ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Outline Modern business organisations face a number of challenges in their operations of importance, growth in revenues and cost management. Increased competition as a result of globalization has made it necessary to effectively manage costs. The following case study is a review of the importance of analysis of relevant costs for decision making. Introduction Classification of costs is vital to the management in decision making such as whether to increase prices or vary output levels (Ray 2002, P. 280). It also provides useful information for management such as the extent to which prices or output can be reduced without incurring losses. Further, through cost analysis, reasonable estimates can be determined of expected costs and revenues for a range of expected output levels. This is important in budgeting and planning as well as in making financial as well as production forecasts. Cost analysis Cincinnati Flow Technology (CFT) is facing a dilemma whether to continue purchasing pumps from Kobec Inc at the current price of $102 or whether to manufacture those pumps in the company. The analysis prepared of costs involved in production of the pumps is incorrect since it involved lumping fixed and variable costs. Dutta (2009) argues that in making a decision of whether to purchase or manufacture, only variable cost of production should be considered. Therefore, to carry out the analysis of costs associated with production of pumps, only incremental should have been considered as relevant for decision making. On the other hand, all fixed costs should be assumed irrelevant and therefore not taken into consideration in reaching the final conclusions. Production of pumps in CFT would require additional production employees to be hired. However, there will be no need for additional equipment, space or supervision. As such, only cost of components relating to outside purchases and assembly labor costs are incremental costs. Therefore, these are the only relevant costs for decision making. Other costs such as manufacturing overhead and general administration overheads will not be influenced by production of pumps and therefore irrelevant for decision making. The analysis previously carried out made a mistake of not separating between the relevant and irrelevant costs. Based on classification of costs into relevant and irrelevant, the cost for production each pump has been determined as below.                                                Per unit   Total   Components                           18        180,000   Assembly labor                       45        450,000   Total relevant costs                 63        630,000   Manufacturing OH                                                                              Variable             450,000
Introduction The health of an individual is dependent on a variety of influential factors, including biological, environmental, social, or psychological. They might determine some significant changes in a person’s physical condition, mental wellbeing, and behavior. Different mental health disorders might cause shifts in people’s behavior patterns, and it is essential to understand how human activity is connected with a particular disorder. The issue of concern in this paper is depression (major depressive disorder or clinical depression), its general behavioral characteristics, major factors associated with it, and theories and therapies applied for its treatment. General Behaviors Associated with Depression Depression is regarded as a severe mood disorder that might be manifested in different forms depending on the circumstances in which it appears. It is one of the most common mental health issues that adult citizens of the US encounter. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, depressive disorder significantly impairs social activity, person’s ability to sleep, work, or perform daily chores (“Depression,” n.d.). The basic symptoms that are observed in an individual’s behavior include loss of interest in most activities, appetite, and weight changes. Also, a depressed individual experiences sleeping problems, slow movements and speech, a lack of energy, fatigue, or even suicidal attempts in more severe forms of the disease (“Depression,” n.d.). Thus, when suffering from depression, a person’s behavior changes significantly and becomes a burden imposing a threat to a healthy life. Biological Reasons for Depression Clinical depression might be caused by a combination of different factors. They include “genetic, biological, environmental, and psychological” determinants that become a reason for the development of the disorder (“Depression,” n.d., para. 12). When discussing biological influences more specifically, one might single out the fact that depression occurs as a result of brain changes associated with “imbalance of neurotransmitters, dysregulation of inflammatory pathways, and increased oxidative dysfunction” (Ghadirian, 2015, p. 2). Such a tendency justifies the prevalent occurrence of depression in older people whose brain cells are exposed to the described imbalance. Brain dysfunction leads to a person’s inability to organize and sequence information, thus causing a disturbance and induce depression-related behaviors. Pharmacotherapy applied as a treatment of major depressive disorder addresses these impairments and improves the work of neurotransmitter systems with the help of serotonin, norepinephrine, or dopamine (Ghadirian, 2015). However, there are other approaches to the treatment of depression. The Altered State
The Need for Community Health Program Mission Statement, Goals and Program Objectives to fit the Target Population Community health programs are mostly instituted to provide low cost and affordable health-care to the people. It is meant for the betterment of the health of the people sharing a common geographical area, or similar health characteristics. The program is, therefore, for a particular segment of the population. It is very important to have a community health program mission, goals and objectives fitting the target population because of the following reasons:  1. A mission statement explains why the program is in place. The core reason for the program is to help the target population and it should fit in perfectly to the needs of that population.  2. The mission statement explains what the program is supposed to be doing at what time and at what place. Since the program is to be undertaken in the community, it needs to involve them in whatever is done. Otherwise it may appear irrelevant to the people it is meant to help.  3. The goals of the program are towards a better health for the population that is targeted. There is, therefore, the need to involve them in formulating those goals so that they are of essence in the livelihoods of the target population.  4. The target population is made up of different age groups and people with health characteristics that vary in size and distribution. This necessitates that the population must be clearly studied and defined.  5. By fitting in the target population, the program will be more efficient and save costs. These costs include cost of changing the program to suit the target population, getting the required professionals or even starting the program all over again in case it is totally in applicable. By concerning themselves with program goals and objectives formulated by health professionals only, planners may end up taking programs that are too broad for the target population. These goals may be too general and not relevant for the target population since every population has its own unique characteristics and needs (Clark, 2008). Why Planners Are Reluctant To Involve Community in Budgeting The first reason is that it may not be in the best interest of the program planners to involve the community in program budgeting. This arises especially where the community may start comparing itself with other populations and probably make accusations or unnecessary complaints. The second reason is that the planners may be weary of community interference in the operations of the program. They, therefore, choose to budget on their own and leave out the community. Reasons Why Community Should Be Involved In Budget Development By making the community part of the budgeting process, it legitimizes the program. The program, therefore, enjoys support from the community, government and donors. The community can only appreciate
Total Quality Management is a strategy that is employed by firms to improve quality and performance, aiming at satisfying or exceeding the clients’ expectations. Such expectations are possible when all quality related functions are integrated in the entire firm. Total Quality Management is the management of inventiveness and procedures that endeavor at production of high quality products and services. For companies to function and operate in accordance to the Total Quality management strategy, they need to break down external and internal barriers. Consequently, when the departmental barriers are broken down in a company, employees are able to work in harmony with other departments. The harmony is as a result of employees being able to work cooperatively, with respect, mutual trust and appreciation for the success of their colleagues at work. Organizations that are not successful in overcoming departmental barriers are not able to ensure delivery of products and services that supersede customers’ expectations. These are mostly those firms that fail in establishing strong teams within their organizations. They fail to build strong teams in their firms since they concentrate on short term objectives, rather than focusing on long term organizational benefits that will help their firms’ survive for a longer period and especially during challenging moments such as economic recessions and product differentiations. Companies focus on short term goals by rewarding specific departments or individuals who meet their targets. This boosts unnecessary competition among employees and between departments that negatively affects the establishment of effective teams in such firms. It is noted that internal and external barriers in firms impends the flow of information, boost pursuit of subunit objectives and are mostly not in line with the firms’ overall goals. Some examples of internal barriers are departmental and organizational levels, while external barriers include barriers between the company and its customers, suppliers, investors and communities. The best strategies to eradicate external and internal barriers include establishing cross-functional teams, improved communication and incorporating appropriate corporate cultures as well as instilling positive attitudes among the various stakeholders involved. The successes of MacDonald chain of restaurants to break the internal and external barriers
Analysis of Hunter Valley Wine Company’s Advertising Brief Legal and ethical considerations about marketing alcoholic products to the consumer market The company is faced with various consumer groupings, for example, young people, adults, the elderly, men and women and this creates an avenue for diverse and attractive business segments. Nonetheless, this market segmentation comes with difficulties with other groupings not intended by the company coming into play, for example, children. This probably could come with injurious litigations against companies in the alcoholic beverage industry. There are cases of large corporations turning a blind eye to cases such as this and go-ahead to exploit this, and these results in unfair competition and unjust treatment of customers. The company should strive to adhere to the set-down legal age for drinking and to avoid huge lawsuits and fightbacks from consumer interest groups that heap pressure on them resulting in a drop in revenues (Donnelly, 1996). Product characteristics Wine connoisseurs and customers have certain characteristics they search for in a wine. These characteristics if identified and blended by the company well will result in a good wine that will be received well and will result in high sales for the company. These characteristics are for example aroma- wine should be able to sweep you off your feet just by putting the glass to your lips before you even taste it; appearance-a very vital but often forgotten component of wine that even some of the most experienced wine connoisseurs ignore; flavor- this is the climax of wine and what differentiates a good wine from a bad wine (Sissors, Baron and Sissors 2010, 16). Customer characteristics and buyer behavior Product characteristics influence consumer behavior. Apart from this, a customer’s personality also greatly influences their buying behavior depending on the variable aspects of the brand in the market (Surmanek 1996, 37). Creative dimensions and aspects of the message The message will be established based on the goals set out and the intended target audiences to be reached by the company. The message should address the key points brought out by the company’s goals: – Increase product awareness; growing the workforce (creating more employment); and getting more investors. Often the message is designed and
‘What are human persons?’ translates into a personal question that asks each individual who they are. The question has attracted heated debates in the past, creating a sense of loyalty between physicalists and dualists (Churchland 12). Physicalism encompasses everything about human persons such as their mental states, which the human body determines and is dependent on physically. The physicalist’s philosophical thought explains reality using the view that the human person is an assembly of space atoms. On the other hand, dualism denies physicalism, or that the physical facts of human bodies do not determine the composition of human beings (Cumplodo n.d.). Plato’s Phaedo is among the earliest endorsers of dualism. The text argues for an immaterial mind or soul that makes up the identity of a human person. The immaterialism also makes up the mental abilities of humans, for instance, logical thinking. The majority of global religions hold that the immaterial mind and soul constitute the human person (Cumplodo n.d.). In this text, I hold the position of a substance dualist by arguing that the constitution of the human person goes past pure material entities. It is important to think of human persons as distinctive beings and not physical objects. Essentially, the human person is a product of immaterial minds or souls. I will conclude that only dualism can solve the view of insuperable physicalism. Using the picture of the first person that human persons are substances, and the argument for my existence without a body creates neutrality between dualist and physicalism debates (Moreland 111). This will be valuable to prevent bias in this argument. This discussion examines the difference between the discourses on Leibniz’s law. Combing dualism and materialism with Leibniz’s law creates an argument for human persons. For instance, the distinction between parts and locations allows dualists to argue that bodies and minds have properties that make the mind and the physical body distinctive. Another argument for Leibniz’s law on dualism states that the minds and not bodies are known to exist (Moreland 111). One may be certain that the mind exists but doubt the physical body’s existence. While one may know their existence, they cannot be certain. This means that the mind is aware of its existence while the body does not possess this characteristic. Leibniz’s law, therefore, argues for a distinct mind and body. On the other hand, Christians hold a contradictory dualist view of the human person as a unity between the body and the soul (Moreland 111). Christians hold that the soul enters an intermediate disembodied state after death. The Christian view holds that eventually, the soul will reunite with a resurrected body. This view holds that the self is a unified re
Introduction Processes are an integral part of any organization and business as they are the tool that helps achieve results. They can be defined as a sequence of tasks, which form a workflow. Effective processes in healthcare are necessary for boosting efficiency and achieving better patient outcomes (Johnson & Sollecito, 2020). Variations are particularly important for the healthcare industry since they allow assessing the efficiency of care provision. Main body As applied to care delivery and utilization, variation may be regarded as an opportunity to cut expenditures while bringing greater value to clients without affecting the quality of care. In terms of the key processes, those are the attempts to find ways to cut down costs without sacrificing quality. Delivering high-quality patient care is the central process, and organizations need to focus on the clients in that matter. This can be done by analyzing the lessons learned from the use of treatment and therapies that were not effective. The potential variation causes include the need to adapt to the various issues clients can have, the types and forms of diseases that require care, and the complexity characteristic of the healthcare industry. As for the causes, it is quite difficult to say which of those are more crucial; nevertheless, the issues faced by clients should always be regarded as the most important ones (Howell & Stevens, 2019). In particular, a specific drug or therapy might be effective for one patient and be useless for another or cause an undesirable reaction in them, such as allergy. Conclusion The business environment of healthcare institutions can be dynamic and changing if organizations have vertebrae of steps of how to evolve (McFarland & Wehbe-Alamah, 2018). They should make projections in terms of areas in which they can grow and use those to get the sources needed for growing this expertise or competitive advantage.
Introduction Competition in the current market scenario is very stiff, which means that each company must make use of good promotion and advertising strategies to ensure that it increases its sales maintain its existing customers, as well as increase its customer base. The marketing strategies used are unique to each company because using a unique and relevant advertising and promotional strategy attracts many customers as opposed to competitors. This work will compare and contrast the promotional and advertising strategies of two firms in the automobile industry in Germany; Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz. The essay compares and contrasts the different advertising, promotional, and pricing strategies employed by the two companies that make them able to compete favorably in the market. Promotional Strategies Employed By Two Companies Comparisons There are a number of strategies that both companies use. For example, the most common method is offering a variety of new products, which Volkswagen introduced through the use of Bluetooth technology that allows one to communicate without necessarily having to use their Smartphone. On the other hand, Mercedes also provides a variety of models for its customers to choose from. Such a strategy makes sure that both companies carter for the needs of all their customers (Biebrach, 2009). Next is the use of the company websites from where customers can find out information about new products, prices, dealers, and services. The sales representatives of both companies update the sites in case there are new products launched. Moreover, the companies post on social sites such as twitter and Facebook where the customers can share photos or write comments about given brands of cars. Additionally, the companies periodically release e-reports and magazines to update the users on new products and also upload YouTube videos to allow the customer watch and f
Executive Summary Operation management is a branch of management which deals with purchasing and inventory management. It also touches on design and overseeing various business operations. It is concerned with the steps that are necessary to supply chain management. Viverra Motors is a company that had committed some essential business operation errors. In order to circumvent these challenges the company’s purchasing and inventory systems should be adjusted. These adjustments will have far reaching effects on the future development of the company. The recommendations that will be provided in this paper include improving transportation and logistics, purchasing and inventory management. However, first of all, the company should reduce new acquisitions. In order to do this, the company should identify areas of competency and pay more attention to these areas. The company can also outsource the services that other companies can offer without compromising on quality. Introduction Operation management is a branch of business that deals with the movement of products through the production chain. It also deals with the processes involved in the acquisition of raw materials, as well as the processes that are involved into production of the end products. Major levels of operation management are strategic, tactical, and operational. Strategic level deals with all activities and decisions that go into production chains. It involves decisions concerning size and location of plants. Purchasing and inventory management differences Each dealership is supplied by a different supplier and deals with different suppliers in the process of car production. Each dealership should therefore be strengthened to make decisions might have a positive effect on the process of car production. Each supplier has its own strengths and weaknesses and the company’s dealerships should deal with the suppliers on an individual basis. As a consequence, each dealership of a company should design a unique supply chain management system to fit its current position (Cooper & Ellram, 1993). The core areas of operation management are:   * Supply Chains—this involves the management of all aspects of management that are involved into providing goods to customers. The emphasis is laid on the processes of acquisition of raw materials to the end of a products’ life. All the stages that go into the product life cycle (introduction stage, growth, maturity, saturation and decline stages), including disposal, are considered.   * Operat