Factors Influencing the Success or Failure of Joint Ventures

Innovation and growth are areas that most businesses focus on when they are formulating their plans and objectives. For firms that want to enhance their competitive advantage, they look out for business opportunities that will enable them and skills that are not found within their organizations with the aim of increasing their profits. Companies may decide to expand their businesses locally or internationally. When they decide to expand their businesses across their national boarders, they may decide to form alliances which can be in the form of joint ventures or engage in acquisitions.

“Such alliances help the organizations acquire extra skills hence be able to minimize various business risks (Triggs & Bialek, 2002). ” Joint Ventures (JV) occur when two or more businesses decide to combine their assets and engage in productive business ventures together. Since the parties involved decide to raise capital to run the business in agreed proportions, they will share in the profits as well as the losses that the new business will incur.

Joint ventures can therefore be in the form of partnership agreements, corporations or any other form of business ownership. Multinational organizations which have business activities in most countries are usually the major targets by these companies that want to become ‘big’. This is because since they are well known, it will be easier for the expanding organizations to gain access to foreign countries. Reasons why companies engage in joint ventures There are several reasons why companies engage in Joint ventures.

The reasons are either based on the internal needs of individual organizations or the goals they have set for themselves.

The reasons include:

• Access to financial resources Individual companies cannot fully cater for all the needs of their business and that is why they borrow loans to supplement their working capital. A company may have planned to expand and after undertaking a thorough research on new markets, they realize that they do not have enough funds to successfully complete their project.

They will therefore link with other companies, in form of joint ventures; especially multinationals because they have a wider profit base hence they are most likely to offer the required funds. Joint ventures are thus formed to distribute the operating expenses across firms because they may be too large for one company to bear.

• Protection

Companies do not want to face the costs and risks that they are likely to be exposed to alone especially when the company is operating in a foreign land.

The business leaders will therefore look for other interested business partners in the region so that they can share the success of the business as well as the risks. This will make the business feel more comfortable in the area as they have other experts who are able to give their expert opinions on certain issues hence they will be able to face the various challenges as a team. Protection can also be in the form of the ability to enter new markets easily and be safeguarded against the strict policies in those countries.

Since multinational organizations are well known, the top managers are able to talk with the various state representatives and they will ease some of the policy regulations in place thus favor the existence of the Joint venture.

• Advantages of economies of scale

Through combining resources of different business entities, the upcoming enterprise will benefit because its size will increase because of the additional assets, more laborers will be hired and the management will also increase.

This will enhance the enterprises operations thus increase production as well as the output produced.

• Wider market coverage

Joint venture enhance the market cover as they are able to improve on their marketing and promotional strategies thus are able to forecast better on market trends as well as know the consumer preferences so that they can develop designs to satisfy their customers needs (Ebben & Johnson, 2005, 1253).

This is because the domestic partner has vast knowledge on business operations and various people involved therefore, it will be easier to assess the markets of their partners. Since different organizations are involved, they will all contribute on the areas that need improvement using some of the strategies that they use in their organizations and this will help the JV to perform better thus retaining and attracting other potential customers.

• Creation of stronger competitive enterprise

The top managers as well as the employees will devise new ways of improving on their strategic plans and marketing strategies as well as operations. They will also be more open to ideas and this will make the business even perform better. “Since they work as a unit, they are able to incorporate new technologies as well as experts within their system and this will aid in the production of quality products thus have an advantage over their competitors (Chiah-Liaw Petzall & Selvarajah, 2003, 253).

” In addition, if the multinational organization and the company that is considering the joint venture have intellectual property rights, they will be able to benefit more as their creative designs and products will not be used by other people. Learning from the partners is important as it enhances skill development especially when companies have a lot of experience in the type of business. They are therefore able to anticipate problems through changes in business patterns or trends hence they are able to advice their business partner’s way in advance and plan on the prevention mechanisms.

By looking at the reasons why joint ventures are formed, we identify with the need of businesses to consider JV’s as the next best business option. Satisfying company needs should not be the only thing that individual firms have to look into, they should also be able to know the factors that can hinder or promote the success of their business so that they are aware of what they are getting themselves into. They also need to look at the areas that need to be constantly improved on so that this form of business venture remains successful (Thomas, 2004, 129).

To illustrate the importance of companies engaged in joint ventures being knowledgeable of the factors that can either lead to the success or failure of their business, we will use an example of a known multinational that is engaged in such an alliance. Case study: Ninemsn Company Ninemsn is an Australian based online portal company which also serves as a website for the Nine Network an Australian television station and MSN. The company was formed in 1997 as a joint venture between PBL Media and Microsoft. The cost for the business establishment was $ 50 million after the two companies combined their assets. Also read about factors affecting globalization

Since then, the company has grown and increased its customer base as well as its operations and it has proved and shown that joint ventures can be successful. Today, it has over 8. 2million subscribers per month who log onto the website thus becoming Australia’s largest online media company. Ninemsn is headed by a great team of corporate competent leaders who have managed to propel the company in the right direction. The organization has embraced the latest technologies in place thanks to the involvement of the Microsoft experts thus it continues to improve their services in line with their client needs.

For the company, they aim to be the best in the field as well as the world and that is why they are expanding their business. In 2006, the company acquired HWW limited a content publishing company that also manages megadata for its clients who are mostly media houses. HWW has been in operation for the past 35 years and Ninemsn linked with it because it could benefit from its mobile assets. Failures associated with joint ventures Not all joint ventures are as successful as Ninemsn. This is attributed to various differences that arise in management when the different organizations share different opinions on issues.

This is attributed the fact that the two organizations have different philosophies, objectives and goals and that is why it will be hard if they want to pursue their own goals other than the common goals. “If they do not define a mechanism within which they can address the problems they face, the businesses are bound to fail (Triggs & Bialek, 2002). ” That is why once successful Joint ventures have been terminated. Other causes of failure may be due to the continual rise in the costs of the businesses to certain levels that the company starts gaining loses.

If this happens, the different parties start throwing accusing fingers on their counterparts and with time tensions build thus creation g unfavorable business environment and that is why the parties involved will opt to separate ways. Problems will also arise when there is communication inefficiency that arises when the parties do not trust each other. This is mainly attributed to the fact that one party may fear that the other company may be gaining access to the firm capabilities while they are not gaining much in return. Some companies fear the risks of potential loss of control. Read also under what circumstances should a company’s management team give serious consideration

(Jones 162). This is because some companies have been used to being in control and when they engage in joint ventures, they have to share responsibilities and at times they feel like they are not being heard enough and that is why sometimes they will take charge of certain issues which in most cases is not agreeable by the other party. Factors that determine the success or failure of joint ventures Many businesses are engaging in joint ventures without been keen on the underlying objectives of the new business and that is why many of them collapse.

For this reason, it is necessary that the managers of organizations know what they can do to enhance the success of such alliances. Looking at the above causes of Joint venture failure, it is necessary to know how to handle certain problematic situations and the things that companies in joint ventures should always keep in mind. The following are some of the factors that Ninemsn as well as other multinational joint ventures have used to enhance their success and minimize the failures of JV’s. ? Starting-up and learning

When a new business is starting, it is usually faced with many hurdles because of this; the first periods of its business operations will be slow. This is usually the scenario for most joint ventures as they have to conform to the other parties’ way of operation. “Conflicts of interest might arise but the ability to sit down and address the problems in a rational manner is a proper manner is the first step of being able to cope with each other (Wong & Merrilees, 2006, 478). ” This will useful in guiding their operations during the different phases of the business cycle.

Sometimes the challenges are too complex that some business will consider withdrawing from the agreement but patience and learning new things will help the business improve in areas where it is weak. Ninemsn is a good example because when they started, they were not making the profits that they enjoy today and neither did they have the 8. 2 million clients per month visiting their site. Slowly by slowly they learnt from competitors, learn from their mistakes, worked with experts and embraced technological changes which have all contributed to their success.

The lesson other joint ventures can learn is that they do not have to succumb to the pressures when they are hardest hit but they should device ways that will enable them to survive during such trying times and learn from the experience. ? Complementary contributions by partners For a joint venture to be termed as successful, the parties involved must be able to make significant contribution to the organization. “This will definitely depend on the line of business that they are engaged in.

most contributions are made in relation to the percentage of ownership in the business operation (Reus & Ritchie, 2004). ” In the Ninemsn case, Microsoft and PBL media have a 50/50 joint venture. Therefore in case the business needs to expand may be hiring more staff or buying new equipments, the business will share the costs equally. In this way, no party will feel as if they are being pressured as they agreed in the deal. This makes them more involved in the business affairs and are more responsible.

When a certain party does not stick to their end of the deal and partially pay or not pay the amount they are obliged to, then because the other party wants the alliance to succeed because they invested a lot of money in it, they will be left to bear their costs plus those of the other party (Duncan, 2005). When such instances continue for a while, a point will reach when they will not take it anymore and this will lead to the eventual collapse of the organization. It is therefore important to pay the contributions without failure as stated in the initial agreement. ? Previous collaboration relationships

When companies; especially multinational organizations, have previously engaged in other joint venture initiatives with the same company as well as other companies, it will be easier for them to enter into such contractual alliances in the future. This is because they shared information and knew how the various businesses operate therefore they have an idea of what they are getting themselves into. “Relationships in such alliances occur via a series of stages which include searching the right partner, selecting and negotiating business terms before agreeing to operate together (Styles & Hersch, 2005, 3).

” If the previous working experiences were not pleasant or the company did not gain much from the experience, then it not worth starting something with them when there are doubts about their capabilities. Other than that, managers can tell whether a company is good from how their previous joint ventures were and still are by looking at the joint venture progress on documented literature such as reports and financial statements (Walker & Johannes, 2000).

According to our case study, when Ninemsn was being formed, PBL media looked at previous Microsoft joint ventures for example their collaboration with DreamWorks, Japan’s Softbank Corporation and also with Erickson. Because they saw that their company profits were booming therefore they were more than sure that this alliance was going to be a success. ? Personnel stability When the personnel within the joint venture are comfortable and satisfied with the way the operations are undertaken and managed, then they will be motivated to work harder to ensure that they are a success.

Such an environment encourages information sharing which in turn influences the coordination of activities. Ninemsn has invested in ensuring that their employees are well skilled through continual training on new technologies and they are always updated on the affairs of the business. “When the personnel have a negative attitude towards the business, then the output of the firm as well as the services they offer will be affected (As-Saber, Dowling & Liesch, 1998, 757). ” This will also mean that the customers will be dissatisfied and will move to their competitors.

For this reason, the, mangers have a responsibility of continually empowering their staff to perform better through training, offering constructive criticism and rewarding their efforts. ? Member motivation All the companies engaged in the joint venture need to be motivated because they are key people to the success of the business. When one party is not committed to the agreed cause, then they will not even be aware of new developments and this will leave the remaining party or parties with the responsibility of running the business alone.

That is why joint venture managers go an extra mile to organize seminars, symposiums or workshops for the different parties so that they get to relate with each other better by understanding the needs and aspirations of the other parties (Amason, Shrader & Tompson, 2006, 133). ” ? Proximity to the markets Proximity refers to how fast customers are able to and services. If the time taken is too long, then the joint venture has failed as they cannot satisfy the needs of their clients and this will make them lose business to competitors.

Joint ventures therefore need to be close to their markets and even utilize the existing technologies within their systems to ensure that they are fast enough to attend to the needs of the customers. In the Ninemsn case, they have used advanced technologies thus enabling them to serve their clients faster and better. ? Professional project advisors There is a need to utilize the work done by experts who specialize in various fields as they are able to give informed opinions in various issues. Moreover they are important for the company to be able to realize their objectives and goals.

“Sometimes, there are various procedures that involve a lot of paper work and they need to hire people who will handle such matters effectively on their behalf (Verreynne & Kate, 2006, 4). ” This is because they see that such services are an extra cost to the business. Ninemsn has proved such perceptions wrong as they have hired legal practitioners to handle their legal issues and also advisors on several business matters including public relations and that is why they are still successful. Therefore, professional project advisors play an important role in supporting management in conducting their activities.

? Effective leadership Proper leadership strategies play an important role in the success of Joint ventures. The leaders in any organization need to be professionals who are committed to ensuring that they achieve their objective. “The leaders are able to instill the necessary ethical regulations on their employees as well as correct them when they go wrong (Yue & Nicholas, 2006, 127). ” They are also the people who see other business opportunities and they can be beneficial to the company, they will pursue them because they know the business will benefit.

In addition, they link the organization with important people such as the state and advisors whom the joint venture will rely on occasionally. For instance, company lawyers play an important part in safeguarding JV’s intellectual property rights. Managerial responsibilities should be shared by both parties. “For this reason, all parties should therefore participate actively and equally in board meetings especially in the initial stages. Involvement of both parties in managerial decisions enhances joint management of the JV (Contractor et al, 2002, 409).

” Top managers should also be in a position where they are able to resolve conflicts within their organizations. “This is because if they do not have a proper mechanism for solving even the simplest issues, then there is a probability that they will not be able to tackle serious problems within their organizations (Cameron & Massey, 2002). ” When the leaders of the joint venture do not know the goals on the enterprises they head or show little concern, then the businesses they head are bound to fail.

For this reason, leadership is an integral in a joint venture and the people chosen should be able to enhance the vision and mission of their core founders. ? Adequacy and flexibility of agreements Agreements generally seal the business transactions that organizations engage themselves in. joint ventures should not be rigid but should create an allowance where they are able to transact with other organizations and increase their business opportunities (Schuler, 1999, 57).

In this case study, Ninemsn is flexible when conducting its operation and when it sees that it can benefit from certain initiatives after analyzing how it will impact the business they are able to decide on what the company might need. This can be seen by them linking with the Australian Television network by offering reviews and even showing popular programs on the website. It has also linked with various local mobile companies in the provision of various internet solutions.

It has also partnered with the Australian Consolidated Press (ACP) such that it is able to provide magazine as well as newspaper article reviews, press releases and other editorials. “Depending on the business period and the prevailing market conditions, it is useful for joint ventures to consider engaging in various business agreements as they will enhance the success of the organization (Reus & Ritchie, 2004). ” Conclusion Joint ventures can be successful when the associate companies make it their duty to look into the various mentioned factors as they improve the way they operate.

Failure to address these key factors will definitely hinder the joint venture’s ability to achieve its objectives. Termination of a joint venture does not necessarily mean that the JV was a failure but in some cases the companies had achieved their goals or the circumstances of business operation had changed. Despite the problems facing joint ventures, such initiatives have revolutionalized international business by enhancing competition thus making companies more accountable and transparent in the way they handle their activities. References

Amason A, Shrader R and Tompson G. 2006, Newness and novelty: Relating top management team composition to new venture performance, Journal of Business Venturing 21: 125-148. As-Saber, S. N. , Dowling, P. J. and Liesch, P. W. 1998. The role of human resource management in international joint ventures: A study of Australian-Indian joint ventures. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 9 (5): 751- 766. Cameron A. and Massey C. (2002) Entrepreneurs at work: Successful New Zealand business ventures, Prentice Hall, Auckland. Chiah-Liaw, G. Petzall S. and Selvarajah, C.

2003, Role of human resource management (HRM) in Australian-Malaysian joint ventures: Role of human resource management (HRM) in Australian-Malaysian joint ventures, Journal of European industrial training, vol. 27, no. 5, pp. 244-262. Contractor, F. J. et al. 2002, Cooperative strategies in international business: joint ventures and technology partnerships between firms 2nd Ed. Emerald Group Publishing, p. 405-410 Duncan W. D. 2005, Joint Ventures Law in Australia: An Empirical Evaluation of Their Utility 2nd ed. Federation Press, 2005 Ebben J. and Johnson A. 2005, Efficiency, flexibility, or both?

Evidence linking strategy to performance in small firms, Strategic Management Journal vol. 26, no 13: 1249-1259. Reus, T. H. and Ritchie, W. J. 2004, Interpartner, parent, and environmental factors influencing the operation of international joint ventures: 15 years of research management) Journal of International Management, Vol 3 Schuler, R. S. et al. 1999. Formation of an international joint venture: Davidson Instrument Panel. Human Resource Planning, Vol. 14 (1) p. 51-60. Styles C. and Hersch L. Sept 2005, Relationship Formation in International Joint Ventures: Insights from Australian–Malaysian International Joint Ventures.

Journal of International Marketing, Vol 13. No. 3 Triggs G. and Bialek, D. 2002, The New Timor Sea Treaty and Interim Arrangements for Joint Development of Petroleum Resources. Melbourne Journal of International Law Vol. 4 Verreynne M. L. and Kate K. 2006, Measuring the Benefits of Entrepreneurship at Different Levels of Analysis. Journal of Management and organization Vol. 13 No. 4 Walker D. H. T. & Johannes D. S. 2000, Construction industry joint venture behaviour in Hong Kong-designed for collaborative results? RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

Wong, H and Merrilees, B 2006, Determinants of SME brand adaptation in global marketing, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, vol. 3, no. 3/4, p. 477-497 Yue W. and Nicholas, S. 2006, Transferring Knowledge: How Managers Make Credible Commitments, Relational Safeguards and Dispute Resolution in Non-Equity Alliances’ Nanjing University Business Studies Review No. 8 p. 125-38. Zhu, C. and Dowling, P. J. 2000. Managing human resources in state-owned enterprises in transitional economies: A case study in the People’s Republic of China. Research & Practice in Human Resource Management, 8 (1): 63-92.

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10 Harsh Lessons That Will Make You More Successful

Everyone fails in life, and failure can be a crushing experience. The only thing that separates successful people from the rest is how they respond after they fail.

When facing obstacles, you have to decide if you’re going to let them be the excuse for your failure or if you’re going to make them the story behind your success.

“There is no failure. Only feedback.”   — Robert Allen

When you adopt the right attitude, failure is a great teacher. Failure interrupts your routine and gives you an opportunity to explore new solutions, but only if you have the right attitude.

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Psychologist Albert Bandura conducted a study that showed just how great a role our attitudes play in the face of failure. In the study, two groups of people were asked to complete an identical management task. The first group was told that the purpose of the task was to measure their management abilities. The other group was told that the skills required to complete the task were improvable and that the task was merely an opportunity to practice and improve. The trick was that the researchers made the task so difficult that all participants were bound to fail, and fail they did. The first group — feeling like failures because their  weren’t up to snuff — made little or no improvement when they were given opportunities to repeat the task. The second group, however, saw each failure as a learning opportunity, and they performed at progressively higher levels each time they attempted the task. The second group even rated themselves as more confident than the first group.

Just like the participants in Bandura’s study, we can either view our failures as reflections of our abilities or as opportunities for growth. The next time you catch yourself wallowing in the self-pity that often accompanies failure, focus on what you can control: your attitude.

Some of the best lessons in life are also the toughest to accept and to adopt the right attitude toward. These are the lessons that challenge your flexibility and willingness to learn. When we don’t embrace them soon enough, the  we learn turn out to be harsh ones.

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1. The first step is always the hardest. When you want to achieve something important, that first step is inevitably going to be daunting, even frightening. When you dare to make that first move, anxiety and fear dissipate in the name of action. People that dive headfirst into taking that brutal first step aren’t any stronger than the rest of us; they’ve simply learned that it yields great results. They know that the pain of getting started is inevitable and that procrastination only prolongs their suffering.

2. Good things take time. Success, above all, requires time and effort. Author Malcolm Gladwell suggested that mastery of anything requires 10,000 hours of tireless focus. Many successful people would agree. Consider Henry Ford, whose first two automobile businesses failed before he started Ford at the age of 45, or author Harry Bernstein, who dedicated his entire life to writing before he finally landed a best-seller at the age of 96. When you finally do succeed, you realize that the journey was the best part of it.

3. Being busy does not equal being productive. Look at everyone around you. They all seem so busy, running from meeting to meeting and firing off e-mails. Yet how many of them are really producing, really succeeding at a high level? Success doesn’t come from movement and activity; it comes from focus — from ensuring that your time is used efficiently and productively. You get the same number of hours in the day as everyone else, so use yours wisely. After all, you’re the product of your output not your effort. Make certain your efforts are dedicated to tasks that get results.

4. You will always have less control than you want. There are too many extenuating circumstances in life to control every outcome. You can, however, control how you react to things that are out of your control. Your reaction is what transforms a mistake into a learning experience and ensures that a victory doesn’t send your ego through the roof. You can’t win every battle, but with the right attitude, you can win the war.

5. You’re only as good as those you associate with. You should strive to surround yourself with people who inspire you, people who make you want to be better. And you probably do. But what about the people who drag you down? Why do you allow them to be part of your life? Anyone who makes you feel worthless, anxious or uninspired is wasting your time and, quite possibly, making you more like them. Life is too short to associate with people like this. Cut them loose.

6. Your biggest problems are mental. Almost all our problems occur because we time travel: we go to the past and regret things we’ve done, or we go to the future and feel anxious about events that haven’t even happened. It’s all too easy to slip into the past or jet into the future. When you do, you lose sight of the one thing that you can actually control — the present.

7. Your self-worth must come from within. When your sense of pleasure and satisfaction are derived from comparing yourself with others, you are no longer the master of your own destiny. When you feel good about something that you’ve done, don’t allow anyone’s opinions or accomplishments to take that away from you. While it’s impossible to turn off your reactions to what others think of you, you don’t have to compare yourself with others and you can always take people’s opinions with a grain of salt. That way, no matter what other people are thinking or doing, your self-worth comes from within. Regardless of what people think of you at any particular moment, one thing is certain — you’re never as good or bad as they say you are.

8. Not everyone will support you. In fact, most people won’t. Some people will inundate you with negativity, passive aggression, anger or jealousy, but none of this matters, because, as Dr. Seuss said, “Those that matter don’t mind, and those that mind don’t matter.” We can’t possibly get support from everyone, and we definitely can’t spend our time and energy trying to win over the people who don’t support us. Letting go of the opinions of people who don’t matter frees up time and energy for the people and things that do.

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9. Perfection doesn’t exist. Don’t seek perfection as your target. It doesn’t exist. Human beings, by our very nature, are fallible. When perfection is your goal, you’re always left with a nagging sense of failure that makes you want to give up or reduce your effort. You end up spending your time lamenting what you failed to accomplish and what you should have done differently, instead of moving forward, excited about what you’ve achieved and what you’ll accomplish in the future.

10. Fear is the number one source of regret. When all is said and done, you will lament the chances you didn’t take far more than you will your failures. Don’t be afraid to take risks. I often hear people say, “What’s the worst thing that can happen to you? Will it kill you?” Yet, death isn’t the worst thing that can happen to you — the worst thing that can happen to you is allowing yourself to die inside while you’re still alive.

Bringing It All Together

Successful people never stop learning. They learn from their mistakes and they learn from their triumphs, and they’re always changing themselves for the better.

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How to Avoid 4 Key Causes of Failure

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Having worked as a turnaround expert for the past 20 years, it’s amazing to see what it is that causes projects, initiatives and businesses to fail.

Surprisingly the majority of the causes of failure are self-inflicted. With just a little bit of care, research and forethought, many of them can be avoided. Take start-up launches, for example, did you know that 95 percent of them fail and that the number one cause, which accounts for over 42 percent of the failures, is easily avoidable.

How can I say this? Well it’s because the reason they fail is that there is no market need for the product or service they have created. This is easily resolvable. A little bit of market research should tell you whether or not there is a need and if there isn’t, then don’t create that product or service. It’s simple supply and demand, if there is no demand, then do not create the supply.

The top causes of failure that I see as I work with my clients are:

  1. they have the wrong focus
  2. they lack accountability and ownership
  3. they have over complicated things
  4. they lack transparency into operational performance

In many instances if companies could address these four areas they would significantly increase the probability of success, and also the speed with which they achieve it. A lack of focus and accountability reduce effectiveness, by either having people doing the wrong job or having the wrong people do the wrong job.

A lack of simplicity and transparency reduce efficiency, as complexity is the enemy of execution. If we lack visibility into how we are performing it’s easy to become happy with what is unseen under-achievement.

1. Focus

To improve focus we need to ensure that we have a clear picture of what success look like. We need to ensure we don’t overload ourselves with too many goals, because when everything is our focus, then nothing is our focus. And we need to make sure we communicate clearly to our teams, not only what our goals are, but also why they are important as that will help them manage the process of achieving them.

2. Accountability

Accountability is probably one of the easiest things to fix but is often the most overlooked. Accountability all starts with the leadership, if they act as role models for accountability, this will help create a culture of accountability. The challenge is, of course, too many leaders choose to create a blame culture over accountability and nothing kills accountability faster than blame.

3. Simplicity

Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity. The simpler we can make things the more likely they are to get done. The challenge is we seem to have an built-in tendency to make things more complex than they need to be. The simplest way to boost simplicity is to imagine what you would do if you only had 20 percent of the time available to complete tasks, this helps us fight that tendency to over-complicate things and the more we practice, the better we become at doing it.

4. Transparency

Transparency is probably my favorite element and that probably comes from my Math and IT background. I do love the data, as it can tell us so much about how we are performing. With the growth of data analytics, many more people are starting to see and understand the power of data. But we need to make sure we measure the right things, which we have clear measurements of our progress towards our desired goals.

When we can get that measurement right, then we are truly on the road to success because as Peter Drucker says “what we measure gets improved,” and if we measure progress then we will improve our progress.

Taking care of these four little things – focus, accountability, simplicity and transparency – will have a dramatic positive impact on your performance and your results, by helping you avoid the many common causes of failure.

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Care Plan Chronic Heart Failure Health And Social Care Essay

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Medical intercession contributes to a addition in life anticipation albeit to differing grades depending on mark populations2. Therefore, the quality of services provided is straight relative to the addition in life anticipation. The fleet growing in the Numberss of physicians in the United Kingdom in the last decennary was seen to be a step to suit the lifting figure of hospital admittances that rose as a consequence of the increased life expectancy3. The physician to population ratio grew from 2/1000 people in 2000 to 2.4/ 1000 people in merely a mere 5 years3. Despite the rapid growing, the ratio is still short as compared to other European states viz. France, Germany or Italy. This is worsened by the fact that the figure of patients treated in NHS infirmaries rose by 15 % at the same clip interval3. It is of import to use the expertness of other health care professionals, viz. community druggists, in support of the increasing figure of patients in the community in order to better patient attention.

The World Health Organization defines chronic complaints to be ‘a wellness job necessitating on-going direction over a period of old ages or decennaries ‘ . NHS Scotland has identified that chronic unwellness is farther complicated by demographical alterations, increasing co-morbidities, widening spread of wellness inequalities and the increased outlooks placed on the health care system4. Actions have been taken to promote modernisation of NHS community pharmaceutics in Scotland. The debut of the New Pharmacy Contract was the action program from the Scottish Executive ‘s scheme papers ‘The Right Medicine ‘ in which nucleus pharmaceutical attention services such as Chronic Medication Service ( CMS ) , Minor Ailments Service ( MAS ) , Acute Medication Service ( AMS ) and Public Health Service were designed to optimise the use of community druggist ‘s accomplishments to widen the range and farther better the quality of attention proviso to patients5. The contract was driven by a quotation mark by the World Health Organization ( WHO ) in 2002, adverting that reacting to the demands to patients with chronic conditions post the biggest challenge to wellness systems around the globe4. The foundation of the CMS is built upon the cardinal countries: patient centered ; clinical administration ; collaborative working ; support for execution ; monitoring and reappraisal and service development6. The nucleus aims of CMS are summarized in Appendix 1.

The altering function of the druggist is in response to the increasing demand for betterment in patient ‘s medicines direction. The debut of the CMS is to further develop the parts of the community druggist to guarantee the continuity of pharmaceutical attention in patients with long-run conditions every bit good as cementing the stature of community druggists in the NHS4. Pharmaceutical attention is an effectual tool in the direction of chronic complaints and is defined as the responsible proviso of drug therapy for the intent of accomplishing definite results that improve a patient ‘s quality of life harmonizing to Hepler and Strand7. Pharmaceutical attention is hence a collaborative attempt between healthcare professionals endeavoring to better drug therapy direction via uninterrupted monitoring of inauspicious effects, effectivity and patient instruction all meeting to better patient ‘s quality of life8. Healthcare professionals play a critical function in authorising patients to take charge of their ain wellness, as this would ease them in accomplishing their coveted quality of life relevant to their wellness believes6. Community druggist can be the accelerator in smoothing the patient ‘s journey of attention by being the gateway of information via improved entree to healthcare services and to back up self-care6.

It is simple to merely purchase a battalion of medicine over the counter to handle an false unwellness but the bulk is incognizant of the possible injury it presents. Some might non take earnestly an overdose of medicines that have a broad curative index but for drugs that have a narrow curative index, a simple overdose could be fatal. There is merely so much a prescriber could make but hanker term attending is indispensable to guarantee that patients get the best out of their medicine particularly in those who have multiple co-morbidities. The attack of CMS is through the constitution of curative partnerships between general medical practicians, druggists and patients to better patient attention by guaranting better local entree to wellness care6. Fostering such commitment will minimise duplicate of functions and, with good defined functions, can advance a holistic attack to the pharmaceutical and clinical attention of patients6. The end is to assist patients harvest the most out of their medical specialties but besides minimise any associated risks4. Community druggist is frequently the first and lone point of call. Community druggists can bridge the spread in a patient ‘s journey of attention and therefore better the whole curative class by expecting, placing, deciding and forestalling medicine-related issues4,9. These medicine-related issues include:

Safety and efficaciousness

Side effects

Conformity and harmony

Identify markers of hapless control

Symptom specific markers to motivate referral

Supplying and advancing wellness information and instruction

CMS is a service that requires patients ‘ voluntary engagement and is by and large broken down into 3 phases. Phase 1 involves the enrollment of the patient for the service. Stage 2 involves the debut of a generic model for pharmaceutical attention planning. Phase 3 is the constitution of the shared attention component between the GP and the community pharmacist6. A pharmaceutical attention program paperss the patient ‘s pharmaceutical attention demands, attention issues, desired results and actions required as portion of the pharmaceutical attention planning of the patient. Figure 1 summarizes the pharmaceutical attention be aftering rhythm.

Identify and prioritise patients with pharmaceutical attention demands

Identify and reexamine pharmaceutical attention issues

Implement and proctor pharmaceutical attention program

Formulate and document a pharmaceutical attention program

Figure 1: Pharmaceutical Care Planning Cycle

To get down of with attention planning, critical information that may act upon the attention program such as patient ‘s general wellness, allergic reactions or sensitivenesss, other medical conditions and hazard factors are noted. A hazard appraisal is so made to help the druggist in placing and prioritising any pharmaceutical attention needs that a patient might necessitate or is deprived from in footings of service, which as a consequence influences the therapy6. Next, an appraisal is made to place and reexamine the patients pharmaceutical attention demands and refering issues. This can enable the druggist to measure the medical specialties regimen that a patient is on in footings of efficaciousness or toxicity profile and besides allows the druggist to measure how deep the patients understand their medicines and intervention and the extend of their wellness believes. Subsequently, a pharmaceutical attention program is drafted based on the attention issues that have been identified with the understanding of the patient. This attention program serves as a protocol in which issues are placed on a hierarchy of precedence, outcome ends are defined, proposals to any class of action documented every bit good as clearly specifying the health care forces and their duties for assorted monitoring that ought to be conducted. Changeless reappraisals and monitoring is done to measure the results of the attention program upon execution and alterations are made along the manner, when required, to maximise the curative result. To accomplish the maximal curative benefit, the patient ‘s wellness belief and apprehension of the therapy is indispensable. Hence, reding and advice by the druggist before, during and after the procedure is good.

Chronic Heart Failure ( CHF ) is one of the 13 long-run disease provinces covered in the CMS protocol stand foring the most frequent indicant for therapy4. The list of all 13 disease provinces are listed in Appendix 2. Heart Failure is one of the most crippling medical conditions which can badly impact a patient ‘s quality of life hence seting force per unit area on hospitalization and health care budgets10. The Scots Intercollegiate Guidelines Network ( SIGN ) defines CHF as a complex clinical syndrome ensuing from any structural/ functional upset that impairs the ability of the bosom to react to physiological demands for increased cardiac output11. Hence, bringing of blood is compromised12. Abnormality in cardiac construction, beat, map or conductivity can all take to unequal perfusion, venous congestion and disturbed H2O and electrolyte balance that underlie CHF13. In add-on, normal compensatory mechanisms become compromised taking to maladaptive secondary physiological effects that contribute to the progressive nature of the disease12. CHF can be a effect of assorted underlying complications such as myocardial infarction and/or high blood pressure and the most common being left ventricular systolic disfunction ( LVSD ) . Coronary arteria disease, aortal stricture, dilated myocardiopathy, alcoholic myocardiopathy, Chagas ‘ disease, endomyocardial fibrosis and other mechanical defects such as cardiac valvular disfunction, degenerative valve disease, arthritic valve disease, terrible anaemia and thyrotoxicosis are the more common causes of CHF around the Earth but other rarer causes do exist12,13. Management of these predisposing factors can be good in relieving the symptoms of bosom failure. Table 1 is the New York Heart Association ( NYHA ) categorization system used to sort patients with bosom failure based on their functional position. Table 2 is ACC /AHA phases of HF ; a addendum to the NYHA categorization.

It is estimated that there is a prevalence of about 1-2 % for bosom failure in developed countries10,14. The life-time hazard of developing HF is approximately 20 % for patients above 40 old ages old and besides the taking cause of hospitalization for patients above 65 old ages old10,14. Harmonizing to the European Society of Cardiology, above 15 million patients are diagnosed with HF in 51 European states consisting a population of around 900 million15. The prevalence of HF is about 1-2 % in the western society and the incidences are between 5-10/ 1000 instances per annum16. A recent US population-based survey, the prevalence of bosom failure was 2.2 % ( 95 CI 1.6 % to 2.8 % ) , increasing from 0.7 % in individuals aged 45 through 54 old ages to 8.4 % for those aged 75 old ages or older17. Similar minor expense forms, 1 % for the 55-64 age group increasing to 13 % in the 75-84 age group was observed from the Rotterdam study18. In the contrary, for the below 50 age group, incidences of HF are rare16. Improved endurance from acute myocardial infarction ( MI ) coupled with the aging population contributes to the spike in incidence and prevalence of HF19.

One critical function community pharmacist drama is to advice and offer guidance on a healthy life style. Lifestyle and dietetic alterations are schemes aimed at forestalling cardiovascular diseases ( CVD ) which are possible predisposing factors taking to CHF. The development of CVD is affected by multiple dietetic factors and an overall healthy diet will significantly cut down the hazard of CVD20. Consumption of fruits, veggies, grain merchandises, low-fat dairy merchandises and curtailing the sum of salt and unstable consumption are all portion of a well balanced diet11,21. Keeping a healthy organic structure weight is indispensable as fleshiness is an independent hazard factor for CVD. Morbid fleshiness has a strong association with mortality from CVD particularly in immature grownup males. Therefore, bar of fleshiness has to be taken early and in an aggressive manner22. Keeping optimum blood force per unit area, blood glucose every bit good as a desirable lipid profile is advised to command or lower the hazard of CVD21. Maintaining physical and cardiovascular fittingness and a healthy weight can be achieved by changeless physical activities as it improves cardiovascular hazard factors every bit good as take downing the hazard of developing other chronic diseases21,23. Evidence has proven the strong association between smoking and cardiovascular jeopardies every bit good as the benefits of smoking cessation24. Therefore, look intoing the smoke position of patients and offering intercession where appropriate will be good to patients peculiarly in those who are at hazard of enduring from cardiovascular events24. Patients with CHF should be advised to discontinue smoking11. Moderate ingestion of intoxicant should besides be advised as extra alcohol ingestion can increase the hazard of CVD11,25. The above are merely the chief life style and dietetic parametric quantities that should be addressed with precedence to command or lower CVD hazards. Such steps should non be seen as stairss taken to forestall CVD but instead as stairss taken to promote everybody to populate a healthy life style to forestall any signifier of disease provinces. Psychosocial and psychological hurt have a important impact in morbidity and mortality after HF and hence societal and relationship factors may play an of import function in pull offing chronic conditions such as CHF26.

The ends of intervention are to better quality of life11,13.

Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitors ( ACEi )

Evidence has shown that ACEi therapy is good in take downing mortality, MI and rehospitalization for patients enduring from HF with LVD or HF with or without a recent MI27. A meta-analysis has shown that patients with CHF prescribed with an ACEi have a 23 % decrease in mortality and a 35 % decrease in rehospitalization27. Further meta-analysis is patients with LVSD, HF or both after MI has a comparative decrease in mortality rate of 26 % 27. Therefore, ACEi therapy is recommended in patients with all NYHA functional categories of HF due to LVSD11.

Adverse effects include cough, hypotension, nephritic damage, angio-oedema and hyperkaelaemia. Dose titration and nephritic and electrolyte monitoring should be included in the attention program particularly in susceptible patients utilizing other medicines so that intercession could be established in instances where inauspicious effects are marked.

Beta Blockers

Treatment with bisoprolol, carvedilol and Lopressor Forty shows a decrease in mortality in patients with advanced HF based on the CIBIS- II, COPERNICUS, and MERIT-HF tests severally. Beta-blockers benefits in HF by demoing a 29 % decrease in hazard of mortality in CVD, 36 % decrease due to pump failure and all cause mortality decrease of 23 % 28. All patients with HF due to LVSD of all NYHA functional category should be started on beta-blockers every bit shortly as their status is stable and should be the first line picks for patients with CHF due to LVSD11. The effects of beta-blockers might non be seen instantly. Furthermore, deterioration of HF and hypotension might be present at the get downing hence dose should be titrated up suitably upon supervising. Beta-blockers are contraindicated in those with asthma, bronchospasm, 2nd or 3rd degree auriculoventricular bosom block or diagnostic hypotension11.

Angiotensin II Receptor Blocker ( ARB )

ARBs antagonizes the binding of angiotonin II to its type 1 receptor hence exercising its action similar to ACEi ‘s with the benefit of non bring forthing dry cough as a side effect13. In CHARM Alternative, ARB intervention led to a comparative decrease of 23 % in primary result of CV deceases or rehospitalsation for patients with CHF having candesartan who are intolerant to ACEi29. The add-on of ARB to ACEi or beta-blocker intervention non merely had no consequence on mortality but markedly reduced HF rehospitalisation and mortality combined30. Patients with CHF due to LVSD, HF or LVSD or both station MI who are intolerant to ACEi should be considered for ARBs whilst patients with HF due to LVSD who are still diagnostic despite already on ACEi and beta-blockers, add-on of candesartan might be beneficial11.

Aldosterone Adversaries

Aldosterone adversary has been studied in patients with terrible diagnostic HF, led to a pronounced decrease in mortality and morbidity and improved symptoms13,31. It is recommended for patients with HF in NYHA category III and IV despite being on ACEi and beta-blocker while there is no grounds that Aldactone has any benefits in mild HF11,13. The RALES test has shown that the add-on of Aldactone to an ACEi yielded an all cause mortality of 30 % and cardiac mortality by 31 % 31. However, aldosterone adversaries produce many inauspicious effects on vascular map and myocardial fibrosis11. Spironolactone produces gynaecomastia, hyperkaelaemia, and nephritic disfunction hence blood carbamide, creatinine and electrolyte monitoring is essential11. Patients with terrible HF due to LVSD should be on Aldactone unless contraindicated11. Eplerenone can be used if patients are intolerant to spironolactone as grounds from EPHESUS survey has demonstrated a 13 % decrease from CVD or hospitalization for CVD and 21 % comparative rate of sudden decease in patients on eplerenone32.

Diuretic drugs

Fluid keeping doing ankle hydrops, pneumonic hydrops or both consequences in symptoms of dyspnea in most patients enduring from HF11. A meta-analysis supports that diuretic therapy is good for patients with dyspnea or hydrops with a 75 % decrease in mortality and 63 % betterment in exercising capacity33. The hazard of loop water pills doing hypokalaemia is offset by ACEi, ARBs and Aldactone. Therefore, monitoring of serum K is of import. Doses of water pills should be individualized to minimise unstable keeping taking into history the possibility of desiccation and nephritic impairments11.

Digoxin

In a Cochrane reappraisal, patients on Lanoxin showed a 64 % betterment in symptoms and a 23 % decrease in hospitalization but unluckily no betterment seen on survival34. Digoxin should be considered as an accessory therapy for instances in which patients with HF in fistula beat are non relieved on optimal therapy11. There are many issues associated with the usage of Lanoxin because of its narrow curative index, some of which are fatal such as its ability to increase the possibility of sudden decease and the hazard of toxicity in instance of hypokalaemia11. Therefore, the hazard over benefit of Lanoxin therapy should be carefully considered in the best involvement of the patient.

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Failures: Failure and Entire Network Shutdown

Companies and businesses communicate with one another internally and with customer externally each day using different methods of technology but at the basis of this is the network, which makes it all possible to interact with one another. Companies and businesses have two types of systems they can set up to carry this out. They can design and set up a centralized system or a distributed system. The important factor no matter what the system is they have to be prepared for failures, which may occur in either system and have procedures in place to identify and isolate these failures to prevent an entire network shutdown and implement a solution for their network.

Failures can occur at any level of a network and the network admin must be prepared in the wake of these occurrences. There are varying types of centralized systems that businesses can implement.

The types of failures that can occur in centralized systems are; network failures, omission failures and halting failures. These types of failures occur when a process crashes due to communication link failures that are detected during timeouts or in the process of sending messages.

These failures typically only occur in the centralized system if it is connected via a general purpose or multi-user network setup.

A distributed system simply is a group of “dummy” devices or computer that are connected to one network of distributed hardware which allows the devices to talk or communicate to one another and share other network assets and resources.

This type of network is susceptible to four types of failures once they are set up. A fail stop occurs with some kind of notification to other components. A network file server telling its clients it is about to go down is a fail-stop. Halting failures occur when a component just simply stops. The only way to detect this type of failure is by a timeout an example of which is when you computer freezes. The device stops responding to requests.

A network failure also can occur when network links break at some part of the process of traffic flow. Finally mission failures occur when there is a fault in the sending and receiving of messagesdue to lack of buffering space. This can lead to a device such as a router becoming overloading due to discarding of messages without notification to either the sender/receiver.

Once these failures have been detected utilizing network research methods the next step in the process is to repair or fix the occurrence. These fixes can range from quick to time consuming, as each failure requires a different set of troubleshooting techniques. The simplest failure to repair is the network line break. The network admin would need to try and reach another device from the broken PC or device by utilizing the ping command to verify if the request was fulfilled which receiving a successful reply back from the device does. If the device fails to respond the admin would check other steps such as changing the network cable, configuration of the IP address or the network interface card.

We typically solve the halting failure daily on our personal computer or our work device when it freezes. We typically use the ESC function or the Task Manager in Windows or the “kill” function in Linux to end an unresponsive process or we restart the device.

Although we can’t always predict when a network failure will occur we can be ready to repair it in a timey manner by having diagnostic steps readily available when a failure is detected to prevent network assets being down for long periods of time.

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Engineering Failure Case Study

Failure Analysis at DMRC On July 12th 2009 a metro bridge that was under construction collapsed due to negligence by an office in-charge of the Badarpur Metro line. The failure of the bridge killed 6 and injured another 15 when the pier cap sheared from the connecting pillars. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation took major heat from this incident because the roadway was a major milestone of providing a reliable and easy mean of transportation to the capitol of India.

The DMRC is considered the most reputed infrastructure organization of India and neglecting roadways to the point where they fail is not an option. During that day the pier cap collapsed causing the collapse of the launching girder, p between p-66 and p-67 piers which had already been erected and pre-stressed, and also segments of the superstructure for the p between p-67 and p-68. The pier cap (p-67) sheared from the connecting point of the pier and pier cap.

The top reinforcement of the cantilever beam did not have any development into the pier itself which caused the shear itself. The launching girder has failed due to the failure of the pier cap. This failure also caused the p between piers 67 and 68 causing it to be inclined supported by the ground on one end and the pier cap on the other. With the failure of the pier cap and p between piers the crane used for lifting the launching girder also failed on July 13th 2009.

Bending of the crane shows the clear sign of overloading which was caused by not analyzing the amount of stress the crane could handle. The causes of the failure are many and once one portion of the roadway failed it caused a chain reaction to the entire infrastructure collapsing. The pier (p-67) was initially designed as a leg of a portal frame between piers but then was changed to support the pier cap. The same method was used for piers p-66 and p-68.

The top reinforcement was poorly engineered; the pier cap had a reinforcement of 36mm diameter and a length of 500mm which was an insufficient bond length for the structure. During the launching operation the launching girder itself developed a crack that was grouted in crack areas and further strengthened by introducing prop or jacketing. During the launching of superstructure 6 segments where lifted and the whole system collapsed when the seventh segment was hooked up for lifting.

It was concluded that the failure of the pier cap occurred to the improper jacketing done when a crack had occurred. This was also coupled with inadequate length of support and reinforcement of the cantilever pier cap. The failure of the cranes was the fact that the capacity of 2 cranes where not able to hold the weight of the superstructure which caused the larger 3rd crane to fail. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation sacked the official in charge of the Badarpur Metro line, Vijay Anand for neglecting his duty.

Structural designs should have been proof checked by an experienced structural engineer. Also once failure had been observed the structure should have been abandoned and a new structure should have been built. Make shift reinforcement to save a failed structure was a major neglecting issue and engineering failure. The lack of professionalism that lead to the superstructure failure started with trying to fix the failed pier cap and neglecting the fact that the cranes used to lift the structure where not engineered to hold the amount of weight that needed to be supported.

The support reinforcement should have been checked by an experienced engineer that should have easily seen the reinforcement issue between the pier and pier cap. The information for this case study was found from www. engineeringcivil. com/theory/civil. engineering-disaster. com and www. thaindian. com. The entire structural failure was found on these sites including who was a fault and why the structure failed.

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The Failure Of War By Wendell Berry

Wendell Berry, in his essay ‘The Failure of War,’ claims that ‘modern war does not work as a solution to any problem except retribution,’ and that it promotes a vicious cycle of violence and other social problems. Supporters for war will claim that war answers the dilemma of national defense. But the agnostic, in return, will solicit to what level the cost even of a triumphant war of national defense—in life, wealth, material, foods, health, and liberty—may amount to a national overwhelm. National defense by way of war constantly entails some quantity of national defeat. Militarization in defense of freedom downsizes the freedom of the apologists. There is a crucial contradiction between war and freedom.

In a contemporary war, fought with modern armaments and on the modern scale, neither side can bound to “the adversary” the harm that it does. These wars ruin the humanity. Modern war has not only made it unworkable to kill “opponents” without massacring “non-warriors,” it has made it ineffectual to destroy your foe without spoiling yourself. Modern wars have usually been fought to end war; they have been fought for the sake of peace.

To Berry most appalling weapons have been prepared, seemingly, to maintain and assure the peace of the world. “All we want is peace,” we utter as we increase inexorably our aptitude to make war. Yet in the last part of a century in which we have fought two combats to end war and numerous more to prevent war and keep peace, and in which scientific and hi-tech evolution has made war ever more horrifying and less manageable, we still, by policy, confer no contemplation to nonviolent approach of national defense. We stick to the discouraging paradox of making peace by producing war.

Capital chastisement sinks us all to the same level of primal aggression, at which an act of brutality is rebuked by another deed of aggression. What the justifiers of these feats overlook is the fact—fixed by the history of quarrels; steer clear of the history of war—that belligerence raises violence. Operations of violence committed in “fairness” or in assertion of “rights” or in resistance of “peace” do not impede violence. They set up and justify its prolongation.

The most hazardous fallacy of the parties of violence is the notion that endorsed violence can put off or control illegal violence. If we devote to these small irrationalities the enormity of worldwide relations, we make, predictably, a few much larger idiocies. In “foreign” wars, we do not explicitly experience the harm that we wreak upon the rival. We pay monies to sanction the war, but that is nothing new, for we shell out war levies in era of peace as well.

Quite the reverse, war is the great solution and opening of our corporate economy, which keeps going and prospers upon war. And thus great costs are engrossed in our fixation on war, but the overheads are “externalized” as “tolerable losses.” Romantic separatists, which are to say most protectors for war, always contain in their public speeches mathematics or an accounting of war. The supportable price, at last, is suchlike is paid.

It is straightforward to see the likeness between this accounting of the cost of war and our normal accounting of the price of improvement. Now with less fret (to date) it is observed world subjugation by global capitalism. Nevertheless its political means are milder than those of Leninism, this lately internationalized capitalism may attest even more harsh to human mores and communities, of liberty, and of environment. To Berry people would be less incongruous if the leaders would believe in good faith the verified surrogates to violence.

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