Feasibility Study For a Hospital in Saudi Arabia Essay

Feasibility Study For a Hospital in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example 1.3 System Overview Responsible Organization Independent Research Foundation (IRF) is the responsible organization. IRF has conducted most of the surveys on their own as well as taken help from Government and Private Organization in establishing the feasibility. IRF is responsible for handling all the investment and making sure that all goes according to the plan. System Name Tabeeb Healthcare Facility System Code BJH-699-I2011 System Category ---- Major Application: General Health Care. The facility provides services of general nature but a Cancer Research facility will also be established. The hospital will be modeled after the famous Princeton Planes Borough Hospital (US). Diagnostics and Cancer research will be given special attention and investment. ---- General Support System: The Investors for this facility will mostly be from all over the world but the facility will provide services for all the locals. As there isn’t much insurance market strength in Saudi Arabia (comp aratively), there will not be much trouble in treating patients from all walks of life. Economic Analysis and Indicators Three economic indicators were used to analyze the investment for Tabeeb Health Care Facility; the Payback period of 2.5 years, NPV of US $20 million and ROI of 13%. The economic analysis shows that to raise capital for establishing the facility, IRF is in no position to raise the capital themselves. Therefore, the most likely sources of capital to all the above scenarios are grants and / or units owned by third parties, such as energy service companies (ie, through the contract or other similar contracts for energy services). As most of the foreign investment floods into Saudi Arabia in the form of oil sector development, our most likely sponsor will be any reputable oil company, preferably, Shell. Lifecycle costs of different scenarios were performed using the reputable software software (NRC 2005). Economic indicators to assess the economic viability were: a si mple payback period, NPV, and ROI. This type of analysis makes more sense as it will be simpler to present and more likely our sponsors will agree to our plan. Agencies typically grant funds by listing projects based on a simple payback period. For life cycle cost analysis, assumptions are made as follows: Projected Life 65 years Cost Inflation Rate 2.25% Discount Rate 7% Debt Term 15 years Interest Rate 4.7% Contingencies 4% (of capital costs) Cost (Energy) Savings 55%-98% 2.0 Market Analysis Recent Studies have shown an upward trend in the demand for health care facilities among the people of Kingdom. Population is increasing at a rapid pace but the health care facilities aren’t matching the population growth rate. Other than the fact that growth rate of health care facilities is not impressive in Saudi Arabia indicating that there will be an increase in the demand for doctors and nurses, everyone needs to see a doctor. Medical and health care facilities have an inelastic d emand. Investments in pharmaceuticals and medical facilities are often always considered an option that people go for. Tabeeb Health Care Facility will be built in the heart of the capital Riyadh. The patient statistics (as they are discussed below) were relatively easy to collect and we have a very good reason to believe that the data is as

Questions In E-Commerce Essay Example for Free

Questions In E-Commerce Essay Question 6 Resources are the financial, physical, human, technological, and organizational assets of a company. A distinctive competency is unique to a company and allows it to earn a profit rate that is above the industry average.   Distinctive competencies are the products and services that directly fulfill the organizations goals, and is what the company does uniquely well.   Therefore, resources used to create distinctive competencies are the fundamental building blocks of the company’s success.   A resource must be in demand, or scarce, or difficult and costly to imitate, or have no substitute to add to a company’s competitive advantage.    In addition, it is only those resources which directly contribute to the core competencies of a company that add to its competitive advantage. Question 7 The internet can both increase the difficulty of imitation for a company, and it can also make it easier for other companies to copy.   Some companies use the internet as a core resource.   An example is EBay, which would not exist if it were not for the internet. However, the fact that EBay functions via the internet remains one of its core resources.   It has proven incredibly difficult for competitors to imitate to provide the level of service and marketplace which EBay enjoys.   Of course, EBay is continuously improving upon this core resource.   On the other hand, the internet creates a basic platform for selling.   One of the impacts of the Internet on companies using barriers of imitation as a competitive advantage is that they must be constantly improving and developing their products and services.   The internet allows consumers to browse many companies offering the same services.   If a company is able to do something better, or offer a superior product, they must be able to show this over the internet.     A small fashion designer selling their products over the internet runs a great risk of being copied quickly.   This may provide greater incentive for the designer to be continuously creating new designs and styles. Question 8 The resource based view and market views of competitive advantage are complementary.   They can both be used by the same company to determine what its key competitive advantages are, and also help a company explore what new competitive advantages they may want to develop.   The resource based view looks at what the company has.   Its physical assets as well as it process assets.  Ã‚   What the company does uniquely well.  Ã‚   The market view of competitive advantage looks at the marketplace first.   It identifies the way the company markets itself or the consumer need it fulfills. When looking at a company from the market view, the question asked is â€Å"How is this company unique in the marketplace.†Ã‚   A company can benefit from taking both a resource-based view and a market view of competitive advantage.   A company can analyze its internal resources and identify the resources that are key to its success and fulfillment of the organizational goals.   When it performs this analysis, it knows which attributes it must keep in order to stay competitive.   It is able to identify its internal core competencies.   On the other hand, the company can analyze the marketplace.   It can identify its role ion the market.   Is it satisfying its customers?   In what ways?   What are the core strengths of the company in the market?    These are the core competencies of the organization on the marketplace.   The company may choose to develop these further, if greater competitive advantage would be gained, or perhaps focus on developing a new market capability if the external environment is shifting.  Ã‚   When the company then takes its external and internal analysis and put them together, a better picture of the company’s true core competencies is displayed.   The company can then see where it may need to make adjustments or where resources or markets should be developed to take advantage of strengths. Question 9 There are basically two ways the Internet can add to a company’s cost advantage.   One, it can reduce the operating costs for a company.   Two, if a company has a cost advantage, they can increase the volume of their sales.   First, selling goods via the internet allows a company to keep a virtual location.   In this scenario, the company may not need to keep its own inventory or staff.   The company could order products from its vendors as ordered by customers and not keep any inventory at all.   There are no physical displays that need maintenance, nor are there any salespeople on the floor who need to be paid.   This is a strategy pursued by Amazon.   They do not have any brick-and-mortar stores to maintain, so they have no displays to maintain, and no salespeople to pay.    The overhead for maintaining the website is less than the overhead for maintaining the shop.   This gives Amazon a competitive cost advantage over Borders.   Also, when consumers are shopping via the Internet they are able to compare prices over multiple suppliers very easily.   Search tools like MySimon and others search the internet for the product the user enters and returns the prices from various online stores.   In this way, the internet can increase the volume of shoppers buying from a particular company.   If the shopper is only concerned with price, they will often choose the company that has the lowest cost.   Therefore, if the company is able to provide the lowest price, they can gain a competitive advantage via the internet by increasing their customer base. Question 10 Effective differentiation is achieved by a company when they really stand out in the consumer’s mind as something different.   They have developed a unique attribute to a point where customers buy from them based on their unique image.   Two ways the internet can help a company achieve effective differentiation is through exploitation of niche markets and providing services and products in a real-time environment.   On the internet, the market for any one website is much larger than what a store can typically reach. In this way, the company has access to many more markets by using the internet than they would otherwise.   This allows for the flourishing of niche market products and services – or highly effective and differentiated services. An example of a niche product on the internet market is a flea collar for dogs that is safe for the whole family! It has a small chamber into which it draws fleas via scent. The fleas cannot escape from this chamber and die.   The price is high, but the market is environmentally sensitive dog owners. Via the internet, sufficient promotion can be done to make production of this item profitable.   It could be much more difficult to market this product via stores.   Another way the internet can be used to differentiate a company in the marketplace is in the speed and responsiveness of the company to the real world.   The best example that comes to mind is the news.   News companies on-line can present stories to consumers much more quickly than in print. Customers are able to choose their source for news based on how real-time the news source is able to present the information.   Businesses must actually focus on differentiating itself from its customers to effectively compete in the internet marketplace.   There are so many providers of the same service or product, that a company must create and emphasize its difference to gain customers.   Some focus on ease of use, some on reliability, some on image, and others on customer service.   There are many ways to create differentiation, but the company must be aware that simply being on the internet does not automatically create a competitive advantage.

Usage and Benefit of a PEST analysis

Usage and Benefit of a PEST analysis PEST is general analysis as external macro environment that will affect to the firm and the company. In the analysis, the macro environment is identifying of the opportunities and threats will affect the outcomes and organizational plan and means and the situation due to the control of political, economic, social and technological forces. With regards to this, can say that is the proper term to these factors. However, changes in  the macroeconomic environment  can  create the new markets of chances and the articles are sometimes   to  construct  a more affirmative analysis of  the term PEST. Macro environment is that many country-specific needs and interests of the implementation for all the countries. In the following are the examples of the factors will considered in the PEST analysis. For examples, political factors, economic factors, social factors and technology factors. Usage and Benefit of PEST The decision making of organization in the management will affect by many factors in macro environment. Examples of macro environment change as employment law changes, economic recession, tax changes, government policy changes, international trade regulation, changes in exchange rates, changes in trade policy, income distribution and demographic changes as population, gender or composition. To analysis those factors as PEST model, as below: Political factor is due to the degree of intervention economy as government policy. Futhermore, also due to the government need to provide what kind of the good services or product to consumer and the subsidizing firms is belong to what level of it and the priorities which in the term of business support known as important role. Political factor can affect many business area such as dictates the legal regulation as government impact the business with the taxation policy such as the price of goods and services will be rises when there is no tax on that or the company profile will direct be taxable, the health of the international as government must pass and force the laws to regarding the label and packaging of the protection of consumer, the base installation of the economy as the rail system. For examples, in the San Francisco Coffee House, the company have an agreement known as Franchise Agreement. The Franchise Agreement is specified as form of Licence of Agreement. This agreement is the factor of protect the operation of San Francisco Coffee House and the rights parties of the company. Particularly, this agreement is expert skilled of obtained to franchising and the intellectual of property right. This agreement is identify the intellectual of the franchisors property and other proprietary is going to protect by this licence. This agreement is also focus on the relationship between the parties of each other in a positive way and a expert constructive manner to them. Beside that, this agreement will also emphasize the need and requirement of the operation San Francisco Coffee House. The benefits to have an agreement are due to failure to protect their own property or business format and the most important is their profits as well is could take an legal action of that. By the way, once have abundant protections of the agreement, the company can benefit from the licence of their intellectual property as well and it is more easier to protect their property when it is registered and the most important can prove their ownership. Economic factor is a major impact of a firms behaviour and organization of outcomes. This is regarding to economy recession, economic growth from overall of the market as the demand of the products rise when the higher national economic growth, monetary policy as interest rates as the higher interest rates it will cause more to borrow it will deeper the investment, foreign exchanges rates as the rises of foreign currency will impact the exporting goods more difficult, tax changes and inflation as it will make the wages demand of the employee higher and the cost of selling price rises too. Economic factor is due to the purchasing power of consumer. Such as the economic is known as the mood of consumer confidence as well, as the economy downturn the consumer do not have the confidence to purchase any goods or services, it will impact the market and the enterprise organization. During a recession, many firms are slow down to react to the falling demand levels will drop. Futhermore, a fi rm making similar product may utilize a price cutting policy. This will demand to a response to all the firm otherwise they may lose the market share. For examples, San Francisco Coffee House which in Croatian, in the market of Croatian, a great variety of international product and services is increasing. In the market San Francisco Coffee House, the salary grows up obviously, therefore the consumer of demand will increased for higher quality of the world brand names as well. This is due to the in Croatian is widely not available and the economic growth. In Croatian, the young consumer is target of international brand while the older people is still looking for domestic brands. As analysis, the purchasing habits also changeable geographically. The San Francisco Coffee House is most owned by foreign country as recent years those acquisitions occurred to San Francisco Coffee House. Although they would be entrepreneurs of the capitalization options while characteristic of domestic mark et in Croatian is bankruptcy for those smaller entrepreneurs. This reason is due to they are struggled to collect the trade debt. The traditional arrangement problematic is made by the international ownership of local banks even though this kind of problem is common of domestic market. The benefit of economic factor in San Francisco Coffee House is a decision related to the choice, another good means a good few. Income and wealth is not infinite, because only so much time. Trade off for individuals, business and society. In addition, economic assumes that people act rationally and try to make action to get their own compared to  the costs associated with  the greatest  interest. Change  is often  rational  considerations,  rather than  making  the average marginal effect. Political factor is

The Recent Global Food Crisis and Obesity Epidemic Essay -- Health, A

It is evident that populations around the world are starkly staring at a food crisis that has picked momentum especially since 2008. This recent global food crisis has placed staple grains, the main sustenance for populations around the world, out of reach of the hundreds of millions of people in need of them. This has seen its effects being felt in both developed and developing countries (Magdoff, 2006: 1-7). This study will focus its attention on the explanation about this recent food crisis, how it reflects previous agri-food system tendencies and its relationship to diabetes, another food system problem. The thesis of this study is that the explanations behind the recent food crisis revolve around commercial (corporate-dependent) model of the global food system which makes food items vulnerable to market dynamics and hence out of reach for many individuals. This is relevant to the issue of food crisis since it attaches an economics perspective to the crisis which is especially s ignificant given the recent global economic meltdown. Theoretical Perspective A closer and detailed look at the recent food crisis reveals a number of patterns and insights that can be supported by theoretical perspectives to show that it is a consequence of the established food policy. First of all, the food crisis does not necessarily stem from low production since the advent of chemical and biological technology in food production makes the processes more optimized. Instead, it is due to shifting economic and political power throughout the stages of food production and distribution. Emphasis is being placed on food production and distribution in terms of where maximum profitability will be achieved. This can be seen in situations where bumper harv... ...cal perspectives given to the effect that a corporate-dependent system in the agri-food sector precipitated the global food crisis which is the thesis of this study. This demonstrated through empirical evidence indicating that production of grain is actually sufficient, but then gets diverted to other uses such as biofuel production and feeding animals to meet the rising consumption of meat. This places the blame squarely on the retailers who happen to be strong corporate entities resulting from capitalistic inclination. A strange phenomenon is observed where southern states in the USA are experiencing higher rates of obesity, which is still linked to corporatization of the food system. The limitations of this research center on the fact that it did not seek information from the corporate world which could perhaps give perspectives from the other side of the coin.

Pricing Decision Essay

Companies in their endeavor to succeed in the highly competitive and dynamic market are now considering a clear focus on their marketing strategies. This is in order that they may remain relevant in the fast changing business environment, market conditions and consumer preferences. It is important that a company considers the effects of the changes in the business environment including price variations initiated by its competitors This is best done by first analyzing the prices offered by the competitors visa vie the company’s cost structure and the competitor’s chances to change in response to the company’s new price offers (Kotler 2003. p 66). Pricing Strategies The company needs to figure out the best strategy to implement in order to achieve the optimum prices for its products. To initiate cost-cutting with a view to improve on the profitability of the company the company must have an understanding of the type of cost that it needs to manage. This will be to a large extent influenced by its style of management, sources of professional advice, the broader vision of the company’s goals, communication strategy, and company’s capitalization in relation to debt-equity ratio and the cost of borrowing (Sherman 2007. p 3-4). The company also needs to understand the several types of costs that it incurs. The various types of costs are research and development costs, the overheads and administrative costs, human capital costs including health care costs, salaries and employee benefits, infrastructure and system costs, advertising and promotional costs, fixed and variable costs, and debt-servicing costs. The bottom line is to thoroughly examine each of these cost categories and weigh their importance to the company’s business operations, consider more efficient available alternatives, and the possible implications of the cost reduction strategy (Sherman 2007. p5 &9). A company such as Wal-Mart that has for years been ahead of its competitors by offering the lowest prices for its goods. Wal-Mart is able to manage favorable price cuts by implementing price cut strategies such as endeavoring to reduce its costs by pursuing a tax reduction strategy. This has been through its investments in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) in order to exploit tax loopholes and avoid some of the taxes levied in particular states (Moore 2007. p. 2). Having accomplished the above cost reduction strategy, the company may the come up with appropriate pricing for its products. This is done by first understanding pricing methods. There are six pricing methods that would lead to an informed decision in fixing prices. These are markup pricing method, the target return pricing method, perceived value method of pricing, value based pricing, the going-rate method of pricing and the sealed-bid method of pricing (Kotler 2003. p 66). Implications of Price Cuts and Conclusion The price of the product or service is a major factor that influences customer’s purchase decision is the marketing mix. A combination of the cost reduction strategy and an appropriate pricing strategy is more likely to benefit the company and enable it attain a competitive advantage over its competitors. By adopting market responsive cost cutting strategies in the communication industry, companies in turn helped create a better way of life whereby customers are now able to communicate more often and at lower prices Salazar 2007. p. 1). This translates to increased profits to the service providers as they are able to sell more units than before. References Kotler, P. (2003). Marketing Management. 11th Ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Moore, M. (2007). Taxing Strategies: Always Cutting Prices, Wal-Mart Attempts to Rollback Taxes. Retrieved March 8, 2009 from http://walmartwatch. com/img/blog/NIMSP_tax_strategies. pdf Salazar, L. C. Cost Cutting Strategies at the Bottom of the Pyramid. Retrieved March 8, 2009 from http://www. lirneasia. net/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/2-lcs-shoestrings-sing-28feb07. pps Sherman, A. J. (2007). Strategies for Cutting Costs and Improving Profitability. Retrieved March 8, 2009 from http://www. sbecouncil. org/uploads/PPT%20Cost%20Cutting%20for%20Growth%20and%20Profitability. ppt

Free Essays on High Performance Work Systems

High Performance Work Systems In recent years, Boeing has adopted one or more innovative work practices. These include quality circles, flexible job classifications, cross-functional training, and various forms of employee involvement. However, none have had the success that high-performance work system has achieved. The key characteristic of a high performance work system is extensive worker participation in all aspects of the company, including understanding core business strategic objectives. This, as a by-product, has pushed Boeing employees to understand all charts and graphs that concern their work area. As a frontline worker can attest nine panels charts have gained a new appreciation. Nine panel charts include perato charts, histograms that meticulously records major influences of each team. In the past Boeing has already practiced some form of worker participation, from suggestion boxes, surveys and quality circles. Now High Performance Work Teams have a deep admiration for the information that Nine Panels provide them. Without this team orientated focus countless challenges would never had been resolved much less noticed by the people who directly influence each chart. Studies indicate that most forms of worker involvement are an improvement over the traditional mass producti! on approach, in which workers perform manual tasks that require little thought and provide them with few opportunities to improve the process. Boeing has found that employee participation, when sustained over time and integrated with other organizational policies and practices, results in positive economic gains. Boeing has concluded that the extensive participation of workers led to significant improvements in return on investment, return on assets, and productivity. Another plus that Boeing has revealed shows that deep worker involvement is also essential to corporate flexibility and quick customer response, in today's volatile product markets... Free Essays on High Performance Work Systems Free Essays on High Performance Work Systems High Performance Work Systems In recent years, Boeing has adopted one or more innovative work practices. These include quality circles, flexible job classifications, cross-functional training, and various forms of employee involvement. However, none have had the success that high-performance work system has achieved. The key characteristic of a high performance work system is extensive worker participation in all aspects of the company, including understanding core business strategic objectives. This, as a by-product, has pushed Boeing employees to understand all charts and graphs that concern their work area. As a frontline worker can attest nine panels charts have gained a new appreciation. Nine panel charts include perato charts, histograms that meticulously records major influences of each team. In the past Boeing has already practiced some form of worker participation, from suggestion boxes, surveys and quality circles. Now High Performance Work Teams have a deep admiration for the information that Nine Panels provide them. Without this team orientated focus countless challenges would never had been resolved much less noticed by the people who directly influence each chart. Studies indicate that most forms of worker involvement are an improvement over the traditional mass producti! on approach, in which workers perform manual tasks that require little thought and provide them with few opportunities to improve the process. Boeing has found that employee participation, when sustained over time and integrated with other organizational policies and practices, results in positive economic gains. Boeing has concluded that the extensive participation of workers led to significant improvements in return on investment, return on assets, and productivity. Another plus that Boeing has revealed shows that deep worker involvement is also essential to corporate flexibility and quick customer response, in today's volatile product markets...