Five Essay Questions-Operations Management Assignment

Five Essay Questions-Operations Management - Assignment Example That is the only way an organization can get its resulting products and services to the right market and in the right manner while considering the time and cost aspects of the processes. It is through the knowledge of OM that an organization develops its innovation towards competitive advantages, which exist inextricably alongside processes. The processes range from the use of emerging and appropriate technology to the use of existing resources to create new ones and new values. It is only when operations are managed in ways that create the notion of differentiation that such processes lead to organizational success (Chase, Jacobs & Aquilano, 2007). CPM/PERT analyzes the tasks involved in a certain project in terms of the required time to complete each. The use of CPM/PERT techniques for managing projects is founded on the concept that a certain set of critical activities that constitute the longest path through the network of activities will control the entire project. The identification of the critical activities is important because they can then be assigned to responsible teams, allowing the management resources to be used optimally by concentrating on the key activities that determine the entire project’s fate. As a statistical tool, its design is intended to map, schedule and manage complex projects and analytically represent the necessary tasks to complete a project, employing time as the variable reflecting planned performance specifications. Advantages of CPM/PERT techniques include defining dependencies and making them visible and also potentially reducing project duration. This is possible because precedence r elationships between the structures of work breakdown are better understood, facilitating the potential to reduce a project’s lifecycle. However, the disadvantage is that individual dependency relationships can

The Missing Lessons of U.S. History Essay Example for Free

The Missing Lessons of U.S. History Essay In order to examine options for integrating extralegal businesses and individuals into the legal property system, De Soto examines the history of the United States for clues on how this task was successfully accomplished in the past. He found that this integration was accomplished primarily through the adaptation of laws to suit the needs of the majority of the country’s people. De Soto begins his exploration of US history in the sixteenth century, when numerous Western Europeans settled in North America. These early colonists based their legal system on English property law, but these laws were not created to apply to the types of situations faced in the colonies and most of the colonists did not fully understand the minutiae of these laws. Because of this situation, many of the colonists functioned extralegally, with local courts following local customs (rather than British law) when settling disputes. These early settlers were often squatters, occupying land without a legal title. Politicians opposed this practice, and they ordered surveys of the land in order to establish rightful ownership. Their efforts did not work because there were no legal regulations to follow in case of dispute. The success of the squatters to integrate into the system can be seen in Vermont, where a group of squatters led by Ethan Allen actually got Vermont recognized as a state. The majority of squatters, however, found it difficult to integrate into the legal property system because British law did not relate to the way of life in the colonies. These squatters created their own property system, marking trees to indicate possession of a piece of land. They also developed means of settling disputes, transferring parcels of land, and establishing credit. Those in power believed that these practices were in direct violation of the law, and those that engaged in these practices should be prosecuted. These squatters became known for their hatred of the law and sometimes engaged in violence to circumvent official authorities. The situation began to change when authorities recognized that making improvements to the land, paying taxes on land, and making arrangements with neighbors could establish ownership. Squatters who engaged in these practices were allowed to purchase the land in question before it was made available to the general public, a practice known as pre-emption. Pre-emption benefited both the squatters (who could become the rightful owners) and the states (who gained revenue from the sale of the land). More obstacles arose in the nineteenth century when the US gained almost 900 million acres of land. Congress attempted to set prices for this public land but was generally not aware of the situation faced by settlers many miles away from the capital. As a result, much of this land was sold on the black market. During this time there were two legal systems in operation: the official, sanctioned laws and the laws that people lived with on a day-to-day basis. Following Green vs. Biddle, the perception of these squatters changed: politicians began seeing them as hard working pioneers improving the country. Congress gave official, national status to the practice of pre-emption, an important step in integrating the two legal systems in operation. Cooperation amongst extralegals, such as claims associations and miner’s organizations, gave them more political power and forced those in power to take their concerns seriously. De Soto argues that the integration of these two legal systems was an important contributing factor to the US’s economic success. Because the American legal system was built from the ground up, the concerns of the extralegals were taken seriously, and the laws addressed the problems this population faced. Chapter 6, â€Å"The Mystery of Legal Failure† Developing countries have tried for almost two centuries to get more people involved in the legal property system. Their efforts have failed for five reasons: belief that people remain extralegal for tax purposes, lack of proper recording of real estate assets, belief that creating the laws is the only answer, ignoring existing social contracts, and belief that these social contracts can be changed on a whim. De Soto and his team successfully set up practices in Peru to integrate extralegal businesses in to the legal property system. Based on his experiences in Peru and evidence from the history of Western government, De Soto developed a formula, termed the capitalization process, for the successful lifting the bell jar of capitalism. This formula has two components: meeting legal challenges and meeting political challenges. The primary legal challenge is the integration of numerous social contracts into one that all citizens of Third World and former communist countries can abide by. These governments must find out the intricacies of the rules their people live by on a daily basis. These extralegal regulations are often documented, a phenomenon that often goes unnoticed. The recognition of these existing social contracts will facilitate the move to a capitalist economy, but it is not enough. People moving from the extralegal sector to the legal sector also need means by which they can settle disputes, i. e. there needs to be documentation of ownership. Furthermore, many people believe that certain rights come along with property ownership – the right to use and exchange that property as they deem fit. If laws do not allow for the execution of these rights, they will not be followed, and people will move back to the extralegal sector because extralegal protocols are in line with prevailing social contracts. Most of these social contracts are solid enough to form the basis of official law. The process of discovering these existing social contracts is referred to by the author as following the barking dogs, a terminology acquired from his experiences in Indonesia. Additionally, the new laws must be created in such a way that people can transform their property into capital. The successful implementation of these new laws requires considerable political power and effort. The institution of these new laws is made more difficult by the fact that existing laws often protect those in power – they stand to lose out if more people are integrated into the system. Political leaders must listen to the poor of their country and get these people on their side because the support of this population is necessary to the implementation of legal property systems. These political leaders, armed with the support of the majority of the population and evidence of this population’s economic power, will be better equipped to gain the support of the country’s elite. The argument must be framed in such a way that the elite see that they have much to gain from the transformational process. In attempting to gain the support of the elite, political leaders can also stress the one important benefit of property system reform: reduced crime rate. Once the support of the poor and elite has been won, political leaders must address the lawyers and technicians. Lawyers in Third World and former communist countries have traditionally been trained to defend existing laws. De Soto contends that lawyers have the power to undermine capitalism’s success and must be re-educated to expand the reach of the law. They must also learn the economic consequences of their activities. The technicians must be capable of keeping accurate records of property. One major stumbling block that needs to be faced in this respect is that many people in Third World countries conceive of property as a physical asset. As such it is not dealt with by legal and economic departments. Any political leader looking to reform the property system must be an effective communicator because property system reform is an issue that effects every member of a country. Chapter 7, â€Å"By Way of Conclusion† Capitalism’s crisis outside of the West stems from the fact that most of the world’s population views capitalism as something restricted to the privileged elite. Reform efforts must be directed at educating people of developing countries that they have much to gain from participation in the legal property system and, by extension, capitalism. As the success of capitalism is contingent upon capital, developing nations must engage in reforms so that assets and potential are accurately represented. Current globalization efforts have focused on getting governments of developing countries to stabilize their currencies and develop the frameworks for international trade. However, these efforts have been based on the erroneous assumption that the governments’ policies already take into consideration the needs of its citizens. This trend perpetuates capitalism’s bell jar: the majority of the world’s population becomes more and more distanced from capitalism. It also leads to the confirmation of Karl Marx’s premonition: capitalism will fail because capital will ultimately be concentrated in the hands of a few elite. One result of capitalism’s bell jar is the continuation of class conflicts that should have ended with the Cold War. These class conflicts are not explained by theories of capitalism, rather they are best explained in Marxist terms. Marx emphasized the importance of property above and beyond its physicality. He grasped that non-physical characteristics of property had the potential to convert property to other, more useful, forms. Marxist theory, however, is not enough to understand the complexities of the issue. Marx did not understand the motivating power of property ownership, and he did not recognize that the property system itself has characteristics that give value to assets and allow them to be converted into capital. Detailed understanding of the property system will allow for progress in terms of development. Furthermore, a good property system allows people to conceive of abstract concepts (such as potential) in concrete terms. Without this capacity, people will continue to think about property and the global economic market in physical terms. Those opposed to capitalism have been quicker to recognize the intangible aspects of the property system than capitalists. For many of the anti-capitalists, their fear of capitalism stems from these intangible aspects. In reforming the property system, forms of written documentation must be simple, transparent, and easily comprehensible if capitalism is to be able to speak to the majority of the world’s population. De Soto examines the cultural contingency of capitalism and argues that the notion of property ownership is compatible with all major cultures, not just those with a prevalent Protestant work ethic. The main problem, therefore, is not with capitalism in theory: it is with the manner in which people try to institute capitalism. Successful implementation of capitalism would be simple and effective if governments would listen to the poor of their country, recognize that their poor citizens save money, see the necessity of legal property systems, accept the fact that violence is not a peripheral concern, see the poor as the solution to the violence, and communicate better with people to make the necessary legal changes.

Nishida Kitarôs Studies of the Good and the Debate Concerning Universal Truth in Early Twentieth-C :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

Nishida Kitarà ´'s Studies of the Good and the Debate Concerning Universal Truth in Early Twentieth-Century Japan ABSTRACT: When Nishida Kitarà ´ wrote Studies of the Good, he was a high school teacher in Kanazawa far from Tokyo, the center of Japanese scholarship. While he was praised for his intellectual effort, there was no substantive agreement about the content of his ideas. Critics disagreed with the way he conceived of reality and of truth as contained in reality. Taken together, I believe that the responses to Nishida's early work give us a window on the state of Japanese philosophy in the early twentieth century. In what follows, I give evidence for the existence of such a debate about the nature of truth and reality. After a sketch of Nishida's position (in which scientific truth is made subordinate to an all-encompassing divine truth), I outline the positions of two other contemporary thinkers: Katà ´ Hiroyuki and Takahashi Satomi. With respect to Nishida, they offer markedly different takes on the question of universal truth: Katà ´ favors an antireligious, scientific positivism w hile Takahashi accepts an existentialist notion of radical human finitude, in which human access to any certainty is denied. I conclude that one is confronted with a lively debate by Japanese philosophers inside Japan about the definition of truth and consequently about the nature of reality. Nishida Kitarà ´ (1870-1945) wrote the essays that make up Studies of the Good while a high school teacher in Kanazawa, in the hokuriku region on the Japan sea, far from the center of scholarship in Tokyo. The essays originally appeared separately in various journals and in 1911 were published in book form. From the publication of the first essay, "Concerning the Nature of Reality", in Tetsugaku zasshi, the journal of the philosophy seminar at Tokyo Imperial University, Nishida faced a number of direct and indirect critiques. While his intellectual effort was highly praisedone person proclaiming that such a level of accomplishment . . . would have been unattainable for anyone but a true scholarthere was no such agreement about the content of what Nishida had written. Critics disagreed with the way he conceived of reality and of truth as contained in reality. Taken together, I believe that the responses to Studies give us a window onto the state of philosophizing in Japan in the earl y twentieth century. The responses show that four decades into the program of opening up to the West, philosophers in Japan were in full-scale debate about the nature of truth and reality.

Mystery of Genghis Khan

Why is the great warrior and Mongolian icon Genghis Khan perceived as a destructive and genocidal warlord? Why is there a negative perception about him in spite of his achievements and glories? Genghis Khan was a political and military leader of Mongolia. He is revered as the greatest Mongolian ever born. He is credited with uniting the nomadic Mongol tribes and creating the Mongol empire, the largest contiguous empire in World History. The chronicler Minhaj al-Siraj Juzjani left a description of Genghis Khan, written when Genghis Khan was in his later years: â€Å"[Genghis Khan was] a man of tall stature, of vigorous build, robust in body, the hair on his face scanty and turned white, with cat's eyes, possessed of dedicated energy, discernment, genius, and understanding, awe-striking, a butcher, just, resolute, an over thrower of enemies, intrepid, sanguinary, and cruel.† The Mongol Empire ended up ruling, or at least briefly conquering, large parts of modern day China, Mongolia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Moldova, South Korea, North Korea, and Kuwait under his military rule. He was not only a great warrior but also a great ruler. He created the Yassa code which was the military and civil code for Mongolian Empire. The Mongol Empire was one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse empires in history, as befitted its size. There were tax exemptions for religious figures and so to some extent teachers and doctors. The Mongol Empire practiced religious tolerance to a large degree because it was generally indifferent to religious beliefs. Genghis Khan had a lot of virtues worthy of a true leader and statesman. Simplicity, honesty and loyalty were the cornerstones of his life. Yet, accounts of Genghis Khan's life are marked by claims of a series of betrayals and conspiracies. These include rifts with his early allies such as Jamuqa (who also wanted to be a ruler of Mongol tribes) and Wang Khan (his and his father's ally), his son Jochi, and problems with the most important Shaman who was allegedly trying break him up with brother Qasar who was serving Genghis Khan loyally. Many modern scholars doubt that all of the conspiracies existed and suggest that Genghis Khan was inclined to paranoia. He was largely tolerant of religions. The exception was when religious groups challenged the state. For example Ismaili Muslims that resisted the Mongols were exterminated. In Iraq and Iran, he is looked on as a destructive and genocidal warlord who caused enormous damage and destruction. Similarly, in Afghanistan and Pakistan (along with other non-Turkic Muslim countries) he is not looked with favor though some are ambivalent. It is believed that the Hazara of Afghanistan is descendants of a large Mongol garrison stationed therein. Nevertheless, the invasions of Baghdad and Samarkand caused mass murders, for example, and much of southern Khuzestan was completely destroyed. His descendant Hulagu Khan destroyed much of Iran's northern part. Among the Iranian peoples he is regarded as one of the most despised conquerors of Iran, along with Alexander and Tamerlane. In much of Russia, Ukraine, Poland and Hungary, Genghis Khan, his descendants and the Mongols and/or Tartars are generally described as causing considerable damage and destruction. Presently Genghis Khan, his descendants, his generals and in general the Mongols are remembered for their ferocious military, toughness, ruthless and destructive conquests in much of the world in history books. In military strategy, Genghis Khan generally preferred to offer opponents the chance to submit to his rule without a fight and become vassals by sending tribute, accepting residents, contributing troops. He guaranteed them protection only if they abided by the rules under his administration and domain, but his and others' policy was mass destruction and murder if he encountered a resistance. For example David Nicole states in The Mongol Warlords, â€Å"terror and mass extermination of anyone opposing them was a well tested Mongol tactic.† In such cases he would not give an alternative but ordered massive collective slaughter of the population of resisting cities and destruction of their property, usually by burning it to the ground. Only the skilled engineers and artists were spared from death and maintained as slaves. Documents written during or just after Genghis Khan's reign say that after a conquest, the Mongol soldiers looted, pillaged, and raped; however, the Khan got the first pick of the beautiful women. Some troops who submitted were incorporated into the Mongol system in order to expand their manpower; this also allowed the Mongols to absorb new technology, manpower, knowledge and skill for use in military campaigns against other possible opponents. There also were instances of mass slaughter even where there was no resistance, especially in Northern China where the vast majority of the population had a long history of accepting nomadic rulers. Many ancient sources described Genghis Khan's conquests as wholesale destruction on an unprecedented scale, causing radical changes in the demographics of Asia. For example, over much of Central Asia speakers of Iranian languages were replaced by speakers of Turkic languages. According to the works of Iranian historian Rashid al-Din, the Mongols killed more than 70,000 people in Merv and more than a million in Nishapur. China suffered a drastic decline in population during 13th and 14th centuries. For instance, before the Mongol invasion, unified China had approximately 120 million inhabitants; after the conquest was completed in 1279, the 1300 census reported roughly 60 million people. How many of these deaths were attributable directly to Genghis Khan and his forces are unclear, as are the highly generalized numbers themselves. In addition, some modern scholars question the validity of such estimates, since the methodology of the 1300 census likely underestimated the population. [citation  needed] His campaigns in Northern China, Central Asia and the Middle East caused massive property destruction for those who resisted his invasion; however, there are no exact factual numbers available at this time. For example, the cities of Ray and Tus, the two largest and most populous cities in Iran at the time, both centers of literature, culture, trade and commerce, were completely destroyed by order of Genghis Khan. Nishapur, Merv, Baghdad and Samarkand suffered similar destruction. There is a noticeable lack of Chinese literature that has survived from the Jin Dynasty, due to the Mongol conquests. In Mongolia the topic of Genghis Khan was taboo and was heavily suppressed by the Soviet-backed Mongolian communist government. He was largely described as a bad person and a tyrant. However, after the fall of the communist government and the onset of democracy in Mongolia, the memory of Genghis Khan has been catapulted to legendary status. Mongols today celebrate him as the founding father of Mongolia. Negative views of Genghis Khan are very persistent with histories written by many different people from various different geographical regions often citing the cruelties and destructions brought upon by Mongol armies, but some historians are looking into positive aspects of Genghis Khan's conquests. Genghis Khan is sometimes credited with bringing the Silk Road under one cohesive political environment. Theoretically this allowed increased communication and trade between the West, Middle East and Asia by expanding the horizon of all three areas. In more recent times some historians point out that Genghis Khan instituted certain levels of meritocracy in his rule and was quite tolerant of many religions. For instance in much of modern-day Turkey, Genghis Khan is looked on as a great military leader and even many male children are named after him with pride.         

Funding Health Care Services Essay

Health Care Services Recommend How Ambulatory Services Should Be Funded There are many businesses like ambulance services that are private. Their fees are collected by the person that is using the service to be transported to the doctor or the use of their insurance they use to assist with their services. The community also provides some of the services and they are supported by taxes. In some cases, this is very rare. The hospital provides some of the ambulance services which are paid for by their insurance company or the patient for the service that is rendered at that time. In the community where I live, the patient is charged for the ambulance service regardless if someone gets on the ambulance when they arrive at the home. But the service is always community based. This is how the ambulatory service is paid for rather than it getting paid for by our tax dollars. It also depends on the business, county, and state we live in each day. Services provided by the county and state are services paid for by tax base. There is also the use of private ambulance services, or just the use of completely volunteer ones. The use of first responders is funded by the county and the state. At the same time, one can use a private separate ambulance service to assist with the injured person and transporting them. Recommend How Continuum of Long-Term Care Services Should be Funded I recommend that in order to deal with the complicated nature of long-term care, alternative solutions need to be considered. The reality is that the population who is in need of long term care has to consider all of their basic health and human needs met for all the decades of their life. This is an expensive reality. With the expanding population of individuals who qualify for long term care, there needs to be a feasible plan in place in order to ensure the viability of long term services without leaning on limited tax payer and/or government funds. My suggestion is to increase the requirement for pre-graduate internships and/or clinic experiences for students who are seeking advanced degrees in the long-term care services field. These include; medical assisting, nursing, professional counseling, social work, a physical rehabilitation. According to Mulvey, in the US, Medicaid is a government program that will pay for certain health services  and nursing home care for older people. In most states, Medicaid also pays for some long-term care services at home and in the community. Eligibility and covered services vary from state to state. Most often, eligibility is based on income and personal resources. Individuals eligible for Medicaid are typically not in the condition or capable of aging in pla ce, and Medicaid’s expenses are primarily concentrated on nursing home care. The current requirement for these programs before graduation is in the range of 9-12 months of unpaid or low-paid service. If this service graduation requirement were to increase to 18-24 months this would provide many more entry level, yet qualified, individuals the opportunity to provide care for those who are seeking a multitude of services at a fraction of the cost of current programs. The basis for funding should be a combination of government subsidized funds, acknowledging the inherent sympathy that the United States was founded, along with private donations. If the cost of services can decrease, the available funds can stretch further to be able to support additional individuals who require long term care. Recommend How Mental and Behavioral Health Services Should be Funded Mental disorders and mental health problems are treated by a variety of caregivers who work in diverse, relatively independent, and loosely coordinated facilities and services-both public and private (Williams ;amp; Torren, 2010). I recommend that they appoint staff from the Department of Mental Health to develop and put into practice a joint plan to create a continuum of care for elder adults with behavioral health needs based on the Community Support Program (CSP) model. This plan of action should summarize objectives, goals, timeframes, action steps, and a research/evaluation component. It should also make available guidelines for written agreements on local collaboration, which it should include how to decide cross-system disagreements. I also think that resource allocation o should be a main focus. With this being said, this would lay the groundwork for the systems integration needed to create the continuum of care. Next, I recommend that they establish committed funding for services to elder adults with behavioral health needs for the county and state. This already exists for the care of the children. There should be a level of flexibility in order to develop a group of services perceptive to the needs of the individual of the adults. As of now, the state has not funded mental health. I recommend that at least one geriatric pilot project be included in the budget. The project should require integration of the behavioral health and aging systems. I think that this would really be a vital step in addressing the needs of the geriatric population which is really underserved today. Once this is set up, it is my recommendation that the state set aside more money for this funding each year. On the local level, community mental health should make behavioral health services for older individuals a main concern in its yearly plan for the distribution of reinvestment dollars. I also recommend that they require that all medical and nursing students be trained in identifying behavioral health issues, treatment modalities as they relate to the older adults, and the referral processes.