...Virginia Mason Medical Center Case study Question 1 How could TPS be used to solve the problems that Kaplan was facing at VMMC? VMMC was facing several critical issues when Kaplan assumed leadership of the organization: * High number of competitors in same geographic area * Lost substantial amount of money for the first time * Low morale among staff While Kaplan had implemented some changes to cut costs, he really needed to identify systematic ways to improve the quality of service and differentiate VMMC from its competitors. This is where TPS would prove valuable. Instead of being just another approach by management to create a more cost effective organization, TPS focuses on creating a culture of teamwork with the ultimate goal of delivering the highest quality service possible to the customer. And as a result of this focus on improvement, eventually costs are reduced. And lastly, TPS involves employees in the process and shifts the focus of management to the role of facilitator. Ideally these changes would undo some of the damage from past strategic innovations at VMMC and increase the staff morale. Why does TPS work at VMMC, while other similar approaches, i.e. TQM, have failed? The healthcare industry presents an interesting challenge: the relationship between the hospital and the physicians who work there. Historically the VMMC had a very difficult relationship with its physicians because they felt entitled to do what they wanted while it was...
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...1.) George Mason University is innovative and entrepreneurial in spirit and utilizes its multi-campus organization and location near our nation’s capital to attract outstanding faculty, staff and students. George Mason will: ▪Educate the new generation of leaders for the 21st century—men and women capable of shaping a global community with vision, justice, and clarity. ▪Encourage freedom of thought, speech, and inquiry in a tolerant, respectful academic setting that values diversity. ▪Provide innovative and interdisciplinary undergraduate, graduate, and professional courses of study that enable students to exercise analytical and imaginative thinking and make well-founded ethical decisions. ▪Nurture and support a highly qualified and entrepreneurial faculty that is excellent at teaching, active in pure and applied research, capable of providing a broad range of intellectual and cultural insights, and is responsive to the needs of students and their communities. ▪Maintain an international reputation for superior education and public service that affirms its role as the intellectual and cultural nexus among Northern Virginia, the nation, and the world. We feel that this mission statement is somewhat broad. George Mason should make an effort to be more specific about their mission statement. 2. Identify your customers. What are their needs? (p. 22) How do you assess good/poor quality in this organization? The customers of George Mason University are its students. In competition...
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...the other’s reaction as a reason for disclosing more for an intimate partner, whereas they endorsed privacy more as a reason for not disclosing to a friend. Men (mostly self–identified as homosexuals or bisexuals), but not women (mostly self–identified as heterosexuals), endorsed similarity as a reason for disclosing more to a friend or intimate partner than to a parent. The results are consistent with a Model of HIV–Disclosure Decision Making that indicates how cultural attitudes This research is partly supported by a research grant (#R01DA13145–01A1) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health. The authors wish to express our appreciation to the men and women who completed the questionnaires for this study. Please address correspondence to Valerian J. Derlega, Department of Psychology, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529–0267; E-mail at vderlega@odu.edu. 747 748 DERLEGA ET AL. (about HIV,...
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...Patrick Henry: Champion of Freedom According to George Mason, Patrick Henry was the Founding Father most responsible for “the preservation of our rights and liberties” (Unger 3). Growing up on the frontier of Virginia, being educated by his family, experiencing early failures as a young man and coming from a long line of gifted orators, shaped his convictions and actions. These impacted his life, both as a lawyer and a statesman, causing him to work tirelessly for the freedom of all people. Patrick Henry’s early life had a huge impact on the man he became and his mission. On May 24, 1736, America’s best orator was born. He came from a family of public speakers (Unger 5). Patrick Henry, the second oldest of nine children, two boys and seven...
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...Case For Analysis: Covington Corrugated Parts & Services Abstract Covington Corrugated Parts & Services is a Virginia based company providing precision machine parts and services to the domestic corrugated box and paperboard industry. The business is owned by Larisa Harrison and operates from a 50,000 square foot factory in the rural Shenandoah Valley with 150 employees, many of them now nearing retirement. Due to changes in the economy and new competition their dominant 70 percent of the market share is rapidly declining. While management was focused on building the business, the box and paperboard industry was changing; plastics and reusable containers were becoming more prevalent. Management is now faced with the task of developing and implementing a new strategy for growth, replacing skilled employees, and maintaining a competitive edge in the industry. This case study will identify the issues Covington is facing, analyze the problems, and propose a strategy for the new challenges ahead (Daft, 2013). Introduction Covington is a Virginia based company that provides parts and services to the domestic corrugated box and paperboard industry. With...
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...UVA-OM-1497 Authorized for use only in the course EMBA 816 Production and Operations Management at University of Regina taught by James Mason from Jan 03, 2015 to Apr 30, 2015. Use outside these parameters is a copyright violation. Rev. Apr. 7, 2014 DARDEN BUSINESS PUBLISHING GETS LEAN (A) Darden Business Publishing (DBP) prepared business case studies for use in the Darden classroom and, simultaneously, for publication and sales worldwide through both its own website and those of partner distributors. The case collection was a key manifestation of Darden’s intellectual capital and value proposition; new cases kept the MBA curriculum relevant and imparted thought leadership by Darden faculty and researchers. But Steve Momper, DBP’s director, had grown frustrated by a backlog of work in process (WIP) and an average 86-day lead time for case publication. Future growth in the business required an expansion of capacity, yet budget constraints had forced the elimination by attrition of two editor positions. Momper knew that the editing and publishing process required significant rework. The time was right to call on Austin English, a Darden alumnus whose consulting firm, RCF Associates, specialized in continuous process improvement (CPI). The Existing Process In recent years, DBP had grown rapidly, yet its process had never been reevaluated in its entirety so, over time, legacies had led to inefficiencies. There was more emphasis on beginning projects as they were received than...
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...Introduction The term “drone” covers a wide variety of unmanned aerial vehicles. Drones range in size from one pound to 30,000 pounds. Various components can be added to a drone to increase its capability. Drones can be heat-seeking or capable of detecting certain chemicals, for example. Because of the variety of functions of drones, there is a great deal of interest in both public and private sectors in expanding drone usage. As drone use evolves in the United States, there are many legal ramifications to consider. This paper discusses current drone use, the future of drones, and the legal issues involved. Government Drone Use Drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) have shifted the defense landscape not only in the US but also across various other nations. It is an additional layer of defense strategy that deviates from the traditional methods employed thus far. Although they may be used in strategically planned strikes, their primary purpose is in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). The US amongst other countries has been spearheading the advancement and use of this growing technology for the last decade. The Department of Defense operates approximately 8000 of these vehicles in their fleet. The use of drones by the US department of Defense is only one arm of the several other that is operated by the government. Customs and Border Protection Agency, Homeland Security, State fire departments and police departments are other significant users of this...
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...Case Studies Solutions Case Studies Solutions,Article Writing,Assignments,Research Work,Home Work MenuSkip to content Home How We Work ? Refund Policy How to Order ? Disclaimer Contact Us Finance Cases List POSTED ON MARCH 8, 2013 Hello, If u want us to solve any case study from below list, do contact us anytime, We are here to provide the experience, expertise, and professionalism that you are looking for , Our tutors are available 24/7 to assist you what you need, Click Here to submit your Order. ======================================================================================= Acquisition of Consolidated Rail Corp. by Benjamin C. Esty Airbus A3XX: Developing the World’s Largest Commercial Jet by Benjamin C. Esty American Chemical Corp.by William E. Fruhan, John P. Goldsberry American Home Products Corp.by David W. Mullins AQR’s Momentum Funds by Daniel B. Bergstresser, Lauren H. Cohen, Randolph B. Cohen, Christopher Malloy Arundel Partners: The Sequel Project by Timothy A. Luehrman AXA MONY by Andre F. Perold, Lucy White Beta Management Co. by Michael E. Edleson Butler Lumber Co. by Thomas R. Piper Cartwright Lumber Co.by Thomas R. Piper Citigroup 2007: Financial Reporting and Regulatory Capital by Edward J. Riedl, Suraj Srinivasan Clarkson Lumber Co. by Thomas R. Piper Cooper Industries, Inc. by Thomas R. Piper Cost of Capital at Ameritrade by Erik Stafford, Mark L. Mitchell Debt Policy at UST, Inc. by Mark L. Mitchell Dell’s Working Capital...
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...Five Guys Name: Institution: FIVE GUYS Five Guys is a private owned restaurant chain that serves fast and casual food. The restaurant focuses on French fries, hot dogs, soft drinks, and hamburgers. Five Guys started in 1986 and with its headquarters in Lorton, Virginia. It has branches in more than 40 states in the US, as well as in six Canadian provinces. This paper aims to determine the business that Five Guys is in, run the rule on their primary competitors, perform the restaurant’s SWOT analysis, and finally give strategies for the hotel chain in the coming five years. 1. Business Case Five Guys began in 1986 by the Murrells together with their 4 sons. Originally, the restaurant's name was Jerry and the sons. After beginning the business, Janie and Jerry Murrell had a fifth son, with all sons involved in running the business as the Five Guys. Together, the brothers did away with ideas of broad menus, favouring a more honest and solid bugger (DATAMONITOR, 2010). They pride themselves in offering non-frozen buggers, which are hand-patted from ground beef, and 80% lean. The fries preparation occurs daily including cutting the potatoes, along with in the house and fresh buggers. The restaurant created a cult following by word of mouth. Five Guys price their burgers at four dollars; yet manage to keep their clients coming back due to their appeal for high quality and fresh food. The pricing makes the restaurants enjoy increased success in areas with higher...
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...Whistleblowing and Sarbanes-Oxley Tina-Marie Cole Law, Ethics, and Corporate Governance LEG 500 - Lecture Course Prof. Lisa M. Morris January 20, 2015 Whistleblowing and Sarbanes-Oxley Trinity Industries, or TRN (NYSE), manufactures roadway guardrails, which are a highway public safety feature. In 2005, TRN changed its rail head design saving the company two dollars per rail head but failed to notify the Federal Highway Administration which is required by a federal ruling. The newly designed rail heads that TRN has installed on U.S. roads nationally do not propel the guardrails away from crashing vehicles in head on collisions. The lower cost railheads can send the guard rail slicing through a car potentially injuring passengers unlike there predecessors design that pushed the rail away from the wreck and oncoming traffic. The new railheads known as the ET-Plus model failed five crash tests which were also undisclosed to authorities. Joshua Harman, a competitor to TRN discovered the changed design had gone unreported and sued TRN on behalf of the federal government (Davis & Polcyn, 2014). Joshua Harman stands to make one third of a potentially billion dollars in his law suit (Ivory & Kessler, 2014). As a whistleblower, Joshua Harman is saving potential lives and injuries, fighting back at corporate greed and earning a fortune in the process. A whistleblower exposes all forms of alleged misconduct on behalf of an organization which can...
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...Seeing Poe’s Struggle with Alcoholism through his Stories “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Black Cat” Jen Andalou Edgar Allen Poe’s stories “The Black Cat” and “The Cask of Amontillado” are among his most popular. Both of these stories can be read on several different levels causing everyone who reads them to come up with a totally different interpretations, yet none of the interpretations I have read seem satisfying. The two stories at first seem simple enough, with “The Black Cat” reading as a darker version of “The Telltale Heart”, this time with the conscience given a physical form, and “The Cask of Amontillado” as a chilling tale of revenge exacted told as a deathbed confession. Yet these simple interpretations leave too many questions. Many reviewers unfairly single Poe’s works out as coming directly from his subconscious, ignoring not only how carefully Poe chose his words and phrases but also the sources that inspired the stories (E A Poe Society, “Autobiography”). That being said, I think Poe did deliberately use his stories as a kind of self-therapy thus revealing at least a little about himself. A large constant in Poe’s life was his fight with alcohol, which made itself known in his writing in many ways. The main theme of Edgar Allen Poe’s stories “The Black Cat” and “The Cask of Amontillado” centers on the narrators’ attempts to wall off, or suppress, his alcoholism, with the narrator succeeding over alcoholism in “The Cask of Amontillado”...
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...Michelle Evans History of Gun Control July 9, 2011 Chapter IV History of Gun Control In the 1960s after the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, gun control became a major subject of public passion and controversy. To some people gun control is a crime issue, to others it is a rights issue. Gun control is a safety issue, an education issue, a racial issue, and a political issue, among others. Within each of these issues there are those who want more gun control legislation and those who want less. On both sides of this issue opinions range from moderate to extreme. Guns are not for everyone. Certain individuals cannot handle a firearm safely, and some individuals choose to use firearms inappropriately. Our society has passed laws regulating the ownership and use of firearms, and more legislation is being considered. Most of this legislation restricts, to some degree, the rights of individuals to possess or use firearms. Some restrictions may be necessary, but some recent legislation has gone too far. Society benefits from firearms in the hands of responsible citizens. Attempts to keep firearms away from these citizens do more harm than good. The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution states: “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” The Founding Fathers included this in our bill of Rights because...
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...Economics of an Urgent Care Center in a Market of Emergency Departments One of the contributors to the rising cost of Healthcare can be attributed to the over use of emergency departments (EDs) for non-emergency needs. In the greater Capitol/First/Beacon Hill area there are three major hospitals (Virginia Mason, Harborview, and Swedish) with emergency rooms and no urgent care centers with the exception of Group Health which is restricted to Group Health insurance members. The question I asked myself is, “Why does Group Health have urgent care for their insurance plan members and the major hospitals in Seattle do not.” Urgent vs. Emergency Care A study by the CDC showed that approximately 70 % of emergency department visits can be treated in a typical primary care or urgent care setting and another study by National Center for Policy Analysis demonstrated that only 13% of patients that sought treatment in the emergency department were clinically appropriate. Reasons for non-emergency visits to the ED range from access issues to primary care providers (wait times, no primary care provider assigned, or no insurance) to a lack of knowledge that they could have been treated at an urgent care or primary care setting. There are good reasons to visit the emergency department: * Trauma due to an accident or assault | * A wound that will not stop bleeding | * Shortness of breath | * Vomiting blood | * Chest pain | * Sudden loss of consciousness...
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...How have African-Americans worked to end segregation, discrimination, and isolation to attain equality and civil rights? For centuries, African Americans have played and continue to play a significant role in American history. While today, African American no longer face the laws of segregation and discrimination, they continue to fight for equality and civil rights. This continued fight is one of a long past with several triumphs and tragedies all which are an integral part of history. This essay will discuss how African Americans worked to end slavery, segregation, discrimination, freedom, and isolation. It will also discuss what led to the civil right implementation and how it was executed. Equal rights for African Americans have been contentious, and fought for decades. They have fought to impede ethic discrimination, gain equal opportunity and their civil rights since slavery in the 1600s. When slavery started in 1620s, African Americans only made up about 3 to 4 percent of the population in America. Although the number grew slowly at first, by the end of the 17th century, the population of African American slave grew to well over 650,000. (Becker, 2000) In America, slave labor became the key component in agriculture and booming capitalist economy of the 17th & 18th centuries. (County, 1999) In the beginning, Africans were exchanged for food and place as “indentured servants” by the Dutch. This practice was also true for many poor Englishmen who were...
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...Forensic Misconduct: Dr. Pamela A. Fish Kirstin L. Daniels Professor Ian Rodway George Mason University Forensic Misconduct: Pamela A Fish Forensic science is defined as the practice of utilizing scientific methodologies to clarify judicial inquiries. The field of forensic science contains a broad range of disciplines and has become a vital aspect of criminal investigations. Some forensic disciplines are laboratory-based; while others are based on an analyst’s interpretation of observable patterns (Kourtsounis, 2009). According to the Innocence project’s website; in greater than fifty percent of wrongful convictions, the use of invalidated or improper forensic techniques played a role in cases; which were later overturned by DNA testing. Unlike other forensic methods, serology has been subjected to rigorous scientific testing to achieve validation. Even still, these methods can be inaccurately conducted or counterfactually conveyed during the trial (Innocence Project, 2012). Since the evidence presented during a trial can be the difference between freedom, and incarceration in many cases and death in some cases, misconduct in the forensic field is not tolerated. Some types of forensic misconduct include exaggeration of statistics, false testimony and laboratory fraud. Evidence offered by forensic scientists is often called “expert testimony”. Nevertheless, what is an expert? Is it someone who has gone to school and earned an undergraduate, graduate...
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