Analysis of a Vacant Position in an Organization

Analysis of a Vacant Position in an Organization Abstract An organizations workforce is its most important asset. Managers today are looking at new and innovative ways for recruitment and selection of new workers due to the range of complexities involved in the mobility of employees in and out of the organization and their interaction with potential colleagues. Many changes have occurred within the 20th century and organizations now place much importance on flexibility and the rapid pace that takes place within the workplace. The labor force market today is mainly driven by unemployment and there are many individuals willing to take up job that are offered without considering their interest, qualifications and fitness to take up the job. Organizations are on the other hand taking up the advantage and leaning towards recruiting these desperate individuals to minimize costs of maintaining highly qualified workers. With the situation at hand, the recruitment process has, therefore, turned out to be tougher than it has ever been. As a result, many ethical issues come up. An understanding of business ethics is generally an issue that is still developing.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Analysis of a Vacant Position in an Organization specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This paper aims at shading light on these ethical issues, with reference to a departmental manager job vacancy that was announced by a newspaper firm in Australia. It gives a brief overview of the job description for departmental manager position and the recruitment methods to be used and their relevance. The paper also goes further to discus the ethical and legal issues affecting recruitment, and incorporates the relevant theories associated with these issues. Introduction Workers are a fundamental component of every organization. These people are the primary machinery of the business and they are indispensible since they carry out the tasks necessary for the business or company. In recognition of the importance of the human factor in organizations, most companies have a Human Resource (HR) department which is charged with among other things hiring of new employees. The labor force market today is mainly driven by unemployment. Compared to the situation in the past, it is relatively easier to find a willing worker for a given position today than it was in the past. Most employees today are, therefore likely to end up in wrong jobs contrasting with their qualifications and even interest. This unfortunately translates into a disadvantage to the firms (Becker Gerhart 1996). Even so, as much as countries suffer from high unemployment rates on one side, firms in the same countries suffer from lack of suitable candidates for work. This phenomenon is probably caused by the absence of fit between the qualifications possessed by possible workers and those needed by the firms. With the situation at hand, the recruitment process has, therefore, turned out to be tougher t han it has ever been. It is much easier for a recruitment process to result in a wrong employee because employees are mostly driven by desperation rather than passion to take up any job that comes their way (Schwartz 2010). E thical issues, consequently arise from this complex situation. Firms are increasingly tempted to overlook the legal and ethical considerations for recruitment (Ryan 2006). In this paper I will analyze a vacant departmental manager position advertised by the leader newspaper organization. I will specify the various recruitment and selection strategies that can be used to obtain the best hire and discuss the ethical and legal implications of my selection choices.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Overview of departmental manager position: sales department Department manager is an important position in meeting the profit goals of the organization. The managers oversee all the functions of a sales department. They implement strategies and oversee the departmental employees to increase productivity. It is their responsibility to maintain and implement merchandise presentations, directing the daily activities in the store and reconciling averages or shortages to balance daily cash transactions. The departmental manager will conduct seminars and trainings to build skills and motivate their team members. He will perform continuous assessments on the productivity levels of employees and help them in achieving their sales goals. He will be relied upon to come up with methods that will benefit their departments and business at large. They implement changes as initiated by the company and support business efforts. By training their staff on sales pitches and stress management techniques, they help organizations in maintaining quality customer service (Brannick Levine 2002). This directly translates into higher sales in the organizat ion and new business opportunities. Recruitment methods Person-based analysis Skills Recruitment is the process of identifying the need in an organization to add an employee to fill a given role and announcing a vacancy position to the public or prospected candidate for the same. When recruiting for the above described position, I will post an advert in a daily public newspaper announcing the vacancy. This will be to maximize the number of people who will have knowledge of the vacant position. Word of mouth within top rank managers in the organization will not be the primary form of communication for this position as it is the case in many organizations today (Warren 1999). The announcement will be open to the public and will not give preference to any group of individual on the basis of race gender, religion or color. The advert used in this case is an open opportunity to all applicants, not specifying minimums in terms of education level or qualifications. It however specifies that the applicants should be enthusiastic, dynamic â€Å"people focused† leaders. Such open vacancy announcements encourage many applicants and do not hold the possibility of locking out talent. The ethical and legal implication As humans, our lives are guided by rules and standards which tell us how to act in given circumstances. In most cases, these norms are well established over many years and they are referred to as ethics. Chryssides and Kaler (1993) proceed to define ethics as a system of moral principles which assists in judging social conduct as â€Å"right† or â€Å"wrong† and this system is important for harmonious coexistence in the society.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Analysis of a Vacant Position in an Organization specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The ethical implication of my choice of recruitment will be to offer an equal opportunity to all interested candidates. Family and political connections will not come before skill and competency as the key factors in this process of recruitment. On the part of legal measures, it is illegal to give preference or discriminate against job applicants in terms of race, sex, religion, color, marital status, political stand, place of origin, and physical or mental disability during job postings (Guardiano 1994). Job requirements should be described in a way to give all potential applicants a chance to apply (Ryan 1995). In addition to this, since Australia is a multicultural community which harbors some minority and disadvantaged groups I shall have to consider whether there are any affirmative action programs in place. Affirmative Action consists of a set of antidiscrimination measures put in place which are intended to ensure access to some positions by society members who would otherwise by under-represented or entirely excluded (Kellough 2006). Selection Process Selection follows recruitment and it involves choos ing a suitable candidate from the submitted application forms to fill the post. Selection is geared towards matching people to specific jobs. This is considerably one of the most essential elements in successful people management of an organization. After receiving a pool of applicants as an outcome of the job posting, I will base on several methods of analysis to select applicants who qualify for an interview. By looking at the many application letters that I will receive, I will first perform a person-based analysis for the departmental manager position, by looking at personnel skills and competency of the applicants (Milkovich Newman 2010). Skill-based analysis During the selection, I will require a minimum qualification of a bachelors degree in business or a related discipline for this position. I will require that the successful applicants be well equipped with Information Technology skills to manage and plan business activities and records. Training skills are essential to help the manager in recruiting, coaching and assessing employees, and it will be an added advantage to those applicants who will have stated these skills in their application letters. (Brannick Levine 2002). The ethical implications of the skill-based analysis will be to give priority to the highly qualified applicants for the good of both the organization and the society.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More During interviews, I will ask direct questions that offer an explanation on the job requirements and expectations. This will be to give the applicants a clear understanding of what will be expected from the position give me a chance to observe their immediate reaction, helping me to identify the best candidate for the job. I will take care to avoid unlawful and discriminatory questions. Asking questions on prohibited grounds such as whether an unmarried applicant intends to get married or have children will only increase the possibility of locking out talents on uncertain grounds. Such questions may also attract legal questioning of my company and increase the risk of facing legal confrontations. Basing interview questions on general assumptions, for instance, asking an applicant whether they have children to disqualify them from a job position that requires long working hours is discriminatory and ethically unacceptable. Competency analysis For an organization to prosper, it is m andatory for the employees to provide high quality work. This is because the individual performance of the employees brings about organizational success. The increase in the performance and productivity of individual workers is a primary concern of the company and it is one of the ways that a business is able to counter increasing costs of running the business. Solid authoritative personality and prior managerial experience demonstrated during the interview will help me qualify the applicants and eventually come up with a shorter lest of individuals capable of maintaining and improving company standards and implementing business strategies to help improve sales. The successful applicants should demonstrate their awareness of the business competitors and industry development (Atchison, Belcher Thomsen 2010). Recruiting personnel basing on competency is ethically approved for this position because, being a leadership position, competency is a key factor in commanding respect from the workers under him. The successful applicant will need to have outstanding interpersonal, communication and customer service skills so as to enforce the provision of quality customer service (Ryan 2006). To get the best candidate for the position, I will further make calls to check the reference for the job applicants, who have convinced me during the interview, especially to their former employers . I will ask questions concerning their reliability and punctuality at their previous work place. I will not base on discriminatory questions such as the number of sick leaves taken by an applicant at her former employer. This will be to keep my recruitment process ethically sound (Alexander Buchholz 1998). Motivation Levels Motivation is essential for people in all avenues of life since it brings about increased performance. Its importance is even more accentuated in the workplace setting where increased performance leads to the success of the organization (Chryssides Kaler 1993). As a process, motivation involves engaging a person such that they show desirable behavior or perform certain required action. A hire who is intrinsically motivated to perform desirable activity will be the most relevant for the post. I will therefore run background checks on the potential employee’s previous employers to inquire as to his/her level of motivation. Theories in the recruitment and selection process Three theories of recruitment have been involved, basing on three ways by which employees make the decision to join an organization. These are the objective factor theory, critical contact theory and subjective factor theory (Delery Doty 1996). (a) Objective Factor Theory Under this theory, an organization recruits its employee from a pool of applicants basing on his education qualification and other special qualifications such as the length of experience. Delery and Doty (1996) reveal that on the other hand, the employee joins an organization basing on the location o f the organization, pay package, nature of work and other opportunities such as educational and career growth opportunities. (b) Subjective Factor Theory Under this theory, the employer looks at the capability of the applicant in relation to the position in terms of personality and fitness. The employer also concentrates on the general competencies of the applicant such as communication skills and possession of a foreign language (Delery Doty 1996). An employee is, therefore, chosen with regard to the compatibility of the applicant in terms of individual personality, to the general image of the organization. (c) Critical Factor Theory Here, the recruitment process is geared towards discovering and filtering potential, not just for the anticipated vacancy in an organization, but to search for potential prospective employee. This is normally the case where the labor conditions in the country favors the employees, where there are plenty of vacancies and scarcity of qualified personnel (Delery Doty 1996). In this case, the employer is interested in applicants’ potential, success level at projects handled and critical incidences in the applicant’s work experience. Discussion and Conclusion The cost of hiring new applicants is high and it is therefore in the best interest of the company to reduce turnover by selecting the most appropriate applicant for a position in the first instance. Human Resource managers are therefore looking for new and innovative ways to recruit and select workers today. However, today’s environment is dynamic and HR managers have to face a wide range of complexities when hiring employees. Before selecting potential employees, a firm should undertake a recruitment process that is directed towards attracting a large pool of qualified applicants. Selection method should be aimed at identifying the best qualified candidate possible from the large pool of applicants. The ideal worker is one who is both competent and motivat ed. An understanding of business ethics is generally an issue that is still developing. Recruitment process should always be based on legal and ethical standards to protect an organizations’ reputation as well as minimize the risk of legal confrontations. Job offers and postings as well as interview procedures and questions all need to observe the legal requirements. In all the recruitment process steps, the prohibited grounds should always be kept in mind and all questions should be asked in to give all applicants a fair chance to respond basing on the job needs. Such practice and recruitment process culture will eliminate the risk of an organization being charged with discriminatory hiring practices. Good recruiting will also foster an organization’s positive reputation in terms of good business and ethical practice. This makes the recruitment process easier for the organization. It should be noted that interviews are like advertising opportunities and all the interv iewed candidates should leave wishing that they could work for the organization. References Alexander, G J Buchholz, R A 1998, â€Å"Corporate social responsibility and stock market performance†, Academy of Management Journal, 22(3), 479–486.. Becker, B Gerhart, B 1996, â€Å"The impact of human resource management on organizational performance: Progress and prospects†, The Academy of Management Journal, 39(4), 779–801. Brannick, MT Levine, EL 2002, â€Å"Job Analysis: Methods, Research and Applications for Human Resource Management in the New Millennium†, Thousand Oaks, CA.: Sage Publishers. Chryssides, G Kaler, J 1993, An introduction to business ethics, Cengage Learning EMEA. Delery, JE Doty, DH 1996, â€Å"Modes of theorizing in strategic human resource management: Tests of universalistic, contingency, and configurational performance predictions†, The Academy of Management Journal, 39(4), 802–835. Guardiano, J 1994, Developin g Standards of Business Ethics in Poland (Center for International Private Enterprise, USIS American Embassy, Stockholm. Kellough, JE 2006, Understanding Affirmative Action: Politics, Discrimination, And the Search for Justice, Texas: Georgetown University Press. Milkovich, GT Newman, JM 2010, Compensation, London: McGraw-Hill Education. Ryan, LV 2006, â€Å"Ethical issues in business†, Journal of Business Ethics (2006) 66: 273–290 _ Springer 2006 DOI 10.1007/s10551-005-5598-7 Ryan, LV 1995, â€Å"Ethical Perceptions of Polish Business Students†, Business Ethics: A European Review, 4(1), 36–42 Schwartz, MS 2010, â€Å"The State of Business Ethics in Israel: A Light unto the Nations†, Journal of management Ethics, DOI 10.1007/s10551-011-1004-9 Warren, R 1999, â€Å"Against Paternalism in Human Resource Management†, Business Ethics: A European Review 8(1), 1.

Summary of the Lee Enfield Rifle †History Essay

Summary of the Lee Enfield Rifle – History Essay Free Online Research Papers Summary of the Lee Enfield Rifle History Essay The Lee Enfield Rifle was a new weapon introduced to soldiers of the Bengal Army. In order to effectively use the rifle the tip of each cartridge needed to be bitten off before it was loaded. There was a rumor spread amongst the soldiers that the tips were greased with pig and cow fat, both of which were against the religions of Muslims and Hindus. When soldiers refused to bite the tips off of the cartridges they were humiliated and in some situations relieved of their service. This event was one of several that lead to the Revolt of 1857, but this was the last straw. On May 10, 1857 a group of sepoys in Meerut in northern India massacred the English residents of the town, and marched on Delhi. Sepoys elsewhere heard of this and flocked to join the rebel cause Research Papers on Summary of the Lee Enfield Rifle - History Essay19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductPETSTEL analysis of IndiaWhere Wild and West MeetHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionQuebec and CanadaAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This Nice

How effective is the USA coast guard diving team (USA-CG) Essay

How effective is the USA coast guard diving team (USA-CG) - Essay Example action since 4 August 1790 and has marked its existence as a military and maritime multi-mission department having its own a maritime law enforcement mission with jurisdiction in both domestic and international seas and a federal regulatory agency mission as part of its mission set. It was founded by Alexander Hamilton. Another privilege, as Benson .M (2004) puts it, which the coast guard team enjoys in the USA is its functional powers to conduct military operations under defence department. In this connection, coast guard team has performed operations noteworthy in War of 1812, Mexican war, Civil war, World war-1 and World war-2, Korean War, Vietnam war and most importantly the on going war on terrorism etc. According to Deniss .L (2004), enduring roles of the Coast Guard are Maritime Safety, Maritime Security, and Maritime Stewardship. Eleven statutory missions have been established to carry out these roles so that there remains no lapse for any negligence that might occur due to non-attainment of the roles. The claim that the United States coast guard team is the oldest seagoing service can not be denied because it had its origins in the birth of the United States of America. Coast guard team works on the motto of being always ready; in Latin it is known as Semper Peratus. This signifies that coastal guards or coast guard team is always ready for the action if situation calls for the necessity or whenever it is deemed as necessary the coast guard remains ready to take any action. It was calculated in the August 2009 and Benson .M (2004) also says the same, that the Coast Guard had approximately 42,000 men and women working actively while 7,500 working as reserve guards. It also had an estimated 29,000 helping guards; further engagement of 7,700 full-time civilians for operational works when occasion arises, offers a unique and multi-dimensional spectrum to the Coast Guard department. Though USA-CG has multi-dimensional operations to meet with the various

Assess Kant's ethics of duty and freedom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assess Kant's ethics of duty and freedom - Essay Example According to Kant, ethics has to be considered from a human perspective. His writings on ethics are marked by an unswerving commitment to human freedom, to the dignity of man, and to the view that moral obligation derives neither from God, nor from human authorities and communities, nor from the preferences or desires of human agents, but from reason. (O’Neill, 1993, p. 175) Kant presented his ethical theory in his Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals (1785), Critique of Practical Reason (1787), The Metaphysics of Morals (1797), Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone (1793) and many essays on political, historical and religious topics. His ethics belonged to the critical philosophy developed in Kant’s masterpiece, The Critique of Pure Reason (1781). Kant constructed the principles of ethics according to rational procedures. He attempted to answer the question â€Å"What ought I to do?† Hence, he was concerned with the maxims, or fundamental principles which ought to guide our actions. A principle that cannot serve for all cannot be a moral principle, and this idea allows to assess ethically the maxims that agents adopt. Those who reject non-universalizable principles have morally worthy principles, and those who adopt non-universalizable principles have morally unworthy principles. The demand of the rejection of non-universalizable principles is called by Kant the Categorical Imperative, or the Moral Law. The Categorical Imperative is formulated in different versions. The strictest one is the Formula of Universal Law, which claims: â€Å"Act only on the maxim through which you can at the same time will that it be a universal law†. This is considered the keystone of Kant’s ethics (O’Neill, 1993). A maxim of false promising is not universalizable, hence cannot be included among the shared principles of any plurality of beings. The maxim of

Examining The Concept Of Lean Synchronization Information Technology Essay

Examining The Concept Of Lean Synchronization Information Technology Essay Lean manufacturing is an approach of continuous improvement that focuses on the removal of waste resources from a process so that the goods flow to the customer at determined rate with minimum inventory. It mainly focuses on eliminating resources that does not create value for the customer. Based on Toyota Production System, Lean concentrates on preserving value with less work. Lean synchronization is the aim of achieving the flow of products and services which is able to deliver exactly what customers want, in exact quantities, exactly when needed, exactly where required at the lowest possible cost (Slack et al, 2010). This report evaluates the utility and relevance of basic Lean principles and Management and applies the same principles in contemporary business environment. Executive Summary First part of the report talks about theoretical aspect of lean. The concept of lean synchronization is explained first. After this the principles of lean and benefits of using lean are described. Subsequently barriers to lean implementation are explained. Second half of the report accounts practical application of lean in context with healthcare industry. Firstly the need to apply lean in hospitals is determined. Basic need of lean in hospitals is to: Reduce patient wait time Reduce cost and increase savings and Improve staff efficiency. Lean principles are than applied on hospital operations. Analysis discovered that time creates value to the patient. After this, value stream was assessed and waste processes were identified in the journey of patients recovery and treatment. Further to this, wastes were identified and recommendations were proposed to eliminate those wastes. Important Identified Wastes are: Extra work done for simple and easy tasks. Investigations and tests those are not required. Patient waiting for tests and surgeries. Redundancy in treating a patient. Recommendations to eliminate such wastes: Avoid the use of complex equipments that makes the processes tedious and time consuming. Perform only those tests that are required for the treatment. Equipments must be ready before a patient comes to pathology lab and operation theatre so as to avoid waste of time. Things must be done in right way in first attempt so as to avoid repetitive actions. Concept behind Lean Synchronization The term lean came into existence post World War II when there was a huge shortage of resources in Automobile sector in Japan. Toyota Company developed the concept of achieving most with optimum resources, by continuous elimination of waste. Today this concept is well known as Lean Manufacturing across the globe and is not limited to manufacturing processes. Lean applies to the whole enterprise including supply-chain, new product development process and services. The concept of lean thinking was introduced to European world in 1991 by the book written by Womack, Jones, and Roos: The Machine That Changed the World. According to Slack et al (2009), lean synchronization is concerned all about: Elimination of waste in whole process Involving all the resources and Continuously improving the process Lean approach simply calls to work smarter rather than harder with value driven sense of purpose. Organizations that follow lean thinking understand customer value and focus the processes to increase it. The ultimate aim is to create a perfect value process for the customer with zero waste. Such contemporary approach creates processes that enable companies to respond to changing customer desires with high quality, high variety, and low cost with very fast throughput times. Lean Principles The main guiding principle of lean to create right value for the customer with minimum effort is compounded of five key principles: value, value stream, flow, pull and perfection. Value: The key principle is to identify the customers view point about what creates value to the customer. Value Stream: This is to identify all the steps in value chain and to eliminate all those that do not create value to the end product. Flow: In order to make a smooth flow of the product towards customer, the value-creating steps must occur in tight sequence. Pull: Make only what is pulled by the customer and creates synchronization between demand and manufacturing process. Perfection: Once the value is identified, value stream is specified with wasted steps eliminated and flow and pull are introduced, execute the whole process again and continue until perfection is reached in which perfect value is developed without waste. 5stepslean.gif Fig.1 Benefits of Applying Lean Traditional Approach: Traditional approach assumes that each stage is separated from the other stage by placing the output in an inventory. The next stage will take the outputs from the buffer inventory and will pass them to the succeeding buffer e.g. as shown in fig.2, outputs from stage A are stored in buffer inventory which feeds the system for Stage B. In this manner each stage of the operation acts independently and picks material from buffer inventory and processes it for the subsequent buffer. These buffers insulate each stage from its neighbors and operations of one stage do not hinder the next stage. Hence if operations at stage A cease due to some reason, stage B can still continue for at least one time. The condition of insulation of each stage that seeks to promote traditional approach is indeed the learning argument of this system. Problems: Inventory remains idle. Slow throughput times since items spend more time waiting in buffer. Lack of coordination due to insulation of stages. Problem solving responsibility will be centered on people working in that very stage. C:UsersVibhorDesktopUntitled.jpg Fig.2 Lean Approach: In contrast with the traditional approach, lean approach processes and passes items directly to the next stage, eliminating the buffer inventories, hence reducing the barriers between stages. This provides the required amount of input for each stage at the required time. In this approach, problems at any stage have different impact on the process e.g. in fig.3 if stage A stops its operations, than subsequent stages will immediately notice the issue and the problem is quickly exposed to the whole system. This helps in improving the quality by providing quick feedback at each stage. C:UsersVibhorDesktopUntitled1.jpg Fig.3 In the traditional approach, if one stage stops functioning the other stage may continue to process by the available buffer resources resulting in high capacity utilization. But generally this situation would not sustain for a long period of time and the whole process will come to halt once the buffer is empty. On the other hand, in lean approach each time there is a blockage in any stage of the process, the whole process will come to halt, reducing the capacity utilization initially. Therefore where traditional approach encourages efficiency by protecting each stage from disruption, lean approach motivates the whole system to solve the problem. Fig.4 Source: Slack et al, 2010 According to Wild (2002), following are the benefits of Lean synchronization. Also evident from the above differentiation: Reduced inventories and work in progress; Less use of space; Shorter throughput times; Increased employee motivation and participation; Smoother work flows; Increased productivity; Improved quality and customer service Barriers to Lean Synchronization Lean synchronization aims at managing the operations process in such a way that it achieves exactly what customers are looking from the operation. Pure lean synchronization intends smooth, continuous flow without any sort of delay, waste and imperfection. Following are the major barriers to achieve this ideal state: Failure to eliminate waste in all parts of the operation Failure to harness the contribution of all the people involved in the operation. Failure to establish improvement as a continuous activity. Source: (Slack et al, 2010) Waste Identification and Elimination: Elimination of waste is the basic part of lean thinking and identifying the waste is the first step towards its elimination. Any activity that does not add to value is called as waste. The wastes that hinder the streamlined flow are: Wait time worker wait time and machine wait time is waste. This is usually dependant on efficiency of machinery and workers. Conveyance Change in layout can bring processes closer resulting in reduced movements. Inventory Inappropriate quantity of production According to Toyota, supplying less or more quantity than required is the greatest source of waste. Delivery Time- Early delivery is wasteful. Therefore items must be delivered Just In Time. Variability- If quality varies according to customer expectations and customer considers to be inadequately supplied than the whole process is wasteful. waste-poster.jpg Fig.5 Employee Participation: Organizations following lean philosophy must encourage its employees to participate in problem solving activity. The intention to encourage the feeling of personal responsibility and ownership within the employees is referred as respect-for-people. Some basic factors in encouraging employee involvement are: Environment Safety safety standards and environment must be followed by everyone. Flexibility employees must be given authority to take decisions and restrictive practices must be removed. Equality each employee must be treated equally. Creativity each persons creativity must be utilized to improve the processes. Total people involvement- staff must be encouraged to participate in other activities like recruitment, supply chain and customer dealing. This improves the processes and benefits the company as a whole. Continuous Improvement: Kaizen: Kaizen is a Japanese term for improvement or change for better. In terms of Masaaki Imai, Kaizen is a continuous process of improvement in which each individual of an organization is involved to achieve a state of perfection. Three guiding principles of kaizen as explained by Hill (2005) are: Process reviews review of entire process from designing stage to delivery. People participation employees insights to improve the process. Constant need for change seeking improvement and implementing changes result in achieving perfection. kaizen.JPG Fig.6 Source: Archfield Consulting Group Deming Cycle: It is also called PDCA cycle which involve a team of people who continuously find improvements in an organization. Waters (2002) defined this cycle as: Plan review of existing processes, information gathering, finding alternatives and suggesting improvement plans. Do plan in implemented and performance data is collected. Check analyzes the collected data to check if expected improvements appear or not. Act- if improvements are visible, the operation is made permanent else lessons are learnt. deming cycle.png Fig.7 Applying Lean in Healthcare Industry Applying lean in healthcare industry is similar to its application in manufacturing. Lean manufacturing reduces waste from the set of operations that takes place in producing of items. Similarly lean can reduce waste and improve the services provided to the patients in hospitals. This may also help hospitals to manage issues like financial deficits, infections, waiting queues and capacity management. Why Lean in healthcare? Alike other industries, healthcare also face problems like safety concerns, capacity and waiting queue management, low level of efficiency and lack of staff motivation. To get rid of these issues and to deliver improved and timely patient care, it is important to base hospital processes on lean synchronization. Lean implementation in hospitals can also prevent hospitals acquired infections, avoidable injuries, death and less recovery time. Traditional practice in hospitals Major time of patients and hospital staff is wasted due to multiple trips made by the patients and the staff members. Once the tests are performed, patient is called for diagnosis after few days. Treatment for the illness may or may not start on the same day. This delay in treatment may cause deterioration in patients condition. Implementation of lean in hospitals will reduce the time taken in treating the patient. According to lean process, a patient must come once and all the processes must be done on the same day e.g. tests are done and the treatment is started soon after the diagnosis from the tests. The process mentioned in the figure consumes unneeded time of patients and hospital staff and this in turn increases the overall cost and risk to life. Avoiding such unnecessary trips eases patient care and reduces the workload on doctors. Lean eliminates waste processes and increases the overall throughput in hospitals. Untitled.png Fig.8 Untitled.png Fig.9 Source: NHS Confederation Principles of lean in healthcare Value: To ensure patient satisfaction, hospitals need to analyze the patients viewpoint as depicted in fig.10. Value is the perception of a patient and can be created when right consultation, test, diagnosis, communication, treatment and after care is provided to the patient. By eliminating waste processes and utilizing resources, staff will be able to concentrate more on patient care. figure3.jpg Fig.10 Source: JWA Inc. Value Stream: Value stream is the process of identifying all the steps that creates value to the patient and eliminating those that creates no value to the patient. Usually hospitals tend to group patients on the basis of clinical similarity. However lean focuses not on similar conditions but similar processes.Fig.11 shows various steps and processes taken to discharge a patient. Untitled.png Fig.11 Source: Flinders Medical Centre In a hospital a value stream is the end-to-end process of caring for a group of patients whose overall care process have enough in common for them to be managed together, irrespective of clinical diagnosis (David Ben-Tovim, 2006). Following are the steps that may not create any value to the patient and should be eliminated: Patients visit to hospital on different days for different tests. Time wasted when patient waits to be seen by the doctor. Unnecessary step of nurse checking the patient. Time wasted in collecting medical equipments and information. Repetition of processes such as diagnostic tests and paperwork. Time consumed in searching medical history of patients. Performing tests that are not required. Fig.12 The factors stated above signify that time is the most valued element for the patient as well as for the hospital staff. To eliminate this waste of time, we first need to identify the cause of this waste. Fig.13 shows the causes that increase the waste in waiting time. Cause and Effect 3.jpg Fig.13 Waste Identification: Waste is anything that does not create value to the patient. Inventory: Holding excess material to avoid unreliable supply is referred as inventory waste in hospitals. Eliminating such waste can reduce cost and time of both the patient as well as the hospitals. Extra Processing: Use of complex equipments to conduct simple tests makes processes large and inflexible and may cause stress to the staff. Overproduction: Unnecessary tests and investigations are referred as overproduction in healthcare industry. These tests must be avoided to save time and cost. Waiting: This is the patient wait time that created due to process or material waiting e.g. patients waiting for test or surgery due to equipment readiness. Transportation: Movement of patients and materials are considered as waste but these cannot be eliminated completely. Processes must be arranged in a manner that steps become sequential and easy to identify. Defects: Defects increase the processes and are caused due to wrong medication or infections. Doing things in a right way will reduce redundancy as well as defects in a process. Movement: Hospital layout must be in a way that it minimizes the repetition of movements by staff and patients e.g. in operation theatres, all equipments must be in reach of the operation table so as to ease the surgeon while doing surgery. Mapping Value Stream: The challenge in value stream is to map exactly the things that actually occur at each stage of patients journey towards recovery, as depicted in fig.14. Lean redesigns this flow to enable seamless movement of patients to the next step without unnecessary work or wait. Fig.14 Fig.15 shows an example of process mapping where it just takes one step on the process of tests and lists each step of work that is currently performed. Amount of time, distance covered and required amount of materials can be added to each such step. It is evident that huge amount of work is being done without creating any value. Involvement of staff during waste identification is usually advised so that the effect of one persons actions is visible to all. Fig.15 Flow: Flow is the process where every patient is worked with single unit at a time and passed to the next step without any delay. Following are few processes that can be redesigned in order to implement lean operations: Concurrent medical problems complicate patient care of an elderly patient who got fractured. Treatment is affected because specialists fail to communicate and coordinate with each other. This problem can be resolved by creating another department called Trauma Unit which creates a single team having all kind of specialists. A standard hand off process between each member will make it possible to identify and address treatment issues regardless of who is on duty. In hospitals, usually same type of operations is conducted on one day and another type of operations on other day. To increase flow through surgeries, it is suggested that few operations of each type should be performed each day. This will reduce waiting time for patients as well as burden on wards. In outpatient department, patients are usually called in the morning at same time say 9a.m. and it is highly likely that not all of them will be treated at the same time and some have to wait till noon. Hence patients must be called according to priority and severity of the problem. Samples are held back in pathology to process them in batches. This leads to increase in wait time for patients. Samples must be tested soon they arrive to the lab. Pull: To create value to the customer, services should be provided in line with the demand. If the demand is for 100 admissions a day, it implies that 100 patients must be discharged on that day to accommodate the demand. To achieve this demand in hospitals all the key processes and interfaces between them must be redesigned. The time required to spend on each activity to achieve output in line with demand is called as Takt Time. It is the time that identifies the speed with which work and materials flow within different departments. In pull system, each patient is treated as one unit at a time and passed to the next level without as soon as it is ready. Fig.16 shows a pull system where each stage of the process pulls the patient towards it. Untitled.png Fig.16 Source: NHS Confederation Perfection: After eliminating all the waste processes without compromising the quality of service, the whole operations process is repeated until perfection is achieved. To achieve perfection in hospitals, following aspects must be taken care of: After Lean Implementation Patient first Wait time unaccepted Reduced errors Existing resources Reduce waste Problems visible to all End to end process Before Lean Service provider first Wait time Errors New resources Reduce cost Problems not visible Functional management Perfection Fig.17 Perfection is achieved by continuous improvement of the operations process. It is therefore necessary to that all the staff members and the hospital management must commit to seek perfection at their level. By creating standard, visible and clear processes, we can develop the foundation of uninterrupted improvement, where every new improvement becomes a landmark or platform for future processes. Advantages of Lean in Hospitals: It is observed that implementation of lean in hospitals have increased efficiency from 15 to 20 percent with safer and improved services using the existing infrastructure, technology and staff. Hospitals across the globe, which have adopted lean philosophy, have benefited from its implementation. According to David Ben-Tovim of Flinders Medical Centre, Australia, the hospital was struggling to survive and was on the verge of meltdown. But after applying lean in their operations process, they managed to earn more profits and decreased the costs. Some important advantages of lean are: Reduction of wait time for patients. Reduced cost and increased savings. Reduction in physical floor space by 30%. Productivity increases from 75% to up to 125% in some cases. Good customer relations. Staff motivation and reduced stress levels. Untitled.png Fig.18 Conclusion The aim of this research was to understand the lean philosophy and to apply lean principles in healthcare industry. It is evident from the study that lean philosophy brings positive results. It improves safety, quality and morale of the staff along with reducing time and costs in the operations process. Lean when enforced in hospital operations can add value to patient care and improve efficiency. Lean principles are generic and can be applied anywhere. If lean principles are applied at each stage of the operations process than huge amount of time can be saved. These principles challenge the whole idea of batching, triage, economies of scale and de-skilling. Results of lean implementation are potentially significant. Lean acts as antidote to traditional approach of performance management. Its emphasis is to put the whole system in a valuable stream. Leans focus is to improve effort on things that weigh importance to patients and hospital staff. It opposes the external benchmarks whic h tend to express the things that are indirectly related to improve patient care. It is also evident from the data that hospitals that have adopted lean in their operations have improved in terms of patient care, costs and time. Hence it can be concluded that implementing lean in any industry will prove to be the best bet.

The Beach :: essays research papers

"The Beach" "The Beach" has turned out to be a very controversial film, imposing positive and negative views. Harry, in "The Juice," gave the film an A1 rating with all optimistic remarks. Matt Wolf gave the film a very negative review, mocking every aspect of it. I am going to cover audience, tone, content, organization, and the overall effect. Audience- The audience that Harry tried to reach was a younger crowd that would appreciate the smaller keynotes of the film. With phrases like "Yes I said intriguing, henceforth, this is a kick ass flick, no lie." Wolf leaned toward an adult audience that would be more influenced by larger vocabulary. With words like antecedents, and incremental, that my computer doesn't even have in it's spell check. Along with phrases like "the beaches resident despot, whose officiousness do-exists with a strong sexual appetite." It isn't that I don't understand these phrases and words, but I just don't want to read them in a movie review. Tone- Harry used a tone that was more informal with a smaller vocabulary; words like believable and particularly, words that are understandable. He also used a kind of techno-lingo, which is understandable to teens but not to adults. Wolf used a very formal tone which was directed to adults. As I noted earlier he uses words that aren't even in spell check. His attitude coming into the piece was very negative against the film, with remarks such as, "So how is Leo? Not bad actually, which is more than can be said for a script from John Hodge that ditches most of the novel's tension." Content- The content in Harry's piece was more like a plot summary, with phrases like, "We find a self-contained environment, complete with couples, brothers, and friends, the whole nine yards. This is the main focus of the film." He was more optimistic and just generally nicer in his review. He also used two historical references, such as "Swiss Family Robinson," and "Taxi Driver," that he believed reflected the plot of the film. Wolf used a more quotation-oriented view. He didn't really summarize the film, but just depicted every part and used quotes to reflect his views. He was also very pessimistic as aforementioned. He also imputed a lot of prior history on the book and the film, with many different views on all the parts of the film. Organization- Harry's organization was very loose and difficult to follow; he was not orderly and he really didn't use a outline formation.

Request for Sponsorship Essay

Alcaraz Group Sales Manager-Area 1 Splash Direct Sales Division Splash Corporation Highest Fraternal Greetings! As a part of our fervent campaign in bringing forth excellence from every individual and celebrating the freedom of thought and self-expression of every people, we, the Kappa Sigma – Kappa Delta Sigma Confraternity, a duly recognized confraternity in the University of the Philippines, will be holding our annual HIMIGSIKAN on 26th of February 2013, 7pm, at Meanwhile Bar, Balibago Angeles City. HIMIGSIKAN, our confraternity’s major event, is the much-awaited student-oriented musical affair not only for UP students but for the youth and all music lovers as well that highlights a coveted acoustic performance competition from different student organizations in our university. This year’s theme shall be â€Å"Sarap at Pait ng Pagsasama, Ilalahad sa Awit ng Barkada† In line with this, we are cordially asking for your assistance for the success of our event’s endeavor. Rest assured all solicitations will only be used to enhance and to further improve our plans for the event. We are looking forward to you for being a part in this fervent cause. We are hoping to hear from you soon. May God’s richest blessings be unto you! Sincerely Yours, Teddy Calilung Grand Lord Sigman Kenn Carlov Twano Sigman Master Scribe [pic] [pic] ———————– University of the Philippines Extension program in Pampanga Claro M. RectoHighway, CSEZ,Pampanga Co. reg. no. CN200618309 Co. TIN 006-532-105 www. kappasigmafraternity. net kappasigmakappadeltasigma@yahoogroups. com KAPPA SIGMA-KAPPA DELTA SIGMA CONFRATERNITY VDFGCOSFGCONFRATERNITYCONFRATERNITY Council of Masters and Lady Sigmans A. Y 2012-2013 Grand Lord Sigman: Teddy Calilung Deputy Grand Lady Sigman: Jessa Claire Pangilinan Sigman Master of Initiation: Michael John Aguas Sigman Lady of Rites: Ila Bernice Malenab Sigman Master Scribe: Kenn CarlovTwano Sigman Lady Master of Scroll: Monica Del Puerto Sigman Lady Master Bursars: Jhoane Capili Janne Kazel Punzalan Sigman Lady Master Herald: Analyn Pineda Prof. Penelope Nalo Faculty Adviser