(3b, 5a) Healthcare costs have increased dramatically over the past decade. Our per-person cost of health care is greater than anywhere else in the world! There are a few reasons why health care costs have increased so much, including an aging population, expensive new technologies, and third party financing.

Our third party payment system (i.e. private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid) substantially reduces out of pocket expenses to those who seek medical services. This increases demand. Doctors may also be contributing to our huge increases in healthcare spending because they get paid by the number of services they render.

In this week’s Discussion area, examine the following:

• Should the U.S. government provide “universal healthcare” for all citizens? If so, how much additional tax are you personally willing to pay in order to pay for this program?

 

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You have been hired by XYZ as a consultant. They are currently facing a union organizing campaign. You have been asked to write a briefing memo for senior management. Your memo must address:

a. What are the basic differences, from the employer’s viewpoint, in operating in a union-free environment vs. a unionized environment?

b. What are management representatives permitted to say and do during the campaign? What, if any, actions or statements are prohibited?

 

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Students examine the long-run determinants of both the level and the growth rate of real GDP per person and the factors that determine the productivity of workers and what governments might do to improve the productivity of their citizens. Students will learn how saving and investment are coordinated by the loanable funds market and will see the effects of taxes and government deficits on saving, investment, the accumulation of capital, and ultimately, the growth rate of output. Students will be introduced to tools that people use when they participate in financial markets. Students will see how people compare different sums of money at different points in time, how they manage risk, and how these concepts combine to help determine the value of a financial asset, such as a share of stock. Students will be introduced to the labor market and how economists measure the performance of the labor market using unemployment statistics. Students will address a number of sources of unemployment and some policies that the government might use to lower certain types of unemployment.

Assignment Steps

Resources: National Bureau of Economic Research

Scenario: The organization’s strategic plan calls for an aggressive growth plan, requiring investment in facilities and equipment, growth in productivity, and labor over the next five years. It is your team’s task to determine where, outside the United States, your organization should locate its new manufacturing plant.

Write a 1,050-word report recommending an off-shore country and support your choice with the following data:

• The factors determining the country’s productivity
• How the country’s policies influence its productivity growth
• How the country’s financial system is related to key macroeconomic variables
• How your organization can reduce the risk they would face in relocating
• The current and projected unemployment over the next five years

Cite a minimum of three peer-reviewed sources not including your textbook.

Format the assignment consistent with APA guidelines.

 

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Assignment Overview

Effective communication depends largely on understanding your audience. Your audience’s expectations, characteristics, knowledge level, and information needs determine the content you choose to present, the depth of detail you provide, the overall tone or attitude of your writing, and even the purpose you establish for your communication. As in the Bayer aspirin examples in Chapter 3 of your textbook (Laura J. Gurak & John M. Lannon, Strategies for Technical Communication in the Workplace, 3rd edition, Pearson – 2016) shows. Information on the same medicine can be presented quite differently depending on the audiences’ knowledge levels. That is; the one designed for a general audience uses straightforward, non-technical language, and colorful visuals to make the drug information more comprehensible, and the desk reference designed for health care professionals uses highly technical language, complex statistics, and less visuals to establish a professional ethos of the drug.

In addition to knowing the importance of analyzing audience, you should also be able to distinguish a document’s primary and secondary audiences. Primary audiences are the major intended readers for your document. In the workplace, your primary audience is the person or persons who will understand and act on your message. Secondary audiences are the other potential readers of your document. These are people who may receive a copy of your document. Most workplace communication has a combination of primary and secondary audiences. For example, people attended your presentation (primary audience) might later share information about your presentation and your handouts with people who didn’t attend (secondary audience).

Assignment Guidelines

For this assignment, choose two Websites that present information on the same subject. However, the two Websites should be aimed at different primary audiences. One of them should be designed for a non-technical audience (such as WebMD, http://www.webmd.com/) and the other for a specialized/professional audience (such as the National Institutes of Health, http://www.nih.gov/). Write a memo to your instructor analyzing both Websites and their audiences (primary and secondary) and explain the persuasive strategies each Website uses to serve its primary audience’s needs. Synthesize your analysis to the following questions:

1. What primary audiences does the two Websites seem to aim for? What kind of knowledge do the audiences seem to possess about the subject matter? What are their age(s), genders, education level, occupations, and cultural background? (Just because a Website is available on the Internet does not mean it is designed for everyone. You need to think carefully and find out the specific primary audience that the Websites aim to serve.)
2. Who are the secondary audiences of these Websites? Who else might use information found on this site?
3. What persuasive strategies do the Websites employ to appeal to their primary audiences? Do they use claims? Do they make an effort to connect with the audience? (See pages 58-63 of your textbook for more on persuasion)
4. To what extent does the Websites use technical language? Do you see any examples of jargon? List examples.
5. How long is the average sentence in each Website? How long is the average paragraph? Does this tell you anything about the audience?
6. How formal/informal are their respective style? Why?
7. Is there advertising? If so, what do the ads tell you about the audience?
8. Does the Websites use tables, graphs, or figures? How different are they on two Websites? What do they accomplish?

**** Requirements

• Keep in mind that your purpose is to contrast the two Websites, not merely to describe them.

• Do not simply type the questions followed by your answers. Like all professional memos, this one should summarize and organize the information into coherent and well-written narratives.

Format

• Use a business memo format. You can use a memo template in Word.

• Minimum word requirement: 850 words

• Complete in MS Word.

• Make sure to include the Websites’ URLs in your memo.

Evaluation Rubrics

• Completeness (10 pts): The analysis addresses all questions for analysis.

• Organization (10 pts): The analysis is well organized. It has a clear structure with anintroduction, a body, and a conclusion.

• Comparison and Contrast (30 pts): Your memo includes a clear analysis of the two web sites, including comparison and contrast of the sites themselves and their target audiences. It does not just describe.

• Support (30 pts): The analysis is concrete in that it uses examples from the Websites to support major points. The use of examples is selective and to-the-point. The examples are included in order to illustrate the analysis point and not to fill the page with words. There are no long direct quotations (defined as more than 3 lines) from the analyzed Websites. The

student explains how the examples relate back to the analysis.

• Format (10 pts): The memo is formatted correctly following the specified guidelines. APA citation style is used when needed.

• Grammar and Mechanics (10 pts): Spelling, grammar, and punctuation

are correct. Minimum word requirement is met.

 

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