The Business of Happiness Example

Essays on The Business of Happiness Book Report/Review ï » ¿The Business of Happiness PART 1 Due: 5:00 p.m. Monday, October 4 10 points Note: This assignment loses a half point every hour after 5:00 on Monday. Responses received after 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 5 will receive NO credit. 1. Having read Mr. Leonsis’ book, what one question would you like to ask him? I would ask Mr. Leonsis if he would ever consider adding to his 101 Life List. 2. What did you read that leads you to ask this question? It seemed like the Life List grounded Mr. Leonsis. He was focused on his goals. These goals as he accomplished them made him happy. The whole book was of a man of action. As he ages, I do not see him retiring and sitting in a rocking chair. After retiring from AOL, he has gone on to serve of different boards, create movies, and give to charities. I was just wondering if he completed the list, if he would create another list. The second reason I would ask about a second list is if his happiness revolves around the list. Does the accomplishment of checking off items on the list make Mr. Leonsis happy, or are these truly things that he wants to accomplish. Is the list a challenge or a true realization of his dreams? I know he tried to create a list about things that would make him happy, but how did he know what would make him happy? At 28 was he mature enough to know what would make him happy? PART 2 Due: 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, October 6 50 points 1. Why did Mr. Leonsis write this book? What is his primary point or message? Mr. Leonsis wrote this book to help people realize that success does not bring happiness, but happiness does bring success. 2. How does he support his primary claim or message? That is, what evidence does he use to make his case? Mr. Leonsis uses his life as evidence to make his case. He also points out that successful people are not always happy. Michael Jackson, Hugh Hefner, and others were examples. However, Mr. Leonsis does point out that all happy people are successful. This success might not be fortune and fame, but happiness has a success that cannot always be measured. 3. Think about your experiences (as the reader) compared to Mr. Leonsis’ experiences (as the author). What do the two of you have in common? How are the two of you different? Think especially about his life up to the point where he entered Georgetown as a freshman in college. I can identify with Mr. Leonsis’ school experiences. Especially when he had to leave Brooklyn Tech to move with his family, since I had to move with my family before finishing important school events. My experiences have been different due to Mr. Leonsis. While AOL and the Internet were new to Mr. Leonsis, I have been raised with the Internet. This is one market that has been conquered by Leonsis’ generation. Although I am positive that new territory will open up for my generation. 4. Mr. Leonsis identifies six (6) common practices of happy people. With which of these six practices do you most agree? Alternatively, which of the 6 do you think is already a strength of yours? Explain. I most agree with the giving back. I do not know if it is Karma, or good will, but I feel the more you give back, the more you will receive. This is one of my strengths. I like to give back my time, money, or whatever else I can spare. Gratitude is another one of my strengths. I believe when someone helps you the least you can give is gratitude. 5. Is there one of the six practices that you would not include as a common practice of happy people? Alternatively, which of the six practices do you feel is your weakest area? Which practice do you need to work to improve? Multiple communities of interest would not be a common practice of happy people. I am sure that happy people do have multiple communities of interests, but some people can spread themselves thin. I feel this would be my weakest area. It is hard to go and meet new people and groups. It is easier to manage fewer groups than a multitude. 6. Do you agree or disagree with Mr. Leonsis primary message? Explain. I agree with Mr. Leonsis’ primary message. Not matter your monetary status, if you are happy that makes you rich. It is a simple message, but it rings true. I do not believe by using Leonsis’ list I will become rich or successful, but I believe happiness is obtainable. 7. Would you recommend this book to others? Why or why not? I would recommend this book to others because of the message. Happiness should be encouraged on the road to success. This book goes deeper than your ordinary self-help book. I found it very useful.

Mis Five Forces Analysis Free Essays

A Five Forces Analysis of Allscripts, An Electronic Health Records (EHR) technology company Robert A. Brinker GBA 530 – Management Information Systems Professor Billie Whitfield February 6, 2012 The purpose of this paper is to identify competitive forces at work based on Michael Porter’s Five Competitive Forces from his Competitive Analysis Model (McNurlin, 2009) and provide recommendations to Allscripts, an electronic health records (EHR) technology company, as to business technology related improvements. Reviewing the United States healthcare industry would be a massive undertaking, so I will narrow my analysis specifically to an industry that has great momentum, the Health Information Technology (HIT) industry. We will write a custom essay sample on Mis Five Forces Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now The healthcare industry was said to be in a makeover year in 2010. (PwC, 2010) â€Å"The U. S. health care sector includes more than 780,000 hospitals, doctor offices, emergency care units, nursing homes, and social services providers with combined annual revenue of more than $2 trillion†. Hoovers, 2011) Many of these healthcare sector participants are very fragmented and information shared between them is either insufficient or non-existent. Most experts agree that the current spending on healthcare is unsustainable now representing 17. 3 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. Many factors are driving the high cost healthcare, but one thing is certain in that the delivery of healthcare hasn’t changed much over the last century at the patient and physician level. The delivery of healthcare is an antiquated paper driven process and in much need of modernization. The demand for HIT has been fueled by new Healthcare Reform legislation and incentives known as the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act or HITECH, passed by President Obama in 2009 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The intent of the HITECH Act is to promote the modernization of the healthcare system to improve the quality of patient care and decrease overall costs by bringing technology to the practice of medicine. â€Å"More than $88. 6 billion was spent by healthcare providers in 2010 on developing nd implementing electronic health records (EHR), health Information exchanges (HIE), and other HIT initiatives†. (PwC, 2010) The HIT industry has incredible momentum and such high demand that HIT companies are entering the marketplace at an significant rate. Although this industry has become very competitive and saturated over the last 2 years, there are several prominent companies leading the EHR industry. Among them are Allscripts, GE Centricity, and eClinicalWorks, which have been researched for this paper. Below are specific areas where key competitive forces are at work relative to Porter’s Five Forces Competitive Analysis Model. Threat of new entrants Suppliers of EHR systems and software to hospitals and physician practices were initially few in number earlier in the decade, but it has become a fiercely competitive industry. Privately owned small businesses now dominate the supply and demand for electronic medical records (EMRs) over the last several years. (Folino, 2009) As stated earlier government regulations have had a great impact on the threat of new entrants given the passing of new healthcare related regulations and proposed financial incentives issued to medical practices that implement EHR technology in their practices. Also, the increase in new entrants is certainly due to the low capital investments required to produce EHR products to the marketplace. In the past significant investments in large servers and data storage was required, which has been replaced in large part by internet based cloud technology. This trend is very likely to continue as cloud technology grows in acceptance and prices decrease. Threat of substitutes Overall, with demand for EHR systems growing it appears to be a very lucrative industry with substantial growth potential. As with most technologies cost will begin to fall as more and more suppliers enter the marketplace. As the prices begin to fall more hospitals and physicians will find it more cost-effective to implement EHR, however as of now the cost to implement an EHR system is prohibitive for many, especially for small medical practices that dominate the healthcare landscape such as in New Jersey. As technology evolves through innovations such as cloud based technology and prices drop it can have a positive impact on substitute EHR products by improving affordability and ease of implementation. In short, there will be simple and lower costs alternatives available. Bargaining power of suppliers Supplier integration is becoming a trend in the EHR marketplace as well, such as a recent partnership between eClinicalWorks and Dell computers. Dave Garets, president and CEO of HIMSS Analytics, a Chicago based healthcare information technology company, is a healthcare analyst who has had 30 years of experience in the IT field. He said that â€Å"partnerships like the one between Dell and eClinicalWorks are strategic and a good idea for larger corporations. (Folino, 2009) These supplier integrations are important as most EHR systems are software based and of course need compatible hardware systems on which to execute the final EHR product to the end-user, the healthcare provider. Compatibility issues abound and have so far been a challenge, particularly with the iPad, a trendy device which is fast becoming the hardware tool of choice for many applications. Healthcare providers have to shop separately for EHR software offered by EHR vendors and the computer hardware, which is offered by computer companies. Bargaining power of buyers Of Porter’s Five Forces, this one is quite evident. There is a large concentration of buyers in the EHR market, such as medical groups, primary care and specialist practices, hospitals, etc. and they have a lot of EHR vendors to choose from. Although buyers are not tremendously educated they can be selective. GE Healthcare markets its Centricity EHR system using a brand message that says, â€Å"Build new standards of Excellence, by building new standards of efficiency. † (GE Healthcare, 2012) This messaging can help buyers perceive the value through increase excellence and efficiencies. Online demonstrations are also a critical aspect of EHR companies attracting buyers. Features such as ease of use and medical practice application can be realized online very easily. This can help healthcare providers determine if an EHR system is worth further exploration. Intensity of rivalry Growth in this industry is very likely to continue as the need for modernization of healthcare continues and the a tipping point is reached where the adoption of EHR systems becomes a must for physicians practices and hospital systems. Currently the adoption rate is low but federal incentives continue to fuel an intense rivalry amongst competitors in the health information technology arena and the degree of differentiation among companies in this space appears to be minimal. â€Å"Regardless of HIT’s potential advantages, clinicians in the country’s many small primary care practices can be overwhelmed by it and will need to be convinced that EHRs are affordable, enhance efficiency, and improve care. Then, they will need extensive, ongoing support. (O’Malley, 2011) Lyons Advisors, LLC, an IT consultant also states that â€Å"IT professionals will be most effective if they are helped to understand how a medical practice is different from other worksites†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Lyons, 2011) It appears obvious to me that a clear differentiator for companies in the EHR market would be to increase the education, training, and ongoing support of healthcare providers through the implementation of the EHR syst em. This needs to be done so by IT professionals educated on the inner workings and needs of the medical community that are their customers. As a result of this review and research, I submit the following recommendations to Allscripts: †¢ Consider integration partnerships with hardware technology companies with tablet type computer products, as portability will be important for healthcare providers as they move throughout their practices, the hospitals, nursing homes etc. Once such partnership could be with Apple and compatibility with its iPad. This partnership would go far to elevate Allscripts as an innovator and differentiate itself from its rivals. Make online demos accessible to healthcare professionals so they experience the intuitiveness and application of the Allscripts EHR system to their practices. Online demos could be made available to healthcare providers through You Tube, company websites, medical society websites, etc. †¢ Differentiate and promote the Allscripts brand from competitors by educating IT staff on the medical and clinical needs of healthcare professionals, so that IT staff truly under stands the specific needs of their customers relative to EHR application. This would bridge the gap that currently exists between the technology and real efficiencies and patient care improvements. It could also minimize likely decreases in revenue as their patient load decreases throughout the implementation phase. Allscripts is a leader in the health IT arena, but like most companies there is much room for improvement to stay competitive in a lucrative, but fiercely competitive marketplace. A marketplace that has a long future as the need for the modernization of the U. S. ealthcare system takes shape, as it is behind the curve compared to almost every other service industry. America and patients alike deserve healthcare that is cost-effective, efficient, and innovative. References McNurlin, B. C. , Sprague, R. H. , Jr. , Bui, T. (2009). Information Systems Management in Practice (8th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Top health industry issues of 2011. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) at http://www. pwc. com accessed on January 30, 2012 View: Ma king over healthcare. 2010) Issue 14. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) at http://www. pwc. com accessed on January 30, 2012 Healthcare Industry Description. Hoovers. Retrieved at http://www. hoovers. com/industry/health-care/1374-1. html on September 18, 2011 Big Business Eyes EMR Industry. By Lauren Folino, Oct 6, 2009. Access at http://www. inc. com/news/articles/2009/10/emr. html on February 4, 2012 Introduction of an Electronic Medical Record System into Physician Practice Offices: Why Is It so #%! -ing Hard for Everybody? —Part III. Joseph P. Lyons, MA, CPA,* and Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA. Information Systems (2011) Tapping the Unmet Potential of Health Information Technology O’Malley, Ann. The New England Journal of Medicine 364. A12 (Mar 24, 2011): 1090-1091 Allscripts corporate website, accessed at http://www. allscripts. com on February 3, 2012 eClinicalWorks corporate website, accessed at http://www. eclinicalworks. com on February 3, 2012 GE Healthcare corporate website, accessed at http://www. gehealthcare. com on February 3, 2012 How to cite Mis Five Forces Analysis, Essay examples

The Causal Relationship Between Government Revenue and Spending free essay sample

Given their fiscal circumstances, our investigation should help determine proper reforms for these countries to cope more effectively with their current economic challenges. A crucial challenge facing Egypt is unemployment. According to current official estimates, unemployment of about 8 percent is accompanied with an annual growth rate of 3 percent in labor force. To reduce unemployment to more manageable levels, it is estimated that Egypt needs to achieve a healthy and sustainable annual growth rate of at least 6 percent in real GDP. In an attempt to reach this goal, Egypt has utilized a private-sector-led growth policy. Privatization and transition to a market economy are intended to improve productivity, efficiency, and competition in the domestic economy. However, the low levels of domestic saving and investment create an impediment for economic growth in Egypt. Improvements in the domestic saving rate stem from improving productivity, which, in turn, makes privatization an impo rtant factor in reducing unemployment and poverty. Promoting a more efficient pension system, restructuring the inancial system, and further developing capital markets have provided additional ways to increase the domestic saving rate. Eliminating the budget deficit is a further step to ensure the availability of domestic saving for private investment. To this end, it is essential for the government to implement policies that reduce and eventually eliminate the budget deficit. It is therefore the aim of this paper to offer such policy actions, using the evidence on the causal relation between government revenue and spending in Egypt. Unemployment is also a crucial challenge facing Jordan. According to current official estimates, unemployment of about 15 percent is accompanied with an annual growth rate of 4-5 percent in the labor force. It is estimated that Jordan also needs a healthy and sustainable annual growth rate of at * Bassam AbuAI-Foul,Departmentof Economics and Public Administration,American Universityof Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, [emailprotected] ac. ae;Hamid Baghesteni, Department of Economics and Public Adminislration,American Universityof Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, [emailprotected] ac. ae. The authors gratefullyacknowledgethe commentsof an anonymousrefereeon an earlierdraftof this paper. See the WorldBankGroup(2001). ume 28 * Number 2 * Summer 2004 261 least 6 percent in real GDP to stabilize unemployment. 2 To encourage economic progress, Jordan has focused on a private-sector export-oriented growth strategy. The government has aggressively pursued privatization of most public enterprises in transportation, electricity, water, and telecommunications. In addition to increasing efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness of privatized companies, the aim has been to encourage domestic saving and stimulate private investment. In terms of exportoriented growth, Jordan has established several free zones, including the Aqaba port along the Red Sea, Zarqa, the Sahab industrial estate, and lrbid. Private sector participation is encouraged through investment tax incentives. Licenses to operate within a free zone area are given to private companies if they have the potential of bringing new industries and technology to the country, utilizing local raw materials and components in the process of production, improving the Jordanian labor skills, and lowering the countrys imports. Despite these structural reforms, a healthy and sustainable growth in real GDP has not yet been realized. In addition to the lack of concrete export competitiveness, barriers to faster growth include the low levels of domestic saving and slow response of private investment. 4 Besides privatization, other efforts to increase the saving rate include further development of the pension system, the financial system, and the capital markets. As in the case of Egypt, eliminating the budget deficit in Jordan is essential to ensure the availability of domestic saving for private investment. Providing evidence of the causal relation between government revenue and spending should thus help determine ways to reduce and eventually eliminate the budget deficit in Jordan. The rest of the paper is organized as follows. The next section theoretically discusses four hypotheses of government finance: (i) the tax-and-spend hypothesis, (ii) the spend-and-tax hypothesis, (iii) the hypothesis of causally independent tax and spending decisions, and (iv) the fiscal synchronization hypothesis. Citing some empirical evidence, mostly on developing countries, augments this theoretical discussion. The third section describes the data and the econometric methodology. Such tests as a unit root and cointegration are necessary to identify the appropriate bivarlate model for investigating the directions of causation between revenue and spending. However, our sample periods are not sufficiently long to get any power for these tests. To overcome this problem, the causality tests are performed using three bivariate models. These are (i) the vector autoregressive model in levels, (ii) the vector autoregressive model in first differences, and (iii) the error-correction model. The causality test results for Egypt and Jordan, presented in the fourth section, are not sensitive to the choice of the model. Accordingly, in the fifth section, we rely on these test results to discuss the policy implications and conclude the paper. Theoretical and Empirical Background Several alternative hypotheses of government finance characterize the causal relation between spending and revenue. The tax-and-spend hypothesis, championed by Friedman (1978), theorizes a causal relation running from revenue to spending. It views spending as adjusting, up or down, to whatever level can be supported by revenue. Control of taxation, according to Friedman (1978), is essential to limiting growth in government. In reducing the budget deficit, for instance, one should not rely on raising taxes, since higher revenue invites higher spending. Like Friedman, Buchanan and Wagner (1977, 1978) advocate the tax-and-spend hypothesis. But they warn that the tax-and-spend prediction may be distorted due to the fact that tax rate changes are accompanied by intense political debate and controversy over economic impact and income distributional issues. Deficit financing 2Seethe WorldBankGroup(2003). J See JordanlnvesanentBeard(2000). One should,of course, be mindfulof the fact that the political instabilityof the region is another impedimentto fitstereconomic8rowth,moreso in filecaseof Jordan than Egypt. 262 JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND FINANCE 9 Volume 28 9 Number 2 9 Summer 2004 ather than tax financing by politicians may then become the source of growth in spending. Empirical evidence in support of the tax-and-spend view is presented by Baffes and Shah (1994) for Brazil, by Danat (1998) for Turkey, by Darrat (2002) for Lebanon and Tunisia, by Cheng (1999) for Columbia, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Paraguay, and by Ewing and Payne (1998) for Colombia, Ecuador, and Guatemala. The spend-and-tax hypothesis relies on the reverse relation, with revenue responding to prior spending changes. In line with the Ricardian equivalence theorem, Barro (1974) maintains that the public fully anticipates and capitalizes the future tax liability implied by present government borrowing. Thus, in the absence of fiscal illusion, increases in government spending lead to increases in taxes. Peacock and Wiseman (1979) see natural, economic, or political crises as justifications for spending hikes that are subsequently approved by tax increases. According to this hypothesis, spending cuts are the desired solution to reducing the budget deficit, especially in the absence of crises. Empirical evidence by Mithani and Khoon (1999) and Ram (1988) supports the spend-and-tax hypothesis, respectively, for Malaysia and Honduras. The third hypothesis emphasizes the institutional separation of allocation and taxation functions of government and the independent determination of revenue and spending. With respect to the U. S. , this hypothesis emphasizes the absence of coordination between spending and revenue decisions due to the lack of agreement between the executive and legislative branches of government participating in the budgetary process. [See Wildavsky (1988) and Hoover a~d Sheffrin (1992). Consistent with this view, Baghestani and McNown (1994) conclude that neither the tax-and-spend nor the spend-and-tax hypothesis accounts for post-World War II budgetary expansion in the U. S. Instead, they show that both the expansion in revenue and spending is determined by iong-rnn economic growth. With respect to developing countries, Ram (1988) provides empirical evidence in support of the institutional separation hypothesis for India, Panama, Paraguay, and Sri Lanka. The fourth hypothesis indicates bidirectional causation between revenue and spending. [See Musgrave (1966) and Meitzer and Richard (1981). This f ~ t l synchronization hypothesis postulates that the revenue and spending decisions are made simultaneously, by analyzing costs and benefits of alternative government programs. Therefore, this view precludes unidirectional causation from revenue to spending or from spending to revenue. Empirical evidence in support of the fiscal synchronization hypothesis is presented by Baffes and Shah (1994) for Argentina and Mexico, by Cheng (1999) for Chile, Panama, Brazil, and Peru, by Ewing and Payne (1998) for Chile and Paraguay, by Kimenyi (1990) for Kenya, and by Li (2001) for China. For a comprehensive survey of the empirical evidence on the tax-spend debate for both developed and developing countries, see Payne (2003). Data and Methodology This study utilizes the annual data on government spending, government revenue, and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). These data for Egypt (1977-1998) and Jordan (1975-2001) are obtained from the International Financial Statistics tapes. Following Bohn (1991), among others, government revenue and spending are expressed as a ratio of GDP. While controlling for GDP, this treaunent alleviates the question of whether the revenue and spending variables should be in nominal or real terms. The difference between the VAR-D in (2) and the ECM in (3) is the inclusion ofR,. I andX,. l. These series, of course, are from the long-run equilibrium relation in the ECM. The VAR-L in (1), as noted by Baghestani and McNown (1992, p. 130), is not inconsistent with the long-run equilibrium relation but requires restrictions across the two equations. 5 In order to determine the appropriate model, it is necessary to conduct unit root and cointegration tests. However, as also indicated by Hakkio and Rush (1991), a very long sample is required to get any power for such tests. The lack of a long sample for Egypt and Jordan, therefore, prevents us from conducting the tests of a unit root and cointegration. To overcome this problem, all three bivariate models in (1)-(3) are employed in this study to investigate the causal relation between Rt and X,. A common practice in causality testing is to specify a common lag length on RI and X, in the VARs and ECM. Lee (1997) warns against this practice due to inherent misspecifications. Therefore, in line with Cheng (1999), among others, we utilize Hsiaos (1981) version of the Granger causality test. http://www.cbj.gov.jo/ https://jic.gov.jo/portal http://www.worldbank.org/