Coca Cola vs Pepsi

The Coca-Cola Company versus PepsiCo, Inc. Andy Berg Ufuoma Omosebi Intermediate Accounting III ACC305 19 November, 2011 Coca Cola and Pepsi are the two most popular and widely recognized beverage brands in the United States. Pepsi and Coca Cola contrast each other on their taste, its associated colors and themes, and ingredients. Even the pension plans and funding status are a competitive comparison. 1. Compare the pension plans of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, including type of plan and funded status at 2007 year-end. PepsiCo, Inc. as a voluntary defined benefit pension plan that includes all full time U. S. employees and some international employees. This plan is a noncontributory plan; the employer is the only contributor funding the plan therefore they bear the entire cost of the plan. This plan is a qualified pension plan allowing tax incentives for employer contributions which are calculated based on employees years of service or a combination of service and income. In addition, Peps iCo offers medical and life insurance benefits and a retiree medical plan that are only funded on a â€Å"pay as you go† basis. These plans are not generally funded by the employer since they do not fund plans where no tax benefits are received. A specific dollar amount is assigned as a â€Å"cap† for employer payments the remaining funds are received from the retiree. Coca Cola has a defined contribution plan that includes all U. S. employees and some international employees. This is a contributory plan; both the employer and the employee make contributions. This plan offers substantial tax benefits for the contributions made by the employer. In addition, Coca Cola also has a defined benefit pension plan. This plan is considered a nonqualified, unfunded plan primarily for the organizations officers, most U. S. employees, and some international employees. This plan offers no tax benefits for contributions made by the organization. In 2007, Coca Cola amended this plan to reduce exposure. Each organization offers and sponsors 401K pension plans as well as medical and life insurance benefit plans for their employees or associates. Not all employees are eligible for  participation in all plans. 2 . Calculate the relevant rates that were used by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo in computing their pension amounts. Coca-Cola reported â€Å"net periodic benefit cost† of $108 million in 2007. PepsiCo reported â€Å"pension expense† of $329 million in 2007 for U. S. plans. All of the relevant rates used by Coca Cola and PepsiCo are shown in the notes of the financial statements listed in the comparative analysis. These rates are disclosed so that users of  the statements can assess the reasonableness of the assumptions made when calculating pension expenses and liabilities. The discount rate, expected rate of return on plan assets, and rate of  compensation are the relevant rates needed to make the necessary assumptions. The rates below have been taken from the Wiley Companion Website. The discount rate influences pension expense. Coca Cola’s discount rate used to compute  pension information for December 31, 2007 is 5. 5% for pension benefits and 6% for other  benefits. PepsiCo’s discount rate used to compute pension information for December 31, 2007 is5. 8% for U. S. pensions, 5. 2% for international pensions, and 5. 8% for other benefits. The expected rate of return on plan assets determines how much funding the plan assets will earn for the plan. This information is crucial for the company because it indicates how much additional funding will have to be provided to the plan above earnings to meet obligations. Coca Cola’s expected rate of return used to compute pension information for December 31, 2007 is7. 75%. PepsiCo’s expected rate of return used to compute pension information for December 31, 2007 is 7. 8%. Pension benefits are determined by considering the employees compensation level at retirement. Therefore, the rate of compensation or expected increase percentage is necessary to determine future compensation levels. Coca Cola’s rate of compensation or â€Å"rate of increase in compensation levels† percentage used to compute pension information for December 21, 2007 is 4. 25%. PepsiCo’s rate of compensation or â€Å"rate of increase in compensation levels† percentage used to compute pension information for December 21, 2007 is 4. 7%. 3. Determine which company you would rather invest in if you were a potential shareholder. Justify your answer. PepsiCo, Inc. is also a large company that has been around since 1898. They are also a leader in the beverage market but have diversified into another area; snacks. The diversity is pretty impressive. They also indicate stability and liquidity with favorable ratios. They have a 53. 15% gross profit margin for 2007 and less than 40% of their net operating revenue comes from operations outside the U. S. Coca Cola is a large company that has been around since 1886. They are primarily marketing and selling one product; beverages. They have a 63. 9% gross profit margin for 2007and show reasonably good ratios indicating stability. For the 46th consecutive year dividends have risen. About 74% of their net operating revenue comes from operations outside of the U. S. Coke and Pepsi trade in the No. 10 and No. 9 positions at 13. 31 and 16. 67. This may be explained by the relative growth and return on capital positions of the companies. Coke has a ROIC of 23. 91% annually for the last five years, and growth of revenue per share of 9. 29% per year. Pepsi’s ROIC was 19. 96% and revenue per share growth of 13. 43%. Assessing how the market assigns value to Pepsi and Coke may come down to a view that the foods division of Pepsi is more exposed to potential inflation and therefore requires a higher cost of capital to compensate for this risk. I would invest in Coca-Cola if I were a potential shareholder. The company generates significant return for shareholders. Fundamentally, Coke has generated 16-19% return on assets; 27-40% percent return on equity; and between $1. 6 billion and $3. 2 billion in free cash flow, with all three metrics peaking in 2010. Coke has returned to shareholders $27. 4 billion in cash the last four years in the form of dividends and share buybacks. The stock has provided a total return of 83. 81% from 2006 to 2010. 4. Determine which company you would rather work for if you were a potential employee. Justify your answer. If I had to choose a company to work for it would be PepsiCo. Benefits are important in any job selection and initially it seems that Coca Cola’s benefits are better however, after my review PepsiCo is a much better company. There is something more important than benefits; it is a feeling of belonging and being cared for in an organization. The entire time I was reading PepsiCo’s statements I got a feeling that they really cared about their employees, the community they serve and the environment. At one point, they even mentioned they cherished their  employees and encouraged personal as well as professional growth. They speak of product innovations; that they want to nourish consumers and reinvent brands to produce more healthy  products for consumers. They speak of partnerships with the FDA, The World Health Organization, and Alliance for a Healthier Generation for better focus on these innovations. They have given foundation grants internationally to battle chronic diseases and encourage physical fitness thru exercise and dance. They even have plants in Arizona that use solar power to  produce products. It just seems like a friendlier more positive company. References Kieso, D. E. , Weygandt, J. J. , & Warfield, T. D. (2010). Comparative Analysis Case; The Coca-Cola Company versus PepsiCo, Inc. Intermediate Accounting III, 13thEdition, 1072-1074& 1111. Kennon, Joshua (2011). Adjusting Pension Assumptions to Manipulating Earnings, How to Spot Signs of Aggressive Accounting, Retrieved August 13, 2011, from the website: http://beginnersinvest. about. com/od/gaap/a/aa090704. htm Coca Cola vs Pepsi TABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCTION 3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 4 SOURCE OF COLLECTION OF DATA 5 REPRESENTATION OF DATA THROUGH CHART 5 INTERPRETATION 8 RESEARCH FINDINGS 8 CONCLUSION 9 RECOMMENDATIONS 10 BIBLIOGRAPHY 10 QUESTIONNAIRE 11 INTRODUCTION PEPSI Pepsi was founded in New York in 1965. It is Producing Non-alcoholic beverage and Food processing items. Pepsi is a carbonated beverage that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo. It is sold in retail stores, restaurants cinemas and from vending machines. The drink was first made in the 1890s by pharmacist Caleb Bradham in New Bern, North Carolina. The brand was trademarked on June 16, 1903. Pepsi arrived on the market in India in 1988. PepsiCo gained entry to India in 1988 by creating a joint venture with the Punjab government-owned Punjab Agro Industrial Corporation (PAIC) and Volta’s India Limited.Coke and PepsiThis joint venture marketed and sold Lehar Pepsi until 1991, when the use of foreign brands was allo wed; PepsiCo bought out its partners and ended the joint venture in 1994. Others claim that firstly Pepsi was banned from import in India, in 1970, for having refused to release the list of its ingredients and in 1993, the ban was lifted, with Pepsi arriving on the market shortly afterwards. These controversies are a reminder of â€Å"India’s sometimes acrimonious relationship with huge multinational companies. † Indeed, some argue that PepsiCo and The Coca-Cola Company have â€Å"been major targets in part because they are well-known foreign companies that draw plenty of attention. COCA-COLAJon Styth Pemberton first introduced the refreshing taste of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, Georgia it was May 1861 when the pharmacist concocted caramel colored syrup in three–  legged brass kettle in his backyard. He first distributed the new product by carrying Coca-Cola in a jug coin enjoys in a glass of Coca-Cola at the soda fountain. Whether by design or accident, carbonated water was teamed with the new syrup, producing a drink  that was proclaimed â€Å"Delicious and Refreshing†. Dr. Pemberton’s Partner and bookkeeper, Mr. Frank Robinson, suggested the name and penned as â€Å"Coca-Cola† in the unique flowing script that is still famous worldwide today. Dr.Pemberton’s sold 25 gallons of syrup, shipped in bright Red wooden kegs. Red has been a distinctive color associated with the No. 1 soft drink brand ever since. For  his efforts, Dr. Pemberton grossed $ 50 and spent $ 73. 96 on advertising, by 1891,Atlanta chemist as a G. Canler had acquired complete ownership of the Coca-Cola  business. He purchases it from the Dr. Pemberton family for $ 2300. With in 4 year his merchandising flair helped to expand the consumption of Coca-Cola to over $25 million . Robert W. woodruff become the president of the Coca-Cola company in 1923 and his more than six decades of leadership took the business of commercial success making16 Co ca-Cola an institution the world over.Coca-Cola begins as a never tonic, but candy merchant Joseph A. Biedenharn of Mississippi was looking for awry to serve refreshing  beverages. He responded to this demand began offering bottle Coca-Cola using syrup shipped from Atlanta, during a hot summer in 1894 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 1. Consumer preference to buy Coca-Cola and Pepsi. 2. What are the factors would you consider to buy Coca-Cola and Pepsi. 3. What is the medium through which you came to know about Coca-Cola and Pepsi. 4. To offer some finding and suggestions to the company for the improvement of It’s  performance. NEED FOR THE STUDY In the present scenario the competitions between the soft drinks increased very high.The companies are struggling a lot to keep up their market share in the industry and to improve the sales of their products i. e. the turnover of the company. For this the company has to know their position in the market and the opinion and the loyalty of  t he customers and the retailers when compared to their competitor. Because of this reason the comparative analysis is very important and useful to the Company. By the use of comparative analysis the companies can understand the position of the company and the strength of the company in the market. Through the comparative analysis we can understand that what strategies the competitors are using for the increase their sales volume.From the study we can gather the information regarding the opinion of the consumers on the companies comparatively and this will help to plans for the future to increase the performance of the company and to gain the loyalty of  the consumers when compared to the competitors. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY We have done Descriptive research to find out our objectives. In descriptive research we use the Primary and secondary data. Research methodology is the way to systematically solve the research problem. The method used for the research is Descriptive Research to fi nd out our objectives. In descriptive research we use the primary and secondary both data, Sample Design for primary data have been collected through probability sampling.Data is Collected through Market survey in Delhi through Well prepared structured questionnaires were used in this study, which includes both closed-ended and few open-ended questions to get information based on the objective of the research process. People of different age group from different economic background were asked to fill the questionnaire containing 13 questions. Sample Size is taken 40 out of which 4 questionnaires had been rejected due to Mistakes, which was made by the respondents. SOURCE OF COLLECTION OF DATA:- All the useful data which were require for this research has been collected through Primary and secondary date. Primary data collected through Questionnaire Secondary data collected through Internet, Magazines and Newspaper   ASSUMPTIONS:-It is assumed that the chosen sample is the represen tation of whole population. It is assumed that information provided by the samples is accurate and best of their  knowledge. REPRESENTATION OF DATA THROUGH CHART RATIO OF MALE & FEMALE RESPONDANT Total numbers of respondent were 40 out of which 4 questionnaires is rejected. So final date interpretation is done on the basis of only 36 questionnaires. Total no. of respondents 36| | Gender| Number| Male| 30| Female| 6| Reasons behind choosing the product:- Total respondents 36| | Preference| Number of respondents| Taste| 28| Advertisements| 4| Thirsty| 5| Easy availability| 4| Others| 2| Effect of advertisement:-Total number of respondents: 36| | Influence of advertisements| Number of respondents| Yes| 14| No| 22| Brand loyalty:- Would you visit another store X, if you do not find it at your store. 71% of the respondents said that they go to another shop for their brand and 29% of the people said that they don’t go to another shop. Presence of pesticides:- Total number of resp ondents 36| | Respond| No. of respondent| Yes| 9| No| 27| From the questionnaire we came to know that 27 people i. e 75% said they are no pesticides and rest of them 9 people i. e 25% said Yes. INTERPRETATION On the basis research the facts which have come out:- Coca-Cola has a market share of 28%.The population between 12- 30 year prefer the cola products, while population above to 50 and below 12 prefer soft drinks, and population prefer in Delhi. Only 39% population only influenced by advertisement, rest 61% population believes that Advertisements are not much effective. 71% population are loyal to words there product. 25% population beliefs there cold drink have pesticide up to some extent. 65% of population is being influenced by taste only, while 9% population by Advertisements only. RESEARCH FINDINGS As it was 1st research Project of our life, so it gave us lot of experience which will be very helpful in our life. On the basis of that research we find that in case of beverage s people are much influenced by taste rather than Advertisements and other things. e come to know that Young generation is the biggest consumer of cold drinks than any other. By this research we analyze that male prefer cola drinks, while female prefer soft drinks. Frequency of consume to cold drinks is higher of male than female. By combining all the beverage verities we come to know that Thumps up is the market leader with 14 % total market share while Pepsi is the second highest market leader with 13% market share. If the Buying decision of consumer is rated – 1st preference will go to Taste, 2nd will go to availability, 3rd preference will go to thirsty, 4Th preference will go to Price. CONCLUSION For the purpose of the study, questionnaires were prepared for the Consumers.Care was taken to interview all types of consumers, i. e. , : a. Different age groups b. Males and females In all about 40 consumers were interviewed. The conclusions that one can draw from these answer s provided by the consumers showed that marketing activities do form a major part of the decision. One thing that was common amongst all the consumers who were once a day or once a week. The number one factors the influences a customer while buying a soft-drink was taste. This was true for all the consumers who were interviewed. The rest of the conclusions as deducted from the questionnaires are as follows: The younger generation preferred soft drinks to the older generation. a.Children up to 15 years of age liked to have soft drinks up to once a day. b. Young adults liked to have soft drinks up to 1-2 times a day. c. Adults liked to have soft drinks about once a week. Children preferred Coca-Cola. Young adults liked Pepsi. The older  generation preferred Coca-Cola. The reason given for choice of favorite’s soft drink was taste and easy availability. 90% of the people said that they prefer taste. Most of the people said that television advertising had a more impact on choos ing the brand. As everyone know there is a rumor of pesticides, but in our report we came to know that 75% of the people said they don’t believe in this rumors and only 9% of the people believe in those rumors.About the brand loyalty most of the consumers 71% said they visit another store if they won’t find the preferred brand and 29% said that they not brand conscious rather they depend on availability. RECOMMENDATIONS Though the coke is enjoying larger market share and it is market leader in Indian beverage industry. While with the 46 % market share Pepsi is on the second step. If we are analyzing properly then we find Pepsi is small product portfolio than coke, which is responsible for its second position. Pepsi should increase its product portfolio to capture the Coke’s market share. Companies should focus on the taste of the product because 90% population is influenced by taste only. Young generation is the potential consumer so companies should more focus on them. As we find that 40 % population consumes 200ml cold drinks.Which comes in glass  bottles, these bottles are being retuned back for refilling to companies? Which is incurred again cost of re-transportation. If company start to supply 200 ml cold drinks in pet bottles (plastic bottles) it will be good for company because 40% of population is using only 200ml. BIBLIOGRAPHY http://www. scribd. com/doc/48391213/A-PROJECT-REPORT-PEPSI-VS-COCA-COLA http://www. scribd. com/doc/30242566/Coke-vs-Pepsi http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Pepsi http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Coca_cola http://www. jyd. in/Summer%20Internship%20Projects/Marketing/COKE%20AND%20PEPSI%20LEARN%20TO%20COMPETE%20IN%20INDIA%20By%20Sahil%20Memon. df Business research methods (Zikmund) QUESTIONNAIRE 1. Name:- 2. Gender a) Male b) Female 3. What is your age? a) 15-25 b) 26-30 c) 31-40 d) 41-50 4. Do you know these brands (Coca-Cola & Pepsi) a) Yes b) No 5. Which brand would you prefer? a) Coca-Cola b) Pepsi c) Others 6. Which quantity of your cold drink you often purchase? a) 200ml b) 300mlc) 500ml 7. Do you think, pesticides present in Coco-Cola and Pepsi? a) Yes b) No 8. How often you consume Coca-Cola ? a) Once in a day b) Once in a week c) Twice in a week d) Once in a month e) When they required 9. How often you consume Pepsi ? a) Once in a day b) Once in a week c) Twice in a week d) Once in a month ) When they required 10. When do you consume above preferred brand? a) Travelling b) Party c) Thirsty d) Others 11. Important attribute for buying your above preferred brand ? a) Thirsty b) Flavor c) Availability d) Price e) Others 12. Give ranking to your preferred brand? ___packaging ___taste ___labeling ___price ___availability 13. Through which medium you notice about the above preferred brand? a) Tv ads b) News Paper c) Internet d) Other 14. Would you visit another store X, if you do not find it at your store? a) Yes b) No 15. Do you think that Coca-Cola and Pepsi both are lavishly spending on their ad campaigns to attract customers? a) Yes b) No

Cost Club Week Essay

The issues against discharging an employee with any reason can be very harmful to any business. This opens the door for a lawsuit to any organization because, an ex-employee could file a lawsuit against the employer for alleging that they had been discharged wrongfully. The civil right law act in 1964 provides protection to the employees against wrongfully discharge. This describe that companies cannot terminate their employees basis of race, gender, skin, religion, color etc, (Employment law for business, 2007)†.) For example, if their at-will relationship exists between the employee and employer this does not mean that employer may terminate the employee, in a discriminatory manner. This mean the organization has to follow the legal principles before discharging their employee. There are so many laws that protect the individuals even though we are an, at- will state. The Federal anti-discrimination law prevents employees from wrongful discharge by the employer (Lawson, 1998)†. This scenario does not say that the employees were not let go due to the basis of any reason. This lawsuit against the organization for wrongful discharge could be very risky for the Cost Club since there were no reasons for terminating their employees. Reduction in Employee Costs There are many ways to reduce company cost. One thing a company can do is to outsource their HR. This will help reduce the cost of the employee benefits  program by bring in an outside company like GNA Partners. The GNA Partners have many ways to save the company money but, may bring cost to the workers. The GNA Partners provide negotiation insurance rates, which the plan cost are determined by what age group the employees fall into. Next the company can choose higher deductible plans, which this reduces, the cost of benefits plan. †¢ The business can offer robust benefits package by making their employees contribute. †¢ Using different types of workers like temporary workers, contract employee, part-time employees, employees and, non-employees work hours. These job types can be helpful to accomplish the seasonal demand of the organizations plus can cause the increase within the organizational performance. The organization knows all different categories of workers who can hire to save money for definite and indefinite period. Organization understands that temporary workers directly reports to the employer and receive their reimbursement from the company. When a company hires a contract employee, temporary and, part-time employee they know that they do not have to pay this employee benefits or high rates. Like vacation, sick, and part-time workers are usually define a workers, who have shorter working hours other fulltime workers. The rules, policies and, procedures for the part-time employee are not the same as the regular employees but quite different from the temporary workers† (Part Time and Temporary Employees, 2009). According to â€Å"Bennett-Alexander, & Hartman, â€Å"by hiring independent contractors, the cost of overtime is eliminated (the federal wage and hour laws do not apply to independent contractors) and the employer is able to avoid any work-related expenses, s uch as tools, training, or traveling. The employer is also guaranteed satisfactory performance of the job for which the contractor was hired because it is the contractor’s contractual obligation to adequately perform the contract with the employer, while the employee is generally able to quit without incurring liability (Employment law for business, 2007)†. For example, the company manage is an employees work who sets an employee’s schedule, along with deciding the method the employee uses to perform their work. An independent contractor is a person who provides particular services to an organization. Whether it be a short or long-term assignment. This is very effective low cost and saving the companying money because; temporary, contract or part-time employment arrangements provides several benefits to any business. Injury and Damages According to Tort Law, the Cost Club will be liable for the misconduct of employees with the customers. Tort laws are laws that offer remedies to individuals harmed by the unreasonable actions of others. Tort claims usually involve state law and are based on the legal premise that individuals are liable for the consequences of their conduct if it results in injury to others (McCarthy & Cambron-McCabe, 1992). Tort laws involve civil suits, which are actions brought to protect an individual’s private rights. The second situation, the employee is liable for physical harm to the customers’ property. Therefore, the company who hires the employee will be held liable for their employees negligent. The last situation, the business will not be liable for the acts of a real estate agent, because, the real estate agent is not controlled by the business. Therefore, the Cost Club should let their customers know they, are not responsible or that the real estate agent is an independent and organization contractors and that they have no control on his or her activities so, Cost Club will not be liable for the tort of him or her (Tort Liability Basics: Strict, Vicarious, and Joint Liability, 1999). Resolving Disagreement Processes Resolving disagreement between company and its employees, the can †¢ Set up a subject box  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Have a meeting once a week with the manager, and employees to discuss the problem that may arise between co-workers and managers. †¢ Includes third party as the mediator between employees and company. †¢ Grievance procedure, corporate due process, mediation etc., †¢ Clear as the formal complaint by the employees that they are behaved wrongly by the management decisions (Open door policy) These steps can be very effective to resolve between most companies’ problem. Which, if not settled could cause a big problem like violation of law, and just a perception of unfair treatment by the employees and managers. This method has to be effective in order to achieve long-term success and to facilitate and to accommodate between the employees and the company. Employment Law Concepts for Selection Employment law concepts for selection would include several legal implications. According to Bennett-Alexander, & Hartman, â€Å"the Civil Rights  Act 1964 prohibits the employers from discrimination among the potential employees on the basis of race, gender, color, region etc. in its recruitment and selection process. The next step is once the employee is hired, the company should make sure they follow steps are, training, appraising, compensating, and implementing employment decisions that determine such things as promotions, transfers, and layoffs† The selection procedure should also be job related and concern with the business necessity. The company should always follow the State HR Laws, and all the employees should be treated fairly and equally (Employment Tests and Selection Procedures, 2008). The Age Discrimination in Employment Act should also be considered in the selection procedure by the management. Reference: Beatty, J.F. & Samuelson, S.S. (2009). Introduction to Business Law (3rd ed.). Cengage Learning. Bennett-Alexander, D. D. & Hartman, P. L. (2007). Employment law for business (5th ed.). New York: McGraw–Hill. Retrieved October 29, 2012 from University of Phoenix, rEsource. Part Time and Temporary Employees. (2009). Retrieved October 29, 2012 from http://employment.findlaw.com/employment/employment-employee-overview/employment-

PEACE Domestic Violence Agency Essay

The PEACE Domestic Violence agency’s mission is to â€Å"reduce victim trauma, empower survivors, and promote recovery through direct services† (University of Phoenix, 2012, para. 9). Also, according to University of Phoenix Appendix B (2012),PEACE also strives to reducing the occurrence of sexual assault and domestic violence by educating the abused and the community and proposing ways to fight against social norms and beliefs. It will reside in the city of Portland, a large metropolitan city, that has been experiencing a rise in reports of not only domestic, spousal, and child abuse, but also youth violence, assault, and road rage over the last five years. PEACE is looking for funding from the National Foundation’s funding program and by doing so strives promote the well-being of people whose lives have been affected by domestic violence, improve the quality of life of families with a member in prison, provide people who are (or have been) involved with the criminal justice system with a rehabilitation program where they can obtain the skills and support networks needed to lead fulfilled lives. â€Å"The Small Grants Program offers one-time grants of up to $5,000 to registered charities with an annual budget under $500,000 and the Investor Program is an innovative funding program designed to support six organizations under each of the objectives of the Supporting Families program, with up to $150,000 a year for up to 3 years† (University of Phoenix, 2012, para. 11). The program needs not only proper funding but the ability to allocate that funding in ways that will benefit the community in the fastest and most effective way possible. Because of this, PEACE will be looking into alternative funding. The Community Innovation Challenge is one of the most important ways PEACE will try and obtain nontraditional funding. The Community Innovation Challenge is a grant program that gives approved organizations money so they can enact faster and more efficient ways of serving and bettering the community. This kind of funding would benefit PEACE because a domestic violence agency like PEACE is helpful to the community on so many levels – children to adults to those looking to be rehabilitated. PEACE would be a prime candidate for this grant because of this reason and the money would be used to assist workers in their education on the matters at hand as well as paying for more workers if the organization gets too large for the current staff amount. PEACE will also be looking into outsourcing and setting up charity booths at frequently visited locations like outside a grocery store or at a shopping center. Sending emails and/or letters to local businesses, companies, and even other organizations looking for financial assistance, ideas, and information is definitely helpful and it also allows smaller businesses to get their name on the map and helping out the organization if they were to become something like a sponsor. Setting up charity booths also allows people from many different walks of life to see my program’s cause and contribute something, anything, if they can. Funding from these two sources can normally be used in many ways but it is also not always a large amount. Access to smaller amounts of funding gives PEACE ways to buy low cost items when they are affordable. Things like more seating, chair cushions, water tanks, even coffee and muffins†¦ All these things can help people feel more welcome and safe which is important with organizations like PEACE. Signing up for a few free subscription/database-type sites will give access to funds as well. These websites allow a program to look for nontraditional sources of funding as well as give them updates for when new opportunities come up that apply to the program. This is especially helpful for busy programs that may not have the man power to go out and hunt for funding sources while also working with the program as much as The mission of the PEACE Domestic Violence Agency is to reduce victim trauma, empower survivors, and promote recovery through direct services. Their curriculum is based largely around the need of the community and they set out to provide the best, most varied care they can. Starting with professionally trained staff who are looked over by a small administration PEACE locates those in need of assistance and brings them to a place where those needs can be met on an individual basis as well as on a group basis. The stakeholders for PEACE start with the administration and staff of the agency who put themselves on the line taking care of their clients and looking for sources of funding to make sure things are taken care of. Staff and administration need to have their physical and mental needs taken care of and provided for so they can then provide for the community. This may mean more staff need to be trained and employed to keep everyone at the top of their game or the spaces available for clients needs to be cut so staff do not find themselves over-taxed. Domestic abuse is a very serious thing and it cannot be taken lightly by anyone. One false step – be it a forgotten case notebook, a less-than-attentive staff member, or what have you – can severely endanger the clients. It is imperative that the clients are put into the hands of fully educated, completely able staff. A majority of funding sources are open only to non-profit, 501(c)3 organizations. These organizations must also be in good standing to receive funds and therefore PEACE is eligible to apply for this type of funding. A private foundation is deemed to be any non-profit that supports the work of public charities through the award of grants (2009). In order to receive funds a foundation is required to file a Form 1023 with the IRS. Form 1023 is a 28 page form gives the IRS the information they need to conduct audits of the foundation’s activities. The duty of staff and the administration is to make sure the program meets the requirements of the funders constantly because they would lose funding if they have anything that presents itself as a conflict of interest of it there is anything going on that the funders do not like (2009). Non-profit organizations and their boards are bound to very strict rules and therefore discrimination against an individual or treating a group better than another individual or group can result in the foundation being shut down. Records of a program must be maintained in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), including the filing of an annual Form 990 with the IRS. All members of the staff and management are responsible to the rules for non-profits. Documentation has to be well understood and applied consistently and correctly. The administrators of PEACE have to find evaluators that can ensure the evaluations show an honest picture of the group effort, effectiveness, and c ontribution to the community so granters can rely on the information provided. The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act is an example of such a funding foundation that can create such a picture. Their mission is to decrease the occurrence of domestic abuse as well as to increase well-being and progress in society as a whole. This foundation is federally funded often pulling in quite a few million dollars that are then allocated to them by the government as well as allocated to sister organizations and other funding opportunities. Being federally funded there is a close eye on the limited resources of the foundation so the funders can be sure the money is spent in the most effective manner to benefit the greatest number of people. The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act serves organizations and people all over the United. The foundation has control over where their money is used and they try to concentrate their focus on organizations that will benefit the community around them the most. They, more specifically, tend to fund essential services that sit at the core of ending domestic violence. Emergency shelters, hotlines, and advocacy as well as primary and secondary prevention are all looked at highly. Another stakeholder in the PEACE Domestic Violence Agency is the community itself. Community evaluation will be an active part of the results that affect ongoing funding by attending the program, first of all, and also by giving feedback on the effectiveness of this program and the staff of said program in their community. The input of the community needs to be taken into consideration when looking at progress evaluations and data that has been collected before making decisions to change, mend, or modify the program. Community member have the biggest input on when, where, and how group sessions are bei ng held and, more importantly, when, where, and how private sessions are being held. Children cannot be expected to want to sit through late meetings, parents may not have time during the day because of work†¦ There are so many factors that need to be looked at in order to please the wants and needs of the community. This will be important also keep constant monitoring of to allow individuals and families to have time for different kinds of activities and help, as well as to allow the help they’ve currently received (or have been receiving) to process and sink in. However, the community cannot affect or change the goals of funding institutions. Therefore, they have to work with the funder’s restrictions and requirements so that no single group is held in a higher spot on the list of things that need funding or the list of people that need assistance. Every one of the stakeholders at PEACE Domestic Violence Agency has an effect on the design and implementation of the program. The community, the clients, the staff and finally the administration all s hare a common goal and they all hold the progress and fate of the program in their hands. They all want to see an improvement in the society, they all want to see higher quality of life, and they all want someone (even themselves) to feel safe when they go to sleep at night. This means strong staff, an introduction of life skills, increased community involvement, increased collaboration with funders and the state, a reduction in high risk behaviors, and a decrease in the amount of reported domestic abuse cases. By taking these things into account PEACE Domestic Violence Agency will be a long lasting, effective program. Program planning and evaluation process can provide opportunities for program improvement because they will catch instances of the program not meeting the expectations of the funders, workers, and the community. It is vital for PEACE to carefully create a program plan because, with an organization that is helping a myriad of kinds of victims of domestic abuse, it is easy to give the wrong message to workers and the community. PEACE also provides assistance to people who are looking to be rehabilitated so it would be bad for them if their organization came off as only being there to help the hurt or, in my opinion, even worse: As being there to make sure the people know they did wrong but not actually help them. The evaluation process can keep track of the kinds of clients they get and also what places might need improvement. As the manager of a program anything that improves efficiency and the method for delivery of the service is helpful and those can be found through the evaluation process. As a funder, you would have every right to speak up if you thought your money was not being well spent. This comes into play first in the program planning because if you are looking for a specific kind of program you can gladly put forth an effort to make that happen whether it be with time, money, or both. It also comes into play with the evaluation process. As a funder it would be part of your responsibility to check where funds are going and when and to check if there are more efficient and helpful ways of delivering the funds and how they are spent. Outcome Measure: Reduce the amount of domestic violence report, to assist people and families in dealing with life after abuse, and to help with rehabilitation and reintroduction. * Baseline Data: Portland has experienced increasing reports of domestic and youth violence, spousal and child abuse, assault, and incidents of road rage over the last 5 years. * Evaluation Design: Trained observers, staff * Source of Information/Instrument(s): Police reports, reports from other domestic abuse locations * Who Will Collect the Data: Collection of data will be done by a small team of staff specifically brought together to gather and process data. * Timing of Data Collection: Overall data collection every three months (to look for progress) with an update to data made every forty-five days. * Population or Sample: Population (Applicable men, women and children of Portland) * How Will the Data be Described/Analyzed: Total new/repeat counts of domestic abuse in the form of percentages (increase or decrease) Process Measure: Number of staff trained to handle the abused * Source of Information/Instrument(s): Training sign-in sheets * Who Will Collect the Data: Administration assistant will help participants sign-in * Timing of Data Collection: Before the training session * Population or Sample: Population (all participants) * How Will the Data be Described/Analyzed: Total number of staff properly trained. Process Measure: Number of sessions delivered per group * Source of Information/Instrument(s): Staff session logs * Who Will Collect the Data: Staff * Timing of Data Collection: During and after each session * Population or Sample: Population (all staff will fill out session logs) * How Will the Data be Described/Analyzed: Frequency of sessions per group per staff, as well as an average frequency of sessions across the board. Process Measure: Measures of program fidelity * Source of Information/Instrument(s): Trained observers, staff checklists, client surveys * Who Will Collect the Data: Trained observers, staff, and clients * Timing of Data Collection: Trained observers will attend one session per group each month and staff and clients will fill out biweekly checklists and surveys * Population or Sample: Population (All staff and willing clients as well as observers) * How Will the Data be Described/Analyzed: Qualitative data from observations and data collected from checklists and surveys will be compiled, summarized, and given to administration to show who is being passionate and faithful to the cause as well as what improvements need to be made and where. This evaluation plan will include process evaluation, outcome evaluations, formative evaluations, and summative evaluations. Process evaluations will evaluate all procedures and tasks involved with implementing these programs. Process evaluations will also monitor the program and ensure feedback throughout the length of the program. This is exceptionally beneficial when running a program that is solely need-based and those needs only discovered through dealing with the clients the program is trying to help. Without feedback process cannot be made and goals, no matter how small, cannot be achieved. By performing process evaluations on the effectiveness of the groups as well as the staff themselves and comparing that to data collected by clients the best possible steps can be made towards the goal reducing the effect of domestic violence on Portland. Outcome evaluations will collect quantitative and qualitative data from ongoing programs to document any short-term results that have been achieved as well as open doors to any new short-term goals and changes that have to be made to current ones. Task-focused results such as the number of staff who put their name on the sign-up sheet to be trained, how many clients return, and how many young adults seek help with rehabilitation on their own describe the output of the activity and short-term results, like the percentage of clients that are willing to fill out an end-of-session survey, describe the immediate effects of the program on the community. Information such as an increase in knowledge, changed in attitude, and behavioral shifts are part of a long list of data that can be discovered after an outcome evaluation. Outcome evaluations will come in handy the most when trying to figure out if the community is being reached properly and clients are being treated as best as they can be. It will also be helpful determining what activities are out-of-date or just plain not helpful anymore and what activities can take their place. Formative evaluations, which include pre-testing and competency exams, allow an organization to assess the strengths and weaknesses in their approach to their goals, staff, target audience for their services, and even their advertising campaign! Formative evaluations also help an organization discover if any changes need to be made, if they can be made, or if the program is not going to succeed. By testing messages, products, and services on small groups also helps an organization work out kinks before implementing it on a larger scale. By taking the data gained from a finished formative evaluation an organization can get a better idea of their company, its workers, and its clients and will help them decide if it is better to sink, or hopefully more often, swim. Summative evaluations include any combination of measurements and judgments that allow conclusions about the impact, outcome, and benefits of a program or method. Allowing an organization to stick to such an out of the box, abstract, non-linear form of evaluating it can pick and chose what will get them the most information the fastest. This can be, by far, the most efficient way to help an organization make progress. With an organization that has a lot of different sections, like this one, it can produce the best progress reports because there is not a single mainline format that has to be followed; Just whatever works. I believe I would find pre-post surveys with questions that have people rate things one through five, attendance sheets, and tally sheets to keep record of happenings the most useful. In an organization that has sections that help polar opposite cases (e.g. young adults straight from walking the line of a criminal who wish to find assistance in becoming rehabilitated and young mothers who have been abused and who have children who were abused that are looking for help with learning how to get through their fears and move on with life) there cannot be one set way to document things. Surveys will always be near the top of the data collecting tools list because people can put whatever they want however they want and can truly express themselves if they so chose. An organization cannot necessarily ask two groups, like the two mentioned above, â€Å"How did you feel when the counselor asked you to talk about your personal experiences with being abused,† because the young adult who is looking to be rehabilitated may not have been abused. Attendance sheets are a very important part of an organization as well because it will allow the organization to know how many people they are reaching and if they need to step their game up or not. References Commonwealth of Massachusetts. (2013). http://www.mass.gov/anf/budget-taxes-and- procurement/working-for-you/community-innovation-challenge-grant/. Retrieved from http://www.mass.gov/anf/budget-taxes-and-procurement/working-for-you/community-innovation- challenge-grant/ National Network to End Domestic Violence. (2012). Family Violence Prevention & Services Act. Retrieved from http://www.nnedv.org/policy/issues/fvpsa.html United States Interagency Council on Homelessnes. (2011). Family Violence Prevention and Services Act. Retrieved from http://www.usich.gov/funding_programs/programs/family_violence_prevention_and_services_act/ University of Phoenix. (2012). Appendix B. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, HSM270 – Program Planning and Grant Proposal Writing in Human Services website. Weill Cornell Medical College. (2013). http://weill.cornell.edu/research/grants_and_contracts/research_development/se

The Impact of Unemployment on the Economy Term Paper

The Impact of Unemployment on the Economy - Term Paper Example The success of a business relies on not only the own particular market and its own decisions but also the macroeconomic environment it operates within. The macroeconomic environment has a direct effect on the profitability and success of a business. This paper aims at dealing with one of the essential aspects of the macroeconomic environment of business, i.e. unemployment. This paper will deal with unemployment in detail and will include aspects like the meaning of unemployment, and the costs of unemployment. Also, a focus will be on the labor markets and unemployment. The study will also touch upon the two main types of unemployment, i.e. Disequilibrium unemployment and Equilibrium unemployment. Here an attempt will be made to explain the two types of unemployment and the various subcategories of these will also be touched upon. However, before moving on, it is essential to understand the meaning of a few terms like labor force, number unemployed, unemployment rate, and unemployment . Claimant Unemployment: This refers to the people who receive unemployment-related benefits (Sloman and Sutcliffe). This mainly measures all those who receive the unemployment-related benefits and claim the benefits to cover their expenses until they have a job. Standardized Unemployment Rate: This is an unemployment rate that is used by the International Labor Organization and the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (Sloman and Sutcliffe). Here unemployed refers to people of the working age and who are without work. b) Costs of unemployment: Unemployment leads to numerous costs and these costs do not only influence the person unemployed but others as well. There are three main costs that are involved with unemployment are as follows: i) The first and most obvious costs involved are that incurred by the unemployed themselves.

Diabete Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Diabete - Essay Example The patient is drowsy and the pulse rate is counted as 110. The respiration is fast at 25 deep and sighing breaths per minute, acetone on breath and keto-acidosis has been made. Type I diabetes can occur in patients of any age and is characterised by the inability of the pancreas to secrete the hormone insulin due to autoimmune destruction of the beta cells. It occurs in children quite abruptly, though new antibody tests have been developed to detect new onset adult form of type I diabetes mellitus known as LADA (latent Auto-immune Diabetes of Adults). What distinguishes them from other diabetic patients is the fact that if insulin is withdrawn, they develop ketosis and eventually ketoacidosis. Hence such patients are always dependent on exogenous insulin. Many of the pathophysiological disturbances in a patient with DKA can be measured by a clinician and should be monitored on a real-time basis throughout the course of the treatment. Attention to clinical laboratory data can help the clinician to track and prevent the onset of secondary lethal complications such as hypoglycemia and hyponatremia and hypokalemia. In the absence of insulin, the primary anabolic hormone, muscles and fats as well as the liver do not take up glucose. Counter regulatory hormones such as glucagons, GH and catecholamines enhance triglyceride breakdown into free fatty acids and gluconeogenesis causing an upshot in the level of serum glucose levels in DKA while there is no insulin. Betaoxidation of these free fatty acids then lead to increased ketone body formations. Metabolism in DKA shifts from the normal fed state to the fasting state characterised by fat metabolism. Secondary complications of primary metabolic derangement include an ensuing metabolic acidosis as ketone bodies deplete extra-cellular and cellular acid buffers. The hyperglycaemia induced osmotic diuresis depletes phosphates, potassium, sodium and water together with glucose and ketones. Most commonly, it depletes 10% of body water and 5mEq per kg of body mass of potassium. The total body potassium may be masked by acidosis by sustaining an increased serum potassium level. The levels can fall precipitously once the rehydration and insulin treatments start. Loss of ketoanions in urine with brisk diuresis and intact renal function may also lead to hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis. Frequency In the USA, DKA is seen in patients with type I diabetes. The incidence is grossly 2% patient years of diabetes and almost 3% of diabetes patients initially presenting with DKA. It can occur in type 2 diabetic patients as well though not as a rule. The mortality rate of DKA is nearly 2% per episode. Before the discovery of insulin in 1922, the mortality rate was almost 100 percent. Though patients less than 19 years of age are more prone to DKA, it can occur to a person of any age. History of patients and symptoms at presentation. Clinicians should look out for the classical symptoms of hyperglycemia such as thirst, polyuria, polydispisia and nocturia. Other symptoms include: Generalised weakness Lethargy Nausea Fatigue Decreased perspiration Confusion Increased appetite and Anorexia Clinicians should also be on the

Emergencey management paramedic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Emergencey management paramedic - Essay Example American’s long held assumptions of security were shaken to the core, superseded by widespread feelings of person vulnerability and ushered in the era of homeland security. In New York City, the attack resulted in the collapse of the Twin Towers and killed 2756 civilians (Hirschkorn, 2003). These events have also had significant social and economic consequences, to include extensive property damage as well as serious and extensive financial disruption. 146,000 jobs were lost in New York City due to the attacks (Westfeldt, 2002). From the perspective of national healthcare, the events of September 11th generated public health, including mental health consequences of unparalleled proportions. Catastrophic events have far-reaching effects on social infrastructure. Disruption of life ways, vital resources, and services cause significant change in social system operations and behavior. Community disaster response may be organized and effective or disorganized and in some cases, nonexistent. Human resources are diverted from routine work functions to disaster relief operations. Disaster recovery, the long-term process of community restoration is a problem-solving process that includes not only planning for reconstruction and return to economic solvency, but also sustaining community health (Gad-el-Hak, 2008). Inequities in the distribution of social and material resources can adversely affect disaster recovery and community health. The 9-11 disaster posed unprecedented and unique challenges to the U.S. emergency management infrastructure. However, unlike less developed nations, the U.S. has the social and economic capital as well as the technology to build a defensive infrastructure for mitigation of disaster threats and provision for relief and recovery operations to its citizenry. The scope of involvement of American social institutions includes such activities as emergency preparedness, hazard mitigation,

KINGSLEY AMIS'S lUCKY JIM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

KINGSLEY AMIS'S lUCKY JIM - Essay Example Indeed, the book was dedicated to Larkin; who had helped to inspire and to edit it. The genesis and reception of Lucky Jim can be found in The Letters of Kingsley Amis. His correspondence with Larkin traces the book through its earliest incarnations, when it was known Dixon & Christine and then The Man of Feeling. Here he is on March 3, 1953 writing, to Larkin: "I've called it Lucky Jim now, to empahsise the luck theme - epigraph Oh lucky Jim, How I envy him bis. ... I'm afraid you are very much the ideal reader of the thing and chaps like you don't grow on trees." Jim Dixon's experience dramatizes the conflict between the lower-middle-class drive to invade a higher social stratum and the resultant guilt and self-contempt for abandoning one's own class. A lower-middle-class youth who yearns for the economic security academic tenure affords, Jim earns a degree in an area he neither likes nor understands. By luck, he gets a job as a junior lecturer in history at a provincial university. But it is bad luck, for not only does he detest the medieval history he teaches but he despises the cultural pretensions of his colleagues with whom he must curry favor, such as the Welches: the pompous senior professor, his wife, and their "artistic" sons. The irony in all of this is that Jim Dixon doesn't feel at all lucky. He's a junior lecturer at a no-account college in provincial England. His daily life is a litany of hilariously (from our perspective, anyway) petty humiliations at the hands of his superiors-notably the odious, conceited Professor Welch-his students and his co-dependent sort-of-girlfriend Margaret. "One theme of Lucky Jim was getting good things wrong," Amis explained in an interview. "Culture's good, but not the way the Welches did it. Education is good ... but it is self-defeating if it isn't done properly." (Firchow 27) He fails as an academic, but, with another dollop of luck (better this time), he gets a superior job outside the academy and, as a kind of added bonus (or revenge), wins from Bertrand Welch a young woman of superior social class. (Clive 20) Throughout Lucky Jim, Amis is concerned with the restructuring of British society which took place after World War II. Some of the effects were intensively felt in the English education system through efforts to open educational opportunities to more members of the working and middle classes. The growth of the provincial universities and the decline of the influence of the culturally elite led to friction between the old and the new orders. In Lucky Jim, such cultural change leads to conflict between Jim Dixon, a young history instructor, and Professor Welch, his department chair. Jim sees history as a means of planning and preparing for a better future; Welch sees it as a means of romanticizing and sentimentalizing the past. Amis expands this conflict through Jim's interactions with his colleagues and acquaintances. Welch asks Jim to give a lecture titled "Merrie Olde England," a title which symbolizes the nature of the conflict. Welch tests Jim to see if he is willing to perpetuat e a myth, while Jim and his fellow veterans are trying to cope with life, love and a new social order. The conflict between Jim as representative of a new England and Welch as defender of the old one expands to include Welch's family and some of Jim's colleagues. As a weekend house

Information Resource Management Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Information Resource Management - Coursework Example Software engineering (SE) refers to the maintaining and developing software systems that perform reliably as well as efficiently. This paradigm develops systems affordable and easy to maintain, as well as satisfy all the requirements that customers want to see in the developed systems. The SDLC (systems development life cycle) the life cycle of software development is employed in systems engineering and software engineering, which is the procedure for modifying and creating systems, methods, and models. In this scenario software engineering is a concept behind the systems development life cycle for different types of software development techniques. These techniques offer a structure for planning as well as monitoring the development of an information system a. Discuss human-computer interfaces. What was the major change from the DOS operating system to the Windows graphical user interface? What likely changes will occur to interfaces in the future? Will virtual reality be a viable means of interfacing with the computer? The human-computer interface is the study of communication among users and computers. It is frequently known as the intersection of behavioral sciences, computer science, design and numerous other fields of study. Interaction among users and computers happens at the user interface that contains both hardware and software. The DOS-based operating system was operational through the command based user interface that was hard to use and complex to maintain. While the development of Windows-based human-computer interfaces offered the graphical user interface (GUI) based interaction that is more interactive and easy to use. In this scenario, virtual reality offers an enhanced means for interaction with the computer that is a most advanced for the human-computer interfaces.  

The Subprime Meltdown Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Subprime Meltdown - Movie Review Example Many banks, carried away by the rising real estate prices, extended loans to even those people who had a compromised credit history or did not qualify to secure such loans. The banks went extending such risky loans to profit from the high-interest rates agreed upon by such people. Being too overconfident that their creditors will eventually be able to honor such mortgages, considering the rising real estate prices, these banks did not care to be particular about the credit history of many of the creditors. By omitting this cardinal practice they not only compromised the eventual financial health of their banks but also betrayed their shareholders. The irony was that many Western investment firms also gave in to this opportunistic greed and readily purchased these loans from the erring banks to repackage them and sell them as Mortgage Backed Securities to their customers. The net result was that when in 2007 many customers started defaulting on their mortgages, it gave way to a chain reaction, leading to many banks and financial institutions going bankrupt. This avoidable economic debacle was caused by the basic unethical decision made by many banks to extend risky loans to customers with poor credit history. Simply speaking, defaulting customers, irresponsible banks, and unrealistically speculative investment firms were responsible for this fall. Primarily, the parties involved in these acts of omission were guided by ethical egoism. It is an ethical philosophy that lays stress on validating the rightness or wrongness of any action in relation to the extent to which it serves one’s self-interest. The banks and their customers opted for risky mortgages led by their greed for higher profits, even at the cost of forsaking sound financial practices. In contrast, if the investors and financial institutions had pursued a philosophy of ethical utilitarianism, which favors such decisions that enhance positive outcomes for the maximum number of people associatedà ‚  with such a decision, things would have turned different.  

The Reald World of Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

The Reald World of Management - Assignment Example The theory ‘X’ has been commented on greatly in the scholarly field in that it assumes that human beings are inherently lazy by default and as such does not like working (Stewart, 2010, p.1-2). The resultant of this in the real world is the devising of control mechanisms and supervisory tools to be used within organizations by the management. The reasoning of the theory is that people work because of coercion or by enticement through material gains without which the persons are determined to avoid working; therefore, the ambition of workers to engage in productive activities is boosted or controlled by enticements. This implies that management within this theory’s framework have to use coercion and threat in order to get work done or have general compliance by the workers. It is therefore concluded that all employees go out for their personal gains and, force or some sort of coercion must be sought in order to realize cooperation by the workers. However, a critica l evaluation of the theorem as is applied within the real life context proves differently in that people vary in the matters of personal drive and motivation; the generalization of this theory is erroneous because not always does workers require being extrinsically motivated. Personal drive and intrusive values go a long way in determining the productivity of individual persons as unlike the proposition by the theory. Moreover, a critical weakness in the explanation of this theory is noted in that it fails to explain the motivators of management personnel, as they are equally persons who would equally illustrate the same traits as other employees. The theory is thus seen as a tool effective in explaining the relationships within... This essay approves that nevertheless of critical concern between the current scholars are the applications of these theories in the real life situation s as they are seen to be highly probable through academics by rather inapplicable when in real life scenarios. This paper has concentrated in the analysis of the management theories as they have been in use through real life application as well as through the academics. This paper makes a conclusion that the theory ‘X’ has been commented on greatly in the scholarly field in that it assumes that human beings are inherently lazy by default and as such does not like working. The resultant of this in the real world is the devising of control mechanisms and supervisory tools to be used within organizations by the management. The theory is taken to imply that employees take pleasure in engaging their physical as well as mental capacities as they carry out duties assigned and as such take work to be as a natural duty. The challenges of bureaucracy in management are studied in theory ‘Z’. The power distance theorem on the other hand was developed to explain the value of cultural relations in management and the employees. The contingency theorem revolves around understanding the spectacular traits of individual leaders that use to motivate and inspire the employees. The effectiveness in applying the theory is thus only evident withi n the academic spheres as against within the corporate working scenarios.

Disc8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Disc8 - Essay Example Einsten (1940), notes that God, who rewards and rebukes, is improbable for the modest aims that internal and external need dictates man’s actions. It is because, in the eyes of God, he would not be held accountable. He concludes his notion of cosmic religious view by stating that human ethics should be built on compassion, societal ties and education. This ground should be formed without any religious foundation. He claimed that God can be perceived through the world’s lucidity or rationality that lies behind all work of science of a higher order. Einstein always believed in a form of religion that is sovereign of any church or system of belief. According to Einstein, humans do not have to pick between believing in God’s actuality and not trusting in God at all. The utmost human perception level is the cosmic feeling of religion. Einstein believes that the cosmic feeling moves past the purely human hypotheses of morality and fear. The celestial feeling attempts to conceive the universe as an effortlessly integrated whole. He viewed the cosmic religious feeling as sporadic and enigmatic but real (Einsten, 1940). Yes, Einstein had a view of religion. Despite his great admiration for the principles of ethics found in the Bible, he did not accept the view that suggested a personal God in the Judeo-Christian tradition. He continued to embrace Gods view that God is an imaginative mind that displays itself in nature wonders. Einstein did not change his view on religion even as he advanced his end years on earth. Therefore, he asked science to join forces with religion since they required each other.In his text, he states that science without religion is lame, and religion without science is blind (Einsten,

Jahari Window Essay Example for Free

Jahari Window Essay The Johari Window, named after the first names of its inventors, Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, is one of the most useful models describing the process of human interaction. A four paned window divides personal awareness into four different types, as represented by its four quadrants: open, hidden, blind, and unknown. The lines dividing the four panes are like window shades, which can move as an interaction progresses (Daft, 2011 pg. 273-276). The Johari Window concept would be particularly helpful for leaders to promote understanding employee/employer relationships and is a simple and useful tool for illustrating and improving self-awareness, and mutual understanding between individuals within a group. The Johari Window actually represents information such as feelings, experience, views, attitudes, skills, intentions, motivation, etc, within or about a person, in relation to their group, from four perspectives (Daft, 2011, pg. 275). The Johari Window model can also be used to represent the same information for a group in relation to other groups. Johari Window terminology refers to self and others: self means oneself, ie, the person subject to the Johari Window analysis. Others means other people in the persons group or team (Dart, 2011, pg. 275). The Johari window, essentially being a model for communication, can also reveal difficulties in this area. In Johari terms, two people attempt to communicate via the open quadrants. On the simplest level, difficulties may arise due to a lack of clarity in the interaction, such as poor grammar or choice of words, unorganized thoughts, faulty logic etc. This induces the receiver to criticize you, the sender, by revealing something that was in your blind quadrant. Then, if the feedback works, you correct it immediately, or perhaps on a more long term approach take a course in reading and writing. On a deeper level, you may be in a group meeting, and while you secretly sympathize with the minority viewpoint, you voted with the majority. However, blind to you, you actually may be communicating this information via body language, in conflict with your verbal message. On an even deeper level, you in an interaction with others, may always put on a smiling, happy face, hiding all negative feelings. By withholding negative feelings, you may be signaling to your friends to withhold also, and keep their distance. Thus, your communication style may seem bland or distant (Chapman, 2010).

The Location Of Activities Cultural Studies Essay

The Location Of Activities Cultural Studies Essay The Almighty Vice Lord Nation are based in Chicago, Illinois and began to spread over many neighbourhoods and community areas in the 1960s, for example in Garfield Park, Austin, Fifth City and several housing projects, like Cabrini-Green, Rockwell Gardens and Lawndale Gardens. While usually found on the west side in the 1980s they expanded on the south and north side as well to neighbourhoods such as Englewood, Roseland and East Side as well as to housing projects of Altgeld Gardens and Washington Park Homes. Today they can also be found in Wisconsin, where they are predominantly on the north side of Racine County. In summary it can be stated that the Almighty Vice Lord Nation mostly operates in Chicago suburbs at the moment. Furthermore there are different factions and sub-gangs, which can be found all over the United States.http://www.uic.edu/orgs/kbc/maps/Gangstoday.gif Personal comment When I first started doing some research for my gang I was a bit irritated, because it didnt seem to be a real gang. I didnt have the impression that this association could be taken really seriously, especially due to their symbols (a playboy bunny is in my opinion neither threatening nor serious). But when I learned more and more details about the Almighty Vice Lord Nation I was really shocked about how brutal and violent they operate. What surprised me was Bobby Gores attempt to turn a street gang into an activism community which aimed to help children and I was sort of disappointed that his mission failed. All in all I am definitely against violence and brutality, no matter if it happens in gangs or outside such a community. Furthermore I am worried that if you once become a member of a gang it is nearly impossible to leave it. http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj300/Lordism5/lordred.jpg Reasons for becoming a gang member There are plenty of reasons why people want to join a gang. Especially teenagers often struggle to find their place in the world and to define themselves. Being a gang member creates the feeling of being part of something and enhances their self-esteem by emotional support, attention, affirmation or simply understanding. Often those young people come from a difficult family or are loners and just want to fulfill their basic needs. Another reason to join a gang is peer pressure: if they live for example in a gang-dominated area or go to a school with a strong gang presence they are very likely to join this gang because most of their friends and acquaintances are already members. Furthermore, Chicago for instance can be very dangerous at night and being a member of a gang means to be protected from rival gangs.http://a3.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/profile01/147/5a3d2502b6ab451bbe150fabc5c827cc/p.jpg History The Almighty Vice Lord Nation is one of the oldest and most violent gangs of Chicago. Their history begins in 1958 in the juvenile detention centre St. Charles in a western suburb of Chicago, where seven incarcerated boys, namely Edward Peppilow Perry, who is credited with the actual founding of the gang and would become their official chief, Ralph Bonds, Leonard Cal Calloway, Bobby Gore, Maurice Miller, Toehold, and Wren, had the idea of founding this gang. The name Vice was chosen, when one of the gang founders looked the term up in a dictionary and found the meaning having a tight hold. After being released from incarceration the gang started to recruit lots of new members and engaged in wars against several clubs. At that time their territory was concentrated at about 21st and Lawndale. By the early 1960s the Almighty Vice Lords were involved in every kind of illegal activity such as robberies, assaults and extortion and their number began to grow and they began to expand in dist ricts beyond the west side. To soften their public image, which was known as very brutal and violent, and to create a structure the gang was renamed the Conservative Vice Lord Nation by one of the founders, Bobby Gore. To reflect their new mission, community activism, the gang turned into a legitimate organisation, trying to protect the neighbourhoods and opening a shop. In 1966 they even became part of the Civil Rights Movement and marched with Martin Luther King Jr. and his Southern Christian Leadership Council in a rally in the Marquette neighbourhood. After getting a lot of positive publicity and support of various politicians and community leaders the Conservative Vice Lords were able to open several legitimate businesses and community establishments with a grant of the Rockefeller Foundation. Despite their attempts of leaving their former image of being a violent gang, it was quickly discovered that the CVL were still violent criminals and had no intention to cooperate with the local police. In 1969 Bobby Gore got arrested for the murder of a young police man, though Gore denied to have committed the crime. Without his leadership the CVLs social activities failed, shutting down all of their programs. They began to engage in another lucrative business, the drug market. In the 1980s several leaders of the Almighty Vice Lord Nation were killed or sent to prison. To give the organisation a spiritual meaning the gang adapted a lot of the Islamic principles and even transformed some of their long time gang symbols. In the 1990s some criminal activities of the Almighty Vice Lords became more sophisticated, such as mortgage fraud, credit card fraud, and money laundering. Rituals They do accept everyone to join their gang. Before becoming a member you are required to take an oath and to memorize and obey all gang laws and rules. You are furthermore required to attend weekly meetings that are held by senior leaders. If you break a law or rule or miss a meeting, you get beaten. Allies and Adversaries Allies (People Nation): Blackstone Rangers, Bloods, Latin Kings, Black Peace Stones, Cobra Stones, Insane Popes, Gaylords, Future Stones, Four Corner Hustlershttp://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/gangs/images/c-people_sym.gif http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/gangs/images/c-folk_sym.gif Adversaries (Folk Nation): Gangster Disciples, Black Gangsters, Black Disciples, Crips, Party People, Imperial Gangsters, La Raza, Latin Eagles, Maniac Latin Disciples Clothes, colours, etc Colors: Black (race), Gold (wealth) and Red* Formerly the gang members used to wear trench coats, trousers and a sweater or a white button shirt. Some of them wore black capes with the word vice lords written in gold and an earring. Nowadays their attire is very mixed, Vice Lords wear everything from old jeans and black hooded sweatshirts to expensive suits. Especially most of the younger members try to keep up with the latest fashion; however some members wear cheap clothing. In order to avoid detection from police and rivals they prefer to wear dark after nightfall. In the Winter Vice Lords wear bottom or tug hoods. *The original gang colours are Black and Gold, however, in cities where Bloods have a presence, gang members of the AVLN tend to wear red in order to identify with that gang. Sizehttp://a3.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/123/c34f115c61e74a779c80364fb1b23671/l.jpg There is an estimated number of 30.000 to 35.000 members, while other sources claim them to be about 27.000. Ethnic Origin The members of The Almighty Vice Lord Nation are mostly African American males. Typical Activities The Almighty Vice Lord Nation engages in many criminal activities, namely vandalism, extortion, armed robbery, murder,  assault, battery, dog-fighting, gang-banging, arson, auto-theft, burglary, armed robbery, shootings, fraud, identity theft, money laundering and street-level distribution of cocaine, heroin and marijuana, the latter being their main source of income. Structure In the early years of the Almighty Vice Lord Nation, the three-top leadership positions consisted of a three-tiered structure, the seniors, the juniors and the midgets. Within the seniors there are ranking positions including the president (chief), the vice president, the war counsellor, the enforcers, and regular members. As the gang developed different branches, they incorporated the above-named rankings into each branch and some even created their own unique positions. Later on the gang established the group SCIA, which was founded to spy on the operations of other gangs. Furthermore they operate in factions, which are all considered legitimate. The current structure of the Almighty Vice Lord Nation Supreme Chief-King of Kings Prince of the Nation Minister of Justice Free and Accepted Almighty Minister Kings of the Nation Universal Elites Ambassadors Minister of Command Lieutenants Minister of Literature Symbols http://gangresearch.net/ChicagoGangs/SouthChicago/images/cvlsymb.jpg

Analysis of the US Healthcare System

Analysis of the US Healthcare System Cost, Efficiency, Choice and Equity in the United States Health Care System While excellent medical care is available in the United States, health care economics and the service delivery system present many challenges for the consumer and practitioner alike. This paper addresses four dimensions that are pivotal to the successes and failures of the system: cost, efficiency, choice and equity. The interplay of these dimensions across the canvas of health care options defines a system in flux, policymakers seeking a fair balance, and a nation in need of quality, affordable, accessible care. How do Americans pay for health care? The cost of health care in the U.S. is the highest in the world today. A higher percentage of national income, and more per capita, is spent on medical care by the United States than by any of the twenty-eight other country members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The United States spent $4,178 per capita on health care in 1998, more than twice the OECD median of $1,783, and far more than its closest competitor, Switzerland ($2,794). U.S. health care spending as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), 13.6 percent in 1998, also exceeded the next most expensive health care systems, in Germany (10.6 percent) and Switzerland (10.4 percent) However, the U.S. government finances a smaller portion of health-care spending than does any OECD country except Korea (Friedman, 2001; Hilsenrath et al., 2004). Being without medical insurance is synonymous with a lack of access to medical care. In the absence of a coherent, all-encompassing national health policy, such as universal coverage, Americans, under the age of 65 and above the low-income mark, face the necessity of obtaining some sort of private health insurance. However, more than forty-two million Americans (15.5 percent) were not insured in 1999 (Bureau of Labor Education at the University of Maine, 2001). Most of the uninsured have no employer-provided health care options and are unable or unwilling to bear the cost for the few types of plans available to them. If ineligible for government assistance, the uninsured have little choice but to wait until their health concerns justify emergency room treatment, an extremely costly option for hospitals. In fact, these emergency facilities may turn patients away unless their conditions are deemed to be medical emergencies. Of those who are insured, some can afford to pay, while others are covered by their employers for at least a portion of the cost. Employer-provided health care coverage, once an expected benefit, is becoming less common in the contemporary American workplace. Also, over the years, the array of services covered has become more limited, while the cost of insurance has risen. Rather like a black hole, the insurance industry, and the medical establishment in general, appear to suck in more resources while emitting less output. What are the private plan options? Cost, efficiency, freedom of choice and equity vary across the assortment of private health care insurance alternatives. The following includes a brief description of each type of plan (derived, in part, from Levchuk et al., 2000), and thoughts on the balance of these dimensions across alternatives. The traditional fee-for-service plan, while still a key part of the Medicaid and Medicare vocabulary, is a rarity in todays managed care world. Under this type of plan, freedom of choice is high for patients and for the medical establishment. Patients with a fee-for-service indemnity or reimbursement plan can choose any physician or facility. Out-of-pocket costs apply until a deductible is satisfied. Each service performed is the unit for payment and treatment decisions are not limited. Efficiency of service providers is not so precious a goal given these contingencies. While fee-for-service remains an option, the need for increased cost control and accountability drove reform that took the shape of managed care. Managed care organizations vary in cost, efficiency and freedom of choice across an alphabet soup of plan types. To the degree that equitable access to services can be seen as a function of cost for those services, equity also varies across plan types. However, some characteristics are shared among all these plans. In service of cost-effectiveness, these organizations manage the financing of care delivered to members. For example, buying in bulk achieves lower prices for services from hospitals and practitioners. Efficiency and cost control are enhanced by limiting choice; members are limited to a list of approved physicians, and doctors are restricted to formularies and sanctioned procedures. Another cost-saving measure is the prevalent requirement for referral from a primary physician in order to consult a specialist. This restriction may undermine efficient service delivery, as well as access to services. Choosing a pricier plan can mitigate the restrictions on freedom of choice; however, this poses the broader issues of equity and access. Of course, the member realizes efficiency benefits in that the plan manages the delivery system: the where, what and by whom of health care. Perhaps the best example of this is the one-stop shop of the HMO. Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) staff-model. Everything the member ordinarily needs is efficiently contained in a single location; caregivers and customer service, pharmacy and labs. The HMO premium is paid in advance by the plan member or the members employer. The size of the premium is independent of the individual plan members pattern of service utilization. Therefore, the actual cost to the plan for services delivered to members at the high end of the utilization distribution serves to raise the premium for all members. The premium covers all in-plan services, with the exception of deductibles and co-payments. This is an efficient fiscal arrangement in that it saves administrative costs for the billing process and the members time in responding to requests for payment. The inclusion of preventive care is a cost-saving strategy, as is the requirement for a referral process. Requiring referrals may benefit the patient by screening out unnecessary and, thus, inefficient procedures. If misused, however, this requirement becomes a barrier to obtaining necessary care. The potential for misuse is heightened by the practice of casting administrators, rather than caregivers, as architects of the guidelines for appropriate referrals. Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) independent practice association (IPA) model. With this type of HMO, the member sacrifices the efficiency of convenience for a greater freedom of choice; the plan sacrifices a modicum of control but gains facility-maintenance cost savings. IPAs are comprised of primary care doctors and specialists who see plan members in their own offices. Each doctor may be a participant in several IPAs, thus defraying the added facility-maintenance cost. Equity can be a greater issue with IPAs than staff-model HMOs; physical/geographic access to care is more variable with the IPA model. Preferred provider organizations (PPOs) are structured to offer members more freedom of choice in selecting a health care provider than do HMOs. In order to ensure coverage of cost, however, the member is constrained to choose from a defined network of physicians and treatment facilities. Typically, premiums are more costly for this type of plan. Providers within the network have contractual relationships with the PPO plan, agreeing to treat plan members at a discounted rate. The plan is responsible for recruiting/selecting an equitable mix of providers across locations, as well as for referral coordination and treatment plan review. Providers, who serve at the pleasure of the plan, must operate efficiently or operate at a loss to remain participants in a network. The final two types of private insurance plans to be discussed are hybrids of those previously described. Point of service (POS) plans offer greater freedom of choice than other managed care plans, and, therefore, command a higher price. Each point at which a health care service is desired presents an opportunity for the member to choose any service professional at any location to provide that service. Typically, resources characteristic of HMOs, PPOs and traditional fee-for-service plans are available to the POS plan member. The contingencies that condition this freedom are based on out-of-pocket cost to the member and are part of the agreement for membership in the plan. A different level of cost may be associated with each type of service; e.g., a visit with a physician outside the HMO and PPO entails higher out-of-pocket expense. In many POS plans, choice also is conditioned by the requirement for a primary care physician referral. Flexibility is high here. A member who prefers the efficient containment of an HMO for a routine physical and lab work may make this choice. The same member, experiencing headaches, may seek service from a clinic specializing in migraines, knowing that a portion of the cost will be absorbed by the plan. However, the cost for this degree of flexibility brings equity into question. Managed indemnity plans combine the freedom of choice and cost base characteristics of fee-for-service with certain cost-control measures inherent in managed care plans. Members may visit any physician they chose. Typically, members must seek prior approval from the plan administration before certain outpatient procedures and inpatient stays are warranted as covered by the plan. Often, preventive health care is not covered by managed indemnity plans, an arguably inefficient decision. Freedom of choice is quite pricey with this type of plan. Reimbursement for services is a relatively cumbersome process. The physician or member is required to submit fee-for-service claim forms to the plan. After the members deductible is satisfied, most plans pay a percentage of what they consider the Usual and Customary charge for covered services. The plan generally pays eighty percent of this amount, leaving twenty percent, known as coinsurance, for the member to pay out-of-pocket. If the chosen provider charges more than the Usual and Customary rates, the member is responsible for both the coinsurance and the difference. As with many of the plans discussed, the expense associated with a managed indemnity plan bars many Americans from taking advantage of the benefits offered. These are the privately-insured health care plans available, in varying degrees, to the American people. Each has strengths and weaknesses, evident in the relative balance of cost, choice, efficiency and equity across plan types. What publicly-funded options exist and who is eligible? Medicare is the federally funded health insurance program for Americans age sixty-five and older. Younger citizens with qualifying disabilities also are covered under this program. Medicare falls within the Social Security administration, the federal program charged with providing financial assistance to older Americans, the unemployed and the disabled. The program is funded by taxing employers and employees nationwide. Sounds like a good and straightforward idea; few would contest that the program has a great to offer and that these benefits are sorely needed. Medicare is really two health care plans: Medicare Part A insurance applies to hospital costs. Stays at other 24-facilities, including nursing facilities, psychiatric hospitals and hospice care, also are covered. Part A is free of cost to any Medicare recipient. Medicare Part B covers many outpatient procedures, doctor visits, lab test, some home health care and in-home use of medical equipment. Medicare-qualified individuals are enrolled automatically in Part B, and the monthly fee is deducted from the persons Social Security payments. However, a good deal of the medical care one is likely to require is not covered by this program. For example, Medicare does not cover nursing home care or long-term care in the home. Prescription drugs and routine physicals are not covered. Medicare also requires co-payments and deductibles. For seniors and others on a fixed and limited income, these charges add up over time and can serve as a real disincentive to appropriately seeking health care. Choice also is limited by the fact that many doctors do not accept Medicare and, of those that do, some do not accept the Medicare assigned amount as payment in full for all services. This means more out-of-pocket expense for health care services. Fewer doctors opening their doors to Medicare beneficiaries is an access problem, compounded by other barriers, such as the need for transportation and specialized services seniors may require to facilitate health care use. As a result, seniors able to afford the extra cost (an equity issue) are enrolling in private insurance plans structured to supplement Medicare benefits. Medigap offers one of the most widely available sets of plans for this purpose. Plans A-J, the ten plans available in most states, vary widely in coverage and in cost. Such plans help defray the expense of Medicare co-payments and prescription drugs, for example, but they do not apply to any service that is not covered by Medicare. Given that an acid-test for Medicare coverage is medical necessity, seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries still are in the cold with respect to such services as preventive care and regular check-ups. A fairly recent Medicare reform is the introduction of the HMO as a potential care provider. Traditionally, Medicare operates on a fee-for-service basis; patients are billed for each service received. Increasingly, states have begun to offer an HMO alternative to Medicare recipients. This type of public-private partnership for health care service delivery has many proponents and an equal number of critics. As discussed, HMO services can be more efficient, convenient and comprehensive than a fee-for-service plan. HMOs can compliment Medicare services by offering lower costs, much less paperwork, and a primary care doctor for coordination of care. However, without paying more, the patient is restricted to care providers within the organization. This can be especially troubling for seniors who may bring a long and complex relationship with a particular physician. Also, under HMO guidelines, the patient cannot seek service from a specialist without referral. The HMO model is particularly unsuitable for seniors who spend part of the year is a different location; services simply may be unavailable. The most terrifying health care issue in the Medicare arena is its potential bankruptcy. According to U.S. Census projections, the Medicare-eligible population will burgeon between the years 2010 and 2030 (when the baby boom generation reaches age 65). By 2030, there will be about 71.5 million older persons, more than twice the number in 2000. People age sixty-five and older made up12.4% of the population in 2000; that percentage is expected to increase to 20% by 2030. The number of people eighty-five and older is projected to increase from 4.6 million in 2002 to 9.6 million in 2030. To compound health care equity issues, minority populations are projected to represent 26.4% of the elderly population in 2030, up from 17.2% in 2002 (AoA, 2003). There are many proposals on the table with the aim of saving the Medicare program. This is one example of a political hot potato that deflects policymakers from the task of solving the overall health care dilemma in America. In President George Bushs proposal to strengthen and modernize Medicare, public-private partnership is at the forefront. He contends that, through private health plans competing for the business of Medicare beneficiaries, better coverage at lower prices can be achieved; also, government gets out of the medical price-setting business. He also foresees government leaving the field of crafting coverage guidelines because competition, again, will yield more flexible and innovative plans. What about a safety net for Americans who need health care but lack the resources to obtain it? Medicaid is that safety net for Americans. This is the joint state-federal program for financing health care delivered to people with sufficiently low incomes, or to the chronically ill and disabled. As with Medicare, services traditionally are reimbursed on a fee-for-service basis. Each state commits funding for the program and the Federal government provides a percentage match for these state funds. The rules by which states must run their Medicaid programs are dictated by the Federal government; however, many aspects of the program structure are at the discretion of each state. Therefore, the shape of the program varies from one state to another. Medicaid is subject to the same problems as Medicare, problems of access, cost, choice, equity and efficiency. Low-income recipients have difficulty locating providers, partly because low-income neighborhoods typically are underserved, but also because many doctors will not accept Medicaid patients. Often, the limited amount Medicaid pays for services is below market rates. Therefore, as previously mentioned, Medicaid recipients are forced to rely on emergency rooms for primary health care services. Another similarity to the Medicare program is the move by states to adopt a managed care model for Medicaid recipients. Managed care may correct some of the problems faced by Medicaid beneficiaries. If enrollment is achieved, then locating a provider is unnecessary. Access to preventive care may increase, and the range of coverage may improve. In the last part of the twentieth century, Medicaid expansions led some to see this as the path to universal coverage; yet it remains a means-tested program, subject to threats of political retrenchment (Grogan Patashnik, 2003). It should be noted that, without the Medicaid program, the majority of the current 51 million beneficiaries would be without coverage, because, according to the criteria that private insurers currently use to determine whom they will insure, most of these people need not apply (Iglehart, 2003, 2418). Conclusion Iglehart (1999) points to the painful conclusion that, for whatever reasons, the United States is alone among industrialized nations in its failure to develop a health care policy that offers basic benefits to all Americans, regardless of their ability to pay. The idea of a single-payer, publicly-funded plan has vocal and prestigious advocates (see Friedman, 2001); equally vocal and powerful advocates speak for the insurance industry and the medical establishment. The great American nationwide debate regarding how to make health care more widely available to all and still to control cost continues. Questions such as how best how best to measure efficiency in the provision of services, how to structure efficient care, and how efficiency compares with other health care values (e.g., equity and choice), continue as a focus of the debate. The World Health Organization (WHO) defined a fair health care system as one that provides a fair distribution of medical responsiveness across population groups and of financial support, so that everyone is protected equally from the financial risk of illness (Bureau of Labor Education at the University of Maine, 2001). For the United States, the overarching balance of cost, choice, efficiency and equity remains elusive. References Administration on Aging (AoA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2003). A Profile of Older Americans: 2003. Washington, D.C Bureau of Labor Education at the University of Maine, (2001). The U.S. health care system: Best in the world, or just the most expensive? Issues Brief, Summer, pp. 1-8. Friedman, M. (2001). How to cure health care. The Public Interest, 142, pp. 3-30. Grogan, C. Patashnik, E. (2003). Between welfare medicine and mainstream entitlement: Medicaid at the political crossroads. Journal of Health Politics, Policy Law, 28(5), pp. 821-858. Hilsenrath, P., Hill, J., Levey, S. (2004). Private finance and sustainable growth of national health expenditures. Journal of Health Care Finance, 30(4), pp. 14-20. Iglehart, J.K. (1999). The American health care system: Medicaid. The New England Journal of Medicine, 340(5), pp. 403-408. Iglehart, J.K. (2003). The dilemma of Medicaid. The New England Journal of Medicine, 348(21), pp. 2140-2148. Levchuk, C.M., Kosek, J.K., Drohan, M. (2000). Health care systems, in Healthy Living, ed. A. McNeill, Farmington Hills, Mich.: UXL, Vol. 2.