National culture and management style Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

National culture and management style - Essay Example It has been recognised that the managers as well as the employees in distinct cultures tend to introduce the codes of behavior as well as norms related to their own cultures in their workplace. The organisational processes as well as the managerial practices tend to be shaped with the assistance of these norms as cultural values. It is because of these reasons the organisation tends to implement numerous management practices. The national cultural values are discovered quickly, held quite deeply and can be altered slowly over the period of generation (ITAP International, 2012). Cultural participation is quite higher among certain groups of United Kingdom. The rate of participation tends to be quite higher among those in the upper socio economic groups along with the least deprived areas of England. The structure of involvement with the culture as well as sports alters widely in terms of region, there are few regional trends. It has been noted that in the North East of the UK there has been rise in the amount of people visiting museums, archives, galleries and heritage sites. However, the ratio of people visiting libraries remained steady. The phenomenon took place alongside an extensive fall in library visits in most of the other regions (National Statistics, 2011). It was since January to December 2010, nearly 34.8 per cent of the adults had involved themselves in culture digitally which had risen from 2008/2009. By the term ‘digital participation’ it can be comprehended as visiting a museum or gallery, theatre or concert, library or records w ebsites of offices for any purpose except buying tickets (National Statistics, 2011). Furthermore, it was observed that from January to December 2010, 72.4 percent of those who were between 16 to 24 years old had been observed to perform active sports, and this statistics had fallen from 2005/2006 (National Statist

Analysis Techniques. This is for my Art of Modeling with Spreedsheet Essay

Analysis Techniques. This is for my Art of Modeling with Spreedsheet Class - Essay Example Among the several techniques we do have, I would recommend action oriented techniques to an employee working on their first major project. This is because it gives the ability to weigh whether the project will be successful or not even before he/she takes up the task. Hierarchical Analysis Technique according to David Embrey (2000) is a systematic method of describing how work is organized in order to meet the overall objective of the job. The planning steps are organized and represented from the first to the last step, in an attempt to establish the order with which they are to be carried out, to produce good results. The strengths and weaknesses of each step in the hierarchy are then determined, to find amicable ways of minimizing or dealing with the challenges before they interfere with the whole process. For one to achieve his goal when working on project, he/she must be careful to the small factors that can end up bringing the whole process into a stand still even at the introductory stages. This technique provides for the ability to assess and therefore work on these shortcomings early. This technique can either presented diagrammatically; this is by drawing a diagram to show the stages of the project from the first to the last or in a tabular format where detailed notes on each step are included. This particular analysis technique is the most advisable since it has more advantages compared to the disadvantages. This analysis technique is economical. The Hierarchical description steps developed to the level only required for purposes of the analysis, and not necessarily the whole plan of the project. This therefore relieves the parties involved of the cost which otherwise could have been incurred in developing the whole process. The second advantage of this technique is that the method is often used in the introductory stages to establish whether a project is

Strategic alignment

Strategic alignment Chapter 1: Introduction 12 Chapter One Introduction 1.1 Overview This chapter introduces the research background and context for this investigation. An introduction to strategic alignment is presented with the aim of establishing the context of this research, followed by an explanation of the importance of business strategy and Information Technology (IT) and the uniqueness of organizational culture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). In addition, the knowledge gap and research methodology were explained. In light of these arguments the aims and objectives are presented together with an outline of the thesis structure. 1.2 Research Background For the last two decades the relevance of alignment between business and IT strategies has continuously grown and remains a top priority for academics and practitioners. Research suggests that aligning business and IT strategies has a positive effect on organisational performance (Teo and King, 1996; Reich and Benbasat, 2000; Chan et al., 2006). The annual survey on top management concerns by the Society for Information Management (www.simnet.org) however ranked ‘IT and Business alignment as the No. 1 concern for four years in a row (Society of Information Management, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006). In last years survey, alignment lost its doubtful honor as the ‘top concern to drop to only the second place on the list (Society of Information Management, 2007). But it came back in 2008 and regained the No.1 spot as the top concern. Moreover, the value of IT has been related to strategic alignment (Tallon and Kraemer, 2003). They found that organisations with strategic goals for IT showed higher levels of strategic alignment and, as a consequence, the perception of IT business value was higher. However, organisations that have developed IT strategies often fail to deliver IT business value, despite having integrated their business and IT strategies. This suggests business-IT strategy is necessary but not sufficient to deliver business value from IT investments (Peppard et al., 2000; Benbya and McKelvey, 2006). Strategic alignment research has extensively discussed the coordination between business and IT strategy (Henderson and Venkatraman, 1993; Reich and Benbasat, 2000; Kearns and Sabherwal, 2007). As strategic alignment has become embedded in the strategic management process, a closer relationship between IT and business managers is required to establish a two-way commitment that enables managers in both IT and business domains to prioritise IT projects that will support the business strategy (Luftman et al., 1999). Figure (1) summarizes the Information System/Business relationship which can be described as ‘Interdependent; where any changes in the IS (Software, Hardware, Database and Telecommunication devices will have an impact on the Business and vice versa; any change in the business (Strategy, Rules and Procedures) will have its impact on the Information Systems function of the organization [2]. Figure 1: The interdependence between organizations and information systems (Laudon Laudon, 2006) This commitment, however, has been difficult to achieve at strategic level in organisations and consequently difficult to transmit to lower levels within organisations (Lycett et al., 2004; Srivannaboom, 2006). Additionally, the frequent failure of IT projects has reduced the trust of senior managers in IT investments and their business value (Peppard et al., 2000; Taylor, 2000; Hartman and Ashrafi, 2004). When an IT strategy is conceived at strategic level, it may be aligned with company goals; however, as it moves down through the lower levels of an organisation to be implemented, the original objectives for which the strategy was conceived can be lost. Relationships between business and IT implementers are not always close and IT staff tends to be more concerned with technical issues. Business and IT also need a close relationship at implementation level to ensure the project goals are well communicated and understood (Lederer and Salmela, 1996; Campbell et al., 2005). The interaction between information technology and organizations is influenced by many mediating factors, including the organizations structure, standard operating procedures, politics, culture, surrounding environment, and management decisions as shown in figure (2). and information Technology (Laudon Laudon, 2006) Therefore the motivation behind this research is to develop a model that depicts the dynamic interrelationships between the factors affecting strategic alignment taking into consideration the organizational culture (OC) in Saudi organisations. OC and strategy Connie Curran, (2002) a researcher and practitioner in the healthcare sector, wrote â€Å"Culture eats strategy for lunch every time†. In this simple statement she has eloquently summarized one of the strongest themes in the literature on strategy implementation, which is that it doesnt matter how wonderful your organizations strategy is, if its culture does not support it, the strategy will not be realized even if the goals and infrastructure are aligned. Aligning organizational culture to strategy accelerates strategy execution. Organizational culture includes the highly influential sets of norms, values, assumptions, beliefs and behaviors which influence the selection, design and implementation of strategic initiatives, impacting growth and operational strategies. Misaligned cultures create drag that impairs the performance of the organizations ‘engines for growth, hobbling strategies from being achieving to their full potential. OC and IT It is a common statement that we are now living in an era of rapid technology development. The adoption and implementation of new technologies, in many cases, is imperative not only to improve productivity, efficiency or to cater to new demand and requirements but also to ensure the survival of the business itself. ‘The introduction of any new technology into an occupation, organisation, or society can be seen as a cultural change problem (Schein 1989). The success or failure of integrating a new technology in an organisation is, to a large degree, dependent on its ability to adjust or change its culture. The creation and/or existence of a certain cultural environment may be essential to ensure the successful implementation of a new technology. The new technology once has been put in use in an organisation, in turn, will dictate further changes in the organisations culture. Many current examples can be found in relation to the areas of automation and information technology. 1.6 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) The culture of Saudi Arabia is a rich one that has been shaped by its Islamic heritage, its historical role as an ancient trade center, and its Bedouin traditions. Saudi Arabia is considered a very high context culture, which means that the message people are trying to convey often relies heavily on other communicative cues such as body language and eye-contact rather than direct words. Saudi traditions are rooted in Islamic teachings and Arab customs, which Saudis learn about at an early age from their families and in schools. Arab traditions also play an important role in Saudi life. These age-old traditions have evolved over the millennia and are highly regarded. They include generosity and hospitality, which every Saudi family offers to strangers, friends, and family [50]. One of the most important features of the Saudi culture is the segregation of the sexes. Segregation, which means not permit women to mix with unrelated men. Also Shyness is another important characteristic that people should uphold. The other important feature in the Saudi culture is family ties, where Muslim is expected to keep contact with his relatives [51]. Respect and friendship are values that are held very highly by the Saudi people, business setting, favors based on mutual benefit and trust are ways of enhancing these cultural values. Due to the personal nature of business in Saudi Arabia, family influence and personal connections often take precedence over other governing factors [52]. Saudi Arabia is behind in the area of IT, which could be contributed to several factors including Computer illiteracy, lack of government incentives to attract businesses, the absence of adequate infrastructure to support industry, poor enforcement of intellectual property and copy right laws, and lack of resources [53]. 1.7 Knowledge Gap Based on the above, and through screening some of the existing strategic alignment models in the literature review, the researcher figured out that to achieve such an alignment there is a need to consider and integrate the following points: Most of staff, if not all, is unaware of business goals and objectives, especially in the environment of Saudi Arabia. Important technical investments decisions are made by the IT manager alone. No relationship exists (Gap) between Business strategy and IT strategy. A lot of factors are not taken into consideration when forming strategic alignment, such as Structure, Culture, politics, and others. Strategic alignment models discussed only top management level and discarded other levels. Previous strategic alignment models are hard to be understood and implemented in reality. The models discussed in the literature review may have achieved one or two of the above six points, however, there is no existing model that has achieved the above six points altogether. Based on the above, the researcher has selected Strategic Alignment as a starting and a centre area of research that he is building on to fulfill the other points mentioned. The model that the researcher is aiming to establish differs from the existing ones in that it will meet the requirements and challenges of the Saudi environment taking into consideration the 6 above points. 1.8 Research Aims Significance To bridge the gap between Business Strategy and Information Technology Strategy through developing and designing a simple Strategic Alignment Model, that includes the essence of the major research works in addition to other strategic alignment theories available To highlight the role of socio-cultural aspects as a critical success factor for successful IT implementation, which were not taken into consideration in the past To measure the contribution of such a model to business performance. To encourage Saudi Firms to use such a model to gain competitive competition. To reduce the associated costs of implementing Information Systems in Organization 1.9 Research methods The researcher has used the mixed research methodology. Mixed research involves the mixing of quantitative and qualitative methods or paradigm characteristics within a stage of the study or across two of the stages of the research process. It collects data either sequentially of simultaneously to best understand research problems [16]. Advantages of using mixed research includes: the major goal for researcher who design and conduct mixed research is to follow the fundamental principle of mixed research, in other words, the researcher should mix quantitative and qualitative research methods, procedures, and paradigm characteristics in a way that the resulting mixture or combination has complementary strengths and non-overlapping weaknesses. When different approaches are used to focus on the same phenomenon, while providing the same result, is a strong evidence for the result. Other important reason for doing mixed research are to complement one set of results with another, to expand a set of results, or to discover something that would have been missed if only a quantitative or a qualitative approach had been used[17]. 1.9.1 Quantitative Method One of the most widely used research techniques can be defined as collecting data through written questions [17]. There are a number of different ways in which questionnaires can be administered; for example: posted to the intended respondents or administered over the telephone or face-to-face. A questionnaire design provides a quantitative description of trends, attitudes, or opinions of a population by studying a sample of that population. From sample results, the researcher generalizes or makes claims about a population [18]. 1.9.2 Qualitative Method Interviews are considered to be the main tool of the qualitative researcher for data collection [18]. Additionally, since the interpretive stance is also being followed, interviews are viewed to be the main and appropriate source from where data has been collected. According to Walsham, interviews allow the best access to the interpretations that the participants have regarding the actions and events, which have or are taking place and the views and aspirations of themselves and other participants. An added benefit is that it allows researchers to step back and examine the interpretations of their fellow participants in some detail, and this is an advantage that other methods may not allow [18]. There are several types of interviews possible for use, structured, semi-structured and unstructured interviews. In this study the semi-structured interview type was used due to different reasons. The semi-structured interview lies somewhere in between the other two types. It allows the interviewer to explore, probe and ask questions within a subject area less freely than the unstructured interview and with more freedom in sequencing of questions and timing for each question than the structured type. It allows the interviewer to explore more ideas and make use of unexpected and unforeseen information as it revealed. In addition, this study is a limited time study and since the timing required in conducting semi-structured interview is less than that required from the unstructured type, this type was chosen. To make the interview proceed smoothly, an Interview Guide was designed. A participation information sheet was also designed to familiarise the participants with the research purpose and to assure them of anonymity and confidentiality. Before conducting the semi-structured interview, each participant was asked to fill and sign a consent form with a copy kept with him/her. See Appendix F and G for the (Interview Guide, Invitation letter, Participation Information Sheet, and Consent Form). 24 interviews were conducted within the four organizations. The collected data from the interviews were converted into a quantitative format (frequencies) using content analysis method, where the collected data were summarized on a summary sheet. Then it was categorized to meet the research objectives, which was then displayed on a table. Rating for the results was calculated using Microsoft office Excel spreadsheet. 1.9.3 Secondary Data In order to gain a richer picture of Strategic Alignment concepts, a literature survey was conducted from published books, articles, journals, etc. All data from the primary case study (questionnaires and interviews), secondary case studies and documents were combined and linked together to give the base for designing the Strategic Alignment Model. 1.9.4 Data analysis Data gathered was analyzed through frequency distributions. These have given way to reviewing the data categories and the number of referrals in each category. With relation to data analysis, the indicators that were used in evaluating the study include the age of the respondent; the social status; the educational attainment of the respondents; the occupation of the respondents and their length of stay in the company they belong to [19]. The research has involved 4 large organizations, SABB (Saudi British Bank), Saudi Airlines, AL-Marai, and AlTawniah, where interviews have been conducted with business managers to have a clear idea about the companys business strategy. Also, other interviews took place with IT directors to investigate about the IT strategy and its relationship with the business strategy. In addition,2 sets of questionnaires were distributed among different levels of the organizations to come up with the types of organizational culture and the use of Information technology in those organizations. At the end, data were collected and analyzed through using SPSS software and content analysis. Figure depicts the various steps that compromised the research framework 1.10 Expected Research Outcomes The results from this research are anticipated to be of great help to top managers, strategic planners, IT managers, and other work force in Saudi environment, and will contribute to the following factors: Increasing the awareness of Strategic Alignment Concept and its importance. Showing the importance of the use of Information Technology in organizations Identifying the organizational culture as a major factor of achieving strategic alignment. Encouraging decision makers and top management to apply and implement strategic alignment throughout the organization. Highlighting the weaknesses of previous strategic alignment models and the lessons learned, which would help other researchers for future work 1.11 Indicative Thesis Structure The thesis will contain nine chapters: Chapter 1: Introduction: Presents an overview about the research subject. It shows the importance of strategic alignment in all sectors, followed by bridging the gap between business strategy and IT strategy, and the factors that affect strategic alignment, including the organizational culture in Saudi Arabia. The research aims and significance then was explained followed by a brief discussion of the research methodology, research framework, then prospected research contribution was mentioned. Chapter 2: Literature Review: Provides the literature review for this research. It begins with explaining Business strategy, Business planning and its tools, followed by a discussion of IT strategy, IT planning, and its tools. Then a discussion of strategic alignment was presented. And ended with an overview of previous strategic alignment models. Chapter 3: Research design and methodology: The chapter details the research process adopted and continues with an explanation of the data collection and data analysis methods employed by the researcher including justification for the approach and methods. The detailed questionnaire and interviews preparation and use process is described, followed by the reliability and validity tests. There is reasoning provided in this chapter for the use of data interpretation techniques and softwares like the SPSS Content analysis. Chapter 4: Selection of Strategic Alignment Model Parameters: Presents the organizational culture parameters selected by the researcher, the validity of this selection, and their relationship with the two main components of strategic alignment (Business strategy IT strategy) Chapter 5: Information Technology Use Questionnaires Analysis: This chapter introduces findings from a survey of 62 Information Technology (IT) managers to establish general perceptions of added value(s) of IT investments in Saudi organizations. Chapter 6: Organizational Culture Impact Questionnaires Analysis: Discusses and examines the data collected through the questionnaires from 400 staff in the selected Saudi firms, to identify the importance of organizational culture in strategic alignment. Chapter 7: Interviews Analysis: Talks about and analyses the data collected through the interviews in the 4 Saudi firms where 12 Business managers and 12 IT managers were approached. The chapter ended with an interviews summary and conclusions. Chapter 8: Hypothesis Formulating: Chapter 8 presents and discusses the research hypotheses. Dependent and independent variables were discussed in details. The chapter ended with a detail visual model showing the predicted relationship between dependent and independent variables Chapter 9: Conclusion and Recommendations: Proposes the new strategic alignment model, and concludes the study and gives recommendations and future directions. The Effect of OC on Strategic alignment in Saudi Firms Hatem Tamimi

Utilitarianism Essay -- Ethical Issues, Physician Assisted Suicide

The United States flag stands to the world as a signal of freedom and most importantly choice. The constitution gives our citizens that right to choose how to live life, how to use our liberty, and how to pursue our own happiness. But what happens when a citizen decides to opt for no life? Is that not a choice? This is the argument for one of the most controversial questions of the past decade, should assisted suicide be deemed legal in the United States? The root of the controversy is the involvement of medical community in such a choice. I will look to find a not an answer but guidance to determine if assisted suicide is an ethical choice. While the issue has no answer that would make both sides of the issue content, Utillitarism and relative ethics can help clear the ethical issue at hand. The utillatirist perspective will help explain how the outcome of physician assisted suicide helps a population with a certain end benefits and changes the quality of life of a person who is on a tight schedule to meet a certain death. Relativism will explain how the circumstances that the human being that benefit from assisted suicide call for a dignified ending. Utilitarianism will have us look at the outcome of an action as the guiding principle to deem something ethical or unethical (Moser, 2010). The outcome of actions is in a sense the harm or benefit that will remain after it is all said and done. Realistically we cannot expect to find an answer to the question of ethics pertaining to physician assisted suicide. Perhaps the most important aspect to understand about physician assisted suicide is that this choice is guided not to the common person that has just gone through a rough patch and cannot see the end. This choice is directed... ...he legalization of physician assisted suicide. Not to ignore the wishes of the medical community, we must focus on the wishes of the patient. Again physician assisted suicide is not a way out of a bad situation is a way to approach the inevitable. It is to be held relative to the individual’s personal wishes and medical history and prognosis. No one situation is the same and every single patient needs to be treated accordingly to their own situation. There is not simple answer to this, but we must move forward to help the majority in a dignified way relative to their own special situation. Imagine a fragile person whose color has turned an ash white, hair gone, constantly sick to their stomach, unable to do the most simple of task like hugging their loved ones. How can a heart condemn a human being for wanting to be remembered as more than that in their last days? Utilitarianism Essay -- Ethical Issues, Physician Assisted Suicide The United States flag stands to the world as a signal of freedom and most importantly choice. The constitution gives our citizens that right to choose how to live life, how to use our liberty, and how to pursue our own happiness. But what happens when a citizen decides to opt for no life? Is that not a choice? This is the argument for one of the most controversial questions of the past decade, should assisted suicide be deemed legal in the United States? The root of the controversy is the involvement of medical community in such a choice. I will look to find a not an answer but guidance to determine if assisted suicide is an ethical choice. While the issue has no answer that would make both sides of the issue content, Utillitarism and relative ethics can help clear the ethical issue at hand. The utillatirist perspective will help explain how the outcome of physician assisted suicide helps a population with a certain end benefits and changes the quality of life of a person who is on a tight schedule to meet a certain death. Relativism will explain how the circumstances that the human being that benefit from assisted suicide call for a dignified ending. Utilitarianism will have us look at the outcome of an action as the guiding principle to deem something ethical or unethical (Moser, 2010). The outcome of actions is in a sense the harm or benefit that will remain after it is all said and done. Realistically we cannot expect to find an answer to the question of ethics pertaining to physician assisted suicide. Perhaps the most important aspect to understand about physician assisted suicide is that this choice is guided not to the common person that has just gone through a rough patch and cannot see the end. This choice is directed... ...he legalization of physician assisted suicide. Not to ignore the wishes of the medical community, we must focus on the wishes of the patient. Again physician assisted suicide is not a way out of a bad situation is a way to approach the inevitable. It is to be held relative to the individual’s personal wishes and medical history and prognosis. No one situation is the same and every single patient needs to be treated accordingly to their own situation. There is not simple answer to this, but we must move forward to help the majority in a dignified way relative to their own special situation. Imagine a fragile person whose color has turned an ash white, hair gone, constantly sick to their stomach, unable to do the most simple of task like hugging their loved ones. How can a heart condemn a human being for wanting to be remembered as more than that in their last days?

Global Perspective on Health Policy Essay

The controversial issue of healthcare coverage for all individuals is an ethical and moral issue that Americans struggle with and as socially proactive as they are on there are many issues arising of it. Healthcare is not only about health and coverage but the major issue is about funding, what can be funded and what cannot be funded and how is going to be funded. Universal healthcare in other countries offers insight into some of the biggest issues and best alternatives for providing healthcare to all and to resolve the health care rising cost. The ethical issue of health care has led to the Accountable Care Act or Obama Care policy development and legislation. More time, data and research has to be done before the definite results of this legislation can be proven. A controversial issue Considering the opposing views about Accountable Care Act legislation, it’s reasonable to understand why universal health care has elicit such a heated political controversy among political parties as well as throughout American people. Unlike other Western industrialized nations, the U.S. has not established a universal health care system. Since health care is a fundamental defining policy of the modern state, and since Obama’s health care reform can be seen as an expansion of the role of government, it can be analyzed in a global context (Ha, 2012). The issue of health care reform brings important ethical issues of justice to the forefront, as individuals, communities, and the legislature struggle with how to provide quality health care for the many without sacrificing the basic rights of even the few (Sorrel, 2012). Policy’s creation The divide on health care coverage, cost and sustainability for all Americans and the increased cost of health care in United States led to legislations being brought to seek out a solution to the issue. The American Recovery and  Reinvestment Act was the first of these laws, this act signed into law in 2009 by President Obama. The Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act was also signed into law. Also enacted and accompanied by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act. Another legislation that became a law in 2010 is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Patel, 2013). Provisions in the act are designed to expand insurance coverage, control costs, and target prevention (Gable, 2011). One of the primary targets is adults aged 19-64, since their access to health care and use of health services deteriorated between 2000 and 2010, particularly among those who were uninsured (Kenney, McMorrow, Zuckerman, & Goin, 2012). The PPACA includes reforms such as prohibiting insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions, expanding Medicaid eligibility, subsidizing insurance premiums, and providing incentives for businesses to provide health care benefits. Insurance companies will no longer be able to drop clients when they become ill. The act has the potential to improve health outcomes across all income and age groups at a reduced cost (Sorrel, 2012). Steps in the state and federal policy development process. The steps of the development process focus in the four â€Å"pillars† of health reform: improving the quality of care, making health insurance affordable, supporting personal responsibility, and developing a sustainable approach to health care financing. This platform will help focus the initiative to tackle the growing costs of health care while preserving the highest quality of care for all Americans and avoiding cost-shifting wherever possible (Bipartisan Policy Center, 2013). Many ACA provisions went into effect immediately or soon after the health reform law was enacted in 2010; others are being phased in over time. Several major reforms, including the Medicaid expansion, insurance exchanges, and minimum coverage provision (â€Å"individual mandate†) will go into effect in 2014, and still others will go into effect later. APHA recommends several great resources for tracking state progress on creating health insurance exchanges, funding states have received through various ACA provisions, and states’ intentions regarding the Medicaid expansion, and other topics (APHA, 2010). Policy development vs implementation. Policy development starts with knowing what the problem is and how the policy will improve the issue. So the importance of analyzing the data about the problem needing fixed. When writing the policy provide the opportunity for the input of the policy makers to suggest changes which provides different viewpoints. To present the policy to the committees for approval or changes as needed. Policy Implementation is ready to start with a timetable of how the implementing of the policy and briefing the States. Implementation of the Affordable Care Act is an enormous administrative challenge, and many details of its implementation are still developed by the Department of Health and Human Services (Wann, 2013). Policy development starts from the moment the public, the legislature think there is an issue and a solution is needed. The ACA development started many years ago back in the 90s when the Clinton administration specifically Hillary Clinton supported the creation of a Universal Health C are system, that laid the foundation on which ACA started to gather the issues and started to research possible solutions. The issues was brought by the public to the press, to the meetings and hearings during the elections campaign and started to gather strength and support on President Obama challenge not only the American people, but the entire Congress to bring out to the negotiations idea on how to increase access to care while reducing cost. The ACA legislation development follows several tenets as the building block in which the legislation was written and develop on, Quality affordable health care for all Americans, the role of public programs, Improving the quality and efficiency of health care, prevention of chronic disease and improving public health, Health care workforce, Transparency and program integrity, Improving access to innovative medical therapies, Community living assistance services and supports and Revenue provisions (Democrat Senate, 2004). The implementation process of the legislation follows the same tenet but there is not planning and changing is the plan drafted and written how each steps will be attained and when and lastly the evaluation of the development and the implementation and sitting back in the drafting table to fix any encountered issues. The development and implementation phases of the legislation cannot be seen as two different path but rather as a process of two collaboration between the two parts using the same foundation to build.  To summarize the differences between development and implementation would be that the developments of the policy consist of the idea to the final written policy. The implementation of the policy is the start of putting the policy in action. Stakeholder’s involvement The stakeholders became involved with the affordable care act because even though this was controversial many believed that the needs were far greater than the issue and some changes were needed. Stakeholders for this legislation is the entire country of United States as the affected party, the health care providers, the legislators, the President of United States. In health care, the overarching goal for providers, as well as for every other stakeholder, must be improving value for patients, where value is defined as the health outcomes achieved that matter to patients relative to the cost of achieving those outcomes. Improving value requires either improving one or more outcomes without raising costs or lowering costs without compromising outcomes, or both. Failure to improve value means, well, failure (Porter, Lee, 2013). Stakeholders are heard during the elections periods where the issues to be discussed should and have to be of interest to the public to be added to the political platform. The press plays an important role on serving as the echo or the microphone to put the issues that are important for the American people. The Health care providers were a major force on the legislation development as their input from a business standpoint played major role on discussing areas that were part of the problem as well as area that needed to stay the same and it also serve as another voice of the public on such a controversial issue. Congress as a stake holder not only play a vital role on policy development and drafting but was the starting point of bringing the issue to the front and placed it in the agenda to be discussed and heard and last the President and its executive branch as the approval seal to the developed policy. In summary the Affordable Care Act has pique the interest not only as a national issue but a global one. Like any policy development the issues have to discuss by the stakeholders representing health care and each and every one has a specific interest in the issue to be solve. References American Public Health Association, (2014), ACA Implementation. Retrieved August 4, 2014 from http://www.apha.org/advocacy/Health+Reform/implementation/ Bipartisan Policy Center, (2013). Managing Costs, Preserving Care: Health Care Cost Containment Report Release. Retrieved on August 4th, 2014 from http://bipartisanpolicy.org/projects/health-care-cost-containment-initiative Patel, K. Parker, R. Villaruel, A.Wong,W (2013). Amplifying the Voice of the Underserved in the Implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Retrieved on August 4th, 2014 from http://www.iom.edu/Global/Perspectives/2013/AmplifyingTheVoice Ha, J. (2012). Health Care Reform vs ObamaCare: Partisan framing of FOX, MSNBC, NYT snd WSJ. Retrieved on August 4th, 2014 from http://gnovisjournal.org/2012/11/30/health-care-reform-vs-obamacare-partisan-framing-of-fox-msnbc-yt-and-wsj/ Porter, M. E. (2013), The Strategy that will fix health care. Harvard Business Review, Retrieved On August 4th, 2014 from http://hbr.org/2013/10/the-strategy-that-will-fix-health-care Sorell, M. J. (2012), Patient Protec tion and Affordable Care Act: Ethical Perspectives. Retrieved on August 4th, 2014 from http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/Columns/Ethics/Patient-Protection-and-Affordable-Care-Act-Ethical-Perspectives.html

Master and slave operation Essay

Bluetooth devices exist in small ad-hoc network configuration with the ability to operate as either master or the slave; the specification also allows a mechanism for master and slave to switch their roles. The configurations can be single point, which is the simplest configuration with one master and one slave. Multipoint, called a Piconet, based on up to 7 slaves clustered around a single Master. And a third type called a Scatternet, this is a group of Piconets effectively hubbed via a single Bluetooth device acting as a master in one Piconet and a slave in the other Piconet. The Scatternet permits either larger coverage areas or number of devices than a single Piconet can offer. Figure 5 outlines the different master and slave topologies permitted for networks in the standard (see â€Å"Bluetooth: Goodbye Infrared†). The role of the master is to control the available bandwidth between the slaves, it calculates and allocates how often to communicate with each slave and locks them into the appropriate frequency hopping sequence. The specification describes an algorithm that calculates the hop sequence, the seed being based on the master’s device address and clock. In addition to hop sequence control, the master is responsible for transmit control by dividing the network into a series of time slots amongst the net members, as part of a Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) scheme. These time slots can consist of data and potentially additional voice traffic i. e. you will always need a data channel before you can add a voice channel. The time slot is defined as 625  µs and all packet traffic is allocated 1, 3 or 5 slots, grouped together in transmit and receive pairs. Prior to connection some operations such as inquiry, paging and scanning operations may sometimes occur on half slots (see â€Å"Bluetooth: Goodbye Infrared†). Figure 5: Point to point, Piconet and Scatternet. A. 2. 3 Voice and Data Links. Bluetooth carries communication traffic over two types of air interface links defined as Asynchronous ConnectionLess (ACL) or Synchronous Connection Oriented (SCO). During a connection the links carry voice and data traffic in the time slots and are categorised as either time critical, as used for voice and audio, or high speed non-time critical data with a mechanism for acknowledgement and re-transmission. The first link established between master and slave is the ACL link and carries high speed data that is insensitive to time. It is packet switched, as the data is sporadic in nature, asynchronous, contains asymmetric and symmetric services and uses a polling access scheme. A master may be permitted to have a number of ACL links up to the maximum number of slaves permitted by the specification but only one link is allowed between any two devices (see â€Å"Bluetooth: Goodbye Infrared†). Once an ACL has been established a SCO link can be created on top of the ACL link. The SCO link is circuit switched; it has symmetric synchronous services and has slot reservation at fixed intervals, making it suitable for time critical data such as voice. The specification restricts the number of SCO links that a master can support to three. Summarising the two types of links: ACL ? Packet constructed of a 72 bit access code, a 54 bit packet header, a 16 bit CRC and Payload data ? Largest data packet is DH5 giving 723. 2 Kb/s as highest data rate in one direction. ? Non time critical data ? Asynchronous ? Packet switched ? Polling access SCO ? Same access code and header as ACL packets ? ARQ (Automatic Repeat reQuest) and SEQ (SEQuence) flags redundant since flow control and re-transmissions do not apply ? Cyclic Redundancy Code (CRC) field is absent? Payload fixed at 30 bytes, with source data of 10, 20 or 30 bytes ? Circuit switched ? Symmetric synchronous services ? Slot reservation at fixed intervals A special case exists that mixes SCO and ACL packets. Known as the Data Voice (DV) packet it carries data and voice on regular intervals like the SCO. The voice data has no flow control or CRC as per SCO packets, whereas the data part of the DV packet has flow control, re-transmission of the data part is permitted and the data part is CRC protected (see â€Å"Bluetooth: Goodbye Infrared†).