Composition 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Composition 3 - Essay Example The first of the reason that explains why the mood of the boss impacts the employees negatively is that the foul mood of the boss leads to creation of fear and anxiety to the employees (King, 2008). When the boss is in a foul mood and keeps on shouting to the employees and intimidating them in the workplace, employees become fearful of communicating with the boss and even explaining anything to him. This fear leads to anxiety which grows as the foul mood and the negative mood turns contagious to the employees. When the anxiety level of all employees is high, they fail to pay attention to their work. They keep on thinking of what the boss will think or say and hence end up with shady job which negatively affects the performance of the company in general. The mood of the boss according to (Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee, 2002) also affects the employees by creating stress and lack of job satisfaction. As mentioned earlier, fear by the employees leads to anxiety. If the bad mood by the boss continues or even elevates due to the reduction in productivity, it causes harsh comments from the boss who are demeaning and even leading to some employees crying. This eventually leads to creation of stress among the employees. When an individual is living in a stressing environment, the stress increases leading to more medical bills accumulating all of which are added expenses to the company. The stress will also cause the employees to miss work or reduce their performance in the workplace. The other reason that increases the stress levels of the employees is the lack of empathy by the boss who has bad mood. The boss only cares about himself and when it comes to personal issues of the employees, he withdraws, does not show any empathy at all. In order for employees to work well with their boss and even increase their work performance from the good environment of the workplace, the

Biomedical and Biopsychosocial Models of Healthcare

Biomedical and Biopsychosocial Models of Healthcare Critical Evaluation on the Future of Healthcare: The Biomedical or the Biopsychosocial Model The Biomedical Model This model has been in existence since the mid-19th century and was predominant for physicians in the diagnosis of diseases. It comprises of four elements. It argues that, that health constitutes the freedom of pain, disease or defect which implies the normal human is healthy. In this model, the focus on the physical processes such as biochemistry, physiology and pathology of a disease do not take into consideration the role played by individual subjectivity or social factors. Unlike the biopsychosocial model, the biomedical model fails to consider negotiation between a doctor and patient in determining diagnosis. The main focus in this model is purely biological factors. It excludes social influences, environment and the psychological ones. Western countries have adopted it as a leading modern way for which health professionals treat and diagnose conditions. Regardless of the limitations that this model expresses, it has been critical in the development of programs to control infect ious diseases. In addition, it feeds more information to the biopsychosocial approach (White, 2009). The Biopsychosocial Model This is an approach that states that psychological, social and biological factors all play a key role in the human functioning in relation to illness and disease. Health is thus understood by concentrating on biological, social and psychological factors rather than entirely focusing on biological terms. It contrasts to biomedical model. Biomedical model takes the position that every disease process can be explained in accordance to deviations in normal functions such as injury, developmental abnormality in genes or virus (White, 2009). This model is used in the fields of medicine, health sociology and psychology and nursing. The acceptance, novelty and prevalence of the biopsychosocial model demonstrates variation across cultures. The model has been developing over time and will only mature further with health psychology designs and research. The Future of Healthcare The biopsychosocial model is at the heart of the future of healthcare. Specialization in healthcare has advanced to fields of health psychology, psychiatry, chiropractic, clinical psychology, family therapy and clinical social work. Majority of clinicians will engage the elements of biopsychosocial and biomedical models in the practices they engage in. However, it is arguable that all illnesses whether functional or organic can be managed best going by the biopsychosocial framework rather than the biomedical in practice. The two models seem to share the same goal which is improving the improvement of the patient’s well-being. What differs is the scope on which the physician considers impairment including its origin and the possible remedies. The biopsychosocial framework expands the meaning of this goal and applies it in clinical processes. Illness is approached as the subjective sense of suffering by the patient. The goal of managing the disease thus needs to identify the spe cific exposures of the patient which are biological, social and psychological. Potential Disabilities of the Biomedical Model The biomedical model will lose its position in the future of healthcare as it assumes that social and psychological processes are irrelevant to the disease’s process. The potential disabilities it exposes are massive. It mainly has three liabilities. First, the model is reductionist in nature. It reduces illness to lower level processes. These include chemical imbalances and disordered cells. It thus fails to recognize the general role of psychological and social determinants. Secondly, the model is a single-factor model. The explanation for illness is in terms of biological malfunctions rather that recognition of a variety of factors with only a few being biological in the causation of illness. The third liability is that the model assumes a mind-body dualism. It maintains that the body and mind are two separate entities. The final but not least liability is that the model puts more emphasis on illness over health. The focus is aberrations that cause illness instead of the co nditions that would promote health. Advantages and Clinical Implications of the Biopsychosocial Model Medical care, illness and disease are interrelated processes. They involve interaction of changes both within the individual and other levels. Researchers are thus impelled by this framework toward an interdisciplinary collaboration and thinking. The model maintains that the diagnosis process should consider the interacting roles of social, psychosocial and biological factors. This calls for interdisciplinary team approach in making a diagnosis. Health psychology should adopt this model and involve all the three factors. Therapy is thus uniquely targeted to a particular individual considering their health’s totality and ensuring treatment recommendations capable of dealing with more than one problem systematically. Therefore, a team approach is encouraged as the best approach. The relationship between a doctor and a practitioner is emphasized by the biopsychosocial model. The efficacy of treatment, the rapidity of solving an illness and the patient’s service usage can be improved by an effective practitioner-patient relationship. The biopsychosocial model makes the implication that the physician must have a clear understanding of the psychological and social factors that make contributions to an illness in order to come up with ample treatment (Kim,2014). For a healthy individual, the model is of the opinion that their health habits can only be understood in social and psychosocial contexts. When an individual is ill, recovery can be influenced by psychological, biological and social factors. These factors may maintain poor health habits but when there is appropriate modifications, they facilitate healthy ones. Biopsychosocial Perspectives Psychosomatics, Behavior and Health Depression, social isolation, conscientiousness and chronic stress are all understood by medical colleagues and health psychologists alike in the impacting of the vulnerability and the protection of various diseases. There is a consistent correlation of clinical depression with pathogenesis and occurrence of cardiovascular diseases. In a study in 2009, Salomon examined the existing differences in reactivity of cardiovascular to and recovery from two lab stressors between healthy controls with no self-reported history of CVD samples and naturalistic samples of clinically depression (Nezu, 2013). With previous research demonstrating significant behavioral associations and psychosomatic among illness, health and disease, the BPS model should focus on bringing into play analytic complexity fighting individualistic. Review of neuroplasticity, socio-somatic and psychosocial genomics will assist in balancing individualistic bias for health psychology, provision of sophisticated and adequate understanding of the cultural and social contours underlying illness and health thus fostering a greater integration among domains of bio-psycho-social. Psychosocial Genomics and Neuroplasticity Advances in genetics and molecular biology have given way to the map out of human genome. There have been spectral and technological imaging advances such as allowing of examining complex neurological processes and functional magnetic resonance. These movements in science have resulted to empirical investigations, psychosocial genomics and neuroplasticity which thus offers important evidence in relation to the interdependence nature of socio-cultural, biological and psychological processes. Research on neuroplasticity goes further to justify the biopsychosocial framework. This is because, the study indicates that the brain neurons are more dynamic than had previously been considered. They develop novel synaptic connections in response to learning and experience across age and mainly the entire life (Kim, 2014). Biopsychosocial further elaborates on the impact of social support. Within many studies, more satisfying social relationships or confidants result to an individual recovering more quickly from illnesses and diseases as compared to those with minimal social support. Culture in the Biopsychosocial Model Culture evolves over the years. It carries with it vagueness and contention. Culture is informatory. It influences every founding block of the BPS model. Failure to demonstrate adequate to the key role of culture in health psychology and related medical fields would result to the discrimination in health service delivery. For a more holistic approach therefore in heath psychology, culture should be considered seriously in attempts to integrate the BPS model. Biopsychosocial Model Transformations and the Future: Health Psychology Health psychology’s emergence together with behavioral medicine in primary care settings and general practitioners training on various health paradigms have resulted to an awareness for which patients now understand that the medical providers view them as a person and not merely by the disease. For the past two decades, the research of health psychologists and the behavioral interventions have matured greatly together with high criticism. Patient quality of life and wellness has been observationally been improved by the humanistic view by the psychologists. To fully solidify the role of combinatory treatments and psychologists, it is necessary to conduct long-term empirical studies. Doctors however question the motive of the alteration of medicine for the incorporation of behavioral interventions which tend to increase the workload of the physicians who are already strained. Research, vast knowledge on behavior education skills are applied by psychology practitioners should be used in the promotion of a medical care that is more hospital co-managed. Health care and societal transformations constrain psychology from change. Psychology seeks to deliver expansion on the special skills of health and clinical psychology. Psychopharmacology is the latest intervention in the creation of a psychologist practitioner who is independent. Psychologists must look for and maintain an inter-professional collaboration with physicians in order to ensure prescription authority and psychology. The psychosocial aspects of medical problems are then addressed. Quality of treatment may be affected by poor relationships between physicians and psychologists. Collaborations and partnerships in the management and diagnosis of all health will be observed in the decades to come. Training programs in health psychology will increase in terms of quantity. There will be specialization for students who have interest in the practice of research, clinical and education settings (Kim, 2014). The policy makers and the professionals such as teachers require training and education on the biopsychosocial model. The impact of this on healthcare would be the reduction of health costs, improved occupational control, promotion of self-empowerment, provocation of behavioral change and an increment in adherence to plans of treatment. Integrated healthcare will eventually address the complete spectrum of the mind and the human body as one and the same. A Holistic Approach in the Application of the Biopsychosocial model in the future of Health Psychology The biomedical model of disease and health is dominant in the existing medical practices. The approach is effective mainly in the control of infectious maladies. Chronic non-infectious diseases require the BPS approach. The approach takes into account other health determinants. That thus takes the BPS model a step further into the better approach than the biomedical model. However, a more holistic approach in the biopsychosocial approach is one that integrates culture into the focus of biological, psychological and biological aspects. Taking culture into the picture for the future will result to a more holistic approach. The future health research programs and intervention strategies should endure at considering all the domains and that will be a holistic approach. The BPS model will keep on maturing with time. To this regard therefore, there should be an examination of the effectiveness of cultural, social, biological and physiological claims. It should be conducted in clinical practice exploring the health concepts from perspectives and questioning perspectives could influence the current and future trends in health interventions and health promotion. Conclusion The future of health care lies more on the biopsychosocial approach more than the biomedical one. However, as demonstrated in the research and advancements in the health psychology, there are still aspects of the BPS model that could be involved in the future. One of them could be an increased collaboration and participation amongst psychologists and physicians. They should collaborate to ensure that wellbeing is attained by effective application of the model. The aspect of culture should also be included in the framework to ensure that the health services are acceptable in various communities. Clinical implications are at the heart of the improvement of the biopsychosocial approach. Health psychology and biomedical research will act as key building blocks in the future role of the model. References Kim, P. (2014, March 22). Report Summarizes Health Psychology Study Findings from Northeastern University. Psychology Psychiatry Journal, 456, 33-67. Nezu, A. M. (2013). Health psychology. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley Sons. Piotrowski, C. (2012, September 1). Occupational Health Psychology: Neglected Areas of Research. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 675, 44-65. Sheridan, C. L., Radmacher, S. A. (1992). Health psychology: challenging the biomedical model. New York: Wiley. White, P. (2009). Biopsychosocial medicine: an integrated approach to understanding illness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Technology and the Brave New World :: Brave New World

Technology and the Brave New World   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although the book Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, was written long ago, its subject   has become more popular since most of the   technologies described in the book have, at least, partially, become a reality.   Huxley's community of Utopia is a futuristic society designed by genetic engineering, and controlled by neural conditioning with mind-altering drugs and   a manipulative media system.   Yet, despite the similarities, the reader also finds   many contrasts between the two societies.   Perhaps the most salient contrast between Huxley’s Utopia and our modern society, deals with the issue of procreation. The majority of babies born in our society today, are still the result of intercourse between a man and a woman.   In many cases the birth of a child is a memorable and joyous event for the woman. In Utopia, however, if a woman is caught bearing offspring, she will be punished by exile. Offspring not produced the society’s way is a threat to the society’s existence, in the eyes of the leaders.   As today, pregnancy, in Utopia, could be prevented using a variety of methods.   Where our society uses male and female birth control methods, Utopia has pregnancy substitute (a procedure   in which Utopian woman are given all the psychological benefits of childbirth   without undergoing   it) and malthusian drill (similar to today’s birth control pills).   However, modern society and Huxley’s Utopia both explore the advantages of artificial reproduction, although Utopia has taken it to the extreme: The   Bokanovsky Process, is a method whereby a human egg’s normal development   is arrested, then buds, producing many identical eggs.   â€Å"My good   boy!†...†Bokanovsky’s Process is one of the major instruments of social stability!†Ã‚   (Huxley, 7).  Ã‚   Not only did this method create millions of â€Å"robot like† citizens for Utopia,   but the leaders have supreme control over any threat of overpopulation. Utopian predestinators   decide the future function of each embryo, essentially   assigning   class status.  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this way, the leaders of Utopia are also able to   keep the social classes balanced in the way they felt benefited everyone.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although the reader sees some dissipation of social classes in modern society, in Utopia, the class distinctions were palpable. A five-tiered caste system is maintained which ranks Alphas and Betas on top followed by   Gammas, Deltas, and the semi-moronic, ubiquitous Epsilons. The motto   "Community, Identity, Stability" frames the Utopian social structure.

Project Management Student

Table of contents Contents page number Executive summary Introduction Problem identification Case analysis Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Conclusion and Recommendations Bibliography EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Polk County is a scarcely populated County in the state. The roads are in a very poor condition and the Transportation Department supervisor, JR has been tasked to manage all the three projects: * The entrance to the Big John’s superstore ELK Mountain road * Bridge on County road 1045 The writer will analyse the case, evaluate the alternatives and propose a solution for the case that would benefit the Polk County Transportation Department to execute their projects effectively. Various models and literature will be used to motivate the assertions. INTRODUCTION Polk County is the largest county in the state it is governed by three-member Board of commissioners: Harold, Richardson and Thomas.The state faces a challenge of delivering critical projects which involve impro vements to the local roads which at the current state have put the local residents as well as tourists at risk because they are dilapidated, worn out and inadequate for purpose generally being unsafe for use. This challenge is due to many projects competing over limited resources. The three projects are: * The entrance to Big John’s Superstore * Elk Mountain road Crockett Creek bridge on the country road 1045 near prison The reasecher will analyse the case evaluate it, systematically prioritise the steps to be taken on the approach to successfully propose a solution which will benefit the Transportation Department, Polk municipality and ultimately the community at large. Various shortfalls are evident in the current Polk county municipality. The researcher will discuss them in depth with reference to various models and literatures as well as assumptions to back up the recommendations, below are the identified shortfalls: * No poor project office Funds are very limited to kick start projects that would add value to the community and improve their safety. * The tax is minimal to sustain the developments * Insuffient or no fundraising initiatives * High rate of crime As depicted on the case, there are three projects at hand and below is the gathered information on each project. Body governing the county The following individuals comprise the Polk County administration team NAME | DESTINATION/ STATUS| Thomas| Commissioner retired| Herald| Commissioner retired|Richardson| commissioner| JR| Supervisor- Transport Department| Joe| Former head of Transport Department| Unnamed | Current Senator| Zachary | Transport Department intern (civil engineering)| PROJECT 1 THE ENTRANCE TO THE BIG JOHN’s SUPERSTORE * It is off a two lane high at the base of the hill * It is difficult for cars travelling in the opposite direction until they come over the crest * This makes it difficult for the cars turning left into the store and those pulling out of the parking lot. * A number of accidents have occurred The number of cars travelling on the road has increased over the last three years since the store opened * Several residents have raised concerns at the commissioners meetings in the past * JR had approached the store manager about helping to pay for road improvements to widen the roads to add a turning lane or install a traffic light. * The manager replied that they are barely making any profit and if they do not make profit corporate headquarters will close it down and a lot of people will lose their jobs therefore they cannot afford to assist * Many people go to the store because there are no other shopping malls in the countyPROJECT 2 WIDENING AND REPAIR OF ELK MOUNTAIN ROAD IN THE NORTHWESTERN PART OF THE COUNTY * The winters have taken their toll on the road and left it with large deep potholes * The increase in unemployment in the county has led to an increase in independent loggers using the road to bring logs from Elk Mountain to severa l saw mills, including Ye Olde Saw mill in the adjacent county. The lack of repair over the years and the heavy trucks are causing the road to deteriorate even faster Both commissioners, Thomas and Richardson have seen the worsening condition of the road: they use it frequently to go hunting and fishing on ELK Mountain. * Each has received an earful of complaints from friends who use the road. * Zachary also knows how bad the road is from personal experience as he was nearly sideswiped by the logging truck and was forced off the resulting in his car’s low hanging tail pipe and muffler ripped off as he hit a large pothole.PROJECT 3 CROCKETT CREEK BRIDGE ON COUNTY ROAD 1045 NEAR THE PRISON * It is the main road to the state correctional Institution in the south western past of the county. * The bridge barely passed the last state inspection four years ago. * Each spring during the winter thaw Crockett Creek threatens to wash the bridge. * If the bridge is washed out or closed, the detour would be nearly 15 miles for people who work at the prison. * The largest employer in the county is the state correctional institution for female offenders located in the south western part of the county.A project is an endeavour to accomplish a specific objective through a unique set of interrelated tasks and the effective utilisation of resources (Clement and Gido, 2012; 4) It has a clear objective of what is to be accomplished and this is usually defined in the form of deliverable, schedule and budget. A project utilises various resources to carry out interdependent task that need to be accomplished in a certain sequence in order to achieve a project objective within a specific time frame. A project has a sponsor who provides the funds necessary to accomplish the project.A project usually has challenges because it is constrained by many factors including scope, quality budget and risks. 1. SITUATION ANALYSIS 1. 1. NO PROPER PROJECT OFFICE Polk County is the largest cou nty in the state with a shallow structure of Authority. This is evident as the line of command is very short from the top, senator, commissioner to bottom lower management this could be of advantage as there is rapid communication hence close interactions and therefore easy delivery of organisational / municipality goals strategy. JR is the supervisor for the county Transportation Department.The case states that county roads have progressively deteriorated and several critical projects need to be done. He works with his summer intern Zachary and is concerned that if the does not present a good case for the at least one of the project, then the commissioners probably would not fund any of the project. It is evident that JR is struggling as he cannot apply himself explicitly on the tasks at hand as he lack the skills, methodologies that would easily aid to address the projects smoothly, this therefore calls for the introduction of project management office in the municipality 1. 2PROJ ECT MANAGEMENT OFFICEProject management is defined by the PMBOK as†¦. ’the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques in order to meet stakeholder’s needs and expectation from a project. ’ (Burke, 2011; 18) 1. 3GENERIC ROLES OF A PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE 1. 3. 1The project management office’s aim is to link individual project to the organisation’s dynamic strategic intent through a focused discipline of project management. 1. 3. 2The project management office is established to act as support and reporting channel between projects and senior management without removing the accountability or authority of project managers. . 3. 4The project management office provides top management with a consolidated view on all projects within the organisation and thus assists top management in ensuring that all projects are aligned with the strategic direction of the organisation. 1. 3. 5The project management office will provide value-added assis tance to all its identified customers in the organisation. 1. 3. 6The project management office will enable support and facilitate project disciplines with a: * A project life cycle Programme/project management * Project management training * Prioritisation support * Project start-up workshops and project administration ‘With the budget situation JR is worried that none of the projects may get done’, the case reads, this emphasises how the department is financially constrained and several projects are competing over this limited funds. The project management office is equipped with tools and techniques which provide a systematic approach on every project. The PMBOK states ‘†¦.Because projects are unique and involve a certain degree of risk, companies performing projects will generally subdivide their project into several project phases to provide better management control. Collectively these project phases are called the project lifecycle’. (Burke, 201 1; 40) The general project life cycle has four phases: * Concept or initiation phase * Design or planning phase * Implementation or performing phase * Commissioning and handover or closing phase In the initiating phase, projects are identified and selected. They are then authorised using a document referred to as a project charter.The planning phase includes defining the project scope, identifying resources developing a schedule and budget and identifying risks all of which makes up a baseline plan for doing the project work. In the performing phase the plan is executed and work tasks are carried out to produce all the project deliverables and to accomplish the project objective. During this phase the project progress is monitored and controlled to assure the work remains on schedule and within budget, the scope is fully completed according to specifications and all the deliverables meet the acceptance criteria.Also any changes need to be documented, approved and incorporated into a n updated baseline plan if necessary. In the closing phase the project evaluations are conducted lessons learned are identified and documented to help improve performance on future projects and project document are organised and archived. (Clement and Gido, 2012; 9) Phases in a project lifecycle are interrelated which means the previous phase should be successfully completed before progressing to the next phase.In this particular case, JR, the supervisor at a Transportation Department is struggling to make a selection on a project to perform first since there are limited funds. The main focus of this case is based on the initiation phase of the project lifecycle and because of the interrelation of the phases; it has to be successfully completed to move forward to the next phase of project. The initiation phase of the project lifecycle starts with recognising a need, problem or opportunity for which the project or projects are identified to address.Projects are identified in various ways: during an organisation strategic planning, as part of its normal operations, in a response to unexpected events or as a group of individuals deciding to organise a project to address a particular need. It is important to try to quantify the need to help evaluate whether the expected benefits from implementing a project outweigh the costs or consequences of conducting the project. Once the magnitude and the expected benefit or improvement has been estimated the cost for a project to implement the improvement. The transportation epartment of Polk County identified several needs but have limited funds and people available to pursue the projects to address those identified needs. In this case the department must go through a decision making process to prioritise and select the project that will result in the greatest overall benefit. Project selection is making a commitment for the future. The execution of a project will tie up the company resources and as an opportunity cost, the selection of one project may preclude your company from pursuing another (perhaps more profitable) project.We live in a world of finite resources and so cannot carry out all the projects we may want or need. Therefore a process is required to select and rank projects on the basis of their beneficial change to a company. (Burke, 2011: 66). The steps in the project selection process include: * develop a set of criteria against which the project will be evaluated * list assumptions that will be used on the basis of each project * Gather data and information for each project to help ensure an intelligent decision regarding project selection.Methods of gathering this information could include surveys, focus groups, interviews or analysis of available reports * Evaluate each project against criteria. Once all the data and information have been collected analysed and summarised for each potential project it should be given to all the people responsible for performing the evaluation. It is beneficial to the have several individuals in the evaluation and selection process in order to get various viewpoints.Each person on the evaluation and selection committee should have a different background and experience to bring to the decision making process, (Clement and Gido, 2012:35) emphasises that although it may take longer and be more stressful to gain group consensus on projects priorities and selections it will most likely be a better quality decision than if the decision is made by just one individual. The committee may develop a set of evaluation criteria with some type of rating system (such as Low-Medium-High, 1 to 5) against which to rate each potential project against each criterion.Various models can be used in project selection. The main purpose of these models is to aid decision making leading to project selection. The models include: * Numeric models * Non- numeric models A numeric model is usually financially focused and quantifies the project in terms of tim e to repay the investment or return on investment while non-numeric models look at a much wider view of the project considering items such as market share, relocation or environmental issues. Most importantly the models must evaluate projects by how well they meet the company’s strategic goals and corporate mission. 2.NUMERIC MODELS The numeric selection models may be subdivided into financial models and scoring models. The financial models are: * Payback period * Return on investment * Net present value * Internal rate of return Companies tend to prefer financial models and often select solely on profitability. 2. 1SCORING MODELS The numeric models mostly have common limitation, they only look at the financial element of the project. In an attempt to broaden the selection criteria, (Burke, 2011:79) suggest ‘a scoring model called the factor model, which uses multiple criteria to evaluate the project will be introduced’.The factor model simply lists a number of d esirable factors on a project selection pro-forma along with columns to show the rating of each factor. A weighted column can be added to increase the score of important factors while reducing the scoring of the less important. The advantages of using a scoring model are; * It encourages objectivity in decision making * It uses multiple selection criteria to widen the range of evaluation * It uses the simple structure therefore easy to use It uses selection factors structured by senior management, this implies that they reflect the company’s goal and objectives * It makes it easy to change factors. * It uses weighted scoring to reflect the factor’s differential importance * It is not biased towards short run projects favoured by financial models. * It is a weighted model which can also be used as a flag to improve projects by identifying the variance between the factor score and the maximum possible score The disadvantages of using a scoring model are: If the factors a re not weighted they will all equal importance * A simple model may encourage the developments of long lists that could introduce trivia factors and therefore waste management time. Assuming that the county Transportation Department has a budget of hundred million pula (P100  000) to allocate over the three project the researcher has used a scoring model to score some desirable factors on each project. This analysis and evaluation determines which project is critical and assist the project manager to prioritise effectively on which project to perform first followed by others.The figure below shows the factor scoring model for a county Transportation Department. SCORING FACTOR MODEL – PROPOSED SOLUTION| | FACTORS| PROJECT 1| PROJECT 2| PROJECT 3| 1. BENEFITS| 8| 9| 9| alignment to organisation strategy, mission, visions, values|   | 4| 4| 4| impact (organisational Department County)|   | 4| 5| 5|   |   |   |   | 2. COSTS| 4| 6| 8| budget (impact on budget)| 2| 3| 4| expenditure| 2| 3| 4| |   |   |   | 3. TIME| 7| 6| 7| delivery(how long will it take to deliver value to the community| 4| 3| 3| start- up (when can the project start)| 3| 3| 4|   |   |   | 4. RISKS| 5| 7| 9| safety and health (stakeholder and community| 3| 4| 5| environment| 2| 3| 4| |   |   |   | 5 RESOURCES| 7| 7| 8| capacity (at your disposal)| 4| 4| 4| availability| 3| 3| 4| |   |   |   | 6. STAKEHOLDERS| 5| 6| 9| commitment| 2| 3| 4| reputation| 3| 3| 5| TOTAL| 36| 41| 50| PERCENTAGE| 60| 68. 33| 83. 33| Key 5= very good weighting 4= good 0-40% low priority 3=fair 41-60% average priority 2= poor 61- 80% high priority 1= very poor 81- 100%very high priorityA priority list of projects from the model depicts Crockett Creek Bridge on road 1045 will progress under the current budget, if enough funds will be secured. ELK mountain road will follow then lastly the entrance to the Big John’s superstore. Therefore the researcher recommends that the cou nty Transport Department should adopt the project management approach by introducing a project management office. The project management office will be merged into the current county municipality opening structure to undertake all the projects across all departments with expertise.A project will be allocated a project manager and through his knowledge and skills. A methodological approach of project management will be applied. From project initiation phase are identified and selected through planning phase which involves defining the project scope, identifying resources, developing a schedule and budget and identifying resources development risks to the performing phase whereby the plan is execute and finally the closing phase/ project handover where the project lifecycle terminates.This methodological approach would be suitable for Polk County Transportation Department as projects would be executed effectively and effectively. To generate funds for the county, the commissioners can come up with initiatives like introducing road levy, introducing toll gates as well as adjusting tax higher so as to acquire funds for local developments. The crime rate is also igh as the case states that the largest employer is the state correctional institution for female offender, therefore prison as an offenders rehabilitation centre with skills they acquire during their serving period, prisoners can produce goods that can be sold to the local community to generate funds which could assist with the developments. CONCLUSION Polk County faces a problem of under development or road improvement because of limited funds. Multiple projects have been identified to address the current situation, besides the limited funds inadequate skills and lack of proper facilities have been identified.The writer analysed the case, quantified case data, evaluated it and suggests that introduction of project management office in the Polk county municipality would highly benefit the organisation as a proper systematic methodology of project management will be used to tackle and manage all projects effectively and also various fund raising initiatives will be implemented to raise money for the local government for developments. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Burke, R. 2011, Project Management Techniques, ( College Edition), China, Burke Publishing 2. Clements, J. P. and Gido J. 2012 Effective Project Management Fifth Edition, Canada. Joe Sabatino

Employer Associations & Modern Awards Essay

There have been substantial changes to modern awards over the years that employer associations have historically and are currently advocating. In this regard, issues such as penalty rates and flexibility stemming from employer association submissions have been researched and examined by (Sheldon & Thornthwaite 2013) portraying evidence that employer associations relatively prefer cost cutting and enhanced managerial prerogative as oppose to productivity. Entailed within this essay the key concepts such as penalty rates, managerial prerogative, flexibility and productivity will be discussed with particular focus the modern award reviews combined with an overview of Sheldon and Thornthwaite’s argument in summary and concurrence. According to (Boxall & Purcell, 2011) management goals are predominantly associated with cost efficiency, controllable flexibility, legitimacy and managerial power. It is these goals that evidently become the concern of relevant employer associations, as such they take on the role of combining, allocating and utilising resources in order to achieve organisational objectives. There have however been significant changes over the years regarding employer association involvement particularly seen over the course of the 1980’s. Employer associations aim to influence and negotiate with the Government of the day as well as tribunals in an effort to ensure that the mutual concerns of organisations are being met. (Sheldon & Thornthwaite, 2013) discuss key system issues with regard to employer associations mainly focusing on restricting union’s right of entry, penalty rates and other provisions incorporating aspects of substantive and procedural rules. Modern Award reviews primarily began in 2012, it is during this time that leading associations took the opportunity to not only push for more workable provisions but also to campaign for more substantial changes within various awards. Employer associations accounted for a large number of submissions to the tribunal on a broad range of issued in particular penalty rates, public holidays and flexibility. In the technical sense, penalty rates are a form of tangible benefit within the financial context which generally refers to those payments made to workers outside normal working hours. Regulator motivations for including penalty rates in modern awards as stated by (Sloane, 2014) are twofold: firstly, to compensate workers for work performed during what was historically known as ‘unsociable hours’ and secondly, to dissuade employers from operating within those hours. However,  as advocated by (Sheldon & Thornthwaite, 2013) the modern award reviews have ‘provided a forum for employers and their associations to escalate their campaign to the significance of penalty rates in industries operating during the traditionally ‘unsociable hours’, which is evidence that employer associations prefer to enhance managerial prerogative over productivity which is predominantly concerned with the cost of resources. The push for the examination of provisions regarding penalty rates has mostly been seen to affect the tourism and retail industries. Flexibility is made up of numerous components however, within in the context of the workplace involves thinking creatively about how working lives can be better structured to match individual and business needs (Job Access, 2012). Following the review of penalty rate provisions, amendments to the flexibility clause were sought after with particular attention paid to the manufacturing industry. Greater flexibility was requested in the taking and cashing out of annual leave in a further attempt to enhance cost cutting initiatives through control measures which ultimately leads to the underlying concept of elevated managerial prerogative. Managerial prerogative may be defined as management’s unqualified authority to exercise its discretion in certain areas under the belief that they have exclusive rights to make decisions and therefore resist any interference with that control (Storey, 1983). Sheldon & Thornthwaite make reference to managerial prerogative in the defensive context through aggressive industrial action which has historically been used as a means of strengthening managerial prerogative. The 2011 Qantas lockout serves as one of the most significant demonstrations of managerial prerogative through the organisations decision to engage in a lockout. As part of a wider push to entrench managerial prerogative employers were also seen to be engaging in aggressive bargaining strategies in order to escalate disputes with the intention of gaining access to arbitration which has an adverse affect on productivity. (Stewart, 2005) promotes the fact that there needs to be greater emphasis on productivity which forges greater efficiency and high trust work systems founded on flexible and fair employment. Productivity is the economic factor stemming from the adequate use of resources; productivity is essentially the measure of achievement through the amount of output that is achieved as result of the input predominantly referring to land, labour and capital as the key resources. Between penalty rates and productivity there is no association they are separated by the contexts of which they are defined. (AI Group, 2012) identify key problem areas within the Fair Work Act Review and state that it is ‘hampering productivity growth, workplace flexibility and competitiveness’ thus meaning that penalty rates do not influence productivity levels. (Sheldon & Thornthwaite, 2013) do make it apparent that employer association’s main concerns do in fact favour cost cutting and managerial prerogative rather than focusing on the importance of productivity enhancement. (Sheldon & Thornthwaite, 2013) further explored critiques from employer associations whose predominant concern was based on the fact that managerial prerogative was reduced through the increasing weakness of employer’ freedom to contract. (DEEWR, 2012) Released a report referring to more productive and equitable workplaces which disappointed employer associations thus further confirming productivity enhancement to be of no concern. It is clearly demonstrated that employer associations’ main concerns were that of cost cutting and managerial prerogative it is however, the amalgamation of all the relevant key concepts discussed that essentially equip organisations with a competitive advantage. The core concepts behind the submissions made by employer associations clearly obscure the importance of larger issues which further represents that employer associations prioritise the ease of managements working lives over that of the worker. Bibliography Australian Industry (AI) Group (2012), Applications to Vary a Modern Award – 2012 Review, Stephen Smith, Director – National Workplace Relations. Boxall, P and Purcell, J (2011), The Goals of Human Resource Management, Strategy and Human Resource Management, 3rd Edition, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, pp. 1-36. Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) (2012), Towards More Productive and Equitable Workplaces: An Evaluation of the Fair Work Legislation, Australian Government. Job Access, Flexibility in the Workplace, Australian Government, Accessed 1st May 2014 Sheldon, P and Thornthwaite, L. (2013), Employer and Employer Association Matters in 2012, Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 55: No. 3, pp. 386-402. Sloane, J (2014), Pay Penalty Rates, but not Through Awards System, The Australian. Stewart, A (2005), A Simple Plan for Workplace Regulation, Industrial Law News, Issue 7. Storey, J (1983). Managerial Prerogative and the Question of Control, Routledge & Kegan Paul Publishing, London.