Describe the laws of thermodynamics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Describe the laws of thermodynamics - Essay Example To understand energy better, there has been that study called thermodynamics that seeks to study and understand the various forms of energy. First, energy has been defined as the capability of perform some duty, the ability to bring change. Therefore, in order to understand the thermodynamics, there have been laws established. These laws try to explain how heat also called Thermo travels through other forms hence the term thermodynamics. As such thermodynamics connotes the different character of heat (Bub, 2001, p. 570). Under the first law, Zeroth Law, we are made to understand that if three bodies are at equilibrium, then they would have the same character. For instance, three bodies under similar conditions would have same temperatures in a matter of time. The second law, First Law is understood in the context that some form of energy may be at rest and would be changed if some other force is applied to it. Then we have the Second Law, which seems so difficult to comprehend. It behaves differently under different circumstances (Bub, 2001, p. 572). Lastly, we have the Third Law, which states that there are some things that are totally hard to change for instance cooling something to a particular degree. It is definite that there would be some factors to affect the targeted temperature basing on the already mentioned laws. From the above, it is now important to state the different types of energy. These include fossil fuels, solar energy, nuclear energy, wind power, hydropower, and bio-fuel. All these types have their good and bad sides. With fossil fuels, it is easy to establish the plants and extract. They provide efficient and cost effective energy, and they can be located anywhere. Fossils are also easy to find and cheap to extract. However, they are so much of pollutants that they threaten the environment. Harmful gasses emerge from minerals causing the destruction of the atmospheric layers. Further, by getting them from the earth,

The Wetherspoons company in UK

The Wetherspoons company in UK JD Wetherspoon PLC is a UK based company involved in the development and management of public houses in the UK (REUTERS). The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and operates its business through 793 pubs all over the UK (WETHERSPOON). It provides food and a variety of alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks to its customers at competitive prices. Wetherspoon is known for its cheap drinks and food promotions. It also focuses heavily on its breakfast and coffee menus. In addition to traditional pubs, the company also operates newer styled bars providing a more vibrant and contemporary atmosphere under the Lloyds No 1 brand name. It also operates a relatively new hotel chain consisting of 16 hotels. Wetherspoon was founded by Tim Martin in 1979 with the first pub in London. In its early days, the company grew by opening pubs in unusual former retail locations. Over the 80s the company differentiated itself from other pubs by ridding itself of music, television and games and thus created a unique identity. In 1992 it was listed on the London Stock Exchange as a UK wide chain of around 40 pubs. Going public, provided wetherspoon with the required funding to expand and within the next four years the number of pubs in the chain quadrupled to 160. In the late 90s, the company diversified into the lodging business which still represents a very small proportion of their revenues. Over the past ten years wetherspoon has continued to expand and has successfully established a reputable network of pubs throughout the U.K. This report focuses on critically analysing JD wetherspoons strategic, financial and stock market performance over the past five years in comparison with its competitors and the industry as a whole. In conclusion the report will attempt to make recommendations to a potential investor regarding potential in the company. Strategic Analysis Pubs lie at the heart of British life and culture. Going to pubs has been one of the primary sources of entertainment in the country. According to the Social Issues Research Center (SIRC), an Oxford based not for profit social research organisation, over 75% of the adult British Population goes to pubs and over a third are regulars who go to pubs at least once a week (SIRC). This represents an industry with a customer base of roughly 37 million people. Broad business environment The broad business environment in the UK has changed drastically over the last decade. There have been about 300 pieces of government regulation in the public house sector along with tax increases, smoking ban, and changes in consumer lifestyles and attitudes towards going out and drinking. Pubs have needed to change with the times in order to retain their margins and remain profitable. Those successful have adopted an active strategy of evolving their business with the changing times. A detailed PESTEL analysis has been conducted to analyse the broad business environment and its effects on the Pub industry. Please see Appendix A for the full analysis. The most significant factors responsible for shaping the business environment in the pub industry have been discussed below. Political Factors The UK pub industry has been highly regulated over the past few years. On the other hand, alcohol duty is rapidly increasing and is many times more than in other European nations. This coupled with the rising VAT and increased government activism against binge drinking and alcohol abuse has made it difficult for the pub operators to operate and maintain their margins. Economic Factors The Global economic crisis has led to consumer spending cuts, thereby leading to a decline in pub sales. Moreover rising national minimum wage and aggressive price competition with supermarkets are narrowing pubs margins and leading to reduced profits. However government intention to ban sale of below cost alcohol might come as a slight respite to the pub industry. Social Factors The rising national concern over Britains alcohol habits, have manifested itself in a number of ways. People are beginning to fully understand the problem and the government is taking steps to curb binge drinking and alcohol abuse. The UK drinks industry has launched a huge campaign to address this concern and to make people more aware about the problems associated with irresponsible drinking. Technological Factors The advent of technology has changed societys idea of entertainment, shifting it more inside the confines of the household. This has led to declining public interest in pubs. Pub operators have also increased their investment in technology considerably, in order to enhance the pub experience. These include among others, investments in television systems for sports, electronic point of sale systems and refrigeration systems to store alcohol at precise temperatures. Environmental Factors Pub retailers are becoming environmentally conscious and have taken steps to recycle most of the waste products particularly food, in order to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill sites. This is a great opportunity for pubs to portray themselves as socially responsible. Legal Factors The Licensing law allowed licensed pubs to potentially open 24 hours a day. This has been a huge opportunity for the pub industry and has increased competition. The law is currently under scrutiny by the government. Any changes to it might have a major impact on the industry. The drink driving laws over the past few years have also been made stringent. This has resulted in consumers avoiding driving to pubs and preferring to drink at home in order to avoid committing a drink driving offence. The above factors have had a very profound impact on all the major pub operators. They have responded to the environment and adjusted their strategy in order to succeed in these conditions. There has been a strategic focus on innovation in the pub industry through food development, skills training, interior enhancement etc. With growth in alternative forms of entertainment, socio-political pressures on pub operator margins, and tough economic climate, most of the market players are looking to diversify into the relatively less volatile and high margin businesses. Industry analysis With over 50,000 pubs catering to over 35 million customers, the pub sector represents a highly fragmented industry. The industry consists of a few big players with a chain of pubs throughout the UK. The six biggest pub chains own only about 42% of the total number of pubs. The biggest players in the industry by turnover, along with their main brands and number of outlets are as follows. Source : Mintel Pub Catering UK September 2010 While wetherspoon operates only managed pubs at city centre locations in major towns and cities throughout the UK (MINTEL, 2010), the business models for some of the other major players in the industry are very different and diverse. Punch Taverns operated both leased and managed pubs. Although a major proportion of their business comprises of leased pubs, they still have over 800 managed pubs in the UK. Enterprise Inns on the other hand only operates leased and tenanted pubs. Greene King has a much more segmented business model wherein its operations are divided into over 2400 managed, leased tenanted pubs and restaurants, two breweries, and a number of wholesale depots. Marstons has a similar mix of activities with over 2100 managed and tenanted pubs and bars, five breweries and wholesale facilities. Mitchells and Butlers (MB) operates managed pubs and pub restaurants mainly in the UK, but also has a small number of pub restaurants (43) in Germany. A very small proportion of their total estate consists of leased and franchised sites. They are the largest operator of managed pubs with over 1800 managed pubs in the UK. Competition for the smaller 58% of the pubs is largely limited to players in the local market. For example an individual pub in Leeds only competed with other individual pubs in Leeds. In order to analyse the pub industry in detail a full analysis has been conducted based on Porters five forces framework (Appendix B). The major outcomes of the analysis are as follows Threat of Entry Starting up a pub is reasonably easy process due to an undifferentiated market, and fairly low set up costs. Obtaining the individual pub license is fairly straightforward. Besides easy access to supply channels and low cost capital, have led to a significant threat of entry. However, a large scale of operations, popular brand identity, experience in the industry and established distribution channels are essential to operate competitively in the industry. Moreover increased government legislation and extraordinary levels of taxation in the sector have made it unattractive to new entrants, thus restricting the threat of entry to some extent. Threat of Substitutes Supermarkets, restaurants, hotels and off licensing shops represent a group of substitutes to public houses. Supermarkets in particular enjoy huge economies of scale and are in a position to undercut pub-prices. The perceived performance to price ratio to the consumer defines their choice between pubs and their substitutes. Although supermarkets cannot replicate the value added services provided by pubs, with the global financial crisis affecting disposable incomes, consumers have become highly price sensitive, thus increasing the threat of substitutes to a moderately high level. Bargaining power of buyers Buyers bargaining power has traditionally been moderately high due to low switching costs and easy availability alternatives. Recent trends categorised by declining alcohol consumption, low consumer disposable incomes, consumer preferences of drinking at home have further increased buyers power. Bargaining powers of suppliers The bargaining power of suppliers is quite high as the industry due to the dominance of a concentrated group of suppliers. A number of suppliers own powerful brands and hence pubs have to buy from them in order to satisfy consumer demands. Moreover, supply agreements such as tied house contracts give the suppliers an upper hand. The high power suppliers mean that pub operators, who have their own breweries and wholesale depots, have an obvious advantage. Competitive Rivalry The industry has traditionally been a growth industry with most major players looking to expand and open more pubs. However, pub margins have declined over the years and large volumes have become increasingly critical for pub companies to survive. The threat of competition from supermarkets has also become significant and combined with moderately high threat of entry, and strong bargaining power of customers, has led to increasing levels of competitive rivalry. The industry is categorised by low levels of product differentiation and aggressive price wars between competitors. The declining alcohol consumption, sluggish market growth, high taxes and pub closure rates have resulted in aggressive competition for retaining revenues. The pub industry is in a state of consolidation. The business environment has been tough and falling margins has made it difficult for pubs to meet their costs. With pub closure rates having reached record levels in 2009; all the major pub chains are in the process of reviewing and reorganising their business in order to adapt to the changing conditions. Wetherspoons Strategy Wetherspoon has adhered to simple principles of cleanliness, cheap drinks and good value food. With no music, wetherspoon pubs are seen as places where people can interact with friends over a round of drinks or food. The principle strategy that separates wetherspoon from most of its competitors is its focus on the consumer. Whilst a number of competitors lease their pubs out and are therefore less concerned about the ultimate consumer, wetherspoon makes constant efforts to innovate and enhance the consumer experience. This has given them the competitive edge over their competitors and hence they have chosen to stick to the 100% managed pubs business model. Wetherspoon has traditionally been quick to foresee impending changes in the business environment and strategise in order to adapt. They have stuck to their low price high revenue pricing strategy. Their efforts to provide products at the lowest price possible has been considerable success in recent times as customers have become highly price sensitive and are looking for value for money. They expect their promotions to remain a key driver to high revenues. Wetherspoon is aiming at rapid organic and inorganic growth by opening up new pubs and developing and refurbishing the existing ones. The economic downturn has provided it with the perfect opportunity to expand given low property prices and continued profitability of their pubs. Wetherspoon plans to open 250 new pubs in the period 2009 2014 (RICHARD WACHMAN, 2009). Their expansion strategy involves taking over underperforming bargain pubs and turning them around to profitability. The company rents most its pubs as opposed to buying them in a bid to keep its debt levels low. This has approach has enabled them to reach a position where they have considerable amounts of money to invest whilst their competitors are finding it very difficult to service their rising debts. Wetherspoon is focussing on developing their high margin food and coffee business. Wetherspoon started opening their pubs at 7A.M. to capitalise on early morning coffee and breakfast demand. This has also led to increase in overhead costs but having been rewarded with a 40% increase in coffee and breakfast sales, wetherspoon will continue to focus on the diversified product mix to stabilise and improve their overall margins. The company have invested significantly towards improving their service and standards. They have focussed on personnel and training and are making efforts to enhance customer experience in order to further boost the value provided for the money they charge their customers. Their strategy involves a number of efforts to portray themselves as a responsible business by taking on ethical business practices such as proper implementation of Challenge 21, conserving resources, recycling waste and reducing energy consumption. Wetherspoons chairman, Tim Martin owns around 23% of the company. This helps to reduce agency costs as the objectives of owners and management are likely to be more closely aligned. His 31 year long experience in the industry gives wetherspoon a strategic advantage over its competitors. The companys CEO John Hutson, has also been with the company for more than 20 years. There have been a few problems with the companys management in the past, most significantly the technical breach of the Companies Act 2006 in 2008, when the company failed to file the interim accounts with the registrar of companies prior to paying the 2007 final dividend and repurchasing its shares from the market (JD WETHERSPOON, 2008). Such incidents lead to financial and reputational losses and dent the public image of the firm. More recently, the unexpected resignations of the companys finance director Keith Down and its cheif operating officer Paul Harbottle have raised concerns about the managerial longevity of its board of directors. Financial Statement Analysis This section will analyse wetherspoons financial performance over the past five years as compared to its competitors and the industry in general. Of the competitors identified in the above section, Mitchells Butlers and Punch Taverns have a more similar business model to wetherspoon and hence their performance has extensively been used as a benchmark in this section. Year 2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 Revenues (Â £million) 996.33 955.12 907.50 888.47 847.52 Table: Wetherspoons revenues for the past five years Turnover and Profitability Wetherspoon has experienced consistent growth in revenues over the past decade. Rebasing the revenue at the 2006 levels, wetherspoon seem to have outperformed most of the competition in terms of revenue. Although its revenue growth is one of the highest in the industry, it is still far behind Mitchells Butlers and Punch Taverns in absolute sales numbers. A significant proportion of Wetherspoons revenue comes from its new pubs. Over the past few years absolute revenues from new pubs has remarkably increased with wetherspoon opening more pubs year by year. In 2010, an extraordinary 97.68% of the growth in revenues was attributable to revenues from new pubs while like for like sales only accounted for 2.38% of the revenue growth. This is up from new pubs contributing 77.13% of revenue growth in 2009 and 57% in 2006. This indicates saturation in the revenue capacity of the already established pubs and exemplifies the importance of wetherspoons growth strategy to its revenues. Wetherspoons cost of sales (COS) is the highest amidst the competitors. Over the past five years, the wetherspoons average COS has been over 80% of revenue. This combined with other operating costs leads to an average operating profit of just under 10%. This is considerably low, compared to its competitors specially Enterprise Inns which has an average operating profit of over 55% in the 5 year period. The big difference in operating profit is to a large extent representative of the differences in business models of these companies. As JD Wetherspoon operates managed pubs only, the cost of retail sales is significant. On the other hand, the revenues of some of the competitors like Enterprise Inns, Marstons and Greene King are composed of the less costly rent, lease receipts and proceeds from the wholesale sales from their breweries and other alcohol manufacturing facilities. Since wetherspoons activities are more direct cost intensive, the higher cost of sales is understandable. A unique factor which distinguishes wetherspoon from its competitors is the low and stable debt interest levels. Wetherspoons interest expenses on debt were lower by over 210 million as compared to Punch Taverns for the financial year 2009-10. Besides lower levels of total debt, a low effective weighted average rate of interest on debt has contributed to the smaller interest charge. While wetherspoon are able to borrow at an average of 5.47%, the weighted average interest on debt for Punch Taverns in 6.8% on secured loan notes and 6.5% on finance leases. This is either due to relatively good swap management of interest rate, a safer credit profile, or lower principle amount and maturity period of the loans. This gives wetherspoon a big competitive advantage and enables them to retain a sizeable proportion of their operating profit as Net profit. Excluding the interest charge, Punch Taverns net profit would have been higher than that of wetherspoon. This illustrates the real impact of interest on debt on the relative profitability of these firms. Wetherspoons exceptional items solely comprised of impairment of property and fixed assets and amounted to 10.6 million this year. This represents a steep reduction of 47% from last years figure of 19.9 million and is primarily attributed to no litigation costs and property related write downs. Wetherspoons net profit has been very consistent over the past few years as opposed to its competitors. The tough global economic climate and the hostile business environment in the pub sector have led to a sizeable decline in profits for both Punch Taverns and Mitchell and Butlers. On the other hand wetherspoons consistent growth in revenue combined with low relative impairment losses and interest on debt has enabled it to maintain a profit of 40.78 million in 2010. This is a 61% rise from its profits in 2009. This compared with losses of 84 million and 159.90 million from Mitchells Butlers and Punch Taverns, reflects an overall superior performance by wetherspoon in terms of profitability. As per the chart above, wetherspoons return on assets and return on capital invested are immensely higher than both of its competitors. The two ratios rose 37.42% and 48.78% respectively from their 2009 levels. These jumps are primarily because of the 61% jump in earnings and represents excellent management of resources by the companys management. Wetherspoon rents a majority of its pubs and hence has a low level of noncurrent assets. This is the primary reason for the high asset turnover and return on assets. Wetherspoons revenues are 1.12 times of their total assets as opposed to Punch Taverns 0.22. This astoundingly high ratio represents wetherspoons highly competitive pricing strategy and its low margin, high volume operations. Wetherspoons ability to extract over 3-4 times more revenue than its competitors, gives it a clear competitive edge. Liquidity A majority of the assets in pub businesses tend to be non-current and hence the short term liquidity ratios tend to be lower. Moreover since the current assets in managed and operated pubs are mostly cash and other very liquid items, slightly lower current ratios are not deemed to be very risky. Wetherspoons current ratio of 0.37 is amongst the lowest in the industry. This has been fairly stable over the past five years with a standard deviation of a mere 0.064. Mitchell and Butlers and Punch Taverns have much higher current ratio of 0.64 and 1.27 respectively. Similarly, Wetherspoons quick ratio of 0.18 is nearly a fifth of Punch Taverns ratio. Wetherspoons current and quick ratios are both the lowest and the most stable in the industry with standard deviations of 0.064 and 0.036 respectively. The incredible stability of the ratio indicates a strategic approach to business operations. Very low liquidity ratios generally mean trouble for businesses, as they are indicators of inability to honour short term obligations. Theoretically, if all the current liabilities need to be paid off, wetherspoon will not have to resort to selling its fixed assets in order to arrange for the payment. However, cash payments from its customers along with favourable and stable credit terms with suppliers ensure that wetherspoon are able to manage will low current and quick ratios. They attempt to keep the current ratio at a reasonably low level in order to extracts maximum value from their current assets. Nevertheless, a current ratio of 0.37 is too low compared to the competitors and hence liquidity issues are more likely. Punch Taverns liquidity ratios are a lot higher primarily due to a high amount of receivables mainly caused by its leased and rented pub business. In those businesses, punch taverns tenants are likely to have a payment period within which they can settle the rent/lease payments. This leads to a significant amount of trade receivables. On the other hand almost all of wetherspoons revenues are retail cash revenues and hence the receivables are either due to prepayments or accrued income Wetherspoons receivables are only about 10 of Punch Taverns which it converts into cash within 1.64 days. This is many times lower than its competitors. Moreover inventories held days is a mere 8.5 days representing a quick and highly efficient cash cycle. Gearing Wetherspoons business model of operating with low level of debt is quite unique in the pub industry. The company enjoys the lowest level of long term debt amidst its competitors. Wetherspoons long term debt of 411.64 million is just 8.6% of that of Punch Taverns. MB and Punch Taverns on the other hand have debts of over 2 billion pounds. A low level of debt despite an active growth strategy and a consistent rise in its plant property and equipment (PPE) is a rare phenomenon. Wetherspoons managed to make this happen by renting quite a few of its pubs and managing debt efficiently. The extraordinarily low levels of debt at wetherspoon are matched by an almost equally low relative level of common equity. As a result wetherspoons Debt equity ratio is not as different from its competitors. Wetherspoons total debts are 2.56 times its equity as compared to 2.89 for Mitchells Butlers and 2.42 for Punch Taverns. The ratio used to be 1.83 in 2006, before the company initiated massive share repurchase programme which was largely financed by additional debt. As per the above table, their Total Debt to Earnings before interest and tax ratio has been the lowest in the industry. Over the years, as other companies have taken more debt relative to their earnings, wetherspoon has continued to utilise its debt with the same efficiency in order to generate earnings. Dividends Wetherspoons dividend payout ratio is incredibly high for a company which is in the growth stage of its lifecycle. In 2010 wetherspoon paid 64.19% of its net income as dividends. This represents a 292% jump from the 2006 dividend payout and is the highest in the industry. While Mitchells Butlers and Punch Taverns havent paid dividends in the past two years, wetherspoon has continued to pay dividends at an average of about 39% of their net profit in the past 5 years. Wetherspoon declared a yearlong dividend freeze in during the financial year 2008-09 in order to direct its cash flows towards debt reduction. The freeze was ended in March 2010 once the new 530 million banking facility was renegotiated. Now with the financing issues sorted, a progressive dividend policy can be expected from wetherspoons management as a measure to signal a bullish future outlook. Cash Flow Analysis In 2009, the pub industry experienced a sharp decline in cash flow as most of the players make efforts to deleverage themselves post the credit crunch. Wetherspoons went from being a cash generator of 7.15 million in 2007 to a cash sink of 2.6 million in 2008. The financing outflows jumped threefolds mainly due to dividend payments of 17.38 million and repurchases of one million shares from the market. The net cash flow continued to be negative in 2009 primarily due to the repayment of long term debts to the tune of around 45 million pounds. Since then the cash position of the company has recovered and the company was a cash generator of 2.48 million in 2010. Wetherspoons has a positive growth in cash inflow from operating activities, but the overall level of operating inflow is low. While Punch Taverns operating inflows are declining due to dwindling revenue and profits, Mitchells and Butlers in contrast, enjoy a much better cash flow from operating activities and hence has access to a bigger pool of funds for its investing and financing activities. Wetherspoons growth policy has led to increased cash outflows from investing activities by over twice the amount in 2006. On the contrary Mitchells Butlers has decreased their cash outflows in investing activities. This is due to their strategic sale of a number of pubs in order to concentrate on the high margin food business. Wetherspoons repayment of the USD 140 million private placement was accompanied by a further advancedment of 96.68 million pounds of long term loans. As a result the cash outflow from financing activities decreased significantly from last year. The total cash flow position would have been much worse, if the company hadnt put a freeze on dividends in 2009. Wetherspoons decision to not declare a final dividend for the financial year 2008-2009 ensured prevented a further cash deficit, given the high levels of capital expenditure in 2009. Accounting policies and Problems in Comparison Given the immaterial size of the companies hotel business, and no international operations, wetherspoon doesnt split its results by business or geographical segments in accordance with the IAS 14. Wetherspoon follows a historic cost model and does not revalue its non current assets. Punch Taverns follow the same method, however Mitchells and Butlers actively revalue its assets. This can lead to distortions in actual value of non current assets and makes them uncomparable. For example Wetherspoon unlike Mitchells Butlers ignores the effect of inflation on the value of its assets. While wetherspoon depreciates fixtures and fittings over a time period of 3-10 years, Mitchells and Butlers do it over a period of 3-20 years. This can further make the asset values uncomparable. Stock Market Analysis The FTSE 350 index seems to be very highly correlated to the FTSE 350 Travel and Leisure index. Prior to the subprime crisis, the travel and leisure index seems to be doing marginally better, while post crisis, the FTSE 350 has slightly outperformed the FTSE 350 travel and leisure index. JD Wetherspoon has outperformed both the indices almost all the time during the last 5 years except for a brief period in 2008 because of the immediate effect of the economic crisis. As per the above graph, JD wetherspoon has consistently outperformed Punch Taverns throughout the past five years. It has also better than Mitchells Butlers since the middle of 2008. This is primarily due to relatively higher revenues and profits at wetherspoon. Wetherspoons expansion strategy has enhanced its future outlook and given a boost to the companys share price. January 06 March 07 The period from Jan 2006 until the beginning of 2007 saw a very sharp increase in wetherspoons share price. While the travel and leisure index only rose up by around 25%, wetherspoon rose by a phenomenal 120%. The football world cup kick-started the 8 month long rally in the travel leisure index. Wetherspoon took advantage of the opportunity by abandoning its no television policy and showing the matches in its pubs. Moreover, they also started to establish a very strong foothold in the coffee and breakfast market. Besides strong financial performance in 2006, wetherspoons purchase of 800,000 of its own shares in September 2006 (REUTERS, 2006) , the interest of Schroder Investment Management in 12.05% of its total common shares, along with significant interests from Aegon UK and Global Value fund Sicav, were one of the primary reasons why wetherspoons rose to its all time high level of 761 pence in March 2007. April 07 September 2008 The smoking ban was implemented in the UK with effect from July 2007. As expected, the ban put immense downward pressures on pub revenues, thereby leading to a crash in share prices. The travel and leisure index crashed around 30% by the end of the year and wetherspoon lost 50% of its value. 2008 presented even worse economic conditions for the pub industry with the advent of the credit crisis. All major pub operators continued to face loss of revenues and hence saw a significant decline in their share price. The extreme volatility in credit markets forced Mitchells Butlers to shelve a 4.5 billion pound property deal (BLAND, Ben, 2007) leading to losses of 274 million pounds on hedges tied to the transaction. Moreover, failed efforts by Punch Taverns to acquire Mitchells Butlers, led to further decline in share prices of both companies. On the other hand Wetherspoon continued to strengthen its revenues due to increased revenues in its food business. In September 2008, wetherspoon d eclared a 5.5% increase in sales and a 12p per share dividend as opposed to zero dividends and huge losses by punch taverns. As a result wetherspoons share price started to consolidate and by the end of

Capital Punishment Is Necessary Essay -- Pro-Death Penalty Essay

Capital punishment and the practice of the death penalty is an issue that is passionately debated in the United States. Opponents of the death penalty claim that capital punishment is unnecessary since a life sentence accomplishes the same objective. What death penalty opponents neglect to tell you is that convicted murders and child rapists escape from prison every year(List of prison escapes, 2015). As I write this essay, police are searching for two convicted murders who escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility in New York on June 6th, 2015. The ONLY punishment from which one cannot escape is the death penalty. Often times, jail sentencing does not do justice to murder. Sometimes, crime is so cruel that there is no realistic punishment for it. There are too many victims out there that have suffered and their attacker received a painless life sentence. Painless, when comparing to horrifying murders that happen everyday. As Paul A. Winters says, If a person commits a gruesome murder, he deserves to be put to death (Winters et al. 154). So many murderers are convicted of man slaughter and only receive years in jail. Their victims feel the pain, but imagine the pain and sorrow the families of the victims feel. The Death penalty is the only justifying sentence for a murderer. The Death penalty is effective because it deters crime. According to polls, more than 70 percent of Americans feel that murderers deserve the death penalty (Winters et al. 168). Although several people are in favor of the death penalty, abolitionist claim there are some alternatives, they say that life without parole serves just as well (Guilmette 2). Many citizens would agree that putting away the murderer is effective, but just isn t enough. Capital punishment is the most effective weapon against the murderers because no executed murderer ever has had the chance to kill again. Over the years, many people would say that public safety has become meaningless and not worth defending anymore. Every country in the world is ready and willing to kill thousands, even millions of human beings in brutal, merciless way to defend their nation from the aggression of other countries. Why public safety doesn t deserve as much respect and protection as a nation s national security does? In fact, it can be argued that supporting armies and war is far more barbarous than the death penalty... ...er bother mankind, but there are others like him. Australia has abolished the death sentence. They can no longer control the men like Panzram. Martin Bryant shot and killed 35 innocent people in Tasmania. The people of Australia are now supporting him. There is one option, which Australia no longer has. They cannot put this man to death, they are not allowed. We must keep the death penalty for the people like this; people who like to kill and that don't fear imprisonment. The Death penalty is the only justification for people like these. Works Cited Bedau, Hugo Adam. The Death Penalty in America Statements in favor of the Death Penalty. Ed. J. Edgar Hoover. Chicago: Alding publishing company, 1964. 130-135 Kronenwetter, Michael. Capital Punishment . Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004. Winters, Paul A. et al. The Death Penalty. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 2006. DiLulio, John J. Abolish the Death penalty, officially . May 2007. Online. UMI ProQuest Direct. (27 May 2008). Ramirez, Richard. Carl Panzram, 1861-1930 1996. (28 June, 2008). "List of prison escapes" Wikipedia 2015. Web. 8 June 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prison_escapes

Employee Empowerment Essay

The empowered employee is said to respond more quickly to customer service requests, act to rectify complaints and be more engaged in service encounters. A more reflective approach suggests there are different managerial perceptions of empowerment, resulting in empowerment being introduced in different service organisations in different ways, and presenting different benefits to managers and working experiences for the empowered. This paper suggests that a framework of analysis needs to be developed which goes beyond the more simplistic claims which tend to discuss empowerment as that which is labelled empowerment. The success or failure of an initiative which claims to be empowering will be determined by the experience of being empowered. Employee empowerment in services 169 Introduction Employee empowerment has been hailed as a management technique which can be applied universally across all organisations as a means of dealing with the needs of modern global business (Barry, 1993: Johnson, 1993; Foy, 1994), and across all industrial sectors. However, the service sector is said to involve a unique cluster of tension which managers, employees and customers have to address (Heskett et al. 1990), and the empowerment of employees is an approach which has been advocated for service sector management (Sternberg, 1992; Lockwood, 1996). Investigation of the use of empowerment in service sector organisations reveals a number of different forms of empowerment being applied in practice. These different approaches evidence a range of managerial meanings being applied which are based on different perceptions of business problems, motives for introducing empowerment and perceived benefits to be gained from empowerment. The fact that empowerment can be used as a term to describe different initiatives provides a convenient rhetoric which suggests that empowerment is â€Å"in principle a good thing† and produces a â€Å"win-win† situation for employees and managers. In part these different perceptions of the service need and the appropriate match with the management of employees, is a consequence of the different service offers being made to customers. Some service offers require employees to exercise discretion in detecting and delivering customer service needs. In other cases, the service offer is highly standardised and require employees to practise service delivery in â€Å"the one best Personnel Review, Vol. 28 No. 3, 1999, pp. 169-191. # MCB University Press, 0048-3486 Personnel Review 28,3 170 way†. Reflection on both the specific applications entitled â€Å"empowerment† and on variations in the characteristics of the service offer, question the somewhat simplistic claims for the universality of empowerment, and the supposed benefits which ensue. This paper is based on a cluster of research projects which have investigated different approaches to empowerment in similar service businesses: Harvester Restaurants, TGI Fridays and McDonald’s Restaurants Limited operate branded restaurant chains. All are to some extent â€Å"McDonaldized† (Ritzer, 1993), they use highly standardised menus, â€Å"one best way† production techniques which assist in the delivery of consistency and predictability to customers. That said, these organisations differ in the service offer to customers, particularly in the extent that employees exercise discretion to meet customer service needs. The approach outlined in the paper is informed by these cases studies, though the key concern of the paper is to establish a framework for understanding empowerment in the service sector which questions the universalistic and evangelical claims of some of the advocates of empowerment. This framework of analysis suggests that there is a need to approach the study of empowerment in a systematic manner which goes beyond the label. According to Conger and Kanungo (1988) empowerment describes working arrangements which engage the empowered at an emotional level. They istinguish between concepts of empowerment which are relational and motivational. As a relational concept empowerment is concerned with issues to do with management style and employee participation. As a motivational construct empowerment is individual and personal, it is about discretion, autonomy, power and control. This motivational aspect to empowerment becomes the defining feature of the initiative. The empowered must feel a sense of personal worth, with the ability to effect outcomes and having the power to make a difference (van Oudtshoorn and Thomas, 1993; Johnson, 1993). Advocates of empowerment claim that employee empowerment helps firms to enthuse and enable employees to take responsibility for the service encounter (Barbee and Bott, 1991). The paper identifies four different types, or managerial intentions, for empowering employees, which in turn impact on the precise form the arrangements take. Following from this, and so as to better understand the detailed changes in working arrangements which claim to be empowering, the paper provides a five dimensional framework of analysis. By contrasting and comparing the detail of the changes to what the newly empowered employee can now do, it is possible to establish the boundaries and limits which are placed on empowerment in any particular context. Given the need to engage employees at an emotional level and to generate the appropriate feelings about the service encounter, the impact of each initiative on the employee is a crucial ingredient in meeting the objectives set. This paper suggests that there are likely to be a number of factors which generate positive or negative feelings about a particular initiative. At root this will be concerned with the empowered employee’s perception of the state rather Employee than the form of empowerment. Investigation into empowerment must, empowerment in therefore, incorporate an analysis of how individuals feel about the result of services being empowered. Finally this paper suggests that beneath the rhetoric of empowerment, service firms are in different positions in relation to their customers and markets, and 171 this will impact on how managers perceive and interpret empowerment. Factors such as the degree of customisation/standardisation and the relative importance of tangibles/intangibles in customer satisfaction are likely to be influential in determining the locus of control of employee performance. Empowerment in the service sector Interest in employee empowerment in service industry firms has been associated with many of the key issues related to employment practices in general, namely in gaining competitive advantage through improved service quality. Paradoxically, however, attempts to gain competitive advantage through service quality can present some major problems for service operators. In the first instance, there are difficulties in defining the successful service encounter, particularly in the intangible sources of customer satisfaction. Customers vary considerably in their expectations of service quality (Rust and Oliver, 1994). Indeed individual customers may define and re-define their needs from service deliverers as their circumstances, experiences and expectations change. In turn, customer evaluation of a successful service encounter, and thereby repeat visits, will be a product of the extent to which their experience matches their expectations (Foulkes, 1994). Whilst there are these difficulties in defining successful encounters, many writers agree that â€Å"front line staff† (Johnston, 1989; Horovirz and Cudenne-Poon, 1990; Barbee and Bott, 1991) play a crucial role in the service encounter. There are in fact, some base level customer expectations of employee performance, positive interpersonal contacts, service deliverer attitudes, courtesy and helpfulness that are all closely related to customer evaluations of service quality (Adelmann et al. 1994). Hence human resources management and the strategies needed to engage employees emotionally in the objective of customer service take on a new and urgent meaning. This leads to the second difficulty for service deliverers. Unlike other resources used within an organisation there is a problem in predicting the levels of output, efficiency and general effectiveness which will be the outcome of a given level of labour employed. Human resources can be uniquely unstable. Under certain circumstances they physically leave the organisation, they may collectively resist management instructions or individually just not give â€Å"a fair days work for a fair days pay†. Clearly, these are problems shared by all employers but given the pivotal role of service delivery employees these issues are of particular concern to service sector employers. The response of many employers in the sector has been to look to manufacturing industry for models of control which minimised the significance Personnel Review 28,3 172 of individual idiosyncrasies. What Levitt called the â€Å"production-line approach to service† (1972) or the â€Å"industrialisation of service† (1976). Based on essentially Taylorist (1947) views of job design, they establish standardised procedures and one best way of doing each task. In many cases this extended to scripting the interaction with clients and left little to the discretion of the individual service deliverers. The consequence of this has been the rapid growth of organisations specialising in high volume, mass produced, standardised services which minimised the significance of labour inputs (Bowen and Lawler, 1992) in the delivery of predictable tangible and intangible product attributes to customers. Ritzer’s (1993) somewhat overblown comments about the â€Å"McDonaldization of Society† are little more than observations about the application of manufacturing techniques to the production of mass services, which are themselves but one of a number of service offers (Wood, 1997). Whilst this strategy was tremendously successful over the two decades preceding 1990, many of these operators now see the limits of standardisation and control. A point largely ignored by Ritzer. Apart from high labour turnover which has been endemic in many of these firms, any attempt to compete on service quality cuts across the rigidities of the production line approach. Firstly, even the most standardised operation encounters occasions when customer service needs are difficult to predict and a quick response is needed at the point of the service encounter. A small child in a family group at a McDonald’s is getting restive and the quick intervention of a crew member with a balloon or a hat calms the child. A customer knocks over his coffee in a Welcome Break and the service operative replaces it without charge. Whilst these responses may well be prescribed in operational manuals, they still require employees to act with initiative and discretion. The intangible element of the service encounter requires some form employee of participation, even in highly standardised and Tayloristic situations. The second problem is in the quality of the service encounter itself. Hochschild’s (1983) work with air stewardesses reveals much in common with â€Å"the commercialisation of feelings† across the service sector in general. She makes the point that seeming to love the job becomes part of the job; and managing the appropriate feelings of enjoyment of the customer helps the worker in this effort. Fineman (1993) also comments on the interplay between feelings and performance in service interactions. Enabling employees to sense their own power and the significance of their role in the service drama may help employees manage the emotions required of their performance. It is here that empowerment of employees seems to offer the prize of generating feelings of commitment to the service encounter (Barbee and Bott, 1991) with the appropriate amount of power and the freedom to use that power (van Oudtshoorn and Thomas, 1993) to meet customer needs as they arise. The extract below is from a series of advertisements by Marriott Hotels which make play of the benefits of empowered employees. It highlights the aspirations for empowerment. Here the night porter’s feelings of commitment to â€Å"delighting the customer† perfectly match the organisation’s commitment to its clients. The Employee advertisement also confirms that empowerment, service quality and empowerment in organisational attempts to gain competitive advantage through improved services service quality are entwined in some operations. It was more than considerate of the Marriott night porter to trace my lost wallet  ± it meant he had to re-trace my entire journey through Vienna. All I could remember was that I’d been travelling on a Southern District streetcar. Miraculously, from this tiny piece of information, the night porter from the Marriott hotel managed to trace the route I’d travelled, the particular streetcar I was on, and my wallet. I was astonished that he went out of his way so much to help me. But, as I now know, everyone at Marriott works this way. personally assuming responsibility for the needs of every guest. It’s called Empowerment. And thankfully, they never seem to find anything too much trouble. (Always in the Right Place at the Right Time, Marriott). 173 For the advocates of empowerment, empowered employees willingly take responsibility for the service encounter, they respond more quickly to customer needs, complaints and changes in customer tastes (Barbee and Bott, 1991). The organisation will experience lower labour turnover (Cook, 1994), there will be high staff morale and employees will take responsibility for their own performance and its improvement (Barry, 1993). Employees’ inherent skills and talents will be put to work for the organisation (Ripley and Ripley, 1993) so as to produce more satisfied customers (Johns, 1993) and greater profits (Plunkett and Fournier, 1991). Research methods The observations reflected in this paper are based on case studies of three organisations who make different service offers to their customers, and who manage their employees in different ways. Each is attempting to empower employees to take responsibility for the service encounter, though each expects employees to exercise discretion in different ways. The case studies provide a valuable context through which to explore employment practice in context (Hartley, 1994), though these are published in detail in other publications (Lashley, 1995; Ashness and Lashley, 1995; Lashley, 1997). This paper reflects on the findings from the case studies to build the framework for analysing empowerment. In each case, the study involved semi-structured interviews with senior managers to explore their perceptions of empowerment, intentions for the initiative and the perceived benefits ensuing from the changes. Interviews were also conducted with the immediate line managers of the empowered. Again the intention was to explore the detail of the changes on the ground, and most importantly the practical responses from both middle managers and those line managers whose role might have been changed by the introduction of empowerment. Finally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the â€Å"empowered†, that is the subjects of the initiative. In particular, the study explored their perceptions of the changes, the boundaries in which they had to operate and the extent to which employees developed a sense of personal efficacy. Personnel Review 28,3 174 The semi-structured interviews identified key themes which needed to be explored with each respondent. For managers and those responsible for introducing and managing the initiative (the empowering), the questioning explored the background to the change in the way the organisation was to be managed  ± perceived problems and views as to what contribution empowerment ould make to overcoming the problems. Having established the managerial intentions for empowerment, interviewees were asked to describe the form of empowerment and the changes in working arrangements which ensued. They were then asked to comment on the success and weakness of the changes, and comment on any plans for the future development of the approach. For the supposedly empowered, questioning followed similar broad themes but from their perspective. In other words, to what extent did they share managerial views of problems and benefits of empowerment? They were asked to comment on how the nature of their work had changed and how they felt about it. Fundamentally did they feel empowered? Flowing from this, the interviews explored changes in work behaviour and their perceptions of the benefits and limitations of the initiative. Table I shows the total number of interviews in each of the three case study organisations. The table indicates the number of interviews that were conducted with â€Å"empowering† and the â€Å"empowered† in each organisation. The case studies which inform this paper were founded on an approach which suggests that empowerment needs to be based on the systematic exploration of each aspect of empowerment. The more evangelical claims suggest that empowerment of employees will result in an almost automatic improvement in organisational performance (Foy, 1994; Stewart, 1994). These models are simplistic and do not take into account, different managerial intentions, different forms introduced, differences in what employees can now do, different needs of employees to feel empowered and different impacts on the resulting performance exercised by employees. It is more likely that a multistage model is needed to analyse initiatives and outcomes. Figure 1 suggests a model for studying empowerment which assumes that the organisational benefits will not be a simple and direct trade-off. Managerial perceptions of what empowerment is and the benefits it is supposed to deliver will shape the form that is introduced (quality circles, autonomous groups, etc. ), which in turn will shape what employees can now do that they did not do before the change. This in turn has an impact on the feelings of those empowered, do they Number of interviews with â€Å"empowering† 11 8 11 Number of interviews with â€Å"empowered† 28 38 25 Organisation Table I. Numbers of interviews in three case study organisations Harvester Restaurants McDonald’s Restaurants TGI Friday Restaurants Managerial intentions Forms of empowerment Change in working arrangements The state of empowerment Change in work behaviour Organisation objectives: – improved service quality – increased service productivity – reduced labour turnover Employee empowerment in services 175 Figure 1. The form, state and outcomes of empowerment experience the state of empowerment, and if they do, does the state of empowerment result in improved work performance which then results in the desired organisational objective? Managerial intentions for empowerment Once we move away from the generalised claims for empowerment it is possible to see that the term itself is being used to describe a wide variety of practice in service delivery. In the Accor group of hotels, for example, empowerment has been used to describe the use of quality circles (Barbee and Bott, 1991); in McDonald’s Restaurants, suggestion schemes (Bowen and Lawler, 1992); â€Å"Whatever it Takes† employee training programmes in Scott’s Hotels (Hubrecht and Teare, 1993); employee involvement in devising departmental service standards in Hilton International Hotels (Hirst, 1991); autonomous work groups and removal of levels of management in Harvester Restaurants (Pickard, 1993); and the delegation of greater authority to service managers in British Telecom (Foy, 1994). Investigation of these specific initiatives reveals that there is considerable overlap between employee empowerment, employee participation, employee involvement and even employee commitment. Often these terms are used interchangeably (Collins, 1994; Cotton, 1993; Denton, 1994; Plunkett and Fournier, 1991). Thus quality circles, autonomous work groups, suggestion schemes and various employee share ownership programmes are frequently discussed under these different headings without defining the boundaries between them. Clearly, these initiatives do have similar antecedents in that they aim to meet, in varying ways, the individual employee’s psychological needs (Watson, 1986). In addition there is similarity in the intended outcomes. Marchington et al. (1992) say that employee involvement is used to describe initiatives which are largely designed and initiated by management and intended to improve communication with employees, generate greater commitment and enhance employee contributions to the organisation. This Personnel Review 28,3 176 might equally be said of the intentions for employee empowerment (Sewell and Wilkinson, 1992). Indeed empowerment is an integral feature of the â€Å"soft† version of human resource management (Legge, 1995). Watson (1986) suggests that employment strategy tends to wax and wane between managerial concern for control over employee performance and concern for employee commitment. Whilst this is a useful metaphor which does indeed suggest that employment strategy is both dynamic and political, it does suggest that a shift towards employee commitment results in less organisational control. A view frequently expressed by line mangers is that empowerment of subordinates will result in a loss of control. In reality empowerment as an employment strategy is concerned with both commitment and control of employees. It is more a shift in the locus of control (Friedman, 1977). Figure 2 provides a model which suggests that different employment strategies might shift the locus of control along a continuum between externally imposed control of the individual to internally generated self control. In effect employee empowerment, â€Å"increases [top management’s] control whilst creating the impression of lessening it† (Robbins, 1983, p. 67). Under this model, production line approaches to service delivery rely largely on imposed external controls in which employee commitment is less significant for effective performance, it is typical of Edwards’ (1979) â€Å"technological control†. Employee empowerment, in its more participative form, is more reliant on internalised self-control, where the employee works to the desired standard and controls their own performance accordingly (Salaman, 1979). Personal commitment to these standards then becomes a crucial ingredient. The empowered employee has much in common with Friedman’s (1977) employee with â€Å"responsible autonomy†. Having said that, it is possible to detect variations in the locus of control implied within different definitions of empowerment. Bowen and Lawler (1991), suggest that empowerment is defined as â€Å"management strategies for sharing decision making power† (p. 49). Others (Barbee and Bott, 1991) define empowerment as being â€Å"the act of vesting substantial responsibility in the people nearest the problem† (p. 28). These two different phrases reflect more than mere semantic differences. They reflect different assumptions about the nature of empowerment and the power of the empowered. The first implies a shift in authority whilst the second is concerned with a shift in responsibility. Traditional Technological Social Self Organisation Structure and Procedures Technology Leadership/ Management Style Work Groups Empowerment Professionalism Figure 2. Employment strategies and the locus of control External Control Internal Control My own investigation in the hospitality sector suggests that there are probably Employee four distinct but overlapping managerial intentions for empowerment (Lashley, empowerment in 1994). These are summarised in Table II. In principle they reflect the variations services in the assumptions discussed above, but there do appear a range of managerial intentions which have their roots in other initiatives mentioned earlier. For this reason the four categories are labelled with terms which reflect their 177 antecedents. There are three types of managerial intentions for empowerment of operatives. Empowering through participation is closely related to the Bowen and Lawler definition because they are chiefly concerned with empowering employees with decision making authority in some aspect of the work which had been formerly the domain of management. Harvester Restaurant’s use of semi-autonomous work teams (Ashness and Lashley, 1995) provides a good example. Employees not only dealt with and rectified customer complaints, they also were involved in receiving goods, securing the building and â€Å"cashing up the tills†. Empowerment through involvement is chiefly concerned with gaining from the experiences and expertise of service deliverers through consultation and joint problem solving. Managers continue to make the decision but with inputs from employees. The study of TGI Fridays (Lashley, 1997), confirms that pre-service team briefing sessions are used to both provide employees with immediate information about the operation and company objectives, but are also used to test out ideas with employees and gain suggestions. Employees have little authority to make decisions, even complaint handling is the responsibility of managers. Attempts at empowerment through commitment overlap and interrelate with both these other categories because it is hoped that improved employee commitment will result from the changed arrangements. However, some initiatives are distinctly aimed at winning Managerial meaning Empowerment through participation Initiatives used Autonomous work groups â€Å"Whatever it takes† training Job enrichment Works councils Employee directors Quality circles Team briefings Suggestion schemes Employee share ownership Profit-sharing and bonus schemes Quality of working life programmes (job rotation, job enlargement) Job redesign Re-training Autonomous work groups Job enrichment Profit-sharing and bonus schemes Empowerment through involvement Empowerment through commitment Empowerment through delayering Table II. Managerial meanings of empowerment Personnel Review 28,3 178 greater commitment to organisational service quality objectives. As with Barbee and Bott’s definition, these initiatives are ultimately about employees taking more responsibility for the service encounter through a variety of training programmes and appeals to both extrinsic and intrinsic sources of job satisfaction. McDonald’s crew training includes a customer care programme which aims to sensitise employees to customer service objectives. Crew are encouraged to intervene in the service situation, as in the example given above. They can give away some low cost gifts to children. The limits and boundaries of what they are empowered to do are narrow and restricted. Whilst the three foregoing intentions are typically concerned with employees, particularly front line personnel, some initiatives empower managers within the management hierarchy. These I have called empowerment through delayering. The restructuring of the McDonald’s MCOPCO organisation (Lashley, 1995), and the removal of layers of management in the external management of Harvester Restaurants (Pickard, 1993), or empowerment of hotel managers (Jones and Davies, 1991) are examples. Here the intention is greater managerial focus on the source of organisational profits  ± the units, greater responsiveness to customer needs, reduced management costs and the encouragement of entrepreneurialism. In the McDonald’s case, two levels of management were removed and the unit managers were â€Å"empowered†. In reality it meant that they were allowed to operate with reduced contact with their Area Supervisors. In this case, empowerment of the unit managers meant they were not as closely supervised by their superordinates and were â€Å"left to get on with it†. In suggesting these four features of managerial intentions I do not wish to imply that these are mutually exclusive. Whilst managers in some organisations may well be more concerned with one meaning more than others, it is more likely that managerial actions will be driven by a mixture of motives, and hence will encompass more than one, or all, of these. However, it is useful to suggest that managerial intentions are different and there are different managerial perceptions about empowerment and the benefits it will deliver. The form of empowerment Whatever the intentions of managers, initiatives which claim to be empowering will be translated into concrete practical arrangements which set the limits and boundaries within which the empowered operate (Ripley and Ripley, 1993; Potter, 1994). Somewhere, these arrangements will clarify just what the empowered have the authority to do and for what they will be responsible. It is here within the practical objective limits set by management that tensions between the perceptions and needs of management are likely to be set against the perceptions and needs of the empowered (Conger and Kanungo, 1988). Ultimately, the success of a particular initiative will be dependent in the first instance on the empowered being given the authority and freedom to make decisions which they themselves consider to be valuable, significant and important. Whilst this will clearly be subjectively assessed by individuals, who ill differ in their evaluation of these arrangements, it is important to arrive at Employee an objective analysis of the changes which have been introduced. empowerment in Our research has identified a number of dimensions of empowerment which services provide a means of describing, analysing and locating the form of empowerment being introduced in a particular company (Lashley and McGoldrick, 1994). These dimensions are listed in Table III. Essentially they 179 provide a mechanism for identifying the boundaries and contexts set for the form of empowerment being introduced. Consideration of these themes creates a framework for understanding the likely meanings of a particular form of empowerment within a given context. Each of the five dimensions is based on a bi-polar model which assumes a traditional â€Å"production line†, â€Å"top-down† approach at one extreme and a more empowered approach at the other. The task dimension considers the discretion which is allowed to the empowered in performing the task for which they were employed. To what extent are the empowered allowed to interpret the tangible and intangible aspects of the organisation’s services so as to satisfy customers. To what extent are the brand attributes, prices, product sizes, etc. , fixed, or to what extent can they be customised? To what extent does the need to control these issues set limits on the ability of an organisation to empower its members? In the cases we have studied there are frequently limits put on the employee because of the brand attributes being marketed. Hence employees in McDonald’s Restaurants and Harvester Restaurants were not allowed to alter menus or provide dishes off the menu, not even unit managers were allowed to make these decisions. In TGI Fridays employees could get a non-menu item produced if it involved ingredients which were stocked. In most cases, and to varying degrees, employees had some discretion over the service encounter. As stated earlier, McDonald’s had scripted the service in the past, but had dropped this in recent years as part of a strategy to improve service quality. Harvesters and TGI Fridays both relied on training and service values to guide the employee in their interactions with customers. An employee of TGI Fridays reported an incident that seemed typical. A customer had asked for a cigar, the company do Employee involvement in production line organisation (High volume, standardised, short time period, simple technology, theory X organisations) Low discretion Seeks permission Limited to task Calculative Control-oriented Employee involvement in empowered organisation (Personalised service, long time period, complex technology, unpredicatable, theory Y organisations) High discretion Responsible autonomy Influences the direction of policy Moral Trust-oriented Dimensions Task Task allocation Power Commitment Culture Table III. Five dimensions of empowerment Personnel Review 28,3 180 not stock cigars, so the employee went next door to the tobacconist and bought one. The guest was very pleased and wrote a letter to the company congratulating it on its excellent service. The task allocation dimension considers the amount of responsible autonomy an individual employee or group of employees have in carrying out their tasks. To what extent are they directed, or need to ask permission to complete their tasks? To what extent do company policies and procedures lay down what has to be done and then let them get on with it? To what extent are there tensions between responsible utonomy and the objectives for effective performance set by senior managers. In McDonald’s Restaurants, a â€Å"one best way† approach involves a narrow span of control and close supervision of both â€Å"crew† and managers. TGI Fridays, was also tightly controlled in the tangibles, again one best way procedures and close supervision of standards meant that employee performance was directly controlled. However, food and drinks service staff are encouraged to use their initiative in finding ways to customise the service interaction. Having said that, staff are not generally allowed to provide discounts or free meals to customers who complain. In Harvester Restaurants staff exercised more responsible autonomy, they were empowered to deal with complaints, to give free drinks, etc. , without reference to a â€Å"team manager† where they felt it would resolve a situation to the guest’s satisfaction. In some situations staff were able to decide on staffing levels, order stock and decide on how best to meet sales targets without the immediate involvement of the team manager. The power dimension is concerned with the feelings of personal power which individuals experience as the result of being empowered. What is it that the empowered are empowered to do? To what extent is their power limited to tasks? To what extent does it involve issues of policy at a more senior level (Marchington et al. , 1992)? To what extent do management efforts to share power foster feelings of empowerment in employees? What tensions are there between strategic objectives and limits on individual power? In all the cases included in these studies, arrangements were limited to what has been described as being â€Å"task participation† (Geary, 1994). In other words the empowered employee was not able to influence the policies which influence them. Thus at Harvester Restaurants, food service staff were able to decide as a team how best to achieve a sales target which required employees to sell one extra side order per table (Pickard,1993), but had no influence over this as an objective. The commitment dimension explores the assumptions about the source of employee commitment and organisational compliance in a particular form of empowerment. To what extent do they follow patterns in traditional organisations which assume that commitment is calculative and based on material extrinsic rewards (Etzioni, 1961). To what extent does the initiative assume a moral commitment, as the individual takes a personal sense of ownership in their activities and work? To what extent is there recognition that individuals may differ in their attachments and needs from work? How, if at all do the changes address needs for a sense of equity and fairness in the benefits from empowerment? Interviews with employees at Harvester Restaurants Employee revealed that employees working in autonomous work teams liked the empowerment in experience. Many reported that they â€Å"liked the extra responsibility† (Ashness services and Lashley, 1995, p. 27) and some that this was the first time they had been given responsibility. In TGI Fridays, employees reported that they enjoyed the â€Å"atmosphere† and that â€Å"you could have a good laugh†, but many also reported 181 that â€Å"they were working here because the money is good†. Employees are guaranteed a low basic pay, but can substantially add to this through a bonus on food sales and tips. Employees and managers both stated employees could earn over ? 0,000 per annum, some even as much as ? 30,000. The culture dimension examines the extent to which organisational culture fosters feelings of empowerment. To what extent can it be typified as being oriented towards openness, learning, and employee contributions (ChristensenHughes, 1992) and creating a climate of trust (Sternberg, 1992)? To what extent can the culture be described as bureaucratic, role, task or control oriented? To what extent is the initiative to empower a part of a broad organisational culture, or just â€Å"bolted on†? The research with the â€Å"delayered† McDonald’s organisation revealed that â€Å"empowered† General Area Supervisors in the pilot group experienced tensions with senior management because senior managers wanted to retain control over the recruitment of Restaurant Managers, and to get involved when problems occurred (Lashley, 1995). Using this five dimension model it is possible to locate the different forms which empowerment takes in practical organisational arrangements against the managerial intentions and the form empowerment takes  ± quality circles  ± autonomous work groups  ± â€Å"whatever it takes training†, etc. As stated earlier, managerial intentions may not be mono-dimensional, and particular initiatives may be driven by a range of intentions. However, each form of empowerment is likely to represent different sources of satisfaction to employees and represent different benefits to employers. Thus quality circles are usually representative, and may provide intrinsic satisfactions for those immediately involved (Kelly and Kelly, 1990), but they represent a more indirect source of satisfaction for the staff who do not take part. Managers gain suggestions and involvement in problem solving for those closest to the problem, but managers retain the decision making power. Autonomous work groups do give employees more direct involvement, all employees take part. They can provide sources of satisfaction which meet belonging and control needs. They can involve some task dimensions, but in the main, autonomous work groups are about improving work organisation. Frequently they are used in situations where the immediate organisational needs are difficult to predict, but the people directly involved are best placed to respond to changed circumstances. Several employees at Harvester Restaurants reported that when the operation was quiet the team would, â€Å"jointly agree for one member to go home for the rest of the shift, so that the team’s labour costs would be kept under control† (Ashness and Lashley, 1995, p. 27). â€Å"Whatever it takes† is again a direct form of involvement, particularly for service personnel, training is aimed at â€Å"giving Personnel Review 28,3 182 staff confidence to make decisions large or small, that impact on a guest’s stay† (Hubrecht and Teare, 1993). Typically these arrangements are focused at the task and interpreting customer requirements. For employees a sense of ownership, pride in the service encounter and the potential tip are sources of employee satisfaction. For the organisation, employees are encouraged to be responsive to customer needs and a greater level of customer satisfaction is likely to follow. Each of these examples, claim to empower employees, yet the brief discussion above shows that each represents different sources of satisfaction for employees. The arrangements are themselves different and appear to meet varied managerial needs. Certainly it is possible to identify alternative ways of managing and motivating employees which involve different amounts of discretion, autonomy, power, sources of commitment and cultural contexts, all claiming to be empowering. By considering the detail of the changes against the five dimensions it is possible to develop a much closer picture of the form of empowerment, the consistency of the arrangements and the limits placed upon them. My research with hospitality operators provides some useful vehicles for the analysis of forms of empowerment. For example, it is possible to describe Harvester Restaurants as empowering front line personnel through participation. In this case it takes the form of autonomous work groups where employees have virtually no discretion in the tangible aspects of their task, though they have some limited discretion in the intangible elements of the task. There is a high degree of responsible autonomy in task allocation. Power is limited, however, to the task level with little opportunity to influence objectives outside the immediate job. Commitment is in part calculative though, for some individuals, arrangements do meet psychological needs within a culture which is best typified as being control oriented. The state of empowerment The feelings of the empowered are fundamental to understanding the concept of empowerment and variations in form and application. Most definitions of the state rather than the form of empowerment stress the need for the individual to feel in control (Conger, 1989), have a sense of personal power together with the freedom to use that power (van Oudtshoorn and Thomas, 1993) and a sense of personal efficacy and self determination (Alpander, 1991). Similarly, Thomas and Velthouse (1990) suggest a four dimensional model of employee motivation based on a cognitive assessment of the competence, impact, meaningfulness and choice associated with a set of changes. In other words the state of empowerment is likely to be a consequence of the individual’s assessment of their ability to be effective, that they could make a difference, in a task which they feel is worthwhile and they have some degree of freedom to act as they see fit within a given context. Attempts to empower service workers will be tested against the experience of being empowered and the sense of personal efficacy which is created. Empowerment, therefore, involves both the objective facts of what a person is mpowered to do and the subjective feelings which the individual experiences Employee as a result. In these circumstances individual differences, orientations to work empowerment in and needs are likely to be important factors in the way an individual interprets services and responds to a particular change (Alpander, 1991). Managerial initiatives to empower employees are introduced to meet commercial objectives. In the case of service workers, the objectives may be to improve service quality or service 183 worker productivity, or improve job satisfaction and reduce labour turnover. Managerial evaluations of empowerment will therefore turn on the extent that these initiatives result in worker behaviour which meets the desired objectives. Whilst there is some research, on service workers which identifies factors likely to result in outcomes of empowerment as measured by pay satisfaction, promotion satisfaction and intentions to leave (Sparrowe, 1994), few studies draw the links between these feelings of empowerment and increased productivity or improvements in service quality.

Personal Health Records Essay

Abstract A personal health record (PHR) is a universal tool that consists of a comprehensive database of an individuals health documents. Personal health records are available in a variety of platforms, such as paper, the internet, personal computers, and portable devices. This paper describes the contents included in a personal health record as well as the steps to putting together a personal heath record. The advantages of having a personal health record can be a life saver. Patients can control their own health records and play a proactive role in better managing their personal health care information. Several concerns remain an issue with personal health records, issues such as security and privacy, costs, and lack of standardization. Have you ever wondered what to do with all your immunization records or old medical records you collected over the years and have stuffed away in a multiple places throughout your home? That is because until recently, individuals didn’t have a place to properly store their personal medical records. Everyone has a different system of how they maintain their personal health records, from an old shoe box, to â€Å"the special drawer† or the over stuffed file folder. There are several problems associated with these kind of record keeping practices. First of all, they are not safe or secure in the event of theft or fire. Secondly, it is difficult to manage your health from a file folder. Papers documents collected over a persons lifetime can be enormous, especially in the event of a long term illness. It is a daunting task to gather up all your paper documents saved over the past several years and present them in one big disorganized pile to a health care worker and expect them to sort it out. Because of the demands in healthcare and on healthcare workers, there has been an recent surge in the area of personal health records development. Several companies and researchers have developed simple and creative ways for individuals to maintain their personal health records, in addition to easily integrating their records into clinical healthcare systems. A personal health record is a way that individuals can gather all there medical information and place it into one safe and secure place. Personal health records are a gathering of an individuals medical data from several different sources and making them readily accessible in one or another format when needed. Sources where one might collect medical information are: clinics, multiple doctors offices, laboratories, pharmacies, radiology departments, hospitals, insurance companies, and the military, etc. Not to confuse anyone, but a personal health record or a electronic personal health record is not the same as a electronic health record. A personal health record is used by an individual and they control who can see or use the information in it. Other people, such as their doctor, may be able to add information to it. An electronic health record is used and controlled by health care providers. Electronic health records may be stored at a doctor’s office, a hospital, an insurance company, or an employer. (â€Å"NIH Medicine Plus,† pgs. 16-17) Electronic health records are legally mandated notes on the care provided by clinicians to patients. There is no legal mandate on personal health records.(Wikipedia, n.d) Creating an comprehensive personal health record can be life saving for several reasons. One reason being, in the case of an emergency, medical personal need accurate up to date data in order to provide an individual with the most proficient care available. For example, for the first time in history at any mass gathering, many of the people’s personal electronic health records were instantly, securely available to medical personnel at the world-famous Indy 500 motor race. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Clarian Emergency Medical Center ha d access to those records, thanks to the Indiana Network for Patient Care (INPC). The data include admission and discharge notes, lab test results, and other critical information. A personal electronic health record is medical information about an individual that is stored in secure digital form on a computer or a network of computers. The goal of many in the health-care field is to have that information available instantly to health professionals wherever you are—even at The 500. (â€Å"NIH Medicine Plus,† pgs. 16-17) Putting together a personal health record is a great way to take control of your health. A Personal health record is initiated and maintained by an individual. From using something as simple as a notebook, a file folder, or buying a program or using a password protected website, creating a personal health record is becoming more readily available than ever before. Web sites such a Google Health or Microsoft Health Vault are just a few of the many web based companies cashing in on the personal health record market. Most of these web sites provide secure password protected access to some health insurers, pharmacies, and providers so you can request and upload your records, saving yourself some work. Some of the tools found on these web sites can help track and record your progress towards your health goals, such as weight loss and nutrition. Keeps track of doctor visits and information to share with your doctor, such as blood sugars, cholesterol, and blood pressure since your last appo intment. Electronic personal heath record websites help to diminish the hassle of scheduling appointments, submitting insurance claims, ordering prescriptions or refills by automatically doing it for you. Additional tools include monitoring devices such as a pacemaker check or blood sugar/insulin calculator to ordering prescriptions. Flags recent medication or discharge instructions from your last visit. Costs may vary depending on the type of personal health record being used. Using a computer based personal health record can be as easy as checking your e-mail. Personal health records are offered by a variety of sources—employers, insurers, healthcare organizations, and companies that aren’t in the healthcare arena. Kaiser Permanente said in April that more than 3 million of its 8.6 million members use its My Health Manager system to access their records, make appointments, look at lab results, and order prescriptions.(Hobson, 2009) PHRs can contain a diverse range of data and may include information such as: 1.Name, birth date, blood type 2.Emergency contact(s) 3.Primary caregiver(s)/phone number 4.Medicines, dosages, and how long taken, including over the counter and herbal remedies 5.Allergies/adverse drug reactions 6.Date of last physical 7.Dates/results of tests and screenings 8.Major illnesses/surgeries/procedures and their dates/hospitalizations 9.Chronic diseases 10.Family illness history 11.vaccinations/immunization records 12.laboratory test results 13.imaging reports 14.Activities of daily living 15.Health insurance information 16.Spiritual or Religious Preferences 17.Advance Directives What not to include in your personal health record: 1. your social security number 2. home address 3. telephone number Use caution when placing your personal information on the internet. Using information that identifies you too closely can lead to identity theft, even medical identity theft. Medical identity theft is when someone steals your insurance information and makes medical appointments in your name and orders prescription medications. Reports cite 200,000 cases of medical identity theft each year. (Torrey, 2010) One advantage to using a web-site for posting your PHR is having the ability to access your medical records from almost anywhere, anytime, as well as helping keep your records updated and current. Using a PHR helps to eliminate duplicate tests, which saves both time and money. In addition, instead of waiting for the usual 7-10 days for lab results to be mailed to you, systems can automatically upload the information to the PHR once they become available. Not only does this help with patient satisfaction, but is an enormous savings on mailing and handling costs. One of the obstacles and concerns of creating a personal health record is security and privacy of individuals records. Many consumers wonder whether their health information is kept private and secure in an electronic health record system. There are several PHR web providers that would love nothing better than to sell your information to advertisers. Although there are several good programs, consumers need to use caution when selecting an online program. Most companies use encrypted programs to protect unwanted and unauthorized access to an individuals personal health records. Many individuals continue to use paper records for their personal health records. However, with the invention of modern computer record keeping programs, paper records may not be as effective for the care of individuals with chronic illnesses. Some individuals have a long history of medical problems and have accumulated volumes of paper medical records. Paper records are not readily available at multiple locations at once and often present with an inconsistently of information. An individual with a chronic illness may benefit from transferring their paper records into an electronic personal health records program, which will aid in improving their continuity of care and efficiency. Many personal health care programs offer services that will help guide individuals on the how to of scanning and uploading their paper records into the program. Another benefit to using an electronic program is having your personal information formatted into a standard reporting structures for charting and sharing information and making it easier and faster for healthcare workers to review medical history and treat an individual. For example, a doctor can order a test for a patient and have the results transmitted to a their PDA and in turn can review the patients medical information and order further tests, medications and treatments at their convenience. This not only saves time for the patient, but frees the doctor from making frequent trips to the various locations to see patients or review results of tests. The results are then immediately uploaded into the patients personal health records. (Mohammod, 2009) For example, a newly diagnosed insulin dependent diabetic may have concerns with the dosages of their insulin and sliding scales plus managing their diet. Tools included in some of the personal health record programs will smooth the progress of mapping out a diabetics progress as well as offering a plethora of educational sites and suggestions and feedback, including alerts being sent to the physician or nurse if their blood sugar enters into a dangerous zone.(SentinelNewsService, 2009) Nursing related issues and Personal health records are becoming more challenging then ever before. As progress towards digitizing healthcare evolves, nurses are caught in between the paper documentation to electronic documentation chaos. Nurses must play an proactive role in educating themselves to the variety of personal health record information that is readily available for their patients. Many patients are unaware of the services available to them and a healthcare provider must often help inspire their patients along their personal journey of creating a personal health record. Moreover, a nurse that is proactive with helping patients with their personal health records, will also encourage a patient to healthy behaviors, by teaching patients how to use tools to keep track of their health progress, such as weight loss and diet control. Encouraging a patient to keep better track of their healthcare records will be invaluable for patients with chronic illnesses. Providing up to date information in one document to a health care provider not only saves time and money, but assists the health care provider in providing safer and improved quality of care as well as a better way of communicating with their providers. As a nurse, it can be very frustrating taking a health history on a patient with a chronic illness with a long list of medications. Often, patients are poor historians or don’t remember the name of a drug or dosage. Nurses can spend well over an hour just gathering information about the patients history before they can begin to treat the patients problem. It is always a welcoming sign of relief when a patient produces an itemized list of all their medications and dosages as well as their past medical history. The time spent gathering all the patients information could be better spent on giving more personal care to the patient as well as the other patients in the nurses care.(Sensmeier, 2010, p. 47-50) Physicians have their own issues and concerns related to personal health records. First of all, most physicians are mostly interested in providing safe, resourceful and revenue producing care. Physicians are slow to adapt to change and it is difficult to convince a physician to use a service for something that may not produce results for many years. Personal health records are in their infancy stages and are only a hand full of individuals are utilizing the services. Physicians as well other medical personal may not be educated on personal health records and are not obligated to review or edit or manage these type of records. However, once a document from a patients personal health record is imported into an Electronic medical record, the physician is then responsible for reviewing such data. Physicians are then responsible for maintaining the accuracy of the data exported to the patients personal health record. Another concern is the issue of compensation. How are physicians going t o be compensated for their time spent on training, implementation, updating and creating documents for PHR? Also, covering the costs associated with the hiring of new staff that will be needed to head such a plan, as well as purchasing the required equipment and software that will be used to interface with larger networks?(â€Å"American College for Physicians,† 2006, p. 1-2) Personal health records have a direct impact on the role of the nursing informatics specialist. One of the roles of a nursing informatics specialist is reviewing, analyzing and coordinating new applications across departments and determine how the new applications will best fit into a healthcare system effectively. One of the biggest concerns of any healthcare system is cost, the cost of a new program or application must be carefully scrutinized by the nursing informatics specialist as well as other personal within the healthcare system before being accepted into the system. Several questions that arise from the nursing informatics specialist may include: 1.Revenue enhancement 2.Cost containment 3.Broad-spectrum cohesiveness throughout the system 4.Better workflow processes 5.Government regulations 6.Patient safety/satisfaction 7.Implementation and Development 8.Data interfaces 9.Troubleshooting and training 10.Software/equipment issues 11.Standardization development A key concern to most healthcare systems is the inevitability of employing such systems. Healthcare systems will eventually be forced into implementing such programs. The future of healthcare is rapidly becoming more digitalized and will be dictated by the consumers demands and systems that can better accommodate such demands. The next generation of computer savvy consumers and evolving healthcare technologies is on the forefront of nursing informatics specialists agendas. Nursing informatics specialists are scrambling to keep up with technology and developing savvy ways of keeping up with current trends in healthcare. Currently, there is very little data related to the purchasing costs of commercial PHR applications which presents a problem to the NIS. Not only is PHR a cost concern problem, but anytime a new product as enormous as PHR applications are lingering over a health care systems head, it becomes a system wide concern because the future is so unpredictable and health care systems can’t afford to spend millions of dollars on the implementation of such systems and then the system becomes obsolete within a year after implementation. A nursing information specialist’s input is critical in healthcare systems decision making process. Every day you hear of a new process or a new policy related to healthcare. Nursing information specialists are fairly new to the healthcare scene and are instantaneously being propelled into unfamiliar and never heard of areas of healthcare. A NIS must hold on tight to their game hat and be prepared to handle the roller coaster ride of the unpredicted future of healthcare technology. (Shah, Kaelber, Adam, Pan, Middleton & Johnston, 2008) The standardization of personal health records is an ongoing concern among consumers and the healthcare industry. There are many standards, open specifications, and efforts toward standardization of PHR information, and services. Many organizations are actively working to improve and support the exchange of medical record information.(â€Å"Records for Living,† 2010) Because there is not set standard among PHR vendors and health care organizations, the present recommendation is to adopt data content and exchange standards that are based upon standards accepted for EHRs, as a way of improving the interoperability of the systems. In addition, it is important for consumers to understand the privacy policies and practices of PHR vendors and health care organizations and who may have secondary access to their personal information. Also, these agencies should address any language barrier issues preventing the consumer from fully understanding the agencies practices related to security and privacy. Since HIPPA does not cover all PHR systems, consumers should be provided a complete outline of the uses of their PHR data and not covered entities should voluntarily adopt to strict privacy policies and practices. No health information provided to a PHR agency should be used without the expressed consent or authorization of the consumer. (US dept. of Health a nd Human Services, 2010) President Bush and Secretary Leavitt have put forward a vision that, in the Secretary’s words, â€Å"would create a personal health record that patients, doctors and other health care providers could securely access through the Internet no matter where a patient is seeking medical care.† (US dept. of Health and Human Services, 2010) Before those famous words can be put into effect, there first, must be a global standardization and recognized language. Currently, there is no uniform definition of â€Å"personal health records†, therefore making collaboration and policy-making difficult. The following aspects of PHRs can vary: 1.what information is allowed on a PHR 2.secure and reliable sources of the information 3.features and functions offered 4.custodian of the record 5.storage location of the contents 6.authorized access to records and security standards Additionally, organizations will continue to discover gaps during the development phases of PHR, by collecting data and information, agencies can make recommendations and respond with appropriate action. Providing readily accessible, safe and reliable data through secure systems of communication will help to better serve consumers, patients, healthcare workers and federal and public agencies, and others far more effectively. However, there is a general concern for the underserved populations. There are several areas of the country that do not have access to such systems or have the resources or funds to purchase such systems. Also, there are educational barriers to consider in relation to health literacy issues which could limit the use of PHR systems in these underserved populations. With so many people out of work and living on welfare, there are far greater concerns than having a PHR. Many people are only concerned with their basic survival and having enough resources to provide a meal or heat to their families. The government would need to provide assistance to the underserved if this was required of them. In conclusion, as a nurse and a potential consumer, I am in favor of a electronic personal heath record and do think the pros of such systems outweigh the cons, especially in the case of the chronically ill. I do, however have many concerns with PHRs. As a nurse, it would be difficult to rely on data presented in a electronic personal health record unless I was able to verify the information with a physician treating the individual or a family member. I can see how easily an individual may inadvertently enter the wrong medication into their personal health record. A simple slip of the key may change a medication entered as a diabetes drug Amaryl instead of an Alzheimer’s medication called Reminyl. Pharmaceutical companies are working hard to prevent medications from being named something similar to other drugs currently on the market, but there have been several reported deaths due to medication errors. It should be required that a government monitoring agency be in charge of overseeing the content being entered into PHRs as well as protecting consumers from becoming the victim of targeted marketing scams or identity theft. Too often we hear of these things happening to unknowing victims and unfortunately most of these victims are the elderly, which will more than likely be one of the biggest consumers of this kind of service. The government will also need to set standards for protecting consumers, otherwise, if consumers are being victimized on these kind of systems, PHR could potentially suffer harm and loose the trust of consumers. The widespread adoption of PHRs will not happen until consumers are confident with their personal records being adequately protected. I think it is important to get consumers and patients more involved in their own healthcare. And one of the first steps is learning how to create their own personal health record. Not only can they learn to create their own PHR, but they could get there family and friends involved as well. Using an Internet-based PHR system allows for multiple individuals, such as family members and caregivers to contribute patient information from multiple locations. For example, a sibling that lives out of town may have the access to update their parents health information and also share the information with another sibling who lives out of town and both collaborate on the information provided. This allows for continuity of care in the event of an illness and the sibling is not directly available to be at their parents bedside. The personal health record will play a key role in motivating the consumer or patient to a safer, more efficient form of healthcare. Because personal health records are still in their infancy stages, there remains a great deal of concern for the safety and security for the users personal information. Once these concerns are addressed and â€Å"idiot- proofed†, consumers and health care facilities may buy into it. Personal health care records are designed to help individuals better organize their health care records by placing all their documents into one easily accessible format. This kind of application can be a life saver. Having all of a patients up to date information available for healthcare personal to review in one easy to read format may make the difference between life and death in some cases. Quickly identifying drug allergies, medications, health history is all a part of the vital information needed in the case of any emergency. There is a myth among most consumers, most consumers believe that emergency rooms should have access to their medical records in the event of a crisis and the truth is, they don’t. Many patients see several doctors from a variety of locations and emergency rooms don’t have immediate access to all of a patients medical information. A personal health record not only allows you to share information with health care providers at multiple locations , it also empowers the consumer or patient to better manage their own health goals. Building a health record takes a considerable amount of time and effort. You have to collect all your past medical documents and manually enter them into a PHR platform of your choice. After that, it is as simple as scanning or faxing in a document or entering the information manually into a system after each visit to the doctor, or test, which keeps your medical records current and updated. Term Paper References EHR/PHR Basics. (pgs. 16-17). Retrieved March 12th, 2011, from www.nlm.nih.gov Hobson, K. (2009). Time to switch to an online personal health record? Retrieved March 11th, 2011, from www.usanews.com Mohammod (2009). Encyclopedia of Personal Health Records – Paper Records. Retrieved March 12th, 2011, from wiki.patientsknowbest.com Personal Health Records Policy Statements Adopted by the American College of Physicians. (2006). Retrieved March 10th, 2011, from www.acponline.org Personal Health Records Standards. (2010). Retrieved March 13th, 2011, from www.recordsforliving.com Sensmeier, J. E. (2010). Tech update:the journey toward a personal health record. Retrieved March 11th, 2011, from www.nursingcenter.com SentinelNewsService. (2009). Nurses Engineer lead efforts to radically change personal health records. Retrieved March 11th, 2011, from www.lasentinel.net Shah, S., Kaelber, D., Adam, V., Pan, E., & Johnston, D. (2008). A Cost Model for Personal Health Records. Retrieved March 13th, 2011, from www.ncbi.nlm.hin.gov Torrey, T. (2010). Avoiding the consequences of medical identity theft. Retrieved March 11th, 2011, from www.patients.about.com US dept. of Health and Human Services. (2010). Personal Health Records and Personal Health Records Systems. Retrieved March 13th, 2011, from www.nchs.hhs.gov Wikipedia. (n.d). Personal Health Records. Retrieved March 12th, 2011, from www.wikipedia.org