Electoral College System Essays (714 words) - Psephology

Electoral College System After the last presidential election, which is still underway apparently, there is much controversy over what should happen to the Electoral College system. There are people who say that the Electoral College is good but should be modified to meet the needs of the modern world. There are those who say that the Electoral College system is too outdated to be modified and should be entirely eliminated. Finally there are those who say that it is has stood the test of time and is still the best system for our country. The original framers of the constitution obviously preferred the electoral system to a direct popular election. The argument that historians give for this is that they preferred this system because travel was difficult and there were no national party organizations. I personally reject this argument. I agree that travel was difficult back then, but wouldnt that have meant that the candidate who lived closest to the most largest states would have an un-fair advantage under the electoral system back then? The historians add that the framers feared that many regional candidates would divide the vote, and that by requiring a candidate to win a majority in the Electoral College was a way of obtaining a national census. There have been many attempts to reform or even scrap the Electoral College election sense its birth. The most recent one being in 1997 when congress debated a constitutional amendment to replace the electoral system with a direct popular vote system. However the Electoral College system to this day remains virtually un-changed from its original form. The only exception is the twelfth amendment, which requires each elector to cast two votes, one for president and one for vice president. Under the current system there are five hundred and thirty eight electors. Each state gets one elector, each representative, and a senator. A presidential candidate needs two hundred and seventy votes to win the election. The electors meet after the November popular election to cast their votes and officially elect the president. Electors may vote for whomever they wish. Each states electoral votes are awarded on a winner take all bases. The arguments to modify or eliminate the Electoral College system are all derived from the notion that it is outdated. Under the current system if a candidate wins a large states like California, then they win twenty percent of the needed votes even though California only accounts for eleven percent of the U.S. population. Whats more is a president can be elected without winning a majority of the popular vote. This has happened 15 times in U.S. history. The constitution allows electors to use their discretion. Seven times in history an elector has not casted his vote for the peoples choice. Fortunately this has not yet had a real affect on the outcome of an election. Under the current system each states electoral votes are awarded on a winner take all basis. This makes it extremely difficult for a third party or independent candidate to win any electoral votes. In fact, by concentrating support in certain states, a candidate can take the presidency with out winning more popular votes than his opponent. According to the 1990 census, a candidate only needs to win eleven of the most heavily populated of the fifty states in order to take the presidency. The arguments to maintain the Electoral College system are all derived from the notion that it has worked fine thus far. There have been many attempts to reform the electoral system but none of them have been successful. This is due to the fact that no election system is perfect, but the current system has stood the test of time. It has never rejected the winner of a popular vote majority. It always produces clear and immediately known winners, so far. Getting rid of the Electoral College system would be profoundly dangerous. Especially with the way modern elections are conducted. This would mean that the totality of our campaigns would be a television advertising tarmac kind of campaign. We would be handing the American presidential campaign to whatever media adviser could out slick the other, and not necessarily to the best candidate for our country. Political Issues

Operations management The WritePass Journal

Operations management Introduction Operations management IntroductionReferencesRelated Introduction Strategic Focus, one amongst the most important step in the design and development of a product, enables companies to discover and explicitly commit themselves to important considerations (Ahoy, 2008). In the current case studies of Ready Materials and Zara, efficient and effective strategic focus assisted in expanding and extending the business into the narrow market or industry segment. More specifically, the super-responsive supply chain developed by Zara permitted the company in designing, producing and delivering new garments for marketing worldwide (Gattorna 1998). Ready Materials, on the other hand, possessed no clear strategic focus and witnessed complexities in meeting the volatile demand pattern. This characteristic absence of strategic focus caused a demand uncertainty, which eventually led to the emergence of buffering mechanisms (forward load, inventory and capacity). Owing to the fluctuating nature of daily demand, most of the purchasers of Ready Materials have aligned their orders with respect to a day per day operation and waited for the dispatch for an average time of 24 hours. Use of capacity buffering system in the form of annualised hours helped in managing Ready Materials at times of demand fluctuations, enabling adjustments to the working day by up to two hours, either way, without any intimation (Gattorna, 2009). Though these buffering mechanisms caused the company to witness low levels of staff morale and retention, in recent years, this has gained immense attention with the work force finishing the task early more often than late. Buffering mechanisms undertake the forms of order backlogs link with a variable extension to lead time. Inventory buffering mechanism, used by Ready Materials, compressed the customer response time by committing capacity in the advance of demand. Reducing the capital or, in other words, operating at the negative working capital helps in aligning with offsetting the investment in additional capacity. Thus, mana ging buffering mechanisms through resource alerts and effective prioritisation of resource attention assists projects in taking an advantage. It minimises the impact of Parkinson’s Law, and prevents unnecessary distraction alongside facilitating recovery planning when required, yet at a time in advance when the project or company is in trouble. Presence of high demand uncertainty necessitates the need of project and strategic management (Lake, 2010). As indicated earlier, the use of buffering and alignment mechanisms, allow the resources and companies to gain a strategic focus of resource attention besides enabling the advantage of good morale and early task finish. Much focus can be levied on time schedule management, and this automatically decreases unnecessary distraction, further enabling for the recovery planning to prevail, when needed. However, this is only necessary whenever the company witnesses extreme difficulty (Ahoy, 2008). Managing of uncertainty remained at the core of improvement of project performance for Ready Materials. Making use of highly sophisticated just in time systems could help in adjusting to the alignment and this automatically offers an efficient strategic focus. At such times, the company is required to get the projects completed both ahead of schedule and with efficient reliability of stock delivery dates that were promised. This specific approach to alignment offers mechanisms which allow a â€Å"complete system† view of projects. The mechanism of alignment recognises and safeguards the uncertainty and thereby avoids the Parkinson’s Law at the task level whilst considering Murphy’s Law at the project stage. All of these implications suggest an intimate interrelationship between strategic focus, buffering and alignment. Effective and efficient management of these three segments of operational management helps each of the companies in driving towards success (Vital e, 2002). It is the duty of project managers to shift their attention from assuring the achievement of strategic focus, task estimates and intermediate milestones. All of these are vital from the date it is required to the final promised due date. But, a grasping of the whole implication of this approach is an immense challenge. Running factories for only a single shift, sending half empty loads to other countries, which were followed by Zara, could help in focusing local efficiency at the expense of international responsiveness. Investing in the overall capital assets can eventually enhance the strategic focus and organisational flexibility (Stratton, 2008). Owing production assets can offer the company a level of control over its schedules and the companies no matter what they intend to do. Besides manufacturing of complicated products, it can enhance strategic focus and thereby minimise the incorporation of buffering mechanisms and alignment patterns. References Ahoy, K. (2008). Customer Driven Operations Management: Aligning Businesses, Processes and Systems, London: Hoffmann Publishers, pp. 90-100. Gattorna, J. (1998). Strategic Supply Chain Alignment: Best Practices in Supply Chain. London: SAGE Publishers, pp. 451-460. Gattorna, V. (2009). Dynamic Supply Chain Alignment. London: Heinemann Publishers, pp. 341-390. Lake, H. (2010). Operational Management and Control. London: Routledge Publishers, pp. 34-90. Stratton, R. (2008). Theory Building: Relating Variation, Uncertainty, Buffering Mechanisms and Trade-offs, Proceedings of the 3rd World Conference on Production and Operations Management. Tokyo: Japan. Vitale, B. (2002). Business to Business Marketing. London: Routledge Publishers, pp. 34-89.

Labour rights for illegal immigrants Research Paper

Labour rights for illegal immigrants - Research Paper Example They are forced to work with unscrupulous employers for pittance, denied all benefits and allowances, including holidays and overtime pay, and made to live in constant and morbid fear of being caught and deported back to their countries of origin. Since they are marginalized and without support, they are often exploited by employers who use them as cheap laborers with little reward for their hard and arduous labor. Research Hypothesis: This paper will focus on the increasing number of immigrants that are specifically coming into the United States and the roles they play; both the positive and negative aspects of life in this country as well as to the significant reasons why they need to be supported by the native people here. Introduction: The US has always been a land of great opportunities for people coming from other underdeveloped countries of the world. Thousands of immigrants flock into the US in order to seek a better deal for themselves and their families and to get rid off p overty back home. â€Å"Individuals generally choose to emigrate to countries that are more technologically advanced, have greater resources and offer more opportunities† (Illegal Immigration 2010). But there are several risks and challenges involved. They think that entry into the United States is an end to all their poverty and misery and the start of a new and happy life for them as well as their families. However, the reality is just the opposite, as soon they start to realize that their problems have just begun, in terms of challenging work situations, risks of getting caught and deported and being marginalized in all walks of life when compared with native inhabitants. But the truth of the matter is that over America’s eventful history, the contribution of immigrants in this country has been immense. Most of the people who inhabit the United States have been immigrants at one time or the other, and it is only the North American Indians who could truly and justly call themselves the original inhabitants of this country. All others are immigrants who were lucky to gain immigration status over the course of time. It is believed that there are at least 10 million illegal Immigrants in the United States and their figures are increasing with each passing day. They are mostly employed in works, which require little education and less efficient skill sets. â€Å"Illegal immigrants make up a significant portion of the workforce in key industries. 1.4 million are employed in leisure and hospitality with another 1.7 million in construction and 1.0 million in manufacturing. In addition undocumented worker make up 25% of the total workforce in farming† (Legalization Has Many Perceived Benefits 2010). â€Å"It has accommodated an expanding labor supply that today includes 1.5 million immigrants per year whose spending on housing and consumer goods helps stimulate the economy and increase the demand for still more labor† (Immigration: impact on U.S. economy 2010). However, in true fairness to the immigrants, it should be said that they are contributing a lot to the economic development and progress of this nation, in all major areas of business, commerce and trade. â€Å"Illegal immigration into the United States is a highly profitable proposition for both employers and the U.S. government, and it also benefits Mexico, which

Literautre search and literature review on handwashing

Literautre search and on handwashing - Literature review Example Only those studies conducted among subjects in United Kingdom in the last five years were selected. Several aspects of hand washing including health implications, promotion programs, practices and beliefs are discussed by each the researches. It is of utmost importance to establish first the need of hand washing. Basically it serves the purpose of preventing the transmission of infectious diseases. While there are several infectious diseases that cannot be prevented by mere hand washing, the simpler ones are actually of more significance because of its prevalence in the society. As such, focus has been given to diarrhea, being one of the leading causes of child death (Boschi-Pinto 2008) and viral respiratory infections. Moreover, bacteria causing these diseases are usually transferred between surfaces (Curtis et al. 2011, p.312), through hand contamination, for example. The researches conducted, are therefore rooted on the premise that since hand washing can prevent the transfer of disease-causing bacteria between surfaces, the different aspects of this practice should be explored in depth. The study of Curtis et al. (2011, p.312) emphasized that through the practice of proper hygiene, reducing the global burden of infectious disease need not to be costly. But despite this, it is quite unfortunate, that the importance of this practice has been overlooked in the area of public health. Yet through the information obtained by the authors, they were able to find hope that the present situation in terms of hygiene would gradually improve. In the beginning of the paper, Curtis et al. (2011, p. 312) established the evidence that there is indeed a risk that has to be controlled by identifying the means by which public health practitioners estimate the threats. These are the same steps being followed by the World Health Organization. The

Evolution of Leadership

Evolution of Leadership Amber Goshe An Evolution of Leadership In order to thrive in the realm of leadership, companies and individual departments have started to recognize that leadership must be adaptable, continuous, and be able to play various roles to create synergy in the work place. Quantum leadership and the path-goal leadership theory are discussed in this paper, as well as, the benefits and limitations of both theories in an organizational environment. A real workplace scenario is presented with a discussion of the type of conflict presented, in addition to, strategies that could be used in addressing the issue at hand. Quantum Leadership Quantum leadership is chaotic and is based on principles of physics and constant change and transformation. It is always changing and evolving. Therefore, the leader’s role is focused on understanding the intricacy of the change and then transforming it into a way that can be understood by those it affects (Malloch Porter O’Grady, 2009). By evaluating a change and anticipating change, a quantum leader can project to see where the change is going (Malloch Porter O’Grady, 2009). The theory focuses on adaptation, integration, interaction, and prediction (Malloch Porter O’Grady, 2009). Quantum leadership is not based on a hierarchy. It views an organization and its members as interrelated team members that is better served through collaboration (Malloch Porter O’Grady, 2009). Quantum leadership emphasizes the importance of the relationships between individuals in the organization rather than focusing on solely the individual. Leaders and the people they lead have to be comfortable with ambiguity and the challenges brought forth by continuous change (Malloch Porter O’Grady, 2009). Quantum leaders must be vulnerable and open to different realities but also be aware of their limitations (Malloch Porter O’Grady, 2009). Quantum leadership also embraces values for individuals and groups within the organization. There is an emotional investment that is important because it provides a perspective of ownership and integrity and should be visible because values stand out by a person’s actions every day (Malloch Porter O’Grady, 2009). Also, shared basic underlying assumptions in quantum leadership define the invisible culture and determine what makes the organization function every day (Malloch Porter O’Grady, 2009). Yet, these are basic and highly influential in a group’s behavior. This often goes overlooked until someone oversteps on one and then it usually comes out as frustration expressed by a team member that identifies the violation (Malloch Porter O’Grady, 2009). The artifacts in the culture address the things someone first comes into contact with an organization and therefore it is easy to see what one encounters but it is hard to decipher the true meaning of the culture (Malloch Porter O’Grady, 2009). Another assumption includes beliefs and values including the goals, identified goals and spoken values (Malloch Porter O’Grady, 2009). These assumptions can be driven by groups or by individuals who have influence inside the institute. However, it can be challenging to make these underlying assumptions visible and used to add value. Quantum leadership focuses on the process and embraces that it is indefinite and limitless and does not place emphasis solely on the results and how one gets there. Quantum leadership embraces finding potential. It is not always controllable or predictable and that is a good thing because a leader should become worried once everything becomes predictable (Malloch Porter O’Grady, 2009). Quantum leadership lets go of control and opens up the opportunity for various leadership styles to emerge to align the motivation between team members (Malloch Porter O’Grady, 2009). It emphasizes collaboration between members and building upon others strengths but knowing their weaknesses and limitations. Quantum leadership instills meaning into leadership but it does have its own action plans. The action plans within the organization, however, do focus on accomplishing goals appropriately and meaningfully (Malloch Porter O’Grady, 2009). The group must have good communication and interaction within the organization to accelerate success which can be aligned by the leader. The individual’s interest in the organization is also taken into account (Malloch Porter O’Grady, 2009). Path-Goal Theory The path-goal theory is based on identifying a leader’s motivation or style that best suits the employee to facilitate goal achievement. This theory focuses on three main aspects of leadership which include the leader, the subordinate or the secondary, and the environment (Alanazi Rasli, 2013). The characteristics of the subordinate include their own perception of their abilities and control and leaders can adapt to this perception by approaching the leadership from different angles based on their understanding. Characteristics of the environment focus on the structure of the task and the work group. This behavior enables the employee to become empowered, it increases their motivation, and improves employee satisfaction which assists the employee in being a productive member of the institute (Wofford Liska, 1993). A main concept of the path-goal theory is that the leaders will make rewards available in order to motivate their subordinates (Wofford Liska, 1993). These rewards can be adaptable and dependent on the situation at hand which makes the leader vulnerable to opening up to acclimation. In this theory, various different styles of leadership are used for different situations. There are four original types of leadership behaviors in the path-goal theory which include directive, supportive, participative, and achievement oriented. In directive leadership, the leader is specific and gives directions to the followers about what needs to be done and includes details on how it should be done, the expectations, and when it needs to be done (Alanazi Rasli, 2013). The leader will still provide guidance along the way. This style of leadership can be used when dealing with a complex or unstructured task of if the subordinate is inexperienced (Alanazi Rasli, 2013). The second leadership behavior is supportive leadership. In this style, the needs and well-being of the subordinate is taken into consideration, as well as, creating an approachable work environment (Alanazi Rasli, 2013). This is a larger focus than completing the task at hand. This style may be used when the task is boring or puts the subordinate at risk for physical or psychological distress.The third style of leader behavior is participative. In this style, the subordinates are consulted in the process and those ideas can be used when making decisions (Alanazi Rasli, 2013). The subordinate’s opinion is highly respected in this style and often this can be used when the subordinates are the experts of the content matter. The fourth style of leader behavior is the achievement oriented leader. In this behavior, high expectations are set for the subordinates and challenging goals are set. A high level of performance is expected from the subordinates is expected while the leade r instills confidence in their abilities (Wofford Liska, 1993). The path-goal theory is flexible in that the leader adapts to the subordinate, taking into consideration the environment and task at hand. This situational framework is strength for understanding how various leader behaviors affect the efficiency and satisfaction of the workers. It also incorporates motivation principles of the expectancy theory (Alanazi Rasli, 2013). However, it can also be complex to try to integrate many different aspects of leadership. Comparing Quantum Leadership and Path-Goal Theory One major difference between quantum leadership and the Path-Goal theory is control. The quantum leader is about aligning motivation between team members and is open to different views on a subject. The path-goal theory focuses on discovering the best behaviors for subordinates and attempts to control subordinates behavior with incentives. Also, the path-goal theory refers to subordinates indicating a hierarchal system where the quantum leader focuses on horizontal communication (). Yet, a similarity is that the leader in the path-goal theory works to facilitate task achievement for the followers and in quantum leadership the leader is focusing on aligning motivation between other team members which results in task achievement. However, quantum leadership is always continuously evolving and is a process, whereas in the path-goal theory there is a specific goal and expectancies on how to get from point a to b. Conflict Scenario In 2010, I started working as a radiographer at Nationwide Children’s hospital. Before starting my new position, I had worked as a student assistant in the radiology department and I was now a peer to those who had been over me. While running images for a fellow co-worker, I noticed she would withhold images to â€Å"run† them herself. As I observed my co-worker and her method, I noticed she was deleting images when there was likely potential for motion. One day, an image was deleted after the wrong radiograph had been taken. A forearm was taken instead of an elbow and the forearm radiograph was deleted. After the elbow came back negative, the physician ordered a forearm and therefore the patient was exposed twice for the same picture unnecessarily. I found this odd, since in every other aspect my co-worker upheld patient safety and often advocated for it. The reject image rate which is calculated for patient safety is based off the images rejected in the computer syste m. Since there were images not being accounted for, an inaccurate portrayal of data occurred. When my co-worker was confronted, she stated that the information from those images was not beneficial for the department and claimed she was unaware that it held any wrongdoing. In my opinion, this is a data-based conflict due to the lack of information and limited access to information. There is some value based conflict components presented in the scenario but the big picture is that data is not being collected and therefore it is affecting patient safety. Since that information would be extremely important for the effectiveness of the department and patient safety, certain measures or in-services were not being implemented based upon false information. The clinical work suffers as a result of not acquiring the appropriate information (54). The information and how it is generated, as well as, how it is distributed and the importance of it all have an impact on the effectiveness of the organization, as well as, its integrity (55). As a quantum leader in this situation, one would need to ensure that proper processes and generation of information are set in place and appropriately structured within the organization. To address the issue presented in the scenario, as a quantum leader I would want to get a basic understanding of the issues at hand and hear from the co-worker their issue with the process put into play, ask her to clarify her reasoning for why the information is not beneficial to the department, and what her feelings are on the issue. I would want to know if she has fear about running images that have â€Å"mistakes† on them and why. I would bring up patient safety with the co-worker for common ground. I would discuss with the co-worker how I praise her advocacy of patient safety in all other aspects and ask her to reflect on the situation to determine if there were patient safety issues involved. Also, this conversation would need to be done in a safe place so she felt open to discussing the conflict at hand. Throughout the conversation, I would discuss expectations for patient safety and assure the co-worker that the data collection system put in place is for the patient safety and for the employees. That information is not used to get employees into trouble, but to help determine in a non-blame way, what could be done in the future to prevent unnecessary exposures to patients. Agreements would need to be made on the process of data collection and a plan to follow-up on the agreement action (). References Alanazi, T.R. Rasli, A.M. (2013). Overview of path-goal leadership theory. Comprehensive Research Journal of Management and Business Studies, 1(1), 01-06. Malloch, K. Porter O’Grady, T. (2009). The quantum leader: Applications for the new world of work (2nd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett. Wofford, J.C. Liska, L.Z. (1993). Path-goal theories of leadership: A meta-analysis. Journal Of Management, 19(4), 857-876.

Interest and 90-day Bank Loan

Accounts receivable changes with bad debts A firm is evaluating an accounts receivable change that would increase bad debts from 2% to 4% of sales. Sales are currently 50,000 units, the selling price is $20 per unit, and the variable cost per unit is $15. As a result of the proposed change, sales are forecast to increase to 60,000 units. a. What are bad debts in dollars currently and under the proposed change? b. Calculate the cost of the marginal bad debts to the firm. c. Ignoring the additional profit contribution from increased sales, if the proposed change saves $3,500 and causes no change in the average investment in accounts receivable, would you recommend it? Explain. d. Considering all changes in costs and benefits, would you recommend the proposed change? Explain. e. Compare and discuss your answers in parts c and d. P14-16 Zero-balance account Union Company is considering establishment of a zero balance account. The firm currently maintains an average balance of $420,000 in its disbursement account. As compensation to the bank for maintaining the zero balance account, the firm will have to pay a monthly fee of $1,000 and maintain a $300,000 non–interest-earning deposit in the bank. The firm currently has no other deposits in the bank. Evaluate the proposed zero-balance account, and make a recommendation to the firm, assuming that it has a 12% opportunity cost. P15–9 Cost of bank loan Data Back-Up Systems has obtained a $10,000, 90-day bank loan at an annual interest rate of 15%, payable at maturity. (Note: Assume a 365-day year.) a. How much interest (in dollars) will the firm pay on the 90-day loan? b. Find the effective 90-day rate on the loan. c. Annualize your result in part b to find the effective annual rate for this loan, assuming that it is rolled over every 90 days throughout the year under the same terms and circumstances.

Healthcare and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 Essay

Healthcare and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Affordable Care Act) Passage of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 by Congress, followed by it’s signing by President Obama on March 30, 2010, completes a massive overhaul of the nation’s health insurance and health delivery systems. The Reconciliation Act amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, which President Obama signed on March 23. Combined, the two new laws include more than $400 billion in revenue raisers and new taxes on employers and individuals. The social and political struggles of the American population served as a key contributor to the push for the Healthcare and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 to be formed and written into law. These struggles include but are not limited to an increasing unemployment rate of the nation which essentially meant that the average American was becoming less and less able to provide for himself and his family, therefore making the prospect of getting health insurance or paying for higher education a weightier endeavor. Also the number of Americans without healthcare was on an exponential rise and more and more people were unable to get healthcare, and take care of themselves, a condition that is detrimental to the GDP of the nation. The Affordable Care Act has shaped social, economic and political consciousness since its inception in 2010. More companies are open to providing their employees with health insurance options as the Affordable Care Act has increased subsidies to companies that provide their workers with healthcare options. The Act has also significantly increased the number of young adults with healthcare as children up to the age of 26 are able to stay under their parent’s health coverage plans. Also the $250 million the government provides in grants to the health insurance companies has assisted in cracking down on the premium hikes that were common in the pre-Affordable Care Act era. Now Americans can peacefully sign up for healthcare with the guarantee of fairly constant premiums that they know they can afford and keep up with. Numerous groups are opponents of the Affordable Care Act. Notable opponents of the Act are the Republicans and the more conservative and capitalist population of the nation. They believe that the reform would lead to government take over of healthcare and in the long run a socialist nation. They also believe that the implementation of the law would force tax payers to contribute tax dollars towards the funding of abortion; an issue that steal remains controversial in political gatherings and legislation. Lastly these opponents feel that the implementation of the Affordable Care Act into law in 2014 will ultimately drive companies to stop providing health coverage to their employees as they believe the bill does nothing to bring down the cost of healthcare as the government is transferring all the burden to the companies, strengthening their argument that the Act only strengthens a socialist system in America.