What are the three basic questions in the Model for Improvement?

This week discussion review and discuss:

What are the three basic questions in the Model for Improvement?

What are we trying to accomplish?

How do we know that a change is an improvement?

What change can we make that will result in an improvement?

Please remember to include references. 

Would you recommend that ExxonMobil use a single company- wide cost of capital for analyzing capital expenditures in all its business units? Why or why not?

EXXONMOBIL

ExxonMobil ( XOM) is one of the half- dozen major oil companies in the world. The firm has four primary operating divisions ( upstream, downstream, chemical, and global services) as well as a number of operating companies that it has acquired over the years. A recent major acquisition was XTO Energy, which was acquired in 2009 for $ 41 billion. The XTO acquisition gave ExxonMobil a significant presence in the development of domestic unconventional natural gas resources, includ-ing the development of shale gas formations, which was booming at the time. Assume that you have just been hired to be an analyst working for ExxonMobil’s chief financial officer. Your first assignment was to look into the proper cost of capital for use in making corporate investments across the company’s many business units.

a. Would you recommend that ExxonMobil use a single company- wide cost of capital for analyzing capital expenditures in all its business units? Why or why not?

b. If you were to evaluate divisional costs of capital, how would you go about estimating these costs of capital for ExxonMobil? Discuss how you would approach the problem in terms of how you would evaluate the weights to use for various sources of capital as well as how you would estimate the costs of individual sources of capital for each division.

Instructions: In 600-750 words 2-3 pages. Your paper must include at least two scholarly journal references (in addition to your book). 

Explain what Sara did well as an adaptive leader and where she could improve. Did she show emotional intelligence? Explain why or why not.

Ellen opened up to Sara about her harassment experiences with Dr. Tkachyck. As you read this week, an adaptive leader utilizes four key components (emotional intelligence, organizational justice, character, and development) to mobilize coworkers to develop a solution. Analyze both scenarios—when Sara filed a report and when she didn’t. Explain what Sara did well as an adaptive leader and where she could improve. Did she show emotional intelligence? Explain why or why not.

Please view the video below.

What areas of physical examination are important for this patient?

Child and Adolescent Asthma video transcripts

• Assess the case study
• Answer the questions within the case study(1-What preliminary diagnosis are you considering at this time? 2- What areas of physical examination are important for this patient?, 3- What are your 3 diagnostics considerations in order of priority?, 4- List 3 next steps in your diagnostic workup)
• Case study transcripts attached below

Would you support the use of therapeutic cloning in order to produce ES cells for treatment of disease or injury? Why or why not?

Discussion 5: Stem Cell Research

Standing in the voting booth, Raina hesitated. It was November 2, 2004, and she had to make her final decision on how to vote for California Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative. Proposition 71, a $3 billion bond measure, would fund embryonic stem (ES) cell research at facilities across the state for the next ten years. Raina knew that Proposition 71 had widespread support, including that of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and several Nobel Prize-winning scientists, but she was also well aware of the controversy surrounding ES cell research.

Well before Election Day, Raina had taken the time to inform herself about the ongoing ES cell debate. She learned that ES cell lines are obtained by removing a group of cells, called the inner cell mass, from an embryo that is about five days old (also known as a blastocyst), and growing the cells in a Petri dish. The cells are prized by researchers because they are pluripotent, meaning that they have the potential to differentiate into a wide range of different types of cells if properly stimulated. Proponents of ES cell research say that such cells could be used to cure conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, cystic fibrosis, and spinal cord injuries. In addition, ES cells could be studied to help scientists understand the basic processes of human development and used to test new drugs.

ES cell research opponents say that it should be restricted because it requires the destruction of human life. Raina found this issue to be one of great concern. She learned that the ES cell lines currently used for research are obtained from embryos left over from in vitro fertilization (IVF). These embryos are voluntarily donated, and otherwise would be discarded. Raina wondered if embryos, even those so early in development, should be considered human beings. If so, then producing an excess of them for IVF and then discarding them would be wrong. Might it also be wrong to benefit from their sacrifice?

Raina had read about stem cells from other sources besides embryos. Some, known as embryonic germ cells, may be obtained from aborted or miscarried fetuses, but this source is subject to the same sort of controversy as ES cells. Some very promising results have come from research using stem cells taken from the umbilical cord and placenta, and adult tissues such as bone marrow and parts of the brain. In fact, some of these non-embryonic cells have already been used to treat medical conditions, including blood disorders, spinal cord injury and heart attack damage. Such stem cells are obtained without harming embryos or fetuses, and for this reason their use meets with few ethical objections. However, they appear to be more limited in their ability to differentiate than ES cells.

Finally, after weighing the arguments one last time, Raina cast her ballot. The next day, she learned that Proposition 71 had passed with 59% of the vote. Now it is possible that similar initiatives may appear on the ballots of other states.

Should ES cell research prove fruitful, it raises the issue of a particular type of cloning known as therapeutic cloning. Therapeutic cloning would not result in the production of a new human being, but it would mean creating an embryo from which ES cells could be removed that would match the cells of a person’s own body. This would prevent the rejection of transplanted cells by the immune system of the recipient. Would you support the use of therapeutic cloning in order to produce ES cells for treatment of disease or injury? Why or why not?

List three significant details that are evidence of a poorly kept kitchen

 Susan Glaspell’s play “Trifles” (pgs. 693-703)
1. Title Implications: Explain what the word “trifles” means. Do you think it is a
fitting title?
2. Symbolic Setting.  
                Where is the murder site/ farmhouse located?
B.  Inside the house:
List two things that let the audience “feel” how literally cold it is:
3. List three significant details that are evidence of a poorly kept kitchen:  
4.  Thumbnail Sketch: Make a comment about each of the characters (one sentence)
    A.  Attorney Henderson_________________________________________________
    B.  Sheriff Peters ______________________________________________________
    C.  Mr. Hale __________________________________________________________
    D.  Mrs. Peters ________________________________________________________
    E.  Mrs. Hale _________________________________________________________
5.  List two “put down” comments the men make against women:

6.  Why does Mrs. Hale get upset with the men talking about Mrs.Wright?  

7.  Why do you think the women hide the dead bird?

Should society make arrangements to alleviate problems caused by The Robots Who Reduce Information Asymmetry?

Keep in mind that “The Robots” are defined in the assignment as “automated machines, actual robots, computer hardware, software applications, etc.)”

The Humans (Episode 2)

For The Humans that were not replaced by The Robots, the respite was short-lived. They soon discovered that there existed another group of The Humans that had joined forces with The Robots so as to destroy the profit margins of BoltonCorp. This newly discovered group has been known by many names, but the most ubiquitous name is customers. To the chagrin of The Humans Known As Employees, The Humans Known As Customers are just as necessary for the success of BoltonCorp, and their demands must be met.

The Humans Known As Customers have two identifying features that attempt to destroy the profit margins of any firm that crosses their path. First of all, they want the price that they must pay for the goods or services to be as close to zero as possible. Second, they want the value that they receive from the goods or services to be as high as possible. To put this in our Value-Price-Cost (V-P-C) framework, they want to maximize the V-P gap and minimize the P-C gap. Given that all of BoltonCorp’s potential for profits is derived from the P-C gap, efforts to minimize it are alarming, to say the least. (As if this were not alarming enough, BoltonCorp has actually tasked some of The Humans Known As Employees to make every effort to attract MORE of The Humans Known As Customers! In an unbelievable turn of events, BoltonCorp has actually increased its costs through marketing and advertising expenses to create more interactions and engagements with those who want only to reduce the price! Has BoltonCorp lost its mind? Does it even know that maximizing the P-C gap is critical to survival?!)

Meanwhile, The Humans Known As Customers have created and leveraged The Robots Who Reduce Information Asymmetry (Web sites, apps, price comparison software, product reviews, etc.) as their primary weapon against the profit margins of BoltonCorp. Information asymmetry exists when the two parties involved in a transaction have different amounts and types of information. For example, BoltonCorp knows the exact cost to deliver their goods or services, but the price that the The Humans Known As Customers are willing to pay is unknown. Conversely, The Humans Known As Customers know the exact price that each of the goods or services is worth to them, but the true costs are unknown. Both parties in each transaction desire the other side to be as uninformed as possible. Put another way, both sides are trying to maximize information asymmetry.

You are the CEO of BoltonCorp, a multinational firm that operates in 27 countries. You are sure that you need The Humans Known As Customers to be satisfied or else you will go out of business. However, you prefer The Humans Known As Customers to have zero information about your costs. Unfortunately, The Humans Known As Customers have joined forces with The Robots Who Reduce Information Asymmetry and have become much more informed. Some of the information they have curated is sourced from BoltonCorp itself through its participation in trade associations and competitive advertising campaigns and compliance with media outlets that evaluate products and services. BoltonCorp seems to be complicit in its own demise.

Answer one or both of the following questions.

Q1: Should you increase your efforts to hide information from The Humans Known As Customers?

· If no, how will you explain your decision to the board of directors that were hired to monitor your firm and defend shareholder interests?

· If yes, how will you explain your decision to the news media that report on your actions to the entire global society of The Humans Known As Customers?

Q2: Should society make arrangements to alleviate problems caused by The Robots Who Reduce Information Asymmetry?

· If yes, how would you go about getting laws passed that enhance the power of corporations in a global environment that seems to unanimously support the weakening of corporate power?

· If no, how will you explain the impending global layoffs to The Humans Known As Employees?

State the practice question you wish to address in PICOT format

Construction of Clinical/Practice Question and Literature Review

Identify the four research databases that you used to conduct your search for the peer-reviewed articles you selected.

Evidence-Based Project, Part 2: Advanced Levels of Clinical Inquiry and Systematic Reviews

Your quest to purchase a new car begins with an identification of the factors important to you. As you conduct a search of cars that rate high on those factors, you collect evidence and try to understand the extent of that evidence. A report that suggests a certain make and model of automobile has high mileage is encouraging. But who produced that report? How valid is it? How was the data collected, and what was the sample size?

In this Assignment, you will delve deeper into clinical inquiry by closely examining your PICO(T) question. You also begin to analyze the evidence you have collected.

To Prepare:

· Review the Resources and identify a clinical issue of interest that can form the basis of a clinical inquiry.

· Develop a PICO(T) question to address the clinical issue of interest you identified in Module 2 for the Assignment. This PICOT question will remain the same for the entire course. “ Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections”

· Use the key words from the PICO(T) question you developed and search at least four different databases in the Walden Library. Identify at least four relevant systematic reviews or other filtered high-level evidence, which includes meta-analyses, critically appraised topics (evidence syntheses), critically appraised individual articles (article synopses). The evidence will not necessarily address all the elements of your PICO(T) question, so select the most important concepts to search and find the best evidence available.

· Reflect on the process of creating a PICO(T) question and searching for peer-reviewed research.

The Assignment (Evidence-Based Project)

Part 2: Advanced Levels of Clinical Inquiry and Systematic Reviews

Create a 6- to 7-slide PowerPoint presentation in which you do the following:

· Identify and briefly describe your chosen clinical issue of interest.

· Describe how you developed a PICO(T) question focused on your chosen clinical issue of interest.

· Identify the four research databases that you used to conduct your search for the peer-reviewed articles you selected.

· Provide APA citations of the four relevant peer-reviewed articles at the systematic-reviews level related to your research question. If there are no systematic review level articles or meta-analysis on your topic, then use the highest level of evidence peer reviewed article.

· Describe the levels of evidence in each of the four peer-reviewed articles you selected, including an explanation of the strengths of using systematic reviews for clinical research. Be specific and provide examples.

How would Daniel Kahneman describe the thought process you had while making this decision.

Writing Assignment:

For this assignment I want you to describe a personal story where you or another person made a decision(s) with some of the heuristics described in Thinking Fast and Slow. Your story should include:

1.) An introduction explaining your understanding of the assignment and what the decision was.

2.) How would Daniel Kahneman describe the thought process you had while making this decision.

3.) Use the readings and the theories in the readings to describe the process of making this decision and explain why it was finally made and how it would be rationalized by heuristics using evidence from JDM experimental research in your explanation.

Example: Note: Because I’m a psychologist I use APA citation and format when possible but as long as you properly cite in a way that I can find the references and you explain ideas in your own words you will get full credit for structural clarity of your paper.

Discussion

Demonstrate your mastery of these readings by taking the reading quizzes and posting to the discussion