Free Essay

Iqms Case

In: Business and Management

Submitted By Jfarias
Words 3183
Pages 13
IQMS – At a Strategic Turning Point?
IQ Medical Services (“IQMS”)
A Live Case Prepared for

Florida Intercollegiate Graduate/MBA Business Case Competition
Laura Kozloski
Steve Barnett

Executive Summary
IQ Medical Services (“IQMS”) is based in Miami, Florida, and was founded in 2007. It is an ISO 9001:2000 certified company that operates globally in collaboration with major healthcare corporations such as General Electric (“GE”) Healthcare. IQMS’ purpose has been to design, construct, and service best-in-class turnkey cyclotron facilities for healthcare systems and academic institutions worldwide; their vison – how they “see” they can accomplish this mission – has been to partner with cyclotron manufacturers such as GE and Siemens.
Cyclotron
facilities produce contrast media drugs known as
FDGs
(FluoroDeoxyGlucose) that are injected into patients to detect and diagnosis serious medical conditions. The most common usage is for PET studies, which are diagnostic procedures to determine the extent to which cancer may have spread within a patient’s body. IQMS has partnered with a variety of cyclotron equipment manufacturers accounting for 80% of the 65 projects IQMS has completed in over 30 countries worldwide since 2007.
IQMS’ core expertise includes:
 PET/SPECT Radiopharmaceutical contrast media injection production
 Equipment selection, procurement and installation, start-Up and qualification with integrated multivendor warranty and service solutions
 FDA and equivalent regulatory consulting services
 Project management

Company organization:
IQMS is an extremely efficient operation, currently employing 18 employees worldwide and working with select subcontractors for its different projects. Most employees are based in the company’s Miami headquarters, which houses the majority of the back office operations, including finance, human resources, supply chain, quality, applications and engineering functions. Members of the business development
(commercial) team are responsible for different regions and are located within their

1

IQMS – At a Strategic Turning Point? target markets in the United States, Latin America & the Caribbean, Europe and the
Middle East.
Designing, building and making cyclotron facilities ready to operate is a highly sophisticated and technical undertaking, and, thus, the level of expertise required to participate in these projects is very high. To ensure high levels of quality and operational efficiency, many IQMS employees hold master’s degrees and/or PhDs, have engineering and other technical backgrounds, and have significant experience in the industry. IQMS is highly regarded in the healthcare sector and has established partnerships with key medical equipment providers. In fact, in 2012 GE Healthcare make a strategic decision to cease its cyclotron facility start-up activities and informally designated IQMS as its strategic partner for the design and construction of the facilities that house the GE cyclotron equipment as well as for equipment installation and commissioning. As provider of choice, IQMS designs and manages the entire cyclotron facility start-up process, installing and commissioning GE Healthcare cyclotrons and other OEM equipment required within a cyclotron facility. IQMS and GE Healthcare do not have a formal agreement in place; however, they leverage a strong relationship which has years of working together at its foundation. Maintaining this strong relationship with GE
Healthcare is very important for IQMS because members of the GE Healthcare salesforce in the field have the best visibility of potential new cyclotron projects; they then bring IQMS into a project as their partner of choice. In such situations, GE retains
IQMS to complete their cyclotron projects, and IQMS becomes a subcontractor to GE
Healthcare to ensure the proper set-up and functioning of the cyclotron facility. For other projects IQMS is the lead, responding to client requests for proposals (RPFs) or negotiating solutions and contracting directly with a healthcare provider, government entity or academic institution.
What is a PET/CT scan?
A PET/CT scan imaging technique combines positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) into one machine. A PET/CT scan reveals information about both the structure and function of cells and tissues in the body during a single imaging session. Currently, 95% of the PET/CT scans performed by cyclotrons are for cancer patients; the remaining 5% is for neurological and coronary diagnoses.
Neurology will become more significant in the next 20 years; however, oncology will continue to be the key driver for the next 5 years for sure.
During a PET/CT scan, the patient is first injected with a glucose (sugar) solution that contains a very small amount of radioactive material, called a radiopharmaceutical.
Over a short period of time, usually about one hour, the glucose/radiopharmaceutical substance is absorbed by the particular organs or tissues being examined. For the
PET/CT scan, a patient rests on a table and slides into a large tunnel-shaped scanner.
The images produced during a PET/CT scan show the patient’s damaged or cancerous cells where the glucose solution has been absorbed (cancer cells often use more glucose than normal cells) as well as the rate at which a tumor is using the glucose (which can

2

IQMS – At a Strategic Turning Point? help determine the tumor grade). The procedure is painless and varies in duration depending on the part of the body that is being evaluated.
Market dynamics:
PET/CT equipment is made by several well-regarded multinational corporations and is widely available in different markets around the world.
However, the challenge healthcare organizations face with regard to offering PET/CT scans to their patients is the difficulty and cost of producing and transporting the radiopharmaceuticals injected into patients for PET imaging. Radiopharmaceuticals have very short useful lives; for instance, the half-life of a dose of radioactive FDG is only two hours. Radiopharmaceuticals must be made within a cyclotron facility, each of which costs between $4 million and $6 million to construct and equip. Ideally, a production line (cyclotron facility) for the radiopharmaceuticals needed for PET scanning should be within a 2 - 3 hour driving radius from the PET/CT machine where the patient will have his/her test.
The cyclotron market is challenging for IQMS and its competitors given the long duration of the entire project cycle, the required advanced level of sophistication and experience of the design and installation team, and relatively small number of projects worldwide. Designing and constructing cyclotron facilities is a relatively slow and methodical process and requires a highly skilled and experienced design and development team.
Most customers take 18 to 24 months to decide to begin a cyclotron project. Once a project is given a go-ahead, the design and construction process lasts another 18-24 months before the equipment is fully installed and operational.
In addition to the long cycle of these types of projects, cyclotron projects call for highly skilled designers and project managers. Areas of expertise required include experience in the nuclear medicine field, ranging from FDA or equivalent regulatory agency experience, experience producing radiopharmaceuticals, and significant experience in managing cyclotron projects. During the design and construction phase, IQMS project leaders must maintain continuous interaction with a local contractor managing the build-out of the facility. The design, construction, and operation of all cyclotron facilities are highly regulated given the radioactive properties of the substances produced by the cyclotron. The high levels of regulation and the inherent challenges of building such sophisticated and complex facilities often result in project delays.
A key business challenge for IQMS is that there are relatively few cyclotron projects per year (approximately 40 cyclotron projects are underway worldwide each year).
IQMS’ long cycle dynamic means that the company must maintain a large pipeline of potential new projects and a healthy backlog (projects that have already issued POs) for a two to three year period to ensure healthy revenue and cash flow positions.
Key Competitors: Competition for IQMS is not easy to define as there are many small consultants, or people with previous experience in building cyclotron facilities

3

IQMS – At a Strategic Turning Point? who claim they have the same know-how as IQMS. Although these companies or people may understand what IQMS has to offer, they have neither the infrastructure required to manage these project nor the global expertise of IQMS having executed 65+ projects.
In fact, in most cases, these consultants subcontract to individuals or other companies for executing critical parts of the projects, which most of the time, leads to inefficient and unprofitable project execution.
Nevertheless, IQMS’s staff understands the competitive landscape worldwide and continuously seeks to remain innovative and efficient while expanding the company’s portfolio of equipment and services it provides to the nuclear medicine industry. IQMS’
CEO estimates that its “market share worldwide is around 55%,;Lat Am is in the 80%” range. Key Suppliers: IQMS’s suppliers range from local US suppliers providing standard laboratory supplies to very highly technical complex systems from companies like
Thermo Fischer, Varian, and Comecer Spa. These are global companies whose headquarters are in different parts of the world and rely on IQMS to distribute their products for the nuclear medicine industry. Most of these suppliers require full payment for their equipment before it leaves their factories. With some key suppliers, like
Thermo Fischer and Comecer, IQMS has been able to establish favorable payment terms that allow up to 20% of a payment to be made 60 days after a shipment from their factories. Key Customers: Buyers of cyclotrons differ depending on the healthcare environment of the country in which they will be installed. In countries with strong public healthcare systems, IQMS’ customers tend to be Ministries of Health or other governmental agencies. Such countries include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bolivia, Argentina and Peru.
However, private sector customers are the most common customers worldwide, and they are usually hospitals or academic institutions that want to differentiate themselves from the competition by adding PET/CT scanning capabilities in their facilities so they can provide PET/CT studies to patients. Most of the US, Canada and EU countries have domain expertise in this technology. However, in other countries for which PET/CT technology is new, there is a lack of both the expertise for PET/CT studies as well as for building the cyclotron facilities that produce the required inputs (FDGs) for the PET/CT study itself.
The common bond among all these customers is that rarely do they have the local expertise to build their own cyclotron facilities, and they require help from the beginning of the planning stage all the way through the start-up phase.
Regarding payment terms, most customers pay approximately 30% upon signing a purchase order (“PO”), 60% upon shipment of the cyclotron equipment, and the remaining balance of 10% upon the Site Acceptance Test (“SAT”), which is when a customer formally accepts the completed installation of the equipment.
Timing of shipments and the planning of the equipment are critical for IQMS as they directly impact the company’s cash flows given the differing terms of the payments to its suppliers and payments from the customers. On average, from the time equipment is

4

IQMS – At a Strategic Turning Point? ordered, consolidated with all other OEM suppliers, and shipped (meaning the customer has the site ready to accept the equipment), there is a lag of four to six months.
Company Dynamics:
In 2012, the then owner-manager of IQMS decided to bring an executive from a leading cyclotron equipment manufacturer onboard as President and CEO of IQMS. The new
CEO/President, Hernan Lara, was challenged to grow the business by balancing the portfolio of equipment and services IQMS provided and smoothing the company’s cash flow and revenue streams. See Exhibit I for IQMS’ income statements for 2012, 2013,
2014 & 2015. IQMS’ portfolio of services continues to include the same suite of services of design, construction oversight, equipment installation, and equipment commissioning that were offered when Mr. Lara assumed the CEO role in 2012.
Since 2012, the company has grown in key markets such as Latin America, the Middle
East, Algeria, and Russia in both new cyclotron projects and the backlog (Order intake) of new projects.

These new projects as well as revised payment terms established in 2012 improved the company’s cash flow stream. Nevertheless, the long cycle of the projects, delays and high human resource costs continue to present challenges to IQMS.
Looking Forward
As part of the annual budget and strategic planning session that take place during
October and November of every year, IQMS is currently preparing its 2016 business plan and its strategic plan for the coming three to five years. Faced with the challenge of reducing revenue and cash flow volatility as well as in light of an anticipated increased growth of cyclotron projects worldwide, the CEO is analyzing a variety of options to maintain IQMS’ current market leadership position. Mr. Lara needs to determine how to keep IQMS financially healthy both from a balance sheet as well as an Income statement perspective.
The CEO has been exploring a variety of strategic opportunities that need to be carefully prioritized. He knows that his team cannot take on all of the activities he is contemplating. Among the opportunities with the highest priority are:

5

IQMS – At a Strategic Turning Point?
1. Invest in new human resources to keep up with the demand of new cyclotron design and construction projects. This option does not call for IQMS to expand beyond its current service offering. Although it does allow for IQMS to continue growing its backlog (orders intake), this strategy does not mitigate the delay and payment risks of its current business model.
2. IQMS’s management team has also expressed concern regarding the company’s dependence on cyclotron equipment manufacturers for new projects. They have suggested investing time and effort in expanding revenue generation through a distribution network in Latin America. Through the new distribution network,
IQMS could add the following to its existing product and service portfolio: consumables, service contracts, and other new products related to nuclear medicine.
Such a strategy would lessen the burden on IQMS’ commercial organization and will generate new potential opportunities. However, it is a strategy that has not been explored in the industry, and it may lead to a dead end.
3. Explore investing capital into a new business opportunity that is within the
Healthcare industry but that generates shorter revenue turnover cycles. Given the good cash flow generated through the revised payment term strategy, there may be an opportunity to invest capital, yet, it is very important that the new business generate a rapid, positive ROI before the cyclotron projects start to require utilization of the capital.
4. Invest in owning and operating a cyclotron facility within IQMS’ headquarters offices in Miami. This option requires heavy investment in capital, but it could present the opportunity for IQMS to have a show-site in its home city, provide the company with a training center for new customers worldwide, and enable IQMS to serve the large market for FDGs in the greater Miami area. There is no cyclotron facility in MiamiDade County, and demand for radiopharmaceuticals in the region is growing. A key benefit of this strategy is that it would enable IQMS to manufacture and distribute traditional and innovative radiopharmaceuticals to area healthcare facilities, generating a steady and continuous stream of revenue for the company that would smooth its historically volatile revenue streams. The cost to build a cyclotron facility in Miami will be approximately US$6 million.

The Issue as of 11/1/15
With a strong team of experts and demand for cyclotrons and PET/CET services growing worldwide, IQMS is at a strategic turning point. Within the next few months the CEO needs to finalize the company’s 2016 plan that solidifies the company’s market position while stabilizing its financial position for the coming years. Please prepare and present your recommendations.

6

IQMS – At a Strategic Turning Point?

Glossary:
Cyclotron: a type of particle accelerator in which the particles spiral inside two
Dshaped hollow metal electrodes placed facing each other under theeffect of a strong ver tical magnetic field, gaining energy by a highfrequency voltage applied between these electrodes
PET: Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine, functional imaging technique that produces a three-dimensional image of functional processes in the body. The system detects pairs of rays emitted indirectly by a positronemitting radionuclide (tracer), which is introduced into the body on a biologically active molecule. Three-dimensional images of tracer concentration within the body are then constructed by computer analysis. In modern PET-CT scanners, three-dimensional imaging is often accomplished with the aid of a CT X-ray scan performed on the patient during the same session, in the same machine.
SPECT:
Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT, or less commonly, SPET) is a nuclear medicine tomographic imaging technique using gamma rays.[1] It is very similar to conventional nuclear medicine planar imaging using a gamma camera.[2] However, it is able to provide true 3D information. This information is typically presented as cross-sectional slices through the patient, but can be freely reformatted or manipulated as required.
FDG: A glucose (sugar) solution that contains a very small amount of radioactive material. Radiopharmaceutical: radioactive tracer, or radioactive label, is a chemical compound in which one or more atoms have been replaced by a radioisotope so by virtue of its radioactive decay it can be used to explore the mechanism of chemical reactions by tracing the path that the radioisotope follows from reactants to products. Radiolabeling is thus the radioactive form of isotopic labeling.

7

IQMS – At a Strategic Turning Point?

Exhibit I – Income statement 2012-2015
$MM
Backlog
Revenue
COGS
Op Exp
Net Profit

$MM
Backlog
Revenue
COGS
Op Exp
Net Profit

Q1

Q2

2012
Q3

Q4

1.62
1.13
1.08
(0.59)

3.20
2.24
1.08
(0.12)

2.70
1.89
1.08
(0.27)

11.28
7.9
1.08
2.30

Q1

Q2

2014
Q3

Q4

4.80
3.36
2.01
(0.57)

4.20
2.94
2.01
(0.75)

4.50
3.15
2.01
(0.66)

20.25
14.18
2.01
4.06

Total
25.45
18.80
13.16
4.32
1.32

Total
157.50
33.75
23.63
8.04
2.08

Q1

Q2

2013
Q3

Q4

3.56
2.49
1.71
(0.64)

3.20
2.24
1.71
(0.75)

3.50
2.45
1.71
(0.66)

15.39
10.77
1.71
2.91

Q1

Q2

2015
Q3

Q4

5.40
3.51
3.09
(1.20)

6.20
4.03
3.09
(0.92)

4.80
3.12
3.09
(1.41)

24.60
15.99
3.09
5.52

Total
28.20
25.65
17.95
6.84
0.86

Total
222.50
41.00
26.65
12.36
1.99

Definitions:
Backlog: Accumulated Purchase Orders received that have not been accounted as revenue. Revenue: Invoiced equipment or service based on established payment terms.
COGS: Cost of good sold. Both equipment and services are included in the COGS
Operating Expenses: All other expenses that are not part of COGS. These include:
Salaries, Travel, Marketing, Utilities, rent, Legal fees, etc.
Net profit: Net income before income taxes. There are no significant depreciation or amortization to be considered.
*Q4-2015 Income statement is estimated, not actual.

8

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Iqms Case

...IQMS – At a Strategic Turning Point? IQ Medical Services (“IQMS”) A Live Case Prepared for Florida Intercollegiate Graduate/MBA Business Case Competition Laura Kozloski Steve Barnett Executive Summary IQ Medical Services (“IQMS”) is based in Miami, Florida, and was founded in 2007. It is an ISO 9001:2000 certified company that operates globally in collaboration with major healthcare corporations such as General Electric (“GE”) Healthcare. IQMS’ purpose has been to design, construct, and service best-in-class turnkey cyclotron facilities for healthcare systems and academic institutions worldwide; their vison – how they “see” they can accomplish this mission – has been to partner with cyclotron manufacturers such as GE and Siemens. Cyclotron facilities produce contrast media drugs known as FDGs (FluoroDeoxyGlucose) that are injected into patients to detect and diagnosis serious medical conditions. The most common usage is for PET studies, which are diagnostic procedures to determine the extent to which cancer may have spread within a patient’s body. IQMS has partnered with a variety of cyclotron equipment manufacturers accounting for 80% of the 65 projects IQMS has completed in over 30 countries worldwide since 2007. IQMS’ core expertise includes:  PET/SPECT Radiopharmaceutical contrast media injection production  Equipment selection, procurement and installation, start-Up and qualification with integrated multivendor warranty and service solutions  FDA and equivalent regulatory...

Words: 3183 - Pages: 13

Free Essay

Family

...With these developments, it is obvious that conflicts between parties of different nationalities occur and liability to tax on income of foreigners especially among those engaging in trading venture. Whilst the laws affecting domicile and residence may be sufficiently settled, it is paramount for courts to pursue a detailed analysis to ascertain specific preliminary issues so as to avoid controversial rulings. Courts often handle numerous financial cases that involve what can be best described as foreign or international elements. In such cases, court must decide whether it has the jurisdiction under the Family Law Act 1975 to make a decision on such cases. In the event that it is determined that the court is invested with the jurisdiction to determine the case, the court has to consider whether there is a system of law in foreign country that also has the jurisdiction to handle the case. As it was addressed in the case Attorney General of New Zealand v Ortiz [1984] AC 1, these benefits and costs to either party if the case resolution is made in foreign country as compared with the apparent country should also be a subject of concern. [1] Legal systems in most countries around the world adopt community property regime, which takes effect at the inception of marriage or at the time of divorce. For instance, California and Massachusetts in the United States have adopted community property regimes that support equal division of assets upon divorce. However, this provision...

Words: 659 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

None

...Adapted from Bernhardt & Kinnear (1988). Cases in marketing management, pp. 6-16. Plano, TX: Business Publications, Inc. Pay careful attention to the following points. They are often used by instructors to evaluate either a written or oral analysis. 1. Be complete. Each area of the situation analysis must be discussed, problems and opportunities identified, alternative presented and evaluated using the situation analysis and relevant financial analysis, and a decision must be made. An analysis that omits part of the situation analysis or only recognizes one alternative is not a good analysis. Second, each area must be covered in-depth and within insight. 2. Avoid rehashing case facts. Every case has a lot of factual information. A good analysis uses facts that are relevant to the situation at hand to make summary points of analysis. A poor analysis just restates or rehashes theses facts without making relevant summary comments. 3. Make reasonable assumptions. Every case is incomplete in terms of some piece of information that you would like to have. A good case analysis must make realistic assumptions to fill in the gaps of information in the case. For example, the case may not describe the purchase decision process for the product of interest. A poor analysis would either omit mentioning this or just state that no information is available. A good analysis would attempt to present this purchase decision process by classifying the product and drawing upon real life...

Words: 487 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Save Me

...are given. It is understandable then that we should seek out more opportunities to apply our skills and make more positive impacts within our jurisdictions. It is this general attitude that led us to get involved in investigating cold cases. How We Got Started Mark had, for several years, been consulting with our Coroner’s Division as a forensic anthropologist. During this time he came to learn that there were numerous coroners’ cases in which the identity of the decedent was unknown. These cases were kept in three-ring binders on a shelf in the Sergeant’s office. Over the years, in the course of this forensic work, we would discuss these cases and the progress that was being made on them. The conversation usually ran along the lines of us asking “any luck with that 1980 homicide victim?” and the sergeant answering “well, we’ve gotten so many new cases that I haven’t been able to even look at it yet.” This went on for a few years and through two different sergeants. One day we, as a crime analysis unit, were brainstorming about how we could broaden our “client base”, as it were. We had been successful in integrating ourselves into our Investigations Bureau and had been involved in numerous major cases. And, of course, we had always been active in producing tactical and strategic analyses for our patrol personnel. But we knew that we could be doing more, particularly given the size and responsibilities of our agency. It was during...

Words: 412 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Business Case

...BUSINESS CASE Presented to the Accountancy Department De La Salle University In partial fulfillment Of the course requirements In ACCTBA2 (C33) March 2, 2015 A stakeholder is typically concerned with an organization delivering intended results and meeting its financial objectives. In general, a stakeholder can be one of two types: internal (from within an organization) or external (outside of an organization). The stakeholders in this situation are Lanie Marquez and Tim Rodriguez who are also partners in the retail distribution business and their capital contributions are as follows P500,000 and P300,000 respectively they are an internal stakeholder since they are also the owners. The total Capital of both stakeholders is P800,000 and with a monthly salary for both partners at P15,000 on the assumption that both of them will contribute to manage the business equally. Assuming that both managed the business equally the total salary for the year for Lanie and Tim are P180,000 each. They share profit and loss equally and no interest will be given on capital contributed. The problem for this situation is that Lanie is starting to get concerned with the behavior of her other partner Tim. He only manages the business 50% of the time, which will mean that his salary of P15,000 will need to decrease by also 50% since he does not manage the business equally with his partner. The business has seen a downturn in the profit outcome and for the current financial...

Words: 758 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Ralph's Grocery Case Summary

...Ralph’s Grocery and United Food and Commercial Workers Union The case that I chose for the week 6 critical thinking assignment concerns Ralph’s Grocery Company, located in California. It applies to this week’s material due to the fact that the case involves unlawful suspension and discharge of an employee, as reviewed by the National Labor Relations Board. Background In May 2011, Vittorio Razi was an employee at Ralph’s Grocery and was suspended and terminated after he refused to take a drug test without first consulting with his UFCW Local 324 representative. The company (Respondent) says that on the day in question, Razi’s behavior was in question, acting nervous, anxious, agitated, and slurred speech. After a couple managers discussed the...

Words: 750 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Chromogens Affecting Wealth Wear Staining Teeth

... Many people wonder why their own teeth stain so easily. The enamel on your teeth and chromogens are what stains your teeth, but what exact beverage stains teeth the most? I chose this topic because I was curious to know what stains teeth the most. It affects us daily because it could rot your teeth or you can’t pick up hot chicks anymore. So what causes teeth to stain? The temperature causes teeth to expand or contract making it easier for stains. So hot and cold drinks affect that. Color in foods and beverages come from chromogens. Chromogens are intensely pigmented compounds that stick to teeth enamel. Chromogens cause a lot of trouble when they mix and react with other stain causing and stain promoting factors. Tannis may be natural or synthetic tannis is another factor that stains teeth. Tooth enamel is porous making it extremely susceptible to stains. The darker the liquid the darker the stain. There are some examples that stain teeth. Not only sodas bad but also Gatorade. Beets are bad for you also. Mostly cause they’re concentrated. Berries dark skins stain teeth. Ketchup is also really bad because of its bright red color and high levels of acid. Dark liquids and sauces you put on your foods also stain teeth. Colored candy and popsicles both contain colorants that will transfer to the teeth and embed in the porous enamel. Fruit juices, especially grape and cranberry, leave a colorful tinge on the teeth and tongue. Colored sodas instantly discolor teeth. The citric acids...

Words: 594 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Fin 571

...efficient investigative products and services. As a result, the coverage requirements for ANACI and NACLC investigations have been enhanced to support a common content baseline for all agencies. Note that these enhancements apply only to those ANACI and NACLC cases submitted on an SF 86. The purpose of this FIN is to provide you with information concerning what case coverage changes have been made. The case price adjustments necessary to support these changes will be reflected in the FY 2007 case prices. ANACIINACLC Cases Currently, listed and developed issues which are identified in ANACI and NACLC cases (for non-DoD customers) are not pursued beyond the normal scope of the investigation. These cases are returned to the requesting agency so that the agency may decide whether to adjudicate the case based upon the information in hand, conduct additional follow-up themselves, or request a Reimbursable Suitability Investigation (RSI) from FISD to cover the additional issues. Beginning with FY 2007, expansion of these issues will become a standard part of both the ANACI and NACLC products. Effective October 1, 2006, issues apparent at scheduling or developed during the course of the investigation and which fall within the 5-year case coverage period, unless otherwise noted, will be expanded upon according to the following chart (exception: issues which are known to have been covered in previous investigations, or which would reasonably have been expected to...

Words: 772 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Getting Ready for a Midterm

...find that you would like even more time. I recommend that you enter the exam promptly since I will make deductions for those exceeding the 9:00 o'clock end time even if you enter late. Third, know that the legal reasoning essay will come from Module 4 on immunity. The variety of scenarios in that question will force you to think about and explain the nuances between sovereign and personal immunity, between absolute and qualified immunity, about loss of immunity, etc. You will want to understand all four cases from that module well before the exam. I will expect specific citations to the cases and the principles that they enunciate. An additional case that might be useful for you to look at is Canton v. Harris. A second question will address the rulemaking process and the principles underlying it. You should "walk into" the exam (in a virtual sense) with a clear sense of a fully articulated rulemaking process, so that you can pick and choose elements as appropriate in the case you will be presented. The third question will be drawn from the text regarding the Constitutional framework. Finally, remember that "open book" exams can be as challenging as closed book because the "bar" (the expectation) is higher. I think you will find that prior preparation will make a good deal of difference. As stated before, when you open the exam, answer the questions initially in word and copy it back to the exam. That way, you will not lose work, time...

Words: 342 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Compensation Culture

...in which it is acceptable for anyone who has suffered a personal injury to seek compensatory damages through litigation from someone connected with the injury. It’s the idea that for every accident someone is at fault. For every injury, there is someone to blame. And, perhaps most damaging, for every accident, there is someone to pay. There are so many ridicilous cases througout history where people sue somebody or some company for no reason and get a lot of money from them. For example . A caretaker fell off a ladder and sued the local authority for not training him to use a ladder - and won.He could get up to 50.000 pounds compensation. One former ex policeman received nearly £90,000 compensation for the trauma of seeing a woman die after he crashed into her car during a 999 call .The husband of the woman killed by the policeman received £16,000 compensation. Policemen cause a tremendous number of accidents - so many, indeed, that one force has stopped its drivers from speeding. The effect is damaging to society. The courts become clogged up with greedy people out for themselves, many with no real case at all while other people with real compensation claims, the people disabled in accidents, crippled in operations or people who have lost loved ones due clear negligent behavior. All the other who just sue somebody with ridicilous acusations should be ashamed of themselves and I hope that in the future others avoid trying to cash in just because it seems so easy...

Words: 266 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Business

...Case - Swisher System Corporation I. Company Background: Swisher Systems Corporation (SSC) is an industrial heating company which was established in 1949. SSC is an innovator of flexible heating products, especially with its knit and braided heating element. The heating element is multi-stranded resistance wire that is knit and braided with fibreglass and is the base technology for almost all SSC products. SSC is known in the industry as being the highest quality flexible heat supplier which produces control devices and heating cable. SSC’s competitive advantage is on the quality products which maintains higher and safer temperature that are more flexible than their competitors or other products in the market. II. Facts of the Case: A. Mike Watkins  Director of Purchasing for Swisher Systems Corporation  Solely responsible for purchasing all materials of SSC.  Has various experiences in material management prior to SSC.  Has more than thirty-five (35) years of industrial purchasing experience. B. Products at Swisher Systems  All SSC products are solutions to industrial heating applications  SSC manufactures fifty percent (50%) standard products and fifty percent (50%) custom orders. o The custom products can be applied to virtually all industries that require heating products. Industries like semi-conductors, food processing, medical, petrochemical and others.  Biggest contributor of SSC’s sales is the cloth heating jacket, though expensive...

Words: 296 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Ism 5014-Enterprise Information Systems

...certify that I am the author of this paper and that any assistance I received in its preparation is fully acknowledge and disclosed in the paper. I have also cited any sources from which I used data, ideas of words, whether quoted directly or paraphrased. I also certify that this paper was prepared by me specifically for this course. Student Signature: z ******************************************* Instructor’s Grade on Assignment: Instructor’s Comments: The cases that we analyzed as a group as part of the class requirements were very interesting. I was able to relate to both cases especially due to the company I work for. Case number 1, was related on how to survive and adapt to a new market place. As the company I work expands, it continues to navigate and explore new markets with the different products it manufactures. Case number 2, concentrated on how pay attention to contracts and making sure one does its homework before making any type of decisions. I was able to learn from both cases different type of information system solutions and how to manage it. The group projects were very helpful by allowing us to learn how to communicate and work together as a long distance team. It was very hard at first, especially because one of the team member drop the course one week before our first project was due. However, we shined as a group and we were able to complete the project in a timely manner. I learned that the best way to get a long distance project done is...

Words: 461 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

D Unger V. Ed Rachal Foundation Summary

...Final Case Brief FACTS: Claude D’Unger worked for the Ed Rachal Foundation. This foundation owned a ranch that shared a border with the Rio Grande. Frequently, migrants would cross through the ranch. D’Unger suspected that another ranch employee was harassing migrants. Despite being told by his CEO to drop the issue, D’Unger contacted the authorities. It came out that there was no crimes committed, and D’Unger was fired as a result of his actions. Claude D’Unger claimed that the Foundation had breached its contract and that he had been wrongfully terminated and sued on these grounds. He also sued his CEO, Paul Altheide, claiming he had commited tortious interference. The county judge who reviewed his case ruled in favor of D’Unger, but a court of appeals reversed the breach of contract and...

Words: 422 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Business Case for Hr Self Service Systems

...Business Case for HR Self Service Systems Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Project Overview 3 Business Case for Proposed Project 4 Conclusion 5 References 5 Executive Summary This paper addresses the business case for implementing self service in the IT industry with the aim of gaining higher efficiency for a majority of HR functions and other benefits that can be derived from improved information access. The paper also discusses the various challenges an organization might face while attempting to implement self-service. The business case for self service revolves around reducing administrative costs and gaining better efficiency. It also aims at improving the overall performance and other benefits such as information management, trend analysis and also operational efficiency. The chief argument presented here is that a self-service initiative allows the HR to concentrate more towards the core functions such as people management instead of getting burdened with administrative tasks. While self-service has the ability to improve the service expectations from HR, it may also result in some of the savings being consumed in order to meet the higher quality expectations. However, on the long run, it is bound to reduce expenses to a great extent while enhancing the quality. Self-service also enables an organization to implement flexible work and helps employees to remain connected with the organization through a centralized HR system aimed at remote...

Words: 1107 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Random

...Ethics At Airbus 1) In each of the cases described above who benefits and who suffers from the alleged ethical and legal lapses of Airbus? Ans – When we observe across cases, its mostly the state and the airline company who is at loss due to these legal and ethical lapses Airbus – Sabena Case: As long as Van Espen’s case does not prove anything against any party, Airbus has gained significantly from the deal as it would have earned around $5bn order from the deal. The party which suffered significant loss should be the state as the Belgian government had 50.5% stake KAC – Airbus: Airbus gained a much needed order bill of around $1.1bn and possible order of $0.9bn, the employees of KAC Mr Al Mishari and its subsidiary ALAFCO, Dr. Mallalah & Mr El Fekih possibly would have earned (only a possibility) whereas the state of Kuwait higher costs, lost cash, earned higher depreciation costs and probably had to write-off it off India Inc. & Airbus: Airbus like all other cases earned the order book despite Boeing offered a deal to the Indian government $140mn cheaper. The state and eventually the airline paid $140mn more, raising its depreciation costs, debt service costs and got hold of carriers which were not properly tested thus risking the life of passengers Across cases observed, Airbus has been smart enough to save itself a persecution almost anywhere and has got large order books worth billions of dollars acquiring half of the market share but if Airbus is found...

Words: 981 - Pages: 4