Core Competencies of Nurse Practtioner and Nurse Educator Assignment

Core Competencies of Nurse Practtioner and Nurse Educator - Assignment Example It is therefore necessary to compare and contrast the various roles core competencies between the nurse practitioners and the nurse educators. Both the nursing educator and the nurse practitioners pursue a continuous quality improvement role in the nursing field. For instance, the role of Nurse Educators follows a multidimensional scope that requires an ever enduring commitment (National League for Nursing [NLN], 2005, p. 6). In order to improve the general quality in the nursing field, the Nurse Educators constantly engage in practices that would enhance their career knowledge and participate in the professional development activities such as seminars that would increase their effectiveness. The educators usually use the feedback gained from the nursing students to improve the effectiveness of their roles. Similarly, the nursing practitioners engage in regular activities that tend to improve the nursing field. For instance, they carry out a critical analysis of data and evidence while integrating knowledge from various disciplines with the aim of improving the quality of nursing. Both the nurse educators and the nurse practitioners make use of various assessment and evaluation strategies during their nursing roles. Ideally, nurse educators make wide use of existing literature in the medical sphere to develop evidence (NLN, 2005, p. 3), and evaluate different situations that emerge during their day to day practices. They also incorporate different strategies such as offering various assessment and evaluation tests to determine and review the level of competence among the learners. In comparison, the nursing practitioners incorporate the use of various clinical investigation strategies through the use of patients’ electronic databases such as health records to carry out an analysis of their patients (The National Organization of Nurse

Human Resource Planning and Forecasting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human Resource Planning and Forecasting - Essay Example *Granny Toy Company must also make sure that the strategy of the business is linked with the performance of its employees. The Company may also allow employees to design the objectives for the Company because it is then that they will be able to develop a better understanding of the goal and will work accordingly to accomplish it. This will also result in improved performance of the employees. * Granny Toy Company must try to work hard to retain the talented workforce of the Company, as the employees are considered to be an important asset of the company. For this purpose the Company must design an effective compensation and benefit plan for its employees. *The flexible environment provided by the Company to the employees also affects the staffing process. The environment of the Company must be easily adaptable i.e. it should be flexible enough that new employees can easily adjust in it. *When new employees are being hired by the Company for their expansion and additional products it is important that the Granny Toy Company gives them enough time to develop their skills and adjust in the organizational environment. They must train them with the skills essential for the position they are about to cover. Sometimes time can be an essence for Granny Toy Company. In such a case it will be effective that the company selects employees with the required skills within the organization i.e. the internal supply of employees, as it will save a lot of time and will reduce the HR cost. *The external environment forecasting (Event based forecasting) may also impose certain impact on staffing needs of the competitors existing in the industry. *Some legal factors such as certain laws related to the labor and some socio economic factors such as the number of women working in the respective industry etc. may also affect the staffing process of Granny Toy Company; therefore the company must foster

Why Is Strategy Important to Business Essay Example for Free

Why Is Strategy Important to Business Essay The question of why strategy is important to business is compelling to say the least. There are a number of reasons why strategy can and often does determine the success, growth or failure of a business. Without a strategy the business is responding to internal and external circumstances or demands without the advantage of a plan in place to address them. This sometimes leads to wrong decisions or weak decisions and the business loses the opportunity to turn the circumstance into an optimal resolution that results in profits and better business. Strategy tells where you are, where you want to go, and how you are going to get there. It defines the overall direction for the business based on opportunity and threats in the external environment and identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the business internally. Strategy provides the big picture and shows how each individual activity ties together to achieve a desired end result. Strategy gives insight as to the way the business should compete in the future. External environmental changes can be customer and/or competitor based, as well as political, economic, social, technological, environmental or legislative. The more the external environment changes the more opportunities there may be for a well prepared company and the more threats to the unprepared. The actions and intentions of competitors change in a stable environment, and if the company is reviewing the market and what is happening they can prepare for any real or potential competitive maneuvers and find new insights into how to create continued value for customers. (Simister, 2007) Strategy is important as a source of long term profits. As business competes for a fair share in the , with competitors over customers, uncertainty becomes a constantly revolving battlefield for better ways of doing business. A Chinese general and military strategist Sun Tzu said it best It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle. â€Å"Strategy is how you get to know your enemies, yourself and the terrain on which you will fight.† And finally this great strategist says what fits here best â€Å"Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. (Brainy Quotes, n. d.) Other reasons for business strategy are changes in customer needs and wants, sudden poor business performance, and lack of growth or stability in the business. We have laid out the importance of strategy, now the components are what will make the plan a success or not. Before we can make a plan, the goals and mission statement of the business must be defined. Without a clear mission and goals you will not know who, what, when, where, and how of your business. The alternative is like feeling the way in the dark. I once read a book entitled â€Å"If you do not know where you are going, you may it up somewhere else†. This would be the reason for charting the course with purpose and destination in mind. Once we know what the goal is and defined our mission, then we look at the internal strengths and weaknesses within the business. This will help identify what strategies to build the strengths of the business and correct the weaknesses of the business to take advantage of external opportunities. Then we must look at the political, economic, social and technological as they are strategic drivers because of how they can influence outcome. This leads us to the critical issues directly and indirectly impacting the business. With all of this done, now we combine this information to create the SWOT that will generate a picture of both external and internal conditions present and future, good and bad that will give us realistic and attainable goals. The SWOT will allow us to make short term plans and long term goals and put in place the tactical initiatives necessary to achieve the defined mission goals with a timeline, necessary resources, and where each initiative fits and in what priority. These steps will make the success of strategic planning successful.

Computational Chemistry for Drug Discovery

Computational Chemistry for Drug Discovery Computer Chemistry Computational chemistry is a branch of chemistry that uses computers to assist in solving chemical problems. It uses the results of theoretical chemistry, incorporated into efficient programs, to calculate the structures of molecules and solids. In theoritcal chemistry, chemists, physicist and mathematics develop algorithms and computer programs to predict atomic and molecular properties and reaction paths for chemical reactions. Computational chemists, in contrast, may simply apply existing computer programs and methodologies to specify chemical question. There are two different aspects to computational chemistry. Computational studies can be carried out in order to find a starting point for a laboratory synthesis, or to assist in understanding experimental data, such as the position and source of spectroscopic peaks. Computational studies can be used to predict the possibility of so far entirely unknown molecules or to explore reaction mechanisms that are not readily studied by experimental means. Computer-aided drug discovery/design methods have played a major role in the development of therapeutically important small molecules for over 2-3 decades [133]. Over the past couple of decades, many powerful standalone tools for computer-aided drug discovery have been developed [134]. In silico metabolism After adopting combinatorial chemistry and high throughput biological screening in the past couple of decades, the pharmaceutical industry generated a large collection of potent and selective compounds for numerous targets. However, to become an optimal drug, in addition to potency and selectivity, a compound must have appropriate ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism and excreation), safety and developability characteristics. Relaying solely on potency in the early stage of drug discovery can result in disproportionate attrition after clinical candidate selection contributing to the exorbitant costs of discovering and developing drugs. Only about one in ten of those diligently chosen, highly potent and selective candidates that enter development reach the market often due to inadequate ADME properties. Therefore, it is extremely important to consider the ADME characteristics of compounds earlier in the discovery process to wager bets on compounds that have a greater potential t o survive the development and clinical trail stage of drug development. Increasing the odds of success to one in five (instead of ten) would reduce the total cost of bringing a new therapeutic to the market by 33%. Experimental determination of ADME and pharmacokinetic (PK) characteristics is both expensive and time consuming, and is not practical for large numbers of compounds, especially when the pharmaceutical industry is under severe pressure to cut costs and improve efficiency. The Price tag to support various ongoing discovery projects in pharmaceutical company for synthesis and high throughput measurement of permeability, solubility, metabolic stability and acute toxicity can run into millions of dollars. Therefore, much attention is being focused on the application of in silico screens to reliability predict ADME attributes solely from molecular structure. In silico prediction of ADME properties will not only reduce cost and development cycle times by wisely directing resources to essential experimental testing, but also bring forward their consideration earlier at the lead generation stage when compounds are being synthesized and tested almost exclusively to meet pharmacological target potency levels. At the cost of experimental results indicated above, a mere 10-20 % reduction in high throughput experimental measurement of permeability, solubility, metabolic stability, acute toxicity through the use of in silico screens can lead to significant savings. Further, application of in silico screens offers an ideal ‘fail-early-fail-cheaply’ strategy for drug discovery because their application requires nothing more than inputting the basic structural information of a compoun d into a validation model. Metabolic Stability Measurement in Drug Discovery At most major pharmaceutical companies, metabolic stability assays are conducted at the first investigation into the metabolism of a compound. These in vitro assays generally utilize liver microsomes and/or hepatocytes to furnish important information about the rate and/or metabolism. In vitro metabolic studies are important in optimizing pharmacokinetic properties such as in vivo half life, maximum concentration and systemic exposure, because rapid metabolism is often a key factor contributing to poor exposure. The metabolic stability data is helpful for ranking molecules with respect to their ability to resist metabolism. Though high-throughput automated metabolic stability assay systems have been developed by the major pharmaceutical companies, screening a large number of compounds is still intensive. Thus, in silico prediction of metabolic stability can be used to rationalize experimental testing and have significant resources. Further, these models allow for prediction of metabolic stability for virtual libraries, thus bringing forwarded their consideration earlier to hit-to-lead stage. In silico Models for Metabolism Studies There are several types of in silico tools available for investigations into metabolism. These include knowledge based systems (metabolism databases) rules based or expert systems and quantity structure properties relationship (QSPR) and enzyme structure modeling systems. At its simplest, the partition coefficients, Log P (or its computed equivalent), of a drug in the n-octanol-water system has been shown to loosely correlate with the metabolic stability of a compound. As in silico calculations of Log P values have become readily available, they are being implemented in many of the current metabolism prediction packages. The earliest in silico metabolism tools were the metabolic reaction databases. In principle, these are databases with the published metabolic reactions and structure of parent compounds and their metabolites. Some of these allow creation of corporate metabolic databases as well. In most cases, these databases can be searched for specific biotransformation (by structure and substructure), biotransformation keywords, and by other user-defined fileds. The key advantage of this knowledge based in silico systems is that they include detailed metabolism findings and original references. Prediction of Metabolites The above mentioned knowledge based systems provided the groundwork for the development of rules based in silico predictors of metabolites, also called expert systems. Commercial rules based programs such as METEOR, META and MetabolExpert iteratively interrogate the chemical bonds of a molecule and apply programmed biotransformation rules in a predetermined hierarchy. As one can imagine, without means of terminating the metabolism tree a very large numbers of metabolites will be generated of predicted. Several of these programs allow the user to specify the number of levels of biotransformation or may use a LogP calculation to terminate the biotransformation process. Prediction of Sites of Metabolism The mechanism of oxidation by CYPs is though to be constant across all CUPS. One of the most important steps in the oxidation of drugs (by CYPs) is the ability of the perferyl oxy species (FeO+) to carry out a one-electron oxidation through the abstraction of hydrogen atoms. In silico packages such as Admensa, COMPACT and Metasite calculate the likehood of abstracting a hydrogen atom from all sites on a molecule, and then quantify which sites are most likely to be oxidized. The greatest advantage of these types of predictions is the ability to quantify the most likely major â€Å"hot spots† on the molecule. Prediction of Substrate Binding The ability of a molecule to properly dock on the active site of enzyme plays a major role in accurately determining the site(s) of metabolism on a molecule. Therefore, modeling of the P450 active sites has long been a goal for metabolism prediction. Some of the first attempts to model the active site of metabolizing enzymes used pharmacophore, site directed mutagenesis, and protein homology. Using homology models built from bacterial and mammalian P450s, in silico studies of docking potential substrates into the active site have been performed with mixed success. Now that the crystal structure for human CYP3A4, CYP2C9, CYP2C8 and CYP2A6 are available docking experiment with these models should more reliably predict the sites of metabolism on a molecule that the predictions form the homology models. Prediction of Metabolic Inhibition One of the causes of drug-drug interactions is the inhibition of metabolic pathways. Enzyme inhibition by a drug leads to a decrease in metabolism and intrinsic clearances, and an alteration in pharmacokinetics of a co-administered drug. Any knowledge around the potential of drug-drug interactions is useful for a quantitative assessment of the ability a new molecular entity to inhibit the metabolism of another drug. In silico methods to predict drug-drug interactions are mostly limited to competitive inhibitors because they rely primarily on the binding models in the used as templates with alignment and orientation of core structure in an active site. However, the quality of prediction depends on the structural similarity to the molecules that were used to build the model. Inhibitors of CYP2D6 and CYP2C9 have been predicted using the CoMFA method. For inhibitors of CYP3A4, CYP2C9 and CYP2D6, methods such as CATALYST and GRIND have been used to reduce the bias in the alignment of inhibitors. Prediction of Enzyme Induction The induction of drug metabolizing enzymes is an additional way in which co-administered drugs can affect the clearance and pharmacokinetics of a given drug. Induction or increased expression of the drug metabolizing enzymes leads to an increase in the rate of metabolism and ultimately, to increase intrinsic clearance. Therefore, enzyme induction leads to decreased drug exposure which may results in therapeutic failure. Most often, the induction of enzymes occurs through the activation of nuclear receptors such as the Arylhydrocarbon receptor (Ahr), the Pregnane X receptor (PXR) and the constitutive Androstane Receptor (ACR). The activation of nuclear receptors PXR and CAR are responsible for the induction of several drug metabolizing enzymes including CYP3A, UGT1A1, SULT1A and CYP2C9. On the other hand, induction of CYP1A, SULT1A1 and UGT1A1 has been associated with activation of AhR. Prediction of Metabolic Stability As mentioned above, metabolic stability influences both oral bioavailability and half life of a drug. There is good correlation between in vitro metabolic stability and in vivo clearance. Therefore, the assessment of metabolic stability of compounds is being demanded and earlier in discovery projects. To meet these needs, in silico models are commonly employed. As described above, many different in silico tools focused on studying different aspects of metabolism have been developed. In our experience, the choice of the in silico tool by a user should primarily be guided by the type of information and level of accuracy that is desired. It is imperative that the developers of these in silico tools continually refine and validate them to reliably predict and quantify the metabolic fate of drug in humans. On the other hand, the chemists, biologists and ADME scientist on project teams to evaluate and use the existing in silico tools and to challenge their developers to demand tools that will rationally and efficiently move the discovery projects forward. Metabol Expert Metabol Expert is an ideal program for a quick prediction of the metabolic fate of compound in the drug discovery process during the dispositional research phase. Metabol Expert is a unique tool for initial estimation of the structural formula of metabolites. Metabol Expert is a rule based system with open architecture, in other words, the chemists, metabolism researchers, drug disposition experts and environmental managers can understand, expand, modify or optimize the data on which the metabolic structural estimation relies. Commercialized by Compudrug in 1987, Metabol Expert is composed of a database, a knowledge base and several prediction tools. The basic biotransformation database contains 179 biotransformations, 112 of which are derived from Testa and Jenner, the others are based on frequently occurring metabolic pathways. The transformation knowledge-base is composed of if-then type rules. Each is composed of our components, the structure changed during the transformation, the new substructure formed, a list of substructure at least one of which must be present in the molecule for the biotransformation form occurring. These rules have been derived from the literature by experts and are input into the system by means of graphical tools. The system is open so that new rules can be added or existing ones modified or deleted. There are two types of predictions in Metabol Expert. In the first type, the system tries to match basic transformations automatically. There is a filter so that biotransformation sequences can be arrested after generation of a specified number of metabolites. Basic transformations are classified as phase I or phase II. In the event of a phase II metabolite being generated, the sequences are arrested and the metabolite is not included in the next level. If a transformation results in the generation of two metabolites, then both are passed into the next level. The second type of analysis is an extended prediction model in which metabolites generated from basic transformations is compared to a list of transformations in a learned tree for a given species and the analogues are then listed in order of similarity. The program then attempts to quantify predictions based in the information in the learned tree. MexAlert MexAlert was developed to be an ideal assistant for high-throughput screening. It is advantageous to consider metabolism still before synthesis of the compounds, in order to exclude unwanted metabolic pathways, leading, for example, to first pass effect or to formation of toxic intermediates. MexAlert predicts first pass metabolic pathways by quickly identifying sites on the molecule where Phase II metabolic transformations (in other words, conjugation) may occur. It is rule based system; the rules are selected from among the Phase II transformations in the animal knowledge base, and modified according to in vivo experimental example of first-pass effect pathways. In silico toxicity prediction Attrition during the drug development process is a serious economic problem for the pharmaceutical industry and it is often due to inappropriate ADME/Tox characteristics. IT has been estimated that 20-40% of the drug failure in investigational drug development phases are due to safety issues, not continuing multiple incidents of adverse effects of existing drugs. The early drug discovery process needs to address in parallel not only potency but also pharmacokinetics and toxicological properties. Van de Waterbeemd and his colleagues at Pfizer have called this approach ‘property-based design’, emphasizing the importance of the critical combinations of physical and structural properties that contribute to ‘druglikeness’. Ideally this process should begin early in discovery, using computational models to screen both virtual libraries and available compound collections to identify compounds with the desired properties (good potency, ADME and low toxicity). Often molecular size and lipophilicity have an important effect on all three properties. High biological activity is frequently associated with high LogP, but this may also raise the probability of high toxicity. In the 1990s, drug companies invested heavily in combinatorial chemistry and high-throughput screening (HTS) as a source of leads for new targets. Most screen actives turned out to be large and/or hydrophobic, clearly contraindicating to the principles of minimal hydrophobicity. The most visible outcome was not even that they were toxic (because most compounds did not advance that far in development), but that they were either insoluble or non-absorbable. This overshadowed any toxicological consideration in the early stages of drug discovery, bringing forward compounds solubility and permeability as the most urgent problems to address. In the late 1990s the concepts of drug-likeness and lead likeness emerged and simple rules were formulated e.g. â€Å"rule of 5† to warn chemists when compounds were well outside the property space normal for orally active drugs. These rules are now widely used in Virtual Screening to remove undesirable compounds from consideration prior to their synthesis or acquisition. In addition to simple property filters toxicological issues should also be considered because otherwise any specific hazardous sub structural effects are ignored. Some of the harshest reactivity effects are identified and removed using predefined alert substructures (e.g., acid halides) (sometimes called â€Å"garbage filters†). The problem is the most of such alert substructures are â€Å"chameleonic† in nature, i.e., they may not necessarily cause toxic effects depending on other functional groups and overall molecular structures (e.g., acid halides). To fix this, all chameleonic† substructures (from â€Å"garbage† filters and beyond) must be supplemented with class specific QSAR’s for different health effects, yielding toxicological expert systems. Such systems can be used in virtual screening along with â€Å"drug –likeness† filters to subdivide compounds into â€Å"safe†, â€Å"hazardous† and â€Å"Questionable†. Promising compounds need further toxicological evaluation, but this cannot be done by predicative methods alone due to multiple knowledge gaps in their training sets and limited numbers of considered toxicological end points. Sometimes further evaluation is done during lead optimization, when chemical structures are covalently modified and tested. At this stage various toxicological predictions are used to prioritize both compounds that are to be tested and in vitro methods can reliably predict drug’s effect on a whole animal system, yet Animal Tests are not usually done until drug development candidates are identified. By this time drug development cost can reach substantial levels, economic risks become considerable. Thus any predictive tools that help to identify adverse effects in animals prior to conducting such testes are highly desirable. If a known toxic pharmacophore is identified and closely related to the pharmacophore required for activity at the therapeutic target then series specific SAR is needed to aid design of molecules with an adequate separation between the therapeutic dose and the dose threshold for the toxic effect. Since it is essential to have an in vitro surrogate that can model the desired in vivo effect on a significant number of compounds. Some of the more important end points for which in vitro surrogates that can model the desired in vivo effect on a significant numbers of compounds. Some of the more important end points for which in vitro surrogates have been used are: QT prolongation in heart due to blockade of the hERG potassium channel, hepatotoxicity due to compounds that produce phospholipidosis and hepatotoxicity due to induction of CYP450 enzymes. To summarize, in drug design toxicity predictions can be useful for three purpose – virtual screeing, prioritization of compounds and in vitro tests, and prediction of health effects in whole animal systems. Although many toxicologists are understandably leave us with no choice but to make the attempt using available animal toxicity database.

Pattern of Multinational Corporation based on cultural difference

Pattern of Multinational Corporation based on cultural difference With the development of economical globalization, the internationaloperation has become an important trend of development for enterprises.Multinational corporations are playing more and more important roles in theworld economy. While getting the big world market, they have to be facing morecomplex internal and external management environments. The cultural differenceis a noticeable influence factor. With more practice of management, moremanagers and scholars began to pay attention to this problem and do a lot ofresearches. How to reduce the adverse influence of culture difference inmultinational corporations human resource management (HRM) has become afocus in the field of trans-culture management. Subsidiaries and joint ventures in foreign countries are primary vehicles to market products internationally and to take advantage of the manufacturing capabilities of other countries (Li and Scullion 2006). Providing with the competitive labor cost and abundant resources, China now is the ideal manufacturing powerhouse where foreign investments have been booming up over the past decade. However, if there are major gains to be made, there are also risks. One of these is the management of human resources (Sergeant  and Frenkel 1998). Challenged by mainly the culture differences, managing the Chinese employees is never an easy task for a foreign manager. The high rate of turnover has been a substantial problem in managing Chinese employees in joint ventures in the Peoples Republic of China (Beamer, 1998). Many of the foreign executives still hold the concept that Chinese employees are eager to work for foreign companies in order to learn those advanced management knowledge and so on, and simply believe that the employees commitment is driven by such attitude. And therefore behave like evangelists on a mission to convert Chinese people to Western business practices (Jean 2009). However, as mentioned by Courtois (2009), the expectations and characterizations of Chinese nationals are shifting. Mentioned by Gross (2007) as well, most importantly, there is the need to ensure that differences in local practices and management are ironed out. At the very least, such differences should be understood and respected.  In another word, it is crucial that foreign managers shall understand the importance of learning how culture difference could be a key issue when managing Chinese employees and therefore make sure that they have the right attitude on managing Chinese employees before they start it. Cross-cultural researchers have argued for the need to develop frameworks that can help people from different cultures overcome obstacles to work together productively (Bond 2003). Some of the typical Chinese culture which are easily to be involved in work must be fully understood and foreign executives shall be aware of how to play with these culture differences so that enable themselves to manage people in an effective way. Such management which is based upon learning the culture and behavior of Chinese employee will help the company to form a stable and efficient HRM method in the long run. With increasing of the practical experience gained by foreign executives, more and more typical work related Chinese culture has been familiarized by western countries. Such as face and guanxi, were once and maybe still are the hard culture concepts for foreign executives to deal with when managing Chinese employees. Another challenging issue foreign managers have to face is that there is no such mature HRM knowledge in China. In earlier time, Child (1994) pointed out HRM is absent in Chinese companies while recently Li et al. (2007) mentioned that in China, HRM policy and practice are in a state of flux. Therefore, this has made it difficult for foreign managers to introduce their preferred approach in joint ventures (Sergeant  and Frenkel 1998). Literature Review Human resources management theory Human resources management functions Human resource management (HRM) is a function in an organisation wherein it focuses on employee-related activities. In other words, it deals with the management of, recruitment of and providing direction for the people who work in the organisation. It is usually involved with issues that are related to people. Among these is the process of hiring, organisation development, compensation, wellness, employee motivation, administration, performance management, safety, training, communication and the benefits . Similarly, Ledge (2005) states that human resource management is the management of a workforce and it can be both an academic theory and business practice. In addition, According to Lipiec (2001), human resource management is the process of coordinating an organisations human resources, or employees, to meet organisational goals. Human resource professionals deal with such areas as employee recruitment and selection, performance evaluation, compensation and benefits, professional d evelopment, safety and health, forecasting, and labour relations. Price (2004) defines human resource management as a belief of people management on the idea that human resources are significant factors in maintaining the success of a business. He discussed that a company obtains a competitive advantage by practicing an efficient usage of its personnel, using their expertise and creativity to reach the organisations purposes. Moreover, human resource management (HRM) seeks to employ capable, flexible and committed personnel. In contradiction, Bach (2005) stated that HRM is unitarist, the interests of employees and other stakeholders are marginalised, there is a great importance on the individual firm that is channeled on each employee, there is a logical playing down of external and collective issues. Some of the challenges today in human resource management are maintaining a diverse workforce, dealing with major technological changes, keeping up with governmental regulations, handling corporate restructuring and downsising, and formulating strategies essential to personnel management . These challenges need to be addressed in order to render an effective management of human resources. It is said that the philosophy of human resource management is based on the simple belief that human resources are the most important asset in achieving and sustained business success. This realisation became the driving force behind the creation of human resource management resulting in organisations taking a strategic approach to the management of their people. The true worth of human resource management is becoming more widely understood as human resource management steadily interweaves all aspects of people management and development within the company . Thus, the HR has to gain knowledge of and become skilled at in the host country because the setting may be diametrically opposed to the home nation. Even on a more personal note, managers in HR have a lot to do with the employees in the company. Especially in a foreign country, the manager should be aware of the local practices and traditions if there are any. The fringe benefits the company offers may have to be adjusted in rela tion to what the host country deems acceptable. Considering all these responsibilities and the ramifications involved if there is no proper implementation, the position as HR manager should be handled by one who has relevant qualifications and experience.Although the knowledge may be gained and experience earned, it is necessary primarily because the tasks involved calls for managerial functions. They may not be very necessary if the need is for HR staff. As a member of the staff, there will be a lot of information to be gleaned and eventually, imbued. However, as the position specifically requires managerial functions, so should there be expertise in the field.HRM should not be underestimated. Efficient management is no mean feat, especially in a foreign setting like in host countries where there are a myriad of differences in the social, cultural, political, economic and ethical aspects. Overall, it can be said that the human resource management is not just about the functional responsibility of a company. More so, there is a need for managers to participate in the practices of the human resources in a daily basis. In other words, the human resource management is not just a mere department of the company but it entails the active participation of the head of the company such as the manager (Human Resource Management, 2007). we adopt a holistic perspective in considering the impact of the countrys environment as well as the multinational corporations (MNCs) strategy on human resource (HR) practices. More importantly, we argue that within MNCs human resource management (HRM) is playing a central role in the process of balancing local and global forces. HR can be critical in helping MNCs deal with local differences while also helping the company implement practices that are critical for its global strategy. Specifically, we argue that HR plays a key role in developing s ocial capital, which may provide the necessary substitutes for formal control that would otherwise be neglected. Our contribution lies primarily in outlining how this new role of creating human capital confers on HR the task of filtering mission-critical practices through a localization mesh that ensures success. In addition, given the importance of social capital as an informal mechanism that allows MNCs to coordinate and integrate activities, we suggest ways in which an MNC can build social capital within the context of the Latin American pan-regional cultural values. 2.3 International Human Resource Management International human resource management or IHRM is about the management of people in the international environment. By international, IHRM implies that it involves the intersection of multiple fields in the management. For instance, it includes the human resource management as well as international management. Through the phenomenon of international human resource management, one is able to gain a broader meaning and understanding of the traditional HRM (Academy of Management Human Resource Division, 2004). Many expatriate human resource (HR) policies, particularly in the area of compensation, remain rooted in the past because they continue to favor the expatriate over local staff and do not take into account the increasing qualifications and aspirations of these local employees. Inequitable treatment leads to low commitment and poor work performance among local staff. More importantly, inequitable treatment creates tension between local and expatriate employees and causes the local staff to be less willing to be cooperative or supportive of the expatriates with whom they have to work. Without local support, expatriates may experience greater difficulty adjusting to their new jobs and the new environment, which is a contributing factor in the failure of expatriates. It is critical that multinational companies are aware that some existing HR practices have potentially unintended negative consequences and that neglecting the impact of these practices on local employees hurts the effectiveness of the organization as well as the ability of expatriates to succeed in their assignment. According to Briscoe and Schuler (2004), there is an increasing need to discuss the issue on international human resource management because the conduct of business is increasingly international in scope and managing human resources is critical to the successful conduct of global business. With the emerging trends such as globalisation and modernisation, the process of international human resource management is greatly affected. Particularly, the changes incurred by international human resource management have been greatly shaped by these trends. Through globalisation, there is a perceived disappearance of the national or geographic boundaries. The conduct of business activities from one country to another has become highly possible through the globalisation process. And with the aid of modernisation, the conduct of business affairs or activities has become faster and more convenient. Budhwar and Debrah (2001) provide various factors that paved the way for the increased need in human resource management by business organisations. According to them, human resource management is all the more important because of the increasing levels of globalisation as well as internationalisation of business, the growth of new markets (such as in Africa, Eastern Europe, China, India, South-East Asia and Latin America), the growth of new international business blocs (such as NAFTA, the European Union, ASEAN) and an increased level of competition among firms at both national and international level. And so, it seems to be that the world develops to become a global business village, thereby increasing the need to know the ways in which managers in various parts of the world cope with the problems and issues that are related to the management of human resources. This study aims to get a clearer picture of why multinational companies (MNCs) send out expatriates. It identifies three organizational functions of international transfers: position filling, management development and coordination and control. Based on an empirical study with results from 212 subsidiaries of MNCs from nine different home countries, located in 22 different host countries, it shows that the importance that is attached to these functions differs between subsidiaries in MNCs from different home countries, between subsidiaries in different host regions and in addition varies with the level of cultural difference. Sees position filling as most important for subsidiaries of US and British MNCs and in the Latin American and Far Eastern regions. It argues that these differences might have important consequences for expatriate management. It sees management development as most important for subsidiaries of German, Swiss and Dutch MNCs and as tending to occur more in Anglo-Sax on countries than in the Far East. Indeed, the internationalisation of almost all business is evident on the prevalence of MNCs/MNEs (Multinational Corporations/Multinational Enterprises). And so, as the business organisations become more active in the international arena, the need for human resource management becomes more crucial. But as one tends to venture into the international business, there are more problems and issues that need to be addressed. And so, the globalisation of business presents the managers and the organisations more challenges and difficulties especially in the field of human resource management. This has been confirmed by Clark et al. (1999) by stating that while there is an increasing number of organisations that seek to operate in foreign markets, there is also an increasing challenge for the international management of human resources. Among the key three challenges to international HRM are marginality, parochialism and ethnocentrism. With this, it is essential to develop a better understanding of, and sensitivity to, the impact of different national settings on the management task. 2.4 Significance of Human Resource Management The need for human resource management by business organisations, especially the major ones, is crucial to its success. In fact, this aspect cannot be eliminated by organisations if they are to ensure an effective and successful conduct of business. This is because human resource management serves as an organisational function that realises the goals of the company. With the effective management of human resources, the company is also effective in the conduct of its activities or the delivering of its business. And so, it can be said the human resource management is integral to the success of every business organisations. Jahn (1999) considers the humans as the greatest assets of the organisation. Because without the humans, organisations will not be able to complete the everyday functions such as cash flow management, dealing with customers, communicating through all forms of media as well as making business transactions. Indeed, it is the humans and their potentials that drive the organisation. The human resource management ensures that employees are able to meet the goals of the organisations. In other words, HRM maximises the productivity of an organisation through the process of optimising the effectiveness of its employees. And in spite of the ever-increasing pace of change in the business world, this mandate on HRM is unlikely to change in any fundamental way. According to Encyclopedia of Small Business (2002), the basic mission human resources will always be to acquire, develop, and retain talent; align the workforce with the business; and be an excellent contributor to the business. Furthermore, the managing of international employees by multinational and domestic organisations is perceived to be important in the changing landscape of the business environment. In fact, there has been a fundamental change in the global thinking, as evident in the actions, of the organisations. With this, human resource management is important in realising the need for organisations to remain innovative in what may be contracting and rationalising markets or even markets that are being shaken up by new entrants and new competitive behavior. Meanwhile, the initiatives which are aimed at improving the financial, temporal as well as functional flexibility are introduced in order to address the need to deliver the radical cost improvements. And with the increasing flexibility, there is also the desire of the firms to change their employee and their sense of involvement (Brewster, Harris and Sparrow, 2004). Today, the true worth of employees among business firms is more widely expressed through human resource management. The idea that human resources are the most important asset in achieving and sustained business success becomes the driving force behind the creation of human resource management resulting in organisations taking a strategic approach to the management of their people. Since this conceptual realisation, human resource management has become increasingly influential in the fashions and implementations of corporate strategy. A review of the origin guides us in providing an adequate definition of strategic HRM. Management development as defined by Bromley as follows: A conscious and systematic process to control the development of managerial resources in the organization for the achievement for goals and strategies (Molander,C. (1986) Management Development. Bromley: Chartwell-Bratt) The traditional concept of workforce or succession planning (forecasting vacancies and/or new knowledge, skills, and abilities, identifying/cultivating in-house and outside talent pools) is more important than ever in a fast paced environment. (Robert Kreitner., 2001). The idea Human Resource Management (HRM) came from the U.S. in the 1980s because the companies in USA were developed at that time, because of this, the models of Strategic HRM were emerging. The strategic HRM pays its attention to the manpower planning. It focuses on the effective management of people. It views people as a source of competitive advantage. HRM i s a strategic way of developing, motivating and gaining the potential of both the people and the external resources. The combination of a globalized workforce with massive mobility is compelling organizations to work with growing numbers of people from different cultures, with different customs, values, beliefs, and practices. This article describes some of the factors HR managers and company leadership must account for to create global people policies and practices that reflect the common culture of the organization, yet adapt to local realities and business needs. Cases drawn from the authors consulting work with multinational business not only describe specific challenges faced by those firms, but also highlight the broader trends that all global companies need to understand and manage. As multinational corporations become increasingly central to the world economy, the need to attract and retain executives to manage these corporations gains in importance. For the multinational executive, the traditional business functions of marketing, finance, production and personnel must be synthesized with u nfamiliar political, economic and sociocultural systems. These unique dimensions of the multinational executives job require a reward/compensation system that considers these diverse variables. Through a detailed literature review and discussions with specialists in the field, thirteen factors were identified as being unique to the multinational executives job: (1) size of the company, (2) number of expatriates abroad, (3) industry characteristics, (4) relative inflation, (5) relative living costs, (6) cultural differences, (7) currency fluctuations, (8) relative buying power, (9) difficulty with communication systems, (10) freedom to act enjoyed by the executive, (11) key strategic and financial measures for which the executive is responsible, (12) exposure to different legal systems, and (13) working under different political systems. These factors were then presented (via questionnaires) to samples of international line executives and human resource management executives, who wer e asked to rate the desirability of using these variables in a compensation program for international executives. The similarities and differences of opinions contained in their responses were analyzed, and reasons for the differences were studied and documented. Finally, using statistical techniques, the researcher developed a set of decision-making systems that incorporated many of the traditional and nontraditional variables developed earlier in the research. Customer satisfaction has become a very important aspect of business management in the high technology market. Companies that provide products and services worldwide often are concerned that customer satisfaction may be impacted by cultural differences. This study examines measures of customer satisfaction in areas around the world to determine whether or not there is a difference in satisfaction scores provided by Help Desks. A sample of more than 11579 surveys from three large international companies in the computer and me dical electronics areas was used. The statistical results at a 5% confidence level indicate there is a difference in customer perception in Help Desk support between that provided to US customers than that provided to Thailand customers. The results clearly indicate that companies need to understand these differences in order to optimize the use of their resources and to adjust their service offerings to respond to their different customer needs and expectations. A growing body of research has challenged the commonly accepted view that multinationals have evolved into globally integrated networks, demonstrating instead that such organizations are sites of conflict between competing rationalities emerging from distinctive national institutional contexts. However, this research has neglected professional service firms (PSFs) in spite of them often being held as exemplars of the integrated network model. This article redresses this imbalance by focusing, in particular, on how PSFs seek to coordinate the horizontal flow of their human resources as a mechanism of inter-unit knowledge sharing. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of individual factors on the transfer of human resource management (HRM) knowledge in Chinese subsidiaries of multinational corporations, and to explore the relationships between individual factors and introduce the concept of joint effect-integrated capability. Based on the notion that certain factors can affect knowledge transfer (KT), Cindy ¼Ã‹â€ 2008 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° examines the effect of four factors, i.e. cultural difference and adaptability, language and communication, working relationship, and motivation and willingness, on the transfer of HRM knowledge. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted between January and April 2004 and an exploratory data analysis was carried out with the assistance of Nvivo software. The study has found that Chinese HR managers have the ability of all four factors to fac ilitate the transfer of HRM knowledge. The findings further suggest that integrated capability-joint effect could be generated from the four factors and affect the transfer process jointly. When the capability is positive, it facilitates the transfer. Conversely, when the capability is negative, it impedes the transfer. The findings not only extend the understanding of the effect of single factor on KT, but also the interrelationship between individual factors, their joint effect-integrated capability and the transfer process. Existing research has concentrated on studying the effect of single factor on KT, knowledge management by and large. There is little research investigating the correlations between individual factors. He addresses this gap and introduces the concept of joint effect, integrated capability. So-called cross-culture human resource management, the enterprise is cross-cultural human resources management. Cross cultural enterprises, just as its name implies, it is to point to by from different cultural backgrounds and cross-cultural differences exist composed of staff. In cross-cultural in human resources management, enterprise or the company is due by the two countries or multinational companies in the host country composed of partnership and across the nation, the government and international business management of cross-cultural economic entity, so the cultural factors of influence multinational enterprise is comprehensive. Research method and methodology There are two research methods, that is ,qualitative and quantitative research methods. The former focuses on a descriptive method,the laster is to be gathered from the source are in descriptive form and thus may vary based on the source or the respondent. quantitative research method can be useful for the study if the focus is on driving towards a point or deriving a particular information based on the other information that were gathered. We try to combine both the qualitative and quantitative research method. 2.1qualitative and quantitative research While the research will be using statistical means for the interpretation of the data, descriptive assessment will also be combined to give the researcher more insight concerning the cultural adaptability of companies in the foreign market as well as issues regarding the human resource management of the corporations.so one of the most important approaches for this research is the semi structured interview which can provide abundant objective information and help me to gain insight into the related problems and phenomena. Interview can be more in-depth and can address more complex hypotheses and it is easier to obtain the appropriate respondent through interview (Alderman 2009). In order to explore the ideas behind related problems, both foreign managers and representatives of Chinese employees will be interviewed as I believe that comparison of ideas from both sides will help this research to generate more depth and objective view towards the research question. Moreover, the informat ion provides by Chinese employees could explore the idea of how Chinese employees view their foreign managers management methods, and that paves the way for further analysis. The interviewed will be conducted with both structured questionnaire and free talk. The aim of such a design is to collect basic required data for analysis and obtain any new ideas could possibly be given by interviewees at the same time as the interview goes on.Besides, through interview, other specific HRM practices could be explained in a detail way, issues such as recruitment, performance management, training, retention, etc. These information are essential for the research to deploy the analysis of HRM issue. Beside, with these data gained from the interview and the previous review of related literatures, a qualitative analysis could be achieved eventually.Another effective approach is email contact with key persons in the organization. Such approach is particular effective as the way of operating it is re latively easy and free. When the research proceeds, some new information may need to be acquired in order to help develop necessary analysis in different stage of the research. Through email contact, such information acquisition could be achieved in an effective way. Telephone interview could be more effective compared to email contact, however, considering that the topic of the conversation may not be that free as it involves different culture and ideas about other peoples behaviour and so on, therefore, telephone interview is not an appropriate approach for this research.In addition, one of the superior managers from headquarters who is in charge of the overall HRM within the whole group will also be contact through email. By doing so, a view on managing Chinese employees in the subsidiary from the parent company could be derived, which could help the research to achieve a more complete analysis towards the topic. Meanwhile, email contact could also be perceived as an effective wa y to prove the information gained from interview. Questions in the email will be designed differently according to the position and the role of the receiver within the company. 2.2Comparative research Comparative research focus is found the differences and similarities between different cultures, and then determine what theory is applied to all cultures, which is only applicable to a particular cultural background. This method is not the premise of so-called body culture, only different culture of the similarity is believed to be the universal phenomena. Most experts and scholars all previous is adopted the method of comparison research of cross-cultural management problems, because in the management of cross-cultural environment, you need to identify the differences between the different cultures, and only after comparing to identify. 2.3 Data Collection Design For the research strategy of this study, the fundamental idea is to make comparison of related literatures and empirical experiences provided by communicating with related employees in the case study, so that to obtain depth understanding of opinions explained by those related literatures and to explain the practical situation with more relative literature reviews, therefore, to achieve a more overall and practical research on this topic through such comparison.For the research design of this study, basically, this research will be conducted based on a case study of a multinational manufacturing company in China. Before that, relative literature review will be processed in order to generate more accurate analysis and ideas on the research question. The ultimate quality and success of research are often a reflection of the time and effort invested in developing research ideas and concepts, a stage of planning that includes becoming familiar with the literature (Congdon and Dunham 1999 ). Then, taking the advantage of the fact that I had been working for the company for almost 5 years and had built up good relationship with all related managers and other employees, I can easily get access to the company and get sufficient information as required for this research. Besides, the company is showing great interest of this research and would like to cooperate with my work since this research could somehow help them to improve the management of Chinese employees in some way. This research adopted the personal administered questionnaire. Clark et al, (1998) stated that the great advantage of the personally administered questionnaire is that the researcher has more control, can clarify or repeat any questions and can strengthen open-ended questions by allowing larger answers and asking supplementary questions. Through this process, new factors maybe identified and a deeper understanding of the

My Father and I :: essays research papers

Actually, all members of my family have the same important influence to my life. Each of them has a different way in making me be a grown-up girl like now. But since I was a little girl, the one who is close to me the most is my father. I am always proud of my father and our relationship. People often get jealous of our closeness, even my mother. I remember when I got the scholarship from one of the computer and internet courses in my city; it is an informal education institution, which obliged me to attend the class at night, whereas I go to school from morning till afternoon. He tried to warn me that it could be tiring for me, let alone, the place is quite far from my house. But at that time, seeing me really eager for that chance, he allowed me. Every night, he took me there and home without complaining although I realized he might be warn out after working all day. One night, he should attend a kind of meeting in the Church Organization. Actually, he was too tired to go. But when my mother said that God may bless me for my father’s kindness, he went. Since then, I swear to make my parents proud of me as their daughter. My father always supports his children in every good thing they interest in. He also did when I told him about my willing to study in Singapore. Although he seemed to be calm, I was sure he should be very surprised about that, because it will need much money. We both know he will hardly afford it for me. That is why I really attempt to get the scholarship. Getting that kind of rare faith as my father has on us, I always and will always do my best effort in everything he supports me in. Analyzing my own abilities and interests, I think Business is the most suitable subject for me.

Literature Review :: essays research papers

Evaluation of a Mental Health Treatment Court with Assertive Community Treatment 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This article studied the effect of Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) versus Treatment as Usual (TAU) on the life satisfaction ratings, psychological distress, level of functioning, substance use issues, and criminal activity of mentally ill residents of the Santa Barbara County Jail. The study administered four instruments to measure these variables. They used the Behavioral and Symptom Identification scale, the Lehman Quality of Life Scale, the Addiction Severity Index and the Global Assessment of Functioning to measure the effects of treatment. They also viewed arrest records to obtain criminal activity information. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A true experimental design was used. Participants who met the criteria for the study where randomly assigned to a control group, which received Treatment as Usual and a treatment group that was provided Assertive Community Treatment. Assessments were given at the start of the program, in six-month intervals, and then at the end of the program. This indicates a time trial type of method, but a pre-test and post-test were conducted. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Repeat offenders in the county jail who had been diagnosed with mental illnesses where the population studied. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The study indicated that inmates who received ACT and TAU both showed improvement in all areas studied. They found however, that participants in the ACT group reported higher levels of success in reducing drug problems and gaining independent living skills. This would help me in my profession, as I may be able to work in a jail and help repeat offenders become more independent and have fewer drug problems by providing them with Assertive Community Treatment. Effectiveness of Brief Counseling in Reducing HIV Risk Behavior in Injecting Drug Users†¦ 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This article studied the effect of Brief Counseling on the risk behavior of injection drug users entering heroin detoxification treatment. Participants were recruited based on counselor availability, were given a pre-test, randomly assigned to receive either a 50-minute counseling or a packet of educational brochures. A post-test was then administered after three months to see if the individuals had participated in less HIV risk behavior. HIV risk behavior was measured using a questionnaire at pretest and again at subsequent follow-up interviews. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This study was a true experimental design and used the pre-test/post-test format. The subjects were randomly assigned to two groups, given a treatment, and then post-tested. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As mentioned above, the population studied was heroin users entering a detoxification clinic in San Francisco. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The study did not find significant differences between those assigned to counseling or those who received educational brochures in the reduction of risk behavior.