Healthcare Policy in the US

Healthcare Policy in the US A healthcare policy is a set of rules and regulations that are put into effect to assist in the operation and the shape of health delivery. A healthcare policy covers a range of issue including public health, chronic illness and disability, long-term care, the financing of health care, preventive health care and mental health. There are two models of a healthcare which consist of the single payer and the social insurance system. In the single payer model, taxes are paid to the government which then pays healthcare providers such as nurses, doctors, and dentists to provide health services to individuals. In a social insurance system, citizens must purchase health insurance from non-profit insurance companies who will then use this health insurance to pay for services provided by healthcare providers. Healthcare is financed through private insurance companies which individuals can access through their employers and for the many Americans that are uninsured, there are three programs in which they can go through called Medicare, Medicaid, and The State Childrens Health Insurance Program. Medicare mainly deals with Americans who are over the age of 65 or disabled. Medicaid deals with people who are of low income or maybe classified as being poor. The State Childrens Health Insurance Program deals with people who are uninsured or low income children. There are so many aspects that can make up healthcare policy and there will be many more that will have an impact on healthcare in the future. Principles of US Health Policy There are many principal features of the United States health policy, but to name a few critical ones are: government as subsidiary to the private sector; fragmented, incremental, and piecemeal reform; pluralistic politics; the decentralized role of the states; and the impact of presidential leadership. These key characteristics of health policy work together or separately to pressure the progress and growth of health policy to benefit the country. The United Sates is one of the few countries in the world that does have a national health care system where their government pays the majority and is the leader in the health care organization. That is not the case in the US. The private sector is the leader and the government takes a back seat in the majority of the development of health policies. It is funny that Americans prefer to have as less involvement from the government as possible in relation to health care financing, delivery, and policy. Being a capital nation we are under the notion that the private sector can best organize and operate the production and consumption of goods and services in our country rather than the government. The US health care system is fragmented so much that it is almost impossible to track. Employers provide a voluntary insurance program to their employees that are paid for through payments from employees and employers together. Then you have the elderly you are covered through Social Security tax, government subsidized voluntary insurance for physician, supplementary, and prescription drug coverage. The indigent obtain health care through Medicaid which is funded through federal, state, and local revenues. American Indians, Congress, members of the armed forces, Veterans, and the executive branch have health insurance that is financed through the federal government directly. Any type of reform in America is incremental and piecemeal especially health care. For example Medicaid has had many much needed changes since its beginning in 1965. First, Congress changed the policy to have more children become eligible and in 1984 pregnant women and children in two parent families were granted health care if income restrictions were met. Policy changes are met with an array of complex political roadblocks that make much needed reform difficult to accomplish. Often it takes a revolutionary presidential election to overcome such barriers. As in any other policy debates in the US politics interest groups pluralism have an effect on the health policy. Powerful interest groups involved in health care politics adamantly resist any major change (Alford 1975). Each group deeply believes that their interests are the best and will fight very hard to protect their interest. For instance, American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization for American citizens over the age of 50. They are one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the United States with over 40 million members. Because they are such a well organized interest group they are very effective in influencing the decisions on policies that affect the seniors in this country. A decentralized role of the states has its pros and cons. The states provide financial support for the indigent and disabled through comprehensive health care programs. They also take on the additional responsibility of implementing the governments Medicaid and SCHIP programs for the elderly and children. On the flip side critics have suggested there is too much state control in regards to health policy changes. With each state having control over their own health policy decisions makes it extremely difficult to create a unified national health care policy. New presidents have always been the stepping stone for policy changes in America. Every president from Johnson to Bush has made an attempt to reform health care in some shape or form. The most recent major historical change has come with the election of President Obama. He has done what no other President has done, Health Care Reform. He is putting the control of peoples health care needs in their own hands. President Obamas presidential leadership impact will reform health care by making it more affordable, making insurance companies accountable for their actions, and provide coverage to all Americans. Development of legislative health policy Health policy is a set course of action undertaken by governments or health care organizations to obtain a desired health outcome (Cherry Trotter Betts, 2005). The health care system, including the public and private segment, with the political forces influence how systems are shaped by the health care policy-making processes. Public health policies start from local, state, or federal legislation, regulations which manage the terms of health care services. There are also institutional or business policies related to health care in addition to public policies. In the private sector the policies are developed by hospitals, accrediting organizations, or managed care organizations. Nurses, the largest number of health care providers are the most familiar with institutional policies including those developed and implemented by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. The decision making in the public or the private sector, the scope of the issue, and the nature of the policy all have an impact on the characteristics of a policy (Thurber,1996). A basic understanding of the policy process is the first step in having a strategy on how to encourage potential power and control important changes in the health care system. It is a process that uses multiple points of access in order to provide a vision that influences the decision makers involved at each stage. There are three stages of policy making: the formulation stage, the implementation and the evaluation stage. In the formulation stage, input of information, ideas, organizations, research from key people and interest groups are put together. The implementation stage involves disseminating the collected information and starting to put the policy into action. During this stage, the proposed policy is transformed into a plan of action (International Council of Nurses, 2005). Public policy endorsed b y local, state, or federal governmental identities is usually put into practice through the normal process that interprets the policy into a written set of rules issued by the government agency that is responsible for overseeing the policy. All concerned groups contribute in the development of health care policy by providing necessary information needed to decide on the implementation. Nurses are a very important part in the preparation and implementation of the policy. As the largest one group of health care providers, nurses can successfully sponsor health care policy project; they also have a distinctive point of view on health care policies and expertise to share with the responsible agents. Nurses are a strong voice and active advocated group that leads to positive change and build consensus on important issues. The policy process also includes an evaluation and modification phase when existing policies are revisited and may be amended or rewritten to adjust to changing circumstances (Longest, 2006). Most major public policies are subject to modifications in this process. Smaller changes in already existing policies are usually easier to be implemented than major changes as less clarification and efforts are required to be implemented. A good example would be when the Medicare Program has undergone since its enactment in 1965. Another change is when the U.S. Congress in 1998 added nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists as providers that can bill for Part B services they provide to Medicare beneficiaries. Congress has changed Medicare program many times after that and put a number of preventive services to the Medicare program. The most recent change was done to Medicare Part D and added a prescription drug program available for Medicare beneficiaries. Health care issue moves through the phases of the policy process, from a proposal to an actual program that can be enacted, implemented, and evaluated, the policy process is impacted by the preferences and influences of elected officials, other individuals, organizations, and special interest groups (Longest, 2006). Political interactions take place when people get involved in the process of making decisions, making compromises, and taking actions that determine who gets what in the health care system. Special interest groups and individuals with a stake in the fate of a health care policy use all kinds of influencing, communication, negotiation, conflict management, critical thinking, and problem solving skills in the political arena to obtain their desired outcome (Cherry Trotter Betts, 2005; Kalisch Kalisch, 1982). Health care system is continuously changing, nurses in many institutions are taking the advocacy role, working together to reflect nursings perception in health care policies and to be implemented. However, the legislative process needs to be well understood and policy advocates should be aware that they may run the risk of working with the wrong people or at the wrong time and therefore the policy may not be established. Well prepared professionals can always find ways to promote for a better health care system. For the more experienced professional there are many resources available to nurse policy advocates who want to learn more about how to make a difference in key health care issues using legislative and policy processes and working within the political arena. The Future of Health Policy The future of health policy is unknown and difficult to predict. The US has struggled with conquering the health care system as one comprehensive unit. Instead, there have been individual attempts at specific problems, resulting in fragmented solutions. The anti-socialist views of the US citizens have thus far prevented a nationalized health care system, but this has not and will not stop many influential leaders from trying. Regardless of health care being a universal or disjointed system, the future of health policy aims at containing costs, increasing access, and improving quality. On March 2010, President Obama signed a health care reform bill. A preliminary estimate claims that the bill will reduce the deficit by $130 billion in the first ten years and by $1.2 trillion in the next ten years (Jackson Nolen, 2010). State-based insurance exchanges will be implemented as a way to purchase insurance for those who do not have access through their employer. The Medicare prescription coverage donut hole will be closed by 2020 and seniors will receive a 50% discount on brand name medications. Medicaid will be expanded, will include childless adults, and illegal immigrants will not be eligible. Insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage based on preexisting conditions and children will be able to stay on their parents insurance plans until age 26. Beginning in 2014, there will be an individual mandate that everyone must have health insurance or have to pay a fine, with exceptions for low-income people. Employers with greater than 50 employees will be required to offer health insurance. There is no telling what the ultimate success will be of this bill, as it is a continued hot debate between political parties, but it puts some definition on the future of health policy. The role of state governments in health care has become more substantial. They hold the majority of the responsibility for regulating all aspects of the health care system. In addition, states contribute to financing Medicaid services, finance health coverage for state/public employees and retirees, and subsidize the costs of health care services for the uninsured. States also have the role of protecting the publics health through controlling the spread of communicable diseases, protecting the environment, preventing injuries, promoting healthy behaviors, responding to disasters, providing health services to those without access, monitoring the populations health status, and developing health care policies to benefit the community. The future of health policy shows that states will continue to perform these roles. Conclusion In closing, we feel that an issue such as healthcare must be thought through and have a decision made based on the need of the American peoples as well as the needs of the American economy. By this we mean that a decision should be developed based on a way to keep this great country from going bankrupt or prevent the American people from going broke when a plan goes into effect. In todays world, the U.S health Care System of today is turning into a disaster because many people are getting to the point to where they are not able to afford healthcare services due to the fact that they are not able to afford it or have lost their jobs are may have partial health care benefits. We feel that all Americans must try to stand up for what they believe and fight for a healthcare policy that will enable everyone to be able to have healthcare coverage so that our government will see that there is a need for a change in the future. Resources 1. Shi, L. Singh, D.A. (2008.) Delivering Health Care in America: A Systems Approach (4th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers 2. Jackson, J. Nolen, J. (March 23, 2010). Health Care Reform Bill Summary: A Look At Whats in the Bill. cbsnews.com. Retrieved, April 20, 2010, from: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20000846-503544.html. 3. Alford, R. R. 1975. Health Care Politics: Ideology and interest group barriers to reform. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 4. S M Williams-Crowe and T V Aultman, State health agencies and the legislative policy process. Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1403499/?page=1 5. Pamela White, Tobie H. Olsan, Carolanne Bianchi, Theresa Glessner, Pamela Mapstone, Legislative: Searching for Health Policy Information on the Internet: An Essential Advocacy Skill. Retrieved from: http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN

Blood Bananas Directions

Over the past 25 years, no place has been more perilous for companies than Colombia, a country that is inally beginning to emerge from the effects of civil war and narco-terrorism. In 2004, Chiquita voluntarily revealed to the U. S. Justice Department that one of its Colombian banana subsidiaries had made protection payments to terrorist groups from 1997 through 2004. The Justice Department began an investigation, focusing on the role and conduct of Chiquita and some of its officers in this criminal activity. Subsequently, Chiquita entered into a plea agreement that gave them the dubious distinction of being the first major U.S. company ever convicted of dealing with terrorists, and resulted in a fine of IJS$25 million and other penalties. To make matters worse, the industry was facing pressure from increasing retailer purchasing power, major changes in consumer tastes and preferences, and Europe's imposition of an â€Å"onerous tariff' on companies that sourced bananas from Latin A merica. With this in mind, Fernando Aguirre, Chiquita's CEO since 2004, reflected on how the company had arrived at this point, and what had been done to correct the course so far.He faced major challenges to the company's competitive position in this dynamic industry. Assignment: Students must address the following questions: 1 . What do you think were the root causes for Chiquita's actions in Colombia that led to the penalties? Did Chiquita's managers have a choice? Why or why not? 2. What can current management do to restore Chiquita's reputation and ensure future competitiveness in this industry? What role does corporate governance play in this process? Please discuss the ethical and strategic actions that the Company should take.Directions: Students should address the questions above in a typed document (double spaced; 12-point font; 5 pages maximum; essay format). The case report should provide a title page, with student name, section number, and date of ubmission. Your respon ses should be uploaded to D2L before the scheduled class on Wednesday, December 4. Strong responses will reference the material covered in Chapter 10 of our textbook, as well as the additional readings suggested on the following page.Guidelines: Please note the following: All case reports are to be written (double spaced) using 12 point type with a serif font for the body (Times New Roman) and sans serif font for headings (Calibri). The report should follow correct form, spelling, grammar, etc. The body of the paper should be no more than five pages including specific recommendations supported by our analyses. Number the pages. The report may include an assortment of charts, tables, and exhibits in an appendix to support your analyses and recommendations. Do not add exhi bits that are already included in the case.Each exhi bit must be referenced and discussed in the body of the paper. The appendix does not count towards the main body limit of five pages. The main body of your report should contain sufficient detail to explain and support the major issues identified in the case and the primary recommendations for solving these problems. Do not Just rehash case facts. Instead, present an insightful and unique analysis. The reports will be judged according to standards of effective business communication. They should be clear and cogent.The criteria for grading case reports include: Evidence of ability to size-up the organization's situation and to identify key problems/issues. Use of appropriate analytical techniques, sound logic, and well-supported arguments in evaluating the organization's present condition and future prospects. Evidence of ability to formulate realistic and workable recommendations for action. Quality contributions will reference the material in Chapter 10 of your textbook, as well as he additional readings suggested below. Thoroughness both (a) scope and coverage and (b) depth of analysis.

Cultural Awareness in an Asymmetric Environment

I believe all experienced military leaders, both noncommissioned and commissioned, realize the importance of knowing every facet of the enemy and their environment. Throughout history, we have studied, witnessed and experienced great examples of the use of cultural knowledge during combat operations. Lieutenant Colonel T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia) of the British Army documented his experiences while living among the Arabic people. He learned about their society and culture in order to improve his military expertise (McFate, 2004). With constantly changing interests, influences and enemy TTPs in today’s asymmetric environment, Soldiers on all levels are often focused on new strategies, equipment and tactics and unintentionally lose focus on the importance of cultural awareness. In today’s contemporary operation environment, cultural understanding and knowledge is a key element to successful counterinsurgency operations. This paper will stress the need for intensifying cultural awareness training in preparation for today’s asymmetric warfare and will emphasize the effectiveness of this principle of war. Cultural Awareness in an Asymmetric Environment Any WWII or Korean War Veteran can probably tell you how the phrase â€Å"combat operations† had a completely different connotation back in their day. Where conflicts of the past may have been focused on manpower, fire superiority and maneuver, today we are focused on variables like sociological demographics, politics and economy. Currently, U. S. forces are engaged in asymmetric warfare where the insurgents are adapting their strategies to avoid the direct fight and attempting to exploit the weaknesses of U. S. forces. The insurgents have the upper-hand; they know the customs, geography, influences and people and are able to maneuver unnoticed. To combat this, we have adjusted our training by implementing cultural familiarization in pre-mobilization training and inserting COIN doctrine into many leadership courses. However I argue that Soldiers on all levels, but especially the junior leaders and tacticians who are often engaged in the midst of the local populace, do not fully understand the value and second/third order effects of properly implementing this principle of warfare. Today, more than ever, we need to focus our training on cultural awareness and employ this knowledge to reverse the trend of the insurgency exploiting our cultural ignorance. Argument Just as a college football coach studies the footage of their opponent’s previous games; we need to study the norms, interests, relationships and socio-political patterns of our operating environment. In the last decade, we have taken measures to emphasize this principle of war but most significantly the publication of FM 3-24 has developed doctrine to defeat counterinsurgents with lessons learned in combat. It teaches the importance of cultural awareness in an asymmetric environment and stresses to avoid imposing our ideology of what we think is normal upon a foreign society (2006, p. 1-15). Today’s COE demands a more robust pre-mobilization training package on the culture, language, geography and anthropology. Training for this principle of warfare has been trivialized to higher-level familiarization of COIN doctrine and lower-level â€Å"check-the-block† pre-mobilization training. We need comprehensive training that involves every Soldier and incorporates advanced studies with scenario based exercises. Sergeant Elkhamri, a U. S. Army translator that spent 18 month with a Special Forces unit in Iraq, explained that the way to increase the Iraqi support in our fight against terrorism is to â€Å"improve the quality and increase the quantity† of pre-mobilization cultural awareness training. He further emphasizes how the we cannot expect deploying Soldiers to get a full understanding of Iraqi culture in a two hour PowerPoint class (2007, p. 110). The Philippine Insurrection The Philippine Insurrection is one of the strongest examples of how the lack of cultural respect and understanding can render significantly negative effects on military operations. From the American stand point, the Philippine Insurrection should have been a quick and easy conflict. Originally, the U. S. deployed with 20,000 troops in order to quickly quell the insurrection. After the realization that the resistance was not going to collapse quickly, troop strength doubled, tripled and finally peaked at 74,000 by the end of the conflict (Wikipedia, 2009) . In short, this stemmed from the U. S. underestimating the importance of cultural understanding by disregarding the Filiopino culture. The U. S. also demostrated that it was their duty to rescue the Filipino people by imposing American democracy upon them. This mindset, which was evident among U. S. military leadership in the Philippines, is sometimes apparent to this day. The Philippine Insurrection is one of the lowest points in U. S. military history. The Filipinos were often described by American military and media as uncivilized, fiendish savages. The U. S. ilitary strategy was executed with no consideration towards the local populace. American Soldiers tortured, mutilated and even decapitated Filipino troops. There were reports of U. S. Soldiers shooting surrendering Filipino troops and burning entire villages to the ground (Wikipedia, 2009). Picture these atrocities happening in America to Americans by a foreign military force. I would bet that we would have an enormous insurgent force of enraged Americans. Human nature dictates that the Philippine people would react the same way, and they did. The insurgency grew as word spread of the atrocities. Agoncillo described how the Filipino troops would exceed American brutality on some prisoners of war. He told stories how ears and noses were cut off and salt applied to the wounds; other reports described captured U. S. Soldiers being buried alive (Wikipedia, 1990). This cause and effect cycle was mutually destructive; in the end, both sides were blatantly breaking the Laws of War. John White was one American that understood the effectiveness of cultural understanding. He was a former American soldier that served as an officer in the Philippine Constabulary and led foreign indigenous troops in combat. His experiences served as a perfect example of the positive effects achieved by applying cultural understanding. In 1928 he wrote a book describing how he built a unified and highly effective combat unit of indigenous people that were both Muslim and Christian. These specialized squads would hunt down the insurgents into their own domain and defeat them in battle. Some of the keys to his success were emphasizing common soldier skills, trusting the integrity of his troops, treating his subordinates and their cultures with respect and adapting proven army methods to the native culture. He became fluent in Spanish and lived among his soldiers and the native people (2009, Dimarco). White was hugely successful in overcoming the insurgency by understanding their culture and adapting his knowledge of combat operations and tactics to fit his operating environment. Operation Iraqi Freedom The roots of the problems we face in Iraq stemmed from the strategic level. McFate, explained how some policy makers misunderstood the tribal nature of the Iraqi culture and assumed that the government would remain stable even after Saddam’s regime was overthrown. Consequentially, without any governmental structure the tribes assumed control and once the Ba’thists lost their power, the tribal network became the backbone of the insurgency. The Iraqi tribal insurgency was born from American cultural ignorance (McFate, 2004, p. 44). Cultural misunderstanding continued to be our weakness with the misinterpretation of certain symbols and gestures. American forces often associated the black flag as the opposite of surrender but among the Shia population it is a religious symbol. Consequently, many Shia who flew the black were shot unnecessarily for displaying their religious beliefs. Another example is how the American signal for stop was often misinterpreted since this gesture means welcome in Iraq; as you can imagine, this resulted in tragedy as well (2004, p. 44). In 2006, Elkhamri witnessed numerous appointments of powerful political figures solely based family-ties and political affiliations. He met Iraqi Commanders who were promoted from lieutenant to lieutenant colonel exclusively for political reasons. Naturally, these shady antics did not go over well with the local populace. With a better under ¬standing of the social-political framework, leaders could prevent these situations and earn the trust and respect of the community (2007, p. 111). Inversely, understanding the culture and society of your COE can positively impact military operations. By recognizing that pre-existing social structures were key to political stabilization, British Brigadier Andrew Kennett implemented historical lessons learned by adjusting to local cultures and understanding the inner workings of the tribal hierarchy. He learned that the most important element of the Iraqi society is the tribe and their supporters and observed the tribal relationship between currency and loyalty. Knowing this, he appointed tribal leaders to the local councils and gave them money to distribute. By doing this, he empower the sheiks and gained favor with the local tribes (McFate, 2007, p. 45). General Odierno understood how the structure of any insurgency always mirrors the structure of the indigenous society; with this notion he tasked two junior intelligence analysts to construct a chart in order to locate Saddam. By identifying, depicting and tracking key figures’ nterrelationships, social status, and last-known locations, this intelligence led the 4th ID troops directly to Saddam Hussein (McFate, 2007, p. 45). This turning point in the war stemmed from the leadership’s knowledge of the Iraqi society and culture. Counter Argument There are some that believe cultural understanding is over rated and over emphasized. In some military subcultures, hardened emotions and apathy towards your enemies’ culture and interests correlates to strength, courage and fearlessness. Some argue that the Warrior Ethos contradicts with cultural understanding and COIN doctrine. Many years ago, my friend SSG Delagarza jokingly said, â€Å"My definition of hearts and minds is two in the heart, one in the mind† and yes, we all laughed because that was part of being in that subculture. There are situations where this hardened mindset is essential to mission success, but just as we need to select the right weaponry for each planned target, we need to select the proper approach for each military operation and situation. Selecting the proper weaponry and the proper approach is a key decision that is based on thorough analysis of every aspect of your enemy and AO. Cultural knowledge of your enemy goes hand in hand with the strategy and tactics used to defeat them. A former commander and one of the hardest Rangers I ever met used to always tell us, â€Å"You got to be hard AND smart. † It was a simple little phrase that we usually ignored but it’s always stuck with me. Now that I have grown as an NCO and leader, I realize what he was saying. There are times to use your brawn by showing overwhelming aggression and firepower but there are also times to use your intellect by employing the most efficient methods to handle a situation. As a young first sergeant I learned the hard way. There were times my hard charging methods of demanding battalion staff NCOs to â€Å"do their job and fix the problem† may have worked, but in due course I realized that I was destroying critical relationships and losing all rapport with supporting elements. The secondary effects were evident by the lack willing support from these same staff sections for months to follow. Ironically, the trickle-down effect eventually affected the ones I was so adamantly fighting for, my Soldiers. Conclusion I believe the U. S. will always overcome any military adversary with our verwhelming land, sea and air superiority, advanced intelligence, technology, weaponry and training but at what cost? In today’s asymmetric environment, direct action may not always be the best option. The finesse of properly executed cultural diplomacy may be an effective force multiplier. There is a significant need to train every Soldier on effectively implementing cultural understanding, especially at the lowest level. With an advanced understanding of our COE’s culture, society, geography and anthropology we could achieve success swiftly, efficiently and most importantly with considerably less casualties. References https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine%E2%80%93American_War http://louisdimarco.com/Occupations/Reviewbulletsandbolos.pdf

Supply Chain and Operations Management Free Essay Example, 4250 words

According to the AIMS' Institute of Supply Chain Management, it is a management of a global network used to deliver products and services from raw materials to end customers through an engineered flow of information, physical distribution, and cash. Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the management of the relationship between the supplier's supplier and the customer's customer through the supply chain participants (Distributor/Wholesaler and Retailer) between them, mainly using information flow and logistics activities to gain Competitive advantage and customer satisfaction. A supply chain, as opposed to supply chain management, is a set of organizations directly linked by one or more upstream and downstream flows of products, services, finances, or information from a source to a customer. Supply chain management is the management of such a chain. In many cases, the supply chain includes the collection of goods after consumer use for recycling. SCM is a cross-functional approach that includes managing the movement of raw materials into an organization, certain aspects of the internal processing of materials into finished goods, and the movement of finished goods out of the organization and toward the end consumer. We will write a custom essay sample on Supply Chain and Operations Management or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now As organizations strive to focus on core competencies and becoming more flexible, they reduce their ownership of raw materials sources and distribution channels. These functions are increasingly being outsourced to other firms that can perform the activities better or more cost-effectively. The effect is to increase the number of organizations involved in satisfying customer demand while reducing managerial control of daily logistics operations. Less control and more supply chain partners led to the creation of the concept of supply chain management. The purpose of supply chain management is to improve trust and collaboration among supply chain partners, thus improving inventory visibility and the velocity of inventory movement.