Introduction and Learning Objectives of Accounting free essay sample

Completing the Balance Sheet Student Handout Contents: 1. Learning Objectives 2. Tutorial Questions 3. Lecture Materials Lecturer: Dry Victoria Clout Website: http://tell. Nuns. Du. AU Introduction and Learning Objectives In this week we are turning our attention towards the remaining major component of the balance sheet owners equity. Like liabilities, owners equity represents another form of financing for a business. At first glance, liabilities (capital provided by redirectors) and owners equity (capital provided by owners or shareholders) may look very different. As we delve deeper into the topic, however, you will appreciate that debt and equity are at either end of a continuum of financial instruments and that sometimes, financial instruments exhibit both debt- and equity-like qualities. Further, you will note that some financing arrangements do not appear in the balance sheet at all! In our discussion of equity financing, we discuss the option of using equity as a source for resources (assets) of the corporation. We will write a custom essay sample on Introduction and Learning Objectives of Accounting or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Shareholders are a key source of initial finance for a company. While traditionally regarded as the owners of a companys assets, more recent thought suggests that the shareholder exchanges their investment in a company for a right to the residual cash flows of the firm (dividends). At the end of this topic, you should be able to: LOL . Describe the components of owners equity ALL.

Marine Science vs. Oceanograph essays

Marine Science vs. Oceanograph essays The European Sea Floor Observatory Network is establishing a network of long-term, sea floor observatories at key provinces around the European area in relation to physical, chemical, oceanographic and biological phenomena. ESONET is focused in the ocean margin areas which are less well known and generally beyond the reach of existing ocean data systems. The European Ocean Margin region extends approximately 15,000 kilometers from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, comparable with the total land mass of Europe. Only a small fraction has been explored and new features and animals are discovered every year. The objective is to produce a practical plan for long term monitoring of the ocean margin environment around Europe. ESONET will be complementary to other oceanographic networks. Both long-term data collection and alarm capability in the event of hazards, like earthquakes, will be considered. Another relationship between geological oceanography and marine biology is the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS), set in the late 1980s to study the ocean carbon cycle. An ambitious goal was set to understand the controls on the concentrations of carbon and associated nutrients in the ocean. A new field of ocean biogeochemistry emerged with an emphasis on quality measurements of carbon system parameters and interdisciplinary field studies of the biological and physical process which control the ocean carbon cycle. As they studied ocean biogeochemistry, they learned that the simple views of carbon uptake and transport were severely limited. JGOFS has been supported primarily by the U.S. National Science Foundation in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The European Sea Floor Observatory Network is establishing a network of long-term, sea floor observatories at key provinces around the European area in relation to physical, chemical, oceanographic and biological phenomena. ESONET is focused i ...

The Global Business Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Global Business Environment - Essay Example The environment in which Toyota operates is becoming extremely tough every day. All businesses are facing problems today due to increasing costs, cultural diversity, globalization and decrease in global demand. The world has seen a great financial crisis in recent years and economies are still to recover from it fully. In such environment companies are finding it hard to produce and sell its product to customers. The external environment is also affecting organizations in new ways because media and communication technology has developed so much and any ethical issue can seriously hurt the reputation of the company. Competition is also increasing in business environment as companies are trying to innovate and market their products in better ways. In this report we will conduct an external environmental analysis for Toyota. We will talk about markets, competition and regulations that can have an impact on the company. The ethical issues, corporate social responsibility and environmenta l policy and its affect on Toyota will also be discussed. This paper will deal with the external environment and not with the strategy of Toyota. Markets, Competition and Regulation Markets are evolving at a great pace in today’s fast moving world and it is important to keep in mind the changing demand of target market. Competition is also increasing as companies are trying to increase efficiency by decreasing costs and improving quality of their products. Regulations are also getting stern everyday and automobile companies have to keep in mind the safety standards set by the companies. This means increase in testing of cars which will lead to greater costs. In this section the impact of markets, competition and regulation on Toyota will be discussed. Markets and its Impact of Toyota The main target market of Toyota is the middle class income group of the world. These are the people who cannot afford luxurious cars but want vehicles that are cheap but durable vehicles. Toyota provides cars to middle income people of the world and prices are also lower in comparison to BMW and Mercedes. Over the years this target market has been consisted as they cannot switch to expensive cars and they also don’t switch to cheaper manufacturers. This is why this market of Toyota was considered relative safe and loyal to Toyota. But this is changing because now the target market of Toyota is also evolving. The target market is demanding innovation in designs and specifications. The medium income group target market has become more aware of the different brands in the market. They have also become more design oriented and are demanding newer and better designs. Car movies and games have informed the market about fast cars and sleek designs therefore they want these things in their cars. This problem is staring Toyota in the face because design was never a strong point of the company and its focus was on durability and prices. Evolving markets are in this way impact ing the business strategy of Toyota. The main strategy of Toyota is that of reducing service costs by giving customers quality and durability (Harrup & Janssens, 2008). This is causing problems because the markets of Toyota are evolving and they are demanding better designs from the company. The external environment is therefore impacting the strategy of Toyota. The increasing focus on design and specification of the market can decrease the demand of Toyota cars. Customers will look for new car manufacturers

Benefits of technology evolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Benefits of technology evolution - Essay Example Speaking about the evolution of technology we can’t but say that the question if it benefits us or not is rather controversial. The trouble is that some inventions in the field of technology are beneficial, but some of them on the contrary cause a lot of harm. Some people even state that technology makes us â€Å"imprisoned† that means too much dependence on the technology. Thus, some individual reject technology recollecting the life of our ancestors, who had a chance to live longer maybe because technology was not so highly developed. However, we can argue that technology is still very helpful and it is not possible to live without it in the modern world. But for the technology we would lose many opportunities. First, technology helps us to maintain physical health. Using special technological adjustments such as artificial limbs and pacemaker, many people have an opportunity to live full-fledged life. Certainly, we should not rely on the technology and conduct health y way of life. Some people make a mistake believing that technology can always save them. Thus they ignore physical activity and consume unhealthy food. Technological opportunities in the field of healthcare are not unlimited, however, they can save lives of many people. For example, pacemaker can make one’s heart beating after it stops! There is no need to say how many lives were saved with the help of this technological adjustment. Those people who went through amputation can keep living full-fledged lives with the help of artificial limbs. But for this adjustment, their abilities would be limited and they would have to use wheelchairs and would always need somebody’s help if decide to go outside. We even do not need to mention such devices as ultrasound and X-ray, which are invaluable in the process of illness diagnosis. Technology allows patients to contact the specialist they need through the internet. Also there is an opportunity for nurses to monitor patients di stantly. Doctors also have easy access to patients’ history that is stored in computers. Field of education also benefits from technology evolution. Students have easy and fast access to different kinds of information. Online tests help check the level of knowledge. The opportunities provided by the technology are also invaluable for teachers as they are able to get the material needed for the classes in the internet with no need to look for it in the library. Students can pass exams in the electronic regime and teachers can send instructions by e-mail. Technology also helps develop curriculum: â€Å"The traditional, paper-based development process has some crucial problems. Conducting needs assessments, holding committee meetings of teachers and development experts, mailing materials to reviewers, and waiting for responses takes enormous time and effort and often results in low participation. Most importantly, logistical constraints mean that the people most directly impact ed by the new materials—teachers and students—are too often not included in the development process (apart from a few committee representatives) and commonly find that the materials created lack quality and usefulness†(Scholl). Communication also represents a field that benefits from technology. In the past people had to cross long distance just to talk to each other or transfer some message. â€Å"Modern technology has made it simple to discover our old friends and also discover new people

Legal Department Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Legal Department - Essay Example As Adoranti (2006) explains, business to business and commercial contracts explicitly define the obligations of sellers and buyers. This includes the specifications of the contacted for products/services, their quality and time/place of delivery. The violation of contractual obligations, on either side, can be cause for the invalidation of the contract and grounds for the payment of financial penalties (Adoranti, 2006). As our organization's legal councilor emphasized, the binding form of contracts implies that it is incumbent upon the organization to ensure that a contract works in its favor and not against it. Hence, within the context of our organization, the policy is that no sales contract is signed prior to the formulation of an inter-departmental business plan which details how the organization will fulfill the contract and whether, indeed, it can. Only following a thorough review of this plan does the legal department authorize the signature of the contract. The regulations which the legal department has imposed upon contractual commitments are an outcome of prior negative experiences. Two years ago an overenthusiastic sales department committed the company to the supply of more than it could produce within a specified time period. As the Sales Director had the authority to conclude contracts, the outcome was the overextension of corporate resources in a bid to satisfy its contractual obligations and, ultimately, a failure to meet the time of delivery, resulting in the imposition of fines upon the company. This incident, as the corporate legal councilor informed me, instigated a revision of corporate policy, whereby contracts could only be entered into following inter-departmental meetings and the formulation of business plans which outline strategies for the fulfillment of contractual obligations. Contracts, however, do not represent the extent of the legal department's involvement in corporate and business processes and relations. Indeed, one of the department's primary concerns is employee relations, the implementation of corporate policy and the assurance of adherence. Insofar as the aforementioned is concerned, Poole (2004) identifies it as one of the more important of any corporate legal department's responsibilities, comparable to the implementation of law and order. As such, the legal department governs/supervises employee relations and ensures adherence to a specific code of conduct. This code of conduct extends to company-related behavior following the termination of the employee-employer relation. For example, in the event of an employee's dismissal for non performance of job related responsibilities, he/she is, as per the employment contract signed, warned against both defaming the company and exposing company business secrets. This, as the legal councilor advised m e, was standard practice in most organizations but, without doubt, one of the more important of the legal department's responsibilities as it involved the safeguarding of the company from disgruntled former employees. The protection of the company against defamation, not just by former employees but by competitors and the media consumes much of the legal depa

Corruption In Latin America The Case Of Ecuador Politics Essay

Corruption In Latin America The Case Of Ecuador Politics Essay As part of an activity in the area of studies in Latin America, the purpose of this essay is to analyze Corruption as one of todays most marked problematic in politics, but more specific the paper will focus in discuss the reasons and consequences of corruption and its manifestation in Ecuador. The background of the regions domestic politics, neighboring countries like Bolivia and Venezuela and its influence over national politics, and the actual events which have determined the situation Ecuador is facing nowadays; during the development of the essay some of these variants will be explained. In this essay, effects of legality and legitimacy will be addressed towards corruption, and how the failure of one of them, lead to larger possibilities of corruption. It will be also explained the reason corruption causes poverty and creates barriers to overcome this problem and the explanation of how corruption affects more to the poor people due to their fewer options to deal with its consequences. It has also shown the negative impact on programs for the eradication of poverty, making them ineffective. Another trend of corruption addressed in this paper is the tendency to the misallocation of resources and the resulting stagnation of economic development. Some of the key factors related to corruption participation, questioning the authority and the observation of law citizens have towards their governments, have being reflected it variables like the income per capita, percentage of poverty, lack of opportunities for education and health care, all of them negative correlated with Corruption. Corruption not only violates the economic and social rights but also violates civil and political rights, distorting or invalidating the political processes and institutions, weakening the role of the judiciary and law enforcement officials. Latin America, a continent full of contrast, determined by a wide variety of climates and natural resources, it also occupies the status as having some of the most corrupted countries in the world. The main issues drawn into this problematic derived from the dilemma of Legality and Legitimacy; the first one is defined as situations accepted by the establish law, while legitimacy consists in the credibility of this law. For many decades Latin American presidents have faced coups and judicial proceedings for corruption cases, Pinochet and Fujimori are clear examples. These violations to democracy and citizen rights have resulted in the lack of credibility in the governors and government institutions by the population. Corruption has had greater impact in the macroeconomic variables, reducing the opportunities to be part of an important international trade and scaring away any forms of foreign investment. Latin Americas institutions are viewed as obsoletes, and due to the high corruption public officials are involved into, the inexistence of governmental institutions provide more chances for all types of corruption, among others, cronyism and embezzlement. Another important factor inducing to corruption in the Latin states is the lack of vertical accountability, which is the standards citizen must have for their political leaders and the punishment they should received, if doing something wrong. Despite many Latin nations counts with a system of elected representatives, the empowerment giving for decision makings to individuals and institutions exert a disproportionate influence in national politics, state and local levels through corruption; This creates loss of public confidence in the institutions of democracy, losing their legitimacy among their citizens. Some of the most common examples of corruption are related to taxation, distribution of public resources and trade regulations. It is important to mention not all the countries posses the same grade of corruption, for instance Panama and Peru have shown a rapid growth (except in 2008-2009), Brazil, Mexico Colombia and Chile have grown into political maturity and a certain economic prosperity; But countries like Honduras, Venezuela, Paraguay and Ecuador have gone backwards, sustaining political instability, the rising of poverty and new opposition parties. In general terms corruption is a phenomenon which many democratic nations face around the globe, its best defined as political corruption involves the abuse of public power for some private benefit (Canache et al, 2005). In the case chosen for this paper, Ecuador, a country in Latin America with a population of 14 million of people is consider according to the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2009 as the fourth most corrupt country in Latin America after Haiti, Venezuela and Paraguay respectively. To understand Ecuador todays situation, it is crucial to stress some key facts in the countrys political system. Since the 90s was marked by The Confederation of Ecuadorian Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE) consider as of Latin America ´s most active indigenous movement, who despite the efforts was unable to reach a vigorous participation in the political system. During the years to come (1997-2005) Ecuador counted with five different presidents, Abdala Bucaram, Fabian Alarcon, Jamil Mah uad, Gustavo Nova and Lucio Gutierrez, three of them elected by popular vote and then forced to leave office by coup dà ©tat; Some of the causes were the severe Ecuadorian Financial crisis in 1999 by the falling of international oil and the latest one caused by popular revolts known as rebelià ³n de los forajidos leader by Rafael Correa. Ecuador actual formal president Correa ran for presidency in 2006 with MPAIS as his electoral movement, competing against the PRIAN and PSP two of the most powerful parties in the country. His strategic formula to win the spot was defined by anti neoliberals formulas, promising a political reform, redesigned the governmental institutions and placed the state as the main actor in regulating the national economy. Correa, characterized by left turn ideology, played his first card by calling to a plebiscite to support his idea of a new constituent agenda annexed to the creation of a new constitution, winning by 82% yes vote; the triumph was indubitable in double sense, not only he placed 80 of the 130 seats with his viewers (MPAIS) in the constituent assembly, but he appeal for the public opinion as a democrat, taking peoples voice into account and increasing public content on his government. Due to the new constitution elections were call again in 2009, this time Correa won in the first round with an overwhelming 51,69% of approval. Despite his triumph during the last year his popularity has dropped from an initial 73% to 52%; Correa Falling in the polls was due, among other things, the scandal sparked by millionaires public contracts awarded to Fabricio Correa, brother of the president. This Abuse of public power for private gain is consider as one of the most popular form of corruption, which results into a mistrust of the population in the government and its institut ions. According to Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International when basic institutions are weak and nonexistent, corruption spirals out of control and the increased looting of public resources, enhance the insecurity and impunity. 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Country Rank 82 74 79 89 113 112 117 138 150 151 146 CPI Score 2,4 2,6 2,3 2,2 2,2 2,4 2,5 2,3 2,1 2,0 2,2 The above graphic shows the Corruption Perception Index during the past 10 years in Ecuador, the score maintains a similar range, but more surprising regardless of the many different presidents Ecuador has counted with, and the different policies applied, they seem to be trapped in the same problem: Corruption When Correa took office he argued to be part of todays new wage of leftist president, with domestic and foreign policies to be implemented according to the 21st century socialism. Although he increased social expenditure by rising salary wages and conceding credits to small businesses, they were likely to be short term concessions, per suiting a permanent campaign and keeping opposite parties under control. Part of Correas government initial trend was retuning the exploitation of natural resources done by foreign multinationals to the Ecuadorians, instead in practice, he signed contracts with outsider companies for the exploitation of strategic mining and energy resources, the real question here is what was under this rare contradiction, or perhaps is a form of clientelism? In this process, Indian communities living and working the lands signed to the mineral multinational complained, but Correa dismissed the movements, replacing and rejecting claims; in other words, his new socialism proved to have a lack any social structural changes, but more into what he opposed or not. Some other initiatives took by Correa and his government, relying in the countrys development strategy, was granting telecommunication monopolies to private firms, an opposition to land reforms by attacking the agro-commercial class (located mainly in Guayaquil) and a subsidy with clear support to the capitalist class. Some responses by the people have resulted in protests, and a consider drop in the polls. One cannot assume the surplus of money for private benefits in Correas government, but the lack of transparency in the actions made with the public budgets; prove the non existence control by Ecuador legislature, an ineffective judiciary, as well as non independent oversight bodys institutions and a weak implementation of the law. In the International Arena, the situation of Ecuador has followed two paths; the most visible influence by other states in Ecuadors government orientation is the clear support from other leftist presidents, as it is the Case of Venezuela with Hugo Chavez, and Bolivia with Evo Morales. The alignment for new plans of cooperation within the nations and the ideas of imperialism by remain in power, adds more reasons to believe the impunity of corruption Ecuador posses. The idea of refusing to pay the external debt by Correa, stressing an illegitimate foreign debt, contracted by past corrupt governments was conceive by the World Bank as a way to mislead public budgets into actions leaded for private gains, and although Correa did not take the risk, the hinders for development and the investment in the country has maintain a low range due to the apparent instability of Ecuador The opposition by renewing the U.S. military base in Manta expired in 2009, the resistance of signing a FTA with U.S., and the diplomatic crisis handle with Colombia in 2008, have been some of the events which placed the country resistant against globalization, and rumors of ties with the terrorist group FARC with president Correa have damage the states image considerably. Some other scandals have included the spenditure of more than US$ 4 billion in subsidizing sectors which do not require, like petroleum products and the electrical sector, consuming over 80% of total subsidies; the benefits seem to be directed to the elite classes, leaving behind the thousands of people living in poverty conditions. When corruption is spread in a country variedly segments are involved, but the most affected Part of the population is the poor due to their incapability to absorb the costs, and this is exactly the consequences of corruption in Ecuador, where the percentages of poverty have raised dramatically over the past years. Corruption has undermined the people in many ways, traducing in inequality, remote access to health and education, and therefore the illiteracy of the population. One of the main consequences is a conversion to a society very tolerant with corruption, perpetuating a vicious cycle ending again in more corruption. Nowadays Ecuadors domestic politics is highly oppressed by Correas government, leaving narrow participation for the opposition parties PRIAN and PSP, and almost no room for the rising of new parties. Also in encounters coercion to Indigenous movements, dismissing any kind of ideas nonaligned with Correas conceptions. President Rafael Correa admitted this year that there is widespread corruption in the society of his country and announced his government is preparing a national campaign to fight against corruption. Correa stated corruption has not yet reached the levels of the upper government, it has taken not only the public sector but the private sector as well. Actually there is a campaign which evolves the entire population, acknowledging the population they must denunciate anyone who enriches with public money, and avoid paying taxes is a form of stealing to the state, and therefore is a form of corruption. Among other strategies the campaign promulgates to claim any information regarding to politicians visiting them with special offers. Corruption is negative related to the countrys performance in terms of GDP, international trade, foreign investment, economic diversity and wealth (Volkema, 2001) meaning corruption will have to be taken seriously by the government, the strategies implement m ust focus on addressing the real causes of corruption in order to balance Ecuador to a more prosperous and equal country. PERSONAL OPINION AND FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS As stated in the preamble to the United Nations Convention against corruption, the scourge poses a serious threat to stability and security of societies, undermining the institutions and values of democracy, ethics and justice and jeopardizing sustainable development and the rule of law in my opinion this phase can be linked to Ecuador actual situation, where no real institutions exist for defending populations rights, and the coercion of opinion from other movements and a constituent assembly who obeys to Correas mandates encloses the country with clear and pure examples of corruption. Ecuador is a country with its majority are indigenous living to merely filling some of their needs, leaving aside the idea of attending to schools and very weak health system, consequently they do not bother to really claim for a more transparency government. Although is it true many protests are done in Ecuadorian lands, they seem not be effecting with lowering corruption, in my opinion the country must concentrate in creating proper institutions in order to audit this process, but society itself must engage into one voice, proclaiming their rights and cease the toleration of corruption. It is wicked to say elections should be call again and chose another candidate from a more capitalist party, and one of the main reasons is that history have shown despite the wing a president comes, corruption still persists, so even mayor changes should be done. One of my recommendations is the creation of programs that develop the economy of the poorest ones, and based in hypothesis made Davis and Ruhe (pag 6) countries with a high per capita income and upper foreign investment are perceived as less corrupted. At the same time this part of the population will have more opportunities for education, and the generations to come will be more aware of how deep corruption hurts a country. I do not criticize the new leftist in their in basis or proclamations, but I contentedly oppose the way the ideas from the 21st century socialism its being applied, contemplating a more equal distribution, but in reality the only beneficiaries are the ones who receive mayor contracts for being brother of the high commanders, or the elite people who keeps the subsidies supposed to be for helping the real needs of one economy, and neither the suppression of voice, which is why after studying the different variables in Ecuadors corruption I finish this paper by pointing Mahadma Ghandis quote Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today.

USS Arizona, A Great Ship :: American History Pearl Harbor World War II WWII

On December 7th, 1941 tragedy struck when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese. Many ships were sunk during the attack, but one of the most recognizable was the battleship the U.S.S. Arizona. This was one of the ships that was in line in the infamous battleship row. Because of where the U.S.S. Arizona was located it was a sitting duck to dive bombers and torpedo bombers of the Japanese. Once the ship was hit it went down in nine minutes. The sinking of the U.S.S. Arizona caused 1,177 service men to die while on board. The U.S.S. Arizona should also be known for all of its accomplishments during its tenure as a battleship. The Arizona had a very long and prestigious career before it was sunk. During the U.S.S. Arizona's life is served many important functions, from patrolling waters to escorting important people. The loss of the U.S.S. Arizona will forever be remembered as a tragic loss for the United States and its armed forces. The U.S.S. Arizona was in the United States Navy for a very long time before it was sunk. The reason why the U.S.S. Arizona was built was because it was part of America's pre-World War 1 modernization of the Navy. It was built in the Brooklyn Naval Yard with the other Pennsylvania class battleship. The builders of the U.S.S. Arizona started the layouts on March 16, 1914. It took a few years before the Arizona would finally be launched. The U.S.S. Arizona was put into commission on October 17, 1917. When it was built it was a very expensive ship. After all the construction was done the grand total for the ship was 12,993,579.23 dollars. When the Arizona was built it was considered to be a Pennsylvania class battle ship. This meant that it was an upgrade over the Nevada class battleship, which was the types they built before the Pennsylvania class. The main upgrades that they made was that they ships of the Pennsylvania class had two more main battery guns, a greater length and wate r displacement, and it had four propellers for a higher maximum speed. They also upgraded the size of the secondary battery guns. Because of this the U.S.S. Arizona carried a punch that no one would like to deal with. This consisted of four triple turrets for the main battery, and 22 single turret secondary battery. The Arizona also had many anti-aircraft guns for protection.

Nature vs. Nurture Controversy

The nature versus nurture debate concerns the relative importance of an individual's innate qualities (â€Å"nature,† i. e. nativism, or innatism) versus personal experiences (â€Å"nurture,† i. e. empiricism or behaviorism) in determining or causing individual differences in physical and behavioral traits. The phrase â€Å"Nature versus nurture† in its modern sense was coined[1][2][3] by the English Victorian polymath Francis Galton in discussion of the influence of heredity and environment on social advancement, although the terms had been contrasted previously, for example by Shakespeare (in his play, The Tempest: 4. ). Galton was influenced[4] by the book On the Origin of Species written by his cousin, Charles Darwin. The concept embodied in the phrase has been criticized[3][4] for its binary simplification of two tightly interwoven parameters, as for example an environment of wealth, education and social privilege are often historically passed to genetic off spring. The difference being that wealth, education and social privilege are not part of the human biological system, and so cannot be directly attributed to genetics.The view that humans acquire all or almost all their behavioral traits from â€Å"nurture† was termed tabula rasa (â€Å"blank slate†) by philosopher John Locke, and proposes that humans develop from only environmental influences. This question was once considered to be an appropriate division of developmental influences, but since both types of factors are known to play such interacting roles in development, most modern psychologists and anthropologists consider the question naive—representing an outdated state of knowledge. 5][6][7][8] In the social and political sciences, the nature versus nurture debate may be contrasted with the structure versus agency debate (i. e. socialization versus individual autonomy). For a discussion of nature versus nurture in language and other human universals, see also psychological nativism.

buy custom Managed Care essay

buy custom Managed Care essay Managed care refers to a range of health care systems that are used to reduce the cost of health benefits provision and improve the value of care. It could also be a health insurance plan that covers the enrolled persons through co-copayment or co-insurance. These are programs that are used to lessen needless health care costs using various systems such as economic inducements for doctors and patients to identify more affordable types of care and improved beneficially cost allotment. It ensures a balanced billing to every member of the society irrespective of their status. Managed care was facilitated by the ratification of the Health Maintenance Act of 1973. Though the techniques were introduced by the public health preservation organizations, different private health benefit schemes are now using them. Managed care is supposed to suppress medical cost by for instance, reducing avoidable hospitalization and causing the healthcare field to develop efficiency and competitiveness. When a person enrolls for the managed care plan, he identifies a doctor who is referred to as the primary care provider who takes over the responsibility of coordinating his health care Managed care has played a significant role in making quality healthcare reachable by many people across all economic status. Let us examine how this system has achieved success in the society as well as its failures. There are several managed care systems that have been employed by experts in reaching their goals. These include capitation, which involves paying a doctor a certain fixed amount for each sick person irrespective of the cost and time needed to treat a person. In this system doctors agree to charge a certain reduced amount from their normal charges in substitute of giving medical care to a group of sick people. Capitation is an example of managed care operations that try to keep the cost of healthcare at manageable level. Other systems that seek to improve the quality of healthcare for example clinical procedures that try to change the clinical administration of certain specific health issues such as high blood pressure are also regular managed care practices. What are the weaknesses of managed care? Since managed care seeks to reduce cost and time of treating a patient and on the other side improve the healthcare standards, critics have argued that it may not reach its intended goals. The technique has therefore achieved some success but has also experienced its fair share of shortfalls. Among its shortfalls is that most of the managed care wellbeing plans are provided by commercial firms, consumers argued that their cost control efforts were more geared towards saving money that providing proper health care (Nations Business, 1998). Consumers felt that manage care reduce the amount of time physicians spent with patients. This made it difficult for patients to get doctors attention thereby failing the techniques intended purpose. Dissatisfied patients and lobby groups argued that managed care systems were managing costs by refusing necessary services to patients, including in fatal situations or by provision of low substandard care. Due t o the increased criticism, many states passed legislations regulating the standards of managed care offered to patients. In addition, insurance companies answered the public and political demands by starting to give other plan options that had a wider range of care networks. Managed care has a wide range of structures and names. One of the structures is the risk based Managed Care Entities (MCEs) which are employed in providing and managing benefits. In a contract that covers the full risk, MCE agrees to offer all benefits on the basis of per month per member which is known as complete capitation. In case the enrolled person uses the services that go beyond the capitation payments, the additional costs are met by the managed care plan. If the case is the other way round where the enrolled person uses less, the plan either reinvests or keeps the unused money. If the contract is partial, the plan is usually paid beforehand to deliver a section of services such as crisis services or mental health case while the rest of the services are givenon a fee of services basis. In some cases, an incomplete plan could be at risk for costs or gains that go beyond a predetermined edge more than or less than a set cost. Another structure is the Administrative Services Or ganizations (ASO) which governs benefits and claims for a set administrative charge while carrying petite or no risk at all for the price of delivering care. As much as all the stakeholders may want to control the costs of health care using managed care system, doctors are the ones who can make this fact more real. This is because managed care is configured around different incentives to promote the practice of affordable medicine and to reduce differences in medical practice patterns. This means providing quality healthcare and at the same time reducing the recourses needed and in this case money. More often than not, efficiency is capitalized on by increasing production while managing cost. Therefore, managed care may necessitate performing more using less time per every sick person, less expensive drugs as well as less expensive diagnostics examinations and treatments. All these operations or tasks are carried out by the doctor and therefore he is the only one who can determine whether they are achievable or not. Incentives in monetary form are often used to influence doctor behavior and may involve rewarding doctors who exercise medicine prudently by giving financial rewards for example bonuses. Those who carry out unnecessarily numerous procedures and are not cost efficient on the other hand, may be reprimanded by preservation of bonuses or parts of their income. Inducements which are not in money form may be used by superiors to pressurize those who are not able be accountable to the financial interests of their employer. These fiscal and non fiscal incentives raise the moral concern that doctors may compromise patients support in order to realize cost savings. There is also the issue of trust between patients and physicians. Many are alarmed that managed care could weaken patient doctor relationship by eating away at the patients confidence in their doctors thereby minimizing the time doctors spend with sick people and curbing patients access to doctors. Managed care has been known to alt er the way relationships between doctors and patients begin and end. Health preservation organizations for instance only pay for medical care that is provided by their doctors. Annihilation of patient doctor relationship can in addition occur without the choice of the sick person. This occurs for instance where employers change health plans and hence employees have no other option but to cut ties with their doctors. Further more, some types of managed care develop a monetary incentive for physicians to spend very little time with every individual patient. For example, in the preferred provider arrangements, doctors may reimburse for cheap costs for attention by attending to many patients. This could be detrimental since it reduces the available time to talk about patients problems, explore different treatment options as well as maintain a significant relationship with patients. How can managed care affect the facts stated above? As we had mentioned earlier the success or failure of the managed care techniques largely depends on doctors. Since managed care is supposed to structure ways of reducing the cost of medical care, doctors should be able to draw a line between moral responsibility and money. By this I mean, doctors should not ignore patients need for attention just because they are on a managed cares scheme. Like we have mentioned above, some schemes authorize the doctor to give the patient a certain amount of time after which he must proceed to the next patient. Critics of managed care have always raised issues with such arrangements arguing that this does not give priority to the patients well being. Another problem that managed care experts are working on is the quality of health that patients get. There is a probability of compromising on the standards of treatment as people try to minimize cost. According to the American Journal of Medical Care there has been unsuitable antibiotic prescription to patients under managed care suffering from influenza (Misurski, Lipson Changolkar, 2011). This means that experts in the industry must ensure that high quality of medication is maintained. It must be understood that no amount of money can be compared with the safety of a person and therefore we cannot afford to save money at the expense of human lives. As much as we may want to save on medical cost, we may end up loosing more when lives of people are put on the balance. Let us now look at how well managed care has achieved its objectives. The purpose of managed care has been to ensure quality health care, at an affordable cost with easy accessibility to all members of the society. According to the available information, managed care has received good response from the general public as well as the authorities. In the US for instance, 90% of all the people who are insured are now under the enrolment of a certain from of managed care (America's Health Insurance Plans, 2007). This shows that the plan is working well in the public domain and therefore many people have preferred to enroll. Through the use of various points of service it is possible for the enrollees to choose the system to use up to the point where the service is available. Various techniques have been put in place to ensure that the plan achieves the success it is currently enjoying. These include selecting providers that supply a comprehensive collection of medical care services to the enrolled individuals. This means that the providers have to be scrutinized and vetted properly before being allowed to operate. This ensures that only legitimate and capable providers get to offer the plans. Another technique that has been used is the official utilization appraisal and quality enhancement programs. The quality improvement programs are geared towards improving the providers services to meet all the required standards as well as the new challenges that could face the plan over time. The providers are also supposed to review their plans to ensure a continued improvement program to fit every enrollee. Another method is the stressing on the importance of preventive care. This system seeks to educate the general public on observing the necessary measures that prevent new infections. These include encouraging people to observe hygiene, taking precautionary measures when using machines or properly dressing to keep warm just to mention a few. All these measures and others h elp in avoiding cases of illness or diseases that could necessitate one to get the attention of a physician. This meets the objective of managed care by ensuring that the visits to a doctor or administration of medication are kept at the minimal level and hence reduce the cost of health care. In addition, there has been economic incentives that encourage those who are enrolled in a program to use care efficiently. This could be through the providers or even through other health institutions. Some provider associations also allow negotiating of favorable fees in order to encourage new enrollees to get into the program. A survey that was done in 2009 by the Americas Health Insurance Plans discovered that patients who decided not to use managed care program providers were sometimes charged exceedingly high prices (Gina, 2009). This could also be tact to encourage people to enroll for the program. All these techniques have seen the number of people in the managed care rise steadily over the years. In summary, the general results of managed care have remained widely debated. The system seeks to reduce that cost of health, increase the quality of treatment and improve accessibility of health facilities to the public. Managed care received a lot of opposition from critics in the beginning who argued that the system seemed to prioritize the issue of costs rather that the more important issue of good health. Hospitalists were accused of not giving enough attention to patients under certain types of the program even during fatal situations. They believed that the scheme had not achieved its intended objective on the quality as well as the cost of health. However, with the different techniques that have been employed, managed care has been able to get impressive success and hence about 90% of the US insured population is enrolled in a certain type. Buy custom Managed Care essay

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Freedom through Christianity essays Freedom through Christianity What do people look for in religion? Do they look for guidance, beliefs, reason, or do they look for help? African-Americans have looked for all of these for many years. They found all of these in Christianity. Christians believe in one God who they worship, trust, and look up to. Since Christianity was first intorduced in the early Colonial Period, African-Americans have used their Christian beliefs to fight horrible things that have gone on in America such as slavery and segregation. As African-Americans were captured through the slave trade and brought to the colonies they possessed many different religious beliefs. Many people are extremely ignorant in history and believe that all African-Americans were once united together as a whole in Africa. This was not nearly the case. Africa was made up of many different states with many different people and with many different beliefs. These people were dark skinned, but aren't all white people light skinned. The white man has never agreed on one main language. As the African-Americans were brought to the colonies from Africa, they used Christianity to help bring them together. Some people use song and dance to express their Christian beliefs. This was all started by the slaves. African-American slaves used songs, dances, and often stories to show their feelings about God. These stories were called trickster stories. As African-American slaves became more involved in the Christian faith it gave them something to live and fight for. Instead of doing labor for their white owners, they did their work for themselves and most importantly, they did it for God. Slaves were treated as animals. They were forced to work in the fields, in the house, or on the farms for free. They were beaten, deprived of food and clothing, and even raped. If slaves tried to run away they were captured and beaten. Being beaten meant being stripped of their clothes and whipped seve...

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