Anti- corruption and integrity at a hospital Essay

Anti- corruption and integrity at a hospital - Essay Example Corruption is a global phenomenon, and it has percolated into every aspect of common life. â€Å"Corruption is a global phenomenon that causes poverty, obstructs development and drives away investment. It also debilitates the judicial and political systems that should be working for the public good† (UNODC 2007). Although all these sectors are experiencing corruption and fraud practices for some time now, corruption in healthcare sector only causes repercussion for the common people in a maximal manner. The life saving sector of healthcare is now turning into a corruption encouraging sector. Although, certain individuals working in a hospital may indulge in corruption and fraud practices, and for that entire hospital may not be blamed, the fact is, those individuals may be given the free hand to indulge in corruption because of certain loopholes in hospital’s functioning and processes. Thus, individuals are manipulated as much as they manipulate, and in a way individual corruption masks the structural corruption. So, this paper will focus on and diagnose the corruption and integrity profile in my organization of hospital setting, then will analyse the causes of any fraud practices and/or corruption opportunities that may be visible in my organization, then will discuss and assess the effectiveness of the institutional integrity policies adopted by my organization against corruption and finally will make recommendations for improving the anti-corruption and integrity of my organization. Background As mentioned above, although corruption and fraud activities are visible in many organizational sectors, corruption in healthcare systems is reaching startling levels, negatively impacting various stakeholders. Healthcare industry has spread out throughout the world, and there is no human habitable place in the world, without some form of health care structures or hospitals. All these healthcare structures were established to provide life saving and life caring options to people. However, this corruption is diminishing the efficiency and effectiveness of these centres, and this applicable to maximum countries in the world. That is, corruption in healthcare sector is visible in many countries, irrespective of whether they are rich or poor, developed or developing. â€Å"The hospital sector represents a significant risk for corruption, in both developing and developed countries alike.†(Vian, 2005). For example, in the United States alone, corrupt and fraud activities in health care has been estimated to cost US $11.9 to 23.2 billion per year; much of this expense is attributable to hospital-based care. (Vian, 2005). On similar lines, in the African country of Ghana, there is 50% loss in the health funds due to corruption, and so half of the allocated funds do not reach clinics and hospitals in Ghana. (Lindelow, Kushnarova and Kaiser 2006). Thus, corruption in healthcare sector is not region specific and is visible in all countr ies in maximal hospitals. The reason why hospitals are ‘hotbeds’ of corrupt and fraud activities, is because of the large scale movement of money, thus

Marketing Research Analysis - Dubai Taxi Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Marketing Analysis - Dubai Taxi - Research Paper Example During the early 21st century, the competition prevailed between transportation companies has certainly become more intensive in terms of quality of services, which is gaining the attention of the tourists more than ever before. In this regard, it is perceived that the demand of Taxi in Dubai has revolutionized its public transportation facilities (Hussain, Nasser and Hussain 1-9). 1.2 Aim and Objectives. The prime aim of this research is to conduct a comprehensive marketing research analysis of Dubai Taxi. In relation to this aim, the objectives of the study mainly include determining the expectations of the customers and analyzing the complaints of the customers regarding the services quality of Taxi in local markets of Dubai. 1.3 Research Methodology. In relation to the above context, a qualitative approach of research methodology has been taken into concern with gathering primary as well as secondary data. For gathering primary data, a survey has been conducted amid 100 respondents with the aim of identifying the market of transportation industry (Taxi) of Dubai. In this regard, a questionnaire survey has been prepared for gathering primary data. On the other hand, academic literatures have been reviewed with the aim of gathering reliable information regarding the stated subject matter. 2.1 Research Objectives and Questions. It has been earlier mentioned that the major aim of this particular research study is to determine the services quality of Dubai Taxi services. Simultaneously, this particular research intends to determine the expectations of the customers for developing such services. Based on this particular research aims along with objectives, specific research questions have been framed, which will deliver appropriate understanding regarding the subject matter of the study. The specific research questions

Corporate strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Corporate strategy - Essay Example In its early days Nucor corp. served as a manufacturer for Oldsmobile (GE motor). The company has come a long way since its inception in 1964. It has gone through major structural changes, acquired new operations and even closed or disposed some operations. Over 41 years Nucor grew from a small steel company at the edge of bankruptcy, to be the 7th biggest steel maker in the United States a few years back. It is presently the 2nd largest steel maker in the US. Profitability analysis shows that there’s been improvement over the years; especially a better performance than previous year 2003. Nucor is one of the most profitable companies in the US domestic market. Its budget expectation has proved accurate for the year 2004. Gross profit margin and net profit margin were both strong, which tells that the company is strong in areas of manufacturing as well as management / sales. Within the steel industry Nucor has displayed prudence in its finances as suggested by a business comparison with Arcelor Mittal which is a bigger organization but yet the former had managed to keep a surplus in all four profitability areas. Average liquidity ratio recorded at 1.49 is a good determining factor of the financial viability of Nucor business, which is well-funded than its other two rivals. Current ratio gives an indication of the ability of Nucor business to pay its bills. The ratio of 2.69 in year 2004 shows that it has a better ability to meet ongoing and unexpected expenses. Nucor’s financial performances have been quite successful so far, in terms of its steady growth rate as well as its equity value. In order for the company to sustain and maximize this pattern of growth in the coming years, a deployment of strategic analytical tools such as PESTEL will be highly relevant. Domestic market is still in a state of regression among upwards of Kuznets infrastructure investment cycle1. Countries with better economic conditions have more

Marketing Research Analysis - Dubai Taxi Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Marketing Analysis - Dubai Taxi - Research Paper Example During the early 21st century, the competition prevailed between transportation companies has certainly become more intensive in terms of quality of services, which is gaining the attention of the tourists more than ever before. In this regard, it is perceived that the demand of Taxi in Dubai has revolutionized its public transportation facilities (Hussain, Nasser and Hussain 1-9). 1.2 Aim and Objectives. The prime aim of this research is to conduct a comprehensive marketing research analysis of Dubai Taxi. In relation to this aim, the objectives of the study mainly include determining the expectations of the customers and analyzing the complaints of the customers regarding the services quality of Taxi in local markets of Dubai. 1.3 Research Methodology. In relation to the above context, a qualitative approach of research methodology has been taken into concern with gathering primary as well as secondary data. For gathering primary data, a survey has been conducted amid 100 respondents with the aim of identifying the market of transportation industry (Taxi) of Dubai. In this regard, a questionnaire survey has been prepared for gathering primary data. On the other hand, academic literatures have been reviewed with the aim of gathering reliable information regarding the stated subject matter. 2.1 Research Objectives and Questions. It has been earlier mentioned that the major aim of this particular research study is to determine the services quality of Dubai Taxi services. Simultaneously, this particular research intends to determine the expectations of the customers for developing such services. Based on this particular research aims along with objectives, specific research questions have been framed, which will deliver appropriate understanding regarding the subject matter of the study. The specific research questions

Why I Want to Become a Teacher Essay Example for Free

Why I Want to Become a Teacher Essay I always wanted to become a teacher. The main reason for this is that I want to do something to help the community, and give back some of the privileges that I enjoyed. Some of these privileges included a great education, and caring teachers. I could see myself accomplishing this task through teaching. New York City needs hard working, caring, and responsible teachers, and I want to become a part of it. I believe that to become a teacher, your heart really needs to be in it and you need to be committed and dedicated. I will constantly think of ways on how to improve things and how to help my students when I become a teacher. I have the motivation, and the potential to become a New York City Teaching Fellow. In this way, I will be influencing the futures of our next generation in a positive way. I have previously worked as an occasional per diem teacher in the year 2002 with the Board of Education of NYC. Actually, it was my first job right after college. I enjoyed my time working there and helping students out, who were in need of help with their math skills. Through this teaching job, I learned a lot of things. Most important was the behavior aspect of children. I completely understand how to motivate students, and how to get them interested in the coursework. Their enthusiasm and motivation is the key to a better future generation. Besides that, I have very strong math skills, which help me make a strong candidate as a teacher. These math skills were visible when I took Calculus 1, and Calculus 2 in senior year of high school. After that, I took statistics and other advanced calculus classes in college. This progress continued through graduate school. Therefore, I believe that my educational math experience and previous experience as a math teacher will help definitely ensure high academic achievement for my students. New York City has many high-need schools located in low income communities. I also come from a low income family. Therefore, I think of it as my duty to come forward and do something for the low income families. I understand the pressure these kids are facing and the daily hassles that they go through. Therefore, it will be a great opportunity for me to work with the children of a high-need school, while understanding their situation completely. In conclusion, I would say that it is my dream to become a teacher and give back to the community that gave everything to me. I have the experience and the right education to make me a perfect candidate for teaching. I know that I will be a part of the next generation even though I am not in it and that makes me excited. I will be able to help shape history by being a teacher by setting these children up for their future. I cannot wait to get into a classroom and impart my enthusiasm to kids. They will learn and I will as well and it will be a great accomplishment for us.

Over-spending and under-spending of the public sector budget

Over-spending and under-spending of the public sector budget The over-spending and under-spending of a budget is the positive or negative variance between what was actually spent and what was budgeted. Overspending Budgets overruns are the underestimation of costs and time or by the nonconformity of budget managers with the spending maximum defined in the budget, when projected. There are several explanations for overspending. Sometimes, it is simply bad forecasting on part of the budget manager. There was incomplete information or poor forecasting methods that led to an underestimation and/or unreal optimism of costs, expenses and revenues. Often there is change in scope of the project and costs associated with scope change are neither captured nor covered in the risk mitigation or contingency plan. Funds are allocated to the cost centers for spending, it is controlled. Overspent fund accumulate in arrears. Overruns could also be a result of off-budget spending which not considered part of the budget and is not included in budget totals. Off budget spending is often for political reasons. For example, after a request from President Reagan, Congress placed strategic petroleum reserve spending off-budget in 1982. Instead of using other means to control the deficit raising revenues or cutting spending placing this program off-budget gave the appearance of a smaller deficit, even though the government still needed to finance this spending. Source: Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the United States Government, Historical Tables and Mid-session Review, FY2006. Sometimes the expenditure processes are complicated and difficult. To circumvent this process exceptional procedures are development to speed to the process to release the funds. These exceptional procedures are tolerated by the treasury for politically sensitive expenditures. The procedures are frequently abused and should be discouraged. These procedures are used my officials to order supplies without making a formal request and much later the year un-forecasted invoices appear. Sometime fund are unavailable to make this invoices which leads to generation of arrears for the following year. The compounding of exceptional procedures also has long-term implications, incentivizing spending agencies to go outside the budget system to avoid control altogether. Such procedures are associated with or result in corruption. Often past experiences can lead to overspending. If a department head under spent the previous year and the budget for the following year was lost. The department is highly likely to spend the entire amount for the fear of losing funds for the next year. The way in which performance is reported can have a significant effect on the camaraderie and coordination between departments. If participation of the managers implementing the budget was absent, then managers can blame this for the file to abide by the budget. In addition impact of inflation and a sense of entitlement towards certain funds are also factors to be considered in budget planning. Overruns can be caused by such deficiencies in budget preparation. Under spending Many governments do not spend their full annual budget. The reasons for this under spending can be various and can result in many outcomes. Lack of timely spending or under spending can affect the citizens not receiving essential government services. Certain areas have more economic impacts such as jobs created through the timely initiation of new infrastructure project. Under spending can often obstruct resources from other departments/managers which/who are spending their budget more productively, preventing them to reach their complete potential of success in delivery of the intended service. Under spending in particular year frequently leads to rollovers and modifications in the subsequent years. These modifications are irregular and are cumbersome to be forecasted leaving the department ill-equipped to spend these rollovers. Factors that result in under spending include insufficiencies in budget preparation and project/program planning, unrealistic projections of revenues, poor governance and off-budget spending. Virement is another factor that fuels under spending: It is the transfer of funds from one budget head to another. To achieve efficiency or prevent the need for a supplementary estimate as an under spending from one head may be transferred to another head which has overspending. One problem with unrestricted virement is that managers would inevitably spend al their budget allocation for fear of a budget reduction in the subsequent year. Example: Within the ministry of education budgets are transferred from primary education to higher education it can result in the delay of programs starting in the K-12 grades. Example: The latest un-audited expenditure reports from the National Treasury indicate that R3.48 billion of the national government budget went unspent in 2000/01 financial year- about R1.7billion on both the recurrent and the capital side of the budget. The under spend in provincial government was far greater at R5.5 billion. The latest available data indicate that this picture has not changed significantly in 2001/02. Although the government is moving in the right direction, most initiatives to address under spending appear rather general and details have yet to emerge on how the Treasury will specifically tackle the problem. In the meantime, under-spending seems set to remain with us. Source: Government under spending remains a problem February 2002 By Marritt Claassens and Paul Whelan, Budget Information Service, Idasa, http://www.idasa.org.za/bis/ Different kinds of variances A variance is the difference between a budgeted, planned or standard amount and the actual amount. Variances can be divided according to their nature of the underlying amounts and is determined by the needs of users of the variance information. These include : Variable cost variances Direct material variance Price variance: is the difference between the standard cost and the actual cost for the actual quantity of material used or purchased. Usage Variance: is the difference between the standard quantity of materials that should have been used for the number of units actually produced, and the actual quantity of materials used, valued at the standard cost per unit of material. Direct labour variance Rate Variance is the difference between the standard cost and the actual cost paid for the actual number of hours. Efficiency variance is the difference between the standard labour hour that should have been worked for the actual number of units produced and the actual number of hours worked when the labour hours are valued at the standard rate. Overhead variances Fixed overhead variances: identifies what proportion of the total fixed overhead variance is due to actual fixed overhead being different from the budgeted fixed overhead. Variable overhead variance measures the change between actual expenditure and the allowed overhead for actual labour hours. Income variance is the difference between actual income and budget income. It is used to measure the performance of a income function, and/or analyze business results to better understand market conditions. Actual income can differ from budgeted income either due to the variance in volume sold or the variance in the price point of the budgeted price point. Best Practices The following are some key good practice for prevention and minimization of the variances: Broad goals should be established to guide government decision making. Budgeting methods are developed to achieve these goals. An appropriate budget is developed to achieve the goals and the performance criterion is determined at the beginning. Close interaction between the financial information system and the budgeting systems is essential. There should be a control on collective spending and any deficit, a overarching prioritization of strategies with regards to expenditures and better use of the budgeted resources. The approved budget should be entered into the financial information system. In addition to a full commitment system, memorandum notes should be included the system that capture records of commitment but does not amend the financial records. Timely comparative financial statements on a regular basis. These statements should include original and revised budget, capture variances and explain major variances. The audited and reliable statements are based in solid accounting standards with regular external reporting. Budget Monitoring: Monitoring and controlling consists of those processes are performed to observe that potential problems can be identified in a timely manner and corrective action can be taken, when necessary. The key benefit is that the actuals are observed and measured regularly to identify variances from the budget. During the course of the year, instance may arise where the income or expenditure is very large that may require and supplementary estimate. The better the level of control and intelligence available the earlier this situations can be detected and more swiftly and appropriate an action can be taken to minimize the variance. However if is determined there has to be a change then the financial information systems can be updated as soon as possible. If a department become aware that it will overspend at any time during the year it must notify the Treasury department immediately. It is possible that a supplement estimate is provided if deemed appropriate. Transparency is key publish the State accounting policies, establish system of internal controls, and keep doors open for public and parliamentary scrutiny. Flexible budgeting is a performance evaluation tool. It is not be prepared before the end of the fiscal period. A flexible budget adjusts the initial budget for the actual level of output. The flexible budget answers the question: If the department had known at the beginning of the period what would the output volume (units delivered or sold) would be, what the budget would have looked like? If the department actually delivered X units, then treasury should compare actual delivery costs for X units to what it should have spent to make X units, not to what the department should have spent to deliver X-1000 units or X+1000 units etc. The flexible budget provides a better opportunity for planning and controlling than does a static (initial) budget.

Arab - Israeli Wars :: essays research papers

Since the United Nations partition of PALESTINE in 1947 and the establishment of the modern state of ISRAEL in 1948, there have been four major Arab-Israeli wars (1947-49, 1956, 1967, and 1973) and numerous intermittent battles. Although Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979, hostility between Israel and the rest of its Arab neighbors, complicated by the demands of Palestinian Arabs, continued into the 1980s. THE FIRST PALESTINE WAR (1947-49) The first war began as a civil conflict between Palestinian Jews and Arabs following the United Nations recommendation of Nov. 29, 1947, to partition Palestine, then still under British mandate, into an Arab state and a Jewish state. Fighting quickly spread as Arab guerrillas attacked Jewish settlements and communication links to prevent implementation of the UN plan. Jewish forces prevented seizure of most settlements, but Arab guerrillas, supported by the Transjordanian Arab Legion under the command of British officers, besieged Jerusalem. By April, Haganah, the principal Jewish military group, seized the offensive, scoring victories against the Arab Liberation Army in northern Palestine, Jaffa, and Jerusalem. British military forces withdrew to Haifa; although officially neutral, some commanders assisted one side or the other. After the British had departed and the state of Israel had been established on May 15, 1948, under the premiership of David BEN-GURION, the Palestine Arab forces and foreign volunteers were joined by regular armies of Transjordan (now the kingdom of JORDAN), IRAQ, LEBANON, and SYRIA, with token support from SAUDI ARABIA. Efforts by the UN to halt the fighting were unsuccessful until June 11, when a 4-week truce was declared. When the Arab states refused to renew the truce, ten more days of fighting erupted. In that time Israel greatly extended the area under its control and broke the siege of Jerusalem. Fighting on a smaller scale continued during the second UN truce beginning in mid-July, and Israel acquired more territory, especially in Galilee and the Negev. By January 1949, when the last battles ended, Israel had extended its frontiers by about 5,000 sq km (1,930 sq mi) beyond the 15,500 sq km (4,983 sq mi) allocated to the Jewish state in the UN partition resolution. It had also secured its independence. During 1949, armistice agreements were signed under UN auspices between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. The armistice frontiers were unofficial boundaries until 1967. SUEZ-SINAI WAR (1956) Border conflicts between Israel and the Arabs continued despite provisions in the 1949 armistice agreements for peace negotiations. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs who had left Israeli-held territory during the first war concentrated in refugee camps along Israel's frontiers and became a major source of friction when they infiltrated back to their homes or