Analysis of the problems free essay sample

This case study highlights about the analysis of the problems, background, theories, and action plans. Before exploring Tucker Company, it is necessary to know the background including its past and present. It will be discussed further about the problems in Tucker Company that occurred when it reorganizing its company into 3 new divisions. The 3 new divisions are also known as 3 new product lines of Tucker Company. In the following point, it draws the relation among those problems with some managements theories. In the end of this report, it will also be provided what the company should do to solve those problems. II)Case background Tucker Company carried out an extensive restructuring I 1978 which divide the company into three major product lines and will lead by a new vice – president and he will report to Mr. Harnett, the CEO of Tucker Company. The new product lines were commercial jet engines, military jet engines and utility turbines. We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis of the problems or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Each division would have their departments such as manufacturing, engineering and accounting department. There was a old laboratory which continue support the three main division after the reorganization. Mr Hodge was the new manager of the laboratory manager in 1988. He focused more on his own advancement more than the company’s development. Few months later, several conflicts occurred in his laboratory and he was the main reason which caused this conflicts. Argument happened between Mr. Hodge and Mr. Franklin, the manager of engineering department over the implementation of the results and the time of handling his request taking a longer time under his management. The arguments between Mr. Hodge and Mr. Franklin occur successively and caused one of the Mr. Franklin’s projects failed. III) Problem analysis Problem that occurred in Tucker Company is conflict while the progressing of Tucker Companys reorganization its company into 3 principle product lines. It was about personal conflict between Hodge and Franklin who disagreed over the implementation of the materials. Even though it was personal problem, it could affect all aspects of the company and it might become a crucial matter. The engineer of the utility turbine division, Mr. Franklin, wanted his department to be in charge in final decision of the materials. Meanwhile, Mr. Hodge, the new laboratory manager, as the replacement of the previous laboratory manager which was Mr. Garfield. Mr. Hodge stated that he is a metallurgist. Thus, the final decision should be on him. Unlike Mr. Garfield, from the point of view of Mr. Hodges peers, he was more interested in his own advancement rather than companys advancement. IV)a)Theories Management theory – divisional structure Divisional structure can be defined as a structure which usually consists of several parallel teams focusing on a single product or service line. Tucker Company applies this divisional structure and divides into 3 product lines which were commercial jet engines, military jet engines and utility turbines. There were some advantages and disadvantages of this divisional structure. i)Advantage The advantage of using divisional structure was that every team or group will be focused on a single product and supported by a leadership structure. The manager has to divide the workers with same abilities and talents into a same group and focus on the product which they were expertise in. Through this method, the company will become more effective and will have higher productivity. Furthermore, due to the division, it is easier for manager to measure their performance. Another advantage by applying this divisional structure will be each product lines were self sufficient and flexible. The divisional structure was designed so each teams or groups were self-sufficient which means each group will have its own department. For instance, in Tucker Company, 3 new product lines will have its own department such as engineering department, manufacturing department and accounting department and these groups will operate separately so that these groups can focused on a particular goal. ii)Disadvantage On the other hand, the disadvantage for this divisional structure was the cost of operations was usually very high. In Tucker Company, each products line will have their departments and each department needed its own resources and these will increase the cost of operations. In addition, each product lines will have 1 divisional head and conflicts between divisional heads will occurred when every divisional heads wants to show their supremacy. Company could not operate well if every divisional heads would not cooperate well and could not meet the company’s goals and objective. b)Theory of scarcity First of all, scarcity means unlimited wants and limited resources and it was impossible for a company to meet all goals at the same time. Same problem happened in Tucker Company. Tucker Company has 3 products lines but only 1 laboratory. It was simply means that the company has scarce resources which refer to the laboratory. 3 departments are using 1 laboratory at the laboratory cannot used by three departments at the same time. So they have to choose which departments have to use first and other department shave to give up using it. Argument between departments will eventually occurred and these argument only can be solved or minimize by maximized the resources.

Politics and the public essays

Politics and the public essays When it comes to the issue of government, there is always the question of public involvement. Occasionally, people do not want to be involved, and some have that choice. Sometimes people do want to be involved, but do not have that option. Public involvement in politics is a subject that is very controversial, because people have very different opinions. People in dictatorships believe the public should not take part in decisions. Dictatorships can be very effective. They work and are efficient because of the single leader that controls everything. Hitler led a dictatorship, and was very successful. The people followed and respected him. They did not realize what Hitler was really doing, which was destroying the country and the people. There are no elections, which usually take a long time in democratic countries. For that reason and many others, change happens fast in a dictatorship because a single ruler or oligarchy controls everything. It is also the easiest to govern, because other than the few who object, the citizens follow and obey the leader effortlessly. There is one person to deal with national emergencies because one person controls the military. With a snap of a dictators fingers, the country can go to war. Banned opposition causes less war within the country, and uprisings are controlled. Another example of the good a dictatorship does is drug control, because there is less use of dr ugs in a dictatorial country than in a democracy. Dictatorships have many unattractive aspects as well. The people live in fear, and are unhappy, because they usually are not receiving what jobs they need, or much entertainment, and they are not content socially. Citizens surrender all rights and follow all rules and laws without hesitation. This is because if they do not follow, there is usually an unwanted punishment for being criminal. The citizens typically live in fear and do not know what to expect with th...

International Politics Current Event Memo Article

International Politics Current Event Memo - Article Example It was confirmed that the policies used by China were violating the set global trade rules. Particularly, it was confirmed that the export rules applied by China on the rare-earth metals were not consistent with China’s obligation in the WTO. In defense, China stated that the rules were in place as a measure to safeguard the environment, but the WTO said that those reasons were not enough to limit exports. The WTO ruling covered seventeen rare-earth metals that are used in making of electronic products. According to the authors, the decision is likely to see a reduction in rare-earth metals prices. The authors note that the Obama leadership is keen on stepping up such trade cases against countries such as Russia, China and India. This is in an attempt to stop such countries from violating WTO rules. The main actors covered in the article are China, the United States and the World Trade Organization. On one hand, China’s interest is to limit the export of rare-earth metals to other countries. According to Chinese officials, such restrictions are important in helping conserve the environment. On the other hand, the WTO and the United States are keen on ensuring that China does not put policies in place that violate the WTO rules and limit international trade. For the WTO, this is an attempt to create a level-playing field in which all countries operate on fair policies that do not negatively affect other member countries. As noted in the article, the US is interested in following such cases in order to enhance fair trade policies. This is of benefit to the US economy. For example, it is noted in the article that the steelmakers in the United States welcomed the decision taken by the WTO since some of these rare-earth metals such as tungsten are used in the steel industry. The institutions relevant to the article include World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and

Compensation System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Compensation System - Essay Example take place in different plans like weekly or monthly payment of wages, economic loss compensation, payment of medical expenses and compensation to the dependants of a killed employee in the work place. Compensation of loss which occurs as a result of employee negligence does not take place in many jurisdictions. There many workers compensation systems which ensure that all employees have received their rights of compensation as stipulated in the Statutory. Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act (LSA) cover all employees in the maritime industry. The Jones Act provides compensation and protection of seamen (Lee, 2009). Another program is called Federal Coal Mine Health Safety Act which covers people working in mine industries. It provides compensation to the miners who develop lungs complications. Veterans Administration is another program which provides compensation to people with complications and disabilities not related to their services (King, 2007). In case of disability insurance, an organization should provide weekly payment of wages. This will enable employees to care for medical and family expenses. The employee will receive money weekly, and this can help in quick recovery through receiving a favorable medical care. The company providing weekly payment can incur loss because of payment of processing fee each week instead of making a single payment. Economic loss compensation can be made for past and future loss (Max, 2012). Many people have provided wrong information about loss claim in order to get compensation in this plan. In case of health insurance, employee receives compensation for medical bills. This compensates workers when they develop a complication while providing services (Duke, 2010). The last plan is compensation of the dependants of employees who die in the work place. There same instances in which a person can not receive a compensation. When individual suffers as a result of negligence he/she does not get compensation from any

Line Managers and HRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Line Managers and HRM - Essay Example Retailco at the same time is also not interested in investing much into the part timers as the major advantage of hiring the part time workers is the cost saving as compared to the full time workers. Another problem with the part time workers is that the part time workers have other commitments too. The turnover of part time workers is high as they have less loyalty and less bonding with the organization working in. On the other hand, the full time work force is expensive to manage and maintain. The part time workers are only paid for their services whereas the full time workers also receive a hefty benefits package alongwith their basic salary. From the perspective of recruitment of part time workers as opposed to full time employees, the part time workers have to be hired more frequently. Store managers have substantial responsibility in terms of management and human resource activities. These managers are responsible for local HR activities including, but not restricted to, recruitment and selection, on-the-job training, staff scheduling and performance management. The workforce majority being the part time workers pose a difficulty for the store managers to manage their time to conduct such additional tasks which do not directly contribute to their performance. Store managers have set cost targets and budgets constraints within which they have to remain. They believe that hiring full time workers costs more in terms of overtime rate, for example, and thus they would run out of their budget limits if they hire full time workers. Thus they prefer hiring part time workers over full time employees. Another problem arising as a consequence of such a budget based recruitment practice is that the recruitment is

EndoPredict and Mammaprint Risk Classification

EndoPredict and Mammaprint Risk Classification Comparison of risk classification between EndoPredict and Mammaprint in ER-positive/HER2-negative primary invasive breast cancer. Alberto Pelez-Garcia, Laura Yebenes, Alberto Berjon, Antonia Angulo, Pilar Zamora, Jose Ignacio Snchez-Mendez, Enrique Espinosa, Andres Redondo, Victoria Heredia, Marta Mendiola, Jaime Feliu, David Hardisson Corresponding Author: David Hardisson, MD, PhD; Department of Pathology; Hospital Universitario La Paz, IdiPAZ; Paseo de la Castellana, 261; 28046 Madrid, Spain. ABSTRACT Purpose To compare the prognostic performance of the EndoPredict assay with the MammaPrint scores obtained for the same cancer samples on 40 estrogen-receptor positive/HER2-negative breast carcinomas. Methods Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded invasive breast carcinoma tissues that were previously analyzed with MammaPrint as part of routine care of the patients, andwere classified as high-risk (20 patients) and low-risk (20 patients), were selected to be analyzed by the EndoPredict assay, a second generation gene expression test that combines expression of 8 genes (EP score) with two clinicopathological factors (tumor size and nodal status, EPclin score). Results The EP score classified 15 patients as low-risk and 25 patients as high-risk. EPclin re-classified 5 of the 25 EP high-risk patients into low-risk, resulting in a total of 20 high-risk and 20 low-risk tumors. EP score and MammaPrint score were significantly correlated (p=0.008). Twelve of 20 samples classified as low-risk by MammaPrint were also low-risk by EP score (60%). 17 of 20 MammaPrint high-risk tumors were also high-risk by EP score. The overall concordance between EP score and MammaPrint was 72.5%.   EPclin score also correlated with MammaPrint results (p=0.004). Discrepancies between both tests occurred in 10 cases: 5 MammaPrint low-risk patients were classified as EPclin high-risk and 5 high-risk MammaPrint were classified as low-risk by EPClin (overall concordance 75%). Conclusions This study demonstrates a moderate concordance between MammaPrint and EndoPredict. Differences in results could be explained by the inclusion of different gene sets in each platform, and the inclusion of clinical parameters, such as tumor size and nodal status, in the EndoPredict test. Keywords:  Breast cancer prognosis; gene expression signatures; EndoPredict; MammaPrint INTRODUCTION Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the second most frequent cause of cancer death among women in developed countries. Approximately 231,840 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 40,290 deaths are expected among US women in 2015 [1]. Currently, the decision on adjuvant treatment for breast cancer patients is based on risk assessment using clinicopathological criteria, such as patient age, menopausal status, axillary lymph node status, tumor size, tumor grade, estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PgR) expression, HER2 status, and Ki67 score. However, decision making in adjuvant treatment of women with ER-positive/HER2-negative early breast cancer remains a difficult task. Routinely, all of these patients will receive adjuvant hormonal treatment. However, a substantial proportion of these patients are also treated with adjuvant chemotherapy, although a significant part of these will not achieve a further reduction of their risk of recurrence [2].Therefore, a major challenge for clinical oncologists is to identify those patients who will not benefit for adjuvant chemotherapy, and those who are more likely to develop recurrence, so that the most appropriate therapeutic regime can be administered [2, 3]. In recent years, molecular characterization of breast cancer has contributed to broaden our understanding of breast cancer as a heterogeneous disease, and led to the development of a variety of prognostic and predictive gene signatures [4]. Morever, these assays may also be useful in recurrence prediction and treatment decision making [5]. One of the most widely used tests is the MammaPrint (MP) assay (Agendia Laboratories, Amsterdam, The Netherlands), which is a prognostic score performed by a central laboratory that was cleared by the FDA in 2007. MP was initially limited by its requirement for fresh tissue, but it is now validated for formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue [6]. MP measures the expression of 70 genes using a microarray platform, and reports a binary risk classification (low-risk or high-risk) for recurrence without adjuvant chemotherapy. This information is intended to spare patients at low-risk of recurrence from receiving adjuvant chemotherapy, with its attendant morbidity. It is not intended to predict the response, per se, to chemotherapy; rather, it helps to select patients who are likely to benefit from chemotherapy from a prognostic point of view [7]. More recently developed, the EndoPredict assay (EP) (Sividon Diagnostics GmbH, Cologne, Germany), is a diagnostic test based on gene expression data in combination with clinicopathological risk parameters to assess the risk of distant metastasis in patients with ER-positive/HER2-negative primary breast cancer if treated with adjuvant endocrine therapy alone [8]. This test measures the expression of eight cancer-related genes of interest (BIRC5, UBE2C, DHCR7, RBBP8, IL6ST, AZGP1, MGP and STC2) and three reference genes (CALM2, OAZ1 and RPL37A) to calculate a molecular risk score (EP score). The molecular risk score is then combined with the nodal status and tumor size resulting in a molecular-clinicopathological hybrid score (EPclin score) with improved prognostic power. Using a p redefined cutoff value, patients are stratified into low- or high-risk of distant recurrence. The test can be carried out on routinely processed and archived FFPE tissue, and is designed to be performed decentrally [9, 10]. EP was validated in three randomized endocrine phase III trials with patients with ER-positive/HER2-negative node negative and node positive breast carcinomas [5, 8]. The EP provided additional prognostic information to conventional risk factors such as grading, quantitative ER, or Ki67 and outperformed risk classification by clinical guidelines. Moreover, it could be demonstrated that EP is prognostic for early and late metastasis [5, 11].The EPclin score was also directly compared to purely clinical risk classifications (like St. Gallen, German S3, and NCCN) and found to be superior to these classifiers [11]. The objective of this study was to compare the concordance of EndoPredict results in 40 ER-positive/HER2-negative breast carcinomas which were previously tested with MammaPrint and categorized as low-risk (20 patients) or high-risk (20 patients). We further evaluate TargetPrint (Agendia Laboratories), a commercially available mRNA-based gene expression test that quantitatively determines gene expression levels of ER, PgR, and HER2. MATERIALS AND METHODS Patients and tumor samples This study involved 40 patients with ER-positive/HER2-negative early-stage breast carcinoma. All patients underwent surgery between March 2012 and December 2015 at the University Hospital La Paz, Madrid, Spain. Data on age and tumor characteristics were collected for all patients. The surgical specimens were fixed in 10% buffered formalin and embedded in paraffin. Four- µm thick sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin for histological diagnosis. Sections (10 µm) with at least 40% of tumor cellularity were selected for the study. Immunohistochemistry for ER/PR/HER2 and Ki67 and Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH) for HER2 All cases were reviewed by two breast pathologist (DH and LY) to assess tumor grade (using the Nottingham histological three-tier grading system), tumor size, nodal status, ER, PgR, HER-2, and Ki67 expression. The expression of ERÃŽ ± (clone EP1; Dako, Glostrup, Denmark, prediluted), PgR (clone PgR1294; Dako, prediluted), and Ki67 (clone MIB1; Dako, prediluted) were determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) during routine pathologic examination. ER and PgR status was determined based on the percentage of positive nuclei in the invasive neoplastic compartment of the tissue. Tumors were classified as ER- or PgR-positive when ≠¥1% invasive tumor cells showed definite nuclear staining, regardless of staining intensity. Ki67 was evaluated as the percentage of positively stained nuclear cancer cells (regardless of staining intensity). HER2 expression was evaluated with the HercepTest kit (Dako) and scored as 0, 1+, 2+, or 3+, according to the FDA scoring system. Tumors scored as 2+ wer e re-tested with FISH using the HER2 IQFISH PharmDx kit (Dako). Mammaprint Test The MammaPrint test was performed on representative paraffin blocks at the centralized Agendia Laboratories (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) blinded for clinical and histological data as part of routine care of the patients included in this study. Additionally to MammaPrint, TargetPrint assay, an additional test that is an alternative measurement of ER, PgR, and HER2 to IHC/FISH assessment, was also performed. EndoPredict Test The same tumor tissue block used for MammaPrint testing in each case was used for EP test. RNA extraction was performed as previously described [9]. Total RNA was extracted from one 10- µm whole formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue section using a silica-coated magnetic bead-based method with Tissue Preparation Reagents (Sividon Diagnostics). Expression of eight genes-of-interest (AZGP1, BIRC5, DHCR7, IL6ST, MGP, RBBP8, STC2, UBE2C), three normalization genes (CALM2, OAZ1, RPL37A) as well as the amount of residual genomic DNA (HBB) were assessed by the EP assay (Sividon Diagnostics). Gene expression was assessed by one-step RT-qPCR using the SuperScript III PLATINUM One-Step Quantitative RT-PCR System with ROX (Invitrogen, Karlsruhe, Germany) according to manufacturers instructions in a VERSANT ® kPCR Molecular System (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics, Erlangen, Germany). EP and EPclin scores were determined as published earlier [8, 9] using the EndoPredict Report Generator sof tware which is available online (www1.endopredict.com). The predefined cut-offs for diagnostic decisions were applied to stratify patients into low- or high-risk groups: EP low-risk (

The Extraordinary Olive Essay -- Botany

The Extraordinary Olive The several uses of the olive tree, Olea europaea L., have long been recognized and celebrated by human civilization. Olive trees have been cultivated since prehistoric times in Asia Minor, and introduced with human migration and trade throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, into Africa, and eventually into New Zealand and North America. Thomas (1995) lists the beginning of olive cultivation as aproximately 3000 B.C. Olives appear in one of the first cookbooks ever discovered. As long ago as the 17th century B.C., the olive was considered sacred. In Greek mythology, Athena is said to have placed an olive tree on the Acropolis in order to win over the denizens of Attica, a favor for which the city became her namesake, Athens (Anonymous 1997). The champion at the Olympic Games was crowned with its leaves. "Offering an olive branch" is synonymous with peaceful intentions. The oil was burned in the lamps of sacred temples, as well as being the "eternal flame" of the Olympic games. There are many references to the olive in the Bible. One of the most significant is in the tale of Noah and the Flood. The dove, sent out to search for a sign of land and life, returned with none other than an olive branch. Moses proclaimed that all men who worked to cultivate olives were exempt from military service (Grieve 1995). The olive is often referred to as a symbol of goodness, purity, and life. The miracle of Hanukkah was the olive oil which burned for eight nights when there was only enough to last for one day (Prero 1996). It is clear that the olive was an important part of life in the Mediterranean, as is the world over today. Description Olive trees are graceful in appearance, with elegant lanceolate silv... ... shallow. The "mission olive" of California derives its name from the Franciscan missionaries who originally planted them near San Diego around 1759 (Anonymous 1997). Olive production has also recently spread to New Zealand and Australia, but these continue to be incidental yields in comparison to the Mediterranean region. References Anonymous. 1997. Olives. Grieve, M. 1995. Botanical.com; A Modern Herbal. Olive. Electric Newt. Neff, R. and D. ResSeguie. 1995. Oil of Olives, An Ancient Wonder. Sundance Natural Foods. Prero, Y. 1996. Chanukah and Olive Oil: Lessons in Devotion. YomTov, vol.II#22. Thomas, J. Dec, 1995. Olive Fact Sheet. Tous, J. and L. Ferguson. 1996. Mediterranean Fruits. From J. Janick (ed.) Progress in New Crops. ASHS Press, Arlington, VA. p.416-430. U.S.D.A. 1995. An Economic Assessment of Olives. (Executive Summary).