Utilization And Case Management At A Hospital

Utilization And Case Management At A Hospital Sierra View District Hospitals (SVDH) utilization review (UR) process originates in the Case Management (CM) department. They are responsible for the case review and obtaining social services for those patients in need of services. This paper will describe how this process works and how SVDH compares to another facilitys UR structure. There will also be a discussion about the weaknesses of the SVDH program. Utilization Management at SVDH The CM department is responsible for the UR process at SVDH. This department, which has 13 employees, is staffed as follows: four Case Managers; two licensed clinical social workers; four social services worker; a Department Analyst; and a Wound Care Specialist. An Administrative Director oversees the department. The CM department follows a Utilization Review Plan (Appendix A) which establishes how the CM department will review cases and address potential discrepancies from established best practice guidelines like McKessons InterQual Criteria (McKesson, 2010). The four Case Managers are to conduct concurrent reviews on all Medicare admissions. They evaluate the patient chart and documentation to ensure the correct medical care status of Inpatient or Observation Services is assigned to the patient. If the patient is assigned the correct status then the Case Manager will flag the case for review in three to four days to ensure the status of the patient has not changed to such a degree that either a higher or lower service level is required. If that is the case, the manager will contact the primary care physician and seek an order changing the service level. If the physician does not agree, and the documentation in the case ceases to support the current level of care, the case manager will forw ard the case to the physician advisor for review. If the physician advisor agrees that a new level of care is called for then he/she will contact the physician to seek further clarification as to why the patient needs continued services at the current level. Depending on this conversation, there are four possible outcomes for the patient status. One, the patient status will remain at the current level of care because the initial physician has informed the physician advisor of extenuating circumstances regarding the case. Two, the physician will agree to the conversion of the patient status to either a higher or lower level of care. Three, the physician will not agree with the physician advisor, and the advisor will refer the case for the UR committee for a panel decision, which can overrule the original physician; or Four, the patient can be discharged from the hospital. While Case Managers are working the UR of a patient, the Social Workers are concerned about any after-care the patient may require. The Case Managers and Social Workers work together to come up with a discharge plan beginning on the first day of admission. The Social Workers make sure the patients have all the contact information they may need once discharged, and the Case Managers work to ensure placement of the patient in an extended recovery care facility if needed. SVDHs UR Program Compared to Other Hospitals SVDHs UR program is comparable to that of Jewish Hospital (St. Louis). Prior to 1985, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reimbursed hospitals for services rendered. Due to increasing costs to the Medicare Trust Fund, the Diagnostic Related Group (DRG) system was developed to reimburse hospitals based on what the average cost of a particular surgery. UR programs at both hospitals began to change to meet the new challenges instituted by CMS. Utilization Review became Case Management at SVDH, while Jewish Hospital named their program Case Coordination. The staff members at both facilities became more involved in complete patient care, from admission to post-discharge. SVDH experienced the same growing pains that Jewish Hospital did when Observation Services became a new cost savings service line instituted by CMS. The next challenge arose in 1990, when quality initiatives arose. These initiatives have only increased since that time, with the establishment of Quality Initiative Organizations (QIO). The QIOs review hospital data and report results back to CMS. The goal of these organizations is to locate services that do not meet their (CMS) standards. When found the QIO will deny payment for the services. While Jewish Hospital attempts to complete a 100% review for quality indicators on all cases, either concurrent or retrospective, SVDH chose to focus 100% on Core Measure cases only. While Jewish Hospital might be ensuring that all cases have a minimum standard of quality, SVDH complies with Joint Commission standards by only reviewing the Core Measure cases. Weakness of the Program There is a major weakness in the SVDH Case Management program, and it has been a weakness for some time. SVDH CM is not a 24/7/365 program. The Case Managers work Monday through Friday from eight to five. One Case Manager works from eight until noon on Saturday in the emergency room, but there is no coverage on Sunday. This means that the one Case Manager only reviews the cases that were admitted from Friday at 5:00 PM until 8:00 AM Saturday morning. If she has time she will also pick up any additional cases she can prior to leaving at noon, but there is no guarantee of that happening. The entire CM staff will review any cases not previously reviewed on Monday, if the patient is still in-house, or the case will undergo a retrospective review. This can cause continuing care problems for patients. An example of one of these problems recently occurred when a patient was not reviewed due to no CM personnel on staff on Friday evenings. The patient presented to the Emergency Room on Friday, and was subsequently placed in Observation Services at the hospital, This case was not reviewed by the weekend case manager. On Monday morning, the CM personnel started reviewing the Medicare admissions and saw this patient on the CM list. In reviewing the chart, the patient plainly met Inpatient criteria. The attending physician could not be contacted so the case was referred to the physician advisor, who agreed the patient should have been classified as Inpatient. The status was changed as of Monday morning. CMS guidelines state that a status can only be changed upon the presentation of an order, and at no point can an Observation Services case be converted to an Inpatient status retroactively. The patient needed additional therapeutic services that would be provided in a long term care facil ity, but CMS guidelines state that Medicare will only pay for those services if the patient has had a qualifying Inpatient stay in a hospital for a minimum of three calendar days (Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services, 2009). Since this patients status converted to Inpatient on Monday morning, the time spent in the hospital from Friday until conversion on Monday did not count towards the qualifying stay. The quandary then is to either discharge the patient to the care facility without a qualifying stay, thereby making the patient responsible for the entire cost of the care, or keeping the patient in the hospital for an additional two days in order to meet the qualifying stay requirements. The obvious answer is to keep the patient in order for them to obtain the necessary time to earn the qualifying stay. This, however, places a bed out of circulation that could have been used by another patient, and might incur costs that do not meet reimbursement criteria for the hospital. Had a CM staff member been on duty Friday night, the case could have been caught earlier, and the qualifying stay could have begun on Friday instead of Monday. The major obstacle to hiring more Case Managers is, frankly, the cost of salaries. Any additional overhead costs are scrutinized closely in these times of shrinking reimbursements. Prior to bringing on new staff, in any area, the return on the investment is reviewed for a profitability margin. If a profit margin cannot be realized then the likelihood of incurring that additional expense is small. Other projects that bring a greater profitability margin have taken priority over additional staff in the CM department. Conclusion The CM Department administers SVDHs UR program. The CM Department encompasses several different services, all dedicated to providing total care to the patient while in the hospital and post-discharge. SVDHs program mirrors common practices within the industry. Like Jewish Hospital (St. Louis), CM at SVDH has evolved and changed over the years to meet the new demands placed on it by regulatory agencies. The CM Department constantly works with physicians to ensure patients receive the appropriate level of care based on physician documentation and InterQual guidelines. The major weakness in the CM program at SVDH is that it is not a 24/7/365 department. This flaw sometimes places the continuum of care for the patient at odds with the regulatory guidelines, and SVDH has to forego reimbursement for services in exchange for better overall patient care and patient financial security.

Chemical Engineering :: essays papers

Chemical Engineering What exactly is a chemical engineer? Many would say that it is simply a "chemist who builds things" or an "engineer who makes chemicals. However, neither of these statements is completely true. The term "chemical engineer" is not meant to actually describe what it is a chemical engineer does, but to describe what sets it apart from the other branches of engineering: civil, mechanical, and electrical. On average, chemical engineers are numerically the smallest but also the highest paid. It is not a profession the must dwell on the past for comfort and support, for its greatest accomplishments are still yet to come. Chemical engineering, a prominent and growing career, requires a detailed understanding of the how and why chemical processes work and also how they can be further improved. To develop new improvised methods for these processes to function more useful and economical, a chemical engineer uses theories and laws of chemistry. They are, however, often referred to as the "universal engineer" because they must not only have a broad knowledge of chemistry and physics but also of mechanical and electrical engineering. The Industrial Revolution sparked a new curiosity and need for chemical engineering. In order for certain industries to sustain growth, the production of chemicals became of great importance, especially sulfuric acid. In attempts to improve the process of making this chemical, much time, money and effort was put into it. By this, the slightest savings led to large profits because of the vast quantities of sulfuric acid consumed by industries (Pafko, "Setting Stage"). To create the much needed sulfuric acid, a long used and little understood method was used, the lead-chamber method. During this process, one of the main ingredients, nitrate, was often mostly lost into the environment. Because nitrate must be imported, and the process used so much of it, it became very costly. Improvement was needed in order for sulfuric acid to be made at a much lower cost, since it was so widely used (Pafko, "Setting Stage"). In the late 1800's, Americans became fascinated with news that was coming over from across the Atlantic. Though it was not the advancements in the chemical engineering field that so interested them, it was the news of a serial killer "Jack the Ripper". It seamed as though the surfacing of chemical engineering would just slip by unnoticed.

Price Analysis in Various Situations

Price analysis is a price comparison of a proposed price without analyzing any of the separate cost of elements that it’s composed of. With any purchase some type of cost analysis is completed in order to receive the best price possible. This paper will discuss which method for performing price analysis is best in the widest variety of situations. The policy of the government is to contract for its products and services at fair and reasonable prices. With that, many factors are taken into account when determining fair and reasonable prices and how the government determines fair and reasonable pricing. There are five means identified to determine fair and reasonable pricing: competitive offers, established catalog prices, established market prices, established by law and regulation, and cost based prices. Fair and reasonable price is what the government is willing to pay for products and services in competitive market conditions given reasonable knowledge of the marketplace. When the government acquires various products and services it must forecast the products and services in its budget and be able to convince the reviewing authorities the the forecast is reasonable. When forecasting the likely price of acquisition evaluation of bids, proposals, and quotations has to be completed. Then, the bidder or offeror for the reward must be selected and then the preparation for price discussion in negotiation. Given the opportunity to use any method of price analysis for the duration of my career, I would choose comparison of competitive bids. With this method three or more suppliers for the price of the same product are selected in order to determine if a particular price is reasonable. However, it’s not the best idea to go solely on the lowest bid without knowing full details into how that figure came about. Cheaper is not always the best value. Instead of comparing the lowest price, compare the total cost of acquisition. This includes variable cost, fixed cost, and semi-variable cost. When all these items are discussed a fair and reasonable price is at hand. If taking the lowest price is the key then there would be no value if what is purchased is unknown. In all, Price analysis is a price comparison of a proposed price without analyzing any of the separate cost of elements that it’s composed. Given the opportunity to choose the method of price analysis, I would choose comparison of competitive bids because it allows multiple offers to be compared and other factors of discussion in negotiaton of priceing.

Saatchi Nine

Saatchi Gallery is now hosting an Art Showdown, which is an online competitive event that allows artists to upload images of their work and make them available to an online voting audience. Those who would like to enter must be registered members of Saatchi online or of the Stuart Artist group. However, registration is easy, free, and readily available on the site. Once registered, Showdown accepts one image from each artist every period beginning on Monday at 9 a. m. until the following Sunday evening at 6 p. m. —a one-week period. During the time the work is uploaded to the site, all visitors will be free to view and vote on the quality of the work. Each visitor is permitted only one vote for each work, but may vote on as many works as is preferred. The voting is done on a scale of one (1) to ten (10). Once the scores are tallied for the first week in each period, the two artists with the highest scores are given the chance to compete against each other for additional votes for the period of another week. These two remaining artists go head to head, vying for a chance to enter for the final prize of   1000. The competition continues for twelve rounds, after each of which, one winner is selected. The final knock out round has the twelve finalists going head to head in a bid for the ?1000 prize, yet Saatchi’s support does not end there. This coveted prize will not be the only benefit of the competition, as the runner up is also granted the sum of ?750. And even further benefits exist, as all the artists who enter gain the exposure that comes with having your work viewed on the site that welcomes thousands of visitors on a regular basis. Street Art The Saatchi Art Gallery caters to artists of all kinds, and evidence of this exists in its commitment to the work of street artists. The gallery accepts work from a wide range of non-traditional artists, such as tattoo and graffiti artists, mural painters, performers, and others who discover unknown or unrecognized pieces. Saatchi allows these artists to upload their work in the form of photos or even videos—any or all the methods that capture the true essence of the meaning and conceptualization they would like to convey. The use of the video-upload feature is particularly convenient for performing artists, who are also encouraged to promote their work on the Saatchi Gallery Site. This features is open even to street dancers, many of whom the gallery recognises as having attained a remarkable level of proficiency at their art despite the lack of formal training. Artists ready to upload are encouraged to register on the site for a free membership, which gives them all the privileges that Saatchi members worldwide possess. However, those who prefer to are also allowed to register as visitors and still gain the benefit of having their works displayed on the international artistic website. When art files are uploaded, visitors to the site are able not only to view the works, but also to select their ten favourites, which are ultimately showcased in a special area on the site. The exposure that this Saatchi Gallery facility affords to young street artists is immeasurable, as the gallery makes these works available to millions of viewers around the world. This considerably broadens the artistic scope of these street artists and ultimately brightens their prospects. Photography The Saatchi Gallery’s artistic versatility dictates its open attitude toward art, and this attitude is present in its welcoming posture toward the work of photographers around the world. The gallery opens its doors to photographers who have been widely unrecognised in their circles and provides a source of promotion and exposure to these young, talented persons. This offer is inclusive of photo artists from countries all around the world. At Saatchi Online, artistic photographers are encouraged to upload their photographs and place them on display for the millions of potential art enthusiasts on the internet. Images must be uploaded as jpg files and the sizes of these files should be below 2MB. This opportunity given free of charge by Saatchi not only allows these photographers to increase their standing as renowned artists, but it also allows them to enter into the professional artistic realm by making (or arranging for) commission-free online sales. Photographers are also free to create their own profile package online. Therefore, not only do viewers and potential buyers get the chance to review a wide range of their works (as many as eight pieces are accepted), but they are also able to offer the public significant information about themselves and their art. In addition to the services mentioned, Saatchi also allows the photographers to get messages from those interested in their art—such as viewers, fellow photographers, and even potential buyers. Therefore, this improves the artists’ ability to network in this scene where fellow artists, a potential source of inspiration, may be difficult to find. The Saatchi service to photographers may therefore be considered an ultimate method of artist promotion. Museum Saatchi Gallery represents the one of the world’s most modern museums of art and is a refreshing addition as one that was made specifically for those who enjoy art in all its styles and types. It caters to the desires and needs of a wide range of art lovers, from students needing to be exposed to the different genres represented in art to young artists needing a place to exhibit their work. It aids in the development of young talent and deepens (formal and informal) students’ appreciation of the contemporary aesthetic depicted in the work and ideologies of contemporary artists. Yet, the museum also extends its influence and aid into the realm of non-traditional art, such as fashion designing and the performing arts. In fact, these artists are supported not just in procuring them an audience for their work, but also in facilitating the purchase of art pieces via the Saatchi interface, which eliminates the middle-man and renders the compensation over to the appropriate artist commission free. The resources available on the Saatchi website are many, as it houses the Stuart Museum that is specifically designated for student artists or recent graduates as a place where they are free to upload their work for public viewing, critiquing, and feedback. Saatchi Gallery’s gift to the artistic public is valuable in that it offers a new generation of artists and art lovers access to the cutting edge of creativity. However, it allows for the personal and professional growth of the young artist too, by giving them the opportunity to interact with the public in colloquy, conference, as well as business settings. Therefore, through the resources provided by this gallery, students become more cultured in their exposure to contemporary art, and young creative people gain valuable, professional skills that will last them a lifetime. Colleges and universities will find the Saatchi Gallery a very valuable resource to boost the appreciation and renown of their art, fashion and performing arts departments. Saatchi caters to these institutions on an international scale, and provides them the impetus and exposure they need in order to present their departments to the public as a progressive arm of the institution. The Saatchi Gallery caters specifically to the effort to market these institutions by welcoming posts and sample work from the students and faculty, allowing these parties to showcase their work on the internationally recognised website. Representatives of each university are empowered to upload material in the form of photos, videos or scanned art work to the site as a method of drawing attention to the abilities of their students and the expertise of the faculty that grooms them. On the Saatchi Gallery website, colleges and universities have the freedom to highlight the achievements of their faculty members as well as the unique talents of their students. Yet they may also offer descriptions of their artistic programs, give information about their institutions’ location, and even provide links to their websites. The gallery is a supreme marketing tool because it provides a hub to which thousands of prospective students (and other persons interested in art) come to do research and locate educational institutions in which they may be groomed in the arts. It also provides critics with a method of gauging the artistic talents of a wide range of students without the need to travel, and therefore may afford your institution the recognition it would not otherwise have had. It also gives colleges and universities the chance of being recognised in an international gallery without incurring any expenses—as registration on the Saatchi Gallery’s site is always free of charge. Gallery The Saatchi Gallery is an international collection of the works by artists ranging from amateur to professional levels, and it is an indispensable resource both to the user who is serious about the study of art and to the casual art lover. To the serious student of the arts, it provides a wealth of information about contemporary art techniques, artists, and the direction in which art is and has been moving. The gallery hosts the work of hundreds of artists in and around the United Kingdom as well as across the world. It especially caters to the works of new artists and of those seasoned artists whose works have gained little or no attention in the past, providing insight into their techniques and inspirations. Ultimately, as a result of their exhibition of their work in the Saatchi Gallery, many of these new artists are offered the opportunity to conduct showings in galleries locally or internationally. The gallery’s new home, located at (PLACE ADDRESS HERE) is of a stylish and modern architectural design that heralds the museum-quality work of the artists hosted within. This twenty-year-old gallery has grown over the years to accommodate approximately 600,000 annual visitors and 1000 annual school visits. It collaborates with the media to facilitate and host a wide variety of shows that put even more effort into showcasing the work of these talented artists. These shows have benefited from the input of such media houses as The Evening Standard, The Observer, and Time Out. This has led to a vast increase in the viewing audience in Britain, around Europe, and even to increases in international visits. This is the kind of public awareness for which Saatchi regularly campaigns on behalf of the artists whose works are hosted within the gallery. It represents a truly contemporary, businesslike, and professional approach to art promotion that brings artists and viewers together in a productive fashion. Galleries The resource that the Saatchi Gallery provides to other art galleries around the world is invaluable. To those who own galleries and are highly interested in the contemporary art scene, the Saatchi Gallery provides the exposure and the information necessary to create and maintain a high profile gallery. Rather than compete with galleries around the world, Saatchi collaborates with them to provide them with international recognition on the global art market. The gallery allows other gallery directors to provide information about their art shop on the Saatchi website and also to provide links to their galleries via the Saatchi website. Since Saatchi caters to a growing international viewing audience of potentially millions of persons, all those viewers immediately become potential clients of the galleries that choose to be hosted on the Saatchi site. Saatchi hosts links to the most prestigious galleries around the world, and facilitates the creation of sub-galleries for schools, colleges, and other artistic institutions. In fact, it caters to a wide variety of schools (primary to university level) and to the public at large, so that its collection is the largest available on the internet. Being a gallery itself, Saatchi also hosts the works of individual artists. The Stuart Museum, for instance, is a gallery hosted under the aegis of the Saatchi brand, which houses the work of students and recent graduates of artistic colleges and universities. Plus, Saatchi takes it one step further than brick-and-mortar art galleries by allowing artists to sell their work online free of commission. The gallery is therefore a large and all-inclusive contemporary art hub that provides the viewing public with a link to the widest variety of art and art galleries that currently exists on the internet. Chat Live Interaction becomes easier now on the Saatchi Gallery website, as the site’s interface allows for real-time conversation between artists and their viewers. Saatchi uses an instant messaging feature that facilitates interaction between art lovers and their favourite artists through its Chat Live feature, and this occurs in a manner that encourages the artistic collaboration of the art community. Artists from a variety of backgrounds and even in different nations can meet one-on-one with those persons who appreciate their work and gain live feedback and critiques of their art. The Chat Live feature also allows for discussion of artistic themes that have the potential to lead to a deeper public understanding of the concepts embedded within the works of art displayed in the Saatchi online gallery. Saatchi even allows group chats, and access to the chat feature and chat rooms can be obtained via a very brief registration formality accessible at http://www. aatchi-gallery. co. uk/chatlive/. This Chat Live feature is useful beyond its ability to bring art lovers together for leisure and collaborative purposes. It also presents a valuable marketing tool to those persons who want to gain direct and specific feedback concerning the interests of real people who love and follow art. Representatives of galleries and museums may register or sign in as guests to gain access to the ideas a nd suggestions of the large viewing and membership audience on the Saatchi website. They may also use the resource to plan and promote artistic events. Members of the press or other interested persons may also sign in to conduct formal or informal interviews of artists in an effort to promote the love and continued creation of art as a whole. The endless possibilities that exist with this invaluable Chat Live tool made available on the Saatchi website will no doubt facilitate the production of beautiful art for future generations. Portfolio The Saatchi Gallery online portfolio is a special resource provided to schools at the primary and high levels that are interested in boosting the confidence and promoting the talents of their artistically inclined students. The art teacher or the school’s artistic representative is given the opportunity to create detailed profiles for their schools and thereby to promote the artistic endeavours of the school as evidence of the school’s diverse educational curriculum. Along with the school’s profile, the portfolio allows institution representatives to call attention to the work of its talented students by uploading samples of these works along with biographical profiles of the students responsible for the pieces. The institutions are also encouraged to upload notices and descriptions of upcoming and past artistic events that demonstrate the school’s commitment to the arts. The Saatchi Portfolio is therefore a strong marketing tool that promotes the educational institution on a grand artistic scale. However, the Saatchi Gallery goes further to promote and encourage the talent of these young and promising artists. It puts on regular competitions that generate prizes of great value to the future career of these individuals. Winners and runners up are given cash for use in purchasing art supplies, including computers, to enhance their potential as artists. The winning schools are also given monetary compensation to be used to equip their art departments, making them more conducive to the learning and practice of art. The Saatchi portfolio resource is performed as a community service gesture whose purpose is to return benefits to the institutions that gave many successful artists support in the past. The Portfolio also exists to secure the future of art by encouraging the youth in artistic endeavours.

Computer Virus Essay

The emergence of technological innovations such as the advent of computer and computer programs, also paved way for the birth of certain viruses that can disrupt software programs. These viruses infect a program and allow it to spread from one computer to the others (â€Å"Viruses†). As it transfers from one computer to another, it leaves complications or ailments that like human viruses, has varying degrees of severity. Some are merely designed to annoy the computer user while others can destroy the entire computer hardware (Beal). Viruses may be categorized as a worm, Trojan or just a virus. A worm is quite similar to a virus, but unlike a virus that needs human intervention in order for it to spread, worms can spread on its own. It has the capacity to replicate itself and travel from one hardware to another through the transport features of the computer’s system. Because of its replicating capacity it poses harm as it can slow down the computer the moment it becomes multitude (Beal). A Trojan on the other hand does not replicate as viruses and worms do. They appear at first as some legitimate program or file but the moment it is ran in the computer it can create various damage. Sometimes they are made to annoy while other can seriously destroy the computer by deleting files or programs. It can also create backdoors that can give other users access to the system that may give away personal or confidential information (Beal). Most of the time, these malicious programs spread with human intervention. When viruses cling onto a file and was run in the computer, it automatically spreads in the system of that computer.Trojans spread in the same way, while worms replicate itself in the system, to another system and to another. Works Cited Beal, Vangie. 2007. The Difference Between a Computer Virus, Worm and Trojan Horse. Webopedia. 11 November, 2008 . Brain, Marshall. n. d. How Computer Viruses Work. HowStuffWorks. 11 November 2008 . Viruses. n. d. Kasperskylab. 11 November 2008 .

Teacher Collaboration and Academic Achievement Research Paper

Teacher Collaboration and Academic Achievement - Research Paper Example The emergence of PLCs could be traced to different scholars: DuFour and Eacker, Joyce and Showers (2002), Lieberman (1999), and Senge, et.al. (2000), whose works focus on learning organizations, learning communities, through methods, tools and structures that aim to improve schools in contemporary societies (PLCs: Brief history, n.d.).  The contentions of DuFour (1998) focus on identification of characteristics of PLCs, to wit: â€Å"1) shared mission, vision, and values, 2) collective inquiry, 3) collaborative teams, 4) action orientation and experimentation, 5) continuous improvement, and a 6) results orientation† (PLCs: Brief history, n.d., 1). Related research by Lieberman (1999) indicates, ‘ the concept of professional community is one of the most powerful ideas affecting research and practice in staff development in the last decade.† Lieberman relates to professional learning communities in terms of networks† (ibid.)  However, Rose (2008) clearly in dicates that â€Å"although there is widespread use of terms (professional learning communities or professional learning teams) and concepts, these mean different things to different audiences. There is no consistent definition† (Rose, 2008, 11). This statement was validated in another research conducted by Kilpatrick, Barret and Jones (n.d.) who averred that â€Å"the term learning communities as this statement is revealed, the current literature review hereby sought to gather definitions of PLC and determine.... (2000), whose works focus on learning organizations, learning communities, through methods, tools and structures that aim to improve schools in contemporary societies (PLCs: Brief history, n.d.). The contentions of DuFour (1998) focus on identification of characteristics of PLCs, to wit: â€Å"1) shared mission, vision, and values, 2) collective inquiry, 3) collaborative teams, 4) action orientation and experimentation, 5) continuous improvement, and a 6) results orientation† (PLCs: Brief history, n.d., 1). Related research by Lieberman (1999) indicates, ‘ the concept of professional community is one of the most powerful ideas affecting research and practice in staff development in the last decade.† Lieberman relates to professional learning communities in terms of networks† (ibid.) However, Rose (2008) clearly indicates that â€Å"although there is widespread use of terms (professional learning communities or professional learning teams) and concepts, these mean different things to different audiences. There is no consistent definition† (Rose, 2008, 11). This statement was validated in another research conducted by Kilpatrick, Barret and Jones (n.d.) who averred that â€Å"the term learning communities is used variously within the literature, often without explicit definition† (Kilpatrick, et.al, n.d, 3). Insofar as this statement is revealed, the current literature review hereby sought to gather definitions of PLC and determine any ambiguity in content: Reichstetter (2006) defines PLC as â€Å"made up of team members who regularly collaborate toward continued improvement in meeting learner needs through a shared curricular-focused vision†. Richard DuFour

Assignment Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Assignment - Case Study Example They can manage their products from one area to the next and capitalize on the most viable opportunities present in the industry. When doing the feasibility study, it found out that the retail business was growing at an exponential rate (Hill and Jones, 2013). This means it has a chance to capitalize on it and use the acquired knowledge over the years to meet its goals. Despite the financial crisis that triggered a price discount for its products, the expansion after the recovery of the economy will be a good way of dealing with an increased demand that will open up new markets both at the retail and wholesale sections. If the company escapes from continued need to expand, it will miss out on opportunities that would have cemented its position in the market. As such, it should proceed with its plans and capitalize on the expected vibrancy of the market. This will also streamline its efficacy in dealing with its supply chain management process in whichever area they operate in. the expansion, therefore, was a good economic and strategic opening for the