Assume that you have been hired as a consultant for a skilled nursing facility to help with its strategic planning process. The organization has never made a strategic plan, and many of the employees are resistant to take part in the process. They have hired you to help walk them through the process and guide them through each step. Before you can begin the process, you will need to plan out how you will guide them through it. Identify and discuss how you will prepare the nursing facility’s staff to go through the strategic planning process. For example, who will you involve, and what steps will they take, etc.? In addition, what will you say to them to get them to understand the importance of the strategic planning process?
The U.S healthcare is complex, facing numerous challenges, ranging from funding complexities, healthcare practitioner shortages, physician variability and conflict of interests among the healthcare providers. The healthcare providers and the workers in the healthcare institutions view the industry as being complex and this is made worse by the changes in the external environment. The complexity of the U.S healthcare will increase further with the implementations of the patient protection programs and the introductions of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Reed, 2013). To foresee future trends and make a good response, a healthcare organization must embrace and adopt a strategic plan. The turbulence caused in the healthcare sector due to changing government policies, reforms, cuts in the government reimbursements, the effect of the external pressure, increased consumerism and market consolidation makes it inevitable to adopt strategic planning.
Guide for Organizing the Strategic Planning Process The introduction of new organizational initiatives often face resistance, and this forms one of the areas that failed strategic process fails to focus. According to (Rodríguez Perera & Peiró, 2012), a change steering committee should be formed to oversee the development and the implementation of the strategic plan. The steering committee should represent all the interests and include individuals with leadership skills. The steering committee should be under the leadership of an expert in strategic planning (in this case is the strategic…………………………………….
In a 350- to 500-word essay, address the 4 questions.
Case study: A publicly traded home builder has hired you to install a new wireless network. The company currently has a wireless network that is a few years old. The problem with the current wireless network is that it was built using proprietary standards instead of 802.11. This current wireless network does not have an upgrade path to 802.11.
On the new wireless network, the corporate office wants a system that allows construction workers to enter progress reports into the system in order to stay up-to-date with all the different community building sites. Each community has a model home that will need Wi-Fi to connect back to the corporate office in order to enter these reports. The construction workers will be using iPads to enter the information. The company currently has 32 sites across the country that will need Wi-Fi.
In each of these sites, there will be two sales employees that will need to have Wireless IP Phones so that customers can get in touch with them easily. The sales employees will also have laptops, as well as two sales kiosks that allow customers to browse the different options to choose from for their new home build. The kiosks will connect to the Internet, and when the customer chooses their options, the information will be entered into a database. Once the customer chooses the options they want, the sales person will pull up the report on their laptops to print for the construction workers.
Directions: Looking at the current wireless network and what the home builder would like to accomplish with the new network, explain to the company why the current wireless network will have to be replaced before you can begin the project. The Chief Information Officer (CIO) has asked you to come up with a plan to implement this new wireless network. Include in your report:
1. A brief description of the problem with the current wireless network
2. The benefits of global/industry standards vs. proprietary standards
3. What types of problems exist with mixed standards
4. A plan to correct the problems with the current wireless network
You have been hired as the CSO (Chief Security Officer) for an organization. Your job is to develop a computer and internet security policy for the organization that covers the following areas:
Computer and email acceptable use policy
Internet acceptable use policy
Password protection policy
Make sure you are sufficiently specific in addressing each area. There are plenty of security policy and guideline templates available online for you to use as a reference or for guidance. Your plan should reflect the business model and corporate culture of a specific organization that you select.
Include at least 3 scholarly references in addition to the course textbook.
Your paper should meet the following requirements:
• Be approximately four to six pages in length, not including the required cover page and reference page.
Read the Scenario below and answer the questions (minimum 300 words)
You have recently been hired to work as the International Export Manager for a company that manufactures women’s shampoo and hair products (3 types and in 2 different package sizes – i.e. 6 SKUs total) in the US. After completing your initial research you have identified 2 potential markets for export – Mexico and Saudi Arabia. Using what you learned in our Week 2 and information that you find about the each country online or any other reputable and reliable source, answer the following questions:
1. Describe your target customer. Who will buy this product? Why would they buy your product? (Note: the product category: “Women’s Hair Products” is very broad. I have done this on purpose, so that you can be creative and set your own assumptions about what the product could be. So that you can answer the next two questions.)
2. Based on your research and your analysis in Question 2, identify the most important cultural traits for each country that will directly affect your sales and marketing in the each target country.
3. Based on what you found in Question 2, and your research, what changes will you need to make to the product in order to sell it in each of the countries? (List the specific changes for each country – 2 for each.
Make sure to clearly mark and number your answers.
To prepare for this Application Assignment, imagine you have been hired by Splendid Hills Hospital. The vice president of finance has asked you to work with an interdisciplinary committee to conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) and to recommend a cost-effective CAM option. Based on the committee recommendation, one of the three proposed CAM options (spinal manipulation, acupuncture, and massage therapy) would be implemented to care for clients with chronic lower back pain where more conventional therapies have been largely ineffective. You and the committee have collected the fixed costs (FC) and variable costs (VC) associated with each CAM alternative. Review the course document in your Weekly Resources entitled, “ Cost-Effective Analysis for Proposed Alternative Interventions for Unresolved Lower Back Pain.” Search the Walden Library for scholarly sources to support CAM options.
To complete this Application Assignment, you will: 1) complete a cost-effective analysis using the data provided in this week’s course documents, 2) create a 9- to 12-slide PowerPoint presentation of your CEA results, and 3) prepare a 1- to 2-page document containing your presentation talking points.
Please be aware that you will submit three files for this assignment.
Part I: The CEA
Using the data provided in the Splendid Hills Hospital scenario, insert the fixed and variable costs associated with each CAM alternative into the spreadsheet. The data will be entered into the cells shaded green. Do not enter data in the cells shaded in red. The spreadsheet will automatically calculate annual costs. Once you have your cost results, you and the committee will be able to propose the most cost-effective CAM alternative. Save your results in the Excel spreadsheet for submission.
Part II: The Presentation of the CEA
In order to communicate your results, you will prepare a professional presentation for delivery to the members of the senior leadership team. You will prepare a PowerPoint slide deck comprised of 9–12 slides (not including title and reference slides). The following are the minimum slide expectations:
Title slide
Discuss the concept of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)
Identify the three CAM alternatives being considered with brief description of each
Identify the purpose and assumptions associated with a cost-effective analysis (CEA)
Share why a CEA was appropriate for determining the CAM alternative
Identify the FC, VC, and TC for acupuncture
Identify the FC, VC, and TC for massage therapy
Identify the FC, VC, and TC for spinal manipulation
Discuss which alternative is considered the most cost-effective given the CEA results
Discuss and support your recommendations for assessing the clinical outcomes following the rollout of your chosen CAM alternative
References slide
Refer back to the Optional Resources, in Week 1, if you need a refresher on using PowerPoint.
Part III: Talking Points
It is important that professional PowerPoint slides remain uncluttered. Having talking points, or notes, to accompany your slides helps provide your audience with additional information while maintaining uncluttered visuals. For each of your content slides (not the title and reference slide), write a brief paragraph explaining the information on the slide. Then, compile these paragraphs into a 1- to 2-page document for submission.
Your written assignments must follow APA guidelines. Be sure to support your work with specific citations from this week’s Learning Resources and additional scholarly sources as appropriate. Refer to the Essential Guide to APA Style for Walden Students to ensure your in-text citations and reference list are correct.
5-6 pages to complete below. Part Three is already completed (see attached)
Need to create a:
1. Introduction Section (1-2 paragraphs)
2. Conclusion Section (1-2 paragraphs)
3. Part One – Managing Operations (2-4 pages)
4. Part Two – Quality, Process and Location (2-4 pages)
Then combine Introduction Section, Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Conclusion Section into ONE file consisting of 10-12 pages combined (not including Cover and Reference page) to create the comprehensive case study analysis.
OVERVIEW:
Imagine that you are hired into the role of the Operations Manager at the company described in the case study (Nissan). Although there are many issues facing the compa Imagine that you are hired into the role of the Operations Manager at the company described in the case study (Nissan). ny, you have some experience and are well qualified to provide direction in solving these problems. Prepare a cohesive case study analysis for submission as one document.
The project is the creation of a comprehensive case study analysis. You will write a comprehensive analysis of the Nissan case study(see attached) that’s been analyzed throughout the course by addressing the critical elements below.
ASSIGNMENT:
You NEED to do Part One and Two below. Part Three has been already been completed (see attached). Part One, Two and Three need to be combined into one document to create the case study analysis.
Also need to be included is:
1. An Introduction Section: which provides an overview of the company and some of the key challenges that it is facing.
2. Summary /Conclusion Section: that highlights some of your most important recommendations for improvingoperations at the company
PART ONE: Managing Operations case study analysis, which evaluates how Nissan uses OM functions to provide products and generate value for its customers and how it achieves a competitive advantage using operations management, among other critical elements (Less than 4 pages- no minimum)
I.Generating Value
A. Evaluate how the company in the case study uses operations management functions to provide products and generate value for its customers.
i.Support your claims with examples from the case study or outside sources.
B. Assess how this company achieves a competitive advantage using operations management.
i.Provide examples found in the case study or outside sources to support your reasoning.
C. Compare and contrast service operations and manufacturing operations at the company in the case study.
i.How are they the same?
ii.How do they differ?
iii.How does each of these operations provide value for their customers?
II.Theories and Techniques
A.Compare and contrast the critical path method (CPM) and the program evaluation and review technique (PERT).
i.What types of projects at this company would favor PERT over CPM? Why?
ii.What types of projects at this company would favor CPM over PERT? Why?
B. Explain the steps used to develop a forecasting system.
i.How would these steps be specifically utilized by this company?
ii.What do you predict would be the result of implementing a forecasting systemfor the top-selling product line at this company?
C. List the majorcategories of supply chain risk and associated risk reduction tactics.
i.How could the company mitigate exposure to supply chain disruptions caused by natural disasters?
1. For example, consider the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated parts of Japan.
PART TWO: Quality, Process, and Location case study analysis that addresses the typical problems that operations managers face. (Less than 4 pages- no minimum)
I.Theories and Techniques
A. Explain the five steps of the theory of constraints (TOC) process.
i.To what processes might the company in the case study apply TOC?
ii.Why would applying TOC to these processes be advantageous?
B. Describe how total quality management (TQM) principles and tools can be used to improve quality in the latest line of products in the context of the case study.
II.Data Analysis
A.Draw a cause-and-effect diagram that assesses why some of the company’s supply chain partners might have struggled to implement some of the company’s newly developed materials.
i.Summarize your findings from the diagram.
B.Draw a hypothetical process (time-function) map for producing a recently released (within the past two years) product manufactured by the company.
i.As an operations manager, how will you use the value map?
ii.Be sure to include your process map within your case study analysis.
C. Considering the data and options below, determine where the company should locate its new manufacturing plant.
i.Explain why this would be the favorable location.
FactorWeightMexico CityColumbia, SC
Political Risk .25 70 80
Transportation Costs .20 40 90
Labor Productivity .20 85 75
Rental Costs .15 90 55
Labor Costs .10 80 50
Taxes .10 90 50
D. The company believes that it might have some inefficiencies in its inventory management process.
i.Develop an ABC classification system for the following 10 items.
ii.Based on this information, what do you recommend for improving inventory management?