1) The answer must raise appropriate critical questions.
2) Do include all your references, as per the Harvard Referencing System,
3) Please don’t use Wikipedia web site.
4) I need examples from peer reviewed articles or researches.
5) Turnitin.com copy percentage must be 10% or less.
Note: To prepare for this essay please read the required articles that is attached or sent by email.
Appreciate each single moment you spend in writing my paper
Best regards
SAMPLE ANSWER
Budgets and variances
Part A: Flexed and actual budget
Original budget and actual budget
Actual
Static (Original Budget)
Units
810
800
£
£
Sales revenue
753,300
760,000
Less
Direct materials
(192,500)
(192,000)
Direct labour
(221,000)
(200,000)
Fixed overheads
(130,000)
(128,000)
Operating profit
209,800
240,000
Actual budget and flexed budget
Actual
Flexed
Units
810
810
£
£
Sales revenue
753,300
769,500
Less
Direct materials
(192,500)
(194,400)
Direct labour
(221,000)
(202,500)
Fixed overheads
(130,000)
(129,600)
Operating profit
209,800
243,000
Part B: Variances
Actual
Flexed
Variance
Favourable / unfavourable
Units
810
810
£
£
£
Sales revenue
753,300
810 x 930 = 753,300
769,500
810 x 950 = 769,500
-16,200
U
Less
Direct materials
(192,500)
810 x 237.65 = 192,500
(194,400)
810 x 240 = 194,400
-1,900
F
Direct labour
(221,000)
810 x 272.8 = 221,000
(202,500)
810 x 250 = 202,500
18,500
U
Fixed overheads
(130,000)
810 x 160.5 = 130,000
(129,600)
810 x 160 = 129,600
400
U
Operating profit
209,800
243,000
-33,200
U
Part C: Business Report
A flexible budget is used in making a comparison between the actual results and the original budget. Variances are computed in order to measure how the company performed during a certain period. It is worth mentioning that in a flexible budget, the fixed costs remain constant while the semi-variable and variable costs change consistent with a standard that is preset at the commencement of a given period (Stephenson & Porter 2011). Whenever a flexible budget is adjusted to actual activity level, it is called a flexed budget. This is the budget that the company would have prepared at the start of the accounting period, had the top managers of the company known the exact actual output (Marple, 2009).
Generally, computing variances could be helpful in understanding why the actual results were different from the expectations and it is important to create a flexible budget. Flexed budget adjusts the original/static budget for the actual production volume or sales (Mak & Roush 2014). In the Orchid Limited case, a company which manufactures furniture, the original/static budget presumed that a total of 800 units would be produced and sold in a given month. The flexed budget rearranges the original/static budget to reflect the new number, making all the appropriate adjustments to expenditures and sales basing upon the unanticipated change in volume. In order to prepare a flex budget, it is important to have the original/static budget, properly understand cost behaviour, and know the actual number of goods that were made and sold. Orchid Limited had a great accounting period as actual sales came to 810 units.
The budget of Orchids Ltd is flexed in order to find out the amount of overhead that this firm should have, supposing that 810 units are made. Some costs are variable given that they alter in response to the levels of activity, whereas some other costs remain the same and are fixed. For instance, direct materials and direct labour are variable costs whereas other costs remain the same and are fixed, for instance fixed overheads (Garret 2010). Direct materials and direct labour are variable costs since the more furniture Orchid Ltd makes, the more labour and materials it needs. Conversely, overhead costs such as fixed overheads are fixed because in spite of the number of furniture made, the costs would remain the same. In the original/static budget, making 800 furniture units would result in variable cost per unit of £240 for direct materials and £250 for direct labour. To calculate the value of the flexed budget, the variable cost per unit is multiplied by the actual production volume. For income items such as operating profit and revenue in the case of Orchid Ltd, the flexed budget variance is favourable whenever the actual figures exceed the flexed budget figures and vice versa. On the other hand, for cost items, excess of flexed budget figures over actual figures implies favourable variance and vice versa.
Budget (Flexed)
Actual (Result)
Output
810 units
810 units
Sales variances
Variance 16,200
769,500
753,300
Direct material variances
Variance 1,900
194,400
192,500
Direct labour variances
Variance 18,500
202, 500
221,000
Fixed overhead variance
Variance 400
129,600
130,000
Budget (Original)
Actual (Result)
Output
800 units
810 units
Sales variances
Variance 6,700
760,000
753,300
Direct material variances
Variance 500
192,000
192,500
Direct labour variances
Variance 21,000
200, 000
221,000
Fixed overhead variance
Variance 2,000
128,000
130,000
Sales variances
Total variance between actual sales and original budget is £6,700 (Unfavorable). This is caused by:
Sales volume (activity) variance: in the original budget, 800 units had been planned. In the actual sales, 810 units were made. Sales volume variance is 10 units since 10 more units were sold, which favourable.
Sales price variance: in the original budget, the planned selling price was £950 per unit. In the actual sales, the selling price was 753,300 / 810 = £930. Therefore, the variance is because the sales price per unit of furniture was reduced by £20, which is unfavourable.
Direct material variances:
Usage/Price: in the flexed budget, direct material should have cost £194.400, but it did cost just £192,500. Therefore, the usage/price is £1,900, which is favourable. However, in the original/static budget, the planned cost of direct material was £192,500 but the actual cost was £192,500. As such, the usage/price is £500 which is unfavourable. The variance is because of an increase in market prices, poor buying, and purchase of higher quality materials which were more costly.
Direct labour variances:
Efficiency: in the flexed budget, direct labour should have cost £202, 500 but in the actual result it cost £221,000. Thus the efficiency/rate is £18,500 – unfavourable. In the original budget, the management planned £200,000 for direct labour but it cost £221,000, the efficiency/rate being £21,000 which is unfavourable. The cause for this could be the hiring of better employees, poor negotiation of employee salary, an increase in market labour rates, poor equipment which keep breaking down, lower quality materials that are not easy to utilize efficiently, or poorer training (Yahya-Zadeh 2012).
Fixed overhead variance:
Spending: since fixed costs are fixed, flexing is unnecessary to account for dissimilar activities. Nonetheless, the overspend of £2,000 is unfavourable and an adverse effect.
To improve its cost control, it is recommended that Orchid Ltd should maintain the price per unit of furniture to at least £950; it should not reduce the price per unit. Secondly, labour efficiency should be improved by procuring high-quality new technology machinery that do not keep breaking down; high-quality materials should be employed since they can be used efficiently; and the company should ensure tough negotiation in employee pay. To improve material usage variances, high-quality materials should be used and there has to be better management of materials. Sales price variances could be reduced through market price increase, and planned increase in prices (Stephenson & Porter 2011).
References
Garret, K 2010, ‘Spotlight on variance analysis’, Accountancy, 106, 1167, pp. 88-89, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 27 June 2015.
Mak, Y, & Roush, M 2014, ‘Flexible Budgeting and Variance Analysis in an Activity-Based Costing Environment’, Accounting Horizons, 8, 2, pp. 93-103, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 27 June 2015.
Marple, RP 2009, ‘Combining the forecast and flexible budgets’, Accounting Review, 21, 2, p. 140, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 27 June 2015.
Stephenson, T, & Porter, J 2011, ‘Comparing Budgets to Performance’, Strategic Finance, 93, 2, pp. 36-43, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 27 June 2015.
Yahya-Zadeh, M 2012, ‘Comprehensive variance analysis based on ex post optimal budget’, Academy Of Accounting & Financial Studies Journal, 16, pp. 65-85, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 27 June 2015.
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This essay is intended to get you thinking about the use of budgeting in an organisation. There are many different types of budgets. This week, you will consider different budgeting approaches such as flexible, zero-based and rolling budgets in organisations.
Consider the following questions:
•Consider the value of budgeting for an organisation.
•Consider the different budgeting approaches.
•Consider the behavioural aspects of budgeting.
•Consider different budgeting approaches in an organisation.
•Consider how the budgeting approaches may differ among various organisations, such as a Fortune 500 company, a small business or a non-profit.
•What are the characteristics of a budgeting system among the various organisations?
•What are some of the ethical issues related to budgeting and the successful implementation of a budget?
Address the following issues/questions:
‘I don’t need a budget; I run my own business so it’s all in my head. Bothering with a budget would just be a waste of time and money!’
Do you agree or disagree with this point of view? Discuss the value of budgeting for organisations of all sizes and types in terms of effective resource management. Explain what characteristics of a budgeting system are most likely to contribute towards its successful implementation and how a lack of these might result in ethical problems.
Also,
1)The answer must raise appropriate critical questions.
2) Do include all your references, as per the Harvard Referencing System,
3)Please don’t use Wikipedia web site.
4)I need examples from peer reviewed articles or researches.
5) Turnitin.com copy percentage must be 10% or less.
Note: To prepare for this essay please read the required articles that is attached or sent by email.
Appreciate each single moment you spend in writing my paper
Best regards
SAMPLE ANSWER
MFR.COLL.W5
Budgets are among the most important tools for business success and therefore I do not agree with the statement construing that there is no need for a business owner to have a budget. Even where the owner knows everything about his business, budgets promote proper planning and documentation of organizational income and expenditure. They ensure that the business expenditure is optimal through an analysis of all budget items and that the business is making the best possible profit out of the resources invested. Besides this, budgets create other forms of value for the business as discussed in this paper.
A budget is a planning tool and having one ensures that the business can effectively manage its income to cater for expenditure in order to realize desired profitability. Herrmann-Nehdi (2011, p. 97) notes that a budget gives an overview of the company’s income and expenditure and that through budget analysis, the business can choose priority areas to focus on to improve returns.
A budget to a large extent informs decision making in organizations. Herrmann-Nehdi (2011, p. 104) argues that it is easier to make a decision based on a budget because the budget consists details of all the financial resources of the organization and how they will be spent. Accordingly, the management is always aware of what the business is capable of at any particular time in terms of finances. In addition, the management can easily revise the budget to accommodate new developments by determining various courses of action meant to free some financial resources; such as cost cutting, outsourcing and utilizing credit facilities among others. This can only be accomplished if there was initially a budget detailing the cost of various activities.
Budgets are useful in designing business focus by identifying products that are profitable for the business and comparing them against unprofitable ones. This way, the business can choose the product that provides maximum benefits and whose budget is sustainable.
Budgets play the role of keeping expenditure within the limits specified by the business. This means that the likelihood of overspending or allocating excessive resources to a product are eliminated; thus saving business owners a significant amount of cash (Hollensen, 2011, p. 87). Without a budget, there are high chances of unplanned expenditure which often impact the organization’s profitability potential.
Effective budget implementation is to a large extent enhanced by various characteristics of a budgeting system. The budgeting process is however impacted by ethical issues as established in the section below.
Budgets create some form of certainty for the business; which helps managers to predict and control future operations. Hollensen (2011, p. 90) notes that since budgets are prepared at the beginning of the financial period, they guide the organization and employees on what to expect during the year. Ethical issues emerge from poor budget management which may lead to significant errors, which often mislead employees and may be detrimental to the organization. This is especially so when companies engage management consultants who may not take the budget making seriously. Some are even known for duplicating previous budgets they have developed for other companies and giving them to others without considering the strategic objectives of the organization.
A budget is meant to create a sense of ownership in the business process by allowing employees to share the management’s goals. This way, employees can effectively implement the budget to promote the organization’s overall objectives. Ethical issues often arise when budgets appear restricting or when the management imposes a budget that is overbearing on the implementers (Lafley and Roger, 2013, p. 63). This will not only lead to poor execution but the employees may also feel like the management has no concern for their welfare. This is especially so in the modern work place where the organization is expected to promote employee welfare as part of their ethical obligations (Hollensen, 2011, p. 9).
Budgets should always represent what is anticipated to happen in the correct manner in order to ensure that the implementers do not find themselves in a compromising position when budget estimates do not align with the estimates. Carreras, Mujtaba and Cavico (2011, P. 8) notes that an inaccurate budget can lead to ethical issues as they encourage managers to fabricate budgets to align it with the forecasts; leading to budgetary slack. An example would be a situation in which managers budget higher expenditure and lower revenues. This results in unfair rewarding of the managers for apparently exceeding their targets, which is considered inappropriate for any business (Santosuosso, 2013, p. 4). This therefore calls for accuracy as a budgeting system characteristic in order to promote effective implementation.
Finally, a budget should flexible in order to accommodate business uncertainties and therefore allow an organization to go ahead with plans that are considered strategically important. Where budgets are not flexible, ethical issues are likely to emerge as executors use the rigidity of the budget as an excuse not to execute strategy (Carreras, Mujtaba and Cavico, 2011, p. 9-10). This not only impacts the organization but it could also lead to poor business reputation and loss of confidence of customers.
References
Carreras, A., Mujtaba, B. G., & Cavico, F. J. (2011). Don’t Blame The Budget Process: An Exploration Of Efficiency, Effectiveness, And Ethics. Business and Management Review Vol. 1(3), 05 – 13. Retrieved from http://www.businessjournalz.org/articlepdf/BMR_1304.pdf
Herrmann-Nehdi, A. (2011). Creativity and strategic thinking: The coming competencies. Lake Lure, NC: Herrmann International, Hollensen, S 2011, Global Marketing. A Decision-Oriented Approach, 5th Edition, FT Prentice Hall, London.
Lafley, A.G. & Roger M. (2013). Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works. Harvard Business
As the authors of our text note:
Since its founding in 1926, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has been an influence on early education in the United States, but never so strongly as it has been since it began writing position statements in the 1980s. (Estes & Krogh, 2012, p. 98)
One of the position statements that NAEYC created focuses on developmentally appropriate practice (DAP). Understanding what DAP is and how it will influence your work with children is critical to being a quality early childhood educator.
To deepen your understanding of developmentally appropriate practice, spend some time exploring NAEYC’s website. Pay particular attention to the section of the website dedicated to DAP. While exploring the site, you can learn more about what DAP is, read NAEYC’s position statement on DAP, and learn how DAP can be implemented with different ages of children. When you are finished exploring the site, complete the following:
In your own words, explain what the term developmentally appropriate practice means to you.
Describe at least two personal connections you made with the DAP information you discovered on the NAEYC site.
Summarize three main things you learned from exploring the site. How will they impact your career in early childhood education?
SAMPLE ANSWER
Developmentally Appropriate Practice
The term developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) involves the teaching of children in line with factors that directly and indirectly affect their development and learning. The aim of DAP is to ensure that children achieve optimal development and learning. DAP is guided by three major principles (NAEYC website). The first principle is with regards to understanding the aspects of a child’s early learning and development at every stage and age. This knowledge plays a vital role in making decisions on the experiences that are more suitable for the learning and development of the child. The second principle involves the knowledge of the appropriateness of the learning approaches applied to every child. The third principle is the understanding of the cultural appropriateness of the learning and developmental practices applied on every child. These principles ensure that the curriculum and teaching practices encourage individual learning and development and group work. The teachers are able to appreciate every individual child’s strengths and weaknesses in order to get the best out of all the children.
There are two personal connections that I can relate with in the DAP information. The first connection is with regards to the child’s development and learning at an individual level. At the individual level, I remember how my teacher specialized on my drawing skills and helped me come out as the best artist in my class. At the group level, working in a group helped me learn new aspects from other members of the group as I shared what I thought they lacked.
Accordingly, three main things that I have learned from the NAEYC site in line with DAP include: the creation of a caring environment for learners, the development of a suitable curriculum for the learners, and the evaluation of the learning and development of the children. These three things will impact my career in early childhood education on the ground that I need to appreciate every child’s capacity at an individual level and at a group level.
As we have learned this week, there are many different aspects to development that we need to know when working with children from birth to age 8. We must ensure that our classrooms help to stimulate the physical, cognitive, and affective development for all students. For this assignment, you will bring together your knowledge of theories, developmental domains, and learning environments to design a learning environment. The steps for the assignment are:
Step 1: Create your learning environment
Access the APA template for assistance with the writing process, formatting, documentation, and citations in your written work.
Choose an age group (birth to age 2, ages 2 to 5, or ages 6 to 8) to design a learning environment for. ( I pick 8 years old)
Go to the Classroom Architect website or to the Gliffy website. You will use this website to design the layout for the learning environment. When designing your layout, consider how the design you have created will support the developmental needs of your students based on the age group you chose.
After creating your learning environment, take a screenshot of your design. Then, copy and paste your screenshot into a Word document. If you need help taking a screenshot, please view this tutorial.
Step 2: Written support for your learning environment design
Introduction (one paragraph)
Describe the learning environment that you have designed including the setting of your learning environment (school, home daycare, center, etc.) along with the age of children with whom you will be working.
Physical Domain
Explain how your learning environment design supports the physical development of the children with whom you are working.
Include at least two specific examples from your design.
Cognitive Domain
Explain how your learning environment design supports the cognitive development of the children with whom you are working.
Include at least two specific examples from your design.
Affective Domain
Explain how your learning environment design supports the affective development of the children with whom you are working.
Include at least two specific examples from your design.
Developmental Theories
Discuss which of the developmental theories discussed this week are represented in the learning environment you created.
Include at least two specific examples from your design.
Conclusion (one paragraph)
Summarize the main points of your learning environment design and how it will support the developmental needs of your students.
Step 3: Assignment Submission
Submit your assignment as a two page Word document, not including the title and reference page.
Your document should include a screenshot of your classroom along with the written support for your classroom design (answering all questions from Step 2 above).
Along with the textbook, you will need to include at least two additional scholarly sources.
Be sure to mention your sources in the paper as well as including them on a reference page.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Learning environments and development domains
Introduction
The age of the children with whom I would be working is 8. The setting is an elementary school. The designed learning environment comprises wide spaces, 3 computers, 2 classroom rugs, 1 kidney table, 3 student tables, 1 teacher desk and 1 television. There are also 5 shelves, 4 storage areas, 1 fridge, 1 sink, 3 beanbag chairs, and 28 chairs.
Physical domain
The designed learning environment supports the physical development of 8-year-olds in that two areas where the children can engage in play are included in the design. Two specific examples from the design that support the physical development of 8-year-old children are the large open spaces and classroom rugs. Eight-year-old children require active play for their healthy physical development. Active play helps the kids to maintain or build energy, muscular strength, or joint flexibility (Sanchez, 2012). The children can play in the open spaces or in the classroom rugs and the play would contribute to their gross and fine motor development as well as body awareness since they utilize their bodies actively. In small motor development, the natural progression is basically from scribbles to shapes and forms to representational images. It is notable that playing with writing tools will help these kids in refining their fine motor skills. Gross motor development for instance, skipping and hopping develops in the same way (Sanchez, 2012). Playing using their bodies will also enable the 8-year-olds to feel physically secure, self-assured, and confident.
Cognitive domain
The learning environment is designed to enhance the cognitive development of the 8-year old children. There is a square rug and a circle rug. The children can use these two rags to play which supports their cognitive development. In essence, the teacher can develop the cognitive abilities of the children by providing different kinds of play during their school day in the classroom. For instance, children can play board games on the square rug and on the circle rug aimed at enhancing their cognitive development. Games such as hangman, tic-tac-toe and checkers are particularly useful and can be played very well in the classroom rugs.
Affective domain
Besides growing physically and cognitively, 8-year-olds also grow emotionally. Affective development essentially relates to the emergence of emotional capability of experiencing, recognizing, and expressing various emotions and adequately responding to the emotional cues in other people (Sanchez, 2012). The learning environment is designed to enhance the affective development of the 8-year-old kids and two specific examples are the television and expansive play area/open space. They can watch television programs such as Dora cartoon and learn to identify emotions, understand why emotions occur, and the way in which emotions could be managed appropriately. By playing together in the wide spaces, they would become more aware of their feelings. In addition, they would be better able to recognize the feelings of other children and understand them.
Developmental theory
The development theory represented in the learning environment is Piaget theory of cognitive child development. Jean Piaget pointed out that kids are usually born with an extremely fundamental mental structure upon which all later knowledge as well as learning is based. Piaget pointed out that cognitive development is a progressive reorganization of mental processes due to biological maturation as well as environmental experience (McLeod, 2009). The phases of development according to Piaget include: sensorimotor zero-two years; pre-operational two years to seven years; concrete operational seven years to eleven years; and lastly formal operational eleven years and above (McLeod, 2009). The 8-year-olds are in Piaget’s concrete operational phase; at this phase, they begin to solve problems in a manner that is more logical. For the child to build proper mental constructs from her environment, she has to work with actual or concrete objects, should have time for investigating and testing her ideas in her own ways, and should talk about her ideas with other people, include peers (Sanchez, 2012). Two examples from my design that are represented in learning environment which support child learning and development at this phase are objects inside the shelves and objects in the storage compartments.
Conclusion
To sum up, a learning environment has been designed intended for 8-year-old elementary school children. The kids can play in the wide spaces or in the classroom rugs and the play would contribute to their gross and fine motor development. They can play board games on the square rug and on the circle rug and enhance their cognitive development. They can watch television programs such as Dora cartoon and learn to identify emotions and understand why emotions occur. This learning design supports Jean Piaget’s theory.
This is the last section of this paper and so far to be honest it has not gone very well as expected. The writer will have to complete this section and then I will send back all section of the paper with the comments from the prof for the entire paper and we make all amendments using the templates. The paper must be exactly as the templates before it will be finally graded for the final grades. But for this 2 days the writer should complete this section first and reverts while I gather all the other section so that we can revise it and make amendments base on the templates provided.
Hear beloe the writer will complete this section as you will notice it is clearly mentioned in one of the questions that we will need a table or an appendix so the writer should take note of that. Also they have mentioned that the writer will have to refer back to previous work to be able to complete this sections of the paper so let him take note of all that as we don’t have any chances hear to miss on anything. He must also obtain the latest information mentioned hear and include that in the paper in the appendix section, while referencing it in the discussion.
• Investment Analysis and Recommendation Paper – continued
This week you will prepare the final section of your Investment Analysis and Recommendation Paper, consisting of the capital structure choices, as well as an executive summary of your research.
You will examine the mix of debt and equity that your firm uses. After finding this information:
• Compare this to an industry average or a main competitor. What are the differences?
• Based on what you know about your selected company, do these differences seem appropriate?
• Relate your company’s capital structure choices to the appropriate capital structure theory (ies).
Also, as a component of your executive summary, obtain the current stock price for your company and use it as an additional calculation. Based upon all of your research, would you recommend investing in this company? Justify your answer.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Debt and Equity
Competitive Review of Debt and Equity Mix
The cost of equity is more expensive than the cost of debt. But the optimal structure of the company shows that equity capital is preferable to the company than the debt. The ratio of debt to equity in 2014 – 2012 was 4:6
APC
2014
2013
2012
Equity
19,725
21,857
20,629
Debt
15092
13065
13269
debt/Equity
0.4
0.4
0.4
Table 5
Market Value of Equity
APC
2014
Shares outstanding
52 million
Price as of 13.36 per share
Market value of equity
721 million
CAPM
27.35
(Yahoo Business Finance, n,d).
Debt
The cost of debt for APC for 2014 was 5.1 while for the years 2013 and 2014 it was 5.2 and 5.5 respectively.
APC (millions)
2014
2013
2012
Long term Loan
15092
13056
13269
Interest paid
772
686
742
Cost of debt
5.115
5.254
5.592
Table 6
Cost of Debt
APC
2014
Long term debt
Current Portion of Debt
Total Debt
15092 m
–
15092
Cost of Debt % before taxes
4%
Tax Rate
35.8%
(5)
Weighted Cost of Capital
Table 7
Weighted Cost of Capital Raw Data
Company name
Value $
%
Equity (Rs)
19,725
0.566
Debt (Rb)
15092
0.433
Total Value
34,817
1
(6)
= 15,092/34817 x 0.57 + 15092/34817 x 0.47 (1-0.358)
= 4.51%
Capital Budgeting Assumptions
The assumptions made are that the business has been taken as a going concern and it has been assumed that the directors of the business have no intention of closing the company in the near future (Brooks & Mukherjee, 2013).
Capital Structure Theories
The capital structure of APC reveals that the debt to equity ratio 4:6. It means that the ratio is optimal for the operations of the company. The capital structure theories can be traced to Modigliani and miller. The theories assume that the cost of capital is reflected by the country’s risk free rate which is also assumed to be constant while the growth rate is assumed to be zero as all the earnings supposedly paid out as dividends. The investors are assumed to have homogenous expectations while the market is perfect. The risk free rates have been taken as 4% while the calculated interest rates for APC are approximately 5% (Ross, Westerfield & Jaffe, 2013).
The theories state that the cost of equity is more expensive than the cost of equity especially where the concerned company has a lot of assets. The trade off theory applies partially to the capital structure of the firm as its struggling to maintain a balance between the debt and equity capital.
Summary
The shares of the company are fair and the prices of the shares are also high. In the last five years the shares of APC have fluctuated constantly between 80 and 83 but the lowest share price was 47.41 recorded in August 2010 while the highest was 112.69 recorded in August 2014. At 84.79 dollars the shares are very expensive but the company is facing a positive future given that the profits are reducing (Berk, DeMarzo, Harford, Ford, Mollica & Finch, 2013).
The company should analyze why the cost of sale is increasing rapidly from 10% in 2013 to 13% in 2014. I would certainly not invest in this company in the short term as the profits are currently non-existent and the situation is worsening. The net income for the last financial period dropped by a significant margin while the cost of goods also increased from 10% in 2013 to 13% in 2014.
Reference
Ross, S. R., Westerfield, R. W., &Jaffe, J. (2013). Corporate finance (10thed.). NY: McGraw-Hill.
Drawing only on the readings for this topic, examine the tensions between the claim to individual autonomy and the obligation to conform to the expectations of the wider community. Answer with reference to immunization. You should discuss the tensions firstly in the broader, theoretical context, before using your chosen issue to illustrate the tensions. In other words, the issue is not the thesis or focus of the discussion of the essay—the issue merely illustrates the discussion. You can draw on sources from outside the reader but only to give the issue some context.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Individualism vs Commuunitarianism
Introduction
The friction between liberalism and communitarianism has become a prominent centre of argument in the world and today the issue remains both extremely complex and to a larger extent not resolved. Some scholars feel that it is an impasse between individual independence and communitarian thinking that dictates the differences. The constitution which is composed of the bill of rights talks about the rights of each person in the society. These principles are contained in the liberal argument. However, on the other hand, those who support communitarianism believe that a society is a social set up hence people complement each other (Coltheart, 2013).
Discussion
The health of the public health is controlled by rules and regulations. Communicable diseases require immunization so as to contain them. However, whether to force people to get immunized or to let people decide for themselves has remained a very controversial subject. To assume that it is easier to achieve human dignity without prior consideration of their social surrounding is to fail to appreciate the community as the defining factor of people’s identity. Communitarian critics argue that human rights advocates are the main cause of social breakdown. Human rights have been used to promote individual freedom. The customary law according to some scholars is used to enhance independence hence some level of worthiness among individuals. These factors promote social characters that ensure the community is well protected away from any form of threat like the infectious disease.
According to some scholars, communitarianism places more emphasis on the importance of respecting independence of every individual hence human rights. This is in contrast to the perception that they propose adherence to the universally acceptable principles which guide the way people behave.
On the other hand, based on individual autonomy, philosophers argue that the principle comes with a moral obligation. An individual has the powers to choose and evaluate each decision before agreeing to do anything. According to this principle, an individual is not mandated to subscribe to a universally accepted norm in society. Based on this argument, an individual is perceived to be rational hence reasons and makes an independent move. In the case of immunization, an individual is able to reflect on the end results of this undertaking including those he or she thinks are right and wrong. Individual analyses under liberal theory entails considering the effects that a decision has on others. The most important of all the interests thought about is the one that stands at a maximum point. Therefore the individual decision will be the one that enhances justice and protects individual rights to existence and liberty.
However, according to the communitarian critics of liberalism, the perception of individual autonomy in line with moral principle is not real. Based on this point, it is argued that moral agents in a realistic society do not decide what they want to do. Such kind of people does not have a uniform standing point in terms of their moral principles. Moral standpoint is ultimately determined by the environment. Based on this argument, what is considered moral is very particular hence deciding on what is moral is not very possible. According to Communitarians, what is good dictates what is right. A complete moral principle should therefore constitute all these moral norms (Kymlicka, 2012).
According to the above argument, communitarian as compared to individual autonomy respects the shared understandings of different individuals. However, liberal principles challenge the communitarian point of view in terms of moral identity of the whole society. In addition, the principle challenges the fact that internal evaluation is capable of differentiating between good and bad practices within the society. The liberals criticize the thinking that communitarian represents the views of all the people. According to these proponents, communitarianism only represents few individuals in the society (Mulhall & Swift, 2014).
Immunization is perceived by communitarians as being a direct link with the people within a society. The result of this association benefits every individual within the society. The shared good among all the individuals within the community enhances the bonding of all the members. Moral standing of the entire community is well defined by these principles besides its justification (Okin, 2013).
Conclusion
Individual independence and communitarian engagement are both very important principles when it comes to adoption of an immunization program. Every decision taken by either an individual or the entire community has a direct impact on the livelihoods of the whole society. The most important factor that dictates the way people behave in a society is the moral principles. One has to consider individual interest and the interest of the entire community when making any decision. Consequently, both principles are good hence ought to be chosen based on individual preferences. This move will eliminate cases of tension within the society when it comes to the immunization program which is a social activity.
References
Coltheart, L. 2013. ‘Desire, Consent and Liberal theory’ in C. Pateman & E. Gross (eds.), Feminist Challenges: Social and Political Theory. Boston: NorthEastern University Press
Kymlicka, W. 2012. Liberalism, Community and Culture. Oxford: Clarendon Press
Mulhall, S. and Swift, A. 2014. Liberals and Communitarians. Oxford: Blackwell
How would a results approach to measuring performance build relationships?
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Please read the following then answer the question in the end:
Performance management is central in the workplace as it provides a benchmark for managers and supervisors to measure employee performance. Performance management is also imperative to enable managers determine if employees can meet organizations objectives. Performance measurement is a practice or collecting, analyzing and reporting individual performance in an organization. It encompasses studying company’s processes to determine if the business processes output are in line with the company’s objectives (Bititciet al., 2012 pg 306).
The purpose of this paper is to come up with the most appropriate Performance Measurement Approach to be employed by Paychex, Inc in assessing account executives. On the same note, the paper discusses the notion that developing good relationships within the industry is paramount for the success of Paychex, Inc.
Account executives at Paychex, Inc work on their own with little supervision from Their managers. Apart from the headquarter office at Rochester, account executives work at different offices nationwide. Their duties vary ranging from training new account executives, performing client needs analysis, establishing clients on the host processing system, and supporting clients during the initial stages in receiving payrolls. On the same note, account executives perform administrative functions such as documentation, scheduling and making client calls among other duties. Therefore, due to the nature of their duties, the best Performance Measurement Approach that can be employed by managers to assess executive account performance is the result based approach.
The pros for this approach is that it requires less time, lower cost, and the information collected are objective oriented. The tool that will be employed in performance result based approach is Management by Objectives (MBO). The managers at Paychex can set corporate objectives, set and align account executive objectives, monitor their performance, evaluate their performance based on their results (Jääskeläinen et al., 2012 pg 54). On the same note, the managers should reward performing account executives as a way of motivating them to perform even better.
The result based performance approach is ideal for this case because of the nature of account executive jobs. That is, they work with minimal supervision from their managers. The managers should, therefore, use the results of their duties to assess their performance.
Companies in the digital era are becoming more conscious of the importance of good relationships within the organization and the external business environment. Be as it may, the success of an organization may depend on having a good strong relationship with external organizations within the industry. Good organization relationship with the external environment helps fill gaps within the market and hence enable a company to focus on producing core product and services.
Having a good relationship with other organization within the industry can help Paychex Inc in the following ways: A good relationship within the industry can help the organization to access international markets. That would not have been easy without good relationships. Relationships with customers enable a company to develop products that fit customer needs. And as such, develop better products that fit the entire market. Having good networks with other stakeholders within the industry can enable a company to access resources such as capital, intellectual property buildings, and many others (Justus Chris, 2011 nd). Organizations work under association’s umbrella to help in increasing credibility, to spread risks and rewards as well as increase standards in the adoption of new technology.
On the other hand, good relationships in the workplace can help in improving teamwork, employee morale and as such increase productivity of the organization. Having a good team of well-motivated employees is also paramount when it comes to improving the organization’s reputation.
For Paychex, the best performance appraisal method is absolute standards methods such as Critical Incidents, Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS) and Management by Objectives (MBO). The best for evaluating account executives will be Management by Objectives. This system is ideal because it aligns organizations objectives with the quantitative measures such as profits, defects in units produced as well as the number of sales (Lunenburg, 2012 pg 3).
In conclusion, Paychex, Inc can use results-based approach to measuring the performance of account executives. Result based approach is ideal because it is less costly, objective oriented and less costly. By and large, organizations must have good relationships within the industry as it helps in networking and enabling a company acquire other items that would not have been otherwise easy. Finally, the best appraisal system Paychex can employ is the absolute standard method using MBO tools.
The Question:
I am somewhat conflicted in your reply. You suggest results approach to measures, yet you note the need for building relationships. How would a results approach to measuring performance build relationships and is this consistent with their strategic plan?
SAMPLE ANSWER
A results approach to measuring performance
How would a results approach to measuring performance build relationships?
A results-based approach to measuring performance to a large extent results in the creation of effective working relationships. This is especially so where team work is desired in achieving set objectives. Kuzu and Özilhan (2014, p. 1371) notes within any organization, people and departments need to complement each other in order to promote the overall goal of the organization. In order to achieve good results and thus score well in terms of performance, employees must be willing to create better relationships with their colleagues and thereby reap from mutual benefits that may arise from these relationships including knowledge sharing and other inter-departmental links (Kuzu and Özilhan, 2014, p. 1371-1372). It would be impossible for an individual to perform exceptionally by themselves and colleagues play an important role in determining the final outcome.
The result based approach requires that the management constantly follows up on employee performance in order to determine whether set objectives are being met. Through such interaction, important matters including any challenges facing employees in their bid to achieve results can be discussed (Eisenbeiss, Knippenberg and Fahrbach, 2015, p. 635). Furthermore, result-based approach tends to alienate employees from their supervisors because managers are mostly interested with the results and managers must therefore proactively seek to maintain a good relationship with employees in order to promote performance outcomes.
In terms of external stakeholder relationships, the same quest to achieve impressive results applies as in the case of internal relationships. Kumar, Heide and Wathne (2011, p. 1) note that creating a good relationship with external stakeholders including customers, suppliers and peer organizations is beneficial for any profit-oriented business. A good relationship with customers for example ensures that an organization is the preferred choice among competitors and thereby this maintains its profitability level. It also ensures that products are tailored to meet customer needs. This is in line with Paychex Inc’s strategic plan which aims to give the best for its numerous customers in order to maintain its market. Good relationships with organizations in the same industry on the other hand ensures that employees can learn from each other and bring in additional expertise; which may play a significant role in enhancing performance (Kumar, Heide and Wathne, 2011, p. 3 – 4). In order to get better results and promote their performance, employees at Paychex Inc are likely to build better relationships. In line with Paychex’s strategic plan, Paychex relies on multiple partnerships to fuel its business and external relationships are thereby vital in promoting performance.
Doctoral Study Proposal Draft: Your Research Problem and Social Change
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*****my doctoral topic is determining methods for leaders to motivate a multi generational workforce.
!!!!please complete assignment in connection with my doctoral topic !!!!
Doctoral Study Proposal Draft: Your Research Problem and Social Change
As part of your Doctoral Study Proposal, you will articulate the potential ways in which your proposed research project will positively affect social change. Keeping your goals in mind, and thinking about the literature that you have reviewed, you should be able to formulate a clear statement of the problem you have identified for your doctoral study research. Recall that a research problem worthy of a doctoral study must be broad enough to be significant to others outside your immediate school community. It must also be specific enough, however, that a research project can be designed to examine it.
•Discuss how your research problem is sufficiently significant to be of interest to leaders who have a goal of positive social change.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Research Problem and Social Change
Determining methods for leaders to motivate a multi-generational workforce
Research problem
In America today, 4 different generations in the place of work are working side by side. The existence of multi-generational labour force in business organizations presents unique challenges to business leaders of today. It is worth mentioning that a lack of understanding with regard to generational differences basically increases employee turnover, lowers productivity, and contributes to conflict in working relationships (Marston, 2010). Younger employees could become disenfranchised with well-established and ingrained hierarchical structures. Older employees could become aggravated by an apparently aloof younger generation. In addition, the leaders who have the responsibility of leading this broad labour force could become frustrated with everybody.
An important way of thriving in this intermingled labour force is to raise one’s awareness regarding the members of the other generations. Workforce of different generations can be classified as follows: (i) The Bridgers or Geneneration Y or NeXters are those aged twenty-five years and below. People in this group are confident and the most tech-savvy than any other group. In addition, they are early adopters of any online sharing platforms and technology. They have a more relaxed way of working which their more experienced workmates may interpret as disrespect (Hillman, 2014).
(ii) The Busters or Generation X are aged between twenty-five years and forty-five years. They are keen on using the most recent technology and utilize online information sharing sources in getting their work tasks done quicker and better. They often seek immediate esteem and recognition from their workmates. Their senior co-workers may consider them as arrogant and impatient (Hillman, 2014). (iii) The Boomers make up the biggest cohort and are aged between 45 years and 65 years. Individuals in this group are service-oriented and focused. Their weakness is that they could be easily left behind on technology. (iv) The Builders or traditionalists or veterans or the Silent Generation are aged between 65 years and 85 years. They are loyal and dedicated, which is their strength. Their weaknesses are their resistance to workplace changes and technology (Hillman, 2014). In essence, each of the aforementioned generation is characterized by different commonalities. Each of these generations is motivated by a different set of values, rewards, communication preferences, and work styles.
Therefore, it is important to determine ways in which leaders can motivate these multigenerational workers. Managers and business leaders should make decisions which are consistent with the culture of their organization and develop a work environment which engages staff members of dissimilar life experiences, education, goals, work styles, and age (Marston, 2010). Researchers have reported that individuals who are contented at the workplace are more productive and remain with their business organizations for a much longer time. Furthermore, individuals who are happy at the workplace have less sick days and utilize less healthcare services. Employees who are happy are also more satisfied in their personal lives compared to their work-weary counterparts (Pitt-Catsouphes & Matz-Costa, 2009). Therefore, it is clear that happiness at the workplace seeps into life outside of the workplace.
Each generation – Y, X, Boomers, and Traditionalists – usually exhibits diverse work ethics, learning styles, and communication styles, and has a dissimilar approach to decision-making and problem solving. The leader/manager should identify every sub-group so as to recognize these dissimilar needs as this would result in a happy and motivated team and a productive place of work (Pitt-Catsouphes & Matz-Costa, 2009). All in all, every generation has a specific way of working and seeks dissimilar things.
References
Hillman, D. R. (2014). Understanding Multigenerational Work-Value Conflict Resolution. Journal Of Workplace Behavioral Health, 29(3), 240-257.
Marston, C. (2010). Motivating the ‘what’s in It for Me?’ Workforce : Manage Across the Generational Divide and Increase Profits. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Pitt-Catsouphes, M., & Matz-Costa, C. (2009). The multi-generational workforce: Workplace flexibility and engagement. Community, Work & Family, 11(2), 215-229. https://www.doi:10.1080/13668800802021906
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Prophylactic antibiotic timing and SSIs incidences
Evidence based research on Prophylactic antibiotic timing and SSIs incidences
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Prophylactic antibiotic timing and SSIs incidences
Part 1: Evidence based research on Prophylactic antibiotic timing and SSIs incidences
Background
According to the national statistics, there are about 5% reports of surgical site infection (SSI) in all surgical processes every year. The study indicates that SSIs accounts about 2% of the mortality; and increases healthcare cost by 10 to 20%. Additionally, it has also been found that it increases hospital stays and increases the medical care costs (Shepard et al., 2013). Evidence based research indicates that about 60% of the SSIs are preventable if there the government implements quality based standards which should be implemented in the inpatient surgery. Therefore, the federal government should explore SSIs epidemiology, clinical consequences and the risk factors involved. This will help in establishing guidelines on the effective strategies such as hand hygiene, sustaining normothermia. This article explores the evidenced based practice that proper timing of prophylactic antibiotics could reduce the incidences of surgical site infection (Rafique, 2012).
Research indicates that SSIs are the second most challenge facing the public health. According to National Nosocomial Infection System, SSIs are infections that arise after operative procedures, within one month after the procedures. The efforts to lower the incidences of SSIs are not new concept. The efforts can be traced to the 19th Century with Lister who pioneered the use of antiseptic incidence in patients in the orthopedic ward. The issue of SSIs is not new in this health care facility (Teija-Kaisa, Eija, Marja, & Outi, 2012). For instance, about of 2% of patients undergoing surgical process in this health care facility reports SSIs. This causes about 5% readmission rates and 3% increase hospitalization days. In fact, it have been found that patients who present SSIs are 5 folds likely to be readmitted, with 60%of them being more likely stay in the ICU, and are two folds likely to pass away as compared to those who have no infection. The financial burden of the disease cannot be overlooked (Regimbeau et al., 2014; Hopper et al., 2015).
Purpose of the study
This study proposes that administering of prophylaxis antibiotics one hour before surgical procedures will lower the SSIs incidences. The study aims at establishing the most effective and best timing for the administration of the prophylactic antibiotic during the surgical procedures. This is because there is limited research on the adherence to the proposed Surgical Care Improvement guidelines; this has failed to prove that timely administration of prophylactic antibiotic reduces the incidence rates of SSIs (Alberta Health Services, 2014).
Evidence based practice
The issue of SSIs and its challenges is global. For instance, A retrospective study conducted using the Veterans affairs data on antibiotic administration timing on patient who were undergoing surgical procedures in the orthopedic, vascular, colorectal, and gynecologic procedures from 2005 to 2009 indicates that timing rate influenced the rate SSIs. Another study was conducted on 1922 patients who were primary care of hip arthroplasty in about 11 hospitals (Center for Healthcare Related Infection Surveillance and Prevention and Tuberculosis Control, 2012). The hip arthroplasty have been associated high morbidity due to their difficultness to study using the controlled trials. Additionally, the study indicated that the infection rate is generally low and would therefore not indicate significant outcomes. However, several other studies have indicates a proportional relationship indicating a U curve, with the lowest infection rate being recorded when the prophylactic antibiotic was administered about half an hour before incisions were made; and rates increased as time before the administration increased. Current US guidelines recommends that the prophylactic should be administered at least 60 to 120 min of incision (Fry, 2013).
Several other studies have demonstrated a good penetration of the tissue as well as excellent concentration of the antibiotics in the tissue when the administration of the antibiotic is done close incision time (Bowler, Welsby, Hogarth, & Towers, 2013).
The current clinical guideline on antimicrobial prophylaxis was developed by Burke. The guideline resulted from an investigation on the rate of inflammatory response on the surgical incision. The analysis found that the prophylactic antibiotic prophylactic process was most effective if the antibiotic was administered within 1 hour before the incision process. The analysis concluded that the bacteria were the most susceptible to the antibiotics, and their susceptibility was determined by the antibiotic timing as well as selection. Another retrospective study conducted by Classen and colleagues on 3000 patients who were undergoing surgical procedure indicated that patients received antibiotic one hour before the surgical process reported the lowest rates of SSIs (Anderson, 2014).
Study conducted by Merollini and colleagues using structured interviews on general practitioners, the nurses and physicians in the orthopedic department recommended the use of antibiotics within 30min to 1 hour before incision (Diamond, M. (2008). Other systematic review study, which used key words such as SSIs, orthopedic as well as prevention; indicated most studies reported that patients who received antibiotic prophylaxis would reduce the SSI rates to 1-3% in comparison to 4% without 8% with the control group. Based from this research study, one can therefore suggest that the most effective period to administer prophylaxis antibiotic is within one hour before the healthcare provider initiates the incision process because it reduces the risk of SSIs effectively (Center for Healthcare Related Infection Surveillance and Prevention and Tuberculosis Control, 2012).
Solution description
The proposed is that the healthcare providers in the surgical department will be encouraged to administer prophylactic antibiotic within one hour before the surgical process begins. This is because it will lead to reduction of the microorganism burden by three folds. Additionally, due to the increased residual effects associated with prophylactic antibiotic, the solution proposed will be consistent improved quality of life for patients, and reduced cost of care (Pearse et al., 2014).
However, just like many organization, this strategy could face numerous barriers from the healthcare providers. This is particularly so because the healthcare providers are not willing to change their routine pattern because they feel that they have been applying the same strategy for a long period of time, and would therefore hesitate to adopt the new developments/ change. To start with, the healthcare professionals in the surgical department tend to have low priority of the administration process (Fonseca, C. (2012).
This is attributable to the fact that they the anesthesiologists are more concerned in ensuring that the environment is safe, the right equipment is sterilized and safe. The healthcare professionals are more concerned about healthcare conditions that affect the patient immediately, and tend to ignore the impacts of SSIs because they do not affect the patient immediately. Some of the professionals claim that the administration process is tedious and time consuming thus limiting the administration of medication on time. Additionally, the healthcare facility workflow could limit the proper timing of the antibiotics .In most of the healthcare centers; the insertion of IV is done by the nurses and is time consuming. The healthcare facility process of communication could affect the communication of the new an effective protocols (Jarral, McCormack, Ibrahim, & Shipolini, 2010).
Majority of the health care facility communicate to their staff verbally, this indicates the importance of effective process of exchanging information such as use of automated systems to communicate new systems and to reduce confusions of adminsterring antibiotics in time by the nurses. Lastly, the concept of role perception determines the rate of drug administration, resulting to confusion as each healthcare provider denies that it is his or her responsibility. This causes further delays in the administration of the prophylactic antibiotic (Erb et al., 2014).
Implementation strategies
The first implementation strategy will be to educate the healthcare professionals in the surgical department on the important of using shorter duration for the administration of prophylactic antibiotic. The advantages will be discussed first with by the head of the surgical department with the aim of describing the feasibility of the matter. Secondly, poster concerning the best antibiotic agent and the recommended prophylactic antibiotic administration time will be hung in all vicinities surrounding surgical operation room including the physician room, the scrub sinks, and the operation room. This education is aims at enlightening the healthcare providers at individual level to transform the healthcare provider’s attitudes, behavior, as well as beliefs (Samant & Ramugade, 2014)
The second step will be to establish a multidisciplinary protocol that will be used to influence the healthcare providers on the effective management of SSIs through teamwork and effective communication, which will specify the timing as well as the sequences necessary for the achievement of the responsibility. Lastly, the institutions will implement the antibiotic timing programs, which will involve the integration of systems that will reduce, curtail, and control the process of antibiotic administration program. This will include approaches to measure parameters such as the written orders, computerized support programs among others (Feilmeier, Dayton, Sedberry, & Reimer, 2014).
Expected outcomes
Research associates increased utility of quality care improvements where the management of guidelines is followed reduces variability and miscommunication, which is often associated with increased medication and diagnostic errors. In this context, a successful intervention is one, which will involve identification of a nurse leader to serve and the motivator and change champions. This will require a number of in service refresher course training, use of systems that reminds the nurses on the timing of administration of prophylactic antibiotic and one with specific bench marking of physician. The ultimate expectations of these actions is to improve patients quality of life through reduced rates of SSIs, reduced hospital stays and overall reduction of the healthcare costs (Johnson Et al., 2013).
Part B: Picot analysis
Research Question: How effective is prophylactic antibiotic administration timing effective in the reduction of Surgical Sites Infections Incidences (SSIs)?
Type of patient/Problem
Intervention
Comparison intervention
Outcome
Patient in surgical Wards
Close administration of antibiotics (within one hour) before incision
Compared to delayed administration of antibiotics
Reduced incidences of SSIs
Reduced readmission rates
Reduced mortality and reduced length of hospital stays
Key word:
Colorectal patients, orthopedic, hip arthroplasty patients
Surgical site infection
Key Word Prophylactic antibiotics,
Administration rate within one hour
Antibiotic
Surgical site infection
Key Word:
Prophylactic antibiotics,
Administration rate within one hour
Health care quality
Key Word:
Hospital stays
Readmission rates
SSIs mortality
Practice guidelines
Search History
Literature search was done in three main databases using the University online database. The database included CINAHL, Proquest, and EBSCOhost. The key word used to run the search included ; Colorectal patients, orthopedic, hip arthroplasty patients, Surgical site infection, Prophylactic antibiotics, Administration rate within one hour, Antibiotic, Surgical site infection, Prophylactic antibiotics, Administration rate within one hour, Health care quality, Hospital stays, Readmission rates, SSIs mortality, Practice guidelines
From these key words, approximately 534 articles were generated. The articles were narrowed down using filter methods such as publication year. The articles chose were supposed to from 2010, to avoid generating outdated information. From these, the articles were narrowed down to 235, and when Key words “SSIs” and “prophylactic antibiotics” were applied, the articles were narrowed down to 45 articles. Out of these articles, 17 articles were chosen to compile the work based on the relevance of the abstract and the year of the publication.
Example
Hooper, T.D., Hibbert P.D., Hannaford, N.A, Jackson, N., Hindmarsh, D.M., Gordon, D.L., Coiera, E.C., Runciman, W.B.(2015). Surgical site infection—a population-based study in Australian adults measuring the compliance with and correct timing of appropriate antibiotic prophylaxis. Anesthesia and intensive care 43 (4); 461- 469
P- The population being studied by this article is the Australian Adults who are undergoing operative procedures. The problem being investigated is the rate of SSIs to evaluate the infection rates with and without correct timing of prophylactic antibiotic administration
The intervention suggested by this article is that proper timing of the administration of the prophylactic antibiotic reduces the incidences of SSIs considerably.
C- The study compares health outcomes of patients who experienced proper timing of the administration of the drugs with those who had delayed administration of the drug.
O- The outcome evaluated is the rate of adherence to proper timing, reduced health care costs and overall improve quality of life for patient.
Anderson, D. (2014). Prevention of Surgical Site Infection: Beyond SCIP. AORN Journal, 99(2), 315-319. doi:10.1016/j.aorn.2013.11.007
Bowler, P., Welsby, S., Hogarth, A., & Towers, V. (2013). Topical antimicrobial protection of postoperative surgical sites at risk of infection with Propionibacterium acnes: an in-vitro study. Journal Of Hospital Infection, 83(3), 232-237. doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2012.11.018
Diamond, M. (2008). Postsurgical Adhesions. Seminars In Reproductive Medicine, 26(04), 287-288. doi:10.1055/s-0028-1082386
Erb, S., Sidler, J., Elzi, L., Gurke, L., Battegay, M., Widmer, A., & Weisser, M. (2014). Surgical and Antimicrobial Treatment of Prosthetic Vascular Graft Infections at Different Surgical Sites: A Retrospective Study of Treatment Outcomes. Plos ONE, 9(11), e112947. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0112947
Feilmeier, M., Dayton, P., Sedberry, S., & Reimer, R. (2014). Incidence of Surgical Site Infection in the Foot and Ankle with Early Exposure and Showering of Surgical Sites: A Prospective Observation. The Journal Of Foot And Ankle Surgery, 53(2), 173-175. doi:10.1053/j.jfas.2013.12.021
Fonseca, C. (2012). Nursing Care Indicators to Nursing Homes. Journal Of Nursing & Care, 01(03). doi:10.4172/2167-1168.1000107
Fry, D. (2013). Use of surgical-site infection rates to rank hospital performance across several types of surgery ( Br J Surg 2013; 100: 628-637). British Journal Of Surgery, 100(5), 637-637. doi:10.1002/bjs.9040
Jarral, O. A., McCormack, D. A., Ibrahim, S., & Shipolini, A. R. (2010). Should surgeons scrub with chlorhexidine or iodine prior to surgery? Oxford Journals, 12 (6), 1017-1021. doi: 10.1510/icvts.2010.259796
Johnson, A., Zywiel, M., Jones, L., Delanois, R., Stroh, D., & Mont, M. (2013). Reduced re-infection rates with postoperative oral antibiotics after two-stage revision hip arthroplasty. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 14(1), 123. doi:10.1186/1471-2474-14-123
Pearse, R., Harrison, D., MacDonald, N., Gillies, M., Blunt, M., & Ackland, G. et al. (2014). Effect of a Perioperative, Cardiac Output–Guided Hemodynamic Therapy Algorithm on Outcomes Following Major Gastrointestinal Surgery. JAMA, 311(21), 2181. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.5305
Rafique, H. (2012). A retrospective case series study of a single centre’s experience of surgical site infection following purse-string closure versus linear closure of ileostomy sites. International Journal Of Surgery, 10(8), S26-S27. doi:10.1016/j.ijsu.2012.06.141
Regimbeau, J., Fuks, D., Pautrat, K., Mauvais, F., Haccart, V., & Msika, S. et al. (2014). Effect of Postoperative Antibiotic Administration on Postoperative Infection Following Cholecystectomy for Acute Calculous Cholecystitis. JAMA, 312(2), 145. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.7586
Samant, P., & Ramugade, S. (2014). Successful use of intravitreal and systemic colistin in treating multidrug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa post-operative endophthalmitis. Indian J Ophthalmol, 62(12), 1167. doi:10.4103/0301-4738.126991
Shepard, J., Ward, W., Milstone, A., Carlson, T., Frederick, J., Hadhazy, E., & Perl, T. (2013). Financial Impact of Surgical Site Infections on Hospitals. JAMA Surgery, 148(10), 907. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2013.2246
Teija-Kaisa, A., Eija, M., Marja, S., & Outi, L. (2012). Risk factors for surgical site infection in breast surgery. J Clin Nurs, 22(7-8), 948-957. doi:10.1111/jocn.12009
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In the Final Project, various techniques and concepts are applied to the development of a detailed proposal for a performance management system (PMS) for one particular organization. The selected organization for this project is Walmart. This company is arguably one of the largest retailers worldwide having in excess of 2 million workforce, 8,498 stores in 16 nations under various names. Every week, more than 100 million shoppers shop at Walmart’s establishments in different parts of the world (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc 2014). This multi-national corporation is a highly successful firm partly due to its performance management system which enhances the competitive strategy of the company.
Nonetheless, the problem with Walmart’s performance management system is that aligning the performance management system with the company’s competitive strategy is not adequate (Bhave & Brutus 2011). Moreover, for a performance management system to be very good and effective, it also has to be aligned with the company’s internal Human Resources practices such as compensation systems as well as training and development. When both internal Human Resources alignment and external competitive strategy alignment are attained, then the performance management system could actually maximize its potential. Therefore, the problem or opportunity that is to be investigated is how to improve the performance management of Walmart.
Sources of information to use: examination of literature
For this project, the sources used would be obtained from scholarly online databases. These databases, which include JSTOR, EBSCOhost, ScienceDirect, Emerald Journals, SAGE journals online, and ProQuest have a good reputation for having high-quality articles on a wide range of subjects and topics. All the sources of information used are not more than 5 years old; hence, they are recent and relevant for the project.
Pulakos (2010) noted that performance management systems including employee performance assessment and employee development are fundamental to human resources (HR) management. In lots of organizations, performance management systems are faulty and have flaws, with managers and members of staff regularly complaining about their ineffectiveness. A survey carried out by Watson Wyatt revealed that just 3 in 10 members of staff are in agreement that the performance management system of their company is actually helpful in improving performance (Pulakos 2010). In addition, fewer than 40% of members of staff reported that their performance management systems produced sincere and candid feedback, defined clear performance goals, or made use of technology in streamlining the process (Pulakos 2010). Even though these results evidently show that many organizations might be having performance management systems that are poorly designed, it is usually not badly developed processes and tools which bring about complexities with performance management. Instead, complexities regularly occur because performance management is essentially a very personal and usually frightening process for staffs and managers alike.
Managers are disinclined in providing honest feedback and are hesitant to have candid discussions with members of staff because they fear reprisal or they fear to damage the relationships with the very people they count on to get work carried out (Jirjahn & Poutsma 2013). Staff members feel that their managers are not effective at training them on how to develop their skills and they also feel that managers are not skilled at discussing their performance. Many whine that PMSs are too time consuming, bureaucratic and cumbersome for the value added (Tolan 2011). This makes staff members and managers to treat performance management as a necessary evil of work life which needs to be reduced instead of treating it as a vital process which can accomplish important organizational and individual outcomes. Despite the difficulties, performance management is a vital tool for high-performing companies and is in fact a very important responsibility of a manager. Moreover, if it is performed rightly, performance management could lead to many significant outcomes for a company, its staff members, and managers (Kumari & Malhotra 2012).
Important techniques and concepts to be applied
Importance of performance management: the management of staff members in an organization is a crucial factor in ensuring a company’s success. A performance management system that is well-designed would result in significant outcomes for the company in terms of satisfaction of employees and attainment of organizational objectives and strategies. A continuous and ongoing process of measuring and assessing performance of staff members is necessary as a starting point for bringing about improvements in productivity and bringing the goals of employees into line with the company’s strategic goals (Tolan 2011).
Integration of performance management with other HR activities: staff members are an organization’s most significant asset and each of the other HR activities and functions are dependent upon performance management for the information and data on which to base decisions and the procedures and incentives needed to carry out improvement strategies. Performance management is an important link between HR management functions and organizational competitiveness (Jirjahn & Poutsma 2013). The performance management process: this concept includes all the steps undertaken to implement a performance management system. The steps are laying the foundations, performance planning, performance implementation, performance appraisal, as well as performance review, renewal, and recontracting.
Relationship of performance management to strategic planning: it is of major importance to link the PMS to the strategic plan of the company as this would ensure that the company’s strategy is followed at all levels of the company. Defining and measuring performance: this concept includes understanding performance, approaches to performance management, measuring outcomes, and measuring behaviour (Pulakos 2010). Designing and implementing a PMS: this concept includes the content and structure of performance appraisal forms, the process of appraisal, preparing to implement, training the raters, as well as testing, monitoring and evaluating the systems.
References
Bhave, DP., & Brutus, S 2011 A macro perspective to micro issues. Industrial and organizational psychology, 4(2): 165-168
Jirjahn, U, & Poutsma, E 2013, ‘The Use of Performance Appraisal Systems: Evidence from Dutch Establishment Data’, Industrial Relations, 52, 4, pp. 801-828, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 26 June 2015.
Kumari, N, & Malhotra, R 2012, ‘Effective Performance Management System For Enhancing Growth’, Global Management Journal, 4, 1/2, pp. 77-85, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 26 June 2015.
Pulakos, ED 2010 Performance management: A roadmap for developing, implementing and evaluating performance management systems. Society for Human Resource Management.
Tolan, M 2011, ‘Developing Performance Appraisal Systems for Academicians’, Proceedings Of The Northeast Business & Economics Association, pp. 474-477, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 26 June 2015.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc 2014, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Marketline Company Profile, pp. 1-41, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 26 June 2015.
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