Saturday, August 31, 2019

Organisational Behaviour Ch7

CHAPTER 7 DECISION MAKING AND CREATIVITY Describe the six stages in the rational choice decision process Decision making: the conscious process of making choices among alternatives with the intention of moving toward some desired state of affairs. Rational choice paradigm of decision making: the view in decision making that people should and typically do, use logic and all available information to choose the alternative with the highest value. Decision making involves identifying, selecting and applying the best possible alternative. The best decision use pure logic and all available information to choose the alternative with the highest value Such as highest expected profit, customer satisfaction, employee wellbeing or some combination of these outcomes. Subjective expected utility: the probability (expectation) of satisfaction (utility) resulting from choosing a specific alternative in a decision. Decision making process: systematic application of stages of decision making. 1. Identify problem or opportunity 2. Choose the best decision process 3. Develop alternative solutions 4. Choose the best alternative . Implement the selected option 6. Evaluate decision outcomes Problem with Rational choice paradigm: 1. Impossible to apply in reality 2. Difficulty recognising problems 3. Process the huge volume of information 4. Difficulty recognising when choices have failed 5. Focusing on logical thinking, ignores emotion influence making decision IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES Explain why people have difficulty with it Problem identification is not just the first step in decision making: it is the most important There are five most widely recognised concerns. Stakeholder framing: attention-based theory of the firm: states that, organisational decisions and actions are influenced mainly by what attracts management’s attention, rather than by objective reality. Mental mode: if an idea does not fit the existing mental mode of how things should work, the idea is dismissed as unworkable or undesirable. Decisive leadership: being decisive includes quickly forming an opinion of whether an event signals problem or opportunity. Many decisions happens too quickly before having a chance to logically assess the situation, more often it is a poorer decision than would result if more time had been devoted to identify the problem and evaluating the alternatives. Solution-focused problems: decision makers engage in solution-focused problem identification because it provides comforting closure to the otherwise ambiguous and uncertain nature of problems. Perceptual defence: people sometimes block out bad news as a coping mechanism. Some people inherently avoid negative information. People are more likely to disregard danger signals when they have limited control over the situation. Identifying problems and opportunities more effectively * Be aware of the 5 problem identification biases * Increase awareness of problem identification, need willpower to resist the temptation of looking decisive * Create a norm of â€Å"divine discontent† * Discussing the situation with others to ease difficulty EVALUATING AND CHOOSING ALTERNATIVES Explain why people do not follow the rational choice model when evaluating alternative choices Bounded rationality: the view that people are process limited and imperfect information and rarely select the best choice. Problem with goals: assumes that organisational goals are clear and agreed on. Goals are often ambiguous or in conflict with each other. Problem with information processing: assumes that decision makers can process info about all alternatives and in their consequences, but it is not possible in reality. Implicit favourite: preferred alternative that the decision maker uses repeatedly as a comparison with other choices. iased decision heuristics: key element of rational choice paradigm, as people can estimate the probabilities of outcomes. 1. Anchoring and adjustment heuristic: people to be influenced by an initial anchor point such that they do not sufficiently move away from that point as new info is provided. Initial info influences evaluation of subsequent info 2. Availability heuristic: we estimate probabilities by how easily we can recall the event, even tho ugh other factors influence it. 3. Representativeness heuristic: we estimate probabilities by how much they are similar to something else, even when better information available. Problem with maximisation: people engage in satisficing, selecting an alternative that is good enough rather than the alternative with the highest value. To choose the best alternative is also demand more info processing capacity than what they willing to apply. Making the best choice among many, can be cognitively and emotionally draining. Evaluating opportunities: opportunity is different from the process of problem solving. Decision makers not evaluate alternatives, after all, the opportunity is the solution, so why look further, they tend to have an emotional attachment to the opportunity. EMOTIONS AND MAKING CHOICES: Describe 3 ways in which emotions influences the selection of alternatives 1. Emotions from early preferences: emotions form preferences before we consciously evaluate those choices 2. Emotions change the decision evaluation process: moods and emotions influence how well we follow the decision process. . Emotions serve as info when we evaluate alternatives: we â€Å"listen in† on our emotions and use that info to make choices Intuitive decision making: ability to know when a problem or opportunity exist and select the best action without conscious reasoning. * Gut feelings we experience are emotional signals that have enough intensity to make us aware * Not all emotional signals are intuitions * Intuitions are involves rapidly comparing nonconscious analysis Making choices more eff ective: Systematically evaluate alternatives against relevant factors * Be aware of effects of emotions on decision preferences and evaluating process * Scenario planning: imagining possible future, choosing the best possible solution long before they occur Evaluating decision outcomes: confirmation bias known as â€Å"post-decisional justification† * Forget or downplay the negative features of selected alternative and highlight the positive features * Typically nonconscious and driven by emotions * Gives people an excessively optimistic evaluation of their decision Escalation of Commitment: the tendency to repeat an apparently bad decision or allocate more resources to a falling course of action 4 main causes of escalation: 1. Self-justification: individuals motivated maintain course of action when need to justify their action 2. Prospect theory effect: a natural tendency to feel more dissatisfaction from losing a particular amount than satisfaction from gaining an equal amount 3. Perceptual blinders: occurs because decision makers do not see the problems soon enough, they screen out or explain away negative information, serious problems looks like random errors 4. Closing costs: decision makers will because the cost of ending the project are high or unknown Evaluating decision outcomes more effectively: * Separate decision makers from evaluators to minimise self-justification * Establish a preset level to abandon or re-evaluate the project * Find a source of systematic and clear feedback * Involve several people in the evaluation EMPLOYEE INVOLVMENT IN DECISION MAKING Describe benefits of employee involvement in decision making Employee involvement: when employees influence how their work is organised and carried out Benefits: improves quality and commitment – recognising problem more quicker – defining problem more accurately – improve solutions generated – specific conditions improves the evaluation of alternatives Contingencies of employee involvement Identify four option thet affect the optimal level of employee involvement 1. Decision structure: decision can be programmed and non-programmed, programmed decision need less involvement, because solution is already worked out from past incidents 2. Source of decision knowledge: employee have relevant knowledge than leaders, it is improves decision quality 3. Decision commitment: participation is improving employee commitment 4. Risk of conflict: employee goals and norms conflict with the organisation’s goals, whether employees will reach agreement on the preferred solution CREATIVITY Outline the four steps in creative process Creativity: the development of original ideas that make a socially recognised contribution Rely on to find problems, alternatives and implement solutions Creative process: 1. Preparation: person or team effort to gain knowledge and skills regarding the problem or opportunity, clear understanding of what we are trying to achieve 2. Incubation: the period of reflective thoughts, put the problem aside, however our mind is still working on it, maintain a low level of awareness†¦Ã¢â‚¬ divergent thinking† reframing the problem and generating different approaches to the issue â€Å"convergent thinking†: calculating the accepted â€Å"right answer† to logical problem 3. Insight: refers to experience of suddenly becoming aware of a unique idea CHARACTERISTICS OF CREATIVE PEOPLE Describe the characteristics of creative employee and workplaces that support creativity 1. Cognitive and practical intelligence: creative people recognise the significance of small bits of information and are able to connect them in ways like no one else could imagine, they also have practical intelligence, the capacity to evaluate the potential usefulness of their ideas 2. Persistence: higher need for achievement, a strong motivation from the task itself and a moderate or high degree of self-esteem, persistence is vital because creative ideas meet with plenty of resistance from others as well as failures along the way to success 3. Subject knowledge and experience: creative people have sufficient knowledge and experience on subject 4. Independent imagination: -high openness to experience, moderately low need for affiliation, high self-direction stimulation values Creative work environment * Learning orientation: leaders recognise that employees make reasonable mistakes as part of the creative process, and need to tolerate â€Å"creativity comes from failure† * Work motivation: employees can be more creative if they believe their work. Benefit the organisation * Open communication and sufficient resources Activities that encourage creativity

Friday, August 30, 2019

Beliefs and teachings of Christianity and Islam Essay

Introduction In this essay I will be exploring the beliefs and teachings about Jesus and Christianity. Also investigating Islam and Tawhid, this is the oneness of Allah and Judgement day. Then how these beliefs and teachings have reflected in believer’s attitudes towards life after death. Then finally I will put across my opinion and what others opinion to this may be on the following statement. † People who have a religious faith lead better lives than people who have no faith, because they see life differently â€Å" A) Explain the beliefs and teachings of Christianity and Islam. In Christianity: Jesus In Islam: Tawhid and Akirah Tawhid is the oneness of Allah. The one and only universal God of all humanity. The Tawhid reinforces Islam as a monotheistic faith. Allah cannot be described in certain terms, the Quran warns Muslims that they shouldn’t do this as there is only one God in Islam, † I am Allah there is no God but me† If a Muslim is not to believe this then they are not a true Muslim. This is called Anthropomorphism. Allah is far beyond human understanding. He is not abstract and Allah created everything. To suggest you own something is breaking Tawhid. Or to think that you are better than anyone or anything also breaks Tawhid and breaks the teaching from the Quran † We are all equal like the tooth of a comb† Akirah is Judgement by Allah, † He will gather you again on the day of judgement † (Quran) Judgement day happens when the world comes to an end and Allah judges every Muslim. When Muslim dies they go into a state of waiting this is called Barzakh. Life is a test, preparation for the afterlife, this is more important as it is for eternity. Paradise and hell is where Allah sends a Muslim after being judged. Throughout a Muslims life two angels, A good one and a bad one watches them. They record all actions that happen in every day life and these are read out at judgement day. A Muslim can go straight to heaven if they die in a Holy war, Fight in the name of Allah or if they were to die on the hajj. Jesus was the founder of Christianity, the Son of God and prophet messenger from God many people in his times referred to him as the Messiah, the anointed one, chosen to be king. He is part of the trinity, the human form of God. Jesus spread the message of God and Christianity. He taught people his knowledge and teachings of the religion. He showed how to forgive. Mary Magdalene, a prostitute fell to Jesus’ feet, He said whilst he was on the cross. † Father forgive them for they no not what they do.† He also taught his people not to judge others. † Do not judge and you will not be judged â€Å" Christians have a golden rule this should be used in everything that they do. † Love your Neighbour as Yourself â€Å" B) How these teachings and beliefs reflected in believers attitudes towards life after death. Christians believe in forgive and reform. Christians can correct their sins. Jesus showed the way to heaven, by following his teachings. Jesus showed life after death when he resurrected from the death. Jesus taught Christians for God to give you life after death, you have to prove your faith by actions and putting the teachings of Jesus into a Christians daily life. So Christians did this. Then they would be rewarded with heaven. Christians do not believe in the death penalty as they believe in forgiveness and reform to become a better person. When a Christian dies they are also judged but in a different way. If they have been good and are truly sorry for their sins they can go to heaven. If they commit a sin and are not truly sorry they will go to Hell. You cannot separate religion and politics in Islam, Muslim beliefs affect a Muslims life as Islam is complete way of life. Life is just preparation for the afterlife, Heaven or hell. Muslims are all expected to be equal. For example4, the rich must donate money to the poorer Ummah. You cannot separate life and religion. The main ways a Muslim submits to Allah is by following his teachings in the Quran and the 5 pillars. Akirah is a main influence of believers of Islam. As this is on a Muslims actions and everything they do as preparation for paradise does count on judgement day. Muslims take life after death very seriously. They follow strictly to Allah’s instructions found in the Quran. To give them a place in paradise. Remember life is only a test. If they pass a reward of Paradise (heaven). C) † People who have a religious faith lead better lives than people who have no faith, because they see life differently â€Å" How far do you agree? Give reasons for your answer, showing that you thought about more than one point of view. Refer to religious teachings I agree and disagree with this statement. I agree that people who have no faith see life differently to than those who have. But I disagree that people who have a religious faith lead better lives. I could say this statement isn’t true as a quote from the bible says, † We are all one In the lord Jesus Christ.† if we are all one why does that statement state that people that have a religious faith have a better life than those that don’t. Although I disagree with † People who have a religious faith lead better lives than people who have no Faith. â€Å" I can understand why this is said. In some cases some people prefer to always know what is going to happen. If they have a fixed faith such as Islam. They no what they have to do to achieve there goal of going to Paradise and therefore can prepare for this. If someone has no fixed faith and doesn’t follow any particular religion they are always unsure of what will happen in their future life and whether there is a future life. And how to respond to this. But I understand that others may prefer to have an undecided Future.

Modernization Theory

MODERNIZATION THEORY Introduction: Modernization is an inherently optimistic concept for it assumes that all countries eventually experience economic growth. This optimistic must be understood in the historical context of post war prosperity and growth in the north and independence of many southern colonies along with the growth of national markets and trades. The theory of modernization turns out into the high mass consumption and urbanization. The theory of economic growth is an alternative to Marxist theory. Meaning and history of modernization theory: Modernization theory is a collection of perspective which, while at their most intellectually influential in the 1950s and 1960s. Along with the growth of national markets, made nineteenth century capitalists much more effective and ambitious than any of other forebears; hence the so-called ‘industrial revolution’. Definition of modernization: 1. Modernization theory is the theory used to summarize modern transformations of social life. 2. Historically modernization is the process of change towards those types of social, economic, and political systems that have developed in the Western Europe. Eisenstadt-1966) Theoretical origins of modernization: The theory of modernization has its roots in the ideas of some scholars they produced different theories about the origins, characters, and future path of modern industrial society. Which we can now examine closely: Emile Durkheim: Durkheim proposes that there are two types of society ‘traditional’ and ‘mode rn’ society, which have different forms of social cohesion between their members. The people of the traditional society perform the limited tasks of a simple agrarian community based on group of families and clan in village settlements. Each group though a similar to all others thinks, believes and life styles are relatively self-contained. Its members perform all the required rules of farming, childrearing, social control defiance and so on. Each group is then a sort of segment, a discreet unit in a large society; hence durkheim also called this a ‘segmental’ society. The traditional society is contrasted with the modern society- in whichever increasing numbers and density of the 0f the population. This leads to a more people competing for relatively scarce resources. When competition becomes the fiercest, a social resolution to these problems had to emerge and this creates a gradual increase in social division of labor. Social differentiation occurs as a specialized institution are formed by people to deal with particular need of society such as religious, economic, political, educational and so on. The modern society is more cultured and less rigid and allows more scope for individual frustrations and happiness. Durkheim called this society â€Å"organic society’. Max weber: max weber sought to explain the emergence of industrialization, though he focused his attention on answering why capitalist manufacturing became dominate only in the economy of western. The basic explanation for this occurrence was the existence of cultural processes namely rationalization. Weber suggested this was not an easy or natural form of behavior; one of the important factors that promoted this work ‘ethic’ was according to weber not economic but religious. His beliefs that as western society has developed, more and more of its members act in ways that are guided by the principals of rationality and less by custom of tradition. He sees the coming of the modern era as sciatic birth of individual as a relatively free agent not about by rigid. Walt whitman Rostow: rostow illustrates the concept of modernization per excellence. in his work on economic growth (rostow-1960a; 1960b) the form of growth experience in north are taken as a model for the rest of the world, while economic are situated at different stages of development all are assumed be moving to the same direction. Traditional society is poor, irrational and rural. The take off stage requires a leap forward, based on technology and high levels of investment; preconditions for this the development of the infrastructure, manufacturing and effective government. After this the societies reach a stage of self-sustaining growth, in its mature stage technology pervades the whole economy leading to ‘the high mass consumption, high productivity and high levels of urbanization. This feature includes prenewtonian science and technology. All this typically takes 20 years and rostow attempts to date actual take off of those countries, which have experienced them. (1783-1803) For Britain which was the first followed amongst others, USA (1890-1940), Japan (1878-1900), Russia (1890-1914) and India, china (1950 onwards). Modernization: Modernization was prompted by the decline of the old colonial empires. The third world became a focused of attention by politicians who were keen to show countries pushing for independence that sustain development was possible under the western wings or modernization theory. Trumans speech embodies this initial optimism. Modernization can be described as optimistic because it presents development as a easy process enduring under development is explained in terms of obstacles. Paolo Friers suggests people need to develop political consciousness and the rout to this is though pedagogic techniques of empowerment. Learner(1964) explains the from traditional to modern. Be beliefs that ‘Transitional society’ a society which has the process of cultural diffusion from more advanced sector of the world; been exposed to modernity. For learner the traditional society a society that has defined by what it wants to become, it is empathetic society. Lear said that ‘traditional society’ is not participant; it deploys people by kinship into communities isolated from each other and from a center the bands of interdependence people horizons are limited by local (1964, p-50). In the 1940s and 1950s was the only realistic way for LDC to industrialize. In general then for learner the mare a society exhibits empathy the more it will be engaged in the process of modernization and more likely is be modern. There is a clear mixture of sociological, psychological and economic feature to modernization theory, including for example, reference to value systems, individual motivation and capital accumulation. The critique of modernization theory: There are cultural and intellectual rejections of modernity. The boundaries between low and high culture are broken down. Intellectually post modernism involves and of the dominance of the unitary theories of progress and belief in scientific rationality. Modernization theory has not survived intact as viable paradigms for understanding change and transformation or process of poverty inequality. The theory cannot realistically explain the problem of global inequity and poverty. The principal term of the theory the traditional and the modern are much too vague to be of much use on classification of distinct skeptics. The two terms do not give the way indication of the great variety of society there have and do exist. Although the theory is supposed to be the way of society develops. There is little explanation offered for this problem. This is a serious weakness. Industrialized modern and its attendant’s urbanization weaker the wider kinship system as the people become primarily concern with the nuclear family (will’s 1977). Modernization completely undermines the values of extended family ties (penn-1986). It also derived from salvation among Protestants on important contributory factor in the rise of rational capitalism. The most forceful criticism of modernization theory is that it entirely ignores the impact of imperialism on third world countries. This is a staggering omission. Conclusion: Modernization deals with social change from agrarian societies to industrial ones, it is important to look at the technological viewpoint. New technologies do not change societies by it. Most accounts give greatest priority to the role played by the values, norms and beliefs of people in determining the sort of society – traditional or modern- that they create and thus value changes are the most important conditions for social change. Modernization Theory MODERNIZATION THEORY Introduction: Modernization is an inherently optimistic concept for it assumes that all countries eventually experience economic growth. This optimistic must be understood in the historical context of post war prosperity and growth in the north and independence of many southern colonies along with the growth of national markets and trades. The theory of modernization turns out into the high mass consumption and urbanization. The theory of economic growth is an alternative to Marxist theory. Meaning and history of modernization theory: Modernization theory is a collection of perspective which, while at their most intellectually influential in the 1950s and 1960s. Along with the growth of national markets, made nineteenth century capitalists much more effective and ambitious than any of other forebears; hence the so-called ‘industrial revolution’. Definition of modernization: 1. Modernization theory is the theory used to summarize modern transformations of social life. 2. Historically modernization is the process of change towards those types of social, economic, and political systems that have developed in the Western Europe. Eisenstadt-1966) Theoretical origins of modernization: The theory of modernization has its roots in the ideas of some scholars they produced different theories about the origins, characters, and future path of modern industrial society. Which we can now examine closely: Emile Durkheim: Durkheim proposes that there are two types of society ‘traditional’ and ‘mode rn’ society, which have different forms of social cohesion between their members. The people of the traditional society perform the limited tasks of a simple agrarian community based on group of families and clan in village settlements. Each group though a similar to all others thinks, believes and life styles are relatively self-contained. Its members perform all the required rules of farming, childrearing, social control defiance and so on. Each group is then a sort of segment, a discreet unit in a large society; hence durkheim also called this a ‘segmental’ society. The traditional society is contrasted with the modern society- in whichever increasing numbers and density of the 0f the population. This leads to a more people competing for relatively scarce resources. When competition becomes the fiercest, a social resolution to these problems had to emerge and this creates a gradual increase in social division of labor. Social differentiation occurs as a specialized institution are formed by people to deal with particular need of society such as religious, economic, political, educational and so on. The modern society is more cultured and less rigid and allows more scope for individual frustrations and happiness. Durkheim called this society â€Å"organic society’. Max weber: max weber sought to explain the emergence of industrialization, though he focused his attention on answering why capitalist manufacturing became dominate only in the economy of western. The basic explanation for this occurrence was the existence of cultural processes namely rationalization. Weber suggested this was not an easy or natural form of behavior; one of the important factors that promoted this work ‘ethic’ was according to weber not economic but religious. His beliefs that as western society has developed, more and more of its members act in ways that are guided by the principals of rationality and less by custom of tradition. He sees the coming of the modern era as sciatic birth of individual as a relatively free agent not about by rigid. Walt whitman Rostow: rostow illustrates the concept of modernization per excellence. in his work on economic growth (rostow-1960a; 1960b) the form of growth experience in north are taken as a model for the rest of the world, while economic are situated at different stages of development all are assumed be moving to the same direction. Traditional society is poor, irrational and rural. The take off stage requires a leap forward, based on technology and high levels of investment; preconditions for this the development of the infrastructure, manufacturing and effective government. After this the societies reach a stage of self-sustaining growth, in its mature stage technology pervades the whole economy leading to ‘the high mass consumption, high productivity and high levels of urbanization. This feature includes prenewtonian science and technology. All this typically takes 20 years and rostow attempts to date actual take off of those countries, which have experienced them. (1783-1803) For Britain which was the first followed amongst others, USA (1890-1940), Japan (1878-1900), Russia (1890-1914) and India, china (1950 onwards). Modernization: Modernization was prompted by the decline of the old colonial empires. The third world became a focused of attention by politicians who were keen to show countries pushing for independence that sustain development was possible under the western wings or modernization theory. Trumans speech embodies this initial optimism. Modernization can be described as optimistic because it presents development as a easy process enduring under development is explained in terms of obstacles. Paolo Friers suggests people need to develop political consciousness and the rout to this is though pedagogic techniques of empowerment. Learner(1964) explains the from traditional to modern. Be beliefs that ‘Transitional society’ a society which has the process of cultural diffusion from more advanced sector of the world; been exposed to modernity. For learner the traditional society a society that has defined by what it wants to become, it is empathetic society. Lear said that ‘traditional society’ is not participant; it deploys people by kinship into communities isolated from each other and from a center the bands of interdependence people horizons are limited by local (1964, p-50). In the 1940s and 1950s was the only realistic way for LDC to industrialize. In general then for learner the mare a society exhibits empathy the more it will be engaged in the process of modernization and more likely is be modern. There is a clear mixture of sociological, psychological and economic feature to modernization theory, including for example, reference to value systems, individual motivation and capital accumulation. The critique of modernization theory: There are cultural and intellectual rejections of modernity. The boundaries between low and high culture are broken down. Intellectually post modernism involves and of the dominance of the unitary theories of progress and belief in scientific rationality. Modernization theory has not survived intact as viable paradigms for understanding change and transformation or process of poverty inequality. The theory cannot realistically explain the problem of global inequity and poverty. The principal term of the theory the traditional and the modern are much too vague to be of much use on classification of distinct skeptics. The two terms do not give the way indication of the great variety of society there have and do exist. Although the theory is supposed to be the way of society develops. There is little explanation offered for this problem. This is a serious weakness. Industrialized modern and its attendant’s urbanization weaker the wider kinship system as the people become primarily concern with the nuclear family (will’s 1977). Modernization completely undermines the values of extended family ties (penn-1986). It also derived from salvation among Protestants on important contributory factor in the rise of rational capitalism. The most forceful criticism of modernization theory is that it entirely ignores the impact of imperialism on third world countries. This is a staggering omission. Conclusion: Modernization deals with social change from agrarian societies to industrial ones, it is important to look at the technological viewpoint. New technologies do not change societies by it. Most accounts give greatest priority to the role played by the values, norms and beliefs of people in determining the sort of society – traditional or modern- that they create and thus value changes are the most important conditions for social change.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

D2 Review course assignments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

D2 Review course assignments - Essay Example Unit 2 assignment requires the learner to create a memo that describes the strategic decision-making process in an organization, particularly the criteria used in making and testing of the assumptions held by decision makers. The information needed will be obtained through secondary data analysis, particularly browsing the web and reading textbooks. This assignment will improve the skills of the learner in making critical decisions in an organization as a manager or executive. Unit 3 assignment requires one to develop a job grading schedule for appraising the performance of Frontline supervisors (Beck, 2013). To obtain the information on grades and weights for each item, a survey will be conducted in personnel management firms. This assignment information will boost the learner’s personnel management skills, concerning performance management and job evaluation. Unit 4 assignment requires the learner to complete an assessment measuring program-level learning outcomes. The evaluation information will be answered based on the opinion of the student about expectations and experiences in the program. This will facilitate the improvement of the program to reflect current market experiences and skills needed for management students. Unit 5 assignments involve a comparison of the two organizations on various business aspects, mainly organizational strategic management processes, design, culture and management styles (Charles Hill, 2012). The data required for this assignment will be obtained through a survey of the two organizations. The analysis will enhance the learners strategic planning and implementation skills in different companies in a dynamic

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Managing Projects Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Managing Projects - Term Paper Example B. Activity Timing Calculation for Earliest Finish Time (EFT) and LST (Latest Start Time) are shown in the appendix 1. In such context, Field and Keller (2007) gave the following equation to calculate the float time; Float Time= LFT –EST - Duration Generally, float time is defined as the amount of slack time allowed in project or it can be said that amount of time that can be delayed without delaying the completion time of the project. Total float time for the project has been calculated as 29 days and the calculation is given in the appendix 2 section. C. Critical Path It is evident from the research work of Takim, Akintoye and Kelly (2004) that measurement of critical path or the longest route to complete the project plays vital role in project management. Float time has been taken as zero while calculating the critical path. In such context, the path passing through activity points such as A, B, C, F, G, K, L, M, N, O, Q and R has been identified as critical path for the pr oject. Hence, by joining the time scales of these critical activity points we get 50 days as the completion time for the project. At least 50 days will be needed in order to accomplish the project. D. Project Completion Time Project starts on Monday 15th July, 2013 and the project team will work for 5days a week (supposing there will be no holidays except weekend holidays). Taking account of the 50 days project completion period, it can be said that the project will be completed on 20th September, 2013 (Friday). Calculation of the end day of the project has been given in the appendix 3 section. E. Delay in Activity Float time for activity E (not a critical activity) is 2 days which means that maximum 2 days can be delayed for completion of E activity hence delaying activity E for 1 day will not affect the project completion time. Float time for activity P (not a critical activity) is 3 days which means that maximum 3 days can be delayed for completion of P activity hence delaying ac tivity P for 2 days will not affect the project completion time. Q lies in the critical path hence reduction or increase of the duration of the activity will affect the completion time of the project. 1 day early completion of the project Q will help the project to be completed 1 day early. However, delay in activities will definitely increase the cost of the project hence project managers should try to complete each activity on time in order to control the cost of the project. F. Network Diagrams- Limitations Taylor (2006) showed doubt over the usability of network diagram in complex projects while other research scholars pointed out that network diagram is basically probabilistic in nature. Taylor (2006) also pointed out that using network diagram in big project increases the complexity and also creates problem for project members to understand the flow of activities. In such context, limitations of the network diagram can be depicted in the following manner; Concept of Poisson di stribution is used in order to understand the

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Evaluating Fronties North Adventures Corporate Social Responsibility Research Paper

Evaluating Fronties North Adventures Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that Frontiers North Adventures is one of Canada’s most successful tourist's company. The company started in 1986 in northern Canada to provide Authentic Arctic Experiences. The company is a family owned, and it has over 30 years experience in Eco-tourism. The business’s clients have always felt satisfied with the arctic experience after using Frontier’s North Adventures. The company has collaborated with several international and national organizations to ensure that its commitment to sustainability and conservation policies adheres. In addition to this, a company has collaborated with Polar bear international to provide some of the best and breathtaking polar bear sightings while ensuring that the ecosystems in which this polar bear live in are not endangered. Frontiers North Adventures most famous adventurous tourist attractions include Northern Lights Viewing, Beluga Whale Watching, and Polar bear Experiences. The c ompany has successfully managed to operate in this tricky field for more than 30 years. The company has been named as one of the top three sustainable tourist operators in Canada because of its Corporate Social Responsibility. The company has been lauded nationally for its programs involving Sustainability. The company has also been recognized for its work and has won a number of awards including, SKAL International’s 2009 Ecotourism Award, Travel Manitoba’s Sustainable Tourism Award, and several other Ecotourism Awards both Nationally and Internationally. Frontiers North Adventures provides exciting wildlife packages in Northern Canada. The goal of Frontiers North is to deliver to their guests a value worth wildlife familiarity in a responsible and an ecologically friendly manner. The company not only inspires visitors to view and learn about local wildlife but to also learn about the antiquity and culture of the North Canadian society. Frontiers North Adventure is de voted to social, environmental, and ethical accountability in order to uphold the well-being of visitors, the local public, and the ecosystem in which they run.

Monday, August 26, 2019

The Health Care Industry in the Business World Essay

The Health Care Industry in the Business World - Essay Example This essay stresses that NHS is a company that has to improve its communication and intergration of accounting techniques and procedures to improve their level of understanding of how different variables can affect the financial bottom line of a company and how these techniques are able to measure precisely the performance of a company in different operational areas. A conglomarate health care organization which has many units performing different and similar type services has to receice support from all business departments to produce information that enables a company to support the decision making process of the company which is perform by the executive managerial staff of NHS. This paper makes a conclusion that it is difficult for a company to succedd if teamwork and productive synergies are not developed about the varios business units and operation departmetn of a company. Providing supporting services is the responsibility of professionals who work as business adminitrators. Within an organization one of the most influenctial deparments that prepares information regarding the economic activity in a company is the accounting staff. There are many techniques that manipulate information to convert raw data into valuable business reports and information that provides a compilation of the internal financial behavior of an organization as well as other information regarding the industry in which a company operates.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Devil Wears Prada case study (Leadership) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Devil Wears Prada case study (Leadership) - Essay Example She has a team of employees under her including a senior and a junior assistant and has authority to hire or even fire. This power is only as a result of the leadership position and could have been lost if Jacqueline had taken over her position as Nigel revealed to Andy when they spent the night together in Paris at the fashion show event. Andy is simply a junior assistant to Miranda and acts according to how Miranda wants as well as fulfilling all the chores dictated by her as well as by Emily who is the senior personal assistant. Her position demands being respectful and an individual who can be trusted and relied upon. Her power is therefore personal and specifically known as referent power (Fairholm 25). Her ability to handle situations is not only proven when she delivers the â€Å"book† but when she got the advance copies of the Harry Porter Novel for Miranda’s children and even had them delivered to where they were. Miranda’s holding of both powers in the 2006 film and trying to juggle both and succeed in them has benefitted her career but negatively affected her family. She is too busy with both powers to be able to juggle family life as well. The argument Andy overhears between Miranda and her husband when she went to deliver the â€Å"book† as well as the confession of a pending divorce by Miranda to Andy is an indication that all is not well and all because of the power base. Andy’s power has benefitted her as her trust from Miranda due to her work and diligence has made her land a job in The New York Mirror magazine. This is her dream job as she wanted to work in a newspaper or magazine as a reporter or writer and this has finally happened all because of her power base. Her relationship with her boyfriend Nate seems to have suffered when she cheats on him and he gets his dream job in Boston as a sous chef. Nigel seems to be the stirring all the problems for Miranda advocating for her to be eliminated and Jacqueline to

Saturday, August 24, 2019

English composition II Unit 5 Db Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

English composition II Unit 5 Db - Essay Example Mine was an analytical research paper, and so, I had to offer the academic community a fresh look at the essential issue I was researching. Besides, the subject was not controversial, and that is the reason why I had to persuade the audience on the importance of my ideas. Choosing a topic was my next step, and I also stated my working thesis statement inform of a question, since I was dealing with an analytical research paper. Actual research followed, whereby, I had to look for various sources in order to get information. I discovered that primary sources are better than secondary sources, because they enable a researcher to get close to the source as possible (Experiment-Resources.com, 2009). Some of the primary sources I used included interviews, which are highly effective. On the other hand, I used secondary sources, such as newspapers, magazines, articles, journals, websites and books. I read over all the sources and took outstanding notes. In addition, I included page numbers and internet links on all essential information I came across. The next thing was drafting an outline, which included the thesis statement, facts and main points, as well as evidence supporting the main points. I also supported my assertions with sources, both primary and secondary. I later wrote a rough draft, which contained three parts; introduction, body and conclusion. The next step was extremely crucial since it involved revising and editing the research paper to get a final draft. I read through the paper five times and made sure all assertions were supported by sources. Besides, I ensured that there was a transition between the main points and no detail was left out. I checked grammar, spelling, punctuation and word choice errors. I focused on the general appearance of the text so as to do effective editing of the research paper. In

Friday, August 23, 2019

Inquiring Minds Want to Know--Now Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Inquiring Minds Want to Know--Now - Case Study Example The Penton Media seeks to answer the question that is brainstorming within the business magazines in the industry Week, Restaurant Hospitality and Machine Design in respect to the decline of the use of publication reader service cards. The dilemma to unravel here is the fact that the industries want to assess the long-term viability of an advertiser and a reader service, that is, the reader service card, which is a post-card size device that the readers use while requesting for further information from a specific advertiser. There is decreased tracking of the sources of the lead onto the use of the post-card device in the period 1998. The other critical aspect of this dilemma is the changing state of technology globally. This renders some trends in business field to be obsolete. This is evident through the Penton research results showing that there was no use of website access information by the various organizations within their ads in the 1992. Conversely, today the â€Å"contact us† icon entails e-mail addresses and other contact means that hasten the communication link between the organization and the general public. The step on the management questions requires that the management fully capitalize on the opportunity that arises. This best outlines the strategic positioning of the organization to tap and grasp the accessible opportunity within the market or the industry. The question that Penton’s research wants to resolve is how best the organization disseminates timely and adequate information to the customers. The essence of this is that there is a new paradigm shift in the industrial purchasing and thus changing approaches that would best fit the divergent consumer environment is most sufficient. This step finds the most reasonable actions that are at disposal towards tapping the advantageous edge of the opportunity presented. The respondents of the

Thursday, August 22, 2019

The European sovereign debt crisis during 2010-2011 Essay - 1

The European sovereign debt crisis during 2010-2011 - Essay Example Matters involving liability crisis have in the recent years being reported globally, as the level of the sovereign arrears of some of the financial scheme of the world have risen, giving them a threat of failure to pay. A Financial network is thought to be in an obligation crisis once its government has failed to pay its debt. However, not any of the nations that are at present in debt disaster has defaulted, but they involve extremely high government debt balances, and their bond output spreads in the securities of the government have gone up, as a result, there is relegation of their sovereign ratings for credit. When an area suffers this crisis, it might be able to undergo a sudden discontinue of inflows from the foreign capital because of major loss of capitalist confidence regarding the economy. The Eurozone had kept an overall acceptable short-term financial credit between 1999 to the year 2007. However, there existed large as well as continuing inequities in the region.  "Greece, Spain, Portugal, and to a lesser extent Ireland†, sustained massive current account shortfalls, and Germany, Netherlands, along with Luxembourg, had profits in the account (Braga & Vincelette 222). The providers of the large plus extended current account losses are dissimilar across these countries. As years went by, the deficits balances of the current financial standing have been increasing, also, a decrease to the surpluses in the other countries. The existing crisis on debt commenced with the demise of the banking corporation in Iceland in the year 2008, and spread to some of the countries in Europe like the Ireland, Portugal, as well as Greece in the year 2009. At the beginning of the second half of this year, reports concerning the debt crisis on the United Sates also blew up (Economic Review 1; Braga & Vincelette 222-225). The crisis originated from various factors and had tremendous implications to the economy of the European countries. GDP Growth in the Euroz one, Q4 2009–Q1 2011 (Belkin, & Mix, & Nelson, 14) Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook, April 2011 (Belkin, & Mix, & Nelson, 4). Reasons behind the Financial Crisis The debts predicaments are featured to pro-cyclical economic policy in the period preceding the economic crisis. The countries impinged on had being managing large and untenable fiscal deficits for several years, largely funded through borrowing. The Government of Greek used deficit spending to increase extraordinarily, the people’s standard of living as the debt funded the joblessness societal benefits, raised the remuneration of public workers along with pensioners’ income, and sustained a mutually respectful labor market. The evident cause of the â€Å"European Debt Crisis† is also the changing of the ‘European Monetary Union’ (EMU) from financial stimuli to fiscal consolidation in the year 2009. Until that year, the EMU together with the entire European Union (EU) and other main financial systems followed the IMF order in the upshot of Lehman Brother’s insolvency, to promote global demand by way of increasing government spending. The

Situation Essay Example for Free

Situation Essay Situation A: An employee took time off due to his wife giving birth prematurely. His requested time off was approved by his original manager as the employee qualified for FMLA since he has been with the company for two years and was for the care of his spouse. Under (1)†FMLA rules certain employees can be provided up to 12 weeks unpaid, job-protected leave per year. The employee must work for the company at least 12 months, have at least 1250 hours during the 12 months and the where the employee work, the company must employ at least 50 employees within 75 miles†. (1) â€Å"Eligible reasons for leave to be granted to an employee are: * birth and care of the newborn child of an employee; * placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care; * to care for an immediate family member (spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health condition; or to take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition.† The employee requested to return to work after 11 weeks, his new manager approved his return along with his pay prior to his leave from the company. The employee’s request for payment of his salary while he was on leave for 11 weeks was not approved. The company would not be in violation of FMLA rules if the new manager decides not to pay the employee. (1)FMLA states that leave is to be unpaid and therefore the company has the right not to pay. The company complied with all the FMLA eligibility rules when they granted leave and reinstated the employee to his original position and pay rate at the end of his 11 week leave to care for his wife and new born children. If the company provides sick or vacation time an employee can take this during their time off. It’s an unfortunate situation for the employee and the company. The returning employee’s original manager left the company during the employee’s leave and approved his being paid during his leave I feel the following actions should take place. First, attempts to contact the previous manager to confirm the employee’s statement and upon confirmation payment should be granted. Second, the company should show a gesture of good faith and up hold the original manager’s agreement. Third, an amendment to company policy should be put in place to cover future events. Written and signed by both management and employee to the exact terms agreed upon prior to leave under FMLA are to be taken. This is for the protection of the company and their employees. Situation B: A company conducts its annual review in which the results reveal one of its senior employee’s (68yr old) is doing exemplary work and another younger employee (32yr old) is doing average work. The promotion was given to the younger (32yr old) employee over the senior (68yr old) employee due to his age. Even though the fact that the senior employee’s work was above par in comparison to the younger employee. The company is in direct violation of the ADEA of 1967 which states (2)â€Å"certain applicant and employees who are 40 years of age and older are protected from discrimination on the basis of age in hiring, promotion, discharge, compensation, or terms, conditions or privileges of employment.† In this case the 68 year old employee could sue the company based on Age Discrimination and win. Situation C: A potential applicant who is wheelchair bound due to paralysis of his lower extremities applied for an open position with company x. The applicant would need to have access to all seven floors in order to do their job. The company would need to provide â€Å"reasonable accommodations†. Company X denied the potential applicant because of â€Å"undue hardship† that would be brought on the company for retro fitting the elevator keypads in two of the four elevators to accommodate the potential applicant needs to gain access to all the floors. After reviewing the American Disabilities Act of 1990 and the needs of the potential applicant to determine whether retro fitting the existing elevator keypads would create an undue hardship to Company X or not I found the following (34) †Reasonable accommodation is any change or adjustment to the work environment that would allow the disabled worker to perform the essential functions of the job or to allow the disabled worker to enjoy the benefits and privileges of employment equal to employees without disabilities. These additional accessibility alterations are only required to the extent that the added accessibility costs do not exceed 20% of the cost of the original alteration. However, the facility is obligated up to the 20% limit. The path of travel requirement covers elevators, ramps, doorways, pathways, drinking fountains, phones, work space etc.† Company X should provide backup documentation that shows retro fitting the elevators would exceed 20% therefore creating the â€Å"undue hardship†. The only alternative suggestion would be not to retro fit the elevators. Two of the four are not in need of retro fitting so if the potential applicant could safely gain access to all seven floors and still be in compliance with â€Å"ADA† then Company X would be and only then be in violation of â€Å"ADA† when they denied the applicant employment.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

High Performance Work System

High Performance Work System Exploring the Performance Impact of High Performance Work Systems in Professional Service Firms: A practices-Resources-Uses Approach ABSTRACT. In the present study, we develop a practices-resources-uses approach to systematically explain the indirect effect of high performance work systems (HPWS) on firm performance in professional service context. We argue that HPWS result in the creation of human capital, social capital and organizational capital resources. These resources in turn create value for firms when they are effectively explored and exploited. Our analysis of the indirect impact of HPWS on firm performance contributes to the understanding of how and why HPWS affect firm performance by identifying valuable resources and finding out the way to effectively use them in professional service firms (PSFs). We also provide theoretical support for the arguments of the resource-based view of firm (Barney, 1991), the knowledge-based theory of firm (Grant, 1996a, 1996b) and the dynamic capabilities (Teece, Pisano Shuen, 1997) perspectives. Key words: High Performance Work System; Professional Service Firms; Resource-Based View of Firm INTRODUCTION Researchers on strategic human resource management (SHRM) argue for a focus on the bundle of HR practices rather than individual practices, as a primary unit of analysis when examining the impact of HR systems on individual and organizational performance (Huselid, 1995; MacDuffie, 1995). For example, high performance work systems (HPWS) (Datta, Guthrie, Wright, 2005) have been found to positively relate to firms outcomes especially in manufacturing firms, such as financial performance (Guthrie, 2001; Huselid, 1995), employee turnover (Richard Johnson, 2001), firm productivity (Guthrie, 2001), efficiency and flexibility (Evans Davis, 2005), and organizational commitment (Youndt, Snell, Dean Jr, Lepak, 1996). However, the relationship between HPWS and firm performance is indirect and many scholars call for deeper and more theoretical approaches to understand how and why high performance work systems (HPWS) affect firm performance (Bowen Ostroff, 2004; Combs, Liu, Hall, Ketchen, 2006; Delery Shaw, 2001), especially in service organizations (Combs et al., 2006). Based on the existing research, we argue that HPWS results in the creation of human capital (Wright, Dunford, Snell, 2001), social capital (Leana Van Buren III, 1999) and organizational capital resources (Koch McGrath, 1996). Only when these resources are effectively managed and utilized, firms can generate superior profit above that which returns to competitors in perfectly competitive environment (Schultz, 1961), achieve sustainable competitive advantage and create value (Barney Arikan, 2001; Sirmon, Hitt, Ireland, 2007). The causal chain between resource endowment and firm performance is unclear and is in need of theoreti cal explication and empirical investigation (Leana Van Buren III, 1999). Thus, we pursue two research questions: (1) How do HPWS affect firm performance in the professional services context? (2) What are valuable resources and how are they utilized by firms? Guided by the contingency theory, the resource-based view of the firm (RBV) (Barney, 1991), the knowledge-based theory (Anand, Gardner, Morris, 2007; Grant, 1996a, 1996b; Teece, 2003; Winch Schneider, 1993) and dynamic capabilities theory (Teece et al., 1997; Eisenhardt Martin, 2000), we propose a ‘practices-resources-uses performance approach to add insight to our understanding of the value creation-exploitation process in the professional service firm (PSF). The paper is structured as follows. First, we briefly introduce the literature on PSFs and explain why we chose these organisations to conduct our research. We then propose a model that highlights how HPWS affect firm performance. We argue that HPWS affect firm performance through two steps. First, HPWS create firm resources, i.e., human capital, social capital, and organizational capital. And then these resources are exploited to improve firm performance in the short run or are explored to improve firm performance in the longer run. Within the HPWS and firm performance relationship research, our model draws on the â€Å"practices-resources-uses† perspective, and provides important theoretical foundations for understanding how and why HR practices affect firm performance. We then discuss the further implications of the study for practitioners and explore the potential areas for future research. CONTEXT Professional Service Firms (PSFs) are those whose primary assets are a highly educated (professional) workforce and whose outputs are intangible services encoded with complex knowledge (Greenwood, Li, Prakash, Deephouse, 2005). Examples of professional services include accounting, engineering consulting, management consulting and legal services (De Brentani Ragot, 1996). PSFs are knowledge-intensive (Morris, 2001; von Nordenflycht, 2007, 2010) with knowledge encoded in services as outputs (Empson, 2007; Morris Empson, 1998; von Nordenflycht, 2007, 2010). PSFs are different from traditional firms. They primarily exploit intangible assets to produce customized solution for clients (Greenwood et al., 2005; Hitt, Shimizu, Uhlenbruck, Bierman, 2006; Là ¸wendahl, 2005; von Nordenflycht, 2007, 2010). Their human resources constitute the critical asset of the PSFs because they embody expertise and create firm-specific knowledge which can be translated into client solutions. Indeed clien ts may often follow professionals if they change firms (Groysberg Lee, 2009). Because PSFs differ from other firms, to apply theories from other forms of organizations is â€Å"not only inapplicable †¦ but may be dangerously wrong† (Maister, 1993: xvi). Our analysis will represent a good site to examine SHRM because human resources constitute the critical asset and therefore a strong test of the practices-uses-resources model which is what we need to justify. THERETICAL BACKGROUND AND PROPOSITONS Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) Strategic human resource management (SHRM) is defined as â€Å"the pattern of planned human resource deployments and activities intended to enable an organization to achieve its goals† (Wright, McMahan, McWilliams, 1994: 298). Because firm performance stands out as a major organizational goal, many studies have been conducted that examine the linkage between human resources management practices and firm performance (Arthur, 1994; Becker Gerhart, 1996; Datta et al., 2005; Delery Doty, 1996; Guthrie, Flood, Liu, MacCurtain, 2009; Huselid, 1995; MacDuffie, 1995; Richard Johnson, 2001; Terpstra Rozell, 1993; Youndt et al., 1996). The researchers in this field argue that the bundle of HR practices rather than individual practices should be focused as a primary unit of analysis when examining the impact of HR systems on individual and organizational performance (Huselid, 1995; MacDuffie, 1995). Following the above argument, researchers have been encouraged to take a system perspective in examining the performance impact of HRM on relevant organizational outcomes (Wright Boswell, 2002). For example, the study by Youndt et al. (1996) demonstrated that human capital-enhancing HR system was directly related to multiple dimensions of operational performance, i.e., employee productivity, machine efficiency, and customer alignment; the results of Collins and Clark (2003) indicates that the network-building HR practices positively related to the organizational performance, i.e., growth in sales and stock return; the research by Huselid (1995) illustrates a positive relationship between high performance work practices and organizational turnover, productivity and financial performance; the research on high performance work systems (HPWS) conducted by Datta et al. (2005), Guthrie et al. (2009) and Combs et al. (2006) finds that HPWS positively affected firms labour productivity, employee absenteeism and turnover. HPWS include HR practices that are designed to enhance employees skills, commitment, and productivity (Datta et al., 2005). Most previous literature on the relationship between HRM practices and firm performance has looked at the direct relationship. However, many scholars agree that there are probably mediating variables through which HRM practices affect firm performance. As Wright and Gardner (2000:4) write, â€Å"One of the first issues that must be settled in the effort to understand how HR practices impact performance is to theorize the means through which this relationship occurs, in essence specifying the intervening variables between the measure of HR practices and the measure of firm performance.† In the existing research, some scholars found human capital as one of mediators between SHRM and firm performance. Human capital refers to the stock of skills and knowledge embodied in individuals (Becker, 1964; OSullivan Sheffrin, 1998). Guest (1997) argues that SHRM improve employees quality, i.e., skills and abilities. Snell and Dean (1992) also argue that HRM should ideally work to enhance the firms competitive position by creating superior human capital skills, experience and knowledge that contribute to firm economic value. Wright et al. (2001) assert that HPWS might have resulted in the creation of a high quality human capital pool that cannot be easily imitated because of time compression diseconomies (e.g., Mercks RD capability). Becker and Huselid (1996) state that human resource activities are thought to lead to the development of a skilled workforce and one that engages in functional behavior for the firm, thus forming a source of competitive advantage. This results in h igher operating performance, which translates into increased profitability, and consequently results in higher stock prices (or market values). There are also some scholars found that many human resource management practices have a significant role to play in creating social capital. Social capital is a resource which is embedded in the relationship among individuals (Loury, 1977; Coleman, 1988, 1990; Bourdieu; 1985; Burt, 1992; Putnam, 1993; Nahapiet Ghoshal, 1998; Lin, 2001). For example, Wright et al. (2001) argue that HPWS may promote and maintain socially complex relationships characterized by trust, knowledge sharing, and teamwork (e.g., Southwest Airlines unique culture). Youndt, Subramaniam and Snell (2004) state that thoughtful selection of people who ‘fit with the organizations culture, or intensive training programmes that not only socialize incoming employees but also indoctrinate common values among existing employees, may have a strong impact on the social capital of organizations. Leana and van Buren III (1999) introduce the construct of organizational social capital and develop a model that describes i ts components and consequences. They suggest that employment practices strongly affect the level of organizational social capital within a firm. They also describe the potential benefits and costs of organizational social capital for the firm and noted the contingent nature of organizational social capitals relationship with performance. In other words, organizational social capital mediates the HR practices and organizational performance relationship. Evans and Davis (2005) provide a theoretical framework illustrating how the internal social structure of the organization can mediate the relationship between HPWS and organizational performance. The third mediator between SHRM and firm performance is found as organizational capital. Subramaniam and Youndt (2005) and Youndt et al. (2004) define organizational capital as the institutionalized knowledge and codified experience residing within and utilized through databases, patents, manuals, structures, systems, and processes. Wright et al. (2001) argue that HPWS might play a role in creating cultures or mindsets that enable the maintenance of unique competencies. They mention that HR is not limited to its direct effects on employee skills and behavior. HRs effects are more encompassing in that they help weave those skills and behaviors within the broader fabric of organizational processes, systems and, ultimately, competencies. Other strategists who embrace the RBV point out that competitive advantage (vis core competence) comes from aligning skills, motives, and so forth with organizational systems, structures, and processes that achieve capabilities at the organizational lev el (Hamel Prahalad, 1994; Peteraf, 1993; Teece et al., 1997). Koch and McGrath (1996) take a similar logic in their study of the relationship between HR planning, recruitment, and staffing practices and labor productivity. They argue that â€Å"†¦ a highly productive workforce is likely to have attributes that make it a particularly valuable strategic asset,† (p. 335). They suggest firms that develop effective routines for acquiring human assets develop a stock of talent that cannot be easily imitated. The human capital, social capital and organizational capital are defined as three components of intellectual capital. One systematic research conducted by Youndt et al. (2004) find that a relatively small group of superior performing organizations exhibit high levels of human, social, and organizational capital. Most firms, however, tend to focus primarily on only one form of intellectual capital, and a small group of underperforming organizations have very low levels of all three types of intellectual capital. Another research by Subramaniam and Youndt (2005) suggest that an organizations efforts at hiring, training, work design, and other human resource management activities may need to focus not only on shoring up their employees functional or specific technological skills/expertise, but also on developing their abilities to network, collaborate, and share information and knowledge. To summarize, although the relationship between SHRM and firm performance has been found positive, it is indirect. Efficient SHRM could improve employees knowledge, skills, strength the relationships between employees, and also create superior databases, processes and then help firms achieve higher performance. In the following section, we analyse how HPWS create firm resources in PSFs. HPWS and Firm Resources There is a positive relationship between HPWS and firm performance. But how HPWS affect firm performance remains to be understood. The resource-based view of firm (RBV) argues that a firms competitive advantages lie primarily on the application of valuable resources, skills and capabilities that the firm already control (Barney, 1991; Penrose, 1959; Wernerfelt, 1984). The knowledge based theory of firm (Grant, 1996a, 1996b) considers knowledge as the most strategically significant resource of the firm. This knowledge is embedded and carried through multiple entities including individuals, relationships and organizational culture, identity, routines, documents, systems. Guided by the resource-based view of firm (Barney, 1991) and the knowledge-based theory of firm (Grant, 1996a, 1996b), we argue that HPWS affect firm performance by creating valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable, and non-substitutable resources (Barney, 1991), i.e., human capital, social capital, and organizational capital. And these resources can also be understood as the places where knowledge is embedded. Human capital. In PSFs, the human capital is defined as the knowledge and skills of their professionals that can be used to produce high quality professional services (Hitt, Bierman, Shimizu, Kochhar, 2001; Hitt et al., 2006; Pennings, Lee, Van Witteloostuijn, 1998). Human capital plays a strong role as the PSFs key resource in solving client problems (Morris Snell, 2008). Professionals possessing large amounts of experience, education, and training should be able to effectively create ideas on their own in response to the complexities of unique client needs. Their localized experience helps them to understand the needs of local clients and markets, which allows them to develop solutions that are unique to each contextual environment and hence heterogeneous across the firm. Professionals who draw the most upon human capital tend to rely on the experimentation, inspiration, and experience of individuals to solve a problem (Morris Snell, 2008). To build high human capital, PSFs nee d to identify, attract and retain superior professionals, which can be achieved through HR practices such as selection, recruitment and training. HRM should ideally work to enhance the firms competitive position by creating superior human capital skills, experience and knowledge that contribute to firm economic value (Guest, 1997). Thus we propose that HPWS result in the creation of a high quality human capital pool that cannot be easily imitated because of time compression diseconomies, e.g., Mercks RD capability (Wright et al., 2001). For example, the professionals in PSFs gain explicit knowledge through their formal education and tacit knowledge through learning on the job. HR practices are thought to lead to the development of a skilled workforce and one that results in functional behavior for the firm, thus potentially forming a source of competitive advantage (Becker Huselid, 1998). These arguments lead to the following proposition. Proposition 1a: The PSFs human capital mediates the relationship between HPWS and firm performance. Although human capital has many positive benefits, it represents costs to firms as well. For example, PSFs usually try to recruit the best graduates from top institutions. To attract them, firms need to provide compensation which is more than their marginal productivity early in their careers (Hitt et al., 2001). Furthermore, professionals new skills must be developed since they gain tacit knowledge through learning on the job (Bierman Gely, 1994). Although they are learning new skills, they may be less effective at the beginning. The cost for them may exceed their capital (Hitt et al., 2001). These arguments lead to the following proposition. Proposition 1b: There is a curvilinear relationship between the PSFs human capital and firm performance. The relationship is negative early in the professionals tenure but becomes positive. Social capital. Social capital is a resource which is embedded in the relationships among individuals (Loury, 1977; Coleman, 1988; Bourdieu; 1985; Burt, 1992; Putnam, 1993; Nahapiet Ghoshal, 1998; Lin, 2001). It is different from human capital. Social capital is embedded within, available through, and derived from the network of relationships possessed by an individual or social unit (Nahapiet Ghoshal, 1998) while human capital is embedded in individuals head (Becker, 1964; OSullivan Sheffrin, 2003). Social capital plays an important role in PSFs. The firms ability to attract and retain clients depends not only on its competence to provide high quality services produced by the professionals human capital but also on their connections to potential clients (Maister, 1993; Smigel, 1969). Pennings et al. (1998) analysed firm-level and individual-level social capital in PSFs. The firm-level social capital can help PSFs attract potential clients because the potential clients will choose a firm as a service provider on the basis of previous interpersonal relationship with the firms professionals when other things are equal. Within PSFs, the fact is that a set of clients are handled or looked after by an individual professional who is the key person. Their results show that social capital of owners (partners) contributed more to firm survival than those of employees (associates). Pennings et al. (1998)s study produced major evidence for the contention that a firms human and social capital have important implications for performance. The service delivered by PSFs suffers from an â€Å"opaque quality† because of PSFs knowledge intensity (von Nordenflycht, 2010). This refers to situations where the quality of an experts output is hard for non-experts (i.e., customers) to evaluate, even after the output is produced and delivered (Broschak, 2004; Empson, 2001; Levin Tadelis, 2005; Là ¸wendahl, 2000; cited in von Nordenflycht, 2010). In this situation, personal relationships and ambiguity reduction through personal contact take on extra significance. As clients and customers often have problems estimating the value of the product/service offered, establishing close social links between the PSFs and the customer/ client becomes vital (Alvesson, 2001). Other things equal, the potential clients will choose a firm as a service provider on the basis of previous interpersonal relationship with the firms professionals (Pennings et al., 1998). In addition, PSFs typically make investments in relationships with clients and make efforts to generate social attachment (Fichman Levinthal, 1991). Some research also demonstrates that social capital mediates the HR practices and firm performance relationship. For example, Youndt et al. (2004) state that thoughtful selection of people who ‘fit with the organizations culture, or intensive training programmes that not only socialize incoming employees but also indoctrinate common values among existing employees, may have a strong impact on the social capital of organizations. Collins and Smith (2006)s found that commitment-based HR practices were indirectly related to firm financial performance through their effects on organizational social climate and knowledge exchange and combination; Thus, HPWS improve the internal social structure within organizations, that facilitates communication and cooperation among employees (Evans Davis, 2005) which in turn has been found to be linked to organizational performance. These arguments lead to the following proposition. Proposition 1c: The PSFs social capital mediates the relationship between HPWS and firm performance. Organizational capital. Organizational capital is defined as the institutionalized knowledge and codified experience residing within an organization and utilized through databases, patents, manuals, structures, systems, and processes (Youndt et al., 2004; Subramaniam Youndt 2005). The organizational routines and processes which embody organizational knowledge are a source of organizational competitive advantage (Teece, 2000) In PSFs, organizational process of the typical professional service firm (PSF) is highly institutionalized because of the knowledge-based nature of the work and ultimately, in the historical evolution of relatively autonomous professions (Freidson, 1986; Greenwood, Hinings, Brown, 1990; cited in Morris, Gardner, Anand, 2007). The organizational routine of PSF is informal work understandings and practices built up by colleagues as they collaborate over time, like an accumulated short hand of work (Morris, 2000: 822). Morris and Snell (2008) emphasize the importance of organizational capital for PSFs. They state that organizations tend to draw on organizational capital for many aspects of learning, including knowledge creation, sharing, and integration, but this resource may provide more value for specific types of learning. Based on the basis of previous literature and their own experience with PSFs, organizational capital is most likely to create more value when individuals in the organization are trying to integrate knowledge. In terms of integration, then, organizational capital helps to create value through the implementation and reuse of knowledge across affiliates, which allows professionals to deliver solutions more efficiently to clients. Besides facilitating knowledge integration, organizational capital also shapes professionals image and identity (Empson, 2001) which plays an important role in attracting new clients. Many scholars have found that SHRM improve organizational capital. For example, Wright et al. (2001) argued that HPWS might play a role in creating cultures or mindsets that enable the maintenance of unique competencies (e.g., the safety record of DuPont). The HR is not limited to its direct effects on employee skills and behavior. HRs effects are more encompassing in that they help weave those skills and behaviors within the broader fabric of organizational processes, systems and, ultimately, competencies. Other strategists who embrace the RBV point out that competitive advantage (vis core competence) comes from aligning skills, motives, and so forth with organizational systems, structures, and processes that achieve capabilities at the organizational level (Hamel Prahalad, 1994; Peteraf, 1993; Teece et al., 1997). Koch and McGrath (1996) took a similar logic in their study of the relationship between HR planning, recruitment, and staffing practices and labor productivity. They arg ued that â€Å"†¦ a highly productive workforce is likely to have attributes that make it a particularly valuable strategic asset,† (p. 335). They suggested that firms which developed effective routines for acquiring human assets develop a stock of talent that cannot be easily imitated. They also found that these HR practices were related to labor productivity in a sample of business units, and that this relationship was stronger in capital intensive organizations. These arguments lead to the following proposition. Proposition 1d: The PSFs organizational capital mediates the relationship between HPWS and firm performance. The Uses of Firm Resources The resource-based view of firm (RBV) and knowledge-based theory of firm contribute to identifying the existing resources that have the potential to constitute a source of sustainable competitive advantage (Hitt et al., 2006). However, merely possessing such resources does not guarantee the development of competitive advantages or the creation of value (Barney Arikan, 2001; Priem Butler, 2001; cited in Sirmon et al., 2007). These valuable resources must be effectively managed and utilized to achieve superior profit (Schultz, 1961) and a competitive advantage (Barney Arikan, 2001; Sirmon et al., 2007). The emphasis on the use of resources is consistent with the dynamic capabilities perspective (Teece et al., 1997) which includes considerations such as how resources are developed, how they are integrated within the firm and how they are released. Using these resources is the same as using the knowledge which is embedded in the individuals, the relationships and the organizational processes, routines, databases, and systems. There are two streams or approaches of research on using these knowledge or resources (Hargadon Fanelli, 2002). One focuses on how to reuse or replicate existing knowledge, i.e., exploitation (Levitt March, 1988). The other one focuses on how to generate new knowledge, i.e., exploration (March, 1991; Kogut Zander, 1992). The effective use of resources may help a PSF balance the effective exploitation of existing resources with exploration of knowledge to create new capabilities. The following matrix shows how PSFs create value by exploiting and exploring existing resources. The matrix shows that the exploration of resources in PSFs is to deliver new products or service to new clients and to deliver new products or service to old clients. It also shows that the exploitation of resources in PSFs is to deliver existing services or products to the existing clients or new clients as there is no new knowledge/capability required. The exploration process needs to explore the human capital to invent new products or services and the social capital to attract new clients and new business and the organic organizational capital (Kang Snell, 2009) that facilitate this delivery. The exploitation process needs to reuse or refine the existing products or services and existing clients, which requires the standardized organizational capital (Kang Snell, 2009) to facilitate this delivery. To illustrate exploration and exploitation more detail, four capabilities of PSFs are identified to effectively exploit existing resources with exploration of knowledge to create new capabilities. They are managing teams, leveraging knowledge, combining and exchanging knowledge, and sensing the changes in the external environment capabilities. Managing teams. In professional service firms, most of work is project or program-oriented, serving the needs of the external customers. It requires several professionals work together, and frequently involves client contact, often through co-location at a clients place of business. Then team forms the basic unit of work in the professional service firm. Generally, a team consists of partners and associates. The dynamic global economic environment accelerates PSFs work speed. Usually the customers assignments are much more compressed in term of time (Morris, Gardner, Anand, 2007). Therefore, to successful serving clients, the team management is vital. Teece (2003) provides a lot emphasis on the coordinating tasks, managing conflict, communicating and cooperating within the team in team management. As with the traditional firm, coordination must be achieved, and conflict must be managed. In the professional services context, raw conflict can lead to mass defections and the destruction of enterprise value, even more assuredly than in an industrial company setting. So conflict management is likely to be especially significant with an expert services context because experts are likely to not only have strong preferences, but are also likely to be self-confident, possibly egotistical, and possibly lacking in good business sense while already having some degree of established financial success (Teece, 2003: 897). The most critical communication in a professional service context is frequently peer-to-peer. Partners (senior talent) frequently need to access other senior talent in order to meet client needs (Teece, 2003: 903). Leveraging knowledge. Leveraging knowledge, that is the transfer of know-how from seniors to juniors in client assignments, sustains the basic division of labor in the professional firm and also underpins its profitability (Hitt et al., 2001; Malos Campion, 2000). All professional firms compete by leveraging knowledge and partners reputation (Greenwood et al., 2005). In PSFs, partners own the most human capital and social capital in a firm. To meet clients demands, partners need to select other professionals to form a team to possess the appropriate skills, experience and training. In this way, the partners knowledge and capabilities are leveraged. Meanwhile, the junior professionals, or associates also acquire intangible knowledge during the long apprenticeship they serve with their senior colleagues before being assessed for a partnership position. Leverage ratios are measured by total number of associates divided by the total number of partners (Hitt, et al., 2001; Phillips, 2001). High leverage ratios are commensurate with highly codified knowledge packages and standardized tools and methodologies which can routinely be applied by junior associates. Lower leverage is associated with experience or expertise models in which knowledge is less routinized and the firm seeks more complex projects in which there is a premium on the experience or special expertise of more senior staff (Maister 1993; Hansen, Nohria, Tierney, 1999). Effective leveraging creates dynamic capabilities whereby the firm is able to renew, augment, and adapt its current capabilities to serve continuously changing and new client needs (Teece et al.. 1997; Tripsas, 1997; cited in Hitt et al., 2001). Hitt et al. (2001) also find the empirical support for the positive relationship between leveraging and firm performance in professional service context. Combining and exchanging knowledge capability

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Development of Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI

Development of Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI Ioannis Tolios â€Å"Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI† Introduction One of the most significant non-invasive imaging modalities applied both in research and clinical diagnostics cis Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Its widespread use is partially based on its characteristic to visualize tissues with high resolutions in 3D and its ability to provide anatomical, functional and metabolic tissue information in vivo (Strijkers, Mulder, van Tilborg, Nicolay, 2007). In an MR image, the basic contrast mostly derives from regional differences in the intrinsic T1, T2 relaxation times, except for local water content differences. T1 and T2 relaxation times can be selected independently to have a commanding influence on image contrast. Nevertheless, a sensitive and accurate diagnosis cannot always be feasible, due to the fact that the intrinsic water, T1 and T2 contrast values are modified and become very often limited by tissue pathology. Consequently, the need for enhanced image contrast led to the growing use of intravenously injected MRI contrast agents, wh ose use although violates partially the non-invasive character of MRI brought about significant benefits. Combining MRI and contrast agents (CA) increases the possibilities to image inflamed tissues in pathologies, such as arthritis, atherosclerotic plaques, and tumor angiogenesis (Strijkers, Mulder, van Tilborg, Nicolay, 2007). Definition of DCE-MRI A technique which combines MRI and contrast agents is Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI). According to Gordon et al. (Gordon, et al., 2014), â€Å"DCE-MRI analyzes the temporal enhancement pattern of a tissue following the introduction of a paramagnetic contrast agent into the vascular system. This is accomplished by the acquisition of baseline images without contrast enhancement, succeeded by a set of images acquired over time (usually over a few minutes) during and after the arrival of the contrast agent in the tissue of interest†. A time intensity curve (TIC) for the tissue is generated by the acquired signal, as it can be seen in Figure 1. In a TIC, the response of the tissue is represented in enhancement values to the arrival of the contrast agent. Specific physiological properties that are in association with the microvascular blood flow, including tissue volume fractions, vessel permeability, and vessel surface area product, can be extracted by analyzing a TIC (Gordon, et al., 2014). Figure 1: An example of a time intensity curve obtained from a tumor metastasis (Bonekamp Macura, 2008). All variations of DCE-MRI studies are relied on a rather plain fundamental principle: the MR signal intensity of a tissue is modified, when a paramagnetic particle (contrast agent) penetrates and spreads over through the tissue, based on its local concentration (Gordon, et al., 2014). MR images of a chosen region of interest (ROI) are obtained in time intervals of few seconds before, during, and after the intravenous injection of a contrast agent. Each obtained image represents one time point, and each and every pixel in a set of images produces its own intensity curve. After the injection of the CA, the signal intensity varies at every time point (is related to the concentration of the CA in the tissue) based on tissue parameters, including vascularization, vessels’ permeability and surface area product, and in this way parametric maps of particular microvascular biomarkers can be extracted. Furthermore, by using suitable mathematical models absolute values of the aforementioned parameters can be estimated. These parameters usually reflect a compartmental pharmacokinetics model demonstrated by CAs, which are allocated between the intravascular and extravascular spaces as it can be seen in Figure 2 (Gordon, et al., 2014). Figure 2: Toft’s compartmental model for calculating DCE-MRI quantitative pharmakokinetic parameters (Verma, et al., 2012). DCE-MRI techniques Currently, two DCE-MRI techniques are defined based on its registration and the origin of the extracted signal. As MRI is highly sensitive to small concentrations of paramagnetic materials passing through a tissue, there are two different physical-chemical properties (Gordon, et al., 2014). Relaxation effect T1, T2 tissue relaxation times are reduced when a diffusible contrast agent is used. Positively enhanced T1-weighted images are generated, when this effect is used and the studies evaluating this effect are characterized asDynamic Contrast Enhanced(DCE)-MRI,T1-W DCE. Susceptibility effect When a paramagnetic contrast agent is located in the intravascular space of a tissue and its magnetic susceptibility is much higher than that of the surrounding tissue water, local magnetic inhomogeneities between the intra and extravascular space emerge, which generate negative enhanced T2 or T2* weighted images during the passage of the CA through the capillaries. Studies depending on this phenomenon are characterized asDynamic Susceptibility Contrast(DSC)-MRI or T2*-W DCE. Image Acquisition Gordon et al. (Gordon, et al., 2014) state that the method of quantification to be applied depends on the number of the measurements, which are required in order to obtain the data; thus, the measurements include: I. Creating a map of pre-contrast native T1 values, which is necessary in order to calculate the CA concentrations. II. Acquiring heavily T1-weighted images, prior and following the Contrast Agent introduction. In this case, high temporal resolution is needed in order to have the ability to further characterize the kinetics of the contrast agent’s entry and exit of the tissue. Typically, 3D image sets are acquired sequentially for 5–10 minutes every few seconds. The ideal for the acquisitions would be to be obtained approximately every 5 seconds, in order to allow the detection of early enhancement. With longer acquisitions (for instance, > 15 seconds), it becomes harder to detect early enhancement. III. Acquisition of the arterial input function (AIF), in order to estimate the CA concentration in the blood plasma of a feeding artery as a function of time. Acquiring the AIF is necessary for almost all quantitative analysis methods and is up to now technically the most difficult part in the data acquisition process. Contrast agents The most regularly used group of contrast agents in DCE-MRI is the low molecular paramagnetic gadolinium (Gd) chelates (Gribbestad, Gjesdal, Nilsen, Lundgren, Hjelstuen, Jackson, 2005). Principally, in Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI, any low molecular weight CAs can be used. (Tofts). The use of contrast agents with high molecular weights leads to lower permeability and lower Ktrans values, since these agents remain in the intravascular space. Using macromolecular CAs the measurement of regional blood volume acquiring scans of low temporal resolution is feasible (Gribbestad, Gjesdal, Nilsen, Lundgren, Hjelstuen, Jackson, 2005). Molecular agent with high molecular weight might be more appropriate for tumor angiogenesis and thus offer better response evaluation to therapy (Turkbey, Thomasson, Pang, Bernardo, Choyke, 2010). Analysis Methods Gordon et al. (Gordon, et al., 2014) state that â€Å"the arrival of CA and thus the enhancement pattern of the tissue depend on a wide variety of factors including vascularity, capillary permeability, perfused capillary surface area, volume and composition of extracellular fluid, renal clearance and perfusion. The analysis of DCE data can provide valuable information concerning the vascular status and perfusion†. Data analysis can be performed using either: qualitative, semi-quantitative, and quantitative approach (Verma, et al., 2012). Qualitative This kind of analysis can range from visual inspection of the images for fast and extreme enhancement of lesions, to the plotting of kinetic curves of signal intensity against time (Gupta, Kauffman, Polascik, Taneja, Rosenkrantz, 2013). The qualitative analysis of DCE-MRI depends on the assumption of rapid and intense enhancement and wash-out as indicator of the existence of a tumor. The tumor vessels are generally leakier and more readily enhanced after the injection of the CA than the ordinary vessels. An early rapid high enhancement after injection is expected followed by a relatively rapid decline compared with a slower and continuously increasing signal for normal tissues during the first few minutes after contrast injection. However, the possibility for an overlap between the natural and the malignant tissues, limit the capabilities of this DCE-MRI approach. Finally, the qualitative approach is regarded as a subjective approach and therefore difficult to standardi ze among institutions, constituting multicenter trials less reliable (Verma, et al., 2012). Semi-quantitative – The semi-quantitative approach also depends on the same assumption as the qualitative approach. On the other hand, in the semi-quantitative analysis various curve parameters are integrated (Verma, et al., 2012). It must be mentioned that depending on the application area, different perfusion parameters are relevant. Nevertheless, some parameters are of general interest for almost all applications. These parameters are acquired to characterize the shape of the TIC, including the time of first arrival of the CA, peak enhancement ( PE the maximum value normalized if the baseline is subtracted), time to peak (TTP the timepoint where peak enhancement takes place), integral (the area between the baseline and the curve, indicating with PE if blood supply is reduced in a ROI), mean transit time (MTT – the timepoint where the integral is bisected), slope (the curve’s steepness during wash-in phase, downslope (the descending curve’s steepness i n wash-out phase ) and wash-in and wash-out curve shapes (Figure 1, Figure 3A). (Preim et al., 2009). Three common dynamic curve types exist in the literature after the initial CA uptake: type 1, persistent increase; type 2, plateau; and type 3, wash-out after initial slope, as it can be seen in Figure 3B and Figure 1. Even though the semi-quantitative approach is used widely in the evaluation of DCE-MRI, significant restrictions arise dealing with the factors contributing to the MR signal intensity (e.g. generalization across acquisition protocols, sequences), which have an effect on the curve metrics (Verma, et al., 2012). Figure 3: A) A typical TIC curve (Preim et al., 2009). B) Differentiation of three patterns of washout phase: type 1 (blue), progressive; type 2 (green), plateau ; type 3 (red), wash-out (Verma, et al., 2012). Factors like the injection rate and the temporal resolution can easily alter the shape of a wash-in/washout curve, creating difficulties in comparison and quantitation. High inter-patient variability is also a factor that can make the definition of threshold values more complex for every parameter that could standardize semi-quantitative approach. However, this approach is relatively simple which makes it even more appealing (Verma, et al., 2012). Quantitative The quantitative approach depends on modeling the concentration change of the CA by integrating pharmacokinetic modeling techniques (Gordon, et al., 2014). Several pharmacokinetic models were proposed, such as by Tofts (Tofts), Brix et al. (Brix et al., 1991). Most of them depend on estimating the exchange rate between extracellular space and blood plasma using some transfer rate constants, like Ktrans(forward volume transfer constant) andkep(reverse reflux rate constant between extracellular space and plasma). â€Å"The transfer constant,Ktrans, is equal to the permeability surface area product per unit volume of tissue.Moreover, Ktransdetermines the flux from the intravascular space to the extracellular space; it may principally represent the vascular permeability in a permeability-limited situation (high flow in relation to permeability), or it may represent the blood flow into the tissue in a flow-limited situation (high permeability in relation to flow). Theveis t he extracellular extravascular volume fraction, andkep=Ktrans/ veexpresses the rate constant, describing the efflux of contrast media from the extracellular space back to plasma. Thevpis the fraction of plasma per unit volume of tissue†, according to Verma et al. (Verma, et al., 2012). In quantitative DCE-MRI analysis, a four compartment model is used for â€Å"tissue†: plasma, extracellular space, intracellular space, and renal excretory pathway (Figure 2). This pharmacokinetic model is applied to the CA concentration changes in the artery (AIF) supplying the tissue of interest, and the CA concentration of the tissue. It must also be noted that due to the fact that pharmacokinetic models require concentration values, signal intensity must be converted to T1 values, because MRI signal intensity is not linear with the CA concentration (Verma, et al., 2012). Clinical Applications of DCE-MRI DCE-MRI has been used for the detection and characterization of tumors in the clinical setting. It also makes the monitoring of tumor treatment and the response to conventional chemotherapy and angiogenic therapies feasible by acting as biomarker (Figure 4). Early tumor detection and treatment affects significantly the survival of patients. DCE-MRI is applied increasingly in a wider range of patients with different kind of cancer, including breast, head and prostate cancer. The method’s quantification ability of characteristics of the lesion microvasculature has stimulated the scientists to use the technique for â€Å"in-vivo staging† of tumors. According to early studies in the field, an evident relationship was demonstrated between large and rapid increases in malignant behavior and signal enhancement in tumors located in prostate, breast, and head. Additionally, important overlapping of contrast enhancement patterns has been noticed between malignant and benign tumor s. Growing accuracy and specificity in the recognition of microvascular characterization parameters is expected to further ameliorate lesion characterization (Gribbestad, Gjesdal, Nilsen, Lundgren, Hjelstuen, Jackson, 2005). More specifically regarding prostate cancer detection and localization, DCE-MRI contributes to prostate MRI, succeeding higher specificity and sensitivity than T2-weighted MR imaging, and sextant u ltrasound guided biopsy, methods being used widely for the pre-treatment work up and screening of prostate cancer respectively (Choi, Kim, Kim, 2007; Bonekamp Macura, 2008). It has been proven that the multi-parametric approach has improved significantly the accuracy of prostate MRI and has a great future. In a cancerous tissue, the number of vessels and their permeability are increased in comparison with normal tissues. Moreover, the interstitial space is greater. These factors cause significant increase of contrast enhancement parameters, such as MTT, blood flow, interstitial volume. The aforementioned observations are applicable in prostate cancer, too. As it can be seen in Figure 3B, the red curve could represent a prostate cancer with faster and steeper enhancement and faster wash-out than in normal tissues. Figure 4 a-c (Turkbey, Thomasson, Pang, Bernardo, Choyke, 2010): a) A patient with prostate cancer. The arrow indicates a low signal intensity focus on axial T2W MR image B) Increased enhancement shown by the lesion on axial T1W DCE-MR image C) fusion of color-coded Ktrans Conclusion The determination of functional microvascular parameters by using DCE-MRI might be instrumental in evaluating many vascular diseases. The potential of the technique to assess the severity of illnesses, to non-invasively and in parallel measure multiple relevant parameters, to study the pathophysiology of diseases, seems to be extremely promising. Even though, the method is known for over 20 years it is still considered immature. This has mainly to do with the significant variations in data analysis and acquisition protocols from study to study. Furthermore, the analysis of the pharmacokinetic parameters is a complex task and computationally expensive, due to the existence of plethora of analysis algorithms (Gordon, et al., 2014). DCE-MRI is restricted in organs with physiologic motion, including lungs and liver, and may not be applicable in some specific group of patients, especially those with renal failure and claustrophobia (Turkbey, Thomasson, Pang, Bernardo, Choyke, 2010). However, although the extraction of quantitative pharmacokinetic parameters is more difficult, compartmental model based methods are more robust than the semi-quantitative approaches, and offer deeper understanding of physiology. Finally, they are not potentially based on the scanning technique, the type of scanner, and individual patient variations ( Gordon, et al., 2014).