Using City Directories for Genealogy Research

For anyone researching ancestors in a city or larger community, standard genealogical resources often fall short. Newspapers generally mention only the influential, interesting or most newsworthy residents. Land records offer little help when researching renters. Census records dont tell the stories of individuals who moved multiple times between census years. Cities, however, offer an invaluable historical and genealogical resource not available to those of us researching rural ancestors—namely, city directories. City directories offer anyone conducting family history research in a city or large town a nearly annual census of city residents, as well as a window into the community in which they lived. Genealogists all know the value of placing an ancestor in a particular time and place, but city directories can also be used to follow an individuals occupation, place of employment, and place of residence, as well as potentially identify life events such as marriages and deaths. Looking beyond the names of your ancestors, city directories also provide invaluable insight into your ancestors community, often including sections on neighborhood churches, cemeteries, and hospitals, plus organizations, clubs, associations, and societies. Information Often Found in City Directories Name and occupation of head of household (often men and female widows; later single employed females)Name of spouse (often in parentheses following name of husband; mid to late 19th century)Sometimes the names of children, often only those employed outside the homeStreet name and house number of residenceOccupationWork address (if employed outside the home) Tips for Research in City Directories Abbreviations were often used in city directories to save printing space and costs. Locate (and make a copy) of the list of abbreviations, usually located near the front of the directory, to learn that n Fox St. indicates near Fox St., or that r means resides or, alternatively, rents. Properly translating the abbreviations used in a city directory is essential for correctly interpreting the information it contains. Dont miss the late listing of names received too late for inclusion in the alphabetical portion. This can usually be found located just before or after the alphabetical list of residents and may include people who had recently moved to the area (including those moving within the city limits), as well as individuals the canvasser missed on his initial visit. If youre lucky, you may find a separate list of individuals who migrated from the city (with their new location), or who died within the year. What If I Cant Find My Ancestor? Just who was included in a city directory was up to the discretion of that directorys publisher, and often varied from city to city, or over time. Generally, the earlier the directory, the less information it contains. The earliest directories may list only people of higher status, but directory publishers soon made the attempt to include everyone. Even then, however, not everyone was listed. Sometimes certain parts of town weren’t covered. Inclusion in a city directory was also voluntary (unlike a census), so some people may have chosen not to participate, or were missed because they werent home when the agents came calling. Make sure you have checked every available city directory for the time period when your ancestors were living in the area. People overlooked in one directory may be included in the next. Names were also often misspelled or standardized, so be sure to check name variations. If you can locate a street address for your family from a census, vital, or another record, then many directories also offer a street index. Where to Find City Directories Original and microfilmed city directories can be found in a variety of repositories, and an increasing number are being digitized and made available online. Many may be available either in original format or on microfilm in the library or historical society that covers that particular locality. Many state libraries and historical societies have large city directory collections as well. Major research libraries and archives such as the Library of Congress, Family History Library, and American Antiquarian Society also maintain large collections of microfilmed city directories, for locations across the United States. Over 12,000 city directories for cities across the United States, most from the collection of the Library of Congress, have been microfilmed by Primary Source Media as City Directories of the United States. Their online collection guide lists the cities and directory years included in the collection. The Family History Library Catalog also lists a large collection of city directories, most of which can be borrowed on microfilm for viewing at your local Family History Center. Where to Find Old City Directories Online A large number of city directories can be searched and viewed online, some for free and others as part of various subscription genealogy collections. Large Online City Directory Collections Ancestry.com has one of the largest online collections of city directories, with a focus on coverage between the 1880 and 1900 U.S. federal census, as well as 20th century data. Their U.S. City Directories collection (subscription) offers good search results, but for best results browse directly to the city of interest and then page through the available directories rather than relying on search. The City Directories collection online at subscription-based website Fold3, includes directories for thirty large metropolitan centers in twenty U.S. states. As with the collection at Ancestry.com, better results are achieved by browsing the directories manually rather than relying on search. The Historical Directories Searchable Library is a free website from the University of Leicester in England, with a nice collection of digitized reproductions of local and trade directories for England and Wales for the period 1750–1919. Additional Online Sources for City Directories A number of local and university libraries, state archives and other repositories have digitized city directories and made them available online. Use search terms such as city directory and [your locality name] to find them via your favorite search engine. A number of historical city directories can also be found through online sources for digitized books, such as Internet Archive, Haithi Digital Trust, and Google Books.

Abuse Of Prescription Stimulants An Annotated Bibliography

Abuse of Prescription Stimulants in College Students: An Annotated Bibliography Arria, Amelia, Ph.D. Nonmedical Use of Prescription Stimulants What College Administrators, Parents, and Students Need to Know. Center on Young Adult Health and Development, n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2015. The use and abuse of prescription stimulants is not only focused on one specific level of students it affects as young as 8th graders in high school who wish to accomplish a high level of academic performance to reach the so called â€Å"success in life†. In 2011 Dr. Arria said that, â€Å"Students believe in the myth that by using prescription stimulants nonmedically, students can improve their cognitive performance and gain a competitive edge. When in reality, Experimental research has shown mixed findings on the performance effect of prescription stimulants among study volunteers with no attention difficulties. There is much uncertainty about their effectiveness due to dosage issues, individual differences, expectancy of the effect, and type of task. Thus, it is unlikely that these drugs can improve academic performance in the long run† (Arria). Dr. Arria also explained that students who also abuse cannabis also with excessive drinking will play a role in the effect on the medication taken, students are most common to take Adderall or Ritalin. These prescription medications are used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Smith, Kayla. Adderall Addiction and Abuse - PrescriptionShow MoreRelatedThe Marketing Research of Brainquiry33782 Words   |  136 PagesNew York have been contacted via email and by attempted phone contact. At this moment there has been one returned email from the EWGA( Executive Women s Golf Association). They have stated it is possible to advertise on their website which is annotated in the New York folder labeled EWGA Sponsor Opportunities and in the Appendix Email 1 Magazines In the folder Labeled New York there is another folder called PDF US Advertising files. These files contain all the information the magazines

Accounting Principle Technological Changes

Question: Discuss about the Accounting Principle for Technological Changes. Answer: Introduction The society has evolved through various technological changes in last two decades. The organization earlier needed a wide range of employees for administrative functions have now adopted integrated management system to manage their activities in real time with fewer employees. This phenomenon has also affected the accounting professionals. The Accounting professionals have always embraced technological innovation for performing their task more efficiently, effectively and accurately. Throughout the history accounting professionals for calculating simply and quickly have used clay tablets, then adding machines and calculators on 19th Century to the computers on 20th Century. The pace of technological development in recent times has increased thus changing the business and professional landscape very rapidly (Taipaleenmki Ikheimo,2013). Thus adopting to these technological changes rapidly is the biggest challenge for accounting professionals. The technological changes have necessitated the accounting professionals to broaden their education and skills. There may be other effects of the information technology innovation on accounting professionals. But no details study has been made to answer the question of impact of future technological innovation on accounting professionals in Australia. It is not possible to predict the future with certainty but there are certain measures that can be adopted so that burden of technological changes could be minimized and benefit derived from such changes could be maximized. This measures includes being informed about new technological innovations and assessing their impact on accounting profession. In this report an attempt has been made to study and evaluate the impact of technological changes on the skills, Ethics and carrier opportunity of accountants. Technological Innovations and Accounting Profession In recent decades there are numerous technological innovations that have taken place. But among them there are few path breaking technological innovations that have reshaped the accounting profession (Drew, 2015). Mobility The recent developments in information technology have changed the way business functions. The modern workplace has changed; employees have become increasingly interconnected and have access to information at their finger tip. The wireless networks, operating systems and application system have enabled access to information anywhere and anytime. Espousal by Accounting professionals. The Accountants have adopted this mobile technology for providing effective and efficient service to their clients. It has allowed the professional to be always connected with their business and client from any place (Zeff, 2003). So the opportunities provided to the accounting professionals by this technological advancement are: Connected workplace; Improvement in efficiency and productivity; Smooth communication with client thus helping to provide better service; There are certain challenges faced by accounting professionals due to this technological improvement. They are: It is necessary to have proper understanding of the communication service and devise that are suitable for the purpose. This requires continuous study and broadening of knowledge; There is a growing concern about cyber security and theft of information; As internet becomes more pervasive it will lead to change in working pattern. Social cooperation In last two decades social media has grown tremendously and the scope its of use has also widened over the years. It was initially just used for sharing pictures and information but the development of social media sites for instant messaging, blogging; crowd sourcing etc. has made social media sites hugely popular. As the social media sites started to attract large audience the business organization started to exploit these sites for gaining popularity and attract customers (Suddaby, et. al., 2015). Espousal by Accounting professionals. The social collaboration and new possibilities has reshaped accounting profession. The professionals are increasingly using crowd sourcing sites for improving and developing their services. The businesses all over are using social tools to collaborate with their clients as this are becoming new norms so accountants are also expected to collaborate with through social platforms. The professionals are required to reassess their working methods and business model in the light of new technological improvement. Accounting Professionals are required to: Develop new skills; become accustomed to changing professional requirements; and Educate and enforce better controls for governance. Big Data As per study every day 2.5 quintillion bytes of data is created from various sources. This data if collected and analyzed can help businesses to make better decision and effective planning. The big Information Technology giants like Google, IBM etc have used this data to their advantage by generating sales, personalizing products, making services more efficient, achieving higher productivity and customer satisfaction (Vasarhelyi et. al., 2015). Espousal by Accounting professionals. As huge volume of information is generated from every business activity so accountants are required to: Analyze the data critically so that meaning information could be derived from huge volume of data; Find new way to manage this huge volume of data; Audit and analyze complex data; Find innovative ways to estimate cost and return on investment. Cyber Security The organizations have become reliant on digital information this has exposed them to modern threats of data theft, hacking, infectious files in the system etc. The theft of digital information has become more common than physical theft and also a recent study has shown that medium and small enterprise are less digitally secure so are prone to more cyber attacks (Chou, 2013). Espousal by Accounting professionals. The use of internet has increased so also the risk of data security. To prevent data theft and other cyber crimes various data security tolls have been developed. Most of the prevalent security models reactive thus providing advantage to cyber criminals. So countering this cyber threats requires the accountant to: take more active steps to mitigate threat ; review its cyber security on a regular basis by taking into consideration new risks and threats; and Integrate cyber security with the business model. Virtual Reality Augmented Reality helps in enhancing perception of real environment. Virtual experiences are becoming interactive thus accounts are required to deal with new threats and opportunity. Espousal by Accounting professionals. A need for change is felt so the accounting professionals are required to prepare or a change in education, customer service, data processing and analysis. Accountants are required to Find innovative ways of attracting talent and training; Developing new ways of conducting with the help of virtual reality. Cloud Computing The internet has evolved from being computing machine to networking machine. It has now interactive computing platforms that are connected online to provide internet based technology resources such as softwares, applications etc. The accounting package system was one of the first software that became available online and since then various softwares as service is becoming available online. Espousal by Accounting professionals. The cloud technology has the potential to provide immense benefit to the business. The accountants can use this technology pro actively to make better strategic decision and gain advantage. The Accountants are required to: Asses the actual cost of implementing cloud technology; elucidate domestic and international tax regulation ; and Obtain detail price data from infrastructure vendors. Skill Development and Carrere Opportunity of Accounting Professionals The technological innovations have made it necessary for Accountants to continuously learn and new skills along with traditional accounting knowledge (Pan Seow, 2016). There are increasing needs for accounting professionals to collaborate and work in a virtual environment. This requires the accountant to develop a new type of inter personal skill that are quite different from traditional communication skills. The Accounting professionals of this century are not only required to use technology but the professionals are also expected to deal with challenges and exploit opportunities arising from technology (Henry Hicks, 2015). Accounting profession was one of the safest careers to be perused in Australia. But as the number of student perusing accounting courses has increased the employability for accounting professional has decreased (Cernusca Balaciu, 2015). This huge increase in accounting graduates has made a demand supply imbalance. The supply has far exceeded demand thus reducing the value of accounting profession. Accounting Profession can be broadly classified in four major fields they are Public Accountants; Government Accountants; Management Accountants and Auditors. The public Accountants mainly work in the field of audit and tax. The big accounting firms usually employ public accountants having master degree in accounts. Management Accountants main function is reporting, planning and decision making (Murphy, 2015). An individual having bachelors degree with professional qualification is preferred for this position. Government Accountants work in various department of government organization and a bachelors degree is preferred. Auditors are required to establish internal control, develop accounting systems etc. Thus a professional degree is preferred for this position (Apostolo et. al., 2015). In this report an analysis is made on the current requirement of skills that an accountant need to posses. This analysis is done on the basis of advertisement of accounting jobs that are available online. The study has shown that the accountants are required to have the following sets of skills to increase their employability: For most senior accounting position being a Chartered Accountant or Certified Public Accountant is mandatory; For intermediary positions having a bachelors degree is mandatory; An accountant is also expected to have advanced knowledge in excel and other MS office suite. In many cases it was observed that being having knowledge in SAP s preferred but not mandatory; Apart from academic skills importance is also given to interpersonal skills; All the job advertisement requires an accountant to be an excellent communicator; Should have the ability to work in team and lead the team; An accountant is also expected to work accurately under pressure and strict deadline. This analysis has shown that expectation from an Accountant has broadened. It is not only expected that an Accountant should have sound knowledge in finance but it is also expected that they have an overall characteristic of being friendly, good communicator, a team man and a problem solver. Ethics in Accounting Profession The financial information of an enterprise is monitored and controlled by the Accountants. The roles of accountants have come under public scrutiny after recent debacles and collapse of important organizations. As per Walsh (2014) the ethical role of accounts is not only important for internal functioning of an enterprise but it is also similarly important for outsiders. The Accounting professionals are expected to act in public interest (Sharpe, 2016). They have a unique responsibility of providing professional service to their clients and also an accountant is required to be truthful and uncompromising in providing financial information to the public. The Accounting professionals are required to follow the fundamental principles of objectivity, integrity, confidentiality, professional behavior, professional competence and due care (Welsh et. al., 2015). Objectivity and independence are important ethical values for an accountant. An accountant should be free from conflict of interest while providing its services otherwise it may hamper his/her ability to provide an objective accounts of the company. Integrity is an important principle that requires the accountant to be honest in providing financial information. An Accountant is required to maintain confidentiality of informations that are statutorily not required to be disclosed by an accountant. An account usually has access to vital information regarding a business thus this ethical principle is very essential and is always required to be followed. An Accountant is required to take due care of all the technical and ethical standards. Due care means exercising diligence, competence and having complete understanding of financial information presented. The need to follow Ethical principles has increase with improvement in technology because it has become easier for an accountant to manipulate information and indulge in window dressing of financial statement (Andon et. al., 2015). The advancement of technology can also be misused by the accounting professionals thus a strong moral and ethical principle can act as a deferent for those indulging in unethical activities (Traisatru, 2016). Conclusion The technological landscape has changed so is the Accounting profession. The recent development of accounting softwares has made maintaining accounts an easy task. The higher level of skills and knowledge once required for doing basis accounting work can now be done with little knowledge in accounting. Thus it can be argued that bookkeeping has become so easy due to advancement of softwares that one need not be a professional accountant to do be a bookkeeper. But the overall scope of the accounting profession has broadened bringing forth new challenges that requires accountant to learn new sets of skills. The accounting skills may provide excellent career opportunity but the employability of bachelors in accounting has reduced due to demand supply imbalance in job market. But in spite of this an accounting profession has wide variety of career path to choose from. An accountant can work for public accounting firm, public sector, self employed and small business. A highly qualified ac countant is employed as directors of the company, board member, chief executive officer and many other senior posts. It can be concluded that a degree in Accountancy offers a lucrative, challenging and dynamic career. Reference Andon, P., Free, C., Scard, B. (2015). Pathways to accountant fraud: Australian evidence and analysis.Accounting Research Journal,28(1), 10-44. Apostolou, B., Dorminey, J. W., Hassell, J. M., Rebele, J. E. (2015). Accounting education literature review (20132014).Journal of Accounting Education,33(2), 69-127. Chou, T. S. (2013). Security threats on cloud computing vulnerabilities.International Journal of Computer Science Information Technology,5(3), 79.Drew, J., (2015). Keep Pace with Tech Changes. Journal of Accountancy, 220(4), p.20. Henry, B. Hicks, M., (2015). A Survey of Perspectives on the Future of the Accounting Profession. The CPA Journal, 85(8), p.6. Murphy, G., (2015). A vision for the future: by using the most current technology and keeping their skills up to date, management accountants can enhance their careers and their organizations. Strategic Finance, 97(4), pp.62-64. Pan, G. Seow, P.S., (2016). Preparing accounting graduates for digital revolution: A critical review of information technology competencies and skills development. Journal of Education for Business, pp.1-10. Sharpe, M., (2016). Investigating How Religiosity, Ethics, and Other Factors Relate to Future Accounting and Business Professionals' Views on Work-Life Balance.Ethics (January 22, 2016). Suddaby, R., Saxton, G.D. Gunz, S., (2015). Twittering change: The institutional work of domain change in accounting expertise. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 45, pp.52-68. Taipaleenmki, J., Ikheimo, S. (2013). On the convergence of management accounting and financial accountingthe role of information technology in accounting change.International Journal of Accounting Information Systems,14(4), 321-348. Traistaru, D.A., (2016). Perceptions Concerning Professional Judgement And Ethics In The Evolution Of The Accounting Profession. European Journal of Business and Social Sciences, 4(10), pp.126-135. Vasarhelyi, M. A., Kogan, A., Tuttle, B. M. (2015). Big data in accounting: An overview.Accounting Horizons,29(2), 381-396. Walsh, J., (2014). The Role of Ethics in a Future Accounting Career. Welsh, D. T., Ordez, L. D., Snyder, D. G., Christian, M. S. (2015). The slippery slope: How small ethical transgressions pave the way for larger future transgressions.Journal of Applied Psychology,100(1), 114. Zeff, S. A. (2003). How the US accounting profession got where it is today: Part I.Accounting Horizons,17(3), 189-205.

Management at Stamford Hospital

Introduction Stamford Hospital is one of the leading hospitals in healthcare provision in Stamford and across Connecticut. The hospital is a nonprofit organization and it has been in the business for more than 100 years. Stamford Hospital is said to have created about 2300 job opportunities for health care providers (Stamford Hospital, 2014). Its vision is to offer quality health care services to its patients.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Management at Stamford Hospital specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The hospital uses new technology in its operations and it is one of the Planetree Alliance member hospitals. The Planetree Alliance members are obliged to provide patient-centered services, and this assertion means that all members must focus on maximizing their patients’ satisfaction. The hospital provides medical services in areas such as cancer treatment, cardiac services, orthopedics, and general heal th (Stamford Hospital, 2014). Stamford Hospital is a partner of the New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System and a key training partner of the Columbia University, which offers medical courses. The hospital has an employee development program that mainly focuses on equipping workers with the right skills to achieve its corporate goals (Stamford Hospital, 2014). The hospital recorded its first positive profit margin in 2004 and since then it has posted promising results on its financial accounts. The hospital’s success in the past few years has been attributed to good management. This paper will analyze the company’s management, assess the gaps in the management, and provide some recommendations for future improvement. Employees’ career development opportunities For managers and other personnel to accomplish their duties and achieve a corporation’s goals, an education program is necessary to equip them with skills to handle new challenges that come up in th e course of executing their duties (Frampton Charmel, 2008). Additionally corporate culture becomes obsolete with time, and thus a corporate culture that was successful at one point may not be effective at some other time in the future (Newmark, 2006). In order for a business to achieve its corporate goals, career development should be embraced. Managers should be well equipped with the necessary skills and technical knowhow to handle different situations. At Stamford, a non-discriminative training program is in place to offer lifetime training to managers and other staff members (Heuer, 2004). The program is based on the corporate culture of the organization and it mostly focuses on new employee orientation, new manager orientation, and other staff development training amongst others (Stamford Hospital, 2014).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More New staff recruitment in the ho spital is done by the human resources department, which is composed of technical staff in the area of staff management. The hospital considers both skills and the ability of an individual staff to fit in the corporate culture within which the company is established. In addition, the hospital assesses the ability and attitudes of the candidate towards teamwork, accountability, and respect for other staff members and patients (Stamford Hospital, 2014). The aforementioned factors considered during the hiring process ensure that only the right staff members join the hospital’s workforce, this leading to increased patient satisfaction. The major components of the training program are discussed below. New Employee Orientation The hospital management provides every new staff with a 3-days training that centers on the nature of the corporate culture in the organization. The program enables new employees to understand the spirit in the organization coupled with preparing them for thei r new tasks. Additionally, new employees get firsthand information on the hospital’s mission, vision, and values. Given that Stamford Hospital works under the Planetree philosophy of patient-centered care, the 3-days orientation program assists the new staff members to understand the organization’s major goal, which is to ensure patient satisfaction and the role they owe the hospital regarding the accomplishment of that goal (Heuer, 2004). The program also introduces the new staff members to the code of ethics that guides every employee in the company. This aspect is crucial since it defines the â€Å"dos† and â€Å"don’ts† in the organization. The overall result of the orientation program is that it brings all the staff members together to work as a team in a bid to achieve a common goal (Daft Marcic, 2005). The orientation program is important since the employees are drawn from different cultural and religious backgrounds, and thus it welcomes t he new staff to the company and establishes a bond between them. New Manager Orientation The success or failure of a business venture depends on the management (Frampton Charmel, 2008). On the other hand, poor management leads to a business’ failure while good management leads to success.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Management at Stamford Hospital specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Stamford Hospital is aware of this view and thus it has introduced a â€Å"new manager-training program, which provides new managers with a general overview of the hospital’s human resources policies and procedures, budgets, corporate compliance, and Kronos timekeeping† (Stamford Hospital, 2014, par.17). Through the program, new managers meet and interact with other new and senior managers and engage in an open discussion where each person has a chance to contribute his or her ideas. Regular assessment of the n ew managers is done for a period of one year in a bid to ensure that shortfalls and deviations are detected in time. The Leadership Academy This program is â€Å"only accessible to leaders and managers from different levels in the organization† (Stamford Hospital, 2014, par. 18). The program aims at supplementing the leadership skills already possessed by the leaders with some new skills with the sole aim of increasing their efficiency. The program takes in classroom work in fields that relate to strategic management and it centers mainly on maximizing performance coupled with binding managers from different levels in order to achieve the corporate goals. Training is offered under the watch of the hospital’s staff members if not outsourced (Newmark, 2006). The aim of the training may be strategic goal alignment, talent retention, teamwork, health work relations, motivation, and visionary leadership among others (Frampton Charmel, 2008). Online Training In addition to the aforementioned courses, the hospital also offers online courses to its employees. The courses that the hospital offers to its staff members through the new technology include sexual bullying, corporate acquiescence, handling emergency cases, patient wellbeing, and cultural diversity among others. Staff Development training This program aims at developing skills and competence amongst the junior staff members. The program offers courses designed to improve the employees’ skills coupled with boosting their job satisfaction. The courses are designed in such a way that they address changes in the business environment so that employees are flexible enough to tackle challenges that arise in their line of duty (Daft Marcic, 2005).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This program is continuous and it runs throughout the employee’s tenure in the hospital on top of covering areas acknowledged as fundamental to thriving performance (Frampton Charmel, 2008). All employees are encouraged to enroll in employee empowerment courses, which are accessible to all people. Courses such as conflict management and communication are offered in this program. Managing staff turnover The hospital has a supporting program for incoming nurses known as the Graduates Engaged Mastering Succeeding (GEMS) program (Heuer, 2004). ‘GEMS’ is a 12 week program and aims at ensuring successful transition of fresh health care professionals into the work environment. Throughout the 12 weeks, the nurses are trained on the hospital’s policies and procedures. Each nurse is assigned an experienced mentor who guides him or her through the orientation process. The program ensures smooth transition from a mere student to a practicing nurse. Once hired, a nurs e is under obligation to enroll for a BSN degree program within the first year of service in the hospital (Newmark, 2006). The course goes on for five years after which the nurse will be highly knowledgeable and competent. The mentors continue to guide the nurses even after the orientation period. Such support provides an incentive for competent nurses to remain in the hospital. In addition, the hospital also offers competitive salary to its staff depending on the position held. The high pay and employee development programs adopted by the company provide incentives for staff members to remain in the hospital, thus retaining the best employees. Fringe benefits are also offered to the staff aimed at increasing their morale and motivation. Outpatient vs. inpatient services In the recent past, the Stamford Hospital’s management has shifted its focus from investing in inpatient to outpatient facilities (Stamford Hospital, 2014). The reason behind this new development is that tech nological advancements have characterized the health sector, thus improving surgical treatments. This aspect has led to a decrease in inpatient cases. The hospital has employed extra physicians to increase efficiency of its outpatient services. The company is said to derive more revenue from outpatient services than it does from inpatient services. Criticism Critics have been alleging that nonprofit organizations pay their managers huge amounts of money in the name of retaining the best talents (Frampton Charmel, 2008). This allegation results in high cost of health care provision. Stamford Hospital, as one of the nonprofit organizations, is no exception. The company is claimed to have paid Brian Grissler’s, the then company CEO, fringe benefits amounting to $618,000, which represented a 400 percent increase compared to the previous year. The hospital’s management holds that in order to retain experienced staff, it must pay them huge amounts of cash. Such huge salarie s have been cited as the major reasons for the rise of health care costs, thus leading to inaccessibility of healthcare services by the poor in society. Considering the view that Stamford Hospital is a member of the Planetree Alliance where customer satisfaction is the key objective, the hospital may not be in a position to achieve this important goal owing to the high costs of its services (Daft Marcic, 2005). Statistics indicate that more than 400,000 people in Connecticut do not have a health care insurance policy, and thus the high cost of health care resulting from this exorbitant CEOs’ pay may lead to reduced customer satisfaction (Spinelli, 2006). The hospital has also been criticized for neglecting its employees (Heuer, 2004). As aforementioned, the hospital is a member of the Planetree Alliance, which requires member hospitals to ensure patient satisfaction at all costs. The hospital has been accused of working towards ensuring patient satisfaction and overlooking i ts employees’ needs (Newmark, 2006). This aspect has led to poor morale amongst the employees, this resulting in high staff turnover rate. Loss of experienced staff members means that the hospital may not be in a position to meet its key objective of ensuring customer satisfaction in the end. The hospital’s nursing department has also been criticized for malpractices in giving promotions. Critics claim that promotions in the department are based on friendship as opposed to merit. In this department, workers’ experience is not considered and often the old workers are disregarded and in most cases bullied by younger supervisors who find themselves into management positions through unmerited means (Frampton Charmel, 2008). Recommendations The hospital should set up a committee to assess and determine salaries to be given to each employee based on his or her work requirements. The committee should also consider the salaries paid to other staff members holding simil ar positions in other similar hospitals. Such comparison will help to avert cases of CEOs in the hospital earning higher amounts of money as compared to their counterparts in other hospitals. At Stamford Hospital, it is alleged that Grissler, the company’s CEO, earned $376,000 more than the CEO of Hartford Hospital despite the latter being charged with more responsibilities than Grissler and the Hartford Hospital earning almost 3 times more than the Stamford Hospital (Newmark, 2006). Both customer satisfaction and employees’ satisfaction are two conflicting interests (Heuer, 2004). Achievement of one of the two goals may hinder the achievement of the other. The hospital management should balance the two conflicting issues without overlooking the employees’ satisfaction as this trend may lead to reduced morale and failure to meet the patients’ needs. The hospital management should engage its employees in making key decisions and establish good communicatio n channels. Good communication between employees and the management will assist managers to understand the employees’ feelings on the corporate culture that is currently in place, hence evoke the possibility of revising it or even dropping it all together. The hospital should offer promotions based on merit as opposed to favors. Each nurse should have equal opportunity to be promoted. Performance and experience should be assessed and the best performing staff selected (Frampton Charmel, 2008). Harassment and bullying in the nursing department should be illegalized and each worker should be free to report such cases to the top management. Conclusion Stamford Hospital is one of the leading hospitals in the provision of healthcare services in Connecticut. Its management is focused on two main issues, viz. patients’ satisfaction and employees’ empowerment. However, customer satisfaction is highly acknowledged since the hospital is a member of the Planetree Alliance whose main emphasize is on patient satisfaction. The hospital has recorded success in the past one decade probably due to good management. The hospital provides its employees with career development opportunities through training programs. The company’s focus is to retain experienced employees so that customer satisfaction can be achieved. However, the hospital faces criticism over mistreatment of its workers and discrimination of a certain group of workers during promotion. It has also been accused of paying its CEOs hefty amounts of cash in the name of retaining the best talents. References Daft, L., Marcic, D. (2005). Understanding management. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. Frampton, B., Charmel, P. (2008). Putting patients first: best practices in patient-centered care. New York, NY: John Wiley Sons. Heuer, J. (2004). Hospital accreditation and patient satisfaction: testing the relationship. Journal for healthcare quality, 26(1), 46-51. Newmark, J. (2006). From talk to action: what performance improvement is really all about. Radiology management, 29(3), 18-30. Spinelli, R. (2006). The applicability of Bass’s model of transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership in the hospital administrative environment. Hospital topics, 84(2), 11-19. Stamford Hospital: About Stamford Hospital. (2014). Retrieved from https://www.stamfordhealth.org/about/ This essay on Management at Stamford Hospital was written and submitted by user Jadon Brooks to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.