attitudes, and political philosophies†. For example, if Magnum Enterprises was conducting a business transaction via a Video Teleconference it would be disrespectful to look them in the eye when introducing yourself. Before meeting an international customer, it would prudent to review their customs and courtesies to ensure a smooth business relationship. Improving Magnum’s e-business performance faces several challenges. Consulting with key department personnel from operations, marketing, finance and legal as well as addressing technical and management obstacles will assist me in charting a plan to put our e-business on the right track towards success.

Lord Of The Flies :: essays research papers

Setting is the physical environment in which action occurs. It is a common literary element of every story. However, when it is used eloquently, it can be seen as brilliant device that aids in the development of a story. In the novel Lord of the Flies, the author, William Golding, focuses on depicting his setting in great detail. Throughout the novel, he utilizes the setting to motivate character behavior, foreshadow events that will take place, and also to represent the values held by the characters. At the beginning of the novel, the characters discover that they are stranded on an island with no other humans. Since all of the characters are children, they are inexperienced on how to handle grave situations. Considering they are all by themselves, their environment forcefully arranges them into two groups. One of the groups is the hunters which will go out and kill animals for food. This group must be created, otherwise, all the characters shall die. The boy who will take on this challenge will be Jack. Jack, at the beginning of the novel, was a very considerate and caring. An example of this takes place in chapter one where he is about to kill a pig but did not have the heart to do it. However as the novel proceeds, his environment, the forest, and his new role of hunter will change him to an uncaring, selfish savage. The other group that will co-exist is one that will stay behind and do non-violent work such as building huts or creating weapons. As a result of having two groups within the whole, a leader must emerge in order to keep the two groups working efficiently. Since there is no adult on the island to take on the responsibility, the character’s environment once again forces them to elect a leader. The person who is elected is Ralph. He is forced to be organized and insightful on how to keep everyone alive. This is shown through him organizing a way for people to voice their opinions in his meetings. It is also shown through him suggesting that they build shelter and appointing people to take on certain parts in that task. Golding also uses the setting in order to foreshadow events that will happen or actions of characters. At the beginning of the novel, he illustrates the island in a fashion that makes it seem heavenly.

Wgu Kot 2

Medicare, the Uninsured, and International Healthcare Review Western Governors University Medicare, the Uninsured, and International Healthcare Review Healthcare and healthcare reform are hot topics of debate in today's society. As the population grows and life expectancy increases, the nation faces many challenges in providing healthcare benefits to the people. â€Å"According to the report, titled Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010, 49. 9 million Americans or 16. 3 percent of the total US population had no health insurance in 2010.That percentage represents a slight increase on 2009’s figures, when 49 million citizens or 16. 1 percent of the population was uninsured† (Gamser, 2011). Unless there is a turnaround in their economic downfall, unemployment rate, and healthcare reform these numbers will most likely continue to increase. This paper will discuss some of these issues and how they impact two different families. The paper wi ll look at Mrs. Zwick, a 77-year-old female who was hospitalized for five days following a minor stroke and is then transferred to the skilled nursing facility for rehabilitation.Her rehabilitation is delayed 10 days into her stay due to a hospital acquired urinary tract infection. Discussion will include coverage for her medical care using Medicare Part A, Part B and Part D. Discussion will also include how the hospital acquired infection is not reimbursed by Medicare. Finally the paper will discuss how Mr. Davis, a gentleman with chronic sickle cell anemia and loses his job position due to his illness, will have the option to continue insurance coverage by way of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA).Discussion will include two challenges that state or local government face when providing care for the uninsured with long-term or chronic illnesses. Elaboration on one of the challenges will be further described. Due to his frustrations with loss of his employmen t, healthcare coverage, and his chronic sickle cell anemia, Mr. Davis verbalizes he wish he lived in another country. Through investigation of healthcare in Great Britain, Japan, Germany, and Switzerland this paper will discuss which of these countries would best benefit Mr. Davis if you ere to become a citizen there. Mrs. Zwick was hospitalized for five days following a mild stroke, and then transferred to a skilled nursing facility for rehabilitation with projected discharge in 21 days. However it is discovered that she developed a hospital acquired urinary tract infection 10 days into her rehabilitation requires IV antibiotics to treat. The infection leads per week and unable to continue her rehabilitation until the urinary tract infection is cleared. As a result, instead of 21 days in rehabilitation she has to stay 40 days.When discharged she was giving a prescription for several medications and a walker. Her daughter inquires about the bills from other is insured with Medicare Part A, Part B and Part D and asks the nurse if she can explain the benefits to her. Medicare Part A, which is also known as hospital insurance, is usually provided free since Medicare taxes are paid into the program while working. â€Å"Part A is hospital insurance that helps cover inpatient care in hospitals, skilled nursing facility, hospice, and home health care† (Medicare. gov, n. d. ). Cherry and Jacob (2011, p. 28) states that Medicare is a federal health insurance plan for Americans 65 and older and certain disabled people. The client must be eligible for Social Security or Railroad retirement. The nurse would explain that Medicare Part A will cover the cost of the hospital stay as well as the skilled nursing and rehabilitation stay. Medicare Part B she explains is considered to be the medical insurance. This will cover services such as physician services, services and supplies that are needed to diagnose and treat her medical condition and would also cover certain pr eventative services such as flu vaccines (Medicare. ov, n. d. ). This would cover the rehabilitation services that her mother has received while in the rehabilitation center as well as the walker that was prescribed by the physician at the time of discharge. Medicare Part D is the prescription drug plan. There are various options under this portion of Medicare and depending on the one that your mother has chosen would base the amount of coverage that she would receive for prescription medications. This does not necessarily cover the full cost of the prescription medications; there are deductibles and copayments that must be met. The hospital acquired rinary tract infection that Mrs. Zwick developed during her hospital stay is not covered by Medicare. Research of an article in Medical News Today states: â€Å"Starting in 2009, Medicare, the US government's health insurance program for elderly and disabled Americans, will not cover the costs of â€Å"preventable† conditions, m istakes and infections resulting from a hospital stay. So for instance, if you are on Medicare and you pick up a hospital acquired infection while you are being treated for something that is covered by Medicare, the extra cost of treating the hospital acquired infection will no longer be paid for by Medicare.Instead, the bill will be picked up by the hospital itself since the rules don't allow the hospital to charge it to you† (Paddock, 2007). Healthcare acquired infections (HAI) not only contribute to exorbitant amounts of financial burden on the healthcare system but also attribute to staggering numbers of patient deaths. â€Å"Healthcare acquired infections (HAIs) are infections that patients contract while receiving treatment for medical and surgical conditions. The U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that HAIs contracted in U. S. ospitals account for approximately two million infections, 99,000 deaths, and an estimated $4. 5 billion in excess costs annually† (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009) More recent results show a very minuscule decline in these types of infections. It is but a mere scratch at the surface of the deeply rooted problem within our healthcare systems. There are ethical implications as well in treating Mrs. Zwick’s healthcare acquired infection. As healthcare providers, there is a duty to do no harm. Ethically we must do the right thing as an advocate for patient safety.To attain these standards the healthcare provider must diligently be cognizant of infection control measures and ways to improve current practice. Examples include strict hand hygiene, aseptic technique, and current best practice as defined by evidenced based medicine. The continuous monitoring and surveillance of all healthcare acquired infections looking for trends. Perhaps it is a specific hospital unit or employee. These identifiers will assist through education and competency in the correction and preven tion of future occurrences.Healthcare as a whole also has an ethical obligation to make known to the patient, patient families and the community these HAI’s when discovered. This paper will now focus on Mr. Davis who was terminated by his employer for extended absences due to hospitalizations from chronic sickle cell anemia. Even though Mr. Davis is unemployed his employer must offer him the opportunity to continue his healthcare benefit under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA).COBRA requires employers with more than 20 employees to provide the employee and his family the opportunity to continue medical benefits for up to 18 months. This includes voluntary or involuntary job loss, decreased work hours, changing jobs, and various life changing events. The employee may be responsible for paying the entire premium to continue this healthcare coverage. COBRA can also impose fines of up to $110 per day to employers that fail to offer continued healthcare be nefits to the separated employee. (U. S. Department of Labor, n. d. ) Should Mr.Davis remain unemployed beyond the 18 month limit imposed by COBRA, state and local government are usually called upon to provide assistance. There are options available but often times these require months or even years to get assistance and quite frequently require the assistance of an attorney to receive benefits. Medicaid is probably the most widely known and the recommended source of state medical assistance. The Medicaid program is a federal and state grant program that used primarily for the disabled, low income families with dependent children, and people who are confined in nursing homes with low income levels.The state is responsible for setting the guidelines of eligibility for this program. Once Medicaid is approved for an individual, the coverage can be retroactive for up to three months from the time it was approved. Indigent and underinsured medical care must be funded by state and local g overnment. This challenge is usually met through taxation. Each municipality and sometimes healthcare district must budget to provide care for its citizens through state and local tax. Depending on the economic region this can present a huge challenge.For example, areas of Florida where migrant farmers are present may have to budget more for healthcare than a wealthier district such as West Palm Beach. So in reality, all working citizens pay for the indigent healthcare in their particular municipality. In Texas such budgeting and care is known as the Indigent Health Care and Treatment Act passed in 1985. This act spells out what basic services must be allowed for the indigent in each county. If more care is provided then it is the local governments’ responsibility to pay for it.Other state and local programs may include State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) which is also a state and national government run program designed for families that don't meet the minimum requirements for Medicaid due to income even though the income is still modestly below poverty level. Local and state governments may also provide other benefits such as free clinics, public health, Meals on Wheels, subsidized housing, discounted transportation services, food stamps, and free or discounted childcare for working parents.Local consumers have even pitched in by providing either free or drastically reduced prescription medications that are commonly prescribed to provide assistance during these tough economic times. Mr. Davis had mentioned in his frustration that at times he wished he lived in another country. His hope would be that healthcare would be more accessible to him. This paper will look at the healthcare system of four different countries Great Britain, Japan, Germany, and Switzerland. After a brief review of the healthcare systems in these countries this paper will focus on one country's health care system that would benefit Mr.Davis the most. Discussion of th is country's healthcare system will examine areas such as medication coverage, pre-existing conditions coverage, requirements if necessary for healthcare specialist evaluation and the access for retired people, children, and the unemployed. The healthcare system in Great Britain is considered to be socialized medicine. Basically what this means is that the citizens of Great Britain pay taxes for health care and in return the government-run National Health Service (NHS) provides and pays those funds to healthcare providers.There are no fees when a patient sees a physician since most physicians and nurses are government employees. In order to see a specialist patients must first visit there general practitioner for a referral. Physician visits are free; however there are fees for prescription medications. â€Å"Young people and the elderly are exempt from all drug co-pays† (Public Broadcast System, n. d. ). A major problem with this healthcare system according to Tanner (2008 p . 4) is the extremely long waits for healthcare and depending upon the patient's severity of illness, a procedure such as an open heart surgery for someone deemed too ill or too old by the government may be denied treatment. Switzerland has long been considered to have one of the best healthcare systems in the world. However it is not without its drawbacks. The overall cost for healthcare and Switzerland is second only to the United States. Even still is far less than what the United States spends on healthcare. All residents residing in Switzerland are required to purchase basic healthcare insurance with them three months of residency.Swiss law requires all citizens to purchase a basic package of health insurance, an individual mandate. The term basic benefits package is somewhat misleading since the required benefits are quite extensive, including inpatient and outpatient care, care for the elderly and the physically and mentally handicapped, long-term nursing home care, diagnosti c tests, prescription drugs, and complementary and alternative therapies. (Tanner, 2008 p. 25) The Swiss government does provide assistance for those that are low income and can't afford to pay the healthcare premiums.It is expected that citizens pay no more than 10% of their income on healthcare premiums. Referrals to specialists are not required by the primary care physician. There are no exclusions for pre-existing conditions. Private rooms in the hospital and dental insurance require a supplemental policy and are not covered in the basic plan. Healthcare in Germany is based primarily on two types of insurances, public and private insurance. Anyone earning a salary in Germany must have public health insurance. This public health insurance covers not only the employee of German citizenship but all nonworking dependents as well.There is no added cost for pre-existing conditions. Pregnant women are provided public health insurance for free. The premium for the insurance is around 5% of the person’s total income. Referrals are not required to see a specialist but higher co-pay may be charged. If a person opts out of the public health insurance for private insurance he cannot go back later to the public health insurance, even if income drops below the level required for private insurance (Underwood, 2009). The unemployed people are covered through a social fund which pays the physicians fee.This paper will now discuss the healthcare system in Japan. The Japan healthcare system would probably be the most beneficial for Mr. Davis of the four countries that we have researched. There are two types of healthcare insurance in Japan, National Health Insurance and Employees’ Health Insurance. Anyone who cannot afford healthcare insurance is provided with public assistance. The premium for the Employees’ Health Insurance is usually split between the employer and the employee; although there are some companies that will pay more. â€Å"Everyone in Ja pan is covered by insurance for medical and dental care and drugs.Insurers do not compete, and they all cover the same services and drugs for the same price† (Arnquist, 2009). The government decides on the fee schedule. Insurance premiums are not held or inflated for pre-existing conditions. Premiums are based on taxable income for the National Health Insurance. This insurance is for the self-employed, retirees and students. â€Å"The financial resources for unemployment benefits are covered by insurance premiums paid by employees and employers (they equally bear the amount equivalent to 0. 8% of workers' wages) and by the National Treasury† (The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, 2011).Healthcare is free for all children under the age of six. So as a result Mr. Davis would be well covered under Japan's healthcare system. Mr. Davis will have coverage for his medications, he would be able to see any specialist of his choice although a premium might be added without ha ving a referral, and there is no denial or rate increase for pre-existing conditions and the healthcare system provides for children, the unemployed and retired persons. In summation, this paper has discussed Medicaid Part A, B, and D. There is discussion on how COBRA would help Mr. Davis continue his insurance while he's out of work.There has been discussion of at least two challenges that both local and state government would face in providing care for Mr. Davis. And then finally there is some discussion of healthcare in Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, and of course Japan which is the system that was chosen for Mr. Davis. While researching this paper it is discovered that healthcare reform is needed not only in the United States of America but throughout the entire world as well. The hope is that one day everyone will be afforded some type of healthcare coverage. References Arnquist, S. (2009, August 25). Health care abroad: Japan.Retrieved from http://www. prescriptions. blo gs. nytimes. com/2009/08/25/health-care-abroad-japan/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2009, December 31). Healthcare acquired infection and prevention plan. Retrieved from http://www. cdc. gov/HAI/pdfs/stateplans/or. pdf Cherry, B. , & Jacob, S. R. (2011). Contemporary Nursing issues, trends, & management (5th ed. ). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby. Gamser, M. (2011, September 16). US Census Shows Little Change in Number of Uninsured Americans. Retrieved from http://www. globalsurance. com/blog/us-census-shows-little-change-in-number-of-uninsured-americans-420520. tml Medicare. gov (n. d. ). Medicare Benefits. Retrieved from http://www. medicare. gov/navagation/medicare-basics/medicare-benefits/part-a. aspx? AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 Paddock, C. (2007, August 20). Medicare will not pay for hospital mistakes and infections, new rules. Retrieved from http://www. medicalnewstoday. com/articles/80074. php Public Broadcast System (n. d. ). Sick around the world. Retrieved f rom http://www. pbs. org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/countries/ Tanner, M. (2008, March 18). The grass is not always greener: a look at national health care systems around the world.Retrieved from http://www. scribd. com/doc/13673626/–the–grass–is–not-always–greener–a–look–at–national–health–care-systems–around–the–world–Cato–policy–analysis–no–613– The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (2011). Second periodic report by the government of Japan under articles 16 and 17 of the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights. Retrieved from http://www. mofa. go. jp/policy/human/econo_rep2/article9. html U. S. Department of Labor (n. d. ). Health plans & benefits, continuation of health coverage-COBRA. Retrieved from http://www. dol. gov/dol/topic/health-plans/cobra. htm Underwood, A. (2009,

Teaching For America s Most Valuable Asset - 1859 Words

Children as our biggest treasure deserve the right to a quality education and an opportunity to be successful in life. That can only be accomplished by instilling the right values in them from the young age, leading them to the right path and showing them how important education is. Teach for America improves and nourishes America’s most valuable asset – the children. It provides leadership in the low-income school communicates that need quality education for the children who are less fortunate, and lack funds and opportunities. History and Interesting Facts Teach For America is a nationally recognized program that recruits, selects, trains, places, and supports new teachers, whom are called corps members, in high-need urban and rural†¦show more content†¦The toughest obstacle to overcome when forming this organization, for it’s founder Kopp, was overcoming belief and proving people that â€Å" teachers, just like doctors and lawyers, needs to be trained in campus-based graduate culture and programs before entering the classroom.† In 1994 the institute moved to Houston, where Teach for America has stayed ever since. At this point, Teach For America has offices supporting teachers and alumni in 39 geographic regions in 31 states and Washington, D.C. Each region has an executive director and program staff, and most also have development staff and local advisory boards. In 2001, it secured more then $20 million and named one of the five organizations Lady Laura Bush. TFA is among the nations largest providers of Afric an American and Latino teachers. 55% of the corps comes from low-income communities. They believe that educators who come from low-income communities and share backgrounds of the students have potential for profound additional impact. That’s why diversifying is important in this organization. Often, TFA strives to accommodate requests from teachers who want to work in their hometowns and communities where they were once students. Many of the teachers include military veterans who described teaching as the most challenging work they’ve done. Many beliefs that lead to complaints and negative opinions about teach for America, like that their corps