Case Study: P.F. Chang serves its workers well Essay

It is suggested by various text books and management tutors alike, that the mastering of the four functions of management; Planning, controlling, organising and leading along with developing technical, human and conceptual skills, should go some way to allowing a manager some degree of success in the field of management. Of course, having skills is just part of being an effective manager, these skills and functions must be communicated in a way that fellow managers and workers can understand and act upon. The case study of P.F. Chang, a U.S based chain of ‘Asian Bistros’ and ‘contemporary Chinese diners’ â€Å"P.F. Chang serves its workers well†, indicates a number of systems in place by the company that allows its managers to plan, organise and lead their workers and control the final product. The communication process is also aided by processes in individual restaurants. Of course, any individual is responsible for their own behaviour and young mana gers develop their own ‘style’ over time, but for a P.F. Chang manager certain skills need to be mastered to assimilate themselves with the culture and values of the company. Of the four management functions that a manager at P.F. Chang would require to manage a restaurant effectively, it could be argued that leading is the most important. The ‘Leadership Grid’ of Robert Blake and Jane Mouton (Schermerhorn, et al., p246) illiterates a scale of ‘concern’ for both people and production. The case study of P.F. Chang restaurants shows the company’s concern for its people, (‘P.F. Chang serves it’s people well’). It can, therefore, be assumed that on the Blake and Mouton scale, the concern for people is ‘high’. As both restaurant managers and workers achieving the ‘shared purpose’ of customer satisfaction. A P.F. Chang manager, would according to the Blake and Mouton grid, be required to adopt the management style of a ‘Team Manager’. As noted in the case study, most the workers are ‘typically young’ and that could present challengers. Developing a ‘hu man’ management skill would be very beneficial for a P.F. Chang manager due to the make up of the most of workers at each restaurant. In a recent study of Generation Y hospitality workers, it was concluded that even though there was a desire by the respondents to work less hours to ensure a positive work/life balance, â€Å"employee engagement can mean high commitment in recruitment, retention and performance.† (Axwell, 2010). Further reading into the management of the members of Gen Y (those born after 1980 and the most likely the age group that makes up the staff members at P.F. Chang’s) show that certain styles of leadership are called for. Eisner suggests that â€Å"Gen Y workers tend to have unbridled energy, endless enthusiasm, and the skills and experience of those much older [and] they should be managed with a coaching style† (Eisner, 2005). Obviously, not all workers at P.F. Chang will be Gen Y, and of course, not all Gen Y employees will respond to the same style of management. So the effective P.F Chang restaurant manger would need to have an awareness of how different style of manag ement would motivate each worker. Each manager at P.F. Chang’s may bring their own beliefs on what makes them effective as a manager. This could prove to be a hindrance if the individual manager is not open to learning (and putting into practice) a different style of management, subsequently re-evaluateing their approach to how they manage their restaurant to bring themselves in line to P.F. Chang’s corporate values. Emphasising that different generations may require different management strategies, Axwell explains that â€Å"Compared with other generations, Gen Y tends to have less respect for rank and more respect for ability and accomplishment. Expectations should be explained to Gen Y from the outset, including the big picture and how they fit into it.† (Axwell, 2010) Along with many other businesses operating in the current economic environment, P.F. Chang’s business relies on customers discretionary spending and P.F. Chang makes a point of putting their customers’ satisfaction at the forefront of their business. This position is illustrated in the 2010 financial report of P.F. Chan g which stated that the company’s aim was to â€Å"strive to create a loyal customer base that generates a high level of repeat business in our restaurants and translates to interest and trial of our retail products [however] Our business is highly sensitive to changes in guest traffic and our operators concentrate on consistent execution of superior customer service while also focusing on additional opportunities for operating efficiencies† (P.F. Chang, 2011). Some workers may struggle with the concept of ‘exceptional customer service’ and a P.F. Chang manager must find ways to organise those workers to meet the companies expectations while upholding the companies values of openness and respect. The case study mentions that ‘restaurant managers face the challenge every day of putting the right person in the right job, creating a team that works well together’. At P.F. Chang, staff meet before every work shift where the manager is able to organise staff, reminding them of them of their duties for which ever role they may occupy. This meeting could also give the manager an insight into which member of the team may be feeling unmotivated and time could then be made to talk to the team member and discuss any issues. By delegating tasks from a manger to an employee it conveys a sense of trust in the worker, and sense of empowerment. Furthermore, it gives the manager more time to complete other tasks. This delegation is evident at P.F. Chang. The case study notes that by giving servers authority to replace meals and the ‘freedom to make decisions’ there is a reported positive impact on staffs attitude and performance. Regional Vice President, Roxanne Pronk says that those freedoms extended to employees have ‘a huge impact on their attitude and performance’. Some research, however has found that not all employees actually want extra freedom to decisions. A front line service worker in a 2008 survey of the empowerment made the comment that they were not paid to make decision, stating â€Å"that’s a supervisor’s job, that’s not my job† Other respondents mentioned they wanted extra money for doing extra things, and they see it (empowerment) as extra things to their work (Ueno, 2008). Conversely, it is suggested that some employees are more likely to improve their behaviour when given added responsibility while others may resent it. A manager should be aware that a ‘one size fits all’ approach where the assumption is that every member of the team wants added responsibility is unfair, not just on the individual worker who is happy with their current work load and level of responsibility, but also for any particular worker who desires increased responsibility, but does not get it. As noted in Chen et al â€Å"managers need to make judgments regarding whom to empower and to what extent† (Ford, Myron, Russ, & Millam, 1995) Ueno concludes that â€Å"empowerment can improve both customer satisfaction and employee attitudes and behaviour† but also â€Å"that high empowerment does not necessarily represent high service quality while low empowerment does not inevitably correspond to low service quality† (Ueno, 2008). Information such as this could help the P.F Chang manger in organising workers, assigning roles that the employee feels comfortable with, acknowledge that while some employees will enjoy extra roles and increase their engagement, some may not and the encouragement of taking on more responsibility may actually be detrimental to the business. Being able to master the managerial functions and skills is, of course, only one part of the process for a P.F. Chang manger. How the information is conveyed to the staff of the restaurant is another set of skills that would need to be achieved. Good leaders tend to be good communicators who find ways to overcome barriers to effective communica tion. Restaurants by their nature of being a place where many people gather can be nosy places, the kitchens that serves the talking customers can be even noisier and servers waiting on tables do not generally have access to work stations with computers where they can regularly check email or other forms of electronic notifications. It would be important for the manager to establish systems for effective communication with the staff. One such system seems to have been established, as the case study mentions â€Å"every work shift †¦. begins with a staff meeting†. As noted in the case study, this meeting is used primarily â€Å"to motivate workers to head into their shifts with an upbeat outlook†, and as noted earlier, serves as a function for managers to organise staff according to their strengths. From a communications perspective, this meeting would also be the perfect opportunity for managers to disseminate information that could be useful for front line staff members to pass on to customers, for example, changes to menu items. P.F. Chang’s also places emphasis on respect and open communication between its managers and staff. As noted in the case study, managers sit down and discuss if and how workers external issues may be affecting their performance at work. Part of developing this ‘human skill’ which is essential for a task such as this is ‘active listening’. Schermerhorn, et al. state that â€Å"when people ‘talk’, they are trying to communicate something. That ‘something’ may or may not be what they are saying† (p 462). Further to this, Schmerhorn et al also show that different ways of communicating are more effective than others. This ‘channel richness’ or â€Å"the capacity if a communication channel to effectively carry information† (pg 456) argues that face to face meeting can be much more effective in conveying information than ‘hard copy’ like postings or bulletins. In addition to P.F. Chang managers conducting staff meetings before every shift, they also are engaged in discussions with their staff regarding performance issues. With these meetings being face to face, they would be ‘personal and two way’ and thus, ‘high in richness’. Any outcomes and possible agreements made between the manger and employee to meet a specific target to improve performance is more likely to be understood by the employee. Conversely, by sitting down and having a chat, the manager would gain a broader understanding of any issues that may be resulting in the change of behaviour or lack of engagement on the employee. Having open communication between the manager and employee also seems to have benefits for the business. Authors of a study which looked at service worker behaviour found that â€Å"conformance to service standards [are] more likely to be met if service standards are communicated and understood by all members of the organization, including line employees. Thus, open communication between frontline employees and managers is important for achieving service quality† (Chen, 2010). Developing skills for effective communication for the P.F. Chang manager is of course the key to this communication process being effective, along with having an awareness of barriers to effective communication. Age, gender or generational differences can also prove to be a barrier. Returning to a broad example of younger employees â€Å"Gen Y workers tend to look for instant gratification [and] tend to be constant negotiators and questioners, ‘how’ meetings become ‘why’ meetings† (Axwell, 2010) The afore mentioned poor channels of communication like bulletins along with the more subtle areas such as negative body language and other non-verbal communication and a lack of active listening skills may be covered in the training that P.F. Chang’s gives it restaurant managers. As with a lot of large chains, the overall di rection of the business would come from senior management. Planning as a function of the business as a whole, would therefore not be within the gambit of specific P.F. Chang restaurants managers. Of course, a degree of planning would be required and an awareness of this process would be important to the successful management of the restaurant. Schermerhorn, et al. describe planning as â€Å"the process of setting objectives and determining how to accomplish them† (p20). Referring back to the case study, a P.F. Chang manger may set objectives based on the engagement of their staff. For example, reducing absenteeism on days of the week when the restaurant is busiest. The achievement of this objective may be helped by the attitude adopted by the company in dealing with staff whose’ performance does not meet the company standards – an initiative directed by head office, but implemented at restaurant level. Ultimately, the managerial function of control is important to ensure the final product meets the required standard, in the case of P.F. Chang, the experience of diners – from the service to the food. As Merchant points out â€Å"the need or controls over any particular behaviour or operation within an organization depends very simply on the impact of that area on overall organizational performance. Thus more control should be exercised over a strategically important behaviour rather than over a minor one, regardless of how easy it is to control each† (Merchant, 1982). There are many issues that a restaurant manager must contend with on a day to day basis that will have no direct relation to people management, but due to the importance that the restaurant staff have to the overall business, this is the area that the most time should be devoted too. It can be assumed that controls for managing customers satisfaction would at first managed at restaurant level, indeed, the case study highlights that â€Å"the server has the authority to replace a meal†. Should this not be enough to satisfy the complaint of the customer, it may be escalated to the restaurant manager. Since all employees receive â€Å"extensive training† and their employee hand book, it could be assumed that managing customer complaints would be included in this. Once again, the control function would be lead by directives from further up the management chain, but the restaurant manager (and server) would be equipped with the skills and expectations on how to engage with dissatisfied customers. Schermerhorn, et al states that â€Å"the task of a manager is to bring the organisations resources into alignment with its purpose in a way that is sustainable in the organisations operating environment† (p 19). The case study ‘P.F. Chang serves its workers well’ highlights some of the processes that are established throughout the company that can assist the restaurant manager in effective management of a restaurant. For a restaurant manager at P.F. Chang, the goal of maintaining the motivation of the team of restaurant workers is the skill that would most need to be mastered – the function of leading – through a thorough understanding the workers being lead, how they might be thinking and how they wish to be managed, along with a healthy dose of leadership theory. Similarly, by knowing the personalities of the team, they can be organised to ensure a more productive work business. Those who are facing issues outside of work and those who want more responsibility (and those who don’t) can be managed accordingly. The P.F. Chang restaurant manager has surport from head office by way of systems in planning, but should know that control over staff and how they interact with the customers is of paramount importance. And finally, the P.F. Chang manager must acquiesce effective communication skills lead and motivate in the most effective way, and organised the team with the members that are willing and able to perform varying tasks assigned them and manage discuss in respectful and constructive way when controls in place to ensure performance targets are not met. Bibliography Axwell, G. (2010). Generation Y’s Career Expectations and Aspirations: Engagement in the Hospitality Industry. Journal Of Hospitality And Tourism Management , 60. Chen, H. R.-J. (2010). Empowerment in hospitality organizations: Customer orientation and organizational support. International Journal of Hospitality Management , 422, 424. Eisner, S. P. (2005). Managing Generation Y. SAM Advanced Management Journal . Ford, R. C., Myron, F. D., Russ, D. E., & Millam, E. R. (1995). Empowerment: A Matter of Degree. The Academy of Management Executive . Merchant, K. A. (1982). The Control Function of Management. Sloan Management Review , p. 48. P.F. Chang. (2011, Febuary 16). Form 10-K for P F CHANGS CHINA BISTRO INC . Retrieved January 18, 2012, from Yahoo Finance.com: http://biz.yahoo.com/e/110216/pfcb10-k.html Schermerhorn, J. R., Davidson, Poole, Simon, & Chau, W. &. (2011). Management. Milton, QLD: John Wiley & Sons Australia. Ueno, A. (2008). Is empowerment really a contributory factor to service quality? The Service Industries Journal , 1329.

Wal-Mart’s Unfair Labor Practices in “Down and Out in Discount America

In â€Å"Down and Out in Discount America,† writer Liza Featherstone (2004) exposes the dirty tactics and unfair business practices that fuel Wal-Mart’s success as a giant retail company, and suggests effective strategies to defeat corporate crime. According to Featherstone, Wal-Mart is one company that literally profits and grows from the presence and worsening of poverty situations, as shown by the results of a study conducted by economist Andrew Franklin which revealed that â€Å"Wal-Mart operated primarily in poor and working-class communities.†Most of the retail company’s customers are â€Å"overwhelmingly female, and struggling to make ends meet. † Featherstone argues that Wal-Mart ensures that its market in the low income segment continually expands by â€Å"creating more bad jobs worldwide. † She also points out that Wal-Mart routinely employs illegal and unethical business practices to maintain its competitive edge over other compani es, including violating wage and labor laws that deprive workers of their living wage and health benefits.More importantly, this set-up â€Å"contribute to an economy in which, increasingly, workers can only afford to shop at Wal-Mart. † The biggest brunt falls on Wal-Mart’s overwhelmingly female workers. As a result, the company has been the subject of â€Å"the largest civil rights class-action suit in history† which â€Å"charges the company with systematically discriminating against women in pay and promotions.† The company has also been cleverly using public funds to subsidize its low wages by encouraging its workers to apply for welfare assistance. Despite the company’s glaring offenses, however, poor women continue to patronize Wal-Mart because it is all they can afford. Featherstone therefore contends that the success of a concerted action against the giant company lies in the ability of stakeholders such as labor unions to go beyond the co nsumer mentality, constructed by big business, in creating avenues of resistance.The author notes that â€Å"to effectively battle corporate criminals like Wal-Mart, the public must be engaged as citizens, not merely as shoppers,† in order to form a movement with enough social and political power to challenge Wal-Mart and to advance the interest of the poor and the working class. Arguably, Featherstone’s article is one of the most convincing and informative pieces there is that provides a balanced and level-headed discussion of an issue that is as inflammatory as â€Å"the â€Å"Wal-Martization† of American jobs.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Down and Out in Discount America† is clearly intended for a wide spectrum of audience. Featherstone assumes that her readers know Wal-mart but they do not know about its unfair practices and illegal activities. Through the clever use of rhetoric and data, the author delivers an essay that is both incisive and engaging. Featherstone u ses both academic data and well-placed personal narratives of the workers of Wal-Mart to build her case.In the process, she does not need to explicitly state that Wal-mart profits from injustice and deepening income divide, this is already substantiated by the real-life cases and hard statistics that speak about the way the company â€Å"profits not only on women's drudgery but also on their joy, creativity and genuine care for the customer† and conditions its consumers to be heavily dependent on the â€Å"relief† brought by Wal-Mart discounted prices. It is interesting to note that Featherstone incorporates contrary ideas into her piece—such as the welcoming attitude towards Wal-Mart held by poor women—to illuminate and strengthen her stance.Thus, Featherstone avoids taking the â€Å"boycott† stance that would have been too simplistic an answer to as big a problem as Wal-Mart. â€Å"Down and Out in Discount America† also does not have the d epressing tone that most articles dealing with serious social issues are often infected with; this is not to say that the article does not evoke an emotional response from the reader but that it presents an image of women workers, who, despite their desperation and sad circumstance, manage to lend their anecdotes to show the multi-dimensionality of the Wal-Mart experience. One therefore finds it hard not to take Featherstone’s side against Wal-mart.The writer undoubtedly presents a well-informed case that explores the Wal-Mart’s labor issues in both a personal and social angle, and attempts to convince the audience on the logic and soundness of why the poor should stop shopping at Wal-Mart (which Featherstone has already conceded is an exercise in futility) but on why there should be more stringent policies to safeguard the poor from unfair labor practices and why there should be adequate legal measures to punish corporate criminal activities that prey upon the despera tion of the poor and the working class.Featherstone is also right in pointing out the need for a political and social movement that would leverage the interest of the poor and the working class above corporate interests. This movement must be a powerful enough presence to generate political pressure on the government and on big businesses to fulfill their social obligations.Clearly, â€Å"Down and Out in Discount America† is a searing portrayal of what happens when citizens literally put their souls out for a â€Å"bargain† with big businesses, which has transformed them into mere consumers whose participation in political and social decision-making is limited to individualistic shopping and purchase decisions. Fortunately, writers like Featherstone are there to remind consumers that they are, first and foremost, citizens and workers with stakes not only in payday discount sales but in the future and direction of labor and living conditions in the community and the cou ntry.

Analysis of four FTSE 100 stocks Stocks and shares - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1456 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Analysis of four FTSE 100 stocks Introduction Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Analysis of four FTSE 100 stocks: Stocks and shares" essay for you Create order This paper looks at the share price performance of four FTSE100 listed companies. The four companies randomly selected for analysis are GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Prudential (PRU), Tesco and Vodafone Group (Vod) representing pharmaceutical, financial, retailing and telecommunication sectors. Share price series analysis Appendix I shows the average monthly share prices of the above companies for the period July 2001 to December 2003. Table 1 below shows the summary of share price analysis for the four companies. Table 1 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Analysis of Share Price GSK PRUDENTIAL TESCO VODAFONE % change -36.25% -44.36% -0.51% -9.01% Average price, p 1435.09 552.52 224.91 125.80 Highest price, p 2001.09 871.06 258.10 180.75 Lowest price, p 1117.71 327.46 167.89 90.64 Diff 883.38 543.60 90.21 90.11 Diff as % of Avg. 61.56% 98.38% 40.11% 71.63% St.Dev 273.30 164.40 25.71 23.21 St. dev as % of avg. price 19.04% 29.75% 11.43% 18.45% All four companies had negative return over the period meaning that share prices of all four companies declined in the 30 months to December 2003. Prudential had the highest negative return at -44.3% and Tesco had lowest negative return at -0.5%. GSK lost about one-third of its value while Vodafone lost about 9.0% of its market value over the period. The table also shows the highest and lowest values of shares of all the four companies. The difference between highest and lowest values is highest for GSK and lowest for Vodafone. But difference as a percent of average is highest in case of Prudential and lowest for Tesco. Such is the vast difference between percents that Tesco difference percent is only about 40% of that of Prudential. This shows that the percent movement in Prudentialà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s share price was highest. Standard deviation is a better indicator of movement of a stock. Again standard deviation in absolute numbers was highest in case of GSK and lowest for Vodafone. Even though Vodafoneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s average share price is about 56 % of average price of Tesco, the difference in their standard deviation is not much. Further when we compute standard deviation as a percent of average, we see that Tesco has lowest percent at 11.43% while Vodafone has higher percent at 18.45%. Prudential has highest standard deviation to average share price percent at 29.75%. The above data shows that Tescoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s share price is least volatile among the four companies. Let us also analyse the companies from return point of view. Annexure II shows the monthly returns of four companies. Table 2 shows the key results of monthly returns. Table 2 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Monthly returns GSK PRUDENTIAL TESCO VODAFONE Average monthly return -1.31% -1.48% -0.07% -0.28% Highest monthly return 9.18% 13.87% 11.55% 18.01% Lowest monthly return -13.60% -21.46% -10.52% -18.26% St. Dev. 5.24% 8.84% 4.58% 8.28% Avg. monthly return / st. dev -0.25 -0.17 -0.01 -0.03 As absolute return over the period is negative for all four companies, so are the four average monthly returns. In line with table 1 results, Tesco had highest average monthly return at -0.07% while Prudential had lowest average monthly return at -1.48%. The highest monthly returns at 18.01% were recorded in Vodafone while lowest monthly returns of -21.46% were recorded for Prudential. Even the absolute highest and lowest monthly returns are almost same for Tesco and Vodafone whereas the absolute negative monthly are higher for Prudential and GSK. We now look at standard deviation of monthly returns. Tesco had lowest standard deviation of monthly returns and Prudential had highest. These are in line with standard deviation of share prices seen in table 1. An interesting observation here is that the standard deviation on monthly returns for Prudential and Vodafone are almost same. This means that the two companies have high volatility. Correlation Analysis While we saw the individual performance of four companies, it is important from a portfolio point of view to analyse how they would impact a portfolio of stocks. The important thing to analyse is the correlation between stocks. Ideally a portfolio should have totally negatively related stocks to reduce standard deviation of the portfolio. We have done the correlation analysis on monthly % returns rather than on share prices. Table 3 shows the correlation between monthly returns of different companies. Table 3 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Correlation between monthly returns of different companies GSK Prudential Tesco Vodafone Average GSK 1.00 0.52 0.48 0.41 0.47 Prudential 0.52 1.00 0.48 0.47 0.49 Tesco 0.48 0.48 1.00 0.04 0.33 Vodafone 0.41 0.47 0.04 1.00 0.31 The highest correlation is observed between GSK and Prudential but it is 0.52 only. The movement in GSK monthly return is only matched 52% by the movement in Prudentialà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s share monthly returns. Each % movement in GSK monthly return will be matched by 0.52% movement in monthly returns of Prudential. When we classify the four companies as either growth or value stocks, GSK and Prudential are probably the most closely related. GSK is a pharmaceutical company with decent growth. Prudential is a financial services firm. They are neither value stock nor growth stock in true sense. Tesco is in retailing of consumer goods whereas Vodafone is on the edge of telecommunication and technology. The lowest covariance of 0.04 was observed between Tesco and Vodafone. This low correlation means that there is almost no similarity between the returns of Tesco and Vodafone. This could be explained on the basis of their different business segments. Tesco can be seen as a value stock whereas Vodafone was then seen as a growth stock. During boom periods, growth stocks show higher returns and during lower growth or recession investors shift their focus to value stocks. That is the reason for almost unrelated movement in the share prices of Tesco and Vodafone. We now look at the average correlation of all four companies. Prudential has the highest average correlation of 0.49. Vodafone on the other hand has the lowest average correlation of 0.31. This means that Prudentialà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s share price movement was most in line with other three shares whereas Vodafoneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s share price was least in line with three other shares. One interesting thing to note from table 3 is that all correlations are positive. This means that irrespective of low magnitudes, all companies share prices moved in the same direction. This is important from the point of portfolio formation. Portfolio manages would like as diverse stocks as possible to benefit from different movements in markets. Unrelated or negatively related stocks lower the variance of the portfolio and hence offer high return to variance ratio. The fact that all correlations are positive may be because of the size of companies. All four companies selected for this study are large companies. Normally movements in share price of large companies are in the same direction. Also the fact that we are calculating only monthly returns would result in more alignment of returns. Individual stocks GlaxoSmithKline GSK had the second highest negative returns over the period of this study. Its overall share price return was -36%. This is a substantial drop in market value. On this factor alone, GSK is not worth buying. But when we look at return to standard deviation ratio, GSK has highest absolute monthly return to standard deviation ratio. It means GSK offers highest returns for each % movement in variation. Investors look not only for highest return stock but for stock with highest return to standard deviation ratio. This makes GSK a contender for hold. Prudential Prudential had highest negative returns during the period. It also had the highest standard variation among the four companies. In light of the above two, it is better to sell Prudential. There is no point in holding or buying lowest return stock with highest variability. Also Prudential has the highest correlation with other three shares. Forming a portfolio with Prudential will least chance of decreasing the standard deviation of the portfolio as compared to forming a portfolio with any other three stocks. So it is better to sell Prudential. Tesco Tesco had the lowest negative returns among four stocks. This makes it a strong contender to buy. It also had the least standard deviation among four companies. Though its return to standard deviation is not high, its highest performance in terms of returns results in a buy decision. Vodafone Vodafone had second lowest negative returns. But it has a very high standard deviation. On its own, it is better to sell it because of high volatility. But if used in a portfolio, its lowest correlation can reduce the standard deviation of the portfolio most. In light of two diverging views, it is better to hold it à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" neither buy nor sell. Appendix I à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Monthly Share Price of Four FTSE 100 Companies In pence Date GSK PRUDENTIAL TESCO VODAFONE GROUP 15/06/2001 1977.76 824.57 260.55 164.76 15/07/2001 2001.09 833.59 248.83 150.10 15/08/2001 1902.43 871.06 256.06 138.48 15/09/2001 1779.15 705.80 249.89 138.56 15/10/2001 1895.22 727.74 247.55 159.87 15/11/2001 1855.68 772.00 242.84 179.05 15/12/2001 1736.52 783.07 239.64 180.75 15/01/2002 1715.00 784.37 238.80 166.72 15/02/2002 1728.35 699.07 247.84 136.27 15/03/2002 1681.09 700.79 242.39 136.90 15/04/2002 1638.77 733.18 256.72 118.60 15/05/2002 1589.26 683.00 258.10 105.66 15/06/2002 1373.10 591.07 247.96 94.07 15/07/2002 1226.17 501.04 221.87 91.29 15/08/2002 1300.86 520.64 217.67 100.16 15/09/2002 1205.62 408.90 208.29 90.64 15/10/2002 1291.35 418.24 201.24 96.33 15/11/2002 1240.43 476.24 200.90 113.68 15/12/2002 1164.50 461.11 193.45 115.08 15/01/2003 1170.09 406.16 183.65 117.36 15/02/2003 1129.45 385.25 167.89 114.27 15/03/2003 1117.71 327.46 173.37 113.27 15/04/2003 1220.27 360.00 193.40 122.39 15/05/2003 1277.73 381.59 202.08 122.94 15/06/2003 1250.00 376.45 212.92 124.46 15/07/2003 1199.96 408.86 216.04 117.95 15/08/2003 1209.76 423.51 216.83 118.42 15/09/2003 1271.09 455.33 232.39 121.61 15/10/2003 1276.83 448.37 238.42 123.48 15/11/2003 1329.50 467.97 242.77 129.07 15/12/2003 1275.74 463.84 247.55 136.57 (Source: Data provided by the client) Appendix II à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Monthly Returns Date GSK PRUDENTIAL TESCO VODAFONE GROUP 15/07/2001 1.18% 1.09% -8.90% -4.50% 15/08/2001 -4.93% 4.50% -7.74% 2.91% 15/09/2001 -6.48% -18.97% 0.06% -2.41% 15/10/2001 6.52% 3.11% 15.38% -0.94% 15/11/2001 -2.09% 6.08% 12.00% -1.90% 15/12/2001 -6.42% 1.43% 0.95% -1.32% 15/01/2002 -1.24% 0.17% -7.76% -0.35% 15/02/2002 0.78% -10.87% -18.26% 3.79% 15/03/2002 -2.73% 0.25% 0.46% -2.20% 15/04/2002 -2.52% 4.62% -13.37% 5.91% 15/05/2002 -3.02% -6.84% -10.91% 0.54% 15/06/2002 -13.60% -13.46% -10.97% -3.93% 15/07/2002 -10.70% -15.23% -2.96% -10.52% 15/08/2002 6.09% 3.91% 9.72% -1.89% 15/09/2002 -7.32% -21.46% -9.50% -4.31% 15/10/2002 7.11% 2.28% 6.28% -3.38% 15/11/2002 -3.94% 13.87% 18.01% -0.17% 15/12/2002 -6.12% -3.18% 1.23% -3.71% 15/01/2003 0.48% -11.92% 1.98% -5.07% 15/02/2003 -3.47% -5.15% -2.63% -8.58% 15/03/2003 -1.04% -15.00% -0.88% 3.26% 15/04/2003 9.18% 9.94% 8.05% 11.55% 15/05/2003 4.71% 6.00% 0.45% 4.49% 15/06/2003 -2.17% -1.35% 1.24% 5.36% 15/07/2003 -4.00% 8.61% -5.23% 1.47% 15/08/2003 0.82% 3.58% 0.40% 0.37% 15/09/2003 5.07% 7.51% 2.69% 7.18% 15/10/2003 0.45% -1.53% 1.54% 2.59% 15/11/2003 4.13% 4.37% 4.53% 1.82% 15/12/2003 -4.04% -0.88% 5.81% 1.97% BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES Brealey, R.A. Myers, S.C., à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Principles of Corporate Financeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, Sixth edition, McGraw-Hill Companies.

Good Concept Essay Topics for Dummies

Good Concept Essay Topics for Dummies Additional school isn't generally happening within the class room. Your essay might incorporate the explanations for teen pregnancy and talk about the recent rates of teen pregnancy and potential solutions. If a person is uber rich, the middle class appears poor. You may want to incorporate a concise history of plastic surgery and why it has gotten so popular. A History of Good Concept Essay Topics Refuted For the large part, nevertheless, your essay should describe the idea of economy and think about why economics have started to take up such an important part in social studies. The primary goal of topic choice for a proposal essay is to demonstrate the idea can be put into place in practice. Defining an excellent partner means you will have to choose what qualities an individual must have in order to be appropriate for you. Or simply describe your favourite book, it may also be a very good issue to write about. Therefore, for your cour sework, you're want to have the very best ideas. Concept map design should be visually stimulating. Writing about nuclear weapons is always a great idea. You also need to ask your instructor about the essay requirements that you want to follow. The Demise of Good Concept Essay Topics Strategies for writing book reports on books you haven't even read. Don't neglect to get a Kibin editor review your final paper to be sure it's on the right path. Don't forget that if you pick a great title for your work, it gets really easy that you proceed with it and present a great paper generally. It is also feasible to locate great issues to describe in literature. Usually, it's essential that you choose a topic from a collection of societal networking advertising research paper problems. When you choose a topic, you should react to the query and after that substantiate your response with three or more motivations as to why you think like that. You shouldn't believe that you've got to ch oose a critical topic to be in a position to have a powerful writing sample. When you're attempting to begin your research paper you want to get a superior outline and form some important suggestions for research topics. On-line publications and data sites deliver great thoughts also. Many people wind up covering the exact tired topics they see in the media daily, only because they can't produce a better idea. How some advertising can be extremely powerful. Tell us a topic that you've changed your head on in the last three years. Writing something which tickles someone's funny bone demands plenty of prowess. Opt for a distinctive topic that others may not think of, and whatever you select, make sure that you know a lot about it! If you don't know that fun is really among the costliest things on earth of today, then you truly do not know anything. Where to Find Good Concept Essay Topics Always think deeply about the way to make a very good essay structure it's a significant part academic writing. When it's to do an essay, composing is truly only the beginning. Among the things to contemplate in essay writing is to understand how to begin an essay. Pick an intriguing essay topic, and you will begin enjoying it. There are a lot of certain suggestions to choose a good descriptive essay topic. In this kind of situation, it's more convenient to discover ready-made essays and use them as an example. When you're writing such essay, the goal is to come out with the ideal college essays. Knowing how to begin an essay is even more challenging as you must find the appropriate inspiration to write. Things You Won't Like About Good Concept Essay Topics and Things You Will Remember your final grade significantly is based on the topic. The procedure for grading student papers can be a really boring one. The teacher may provide several words to discuss to create the paper longer. The teachers don't always assign the specific topic. The main relevance of a concept analytical essay is to present a more vivid evaluation and explanation of the ideas that may appear ambiguous. You might discover that lots of the topics can be adapted to suit almost any type of writing assignment. Remember your essay shouldn't be a string of jokes, it's a narrative it needs to have a start, middle and the end. A concept essay is a sort of a literary essay piece that's utilised to present an idea or a topic with the sole goal of providing a very clear definition and explanation.

Differentiated Instructionâ€Literature Review.By Teri Daniel.

Differentiated Instruction–Literature Review By Teri Daniel Introduction – What is Differentiated Instruction? Students are different, just like people are different. There are many varied groups of students in one classroom. Differentiated instruction is a process for teaching and learning for students of differing abilities in the same class (Hall et al., 2011). The intent of differentiating instruction is to maximize each student’s growth, and individual success by meeting each student where he or she is, and assisting in the learning process (Hall et al., 2011). Instruction is differentiated in classrooms through content, process, products, and learning environment. Teachers must adapt curriculum and lesson planning to meet†¦show more content†¦He rejected the idea that children are primarily motivated by rewards and punishments, rather, children are motivated by what they are most interested in. Often misrepresented to be associated with child-centered education (1899.) In 1968, Fred Keller introduced the Keller Plan, to help students in Brazil master content at their own pace. Curriculum was short units of written texts that students moved thru at their own pace, and then took a test. If they failed a test, they repeat coursework until they could demonstrate mastery. Students in these PSI courses (Keller Plan) â€Å"learn course content better, remember it longer, and like the experience more than students in traditional classes,† (Fox, 2004). In 1978, Lev Vygotsky conducted research in child psychology in the 1920s, but his work did not reach the USA until 1978. He states: â€Å"Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological).† (Vygotsky, 1978). He thought curriculum should be interactive, teachers should scaffold by students performance, and assessment range on zone of proximal development. This zone is where kids learn and described as what children can do at their actual development and what they can do with help is their level of potential

Tour de France Drug Abuse Essay Example For Students

Tour de France Drug Abuse Essay The question of drug use among athletes in what was previously considered by the unknowing public to be a rather pristine sport, cycling, is important in that it will affect all future Tours and will place them and the athletes under scrutiny. To begin with, in Europe until the 1998 scandal occurred, despite a few exceptions, cycling was considered a drug free sport. The 1998 drug scandal tarnished the Tour de France and the reputation and image of other sports. The media response to the scandal took differing positions on what should be done next to clean up cycling. The scandal also affected advertisements, sales, and without question the 1999 Tour and Lance Armstrong. Since even the most naive fan no longer trusts the cyclists, drug-testing procedures have been instituted. Also, the question now arises regarding medications used by seriously ill cyclists. Certainly, future Tours will be significantly affected. The Union Cycliste Internationale and other sports officials are left with several burning questions; do they seek a better testing system? Clearly, they must protect athletes and the image of sports even though it is costly. Do they perform uniform versus random drug tests? Both are necessary to keep athletes and trainers accountable. In fact, the 1999 Tour promoted both forms of testing (Fife 208). If they do random tests, how do they enforce them? On this point, committees and sports federations are still debating. For years cycling, a grueling, yet glamorous sport in Europe, has been fighting drug use and abuse. Despite a few exceptions, cycling had the reputation, in Europe and in France, of being a clean, pure sport, compared to others, until the 1998 scandal occurred. The question of drug use among athletes in what was previously considered by the unknowing public to be a rather pristine sport, cycling, is important in that it will affect all future Tours and will place them and the athletes under scrutiny. A Clean Reputation: The History of Drugs in the Tour de France In 1967, Tommy Simpson, a British cyclist, died during the Tour de France because of the amphetamines that he took. Succeeding years brought embarrassments: In 1978, the Belgian Michel Pollentier was suspended while leading the Tour de France after he was caught concealing a clean urine sample to trick testers. Furthermore, in 1988, the Spaniard Pedro Delgado won the Tour de France despite having tested positive for using what is known as a masking agent, a substance designed to hide drug use, but one that was not banned by the Tour at that time. Pedro Delgado even argued that somebody put them in his glass, and that he did not even notice it. Still these incidents were considered minor in comparison to the sandal of 1998. Nowhere has the disgrace of doping been felt more dramatically than in the Tour de France, the worlds most prestigious cycling event (Wilson E6). The scandal started on July 8 when Festinas team masseur, Willy Voet crossed the French-Belgian border and was checked by French customs authorities. Driving an official car, issued by the Societe du Tour de France, nobody would have thought that he could be stopped. Voet was carrying plenty of banned substances in his car, which immediately resulted in Voets arrest. The drugs found in the car were erythropoietin (or EPO), human growth hormone, testosterone, syringes, and amphetamines. Voet confessed a few days after being arrested that it was not the first time hed ferried such a haul of performance-enhancing dope to big races, generally, as on this occasion, under order from the Festina team bosses (Fife 201). As soon as the Tour arrived in France on July 14th, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) suspended the professional licenses of Festinas sports directors, Roussel and Ryckaert, and put the leaders of the team, Richard Virenque, Laurent Brochard, and Laurent Dufaux on hold. The following day the Festina team was disqualified from the Tour after some of the riders admitted to a systematic doping program. Nevertheless, the next day Roussels lawyer issued a statement: The Festina manager had informed the police that within the Festina team controlled doping had been introduced to safeguard the riders health and wellbeing. .u3007aa5e171ffc8156363fccba83fe4a , .u3007aa5e171ffc8156363fccba83fe4a .postImageUrl , .u3007aa5e171ffc8156363fccba83fe4a .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u3007aa5e171ffc8156363fccba83fe4a , .u3007aa5e171ffc8156363fccba83fe4a:hover , .u3007aa5e171ffc8156363fccba83fe4a:visited , .u3007aa5e171ffc8156363fccba83fe4a:active { border:0!important; } .u3007aa5e171ffc8156363fccba83fe4a .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u3007aa5e171ffc8156363fccba83fe4a { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u3007aa5e171ffc8156363fccba83fe4a:active , .u3007aa5e171ffc8156363fccba83fe4a:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u3007aa5e171ffc8156363fccba83fe4a .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u3007aa5e171ffc8156363fccba83fe4a .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u3007aa5e171ffc8156363fccba83fe4a .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u3007aa5e171ffc8156363fccba83fe4a .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u3007aa5e171ffc8156363fccba83fe4a:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u3007aa5e171ffc8156363fccba83fe4a .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u3007aa5e171ffc8156363fccba83fe4a .u3007aa5e171ffc8156363fccba83fe4a-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u3007aa5e171ffc8156363fccba83fe4a:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Why We Should Stop Animal Testing Essay The subtext of this was, naturally: .

Pros and Cons of Us Healthcare System free essay sample

Canada spends far less of its GDP on health care (10. 4 percent, versus 16 percent in the U. S. ) yet performs better than the U. S. on two commonly cited health outcome measures, the infant mortality rate and life expectancy. But what constitutes high quality health care? The U. S. Institute of Medicine’s definition, which has grounded expert work in the United States and elsewhere, describes quality as â€Å"the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge. A healthcare system can be reviewed by many standards. It can be reviewed by its effectiveness and efficiency, its fairness and receptiveness to the expectations of its population. It can be reviewed through its non-discriminatory economic contributions and suitability and lastly, it can be reviewed through its population’s overall health. Both the Unites States and Canada have Medicare prog rams that are publicly funded. We will write a custom essay sample on Pros and Cons of Us Healthcare System or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page However, the United States unlike Canada has other types of programs that are publicly funded. These programs for example include the States Childs Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) for children of low income families and the Veterans Hospital Administration Program (VA) which supplies military veterans’ with health benefits via a network of government hospitals. Canada’s government in contrast to the U. S. offers a single payer system for health care to its citizens where fundamental services are supplied by private physicians (socialized medicine). Physician care in the U. S. is typically provided by a physician in private practice but can come from the government as well. A good number of U. S. and Canadian physicians also utilize a fee per visit rate. Roughly 2/3 of hospitals in the United States’ urban areas are non-profit hospitals unlike Canada. Numerous citizens in both countries encounter difficulties obtaining access to health care. Many U. S. citizens either have no health insurance because they are not able to afford it or it is inadequate, unlike Canada where all members of society are covered for health care. Both Canada and the U. S. have restricted programs that supply prescriptions to the underprivileged. A number of provinces in Canada still charge individuals and families premiums and in the U. S, states like Connecticut and Minnesota have moved toward Universal Health Care. For the most part both countries seem to hold equal acceptability and equal restrictions. Essentially, when comparing and contrasting the U. S. and Canada, the Canadian health care system has a smaller number of physicians as oppose to the United States but there is more government involvement in the Canadian health care system than in the United States We will explore the positives and negatives of the U. S. and Canadian healthcare system. Given the presence of social insurance programs in the United States, this paper will evaluate the role of managed care approaches in meeting the cost-containment, access, and quality objectives of the two Health Care Programs in the United States and Canada. We will attempt to compare and contrast the benefits and liabilities inherent in the two neighboring countries. We will also focus our study on problem analysis; try to offer solutions and recommendations; and justify why our recommended solution and implementation will solve the identified problems. We will also determine which country’s approach is the most effective. Comparative Study of United States and Canadas Health Care System I. Problem/Issue Statement Medicare is facing a fiscal crisis that threatens its sustainability. The need for significant Medicare reform is increasingly urgent as 76 million baby boomers are expected to retire over the next two decade. According to the 201 Medicare Trustees Report, the Hospital Insurance trust fund will be depleted in 2024. This translates to $27 trillion in unfunded liabilities over the next 75 years. Current projections indicate that health care costs will increase by more that 70 percent over the next ten years and will continue thereafter to consume an increasingly greater portion of personal income. For Americans, health care coverage depends primarily on whether health insurance is provided by their employer or through two major public programs, Medicaid for the poor and Medicare for the elderly. For both public and private employees, health care benefits and cost vary tremendously. By making workers dependent upon their employer for health care, there is an extra burden on workers who are forced to change or lose their jobs in the U. S. Also, a growing number of people with a history of health problems, or with what insurance companies deem to be preexisting conditions, find themselves uninsurable. With rising health care costs, many employers in the private sector do not provide any health care benefits at all. Most employers, whether private or public, are attempting to shift the cost of health care programs onto workers. Medicare, for example, now covers only about 40% of the health care costs of the aged. II. Literature Review In 2009, Americans spent $7,960 per person on health care, while our neighbors in Canada spent $4,808. There are many possible explanations for why Americans pay so much more. It could be that we’re sicker. Or that we go to the doctor more frequently. But on close inspection, found that Americans don’t see the doctor more often or stay longer in the hospital than residents of other countries. Quite the opposite, we spend less time in the hospital and see the doctor less often than the Canadians. The United States spends more on health care than Canada without providing more services than Canada. Canada’s Health Care prices are set by the government. The creation of Medicare in Canada in 1966 rapidly led to government funding of much of the health system. The American government has also has become deeply involved in the delivery of health care, but has not created a system of universal government coverage. Comparing and Contrasting the U. S. Health Care System A healthcare system can be reviewed by many standards. It can be reviewed by its effectiveness and efficiency, its fairness and receptiveness to the expectations of its population. It can be reviewed through its non-discriminatory economic contributions and suitability and lastly, it can be reviewed through its population’s overall health. Roughly two-thirds of hospitals in the United States’ urban areas are non-profit hospitals unlike Canada. Numerous citizens in both countries encounter difficulties obtaining access to health care. Many U. S. itizens either have no health insurance because they are not able to afford it or it is inadequate, unlike Canada where all members of society are covered for health care. Both Canada and the U. S. have restricted programs that supply prescriptions to the underprivileged. A number of provinces in Canada still charge individuals and families premiums and in the U. S, states like Connecticut and Minnesota have moved toward Universal Health Care. For the most part both countries seem to hold equal acceptability and equal restrictions. Essentially, when comparing and contrasting the U.S. and Canada, the Canadian health care system has a smaller number of physicians as oppose to the United States but there is more government involvement in the Canadian health care system than in the United States (Holt , 2007, Para 7,8, and 9). Pros and cons in the U. S and Canadian Health care Systems As usual there are pros and cons to the Canadian health care system. For example a small number of well-revealed and somewhat erroneous cases show that has a con, Canada’s health care system is in great need of improved urgent care for its citizens requiring immediate treatment. Another con is that Canadians also pay higher taxes to pay for health care. Further examination reveals that as a con, the Canadian health care system does a very meager job at handling and controlling chronic disease. Furthermore, as a major con, the health care system’s wait time for elective care is way beyond the required time a citizen should have to wait for treatment and this includes appointments with family physicians, specialists and elected surgical procedures (Suphan 2009, para. 6). On the other hand, when viewing the pros of the system, all Canadians have insurance coverage for hospital and physician services. The citizens do not have co-pays or deductibles on basic health care services. In addition, the majority of Canadian provinces supply coverage for programs such as home health care, long-term care, pharmaceuticals and durable health care equipment, though these services do have minimal co-pays. The main pro that Canada’s health care system has are its costs. Canada pays out roughly 10% of its economic value on healthcare plus Canadians essentially receive more of the majority of services. Just as Canada has pros and cons to its health care system, likewise the United States’ health care system has pros and cons. One of the pros of the U. S. health care system is that its medical research systems are some of the best in the world. Institutions such as the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and the medical school at Harvard possess some of the most world-renowned researchers in the world because of the advances they are making in medicine and also because of the current free-market system. Another pro to the United States’ health care system is that Americans’ who have enough money for it or those who possess jobs with great benefits have some of the best health insurance plans in the world. One more advantage of the present U. S. health care system is that taxpayers do not sustain the cost coupled with supplying health care insurance to all single people. Furthermore, the U. S. health care system as a major pro pays health care for elderly and very poor. On the other side of United States health care system are its cons. For example one of the main cons of the present U. S. health care system is that Americans pay out a large amount extra for their health care, but the sad fact is, many American citizens are not any healthier than other citizens in other nations that pay out much less in funds for health care. The amount of money paid out on American health care is astounding to say the least. Another major drawback of the U. S. health care system is that a great majority of American citizens are in fact underinsured or worst case scenario, uninsured. Lastly, the United States’ health care system most major cons deal with the lack of health care access, high costs and comprehensive quality health care for everyone requiring health care. A 2007 review of all studies comparing health outcomes in Canada and the U. S. , in a Canadian peer-reviewed medical journal, found that health outcomes may be superior in patients cared for in Canada versus the United States, but differences are not consistent. (Guyatt et. al. , 2007) Life expectancy is longer in Canada, and its infant mortality rate is lower than that of the U. S. but there is debate about the underlying causes of these differences. The World Health Organizations ratings of health care system performance among 191 member nations, published in 2000, ranked Canada 30th and the U. S. 37th, and the overall health of Canadians 35th to the American 72nd. (The World Health Report 2007) Compare and Contrast Government involvement Canadas single-payer health care system is universa l, while in the United States, with its mixed public-private system, 16% are uninsured at any one time. The governments of both nations are closely involved in the delivery of health care. The central structural difference between the two is in health insurance. In Canada, the federal government is committed to providing funding support to its provincial governments for health care expenditures as long as the province in question abides by accessibility guarantees as set out in the Canada Health Act, which explicitly prohibits billing end users for procedures that are covered by Medicare. While some label Canadas system as socialized medicine, the term is controversial. Princeton University health economist Uwe E. Reinhardt says that single-payer systems are not socialized medicine but social insurance systems, because doctors are in the private sector. In the U. S. , direct federal and state government funding of health care needs of its citizens is limited to Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Childrens Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) insurance programs for eligible senior citizens, very poor, disabled persons, and children. One study estimates that about 25 percent of the uninsured in the U. S. are eligible for these programs but unenrolled, but extending coverage to all who are eligible remains a fiscal and political challenge. The federal government also runs the Veterans Administration, which provides care to veterans, their families, and survivors through medical centers and clinics. For everyone else, health insurance must be paid for privately. Just fewer than 60% of U. S. residents have access to health care insurance through employers, although the workers expected contribution to such plans varies widely. Those whose employer does not offer health insurance, as well as those who are self-employed or unemployed, must purchase it on their own. Despite the greater role of private business in the U. S. , federal and state agencies are increasingly involved in U. S. health care spending, paying about 45% of the $2. 2 trillion the nation spent on medical care in 2004. Beyond its direct spending, the U. S. government is also highly involved in health care through regulation and legislation. For example, the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 provided grants and loans to subsidize Health Maintenance Organizations and contained provisions to stimulate their popularity. HMOs had been declining before the law; by 2002 there were 500 such plans enrolling 76 million people. The Canadian system has been 69-75% publicly funded, though a substantial portion of services are provided by private corporations, namely the privately incorporated medical practices of most physicians (however, despite the fact that many doctors will refer to their private clinics, these are in fact merely private corporations that derive nearly all their revenue through government billings). Although some doctors work on a purely fee-for-service basis (usually family physicians), some family physicians and most specialists are paid through a combination of fee-for-service and fixed contracts with hospitals or health service management organizations. Canadas universal health plan does not cover certain services. Non-cosmetic dental care is covered for children up to age 14 in some provinces. Prescription drugs are not covered, but some provinces have drug cost programs that cover most drug costs over a certain portion of a familys income. Drug prices are also regulated, so brand-name prescription drugs are often significantly cheaper than in the U. S. Optometry is only covered in some provinces and is sometimes only covered for children under a certain age. Visits to many specialists may require an additional fee. Also, some procedures are only covered under certain circumstances. For example, circumcision is not covered, and a fee is usually charged when a parent requests the procedure; however, if an infection or medical necessity arises, the procedure would be covered. Coverage and access In Canada, every citizen has coverage, but access can still be a problem. Based on 2003 data from the Canadian Community Health Survey, an estimated 1. 2 million Canadians do not have a regular doctor because they cannot find one, and just over twice that number do not have one because they havent looked. Those without a regular doctor are 3. 5 times more likely to visit an emergency room for treatment. In the U. S. , the federal government does not guarantee universal health care to all its citizens, but publicly funded health care programs help to provide for the elderly, disabled, the poor, and children. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act also ensure public access to emergency services regardless of ability to pay. Wait times One of the major complaints about the Canadian health care system is waiting times, whether for a specialist, major elective surgery, such as hip replacement, or specialized treatments, such as radiation for breast cancer. Studies by the Commonwealth Fund found that 24% of Canadians waited 4 hours or more in the emergency room, vs. 12% in the U. S. ; 57% waited 4 weeks or more to see a specialist, vs. 23% in the U. S. In a 2003 survey of hospital administrators conducted in Canada, the U. S. , and three other countries, 21% of Canadian hospital administrators, but less than 1% of American administrators, said that it would take over three weeks to do a biopsy for possible breast cancer on a 50-year-old woman; 50% of Canadian administrators versus none of their American counterparts said that it would take over six months for a 65-year-old to undergo a routine hip replacement surgery. Yet U. S. administrators were the most negative about their countrys health care system. Hospital executives in all five countries expressed concerns about staffing shortages and emergency department waiting times and quality. In the U. S. , patients on Medicaid, the low-income government programs, can wait three months or more to see specialists. Because Medicaid payments are so low, doctors dont want to see Medicaid patients. In Benton Harbor, Michigan, specialists agreed to spend one afternoon every week or two at a Medicaid clinic, which meant that Medicaid patients had to make appointments not at the doctors office, but at the clinic, where appointments had to be booked months in advance. Price of health care Health care is one of the most expensive items of both nations’ budgets. The U. S. government spends more per capita on health care than the government does in Canada. In 2004, the government of Canada spent $2,120 (in US dollars) per person on health care, while the United States government spent $2,724. However, U. S. government spending covers less than half of all health care costs. Private spending for health care is also far greater in the U. S. than in Canada. In Canada, an average of $917 was spent annually by individuals or private insurance companies for health care, including dental, eye care, and drugs. In the U. S. , this number is $3,372. In 2004, health care consumed 15. 4% of U. S. annual GDP. In Canada, only 9. 8% of GDP was spent on health care. This difference is a relatively recent development. In 1971 the nations were much closer, with Canada spending 7. 1% of GDP on health while the U. S. spent 7. 6%. The health share of gross domestic product (GDP) in America is expected to hold steady in 2006 before resuming its historical upward trend, reaching 19. 6 percent of GDP by 2016. The mixed system in the United States has become more similar to the Canadian system. In recent decades, managed care has become prevalent in the United States, with some 90% of privately insured Americans belonging to plans with some form of managed care. Managed care is when the insurance company controls patients health care to reduce costs, for instance by demanding a second opinion prior to any expensive treatment. Administrative costs for health care are higher in the United States than in Canada. Medical professionals Some of the extra money spent in the United States goes to doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals, all of whom receive higher compensation than their counterparts north of the border. According to health data collected by the OECD, average income for physicians in the United States in 1996 was nearly twice that for physicians in Canada. Canada has fewer doctors per capita than the United States. In the U. S, there were 2. 4 doctors per 1,000 people in 2005; in Canada, there were 2. 2. Some doctors leave Canada to pursue career goals or higher pay in the U. S. Many Canadian physicians and new medical graduates also go to the U. S. for post-graduate training in medical residencies. Often new and cutting-edge sub-specialties are more widely available in the U. S. as opposed to Canada. However, statistics published in 2005 by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), show that, for the first time since 1969 (the period for which data are available), more physicians returned to Canada than moved abroad. Drugs Both Canada and the United States have limited programs to provide prescription drugs to those in need. In the United States the introduction of Medicare Part D has extended partial coverage for pharmaceuticals to Medicare beneficiaries. In Canada all drugs given in hospitals fall under Medicare, but other prescriptions do not. The provinces all have some programs to help the poor and seniors have access to drugs, but while there have been calls to create one, no national program exists. About two thirds of Canadians have private prescription drug coverage, mostly through their employers. In both countries there is a significant population not fully covered by these programs. A 2005 study found that 20% of Canadas and 40% of Americas sicker adults did not fulfill a prescription because of cost. One of the most important differences between the two countries is the much higher cost of drugs in the United States. In the United States $728 per capita is spent each year on drugs, while in Canada it is $509. At the same time consumption is higher in Canada, with about 12 prescriptions being filled per person each year in Canada and 10. 6 in the United States. The main difference is that patented drug prices in Canada average between 35% and 45% lower than in the United States. The price differential for brand-name drugs between the two countries has led Americans to purchase pward of US$1 billion in drugs per year from Canadian pharmacies. Technology The United States spends more on technology than Canada. The study Medical Imaging in Canada, 2004 reported that in 2004, Canada had 4. 6 MRI scanners per million population while the United States had 19. 5 per million. Canadas 10. 3 CT scanners per million also ranked behind the United States, which had 29. 5 per million. Malpract ice litigation The extra cost of malpractice lawsuits accounts for some of the difference in health spending in the two countries. In Canada the total cost of settlements, legal fees, and insurance comes to $4 per person each year, but in the United States it is $16. Average payouts to American plaintiffs were $265,103, while payouts to Canadian plaintiffs were somewhat higher, averaging $309,417. However, malpractice suits are far more common in the U. S. , with 350% more suits filed each year per person. While malpractice costs are significantly higher in the U. S. , they make up only a small proportion of total medical spending. The total cost of defending and settling malpractice lawsuits in the U. S. n 2001 was approximately $6. 5bn, or 0. 46% of total health spending. Critics say that defensive medicine consumes up to 9% of American healthcare expenses. In the same year in Canada, the total burden of malpractice suits was $237 million, or 0. 27% of total health spending. Ancillary expenses There are a number of ancillary costs that are higher in the U. S. Administrative costs are significantly higher in th e U. S. ; government mandates on record keeping and the diversity of insurers, plans and administrative layers involved in every transaction result in greater administrative effort. One recent study comparing administrative costs in the two countries found that these costs in the U. S. are roughly double what they are in Canada. Another ancillary cost is marketing both by insurance companies and health care providers. These costs are relatively higher in the U. S. , contributing to higher overall costs in that nation. Health care outcomes In 2007, Gordon H. Guyatt et al. conducted a meta-analysis, or systematic review, of all studies that compared health outcomes for similar conditions in Canada and the U.S. , in Open Medicine, an open-access peer-reviewed Canadian medical journal. They concluded, Available studies suggest that health outcomes may be superior in patients cared for in Canada versus the United States, but differences are not consistent. Guyatt identified 38 studies addressing conditions including cancer, coronary artery disease, chronic medical illnesses and surgical procedures. Of 10 studies with the strongest statistical validity, 5 favored Can ada, 2 favored the United States, and 3 were equivalent or mixed. Of 28 weaker studies, 9 favored Canada, 3 favored the United States, and 16 were equivalent or mixed. Overall, results for mortality favored Canada with a 5% advantage, but the results were weak and varied. The only consistent pattern was that Canadian patients fared better in kidney failure. Canadians are, overall, statistically healthier than Americans and show lower rates of many diseases such as various forms of cancer. On the other hand, evidence suggests that with respect to some illnesses (such as breast cancer), those who do get sick have a higher rate of cure in the U. S. than in Canada. In terms of population health, life expectancy in 2006 was about two and a half years longer in Canada, with Canadians living to an average of 79. 9 years and Americans 77. 5 years. Infant and child mortality rates are also higher in the U. S. Some comparisons suggest that the American system underperforms Canadas system as well as those of other industrialized nations with universal coverage. For example, a ranking by the World Health Organization of health care system performance among 191 member nations, published in 2000, ranked Canada 30th and the U. S. 7th, and the overall health of Canada 35th to the American 72nd The Positive Aspects of the United States Healthcare System. United States have lower cancer mortality rates than Canadians. Breast cancer mortality is 9% higher, prostate cancer is 184% higher and colon cancer mortality for males is 10% higher in comparison with the United States. United States have a higher ground gateway to chronic diseases trea tment than patients in other developed countries. For example: 56% of United States patients are beneficiaries of statins to reduce cholesterol levels and heart disease protection. United States has improved access to preventive cancer screening than Canadians. Proportionally to the age/population groups who had consigned from prescribed tests for cervical, prostate, breast and colon cancer: * 89% of middle aged American women had received a mammography in comparison to less than 72% of Canadians. * 96% of American women had received a pap smear, in comparison to less than 90% of Canadians. * 54% of American males have received a PSA test, in comparison to less than 16% Canadians. * 30% of Americans have received a colonoscopy, in comparison of the 5% of Canadians. Lower income Americans are in better health than comparable Canadians. American senior citizens with incomes under the median are reported as having excellent health in contrast with Canadian seniors 11. 7% vs. 5. 8%. Americans spend less time waiting for care than patients in Canada. Canadian patients have waited the double time lapse to go to a specialist to receive these types of healthcare services for example: radiation therapy or surgery replacements. Approximately 827,429 Canadians are on waiting lists for medical procedures. People in countries with more government control of health care are highly dissatisfied and believe reform is needed. 70 percent or more citizens from Canada, Germany, Australia, etc. , adults think that their health system needs to be reform. On recent satisfaction polls Americans are more satisfied with their healthcare than Canadians. When Americans were asked about their healthcare not their healthcare system 51. 3% were satisfied in comparison to a 41. 5% of Canadians the dissatisfaction level was 6. 8% for Americans and 8. 5% to Canadians. Americans have easier access to new medical technologies than patients in Canada. American health specialists have concluded that (MRI) magnetic resonance imaging and (CT) computerized tomography are the major helpers to improve patient well-being. The United States account for CT’s is 34 scanners per million Americans, in comparison of 12 per Canadians. For MRI’s the count is 27 machines per million Americans in contrast of 6 per million of Canadians. American medical facilities are responsible for almost all the health care discoveries and technologies. U. S. ospitals have conducted more clinical research than any other country. Since the 1970s, the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology has been awarded to American recipients. The Negative Aspects of the United States Healthcare System First, is the U. S. A’s health care system productively efficient relative to Canada’s health care system? Second, is the U. S. A. ’s problem of rising health care costs a particular concern? Although no country can claim to have eliminated inefficiency, the US’s high costs stand out. Thirdly, what effect does the U. S. A. ’s uninsured have on the Health Care system? Lastly, how does the restriction in choice of health care effect the USA? U. S. A. ’s Health Care’s Rising Costs Healthcare costs will continue to increase in the foreseeable future. Americans are dissatisfied with their health care system (Schoen, et. al. , 2007) but also spend more than the citizens of other countries. Other countries negotiate very aggressively with the providers and set rates that are much lower than we do. In America, Medicare and Medicaid negotiate prices on behalf of their tens of millions of members and, not coincidentally, purchase care at a substantial markdown from the commercial average. But outside that, it’s a free-for-all. Providers largely charge what they can get away with, often offering different prices to different insurers, and an even higher price to the uninsured. â€Å"Organizations of all sizes can embrace to take advantage of the rapid changes that our healthcare system will likely deliver in the next few years by positioning the organization to take a â€Å"proactive† approach to rising health care costs. So who’s to blame: Drug companies, insurers, politicians, lawyers, and the bad habits of Americans all figure into high and rising health-care costs? But the biggest contributors to high costs—doctors and hospitals—get off easier among consumers, our survey found. Sellers of healthcare services in America have considerable power to set prices, and so they set them quite high and they set them with margins as high as almost 20 percent. Unfortunately, the 2010 health-reform law does little to directly address prices. It includes provisions forcing hospitals to publish their prices, which ultimately would bring more transparency to this issue. † (Miller, 2008) Consequently, when all is said and done, health is a business in the United States. Restriction in Choice of Health Care One aspect of the USA’s Health Care system is that today’s employer-based insurance system restricts individuals’ choice of insurance, and many people are locked into jobs for fear of losing coverage. In the early 1990s, when insurers tried to reinvent themselves by embracing managed care, health insurers and employers sought to sharply limit patients’ choice in health care providers. Instead of just paying doctor and hospital bills, insurers also assumed a greater role in their customers’ medical care by restricting what specialists they could see or which hospitals they could go to. The issue of health care freedom is not discussed much in the debate over health care policy. Unfortunately, most policymakers prefer that government tell health care consumers what they can purchase and what treatments they can receive. Most do not favor greater health care freedom, which means the health care consumer is paramount, not a government bureaucrat or politician. Health Care’s Uninsured â€Å"A record rise in the number of people without health insurance across the nation is fueling renewed debate over a health care law that could work better at boosting coverage than controlling costs.