The Management Consulting Toolkit: Fifty of the most versatile and value-adding tools used by the world’s leading business analysts, transformation experts and management consultants.

The Management Consulting Toolkit contains 50 of the most useful, versatile and value-adding tools used by management consultants the world-over. The tools focus on business analysis and transformation and cover key consulting disciplines such as:1) Business performance analysis; 2) Future state design; 3) Transformation planning; 4) Transformation execution; 5) Project management; 6) Change management; 7) Team management.These tools have all stood the test of time, and the team at Expert Toolkit believes they will continue to be relevant, powerful and value-adding in the hands of the competent practitioner. They will save you time, stress, frustration and help you make a greater impact and deliver long-lasting business value. Like everything on Expert Toolkit, these are tools and techniques used by experts and built by experts. Here is what is included in the Management Consulting Toolkit: Accelerated SWOT Analysis Tool; Benchmarking Assessment Template; Business Diagnostic Findings Template; Business Initiative Project Charter; Capability Gap Assessment Template; Cost-Benefit Assessment Framework; Customer Experience Design Framework; Data Collection Plan Template; Failure Mode Effects Analysis Template; Five Whys Analysis; Future State Process Change Framework; Hypothesis Capture Template; Initiative Prioritization Map; Jidoka Board; Pain Point Analysis Tool; PEST Analysis Trend Matrix; Process Flow Analysis Framework; Process Issues Summary Template; Project Status Update Template; RACI Matrix Template; Root Cause Analysis; SIPOC Analysis; Solution Assessment & Prioritization; Solution Ideation & Ranking Framework; Swimlane Process Map Template; The ABCD Tool; Activity Accountability Plan Template; Business Metrics Framework; Business Stakeholder Map; Business Stakeholder Tracking Tool; Business Transformation Guiding Principles Template; Business Transformation Recommendation Template; Business Transformation Framework; Business Vision Template; Communications Plan Template; Operating Model Template; Operating Rhythm Template; Organization Impact Assessment Template; Project Evaluation Template; Project Issues Register; Project Risk Register; Project Status Report Template; Project Executive Update Template; Resource Management Plan Template; Strategy Pyramid; Team Temperature Check Tool; Transformation Conclusion Survey; Transformation Map Template; Transformation Readiness Checklist; Transformation Readiness Survey.You get a total of 50 individual templates and tools, each with clear instructions to ensure you understand what the tool is , when to use the tool , why you should use the tool and most importantly how to use the tool .This toolkit contains over 200 pages of material - guaranteed to lift your performance, save you time and be a reference you turn to again and again over the course of your career.https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/lmu_ebook_collection/1003/thumbnail.jp

Binary Black Hole Waveform Extraction at Null Infinity

In this work, we present a work in progress towards an efficient and economical computational module which interfaces between Cauchy and characteristic evolution codes. Our goal is to provide a standardized waveform extraction tool for the numerical relativity community which will allow CCE to be readily applied to a generic Cauchy code. The tool provides a means of unambiguous comparison between the waveforms generated by evolution codes based upon different formulations of the Einstein equations and different numerical approximation.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure

Mergers of Supermassive Black Holes in Astrophysical Environments

Modeling the late inspiral and merger of supermassive black holes is central to understanding accretion processes and the conditions under which electromagnetic emission accompanies gravitational waves. We use fully general relativistic, hydrodynamics simulations to investigate how electromagnetic signatures correlate with black hole spins, mass ratios, and the gaseous environment in this final phase of binary evolution. In all scenarios, we find some form of characteristic electromagnetic variability whose pattern depends on the spins and binary mass ratios. Binaries in hot accretion flows exhibit a flare followed by a sudden drop in luminosity associated with the plunge and merger, as well as quasi-periodic oscillations correlated with the gravitational waves during the inspiral. Conversely, circumbinary disk systems are characterized by a low luminosity of variable emission, suggesting challenging prospects for their detection.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, replaced with version accepted for publication in Ap

Complete phenomenological gravitational waveforms from spinning coalescing binaries

The quest for gravitational waves from coalescing binaries is customarily performed by the LIGO-Virgo collaboration via matched filtering, which requires a detailed knowledge of the signal. Complete analytical coalescence waveforms are currently available only for the non-precessing binary systems. In this paper we introduce complete phenomenological waveforms for the dominant quadrupolar mode of generically spinning systems. These waveforms are constructed by bridging the gap between the analytically known inspiral phase, described by spin Taylor (T4) approximants in the restricted waveform approximation, and the ring-down phase through a phenomenological intermediate phase, calibrated by comparison with specific, numerically generated waveforms, describing equal mass systems with dimension-less spin magnitudes equal to 0.6. The overlap integral between numerical and phenomenological waveforms ranges between 0.95 and 0.99.Comment: Proceeding for the GWDAW-14 conference. Added reference in v

Comparison of Medicine Availability Measurements at Health Facilities: Evidence from Service Provision Assessment Surveys in Five Sub-Saharan African Countries.

With growing emphasis on health systems strengthening in global health, various health facility assessment methods have been used increasingly to measure medicine and commodity availability. However, few studies have systematically compared estimates of availability based on different definitions. The objective of this study was to compare estimates of medicine availability based on different definitions. A secondary data analysis was conducted using data from the Service Provision Assessment (SPA) - a nationally representative sample survey of health facilities - conducted in five countries: Kenya SPA 2010, Namibia SPA 2009, Rwanda SPA 2007, Tanzania SPA 2006, and Uganda SPA 2007. For 32 medicines, percent of facilities having the medicine were estimated using five definitions: four for current availability and one for six-month period availability. 'Observed availability of at least one valid unit' was used as a reference definition, and ratios between the reference and each of the other four estimates were calculated. Summary statistics of the ratios among the 32 medicines were calculated by country. The ratios were compared further between public and non-public facilities within each country. Across five countries, compared to current observed availability of at least one valid unit, 'reported availability without observation' was on average 6% higher (ranging from 3% in Rwanda to 8% in Namibia), 'observed availability where all units were valid' was 11% lower (ranging from 2% in Tanzania to 19% in Uganda), and 'six-month period availability' was 14% lower (ranging from 5% in Namibia to 25% in Uganda). Medicine availability estimates vary substantially across definitions, and need to be interpreted with careful consideration of the methods used

Towards a toolkit for the assessment and monitoring of musculoskeletal ageing

The complexities and heterogeneity of the ageing process have slowed the development of consensus on appropriate biomarkers of healthy ageing. The MRC-Arthritis Research UK Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing (CIMA) is a collaboration between researchers and clinicians at the Universities of Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle. One of CIMA's objectives is to 'Identify and share optimal techniques and approaches to monitor age-related changes in all musculoskeletal tissues, and to provide an integrated assessment of musculoskeletal function', i.e. to develop a toolkit for assessing musculoskeletal ageing. This toolkit is envisaged as an instrument that can be used to characterise and quantify musculoskeletal function during 'normal' ageing, lend itself to use in large-scale, internationally important cohorts, and provide a set of biomarker outcome measures for epidemiological and intervention studies designed to enhance healthy musculoskeletal ageing. Such potential biomarkers include: biochemical measurements in biofluids or tissue samples, in vivo measurements of body composition, imaging of structural and physical properties, and functional tests. The CIMA Toolkit Working Group assessed candidate biomarkers of musculoskeletal ageing under these four headings, detailed their biological bases, strengths and limitations, and made practical recommendations for their use. In addition, the CIMA Toolkit Working Group identified gaps in the evidence base and suggested priorities for further research on biomarkers of musculoskeletal ageing

Risk-proportionate clinical trial monitoring: an example approach from a non-commercial trials unit

Background Some level of monitoring is usually required during a clinical trial to protect the rights and safety of trial participants and to safeguard the quality and reliability of trial results. Although there is increasing support for the use of risk-proportionate approaches to achieve these aims, the variety of methods and lack of an empirical evidence base can present challenges for clinical trial practitioners. Methods This paper describes the monitoring methods and procedures that are utilised by a noncommercial clinical trials unit which coordinates a range of clinical trials across a variety of clinical areas with different associated risks. Results Monitoring activities and approaches should be selected to be proportionate to the risks identified within a trial. A risk-proportionate approach to monitoring is described giving details of methods that may be considered by clinical trial practitioners during the development of a trial monitoring plan. An example risk assessment and corresponding monitoring plan for a low risk (type A in the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) classification system) pediatric trial is provided for illustration. Conclusion We present ideas for developing a monitoring plan for a clinical trial of an investigational medicinal product based on our experience. Alternative approaches may be relevant or preferable in other settings based on inherent risk

A revaluation of the cultural dimension of disability policy in the European Union: The impact of digitization and web accessibility

Reflecting the commitments undertaken by the EU through the conclusion of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), the European Disability Strategy 2010–2020 not only gives a prominent position to accessibility, broadly interpreted, but also suggests an examination of the obligations for access to cultural goods and services. The European Disability Strategy 2010–2020 expressly acknowledges that EU action will support national activities to make sports, leisure, cultural and recreational organizations and activities accessible, and use the possibilities for copyright exceptions in the Directive 2001/29/EC (Infosoc Directive). This article discusses to what extent the EU has realized the principle of accessibility and the right to access cultural goods and services envisaged in the UNCRPD. Previous research has yet to explore how web accessibility and digitization interact with the cultural dimension of disability policy in the European Union. This examination attempts to fill this gap by discussing to what extent the European Union has put this cultural dimension into effect and how web accessibility policies and the digitization of cultural materials influence these efforts