future plans of USA health care system a short essay

3. Your friend has started a new software company and is considering starting a pension plan for his employees. He only

has 20 employees today, but he expects within five years he will have a couple of thousand employees. He has come to

you for advice. Discuss the pension alternatives and factors he should consider

GovDept is a mid-size governmental department providing important services of a social nature to the population of a large territory. From the technology perspective, the organization can be considered as a late adopter of innovations and characterized by relative underinvestment in IT, which has certain implications for both its IT landscape and respective management practices. On the one hand, GovDept’s IT landscape is very heterogeneous and includes many legacy information systems and technologies some of which have been in use for decades. On the other hand, its IT-related Page | 3 Asia Pacific International College Pty Ltd. Trading as Asia Pacific International College 55 Regent Street, Chippendale, Sydney 2008: 02-9318 8111 PRV12007; CRICOS 03048D Approved: 14/02/2019, Version 1 management practices are also rather archaic. For instance, the relationships between business and IT leaders in the organization exhibit evident signs of “us and them” mentality, while new investments in IT are viewed by business mostly as a means to reduce costs of the existing operations. GovDept has a centralized IT department headed by the CIO and responsible for developing and supporting information systems for all its business units. The IT department employs around 250 specialists and consists of three main functions: architecture, development and service. The architecture function includes a few architects focused predominantly on specific IT solutions. GovDept previously tried to uplift the maturity of its EA practice and extend the scope of architectural planning beyond separate initiatives, but these attempts did not succeed and respective architects had been made redundant. Then, the CIO decided to undertake another deliberate effort to evolve GovDept’s EA practice with the involvement of external consultants. For this purpose, the organization engaged a rather wellknown boutique EA consultancy to help initiate a full-fledged EA practice. The consultancy formed a project team consisting of four architects specialized in different subject areas. This consulting team acted according to a detailed engagement plan agreed with GovDept’s senior IT leadership. The plan stipulated in which sequence and when exactly various EA artifacts will be produced. In total, consultants worked for 2-3 months, analyzed the organization, interviewed numerous stakeholders and developed all the EA artifacts specified in the plan. Specifically, they started from analyzing GovDept in terms of current and desired maturity of its business capabilities and mapped existing applications to respective capabilities. Then, they captured all relevant data entities, documented all technologies used in the organization, depicted current and defined target application portfolios and created more detailed CRUD (create, read, update and delete) relationship matrices.

1. You are required developed a comprehensive roadmap specifying what projects should be executed in the next 2-3 years.

2. Discuss 5 key roles that IT will play in the GovDept if implemented.

3. Discuss 5 key EA artifacts that would be delivered in 2-3 months.

4. Explain the taxonomy of documentations that you will implement and why you have considered it important to GovDept.

5. Discuss the operating model that you will implement and why you have chosen the operating model.

6. Discuss the roles of standard and landscapes in implementation of GovDept’s EA?

7. Discuss 5 types of IT initiatives that you have considered very important to GovDept’s EA

8. Explain considerations as EA Artifacts that will be delivered in GovDept’s EA

9. Discuss 5 subtypes of visions that you used in EA artifacts implementation.

Acquisition planning is mandatory when procuring goods and services for the federal government. At what point in the acquisition process should acquisition planning begin? What information should be included in a written acquisition plan? At what point should the planner coordinate the acquisition plan or strategy with the small business specialist?

Is the Wonderlic test a good predictor? why or why not?

Estoppel:

The doctrine of estoppel may prevent the union or the employer from relying
on and enforcing the terms of the collective agreement. Where a party makes a
representation to the other, by way of words or conduct, indicating that an issue will be
dealt with in a manner different from the provisions of the agreement, the party who
made the representation will not be able to later insist upon the collective agreement
being enforced.
Statements made by a party to the agreement could be the basis for an estoppel. In one
case, a collective agreement provided that layoffs would occur in reverse order of seniority.
The employer, a hospital, hired two laboratory technicians. The hiring manager assured
both technicians when they were hired that they would not be laid off because of funding
cuts or the return of other employees to the department. However, the hospital laid off the
technicians 14 months after they were hired when other employees returned to the bargaining
unit. When the employees objected, they were told that the collective agreement was
clear on the question of seniority on layoffs and there was nothing that could be done
because they had the least seniority. A grievance was filed, and the arbitrator held that the
doctrine of estoppel applied.20 Because of the representations made to the technicians
before they were hired, the employer could not rely on the collective agreement, and the
layoff of the technicians was nullified.
Estoppel is a legal concept providing
that if a party makes a representation
that an issue will be dealt with in a
manner different from the provisions of
the collective agreement, it will not be
able to later insist upon the collective
agreement being enforced as written.
222 Chapter 9
The union and the employer should be alert to the possibility of estoppel based on
conduct or past practice. In one case, the collective agreement provided that certain benefits
would be paid to employees after a three-day waiting period.21 Despite the terms of the
collective agreement, the employer had a long-established practice of paying employees
benefits during the three-day period. When the employer indicated it would enforce the
three-day waiting period in the future, the union filed a grievance relying on estoppel. The
arbitrator upheld the grievance and ordered the employer to continue to pay the benefits
according to its practice for the balance of the term of the agreement.
Similarly, a union might be caught by an estoppel argument based on prior past practice
if it failed to enforce all the terms of the agreement. For example, a collective agreement
will usually provide for a probationary period. If the employer made a habit of
extending the period, in breach of the agreement, and the union took no action, the union
may not be allowed to object to an extension of the period on the basis of estoppel.22
An estoppel will not be established by a single failure to comply with or enforce the
collective agreement; however, employers and unions should be aware of the risk of
repeated failures to enforce a term of the agreement. An employer who wanted to vary
from the collective agreement to deal with a short-term issue might consider consulting
with the union and attempting to reach an agreement that would prevent an estoppel
argument being raised when the employer wished to revert to the terms of the agreement.
If the agreement provided for a rate of remuneration for employees who drove their own
cars, and the price of gas increased significantly, an agreement might allow the employer to
increase the mileage allowance for a time and avoid any possible estoppel arguments later.
Estoppel does not mean that a party will be prevented from enforcing the terms of the
agreement indefinitely. An estoppel will cease at the next round of contract negotiations if
the union or the employer advises the other that it will rely on the strict terms of the agreement
in the future. The party that has previously relied on the variation from the collective
agreement will have to negotiate a change to the agreement. If it fails to do so, it will be
deemed to have agreed to the application of the agreement as written.

In your own words, describe the concept of "estoppel" and what significance it

has on the change process in a unionized work setting. (100 word target).

1. Please Analyze the following case study on the subject of Procurement that involved significant and costly mistakes?

Mini case study – Scottish Parliament: the £431m question

Scotland’s new parliament building cost more than 10 times the original estimate and opened three years behind schedule.                

Official cost estimates changed 10 times and ballooned from the initial £40 million estimate to a final £431 million.

The procurement model chosen for Holyrood in early 1998 has emerged as the root of the problem. A fast-track contracting method known as construction management was used to build the parliament. It works by splitting a large building job into numerous smaller packages that are designed, tendered and let independently of one another.

Its main advantage is to speed up construction, because the overall design does not have to be complete before basic building work can begin.

It does not allow a client to know the total cost of a project until well after work has begun. It is considered risky for the client, which is responsible for running each individual package – in this case more than 60.

The project cost escalated from about £40 million in 1997 to £109 million in 1999, £241 million in 2001 and £294 million in 2002, and finally £431 million in February 2004. There were 18,000 design change orders over the five years of construction, combining

to form a three-year delay. Requests for design freezes on three occasions were ignored. The reality is that construction management was the only contract option for a client

wanting to make an early start on a project that was still at the design concept stage.
It is also clear that this was a classic case of procurement expertise being bypassed. The procurement department at the Scottish Office was not involved in the project. It was

not consulted over the procurement model.
There is nothing wrong with construction management as a procurement route. It is

best suited to high-quality, potentially high-cost projects, where the client is fully engaged, has a clear goal and works closely with the supply side team.

Some estimates put the money lost to delays and backtracking over design changes at as much as £100 million. If one trade contractor has a problem, it tends to ripple through all the others and cause delay and changes. The contracts are with the client, so the client picks up the cost of that.

However, between the extremes of fixed speedy construction management, a host of options exist under the heading of ‘conventional’ procurement. Their structures affect the risk and control over the final design that falls to the client.

The ‘design and build’ route would have seen the project management team drawing up a detailed design brief, which the main contractor then builds. It leaves the contractor footing the bill for cost overruns, but freezes the design as well.

A middle-of-the-road option, prime contracting, keeps design more open, but cuts the risk of costs going up if things go wrong. This is because a contractor joins the client’s project management team, and brings its entire supply chain of proven builders and suppliers along.

Then there is management contracting, where the client retains the design brief fully and splits up the project into small packages to be individually let, as in construction management. However, a professional intermediary runs all of the contractors on a daily basis, although they are still contracted to the client, which pays for design alterations.

Management contracting may, it seems, have given a more stable framework to the project by introducing an industry expert to run the many contractors.

Construction management was not the most suitable procurement vehicle. Sir Michael Latham, whose influential 1994 report, ‘Constructing the Team’, called on the construction industry to move towards partnering in the supply chain, says that full partnering should have been used to share the risk between client and contractor.

Use the product/industry for toliet paper or hand sanitizer.'

Discuss the impact COVID 19 is having on demand for the product or industry you have chosen. What factors are causing demand to shift?

Explain at least two of these factors. Is demand increasing or decreasing for the product?

Discuss the impact COVID 19 is having on supply for the product or industry you have chosen. What factors are causing supply to shift? Explain at least two of these factors. Is supply increasing or decreasing for the product?

Draw the demand and supply curves for this product before COVID 19. Point out equilibrium. Indicate, using labels and arrows what direction demand and supply has gone since the crisis has begun. Point out the new equilibrium. You do not have to make up numbers, but you need to accurately label demand, supply and equilibrium, both for the original market and the current market after the impact of COVID 19

QUESTION 6

Feeding her family healthy foods is important to Terri. She makes a point of buying organic products as often as possible. As she goes through the grocery store she remembers that she needs milk, so she heads over to the dairy case, intending to purchase the organic variety. She notices that a carton of organic milk is priced at $4.89; however, the store-brand milk is on sale for 99 cents. She hesitates for a moment, then selects the cheaper store brand, telling herself that she just can’t pass up such a good bargain. As Terri wonders if she made the right purchase decision, she is experiencing:

2 points   

QUESTION 7

After a need or want is recognized, a consumer may search for information about the various alternatives available to satisfy it. This occurs during which part of the consumer decision-making process?

2 points   

QUESTION 8

The slogan used by the manufacturer of Jaguar automobiles, “Don’t dream it. Drive it.” was intended to appeal to consumers’:

2 points   

QUESTION 9

Sam was driving when someone ran a stop sign and totaled his car. His car cannot be repaired, so he realized he’s going to have to get another one. What stage of the consumer decision-making process does this represent?

2 points   

QUESTION 10

The process by which people select, organize, and interpret stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture is called:

Case Quetion: You are the CEO of a 500- employee organization, which manufactures coats and jackets (winter fleece, dress wool and light rain wear for U.S.market. what organizational structure( functional,product,geographic, customer or hybrid)will you select, and why

1-Explain 4 reason

2-how will you utilize or integrate the matrix structure into you organization design?Explain.(1-point)

1. ABC Inc., a mid-sized company in Toronto, Ontario, wants to ensure that its pay systems are internally equitable, gender-neutral, and externally competitive. The CEO, who believes the organization’s compensation system can help it achieve its goals, has hired you to re-design the base pay for the jobs in the organization. The company has about seventy jobs (Marketing, Sales, Finance, HR, and other administrative jobs), some of which are predominantly male and female jobs. Currently, all base pays of the employees were established based on what the candidate asked for and the CEO’s/HR Manager’s limited understanding of the market. Using a point-method job evaluation system and guidelines of Ontario Pay Equity Legislation, discuss in detail how you would go about establishing a base pay for XYZ Inc. which is internally equitable, gender-neutral, and externally competitive.

Plz I need to answer this q asap (No references, google) and by YOUT OWN WORDS

1- How has your understanding of popular culture changed? Explain.

2- What do you feel is the major issue/debate in popular culture? Why?

3- Who do you feel is the most influential figure in popular culture? Why?

4- Which popular book, song, television show or film do you feel has impacted society the most? Why?

5- How will popular culture change in the future? Explain.  

The actual demand for the patients at Omaha Emergency Medical Clinic for the first six weeks of this       year are as follows:

Week                   Actual # of Patients

65

66

70

58

63

54

Compute a simple exponential smoothing forecast for week 7 with ?=.5.   Assume the forecast for week 1 is 65.

b)Compute MAPE.

c)What is the interpretation of your answer in part b)?