Biography of Annointed Gifts Essay Example for Free

Biography of Annointed Gifts Essay Annointed Gifts was established in September of 2006 by Rev. Dr. Johnnie E. Jordan Sr. Through Pastor Jordans’ vision he brought forth six anointed young men to spread the word of God through their musical talent of playing instruments, and their special talent of vocals. Minister Nelton Shorter Jr. (Jay-Jay) who is the minister of music at his home church Union Second Baptist been playing keyboard, singing gospel( songwriting) for over twenty years. Davell Davis (Ace) who is the minister of music at his home church Rising Star C. O.G.I.C. been playing keyboard and singing(songwriting) gospel for over fifteen years. Christopher Jordan has been playing drums, singing(songwriting ), for the lord under the leadership of his father and pastor of Greater Mt. Olive M.B.C. for over twentyfive years. Paul Washington plays lead guitar at Greater Mt. Olive M.B.C. and has been playing singing(songwriting) Gospel for over thirty years. Clarence Trotter received his calling at an early age. He has been playing bass guitar singing(songwriting) Gospel for over twenty years. Marvin Jordan began to get involved as an audio technician and sound check person at Greater Mt. Olive M.B.C. in 1986. He has over twenty years of experience in audio engineering In the short time that Annointed Gifts been together, they have been fortunate blessed to perform with some of the big names of gospel quartet. They performed with The Williams Brothers, The Mighty Clouds of Joy at The Detroit Opera House .They also performed out of state as well as all over the Michigan area with some of gospel greats such as Doc McKenzie The Hi-Lites,The Pilgrim Jubilees,Keith Wonderboy Johnson, Dewayne Watkins former member of Canton Spirituals, Park Stewart former member of Commission, Darius Twyman , George Dean The Gospel Four, Evelyne Turrtine’ Agee and even received great reviews from the Legendary Spanky. Annointed Gifts is truly a blessing from heaven abling them to pass on Gods’ message through song and praises.

Intellectual Property in an Electronic World Essay -- essays research

Intellectual Property In an Electronic World Business Law & Ethics Introduction This paper provides a general overview of some major issues facing both producers, publishers and consumers of intellectual property. The emphasis, however, is on copyright. Today, of course, that copyright includes the all-pervasive electronic environment of the internet. There are many media in which intellectual property problems arise. History and Definitions â€Å"Intellectual property† is property resulting from another’s creative efforts. Trademarks, logos, patents, books, computer files, movies, music, painting, menus, choreographic works, pantomimes, product packaging, architectural designs and even sculpture may be considered to be intellectual property. In fact, even a student paper such as this may (perhaps too generously) be classified as intellectual property. The Miller – Jenz text makes the observation that â€Å". .. the value of the world’s intellectual property now exceeds the value of physical property . . . â€Å". Clearly, then, intellectual property has become a huge factor in business, social life, entertainment, and international trade. There is much government regulation in the field of intellectual property, as well. In the past, the most important aspects of law involving intellectual property were copyright and fair use, defamation, trademarks, trade secrets and patents. Prior to statutory copyright laws, a common law of copyright existed which protected an author’s work only until it was published. After being published, if there was not statutory protection, then the author’s work entered the public domain and became unprotected! One a work is in the public domain, it cannot be protected. Statutory copyright law in the United States originated with Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution: â€Å"To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.† Congress enacted the first copyright law in 1790. It was decided early that the term â€Å"writings† includes many things which might not be considered â€Å"writings† in the normal use of the term. It is possible to sue under common law copyright infringement. In fact, such a suit can be brought in a state court. However, an action for statutory copyright infringement must be brought a federal d... ...nt the infringement of intellectual property rights. Internet publishers who are unable to afford the cost of registering every single page of a web site (cost is $20 per registration) may instead register multiple works as a collection. Since copyright registration requires the sending of materials, the internet publisher faces the choice of sending screen printouts, or code, or both. If the code is more important, Field recommends treating the content of a web site like software. Copyright Enforcement If the author believes he may have to sue to prevent infringement, he is well advised to register the copyright. This is also true of copyrighted material on the internet. Copyright notice prevents the defense of innocent infringement, and increases the chances for a big bucks recovery on willful infringement, where the statutory damages can be up to $100,000. An action for statutory copyright infringement, as noted earlier, must be filed in federal court. Of course, depending on the nature of the facts involved, there may also be other theories of recovery available. BIBLIOGRAPHY Miller, L.M., and Jentz, G.A., Business Law Today, 6th Edition. (2002). South-Western College.

Organisations that fail to plan are planning to fail Essay

Churchill, a politician and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, during the World War II. The Oxford dictionary generally defines plan as â€Å"a detailed proposal for doing or achieving something†. In term of management, planning set out an organisation’s objectives and how those objectives could be achieved. Furthermore, planning can be either formal or informal. In formal planning, the time period is included along with written objectives that are distributed internally, whereas informal planning is concerned with little to no written materials (Robbins et al. 2014). Nevertheless, when the term planning is being used, it is often referred to as formal planning. The purpose of this essay is to discuss the controversial effects of formal planning on the performances of firms that were evidenced in a range of empirical studies, the influence it has on newly established ventures and its applicability at the times of environmental uncertainty. Camillus (1975) states that â€Å"companies that plan formally perform better than those which plan informally†, and he also believes that by formalising plans, the firms’ performances can be improved. An important feature of formal planning is strategic planning, which is known as â€Å"the process managers use to form a vision, analyse their external and internal environments, and select the strategies they will use to create value for stake holders† (Robbins et al. 2014). It was argued that formal strategic planning has a relationship to the financial performances of organisations, and that relationship could be positive. This argument was evidenced by a study conducted by Robert Arasa and Peter K’Obonyo (2012). The study was taken in Kenya, a developing country, paying extra attention to the strategic planning steps, and it concluded that firms that have been engaging in a high-level of strategic planning tend to perform better in both financial and non-financial aspects. This conclusion corresponds to another study conducted in 1994, where the firms were measured in term of mean capital returns for a five year period, and resulted that the firms with strategical planning have a higher chance  of survival (Capon, Farley & Hulbert 1994). Nevertheless, the relation- ship between formal strategic planning and performances of firms is considered controversial due to the fact that despite the studies that have proven the positive link between the two, there are ones that prove the complete opposite (Bhide 2000). Researchers believe that the question regarding the above relationship is â€Å"complex and difficult† and their â€Å"knowledge respective to it is limited† (Shrader, Taylor and Dalton 1984, p. 167) due to the inconsistency of the studies. The link between planning and organisations’ performances was found to be void, with the effects ranging from null to negative, as commented by Boyd on his meta-analysis review (1991). Additionally, formal planning was also confirmed to produce a small negative effect on financial performance, as it was concluded from an experiment that was conducted by banking organisations (Whitehead and Gup 1985). In spite of having studies as supporting evidences for both of the arguments, the q uestion about whether there is a positive relationship is still remains inconclusive, and the positive effect is considered to be surmised. The difference that arose from the above studies could be due to the difference in objectives of the firms and/or how they define strategic planning (Whitehead and Gup 1985). Since the positive effect on firms through planning is unconfirmed, it is important to narrow down the target population and to observe the influence of planning only on the new firms. Hence, the next section would focus on analysing the influence of planning on the newly established ventures. As an entrepreneur or prospective business owner would like to establish his/her own business, there are decisions needed to be made about whether he/she should develop the business basing on intuition, or whether it should be carefully considered through planning. This paragraph would closely scrutinise the influence of planning on new ventures, especially on the development of those ventures, including how planning influence the finance acquisition prior to the development of one firm, chances of new ventures to survive, and excluding financial approach since it is not likely for new firms to generate revenue (Stuart, Hoang & Hybels 1999). According to Delmar and Shane (2003), they focus their findings based on three dimensions of venture development, including â€Å"product development†, â€Å"venture organising activity† and â€Å"disbanding† as  they believe those  three are the most essential factors that contribute to the establishments of firms. As a result, there is an enhancement of all three factors when firms’ founders utilise planning. Other than the study of Delmar and Shane, Perry (2001) and Liao and Gartner (2006) have also found a positive link between the chance of survival of a new venture and planning. In addition, there are a number of financial providers required owners and/or entrepreneurs to present a business plan, such as Royal Bank of Canada, or the Barclays bank of Britain, as mentioned by Karlsson (2005). Nevertheless, it was argued that the importance of business plan on the development of new ventures were considered to be â€Å"overstated† in literature (Karlsson 2005). Based on the research that was completed by Bhide (2000), firms founders tend to use their personal funds or bank loans to set up their businesses, and therefore, the financial providers pay more attention to the ability to pay debts of the firms owners/entrepreneurs rather than their business plans, as evidenced by a survey that was completed by a number of American venture capital and equity firms (Gumpert and Lange 2004). The difference in policy of the financial providers might due to the difference in context or difference in regulations, as the financial providers are not from one specific context. Furthermore, there are different elements other than planning that could have contributed to the success of firms, regardless of their size, and one of those factors is the degree of environmental uncertainty . Therefore, the next component would emphasis on the applicability of planning during the times of environmental certainty. Environmental uncertainty refers to the risks that emerged from unpredictability (Cyert and March 1963), and there are disputes surrounding the applicability of planning during the time of environmental uncertainty. Examples of environmental uncertainty could be the entry of new competitors or the technological advancement of the firm’s rival. There are ones that in favour of planning in time of environmental uncertainty, suggesting that planning should be implemented by managers as it shows the possible risks (Matthews and Scott 1995; Zollo and Winter 2002), whereas there are those who suggested that in times of environmental uncertainty, firms need to rely on intuition and creativity (Mintzberg 1994; Allinson, Chell & Hayes 2000;  Bhide 1994). It was also found that planning shows managers the possible risks and hence develop solutions (Robbins et al 2 014; Matthews and Scott 1995). However, it should also be noted that due to the lack of resources, it is unrealistic for growing and/or newly established ventures to excessively focus on planning as it would be costly (Matthews and Scott 1995). On top of that, a business plan is accused for creating a rigid schedule (Robbins et al. 2014). Originally, a business plan process would comprise of external and internal analysis, formulation, implementation of strategies, and then evaluation of results (Robbins et al. 2014). Nevertheless, in reality, Mankins and Steele (2006) suggest that managers should be innovative and creative to make continuous strategic decisions responding to environmental uncertainty. They also pointed out from their researches that firms only make 2.5 strategic decisions per year on average due to their dependence on the planning process, which in turn defined shortcomings of formal planning such as insufficient time to deal with unpredictable matters. In other words, firms should continuously being innovative in making strategic decisions rather than relying on a business plan (Mankins and Steele 2006; McGrath 1995; Carter, Gartner & Reynolds 1996; Mintzberg 1994) as it might result in the lost of opportunities (Bhide 1994). In the final analysis, the significance of planning is evaluated throughout the discussion of its effects on performances of firms of different size, how it influence on the smaller/newly developed firms, and its applicability during times of uncertainty. The relationship between performances and planning is discussed mainly in term of financial performances, while the relationship between smaller/newly established firms and planning is discussed primarily in term of survival and the firms’ development processes. Lastly, the essay assesses different perspectives of analysts on whether or not planning is utilisable during the time of uncertainty. Since the results are inconclusive for the most part due to the difference in contexts of studies, it is undeniable that planning would be an important element that business owners should look at in order to improve the chance of success. It is recommended that the business owners should be innovative to fix the rigid nature of planning, and to be flexible when it comes to the time of environmental uncertainty. Additionally, if formal planning is considered to be unaffordable for smaller firms, the firms founders could be engaging in informal planning, or short-term planning rather than depending merely on intuition. Bibliography! Allinson, CW, Chell, E & Hayes, J 2000, ‘Intuition and entrepreneurial behaviour’, European Journal of Work and organizational Psychology, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 31-43. Arasa, R & K’Obonyo, P 2012, ‘The Relationship between Strategic Planning and Firm Performance’, International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, vol. 2, no. 22, pp. 201-13. Bhide, A 1994, ‘How Entrepreneurs Craft Strategies’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 72, no. 2, pp. 150-61. —— 2000, The Origin and Evolution of New Businesses, Oxford University Press. Boyd, BK 1991, ‘Strategic Planning and Financial Performance: A Meta-analytic Review’, Journal of Management Studies, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 353-74. Camillus, JC 1975, ‘Evaluating the Benefits of Formal Planning Systems’, Long Range Planning, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 33-40. Capon, N, Farley, JU & Hulbert, JM 1994, ‘Strategic Planning and Financial Performance: More Evidence’, Journal of Management Studies, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 105-10. Carter, NM, Gartner, WB & Reynolds, PD 1996, ‘Exploring start-up event sequences’, Journal of Business Venturing, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 151-66. Cyert, RM & March, JG 1963, A Behavioral Theory of The Firm, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Delmar, F & Shane, S 2003, ‘Does Business Planning Facilitate the Development of New Ventures?’, Strategic Management Journal, vol. 24, pp. 1165-85. Gumpert, DE & Lange, JE 2004, Do Business Plans Matter? How Venture Capitalists Evaluate Entrepreneurs for Investment, Babson College. Karlsson, T 2005, Business Plan in New Ventures. An Institutional Perspective, vol. 30, JIBS dissertation series, Jà ¶nkà ¶ping International Business School. Liao, J & Gartner, WB 2006, ‘The Effects of Pre-venture Plan Timing and Perceived Environmental Uncertainty on the Persistence of Emerging Firms’, Small Business Economics, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 23-40. Mankins, MC & Steele, R 2006, ‘Stop Making Plans; Start Making Decisions’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 84, no. 1, pp. 76-84. Matthews, CH & Scott, SG 1995, ‘Uncertainty and Planning in Small and Entrepreneurial Firms: An Empirical Assessment’, Journal of Small Business Management, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 34-52. McGrath, RG 1995, ‘Advantage from adversity: Learning from disappointment in internal corporate ventures’, Journal of Business Venturing, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 121-42. Mintzberg, H 1994, ‘The Fall and Rise of Strategic Planning’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 72, no. 1, pp. 107-14. Perry, SC 2001, ‘The Relationship between Written Business Plans and the Failure of Small Businesses in the U.S.’, Journal of Small Business Management, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 201-8. Robbins, S, DeCENZO, D, Coulter, M & Woods, M 2014, Management: The Essentials, 2th edn, Pearson, Frenchs Forest, Sydney. Shrader, CB, Taylor, L & Dalton, DR 1984, ‘Strategic Planning and Organizational Performance: A Critical Appraisal’, Journal of Management, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 149-71. Stuart, TE, Hoang, H & Hybels, RC 1999, ‘Interorganization Endorsements and the Performance of Entrepreneurial Ventures’, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 315-49. Whitehead, DD & Gup, BE 1985, ‘Bank and Thrift Profitability: Does Strategic Planning Really Pay?’, Economic Review, pp. 14-25. Zollo, M & Winter, SG 2002, ‘Deliberate Learning and the Evolution of Dynamic Capabilities’, Organizational Science, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 339-51.

Federal Trade Comission

In the given case, the Federal Trade Commission claimed that Texas Surgeons Independent Practice Association(IPA) of 26 general surgeons in the Austin, Texas and six competing medical practice groups who are the members of this association (the respondents), Texas Surgeons P. A. (â€Å"Texas Surgeons†), Austin Surgeons, P. L. L. C. (â€Å"AS†), Austin Surgical Clinic Association, P. A. (â€Å"ASCA†), Bruce McDonald & Associates, P. L. L. C. (â€Å"BM&A†), Capital Surgeons Group, P. L. L. C. (â€Å"CSG†), Central Texas Surgical Associates, P. A. (â€Å"CTSA†), and Surgical Associates of Austin, P.A. (â€Å"SAA†), violated Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U. S. C.  § 45 by engaging in unlawful act of price fixing. FTC alleged complaint that the IPA organized collective refused to deal with two health plans, Blue cross Blue Shield and United Health Care of Texas, terminated the contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield and t hreatened to terminate contracts with the United Health Care of Texas if the payer refuse to agree with their demand of raising reimbursement rate. As per demand, both plans increased their rates.Blue Cross accepted a rate agreement with the respondents in early 1998 after facing problems getting an emergency room patient treated by a general surgeon. The respondents collectively secured rate agreement resulted nearly 30% above the April 1997 level. In this case, the practices of the respondents went against the welfare of the public, constitute unfair methods of competition and antitrust actions. This anti competitive action cost health plan, employers and patients, more than $1,000,000 for surgical services in 1998 and 1999 in the Austin, Texas area.In the mid-1970, the FTC formed a section within the Bureau of Competition to investigate potential anti trust violations involving healthcare. In the health care area, as in the case of any other field, the antitrust laws are enforced so check not only possible competitive harm but also the potential for pro competitive increase in efficiency, lower health care cost, provide better quality care to the consumers, enhance innovative strategy to provide improved quality care at low cost. Federal antitrust guidelines allow independent physicians to appoint a representative messenger to communicate with payers about fees and contract terms, but annot represent the competing physicians collectively. However, in this case, the Texas Surgeons IPA served as a vehicle for the six respondent medical practice groups to engage in actual refusals to deal, and to negotiate collectively, in order to receive higher prices from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas and United Healthcare of Texas. The six respondent medical practice groups furthered the unlawful act through their collective control of the Texas Surgeons IPA board of directors, and through their direct participation in collective fee negotiations between United and the T exas Surgeons IPA.The commission proposed a consent order as a remedy to prevent the respondent from getting indulge in future unlawful act that is alleged in the complaint while allowing respondents to engage in legitimate joint conduct. The proposed order prohibits the IPA from a) negotiating on behalf of any physician with health plans b) refusing to deal with health plan or threatening health plans to agree on their demand c) exchanging information among Austin area physicians regarding negotiations with any health plan regarding reimbursement terms d) determining the terms on which its members deal with health plans.The order contains three provisos that permit the respondents to 1. Negotiate for physicians limited to the same medical practice group; 2. Engage in conduct approved and supervised by the state of Texas; and 3. Engage in conduct that is reasonably necessary to operate ‘qualified risk- sharing joint arrangements- so long as they give adequate pre- notification . The commission’s proposal allows the IPA to avoid such claims of price- fixing and antitrust if it acts in one of two ways: ) Financial Risk Sharing: As a qualified managed care plan which allows competing providers to negotiate prices jointly without being charged with price fixing act by the Federal antitrust agencies if they share substantial financial risk on contracts . It means that participating providers share responsibility for staying within a defined budget. The antitrust agencies believe that the competing providers should work together to achieve common, procompetitive goals of reducing cost and improving quality. Share incentives could also focus on â€Å"quality† or Health outcome† factors.Both the way of risk sharing has potential of providing high quality care to the patient at low cost. 2) Messenger Model: The fifth provision (Section II. A. 5 of the proposed order) ensures that a neutral third party who is not a physician with an active pract ice in the Austin area, be the communicator between any respondent and any payer to deal with any terms. Under this arrangement, the network organization does not negotiate agreement with the payer about any term or price; it allows the individual providers to make an individual decision, based on proposal from payer.Physician individually, through third party, conveys and receives information, offers, and responses from the payers or providers. However, the individual providers can give â€Å"sign off† authority to network organization within specified range. In addition, the commission order ensures that any respondent who are intending to use messenger model arrangement should provide prior notification to the commission. Price- fixing agreements among the competitors are not accepted by law. It is considered serious act because the consumers, plans and employers pay heavy price for it such as, †¢ Consumers loss the benefits of competition Increases the health care co st; Blue Cross, United, their individual subscribers, and employers paid more than one million dollars were paid for the services of surgeons. Therefore, review of such cases is crucial to encourage the competitor to work together as a team to improve quality of services, while reducing cost. References http://www. crowell. com/documents/DOCASSOCFKTYPE_PRESENTATIONS_705. pdf http://www. accessmylibrary. com/article-1G1-77013366/texas-surgeons-settle-price. html http://www. ftc. gov/os/2000/05/texascmp. htm Federal Trade Comission In the given case, the Federal Trade Commission claimed that Texas Surgeons Independent Practice Association(IPA) of 26 general surgeons in the Austin, Texas and six competing medical practice groups who are the members of this association (the respondents), Texas Surgeons P. A. (â€Å"Texas Surgeons†), Austin Surgeons, P. L. L. C. (â€Å"AS†), Austin Surgical Clinic Association, P. A. (â€Å"ASCA†), Bruce McDonald & Associates, P. L. L. C. (â€Å"BM&A†), Capital Surgeons Group, P. L. L. C. (â€Å"CSG†), Central Texas Surgical Associates, P. A. (â€Å"CTSA†), and Surgical Associates of Austin, P.A. (â€Å"SAA†), violated Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U. S. C.  § 45 by engaging in unlawful act of price fixing. FTC alleged complaint that the IPA organized collective refused to deal with two health plans, Blue cross Blue Shield and United Health Care of Texas, terminated the contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield and t hreatened to terminate contracts with the United Health Care of Texas if the payer refuse to agree with their demand of raising reimbursement rate. As per demand, both plans increased their rates.Blue Cross accepted a rate agreement with the respondents in early 1998 after facing problems getting an emergency room patient treated by a general surgeon. The respondents collectively secured rate agreement resulted nearly 30% above the April 1997 level. In this case, the practices of the respondents went against the welfare of the public, constitute unfair methods of competition and antitrust actions. This anti competitive action cost health plan, employers and patients, more than $1,000,000 for surgical services in 1998 and 1999 in the Austin, Texas area.In the mid-1970, the FTC formed a section within the Bureau of Competition to investigate potential anti trust violations involving healthcare. In the health care area, as in the case of any other field, the antitrust laws are enforced so check not only possible competitive harm but also the potential for pro competitive increase in efficiency, lower health care cost, provide better quality care to the consumers, enhance innovative strategy to provide improved quality care at low cost. Federal antitrust guidelines allow independent physicians to appoint a representative messenger to communicate with payers about fees and contract terms, but annot represent the competing physicians collectively. However, in this case, the Texas Surgeons IPA served as a vehicle for the six respondent medical practice groups to engage in actual refusals to deal, and to negotiate collectively, in order to receive higher prices from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas and United Healthcare of Texas. The six respondent medical practice groups furthered the unlawful act through their collective control of the Texas Surgeons IPA board of directors, and through their direct participation in collective fee negotiations between United and the T exas Surgeons IPA.The commission proposed a consent order as a remedy to prevent the respondent from getting indulge in future unlawful act that is alleged in the complaint while allowing respondents to engage in legitimate joint conduct. The proposed order prohibits the IPA from a) negotiating on behalf of any physician with health plans b) refusing to deal with health plan or threatening health plans to agree on their demand c) exchanging information among Austin area physicians regarding negotiations with any health plan regarding reimbursement terms d) determining the terms on which its members deal with health plans.The order contains three provisos that permit the respondents to 1. Negotiate for physicians limited to the same medical practice group; 2. Engage in conduct approved and supervised by the state of Texas; and 3. Engage in conduct that is reasonably necessary to operate ‘qualified risk- sharing joint arrangements- so long as they give adequate pre- notification . The commission’s proposal allows the IPA to avoid such claims of price- fixing and antitrust if it acts in one of two ways: ) Financial Risk Sharing: As a qualified managed care plan which allows competing providers to negotiate prices jointly without being charged with price fixing act by the Federal antitrust agencies if they share substantial financial risk on contracts . It means that participating providers share responsibility for staying within a defined budget. The antitrust agencies believe that the competing providers should work together to achieve common, procompetitive goals of reducing cost and improving quality. Share incentives could also focus on â€Å"quality† or Health outcome† factors.Both the way of risk sharing has potential of providing high quality care to the patient at low cost. 2) Messenger Model: The fifth provision (Section II. A. 5 of the proposed order) ensures that a neutral third party who is not a physician with an active pract ice in the Austin area, be the communicator between any respondent and any payer to deal with any terms. Under this arrangement, the network organization does not negotiate agreement with the payer about any term or price; it allows the individual providers to make an individual decision, based on proposal from payer.Physician individually, through third party, conveys and receives information, offers, and responses from the payers or providers. However, the individual providers can give â€Å"sign off† authority to network organization within specified range. In addition, the commission order ensures that any respondent who are intending to use messenger model arrangement should provide prior notification to the commission. Price- fixing agreements among the competitors are not accepted by law. It is considered serious act because the consumers, plans and employers pay heavy price for it such as, †¢ Consumers loss the benefits of competition Increases the health care co st; Blue Cross, United, their individual subscribers, and employers paid more than one million dollars were paid for the services of surgeons. Therefore, review of such cases is crucial to encourage the competitor to work together as a team to improve quality of services, while reducing cost. References http://www. crowell. com/documents/DOCASSOCFKTYPE_PRESENTATIONS_705. pdf http://www. accessmylibrary. com/article-1G1-77013366/texas-surgeons-settle-price. html http://www. ftc. gov/os/2000/05/texascmp. htm

Farenhiet 451 Essays - Marshmallow, Sugar Confectionery, Flame

Farenhiet 451 Essays - Marshmallow, Sugar Confectionery, Flame Farenhiet 451 IT was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history. With his symbolic helmet numbered 451 on 5 his stolid head, and his eyes all orange flame with the thought of what came next, he flicked the igniter and the house jumped up in a gorging fire that burned the evening sky red and yellow and black. He strode in a swarm of fireflies. He wanted above all, like the old joke, to shove a marshmallow on a stick in the furnace, while the flapping pigeon-winged books died on the porch and lawn of the house. While the books went up in sparkling whirls and blew away on a wind turned dark with burning. 10 Montag grinned the fierce grin of all men singed and driven back by flame. He knew that when he returned to the firehouse, he might wink at himself, a minstrel man, burnt-corked, in the mirror. Later, going to sleep, he would feel the fiery smile still gripped by his face muscles, in the dark. It never went away, that. smile, it never ever went away, as long as he remembered.

10 Countries with the Highest Population Density

10 Countries with the Highest Population Density Cities are known for being crowded, but some cities are far more crowded than others. What makes a city feel crowded isnt just the number of people who live there but the physical size of the city. Population density refers to the number of people per square mile. According to the Population Reference Bureau, these ten countries have the worlds highest population densities 1. Manila, Philippines - 107,562 per square mile The capital of the Philippines is home to roughly two million people. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay the city is home to one of the finest ports in the country. The city regularly hosts over a million  tourists each year, making the busy streets even more crowded. 2. Mumbai, India - 73,837 per square mile Its no surprise that the Indian city Mumbai comes in second on this list with a population of over 12 million people. The city is the financial, commercial and entertainment capital of India. The city lies on the West coast of India and has a deep natural bay. In 2008, it was dubbed an alpha world city. 3. Dhaka, Bangladesh - 73,583 per square mile Known as the city of mosques, Dhaka is home to roughly 17 million people. It was once one of the most wealthy and prosperous cities in the world. Today the city is the countries political, economic and cultural center. It has one of the largest stock markets in South Asia. 4. Caloocan, Philippines - 72,305 per square mile Historically, Caloocan is important for being home to the secret militant society that spurred the Philippine  Revolution, also known as the Tagalong war, against Spanish colonialists. Now the city is home to almost two million people. 5. Bnei Brak, Isreal - 70,705 per square mile Just east of Tel Aviv, this city is home to 193,500 residents. It is home to one of the largest coca-cola bottling plants in the world. Israels first womens only department stores were built in Bnei Brak; its an example of the gender segregation; implemented by the ultra Orthodox Jewish population. 6. Levallois-Perret, France - 68,458 per square mile Located roughly four miles from Paris, Levallois-Perrett is the most densely populated city in Europe. The city is known for its perfume industry and beekeeping. A cartoon bee has even been adopted at the citys modern emblem. 7. Neapoli, Greece - 67,027 per square mile   The Greek city of Neapoli comes in at number seven on the list of most densely populated cities. The city is divided into eight different districts. While only 30,279 people live in this small city thats impressive given its size is only .45 square miles! 8. Chennai, India - 66,961 per square mile Located on the Bay of Bengal, Chennai is known as the education capital of South India. Its home to almost five million people. Its also considered one of the safest cities in India. Its also home to a large expat community. Its been dubbed one of the must-see cities in the world by the BBC. 9. Vincennes, France - 66,371 per square mile Another suburb of Paris, Vincennes is located just four miles from the city of lights. The city is probably most famous for its castle, Chateau de Vincennes. The castle was originally a hunting lodge for Louis VII but was enlarged in the 14th century. 10. Delhi, India - 66,135 per square mile The city of Delhi is home to roughly 11 million people, putting it just after Mumbai as one of Indias most populated cities. Delhi is an ancient city which has been the capital of various kingdoms and empires. Its home to numerous landmarks. Its also considered the book capital of India due to its high readership rates.

Discuss the strategic roles of middle managers Assignment - 2

Discuss the strategic roles of middle managers - Assignment Example In their study, Currie and Proctor (2005) concur with the literature that argues that organizational performance is mainly influenced by what takes place in the middle of the organization than what happens at the top. Based on the work of Floyd and Wooldridge (1992, 1994, 1997, 2000), Currie and Proctor (2005) argue that middle managers have a significant role to play in the ‘thinking’ as well as ‘doing’ of strategy in the organization. The middle managers can actually influence the direction of strategy from top to bottom or bottom to top. According to Currie and Proctor (2005), middle managers play four significant roles in strategic decisions in the organization. First, they synthesise information about the operations of the organisation which can be channelled upwards to the executives and can be used in strategy formulation. Second, the middle managers can reshape the strategies formulated by the executives since they are closer to all activities that o ccur in the organization. Thirdly, the middle managers can also exert downward influence especially in areas that are outside the reach of the executives. The fourth point is that middle managers are responsible for implementing deliberate strategy where they translate corporate strategy into action plans. Thus, it can be noted that from the middle management perspective, the middle managers have important strategic roles to make in an organization. Without middle managers, it may be difficult to achieve consistency in the performance of the organization. Raes et al (2011, p. 102) also suggest that â€Å"the interaction of the top management team (TMT) and middle managers (MMs) is central to effective strategy formulation and implementation.† It can be argued that the middle managers are at the center of all activities in the organization. For instance, they directly link with the top executives and the supervisors and other subordinates below them. This makes then significant in strategy