Saturday, August 31, 2019

Supply Chain Management in Hospital

Pantai Hospital Ipoh (PHI), registered under Paloh Medical Centre Sdn. Bhd, was established in year 1996 owned by Pantai Group, part of IHH Healthcare Berhad; one of the most significant healthcare operators in the world that provide premium healthcare services in Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The hospital is strategically located in Ipoh and easily accessible within a 5 minutes drive from the North-South Highway Interchange and the Ipoh City Centre.Pantai Hospital Ipoh was started to serve the local communities of Ipoh, and has since grown to become one of the private premier healthcare providers in Perak, and the northern region of Malaysia. Pantai Hospital Ipoh started with just only 76 beds, and now has 180 beds and 82 consultant specialists, providing quality care and treatment aided by qualified nurses and other allied healthcare professionals.In partnership with various health insurers and corporate organizations, PHI has established itsel f as a preferred provider, allowing greater and easier access to its healthcare services, which extends beyond just a single hospital through the extensive network of more than 10 Pantai and Gleneagles Hospitals, all part of IHH Healthcare Berhad. Through the use of appropriate technology and skills, Pantai Hospital Ipoh is firm in its vision to be the trusted professionals of healthcare delivery, from prevention, detection to treatment and care, when it matters most.Apart from providing a wide range of modern facilities and the expertise of many consultant specialists, the hospital is staffed with warm and friendly personnel who are dedicated to give our customers the personalized attention and quality care they deserve. Central to its commitment towards quality healthcare, PHI strives to provide excellence in service and its future will be built on welcoming change innovation, today and tomorrow. In year 2005, Pantai Hospital Ipoh has successfully obtained ISO 9001:2008.The Hospit al continuously seeks to improve the organization’s performance and the outcome of cares. With this, PHI has started the adoption the best and safe practices for all the clinical and non-clinical areas which guided by Malaysia Society in Healthcare Quality. Since the inception of Pantai Hospital Ipoh in 1996, the hospital has increased tremendously the disciplinary medical and surgical specialties. Listings below are the specialties provided by Pantai Hospital currently: †¢ Anaesthesiology †¢ Cardiology †¢ Colorectal Surgery †¢ Cardiothoracic Anaethesiology Cardiothoracic Surgery †¢ Dental / Oral Surgery †¢ Dermatology †¢ Ear, Nose & Throat Surgery (ENT) †¢ Gastroenterology †¢ General Surgery †¢ Haematology †¢ Immunology †¢ Infertility †¢ Internal Medicine †¢ Nephrology †¢ Neurology †¢ Neurosurgery †¢ Orthopaedic Surgery †¢ Obstetrics and Gynaecology †¢ Ophthalmology †¢ Paediat rics †¢ Pain Management †¢ Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery †¢ Psychiatry †¢ Urology †¢ Rheumatology †¢ Respiratory †¢ Radiology To facilitate the services mentioned above, Pantai Hospital Ipoh has established the following facilities and services: a. 24hrs Accident & EmergencyTo provide 24-hour services for emergency as well as less urgent cases that uses a triage system to determine the severity of each case, to ensure that priority is given to patients with the most urgent medical need. b. Ambulance Services Our ambulance service provides transportation of patients throughout Malaysia with includes: †¢ 24-hour Prompt Emergency Response-Time †¢ Specialized transport services †¢ Inter-hospital / inter-clinic transfers †¢ Doctor / nurse escort to provide immediate in-ambulance care †¢ Ambulance pick-up for calls within Ipoh City c. Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation CentreThe centre offers a wide range of rehabilitation progr ammes to help patients to achieve functionality and mobility. Amongst the broad spectrum of services include preventive care, and the treatment as well as management of movement disorders arising form medical conditions and lifelong disabilities. d. Imaging Service Pantai Hospital Ipoh has a complete range of imaging services including Multi-slice CT Scanner, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), X-rays, ultrasound & doppler scans and mammography. The department operates 24 hours, serving in-patients, outpatients as well as patients referred from external healthcare providers. e.Dietetic Counselling PHI’s dietitian provide individualized programs and counseling for patients, based on the doctor’s recommendations and patient’s condition. The dietitian also ensure that all food served to patients are low in fat, salt and sugar and ultimately meet the specific nutritional requirement of individual patient’s medical conditions and the doctor’s diagnosis. f . Pharmacy Service The hospital’s pharmacy is open 24 hours, dispensing medications for both inpatients and outpatients. Pharmacy staff also offer Patient Counselling Service; to advice patients on the correct way of taking as well as storing their medications.This service also extended to bed-side counseling for inpatients. g. Pathology and Laboratory Services PHI’s pathology services are managed and provided by Pantai Premier Pathology Sdn Bhd, The lab offers a full range of laboratory services and tests that are performed by skilled and experience personnel with sophisticated equipments. Pathologists are available for clinical consultation on concerns related to appropriate test utilization, assistance in test result interpretation or any other concerns which may occur in the course of patient management. h. Diagnostic and Endoscopic CentreThe centre provides treadmill to perform Stress Test to facilitate cardiac assessment; nad machines for ECG and Echo Cardiograms as well as Carotid Duplex to assess arterial blockages. The centre also carries out Dobutamine Stress Echo as an alternative method for those patients whose condition makes them unsuitable to undergo a Stress Test but urgently need cardiac assessment and 24-hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring as well as Holter Monitoring which provides round-the-clock ECG monitoring especially for patients who complain of palpitations and/or sudden blackouts.The Endoscopic Centre facilitates varies type of scopes including gastroscopy, colonoscopy bronchoscopy, cystoscopy and ERCP. i. Brain and Nerve Centre The centre is equipped with machines which carry out the following procedures: †¢ Electroencephalogram (EEG) †¢ Nerve Conduction Study (NCS) †¢ Electromyogram (EMG) †¢ Visual Evoked Potential (VEP) Study †¢ Brain Auditory Evoked Potential (BAEP) Study j. Sleep Study Sleep Studies are conducted is a sleep laboratory; help doctor confirm certain sleep disorders. k. H aemodialysis CentreThe Putri Dialysis Centre is a well equipped centre that is designed to provide patients with a comfortable environment including waiting areas for accompanying family members, light refreshments and audio-video entertainment. l. Dental Services PHI has a well equipped dental clinic with a resident dentist and aided by visiting dental surgeons, who can undertake and perform complex dental procedures. m. Health and Wellness Centre It provides a wide range of premium screening programmes that will equip the customer with the knowledge and awareness to help to maintain optimum health. . Parking & Valet Service Pantai Hospital Ipoh offers complimentary parking services, further enhanced by a free Valet Service, which operates during the following hours: Monday to Friday- 7. 00am – 7. 00pm Saturday- 7. 00am – 5. 00pm Sunday- 9. 00am – 5. 00pm o. Concierge Service Complimentary concierge services are provided for patients who discharged from the hos pital, to help to transport their bags and belongings from their respective ward to the lobby, where Customer Care Assistant are at hand further assist the patient to alight their mode of transportation. . Financial Counselling Financial Counselling service was initiated to assist patients and their family members in managing the medical cost incurred from seeking treatment at Pantai Hospital Ipoh by offering cost estimation prior to procedure and assistance in getting financial aid from Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and relevant financial institution, should be arise. q. Other ServicesOther services that provide by Pantai Hospital Ipoh include; †¢ Hospital Cafetaria – certified halal providing a variety of local and international cuisine †¢ Bread Legend – offering wide choice of breads and buns †¢ Convimart – a mini convenience store selling magazines, snacks, drinks, gifts and fruit baskets. †¢ Natural Health Farm – Offering various health products that promote better health and longevity of human body, skin and hair. †¢ Ipoh Medical Supplies – offering a range of common medical supplies and equipment. †¢ Banking facilities – An ATM machine is strategically located at the hospital lobby. Internet Access – provides free WIFI access through-out the hospital for everyone Patient that require for inpatient treatment could be admitted through the Emergency Department or through Specialist Consultant or General Practitioner Clinic. Pantai Hospital Ipoh offers a range of room types, to cater individual needs and demands; however theses are subject to availability and if a particular room type is not available, option will be provided and efforts will be made to have the requested room type provided as soon as it is available. Below are the room rates which are subject to 6% Government Tax.Meals are complimentary to all patients. Room TypesRates Per Day (RM) †¢ Executive Del uxe Room330. 00 †¢ Deluxe Room250. 00 †¢ Single Room160. 00 †¢ Double-Bedded Room110. 00 †¢ Four-Bedded Room60. 00 †¢ ICU / CCU150. 00 †¢ Isolation Room 150. 00 †¢ Nursery25. 00 †¢ Day Case35. 00 †¢ Incubator 105. 00 Supply chain is the lifeblood of a healthcare organization. The supply chain process is the essential link for all programs and services offered by a hospital, and hence any improvement in managing the supply chain can positively impact bottom line profitability of any hospital’s operations.As most departments in Pantai Hospital Ipoh depend heavily on supplies, materials management can ease or cramp a hospital’s operations. From a low cost needle to a high-end orthopaedic implant, special instruments or pieces of linen, supplies are indispensable during a patient’s stay at the hospital. Quality care cannot be provided on time unless required material is available in adequate quantity. As such Pantai Hospi tal Ipoh, has established a purchasing department to centralize the purchasing all medical supplies, medical equipment and instrument, consumables, stationeries and toiletry within the hospital.The department not only to purchase but to perform price negotiation to ensure every item that purchased is the lowest price but of course without comprising the quality. Together with Store Department, Purchasing Department determines the minimum and maximum level for every single item for re-ordering purposes. To determine the minimum and maximum level, a few factors will be observed; the usage of them item / product, location of the supplier, the availability of the item / product in the market and delivery schedule.Thus, the purchasing needs to communicate with all the relevant departments and the supplier to ensure that is no shortage of all supplies and at the same time to ensure our store department is not holding too much stock. At our Pharmacy Department, the department also performe d the similar task as purchasing department but limited to pharmaceutical products. This is because pharmaceutical products need specialized person who is the pharmacist with the consultation of specialist consultants to understand the drugs usage and its complication.Pantai Hospital Ipoh not only subscribes to patented / original drugs but also generic drugs that provide the same effectiveness comparing to the original drugs but much lower in price. As generic drugs are less expensive, it could help to lower down the overall treatment cost that could enjoyed by the patient. The supply chain does not stop at the purchasing and pharmacy department. It is important that the purchased medical supplies and drugs are delivered to all the respective wards, clinics, operation theatre and other relevant departments to ensure no interruption of patient care.Hence, a supply chain system has been developed from early stage of sourcing and ordering to the patient consumption. As mentioned earli er, sourcing and ordering is done by purchasing and pharmacy department. Once the goods arrived to hospital, the respective store; general store and pharmacy store, will received their goods. The respective store will entered the stock into our Hospital Information System, and from there the stock will be arranged in the store systematically. The wards, departments and operation theatre will requisite their items based on their pre-set minimum and maximum level.For those high activities department for example operation theatre, they are allowed for three time requisition a week and as for less or average activities, will allowed to requisite their stock two times a week. As if any urgent requisition, store will allowed with valid reason. The receiving wards or departments will then store their stock in their respective store and label all stocks. The ward or department will consume the item(s) based on ‘first in first out (FIFO)’ method to ensure no there is no expiry p roducts. Ward and departmental clerk will ensure all the availability of the stocks is at a path level.At Pantai Hospital Ipoh, we also understand that supply chains may be more efficient and inexpensive by outsourcing of certain services. The main services that outsources are housekeeping. UMC Service Master, a well-known company in healthcare providing housekeeping services, has been appointed to manage housekeeping in the hospital. The programs offered by UMC Service Master has successfully provided measurable results by improving quality, containing costs, training and motivating employees and minimize risks. The company also takes over some of the nurses’ daily routine jobs for example bed making for inpatient and discharge patient.This enables the nurses to concentrate on the more critical matter which is patient care. Beside the purchasing, stock management and outsourcing, Pantai Hospital Ipoh also involved in a supply chain with international and local insurance comp anies and managed care organization or third party administrator. The insurance companies, managed care organization and third party administrator will signed a partnership agreement with the hospital to become panel hospital and to provide cashless healthcare facilities for their policyholders that are covered under their purchased policy.The treatment requested could be outpatient, daycase and/or inpatient depending on their policy terms and conditions. The process started when a patient requested for treatment; front office staff will request a guarantee letter (GL) from the respective insurance company, managed care organization or third party administrator by providing an initial medical report to them. The company will process the claim based on the initial report and if the case is covered, the company will issue the hospital a guarantee letter for payment.If the patient was admitted, hospital would to provide discharge summary and the total bill to the respective company for payment guarantee. Some companies do cover for the post-hospitalization up to 60 days of discharge. Our Marketing department also practices supply chain in their marketing activities. They has established a programme known as ‘Pantai Putri Member of Affiliation Program (PPMAP)’ to recruit general practitioner (GP) in Perak region to become part of PPMAP member.The objective is to obtain referral of patients to the hospital from the GPs, as Pantai Hospital Ipoh understands that GPs could be a good source of generating business. In return of the referral, Pantai Hospital will support their clinic by providing them on-going education and promoting their clinic by recommending to the local public and during any road show organized by Hospital Pantai Ipoh. This will generates a strong back to back support and mutually benefited.For the past few years, there was a lot of development and improvement taken place in Pantai Hospital in related with supply chain management but th e hospital is still facing challenges in managing the effectiveness of supply chain system. The challenges can be classified at below: a. Lack of Product Management b. Limited Sourcing and Services c. Outdated IT systems d. Lack of Inventory and Distribution Management Lack of Product Management First, the hospital could categorize the products in terms of cost, criticality and other criteria.For instance, bed linen may be less critical and represent a low cost to the hospital; paracetamol may be urgently required but inexpensive; while specialist cancer drugs may be both urgent and costly. This product categorization will dictate supply chain design. For example, drugs and medical equipment might be ordered directly from the manufacturers’ own stock, often at short notice and in unpredictable quantities, requiring storage relatively nearby. Medical supplies, on the other hand, will be subject to a more regular supply chain, providing greater flexibility in responding to emer gencies.Secondly, hospital and specialist doctor should work under one vision and direction in providing the best service at a reasonable cost. In heealthcare industry, we understand specialist consultants are independent contractors with considerable clout and specific preferences for supplies and some variations in supplies and processes are accommodated to ensure patient safety. These Preference Items accountable for more than 50% of total medical supply spending in PHI. This provide an opportunity for supply chain savings in the area of physician buy-in especially with respect to changes in purchase and use of high-cost clinical items.It is commonly perceived that physicians are resistant to change. He points to the fact that data which supports the decision to use a particular supply can go a long way in convincing a physician to use a particular supply. PHI could establish a product evaluation and review committees which consist of clinical experts, purchasing and finance pers onnel to overcome the problem. The purpose of the committee is to decide to purchase and universally adopt cost-effective items for use within all hospitals and the decision making is by team consensus.The finance and purchasing personnel could educate the clinical experts on the financial impact of various supplier options. Therefore, the use of consensus, instead of majority rule, in the decision making process minimizes any postsourcing disagreement and results in the high compliance rate and buy-ins from all physicians. This will helps purchasing to further negotiate and obtain lower price from the supplier as the hospital is now buying exclusively from the supplier only with bigger quantity.Thirdly, in PHI product cost assessment, hospital must evaluate the ‘total cost’ rather than just ‘unit product cost’ in determining the types of products to purchase. The cost of a product is evaluated from the types of raw materials used for the product and how th is will impact the disposal cost associated with the product. For example, the use of analog X-Ray equipment may have a lower unit cost initially, but the tool utilizes X-ray film that contained mercury, may result in a significant disposal fee which needs to be calculated in the total cost.Hence, hospital should to considering total cost has resulted in significant cost savings. Sourcing and Services Effective management of the external supply chain typically covers every facet of procurement activity – such as supplier selection, contract negotiation, planning and implementation, distribution and delivery – while taking factors such as risk, reward into account. There are 9 Pantai Hospital and 2 Gleneagles Hospital in whole Malaysia, as such Centralize Group Purchasing is possible.Centralize Group Purchasing have provided significant cost saving opportunities for hospitals by taking advantage of economies of scale in purchasing from select vendors for many hospitals at once. Cost saving includes better contract terms, price reduction, rebates and overhead costs. Purchasing Systems and Technology Pantai Hospital Ipoh has an outdated Hospital Information System (HIS) to manage their supply chains, known as Procare. These outdated data management systems do not have the capacity to meet the changes and needs today.The challenge faced by PHI is how to seamlessly transition the wealth of data without disrupting the existing purchasing system and inter-departmental integration. One identified area in supply chain structure that PHI could further improve on is in the area of purchasing systems and technology. PHI can explore new technologies and leverage on what has been successfully done in other Pantai hospitals to enable staffs to access faster, more valuable and easier access to necessary supply information when ordering.At time hospital spend significant resources to reconcile purchase orders and invoices due to mismatched item numbers and units of measure. Another challenge that PHI faces is in identifying personnel capable of understanding the old technology used by the existing IT systems to effectively move it to a newer platform. Although this is not a unique problem faced by PHI, there is no industry standard that can easily help provide a cost- and time-effective solution.Hence, the technology upgrade for PHI’s purchasing system remains an area to be addressed and recognized by the management. Once improved, the flexibility of the system will allow KP a more detailed view of its purchasing process and use of products, which will in turn provide better insight into creating a more effective cost structure. Inventory and Distribution Management It is critical for PHI to maintain a sufficient level of inventory at all times to ensure the needs of patients are always met. Failure to do so could result in the loss of life.In a hospital, managing its inventory is not easy as there are thousands of inventories, both medical and non-medical products. The distribution mechanism is also very important to ensure the product(s) is delivered to the end user in the hospital. PHI’s general store often mismanaged of the inventories, the current inventory system is ineffective and inefficient. The challenge that PHI is facing is that the management is unable to provide a sufficient storage and no proper and experience staff to head and managed the store.To overcome the issue, first PHI need to engage an experience staff who has know about inventory management and to review and examine the overall existing available storage space to maximize the current storage with the assistance of shelf, cabinet or compactor. Secondary storage could be developed to separate the medical and non-medical items. PHI could incorporate radio frequency identification technology (RFID) into its inventory management system. RFID systems have a broad range of potential benefits for the health care industry.These include m edical device and asset tracking, improved visibility of inventory and supply chain management, and improved patient safety by preventing drug counterfeiting. In our current distribution, the store depend on the departmental clerk to requisite their stock. As mentioned early, some departments / patient care units replenish their stock 3-times a week but some are only 2-times a week. Especially, the patient care unit, inventory management for them is a hassle as they are focusing on patient care. At time, the unit forgot to replenish their stock; patient care was affected due to unavailability of the product.This challenge often faced by the medical staff. The distribution system should be improved to be more effective to prevent and to solve the issue. The general store could establish a system whereby there will be person in the store to monitor the availability of the stock via our Hospital Information System – Procare and since minimum and maximum ordering has already been fixed, the general store staff could deliver the stock(s) which is under path level to the respective patient care unit. The store would have better control of overall inventory and distribution and improvement activities could be carried out more efficient and effective.A good inventory management programme is always patient-centred. While inventory is concerned with financial issues, hospitals are in the business of serving patients. Although technology has an important role to play, the emphasis should be on using it in a way that makes a difference to the quality of patient care. Automating inefficient processes may not yield any productive result. Processes should be reengineered to make them more patient-friendly. Cost-effectiveness, time consciousness and safety are key drivers of a patient-centered approach.Once this goal is clear, technology can support and drive the efforts towards realizing efficiencies and improving the quality of health care services. Reference: 1. Pan tai Hospital Ipoh’s company profile (K. K. L. I. U. No. (0320/2012/C) 2. Asian Hospital & Healthcare Management – article on Materials Management in Healthcare ‘A patient-centred approach’ 3. Supply Chain Management in Hospital: A Case Study by Samuel Toba, Mary Tomasini, Y. Helio Yang, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA – published in California Journal of Operations Management, Volume 6, Number 1, February 2008

Friday, August 30, 2019

Hyten Corporation Essay

Abstract: The structure of this assignment is such that the questions are not just answered directly but that there is a discussion of general premises by the author prior to confronting the complexities of systems re-engineering. The reader is given a few short philosophical insights into the author’s assumption in the â€Å"preferred method† of such organisational change. It is the focus of this assignment to impart how the organisational change will lead to the organisations culture changing. In the second question which is what is to be done to solve the problems and priority I have referred to the problem statements in the first question per number in the first question and then rated them in priority. The author has chosen this method of answering for the sake of continuity and ease of reading. General Discussion:Prior to answering the questions posed in this case study the point of departure will be discussed. Change is ongoing in any organisation and this is to be a managed process. The need for change should be clarified and has to be analysed, the new goal clearly laid out, the change effected and then the whole change measured against the goals initially stated. Then one can see if a new change or further change is necessary. These processes are laid out in Dr. E. Goldratt’s book the Critical Chain as The Theory of constraints. Harvard Professor J.Cotter outlines 8 steps to bridge the change gap. These steps as shown in the following illustration bridge the gap between the current state and the desired state. As in Cotters first step the managers of the company under discussion in the case study are indeed ready to be convinced that current methods are not working effectively and efficiently. The critical mass has been achieved within HYTEN to effect the necessary change. Within HYTEN the emphasis in leading the change should be on the premise that  humans have natural in born strengths and will execute and implement things in a fashion that allows them to express this natural style. The best that managers can do is to take cognisance of this strength and play on those strengths in the individual. To take this assumption a step further in proposing the hypothesis that certain environments and cultural backgrounds assist individuals to develop certain skills. HYTEN has already shown the ability in its past to adapt to changing macro economic climate when it re-tooled and changed production after the first Gulf war. This was very successful in the longer term. This is a positive indication that human resources will change without too much disruption to productivityQuestion 1:Problems1.The company uses an informal project management model and the manner in which new projects are tackled is not as orderly as it could be. (In the complex environment of tight schedules and multi-disciplinary teams the carefully documented and well managed project will mean that ambiguities and duplications will be greatly reduced. The project manager must provided the adhesive force for this team.)†¢This is an architectural problem2.The company has been very successful and managers have been promoted swiftly hence, this relatively young company grew up around the managers. (This has had a positive effect in as much as the managers have become senior manag ers relatively quickly but has also meant that the managers have become complacent and secure in their environment. There also has been no introduction of new blood into the senior management and thus this inbreeding has the effect that cross-pollination with other companies is not happening.)†¢This is a behavioural problem3.The managers for their part are relatively well educated but seem to have become complacent, they have stagnated and failed to study further and thus have not been exposed to some of the newer methods of business structuring/management. The focus of these managers seems to be on technology. (The focus on technology for technology’s sake is not a good thing. In this type of industry it is understandable that managers get caught up in the core function of the business. But the managers can not neglect studies in other fields or fail to focus on neglected areas)†¢This is a behavioural problem4.The business development unit is seemingly ineffectual. The comment that they appear to  be fixing the areas which are not broken seems indicative of the errors they are making. (The business development unit is seemingly not focusing on their core function and is neglecting key performance areas. They are not promoting the efficient running of projects and internal policies. In fact they are having the worst possible effect on the company image by making promises that are unachievable and unrealistic.)†¢This is a behavioural problem5.†The customer has little control over funding, manpower or work done.† This on its own is an over sight as the customer is king. He is the sponsor and as such should demand that the resources and work should follow the projects need as both resource demand and funding are provided by him. This will mean that the production will be a push type and not a pull type.(No further comment or explanation needed here) This is a behavioural problem (Perhaps stemming from the fact that HYTEN was used to â€Å"bit work† for the military.)6.Marketing and sales do not have a say as to what projects will fly and what won’t. (This seems strange as these are the very persons that have front line contact with customers and potential customers and they may see the demand for a particular product.) †¢This is both an architectural and a behavioural problem7.The fact that the authority, role and function of the business development department has gradually expanded means that there are no clear definitions or mandates given to these important project managers. That a charter has not been set up is an indication that senior managers lack the will to tackle functional managers. †¢This is an architectural problem8.No design freeze on products. (This can be very trying for production)†¢This will cause operational problems but the cause is behavioural9.Production items not 100% are being reworked and there seem to be many no-go products being reworked to the determent of products in the system for the first time. (Dr. E Goldratt’s Theory of constraints)†¢This is an operational problem10.There seems to be a big emphasis on the project manager being technically competent and having intrinsic knowledge of technical detail. The other characteristics that are high on the agenda are work assessments of individuals taking part in the project. †¢This is a behavioural problem11.The HR manager is very concerned that the  performance of individuals is correctly captured between the functional manager and the project manager. Sometimes a manager can get a gut feeling about an employee and not be able to document the actual capacity of that individual fully. †¢This is an architectural problem12.The cited problem of an employee at another company not gettting an increase in line with work carried out or that this employee was functioning at a higher level than for which he was employed initially are smoke screens for a basically unsound opportunity and promotion policy at that company and can be avoided by installing proper policies. (Dearth of promotion and training policies) (Quite poignant that the one vocalising these words is the very person who should have the answers. )†¢This is a behavioural problem13.Harold Grimes the plant manager vocalises that internal personnel should be promote to the position of project manager for this new big project as they will have insider knowledge, this is not an on going item like production and as such is a once off situation. His assertions may lead to great unhappiness of the individual placed in such positions. †¢This is not a problem yet as this has not happened but predictions are that this will become a problem in a few years time should this course of action be followed. 14.Herman Hall the I.S. Manager thinks only in terms of what computer package is needed for reporting.( The throwing of software solutions at system problems is very common as the managers attempt to avoid real issues and substitute/relegate control to software.)†¢This is a behavioural problem15.The adaptability of the IS department is very poor as they don’t even consider â€Å"of the shelf solutions† or outsourcing assistance. †¢This is a behavioural problem16.Bub Gustwell Scheduling director for all his good sentiments sees the project management way of managing purely as a vehicle to better schedules. †¢This is a behavioural problemSummaryThe tally of current problems is 15 (One  is a potential future problem) this is not the full tally of all the problems or permutations of problems but the major problems have been highlighted. The score is as follows:Behavioural problems10 1/2Architectural problems 3  ½Operational problems1As is evident from the graphic above the overwhelming problems of HYTEN are behavioural. Having said this the corporation is very successful in a competitive environment. The number of changes are relatively few if one considers the size and extent of the organisation. Question 21-The company not formalising the project management approach is one of the root causes for many of the other ailments, this needs to be addressed as follows:†¢Project charter established for each project†¢Standing of both project managers and functional managers to be clearly laid out†¢All staff working on projects should be briefed on the role that they are to play and duration of their service on that project†¢An exit strategy defined up fount2-The successes of the company and the long serving senior managers: Remedial action to the stagnation of the senior managers could be as follows:†¢Training of existing managers in up-to-date business methods †¢The implementation of a succession policy†¢The introduction of some new managers from other companies†¢Employment of consultants/specialists to re-engineer the corporation3-The failure of managers to keep up to date with studies: This was given a passing mention in bullet point 2†¢Studies in relevant fields other than technology could be arranged by the corporation†¢ Workshops on emergent business methods should be held†¢Subscriptions to relevant business and technology periodicals should be procured for all senior managers and a rotational roster of such periodicals for more junior manages and staff. †¢Establishment of a news server in house where matters can be discussed e.g. troubleshooting, innovations etc.. 4-Ineffectual business unit:†¢The whole business unit needs to scrutinised as to function, this may be outsourced†¢This unit needs to revert to the core function as it has drifted5-The control that customer has over funding and  resources: This needs evaluation and through consultation with stake holders a new level of customer involvement can be reached. The recommendation is that a customer evaluation program be started and that the areas indicated by the customer as high priority be addressed. Not to pre-empt such a program the corporation needs to open communications channels with the client and actively market a positive image to off set the negative one. 6-Marketing and sales not having a say: This ties in with bullet 5 and the marketing and sales should be found to be repeating what the customer is saying. It is not so much a matter that the sales or marketing is not being hear but that the customer is not been heard. Once the customer evaluation of the company is complete the results must be implemented. There after the evaluation forms should be issued with each customer transaction. 7-Expansion of the business development unit:†¢This matter was touched on in bullet 4 with a recommendation that this function be outsourced once it is clearly defined within the corporate structure†¢The right sizing of this department is a second option to outsourcing†¢The outsourced business development unit should be given measurable objectives and clear brief8-Design freeze of products: The fact that there are constant changes in design is a clear indicator that the customer and stake holders are not involved and are not articulating their needs †¢Once better lines of communication have been established with stakeholders design will be reached by consensus, expensive re-tooling for design change will be greatly reduced9-Rework of unsatisfactory items:†¢This can be reduced by continuous quality control. In other words the point of manufacture must be the quality controller thus work pieces would not have to counter-flow to the production line and rework would be immediate†¢Dr. E. Goldratt proposed the critical chain theory where the weakest segment of the chain is targeted and improved this is then repeated till the system is running optimally10-The emphasis on the technically competent project manager: This is just plane nonsense as the team is made up of multi-disciplinary specialists. The only step needed here is to clarify this in the project charter. 11-Concern that staff are to be graded by two managers: On the whole a poor  employee will be seen as such by both managers. The converse being true as well. Having stated this it should be easy enough for each manager to rate the employee and an aggregate be awarded between the two managers on the Key performance areas and the various related weighting for those areas12- Employees not getting equitable increases between plants:†¢This is as described in bullet 11 – The job evaluations and job weighting systems must be overhauled then the system of KPS and weighing need to be put into practice to assess which team is the most productive. It is flawed to award employees differing increases within a work unit. Best practice is the fixed bonus system were there is no separation between rank or individual13-The promotion of only internal staff due to insider knowledge: This is not a problem as yet but may become a problem in future as it may cause a situation of inbreeding. This situation can be remedied easy by correcting the perception early14-The computer package which is the universal panacea:†¢This is yet again a perception that must be corrected early. As any package must follow the real world model and as such the real world model must work first. †¢The systems approach is governed by policies and methods these must be implemented fully and not be sitting on a disused shelf. 15-The adaptability of the IS department:†¢The IS department must be told to evaluate off-the-shelf solutions before considering other alternatives†¢The IS department must ensure that options for roll out of new solutions consider the possibility of out-sourcing16-The perception of persons that project management is only schedules:†¢The only way to change this perception is through educationPrioritization of remedial action and problemsThe first priority is to change the current state of the senior manager studies, once these key persons change their outlook and approach bullet point 3, 2, 5, 6 and 16 will be resolved. The education of managers to a new business approach can not be under stated as they will see the need for customer involvement and even community involvement, the balanced score card will become an intrigue business tool. The changing of the business culture will be then a natural and easy process. The managers will be secure in their positions and will not feel threatened by the change, in fact they will see  the rewards and start to implement the change from within. Second priority is formalisation and implementation of the various company policies which impact on the individuals and structures within the corporation. This must be done in conjunction with the shared vision of HYTEN corp. and thus the corporate strategy will be defined in the process. These are the policies which affect:1-Staffing pay progression and bonuses2-Formalisation and introduction of project management and project charters3-The scope and powers of the business unitsThe systems approach to the documentation and formalisation of the policies and strategic goals will remediate the ills in bullet points 1, 4, 11, 12 and 14Third priority is the resolution of the functional issues such as reworked items, design freeze and others. These issues are of minor concern in relation to the other items which cut right to the core of the problems. The bullet points 8 and 9 are addressed in this priority. The remaining bullet points not dealt with are not preserved to be priority issues but never the less should be dealt with as a matter of course in the manner laid out in the bullet points above. Some are misconceptions others are a lack of insight thus need to be quickly remedied. 4-ConclusionThe over view of this company is that it is in good condition currently but will not stay in that shape if it doesn’t continue to evolve. Many of the points raised as problems are inter-related; this is highlighted throughout the bulleted points. Intervention in some areas will have to be great will in others it is minimal. The one overarching factor needing change is the ongoing education of senior managers. This company is ripe for change and has many eager young individuals who need development. The Policies are basically sound but need to be revisited both for updating content and implementation. If the changes are implemented HYTEN Corp. will go from strength to strength. Bibliography: †¢15th March 2006, The Eight-stage Management Process of Major Changehttp://www.freequality.org/sites/www_freequality_org/Documents/knowledge/ManageChange_MiniTutorial_MT%20_2_.pdf. †¢Program Managing Organizational Transformation, Change and Performance Improvement. Prof. Pieter Steyn and Erik Schmikl†¢The Critical Chain, Dr. E. Goldratt 2nd edition

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Time Management and Punctuality

THE IMPORTANCE OF PUNCUALITY punctuality is the habit of doing things exactly on time. a punctual person will be a winner wherever he or she goes. a punctual person is always one step ahead of everyone else. most people live by planning work and work plan. But if you do not stick to your word how are you to become a better person in life? Punctuality is essential for man or woman in every walk of life. for a soldier to be punctual it takes discipline and is also a great blessing. If you are punctual you will get enough time to do your work according to your plan. n combat punctuality can make all the difference between you bringing your brothers back dead or alive. Punctuality is inevitable everywhere. in business also this is very important. if you want, if you want to be a very successful businessman, you have to be very particular in being the up most punctual. the failure to keep up an engagement punctually may mean a setback for his business. if you continue to have a lack of pu nctuality it will result in complete failure in everything you do. A few major reasons are; if someone is late for a patrol or convoy that patrol might have to leave without that person. t will make that person you are relieving stay at work longer then they are supposed to, tired, sluggish for that fact. giving a high chance that whatever work that person does will be sub par and may not reach standards because of lack of sleep. punctuality also shows your chain of command that you are serious about your job and are ready and motivated to do said job to the best of your ability. some cultures have an unspoken understanding that actual deadlines are different from stated deadlines; for ex, it may be understood in a particular culture that people will turn up an hour later than the actual deadline . n this case, since everyone understands that a 1700 meeting will actually start around 1800. no one is inconvenienced when everyone turns up at 1800. what is punctuality? punctuality is t he habit of doing things exactly on time. a punctual person never faces any difficulty so far as time is concerned. you command respect and admiration of all who work with you and are an asset. everybody likes to work with you and think you have wonderful work ethic. on the contrary an unpunctual man sees himself in areas as day and are gradually filled with despair. he generally causes inconvenience to others. punctuality is the habit of being on time he rubble of being punctual is that there is nobody there to appreciate it. observing punctuality is not only a duty but is apart of good manners it is favorable to fortune reputation influence and usefulness, a little attention and energy will form the habit. so as to make it easy and delightful. punctuality is the soul business. Another example of punctuality is one of the cardinal business virtues, always insist on it in your subordinates. lack of punctuality is a theft of someone else’s time weather as an employee who is la te for work is late for work or as friends, where we have agreed to meet at a set time. f i had made a appointment with anybody, i owe him punctuality, i have no right to throw away your time as a NCO. if i do my own, unfaithfulness in the keeping of an appointment is an act of clear dishonesty. you may as well borrow a person's money as his time. lack of punctuality is a lack of respect for others. The best laid plans, the most important affairs, the fortunes of individuals, the weal of nations, honor, life itself, are daily sacrificed because somebody is behind time , there are others who put of responsibilities year after year until death takes them. f there is one virtue that should be cultivated more than another by him who would succeed in life, it is punctuality. I believe being punctual is being on time. it really is quite simple. plan to be early, and start out early. plan to arrive 15mins prior to the scheduled time, you will be on time if you always show up a quarter of a n hour before your scheduled time says then you are never wrong and that is why over this past weekend i had woken up 30 minutes prior to inform you of my check in. There is no doubt that i think failing to wake up on time shows my lack of punctuality, discipline, motivation and I will fix it.I understand the reasoning behind the 15 minutes prior rule. Non-Commissioned officers may require that time to get an assessment of their troops, and give a briefing and ensure that all personnel are present. A soldier who does not meet his timeline diminishes the teams ability to affectively accomplish the task at hand, whether it be pmcs the vehicles down at the motor pool or something as simple as area beautification. If a solder does not arrive on time he can be reported as a failure to report (FTR) and miss any necessary instructions.Then the soldier will have to be disciplined by his noncommissioned officer, which further reduces the manpower in which it would take to accomplish the days task, in a field environment, the combat effectiveness of the unrelieved guard is also reduced due to fatigue, anger, hunger, or any other plethora of reasons. puncuality is the habit of doing thinsgs exactly on time. a punctual person will be a winner wherever he or she goes. a punctual person is always one step ahead of everyone els. most people live by planning work and work plan.But if you do not stickto your word how are you to become a better person in life? Punctuality is essential for man or woman in every walk of life. for a soldier to be punctual it takes discapline and is also a great blessing. If you are punctual you will get enough time to do your work according to your plan. in combat punctuality can make all the difference between you bringing your brothers back dead or alive. Punctuality is inevitable everywhere. in business aslo this is very important. if you want, if you want to be a very successful businessman, you have to be very particular in being the up most punctual. he failure to keep up an engagement punctually may mean a setback for his business. if you continue to have a lack of punctuality it will result in complete failure in evrything you do. A few major reasons are; if someone is late for a patrol or convoy that patrol might have to leave without that person. it will make that person you are releaving stay at work longer then they are supposed to, tired, sluggishfor that fact. giving a high chance that whatever work that person does will be sub par and may not reach standards because of lack of sleep. unctuality also shows your chain of command that you are serious about your job and are ready and motivated to do said job to the best of your ability. some cultures have an unspoken understandingthat actual deadlines are different from stated deadlines; for ex, it may be understood in a particular culture that people will turn up an hour later than the actual deadline . in this case, since everyone understands that a 1700 meeting will actually startaround 1800. noone is inconvenienced when when everyone turns up at 1800. what is puncuality? unctuality is the habit of doing things exactly on time. a punctual person never faces any difficulty so far as time is concerned. you command respect and admiration of allwho work with you and are an asset. everybody likes to work with you and think you have wonderful work ethic. on the contrary an unpunctual man sees himself in areas as day and are gradually filled with dispair. he generally causes inconvenience to others. puncuality is the habbit of being on time the trubble of being punctual is that there is nobody there to appreciate it. bserving punctuality is not only a dutty but is apart of good manners it is favorable to fortune reputation influence and usfulness, a little attention and energy will form the habbit. so as to make it easy and delightful. puncuality is the soul business. Another exaple of puncuality is one of the cardinal busineess virtues, always insist on it in your subordinates. lack of puncuality is a theft of someone elses time wether as an employee who is late for work is late for work or as friends, where we have agreed to meet at a set time. f i had made a appointment with anybody, i owe him puncuality, i have no right to throw away your time as a NCO. if i do my own, unfaithfulness in the keeping of an appointment is an act of clear dishonesty. you may as well borrow a person's money as his time. lack of punctuality is a lack of respect for others. The best laid plans, the most important affairs, the fortunes of individuals, the weal of nations, honor, life itself, are dailysacrificed because somebody is behindtim. there areothers who put of responsibilities year after year untill death takes them. f there there is one virtue that should be cultivated more than another by him who would succeed in life, it is punctuality. I believe being punctual is being on time. it really is quite simple. plan to be early, and start out early. plan to arrive 15mins prior to the scheduled time, you will be on time if you always show up a quarter of an hour befor your scheduled time says then you are never wrong and that is why over this past weekend i had woken up 30 mins prior to inform you of my check in.There is no doubt that i think failing to wake up on time shows my lack of punctuality, discapline, motivationall be avoided by the soldier just arriving at the right place at the right time in the correct uniform. So as a soldier in the eighty second airborne division I plan to correct my actions accordingly. I will start with arriving thirty minutes prior instead of the original fifteen minutes prior all of this week in order to give myself the self-discipline I believe I need in order to be a good soldier Related article: 7.3 Time Management – Work File

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Obama Healthcare plan vs. Clinton Healthcare plan Essay

Obama Healthcare plan vs. Clinton Healthcare plan - Essay Example Since Hillary has no mechanism for enforcing the individual mandate she proposes, Obama regards the mandate as a bluff. John Edwards, whose plan includes mechanism for enforcing the individual mandate that he has proposed, supported Obama’s criticism of Hillary and Hillary’s criticism of Obama. In the Edward’s proposal, proof of insurance will be required when income taxes are paid and when health care is provided. Thus, Americans will be compelled to buy health insurance. The Edward’s plans make provision for families without insurance and those that lose coverage. The former will be enrolled in plans such as Medicare and Medicaid while the later will be enrolled in other plans. The issue is not enrolling people in private health care plan but getting people to participate in the plan. Thus, the Obama plan makes perfect sense given that it resist individual mandate, which may be unattractive to a large number of people and may not easily be enforced. The President’s Medicare Plan: A Trojan Horse to Ration Health Care? Medicare, with $30.8 trillion in long term unfunded obligations, could cease to exist if the runaway cost is not reined in. The problem is how Medicare cost should be controlled. Two options are available: changing the structure and culture of Medicare through empowering patients to make health care decisions that lead to best results, in addition to forcing plans and providers to compete for the money; and top-down bureaucratic control of the cost of health care services. Of course, these options will reduce the cost but will simultaneously reduce the quality of health care. The first option, which was taken by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, has been described to give Medicare patients control over cost of services and freedom to choose how they access these services. The result according to Heritage’s Robert Moffit and James Capretta is value in return for the dollars. President Obama opted for th e second option: tightening the top-down bureaucracy and reducing Medicare payment to doctors and hospitals, in addition to reducing providers’ reimbursement rates. This option leads to reduced senior access to doctors. Under the second option, the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) will be strengthened to rein in cost of Medicare while improving the quality of care. The White House planned to equip IPAB to promote prevention without shifting cost to seniors. Though reducing doctors’ salaries will reduce Medicare cost as envisioned by the second option, according to British Physician Anthony Daniels strengthening IPAB to focus on prevention will be unsuccessful at addressing the fiscal problem The fact that Congress continues to delay in reducing doctors salaries suggests that the second option is not politically attractive. Pursuing health care reforms that put bureaucrats in charges will reduce patient access to care. The second option should be repealed to av oid such outcome. Will Obama’s health care plan mirror the 1994 Clinton failure? Former President Bill Clinton key policy plan in 1994 was a

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Buddy Holly Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Buddy Holly - Research Paper Example It was his family who encouraged his early musical gifts, and he was able to learn playing the fiddle and the piano from a tender age, even as his older siblings taught him how to play the guitar. The family had a business in tiles, while the parents were tailors, but they all let Buddy Holly develop his musical gifts in small and big ways, providng much moral support. Then after secondary school, he formed a band, out of which he further developed his talents, until that fateful event in 1955 when he fronted for Elvis Presley who was touring through their town, and was shortly after signed to a recodring contract by an agent who saw him perform. His early work with the Crickets in 1956 and 1957 paved the way for a career as a solo artist, in 1958, but that career would prove shortlived, as he was killed in a plane crash just a year after. His most famous songs, as reflected in their landing in the Top 40, would come from his work with the Crickets before 1958, notably ‘That Wi ll Be the Day’ recorded in 1957. In all, seven songs from the Cricket era landed in the American Top 40 from that time that Holly spent as the lead of the Crickets. Without that fateful plnba crash shortening the brilliant career of Holly, he would have been in his seventies by now, and would have left as big an imprint as the other greats of rock and roll who have come after him, and who have all cited his work as instrumental in shaping the course of their own music and of rock and roll in general. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Maria Elena Santiago holds the intellectual property rights to the work of Buddy Holly and all artifacts associated with the estate, and this is due to the fact that Santiago had become Holly’s wife in 1958. It was on their first date that Holly proposed marriage, and though the widow would suffer a miscarriage, the consummation of their marriage occurred just a few

South africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

South africa - Essay Example The companies’ efforts were however met with government’s counter strategies to maintain the practice of apartheid. Caltex, owned jointly by Texaco and SoCal is one example of foreign company operating in South Africa whose shareholders on many occasions tried hard to pass resolutions that were anti apartheid. This paper seeks to highlight Caltex, its conception in the South African market, its operations and how it affected the growth or downfall of the practice of apartheid. First we consider whether the entry of Caltex in South Africa empowered apartheid. Whether or not the utilitarian benefits of Caltex’s operations stood above the moral rights and justice violations that its presence seemed to propagate. In 1975 Caltex sought to expand its investment in South Africa. The expansion could cost $135 million, increase south Africa’s refining capacity by 11% and it promised a return on interest of about 20% i.e. approximately $27 million annually. In essence, a Return on Interest of $27 million annually, had a strong utilitarian benefit. After all Caltex is a profit making company and profit making is the major focus. However, this expansion would consequently strengthen the economy of the very government that was steadfast at maintaining apartheid as its legal policy. A strong economy meant a strong government and thus widespread apartheid. The commitment that Caltex later showed to the plight of their black employees is another utilitarian benefit that requires consideration. They moved 40% of their black workers to refinery jobs initially held by whites and they moved a total of 29 to the topmost four of the white collar and skilled job categories. Even though most blacks remained in the lower job categories, Caltex had at least shown their commitment to eradicating apartheid. The utilitarian benefits of Caltex presenting better working conditions

Monday, August 26, 2019

Leadership and Business Improvement Research Paper

Leadership and Business Improvement - Research Paper Example Leaders form an environment where people feel free to voice dissent. Leaders do this through actions. A leader does not fire people as they goofed, and in fact support dissent. Leaders have to reward people for differing, to reward modernism, and to ensure failure. Leaders link all these with forming a trusting atmosphere but most of the trust comes not from a fastidious technique, but from the character of the leader. To create trust, Leader needs to have following things.First, the leader has to have the capability. The employees have to trust his or her ability to do the job. Secondly, people are anxious with congruity that a leader is a person of reliability. If you are an effective leader, what you say is compatible with what you do, and that is similar to what you feel, and that sequentially is similar to your vision. Third, people desire a feeling that the leader is on their side that he or she will be stable. They want to distinguish that in the heat of battle; their leader w ill support them, protect them and endure with what they require to win. Lastly, leaders, they trust need to care about the lives of the people with whom they are working, need to understand with them. Leaders also show care concerning the illusions of his or her actions and the consequences of decisions. Capability, congruity, and loyalty, and being thoughtful is the quality a leader that must symbolize in order for trust to be formed in a group. It gets a long time to generate and maintain. It takes recurring interactions. Leaders are primarily the results leaning individuals in the world, and results get consideration. Their visions or objectives are persuasive and drag people toward them. Intensity coupled with obligation is alluring. These strong personalities do not have to force people to focus on; they are so intent on what they are doing that, like a child totally fascinated with creating a sand castle in a sandbox, they depict others in. All leaders can form a persuasive vision, one that takes people to a new place, and then interprets that vision into truth. Peter Drucker said that the first mission of a leader is to describe the vision. Max DePree , CEO of Herman Miller, wrote in Leadership Is an Art, "The first responsibility of a leader is to describe reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant." (Warren G. Bennis, Joan Goldsmith, 1997) Primarily Vision grabs the leader, and the capability to communicate it eventually eases

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Human Resource Management - Essay Example In order to keep an open mind to the situation of both the employees who are asking for lighter workload it is a good idea to start will looking at the client portfolios that each of the employees are currently holding. Those who have a tougher client listing should thus be catered to first as they are managing more than others. David has a more demanding client and as he has done his job in an efficient manner he should be considered above Jane for the time off. Not only this, but David has given his ideas on how he will make up his time off by working the extra hours which are certainly a plus for him. However, even David has conceded that there may be some effect of his lighter workload on his clients who are the main priority and so it then becomes difficult to let his off. In deciding the time that the employees have spent in the company and their track record there is also of great importance. In the end thought there will be an effect on either parties and there may well be th inking that will be established in the company that those who have kids have an easier job getting a lighter workload as compared to those who need it for other personal reasons. Electronic employee monitoring has taken off since the technological age has made it easier to do so. In certain cases there has been a lot of hue and cry over the idea of employees being monitored all the time in the workplaces. It, however, makes sense at times to be able to track the use of office time and resources. Employers should be able to gauge how much of the time employees spend doing work and how much is being spent otherwise as this can determine how employees are promoted and given other benefits. It is also necessary for companies to avoid espionage from the inside even and monitoring helps to do this. To avoid these threats call monitoring is perhaps within certain permissible limits. There is a downside, as such practices erode the privacy of the employees and certain ethical

Saturday, August 24, 2019

British Petroleum (BP) and its corporate Image Term Paper

British Petroleum (BP) and its corporate Image - Term Paper Example Every company needs a market and a public where to sell its products. This would only be possible if the company is known to the public, and they have a picture in their minds regarding it. This picture has to be positive; otherwise it could cost the company. A positive image increases a company’s credibility. This image is somewhat build through advertising, where the company portrays itself. Such advertising is not sales-oriented, but takes the help of the public relations department to promote a better reputation and name-awareness of the company. Corporate advertising uses strategies to build a sense of buoyancy and fascination among the consumers’ as well as the others in the industry. The whole company is advertised and branded, not just the products and services. Corporate image is an amalgamated psychological image, which continues to change, according to the firm’s products, strategies, media coverage and other events. The corporate image is a public opi nion of the company, and does not necessarily echo the company’s actual image, size or position. Corporate image is flexible and can change unexpectedly. It could go from best to worst, in hours, because of any scandal or any news, even fake, that found its way into the media, and that highlights a negative aspect of the firm. For example, in the 1990s The Food Lion supermarket faced a scandal that accused the store of unhygienic practices, which was a fraud; but the store was forced to withdraw from the  Houston,  Oklahoma,  Louisiana, and  Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex  markets, which it had recently entered, because of bad publicity. Or it could go from worst to good overnight, by a feature printed in the Wall Street Journal, or any other newspaper; written by a reporter who was impressed by your services. It is very unpredictable. Companies use advertising techniques to improve their depiction. Brands represent a philosophy; for example The Apple Computer Company has survived a lot of ups and downs, regarding its corporate image. Apple appealed to those computer users who were innovative and creative, who wanted to see themselves as unique and free-spirited people. Apple also faced complains and criticism for its iPhone 4, where there was a connectivity problem. Apple refused to accept that it was a technical error, instead asked the consumers that iPhones have to be held differently. Nowadays, the public relations departments are also involved in positive corporate image building. CORPORATE IMAGE AFFECTS BUSINESS SALES Corporate image helps consumers remember your company. How will people buy your products or services if they are not even aware that your company exists. According to the Gallup Poll, companies today are only 16% responsible, as compared to the 70% in 1968 (Argenti 5). In business, what matters most is what the public thinks and beliefs; and the public trust is what must be upheld and should not be broken. (Argenti 11) The pu blic trust in global companies is going in negative numbers. The statistics have been calculated by subtracting the percentage of distrust from the percentage of trust, expressed by the public during surveys. This shows that the public no longer trust the global companies, to upheld their rights and cater to their needs. (Argenti 15) Companies having good standing are more likely to achieve and maintain their status and public trust in

Friday, August 23, 2019

Vincent van Gogh Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Vincent van Gogh - Essay Example In 1879, he started working in a Belgium-based mining company as a missionary. He sketched the local people in Belgium. Gogh’s produced his first major work in the year 1885, named The Potato Eaters. It primarily contained somber earth tones and lacked the use of vivid coloration which was the distinguishing feature of his later artwork. Gogh discovered the French Impressionists when he moved to Paris in the year 1886. When he moved to Southern France, Gogh gained inspiration from the strong sunlight in the region. He brightened his work with the use of intense colors, and thus developed a unique style of art that gained him immense recognition and praise in Arles in the year 1888. Gogh made most of the best-known pieces of art in the last two years before death. In almost a decade from the start of paintings till his death, Gogh made above 2100 paintings, which included over 1300 watercolor artworks, prints, drawings, and sketches, and almost 860 oil paintings. Gogh made a wide range of paintings that included but were not limited to landscapes, self-portraits, paintings of sunflowers and cypresses, and paintings of wheat fields. â€Å"Van Goghs finest works were produced in less than three years in a technique that grew more and more impassioned in brushstroke, in symbolic and intense color, in surface tension, and in the movement and vibration of form and line† (â€Å"Vincent van Gogh†). Color was the fundamental way of expression for Gogh. He played with colors and came up with such contrasts that lent life to his paintings and emotionally appealed to the audiences. Vincent van Gogh’s artwork is known for its jagged beauty, boldness of colors, emotional appeal, and several other factors due to which it has had great impact on the 2oth century art. Vincent van Gogh had a tough and very short life. He was a patient of depression and mental illness. It can be attributed to a large extent to his high sentimentalism and lack of self-confidence. Despite

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Only Christian believers can or should be theologians Essay Example for Free

Only Christian believers can or should be theologians Essay Using quotations from at least three written texts (ancient and/or modern), argue the case for or against the view that only Christian believers can or should be theologians Before attempting to answer this question, one must define some principles of the nature of Christian theology. It is obvious that anyone may create a theology based purely on ideas from ones own imagination, with no boundaries or guidelines to it. Such a theology may be creative, intelligent, and reasonable, but could not be classed as Christian theology. Something must act as a rule and a guard, lest the Christian religion break down into nothing more than dispersed, individual, self-made theologies. Theology in a Christian context must and does find its foundation in Scripture, the supreme authority to life and thought (Vanhoozer 1998, p. 380). Now that the thing that is to be interpreted in the building of Christian theology has been identified as Scripture, one may ask the question of who is able and qualified to interpret it. In 1860, Benjamin Jowett published his essay, On the Interpretation of Scripture. He argued that the Bible should be regarded as any other ancient collections of literature, using tools of literary and historical scholarship. He implied that a critic who stands apart from traditional beliefs and practices is in a better position to find the true meaning of the text, as these traditions had obscured their true meaning. In other words, only those with the right scholarly tools and who were willing to suspend any belief in the text that they may have are able to correctly interpret it (Vanhoozer 1998, pp. 378-379). However, Jowetts view of interpretation omits the spiritual and the ethical dimensions of Biblical interpretation. Vanhoozer writes: To call the Bible Scripture does not make its warnings or its promises something other than warnings or promises, but rather reorients them to the larger purpose of making wise unto salvation . (Vanhoozer 1998, p. 380). Jowetts approach to interpretation requires an objective reading of the text. But can one properly interpret the Scriptures from such a standpoint? To answer this, one must examine the relationship between the reader, the text, the author, and the story. Upon reading, the reader reads the text, and in doing so reconstructs the author in his own imagination, creating an implied author, and bringing the story to life (actualising the text) from the marks on the written page (Voelz 1995, 1997, pp. 218- 219). Voelz goes on to state that the intended recipient of the text is: a reader of whom the author is conscious, one who may also be called implied. And this implied reader stands in the same relationship to the actual reader as the implied author stands to the actual author; he is, again, a construct, not in the real world, and he is detectable (only) in the text. Who then is a valid interpreter of a text? It is he who conforms to the expectations of the author. It is he who conforms himself to the given texts assumptions. It is he who becomes the implied reader and only such a one of a given text. Which means that an objective reading of a text is not only impossible; it is not to be desired! (Voelz 1995, 1997, p. 219) One can see that what is needed for correct interpretation of Scripture, is a subjective, rather than objective reading of the text. Voelz argues a reader interprets within a community, having developed the beliefs and attitudes of the implied reader, through discussion, experience, and training within that community which understands and appreciates the context of the implied reader. Therefore: A valid interpreter of a text is that person who assumes the role required as it were, by a given text who becomes the reader implied or called for by that very text. And such a one is formed to assume that role by a community, a community which has assumed that role itself. (Voelz 1995, 1997, p. 220) This, however, does not make every Christian communitys interpretation infallible, because humans err; thus different Christian communities often disagree on the interpretation of certain parts of Scripture. But, as the Church is a community within which these documents were produced, received, and preserved, Vanhoozer states: [The] Bible is more likely to be misunderstood by an unbelieving and unaffiliated individual than by a believing and practising member of the church. (Vanhoozer 1998, p. 378) In the case of the New Testament, the books were produced, received, and preserved by the Christian community, and following Voelzs argument, one has to be within a Christian community, and taught to read Scripture by that community, to be able to correctly interpret the New Testament. The issue of the interpretation of the Old Testament is one that is referred to in the New Testament. Speaking of the reading of Scripture by the Jews: Yes, to this day, whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. (2 Cor. 3:15-16 ESV) According to Pauls argument, the Jews do not believe, therefore they cannot, in their unbelieving state, be the implied reader of the Old Testament Scriptures. Apparently, simply being within the Jewish community is insufficient to correctly interpret these Scriptures, as more than a simple, straightforward understanding of the Hebrew text is needed. Luke 24:45 ESV reads, concerning Jesus and his disciples, Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. Minds must be opened, veils taken away. The Christian community must teach readers to interpret even the Old Testament books. Only within the Christian community can ones mind be changed in the proper way (Voelz 1995, 1997, p. 226). The reason for this is clear from the New Testaments claims regarding the Christocentricity of all Scripture, Old and New Testaments: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me (Jn. 5:39 ESV. Cf. Mt. 2:4-6, 14-15; 1 Cor. 10:11, 15:3-4; 2 Cor. 1:20; Heb. 9:11-12; 1 Pet. 1:10-12) In order to be within the Christian community, one must adhere to and confess its creeds. Voelz writes: Therefore, to adhere to the creeds gives one an orientation to the books of the NT. which is congenial to them and which allows/enables one to interpret them in accordance with their intention [Adherence] to the creeds enables one to matrix the signifiers and meanings of a text for interpretation and then to interpret that matrix in a way which is congenial to the text, for the creeds are of one piece with that text and provide, as it were, the interpretive key,determinative for the meaning of the complex signifiers under construction [The] creeds help to determine which readings of Scripture are the apostolic/Christian readings which may legitimately be drawn from them. (Voelz 1995, 1997, p. 222) It was precisely the misuse of Scripture by heretics, which caused the early Church father, Tertullian, to write regarding them: [We] oppose to them this step above all others, of not admitting them to any discussion of the Scriptures. If in these lie their resources, before they can use them, it ought to be clearly seen to whom belongs the possession of the Scriptures, that none may be admitted to the use thereof who has no title at all to the privilege. (Roberts Donaldson 1994, 1995, Vol. 1 p.250 -Chapter XV of On Prescription Against Heretics. See also: chapters XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX pp. 250-252) Tertullians belief was that the Scriptures were the property of the Christian Church alone, and not to be handled by those outside of it. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, against the Valentinians, wrote: [They] endeavour to adapt with an air of probability to their own peculiar assertions the parables of the Lord, the sayings of the prophets, and the words of the apostles, in order that their scheme may not seem altogether without support. In doing so, however, they disregard the order and the connection of the Scriptures, and so far as in them lies, dismember and destroy the truth. By transferring passages, and dressing them up anew, and making one thing out of another, they succeed in deluding many through their wicked art in adapting the oracles of the Lord to their opinions. (Roberts Donaldson 1994, 1995, Vol. 3. p. 326 -Chapter VIII of Against Heresies) In conclusion, there seem to be many problems opposing the idea of those outside of the Christian Church being theologians, not least the question of motive, as the early Church fathers addressed. For these reasons, I believe that theology is a matter only for those within the Church. Bibliography * Roberts, A. Donaldson J. (Editors); 1994, 1995; Ante-Nicene Fathers; Peabody, Massachusetts; Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. * Vanhoozer, K. 1998; Is There a Meaning in This Text?; Leicester; Apollos/IVP. * Voelz, J. 1995, 1997; What Does This Mean?: Principles of Biblical Interpretation in the Post-Modern World; St. Louis, Missouri; Concordia Publishing House. * The Holy Bible English Standard Version; 2001, 2002; Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Bibles

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Nixon’s presidency Essay Example for Free

Nixon’s presidency Essay There are three major issues emphasized during the 1969-1974 term of President Richard Nixon: Vietnam, domestic policies, and the infamous Watergate affair. Nixon inherited the Vietnam War from Lyndon Johnson. The war had caused years of turmoil among Americans who believed that America should not even participate in the war in the first place. In an aim to bring peace, he initiated the Vietnamization of the war, centering of the withdrawal of the US troops. For a while, the plan seemed to be working, but the damage had already been done. Back home, America found herself with a dissenting generation. The war had already drained the country’s economy, inflation was high, crimes and civil rights movement were rapidly swelling. Nixon tried to solve this by injecting domestic policies that involved increasing interest rates to curb borrowing and introducing what the president called â€Å"affirmative action programs,† initiatives that hired minorities and women. Some African Americans who were able to finish college benefited from this but majority were still poor and stayed in slums. Furthermore, people blamed the Supreme Court for the rising incidents of crime so Nixon filled the court with conservative justices. However, while this alleviated the bevy of civil rights movement, it did not entirely solve the crimes. What it did was that it ushered an â€Å"us vs. them† sentiment, a battle between Nixon and those who opposed him, people who Nixon thought were countering the American values. During Nixon’s term, the activism was popular-environmental, consumer, and feminist movements were formed. People had become liberalized, more aware of their rights and surroundings. It seemed that Nixon’s gameplan was not working. Nixon’s economic strategy also failed to work. It was not until 1971 when the president started a 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents that his efforts finally started to pay off; inflation and unemployment had lessened. This improvement, along with having positive foreign relations helped him earned a reelection. But it only ushered the road to Nixon’s downfall. The illegal activities of the Committee to Reelect the President erupted into what became known as the Watergate Scandal which led to the president’s resignation. From a popular man, Nixon placed himself in a world of lies, crimes and deception. His presidency was in shambles. The lesson of the scandal became clear: that there would always be the dangers of uninhibited executive power and opportunities for political abuse. It was and still is something American will forever be cautious of. Maybe just for that, however painful and shameful it sounds, Americans are grateful for Nixon.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

The Role Of Saudi Women In Leadership

The Role Of Saudi Women In Leadership Saudi Arabia is a desert country that runs over 8,000 square miles. There are big cities, like Riyadh, Makah, Medina, Dhahran and Jeddah; residents in these areas enjoy the amenities of well-planned modern metropolitan cities. Saudi Arabia is a monarchy, headed by the Al Saud royal family, with a council of ministers. Saudi Arabias strong root in religious and tribal history has made it what it has become today. By the 1970s Saudi Arabia had become dominant in the realm of international finance and a significant political power in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia occupies the larger part of the Arabian Peninsula and is the worlds leading oil producer and exporter. The kingdom is the center of the major places of importance for Muslims from all over the world. Plight of Saudi women There are very few (if any) well known women leaders in Saudi Arabia; this is as a result of the vast gender discrimination against the girl child. There are laws that are restrictive to women and hinder them from getting leadership roles. This study aims to explore the discriminative judicial and government systems in the country towards women. It will also describe the leadership roles of women in the Saudi society. The various aspects of leadership and gender discrimination against Saudi women will be discussed. Women are more than the men in the population of Saudi Arabia; its therefore very ironical that they had not been allowed to work. It is in the last ten years that women have been accepted as part of the working community. This demonstrates the lack of working sectors open to Saudi women. In fact transport sector discriminates women, in that a woman would not travel unaccompanied by a male companion. The society still looks down upon employed women. Â   Jobs available for Saudi women are very limited and are mostly in education, health, and administration. Women can work and attain jobs in any setting as long as there is no exposure to men. Because of this cultural and religious rule, women need to have their own independent social and educational organizations. Society allows women to fill top administrative positions in womens colleges in order to manage the college effectively. Despite these achievements education for Saudi women is still regarded secondary to taking care of the household and family. For a long time, womens education was subject to negotiation with religious and social traditions. Women in Saudi Arabia were officially allowed to get formal education about forty years ago while the men started way before the women. Consequently, there are very few jobs available for well-qualified women in Saudi Arabia. The women in Saudi Arabia are now more than ever in pursuit in order to empower themselves through education in readiness of leadership positions that may come their way . Position of women in the society There are many different aspects that one encounters while trying to understand and explore the Saudi Arabian culture. The role and status of the women is key in understanding the position of a woman in this culture. In Saudi Arabia, women do not have much to do outside their homes. Girls, from an early age, obtain a domestic role that befits them. For a young girl in Saudi Arabia, becoming a mother is the norm and is the biggest goal in life. She is raised to believe that she should aim to be a good mother and that it is her responsibility to devote her time to her husband and children. However, this is gradually changing; the government now supports education of the girl child. Womens rights groups in Saudi Arabia are not functional for instance, women are still not allowed to drive or ride on motor vehicles with strangers, and one should either be accompanied by a close relative, an employee or the employer (Helen, 2007). This law denies women a vital right; freedom of independent movement (Colin, 2005). A Saudi woman cannot be admitted into any hospital without the consent of a male family member. Despite all these, women are finding other means of maneuvering through these restrictive rules in order to pursue business this is through the intensive use of the internet (Anders, 1998). Legal, social and religious controls combine to limit a womans freedom of movement in the country. From the government perspective, this is aimed at protecting the women, but most women perceive the law as a way of accelerating and empowering the men and their dominance in the society, (Helen, 2007). Women of the Middle East have long been viewed as an oppressed group. From the desert sands of Saudi Arabia to the mountainous lands of Afghanistan, Arab women have faced many hardships in their society. While the role of a woman is meant to be nurturing and domestic, many women have moved on to a more modern view, and have taken on the role as educators and laborers. Arab women threaten the traditional family structure by doing so; however, for many it is a sacrifice they are willing to make, as they have seen that the world has more to offer than just household chores and childbearing. Rights of women in the past, today and the future The Saudi system is set up in a form known as the Sunni-Islam state version, which is a conservative form of government; this version is characterized by incorporating the interpretation of the Muslim faith and using it to formulate law. The Islamic law is interpreted in such a way that it enhances gender inequality; the women are subjected to strict and tight legal regulations on their personal behavior while the men are exempted from the rules (Colin, 2005). There is no equality for women despite Article 8 of the Saudi law which states that, Government in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is based on the premise of justice, consultation, and equality in accordance with the shariah law (Sameena, 2005). However, the individual interpretations favor men rather than women resulting in a hierarchy system that also privileges notables and good connections over ordinary citizens and outsiders. This system in itself creates a biased and self-centered form of society associated with misinterpreta tion of religious scripture. Foreigners are treated differently depending on the country of origin and the race, too (Kathleen, 1991). Women cannot act as lawyers, and for women to access justice she hires a male lawyer wand she is forced to offer up most of her confidential information regarding financial and family matters to the lawyer and the judges. A single mans testimony in the court is the same as for two women (Sameena, 2005). In most cases, the women rely on their husbands and this denies the women personal justice and the ability to access power and leadership positions since one cannot experience power without justice. There are vast cases of gender discrimination in the employment sector in Saudi Arabia, this is attributed to the fact that most of the people are religious and have interpreted Islamic teachings in a particular way (Anders, 1998). For women, access to employment activities is very limited, with minimal enjoyment of the full benefits of citizenship or adulthood. Gender discrimination against women has exacerbated reformers to proactively advocate for democracy and empowerment of women in the country. The international community is also working in close collaboration with the reformers to help in the administration of justice and the equality of gender in Saudi Arabia (Sameena, 2005). Consequently, Saudi Arabia has made some progress in womens education and employment. Saudi women and the education sector Education is a central aspect of family and community life. There is a close link between home and school and they further correlate with the way the structure and community is shaped. The education of Arab women started long ago, dating back almost 1500 years, when the wife of Prophet Muhammad, Khadija, owned her own caravan and was her own employer; a successful one at that. However, after the Prophets death, the status of women slowly began to decline, and by the early 1900s, Arab womens status had been dwindled down to that of oppression and non-education. Because of this, several feminist women movements arose in the 1930s and 1940s, the most famous one led by Huda Sharawi in Egypt (Ahmed, 1992). Even though these feminist movements helped encourage Arab women to get back on the rise in society, only a handful were able to achieve that, as many countries such as Saudi Arabia were still not into empowering women. Womens education in Saudi Arabia started informally with the Kuttab schools that taught the fundamentals of Islam and the basics of writing, reading, and arithmetic. By 1945, King Abdul Aziz, the countrys founder, had initiated an extensive program to establish schools in the Kingdom. Six years later, in 1951, the country had 226 schools with 29,887 students (Collins, 2005). In 1954, the Ministry of Education was established headed by then Prince Fahd as the first Minister of Education. The first ever university in Saudi Arabia was opened in Riyadh in early 1957. In 1943, the first private girls school was established in Makkah by a group of people in the private sector who wanted to teach their daughters basic reading, writing and mathematics (Al Salloom, 1989). When public elementary education for girls began in 1960, there were only 15 school buildings, with a total of 127 classrooms and 518 female students. Public education at the intermediate and secondary levels for girls followed in 1963 with four school buildings for the intermediate level, and one for the secondary level (Al Salloom, 1989). As Saudi families started to realize that educating their daughters posed no threat to family life and in the traditional role of women in society, the attitude towards females education changed. Female students enrolled at all educational levels and more schools were opened. From 1970 to 1990 the number of female students enrolled in higher education expanded from 400 students to 48,000 (Kathleen, 1991). With the rapid expansion of educational facilities and enrollment, a high number of teachers and school principals were female. Today, Saudi Arabias nationwide educational system comprises many universities and colleges, including thousands of primary and secondary schools. Open to every citizen, the system provides students with free education, books and health services. To complement their studies in universities in the Kingdom, Saudi students have the opportunity to pursue graduate and post-graduate degrees in specialized fields abroad. Supported by the government scholarships, thousands of Saudi students are enrolled in universities outside the Kingdom, mainly in the United States. The beginning of womens higher education was similar in Saudi Arabia and the United States, in that both countries, at one point, denied women access to higher education and women were considered as comparative newcomers to equity of opportunity in education. This brings light to addressing another issue involving higher education and the Saudi woman: women dont have the right to make decisions and set policies concerning their higher education. To some extent, they may manage and organize their day-to-day departments, operations and resources but all major decisions affecting them-such as hiring, planning and evaluating are still made by men. What makes this problem more complicated is the lack of communication, face to face between men who are high in administered hierarchy and women who occupy lower administrative levels. For the graduate female students, there are minimal chances for them to advance in the job markets and this hinders the women from rising up into a leadership position in the education sector. There are a few women who have been lucky to get leadership positions in the education .These women play an important role, they champion for more women to be incorporated into leadership positions, however, their sentiments are always ignored (Helen, 2007).The nature of female leadership roles in Saudi Arabia cannot be compared to other countries, these women are segregated and marginalized and thus they are denied educational leadership roles (Anders, 1998). Cultural factors influencing Saudi women The shaping of societies in general is dependent on cultural and traditional factors, as well as economic and political systems. In Saudi Arabia, society culture and traditions play a major role. Culture predominantly influences womens roles in Muslim society, because of the emphasis placed on womens status and acceptable behavior as outlined in the Quran. Ahmed (1992) believes that no matter what form the political system takes, no matter what level of education women attain, no matter what traditional values govern employment, Saudi women would not play major leadership roles in modern day economics because cultural factors have impeded their development. There are a number of factors that have impacted the Saudi womens status and their position in society. The economy, the importance of the family unit, the educational opportunities available, the degree of encouragement women encounter in their pursuit of education and work, and the degree of urbanization attained are all importa nt factors that shape a society and mold many of its beliefs and values (Pinter, 1984). Saudi Arabias culture and traditions are different from the United States and are used as a basis of comparison for two reasons: first, Saudi Arabia and the United States are young wealthy countries that continue to progress (Al-Dawood, 1995); and second, to see if Saudi Arabian secondary school teachers levels of job satisfaction are different from that of secondary school teachers in the United States. Limited information on Saudi female teachers job satisfaction and principal leadership behavior in Saudi Arabia is available, thus it is necessary to also look at research conducted about male teachers. Beck Keddie (1978) indicated that men have reported a higher degree of job satisfaction than women, but more recently differences have diminished, due in part to more equal opportunities for the employment and advancement of women. A Study carried out in Qatar (a country that borders Saudi Arabia) reveals that there is no significant difference in the levels of job satisfaction between men and women (Moshaikeh, 1981). Al-Salom (1996) reports that a similar study was carried out in the United States and also found no significant difference in the level of job satisfaction between male and female teachers. The Quran advocates for stable family life, at no point does it state that women are not equal to men and that they should not mix freely in their places of work (Al-Sallom, 1989).This is not usually the case and people still misinterpret religion and use the Quran as a basis for isolating women. The differences between women in the Middle East and the ones in the western countries like United States may are due to cultural factors. Despite growing acceptance of womens education in Saudi Arabia, education for women still faces conservative attitudes from many Saudi citizens. Such conservative thinking focuses on women building the traditional roles of wives and mothers and may cause fear that education may weaken these roles. These conservative attitudes towards womens education are not related to the influences of Islam, but may be part of the traditions of the Saudi Society (Christopher, 1993). In addition, women receive fewer formal courses in school administration and in-service training than men (Abdel, 1997). Women administrators receive inadequate training; as a result, female school principals are less qualified in leadership behaviors and supervision than their male counterparts are. Teachers should have a chance to use what they have learned in education courses. They also should be involved in the planning and decision-making process regarding curriculum, time use, classroom instructions, method of instructions, resource allocation, and procedures for students evaluation. Including them as active participants would be an excellent first step in enhancing their job satisfaction. Power of women in the past, today and the future Economic empowerment of women One of the major factors that have shaped the Saudi Society is the economic situation. However, Kathleen, (1991) disagrees with the notion that a modern capitalist economy and its extension to almost all areas have resulted in many positive changes for women in Saudi Arabia. She argues that pre-capitalist urban occupations were already open to Saudi women of all classes, from midwifery and entertainment to holders of important real estate. Economic changes of the modern period did not improve or raise the levels of womens participation in public life. In the Saudi culture, serious life begins with marriage, which can be for many, an escape from family pressures and economic difficulty. Because males are seen as the protectors and supporters of women and are, therefore, considered indispensable, families pull all their resources together (material and emotional) to ensure that their young daughters marry appropriately. Women of Saudi nationality are not allowed to access benefits from the government. In the case where a Saudi woman marries a non-Saudi, she then cannot pass the nationality to her children. Consequently, in 2002, women had no right to obtain the national identity card without the order from the mahram, but they appeared as nationals from the state records that included her as a member of a particular family only (Kathleen, 1991). When this was the norm, widowed and single women had a hard time gaining leadership of their families and also in obtaining other benefits of their own and from the state subsidies (Cordesman, 2003). Saudi women do not have the right to the sign contracts or to control financial assets and in this instance, women are made to lick the boots of the males. As a result, women are denied the economic leadership and mainly depend on their husbands for economical support. The women cannot be integrated in the development processes and this greatly impacts them due to their reduced influence in policy making and changes in legislation (Colin, 2005). In a way, the Saudi law ensures gender equity to men and women related to each other. Consider for example, the case where the daughters retain half as much inheritance as the sons and when such women get married then they under the care of their husbands (Colin, 2005) .Women retain property after marriage and in this case, the husbands have the right to protect the woman and hence the women have no obligation to spend their acquired wealth on the mens behalf. The married men have the full responsibility for their family needs. And in case a woman conducts herself in an immoral manner, the man of closest relation is punished on her behalf (Helen, 2007). The role of women in Saudi Arabia is becoming more significant in both political and economic terms as more and more women hold positions of leadership and civic prominence. The educational levels of the women who have made significant contributions on leadership hold positions as founders of organizations and range in their education: from holding bachelors, masters, and doctorate degrees. Some of these women hold voluntary positions and others hold paid positions that entail career commitments. The Saudi Arabia government has given higher education, there are new educational policies put in place. The government established the Ministry of Higher Education in 1975 whose long term vision is to provide highly trained manpower necessary to run the countrys increasingly sophisticated economy. The primary objective of this ministry is to establish new institutions of higher learning throughout the country. The Kingdom has given priority to quantity and quality expansion of education in the last five to seven-years among other development plans. Despite the low percentage of Saudi women working in the labor force in the Kingdom compared to advanced countries, it is the unavailability of working sectors open for Saudi women usually limited to education and medicine which has caused some saturation in these sectors. The Saudi government is planning to undertake a study of the role of women in the countrys economy (Al-Mohamed, (2007). There are policies set by the government in order to support women who want to work. The main aim of these policies is to lower t unemployment rate among women in Saudi Arabian women. In line with this objective, the government and private organizations provide counseling services to women in stressful environments of employment. The Saudi government plan is beyond employment and aims to empower women with entrepreneurial and investing. Saudi Arabia might h ave to revise some policies that a restrict women from participating in the economy of the country. Women and political leadership The participation of women in the public domain, including the political arena, is very limited in Saudi Arabia. Unlike other women in the western world, Saudi women have no social or political rights. They still have to obtain consent of male counterparts in order to fulfill basic things, like obtaining a passport and travel. The hierarchical system of the Saudi government does not allow for democratic voting. Saudi Arabian political leaders are, therefore, hiding behind false religious pretexts by withholding many rights from women. It is a violation of their religious beliefs and practices. Other Islamic countries, such as Egypt, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, allow women to vote and still maintain their traditional and religious practices. The country does not contain any political parties, thus the absence of elections. Women are becoming more active in reform but their efforts are marginalized. The extent of reform is determined by the ruling family (Cordesman, 2003). Al-Mohamed (2007) attributes the lack of a political role for Saudi women to educational decisions; he goes on and gives an example where women do not major in Political Science in their higher learning. For example, Princess Dr. al-Jawaharlal bint Fahd al-Saud was undersecretary of education for womens colleges for 10 years before becoming president of Riyadh University for Women in April 2007, yet she had no power to make decisions even though she had the power (Al-Mohamed, 2007). The country lacks the basic freedoms for even the civil society to take part in the leadership. It is very hard to start new organizations and even more so the women groups, due to their co-option by the government. I would recommend the existence of political parties in the country with free elections since this would foster democratic growth in the country (Anders, 1998). The media should be free to express their ideas and women rights agencies should be supported to help in the equality of gender, promote the growth of the economy and the active participation of women in the exercising of political power (Kathleen, 1991). Role of religion in empowering women To better understand a Saudi womans position, one must learn a great deal about the culture and religion. One should also understand Islam, its history and culture. In a Muslim community, the people are to follow Gods commands and live a moral life. Saudi women who are working and serve society should be careful to follow an Islamic way of life. In the modern society, wearing a hijab, which may cover a womans head or her whole body, remains part of Muslim culture in Saudi Arabia and also worldwide. Most Muslim women dress modestly and in Muslim countries even the most successful business women will cover themselves with the hijab. Many of the women welcome this practice as they feel it prevents them from being bothered by co-workers or strangers. Some modern Muslims in non-Muslims cultures, however, choose not to cover to attract less attention rather than deal with discouragement about it. Whichever the case, the wearing of a hijab should be intended to please God and should not be done in a mandatory or pressurized manner (Cordesman, 2003). Before Islam, women in the Arab world had no rights to own any property, inherit, divorce, or even choose their marriage partner; the father was usually the one to decide or a male relative. With the advent of Islam, women were given the aforementioned rights and their status changed to that of a dignified human being, deserving of respect and honor. The Islamic view about women is that men and women are equal in their origin and their rights. According to the history of Islam, women have political rights, can participate in public affairs, run a business, choose their husbands and even inherit properly. In regard of womens education, a woman in Islam is not required to contribute financially to the family, which may explain why some Saudis consider education to be worthwhile and necessary for males and less for women. The Quran, which is the source of Islamic jurisprudence, contains no verse that deprives woman the right to be educated In fact, the word Quran is derived from the wor d reading and the first verse of the Quran calls on the devoted to read and write. There are no barriers to women acquiring knowledge in the Islamic faith as long as there is no mixing between the two genders. Most people that profess the Muslim faith do not believe that that men and women are equal in matters of religion (Kathleen, 1991). The role of women in the family and upbringing of children play a major part consequently, the women are allowed to worship at home as the men and the boys worship at the mosque. Despite the active role of women in religion, Saudi women are denied access to any management roles and leadership positions in the countrys religious institutions (Kathleen, 1991). There are still some conservative people who do not want to embrace The New World Order, where women work and are independent, religion is still the excuse of this people. There is as an ideological conflict between culture and religion, Islam allows women the right to education and work. As a result Arab women continue to seek education and work, societys expectations hover over them, giving them more strength to those who oppose empowering women. Conclusion The purpose of this study was to examine the family and societal factors that affect Saudi women in their pursuit of leadership positions in a Muslim society, such as that found in Saudi Arabia. Another area of interest was the impact of Islam on the Saudi women and their pursuit of leadership roles in public life. It is true that the law and the male dominated society and does not provide a good environment for leadership positions of women. The women now more than ever are willing to take the risk and empower themselves, sooner than later women from these part of the world will catch up with other countries that have overcome gender discrimination. Studies show that Saudi women are getting more attention due to the current interest in multiculturalism and global awareness. There are many women in Saudi Arabia who have attained leadership roles on a smaller scale, such as in remote villages and rural areas. The number of Saudi women who have leadership positions may not be large in comparison to the number of women with leadership positions in Western nations or even in neighboring countries but it is a great step considering the position of Arab women and their role and treatment under Islamic culture. Women who have leadership roles in Arab societies are an important resource for information that can help bridge the gap between preconceived notions about the Arab world and the reality of the conditions encountered by women in that part of the world. For instance , in America there are great women who have revolutionized leadership like Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice while in Germany Angela Merkel is the Chancellor. In the M iddle East the most common figure was Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan who was a potential political leader but was assassinated. These women in leadership ar role models to other women all over the world and soon the Arab world is going to embrace women leadership. However, the level of leadership and the participation of women in various positions in Saudi are faced with mainly two interrelated issues. First, the effects of the constitutional rights on women and secondly, is the status of women and their position in reference to Islamic laws. Reform is urgently needed in both educational and employment sectors to provide greater equality for women. Previous trends of females in educational development indicate an ever expanding access of education by women to where they may outnumber men. However, gender segregation and inferiorities in curriculum differentiation is still experienced. There should be more awareness campaigns for women to be informed on the importance of pursuing education to a higher level and diversification of courses to be studied. The diversification of the countrys economy and the expansion of the services in the various sectors may result in the liberalization of the scope of occupation and enroll women in leadership roles. This change would be due to the shortage of labor and the increased participation of women in the education facilities and curriculums. This would help move women up in public visibility and allow them to participate in the decision making of the country.