Root Metaphors as an Aid to Understanding Organizational...

Robert Allen 11500024 Root metaphors as an aid to understanding organizational behaviour and their relevance to organizations in a knowledge based economy. Introduction The use of root metaphors to provide insight into organizations seems to be seen as a useful if limited way of understanding their complex natures (Morgan, 1997) (Andriesson, 2008), which may have been more suited to the industrial age. The rise of the Knowledge Based Economy (KBE) and post-industrial organizations pose further challenges to the effectiveness of root metaphors when attempting to understand organizations in what is now generally recognised as fast paced (Bart, Victor, and Stephens 1994), sometimes chaotic environments where knowledge and technology are†¦show more content†¦One can draw conclusions about BPS when applying principles first identified some seventy years earlier such as the owners or the stakeholders must decide on the definition of output. The organism metaphor can be seen as a way of extending the reach of modernist theories to explain and understand more complex organizations and is usually associated with theorists such as (Maslow, 1943) hierarchy of human needs, (McGregor, 1957) Theory X and Theory Y assumptions. However, the influence of earlier work of (Follett, 1926) participatory leadership and (Mayo, 1933) Hawthorne experiments also contributed to its evolution. This metaphors emphasis on transformation, cause and effect and survival of the fittest could be seen as having greater relevance than the machine metaphor to post industrial organizations operating in a KBE as it places emphasis on the importance of environment, technology and appropriate structure (Burns amp; Stalker, 1961). (Lewin amp; Johnston, 2000) draw attention to the pace of organizational change, competitive pressures and complex environments faced by such organizations This view of an organization can help us to draw useful inferences about its relationships with its environment, (Lawrence amp; Lorsch, 1967), the role of management (Eisenhardt, 1989), as an interdependent part of a system whose primary function is to exert authority andShow MoreRelatedOrganizational Behaviour Analysis28615 Words   |  115 PagesOrganising Processes Understanding Change Conflict, Negotiation, and the Politics of Change Group and Team Working Cultures and Leaders as Cultural Agents Trust Linking the Themes Introductory Notes on Organisational Analysis Understanding Organisations The Limits of Rationalism Levels of Analysis: The SOGI Model Limitations of the SOGI Model The Individual Level The Group Level The Organisation Level The Society Level Interactions between the Levels Morgan’s Metaphors The Metaphors in Brief TheRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pagesbook increases the understanding of a field that in recent years has become ever more fragmented. Organization theory is central to managing, organizing and reflecting on both formal and informal structures, and in this respect you will find this book timely, interesting and valuable. Peter Holdt Christensen, Associate Professor, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark McAuley et al.’s book is thought-provoking, witty and highly relevant for understanding contemporary organizational dilemmas. The bookRead MoreEssay on Strategic Planning6467 Words   |  26 Pagestraditionally tend to focus more on matters of board development, fundraising and volunteer management. (Source: http://managementhelp.org/plan_dec/str_plan/str_plan.htm) The structure of this analysis going forward will be as follows: * Organizational Theory surrounding NPOs: * Mission Statements of NPOs: * Product and Services Offered: * Organization Structure: * Potential Competition: * Management Strategies: * Marketing Strategies * HR Strategies MissionRead MoreLoss Causation Model9657 Words   |  39 PagesFoundation Science. In HaSPA (Health and Safety Professionals Alliance), The Core Body of Knowledge for Generalist OHS Professionals. Tullamarine, VIC. Safety Institute of Australia. Disclaimer This material is supplied on the terms and understanding that HaSPA, the Safety Institute of Australia Ltd and their respective employees, officers and agents, the editor, or chapter authors and peer reviewers shall not be responsible or liable for any loss, damage, personal injury or death sufferedRead MoreIntercultural Communication21031 Words   |  85 Pagesthat takes the cultural limitation into consideration. An example of such communication skills in the intercultural environment is to listen without judging, repeat what you understand, confirm meanings, give suggestions and acknowledge a mutual understanding. Starting from these general observations, the main characteristics of intercultural communication can be established: †¢ Intercultural communication is a form of global communication. It is used to describe the wide range of communicationRead MoreCommunication- Is It an Art or a Science ? Let Us See...........7412 Words   |  30 Pagescentury. In the 3rd Information Communication Revolution, information can now be transferred via controlled waves and electronic signals. Communication is thus a process by which meaning is assigned and conveyed in an attempt to create shared understanding. This process requires a vast repertoire of skills in interpersonal and interpersonal processing, listening, observing, speaking, questioning, analyzing, and evaluating. It is through communication that collaboration and cooperation occur. Read MoreMis Summary25465 Words   |  102 Pagesdeliver greater benefits as people invent or develop complements that multiply the power, impact, and uses of GPTs. Complements are organizational innovations, or changes in the way companies get work done. Examples: o Better-skilled workers o Higher levels of teamwork o Redesigned processes o New decision rights - But: IT not with same relationship with the four organizational complements than other process GPTs have The Three Categories of IT 1) Function IT (FIT): includes technologies that make theRead MoreStrategic Marketing Management337596 Words   |  1351 Pagesanalysis and scanning Summary 5 Approaches to customer analysis 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 Learning objectives Introduction Coming to terms with buyer behaviour Factors influencing consumer behaviour The buying decision process The rise of the new consumer and the implications for marketing planning Organizational buying behaviour The growth of relationship marketing Summary Appendix: The drivers of consumer change 6 Approaches to competitor analysis 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9Read MoreChrysanthemum Cineraiifolium23103 Words   |  93 PagesAmerican perspective involved in the â€Å"Vigilance Project† at PharMed. Finally, it argues that many of the problems associated team dynamics, leadership, cultural diversity, trust, ethicality, equity, transparency and conflict stem from a lack of understanding of the new geography of the information economy and that, rather than accepting the notion that geography no longer matters, continued efforts must be made to understand the relationship between team cohesiveness, team behavioral dynamics justRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesOrganizational Behavior This page intentionally left blank Organizational Behavior EDITION 15 Stephen P. Robbins —San Diego State University Timothy A. Judge —University of Notre Dame i3iEi35Bj! 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Gun Violence - 1218 Words

The Gangs In Our Communities By: Adam Taylor What set do you claim? Isn’t that a question we all hear at some point in our school years and maybe sometimes even after. Well I remember being in elementary school and not having to worry about nothing but recess. Those were the days of no worries and no stress. Then came middle school and that’s when things begin to change. Middle school is more about who you hang out with and how you dress. That’s where most of it starts. At the level of middle school to the level of adulthood gangs are feared and recognized. The abundance of gangs can bring fear and violence to every block of a city. In addition to suffering unacceptably high numbers of deaths and injuries, gang plagued†¦show more content†¦Young people who are diverted into a gang life typically remain under-educated and do not contribute positively to the city’s workforce. Police and other elements of the criminal justice system are at the center of efforts to reduce gang vi olence. Police are fully aware of the damage that gangs do to their communities, in terms of graffiti, vandalism, fighting, shoot-outs, robbery, rape and other violence. They understand that neighborhoods cannot function effectively under the reign of terror that many street gangs impose. At the same time, police leaders around the nation have frequently made the point that â€Å"we cannot arrest our way out of the crime problem.† Too many lawbreakers, limited police resources and high levels of long-term losses to communities make it vital that arrest not be the only answer. Community involvement, focused social services and community problem solving are other critical strategies that can reduce crime in the long term and strengthen neighborhoods. Strong local anti-gang initiatives cannot be effectively planned or implemented by a single agency or organization. Partnerships are crucial to this work, bringing knowledge, relationships and resources to the table and yielding br oad community support for sustained efforts. In particular, city leaders must goShow MoreRelatedGun Violence And The Gun Control1253 Words   |  6 PagesGun Violence in America According to CDC, One person is killed by a firearms every 17 minutes, 87 people are killed during an average day, and 609 are killed every week†(CDC). That means gun violence is out of control, and you can be next. In fact, there s been an increase of mass murders occurring everywhere due to guns. Which has brought our attention to the gun violence in our nation. They say guns are for protection, but in reality there seems to be more murder associated with it. There sRead MoreGun Control For Gun Violence880 Words   |  4 PagesIn 2015, 13,367 people lost their lives due to gun violence according to Gun Violence Archive. The Archive also states that out of that number, 693 were children from ages 0-11. We can all agree that there is indeed a problem that we have to address. The solution to that problem, however, has been debated by many. I believe the solution to this problem exists in three parts: Mandatory training and licensing along with more heavily secure gun storage, s tricter regulations on the purchasing of a firearm—disabilitiesRead MoreGun Violence And Gun Control1007 Words   |  5 Pagesshootings and various other methods of gun violence, tens of thousands of people die every year. These gun-related deaths primarily originate from murder and children accidentally shooting themselves. Although those in favor of gun control tend to believe that guns should be terminated completely, the second amendment prevents lawmakers from being able to do so. Therefore, in order to combat these causes, alternative gun control solutions must be made for each one. Gun-related murders can be decreasedRead MoreThe Issue Of Gun Violence953 Words   |  4 Pages Gun Violence Guns have been is society for centuries. They have been used for hunting, war, and even safety. However, in the past several years they have begun to take the lives of many innocent victims, often young children. In response to the killings in Newtown, Conn., it has been noted, â€Å"If this were a country, the number of children killed by gun violence would violate international law.† (Browne-Marshall) F.B.I. data shows in 2011,Read MoreThe Issue Of Gun Violence1238 Words   |  5 Pageslaw, passed January 15th, 2013, created many new restrictions for gun owners and those looking to purchase guns. Perhaps the most controversial part of the ordeal was the hasty enactment of the law. Many dispute that it is an infringement on their constitutional rights. In addition, the State doesn t have the means to enact many parts of the law. The law assumes that restricting the physical guns will solve the issue of gun violence; however, the real issue is mental health, or rather the l ack ofRead More Guns and Violence Essay828 Words   |  4 PagesGuns and Violence School shootings, gang violence, drive by shootings, murder, and thousands of acts of violence are committed every day. Members of our society criticize their own people for this violence while they continue to sit back and do nothing about it. These acts of violence have many contributing factors. Violence in our country today is escalating because we dont control the distribution of the guns sold. There are not enough restrictions on guns sold legally.Read MoreGun Violence : It Is Well Known Gun1543 Words   |  7 PagesGun Violence in America Thomas Leonard February 9, 2017 As it is well known gun violence is a major problem in today’s society, places like Chicago and New York City have a serious epidemic on their hands. It is not uncommon to hear about an incident where a gun was involved in these big cities on a day to day basis, but it’s not just the big cities, these type of things are happening nationwide. There has been an argument for many decades whether the cause of such violence is due to the lack ofRead MoreGun Violence And Gun Control1406 Words   |  6 Pages Gun violence in America is a huge topic of discussion. Many people have heard about this topic on the news or in the newspaper, but have very little knowledge on this ongoing topic. Those who have a lack of information on gun control tend to not feel strongly towards guns or people owning or carrying guns. People that have never been around guns are often scared of them, but the truth is a gun is nothing more than a hunk of metal. For a gun to go off the gun needs a shooter, so should the realRead MoreThe Prevalence Of Gun Violence Essay1457 Words   |  6 PagesPrevalence of Gun Violence In African American Communities Introduction Each year homicide and assault-related injuries result in an estimated $16 billion in combined medical and work loss (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/17/education-gun-violence-presidential-debate-2012_n_1974740.html). Gun violence may be broadly defined as a category of violence and crime committed with use of a firearm, it may or may not include actions ruled as self defense, actions for law enforcement. Gun violence is prevalentRead MoreThe Solution For Gun Violence951 Words   |  4 PagesFareed Zakaria: The solution to gun violence is clear Guns in the hands of prospective victims of violence can deter criminal attempts or disrupt crimes once they are attempted, thereby exerting a violence-reducing effect. Oddly enough, guns in the hands of aggressors also have certain violence-reducing effects, along with the more obvious violence-increasing effects. The power which weaponry confers has conventionally been treated as exclusively violence-enhancing - it has commonly been assumed

Effect of Automated Teller Machines Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Effect of Automated Teller Machines. Answer: Introduction IoT can be described as interconnectivity of things such as digital devices, people, animals or objects that are uniquely identified and are able to send information/data over a computer network without having interactions such as person-to-person or even person-to-device (Barrett, 2016). High development rate of rising technology in the world has enabled IoT to gradually evolve in different aspects of life in the world today. The use of IoT has extended to various sectors such as health, agriculture, banking, education among others. The use of these applications brings about great benefits to the various sectors in life. These benefits majorly include; improved service delivery, reduced service delivery cost, reduced errors involved, increased production and services rates, among others (Patel, 2017). To understand more on the IoT, this document will try to explain it using an ATM system as used in banking sectors today. Problems before ATM system Before the emergence of ATM systems, banks used to experience long queues since customers used to access services from the human-tellers directly. This meant that more human labor cost was incurred by the Banks and also more time was needed to make one transaction, thus leading to fewer transactions. Also it without ATM it means customers can only transact during banks working hours. Solutions Provided by ATM With emergence of ATM machines as a result of internet development meant that most of the banks customer had only to use their cards to access their accounts and make any transactions of their choice. This therefore meant shorter queues and less labor cost while transactions increased. Also customers are able to transact at any time beyond banks operational time. Features of ATM An ATM system is a data terminal that consists of various input and output components. The input components consist of a card reader and a keypad while the output components include card slot, the speaker, screen, cash dispenser and receipt printer. Its functional features are withdraw, deposits, bill payments, print receipts and account update (Gui, 2015). An ATM system can be diagrammatically represented below. Figure 1 url: https://www.google.com/search?q=problems+addressed+by+ATMclient=firefox-betarls=org.mozilla:enUS:officialchannel=fflbsource=lnmstbm=ischsa=Xved=0ahUKEwjJ7fqdmbvVAhXhL8AKHeQTBN8Q_AUIDCgDbiw=1366bih=657#imgrc=bwZa51ANeQMd7M: How ATXM system works An ATM machine communicates to the bank via the internet. Customers insert their credit/debit card on the card slot then they are prompted to provide their PIN. Then ATM machine then communicates to the bank server in order to validate the information provided by the customers before any transaction is done. And in case where the information is not correct the customer will be notified via a display screen on the machine or audio via the speaker. If the credentials are correct the customer is allowed to proceed to choose a transaction of their choice and after the transaction one is given an option to print a receipt (Seksaria, 2016). Advantages of ATM Fast and easy banking services access. With ATMs in place customers are able to access their bank accounts and perform various transactions without having to walk into the bank at any time of the day. Reduced Cost and service delivery time. Saves the financial institutions quite a great deal of hiring bank personnels that could serve the great number of customers. Thus reducing cost both in terms of money and time (Adewoye, 2013). 24 hours Accessibility. ATM system allows customers to perform their transactions even when the time is out of bounds of the normal banking time. More Transactions. Banks experience more profit as a result of more transactions via ATM. Disadvantages of ATM system as an IoT According to (Ryan, 2015), ATM systems facilitate problems such as: Fraud - involve identity theft done via the internet. Fiscal planning problems - which mislead the customers since no banking statements are generated when transaction are done. Operational issues and banking fees that is costly. Conclusions In conclusion it is therefore evident from the example of the ATM system discussed above that Internet of Things has a great impact on the banking sector worldwide today even though it comes with few challenges. The use of internet to implement systems such ATM brings about new and more convenient ways of doing business in the world of financial sector. Thus IoT has a great impact in the world today and if implemented wisely across all aspects of life service delivery and production rates as well as life at large will be changed for good. References Adewoye, J. O. (2013). An Empirical Evaluation of the Effect of Automated Teller Machines Investment on Cost Efficiency of Banks in Nigeria. Asian Journal of Computer and Information Systems (ISSN: 2321 5658), 63-64. Barrett, D. J. (2016). Internet of Things (IoT). Illinois: Nimbus Centre for Embedded Systems Research at Cork Institute of Technology (CIT). Retrieved on https://www.google.com/search?q=Nimbus+Centre+for+Embedded+Systems+Research+at+Cork+Institute+of+Technology+%28CIT%29%5Cie=utf-8oe=utf-8client=firefox-b-ab#. Fasan. (2013). The Impact, Advantages of using Automatic Teller Machines in Nigerian Banking Sector. Biovolt Corporation. Gui, W. (2015, May 25). Technology. Retrieved March 3, 2017, from Slide Share: https://www.slideshare.net/weje855/atm-system-description-and Patel, K. (2017). Health and Medicine. Retrieved on 27th July 2017 https://www.ibm.com/blogs/internet-of-things/6-benefits-of-iot-for-healthcare/. Ryan, D. B. (2015). The Disadvantages of Automatic Teller Machines. University of Cincinnati and Indiana University: Retrieved on 27th July 2017 https://www.livestrong.com/article/23766-elliptical-vs.-exercise-bikes/. Seksaria, K. (2016). How do ATM machines work internally? Retrieved on 27th July 2017 https://www.quora.com/How-do-ATM-machines-work-internally.

Please Do Not Plagiarism My Paper Essays - Family,

Please do not plagiarism my paper The Three Key Concepts of Sociology Applied to Analyzing Single-Parent Families What is the term family? What does it mean? Who decides what makes up a family? The definition of family means "a set of relations especially parents and children" (American Century Dictionary 205). This might include anyone related to by blood or by adoption such as: step parents, grandparents acting as parents, and even brothers and sisters sometimes sharing the same household. The term family has been believed to coincide with the word "marriage". If you were to have a family, you were also thought to have a husband or wife. This was thought to be the norm for many centuries. This was named the "institutional family." But we have reinvented the word family. A family can consist of single parent family, step family, or a first marriage family. The role of the family is also a key concept in defining the family (Doherty 11). "In all societies the first major agent of socialization for most individuals is the family" (Thompson and Hickey 105). It is the nucleus of American life. The role of the American family is much the same as in any other country. Each family member has to fulfill his or her own part. Being a father, a mother, or a daughter. The mass media will have an influence on the family's role. For instance, the media has portrayed men to be thought of as the "bread-winner". To more or less support the family. This family type was atypical of the American family. This was called the "Traditional Nuclear Family." This kind of ideology has existed for centuries (Thompson and Hickey 386). But of all family types, single parent families have made the most gains during the past few decades. According to a sociological book called Society in Focus, the definition of a single parent family is "families in which one parent resides with and cares for one or more children" (387). "Researches estimate that a century ago one in three children spent part of their childhood in a single parent home" (384). This estimate is taken during the colonial period of America. More families in the twenty-first century will be single parent. This is because of the factor of people getting married later in life, the high rate of divorce, and the opportunity to gain a career. By view of the social structure, single parenting has changed the views of the way parents treat and raise their children. By definition, social structure is "the ordered relationships and patterned expectations that guide social interaction" (Thompson and Hickey 142). Even though there has been a decline in marriage, functionalism believes that the family is the foundation of social order. According to the sociologists Talcot Parsons, "any other type of family other than the nuclear family is dysfunctional in society because they are not suited for society's economic needs and therefore may be a potential threat to society" (2). Please do not plagiarism my paper The structural functionalist perspective views society as having a structure of several components. Family, religion, schools, state, and the economy. Each of these institutions are interrelated and interdependent (Thompson and Hickey 24). For instance marriage. The foundation of functionalism is the family. The family fulfills vital functions for instance culture, support, and status. The institute of marriage is important because functionalism ignores conflict and diversity. So functionalism, encourages marriage. Functionalism does not take into account the reasons why there are single parent families (Mills 2). In the Conflict Perspective, marriage and family do not coincide with one another. Rather conflict theorists agree that the environment and other forces shape the marriage and family. These powers "are rooted in structures of social inequality" (Eitzen and Baca-Zinn 1987:13). The Marxist view is those who have the means to produce wealth and those who don't. Capitalism is the capitalist class vs. the working class. With the divorce rate so high, single parents don't really affect capitalism. In fact, they might help benefit that economy. "Single mothers can produce cheap labor, social services not amenable to profit making, and new laborers for temporary dead-end jobs" (Thompson and Hickey 378). From the symbolic interactionist perspective, there are no fixed meanings. Marriage and family do not

Business Process Reengineering and Human Resource Management Essay Example

Business Process Reengineering and Human Resource Management Paper Business Process Reengineering and Human Resource Management By Hugh Willmott Judge Institute of Management University of Cambridge, UK A later version of this article appears in Personal Review, 23, 3: 34-46 (1994) For more information on published articles by Hugh Willmott please refer to http://dspace. dial. pipex. com/town/close/hr22/hcwhomeBusiness Process Reengineering and Human Resource Management Hugh Willmott Manchester School of Management, UMIST Abstract This article reviews the Business Process Reengineering (BPR) vision of radical business process change, focusing upon the use of information technology to facilitate a shift away from linear/sequential work organization towards parallel processing and multidisciplinary teamworking. It highlights BPR’s cursory treatment of the human dimension of its programme for radical organizational change and raises the question of how HRM specialists are to respond to its trivialisation of the complexities and dilemmas associated with the reengineering of work processes. Introduction There is a new-look menu over at the Consultants’Cafe. Good old soupe du TQM and change management pate are off. Perhaps you would care to try some business process reengineering instead? ’ 1 During the 1980s, executives were invited to sample and digest a series of ‘recipes’ for enhancing corporate performance. Notably, they were urged by Peters and Waterman to emulate the successe s of ‘excellent’companies by strengthening their corporate cultures 2 . More recently, Total Quality Management (TQM) has been widely promoted and adopted as a means of achieving continuous improvement . However, ‘A recent study indicates that around 85% of the organizations using TQM are disappointed with the outcome . experts are predicting that TQM will be replaced by corporate re-engineering as the technique most favoured by organizations anxious to maximise their people and material resources’ 4 In order to compete successfully against ‘sleek startups and streamlined Japanese companies’, Hammer, the leading advocate of Business Process Reengineering (BPR), asserts that ‘companies need fast change and dramatic improvements’ 5 . In BPR, the emphasis is placed pon the potential of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to play a key, enabling role in transforming the design of work processes 6 , a role that stretches f ar beyond the automation of existing methods of manufacturing products or delivering services 7 . ‘Nearly all our processes originated before the advent of modern computer and communications technology. They are replete with mechanisms designed to compensate for information poverty. Although we are now information affluent, we still use those mechanisms, which are now deeply embedded in automated systems’ 8 We will write a custom essay sample on Business Process Reengineering and Human Resource Management specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Business Process Reengineering and Human Resource Management specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Business Process Reengineering and Human Resource Management specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer ICTs are identified as a means of quite radically ‘reengineering’organizations to achieve market responsiveness whilst substantially reducing labour costs. Making the transition from function-3 centred to process-oriented organizing practices necessarily depends upon the ‘human resources’ who enact, and are also (re)constituted by, BPR. Given BPR’s focus upon business processes, it is remarkable how little attention is given by BPR to they human dimensions of organizing. The paper begins by reviewing the BPR vision of radical business process change 9 , focusing pon its use of information technology to facilitate a move away from linear/sequential work organization towards parallel processing and multidisciplinary teamworking. The neglect of the human dimension within BPR is then identified. Finally, the paper questions how HRM specialists, in particular, are to respond to its trivialisation of the human and organizational complexities and dilemmas as sociated with the BPR recipe for radical organizational change. It concludes by suggesting that the human aspects and implications of BPR have been woefully neglected, and that these should provide a strong focus for contemporary management research. Business Panaceas Revisited? Given the number and variety of earlier solutions to unsatisfactory corporate performance that failed to fulfil their promise, it is not surprising to discover a degree of scepticism about Business Process Reengineering (BPR), especially as its programmatic and abstract character makes it harder to pin down than recipes for strengthening corporate culture or building quality into every aspect of business activity 10 . Does BPR have a distinctive flavour or is it the same old imperialistic consultancy guff dressed up in new jargon? Needless to say, business consultants have a vested interest in emphasising the novelty and potency of whatever variety of ‘snake oil’ they dispense to managers. But investment in previous recipes also means that they are inclined to interpret the new in terms of the old, and to repackage old wine in new bottles. In turn, this may lead to an overhasty dismissal of BPR as simply the latest in a line of fads that is distinguished from previous panaceas only by its achievement of a new nadir in the inelegance of its terminology. In our view, such treatment is unhelpful if it blinds us to the possibility that BPR represents and promotes something distinctive and innovative in its approach to the restructuring of business practices. In common with previous recipes for improving business performance from Taylorism to TQM BPR draws together, synthesises and provides an articulation for ideas and practices that have been floating around in the business world without a catchy label or a champion. Though it may represent a new nadir in the inelegance of its terminology, BPR is sufficiently striking, flexible and ambiguous to encompass many programmes and techniques, such as teamworking, and networking and even EPOS (electronic point of sale), that are have contributed to the reorganization of work during the 1980s. What Hammer has done is not so much to concoct a novel recipe but to put a name to an emergent trend in business organization that has been prompted, above all, by an intensification of competition that intensifies the pressures upon executives to seek (radical) ways of gaining competitive advantage. His contribution, like that of earlier guru figures, resides in a flair for packaging and promoting an appealing product in a market where status-conscious consumers are, like the proverbial Emperor, anxious to espouse and sport the latest in management fashions. 4 Hammer’s formulation of BPR promises radical (not just incremental) improvements in such areas as product development, product quality and speed of delivery. By undertaking a fundamental review and transformation of key business processes, Hammer’s focus is upon the leaps in performance that can be attained through the innovative use of ICTs. Instead of using ICTs to ‘automate’ existing, functionally organized methods of production, Hammer urges that they be mobilised to redesign processes in ways that ‘obliterate’established practices. ‘It is time to stop paving the cow paths. Instead of embedding outdated processes in silicon and software, we should obliterate them and start over. We should reengineer our businesses : use the power of modern information technology to radically redesign our business processes in order to achieve dramatic improvements in their performance’ 11 The embeddedness of out-moded mechanisms both within organization structures and their IT systems is diagnosed as a principal source of competitive decline. Their symptoms are legion : lengthy product development cycles, poor customer responsiveness and service, capital locked up in operations that add little or no value. Even in companies that have embraced the principles of TQM and JIT, it is claimed that their bureaucratic structures have been left largely intact, or have even been reinforced by such programmes, making possible room for dramatic improvements in performance Despite (the application of TQM and JIT principles), most Western companies remain highly bureaucratic, with departments acting individually and throwing over the wall to the next department designs, information, product, and most of all problems .. barriers to overall business effectiveness are raised and turf is jealously guarded . This kind of organizational linking needs to be broken apart and rebuilt as a p rocess-oriented business . where everyone regards working in cross-functional teams as the norm . and where everyone knows that the key goal is to produce a service or product that the marketplace perceives to be best’ 2 BPR demands that old assumptions, values and rules, are challenged and superseded. For example, BPR encourages a fundamental questioning of conventional wisdoms such as the assumption that merchandising decisions are best made at headquarters; or that customers don’t (and perhaps won’t) make even straightforward repairs to their own electrical equipment. It is by exposing and overthrowing assumptions that lock companies into existing paradigms of production and distribution that BPR promises to accomplish the quantum leaps in processes of service delivery, product development cycles, etc. Instead of striving to make incremental improvements to existing processes, BPR urges the radical reexamination of current practice in order to ‘determine which of its steps really add value and search for new ways to achieve the result’ 13 . To take the analogy of new product development, the BPR approach favours the development of a completely new product rather than one that improves marginally upon existing products. Recent examples, taken from the financial services industry, are the development of Direct Line insurance sales 14 nd the establishment of Firstdirect as an alternative to conventional banking. Both innovations rely heavily upon ICTs to gain a niche within a saturated and highly competitive market place. With5 the UK, N P Building Society is perhaps the most celebrated case of a financial services organization that has triumphantly embraced the BPR credo. The application of BPR may be confined to one area of activity for example, the delivery of a part icular product or to the development of an alternative product. But it is also, and more fundamentally, concerned with revolutionising all kinds of established organizational practices in an effort to achieve dramatic, ‘quantum leaps’in business performance. ‘We cannot achieve breakthroughs in performance by cutting fat or automating existing processes. Rather, we must challenge old assumptions and shed the old rules that made the business underperform in the first place’ 15 Radical transformation is possible, the advocates of BPR argue, because most businesses continue to rely upon structures and procedures that pre-date the processing capabilities of low cost ICTs. It is by thinking carefully about how new, alternative modes of operation can harness the power of ICTs that breakthroughs can be achieved. De-differentiating the Collective Worker When it comes to identifying the new organizing practices that are to replace old, outmoded mechanisms, the advocates of BPR are more vague and its methodology of change is quite opaque. Not undeservedly, BPR has been likened to the curry house special : no one knows exactly what it is 16 . However, certain contours are comparatively well defined. BPR’s special weapon is the power of ICTs and its principal targets are functionally-based structures and sequentially organized processes. Both are criticised for their tendency to differentiate rather than integrate elements of product design, manufacture and delivery. As Hammer and Champy 17 make this case, ‘The most basic and common feature of reengineered processes is the absence of an assembly line; that is, many formerly distinct jobs or tasks are integrated and compressed into one’. The call for improved integration is hardly unique. Improved flexibility and responsiveness and the reduction of managerial overhead 18 , both to be accomplished through the de-differentiation of what Marx 19 terms the collective worker, is a recurrent theme of the new management thinking. Kanter (1992) has described ‘post-entrepreneurial’ companies that are successful in achieving improved integration (trans : de-differentiation) in the following terms ‘They make sure each area contributes something to the others. The leaner, more focused, more cooperative and integrated organizations that result help each unit add value to the others. The whole contributes something above and beyond the value of the parts . The post-entrepreneurial corporation represents a triumph of process over structure. That is, relationships and communication and the flexibility to temporarily combine resources are more important that the formal channels and reporting relationships represented on an organizational chart’ 206 The understanding that there is an alternative to the classical, bureaucratic form of corporate design can be traced back at least as far as Burns and Stalker’s The Management of Innovation (1961). Burns and Stalker argued that a more dynamic, ‘organic’ system of management was appropriate for companies operating in environments that frequently gave rise to fresh, unanticipated and unpredictable problems. The difference today is that leading management gurus, including the champions of BPR, are insisting that virtually all companies can only hope to survive if they rapidly develop systems that match and surpass the reengineered, postentrepreneurial organizing methods that have been pioneered or adopted by the most successful companies, including many market leaders. At the heart of new management thinking, including BPR, is a concern to remedy a familiar subject of industrial sociology : the problem of goal displacement and organizational politics. Corporate goals become displaced when the occupants of functional specialisms become preoccupied with their own objectives and/or devote themselves to the specific range of responsibilities allotted to their specialism, to the neglect of their contribution to adding value to the corporation as a whole. In common with other recipes for improving corporate performance, a key objective of BPR is to challenge and disrupt such ‘dysfunctional’ patterns of behaviour. But BPR is distinctive in urging the use of ICTs to de-differentiate tasks that have been dispersed into discrete functions or steps in a process. ICTs are understood to provide the technological means of running in parallel tasks or processes that were previously organized in series. At one level, then, advocates of BPR can be said to be labelling old wine into new bottles. But, at another level they are making a radical and indeed extraordinary claim. Namely, that the chronic managerial problem of achieving a balance between differentiation (to cope with task complexity) and integration (to coordinate a fragmented division of labour) can be solved by using ICTs to reengineer business processes so that a single individual, or a virtual individual comprising a group of employees linked in real time by ICTs, can perform tasks that previously were divided between a number of imperfectly coordinated staff. Whereas the old principles of work organization tended to assume the necessity for functional departments that were accountable, through hierarchical organization, to themselves ‘The new principle says to forge links between parallel functions and to coordinate them while their activities are in process rather than after they are completed. Communications networks, shared data bases, and teleconferencing can bring the independent groups together so that coordination is on-going’ 21 But it seeks to deploy ICTs to reduce both vertical and horizontal divisions wherever these do not ‘add value’. As this occurs, the accountability of specialists shifts from their function within the hierarchy to the task or project in process. Instead of complying with the standards of performance demanded by their specialist function, employees are required to direct and discipline their efforts in accordance with the demands of the task. In principle, the multifunctional group determines, guides and evaluates the contribution of each member. These groups are also required to feedback and inform the development of the broad priorities in a more direct and open manner than has hitherto been achieved. However, hierarchical relations continue to set broad priorities and monitor their performance with the assistance of information7 technology. A Preliminary Assessment The experience or threat of losing market share makes BPR potentially appealing to senior executives who are attracted by the claims of a technique that promises to make a quantum leap beyond the performance gains delivered by the Japanese lead in JIT and TQM. On the other hand, it could be objected that the BPR focus is upon improving the operations of companies, to the possible neglect of the competitive advantages that can be gained from other sources, such as strategic planning and marketing. This objection is partially disarmed by Hammer’s insistence that management functions, including marketing, be integrated into processes of product development, etc. BPR could be deployed to reengineer the processes through which corporate strategies are formulated and implemented, but it does not extend to identifying or creating markets or niches where big profits can be made. BPR is presented primarily an operations-led approach to strategic selfimprovement. It builds upon, as it aspires to leap beyond, ‘the tactical process-oriented philosophies of JIT and TQM . to bring the process philosophy into the broader realm of corporate strategy 22 . BPR has most relevance for securing and defending niches by continuously (re)engineering processes so that profit levels can be sustained even if there is a decision to increase costs (e. g. by enhancing the product or raising the marketing spend) or reduce prices in order to maintain market share. It is not an alternative to strategic management. BPR presents a novel challenge to organisational structures, processes and cultures. But its promise of greater productivity and shorter time to market is predicated on making major shifts in managerial practice and culture, the attainment of which is brushed aside in the BPR literature. Whilst advocating multidisciplinary integration of business processes, it is largely driven by the logic and language of computer science and production engineering. Perhaps for this reason, if no other, David Nadler, president of Delta Consulting Group is reported to have said that ‘We have watched a number of re-engineering projects fail. They have involved huge promises of savings, but have either stopped because they don’t seem to be leading anywhere, or they have been completed but with none of the promised gains to show for it. Moreover, such projects generate payments to consultants of upward of $5 to $20 million. It’s a nasty little secret’ 3 By promising to provide the means of leaping ahead of the global competition, the BPR vision of the future of work presents a beguiling answer to the problems of declining competitiveness. However, it also promotes the continuing contraction of employment as organizations (continuously) reengineer their processes. Those who remain are obliged to work at an everquickening intensity and pace. For this elite, there is the prospect of eventual ‘burnout’ and disposa l. For the mass whose jobs have been reengineered out of these companies, there is the increasingly restricted prospect of occupying the lowly paid, temporary jobs that service tomorrow’s ‘networkers’‘information brokers’and ‘symbolic analysts’ 24 .8 This is the achilles heel of BPR. Implicitly, employees are assumed to be BPR to be infinitely malleable. And any antagonism to BPR is interpreted as inertia rather than as warrantable resistance to change that can be dissolved by the persuasive powers of senior management. HRM specialists, in particular, may question whether the he ambitions of BPR are consistent with the distinctive qualities of ‘human resources’. More specifically, it might be asked to what extent the increased pressures that are fuelled by BPR are compatible with ideas of creativity, empowerment and fulfilment that differentiate human beings from other factors of production. From this perspective, it is not BPRà ¢â‚¬â„¢s inflated sense of novelty so much as its shallow, technicist appreciation of the human dimension of organisational change that renders it vulnerable to failure and must be addressed, not least by HRM specialists. Two contrasting responses can be identified, depending upon how the distinctive identity concerns of HRM are formulated. If the responsibilities of the HRM specialist are construed primarily in terms of facilitating change programmes designed and initiated by others, then a relevant response to the alleged deficiencies of BPR would be to propose refinements that incorporate HRM techniques that are tailored to the adoption of BPR and/or overcoming resistance to its implementation. On the other hand, if HRM specialists aspire to some degree of professional (including ethical) autonomy, however partial and precarious, they may question whether the assumptions and ambitions of BPR are consistent with enhancing the qualities of creativity, empowerment and fulfilment that differentiate human beings from other factors of production. A major problem with the intent of BPR, as its critics have observed, is that its celebration of the idea of unbridled competitiveness as an unassailable good ‘locks us into a frenzied cycle of growth with desperate environmental consequences ompetition does not just exist as some transcendental condition but is the outcome of practices, of which BPR is the latest variant. It is as if a person were running on a treadmill being constantly encouraged to run faster to keep up with the wheel’ 25 How are HRM specialists to respond to the challenges of BPR, including its contribution to unemployment and its intensification of work processes? Is heir professional understanding of the distinctiveness qualities of the human resource to be applied to smooth the passage for a (technocratic) mode of change management that is divisive in terms of its effects upon employment, and which either disregards or trivializes the distinctiveness of the human resource? If so, the HRM specialist surely deserve the epithetic pimp of management in the sense of procuring human resources for economic exploitation without regard for the moral basis of social and economic relations, or the demoralising effects of treating human beings as manipulable, expendable resources. For, instead of questioning and challenging the pressures to reduce human beings to commodities, HRM specialists contrive to use their specialist knowledge of the ‘human resource’ to represent its commodification as entirely normal and legitimate 26 . Or are HRM specialists to develop and apply their expertise in ways that expose and explore the basic conflicts between a system driven by impersonal imperatives for profit and growth? In which case, the radical claims of BPR are questioned on the grounds that it is seen to ‘hijack the notion of radicalism in the service of aims that are politically conservative’ 27 9 for example, by debasing the (radical) currency of empowerment as it is equated with the idea that those remaining in employment can be empowered (as if it empowerment were a gift to be bestowed by others) to ensure the smoother operation of a system that systematically exploits and oppresses in the name of individual freedom and opportunity. Hamm ering the Human Resource The marginalization and trivialization of the human dimension from expositions of BPR is remarkable, even by the standards of leading proponents of TQM. Making the transition from function-centred to process-oriented organizing practices necessarily depends upon the ‘human resources’ who enact, and are enacted by, BRP. Given the focus upon business processes, it is incredible how little attention is given by BPR to the human dimensions of organizing. This shortcoming is symptomatic of the way BPR’s claims and prescriptions for change are even more abstracted from the practical realities of organizing and managing people than earlier recipes for improving business performance, such as Excellence and TQM. Little consideration is given to the issue of how BPR’s (universal) remedies are to be reconciled with the (particular) conditions in which its prescriptions are to be applied. When examples are given, these are presented as unequivocal success stories. For example, Hammer describes how Ford (North America) reduced its accounts payable staff from 500+ to 125 by redesigning the payment process and using ICTs in a way that dispensed with invoices altogether. Perhaps those who lost their jobs (or were redeployed) were entirely supportive and cooperative in this change. In this respect at least, the parallels between BPR and Taylorism are quite striking. Like Taylor, who rose to become Chief Engineer at the Midvale Steel Company, Hammer, the computer scientist, is quick to transfer the language of computing, and recent developments in parallel processing, to the complex and frequently perverse world of human relations. In any event, Hammer unreservedly represents the reengineered process as a means of ‘empowering’ employees. When commenting upon the reengineering of insurance applications at US Insurer Mutual Benefit Life (MBL), for instance, he observes that ‘empowering individuals to process entire applications .. has eliminated 100 field office positions, and case managers can handle more than twice the volume of new applications the company previously could process’. Here empowerment is equated with the integration of tasks made possible by the development of expert systems and relational data bases rather than with the expansion of discretion or even an increase in task variety. No consideration is given to the loss of employment opportunities associated with such change. Nor does Hammer consider the probability that the VDU operators (‘case managers’) are stuck in a dead-end job that in all likelihood has become more intensive, routine and isolating as a consequence of the reengineering. Indeed, virtually the only comment made by Hammer on the human dimension of BPR is that its demands upon employees are entirely congruent with an educated (trans. : self-disciplined) workforce that no longer requires close supervision. What methods are used to ‘produce’ this workforce remain a ystery. The population in general is simply deemed to be ‘capable of assuming responsibility, cherish their autonomy and expect to have a say in how the business is run’. Consider the situation of the ‘case managers’at MBL. Assuming that the tasks which they performed were driven by menus, it is difficult to reconcile the highly rout inized design of their work with ‘assuming responsibility’. If employees do indeed ‘cherish their autonomy’, it would10 be interesting to discover how MBL retained these ‘case managers’. Finally, it would be instructive to know what ‘say’they had in running the business. For example, what involvement can they expect to have in any future ‘reengineering process’ that might further intensify their work or ‘eliminate their positions’? Champions of BPR, like Taylor again, are willing to acknowledge that the radical changes envisaged by BPR may encounter some resistance. But they also assume that this resistance can be dissolved by effective leadership and commitment from top management. Hammer, for example, acknowledges that the disruption and confusion generated by reengineering can make it unpopular, though he is equally confident that any opposition can be effectively surmounted by top-level managers. The commitment of managers as champions of BPR is deemed to be sufficient ‘to enlist those who would prefer the status quo’. So, despite an admission that ‘the strain of implementing a reengineering plan can hardly be overestimated’, Hammer is sure that employees can be convinced of its virtues; or, to put this more directly, where major job losses are involved, he is confident that strong leadership can persuade sufficient turkeys to vote for Christmas. In a recent Harvard Business Review article that reviews the experience of BPR in 100 companies, with detailed consideration to its application in 20 companies, a rather less sanguine conclusion is reached. Once again, it is assumed that ‘strong leadership from management’ is necessary if BPR projects are not to be sabotaged by ‘the psychological and political disruptions that accompany such radical change’. However, there is a greater appreciation both of the depth of this resistance and the scale of resources and length of time required to accomplish radical organisational transformation: all the old support systems will become obsolete from IT systems to employee skills The new infrastructure should include programs like comprehensive training and skill development plans that require years, not merely months, for success; performance measurement systems that track how well the organisation is meeting its targets and how employees should be rewarded bas ed on those objectives; communication programs that help employees understand how and why their behaviour must change .. Here there is some awareness of how employees, not just processes, must be reengineered or debugged if they are to run effectively in the systems. However, there remains the assumption that employees, including managers, are infinitely malleable; that the parallel development of HRM systems and strong leadership will dissolve resistance; and that the new systems will not themselves generate new problems and resistances. What such assessments and prescriptions omit or, at best, marginalise is an appreciation of BPR’s major implications for job losses and further intensification/degradation of the quality of working life for employees at all levels. Which does not mean that some features of the changes envisaged by process reengineering will not be welcomed. For example, despite the increased routinization and depersonalization of their work, ‘case managers’ at MBL (see above) may approve of the removal of supervisors or prefer the reduced fragmentation of tasks. But even those who, on balance, endorse such changes are also likely to have reservations about its implications for their future job security. They may also recognise, and resent, the extent to11 which the pace and accuracy of their work can now be continuously monitored, albeit indirectly, by information systems. Hammer himself acknowledges that the reengineering of business processes has numerous implications for how businesses are managed. For example, he notes that the introduction of the new process of handling applications at MBL necessitated some major changes: ‘MBL had to develop a culture in which people doing work are perceived as more important than those supervising work. Career paths, recruitment and training programs, promotion policies these and many other management systems are being revised to support the new process design’. However, despite the realization that new business processes can have knock-on effects upon the management of human resources, the implementation of changes necessary to support the new processes is presented as wholly unproblematical. Indeed, there seems to be an assumption of an elective affinity between so-called empowered employees, sophisticated systems of actual or potential surveillance and strong, and some might say demagogical, leadership in postentrepreneurial organizations, as exemplified by T. J. Rogers, CEO at US chip producer Cypress Semiconductor since 1983. Rogers has advocated the empowering techniques of networking and teamworking. But he also runs an IT-based monitoring system that allows him to ‘peer down into the bowels of the organization’ and target the performance of individual employees. Even sympathetic commentators have described his managerial style as idiosyncratic and military. Because employees are not infinitely malleable, passive commodities who are indifferent to how they are managed, accomplishing the full and effective implementation of BPR is likely to prove more difficult than is contemplated by its advocates’ faith in the persuasive powers of senior management. Where employee cooperation with the implementation of BPR is achieved under duress, it is likely that its impact will be sustained only by the same old coercive methods condemned by the new prophets of business management. Given the challenge BPR can present to established orders, processes and identities, an attentiveness to the insights of HRM would seem to be pertinent. However, this would require the prophets of BPR to acknowledge the shortcomings of their own specialist training, work cooperatively and openly with other functions, and thereby re-assess the value as well as the plausibility of their prescriptions. Conclusions Neglect of the human dimension in BPR may reflect a growing sense of confidence and/or desperation amongst corporate executives and their consultants. Confidence inasmuch that the 1980s have seen a successful employer offensive, supported by New Right industrial policy, that has weakened the power of employees to promote as well as resist change. But desperation too because this weakening of employee power has not been sufficient to reverse the loss of competitiveness and market share to Japanese businesses and Pacific Rim companies. Commercially speaking, it may be true that many companies struggling to survive in national and world markets are ‘burdened’ with ‘layers of unproductive overhead and armies of unproductive workers’ in comparison to their competitors. It may also be true that other ‘softer’12 and more incremental recipes for (re)gaining competitive advantage have not done enough to lighten this burden. But it remains questionable whether those who comprise the ‘overhead’ corporate managers no less than other employees will willingly recognise themselves, or even be persuaded to understand themselves, either as a ‘burden’or as ‘unproductive’. Unlike previous recipes for organizational change championed by the gurus of Corporate Culture and TQM, BPR goes beyond declaring war upon supervisory and middle levels of management to attack head-on the very functional structures that have traditionally provided an identity and a career path for the managers that have formed an integral part of the collective worker. For this reason, amongst others, BPR is likely to encounter difficulties of implementation even where employees overtly espouse its objectives. It is not just that the ‘process’thinking advocated by BPR is often foreign to those who are being required to apply it. It also poses an immediate or deferred threat to job security and conditions of work. Yet, the architects and advocates of BPR continue to assume either that employees will unequivocally welcome the changes brought by BPR or will be persuaded by top management to support them. As a consequence, there is no discussion of why, or how, managers and other employees may directly or covertly oppose its logic or resist its demands for change. This then raises the question of how HRM specialists are to address BPR’s neglect and trivialization of the human dimensions of organizing and managing change. Are HRM specialists content simply to provide the relevant HR techniques that are claimed to smooth the implementation of programmes that have been designed by others? Or does their distinctive concern for the human dimension of work enable and spur them to question the rationality of remedies that contribute to the dis-ease for which they profess to dispense a cure? The introduction of BPR in organizations will be as much a test of the meaning of professional ethics for the HRM specialists as it will be a trial for those who are subjected to, or displaced by, its zeal to obliterate jobs as well as established practices. Acknowledgement I would like to thank Fergus Murray for his assistance and comments in preparing an earlier version of this paper as well as the helpful and constructive comments received from Chris Grey and anonymous referees. Notes 1.. Oliver, J. ‘Shocking to the Core’, Management Today, August 1993, pp. 18-23. 2.. Peters, T. J. and Waterman, R. H. In Search of Excellence : Lessons From America’s Best Run Companies, New York : Harper and Row, 1982. For a critique of this literature, see Willmott, H. C. , ‘Strength is Ignorance; Slavery is Freedom: Managing Culture in Modern Organizations’, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 0, No. 4, 1993, pp. 515- 553. 3.. See, for example, Oakland, J. Total Quality Management, London : Heinemann. For a critical examination of the theory and practice of quality initiatives, see Wilkinson, A. and Willmott, H. C. , Making Quality Control, London : Routledge, in press. 4.. Oates, D. ‘Buzz Words: Learning the La nguage of Business’, Accountancy, August 1993, p. 38. 13 5.. Hammer, M. ‘Reengineering Work: Don’t Automate, Obliterate’, Harvard Business Review, July-August, Vol. 67, No. 4, 1990, p. 112. 6.. See Hammer, M. and Champy, B. 1993) Reengineering the Corporation : A Manifesto for Business Revolution, London : Nicholas Brearley, especially Chapters 2 and 5. Its creator, Michael Hammer is a former Professor of Computer Science, now president of Hammer and Company, consultants. 7.. Hayes, R. H. , and Jaikumar, R. ‘Manufacturing’s Crisis: New Technologies, Obsolete Organisations’, Harvard Business Review, Sept-Oct, Vol. 65, No. 5, 1988, pp. 77-85. 8.. Hammer, op. cit, p. 110. 9.. Since the term was coined by Hammer (op. cit), articles and books on business process reengineering have mushroomed. See, for example, Morris, D. nd Brandon, J. Re-engineering Your Business, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1993. Since these books are frequently derivative as w ell as repetitive, I focus upon Hammers’s original Harvard Business Review article (see note 14), his subsequent book with Champy (see note 9), and Johansson, H. J. et al. , Business Process Reengineering, Wiley, London, 1993. 10.. Articles that attempt to elucidate BPR include Barton, S. B. , ‘Business Process Engineering’, Business Quarterly, Vol. 57, No. 3, 1993, pp. 101-107 and Rigby, D. , ‘The Secret History of Process Reengineering’, Planning Review, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1993, pp. 24-27. 11.. Hammer, op. cit, p. 104, emphasis added. 12.. Johansson, H. J. , McHugh, P. , Pendlebury, A. J. , and Wheeler, W. A. Business Process Reengineering, John Wiley, London , 1993, p. 7. 13.. Hammer, op. cit, p. 108. 14.. Direct writing insurance dispenses with old forms of insurance distribution. A large sales force in the field is replaced by carefully targeted advertising and telephone sales. ICTs are used intensively to give real time personalised quotations, to reduce and refine underwriting risks and to analyse and predict responses to advertising. This latter use of ICT allows a highly flexible use of part-time labour to cover peaks in work flow. 15.. Hammer, op. cit, p. 107, emphasis added. 16.. Oliver, op. cit, p. 18. 17.. Hammer and Champy, op. cit, p. 51, emphasis added 18.. See Hammer’s comments in James, M. ‘Hammering Home the BPR Message’, Management Consultancy, July, 1993, pp. 47-52. See also comments on the effects of ‘Core Process Redesign’, the McKinsey equivalent of BPR, in Browning, J. ‘The Power of Process Redesign’, The McKinsey Quarterly, No. 1, 1993, pp. 47-58 where it is claimed that there is no place for middle managers. 19.. Marx, K. , Capital, Vol. 1, Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1976, p 464 et seq. The collective worker is constructed by capital, or its managerial agents, as control over the labour process passes from those with craft skills to others today, the managers and consultants who currently exert the greatest influence over questions of how human skill and technologies are to be identified, valued and combined to secure the reproduction of private accumulation. 20.. Kanter, R. M. When Giants Learn to Dance: Mastering the Challenges of Strategy Management, and Careers in the 1990s, Routledge, London, 1992, p. 1 and p. 116. 21.. Hammer, op. cit, p. 111, emphasis added. 22.. H. J. Johansson et al. , op. cit, p. 34. 23.. Quoted in Thackray, J. ‘Fads, Fixes and Fictions’, Management Today, June, 1993, p. 41. 24.. See Reich, R. B. The Work of Nations: Preparing Ourselves for 21st Century Capitalism, Simon and Schuster, London, 1991. 25.. Grey, C. and Mitev, N. , ‘Reengineering Organ izations : Towards a Critical Appraisal’, Working Paper, School of Business and Economic Studies, University of Leeds, p. 8, emphasis added. 14 26.. See Keenoy, T. and Anthony, P. ‘HRM : Metaphor, Meaning and Morality’ in P. Blyton and P. Turnbull (eds. ), Reassessing Human Resource Management, London : Sage, 1992. 27.. Grey and Mitev, op. cit. , p. 9 . The word play here is on the principal architect of BPR, Michael Hammer. . Wilkinson and Willmott, op. cit. . See Hosseini, J. , ‘Revisiting and Expanding Taylorism: Business Process Redesign and Information Technology’, Computers and Industrial Engineering, Vol. 25, No. 1, 1993, pp. 533-535. . The eighteenth largest life insurer in the US. . Hammer, op. cit, p. 107. . Hammer, op. cit, p. 107. . Hammer, op. cit, p. 112. A similar emphasis upon leadership occurs in Johansson et al, Ch. . . Hammer, op. cit, p. 112. . Hall, G. , Rosenthal, J. and Wade, J. ‘How To Make Re-engineering Really Work’, Harvard Business Review, November-December, 1993, pp. 119-131. Quote is from p. 119. . Hall et al, op. cit, p. 123. . For example, the implementation of these systems makes it possible to monitor the speed and accuracy of the case managers’work. . Hammer, op. cit, p. 112. . See Business International , The Management Network Revolution: How Innovative Firms Are Getting Results From Flatter Organisations, Business International, London, 1993, p. 11. . Hammer, op. cit, p. 112.

SUNY Application Tips How to Apply, Deadlines, and More

SUNY Application Tips How to Apply, Deadlines, and More SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips The State University of New York system of colleges- commonly known as SUNY- encompasses some 64 different campuses throughout New York. These campuses include research universities, community colleges, and even specific programs at other universities like Cornell. Though this means that students who want to attend SUNY schools have plenty of choices, it also means that the SUNY application can feel something like a maze of options. Which school do you need? Which application should you fill out? Are you applying to one school or many? If you’re thinking of attending one of these 64 schools and need assistance filling out the SUNY application, this guide is here to help. We’ll be covering admissions requirements, which schools require supplemental essays, and some helpful information for filling out your application. SUNY has so many campuses that there's probably a few in this picture. Despite having 64 different campuses, the SUNY system’s application is fairly straightforward. Most students who apply to schools in the system use applySUNY, a proprietary application developed specifically for SUNY. You can use applySUNY to apply to almost any college within the SUNY system. However, there are a few schools that require their own applications: Cornell University, College of Agriculture Life Sciences (Universal or Common Application) Cornell University, College of Human Ecology(Universal or Common Application) Cornell University, College of School of Industrial Labor Relations(Universal or Common Application) Cornell University, College of College of Veterinary Medicine(Universal or Common Application) Downstate Medical University (Apply Yourself Application) Empire State College (SUNY ESC Application) Health Sciences Center at Stony Brook University (Multiple Applications) Nassau Community College (Nassau Community College Application) College of Optometry (OptomCAS) Rockland County Community College (RCC Application) Suffolk County Community College (Suffolk County Community College Application) Westchester County Community College (Westchester Community College Application) If you’re applying to any of those, be sure that you look up application deadlines, expectations, and other information in advance. Their requirements may differ substantially from the applySUNY requirements, so get started early. Other schools accept the Common Application in addition to applySUNY, giving you a second option if you’re also applying to schools that aren’t in the SUNY system: Purchase College, SUNY SUNY Albany SUNY Alfred State College of Technology SUNY Binghamton University SUNY Buffalo State SUNY Cobleskill SUNY College at Brockport SUNY College at Geneseo SUNY College at Old Westbury SUNY College at Oneonta SUNY College of Environmental Science Forestry SUNY College of Technology at Canton SUNY Cortland SUNY Delhi SUNY Farmingdale State College SUNY Fredonia SUNY Maritime College SUNY Morrisville State College SUNY New Paltz SUNY Oswego SUNY Plattsburgh SUNY Polytechnic Institute SUNY Potsdam SUNY Stony Brook University SUNY University at Buffalo Keep an eye on deadlines to make sure you're always on target! When Is the SUNY Application Due? Now that you know which application you’ll be filling out, it’s time to get into logistics. The applySUNY application is available online and in a paper version. Electronic applications are generally faster and easier for both students and colleges, but if you have limited internet access or other concerns, it’s totally fine to submit a paper application instead. Regardless of which one you choose, be sure that you include all required material! The SUNY system is somewhat atypical in that there is no official deadline for general applications; they’re accepted on a rolling basis as long as a program has openings. However, applications will close as soon as a program is full, so the sooner you can apply, the better. It’s always wise to double-check the website of the campus you’re applying to. And though there is no official deadline, SUNY still recommends that you get your application in by December 1. For students applying Early Decision, application dates vary. Early Decision students applying to the NYS College of Ceramics at Alfred University or Maritime have a deadline of November 1, while students applying to Geneseo have a deadline of November 15, and ESF students have a deadline of December 1. For Early Action, a non-binding early application, students hoping to attend Albany or Binghamton should apply by November 1. Oswego hopefuls should apply by December 1. All other Early Action applications must be received by November 15. For all Early Action students, the deadline to finalize their enrollment decision is May 1. Good grades will make your application a slam dunk. What Test Scores and GPA Do You Need for SUNY Schools? The variety of schools within the SUNY system means that there’s no hard and fast GPA and test scores guidelines for the entire system. Aim high and work hard to get the best score possible, but if you’re looking to flesh out your college list with some SUNY schools, these are the admissions requirements: School GPA ACT SAT Acceptance Rate SUNY Adirondack n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY University at Albany 3.4 24 1095 54 percent New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University 3.03 23 1110 62.7% Alfred State College 3.04 22 1045 67.7% Binghamton University 3.7 29 1361 40.4% The College at Brockport 2.98 23 1095 53.2% SUNY Broome n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY University at Buffalo 3.6 26 1225 57.4% SUNY Buffalo State 3.15 20 970 60% SUNY Canton n/a 17 - 22 880 - 1100 82.6% Cayuga Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy Clinton Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY Cobleskills 3.09 20 960 94.3% Columbia Greene Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy New York State College of Agriculture Life Sciences at Cornell University 4.05 33 1470 12.7% New York State College of Human Ecology at Cornell University 4.05 33 1470 12.7% New York State School of Industrial Labor Relations at Cornell University 4.05 33 1470 12.7% New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University 4.05 33 1470 12.7% Corning Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY Cortland 3.4 24 1125 47.9% SUNY Delhi n/a n/a n/a 51.3% SUNY Downstate Medical Center n/a n/a n/a 14% Dutchess Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY Empire State College n/a n/a n/a 84% SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry 3.85 26 1237 52.2% SUNY Erie Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY Farmingdale State College 3.24 21 1062 59% Fashion Institute of Technology 3.6 n/a n/a 47% Finger Lakes Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY Fredonia 3.3 24 1150 64.9% Fulton-Montgomery Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY Genesee Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY Geneseo 3.66 27 1290 72.4% Herkimer County Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy Hudson Valley Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY Jamestown Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY Jefferson Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY Maritime College 3.26 25 1178 69.4% Mowhawk Valley Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY Monroe Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY Morrisville State College n/a 17 - 22 850 - 1060 77.4% Nassau Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY New Paltz 3.6 25 1171 44.3% SUNY Niagara County Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy North Country Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY College at Old Westbury 3.1 21 1070 68.6% SUNY Oneonta 3.6 23 1115 59.5% Onondaga Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY College of Optometry n/a n/a n/a Unknown SUNY Orange County Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY Oswego 3.5 24 1150 54.4% SUNY Plattsburgh 3.2 23 1121 52.9% SUNY Potsdam 3.31 21 1080 66.6% SUNY Purchase College 3.1 24 1150 43.5% SUNY Rockland Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY Schenectady County Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy Stony Brook University 3.79 28 1304 42.2% Suffolk County Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY Sullivan County Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy SUNY Polytechnic Institute n/a n/a n/a 62% Tompkins Cortland Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy Ulster County Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy Upstate Medical University n/a n/a n/a 34% SUNY Westchester Community College n/a n/a n/a Open Admissions Policy Sharpen your pencils for SUNY's essay requirements. What Should You Know About SUNY Essays? Both the applySUNY application and the Common Application use the same prompts. You have seven choices, with just one required essay of 250 to 650 words. However, some colleges require or accept a supplemental essay for freshmen and transfer students.Unless otherwise stated, the colleges listed below may require or recommend the following supplemental prompt as part of the applySUNY supplement: Please provide additional information (up to 250 words) that will help us better understand your academic performance. You may also use this space to explain any chronological gaps in your academic history (e.g. a period of time after high school graduation before applying to college). Always double-check with each individual school to be sure of their requirements. Additional information may be required after submitting your essay, so check in regularly to be sure you don't miss it. Schools That Require or Recommend Supplemental Essays for Freshmen Alfred State College Required SUNY Binghamton Required SUNY at Brockport Required Buffalo State College Required SUNY at Buffalo Required, if using applySUNY College of Agriculture Technology at Cobleskill Recommended SUNY Cortland Required College of Technology at Delhi Required for Adult Learners College of Environmental Science and Forestry Required: The ESF Admissions Committee would like to understand your interest in the college and our programs of study. Please explain why you have chosen the SUNY-ESF majors you selected in the Academic section of this screen and how each would fulfill your educational and career goals. If you selected ‘Undeclared’ as one of your choices, please tell us which majors you are considering and how they will fulfill your educational and career goals. Farmingdale State College Required Fashion Institute of Technology Required: What makes you a perfect candidate for FIT? Why are you interested in the major you are applying to? The essay is also your chance to tell us more about your experiences, activities and accomplishments. (No more than 750 words, please.) If you are a transfer student, you will be prompted to submit information about your in-progress courses, including course name and numbering and the name of the school you are currently attending. SUNY Fredonia Required SUNY Geneseo Required - Geneseo Supplement Maritime College Required Morrisville State College Required SUNY New Paltz Required SUNY Old Westbury Required (Choose One): 1. Please describe the challenges you expect to face at the SUNY Old Westbury and how you are prepared to meet those challenges. 2. Please describe an experience that has impacted your educational goals, and explain how the SUNY Old Westbury can help you accomplish them. 3. Personal Statement of your choice. SUNY Oneonta Required SUNY Oswego Required SUNY Plattsburgh Recommended SUNY Potsdam Required SUNYPurchase Required: Purchase College’s motto is â€Å"Think Wide Open.† It’s our way of learning, teaching and being and so much more. By choosing Purchase, students make a conscious decision to join an intense community with a deep respect for individuality and diversity and an unparalleled environment of creativity and innovation. As an applicant, we want to know what Think Wide Open means to you. All students submit either an essay, video or other creative work (poem, song, visual artwork, etc.). It should be original and should connect to Think Wide Open broadly or specifically. Videos and creative works should include a brief introduction or statement that helps contextualize your submission for the viewer/reader. Stony Brook University Required SUNY Polytechnic Required Schools That Require or Recommend Additional Essays for Transfer Students School Requirement College of Technology at SUNY Delhi Required: Supplemental Application SUNY Purchase Required: Transfer Supplemental SUNY Polytechnic Recommended: Supplemental Application Spend some time planning to avoid chewing your pencil this much. How to Answer the SUNY Essay Prompts Since most of SUNY’s required essays are the same as the Common Application, you can follow all the best practices for writing impressive Common App essays.However, there are some additional things to keep in mind when you’re answering the prompts specifically for SUNY. Don’t answer the same prompt twice, unless you have a radically different answer the second time. Really put the effort in to ensure that your essays stand out from one another, even if they use the same prompt. Second, tie your SUNY essay into SUNY itself. Your Common Application essays can be more general because they’ll be sent to every school that you apply to, but your college-specific essays should be tied to individual colleges. To do this, consider making a visit to campus or browsing their course catalog and club lists. You want SUNY to know that you’re not applying just because of proximity or reputation- you want to go to a SUNY school because it matters to you, not because you’ve heard its good. Third, be sure that your essay is always personal and unique. You may share some features with other students, including your good grades and extracurriculars, but no student is exactly the same as you. Your essay should reflect that- a good SUNY essay will be so unique that nobody else could possibly have written the same thing. Dig deep into what makes you you as you write your essay. Don’t just present yourself as a collection of grades and time invested in extracurriculars. What does your time spent in cooking club say about you? Is it that you love creating delicious foods that feed your hungry friends? Is it that you understand the reward of simmering something all day to bring out its innate flavors? Is it the thrill of perfecting a recipe you invented yourself? The more specific and personal your essays are, the better off you’ll be. Fill them with context and personality and you’ll be on the way to a successful SUNY application. Be the red gummy bear in a sea of clear ones. What Does SUNY Look for in Students? Your essay is just one part of your SUNY application. SUNY is looking for a comprehensive picture of your strengths as a student, so keep all these things in mind as you’re working on your application: Strong Academics Grades are extremely important to a successful college application. Use the table above to find out the average admitted GPA for the schools you’re applying to in order to figure out if your grades are on target. If not, start working now to improve your grades. A guide like this one can help you start making an academic plan to get your application into shape, no matter where you’re at in your education Passion You could have the best grades in the world, but if you don’t demonstrate any interest or passion for the things you do, you’re not likely to be a successful college student. That doesn’t mean you have to be in love with every subject, but rather that your application shows that you have interests and pursuits that you’re passionate about. Let your application, and especially your essays, show that you’re a person with varied passions and interests. You can even use a â€Å"spike† approach to your application, which showcases that you’re not only a good student, but that you have a particular passion that you’re dedicated to honing at your chosen school. Say you’re very into journalism- if you weight your application with English courses, journalism courses, time spent working on your school newspaper, and maybe even a few published works outside of school, you’re showing SUNY that you’re serious about what you do and that you’re ready to put in the work to pursue it. Leadership Investment in activities is great, but leadership is even better. Colleges like SUNY want to see that you’re serious about your commitments, and a leadership position shows that you’re confident and capable of inspiring others. If you’ve acted as a team captain, an editor, a group leader, or any other position of authority related to your field, it’s worth including in your application and essay. Leadership positions not only demonstrate your passion, but also your trustworthiness and ability to inspire. These are important features on a college campus, where you’ll be participating in campus culture, not just being an individual in a sea of unfamiliar faces. Show that you can lead others and you’ll show SUNY that you’re a good person to have on campus. Diversity Students can easily get hung up on diversity, which is often used to mean difference in race, gender, sexuality, or socioeconomic status. But even if those things don’t apply to you- or if they don’t feel like they’re relevant to your experience- that doesn’t mean that you’re not a good fit. The word â€Å"diversity† can also be applied to diversity of experience and thought. Think about your upbringing and how it’s set you apart from others. Things like the size of your hometown, the number of siblings you have, or where you live can impact your thinking and experiences, too. Don’t be afraid to include how your environment has shaped the person you are, including how you relate to others. Understanding of Mission and Goals One of the strongest ways to connect with the school you’re applying to is to understand what they want to accomplish as a college. Consult their mission statement and academic goals, and even read a little deeper into the essay prompts to understand exactly what they’re looking for. Though individual SUNY schools may have their own mission statements, you can learn a lot about the system by consulting the general SUNY mission. For example, SUNY uses words like â€Å"diversity,† â€Å"access,† and â€Å"traditional and non-traditional students,† throughout. From that, we can deduce that SUNY is interested in providing opportunities and education to all kinds of students, not just those who are wealthy or privileged or even local. Keep this in mind as you’re working on your application. How can you align yourself with these values, or the other values expressed in SUNY’s mission statement? Do these ideas apply to you? If not, how can you demonstrate that you’re committed to helping maintain and grow that mission? Make a list, check it twice. SUNY Application Checklist Applying to SUNY- let alone applying to multiple schools at once- requires a lot of forms, essays, and documents coming together. If you’re struggling to stay on top of everything you need to do to apply, this checklist will help get you started. #1: DecideWhich Schools You’re Applying To Make a list of schools you’ll be applying to and the deadlines for each to help keep you on track. #2: Pay the Application Fee or Request a Waiver SUNY has a $50 application fee. If you qualify, get the fee waiver ahead of time and get it filled out so you’re ready to submit it with your application #3: Collect Letters of Recommendation If you’re submitting letters of recommendation, they should be ready to go along with your application. Ask your teachers, counselors, coaches, and so on early to be sure that you get a letter that’s of good quality and that's ready on time. #4: Complete the SUNY Application Depending on which SUNY school you’re applying to and whether or not you’ll be applying Early Decision or Early Action, you may or may not have a deadline. Research your school early so you can keep track of when you need to apply! #5: Submit Supplemental Portfolio and Essays Some SUNY schools require or allow supplemental portfolios or other materials. If you’ll be submitting them, they should already be ready to go by the time you submit your application. SUNY will give you the due dates for any supplemental materials when you complete your application. #6: Retrieve School Counselor Forms SUNY requires a special form from your school counselor. Your counselor is responsible for submitting this form, but be sure to give them plenty of time to do so. #7: Submit International Student Forms If you’re an international student, determine which forms you need in advance so you have plenty of time to fill them out and turn them in. #8: Submit Academic Record SUNY requests transcripts from freshmen and transfer applicants. You can request that your school send them electronically or by mail, but be sure you ask for them to be sent as soon as possible to ensure they arrive on time. #9: Submit FAFSA Submit your FAFSA application by June 30, 2019- but keep in mind that the earlier you submit, the better! Stay on top of your application and you'll be feeling as calm and balanced as these rocks. SUNY Application Tips This is a lot of information, but don’t panic. There are some simple things to keep in mind as you’re working on your SUNY application. Following these steps will help you be stress-free as you’re applying. Plan Early You’re guaranteed to get stressed if you’re trying to cram the entire college application process into just one month. Start early. The best time to start thinking about college applications is freshman year. The second best time is right now. No matter where you’re at, take a moment to draft a concrete plan to follow, including deadlines, and stick to it. The earlier you get started, the better. Don’t wait until deadlines are already looming- give yourself lots of time and avoid stressing. Focus on Either the SAT or ACT Is the ACT or SAT more important? That depends on a few different factors. But as you’re getting ready to apply for colleges, don’t worry too much about excelling on both. Pick one or the other to be your focus, and hone your score on that test. Don’t try to divide your attention. As long as your chosen school accepts the test you choose, it doesn’t matter which test you take. Do your best on one of them and you’ll be good to go. Strive for Depth Over Breadth in Extracurriculars You don’t need a thousand extracurriculars to impress SUNY. You don’t even need ten extracurriculars. What you need is depth, meaning that you’ve spent time cultivating an interest in something rather than doing a whole bunch of activities for the sole purpose of fleshing out your application. Having a variety is good, but not if you’ve only spent a minimum amount of time on them. Chase your passions and dive deep into them rather than dipping your toes into a whole bunch of fields. It’s better to have a couple of strong interests than tons of shallow ones. If you have time, try out lots of things, but don’t waste time you could spend on your passions doing soccer, baseball, piano lessons, volunteer work, tutoring, acrobatics, beekeeping, woodworking, photography, journalism, and Mathletes if only one or two of them are at all interesting to you. Seek Strong Letters of Recommendation Many SUNY schools allow or require letters of recommendation, but not all letters are created equal. You should be asking people in positions of authority who know you and your academic strengths to write your letters. Ask early, and don’t be offended if you get a â€Å"no† in response- it could be that the person you ask already has quite a few letters to write. Give the person you ask as much information as possible about where you’re applying and what programs you’re applying to; that will help them write an even better letter. Also, don’t forget to say thank you- though teachers expect to write letters of recommendation, you should always express gratitude for them going above and beyond their job duties. Keep Your Momentum Up Senior Year Once your application is in and your transcripts are submitted, it might be tempting to take a little break from your hard work and start slacking off in school. Don’t do it! Some schools require a mid-year report, which could hurt your chances. You’ve worked hard to get where you are, so keep up that positive momentum to carry you forward into college and beyond! What’s Next? Knowing what a college admissions committee is and what it does can help you write an even better application. There's lots of advice out there about how to write an impressive college application. But whatreally looks good on your app? Understanding the college application process can ease some of the stress of applying to colleges. This guide covers everything you need to know about applying! Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in.

American Well Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

American Well - Assignment Example This leads to resolving medical issues early hence a better quality of life for the patient and reduced costs in the end. Also, a patient can choose a physician of their liking in quick fashion (Internet health care, 2). Apart from physicians and specialists, patients can access services of pharmacists and NPs. The biggest disadvantage of using this platform is that often the doctor will be communicating with the patient via phone or chat and may not obtain all the facts. The result can be offering advice or prescription that is erroneous. Also, the ease with which patient access drugs may not be safe for them since they may omit some information either knowing or unknowingly. Physicians would have preliminary information before they finally meet their patients. This generally means a lot of time being saved hence the physician could attend to more patients. With this system, patient visits are expedited hence improved hospital efficiency. Physicians who are in low demand geographical areas can work with patients elsewhere (Putnam, 34). What this means is more work for them hence better pay. On the down side, data that the physician accesses about a patient may be erroneous because of editing of the same by unreliable persons. This can present serious legal and health issues. Insurance companies can improve their reputation by having such a service. Overall, people are distrustful to insurance companies (Kabbes, 21). By providing a service that is cheap and reliable, some form of goodwill is developed between the insurer and the public. Also, the insurance firms can align their financials with those of the physicians. The results would be better margins for the insurance company. One drawdown, the insurance may encounter logistical problems in incorporating this platform into their already complex system. If not properly streamlined this platform could lead to