Corporate governance ethics Essay

Introduction Ethics is one of the principles that govern the operation of corporations. It is therefore important for corporations to observe it in order to remain relevant to the market, make profits, and expand their capacity. Corporate governance is entitled to direct all the operations of a corporation. It is the manner in which top management directs the corporation and so the stake holders are able to judge whether the company is operating in ethical manner or not. This paper will cover ethical problem that is as a result of poor corporate governance, dilemmas between stakeholders, law that applies to it and how strategies have been laid to solve the problem. The most common problem on corporate governance that I will discuss on this paper is evasion of tax and other problems that arise in the course of governing a company such as failure to corporate social responsibilities for example environmental pollutions and unfair remuneration of workers, cultural diversity and poor quality goods. These problems occur because of lack of ethical responsibility of top management when governing a corporation. Ethics on corporate governance When an entrepreneur develops a business idea, his main objective is that the business will be able to succeed through making a lot of profits. To ensure that a business idea succeeds and it is able to generate a lot of profits, entrepreneurs recruit the best management who will be able to steer his idea forward in line with ethical practises of the business industry (Arjoon, 2005). If the idea succeeds, the business expands and grows to large corporations that can run in a wide geographical location and even in the international market. At this level, management become complex and the company adapts different levels of management which direct the operations of the company and control everything that is undertaken in the company.   At this point, the company must have a governing body that manage the overall company practises. This is where the corporate governance is important so that the company is able to distribute all its responsibilities to different stakeholders such as managers, board of governors, suppliers, customers, creditors, auditor and share holders (Arjoon, 2005). In order to be able to control and direct all the stakeholders, ethics must be highly upheld in corporate governance. This will ensure that any decision making process involves all the stakeholders for ethical practises and that ethics are considered when delegating duties to each stakeholders to avoid conflicts and other mismanagement problems that may affect the company performance. Failure to ethical corporate governance perhaps is one of the greatest sources of many unexpected losses to corporations. Ethics also ensures that a business is able to follow e right way to do businesses without exploiting other businesses or populations in is environments.   In today’s competitive markets and business environment, a reputation of a business plays an important role as its marketing strategy through appealing stakeholders such as customers and creditors, which are integral part of business success. The stakeholders expect that business operations are steered in accordance to the best corporate governance whereby the top management bear the total responsibility. Therefore, corporate governance is the integral part of business success and so ethical values should be part of it. Not only should be the decision making process and policy formulation that should involve ethics in corporate governance, but also the way the top management behaves and carry themselves when executing their duties. In every business, the conduct of employees and its reputation are highly influenced by the leadership of the company. If the leaders show high professionalism such as integrity and transparency in work place the employees also try to copy them, which contribute to improved performance of the business and maintain its good reputation in the market (Arjoon, 2005). Today, most corporations are failing in their management due to failure to consider ethics when making major decisions, directing or controlling their activities. These failures are blamed on poor corporate governance that does not follow moral values of the company and stakeholders. For example, a number of corporations have been said to evade taxes, mistreat their workers by paying them unfair remunerations, producing inferior or substandard quality goods in the market and exploiting communities and other small companies in order to make profits. These practises are considered unethical traits of incompetent corporate governing and have led many corporations to trouble resulting to under performance or even prosecution. Many corporations carry out underground businesses with the aim to avoid part of their legal responsibility to pay taxes and other licences fees that are part of legal requirements. Although this is an ethical responsibility for any profit making company, it is becoming a major problem in business industry. According to Fà ¡tima, & Abreu, (2013) tax evasion is violation of moral values and norms (ethics) for financial and administrative behaviours that govern operations of a business. This has led to the he global business regulatory bodies such as world trade organizations and other corporate bodies to come up policies and rules that govern the operations of business so as to ensure that all the operating business operates in an ethical manner that is acceptable by all stakeholders. For this reasons policies have been developed, which acknowledge the responsibility of any business or corporate body to pay taxes and meet all other legal requirement of the state in which it operates all its businesses. For example, United States have developed laws such as foreign account tax compliance act, which ensures all financial organizations are able to pay their respective taxes.   Therefore it is the responsibility of any management or corporate governing body to ensure that it meets the requirements of the government where it operates its business as part of the right way (ethical) to carry its business. By this way, business corporate governance it said to be observing ethical practises. Most governments have lost billions of money through tax evasion. For example United States exempt corporations with subsidiary branches in foreign countries from tax. This has led to many corporations exploiting the opportunity in an illegal and unethical manner. Countries register their corporations as subsidiary branches in order to evade tax. Google and Apple have been the recent companies that have been discovered to have evaded a lot of taxes for United States. For example Apple is said to have avoided tax on $ 74 billion that it earned as profits between years 2009 and 2012 and Starbucks was accused for evading taxes in United Kingdom (UK) for three years in December 2012 (Evans, 2014). Although it is ethical for companies to pay taxes to their own government and foreign states where they operate, US 2004 law on corporation tax has encourage many companies to take part of unethical corporate governance (Mider, 2014). In addition, US have laws that allow it to penalize companies and corporate managements who avoid tax havens but this has not worked out. Therefore, it can be concluded that poor and unethical corporate governance has led to evasion of taxes for many corporations and small businesses across the world despite laws and policies that mandate them inn paying their taxes in honesty (Otusanya, Lauwo, & Ajibolade, 2013). The issue on tax payment on many corporations have been one of the main ethical dilemmas with most companies putting pressure on their chief executive officers (CEOs) not pay taxes while workers and general public demonstrate and condemn corporations that evade their taxes. For example public and workers demonstrated against Starbucks coffee Company in 2012 for evasion of taxes for three years in UK. Most of these dilemmas are cited on the ambiguous US laws on corporations operating in foreign countries. Most of the dilemmas have been taken to courts and legislation bodies for solutions. For example, Apple CEOs were taken stood before US senate to answer against evasion of $ 74 billion profits taxes (Evans, 2014). Other solutions have been obtained through agitation of public through mass demonstrations and condemnation of the corporations. This has seen some of the companies start paying taxes. Other dilemmas are being solved by perfection of tax payment laws so as to fill the loopholes that the corporations are taking advantage of in order to avoid their legal rights to pay taxes. US senate and other political leaders are coming up with legislations that ban corporations from avoiding tax. It has been a great problem for many corporations to carry out their operations in line with the communities living around the corporations through corporate social responsibilities (Nakano, 2007). For example, United Nations have published business reference guide for business on the rights of indigenous people in the environment that a business is established. Many corporations are the largest source of pollution and exploitation of resources in places where they operate without benefiting the communities living there. Therefore, global regulatory bodies require every business to participate in corporate social responsibilities. A good corporate governance ensures that it participate in projects that improve the lives of the communities living in its environments (Arjoon, 2005). It is the mandate of management to see that the communities are able to benefit with the employments opportunities, social responsibilities such as funding their projects, and protecting their environment. A company or a business that tend to avoid these responsibilities is said to be operating in unethical way and may be summoned by the international business regulatory bodies for exploiting the communities. Therefore it is ethical for every business to work in close consultations with the communities that form part of its stakeholders. On the other hand, a company that denies the communities employment opportunities does not participate on its social projects and play a major role in pollution of its environment is said to be operating in an unethical manner. This may provoke the regulatory bodies or even the government resulting in confiscation of its properties and cancelling of its licence. This is a blame on corporate governance as it is the top management that is held responsible for unethical operations. It is also the responsibility of top management to ensure that all employees, customers and other stakeholders are accorded equal respect. This will ensure that the corporation is able to carry all its responsibilities in consultation with all stakeholders, which is the ethical requirement of every business that is in operations and be able to offer competitive remunerations that meet the international labour laws (Pollack, 2011). However, most corporations exploit their worker paying them substandard wages in order to maximize their profits. This is against labour laws of many countries and industrial organizations.   Therefore, it is unethical for company to pay substandard wages as that is not the right way or requirement in business industry. Most multinational corporations have suffered big losses through poor corporate governance that does not consider its ethical responsibility in protecting the environment and communities living in their vicinity of operations. A recent example is Yaiguaje versus Chevron environmental dispute where the Ecuadorian plaintiff was awarded $ 9.5 billion. This was a big loss to the multinational corporation. Various states and international business organizations have also put up punitive measures that have seen many corporations incur a lot of losses but in the long run controlled from their unethical governance. In addition, European commission and European councils have enacted laws and policies that require companies affiliated to the commissions to give annual reports of their social responsibilities to the communities. This was aimed to reduce the number of companies that are exploiting communities and taking part in environmental pollution that is causing world a lot of money. This also defines what is right way for corporations to govern their operations. Therefore, corporate social responsibility has become an ethical requirement of every company or business in operation. Other legal requirements for companies include international criminal law, corporate governance, and labour standards (Tully, 2012). In addition, it has been a challenge for many corporations to work in a multi-cultural society. Most business environment comprise of diverse people. A company is mandated to cope up with these challenges by providing a favourable environment that harmonises all employees and customers to share same goal and mission of the company to help in propelling growth of the company. Some of the corporations have been accused of employing people on the basis of races and ethnic groups. This has led to dilemmas between corporations and communities, who are part of the company as they form part of the market. However, international labour organizations and world trade organization and various governments have enacted laws to ensure balanced employment and equal treatments of communities. For example, United States and other countries in America have enacted laws that advocate for multiculturalism. For example, Canadian Multicultural Act of 1988 allows equal rights for all citizens despite their ethnic or racial background. This has led to many companies in the country to be able to address multicultural issues and thus effectively working in a diverse environment. There has been dilemma between corporate, management and stakeholders such as employees, customers, and communities, which has led to unceasing conflicts and demonstrations agitating for corporations to carry out their operations in ethical manner that respect the rights of the people living within their environments. For example, Shell a royal Dutch petroleum operating in Niger Delta has been accused of polluting the environment and displacing the communities living there by drilling oil reserves. This has affected agriculture in the location, causing problem to more than 27 million people living in the region (Global Exchange, 2014). This has led to demonstrations and continued litigations although with no much success. Coca Cola Company has also received objection in India for its increased drainage of water to communities around the company affecting their agricultural farming that has resulted in many deaths of farmers due to poor crop harvest. This has led to communities through their councils of elders rejecting the company’s plan to expand its boundaries (India Resource Centre, 2013). Political leaders have played major roles in solving these conflicts through enacting laws that confine corporations to protecting environmental and the communities. Other organizations such as international labour organizations (ILO) have enacted laws and policies that protect employees and define how they should be remunerated. This has led to decreased conflicts and dilemma between communities and employees. Increased cometition and cost of production have led to many businesses producing substandard goods that are low in quality without the knowledge of consumers. This has been a means of lowering production cost at the expense of consumers’ rights. This has led to formation of international standard organizations, which measure and accredit companies that produce quality goods. In addition, global consumers’ rights movements have also being formed to agitate for quality goods. However, many companies still produce inferior and goods of poor quality. This is unethical and blame is laid on the top managements of the companies as it the one that is responsible and part of corporate governance as they are aware of the set policies and requirements for quality products and thus it is unethical to release low quality goods to the market. Therefore, it is ethical for companies to produce high quality goods (Fernando, 2009). This has led to increased dilemma between management and customers who have gone to the extent of mass actions advocating for quality products sand some of the corporations being banned from markets where they supply low quality goods. For example Russia banned Ukraine Roshen Corporation from its market arguing of unsatisfying packages and labels that could not meet Russian standards in July 2003 (Roshen, 2014). Russia also argued that the ingredients that Roshen was using was not meeting the standards for confectionary companies thus its (Roshen) products posed a threat to its (Russia) citizen. Conclusion Corporate governance involves directing and controlling all operations of a corporation. Therefore, all unethical issues are as a result of incompetent corporate governance.   Most ethical problems associated by poor corporate governance include evasion of taxes, not meeting their corporate social responsibilities such as environmental protection and unfair wages to employees and production of poor quality goods to maximise their profits. The problems have led to a dilemma between the corporations and stakeholders resulting in mass actions and cases that have caused corporations a lot of money. Political leaders through legal forums such as senate have enacted laws that have directed corporation thus bringing solutions to these dilemmas. References Arjoon, S. (2005). Corporate governance: An ethical perspective. Journal Of Business Ethics, 61 (4), pp. 343–352. Evans, P. (2014, January 31). Corporate tax evasion ‘crackdown’ more bark than bite. CBS. Fà ¡tima, D., & Abreu R. (2013). Tax evasion. Encyclopedia of Corporate Social Responsibility. pp. 2497-2503 Fernando, A. C. (2009). Business ethics: an Indian perspective. Prentice Hall. Global Exchange (2014). Global exchange top ten corporate criminals list | Global Exchange. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.globalexchange.org/corporateHRviolators#Shell [Accessed: 9 Apr 2014]. India Resource Centre (2013). Village Councils Reject Coca-Cola Plans, Opposition Grows. Indian Resource Centre [online] Retrieved from: http://www.indiaresource.org/news/2013/1008.html [Accessed: 9 Apr 2014]. Mider Z., R. (2014, January 7). Companies fleeing taxes pay CEOs extra as law backfires. Business week Nakano, C. (2007). The significance and limitations of corporate governance from the perspective of business ethics: towards the creation of an ethical organizational culture. Asian Business & Management, 6 (2), pp. 163–178. Otusanya, O. J., Lauwo, S., & Ajibolade, S. O. (2013). An investigation of corporate executive fraud by CEOs in the Nigerian banking sector. African Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, 2(1), 65-89. Pollack, D. (2011). International legal note: salaries of CEOs of international NGOs: Ensuring fair compensation while avoiding populist rage. International Social Work, 54 (4), pp. 599-604. Roshen (2014). ROSHEN Confectionery Corporation statement about the situation at its enterprises in Russia :: Confectionery Corporation Roshen. Tully, S. (2012). International corporate legal responsibility. Alphen aan den Rijn: Kluwer Law International.

Library Statement of Goals Essay

I have submitted my application for admission into the Kent State School of Library and Information Science as an avenue for professional growth within my current career. As a former Spanish teacher and currently a computer technology teacher, it is important to pursue the MLIS as current librarians seek retirement and technology continues to infiltrate libraries across our nation. I am currently interested in pursuing the MLIS plus the K-12 licensure in order to serve in an urban school library setting. My current teaching assignment of computer technology lends itself to a smooth transition from the classroom to a librarian position as our school district places more emphasis on digital media. I remain fully committed to providing instruction to students; however, with teachers and school librarians retiring in droves, I fear that our schools will be left with overworked teachers and no librarians in our schools. By completing the MLIS degree, I will be accomplishing an additional career objective. I remain committed to my career goals that were previously established many years ago. My first goal was accomplished by completing my undergraduate course of study at the University of Cincinnati. My second career goal was to obtain my M. Ed. In School Administration and I accomplished that particular goal in the year 2000. My third goal, albeit somewhat personal, was to earn my private pilot’s license, and I successfully completed that task in 2001. My fourth career oriented goal was to transition from teaching Spanish to teaching computer science with an ultimate goal of finishing the required courses to earn the MLIS degree. I am currently in the middle of this goal. After speaking to our retiring librarian, she suggested that I apply my technology expertise and apply for the vacant school librarian position. Our current librarian highly encouraged me to seek at least the minimum courses for K-12 certification. After speaking with Dr. Sarah Harper and educating myself about the MLIS program and learning about the additional career opportunities associated with the MLIS, I have decided to pursue this additional graduate degree. The role of the librarian appears to be shifting from the traditional aspects of managing a library to more of the role as a librarian media technologist. An important current issue of the library is to also serve as a digital media center due to the increased technology needs facing libraries. I am greatly interested in this transition as many school librarians almost double as the digital media technologist. Colleges and universities are also adopting the model of librarian media technologist to enhance the needs of such educational institutions. As our digital technology library needs grow, I foresee a point where the current traditional school librarian could potentially be at a slight disadvantage without minimal technology background. I firmly support digital media; however, print media is equally as important. It will be the role of the librarian to determine which media shall remain in print edition for students, and which media will transition to digital media. Another current issue that is important is to fully integrate the school library as an extension of the classroom. It is important to fully utilize the library beyond the common routine of â€Å"pulling books† for a specific course. Instead, it would be beneficial to teachers and students if the library were to be established as an academic department. Establishing meaningful collaboration between the library personnel and teachers will foster a learning environment conducive to learning. As a school librarian, a goal should be to create a library setting that embeds the role of the library into the classrooms. Instead of thinking of the library as an independent space of a school, the library now serves as an extension of the classroom. However, it is equally important to keep in mind, the school librarian is not able to provide content specific instruction, but rather, instruction on how to locate the resources required for the specific content. It is important for the librarian to serve as an instructional partner in the learning process. Finally, another current issue that I believe is important is increasing the mobility of the library. Technology has advanced to where it is no longer required to leave the house and go to the library to seek and acquire information. With nearly all of our students owning a mobile device, whether it is a cellular telephone, iPad, Nook, mobile devices are changing the way information is delivered and accessed. While students easily have access to the internet through mobile devices, it is equally important that students have access to digital records housed in the library. Furthermore, many library users have learned the convenience of downloadable e-books. As teachers, students, and others navigate away from the traditional book delivered in print, it will be important for the librarian to explore new ideas and collaboratively implement a plan to cost effectively deliver more data via mobile devices.

Introduction to Organic Chemistry Essay

Amines are compounds composed of nitrogen atoms bearing alkyl or aromatic compounds. Amines undergo interesting reactions, one of which is with the reaction with nitrous acid producing an azo dye. In this study, the experiment focused on synthesizing an observing the physical properties of Sudan-1. Sudan-1 is of the most common dyes found in waxes, oils and in some food ingredients specifically curry and chilli powder. Furthermore, this study aimed to understand the mechanism behind the synthesis of 1-phenylazo-2-naphtol. To be able to synthesize Sudan-1, preparation of phenyldiazonium chloride solution and ÃŽ ²- naphthol solution were done. Ingrain dyeing was also done in this experiment. The synthesis of Sudan-1 has a two-step reaction – diazotization and coupling reactions. Diazotization is the formation of diazonium salt, meanwhile, the coupling reaction took place when an activated aromatic compound, ÃŽ ²-naphtol was reacted with the diazonium salt, benzene diazonium chloride, to form the azo compound known as the 1-phenylazo-2-naphthol. As a result, an orange-red precipitate was formed after series of reaction. Hence, all the said objectives in this experiment were achieved. Amines are compounds that are composed of a nitrogen atom bearing alkyl or aromatic groups. They are basic and nucleophilic because of their lone pair. They occur both in plants and animals. Amines produces some of the most interesting effects and of the common reaction of aminewith nitrous acid producing a dye[4]. Alizarin, for example is a red dye extracted from madder root used by Egyptians and Persians. However, in this experiment, it aimed to produce a dye commonly known as Sudan-1. Sudan-1 is a lysochrome with the chemical formula 1-phenylazo-2-naphthol. It is a powdered substance with an orange-red color. This azo dye is most commonly found in waxes, oils, and also in some food coloring ingredients – curry powder and chili powder. However, the presence of Sudan-1 in most foods now is currently being banned because it has been classified to be carcinogenic. This experiment focused on synthesizing of 1-phenylazo-2-naphthol which is a two-step reaction. The first reaction is the reaction of aniline with nitrous acid, which is called diazotization and second, the reaction of diazonium salt and beta-naphtol to form azo dye which is the coupling reaction. Figure 1 Diazotization Reaction of Aniline to Produce a Diazonium Salt Figure 1 Diazotization Reaction of Aniline to Produce a Diazonium Salt In diazotization reaction, there is a formation of diazonium salts. This reaction is made possible when a primary aromatic amine is treated with nitrous acid. Then in coupling reaction, the electrophilic substitution reaction of a diazonium salt with an activated aromatic ring formed a azo compound specifically an azo dye.[3] The main objective of this study was to be able to synthesize Sudan-1. Also, it aimed to characterize the azo dye with its most distinguishing physical properties. Furthermore, this experiment also aimed to understand the mechanism behind the synthesis of Sudan-1. Figure 2 Coupling Reaction of Benzene Diazonium Chloride with ÃŽ ² -Naphthol Figure 2 Coupling Reaction of Benzene Diazonium Chloride with ÃŽ ² -Naphthol Aniline was reacted NaNO2 crystals under acidic condition using HCl in a cold temperature. The solution was done in a very cold temperature because the phenyldiazonium intermediate easily decomposes back to its aniline counterpart at a slightly high temperature; hence the temperature of the solution was maintained in an ice bath below 5Â °C. Rock salt may also be added to the ice bath to maintain the temperature. However, in this experiment, no rock salts were added instead constant monitoring of the temperature was done. ÃŽ ²-naphthol solution was used as a coupling reagent in synthesizing Sudan-1. In preparing ÃŽ ²-naphthol solution, ÃŽ ²-naphthol was dissolved in 5% of aqueous NaOH and was also cooled in an ice bath below 5Â °C, this was to avoid the decomposition of the compounds. The main reaction that occurred in the preparation of phenyldiazonium chloride solution was diazotization reaction. Diazotization is the reaction between a primary aromatic amine and nitrous acid at cold temperatures to diazonium salt compound.[2] Figure 1 below is the reaction exhibited by the phenyldiazonium chloride solution. As this experiment aimed to synthesize Sudan-1, two steps are done. The first step would be the reaction of a primary aromatic amine to produce a diazonium salt as seen in Figure 1. The second step, then, is the reaction of the diazonium salt with a strongly activated aromatic syste,l known as coupling reactions. Azo coupling is the reaction between a diazonium compound and aniline, phenol or other aromatic compound which produces an azo compound.[5] In this experiment ÃŽ ²-naphthol couples with the diazonium salt. Figure 2 below shows the coupling reaction of the benzene diazonium chloride with ÃŽ ²-naphthol and having the product of Sudan-1. Furthermore, figure 3 below is the summary of reactions of the synthesis of Sudan-1 in this experiment. Figure 3 Summary of Reactions in Synthesizing Sudan-1 Figure 3 Summary of Reactions in Synthesizing Sudan-1 In this experiment, a filter paper was used to undergo ingrain dyeing. Ingrain dyeing is an irreversible chemical reaction of the diazonium salt solution and the activating aromatic solution. An orange-red filter paper was produced after such procedure. The presence of orange-red color in filter indicates the presence of the azo dye (see appendix for the orange-red filter paper produced). The Sudan dye is synthesized right in the spaces between the filter paper such that they are permanently trapped inside the fiber spaces of the filter paper.[2] After mixing the phenyldiazonium chloride solution with the ÃŽ ²-naphthol solution, an orange-red paste-like solution was formed. Furthermore, the mixed solution was also reacted at a temperature not exceeding 4ËšC for 1-5 minutes. Afterwards, the mixture was also filtered was washed with several portions of water to filter the product, Sudan-1. Recrystallization was also done when the filtrate was steamed bath after dissolving it with 95% hot ethanol. AS a result, orange-red crystals were formed which is the Sudan-1 product. The crystal appeared to be orange-red in color due to the N=N bond present in Sudan-1. The N=N is responsible for the absorption of light thus reflecting a color which is orange-red. The structure of Sudan-1 is shown in Figure 4 below showing the N=N bond of the compound. The N=N is known as the chromophores which are responsible for the color. The –OH group attached in the structure is also responsible for enhancing the orange-red color. The –OH functional group is known as the auxochrome, which modifies the ability of the chromophore to absorb the light.[1] Figure 4 Structure of Sudan-1 Azo-compounds, compounds with general formula Ar-N+=N-Ar-, are coupling products from the reaction of diazonium salts with amines. The general reaction pattern for Sudan synthesis first undergoes diazotization reaction and then coupling reaction with highly activated aromatic compounds. In this experiment, the diazotization reaction of aniline with NaNO2 and HCl yielded a diazonium salt, benzene diazonium chloride. Furthermore, the diazonium salt then underwent coupling reactions with an activated aromatic ring which is ÃŽ ²-naphthol. The coupling reaction yielded an azo compound which is most commonly known as the Sudan-1 with an IUPAC name of 1-phenylazo-2-naphthol. As a result of the reactions in this experiment, an orange-red color of solution was produced. This experiment aimed to understand the reactions that underwent to synthesize Sudan-1; as a result, figure 3 was the summary of reactions. As a physical result, orange-red colored crystals were produced representing the azo compound, Sudan-1. However, some minor errors will not be ignored in this experiment. Some errors like human errors might have affected the results in yielding a pure azo compound. One human error, would be the measuring of the reagents used to yield the said product. Also, the misreading of some measurements may have also affected the results of this experiment. Also, some impurities in the chemicals used will also not be ignore, since this impurities may have led to a not so visible side reactions in the said experiment. After being said and done, all the said objectives in this experiment were met.

Maintaining Reliability

If you do your banking online you will find that occasionally when you go to access your account information, it is sometimes not available†¦usually during odd hours of the night or early morning. An error message may appear on the screen advising you that the information requested is not currently available due to system †maintenance†. Later, when get back online to check on your account, all of your account information, such as balance and items posted, has been updated. With something as important as finances, the reliability you depend on with your bank is what the bank’s reputation rides on. The bank’s ability to maintain your account in a reliable manner is what keeps your business at that particular bank. Not limited to banking, reliability and maintenance are important in business operations. Many business-specific meanings for the words â€Å"reliability† and â€Å"maintenance† exist, but overall, everything boils down to one standard: without reliability and without maintenance, business is not business as usual. Generally defined, reliability is the ability of a system to perform and maintain its functions in routine circumstances, as well as hostile or unexpected circumstances (Wikipedia, 2006). From a business perspective, simple words such as â€Å"dependable†, â€Å"trustworthy†, â€Å"consistency† and â€Å"repeatability† can better explain what reliability’s meaning really is (Trochim, 2006). A long time client continues business with an organization for the â€Å"reliability† the organization provides†¦for the organization’s ability to either provide the same results time and again, or to provide improved results. With this in mind, the term â€Å"maintenance† comes into play. Maintenance is defined as the act of maintaining or the state of being maintained, and the work of keeping something in proper condition (Webster, 2006). To ensure reliability, an oorganization must maintain the manner in which they provide a service. Microsoft, for example,  is constantly â€Å"tweaking† the software programs they provide to home and businesses users. They do this to ensure that their customers can continue to enjoy a secure, hassle-free (for the most part) experience with today’s computer technology. In addition to hiring computer programming and IT experts to maintain their product, Microsoft provides a link on their main website for customers to report any problems they may encounter while using their product, which assists in covering all aspects of performing proper maintenance (Microsoft, 2007). Those little â€Å"system update† pop-up’s you receive while doing work on your computer are Microsoft’s way of maintaining your computer software for you†¦you don’t even have to set a reminder or perform time-consuming research to ensure that your computer has the latest versions of programs available. Maintenance is not simply about improving a product, but also about making sure that the product continues to be reliable. The â€Å"behind the scenes† maintenance of ensuring a great product is what makes a business reliable and successful. In the end, you can have a great product, but if your business is not reliable, you won’t have a business to run. References: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Merriam-Webster Research Team. (2006) Definition of Maintenance. January 2007 www.webster.com/dictionary/maintenance 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Microsoft Corporation (2006) Microsoft Help and Support. January 2007 www.support.microsoft.com/gp/ContactUsSecHome. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Trochim, William M.K. (2006) Theory of Reliability. January 2007 www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/reliablt.htm. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Wikipedia Writing Staff. (2006) Definition of Reliability. January 2007 www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliability.   

Controversial Health Information Management Issues Essay

Controversial Health Information Management Issues - Essay Example The HIPAA Privacy Rule makes sure those minimum standards for protecting the privacy of individually identifiable health information. This rule provides certain rights to individuals like the rights to access and amend their health information and to obtain a record of when and why their Protected Health Information (PHI) has been shared with others for certain purposes. Moreover The Privacy Rule sets certain conditions under which researchers can use the PHI when necessary to conduct research (What Are the Purpose and Background of the Privacy Rule?, 2007). The regulations with respect to the PHI is not made clear and even the hospital authorities don’t have enough idea about the PHI regulations. Thus they were forced to communicate the patient information or condition to the families of the hospitalized over the telephone even if the patient is critically ill. Many healthcare professionals lost their job because of the wrong interpretation of the HIPAA rules and many others forced to pay heavy amounts as penalties. Nurses who don’t have much idea about the HIPAA regulations are staying away from disclosing the personal details of their patients even when it is badly needed for somebody else who might be a close relative of the patient. Gross, (2010) has mentioned that HIPAA regulations place a large and expensive burden on companies who have access to private health data by adding to the workload of health care providers and others (Gross, 2010). As protection of privacy is taken as a serious matter in the HIPAA regulations, big companies and researchers were forced to take extreme care while using the private data. The HIPAA act thus raised many concerns and fear among medical practitioners in conducting research. The increased liability and unwanted expenses may force them to stay away from researches which will affect the healthcare system drastically. HIPAA also put some

Police Report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Police Report - Assignment Example But instead of lining up, they went to an alley right in the middle of the line and went inside it. There was a stair leading below and opened a steel door casually. The man was greeted with a guard who was dressed in a suit. The wall had a green floral design and they were greeted cordially by the guard in suit whom the man responded by giving him a tip and greeting him â€Å"how are you doing†. They seem to know each other and the man seem to be a frequent customer of the area. The place is dimly lit and looks reddish where they were met by another guard in suit who was eating a burger. The man gave him another tip and they get inside another door. They were met by a man who appears to be a waiter in red suit. They proceeded in the alley where there were scores of men who were dressed like waiters. The man again greeted them cordially and gave pleasantries indicating familiarity of the place. The man opened another door which appears to be a kitchen of a restaurant or club. Again the man seems to be familiar with the people inside who this time were cooks and chef. Until finally, they came in a place which appears to be a club. The man was eagerly met by somebody important in the club and he was called â€Å"Anthony, nice to see you while shaking his hand†. The person who received them called the waiters who quickly assembled table for them. Anthony talked to the people around shaking hands with them and exchanging pleasantries. The woman looked amu sed. He finally sat and the woman was amused that they gave them a suit. The pleasantries continued because another group of men who appears to be important greeted him across the table and raised their glass. The woman who was the date of the man asked â€Å"what do you do?† Anthony replied† I am in construction†. Anthony replied â€Å"You don’t look like you are in construction†. Their conversation was interrupted by the drum

Research proosal on ASTHMA Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Proosal on ASTHMA - Research Proposal Example The descriptive-quantitative research methodology will be adopted using the survey questionnaire as the primary data gathering instrument. Parent – respondents will be selected using purposive sampling and will involve a minimum of 200 respondents determined using post-hoc statistical power analysis. Both descriptive and inferential measures will be utilized in the statistical treatment of the data gathered. SPSS Version 17 will be used in the statistical analysis of data. Introduction Background of the Study The comprehensive health reform legislation known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010 was signed into law to expand healthcare coverage and cost and enhance the delivery of health care in the United States. Reporting on the feedback from Spanish media, Nix and Adair (2010) articulated that President Barack Obama championed the law to reassure that minorities in the US can avail of access to health care services by way of between coverage opti ons. The PPACA may well one improvement that Mensah and Glover (2007) believe to be possible in the American healthcare setting characterized with a history of pervasive disparities in health status and health care delivery for the last two centuries. Health disparities refer to â€Å"differences in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and burden of diseases and other adverse health conditions† (National Institutes of Health, as cited in Mensah & Glover, 2007; Pamies & Nsiah-Kumi, 2009). The burden of asthma is an example of disparities in childhood in the US in a general sense (Akinbami & Schoendorf, 2002; Smith, Hatcher-Ross, Wertheimer & Khan, 2005; McDaniel, Paxson & Waldfogel, 2006). While Pamies and Nsiah-Kumi (2009) highlighted the disparities among children of color, Wright and Newman-Giger (2010) focused on Hispanics / Latinos. Of particular concern in this regard is the documented fact that children younger than four years are usually hospitalized because of asthma and that the largest increase in hospitalization trend was among children from 0 to 4 years old (Bigby, 2011; Brooker & Elward, 2010). In the case of children 4 years old and younger, access to healthcare is a matter of parental decision. Compliance and adherence to medication regimen is also largely a parental responsibility. Accordingly, as suggested in Wright and Newman-Giger (2010), there is a need to address how parents’ beliefs and perceptions regarding healthcare play a role in the enhancement of health outcomes of their children, especially those in the 0 to 4 age bracket. Problem Statement As revealed by the Institute of Health (2009), the culture factor in the asthma burden among Hispanic children had been examined from the angle of birth place and lifetime asthma diagnosis, family income and insurance status. Studies have also been undertaken to investigate access to healthcare among cultural minorities from a very general perspective (Edmunds & Coye, 1998; Wright & Newman-Giger, 2010). In the case of asthmatic children four years or younger, however, access to healthcare, as well as compliance and adherence to medical intervention are mediated by their parents or guardians who are mostly relatives. There is a paucity of research which ventured to explore this perspective of disparities in