Question

Passage require analysis and breakdown

We all know the Corona Virus has affected destroyed the country and our economy. All businesses including the healthcare industry have taken a huge loss. The organization I work for has seen a dramatic decrease in the number of patients being admitted. Due to this, the organization isn’t making as much revenue as we normally would under any normal circumstances. Two key strategic decisions made by my organization include shutting down those units with little to no patients, which includes the layoff of several employees, and minimizing the number of supplies being used. Although, the organization did not want to enforce these decisions, they were strategically necessary to keep the hospital profitable.

One optimization model discussed in the text is linear programming. “Linear programming is a problem-solving approach developed to help managers make decisions” (Anderson, Sweeney, Williams, Camm, Cochran, Fry, & Ohlmann , p.250). Linear programming includes maximizing or minimizing some quantity as the objective. In the example provided above, my organization was trying to minimize the amount of expenses and maximize their profits. All linear programming problems also have a second property: restrictions or constraints that limit the degree to which the objective can be pursued. A constraint faced by the organization is the possibility of an influx of patients and not having enough staff or supplies to safely care for the patients. By developing a problem formulation, the organization can develop a mathematical model. “Problem formulation is the process of translating a verbal statement of a problem into a mathematical statement. The mathematical statement of the problem is referred to as a mathematical model” (Anderson, Sweeney, Williams, Camm, Cochran, Fry, & Ohlmann, p.252). This allows the organization to identify their objective, their constraint, and identify their best course of action. Had the organization done this to begin with, maybe there could have been another course of action taken to limit expenses and maximize profits that would not have involved laying off so many employees.

question ---critically analyze this passage

Answer 1

Hello! I hope you are doing well... ☺

critical analysis and breakdown:

As we all know corona virus is the invisible enemy the world is facing right now. Due to the lockdown, many businesses are shut and not in operation except Health Industry which is working day and night to save people.

In this case to cut costs the hospital has shut it's non profitable units and laid off it's employees as it was necessary to keep the hospital profitable. Linear programming is used to find optimal solutions to the problem. In this case our objective is to minimize the total cost and the constraint it is facing is influx of patients and not having enough staff to take care of them.

I think that what the hospital did to cut off its cost isn't the only solution they were left with. To lay off employees isn't the optimal solution. There are many ways in which the hospital can cut it's cost and keep running. To lay off employees in these times can be harmful for the company in long term as employees lose trust in the company that their company will help them in times of need. Employees will become helpless if their company lay off them in these times and it is not an ethical behavior also.

Instead of laying off employees, hospital can:

• Cut their employees salary by 25% to 50% as they see fit. This will bring down cost as well as employees will be able to sustain themselves.
• Cut any bonuses or extra pay for an year or two to all employees.
• Not only employees but top executives like CEO, MD , etc too must forego their salaries and bonuses.
• Cancel any event or function that may cost hospital.
• Hospital can renegotiate with their suppliers to provide them some discount or extend credit period.
• Government can provide low or no interest loan to hospitals.

In this way, when there will be influx of patients , hospital will not face shortage of staff. So there are many ways for hospital to cut off it's costs without laying off it's employees and can achieve it's objective of minimizing cost.

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