All About the Economics of Interest

All About the Economics of Interest What is Interest?: Interest, as defined by economists, is the income earned by the lending of a sum of money. Often the amount of money earned is given as a percentage of the sum of money lent - this percentage is known as the interest rate. More formally, the Glossary of Economics Terms defines the interest rate as the yearly price charged by a lender to a borrower in order for the borrower to obtain a loan. This is usually expressed as a percentage of the total amount loaned. Interest Types and Types of Interest Rates: Not all types of loans earn the same rate of interest. Ceteris paribus (all else being equal), loans of longer duration and loans with more risk (that is, loans that are less likely to be paid off) are associated with higher interest rates. The article Whats the Difference Between all the Interest Rates in the Newspaper? discusses the different variety of interest rates. What Determines the Interest Rate?: We can think of the interest rate as being a price - the price to borrow a sum of money for a year. Like almost all other prices in our economy, it is determined by the twin forces of supply and demand. Here supply refers to the supply of loanable funds in an economy, and demand is the demand for loans. Central banks, such as the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada can influence the supply of loanable funds in a country by increasing or decreasing the supply of money. To learn more about the money supply see: Why does money have value? and Why Dont Prices Decline During A Recession? Interest Rates That Are Adjusted for Inflation: When determining whether or not to loan money, one needs to consider the fact that prices go up over time - what costs $10 today may cost $11 tomorrow. If you loan at a 5% interest rate, but prices rise 10% you will have less purchasing power by making the loan. This phenomenon is discussed in Calculating and Understanding Real Interest Rates. Interest Rates - How Low Can They Go?: In all likelihood we will never see a negative nominal (non-inflation adjusted) rate of interest, though in 2009 the idea of negative interest rates became popular as a possible way to stimulate the economy - see Why Not Negative Interest Rates?. These would be difficult to implement in practice. Even an interest rate of exactly zero would cause problems, as discussed in the article What Happens if Interest Rates Go To Zero?

Case Study on Apollo Hospitals Essays

Case Study on Apollo Hospitals Essays Case Study on Apollo Hospitals Essay Case Study on Apollo Hospitals Essay Apollo Background (evolution since inception) Analysis of Apollo’s internationalization strategy  © 2009 RedSeer Consulting Confidential and Proprietary Information. www. redseerconsulting. com. 2 Apollo Hospitals, started as the first corporate hospital of India, has grown remarkably 1 2 First super-specialty Hospital in India – Early 1980s y Liberalization and Growth – Late 1980s; early 1990s 3 4 Wide Scale Marketing Efforts Focus on middle and lower strata of Society 5 Global expansion and local penetration 1983 – Dr. Prathap Reddy established the first ever corporate hospital of t h it l f India – Faced skepticism in his campaign that superspecialty hospital was viable in India – Was able to attract doctors from the west 1986 – At the personal urging of Dr. Prathap Reddy, the then Prime th th P i Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi, liberalized the Hospital Sector. Apart from individual patient and doctor referrals, which served as primary d i marketing tools in the 1980s, Apollo exercised various print, audio and video marketing tools   1990s onwards Till early1990s, the services of Apollo were restricted to the elite strata of society lit t t f i t criticism that its services were not for the masses. Apollo has already expanded to more than 45 Hospitals and more th 250 d than Apollo Clinics in India and abroad Apollo faced Has centers of excellence in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ghana, Nepal, Nigeria, Dubai, Qatar, Kuwait, etc. Apollos business began to grow in the 1990s, with the deregulation of the Indian economy, which drastically cut the bureaucratic barriers to expansion and made it easier to import modern medical equipment The successful  coronary bypass operation of the Vice President of India in 1993 gave a major boost to the Apollo brand and visibility. Apollo reacted by expanding its services to the poor class Has set aside free beds for the poor Has set up a trust fund Is pioneering remote, satelliteremote satellite linked telemedicine across India Made an IPO and raised $4. 6 million in 1983 Further initiatives include South Africa, Tanzania, Mauritius, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Oman Bahrain Vietnam and Thailand, among others 3  © 2009 RedSeer Consulting Confidential and Proprietary Information. www. redseerconsulting. com. ..  and has become the single largest private hospital group in Asia 1983. India Chennai Apollo attracts more than 10 million patients in India itself, from over 55 countries 2006 India Chennai1 Hyderabad1 Delhi1 Kolkata1 Ahmadabad1 Others (4)1 Others (250) 2 Overseas SiL k 1 Sri Lanka Bangladesh2 The UAE2 Nepal2 Ghana2 Nigeria2 UK2 Saudi Arabia2 Leadership, Quality and Network The Apollo Hospitals Group is recognized as the Architect of p p p g Healthcare in India It is the largest corporate entity in healthcare in Asia and the third largest in the world It has won multiple accolades both inside and out of India. The Apollo p p Hospital in Chennai was the first Indian hospital to be awarded IS0 9002 and ISO 14001 Certifications and has been named â€Å"Best Private Sector Hospital in India† by The Week magazine Apollo manages over 6400 beds in different centers and is currently involved in either the management or ownership of 45 hospitals in India and abroad (1) Apollo Hospitals (2) Apollo Clinics Source: Literature Search, Company website  © 2009 RedSeer Consulting Confidential and Proprietary Information. www. redseerconsulting. com. 4. Apollo Hospitals Group – The Group has an integrated business model (‘Across the Healthcare Spectrum’) ( p ) Third Party Insurance Health and Lifestyle Clinics Pharmacy Retailing Tertiary Education Healthcare Services Strategy p Implementation Consulting HOSP info Clinical Trials System Telemedicine  © 2009 RedSeer Consulting Confidential and Proprietary Information. www. redseerconsulting. com. 5 Apollo Hospitals Group– Companies, besides Hospital Offers Business Process Outsourcing and IT solutions and services Apollo Health Street Incorporated. to global clientele Established in 1999 Largest retail pharmacy chain in India and has round-the-clock Apollo Pharmacies operations maintains a stock of prescription drugs, OTC medicines and other health and body-care related products Moving towards offering e-prescription based services Acts as a catalyst for students and is complementary to the existing MedVarsity Online Limited (MOL) education system over 1500 hours of medical content that is accessible to the medical community Established in 2000. Apollo Telemedicine Enterprises Limited E t i Li it d (ATEL) Allows the participant sites to collaborate with institutions in India and abroad and provides their clientele access to healthcare in areas not adequately served by the medical community Established in 1999 www. redseerconsulting. com. 6  © 2009 RedSeer Consulting Confidential and Proprietary Information. Apollo Hospitals Group– Companies, besides Hospital Its the largest Third Party Administrator (TPA) in Asia affiliated to Family Health Plan Limited (FHP) 1700 major Corporates and manages 4. 7 million lives Initiated ‘managed care’ to control rising medical costs, and to make medical facilities accessible for greater number of people Online Hospital Equipment Services Private Limited An electronic equipment exchange for medical devices and high end technology products used in the delivery of medical care It provides expert advice and services on technology, technocommercial issues Delivers family-focused primary healthcare services through Apollo Health Lifestyle Ltd (AHLL) branded Apollo clinics across India and its neighboring countries. Used information Technology to create an e-marketplace that Keimed. com Limited would service Apollo and others through an end-to-end, logistic p g g solutions partnerships for effective inventory management and control  © 2009 RedSeer Consulting Confidential and Proprietary Information. www. redseerconsulting. com. 7 AGENDA Apollo Background (evolution since inception) Analysis of Apollo’s internationalization strategy  © 2009 RedSeer Consulting Confidential and Proprietary Information. www. redseerconsulting. com. 8 Drivers for International Expansion Huge opportunity. Large unmet need for high quality medical care Greater ROI Large unmet need for high quality medical care – High unmet demand, specially amongst people who could not afford to travel abroad for treatment – Major procedures like open-heart surgery were unavailable – The medical treatment in many Asian and Gulf countries was conducted sloppily, using low quality equipment Greater ROI Certain foreign markets such as Gulf countries were lucrative as countries, they could generate higher ROI  © 2009 RedSeer Consulting Confidential and Proprietary Information. www. redseerconsulting. com. 9. Apollo’s used the OLI Paradigm effectively for International expansion Ownership: While the hospital group has maintained its ownership Ownership Advantages g it has found that in order to remain competitive and achieve scalability it needs to relinquish some of power and has adopted the franchising model in order to expand Internalization: Used an internal strategy of leadership, quality and leadership Internalization Advantages network. The chain has spun of subsidiaries under its main brand which include Apollo Clinics, Apollo Pharmacy etc. Apollo is continually characterized by change and innovation. Strategic inorganic and inorganic expansion in order to rapidly ramp up and help keep the company abreast with the dynamic business environment Location: Apollo has firmly reaffirmed in its strategy the belief that â€Å"more is sure†. The chain apart from setting up multiple hospitals and clinics in each city have now set it footprints in tier 1,2 cities alike. It has aimed to become a global brand by setting up centers in Dubai and other Asian countries and is continually looking to expand d Location Advantages  © 2009 RedSeer Consulting Confidential and Proprietary Information. www. redseerconsulting. com. 10 Apollo’s branding and demand generation initiatives focused on individuals, referring doctors and corporations General public and individuals. Awareness of high quality medical care and stress illness prevention Targeted mailings to promote Apollo clinics for various therapies such as diabetes, asthma, back pain, cancer and cardiology Introductory discounts to attract first time users Developing an internal system to respond to all consumer queries promptly Regular advertising in a variety of media to target urban  consumers Screening programs for illness such as cancer and tuberculosis in rural areas Local Doctors. Individual visits by Apollo sales force, to local doctors to build relationships Frequent mailing by Apollo to the doctors, to keep them informed about the hospitals services and procedures Track number of referrals made by individual doctors in a computerized database Inform and update referring doctors about the progress made with the patients Encourage Apollo doctors to participate in national Medical Association meetings to increase the Hospital’s familiarity to doctors across the nation. Corporations Corporate and government employers – Less price sensitive than those who paid out of pocket Target key decision makers such as top executives, human resource managers, trade union leaders and company medical advisors Mailings and individual visits Conduct programs at the companies to increase awareness and teach skills such as first aid  © 2009 RedSeer Consulting Confidential and Proprietary Information. www. redseerconsulting. com. 11 Apollo has taken various key Initiatives to increase international presence and operational efficiency Strategy Increased emphasis on Managed Hospitals Description Apollo built the first HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) in 1995, on the lines of HMOs in the USA. USA It provides all medical care as needed to its members in return for a fixed annual premium premium. The HMO combines two methods of expansion – building wholly owned facilities and licensing Increased emphasis on Managed Hospitals in order to reduce risk, cost and to increase geographical reach Licensing will help spread Apollo’s influence and recognition more quickly than building wholly owned facilities Improvement in efficiency and cost reduction Improvement in efficiency through better asset utilization of all existing facilities Cost Reduction through simplification of processes in the areas of materials, manpower and financing. Aggressive marketing to access overseas markets – measures such as publicizing successful Aggressive marketing Has established an AIC (Apollo Information Centre) network, establishing government-private partnership for patients to be sent by the respective Treatment Abroad Committees referring Treatment Committees, private patients through health insurance HMOs and TPAs and through local doctor referrals surgeries, awards, accreditations, alliances/ partnerships and accolades Backward Integration. There is increasing focus on providing wholesome health solutions, integrating to the Indian methods of wellness. Source: Literature Search  © 2009 RedSeer Consulting Confidential and Proprietary Information. www. redseerconsulting. com. 12 Apollo Hospitals has also taken other steps to expand its reach and penetration globally The only international training organization for the American Heart Association Technical International Affiliation and Accreditation support from Texas Heart Institute and Minneapolis Heart Institute for Cardiology and Cardio Thoracic surgery Exchange programs with hospitals in the U.  S. and Europe S Association with the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Heart Institute, USA Associate of the Johns Hopkins University, USA. International I t ti l Research Alliances Apollo Hospitals has entered into various alliances to broad base its value proposition St Cell Research and Th Stem C ll R h d Therapy – July 2005 Tied up with Histostem, part of the Delaware Corporation, for the development of a sustaining and mutually-beneficial relationship in Cord Blood Stem Cell Research and Therapy in India Medical and Business Collaborations ? July 2005 – Collaboration with Johns Hopkins to jointly develop state of the art concepts state-of-the-art concepts, technology, partnerships with clinical departments especially in Oncology, Neurosciences and Cardiology, nurse education, telemedicine, clinical research and medical education The local partnership approach has worked very well for Apollo p p pp y p Local Partnerships/ JVs – Local Partner Local partner usually deals with many local issues, besides providing capital, such as provision of land and dealing with local authorities, doctors and other interest parties Help in creating a sound clientele base – Apollo – Partial capital investment, and management Example A ll H E l Apollo Hospitals Group in a joint venture with it B it l G i j i t t ith its Bangladeshi partner STS l d hi t Holdings, Dhaka Source: Literature Search.  © 2009 RedSeer Consulting Confidential and Proprietary Information. www. redseerconsulting. com. 13 Apollo’s success can be attributed to its organization around ‘Five Stars’ to give patients advanced medical care possible at high quality Medical Personnel Hired top quality medical personnel – top caliber, renowned doctors and su geo s e e surgeons were a key to Apollo’s reputation a d se ce ey po o s eputat o and service The presence of top specialists garnered referrals from throughout the world. Apollo took every opportunity to publicize the accomplishments of its doctors Effective application of the latest medical technology has been a critical part of Apollo’s service and appeal to patients and consultant doctors Equipments have always been expensive but Apollo never compromised Medical Technology Employees Motivation – Employees have been the ‘middle star’ for Apollo, signifying their p y p , g y g central role in the success of the Hospital. Every individual is valued Culture – Strong sense of community Compensation – 10-20% higher than the industry average Every employee is expected to take responsibility for each patient’s every patient s need Every employee has to go through an induction training which emphasizes on grooming, etiquette and hygiene and stressed ‘Never forget to thank a patient’ Focus on a number of ways to serve patients better than the competition Patient health has always been the most important indicator of success and hence the hospital has always been focused on providing the best medical outcomes www.redseerconsulting. com. 14 Hospitality. Values Source: Literature Search, Harvard Business Review RedSeer Consulting Confidential and Proprietary Information.  © 2009 Apollo is looking to expand aggressively in other international markets Fiji Mauritius West Asia The Caribbean islands International Expansion E i Africa Mongolia Georgia Kazakhstan  © 2009 RedSeer Consulting Confidential and Proprietary Information. www. redseerconsulting. com. 15 Thank You! ([emailprotected] com) ( @ d lti )  © 2009 RedSeer Consulting Confidential and Proprietary Information. www. redseerconsulting. com. 16.

Why do teens use self-injury as a coping mechanism Research Paper

Why do teens use self-injury as a coping mechanism - Research Paper Example It is a fact that as the materialism and modernism are increasing at a fast face all over the globe, the probability of self-injury is also mounting at an astounding pace in the teens. Myriad critical reasons form the bedrock of the self-abusing tendency in teens and a complex and intricate meshwork of crude realities needs to be scrutinized for identifying the major factors. These factors should explain the reason why more and more teenagers are readily seeking refuge in self-injury mechanism. People are oblivious to many distressing realities concerning this issue and this paper is basically an effort to highlight the relation between problems faced by teenagers and increased tendency of self-abusing. Facts and discussion presented in this paper are basically meant to illuminate the reality of the claim that â€Å"more and more teenagers are using self-injury as a coping mechanism because they are unable to relate their aggravated problems to their parents, peers, or teachers beca use of poor self-esteems, low morals, and continuous feelings of guilt and shame.†... It is an unequivocal fact that depression is highly capable of paralyzing one’s thinking, self-assessing, and comprehending abilities. Therefore, one finds oneself eventually trapped in a tight spot where one can neither hear any voice from the outside world that is normal nor translate the inner rushed and psychic emotions that are abnormal into something that could be understood by the people surrounding that person. An increased number of teenagers are selecting self-harm as a way of emotional projection in the hope of coping with horribly bizarre feelings of numbness, shame, regret and for punishing themselves for certain past failures. 3. Inability of parents and teachers to help teenagers increases self-harm incidence: Self-harm is a horrendous and powerful reality that affects all teenagers irrespective of social, racial, ethnic, or economic differences. It is an issue of concern around the globe that what majorly makes most of the distressed and disappointed teenagers seek refuge in self-harm in spite of the presence of parents at homes and teachers at schools. Research suggests that teenagers engage in self-destructive behavior because they find it increasingly difficult to relate their gross problems with their parents as the depression intensifies. With ever-heightening materialistic approach, most of the parents are unable to share more time with their families due to which, teenagers find it impossible to verbally communicate the nature of their problems in the short time their parents spare them. Nearly same is the scenario experienced by such depressed and anguished teenagers at the schools, where owing to increased cultural diversity and number of students, teachers are unable to relate to all the students