Break even analysis
The break even analysis method had been a slightly controversial issue about economics and management because many are debating whether it could indeed help a business survive in the long run or not. As a brief summary about what a break even or a break even analysis is, it could be considered as a point wherein a company or a corporation stays at a balanced level where there is no net loss or gain. When we say loss or gain, we mean profits and revenues.
So technically, when there is a break-even point, the outstanding costs and profits are supposed to be at the same level. The business should be able to cover for the costs of production through accomplishing a certain level of sales volume for them to reach a break-even point (Anonymous, 2011).
I certainly disagree about the fact that break-even could help companies survive in the long run. Why? It is simple because there are a lot of limitations that this type of analysis has and it would be too risky to try out whether it is really effective in managing a business or not.
Yes it can definitely help a business avoid bankruptcy but the best way to face a problem would always be to have your business prepared for the problem before it comes. Breakeven does not allow you to prepare for upcoming problems that a company may face because it only focuses on the problems and deficits at hand. In short, using this scheme could not be recommended to be used by starting businesses because they are more prone and vulnerable to challenges, especially to fiscal ones.
Rondell Pharmacy: Operating Risk
Using robots and machines could indeed be a great solution for a quality and human resource crisis. When a company faces a kind of problem about shortage of future funds for worker wages, this could be considered as a good way to solve that problem too but of course, like any other intervention to a certain problem, it has its limitations and implications. Any allied health medical professional like a pharmacist, would know that one patient would need a different medication from the other and are thus served in a case to case basis (NHS Careers, 2011).
Robots, automated equipment and tools should only be used whenever the same set of procedures should be done over and over again. In the medical field, although a lot of industries already take advantage of the edge of being technologically advanced, use of robots is really not that applicable. Perhaps it would be if we have the exact length and size of body organs and if there are literally no differences between each and everyone’s body and the insides of it.
Yes, it may greatly reduce their operating costs but this could still mean an increase in operating risks no matter how accurately programmed the robot may be (Braun, Tietz & Harrison, 2010). Robots are generally faster and exponentially more resistant to stress and exhaustion that human pharmacists but the risks would be less if the workforce to be hired for that specific department would be highly competitive. At the current level of AI that our generation has, human intelligence is still superior to artificial ones.
References
Anonymous. (2011). Finance: Breakeven. Tutor to U. Accessed November 2011. Available at
http://tutor2u.net/business/gcse/finance_breakeven.htm.
NHS Careers. (2011). Allied Health Professionals. NHS website. Accessed November 2011.
Available at http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/ahp.shtml.
Braun, Tietz &Harrison. (2010). Managerial Accounting, 2nd edition. Prentice Hall.
(chapters 6 and 7).
