An original contribution to the subject, this indispensable reference not only analyzes diverse worldwide health crises and their causes, but also provides insights into effective, pragmatic, and sustainable solutions.

Broad Range of Topics Illuminated in a Readable and Pertinent Manner

Encompassing theory and practice within three distinct sections, the text begins by examining social and cultural issues including HIV/AIDS and alcohol, with an emphasis on the role of collaborative networks in developing countries. The second part delves into economic considerations as they pertain to western healthcare and low-income countries. It spotlights healthcare in the United States, analyzes Iraq as a case study of the brain drain of health capital, and explores sustainable development as a tangible step toward famine elimination. The book concludes with a thorough analysis of legal and political ramifications, from the social and economic benefits of ending the war on drugs to a human rights approach to healthcare commercialization.

In contrast to much of the current literature, Homeland Security Handbook takes a sober, analytical look at the policies, results, and lessons learned in what is still a nascent field. This comprehensive reference considers the myriad factors, implications, and ramifications involved with the practical and effective protection of our safety.

Dividing contributions into five sections, this book—

• Provides an overview and historical perspective of the worldwide threat of terrorism and debates the necessity and danger of highly-centralized government response
• Explores specific threats to homeland security including the exploitation of our own vulnerabilities. It explores the insidious effect of psycho-terrorism and challenges the economic and military wisdom of launching armies against a nation-less and nebulous threat
• Offers practical, reasoned advice from practitioners and academic experts on planning, preparedness, prevention, and recovery
• Reviews supporting case studies from local and foreign governmental response to security and border control
• Quantifies the cost of homeland security in terms of funding, as well as the hardships incurred by rash and biased actions

Itprovidesa wealth of information in the form of processwalkthroughs. These include problem determination, requirements gathering,scope definition, risk assessment, compliance objectives, systemdesign and architecture, implementation and operational challenges, productand solution evaluation, communication plans, project managementchallenges, and determining Return on Investment (ROI). By using templates, tools, and samples that enhance your understanding of processes and solution sets, the author successfully emphasizes the core themes of the book. He also includes many diagrams throughout his discussion that aid in a clear communication of process and solution recommendations.

Divided into five parts, Insourcing Innovation: How to Achieve Competitive Excellence Using TRIZ demonstrates how the applicationof a consistent, systematic approach will render innovative problem solving a dependable reality rather than an enigmatic phenomenon.

Employing everyday language and supported by real world examples, the authors describe the fundamental concepts of the CMMI model, covering goals, practices, architecture, and definitions, and provide a structured approach for implementing the concepts of the CMMI into any organization. They discuss getting started in the process improvement effort, as well as how to continue on to high maturity. They walk you through the myriad of charts and graphs involved in statistical process control and offer practical recommendations. They also provide information on blending different process improvement initiatives into organizational programs (including agile development), and in this edition include more in-depth information.

The authors distill the knowledge gained in their combined 70 years of experience in project management, software engineering, systems engineering, metrics, quality assurance, appraisals, training, process improvement, and team building. Whether you are new to process improvement or an experienced professional, this volume will save you time wasted on false starts, false promises by marketers, and failed deadlines.

After introducing basic concepts and the historical roots of environment conscious manufacturing (ECM), the text covers algorithms and heuristics; design for disassembly; the environment, recycling, and remanufacturing; disassembly process planning and scheduling; environmental impact assessment models; lifecycle assessment; logistic aspects; product reuse and recovery; and sustainable products. The chapter contributors discuss the selection of economical products, collection centers, recovery facilities, production facilities, second-hand markets and new products, the optimal transportation of goods, and the evaluation of a marketing strategy and futurity of used products. The book ends with an overview of the barriers to ECM and explores how to use integrative structural modeling to investigate, analyze, and overcome them.

Taking a unique engineering approach, the Logistics Engineering Handbook provides comprehensive coverage of traditional methods and contemporary topics. The book delineates basic concepts and practices, provides a tutorial for common problems and solution techniques, and discusses current topics that define the state of the logistics market. It covers background information that defines engineering logistics, activities and implementation, transportation management, enabling technologies, and emerging trends. Each chapter includes either a brief case study overview of an industrially motivated problem or a tutorial using fabricated data designed to highlight important issues.

In the hopes of initiating critical thinking and encouraging a systems response to problems, the book provides pragmatic mechanisms to understand and address co-evolving systems problems and solutions. It uses several contemporary and complex societal issues, such as the Iraq war, the Google phenomenon, and the C2 Constellation, to illustrate the concepts, methods, and tools of a system as well as the meaning of togetherness in a system. The text also interweaves the meanings of complexity, paradox, and system to promote the improvement of difficult situations.

From the foreword by, Mike Antico, CTO, Wolters Kluwer, New York, USA

To be able to maximize your IT resources, as well as justify IT expenditures, CIO’s and other IT managers must be able to identify meaningful metrics and explain them in a way that management can understand.

The Business Value of IT: Managing Risks, Optimizing Performance, and Measuring Results solves this problem by providing practical answers to these four questions:

·         What does IT contribute to the business?

·         Why should we care about IT governance?

·         How can we best measure IT performance?

·         How do we mitigate the risks associated with change?

Learn how to maximize value in the short, medium, and long term

Leading consultants Michael D. Harris, David E. Herron, and Stasia Iwanicki share their real-world experiences to explain how you can demonstrate IT’s value, and potentially find extra value you didn’t know your IT organization creates. They also show how to apply risk management to process improvement and avoid unintended consequences of process improvement programs.

You will discover the processes necessary to prioritize your IT organization’s activities.

Identify alternative measurement frameworks.

Evaluate the best approaches to outsourcing.

Many IT organizations have successfully implemented the techniques described in this book and have proven—and even increased—their business value as a result. But why hasn’t your IT shop done so?

This work identifies the organizational and cultural obstacles you need to remove to get started on a metrics program, transform processes, change mindsets, and enhance IT performance and value. Providing unique and expert guidance, it—

•          Examines the important metrics for demonstrating value to business users

•          Focuses on techniques, methods, and processes for effectively implementing and using a metrics program

•          Looks closely at the key issues in software development and outsourcing

•          Demonstrates how to govern IT and how governance delivers real business value

The Handbook of Employee Benefits and Administration provides HR managers, consultants, and students and scholars in public administration with a comprehensive overview of this critical employee component. Respected experts in government and academia delve into an exploration of all major benefits, including retirement and healthcare, with a specific emphasis on growing concerns and trends within the public sector.

Satisfying the demand for authoritative research on HR Management, this essential resource provides analysis and insight on the most pressing areas of concerns.

Public employee benefits — examines ethical principles and economic considerations; compares federal employee benefits to those of the private sector

Health and retirement benefits — explores the changing environment of state and local government pensions and retirement planning in the US and UK; compares public and private sector wage and health benefit compensation

Financial management— considers growing challenges and the trend towards outsourcing

Contemporary benefits — discusses emerging opportunities, such as higher education and domestic partner benefits