Investigate the financial condition of a health services organization (HSO) of your choosing. In preparation for the Week 3 Assignment, you are expected to submit a Microsoft Word document explicitly addressing the following:
Utilizing the Strayer Library or other credible sources, you are to identify an HSO. Once identified, in a paragraph, share the name of the organization and provide a high-level overview of what kind of organization it is (e.g., home health, hospice, tertiary care facility, long-term care, subacute care, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, etc.) and the segments of the population that it supports.
You will want to be sure there is plenty of information available about the organization, particularly financial information. This means you’ll likely need to choose a large organization that is required to make financials public.
One of the best ways to understand a company’s financial health is to review its financial statements, including the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement. These statements provide information about the company’s assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses, and cash flow. You can typically find these statements in a company’s annual report if non-profit.
For publicly traded HSOs, regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) can provide additional information about the company’s financial performance, management, and risks. These filings include the annual report, 10-K, 10-Q, and proxy statement
To gain a better understanding of the financial condition of your chosen health services organization, its budget preparation process, and fiscal planning strategies, you will develop five questions that you will answer as part of your investigation. Ideally, these would be questions you would ask a management official responsible for the financial planning of the organization. It is important that you provide a brief explanation for why you chose to include each of the 5 questions.
Think about questions that will give you greater insight into what the company looks for when preparing their annual budget, their fiscal planning strategies, and how they monitor their financial condition throughout the year and make necessary adjustments.
Optional: You may also choose to use these questions to interview a financial manager within a healthcare organization. The interview would then be the source of your information instead of the research.
Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell.
In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.
God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.
Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.
To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.
References
Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.
Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.
Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.
Organization Overview: Johnson & Johnson is a multinational healthcare conglomerate that operates in three primary segments: Consumer Health, Pharmaceuticals, and Medical Devices. It provides a wide range of healthcare products and services, including over-the-counter medications, prescription drugs, surgical equipment, and contact lenses. The company serves a diverse population, ranging from individuals to healthcare professionals and institutions.
Financial Information: As a publicly traded company, Johnson & Johnson is required to file financial statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These statements, including the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement, can be found in the company’s annual report (Form 10-K).
Organization Overview: Johnson & Johnson is a multinational healthcare conglomerate that operates in three primary segments: Consumer Health, Pharmaceuticals, and Medical Devices. It provides a wide range of healthcare products and services, including over-the-counter medications, prescription drugs, surgical equipment, and contact lenses. The company serves a diverse population, ranging from individuals to healthcare professionals and institutions.
Financial Information: As a publicly traded company, Johnson & Johnson is required to file financial statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These statements, including the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement, can be found in the company’s annual report (Form 10-K).
Five Research Questions:
- Budget Preparation Process: How does Johnson & Johnson develop its annual budget, and what factors are considered when allocating resources to different business segments?
- Rationale: Understanding the budget preparation process can provide insights into the company’s priorities and strategic direction.
- Fiscal Planning Strategies: What are Johnson & Johnson’s key fiscal planning strategies for managing risk, ensuring financial sustainability, and optimizing capital allocation?
- Rationale: Examining the company’s fiscal planning strategies can help assess its financial health and resilience.
- Financial Monitoring and Adjustments: How does Johnson & Johnson monitor its financial performance throughout the year, and what corrective actions are taken when necessary to address financial challenges?
- Rationale: Understanding the company’s financial monitoring and adjustment processes can provide insights into its ability to adapt to changing market conditions.
- Impact of COVID-19: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected Johnson & Johnson’s financial performance, and what strategies has the company implemented to mitigate the impact?
- Rationale: The pandemic has significantly impacted the healthcare industry, and examining Johnson & Johnson’s response can provide valuable lessons for other organizations.
- Mergers and Acquisitions: What is Johnson & Johnson’s approach to mergers and acquisitions, and how have these transactions impacted the company’s financial performance and strategic direction?
- Rationale: Understanding the company’s M&A strategy can provide insights into its growth plans and risk management approach.
By answering these questions, I will be able to gain a comprehensive understanding of Johnson & Johnson’s financial condition, budget preparation process, and fiscal planning strategies.
