Introduction
Liberty Travel is a renowned travel and vacation service retailer with over 2,000 employees operating across several strategic positions in the United States. The company’s loyal customer base has entered new markets in unexplored locations, making it a well-known trade and leisure services provider (Kerzner, 2022). Liberty Travel plans a North American delivery service to expand its reach and boost returns. Success requires careful planning. This essay emphasizes the importance of considering market research data when conducting make-or-buy analysis during procurement, using various tools and techniques to ensure task execution’s success, and recognizing international factors—such as cultural differences or linguistic barriers—as part of relevantan’s risk reduction measures. In order to achieve long-term success with the Liberty Travel Project, it is crucial to carefully consider the many small details that make up the overall plan.
Statement of Work (SOW)
Liberty Travel aims to be a top parcel courier. The $33 million initiative will help the corporation expand across North America. The organization plans fast and affordable domestic and international courier services. More operational clients indicate project success. The firm will lease and utilize existing facilities. As the project proceeds, more individuals will be hired to join the project team. Customers want faster parcel and courier services, which have grown in popularity. Liberty Travel will debut the service in the U.S. before expanding to Canada and adjacent countries. While there are projected expenses and threats, the advantages of launching the service will reinforce Liberty Travel’s competitiveness. The company will need to venture into interrelated business sectors to widen its scope of services.
Stakeholder Analysis
The courier service project involves both internal and external stakeholders, with the internal stakeholders being the business owners and service team, while the external stakeholders include customers, courier service personnel, and officials who oversee policies and laws. The project’s success depends on the involvement of all stakeholders, with varying levels of interest depending on their authority. Managing workers while ensuring customers remain satisfied to achieve project success is crucial.
Procurement Documents
Procurement management is an essential component of project management, involving planning, executing, and supervising the acquisition of necessary goods and services. Liberty Travel may use market research and source selection documents to identify possible suppliers, evaluate their capabilities, and determine competitive pricing (Munyimi, 2019). A make-or-buy analysis determines whether a project should produce its required goods or services or instead buy them. Compliance with established principles is crucial to secure fairness in execution and maximal investment returns. Procurement management is an essential component of project management, involving planning, executing, and supervising the acquisition of necessary goods and services. Liberty Travel may use market research and source selection documents to identify possible suppliers, evaluate their capabilities, and determine competitive pricing. A make-or-buy analysis determines whether a project should produce its required goods or services or instead buy them (Munyimi, 2019). The procurement process for Liberty Travel’s parcel courier service will require three mandatory documents: Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quotation (RFQ), and Request for Information (RFI). The RFP will communicate the company’s needs to prospective suppliers, while the RFQ will be used to request supplier quotes. The RFI will be used to gather more information about the suppliers for shortlisting and bidding purposes. Other documents that will be used include requests for bids, purchase order documents, contracts, and trader proposals.
Traceability Matrix
The Traceability Matrix for Liberty Travel will adopt bi-directional traceability throughout the project’s lifecycle by utilizing forward and backward matrices to manage the project effectively. The matrix will ensure that all necessities are catered for, and every step undertaken can be easily traced, containing accurate and authentic details regarding the project’s accomplishment. The company will need to trace the program for validating and tracking orders, designing login details specific to workers, and creating a tracking system to communicate with delivery vehicles and airlines transporting the parcels. I.T. project managers ensure software updates, while workers and project managers can access the software and tracing programs (Kerzner, 2022). Workers can use the tracking software for parcel conveyance.
Project Management Plan
The project team will work collaboratively to ensure that all cities in selected zones have accessible parcel stores. The project will last two years and cost $33 million, headed by three project managers overseeing different zones of the U.S. and neighboring nations. Liberty Travel will use emails, online conferences, and instant messaging to ensure traceability and communication. A risk management team will detect and handle risk factors throughout the project. The WBS involves constructing stores, placing orders for package transportation, setting up communication systems, recruiting skilled workers, and designing a collaborative website (Eby, 2018). The project team estimates that completing all project deliverables will cost $33 million. The team will ensure that expenses for each project deliverable are within budget and that materials are procured from vendors who offer expedient bids and can supply materials without disrupting the project timeline. The project team will eliminate defects to reduce quality expenses, plan effectively, train workers, and frequently review project quality. The total project budget is $33 million, with a 10% management reserve of $3 million and a 3% contingency reserve of $900,000. Expenses will primarily include capital resources.
Control Procurements
The control procurements process involves overseeing procurement relationships, ensuring contract fulfillment, and implementing necessary changes to achieve project objectives (Munyimi, 2019). For Liberty Travel, this includes regulating contract alterations, managing payment systems, and administering claims. The payment system should track modifications made to agreements while adjusting compensation suitably, while the administration of claims should guarantee prompt and fair resolution. Maintaining positive relationships with suppliers and conducting regular audits to ensure compliance is also essential. Effective monitoring and compliance can be achieved through payment modes, claims, regulation policies, and contract adaptation provisions (Munyimi, 2019).
Risk Management Strategies
Effective communication with online meetings and constant access to project details is crucial. Risk management involves identifying, evaluating, and reacting to threats, using approaches such as brainstorming, sensitivity evaluation, probability analysis, and the Delphi technique. An RBS is created to classify risks, factors, and issues. Business, managerial, technical, and project management are the risk categories, with related elements that can affect project success. Competitors are an example of business risk that could adversely affect the project (Zhou & Wang, 2022). Liberty Travel will use a risk register to identify and manage potential threats impacting the project’s objectives. The project team will evaluate different choices using a decision-making tree to assess risks and determine the likelihood of success. Positive threats will be exploited to their full potential, while harmful threats will be mitigated or avoided altogether. The risk management team may share or bypass risks with third parties to ensure the project’s success and safeguard against potential impacts.
International Project Considerations
The international project considerations for Liberty Travel are many and varied. There are language barriers, cultural differences, legal regulations, and risk management practices to consider. When executing projects outside the United States, the company must also consider differences in time zones, work hours, and local holidays (Müller et al., 2019). Visa, tax, and employment rules also affect procurement management. Liberty Travel must create a clear human resources and international strategy to handle these concerns. This plan should cover information transmission, cultural diversity education, legal compliance, and risk avoidance. Finally, Liberty Travel should investigate worldwide benchmarks and best practices to ensure consistent and effective project execution.
References
Eby, K. (2018, October 12). All About Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) | Smartsheet. Smartsheet. https://www.smartsheet.com/getting-started-work-breakdown-structures-wbs
Kerzner, H. (2022). Innovation Project Management: Methods, Case Studies, and Tools for Managing Innovation Projects | Wiley. Wiley.com. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Innovation+Project+Management+Methods+Case+Studies+and+Tools+for+Managing+Innovation+Projects-p-9781119587293
Müller, R., Drouin, N., & Sankaran, S. (2019). Modeling Organizational Project Management. Project Management Journal, 50(4), 499–513. https://doi.org/10.1177/8756972819847876
Munyimi, T. F. (2019). The role of procurement quality controls in procurement performance in the energy sector in Zimbabwe. Cogent Engineering, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311916.2019.1631563
Project Management Institute. (2022). Amazon.com: A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Seventh Edition and The Standard for Project Management (ENGLISH): 9781628256642: Project Management Institute: Books. Amazon.com. https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Project-Management-Knowledge-PMBOK/dp/1628256648
Zhou, Z., & Wang, X. (2022). Discussions on Project Management and Its Success: A Comprehensive Theoretical Review. Scientific and Social Research, 4(2), 30–35. https://doi.org/10.26689/ssr.v4i2.3638
Business Entity Structures Sample Paper
According to the SBA (SBA, 2022), there are four major business entities: corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies (LLCs), and sole proprietorships. The objectives, degree of risk tolerance, and intended tax treatment of the company owner should all be considered when choosing a business organization form since each structure has benefits and drawbacks of its own. The LLC structure is what I would choose. LLCs provide the benefits of pass-through taxes, flexible management structures, and limited liability protection for their owners. The fact that both people and other companies may hold LLCs makes them a popular option for a variety of company kinds.
Sole Proprietorship
A firm owned and run by only one person is known as a single proprietorship. The owner personally owes all liabilities and debts of the firm. In other words, if the company cannot pay its debts, the owner’s assets may be utilized (SBA, 2022). The owner of a sole proprietorship has unlimited responsibility for the company, but they are simple to set up and need no paperwork.
Partnership
A partnership might involve two or more people agreeing to manage a business together. In a general partnership, each partner shares equally in the profits and losses, but in a limited partnership, at least one member assumes full responsibility while the others do not (Small Business Administration, 2022). A partnership can only function with an agreement spelling out each partner’s responsibilities. Each partner is equally liable for the company’s obligations in a partnership.
Limited Liability Company (LLC)
By combining a partnership’s tax benefits with a corporation’s limited liability protections, limited liability companies (LLCs) are a hybrid company structure. In a limited liability company (LLC), the owners do not personally guarantee the company’s obligations. In certain cases, the LLC’s ownership and management structure may differ from usual (Small Business Administration, 2022). Although an operating agreement and articles of incorporation are the only legal documents required to form an LLC, continuing fees are connected with keeping the company operational.
Corporation
A company exists independently from its shareholders legally. A company may have endless shareholders if it issues shares to do so. Shareholders are the owners of a corporation, and they are protected from personal responsibility for the debts and liabilities of the business. A corporation’s board of directors, executives, and shareholders make up a management structure more involved than other company forms (SBA, 2022). Profits earned by corporations are taxed twice: once at the corporate level and again at the individual level when paid out as dividends.
Steps to Form
The procedures necessary to establish a legal business entity differ from one state to the next and from one entity type to another. Formal documentation for establishing a sole proprietorship or partnership is minimal, but files for an LLC or corporation are more involved. When establishing a limited liability company (LLC), the necessary steps include submitting articles of organization with the state and drafting an operating agreement (Stowers, 2022). When establishing a corporation, the necessary steps include filing articles of incorporation with the state, drafting bylaws, and issuing shares.
Personal Liability for Owners
The structure of a business might have an impact on the owners’ liability. A lone proprietor or partner in a partnership assumes individual liability for the business’s debts and obligations. The proprietors of a corporation or limited liability company (LLC) are not personally liable for the debts or obligations of the firm.
Taxation
How a company is taxed depends on its structure. Profits and losses from sole proprietorships and partnerships are passed through to the individual tax returns of the business owner. Double taxation applies to C-corporations, although LLCs and S-corporations are not (Stowers, 2022).
Sole Proprietorship
Advantages:
Establishing a single proprietorship is the cheapest and most straightforward option for starting a company. The business’s owner has unrestricted discretion over all operational matters. The owner’s personal tax return includes profits and losses from the company (SBA, 2022). The company’s structure may be altered or dissolved at the owner’s whim and fancy.
Disadvantages:
The owner’s assets are on the line since they are liable for the company’s debts and commitments. Since sole owners cannot sell shares or stakes in their businesses, it might be difficult to attract investors (Stowers, 2022). Due to the inherent challenges of growing and managing a firm with just one owner, most sole proprietorships are necessarily small in scale.
Partnership
Advantages:
Unlike corporations, partnerships may be formed with little effort and expense. Partners can operate the firm more efficiently by combining their strengths. Compared to corporations, partnerships provide more autonomy in decision-making and organizational structure (SBA, 2022). Pass-through taxes, in which the partnership’s gains and losses are passed through to the partners’ tax returns, is another perk of the partnership structure.
Disadvantages:
All partners share equally in the responsibility for paying any debts or other obligations incurred by the partnership. When company partners disagree, it might disrupt daily operations. Since partnership ownership is not divisible, it might be hard to recruit investors and raise money. Also like sole proprietorships, partnerships may end when one of the partners dies or quits the business.
LLC
Advantages:
Because LLC owners have limited liability, their private assets are often safe from legal action. Profits and losses from an LLC are passed through to the owners, who then declare them on their individual tax returns. An LLC’s management and ownership structure may be altered to suit its members’ needs.
Disadvantages:
The initial costs of forming an LLC might be higher than those of a single proprietorship or partnership. There is a higher administrative and recordkeeping burden with an LLC. Due to the inability to issue shares or sell ownership stakes, limited liability companies (LLCs) may have trouble attracting investors (SBA, 2022). In the event that a member of an LLC dies or quits the business, the firm will likely dissolve.
Corporation
Advantages:
Shareholders’ personal assets are often shielded from corporate debts because to the limited liability protection provided by corporations. Stock and interest sales are common methods for corporations to obtain money (SBA, 2022). Since corporations have their own distinct legal existence, they may persist even if their stockholders do.
Disadvantages:
Compared to other organizations, corporations are more costly to establish and manage. In a corporation, taxes are paid twice: once on the company’s income and once on the dividends paid to shareholders. Corporations may be subject to higher regulatory obligations and governmental authorities’ scrutiny. Owners of shares have a limited amount of influence over how the firm operates and makes decisions.
References
U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). (2022). Choose a business structure. Choose a Business Structure. https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/launch-your-business/choose-business-structure
Stowers, J. (2022, August 4). How to Choose the Best Legal Structure for Your Business. Business News Daily. https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/8163-choose-legal-business-structure.html
Cancer Care And Access To Health Equity Essay Example
Introduction
Non-communicable diseases such as cancer contribute to increased morbidity and mortality rates. Globally, the mortality rates associated with cancer account for many disease-related deaths. Therefore, there is a need for interventions and strategies to address healthcare inequities and ensure equitable access to health for all populations. Currently, several advancements in cancer screening and treatment increase cancer survival rates. However, many cancer patients lack access to treatments due to disparities in healthcare, such as socioeconomic status and race (Chavarri-Guerra et al., 2019). Moreover, cancer treatment is an expensive procedure that incurs extreme financial distress on patients and caregivers, limiting access to health (dos-Santos-Silva et al., 2022). Nevertheless, with the help of patient navigators, cancer patients can access health care options, from preventive measures to treatment options. It is imperative to eradicate health inequities that hinder access to health to reduce cancer mortality rates.
Main Body
Cancer warrants specialized treatment and care to limit the disease’s spread and ensure the patient recovers. Therefore, cancer treatment impacts individuals’ socioeconomic status in several ways (Tabuchi, 2022). More so, cancer treatment advancements are expensive but vital for patient health. Despite universal health care programs that offer equal access to care, there is still unequal economic distribution among patients, which shapes their treatment options and economic impact. For instance, individuals from high-income areas can afford advanced cancer treatments such as targeted therapy and photodynamic therapy. In contrast, low and middle-income individuals lack the opportunities to afford such advanced healthcare.
Cancer patients in low and middle-income societies record increased financial distress and poverty levels. The cancer treatment methods are expensive and leave individuals without money or savings after treatment ends. Thus, there are increased mortality rates in low and middle-income areas because people cannot afford cancer treatment. However, high-income individuals do not feel the financial strain of cancer treatment and can afford various treatment options. For instance, Filipe et al. (2021) note that high socioeconomic status increases breast cancer patients’ chances of breast-conserving therapy, while individuals from low-income states resort to standard surgeries and mastectomies.
In addition, an individual’s socioeconomic status impacts cancer treatment, and cancer treatment affects socioeconomic status. Cancer patients and caregivers use high out-of-pocket funds for medical fees such as surgery and radiotherapy (Alzehr et al., 2022). Cancer treatment strips families of life savings and other funds, leaving them impoverished. Moreover, cancer patients cannot work, which lowers household income and wealth. For example, when one family member- the patient- does not contribute to household income, the money gained from the working family member is used to cater to the family’s needs. The funds may not be enough to cater to family and patient needs leading to debts and subsequent poverty.
Disparities exist in healthcare systems, hindering patients’ access to care. Social, environmental, and economic factors contribute to disparities in care, disadvantaging several individuals (National Cancer Institute, 2022). Disparities in the cancer care system include socioeconomic status, race, rural residence, and resource disparity. Resource disparity is one of the significant barriers to health care in healthcare organizations. Healthcare organizations lack trained and skilled personnel to treat cancer (dos-Santos-Silva et al., 2022). Moreover, due to few trained surgeons, oncologists, and radiologists dealing with cancer, human resource gaps lead to an increased workload, leaving room for errors. Therefore, when few professionals treat cancer, patients cannot receive standard care.
Race and ethnic differences are significant disparities in cancer care and treatment. For instance, African Americans, Asians, and Aboriginal people record higher mortality rates than their white counterparts due to diagnosis and treatment delays. Tong et al. (2022) argue that there are lower cancer screening rates in African American and Asian people, contributing to high death rates. The delayed screening may be due to stigma, racism, and discrimination because of racial differences. Similarly, socioeconomic disparities encompass education, income, and health insurance factors, which impact access to health care. Individuals with low education and low-income areas are at higher risk of cancer death because they lack access to health, health insurance, and knowledge on cancer treatment. On the other hand, high-income persons are aware of cancer symptoms and conduct regular screening to detect cancer. For instance, women of high socioeconomic status record a high incidence of breast cancer due to frequent mammography screening (Tabuchi, 2020). Early cancer detection increases the probability of survival, disadvantaging individuals from low socioeconomic status.
Patient navigation is a significant component of supportive cancer care (Carter et al., 2018). Navigators communicate with patients, aid them in accessing health insurance and facilitate access to health care. Given the numerous disparities that hinder access to care, patient navigators play a critical role in supporting patients to overcome barriers and disparities in service (Budda et al., 2022). Moreover, they educate patients, identify individual needs, identify barriers to healthcare, and advocate for screening. Therefore, there is a need for a model that can aid patient navigation through the health care system.
The Health Care Access Barriers Model outlines a framework organization and analysis of modifiable healthcare access barriers related to healthcare disparities. The financial, cognitive, and structural factors make up the modifiable healthcare access barriers (George et al., 2018) that hinder individual access to healthcare. Healthcare providers can measure and modify these barriers to health care. For instance, lack of screening, treatment delays, and poor treatment contribute to outcomes such as increased mortality rates. Moreover, healthcare barriers help understand health disparities; for example, it aids in understanding why an individual would fail to undergo screening, which is essential for their health. Patient navigators can identify patient needs and motivations to help them access health care and treatment. Therefore, it is important to understand the modifiable barriers to developing interventions and strategies that aid patient access to the health care system.
Health equity refers to eradicating differences in healthcare access among people, highlighted by equal and fair opportunities to access health (Lambert et al., 2023). Healthcare providers and organizations strive to eliminate health inequities by developing programs and policies that allow equal access to health. However, cancer disparities persist despite developing and implementing strategies to address healthcare inequities (Patel et al., 2020). This shows that there are possibilities of future challenges in health equity among cancer patients that require immediate consideration.
Future challenges in health equity in cancer care include difficulty promoting health equity, challenges reducing cancer care disparities, structural barriers, and social and structural factors contributing to health inequity. Structural causes of health inequity include systemic racism and health policies (Lambert et al., 2023), which hinders health equity. Social determinants include discrimination and poverty, making it hard for patients to access equal health care. Similarly, structural barriers refer to gaps in policies, programs, and interventions to address healthcare inequity. This prompts the need for research, development, and implementation of policies and systems that guarantee healthcare equity.
Conclusion
Cancers such as breast, lung, and colon cancer contribute significantly to disease burden and increased death rates. Cancer patients face several barriers to healthcare, such as financial issues; they incur debts and economic issues that make it hard to access treatment. Increasing access to health care guarantees higher cancer survival rates and decreased mortality rates. Moreover, patient navigators play a critical role in cancer patients’ access to care. They guide patients through healthcare systems and help them overcome barriers to healthcare. Therefore, developing policies, plans, and programs that ensure equitable access to healthcare helps reduce mortality rates and financial burdens on cancer patients.
References
Alzehr, A., Hulme, C., Spencer, A., & Morgan-Trimmer, S. (2022). The economic impact of cancer diagnosis to individuals and their families: a systematic review. Supportive Care in Cancer, 30(8), 6385-6404.
Budde, H., Williams, G. A., Scarpetti, G., Kroezen, M., & Maier, C. B. (2022). What are patient navigators, and how can they improve the integration of care?
Carter, N., Valaitis, R. K., Lam, A., Feather, J., Nicholl, J., & Cleghorn, L. (2018). Navigation delivery models and roles of navigators in primary care: a scoping literature review. BMC health services research, pp. 18, 1–13.
Chavarri‐Guerra, Y., Soto‐Perez‐de‐Celis, E., Ramos‐López, W., San Miguel de Majors, S. L., Sanchez‐Gonzalez, J., Ahumada‐Tamayo, S., … & Goss, P. E. (2019). Patient navigation to enhance access to care for underserved patients with a suspicion or diagnosis of cancer. The oncologist, 24(9), 1195-1200.
dos-Santos-Silva, I., Gupta, S., Orem, J., & Shulman, L. N. (2022). Global disparities in access to cancer care. Communications medicine, 2(1), 31.
Filipe, M. D., Siesling, S., Vriens, M. R., van Diest, P., & Witkamp, A. J. (2021). The association of socioeconomic status on treatment strategy in patients with stage I and II breast cancer in the Netherlands. Breast cancer research and treatment, 189(2), 541-550.
George, S., Daniels, K., & Fioratou, E. (2018). A qualitative study into the perceived barriers to accessing healthcare among a vulnerable population involved with a community center in Romania. International journal for equity in health, 17(1), 1-13.
Lambert, L. K., Horrill, T. C., Beck, S. M., Bourgeois, A., Browne, A. J., Cheng, S., … & Thorne, S. (2023). Health and healthcare equity within the Canadian cancer care sector: a rapid scoping review. International Journal for Equity in Health, 22(1), 1–13.
National Cancer Institute. (2022, March 28). Cancer Disparities. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/disparities
Patel, M. I., Lopez, A. M., Blackstock, W., Reeder-Hayes, K., Moushey, A., Phillips, J., & Tap, W. (2020). Cancer disparities and health equity: A policy statement from the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 38(29), 3439.
Tabuchi, T. (2020). Cancer and socioeconomic status. Social Determinants of Health in Non-communicable Diseases: Case Studies from Japan, pp. 31–40.
Tong, M., Hill, L., & Artiga, S. (2022). Racial disparities in cancer outcomes, screening, and treatment.