The Need of Storing Data

Question: How to identify the need of storing data and analyzing the same to gain business insights for operational decision making for an organization? Answer: This report identifies the need of storing data and analyzing the same to gain business insights for operational decision making for an organization that currently runs manual processes and does not maintain operational data records. The report is prepared after studying the business model of a manufacturer of sugar and related products called Zucchero Pty. Ltd. The report would analyze operations of the business to identify scope for improvement of its operational productivity. Excel has been used for modeling the data obtained from the company operations so as to develop insights that can be used by the organization for decision making. The idea is to illustrate the importance of using Business Intelligence in the business to achieve results. Introduction Zucchero Pty. Ltd., a company founded by Luigi Dolce in 1959 in Grafton was a sugar mill refinery that generated its products from sugar cane produced by local farmers. In the following years, the company turned into a multi-million-dollar organization and penetrated Australian market with its exports. Today, the company has a large range of sugar products including raw, white, brown, icing sugar and so on. The company however faces issues in handling its operations as most of its processes are manual and operational data such as sales trends, distribution information, promotion details, etc. are not documented making it difficult for the General Manager, Franka Spencer to analysis business performance and make appropriate decisions that can help the organization improve its operational processes. Contemporary issues in technology business In the face of changing technologies and modernizing businesses, companies face some contemporary challenges when adopting technology such as development of communication capabilities and ability to train the staff on the use of technology. As technology has to be learnt, companies used to manual processes may face huge resistance from employee who may be unwilling to adopt to the new technbolo0gy as this would demand hard work through learning. Another contemporary challenges that company can face with the use of technology is that they must know how to actual use the data obtained with the use of technolo9gy to develop right insights and not take decisions without proper analysis w3hich can both be time consuming and complicated to understand(Vaughan, 2000). Certain business issues that are specifically faced by the organizations while amalgamation technology with their systems are concerns of business ethics, reputation management., and an understanding of practical implications of using technology on business operations. Knowledge management BI Knowledge management drives innovation which is why most modern organizations re adopting it. The consequence of not having a proper knowledge management in place can leads to failures in big projects generating a vast pool of knowledge and data. Knowledge management practice simplifies the presentation of data in a way such that the company is able to achieve its business objectives through the use of the knowledge. Some of the benefits that company can achieve with this include minimization of mistakes and improvement in the service qualityInvalid source specified.. Knowledge Management generates intellectual capital for an organization and the value is realized with ability to share the information with employees, partners and customers. This knowledge is stored in databases of an organization which can be connected to a platform that can be assessed by these stakeholders to obtain knowledge about products, processes and so on. Knowledge has to be gathered organized and presented in such a manner that it is understandable to employees such that they can take appropriate managerial decisions based on it. However, in case of Zucchero, the storage of knowledge is lacking in the systems and employees have to depend on their own memories to understand processes and figures such that they can take appropriate decisions. This can be very challenging when they have to depend on a large amount of data and have to do things manually(Jelenic, 2011). With knowledge management adopted by Zucchero Pty. Ltd., the information that about sales and other operations would get captured and the management, customers and staff of the organization would be able to make use of it through a single seamless platform. This knowledge can be used for making critical decisions for the organization. Further, use of business intelligence would allow company to make use of the collected data through the knowledge management solution to develop insights that would be useful for making decisions about operations that are critical to the organization. How this can be done is presented through an example in the next section in which a sample data of the company is taken and mathematical modeling is used to derive information that can be used by Zucchero Pty. Ltd., for making important operational decision. Here, Microsoft Excel is being used as a BI tool but there are many other tools available in market that can be used by the organization for business intelligence gathering. Forecasts Data forecasts are done using Excel as BI tool which can help managers take appropriate operational decisions for Zucchero. As the forecast data about overheads above suggest that with every subsequent year, overheads are increasing along with the per unit cost price. In such case, if the per unit selling price also increases appropriately to be able to sustain profits, the respective product categories could be considered a profitable while for those leading to losses, the managers would have to take appropriate decisions on whether to continue with the production of the category or increase selling price of the product in the market. To understand if the variations in costs and selling prices are helping products sustain profits or incur losses, the variation in volume sales may be explored as increased sales would mean balancing of costs and attaining profits while decrease in sales can lead to losses for the organization. In the current case, Icing Sugar is giving most profits with growth of 41% in one year. Other products that are helping company see growth in revenues include Raw Sugar, White Sugar, White Sugar cubes, and Golden syrup. On the other side, demand for Brown Sugar, Caster Sugar and Treacle is reducing which suggests that company should not spend much of its revenues on these products. When calculating revenues for each product categories for three subsequent years, further insights are revealed. Revenues gained from most products including Raw Sugar, White Sugar, Icing Sugar, White Sugar Cubes, and Golden syrup are on increase but revenues obtained from Brown Sugar and Teacle have significantly reduced again suggesting loss of sales. To explore if only revenues are decreasing or the trend is lower also on the side of profits, it would be appropriate to calculate net profit and net loss data which is plotted in the chart below: The Chart clearly shows rise in profits for Raw Sugar, White Sugar, Icing Sugar, and White sugar cubes but reduction of profits in case of Brown Sugar and Treacle. The net loss in case of Treacle is small but Brown sugar is showing significant losses in revenues. As the demand for brown sugar is reducing as well as it is incurring loss of revenues, the management may take a decision to stop producing brown sugar. However, the product still has a significant amount of consumers and thus, it may not be discontinued completely. However, the company can increase the price to balance the gains. Consumers who are in need of brown sugar may still make purchases at higher costs and the revenues would be improved. However, this has a risk of losing on some of the consumers who may shift to the competition selling the product at lower price. However, the figures of losses analyzed in the graph above would still justify the move. BI can also help company take decisions on marketing such that most marketing efforts are put in for products selling most in the market. Thus, a comparison of average, minimum and maximum selling products would be helpful here. It has been found from the analysis that Treacle has been providing minimum profits among all categories consistently during three years while Caster Sugar has been profiting on an average level throughout. Brown sugar sees a continuous increase in losses. The contribution of Treacle to overall sales is so less that a decision can be taken to discontinue the product altogether. Porters Five Forces Five prominent market forces are being defined by Michael porter that can affect the strategic positioning and decisions of an organization and these include bargaining power of buyers and suppliers, competitive rivalry, threat from new entrants and substitutes. For the purpose of this study, the bargaining power of suppliers would be explored in this section as they are the key to working of this organization. The decisions they take on pricing directly affect the final; pricing that the company can offer to its customers. The bargaining power of suppliers in case of sugar products is moderate as the suppliers are mainly farmers who have to sell their products to companies like Zucchero with only aim to get best pricing. They can decide on which company to sell based on the pricing they get and thus, they have some bargaining power. However, at the same time, there are limited organizations with huge requirements of sugar as raw material and those are able to pay suppliers well and thus, they have only moderate power of bargaining with these organizations. Improvement in Competitive Advantage Use of Social Media Social Media has been used by almost all organizations promoting their brand in the digital space. Social media is used to engage consumers with a brand and create awareness about it by reaching out to more and more people through the digital spread. Use of SEO makes the website of a company searchable in the online space such that people using social media can search and get to the brand when they search for a specific category sold by the company, Social media platform can build upon more traffic to this website thereby allowing people to share the pages over the media with others. Voice of consumers can spread fast over social media. Privacy Security Privacy Concerns When considering knowledge management, the data about the company and its operations including its customers is stored which may also include some personal identifiable information which if leaked can be of dangerous consequences. When the company uses a knowledge management system connected to a portal, the company has to ensure that the personal information is not revealed besides the need for login and personal exploration by the users. When the company would have the personal data of customers, besides having the threat of leakage, the company itself can misuse the data through employees. Thus, code of ethics should be followed by organization such that customers can trust them on their privacy. Data SecuritySecurity Threats The main business of Zucchero is sale of sugar products. If the company has to adopt technology for promoting their business online through establishing digital presence, the company may be faced with some data related security threats. The data about the company sales, revenues, profits, customers, sales, etc. can get leaked to the world. IF the information about the business and marketing strategies get leaked out to competitors while it is being shared online, it can lead to business losses. Thus, data systems have to be prevented from such losses and thefts thereby stopping unauthorized access. Infection through malware or other techniques used by cyber criminals can lead to disclosure of such data to public or to those who can misuse the data. Several other types of attacks have been observed to be happening on knowledge databases such as Distributed Denial of Services that can cause convenience to internal people and the customers of the organization. Most of the customers of the organization are other business customers who can get affected in turn. A prominent threat that can affect Zucchero is zero-day-attack as the company would be starting to adopt technology solutions and develop knowledge management and BI tools for fresh use. With less experience, there are chances that attackers can identify vulnerabilities and bugs to compromise network and machines of the organization. Recommendations for improving security To prevent systems from getting attacked, the company must take licenses for installation of antivirus in all connected machines. Additionally, the company must follow certain internal security policies and implement firewalls to prevent critical data from getting outside the intranet of office. A strong security architecture would further be require to prevent machines from getting affected by major attacks like Bots. Email security is another measure that company may take in order to prevent data from getting leaked or lost in the transit while employees share the same over emailInvalid source specified. Supply Chain Management System When coordinating physical logistics processes, information is generated and the same is shared with the people across supply chain to be able to coordinate physical movement of goods. When the raw materials are received, converted to final products and transferred to customers, the information flows through different departments. This information is accessed and shared by all parties into the supply chain. For instance, when a customer orders a product, the information reaches sales people who in turn transfer the same to manufacturing department who propel the same to suppliers for procurement and thereafter the actual operational processes begin. Throughout the journey of product in the system, customer would like to know when the goods are ready, when are they shipped and when they would be reaching them. All this information would be generated at each stage of the supply chain and can be made available to customers through an appropriate supply chain management system in place. A supply chain system of today is thus, more of a management of information than actual physical movement of goods. The information that is captured, generated and maintained for the use of customers, employees and management for decision making about supply chain networks can be huge and can be about shortages, plant capacity, inventory, sourcing, manufacturing, distribution plans, schedules, forecasts, shipments, deliveries, and so on. Each of this information can be used by management for taking decisions at various stages. For instance, if it is found through the information that there is a shortage of highest selling product which in this case is Raw sugar, the management would take a decision of replenishment through fresh purchases in case the demand increases. In the same way, if the company realizes that the demand for certain product is expected to be low in near future, the procurement orders may be reduced for the case. Supply chain systems are established using technology that can help organization in management of inventory, transportation, procurement, material handling, order processing, customer service, production planning, sales forecasting and so on(Zigiaris, 2000). Conclusions Recommendations This report was constructed with an aim to understand the business processes and challenges of a real organization and make recommendations on potential for improvement through the sue technology in the organization. The chosen organization was a food organization called Zucchero Pty. Ltd. that was producing sugar based products. It was found that the major challenge before the company was maintenance of the information generated in day to day operations that was maintained only manually and thus, top management could not keep track of the same. It was found that if the company had a knowledge management system along with BI capabilities in place then many of the business decisions could be simplified. The same was illustrated using an example through the use of Excel for BI. The study also suggested use of supply chain management technology for simplification of their processes and to capture information that would be used for BI for bettering supply chain capabilities of Zucchero P ty. Ltd. References Jelenic, D. (2011). THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS WITH EMPHASIS ON THE BALANCED SCORECARD LEARNING AND GROWTH PERSPECTIVE. Management Knowledge and learning International Conference (pp. 33-43). Serbia : ISSBS. Vaughan, P. J. (2000). System Implementation Success Factors; Its not just the Technology . University of Colorado. Zigiaris, S. (2000). Supply Chain: dissemination of innovation and knowledge management techniques. INNOREGIO.

A Startling Fact about Life Changing Experience Essay Topics Uncovered

A Startling Fact about Life Changing Experience Essay Topics Uncovered The Upside to Life Changing Experience Essay Topics Advantages of Work Life Balance in your Professional Life Work-life balance is not merely helpful to your private life, additionally, it has incredible impacts on your professional life. Walls has triumphed over the conditions of her life. Introduction It's said that entering the high school is the initial step in real life in any student's life. It's indeed a fact that high school life has become the most unforgettable expertise in our teenage life. Students lead busy lives and frequently forget about an approaching deadline. However much experience you've got in writing essays, it is not uncommon that people make some mistakes when writing lengthy ones. Sooner or later, don't neglect to proofread your paper in order to get know your mistakes if you've committed any. Moreover, there's no negative force in the universe from which we have to protect ourselves! 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Details of Life Changing Experience Essay Topics Don't forget that a really great essay about life is going to have a good deal of your own thinking and experience. You are going to want to map out precisely how you would like your work to flow, to be certain that it is reasonable. Even in the event you don't have a great deal of experience in any particula r field, you can discover wonderful stories that might be a foundation for you narrative essays. When writing essays, the very first step is to think of a great topic to write about. Many facets of my life have influenced my nature and the manner I live. Likewise, personality traits can directly affect the way the life experience is dealt with so there's often an immediate correlation between both. Whereas children frequently have zero control of their environment, adults are ready to alter what is around them at any particular time. Somebody gets essential wisdom and experience there. The Hidden Truth About Life Changing Experience Essay Topics An essential part of lifelong learning is the totally free exchange of thoughts and viewpoints among older learners. Analyze your findings Once you've gathered information, you can begin to analyze that which you have found. The info offered in the essay ought to be given in such a way that it may assist the reader understand more regarding the topic being presented. Attempt to prevent mentioning irrelevant for the topic info. If you're allowed to select from several topics for your essay, consider choosing the o ne that you know. Brainstorming ideas Your essay should be unique. Writing an essay is a typical task given to each student in college. Always think about the ways how your narrative essay can be useful. The most frequently encountered paper writing service that the vast majority of our clients require is essay writing. 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Extended Essay World War 2 Topics

Extended Essay World War 2 TopicsThe great thing about a lot of the extended essay writing is that it is very popular in many countries. The essay in this case is used to discuss about the great victories that the country achieved during the world war 2 era. There are various issues that need to be discussed such as those of culture, morals and so on.These topics can be really interesting and can give rise to an entire literature which can be called as literary essays. The literary essay can be seen as a means of entertaining those who are engaged in writing about topics that were thought to be an intellectual field. The literary essay is normally written in the form of a dialogue where it has to be presented in a way that would appeal to the readers.The extended essay world war 2 topics have to deal with the situation during the war. The essays must be able to be of great interest to the readers. They must be able to reflect on what the entire war was all about.In the world war one, Italy was the one that got the biggest share of the war. At first they were the ones who supported the allies and later they were the ones who were against the allies. Many other countries have faced challenges during this war, which also had to be discussed. In fact, even the western countries faced problems.Writers do not have a particular genre, which they write in. They are free to write about anything that is related to the world war. As long as the essay is interesting, there is no problem as long as the ideas are well expressed.There are many writers who have taken their freedom and the best part of it is that the world war essay can be written within a few hours. The reason for this is because they have to get down to business as soon as possible. Once they have done the writing, they have to go through them so that they are clear and polished.There are some countries which have not been associated with any war for a long time but they still wrote a great essay world war 2 topics which was completely related to the actual situation. They use this as a chance to talk about something which is relevant to the issues. This is an example of creativity.The essay world war two topics should be written with such haste. Once the essay is done, it should be reviewed before it is submitted to the examiner. It should be a review to see whether it contains any errors or is still relevant. The idea here is to make sure that the essay will be worth reading by people.

Teaching Key Vocabulary with Essay Writing Found in Research Help!

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How to Write a Sample Essay For Toefl PDF?

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The office of sheriff in Texas was created by the Essays - Education

The office of sheriff in Texas was created by the 1836 Texas Constitution, t here are 254 counties in Texas and each county has a sheriff (Sheriff-History) . Th e Hays County Sheriff Office is one of such law enforcement organization that is located in Hays County TX , between Austin and San Antonio . It provides county wide law enforcement and other services for Hays County. Hays County consist of urban centers like San Marcos (county seat), Wimberley, Dripping Springs, Buda, Kyl e, Driftwood and other small urban centers. T he chief law enforcement person is Sheriff Gary Cutler, who has been the Sheriff since 2010. Interning at the Hays County Sheriff 's Office applying different roles of an intern and the use of different techn ologies employed in the fight against crime . The job of the men and women in the criminal justice field i s filled with intrigue and hardship; being an intern in the criminal justice field can provide a glimpse of what these men and women endure on a daily basi s in order to better prepare for what to expect in a criminal justice career. Role as an Intern According to Criminal Justice Internship : Theory into Practice by Gordon McBride , the role of an intern changes through experimental stage s. These stages include initial entry, probationary period and termination. Each intern's experience can be broken down by these three stages through examples of their experience. T he initial entry stage includes orientation , where interns received instruction s on how to act, the dress code, brief information on what to expe ct and a tour of the facilities they will spend the next 120 hours learning and growing. There were some expectations after arriving at the Hay s C ounty Sheriff's Offic e . Interns with mili tary experience will come to expect that law enforcement is not too different from the military. Th ere are many aspects of the military and law enforcement that are the same. For example, most police departments adopt the same rank structure, physical fitness requirements and discipline as used in the military . So arriving at least 20 minutes early is vital for a solid first impression. I n the military , service members would be reprimanded for being late or just being "on time" . So it is important that whether an inter n or just an applicant going to a job interview , arriving early is the best way to make a good first impression . One can never predict unforeseen circumstances that may impede an early arrival. Mrs. Galvan is the training academy coordinator and the supervisor for the Hays County Sheriff Internship Program. She is very nice and went to great lengths to ensure that interns interning for her organization receive the best treatment and the most rewarding experience possible. After a brief conversation , she handed out the ID card s and then led the way on a tour of the campus . The tour of the jail compound consisted of a visit to all the departments with in the jail, like the m ailroom and booking. The adjacent bui lding housed the patrol unit , 911 dispatchers and the criminal investigation division. The social culture of the Sheriff's office was relaxing because the employees of each department greeted Mrs. Galvan very warmly . At the Hays County Sheriff Office , interns begin their internship with at least 2 weeks in the jail. The j ail is a very in depth and complex operation so it requires m ultiple days to fully grasp . This is where the probationary stage begi n s . Corporal Shafer is the supervisor of the sup port department of the jail. Her and her crew supports the correctional officers by providing services like laundry, property, mail, kitchen services and visitation. The i nmate property room is where all the innate properties are stored while they are incarcerated and returned to them upon release. Inmate laundry is where the laundry for the whole jail is washed. The mail room is where the mail is screened, sorted and distributed. Family of inmates can even send emails

The Program on Smoking Cessation for Employees

The Program on Smoking Cessation for Employees Introduction There are a number of programs on smoking cessation design for employees that are premised on various data analysis techniques. Despite the diversity of data collection methods, all the programs are aimed at improving employees’ lifestyles and creating new incentives for increasing employees’ productivity and performance.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Program on Smoking Cessation for Employees specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Moreover, there is a growing trend in evaluating the practices and improving the strategies on creating a program. The systematic evaluation can allow managers to solve problems and help community-based organizations to improve the quality of services and working conditions. Despite the veritable understanding of evaluation of program evaluation, there is a need for creating a comprehensive framework. Therefore, analysis of other frameworks for programs on smokin g cessation will help to integrate successful data collection and analysis methods that can contribute to the quality of program outcomes. The evaluation process implies investigating worth, significance, and merits of efforts made during the program implementation. Invention of new methods and approaches has been developed to embrace the multiple aspects of the program, define its strengths and weaknesses, and outline significance and main elements of the data collection process. All these procedures will provide a better understanding of how the program can be improved and modified to reach greater objectives and goals. Finally, the evaluation process has great importance for governmental organizations that assess the usefulness and validity of the programs for future implementation in other settings. The program under analysis focuses on a smoking cessation opportunity for employees. It involved 70 participants who plan to quit smoking; 11 participants managed to quit smoking, wh ich pointed to the success of the program and its future potential.Advertising Looking for essay on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Certainly, though the ratio of the participants who had quit smoking was not significant, there were still methods and alternative researches that could help understand how to improve this program and increase the number of employees who were ready to give up smoking. Main Discussion Integrating Data Collection Methods into the Program Evaluation Plan With regard to the above-presented background, the program involved only 70 participants and it was based on a local hospital in Ohio. The success of the program is evident because it was primarily based on observation process, as well as on the results of employees’ interviewing in a natural setting. Nevertheless, the framework within which the program was implemented did not allow the researchers to create great e ffect on the participants. In this respect, it is purposeful to assess related programs on smoking cessation to define which methods could be integrated into data collection methods. The studies by Shershneva et al. (2011) have introduced a spectrum of approaches and methods that allowed the researchers to reach over 43,000 clinicians (p. 29). What is more important is that the program involved collation of comparison data among different program components to define the degree of its effectiveness. Such an approach could be applied to define how employees of Ohio hospital can enhance their incentives to take part in programs and increase number of those who are ready to quit smoking. In addition, the assessment of employees performance through implementation of 4 levels of evaluation, including participation, satisfaction, learning, and performance also contributes to better outcomes through engagement of the 5 A’s algorithm. Specifically, the algorithm involves, â€Å"Ask about tobacco use, advise to quit, Assess readiness to quit, Assist with cognitive/behavioral strategies, assist with medication, Assist with relapse prevention, and Arrange for follow up† (Shershneva et al., 2011, p. 29).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Program on Smoking Cessation for Employees specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Such an extensive overview of aspects and factors influencing employees’ behavior and perception would allow Ohio hospital program to expand its techniques and improve the quality of goals achievement. In order to accomplish the program purpose and establish a multi-strategic approach to change, implementing knowledge management and skills enhancement is crucial. Skills and experiences are vital to reach the objectives in the most effective way, as well as increase the usefulness of the training program. In this respect, Labib et al. (2012) have conducted an evaluation of th e training program to define how background knowledge and skills influence the outcomes (p. 52). Similar to Shershneva et al. (2011), the scholars have employed the 5 A’s algorithm for implementing the program objectives (p. 30). These studies have significant implications for integrating medical education in smoking cessation programs. Training healthcare personnel, therefore, is an essential condition for increasing employees’ awareness of the negative effects of smoking. The data collection methods implemented by Volpp et al. (2009) are premised on randomized sampling of employees working for a multinational company to gain data about programs on smoking cessation, as well as on the effectiveness of these programs in terms of financial incentives (p. 699). Analyzing and selecting the participants gathered across the United States was carried out through surveys that encouraged the employees to give information about their smoking habits and their willingness to part icipate in the program. In contrast to these approaches, the Ohio program on smoking cessation did not involve financial incentives for employees; rather it aimed to check for employees’ awareness of the necessity to quit smoking that is not linked to financial rewards. Nevertheless, implementing surveys could also be beneficial for the program accomplishment.Advertising Looking for essay on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Strengths and Weaknesses of Data Collection Sources Assessment the strengths and weaknesses of the data collection sources creates a new insight into possible methods and approaches to conducting programs and developing efficient plans for health promotion. Due to the fact that the main purpose of the program on smoking cessation consisted in improving healthy lifestyles of their employees, the focus on cost reduction and insurance seems to be irrelevant. In order to define the potential strengths and weakness of the program, specific emphasis should be placed on the target participants involved into data analysis, the framework for interpreting data, which method is the safest for collecting data and information processing, and understanding the appropriate value of those who provide information. In addition, the methods for data collection should also be discussed in terms of their influence on the target populations. Finally, the availability of resources for collecting informati on should also be considered, including financial perspective, personnel, and level of skills and experiences. The research studies presented by Volpp et al. (2009) also reveal beneficial approaches to data collection methods that could be employed into the program at issue (p. 700). In particular, the scholars apply to the stratification process of employees in accordance with place of work, level of smoking dependence, and income. Such an approach has not been implemented into the program at Ohio hospital, although it could have provided a better picture of results and findings and that of the level of employees’ readiness to quit smoking. However, the program has the stratification of employees in accordance with age, which provides the strong side of the programs in terms of its applicability to the employees regardless of age. The main strength of the program lies in the availability of the cost-benefit analysis of its outcomes. In particular, the Ohio program on smoking cessation ensures that the more employees are invited into the program, the more moneys will be saved through the insurance cost reduction. What is more important is that the program seeks to increase employees’ productivity through considering financial incentives. Contrary to the benefits of the studies conducted by Volpp et al. (2009), there is strong necessity to introduce alternative programs that do not imply money as the main incentive for successful outcomes (p. 701). Hence, presence of financial incentive is the tangible weakness of the program because there should be other effective ways for raising employees’ awareness and reducing their dependence on smoking. In particular, Labib et al. (2012) argue that focus on training of health care professionals has a positive impact on improved smoking cessation outcomes because it encourages employees’ readiness to participate in the programs and improve the overall quality of services (p. 53). Knowledge dist ribution, therefore, is considered to be vital for triggering cessation interventions. According to Labib et al. (2012), â€Å"one of the major barriers in starting a smoking cession campaign or practice is that many health professionals do not have the skills and knowledge of how to intervene† (p. 56). In this respect, the program could have been premised on other incentives than monetary support. Another weakness of the program lies in insufficient number of employees taking part in the program. The sample does not provide perspectives for utilizing this program in future development of health care environment. Limited number of participants contributes to the selection biases. Similar problems are provided in the studies by Labib et al. (2012) that have confirmed the restriction imposed on the program implementation (p. 57). The value of appropriate sample, however, is presented in the program evaluations provided by Shershneva et al. (2012, p. 31) and Volpp et al. (2009, p. 700) who offered a much greater sample. Threats to the Data Collection Process While implementing a qualitative approach to the data collection process, there might be data biases related to the nature of observation of participants in natural environments, as well as to the depth and objectivity of conducted interviews. For example, such aspects as gender, language patterns, age, and ethnicity can affect the data analysis due to the focus of the study. Data collector bias is connected with the unconscious information distortion while collecting data. For instance, the interviewers can resort to different styles in posing questions to the respondents and such a bias is a decisive factor in case interviewing is the primary source for analysis. With regard to the program, the researchers have introduced age characteristics only and failed to consider other aspects of data collection process. Despite the fact that it does not influence greatly the program outcomes, it can negatively contribute to the accuracy and internal validity of the research. Apart from threats to internal validity, there are also hazards to the external validity as well. This is of particular concern to the selection effects that can either be delineated or replicated. Setting effects are also taken into consideration while estimating the employees’ influence on the surrounding setting and vice versa. Due to the cultural and social diversity, the outcomes of the program can also be different. Finally, the employees might perceive the scope of the program differently due to a multi-strategic approach chosen to conduct a program. As a result, some terms and definitions can be understood in a different way. Similar concerns are connected to the employees’ perception of the explanation provided by the researchers. For instance, some of participants might think that the main incentive of smoking cessation is insurance reduction rather than improvement of the health care environm ent. In fact, the reduced costs constitute only the cause of the program purposes. Data Analysis Procedures Due to the fact that the program is primarily based on the statistical evaluation of the results, the data analysis procedures should involve review of related programs on smoking cessation – a qualitative approach to estimating the practical significance of the data. This type of inductive qualitative analysis will provide a wider explanation for the program value in terms of employees’ behavior and other qualitative characteristics. In particular, the literature surveys will guide the researchers through different data analysis approaches that have been used in related programs on smoking cessation. Depending on methodology and research design, the literature review can also assist researchers in developing an efficient framework for data processing. Quantitative analysis is also essential for estimating the cost-benefit analysis of the program, as it is presen ted in the case. In this respect, the program focuses on the statistic evaluation of the age of participants who plan to quit smoking. With regard to the presented case, the chosen data analysis procedures should involve a mixed method of evaluation to insurance that both observations and statistical data, including age, gender, and other attributes, have been carefully considered. Such a decision is enhanced by the evidence received from related studies on smoking cessation programs. In particular, although not all research studies resort to the analysis of literature reviews, all of them apply to statistical analysis of the received data (Volpp et al., 2009, p. 700; Labib et al., 2012, p. 56; Shershneva et al., 2011, p. 32). Specific attention requires the studies by Chan and Heaney (1997), in which the focus is on quantitative research (p. 352). In fact, statistics allows the scholars to define which of the mentioned characteristics are the most important for the program outcome (Boulmetis Dutwin, 2005, p. 123). Qualitative aspects are revealed through presenting the conceptual framework under which various notions and definitions are presented. The conceptual framework is of high important for the program under evaluation as well, because it will allow the research to provide a detailed objective explanation of the research goals, procedures, and definitions to the participants. Practical and Statistical Significance of Data The importance of incentives included into the program implementation process is important both for the researchers and for the focus group (Posavac, 2010, p. 15). In this respect, the studies by Volpp et al. (2009) proves that the presence of financial incentives can significantly foster the employees’ engagement into the program accomplishment as compared to those participants who are triggered only by the awareness of the potential benefits of smoking cessation (p. 705). Within the context of this research, it can be stated that the program under analysis could have integrated this aspect to promote greater results. Statistical significance of the data involved into the process demonstrates how numerical data allows the program managers to conclude how the project influences employees’ awareness of smoking cessation initiative. Essential Elements of Program Evaluation Report A Program Evaluation Report should be based on the analysis of five important components that include philosophy and goals, needs assessment (analysis of the participants), program planning procedures, implementation, and the evaluation itself (Boulmetis Dutwin, 2005, p. 156). To begin with, the program has clearly stated its goals and objectives that are confined to creating incentives for employees to quit smoking, promoting healthy lifestyles, and developing a multi-strategic approach to change. Reduction of insurance costs is another important outcome of the program on smoking cessation. Needs assessment focuses on the target audience involved into the program. In this respect, the case shows that the participants are not limited to age, gender, and ethnicity, which imposes certain biases on the results. As per program planning procedures, the case study does not provide sufficient explanation for the stages of employees’ participation. Instead, it refers to the outcomes and benefits of the program accomplishment. The program implementation focus has sufficient presentation. In addition, the program outcomes have proved that its goals and objectives directly relate to the expected results. Finally, the evaluation process itself has managed to address such important issues, as data collection methods and all possible biases related to them. Such an assessment allows the program managers to predict possible threats and risks in future. Research Utilization Processes The results of the program demonstrate that employees’ engagement into the evaluation process creates cost benefits for t he hospital, irrespective of the number of employees who quit smoking. Irrespective of age of individuals who quit, the program is worth utilizing for future practices. Despite the win-win situation, the program could be advanced to provide potential benefits for employees’ welfare and future promotion of healthy lifestyles. Hence, the program both benefits the hospital and the employees. Despite the fact that the hospital employing the participants was the focus of the program, it still has a positive effect on the employees’ physical and mental health. In this respect, the utilization processes could be used for two major purposes – to develop alternative incentives for employees to quit smoking and introduce cost benefits for the hospital. Such perspectives of the utilization processes can convince stakeholders to employ the program in their settings. Conclusion The analysis of the program on smoking cessation held at Ohio hospital has outlined to major advan tages – development of incentives for employees to promote healthy lifestyles and improve their performance, as well as reduction of insurance costs that the hospital should cover for sustaining employees’ health. The program has also been evaluated concerning the data collection methods, strengths and weakness of data analysis, potential threats to implementing data collection resources, and possible utilization processes that can be used to guide practices in health care. All these aspects have revealed advantages and disadvantages of the program. In particular, the analysis of literature related to the program has provided the necessity to select a mixed method for estimating the participants and the outcomes. Involvement of qualitative and quantitative data is indispensible for enhancing practical and statistical significance of the data. The main weakness of the program lies in irrelevant approach chosen for selecting the population sample. References Boulmetis, J ., Dutwin, P. (2005). The ABCs of Evaluation: Timeless Techniques for Program and Project Managers. US: John Wiley and Sons. Chan, W., Heaney, C. A. (1997). Employee Stress Levels and the Intention to Participate in a Worksite Smoking Cessation Program. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 20(4), 351-364. Labib, N., Radwan, G., Salama, R., Horeesh, N. (2012). Evaluation of Knowledge Change of Internal Medicine Residents Following a Training Program in Smoking Cessation. Pakistan Journal of Medical Research, 51(2), 52-58. Posavac, E. J. (2010). Program Evaluation: Methods and Case Studies. US: Pearson. Shershneva, M., Larrison, C., Robertson, S., and Speight, M. (2011). Evaluation of a collaborative program on smoking cessation: Translating outcomes framework into practice. Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, 31, 28-36. Volpp, K. G., Troxel, A. B., Pauly, M. V., Glick, H. A., Puig, A., Asch, D. A., Audrain-McGovern, J. (2009). A Randomized, Controlled Trial of F inancial Incentives for Smoking Cessation. New England Journal of Medicine, 360(7), 699-709.