Enterprise Architecture Proposal Essay Example for Free

Enterprise Architecture Proposal Essay Submitted December 4, 2011 Description The organization I have selected is the company I work for, CMH Systems. The core functions of this business are Therapy, Counseling, Placement, and Job skills to name a few. This is a Mental Health Organization that compiles and disburses many services, including Doctors, Prescriptions, Hospitalization, and Housing of Mentally or emotionally challenged individuals. Protecting client information is essential. The integrity of such information is critical. We are currently in an affiliation with other CMH agencies and service providers across the state. I chose this agency because it is evolving so fast. IT is involved in every aspect of this organization and keeping abreast of changes are a challenge. Just over three years ago, we went from paper records to electronic. This alone was challenging enough, and then we implemented electronic record keeping software. Though this was well thought out and planned we continue to experience growth that is hard to keep up with. With an 80% business as usual attitude, the change is difficult. Getting input from other departments and or providers was essential. The problem arises when the stakeholders request changes on a daily basis. The information gleaned from the stakeholders up front was not what they expected. Their input was not specific enough to allow for advancement. Although the stakeholders were involved with the implementation of the new system, we struggle with staff that resists changes. operating model in terms of business process integration. CMH has a couple of operating models. First, there is the core agency, with several outlaying units. Within the core units, there is high integration. Everything except the daily activities are centrally controlled. The data is managed centrally. Tthis would be the coordination model. With our affiliates where the units are their management, data is kept locally, and records and data are transmitted to central for submission to state, would be the Replication model. operating model in terms of business process standardization. With both models, I mentioned the data and record keeping are standardized. On the core units, they enter data into the system using standardized software and data entry forms. The affiliate model runs the same standardized record keeping software and their data is kept on their servers and transmitted to us on a monthly basis. the chosen operating model in terms of business process integration. In comparison to the Happy Health organization, CMH has made strides in the areas of process integration. Although our affiliate has its own CEO and IT staff, we are the parent company. We have the same electronic record keeping software and it works in unison with theirs. We often share placement facilities and placement of clients with them. Compare the selected organization to the sample organizations using the chosen operating model in terms of business process standardization. In terms of process standardization, we are using the same methods of providing services and data collection. They have their own Doctors, therapists, and outreach workers on staff. The data collected there for the services, are input into their own system and the information is extracted each month and sent to us for import into our own systems. We then process the information and create the necessary claims for submission to the state. Describe the chosen operating model in terms of the financial benefits available to the organization as a result of the selection. In terms of the affiliation, the business model would be replication. Although as the primary provider and their affiliation with us we would like to have a more in depth model like coordination. †¢Explain your rationale for the selected operating model. With the coordination model we would have additional control over the record keeping, services provided and the ability to obtain needed information in a more timely manner. IT would also be able to work together, in a unified manner. In essence, this model would provide a much better way of record keeping and the ability to access the data and provide necessary claims to the state. The way we are currently conducting business is that we are completely different entities, and we have no direct recourse over what goes on there. The reason for the change in design is vital to the way we conduct business now and has a definite impact on the future. I propose the agencies come together in one coordinated model.

Staphylococcus aureas versus Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aurea

From Staphylococcus aureus to MRSA Abstract I investigated the difference between Staphylococcus aureas and its super bacteria form of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureas. I used books, websites, and scholarly projects to understand the topic at a molecular level. After researching penicillin, Staphylococcus aureas, and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureas, I found that both the drug and the bacteria use enzymes as their defense and attack mechanism. Penicillin uses a ß-lactam ring as a substrate to clog the active site of transpeptidase, and in defense, the bacteria uses ß-lactamase to break down the ß-lactam ring. I hope to continue research on super bacteria to determine whether or not other super bacteria such as Enterococcus faecium and Streptococcus pyogenes use the same defenses. I found growing number of super bacteria both interesting and disconcerting. My conclusion is that antibiotics and even antibacterials must be monitored more closely if we wish to keep the upper hand over bacteria. In 1928 when Alexander Fleming saw the bacteria-free ring of inhibition made by Staphylococcus aureus around Penicillium notatum (penicillin) in his petri dish, he must have been shocked and thrilled. By 1940, penicillin was being produced for a very eager public. [4] It was our miracle drug; bacterial infections were a thing of the past. However, the use of penicillin was quickly abused, and problems arose. A target bacteria, Staphylococcus aureas soon learned to beat the scientist who thought he had them conquered. MRSA, or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureas is very similar to Staphylococcus aureas, but it is no longer affected by penicillin or methicillin, the most common antibiotics... ...iel C., and Natalie C. J. Strynadka. "Structure of SeMet Penicillin Binding Protein 2a From Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Strain 27r (Trigonal Form) At 2.45 a Resolution." (2002). Protein Data Bank. . [4] Natural Products as Pharmaceuticals: a Look At Penicillin. 20 July 2008 . [5] Strynadka, Natalie C. J., and Daniel Lim. "Structural Basis of B-Lactam Resistance in Methicillin-Resistant Strains of "Superbug" Revealed." 2002. University of British Columbia. 20 July 2008 _sci_3.pdf>. [6] "The Bacterial Cell Wall." 1995. The University of Texas, DPALM MEDIC. 20 July 2008 . [7] Weigelt, John A. MRSA. New York: Informa Healthcare, 2008.

Branding Essay

Case Study 1: Transaction pricing in a recessionary economy Our client is an FMCG major that sells its products across many large and small retailers. The client is facing pressure from one such large retailer to cut prices across brands and categories. The client is therefore losing money on several products. Our client would like to use analytics to bring in some science into the pricing decision. Our analysis should help the client decide what pricing strategies should be applied to each product. How would you approach this analysis? The data available is weekly price and volume data for all client brands at the retailer for a period of 2 years. Case Study 2: Managing extreme seasonality Our brand is a high end lifestyle brand, famous globally. They however, face an issue of seasonal sales, with over 60% of their sales coming in the holiday period. They would like to understand how best to ensure sales in non seasonal periods as well and make the sales curve more even. Data available includes volume and values sales and usage and attitude studies. Case Study 3: NPD (own label) at a supermarket chain A leading supermarket chain wants to expand its limited portfolio of RTE food products. Transaction data for the past 1 year is available. How would you go about understanding the type of products to be introduced? What is the launch strategy for the products chosen? Case Study 4: Acquisition vs New product development A food major in the market with no chips brand in its portfolio. A decision has been made at the board level to either acquire an existing brand or launch a new one in this space. You are in charge of implementing this. 1. How will you take the decision on acquisition vs. new product development? Which metrics would you evaluate, what analysis would you perform & what data would you require? 2. If you decide to acquire a brand, how would you choose among the existing brands? What info do you require on each brand to make this call? a. Any intangible factors that would influence your valuation of existing brands? In case you decide to launch a new brand, how would you go about it? How would you decide the desired new brand characteristics and the associated marketing mix? Case Study 5: Analyzing brand performance A chips brand has recently been launched, but its performance has not been too good. The large promotional investments put in have not yielded lasting returns. You are told to investigate what’s wrong with the brand. 1. What data would you request to complete your investigation in this case? 2. Can you talk about your analysis roadmap in this scenario? What possible corrective actions would you suggest (you are free to make relevant assumptions on the diagnosis)? Case Study 6: Heritage brand with stagnating growth A very old chips brand (kind of like a heritage brand) is faced with stagnating growth. It continues to perform reasonably well on key equity parameters, and there is no decline compared to previous years. 1. How do you read the situation? What data would you require to make an accurate diagnosis of the issue? What are the potential corrective actions you would suggest? How would you decide between the various options?

Dangers of banning religion in workplaces - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2322 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Australians take pride in two matters with respect to religion: the right to be free from a government- imposed religion, and a right to practice any religion. As Reuters (2010) states Religion is a matter of belief and practice, and religious beliefs will rarely affect the duties of our employment. Nevertheless those who are faithful will always practice and carry out their custom and traditions, behaving themselves according to their beliefs. Federal and state law requires that employees not be treated unfairly on the basis of religion (Reuters, 2010). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Dangers of banning religion in workplaces" essay for you Create order However, it is often difficult to avoid conflicts between work and religion, due to the increase in population diversity. A report from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2008) has described the significant increase in the number of religious discrimination charges. From this, weve come to realise how important it is for employees and employers to understand each others rights and responsibilities. Religion conflicts within the workplace can arise in a wide variety of context. An example that (Wolf, Friedman, and Sutherland, 1998) mentioned is when an employer denies for an employees request for leave to practice a religious custom, making them choose between career and religion. Another common example in the workplace is when one employee actively promotes their religious views, whilst another colleague finds it insulting and offensive. In this case, whose side should HR managers take, when one employee demands for freedom of speech, while others demand for the emplo yees termination because of what they believe to be as harassment? There are a number of ethical frameworks that can inform us in making ethical decisions. As we seek to address these issues, we will discuss the viewpoints based on the four Cs approach: Character and Culture, Care, Consistency and Consequences. CHARACTER CULTURE Religion and culture are intertwined, in that they both influence and define the set of rules of what is right and wrong. It is through these rules that help shape an individuals character, principles, values, and beliefs. As religion and culture acts as a foundation for individuals to conduct themselves, the policy of banning religion would lead to poor quality of work, as employees are unable to show their true self. Being able to act and perform in a way that reflects the type of character they are. CARE The morality of care stresses the understanding of relationships. Here the policy of banning religion within the workplace could lead to a fall-out amongst the employees and employers. As religion underpin and bonds the relationships between peoples understanding of values and beliefs. CONSISTENCY As part of the role, HR managers should be able to make impartial judgements as to the ultimate rightness and wrongness of conduct and the values to which priority ought to be given in personal, social, and political decision-making (Maclagan, 1998). To become an ethical profession, one must seek to address issues with reasonable behaviour, regardless of the motives or outcomes, as long as it satisfies the set of rules and ethical code of conduct (deontological). If you acknowledge one religion, you need to acknowledge all. For example, if one Catholic at work displays a cross, then the Buddhist may display a Buddha, the Jewish may display the Menorah symbol. So in this case, where do we draw the line? In this situation HR professions should seeks to eliminate all religious practices within the workplace or allo w them all, because inconsistencies in dealing with ethical problems within an organisation can lead to a damage in reputation, and as a result will lead to poor management and other internal problems CONSEQUENCES The principle of maximising utility by maximising benefits over costs (utilitarianism). This theory relates to this issue (banning religion in the workplace) in that the outcome of the policy will immensely benefit the organisation, as it promotes the principle of equality and social justice. RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPLEMENTATIONS In this situation, one of the main roles of HR professions is to establish policies that clearly states that any religion practices within the workplace is prohibited, as to benefiting the interest of the organisation. CEOs should stress this point by creating a statement in the company policy that clearly states that any form of religious discrimination is not acceptable (Mesriani, 2010), and to avoid religious discrimination, no relig ion practices is allowed in the workplace (Mesriani, 2010). However, if the policy creates adversity, or will affect the companys operations, CEOs are required to look into this matter, and re-evaluate the companys performance. Nevertheless, in most cases disputes between employees and employers can be settled through simple negotiation. The actual cause in most conflicts is that people often ignore and overlook things, which leads to miscommunication between the management. 1.3 DRUG TESTING One of the main social, legal, and economic issues in todays society is the use of drugs within the workplace. As employers become more aware of this issue, they have a legitimate reason to prevent this from happening, because the reality for employers is that drugs will affect the employees wellbeing and their ability to produce quality work. As a result, this will lead to poor quality of work and will damage the companys reputation. The introduction of employee drug testing will assist HR managers and CEOs in many ways. One of the benefits is that it shows how much the company values the health and safety of its employees, not only that it also encourages its employees with substance abuse problem to seek treatment, recover, and return to work. However, as HR professions, they should ensure that the implementation of employee drug testing should not violate the employees privacy. The tests must respect the dignity and rights of the person to be tested. The employee should n ot be forced, but make their own decisions (Shaw, 2009). Here the following ethical framework (the four Cs approach) will help us in determining the outcome of this particular issue drug testing. CHARACTER AND CULTURE An organisations culture plays a vital role in shaping the way an employee acts and behave, as their beliefs and values reflects the companys overall corporate values and performance goals. The result of the drug test will help HR managers in determining the type of character that they are. If the drug test happens to be positive, then the employee is deemed to be clean and honest. On the other hand, if the result is negative the employee is proved to be a dishonest and unreliable character CARE Employers have the right to know the health and wellbeing of its employees because the organisation is directly responsible for any harm that is done to its employees within the workplace. Managers who have some knowledge of drug use in the workplace will gain a better understanding of its employees, as to why they are using it and how they can help to prevent this from happening to other fellow team members. CONSISTENCY HR managers should ensure that all drug testing are consistent amongst the different levels of management, despite of their roles or position. As the use of drug in the workplace affects the way in which employees interact with their fellow members and customers, a uniform structure will prevent inconsistencies in the results and findings. CONSEQUENCES Whether the results are positive or negative, the employees should know the outcome of taking drugs, and they must face the consequences of their actions. Should they be dismissed immediately and be charged with criminal charges? Or should they be allowed to go to rehabilitation and be given a second chance and retain their positions? As we ask these questions, lets weigh the cost of a companys high absenteeism, high medical cost, accidents, and injuries, in co mparison to a policy that monitors the use of drugs amongst employees on a regular basis. The implementation of this policy may not significantly impact the entire organizations operations, but to some extent a few employees will find it intruding to their privacy. RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPLEMENTATIONS One of the main obligations of HR managers is their duty of care towards their employees, being able to know that theyre working in a safe working environment. As the organisation implements drug testing, CEOs should set objectives and specify the expectations and consequences of violating the policy. Moreover, in order for the policy to be effective HR managers should ensure that the drug testing is consistent; this means that everyone is equal regardless of their roles or positions. Also, the information that is sought about each individual should be kept confidential, and should only be access by given authority. 1.4 PERSONALITY PROFILING Personality profiling is the way of understanding how an individual tends to behave in an environment which helps the company to maximise the individual performance and his contribution to the company (Jirli, 2010). The introduction of Personality profiling could benefit organisations and assist HR managers in developing team work, as it acts as a tool for recruitment staff in determining the best match for that particular job. However, as Trull (2005) states Gaining an understanding of motives or the dynamics of personality is virtually impossible using most objective assessment since the questions is generally behavioural in nature. As we seek to address this issue, the four Cs approach will assist us in assessing the significance of this issue of personality profiling. CHARACTER AND CULTURE Employers have a legitimate claim upon any information that is relevant to an employee, as they are contracted to perform specific roles within the organisation. However, because the personal information identifies what type of character the employee is, HR managers should keep each profile restricted to a certain level. The profiling of the job applicant will guide assessors on how to distribute the tasks amongst the team, based on an individuals qualities, background, culture, qualifications and behaviour. CARE Personality profiling amongst employees has allow managers to pay attention to specific aspects of an employees life. This means that, in certain circumstances managers are able to interact one on one with the employee with the aim of helping the employee out with their problems. Since, one of the roles of HR managers is to take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions that would likely injure a person (Raniolo, Ellison, N.A). The act of doing so would prevent unnecessary trouble CONSISTENCY One of the main things that HR managers try to avoid is to discriminate or show favouritism and prejudice towards one employee, particularly i n this situation. As professions, managers must be very cautious and avoid being bias because this will affect productivity and trust between employees and managers. Hence, HR managers should not judge the performance of a particular employee based on a certain characteristic or aspect of their profile, for example, religion, background, or appearance. CONSEQUENCES Establishing a personality profiling policy may benefit the organisation in that they get a better understanding of the individuals. However, the result of this may be inaccurate which in the long term may have a negative impact on both the employees and employers. For example, two people may mark that they drink more than 3 glasses of alcohol a night. Does this mean that they both drink for the same reason? One may drink in order to get to sleep, while the other is depressed and another may party every night. There are so many possibilities as to what the motives for ones actions RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPLEMENTAT IONS There are countless obligations for HR managers and CEOs in this particular situation. However, the key question here is Would personality profiling result in an inaccurate perception of the life and role of the profiler? As a result, the findings of this field may attract individuals who are poorly suited to competent practice. CEOs should diligently try to make business decisions and take actions that are guided by their values or moral code. However, human behaviour is probabilistic not deterministic (Miller, 2003). Therefore, personality profiling can only be used as a starting point. CEOs need to understand how this practice may benefit or harm the organisation, both short and long terms and HR managers should determine on how personality profiling can help the individual adapt to the organisations culture. 1.5 CONCLUSION The implementation of new policies within the workplace and the banning religion within the workplace is a delicate issue that must be handled properly. Communication to the employees is critical as well as employee involvement in the implementation of any kind of policy formation. HR managers must be able to foresee problems that might occur including those ethical issues that may arise and CEOs should develop strategic plans to prevent any conflict that may occur between an employee and an employer. On the other hand, employees should be encouraged to realise their personal responsibilities under their contract, particularly those who deal with personal information on a regular basis. The policies and procedures must be clearly stated and followed for an organisation to be properly protected. Employee contracts should state that the organisations policies are fundamental to the employers business and must be adhered to at all times. Failure to adhere to policies should be spec ified to be a breach of the employees terms and conditions of employment which could lead to dismissal on the ground of misconduct. Procedures should be implemented by employers for employees to ask questions about any policy in operation. As such, the implementation of the policies above should be executed properly to ensure its full effectiveness. Reuters, T. (2010). Religion in the Workplace Employee Rights Centre. Retrieved 20th April 2011 from https://employment.findlaw.com/employment/employment-employee-discrimination-harassment/employment-employee-religion-discrimination-top/employment-employee-religion-workplace(1).html Gadget, M. (2010). Religion and the Workplace. Retrieved 20th April 2011 from https://hubpages.com/hub/BELIEF-FAITH-AND-RELIGION-IN-THE-WORKPLCE Shaw, T. (2009). Ethical Considerations when Drug Testing in the Workplace. Retrieved 22nd April 2011 from https://www.recruitmentdirectory.com.au/Blog/ethical-considerations-when-drug-testing-in-the-workpl ace-a194.html Raniolo, R Ellison, M. (n.a). Duty of Care. Retrieved 30th April 2011 from https://www.swtafe.edu.au/Staff/policies/policies/docs/institute/Duty_of_Care_-_Minter_Ellison.pdf Miller, J. (2003). Human ecology. USA; Acid Free Paper