Developing and Managing a Strategic Marketing Plan

Question: The learner works as a marketing manager. He has been asked to write a report, to be presented to the board of directors, on how a strategic marketing plan should be developed and managed in an organisation. Answer: Introduction Strategic marketing is the foundation of the marketing as it will define the marketing style of an organisation. In this report, the planning phase of marketing strategy will be discussed for the organisation. Further, managing the strategy in marketing provides the company to achieve the long-term objective. This is a key factor for finding the way to manage the strategy in the organisation. In the planning phase of a firm, strategic marketing is one of the most important matters for the strategy maker as it will create the strategy for the whole firm at the same time. Discussion Strategic marketing plan may be a single name; however its diametric reach is much larger. It makes the firm to have a different identity from the others. Further, it provides the firm to make a different culture within a competitive environment and formulating the objective as per the strategic intent (Brennan and Brennan, 2008). Strategic marketing will be a part of the strategic management. It helps the organisation to compete in the highly competitive market and also helps the firm to utilise its limited resources for taking the opportunity to excel in the highly competitive market. It provides the management to make the firm more profitable maintaining the effective customer relationship (Doole and Lowe, 2005). Strategic marketing is associated with few process of strategy where some situational analysis is done before making any decision. In this process, management makes decision on resource allocation, implementation of plan and monitoring of the plan. Before making any decis ion, management goes by some results from some analysis like SWOT, PESTEL etc. SWOT analysis provides the insight of internal and external situation of the firm (Parry, 2005). SW indicates the internal situation such as strength and weakness of a firm that may be detected within the operation level to strategic level. OT indicates the external analysis for the firm where it is assessed with the peers company in the market. It provides the management to know the opportunity and threat in the firms business. The strategy of marketing is developed using many tools and in different parts. One of the most important tools is 7P of marketing where both product and service marketing are present. This tool will help the management to know the trends and changes in market (Proctor, 2000). It also provides the firm with a detail analysis on market so that management will be able to segment the market and know the target specifically. From 7P firm will know the strategy required for product, p lace, price, promotion, people, process and physical evidence differently so that it may manage the resources in a proper way. After this stage, the market analysis provides the firm idea on segmentation of market for your market, which helps the management to identify the customers. Further, it gives the information regarding the position of the company in the same segment industry. It is important as it will provide the firm to make its target better and it also provides the information on the target customers. The process involves the implementation of the plan within constraints. The limited resources of the company may open new challenges in this stage and management may change their decision due to non-available of resources. After this step the formulated strategy is implemented and monitored by the management for finding the gap of the planning. The last stage is the controlling phase of the marketing strategy (Ranchhod, 2004). For making the strategic marketing planning success, some models are used by the management. All the models used are useful in different perspective of marketing. The models are Ansoff matrix, BCG matrix, 7P and Porter five force strategies. The 7P model is already defined in early section. Ansoff matrix is associated with the new product development of a firm and new market penetration by the existing product that shows the chance of success for the firm in an expansion mode (Wilson and Gilligan, 2005). It delivers the firm analysis on the new product development in the existing as well as new market. New product development of the company is really important and risky for the firm so that management needs to be cautious before launching the product. Further, it also provides the analysis for new market for the existing product, which helps to expand the business of the firm. BCG matrix predicts the market share and growth of market for any specific product. Using this tool, managem ent gets the advantage of predicting the situation for the existing product and make decision of business for the future. BCG is the measurement of relative market share with the growth in product (Proctor, 2000). Using this matrix, management will be able to make decision of staying in a business or making it a scrap. 7P model is helpful in planning the marketing process matching with the objective of the company. It provides the insight of the separate strategy for the seven elements such as price, product, promotion, place, people, process and physical evidence. Further, it is also an important tool for matching all the Ps for making the strategy successful. It helps the management to make decision on matching the price of the product, promoting it at right place with the help of right people and process. Porter five force strategies is the ideal tool for assessing the competitive strategy of a firm. It describes that firm has competition from the peer companies and further it ha s to compete with the various stakeholders strategy for reducing the risk in its business. The industry rivalry is an external factor that cannot be controlled by the management but they have to deal with the stakeholder management. Here they have two main objectives to achieve minimising the threat of the business and minimising the bargaining power of the stakeholders. The threat from the new entrants and new products are the main concern about the model analysis of Porter (Parry, 2005). New entry of any company in same segment will intensify the competition for the firm. New substitute of the existing product makes the existing product to face challenges in the market and it may possible that firm has to reject the old product due to loose the competition. Bargaining power of the suppliers may make the company to buy raw material at higher cost, which may make the company uncompetitive in the market due to rise in the cost of production. If there is more peers company, then comp any has to face the challenges from them in terms of price, promotion etc. it increases the bargaining power of the customers as it provides the customers with different choices to buy the products. It is also a matter of concern for the company as it reduces the monopoly of the market resulting in intensified competition in market. The rivalry in the industry among the peers company is not good for any firm as it makes the management to make decision to under price its products due to the survival within competition of the peers company. Strategic positioning of the product/service is important as provides the firm the sense of success in a competitive market. It provides the business to be positioned its product in the market so that it can develop the business in various segment. Positioning is important as it provides the key metrics such as price, place of the products. It develops the business model for the product that must be accompanied by the company for the specific company (Doole and Lowe, 2005). Positioning of the product provides valuable information on the price and placing the products. The right price and right place is important for any product as it will be defined by the target market where the purchasing power of customer has to be matched with the price of the product. It also provides information relating to promotion of the product. Relationship marketing is essential in this context as it provides the management to make the loyal customer base for its stable business operation (Erdman, 1937). Relationship marketing has three working principle for making profit and driving the business towards the sustainability (Helm, 2005). It also provides the both parties sellers and customers to meet their objective. The key element of relationship marketing is satisfaction of customers providing the firm to retain the customer for a long time. Using the relationship marketing, firm may get the advantage of attracting new customer; retain the old ones and reduction of cost due to promotion and costs related to marketing. In addition it also makes the beneficial of having loyal customers base and drawing the customers to pay more for the product in future. Relationship marketing is also the factor for developing new product as per desired by the customer that helps the company to develop its intellectual property (Bruhn an d Frommeyer, 2005). Conclusion From the above report, it may be concluded that strategic marketing process is not a single event as it is recorded already. It is a process consist of planning, implementation and controlling three stages. Planning process is the most essential as any incorrect planning may change the situation for the company. Further, without implementation the plan a firm may not face the success of the good plan that is the reason for getting involved with the implementation for the long time by the top management. The system has implemented may become obsolete anytime as the business environment is changing every time. Thus, management needs to implement a controlling measure or monitoring system for the implemented system so that firm may be able to change their strategy whenever necessary. References Books Bradley, F. (2005).International marketing strategy. Harlow, England: Financial Times/Prentice Hall. Brennan, R. and Brennan, R. (2008).Contemporary strategic marketing. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Clarke, I. and Flaherty, T. (2005).Advances in electronic marketing. Hershey PA: Idea Group Pub. Cohen, W. (2005).The marketing plan. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Doole, I. and Lowe, R. (2005).Strategic marketing decisions in global markets. London: Thomson Learning. Emerald Group Publishing., (2005).Customer Relationship Management. Emerald Group Publishing. Ferrell, O. and Hartline, M. (2005).Marketing strategy. Mason, Ohio: Thomson South-Western. Parry, M. (2005).Strategic marketing management. London: McGraw-Hill. Peelen, E. (2005).Customer relationship management. Harlow, England: FT Prentice Hall. Peter, J. and Olson, J. (2005).Consumer behavior and marketing strategy. New York: McGraw-Hill. Ranchhod, A. (2004).Strategic marketing in practice 2004-2005. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. Roberts-Phelps, G. (2003).Customer relationship management. London: Thorogood. Walker, O. (2006).Marketing strategy. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irvin. Wilson, R. and Gilligan, C. (2005).Strategic marketing management. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann.

Five Paragraph Essay Sample - How to Write a Five Paragraph Essay

Five Paragraph Essay Sample - How to Write a Five Paragraph EssayWriting a five paragraph essay is a tough task for a kid who is just starting to learn about the writing. But if you are one of them and want to find something that is easy, here are some suggestions which will help you to finish it quickly. You can get the assistance of someone whom you are good with.One of the ways in which you can write a fifth grade essay is by using a five paragraph essay sample. In order to write a fifth grade essay, you must take the time to develop your own style and way of writing. Make sure that the subject matter of the essay is interesting and worth to read. If you start thinking to write something else, it would be best to get a hold of a fifth grade writing tutorial. You could also check for the writing tutorials online.Before you begin your writing, you need to consider the format which should be used in fifth grade. The formatting must be according to your topic. A fifth grade essay is m ost likely to be about some personal problem of yours. If the topic is based on subjects like that, then the students will have great difficulty to comprehend it.The important thing to remember is that students cannot be comfortable about what they read. So, the first thing you need to do is to make your essay captivating and interesting. That will only happen when you set your own style.The first example sentence is one of the main tips to keep in mind. It is the beginning of your essay. It is important that the first sentence is not long, but it needs to lead the reader's attention.An important thing to remember is that the student does not need to do the entire work in one go. You need to think of dividing the writing into smaller parts, so that you can get some time to think about your subject. Think of getting someone to help you write each section, and then you can make a part for each paragraph.When it comes to writing a five paragraph essay sample, you need to know the impor tance of setting the writing style. If you do not do this, then the essay may look wrong. Also, the reading comprehension of the student depends on the format of the essay.

5 Simple Ways to Stay Productive and Reach Success

5 Simple Ways to Stay Productive and Reach Success When things go wrong, or just aren’t moving forward the way we’d like, it’s easy to point fingers. That guy didn’t do what he was supposed to. I was waiting for her to go first. I just didn’t have time. Yet in most cases, the obstacle to our success is pretty clear-cut: it’s us. Here are five ways to  stay productive and succeed.1.  Tackle Your Work ImmediatelyProcrastinating is so easy- it can be hidden under the guise of â€Å"prioritizing.† Human nature being what it is, tasks put off for â€Å"later† will always be theoretical, just out of the reach of the to-do list. Going ahead and doing something, even if it’s not terribly convenient or enjoyable, brings it back to being a tangible achievement. Think how satisfying it’ll be to check it off.2.  Embrace The Possibility of FailureSure, you might fail. Guess what? If you do, the world doesn’t stop. Don’t let your fear of failure or your intim idation dictate your next move, because you will absolutely miss growth and opportunities if you can’t even get started.3. Own  Your IdeasYou had the great idea to begin with, so steer it confidently as you bring it to life. You bring skills and a unique perspective to the table- so even if others are having trouble sharing your vision, that doesn’t mean stop. It means keep moving, adapt if necessary, and know that your instincts are valid. It’s okay to be confident in your abilities.4. Turn Fault Into an OpportunityAnalysis is good, finger-pointing is not. Figuring out how things went wrong should be part of any development process, but find ways to make that a constructive session. Ask how things can be fixed and what specifically you or a colleague can do to improve the result moving forward.5.  Continue Learningâ€Å"I didn’t know† isn’t an excuse†¦it’s a cop-out. If you don’t actively learn from everything going a round you, don’t be surprised if you’re suddenly feeling left behind as others around you grow and change and move forward. Similarly, learning from the past can keep you from making mistakes over and over or getting disappointing results†¦again.The good news is that if you’re blocking your own success, you can also be the hero for removing that obstacle. No super-strength necessary, just a willingness to keep your head up and be proactive.Read More at Lifehack

Increasing of Medicaid Cost

Increasing of Medicaid Cost Introduction Medicaid cost has been increasing gradually in the past four decades and projection shows that, the trend might overtake growth of the United States’ economy. Since the inception of the Medicaid program in 1965, its cost has increased from 0.4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 2.7% of GDP in 2009, which is quite alarming given that economic growth is slow and susceptible to economic crises.Advertising We will write a custom proposal sample on Increasing of Medicaid Cost specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Although increased Medicaid cost is attributable to expansion of eligible beneficiaries, medical care and services have increased significantly, thus causing Medicaid cost to increase faster than the growth of GDP. According to Truffer, Klemm, Wolfe, and Rennie (2010), projection shows that, annual growth rate of Medicaid cost is 8.3%, which is unusually high when compared to the annual growth rate of GDP that stan ds at 5.1% (35). The federal and state governments are now grappling with the increasing Medicaid cost for it consumes significant part of already constraint budget in the face of economic difficulties. The increasing cost of Medicaid is unsustainable and, thus threatens the livelihood of the 60 million beneficiaries who entirely rely on Medicaid to access health care and medical services. Given that there is a high growth rate of Medicaid cost as compared to GDP growth, it is predictable that Medicaid expenditure is unsustainable; therefore, program evaluation is necessary to give appropriate recommendations that are robust in enhancing the sustainability of the Medicaid program. Problem Statement The increasing cost of Medicaid relative to GDP predicts that, Medicaid program is quite unsustainable if there are no effective reforms to change its legislations and policies as means of enhancing its sustainability. The gradual increase in Medicaid cost, in the past four decades since its inception, indicates that, the cost is going to increase exponentially in future unless appropriate comprehensive reforms are in place to reverse or slow the trends. Even though the increasing trends of Medicaid cost are attributable to expansion of eligible beneficiaries, health care and medical services are also increasingly becoming expensive, thus placing an extra burden on health care system, state, and federal government.Advertising Looking for proposal on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Zommorrodian and Matei (2010) argue that, program evaluation is necessary as it helps many organizations to formulate and implement programs that are cost-effective and efficient in delivery of services people (979). Hence, for the state and federal government to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of Medicaid program, recommendations of program evaluation are central in conducting comprehensive refor ms. Therefore, this research paper seeks to conduct program evaluation with a view of increasing cost of Medicaid to enhance effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability of Medicaid program. Purpose of Study The purpose of the study is to evaluate Medicaid program to ascertain its effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability in delivery of health care and medical services to the poor people. The study seeks to assess and evaluate roles of Medicaid in providing health care and medical services to the poor people in health care system with a view of formulating appropriate recommendations to enhance effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability of Medicaid program. Given that, since its inception in 1965, medical costs have been increasing gradually and are threatening to overtake the annual growth rate of GPD, the study will examine factors that contributed to the steady increase in Medicaid costs in the past four decades. Even though increasing Medicaid cost is seemingly proportio nal to expansion of eligibility criteria of beneficiaries, there may be other confounding variables, which contribute to the skyrocketing cost of Medicaid. Hence, the study will assess whether current policies and legislations are functioning effectively and efficiently in a cost-effective. Since Medicaid is a long-term program that helps the poor to afford and access health care and medical services, the study will also assess its sustainability.Advertising We will write a custom proposal sample on Increasing of Medicaid Cost specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Although Medicaid is currently serving over 60 million poor people, DeParle (2000) argues that, sustainability is a serious challenge because it requires a substantial deal of resources that federal and state government cannot offer in future due to increasing Medicaid cost that gives escalating pressure on economic resources (26). Thus, the study seeks to examine whether curren t policies and legislations of Medicaid provide for long-term utilization of health care and medical services by the poor as a way of determining sustainability of the program. Moreover, the study will assess if eligibility criteria of selecting beneficiaries is fair and objective to prevent unnecessary recruitment of the rich people who are able to access and afford health care and medical services. Thus, the study needs to establish if eligibility criterion is effective and efficient in selecting appropriate beneficiaries of Medicaid. The study will also conduct a survey to examine whether Medicaid beneficiaries receive health care and medical services, which are commensurate to the state and federal funding of Medicaid. In the survey, the study will assess if health care services that beneficiaries receive are proportional to medical cost that Medicaid pay. Assessment of health care services is critical as it depicts how Medicaid spends money and how beneficiaries receive health care services. Existence of inconsistencies will indicate that Medicaid is not using its funds effectively and efficiently in providing medical services to the poor. Thus, the study will carry out a comparative analysis of funds and medical services that Medicaid beneficiaries receive in health care system. Moreover, the study will evaluate the quality of medical services that Medicaid beneficiaries get from health care system relative to medical services that the rich obtain from health care system. Disparity in medical services that the poor and the rich get from the health care system will indicate the effectiveness and efficiency of Medicaid program.Advertising Looking for proposal on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Hypotheses The study hypothesizes that increasing cost of Medicaid is partly due to expansion of eligibility criteria, which has some deficiencies and thus requires appropriate reforms to streamline it. The inclusion of unnecessary beneficiaries into Medicaid overstretches the budge, which is already constrained by the economic meltdown. Furthermore, the study hypothesizes that federal and state funding of is ineffective because there is differential expenditure on Medicaid across states. Truffer, Klemm, Wolfe, and Rennie (2010) argue that the federal government spends about 7% of its budget on Medicaid, while the state government spends about 21% of its budget on Medicaid (33). Hence, government spending does not consider the disparity in the needs of poor people in various states, thus a challenge in the provision of health care services by Medicaid and health care system. The study also hypothesizes that, there is poor provision of health care and medical services by health care system despite the fact that Medicaid spends billions of dollars yearly. Thus, overall, the study assumes that there are inefficiencies in Medicaid program that need evaluation and assessment to obtain recommendations, which will form the basis of comprehensive reforms essential in enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of Medicaid and delivery health care services to the beneficiaries. Limitations of the Study The study will have a general assessment of policies and legislation of Medicaid to establish the extent of their implementation in Medicaid program; thus, the findings will be more of generalization rather than specific. Concerning the eligibility criteria, the study examines the eligibility of the poor and low-income earners, and this factor limits the application of the findings because it does not consider eligibility of disabled people, pregnant women, and people living with HIV. The study also assess and evaluate Medicaid from both federal and state level without exami ning specified state; thus, the findings may not reflect specified disparities that exist in various states. Since study will collect data from one state, the findings will have limited application within the state, for they have low external validity that makes extrapolation of the findings impossible. Ultimately, the findings have limitation because the study will only assess effectiveness and efficiency of Medicaid based on data from beneficiaries, Medicaid records, and health care system. Delimitations The study will not examine specified policies and legislations that different states employ when implementing Medicaid program. Given that there are different groups of Medicaid beneficiaries, the study will not assess people living with HIV, pregnant women and people with severe disability because they do not forma significant part of beneficiaries relative to the poor people. The study will not also evaluate effectiveness and efficiency of Medicaid in different states, but rat her examines one state as a model of other states. Moreover, the study will seek to assess quality of health care services that Medicaid beneficiaries receive, but will not examine disparities that exist from one state to another. Importance of the Study Due to the increasing Medicaid cost, assessment and evaluation of Medicaid program, in terms of its efficiency and effectiveness, in delivery of health care services to the poor, is crucial in the formulation and implementation of policies and legislation in a cost-effective manner. Given that increasing cost of Medicaid depicts that Medicaid program is unsustainable with its current policies and legislations, program evaluation is going to give appropriate recommendations that are essential in conducting comprehensive reforms that enhance sustainability of the program. The formulation and implementation of comprehensive reforms are critical because, unsustainable Medicare spells doom to the over 60 million beneficiaries most of wh ich are poor people relying on Medicaid to access and afford health care services. Thus, it is imperative to conduct a study to assess efficiency, effectiveness and accountability of Medicaid program with a view of giving robust recommendations that will reverse or slow trends of increasing cost of Medicaid and improve the quality of health care services that the poor obtain from health care system. Literature Review The Congress established Medicaid in 1965 as a health program to enable the poor people access and afford quality health care services that they require. Given that significant number of the poor did not have the capacity to access and afford quality health care services, congress established Medicaid as a social and health program that promotes health of the poor and elderly. From 1965, Medicaid has been expanding gradually because criteria for eligibility has expanded and included distinctive groups such as people living with HIV, pregnant women and people with disabi lities amongst other exceptional groups. Expansion of eligibility criteria has caused tremendous increase in the number of Medicaid beneficiaries, which consequently resulted into increasing cost of Medicaid. Increasing cost of Medicaid is detrimental to state and federal budgets because it constitutes about 7% and 21% of their respective budgets. Egert (2003) asserts that, Medicaid cost has increased exponentially in the past five years and severely strain state budget, making every state experience fiscal crisis (4). Thus, reforms are essential to provide means of alleviating the impact of the increasing number of Medicaid beneficiaries on state and federal budget. Medicaid started as a health program with noble objectives of helping the poor to afford and access quality health care services, and has currently expanded and included other notable groups, which are also unprivileged in society. Although the expansion of Medicaid has helped many people to afford and access quality he alth care services by creating equality in health care system, it has cost the state and federal government a fantastic deal of resources since Medicaid cost is increasing faster than the rate of economic growth of the United States. According to Dorn (2004), conservative policymakers are against expansion of Medicaid because it will not only increase pressure on state and federal budget but also increases share of the federal government on health care system that has increased from 9% to 33 % within a period of four decades (2). Thus, conservative policymakers want Medicaid to benefit only the poor because expansion will create many complications in terms of policy formulation and implementation as well as funding. Moreover, after the expansion of Medicaid criteria for eligibility, it caused unprecedented increase in the number of beneficiaries and concomitantly increased the cost of Medicaid. Expansion of the eligibility criterion to include people living with HIV has helped about 44% of their population in that; about 90% of children and 55% of adults are Medicaid beneficiaries. Therefore, it means that children form a significant part of beneficiaries who are living with HIV. Moreover, the eligibility criterion has expanded and included people with disability. Sheldon (2005) argues that, people with a disability are eligible to become Medicaid beneficiaries in spite of their levels of income because Medicaid is their primary health care insurance (5). Thus, a significant population of people with disabilities is eligible for Medicaid. Overall, expansion of eligibility criteria has impacted negatively on efficiency and effectiveness of Medicaid program in delivering quality health care services to its beneficiaries, particularly to the poor as anticipated early during the inception of the program. Therefore, Medicaid program is experiencing challenges in terms of formulation and implementation of policies and legislations to keep in tandem with increasing n umber of beneficiaries as well as cost of Medicaid. Since the cost of Medicaid seems to be unsustainable, comprehensive reforms are essential to streamline policies and legislations regarding eligibility criteria, management of funds and delivery of quality health care services to the increasing number of beneficiaries. Currently, it is predictable that Medicaid cost is going to overtake the growth of the United States economy unless appropriate reforms are in place to reverse or slow the ever-increasing cost of Medicaid (Levy 2008: 7). Thus, evaluation of Medicaid program is timely to provide robust recommendations that are essential in averting predictable health care crisis that may affect Medicaid beneficiaries. Methodology Scope and Purpose The purpose of the study is to evaluate Medicaid program by determining its efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability in delivering health care and medical services to the poor. To achieve its purpose, the study will examine the extent t o which Medicaid has implemented its policies and legislations towards achieving its objective of helping the poor to afford and access quality health care and medical services. Thus, to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of Medicaid program, the study will explore and collect primary data from Medicaid officials with a view of assessing the extent to which they have implemented relevant policies and legislations relative to expectations of the program. Moreover, the study will assess whether program activities are still in the program theory by evaluating process indicators of Medicaid program. Given that, Medicaid program is experiencing a challenge of increasing cost that seems to threaten its sustainability; the study will assess cost-effectiveness of its activities in delivering quality health care to the poor. To ascertain the impact of the program, the study will assess outcome indicators by collecting primary data from the poor, who are Medicaid beneficiaries. Evaluat ion Questions The study will conduct a survey, which targets two kinds of participants: Medicaid officials and beneficiaries. Medicaid officials will give information that is necessary in evaluating the extent to which Medicaid has implemented its policies and legislations. Moreover, they will also provide information that will enable researchers to examine process indicators and evaluate their effectiveness and efficiency in delivery of quality health care and medical services to the poor. Medicaid officials will also provide data regarding cost-effectiveness of Medicaid given that its cost is increasing gradually while threatening sustainability of the program. Hence, the following questions target Medicaid officials: Has Medicaid program implemented its policies and legislations according to its objectives? Is Medicaid program keeping in tandem with the program’s theory of helping the poor to access and afford health care and medical services? What are the recent reforms that Medicaid has done to improve delivery of health care and medical services to the poor? Since Medicaid cost is increasing gradually and is threatening the sustainability of the program, what are the cost-effective measures that are in place to reverse or slow increasing trends of cost? Is an eligibility criterion reliable in selecting beneficiaries who are low-income earners? Does Medicaid has contingency measures of coping with unprecedented increase in beneficiaries and subsequent Medicaid cost? What reforms are essential to enhance sustainability, effectiveness, and efficiency of Medicaid program? Additionally, the study will target Medicaid beneficiaries to collect formation that is necessary to assess outcomes or impact of Medicaid program on the poor. Thus, the study seeks to answer the following questions. Do you obtain quality health care and medical services through Medicaid Program? Does heath care system gives you quality health care and medical services as the rich p eople who have other insurance covers. Are you happy being a beneficiary of Medicaid? Has Medicaid effectively relieved your financial expenditure on medical bills? Since you became a beneficiary, has Medicaid improved or degraded quality of services that it offered with time? Since Medicaid expanded its eligibility criteria, has quality of health care and medical services changed for better or for worse? If you were in a position of influence, what are the recommendations that you would give to improve the delivery of quality health care and medical services? Target Populations The study will target Medicaid officials who are at the state level, who have vast experience regarding the formulation and implementation of policies and legislations that critical in enhancing Medicaid program to achieve its objectives. Medicaid officials are appropriate participants of the study because they can provide critical information concerning formulation and implementation of policies and legisl ations. Moreover, Medicaid officials know challenges that Medicaid is experiencing, for instance expansion of eligibility criteria, increasing number of beneficiaries and the rising cost that threatens the sustainability of the program among other related challenges. Fundamentally, Medicaid officials are appropriate participants because they can offer firsthand information to study that is critical in assessing and evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of Medicaid program in providing quality health care and medical services that are not only accessible, but also affordable to the poor. Thus, the study will target Medicaid officials who manage Medicaid program at state levels. To assess outcome or impact of Medicaid program, the study will target Medicaid beneficiaries who obtain health care and medical services from local health centers. Medicaid beneficiaries will provide relevant information concerning quality of health care and medical services, which health care system of fers to them as beneficiaries of Medicaid. The quality of health care and medical services is a parameter that measures whether Medicaid program is delivering services to the poor as envisaged by its objectives. Since the Medicaid objective and program theory is to help the poor access and afford quality health care and medical services, Medicaid beneficiaries have relevant feedback, for they are consumers of services that Medicaid program offers. Therefore, Medicaid beneficiaries are appropriate participants of the study because they know quality of health care and medical services that Medicaid provide to the poor, and thus provide reliable information that is robust in assessment of Medicaid outcomes. Sampling Frames The study will sample 50 participants from Medicaid officials who are managing Medicaid program at the state level. A criterion of sampling is that the participants must be in managerial positions with experiences of more than 10 years when serving under Medicaid. Si nce Medicaid officials are remarkably few compared to Medicaid beneficiaries, 50 participants will give sufficient information that is critical in assessing the extent of implementing policies and legislations, program theory and other process indicators. Since there are various Medicaid offices within a state, the study will ensure that at least every office gets a chance to participate in the study. Sampling of participants from every Medicaid office within the state will enhance representation of Medicaid officials and improve external validity of the findings. The 50 participants are significant for the study to collect primary data, which is reliable and can give robust recommendations that are applicable to other states through extrapolation. Thus, the study will rely on primary data from the sample of 50 participants who represent Medicaid officials. Since the study also targets Medicaid beneficiaries, it will sample 150 participants. The study will sample 150 participants to enhance external validity of the study as well as considering the availability of resources to conduct an extensive survey. The study will sample participants based on the number of years that they have benefitted from Medicaid as eligible beneficiaries. The study will sample beneficiaries who have more than five years in utilizing Medicaid services in various health care centers. Medicaid beneficiaries, who have been relying on Medicaid services for over a period of five years, are appropriate because they understand long-term variation in quality of health care and medical services. Moreover, the study will also sample Medicaid beneficiaries who are married so that they can give essential information regarding how their family members have been receiving health care and medical services. Hence, 150 participants must be having over five years as Medicaid beneficiaries and must be married. Program Design To assess process indicators of Medicaid program, the study will conduct a qua litative study by administering open-ended questionnaires to 50 participants, who are Medicaid officials. The questionnaires will contain evaluation questions that seek to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of Medicaid program in delivering quality health care and medical services to the poor. Researcher will visit various Medicaid offices within the state and administer questionnaires to participants. The study will continue for a period of one week to ensure that all participants answer their questionnaires effectively. The questionnaires have evaluation questions that will enable researchers to collect robust data for assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of Medicaid program through process indicators. The study will also conduct a qualitative study to assess outcome indicators of Medicaid program by administering open-ended questionnaires to 150 participants derived from Medicaid beneficiaries. Given that the 150 participants have more than five years in utilizing Medi caid services, their vast knowledge regarding variation in quality of health care and medical services is an asset to assessment of Medicaid outcome or impact on the poor. Hence, open-ended questionnaires are appropriate in assessing quality of health care and medical services that Medicaid deliver to the poor. Hence, feedback from 150 participants is reliable in assessing quality of Medicaid services and their impact on the lives of the poor, who entirely rely on it as the only medical insurance available to them. Data Collection and Processing The study will collect qualitative data using open-ended questionnaires by administering them to 50 participants. The 50 participants are Medicaid officials sampled from various Medicaid offices. These participants have extensive experience of over 10 years serving under Medicaid, and currently, they hold managerial positions where they influence formulation and implementation of policies. To collect appropriate data, researchers will visit numerous Medicaid offices to administer open-ended questionnaires to the 50 participants. The researchers will have a period of one week to administer the questionnaires to participants and ensure that they complete their questionnaires appropriately. After administering questionnaires and collecting relevant data, the researchers will then analyze the data and provide it in summary form. Likewise, the study will collect qualitative data from 150 participants, who are Medicaid beneficiaries. To collect qualitative data, the study will employ open-ended questionnaires, which seek to answer evaluation questions that are critical in assessing quality of health care and medical services, which Medicaid offers to the poor. To access 150 participants who are married and who have been relying on Medicaid for more than five years, the researchers will visit various health care centers where participants usually obtain health care and medical services. As in the case of Medicaid officials, t he researchers will administer the questionnaires for a period of one week to ensure that all participants complete their questionnaires and eventually summarize the data for further analysis. Data Analysis The study will analyze data in terms of process indicators and outcome indicators. To assess the effectiveness and efficiency of Medicaid policies and legislations in delivery of quality health care and medical services, the study will analyze qualitative data by examining whether Medicaid have achieved significant progress through process indicators. The study will assess whether Medicaid policies and legislations are in tandem with program theory, and logic model of helping the poor to access and afford quality health care and medical services in the health care system. Additionally, to assess whether Medicaid is delivering quality services to the poor, the study will analyze and summarize questionnaires to derive relevant information regarding Medicaid impact using outcome ind icators. Outcome indicators will show if Medicaid beneficiaries are receiving quality health care and medical services as per the program theory. Thus, comprehensive analysis of the data will give robust recommendations that are critical in reforming Medicaid to achieve its noble objectives in providing quality health care to the poor. Conclusion Medicaid is a health program established by the Congress in 1965 to enhance accessibility and affordability of health care services to the poor and unprivileged in the society. It has gradually grown with time due to expansion of eligibility criterion of selecting beneficiaries. The eligibility criterion has included pregnant women, people living with HIV and disabled people among other distinct groups who need medical services. Due to increase in beneficiaries, Medicaid cost has been increasing faster than growth of GDP, hence threatening the sustainability of the program. Thus, to enhance sustainability, the study proposes to evaluate Med icaid program by assessing effectiveness and efficiency of implementing policies and legislations. Moreover, the study proposes to assess the quality of health care and medical services that Medicaid offers to the poor. Reference List DeParle, Nancy-Ann. 2000. A Profile of Medicaid. U.S. Department of Health and  Human Services, 1-87. Dorn, Stan. 2004. Medicaid Coverage for Poor Adults: A potential Building Block for Bipartisan Health Reform. Economic and Social Reform Institute, 1-25. Egert, Beau. 2003. Medicaid Issues and Challenges. Texas Public Policy Foundation, 4-11. Levy, Elliot. 2008. Gifted and Medicaid. Journal of Finance and Accountancy, 1-8. Sheldon, James. 2005. Medicaid and Persons with Disabilities: A Focus on Eligibility, Covered Services and Program Structure. School of Industrial and Labor Relations Employment and Disability Institute, 1-24. Truffer, Christopher, John Klemm, Christian Wolfe, and Kathryn Rennie. 2010. Actuarial Report on the Financial Outlook for Medicaid. Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services, 1-39. Zommorrodian, Asghar, and Lucica Matei. 2010. Program Evaluation: Its Significance and Priority for Shaping and Modification of Public Policies: A comparative Analysis. American Society of Business and Social Sciences 17, no.1 (February): 979-996.

BPR and SCM Relationship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

BPR and SCM Relationship - Essay Example Business process re-engineering (BPR) is applied at the local, managerial, and corporate levels of the business. This concept has a significant impact on the various phases of the business process, where the changes that occur can be related to the flow of information and products (Desel & Erwin, 2000). BPR is used in SCM to renovate the managed and integrated processes that create a capable and viable business environment (Chan and Qi 2003). The crucial tenants of BPR is that it reduces tension between inter-organisational departments and business partners, particularly when the there is friction within the SC process (McCormack & Johnson, 2000). Business process re-engineering, specifically related to the main focus of technology and communication in supply chain management includes: (1)Further integration of activities between suppliers and customers across the entire supply chain;(2) on-going changes in supply chain needs and required flexibility from IT; (3) more mass customization of products and services leading to increasing assortments while decreasing cycle times and inventories; (4) the locus of the driver's seat of the entire supply chain and (5) supply chains consisting of several independent enterprises (Akkermans et al p 284 2003). The benefits of using the BPR concept to promote SCM needs are that it connects information management (McCormack & Johnson, 2000); promotes cost saving activities through efficiency and communication (Horvath, 2001), and reduces financial risk in unsuccessful supply chains (Cross 2000). Based on the above relationship between SCM and BPR, this essay will critically examine the use of both concepts in the airline and automotive manufacturing industries. The analysis focuses on the changes initiated that use (or do not use) BPR concepts as well as the manners in which SCM is (or is not) integrated into the business process. The analysis will examine what strategies are employed and their viability, with a final conclusion leading towards the similarities and differences of the selected industries through BPR and SCM. Airline Industry The value chain of airline industries (Kearney pp 3 2003) shows that the airline manufacturer exists beneath the scope of government and other regulatory boards. Airline Value Chain (Kearney pp 3 2003) Paul Brinkley, head of the U.S. Defence Department's Business Transformation Agency, says the agency is committed to making business modernisation improvements every six months for the next 10 years (Aviation Week & Space Technology p 19 2006). This is supported by Kenneth Miller, senior advisor to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, where the focus on modernisation and innovation stems from "acquisition, governance and transparency" (Aviation Week & Space Technology p 19 2006). This creates further pressure on the prime manufacturer who operates beneath the scope of the government regulatory boards and must develop technologies that are at once transparent and governed. The customer, suppliers and distributor are subjected to the rules of these regulations. The pressure can be seen as negative for the airline industry,

DISCUSSION QUESTION RESPONSE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 43

DISCUSSION QUESTION RESPONSE - Essay Example I strongly agree that communication is vital for success in this method. In addition, one has to undergo frequent testing, development and delivery. It is recommended that this development should focus on a rapid development (Terrell, 2012). Furthermore, it has to focus on contacts that are frequently used in creation of software which is able to cater for needs of several business users. It is obvious that remembering system development life cycle is very difficult. In the end-user development, the end user’s develop their applications. This may either follow a formal or informal manner. I therefore agree that mode of formality is the difference between other modes and system development life cycle. This model is limited as it has poor quality control, inadequate documentation and it requires maintenance from the IS department (Terrell, 2012). In the analysis of component based development, it applies the use of standard component in the application. Components are actually reusable and have one main function. There is a direct link between the web services and the service oriented architectures. Finally, terrace has outlined that object-oriented development focuses on different computer systems. The development does not dwell with perceptions in SDLC approaches (Terrell, 2012). There is an integral alignment of instructions which occur as computer programs which demands the procedural details from the programmers. In this system the real world aspects are modeled to perform the required

The History And Background Of Ethical Egoism

The History And Background Of Ethical Egoism Introduction Ethics, in Greek language means morals. In fact, ethics is de ¬Ã‚ ned as the re ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ection on what is moral Ethical theories deal with the question of how human beings ought to behave in relation to one another. (Dontigney, 2012 They attempt to systemize, defend and recommend concepts of right and wrong behaviour. They can be applied both individually and on a bigger scale like in companies. Different companies make their decisions based on various sets of theories. These theories are more like viewpoints from which guides them when making a decision. Each theory influences decisions made by an individual or company like predicting an outcome or following duties to reach what is called an ethically correct decision.For a company to zero in on a single theory to follow, it is important for the company to realize that not everyone makes decisions in the same way. There are mainly two different sets of ethical theories. Teleological which are consequential theories and deontological which are non-consequential theories. These can be further broken down into ethical egoism, utilitarianism and virtue ethics for teleological theories and for deontological theories; it would consist of Kantian and justice ethics. Let us take a detailed look into all these theories before making a statement on which theory is the most useful in making company decisions. Teleological Theories The word teleology in Greek language means ends. It is more concerned about the end product of a decision made rather than the actions.The goodness or badness of the outcome makes or breaks the decision made. However, the actions undertaken have no say. An example according to this theory can be, killing a bad person is morally correct if it is for the greater good. Ethical Egoism Ethical egoism is a standardized or an accepted philosophical view. It differs from psychological egoism, which claims that people can only act in their self-interest. It does not describe how people behave but how they are supposed to behave. Ethical egoism is the normative theory whereby people ought to act exclusively in their self-interest (Jones et al., 2007). Therefore, the moral principle of ethical egoism suggests that an act is ethical when it promotes the individuals long-term interest. It is possible for people to help others, follow the rules of society, and even grant gifts if they believe that those actions are in their own best interest. Ethical egoism is different from the other ethical positions as it portrays that other peoples interests is or should never be considered in making a moral decision. An ethical egoist believes sacrificing something for others is not a moral action unless it makes them happy or if the sacrifice gives himself benefits. This could satisfy a person in the short term, but in the long run it is not advisable as if everyone is just as egoistic, nobody would want to help when in times of need. An example would be that this individual who loves to shop. She sees this dress in a shop and wants to buy. However, she only has enough money to buy food for her household. So in an act of ethical egoism, she decides to spend the food money on the dress instead of getting food for her family as it benefits her and does not care about the people at home who have not had their food. Utilitarianism A utilitarian considers doing something is right if the action proves useful in bringing about the best consequences in the end. Utilitarian decision makers are required to estimate the effect of each alternative on all parties concerned, and to select the one that optimizes the satisfaction of the greatest number (Velasquez, 1998). Utilitarianism represents the dominant and most influential consequence based or teleological theory. Utilitarianism focuses on ends and not on the means required to achieving those ends and it takes into account all present and future benefits and harms that accrues or might accrue to anyone who is affected by the action, including items that may be difficult to evaluate accurately (Schumann, 2001). So in this theory, it is clear that as long as the work is done or the outcome of an action is desirable, one can undertake any methods. The flaw of this method is that it does not assume that all individuals should be treated in the same way. An real life ex ample would be the Americans bombings in Japan during World War 2. The Americans point is that the Japanese were developing the same kind of weapon to wage war so if that happened, many other countries could be affected. So before such a disaster could happen, they acted early and dropped a bomb of their own, killing thousands rather than sacrificing millions. Virtue Ethics The general concept behind Virtue Ethics is that it focuses on what the individual should choose for his/her own personal inward behaviour or character rather than the individual relying solely on the external laws and customs of the persons culture, and if a persons character is good then so ought the persons choices and actions be good. (Gowdy, 2010) This theory as it suggests, is used to make moral decisions. This method is based on the person having moral character and intentions, and their actions being ethical on that basis. It relies on an individual and not on other factors such as religion, society or culture. It is based on the question what sort of person should I be rather than what should I do. In simple terms, it is more of ones character and integrity. Its about what you are, rather than what you do. This is more of a practice knowledge. The more you practice, the more virtuous you are. The more virtuous you are, the more you will more likely make moral decisions. Ther e are many examples to this theory like, not stealing, not taking medical leave unless you are legitimately sick, showing up to meetings or work on time and not lying unless it is for a good cause. Deontological Theories Deontological theories, or duty-based theories, hold that human beings have a moral obligation to follow certain principles. Deontology is one of those kinds of normative theories regarding which choices are morally required, forbidden, or permitted. (Alexander et, al, 2008) According to these theories, the rightness or wrongness of actions does not depend on their consequences but on whether they fulfil our duty. Justice Ethics According to Rawls (1971), under a veil of ignorance, rational, self-interested, and equal individuals will agree that each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive total system of equal basic liberties. Moreover, social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged, and attached to offices and positions open to all under conditions of fair equality of opportunity (Budd, 2004). In Rawlss opinion, the first virtue of social institutions is justice for the individual and not aggregate welfare. He is concerned more with how the pie is divided than with how large it is. Inequalities are just only if they result in benefits for everyone, with particular emphasis on the least advantaged (Jones, 2007). The theory of justice requires decision makers to be guided by equity, fairness, and impartiality (Cavanagh et al., 1981). It relies on three types of moral prescriptions: (a) that individuals who are similar i n a relevant respect should be treated similarly and individuals who are different in a relevant respect should be treated differently in proportion to the difference between them; (b) that rules should be administrated fairly and clearly; and (c) that individuals should not be held responsible for matters over which they have no control, and should be compensated for the cost of their injuries by those responsible for these injuries (Cavanaugh et al., 1981). Decision making and reasoning based on the theory of justice focus on the distributional effect of actions (Cavanagh et al., 1981). Statement and Conclusion Now since all the theories have been explained and analysed, it is time to make a statement on which ethical theory is the most useful in guiding company decisions and why so. Based on my research, I feel that utilitarianism is the most useful and quite important in guiding company decision making. One can argue that utilitarianism does not please everyone emotionally and only takes the big picture into account. An act or choice is morally right if, in carrying out the act, one exercises, exhibits or develops a morally virtuous character. It is morally wrong to the extent that by making the choice or doing the act one exercises, exhibits or develops a morally vicious character. (Garrett, 2005) Every theory has its very own pros and cons. But for a company to make the correct decision in moving forward, they have to be utilitarian. In these times, a company is judged on how much profits they make and what is the position of the company. To be the best, you cannot give in to your emoti ons and set of rules of what to do and what not to do. The main aim here is to reap the sows. Business managers have to realise that when it comes to business decisions, its always a win-lose situation. Like for example, in order for gaining market share, a company must make its competitors to lose their shares. One cannot refuse to do such an act saying that it is morally wrong and giving in to their emotions. Another example would be increasing the value of a long term shareholder may require sacrificing of short term profits such as bonuses or monetary rewards to a companys employees or even the employer himself. But in the long term, there would be much more profits and monetary rewards to share. Lastly, I feel that the utilitarian approach is the best as a utilitarian is much more flexible in responding to different situations. A utilitarian only has two mind-sets varying from short term to long term goals or financial to non-financial goals. So when faced with a problem, a uti litarian will weigh up options and consider the corporate profitability instead of other factors such as employees or the community. Virtue Ethics A Basic Introductory Essay, by Dr. Garrett Latest minor modification November 28, 2005 Garrett, 2005 http://www.ethicsmorals.com/ethicsvirtue.html http://www.ehow.com/info_8404891_pros-cons-ethical-theories.html Alexander, Larry and Moore, Michael, Deontological Ethics, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2008 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = .