Integrated Performance Management Through Effective Management Control

9 Integrated Performance Management through Effective Management Control WERNER BRUGGEMAN Performance measurement and performance management are vivid themes in the literature on management control. So, it is only natural that we investigate how this literature has contributed to the field of Integrated Performance Management. The purpose of this chapter is to describe how management control systems can be used to effectively manage company and business performance.First, we define the scope of management control and describe the link with organizational strategy. Then, we focus on the three elements of the management control system: (1) the management control structure; (2) the control process; and (3) the management control culture (beliefs systems). We will describe these three elements in greater detail and give an overview of the findings in mainstream contingency research studying the effectiveness of control systems in various environmental and organizational contexts.Manageme nt control defined Management control and the link with strategy Following Anthony and Govindarajan (1995), management control can be defined as a process of motivating managers to perform actions and activities in line with the goals and strategies of the organization. According to this definition, an organization is ‘under control’ when its members do what the management wants them to do. Management control comprises various tasks, among which are:Planning the future activities of the organization; Coordinating the activities of the various members of the organization; Communicating information; Evaluating this information; Deciding on the actions to be taken; and Influencing people to adapt their behaviour according to the company goals (Anthony and Govindarajan, 1995). Integrated Performance Management through Effective Management Control ? 153 From the definition above, it follows that management control plays a central role in managing the company’s perform ance and the implementation of its strategies.Therefore, it is of vital importance that management behaviour, which is stimulated by the management control system, is consistent with the strategy to be implemented (the so-called ‘intended strategy’ – see also Chapter 6). The starting points of the management control process are the mission, the vision and the strategies of the organization. We refer to Chapter 6 for a more thorough discussion of each of these concepts, but recapitulate them very briefly here. The mission of an organization is a description in general terms of the role of the company towards its stakeholders.It describes the reasons for the company’s existence, its strategic focus and values, as well as how the long-term goals should be realized. The goals are descriptions of the long-term desired future of the company. The mission and goals translate into strategies, which specify the way in which the vision aspired to should be reached. T he strategy in turn is translated into concrete performance objectives or targets. This is usually done through formalized action plans.Management control and goal congruence The purpose of management control is to maximize congruence among the goals of the organization, its various entities and its individual managers. This is called goal congruence. The way in which managers react to management control information depends to a large extent on their personal goals. For effective management control, it is important to be able to measure the impact of these motivators, because they largely determine the behaviour of people in an organization, as well as the desirability of the consequences of their behaviour.Business Management Study GuideThe management control system should be designed in such a way that, whenever managers take decisions that fit into their personal goals, these decisions should also be in the interests of the company as a whole. In other words, the management contr ol system must create the conditions to foster a feeling within the members of the organization that they can best realize their personal goals by contributing as much as possible to the realization of the general company goals.It is clear that the way in which managers are evaluated and financially rewarded for their performance plays a significant role in reaching ‘goal congruence’ (see also Chapter 13). Goal congruence is an important condition for effective performance management. The problem of goal congruence can be described in more detail in the following way. Corporate goals are translated into departmental goals, and in these departments people are working who also have their personal goals. A first problem that can arise is a lack of congruence between the corporate and departmental goals.For example, a department or division of a company can have a long-term vision that says it is desirable to stay small and be profitable (in other words ‘small is 154 ? The Integrated Performance Management Framework beautiful’). On the other hand, top management might be striving for a company goal of strong growth and therefore wants the division to grow. In this case, there is a lack of congruence between the different visions, and a number of meetings will have to be organized to align the goals and strategies.However, there is also the possibility that the division manager is opposed to the growth of his division because he is personally reluctant to make the required efforts. In this case, there is a conflict between the personal goals of the manager and the goals of the company. Role of management control in performance management Verifying whether the company (or the business unit or department) is on track is an important management function. Management control is an important instrument for motivating personnel to act in accordance with the goals and strategies of the organization.This motivation is one of the major driving force s of the performance and the value of the company. The management control system must be adjusted to the goals and the strategies of the company and it must be optimally aligned. The contribution of control to strategy implementation Robert Simons (1995) has outlined how management control can contribute to effective strategy implementation. In his book, Levers of Control, he introduced four key constructs that must be analysed and understood in order to implement strategy successfully: core values, risks to be avoided, critical performance variables and strategic uncertainties.Each construct is controlled by a different system, or lever, the use of which has different implications. These levers are: †¢ Beliefs systems, used to inspire and direct the search for new opportunities. †¢ Boundary systems, used to set limits on opportunity-seeking behaviour. There are three broad categories of boundary systems: business conduct boundaries, internal controls and strategic boundar ies. 1 †¢ Diagnostic control systems, used to motivate, monitor and reward achievement of specified goals.Diagnostic control systems attempt to measure output variables that represent important performance dimensions of a given strategy: critical performance variables. These factors must be achieved or implemented successfully for the intended strategy of the business to succeed. Diagnostic variables should be measured, monitored and controlled, but reporting on them to higher management is on an exception basis only, when a value falls outside a normal control limit and corrective actions must be taken. Interactive control systems, used to stimulate search and learning, allowing new strategies to emerge as participants throughout the Integrated Performance Management through Effective Management Control ? 155 organization respond to perceived opportunities and threats. As a fourth lever of control, these systems focus attention on strategic uncertainties and enable strategic r enewal (i. e. , emergent strategies). Figure 9. 1 Levers of control Source: Simons (1995: 159) Control of business strategy is achieved by integrating these four levers of control.The power of these levers in implementing strategy does not lie in how each is used alone, but rather in how they complement each other when used together. Two of the control systems – beliefs systems and interactive control systems – motivate organizational participants to search creatively and expand the opportunity space. These systems create intrinsic motivation by creating a positive informational environment that encourages information sharing and learning. The other two levers of control – boundary systems and diagnostic control systems – are used to constrain search behaviour and allocate scarce attention.These systems rely on extrinsic motivation by providing explicit goals, formula-based rewards and clear limits to opportunity-seeking. These four levers create tension between creative innovation and predictable goal movement. This tension requires managers of effective organizations to know how to achieve both high degrees of learning (innovation) and high degrees of control (efficiency) (Simons, 2000: 304). Levers of control and the organizational lifecycle Developing an integrated control system does not happen overnight. Managers of small entrepreneurial firms perform their strategic control 56 ? The Integrated Performance Management Framework rather informally. As the business grows larger, however, informal processes become inadequate. Simons (1995, 2000) illustrates how the levers of control can be successfully implemented as a business grows and matures (see Figure 9. 2). Figure 9. 2 Introduction of control systems over the lifecycle of a business Source: Simons (1995: 128) In their most recent book, Kaplan and Norton (2001) point out the importance of using the Balanced Scorecard (see Chapter 3) as an interactive control system.It is clea r from Figure 9. 2 that an organization must have some experience with other control systems before it can exploit the Balanced Scorecard in this way. Diagnostic systems, boundary systems, and internal control systems are all necessary, but they do not create a learning organization aligned to a focused strategy. Some Balanced Scorecard implementation failures occurred because organizations used their scorecard only diagnostically, and failed to get the learning and innovation benefits from an interactive system.The CEOs of successful Balanced Scorecard adopters succeeded because they use the scorecard interactively, for communication and to drive learning and improvement. They set overall strategy and then encouraged people within their organization to identify the local actions and initiatives that would have the highest impact for accomplishing the scorecard objectives. (Kaplan and Norton, 2001: 350) Management control versus task control Anthony and Govindarajan (1995) distingui sh management control, which ultimately is about implementing strategies, from strategic planning and control and task control:Integrated Performance Management through Effective Management Control ? 157 †¢ Strategic planning and control is the process of determining and evaluating the goals of the organization, and formulating or reformulating the broad strategies to be used in attaining these goals. Strategic control refers to the maintenance of the environmental conditions of strategies. Strategic control is used to evaluate the background of existing strategies and the environmental assumptions on which the strategies were formulated.It can also involve the reformulation of strategies. †¢ Task control is the process of ensuring that specific tasks are carried out effectively and efficiently. For example, internal audit and internal control are often associated with task control. Elements of a management control system In the previous paragraphs, we have described the i mportance of management control for strategy implementation and for performance management. In the remainder of this chapter, we go deeper into the details of the management control system and focus on its compounding elements.A management control system consists of three basic elements: (1) the management control structure; (2) the management control process; and (3) the management control culture. The first element, the management control structure, deals with the division of the organization into ‘responsibility centres’. A distinction needs to be made among the various types of responsibility centre, such as ‘revenue centres’, ‘expense centres’, ‘profit centres’, and ‘investment centres’. Determining the optimal structure is part of the task of management control.The second element in a management control system, the management control process, comprises the cycle of: planning for the expected input and output; mea suring the results; comparing plan to reality; and, finally, adjusting if necessary. The third element is the management control culture or the beliefs systems. This is the combination of communal values and behavioural norms, which determine the behaviour of managers and staff. Choosing an effective management control structure To manage an organization according to certain objectives, you must first choose an appropriate management control structure.A management control structure is the system of basic principles for the functioning of the organization or the organizational structure in which the management control will take place. Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman (1992: 5) define the organizational structure as ‘the structure and formal system of communication, division of labor, coordination, control, authority and responsibility necessary to achieve the organization’s goals’. 158 ? The Integrated Performance Management Framework Elements of a management contro l structure When defining the management control structure, the following questions must be answered: What are the various departments in the organization? †¢ What are the responsibilities of the various department managers? †¢ How are the activities of the various departments coordinated, and what are the coordination mechanisms? Defining the departmental structure In organizing for effective performance management, the company may choose a functional organization structure, a multidivisional structure, a matrix organization or a network organization structure. When choosing the functional organization structure, the tasks are grouped based on the functional specialty to which they belong.Traditionally, the following departments are presented in the organizational chart: ‘Sales and Marketing’, ‘Engineering’, ‘Production’, ‘Distribution’, ‘Purchasing’ and ‘Finance’. An organization can also be co ntrolled within a multidivisional structure, which is a structure based on products or markets instead of functions. If based on products, we have a product-oriented department structure. The sales, development, production and purchasing activities with regard to a certain product are concentrated in one, individual department. On the other hand, the organization could also be structured around markets.In this case, all tasks that deal with a certain geographical market are grouped. The multidivisional structure groups management tasks in divisions, each of which focuses on a certain product or geographical area where the products are sold. Division managers are responsible for the daily operational decisions within their division. Top management no longer wants to engage itself in daily problems, but instead focuses on the important strategic decisions (e. g. , investment decisions, acquisitions and divestments). When designing a multidivisional structure, the business unit concept can be taken as a starting point.In this concept, the organization is structured around strategic business units or SBUs. An SBU is an operating unit of a planning focus that groups a distinct set of products or services sold to a uniform set of customers, facing a well-defined set of competitors. Many companies have a combination of functional and product- or market-oriented structures in their organizational structure. They prefer to work in a matrix organization. On the horizontal line, we find an R&D manager, a production manager, a financial manager and a purchasing manager.On the vertical line, we see the various business or product line managers. They are responsible, first of all, for the marketing and sales of their product line, but they must also take care of the coordination between the various functional departments. Staff members in the various functional departments are thus led by two managers. Integrated Performance Management through Effective Management Control ? 159 Defining the responsibility of managers After determining the department structure by which the organization will be controlled, it is important to define the responsibilities of each department.A department or an organizational unit, led by a manager with clearly specified responsibilities, is called a responsibility centre. An organizational structure is therefore a hierarchy of responsibility centres. Delegated responsibility demands appropriate authority. When assigning the responsibility for a specific output to a certain department, this department should also have control over its output. So, responsibility requires the existence of ‘controllability’. Delegated responsibility also requires an appropriate ‘accountability’.A manager is considered to be ‘accountable’ when he or she is assessed according to the realization of his or her objectives. In other words, performance is monitored, and if his or her performance turns out to be b ad, management will take the necessary actions. A responsibility centre is not only assessed on its output (which result has been achieved? ), but also on its input (how many inputs were used? ). In general, a responsibility centre should be assessed on two basic criteria: efficiency and effectiveness. Efficiency is the relation between output and input.The more cars that are made in a car manufacturing company with the same production costs, the more efficient the operation is. The cost per unit (i. e. , the total production cost divided by the number of units produced) is therefore an efficiency norm. Effectiveness expresses the extent to which the realized output is aligned with the goals and strategies to be realized. It could be that the sales department has become more efficient by selling more with the same people, but that the sales efforts were focused on markets in which the company has chosen not to be active for strategic reasons.In this case, the sales efforts were not effective, i. e. , they did not contribute to the realization of the corporate strategy. When designing a management control system, one must determine what efficiency and effectiveness mean concretely for each department and how these can be measured. Assigning responsibilities to the departments means determining the right performance measures. The responsibilities of the manager can be divided into financial, strategic and operational responsibilities. Performance measures must be defined for each of these responsibility areas.We call them financial, strategic and operational performance measures. With regard to the financial responsibilities, we can distinguish among the following types of responsibility centres: expense centres, revenue centres, profit centres and investment centres. †¢ Expense centres are departments that are responsible for the costs they have made (input), but whose output is not measured in financial terms. In a functional organization structure, typic al expense centres are the production department, the R&D department, the purchasing department and the financial department.Staff functions are also usually controlled as expense centres. 160 ? The Integrated Performance Management Framework †¢ Revenue centres are departments in which the output, but not the input, is measured in financial terms. Typical revenue centres are the sales departments. Their management task is not concerned with the costs incurred; instead, they strive to reach a turnover objective. †¢ In a profit centre, the manager is responsible for the costs and also for the revenues of the department. Thus, the ‘profit centre’ manager receives a profit report for his or her department. In investment centres, the profit as well as the investments (‘assets employed’) are measured. The department manager has the authority to take investment decisions and is also responsible for the profitability of the investments made. A typical per formance measure for investment centres is the return on investment (ROI). Regarding strategic responsibilities, a manager’s task not only involves realizing financial goals; the manager and his or her team may also be charged with contributing towards realizing the competitive strategy of their division and the general strategy of the company.For example, the general company strategy may be concerned with growth in all business units and with global operations. Choosing and formulating this strategy may be the work of general management, but translating it into the business unit may be the responsibility of the division manager. The division manager may also be responsible for defining and developing a competitive advantage (in the areas of quality, flexibility and customer service, for example) for his or her business unit. The manager may be responsible for constantly tracking the evolution of customer satisfaction and adapting the competitive strategy in time to this evol ution.When strategic responsibilities are also delegated to a lower level in the organization, the manager responsible should be evaluated with regard to the level of success of the chosen strategies. Performance measures must be determined for this as well. The method of the Balanced Scorecard (see Chapter 3) may be of help here. Finally, regarding operational responsibilities, it is obvious that managers of responsibility centres are also responsible for managing daily operations. A number of ‘key performance measures’ can be defined for this, which are followed up closely by top management.The division manager may be asked to realize objectives with regard to inventory levels, processing times, products out of specification, revision times, etc. Restriction of responsibilities and freedom of action Each responsibility centre is restricted in its activity by a number of rules and procedures. Rules are formal expressions of the behaviours that are permitted and not per mitted to the members of a department. Procedures are descriptions of steps to be followed in executing a task or in making decisions.Rules and procedures provide a detailed specification of the kinds of responsibility and freedom of action the responsibility centre has or does not have. They indicate how the responsibilities and freedom of action are restricted. The Integrated Performance Management through Effective Management Control ? 161 indicated restrictions can be expressed in a positive or negative way. Positive responsibility restrictions describe what the responsibility centre manager may do. Negative restrictions describe what the manager is not allowed to do.Some restrictions relate to responsibilities, others are involved with the manager’s freedom of decision. The freedom of an individual in an organization can also be restricted by general codes of behaviour, which result from existing laws, statutory provisions and ethical values. These are meant to prevent t he potential mix of personal and company interests (e. g. , they indicate in what way confidential information should be treated). Restriction of responsibilities and freedom of action are all part of the boundary systems of a company.These are ‘explicit statements embedded in formal information systems that define and communicate specific risks to be avoided’ (Simons, 1995: 112). Coordination mechanisms When the department structure and the responsibilities of the various departments are defined, rules must be set up with regard to the actions between departments as well. The responsibility for realizing the global company goals and strategies cannot be split up into independent partial responsibilities. Departments and divisions must cooperate in various areas.Therefore, it is important that rules with respect to this cooperation be defined that motivate the managers maximally to target their efforts towards realizing the global company goals. There are two important kinds of rules that coordinate actions between departments: (1) formal coordination mechanisms (task forces, standing committees, integrating managers); and (2) transfer price systems. Choosing the optimal management control structure Designing the management control structure involves a number of choices. The decision can be made to manage in a functional structure or in a divisional tructure. Within a divisional structure, the divisions can be structured around products, markets, business units, or a combination of these. One can also choose to work in a matrix organization. Then, a choice must be made regarding the degree of delegation of responsibilities. A department can be led as an expense centre, a revenue centre, a profit centre or an investment centre. The responsibilities of these centres can be restricted in various ways, and cooperation between departments can be coordinated by several coordination mechanisms and rules regarding transfer prices.In some companies, manage ment control is characterized by a detailed set of formal rules, centralized decision power, limited delegated responsibilities and a strict hierarchy of authority. Such a structure is called mechanistic. At the other end of the spectrum, we have the organic organizations. They are characterized by few rules, decentralized power of 162 ? The Integrated Performance Management Framework decision, group decision-making, broadly defined functional responsibilities and a flexible application of the hierarchic relations.We can now ask the question: Do optimal choices exist? In order to answer this question, we must first define what makes a management control structure optimal. The answer to this question can be found in the description of the task of management control: the objective of management control is to motivate managers maximally to realize the corporate goals and to implement the strategies. So, a management control structure is optimal when it maximally stimulates the desired goal-oriented behaviour and minimally leads to undesired (or dysfunctional) behaviour.To be able to choose a management control structure, one must predict what the effect of the choice will be on the management behaviour and whether the expected effect is desired or not. For example: †¢ A company that wants to realize a competitive strategy of flexibility (custom-made work) in its business units wonders if it is optimal to manage the departments in a functional organization structure, in which the sales department is responsible for the turnover and the production departments (as expense centres) are responsible for the price of the products made.To be able to answer this question, we need to know to what extent the production managers are inclined to handle specific customer demands in a flexible way when the price of the products is the most important performance measure. †¢ Universities lead their faculties and departments as discretionary expense centres with respect to educational activities. In the short term, the deans and department heads are responsible for the costs of their faculties and departments, and not directly for the number of students and the revenues.As a consequence, the professors are not motivated to have many students, and they organize very few (if any) activities to influence and increase the number of students in the short term. Faculties and departments could also be managed as profit centres. The question is: What would be the effect on the management behaviour of deans, chairmen and professors? Would they act in a more commercial way? Would they lose their interest in research? Would this lead to overly aggressive competition among universities and, if so, is aggressive competition a corporate strategic choice within educational policy?To be able to make an optimal choice of management control structure, good insight into the strategy that is to be realized is crucial. The choice of the management control structure mus t be aligned with the strategic choices of the company. Knowledge of how managers will be influenced by certain structural choices is also important. One can learn from one’s own experience or from the experiences of other companies. In most cases, companies learn from their own experience. Setting up a management control structure is a dynamic process. The key is to look forIntegrated Performance Management through Effective Management Control ? 163 both well-motivated and dysfunctional management behaviours in the existing structure. Ultimately, the process should yield new ideas for improving the structure to promote the desired behaviour and eliminate the dysfunctional behaviour. Experiences from other companies can also be helpful. A significant part of the literature on management control focuses on research of the general tendencies and patterns in management behaviour in various types of management control structure.A general conclusion is that there is no management control structure that is optimal for all control situations. The optimal management control structure depends on the situation. The research that studies which management control structure best suits which type of environment is called ‘contingency research’. This contingency research has focused on two major contingency variables: (1) the environment; and (2) a firm’s strategy.Study of the first contingency variable has helped identify the appropriate structures to fit the levels of uncertainty in the environment (Burns and Stalker, 1961; Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967; Galbraith, 1973; Drazin and Van de Ven, 1985). Structure is generally discussed in terms of mechanistic versus organic approaches to organizing, and it is believed that more organic structures are best suited to uncertain environments. These are structures that focus on ‘clan control’, i. e. , social control coordinated by integrative mechanisms such as task forces and meetings.Contingen cy research also shows that management control structures should be well suited to the company’s chosen strategy. Different strategies may require different control structures. A popular typology deals with the strategic mission of business units, which may vary from a ‘build’ strategy, to a ‘hold’ strategy, a ‘harvest’ strategy and, finally, a ‘divest’ strategy. The objective of a build strategy is to increase market share and production volumes, while a hold strategy tries to protect the existing market share and maintain the current competitive position.A harvest strategy focuses on maximizing cash flow and profit in the short run, even if this is at the expense of market share. Last, the divest strategy concerns the decision to withdraw from a certain business. Other strategy typologies that are often used in the management control literature come from Porter (1985) and Miles and Snow (1978) (see Chapter 6 for more infor mation). Evidence from the strategy/organizational design research suggests that for strategies characterized by a conservative orientation (defenders), harvest and cost leadership are best served by entralized control systems, specialized and formalized work, simple coordination mechanisms, and directing attention to problem areas (Miles and Snow, 1978; Porter, 1985; Miller and Friesen, 1982). For strategies characterized by an entrepreneurial orientation (prospectors), build and product differentiation are linked to a lack of standardized procedures, decentralized and results-oriented evaluation, flexible structures and processes, complex coordination of overlapping project teams, and directing attention at curbing excess innovation. 164 ?The Integrated Performance Management Framework Designing an effective management control process Phases in the management control process The management control process can best be represented by a closed loop control cycle (see Figure 9. 3). Th e process starts from the strategy of the company, from which the action programmes are derived. Once the programmes are set up and approved, their financial implications for the coming year can be expressed in a budget. At the end of the budget period, the actual performance is measured and compared to the budget.The results of this analysis are then reported to top management and used in the evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of the responsibility centres concerned and their managers. The management control process thus starts from strategic planning and target setting and consists of the following five phases: Figure 9. 3 The management control process Integrated Performance Management through Effective Management Control ? 165 †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Planning action programmes (programming); Preparing the budget; Executing the plan; Measuring performance, following up the budget and reporting; and Evaluating and rewarding.Important design parameters o f the control process When used in an appropriate way, the budgeting process may motivate managers to improve performance. The motivating impact of the budget is influenced by the following parameters. The level of management commitment to budget targets First of all, companies may use the budget to assess the financial impact of their strategic action plans. In this case, budgeting is primarily used as a feed forward control mechanism and its primary function is to support the planning process (‘budgeting for planning’).Budget targets are an indication and show the direction in which the company wants to go, but managers do not feel a strong pressure to realize the targets. Budget targets can also be seen as commitments for the managers. In this case, the budget is used for control. Top-down versus bottom-up budgeting Budget targets may be imposed topdown by executive management (in consultation with the division managers, or not). Besides this, there is also a bottom- up process, in which each division sets up its own budget, yet within the general goals and directions of the company.The global company budget is then formed by combining the various sub-budgets. The level of participation during the budgeting process When setting up a budgeting process, an important parameter is the level of participation managers may have in the target-setting process. We can talk about participative budgeting when subordinate managers participate in the budgeting process and in defining the budget objectives. Participative budgeting involves back-and-forth communication between superiors and subordinates – they share information and converge on a mutually acceptable budget.It is generally agreed that involvement in setting up the budget leads to higher acceptance than when the budget is imposed fully from the top. Moreover, it is assumed that participative budgeting has a positive effect on the commitment of the division managers who have to realize the b udget later on. The difficulty of budget targets It is necessary to think about guidelines regarding the degree of difficulty in realizing the budgets (‘goal difficulty’). Certain companies have a policy of realistic budgets, where the budget objective will be accepted if it most probably can be reached.Other 166 ? The Integrated Performance Management Framework companies prefer challenging budgets, where top management expects the division managers to work very hard. The basic assumption behind challenging budgets is that managers can always achieve more with their team than they think they can. The task of top management is to stimulate managers to try to excel themselves over and over again. In this situation, managers who submit realistic budgets are evaluated poorly beforehand and a more challenging budget is imposed on them from the top.Whatever the budget philosophy, a budget can be accepted if it holds sufficient task content, i. e. , if the team in the departme nt will have to exert a lot of effort to realize the budget. As a general rule, the set targets ought to be realistic but challenging. This means that they may not be set unattainably high, which results in frustration and manipulation of data, but they may also not be too easily achievable, because then most of the performance stimulus disappears. Tolerance for budget slack It should also be verified whether or not the budget is too pessimistic.Some managers may be inclined to build a certain ‘slack’ into their budget. The phenomenon of budget slack occurs when a manager submits a budget in which a certain ‘buffer’ is built in so that the budget objectives are relatively easy to reach. Indeed, in a participative budgeting process the tendency might exist to ask more than one strictly needs to cover oneself against unforeseen circumstances or out of fear that top management will reduce the budget by a certain amount.For example, if the purchasing department fears that it will no longer be able to buy raw materials at the prices that were budgeted in the past, it can ask for extra means for this part of the budget. It can also be that managers prefer not to set the budget standards too high in companies where their bonuses are calculated on the degree to which they have reached their budget objectives. In all these cases, the general interests of the company are not respected because, by building in budget slack, the company funds are not optimally allocated.Fairness in budget target setting When assessing the budget, one should verify whether the task content of the budgets of the various departments are of equal value. The budget negotiation process is not only a vertical negotiation process in the organization, it is also a process of comparing the planned efforts of the various departments. Dynamic managers, who always work with challenging budget objectives, may become demotivated when they discover that other departments are tole rated when they exert less effort (i. e. , make less profit or be less productive).However, equally balancing the task content of the budgets of the various departments presents difficulties because the management problems may differ widely per department (e. g. , different management functions, product groups, markets, etc. ) and the concept ‘task content’ is difficult to measure objectively. The task content of a budget depends on the experience of the manager and his or her team. There is also a certain Integrated Performance Management through Effective Management Control ? 167 psychological insight involved here.Some managers, along with their teams, feel more quickly swamped with work than others. In any case, clear imbalances in the performances of the various departments need to be eliminated as quickly as possible. For instance, in a profit centre structure, where all divisions are making profits and a certain division is constantly in the red, a thorough restr ucturing plan must be set up in the short run to make the department profit-making as fast as possible. Tightness of budget control With regard to following up the budget, a choice can be made between tight and loose control.The tightness of the control is determined by the degree to which restrictions are imposed on the freedom of subordinates and emphasis is placed on reaching the predefined objectives. In most cases, it is assumed that tight control provides more certainty that the people in the organization will act as is expected of them. This can be done by determining the activities in detail, by following up very accurately the results of the departments, and by exerting pressure on the responsible managers to adjust quickly potentially unfavourable anomalies. With tight budget control, it is frequently (e. g. monthly) verified whether the real costs and revenues are in accordance with the planned short-term objectives. Undesired anomalies in the budget are not tolerated and must be eliminated quickly. The advantage of tight control is that managers become more aware of the importance of costs and profitability, and they actively seek ways to eliminate inefficiencies. However, tight control may also have undesired dysfunctional effects. Focusing on short-term results too intently may encourage managers to organize actions that optimize profitability in the short term, but that are disadvantageous in the long term.For example, in order to reach its budget figures, the purchasing department may decide to buy cheaper, but qualitatively inferior, raw materials. However, this may lead to significant quality problems in production and possibly to lower quality end products, which result in losing the goodwill of the customers. When the emphasis is primarily on reaching budget objectives in the short term, managers may also not be motivated to make the strategic investments that are necessary for the long-term survival of the company.Moreover, excessively tig ht budget control may lead to building in ‘slack’ when setting up the budget objectives or to playing accounting tricks to artificially boost the short-term results. On the contrary, with loose budget control deviations from the budget that arise in between are overlooked by top management, and there is a trust that potentially unfavourable anomalies will be eliminated by the divisional managers at the end of the budget period. The budget is used more for communication and planning, and there is less pressure to undertake immediate short-term actions to adjust the results.The use of budget performance in rewarding managers When setting up the budget, for managers of responsibility centres it is required that the 168 ? The Integrated Performance Management Framework proposed objectives be realized (although we know some companies that start paying bonuses when only 80 per cent – and even 60 per cent – of the budget target is realized). At the end of the yea r, the actual results are compared to the planned objectives and are further analysed by means of variance analysis.In this way, the budget is an ideal basis for evaluating the performances of the responsible managers. Managers who succeed in realizing the proposed objectives must be rewarded for their good performance. This reward may be of a financial nature (e. g. , bonus, salary increase or other financial advantages), but the reward may also be more focused on non-financial motivators, such as promotion, extension of responsibilities and recognition. A bonus for performance relative to the budget can be determined subjectively or by formula.To be effective, the reward system must be designed in such a way that it optimally motivates the managers to act in accordance with the corporate goals and strategies. Optimizing management control process policies A management control process (and more specifically, the budgeting process) is effective when it motivates managers on the vari ous levels of the organization to perform actions in line with the organizational goals and strategies. From contingency research on management control, evidence suggests links between strategy and the characteristics of the management control process.Defenders, and companies with conservative, cost leadership strategies, find cost control and specific operating goals and budgets more appropriate than entrepreneurs, prospectors and companies with product differentiation strategies (Simons, 1987; Dent, 1990; Chenhall and Morris, 1995). Chenhall and Morris (1995) have found that tight control is suitable for conservative strategies; they also found tight control in entrepreneurial situations but, importantly, operating together with organic decision styles and communications.Some research has been focused on the relationship between the chosen competitive strategy and the management control process. Differentiation strategies are associated with a de-emphasis on budgetary goals for pe rformance evaluation (Govindarajan, 1988). Govindarajan and Fisher (1990) found that product differentiation with high sharing of resources (between functional departments) and a reliance on behavioural control was associated with enhanced effectiveness.Bruggeman and Van der Stede (1993) found that business units implementing differentiation strategies based on a make-to-order strategy preferred loose control in budgeting, while business units with a cost leader strategy or a differentiation strategy based on standard products found tight budget control more suitable. They also found that bottom-up budgeting and a commitment to budget targets was considered optimal for all competitive strategies. Overall, Van der Stede Integrated Performance Management through Effective Management Control ? 169 2000) has shown that product differentiation strategies are associated with less rigid budgetary control, but this is also associated with increased budgetary slack. It has also been suggeste d that bonus systems must be suited to the strategy. Anthony and Govindarajan (1995) suggest that formula-based bonus determination approaches should be used with a harvest strategy and that subjective bonus determination is optimal for build strategies. Contingency research has also found relationships between characteristics of the management control process and the level of uncertainty in the environment.Companies operating in an environment of unpredictable change require an appropriate set of control process characteristics. Uncertainty has been related to performance evaluation characterized by a more subjective evaluation style (Govindarajan, 1984; Moores and Sharma, 1998), less reliance on incentive-based pay (Bloom, 1998), non-accounting style of performance evaluation (Ross, 1995), and participative budgeting (Govindarajan, 1986). As environmental uncertainty increases, using more participative budgeting increases performance. In contrast, when environmental uncertainty is low, participative budgeting ecreases performance. In situations where environments are stable and predictable, there is little informational benefit from participation because superiors have sufficient information to develop budgets. Companies may also operate in a hostile, difficult environment. This is an environment that is stressful, dominating and restrictive. Environmental hostility has been associated with a strong emphasis on meeting budgets (Otley, 1978). Hostility from intense competition has been related to a reliance on formal control and sophisticated accounting, production and statistical control (Khandwalla, 1972; Imoisili, 1985).The optimization of target-setting approaches seems to be related to task complexity. Locke and Latham (1990) found that difficult goals lead to higher performance, but this effect is moderated by task complexity. The result leads us to expect that performance will be higher when managers are invited to work towards challenging targets, exc ept when the performance task is too complex. The appropriateness of bottom-up budgeting has been associated with information asymmetry between superiors and subordinate managers (Shields and Young, 1993).When subordinates have much better information about their business than their superiors do, bottom-up budgeting leads to more accurate budgets, arising from the use of the subordinates’ better information. When top-down budgeting is used in the case of high information asymmetry, subordinates may reject the budget because it is not consistent with their information. Top-down budgeting is beneficial in situations where superiors have sufficient knowledge about the subordinate’s activities being budgeted. 170 ? The Integrated Performance Management FrameworkThe role of beliefs systems The management control culture is the third and final part of the management control system. Managers’ behaviours and actions are not only influenced by structural and procedural e lements, but also by the formal beliefs systems in the organization. Simons defines beliefs systems as ‘the explicit set of organizational definitions that senior managers communicate formally and reinforce systematically to provide basic values, purpose, and direction for the organization’ (Simons, 1995: 34).Beliefs systems are an important element of an organization’s corporate culture. The corporate culture is the set of values, beliefs and norms of behaviour shared by members of a firm that influences individual employee preferences and behaviours (Besanko et al. , 2000). Ouchi (1980, 1981; Ouchi and Johnson, 1978) considers culture as an alternative control system in the organization. He introduces the idea of clan control, by which he means control through an internal system of organizational norms and values. Culture influences the behaviour of individuals.Individuals who value belonging to the culture will align their individual goals and behaviours to th ose of the firm and pay more attention to selfcontrol. A culture that is intensively held by most employees is called a strong culture. Culture can support a company’s competitive advantage (Barney, 1986). It is supportive when the values espoused by the culture are very much in line with the chosen direction and the performance objectives of the firm (e. g. , a company with a product leadership strategy where all employees love to change things and learn from new experiences).In this case, we talk about a ‘high performance culture’. In other words, the culture is clearly aligned with the strategy of the firm. Of course, the opposite also holds. If there is a cultural misfit, culture can also be a source of persistently poor performance. This occurs when the values underlying the firm’s culture are in conflict with the chosen strategic direction. For example, a culture stressing efficiency, stability and routine behaviour will not support the implementatio n of a flexibility strategy. In this case, culture may be a barrier to change and managers will experience a ‘low performance culture’.So, it is important that the majority of the employees believe what top management believes. It is the task of management control to define a set of common beliefs. It frequently happens that top managers have explicitly expressed the vision, the mission, the goals, the key values and the strategies of the firm, but lower-level managers and employees do not share the underlying beliefs. Goal statements about creating shareholder value are experienced as ‘grand terminology’ when employees do not feel the passion of working on value-creating projects.A strategy of highquality products will not succeed if all employees are not convinced that they should work to ‘zero defect’ and do their work ‘right the first time’. Many flexibility strategies fail because people do not like ‘to change their Inte grated Performance Management through Effective Management Control ? 171 Figure 9. 4 The origins of unhealthy corporate cultures Source: Kotter and Heskett (1992: 145) 172 ? The Integrated Performance Management Framework plans. ’ In general, successful strategy implementation needs beliefs systems supporting the chosen strategy.The beliefs of employees and managers may be hard to change, but they can be influenced by training sessions, by inspiring leadership, and by demonstrating the success of the new strategy and successful strategic projects. John Kotter and James Heskett (1992) have written a book about corporate culture and performance in which they propose a stepwise approach to the creation of a high-performance culture and focus on the origins of healthy and unhealthy corporate cultures. Their ideas are presented in Figure 9. 4 and Figure 9. 5. Figure 9. 5 The creation of a performance-enhancing culture Source: Kotter and Heskett (1992: 147)Integrated Performance Ma nagement through Effective Management Control ? 173 Conclusion Control and evaluation is the fourth component of our Integrated Performance Management Framework. In this chapter, we have shown the important role of management control for strategy implementation and for performance management. Developing an appropriate management control system is a prerequisite for effectively managing an organization. On a broader level, Simons (1995) has shown that control of business strategy is achieved by integrating four levers of control.These levers create tension between creative innovation (emergent strategies) and predictable goal movement (intended strategies). This proves the crucial role of control in the strategy implementation and performance management process. We then focused our attention on the three basic elements of the management control system: (1) the management control structure; (2) the management control process; and (3) the beliefs systems. We have analysed optimal manag ement control structures and processes from a goal congruence perspective.That is, we have investigated how to design a management control structure and process that maximally stimulates goal-oriented behaviour and leads to minimal dysfunctional behaviour. Attention is also paid to how strategy affects the choice for a particular management control system. It is clear that management control also interacts with the organizational behaviour component. From Chapter 10 on, we investigate this fifth component in greater detail. Note 1 Business conduct boundaries are those that define and communicate standards of business conduct for all employees.Like the Ten Commandments, they specify actions that are forbidden. Internal controls are the policies and procedures designed to ensure reliable accounting information and safeguard company assets. Strategic boundaries define what types of business opportunity should be avoided, thereby drawing a box around the opportunities that individuals a re encouraged to exploit. Strategic boundaries are installed to ensure that individuals throughout the organization are engaged in activities that support the basic strategy of the business (Simons, 2000: 289).

My Aim in Life to be a Doctor Essay

Different peoples have different goals in their life. There are various professions like engineer, teacher, scientist, lecturer , doctor etc. But for achieving our aims we have to work from the very beginning. We also have to work very hard in proper way. Because without working sincerely we can’t achieve our set targets in our life. But for all these things we have to know our strength and weakness. The strength in a subject must be kept in mind for choosing the right path of success. I searched my plus and minus side of intelligence and knew that I have a strong memory power. I score also well in science subject . Therefore I decided to become a Doctor. It is because I judged my strength and I gave priority to my choice. As I am a girl this profession is quite suit to me. I usually read science and it was just like my dream to be a doctor. Second reason- One day when I was going with my family to market for marketing. I saw a poor man begging for his son. I saw that his son was dying because of a disease. I don’t know what was the disease. From that day I determined I will become a doctor to help the needy and poor people. It is a very rewarding and satisfactory job. I know that becoming a doctor is not a very easy task. It is a long journey of study to become a good doctor. But I have confidence in myself to accomplish the target. A doctor is someone who can help ill people anywhere anytime and can give his family good cure for health. Doctors are very respected people . There are many types of doctors like eye-specialist, skin-specialist etc. I want to become a medical doctor. It is distant from surgical work. Surgical job is not my favorite one. Many more can be written about â€Å"the aim of becoming a doctor†. I will elaborate this one in my next essay.

Christianity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Christianity - Essay Example The principle book in Christianity is the Gospel, which is a collection of works that originate from authors such as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; all of which were Jesus’s disciples. The Gospel tells about Jesus’s life and passes on the lessons and teachings within Christianity. There are a great deal of many other writers in the Gospel except the principle four, one of them being Paul. Paul did not directly observe Jesus in life, having only met him a few other times through the Apostles before becoming one of them himself. Because he was not a direct follower of Jesus, many of his writings conflict with that of Jesus. Because Paul did not know a majority about the life and events that occurred during Jesus’s life, there are major events that are history changing that are not mentioned in his Gospel, giving the reader a different feel than the other ones. Because Paul learned from others, his Gospel story is different. Christianity is unified, yet fragmented. There are many different branches of Christianity. Although they are similar, they are still a little different from each other, which makes them different at the fundamental level. The Great Schism happened early in the spread of Christianity. It was a fundamental split between what was Western Europe and what were the remnants of the Byzantine Empire. The West supported the rule of the Pope for Roman Catholicism from Rome, whereas the Byzantine Empire supported Eastern Orthodoxy.

Prevention of Medical Errors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Prevention of Medical Errors - Essay Example At whatever cost, appropriate preventive measures should be prevented to avoid the numerous adverse effects associated with medical errors. Indeed, medical errors have been noted to have adverse effects on the patient, the hospital and community at large. First, medical errors cause what the American Society of Registered Nurses, ASRN (2008) refers to as adverse medical events which basically include death and disability. The institution gives an example of a lawsuit in which Beverly Health Care centre in West Virginia was sued for causing the death of Edward Wilson’s wife through a medical error. It was alleged that the claimant’s wife died as a result of acute pneumonia contracted from multiple bacterial infections which developed because of the poor infection control measures while the patient was under assisted breathing. It was also noted that the nurse ignored routine safety checks conducted during assisted breathing. Other than such adverse effects and reputational damage, medical errors also have adverse economic implications to individuals and the government at large. As documented by Andel, et al . (2012), such errors cost the US government $19.5 billion in 2008. Of these, $17 billion was directly spent on additional medical cost. As such, proper measures should be undertaken to prevent medical errors. Understanding the causes of these medical errors would play a critical role in ensuring that appropriate preventive measures are adopted. A majority of these errors occur because of non-adherence to safety measures at the point of care. As such, ASRN (2008) observes that medical errors occur due to incorrectly computing drug calculations, fatigue, time pressures, understaffing, design deficiencies, inexperience, inadequate equipment and failure to follow or lack of knowledge on established protocol. Such factors cause errors involving infusion of high-risk

Applying Self-Determination Theory to Patients with Diabetes Research Proposal

Applying Self-Determination Theory to Patients with Diabetes - Research Proposal Example Obesity has for two decades gained much prominence in the lives of many people in the United States. Children were in the past considered immune from this disease while adults produced the highest obesity rates. At least 20-25% of children in the US suffer this preventable ailment that has become a leading cause of death in the country (Haslam, 2007). Several studies reveal that the mortality risk is lowest for those with a body mass index (BMI) of 20-25 kg/m2 for nonsmokers and 24-27 kg/m2 for smokers. Those above a BMI of 32 are considered as having a double mortality rate, especially amongst women. It is estimated that at least 111,000 to 365,000 deaths are recorded annually as a result of obesity-related ailments in the US, with at least 1.1 million deaths being reported across Europe annually. Obesity is seen as reducing one’s life expectancy by at least seven years especially for those above the BMI of 35, and those with BMI’s greater than 40 reducing their expect ancy by at least 10 years (Haslam, 2007). The main causes of obesity can be broken down to these eight reasons. One of them is age where one has increased chances of getting obese as they age due to slow metabolic rates. Another is gender, with women having a higher tendency to gain weight more than men. Genetics play a role with such trends running in the family. Environmental factors such as sedentary lifestyles or those that encourage such lifestyle changes put one at a higher risk (Haslam, 2007). Lack of physical activity also plays a great role in encouraging obesity tendencies since the excess sugars are not excreted from the body as required. Psychological factors influence eating habits and thus, obesity may result. Illnesses such as hypothyroidism and depression are also associated with obesity because of reported hormonal problems. The last one is medication, such as steroids and some antidepressants, which may lead to excessive weight gain (Haslam, 2007). Purpose of study The main purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of using the self-determination theory (SDT) in the treatment of obese patients Research questions i) How can the use of SDT be made effective in the treatment of obesity cases in the country? ii) Is there proof of its success in clinical or home settings? iii) Is there any proven correlation between SDT and obesity? Definition of terms: Obesity-a medical condition where the body accumulates excessive fat such that one has a BMI greater than 30 kg/m2 BMI-the body mass index is a heuristic representation for the amount of fat in the body, based on one’s height and weight. It is calculated by dividing one’s weight by one’s height. SDT-this is a theory that seeks to prove that an autonomy perspective context will generally foster the satisfaction of three basic psychological needs, namely the needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness. Motivation-an urge to achieve certain goals, can be intrinsic (o f an individual’s inner self) or extrinsic (external forces acting on an individual). Significance to nursing Learning more about the causes of obesity and looking for ways of motivating individuals to take it upon them to

Professionalism and Time Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Professionalism and Time Management - Essay Example Professionalism is the practice of engaging an activity, business or an occupation with utmost competency required in the practice. Professionalism ensures that an individual provides quality and efficiency in the outcome of his or her job (Clark & Kasar, 2009). It exhibits the qualities or characteristics of a professional person. Without professionalism, one can never attend to his or her tasks with the required integrity and ethics. (Clark & Kasar, 2009). Various factors contribute to improper time management. Some could be genuinely inevitable while outright laziness and improper planning define other reasons. Because I am regularly late for my lab sessions, it is vital to come up with effective time management skills to curb this problem (Clark & Kasar, 2009). Having a personal or self-reflection about the problem, and seeking necessary knowledge of the nature of the problem and prospective solutions is a major step to undertake toward establishing a solution.My problem is often caused by work and long distance to the laboratories. In this case scenario, I will have to come up with a timetable that would administer all my daily undertakings. It must be obeyed unless of an inevitable emergency that is more indispensable. Having mentioned that, I would rationalize my schedule and start my daily tasks earlier that normally in order to account for the long distance that for a long time has hindered me from punctuality. (Clark & Kasar, 2009).

Strategy Myths Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Strategy Myths - Essay Example e the demand of a product depends on many variables and ability that determine its ability to satisfy the customer needs (Stonehouse & Houston, 2012). For instance, the product design, product benefits, product quality and distribution strategies will affect the ability to attain success in the market. The success depends on product value to customers and not the price (Graham, 2005). 3. The third statement states that ‘I am a good cook so I should start a restaurant’. This is a myth because venturing in to any market requires careful scanning of the environment to identify the demand for the services, the resources available and competitive strength of the businessperson. In this case, management of the restaurant will require planning, resource allocation, and controlling the employees (Graham, 2005). 4. ‘The customer is always right’. This statement is true because customers complain for numerous reasons (Graham, 2005). The organisation must appreciate the customer complaints and use such information in improving the quality of the product and services. Customers complain for genuine reasons such as defective products, poor product quality, poor after sale services of poor customer relationships management in the organisation (Graham, 2005). 5. ‘I’ll just open my store, and people will stream in off the sidewalks and buy from me’. This is a strategy myth since consumer-buying demand is determined by several factors such as cultural factors, personal factors and psychological factors. Accordingly, the place of distribution must create customer convenience and conform to customer personality and attitudes (Graham, 2005). 6. ‘It’s a cool idea. Everyone will love this’. This is a strategy myth since reference groups like immediate family members, relatives, and social status in the society influences the consumer-purchasing pattern. Consumers seek to fulfill their psychological needs, love and belonging needs and self-esteem (Stonehouse &

Carrefour Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Carrefour - Assignment Example The other smaller stores include supermarkets, convenience stores, and gas stations. The first store was opened in 1997, in Lodz. It also has a mobile service known as Carrefour Mova (Hoovers, 2015). The hypermarket structure has contributed immensely to the success of Carrefour. The company deals mainly with grocery and retail items. The items are as follows; clothing, household items, hardware, perishable and non-perishable food items. The business networks of Carrefour include convenience stores, hypermarkets, online stores, discount stores, supermarkets and electronic commerce. The Carrefour hypermarkets offer a range of services which include: financial service, ATM, parcel holding, Carrefour optical, shopping center to name a few. Carrefour also faces stiff competition in this competitive industry of grocery and retailing from other businesses either locally or internationally based. These competitors include: convenience stores, Wal-Mart, Ahold, Auchan, Tesco, Aldi and grocery stores. What differentiates these chains is their marketing plans strategy. Thus, this report will analyze the strategies it has employed in venturing in this new foreign market, and that has enable it compete favorably and continue making profits. Also it will include a SLEPT analysis of how marketing mix elements and management issues influence its successful productivity (Businesscasestudies, 2015). The major strength of Carrefour is that it is a hypermarket store well stocked with diverse goods and services, and it is well-known globally. The creation of its brand name products is a probable weakness that Carrefour faces. This is because it is a tradition of customers to the belief that own-branded products are inferior and hence lose trust in the company. Carrefour has potential opportunities for exploring its online stores and expansion in overseas markets. Carrefour also experiences enormous threats and challenges such as it creates

Why Illegal Immigration is Messing Up the United States Research Paper

Why Illegal Immigration is Messing Up the United States - Research Paper Example The country has in place very stringent laws governing the movement of persons through its borders. Those relocating to the country meet specified standards and certification by the authorities of the country to do so. However, there are those hell bent on resettling in the United States and would do anything to. They thus look for unwarranted means of getting into the country without verification from the legal systems. Among the most common ways of getting into the country are hiding in the ships and freight vehicles that transport goods through the countries borders. Some of the illegal immigrants get into the country legal for short visits only to refuse to leave back for their native countries. Such people affect the country negatively in a number of ways. A stable economy caters for all those within its borders. However, some immigrants have bad intent. These people are not welcome in the country and are always deported whenever apprehended. To avert deportation, they do not th erefore seek services from the state facilities, which is practically impossible. This makes them a bother to those around them (Haines 78). The country has a number of health guidelines to be met by immigrants. Those coming into the United States undergo a number of tests and are only accorded citizenship after satisfying the testing officers. This keeps the country safe from the outbreak of such communicable diseases as yellow fever, malaria, and Human Immunodeficiency Virus among many others. However, the proliferation of the illegal immigrants goes against theses standards and end up in the country with different contagious diseases. This strains the government’s resources in trying to contain the spread of some of the diseases that it had previously eradicated. As explained above, illegal immigrants are not welcome in the United States of America; they cannot ever find employment in any government and private organization since they do not have any identification documen ts. Among the immigration laws is the requirement of all immigrants to possess at least some level of formal education in their native countries. This regulation makes it easier for such people to get employment or further their education once in the country. However, the illegal immigrants flaunt all these rules thereby making it hard for them to secure employment once in the country. To get a source of livelihood, these immigrants engage in illicit trades such prostitution, drug peddling, and robbery. This leaves the country’s security in a fix since they cannot easily apprehend the culprits as they are not even in the country’s databases. Trade on drugs is a menace in the country accounting for the rise of crime in a mummer of cities. Drug barons use similar entry mechanisms used by illegal immigrants to get their drugs into the country. Furthermore, most of those used by the drug peddlers to foster their illegal trade are the illegal immigrants who are in most case s stranded and without jobs. They thus do anything to get a living; the most common of which is drug peddling. Drug is a menace in America. Addiction results in the incapacitation of American population who could have otherwise worked to earn descent livelihoods for their families. This negatively affects the economy of the country through loss of person-hours and capital as addicts are admitted into rehabilitation schools for the correctional therapies (Levy 132). Illegal entry of persons into the country leads to the rise of corruption which is a vice that affects the integrity of security personnel. Some of the illegal immigrants bribe their way into obtaining legitimate identification papers in the country. Some of these could be

Physical capitals and financial capital Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Physical capitals and financial capital - Essay Example nited States Decrease Increase - Exchange rate changes Increase Increase Note: In the red above, an increase in wealth makes AD increase; a decrease in wealth makes AD decrease. This is how you should format each table. SECTION TWO a) Physical capital differs from financial capital in a number of ways. By definition, physical capital is an already-manufactured tangible asset that is used in production. On the other hand, financial capital refers to equity that is used by business owners to purchase resources that are required in producing goods and services. Different from financial capital, physical capital can be acquired by building it, purchasing it or renting it. Financial capital can be acquired through borrowing and selling of ownership stake within an organization. Examples of financial capital include bank loan and corporate bonds, while that of physical capital include motor vehicle and machinery. b) The distinction between gross investment and net investment is based on ca pital depreciation. Gross investment refers to total amount of investment that does not incorporate any depreciation while net investment refers to investment that incorporates depreciation. Therefore net investment can simply be defined as gross investment less capital depreciation. The difference between gross investment and capital investment can be illustrated mathematically as follows. Net Investment = Gross Investment – Depreciation Gross investment = Net investment + Depreciation c) The three main types of markets for financial capital include Loan markets Stock market Bond market d) The price of a financial asset and interest rate has an inverse relationship. The prices of financial asset do always increase with decrease in interest rate. This can be explained well by considering the relationship of a financial asset such as bond with its interest rate. For example, let’s assume company X issues a new bond that has a face value of $1000 with an interest rate of 7%. If in the same year the general interest rates increases to about 8%, buyers will not be willing to pay the $1000 face value with an interest rate of 7%. Therefore, in order to sell the bond, company X will have to issue its bond at a lower price, that is, at a discount that will enable the new bond holder to generate an 8% interest. In this scenario, the price of the bond will fall to approximately $ 875. Similarly, if the interest rate falls to 6%, the price of the bond will be much higher than $1000. The bond will be valued at $1166. This is illustrated in the diagram below. e) When firms are involving in decisions to make investment, they normally consider a number of

Interactive Simulation Paper Essay Example for Free

Interactive Simulation Paper Essay Workplace discrimination can be reflected in many ways, gender, age group, race, nationality or disability and can have legal and fiscal consequence for a company (Bennett-Alexander Hartman, 2007). Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are some of the laws and regulations that make discrimination unlawful in the conditions and terms of job, for example hiring, evaluation, and promotion. Its important for administrators to identify different types of discrimination and defend against employees in the place of work (Bennett-Alexander Hartman, 2007). The measures a company may have the appropriate adjustments for employees with disabilities, or those with a known drug abuse problem, the employees with a known drug abuse problem, the companies must have an arrangement on announcing a pre-employment in addition to a post-employment alcohol and drug test. An employee with a drug abuse issue may be in the company code of breach. The company can offer technique to re-employ the employee in matters of rehabilitation status is complete. Alternatively if the employee has an alcohol abuse the company should inform the employee of internal or external counseling aid or treatment (UOP, 2014). The alternatives for the employee are termination, counseling or therapy, or warning. These solutions can benefit the employee and employer. As for disable persons applying for a job, there is The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) employment agencies, labor unions, and joint labor-management committees (Bennett-Alexander Hartman, 2007). Executive agencies of the United States government are exempt from the ADA, but these agencies are covered instead by similar nondiscrimination requirements and additional affirmative employment requirements under Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Bennett-Alexander Hartman, 2007). The challenges may include inaccessible equipment or amenities or perhaps a procedures or regulations should meet the criteria. Good accommodating dismisses these challenges for a disabled employee. This where the ADA brings in companies to establish accommodations for their disabled employees, . Therefore, they appreciate the privileges and benefits of the  employment. Factors according to perso nality, attitude toward work, and future upward mobility should be considered when hiring. A candidates goal-settings, work attitudes, and, are considered elements that justify the process of employment. These characteristics are essential and effective to the companies modern office environments. In addition, applicants may believe a possible discrimination towards themselves regarding the company but it is not the case in the hiring process. The two applicants selected were a female and Judaic. The female employee made accusations of sexual harassment regarding two co-workers in her work group and had assumptions of her manager behavior was unjust when evaluating her work performance concerning the reported accusations. The issue should examine thoroughly, and companies indeed react with the professional manner in this sort of conduct to remain clear of any sexual harassment. The Judaic employee reported of his religious beliefs on the project given to him by a manager regarding the advertisement of a meat product. This was altered for the employee regarding religious af filiation but costly. This cases that have arisen with the two candidates selected had legal advice from the company Legal Counselor for HHP. Her choices include credentials and abilities for the workplace; not sex, impairment of faith, and not race. The company president concerns with a female employee working in the surroundings of a white male environment and Manager, the Executive Director uncertainty of employees support of African-American rights in addition to feminist status. These characteristics should not be an interest of concern in the hiring process (UOP, 2014). Title VII is a federal government law and a work contract, verbal or written and should comply with the laws and regulations of the job. Title VII may bypass the job atmosphere and conditions specified in a written job agreement between a company and worker. The job contract wont bypass Title VII; but, Title VII will bypass the contract. Before Title VII, the company could employ and terminate an employee for any given reason. Title VII forbids discrimination in employing, firing, coaching, promotion, discipline or any other office decisions. (Bennett-Alexander Hartman, 2007). Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) cover all private employers, state and local governments, and education institutions which use fifteen or over persons (Bennett-Alexander Hartman, 2007). A work agreement doesnt permit or  legalize any action of discrimination t hat is covered by Title VII. Title VII overrode the job atmosphere and office conditions (Bennett-Alexander Hartman, 2007). Religious values should be accommodated with a good faith effort by the company (UOP, 2014). Moreover, the Executive Director was worried about the employee having the ability to travel to deal with customers; however he is a protected under the rules of ADA. With the introduction of the latest technology could allow the specific employee to able to teleconferences or net conferences with customers and still meet his job conditions (UOP, 2014). Reference Bennett- Alexander, D. D., Hartman, L. P. (2007). Employment law for business (5th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill. UOP. (2014). Simulations: Preventing Workplace Discrimination [Multimedia]. Retrieved from UOP, MGT/434 website.

The Frankenstein & novel Essay Example for Free

The Frankenstein novel Essay The novel became the most famous work of Mary Shelley and since it was published, its popularity in the scholarly and lay audiences has been increasing among readers. This can be attributed to Mary Shelley’s ability to keep the story interesting through the narration of the story by Victor Frankenstein and the use of science fiction and horror in the story. This paper will explore how these elements/themes have been used in the novel to keep the story interesting and intriguing. Discussion The fact that the author uses Victor Frankenstein who is the victim of the monster’s horrific actions makes the story very interesting and easy for the reader to follow the events that unfold in the story. Shelley allows Victor Frankenstein to narrate his personal life experience in the novel and how his interest and obsession in science turned tragic when he became the target of horrific actions of the monster he created. In the beginning of the story, the novel explains how Frankenstein ended up in a ship that was being used by an English explorer Robert Walton. Walton’s ship became a refuge for Frankenstein who was ill. Though Frankenstein was in a poor health condition when he was taken into Walton’s ship, he was able to recover and narrate his personal life story and experience with the monster he had created. This element allows the readers to understand how and why the events that are described in the story occurred. The narration brings out the emotions and feelings of the characters that were triggered by the events that unfold in the story . For example, the anger, sadness, pain, disappointment and fear felt by the characters are well expressed. Furthermore, the narration enables the readers to have a clear understanding of the feelings and the emotions felt by Frankenstein throughout the story. Victor Frankenstein tells Robert Walton about his place of birth, family, education and his interest in natural philosophy and sciences which resulted to his obsession and discovery of how he could bestow life in a lifeless matter. In addition, Frankenstein’s narration of how his life changed after the creation of the monster allows the reader to understand his desperation, hopelessness and anger . For example, he narrates how the monster kills his family members and the execution of a family friend who was accused of killing Frankenstein’s brother. Hopelessness in this case emanated from the fact that he could not save the life of his friend . His heart was tortured his heart hence he left to wander in the Alpine valleys. The suffering that the monster caused to Frankenstein’s family members and friends is well explained in the story. Frankestein’s narration about the suffering that his family was going through as a result of the monstrous acts of the creature that he created is a clear indication of how the close relation between Frankenstein and victims of the acts affected the tragic events and horrific events that befell them. For instance, his father’s health was greatly affected by what was happening to the family members and friends. He was greatly affected by the deaths of Justine and William. Elizabeth who later married Frankenstein on the other hand became very sad. She failed to take delight in her ordinary occupation and was in tears. Her happiness vanished and the sorrow created by the horrific deeds of the monster removed her dearest smiles from the face. According to Frankestein,Elizabeth could no longer see the world as it was because of the miserable death of Justine Moritz whom she was convinced was innocent. Frankestein points out that he listened to Elizabeth’s opinion about what was happening with great agony. He considered Elizabeth to be a gift of fortune and was worried that the monster could take her away from him. When the monster eventually killed Elizabeth, Frankinstien was devastated. And through the story explains how he chose to deal with despair and sought relief through change of place as well as bodily exercise. For example, he explains how he sought to forget himself and the sorrow he felt by visiting the Alpine and the valley of Chamounix. His feelings due to the interaction with nature brings out his desire to go back to old world where there was no sorrow and despair. Another element that maintains the interest of the reader in the story is the incorporation of science fiction. The novel Frankenstein marked the pioneer work of science fiction (Stableford, pg. 48). At a time when Shelley wrote the story, industrial revolution was being witnessed in Europe. This novel introduced science fiction in literature, an element that was not common in many literature sources. The story introduces science fiction when a monster is created from lifeless matter. The novel provides an account of how â€Å"monstrousness† can arise and Victor Frankenstein in the novel is portrayed as an archetypal man who is destroyed by his own creation (Stableford, pg. 46). Shelley as a writer wrote according to gothic fiction hence her employment of the concept of science and the theme of science versus nature was not popular. For some readers, they consider the novel to be a lesson to the modern world how a scientist can be punished for trying to interfere with the divine prerogative of creation. Furthermore, the merging of the art of fiction and the academic study of science gave Shelley’s story of Frankenstein interesting to many readers. The emotional reaction of the readers to the creation of the monster gives the novel some permanence while the emotional investment in the characters by the writer makes this science fiction book a novel rather than a speculative essay on what can happen in future. This makes it interesting for the readers. Over the years, the novel has inspired other writers publish science fiction work. For instance, the novel explains how Victor Frankenstein was able to give life to lifeless body parts he collected from slaughterhouses, graveyards and dissecting rooms. The coming into life of the creature which is referred to as â€Å"monster† in the novel turns Frankenstein’s life into a nightmare. The monster manages to kill his family members and Elizabeth whom Frankenstein had married. There is no doubt that the incorporation of science fiction in the Frankenstein arouses the interest of the writer in science, a concept that has become popular in contemporary literature and film industry. To Frankenstein, creating the monster had been his desire and dream that turned tragic. Science fiction provides literature and film makers to become creative and arouses the interest of the readers in science-related issues. The story makes clear the consequences of science-related innovations and in this case, the consequences of bringing into life a new creature by Frankenstien. In Frankenstien,the process of creating a monster by the scientist began when his interest and obsession with human nature had him embark on a mission with the sole purpose of giving life to an lifeless body. This deprived him good health conditions and adequate time for good rest. However,Frankestein failed to celebrate the success of his creation because not long after he gave life to the creature, the beauty of his dream vanished and only disgust and breathless horror filled his heart(Shelley,pg. 69). Frankenstein asserts that he had created a miserable monster. This had him experience great bitterness, disappointment and horror. Despite his obsession and interests to provide life to a lifeless creature, Frankestein came to admit and realize that the creation of a monster was a misfortune. As a result of his discontent with the creation of a new monster, Frankestein suffered from a nervous fever. The fever had him confined for several months. Henry became his only nurse and throughout the period of his illness, the form of the creature that Frankenstein had given life was always before his eyes and mind. Frankenstein lacked happiness and his life was filled with sadness after he created the monster . The impact of Frankenstein’s actions and desires had grave consequences in his life and the lives of the loved ones. For example, after Justine was convicted for a murder that was committed by the monster, Frankenstein was filled with remorse and despair. Although he had began his life with benevolent intentions and looked forward to the moment when he would successfully put his intentions into practice and become useful to the other human beings, he was convinced that he had committed deeds of mischief and an error after he managed to create the monster. Unfortunately, rather than bring him self satisfaction, the creation of a monster brought him hopelessness, fear and remorse for all the horrific deeds it got involved in. The creation of a monster in the novel and the need to learn more about the creature makes the story interesting for the readers. For example, the desire to know the consequences of the actions of the monster on Victor Frankenstein and his family increases one’s interest in the book. Whenever Frankenstein thought about the monster and its revenge against him, he gnashed his teeth and his eyes would become inflamed. He wished that he could extinguish that life he had bestowed on the creature. Because of the malice and crimes, Frankenstein developed anger and hatred towards the monster and the desire to revenge the monster’s crimes. He wished he could see the monster in order to avenge the deaths of Justine and William and because he became remorseful of unalterable evils of the creature, he feared that the monster he had created could perpetrate new wickedness in the society. It is a lesson to the readers on how scientific innovation and development can have detrimental effects of the lives of many people. Horror in the novel story Frankenstein is created by the presence of a monster that is on a revenge mission. The horror is connected to the theme of science fiction because horrific acts are perpetrated by the monster that was created by Frankenstein. Frankenstein’s interest in electricity, natural philosophy, mathematics and chemistry resulted to an obsession and fascination with the principle of life and human frame. Fanatical studying assisted him to bestow life on lifeless matter to create a monster. Rejection by its creator, Victor Frankenstein together with the society angered the monster who went on a revenge mission by killing family members and close friends of Frankenstein. The monster killed a family member, had a close wrongfully executed and murdered Elizabeth who was the woman that Frankenstein loved . The revenge mission of the monster becomes a horrifying experience for the Frankenstein and his family. The interest of many readers emanates from the fact that Frankenstein creates introduces a monsters who is created by the man’s attempts to integrate nature into his untamed desire to create as well as to application of knowledge. Some readers and scholars assert that this story can be considered to be a modern myth that applies science to create the ‘monster†. The prolific fictional and scientific research of Victor Frankenstein resulted to the creation of a monster which made life difficult for him. The story explains the horrifying deeds of this monster which contributed to the ill health of Frankenstein. From the beginning, Frankenstein’s view of his creation brings out the horror aspect. He regrets instantly of his work when he brings the creature into life. His disappointment is expressed in â€Å"I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body, but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished (Shelley, pg. 56). The creature is described as horrifying and full of rage because of being abandoned by its creator. Mary Shelley’s story brings out intrigue, creativity and imagination which make clear the horror that the story creates. Tension and horror in this story maintains the interest of the reader when the monster that is created using gothic motive is subjected to the earthly life styles. The horrific actions of the monster resulted to numerous misfortunes for Frankenstein’s family and friends. After creating the monster, Frankenstein experiences great fear, regret and develops hatred for his deeds and actions. For example, the suffering that the creation of the monster caused Justine who was convicted and executed for a murder she did not commit is expressed in chapter eight of the novel. Frankestein states that he was in despair when Justine was suffering for the consequences of a creature that he had created. He says that he was torn by remorse, horror and despair as he witnessed the people whom he loved mourn for the deaths of Justine and William. It was the thirst of a man for knowledge that resulted to the monstrous creation that defied both natural order and nature. The description of the night when Frankenstein created the monster symbolizes horror. For example, the night Frankenstein gave life to the monster is described as â€Å"the dreary night of November† (Shelley, pg. 42). The events that are described in the whole story bring out the element of horror. To begin with, Victor Frankenstein confirms that he was horrified after looking at the monster he had created and this made him flee from his laboratory to abandon the creature. This creature had a horrifying appearance that made the society reject its efforts to become part of the society. Frankenstein describes and expresses how horrified he became after creating the monster â€Å"unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room and continued for a long time traversing my bed chamber, unable to compose my mend to sleep. Furthermore,he expresses his conviction that the creature he had created had the power to effect purposes of horror as indicated in the statement â€Å"I considered the being who I have cast among mankind and endowed with the will and power to effect purposes of horror(Shelley,pg. 92). The monster managed to learn language and become a civilized person. The fact that the monster had been considered by the society members to have murderous intentions increased its anger towards Victor Frankenstein who had not only created him but also abandoned him. This triggered monstrous actions of the creature which sought revenge against its creator and marked the beginning of a cycle of destruction whereby both the monster and Frankenstein pursued each other and hatred between the two continued to grow (Mellor, pg. 73). Conclusion The Frankestein, written by Mary Shelley is one of the most famous novels written by the author. As a result, the book has succeeded in attracting many readers to read the book. There are various key elements/themes in the book that have made the book very popular for both scholarly and lay audiences . These elements include the narration of the story by Victor Frankenstein who became the victim of the monsters’ revenge actions, the horrifying experiences expressed in the book and the use of science fiction. Some readers have asserted that contemporary issues in the novel themes include the moral implications of scientific discovery and one’s personal zeal for success can have detrimental impact on others. Works Cited Knoepflmacher, U. C. and Levine, George. The Endurance of Frankenstein: Essays on Mary Shelleys Novel. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979 Mellor, Anne. Mary Shelley; Her Life, Her Fiction, Her Monsters. Routledge, 1989 Shelley, Mary. Frankestein. Collector’s Library, 2004 Stableford, Brian. Frankenstein and the Origins of Science Fiction. Anticipations: Essays on Early Science Fiction and Its Precursors. Ed. David Seed. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1995

Essay on setting and work

Essay on setting and work Describe the Setting and the Work it does This report is commissioned by the Local Authority and is the result of a review a Phase One Childrens Centre who currently adopt and integrated model of working. The scope of the review was to identify benefits and limitations of an integrated approach. Furthermore, a brief exploration of the economic implications is provided and recommendations regarding future strategic structure and planning are detailed. Terminology A primary issue with multi-agency working is the inter-changeability and misuse of associated terminology (Morris, 2008; Walker, 2008). This report offers two distinct definitions of multi-agency working and clarifies the use of terms. The first definition describes multi-agency work as a range of different services which have some overlapping or shared interests and objectives, brought together to work collaboratively towards some common purpose (Wigfield Moss, 2001). The second definition contends that multi-agency work is about Bringing various professionals together to understand a particular problem or experienceIn this sense they afford different perspectives on issues at hand, just as one sees different facets of a crystal by turning it (Clark, 1993). These definitions share the ideology of different professionals from separate agencies working with a common goal and attempting to resolve an issue. It is essential to note the differences between multi-agency and multi-disciplinary work. Multi-agency work refers to two or more professionals from different agencies working together, whereas multi-disciplinary refers to the collaboration between different professionals from one agency. For example, (Walker, 2008) suggests that the professional working relationship between a teacher, nursery nurse and teaching assistant within a school is multidisciplinary because although their roles are different, they work within the education agency. However, the relationship between a Teacher, Social Worker and General Practitioner would be multi-agency because it encompasses different agencies (Education, Social Services and Health). (Wilson Pirrie, 2000) make further distinctions between multi-agency and inter-agency and argue the choice of terminology is determined by three factors- numerical, territorial and epistemological. This relates to the quantity of professionals involved, locations, and the amount of innovation in developing new ways of working which considers the philosophical foundations of each professional identity(Wilson Pirrie, 2000). Inter-agency may involve two professionals from different agencies whereas multi-agency involves a minimum of three (Wilson Pirrie, 2000). Furthermore, true multi-agency working requires professionals to enter each others professional environment, both physically and culturally, and establishing or re-establishing a novel and universal awareness and understanding (Coad, 2008; Walker, 2008; Wilson Pirrie, 2000). For the purpose of this report, the term multi-agency shall be adopted throughout and shall refer to two or more professionals from different agencies working collaboratively to address the needs of children and young people. Rationale The emphasis for multi-agency teamwork initiated following the death of Maria Colwell in 1973 (Walker, 2008) which resulted in significant changes to the structure of child services. However, the deaths of children with whom various agencies were involved continued. Such deaths include Jasmine Beckford (1984), Tyra Henry (1984), Heidi Koseda (1984) Kimberley Carlile (1986), Doreen Mason (1987), Leanne White (1992), Rikki Neave (1994), Chelsea Brown (1999), Victoria Climbià © (2000), Lauren Wright (2000) and Ainlee Labonte (2002). Despite enquiries into these deaths only a minority led to negligible changes in policy or guidance and only one led to a radical change in children services (Walker,2008). (Laming) (2003) highlighted significant failings on the part of agencies to work collaboratively to ensure the well-being of children and young people. Lamings (2003) recommendations were broadly adopted into the Every Child Matters agenda (DfES, 2003) which (Walker, 2008) suggests the g overnment were already considering implementing which suggests the it was implemented because it mirrored the ideological perspective of the government. However, van Eyk and Baum (2002) suggest that inquests have provided h3 evidence that agencies should be working together in a collaborative manner to safeguard children and therefore it is unsurprising that the government have adopted this ideological stance. Laming (2003) supports this by indicating the inseparability of the protection of children and wider support to families which has been widely accepted (Morris, 2008) and therefore the need for Local Authorities to have agencies working collaboratively is essential (Coad, 2008; Walker, 2008). Despite the development of legislation and policies, the death of Baby Peter in August 2007 was attributed to the failure of Social Workers and other professionals who had seen him approximately sixty times.   In November 2008 Lord Laming was commission by the government to conduct independent report on the progress being made by Local Authorities to work collaboratively to protect children. Key findings from Laming (2009) included: Social Workers are under-pressure deliver but inadequate training. The Day-to-day running of protection cases has significant problems. Managers are failing to lead by example with an over-emphasis on targets and process. The lack of a centralised Information Technology system is hampering progress. Administration is too complex and lengthy with a tick-box recording system. There is a lack of communication and joined-up working. Data protection laws are not clear nor understood resulting in information not being shared. There is a lack of funding in Social and Child Protection work. There has been a reduction in Child Protection Police Officers. Laming (2009) made the following recommendations: Directors of Childrens Services with no experience with child protection issues should appoint an experienced social work manger. All Local Authority Leads and Senior Managers should have child protection training. Social Work students should get more child protection training. Employers should face prosecution for failing to protect. Court fees for Care Proceedings should be reviewed (currently  £4000 per case) OFSTED inspectors must have experience of child protection Explicit targets should be developed for all frontline services A national agency should be developed to ensure the implementation of these recommendations. Legislation Under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 the Local Authority has a duty to safeguard and promoted the welfare of children within their area and are in need.   Section 22(3) extends this to include children within care. As the local authority is constructed of many agencies there is an implicit requirement for agencies to work collaboratively. This is stipulated within Section 10 of the (Children Act, 2004) Children which is a development of Section 27 of the Children Act 1989. This places a duty on agencies to pro-actively work with each other to support children and their families.   However, there also conflicting social policies and legislation which may act to limit the effectiveness of multi-agency working. An example may be a single-mother under the care of Social Services because she is over-crowded in her house.   The assessment indicates this is the primary factor from concern and recommends better accommodation from the Housing Department.   The Governments Every Child Matters vision demands that all children be placed at the centre of social action. However, other laws conflict this.   Housing law does not need to consider the Children Act 1989 or 2004, nor does it force Local Authorities to consider the allocation of accommodation on a child-centred basis, but on the basis of reasonable preference (Shelter, 2005, p.www). This leaves the potential for one law to stigmatise with the other to maintain stigmatisation and conflict between agencies arising. Current Model of Inter-Agency Working Integrated Service Model The Integrated Service Model unites various agencies into one hub who deliver a range of services and integrated support children and families within a community. The team share a location, vision, agreed principles and philosophies in developing localised plans to improve outcomes for service-users. This is usually delivered from an early years setting such as a Childrens Centre. The facilities and services of the integrated team are funded by all agencies and out-sourcing funding from voluntary, community and government agencies is also available. Such services may include access to childcare, education, and counselling as well as advice on health, employment and benefits. Furthermore, practitioners actively and collaboratively engage in outreaching activities to identify and target in need families. Parents and children are given the opportunity to learn new skills, discuss their issues (formally and informally), and engage in communal activities. As services are localised it recognises each community is different and has unique needs. Therefore, activities will differ from hub to hub. Furthermore, there is a greater emphasis on co-working and co-training with skills between agencies being shared at a deeper level resulting in better practice and information sharing. However, the benefits of this model can be limited by local factors such as poor management or failing to identify local needs. Furthermore, getting all agencies involved requires an initial financial and personnel investment along with a clear and agreed strategy on how to merge services. Managing the differences in pay between practitioners and the power each agency holds needs to be considered at a macro-level to ensure fairness and consistency. A failure in this may result in practitioners feeling devalued or threatened. Atkinson et als (2001) study found this model is most effective when there is a case lead/manager responsible for co-ordinating services for families which ensures services are aimed at the service-user rather than the organisation or professional.   A review into outcomes for families with disabled children indicates that a key worker integrated model promotes better outcomes (Liabo et al,2001). Although Liabo et al (2001) acknowledge a lack of large scale and robust studies, an integration of the current evidence indicates families enjoy a better quality of life, lower levels of stress and quicker access to services. However, from a critical perspective a systematic review is required to minimise any bias. Although Watson et al (2000,2002) concur, they argue these are opinions rather than fact and call for localised research aimed at measuring outcomes to enable a synthesis of results. Alternative Models of Multi-agency Working Multi-agency Team The multi-agency team model is considerably more formal than the Multi-agency panel model currently employed. Practitioners are recruited as part of a singular team who share a common goal and a sense of team identity and are line managed by a team leader. However, links are maintained with home agencies through supervision and training. This team would share a base, although some practitioners would be required to work in two settings. Such an example might include a School Attendance Officer who would be based within the Local Service Team and at the school which can lead to confusion between job roles. As collaborative working is at the foundation of the approach there is inevitably a sharing of skills and knowledge with communication being uncomplicated. However, recruitment of staff is time-consuming and identification of people not only with the appropriate skills, but also to work collaboratively may be problematic. Also, as this will be new to the Local Authority, time and funding would need to be allocated for team building and development.   There is also a reliance on agencies sharing a good relationship and be willing to partake in meetings, conferences and strategy meetings in addition to service-user discussions. Measuring the Impact of Integrated Working The above has highlighted the implications for failing to work in an integrated manner and there is an assumption that effective integrated working actively contributes to the positive outcomes of Every Child Matters. Therefore this section focuses on studies and literature aimed at measuring the efficacy of integrated working. Cameron and Larts (2003) systematic review reaffirms the findings of Cameron et al (2000) that there is little evidence to confirm the benefits for service users of integrated working. Cameron and Lart (2003) are critical of the lack of evaluations aimed at measuring the effectiveness of multi-agency working and highlight the few that have are methodologically poor. Similarly, few studies have provided information regarding the effectiveness of different models. For example, Atkinson et al (2002) interviewed professionals to assess benefits of multi-agency working to service users. They identified quicker access to services leading to quicker diagnosis and treatment. Furthermore, they identified that professionals from different agencies communicated more effectively. However, this study collected the subjective views of professionals and failed to obtain the representative view of the service user.   Webb and Vuillamys (2001) study indicated a reduction in the exclusion of high risk pupils through the introduction of specialist support workers responsible for avoiding inter-agency disputes regarding responsibilities and resources. Webb and Vuillamy (2001) claim the support workers differentiated between school-focused agencies (such as educational social workers, educational psychologists and teachers) and external-agencies (such as Social Workers, Police and General Practitioners). This study reported a 25% reduction in exclusions. Webb and Vuillamy (2001) claim this has far-reaching consequences such as a reduction in crime, better educational and vocational attainment, however, this is broad assumptions based on the statistical link between exclusion and crime and is not proven within the study. Challis et al (2004) conducted a Randomised Control Trial (RCT) of 256 older people at risk of care home entry. The objective of the RCT was to redesign the decision-making process by assessing the value of obtaining a specialist clinician assessment prior to placing individuals into care homes. Participants were randomly allocated into two groups, the first received the standardised assessment process and second (experimental group) received a clinical assessment from a geriatrician or psychiatrist. The collaboration between the clinician and social worker was at the heart of this RCT. The experimental group continued to experience reduced deterioration mental and physical, had minimal contact with emergency services and carers reported lower levels of stress. Furthermore, NHS costs were lower and social services and the NHS benefited from merging skills, developing communication; and improved outcomes for users and carers. Despite the findings from these studies, the majority of studies focus on process rather than outcome, for example a Systematic Review by Cameron and Lart (2003) indicate factors which promote and hinder integrated working. This is supported by the Integrated Care Network (ICN) (2004) who contends that even when outcomes are considered this is narrowly focused and are difficult to measure in the short-term without evidence from a cohort study. The ICN (2004) believes emphasis needs to shift from structure and input to outcomes. Benefits of Multi-agency Working Inter-agency working is reported to improved the knowledge, skills and expertise of professionals (Sammons et al,2003) due to the increased opportunity for professionals development through working with other agencies (Atkinson et al, 2001,2002). This is supported by Townsley et al (2004) who indicate that the process of multi-agency working is having an effect on positive outcomes for families with disabled children. However, this incorporates the views of professionals rather than service users suggesting a subjective and biased view. The study by Atkinson et al (2002) also considers the views of professionals who suggested service users benefited from quicker access to services leading to quicker diagnosis and treatment. Furthermore, they identified that professionals from different agencies communicated more effectively. Challis et al (2004) conducted a Randomised Control Trial (RCT) of 256 older people at risk of care home entry. The objective of the RCT was to redesign the decision-making process by assessing the value of obtaining a specialist clinician assessment prior to placing individuals into care homes. Participants were randomly allocated into two groups, the first received the standardised assessment process and second (experimental group) received a clinical assessment from a geriatrician or psychiatrist. The collaboration between the clinician and social worker was at the heart of this RCT. The experimental group continued to experience reduced deterioration mental and physical, had minimal contact with emergency services and carers reported lower levels of stress. Furthermore, NHS costs were lower and social services and the NHS benefited from merging skills, developing communication; and improved outcomes for users and carers. Webb and Vuillamys (2001) study indicated a reduction in the exclusion of high risk pupils through the introduction of specialist support workers responsible for avoiding inter-agency disputes regarding responsibilities and resources. Webb and Vuillamy (2001) claim the support workers differentiated between school-focused agencies (such as educational social workers, educational psychologists and teachers) and external-agencies (such as Social Workers, Police and General Practitioners). This study reported a 25% reduction in exclusions. Webb and Vuillamy (2001) claim this has far-reaching consequences such as a reduction in crime, better educational and vocational attainment, however, this is broad assumptions based on the statistical link between exclusion and crime and is not proven within the study. Counter-Evidence Despite the findings from these studies, the majority of studies focus on process rather than outcome, for example a Systematic Review by Cameron and Lart (2003) indicate factors which promote and hinder integrated working. This is supported by the Integrated Care Network (ICN) (2004) who contends that even when outcomes are considered this is narrowly focused and are difficult to measure in the short-term without evidence from a cohort study. The ICN (2004) believes emphasis needs to shift from structure and input to outcomes. Cameron and Larts (2003) systematic review reaffirms the findings of Cameron et al (2000) that there is little evidence to confirm the benefits for service users of integrated working. Cameron and Lart (2003) are critical of the lack of evaluations aimed at measuring the effectiveness of multi-agency working and highlight the few that have are methodologically poor. Similarly, few studies have provided information regarding the effectiveness of different models. Facilitators to Multi-agency Working Evidence on Removing Barriers Barriers to Effective Multi-agency Work There are apparent dangers to encouraging inter-agency and multi-agency working. As (Walker, 2008) stipulates, different professions are likely to have unique values at their foundation which they may want to protect. To provide an example of different values, cultures and practices consider a social worker partaking in an interview with a police officer. The child who they are interviewing breaks down. The role of the social worker is to consider the well-being of the child (from a child-centred perspective), however, for the police officer it is to provide evidence to consider prosecution. Obvious barriers, conflicts and confusion can arise. (Coad, 2008) offers support to (Walker, 2008) and suggests the primary trigger for such issues is the lack of clarity of roles and authority in decision making. The lack of clarity regarding roles may lead to work duplication or providing advice which conflicts with that of another professional. However, this can be overcome through effective c ommunication between agencies and practitioners (Walker, 2008) and transparency regarding decision making processes (Coad, 2008). In addition, each agency will have its own language, terminology, budgets, targets, assessments and measurement criteria to which other professions may not fully understand. Overcoming the barriers presented is dynamic and complex. As expectations of politicians, academics and service users change so do the barriers which are presented. Therefore, in order to overcome such barriers a model of integrated thinking should be adopted with the development and deployment of a Childrens and Young Persons Strategy. This should be developed through the conduction of research to include all agencies, academic institutions training professionals, and the views of service users. This should be reviewed on a bi-annual basis to ensure it remains contemporary. Recommendations Conclusion Seeking funding utilises large amounts of managerial time and resources.