Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Literature - Essay Example Yu Hua has drawn inspiration for his novel from an American folk song about an elderly slave â€Å"who experienced a life’s worth of hardships, including the passing of his entire family—yet he still looked upon the world with eyes of kindness, offering not the slightest complaint†. (Hua, P.249) At the end of the novel, Xu Fugui is left alone, with his only companion being an ox that he names after himself. He uses the mutual identity between man and beast as a metaphor for the human condition. The novel begins and ends the story through the mechanism of a double narration: one a young student collecting songs and folk stories from the peasants in the countryside and the other, old Fugui and his ox telling their story to the student. Zhang Yimou, a noted Chinese film director, has gained notoriety among his own people due to his recurring acts of exposing a dark side of his country to the outside world. But he persists with his mission in the same manner through the film adaptation of To Live. He attempts to convey several profound messages through this movie, in an attempt to prod the viewers’ conscience to awareness of injustice in the Chinese society. Though in this context, the novel as well as its film adaptation serves the same purpose there are several charact eristics that distinguishes one from the other. The film and the novel are significantly different even though Yu Hua participated in writing the screenplay. Each medium offers different possibilities and at the same time suffers from different limitations too and these are reflected in the differences between the novel and the film. The novel has Fugui telling his story in installments, chronologically, with returns to the narrative present. This aspect is attributed to the novel’s being first published in serial form in a literary journal. The film has no second narrator to whom Fugui will

A Short Analysis Of Articles About Teachers Essay

A Short Analysis Of Articles About Teachers - Essay Example The article highlights the importance of technology in bringing out the leadership role of teachers. The authors have used data based on the survey of well-known schools, to know how teachers and leaders collaborate to bring up the best leadership using technology.  As an educational leader, I can use this knowledge to encourage my staff to learn competencies to become teacher-leaders, who can use technology to enhance learning in their classroom settings. It is very important if we want our teachers to be able to spread learning through the most modern and sophisticated way.  Gunn, T.M., & Hollingsworth, M. (2013). The implementation and assessment of a shared 21st century learning vision: A district-based approach. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 45(3), 201-228.  The study is based on changes that a school district went through when it conducted a professional development study focusing technological advancements in the area of learning. Teachers participated in the professional development study, and the number of hours that they had undertaken in the study showed how willing they were in embracing teaching by technology.  As an educational leader, I will use this information to start many such seminars and programs that aim at spreading awareness about teaching by technology. I would like to inform schools and teachers that teaching through technology is the greatest demand of the time. I would make my staff participate in authentic professional development courses and programs, o that they learn how to incorporate information and communication technology in their teaching process.  This study was conducted in 17 final year secondary school classes for Applied Information Technology course in Australia. The schools initially used assessment through traditional pen and paper system.

Mcdonalds In The Global Environment Marketing Essay

Mcdonalds In The Global Environment Marketing Essay McDonalds is one of the oldest and powerful fast food chain in the world. Originally, McDonalds is something special for U.S. culture. Americans trust McDonalds brand, many were raised on this meal and it is food No.1 in the country. Its not just standard fast-food restaurant chain, its a cultural mirror. All changes in this company reflect the evolution of American eating habits. For instance, family gathering is no more tradition in the U.S.; and at the moment the dining room change into a car seat in the family SUV. What will be the next step? The life is becoming faster and complicated. Of course, its not McDonalds responsibility what and how Americans and other nations eat, but the burger company should consider them, because after all it feeds more than 27 million people every day, 1 million more every year. McDonalds is also the symbol of globalization because this company imposes to some extent American habits to the rest of the world. The burger giant has implemented several changes for last 10 years. New policy of McDonalds corporate headquarters was to go 24/7 in order to increase profits by extending restaurant working hours. Some U.S. franchisees doubted at first, but practice showed that revenue has boosted due to the night owls and early birds catering. Globally, business owners have a certain freedom about how to run a business and they of course have marketing support of global company. For example, during 20 years since 1955 McDonalds was a two-meal cafà ©, opening shortly before lunch and closing just after dinner. In 1975 company transformed breakfast into a fast-food meal, introducing Egg McMuffin nationally. Today McDonalds intention is to capture the rest of the day. About 90% of the 13,700 U.S. restaurants extended their working hours beyond the traditional 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. day, and about 40% of them run around a clock. The modern life dictates its rules breakfast is no more limited by its traditional time; McDonalds restaurants provide seven hours breakfast offer in many places and some are considering to make it all-day option. It is really major change in McDonalds strategy during last 10 years, because historically the growth means more outlets for this company. And that approach was successful for many years up to the saturation point. It was company global strategy. Studies showed that in spite of revenue increasing, new restaurants just stole clients from existing locations. Todays McDonalds global motto is better, not just bigger. The company tries to get more from existing outlets instead of building new ones. Changes are concerning many aspects, from marketing and product development to design and technology. McDonalds intends to adjust its performance according fastidious tastes of twenty-first century customers. Modern McCafà © doesnt smell burgers and fries; it uses sophisticated air filtration systems. And appearance of these cafà ©s is different: dark wood and glass, flat-screens, leather lounge chairs, etc. The burger company feeds enormous number of people in the world but sometimes it is out of modern health problems. The double cheeseburger and fries are the most popular products of the chain, but they are high in fat and sodium. Other fast-food companies like Wendys or KFC are going to quit using trans fats in their meal, but McDonalds contends that substitutes spoil the traditional taste of fries. Most McDonalds meals remain to be high in fat, sugar, salt or all three despite of introducing new options like fruit smoothies and salads. Another challenge which rose to the surface in 2006 is the Greenpeace accusation McDonalds of contributing to the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Greens alleged that soy-based animal feed used by McDonalds in order to fatten chickens is taken from soybeans of the Amazon Basin of Brazil. Protestors dressed as giant chickens invaded to fast-food restaurants and in some places activists put the posters of Ronald McDonald carrying a chain saw. The burger company initiated investigation about Greenpeace claims immediately. And the result of further fact-finding expedition was that McDonalds confirmed his commitment to help prevent decimation of the Amazon rainforest. McDonalds has very strong competitors like Starbucks, Wendys, Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, etc., and competition will increase in the nearest future. Since breakfast business is the most profitable one for McDonalds, Starbucks and Wendys are going to introduce hot breakfast sandwiches. Nevertheless, McDonalds is the undoubted leader, having about half of the U.S. hamburger market. Analysts predict that McDonalds will win this battle. Breakfast habits are not easy to break. His success based also on that fact that Americans like to eat at home and standard U.S. order includes 2.5 lunches and about 2 dinners, so company tested different innovations from a darker and stronger coffee to Southern-style fried chicken and Newmans Own iced coffee. Company thoroughly analyses any new product. For instance, Snack Wrap (strip of fried chicken with cheese, lettuce and sauce tucked into a folded tortilla), which was introduced in August 2006, was considered in every detail. Its easy to hold Snack Wrap in one hand while gripping a wheel in the other. McDonalds has special food studio in Oak Brook with staff which includes chefs, market researchers and culinary innovators. Another potential innovation concerns McDonalds equipment. Company is going to work on a portable electric unit that helps to provide breakfast twenty-four hours a day. Standard kitchen permits only one built-in grill. Such innovations helps McDonalds to correspond to global changes in tastes. Recently McDonalds provided the interesting initiative, which involved establishing a page on an independent web site (www.whatdoyouwanttoknow) for questions from consumers. Web site is controlled by non-McDonalds website administrator just to guarantee that questions correspond with decency standards and agree with the point. But McDonalds provides quite formulaic answers, which do not satisfy consumers in full measure. McDonalds is active in Twitter and Facebook and the necessity of taking part in web technologies will rise in the future. One of the most discussing topics is a somewhat strange and creepy emblem of the company, Ronald McDonald. McDonalds officials declare that mission of this character is to spread happiness and educate children, while this figure is represented as slightly sinister personage. And actor who played Ronald left his job because of the ethical implications of marketing targeted to children. B) Evaluate the potential global changes that may take place within the next 5-10 years, and indicate how the company will need to change in order to stay competitive in the new business environment. Big size of McDonalds (32,478 restaurants worldwide) is the great advantage and marketing opportunity in the face of global changes. About 57% of these restaurants are outside North America, while Burger King has 40% overseas and Wendys is limited within U.S. McDonalds should continue use wide-ranging advertising campaigns, remembering success of Chicken McNuggets advertisements connected with the Olympic Winter Games. McDonalds still will be the sponsor of national and international sporting events, and declare that food intake should coordinate with physical expenditures. Anyway, the pressure of health organization throughout the world will grow because exercise alone doesnt save from heart disease menace. The current economic slowdown is the good news for the fast-food industry, McDonalds could account on new cash-poor consumers forced to refuse from more refined eating. For instance, on March 2010 McDonalds reported the February global sales increase at 11.2% level. This tendency will continue, and the main catalysts of growth will be McCafà © line of beverages and introducing of new smoothies. The global competitive struggle will increase in the nearest time, because fast-food chains begin to conquer customers with doubled efforts. Price war and new product introducing are the consequences of these efforts. Commodity prices are expected to rise, so the company should think about cutting costs. Competitors will grow internationally, but McDonalds has his first movers advantage. Though U.S. market will remain the key market for the company, McDonalds should continue its expansion in Russia, Eastern Europe and Asia. These regions were the main drivers of global development in 2008. The proliferation of alternatives will possibly lead to losing share on some markets. McDonalds suffered from negative publicity in a number of European countries so it also will have some influences. The company introduced healthier options on menus and provided several green initiatives, for example using unbleached cotton in napkins. McDonalds should establish environmentally friendly services i f it wants to be successful company now days. Company should take into consideration differences in culture and McDonalds brand perception. While Americans prefer to eat on the go (about 70% of U.S. sales get from drive-throughs), Europeans tend to sit in the restaurant for some time. Since in Europe eating in fast-food outlet is mostly about place and comfort, top managers should remodel existing restaurants and include in design modern and efficient elements. As for product development, company should continue experiments in their food studios in order to meet squeamish tastes worldwide. Russian-themed week in Russia and Mexican-themed week in Germany had great success. McDonalds should strengthen its positions in dominant economies of Asia Japan, China, and India. The burger giant is tailoring its restaurants design to local conditions, trying new menus. Considering that fact that China is the worlds fastest-growth car market, company should concentrate on drive-through restaurant concept. India is a very unusual with local preferences for non-meat dishes. Interestingly that some local product invention becomes very popular in other part of the world. For example, McArabia (a flatbread, chicken fillet, onion mayonnaise sandwich) that was introduced in the Middle East, has great success in Malaysia and South Africa. Sometimes minority tastes can influence overall preferences. McDonalds is armed with ethnic marketing concept, which means that the company takes cues from local tastes in order to market them then to all customers. The company will forced to analyze global changes in population. For instance, McDonalds must take into consideration the demographic shift in the U.S., which means that Hispanics, Asians, and African-Americans population are growing faster. Actually, we shouldnt forget that the consistency in product line is the feature that makes McDonalds successful company. People in every part of the world are expected the same type of double cheeseburger, vanilla shake and a large order of fries, when they visit outlet. But though this expectation, the company made and will make significant changes in its offer. Diversity at McDonalds connected with U.S. Vice President and Global Chief Diversity Officer Patricia Harris. She is the outstanding African-American person who provided sophisticated and sometimes unnoticeable changes, which greatly influence the global operation of the company. One of the serious innovations was the establishment of employee network groups (for example, for women, for African-American, for Hispanic workers and for Gay and Lesbian workers). Today when McDonalds operates globally as never before, such networks will get additional value. Probably, McDonalds will proceed with supporting these communities with in next years, because it reflects cultural diversity of the company. It is something that too hard to replicate in a short period of time. McDonalds established an award in Pat Harriss name. Her position as Global Chief Diversity Officer gives the advantage to study how diversity could be implemented in countries with another racial, cultural and religious background. The role of such researches will increase in the nearest time because running fast-food business in U.S. and globally is something different. The burger giant commonly associated with the younger workers, but its an impression that is going change nevertheless. For example, McDonalds UK employs more than 500 people over the age of 60, which are more skillful in service operation. The attitudes concerning the low wages of serving crews, McDonalds anti-union position and targeting children with advertising will grow. The company protested against conception Mcjob, which is the slang for low-paying and low-status job characterized high turnover and little training. The company needs to invest into changing global perception of work for the McDonalds. The McDonalds system provides employment and growth advantages to a great number of minority groups throughout the globe. About 40% of its operators are minorities and women. This approach will give international bonuses in some countries, for example in India. More people begin to understand that McDonalds regulars face such menaces as obesity, heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes. This is one of the real global challenges in the nearest time. The burger giant admitted this fact already, for instance during its French ad campaign, when it was recommended to visit outlet only once a week. Many franchisers will be forced to reconsider their attitude that its not their job to influence on people eating styles. Nevertheless, the accusations in childhood obesity epidemic will continue and company should suit new stream. In the U.S. Michelle Obama provides anti-obesity initiative. Over the past years U.S. administration has got several concessions from soft drink and fast food companies, for example a Pepsi pledge to reduce sodium, sugar and saturated fat in its famous products. The World Health Organization, for instance, declares that approximately 45% of North African and Middle Eastern women are overweight due to nutrition transition. Approaching threat for the company is that fact that federal health regulations become stricter, especially in the developed countries. McDonalds must find the innovative ways to not only increase revenue but to provide its obligations to the societies in which company operates. For instance, offer healthier meals for children. One of the successful strategies to be continued is donating large funds to various countries and environment. The current global threat is the strengthening of terrorist attacks. McDonalds becomes one of the attractive targets for demonstrating anti-American stance. There were lot explosions in restaurants throughout the world. The company should take into consideration that fact when assess risks in particular country. Now days customers become increasingly clever and informed, products more customized and options more rich, so companies are finding out that just satisfying consumer needs does not lead to loyalty and success. It wont differentiate company from the rest of marketplace. Customer service should exceed expectations and inspires customers to proceed to have relationship with the organization.

Essay --

Where is the line drawn between empowerment and objectification? Do women want to be viewed as objects rather than equals? According to Cameron Diaz.Female sexuality in media continues to be a heated and divided debate between people with conventional and progressive views. The media and various female artists have forced us to repeatedly question whether pushing boundaries is liberating or insulting. Those with traditional values believe that objectifying women sets a negative example for the youth of today. While modern audiences believe that women should choose to empower themselves by pushing the envelope and promote the youth to follow their own path in life. Women in the music industry today are empowering themselves, rather than being objectified, through their music by encouraging individuality and embracing their sexuality. Many with traditional values argue that the objectification of female artists in music media is sexist and demeaning. Breines, a postdoctoral fellow at Brandeis University, believes. This media imagery shapes how society views women and young girls see themselves. As a result, this leaves women are more prone to low self confidence and eating disorders. This self-objectification shown by oversexualized artists perpetuates the ideal that a woman’s character is solely based on her appearance. Nowadays, teenagers are becoming more and more influenced by social media and have an easier access to images that are not necessarily appropriate. The female artists are promoting stories of female servitude rather than of female equality. Female artists promote a tasteless lifestyle through overtly sexualized imagery. Suit, a representative from Safermedia, stated that, The song lyrics to â€Å"Pour It Up† include.... ... during this debate is self respect. Traditional audiences see a provocative performance or song and assume the female artist lacks self respect. But what must a male artist do to lack self respect? As a result, the youth today pay the ultimate cost by emulating a bad example in their everyday lives. Regardless the message given from both of these artists, no matter how provocative, the empowerment of women and being an individual is evident. However, modern viewers might question why society forces women to be ashamed of their bodies rather than empowered. Audiences can come to their own conclusions, after seeing something provocative, based on appearances. However, regardless of controversial themes explored, only female artists can determine their own self respect and whether it is lost by embracing their bodies and inspiring other females to do the same.

How Bp Failed at Crisis Communication

How BP failed at crisis communication British Petroleum (BP) suffered a large-scale public relations and crisis communication disaster, when an oil-drilling rig accident on 20th April 2010 incurred a spillage of several million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. This catastrophic spill has been regarded as one of the most severe environmental damages recorded in the U. S. history, causing public animosity and frustration, substantially because of inappropriate BP? s crisis communication plan (Tangley, 2010).The oil spill contaminated local environment and coastline of U. S. states Louisiana and Mississippi. Consequences were severe as the spill crippled heretofore developed Gulf Coast fishing industry for a couple of years. On international scene, it has led to a continued discussion on the safety measures of offshore drilling (Tangley, 2010). On the top of that, BP has been forced to continuously invest into improving of their image in media and on social networking sites , trying to eliminate as much negative PR campaign as they possibly could (McClam, & Weber, 2010).BP reacted promptly in their statements, however, without emphasizing the compassion for those who were harmed and by appearing to be insufficiently determined to clean up the environmental disaster. The company should not have been over-optimistic about the scale of the oil spill. On the other hand, BP should have stepped up their social networking communication and assessment of the right spokesperson to a unique situation. Although that crisis scenario is a unique event that is hard to predict, it is definitely not unexpected, considering what business BP operates in.By the year of 2015, 83 percent of companies will face a crisis that will negatively impact their share price by 20 to 30 percent, according to Oxford-Metrica study. This is more likely to happen to oil producing companies, as they are considered to be operating in a one of the most dangerous industries. Facing such a de ep company crisis is not only about ways of how to minimize negative exposure in the press; however, it is also about reducing the environmental damage in the first place.Company has to confront the situation without any futile delays and send a clear message to the public in its determination to manage the situation as best as possible. Definitely not by holding out on facts and baffle general public, as BP did (Oxford Metrica, 2011). For example, the officers from BP said that the explosion of Deepwater Horizon drilling at Macondo oil field caused an oil spill of about 2. 7 million barrels. In contrary, the US government’s estimate of 4. 9 million barrels spilt into the sea almost doubles BP? s assumption (Oxford Metrica, 2011). There were several companies involved in the Deepwater Horizon accident.The oil rig was not owned by BP, but a contracting company Transocean. The Macondo oil well was owned partially by BP (65%), Anadarko Petroleum (25%) and Mitsui (10%). The defec t of a blowout preventer was supplied by Cameron International (Oxford Metrica, 2011). â€Å"Finally, just before the accident, Halliburton fitted the cement cap intended to seal the well. The number of players involved has given rise to shifting of blame† says the Oxford Metrica study. BP used this opportunity and tried to avoid the spotlight by accusing their contractors and suppliers of being responsible for a Deepwater Horizon accident.George Santayana, a Spanish philosopher, said â€Å"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. † BP? s failure is a perfect example of this dateless quote. As the Exxon Valdez accident badly spoiled the view of general public on oil industry and this case has shown serious under reactions of both Exxon and American government, BP should have devised a risk mitigation plan with various safety features, assuring that similar ecological disaster of these proportions will not happen again.Instead, the company has exch anged a following of a strict safety precautions and minimizing overall safety risk for being a risk-seeking company that is pushing to minimize costs and maximize profit. This accident has proven that the industry has lost a focus on prevention and their control mechanisms could not keep up with the newly acquired technologies in offshore exploration and production. Additionally, the company deliberately overlooked all warning signs that have been present.This game was not worth it, as BP has taken a significant financial hit. Their stock price fell by more than 40% in one week after Deepwater Horizon explosion as it proves Figure 1 which compares a percentage change of stock prices of BP, Transocean, Cameron International and Halliburton early before and after the explosion of Deepwater Horizon. The peak loss of 46% in June 25 resulted into a $95 billion loss in market value capitalization of British Petroleum. Additionally, BP was forced to reserve $39. 9 billion in order to elim inate he consequences of oil spill; also pay $20 billion as a compensation for people directly affected by the spillage; $10. 8 billion as an expense for companies that capped and sealed the oil well and consequent cleaning operations and next $9. 1 billion on additional fees, penalties and fines (Oxford Metrica, 2011). This giving a total of $79. 8 billion entailed a significant decrease in net income for consequent 5 years to come. Figure 1: Comparison of stock prices of companies involved in Deepwater Horizon explosion [pic] Source: Oxford Metrica, 2011.By going back to the PR campaign that has been launched straight after the oil spill, BP has done a very good job when they covered most of the negative publicity. BP? s webpage informed the general public about the will and devotion of the company and how hard they are trying to minimize the environmental damage or help the people affected; while not mentioning a word about the fact that BP takes responsibility for the disaster. Their Facebook account informed the subscribers how the company focuses on using the latest technology available in order to stop the spreading of oil spill.To this moment, BP got a lot of things correctly. Nevertheless, it is not an immediate action which caused the negative exposure on media throughout the world. Tony Hayward, the CEO of BP, was actively engaged in the PR campaign, was ready to provide interviews to media and was willing to pay all the penalties and fines to the US government. However, Oxford Metrica review claims that â€Å"a string of clumsy comments and cultural misunderstandings, combined with a seeming inability to cap the well, dominated the media and, understandably, fear and anger took hold† (Oxford Metrica, 2011).Despite the fact that BP is a huge global organization, we can observe that both of their public relations staff and higher management structures clearly did not handle the Deepwater Horizon disaster appropriately, at least from a public r elations and goodwill point of view. Taken a closer look at what makes a global company with size of BP at least neutral in terms of a general audience perception, using common sense would inevitably lead unbiased observer to identify several key parts. Being as honest to public as possible, quick reaction time, correct usage of social networks and media exposure of the right representatives would most ikely be among them. However, BP undergoing their biggest crisis, not only from the technical point of view and the actual damage inflicted on the environment, but mostly image-wise, failed significantly at reacting accordingly; given the fact that the BP case is publicly known as being the biggest PR failure of the recent history. As mentioned before, being sincere about the huge environment tragedy, that was caused by a company, even if indirectly, is something what public audience would certainly expect.It is obviously a bad idea to try to make it appear less serious than the situa tion is in reality, especially when media around the world are posting photos and airing images of an oil rig in flames and spilling thousands of gallons of oil into its surroundings. Mr. Thoma J. Roach, journalist from the magazine Rock Products has made a very good point on this matter, noting that BP`s CEO Tony Hayward reportedly said that the Gulf of Mexico is a big ocean and compared the amount of oil pouring into it as tiny and insignificant.However, Roach claimed that such a statement is dismissive and that it pictures environmentalists and all the people in those industries devastated by the disaster as crybabies. Moreover, instead of placating them, it challenged them to come back strengthened with better evidence, more arguments and intensity. He also concluded that such a public relations strategy is only baiting the enemies (Roach, 2010). In simplicity, if Hayward would say something more sincere and actually true, BP could have looked better and avoided more negative pu blicity not only for the disaster itself, but also for their way of handling it.Even though delivering the information is the most important part of the whole public relations process, one may argue that delivering it too late or in a bad form is as much important. Frederick E. Allen, former CEO of Jacobs Suchard, has made a good point on this matter using the BP? s public relations blunders as an example, mentioning that he would expect hundreds of press release updates from BP Global on Facebook, however during the tough times, BP`s PR section has issued only about hundred of them. On top of that, only few of them had something to do with the spill and its aftermath (Allen, 2012).To improve this part of the strategy, BP clearly needed to utilize all of their resources, including their own web page, to its fullest potential and in appropriate time. What BP shown during their crisis and also afterwards, was clearly a lack of competent people responsible for writing short memos and m essages on one of their main communication channels – their website. On the other hand, even when the PR department is doing a tremendous job on social networks, it does not necessarily mean that it will have actual impact.This is caused by the way how social networks are used by the audience. Basically, company needs a massive amount of followers on given social network prior to the actual case, so they can immediately use it to reach their target audience with tweets or updates. So despite BP had a capable social network manager who succeeded in posting a lot of material, they did not really matter too much as BP lacked followers, as their staff weren’t active on this matter before it became a really needed tool in times of crisis (Allen, 2012).As mentioned earlier, significant blunder of the company in PR area was a wrong choice of a spokesperson. A lot of critique went on Mr. Hayward`s head. Thomas Roach has described BP`s CEO as blunt-speaking, hard-edged and crit icized BP for using him also as a  chief spokersperson for the company, mentioning that American industry already learned a  lesson from Japanese competitors in the 1980s, specifically, that the person who is the best engineer does not necessarily make the best manager.Tony Hayward was thus a  bad hire for BP, as he was not a  outstanding leader with appropriate communication skills (Roach, 2010). Maybe BP wanted to look like they stood behind their CEO, thus even after his publicly known and very unfortunate quotes, they did not want to take him down and replace him by someone with better set of communication skills. However, Mr. Hayward has most likely done more damage with his inappropriate appearances than it helped BP to look like they are maintaining their integrity.Despite the immediate PR reaction after April 2010, the company seemed to be unable to appreciate the cultural context, since BP did not speak the language which the American public wanted to hear. BP did n ot appreciate the political context as well and at that time, they heavily damaged the lingering relationship with US government as exclusive emitter of oil-drilling permits for locations rich on oil. To conclude the case, it can be claimed that BP has run their technical operations during the crisis bad, but their immediate PR reaction was even worse.Moreover, BP? s public relations department was over-optimistic and endlessly reassured the general public by optimistic assessments that the amount of spillage is â€Å"relatively tiny† and the situation will be dealt with soon (Roach, 2010). Additionally, the company should have been more compassionate to the victims of the oil rig explosion and to those who were harmed by the latter oil spill. However, this case can be seen as a valuable lesson for not only petrochemical industry, but the whole multinational companies segment of the businesses around the world.Lessons that BP did not learn from the Exxon Valdez case years ago will hopefully be learned by other companies from BP`s case. On the other hand, this environmental disaster has happened during the Information era, when everything is immediately spread worldwide and when one has to respond to the audience as quickly as humanly possible. Thus, it cannot be isolated in a time period of a year 2010, but it must be viewed as a continuous process. Even after all cleaning work will be done, there still will be a future aspect of the case, as general public will keep demanding a preemptive measures by BP.This will create another playfield where BP can work on their public relations and slowly present itself as they have learned their lessons and from now on, BP will become a whole new company with a new approach to safety and crisis management. This actually seems to be the case, as articles in 2011 and further does not generally mention BP in such a bad light as they were doing previously, which can be accounted to applying new PR strategies.Specifical ly, we can see a good presentation of BP in a NY Times article from the middle of 2011 written by Julia Werdigier, author of more than a thousand articles for NY Times. In the article, BP is given a credit for announcing the new, safer, deep-water drilling standards of BP together with a more general safety measures (Werdigier, 2011). With articles like this, BP is starting to turn their image around. But in the end, only time will reveal if the PR department of one of the biggest multinational companies will learn their lesson.References Allen, F. (2012). The Gulf Spill: BP Still Doesn't Get It. Retrieved October 22, 2012, from http://www. forbes. com/sites/frederickallen/2012/04/20/the-gulf-spill-bp-still-doesnt-get-it/ McClam, E. , & Weber H. R. (2010). BP’s failures made worse by PR mistakes. Retreived October 30, 2012 from website http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/37647218/ns/business-world_business/t/bps-failures-made-worse-pr-mistakes/ Oxford Metrica. (2011). Reputation R eview 2011 [Report]. Retrieved from October 30, 2012, from website: http://www. oxfordmetrica. om/public/CMS/Files/825/Aon_Oxford% 20Metrica%20Reputation%20Review_2011. pdf Roach, T. (2010). BP's PR Lessons. Retrieved October 22, 2012, from http://www. rockproducts. com/index. php/key-issues/community-relations/9719-bps-pr-lessons. html Tangley, L. (2010). Bird Habibats Threatened by Oil Spill. Retrieved October 26, 2012, from website: http://www. nwf. org/News-and Magazines/NationalWildlife/Birds/ Archives/2010/Oil-Spill-Birds. aspx Werdigier, J. (2011). BP to Tighten Deep-Sea Drilling Practices as It Tries to Rebound. Retrieved October 23 from LexisNexis Academic database.

Final

Associate Level Material Appendix B Information Security Policy Student Name: University of Phoenix IT/244 Intro to IT Security Instructor’s Name: Date: Table of Contents Table of Contents1 1. Executive Summary1 2. Introduction2 3. Disaster Recovery Plan4 4. Physical Security Policy7 5. Access Control Policy11 6. Network Security Policy14 7. References17 Executive Summary Due in Week Nine: Write 3 to 4 paragraphs giving a bottom-line summary of the specific measureable goals and objectives of the security plan, which can be implemented to define optimal security architecture for the selected business scenario.There is no such thing as complete security. Offensive security measures are always being devised to compromise the integrity of a network. Security precautions are constantly being developed in order to battle this constant onsalught of attacks. Any professional organization who cares about the security fo their system, is pretty much guaranteed to put some sort of physi cal or logical security measures in place. Physical security measures are procautions that inckude things such as security cameras, guards, Id badges, or even a tridtional lock and key.These types of defense are designed to be preventative of external attakcs or infiltration. Logical Security systems include things such as user admin accounts, passwords, and principles like least privelage that prevent unecesary access all contribute to the prevention of external as weel as internal threats. With the proper security measure in place, Sunica Entertainment Co. should be well on their way to ensuring the integrity of their network as well as increasing the eficciency of support and access. With the new servers, administrators will also be able to login to access information or perform maintenance from any Sunica branch.This improved control and security will only improve the health of this company. Introduction Due in Week One: Give an overview of the company and the security goals to be achieved. 1 Company overview As relates to your selected scenario, give a brief 100- to 200-word overview of the company. I decided to go with the Sunica Music and Movie Franchise. Sunica is a multimedia media chain with four different locations. The four stores lack the technology to synchronize their sales as well as their inventories. The four stores needs to implement a system that will collaborate the information from all four locations to one central database.This insufficient technology has cost Sunica unnecessary staffing as well as spending. By implementing a central web server, Sunica can ensure that all the locations will have access to information regarding inventory, accounting, or any up-to-date information the customer may want to know. 2 Security policy overview Of the different types of security policies—program-level, program-framework, issue-specific, and system-specific—briefly cover which type is appropriate to your selected business scenario an d why.Sunica could actually benefit from implementing multiple policies such as program-framework and system-specific to ensure the company has a secure foundation. A system-specific policy would ensure that the administrators and the employees had specific policies to abide by. 3 Security policy goals As applies to your selected scenario, explain how the confidentiality, integrity, and availability principles of information security will be addressed by the information security policy. 1 Confidentiality Briefly explain how the policy will protect information.Just like any effective system, there must be a hierarchy of rights and capabilities. In order to establish a truly secure VPN workspace, the company needs to create user-specific logon. 2 Integrity Give a brief overview of how the policy will provide rules for authentication and verification. Include a description of formal methods and system transactions. With user-specific logons, the system will not be publicly accessible. Secure data logs should be backed up on servers in order to track employee accessibility to make sure there is no internal problems. 3 AvailabilityBriefly describe how the policy will address system back-up and recovery, access control, and quality of service. To ensure a successful and thriving system, Sunica needs to implement a disaster plan that is capable of backup and recovery. If the disaster plan is configured correctly both physically and at the application level, then Sunica can back up and log critical information to the company such as payroll, email, finances, etc. Disaster Recovery Plan Due in Week Three: For your selected scenario, describe the key elements of the Disaster Recovery Plan to be used in case of a disaster and the plan for testing the DRP. Risk Assessment 1 Critical business processes List the mission-critical business systems and services that must be protected by the DRP. A well designed Disaster Recovery Program can help any business over come imminent disasters like Mother Nature, security breaches, equipment failure, outside threats, etc. First off, a rick analysis should be put together to understand the potential problems that could occur and how to resolve them. The mission-critical business systems should include all of the companies valuable information that is required to keep the business profitable.For Sunica, the systems could include anything along the lines of inventory, email, pricing, communications, etc. 2 Internal, external, and en 3 Internal, external, and environmental risks Briefly discuss the internal, external, and environmental risks, which might be likely to affect the business and result in loss of the facility, loss of life, or loss of assets. Threats could include weather, fire or chemical, earth movement, structural failure, energy, biological, or human. As stated earlier, disasters are imminent within any organization.Natural disasters are unpredictable, inescapable, and can often times be detrimental to an organization. Earthquakes, fires, floods, tornadoes, etc; these are all examples of natural disasters that can cripple any company's systems. Internal disasters could be anything from an internal security breach all the ay t sabotage. If an organization keeps a close eye on its employees and systems, it can sometimes detect signs of foul play before it starts. External disasters are things outside of the company that cannot be controlled, such as the economy, popular trends, unions, strikes, etc. 2 Disaster Recovery StrategyOf the strategies of shared-site agreements, alternate sites, hot sites, cold sites, and warm sites, identify which of these recovery strategies is most appropriate for your selected scenario and why. Because Sunica is updating its systems to use a WAN in order to collaborate information, a third party site for backup is essential to the success of their new systems. Before the upgrade, Sunica had no choice but to store their data on site at each location. Because of the accessibility of the new systems, Sunica can backup their data to a third party server and use a warm-site to take control if the main systems are compromised. Disaster Recovery Test Plan For each testing method listed, briefly describe each method and your rationale for why it will or will not be included in your DRP test plan. 1 Walk-throughs A walk-through test is the only way to fully ensure that the system has a solid foundation that is free of any errors. The test will spot out weak points in the systems design, as well as necessary changes and adjustments. The results of the test should be implemented in the system to increase its success and productivity. 2 SimulationsThis section of the plan should be self explanatory given the title. Generally a fake disaster is created in order to implement the companies DRP and measure its effectiveness. 3 Checklists Another self explanatory title that basically goes over the requirements Sunica needs in order to operate effectively with the new system. This can also be an incredibly useful resource to use while testing and learning the new systems. 4 Parallel testing Parallel testing a pretty simple concept, but an important step in the recovery plan.For parallel testing, the company must run their current systems in juxtaposition to the systems at the warm site. This will measure the functionality and efficiency of the data transfer between the two systems. 5 Full interruption Full interruption is the final stage of the plan which indicates you are ready to take the training wheels off. This is not a drill people; this test literally shuts off the systems like the case of a real disaster and does a final test to ensure that that Sunica experiences the least downtime possible during an actual emergency.Physical Security Policy Due in Week Five: Outline the Physical Security Policy. Merkow and Breithaupt (2006) state, â€Å"an often overlooked connection between physical systems (computer hardware) and logical systems (the software that runs on it) is that, in order to protect logical systems, the hardware running them must be physically secure† (p. 165). Describe the policies for securing the facilities and the policies of securing the information systems. Outline the controls needed for each category as relates to your selected scenario. These controls may include the following:Physical controls (such as perimeter security controls, badges, keys and combination locks, cameras, barricades, fencing, security dogs, lighting, and separating the workplace into functional areas) Technical controls (such as smart cards, audit trails or access logs, intrusion detection, alarm systems, and biometrics) Environmental or life-safety controls (such as power, fire detection and suppression, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) 1 Security of the building facilities 1 Physical entry controls Physical systems are essential to the foundation of a company and it's logical systems .Without secure hardware to host the logical operations, the whole system would be useless. Physical security can include anything from security cards, photo ID badges, security cameras, etc. These precautions are implemented to protect against natural occurring and man made physical threats. As far as Sunica's physical security is concerned, security cameras and alarms at each of their locations would help ensure the physical security of each of their branches. Access ID badges also may be implemented at the location of the warm site for access to the servers that store the company's data. 2 Security offices, rooms and facilitiesThe off-site location used to manage SMM's systems should be managed by a small security force that implements the use of security badges and access ID checks. There will have to be rooms set aside for monitoring equipment to keep tabs on both the security cameras, and system access to the logical systems through administrative users. 3 Isolated delivery an d loading areas Delivery and loading areas need to be in a secure location that is sut off from the secure portions of the building. By having physical guards and cameras to monitor the delivery and loading areas, they can help ensure that physical security breaches are kept to a minimum.You also need to make sure there is no access to any secure part of the building from the delivery areas, unless it is protected with the proper security restrictions. 2 Security of the information systems 1 Workplace protection Workplace protection in the information systems require several different levels of monitoring, access, and administration. As discussed earlier in the physical security, a designated and secure area should be selected for monitoring equipment on both the physical and logical security systems. 2 Unused ports and cablingUnused ports and cabling can be an access point for all types of infiltration if not properly secured. All unused ports should be immediately secured when not in use. If external visitors require access to these ports, advances notice should be given to the network admin in order to provision temporary user access. 3 Network/server equipment Network and server equipment are the backbone of Sunica's information systems and must be secured at all cost. The server rooms should not be accessed regularly except for inspection and maintenance.The network equipment should be kept a secure climate-controlled room that is cut-off from most natural disasters or occurrences that could be out of the company's control. Access should be monitored with proper restrictions to only those with proper access to this vital equipment. 4 Equipment maintenance Equipment maintenance is something that should be done on a regular but sparingly basis. Server rooms should not be accessed often in order to reduce possible infiltration to the information that is critical to Sunica's systems. Maintenance can include anything from updates, replacing tapes, repairing po rts/cables, and even climate control.The rooms containing this important equipment needs to be well ventilated and cooled due to the touchy reactions to heat this equipment demonstrates. 5 Security of laptops/roaming equipment The security of laptops and other mobile equipment used by employees can be a huge vulnerability in the security of Sunica's systems. Each employee who is assigned any sort of mobile equipment must sign a legal disclaimer against any unlawful uses. Security features must also be implemented by the network administrator, in order to prevent and monitor any suspicious behavior on the company's roaming equipment.Access Control Policy Due in Week Seven: Outline the Access Control Policy. Describe how access control methodologies work to secure information systems 1 Authentication Describe how and why authentication credentials are used to identify and control access to files, screens, and systems. Include a discussion of the principles of authentication such as pa sswords, multifactor authentication, biometrics, and single-sign-on. Access controls are a collection of synchronized applications and mechanisms that ensure the integrity of an information system's security.By ensuring that every login to the network is on a constantly monitored system, a network administrator can spot errors in the network or possible security infiltrations before they get out of control. In order for any employee to access the database, they will need a secure login and password with access to only systems necessary to complete their duties. 2 Access control strategy 1 Discretionary access control Describe how and why discretionary access control will be used. Include an explanation of how the principle of least privilege applies to assure confidentiality.Explain who the information owner who is responsible for the information and has the discretion to dictate access to that information. The Discretionary access control (DAC) mechanism is the dictator of networki ng systems in the sense that it assigns an individual information owner who decides who gets control of what. Although the system may seem unfair, it is a necessary precaution to ensure that the principle of least privelage is applied correctly. The DAC sets the foundation for Sunica's systems and will ensure that they are running as efficiently and securely as possible. Mandatory access control Describe how and why mandatory access control will be used. A Mandatory access control (MAC), also referred to as a nondiscretionary access control is a mechanism that determines who gains access to information based on a system of objects and labels. In a MAC system, duristiction is based on levels of access that each contain secure information only accessible to those selected to receive it. MAC is most commonly seen in the military. Its that classic manilla folder with â€Å"top secret† stamped on it that is slapped on the presidents desk after a major crisis has occurred.SMM is no t a military, its a media company; and this level of security would only overcomplicate their needs. 3 Role-based access control Describe how and why role-based access control will be used. Role-based access control (RBAC) is exactly that; it sorts users into role-based groups with the same common needs to complete a given task. RBAC can be handy for impromptu granting and revoking of access to individual groups. By having a pre-determined access control for a certain area of information, it is easy to just shuffle people back and forth as needed.This is great for places like call centers with a high turnover rate and would be a very simple way to catagorize employee access at Sunica Media Ent. Flexible controls are also needed for constantly entering new members information into the databse. 3 Remote access Describe the policies for remote user access and authentication via dial-in user services and Virtual Private Networks (VPN) Although remote access can be extremely useful for n etwork adminstrators, it must be implemented carefully to ensure that the wrong individual does not have the ability to use this access.Remote Access services are server based applications that make it possible to dial in to a system's network from any remote location that can establish a connection with their servers. Most companies impliment a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection that allows remote users to access the corporate infrastructure. Essentially, you are creating a private virtual network on your own ISP by retrieving the information across a WAN from the origin or servers. VPNs use a very secure ecnryption and authenticates both the senders and receivers on either end.This allows any SMM employee who requires access to the corporate systems to pull up that information from anywhere with a connection to the internet. This makes sick leave, hospital time, vacations, and other absences less detrimental to the production of the company. Network Security Policy Due in We ek Nine: Outline the Network Security Policy. As each link in the chain of network protocols can be attacked, describe the policies covering security services for network access and network security control devices. 1 Data network overviewProvide an overview of the network configuration that the company uses. Discuss each network type of Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), Internet, intranet, and extranet. Include how the network type is employed in your selected scenario. Sunica Music Co. needs to implement a solid security policy to make sure their systems are secure. All stores should have extranets thats dial into third party server using an employee login. All employees should have the policy of least security implemented on their user accounts by the system admin.This will ensure that system traffic is kept to a minimum but allows employees ample access to system information. 2 Network security services For each security service, briefly describe how it is used to protect a network from attack. Include why the service will be used for network security as relates to your selected scenario, or why it is not applicable in this circumstance. 1 Authentication Authenication could include different type of physical and logical security. Anything from access ID badges to administrative logins could help eensure the integrity of the system. Access control Access control must be maintaned in order to ensures that a system doesn;t get sloppy. Things like the principle of least privelage help ensure that there are no loose ends in the network that could be potential security threats. 3 Data confidentiality Data confidentiality can help be maintained in several different ways. By changing the IP address off the destination of a packet, you can ensure that only the person the message was intended for reads it. Sunica also needs to make sure that the wrong people cant access the right information. Data integrity Data integrity ensures that no sort of cha nge is made without be monitored or recorded to help prevent foul play. Data Integrity is violated when a message is actively modified in transit. Information security systems typically provide message integrity in addition to data confidentiality. 5 Nonrepudiation Electronic commerce uses technology such as digital signatures and public key encryption to establish authenticity and non-repudiation. 6 Logging and monitoring Loggign and monitoring can be perhaps one of the most critical security features to a system.By logging all activity, there can evidence to look back upon in order to solidify any information that may pertain to the integrity of the systm;s security. 3 Firewall system Outline the roles of the following network security control devices and how these basic security infrastructures are used to protect the company’s network against malicious activity. Provide a description of each type of firewall system and how it is used to protect the network. Include how th e firewall system is or is not applicable to the company’s network configuration in your selected scenario. Packet-filtering router firewall system There are several different types of firewalls that can help keep Sunics's information protected. Firewalls are like a giant net that surround a network and only allow certified information to enter. When setting up packet filters, you must first determine what filtering capabilities your router has and where you want to filter. 2 Screened host firewall system The screened host firewall combines a packet-filtering router with an application gateway located on the protected subnet side of the router. The application gateway needs only one network interface.This firewalls is simply a version of a dual-homed gateway that can be used to separate components of the firewall onto separate systems. 3 Screened-Subnet firewall system This firewalls is simply a version of a dual-homed gateway that can be used to separate components of the fi rewall onto separate systems which achieve greater throughput and flexibility. References Cite all your references by adding the pertinent information to this section by following this example. American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed. ). Washington, DC: Author. Final They pick up the extra load that physicians pass along to them. Within Reenter Memorial Hospital one would understand why the work is becoming too physically demanding. Registered nurses (Runs) deliver and manage patient care. They teach them along with the public about the countless health conditions and supply guidance and emotional support to them and their families on how to care and treat themselves. Without the use of registered nurses a shift in performance feedback is sure to happen.Back in the day, meaning 100 plus ears ago, women were responsible for nurturing and delivering care to children and those family members who were ill. It wasn't until the 17th century that men became nurses and tended to the sick as well. However, in the 19th century the definition of nursing was stretched to not only tend to those who were sick and ill but also work under physicians to support them. In reference to hospitals across the U. S, there has always been a shortage of nurses, however th ey always seemed to work themselves out.Meaning the hospitals would have a certain period of time when they weren't so low on nurses. It wasn't until 1998 that things seemed to get worse. The baby boomers were set to retire in 2008, but because of the recent recession they were forced to continue to work. In the years to come, the baby boomers will eventually began their retirement and need more medical care. Add on the amount of years they have been working plus the work load, the Job as a nurse really has taken a toll on the bodies. What the current healthcare industry doesn't realize is that experienced nurses will be leaving the industry.The reason behind the nursing shortage is that no one can precisely pin point causes. With the addition of managed care and other elements, these maybe the reasons for the nursing shortage. Reenter Memorial Hospital is Just one of many hospitals affected by this. Others may say it is because of the low pay paired with the heavy workload or the t reatment they are getting from the other employees. Whichever way you may put it, the nursing profession is indeed declining and the healthcare industry is reaping the consequences.Proposal Initially, the ultimate problem with Reenter Memorial Hospital is that there is a lack of nursing staff. To add on to the nursing staff problem, the nurses are being over irked, which has led to a lack of retention. In addition, recruiting new nurses for those who are retiring is becoming more difficult because of the shortage. No one wants to enter into a new employment expecting to be burnt out and over worked. Just like any other healthcare organization, Reenter Memorial Hospital requires nurses that are highly trained, effective and stable.It is said that the nursing profession has a tremendous impact on how the healthcare industry operates. Within this proposal five other hospitals that have undergone the same situation as Reenter will be evaluated. It is very important for any healthcare or ganization to tackle the shortages of nurses. No particular hospital within Florida is suffering more then the others. James A. Haley VA Medical Center along with other nursing homes and home health agencies are being picky about who they want to work for them. This is what has caused them to have a nursing shortage. We did notice that all the employers that responded said that their difficult-to-fill positions required nurses with experience and advanced education,† Yore said (Peters-Smith, 2012). Not every nurse freshly out of college is going to have the experience that organizations want. Even though it is up to the employers to offer them a chance, have declined. Another reason why the VA Center's nurses are at a shortage is because of poor working conditions and pay. Some people often think that the military has so many assets, but they are Just like any other organization.Since the VA overworked their nurses, some patients weren't receiving the adequate care they needed . Army Staff SST. Alex Dillon said â€Å"his wound dressing wasn't changed often enough nor would he get pain medication promptly', due to the over worked and short staffed nurses (Peters-Smith, 2012). This s very similar to what Reenter Memorial Hospital is experiencing, the nurses are being over worked except for the inadequate care. What the VA did to solve their situation was become less picky and started hiring those recent graduates. As the current members grow older within the nursing profession, the need for skilled nurses increases.Of the hospitals surveyed in Florida, 89 percent said they would hire straight out of school and 29 percent have nurse residency programs to continue their training after school (Peters-Smith, 2012). This has decreased the shortages of nurses within their facilities. The recent graduates may not have much experience, but they have to start somewhere. Wesley Medical Center of Wichita Falls, Kansas is also experiencing a shortage of nurses as well . After doing research, Wesley Medical Center came to the decision to pay nurses more. This helped retain more nurses while giving the baby boomers a chance to retire with no hassle for a while.It gave the retiring nurses a chance to retire without looking back and thinking they let the business down, or the hospital has a shortage because of them. However this plan backfired. The nursing school of Wichita University housing the graduates who come to Wesley Medical Center for a job was deeply impacted when this pay raise occurred. When the nursing pay went up, the professors of WAS left. Since budget constraints at the university, nursing professionals realized they could make more money practicing than teaching nursing (Went, 2013).One way to fix the problems at hand that included the hospital and college, the chief nursing officer of Wesley Medical Center suggested simulation training. What the simulation training does is allow students to practice on dummies to get the feel of ho w to treat patients. A new technology developed in recent years has created mannequins who can talk, interact with doctors and nurses, and graphically recreate many medical situations nurses and doctors in past history could only learn in clinic work or on the Job: how to save a person in cardiac arrest for example (Went, 2013).With this simulation training the nurses at the college get hands on training while the staff of the hospital can see new prospects to choose from. In an effort to fill the nursing shortage, New Orleans hospitals are pooping up bonuses, helping new graduates repay student loans and recruiting workers from overseas (Grids, 2007). What Tour Infirmary located in New Orleans is doing is offering $12,000 for two years for those nurses who agree to work at their location and for those who continue to stay. They will get $6,000 the first year they work and another $6,000 the next year. One may think this is a bribe, but hey, business is business.The leaders of any o rganization, especially those involved in the healthcare industry, have to do whatever they have to do to retain their current employees and to gain new ones. The incentives are boosting Tour's costs but are still less than eying temp agencies or contract firms anywhere from $60 an hour to the high $ass for each nurse (Grids, 2007). This particular solution worked for Tour Infirmary; who's to say it will work for others healthcare facilities to include Reenter Memorial Last, two healthcare facilities in South Carolina came to a solution to decrease nursing shortages.Both Sconce Medical Center and Named Medical Center are not necessarily experiencing a shortage now, but they know they will later on down the line. The reason for this, like all other hospitals, is that the experienced nurses are retiring. Their solution to keeping the shortage down gives credit to Clemson and Trio- County Technical College. Both offer nursing degree programs that contribute to the nursing staff of the Medical Centers (Stated, 2009). Also it all depends on which particular area the Medical Center is located.Both Sconce Medical Center and Named are located in upstate South Carolina where a number of nursing programs provide a ready supply of nurses. â€Å"That helps us to not see shortages other people around the state are seeing,† Jury said (Stated, 2009). This applies to all hospitals no matter what the state is. One would have to compare the facilities community-by- community rather than state-by-state. One hospital could be located in a rural area with a college that offers nursing programs, but the teachers are retiring so this could cause the hospital to have a nursing shortage (Hurst, 2010).On the other hand, some teachers may not want to teach because the actual practice may offer more money. Some have even opted to working in teaching hospitals so they can tackle two birds with one stone, teach and work. The starting nurse practitioners can make $60,000 and up (Stat ed, 2009) depending on which area they work in whether it be caching or working within the profession. Furthermore, the resulting healthcare organizations have successfully implemented transformational changes that have brought them out of their dilemma of nursing shortages.With these changes they have been able to not only retain experienced nurses but hire new inexperienced ones as well. Considering the five hospitals evaluated, the two solutions that are most viable to Referee Memorial Hospital would be to offer an incentive that motivates the nurses to stay or offer a simulation program with the colleges that house the respective nurses. These two solutions will work well for Referee because others healthcare facilities have shown great progress after implementing them. It is even possible for Referee Memorial Hospital to implement both solutions.If Reenter Memorial Hospital were to implement the first solution, an incentive for their current and future nurses it would affect ev eryone. All the stakeholders to include patients, hospital administration, accounting, physicians, and other employers would either see the nursing getting paid extra as a good thing or bad thing. Before the nurses loud even started getting the incentive a devised plan would need to be taken to administration to see if they agree I. E a proposal on why they should be paid a little extra. The reason why administrations would be affected is because they are the true leaders of the hospital.Before anything can happen they have to be notified. This way the administration would be able to compile the necessary paper work. The next step, or stakeholder involved would be accounting. Accounting would be affected because Reenter Memorial would need to know how much money within the budget they would be willing to give. In any case dealing with money both the administration along with accounting needs to be involved. Both the administration and accounting within Reenter Memorial influence dec ision-making, operational control and managerial planning. Both of these departments support one another.If accounting is not able to get money from the budget, administration would not be able to approve the extra pay. As far as the physician, they are not impacted as much. This is because they grasp the concept that the workload is heavy upon the nurses and they realize the nurses do need to be paid a little more. The physicians get paid much ore to do less however, the patient's lives are solely their responsibility. Overall the physicians are impacted less then the other stakeholders. Moreover, when the nurses receive an incentive, controversy will arise within Reenter.The other employees will feel as if they may need to get an incentive as well. Even though the patients are the main focus and keeping nurses keeps patients happy, the other employees will not see it that way. Within any organization when one person gets a raise other people will feel they need to get a raise as w ell. Reenter doesn't have to explain the circumstance behind the choice. However, what they can do is let the other employee know that their hard word is not going unnoticed. As far as the patients, they will be affected in a positive way because more nurses will be around.There will be more nurses, experienced and inexperienced, to go around. In regards to solution two, offering a simulation program would work well for both the incoming nursing and the experienced nurses. However, the stakeholders affected would be different from those of solution one. Medical simulation is a new method to facilitate skill training and assessment (Carroll & Messenger, 2008). The stakeholders impacted y solution two would be the nurses themselves, physicians, the government, the patients and the hospital. The nurses would have more hands on training.The experienced nurses would be able to watch or facilitate a training session that would be Just for the nurses. The physicians would be able to Join i s as well. Those nurses who would be put on a surgical team or a Code Blue team would be able to practice side by side. In the same way, a simulator can have a negative affect on the nurses as well. A major limitation of simulation is the fidelity; no matter how high the fidelity is, it is not real. It is often impossible to imitate actual physiological signs or symptoms.For example, it is impossible to display crackles in the lung, when such a symptom would be important to the scenario (Carroll & Messenger, 2008). On another note the hospital would have to push out more money to compensate for the simulation training. Access to the simulator could also be limited at times. It often depends on whether or not instructors and operators are availability. Since Reenter Memorial has a nursing shortage, who's to say the existing nurses will have time to teach. Also negative transfer may happen with the nurses.This occurs when the students learn something wrong due to imperfect simulation (Carroll & Messenger, 2008). This could possibly bring upon lawsuit for the hospital if things are done incorrectly on the actual human patients. This usually happens when the instructors fail to constantly remind the students the difference between the training devices. Even though it may seem like a lot of negative affects for the hospital there are positive ones as well. Ultimately there is no direct risk to any patients. Simulations bring forth opportunities to practice events that involve critical tasks that the nurses may encounter with a real patient.Additionally, team training is a positive affect and benefit with simulations. The scenarios that the team goes through will give not only the nurses but the physicians as well a better understanding. After the training is done a insightful debriefing of the scenarios is conducted to inform the team of what was done and what could have been done.. To sum it up, the best solution for Referee Memorial Hospital would be to pay the i ncentive. Reenter is already having problems retaining nurses, so why not pay them to stay. The hospital would save none from paying the temp agencies, and they would possible keep the nurses they have already.Plenty people stay at least a year over their retirement Just so they can get a little extra cash added on. â€Å"Every organization is going to have some issues with the nursing shortage and have a hard time filling certain openings,† said Margaret Gibson, the manager of employment and employee relations at Mercy Hospital in Miami (Nard & Gorky, 2013). Any nursing facility would want to retain their experienced nurses. Just like any other healthcare facility, Reenter Memorial Hospital wants a devoted, dedicated workforce. Ultimately paying an incentive would, keep more. In conclusion, the issue of nursing shortages is an ongoing problem.Not only is it happening within Reenter Memorial Hospital, but it is happening in other hospitals around the US as well. It is said th at due to the baby boomers retirement and extensive workload, nurses are becoming harder to retain. Whether a healthcare facility decides to increase pay, give an incentive or implement simulation training scenarios, it is totally up to that facility to decide. The best choice when compared to others is for Reenter Memorial hospital to pay an incentive to their nurses. The solution is much cheaper then continuing to pay temp agencies and has a higher chance of solving their staff retention problem.As far as the physically demanding workload, one cannot stop patients from enduring different problems that required different care. Final They pick up the extra load that physicians pass along to them. Within Reenter Memorial Hospital one would understand why the work is becoming too physically demanding. Registered nurses (Runs) deliver and manage patient care. They teach them along with the public about the countless health conditions and supply guidance and emotional support to them and their families on how to care and treat themselves. Without the use of registered nurses a shift in performance feedback is sure to happen.Back in the day, meaning 100 plus ears ago, women were responsible for nurturing and delivering care to children and those family members who were ill. It wasn't until the 17th century that men became nurses and tended to the sick as well. However, in the 19th century the definition of nursing was stretched to not only tend to those who were sick and ill but also work under physicians to support them. In reference to hospitals across the U. S, there has always been a shortage of nurses, however th ey always seemed to work themselves out.Meaning the hospitals would have a certain period of time when they weren't so low on nurses. It wasn't until 1998 that things seemed to get worse. The baby boomers were set to retire in 2008, but because of the recent recession they were forced to continue to work. In the years to come, the baby boomers will eventually began their retirement and need more medical care. Add on the amount of years they have been working plus the work load, the Job as a nurse really has taken a toll on the bodies. What the current healthcare industry doesn't realize is that experienced nurses will be leaving the industry.The reason behind the nursing shortage is that no one can precisely pin point causes. With the addition of managed care and other elements, these maybe the reasons for the nursing shortage. Reenter Memorial Hospital is Just one of many hospitals affected by this. Others may say it is because of the low pay paired with the heavy workload or the t reatment they are getting from the other employees. Whichever way you may put it, the nursing profession is indeed declining and the healthcare industry is reaping the consequences.Proposal Initially, the ultimate problem with Reenter Memorial Hospital is that there is a lack of nursing staff. To add on to the nursing staff problem, the nurses are being over irked, which has led to a lack of retention. In addition, recruiting new nurses for those who are retiring is becoming more difficult because of the shortage. No one wants to enter into a new employment expecting to be burnt out and over worked. Just like any other healthcare organization, Reenter Memorial Hospital requires nurses that are highly trained, effective and stable.It is said that the nursing profession has a tremendous impact on how the healthcare industry operates. Within this proposal five other hospitals that have undergone the same situation as Reenter will be evaluated. It is very important for any healthcare or ganization to tackle the shortages of nurses. No particular hospital within Florida is suffering more then the others. James A. Haley VA Medical Center along with other nursing homes and home health agencies are being picky about who they want to work for them. This is what has caused them to have a nursing shortage. We did notice that all the employers that responded said that their difficult-to-fill positions required nurses with experience and advanced education,† Yore said (Peters-Smith, 2012). Not every nurse freshly out of college is going to have the experience that organizations want. Even though it is up to the employers to offer them a chance, have declined. Another reason why the VA Center's nurses are at a shortage is because of poor working conditions and pay. Some people often think that the military has so many assets, but they are Just like any other organization.Since the VA overworked their nurses, some patients weren't receiving the adequate care they needed . Army Staff SST. Alex Dillon said â€Å"his wound dressing wasn't changed often enough nor would he get pain medication promptly', due to the over worked and short staffed nurses (Peters-Smith, 2012). This s very similar to what Reenter Memorial Hospital is experiencing, the nurses are being over worked except for the inadequate care. What the VA did to solve their situation was become less picky and started hiring those recent graduates. As the current members grow older within the nursing profession, the need for skilled nurses increases.Of the hospitals surveyed in Florida, 89 percent said they would hire straight out of school and 29 percent have nurse residency programs to continue their training after school (Peters-Smith, 2012). This has decreased the shortages of nurses within their facilities. The recent graduates may not have much experience, but they have to start somewhere. Wesley Medical Center of Wichita Falls, Kansas is also experiencing a shortage of nurses as well . After doing research, Wesley Medical Center came to the decision to pay nurses more. This helped retain more nurses while giving the baby boomers a chance to retire with no hassle for a while.It gave the retiring nurses a chance to retire without looking back and thinking they let the business down, or the hospital has a shortage because of them. However this plan backfired. The nursing school of Wichita University housing the graduates who come to Wesley Medical Center for a job was deeply impacted when this pay raise occurred. When the nursing pay went up, the professors of WAS left. Since budget constraints at the university, nursing professionals realized they could make more money practicing than teaching nursing (Went, 2013).One way to fix the problems at hand that included the hospital and college, the chief nursing officer of Wesley Medical Center suggested simulation training. What the simulation training does is allow students to practice on dummies to get the feel of ho w to treat patients. A new technology developed in recent years has created mannequins who can talk, interact with doctors and nurses, and graphically recreate many medical situations nurses and doctors in past history could only learn in clinic work or on the Job: how to save a person in cardiac arrest for example (Went, 2013).With this simulation training the nurses at the college get hands on training while the staff of the hospital can see new prospects to choose from. In an effort to fill the nursing shortage, New Orleans hospitals are pooping up bonuses, helping new graduates repay student loans and recruiting workers from overseas (Grids, 2007). What Tour Infirmary located in New Orleans is doing is offering $12,000 for two years for those nurses who agree to work at their location and for those who continue to stay. They will get $6,000 the first year they work and another $6,000 the next year. One may think this is a bribe, but hey, business is business.The leaders of any o rganization, especially those involved in the healthcare industry, have to do whatever they have to do to retain their current employees and to gain new ones. The incentives are boosting Tour's costs but are still less than eying temp agencies or contract firms anywhere from $60 an hour to the high $ass for each nurse (Grids, 2007). This particular solution worked for Tour Infirmary; who's to say it will work for others healthcare facilities to include Reenter Memorial Last, two healthcare facilities in South Carolina came to a solution to decrease nursing shortages.Both Sconce Medical Center and Named Medical Center are not necessarily experiencing a shortage now, but they know they will later on down the line. The reason for this, like all other hospitals, is that the experienced nurses are retiring. Their solution to keeping the shortage down gives credit to Clemson and Trio- County Technical College. Both offer nursing degree programs that contribute to the nursing staff of the Medical Centers (Stated, 2009). Also it all depends on which particular area the Medical Center is located.Both Sconce Medical Center and Named are located in upstate South Carolina where a number of nursing programs provide a ready supply of nurses. â€Å"That helps us to not see shortages other people around the state are seeing,† Jury said (Stated, 2009). This applies to all hospitals no matter what the state is. One would have to compare the facilities community-by- community rather than state-by-state. One hospital could be located in a rural area with a college that offers nursing programs, but the teachers are retiring so this could cause the hospital to have a nursing shortage (Hurst, 2010).On the other hand, some teachers may not want to teach because the actual practice may offer more money. Some have even opted to working in teaching hospitals so they can tackle two birds with one stone, teach and work. The starting nurse practitioners can make $60,000 and up (Stat ed, 2009) depending on which area they work in whether it be caching or working within the profession. Furthermore, the resulting healthcare organizations have successfully implemented transformational changes that have brought them out of their dilemma of nursing shortages.With these changes they have been able to not only retain experienced nurses but hire new inexperienced ones as well. Considering the five hospitals evaluated, the two solutions that are most viable to Referee Memorial Hospital would be to offer an incentive that motivates the nurses to stay or offer a simulation program with the colleges that house the respective nurses. These two solutions will work well for Referee because others healthcare facilities have shown great progress after implementing them. It is even possible for Referee Memorial Hospital to implement both solutions.If Reenter Memorial Hospital were to implement the first solution, an incentive for their current and future nurses it would affect ev eryone. All the stakeholders to include patients, hospital administration, accounting, physicians, and other employers would either see the nursing getting paid extra as a good thing or bad thing. Before the nurses loud even started getting the incentive a devised plan would need to be taken to administration to see if they agree I. E a proposal on why they should be paid a little extra. The reason why administrations would be affected is because they are the true leaders of the hospital.Before anything can happen they have to be notified. This way the administration would be able to compile the necessary paper work. The next step, or stakeholder involved would be accounting. Accounting would be affected because Reenter Memorial would need to know how much money within the budget they would be willing to give. In any case dealing with money both the administration along with accounting needs to be involved. Both the administration and accounting within Reenter Memorial influence dec ision-making, operational control and managerial planning. Both of these departments support one another.If accounting is not able to get money from the budget, administration would not be able to approve the extra pay. As far as the physician, they are not impacted as much. This is because they grasp the concept that the workload is heavy upon the nurses and they realize the nurses do need to be paid a little more. The physicians get paid much ore to do less however, the patient's lives are solely their responsibility. Overall the physicians are impacted less then the other stakeholders. Moreover, when the nurses receive an incentive, controversy will arise within Reenter.The other employees will feel as if they may need to get an incentive as well. Even though the patients are the main focus and keeping nurses keeps patients happy, the other employees will not see it that way. Within any organization when one person gets a raise other people will feel they need to get a raise as w ell. Reenter doesn't have to explain the circumstance behind the choice. However, what they can do is let the other employee know that their hard word is not going unnoticed. As far as the patients, they will be affected in a positive way because more nurses will be around.There will be more nurses, experienced and inexperienced, to go around. In regards to solution two, offering a simulation program would work well for both the incoming nursing and the experienced nurses. However, the stakeholders affected would be different from those of solution one. Medical simulation is a new method to facilitate skill training and assessment (Carroll & Messenger, 2008). The stakeholders impacted y solution two would be the nurses themselves, physicians, the government, the patients and the hospital. The nurses would have more hands on training.The experienced nurses would be able to watch or facilitate a training session that would be Just for the nurses. The physicians would be able to Join i s as well. Those nurses who would be put on a surgical team or a Code Blue team would be able to practice side by side. In the same way, a simulator can have a negative affect on the nurses as well. A major limitation of simulation is the fidelity; no matter how high the fidelity is, it is not real. It is often impossible to imitate actual physiological signs or symptoms.For example, it is impossible to display crackles in the lung, when such a symptom would be important to the scenario (Carroll & Messenger, 2008). On another note the hospital would have to push out more money to compensate for the simulation training. Access to the simulator could also be limited at times. It often depends on whether or not instructors and operators are availability. Since Reenter Memorial has a nursing shortage, who's to say the existing nurses will have time to teach. Also negative transfer may happen with the nurses.This occurs when the students learn something wrong due to imperfect simulation (Carroll & Messenger, 2008). This could possibly bring upon lawsuit for the hospital if things are done incorrectly on the actual human patients. This usually happens when the instructors fail to constantly remind the students the difference between the training devices. Even though it may seem like a lot of negative affects for the hospital there are positive ones as well. Ultimately there is no direct risk to any patients. Simulations bring forth opportunities to practice events that involve critical tasks that the nurses may encounter with a real patient.Additionally, team training is a positive affect and benefit with simulations. The scenarios that the team goes through will give not only the nurses but the physicians as well a better understanding. After the training is done a insightful debriefing of the scenarios is conducted to inform the team of what was done and what could have been done.. To sum it up, the best solution for Referee Memorial Hospital would be to pay the i ncentive. Reenter is already having problems retaining nurses, so why not pay them to stay. The hospital would save none from paying the temp agencies, and they would possible keep the nurses they have already.Plenty people stay at least a year over their retirement Just so they can get a little extra cash added on. â€Å"Every organization is going to have some issues with the nursing shortage and have a hard time filling certain openings,† said Margaret Gibson, the manager of employment and employee relations at Mercy Hospital in Miami (Nard & Gorky, 2013). Any nursing facility would want to retain their experienced nurses. Just like any other healthcare facility, Reenter Memorial Hospital wants a devoted, dedicated workforce. Ultimately paying an incentive would, keep more. In conclusion, the issue of nursing shortages is an ongoing problem.Not only is it happening within Reenter Memorial Hospital, but it is happening in other hospitals around the US as well. It is said th at due to the baby boomers retirement and extensive workload, nurses are becoming harder to retain. Whether a healthcare facility decides to increase pay, give an incentive or implement simulation training scenarios, it is totally up to that facility to decide. The best choice when compared to others is for Reenter Memorial hospital to pay an incentive to their nurses. The solution is much cheaper then continuing to pay temp agencies and has a higher chance of solving their staff retention problem.As far as the physically demanding workload, one cannot stop patients from enduring different problems that required different care.