Integrative Problems and Virtual Organization Strategy Paper Essay

Different types of threats for each different approach much each are carefully considered to ensure that the right approach is chose. There are benefits and risks for each approach. The threats must be read and understood appropriately. The first approach would be about Patton Fuller Community College going through with an IPO. An IPO is also known as an Initial Public Offering. The IPO is the first stock sale is a public offering that sales shares of stocks from a company to people within the â€Å"general† public. Some of the threats that Patton Community Hospital could go through if the IPO is pronounced publically would be that the people who make large investments for important things like retirement, they are putting their retirement at risk because the market can be very good to people at times, but it is not a sure thing. â€Å"†This is the most negative piece of legislation I’ve ever seen,† frets William Elmore of Foundation Capital.† It will dampen capital formation. Anyone standing to create wealth by building a growth company would face putting personal assets at risk.† There will be fewer future IPOs if some founders choose not to go public as a result of lingering concern† (Mamis, Robert A. (1997). Going public puts a lot of people in a position to create an opinion immediately and this might be a bad thing because business could slow. Some of the threats that could take place if another organization from the same industry is acquired the company that is being acquired (if it is the buying company) will end up in quite a bit of debt because it will end up costing more in the long run. â€Å"Because a public company’s stock is relatively liquid, it can be used as the currency to acquire other businesses and fuel further growth. Many owners of successful private enterprises are happy to sell their businesses in exchange for the marketable securities of a growth company† (QWOTER.CO. (2013). The threat that opposes here would be that even through with this approach there is a good chance of the business being larger and better, but this would mean that there is also the risk that the company is making the wrong move, and this could fail just as easy as it could succeed. This means that a threat would be that the business could go downhill. For example, if the other business acquired has a bad person worki ng for them or a bad rep, this will now include all companies involved. Patten Community Hospital also faces threats of merging with another company’s. Some of these threats would include debt, legal issues or standards, and mutual understanding and respect for all company’s involved. Merging a company can be very costly. This could mean putting the Company who is buying into some serious debt. This would not be good for either one of the merging parties. It would be smart to weigh every decision very carefully when choosing to merge companies because you want to make sure that everything legal is discussed and agreed upon to ensure that there are no misunderstandings. Also any business’s that are considering merging should meet and get to know the other business owner well before making the final decisions because there are so many different types of business, different types of strategies, different types of techniques, and different types of ideas and styles. Business owners that merger businesses may be very settled on the way th at he or she runs their business. Therefore this may cause conflict. Businesses can be very successful from merging their businesses together if a good team strategy and no conflict. View as multi-pages

The Best Way to Approach the ACT Reading Passage

The Best Way to Approach the ACT Reading Passage SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Last year the average Reading score on the ACT was 21.3. With a strategic approach to reading the passages quickly and efficiently, you should be able to break away from this average and boost your scores! Let's review what you'll see on the ACT Reading section and then talk about the most efficient way to read the passages and answer the questions with time to spare. Types of Passages on ACT Reading There are four sections within Reading with passages from the humanities, natural sciences, social studies, and literary fiction. Usually these sections each have one long passage, but occasionally you might also encounter two shorter passages. All of the passages areprose, so you don't have to worry about interpreting poetry or anything too experimental orsubjective. Passages in these fields might draw from these subtopics: Humanities: architecture, art, dance, ethics, film, language, literary criticism, music, philosophy, radio, television, and theater. Social studies: anthropology, archaeology, biography, business, economics, education, geography, history, political science, psychology, and sociology. Natural sciences: anatomy, astronomy, biology, botany, chemistry, ecology, geology, medicine, meteorology, microbiology, natural history, physiology, physics, technology, and zoology. Literary fiction: short stories, novels, memoirs, and personal essays. The passage-based questions that follow each reading are meant to test certain skills of analysis and reading comprehension. Skills Tested On the ACT Reading According to the ACT, you're expected to use referring and reasoning skills to determine main ideas locate and interpret significant details (sometimes the question will refer you to a specific line, but other times you'll have to track down the detail yourself) understand sequences of events make comparisons (you'll especially see these questions if you have two short passages instead of one longer passage) comprehend cause-effect relationships determine the meaning of words, phrases, and statements in context (these are usually straightforward, but you should understand how they function in context) draw generalizations analyze the author's or narrator's voice and method In order to test these skills, the ACT Reading will ask you 6main types of questions.(I know we're going through background, but stay with me - this is important to understand why my reading strategy works. We'll talk about the actual reading strategy very soon). Types of ACT Reading Questions The Reading section asks you 40 questions in 35 minutes. These questions might test your understanding of what was directly stated in the passage or what various lines implied. For examples of each question type from official ACT questions, check out this detailed breakdown of the ACT Reading section.To give a quick review, these are the 6main types of Reading questions you'll encounter: Main idea - the main point or theme of the passage. Detail - usually refers directly to a line in the text and asks what it means or how it functions. Vocabulary - vocabularywords are usually straightforward, but they might be used in an unusual way in context. Development - how are ideas arranged within the passage? Implied ideas - these are inference questions. While this might seem subjective, there will only be one unambiguously correct answer. Voice - what is the author or narrator's tone, style, attitude, or perspective? You can see how these types of questions link directly to the skills tested. By asking what the author's tone is, for example, a question tests your ability to analyze an author's voice or method. In addition to studying literary terms, you should practice locating evidence within text that directly supports your answer. All of this might sound like a tall order in only 35 minutes! The biggest challenge lots of students have on the Reading section is simply getting through all the passages and questions in time. So how can you read the passages for understanding without wasting time that you could be using to answer questions? Let's dive in. How to Read the Passages Prepping for the ACT is incredibly helpful for many reasons. One is that it allows you to try out a few different strategies and figure out which one works best for you. I'll present a few options forreading the passages that work wellfor most students. Then you can determine which option you prefer. Let's take a look at how to read the passages, step by step. Step 1 All students should quickly read the introductory line or blurb at the beginning of the passage. This introduction will tell you where the passage is from and who the author is. Right away you can gain a sense of the passage's context, which is helpful for understanding its main purpose. In an excerpt taken from a textbook called Introduction to Psychology, for example, you can infer that the writing will most likely be informational, academic, objective, and explanatory. Be cautious about making assumptions before you even start reading - instead, use the blurb to inform you, while remaining open-minded about the passage's content and meaning. After this first step, you might jump right into reading the passage. Other students choose to lookover the questions first before reading. Let's consider both of these options as part of Step 2. Step 2 Students differ in what they feel is their best reading strategy. I'll present the options in terms of what I think works best for the largest number of people. In my eyes, Option C, while preferred by some, can be a time waster that's not as effective as the first two methods. Option A: Read the Questions First, then Skim the Passage Second With this option, you start byreading over the questions before reading the passage. This way you'll have a sense of what content you're looking for, and you can read with a discerning eye. If questions refer to any specific lines within the passage, then make a mark on the passage next to that line so you'll know to pay attention to it when you read. As for the main point or general purpose questions, circle those and leave them for last, after you've had time to read the passage, process it, and pick it apart with some other, more detail-oriented questions first. In this example(click to see detailed PDF), I circled questions 31, 33, and 39, because they ask about main ideas and main purposes. Question 33 is just asking about the purpose of a paragraph, so I made a mark by Paragraph 4 and noted "main purpose." I underlined and marked specific line references, as well as the important points of each question. This helps indicate that you shouldbe on the lookout while skimming for information about "female eels' pupils" and "larvae found by Schmidt." Once you've marked the passage and questions, you can go ahead and read through the passage quickly. Don't do a close reading intent on understanding every line. Instead, skim the passage, paying particular attention to the last line of the first paragraph (usually the thesis), the introductory sentences of paragraphs, and the conclusion.It's also helpful to watch out for transition words that mark a continuation of or shift in ideas, like "furthermore" or "however." In my opinion, this is the best strategy for reading the passages, since it eliminates the potential to waste time on unimportant parts of the passage. While you might enjoycurling up with a good book at home and getting lost in the story, the ACT Reading does not leave time for close, intensive reading. This approach helps you pick outthe important details and streamline your time management. Let's take a look at the second option for Step 2, which a lot of students swear by, as well. Option B: SkimthePassage First, then Read the Questions Second Some students find it distracting to glance over the questions before reading. They prefer to skim the passage first and then look at the questions, once they have a sense of its content, structure, and purpose. In this approach, the same rules of skimming as described above still apply, and you can still mark up the passage once you start working to help yourself locate important details and ensure that you have evidence to back up your answers. To figure out which approach you prefer, I recommend trying both with timed practice tests. After scoring your tests and reflecting on how well it worked for you, you can decide if you're more focused and relaxed reading the questions first or the passage first. The third option for Step 2 is my least favorite, because I don't think it's a particularly efficient way to approach the passages. Option C: Read the Passage Closely In this third option, you might do a close reading of the passage, rather than skimming it for important points. Then you'd go on to read and answer the questions. I feel this option not only wastes time, but also does not reflect the purpose of the Reading section, which, whether you like it or not, involves speed and efficiency. You only have about 52 seconds per question, less if you include the time you spent reading, so most students are better off skimming and then going back to look for concrete evidence once they start filling in answers. Now let's take a look at Step 3, which is a bit more straightforward. Step 3 Simply put, this is where you start answering the questions. Even if you chose Option B in Step 2, it's helpful to answer the detail and line specific questions first and leave the general purpose questions for the end. It's also helpful to come up withyour own answer to a question before looking at the four answer choices. They might confuse you by all sounding plausible. If you have a sense of what the correct answer is right off the bat, then you can look for it in the answer choices. If you're not sure about the answer after reading the answer choices, you should try to use process of elimination to locate the right answer. While the ACT might word questions like they're open to interpretation, they are not. There is only ever one 100% correct answer choice. If you find yourself overthinking or over-rationalizing an answer choice, it's probably not the correct one. Some wording that can make you start overthinking are questions like, The author would most likely agree with... In line 15, 'intense'most nearly means... This sample ACT question, for example, tries to sound open to interpretation, but it's really only got one correct answer. Which of the following most nearly paraphrases Helen Hunt Jackson's statement to Emily Dickinson that "it is wrong to the day you live in, that you will not sing aloud" (lines 35-36)? A. It is morally reprehensible of you not to let other poets read your work.B. It is unacceptable for you to continue writing; you should become a singer.C. It is stingy and wrong of you not to read out loud to those who like your work.D. It is unfair to this age that you do not share your poetry with the world. The answer here is D, based on other information from the passage to which it refers, as well as the line itself: "it is wrong to the day you live in." The "day you live in" is reflected in "this age" in answer D. While F and H seem plausible, they don't incorporate this reference to the age, time, or era of the day. In this case, the process of elimination could help you narrow down your answer choices until you hone in on the correct one, or, if need be, make your best guess. After reading and answering the questions, what's your final step in completing the Reading section of the ACT? Step 4 Rather than going back and forth between your test booklet and bubble sheet, it can save time to answer the questions in your test booklet and then transfer them to the bubble sheet. I would recommend doing this in chunks after you complete the set of questions abouteach passage. Make sure to keep an eye on time, though - you wouldn't want to run out of time having answers in your test booklet that you haven't marked on the answer sheet yet. If you're struggling with timing, you might consider starting with the passages you feel most confident about, whether it's natural sciences, social studies, humanities, or literary fiction, and answering those questions first. That way you can get through more questions faster. However, don't let a time saver become a time waster! This strategy is only worth it if you can go straight to your preferred passage and get working, but not if you're spending time looking over the passages simply to arrange them in order from easiest to hardest. With these four steps of approaching the Reading passages, you should be able to get more and more efficient at reading, locating evidence, and zero-ing in on correct answers. Read on for a few moretips for conquering the Reading section of the ACT. Tips and Strategies for ACT Reading Just as you're strategic about how to read the passages, you also want to tackle the questions with a set of strategies. These tips are ones that students have found to be the most helpful as they work their way through the ACT Reading section. First, and perhaps least obvious, your mindset, or how you think and feel about the Reading section, can actually have a big impact on your performance. Cultivatea Positive Mindset You know how if you're bored in a class, it's a struggle to pay attention to the lecture or plod your way through the work? Stress and anxiety can also put up obstacles to learning, actually using up your mental energy so it's not available to comprehend the task at hand. On the opposite side, if you're really intrigued by a lesson or activity, you feel engaged and like it flies by. You also actually absorb the information or practice much more efficiently, because you're personally involved in it. As an added bonus, you're also having fun. It might seem like wecan't control what welike and what wedon't like, but this is actually not entirely true. We have a good deal of control over shaping our thoughts, feelings, and mindset, which is a skill we can develop through practice, like any other. So how does this idea about our own psychology relate to the Reading section of the ACT? If you can approach the passages with a mindset of open and genuine interest in what information they have to teach you, then you'll be able to both read more efficiently, process faster, and retain more information. Whether it's an excerpt from a psychology book, a science article, or a Charlotte Bronte book, it can teach you some lesson from social studies, natural sciences, humanities, or literary fiction. So approach the passages with a proverbial smile on your face, and you'll probably find that the more you prep, the more interested in (and skilled at understanding) the passages you'll become. Apart from taking control of your attitude and mindset, let's discuss a few more technical strategies for answering the Reading questions. The following section expands on the importance of using process of elimination to hone in on the right answer choice. Use Process of Elimination In an ideal situation, you might read the question, know exactly what the answer is, and have it jump out at you from the answer choices. However, this usually isn't the case, especially in inference questions where the answer choices might be harder to predict. Setting out to eliminate wrong answers can help you locate the correct one. As mentioned earlier, there will only ever be one 100%, unambiguously correct answer choice. The others are designed to sound plausible, but they will all have some error of logic or factual inaccuracy. Some common errors in answer choices include being far too specific, much too broad, presenting a relationship in reversed order, or just presenting a totally unrelated concept. Often, extreme concepts or words like "always" or "never" in an answer choice also don't signal that it's the correct answer. Let's look again at the Emily Dickinson sample question I posted above. Which of the following most nearly paraphrases Helen Hunt Jackson's statement to Emily Dickinson that "it is wrong to the day you live in, that you will not sing aloud" (lines 35-36)? A. It is morally reprehensible of you not to let other poets read your work.B. It is unacceptable for you to continue writing; you should become a singer.C. It is stingy and wrong of you not to read out loud to those who like your work.D. It is unfair to this age that you do not share your poetry with the world. As you saw, the correct answer is D. But why are A, B, and C wrong? Answer choice A might fall into the too specific category, as Helen Hunt Jackson does not refer specifically to "other poets." It also represents an extreme in a way with its term, "morally reprehensible." This expresses an extreme sentiment that is not present in the original quote. Answer B, if you read the rest of the passage and have some sense of who Emily Dickinson was - an introverted, even reclusive poet - presents an unrelated concept. Just as you will be determining words in context, here you should discern that "sing aloud" is a poetic turn of phrase, not to be interprted literally. Finally, Answer C, like Answer A, is too extreme. It might seem like the most likely answer choice after D, as the original quote does use the word "wrong." However, Jackson says nothing about Dickinson's stinginess, and the rest of the passage shows that Answer C is too specific. Jackson is not referring only to "those who like your work," but to the entire "day," or time period, in which they live. Process of elimination becomes especially important when you've wavering between answer choices and have to root out the right one - a common scenario on the ACT Reading. Next time you try some sample questions or a practice test, don't just look forthe right answer. Ask yourself why the other answer choices are wrong. This approach will eventually become second nature, and you'll have a deeper understanding of how ACT Reading questions are commonly structured. Plus you'll have a solid defense against trickyanswer choices designed to distractyou. A second strategy that you should use specifically when answering questions is locating specific evidence within the text to support your answers. Locate Specific Evidence Just as you want to eliminate wrong answer choices, you also want to back up your answers with specific evidence from the passage. This is likely in line with your English teachers' mantra of, "Use supporting evidence!" Don't just rely on intuition. Pretend that someone will put you on trial about your answer choice, and you'll have to defend it and prove it to the jury with the most foolproof evidence you've got. With detail and line-specific questions, this is usually a pretty easy task. The questions themselves will usually point you back to a specific word or line. Even with inference questions, though, you can use this same approach. They are never actually that subjective. If they were, then the ACT scorers would have a lot of controversy on their hands. There can only be one correct answer, and this is taken directly from the passage itself. Along withlocating evidence as you study, you should also locate and analyze key literary terms. "Constant vigilance!" Develop your Mad Eye Moody-worthy critical eye. Study and Practice Key Literary Terms In addition to practicing your reading comprehension, you also want to make sure you understand and are able to determine key literary terms like theme, style, tone, imagery, symbolism, simile, metaphor, irony, foreshadowing, and hyperbole, to name a few. Obviously, you can't answer a question about an author's tone if you're not really sure what that is. However, studying definitions will only take you so far. A passage is not going to directly state that an author's tone is playful, condemning, or encouraging. Through practice questions, make sure you can interpret tone, foreshadowing, or the way a phrase like "sing aloud" is symbolic for sharing your poetry with the world. Finally, all of these tips are only helpful if you have the time and motivation to study and prep. Be a Self-Studier Practice, practice, and practice some more. Through studying, you can figure out your reading strengths and weaknesses, what you need to learn, and what's your best approach for reading the passages. You can improve at managing your time and figuring out how to pace yourself between the four passages. Especially if English is your strong subject or you're intending to study the humanities or social sciences in college, you want to demonstrate your skills with a strong score in this section. Even if you're not a humanities person, you want to demonstrate to colleges that you have college-level reading skills and will be able to succeed academically once you get to campus. With focused and customized test prep, you can ensure that you have the skills you'll need and are familiar with exactly what you're going to encounter on the Reading section. To Sum Up... Understanding the types of passages and questions on the ACT Reading will help you develop a critical eye and a strategic approach. Overall, I'd say that skimming is preferable to a close, line by line reading, which really isn't necessary for answering questions correctly. You should take practice tests and figure out what strategy works best for you. Then continue prepping while timing yourself to get better and better at pacing and finishing all the questions within the short, 35 minute period.Using process of elimination, supporting your answers with specific evidence, and being comfortable with literary terms are also key skills for performing well on the ACT Reading. The key word here is practice. Practice reading, practice answering questions, practice skimming and marking up questions and passages fast and efficiently. With all this practice, you'll continue to improve until test day arrives and you can show off your ACT Reading skills and achieve your target score. What's Next? Get started studying with an ACT Question of the Day. If you start early enough, these questions will add up and help you customize your study plan to target your weaknesses and make the most of your strengths. Are you looking for official practice tests? We've gathered printable official ACT practice tests that you can download and print here. What is your target score? Read about what makes a good score on the ACT, how you can achieve it, and how to set your target scores for each section. Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically.

Business people are still lousy KISSers, Daily Telegraph - Emphasis

Business people are still lousy KISSers, Daily Telegraph Business people are still lousy KISSers, Daily Telegraph New research reveals that an inability or reluctance to use plain English or to keep it short and simple (KISS) is still the single greatest barrier to good business writing. The findings by Emphasis, who have been training business people how to write for over eight years, show that a staggering 99 per cent of the pre-training documents they receive from clients contain unnecessary business-jargon or overly-long and complicated words and phrases. And for 63 per cent of people, this failure to KISS represents one of the three biggest challenges to improving their business writing.* The research findings coincide with the announcement of the Plain English Campaigns Annual Awards on 12 December, where organisations and individuals are recognised for having genuinely made an effort to present themselves using clear and concise English. The research only confirms what we already knew from working with a broad range of blue chip companies and public sector organisations, says Emphasis chief executive, Robert Ashton. Despite the odd refreshing example of an individual or organisation really embracing the KISS principle, using plain English remains the exception rather than the rule. So why cant business people KISS? A major issue is the popular misconception that long words and elaborate phrases are somehow a sign of superior intellect or professionalism. But people are inundated with documents to read (an average company with 5000 employees produces a staggering 78 pieces of writing every minute). They are also overworked and short of time so they dont want to have to translate complicated words and phrases; they just want to get to the point. And this is only half the story, says Ashton. The other problem is management speak and buzz words. People are tired of reading about synergy and excellence, while cutting edge or innovative products and services are ten-a-penny these days. And as for raising the bar and low-hanging fruit, the first thing to spring to mind is some kind of tropical limbo challenge. People sometimes think that using plain English represents some kind of dumbing down. But short words are not lightweight or less useful. In fact, theyre often more powerful. Its just a case of having the confidence to use them. * (together with poor punctuation and overuse of the passive voice).

How Can a Small Amount of Money Make a Big Difference Essay

How Can a Small Amount of Money Make a Big Difference - Essay Example The first article, â€Å"Internet Opens World to Microloan Investors†, which the author of the essay will discuss and draw an inference from helps to promote the concept of providing small â€Å"loans† to individuals in developing nations. Whereas providing 25-75 dollars to charity in the United States of America or another developed economy would actually provide little remediation of overall poverty, the authors relate the ways in which certain websites and key individuals have begun fronting very small personal loans or gifts to disenfranchised individuals in a developing country as a means of spurring business and raising the standard of living within these systems. This system is highly beneficial due to the fact that it connects would-be entrepreneurs with valuable access to start-up capital they so desperately need in order to realize a given business aspiration. Again, due to the fact that the developing world has such a decreased cost of entry, oftentimes even very small loans are able to foster a business half a world away. Similarly, the second article, â€Å"Simple, Easy Ways to Give Back† helps to engage the reader with the many opportunities that exist within the periphery of the consumer as ways in which they can seek to develop their philanthropic side. For instance, the article relates how those that are technophiles can easily utilize their mobile phone platform as a way to text small charitable donations to the charity of their choice. Additionally, the article relates to the ways in which donating the leftover amount on a gift card can be beneficial to specific charities. By utilizing web-based charitable organizations, the â€Å"loose change† on store gift cards can rapidly and efficiently be converted into a charitable donation.

Hamlet- Hamlets madness Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Hamlet- Hamlets madness - Research Paper Example Thesis statement: Through feigning madness to cover up for his actions, the protagonist of the play (hamlet) had really become mad in the end. First of all, Hamlet was not mad, but unexpected events in his life forced him to pretend as mad. But this pretension influenced his mind and resulted in his madness in the end. One can see that pretension, with or without reason, can influence an individual’s emotional equilibrium. Hamlet pretends to be mad because he wished to hide his deeds like communication with the ghost, revenge, motive, guilty consciousness, Oedipus complex, and to confuse his enemies. To cover up his communication: In the play, prince Hamlet is portrayed as an individual who is trying to cover up his communication with supernatural elements (say, his father’s spirit). He knows that other people will not believe him because it is difficult to prove that the ghost used to visit him. But the ghost reveals that his uncle is the mastermind behind his fatherâ €™s death. In William Shakespeare’s work, the ghost states that, â€Å"Avenge his foul and most unnatural murder† (21). From a different angle of view, one can see that he was aware of the fact that he must cover up his communication with the ghost. To be specific, the ghost is the link between the prince and his father. If the ghost did not appear, he will not know the conspiracy behind his father’s untimely death. So, Hamlet decides to cover up his communication with the ghost and pretends that he did not know the mastermind behind the conspiracy. Besides, he pretended as mad because he was aware of the fact that others will not suspect him. To cover up revenge: Prince Hamlet knew that he cannot trust anybody because he was totally confused due to the problems within his private circle. He cannot trust his mother because she co-operated with his uncle to assassinate his father. The protagonist cannot trust his uncle because he murdered his father. But he k new that his uncle is watching him because he is the one and only person who can take revenge of the king’s murder. Still, Hamlet did not give up his aim because he must take revenge of the murder. If he tries to conduct an investigation on the murder, his uncle will try to hinder him. So, Hamlet pretends that he was not aware of his uncle’s role in the conspiracy. The best possible way to prove inactive is to pretend as an insane individual. On the other side, Hamlet’s uncle did not suspect him because he considers Hamlet as an insane individual. So, one can see that pretension helped Hamlet to keep himself away from trouble and to find out the truth in the end. To cover up motive: In the play, the playwright inculcates anti-heroic elements on the protagonist (say, Hamlet) to cover up his real motive. One can see that the protagonist is different from traditional protagonists with heroic qualities. For instance, the protagonist does not try to attack his father ’s murderer. Instead, the protagonist tries to collect evidence against the murderer and traps him. This innovative method or the protagonist’s pursuit to kill the murderer is helpful for the viewer/reader to have deeper understanding of the protagonist’s motive. Marvin Rosenberg states that, â€Å"Giving such signals of pretended madness, Hamlet can still be so anguished that he is in fact on the edge of unreason, but his consciousness is

Reflection essay Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reflection essay - Case Study Example In many instances, organizations are not able to cater to the social responsibilities because of the huge pressure in corporate sector by the shareholders (Mickels, 2009). By registering as a Benefit corporation, an organization can project them as a business which also has the aim of developing a better society, such as the Good Capital LLC mentioned in the case, where investment is also carried out to provide solutions to some of the challenging problems faced by the society. Therefore, the biggest advantage is that both the society as well as the organization benefits. It also provides encouragement to a generation of entrepreneur who can share benefits with the society, without having to fear about the lawsuits or lack of support from the shareholders (Reiser, 2012). However, there are certain disadvantages also; where by Benefit corporates can get sued by if it fails to take the steps for the benefit of the society as per the state laws (Reiser, 2012). If the status of Benefit corporations is given to organizations, it is mandated that they take solid steps towards the social cause they are committed to (Reiser, 2012). Additionally, it also has a high risk of abuse as powerful leaders may use it to mask their follies (Katz and Page, 2010). Hence, it is appropriate only for those businesses that are fully committed to both social causes as well as to their shareholders. The issue of abuse also leads to the question of ethics in Benefit corporations. As the potential of misusing is high, because the losses can be easily masked out as investment for fulfilling the social causes, it is necessary to have rigorous testing standards so that organizations cannot take undue advantage in the pretext of being a Benefit organization (Reiser, 2012). In addition, an organization should give equal priority to its organizational mission as well as the social cause undertaken, so that it can commit fully to

Preventing Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI)

Preventing Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI) Introduction Clinical governance is important for providing safe care to patients and is essential to continuous improvement in patient safety.(vicgov) One of the key components in relation to this safety and quality issue in health care is preventing and controlling healthcare associated infections(HAI) which plays a significant role in poor outcomes of patients.(sahealth) To prevent transmission of HAI, Hand Hygiene should be done which is one of the most effective ways. Clinical professionals, especially nurses who have high risk of HAI transmission to patients, need to review the effects and great importance of Hand Hygiene to minimize the risk of HAI. Also, study tells that a number of infections can be prevented by adherence to established infection control practices.(sahealth) However, when accessing articles, they need to know the review methods such as a systematic review and randomized control trial, to satisfy evidence based practice with having analysing skills for quality resources. Five articles were reviewed to practice this. Critique Larson et al did research to examine the impact of the new practice Guideline on HAI and this compared the infection rates of pre- and post-Guideline implementation in a sample of US hospitals in different time. The problem is the result can be affected by time. Some components, such as how surveillance is conducted, how infections are defined and other concurrent infection prevention activities over time, might play a significant role in the result. Also, there were no control groups in this research so that the outcome of this research cannot be compared with the control group’s infection rates in the same time of post-Guideline implementation. And there was only 2 days observation which is unlikely to be an accurate reflection of practice. Monistrol et al used no control group as well. And Hand Hygiene compliance, the consumption of alcohol-based hand rub (AHR), HAIs and MRSA hospital acquisition incidence were measured. Hand Hygiene compliance was measured by direct observation of health care workers during daily work routine. Observations covered all the 8 hour shifts on weekdays, which is more acceptable than Larson et al’s only 2 days observation. However, infection control nurses undertook the observers and also part of the educator. This could explain the high Hand Hygiene compliance in all periods due to the presence of observers. Meanwhile, Allegranzi et al assessed the effectiveness of the World Health Organization hand hygiene improvement strategy in a low-income African country, evaluating hand hygiene infrastructure, compliance, healthcare workers’ knowledge and perceptions, and handrub consumption. The ideal design for these researches would be Randomized Clinical Trial (RCT), because the research outcomes can be compared by control groups for more exact data in a same time. However, those cannot be done properly with RCT and this is the reason why they did not choose RCT for the research strategy. Once the new practice Guideline is published, the control groups will be informed as well. And this might withhold best practices from patients, raising ethical concerns. The most rigorous study among those three articles was Allegranzi et al’s research. To examine the effectiveness of WHO’s hand hygiene improvement strategy, they prepared well with training the observers for a long time according to the WHO observation method. And for the baseline evaluation and follow-up evaluation WHO knowledge questionnaire was administered. Also, more scientific and specific categories such as hand hygiene infrastructure and healthcare workers’ level of knowledge were shown in this research than others. Stout et al and Melissa et al reviewed articles by using a systematic review. In regards to the search strategy, Stout et al searched only PubMed for relevant articles. While Melissa et al searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, HMIC, the Web of Science and the Cochrane Library databases. There is evidence that single electronic database searches lack sensitivity and relevant articles may be missed if only one database is searched(Akobeng 2005). Meanwhile, Stout et al evaluated and reviewed 3,463 articles published between January 1, 2000 and March 31 2013. Forty two articles were selected and grouped into 1 of 4 categories after quality assessment of articles. Also, the earliest year of 2000 was selected because alcohol-based hand rub was not widely in use in prior years. This is a quite scientific strategy. While, there was no specific reason for Melissa et al to pick the articles between May and November 2004, as well as there was no mention about quality assessment of studies. A systematic review was selected for these articles to examine primary studies on focused clinical questions so that specific answers from narrowly defined review questions were given. Findings Conclusion The result of Larson et al indicates that hand hygiene guideline was disseminated and hospitals responded by modifying procedures and policies, compliance with hand hygiene recommendations remained low. Similarly, Monistrol et al suggested that no changes in incidences of HAI were shown after the multimodal campaign. However, Allegranzi et al found that hand hygiene improvement is affordable and effective in a healthcare setting with limited resources. The difference between Summary Number Author/s, year country Aims Sample/setting Design/methods Main Findings Strength/limitations of the study 1 Stout, Ritchie Macpherson 2007 UK To improve compliance with hand hygiene guidelines, resulting in low incidence of HAI. Search strategy with combined terms of ‘handwashing’, ‘alcohol cleanser’, ‘infection’, or ‘compliance’ Date or language limitation were applied. A systematic review: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, HMIC, the Web of Science and the Cochrane Library databases between May and November 2004 2 Melissa et al 2014 US To assess the existing evidence surrounding the adoption and accuracy of automated systems or electronically enhanced direct observations and also reviews the effectiveness of such systems in health care settings. 3 Allegranzi et al 2010 US To assess the feasibility and effectiveness of the World Health Organization hand hygiene improvement strategy in a low-income African country. University Hospital, Bamako, Mali Introducing a locally produced, alcohol-based handrub; monitoring hand hygiene compliance; providing performance feedback; educating staff; posting reminders in the workplace; and promoting an institutional safety climate according to the World Health Organization multimodal hand hygiene improvement strategy. Compliance increased from 8.0% at baseline to 21.8% at follow-up 4 Larson, Quiros Lin 2007 US To evaluate implementation and compliance with clinical practices recommended in the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) Hand Hygiene Guideline To compare rates of HAI before and after implementation of the guideline recommendations To examine the patterns and correlates of changes in rates of HAI Survey for 89.8% of 1359 staff members Hospitals that were members of The National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System Quantitative study during 2001 – 2004, Hand Hygiene Guideline implementation and compliance measures: the introduction of the guideline within the hospital; the presence of the recommended products on clinical units; institutional policies and procedures regarding hand hygiene, includeing the presence of a formalized plan to monitor compliance. Measure of HAI pre- and post-Guideline: collecting data regarding HAI rates in the ICUs of study hospitals for 12 months before and 12 months following publication of the Hand Hygiene Guideline. Hand hygiene compliance: ranged from 24% to 89% per ICU None of the pre to post-rates of change were associated with hospital characteristics. Assessment of hand hygiene compliance was based on just 2 days of observation 5 Monistrol et al 2011 Spain To evaluate the effectiveness of a multimodal intervention in medical wards in relation to hand hygiene compliance, alcohol-based hand rub consumption and incidence of HAI and MRSA. 825 patients and 868 patients totally in the pre and post period respectively. Conducted at three internal medical wards(113 beds) in Hospital Universitari Mutua Terrassa, Spain Quantitative: Prospective study during 2007 2009. Carried out in four phases: a baseline phase(10 weeks from February 2007), an intervention period(5 months from June 2007), a post intervention(10 weeks from November 2007) and follow-up evaluation(November 2009) Hand hygiene compliance improved from 54.3% in the pre period to 75.8% in the post period. Alcohol-based hand rub consumption increased from 10.5 to 27.2L per 1000 patient-days. The incidence density of HAI ranged from 6.93 to 6.96 per 1000 hospital days and new Healthcare Associated MRSA went down from 0.92 to 0.25 per 1000 hospital-days. Strengths: conducted in general medical wards with the long-term follow-up Limitations: no control group was used; no group session, compliance observation or surveillance of HAIs was carried out outside the studied area Vic gov http://health.vic.gov.au/clinrisk/publications/clinical_gov_policy.htm sahealth http://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/public+content/sa+health+internet/clinical+resources/safety+and+quality/preventing+and+controlling+healthcare+associated+infections